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1. Introduction to OB & Management
Organisations are as old as the human race. As time passed, the people realised that they could collectively satisfy their wants in a much effective manner. Thus, they got together to satisfy their needs and wants. Individuals who feel that they have skills, talents and knowledge form groups to produce the goods and services. Organisation is a group of people who work together to achieve some purpose. The people working together expect each other to complete certain tasks in an organised way. Organisations are an inevitable part of human life. Organisation help to increase specialisation and division of labour, use large scale technology, manage the external environment, helps to economize on transaction costs and to exert power and control. Globalization has presented many challenges and opportunities for Organisations. It is imperative that the organisations function effectively. Organisational effectiveness requires that they should provide good quality goods and services at reasonable cost. Besides, every organisation must satisfy the stake of its stakeholders. The extent of satisfaction derived by stakeholders shows the effectiveness of the organisation. It is the responsibility of the managers to keep the interest holders satisfied. Managers are responsible for the functioning of the organisation. They get the work done through people. They allocate the resources, direct the activities of others, and take decisions to attain organisational goals. It is here that organisational behaviour comes into play. Organisational behaviour helps the managers in achieving organisational effectiveness. It helps to harness the necessary expertise, skills and knowledge to
achieve organisational goals.
DEFINITION: -
Organisation- A consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more
people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.
Organisational Behaviour-According to Stephen P Robins, “Organisational
Behaviour as a systematic study of the actions and attitudes that people exhibit within the organisations.”
Role of Organisational Behaviour in Management of Business : -
Organisational behaviour provides solution as well as insight towards solution to many challenges which are faced by the organisations. Some of the important roles performed by organisational behaviour in management of business are as follows:-
1. Globalisation-
Due to globalisation, organisations are no longer confined to one particular country. The Manager’s job is changing with the expansion of the organisations across the national borders. Example, Volkswagen builds its cars in Mexico, Mercedes and BMW in South Africa. Due to globalisation, the management has to deal with the problems of unfamiliar languages, laws, work ethics, management styles etc. The functions of hiring, training, etc must acquire a global perspective. Organisational Behaviour helps the management to become flexible, and proactive and enables it to execute the organisation on a global scale.
2. Managing work Force Diversity-
Organisations are a hetrogeneous mix of people in terms of age, gender, race etc. Managing the workforce diversity has become a global concern. Managers have to deal with individuals and groups belonging to different ethnic cultures. They have to exercise control and channelize behaviour in the desired direction. Organisational behaviour help the managers to effectively deal with work force diversity by promoting its 566 Prabha Renuka Horo Frederick awareness, increasing diversity skills, encouraging culture and gender diversity.
3. Improving Quality and Productivity-
Industries are facing the problem of excess supply. This has increased competition to a large extent. Almost every Manager is confronting the same problem of improving the productivity, quality of the goods and services their organisation is providing. Programmes such as business process reengineering, and total Quality Management are being implemented to achieve these ends. Organisational Behaviour helps the Managers to empower their employees, as they are the major forces for implementing this change.
4. Improving customer service-
Most of the employees work in service sector. The jobs in the service sector, is very demanding. It requires continuous interaction with the organisations clients i.e. the customers. Management has to ensure that the employees do everything to satisfy the customers of the organisation. The attitude and behaviour of an employee affects the customer satisfaction. Organisational Behaviour helps the managers to improve customer service and organisational performance.
5. Improving people skills-
Organisational Behaviour helps in better management of business as it helps in improving the skills of the people. It provides insight into the skills that the employees can use on the job such as designing jobs and creating effective teams.
6. Innovation and Change-
Organisational Behaviour helps in stimulating innovation and change. Employees can either be a hurdle or an instrument of change. It is organisational behaviour
The features an individual acquires from their parents or forefathers, in other words the gifted features an individual possesses by birth is considered as inherited characteristics. It consists of the following features –
- Color of a person’s eye
- Religion/Race of a person
- Shape of the nose
- Shape of earlobes Learned Characteristics Nobody learns everything by birth. First, our school is our home, then our society, followed by educational institutes. The characteristics an individual acquires by observing, practicing, and learning from others and the surroundings is known as learned characteristics. Learned characteristics includes the following features –
- Perception – Result of different senses like feeling, hearing etc.
- Values – Influences perception of a situation, decision making process.
- Personality – Patterns of thinking, feeling, understanding and behaving.
- Attitude – Positive or negative attitude like expressing one’s thought. Traits of Personality Personality traits are the enduring features that define an individual’s behavior. A personality trait is a unique feature in an individual. Psychologists resolved that there are five major personality traits and every individual can be categorized into at least one of them. These five personality traits are –
- Extrovert
- Neurotic
- Open
- Agreeable
- Conscientious Major Personality Attributes Following are the five major personality attributes that influence OB –
Locus of Control
Locus of control is the center of control of an individual’s code of conduct. People can be grouped into two categories i.e., internals and externals respectively.
People who consider themselves as the masters of their own fates are known as internals, while, those who affirm that their lives are controlled by outside forces known as externals. Before making any decision, internals actively search for information, they are achievement driven, and want to command their environment. Thus, internals do well on jobs that craves complex information processing, taking initiative and independent action. Externals, on the other hand, are more compliant, more willing to follow instructions, so, they do well in structured, routine jobs.
Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is being practical, emotionally distant, and believing that ends justify means. Machiavellians are always wanting to win and are great persuaders. Here are the significant features of a high-mach individuals –
- High-Machs prefer precise interactions rather than beating about the bush.
- High-Machs tend to improvise; they do not necessarily abide by rules and regulations all the time.
- High-Machs get distracted by emotional details that are irrelevant to the outcome of a project.
Self-esteem
It is the extent up to which people either like or dislike themselves. Self-Esteem is directly related to the expectations of success and on-the-job satisfaction. Individuals with high self-esteem think that they have what it takes to succeed. So, they take more challenges while selecting a job. On the other hand, individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external distractions. So, they are more likely to seek the approval of others and to adapt the beliefs and behaviors of those they respect.
Self-monitoring
Self-monitoring is the capability of regulating one’s behavior according to social situations. Individuals with high self-monitoring skill easily adjust their behavior according to external, situational factors. Their impulsive talents allow them to present public personae which are completely different from their private personalities. However, people with low self-monitoring skills cannot cover themselves. Regardless of any situation, they are always themselves. They have an attitude of, “what you see is what you get.”
Risk taking
Selecting is the second stage in the process. Here a person doesn’t receive the data randomly but selectively. A person selects some information out of all in accordance with his interest or needs. The selection of data is dominated by various external and internal factors.
- External factors − The factors that influence the perception of an individual externally are intensity, size, contrast, movement, repetition, familiarity, and novelty.
- Internal factors − The factors that influence the perception of an individual internally are psychological requirements, learning, background, experience, self-acceptance, and interest.
Organizing
Keeping things in order or say in a synchronized way is organizing. In order to make sense of the data received, it is important to organize them. We can organize the data by −
- Grouping them on the basis of their similarity, proximity, closure, continuity.
- Establishing a figure ground is the basic process in perception. Here by figure we mean what is kept as main focus and by ground we mean background stimuli, which are not given attention.
- Perceptual constancy that is the tendency to stabilize perception so that contextual changes don’t affect them.
Interpreting
Finally, we have the process of interpreting which means forming an idea about a particular object depending upon the need or interest. Interpretation means that the information we have sensed and organized, is finally given a meaning by turning it into something that can be categorized. It includes stereotyping, halo effect etc. Importance of Perception in OB We need to understand what the role of perception in an organization is. It is very important in establishing different role of perceptions like −
- Understanding the tasks to be performed.
- Understanding associated importance of tasks allotted.
- Understanding preferred behavior to complete respective tasks.
- Clarifying role perceptions. For example, every member in a group has to be clear regarding the role allotted to them. Programmer writes the code, tester checks it, etc. Attribution theory of Perception
Attribution theory explains how we judge people differ ently, depending on the cause we attribute to a given behav iour.8 Basically, the theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behaviour, we try to determine whether the individual is responsible for the behaviour (the cause is internal), or whether something outside the individual caused the behaviour (the cause is external). Whether we realize it or not, we use attribution theory whenever we try to come up with explanations for why people behaved the way they did. In trying to understand another person’s behaviour, then, we consider whether the behaviour was internally or externally caused. Internally caused behaviour is believed to be under the personal control of the individual; that is, the person chooses to engage in the behaviour. Externally caused behaviour is believed to result from outside causes; that is, the person does not have control over his or her actions and is forced into the behaviour by the situation. For example, while waiting for one of your team members who is late for a meeting, you could imagine either an internal or an external reason for the lateness. An internal reason might be that the team member must have partied into the wee hours of the morning and then overslept. An external attribution might be that there was a major automobile accident that tied up traffic. Rules for Determining Attribution In trying to determine whether behaviour is internally or externally caused, we rely on three rules about the behaviour: (1) distinctiveness, (2) consensus, and (3) consistency. Exhibit 2 - 2 summarizes the main elements in attribution theory. Distinctiveness Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual acts similarly across a variety of situations. Is the student always underperforming (being late for class, goof ing off in team meetings, not answering urgent emails) or is the student’s behaviour in one situation unusual from what he shows in other situations? If the behaviour is unusual, the observer is likely to make an external attribution. If this action is not unusual, the observer will probably judge it as internally caused. Consensus Consensus considers how an individual’s behaviour compares with others in the same situation. If everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behaviour shows consensus. When consensus is high, an external attribution is given to an individual’s behaviour. But if an individual’s behav iour is different from everyone else’s, you would conclude the cause for that individual’s behaviour was internal. Consistency Finally, an observer looks for consistency in an action that is repeated over time. If a student is usually on time for class (she has not been late all term), being 10 minutes late will be perceived differently from the way it is when the student is rou tinely late (almost every class). If a student is almost always late, the observer is likely to attribute lateness to internal causes. If the student is almost never late, then lateness will be attributed to external causes
7/1/2021 Organizational Behavior - Learning - Tutorialspoint https://www.tutorialspoint.com/organizational_behavior/organizational_behavior_learning.htm 1/ Organizational Behavior - Learning Organizational Behavior - Learning Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirectLearning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirect experience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and training, practice andexperience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and training, practice and experience.experience. ItIt^ isis^ completedcompleted^ byby^ acquisitionacquisition ofof knowledgeknowledge^ andand^ skills,skills,^ whichwhich^ areare^ relativelyrelatively permanent.permanent.
