ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Introduction

Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how

people act within organizations. It is a human tool for human benefits. It applies to
the behavior of people at work in all types of organizations: public, private,
cooperative sector, commercial or service organizations. Whatever organizations
are, there is a need to understand organizational behavior.

Organizational Behavior is the study of human behavior in

organizations to make more active human performance to achieve organizational
objectives as well as human objectives. Organizational Behavior aims at finding
out those ways in which people will contribute in best possible manner.

The study of Organizational Behavior involves understanding, prediction

and control of human behavior and the factors which influence the performance of
people in an organization. It is concerned with the behavior of individuals and
groups not the behavior of all members collectively.

DEFINITIONS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

1. Stephen P. Robbins: “Organization Behavior is a field of study that

investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on
behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge
toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.”

2. 3. Ramon J Aldag and Arthur P Brief : “Organization behavior is a branch of

the social science that seek to build theories that ca be applied to predicting,
understanding and controlling behavior in work organizations.”

Nature of Organizational Behavior

1. Multidisciplinary study: Organizational behavior is a Multidisciplinary
Subject. Organizational of behavior uses and applies principles, practices
 thoughts and theories of various disciplines such as: Law, History,
Psychology, Political science, Economics etc. So Organizational behavior
is a Multidisciplinary Subject.

2. Science as well as Art: Organizational behavior is a science because it

applies principles and concepts objectively. Organizational behavior is
also an art because its application changes as and when required.
Organizational behavior searches concepts and solutions according to the
situation and need.
3. System Approach: Organizational behavior uses system approach.
System approach provides a useful framework for understanding how the
elements of any organization react among themselves and with their
external environment. Organizational behavior uses system approach
because it takes into account all the variables affecting organizational
functioning.
4. Contingency Approach: Today’s business world is full of uncertainties,
i.e., in most organizational situations, outcomes are affected by many
factors.

In the earlier days of management studies, managers tried to search for the
universally applicable answers to organizational problems. That’s why the
earlier management concepts were not successful. Organizational
environment is volatile and fast changing so management without contingent
approach cannot be successful. It must have Contingency (as and when
required) approach.

SCOPE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

The major focus of Organizational Behavior is to understand the behavior of

employees in an organization. The manager is expected to make use of these
information/ideas in persuading employees to give their best to the jobs and
thereby help the organization to achieve its goals. The focus of
Organizational Behavior is behavior of an employee as an individual who is
working in the organization.
Psychology tells us that no two individuals are alike. Individual differences
will be there. And hence it is certainly possible that a strategy which may
enable a manager to persuade one employee may not succeed in persuading
another employee. So our manager will have to appreciate this reality and
then continue his efforts of persuading people around him.

Secondly, the individual with whom our manager is dealing would also
change over a period (So also our manager). So our manager will also be
required to keep this message in mind that strategy which had worked in
case of a particular individual a few years ago may not work for him now.
At this stage we will not go into the details of why individuals change. Let it
be sufficient for us to realize that we change over a period.

Thirdly our individual whom our manager is trying to persuade is capable of

being influenced by other individuals around him. In fact, the process
operates both ways. An individual is influenced by others around him and
contrariwise he also can influence other individuals around him. The
relationship amongst individuals who are working together is reciprocal.
However when an individual is working along with others in the
organization some other considerations have to be kept in mind. Other
individuals around our individual are capable of pressurizing him. The
manager can also pressurize the individual is question. But the chances are
that the influence of the group members is likely to be more powerful and
the individual would usually accept these ideas which come to him from his
co-workers. So the sum and substance of this discussion is that in order to
understand the behavior of one single individual, the manager will also have
to understand the thinking of other individual around him. He may have to
raise some specific questions such as what is the thinking of these
individuals about their management. What is their thinking about the work
which they are doing? Who is the opinion-maker amongst these employees?
What are his views about such issues? ‘How can I persuade this influential
employee to my way of thinking?’ and so on. So, in order to influence one
individual our manager must acquire an understanding of this group or
groups of individuals in his custodial care.
Fourthly, our individual manager may be in charge of one section or one
department. There are other departments as well with their own peculiarities.
So the relationships between these departments and sections can also
influence the behavior of individuals in his section/department.

Fifthly, we also have to appreciate that the organization is functioning in

society. Events occurring around the organization are also capable of
influencing our organization and more specifically the behavior of people in
our organization. So our manager will also have to keep track of what is
happening in the world outside the organization and try to appreciate how
these events can influence the behavior of individuals in his organization.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

1. It includes Role of IT, Globalization, Diversity in workplace & its
implementation, and Business Ethics & Ethical Behavior.It includes Role of
IT, Globalization, Diversity in workplace & its implementation, and Business
Ethics & Ethical Behavior.

2. It is also defined as the situational opportunities and constraints that affect

the occurrence and meaning of organizational behavior as well as functional
relationships between variables, and I propose two levels of analysis for
thinking about context–one grounded in journalistic practice and the other in
classic social life.

3. The environmental influences on organizational behavior can come from both

internal and external sources. A company engaged in a highly regulated
business may have a strict and structured culture due to the need to conform
to certain laws and regulations from the company's external environment.

