DBA1604 Organizational Behaviour.pdf

DBA 1604 Organizational Behaviour

1Anna Universtiy Chennai

UNIT - I

FOCUS AND PURPOSE

1.1 INTRODUCTION

The concept of Organizational Behaviour will introduce the student to thesubject indicating the necessity to learn the subject and how it is importantto any organization. It will also take the students to various models ofOrganizational Behaviour so as to have a practical understanding of thesubject. Today the success of management of a company depends on howeffectively it is managing its people first. To manage people you must studytheir behaviour which again depends on various factors. It is this chapterthat lays the foundation for all the rest of studies on human behaviour thatwill be beneficial to organizations.

1.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter you will be able to understand

1. What is meant by organizational behaviour?

2. What is the importance of Organizational Behaviour for firms?

3. How do you approach the study of Organizational Behaviour?

4 What are the characteristic features of Organizational Behaviour?

1.3 DEFINITION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND THEFRAME WORK

1.3.1 WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR ?

Before attempting to define organizational behaviour, let us understand whatis organizational behaviour. In our daily life we come across a lot oforganizations that consists of business, schools, hospitals, transport, banking,


2 Anna Universtiy Chennai

government and such service organizations. We also know that people ofdifferent categories in different cadre are working and interacting in theseorganizations. The temperaments, responses and behaviour of these peoplein different cadres are also different. Thus for example, the services renderedby the Citibank are considered to be better than that rendered by any otherequivalent bank. Why? The services of Tata group are far different from theservices of Birla group. What makes this difference? Obviously the way inwhich people in these organizations act, react and behave are differentresulting in different performance and productive output of theseorganizations. Hence a study in detail about the behaviour of people inorganizations, accumulating knowledge about the behaviour for furtherresearch has become extremely important . From the accumulatedknowledge you can develop some tools so as to apply the same to find outhow people act within organizations. In a nutshell, you can conclude thatwherever there is organization, there is definitely a need to study andunderstand the organizational behaviour.

1.3.2 DEFINITION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR.

Based on the studies and explanations given by Nadler and Tushman, thedefinitions can be framed as follows “Organizational Behaviour” deals withthe study of human beings and their behaviour within the work settings andthe interface between human behaviour, group behaviour and the organizationitself, where an organization can be defined as a “social invention foraccomplishing goals through group efforts”.

Have you understood?

What is the background of OB ?

Can you define OB ?

1.4 NEED FOR THE STUDY

1.4.1 IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN SKILL MANAGEMENT

It is the managerial efficiency and effectiveness that determine the successof an organization. History has shown that badly managed organizations failto give results and become bankrupt though economic conditions are betterbut at the same time a well managed organization survives and prospereven during the most difficult economic times. Of course the vitality of anyorganization depends on many factors like economy, management and marketintelligence and even luck. The right business at the right time is decided bythe ability or inability of the management and this decision is significant, as it



will tell whether the organization will succeed or fail. This means there isobviously a difference between good and bad management. What are thecritical aspects that differentiate a good management from a badmanagement? What are the skills required for effective management? Amongthe various skills like technical, conceptual, analytical and human skills whichis the most important? While skills like technical etc. are knowledge-based,human skill poses the greatest challenge due to the unpredictability of humanbehaviour and the complexity of psychological processes.

Human skills require effective interacting with others and the quality of thisinteraction determines the team spirit and dedication within the organization.

1.4.2 INTERDEPENDENCY OF MEN IN GOAL ACHIEVEMENT

Though plants, machinaries and buildings etc. are necessary contributors tothe existence of an organization, the organization will cease to exist if thereare no people to run the organization even if other things remain the same.But there are many organizations without any physical assets like friendshipassociation, village association etc. and obviously it is the people who makeup an organization. An organization does not simply mean a group of peopleas you see in a departmental store. Of course they have a common goal ofshopping. But there is no coordinated effort to achieve this goal. And it isnot the common goal also. The main reason for an organization to exist isthe common goal to be achieved with all organizational efforts directedtowards the achievement of this common goal.

There can be many goals for an organization apart from making money.Thus an automobile manufacturer’s goal is to make more cars and sell morecars or reduce the air pollution or provide opportunities for employees toearn more etc. A college has a goal to achieve the best results or recruit thebest faculty or invest maximum in infrastructure etc. The degree ofachievement of these goals reflects the performance and effectiveness ofthe organization.

Another important aspect is the fact that people are members of a societyas well as members of an organization. These people interact and hence areinterdependent. Marriage is for sharing of life responsibilities and efforts.People from time immemorial formed groups to go for hunting and to protectfrom intruders and wild animals etc. Interdependency is very importantbecause man alone can not accomplish many things due to various constraintsplaced on him. Technological complexities of today make people dependon each other. Thus a Boeing aircraft can not be assembled by one man.Designing and building an airplane involve thousands of people. Only groupefforts can achieve such goals.



Have you understood ?

What is the role of human skills management in OB ?

Can you explain why men are interdependent ?

1.5 NATURE OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

1.5.1 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AS A DISCIPLINE

By now you have understood that man is a social animal and that he issuccessful more as an organizational member than as an individual. Andmodern society is full of large organizations which are complex in nature.These organizations increasingly control every sphere of human activity.The importance of organizations gets a shot in the arm when a separatediscipline ‘organizational behaviour’ itself has been established. Thereare of course other fields of study like Behaviourial Science, OrganizationTheory etc. but they all treat organization as a common entity.

In fact the organizational behaviour is not a discipline by itself but rather anintegration of concepts on sociology, psychology, anthropology etc. intothe study of people’s behaviour within the organizations.

Aldag and Brief define OB as “A branch of the social sciences that seeks tobuild theories that can be applied to predicting, understanding and controllingbehaviour in work organizations”

Callahan et al defined OB as a subset of management activities concernedwith understanding, predicting and influencing individual behaviour inorganizational settings.

In other words OB applies knowledge about individuals, groups and theeffect of the organizational structure on behaviour towards the end of makingthe organization work more efficiently.

It is difficult to fix a particular nature for OB,.as this field is undergoingchanges over time. However you can identify its nature in the present trendof situation through a study of the characteristics of O.B.

1.5.2 Characteristics of OB ?

1) OB is just getting accepted as a science and hence it is not yet a full-fledged discipline. It is still a field of study only. It is an applied science.Just now only some principles, concepts and processes are gettingsynthesized.

2) OB is a value centred normative science and not a positive science,which explains cause-effect relationship. It is normative science in the



sense that it applies the research findings to get organizational resultsthat are acceptable to society. What is acceptable to society dependson the values the people care for. Moreover the principles ofmanagement, management styles etc. are all ever changing that makeOB more normative in nature.

3) OB focuses on humanitarian aspects and believes that people ‘s needsare to be attended to and that motivating people can result in peakperformance of the organization. It values individuals as thinking andfeeling organism. OB also is optimistic about the innate potential ofpeople working in the organization and encourages their creative andproductive capabilities to achieve the objectives of the organization.OB believes in maximization of potential of individuals by providingproper conditions and environment.

4) OB is objective oriented. It believes in the achievement of individualobjectives without sacrificing the organizational objectives. Though itwants the organizational objective, it will not be at the cost of individualor group objectives. It actually integrates all these objectives bysuggesting various behaviourial approaches.

5) The basic objective of OB is to apply the various findings of the researchto solve the organizational problems with respect to human behaviouraspect. While pure science concentrates on fundamental researches,OB concentrates on applied researches. Many of OB researches arecarried out in laboratory situations and controlled conditions. Theseare meant for general applications in organizational analysis. Hence youcan say that OB is an art and science.

6) OB draws ideas and knowledge from different disciplines likepsychology, sociology and anthropology, economics, political science,law and history. Hence it is interdisciplinary in nature.

7) OB replaces intuition with systematic study. Man is a social animal andhence is subjected to various pressures from society or organization.Man is a product of socio psychological factors. His behaviour isinfluenced by his psychological framework, group influence,interpersonal orientation and social and cultural factors. Thus man’snature and behaviour are so complex you can make only a systemapproach to find solutions for his and hence for the organization’sproblems. Systems approach is an integrative approach that takes intoaccount all the variables affecting organizational functioning.




What are all the disciplines that contribute to the knowledge of OB ?

Can you briefly tell three important characteristics of OB ?

1.6 SCOPE AND IMPORTANCE OF OB

1.6.1 IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF OB

The key elements in OB are people, structure, technology and the externalenvironment in which the organization operates. People are recruited bythe organization so as to achieve the objective. This calls for a definitestructure of the organization. The organization also needs technology tohelp in getting the job done. Thus there is an interaction of people, theexternal environmental influences, structure and technology.

People

Organization External Environment

Structure Technology

Key Elements in organization behaviourThe employees constitute the social system of an organization, consisting ofindividuals, groups and large groups and small groups. Some may be formalwhile others may be informal. It must be noted that the groups are everchanging and hence are dynamic. They may also disband. The individuals inorganizations are thinkers, feelers and living emotional beings. Theorganizations hence exist to serve these members and people do not existto serve organizations.

1.6.2 BASIS OF AN ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

By learning the behaviour of people you have to achieve the organizationalgoals. It hence calls for a kind of relationship to be established that shouldbe official. You need managers, supervisors, skilled and semi-skilledworkers, accountants, clerks and other workers to perform different activitiesand functions. This calls for a structural relationship. The main structurerelates one to power and duties. Thus the supervisor has authority over hissubordinates to take decisions and extract work from them. It has an effecton the ongoing work.



All physical and economic resources are nothing but technology. Noemployee can achieve much with his bare hands. So you need buildings,machineries and create work processes and assemble resources. A verygood technology has a positive impact on the working relationships.Moreover, the working conditions in a hotel are different from that of a carmanufacturing company. The assembly line of an auto-industry calls for asmooth and user-friendly technology. The conditions in a hospital call foranother type of technology. The greatest benefit of technology is that itenables people to turn out better quality work faster and also to increaseproduction.

Added to all these is the external environment in whose control theorganization functions. An organization is part of a large system consistingof hundreds of organizations. These organizations mutually influence eachother and the effect of this influence becomes the life-style of the people.Even organizations like schools and nonprofitable organizations are affectedby the external environment. In the process, the attitudes of people areaffected. Further, the environment influences the working conditions withthe available resources and power. Hence environment also must be takeninto account while studying the human behaviour in organizations.

The very definition of organizing is that it is a managerial process. It definesthe role of each individual manager towards the attainment of organizationalobjectives with due regard to establishing authority and responsibilityrelationship among all the members of the group. It also provides forcoordination in the enterprise both horizontally and vertically – an inbuiltdevice for obtaining harmonious group action. The more the quantum ofwork the more are the activities and hence more number of people toperform the activities so as to achieve the organizational objectives. If theactivities are more then grouping and sub grouping of activities are calledfor, resulting in the formation of various departments like purchase, finance,production, marketing and personnel. Now this is is a human set-up andhence the division of labour and exercise of authority and discharge ofresponsibility all depend on the behaviour of individuals. The behaviourvaries from time to time and from individual to individual according to thesituations and mental set-up of people in the organization. Once physicalfacilities are provided to support the execution of various activities of theindividuals, there arises a material organization to assist the humanorganization for initiating action according to the assigned roles towards theattainment of organizational objectives.



1.6.3 ROLE OF AUTHORITY AND ITS EFFECT ONORGANISATION.

The next important step is the establishment of a relationship betweenauthority and responsibility. This crucial step calls for good analysis of peopleand their behaviour as a wrong authority bestowed can create havoc to theorganization. Is the manager the right choice for the particular authority tobe bestowed upon? Are you sure the subordinates will care for him? Somuch study is required because such relationship is to be established verticallyand horizontally in the organization. All personnel must perform their roleefficiently and profitable to the enterprise. The behaviour analysis is moreimportant when you find that different departments and sub departmentsare going to be linked to one another. Can the different individuals recognizethe authority of the same boss and different superiors in the same way? Dothey like the system of communication now? What is the background ofpeople subjected to different levels of communication? What is thecontribution of individuals and groups separately for effective and economicalfunctioning of the organization? The cultural and educational background ofthe employees play a major role when they react to some decisions ofsuperiors.

The significance of the study on OB is that the various principles ofmanagement can be deduced and implemented only after a throughunderstanding of the behaviour of people in general and in particular situationsseparately. It is from the study you can arrive at the various principles like

1) Principle of unity of objective

2) Principle of division of work

3) Principle of unity of direction

4) Principle of unity of command

5) Principle of communication and

6) Principle of coordination

7) Principle of management by exception etc. The correct span of control orsupervision is arrived at after a through analysis of human behaviour only.

Brilliant set of employees can mar the progress of an organization if theyare not motivated to the desired level. But whether they need motivation ornot has to be understood first. The quality of output from a skilled worker,newly trained worker and a new recruit are different from each other asthey all have varying efficiency. Many a time training and motivation ofemployees result in unprecedented increase in productivity. Thus you find



the scope and importance of OB is mainly in improving organizationalefficiency, innovations and productivity.

1.6.4 CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR AND THEIRIMPACT ON OB.

The importance of the study stems from the fact that there are some definitecauses for the human behaviour and these causes can act on an individualor on a group one at a time, two at a time or all put together like that. Hencea study is essential to predict the behaviour, which can vary from trade totrade within the organization or vary for the same trade in different industries.Science has helped the researchers to arrive at the root cause of thebehaviour and establish a relationship between the cause and its effect.Why people behave in a particular way? If the causes can be establishedthen certain types of behaviour can be predicted, manipulated and controlledfor the better performance of individuals, groups and finally for theorganization as a whole. Of course astrology, numerology, palmistry etc.also support the human behaviour attributing reasons.

Causes of human behaviour can be classified into two characteristics :

1) Inherited characteristics : a) The physical characteristics like height,weight, slim body, vision, stamina etc have some bearing on performance.Fat people are fine men, goes the saying. Fat people are also jovial innature. Tall people dress well and behave in a sophisticated manner.

b) Intelligence : This is an inherited trait. Intelligence can be enhancedby proper motivation and environment. It will be easy to convinceintelligent people and their behaviour is predictable. Another importanttrait in intelligent and educated people is that they are stable in theirapproach and behaviour generally.

c) Similarly sex, age and religion are also in this category.

2) Learned characteristics. Some of the behavioural characteristics thataccount for huge diversity in human behaviour are the result of theirexposure to various situations and stimuli—within the family, within thesociety or outside the environment. These are characteristics acquiredas a result of learning. Learning is defined as a change in behaviour as aresult of interactions with the environment. The characteristics involveindividual’s attitudes, values and perceptions about the environmentaround him. This adds to the importance of environment in OB. Differentvalues and expectations are contributed by cultures and subcultures.Children from parents and family surroundings learn the value of love



and affection. They also learn the need and values of being honest andtruthful again from the environment. The spirit of competition is therewith a student brought in military school or in sports surroundings. Whilereligious schools teach truth the convent schools lay stress on decencyand mannerism.

1.6.5 VALUE SYSTEM AND ITS IMPACT ON OB

The inherited behavioural characteristics are difficult to change but the learnedcharacteristics can be predicted, studied and controlled. Some of the learnedcharacteristics are perception, attitude values and personality. Detailed studyof each one of these characteristics is called for and that signals theimportance of the study of OB again. Value of a person is nothing but hisconcept of good and bad. It is proved that value and behaviour are highlycorrelated. Values of a person can indicate his behaviour pattern but cannotpredict the behaviour accurately. Normally values are emotionally chargedpriorities and are defended by a person very passionately. The values canbe common for a group also. Then you can now say that the organizationstands for these particular values. You can finally say that value system is aframework of personal philosophy, which governs and influences theindividual’s reactions responses and such behaviours to any situations. It isthese reactions and responses that shape the behaviour of an individual soas to direct him to selectively attend to some goals at the cost of other goalsor subordinate other goals. You see how the background for the achievementof organizational goals is prepared naturally. This value system sows theseed for the attitudes and behaviour be it a family, society or organizations.The opinion leader in a society and the leader in an organization are formedby this value system. Values decide what is good and bad, what is right andwrong etc. An organization is full of attitudes and personalities andperceptions culminating in organizational behaviour as a whole. Similarlythere are people with arrogant personality and warm personality. How shouldyou deal with such personalities is an important study. People are also broughtup amidst social and societal laws, rules, norms created by people to regulateand control behaviour of people. The behaviour is the result of respect tonorms and laws. The external stimulus or input excites the internal processesto activate and the behaviour responses occur. The performance of anindividual depends on his capacity, willingness and organizational support.This adds to the importance of a detailed study on OB.

1.6.6 IMPORTACE OF THE STUDY

The importance of the study is also because of the fact that employees aregenerally interested to improve their behaviour; rather they are concerned



with improving the organizational behaviour for the mutual benefit ofthemselves and the organization. Whether one is a machinist, typist, dataentry operator or manager all have to deal with people and work with peopleand this influence the quality of behaviour that forms the base for theorganizational life. It must be understood that the action of decision makersaffects the working of people under them. Every decision maker must usethe knowledge acquired on OB of the set-up for furthering the relationshipbetween people and the organization. Managers have a special responsibilityin building a climate in which people are motivated, people work in unisonand the employees become more effective and useful to the organization.

In fact the correct application of OB enables the enterprise to score a hatrick– as human, organizational and social objectives are met. People must enjoyworking in a team and grow so that the organization also grows. As peoplelearn more they grow more and contribute more enabling the organizationto contribute more to the employees as well as the society. In the processthe society gets the best products, services with quality as the slogan. Thenet result is you get better citizens, healthy citizens, and cooperative citizenswith a progressive mindset.

1.6.7 A BRIEF TOUCH ON TAYLOR’S AND ELTON MAYO’SCONTRIBUTIONS

In olden days, organizations were not complex as you find it today. Therelationship was easily managed as people worked in small groups. Thoughconditions were not good with regard to hygiene, food or surroundingsetc., people were happy and had a sense of fulfillment. Actual by conditionswere really brutal with disease, filth, and danger and scarcity of resources.It was only during the Industrial Revolution, people became aware of theirrights on wages, hours of work and other factors that contribute tosatisfaction. In 1800, Robert Owen fought against the child labour. FrederickTaylor brought about sweeping changes in organizational behaviour byrecognizing the importance of productivity that was linked to human aspects.He proclaimed that if there is a best machine to do a job there is also a bestway for people to do their jobs. This laid the foundation for the interest inhuman conditions at work around world war 1..Later Elton Mayo andF.J.Roethlisberger proved in their Hawthorne experiments that anorganization is a social system and the worker is not a simple tool but acomplex personality who interacts in a group situation difficult to understand.While Taylor emphasized that human problem stood in the way of production,Elton Mayo felt that human problem is an excellent opportunity for learningand progress. What Elton was referring as human relations became OB



later. Greater emphasis on the study on human relations became the orderof the day as the cultural differences in understanding the human side of theorganization was increasing. Hence attention was needed to catch up withthe progress in engineering, production, sales, finance etc. The managementlearnt that the cleavage is on the increase and hence wanted to improve thesituation. More effective performance of the managers depended on thenew knowledge gained by managers. And knowledge of organizationalbehaviour contributes to effective managing of the organizations. Also manydisciplines like sociology, politics, psychology, mathematics, biology etccontribute in their own way to the study of OB.Thus Psychology tries tostudy, understand, measure, explain and change the behaviour of individuals.It is this science that helps in understanding motivation at work, individualand interpersonal perceptions, effects of training, job satisfaction etc.Sociology as a science involves the study of social systems in whichindividuals exercise their social role in relation to their fellow human beings.The industrial psychology helps to understand the individual reactions toindustrial environment. Anthropology studies the cultural impact on individualbehaviour. Politics deals with political manipulation of power, conflicts andself-interest enhancement. Politics has ingredients affecting human behaviour.


What are the important elements of OB ?

What forms the basis for OB structure ?

How exercise of authority influences OB ?

What are the major causes for human behaviour ?

Differentiate learned and inherited characteristics ?

What do you understand by value system ?

What is its impact on OB ?

Briefly write on the contributions of Taylor and Elton Mayo for OB ?

1.7 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOURAL MODELS

1.7.1 DIFFERENT MODELS OF OB

Every organization has to develop a behavioural model of its employees forits effective perusal. The specific mission and vision of the management andthe pre-formed opinion about the people of course influence this model.The opinions or assumptions about the people vary to a great extent resultingin the development of different OB models.



Trust, of course, has been one of the potent tools to learn and predictbehaviour. Either you have to trust or you should not trust people. Basedon this approach if interpersonal interactions take place, then the result willbe different only. Thus Charles Handy has a comment on our organizations–“Most of our organizations tend to be arranged on assumption that peoplecan not be trusted or relied on, even in tiny matters”. Generally manyassumptions have been made in the field of OB. Often the assumptions arepoles asunder. McGregor’s theory of X and Y have quite contraryassumptions about people while analyzing the behaviour of people. Argyrishas considered the concept of maturity and immaturity as the basis for hisstudy on people. Hence the OB models developed on these assumptionsshow hectic variations. But the models now in use are in the continuum ofthese two extremes only though the models lie in between the two oppositepoles. The models developed by Davis are given below.

1) Autocratic Model

2) Custodial Model

3) Supportive Model

4) Collegial Model.

The features of the models are segregated in the following columnsFeatures Autocratic Custodial Supportive Collegial

Basis of

model

Power Economic

resources

Leadership Partnership

Managerial

Orientation

Authority Money Support Teamwork

Employee

Orientation

Obedience Security

and

Benefits

Job

performance

Responsible

behaviour

Employee

psychologic

al result

Dependence

on boss

Dependence

on

organization

Participation Self-discipline

Employees

needs met

Subsistence Security Status and

recognition

Selfactualization

Performance

result

Minimum Passive

cooperation

Awakened

drive

Moderate

enthusiasm

AUTOCRATIC MODEL

Here the management is power oriented. The management uses the powerand authority to get things done. Obviously the employees follow the ordersas in such organizations the people live on subsistence level. Hence the



dependence on boss is very high here. What each employee should do,what should be the process etc are all pre-decided. The model draws itsassumptions from McGregor’s theory X. It assumes that people are indolentand may not work unless compelled. The people try to avoid responsibility.Hence a close supervision is required in order that they perform to theexpected level. Due to the unlimited application of authority over the people,better performance is achieved in such types of organizations only throughfear, threats, punishments and occasional rewards. It is also clear that thecommunication can be only downward or it is only one way. The main featureof the autocratic model is that it is exploitative and authoritative. It simplytakes advantage of the economic situation of the men under control.However, the aspirations and changing values of people are giving way toother types of models. This model is still in use in lower strata of organizationswhere work has to be extracted employing basic need motivation –food,clothing and shelter.

CUSTODIAL MODEL

In this model, the capability and smartness of the organization in creatingbenefits to the employees through the power of money is used. It also makesthe employees organizational dependent because the employee hopes forsecurity . They need not depend on the boss here. Once the company isable to maintain them that itself will provide them security. But thesemaintenance factors may not motivate them to work more or improveproductivity. Since the employees are getting adequate safety and securitythe performance may not be high. They are also not given any authority todecide the benefits or rewards, though they feel happy. This type of modelis prevalent even now in family-managed business enterprises. Here onlythe management will decide the benefits. Sometimes even the characteristicsof the family also get embedded to the system. In this money oriented OBmodel, there can be only passive cooperation of people. Just like parentswho decide what is best for their children so the management decides whatis best for the employees. The model may not be suitable where theemployees are highly matured.

SUPPORTIVE MODEL

In this model, the management wants to support the employees in all fieldswherever possible so that achievement of objectives are easier for them.The model also supports the view that OB depends on managerial leadershiprather than the use of money or power. The focus is getting shifted toparticipation and involvement of employees through the mechanism of



supportive control. As a result of this approach each member of theorganization begins to view the experience as supportive- experience ofinteractions and relationship with other employees. For such a state of affairsto exist, the processes and leadership of the organizations must be designed.The greatest contribution of this model is the development of a personaltouch for anything and everything in the organization. The employee buildson this and maintains it. The model draws its inferences from McGregor’stheory Y - The theory says that human beings give out their best if given aproper and congenial work ambience. The maturity of workers moveupwards and parallelly the individuals expect suitable organizational climatethat will be in line with their expectations. The employees try to satisfy theirhigher order needs in steps as propounded by Abraham Maslow.Accordingly the organizational processes like communication, decision-making, leadership, control, interaction and influence etc are all adjusted sothat it enables the employees to fulfill their higher order needs like esteemand self-actualization

In this model, you find that the emphasis is not on the economic resourcesbut on human aspects. You design the programme so that the managers canhelp the employees to achieve their target or peak performance instead ofcontrolling or supervising them.

The supportive model works well only in developed countries withprofessional set-up and sophisticated technology. Here the people are alsowell skilled and technically sound. Also this is more suitable to those managerswhose lower level needs is already satisfied. In countries where the lowerlevel needs is not covered due to the structure of the organizations then thiswill not work. You can but generalize that this model is applicable formanagers and development of managerial groups. .

COLLEGIAL MODEL

As the name indicates in this model the members work in a team with ateam spirit and try to share common goals. There is a high degree ofunderstanding among the members who need not be controlled or supervised.The employees feel the responsibility and they work for a common purpose.The very climate of the organization spreads itself for self-actualization andself-fulfillment. To be precise you can say this an extension of the supportivemodel. Such people have high moral values and positive attitudes Suchmembers can execute even unplanned work also effectively because of theirbehavioural flexibility They only need an intellectual environment and freedomof job. Again you must note that the behaviour of the members in this modelis cooperative to achieve a common purpose.



1.7.2 APPLICATION OF MODELS

You can not fix a particular model for an organization nor all models areapplicable for any one organization. After all the models are based onassumptions on various human characteristics and these can work to thebest advantage of the organization. Since situations vary from time to timein the same organization and situational factors play a major role indetermining the organizational processes no manager can fix a particularmodel for the same organization itself. This being the case obviously a modelcan not be perfectly predicted for other organizations also. Everythingdepends on the situation and the purpose in order to apply a particularmodel. The models are best adopted to the need of the hour. Need hierarchyis not the same for all employees. The need hierarchy changes from personto person depending on his level in the organization, his level of maturity,level of education, personality factors and work surroundings. So a particularmodel can be adopted based on these factors Many organizational andbehavioural scientists believe that supportive or collegial models should beadopted more and more because in all the other models the conditions arenot conducive to give their best performance. This may be the reason thatmany organizations are taking steps to humanize their organizations throughparticipative management and morale building exercises.

1.7.3 BASIC MODEL OF OB

The subject of OB is research based and hence the validity of OB is as longas the findings support it only. In other words you do not have answers forall OB issues. Many issues may require far more corroborating evidence.In fact developing a model is nothing but an abstraction of reality. It is asimplified version of a large real life phenomenon . Thus a mannequin keptin a store at the point of purchase is only a model.

The formula of F = ma in science is also similar.

The accountant uses

Assets = Liabilities+ owner’s Equity.

Thus when you analyze the depth of OB you find that there are three levelsof OB consisting of individual level, group level and the organizational level.As you move from individual level to organizational level, you are addingthe experience and knowledge gained on behaviour systematically. The threebasic levels are depicted as follows.



Organization systemslevel

Group level

Individual level

BASIC OB MODEL, STAGE I

It is very clear from the figure that the three basic levels look like a buildingblock and each level is built on the foundation of the previous level. Thusgroup behavioural concepts blossom out of the foundation laid in theindividual level However the structural constraints due to the formation ofthe structure of the organization will have to be precipitated to group andindividual levels so as to arrive at the organizational behaviour.

1.7.4 The Dependent Variables

Productivity, absenteeism, turnover and job satisfaction are the primarydependent variables in OB. An organization’s human resources effectivenessdepends on these four critical determinants of organizational effectiveness.However, there is nothing extraordinary about these variables as they merelyshow that OB research has strongly reflected managerial interests overthose of individuals or of society as a whole. Of course, in the years tocome, new dependent variables may be added to or may replace those thatcurrently dominate the OB field. For instance, one author has argued forthe growing importance of job stress, individual dissent, and innovation asdependent variables. In defense of innovation, he argues, “As a greaterpercentage of work becomes highly skilled and professionalized the criteriaof performance will likely become more ambiguous and subject to change.Therefore, questions of employee productivity may become translated intoinquiries about working smarter rather than harder… where there is rapidchange or competition is fierce, innovation may be the organization’s mostimportant outcome variable. The fact remains, however, that productivity,absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction currently dominate the field. Solet’s review these terms to ensure that we understand what they mean andwhy they have achieved the distinction of being OB’ s primary dependentvariables.”



PRODUCTIVITY

A productive organization achieves its goals, by transforming inputs to outputsat the lowest cost. As such, productivity implies a concern for botheffectiveness and efficiency.

An airline for example, is effective when it successfully meets the needs ofits clientele. It is efficient when it can do this at a low cost. If an airline canmanage to achieve higher output from its present staff by reducing thewaiting time during which a passenger is confined to the waiting desk or byincreasing the number of staff – customer contacts per day, we say that theairline has gained productive efficiency. Similarly, a school may be effectivewhen a certain percentage of students achieve a specified score onstandardized achievement tests. The school can improve its efficiency if asmaller teaching and support staff can secure these higher test scores. Abusiness firm is effective when it attains its sales or market share goals, butits productivity may include return on investment, profit per dollar of sales,and output per hour of labor.

You can also look at productivity from the perspectives of the individualemployee. Let us take the cases of Ram and Raja. who are both long-distance truckers. If Ram is supposed to haul his fully loaded rig from Bombayto its destination in Hyderabad in seventy – five hours or less, he is effectiveif he makes the - thousand - mile trip within this time period. But measuresof productivity must take into account the cost incurred in reaching thegoal. That’s where efficiency comes in. Let us assume that A made theBombay to Hyderabad trip run in sixty-eight hours and averaged sevenmiles per litre. Raja on the other hand, made the trip in sixty-eight hoursalso, but averaged nine mile per litre (rigs and loads are identical). BothRam and Raja were effective – they accomplished their goal – but Rajawas more efficient than Ram because his rig consumed less gas and, therefore,he achieved his goal at a lower cost.

In a nutshell OB’s major concerns is productivity. What you need to knowis what factors will influence the effectiveness and efficiency of individuals,of groups, and of the overall organization..

ABSENTEEISM

The annual cost of absenteeism has been estimated at over Rs. 5000 croresfor Indian organizations. At the job level, a one-day absence by a clericalworker can cost an employer up to Rs.300 in reduced efficiency andincreased supervisory workload. These figures useed indicated theimportance to an organization of keeping absenteeism low.



It is obviously difficult for an organization to operate smoothly and to attainits objectives if employees fail to report to their jobs. The workflow isdisrupted, and often-important decisions might be delayed. In organizationsthat rely heavily upon assembly-line technology, absenteeism can beconsiderably more than a disruption – it can result in a drastic reduction inquality of output, and, in some cases, it can bring about a complete shutdownof the production facility. Many industries in India suffer from absenteeismof employees during festival times, like Deepavali, Pongal, Ramzan etc.Itaffects the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm.

Absenteeism is not always bad. While most absences impact negatively onthe organization, we can conceive of situation where the organization maybenefit by an employee voluntarily choosing not to come to work. Forinstance, fatigue or excess stress can significicantly decrease an employee’sproductivity. In jobs where an employee needs to be alert- surgeons andairline pilots are obvious examples – it may well be better for the organizationif the employee does not report to work rather than show up and performpoorly. The cost of an accident in such jobs could be prohibitive. Even inmanagerial jobs, where mistakes are less spectacular, performance may beimproved when incumbents absent themselves from work rather than makea poor decision under stress. But these are only typical examples .You mustassume that organizations benefit when employee absenteeism is reduced.

TURNOVER

If more and more employees are leaving the organization, then more andmore recruitment will be taking place. This costs the organization a lot.Further well-trained people on whom the firm had invested may also leave.This is a loss to the organization in the sense that the effective functioning ofthe organization will be affected. It is welcome if substandard people leavein any level so that replacement can be done with more qualified or efficientpeople. It may help the organization to promote the deserving employees.But if organizations begin to lose people who are even satisfactory as persuperiors, then it will have a clear impact on efficiency and effectiveness.Excessive turnover must be hence avoided. It is very common nowadays inI.T. industry. Whether the exit of an employee is voluntary or involuntary anexit interview may be conducted to find out the root causes for the turnoverthat can enable the organization for taking corrective action for bettermentof the organization.



JOB SATISFACTION

A satisfied worker not only gives consistent performance but will also showsigns of improvements in performance without much or with the same amountof supervision. Job satisfaction is more an attitude than behaviour. Sinceperformance is directly related to job satisfaction though an attitude, it isconsidered to be an important ingredient of OB. What is satisfactionpractically? Any normal employee has several expectations like betterrecognition, better amenities, better pay, better canteen, better treatment,rest, family welfare activities by company etc . In return, a company alsorewards the employees back with many rewards like letter of appreciation,welfare measures, pay hike or additional incentives, week-end relaxation,yearly travel package, promotions or other financial and non financialrewards.

Now if the reward from the organization is less than the expectation thenthere will be no or less satisfaction for the employee. However, if the rewardsare more than or equal to the expectation then there is more satisfaction forthe employee. A satisfied employee is more productive has been establishedby research. In fact, once you have satisfied employees, it is found thatabsenteeism is less and productivity is more . In many researches it is foundthat the quality of output is also considerably higher from satisfied workers.This leads you believe that organizations should provide employees withjobs that are challenging and hence rewarding. What you have read in thispara explains why job-satisfaction is a dependent variable in OB.

Though the dependent variables productivity, absenteeism, turnover andjob satisfaction have been touched upon, you have to analyze the underlyingforces that determine these variables. You have to start from the individuallevel variables for this. When recruitment is done, organizations may getpeople with different characteristics—some are experienced while othersare fresh. People enter with some characteristics that will influence theirbehaviour within the organization. Some of these characteristics are age,sex, marital status, personality, values, attitudes, beliefs, customs, and basicability levels. The management has no control on these characteristics butthey have a telling effect on the behaviour of the people. The other factorslike perception, individual decision making power, learning and motivationhave also a direct influence on the individual behaviour.

1.7.5. OB MODEL INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

The following figure describes the OB in individual level and it is selfexplanatory.



Biographical characteristics.

Personality

Values and attitude attitudes attitudes.

Ability

Perception

Motivation

Learning

Absenteeism

Turnover

Satisfaction

Productivity

Individual decision making

You can deduce the group behaviour model from the above. It may benoted that the group behaviour is much more than the sum of the total of allthe individual behaviour.This is because each individual acts in his own way.And individual behaviour changes when he is a member of a group. In otherwords, people’s behaviour is different when they are in a group than whenthey are alone. Hence for further understanding of OB, you have to learngroup behaviour.

The important factor to be analyzed in-group behaviour is the influence thegroup has on each individual. Natuarally, the group expects a particularpattern of behaviour from the individuals that is acceptable to the group. Ina group the new factors to be considered are leadership, communication,conflicts, group decision-making power, politics, inter group relations etc.that affect the group behaviour. There is no question of leadership in thecase of an individual as individual. So also there is no special communicationnor power struggle or politics for an individual as individual. This is thedifference in-group behaviour which has its own influence individuals. Thefollowing figure illustrates the group interactions towards group behaviour.

1.7.6 THE GROUP LEVEL IN THE OB MODEL

Group decisionmaking

Communication

Other groups

Absenteeism

Turnover

Satisfaction

Productivity

ConflictPower andpolitics

Group structure

Leadership

Intergrouprelations



Once you know the basics of group and individual behaviour then a formalstructure can be given to the organization. This will take the organizationalbehaviour to great heights. The sum of the behaviour of all the differentgroups will still be less than the behaviour of the organization as a whole.The design of the organization in a formal way, the selection and trainingpolicies, human resources management policies, level of stress, appraisalprocedure, the internal culture of the organization etc have a definite impacton the dependent variables. The final OB model is shown below.


What is an OB model ?

What are the four models of Davis ?

How do you select a model for OB analysis ?

How do you develop an OB model in the organizational levelfrom an individual level ?

Give an account of the dependent and independent variablesin OB analysis ?

1.8 SUMMARY

You have studied in this unit the background of organizational behaviourand its importance for today’s successful management of enterprises. It hasbeen established that managing human skills is an art and the degree ofsuccess lies in skillful handling of the same by managers. To handle a humanbeing, you should know his behaviour first. How do you predict thebehaviour is the question? Moreover “what are the constituent elements ofhuman behaviour” is a very interesting topic that has to be understood. Theboundaries of OB have been made clear here. Today, the basis for humanresources development is a much talked about topic. Unless OB isunderstood HRM can not be a success. Therefore, the basic models for thestudy on OB are developed. The specific models of Davis –Autocratic.custodial, supportive and collegial models are described briefly. The chaptercloses with the discussion on how an organizational behaviour model isdeveloped from an individual behaviour model.

1.9 EXERCISES

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS : TICK “YES OR NO”

Technology creates products, not human skills.

Wherever there is a group there is an organization.



Organizational objective is more important than personal objective.

All individuals have same values and interests.

Individual behaviour is developed from the organizational behaviour.

Sociology or Anthropology or political science has nothing to do withhuman or organizational behaviour.

All models are not applicable in one organization.

Each individual is effective himself and does not need the help of fellowbeings.

Sharing talents and responsibility is the strength behind group concept.

Environment has nothing to do with an individual’s personality.

SHORT QUESTIONS :

What is organizational behaviour ? What is its importance as far as abusiness enterprise is concerned ?

Describe any three characteristics of OB that is relevant to a firm.

Why do you develop models of OB ?

What are the elements of OB ?

Sketch the basic OB model ?

LONG QUESTIONS :

What do you understand by the term OB? Bringout a definition of thesame indicating its importance and limitations ?

Describe the various models used for the study of OB ?



UNIT - II

INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

2.1 INTRODUCTIONThis chapter will be explaining the aspects of individual beheviour likepersonality, perception, attitude, learning and motivation on a micro scale.The significance of each of these and their influence on work behaviour willbe emphasized. Since the behaviour of an individual is dependent on theseattributes, a working knowledge of these aspects become very essential.These days reward alone cannot constitute motivation unless the reward isfor recognition of performance. Today management of any organization ispossible only with a positive work force in any department. The relationshipbetween various traits and the characteristics of an individual enablesmanagement and the worker to adjust and respond to the situation for theachievement of the organizational objectives.


After going through this chapter, you will be able to understand what ismeant by

Personality

Perception

Attitude

Learning

Motivation

and the influence of these factors on the behaviour of a worker in anorganization.



2.3 PERSONALITY

2.3.1 INTRODUCTION

The Latin term “per sonnare” means, “to speak through”. The wordpersonality is derived out of this word. It is the unique characteristic of aperson being influenced by personal factors and environmental factors.Personality is not simply the external features of a man but includes hisbehaviour, inner awareness of self as a permanent organizing force and thestate of his mind where his inner and outer traits can be measured. Youcome across people who are good, bad, arrogant, aggressive, affectionateetc. You also see people in agreements and disagreements resulting infriendship or conflicts. The so-called personality can be reflected in thetemperament of a man. These are all put together form the personality andhence this is a key factor in determining the individual behaviour that has arole in organizational behaviour. The wrong personality of a superior canprove disastrous in terms of work unrest and protests. In many firmspersonality clashes and difficulties have ended up in strikes and lockouts. Itall has happened in spite of the technical knowledge and other behavioralcharacteristics because it is the temperament of the superior that is crucialin cordial interaction with his subordinates.

2.3.2 DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY

Gangadhar Rao –‘Personality is a wider, unclear concept relating tofundamental approaches of persons to others and themselves. These arethe characteristic traits of an individual, relationship between these traitsand the way in which a person adjusts to other people and situations.’

Personality is a static attribute and characteristics of a person that influenceshis or her behaviour towards goal achievement. Each person has a uniqueway of protecting this state.

A person’s nature is outgoing, invigorating with interpersonal abilities, thenit is a reflection of his personality.

Salvatore Maddi defines personality as “a stable set of characteristics andtendencies that determine those commonalities and differences in thepsychological behaviour (thoughts, feelings and actions) of people that havecontinuity in time and that may not be understood easily as a result of socialand biological pressures of the moment”

This definition tells that there is consistency in characteristics that accountfor a relatively stable and consistent behaviour by man. It also tells thatsome of them are common with others while other traits set an individual



apart from others. The significance of this is that every person is in certainaspects, like others, like some other people, like no other person. What amanager of an organization must learn is that not all employees alike andthat each one is unique and may or may not respond to the stimuli like payrise, tranfer, promotion or reprimands.

Allport is of the view that personality is the sum total aggregate of propertiesand qualities of a man. It also stresses that personality is only the integrationand organization of the attributes and adjustment to the environment. Inother words, personality is an organized whole without which an individualhave no meaning.

What are these attributes that one organizes to reflect his personality?

That one is an introvert, one is an extrovert, one is gregarious, one is timid,one is outspoken, one is easy going, one is short tempered, one is openminded, one is a liar, one is a gentleman, one is arrogant, one is aggressiveetc. are the different attributes of personality. But the question is what arethe factors that determine an individual’s personality?


What do you mean by personality ?

Please give any one definition of personality ?

2.4 FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO/INFLUENCING PERSONALITY.

The personality of a person is determined by the biological and environmentalfactors. Biological factors include heredity, physical structure and the brain.

2.4.1 HEREDITY

The parents transmit about twenty-three chromosomes consisting ofthousands genes to the child. That means, so many traits are geneticallydonated to the child. Then you say that father looks like son and son lookslike father. The transmission includes both physical and psychologicalcharacteristics. This goes to confirm that heredity plays a major role in one’spersonality. However, the importance of heredity varies from one personalitytrait to another personality trait. Even two brothers may have differentpersonality traits. The traits can be hair, colour, eyes, eye colour, height,attractiveness etc. Our personality is formed depending on the reaction ofothers to our appearance and intellect. Thus a person with an underactivethyroid gland becomes tired and fatigued. With overactive glands makeshim restless, irritable with loss of concentration on work. All these affect



one’s behaviour. Characteristics of a person who is in biological inequilibrium,can affect his behaviour.

2.4.2 PHYSICAL FACTORS

The very structure of a person has a telling effect on his personality. Thus aperson who is tall or short, black or white, handsome or ugly, fat or thin,nervous or non-nervous etc has different effects on others and as a resultthe reactions in the given situation will affect the self-concept of the person.Scientists/ Psychologists believe that different rate of growth in maturity ofpersons (boys and girls) can affect the personality and hence behaviour ofpeople Thus a physically handicapped child has an approach to life andsurroundings in a way totally different from that of an ordinary child. Thephysical characteristics have a relation to a boy’s approach to socialenvironment. Such a boy has different expectations from others. Also theboy’s assumption of the reactions from others is also affected by the physicalcharacteristics.

2.4.3 BRAIN

Though there is no empirical evidence to establish the relationship betweenbrain and personality, some specific experiments known as electricalstimulation of brain and the allied research indicate that the personality of aperson and his behaviour is influenced by brain.

2.4.4 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS

Culture is one of the environmental factors influencing the personality of aperson. When an individual is born in a particular culture, he is brought upin the value system, beliefs, norms, rules and regulations, etc. prevalent inthat culture and acceptable to the other members of that culture. Henceculture is a major determinant of an individual’s personality. It is culture thatdetermines what a person is and what a person will be. The experience ofdealing with the environment is passed on from one generation to another.Thus you find culture is a complex of these beliefs, customs and values thatare shared among them. Members often comply with the dictates of theculture. Culture thus is the underlying determinant of human decision-making.It hence decides attitudes towards independence, aggression, competitionand cooperation. You already know that culture expects and trains itsmembers to behave in the ways that are acceptable to the group. The valuesand personality characteristics learned by a person is really reinforced bythe cultural group in which the person has been brought up. The culturalgroup that brought him up also defines the experiences and situations theperson is likely to encounter.



To give examples, you can refer to American and Japanese culture as far asan organization is concerned. You find that a spirit of independence,aggressiveness and competition is rewarded by the American culture whileJapanese culture reinforces attitudes of cooperation and team spirit. Similarly,while Japanese take an active interest in personal matters of employees, theAmerican management is more impersonal and functional—all due to culturalinfluence. People from different cultural background have different attitudestowards habits, risk taking, accepting change, introducing oneself, materialgains, attitude on woman etc.

However, there are many subcultures within a major culture. Hence thebehaviour of people within the culture also can vary accordingly. Thus youfind that the behavioural pattern of skilled workers is different from that ofunskilled ones. Within the Indian culture you have the North Indian andSouth Indian subcultures. Now if you recruit an auto mechanic from eachregion to the same cadre they will present different personality and behaviour.

2.4.5 FAMILY FACTORS

A person, brought up in a poor family, shows different characteristics fromthat of a person brought up in a rich family. This is because the experiencesand attitudes towards life are different in both the cases. Especially theinfluence of family and the members like brothers, sisters, uncles, cousinsetc play a major role in the early part of the development of the personalityof the person. The socio-economic level of the family, size of the family,race, religion, the order of birth of the child, the geographic location, parent’seducation all have an effect on the personality as well as the behaviour ofthe person. Newcomb’s study establishes that parents, particularly fatherhave a decisive influence on the personality of the child. In an experiment, itwas proved that the relationship between parents and children are far higherthan the one between teachers and the same children. Mussen has provedthat children from democratically brought up family are less argumentative,more stable, more sensitive to praise and are socially more successful thantheir counterparts from an authoritarian family. One of the common elementsin the history of maladjusted persons is the maladjustment and frictionbetween their mother and father.

2.4.6 SOCIAL FACTORS

Socialization is mixing of a member in family with the society, social groupsand the culture. In a group and society there is enormous scope for theindividual to acquire behavioural potentials. This is so right from the time ofbirth, when the individual begins to mix with children and others. Those



patterns of behaviour are acceptable to the family and also the society.Later contacts with mother, sister, brother, friends, teachers, officials etc.influence and shape the person’s personality. A man is known by the companyhe keeps. It is the social norms and the unwritten laws of the society thatmake an individual behave in a way dictated by the society. Thus for example,standing on the back of line for a service is the expected behaviour frompeople. But anybody cuts the line will be ridiculed. In fact he will not beallowed to do so. Later you will see that social influences affect not onlypersonality but also their perceptions through out life.