Nature of Learning Nature of Learning
Nature of learning means the characteristic features of learning. Learning involves change; itNature of learning means the characteristic features of learning. Learning involves change; it may or may not guarantee improvement. It should be permanent in nature, that is learning is formay or may not guarantee improvement. It should be permanent in nature, that is learning is for lifelong.lifelong. The change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and training. Learning is reflectedThe change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and training. Learning is reflected through behavior.through behavior.
Factors Affecting Learning Factors Affecting Learning
Learning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by thisLearning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by this experience. The key elements or the major factors that affect learning are motivation, practice,experience. The key elements or the major factors that affect learning are motivation, practice, environment, and mental group.environment, and mental group. Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors −Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors − Motivation Motivation − The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to achieve− The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to achieve a goal is known as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning as it acts gives a goal is known as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning as it acts gives us a positive energy to complete a task. us a positive energy to complete a task. ExampleExample − The coach motivated the players to− The coach motivated the players to win the match. win the match. Practice Practice − We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a perfectionist− We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a perfectionist or at least complete the task, it is very important to practice what we have learnt. or at least complete the task, it is very important to practice what we have learnt. Example Example − We can be a programmer only when we execute the codes we have written.− We can be a programmer only when we execute the codes we have written. Environment Environment − We learn from our surroundings, we learn from the people around us.− We learn from our surroundings, we learn from the people around us. They are of two types of environment – internal and external. They are of two types of environment – internal and external. ExampleExample (^) − A child when− A child when at home learns from the family which is an internal environment, but when sent to at home learns from the family which is an internal environment, but when sent to school it is an external environment. school it is an external environment. Mental group Mental group − It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to hang out− It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to hang out with. In simple words, we make a group of those people with whom we connect. It can with. In simple words, we make a group of those people with whom we connect. It can be for a social cause where people with the same mentality work in the same direction. be for a social cause where people with the same mentality work in the same direction. Example Example − A group of readers, travelers, etc.− A group of readers, travelers, etc. These are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root level for ourThese are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root level for our behavior and everything we do is connected to what we learn.behavior and everything we do is connected to what we learn.
How Learning Occurs? How Learning Occurs?
7/1/2021 Organizational Behavior - Learning - Tutorialspoint https://www.tutorialspoint.com/organizational_behavior/organizational_behavior_learning.htm 2/ Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our behavior.Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are −Some of the remarkable theories are − Classical Conditioning TheoryClassical Conditioning Theory Operant Conditioning TheoryOperant Conditioning Theory Social Learning TheorySocial Learning Theory Cognitive Learning TheoryCognitive Learning Theory
Classical Conditioning Theory Classical Conditioning Theory
The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an unconditionedThe classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus like the sound of astimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus like the sound of a tuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective like the taste of food and thetuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective like the taste of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus is an unlearned reflex response likeunconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus is an unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.salivation or sweating. After this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur after aAfter this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur after a single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned stimulus,single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned stimulus, when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The conditioned response is mostly similar towhen the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The conditioned response is mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but unlike the unconditioned response, it must be acquired throughthe unconditioned response, but unlike the unconditioned response, it must be acquired through experience and is nearly impermanent.experience and is nearly impermanent.
Operant Conditioning Theory Operant Conditioning Theory
Operant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is a learningOperant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is a learning process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes.process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes. Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to get the candy inside, orLet’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to get the candy inside, or learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison, the classical conditioning develops alearn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison, the classical conditioning develops a relationship between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be further elaborated as therelationship between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be further elaborated as the child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble at the sight of an angry parent.child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble at the sight of an angry parent. In the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of these twoIn the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of these two sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior analysis.sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior analysis.
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Cognitive Learning Theory Cognitive Learning Theory
Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding aboutCognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding about himself and environment.himself and environment. This theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking on a problem or situationThis theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking on a problem or situation based upon known facts and responding in an objective and more oriented manner. It perceivesbased upon known facts and responding in an objective and more oriented manner. It perceives that a person learns the meaning of various objects and events and also learns the responsethat a person learns the meaning of various objects and events and also learns the response depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli.depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli. This theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which storesThis theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which stores organized information about the various events that occurs.organized information about the various events that occurs. Learning & Organizational BehaviorLearning & Organizational Behavior An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by learning.An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by learning. ExampleExample^ − Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned.− Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned. Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips −Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips − Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance. Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance. Improving Improving employeeemployee disciplinediscipline byby dealingdealing withwith employee’semployee’s undesirableundesirable behavior,behavior, drinking at workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate actions like oral drinking at workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate actions like oral reprimands, written warnings and suspension. reprimands, written warnings and suspension. Developing training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention, provide Developing training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention, provide required motivational properties etc. required motivational properties etc.