4. Organizational context is another communication variable that influences the

content and presentation of both internal and external communications.
 Introduction to information technology (IT)
1. At present, the world is witnessing a rapid evolution process in the need for
information facilities in terms of quantity, quality and access to information, in
order to make the best decision based on the different changes and dynamics
of the enterprises environment. This demonstrates clearly the growing
importance of information systems and their ability to satisfy the needs of
enterprises information. This emphasizes the importance to develop these
systems and to increase their effectiveness and efficiency. One of the key
elements of the success of these systems is that they have become dependent
on sophisticated technology that have greatly facilitated access to information
and clearly reduced access costs.

2. No one can doubt that information technology is a fundamental and innovative

revolution that has touched human life considerably in the last century.
Indeed, far from being an effervescent phenomenon, or a passing trend,
information and communication technology has just been exploited in all
aspects of life. No domain has remained immune to this policy, which
facilitates tasks for both the company and the staff.

3. Usually when we talk about information technology, it comes to people’s

mind that “information technology (IT) is the use of any computers, storage,
networking and other physical devices, infrastructure and processes to create,
process, store, secure and exchange all forms of electronic data. Typically, IT
is used in the context of enterprise operations as opposed to personal or
entertainment technologies. The commercial use of IT encompasses both
computer technology and telephony.

Impacts of information technologies

1. The political impact of (IT)
Technology holds the role of power. Information technologies play a decisive role in the
political landscape of countries. They have become widely used in electoral campaigns to
influence public opinion and especially to involve young people in the political life.

2. The economic impact of (IT)

Technological progress and organizational maturity have contributed to increased
production, capital accumulation and the creation of intense competition among
manufacturers. As a reflection of this competition, the R & D concept emerged as a
 strategy of innovation through the harmony of scientific ideas and their practical
application by engineers and scientists making the R & D role into large sections with
technical, legal and administrative skills in maintaining the industrial location and a
reference to quality, productivity and cost. These developments have resulted in an
industrial culture that derives its momentum from the advances of science and technology
that mature and deepen as a natural result of research and development.

3. The social impact of (IT)

It can be said that the social impact of information technology has two sides. It cannot be
one hundred percent negative nor hundred percent positive. It is a two-sided weapon.
Sociologists likened the impact of information technology on society to transforming the
world from vast continents separating people and relatives, to a very small village
encompassing the entire world’s population, which is called globalization. Before
information technology communication between people required days even months to
reached each other. Thanks to information technology, communication between people in
different parts of the globe has become an easy and fast process, via different ways:
instant messaging, phone calls or video calls.

The impact of information technologies on businesses: case

study of Capgimini.
The Capgimini Company confirms the positive impact of the use of ICTs on working
conditions. This confirmation was made after various studies carried out by the company.
By adopting a strategy of openness to new possibilities of interaction and production, it
follows that these uses have brought concrete improvements and have contributed
directly and concretely to the feeling of job satisfaction. They are often solutions
considered appropriate by the employees to the problems that they have to manage in
their context of present work (safety, interest of the work, need of sense and being actor
of the evolutions). or throughout their professional life (work / life balance, employability
.
The present company has raised six great benefits namely

1. The reduction of occupational risks and accidents at work

Information & technology make it possible, for example, to access information more
quickly, security procedures, and to reach a colleague more easily if necessary.

2. Refocusing on activities with higher added value

The dematerialization of documents reduces certain repetitive tasks in the
administrative or commercial business and offers more time to devote to the interface
with the custome
 3. Professionalization
The use of laptops, for example, has enabled the company to make gains in terms of
time, in particular to give real-time information to those who need it, thereby speeding
up decision-making and increasing the company’s profits. Thanks to the interactive and
intelligent system, the company always strives to meet the needs of these customers and
thereby improve its services.
Social networks have favored the sharing of information. NTICS has also helped to
design a new way of working such as meetings and conferences remotely, online
training and so on.

4. The reconciliation of private life and professional life

All employees use their home computers for business purposes. This allows them to
catch up on their unfinished business at the office. For example, for an employee, he
just needs to have an identifier and an access key to the company’s server, which allows
him to do the job and shares it in the network even if he’s on vacation or maybe on a
mission.

5. Renewal and expansion of work collectives

With the evolution of new technologies, and with the messaging module and sharing
spaces, the collective work has become more and more extended and more and more
organized, with the integration of workflow systems and ticket management systems. ,
employees consult and know the administrative routing and the state of the information
(created, approved, informed …) which fortifies the teamwork without excluding the
informal one. “Employees adapt their uses according to their needs: reinforcing and
enriching exchanges with certain colleagues, decreasing and formalizing exchanges
with others”.

6. The development of collective intelligence

The uses of NTICS, especially around social networks, can foster the emergence of
negotiated solutions that can take the form of new practices, new structures, innovative
products … Beyond the question of tools, a successful collaboration nonetheless
requires to have combined a certain number of organizational and managerial
conditions (governance, distribution of roles and responsibilities

Conclusion
Information Technology is the basic requirement of today’s world. Technological
progress is entering into all fields. Education was a big and important part of
development and progress.
Information technology has changed human life radically, and not necessarily, all of the changes
are positive. Some may be negative and have a detrimental effect on the individual and the
community. For example, traffickers use the Internet to offer and promote their products for sale.
There are many means of technology, including what serves science, education and economy.
There is a close relationship between science and technology. It is noted that the basis of
technology is to study science and employ (IT) inventions in the different life’s areas, in order to
meet the needs of the individuals and the societies. Therefore, it connects the governments,
companies and societies to develop strategies to enhance the lifestyle quality of the citizens.