2.4.7 SITUATIONAL FACTORS

“ Life is nothing but a collection of experiences” Each individual has differentexperiences and faces unique events and all these determine his personalityin the days ahead. The behavioural expression receives sometimes-suddenimpacts due to unexpected situations and this results in quick adjustment ofpersonality. The new personality hitherto absent gets manifested becauseof situations. Knowledge, skill, language etc. are acquired from theenvironment and these have a tremendous influence on the personality ofthe individual. Often there are modifications of personality due to peculiarsituations in the environment. The modifications in behaviour since learnedand acquired from situations, it may not be passed on to the children. Quiteoften you can observe that people present a different personality as persituations which are not predictable. Hence it may be concluded that situationshave a decisive influence on the personality and behaviour of the individuals.You also come across people who are timid suddenly becoming courageousdue to situations, when they jump into fire accident place to save the victimsat the cost of their own safety- situation has influenced. Sometimes sometraumatic experience can change the structure of the entire personality andbehaviour—like a dacoit turning into a good man after getting into a templeand having discussion with the priest. Milgram says that situation can exercisepressure and constraints on the individual giving a push or pull to hispersonality. In situations the individual presents a different person.


What are physical factors and heredity in the context ofpersonality ?

2.5 DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERSONALITY

Individuals are classified into several types based on personality. It isestimated that there are more than 5000 traits of personality for people.



Personality is a set of relatively stable characteristics that account forconsistency in behaviour. Some of the dimensions of personality, as far asorganizations are concerned, are linked with interpersonal and organizationalbehaviour, explaining the need for the study.

2.5.1 AUTHORITATIVE PERSONALITY

In this type people simply accept authority and behave in a dictatorialmanner. They want obedience from others and they stick to conventionalvalues. These people are generally less educated. For example, you canquote some parents who are tough, keeping their family very close, exercisingextreme control on the children etc. They believe in hierarchy and they makegood followers. They believe in directive supervision and are result orientedin an authoritarian organization structure. Dogmatism is also a part ofauthoritarianism only. Here a person is very stubborn in his belief. They arevery intolerant to others and are rigid in their approach. The religious andpolitical fanatics are in this category.

2.5.2 BUREAUCRATIC PERSONALITY

These people are highly law-abiding. They believe in bureaucracy in thesense that they care too much for rules and regulations. Though they respectauthority they may not blindly follow authority as done by authoritarians. Abureaucrat believes in subordination, orderly processes in organization andin impersonal and formal relationship. They are not venturesome i.e. theydo not take any risks. Nor they are innovative. They believe in givinginstructions as per rules and are prepared to take directives from their bossas per rules. For routine and repetitive work, which is, proceduralizedbureaucratic managers are better.

2.5.3 MACHIAVELLIANISM

This personality trait wherein people manipulate others for their personalgains. They have high self-confidence and self esteem. They are so calculativethat they exploit the situation and the people in order to achieve their goals.Often they follow unethical means to meet their goals. They are very intelligentto approach a situation and that too very thoughtfully. These personalitiesare skillful enough in influencing others for their selfish advantage. They arevery logical in analyzing situations and will not hesitate to tell lies to tackle asituation in their favour. They cannot be allured by friendship, trust or loyalty.They normally twist facts to control others, events or situations. In otherwords manipulation is their motto.



2.5.4 PERSONALITY BASED ON LOCUS OF CONTROL

This type of people is always in a state either in control of the situation orevents or the situation or events control them. Those who believe that theycontrol the events and shape their destiny are supposed to have internallocus of control, and those who believe that events occur only by chance ordue to factors beyond their control are supposed to have external locus ofcontrol. Those in “internal locus of control” seek opportunities foradvancement in life and are confident of their abilities and judgment at workwhile the other category remains inactive and some times indolent allowingevents to overpower them.Research has established that people having intrnalcontrol occupy high positions and expects rewards for achievements.

2.5.5 PERSONALITY BASED ON TOLERANCE FOR AMBIGUITY

Some people have the ability to have high tolerance in spite of a high levelof ambiguity in matters and they carry on without experiencing any stress.Their functioning does not get affected at all. Others who have only a lowlevel of tolerance to experience ambiguity, will be ineffective in their workin a fast changing scenario. The latter can work only in a stable, non-changingand structured work set-up. The latter cannot also face future turn of eventsin the absence of much information. However today a general manager hasto work in an uncertain environment and hence must develop tolerance forambiguity.

2.5.6 TYPE A AND TYPE B PERSONALITY

The characteristics of TYPE A personality are as follows.

1) They are achievement oriented.

2) They are competitive having initiative and drive.

3) They are impatient to achieve things and hence can not accept slowdown in work for any reason.

4) Due to urgency of time theywalk and eat fast.

5) But can not bear others being impatient.

6) Does several things at a time.

7) They want more and more things to be done in less and less time.

8) They always start the next work without completing the first work.

9) They do not relax nor enjoy the life.

10) They gesticulate, with a clenched fist and banging tables etc.



These people have high standards of performance with obsessive behaviourand hence have poor interpersonal relations. They create stress forthemselves and for others. They feel pressurized whenever they want tocomplete a task before deadline.

Some of the characteristics of TYPE B personality are as follows.

1) They feel no urgency of time.

2) They have no competitive drive.

3) They are easy going.

4) They are relaxed, sociable and have a balanced outlook on life.

5) They take a lot more time to complete a work compared to type A.

6) They feel no pressure at all, still hardworking.

7) They do one at a time and slowly complete the work before going tothe next work.

8) They do not put any extra effort to meet dead line.

9) They are a happy –go-lucky guys.

10) They are not prone to stress and coronary problems.

2.5.7 INTROVERT AND EXTROVERT PERSONALITIES

Introverts prefer loneliness and long for solitary confinement. They feel shyto express themselves and also are not good communicators. “The introvertis behaviorally described as quite, introspective, intellectual, well ordered,emotionally unexpressive and value oriented, prefers small group of intimatefriends and plans well ahead” —defines L.W.Morris. Carl Jung is of theopinion that introverts are inward directed people and are less sociable.,they are withdrawn and absorbed in inner life. Introverts are guided by theirown ideas and philosophy. They are rigid and less flexible and are alwayssubject oriented. By themselves they will not open a dialogue with othersand unless others speak they will not talk at all.

Extroverts are on the contrary sociable, optimistic,and loves companionship.They are friendly and enjoy dialogues with others. They want excitementand hate solitude. “Extrovert is sociable, lively, impulsive, seeking noveltyand change, care free and emotionally expressive”—L.W.Morris. A managerhas to be an extrovert as he has to exercise authority and command andlead. An introvert can work in an office free of interference.



2.5.8 SELF-ESTEEM

A set of people has a high regard about themselves—that is self-esteem.That is the degree of respect one has for one self. An individual’s selfconfidence, ability and self-motivation are a measure of his self esteem. It isa higher level need with reference to Maslow’ need hierarchy. People withself-esteem are friendly, affectionate with interpersonal attachment. Theyare assertive, independent and creative. They find only good things in others,while low self-esteem people are always critical of others. The low esteempeople blame others for their own mistakes and are generally depressed.

Organizationally speaking high performers are people with high self-esteem.Low performers are people with low self-esteem. Abraham K.Korman –“People of high self esteem, self –perceived competence and self imageshould be more likely to achieve task performance than those who havelow self image. It also confirms that task performance is valued.”


What makes the personality unique ?

Explain the concept of locus of control ?

What are the characteristics of type A personality ?

What is self esteem ?

2.6 DIFFERENT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Though the personality is unique to individuals the variables show consistentand enduring patterns of behaviours. These consistent but different patternscan be classified into various categories. This enables us to predict thebehavioural pattern of a set of individuals belonging to a particular category.People in a given category might have similar pattern of attributes. Personalitytheories can be applied to predict the behaviour of a particular category.

2.6.1 FREUD’S PSYCHO ANALYTICAL THEORY

There are three different states for human minds. They are

1) The unconscious state

2) The conscious state and

3) the super conscious state. These are also known as the Id, the ego andthe super ego.



Id is the foundation for the unconscious state and is also the basis for pleasuredrives—the drive for sexual and other biological drives. Id is responsiblefor the animal instinct in man – instinct of power, domination and aggression.Ego relates to one’s conscious nature and acts as a mechanism to link ourconscious urges to the outside world. It has an important role to play sinceit controls the Id,by exposing the realities of the outside world and settinglimitations. Ego of course allows the Id to fulfill its pleasure seeking attemptsbut at an appropriate time in an acceptable manner. It so happens, sometimes,the Ego is not in a position to control the Id. Then the Super Ego comes intopicture to assist Ego in controlling the Id.The super Ego is obviously in ahigher level to act as a restraining force. That is to say Super Ego is in thesuper conscious stage of a person—in other words it is the conscience ofthe person. The Super Ego is an important concept for the study onpersonality because it sets standards for what is wrong and what is rightbased on what it absorbs from the social environment—the cultural valuesand the ethical values. These three states of human mind as told by Freudare interrelated in their functioning. In other words, they are independentbut interdependent.—one can not exist without the other element. At anysituation these three act in perfect relation so that a balance of relationshipis maintained culminating in a particular behaviour in tune with the personalityof the person. Also the super ego, if developed more than normal, makes aman highly moral and feels guilty even for small deviation in work. Converslyan individual with under developed super ego feels weak and loose controlletting the id for submission to low level urges. Such people have less moralsand values.

Psychoanalysts have contributed a lot to organizational behaviour. It hasbeen found out that creative processes in man are working in unconsciousstage and psychoanalysts can bring these out It is psycho analytical studiesthat has explained the causes for absenteeism, daydreaming, forgetfulness,sabotage, alchoholism, drug abuse etc in employees or other individuals. Inorder to improve interpersonal communication managers are trained intransactional analysis etc. only as a part of psychoanalysis.

The most basic system of human personality is id. Id is primitive, instinctualand is governed by greed and pleasure. Id is the storehouse of low leveldesires, irrational, demanding, never satisfied and has a destructive urge toothers. At the same time Id is the foundation on which all other parts ofpersonality are erected.



SUPEREGO

THIRDLAYER

EGOSECOND LAYER

IDFIRST LAYER

The id will not tolerate uncomfortable tension and immediately seeks torelease the same. If a person feels hungry id creates a mental picture ofgood food for him thus releasing the tension, but it is not satisfying the realneed. Hence there will be reflex actions to release tension like blinking,raising eye brows, rubbing cheeks, squeezing ears etc. Id also does notcare for culturally or socially determined restrictions or values. It simplyrepresents an individual’s feelings and natural urges.

It is ego, which functions as a defensive mechanism. It regulates andintegrates the inner motives and conflicting demands. It organizes thesefactors so as to lead the person’s goals. The significance of ego is that it candistinguish the mental images from realities. So it knows the actual sourcesof tension release and accordingly it responds to the real sources of tensionreduction.

It is the super ego, which determines whether the action of ego is right orwrong so that the individual acts in accordance with the values standardsset by society. Thus the super ego of a growing child absorbs from parents,teachers, friends, religion, collegues, and organizations noble thoughts,feelings, ideals, etc. Afterall the superego is the conscience. While the idpresses for satisfaction, the ego delays it and the superego call for moralityfirst. Human mind is therefore a battlefield between id, ego and superego.The instinctual drives of id is in conflict with superego that stand for moralityand this results in a friction i.e. all is not well. This ends up in anxiety andman employs his defensive mechanism to reduce this anxiety or tension. Ina nutshell you can conclude that while Id seeks pleasure, ego compromisesand superego acts as a noble element. They are all defensive mechanismacting from inside of a person in the form of aggression, repression, reaction,rationalization and projection .

2.6.2 TRAIT THEORY

There are some specific traits for individuals and these are unique to them.Hence a person’s personality can be understood from these unique traits.Though many traits are common to people a few of them are specific onlyto some. Thus you come across people who can be described as aggressive,



loyal, pleasant, flexible, humourous, sentimental, impulsive cool and so on.Traits are the basic elements of personality and hence an individual’sbehaviour can be predicted from the traits. Forcible extrovert is an aggressivepersonality while a timid with no initiative and drive is a submissivepersonality. Cattell has grouped traits into surface traits and source traits. Ifa boy stammers then it is a surface trait. But the source of this is the timidity,which is called source trait. Other examples of surface trait are being sociableor being seclusive, being honest or dishonest, being intelligent or idiotic.Similarly some source traits are being trustful or suspicious, being straightforward or shrewd, being relaxed or tensed, being dominant or submissive etc.

Allport’s theory suggests that personality of two individuals can be comparedbased on the traits. He classified them into six categories—social, political,religions, theoretical, economic, and aesthetic. Apart from these commontraits Allport also made use of some unique traits-cardinal and unique traits.Every individual has values based on the orientation of these traits. It is theprofile of an individual’s value that can define his personality..

2.6.3 CARL ROGER’S THEORY OF PERSONALITY

According to Roger’s theory there are three elements in an individual’spersonality. They are the self-concept, the organization and the phenomenalfield. It views the individual as initiating, creating and influencing the behaviourwithin the environmental framework.

2.6.3a THE SELF CONCEPT

It consists of perceptions, ideas, values and characteristics that characterize‘i’ or me’. What I am and what I can do is conveyed by self concept. Self-concept deals with the subject of how one views about oneself and alsohow others view him in his perception. The self-concept is the result of hisinteraction with the environment. The interaction normally the self-conceptof a person consists of his psychological processes such as, perception,motivation, attitudes etc.that result in a composite whole. The interactionwith the environment helps the person to mature, grow, develop and modifythe self-concept because of the learning experience. Rogers is of the opinionthat self concept is organized, consistent, and conceptual state of the mindcomposed of perceptions of the characteristics of the ‘I’ or ‘me’. Here ‘I’refers to personal self and ‘me’ refers to the social self. Social self is theway a person appears to others. The perceived self has an influence on theperception of the world and his behaviour. The way in which a man ofstrong self-concept views the world is totally different from the view of a



man whose self-concept is weak. It must be clearly understood that self-concept does not reflect reality or mean reality. For example an individualmay be highly successful but may view himself a failure. Rogers reveals inhis study that man is basically trustworthy, constructive, creative, aiming forexperience but are subject to pressures from environment. He then is forcedto be a passive reactor to this. Behaviour is determined by the totality ofexperience. Every individual evaluates the experience in relation to his self-concept Accordingly, the experiences may be symbolized or unsymbolised.The symbolized ones are lying in his consciousness while the unsymbolisedones lye outside the confines of awareness or consciousness’.

The basic impulse motivating the human organism is self-actualisation.Individuals have a tendency to fulfill the desires and also to maintain andenhance that state of mind. This tendency also depends on the influence ofthe social environment right from childhood. According to Rogers the innatetendency of an individual runs into conflicts because of two needs—theneed for self-regard and the need for positive regard. While the positiveregard is a need for all individuals the problem is with regard to self-regard.Here you are internalizing the actions and values that are approved by others.

The importance of this theory is that the individual determines the personalityand the behaviour whereas in other theories te behavior is elicited only fromthe individual on whom the elements of the environment act and he has nocontrol over these elements. So in an organization it would be advantageousfor manager to understand the self-concept of an individual before monetaryrewards or any other measure for motivation to avoid any negative effect.When you get a positive feedback your self-concept is positively reinforcedbut when the feedback is negative your self-regard is lowered and this createsanxiety and tension.


What enables us to apply Personality theory to predict behaviour ?

Differentiate Id, ego and super ego ?

What is the function of ego ?

Can you write a few points on self-concept ?

2.7 LEARNING

2.7.1 INTRODUCTION

If experience can bring about a relatively permanent change in your behaviour,then you have learnt. The change can be in the potential behaviour also.



The behavioural scientists say, “learning can be defined as relativelypermanent change in the present or potential behaviour that occurs as aresult of experience or reinforced practice”. So the definition confirms thatthere must be change in the behaviour after learning. This change can be forbetter or worse than the previous behaviour. You learn to drive a car andyou did not know this before.. You use the driving skills as long as you wantand this is a permanent change in you. The other word in the definition saysthat the change occurs due to experience and not due to change in biologicalgrowth like a child growth. You do not learn to drink or eat, it is naturalpick. But learning must result from interaction with environment and that ishow you learn word-processing, software design etc.The experience canbe direct like a typing instructor teaching you or indirect by observing othersdoing a job. For example when you observe the quality performance ofcoworkers end up in rewards for them, you also begin to emulate them.Some incidents do not change your present behaviour but can change yourpotential behaviour. Thus when you hear that driving through a particulararea is dangerous after 10 P.M. and if you come across the news of apasser-by having been beaten up by dacoits, you will resist such attempts.The four important aspects of learning are

1) Learning is possible only through experience.

2) Learning does not necessarily mean improvement in behaviour as it canworsen the behaviour also. Hence learning can at the most bring abouta change in behaviour. Learning may be good or bad from theorganizational point of view. Thus people learn bad habits, false prestige,stereotype, restriction on work etc

3) The effectiveness of learning process is directly proportional to thedegree of permanent change.

4) Learning should always be followed by practice or reinforcement asotherwise the new behaviour disappears.

It has now been established that reinforcement intensifies and strengthensthe behaviour. In fact by learning people simply condition their minds, aslearning includes acquisition of skills, expertise, knowledge etc.

Also you can not observe learning but you can observe the change inbehaviour. You must also differentiate the change in behaviour caused byfactors other than learning. For example, aging can be a factor for change.Fatigue is another example.




Define learning ?

What are the four important aspects of learning ?

2.8 TYPES OF LEARNERS

There are active learners and passive learners in general. As the nameindicates active learners are those who take special interest and put sincereeffort to learn. They feel they lack something very useful to life if they donot learn, be it a skill, a way of life, knowledge etc. Such people can betrained and upgraded in an organization more productively

On the contrary you also have passive learners in the sense that they willnot take any special interest or put effort to learn things .It is all right forthem if things come in the normal way and even if they miss to learn theycasually look for further opportunity at leisure. In an organization thisbecomes a problem, as you cannot train people to absorb better skills. Itwill be difficult to bring a change in the behaviour of such people in anorganization.

As you will be seeing in the coming chapters, there are people who willlearn under classical conditioning and operand conditioning. These areseparate type of learners.

Who are the different types of learners ?

2.9 LEARNING PROCESS

Behaviours are acquired through learning. Those behaviours that arerewarded are repeated and unrewarded behaviours are discarded. It is wellestablished that reinforcement is essential in the learning process. That is tosay that individuals tend to retain a behaviour or practice, which arereinforced in them. Reinforcement is nothing but an external reward or anexternal reinforcer that can retain or maintain the learnt behaviour. In otherwords, the behaviour gets repeated only because of reinforcements.Reinforcement also increases the strength of response. Reinforcement alsogenerates a reproducible behaviour.

Positive reinforcement is based on two principles as per a model They are(1) People normally perform in a way that is most rewarding to them.(2) Performance can be improved by correct reinforcement. This meansthat specific behaviours call for specific rewards. Also positive reinforcementuses only rewards and not punishment to influence the behaviour. There are



four learning processes through which people learn new behaviours. Theyare (1) Classical conditioning (2) Operant conditioning (3) Observationallearning and (4) Cognitive learning.

2.9.1 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian Physiologist, pioneered this theory of the learningprocess. He gave a piece of meat to a dog in the experiment and noticedsalivation in great deal. Since food causes automatic salivation, both foodand salivation are unconditioned stimulus and response respectively. Whenthe dog saw the meat it salivated. Subsequently, Pavlov rang a bell but thedog did not salivate. So he started ringing the bell every time the meat wasgiven. The dog did salivate again. Later, when Pavlov started ringing thebell every time the dog salivated. The dog learnt to salivate even when therewas no meat. This means that the dog has been conditioned to to respondto a learned stimulus. Behaviour can be learned by repetitive association,according to Thorndike, between a stimulus and response. This is S-Rassociation. But when it comes to human being, classical conditioning is avery insignificant part of the total learning, as per Skinner.You must notethat classical conditioning is only passive. You react in a specific fashion foran event that can be anything. In other words, the response is elicited to aspecific identifiable event. The reaction (behaviour) hence is only reflexiveand simple. However, in an organization the behaviour of people are voluntaryand not reflexive. Also the behaviour in an organization is emitted ratherthan elicited.

Classical conditioning introduces cause and effect relationship between onestimulus and one response. It also makes the response involuntary or reflexiveonce the relationship between the stimulus and response is established.Ivansevich has given another illustration. This is in connection with the air-pilot learning the newly installed warning system. The behaviour to be learnedhere is to respond to a warning light that indicates that there is a drop belowthe critical altitude of the plane. The proper response is to increase theplane’s altitude. The pilot has been already trained to respond to the trainer’swarning. In this case the trainer’s warning is an unconditioned stimulus andthe corrective action of increasing the height is the unconditioned response.The main training is the warning to increase the height of the plane everytime the warning light goes on. With repeated pairing of warning light andthe trainer’s warning, the pilot learns to adjust the plane’s altitude in responseto warning light even if the trainer is not present. In classical conditioningthere are only involuntary responses. Hence it cannot explain situations where



people rationally and objectively choose a course of action. But in anorganization managers are more interested in free and voluntary responsesfrom employees rather than involuntary or reflexive responses. This led tothe approach by B.F.Skinner to the study in real organizational setting. Thisstudy is known as operant conditioning.

2.9.2 OPERANT CONDITIONING

Operand means a behaviour that produces effects. This Skinnerianpsychology (B.F..Skinner) is of the view that individuals emit responsesthat are rewarded and will not emit responses if the responses are notrewarded or punished. Operand conditioning is a voluntary behaviour andit is determined, maintained and controlled by its consequences. In contrastrespondent behaviour is an involuntary response to an environmental stimulus.But operant conditioning induces a voluntary change in behaviour and learningoccurs as a consequence of such change. This is also known as reinforcementtheory and holds the view that behaviour is a function of its consequences.This means behaviour can be controlled by manipulating its consequences.It also goes to confirm that job performance or behaviour is not a functionof feelings, thoughts, emotions or perceptions but is linked to only the natureof outcome of such behaviour. Managers can utilize this relationship and tryto modify the and control behaviour. This concept also supports the viewthat behaviour that are rewarded are going to be repeated and those thatare not rewarded are not going to be repeated. Hence based onconsequences behaviour can be predicted and controlled. Therefore, certaintypes of consequences can be used to increase the occurrence of somedesired behaviour and other types of consequences can be used to decreasethe occurrence of some types of undesired behaviour. You imagine that youare a manager in an organisation. You can observe that any stimulus canresult in responses from the workers from the environment. Now the natureof the future responses to the same stimulus depends on the consequenceof the original response. Thus a worker continues to work hard as, heknows, the consequence of working hard ends up in promotion.

Though the environment determines a man’s behaviour. Individuals learn byproducing alterations in their environment. Operant conditioning presupposesthat human beings explore the environment and then act on that. While inclassical conditioning consequence is independent of behaviour, the converseis true in operant conditioning. Further in operant conditioning reinforcementis given only when correct response is made. A passenger in a railway stationsees a weighing machine. The machine is a stimulus and his inserting a coin



is the response. When he inserts only one coin , nothing happens – noconsequence. When he inserts two coins in the machine, he gets the weightcard—consequence. Thus you can conclude that consequence will determinethat a given operant will be repeated in future.


Name four learning processes ?

What is meant by operand conditioning ?

2.10 LEARNING THEORIES

2.10.1 COGNITIVE LEARNING

This theory suggests that learning is the result of deliberate thinking aboutthe problem or situation intuitively and based on known facts and respondingin an objective and goal oriented manner. Cognitive learning hence is adeviation from the other two theories discussed wherein the Stimulus-Response situation played the shot—for cause and effect phenomenon.Cognition itself means the person has the knowledge of an item of informationand this knowledge has an impact on the behaviour of the person in such away that the information provides cognitive cues towards the expected goal.

Tolman has conducted a few experiments, based on which, the theory ofcognitive learning has been framed. He showed how rats learned to runthrough a complicated maze towards their goal of food. There were manychoice points in the maze. Rats developed expectations at every choicepoint. The rats learned that certain cognitive cues related to choice pointscould ultimately lead them to food. It must be interesting to note from hisstudies that the learning took place when the relationship between the cuesand the expectancy was strengthened. This is because the cues led toexpected goals.

Practically you can imagine an organizational set-up. The manager givesinstructions on job procedures which if followed can result in promotionsor some monetary rewards for the workers. You can design a trainingprogrammed to strengthen the relationship between cognitive cues such as,supervision and job procedures on the one side and worker expectations,such as, monetary or other rewards is established. You can see that everyworker would learn to be more productive by building a relationship betweenfollowing instructions and procedures and the expectancy of monetaryrewards for these efforts.



2.10.2 SOCIAL LEARNING

As per this theory learning cannot take place only because of environmentalstimuli or individual decision as pronounced by classical conditioning andoperand conditioning or cognitive learning theories respectively but it believesthat learning is a blend of both the views. In fact, social learning believes inthe integration of operand conditioning and cognitive learning. In social settingimitating others or observing others also can impart learning. And when youhave an inner desire to acquire skills or knowledge irrespective of outsiderewards and consequences, learning occurs. Moreover discipline and self-control if practiced well, that can also impart learning. The quality of selfcontrol in man is partly a contribution of society and culture as he growsand matures.

You also tend to imitate the behaviour of a person who is a role model insociety. This learning can be through observation of others also. Such learningis called vicarious learning. It is your common experience to watch thesubordinates trying to imitate their seniors in their efforts and approachesand try to learn from them. They also try to be like them. But Albert Banduraputs it as follows, “ Although behaviour can be shared into new patterns tosome extent by rewarding and punishment consequences, learning wouldbe extremely laborious and hazardous if it proceeded slowly on this basis.It is difficult to imagine a socialization process in which the languages,vocational activities, family customs, educational, political and religiouspractices of a culture are taught to each new member by selectivereinforcement of fortuitous behaviours, without benefit of models whoexemplify the cultural patterns in their own behaviour. Most of the behaviourthat people display are either learned deliberately or inadvertently throughthe influence of example”.

People can also change their behaviour by thinking about their behaviourbut in accordance with the norms of society or organization. This changecan be towards betterment of behaviour. This is possible because humanbeings have the capacity of self-regulation. The process of self-thinking canbe reinforced by psychiatric evaluation and assistance.

2.10.3 COMPLEX BEHAVIOURS AND LEARNING CURVES

Although operant conditioning and reinforcement can explain learning,predicting and controlling behaviour, you need to depend on learning curvetheories for explaining some complex behaviour.



The learning curves

You need time and repeated efforts to learn anything in order to increasethe strength of the responses gradually. This is very valid when it comes tolearning skills which have to be improved by practice. For example, youcan take the case of a student who has to learn power point preparation forpresentation in a class during a case study. Certainly things will be wrongand awful in the beginning. Gradually, as the efforts are repeated undersupervision there will be improvements. The confidence of the studentincreases and the skill of power point preparation and presentation improvestill a limit is reached. This maximum limit depends on the person. The limitingfactor also depends on motivation, coordination and other physicalconstraints. Here you find that as the practice time increases the degree ofskill also increases. However, “the rate of increase” in the degree of theskill is higher in the beginning but decreases with time until it reaches zero.The person has now obtained the maximum skill. This is known asDiminishing-returns curve .

PERFORMANCE

Time

The curve represents learning to perform specialized jobs and the upperhorizontal line set the absolute limit to learning. Beyond this the performancecannot improve. And this limit itself is reached only with proper motivationand dedication on the part of the individual. For example, one studentprepares and presents a maximum of twelve slides per hour while anotherstudent prepares and presents eighteen slides per hour.



There is another type of curve as shown below.

CURVE----

Time

Perf

orm

ance

E

Beyond this the performance cannot improve and this limit itself is reachedonly with proper motivation and dedication on the part of the individual.For example, one student prepares and presents a maximum of twelve slidesper hour while another student prepares and presents eighteen slides perhour.

There is another type of curve as shown below.

CURVE----

Time Perf

orm

ance

E

This is just the opposite of the previous curve. This is known as “increasing–returns curve”. There are some learning skills where the rate of increasedlearning is slow in the beginning and gradually increases higher and highertill it reaches a maximum potential for learning.

This curve is applicable in the case of a person learning a completelyunfamiliar skill and a new task. You can take the case of researchers whoseinitial learning progresses slowly and afterwards it picks up speedy progress.

It has been found that while learning a new skill the performance vs time



curve follows an S-shaped curve as shown below.

Time

Perfo

rman

ceE

This is really a combination of both the diminishing returns curve andincreasing returns curve. The slower rate of learning explains the lower partof the curve and the successive greater returns are indicated by the middleportion, the curve finally picking up the speed or increased learning towardsthe end reaching an absolute limit. It thus forms an S-shaped curve. Thelearning of high skilled operations in a numerically controlled machine shopby a machine operator is an example of this.

In reality, actually a special skill acquisition is a complex matter. Hencediagram to specially represent acquisition of such complex pattern is shownbelow.

Time

Perf

orm

ance

E

Slow

Lea

rnin

g

Incr

easin

gR

etur

ns

Plan

teau

Peak

Prof

icie

ncy

Ove

rle

arni

ngPe

riod



Here, the beginning stages are as usual a slow rate of learning because ofthe newness and the difficulty in the specialized skill. The second stageshows increasing returns because the individual gradually gains confidenceafter acquiring the basics of the skill. The third stage is interesting as italmost reaches saturation, as he thinks that he has acquired the requiredskill. This is called the plateau. He feels no more gains in the skill is required.But soon he realizes that it is a false plateau and he is capable of developingnew ideas and improves the performance. Now only he reaches the peakefficiency by developing new ideas, the application of which improves hisefficiency. This stage is peak proficiency too. Beyond this stage the skillbecomes a kind of habit and an integral part of the operations. That laststage is known as the over-learning period. Now onwards the learning isautomatic and unforgettable. The example of the student for p.p.preparationcan be referred.

2.10.4 TRANSFER OF LEARNING

When the learning curves were used, the main assumption was that there isno previous proficiency in his skills. But there is every possibility that thesituations, stimulus and responses can be similar. Hence Burleson suggests thatlearning can be transferred from one situation to another and the extent of suchtransfer is a function of the extent of similarity in the stimulus or response. Thusif a person experiences a situation similar to the one already experienced byhim, then his learning time in the new situation will be considerably reducedbecause some of his previous experience would be transferred to the new situation.

The transfer of learning is supported by two different concepts. They are

1) Generalization

2) Discrimination

Generalization : Practically speaking, it is not likely that two situations areexactly same. However, responses to certain situations can be applied tosimilar but different situations. Because of the principle of generalization theindividual can adjust to the new learning situations more easily owing to theprevious learning experience. Otherwise, it is simply impossible to adopt toevery new situation an individual faces. Thus a student of Civil engineeringlearns the actual design of columns and beams in the classroom laboratory.It is expected that the student will make use of his experience (methods andinsights) while in the class that can be generalized to his real career as anengineer.



Discrimination : Here the principle is different. In the generalization, thesituations were similar but different and hence the stimuli and responseswere similar. Differentiating relatively similar stimuli is the discriminatingability. If you are crossing a road, you have to see both sides of the road.Cars are coming from the right as well as from the left. Though cars whichact as stimuli is same, your responses to both of them are different. You areable to discriminate between the two stimuli.

Fred Luthens gives another example of an organization. Suppose there aretwo workers giving equal quantity of production per shift. But if one ofthem is producing more rejections while the other pays attention to quality,then the supervisor responds to the high quality worker more positively.The supervisor is able to discriminate where quality is the discriminatingfactor.


Name any three learning theories ?

What is socialization process ?

What are learning curves ?

What can you comment on “transfer of learning” ?

2.11 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATIONS

The behaviour of individuals in an organization can be modified to suit thegoals of the organization so that the organizational objectives could beachieved effectively. The priciple of reinforcement and the different typesof reinforcements will act as modifiers. You may see them one by one in thecoming pages.

2.11.1 What is reinforcement ?

Reinforcement can be any stimuli that can cause a certain behaviour to berepeated or inhibited. Reinforcement literally increases the strength of theresponse and that is why repetition of the behaviour that preceded thereinforcement occurs. A reward can be a reinforcer; an incentive can be areinforcer. Organisations want the employees to behave in a manner that isdesirable. Also organizations want undesirable behaviour on the part ofemployees to be eliminated. Proper reinforcers can help the organizationsto cultivate and promote such behaviors as high level of attendance, quality



performance, least rejections, good decisions making, punctuality etcWhereas some reinforcers work by their sheer application to a situation,other reinforcers work by merely removing the reinforcers from the situation.Hence you can say that these reinforcers are behaviour modifiers. Basicallythere are four reinforcement strategies. They are

1) Positive reinforcement

2) Negative reinforcement

3) Extinction

4) Punishment. While the first two strategies are to encourage desirablebehaviour, the last two strategies are to discourage the undesirablebehaviour—both through different approaches.

2.11.2 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

A reward for a desired behaviour is a positive reinforcement. Onlyconsideration is that the reward should be powerful and durable so that itincreases the probability of occurrence of desirable behaviour. Positivereinforcement encourages and develops a desirable behaviour by thepresentation of a desirable consequence/reward. A positive reinforcerfollows the behaviour and increases the frequency of that behaviour. Themajor conditions of the reward are

1) the reward should be contingent on the rate of performance.

2) the reward should be matched with the need or desire of the performer.Though money is the most powerful reinforcer for positive behaviour,there are also many other positive reinforcers like recognition for a jobwell done, participative decision making, challenging tasks, freedom todo a job etc. One has to notice that different individuals have differentmotivations of performance; the positive reinforcers have to be tailoredto suit the requirement of each individual separately. This only canfacilitate the repetition of the desired behaviour from a particularindividual. This leads us to believe that an employee attaches great valueto the reinforcer. An employee who is after praise for his work willconsider money as a less important reinforcer. An important fact thatshould be understood is that “the greater the degree of performance ofthe employee, the. greater should be the reward” The timing of thereward is equally important. Sooner the display of the desired behaviour,faster should be the administration of the reinforcer. Then it will have aprofound impact and effect. A stitch in time saves nine.—holds good



now because longer the delay in rewarding a desired behaviour,thereward will be less effective as a positive reinforcer.

2.11.3 NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT

Here also there is presentation of a reward, which is known as negativereinforcement. Negative reinforcers serve to strengthen the desired behaviourresponses ultimately leading to their removal or termination (behaviour)Negative replacement is also known as “escape conditioning” or“avoidance learning” In an organization the negative reinforcer works insuch a way that the employee works hard to avoid the behaviour leading toreprimand, or repercussion or such negative aspects. You as a student areadvised to come in suit for a college function. You will be criticized if youcould not come in suit. Hence you will engage in the desirable behaviour ofcoming well dressed to avoid the unpleasant situation or a aversiveconsequence. It also makes your colleagues and professors happy. Also asa student you write all the term tests well,do all the home work on time toavoid the bad consequences of failure in the examinations. You also parkyour vehicles in the place allotted by corporation authorities even thoughinconvenient only to avoid getting booked by the corps. These examplesillustrate that negative reinforcement increases the frequency of responseby removing a noxious consequence. Assume that a student is coming lateto the class. You have to employ a negative reinforcer to develop in him adesirable behaviour of avoiding such a situation and aid him to step into theclass before the arrival of the professor to the class. Thus avoidance learningtechniques can be employed to strengthen the desired behaviour.

2.11.4 EXTINCTION

This is a type of reinforcement normally employed to reduce undesirablebehaviour, especially when such behaviours are rewarded previously. Itmeans that if rewards were removed from behaviours that were previouslyreinforced, then such behaviors will become less frequent and finally thosebehaviours would disappear or die out. In fact here the method itself is amild form of suitable punishment in the form of withholding the positiveenforcement or simply ignoring the undesirable behaviour. Thus if a studentgoes on making noise and disturbance in order to get attention in the class,the teacher totally ignores him and in the process such undesirable behaviourvanishes Instead if the teacher gives attention to such a behaviour then hewill continue to exhibit the behaviour. Here attention is a positive enforcementand when this enforcement is withdrawn from the student, the frequency ofhis disturbing behaviour will reduce and eventually vanish.



Another example is about workers who are turning out good quantity andquality jobs in an organization. The manager goes on praising them. Butwhen the quality and quantity of production goes down the manager tries tomodify their behaviour by withholding the praise. Here the manager is notpunishing them or throwing them out. The manager is simply denying thefeed back to them. That is what extinction is, as it is a behavioural strategythat can reduce undesirable behaviours. If the workers show good resultagain then the manager will praise them again. —Positive reinforcement.But if they perform poorly again, then extinction will be adopted.

2.11.5 PUNISHMENT

Punishment is the most controversial method of behaviour modification,though it is also a control device like extinction to reduce and discourageundesirable and annoying behaviour of people in an organization. Punishmentbasically reduces the frequency of response or even weakens the behaviour.But the use of aversive control is considered as controversial behaviourmodification method as it produces undesirable effects. Some of theimportant aspects to be mentioned are

1) Punishment does not promote desired behaviour, though it reduces thefrequency of undesirable behaviour.

2) If you pick up a person creating noise in a gathering and reprimand himpublicly, then he goes back and repeats the same. Here punishment isonly reinforcing the behaviour instead of reducing it.

3) Punishment causes anxiety and suppresses the response and theresponse reappears when the punishment agent is absent.

4) Punishment makes the punished angry and this misguides them tobecome antiestablishment or against the agent. The result is reductionof effectiveness of punishment.

In fact punishment is also similar to extinction in the sense that both aretrying to reduce the undesirable behaviour The main distinction is that inextinction you withdraw the reward for the behaviour that has been rewardedpreviously. It was rewarded previously because the behaviour wasundesirable previously. In punishment process you apply an undesirableconsequence or withdraw a desirable consequence for an undesirablebehaviour that was never associated with the reward before.B.F.Skinner isof the opinion that still punishment is the most adopted technique ofbehavioural control today. For example, if a worker does not behave in theway the manager wants, he is fired. A member of the society if transgressesthe laws of the society he is ridiculed or ignored or punished .We all knowthat all religions threaten us with punishment in the life after if you do not



behave as per religious scriptures. It is because of the inherent defects inthe punishment system, management usually follows positive reinforcementtechniques.

Still there are many situations where punishment can not be avoided. Amischievous child for example, learns the effect burning (punishment) for itsbehaviour. It will not touch the flame again. We get punished for eating badfood outside, for not taking the umbrella in rainy season, for too much ofalcoholic addiction etc. It must be noted that certain undesirable behaviourshave to be punished. For example, if an employee goes on harassing a ladyemployee sexually, he must be punished. Any person engaged in the theftmust be punished

A private reprimand is preferred to a public reprimand that causesembarrassment to the employee resulting in undesirable behaviour andemotional disturbance. It is also advisable to apply punishment before theundesirable behaviour has been strongly reinforced. In other words,punishment should follow the undesirable behaviour. The gap betweenpunishment and the occurrence of undesirable behaviour can cause damageto discipline and reduce the effect of punishment. However, a strong pieceof advice to management is that any reinforcement strategy must highlightthe interpersonal relationships and must apply techniques that highlight thepositive effects of such conditions. The management should also develop asense of confidence in the worker without ridiculing him for the mistakesbut guide him to do better. Also keep up the promise of benefits once thebehaviour changes.

What do you mean by behaviour modification?

What is reinforcement ?

Write the implications of punishment?

2.12 PERCEPTION

2.12.1 INTRODUCTION

Perception is the process through which the information from outsideenvironment is selected, received, organized and interpreted to make itmeaningful to you. In fact you are forming a meaningful picture of the worldwithin yourself based on the information input from the environment.

It has to be noted that perception is more a cognitive than a sensory process.Perception is defined as a process by which individuals organize and interpret



their sensory impression in order to give meaning to their environment. It ofcourse is a psychological process. It is the most important cognitive factorof human behaviour. There is no behaviour without perception. In otherwords perception lies at the root of every individual behaviour.

“Perception is also referred as an intellectual process by which a personacquires information from the environment, organizes the same and obtain ameaning from it”. It is this input of meaningful information that results indecisions and actions. It may be noted that perception is a complexinteraction of senses like feeling, seeing, hearing, thinking and comparingwith known aspects of life so as to make some sense of the world around.But the quality of action and decision by a person depends on the quality ofperception. Thus when you see the object outside you because of light,then light is the stimulus and eye is the sensor. The image formed in yourmind is the perception when the visual cortex of the brain interprets it. AjitSingh –”Visual perception refers to interpreting the image of the externalworld projected on the retina of the eye and constructing a model of thethree dimensional world.”

2.12.2 IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTION

Perception is an individual process as a result we may perceive an identicalsituation differently. Try to analyze the proverb “ All that glitters is not gold”and “Things are not what they seem”. It will tell us that these are onlyperceptions of the same situations. Your behaviour is based on what youperceive reality to be and not really what reality is.

Even in organization people perceive things differently. Thus managerperceives that the labour is trivial but the workers perceive the same to bevery serious. Same is the case when there is an accident in the factory—thesupervisor may see it to be an act of carelessness of the worker while theworkers perceive the accident as the highhandedness of the managementfor having not provided the safety. Thus situations remaining the same causesassigned are different by different people because of different perceptionsthey have. Hence you have to understand and study different aspects ofperception to know the significance of this phenomenon and why differentpeople see the same situation differently. Manager is primarily concernedwith the achievement of organizational objectives via the specified behaviourof its employees. And perception affects the outcome of behaviour, becausepeople act on the basis of what they see. Thus while understanding humanbehaviour the managers have to keep in mind that things, which are not



perceived to be meaningful by workers, will not influence their behaviourand things that are perceived to be meaningful by workers will influencetheir behaviour even though both the perceptions can be wrong. In anorganizational setting it is necessary that you understand the human perceptionfirst before trying to understand the human behaviour. There are manyactivities in an organization and each is influenced by perception. When youwant to measure the perceptual accuracy you must pay special attention tothree areas—

1) Interpersonal working relationship

2) Selection of employees

3) Performance appraisal

Interpersonal relationship means bringing about integrated behaviour in anorganization. For this, the managers must know whether or not the employeesare sharing the same perceptions or similar perceptions or at least compatibleperceptions .If not the organizational problems are greater, and will call forgreater efforts on the part of management to make things compatible.Moreover misperceptions increase strained relations and conflicts.

Selection of employees by managers purely depends on the perceptionsmanagers have about the recruits in the absence of full information on them.

Similarly, the accuracy of performance appraisal by managers is wellinfluenced by manager’s perception about their subordinates. it is veryimportant that management take the following steps to improve the perceptualskills of their employees so that they begin to perceive things correctly tothe maximum possible extent.

1) Increase self awareness of employees so that one perceives oneselfaccurately, then he can perceive others accurately.

2) Enhance the self concept so as to improver their self competency

3) Let managers develop positive attitude in all matters as attitude hasinfluence on perception.

4) Misperceptions are caused by lack of proper communication, effectivecommunication and adequate communication

5) All perceptual distortions should be avoided.—hallo effect, attribution,stereotyping, first impression etc.

Of the many stimuli from the environment, only some are selected whileothers are screened out or rejected by what is known as perceptualselectivity mechanism. These stimuli are then organized in a particular order



so as to make sense out of that. Finally, the perceiver interprets theseorganized stimuli that will give him a meaning for the situation. Peopleinterpret the meaning of what they have selectively perceived and organizedin terms of their own assumptions of people, things and situations. Theybegin to interpret things as good, bad, ugly, beautiful etc. In the process,there can be misinterpretation also. There are many factors like thecharacteristics of the stimuli, that of the perceiver that of the situation etc.that end-up in interpretation or misinterpretation of events and objects. Henceinterpretation of stimuli play a major role in the formation of human behaviourand this is critical in the case of an organization.

Interpretation is subjective and judgmental process. In organizationsinterpretation is influenced by many factors like halo effect, stereotyping,attribution inference and impression. These can can affect the way employeesare rated and perceived by management. Inaccurate perception can concealtruth and distort the whole set-up resulting in a heavy loss to the organization.When people give cause and effect explanation to the behaviour it is knownas attribution. Perception is distorted by the efforts of the perceiver toattribute a causal explanation to an outcome. Similarly, first impression isthe best impression. This results in the formation of entirely differentperception of people and entrusting them with duties and responsibilitiesnot commensurate with their real capabilities or experience or qualificationsetc. Forming a wrong perception by inference is the most dangerous wayfor career destruction and organizational weakness.

The importance of perception is increased when you consider the impact ofperception on performance and satisfaction of employees in an organization.It must be noted that individual perception affect productivity. How does amanager plan and organize the work for his subordinates depend on theperception he has about the workers. This is dependent on the perceptionby workers about the manager. It is necessary to perceive first how workersperceive the job to influence productivity. The worker’s perception of thejob causes absenteeism and labour turnover. Hence distortions should beeliminated. So also job satisfaction, a psychological concept, depends onthe perception the worker has about the job. If satisfaction is to be improvedthen worker’s perception about the job characteristics, supervision and theorganization as a whole have to be improved. It is essential to note thatpeople who work together see things differently and this difference causesthe problems in their ability to work together efficiently.



2.12.3 PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

The process of perception consists of a number of sub processes. Perceptualinputs are received first, these are then processed by the perceiver. Theresulting output becomes the basis for behaviour. To interpret it technically,you can take an input-throughput-output approach to understand thedynamics of perception. The perceptual inputs are from the environmentlike the stimuli from the environment such as events, subjects or even people.These inputs are undergoing transformation through perceptual mechanismof selection, organization and interpretation and hence are the throughputs.The resultant are opinions, feelings, attitudes etc that get reflected inbehaviour.that can be viewed as perceptual outputs.

This process is presented below :

Perceptual Process

Simplified process of perceptionIn this simple process of perception all the factors that go into input-throughput-output is not shown. To make it more comprehensive the newdiagram is given below.

-

Characteristics of stimulior inputs

Perceptual inputs- Objects- Events- People

Perceptual mechanism

Selection Interpretation

Organisation

Perceptualoutputs- Attitudes- Opinions- Feelings- Values

Behaviour

Characteristics ofthe situation

Characteristics ofthe perceiver



COMPLEX PROCESS OF PERCEPTION

The main perception process has three components. They are1) Existence of stimuli2) Perception mechanism3) Perceptual outputs.

Human behaviour is shaped and affected by perceptual outputs.

