DBA1604 Organizational Behaviour PDF

DBA 1604
Organizational Behaviour
UNIT - I
FOCUS AND PURPOSE
1.1
INTRODUCTION The concept of Organizational Behaviour will introduce the student to the subject indicating the necessity to learn the subject and how it is important to any organization. It will also take the students to various models of Organizational Behaviour so as to have a practical understanding of the subject. Today the success of management of a company depends on how effectively it is managing its people first. To manage people you must study their behaviour which again depends on various factors. It is this chapter that lays the foundation for all the rest of studies on human behaviour that will 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 THE FRAME WORK
1.3.1 WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR ? Before attempting to define organizational behaviour, let us understand what is organizational behaviour. In our daily life we come across a lot of organizations that consists of business, schools, hospitals, transport, banking,
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government and such service organizations. We also know that people of different categories in different cadre are working and interacting in these organizations. The temperaments, responses and behaviour of these people in different cadres are also different. Thus for example, the services rendered by the Citibank are considered to be better than that rendered by any other equivalent bank. Why? The services of Tata group are far different from the services of Birla group. What makes this difference? Obviously the way in which people in these organizations act, react and behave are different resulting in different performance and productive output of these organizations. Hence a study in detail about the behaviour of people in organizations, accumulating knowledge about the behaviour for further research has become extremely important . From the accumulated knowledge you can develop some tools so as to apply the same to find out how people act within organizations. In a nutshell, you can conclude that wherever there is organization, there is definitely a need to study and understand the organizational behaviour. 1.3.2 DEFINITION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. Based on the studies and explanations given by Nadler and Tushman, the definitions can be framed as follows Organizational Behaviour deals with the study of human beings and their behaviour within the work settings and the interface between human behaviour, group behaviour and the organization itself, where an organization can be defined as a social invention for accomplishing 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 success of an organization. History has shown that badly managed organizations fail to give results and become bankrupt though economic conditions are better but at the same time a well managed organization survives and prosper even during the most difficult economic times. Of course the vitality of any organization depends on many factors like economy, management and market intelligence and even luck. The right business at the right time is decided by the ability or inability of the management and this decision is significant, as it
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will tell whether the organization will succeed or fail. This means there is obviously a difference between good and bad management. What are the critical aspects that differentiate a good management from a bad management? What are the skills required for effective management? Among the various skills like technical, conceptual, analytical and human skills which is the most important? While skills like technical etc. are knowledge-based, human skill poses the greatest challenge due to the unpredictability of human behaviour and the complexity of psychological processes. Human skills require effective interacting with others and the quality of this interaction 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 to the existence of an organization, the organization will cease to exist if there are no people to run the organization even if other things remain the same. But there are many organizations without any physical assets like friendship association, village association etc. and obviously it is the people who make up an organization. An organization does not simply mean a group of people as you see in a departmental store. Of course they have a common goal of shopping. But there is no coordinated effort to achieve this goal. And it is not the common goal also. The main reason for an organization to exist is the common goal to be achieved with all organizational efforts directed towards the achievement of this common goal. There can be many goals for an organization apart from making money. Thus an automobile manufacturers goal is to make more cars and sell more cars or reduce the air pollution or provide opportunities for employees to earn more etc. A college has a goal to achieve the best results or recruit the best faculty or invest maximum in infrastructure etc. The degree of achievement of these goals reflects the performance and effectiveness of the organization. Another important aspect is the fact that people are members of a society as well as members of an organization. These people interact and hence are interdependent. Marriage is for sharing of life responsibilities and efforts. People from time immemorial formed groups to go for hunting and to protect from intruders and wild animals etc. Interdependency is very important because man alone can not accomplish many things due to various constraints placed on him. Technological complexities of today make people depend on each other. Thus a Boeing aircraft can not be assembled by one man. Designing and building an airplane involve thousands of people. Only group efforts can achieve such goals.
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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 is successful more as an organizational member than as an individual. And modern 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 separate discipline organizational behaviour itself has been established. There are of course other fields of study like Behaviourial Science, Organization Theory etc. but they all treat organization as a common entity. In fact the organizational behaviour is not a discipline by itself but rather an integration of concepts on sociology, psychology, anthropology etc. into the study of peoples behaviour within the organizations. Aldag and Brief define OB as A branch of the social sciences that seeks to build theories that can be applied to predicting, understanding and controlling behaviour in work organizations Callahan et al defined OB as a subset of management activities concerned with understanding, predicting and influencing individual behaviour in organizational settings. In other words OB applies knowledge about individuals, groups and the effect of the organizational structure on behaviour towards the end of making the organization work more efficiently. It is difficult to fix a particular nature for OB,.as this field is undergoing changes over time. However you can identify its nature in the present trend of 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 fullfledged discipline. It is still a field of study only. It is an applied science. Just now only some principles, concepts and processes are getting synthesized. 2) OB is a value centred normative science and not a positive science, which explains cause-effect relationship. It is normative science in the
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sense that it applies the research findings to get organizational results that are acceptable to society. What is acceptable to society depends on the values the people care for. Moreover the principles of management, management styles etc. are all ever changing that make OB more normative in nature. 3) OB focuses on humanitarian aspects and believes that people s needs are to be attended to and that motivating people can result in peak performance of the organization. It values individuals as thinking and feeling organism. OB also is optimistic about the innate potential of people working in the organization and encourages their creative and productive capabilities to achieve the objectives of the organization. OB believes in maximization of potential of individuals by providing proper conditions and environment. 4) OB is objective oriented. It believes in the achievement of individual objectives without sacrificing the organizational objectives. Though it wants the organizational objective, it will not be at the cost of individual or group objectives. It actually integrates all these objectives by suggesting various behaviourial approaches. 5) The basic objective of OB is to apply the various findings of the research to solve the organizational problems with respect to human behaviour aspect. While pure science concentrates on fundamental researches, OB concentrates on applied researches. Many of OB researches are carried out in laboratory situations and controlled conditions. These are meant for general applications in organizational analysis. Hence you can say that OB is an art and science. 6) OB draws ideas and knowledge from different disciplines like psychology, 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 and hence is subjected to various pressures from society or organization. Man is a product of socio psychological factors. His behaviour is influenced by his psychological framework, group influence, interpersonal orientation and social and cultural factors. Thus mans nature and behaviour are so complex you can make only a system approach to find solutions for his and hence for the organizations problems. Systems approach is an integrative approach that takes into account all the variables affecting organizational functioning.
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Have you understood ? 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 external environment in which the organization operates. People are recruited by the organization so as to achieve the objective. This calls for a definite structure of the organization. The organization also needs technology to help in getting the job done. Thus there is an interaction of people, the external environmental influences, structure and technology.
People Organization Structure Technology External Environment
Key Elements in organization behaviour
The employees constitute the social system of an organization, consisting of individuals, groups and large groups and small groups. Some may be formal while others may be informal. It must be noted that the groups are ever changing and hence are dynamic. They may also disband. The individuals in organizations are thinkers, feelers and living emotional beings. The organizations hence exist to serve these members and people do not exist to serve organizations. 1.6.2 BASIS OF AN ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE By learning the behaviour of people you have to achieve the organizational goals. It hence calls for a kind of relationship to be established that should be official. You need managers, supervisors, skilled and semi-skilled workers, accountants, clerks and other workers to perform different activities and functions. This calls for a structural relationship. The main structure relates one to power and duties. Thus the supervisor has authority over his subordinates to take decisions and extract work from them. It has an effect on the ongoing work.
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All physical and economic resources are nothing but technology. No employee can achieve much with his bare hands. So you need buildings, machineries and create work processes and assemble resources. A very good technology has a positive impact on the working relationships. Moreover, the working conditions in a hotel are different from that of a car manufacturing company. The assembly line of an auto-industry calls for a smooth and user-friendly technology. The conditions in a hospital call for another type of technology. The greatest benefit of technology is that it enables people to turn out better quality work faster and also to increase production. Added to all these is the external environment in whose control the organization functions. An organization is part of a large system consisting of hundreds of organizations. These organizations mutually influence each other and the effect of this influence becomes the life-style of the people. Even organizations like schools and nonprofitable organizations are affected by the external environment. In the process, the attitudes of people are affected. Further, the environment influences the working conditions with the available resources and power. Hence environment also must be taken into account while studying the human behaviour in organizations. The very definition of organizing is that it is a managerial process. It defines the role of each individual manager towards the attainment of organizational objectives with due regard to establishing authority and responsibility relationship among all the members of the group. It also provides for coordination in the enterprise both horizontally and vertically an inbuilt device for obtaining harmonious group action. The more the quantum of work the more are the activities and hence more number of people to perform the activities so as to achieve the organizational objectives. If the activities are more then grouping and sub grouping of activities are called for, resulting in the formation of various departments like purchase, finance, production, marketing and personnel. Now this is is a human set-up and hence the division of labour and exercise of authority and discharge of responsibility all depend on the behaviour of individuals. The behaviour varies from time to time and from individual to individual according to the situations and mental set-up of people in the organization. Once physical facilities are provided to support the execution of various activities of the individuals, there arises a material organization to assist the human organization for initiating action according to the assigned roles towards the attainment of organizational objectives.