Globalization
Globalization is the process by which ideas, knowledge, information, goods and services spread
around the world. In business, the term is used in an economic context to describe integrated
economies marked by free trade, the free flow of capital among countries and easy access to
foreign resources, including labor market to maximize returns and benefit for the common good.
Policies that promote free trade, open borders and international cooperation all drive economic
globalization. They enable businesses to access lower priced raw materials and parts, take
advantage of lower cost labor markets and access larger and growing markets around the world
in which to sell their goods and services.
Money, products, materials, information and people flow more swiftly across national
boundaries today than ever. Advances in technology have enabled and accelerated this flow and
the resulting international interactions and dependencies. These technological advances have
been especially pronounced in transportation and telecommunications.
Benefits of Globalization
1. Access of new cultures
Globalization makes it easier than ever to access foreign culture, including food, movies,
music, and art. This free flow of people, goods, art, and information is the reason you can
have Thai food delivered to your apartment as you listen to your favorite UK-based artist
or stream a Bollywood movie.

2. The Spread of Technology and Innovation

Many countries around the world remain constantly connected, so knowledge and
technological advances travel quickly. Because knowledge also transfers so fast, this
means that scientific advances made in Asia can be at work in the United States in a
matter of days.
3. Lower Costs and Products
Globalization allows companies to find lower-cost ways to produce their products. It also
increases global competition, which drives prices down and creates a larger variety of
choices for consumers. Lowered costs help people in both developing and already-developed
countries live better on less money.

4. Higher Standards Of Living across the Globe

Developing nations experience an improved standard of living—thanks to

globalization. According to the World Bank, extreme poverty decreased by 35% since
1990. Further, the target of the first Millennium Development Goal was to cut the 1990
poverty rate in half by 2015. This was achieved five years ahead of schedule, in 2010.
Across the globe, nearly 1.1 billion people have moved out of extreme poverty since that
time.

Diversity
Diversity affects how organizations understand that employing people who hold multiple
perspectives increases the need to mitigate conflict between workers from different
identity groups, enhances creativity and problem solving in teams, and serves as a
resource to create a competitive advantage for the organization.

The business world is no exception. The more a organization is open to perspectives from
people of different backgrounds, the more creative and resilient it becomes. Diversity not
only improves performance but also creates positive friction that enhances
deliberation and upends conformity

Organizational diversity in the workplace refers to the total makeup of the employee
workforce and the amount of diversity included. Diversity refers to differences in
various defining personal traits such as age, gender, race, marital status, ethnic origin,
religion, education and many other secondary qualities.

Diversity and demographic differences can impact individual behavior by creating

discrimination, stereotypes and prejudices in the work place. The differences that
impact individual behavior the most are age, gender, sexual-orientation, and race and
ethnicity.

ETHICS

Organizational ethics express the values of an organization to its employees and

other entities irrespective of governmental or regulatory laws. Ethics are the
principles and values used by an individual to govern their actions and decisions.
Ethics is generally defined as behaving in a morally correct fashion, although the exact definition
of “moral correctness” may vary between organizations. In general, an organizational code of
ethics exists to promote a culture in which all actions promote the good of the individual, the
organization, and the community serving or surrounding the organization. By creating and
enforcing workplace culture with a strong ethical code, an organization can reap the benefits in
several different ways.

CULTURE

An organization's culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. This culture
consists of shared beliefs and values established by leaders and then communicated and
reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors and
understanding.
There are 4 types of culture – clan culture, adhocracy culture, market culture, and
hierarchy culture.
Culture is the style or behaviour patterns which the employees use to guide their actions. For
example, an organization whose culture values the initiatives of all its employees has a different
climate than an organization in which decisions are made by senior managers and enforced by
their subordinates.
By building a strong culture, businesses can provide consistency and direction, guide
decisions and actions, fuel the workforce and help reach their potential. While
organizational culture is an integral part of a business, it's not always visible to long-term
employees.

REWARD SYSTEM
'Reward system refers to all the monetary, non-monetary and psychological payments that an
organization provides for its employees in exchange for the work they perform. ‘Rewards
schemes may include extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
They are administered externally—that is, by someone else usually management. Examples of
extrinsic rewards include wages and salary, fringe benefits, promotions, and recognition and
praise from others. On the other hand, intrinsic rewards represent those rewards that are related
directly to performing the job.
Reward systems are incentives given to employees to commend and encourage high performance
in their work. Usually, employers give rewards to employees once they have reached a goal or
completed a specific task. These incentives can be monetary or non-monetary. For example, the
most productive employee in an organization can get additional leaves or a mobile phone.
Companies offer incentives and rewards as a way to appreciate the efficiency and contribution of
their employees and teams.
In addition to boosting employee morale, rewards and incentives can also promote healthy
competition in the workplace. When you see your colleagues rewarded for their outstanding
performance, it can motivate you to achieve the same. Most organizations have well-defined
rewards policies and programs to ensure objectivity and fairness.
 ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN ON ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Organizational design is the process of aligning the structure of an organization with its
objectives, with the ultimate aim of improving efficiency and effectiveness. Work can be
triggered by the need to improve service delivery or specific business processes, or as a result of
a new mandate.
It involves the following

 Understanding the imperative for change and the environment.