Perceptual inputs are nothing but the stimuli in the form of objects, eventsor people. Any event is a perceptual input. The characteristics of stimuli areimportant as based on those only the perceiver gets attracted to the stimulithat will be responsible for perception. Of course the situational variablesand perceiver’s characteristics also affect the selection of stimuli. Theinteraction between the perceiver and stimulus starts the perception process.

Of the many stimuli from the environment, only some are selected whileothers are screened out or rejected by what is known as perceptualselectivity mechanism. These stimuli are then organized in a particular orderso as to make sense out that. Finally, the perceiver interprets these organizedstimuli that will give him a meaning for the situation. People interpret themeaning of what they have selectively perceived and organized in terms oftheir own assumptions of people, things and situations. They begin to interpretthings as good, bad, ugly, beautiful etc. In the process there can bemisinterpretation also. There are many factors like the characteristics of thestimuli, that of the perceiver that of the situation etc that end-up ininterpretation or misinterpretation of events and objects. Hence interpretationof stimuli play a major role in the formation of human behaviour and this iscritical in the case of an organization.


What is perception?

How perception is formed?

How does the manager’s perception of the employees affect theefficiency of an organization?

Make a simple sketch of the perceptual process ?

2.13 FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION

The three most important factors affecting perception are1) Characteristics of the perceiver.2) Characteristics of the perceived.3) Characteristics of the situation.



2.13.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERCEIVER

An individual’s habits, past experience, ethics, needs, values, attitudes andpersonality can very well affect the perception process. If there is a personwith strong ego, he perceives others and situations with ego satisfying orego threatening. Perhaps the perceptions are inaccurate. Similarly, peoplewho are less secured find fault with others. On the contrary, secured mensee others warm and friendly.

Our cultural upbringing, values and ethics play an important role in ourperception about others. Normally, it is not possible to judge the personalityof another person brought up in a different culture, because our judgment isbased on our culture and values. An alcohol-addict can prejudge anotheralcohol- addict.

You can take the example of a personnel manager. If his perception aboutwomen, minorities, less educated or handicapped etc are biased ones, thenhe will be very sensitive to them during an employment interview. Once youdo not like a person then you always look for the negative aspects of theperson. Sometimes, our attitude creates a wrong perception in the minds ofpeople who are daily associated with us. You thus promise a promotion toyour subordinate within three months in appreciation of his performance,later you are not able to do that – the employee will have a totally differentperception about you. The employee may even perceive you with distrust.

The factors like needs, desires and personality are internal factors that affecta person’s perception. For example, persons who accept themselves mayeasily accept others and have faith in others and perceive everything favorablyonly. Also these self accepted individuals perceive themselves as beingaccepted by others, wanted by others and liked by others.

Similarly, your perceptive ability is increased side by side with yourexperience and knowledge thereby giving a tremendous impact onperception. Also the size and intensity of the stimulus increases the selectiveperception. Tall or very fat man(size) attracts attention and the resultingdominance enhances the perceptual selection. Repetitive stimulus is superiorto single stimulus for enhancing perceptual ability of a person.

2.13.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERCEIVED

The physical characteristics of others influence our perception about others.Thus age, appearance, facial expressions, gender, mannerism, communicationstyle, personality are all physical characteristics and each one of them hasits impact on our perception about the others. Are you not concluding that



an assertive and confident man is an executive and later you may find thatyour assumption is wrong? Just because some are dressed in suits, theycannot become professionals although you perceive them to be so, reallythey may be lower level employees.

The communication of others, verbal as well as non-verbal affect ourperception about others. Perhaps the vocabulary and the language usedcan create an impression about them, about their education, about theirsophistication and precision The body language, tone of expression and thechoice of vocabulary can affect our perception about their intelligence andmood. The sitting posture, movement of their eyes and the depth of thesmile can reflect the confidence and outgoing nature of the individuals.

The perception you have about an assistant manager of an organization istotally different from the one that you have about a senior manager, owningto the difference in the status. This confirms that status of occupation canaffect your perception. Thus you are startled to come across a wealthy manor top class professional or people of fame etc. Your behaviour when incontact with a supreme court judge is different from that of your being withan school teacher. Both you are respectful but with that difference due todifferent perceptions you have about them. See how you behave whenintroduced to a film celebrity! Similarly, your approach to a warm and friendlyman is different from that you have with a cold and short-tempered man.

2.13.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SITUATION

You come across different situations or events either in society or in anorganization. These can influence your perceptions. Thus if you meet someunknown person along with your managing director about whom you havea very good impression, then you will perceive the stranger also to a man ofhigh regards. In such a situation you will form a nice image of the strangerperson. in your mind. This favourable image will be erased when on thecontrary, you see a stranger with a notorious person and in that situationyou will have a bad perception about the stranger, Even the location od anevent can change the perception. Thus your behaviour with your professorat classroom is different from your behaviour with the same professor at amarriage party as the situation is different now. In an office set-up ifemployees are given opportunities to interact in a friendly and sociable worksituations then the employees will become trustworthy and less defensive—the situation plays its role.




Name three factors influencing perception ?

What are the characteristics of situation that affect perception ?

2.14 INTERPERSONAL PERCEPTION

In interpersonal perception the perceiver perceives another person and thelatter becomes a stimulus for perception. Perception is a selective processand hence people can sense only a limited amount of information availablein the environment. By selection some aspects of the stimuli are screenedout and the balance are admitted. Those admitted remain in the awarenessand the others fall below the threshold level. This is called perceptualselectivity. There are many factors like size of the stimuli, intensity of thestimuli, repetition of the stimuli etc. that are responsible for perceptualselectivity. Once the selectivity process is completed ,the organization ofthe selected stimuli begins. This helps in identification and meaningfulformation of the whole—that is perception. Both these perceptual selectivityand organization are equally applicable to interpersonal perception too forany stimulus situation, person or event or others. But in in-person perceptionthere are many other factors that affect the correctness or incorrectness ofperception. Individuals in the organizations constantly perceive theirsubordinates, managers, peers, workers and others. Line people perceivestaff people, staff people perceive line people, managers perceive workersand vice versa. Zalkind and Costello through their research concluded thatthe characteristics of the perceiver and the perceived play a major roleduring interpersonal dialogue and interactions. The perception of one overthe other is dependent on these characteristics. Students are advised torefer the previous paragraph on the characteristics in detail.


What is interpersonal perception ?

2.15 ATTITUDE

2.15.1 DEFINITION OF ATTITUDE

Reitz has defined attitude, as “Attitude is the persistent tendency to feel andbehave in a favourable or unfavourable way towards some object, personor ideas.”



“Attitude is a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way tosomeone or something in one’s environment.”

1. An attitude is the predisposition of the individual to evaluate some objectin a favourable or unfavourable manner.

2. People at work place have attitudes about lots of topics that are relatedto them. These attitudes are firmly embedded in a complex psychologicalstructure of beliefs and other values.

3. Attitudes are not ideals while values are ideals. Hence attitudes aredifferent from values.

4. Attitudes are evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorableconcerning the objects, people or events.

It must be noted that values are not attached to any object or situationunlike attitudes, which are attached to an object or situation. Attitudes arenarrower; they are feelings or thoughts and behavioural tendencies towardsan object or situation. To put in plain words “Attitude is a mental state ofreadiness, organized through experience, exerting a specific influence upona person’s response to people, objects and situations with which it is related.Attitude forms the internal basis for one’s interpersonal relationship andidentification with others. You can also say that attitudes are one’spredispositions towards given aspects of the world. As a manager if youwant to manage efficiently then you are expected to know in advance theattitude of the subordinates and workers, because attitude do influencebehaviour of people and also their performance. Attitude puts an individualready to respond to a situation favourably or unfavourably to things in theenvironment. Though attitudes are invisible. the resulting behaviour can bea measure of the attitude.

In practice, the term attitude is used in a generic sense to any reports ofwhat people think, or feel or the ways in which they intend to act. Accordingto Allport all definitions of attitude contain ‘readiness’ or ‘disposition’ to act.

2.15.2 TYPES OF ATTITUDES IN ORGANISATIONAL SETTING

What is the opinion of employees about their jobs? Do they have a positiveor negative evaluation of the job? What kind of an attitude they have on thework environment? These are some of the critical questions for which theanswers are in the type of job related attitudes only. Though individualshave a multitude of attitudes the three most significant job related attitudesare 1) Job satisfaction 2) Job involvement 3) Organizational commitment.



2.15.2a JOB SATISFACTION :

The attitude any individual has towards the job is known as job satisfactionin the positive sense. A high level of satisfaction indicates that he has apositive attitude towards the job. A person dissatisfied with the job holds anegative attitude towards the job. In fact job satisfaction is nothing butemployee attitude.

2.15.2b JOB INVOLVEMENT:

An employee feels his performance level is important enough for his selfworth. Hence he develops a psychological attachment to the job and takesmaximum care of the job thereby identifying himself with the job. This reducesthe labour turnover and absenteeism. It is hence an important attitude as faras an employee is concerned.

2.15.2c ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT

An employee identifies himself with the organization, its goals, its vision andmission. He is proud to be a member of the organization and would like tomaintain and protect it at any cost. Even temporary dissatisfaction in thejob will not take him away from the main stream of the organization as longas he is identifying himself with the organization because he is committed tothe organization. But if the dissatisfaction spreads to the organizational level,then he feels like resigning. Hence organizational commitment is a strongerway to measure the positive attitude of employees.


Give three definitions of attitude ?

What are the different types of attitude ?

2.16 CHARACTERISTICS OF ATTITUDE

It is very important that you analyze the characteristics of attitude so as tounderstand the change in attitude of people. Theories suggest that there canbe many characteristics such as extremeness of attitude, multiplexity,consistency, interconnectivity, consonance of the attitude cluster of whichthe present attitude in question is a part,the number of needs that will beserved by the attitude, the strength of those needs, centrality of the relatedvalues etc. If all these characteristics are taken into consideration, there willbe two types of attitude changes, called, congruent and incongruent.

The congruent change involves an increase in the strength of the existingattitude., either to make a positive attitude to make more positive or to



make a negative attitude to more negative. The incongruent change is theone in which the direction of change is opposite to the originally held attitude.You can see that congruent change can be produced easier than incongruentchange. This is true especially when supporting attitudes interconnects theattitude system.

When there are a number of or a cluster of attitudes, the degree ofinterconnectedness play a major role in the changeability of attitudes. Howthese attitudes are interconnected, what is the strength of interconnection isit strong or weak etc are the questions. Simplicity is a characteristic ofchangeability of attitude. What is the number of facts involved in the cognitionof the attitude? What is the number of facts that are related to this number?The answer to these two questions will make the attitude simple or complex.Usually attitudes that are strongly supported by other attitudes are moreresistant to change. Again the strength of the social wants and the numberof social wants supporting the attitudes determines the changeability. Similarlyattitudes that reflect the principal or core component of an individual’spersonality will be highly resistant to change.

2.16.1 PERSONALITY OF THE ATTITUDE HOLDER

The personality factors of the attitude holder are important enough to analyzeas they play a major role in attitude changes. Some are soft, some arestubborn and some are persuable etc. This is purely because of personalitydifferences. These differences in personality can change the nature of theattitude because attitudes are subjective qualities. A person can be pursuedmeans a great achievement for management. Persuability is a tendency onthe part of a person to accept a persuasive communication.

Of course there can be many persuability techniques and not one. You requiredifferent persuability types owing to difference in personality factors.Persuabilty is a factor of self-esteem of a person. Thus the more a person isinadequate to understand things, the more a person has social inhibitionsthen it is likely that such a person is perusable. A person highly self confidentand intellectual may be highly resistant to persuasion and change Rathersuch a person would like to expose himself even to superfluous information.

Dogmatism is another important characteristic of attitude. It means peoplehave a tendency to admire those in authority and hate those who are opposingauthority. The individuals keep a strong belief in the cause and will not allowany validity for other causes. Dogmatism is a closed system in which beliefsand disbeliefs are isolated from each other. Dogmatism tends to concentrate



around some central authority theme and tries to protect this theme at allcosts. The greatest defects in dogmatic behaviour/attitude is that all opposingbeliefs are oppressed, there will be no interconnection among belief system,only a complex recognition is given to positively valued objects againstnegatively valued objects. No wonder in these cases attitude changes areresisted.

Group affiliation and situations are other characteristics affecting attitude.While in a group individuals fall in line with the group as far as attitudes areconcerned. As a member of the group existing individual attitudes do notget exposure as information is filtered .In a group people normally thinkalike and any information likely to cause dissonance or inconsistency isrejected or omitted or perceived as per group norms only with somemodifications. Eventhough information from inside or outside that is capableof changing their attitudes may impinge upon them , the membership in thegroup will influence the way in which the information should be perceived.It is very true in primary groups like family,friends,associations etc.

The other characteristics of attitude deserving serious considerations are

1) Valence

2) Multiplexity

3) Relation to needs

4) Centrality

Valence means the degree of favourableness on unfavouraleness towardsthe object or event. Thus if a person is indifferent to an object then hisattitude has low valence. His attitude’s valence will be high if he is a veryfavourable or unfavorable to an object or event.

Multiplexity means there are a number of elements in the attitude. Thus ifone employee is sincere in his work, another employee is sincere, respectful,honest, and helpful.

Relation to work needs means this—what needs are served by the attitude.A worker enjoying a film represents his attitude towards entertainment. Itsatisfies only his entertainment needs. If another worker has a strong attitudeto skilled work, financial needs, security needs recognition needs,achievement needs etc are al served by such an attitude.

The importance of the object is the centrality. How far the object is centralto the individual is centrality. It means the importance of the attitude object.The attitudes having high centrality can not be easily changed.




What factors change attitude ?

What is the role of personality on attitude ?

What is group affiliation ?

How does it influence attitude?

2.17 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

An analysis of the structure of a person’s attitude can reveal that there arethree important components in it - viz - Affection, Behaviour and Cognition

2.17.1 AFFECTION :

All feelings and emotions associated with the attitude object is affectio.Basically it is the feeling of affection an individual has towards an object.Mcginnes says it is “an emotional component that develops as a conditionedresponse by association with stimuli that have either punishing or rewardingeffects “ This component deals with the evaluation and is often expressedas like or dislike, good or bad, pleasing or displeasing, favourable orunfavourable,beautiful or ugly etc.The affective component includes thewarmth,love,hatred,and other emotional expressions. It is this affection thatis mostly associated with the idea of attitude.

As an illustration please take the case of the attitude of A towards B. Youconsider the affection of A through his attitude.

A dislikes B on personal grounds.

A dislikes B because he is liked by the employer.

A dislikes B because he makes more money than A.

A dislikes B because he takes efficient decisions in spite of lessexperience.

The affective component is well exposed here and self explanatory.

Mcginnies in his further studies found that people responded with greateremotions when statements contradicting their attitudes were administeredthan when statements affecting their feelings of good and bad wereadministered. It has been established that this is due to the affection part ofthe attitude in individuals.



2.17.2 COGNITION

The cognitive component of attitude is nothing but the perceptions of theindividual followed by beliefs and ideas about an object. It is based on theexperiences, rumours, misunderstandings or such informations that cognitionis effected. For example, a worker may have feeling that his manager isgood or bad, stupid or intelligent, ethical or non-ethical, autocrat or democratetc. But it may be true or not. The fact you should notice here is that theworker’s perceptions or beliefs about the manager forms that cognitivecomponent of the attitude in him.

The most critical of all the cognitions of attitude is the “evaluative belief:—meaning that which take into account good or bad,favourable or unfavorable,desirable or undesirable qualities of the object. That is why this cognitivecomponent is also known as “opinion”.

2.17.3 BEHAVIOUR

Behaviour is the “conative” component of attitude. Which way one intendsto behave towards a particular attitude object? That way is this componenti.e. behaviour.No doubt affection and cognition components will influencethe way in which a person intends to behave toward an attitude object.There are only two ways-positive or negative. If a person has a negativefeeling about an object, he is likely to behave in a negative way towards theobject. That only confirms that behavioural component of attitude consistsof a tendency to act to or react toward an attitude object but in specificways.


What are the components of attitude ?

Behaviour is a cognative component of attitude. What is themeaning ?

2.18 FORMATION OF ATTITUDES

The factors responsible for learning are also the factors for the formation ofattitude in any person. The important aspects are that these factors are tobe grouped properly. Thus family is a group with which the individuals moveto start with. He then mixes with a larger group and extends himself to asocial group bigger and bigger. In between the individual moves through areference group also. Apart from these group factors the individual has theinfluence of personality factors to be considered for attitude formation. Youalready know that personality shapes one’s behaviour and attitudes.



2.18.1 FAMILY

The mother, children, father, all the close relatives all are members of thisgroup. A person learns the very process of socialization only from his mother.All the others have their influence in his attitude formation. Attitudes areformed during socialization process .The child comes in contact with themembers of the family but not with the outsiders initially. The individual’sattitudes, values, and personality characteristics are influenced by themediation of the inside members. The members have a certain attitudes,characteristics and evaluative criteria that has an impact on the child for theinitial formation of its own attitude and behaviour. Finally, the attitudes ofthe members converge and become homogeneous and the child is a part of it.

2.18.2 REFERENCE GROUP

A reference group is the model accepted by an individual and the individualblindly follow the dictums of this particular group. Whatever social laws orcustoms framed by this group will be followed in letter and spirit by theindividual This reference group influences the awareness and behaviour ofthe individual .It hence has a say in the formatio of attitude for the individual.The group can be primary group like family or secondary group like a districtassociation The inputs into the life style of the individual and the attitude ofthe individual are set by this group. The individual thus learns the norms,values, and behaviour pattern in society as well as in organizations. Thoughall groups have influence on the formation of attitude of the individual, theprimary group has the most powerful influence on his attitude formation byway of opinions, beliefs, customs norms etc.

2.18.3 SOCIAL FACTORS

Social classes influence the individual’s attitude. It is the social class thattransmits the cultural behaviour and customs etc to specific groups andfamilies. The social classes will define the system, expectations, etc to thegroups first and then to the families within the groups. The family thentransmits this cultural values and expectations to the individual whose attitudeis then formed finally. Social classes put restrictions on behaviour betweenindividuals belonging to different social classes. Normally no intimaterelationship is allowed between opposing groups. People have closerelationship within the same social class and this restricts the attitude formationfor members of other groups as well as the same group freely. You knowthat the attitude and values provide and set goals of life and evaluative power.Obviously these are transmitted differently to different social classes.



In a nutshell, according to Stephen Robins, the attitudes like values areacquired from parents, teachers, friends and colleagues . One’s attitude inthe early years is formed using those one admires respects or even fears asmodels. You have seen in previous chapters that individual’s attitude areshaped by the behaviour of family and friends or peers. Some people imitatethe behaviour of popular individuals.

Attitudes are not stable like values. An advertising appeal can change yourattitude towards a product and you may start using the product hitherto notused. Thus a message from Hyundai Motors can change your attitudetowards Santro from Ford car.Our interest is that the job behaviour ofworkers are all affected by attitudes. If the worker believes that thesupervisor, time study engineer, bosses, auditors, are all together in for aconspiracy to make him work more to get much higher output at the samewages or even less wages, then it is very essential that management must tryto understand how such attitudes are formed. The analysis should be alsoto find out the relationship between those factors and job behaviur, so thatthe behaviour can be made more favourable.

2.18.4 PERSONALITY FACTORS

You have already seen that there are many factors that shape the personalityof an individual Heredity is an important factor as many characteristics areinherited from parents and this forms the basis for the personality of theindividual and also for his attitude. The temparament, values and ideals aredetermined by heredity and this is a basis for the attitude of the individual.Thus if one feels dissatisfied with an object then he has a negative attitudeand it is common to see that things not liked by parents are disliked bychildren too. The physical feature plays a role in personality and differencesin such personality feature have a big impact on the attitude. People withdifferent personality have different attitudes towards the same object. Culturalfactors that differentiate also impacts the attitude. This is due to the fact thatbeliefs, customs values all differ according to culture and these have aninfluence on attitude formation. Mainly personality creates attitudes likeconservatism, dogmatism, liberalism and authoritarianism etc. Variousresearch studies have established that there is a strong relationship betweenpersonality factors/variables and attitude formation in individuals.


What factors support the formation of attitudes ?

Briefly explain how attitude is formed with the impact of someof these factors?



How can you change other’s attitude ?

How do personality factors affect attitude ?

2.19 ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT

Attitudes are subjective attributes of people. They are conceptualization ofhuman qualities that are formed on the basis of rational consideration orstatistical evidence. They can be hence regarded as constructs for ourpurpose. An operational definition of attitude can be obtained if one candescribe the measurement system used by psychologists to measure attitudes.There are many methods of attitude measurement. The methods of attitudemeasurement are classified as

1) Self-report usually elicited through questionnaires dealing with feelings,beliefs and behaviours.

2) Indirect tests like projective techniques and disguised approaches.

3) Direct observation techniques

4) Psychological reaction techniques.

Measurement of attitudes of employees in an organization is carried outusing self-respect questionnaire techniques. There are also several scalingmethods employed to measure attitudes using Q.A. methods. Three typesof attitude scaling used are

a) Thurston

b) Likert

c) Semantic differential.

Thurston collected a large number of statements relating to the area inwhich attitude measurements have to be measured.These statements arealso related to the object about which attitudes are to be measured.. Thestatements are adjectives both favourable and unfavourable and are placedin 11 piles in the sense that the most favourable are at one extreme i.e.

say 1 and the most unfavourable are at the opposite extreme say 11. Allother statements are placed in between them and arranged in an orderdepending on the degree of favourability or unfavourability. This scale isthen presented to the respondents who checks the statements with whichhe agrees. His attitude score is then based on either the average or themedian scale of the statement that he has checked.

Likert attitude scale uses 5 points. These points reflect the degree ofagreement or disagreement. The respondent checks the statements and ticks



one of them For example look into the question – This brand A of wristwatch(Titan) is superior to brand B – strongly agree,agree,neither agreenor disagree,disagree,strogly disagree. Let. us give points 5,4,3,2,1respectively to these If the respondent says disagree then the attitude scoreis. Likert scale is considered to be more reliable than Thurston.

Osgood developed Semantic differential technique of attitudemeasurement. Here the concept consists of many pairs of opposite adjectiveor phrases with scale values in between. The respondent marks the positionin using the scale along each scale. That reflects his attitude to the object.The scale values ranging from 1 to 7 are associated with different responsesand the sum of these will be the score of the individual .

There are also other methods like Guttman’s etc which you can refer .


How do you measure attitude ?

2.20 MOTIVATION

2.20.1 INTRODUCTION

In organizational context motivation means inducing a person to act or movein a desired manner.- as desired in the interests of the organization. Normallymotivation is employed to on subordinates so that they act in the interest ofemployer.In fact it is not enough if they act in a manner desired but also actvery efficiently and most important in a productive manner. How intense isthe motivation, how is the quality of motivation are all reflected by thequickest positive response by the worker and how maximum is the productiveoutput by the employee. Briefly, you can say that to motivate means is toinduce, persuade, stimulate and even compel an employee to act in a mannerthat helps in attaining the organizational objectives. Compelling is a sort offear that act as a motivator.

Technically speaking the Latin word “movere” means “ to move”. Differentbehaviouralists approached the concept of motivation by using different termslike motives, needs, wants, drives, wishes, desires etc.to define motivationand since motivation really consists of all these internal urges as mentionedbefore one has to analyse basically three terms viz. motive, motivators ormotivating and motivation in order to understand the concept clearly.

By now you can say that motivation is what makes people do things (makingJohn run). Motivate means to provide with a motive to impel or incite oneto action. Thus a need, idea, emotion or organic state which can prompt



one to action or work. You can not manipulate motivation. You have totouch the basic urges of individuals and those must be convincingly arousedemploying correct motivators, correct to the context. For example, incentivescan induce employees- can motivate employees.

“A motive is an inner state that energizes, activates or moves (hencemotivation) and that direct behaviour towards goals.”—BernardBerelson

Motivating is providing channels of motives and making them easily accessibleto employees. Thus a manager induces a worker to engage in work behaviourby ensuring that a channel to satisfy the motive becomes available andaccessible to the worker.

Motivation is the work behaviour itself.. Dubin has defined motivation as“Motivation is the complex forces starting and keeping a person at work inan organization. Motivation is something that moves a person to action, andcontinues him in the course of action already initiated.”

Relationship between motive, motivating and motivation.

2.20.2 NATURE OF MOTIVATION

The characteristics of motivation can describe the nature of motivation .Themain characteristics of motivation are :

It is based on motives : Individual motives are internal to the individualThe feeling that the individual lacks something and he tries to behave in amanner that overcomes this shortcoming in the feeling.

Motivation is affected by the way the individual is motivated : Weliterally open the channel for need satisfaction by act of motivation. Furtherit also activates some other dormant needs in the individual and harnessesthem in a manner that would be useful to organization.

Motivation leads to goal directed behaviour. The behaviour satisfies thecause for which the organization is trying. Motivation is related to satisfac-tion. The individual experiences contentment and derive need fulfillment.

Normally a person is motivated in totality and not in part. His needs andbehaviour vary and his needs ar interrelated.



Of course motivation is a complex process due to the nature of needs andtypes of behaviour.

The smart management tries to understand the dormant needs; latent needsand provide means for satisfaction of those needs.

Thus the need for promotion may be uniform for all employees but thebehaviour exhibited by them to achieve may be totally different. Because aparticular behaviour is not due to one need but due to many needs in him. Aworker does very hard work for promotion, or recognition or to earn moremoney or to satisfy his psychological needs.

Though motivation creates a goal directed behaviour, it may not end up ingoal achievement, in which case the frustration increases. This aspect mustbe taken care of by management while opening the channels of motivation.


What is the concept of mot ivation in the context of anorganization?

Define motivation.

List the characteristics of motivation :

Why do you study motivation from organizational point of view?

2.21 IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION

The organizational efficiency is determined by the employee motivation andthis argument has been tested and proved. For a right type of behaviour ofthe worker and hence to obtain a productive result, every boss has tomotivate his subordinate intelligently. The significance of motivation can bebriefed as follows.

1) Improvement in performance level is the first important result ofmotivation. Motivated employee works more, accepts tougherassignments and attractive and productive results. The employee whois motivated works far better than others and in results too. It is foundthat permanent employees work at 60% of their efficiency on an averagewhile hourly wage earners work at 20 to 30 % efficiency only. This isbecause job security itself is a motivation. Further a permanent employeeif motivated performs up to 90% of his efficiency.

2) Motivation reduces absenteeism and labour turn over.When the presentneeds and dormant needs are satisfied the employee will not shirk hisresponsibility and continue to not only work hard but turnout more output



also. That is the magic influence of correct motivation. To keep upcommitments he will not be absent at all unnecessarily from work. Theemployees stop shifting of departments when motivated properly. Nowonder the efficiency as well as productivity shoots up like anything insuch a scenario.

3) Absence of resistance to change is an important hallmark of motivation.Normally any employee will resist anything new or any change in workprocedure etc. Often an organization is forced to introduce changeswith changes in times. Any organization has to adapt to changes failingwhich they will be out of the market in this competitive world. So ifsuitable motivational measures are taken employees can be encouragedto accept and adopt changes willingly for the benefit of the organizationas well as for the benefit of employees.

4) Motivation in many firms has led to valuable and profitable suggestionsby employees. Employees are motivated to give suggestions forimproving designs, improving packing or quality etc. Both financial andnonfinancial incentives have motivated them to give world-classsuggestions.

5) The performance of an employee is represented by the equation—Performance = Ability x motivation.

6) Always financial incentives may not work especially in the case of thosewhose physical conditions are satisfactory and financial position is alsoabove average compared to others—higher cadre employees. They maybe frustrated and hence conducive atmosphere has to be provided forthem. Incentives may give expected output but motivation calls for inputchanges on work, attitude and behaiour so as to give much higheroutputs.


What is the importance of mot ivat ion?List at least fourbenefits.

2.22 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

There are two types of theories developed that is related to motivationalprocess and can define the process too. These are the Content Theoriesand the Process Theories.

The Content Theory deals with the determination and specification of drivesand needs that motivate people, the Process Theory deals with the variablesthat go into motivation and their relationship with each other.



2.22.1 CONTENT THEORY

This type of motivation explains the types of needs in individuals that haveto be detected and satisfied. This also deals with the factors within a personthat initiates and directs behaviour or checks another type of behaviour inindividuals. The essence of the theory is that people have some physiologicaland psychological needs that are fundamental in nature and they should besatisfied. For this purpose the individuals are engaged in such activities thatcan satisfy these needs. Thus it is the nature of the needs that determinesthe nature of motivation. This motivation results in a specific behaviour thatenables him to reach the goal of satisfying such needs.

NEEDS —————>-BEHAVIOUR—————>-GOALS

2.22.2 MASLOW’S NEED HEIRARCHY THEORY

This is the earliest form of motivational theory and is also extensively usedin organizations. According to Abraham Maslow people have complex setof needs and that the behaviour of an individual at a particular moment isdetermined by the strongest need at that time. “What is it that make peoplebehave in a particular manner ?.”Maslow was researching into this questiononly. The two assumptions in his theory are

1) People have many needs that are different in nature ranging frombiological needs at the lowest level to psychological needsl at the highestlevel for growth.

2) These needs occur in an order of hierarchy so that the lower level needsare satisfied first and graduate to higher level needs in an order.

In the process, the lower level needs satisfaction become motivators toachieve higher level needs. Thus remarked Mahatma Gandhi once “EvenGod can not talk to a hungry man except in terms of food”. So also a holySikh man was praying “ Take your rosary beads away, I can not worshipand meditate on you when I am hungry”

This tells us that basic biological needs are to be satisfied first or else theirattention can not be focused otherwise. Nor it will be possible for us tocommunicate with them on any other matter.

Maslow’s theory explains that human behaviour is dynamic and realisticand is based on the inner state of human nature and environmental conditionshave no significant role. Maslow postulates five basic needs arranged insuccessive levels. These needs continue to change resulting in changing goalsand activities. They are depicted in the following diagram. The first threelevels are the deficiency needs and the upper two sets are growth needs.



Self – actualization Esteem

Social

Security

Physiological

Maslow’s need hierarchy

Maslow’s theory brought awareness to management that people aremotivated by a wide variety of needs and that management must provide anopportunity for employees to satisfy these needs by way of creation ofgood physical and conceptual work environment in order where employeeswill be motivated to their best to achieve the organizational goals.

First level needs can be satisfied in an organization through reasonablewages, salary, working conditions, welfare measures etc. pride leisure andfatigue relief etc. Lighting, rest room, ventilation are other measures fortaking care of first level needs.

For the second level needs i.e., calling for security and safety, managementmay provide life insurance, medical facilities, job security, cost of livingcompensation, pension plan, freedom to unionise, minimum wages andunemployment benefits etc.

In the third level, love and affection needs become motivators and hencemanagement may provide work environment for friendly interpersonalrelationship.—social clubs, coffee clubs, recreational activities, luncharrangements,sports.picnic etc are motivators. Further, arrange periodicalmeeting with workers and subordinates, have a friendly supportivesupervision and make them partners than employees, give challenging jobs,recognize, reward them, give them authority, train and develop them, eveninvolve them in goal setting.

Finally, encourage creativity, communication and criticism and with thefreedom of expression make them the ‘owners” of the organization.

2.22.3 DAVID MCCLELLAND’S THEORY OF ACHIEVEMENTMOTIVATION

Macclelland propounded this theory, which states that an organization offersan opportunity to satisfy at least three needs.—for achievement, for affiliationand for power—. The theory emphasizes that the intensity of the individual’sneed for achievement is the major factor for willingness to perform. The



achievement motive can be defined as “a desire to succeed in competitivesituations based upon an established or perceived standard of excellence.”Such individuals ask for a challenging job, requiring creativity, ingenuinityand hard work. They look for situations of success and want credit forsuccess. They take calculated risk and expect quick feed back on theirperformance. They believe more in solving complex problems than in anyfinancial gain. It is for the management to segregate them, detect the needsand provide motivators suitably.

Studies show that people with a high need to achieve do better and toughertasks beneficial and profitable to the organizations. These people can startnew business. However only 10% of employees are found to be achievers.So McClelland suggest that the other 90% should be attracted to achievercategory by

1) following the achiever models

2) frequent feed back on their performance

3) giving an opportunity to set high goals

4) controlling the daydreams but to realize the dreams.

2.22.3a THE NEED FOR POWER

A person has a need to control, dominate and influence others—that is theneed for power. By this an individual manipulates and controls the activitiesof others to suit his own purposes. Normally such people look for leadership.They also are good managers setting goals, making decisions etc. Thenegative aspect of power is some seek power for personal aggrandizementand that too at the cost of others. Also some managers prefer socializedpower to personalized power. Of course they are highly loyal to theorganization. They keep the interests of the company superior to personalinterests.

2.22.3b NEED FOR AFFILIATION

Some individuals desire for friendly and warm relationship with others. Thisis a powerful social need. They tend to seek affiliation with those havingsimilar beliefs, background and outlook on life. This is how informal groupsand organizations are formed. You can see in society itself people of samekind only mixing very freely. Even in an organization workers have a tendencyto get involved in calling for interpersonal relationships with the same set ofcadres having the same wavelength. Where personal support and approvalsare there such individuals perform very well. They do not quarrel. Since



people are social animals most of them would like to interact and associatewith cohesive groups, where they feel they belong and accepted. In factthey want jobs calling for interactions and relationship. The drawback isthat such people are rarely successful when they work in isolation. Researchshows that in many organizations managers with high need for affiliationcould succeed in integrating different departments by attending to other’sfeelings, other’s personal matters etc.

2.22.4 HERZBERG’S HYGIENE THEORY OF MOTIVATION

“When do the workers like the job and when do they dislike the job.”

— This was the research conducted by Herzberg on more than 200organizations and the answers were recorded for analysis. Some of thefindings were startling. The analysis revealed two critical factors – intrinsicand extrinsic.

All the hygiene factors are extrinsic and all motivational factors are intrinsic.It is found that when hygiene factors are absent it increased dissatisfactionwith the job. When these factors are present, they helped in preventingdissatisfaction but do not increase satisfaction or motivation to perform thejob.

When motivational factors are not present they prevented satisfaction andmotivation. When these factors are present they increased satisfaction andmotivation.

Hygiene factors are company policy, administration,technical supervision,interpersonal relationship with supervisor, with peers, with subordinates,salary, job security, personal life, working environment, status.

Motivational factors are achievement, recognition,advancement,work itself,possibility of growth, responsibility.

All the hygiene factors are environment related factors. They must be viewedas preventive measures that remove job dissatisfaction from the environment.Hygiene factors do not help the growth in performance but they preventdeterioration of performance. caused by work restriction. Herzberg believedthat hygiene created little positive motivation but its absence created negativemotivation.

Motivational factors are real motivators that are associated with the positivefeelings of employees about the job. Since they are related to the content ofthe job they make people satisfied with their job. These factors have apositive influence on morale satsfaction, efficiency and productivity. Theirhigh morale is evidenced by lack of absenteeism, commitment to goals and



late hours working. If the manager wants to increase the motivation andperformance above a level then there must be job enrichment and freedomon the job. Recognition is a motivational factor. Thrusting with moreresponsibility is a motivational factor. To conclude Herzeberg says that thesefactors are interrelated and are positively related to motivation. Jobpromotion, participation and responsibility and executive benefits are allsigns of growth and advancement and add to dedication and commitmentof employees.


Briefly touch the various theories of motivation ?

Which is the most proficient theory ? Why ?

2.23 EFFECTS OF MOTIVATION ON WORK BEHAVIOUR

Motivation is determined by the nature of the reward people expect to getas a result of their job performance. The nature of reward is the perceivedvalue that the employee assigns to the reward. The employee believes thatsuch hard work will lead to better performance. This performance gets himthe reward, which is the effect of motivation on his work behaviour. Whenemployees are treated and recognized well that results in excellentperformance. So the motivators are treatment and recognition that influencedthe behaviour to do better. When the subordinates are participating in goalsetting that acts as a powerful motivator to achieve the goals. Participationas a motivator influences work behaviour favourably.

Motivation is closely tied to job satisfaction. The primary condition forperformance is that employee must like the job. If not their morale will below and they get demotivated to do the job even with less efficiency. Stepsto be taken by management at this juncture are good wages, salary, timelypromotions, fringe benefits, participative style of management, team spiritand good working conditions etc. These motivating agents can bringsweeping positive changes in the behaviour of workers.

Gains sharing programme has a decisive influence on work behaviour and itis recorded that production has gone up by 40 to 50 % in companies as aresult of sharing the profit or extra gains. Gains sharing are a motivator thatcan positively influence work behaviour.

Workers in highly skilled cadre looking for achievement must be givenchallenging job so that they turnout quality and tough jobs bringing name tothe organization.



Just like benefits motivate workers to be more productive, they may turnout to be demotivators if unproductive workers also get the same benefits.

Friendly and supportive supervision is an excellent motivation that contributesto job satisfaction. Creating conditions for interpersonal relationship andcreating small groups are motivators as this improves communication andtogetherness i.e. a sense of affiliation resulting in tremendous job satisfaction.Other factors that improve job satisfaction are good lighting, rest rooms,controlled humidity, good tool room, reduced noise level all will contributeto job satisfaction. The consequences of job satisfaction are

1) there will be no employee unrest

2) there will be no voluntary absenteeism

3) tardiness on the part of employees will be remarkably reduced

4) employees will not waste the time by coming late,in rest rooms etc.

5) the employee turnover will be to the most minimum only in anorganization where job satisfaction on an average is high.

6) union activity will be less and not troublesome.

7) employees will not seek early retirement

8) job security and career advancement programme motivate the employeesand enables the employer to retain them on whom they have invested alot in training etc.

9) an involved worker contributes for cost reduction by way of suggestionsand also gives valuable ideas for new product development.

10) job enrichment increases the commitment on the part of employees.

11) a greater responsibility to employees means greater control onresources.

12) an early feedback of employees, if positive ,encourages growth andinnovative approaches.

It is needless to mention that job and human behaviour are directly related.A satisfied job means positive attitude and less resentment. Positive attitudesreinforce behaviour that is desirable and permanent.

Explaining the significance of the job is a powerful motivator that can changethe output tremendously. Henry Ford once told the blue collared workersthat “you are not simply tightening the bolts and nuts in the engine of a car,but you are building a means of transportation for the American people.”This motivative explanation of the job significance had improved productivityof Fords by 20%, it appears.



Give the worker the freedom to schedule his work and allow him toexperience the responsibility. The results are astonishing – worker feelsresponsible for success or failure and of course spares no efforts forsuccessful performance.

Richard M.Steers in his study at 3M found that the above factors ofmotivation resulted in -

1) The productivity increased by 40%.

2) The rejections decreased by 0.5%.

3) Absenteeism reduced by 24%.

4) Overall job satisfaction increased by 16%.

5) The operator proficiency increased and hence supervisory needsreduced by 14%.

6) The cost reduction was brought about.

Although many theories of motivation may not be applicable to Indiansituations some are common to all countries. Thus the motivational systemfor mangers is different from that for workers. Job security and financialincentives are not motivating factors to managers, but they are for workers.Recognition of work is applicable to both as motivating factors. Similarlylack of technical competency of managers, poor administrative set-up, andineffective supervision. lack of opportunities for growth etc are deterrentsto job satisfaction, which is the aim of motivation.

While top managers want value satisfaction and achievement followed byself-actualization, middle level managers want career progress andaccomplishment But workers have different needs to be satisfied. Hencewhile designing a motivational system for an organization care must be takenthat all people have enough different motivators to achieve the individual,group and organizational objectives. People behave because they aremotivated to behave. And needs once aroused become motives and themotive makes you to act or behave. The organization has to establish amotivational system that makes them behave in a manner desired


List the positive effects of motivation for an organization.

Which is the most essential need for survival / How do firmsmaintain this?



SUMMARY

This chapter has covered the concepts of personality in individuals and theimportance of personality while selecting employees to the organization aswell as during their performance. The various theories of personality standproof to the significance of personality. The interesting factors that shouldbe known to us so as to interpret the influence on work behaviour andcorrective actions to be taken by managers are discussed in detail.

The various learning theories accompanied by reinforcement concepts arediscussed in detail. That learning theory can be used to explain and controlbehaviour is established through this chapter. The characteristics of attitude,its components, and formation all are discussed in a comprehensive manner.Job satisfaction a resultant of attitude is discussed briefly but the significanceis elucidated.

Perceptual process and its implication on work behaviour along withinterpersonal perception have been discussed at length. The factorsinfluencing perception like needs, size, personality and mechanism ofselection have been discussed in detail. The chapter closes with theelucidation of motivation and various theories. The motivators for effectiveorganizational functioning have been explained. The effects of motivationon work behaviour are also elaborately discussed.

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS. Tick “yes” or “no”

Personality is not unique to any person.

Heredity plays a vital role in designing a personality.

Job satisfaction is linked to perception.

Performance appraisals have nothing to do with perceptions.

The behaviour of a person is not influenced by perception.

Maslow’s prescribed seven needs in a hierarchy.

Herzberg propounded theory of achievement motivation.

Theory X and Y are same only.

Attitudes are not stable while values are stable.

Attitude cannot defend self-image.



CASE STUDY

THE GAS CUTTERS

In one public sector undertaking with a chequered past, a line manager wasappointed as the chief of personnel. Within a year after taking up theassignment, he had to sign a wage agreement with the worker’s union. Non-technical staff dominated the union at that time. The union’s charter ofdemands favoured the interests of its dominant member groups. It askedfor a significant revision in Gardner’s pay., but was not equally vocal inpressing for the increase in the pay scales of workers in certain technicalgrades. The management conceded these demands as the union cooperatedwith them in keeping the burden of the pay revision well within the guidelinesof the Bureau of Public enterprises.

Once the agreement was signed and communicated to the employees /members by the management and the union respectively, there wascommotion among the technical staff. They walked out of the union andformed a separate technical staff union and marched round the companypremises holding placards which read” Here is where grass cutters get morethan the gas cutters “In that engineering assembly unit, till the pay revisionoccurred, welding was a highly rated job. But not any longer. Now gardenersget more than welders.

QUESTIONS :

1. What if grass- cutters get more than gas cutters ?

2. Evaluate the approaches of both the management and the unionin this case.

SHORT QUESTIONS :

Discuss at least three measures to improve perception in anorganisation for a worker. Assume he is suspicious of his bossfor not promoting him.

Differentiate perception from sensation.

What is extrinsic reinforcement? Give an example.

Discuss the factors that affect learning.

Explain the meaning of valence and expectancy. Give twocontextual examples.

Explain two methods to bring attitudinal changes.

Link motivation and motivating force with example.



List a few personality characteristics of an urban worker educatedin contrast to that of a rural worker.

LONG QUESTIONS :

Briefly describe the various personality theories. Integrate someof the features to get a satisfactory theory on personality.

How does the personality affects the behavior of the person, howdo you apply personality concept in organisation?

What are the theories of learning? Differentiate with exampleslearned and inherited characteristics.

What are different reinforcements, how reinforcement shapebehaviour of people?

What are the managerial implications of perception? How doesmanagement affect perception on organisation?

Describe the perception process in detail.

Critically examine Maslow and Herzberg theory of motivation.What is suitable to us?

“A person is motivated only when rewarded for his performance”explain.

What are the various motivation in an organizational setup andeffects of motivation on work behaviour?



UNIT - III

GROUP BEHAVIOUR

3.1 INTRODUCTION

It was a rainy day when a scientist was waiting in a bus stop outside theTata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay (the present Mumbai).A Mercedes Benze was coming out of the premises with a gentleman whopolitely parked the car in front requesting the scientist to board the car as itwas heavily raining. The scientist thanked the gentleman in suit and introducedhimself as a scientist engaged in research in Tata Institute. The scientist didnot stop there and was very curious to know whom the gentleman was “May I know who you are please?”- Pat came the reply “ I am J.R.D. Tata,working for Tatas”—You know that Tata was independently wealthy butwould not give up his job at 6o. Why? Because he really liked the peoplehe worked with. He enjoyed the regular interaction that came from thegroup in which he was a member. The emphatic but polite reply of Mr. Tatastand testimony to the fact that for many people job and interactions are theprimary source for fulfilling their needs for affiliation and social needs. Furtherthere was self –esteem when Tata replied – a feeling of self-worth.

There is no single reason why individual join groups and many groups areformed. May be you feel that “ united we stand, divided we fall “or “unionis strength” It may be a matter of security, self-esteem or affiliation. It canalso be to share the work load of life. It could be to increase the voicepower of the individual. Thus individual can influence groups and in turngroups can influence organizations or associations. In the process leadersare born and some working and even behavioural norms are born.Automatically for leaders and followers to survive interpersonal relationsand communications becomes a tool for survival. This makes the managers



to device tools for controlling the members of the organization so that thingsare always in command for the betterment of the organization as well as theemployees.


After studying this chapter, you should be able to understand

The organization structure.

Why groups are formed and that too as formal and informal.

The key factors in explaining group behaviour.

How group norms exert influence on individual behaviour?

Communication within groups and its impact.

The control of the group.

3.3 ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

3.3.1 Concept of organization structure

Organization structure is a basic framework within which the manager’sdecision-making power takes place. Structure basically deals withrelationships. Study into the relationship is science just like scientistsanalyzing the structure of a human cell and the relationship among the variouselements in the cell. A marketing manager seeks to discover the structure ofthe market and its segments and establishes a relationship between productsand consumers. Drawing parallel to this an organization structure is alsoconsisting of various parts. For that matter structure is the pattern in whichvarious parts of components are interrelated and interconnected. Theorganization structure is the pattern of relationships among variouscomponents or parts of the organization. This prescribes the relationshipsamong various activities and positions. Because various persons hold thesepositions, the structure is the relationship among people in the organization.Normally, the organization structure is not visible in the same way as abiological or mechanical structure, though it can be inferred from the actualoperations and behaviours of the organization. According to Sheldon,”“Organization is the process of so combining the work, which individuals orgroups have to perform with the facilities necessary for its execution , thatthe dut ies so perfo rmed provide the best channels for t heefficient,systematic,positive and coordinated application of the availableeffort.”