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1.6.3 ROLE OF AUTHORITY AND ITS EFFECT ON ORGANISATION. The next important step is the establishment of a relationship between authority and responsibility. This crucial step calls for good analysis of people and their behaviour as a wrong authority bestowed can create havoc to the organization. Is the manager the right choice for the particular authority to be bestowed upon? Are you sure the subordinates will care for him? So much study is required because such relationship is to be established vertically and horizontally in the organization. All personnel must perform their role efficiently and profitable to the enterprise. The behaviour analysis is more important when you find that different departments and sub departments are going to be linked to one another. Can the different individuals recognize the authority of the same boss and different superiors in the same way? Do they like the system of communication now? What is the background of people subjected to different levels of communication? What is the contribution of individuals and groups separately for effective and economical functioning of the organization? The cultural and educational background of the employees play a major role when they react to some decisions of superiors. The significance of the study on OB is that the various principles of management can be deduced and implemented only after a through understanding of the behaviour of people in general and in particular situations separately. 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 or supervision is arrived at after a through analysis of human behaviour only. Brilliant set of employees can mar the progress of an organization if they are not motivated to the desired level. But whether they need motivation or not 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 as they all have varying efficiency. Many a time training and motivation of employees result in unprecedented increase in productivity. Thus you find
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the scope and importance of OB is mainly in improving organizational efficiency, innovations and productivity. 1.6.4 CAUSES OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR AND THEIR IMPACT ON OB. The importance of the study stems from the fact that there are some definite causes for the human behaviour and these causes can act on an individual or on a group one at a time, two at a time or all put together like that. Hence a study is essential to predict the behaviour, which can vary from trade to trade within the organization or vary for the same trade in different industries. Science has helped the researchers to arrive at the root cause of the behaviour and establish a relationship between the cause and its effect. Why people behave in a particular way? If the causes can be established then certain types of behaviour can be predicted, manipulated and controlled for the better performance of individuals, groups and finally for the organization 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 in nature. Tall people dress well and behave in a sophisticated manner. b) Intelligence : This is an inherited trait. Intelligence can be enhanced by proper motivation and environment. It will be easy to convince intelligent people and their behaviour is predictable. Another important trait in intelligent and educated people is that they are stable in their approach and behaviour generally. c) Similarly sex, age and religion are also in this category. 2) Learned characteristics. Some of the behavioural characteristics that account for huge diversity in human behaviour are the result of their exposure to various situations and stimuliwithin the family, within the society or outside the environment. These are characteristics acquired as a result of learning. Learning is defined as a change in behaviour as a result of interactions with the environment. The characteristics involve individuals attitudes, values and perceptions about the environment around him. This adds to the importance of environment in OB. Different values and expectations are contributed by cultures and subcultures. Children from parents and family surroundings learn the value of love
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and affection. They also learn the need and values of being honest and truthful again from the environment. The spirit of competition is there with a student brought in military school or in sports surroundings. While religious schools teach truth the convent schools lay stress on decency and mannerism. 1.6.5 VALUE SYSTEM AND ITS IMPACT ON OB The inherited behavioural characteristics are difficult to change but the learned characteristics can be predicted, studied and controlled. Some of the learned characteristics are perception, attitude values and personality. Detailed study of each one of these characteristics is called for and that signals the importance of the study of OB again. Value of a person is nothing but his concept of good and bad. It is proved that value and behaviour are highly correlated. Values of a person can indicate his behaviour pattern but cannot predict the behaviour accurately. Normally values are emotionally charged priorities and are defended by a person very passionately. The values can be common for a group also. Then you can now say that the organization stands for these particular values. You can finally say that value system is a framework of personal philosophy, which governs and influences the individuals reactions responses and such behaviours to any situations. It is these reactions and responses that shape the behaviour of an individual so as to direct him to selectively attend to some goals at the cost of other goals or subordinate other goals. You see how the background for the achievement of organizational goals is prepared naturally. This value system sows the seed 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 formed by this value system. Values decide what is good and bad, what is right and wrong etc. An organization is full of attitudes and personalities and perceptions culminating in organizational behaviour as a whole. Similarly there are people with arrogant personality and warm personality. How should you deal with such personalities is an important study. People are also brought up amidst social and societal laws, rules, norms created by people to regulate and control behaviour of people. The behaviour is the result of respect to norms and laws. The external stimulus or input excites the internal processes to activate and the behaviour responses occur. The performance of an individual 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 are generally interested to improve their behaviour; rather they are concerned
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with improving the organizational behaviour for the mutual benefit of themselves and the organization. Whether one is a machinist, typist, data entry operator or manager all have to deal with people and work with people and this influence the quality of behaviour that forms the base for the organizational life. It must be understood that the action of decision makers affects the working of people under them. Every decision maker must use the knowledge acquired on OB of the set-up for furthering the relationship between people and the organization. Managers have a special responsibility in building a climate in which people are motivated, people work in unison and 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 enjoy working in a team and grow so that the organization also grows. As people learn more they grow more and contribute more enabling the organization to contribute more to the employees as well as the society. In the process the society gets the best products, services with quality as the slogan. The net result is you get better citizens, healthy citizens, and cooperative citizens with a progressive mindset. 1.6.7 A BRIEF TOUCH ON TAYLORS AND ELTON MAYOS CONTRIBUTIONS In olden days, organizations were not complex as you find it today. The relationship was easily managed as people worked in small groups. Though conditions were not good with regard to hygiene, food or surroundings etc., people were happy and had a sense of fulfillment. Actual by conditions were really brutal with disease, filth, and danger and scarcity of resources. It was only during the Industrial Revolution, people became aware of their rights on wages, hours of work and other factors that contribute to satisfaction. In 1800, Robert Owen fought against the child labour. Frederick Taylor brought about sweeping changes in organizational behaviour by recognizing 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 best way for people to do their jobs. This laid the foundation for the interest in human conditions at work around world war 1..Later Elton Mayo and F.J.Roethlisberger proved in their Hawthorne experiments that an organization is a social system and the worker is not a simple tool but a complex 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 learning and progress. What Elton was referring as human relations became OB
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later. Greater emphasis on the study on human relations became the order of the day as the cultural differences in understanding the human side of the organization was increasing. Hence attention was needed to catch up with the progress in engineering, production, sales, finance etc. The management learnt that the cleavage is on the increase and hence wanted to improve the situation. More effective performance of the managers depended on the new knowledge gained by managers. And knowledge of organizational behaviour contributes to effective managing of the organizations. Also many disciplines like sociology, politics, psychology, mathematics, biology etc contribute in their own way to the study of OB.Thus Psychology tries to study, understand, measure, explain and change the behaviour of individuals. It is this science that helps in understanding motivation at work, individual and interpersonal perceptions, effects of training, job satisfaction etc. Sociology as a science involves the study of social systems in which individuals exercise their social role in relation to their fellow human beings. The industrial psychology helps to understand the individual reactions to industrial environment. Anthropology studies the cultural impact on individual behaviour. Politics deals with political manipulation of power, conflicts and self-interest enhancement. Politics has ingredients affecting human behaviour. Have you understood ? 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 for its effective perusal. The specific mission and vision of the management and the pre-formed opinion about the people of course influence this model. The opinions or assumptions about the people vary to a great extent resulting in the development of different OB models.
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Trust, of course, has been one of the potent tools to learn and predict behaviour. Either you have to trust or you should not trust people. Based on this approach if interpersonal interactions take place, then the result will be different only. Thus Charles Handy has a comment on our organizations Most of our organizations tend to be arranged on assumption that people can not be trusted or relied on, even in tiny matters. Generally many assumptions have been made in the field of OB. Often the assumptions are poles asunder. McGregors theory of X and Y have quite contrary assumptions about people while analyzing the behaviour of people. Argyris has considered the concept of maturity and immaturity as the basis for his study on people. Hence the OB models developed on these assumptions show hectic variations. But the models now in use are in the continuum of these two extremes only though the models lie in between the two opposite poles. 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 columns
Features Basis of model Managerial Orientation Employee Orientation Obedience Security and Benefits Employee psychologic al result Employees needs met Performance result Minimum Passive cooperation Dependence on boss Subsistence Dependence on organization Security Status and recognition Awakened drive Moderate enthusiasm Selfactualization Participation Self-discipline Job performance Responsible behaviour Authority Autocratic Power Custodial Economic resources Money Support Teamwork Supportive Leadership Collegial Partnership
AUTOCRATIC MODEL Here the management is power oriented. The management uses the power and authority to get things done. Obviously the employees follow the orders as in such organizations the people live on subsistence level. Hence the
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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 its assumptions from McGregors theory X. It assumes that people are indolent and may not work unless compelled. The people try to avoid responsibility. Hence a close supervision is required in order that they perform to the expected level. Due to the unlimited application of authority over the people, better performance is achieved in such types of organizations only through fear, threats, punishments and occasional rewards. It is also clear that the communication can be only downward or it is only one way. The main feature of the autocratic model is that it is exploitative and authoritative. It simply takes advantage of the economic situation of the men under control. However, the aspirations and changing values of people are giving way to other types of models. This model is still in use in lower strata of organizations where 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 creating benefits to the employees through the power of money is used. It also makes the employees organizational dependent because the employee hopes for security . They need not depend on the boss here. Once the company is able to maintain them that itself will provide them security. But these maintenance factors may not motivate them to work more or improve productivity. Since the employees are getting adequate safety and security the performance may not be high. They are also not given any authority to decide the benefits or rewards, though they feel happy. This type of model is prevalent even now in family-managed business enterprises. Here only the management will decide the benefits. Sometimes even the characteristics of the family also get embedded to the system. In this money oriented OB model, there can be only passive cooperation of people. Just like parents who decide what is best for their children so the management decides what is best for the employees. The model may not be suitable where the employees are highly matured. SUPPORTIVE MODEL In this model, the management wants to support the employees in all fields wherever possible so that achievement of objectives are easier for them. The model also supports the view that OB depends on managerial leadership rather than the use of money or power. The focus is getting shifted to participation and involvement of employees through the mechanism of
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supportive control. As a result of this approach each member of the organization begins to view the experience as supportive- experience of interactions and relationship with other employees. For such a state of affairs to exist, the processes and leadership of the organizations must be designed. The greatest contribution of this model is the development of a personal touch for anything and everything in the organization. The employee builds on this and maintains it. The model draws its inferences from McGregors theory Y - The theory says that human beings give out their best if given a proper and congenial work ambience. The maturity of workers move upwards and parallelly the individuals expect suitable organizational climate that will be in line with their expectations. The employees try to satisfy their higher order needs in steps as propounded by Abraham Maslow. Accordingly the organizational processes like communication, decisionmaking, leadership, control, interaction and influence etc are all adjusted so that it enables the employees to fulfill their higher order needs like esteem and self-actualization In this model, you find that the emphasis is not on the economic resources but on human aspects. You design the programme so that the managers can help the employees to achieve their target or peak performance instead of controlling or supervising them. The supportive model works well only in developed countries with professional set-up and sophisticated technology. Here the people are also well skilled and technically sound. Also this is more suitable to those managers whose lower level needs is already satisfied. In countries where the lower level needs is not covered due to the structure of the organizations then this will not work. You can but generalize that this model is applicable for managers and development of managerial groups. . COLLEGIAL MODEL As the name indicates in this model the members work in a team with a team spirit and try to share common goals. There is a high degree of understanding 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 and self-fulfillment. To be precise you can say this an extension of the supportive model. Such people have high moral values and positive attitudes Such members can execute even unplanned work also effectively because of their behavioural flexibility They only need an intellectual environment and freedom of job. Again you must note that the behaviour of the members in this model is cooperative to achieve a common purpose.
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1.7.2 APPLICATION OF MODELS You can not fix a particular model for an organization nor all models are applicable for any one organization. After all the models are based on assumptions on various human characteristics and these can work to the best advantage of the organization. Since situations vary from time to time in the same organization and situational factors play a major role in determining the organizational processes no manager can fix a particular model for the same organization itself. This being the case obviously a model can not be perfectly predicted for other organizations also. Everything depends on the situation and the purpose in order to apply a particular model. The models are best adopted to the need of the hour. Need hierarchy is not the same for all employees. The need hierarchy changes from person to person depending on his level in the organization, his level of maturity, level of education, personality factors and work surroundings. So a particular model can be adopted based on these factors Many organizational and behavioural scientists believe that supportive or collegial models should be adopted more and more because in all the other models the conditions are not conducive to give their best performance. This may be the reason that many organizations are taking steps to humanize their organizations through participative 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 long as the findings support it only. In other words you do not have answers for all OB issues. Many issues may require far more corroborating evidence. In fact developing a model is nothing but an abstraction of reality. It is a simplified version of a large real life phenomenon . Thus a mannequin kept in 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+ owners Equity. Thus when you analyze the depth of OB you find that there are three levels of OB consisting of individual level, group level and the organizational level. As you move from individual level to organizational level, you are adding the experience and knowledge gained on behaviour systematically. The three basic levels are depicted as follows.
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Organization systems level
Group level
Individual level
BASIC OB MODEL, STAGE I It is very clear from the figure that the three basic levels look like a building block and each level is built on the foundation of the previous level. Thus group behavioural concepts blossom out of the foundation laid in the individual level However the structural constraints due to the formation of the structure of the organization will have to be precipitated to group and individual levels so as to arrive at the organizational behaviour. 1.7.4 The Dependent Variables Productivity, absenteeism, turnover and job satisfaction are the primary dependent variables in OB. An organizations human resources effectiveness depends on these four critical determinants of organizational effectiveness. However, there is nothing extraordinary about these variables as they merely show that OB research has strongly reflected managerial interests over those of individuals or of society as a whole. Of course, in the years to come, new dependent variables may be added to or may replace those that currently dominate the OB field. For instance, one author has argued for the growing importance of job stress, individual dissent, and innovation as dependent variables. In defense of innovation, he argues, As a greater percentage of work becomes highly skilled and professionalized the criteria of performance will likely become more ambiguous and subject to change. Therefore, questions of employee productivity may become translated into inquiries about working smarter rather than harder where there is rapid change or competition is fierce, innovation may be the organizations most important outcome variable. The fact remains, however, that productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction currently dominate the field. So lets review these terms to ensure that we understand what they mean and why they have achieved the distinction of being OB s primary dependent variables.
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PRODUCTIVITY A productive organization achieves its goals, by transforming inputs to outputs at the lowest cost. As such, productivity implies a concern for both effectiveness and efficiency. An airline for example, is effective when it successfully meets the needs of its clientele. It is efficient when it can do this at a low cost. If an airline can manage to achieve higher output from its present staff by reducing the waiting time during which a passenger is confined to the waiting desk or by increasing the number of staff customer contacts per day, we say that the airline has gained productive efficiency. Similarly, a school may be effective when a certain percentage of students achieve a specified score on standardized achievement tests. The school can improve its efficiency if a smaller teaching and support staff can secure these higher test scores. A business firm is effective when it attains its sales or market share goals, but its 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 individual employee. Let us take the cases of Ram and Raja. who are both longdistance truckers. If Ram is supposed to haul his fully loaded rig from Bombay to its destination in Hyderabad in seventy five hours or less, he is effective if he makes the - thousand - mile trip within this time period. But measures of productivity must take into account the cost incurred in reaching the goal. Thats where efficiency comes in. Let us assume that A made the Bombay to Hyderabad trip run in sixty-eight hours and averaged seven miles per litre. Raja on the other hand, made the trip in sixty-eight hours also, but averaged nine mile per litre (rigs and loads are identical). Both Ram and Raja were effective they accomplished their goal but Raja was more efficient than Ram because his rig consumed less gas and, therefore, he achieved his goal at a lower cost. In a nutshell OBs major concerns is productivity. What you need to know is 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 crores for Indian organizations. At the job level, a one-day absence by a clerical worker can cost an employer up to Rs.300 in reduced efficiency and increased supervisory workload. These figures useed indicated the importance to an organization of keeping absenteeism low.