 Understanding the business processes, workflows, roles and responsibilities, volumes of work,
activity analysis and resources.
 Designing and testing new models or structures.
 Planning and managing the transition from the old structure to the new.
 Implementing and monitoring the change.

Organizational development
Organizational development is the planned, comprehensive and systematic process aimed at
improving the overall effectiveness of an organization.
It involves intervening in its processes, structure and culture; there is a strong emphasis on
organizational behavior, human resource development and organizational change.
Organizational design can be viewed as an organizational development intervention.
The six elements of organizational structure are job design, job grouping, department design,
organizational hierarchy, authority designation and coordination between departments.
Organizational design is a step-by-step methodology which identifies dysfunctional aspects of
work flow, procedures, structures and systems, realigns them to fit current business
realities/goals and then develops plans to implement the new changes.

NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTION

Meaning and Definition of Perception:

“Perception is the process through which the information from outside environment is selected,
received, organised and interpreted to make it meaningful to you. This input of meaningful
information results in decisions and actions.”

A few definitions of perception as given by different authors are as explained

below:

“Perception may be defined as a process by which individuals organize and interpret their
sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.”
According to Joseph Reitz, “Perception includes all those processes by which an individual
receives information about his environment—seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling. The
study of these perpetual processes shows that their functioning is affected by three classes of
variables—the objects or events being perceived, the environment in which perception occurs
and the individual doing the perceiving.”

In simple words we can say that perception is the act of seeing what is there to be seen. But what
is seen is influenced by the perceiver, the object and its environment. The meaning of perception
emphasises all these three points.

Nature of Perception:
“Perception refers to the interpretation of sensory data. In other words, sensation involves
detecting the presence of a stimulus whereas perception involves understanding what the
stimulus means. For example, when we see something, the visual stimulus is the light energy
reflected from the external world and the eye becomes the sensor. This visual image of the
external thing becomes perception when it is interpreted in the visual cortex of the brain. Thus,
visual perception refers to interpreting the image of the external world projected on the retina of
the eye and constructing a model of the three dimensional world.”

From the above explanation it becomes clear that perception is something more than sensation. It
correlates, integrates and comprehends diverse sensations and information from many organs of
the body by means of which a person identifies things and objects, the sensations refer to.

Perception is determined by both physiological and psychological characteristics of the human

being whereas sensation is conceived with only the physiological features. Thus, perception is
not just what one sees with the eyes it is a much more complex process by which an individual
selectively absorbs or assimilates the stimuli in the environment, cognitively organizes the
perceived information in a specific fashion and then interprets the information to make an
assessment about what is going on in one’s environment.
Perception is a subjective process, therefore, different people may perceive the same
environment differently based on what particular aspects of the situation they choose to
selectively absorb, how they organize this information and the manner in which they interpret it
to obtain a grasp of the situation.

Importance of Perception:
(i) Perception is very important in understanding the human behaviour, because every person
perceives the world and approaches the life problems differently- Whatever we see or feel is not
necessarily the same as it really is. It is because what we hear is not what is really said, but what
we perceive as being said. When we buy something, it is not because it is the best, but because
we take it to be the best. Thus, it is because of perception, we can find out why one individual
finds a job satisfying while another one may not be satisfied with it.

(ii) If people behave on the basis of their perception, we can predict their behaviour in the
changed circumstances by understanding their present perception of the environment. One
person may be viewing the facts in one way which may be different from the facts as seen by
another viewer.

(iii) With the help of perception, the needs of various people can be determined, because
people’s perception is influenced by their needs. Like the mirrors at an amusement park, they
distort the world in relation to their tensions.

(iv) Perception is very important for the manager who wants to avoid making errors when
dealing with people and events in the work setting. This problem is made more complicated by
the fact that different people perceive the same situation differently. In order to deal with the
subordinates effectively, the managers must understand their perceptions properly.

Thus, for understanding the human behaviour, it is very important to understand their perception,
that is, how they perceive the different situations. People’s behaviour is based on their
perceptions of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is
important for understanding the human behaviour.
PERCEPTUALSELECTIVITYAND ORGANIZASTION

Perceptual Selectivity

Under the process of perception it has been pointed out that it is a selective process. In
everybody’s environment there are various stimuli. These stimuli are in the form of objects,
events and people. An individual cannot get attracted towards all these stimuli. He is attracted
towards only those stimuli which interest him. The stimuli towards which he gets attracted are
selected and the others get ignored.

For example, when we read a newspaper we get attracted towards only some of the news and
ignore the remaining news.

Now the question arises as to what are the factors which influence the perceptual selectivity.
There are various factors influencing it. For the convenience of study they can be divided into
the following two categories

(A) External Factors

These factors are related to the external environment or stimuli. These factors are in reality
the characteristics of the stimuli. It is only these characteristics of the stimuli that attract a
person and he selects them, otherwise he overlooks them. The following are the chief
external factors that influence perceptual selectivity:

(1) Size: Size means the big or small size of the stimuli. Generally, it has been observed
that stimuli which have a large size attract people quickly. There is a greater possibility
of the perception of such stimuli being selected. For example, when we read a book, it
has two types of written words, e.g., headings which are printed in big letters while their
explanation is written in small letters. The moment we open a book our attention
immediately goes towards the headings and not the explanation that follows them. In the
context of business we find big sized advertisement attracting people quicker than the
small-sized advertisement.