The process actually means functioning of the organization. Though it isdifficult to draw a distinction between the structure and process of theorganization, one cannot be understood without the other. While the structureof an organizational system is arrangement of subsystems and components,the process is the dynamic change in the matter and information of the systemover time. Thus the structure in an organization links production depatment,finance department, stores, warehouse etc. along with tool cribs, inspectionetc as components. The line authority and staff authority and policies etc ofthese component departments play the processing role and these arechanging over time and hence process is dynamic. This leads you to acceptthat the structure and process are static and dynamic features of theorganization respectively. You can conclude that organization structure is apattern of established relationships among the components of theorganization What is important is the patterning of relationships betweendepartments and the degree of permanency of the established relationshipcan be referred to as organization structure.

Design of the basic structure of an organization involves analysis of how thework of the organization will be divided and assigned among the variousgroups, positions, departments etc and to strike coordination among theseso as to achieve the organizational objectives. In addition to the formallyestablished relationships, people also create their own relationshipindependent of the formal relationship. These are the informal relationships.Thus organization structure is the totality of both formal and informalrelationships.

The organizational process consists of control procedure, information system,reward system, punishment, rules and regulations etc. These are the structuralvariables that can be utilized to decide what is required to motivate theemployees to perform their best to achieve the organizational objectivescollectively.


Briefly discuss the concept behind an organizational structure.

3.3.2 Need and importance of formal organizational structure.

Since large number of people are involved in the achievement of theorganizational objectives, a formal structure is required. All of them performindependent functions but interrelated. Hence you need to plan the work sothat they are completed in time to achieve the objectives independently andcollectively. A formal structure enables the individuals to overcome their



limitations and also enables the management to direct, coordinate and controlthe business. Hence if the organization is ill designed it shakes the veryfoundation of the management. You hence need a well crafted organizationto smooth run the business, progress, diversify, optimum usage of resources,improvements, new products and procedures etc. This only can stimulatecreativity. A sound organisationalstructure is required for

1) Facilitating management : It helps management, which works withcertainty and continuity. It groups and arranges activities to get the bestresults. Functional groups know their direction and each employee isaware of the goals. When key activities are overlooked or subordinatedthe results would be detrimental. Good management hence develops agood organizational structure. Only a good structured organization canlook after the delegation of authority, defining responsibility, effectivecommunication, control and coordination. Also it takes care ofmodifications of all these as per the needs.

2) Encouraging growth : A dynamic and flexible structure enables growthand changes , enabling diversification, optimization and expansion. Aconstant vigil is always called for to absorb growth and modifications inthe structure.

3) Optimum use of technology. A lot of new technology is introducedtoday to mitigate market competition and you need a dynamicorganizational structure to accommodate the technology. For example,a R&D department or a new computer department etc. calls for a newstructure as there can be cost reduction and innovation due to the newtechnologies.

4) Providing psychological satisfaction : The importance of employeesatisfaction is so high that an organization will poorly perform in itsabsence. People derive this satisfaction only from the work allocationand relationship among the individuals established through the structure.Again it is the structure that provides opportunities for training anddevelopment.

5) Stimulation of creativity : A good organization provides professionalopportunities for innovative thinking and creativity by providing suitablefacilities for specialists and special tasks. With rewards and support forideas etc many enterprises have turned out brilliant employees whocontributed a lot to the technical and commercial progress of thecompany.




Why do you study about organizational structure.

3.4 FORMATION OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

The important steps involved in the formation of the organizational structure are

1) Determination, identification and enumeration of activities: Once thegoals and objectives of the organization have been fixed, you have toidentify the activities to achieve the objectives. These activities arebroken down into sub activities and they are distributed to the lowestlevel possible in the hierarchy. Only necessary activities are taken intoconsideration and unwanted ones are carefully discarded. Now eachindividual knows his duties and responsibilities.

1) Closely related and similar activities are grouped into departments ordivisions so that best coordination is possible. Grouping can be donebased on functions, geographical regions, types of customers, types ofequipments etc. Grouped activities in form of departments are thenassigned to various positions. Various individuals occupy these positions.Thus you get production managers, finance managers, personnelmanagers, marketing managers etc in the organization. They in turndelegate and distribute jobs to their subordinates down the line. Themajor care to be taken is that the personnel and their jobs must matchwell.

2) Since the persons who are assigned particular activities are performingthese duties to the best of their abilities they must be given correspondingauthority to discharge their obligations. Responsibility and authority aretied together. In fact responsibility is really the accountability of authority.As you now know that authority without responsibility is the most riskyfor management results. Thus if a marketing manager has the authorityto recruit additional sales force to increase the sales, then he is alsoequally responsible for the sales results, leave alone the duty of salesmento increase the sales.


What are the steps involved in the formation of organizationalstructure.

3.4.1 DETERMINANTS OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURE.

Different organizations you can see have different structures due to the factthat they have different characteristics and requirements. Each structure



satisfies the particular needs of the set up at a particular point of time and issubject to changes as called for by many factors like environment, technologyand size of the company. It must be so to meet the organizational objectivesoptimally. The interaction of these three factors will decide the philosophyand strategy of central management, which forms the foundation of theorganizational structure.

Environment

Technology

Size

Philosophy and Strategy

Organizational Structure

The above factors are explained in more detail:

Environment : This has considerable impact on the organization and itsoperations.

The environment consists of customers, culture, and economy andInternational conditions also. The organization structure depends on whetherthe the external environment will be stable or changing. A stable environmentmeans you can go for a structure that is mechanistic. But successfulorganizations have structures varying with the environment and such structureis known as organic structure. An uncertain environment calls for experts todeal with problems created by the elements that cannot be predicted.

Technology : The structure depends on the tools, techniques and theknowhow of the technology. The technology may be simple and constant,in which case you can have a mechanistic structure. But if it is advanced,complex requiring the interdependence of the members of the work force,then it calls for an organic set-up. Joan Woodward in her study concludedthat technology has a telling effect on the organizational structure. Massproduction with interdependence of departments, production with robotsand N.C. machines in cybernetics surroundings etc call for organic structureof the organization for optimal results.

The size of the organization : The number of people working in theorganization will naturally decide the type of structure that will be effectivein the given conditions. Every organization grows and it increases the numberof managers, number of functional departments, number of employees withdiversified responsibilities, number of specialists section etc. This results inincreased coordination, supervision and hence human problems. It then calls



for high degree of discipline – a formally structured chain of command is thesolution —. With that a mechanistic structure is born.

Philosophy and strategy of the organization : This has a definite relationwith the structure of the organization. Take for example, a small organization.Everything is centralized here. The power is concentrated here with oneman or a small group. As the organization grows such a simple structurebecomes ineffective and inefficient. Hence the organization changes itsstrategy and hence the organizational structure also.

There are two strategies as you know. one is the stability strategy and thesecond one is the growth strategy. When you want to grow or expand youwill be coming across a number of problems and complexities, uncertaintyetc. This calls for an organic structure of the organization.


List the determinants of organization structure.

3.4.2 TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS

Depending on the philosophy and the type of organization you can havemechanistic or organic or a combination of both as your organizationalstructure. In practice many of the organizational structures are mechanisticin nature. Some of the structures are -

1) Line Organizations

2) Line and Staff Organizations

3) Functional Organizations

4) Divisional Organizations etc.

Line organizations : This is the simplest form of organization normallyfollowed by many companies. Here the authority is in hierarchical structureand flows from the top most to down the level. —From the President of thecompany to vice President to managers to foremen to workers —. Theauthority flows from managerial level to operating level. As a result the systemclearly defines the authority, responsibility and accountability at each level.These relationships in the hierarchy connect the positions and tasks of eachlevel with the level up and below. There is unity of command and clearly aperson in a level enjoys independence but answerable to his boss or superior.Also the line people are directly involved in the achievement of theorganizational objectives. Drawn below is a typical diagram of the linestructure.



V

Here, normally, the size is small because of which the line structure is simpleand authority and responsibility are clear-cut and well defined. The sameare easily assignable and traceable and measurable. Communication andfeedback are fast and being close to each other a sense of belongingnesscan be a natural outcome. The discipline and control are also easier due tothe size and limited levels.

Any system has its limitations and accordingly you have some drawbackshere also. Assume that the president and managers are good people ,then asense of family orientation and closeness can be the benefits to theorganization. On the contrary, if they are dictatorial in nature which is quitepossible in this set-up, then the employees will resent and hurdles will becreated to achieve the goals. In this structure there is no specialization orscope for specialists or innovative suggestions etc. the growth can becurtailed. Optimization cannot be effective. Hence for a growth-orientedfirm this structure may not be suitable.

The line type can be pure line type or department line type. In pure line typeall similar activities are performed at one level. Each group of activities isindependent of the other units and performs their duties without the helpfrom other units. But in departmental line type of organization respectiveworkers and supervisors are grouped based on their functions like finance,production, marketing, human resources etc. In other words, this is afunctional structure.


Name the different types of organizations.



3.4.3 LINE AND STAFF ORGANISATION

In this structure, functional specialists are added to the line thereby the linegetting the advantage of specialists. This is the popular structure among thelarge enterprises. The staff does not possess any command or authorityover line managers. They are only advisory or service oriented. There aretwo types of staff—the general staff and the special staff.

The general staff like assistants to management are normal executives withno special back ground like research, design,quality control etc but insteadthey may be special assistants in administration, pay rolls, personal assistantsetc.

Specialized staff is like the experts in some functional areas like maintanance,quality control, transportation public relations etc. The line for competitivelyachieving the objective effectively uses the experience of the specialists. Aline and staff diagram is shown below.

(staff) (staff)

(Line)

(Line) (Line)

President

Legal council Public. Relations Advisor

Vice – President

Engineering Personnel

Plant Manager

Supervisor Machine Shop

Supervisor Assembly

Workers Workers

(staff) (staff)

(Line)

The specialized services improve the organizational performance. Furtherthe line managers are busy with the daily routine and hence it is the specialistswho plan and foresee future and advise the line to prepare for the future.Thus the legal department, advertising department, new product developmentdepartment etc. serve the line for future growth especially, in decision-making



and policy formulation. The important aspect of the staff specialist is thatthey are conceptually oriented towards looking ahead and strategic planningto analyze the effects of future on the enterprise.

The defects of this structure are that there will be often conflicts betweenline and staff and resulting confusion. The cost of hiring specialist is alsohigh to very high. Moreover it is the experience in some organizations thatthe specialists consider themselves to the more important contributors thatthe line executives, thereby questioning the authority and responsibility ofline executives.


What is line and staff organization ?

3.4.4 FUNCTIONAL ORGANISATION

The defect of line organization is the lack of specialization of line executivesgiving an upper hand to the staff specialists unwillingly causing conflicts inthe organization. A line manager cannot become a specialist in all the areaslike design, quality control, purchasing etc. But in a line and staff structurethe staff does not have the authority to implement their suggestions. FrederickW. Taylor hence introduced the concept of Functional organization. Aspecialist was allotted to every area and his authority was used to enforcehis recommendations and directive within the scope of his authority. Theexamples are quality control, labour relations department, industrial safety,legal department, new product department etc.

Each function like production, finance, marketing, R&D, personnel etc hasits own hierarchy. It is only grouping together of jobs of single organizationalfunction or specialized skill. The chain of command leads to a functionalhead in each function. The functional head reports to the top manager. Anorganizational chart is shown below.

President

Dean, School of Education

Dean, School of Business

Dean, School of Sciences

Department of Business Adm.

Department of Economics

Department of Computers



The merits in this type are

1) It enhances operational efficiency and product quality because ofspecialists.

2) Resources are allocated function wise rather than organization as awhole.

The main disadvantage is that it allows only narrow specialization therebypreventing the specialists from mastering the general management aspects.You cannot prepare these specialists for top general management posts.Also these men, are so work conscious and committed to only their work,may not take interest in the organizational needs.


What is functional organization ?

3.4.5 THE DIVISIONAL ORGANIZATION

Too many departments in an organization forces the management to adoptself contained structures in the sense that different departments begin tooperate as small organizations within the large organizations. Eachdepartment becomes a division with similar group of people; activities andcharacteristics The divisional goals are prescribed by the organizationalpolicies and plans. The decisions are decentralized and the division guidesits own activities. Since each enjoys independence with its communication,control, and coordination a tremendous organizational success is guaranteed.The managers have satisfaction due to independence and hence it improvesefficiency of the enterprise.

Based on factors like customers, products, government rules, competitionetc you can have departmentation by products, by geography or area andby time.

At some points, sheer size and diversity of products make servicing byfunctional departments unwieldy. When a company’s departmentalizationbecomes too complex for the functional structure top managers will generallycreate semi-autonomous divisions each of which plan, designs, and producesand market its own products. This is also known as product or marketorganization structure, the organization of a company by divisions thatbring together all those involved with certain type of product or customer.Thus, you can have the activities grouped based on customers or productsor area or time. Each division resembles a separate business. The divisionhead concentrates on the operations of his division and is accountable for



the profit and loss of his division. Hence he may even compete with otherunits to give results. The fact remains that the division head has to report tothe central headquarters. That is to say a division is not a separate or newenterprise owned by another person. Thus General Motors have six divisions,which are decentralized and autonomous. –Buick division, Cadillac division,Pontiac division, Oldsmobile division, Chevrolet division and GMC trucksdivision. You may please refer the diagram given below.

President

–Vice President Buick Div.

Vice- President Cadillac Div.

Vice – President Pontiac Div

Vice – President Oldsmobile Div.

Vice – President Chevrolet div.

Vice – President GMC Trucks

Vice President

Priority customers Regular Customers


What is divisional organization ?

3. 4. 6 M ERITS AND DEMERITS OF DIVISIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Since all the activities, skills, expertise etc required to produce and marketthe products are grouped in one place under one single head a whole jobcan be more easily and effectively coordinated and performed well. Thedecisions made at divisional level being close to to the scene of action, thequality and effectiveness of decisions will be commendable. Theaccountability and responsibility is on the division head and this reduces theworry of central headquarters. Every division’s performance can bemeasured by its profit and loss.



The demerits are 1)The interests of the division is placed ahead of theorganizational goals and needs. 2) It creates politics during allocation ofresources to divisions. 3) There will be no coordination of activities amongdivisions.4) Divisional tasks are accomplished at the cost of corporatepriorities.


What are the merits and demerits of divisional organization ?

3.4.7 PROJECT ORGANIZATION

When a company wants to develop a new product, say, a new automobile,it creates a new organizational structure by calling the specialists fromdifferent departments like design, research and development, marketing,planning etc. This is new project organization. When the project is completedthey will go back to the respective departments. The specialists are selectedpurely based on their skills and expertise and not on decision-making skills.


What is a project organization ?

3.4.8 MATRIX ORGANIZATION

A matrix structure is a combination and interaction of project and functionalstructures, the idea being avoidance of problems due to either functional orproject structure. Matrix organization is defineds “ Any organization thatemploys multiple command system that includes not only the multiplecommand structure but also related support mechanism and an associatedorganizational culture and behavioural pattern.”

The key features of matrix structure is that the functional and project linesof authority are superimposed with each other and are shared by bothfunctional and project managers. While the project managers are responsiblefor the direction and integration of activities and resources related to project,the functional managers are concerned with the operational aspects of theproject. The project manager has to complete the work as per scheduleand budget the functional manager has to give all the technical assistanceand skilled staff to complete the project.

Greiner sees that cross functional teams are used in matrix organization dueto complexity in size, technology,market and competitors. As a result, therewill be information processing and communication problems also that can



be dealt by matrix structure more effectively. In today’s competitive marketyou need to share resources and matrix is the answer. You have to note thatthere is a dual chain of command here and the C.E.O. has to take care of it.Further, the functional and project managers have to share subordinatesand specialists should report to both functional as well as project managers.

Since the matrix structure integrates the efforts of both project and functionalauthority, the vertical and horizontal authority flows down and across. Theline structure makes the authority to flow down from superiors tosubordinates, while the project authority flows across because the authorityis for coordinating efforts which is a horizontal function. The project authorityis not for giving orders and directions, as it is the work of line managers orfunctional managers. This is shown in the diagram.

President

Vice – Pres. Engineering

Vice – Pres. Production

Vice – Pres. Marketing

Project Manager A

Project Manager B

Project Manager C

Hor

izon

talf

low

Proj

ect

auth

ority

and

resp

onsi

bilit

yVertical flow of functional authority and responsibility


What is a matrix organization ?

3.5 GROUPS IN ORGANIZATIONS

Groups exist in any organization. They affect the behaviour of individuals aswell as that of other groups and finally they affect the organization as awhole. Such groups are created by organization to achieve the organizationalgoals. but organization members also create their own groups for their ownsatisfaction. The groups formed by the organization splits the work tosubordinates who in turn distribute it down the lowest level till no more unit



of work is there. In the process, the members form their groups because ofthe socio psychological pressure at work place. In fact these groups arealso essential for efficient functioning of the organization. If you have tostudy the organization you have to understand the effect of both the groupson the enterprise.

What is a group? A collectivity of two or more people is basically a group.It normally consists of a number of people who follow a common purposeor objective, communicate with each other to accomplish the objective,who know each other, who consider themselves as a part of the group. Thegroup has common motivation. Thus you find in society many groups—family, cricket team, club, music troupe, film fans, etc. You also have politicalgroups, consumer groups, sports groups, religious groups etc. You areconcerned with groups at work in an organization.

There may be various types of groups but in an organizational setting thereare two types of groups classified on the basis of structuring. These areformal and informal groups. They also are a kind of organization only. Formalgroups are created to fulfill the organizational needs but informal groups arecreated to give socio psychological satisfaction to the employees. The formalgroups hence are deliberately and consciously created and are normallypermanent like the top management team, services team, marketing team,production team, control and inspection team etc. There can be a temporaryformal group also as in the case of a new project and the team is dismantledafter the work is completed.

However, informal groups are created in the organization because of socialand psychological forces operating at work place. Members create suchgroups for their own satisfaction and they are not regulated by the generalorganizational rules and regulations. Since the functioning of both the groupsare different a manager must understand the differences for efficient trouble-free functioning of the enterprise. Their characteristics are also different.


Briefly write about groups in organizations.

3.5.1 FORMAL GROUPS

This structure has well defined jobs as they are designed to achieve pre-planned objectives of the organization. Each job level has got a definiteauthority, responsibility and accountability. The formal organization has fourpillars—division of labour, scalar and functional processes, structure andspan of control-. These are also called the principles of organization.




What is meant by formal organization ?

3.5.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL GROUPS

Organization structure for formal groups is designed by the topmanagement to fulfill requirements that enables the achievement oforganizational goals and objectives.

The structure is based on the principle of division of labour and efficiencyof operation.

The attention of the management is on the total jobs rather than onindividual job.

Based on the authority and responsibility thrust on people they are placedin a hierarchy and their status and designations are fixed accordingly.

Each employee has to strictly adhere to the job responsibility andauthority given.

The procedures, rules and processes enable control and coordinationof members.

Formal groups include command groups, which consists of managers andsubordinates, and committees and task forces which are created to carryout specific organizational assignments and activities. Take for example yourcollege. You have three formal groups there. They are - students, teachersand administration. In the command group the top administrator is theprincipal and he has the professors and heads of departments as hissubordinates. Similarly, different committees are formed to look after theacademic activities of the college. There are also task forces created toselect students, faculty and special staff ,to develop curriculum, pedagogyof teaching etc. You also have audit group, accounts group, sports group,academic group etc. While the command force and committee continue toexist the task force is dismantled once the task is over. In a manufacturingorganization the task force has a lot of significance. Managers ,technicalexperts, production and marketing specialists form a task force to design anew product and manufacture and market the same.


What are the characteristics of formal groups ?

3.5.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS

Informal organization refers to the natural grouping of people havingsimilarities in an organization. According to Litterer informal organizations



refer to people in-group associations at work, but these associations arenot specified in the blueprint of the formal organization. Again informalorganization means natural grouping of people in the work situations. Whenthey work together they evolve some sort of relationship not prescribed bythe formal organization. This is a social relationship. Thus the characteristicsof informal organizations can be as follows -

Informal organizations are not planned or designed but they are anaturaloutcome.

Informal groups are formed on the basis of similarities among the peoplelike age, sex, place of origin, caste, religion, personality characteristicslikings and disliking etc.

Membership is voluntary and a member can be a member in manyinformal groups.

Behaviour of members of informal group is controlled by group normsand not by the norms of formal organizations.

Informal organizations are created because of the socio psychologicalfactors at work place and hence their behaviour is not in a wayprescribed by theframers of the organization.

Some times informal groups are formed to perform a task better or holdproduction at a particular level. In rigid organizations these informal groupsmeet regularly to cut short the rigid bureaucratic practices. In informal groupsmembers go to their leader to solve their problems and not to the formallyassigned supervisor.

Some of the additional aspects of informal groups are group norms, grouproles, group goals, leadership, and group cohesiveness The informal groupshave their own norms as rules of conduct and standard of behaviour. Similarlythere is an unwritten assignment within the group regarding who should thetask and under what conditions etc. They have their own goals and this canaffect the productivity. Similarly, the informal leader emerges from the groupeither due to his personal charisma or social status or his technical expertise.Group cohesiveness is the degree and strength of interpersonal attractionamong members of the group. High cohesiveness promotes high motivationand finally a good productivity. Group cohesiveness contributes to overallproductivity. Informal groups is a powerful instrument in the sense that ifthey want to do a job then it will be done economically and qualitatively.But if they have to do owing to order from superior then it may be rebuffed.An informal group can stop favouratism by management. They are also anadditional channel of communication for the management.




What are the characteristics of informal organizations ?

3.5.4 PRIMARY GROUPS

Intimate, face-to-face association and cooperation, according to Cooley,characterize primary groups. The social nature and ideals of the individualsare shaped by primary groups. The immediate example is family and peergroup. Some time small group replaces the term primary group. Being smallthe group has close intimacy, comradeship, loyalty and common values amongthe members. In Hawthorne studies the concept of primary group has beenextended to work groups. These work groups have primary group qualitiesthat influence individual behaviour irrespective of contacts or environment.


What is primary group? Give examples ?

3.5.5 MEMBERSHIP GROUPS AND REFERENCE GROUPS

Clubs, cooperative societies, worker’s union, all belong to this group.Individuals actually belong to this group. Reference group is one with whichthe individual identifies or to which he would like to belong. An individualmay be a member of several groups but he may be actively participatingonly in one or two groups activities that attract him or gratify him. The morethe attraction of the norms of the reference group more will be the influenceof reference group on the individual in determining his behaviour.


Write a brief on membership groups and reference groups ?

3.5.6 COMMAND GROUP AND TASK GROUP

This is a part of the organizational chart. This is composed of subordinatesreporting to a common superior. Production manager and his subordinates,college principal and faculty are examples. A task group is formed to solvea particular problem and the group is disbursed after the task is completed.


What is command group and task group ?



3.5.7 INGROUPS AND OUT GROUPS

A set of individuals holding prevailing values in a society having a dominantplace in social functioning form an in-group. The out-group is a conglomeratewho is looked upon as subordinates or marginal in society.

The communication is prescribed in formal groups through a chain ofcommand. In informal groups the communication pass through informalchannels.

The formal group can be abolished at any time but the informal groups aredifficult to abolish, as management does not have control on them.


Write what you know about in-groups and out groups ?

3.6 INFLUENCE OF GROUPS IN ORGANIZATIONS

You have seen in the last unit that there are various groups in an organizationand the efficient functioning of the organization depends on how these groupsperform sicerely and effectively. Since a group is made up of two or moreindividuals, the individuals decide the behaviour of the group only. The onlydifference is that one or a few individuals may dominate in the group andaccordingly the influence on the organization is also affected.

Whether the group is formal or informal every group has its influence onthe over all productivity of the organization. When you have seen that factorslike the personality of an individual, the perception of an individual, attitudeof an individual, the motivation of an individual have so much effect on theperformance of many individuals, obviously the same will be applicable tothe behaviour of the different groups also. Of course the degree of influenceand the direction of influence will be different for the group.

Listed below for your reference are some of the positive influences of aformal group on the organization.

It accomplishes tasks that cannot be done by individuals.

The multi various skills required for the performance of a complex anddifficult job is available with a group.

In a large organization there will be a number of problems,conflictingviewsetc for decision-making. You need a vehicle to air theseviews after due consideration. Only a powerful group can provide thisas “union is strength”



A group formalized is an efficient way to implement discipline andcontrol the behaviour.

Similarly to promote and implement policies, procedures and alsotobring about changes in them you need a formal group designed andapproved by the management.

It is through this group the organization can convey the corporate missionand vision not only to existing employees but also to the new employees.

In order to share the common values and beliefs of the organization tothe new employees the group can be highly useful. The group educatesthe new employees will be more powerful and effective than by theauthority of management.

An individual learns and gains new technical skills and the exactfunctioning of the organization from the group mainly.

The employees existing and new learn about the environment anditsimpacton them as well as on the organization through the group.

It is the working, suggestion, cooperative approach while in a team etcthatenables an individual and hence many individuals to satisfy theirpersonal needsas well as social acceptances and affiliation needs.

Organizational committees are quite popular in organizations. Thesecommittees have their own contribution to the productivity of the enterprise.Their influence on organization is as follows -

Specific and non routine problems are to be attended to and solved bythis committee only.

The committee is made up of specialists from different departments toform a special group and they share their expertise to find solutions atthe earliest and within the budget allotted.

It cannot of course interfere in all spheres and areas without theknowledge of top management.

While meeting the group makes face-to-face communication, things areopenly discussed, recorded, all conforming to organizationalprescriptionsandthisgroup behaviour enhances the prestige of theorganization not only within but also with the stakeholders and theinvestors and the market.

Though all members have equal authority, the chairman of the committeehas more powers in the form of a casting vote to break the deadlockand to arrive at some decision. This means the organization will notsuffer from lack of decision.



Contribution and participation is compulsory for every member, as hehasbeen specially appointed. When members involve in deliberationsdecisionsare arrived at, views are adjusted and a beneficial decision istaken.

Often there will be group pressure in committee meetings andindividualmembers exert pressure on the ideas, suggestions, commentsand judgments on others. The integration of ideas by pooling results ina product that is very superior to what an individual can give.

There is a need in the member of the group to be liked and respectedby others , and this makes him fall in line with the majority working orgeneralthinking of the group.

Collective decision of a group will always be cohesive and strongenabling the organization to defend itself against any onslaught fromenvironment.

A committee comes to the rescue of an organization stuck-up due tolack ofcoordination, planning, execution and new technologies.

A committee provides an opportunity for an individual to air his viewsand recommendations that will be beneficial to the enterprise.

An important impact of committee as a group is that it representsvariousinterested groups. Thus boards of directors, welfare committee,grievancecommittee, customer relations management committee etc areexamples. Each group’s representation only improves the loyalty andcommitment to thedecision taken.

Some committees are constituted to control too much of authority on asingle individual. Thus board of directors checks the authority of theC.E.O.

Committee meeting improves the morale of members and catalysesmotivation to result in an enhanced performance by individuals.

A meeting with group gives tremendous exposure to individual managersand serves as a training ground for further development.

When a manager is stuck up with a problem and is in a dilemma thatcan be referred to the committee to avoid action. This reduces resistance,pressure, opposition, conflicts etc.

One defect in committee is that when people work individually, theywill bemore responsible and accountable. In a group they will follow aneasy-gopolicy.



Some managers misuse the committee to thrust their personal ideas.

Since committees avoid taking action, the aggrieved do not get reliefand atthe same time you can not say that no action has been taken.

Task force is another group within the ambit of formal groups. The influenceof this group on the organization is phenomenal. Though temporary, thisgroup has broader powers of action and decision., responsibilities forinvestigation ,planning, research and analysis. Members of the task forceare from different departments and they are sent back to the respectivedepartments once the task is completed. The chance the member is gettingto serve in the task force itself is a motivation for him to give out his best.Further, his interaction with other members and other departments duringthe execution of the special task gives him and others interacting a specialbut profitable experience to the organization as well as to the careerdevelopment of the task force member.

Task force gives the executives who are assigned tasks an unusual trainingground .The creative energy of the task force members get a channel forreleasing their talents which could not be done by the hierarchy.

The greatest benefit for the organization apart from the technical and humanresource achievement is the savings in the cost as the department isdismantled and not permanent. It need not be maintained like otherdepartments whether work is there or not.

The bad influence of task group is that department managers will have togive their subordinates to them at the cost of their routine work and thathaving no impact on the departmental work.

Quality circle is a group that has a decisive influence on the design,manufacture, inspect, market, service etc of the organization. They usequality control techniques throughout the organization, which ends up theirown skill up gradation along with that of other members. It contributes a lotto the improvement, training and development of employees. It respectshumanity and instills the essence of quality in everybody’s mind. This buildsa happy work place worthy to work. Quality is an attitude and hence it setsa trend for perfection not only in professional life but also in personal life.The QC skill displayed by the group enhances the capability of the groupand enables the organization for unusual and unexpected increase in qualitystandards, which makes the enterprise the market leader in quality products.When they make final oral presentation to management it improves thecommunication between workers and management and this forces themanagement to take interest and to get involved in QC.



The influence of informal groups is different in many respects. This groupgives satisfaction to the affiliation needs of employees as proximity of workplace A kind of security in individuals help the management in satisfying thesecurity needs of employees to that extent. Because of interaction andactivities among the group a sentimental bond is developed and it makesthem stronger to achieve group goals. The spirit of comradeship solvesmany of organizational problems, provides solutions, improves coordinationand reduces tension of the employees to meet the target.

Informal group is essential to support the formal group because theshortcomings of formal group working are compensated by informal groupsettings as these give the much-needed socialization and psychologicalsatisfaction. Activities assigned by formal organization may not satisfy allthe needs of the employees and this tends to activate separate relationshipsamong them . This gives rise to the fact that there is a social imperative sideby side with technical imperative. Man’s quest for social satisfaction notgiven by formal set-up, which is created mainly for technological purposes,creates informal set-up.

Monotony and boredom because of specialized jobs get a relief only throughinformal get together and dialogues. There will be no special motivation forspecial jobs and the morale may be even eroded. Informal organizationthrough informal interaction comes to the rescue of such employees.

“An idle brain works like a devil”—this is true in case of individual whosecapabilities far exceed the actual job requirement. Such people have enoughtime for informal interaction in the absence of which these individuals getfrustrated or develop a tendency to quit the job .

Being subjected to too much of control employees seek to have a freeambience through informal organizations.

Sayles has classified informal groups into four categories - Apathetic,erreatic, strategic, and conservative—. Each has its own influence on theorganization. Thus apathetic are indifferent and may not have a leader, whileerratic are inconsistent with a leader. The strategic are consistent and areunder pressure to give output. The conservative cooperate and have unityare active in union activities and grievance procedure. Since informal groupshave their informal way of communication, they help in solving problems ofmembers at work. A set of norms maintained by informal group enables themanagement to get things done in a democratic way.

The bad influence of informal group is that an autocratic leader can exploitthe situation and give prominence to his personal objectives more than toorganizational objectives.



To understand the influence of groups in organization the factors like groupnorms, group cohesion and group decision-making are also studied andanalyzed.

The norms apply to only behaviour and not for private thoughts. Normssimplify and a summary what the group feels is important. Group normsenable the group goals to be achieved smoothly. It helps to maintain groupcohesiveness that contribute a lot to productivity.


What are the influences of formal and informal groups on theorganization ?

3.7 GROUP DYNAMICS

You know there is no organization where there are no groups. The groupsaffect the behaviour of other groups as well as that of other individuals.Ultimately the whole organization is able to feel the impact of the group.Theory of dynamics is used in physical sciences to explain the phenomenaof the universe as an operation of force. Dynamics is opposite of staticsmeaning stationary. Dynamic means things are always on the move. Thesame is applicable to organizations in the sense that there are various forcesin the organization keeping it in motion day to day. Literally it means theforces acting between groups, groups and individuals, group and individualetc. The forces are thus the leadership, the participation of members,cooperation of members, debate within the groups ,brain storming, trainingand development, group therapy, formation of groups into formal andinformal, the rules and regulations for both the groups, the very structure ofthe organization and the processes going on in the organization.

Group dynamics is defined as “the social process by which people interactface to face in small groups is called group dynamics”. Thus the interactiongoing on inside the group ,the pressure exerted on an individual by the group,the way decisions are made by the group, the way the work is extractedout, the way in which the needs of members are satisfied etc all will formpart of group dynamics. It is the quality and nature of group dynamics thatwill reflect the organizational effectiveness ultimately.

Another definition says that group dynamics is the interaction of forces amongmembers in a social situation. It also means the set of techniques employedso as to bring a behaviour to the members and group to work cohesively, tomake the leader and members effective. Thus the technique wants themembers to play their role in management situations of group discussions,



team building, finding solutions to problems, while transacting and interactingwith others. Kurt Lewin is of the view that group dynamics is the formationof groups, the conditions for the formation, their structure, process, theirfunctions and how it affects the individuals and groups in an enterprise etc.

Since the subjects like concept of groups, formation of different types ofgroups, their characteristics, Group behaviour, group commnication, groupinfluence in organizations, group decision-making, group relations, whichare subject matter of group dynamics, have been separately covered thesame is not being repeated.


What is group dynamics ?

3.8 EMERGENCE OF INFORMAL LEADERS AND WORKINGNORMS

Informal organizations are created because of limitations of formalorganizations. The actual organization is the result of the relationship betweenformal and informal groups. The official chart is not giving a picture of acomplete organization chart .The informal organization refers to people ingroup or association at work place but these associations are not in theblueprint of the formal organization. It is the natural grouping of people.You can briefly refer to the causes of informal organizations though coveredin detail previously.

3.8.1 CAUSES

Desire on the part of members to socialize to overcome extremespecialization work and psychological fatigue and boredom of the job.This enables the members to satisfy their social needs. Physical nearnessstimulates them to have relationship with others.

Activities assigned by formal organization do not fulfill all the needs andhence a social or informal group is formed. Also job monotony, toomuch capability of individuals giving them leisure time, dislike of controland hence looking for a vent are other factors that prompt the formationof informal groups.

The question is how the informal group is controlled, who is the leader,what are the norms and regulations, how are they framed, what are thedifferent leaders for informal groups, how do they emerge out etc.




What are the causes for the emergence of informal leaders andworking norms ?

3.8.2 WORKING OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS

In contrast to formal organizations,. where the role, status, decision makingchannel, authority relationship, are all prescribed,, there is no prescriptionin the case of informal organizations. Thus such processes take place in anunstructured way in informal organizations though they interact with formalorganizations. This can affect formal organization or the vice-versa. Hencethe three most important elements viz. authority, leadership andcommunication of informal organizations can affect the human behaviour inthe enterprise as a whole.


What are the elements of informal organizations that affect thehuman behaviour in an enterprise ?

3.8.3 AUTHORITY

Since the informal organization is the result of innumerable social and personalrelationships that arose spontaneously, this network does not require anyauthority by formal authority. In fact some of the relationship will becontradictory to formal rules and regulations. A third level worker may bethe president of canteen committee. Then what is the source of authority forinformal group? The authority is personal in informal group. Power is notdelegated here but rather it is earned or given permissively by group membersbased on qualities and leadership and service mentality of the group headdesignate. The power comes from peers rather than from superiors of formalset-up. The leader can use this power across the organizational lines intoother departments. However this authority is unstable compared to formalauthority, as it is a product or gift of sentiments. In fact the power is sameas any other informal member has. But the power can influence the behaviourof a member of the group without any legal entanglement. This is due to theacquiescence from peers and subordinates., though not empowered.


What is the influence of authority on human behaviour ?



3.8.4 LEADERSHIP

Leadership is very important for directing behaviour in informal organizations.In scientific management the leadership may come from superiors but itneed not be so in informal organizations. Any member of the informalorganization can be a leader. A leader performs some vital functions thatcontribute to the group’s ability to survive in its environment. Thus a leaderinitiates action. A leader facilitates consensus, compromise, mediates etcand acts as a powerful liaison with the managers, outside world, with othergroups, other members and with union etc. Any one who performs thesefunctions efficiently, smoothly, without hassles etc becomes leader of theinformal group. Apart from these such persons who are capable of satisfyingthe social needs, psychological needs, affiliation needs etc. of the memberswill become the informal leaders fully accepted by majority of the members.A leader does not need any majority in informal organization but shouldhave the abilities as mentioned above to become the leader. Of course thepersonality of the leader plays a role to make him an acceptable leader.Generally, a superior is in a better position to perform these functions formembers as he is in such a level but there are cases where juniors haveoutsmarted seniors and have become informal leaders.

There are many factors that determine group leadership. They are age,seniority, technical competence, work location, freedom to move aroundthe work area and a responsive personality. Just like the situations the causesare many for the leadership. The reasons for the rise of each leader is different.The general perception about leadership is that they are in the given contextcapable of satisfying the group’s needs.

The members may not make any rational calculation with regard to who willlead the group to satisfy their needs but they give way to their feelings aboutthe experience of proposed leader and to the belief of other members ofthe group. If a leader is able to impress upon them by some positivestatements then also the members accept him as a leader of the informalgroup.

An informal leader who is appointed as superior by formal authority willfind it very difficult to satisfy the needs of members as well as that of theenterprise. Though with the appointment he gets a formal authority, he hasto utilize this authority to satisfy the needs of both. The fact remains thatsuch authority is not available for informal leader. Therefore, because of thetwo conflicting roles, enterprise objectives and group objectives, normallythe leader appointed fails in his endevour as a leader. In history there aremany cases where the informal leaders turn out to be ineffective and developdestructive conflict as soon as they receive formal authority.



There is also a tendency on the part of member observers to refer anyproblem to the assumed informal leaders as though a single leader could beidentified in every group. These are fine as long as the group is small. But inbigger groups, controversies are bound to occur and the tasks aremultifarious that one leader can not tackle alone. In these cases there aretwo or more leaders who control the group. Not only that leaders shareresponsibilities, some act as task masters to achieve the group goals whileother leaders function to maintain the human relations and integrity of thegroup


What is the influence of leadership on human behaviour ?

3.8.5 COMMUNICATION

The informal communication channel called grapevine has a number ofpositive impact on the organizations. Of course it depends on the informalleadership to protect the value and the speed of communication. What theformal channel cannot achieve due to bureaucracy, it will be achieved byinformal channel. Normally informal communication pass through the informalleader at some point of time and hence any rectification can be done by thegroup in consultation with the group leader. Many a time managementdepends on informal leaders to send communications for speed andacceptance or to get a better and speedier feedback etc.


What is the influence of communication on human behaviour ?

3.8.6 WORKING NORMS/GROUP NORMS

The group functions in a particular manner adhering to some set rules andregulations so that the members behave in a way that is subject to evaluation.These points of evaluation also serve as reference points. Thus the patternof behaviour of the group can be termed as normative. The normativefunction is of great importance to the manager of an organization becausethe manager wants to know why and how an individual behaviour is in linewith the group norms. The group members tend to form the norms andconform to the norms.

Norms are rules of behaviour or proper ways of action, which are acceptedas legitimate by the members of the group. In fact the kind of behaviourexpected out of the members of the group are specified by these norms.



Norms thus formed have other characteristics as follows -

Norms, while influencing the process of behaviour, simplify the processesand also summarize the processes.

Norms apply only to behaviour and not for private thoughts or feelings.As long as the compliance of behaviour is there with the norms, thenit is acceptable. Private acceptance of the norms is not required.

Norms developed for behaviour is highly respected by the members.Theyconsider the norms to be important.

Development of the norms is gradual but it can be speeded up if themembers of the group so desire. Thus if the members wish that aparticularnorm is required urgently, then they can institute such a normsuddenly by declaring that ‘from now on the norms exist’.

Not all norms apply to everyone in the group in the same manner.Thusmembers in high status have more freedom to deviate from theletteroflawthan others. Thus a director of a firm may come ten minuteslate to office,while an officer can not enjoy that liberty unless therearesomeexigenciesthat too with permission from superiors.

Norms help the group in the achievement of goals as per budget andtarget.

The members move in a fixed direction as per norms towards the goalandthis leads to uniformity.

More the success of some norms new norms blossom out to accomplishthe goals effectively.

The norms keep the integrity of the group and in case of any weaknessofnorms modified norms in the best interest of the group will be theoutcome.

The group applies pressure on individuals employing the norms and ifnecessary the individual will be advised to be ready forresignationbutstillwould ensure the maintenance of the entity.

Members conform to norms as long as it is profitable to them and if nota new norm will replace that by majority.

Norms that make individual goals and group goals match areimmediatelyintroduced.

The degree of conformity to group norms vary according to personalitytraits of members and situations.




List a few working norms.

3.9 GROUP DECISION MAKING TECHNIQUES

In situations when the organization faces a unique problem that cannot besolved by a single individual, the responsibility is entrusted to a group ofexperts to look at the problem objectively and come up with solutions orrecommendations. The group decision is very appropriate especially fornon-programmed decisions. These decisions are complex and individualsmay not possess the required skills to make the best decisions. It has beenestablished that group’s decision are much superior and more quality orientedthan that could be by individuas. This is because groups can generate moreideas and alternative solutions than individuals. Thus for example, to solvean academic problem like result etc in a college, all faculty, professors,heads of departments staff and student representatives jointly discuss tofind solutions. Groups do not make decision based on emotions or sympathy.Different individuals of the group may have varying background and hencethe group evaluation will be highly valid.


What is the specialty of group decision-making technique ?

3.9.1 FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED FOR GROUP DECISIONS

Conformity to the norms established by the group.

Superior level of group over individual level in expertise.

The problem has to be complex and involving risk.

The assets of the group in decision-making are.

They have more knowledge, better ideas and information.

Each member contributes his might in a healthy competitive spirit.

Employee participation increases resulting in motivation for a gooddecision.

Acceptability for a group decision is high compared to individualdecision.

The group decision-making process consists of the following steps.

Specification of objective.

Identification of the problems.



Search for alternative solutions to them.

Evaluation of alternatives based on cost, implimentability, wideacceptability etc.

Selection of the best alternative.

Implimentation of the solution.

Measurement of results.

Feedback.


What are the factors to be considered for group decision making ?

3.9.2 TECHNIQUES FOR GROUP DECISION MAKING

A group has a variety of problem solving techniques ranging from ordinarygroup interactions to advance techniques like Brain storming, Nominal grouptechniques, Delphi technique, Dialectic decision method and Fish bowlingmethod. Creativity is encouraged in these techniques.


List the various techniques for group decision-making.

3.9.3 BRAIN STORMING

Brain storming technique involves a group of people usually five to tenmembers sitting around a table in a classroom setting, generating ideas inthe form of free association. The primary focus in this technique is ongeneration of ideas rather than on evaluation of ideas. The process alsoresults in generation of large number of ideas so that a unique and creativesolution can be found. All these ideas are written on the black board so thateverybody can see those ideas and improve upon those ideas.

The leader of the group explains the problem to the group and the rulesto be followed. The problem is stated so precisely and clearly thatmemberscanfocus their attention on it to get a good direction.

Each member is asked to give as many ideas as possible. Here theintention is quantity of ideas rather than quality of ideas.

Factors financial, bias, legal, procedural etc inhibiting the free flow ofideasare pushed back.

Brainstorming is conducted in a free, relaxed, frank ambience to getcreative solutions.



No criticism, judgement or comment on the ideas is allowed.

Idea evaluation is deferred to a later stage to enable free flow of ideaswithout constraints.

Brainstorming can be employed for simple well defined problems. Itencourages enthusiasm, competitive spirit in members for generatingideas.

Group members feel happy as chances of solutions are in sight.


What is brain storming ?

3.9.4 NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE

This is a structured group meeting wherein the members are not allowedverbal communication during the process of generation of ideas. Theindividuals independently generate ideas first and later on they are evaluated.

The group leader outlines the problem.

Each member writes down his ideas and presents his best idea.

When all members complete the presentation of their best ideas, theyareevaluated.

The members rank the ideas and a decision is arrived at using the highestranked one as solution.

In case of disagreement the procedure is repeated.

This technique encourages creativity, controls majority force onminority, gives time to think etc.

Small group sits attable

Members silentlywrite down allpossible solutions

Ideas are ranked and thehighest ranked idea ischosen

The leaderdefines andexplains theproblem

Ideas are discussedclarified andevaluated bymembers

The leader collectsand records alltheses solutions



3.9.5 DELPHI TECHNIQUE

In this technique, members do not have any face-to-face discussion. A smallgroup prepares questionnaires on the problem and these are given to largenumber of members for filling up. It is through written communicationsolutions are sought. These filled question and answers are analyzed toimprove the questions and again the process repeated. The responses ofthe original batch are fed back to the second batch of respondents. Theprocess is repeated till a consensus is reached.

Though this technique is time consuming, the members feel insulated fromundue influence during face-to-face discussion. There is no conformity anddomination as is the case usually in interactions. The quality of decision isfar higher as opinions are very free because of geographical separation ofparticipants. The steps can be represented as follows.

Delphi leader defines the problem———A sample of experts is selected——Questionnaires are developed and sent to participants— Responses arecompiled and summarized into questionnaires—Participants revalue theresponses——New questionnaires prepared from new responses—consensus reached— Solution developed.


What is Delphi technique ?

3.9.6 DIALECTIC TECHNIQUE

When you face a situation wherein the solution to the problem is ‘yes orno”, then you employ this technique. Example—to buy or not to buy, topunish or not to punish, to merge or not to merge, to invest or not to investetc. Such a situation needs an exhaustive discussion and extensiveinvestigation since a wrong decision can have very serious repercussions.Since in such a situation there can be advantages as well as disadvantagesof either of the two alternatives, the group required to make the decision issplit into two subgroups, one favoring the “go” decision and the otherfavouring the “no go .” decision. Thus the first group lists all points “ for”while the second group lists all the points “ against”. These two groupsmeet and discuss the points thoroughly. After an exhaustive debate the weakgroup joins the strong group with valid points. Since it is democraticallyheld, there is interchange of ideas, understanding of the viewpoints, toleranceetc leading to facts and an acceptable decision. A chart of the steps involvedis shown below.



Problem

Proposal A generated

Proposal B generated

Assumptions underlying A identified

Assumptions underlying B identified

Presentation of pros and cons of B

Presentation of pros and cons of A

Choice

A or B Compromise of A and B

New alternatives

Steps in dialectic decision making


What is dialectic technique ?

3.9.7 FISHBOWLING

This is a reformation of brain storming method. Here the members of thegroup are advised to sit in a circle leaving one chair in the center vacant.Then either the leader or any one is called to occupy the center chair andgive his views of the problem and proposed solution. The other memberscan ask him as many questions as necessary but relevant ones. Thediscussion is always between the center and one member at a time only andno discussion between other members is allowed. After the first person isthrough the second person repeats. The process continues till the last membercompletes the circle. They further discuss the responses and ideas of expertsin a group now and a consensus is reached.