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It is obviously difficult for an organization to operate smoothly and to attain its objectives if employees fail to report to their jobs. The workflow is disrupted, and often-important decisions might be delayed. In organizations that rely heavily upon assembly-line technology, absenteeism can be considerably more than a disruption it can result in a drastic reduction in quality of output, and, in some cases, it can bring about a complete shutdown of the production facility. Many industries in India suffer from absenteeism of employees during festival times, like Deepavali, Pongal, Ramzan etc.It affects the effectiveness and efficiency of the firm. Absenteeism is not always bad. While most absences impact negatively on the organization, we can conceive of situation where the organization may benefit by an employee voluntarily choosing not to come to work. For instance, fatigue or excess stress can significicantly decrease an employees productivity. In jobs where an employee needs to be alert- surgeons and airline pilots are obvious examples it may well be better for the organization if the employee does not report to work rather than show up and perform poorly. The cost of an accident in such jobs could be prohibitive. Even in managerial jobs, where mistakes are less spectacular, performance may be improved when incumbents absent themselves from work rather than make a poor decision under stress. But these are only typical examples .You must assume that organizations benefit when employee absenteeism is reduced. TURNOVER If more and more employees are leaving the organization, then more and more 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 of the organization will be affected. It is welcome if substandard people leave in any level so that replacement can be done with more qualified or efficient people. It may help the organization to promote the deserving employees. But if organizations begin to lose people who are even satisfactory as per superiors, then it will have a clear impact on efficiency and effectiveness. Excessive turnover must be hence avoided. It is very common nowadays in I.T. industry. Whether the exit of an employee is voluntary or involuntary an exit interview may be conducted to find out the root causes for the turnover that can enable the organization for taking corrective action for betterment of the organization.
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JOB SATISFACTION A satisfied worker not only gives consistent performance but will also show signs of improvements in performance without much or with the same amount of supervision. Job satisfaction is more an attitude than behaviour. Since performance is directly related to job satisfaction though an attitude, it is considered to be an important ingredient of OB. What is satisfaction practically? Any normal employee has several expectations like better recognition, better amenities, better pay, better canteen, better treatment, rest, family welfare activities by company etc . In return, a company also rewards 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 financial rewards. Now if the reward from the organization is less than the expectation then there will be no or less satisfaction for the employee. However, if the rewards are more than or equal to the expectation then there is more satisfaction for the employee. A satisfied employee is more productive has been established by research. In fact, once you have satisfied employees, it is found that absenteeism is less and productivity is more . In many researches it is found that the quality of output is also considerably higher from satisfied workers. This leads you believe that organizations should provide employees with jobs that are challenging and hence rewarding. What you have read in this para explains why job-satisfaction is a dependent variable in OB. Though the dependent variables productivity, absenteeism, turnover and job satisfaction have been touched upon, you have to analyze the underlying forces that determine these variables. You have to start from the individual level variables for this. When recruitment is done, organizations may get people with different characteristicssome are experienced while others are fresh. People enter with some characteristics that will influence their behaviour within the organization. Some of these characteristics are age, sex, marital status, personality, values, attitudes, beliefs, customs, and basic ability levels. The management has no control on these characteristics but they have a telling effect on the behaviour of the people. The other factors like perception, individual decision making power, learning and motivation have 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 self explanatory.
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Biographical characteristics.
Productivity Personality Perception Individual decision making Absenteeism
Values and attitude attitudes attitudes.
Motivation
Turnover Learning Ability Satisfaction
You can deduce the group behaviour model from the above. It may be noted that the group behaviour is much more than the sum of the total of all the 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 other words, peoples behaviour is different when they are in a group than when they are alone. Hence for further understanding of OB, you have to learn group behaviour. The important factor to be analyzed in-group behaviour is the influence the group has on each individual. Natuarally, the group expects a particular pattern of behaviour from the individuals that is acceptable to the group. In a 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 the case of an individual as individual. So also there is no special communication nor power struggle or politics for an individual as individual. This is the difference in-group behaviour which has its own influence individuals. The following figure illustrates the group interactions towards group behaviour. 1.7.6 THE GROUP LEVEL IN THE OB MODEL
Group decision making Leadership
Productivity Communication Group structure Absenteeism Intergroup relations Other groups Turnover
Satisfaction Conflict Power and politics
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Once you know the basics of group and individual behaviour then a formal structure can be given to the organization. This will take the organizational behaviour to great heights. The sum of the behaviour of all the different groups 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 training policies, human resources management policies, level of stress, appraisal procedure, the internal culture of the organization etc have a definite impact on the dependent variables. The final OB model is shown below. Have you understood ? 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 level from an individual level ? Give an account of the dependent and independent variables in OB analysis ? 1.8 SUMMARY You have studied in this unit the background of organizational behaviour and its importance for todays successful management of enterprises. It has been established that managing human skills is an art and the degree of success lies in skillful handling of the same by managers. To handle a human being, you should know his behaviour first. How do you predict the behaviour is the question? Moreover what are the constituent elements of human behaviour is a very interesting topic that has to be understood. The boundaries of OB have been made clear here. Today, the basis for human resources development is a much talked about topic. Unless OB is understood HRM can not be a success. Therefore, the basic models for the study on OB are developed. The specific models of Davis Autocratic. custodial, supportive and collegial models are described briefly. The chapter closes with the discussion on how an organizational behaviour model is developed 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.
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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 with human or organizational behaviour. All models are not applicable in one organization. Each individual is effective himself and does not need the help of fellow beings. Sharing talents and responsibility is the strength behind group concept. Environment has nothing to do with an individuals personality.
SHORT QUESTIONS : What is organizational behaviour ? What is its importance as far as a business 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 the same indicating its importance and limitations ? Describe the various models used for the study of OB ?
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UNIT - II
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR
2.1
INTRODUCTION This chapter will be explaining the aspects of individual beheviour like personality, perception, attitude, learning and motivation on a micro scale. The significance of each of these and their influence on work behaviour will be emphasized. Since the behaviour of an individual is dependent on these attributes, a working knowledge of these aspects become very essential. These days reward alone cannot constitute motivation unless the reward is for recognition of performance. Today management of any organization is possible only with a positive work force in any department. The relationship between various traits and the characteristics of an individual enables management and the worker to adjust and respond to the situation for the achievement of the organizational objectives.
2.2
LEARNING OBJECTIVES After going through this chapter, you will be able to understand what is meant by Personality Perception Attitude Learning Motivation
and the influence of these factors on the behaviour of a worker in an organization.

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2.3
PERSONALITY
2.3.1 INTRODUCTION The Latin term per sonnare means, to speak through. The word personality is derived out of this word. It is the unique characteristic of a person being influenced by personal factors and environmental factors. Personality is not simply the external features of a man but includes his behaviour, inner awareness of self as a permanent organizing force and the state of his mind where his inner and outer traits can be measured. You come across people who are good, bad, arrogant, aggressive, affectionate etc. You also see people in agreements and disagreements resulting in friendship or conflicts. The so-called personality can be reflected in the temperament of a man. These are all put together form the personality and hence this is a key factor in determining the individual behaviour that has a role in organizational behaviour. The wrong personality of a superior can prove disastrous in terms of work unrest and protests. In many firms personality clashes and difficulties have ended up in strikes and lockouts. It all has happened in spite of the technical knowledge and other behavioral characteristics because it is the temperament of the superior that is crucial in cordial interaction with his subordinates. 2.3.2 DEFINITION OF PERSONALITY Gangadhar Rao Personality is a wider, unclear concept relating to fundamental approaches of persons to others and themselves. These are the characteristic traits of an individual, relationship between these traits and the way in which a person adjusts to other people and situations. Personality is a static attribute and characteristics of a person that influences his or her behaviour towards goal achievement. Each person has a unique way of protecting this state. A persons nature is outgoing, invigorating with interpersonal abilities, then it is a reflection of his personality. Salvatore Maddi defines personality as a stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine those commonalities and differences in the psychological behaviour (thoughts, feelings and actions) of people that have continuity in time and that may not be understood easily as a result of social and biological pressures of the moment This definition tells that there is consistency in characteristics that account for a relatively stable and consistent behaviour by man. It also tells that some of them are common with others while other traits set an individual
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apart from others. The significance of this is that every person is in certain aspects, like others, like some other people, like no other person. What a manager of an organization must learn is that not all employees alike and that each one is unique and may or may not respond to the stimuli like pay rise, tranfer, promotion or reprimands. Allport is of the view that personality is the sum total aggregate of properties and qualities of a man. It also stresses that personality is only the integration and organization of the attributes and adjustment to the environment. In other words, personality is an organized whole without which an individual have 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 open minded, one is a liar, one is a gentleman, one is arrogant, one is aggressive etc. are the different attributes of personality. But the question is what are the factors that determine an individuals personality? Have you understood ? 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 environmental factors. Biological factors include heredity, physical structure and the brain. 2.4.1 HEREDITY The parents transmit about twenty-three chromosomes consisting of thousands genes to the child. That means, so many traits are genetically donated to the child. Then you say that father looks like son and son looks like father. The transmission includes both physical and psychological characteristics. This goes to confirm that heredity plays a major role in ones personality. However, the importance of heredity varies from one personality trait to another personality trait. Even two brothers may have different personality traits. The traits can be hair, colour, eyes, eye colour, height, attractiveness etc. Our personality is formed depending on the reaction of others to our appearance and intellect. Thus a person with an underactive thyroid gland becomes tired and fatigued. With overactive glands makes him restless, irritable with loss of concentration on work. All these affect
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ones 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 a person 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 result the reactions in the given situation will affect the self-concept of the person. Scientists/ Psychologists believe that different rate of growth in maturity of persons (boys and girls) can affect the personality and hence behaviour of people Thus a physically handicapped child has an approach to life and surroundings in a way totally different from that of an ordinary child. The physical characteristics have a relation to a boys approach to social environment. Such a boy has different expectations from others. Also the boys assumption of the reactions from others is also affected by the physical characteristics. 2.4.3 BRAIN Though there is no empirical evidence to establish the relationship between brain and personality, some specific experiments known as electrical stimulation of brain and the allied research indicate that the personality of a person and his behaviour is influenced by brain. 2.4.4 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Culture is one of the environmental factors influencing the personality of a person. When an individual is born in a particular culture, he is brought up in the value system, beliefs, norms, rules and regulations, etc. prevalent in that culture and acceptable to the other members of that culture. Hence culture is a major determinant of an individuals personality. It is culture that determines what a person is and what a person will be. The experience of dealing with the environment is passed on from one generation to another. Thus you find culture is a complex of these beliefs, customs and values that are shared among them. Members often comply with the dictates of the culture. Culture thus is the underlying determinant of human decision-making. It hence decides attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition and cooperation. You already know that culture expects and trains its members to behave in the ways that are acceptable to the group. The values and personality characteristics learned by a person is really reinforced by the cultural group in which the person has been brought up. The cultural group that brought him up also defines the experiences and situations the person is likely to encounter.
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To give examples, you can refer to American and Japanese culture as far as an organization is concerned. You find that a spirit of independence, aggressiveness and competition is rewarded by the American culture while Japanese culture reinforces attitudes of cooperation and team spirit. Similarly, while Japanese take an active interest in personal matters of employees, the American management is more impersonal and functionalall due to cultural influence. People from different cultural background have different attitudes towards habits, risk taking, accepting change, introducing oneself, material gains, attitude on woman etc. However, there are many subcultures within a major culture. Hence the behaviour of people within the culture also can vary accordingly. Thus you find that the behavioural pattern of skilled workers is different from that of unskilled ones. Within the Indian culture you have the North Indian and South Indian subcultures. Now if you recruit an auto mechanic from each region 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 from that of a person brought up in a rich family. This is because the experiences and attitudes towards life are different in both the cases. Especially the influence of family and the members like brothers, sisters, uncles, cousins etc play a major role in the early part of the development of the personality of 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, parents education all have an effect on the personality as well as the behaviour of the person. Newcombs study establishes that parents, particularly father have a decisive influence on the personality of the child. In an experiment, it was proved that the relationship between parents and children are far higher than the one between teachers and the same children. Mussen has proved that children from democratically brought up family are less argumentative, more stable, more sensitive to praise and are socially more successful than their counterparts from an authoritarian family. One of the common elements in the history of maladjusted persons is the maladjustment and friction between their mother and father. 2.4.6 SOCIAL FACTORS Socialization is mixing of a member in family with the society, social groups and the culture. In a group and society there is enormous scope for the individual to acquire behavioural potentials. This is so right from the time of birth, when the individual begins to mix with children and others. Those
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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 persons personality. A man is known by the company he keeps. It is the social norms and the unwritten laws of the society that make 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 from people. But anybody cuts the line will be ridiculed. In fact he will not be allowed to do so. Later you will see that social influences affect not only personality but also their perceptions through out life. 2.4.7 SITUATIONAL FACTORS Life is nothing but a collection of experiences Each individual has different experiences and faces unique events and all these determine his personality in the days ahead. The behavioural expression receives sometimes-sudden impacts due to unexpected situations and this results in quick adjustment of personality. The new personality hitherto absent gets manifested because of situations. Knowledge, skill, language etc. are acquired from the environment and these have a tremendous influence on the personality of the individual. Often there are modifications of personality due to peculiar situations in the environment. The modifications in behaviour since learned and acquired from situations, it may not be passed on to the children. Quite often you can observe that people present a different personality as per situations which are not predictable. Hence it may be concluded that situations have a decisive influence on the personality and behaviour of the individuals. You also come across people who are timid suddenly becoming courageous due to situations, when they jump into fire accident place to save the victims at the cost of their own safety- situation has influenced. Sometimes some traumatic experience can change the structure of the entire personality and behaviourlike a dacoit turning into a good man after getting into a temple and having discussion with the priest. Milgram says that situation can exercise pressure and constraints on the individual giving a push or pull to his personality. In situations the individual presents a different person. Have you understood ? What are physical factors and heredity in the context of personality ? 2.5 DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERSONALITY Individuals are classified into several types based on personality. It is estimated that there are more than 5000 traits of personality for people.