(2) Intensity: Intensity means that some stimuli are brighter, louder, stronger in odour
and more colourful than the others. Somebody gets attracted to a loud sound than a
lower sound. Similarly brighter stimuli attract people more. For example, bright packing
in business, loud advertisement, loud speaking by a supervisor- all these things are done
so that the people get attracted to them.

3) Repetition: Repetition factor indicates that the repetition of a stimuli has a particular
attraction. It is on the basis of this principle that the businessmen display the advertisement of
their products repeatedly. When a particular stimulus repeatedly appears before us, it is natural
that we start taking interest in it. A person desirous of getting a job meets the personnel manager
time and again.In this case we find this factor of repetition at work.

(4) Motion: This factor tells us that people get attracted more to the moving stimuli instead of
the fixed stimuli. That is why there is a greater possibility of perception about the moving stimuli
and their selection. We usually find flashing neon sign boards displayed in the market, at the
cross-roads, etc. The advertising material remains in motion in these advertisements. People
moving about during the night get attracted towards them. This is an attractive medium of
advertisement.

(5) Contrast: Contrast means when a stimulus in its own group appears to be different. Every
stimulus is looked at in the context of its background. Here background means the group of
which the stimulus happens to be a part. If a member of a group appears to be different from the
other members, the perceiver will be attracted towards it.

(6) Novelty and Familiarity: The factor of novelty and familiarity plays an important role in the
selection of stimuli. Novelty means the presence of new stimuli in the existing environment. For
example, if a foreign lecturer is appointed to teach Management Concept and Organisational
Behaviour in a class, he will attract students’ attention towards him. This is an example of
creating novelty in an old environment in order to attract the attention of the perceivers.

Similarly, if a well known or familiar author goes to different colleges/universities to teach the
same subject he will also attract students’attention. This is an example of attracting the attention
of the perceivers by sending a known or familiar person in a new environment.

(B) Internal Factors of Perceptual Selectivity

External factors influencing the perceptual selectivity are connected with the stimuli
while internal factors are connected with the perceivers. In fact, these factors are the
characteristics of the perceivers. These characteristics of the perceivers attract them
towards some particular stimulus. If a particular person gets attracted to some particular
stimuli, he selects them, otherwise he ignores them. The following are the internal
factors influencing the perceptual selectivity:

1) Self-Concept: Self-concept of a person is the chief internal factor of perceptual selectivity

Self-concept means as to what extent we know ourselves and how confident we are for
ourselves. The of a person helps in formulating his concept about the stimuli. For example, if a
person self-concept doubts his ability, he will fear the stimuli (his outer world). On the contrary,
if he is confident about his self, he will accept the stimuli happily. In other words, the more we
understand ourselves, the more easily we understand others. Therefore, correct self-concept
influences accurate perception.
(2) Belief: A person’s belief in external environment/stimuli helps him in the selection of the
stimuli. A person thinks about a stimulus as per his belief in it and not what it actually is. In other
words, a person accepts facts after duly censoring them so that his present belief in them remains
intact.

(3) Needs: The selection of the stimuli available in the environment is influenced by our needs.
If a person wishes to attain some particular achievement he will get attracted towards only those
stimuli which fulfill his wish. Similarly, if a person wishes an increase in his affiliation he will
get attracted towards only those stimuli which help him in satisfying his wish for greater
affiliation.

(4) Expectation: We have an expectation of a particular behaviour from everybody. We select

them on the basis of our expectation (or the behaviour expected out of them). For example, if we
expect the use of a rough/foul language by a particular section of people, our relationship with
them will depend on that very expectation. Our expectation can be fully wrong or absolutely
right. Expectation can also undergo a change.

(5) Response Disposition: Response disposition means that a person gets attracted towards a
known rather than an unknown object/person. A person gets attracted quickly towards things
which he already knows, while he ignores other things about which he knows nothing. For
example, there are two lectures going on before a religious man.

In one of the lectures religion is being taught while the second lecture is about the economic
condition of the country, it is undoubted that the person will feel interested only in the religions
discourse because he is familiar with the vocabulary of the discourse and he will easily
understand everything. This happens only because of individual’s response disposition.

(6) Interest: Selection of stimuli available in the environment is influenced by the interest of the
perceiver. For example, a plastic surgeon and not a lecturer, will get attracted towards an
individual having an unusual nose. Similarly a lecturer will get attracted to the wrong
pronunciation of words during the course of a lecture and not a plastic surgeon. This happens
only because of a special interest of the individual in a particular thing. A plastic surgeon
rectifies the unusual looks or deformities of limbs. Therefore, he gets attracted to them. On the
other hand, a lecturer’s job is teaching and, therefore, he gets attracted towards the person
pronouncing words wrongly.