What is fishbowling ?

3.10 INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

People join organizations to satisfy their socio-economic as well aspsychological needs. Individuals when thy join, they bring their skills aswell as their customs, beliefs, values etc also. You know how individualsform groups. But when for many reasons individuals do not like otherindividuals, disagree with others; point out other’s weakness, express theirhostility to others, criticize others etc. under certain circumstances. Thesecause interpersonal conflicts. It has been researched and established thatthe main factors responsible for the conflicts among individuals and groupsare generally competetion, differing values, exploitative nature of humanbeings, streotype behaviour etc.

Competition is a major source of interpersonal conflict. In a competitiveenvironment people are rewarded for their competency and results. Naturallywhen every time the same person gets the award the other feels jealous ofhim. This results in dissatisfaction in others and their self-respect ischallenged. Under the circumstances the hostility is directed to the individualwho was awarded or to the authority that awarded the individual. Thuseither the individual or the authority and the system are attacked.

It is natural that employees have different values, outlook, preferences, belief,cultural background etc. that is a major source for interpersonal conflicts.

A few managers view trade unionism as a negative thaw in managementunion relations and this is the cause of negative interpersonal relations bymanagement with workers. Some other manager’s view may be favorableand positive. Thus two sets of managers have two types of interpersonalrelations with employees. one tensed interpersonal relations and the otherhas easy relations.

People make rash judgment about others forming wrong opinions. This typeof perceptual distortion lead people to behave in a biased manner to others.This can end up in conflicts. You can take our country, for example, withmany religions, castes, languages etc to which managers and the workersbelong. There can be conflicts if the bias is there.

Interpersonal conflicts arise in groups and teams also. This is due to thetendency on the part of individuals to take undue advantage of the outcomeof the group, though their contribution may be limited.




Briefly discuss interpersonal relations ?

3.10.1 CAUSES OF CONFLICTS

S.Chandan defines conflict as “a disagreement between two or moreindividuals or groups with each individual or group trying to gain acceptanceof its views or objectives over others”.

Intergroup relations and interactions depend on how much they depend oneach other and also how much they differ from each other. The greater thedifferentiation greater will be the potential for conflict. Some of the causesfor conflicts are goals, attitudes, interdependence uncertainty of tasks,overload of work, differences in rank, ambiguity in the roles of employees,improper understanding of each other’s role and functions and differentialreward system. Also are the factors like size of the firm, line-staff distinction,behavioural aspects like emotions, feelings, perceptions, values who causedisturbance to interpersonal relations.

It must be understood that individuals are members in formal and informalgroups for different purposes. Hence performance of intergroup dependson the remedial measures for the above-mentioned causes of conflict whetherindividuals or groups.


What are the causes of conflicts ?

3.10.2 CONFLICT SITUATIONS

Conflicts have both positive and negative connotations and consequences.Hence management must decide whether to stimulate conflicts or resolve it.Therefore the management must understand the type of conflict in assessingthe interpersonal or intergroup relations as it has an impact on the efficiencyof the working of the organization.

3.10.3 CONFLICT WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL

This is mostly value and belief related. The Indians coming to America findit very difficult to remain vegetarians. This is against their values. This createsconflict within them. Role conflict is equally an important form worthconsideration. A policeman invited for a marriage finds that guests aredrinking alcohol. It creates conflicts in him. A good lathe operator is askedto look after milling job though temporarily. It is creating a role conflict.




What do you mean by “conflict within individual”?

3.10.4 INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT

Conflict between two or more individuals is called interpersonal conflict. Itaffects interpersonal relations. If there is a vacancy for a professor post,and if three persons are competing with budget constraints and policyconstraints, conflicts arise among them. Two managers of the same firmdevelop conflicts to share the common resources. This affects the relations.Again when there are disagreements of goals, objectives, responsibilitiesand authority there is bound to be a conflict affecting the interpersonal andintergroup relations. Thus members of the board want a separate syllabuson labour laws of knowledge workers but the others object to that. You canalso come across two marketing managers having difference of opinion withregard to the advertising media to be selected or the content of the messageor the timing of ads. These types of clashes are due to personality problems.


What is interpersonal conflict?

3.10.5 CONFLICT BETWEEN THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE GROUP

There are certain norms for both formal and informal groups in whichindividuals are members. It so happens that an individual does not want toabide by the norms at the cost of his personal convenience or ego or attitude.This creates this type of conflict. When a labour strike is called a fewindividuals may not accept it. When group incentive scheme is in operationwith the norm that it should be equally shared, an individual feels he deservesmore ending up in conflict with the group. Manager as an individual fires aworker of a group resulting in the group reducing the productivity. The crewof the ship rose against the leader and that is the ‘Mutiny on the Bounty”.


Can there be a conflict between individual and group? Explain.

3.10.6 INTER GROUP CONFLICTS / RELATIONS

You know that an organization has a network of groups, teams, sectionsand departments. Often there are conflicts between union and management.There is a fight between line and staff as to who should report to whomeven though organizational chart is clear. There is a conflict between taskforce and routine production group to share the resources.



Over and above this you can observe clashes between one unit and theother in the same division. Thus the motor manufacturing unit does not supplythe components to the machine assembly unit affecting the output of thelatter, resulting in intergroup rivalry.


How does a conflict arise between groups ?

3.10.7 MEASURES FOR BETTER INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS

Identify and define the goal and role of individual or group clearly.

Reward system to be appropriate and in tune with efforts.

Make communication effective.

Improve coordination.

Have a problem solving approach instead of confrontational approach.

Stimulate conflicts only for healthy competition likes changes to beintroduced, wastage should be reduced; make a senior work hard bygiving importance to a junior etc.

Build interpersonal trust.

Decentralization of power and authority.

Reduction of interdependency.


List the remedial measures for better interpersonal relations

3.11 COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

“Communication is the transfer of information from one person to anotherperson. It is a way of reaching others by t ransmit ting ideas,facts,,thoughts,feelings,and values”. Accordingly information passed fromperson to person, group to group, section-to-section form part ofcommunication.

The contents, timeliness, the method and the situation at the time of transferof information is critical in the sense that the effectiveness as well as usefulnessof the message could be determined by these factors. Communication withinthe organization is very important for the very survival, leave alone the growth,of the organization Amistimed, wrong, out of context and exaggeratedinformation can cause such damage that cannot be repaired at all.



3.11.1 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION

Communication is a word derived from Latin, meaning commonness “. Itmeans the ideas of the sender of a message to a receiver must be same andthat is the commonness. Actually, this is a process involving various elementsthrough which two or more persons share meanings among themselves.Though there are a number of definitions you may restrict the definition toorganizational context. Davis defines communication thus.

“Communication is the transfer of information from one person to anotherperson. It is a way of reaching others by t ransmit ting ideas,facts,,thoughts,feelings,and values”.

The constituents of communication from the above definition are sender of(a message or information) communication, receiver of the same, a messageor information, a medium through which transmission of the message iseffected. Of course instead of message it can be feelings, ideas, etc whichcan be the subject of communication.

An important aspect of communication is that must consider and respectthe receiver of the message while structuring and delivering the message.Because if the response from the receiver is poor or wrong it shows that noproper consideration has been given to the receiver.

Further there is an element of understanding in communication. Sharing ofunderstanding is possible only when the receiver of the message understandsthe message in the same way it is understood by the sender of the message.The information is passed on from the sender to the receiver and theknowledge of its effect is passed on from the receiver to the sender in theform of a feedback.

Thus communication involves correct interpretation and understanding ofthe message. From recruitment to retirement, the need for effectivecommunication is paramount. “ Communication is the connecting link betweenthe people and the purpose of the organization”-Chester Barnard.


Define communication ?

3.11.2 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION

1. Communication is the process by which managers accomplish thefunctions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling.

2. Communication is the main activity of a manager in an organization.Thus a manager will be having face to face communication with his



peers, subordinates, supervisors, suppliers, inspectors, purchase men,customers etc. Also he will be having electronic, telephonic, or e-mailcommunication with all his connected individuals. The communicationsubject can be planning, alternative actions, new thinking etc.

3. Also the efficient functioning of the manager depends on how good heis at gathering information from his subordinates, peers, supervisorsabout everything connected to the job and output. Then only there is ameaning for his authority and responsibility.

4. A study in U.S.A. shows that the top management and middlemanagement spend 60% of the work time in communication, while theplant itself spends about 50% of the work time in communication.

5. The foundation of good and effective management is communicationaccording to Peter Drucker.

6. The most important functions of management are planning, organizing,directing and controlling and these can be performed successfully onlythrough communication in some form or other.

7. A ccompany has to depend on marketing reports in the form ofcommunication so as to plan its products, quantity, quality, and rawmaterials. Again to procure the materials and communicate with themarket they need communication, printed, visual audio, web or throughany other media.

8. How should a firm adapt itself to the changes in their technology,marketing plan and policy etc to the environment? – oly throughcommunication with the concerned.

9. To achieve the organizational goals the leader has to convey hisdecisions, exercises and efforts to the members and also to motivatethem by announcing schemes and awards etc. The tool employed iscommunication only.

10. The very interaction with people in organization results in communication.


What is the importance of communication ?

3.11.3 MODEL OF COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Philip Kotler gives the simplest form of a communication model as follows:

Communication is a process consisting of “ a sender transmitting a messagethrough media to a receiver who responds”.



Sender——————>———————— Message———>———Media—————>———— Receiver

This model indicates there are clearly four essential elements incommunication process, though David Berlov, Shannon Weaver and othershave given parallel models worthy of consideration. David Berlov is of theview that communication is a dynamic interactive process. He goes on toindicate that before the communication process commences, you need theideas or purpose in the form of a message or information to be conveyed tothe intended receiver .The message is converted into a symbolic form andpassed along some channel to the receiver who translates the message intoa meaning. The response of the receiver is the feedback. Please look at themodel.

Source———>——Encoding ————>————Message——>——————Channel———>——————————————————

Reception of

Feedback——<——Action——<————Decoding—<—————Message

The source is the initiator of communication and source of information,i.e. the sender wants to communicate his ideas, needs, intentions orother in formations. In an organization a manager wishes to communicateinformation about an important production deadline for motivating othermembers of the department. This makes the production line worker tocontact the supervisor for additional help technical or commercial. Thusunless there is a purpose the sender will not send any message.

Since the subject matter of communication is abstract and intangible,its transmission requires the use of some symbols, such as words,pictures, gestures etc. Since communication is the object of encoding,the sender tries to establish mutuality of meaning with the receiver bychoosing symbols as mentioned above. Lack of mutuality ends up inlack of communication and it creates only misunderstanding. Thus theprocess of converting the message into symbols is known as encoding.

The message is the physical form of thought, which can be experiencedor understood by one or more senses of the receiver. It can be in suchforms that require hearing, reading or other forms of physical gestures.The message may be in the form of ideas, opinions, feelings, views,suggestions, orders etc.The message must crafted with the receiver’sbackground in the mind. Perhaps a microchip engineer should not usethe technical terms in his communication to advertising department. Soalso the advertising department need not refer to the demographics etcin its communication to engineers, as it will be unreceptive.

<



Channel is the vehicle used in the transmission of the message. It is thecarrier of a medium, which bridges the gap between the sender and thereceiver. It can be a face-to-face oral channel of communication, atelephone conversation, written form, or it can be any other form ofphysical gesture. The channel is thus air for spoken words and paperfor written or letters. For communication to b effective and clear thechannel must be precise. What is the use of telephone to urgently conveytechnical features in an engineering drawing? You must use an overnightexpress mail or e-mail through Internet all subject to scanning. Of coursethe need and requirement of the receiver is necessary to decide thechannel. A receiver who cannot read or operate Internet is an example.

Receiver is the person to whom the symbols are transmitted. Like sender,the receiver may be superior,peer,subordinate,customer,banker oranybody inside and outside the organization. The receiver’s sensesperceive the sender’s message. If the message has not reached thereceiver then communication has not taken place. Equally bad is theconsequence if the receiver does not understand the message.

Decoding is the process by which the receiver interprets the messageand translates it into meaningful information. It is a two step process.—perceive the message and interpret the message—.Decoding isinfluenced by the receiver’s past experience, personal assessment ofsymbols and gestures, people’s expectation and mutuality of meaningwith the sender. The more the match more effective is the communication.

Response to the communication is the next step in the process. Thereceiver carries out the instructions or acts upon that, or records andfiles the message for future references etc.

The feedback is the final stage in the process and confirms whether thereceiver has taken the required action or not. The feedback completesthe process of communication.


Discuss the basic model of communication ?

3.11.4 METHODS OF COMMUNICATION

There are three forms of communication viz.

Written, oral and non-verbal forms of communication.

An organization mainly uses oral communication for day today activities.This is mostly face to face, over telephone, public address system or intercom



Even informal rumor mill and grapevine communications are oral. This isvery effective for leaders with oratorical style to address followers. Oralcommunication is effective because the receiver is able to hear the contentof the message, see the physical gestures associated with as well as changesin pitch, tone, speed and volume of the spoken word. Any clarificationneeded is sorted out on the spot. Oral communication is more forceful inorganizations to bring about changes in attitudes, behaviour and perceptionsof the employees. An emotional communication can touch the feelings andcan instill faith, confidence, trust and sincerity.

Further, it is simple, direct, time saving and least expensive. Immediatefeedback and instantaneous action plan are the hallmarks of oralcommunication. Needless to mention that it creates warmth and friendliness.

The main disadvantage is that distortion can occur as the message passesthrough the hierarchy down or up. More over there is no record if at all toshow that there was an error in the communicated contents. Different peopledepending on their experience and education and context can understandthe gesture in different ways, with different perceptions.. Hence the feedback may be wrong sometimes. A long oral communication cannot bepatiently heard and ineffective.

Written communication refers to personal letters, memoranda, policy,procedure, manuals, notices, appoitment orders, purchase orders andassociated communications etc. A written communication is precise, verifiedand can be in records for future reference. Unlike spoken message, writtenmessage can be corrected if necessary Lengthy and complicatedmessages—particularly technically oriented – can be communicated only inwritten form.

The disadvantages are that it is delayed and slow right from preparation ofthe text of the message. Again the written communication faces competitionfrom other written messages from different persons in the hands of the samereceiver. More dependence on written communication delays the matters.


Discuss the various methods of communication.

3.11.5 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATIONS

An organization generally provides channels for the flow of information onwhich the decisions of the organizations will be based. In an organizationthere has to be communication from top to bottom levels known asdownward communication, there has to be upward communication and



similarly there can be communication among the pees or equal level calledhorizontal communication. Hence you can call an organization “ a networkof communications”. The channels of communication can be intentionallydesigned and prescribed formally, in which case it is called a formal channeland the communication through that channel is called formal communication.It is a deliberate attempt to regulate the flow of information and organizationalcommunication enabling smooth, orderly and accurate flow of informationto the correct destinations. All other forms of communication taking placeoutside the preview of formal channels are all called informal communicationsand the concerned channels called informal channels.

Whether formal or informal the communication within the organizations arenormally two-way communication only, whereas the communication tocustomers, suppliers.sales tax departments and other government partiesare all one-way communication only.

Management is a two-way traffic as it is based on an effective machinery ofcommunication. Two-way is possible only when the receiver of the messageresponds or the feedback is generated. Feedbacker has the power to makeconstructive criticism of the original message and the sender can adjust themessage or rectify the message. There is every possible chance for additionand deletion of information in the interest of the enterprise. Of course thereshould not be any prestige issue between the sender and receiver.


What is meant by formal and informal communication ?

3.11.6 FORMAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK

chain

circular

Free flowwheel



Single chain: Here the flow is from superior to the immediate subordinatedown wards through each successive level and similarly upwards.

Wheel: Here the superior is the hub and all subordinates communicatethrough him only.

Circular : Here each person communicates with his adjoining two personsand the flow is circular and slow.

Free flow; Here each person communicates with all the others freely butlacks coordination. Task force is an example.

Inverted V: Here the subordinate can communicate with his superior andsuperior’s superior. This makes flow faster more effectively.


Briefly sketch the formal communication network

3.11.7 INFORMAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK

Also known as grapevine communication are caused because of the operationof social forces at work place. Grapevine communication for example willbe active when there is a formal communication on computerization sections,some new appointments or changes, when people come close in work placeor when people form cluster with trust worthy friendly colleagues. Thenetwork is shown below.

Single Strand

Gossip Probability Cluster

strand network an individual communicates with others through intervening person

In gossip the individual communicates with others non-selectively..

In probability network the individual communicates with others at random.

In cluster the individual communicates with those whom he trusts and whohas similar perceptions and outlook etc.

There are positive and negative influences of informal communications.




Draw the informal communication network.

3.11.8 BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION

One of the major problems cited by management is breakdown incommunication. This is because of the hurdles in the communication process.The problem of communication arises because of many barriers tocommunication. You have to worry about barriers to organizationalcommunication. One of the important barriers is semantic barrier. This meansthe symbols like words, pictures, actions etc carry different meanings. Iftheir perception and interpretation goes wrong then the message will bemisunderstood. Lack of clarity and precision also makes the interpretationwrong. Poorly chosen words, phrases, ideas, lack of cohesion, awkwardvocabulary etc causes barriers to communication. Also faulty translationsand assumptions are other reasons of barriers. The communication ofspecialists is more technical not clearly understood by common workers.Added to this are the emotional and psychological barriers. Depending ontheir state of mind things are half understood or prematurely evaluated, orinattentively receiving the communication not responding to circulars, bulletinsetc. Distortion in messages is common in organizations. Specificallyorganizational policy if not supportive of free flow in all directions andrestrictions are there then the communication is inadequate. Furtherorganizational rules, regulations, specification of channels etc filter thecontents of the message. Multiple levels of managers can delay and blockthe flow. The lack of infrastructure for communication is a hurdle today i.e.absence of software and hard ware etc. Lack of confidence in subordinates,fear of challenging the authority, unfavourable attitudes of superiors are otherbarriers to communication.


What are the various barriers of communication.

3.11.9 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Any communication is effective if the message is fully interpreted andunderstood by the receiver in the way the sender wants it should beunderstood which is measured from the positive feedback from the receiver.Steps employed for effective communications are -



Use simple language without any ambiguity.

Encourage face to face communication.

Listen first and understand before responding.

Exchange of information should be in a peaceful atmosphere.

Redesign the organizational structure for reduction in filtering ofmessages.

Ensure that feedback is received for corrective action.


What is an effective communication?

3.12 CONTROL

In any field if things are being achieved as per plan and norms then thequestion of controlling the process does not arise. Unfortunately control isthere everywhere, confirming that things do not conform to standards andtargets inviting the exercise of the control function.

In the management process control can be defined as the process of analyzingwhether actions are being taken as per plan and are the respective andnecessary corrective actions taken or not so that the actions can conformto planning. Essentially control process is the measurement of deviationsbetween planned performance and actual performance and to suggestcorrective actions wherever needed.. One famous definition is “Control is amanagement function — controlling is measurement and correction ofperformance in order to make sure that enterprise objectives and plansdevised to attain them are accomplished”.


What is meant by control in the context of O.B. ?

3.12.1 NEED FOR CONTROL

The success of an organization is determined by its ability to maintain andexercise its control on its participants. All social units need control but theproblem of controlling human behaviour is acute. In natural social units likefamily natural obligations are there for a member to carry on with hisactivities. There is inbuilt control mechanism in such units. It is not true withorganizations because an organization is a deliberate and purposive creation.They are established for the achievement of objectives. Hence member’s



behaviour has to be controlled, as they will not automatically contribute tothe achievement of organizational objective. Therefore, an organization hasto devise ways and means to achieve conformity of members’ behaviour tocertain specified standard. The ways and means designed should be suchthat control aims at performance achievement, maintain a system of rewardand reinforcement and meet the organizational and individual needs.


Why there should be “control”?

3.12.2 FEATURES OF CONTROL

It is an important forward looking management function because futurehappenings are checked and not the past.

In control process always the past performance is measured since itwill not be possible to measure the outcome of a future event that hasnot occurred. In the light of these measurements managers can suggestcorrective measures and actions for future period.

Control is both a process as well as result. You have thus productioncontrol, quality control, inventory control, administrative control etc.

Control is a continuous process.

Control is related various organizational processes. It affects otherprocesses and is affected by other processes.

Some processes are directly related to control while other processesare indirectly related to control. Similarly some processes are closelyrelated to control while others are not closely related to control.

Thus control is directly related to planning action, delegation of authorityand communication.

Control guarantees performance against a set standard.

To support the compliance of member’s behaviour with the norms,formal reward and punishment systems must be established.


What are the various types of control ?

3.12.3 LINKAGE OF CONTROL WITH ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES.

Planning is the basis of control, action is the essence, delegation is the keyand information is the guide for control.



3.12.4 PLANNING

The planning lays the foundation for control as it sets the behavioural normsand activities in the organization. Control measures these activities andbehaviour in the organization. Control is applied in order to remove anydeviation in behaviour or norms. Control shows that there are some goalsand policies and standards. Planning process sets the goals. The result ofplanning, policy and goal is control. Many information provideed by controlis used for planning and replanning. Thus planning precedes control andcontrol succeeds planning. Both are linked by actions only. You may referthe figure below.

Thus various elements of planning provide what is intended and expectedand the means by which the goals are achieved . These elements also providea means for reporting back the progress made against the goals and a generalframework for new decisions and actions in an integrated pattern. A verywell conceived plan itself provides means for effective control.


What is the importance of planning in control ?

3.12.5 ACTION

Control emphasizes what actions should be taken to correct deviations thatmay be found between standards and actual results. During the executionof the managerial process for the achievement of organizational objectivesactions and further actions are necessary. Also side by side there may bechanges in actions and corrections in actions as per information providedby control procedure will be taking place. Essentially control means an actionto correct a condition found to be in error or action to prevent such acondition.


What is the significance of action in control ?



3.12.6 DELEGATION

A manager has to control the deviations, as he is responsible for performance.He must naturally have the authority to exercise his control over the defectiveactions. There are factors that are controllable by managers but those notcontrollable will be out of his jurisdiction. More the factors that arecontrollable by managers, more effective will be the organizationalperformance. Delegation of authority hence plays a crucial role in control.


Why delagation is important while exercising control ?

3.12.7 INFORMATION

Management information system and management control system are soclosely interlinked that the information, which is the key for any controlaction, provided enables effective control by managers. Adequacy ofinformation is a must for control action to be fruitful. Again it is through theauthority and responsibility that a manager ensures adequate information.

3.12.8 CONTROL PROCESS

Control is a process and has certain specific steps Control is reciprocallyrelated to planning. It is performed in the context of planning and aids intwo ways—draws attention to situations where new plan is required, itprovides some of the data upon which plans can be based. In order toexercise control managers have to take four steps as indicated in the abovesketch. These steps are,

1. Setting performance standards.

2. Measuring actual performance.

3. Analysing variance.

4. Taking corrective actions.




Briefly sketch the control process.

3.12.9 TYPES OF CONTROL

Post-action control based on feedback from the action—feedbackcontrol

Control of inputs required in action—feed forward control.

Control at different stages of action process—real time control.

Flow of information

Feedforward control

Concurrent control

Inputs Processing outputs

Feedback control

Corrective action

List the types of control.

3.12.10 CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION

Planned performance cannot be always adhered to as per plan. There willbe some exceptions on which the manager has to bestow his special attention.This is management by exception. Thus control also must be based on thetime honoured exception principle. There will be signals where the managercan identify and communicate with some behaviour calling for his specialattention.

A knowledge of the past performance or measurement is required so that itcan be compared with the present behaviour. This enables the manager toidentify the exceptions and put a special attention to set right the behaviour.Superior’s attention is drawn only to exceptional differences betweenplanned performance and subordinates handle actual performance androutine things.




What is the linkage of management by except ion withcontrol?

3.12.11 CONTROL AREAS

Control over policies.

Control over organizations.

Control over personnel.

Control over wages and salaries.

Control over cost.

Control over methods and manpower.

Control over capital expenditure.

Control over service departments.

Control over line of products.

Control over research and development.

Control over foreign operations.

Control over external relations.

The means of control depends on the objective of the organization. Physicalsanctions like coercive power, punishment etc as in jail or material sanctionslike reward and material resources, salaries and wages or symbolic sanctionslike prestige and status to alter the behaviour of members are all practiced.


List the various areas of control ?

3.12.12 BEHAVIOURAL IMPLICATIONS OF CONTROL

Though control is supposed to work for the benefits of employees, often itis misinterpreted and misperceived resulting in adverse impact of control.You must remember that man is a social animal and hence may not likecontrol .Man always resents control and objects to being evaluated. Controlno doubt puts pressure on members to behave in a desired way. Peoplewould like to behave in a way desired by them whether control or no control.As a result people try to behave such that it satisfies them. Next peoplebehave so as to be in conformity with the organizational expectations butmay not be so actually. Finally they behave as required by organization.




What are the behevioural implications of control ?

3.12.13 MEASURES FOR EFFECTIVE CONTROL

Spell out the organizational rules, regulations.policies, procedures, andguidelines for expected behaviour.

Build mutual trust and create an attractive perception aboutorganizational control mechanism.

Design a communication system upward and downward forcarryingcontrolinformation so that control can be effected throughcommunication itself.

Control system should be tailor made, as all people cannot like thesame system.

Control results can be very good if motivational mechanism in tune withthe control mechanism is implemented.

Control system must reflect the organizational needs.

Control should promptly report deviations.

Control must explain its objective.

Control techniques must be simple, economic,flexible and motivating.


List the various measures for effective control ?

Summary

In this unit a detailed discussion has been done on the formal and informalgroups that are prevalent in organizations. The structure of an organizationand the features of the structure have been elaborately described. This enablesa study on the group behaviour and its influence on the organization.Alongside a discussion has also been made on interpersonal relations andthe effect of communication and control on the behaviour of the group. Abrief description on the techniques of group decision-making and theirworking norms has been also done.

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS

ANSWER “YES OR NO”

Line and line and staff organizations are one and the same.

Stability and growth are diametrically opposite strategies.



The effect of centralization and decentralization is same.

Specialists contribute same as existing employees in an organization.

Divisional organizations have both merits and demerits.

A group is formed by the collectivity of two or more people.

Managers, supervisors and task committees are informal groups.

Formal and informal groups have same working norms.

Informal leadership does not affect human beheviour.

SHORT QUESTIONS :

Briefly explain the concept behind organizational structure.

What is line and staff organization? Explain the significance?

Differentiate the matrix organization from the project organization.

How groups are formed in an organization?

What do you mean by group dynamics? Explain.

Explain the concept of control in organizational context.

LONG QUESTIONS :

Describe the various factors involved in the formation of an organization structure? Bring out the importance of organization structure?

What are the determinants of organization structure? Explain.

Compare and contrast the different types of organizations?

What are formal and informal groups in an organization? Why do youstudy them in detail?

Elucidate the influence of both formal and informal groups in anorganization.

What is communicat ion? Differentiate formal and informalcommunication.



UNIT - IV

LEADERSHIP AND POWER

4.1 INTRODUCTION

The success or failure of an organization today depends on the leadership.The quality of a leader plays a big role in steering the organization throughgrowth and prosperity. Mahatma Gandhi as a leader could lead the countryto freedom . It is his leadership that brought the victory finally and the Britishleadership could not but surrender to his goals. But what are the qualitiesrequired for a leader, whether it is same for all types of organizations etcare all to be studied and researched. This is done in detail in this unit. Thevarious theories associated with the different types of leadership styles standa testimony to the significance of the style of leadership. You also have tosee whether a leader is born or made. What is the role of power on leadershipand how far the power helps a leader in achieving the results will be knownas you proceed in this unit. There is a striking difference between a leaderand a manager. A leader has admirers and followers but a manager has onlysubordinates. A manager is appointed by higher authorities while a leader iselected or selected by a group in a social situation purely based on hischarisma or other personal traits. It is necessary for you to know whetheryou need a good leader or a good manager for your organization or can amanager be a leader also?


After going through this unit you will be able to understand -

What is meant by leadership.

What are the different styles of leadership.



What differentiates a manager from a leader.

What are the various theories of leadership.

The role of power and politics in shaping a leader.

4.3 LEADERSHIP—MEANING AND DEFINITION

One single factor that differentiates a successful enterprise from anunsuccessful enterprise is the dynamic and effective leadership. Behaviourcan be influenced by the exercise of power and authority. But relying onlyon these elements for a desirable behaviour in the organization may notbring the maximum result. People may not be enthusiastically and willinglycontributing for the achievement of organizational objectives. You need menof caliber at the helm of affairs to get the willing cooperation of people evenin war. These men of calibre who can motivate the employees and get theirwilling cooperation and enthusiasm in the achievement of organizationalobjectives are the leaders. A right leadership has a long term positive effecton the behaviour of people. But there are different forms and styles ofleadership, the degree of whose success and contribution varies.

The meaning of leadership can now be explained as follows. Leadership isthe process of influencing the behaviour of others to work willingly andenthusiastically for achieving the predetermined goals. In the previous chapter,mention has been made about the response of individuals that vary fromresistance to commitment, to the application of power and authority. Theobjective of leadership is to ensure that any tendency to resistance shouldbe unwilling and to commitment must be willing. So a leader must be capableof influencing group activities with regard to goal formation and goalaccomplishment. Therfore leadership is a value-loaded term. People canbe hypnotized to become achievement oriented willingly by a good leader.

Often you hear reports of business failures and an analysis can prove thatpoor leadership is the major contributor for the failure. While managers in afirm are the product of both social and technical processes, the leadershipstems out of social influence process only. Leadership is not the attribute ofbusiness alone .It is there in army, colleges, university, hospitals etc. Youhave seen in the previous chapter how different groups, formal and informal,are formed and how leaders emerge out in groups. You need a leader toguide, motivate and get result as desired from members of the group. Differentleaders of different groups get different recognition because of difference intheir competency.




What is the meaning of leadership ?

4.3.1 DEFINITIONS

“ Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or agroup in efforts towards goal achievements in a given situation” – S.Chandan

“ Leadership is the art of influencing and inspiring subordinates to performtheir duties willingly, competently and enthusiastically for achievement ofgroup objectives.”

From these definitions, you find that the most essential ingredients ofleadership are 1) followers, f 2) goals, g 3) a measure of willingness on thepart of followers, w4) a given situation, s. Hence a leadership function canbe L= F (f, g, w, s)

Tennenbaum et al defines leadership as “ interpersonal influence exercisedin a situation and directed through communication process , towards theattainment of a specified goal or goals”. This definition emphasizes thatinfluencing behaviour is through communication but does not speak aboutenthusiasm.

Terry says therefore “Leadership is essentially a continuous process ofinfluencing behaviour. A leader breathes life into the group and motivates ittowards goals. The lukewarm desires for achievement are transformed intoa burning passion for accomplishment”—this establishes that the will to dois triggered by leadership.

Another behaviour scientist defines it “ Leadership is the process ofinfluencing and supporting others to work enthusiastically toward achievingobjectives”

However, Peter Drucker defines leadership as follows. “Leadership is thelifting of man’s vision to higher sights, the raising of a man’s performance toa higher standard, the building of a man’s personality beyond its normallimitations”


Write the various definitions of leadership.

4.4 IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP

Leadership‘s importance stems out of the fact that human participation inan organization should be whole-hearted and such a situation can be inspiredonly by a good leader. No individual can devote all the hours of work for



the organization. He involves partially only and he spends the other hoursfor other activities that fulfill his socio-psychological needs like affiliationetc which also demand his time, energy and his faculty. Obviously, theseextra organizational aspects can affect the behaviour expected by theorganization. Hence a suitable modification is required in the organizationalstructure and administration. Only a leader can effect this and bring aboutchanges.

Again the environmental effect on the organization through legal,technological, cultural, economical factors etc. can call for professionalchanges in the set-up and you need a leader to bring about the changes.

An organization grows and new policies, absorption of new technologies,new products must be introduced to market to mitigate competition and allthese call for new coordination and strategy. This can be done by a leaderonly and not by ordinary men even if he is the son of the M.D. of the firm.

The very structure of the organization will have to be altered to meet someexigencies for a desired behaviour of members and such a change can bedone only by a wise leader.

If you want to secure desirable actions from a group of followers voluntarilywithout the use of coercion, you should have the ability that is available withleaders only This ability only makes the leadership to seek defined objectivesenthusiastically. Only a leadership has the special quality of understandingthe human factors that bind the group which if motivated yields fantasticresults. Motivation is necessary for work performance. Higher the motivationbetter will be the performance. A good leader motivates the employees forhigh performance and the very existence of a good leader itself is a motivationfor the whole organization.

A good leader can instill confidence in his followers by directing them, guidingthem for success. A good leader trains his followers well, advises themwell, patiently solves their problems and pulls out the hidden talents andskills of the followers.

Boosting up the morale of employees is an artistic ability normally availablewith good leaders. Morale is an attitude on the part of employees towardsmanagement, organization and voluntary cooperation to offer their ability tothe organization. High morale leads to high productivity and organizationalstability.

Thus you can say that good leadership is essential in all aspects ofmanagement be it motivation, communication or direction.




Briefly write about the importance of leadership in organizationalcontext.

4.4.1 FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEADERSHIP

When a person is appointed as an authority figure or elected ,then it isformal leadership. Thus a person is appointed as production manager andauthority is given to exercise formal leadership over the subordinates – anexample of formal leadership. The ambassador to a country is appointedand he acquires the authority of leadership in giving directions to the peopleconcerned.

But when a person uses interpersonal influence in a group without designatedauthority or power – using only their charm, intelligence, skills, and othertraits so that people turn to them for advice, direction and guidance—informalleadership is emerging out in him. Religious leaders, civic leaders, opinionleaders are examples.

Successful formal managers having charismatic personality are also becominginformal leaders in situations.

However, there are some common traits and qualities for a leader that enableshim to exercise his influence on others and wield command over others.These qualities assist him in directing roles. They are -

Energy, drive

Presentability, appearance

Enthusiasm

Personality- height and weight

Initiative, intelligence and judgment

Sociability

Tact and diplomacy

Self confidence

Moral courage

Integrity

Will power

Emotional stability

A person having special personal characteristics along with some ofthese traits only can become a good leader, as all leaders cannot possessall these qualities.




Differentiate the formal leadership from that of the informalleadership.

4.5 LEADERSHIP STYLES

Different leaders approach the problem of altering the behaviour of followersin different ways. The pattern of behaviour displayed by a leader in influencingthe behaviour of his followers is called the style of leadership. Followersare subordinates in organizational context. The particular pattern of behaviourof a leader emerges out when he begins to respond very similarly in similarconditions He then develops some actions habitually and those who areclosely working with him can predict these actions. Later you will see thatleadership itself is a personality trait. The various pattern of behaviourdisplayed by leaders are called different styles of leadership.

Each leader follows a philosophy, which in itself is the leadership style. Astyle of leadership is a relatively enduring set of behaviour, which is acharacteristic of the individual, regardless of the situation. You haveleadership styles based on behavioural approach, some based on situationalapproach.


List the different leadership styles.

4.5.1 AUTOCRATIC OR DICTATORIAL LEADERSHIP

These leaders keep the decision-making authority and control in their handsand take full responsibility for all actions. They will never make anybody ascapegoat for any of their faults. They structure the situations in their ownway and expect the workers to follow their orders. They will not allow anydeviation from their orders. The subordinates are instructed to carry outtheir orders without any question. Also the subordinates entirely depend ontheir leader and normally they suffer in the absence of their leaders.

Some autocratic leaders are tough and highly dictatorial and are a source offear or intimidation. Some leaders are paternalistic depending on theapproach of the leader.

The motivational approach of the leader can be threat and punishment orappreciation and rewards. When highly dictatorial, the subordinates developa kind of fear, sense of insecurity, frustration,low morale, and will avoidresponsibility. The drive and initiative in them is killed and they do not display



their innovative behaviour. The autocratic leader believes that his leadershipis unquestionable as it is conferred upon him because of the position heenjoys. He also believes that his knowledge is superior, power to punish orreward is his privilege They even impose penalty on subordinates or useabusive language in front of others and criticize. But autocratic leaders whopositively motivate are a class you enjoy to work with. But the biggestnuisance is from those autocratic leaders who hide their incompetence forfear of being exposed.

This style permits quick decisions, as there is only a single person to takedecisions. There are also many members who prefer working under strictdiscipline and under central authority. The style provides motivation andrewards to a manager who gives results.

However a majority of members do not like strictness and disciplineespecially because motivation is negative. Single leadership creates frustrationand lacks motivation. Morale is lost and unbalanced rewards create conflictsjeopardizing the organizational efficiency since communication is also one-way.


4.5.1 What is meant by autocratic leadership ?

4.5.2 PARICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP

This is also known as democratic leadership. Here the subordinates areconsulted and their feedback is taken into decision-making process. Thoughthe leader makes the final decision, he acts more as a moderator and ofcourse he takes responsibility for the results. The management in this typerecognizes the fact that there are employees who are capable to giveinnovative ideas, intelligent, skillful, competent, suggestive etc. Obviouslythe group members get an opportunity to display their talents and areencouraged to demonstrate initiative and creativity. The members thus get achance to participate in decision-making. This incidentally leads to a goodmanagement-labour understanding or relations, higher morale and greaterjob satisfaction.

This style is very useful when you have educated lobour , experienced,dedicated and ready to work independently with nil or least directives. Bythis you are developing a set-up conducive to growth and development.Good climate is generated for growth and individual personality developmenttoo. “This style is also consultative and ideographic. When participation isthere, it means mental and emotional involvement of a person in a group



situation is assured. It ends up in sharing of responsibilities and contributionto group goal achievement. Moreover, a participative manager decentralizesthe decision making process which increases positive motivation. The leaderdoes not take any unilateral decision and believes in consultation andparticipation of members. The superior even rewards the subordinates forthe best suggestions during consultation. The benefits of this style ofleadership are -

The productivity is high as participants are the decision makers.

They share the responsibility with the superior thereby ensuring notonly his safety but also for themselves. You will not drill a hole in theboat in which you are traveling with your friend.

High morale and favourable attitude of employees result in organizationalstability.

It is a motivating technique as the employees feel highly elevated astheir ideas and suggestions are given weightage in decision making.

What is participative leadership ?

4.5.3 FREE REIN

Also known as laissez-faire, literally means giving complete freedom tosubordinates. To start with, the manager decides the policy,programme andlimitations for actions. Then the entire process is left to the subordinatesHere the group members perform everything and the manager keepsliaisonwith outside only to get materials for the group to perform.

This style leaves everything to subordinates, who make their own decisionsand it helps subordinates to develop independent personality. But thecontribution of the manager is nil and it can create chaos. It may be creativewith a free and informal work environment but can lead to inefficiency ifmembers are not capable of decision making or wrong decision makers. Allmembers are not leaders and hence can create frustration andnoncooperation. With so much of freedom there is a possibility that a membermay put his individual interest above the group interest.


What is free rein ?



4.6 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

4.6.1 MANAGERIAL GRID

A style of leadership developed by Blake and Mouton is known asmanagerial grid. According to them the style of leadership is influenced byfactors of both task oriented and relation oriented behaviour in varyingdegrees. For this they used the phrase “concern for” in the model, toconvey how managers are concerned for people or production, rather thanhow much production that will be getting out of the group. Thus the modeldoes not represent the real production or the extent to which humanrelationship needs are satisfied. When the model refers to concern forproduction, it means the attitude of superiors towards a variety of thingslike quality of policy decision, procedures, work efficiency, volume of output,creativeness of research, processesetc. Concern for people refers to thedegree of personal commitment towards goal achievement, maintaining theself-esteem of workers, responsibility based on trust, satisfying interpersonalrelations. Thus the managerial grid gives five different styles of leadershipas shown in the figure below.

High9

8765432

Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Concern for Production

9.9

Con

cern

forp

eopl

e

1.99

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9Low High

Concern for Production

The Managerial grid


4.6.1 What do you understand by managerial grid ?

The five styles of leadership envisaged in this style are -

1.1 A style where only minimum effort is required to get work done frompeople and keep the organizational morale high.

1.9 Thoughtful attention to needs of people leading to a friendly andcomfortable organizational climate and work tempo.



9.1 An excellent arrangement of work resulting in efficiency. Human elementshave no effect in this style.

5.5 A style in which leaders maintain equal concern for people as well as forwork or production.

9.9 The style displays the highest concern for people as well as for productionresulting in the best performance with the support of committed people.

Each style points out the relative contents of concern for production orpeople and implies that the most desirable leader behaviour is 9.9. Blakeand Mouton have designed training programmes to change the behaviur ofmanagers towards 9.9 style.

Managerial grid is a useful device to a manager as he will be able to find outthe pitfalls in his own style and accordingly change his botheration eithertowards people or towards production . However, managerial grid has manypoints each representing a style. When you should adopt a particular pointdepends on many factors and why a manager is at a particular point dependson factors like superior, subordinates, power of supervision etc. A trainingprogramme can be hence designed after considering factors affecting themanagerial efficiency.

4.6.2 TRIDIMENSIONAL GRID

This theory of leadership was propounded by Reddin. He conceptualized athree dimensional grid, of course borrowing some from managerial grid.This is also known as 3-D management. The three dimensions are

1) Task orientation

2) Relationship orientation

3) Effectiveness.

While task-orientation and relationship orientation are behaviour dimensionsonly, by adding effectiveness Reddin is integrating the concept of leadershipstyles according to situational demand.

Task orientation means the extent to which a manager directs thesubordinates

Efforts towards goal achievement. This calls for planning, organizing andcontrolling functions on the part of the manager well.

Relationship orientation means the extent to which a manager has personalrelationships. This depends on how far the manager encourages hissubordinates to give suggestions and new ideas, how far he is respecting



those ideas and their feelings, how much trust he keeps on his subordinatesetc. Finally, effectiveness means how far the manager is successful in hisposition (reflected in results and relations). It is quite obvious that if thestyle of a leader is quite appropriate to the situation the leadership is effective.And if the style of leadership is inappropriate to the situation the leadershipis ineffective. This establishes that the difference between an effective andineffective styles is not the difference in behaviour but it is the appropriatenessin the behaviour to the situation. Thus the degree of TO or RO or thecombination of both used by the leaders results in four different styles ofleadership as shown below.

Related Integrated

Separated Dedicated

Low High

HighRelationship Orientation

Low

Task and relationship orientation


What is tridimensional leadership ?

4.6.3 EXPLANATION

These four types represent four types of behaviour. The separated manageris concerned with corrections of deviations. So he writes rules and policiesand enforces them. The related manager sees the organization as a socialsystem and he accepts others and finds them out and no pressure is appliedfor time. He naturally gets cooperation as he sets examples and he wantsto work with others.

The dedicated manager is domineering, bothers about production and doesnot identify with subordinates. He cannot work without power.

Interestingly the integrated manager worries about production and aboutpeople. He himself sets an example, involves people, and carries out two-way communication with strong identification and emphasizing teamwork.However these styles are not effective in all situations. Any style is effectiveonly for particular situation. Thus displayed out of context each style can beless effective or more effective as shown below.



Missionary Compromiser

Deserter Autocrat

Less effective Styles

Basic Styles

Related Integrated

Separated Dedicated

Less Effective

More Effective

More effective styles

Developer Executive

Bureaucrat Benevolent

Autocrat

Thus the four styles give birth to eight more styles as stated below.

Basic style——————Less effective style———More effective style.

Integrator————------Compromiser————Executive

Dedicated——————Autocrat——————Benevolent autocrat

Related———————Missionary—————Developer

Separator ——————Deserter——————Bureaucrat


What is the explanation you can give from the diagram ?

4.6.4 FIEDLER’S CONTINGENCY THEORY

Fred Fiedler is one of the earliest profounders of leadership theory. Histheory explicitly accounted for situational factors. According to him threesituational variables affect the group performance. They are

1) Leader –member relations

2) Task structure

3) Leader’s positional power. It is these factors that determine the extentof control a leader is ought to have.



Leader-member relations. The extent of relationship reflects the extentto which the followers have confidence and trust in their leader and hisleadership quality. A situation in which the relations are good, trust andopen communications will be there. It is easy to manage then than in asituation where the relations are strained.

Task structure. Here the tasks performed by the subordinates are measuredand how far is the conformity to the expectation and specification isexamined. This involves clarity of goals and clearly defined steps to achievethe goals. When the tasks are well structured, policies, rules and proceduresare clear then there is no ambiguity at all for accomplishment of job.

Positional power. This means the power enjoyed by the leader because ofhis official position in the organization. This will decide his limit of decision-making, allocation of resources, rewards and sanctions. Lower positionhas only limited authority. Higher position enables him to take charge of thesituation.

The most favorable situation for a leader as per this model is when the taskis structured, leader has substantial power and authority to exercise influenceon subordinates. You need different styles for different situations and sinceleadership style cannot be changed, it is for the leader to change the situationto suit his style. In fact Fiedler has developed a leadership-trainingprogramme based on this.

Fielder’s situational analysis can be represented through the followingdiagram.

Style of Leadership

Task Directed

Human Relations

Very +favourabl

favourable unfavourable

Very unfavourable

Favorableness of a situation—Fiedler model of leadership.

He identified leadership styles on two dimensions—task directed and humanrelations oriented. Task directed is concerned with achievement of taskperformance. He derives satisfaction out of performance. Human relationsoriented style is concerned with a good interpersonal relations and achieving



a position of personal performance. Fiedler used two types of scores tomeasure the style adopted by a leader. Scores based on least preferredworker (LPC), and assumed similarity of opposites (AS). How it ismeasured is shown below.

Friendly 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Unfriendly_____________________________________________________________________Enthusiastic 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Unenthusiastic_____________________________________________________________________Cooperative 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Uncooperative_____________________________________________________________________Helpful 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Frustrating_____________________________________________________________________Interesting 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Boring_____________________________________________________________________Distant 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Close_____________________________________________________________________


What is Fielder’s contingency theory ?