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Personality is a set of relatively stable characteristics that account for consistency in behaviour. Some of the dimensions of personality, as far as organizations are concerned, are linked with interpersonal and organizational behaviour, explaining the need for the study. 2.5.1 AUTHORITATIVE PERSONALITY In this type people simply accept authority and behave in a dictatorial manner. They want obedience from others and they stick to conventional values. These people are generally less educated. For example, you can quote some parents who are tough, keeping their family very close, exercising extreme control on the children etc. They believe in hierarchy and they make good followers. They believe in directive supervision and are result oriented in an authoritarian organization structure. Dogmatism is also a part of authoritarianism only. Here a person is very stubborn in his belief. They are very intolerant to others and are rigid in their approach. The religious and political fanatics are in this category. 2.5.2 BUREAUCRATIC PERSONALITY These people are highly law-abiding. They believe in bureaucracy in the sense that they care too much for rules and regulations. Though they respect authority they may not blindly follow authority as done by authoritarians. A bureaucrat believes in subordination, orderly processes in organization and in impersonal and formal relationship. They are not venturesome i.e. they do not take any risks. Nor they are innovative. They believe in giving instructions as per rules and are prepared to take directives from their boss as per rules. For routine and repetitive work, which is, proceduralized bureaucratic managers are better. 2.5.3 MACHIAVELLIANISM This personality trait wherein people manipulate others for their personal gains. They have high self-confidence and self esteem. They are so calculative that 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 intelligent to approach a situation and that too very thoughtfully. These personalities are skillful enough in influencing others for their selfish advantage. They are very logical in analyzing situations and will not hesitate to tell lies to tackle a situation in their favour. They cannot be allured by friendship, trust or loyalty. They normally twist facts to control others, events or situations. In other words manipulation is their motto.
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2.5.4 PERSONALITY BASED ON LOCUS OF CONTROL This type of people is always in a state either in control of the situation or events or the situation or events control them. Those who believe that they control the events and shape their destiny are supposed to have internal locus of control, and those who believe that events occur only by chance or due to factors beyond their control are supposed to have external locus of control. Those in internal locus of control seek opportunities for advancement in life and are confident of their abilities and judgment at work while the other category remains inactive and some times indolent allowing events to overpower them.Research has established that people having intrnal control 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 level of ambiguity in matters and they carry on without experiencing any stress. Their functioning does not get affected at all. Others who have only a low level of tolerance to experience ambiguity, will be ineffective in their work in a fast changing scenario. The latter can work only in a stable, non-changing and structured work set-up. The latter cannot also face future turn of events in the absence of much information. However today a general manager has to work in an uncertain environment and hence must develop tolerance for ambiguity. 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 slow down 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.
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These people have high standards of performance with obsessive behaviour and hence have poor interpersonal relations. They create stress for themselves and for others. They feel pressurized whenever they want to complete 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 to the 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 shy to express themselves and also are not good communicators. The introvert is behaviorally described as quite, introspective, intellectual, well ordered, emotionally unexpressive and value oriented, prefers small group of intimate friends and plans well ahead defines L.W.Morris. Carl Jung is of the opinion that introverts are inward directed people and are less sociable., they are withdrawn and absorbed in inner life. Introverts are guided by their own ideas and philosophy. They are rigid and less flexible and are always subject oriented. By themselves they will not open a dialogue with others and 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 excitement and hate solitude. Extrovert is sociable, lively, impulsive, seeking novelty and change, care free and emotionally expressiveL.W.Morris. A manager has to be an extrovert as he has to exercise authority and command and lead. An introvert can work in an office free of interference.
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2.5.8 SELF-ESTEEM A set of people has a high regard about themselvesthat is self-esteem. That is the degree of respect one has for one self. An individuals self confidence, ability and self-motivation are a measure of his self esteem. It is a higher level need with reference to Maslow need hierarchy. People with self-esteem are friendly, affectionate with interpersonal attachment. They are assertive, independent and creative. They find only good things in others, while low self-esteem people are always critical of others. The low esteem people 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 image should be more likely to achieve task performance than those who have low self image. It also confirms that task performance is valued. Have you understood ? 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 consistent and enduring patterns of behaviours. These consistent but different patterns can be classified into various categories. This enables us to predict the behavioural pattern of a set of individuals belonging to a particular category. People in a given category might have similar pattern of attributes. Personality theories can be applied to predict the behaviour of a particular category. 2.6.1 FREUDS 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 and the super ego.
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Id is the foundation for the unconscious state and is also the basis for pleasure drivesthe drive for sexual and other biological drives. Id is responsible for the animal instinct in man instinct of power, domination and aggression. Ego relates to ones conscious nature and acts as a mechanism to link our conscious urges to the outside world. It has an important role to play since it controls the Id,by exposing the realities of the outside world and setting limitations. Ego of course allows the Id to fulfill its pleasure seeking attempts but 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 into picture to assist Ego in controlling the Id.The super Ego is obviously in a higher level to act as a restraining force. That is to say Super Ego is in the super conscious stage of a personin other words it is the conscience of the person. The Super Ego is an important concept for the study on personality because it sets standards for what is wrong and what is right based on what it absorbs from the social environmentthe cultural values and the ethical values. These three states of human mind as told by Freud are interrelated in their functioning. In other words, they are independent but interdependent.one can not exist without the other element. At any situation these three act in perfect relation so that a balance of relationship is maintained culminating in a particular behaviour in tune with the personality of the person. Also the super ego, if developed more than normal, makes a man highly moral and feels guilty even for small deviation in work. Conversly an individual with under developed super ego feels weak and loose control letting the id for submission to low level urges. Such people have less morals and values. Psychoanalysts have contributed a lot to organizational behaviour. It has been found out that creative processes in man are working in unconscious stage and psychoanalysts can bring these out It is psycho analytical studies that has explained the causes for absenteeism, daydreaming, forgetfulness, sabotage, alchoholism, drug abuse etc in employees or other individuals. In order to improve interpersonal communication managers are trained in transactional analysis etc. only as a part of psychoanalysis. The most basic system of human personality is id. Id is primitive, instinctual and is governed by greed and pleasure. Id is the storehouse of low level desires, irrational, demanding, never satisfied and has a destructive urge to others. At the same time Id is the foundation on which all other parts of personality are erected.
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SUPER EGO THIRD LAYER
EGO SECOND LAYER
ID FIRST LAYER
The id will not tolerate uncomfortable tension and immediately seeks to release the same. If a person feels hungry id creates a mental picture of good food for him thus releasing the tension, but it is not satisfying the real need. Hence there will be reflex actions to release tension like blinking, raising eye brows, rubbing cheeks, squeezing ears etc. Id also does not care for culturally or socially determined restrictions or values. It simply represents an individuals feelings and natural urges. It is ego, which functions as a defensive mechanism. It regulates and integrates the inner motives and conflicting demands. It organizes these factors so as to lead the persons goals. The significance of ego is that it can distinguish the mental images from realities. So it knows the actual sources of tension release and accordingly it responds to the real sources of tension reduction. It is the super ego, which determines whether the action of ego is right or wrong so that the individual acts in accordance with the values standards set 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 id presses for satisfaction, the ego delays it and the superego call for morality first. Human mind is therefore a battlefield between id, ego and superego. The instinctual drives of id is in conflict with superego that stand for morality and this results in a friction i.e. all is not well. This ends up in anxiety and man employs his defensive mechanism to reduce this anxiety or tension. In a nutshell you can conclude that while Id seeks pleasure, ego compromises and superego acts as a noble element. They are all defensive mechanism acting 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 persons personality can be understood from these unique traits. Though many traits are common to people a few of them are specific only to some. Thus you come across people who can be described as aggressive,
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loyal, pleasant, flexible, humourous, sentimental, impulsive cool and so on. Traits are the basic elements of personality and hence an individuals behaviour can be predicted from the traits. Forcible extrovert is an aggressive personality while a timid with no initiative and drive is a submissive personality. Cattell has grouped traits into surface traits and source traits. If a 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 sociable or being seclusive, being honest or dishonest, being intelligent or idiotic. Similarly some source traits are being trustful or suspicious, being straight forward or shrewd, being relaxed or tensed, being dominant or submissive etc. Allports theory suggests that personality of two individuals can be compared based on the traits. He classified them into six categoriessocial, political, religions, theoretical, economic, and aesthetic. Apart from these common traits 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 the profile of an individuals value that can define his personality.. 2.6.3 CARL ROGERS THEORY OF PERSONALITY According to Rogers theory there are three elements in an individuals personality. They are the self-concept, the organization and the phenomenal field. It views the individual as initiating, creating and influencing the behaviour within 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. Selfconcept deals with the subject of how one views about oneself and also how others view him in his perception. The self-concept is the result of his interaction with the environment. The interaction normally the self-concept of a person consists of his psychological processes such as, perception, motivation, attitudes etc.that result in a composite whole. The interaction with the environment helps the person to mature, grow, develop and modify the self-concept because of the learning experience. Rogers is of the opinion that self concept is organized, consistent, and conceptual state of the mind composed 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 the way a person appears to others. The perceived self has an influence on the perception of the world and his behaviour. The way in which a man of strong self-concept views the world is totally different from the view of a
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man whose self-concept is weak. It must be clearly understood that selfconcept does not reflect reality or mean reality. For example an individual may be highly successful but may view himself a failure. Rogers reveals in his study that man is basically trustworthy, constructive, creative, aiming for experience but are subject to pressures from environment. He then is forced to be a passive reactor to this. Behaviour is determined by the totality of experience. Every individual evaluates the experience in relation to his selfconcept Accordingly, the experiences may be symbolized or unsymbolised. The symbolized ones are lying in his consciousness while the unsymbolised ones 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 and enhance that state of mind. This tendency also depends on the influence of the social environment right from childhood. According to Rogers the innate tendency of an individual runs into conflicts because of two needsthe need for self-regard and the need for positive regard. While the positive regard 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 personality and the behaviour whereas in other theories te behavior is elicited only from the individual on whom the elements of the environment act and he has no control over these elements. So in an organization it would be advantageous for manager to understand the self-concept of an individual before monetary rewards or any other measure for motivation to avoid any negative effect. When you get a positive feedback your self-concept is positively reinforced but when the feedback is negative your self-regard is lowered and this creates anxiety and tension. Have you understood ? 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.
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The behavioural scientists say, learning can be defined as relatively permanent change in the present or potential behaviour that occurs as a result of experience or reinforced practice. So the definition confirms that there must be change in the behaviour after learning. This change can be for better or worse than the previous behaviour. You learn to drive a car and you did not know this before.. You use the driving skills as long as you want and this is a permanent change in you. The other word in the definition says that the change occurs due to experience and not due to change in biological growth like a child growth. You do not learn to drink or eat, it is natural pick. But learning must result from interaction with environment and that is how you learn word-processing, software design etc.The experience can be direct like a typing instructor teaching you or indirect by observing others doing a job. For example when you observe the quality performance of coworkers end up in rewards for them, you also begin to emulate them. Some incidents do not change your present behaviour but can change your potential behaviour. Thus when you hear that driving through a particular area is dangerous after 10 P.M. and if you come across the news of a passer-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 can worsen the behaviour also. Hence learning can at the most bring about a change in behaviour. Learning may be good or bad from the organizational 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 the degree of permanent change. 4) Learning should always be followed by practice or reinforcement as otherwise the new behaviour disappears. It has now been established that reinforcement intensifies and strengthens the behaviour. In fact by learning people simply condition their minds, as learning includes acquisition of skills, expertise, knowledge etc. Also you can not observe learning but you can observe the change in behaviour. You must also differentiate the change in behaviour caused by factors other than learning. For example, aging can be a factor for change. Fatigue is another example.