(7) Learning: Some learned experience influences the perception of an individual. On the basis
of learned experience whatever a person expects to see or hear, he sees or hears the same. Look
carefully and understand the given diagram. We will read the sentence written in the triangle as
Turn off the switch’ in the first instance while there is an extra The’ in the sentence. This
happens only because we usually make use of the sentence Turn off the Switch. It means that we
know it from our previous experience.
In other words, the attraction of a person towards some stimuli depends on his learned
experience. If we talk in the context of organisation, the learned experience of an employee
influences his perception. For example, the decision making by an employee is affected by his
specialisation.

SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Social Perception is how we perceive other people in our environment is also shaped by our
values, emotions, feelings, and personality. Moreover, how we perceive others will shape our
behavior, which in turn will shape the behavior of the person we are interacting with.

Observations serve as the raw data of social perception—an interplay of three sources: persons,
situations, and behavior. These sources are used as evidence in supporting a person's impression
or inference about others. Another important factor to understand when talking about social
perception is attribution. Attribution is expressing an individual's personality as the source or
cause of their behavior during an event or situation. To fully understand the impact of personal
or situational attributions, social perceivers must integrate all available information into a unified
impression. To finally confirm these impressions, people try to understand, find, and create
information in the form of various biases. Most importantly, social perception is shaped by an
individual's current motivations, emotions, and cognitive load capacity. Cognitive load is the
complete amount of mental effort utilized in the working memory. All of this combined
determines how people attribute certain traits and how those traits are interpreted
Now we will discuss all the four components of social perception in detail:
1. Observation
2. Attribution
3. Integration
4. Confirmation

1. Observation
Although society tries to train people not to judge others based on their physical traits, as
social perceivers, we cannot help but be influenced by others' hair, skin color, height,
weight, style of clothes, pitch in voice, etc., when making a first impression. People have
the tendency to judge others by associating certain facial features with specific
personality types. For example, studies indicate that people are perceived as stronger,
more assertive, and competent if they have small eyes, low eyebrows, an angular chin,
wrinkled skin, and a small forehead. People tend to associate baby-faced people with
impotence and harmlessness.

Attribution
A large component of social perception is attribution. Attribution is the use of
information gathered through observation to help individuals understand and rationalize
the causes of one's own and others' behaviors. Psychological research on attribution
began with the work of Fritz Heider in 1958, and was subsequently developed by others
such as Harold Kelley and Bernard Weiner. People make attributions to understand the
world around them in order to seek reasons for an individual's particular behavior. When
people make attributions they are able to make judgments as to what was the cause or
causes of a certain behavior. Attribution theory is the study of what systems and models
people implement to make attributions about the behavior of others. It attempts to explain
how we use information about the social environment to understand others' behavior. One
common bias people exhibit in attribution is called the fundamental attribution error. The
fundamental attribution error is the tendency for people to attribute others' actions or
behaviors to internal traits as opposed to external circumstances.

Integration
Norman H. Anderson, an American social psychologist, developed the information
integration theory in 1981. The theory states that impressions are made from the
perceiver's personal dispositions and a weighted average of the target individual's
characteristics. The differences among perceivers are due to people using themselves as a
standard, or frame of reference, when judging or evaluating others. People also tend to
view their own skills and traits as favorable for others to also have. These impressions
formed about others can also be influenced by the current, temporary mood of the
perceiver. A concept called, priming also affects a perceiver's impressions of others.
Priming is the tendency for recently perceived or implemented concepts or words to
come to mind easily and influence the understanding of the new information. Trait
information also impacts people's impressions of others, and psychologist Solomon Asch
was the first to discover that the existence of one trait tends to indicate the existence of
other traits. Asch claimed that central traits exist that exert a strong effect on the
perceiver's overall impressions.
Lastly, the sequence in which a trait is realized can also influence the trait's impact.
Research shows that there is a tendency for information presented at the beginning of a
sequence to have a greater effect on impressions than information presented later on, a
concept called primacy effect.

Confirmation
After making and integrating attributions, individuals form impressions that are subject to
confirmation biases and the threat of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Competence as social
perceivers It is true that people fall for the biases identified by social psychologists and
for some biases that may have not yet been identified. Despite these misjudgments, there
are four reasons that soundly demonstrate people's competence as social perceivers: i.
People can more accurately perceive social behaviors and interactions when they have a
greater history of experiences with the other people. ii. People can make more
circumscribed predictions of how other individuals will act when in their presence. iii.
Social perception skills can be improved through learning the rules of probability and
logic. iv. People can make more precise inferences about others when motivated by
concerns for open-mindedness and accuracy.

Factors that influence social perception

While accurate social perception is important, it has also been rather neglected. It is
difficult to provide a set list of criteria that can be checked-off as accuracy can be
subjective in nature. In the past, there was an assumption that people’s judgments were
also considered erroneous and often mistaken. As such, many researchers have chosen to
pursue other facets of research instead. It was not until these assumptions were proved
incorrect through research and research methods became more sophisticated that genuine
effort was put into analyzing accurate social perceptions.

i. Bias

People are prone to numerous types of confirmation biases—tendencies to

construe, find, and formulate information inways that prove existing opinions.
Preconceived prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination otherwise known as
social biases can contribute towards these tendencies. People are also subject to
exhibiting belief perseverance, the tendency to hold false convictions even after
they have been disproved.