4.6.5 PATH GOAL THEORY

House and Mitchell proposed this theory. They propose that the effectivenessof leaders can be measured from their impact on the subordinate’smotivation, on their ability to perform effectively and their satisfaction. Theleader behaves inorder to compliment the group work setting and aspirationsso that the goal achievement of the subordinates gets a boost up.It alsoclarifies the path. This approach is based on the worker’s belief that effortswould lead to successful outcomes. Since the leader sets very clear pathand guidelines the subordinates achieve personal as well as work relatedgoals. Also the leader helps them in this endevour. The subordinates acceptthe behaviour of the leader, as it is a source of satisfaction to them. Thisgoal path is shown below.

Path – goal leadership process

Leader identifies subordinate needs

Appropriate goals are established

Leader connects rewards with goals

Leader provides assistance on employee path towards goals

Employee becomes satisfied and accepts the leader

Effective performance occurs

and organization Both employee

are better able to reach the goals



Now the leader may adopt any one style depending on situation.

1. Directive. The leader gives specific orders to subordinates and keepshim busy with planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling theactivities of the subordinates.

2. The leader shows friendly behaviour towards the employees and showshis concern for their needs and welfare. Overall he creates a pleasantorganizational climate.

3. Participative The leader makes the decisions with the activeparticipation of the employees and shares information with them andinvites suggestions from them.

4. Achievement. The leader sets challenging assignments and seeksimprovement of performance by instilling confidence in them.


What is Path-goal theory ?

4.6.6 SITUATIONAL VARIABLES

While exercising the above leadership styles two types of situational variablesare to be considered. They are characteristics of

1) the subordinates and

2) the work environment.

4.6.6a Characteristics of subordinates

There are three variables in employees that are relevant to effectiveness ofleadership—

1) locus of control

2) willingness to accept influence

3) self perceived task ability.

By locus of control you mean whether the achievements of the employee isdue to internal locus of control /his own efforts or external locus of control.Other terms are self-explanatory.

4.6.6b Work environment

This consists of the nature of the task, the authority system and the workgroup. The task may be structured or unstructured. A structured task iswell defined in activities, authority and responsibility associated is tagged to



task, and the type of relation is made clear. All these are absent in unstructuredtask. The authority system tells how much authority has been delegated tothe leader for influencing the subordinates. Workgroup means the type ofgroup in the organization to which the employee belongs.

Leadership Style And Situations

Leadership style Situation in which appropriate Directive Positive effect on satisfaction and

expectancies of subordinates working on unstructured task

Supportive Positive effect on satisfaction on subordinates working on dissatisfying,

stressful or frustrating task Participative Positive effect on satisfaction of

subordinates who are ego-involved with non-repetitive task

Achievement oriented Positive effect on the confidence that the efforts will lead to effective performance of subordinates working on ambiguous

and non-repetitive task

Thus there is no best style of leadership. Appropriate style has to be adoptedthat enables the subordinates achieve objectives in spite of organizationalor environmental ambiguity. That style of leadership capable of reducinguncertainties setting clear path is the best as this will increase the expectationsof the subordinates. And hence it will lead to good results.


What are the two situational variables ?

What is the significance of work environment ?

4.6.7 TRAIT THEORY

Kelly in1974 propounded this theory. The theory states that personalcharacteristics like physical, personality, mental, attitudinal etc are associatedwith leadership success. The research relates many of the traits to asuccessful leader. A broad classification of six categories of traits is givenbelow.

The personal, external and physical attributes of the leader like height,weight, age etc.

Socio economic status like education, social status, mobility andexperience.

Intelligence—ability, knowledge, judgment.



Personality factors— aggressiveness, alertness, dominence, enthusiasm,extrversion, independene, self-confidence and authoritarianism.

Work behaviour characteristics – achievement need, responsibility,initiative and persistence.

Social characteristics—supervisory ability, cooperativeness, popularity,prestige, tact, diplomacy.

These characteristics are valid indicators of successful leaders. But whencompared in real life there is not much agreement with these facts. Thereare cases where leaders are intelligent but not brighter than subordinates.Hence you cannot be sure personality or such traits alone can makesuccessful leaders. This theory totally neglects the importune of subordinates.Without subordinates’ cooperation no leader can succeed. Perhaps traitsof a person coupled with demand of situational factors can make a goodleader.


What is Trait theory ?

4.6.8 SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY

Bandura propounded social learning theory. He proves that there is alwaysinteraction between person, environment and behaviour. Please refer thesketch below.

PERSON

BEHAVIOUR ENVIRONMENT

MUTUAL INTERACTION IN SOCIAL LEARNING

The behaviour of an individual is determined by environment. An individualnormally in his actions produce the environmental conditions that affect hisbehaviour in a reciprocal fashion. The individual’s behavioural actions partlydetermine what he would become and can do. This will affect his subsequentbehaviour. Thus individuals learn in an environment in the process ofinteracting with others, which is a social process. This theory is applied tounderstand the behaviour of a leader and the continuous reciprocalinteraction between the person (leader’s cognitions) and the environment(including subordinates, their needs, experiences, objectives, abilities, skills,energy, performance etc known as contingencies that regulate theirbehaviour).



The social learning approach to leadership is shown below.

LEADER

LEADER BEHAVIOUR THE ENVIRONMENT

According to this theory the leader knows how his behaviour is controlledby various needs, situations and experiences. The leader discovers the needs,situations and experiences and joins the subordinates to detect ways bywhich their behaviour as a whole can be managed for mutual satisfaction aswell as organizational outcomes. The speciality of this theory is that there isa cordial relationship between the leader and subordinates paving the wayfor interactive negotiations.. They are also continuously aware of how tomodify or influence each other’s behaviour by giving rewards, appreciationsor withholding performance respectively.


What is social learning theory ?

4.6.9 HERSEY AND BLANCHARD’S SITUATIONAL MODEL

“The leadership style varies as per t he matur ity of t hesubordinates.”According to them. Maturity, according to Hersey, is not ageor emotional stability but the desire for achievement, willingness to acceptresponsibility; task related ability and experience .The striking variables arethe goals and knowledge of the followers in this model. Briefly you can saythat the ability and willingness of the people for directing their own behaviouris maturity.

The theory says that the relationship between a manager and his subordinatemoves through four phases. It is a kind of life cycle and hence this is alsoknown as Life cycle theory.

Ability is the knowledge and skills of an individual to do a job and hence itis job maturity. The psychological maturity of an individual is willingnessand is reflected with confidence and commitment of the individual. Thesevariables of maturity can be considered only with reference to a specificjob to be performed. This shows that an individual is neither mature norimmature towards a job. All are supposed to be more or less mature to ajob, objective or task, which the leader is trying to accomplish through theirefforts. Besides assessment of individual the leader has to assess the groupalso.



When both components of maturity –ability and willingness are combinedyou can get four dimensions. They are -

1. Low ability and low willingness –low maturity

2. Low ability and high willingness –low to moderate maturity.

3. High ability and low willingness – moderate to high maturity.

4. High ability and high willingness—high maturity.

Combining leadership styles and maturity (leadership style which isappropriate at a given level of maturity of subordinates) you will arrive at arelationship between the two as shown below.

High

Low Task behavior High

Rel

atio

nshi

pbe

havi

or

High Maturity of followers Low

Low

Participating

Telling

Selling

Delegating

Hersey-Blanchard’s model of situational leadership stylesThus there are four leadership styles each being appropriate to a specificlevel of maturity. The four leadership styles are telling, selling, participatingand delegating.

Telling. When subordinates have low maturity, they neither have ability toperform nor they have willingness to do in which case you have to do sellingof leadership. It obviously calls for a directive behaviour and involves hightask behaviour and low relationship behaviour.

Selling. There are subordinates who have moderate maturity i.e. havinghigh willingness but lacking ability, selling leadership style is the appropriatestrategy. The subordinates require both supportive and directing beheviourthat is marked by high task and high relationship behaviour.



Participating. Subordinates having moderate to high maturity have abilityto do but lack willingness to do , require high external motivating force. Aparticipative leadership style is adopted here with low task behaviour andhigh relationship behaviour.

Delegating. Subordinates who have high maturity have both ability andwillingness to perform need no leadership support. The appropriateleadership style is delegating which involves low task and low relationshipbehaviour.

The situational leadership theory has generated interest because itrecommends a leadership type that is dynamic and flexible rather than static.The motivation, experience and ability of subordinates must be constantlyassessed in order to determine which style combination would be mostappropriate under flexible and changing conditions. If the style is appropriateit motivates the subordinates and moves them towards maturity. Thus themanager,. who develops subordinates, increases their confidence and helpthem to learn their work will constantly be shifting his style.


Briefly describe the Hersey-Blanchard’s model of leadershiptheory.

4.7 LEADER vs. MANAGER

Basically a leader has followers while a manager has subordinates. It willbe interesting and illuminating to differentiate leadership from managership.

Managership is a wider concept; including leadership. i.e. every managerisalso a leader. But leadership is a narrower concept as every leadermay or may not be a manager. Thus Gandhiji was a leader but not amanager.

Managership is applicable to only formal groups i.e. there are nomanagers in informal groups or unorganized groups. But leadership isfound in both formal and informal groups.

The higher-ups appoint a manager while the followers in a group selecta leader.

A manager acts on the basis of authority formally delegated to him whilea leader operates basically by virtue of his power posses through hischarisma and personal qualities. His formal authority is of little use andimpact.



Managership is more significant and rather imperative in the context ofbusiness enterprises and other organized endeavours. Leadership isrequired in political organizations, military and governmentadministration.

A manager is more concerned with the shaping or moulding behaviourof subordinates towards attainment of common objectives. A leader isconcerned with inspiring followers through zeal anenthusiasm in themtowards the attainment of common objectives.

A manager makes a formal appeal to subordinates while a leader makesan emotional appeal to his followers.

A manager deals with a technical and human organization while a leaderdeals with only human organization.

A manager is a boss and pusher of his subordinates, but a leader is afriend and pulls his followers.

A manager induces subordinates to give their best performance applyinghis formal authority and creating an environment favourable to this end.He then engages in the task of planning, coordinating, motivating andcontrolling the efforts of others to wards a specific objective. Leadershipis the art of inspiring and influencing thebehaviour and performance offollowers towards the most enthusiastic attainment of the objectives.


Briefly differentiate a manager from a leader ?

4.8 POWER AND SOURCES OF POWER

Power is the distinguishing ability in a person to get things done in his ownway, mobilizing the resources in his own way, acquire any thing that is requiredfor attainment of his goals. Power is an elusive process in an organization,but its effects can be felt. You can see the following examples that representpower.

A manager gets higher budget allotted for his department than otherdepartments.

Getting a hearing before the top decision makers.

Getting a production progrramme sanctioned in favour of oneself.

Get the items written in the agenda of a policy meeting.

Getting a promotion to a subordinate prematurely.



Any manager uses his influence to change the behaviour of subordinates sothat goals are attained to his satisfaction. The process of influence can beranging from direct pressure on subordinates using his power and authoritythrough exercise of benevolent leadership to effective communication thatis closer to persuasion. The different methods to influence the organizationalbehaviour are adopted because every attempt to do that may not succeedin producing the intended effect on the behaviour, since influence isdependent on various factors. Though power and authority go togetherduring application they are not the same. Also along with power and authoritytwo more phenomena go with. —they are politics and status that will bediscussed in ensuing chapters.

Incidentally, power and politics have negative connotations in society. Thisis because you perceive power as a tool for manipulation. Power has beenperceived as an extractor of compliance and enforcer of obedience. Thisgoes against your democratic norms that are culture of freedom and rights.

Politics is closely related to power because only powerful people can playpolitics and get away with it. Exercise of power and politics means decisionsare made on the basis of the point of view of the powerful man rather thanwhat is just and right. Power is defined by Max Weber as follows “Power isthe probability that one actor within the relationship will be in a position tocarryout his own will despite resistance.”

Nord defines power as “The ability to influence the flows of availableresources towards certain goals as opposed to other goals. Power isassumed to be exercised only when these goals are at least partially in conflictwith each other”.

Robbins gives a different explanation ‘Power refers to a capacity that A hasto influence the behaviour of B, so that B does something he or she wouldnot otherwise do.”

Thus power is defined as basically a capacity to do something to get intendedresults from others. Hence you can summarize the characteristics of poweras follows.


Power is one of the means to influence others for getting results. Itimplies that influence can be exercised by other means also likeleadership, communication and authority.

The influence process is different when power is employed.

Power not only gets things done but also makes negative decisions.



Power though influences decision making it also makes negativedecisions and limits actual decisions.

Power is extra organizational in nature and anyone can use it if he iscapable of.


What is the concept and definition of power ?

4.8.1 IMPORTANCE OF POWER

Though personal power lacks legitimacy, it is crucial factor in managingbehavioural changes in organizations. Hicks and Gullet compared power tothe power supplied to an electric motor. The motor is like an organization.To describe a motor you refer to

1) external appearance and operation

2) gears, inner mechanism and relationships. But to understand the essenceof a motor, the most important factor to be appreciated is electricity asthe power source, which makes the motor run, makes the gears to turn,which operate mechanisms etc. Likewise, the organization runs becauseof power. Power is required in the organization for effective performanceof activities of the people. In its absence there can be chaos that resultsin insecurity for members. Hence some form of power is necessary torun modern organizations and educated people are prepared to obeypower because a person likes success more than he dislikes beingcontrolled by power.


What is the importance of power ?

4.8.2 AUTHORITY AND POWER

Authority is attached to the hierarchical position of the person. Subordinatesreport to him and authority is reporting relationship and power is associatedwith one’s position. Power can be exercised in upward, downward andhorizontal directions in an organization. But authority can be exercised onlyin downward direction along the hierarchy. There are some specificcharacteristics for authority. They are -


Authority is derived from organizational positions.



Authority is generally accepted by subordinates because they perceivethat the position holders have a legitimate right to exercise authority.

Authority flows downwards in the vertical hierarchy.

But since the social norms are changing many external forces also influencethe organizational relationships. So you cannot expect the subordinates tocompletely accept you passively and obey a constant stream of orders justbecause you have authority. Thus if there is a powerful union the first linesupervisors can not have formal authority. So power cannot be gained justbecause of one’s position in the organizational hierarchy. Among other thingsone’s expertise, personal qualities, style, access to key information, andability to provide or withhold rewards determine one’s power in anorganization.

Managers need power to execute their responsibility by leading the teamand this leadership is important to organizational effectiveness. Power canalso be misused for corruption and exploitation. People who want powerdo not show the hunger towards power but they engage in the machinationof power secretly.


What is the linkage between the power and the authority ?

4.8.3 SOURCES OF POWER

A person in an organizational setting can have power from two sources.These are interpersonal sources and organizationally structured sources.You may see below.

Interpersonal Sources Structural sources

Reward power Knowledge as power

Coercive Power Resources as power

Legitimate power Decision-making

Expert power

Referent power

4.8.4 INTERPERSONAL SOURCES OF POWER

These sources of power focus on the interpersonal relationships betweenmanager and the subordinates. French and Raven have identified five sourcesof power from interpersonal relationships. They are reward power, coercivepower, legitimate power, and expert power and referent power.



4.8.4a Reward power: The base here is the extent to which a person hascontrol over rewards that are valued by another. The greater the perceivedvalue of the power greater is the power. An individual is rewarded for hispotential ability and worthy behaviour. The leader has the power to givetangible rewards like promotions, time-off work, office space, specialfurniture including computers, attractive work assignment and help tosubordinates. If all these are rewarded then the manager is supposed tohave very high power. Praise, appreciation, approval and recognitions areother psychological rewards given to them by the leader or superior. In theprocess the subordinates believe that the leaders have access to higherauthorities and hence can give the awards. Incidentally this reward powerof the manager can also increase his charismatic and legitimate power..

For example, if the principal of a college is able to appoint, give tenures andpromotions for the faculty then he has high power.


a Give a brief about reward as power ?

4.8.4b Coercive power: If manager has the ability to influence punishment,then he has coercive power. The manager administers punishment to controlpeople sometimes even denying the legitimate awards to the employees. Ifa manager can slap more sanctions on a member then his coercive power isstronger. Coercive power is the power to reprimand. Hence some managersbelittle the efforts of others in front of their peer and get away with it. Theypossess coercive power to that degree. Normally reprimand is avoided asthe cost of hostility created by that is very high especially replacement ofemployees, demotion or firing of employees etc.

b What is coersive power ?

4.8.4c Legitimate power: This is the power vested in the leadership totake actions. In specific areas of responsibility the very position of themanager gives him the power over his subordinates. The subordinatesrecognize the legitimate power of the manager to prescribe certain behaviourexpected of them and acknowledge it also. Hence the subordinates willrespond to his directives without any grudge. Legitimate power is like formalauthority and it can be created, withdrawn, granted, or changed at any timeby the formal organization.

The strength of the legitimate authority is determined by the hierarchicalposition. Higher the level higher is the power in general. However indemocratically set organization the superiors and subordinates may be onequal footing.



In a mechanistic organization the legitimate power for each position isspecified.

There may be cases where legitimate power is given to a particular leaderby society, when he is elected by the populate. Thus you have the Presidentof India having power and authority. The elected Mayor has his power andauthority. Power is also culturally given to parents, upper castes, old ageetc.

What is meant by legitimate power ?

4.8.4d Expert Power :

Some leaders can control the behaviour of people by their sheer knowledgeand expertise over the subordinates who lack these qualities. It is due tothis ability they are powerful and it is not organizationally given. Such poweris more of personal power than organizational power. The subordinatessimply obey their superior just because they believe that superior knowswhat best has to be done and how things should be done. You can take forexample the computer experts who design computer information systemwill dictate the design and operations of a system and in this field theirexpertise will have to be accepted. So also generally people follow a doctor’sor accountant’s advice and carry out their instructions because you believein their knowledge and ability in their areas. Thus if subordinates accepttheir leader to be competent and meritorious, then, they will accept andfollow the leader. In such case, the credibility of the leader increases andthe leader can make them trust his judgments and decisions like a lawyer,doctor, physicist or a chemist or a computer programmer or a purchaseofficer or financial analyst.

d What is meant by expert power ?

4.8.4e Referent power

This is also known as charismatic power and the power is based on theattraction exerted by the leader over the followers. It is not a positionaltribute but it is purely of a personal nature. That is to say that his power isnot designed or acquired but because of personal charisma which make thefollowers to associate themselves with the leader. The stronger theassociation stronger is the power. This association means that the subordinatewill only obey his superior because he wants to behave same as his superioras he identifies himself with the superior. Film stars, celebrities have thischarismatic power because of which their fans follow the stars. In



organizations a subordinate is simply attracted by the superior or leaderbecause of his attractions and would follow him in all respects and thecharismatic leader easily influences the subordinate. The subordinate alsobehaves in a way as desired by the leader.

e What is referent power ?

4.8.5 STRUCTURAL AND SITUATIONAL SOURCES OF POWER

The next dimension of power is the structural and situational sources ofpower within the organization and this involves knowledge as power,resources as power, decision making, as power and link with others aspower.

4.8.5 What are the sources of situational power ?

4.8.5a Knowledge as power

You need information to operate any organization. Hence all those individualswho have critical information that is absolutely necessary to operate anorganization in order to achieve the objectives and goals, are all havingpower.

The effectiveness of organization depends a lot on the correctness ofapplication and utilization of valuable information in hand. Accordingly,people who are in a position to control the information or the flow ofinformation about current operations or future events and plans haveenormous power to influence the behaviour of others. ‘Knowledge is power’goes the saying. The software industry‘s workers are called the knowledgeworkers and they are powerful to control the very industry and economytoday with a special skill to acquire. store and retrieve information .

a Briefly write on “knowledge” as power.

4.8.5b Resource as power

An organization survives due to the availability of resources among otherthings. Hence resources are the backbone of an organization. History tellsabout the downfall of enterprises due to the inadequate resources. Theseresources are capital,equipment,personnel,raw materials, customers etc.Soany person who can provide any of these resources can attain power. Thatis why suppliers of rare materials are powerful to dictate their terms andconditions. “He who has the gold makes the rules”—resources are power.

b Briefly write about “resource” as power.



4.8.5c Decision making as power

Any leader or manager who employs his authority to make decisions orinfluence the decision makers are having power and they are the sources ofpower. It is thought that the decision-making power rests with the finaldecision makers. This is not so. Even though the decision maker acts, it isthose who are capable of influencing the decision makers who really havethe power. You are buying a car . Your friend influences you to buy a particularcar and you do so accordingly. Obviously your friend holds the power thoughyou acted upon it. Thus a task force studies an issue and recommendationsare given to solve the problem to the decision maker. Now the decisionmaker is likely to be influenced by the task force in making a decision andhence the task force holds the power though the decision maker acts upon it.

c Write a few lines on “decision making” as power.

4.9 POWER CENTRES

In an organization that has a hierarchical structure varying amount of powershall be bestowed on certain roles within the system The higher the level ofa person greater is the amount of his power. This is easily said than donebecause multiple bases of power are present. All managers have twodimensional power bases. One is the power generated because of theposition of the manager in the hierarchy of the organization and the secondone is his personal power. A successful manager is the one who has built upboth positional as well as personal power base. The positional power basecan be built and enhanced by the following factors. They are centrality,scarcity, and uncertainity and substitutability.


What are power centers ?

4.9.1 Centrality: This refers to all the activities that are most central to theworkflow of the organization. If the information goes through the managerand if it gets filtered there and in the process the manager gets a say in thework of many other units , then the manager has acquired positional power.You can take the example of an accounts manager in a firm having thepowers to approve the expenses of other departments and also makingpayments of other departments. You can see that the finance manager hasan extra power base that can affect the behaviour of other departments.

Write a note on centrality ?



4.9.2 Scarcity: Assume that the resources of an organization are in scarcity.But you definitely need some resources to run and survive. Now there willbe a struggle for resources. In this race the manager who manages theresources obviously acquires power. The importance of the power will notbe felt when resources are in abundance. But when it is scarce only theimportance begins.and the difference in power becomes apparent.Salanickconducted a study on the power of academic institutions and found that thepower of academic department was associated with their ability to get fundssanctioned for research and other such activities including outside sources.This is more critical to their power and important than the number ofgraduates turned out.

Write a note on scarcity.

4.9.3 Uncertainty

Future is always uncertain for any organization in this most competitivemarket. Some of the factors are so unpredictable that they can play havocto the very survival of the firm. In such circumstances if there is somebodywho can manage the changes after predicting the future events with fairaccuracy then that manager acquires power. Relatively he will be recognizedas the strategist. Of course he must be able to cope up with the uncertaintywell. The most problems are insupplies, market demand, technology changes,changes in government polices etc.

According to Kanter “The most power goes to those people in thosefunctions that provide greater control over what the organization currentlyfinds problematic: sales and marketing people when markets are competitive,production experts when materials are scarce and demand is high, labourrelations specialists when labour is scarce, lawers, lobbyists and publicrelations specialists when government regulations impinge, finance andaccounts when business is bad and money is tight. There is a turning tothose elements of the system that seem to have the power to create morecertainty in the face of dependency, and to generate more advantageousposition for the organization”

Write briefly on uncertainty.

4.9.4 Substitutability

In organizations you may come across some people whose contributions tothe organizations make them more indispensable than others, though youmay argue that nobody is indispensable. Some are indispensable because



they are specialists, such skills are scarce, competitors are not there now,and their expertise can not be substituted by others. How far and how longsuch expertise will be valid—only as long as it is marketable. Thus a fewyears back engineers were in scarcity and hence the available engineershad the negotiation power to fix higher salaries and perks, since they couldnot be substituted easily. Today the situations different as engineers areavailable in abundance. They cannot threaten the employers any more forunreasonably increasing their salaries etc. Today of course the computerengineers are dictating terms for exorbitant benefits. They are wieldingextensive power in the organization. So greater is the value of a person or agroup in an organization, greater is the power it holds.

Lammers deals with the issue of power “ Managers and Managed inorganizations at the same time come to influence each other more effectivelyand thereby generate joint power as the outcome of a better command bythe organization over its technological, economic and human resources inthe service of certain objectives. Thus the amount of power in organizationas well as in single interpersonal situation is variable and the amount ofpower changes over time”

Tannenbaum observes that expansion of power takes place under twoconditions—

1) external expansion of power into the organization’s environment.

2) Internal conditions of an organization that subsume structural conditionsexpediting interaction and influence among members Motivationalconditions implying increased interest by members in exercising controland greater amenability by members to being controlled. At any pointof time the amount of power in an organization is fixed and the changeis only gradual. If one person or group gains power another loses.

Describe what is meant by substitutability.

4.10 POWER AND POLITICS

4.10.1 ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS IN POWER DISTRIBUTION

Power gets distributed in organization in two ways—structural power andfunctional power.

4.10.1a Structural power distribution

Hierarchically structured organizations distribute power according topositions. The role in the hierarchy provides some important power



attributes; the most striking is the legitimacy. In power relationship legitimacyis a powerful factor. Legitimate power in a formal organization is relationshipbetween offices and not between persons. Acceptance of an office as rightis a basis for legitimate power. —A judge has a right to levy fines and aforeman should assign work. So every higher office has more powercompared to a lower office because it is able to invoke more sanctions, todistribute more rewards and punishments.

4.10.1b Functional power distribution

Organization assigns functions that has an important vehicle for allocatingits power resources. The allocation of function largely depends on thespecialization and division of labour. Specialisation creates dependence inwhich each participant contributes to the achievement of organizationalobjectives in greater or smaller degree. A specialized job in isolation producesnothing. Power hence is important to perform or fail to perform and has itseffect on the rest of the organization. The nature and criticality of the functiondetermines the power attached to the function. Various persons performvarious functions and their power also varies accordingly. Hickson hasprovided a model in this connection.

Strategic contingencies in power in organisation

Pervasiveness

uncertainties Non-substitutability Critically

of tasks Power

Coping withuncertainties

Based on this model, power exercised by various units is based on thefollowing contingencies -

1. The more contingencies are controlled by a unit, greater is its power.

2. More is the criticality of unity, more is the power exercised by it.

3. Criticality of tasks depends on the degree of coping with uncertainties,non – substitutability and pervasiveness higher is the degree of thesesfactors in task more critical it is,

Theses contingent relationships are not static but dynamic and in the sameorganisation, different units may emerge as Critical at different times, forexample, Kanter has observed that the more power goes to those people in



those functions that provide grater control over what the organisation findscurrently problematic sales and marketing people when markets arecompetitive, production experts when materials are scarce and demand ishigh personnel or industrial relations specialists when labour is important;lawyers and lobbyists and external relations specialists when governmentregulations impinge; finance and accounting executives when business isbad and money tight. There is a truing to those elements of the elements ofthe system that seem to have the power to create more certainty in the faceof dependency and to generate a more advantageous position for theorganizations.

a What is structural power distribution ?

b Write briefly on functional power distribution.

4.10.2 Concentration of Power

There is a school of thought which argues that power may concentrate inthe hands of a few in spite of the structural – functional adjustments in theorganisation. It is claimed that a basic dynamic of organisation process isan inexorable passage of control into the hands of an elite, an oligarchy.Michels calls it iron law of oligarchy. This law is a universal phenomenon.Michels based his theory on two factors

(i) the significance of organisation size and

(ii) the clash of interest within any highly specialized organisation

Power inevitably falls into the hands of a few as organizations grow larger.Because of the lacke of mass participation, the few begin to acquire anabsolute control over the most vital functions of the organisation and thusestablish themselves in power. Hence the tendency towards concentrationof power in a few hands increases as the size of organisation increases.Another reason for the concentration of power in few hands relates tospecialization itself. As organizations grow and become complex, theindividual roles become more specialized. Fewer and fewer people havethe particular competence to fill theses unique positions and power emerges.Since each unit competes, the power struggle begins in which one of thesesunits or combination of theses emerges dominant and oligarchy appears.There are evidences, which support the contentions of Michels: however, itis doubtful whether power to few elites is absolute.

Write how power is concentrated.



4.10.3 Tactics to Gain Power

It is a natural phenomenon for people to gain more power in the organisationto satisfy their power motive. Therefore, researcher has made attempt toidentify the tactics that are used to gain more power. Some analysts havefocused their attention on analytical approaches for gaining power whilemany others have suggested tactics only from practical point of view inwhich cause and effect relationship cannot be established easily. Thereforewe shall take analytical approaches. From this point of view, some commontactics are creating and managing uncertainties, norm of reciprocityidentification with power centers, impression management, pressure buildingcompetition coalition, and cooptation. Some of these tactics allowcooperation and sharing among individuals and groups. Others are morecompetitive and increases the power of on at the cost others.

1. Creating and Managing Uncertainties. Perrow has suggested thatthe person who can created a fiction of uncertainties and steer theorganisation into areas of uncertainties that the person seeking powercan manage will gain power. Uncertainty may be defined as a lack ofinformation about future events so that alternatives and their outcomescannot be predicted. The power seeker may manipulate, filter, orwithhold the information in his possession and may create the fiction ofuncertainty

2. Norm of Reciprocity. Norm of reciprocity is based on the theory ofsocial exchange in which two persons in a continuing relationship feel astrong obligation to repay their social debts to each other. In theorganizational context norm of reciprocity applies to a trade or if youdo something for me, I will do something for you. When such a tradeoff is successfully arranged, both parties get something they want. Thusthe parties are able to get power.

3. Identification with power centres. The person can enjoy more powerby identifying himself with power centers. Identification with powerfulfigures in the organisation can be achieved through developing rapportwith them. Others may perceive this identification as a source of powerand they will share their problems with the power seeker.

4. Impression Management. Impression management is concerned withthe protection of self image by the person while intentionally affectingothers assessment of him. Self-image of the person affects his attractionto others which helps him to gain more power. Some of the actions,which may be required in impression management, are sending nonverbalcues. Using flattery, and doing favors for others.



5. Pressure Building. Pressure building tactics may be adopted bypersons with high non-substitutability of group of people like tradeunions to gain more power. However, building excessive pressure togain power may be counter productive. In the case of person, it maycreate bad impression about him, which may affect his powerrelationship in the organisation. In the case of groups, the organisationmay resort to stern action like threat of lockout in response to threat ofa strike. Therefore, pressure tactics should be used judiciously.

6. Competition. Competition refers to the rivalry among competing partiesto gain control over organizational resources which are limited by theirnature. Each party tries to influence the criteria used for resourceallocation and each party tries to have the maximum thus each partylooks at is relative position vis-à-vis others and argues those criteriawhich are likely to fetch it more power.

7. Coalition. Coalition refers to combination of two or more personsgroups, or organisation for common goal, as discussed in chapter 2.Coalition is generally used to gain more power. Thus in the organizationalcontext, power seekers may form coalition or temporary alliance togain more power.

8. Cooptation. Cooptation occurs when a group gives some of itsimportant positions to members of other groups or includes them in itspolicy-making committees. Other does this to avoid threats of criticismsor retaliation. In this way, the group is able to control more power.


What are the tactics employed to gain power ?

4.10.4 Politics

Politics is universal phenomenon in organized society. Political behavior isnot limited to those who hold public positions. We can expect politicalbehavior in every organisation. In the previous section, you have seen howpeople and groups in organisation use politics to gain more power. Pfeifferand Sherwood have commented that the who gets what (politics) is endemicto every organisation, regardless of size, function, or character of ownership.Furthermore, it is to be found at every level of the hierarchy, and it intensifiesas the stakes become more important and the area of decision possibilitiesgreater. On survey of 400 , managers provides the insight into their viewstowards organizational politics. To a larger extent, mangers agreed that



1. politics is common in most organizations.

2. managers must be good at politics to succeed.

3. politics becomes more important at higher levels.

4. politics can detract from of organizational efficiency.

Thus it is necessary for managers to understand the dynamics of politics sothat they can take suitable course of actions to minimize its dysfunctionalconsequences.

4.10.5 Concept of Politics

It can be observed that everyone plays some kind of politics at some pointof time in the organisation. We can find references that define politics asone or more of the following: self – serving behavior, acquisition of power,protection of one’s own domain, building of support through group formation,or influence maneuvering. In all theses cases, politics involves acquisition ofpower or be around power and engage in self-serving behavior. Therefore,individuals and groups for achieving personal goals can refer to politics asactions for seizing, holding extracting and executing or power. Because oforganisation politics, organizational decisions are affected in such a waythat they contribute to personal goals rather the organizational goals. Tushmanhas defined politics as follows:

Politics refers to the structure and process of the use of authority and powerto affect definition of goals, directions and the other major parameters ofthe organization. Decisions are not made in a rational or formal way butrather through compromise, accommodation and bargaining.

This definition, though explains the process of politics and its effect ondecision making which does not remain rational, does not specificallyindicate self-serving behavior of the people engaged in politics. Miles hasincluded self- interest concepts in defining politics.

He says that :

Organizational politics is the process whereby individuals or groups usewhatever power they can amass to influence organizational decisions in thedirection of their own interest.

On the basis of the review of various definitions of organizational politics,Drory and Romm have arrived at the following definition of organizationalpolitics.

Organizational politics refer to intentional behaviours that are designed toenhance or protect a person’s influence and self- interest.



Based on the definition of politics, its main features can be described asfollows:

1. Political behavior involves some kind of power either directly orindirectly.

Power can be exercised by those who are in formal positions and enjoyauthority. It can be also influenced by other persons close to those whohold formal authority.

2. Politics involves behavior that is self- serving. It suggests that eitherorganizational resources are used for personal benefits or benefits tobe given to one person or given to another. In both the cases, the decisionis not rational from organization’s point of view.

3. Politics takes place when an individual recognizes that achievement ofhis goals is influenced by the behavior of others in such a case, politickinginvolves the elimination of adversaries by the influential maneuvers of amember of the organization.

4. All self – serving behaviors which do not involve use of power or threatof use of power cannot be termed as politics. For example, anemployee’s asking for a rise in pay is not political behavior, but the useof threat to unionise to obtain in pay rise amounts to political behavior


How do organizational politics arise ?

Summary

This unit has covered the meaning of leadership as well as the importanceof leadership in organizations. The unit has explained the characteristics ofdifferent styles of leadership and how the different variables affect theorganizational culture and behaviour. The important aspect of differencebetween a manager and a leader is also brought well. The nature and influenceof power on leadership is explained comprehensively. The impact of politicsin an organization and hence on leadership has also been brought outunderstandably. The sources of power and the distribution of power hasbeen dealt in detail.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS – ANSWER “YES OR NO.”

A leader is appointed by management in organizations.

Leader causes resistance to work and slows down the work.

Religious leaders, Union leaders and opinion leaders are formal leaders.



Participative leadership is a destructive leadership.

Leadership has no relation with personality traits.

Difference in the behaviour of leaders results in different leadership styles.

A leader does not give awards to subordinates.

In a structured task activities are not well defined.

SHORT QUESTIONS :

Express your views on leadership.

What is autocratic leadership?

Write the salient features of Fidler’s theory of leadership?

What are all the differences between a leader and a manager?

What is meant by power in an organization? Explain its significance.

What is the connection between power and politics?

LONG QUESTIONS :

Analyze the definitions of three types of leadership and ex[plain thesignificance.

What are the common qualities and traits of leadership? Differentiateformal and informal leadership characteristics.

Describe in detail any two leadership theories.

What are the situational variables that hinder the exercise of leadershipstyles? What is the importance of work environment in exercise ofleadership.

Write various definitions of power? What are the different sources ofpower.



UNIT - V

DYNAMICS OF ORGANIZATIONALBEHAVIOUR

5.1 INTRODUCTION

A study of organizational behaviour will be incomplete unless you know thedynamics of the group working in the organization. A knowledge of theorganizational climate is a must in order to implement various policies. It isthe climate that can contribute a lot to job satisfactions. It is the culture andclimate that create perceptions in individuals and groups. Based on theperceptions and attitudes the behaviour of employees may be useful ordetrimental to the growth of the organization. Then you will have to bringabout changes in the organization in response to the call from environment.You have to introduce new technologies, new products, new systems etcfailing which your organization will be left behind in the race. Should youbring the changes proactively or reactively has to be decided intelligentlyfor paving the way for the growth of the organization. It is not that easy toimplement changes and as usual there will be resistance from the membersfor the change . You must know how to manage the resistance and managethe change. Then only there will be development for the organization. Whatare the characteristics and objectives of O.D. is to be understood thoroughlybefore you embark upon the team building and training and developmentprogramme. These steps enable you to bring in organizational effectiveness.How to achieve organizational effectiveness and what are the steps requiredfor organizational effectiveness must be learnt in advance by you.


After going through this unit you will be able to understand



What are organizational climate and its importance?

What is meant by job satisfaction and what are the determinants of jobsatisfaction?

The link between job satisfaction and human behaviour.

Why should you bring about organizational change?

The exact change process.

The resistance to change and how to overcome the resistance.

What is meant by organizational development and its objectives?

Organizational effectiveness and its importance.

How to achieve organizational effectiveness.

5.3 ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

Every organization has some characteristics that are common with otherorganizations also. However, each organization has some uniquecharacteristics and properties. This psychological structure of theorganization and their sub-units is referred to as Organizational culture. Theculture is also quoted as climate, atmosphere, environment, and milieu. Manystudies done on the measurement of organizational culture gotoperationalised to organizational climate. Basically organizational climatereflects a person’s perception of the organization to which he belongs. Youas a member of the organization have some expectations, beliefs and imageof the organization. Culture deals more with the nature of these beliefs andexpectations while climate is an indicator of whether these beliefs andexpectations are being fulfilled. Hence organizational climate serves asguidelines for dealing with people and has a major influence on motivationand productivity of individuals as well as total work group. A good climateis an organizational asset.

After all the world climate in the usual sense is nothing but the averagecourse or condition of the weather at a place for a period of one year asexhibited by wind velocity, temperature, and precipitation? Of course it isdifficult to equate natural climate with that of organization as the verycomplexity of organizational environment and the unpredictability of situationalvariables act as hurdles for the study. One way to understand theorganizational climate is to consider its potential properties. Forehand andGilmer are of the view that a set of characteristics that describe anorganization, distinguish it from other organizations and over time influencethe people in it. It is a set of attributes specific to a particular organization



that may be induced from the way that organization deals with its membersand its environment. There are many relevant factors that contribute to theclimate. They are the individual’s perception of the relevant stimulai,constraints and reinforcement contingencies that govern human behaviour.

Renato in 1968 opines that Organizational climate is the enduring quality ofthe internal environment that is experienced by members, influences theirbehaviour and can be described by a particular set of values of thecharacteristics of the organization.

Stephen P. Robbins defines organizational culture as ‘ a relatively uniformperception held about the organization having descriptive characteristicsintegrating individuals, groups and system variables. The organization hassome “do”s and “don’t”s, totems and taboos and these form its culture.Individuals have to move, work, interact and achieve the goals amidst thisculture or climate. The system now dictates each individual to behave in aparticular way, the employees to deal with outside clients, collegues,competitors, supervisors, subordinates and strangers. Thus the organizationalclimate is manifested in the attitudes of individuals and groups. Obviouslyan organization can attract people who are fit for the climate. The hierarchycan create cultural variations and hence a varying climate inside theorganization which members get accustomed. The other factors affectingthe perception are job descriptions, organizational structural formats,performance standards, and evaluation standards, leadership styles,challenges, innovations, organizational values and culture.

Richard M. Hodgetts has classified the organizational climate into two parts—the visible and the invisible parts. The visible parts that can be observedand measured are hierarchy, financial resources, and goals of organizations,skills and abilities of personnel, technology, performance standards andefficiency measurements.

The invisible parts that cannot be quantified are supportiveness, employee’sfeelings, attitudes, values, morale, social interaction with peers, subordinatesand superiors and job satisfaction.

The organizational culture is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes thatdevelop within the organization and guides the behaviour of its members. Itis also known as ‘corporate culture’. Corporate culture has a great impacton the quality of performance of the organization as a whole. The corporateculture consists of the norms, values and unwritten rules of conduct of anorganization as well as the management styles, priorities, beliefs andinterpersonal behaviour that prevail. Together they create an organizational



climate that influences the communication of the people, planning anddecision-making. Employees understand the philosophy of the organizationand make decisions that support the organizational standards and corporatevalues.

Just like culture varies from society to society, corporate culture also variesfrom country to country. Thus American culture is to work individually andwin laurels. They believe in independence. The Japanese culture isinterdependence and teamwork and an extension of their family life. Theauthority relations are often paternalistic in nature and strong links existbetween the welfare of the individual, the corporation and the nation.


Give a brief account of organizational climate.

5.4 FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

The factors that affect the organizational climate include both internal andexternal factors. The main internal factors are

1) The organizational structure. This is perception of the organizationalconstraints, rules, regulations and red-tapism.

2) Individual responsibility—feeling of autonomy of being one’s own boss

3) Rewards—feeling confident of adequate and appropriate rewards.

4) Risk and risk taking – perceptions of the degree of challenge and riskin the work situation.

5) Warmth and support – feelings of general good and fellowship andhelpful work set up.

6) Conflict and tolerance- limiting conflicts to a level and degree ofconfidence that the climate can tolerate differing opinions.

These factors can be summed up in the following way also

1. Physical environment.

2. Leadership style.

3. Organizational politics.

4. Managerial values.

5. Organizational structure.

6. Characteristics of members.

7. Organizational size.



The physical environment consists of the size and location of the building inwhich the employees work, the size of the city, the weather conditions, theplace and the external conditions of environment all affect the organizationalclimate. An employee working in a clean, hygienic, quite and safe environmentwill have a good perception of the organizational climate. So also the interiorenvironment, decoration, working space, canteen,health centers, first-aidboxes, fire extinguishers etc all affect the climate. The absence of all thesecreate frustration, bad feelings, aggressive attitudes, nervesnousness etcresulting in a negative effect on the organizational climate.

2. Leadership style influences the dimensions of organizational culturehaving impact on the climate. It can be an authoritarian style with highpower motivation, democratic style with affiliation motivation or goaldirected style with achievement motivation. Each style has a differentinfluence on the climate.

3. Organizational goals can be achieved with proper policies only. Forexample, if a company’s policy statement is that the lay-off will bedeclared only to cope up with the business down-turn, then it is asupportive and humanistic policy only to increase the value of the climate.If similarly, a declaration is made that the first profit will be shared withemployees and not the share holders, then the climate is characterizedby high reward orientation., high growth orientation and highdevelopment orientation.

4. Value based executives can influence the climate because values leadto actions and shape decisions. Hence values add to perceptions of theorganization as impersonal, paternalistic, formal, informal, hostile orfriendly.

5. Organizational structure represents the framework that establishes formalrelationships and delineates authority and functional responsibility. Thestructure of the organization affects the internal environment.

According to Lensis Likert organizations can be grouped into major fourgroups based on the way the organizational processes are conducted. Theyare

System —1 — exploitive or distrust authoritative

System —2 — Beneficial authoritative

System —3 — Consultative democratic

System —4 — Participative democratic



To categorize an organization into any one group the following factors areevaluated.

The leadership style

The motivation benefits

Effective communication

Decision making

The goal setting

The control process

A highly decentralized structure creates a better climate in the organization.The participative decision-making promotes decentralization.

6. The individual characteristics of the members of an organization canaffect the organizational climate prevailing in the organization. Forexample an organization with well qualified, ambitious and dynamic youngemployees will have a far different climate compared to an organizationhaving a less educated and older employees. The former will encouragefrank, competitive, progressive and calculated risk taking environmentobviously.

7. The organizational size decides the climate for creativity and innovations.Smaller the size more participative decision-making will be the culture.Larger the size then more authoritative will be the management withstress on vertical distribution of responsibilities. These factors lead todifferent environments.

Besides the internal factors the society also influences the organizationalclimate and culture. Thus social forces that shape organizational cultureundergoes changes. The education level of new employees is superior tothe olden generations. The societal values are different giving fresh impacton the culture. Recreational and leisure values are different now. Expectationsof employees are different now. Employees want more satisfying jobs andwants undergo training and development. The concept of job enrichment,job content etc is changing the very profile of employees. All these have atelling impact on the organizational climate.

Bartlett has identified five more items that contribute to organizational climate.They are managerial support, managerial structure, concern for newemployees, inter-agency conflict, agent dependence and general satisfaction.

Taguiri has identified another five factors that contribute to organizationalclimate. They are practices relating to providing a sense of direction or



purpose to their jobs—setting objectives, planning and feed back,opportunities for exercising individual initiative, working with a superior whois competent, working with cooperative and pleasant people, working witha profit and sales oriented company.

Warmth, support, reward orientation and individual autonomy are otherfactors that affect organizational climate.


Describe the various factors that affect organizational climate.

5.5 IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

Even though you get used to the weather prevailing in your area, you areattracted to Ooty or Kodaikanal during summer. If you have the will younay change over to the new place where the climate that you are longing foris available and opportunities are there for switchover. The same is withregard to organizational climate. You have studied the concept behind theorganizational climate. You can now learn that it is very important for theeffectiveness, nay, even for the very survival of the organization.

You know that there are various types of interpersonal and interactivebehaviour, group behaviour, use of power, authority, leadership, conflict,communication, and control etc in an organization and this shapes the climateof the organization. The quality of such factors like leadership, findingsolutions to conflicts, quality of communications, how freely people cancommunicate official as well as personalmatters, quality of control and itsexercise meaning whether it is supportive or subjugative, style of employmentof power and authority etc determine the climate. If the climate iscommensurate with the expectations of the employees well and good therewill be stability of production, cooperation and profitable output. Converselya bad or unpleasant climate can be detrimental to the progress of theorganization. Again the importance of an organizational climate is due to thefact that it a a potential differentiator. It influences and shapes the individual,group and the organizational behaviour as a whole. It has a major influenceon human performance through its impact on individual motivation and jobsatisfaction.. It is the climate that creates certain expectancies in the mindsof people and it also defines the consequences of different actions.. Thusthe expectations of individuals and their fulfillment depend on the perceptionof the organizational climate and how the climate suits to the satisfaction oftheir needs.



The organizational climate provides a type of work environment in whichindividuals feels satisfied or dissatisfied. You know that satisfaction goes along way in determining the efficiency of the individuals and hence theefficiency of the organization. There are four mechanisms by whichorganizational climate affects performance, satisfaction, and attitudes ofpeople, which are some of the most important determinants of organizationaleffectiveness. The four mechanisms are -

Organizational variables can operate as constraint systems in both apositive and negative sense by providing knowledge of what kind ofbehaviour are rewarded, punished or ignored. The organization caninfluence behaviour by attaching various rewards and punishments tovarying behaviours. In other words for different behaviour outcomesdifferent values are attached so that people most interested in specificvalues will behave accordingly.