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Have you understood ? 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 name indicates active learners are those who take special interest and put sincere effort to learn. They feel they lack something very useful to life if they do not learn, be it a skill, a way of life, knowledge etc. Such people can be trained and upgraded in an organization more productively On the contrary you also have passive learners in the sense that they will not take any special interest or put effort to learn things .It is all right for them if things come in the normal way and even if they miss to learn they casually look for further opportunity at leisure. In an organization this becomes a problem, as you cannot train people to absorb better skills. It will be difficult to bring a change in the behaviour of such people in an organization. As you will be seeing in the coming chapters, there are people who will learn under classical conditioning and operand conditioning. These are separate type of learners. Who are the different types of learners ? 2.9 LEARNING PROCESS Behaviours are acquired through learning. Those behaviours that are rewarded are repeated and unrewarded behaviours are discarded. It is well established that reinforcement is essential in the learning process. That is to say that individuals tend to retain a behaviour or practice, which are reinforced in them. Reinforcement is nothing but an external reward or an external reinforcer that can retain or maintain the learnt behaviour. In other words, the behaviour gets repeated only because of reinforcements. Reinforcement also increases the strength of response. Reinforcement also generates 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 means that specific behaviours call for specific rewards. Also positive reinforcement uses only rewards and not punishment to influence the behaviour. There are
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four learning processes through which people learn new behaviours. They are (1) Classical conditioning (2) Operant conditioning (3) Observational learning and (4) Cognitive learning. 2.9.1 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Ivan Pavlov, a Russian Physiologist, pioneered this theory of the learning process. He gave a piece of meat to a dog in the experiment and noticed salivation in great deal. Since food causes automatic salivation, both food and salivation are unconditioned stimulus and response respectively. When the dog saw the meat it salivated. Subsequently, Pavlov rang a bell but the dog did not salivate. So he started ringing the bell every time the meat was given. The dog did salivate again. Later, when Pavlov started ringing the bell every time the dog salivated. The dog learnt to salivate even when there was no meat. This means that the dog has been conditioned to to respond to a learned stimulus. Behaviour can be learned by repetitive association, according to Thorndike, between a stimulus and response. This is S-R association. But when it comes to human being, classical conditioning is a very insignificant part of the total learning, as per Skinner.You must note that classical conditioning is only passive. You react in a specific fashion for an event that can be anything. In other words, the response is elicited to a specific identifiable event. The reaction (behaviour) hence is only reflexive and simple. However, in an organization the behaviour of people are voluntary and not reflexive. Also the behaviour in an organization is emitted rather than elicited. Classical conditioning introduces cause and effect relationship between one stimulus and one response. It also makes the response involuntary or reflexive once the relationship between the stimulus and response is established. Ivansevich has given another illustration. This is in connection with the airpilot learning the newly installed warning system. The behaviour to be learned here is to respond to a warning light that indicates that there is a drop below the critical altitude of the plane. The proper response is to increase the planes altitude. The pilot has been already trained to respond to the trainers warning. In this case the trainers warning is an unconditioned stimulus and the corrective action of increasing the height is the unconditioned response. The main training is the warning to increase the height of the plane every time the warning light goes on. With repeated pairing of warning light and the trainers warning, the pilot learns to adjust the planes altitude in response to warning light even if the trainer is not present. In classical conditioning there are only involuntary responses. Hence it cannot explain situations where
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people rationally and objectively choose a course of action. But in an organization managers are more interested in free and voluntary responses from employees rather than involuntary or reflexive responses. This led to the approach by B.F.Skinner to the study in real organizational setting. This study is known as operant conditioning. 2.9.2 OPERANT CONDITIONING Operand means a behaviour that produces effects. This Skinnerian psychology (B.F..Skinner) is of the view that individuals emit responses that are rewarded and will not emit responses if the responses are not rewarded or punished. Operand conditioning is a voluntary behaviour and it is determined, maintained and controlled by its consequences. In contrast respondent behaviour is an involuntary response to an environmental stimulus. But operant conditioning induces a voluntary change in behaviour and learning occurs as a consequence of such change. This is also known as reinforcement theory 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 function of feelings, thoughts, emotions or perceptions but is linked to only the nature of outcome of such behaviour. Managers can utilize this relationship and try to modify the and control behaviour. This concept also supports the view that behaviour that are rewarded are going to be repeated and those that are not rewarded are not going to be repeated. Hence based on consequences behaviour can be predicted and controlled. Therefore, certain types of consequences can be used to increase the occurrence of some desired behaviour and other types of consequences can be used to decrease the occurrence of some types of undesired behaviour. You imagine that you are a manager in an organisation. You can observe that any stimulus can result in responses from the workers from the environment. Now the nature of the future responses to the same stimulus depends on the consequence of the original response. Thus a worker continues to work hard as, he knows, the consequence of working hard ends up in promotion. Though the environment determines a mans behaviour. Individuals learn by producing alterations in their environment. Operant conditioning presupposes that human beings explore the environment and then act on that. While in classical conditioning consequence is independent of behaviour, the converse is true in operant conditioning. Further in operant conditioning reinforcement is given only when correct response is made. A passenger in a railway station sees a weighing machine. The machine is a stimulus and his inserting a coin
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is the response. When he inserts only one coin , nothing happens no consequence. When he inserts two coins in the machine, he gets the weight cardconsequence. Thus you can conclude that consequence will determine that a given operant will be repeated in future. Have you understood ? 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 about the problem or situation intuitively and based on known facts and responding in an objective and goal oriented manner. Cognitive learning hence is a deviation from the other two theories discussed wherein the StimulusResponse situation played the shotfor cause and effect phenomenon. Cognition itself means the person has the knowledge of an item of information and this knowledge has an impact on the behaviour of the person in such a way that the information provides cognitive cues towards the expected goal. Tolman has conducted a few experiments, based on which, the theory of cognitive learning has been framed. He showed how rats learned to run through a complicated maze towards their goal of food. There were many choice points in the maze. Rats developed expectations at every choice point. The rats learned that certain cognitive cues related to choice points could ultimately lead them to food. It must be interesting to note from his studies that the learning took place when the relationship between the cues and the expectancy was strengthened. This is because the cues led to expected goals. Practically you can imagine an organizational set-up. The manager gives instructions on job procedures which if followed can result in promotions or some monetary rewards for the workers. You can design a training programmed 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 every worker would learn to be more productive by building a relationship between following instructions and procedures and the expectancy of monetary rewards for these efforts.
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2.10.2 SOCIAL LEARNING As per this theory learning cannot take place only because of environmental stimuli or individual decision as pronounced by classical conditioning and operand conditioning or cognitive learning theories respectively but it believes that learning is a blend of both the views. In fact, social learning believes in the integration of operand conditioning and cognitive learning. In social setting imitating others or observing others also can impart learning. And when you have an inner desire to acquire skills or knowledge irrespective of outside rewards and consequences, learning occurs. Moreover discipline and selfcontrol if practiced well, that can also impart learning. The quality of self control in man is partly a contribution of society and culture as he grows and matures. You also tend to imitate the behaviour of a person who is a role model in society. This learning can be through observation of others also. Such learning is called vicarious learning. It is your common experience to watch the subordinates trying to imitate their seniors in their efforts and approaches and try to learn from them. They also try to be like them. But Albert Bandura puts it as follows, Although behaviour can be shared into new patterns to some extent by rewarding and punishment consequences, learning would be 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 religious practices of a culture are taught to each new member by selective reinforcement of fortuitous behaviours, without benefit of models who exemplify the cultural patterns in their own behaviour. Most of the behaviour that people display are either learned deliberately or inadvertently through the influence of example. People can also change their behaviour by thinking about their behaviour but in accordance with the norms of society or organization. This change can be towards betterment of behaviour. This is possible because human beings have the capacity of self-regulation. The process of self-thinking can be 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 curve theories for explaining some complex behaviour.
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The learning curves You need time and repeated efforts to learn anything in order to increase the strength of the responses gradually. This is very valid when it comes to learning skills which have to be improved by practice. For example, you can take the case of a student who has to learn power point preparation for presentation in a class during a case study. Certainly things will be wrong and awful in the beginning. Gradually, as the efforts are repeated under supervision there will be improvements. The confidence of the student increases and the skill of power point preparation and presentation improves till a limit is reached. This maximum limit depends on the person. The limiting factor also depends on motivation, coordination and other physical constraints. Here you find that as the practice time increases the degree of skill also increases. However, the rate of increase in the degree of the skill is higher in the beginning but decreases with time until it reaches zero. The person has now obtained the maximum skill. This is known as Diminishing-returns curve .
P E R F O R M A N C E
Time
The curve represents learning to perform specialized jobs and the upper horizontal line set the absolute limit to learning. Beyond this the performance cannot improve. And this limit itself is reached only with proper motivation and dedication on the part of the individual. For example, one student prepares and presents a maximum of twelve slides per hour while another student prepares and presents eighteen slides per hour.
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There is another type of curve as shown below.

CURVE----
Performance E
Time
Beyond this the performance cannot improve and this limit itself is reached only with proper motivation and dedication on the part of the individual. For example, one student prepares and presents a maximum of twelve slides per hour while another student prepares and presents eighteen slides per hour. There is another type of curve as shown below.
CURVE----
Performance E
Time
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 increased learning is slow in the beginning and gradually increases higher and higher till it reaches a maximum potential for learning. This curve is applicable in the case of a person learning a completely unfamiliar skill and a new task. You can take the case of researchers whose initial learning progresses slowly and afterwards it picks up speedy progress. It has been found that while learning a new skill the performance vs time
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curve follows an S-shaped curve as shown below.
Performance E
Time
This is really a combination of both the diminishing returns curve and increasing returns curve. The slower rate of learning explains the lower part of the curve and the successive greater returns are indicated by the middle portion, the curve finally picking up the speed or increased learning towards the end reaching an absolute limit. It thus forms an S-shaped curve. The learning of high skilled operations in a numerically controlled machine shop by a machine operator is an example of this. In reality, actually a special skill acquisition is a complex matter. Hence diagram to specially represent acquisition of such complex pattern is shown below.
Over learning Period Peak Proficiency Increasing Returns Slow Learning Planteau
Performance E
Time
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Here, the beginning stages are as usual a slow rate of learning because of the newness and the difficulty in the specialized skill. The second stage shows increasing returns because the individual gradually gains confidence after acquiring the basics of the skill. The third stage is interesting as it almost reaches saturation, as he thinks that he has acquired the required skill. 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 developing new ideas and improves the performance. Now only he reaches the peak efficiency by developing new ideas, the application of which improves his efficiency. This stage is peak proficiency too. Beyond this stage the skill becomes a kind of habit and an integral part of the operations. That last stage is known as the over-learning period. Now onwards the learning is automatic and unforgettable. The example of the student for p.p.preparation can be referred. 2.10.4 TRANSFER OF LEARNING When the learning curves were used, the main assumption was that there is no previous proficiency in his skills. But there is every possibility that the situations, stimulus and responses can be similar. Hence Burleson suggests that learning can be transferred from one situation to another and the extent of such transfer is a function of the extent of similarity in the stimulus or response. Thus if a person experiences a situation similar to the one already experienced by him, then his learning time in the new situation will be considerably reduced because 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 are exactly same. However, responses to certain situations can be applied to similar but different situations. Because of the principle of generalization the individual can adjust to the new learning situations more easily owing to the previous learning experience. Otherwise, it is simply impossible to adopt to every new situation an individual faces. Thus a student of Civil engineering learns the actual design of columns and beams in the classroom laboratory. It is expected that the student will make use of his experience (methods and insights) while in the class that can be generalized to his real career as an engineer.