ii. Self

▪ Availability heuristic– Tendency to place more importance and reliance on

more immediate memories when evaluating specific topics, methods, concepts,
or decisions. It is a mental shortcut that operates on the notion that if something
can be recalled, then it must at least be as important as alternatives that are less
easily recalled.
▪ Dunning–Kruger effect – An effect by which test takers fail to understand their
poor performance because they suffer a double fault: A.) Shortfall of knowledge
prevents them from producing correct responses & B.) Shortfall of knowledge
prevents them from recognizing their lesser responses when compared to those of
others.
▪ Overconfidence bias– When one's confidence in their ability is greater than
their actual ability.
▪ Egocentric bias – The tendency to rely too heavily on one's own judgments and
abilities, stemming partially from the need to satisfy one's ego.

iii. Group

▪ Status quo bias – Tendency to favor current or certain circumstances because

they are familiar. Any changes to these circumstances are perceived as a loss.
▪ In group bias – Tendency to favor one's own group members and their actions
over those of outsiders
. ▪ Stereotyping – Attributing traits to people based on certain traits of the group
they are perceived to belong to.
▪ Ensemble Coding - also known as ensemble perception or summary
representation, is the ability to see the average or variance of a group of objects.
There is extensive amounts of information available to the visual system.
 iv. Interaction

▪ Halo effect – Tendency for the observed overall impression of an individual to

affect the observers feelings and thoughts about other attributes or traits of the
individual.
▪ False-consensus effect – Tendency for people to overestimate the magnitude to
which people share their behaviors, opinions, and attributes.
▪ Base-rate fallacy – Tendency to prefer specific information over Base rate or
generic information
. ▪ Psychological projection – A defense mechanism people unconsciously use to
grapple with challenging feelings or emotions by attributing them to others. This
incorporates Blame shifting.
▪ Actor-Observer bias – Tendency of those acting in a situation to blame their
actions on the situation, while those observing have the tendency to place the
blame on the actors.

ATTRIBUTION THEORIES

Two-step process of Attributions

The two-step process of attribution suggests that people analyze others' behaviors first by
automatically making an internal attribution and only then considering possible external
attributions that may affect the initial inference. Heider's most valuable contribution to the topic
of attribution is the dichotomy: When attempting to decide why individuals behave a certain
way, we can make either an internal or external attribution. Internal attribution, (also called
dispositional attribution or personal attribution), is the assumption that an individual is acting a
certain way due to something about that individual, such as personality, character, or attitude.
External attribution, also called situational attribution, is the inference that an individual is acting
a certain way due to the situation he or she is in; the assumption is that most individuals would
respond in the same way in that similar situation. Essentially, people first assume that a person's
behavior is due to his or her personality, and then attempt to modify this attribution by also
factoring in the person's situation.

Kelley's co variation theory

According to American social psychologist Harold Kelley, individuals make attributions by

utilizing the co variation principle. The co variation principle claims that people attribute
behavior to the factors that are present when a certain behavior occurs and the factors that are
absent when it does not occur. There are three types of co variation information that are
particularly helpful: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. If a single individual and a large
majority of individuals behave similarly in reaction to a specific stimulus, then the individual's
behavior is attributed to the stimulus and is high in consensus. The individual's behavior due to
this specific stimulus should be compared to the individual's behavior in reaction other stimuli
within the same broader category. This helps judge whether the level of distinctiveness
information is high, and thus attributed to the stimulus. Lastly, consistency information is used to
see what happens to the behavior at another time when the individual and the stimulus both
remain unchanged. 9 Jones's correspondent inference theory According to Edward Jones and
Keith Davis's correspondent inference theory, people learn about other individuals from behavior
that is chosen freely, that is not anticipated, and that results in a small number of favorable
outcomes.

There are three factors that people use as a basis for their inferences:
1. An individual's degree of choice.
2. The expectedness of the behavior.
3. The intentions or motives behind the effects or consequences of the behavior.

LOCUS OF CONTROL

The idea of locus of control is simple. It states that behavior is guided by different types of
reinforcements. Those reinforcements can be rewards or punishments. Depending on what
reinforcements someone lives through, people learn to believe different things about what causes
their actions.

Meaning of Locus of Control:

Locus of control refers to one’s assumption about responsibility for good and bad events. Every
person during his lifetime comes across some good and some had outcomes. While he acts to
maximise the possibility of good outcomes and enjoys the success of his life, he tries to minimise
the possibility of bad outcomes.

Types of Locus of Control:

Locus of control is of two types:

(1) Internal Locus of control.

(2) External Locus of control.

1. Internal Locus of Control:

When a person believes that he or she is able to act so as to maximise the possibility of good
outcomes and to minimise the possibility of bad outcomes he is said to have internal locus of
control.

2. External Locus of Control:

 Those who are always at the mercy of luck, fate and unforeseen uncontrollable outside force and
feel helpless all the time and never like to take the responsibility for their bad outcomes and
miserable performances in life are said to have external locus of control.

Individual differences are seen in this regard. Some people are so made up that they always
blame some outside force for their failure, while there are others who do not adopt this attitude.
In this context Jullian hotter (1975) proposed the dimensions of locus of control.

According to the personality theory of Rotter behaviour occurs as a function of a person’s

expectancy that the behaviour will result in reinforcement and the value expectancy he or she
places on any particular reinforcement.