Organizational variables can affect the behaviour of individuals throughevaluation of the self and others. Such evaluation also influencesbehaviour. There are both physiological and psychological variablesassociated with this evaluation process.

Organizational factors work as stimuli; they influence an individual’sarousal level, which is a motivational variable directing beheviour. Thelevel of arousal will directly affect the level of activation and henceperformance.

The very perception of the organization is formed by the various variablesand the behaviour and performance are linked to this perception. Theclimate plays a major role in the formation of perception.

There is no hard and fast rule for an organization to have a specific set ofvariables that should result in an excellent climate. It all depends on thenature of products, the skills and education required, the competetion, thegovernment rules and regulations, the innovative approach of themanagement, the value chain associated with the set-up, the mission andvision of the enterprise etc. The values are set within the boundaries whichthe organization feels are the best, as the boundaries are set with referenceto the desirability of certain goals. This leads you to the point thatorganizational climate should represent the philosophy and goals of thosewho join together to create the organization. Also the organizational climatehas a contingency relationship with the organization meaning that the typeof climate that an organization seeks is contingent upon the type of people,the type of technology, the level of education and expectations of people in it.



Another significance of organizational climate is that depending on thedifferent class of men who have different set of thinking and motivation, theorganization also must get acclimatized to the differences.i.e differentorganizational climate is called for. This is also due to the fact that the natureof men may be economic, social or self-fulfilling oriented. The climate forthe economic man who is motivated by money and long-range economicsecurity, should have such economic factors to attract, keep and motivatethe employees. For a social man positive social relations and interactionsare a must and within the set-up man seeks an affinity with fellow employees.The creation of a climate where a happy family atmosphere prevails isappropriate to him. For a self-fulfilling man you need a climate of freedomin order to promote achievement, accomplishment and meaningfulexperience.

Thus you find each type of man needs a particular climate. Hence a managermust understand the people in his organization. Building a climate conduciveto motivation, a climate that tailors the individuals to leadership, a climatethat designs the job, which he will respond with commitment etc, are thehallmarks of a efficient and effective set-up.

Some valuable features of organizational climate are that -

Absence of political manoeuring for organizational positions and otherpersonal gains.

Linking rewards with performance and not with blood relations orfriendship, or social background.

Encouraging for participation, group decisions and implementation.

Encouraging freedom and innovation. Tolerance to individual differenceand assigning high value to interpersonal amity.

High standards of moral integrity.


List some important features of organizational climate.

5.6 JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction is employee’s perception that the job content and contextactually provide what an employee values in the work situation. Jobsatisfaction is defined as “ a pleasurable or positive emotional state resultingfrom the appraisal of one’s job or job experience”. This positive emotionalstate is highly contributory to an employee’s physical and mental well-being..



Organizationally speaking high level of job satisfaction reflects a highlyfavorable organizational climate resulting in attracting and retaining betterworkers.

Hop pock opines that job satisfaction is a combination of psychological,physiological and environmental factors that make a person to say “ I amhappy at my job”. Such a description indicates but a variety of variablesthat influence satisfaction but does not tell you about the nature of jobsatisfaction. “It is an end state feeling”—meaning the feeling is experiencedafter a task is accomplished or a highly individualistic effort has borne fruit.

An example is given like this “Mr. Kulkarni, a foreman working in anorganization has been assigned a special task to complete a special orderof the company’s customer. It gives him a positive job satisfaction as amongso many he has been particularly chosen to complete the work. Further, heis happy as he can earn more wages due to overtime, he badly is in need ofmoney owning to some domestic problem. But the same could bedissatisfaction if he is not in need of money or any recognition now. Thuseach one of these variables leads to an end state of feeling, that you callsatisfaction. It means attitude, motivation and morale all play a big role indefining job satisfaction.

L.M.Prasad is of the view that job satisfaction is a set of favourable andunfavourable feelings with which employees view their jobs, more specificallythe nature of the jobs they do, the quality of supervision they receive, co-worker’s pay and work, promotional avenues and degree of partiality intreatment. Job satisfaction is linked to absenteeism, employee turn overand job performance. Less employee turnover, less absenteeism and highperformance mean a high job satisfaction.

Job satisfaction thus has become an important factor drawing the attentionof managers and academicians. You will appreciate its importance toproductivity in the next chapter. However, DuBrins defines job satisfaction“the amount of pleasure or contentment associated with a job. If you likeyour job intensely, then you have a high job satisfaction. If you dislike yourjob intensely then you will experience job dissatisfaction”.

Job satisfaction is also an important dimension of morale. Morale for allpractical purpose refers to the attitude of the worker and relates to a groupwhile job satisfaction is an individual feeling that could be caused by a varietyof factors including the group. Industrial morale is a collective phenomenonwhile job satisfaction is a distributive one. Job satisfaction is a generalattitude of an individual towards work but morale is a group phenomenon.



Literature defines morale as subordination of personal objectives to thelarger goals of the group/organization. Of course morale itself can also be asource of job satisfaction.


What is meant by job satisfaction ?

5.6.1 IMPORTANCE OF JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction improves productivity.

It reduces absenteeism and labour turnover.

Individuals become affectionate with the organization.

Job satisfaction improves the image of the corporation.

Job satisfaction improves the longevity of life of employees.

All those who likes to work will live longer says a research study.

People with greater satisfaction tend to have greater incomes and moreeducation and hence enjoy better benefits that improve longevity.

Job satisfaction is essential to maintain physical health

Chronic dissatisfaction at work causes stress emotionally resulting inhypertension, coronary diseases, digestive ailments and even cancer.

Job satisfaction results in happy living.

Job satisfaction is interrelated to life satisfaction as per a study.

A satisfied employee is a productive asset to the organization.

Drug abuse, alcoholism, mental derangement and physical ill-health resultsfrom psychologically wrong jobs. Hence job satisfaction influences generalsatisfaction of life and vice-versa. Unexcused absenteeism due to avoidablereasons is the result of job dissatisfaction.


What is the importance of job satisfaction ?

5.7 DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION

Research has classified the following factors that contribute to jobsatisfaction.

1. Organizational factors

2. Work environmental factors.



3. Factors related to work itself.

4. Personal factors.

Organizational factors: Salaries and wages form the first set oforganizational factors as sources of job satisfaction. The salaries determinethe level of job satisfaction irrespective of the level of position that anemployee holds in an organization. Pay is a primary determinant has beenwell established by Locke, especially when it is perceived as fair andequitable compared to others and relative to employee’s own efforts andcontribution. Pay satisfies the first level of Maslow’s need hierarchy, so it isthe prime mover Pay is a symbol of achievement and higher pay meanshigher degree of contribution towards organizational operations and welfare.

Promotions: Promotional opportunities are second important source of jobsatisfaction. A promotion indicates the worth of an employee. It hence is amorale boosting activity. A promotion results in higher salary, lessersupervision, increased responsibility, more challenging work assignment anddecision making freedom. Promotion incidentally is a higher source of jobsatisfaction for higher executives than for lower level jobs like secretaries,watchman, etc because promotion brings with it a huge benefits for executivescompared to administrative clerks.

The job content: Easily maneourable and flexible job brings bettersatisfaction. Job content refers to the intrinsic value of the job. This dependson the requirement of skills for performing it and the growth it offers. Ahigher content of these gives a higher job satisfaction. Thus a repetitivework creates boredom and fatigue and less satisfaction. However a jobrotation increases job satisfaction.

The type of leadership: A leadership that cares for employees is a sourceof satisfaction.

Interaction and opportunity: to participate in decision-making enhancesthe quantum of job satisfaction.

Interaction results in exposing one’s self and capability—a source ofsatisfaction.

Participation gives identity and recognition –another source of jobsatisfaction.

All these facilitate in goal achievement within the target- a big source of jobsatisfaction.

The level of the job: The level or position is a source of satisfactionbecause one’s power, authority, prestige and self-control. Valuable jobs



and valuable positions are always respected. It also satisfies the needfulfillment theory. People in higher-level jobs find most of their needs satisfiedthan in lower level jobs.


Give an account of the determinants of job satisfaction.

5.7.1a COMPANY POLICIES

Organizational policies and structure play a good role in establishing anenvironment conducive to job satisfaction. For example, a highly authoritativeor autocratic structure can create more a resentment for the employeeswho very much long for an open and democratic leadership. Again the policiesof the organization have its impact on the employee’s job satisfaction –strict or liberal policies. It accordingly generates positive or negative feelingsin their minds. Liberal and fair policies are having direct relationship withjob satisfaction. Employees who feel constrained due to policies getfrustrated, become unhappy and possibly look for a change of job even.

5.7.1b WORK ENVIRONMENT

Supervisory style: Job satisfaction is linked to supportive and friendlysupervisors. In fact a step further satisfied employees create an environmentwhere the supervisors are considerate of such employees. Thus a closerelationship between worker and supervisor, their participation in decisionmaking on issues concerning workers etc are conducive to job satisfaction.

Work group: A worker’s happiness also depends on the cooperative andsupportive group in which he is a member. The smooth interpersonal relationswith the group contributes to morale and hence to job satisfaction. Largerthe group lesser is the interpersonal interaction and hence the satisfaction isalso less. Larger group also delays interpersonal communication, delays inreaching other comrades. Smaller group provides better opportunities forall these. Work group is also the model for social, moral, emotional supportfor the employee. If the group exhibits similar societal characteristics, suchas attitudes and beliefs they tend to be drawn closer to each other resultingin a climate conducive to job satisfaction.

Working conditions: Good working conditions are highly desirable becausethey lead to greater physical comfort and health. A clean and orderly workstations, controlled heat, humidity, air, light along with adequate tools fortheir operations and a welcome work schedule all can contribute to jobsatisfaction. These conditions are taken for granted nowadays. Howeverpoor working conditions will definitely cause dissatisfaction, discomfort andphysical danger.



5.7.1c WORK FACTORS

The major part is the work content. What is the scope of the job, meaningthe responsibility, work pace, feedback provided. Higher the level, higherthe scope, higher the job satisfaction. Secondly the variety of the job alsocontributes to satisfaction. While excessive variety creates confusion andstress, too little a variety causes monotony and fatigue. Hence a balancedvariety is the solution. There should be freedom on the work methods; lessof supervisory control on routine matters etc can enhance satisfactin. Anystep dehumanizing causes dissatisfaction.

5.7.1d PERSONAL FACTORS

Personal attributes of the employee also play a role towards job satisfaction.People with negative attitudes, pessimissm hate jobs always, though thejob may be good.

Age, seniority, tenure also influence job satisfaction. As people grow in theorganization they climb up the ladder into more challenging and responsiblepositions.

Meeting this challenges and succeeding is a high source of satisfaction..Even if they are not able to climb up the ladder with the passage of time,they are so mature they derive satisfaction with suitable rewards andrecognition. But without any incentive there will be only dissatisfaction andnegative or anti-establishment thinking. Hence it must be realized thatdissatisfaction is more fatal and dangerous – much worse than getting rid ofthem.

A feeling of job security with tenure is a source of job satisfaction. They canplan their future without fear of losing job. Above all the intrinsictraits /personality of the individual is a great source of job satisfaction. Thetraits are self-assurance, self-esteem, maturity, decisiveness, and sense ofautonomy, challenge and responsibility. It has been established that higher aperson is on Maslow’s need hierarchy higher is his job satisfaction.


What is the role of work environment, personal factors, and workfactors in job satisfaction ?

5.8 MEASUREMENT OF JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction cannot be quantified; only its qualitative measurement canbe done. It is a state of mind and varies from person to person for the same



job and also from time to time for the same job for the same person. Hencejob satisfaction can be measured only by job satisfaction questionnaire. Itis similar to the measurement of intelligence-by-intelligence test. Variousaspects of the work and the resultant behaviour are a measure of jobsatisfaction.

Though a lot of studies have been done on job satisfaction, most of thestudies are concerned with operationalising it rather than defining it. In factall the factors that can contribute to job satisfaction can be separated andeach one can be qualitatively measured. Again job satisfaction is an attitudein itself and hence factors that enhance positive attitudes can also be ameasure of job satisfaction. You know that the staff turn over, absenteeismare all linked to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction as the case may be. Henceif a suitable questionnaire is designed to elicit responses from the employeeswhose job satisfaction have to be measured, then it can be a solution to themeasurement problem.

Hoppock has developed essentially four items ,each one with sevenalternative responses. For example, the question can be like this—Are yousatisfied with the job description? The answer/response can have sevenalternatives for each item or question or statement. The alternatives aregiven below -

Least satisfied.

More dissatisfied.

Dissatisfied.

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Satisfied.

More satisfied.

Most satisfied.

A score of 100 marks is given to “least satisfied”, and a score of 700marks is given to “most satisfied” . This means the second alternative has200, the third 300, the fourth 400, the fifth 500,the sixth 600 and the seventhalternative carries a mark of 700.

Thus if a respondent chooses first alternative for all the four items his totalscore is 100x 4= 400. If he chooses the third alternative for all the fouritems, his total score is

300 x 4= 1200. Obviously the maximum possible score is 700x4=2800,provided all four seventh alternatives are chosen. Also Hoppock takes the



average of 100—700 as satisfaction index. The average is say, 350. Thus ifthe total score for all the four items is more than 350, then there is jobsatisfaction and if it is less than 350, then there is job dissatisfaction.

There are more methods developed recently by researchers. This is knownas S-D (satisfaction and dissatisfaction) inventory. Pestoneji in 1973 hasdeveloped this method ,using 80 interrogatory type of statements in Hindi,English and Gujarathi. The items lead to yes-no type responses. About 20items are found in these areas.

1.Nature of job : Opens out questions on nature of work, hours of work,fellow workers, chances of promotion, overtime regulations, interest in work,about machines and tools and the physical environment.


Briefly write the measurement of job satisfaction.

5.9 INFLUENCE OF JOB SATISFACTION ON BEHAVIOUR

Job satisfaction has a tremendous positive influence on the employees. Theybegin to work more productively and actively. They discuss and react fastfor any problems in the work place. The workers start giving suggestions tothe superiors. It reduces the absenteeism as well as wastage of time andmaterials. The work is performed so joyfully that the employee’s cooperationto fellow workers will be commendable. An unprecedented enthusiasm canbe observed in a satisfied employee. It increases production. It also reducesaccidents.

5.10 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Change is a necessary way of life in many organizations. You are seeingchange around you in many areas like fashion, social environment, theseasons, technology, biological processes etc. The biggest task for managersis to prepare for the change and ensure that the organization is viable, currentand dynamic. Any organization not listening to the call for change is likely tobe left behind in the race. When you say change, you actually mean a changein status quo in the organization. Even the most stable organizations findthat change is absolutely necessary to maintain the level of stability. How tocope up with the inevitable barrage of change is haunting the managers.

For example, many good old industries enjoying protection from governmentregulations are dying today due to liberalization and competitive posture ofindustries. This is a drastic change, as the losers were not prepared for thechange-taking place invisibly.



In fact, revolutions are taking place in the field of biology, environment,social laws, information technology, seasons etc. The economic, social,technical and such environments are dynamic and hence an organizationcannot be silent spectator of these changes. Once the horn is blown it is foryou keep aside of the road or else you will be injured or even killed. Sameis the case here. The horn for change is audible, it is for the organizations tolisten to the horn and change accordingly.

A number of changes are therefore taking place in organizations especiallyin processes. For successful running of the enterprise and mitigate competitionan organization, no doubt, has to change but the question is what to change,how much to change and when to change.

Management must monitor the environment and make an innovative approachin finding solutions to the problems, find ways for better and more effectiveway of utilization of resources. Bharat Ram remarked at the time of thereforms introduced by Dr. Man Mohan Singh on liberalization, globalizationetc and curtailing the protection to industries that 30% of the industrieswould die and it was so. They were not prepared for the sudden changeintroduced through reforms, which was necessary for India to march withothers. It is an open economy today and hence highly competitive. “Change,innovate or perish “ said Bharath Ratna Dr. Visweswaraih of Karnatakalong back


What do you understand by organizational change ?

5.10.1 NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Organizational change basically means a change in the structural relationshipand roles of people in the organization. Change takes place in allorganizations at varying speeds and significances. Normally the change occursin the field of production, structure, people, technology and such elements.Statistical study shows that recently 60% of American firms, 44% ofJapanese firms.60% of German firms and 72% of South Korean firms havechanged their organizational structure between 1989 and 1992—indicatingthe importance of change.

Organizational change implies a new equilibrium between differentcomponents of the organization—technology, job design, structuralarrangement, people and such elements. Any change in the organizationnaturally disturbs the old equilibrium necessitating the development of newequilibrium. The type of new equilibrium depends on the degree of changeand its impact on the organization.



The change will have different intensity of impacts on different departments,some getting a big impact while others getting comparatively lower impact.Organizational change is a continuous process. Minor changes can beabsorbed by the present equilibrium while major changes can be absorbedonly by new equilibrium. In brief you can say that a change to any part ofthe organization will affect it throughout. Barney and Griffin have pointedout that failure of organizations is there because managers are not properlyanticipating and responding to forces of change. The change even ifresponded to by managers the employees but resist it, as they do not wantany change in the mechanical relationship established among them. Thusyou have to take care of both internal and external forces of change.


What is the nature of organizational change ?

5.10.2 EXTERNAL FACTORS

Every organization exists in some context. No organization is an island initself. Each must interact with other organizations, suppliers, customers,unions, government, shareholders, even with competitors. Each organizationhas its own goals and responsibilities relative to other organizations. Duringthe conduct of its operations to achieve its goals and objectives, it shouldalso consider the goals and objectives of other organizations also. Thedynamic changes that maketing, financial, political, technological, economicenvironment are undergoing so swiftly that the functions of manyorganizations are affected. You will be forced to change production methods,producton process, labour management relations, nature of competition,economic constraints, organizational methods, marketing strategies,advertising or communication strategies etc.in order to survive.

What is the influence of external factors on organizationalchange?

5.10.3 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS

When the competitors adopt a new and forward technology you will becomeless competitive, less cost effective and less innovative. Your very positionin the market will be weakened. And when the organization adoptscorresponding new technology it will have to change its structure, its humanresources management. This will affect the very behaviour of the group.Thus computers and automation you know are responsible for drastic changesin organizational structure often affecting the morale and job satisfaction of



people. Similarly when the oil crisis hit the world, the Japanese were quickenough to introduce fuel-efficient small cars while America lagged behind.Americans were making only large and luxurious cars, now were forced toinvest billions of dollars to retool and redesign the car industry with newpeople, new designs, new methods etc. Changes in laws on pollution controlhit many industries. Unemployment rate, social changes like women goingfor work often occupying high positions, fast food and star hotels, laptop,cellphones and fast changing fancy dress and clothing etc brought abouttremendous changes by both suppliers and manufactures. In the processcompanies who were slow or did not care for the changes were destroyed.

What is the influence of technological factors on organizationalchange ?

5.10.4 CHANGES IN MARKETING CONDITIONS

The export oriented faces the bulk of the onslaught of change. Foreigntechnology and methods put many organizations behind the clock. The wayinternational marketing was carried out using web-enabled marketing,logistics management, intermodal trasportation, multimodal operations byforeign firms threw many of domestic industry into hardships. The marketfaced competition from five different forces—head-on from directcompetitors, from substitute products, from new products satisfying the sameneeds at a lower cost, from suppliers who dictated prices for rare rawmaterials, from customers who bargained for prices threatening to buy fromother makers of other brands of products. The organization had to rise tothe occasion to change strategy of pricing, communication, promotion,educating, after sales service, goods tracking, attending to grievances andopening grievance cell etc. The organizations had to make products as perchanging likes, needs, preferences etc of customers.


What is the effect of marketing conditions on organizationalchange?

5.10.5 SOCIAL CHANGES

The global culture has invaded our culture. The global ideas of life havepenetrated into our blood. The result is higher education, information onhealth, sports, hygiene, food habits, dietary controls, feeling of autonomy,need for automobiles, entertainment suspirations etc. All these have broughtabout social changes.



5.10.6 POLITICAL AND LEGAL CHANGES

The impact of political and legal system of a country and the world is veryhigh. In the event of a minute or major change in any one or both of themthe effect on organization is considerable. If a capitalist government wantstaxation, it will be opposed by communist rule If a country with Americancollaboration for industry turn into an ethnic /fundamentalist’s rule the effectis simply horrible and negative.


What i s the ef fect o f po li t i ca l and social changes onorganizational climate ?

5.10.7 INTERNAL FACTORS

Essentially the major internal change is on the individual as well as on groupbehaviour of people. The major factors influencing are -

5.10.8 CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL

Retirement, transfer, dismissal and especially promotions create tellingchanges internally in an organization. These are normal events but when theexternal environment forces upon change, these are also brought about bythe organization. New managers, more qualified managers, specialists etcreplace old managers. The new manager brings with him new ideas ofworking and new ways of working. Also this brings about changes in existingrelationships, especially in informal relationships. Attitudes of people changethough they by themselves do not change. The total organization thus changes.


What is the effect of change in management personnel onorganizational climate ?

5.10.9 DEFICIENCY IN EXISTING ORGANIZATION

It is also possible that there are deficiencies in the present organizationalarrangement. Large number of managerial levels, unmanageable span ofmanagement, lack of coordination between departments, obstacles incommunications, multiplicity of committees, lack of uniformity in policydecisions, lack of cooperation between line and staff all cause the deficienciesforcing the changes in the organization.


How far t he def ic iency in t he exi st ing syst em a ffec torganizational climate ?



5.10.10 CHAIN EFFECT OF CHANGE

Often a change touches of a sequence of related changes and supportingchanges. This is known as “domino effect.” Since change brings in newequilibrium, the organization has to modify many aspects to adjust to thenew equilibrium. Thus, if market calls for new products the organization hasto adopt new technology. This changes the present persons and even thepay scales. This is because the very job contents changes. Or else you haveto train the present employees for the new job and invest money and time inthem. This changes the relationship and positions and challenges and moralealso. Thus you find a series of changes due to one forced change.

Similarly, shift in the socio cultural changes and values in work force requirechanges in the corporate culture and structure. Workers are becoming moreand more educated, women are joining work, and workers are becomingless conservative. The strict dress code, domination by management etchave to be changed to accommodate the demographic shifts. There arechanges in the board of directors, employees, and shareholders that affectstrategy, philosophy, decisions and other activities.

Individual change is behavioral which is determined by individualcharacteristics of members such as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, needs,expectations etc. Participative education can bring total change in theorganization. But the degree of change and the time taken for change dependupon the target of change. Thus if the target is to change the persons’knowledge then it is easier. But if it is a change in attitude then it will be verydifficult Change is beneficial for some organizations while it is a death knellfor others. The attitude towards change depends on the context of thesituation, nature and extent of change and the manner in which changes areinitiated and executed. The difficulty for changing behaviour and the timetaken is depicted below.

Time and difficulty involved in change

Organizational behavior

Group behaviour

Individual behaviour

Attitude

KnowledgeEasy ……………………………………………………. Dif ficult

Shor

t……

……

..lo

ngTi

me

take

nto

chan

ge



Some changes are required for adjustments within the organization and thesechanges take place gradually. These are called evolutionary changes. Suchchanges do not promote any enthusiasm and they also do not constitute anydeparture from the past practices. Thus any organization has to go throughits birth, growth, maturity, decline, entropy or death. These changes may besmooth and evolutionary and sometimes sudden and revolutionary. Accordingto Greiner an organization grows to mature to young stage, tiny to giantsize. It actually passes through five phases of evolution each of which endsup in with a period of crisis and revolution.


What is the sequential effect of organizational change ?

5.10.11 REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES

Changes sometimes may be sudden and violent. The revolutionary changesoften overturn the status quo arrangements, causes violations, rejections orsuppressions of old expectations. But revolutionary changes are rarelyintroduced unless there is an intolerable situation revolutionary movementscauses strong resistance and sometimes power is exercised to implementchanges.


Briefly write the significance of revolutionary changes.

5.11 STABILITY vs. CHANGE

Newton’s law states that bodies in motion tend to be in motion and bodiesat rest tend to be at rest. So also organizations, which are on the move togrow, tend to move and grow and those do not know or want to moveremain where they are and in business it is the sign of doom. This enablesyou to distinguish growth oriented and stationary organizations. Change isthe only constant in business world. Those companies want to be stablecannot remain stable by not changing anything come what may. They arenormally resistant to change, as they want to be in the state of rest. Butprogressive companies want to be stable and survive with growth by plannedmovements and changes. Planned change aims to prepare the organizationto adapt to significant changes in organizations’ goals and direction.” Plannedchange is a deliberate design and implementation of a structural innovation,a new policy or goal, or a change in operating philosophy, climate or style”according to Thomas and Bennis. By this what you mean is the stability of



the organization amidst many destabilizing forces of the environment. Themanager takes strategic steps to ensure stability of the organization byimplementing the necessary changes. He also makes sure that the changetakes place smoothly without many hassles. As long as you know that thecritical aspects of the organization like technology, task, structure and peoplehave to keep pace with the changes whether it is mild, slow, violent orsudden, the stability of the organization can be maintained.

Thus an organization, which is stable as on date, has to change theprocedures for decision-making and problem solving processes if the marketdemands that so as to maintain the stability. Otherwise the enterprise willget destabilized unable to meet or face the competition.

The above technology change brings about changes forcibly on the skillsrequired, new job content, new job description etc. These changes calledtask-related changes are necessary to maintain stability. The stability of theorganization will be shaken unless you focus on high internal work motivationand high quality work performance.

An organization appearing to be stable has to bring about structural changesto maintain the very stability because the change will force or redefine thenature of relationships among the various organizational positions. Thenumber of hierarchical levels has to vary, the organization itself may becomeentirely new, the span of management will change, the line and staff functionalauthority will change for stability to continue or survive.

Over and above all these you have to note that even people have to bechanged if you want stability in growth. New technology calls for newtechnologists, new products call for new designers etc. You need people ofdifferent behavior to meet some changes as otherwise it can disturb theequilibrium.

The objectives of planned change are to meet the organizational objectivesonly. You can say an organization is stable year after year only when theorganizational objectives are achieved. Hence you can briefly state thatstability amidst environmentally forced changes is a fact. What is necessaryis environmental adaptation, individual adaptation, structural adaptation,technological adaptation and task adaptation that will take care ofadjustments required for attitudes, values and other behavioural changes tokeep growing without any loss to stability.




Comment on “stability visa-vis changes “

5.12 PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE CHANGES

Forces of change arise out of an organization’s interactions with elementsin its internal or external environment. The action of competitors, government,suppliers, public etc have substantial impact on change. Similarly social andcultural factors such as stages of life cycles, life styles, values and beliefs alllead to significant changes. These forces make it necessary to reactimmediately for a change that is implimentable. A reactive change isundertaken when it is pressed by some factors external or internal.Organizations, which work on traditional basis normally, go for reactivechanges. These enterprises introduce new methods and systems only whenthey are faced with insurmountable challenges and hence forced to do thatchange. Thus many manufacturing business did not care for installing pollutioncontrol devices. They installed them only after being forced by pollutionboard. The labour welfare measures were not introduced by manyorganizations until they were forced to do that. These types of changes areonly a reaction of the enterprises in response to the call or force from outside.Similarly when the firm finds that intermingling of some departments orsegregation or splitting of the existing departments can enhance the qualityand quantity of output and that too with timesaving, they act immediately asa reaction for the call from inside.

Change is the order of the day. Change is inevitable because of factorssuch as death,retirement,transfer,promotion,discharge or resignation and alsodue to constantly changing elements in the external environment. One of themajor forces of change is the newly recruited executives who bring aboutsweeping changes in many areas and influencing the behaviour of theparticipants .The new executive may have different objectives, organizationaldesigns, tasks, procedures and policies and this sets a trend for newmanagerial behaviour which then has a cascading effect on individual andgroup behaviour and finally on the organizational behaviour. The changesby the new manager can be reactive or proactive as per the environmentalneed as well as according to the personal or egoistic need of the new recruit.The new manager maybe having a different personality, intelligence andtemperament but may have the necessary qualification for the position andhence he has the right to bring about the changes that may be reactionary oreven proactively.

Proactive changes take place when some forces lead the organization tothink and conclude that a particular change is desirable to achieve the



objectives more efficiently. Such organizations go about introducing butplanned changes, which are desirable intuitively. If the management thinksthat introducing a new incentive scheme or some other benefit to employeecan boost up the morale of the employee that increases motivation as wellas satisfaction, then the organization is proactive. Suppose the organizationintroduces the benefits because of demand from the labour union, and thenthe change is reactive. Therefore, proactive change is the one identified asdesirable by the organization and forced on it by any other factors. On theother hand, reactive change is a change implemented in an organizationbecause it is made necessary by outside forces. Whether the change isevolutionary or revolutionary or glacial it must be either reactive or proactive.Proactive change is brought out of the anticipation of the likely behaviour ofthe forces having impact on the organization. Such organizations are calledprospectors and will be constantly interacting with the environment to identifynew opportunities and threats. These organizations incorporate the changebefore they are forced by these opportunities or threats. Many organizationsundertake change programmed on regular basis in order to avoid developinginertia of inflexibility. Conscious managers view that their organizations shouldbe dynamic because a single method is not the best tool of management atevery time. The greatest advantage for proactive change is that people likethe changes, as they are not forced on them all on a sudden but graduallywith their participation and the employees being fully aware of the importanceof the change.


Briefly discuss proactive vs. reactive changes.

5.13 THE CHANGE PROCESS

Organizational change does not occur instantaneously; instead it involvesformidable exercise on the part of management. major organizational changerequires considerable planning. The change is successful if it is taken in aplanned way progressively as shown in the figure below.

Identifying need for change

Elements to be changed

Planning for change

Accessing change forces

Actions for Change

Unfreezing

Changing

Refreezing

Feedback



The various steps involved in a planned change are

Identifying need for a change

Elements to be changed

Planning for change

Assessing change forces

Change actions

Feedback


Briefly write about the change process.

5.13.1 IDENTIFYING NEED FOR CHANGE

The first basic step in planned change is to identify when change in theorganization is required because change for the sake of change can produceresistance whereas useful and necessary changes will be welcome andsupported by members of the organization. Though there are various externalforces acting on the organization, it is better for the organization to analyzethe forces acting and find out these forces that are affecting the functionsof the organization. If the forces external to the firm are not affecting theorganization, then there is no need for any change. It is the organization’sfeedback and control section that can foretell the nature and importance ofthe external forces and advise whether a change is required, if so what isthe direction of the change and quantum of the change. The very process ofchange is a control dominated function as the data as well as the correctiveactions are all designed and supplied by control department only. Some ofthe features of the organization can indicate through the data that a changeis required in the cost of production, declining profit, role conflict, andemployee turn over, need for growth and expansionist. These indicatorswill force the management to analyze what actions can be taken forovercoming these defects.

There will be normally a gap between the desired state of affairs and theactual state of affairs. This gap has to be seriously analyzed as this gap tellsyou what the organization has achieved and what it should have achieved.This gap analysis cannot be a permanent data even for months due to everchanging environment. The gap found a few months or days back may notbe valid today or a few days later as competition, technology (software),



social and demography etc vary at different rate fast, super fast and megafast. If a new product enters the market, it may not affect the prospectsimmediately but within a short period it will affect. Hence the gap analyzedwill again vary.

What is the necessity for a change ?

5.13.2 THE ELEMENTS TO BE CHANGED

The elements to be changed will depend upon the need and objectives ofthe change. The clues about the change are obtained during the process ofidentification of change. The clues direct you to diagnose the problemscaused because of which change is required. Thus declining profit, no doubt,requires change. But what elements have to be changed? This calls fordiagnosing the factors responsible for declining profit. May be you need asophisticated technology or you may need qualified and more experiencedpeople, or you need to change the structure to arrest the declining trend ofprofit. Normally you change technology, people or structure in anorganization. The nature and extent of change required depend on the typeof problems faced by the organization. Structural changes take place in thefields of job design, job definitions, basis of departments, policies, span ofcontrol, coordination mechanism, power structure, flow of tasks andprocedures. Technological changes mean changes in plant and equipment,production processes, method of doing work etc. When technology changesthe organization changes in some form of or other Changes in people includechanges in behaviour, attitudes, interaction pattern, skills and informalgrouping. While some changes affect in all these dimensions, other changesaffect only to a limited extent. Introducing a systems department fullycomputerized call for not only new people but also a change in theorganizational structure also. Normally whenever there is a change inexecutive levels it creates major changes in the structure. They observebelow their level to ensure that the levels and concerned people areconducive to implement their ideas and programmes to achieve the goals.He then makes sweeping changes and in the process the opponents resignand with new recruitment he gets an opportunity for a re-examination of theentire structure.


What are the elements to be changed ?



5.13.3 PLANNING FOR THE CHANGE

This is an important step towards the actual change. The planning includeswho will bring the change, when to bring the change and how to bring thechange. The person who brings about the change practically is called thechange agent. Though all managers are change agents as they are bringingabout some changes occasionally, some agents are noted for the tough andspecial changes being brought in. The second question is when to bringabout the change is related to time dimensions of change. Before decidingthe time frame you have to consider many factors that resist the change andthe time required to set right these forces. You also need the time necessaryfor training and developing the people for accepting the change. You alsoneed time to make the resources available for the change. The next questionis how to bring about the change depends on how early you draw theprocedures, prepare the chronological order of various events for changeThe change process is actually a continuous process because a change affectsother aspects not considered. This hence calls for some other changes. Inthe process some dysfunctional aspects will be detected and lead for anotheraspect of change. The process thus goes on.


How do you plan for the change ?

5.13.4 THE ACTUAL CHANGE PROCESS

Once the need for change and the goals of such a change are recognizedand accepted, the management must introduce the change process in sucha manner that such change is more or less permanent and the managementdoes not shift back to the old or more familiar ways of doing things. KurtLewins has proposed a three phases of change process for moving theorganization from the present to the future. These stages are

1) Unfreezing

2) Changing

3) Refreezing.

5.13.4a Unfreezing the situation: This is the particular stage of the processwhen people and organizations become aware of the change and preparesthem for the change. Because Lewin believes that people should not becaught unaware of the change. Such a sudden step would be sociallydestructive. That is why the management should pave the way for unfreezing



the situation. This enables the management to easily implement the changewith the acceptance of the members of the organization. Also if there is anyresistance the same can be neutralized. According to Schein unfreezing isthe process of breaking the old attitudes, behaviours, customs and traditionsin order to start afresh with a clean chit. This needs communicating with theemployees. This can be done through the in-house bulletin, holding meetings,making announcements, and promoting the ideas through personal contactsand through group conferences. This also needs physical removal of theindividuals being changed from their accustomed routine, sources ofinformation and social relationship. Again the individuals must be motivatedto think for the change. Link reward with willingness to work consistentlyfor the change and link punishment with unwillingness to change. Kreitnerhas suggested the following “We can all improve the effectiveness of ourorganization if we all cooperate in a comprehensive programme of findingout where we are, where we want to go and how we can go there.” Theunfreezing process basically cleans the slate so that it can accept new writingson it, which can then become the operational style.

5.13.4b. Changing or moving to new conditions : Once the unfreezingprocess is completed and the members recognize the need for the changeand have been fully prepared to accept such a change their behaviour patternhave to be redefined. There are three ways of assessing their behaviour asper H.C.Kellman. They are

a) compliance

b) identification

c) internalization.

a) Compliance: Compliance is achieved by enforcing reward andpunishment strategy for good or bad behaviour. Fear of punishment,actual punishment or actual reward can change the behaviour for thebetter.

b) Identification: Members sometimes get impressed with the idea ofgetting identified psychologically with some role models whosebehaviour they would like to imitate or adopt and try to become likethem. You can see many a firm using celebrities advising youngsters notto smoke or get addicted to drugsetc.

c) Internalization : Internalization involves changing of the thoughtprocesses of people inside the organization in order to adjust to thenew environment. First members are left alone to look within themselves



and they are given freedom to learn and adopt the new behaviour so asto succeed in the new environment. Often soul searching transforms theindividuals into more accepting and adjusting workers bringing a newdimension in the philosophy of existenceand thus brings about changesin such a behavioural pattern that are not considered sociallyprofessionally redeeming.

Besides all these you have to follow the guidelines as follows.

Recognize that the primary purpose of change is to improve performanceresults.

Make individuals responsible for the change

Encourage improvisation, team performance and coordinated initiative.

Ensure that people are able to see how they fit into the largerorganizational picture.

Use positive energy, meaningful language, and bold leadership to drivechange relentlessly.

5.13.4c Refreezing: When the new behaviour becomes the normal way oflife refreezing occurs. The new behaviour replaces the old behaviour fullyto implement the change successfully. The change has to be permanent innature. Therefore it must be reinforced continuously so that the newlyacquired behaviour does not diminish or extinguish.

It must be noted that change is not a one-time process but it is a continuousprocess due to the ever-changing environment and dynamism in theenvironment. Accordingly the process of unfreezing, changing and refreezingis a continuous cyclical process. “Force field analysis.” Is anothermethodology to induce, impliment and manage change as propounded byKurt Lewin.

There are change forces known as driving forces. There will be forcesresisting the change and these are known as restraining forces. Please referbelow.

Driving forces ————— Equilibrium ———— Restraining forces

Managers must be strategic enough to encourage and strengthen the drivingforces and weaken the restraining forces sufficiently so that change cantake place.


a What is meant by “unfreezing the situation”



b What is meant by “moving to a new condition”

c What is refreezing ?

Restraining forces R1 R2 R3 R4 Rn Desired equilibrium Existing equilibrium D4 Dn D3 D2 D1

Driving forces Length of an arrow shows significance of the force

The figure above clarifies that organizational equilibrium is not static ratherit is dynamic. This is because everything depends on “ who is stronger” –driving forces or restraining forces. If the driving forces are stronger thenmanagement can implement the changes without much hassles. But if therestraining forces are stronger then the management may not implement thechanges, rather allow the driving forces to gain strength or immobilize therestraining forces. The management also can convert the restraining forcesinto driving forces artistically and strategically.

All said and done the prime responsibility of the management lies in buildingthe driving forces or debuilding the restraining forces so that people canaccept the change. The moment the driving and restraining forces are broughtto a desired level then the management can go for the change employingunfreezing, changing or refreezing techniques.

5.13.4d Feedback on change: A feedback on the progress of the changeis a must in order to know whether the change is in the right direction or notas the change should not create any dysfunctional effect. As the changeprogresses the change may create minor problems in some unrelated areasand hence a close watch is necessary. In case of any problems that shouldbe sorted out quickly so that results are better. The impact of the change ismeasured from the objectives. Hence objectives of the change must bedefined clearly to make measurement.



5.13.4e Responses to change

All individuals may not accept the change favorably. Hence the degree ofacceptance or the degree of resistance to change depends on many factorslike perception, attitude, social recognition etc of the individuals. Differentresponses indicate the varying behavioural influences of change. The reactionto change may not be logic often and it may be feelings of how a change willaffect the individual’s need satisfaction in the organization. An individualnormally joins with the group concerned and expresses his reactions in oneof the following ways.

Probable

Individual responses Actual responses

Responses to change

A Works harder than before

B Avoids doing new things

C Argues with the boss

D leaves the orgnisation

E Goes on strike

F Feels indifferent

Group response

Willing acceptance

Resistance

Forced acceptance

Rejection

Change

Personal histories

Work environment

Though individuals have different responses like cooperation, acceptance,strike, fight, neutral etc, the individual when joins the group the behaviourwill be willing acceptance, resistance, forced acceptance and rejection ofthe change as the case may be – all depend on the resultant of the varyingbehaviour exhibited by them.

5.14 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Man always follows the path of least resistance. Generally change is resentedand is very difficult to implement. Especially when the outcome of the changeis uncertain due to the very nature of being new, you may feel that it is easierto introduce known methods than to change over to new methods. Youexperience the same effect almost when you change over to a new home or



new college or new school or new job. But when the potential rewards forthe change is good, then the change is easier. Thus a person changes thejob as the new job offers him better pay and facilities. However if theemployee is transferred to another section on same financial terms but lesscomfortable physical conditions, the employee may resist the change.

Whatever be the resistance the change if beneficial to the organization, ithas got to be implemented. The society will become stagnant if no changestake place. Hence it is imperative to study the causes for the resistance tochange in order to deal with the resistance properly. It must be noted thatmost of the time the resistance is not for the technical changes but the socialchanges that accompany the technical changes. By social changes what ismeant is the human relationships. You have to lay therefore much emphasison reducing the strain that might develop due to changes in theserelationships.

Essentially individuals resist change because he has to learn new tasks, newhabits and make some sacrifices. Another reason for resistance is“homeostasis” meaning tendency on the part of the organization to maintainequilibrium—self correcting characteristics. People act to establish a steadystate of need fulfillment and secure themselves from disturbance to thatbalance.

Since the days of industrial revolution workers have resisted introduction ofnew technology even in a violent fashion. Divisional managers have foughtfor realignment of units or corporate structure. While individual resistanceis due to personal, economic or social reasons, the organizational resistanceis due to structure, organizational constraints threats of power or influence etc.

Resistance may be covert or overt. Overt resistance is when employeesdeliberately start doing things very slowly and without any enthusiasm. forthe change. Absence of overt resistance does not mean there is no resistance.It may still be there but hidden and such resistance is more dangerous.According to Watson there are individual and social causes for the resistanceas given below.

Individual factors: Homeostasis, tendency to maintain equilibrium, resistsall change related phenomena.

Habits: One has to forcibly learn new habits.

Primacy is the resistance due to encountering the problem for the first time.

Perceptions: The individuals perceive only what is acceptable to them andanything not in line with perception is resisted.



Dependence: An individual used to depend on the group and otherssuddenly cannot do innovative work independently or with a new group.

Super ego in him may prevent acceptance of change if not in conformitywith his belief.

Insecurity – uncertainty about the impact of the change especially on jobsecurity. New technology, new procedures, new systems, new superiors,etc cause uncertainty and lack of confidence resulting in resistance.

Lack of communication about the change to the workers in time leads toresistance.

Rapidity and the extent of change create resistance. Slower the changeslower the resistance.


What is meant by resistance to change ? What are the causes forthe change ?

5.14.1 Group resistance: Many a time when there is a group resistancethe individual belonging to the group also resists. The individual complieswith the group norms and codes of conduct .The labour union strike is anexample where the individual joins the strike though not in support of it justto express his support to the group.

5.14.1a Emotional turmoil: A change may cause emotional disturbancebecause of past negative experiences .The result is lack of trust,misunderstanding, misinterpreting the change itself even if the change is wellintended. Thus if a rumour is spread about possible lay-off due tosophisticated technological change, there will be stiff resistance against thechange.

In 1970 there was a strike at Hindusthan Aeronautics Ltd, Bangaloreprotesting the introduction of Tungsten carbide tools that will work at veryhigh speed in machine- tools to give four to five times the existing productivityin the place of High Speed Tools. This created a fear of loss of jobs,retrenchment or undesirable transfer of people. The management had tosign an agreement with the union assuring security of present jobs.

5.14.1b Loss of power: Often the change reduces the power base of anindividual; group or unit and the prospect of such a loss of power will createresistance, even though the change is for the good of the organization.Downsizing, for example, reduces the power resulting in resentment.



There are major social factors responsible for resistance of change. Peoplederive satisfaction of social needs through mutual compatible interactions.To this end they form their own social groups at the work place. Whensatisfaction of these needs are affected people resist it.. The desire tomaintain the existing social interactions and feeling of outside interference(change initiated by managers affecting workers) are the major causes ofresistance for the change.

These types of resistance should be tackled or nipped in the bud. Some ofthe dangerous consequences of a perceived threat in a change are -

Loss of loyalty to the company.

Loss of motivation to work.

Persistent reduction in output.

Excessive absenteeism.

Sullen hostility.

Errors in production.

Civil disobedience.

Strike.

Tool down and slow down work.

Organizational resistance to change : Not only individuals and groupswithin the organization resist change but also even the organization itselfresists the change for some lethargic reasons. Thus many organizations aredesigned to be innovation resisting. Many powerful organizations like IBM,XEROX, CATERPILLAR, T I CYCLES, STANDARD MOTORS, havebeen victims of corporate disease. They grew successfully but wanted tostabilize at a particular level without opting for the necessary change signaledby the environment. These companies counted on their past success, bystabilizing the systems with no scope for change, resource limitations forchange and the sunk cost involved in various assets.

What is group resistance and the role played by emotionalturmoil and loss of power as a result of organizational change ?

5.15 MANAGING CHANGE

One of the basic problems in managing change is to overcome people’sresistance to change successfully. Unless this is overcome the change evenif effected may not give the desired result or may not be as functional as



envisaged by the management. Lacovini observes, “The secret to realsuccess is effective management of emotional vulnerability that accompaniesorganizational change”

If the changes are to be implemented successfully, they need full acceptancefrom employees. The easiest way to get this acceptance is the participationof employees in the change effort. Research conducted by Coch and Frenchin a clothing factory indicted that the total participation in the change processresulted in increased productivity. Some of the specific strategies employedin reducing the resistance to change are:

5.15.1 Participation and Involvement. The employees should genuinelywant the participation of employees in the process of change so that theyare enthusiastic about it. It should not be simply a mechanical act of callingupon many people to “participate”. Participation should be a part of anda result of the total treatment of the employee. Such participation ofemployees would ensure commitment to implementation of change.Secondly, participation will be easier to obtain form the individuals if theysee some personal benefit to be gained from the change.

5.15.2 Communication and education. If the employees do not haveadequate information or if the information that they have is inaccurate, thenit is necessary to educate them about the change, its process and its working.This education can be carried out through training classes, meetings andconferences. The reasons about the change must be communicated veryclearly and without ambiguity at theses meetings. This will help persuadeemployees about the necessity of change and once persuaded, they mayactively seek the change. The management can change the basic values ofthe people by training and psychological councelling. They must be taughtnew skills, helped to change attitudes, and indoctrinated in new relationships.These steps can create a receptive environment in the organization.

5.15.3. Leadership. The greater the prestige and the credibility of themanager who is acting as a change agent, the grater will be his influenceupon the employees who will be involved in the changes process. In additionto the manager who is the authorized leader, there may be an informal leader,who may have a stronger influence because of respect and high prestigethat he commands from the members and he may be able to exert emotionalpressure on his followers to bring about the change.