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Discrimination : Here the principle is different. In the generalization, the situations were similar but different and hence the stimuli and responses were similar. Differentiating relatively similar stimuli is the discriminating ability. 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 which act as stimuli is same, your responses to both of them are different. You are able to discriminate between the two stimuli. Fred Luthens gives another example of an organization. Suppose there are two workers giving equal quantity of production per shift. But if one of them 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 discriminating factor. Have you understood? 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 the goals of the organization so that the organizational objectives could be achieved effectively. The priciple of reinforcement and the different types of reinforcements will act as modifiers. You may see them one by one in the coming pages. 2.11.1 What is reinforcement ? Reinforcement can be any stimuli that can cause a certain behaviour to be repeated or inhibited. Reinforcement literally increases the strength of the response and that is why repetition of the behaviour that preceded the reinforcement occurs. A reward can be a reinforcer; an incentive can be a reinforcer. Organisations want the employees to behave in a manner that is desirable. Also organizations want undesirable behaviour on the part of employees to be eliminated. Proper reinforcers can help the organizations to cultivate and promote such behaviors as high level of attendance, quality
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performance, least rejections, good decisions making, punctuality etc Whereas 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. Basically there are four reinforcement strategies. They are 1) Positive reinforcement 2) Negative reinforcement 3) Extinction 4) Punishment. While the first two strategies are to encourage desirable behaviour, the last two strategies are to discourage the undesirable behaviourboth through different approaches. 2.11.2 POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT A reward for a desired behaviour is a positive reinforcement. Only consideration is that the reward should be powerful and durable so that it increases the probability of occurrence of desirable behaviour. Positive reinforcement encourages and develops a desirable behaviour by the presentation of a desirable consequence/reward. A positive reinforcer follows the behaviour and increases the frequency of that behaviour. The major 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 job well done, participative decision making, challenging tasks, freedom to do a job etc. One has to notice that different individuals have different motivations of performance; the positive reinforcers have to be tailored to suit the requirement of each individual separately. This only can facilitate the repetition of the desired behaviour from a particular individual. This leads us to believe that an employee attaches great value to the reinforcer. An employee who is after praise for his work will consider money as a less important reinforcer. An important fact that should be understood is that the greater the degree of performance of the employee, the. greater should be the reward The timing of the reward is equally important. Sooner the display of the desired behaviour, faster should be the administration of the reinforcer. Then it will have a profound impact and effect. A stitch in time saves nine.holds good
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now because longer the delay in rewarding a desired behaviour,the reward 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 negative reinforcement. Negative reinforcers serve to strengthen the desired behaviour responses 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 in such a way that the employee works hard to avoid the behaviour leading to reprimand, or repercussion or such negative aspects. You as a student are advised to come in suit for a college function. You will be criticized if you could not come in suit. Hence you will engage in the desirable behaviour of coming well dressed to avoid the unpleasant situation or a aversive consequence. It also makes your colleagues and professors happy. Also as a student you write all the term tests well,do all the home work on time to avoid the bad consequences of failure in the examinations. You also park your vehicles in the place allotted by corporation authorities even though inconvenient only to avoid getting booked by the corps. These examples illustrate that negative reinforcement increases the frequency of response by removing a noxious consequence. Assume that a student is coming late to the class. You have to employ a negative reinforcer to develop in him a desirable behaviour of avoiding such a situation and aid him to step into the class before the arrival of the professor to the class. Thus avoidance learning techniques can be employed to strengthen the desired behaviour. 2.11.4 EXTINCTION This is a type of reinforcement normally employed to reduce undesirable behaviour, especially when such behaviours are rewarded previously. It means that if rewards were removed from behaviours that were previously reinforced, then such behaviors will become less frequent and finally those behaviours would disappear or die out. In fact here the method itself is a mild form of suitable punishment in the form of withholding the positive enforcement or simply ignoring the undesirable behaviour. Thus if a student goes on making noise and disturbance in order to get attention in the class, the teacher totally ignores him and in the process such undesirable behaviour vanishes Instead if the teacher gives attention to such a behaviour then he will continue to exhibit the behaviour. Here attention is a positive enforcement and when this enforcement is withdrawn from the student, the frequency of his disturbing behaviour will reduce and eventually vanish.
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Another example is about workers who are turning out good quantity and quality jobs in an organization. The manager goes on praising them. But when the quality and quantity of production goes down the manager tries to modify their behaviour by withholding the praise. Here the manager is not punishing them or throwing them out. The manager is simply denying the feed back to them. That is what extinction is, as it is a behavioural strategy that can reduce undesirable behaviours. If the workers show good result again 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 discourage undesirable and annoying behaviour of people in an organization. Punishment basically reduces the frequency of response or even weakens the behaviour. But the use of aversive control is considered as controversial behaviour modification method as it produces undesirable effects. Some of the important aspects to be mentioned are 1) Punishment does not promote desired behaviour, though it reduces the frequency of undesirable behaviour. 2) If you pick up a person creating noise in a gathering and reprimand him publicly, then he goes back and repeats the same. Here punishment is only reinforcing the behaviour instead of reducing it. 3) Punishment causes anxiety and suppresses the response and the response reappears when the punishment agent is absent. 4) Punishment makes the punished angry and this misguides them to become antiestablishment or against the agent. The result is reduction of effectiveness of punishment. In fact punishment is also similar to extinction in the sense that both are trying to reduce the undesirable behaviour The main distinction is that in extinction you withdraw the reward for the behaviour that has been rewarded previously. It was rewarded previously because the behaviour was undesirable previously. In punishment process you apply an undesirable consequence or withdraw a desirable consequence for an undesirable behaviour that was never associated with the reward before.B.F.Skinner is of the opinion that still punishment is the most adopted technique of behavioural control today. For example, if a worker does not behave in the way the manager wants, he is fired. A member of the society if transgresses the laws of the society he is ridiculed or ignored or punished .We all know that all religions threaten us with punishment in the life after if you do not
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behave as per religious scriptures. It is because of the inherent defects in the punishment system, management usually follows positive reinforcement techniques. Still there are many situations where punishment can not be avoided. A mischievous child for example, learns the effect burning (punishment) for its behaviour. It will not touch the flame again. We get punished for eating bad food outside, for not taking the umbrella in rainy season, for too much of alcoholic addiction etc. It must be noted that certain undesirable behaviours have to be punished. For example, if an employee goes on harassing a lady employee sexually, he must be punished. Any person engaged in the theft must be punished A private reprimand is preferred to a public reprimand that causes embarrassment to the employee resulting in undesirable behaviour and emotional disturbance. It is also advisable to apply punishment before the undesirable behaviour has been strongly reinforced. In other words, punishment should follow the undesirable behaviour. The gap between punishment and the occurrence of undesirable behaviour can cause damage to discipline and reduce the effect of punishment. However, a strong piece of advice to management is that any reinforcement strategy must highlight the interpersonal relationships and must apply techniques that highlight the positive effects of such conditions. The management should also develop a sense of confidence in the worker without ridiculing him for the mistakes but guide him to do better. Also keep up the promise of benefits once the behaviour 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 outside environment is selected, received, organized and interpreted to make it meaningful to you. In fact you are forming a meaningful picture of the world within 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
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their sensory impression in order to give meaning to their environment. It of course is a psychological process. It is the most important cognitive factor of human behaviour. There is no behaviour without perception. In other words perception lies at the root of every individual behaviour. Perception is also referred as an intellectual process by which a person acquires information from the environment, organizes the same and obtain a meaning from it. It is this input of meaningful information that results in decisions and actions. It may be noted that perception is a complex interaction of senses like feeling, seeing, hearing, thinking and comparing with 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 of perception. 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 your mind is the perception when the visual cortex of the brain interprets it. Ajit Singh Visual perception refers to interpreting the image of the external world projected on the retina of the eye and constructing a model of the three dimensional world. 2.12.2 IMPORTANCE OF PERCEPTION Perception is an individual process as a result we may perceive an identical situation 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 only perceptions of the same situations. Your behaviour is based on what you perceive reality to be and not really what reality is. Even in organization people perceive things differently. Thus manager perceives that the labour is trivial but the workers perceive the same to be very serious. Same is the case when there is an accident in the factorythe supervisor may see it to be an act of carelessness of the worker while the workers perceive the accident as the highhandedness of the management for having not provided the safety. Thus situations remaining the same causes assigned are different by different people because of different perceptions they have. Hence you have to understand and study different aspects of perception to know the significance of this phenomenon and why different people see the same situation differently. Manager is primarily concerned with the achievement of organizational objectives via the specified behaviour of its employees. And perception affects the outcome of behaviour, because people act on the basis of what they see. Thus while understanding human behaviour the managers have to keep in mind that things, which are not
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perceived to be meaningful by workers, will not influence their behaviour and things that are perceived to be meaningful by workers will influence their behaviour even though both the perceptions can be wrong. In an organizational setting it is necessary that you understand the human perception first before trying to understand the human behaviour. There are many activities in an organization and each is influenced by perception. When you want to measure the perceptual accuracy you must pay special attention to three areas 1) Interpersonal working relationship 2) Selection of employees 3) Performance appraisal Interpersonal relationship means bringing about integrated behaviour in an organization. For this, the managers must know whether or not the employees are sharing the same perceptions or similar perceptions or at least compatible perceptions .If not the organizational problems are greater, and will call for greater 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 perceptions managers have about the recruits in the absence of full information on them. Similarly, the accuracy of performance appraisal by managers is well influenced by managers perception about their subordinates. it is very important that management take the following steps to improve the perceptual skills of their employees so that they begin to perceive things correctly to the maximum possible extent. 1) Increase self awareness of employees so that one perceives oneself accurately, 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 has influence on perception. 4) Misperceptions are caused by lack of proper communication, effective communication 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 while others are screened out or rejected by what is known as perceptual selectivity mechanism. These stimuli are then organized in a particular order
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so as to make sense out of that. Finally, the perceiver interprets these organized stimuli that will give him a meaning for the situation. People interpret the meaning of what they have selectively perceived and organized in terms of their own assumptions of people, things and situations. They begin to interpret things as good, bad, ugly, beautiful etc. In the process, there can be misinterpretation also. There are many factors like the characteristics of the stimuli, that of the perceiver that of the situation etc. that end-up in interpretation or misinterpretation of events and objects. Hence interpretation of stimuli play a major role in the formation of human behaviour and this is critical in the case of an organization. Interpretation is subjective and judgmental process. In organizations interpretation is influenced by many factors like halo effect, stereotyping, attribution inference and impression. These can can affect the way employees are rated and perceived by management. Inaccurate perception can conceal truth 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 known as attribution. Perception is distorted by the efforts of the perceiver to attribute a causal explanation to an outcome. Similarly, first impression is the best impression. This results in the formation of entirely different perception of people and entrusting them with duties and responsibilities not commensurate with their real capabilities or experience or qualifications etc. Forming a wrong perception by inference is the most dangerous way for career destruction and organizational weakness. The importance of perception is increased when you consider the impact of perception on performance and satisfaction of employees in an organization. It must be noted that individual perception affect productivity. How does a manager plan and organize the work for his subordinates depend on the perception he has about the workers. This is dependent on the perception by workers about the manager. It is necessary to perceive first how workers perceive the job to influence productivity. The workers perception of the job causes absenteeism and labour turnover. Hence distortions should be eliminated. So also job satisfaction, a psychological concept, depends on the perception the worker has about the job. If satisfaction is to be improved then workers perception about the job characteristics, supervision and the organization as a whole have to be improved. It is essential to note that people who work together see things differently and this difference causes the problems in their ability to work together efficiently.
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2.12.3 PERCEPTUAL PROCESS The process of perception consists of a number of sub processes. Perceptual inputs are received first, these are then processed by the perceiver. The resulting output becomes the basis for behaviour. To interpret it technically, you can take an input-throughput-output approach to understand the dynamics of perception. The perceptual inputs are from the environment like the stimuli from the environment such as events, subjects or even people. These inputs are undergoing transformation through perceptual mechanism of selection, organization and interpretation and hence are the throughputs. The resultant are opinions, feelings, attitudes etc that get reflected in behaviour.that can be viewed as perceptual outputs. This process is presented below : Perceptual Process
Simplified process of perception In this simple process of perception all the factors that go into inputthroughput-output is not shown. To make it more comprehensive the new diagram is given below.
Characteristics of stimuli or inputs
Perceptual inputs - Objects - Events - People
Perceptual mechanism Selection Interpretation
Organisation
Perceptual outputs - Attitudes - Opinions - Feelings - Values
Behaviour
Characteristics of the situation
Characteristics of the perceiver
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COMPLEX PROCESS OF PERCEPTION The main perception process has three components. They are 1) Existence of stimuli 2) Perception mechanism 3) Perceptual outputs. Human behaviour is shaped and affected by perceptual outputs. Perceptual inputs are nothing but the stimuli in the form of objects, events or people. Any event is a perceptual input. The characteristics of stimuli are important as based on those only the perceiver gets attracted to the stimuli that will be responsible for perception. Of course the situational variables and perceivers characteristics also affect the selection of stimuli. The interaction between the perceiver and stimulus starts the perception process. Of the many stimuli from the environment, only some are selected while others are screened out or rejected by what is known as perceptual selectivity mechanism. These stimuli are then organized in a particular order so as to make sense out that. Finally, the perceiver interprets these organized stimuli that will give him a meaning for the situation. People interpret the meaning of what they have selectively perceived and organized in terms of their own assumptions of people, things and situations. They begin to interpret things as good, bad, ugly, beautiful etc. In the process there can be misinterpretation also. There are many factors like the characteristics of the stimuli, that of the perceiver that of the situation etc that end-up in interpretation or misinterpretation of events and objects. Hence interpretation of stimuli play a major role in the formation of human behaviour and this is critical in the case of an organization. Have you understood? What is perception? How perception is formed? How does the managers perception of the employees affect the efficiency of an organization? Make a simple sketch of the perceptual process ? 2.13 FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION The three most important factors affecting perception are 1) Characteristics of the perceiver. 2) Characteristics of the perceived. 3) Characteristics of the situation.