ATTRIBUTION ERRORS

Attribution error refers to an individual's tendency to attribute another's actions to their character
or personality, while attributing their behavior to external situational factors outside of their
control.

There are 4 types of attribution errors

 Fundamental attribution error.
 Actor-observer bias.
 Self-serving bias.
 Hostile attribution bias.
In social psychology, fundamental attribution error (FAE), also known as correspondence bias
or attribution effect, is a cognitive attribution bias where observers under-emphasize
situational and environmental explanations for the behavior of an actor while overemphasizing
dispositional- and personality-based .

The main causes of attribution error Is describes how people try to find out an individual's
personal characteristics from the behavioral evidence. People make inferences on the basis of
three factors; degree of choice, expectedness of behavior, and effects of someone's
behaviors.
The fundamental attribution error refers to an individual's tendency to attribute another's actions
to their character or personality, while attributing their behavior to external situational factors
outside of their control. In other words, you tend to cut yourself a break while holding others 100
percent accountable for their actions.

For instance, if you've ever chastised a "lazy employee" for being late to a meeting and then
proceeded to make an excuse for being late yourself that same day, you've made the fundamental
attribution error.
The fundamental attribution error exists because of how people perceive the world. While you
have at least some idea of your character, motivations, and situational factors that affect your
day-to-day, you rarely know everything that's going on with someone else. Similar to
confirmation and overconfidence biases, its impact on business and life can be reduced by taking
several measures.

FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR EXAMPLES

It's clear to see how the fundamental attribution error (FAE) can impact your personal life, but
it's important to recognize the influence it can have on your work, as well. Whether you're an
employee or manager, cognitive biases, like the FAE, can play a role in how you interact with
others in the workplace and how you make key business decisions.

In working with your colleagues, for example, you probably form a general impression of their
character based on pieces of a situation, but never see the whole picture. While it would be nice
to give them the benefit of the doubt, your brain tends to use limited information to make
judgments.

Within organizations, FAE can cause everything from arguments to firings and ruptures in
organizational culture. In fact, it's at the root of any misunderstanding in which human
motivations have the potential to be misinterpreted.

For example, think back to the "lazy employee." Since she was late to an important meeting, you
might be inclined to form a judgment of her character based on this one action alone. It's
possible, however, that her behavior is due to several external, rather than internal, factors. For
instance, any number of situational factors could have caused her to run behind schedule, such as
a family emergency or traffic jam, which have nothing to do with the quality of her character.

In action, forming impressions of a person's character based on limited information can have
long-lasting effects. Now that you perceive this person as "lazy," your opinions of her may begin
to shift over time. Unless the opportunity arises for you to get to know your employee better, you
may always view her in a negative light.

HOW TO AVOID THE FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

The fundamental attribution error is so prevalent because it's rooted in psychology, so

completely overcoming it can be difficult. One tool that can be helpful in combating FAE
is gratitude. When you become resentful at someone for a bad "quality" they
demonstrate, try to make a list of five positive qualities the person also exhibits. This will
help balance out your perspective and can help you view your co-worker as a whole
person instead of through the lens of a single negative quality.
Another method is to practice becoming more emotionally intelligent. Emotional
intelligence has become a buzzword in the business world over the past 20 to 30 years,
but it involves practicing self-awareness, empathy, self-regulation, and other methods of
becoming more objective in the service of one's long-term interests and the interests of
others. Practicing empathy, in particular, such as having discussions with co-workers
about their opinions on projects and life out of the office, is a good first step.

FAE is impossible to overcome completely. But with a combination of awareness and a

few small tools and tactics, you can be more gracious and empathic with your co-
workers. In fact, being able to acknowledge cognitive biases like FAE and make the
conscious effort to limit their effects is an essential component of becoming a better
manager,

IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

Impression management is the sum total of actions we take — both consciously

and unconsciously — to influence how others perceive us. We often attempt to
manage how people see us to make us more likely to achieve our goals.

Impression management is a conscious or subconscious process by which people

attempted to influence the perspective of other people (i.e.) about a man, event or
occasion. It is composed of five dimensions: Self-promotion, exemplification,
ingratiation, defensive and deception.

There are various impression management techniques, which include:

 Conformity aligning one's behavior or image with their environment.

 Ingratiation influencing others' perceptions by complimenting them for one
to appear likable.
 Intimidation getting what one wants by using aggression to control another
person.
 Flattery/Acclaim excessively complimenting someone or acknowledging
them for doing their job correctly.
 Self-Promotion exaggerating one's strengths or characteristics to cause
someone else to think highly of them.
 Association surrounding oneself with a particular social group to protect or
promote one's self-image.

A few examples of impression management are:

 A person who only tells others of their achievements to appear successful.

  A person who only speaks highly of their significant other to persuade their
parents to like them.
 A company that uses attractive models in their advertisements to persuade
the audience to purchase the product to look like the models.
 A boss who tells their employees they will not receive a bonus if they do not
increase their sales.

Impression management be used to influence a person's perception of another

person, an event, or material possession. A person may engage in self-impression
management strategies to achieve their own personal goals, such as being liked,
making new friends, or getting a new job. Additionally, companies engage in
impression management strategies through the presentation of merchandise. The
goal of the presentation of merchandise is to influence people to buy products to
boost company revenue.