5.15.4. Negotiation and agreement. Negotiation and agreementtechniques are used when costs and benefits must be balanced for the benefitof all concerned parties. This is often used in bargaining with labour unions.



It is especially important in situations where the individuals or groups willend up as losers as a result of the change and where such individuals andgroups have considerable power to resist.

5.15.5. Willingness for the sake of the group. Some individuals may bewilling to accept change, even if they are not totally satisfied with it, if thegroup that they belong to is willing to accept the change. This is speciallytrue about the individuals who have a continuous psychological relationshipwith the group so that there is group “cohesiveness” or group togetherness.

Accordingly, management must isolate such groups who have considerableinfluence upon its members and try to induce the group to involve itself inthe change process and accept the change.

5.15.6 Time of change. Timing of introduction of change can have aconsiderable impact on the resistance. There is always a right time and awrong time for introducing something new. The right time, obviously willmeet less resistance. Therefore, management must be very careful in choosingthe time when the organization climate is highly favorable to change, such assoon after a major improvement in working conditions.

These factors can assist considerably in reducing resistance to change. Themanagement must understand that while unilateral use of authority and vestedpower with the management can sometimes bring change and it may benecessary to use this power under certain situations, such a change wouldbe highly resented and may be short lived. For long-term stability of thechange process, the management must invite active and willing participationfrom the employees and share with them the benefits derived from the change.

5.15.7. Manager’s Support: Managers can be supportive. He can patientlycooperate; provide emotional support, training in new skills etc, to theemployees.

The support tries to remove organizational barriers that might hamper changeor implementation of organizational policies to facilitate change. It includesassistance offered by the organization (for example, appropriate tools,materials, advice and training) to help make the change work effectively.

5.15.8 Training and psychological counselling: The management canchange the basic values of the people by training and psychologicalcouncelling.

The manager’s emotional support deals with the personal concerns asopposed to technical concerns about change. Manager can assist employeesexperiencing anxiety induced by change through compassionate listing andhelping them work out their concerns.



The facilitative support is commonly used where people are resistive becauseof adjustment problems. Facilitation and support are most helpful whenfear and anxiety lie at the heart or resistance. “Tough and well as the efficacyof facilitative ways of dealing with it”. The potential limitation of this methodis that it can be expensive, time consuming without any guarantee of success.

5.15.9 Provision of Incentives: Providing incentives to resistors is anotherfruitful way of overcoming resistant to change. Where some persons in agroup clearly lose out in a change and where group has considerable powerto resist, provision of incentives are helpful. It becomes relatively easy toavoid major resistance through negotiation. But it can be too expensive orcostly if it alters others to negotiate for compliance.

5.15.10. Manipulation and Cooptation: Sometimes the managers usesecret attempts to influence others. Manipulation involves consciousstructuring of events and the very selective use of information. Cooptationis a form of manipulation, which involves giving individuals a desirable rolein design or implementation of change. Manager is used to resortmanipulation particularly when all other tactics are infeasible or have failedwhen applied. One potential benefit of this method is that it can be relativelyquick and inexpensive solution to the resistance. However, one potentialdanger of this technique is that it can lead to future problems if people feelthey are manipulated.

5.15.11 Forcing change: Sometimes, managers do not have other way’sthan to resort to coercion (i.e. they deal with the resistance coercively).“They essentially force people to accept a change by explicitly or implicitlythreatening them (with the loss of their jobs, promotion possibilities, and soforth) or by actually firing and transferring them.” This method is not followedwhen the speed is essential in implementing change and the change initiatorpossesses considerable power. One definite advantage of this method isthat it can be speedy, and can overcome any kind of resistance. But at thesame time, it can be risky if it leaves people mad at the initiators.


List the various factors that have effect on resistance to change?

5.15.12 CHANGE AGENTS

The persons who initiate change in the organization are the change agents.Though management as a whole is in the continuous process of changeonly, such changes are routine and regular ones. However, in a plannedchange, the requirement is totally different from what you have internally.This introduces the concept of external change agents.



The external change agents are normally consultants who are experts inspecific areas of operation. The internal change agents are picked up fromthe various levels in the organization according to their expertise andexperience. The two agents sit together and exchange ideas. Finally, theconsultants thrust upon the internal agents the ideas on change to beimplemented. These are accepted without protest as the internal changeagents are well trained and convinced.

The objective of change agents is to bring about the desired change in theorganization. In general a specific role is required to be performed by thechange agents., external and internal. Their roles may be different in thechange process.

The external agent is able to view the change from a total system point ofview, as he is not inhibited by organizational norms. The top managementgives full cooperation to the consultants as they appoint them only. Theconsultant does the following to bring about the change effectively.

Diagnosis of the situation.

Strategy planning.

Intervene in system change.

Evaluate the change outcomes.

Education of top management.

Selection and training of supervisors.

Special training to managers.

Integration of MBO processes.

Evaluate innovation.

The internal change agents like chief executive; advisors absorb these ideasand implement the change leading the organization to growth anddevelopment.


Who are change agents ?

5.16 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Organizations are existing amidst fast changing environment and subjectedto various forces necessitating changes suddenly and gradually. You can notimplement any change just like that. How to bring about organizational



synthesis and change the organizational environment to accommodate thechange is a big question but also a challenge. A number of variables areaffecting the system. The values of these variables are also changing rapidly.Hence the organizational change should be brought about not in a haphazardway but in a pre-planned way.

Harold Rush has defined O.D. as “a planned, managed and systematicprocess to change the culture, systems and behaviourof an organization inorder to improve the organization’s effectiveness in solving its problemsand achieving its objectives”.

Basically O.D. is integration of organizational needs with individual needs.The task is canalizing the human resources towards the organizationalmission. The question now is how to decide the internal communicationstrategy, how to organize the work, how should you make decisions, howto set the norms and values, how to decide the ground rules etc so thatpeople’s individual needs for self-worth, achievement, satisfaction etc aresignificantly met at the work place. Thus O.D. has a great responsibility ofworking out and organizing the interaction between the human resourcesand its utilization for the specific work to the best benefit of both theorganization and the employees.

Beckhard is of the view that O.D. is an effort planned, organization wideand managed from the top to increase organization effectiveness and healththrough planned interventions in the organization’s processes usingbehavioural science knowledge.

You may now analyze the various aspects of O.D.

5.16.1 Planned change: It is a planned evaluation and improvement, whichincludes examining the present and diagnose the organization’s needssystematically so that you can formulate a specific plan for improvement. Italso calls for mobilizing the resources needed to carry out the change.

5.16.2 Totality of the organization. The goal of O.D. is to improve theeffectiveness of the total organization although specific aspects may focuson subsystems. The underlying fact is that an organization is a system ofinterrelated parts.

5.16.3 Management commitment: The key element to success ismanagement whose commitment at all levels is a must. The support of themanagement serves as a standard for the rest of the organization’s members.




What is organizational development ?

There are various techniques of organizational development. Some of themost important techniques are -

Sensitivity training

Team building

Survey feedback

Grid training

System 4 management

Management by objectives

Work design

Job enrichment

Process consultation.

5.16.4 Sensitivity or T-Group training: This training is to help individualstowards better relations with others. This reduces interpersonal friction.The change in behaviour is effected through unstructured group interaction.A trainer who is a professional behavioural scientist assists ten or twelvepeople. He arranges a group interaction openly who express their feelingsand ideas freely. The group now works out its own methods of proceedingfurther. Individuals are allowed to focus on behaviour than on duties. Themembers learn about themselves as they discuss with the group. Theimportant effect of sensitivity training is that communication is improvedtremendously and hence leadership skills get developed faster. It opens theeyes of the individuals to look at themselves and look to others through thesame eyes. It will not hide anything or manipulate the processes or brainwashthe individuals.


What is sensitivity training?

5.17 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT

5.17.1 Long-range change: O.D. efforts are meant for long-term effecton the organization. This only can elevate the organization to a higher levelof functioning by improving the performance and satisfaction of the members



on a long-term basis. Since long-term efforts take long time and hence theprocess of implementation fully may take a few months or even years. Theremay be pressure to get quick results but O.D. process is not a stopgapmeasure.O.D. programmes generally cover a period of three to five years.

5.17.2 Variety of programme: O.D. consists of a variety of programmes.It actually deals with a big picture of the organization and not with a smallpicture of the organization. This is because it aims at bringing acomprehensive change in the entire organization. It not only brings aboutchange in the organizational design but also changes the philosophy andskills of individuals and groups.

5.17.3 Planned process: O.D. challenges to meet not only changes buteven the running programmes with its own plus and minus points.. Itrecognizes the fact that the goals of the organizations are changing and hencethe methods like motivation, educating the members, training etc are appliedto ensure that changes are implemented without any resentment. O.D. isthus a planned process involving a considerable investment of time, money,energy and manpower.

5.17.4 Ongoing process: O.D. is a dynamic process as it includes effortsto guide and direct changes and at the same time to adapt to or cope withthe changes already imposed. O.D. knows that organizational goals changeand accordingly the methods to attain the goals also must change. It is nottherefore a one-shot action rather it is an ongoing, interactive and cyclicprocess.

5.17.5 Role of change agent: An outside consultant can normally catalyzethe change action. The outsider has specific limitations on approach andcan keep close relations with the members who are to be change in behaviour.By relationship what is meant is mutual trust, mutual influence, joint goals,etc. Also the change agent knows fully well the change has to be broughtsuccessfully with the cooperation of the members and hence he is humanisticin his approach. He obviously shares social philosophy and human values.

5.17.6 Deep intervention: O.D. will be effective only with deep interventionof the agent on the ongoing activities of the organization. Research into theactivities by conducting surveys, collecting relevant data, interpreting thedata and then taking action for active intervention professionally enable youto introduce changes.

5.17.7 Education process: After all change is nothing but changing the oldnorms with the new norms. Because norms form the basis for behaviourand by change you are only reeducating the members about norms but



changed norms. On the education and installation of new norms there willbe desirable outcomes in the form of effectiveness, problem solving,adaptability for the organization as a whole for the change.O.D. attempts tomake people aware of, participate, and integrate individual and organizational goals.

5.17.8 System Concept: O.D. utilizes system thinking. It is based on open,adaptive system concept. It recognizes that organizations structure andmanagerial performance are mutually dependent. The organization isregarded as an interrelated whole and no part of the organization can bechanged without affecting the other part.

5.17.9 Research orientation: The change agents can not normallyintroduce changes just like that .It calls for a systematic collection of data,analysis of data, consultation among experts and interpretation of the databefore a decision is taken on a change that will have far reachingconsequences on the entire organization. O.D. normally employs outsideconsultant who are professional and experts in the field. Thus O.D. is a research-oriented process only.

5.17 10 A goal setting action: No change agent works without setting thegoals of change for the organization. The goals of different departments aredifferent and all are set finally to achieve the changed organizationalobjectives. The goals are informed to the respective groups and togetherthey try to achieve the same.


List the various characteristics of O.D. ?

5.18 OBJECTIVES OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTPROGRAMMES

Margulies and Raia express that “ O.D. technology is aimed at developingnew organizational learning and new ways of coping and dealing with theproblems” The primary objective of organizational development is to improveproductivity, morale, and satisfaction of employees in an organization. Theother objectives are -

Increasing the level of trust cooperation and mutual emotional supportamong all organizational members at all levels.

Increasing the incidence of confrontation of organizational problemsboth within the groups and among groups in contrast to sweepingproblems under the rug. That is to say it encourages an analyticalapproach to problem solving in a team spirit to resolve the probleminstead of avoiding or postponing it.



Creating an environment in which the authority is based on knowledgeand skill. The idea here is to assign making and problem solvingresponsibilities to skilled and knowledgeable persons instead of anyperson in some level on some clumsy basis.

Increasing the openness of communications laterally, diagonally andvertically.

Increasing the level of enthusiasm and personal satisfaction among theemployees in the organization.

Finding the probable solutions to problems with greater frequency.

Increasing the level of self and group responsibility in planning andimplementation.

Increasing the sense of belongingness to the organization so that theproblems of the organization and the goal of the organizations becomethat of the members of the organization.

To increase personal responsibility for planning, implementing the plansand be aware and responsible for the consequences. In the processthis builds enthusiasm individually and groupwise and will also involvecommunication, feelings, open competition, compromise, conflictresolution etc resulting in the increase of a sense of self-direction forthe members in the organization.

It helps managers to manage according to objectives instead ofdepending on past practices. It also makes the managers goal orientedinstead of process oriented.O.D. makes the managers to direct theefforts to all the related objectives in the area of responsibility.

O.D. changes emphasis on humanistic values and goals consistent withthese values.

The very purpose of organizational development is looking at the wholehuman side of the organizational development.

To provide opportunities for people to function as human beings ratherthan mere inputs in the production process.

To provide opportunities for each organization member as well as forthe organization itself to develop to his full potential.

To increase the organizational effectiveness in terms of all its goals.

Creating an environment in which it is possible to find exciting andchallenging work.



Allow or create opportunities for the people to relate their experienceand personality traits to relate to work, organization and the existingenvironment.

To treat the member as a human being and recognize his needs asimportant in his work as well as in his life.

Besides the O.D. has a specific idea in influencing the value of people insidethe organization. Thus it wants to change the view that people are generallybad to the belief that people are basically good. Generally people are valuedin the negative, but O.D. wants them to be considered as human beingswith positive outlook. Generally people have a tendency to accept theindividual differences but O.D. tries to make them accept the differences asreality and graciously accept it. It even utilizes the individual difference tothe advantage of both the organization and individual. O.D does notencourage marksmanship and game playing but it expects authentic behaviourfrom the members.O.D. no longer can imagine distrust among members butwants trust among them . The tendency on the part of people is to avoidfacing others with relevant data but O.D. resists this and makes the membersconfront the data appropriately and head-on collide with it for solutions.O.D. converts lethargic people who avoid risk taking into a set of boldpeople to willingly accept the risk for solution. O.D. emphasizes oncollaboration and not on competition.


What are the objectives of O.D. programme ?

5.19 TEAM BUILDING

The prime minister of a country seldom can achieve the national objectivesalone. He needs a team of ministers in various areas like finance, industry,health, foreign affairs, education, home affairs etc. The proverb that “unionis strength” is most apt at this juncture. Margulies and Raia hence says,“The goal of team building is to regulate the operation of individuals asteam, not to teach each of them as an independent isolated components ofthe organization” Obviously team building is different from sensitivity trainingas this is concerned with the group, group performance and groupachievement. In sensitivity training the focus was on the individual. Teambuilding improves the organizational effectiveness or that of the work groupsby allowing the group members to concentrate on the following -

Goal setting and arrangement of priorities for organizational groups.

Examining the way the work is performed.



Analyzing the way the group is working.

Examining the relationships among the people doing the work.

The purpose here is to develop action plans that foster task accomplishment.This is made possible by the team that helps the members to examine theirown behaviour. The group follows the following steps to solve a problem.

1. Identification of problem 2.Contribution of information 3.Establishing task relationship 4. Strategy and solutions

1

2

3

4

TEAM BUILDING CYCLE

Team building cycle in fact follows a logical cycle as is depicted in the figureabove. Here employees belonging to a particular work group gather togetherand discuss the problems associated with the task performance. Thenecessary atmosphere is to carry out the discussions away from the normalwork surroundings and also to have a candid free open chat that emanatesa spirit of cooperation and solution seeking attempts.

In a typical team building exercise session starts with identifying the currentproblems such as faulty equipments, role ambiguities, ineffective policies,and ineffective procedures etc It is now the members contribute information,during discussion, about their knowledge of the problems, their perceptionon the problems, other issues and task relationships etc. This brings aboutan agreement on the key problems. Now the discussion shifts to the specificstrategy to be adopted for overcoming these difficulties and finding solutionsto the problems.

Some of the merits of team building process are -

Team building facilitates the organization’s problem solving ability anddecision-making skills.

The extraordinary skills of members can be pulled out to the advantageof the organization.

The members get faith in interpersonal relationships.

Many barriers of organizational communications are removed byintergroup communications.



The interpersonal issues are nicely sorted out in open candid manner.

This gives a real chance for the employees to participate in theorganizational development programmes.

This builds a spirit of cooperation, coordination, challenge, collaborationand harmony.

Team building process creates a goal attaining attitude followed byinterpersonal positive attitudes.

Some of the demerits of teambuilding are -

It does not take care of the structure or technology as it deals with onlywork groups.

When new groups join complication and confusion of roles arise.

The technical or administrative competence of new group are differentfrom that of the existing one and this creates conflicts.

Moreover the new team members give attention to tasks thanrelationships.

All said and done French and Bell have opined that “probably the mostimportant and single group of interventions in the O.D. are the teambuildingactivities the goals of which are the improvement and increased effectivenessof various teams within the organization” There is nothing special in thisobservation as you know people generally work in groups only inorganizations, and hence the group effectiveness determines the organizationaleffectiveness. The study on the life cycle of a team is essential to know howsynergy is established through team work, how problems arise in team work,how the various features of an effective team get developed so that moreand more effective teams can be developed to deal with the changesnecessitated by the environment.


Give an account of team building ?

5.19.1 LIFE CYCLE OF A TEAM

Forming——Storming ———Norming ———Performing ———Adjourning

These stages of the life cycle of a team have been arrived after a researchinto the various problems associated with the team formation and that willbe faced by members. “Who will be members of the team” “who will perform



what functions” “who will contribute to what” “what rules will be followed”“how can conflicts among the members be solved” are some of the questionsthat ended up in the formation of a life cycle for a team as a team is formedby members only.

5.19.1a Forming: This is the first stage when members get introduced toeach other since they have not interacted so far. They share information,accept each other and divert their attention to group tasks.

5.19.1b Storming: Once the assessing and perceiving of each other is overthe members begin to compete for status, cut jokes at the cost of the weak,argue for strategy to be adopted to achieve the goals. Because of varyingcompetence, different members feel out of place, experience tension andanxiety. No wonder this stage is called the storming stage.

5.19.1c Norming; After the storm things settle down, down to clearsolutions and understanding. A balance is struck and norms are formed incooperation that helps in forming cooperative behaviour and feelings andemotions.

5.19.1d Performing: The members commence operations as per the normsset and accepted. Functional roles are performed, exchanged as per needsand tasks and goals are achieved.

5.19.1e Adjourning: This is the end phase of the life cycle of a team. Oncethe mission of the team is completed the team has to be dismantled oradjourned. Even the most successful team also gets adjourned. Theadjournment takes place especially in the case of teams formed for thepurpose of a special task or a committee, or a task force etc. Other typesmay have some permanency but the members may change. The socialrelationships established come to an end once the team is adjourned. Allteams may not follow the same pattern but they all will follow the life cycledepending on the variance in the intensity of the problems.

Briefly discuss the life cycle of a team.

5.19.2 SYNERGY IN TEAMWORK

The concept of synergy is an important feature of teamwork. The synergygenerated during team interaction develops it into an effective team.

“Synergy is the process of putting two or more elements together to achievea sum total greater than the sum total of individual elements separately. Thiseffect can be described as 2+2=5 effect.” Synergistic effect is not automaticbut is the result of contribution of each member of the team or group.



A team is created to display various skills required to solve the problemsand hence the members of the team who are complimentary to each otherplay a major role in making the team very effective.

A team becomes effective when the members are crystal clear about theirroles as well as the roles of others in the team. Skills in any case arecomplimentary. A team member contributes positively and also strives todo so. Even if one member fails to deliver it will have a chain reactionultimately affecting the performance of the team.

A team should have super ordinate goals and hold the organizational goalas the super goal. —far above the group or single team’s goal -. Besidesyou need an excellent organizational climate for a team to be effective. Andthe team rewards must be commensurate with the tasks and levels for ateam to be effective.


How do you get synergy in team work ?

5.19.3 TEAM BUILDING PROCESS

The very purpose of team building is to improve the effectiveness of theteam. For this end the team members must concentrate on the following -

Setting goals and priorities to the team.

Link the goals and priorities to that of the organization.

Analyze how work is performed.

Find out how team is working.

Analyze the relationships among the members who are performing thejob.

In order to achieve the goals the team actually proceeds in the followingway.

Problem Examining Giving and Developing Follow-up Sensing Perceptual Receiving Interactive Action

differences feedback skills

Process of Team Building



5.19.3a Problems are identified; problems are separated from each otherfrom personal to group to organizational and through consensus andcommunication and agreed training they are solved.

5.19.3b Perceptual differences occur because people have differentvalues, beliefs, personality, attitudes etc. Communication and awarenesscreation play a good role in bringing perceptual conformity.

5.19.3c Giving and receiving feedback: Normally a tense situation iscreated when their perception and feelings are relayed back to the members.Members report back their painful experiences at the time of evaluation oftheir feelings A discussion follows until all members make their commentsand express their feelings. A feedback is then given to the members abouttheir feelings, issue, how people talk about them, how well the topic ofdiscussion is going on, who among the members are sincere to resolve thedifferences etc. This enables the members to evaluate themselves.

Developing interactive skills : The basic idea here is to develop theirability for interactive skills ,to open dialogue in a friendly manner, to engagein constructive behaviour like building, developing and expanding the ideasof others, encouraging participation, harmonizing attitudes, clarifying,ensuring, understanding, seeking and giving relevant information etc.

Follow-up action: This is the final stage of team building. The entire team iscalled and an assessment is made of what have been achieved and whathave not been achieved. The left out items are followed up along with futureactivities. New areas, new responsibilities and new roles are also decidednow. With supportive feelings the team functions cooperatively.


Describe the team building process.

5.20 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

If an organization is effective then in what respects it is effective is a bigquestion that daunts everybody. You even come across various cricket teamsand hear from friends that team A is very effective in tackling the situationcompared to team B.etc. What would have made the A team more effectiveat least in the perception of your friends is an interesting matter for analysis.An organization is like a big team with so many departments, sections etc.Just like different cricket teams you also come across different organizationsplaying its role for survival, name, profit, achieving other goals etc. Thevery popularity of a company today is dependent on its ability to impress



the market from various angles—profit, market share, excellent labourrelations, sophisticated technology, always innovative, always first tointroduce a new product, reputed for after sales service, most advancedquality control techniques, lowest % of rejections and many other detailslike from balance sheet and market news enable the organization to survivethe onslaughts from Indian as well as foreign competition. You can then saythat the organization is effective, the shareholders and other stakeholderscan be free from worries of poor performance or losses. Why? Becausethe organization /company is working very effectively. In other words theorganizational effectiveness of the firm is very high.

Thus the topic organizational effectiveness has attracted the attention ofmany organizational analysts. One important factor you must notice is thatan organization plays a major role in the life of people in society today. Youand your friends and relatives are all dependent on one organization or theother without which there is no life for you and others. These organizationssatisfy your needs and how effectively it satisfies the needs is the measureof the organizational effectiveness. In other words the need satisfactiondepends on the degree of effectiveness of the organization. More effectivethe organization is, more satisfaction to the customers or people. It may benoted that the organizational effectiveness also depends on the very natureof the structure of the organization. There are a number of definitions onthe concept but the central theme is to deliver right goods to right people atright time in right place at right price in right quality and right quantity. If soyou can claim the organization is effective and will have its customers retainedfor a long time. Rather the firm may have loyal customers and it can alsoincrease the customer base.

Any growing organization is an effective organization as growth is impossiblewithout being effective. Hence organizational effectiveness is also calledorganizational growth or success. It has also been conceptualized in differentways.

What are all the factors that can be considered for measurement oforganizational effectiveness? Productivity, efficiency, profitability, numberof innovations, organizational growth rate etc can all be a measure oforganizational effectiveness.

“ Effectiveness can be defined as the degree to which an organization realizesits goals”.

“Effectiveness of an organization can be seen in terms of the survival of theorganization.”



“ An organization remains effective as long as it uses its resources in anefficient manner and continues to contribute to the large system”.

Campbell arrived at a conclusion that O.E. has no operational definition,since an organization can be effective or ineffective on a number of differentfacets that may be relatively independent of one another”.

Though there are problems in defining O.E. due to the inability to find theexact identifying criteria, still organizations are classified as effective andineffective based on some criteria referred already.


What do you understand by organizational effectiveness ?

5.21 EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY

Today the very of management is “the process of planning, organizing, leadingand controlling the human, physical, financial and information resources ofthe organization in an effective and efficient manner to achieve theorganizational goals” By this definition management is a distinct process, aset of ongoing, coordinated activities that managers engage in as they carryout the organizational goals. But the most striking part of the definition is‘efficient and effective”. It means an efficient manager does things right andan effective manager does the right things. An efficient manager usesresources carefully and expertly maximizing their application to the task athand. The effective manager on the other hand understand the priorities ofthe organization and places emphasis of the organization and on those thingsthat are most critical for success. Good management combines both efficiencyand effectiveness.

In engineering terms the word efficiency refers to the relationship betweeninput and output. The ratio output /input directly gives the efficiency. Thus ifthe output is say 78 units and the input is 140 of same units, you can say theefficiency is 78divided by 140 or 78/140 is the efficiency.

Now the question is have you achieved a production of 78 or not . Yes ifyou have achieved 78, then you are very or the most effective engineer. Butif you have achieved only 65 then you are far less effective than expectedobviously. All said and done you are not worried about how you haveachieved. As long as you achieve the target you are effective but at whatcost is the next question. When the question of cost comes in efficiencysweeps in.



“ Organization effectiveness is the degree to which operative goals havebeen attained while the concept of efficiency represents the cost/benefitrate incurred in the pursuit of these goals.”

Hence an organization can be

Efficient but may not be effective.

Effective but may not be efficient.

Both effective and efficient.

Neither effective nor efficient.

Efficiency in an organization refers to internal conversion of processeswhereas effectiveness reflects external phenomenon. Thus the cost ofproduction in an organization may be low compared to similar organization.You can say you are more efficient. But if you are not able to realize matchingprices from the market for any reason then you are not effective althoughyou are efficient. That is to say that the organization is incurring losses inspite of being efficient. Really this happens when the product is in the declinestage of its life cycle or when the competitor has a better lead over you inselling expenses or third party has introduced a new product meeting thesame needs but at a lower price.

Suppose the market situation is such that your products move due to demandand others fail to supply etc. You get a price more than expected in whichcase you are effective for the time being at least. Back to production youare not able to really maintain the cost of production or inventory controletc the efficiency is down. Then you are not efficient though you are effective..In India you can give examples of mini steel industry, soyabean oilextraction,mini cement plants etc who were inefficient due to inherent technical andmanagement problems, made huge profits for some time but when thesituation changed they disappeared. – Efficiency was low actually but waseffective for some time.

In the third case, an organization can be both effective and efficient at thesame time. A number of organizations are falling in this category. In fact anorganization should be like this only for long term survival of the same.Here people have a tendency to use effectiveness and efficiencyinterchangeably.


Comment on efficiency vs effectiveness.



5.22 MEASUREMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS—DIFFERENT APPROACHES.

You have seen that various criteria are used to define organizationaleffectiveness. Accordingly, there are different ways of measuring theeffectiveness of an organization. The importance of the measurement is

1) The managers must know whether the organization is running efficientlyor as per policy or as expected or as per the target set etc. If not whatare the remedial measures to be taken and that too how quickly.

2) another important reason is that an organization satisfies the needs ofmany people inside and mainly outside the organization. The customersand stakeholders of the organizations are to be satisfied in respectiveterms. Because of these two major reasons some criteria have beenselected to measure the organizational effectiveness. No one approachcan be considered ideal due to the inherent limitations in the approach.Hence there are four approaches that are employed to measure theeffectiveness. They are -

Goal approach

Behavioural approach

System-resource approach

Strategic constituencies approach

5.22.1 Goal approach: One can measure the organizational effectivenessin terms of the goals achievement by the organization. You have set goalsfor an organization, as without goals there is no target or purpose. Youcannot play football without goal posts. Hence the degree of achievementof goals can be a measure of effectiveness because the achievement dependson how far the organization is effective. The degree of achievement of goalsis high in the case of very effective organizations. The theorists have studiedthe effectiveness of an organization by making two assumptions.

All organizations have an ultimate goal towards which they arestriving.

Ultimate goal can be identified and progress made towards the samecan be measured.

Many specialists even define the organizational effectiveness in terms of thedegree of goal orientation of the firm. The goal can tell you the profile of thefirm, ability to do service, the possible productivity in the firm, the level ofmorale of the employees etc. Campbell has suggested several variables for



measuring the effectiveness from goal point of view. They are, quality,productivity, readiness, efficiency, profit or return, stability, utilization ofenvironment, turn over, employee retention, accidents, morale, motivation,satisfaction, internationalization of goals, flexibility adaptation, conflictcohesion and evaluation by external entities. Although many criteria havebeen proposed for measurement of organizational effectiveness based ongoals none of the single criteria has proved to be the satisfactory or soleuniversal measurement of effectiveness.

This made the managers to follow multiple goals at a time for measuring theeffectiveness. Thus the degree of achievement of one goal with anotherbecomes a yardstick of measurement. Also the degree of achievement ofseveral goals by the firm can be compared with the same firm for a previousperiod or with similar firms in the same period. Some times the comparisonis done for the last ten years. The example of Hindustan Lever Ltd—usageof criteria for performance measurement—is given below.

In terms of ratios.

1. Profit after taxes/sales.

2. Earnings per share (EPS).

3. Dividend per share.

4. Capital gearing ratio and Debt-equity ratio.

5. Interest coverage ratio.

6. Return on capital employed.

7. Return on net worth and Fixed assets turn over ratio.

8. Working capital turnover ratios.

In absolute terms.

1. Sales.

2. Exports.

3. Contribution to exchequer.

4. Market price per share.

5. Market capitalization.

The company is using these data for the last ten years on a comparativebasis. Besides the company also uses other qualitative criteria like newproduct development, management development, training and developmentfor workers etc.



What are the different methods to measure O.E.

5.22.2 LIMITATIONS OF GOAL APPROACH

As in any theory there are shortcomings in this approach also though researchis still going on in the field. No doubt organizations exist for some specificgoals. Goal approach is successful when you measure productivity in absoluteterms. Similarly goal approach is satisfactory for comparative organizationalstudy and not for absolute studies because the goals of different organizationsare different. Even comparison of morale, job satisfaction does not servethe purpose. The volume of work, the nature of skills required, the educationalbackground of people are all different resulting in inadequacy of goalapproach. Further, goals are ideals and practically not achieved. Goals ariseout of the social environment outside and goals are not properties of theorganization. In history, there are organizations that do not realize the goalsbut deviate with other benefits. The very mission statement is often not inagreement among the top team. Hence goal is imposed rather than a preferredend state towards which the organization is striving. This does not purportthe view that it should be totally rejected. Some goals are still taken ascriteria for measurement of O.E.

5.22.3 BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

The behaviour of people is taken into consideration for measuring theorganizational effectiveness because no goal achievement is possible withouta proper behaviour from the people in the organization. This is becauseorganizations are nothing but collectivity of people having their own individualgoals, which are different from organizational goals. Obviously the degreeof effectiveness depends on the degree of integration of individual goalswith that of the organizational goals. It is here the behaviour plays a decisiverole for measuring the O.E.

The integration of individual and organizational goals affects the organizationaleffectiveness because each individual tries to satisfy his needs by workingin the organization. Naturally he may not take into consideration theorganizational needs. Now the organization puts some control mechanismto achieve the organizational goals. Hence he cannot satisfy his needs withoutsatisfying the organizational needs. Thus the integration of goals is possibleonly through the operation of fusion process. This fusion is not uniform forall individuals and organizations as the success of fusion depends on thevarying characteristics of the individual as well as the organizations. Threepossibilities are there in individual and organization goal relationships. They



are 1. Low degree of goal integration 2. Moderate degree of goal integration3. High degree of goal integration.

1) Low degree of Goal integrationOrganizational goals

Individual goals -----

2) Moderate degree of goal integration

Organizational goals--

Individual goals -----

Organizational goals 3) High degree of goal integration

Individual goals-----

OrganizationalEffectiveness



The diagrams above represent the three alternatives of goal integration.Organizational effectiveness is low where there is low level of integrationbecause individual goals are opposed to organizational goals. Employeesgenerally do not bother about the welfare of the organization and concentrateon their own goals attainment at the cost of the other goal. This ends up inlow morale, low performance, and losses to the organization or draining offassets. However, such a position does not last for a long time and either theindividual quits or replaced.

In moderate degree of integration of the two goals, there is a moderatedegree of organizational effectiveness. This is a case where the both thegoals are almost compatible and compromising. The actual performance isa combination of both.

In high degree of integration of goals there is obviously a high degree oforganizational effectiveness. Here, the two goals match and the missionstatement is true to the belief of the individuals. There is a high degree ofinteraction between individual and organizational goals and that causes themost effective performance. The climate of the organization is such thateither of the goals may occur and the individuals perceive that their goals



same as that of the organization. Closer the individual’s goals to that of theorganization greater will be the organizational effectiveness. Therefore it isa strategy today for managers to ensure that the two goals match well.Perhaps this approach has given a lead to Management By Objectives(MBO).


Give an account of behavioural approach.

5.22.4 SYSTEM RESOURCE APPROACH

In this concept an organization is treated as an identifiable set-up but notindependent of the environment. It emphasizes the interdependency oforganizations, which are social structures only. The organization dependson the environment for many resources including the human activities.Besides raw materials, customers, market, finance, and such economicobjects as well as technology also have their say from the environment onan organization. These resources are procured by various organizationscompetitively. Hence the bargaining power of organizations with its hierarchyis a yardstick of organizational effectiveness. Organizational effectivenessis, as such, is defined in terms of bargaining position , as reflected in theability of the organization ,in either absolute or relative terms to exploit itsenvironment in the acquisition of the scarce and valuable resources .

The concept of bargaining position implies the exclusion of any specificgoals as the ultimate criterion of organizational effectiveness. It points tothe more general capability of the organization as a resource getting system.Hence the strategies of members to enhance the bargaining position linkedwith their personal goals can be a measure of the effectiveness. Along withthe input, you have to also consider the value of throughput and output formeasuring effectiveness.


Give an account of systems approach

5.22.5 STRATEGIC CONSTITUENCIES APPROACH

Here the organization believes more in exporting the benefits to the so-called constituencies than considering any inputs from the environment.Identification of strategic constituencies is very important here. Thus forTISCO the following are the strategic constituencies.



1. Shareholders:

i) by protecting and safeguarding their investment.

ii) by ensuring to them a fair return.

2. Employees : their needs and rights accepted, adequate wages paid,ensuring job security, providing good working conditions, providinggood machineries, speedy redressal of grievances, good promotionpolicy and training and development.

3. Customers: supply quality products at right prices, stick to businessterms and policies, build their confidence and loyalty, prove yourtechnical competency.

4. Community: Act as per social justice and respect the dignity ofindividuals., encourage talent and civic sense, undertake communitydevelopment.

These strategic constituencies and their expectation differ for differentorganizations based on the functions performed by them. In the case ofbusiness as shown above, these are owners, management, customers,suppliers, government, community etc.

Though various approaches have been analyzed, you find that in all of themthere is an emphasis on inputs, throughputs and outputs of an organizationeither implicitly or explicitly. You can say that O.E. can be measured interms of

The degree to which the organization is productive, profitable, self-maintaining, innovative etc.

The degree to which the organization is of value to its members.

The degree to which the organization and its members are of value tothe society.

The various steps involved in a planned change are -

Identifying need for a change.

Elements to be changed.

Planning for change.

Assessing change forces.

Change actions.

Feedback.




Describe the strategic constituencies approach for measuringorganizational effectiveness ?

5.23 TIME DIMENSION OF ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

It will not be possible to exactly predict the time required for an organizationto become effective. The various steps taken for organizational development,if perfectly right, then depending on the nature of the organization theorganization can attain a level of effectiveness that will be better than thepresent level in a matter of few years or months. This again depends on thedegree of effectiveness required and also the particular area wherein it isrequired. If O.E. is required in the field of customer service or redressal ofgrievances it might be brought about in month’s time. But if technicalcompetency is the measure of O.E. then it may take longer time. The size ofthe organization plays a crucial role in deciding the time for the organizationaleffectiveness to be in a state of measurement. Smaller size can make itmore effective in lesser time. The personality of people, the type oforganization, say, software, the economic and educational background ofpeople, the complicacy of products, etc will play a decisive role in fixing atime frame for making an organization effective. You have seen cases whereit took about ten years for organizations to become very effective in allrespects and at the same time in a few months some less complicated fieldsbecame effective. You have also seen that the time dimension is influencedby the degree of integration of individual and group goals with organizationalgoals.


Briefly discuss the importance of time in O.E.

5.24 ACHIEVING ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

Though various criteria are there for organizational effectiveness, theimplementation of the steps for O.E. is possible only after a properidentification of the underlying factors. Each individual may be effective buthis relationship with the organization plays a crucial role in O.E. From thispoint of view there are at least three variables to be considered. They are,1) Causal variables 2) Intervening variables 3) End-result variables.

Causal variables. These are variables like structure of the organization,management policies, decisions, business leadership strategies, skills andbehavior that influence the course of development within the organizations.



These are independent variables that can be changed or altered bymanagement in order to bring in O.E.

Intervening variables: These are those factors that get reflected in theinternal state of the organization. The factors are loyalty, attitudes, motivation,performance goals, and perceptions of members their collective capacityfor effective interaction, communication and decision-making. Though theseare giving effect on a long-term basis many managers overlook them and itwill affect the O.E. You know that these are the variables that build anddevelop organization and hence these are to be cared for seriously to bringO.E.

End-result variables: These are variables that are caused by causal andintervening variables. These variables are dependent variables, which reflectthe achievements of the organization. And you must naturally be interestedto measure the effectiveness through these variables like production, costs,sales, earning, management union relations, turnover, scrap loss etc.

Only when the manager is fully aware of the interrelationship of causal,intervening and end-result variables, he can differentiate the variables andunderstand the functional deviations of the variables. This knowledge isvery important to implement changes that form the basis for O.E. If so, thencausal variables can be effectively employed, intervening variables can bestrategically adjusted or improved and organizational effectiveness can beachieved/ end result can be achieved.

An effective organization adapts itself to the environment. It implies that anorganization should develop a system to cope with the environmentalrequirements. Schein has suggested that the various activities of theorganization enable it to cope with the dynamics of the environment. It isnot enough if an organization is efficient because it is only an internal conditionbut it must be capable of interacting with the environment properly. Thismeans it must be able to adapt itself in various stages. The stages are

1) sensing of change

2) importing relevant information

3) changing conversion process

4) stabilizing internal changes

5) exporting new outputs

6) obtaining feedback.



The whole thing is called adaptive cycle. The cycle identifies points wherethe organization may fail to cope properly or adequately and hence requirechange action. The cycle is a continuous process.

1. Sensing change in some part of the organization is the first stage ofimplementation of effectiveness. The change may be in internal orexternal environment. The reasons for the change in external or internalcan be many but failure to detect the changes in environment or incorrectlyassessing or perceiving the changes can cause irreparable damage tothe capability to cope with the environment. Normally most of theorganizations have some subsystems like marketing research, researchand development etc for effective coping with the environment.

2. The second stage of the cycle is importing of relevant information aboutthe changes into those parts of the organization that can act upon theinformation. Organization is an input-output system and it drawsmaterials, information. and resources from the environment.

3. It is difficult to perceive the type of inputs that will be taken by theorganization from the environment. The conversion process is dependenton these inputs and hence the processes may be adjusted accordingly.

4. When you introduce desired changes a number of undesired productswill be blossoming unexpectedly. Therefore, you have to stabilize theinternal changes, which is a mixture of desired and undesirable productsso that the desired ones dominate and the effects are only positive.

5. Having established stability you can now give what the environmentwants. You now know what are the new methods required to deliver tothe environment as per its requirements. If the organization fails to adoptnew methods then it will become ineffective.

6. Feedback is the final stage of the cycle wherein you get a feedbackfrom the external environment as a result of changes implemented in theinternal environment. The measure of the outcome of the changes dependson the degree of integration of internal and external environment.

All the stages have to be successfully negotiated by the organizations foreffectiveness of coping. Some organizations find it difficult to cope withsuccessfully because of the following.

The organization requires an effective communication system throughreliable and valid information can be passed.

The internal flexibility should be good enough so that changes canbrought and absorbed by the organizations.

Successful coping requires integration and commitment to theorganizational goals, which provides willingness for change.



There should be supportive internal climate that encourage goodcommunication, stimulate of self-protection and flexibility.

Emphasis is on effective communication here. Though communication hasbeen dealt elsewhere ,transactional analysis is an important step for usingcommunication as a tool.

It is not enough if you establish organizational effectiveness but you mustmaintain it. When major changes are taking place the organization must beable to adopt the changes, which again depend on the O.D. More overthese changes have to be brought about in a planned manner, the details ofwhich have been discussed at length in the chapter on O.D.

The factors causing ineffectiveness should be clearly understood by you inorder to be effective. The factors are,

Failure of managers to act when they need to act.

Delay in actions.

Taking wrong actions.

Lack of sufficient efforts.

Excessive efforts in relation to the need.

Wasted efforts.

In fact, all the factors that affect effectiveness are all sources ofineffectiveness. The above-mentioned factors are at least controllable bymanagerial efforts in right direction. The managers must understand howeverthere are factors that cannot be controlled easily and these in advance.These factors are -

Central government regulations.

State government regulations.

Interference of political leaders in the working of organizations.

Interference of financial institutions in the working of the organizations.

Lack of infrastructure facilities.

Lack of technological development.

Uneven competition from certain other sectors.

Competition from imports.

All these have to be tackled effectively by planning the strategy in order tomake the organization to be effective.

In practice, the variables can be identified at three different levels so thatthe manager can decide the extent to which they can exercise control over



the different variables in order to make the organization more efectiv. Thuscausal variables can be identified at individual level, group level andorganizational level separately. At individual levels the causal variables arephysical attitudes, psychological attributes and technical factors. At grouplevels the variables are structure variables, group task demands andenvironmental conditions. At organizational level the variables are structuralvariables, task variables, control and reward systems, environmentalconditions and existing personnel.

All three levels have intervening variables already discussed. But the end-result variables are different as follows. The end-result variables at individuallevels are personal output, individual effectiveness, creative output, loyaltycommitment, personal development, conformity deviance and influence onothers. The end result variables for the group levels are group effectivenessgroup productivity; group morale, conformity and adaptiveness.the end-result variables at organizational levels are organizational effectiveness,productivity, morale, conformity, adaptiveness and institutionalization.

The above discussion tells you that causal variables at all levels must beimproved while other variables automatically improve or get corrected pavingthe way for greater organizational effectiveness.

There is also a conflict between maximization of effectiveness andoptimization of effectiveness. Maximization supported by economists wantmaximum achievement of goals or maximization of profit. This may findopposition among the employees as already you have exploited them andfurther squeezing attract non-cooperation from the members. Henceoptimization is preferred by the administrative man who tries those stepsthat are satisfactory like market share, profit, and price and is content withsimple satisfactory results.


List the controllable and not controllable factors during theprocess of achieving the organizational effectiveness.

CASE STUDY

“I fail to understand how shuffling the cards can lead to vocationalisation ofcommerce education in India” were the comments of 41-year-old Dr. Bhasin,who was coming out of a meeting to restructure commerce courses. Hiscolleague nodded in approval. While in meeting, Dr. Bhasin has takenobjection to the proceedings His comments on the deliberations were asunder -



“Here we are discussing the vocationalization of commerce education. Allthat I see is slicing and pairing of papers and shuffling them from one year toanother. I do not quite see how it is going to help. As I see it, there isnothing lacking in the present syllabus of B.Com (Hons). The trouble lies inour teaching methods and lack of teacher’s theory. Theory and more theorywhile no effort is made to impart practical skills. We are like a motor drivingschool trying to teach motor driving while sitting in the classroom with thehelp of the books. We are, I am afraid, not addressing ourselves to the right question”.

As this point two or three angry participants who objected interrupted himto his remarks as wide off the mark. Another teacher pointed out that underthe given University rules drastic changes were not possible. Some onepointed out that Dr.Bhasin was wasting time. Visibly upset, Dr.Bhasinwithdrew and further proceedings started.

QUESTIONS :

1. Why participants objected to the remarks of Dr.Bhasin? Was itpossible to make Dr. Bhasin’s message acceptable? If so, how?

2. Analyze the situation in Transactional Analysis framework.

SUMMARY :

In this unit a detailed discussion has been held on the concept of organizationalclimate, its importance so that the climate plays a role for job satisfaction. Ithas been explained clearly about job satisfaction from an organizationalpoint of view. The necessity to bring in changes and the type of changeshave been elaborately discussed. Also the role and circumstances oforganizational development are elucidated comprehensively. The significanceof organizational effectiveness and the way in which it has to be implementedhave been described in detail.

OBJECTIVE TYPE QUESTIONS : ANSWER “YES OR NO”

There is no common characteristics among organizations. Organizational structure is same as organizational climate. Decentralized structure is bad for organizational climate. Job satisfaction is derived from educational qualifications. Organizational change need not respond to environmental change. Communication and education of employees reduce resistance to

change. Sensitivity training and team building are same exercises only. O.D. is different from organizational effectiveness. Proactive changes contribute to organizational effectiveness.



SHORT QUESTIONS :

What is organizational culture? Briefly explain.

What is job satisfaction? Explain its importance.

Explain the special role of work environment on job satisfaction.

Briefly discuss the concept behind organizational change.

Compare and contrast stability and change in an organization.

How do you manage change in an organization.

What are proactive and reactive changes.

LONG QUESTIONS :

Elucidate the concept of organizational climate.

Explain the factors that affect organizational climate.

Explain the determinants of job satisfaction.

Elucidate the factors that have impact on organizational change.

Discuss the change process in detail indicating the role of change agents.

What is O.D.? What are its characteristics? Explain its objectives.

What is organizational effectiveness? How do you measure this.

How do you achieve organizational effectiveness.

TEXT BOOKS :

1. L.M Prasad. — Organizational behaviour

2. JIT S. Chandan—— Organizational behaviour

3. Dr. M.L.Bhasin –Managerial Experiences.

4. Stephen P. Robins—— Organizational Behaviour.

5. Woodman Organizational behaviour.

References

1. New Storm and Davis— Organizational behaviour

2. Uma Sekaran ——Organizational behaviour

3. Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard—Organizational behaviour.

4. Hellriegel ——Organizational behaviour.

5. Slocum ——Organizational behaviour

DBA1604 Organizational Behaviour.pdf

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