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2.13.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PERCEIVER An individuals habits, past experience, ethics, needs, values, attitudes and personality can very well affect the perception process. If there is a person with strong ego, he perceives others and situations with ego satisfying or ego threatening. Perhaps the perceptions are inaccurate. Similarly, people who are less secured find fault with others. On the contrary, secured men see others warm and friendly. Our cultural upbringing, values and ethics play an important role in our perception about others. Normally, it is not possible to judge the personality of another person brought up in a different culture, because our judgment is based on our culture and values. An alcohol-addict can prejudge another alcohol- addict. You can take the example of a personnel manager. If his perception about women, minorities, less educated or handicapped etc are biased ones, then he will be very sensitive to them during an employment interview. Once you do not like a person then you always look for the negative aspects of the person. Sometimes, our attitude creates a wrong perception in the minds of people who are daily associated with us. You thus promise a promotion to your subordinate within three months in appreciation of his performance, later you are not able to do that the employee will have a totally different perception about you. The employee may even perceive you with distrust. The factors like needs, desires and personality are internal factors that affect a persons perception. For example, persons who accept themselves may easily accept others and have faith in others and perceive everything favorably only. Also these self accepted individuals perceive themselves as being accepted by others, wanted by others and liked by others. Similarly, your perceptive ability is increased side by side with your experience and knowledge thereby giving a tremendous impact on perception. Also the size and intensity of the stimulus increases the selective perception. Tall or very fat man(size) attracts attention and the resulting dominance enhances the perceptual selection. Repetitive stimulus is superior to 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, communication style, personality are all physical characteristics and each one of them has its impact on our perception about the others. Are you not concluding that
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an assertive and confident man is an executive and later you may find that your assumption is wrong? Just because some are dressed in suits, they cannot become professionals although you perceive them to be so, really they may be lower level employees. The communication of others, verbal as well as non-verbal affect our perception about others. Perhaps the vocabulary and the language used can create an impression about them, about their education, about their sophistication and precision The body language, tone of expression and the choice of vocabulary can affect our perception about their intelligence and mood. The sitting posture, movement of their eyes and the depth of the smile can reflect the confidence and outgoing nature of the individuals. The perception you have about an assistant manager of an organization is totally different from the one that you have about a senior manager, owning to the difference in the status. This confirms that status of occupation can affect your perception. Thus you are startled to come across a wealthy man or top class professional or people of fame etc. Your behaviour when in contact with a supreme court judge is different from that of your being with an school teacher. Both you are respectful but with that difference due to different perceptions you have about them. See how you behave when introduced to a film celebrity! Similarly, your approach to a warm and friendly man 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 an organization. These can influence your perceptions. Thus if you meet some unknown person along with your managing director about whom you have a very good impression, then you will perceive the stranger also to a man of high regards. In such a situation you will form a nice image of the stranger person. in your mind. This favourable image will be erased when on the contrary, you see a stranger with a notorious person and in that situation you will have a bad perception about the stranger, Even the location od an event can change the perception. Thus your behaviour with your professor at classroom is different from your behaviour with the same professor at a marriage party as the situation is different now. In an office set-up if employees are given opportunities to interact in a friendly and sociable work situations then the employees will become trustworthy and less defensive the situation plays its role.
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Have you understood ? 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 the latter becomes a stimulus for perception. Perception is a selective process and hence people can sense only a limited amount of information available in the environment. By selection some aspects of the stimuli are screened out and the balance are admitted. Those admitted remain in the awareness and the others fall below the threshold level. This is called perceptual selectivity. There are many factors like size of the stimuli, intensity of the stimuli, repetition of the stimuli etc. that are responsible for perceptual selectivity. Once the selectivity process is completed ,the organization of the selected stimuli begins. This helps in identification and meaningful formation of the wholethat is perception. Both these perceptual selectivity and organization are equally applicable to interpersonal perception too for any stimulus situation, person or event or others. But in in-person perception there are many other factors that affect the correctness or incorrectness of perception. Individuals in the organizations constantly perceive their subordinates, managers, peers, workers and others. Line people perceive staff people, staff people perceive line people, managers perceive workers and vice versa. Zalkind and Costello through their research concluded that the characteristics of the perceiver and the perceived play a major role during interpersonal dialogue and interactions. The perception of one over the other is dependent on these characteristics. Students are advised to refer the previous paragraph on the characteristics in detail. Have you understood ? 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 and behave in a favourable or unfavourable way towards some object, person or ideas.
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Attitude is a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in ones environment. 1. An attitude is the predisposition of the individual to evaluate some object in a favourable or unfavourable manner. 2. People at work place have attitudes about lots of topics that are related to them. These attitudes are firmly embedded in a complex psychological structure of beliefs and other values. 3. Attitudes are not ideals while values are ideals. Hence attitudes are different from values. 4. Attitudes are evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable concerning the objects, people or events. It must be noted that values are not attached to any object or situation unlike attitudes, which are attached to an object or situation. Attitudes are narrower; they are feelings or thoughts and behavioural tendencies towards an object or situation. To put in plain words Attitude is a mental state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a specific influence upon a persons response to people, objects and situations with which it is related. Attitude forms the internal basis for ones interpersonal relationship and identification with others. You can also say that attitudes are ones predispositions towards given aspects of the world. As a manager if you want to manage efficiently then you are expected to know in advance the attitude of the subordinates and workers, because attitude do influence behaviour of people and also their performance. Attitude puts an individual ready to respond to a situation favourably or unfavourably to things in the environment. Though attitudes are invisible. the resulting behaviour can be a measure of the attitude. In practice, the term attitude is used in a generic sense to any reports of what people think, or feel or the ways in which they intend to act. According to 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 positive or negative evaluation of the job? What kind of an attitude they have on the work environment? These are some of the critical questions for which the answers are in the type of job related attitudes only. Though individuals have a multitude of attitudes the three most significant job related attitudes are 1) Job satisfaction 2) Job involvement 3) Organizational commitment.
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2.15.2a JOB SATISFACTION : The attitude any individual has towards the job is known as job satisfaction in the positive sense. A high level of satisfaction indicates that he has a positive attitude towards the job. A person dissatisfied with the job holds a negative attitude towards the job. In fact job satisfaction is nothing but employee attitude. 2.15.2b JOB INVOLVEMENT: An employee feels his performance level is important enough for his self worth. Hence he develops a psychological attachment to the job and takes maximum care of the job thereby identifying himself with the job. This reduces the labour turnover and absenteeism. It is hence an important attitude as far as an employee is concerned. 2.15.2c ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT An employee identifies himself with the organization, its goals, its vision and mission. He is proud to be a member of the organization and would like to maintain and protect it at any cost. Even temporary dissatisfaction in the job will not take him away from the main stream of the organization as long as he is identifying himself with the organization because he is committed to the organization. But if the dissatisfaction spreads to the organizational level, then he feels like resigning. Hence organizational commitment is a stronger way to measure the positive attitude of employees. Have you understood ? 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 to understand the change in attitude of people. Theories suggest that there can be many characteristics such as extremeness of attitude, multiplexity, consistency, interconnectivity, consonance of the attitude cluster of which the present attitude in question is a part,the number of needs that will be served by the attitude, the strength of those needs, centrality of the related values etc. If all these characteristics are taken into consideration, there will be two types of attitude changes, called, congruent and incongruent. The congruent change involves an increase in the strength of the existing attitude., either to make a positive attitude to make more positive or to
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make a negative attitude to more negative. The incongruent change is the one in which the direction of change is opposite to the originally held attitude. You can see that congruent change can be produced easier than incongruent change. This is true especially when supporting attitudes interconnects the attitude system. When there are a number of or a cluster of attitudes, the degree of interconnectedness play a major role in the changeability of attitudes. How these attitudes are interconnected, what is the strength of interconnection is it strong or weak etc are the questions. Simplicity is a characteristic of changeability of attitude. What is the number of facts involved in the cognition of 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 more resistant to change. Again the strength of the social wants and the number of social wants supporting the attitudes determines the changeability. Similarly attitudes that reflect the principal or core component of an individuals personality 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 analyze as they play a major role in attitude changes. Some are soft, some are stubborn and some are persuable etc. This is purely because of personality differences. These differences in personality can change the nature of the attitude because attitudes are subjective qualities. A person can be pursued means a great achievement for management. Persuability is a tendency on the part of a person to accept a persuasive communication. Of course there can be many persuability techniques and not one. You require different persuability types owing to difference in personality factors. Persuabilty is a factor of self-esteem of a person. Thus the more a person is inadequate to understand things, the more a person has social inhibitions then it is likely that such a person is perusable. A person highly self confident and intellectual may be highly resistant to persuasion and change Rather such a person would like to expose himself even to superfluous information. Dogmatism is another important characteristic of attitude. It means people have a tendency to admire those in authority and hate those who are opposing authority. The individuals keep a strong belief in the cause and will not allow any validity for other causes. Dogmatism is a closed system in which beliefs and disbeliefs are isolated from each other. Dogmatism tends to concentrate
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around some central authority theme and tries to protect this theme at all costs. The greatest defects in dogmatic behaviour/attitude is that all opposing beliefs are oppressed, there will be no interconnection among belief system, only a complex recognition is given to positively valued objects against negatively valued objects. No wonder in these cases attitude changes are resisted. Group affiliation and situations are other characteristics affecting attitude. While in a group individuals fall in line with the group as far as attitudes are concerned. As a member of the group existing individual attitudes do not get exposure as information is filtered .In a group people normally think alike and any information likely to cause dissonance or inconsistency is rejected or omitted or perceived as per group norms only with some modifications. Eventhough information from inside or outside that is capable of changing their attitudes may impinge upon them , the membership in the group 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 towards the object or event. Thus if a person is indifferent to an object then his attitude has low valence. His attitudes valence will be high if he is a very favourable or unfavorable to an object or event. Multiplexity means there are a number of elements in the attitude. Thus if one employee is sincere in his work, another employee is sincere, respectful, honest, and helpful. Relation to work needs means thiswhat needs are served by the attitude. A worker enjoying a film represents his attitude towards entertainment. It satisfies only his entertainment needs. If another worker has a strong attitude to 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 central to the individual is centrality. It means the importance of the attitude object. The attitudes having high centrality can not be easily changed.
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Have you understood ? 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 persons attitude can reveal that there are three 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 conditioned response by association with stimuli that have either punishing or rewarding effects This component deals with the evaluation and is often expressed as like or dislike, good or bad, pleasing or displeasing, favourable or unfavourable,beautiful or ugly etc.The affective component includes the warmth,love,hatred,and other emotional expressions. It is this affection that is mostly associated with the idea of attitude. As an illustration please take the case of the attitude of A towards B. You consider 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 less experience.
The affective component is well exposed here and self explanatory. Mcginnies in his further studies found that people responded with greater emotions when statements contradicting their attitudes were administered than when statements affecting their feelings of good and bad were administered. It has been established that this is due to the affection part of the attitude in individuals.
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2.17.2 COGNITION The cognitive component of attitude is nothing but the perceptions of the individual followed by beliefs and ideas about an object. It is based on the experiences, rumours, misunderstandings or such informations that cognition is effected. For example, a worker may have feeling that his manager is good or bad, stupid or intelligent, ethical or non-ethical, autocrat or democrat etc. But it may be true or not. The fact you should notice here is that the workers perceptions or beliefs about the manager forms that cognitive component 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 cognitive component is also known as opinion. 2.17.3 BEHAVIOUR Behaviour is the conative component of attitude. Which way one intends to behave towards a particular attitude object? That way is this component i.e. behaviour.No doubt affection and cognition components will influence the 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 negative feeling about an object, he is likely to behave in a negative way towards the object. That only confirms that behavioural component of attitude consists of a tendency to act to or react toward an attitude object but in specific ways. Have you understood ? What are the components of attitude ? Behaviour is a cognative component of attitude. What is the meaning ? 2.18 FORMATION OF ATTITUDES The factors responsible for learning are also the factors for the formation of attitude in any person. The important aspects are that these factors are to be grouped properly. Thus family is a group with which the individuals move to start with. He then mixes with a larger group and extends himself to a social group bigger and bigger. In between the individual moves through a reference group also. Apart from these group factors the individual has the influence of personality factors to be considered for attitude formation. You already know that personality shapes ones behaviour and attitudes.
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2.18.1 FAMILY The mother, children, father, all the close relatives all are members of this group. A person learns the very process of socialization only from his mother. All the others have their influence in his attitude formation. Attitudes are formed during socialization process .The child comes in contact with the members of the family but not with the outsiders initially. The individuals attitudes, values, and personality characteristics are influenced by the mediation of the inside members. The members have a certain attitudes, characteristics and evaluative criteria that has an impact on the child for the initial formation of its own attitude and behaviour. Finally, the attitudes of the 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 individual blindly follow the dictums of this particular group. Whatever social laws or customs framed by this group will be followed in letter and spirit by the individual This reference group influences the awareness and behaviour of the 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 district association The inputs into the life style of the individual and the attitude of the individual are set by this group. The individual thus learns the norms, values, and behaviour pattern in society as well as in organizations. Though all groups have influence on the formation of attitude of the individual, the primary group has the most powerful influence on his attitude formation by way of opinions, beliefs, customs norms etc. 2.18.3 SOCIAL FACTORS Social classes influence the individuals attitude. It is the social class that transmits the cultural behaviour and customs etc to specific groups and families. The social classes will define the system, expectations, etc to the groups first and then to the families within the groups. The family then transmits this cultural values and expectations to the individual whose attitude is then formed finally. Social classes put restrictions on behaviour between individuals belonging to different social classes. Normally no intimate relationship is allowed between opposing groups. People have close relationship within the same social class and this restricts the attitude formation for members of other groups as well as the same group freely. You know that the attitude and values provide and set goals of life and evaluative power. Obviously these are transmitted differently to different social classes.
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In a nutshell, according to Stephen Robins, the attitudes like values are acquired from parents, teachers, friends and colleagues . Ones attitude in the early years is formed using those one admires respects or even fears as models. You have seen in previous chapters that individuals attitude are shaped by the behaviour of family and friends or peers. Some people imitate the behaviour of popular individuals. Attitudes are not stable like values. An advertising appeal can change your attitude towards a product and you may start using the product hitherto not used. Thus a message from Hyundai Motors can change your attitude towards Santro from Ford car.Our interest is that the job behaviour of workers are all affected by attitudes. If the worker believes that the supervisor, time study engineer, bosses, auditors, are all together in for a conspiracy to make him work more to get much higher output at the same wages or even less wages, then it is very essential that management must try to understand how such attitudes are formed. The analysis should be also to find out the relationship between those factors and job behaviur, so that the behaviour can be made more favourable. 2.18.4 PERSONALITY FACTORS You have already seen that there are many factors that shape the personality of an individual Heredity is an important factor as many characteristics are inherited from parents and this forms the basis for the personality of the individual and also for his attitude. The temparament, values and ideals are determined 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 attitude and it is common to see that things not liked by parents are disliked by children too. The physical feature plays a role in personality and differences in such personality feature have a big impact on the attitude. People with different personality have different attitudes towards the same object. Cultural factors that differentiate also impacts the attitude. This is due to the fact that beliefs, customs values all differ according to culture and these have an influence on attitude formation. Mainly personality creates attitudes like conservatism, dogmatism, liberalism and authoritarianism etc. Various research studies have established that there is a strong relationship between personality factors/variables and attitude formation in individuals. Have you understood ? What factors support the formation of attitudes ? Briefly explain how attitude is formed with the impact of some of these factors?
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How can you change others attitude ? How do personality factors affect attitude ? 2.19 ATTITUDE MEASUREMENT Attitudes are subjective attributes of people. They are conceptualization of human qualities that are formed on the basis of rational consideration or statistical evidence. They can be hence regarded as constructs for our purpose. An operational definition of attitude can be obtained if one can describe the measurement system used by psychologists to measure attitudes. There are many methods of attitude measurement. The methods of attitude measurement 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 out using self-respect questionnaire techniques. There are also several scaling methods employed to measure attitudes using Q.A. methods. Three types of attitude scaling used are a) Thurston b) Likert c) Semantic differential. Thurston collected a large number of statements relating to the area in which attitude measurements have to be measured.These statements are also related to the object about which attitudes are to be measured.. The statements are adjectives both favourable and unfavourable and are placed in 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. All other statements are placed in between them and arranged in an order depending on the degree of favourability or unfavourability. This scale is then presented to the respondents who checks the statements with which he agrees. His attitude score is then based on either the average or the median scale of the statement that he has checked. Likert attitude scale uses 5 points. These points reflect the degree of agreement or disagreement. The respondent checks the statements and ticks
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one of them For example look into the question This brand A of wrist watch(Titan) is superior to brand B strongly agree,agree,neither agree nor disagree,disagree,strogly disagree. Let. us give points 5,4,3,2,1 respectively to these If the respondent says disagree then the attitude score is. Likert scale is considered to be more reliable than Thurston. Osgood developed Semantic differential technique of attitude measurement. Here the concept consists of many pairs of opposite adjective or phrases with scale values in between. The respondent marks the position in 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 responses and the sum of these will be the score of the individual . There are also other methods like Guttmans etc which you can refer . Have you understood ? How do you measure attitude ? 2.20 MOTIVATION 2.20.1 INTRODUCTION In organizational context motivation means inducing a person to act or move in a desired manner.- as desired in the interests of the organization. Normally motivation is employed to on subordinates so that they act in the interest of employer.In fact it is not enough if they act in a manner desired but also act very efficiently and most important in a productive manner. How intense is the motivation, how is the quality of motivation are all reflected by the quickest positive response by the worker and how maximum is the productive output by the employee. Briefly, you can say that to motivate means is to induce, persuade, stimulate and even compel an employee to act in a manner that helps in attaining the organizational objectives. Compelling is a sort of fear that act as a motivator. Technically speaking the Latin word movere means to move. Different behaviouralists approached the concept of motivation by using different terms like motives, needs, wants, drives, wishes, desires etc.to define motivation and since motivation really consists of all these internal urges as mentioned before one has to analyse basically three terms viz. motive, motivators or motivating and motivation in order to understand the concept clearly. By now you can say that motivation is what makes people do things (making John run). Motivate means to provide with a motive to impel or incite one to action. Thus a need, idea, emotion or organic state which can prompt
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one to action or work. You can not manipulate motivation. You have to touch the basic urges of individuals and those must be convincingly aroused employing correct motivators, correct to the context. For example, incentives can induce employees- can motivate employees. A motive is an inner state that energizes, activates or moves (hence motivation) and that direct behaviour towards goals.Bernard Berelson Motivating is providing channels of motives and making them easily accessible to employees. Thus a manager induces a worker to engage in work behaviour by ensuring that a channel to satisfy the motive becomes available and accessible 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 in an organization. Motivation is something that moves a person to action, and continues 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 .The main characteristics of motivation are : It is based on motives : Individual motives are internal to the individual The feeling that the individual lacks something and he tries to behave in a manner that overcomes this shortcoming in the feeling. Motivation is affected by the way the individual is motivated : We literally open the channel for need satisfaction by act of motivation. Further it also activates some other dormant needs in the individual and harnesses them in a manner that would be useful to organization. Motivation leads to goal directed behaviour. The behaviour satisfies the cause for which the organization is trying. Motivation is related to satisfaction. The individual experiences contentment and derive need fulfillment. Normally a person is motivated in totality and not in part. His needs and behaviour vary and his needs ar interrelated.
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Of course motivation is a complex process due to the nature of needs and types of behaviour. The smart management tries to understand the dormant needs; latent needs and provide means for satisfaction of those needs. Thus the need for promotion may be uniform for all employees but the behaviour exhibited by them to achieve may be totally different. Because a particular behaviour is not due to one need but due to many needs in him. A worker does very hard work for promotion, or recognition or to earn more money or to satisfy his psychological needs. Though motivation creates a goal directed behaviour, it may not end up in goal achievement, in which case the frustration increases. This aspect must be taken care of by management while opening the channels of motivation. Have you understood ? W ha t i s th e con cep t o f mo t iv a ti on in t h e co n text of a n organization? 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 and this argument has been tested and proved. For a right type of behaviour of the worker and hence to obtain a productive result, every boss has to motivate his subordinate intelligently. The significance of motivation can be briefed as follows. 1) Improvement in performance level is the first important result of motivation. Motivated employee works more, accepts tougher assignments and attractive and productive results. The employee who is motivated works far better than others and in results too. It is found that permanent employees work at 60% of their efficiency on an average while hourly wage earners work at 20 to 30 % efficiency only. This is because job security itself is a motivation. Further a permanent employee if motivated performs up to 90% of his efficiency. 2) Motivation reduces absenteeism and labour turn over.When the present needs and dormant needs are satisfied the employee will not shirk his responsibility and continue to not only work hard but turnout more output
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also. That is the magic influence of correct motivation. To keep up commitments he will not be absent at all unnecessarily from work. The employees stop shifting of departments when motivated properly. No wonder the efficiency as well as productivity shoots up like anything in such 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 work procedure etc. Often an organization is forced to introduce changes with changes in times. Any organization has to adapt to changes failing which they will be out of the market in this competitive world. So if suitable motivational measures are taken employees can be encouraged to accept and adopt changes willingly for the benefit of the organization as well as for the benefit of employees. 4) Motivation in many firms has led to valuable and profitable suggestions by employees. Employees are motivated to give suggestions for improving designs, improving packing or quality etc. Both financial and nonfinancial incentives have motivated them to give world-class suggestions. 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 those whose physical conditions are satisfactory and financial position is also above average compared to othershigher cadre employees. They may be frustrated and hence conducive atmosphere has to be provided for them. Incentives may give expected output but motivation calls for input changes on work, attitude and behaiour so as to give much higher outputs. Have you understood ? Wh at i s t he impo rta nce of mot ivat ion ?Li st a t least fo ur benefits. 2.22 THEORIES OF MOTIVATION There are two types of theories developed that is related to motivational process and can define the process too. These are the Content Theories and the Process Theories. The Content Theory deals with the determination and specification of drives and needs that motivate people, the Process Theory deals with the variables that go into motivation and their relationship with each other.
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2.22.1 CONTENT THEORY This type of motivation explains the types of needs in individuals that have to be detected and satisfied. This also deals with the factors within a person that initiates and directs behaviour or checks another type of behaviour in individuals. The essence of the theory is that people have some physiological and psychological needs that are fundamental in nature and they should be satisfied. For this purpose the individuals are engaged in such activities that can satisfy these needs. Thus it is the nature of the needs that determines the nature of motivation. This motivation results in a specific behaviour that enables him to reach the goal of satisfying such needs. NEEDS >-BEHAVIOUR>-GOALS 2.22.2 MASLOWS NEED HEIRARCHY THEORY This is the earliest form of motivational theory and is also extensively used in organizations. According to Abraham Maslow people have complex set of needs and that the behaviour of an individual at a particular moment is determined by the strongest need at that time. What is it that make people behave in a particular manner ?.Maslow was researching into this question only. The two assumptions in his theory are 1) People have many needs that are different in nature ranging from biological needs at the lowest level to psychological needsl at the highest level for growth. 2) These needs occur in an order of hierarchy so that the lower level needs are satisfied first and graduate to higher level needs in an order. In the process, the lower level needs satisfaction become motivators to achieve higher level needs. Thus remarked Mahatma Gandhi once Even God can not talk to a hungry man except in terms of food. So also a holy Sikh man was praying Take your rosary beads away, I can not worship and meditate on you when I am hungry This tells us that basic biological needs are to be satisfied first or else their attention can not be focused otherwise. Nor it will be possible for us to communicate with them on any other matter. Maslows theory explains that human behaviour is dynamic and realistic and is based on the inner state of human nature and environmental conditions have no significant role. Maslow postulates five basic needs arranged in successive levels. These needs continue to change resulting in changing goals and activities. They are depicted in the following diagram. The first three levels are the deficiency needs and the upper two sets are growth needs.
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Self actualization Esteem Social Security Physiological Maslows need hierarchy
Maslows theory brought awareness to management that people are motivated by a wide variety of needs and that management must provide an opportunity for employees to satisfy these needs by way of creation of good physical and conceptual work environment in order where employees will be motivated to their best to achieve the organizational goals. First level needs can be satisfied in an organization through reasonable wages, salary, working conditions, welfare measures etc. pride leisure and fatigue relief etc. Lighting, rest room, ventilation are other measures for taking care of first level needs. For the second level needs i.e., calling for security and safety, management may provide life insurance, medical facilities, job security, cost of living compensation, pension plan, freedom to unionise, minimum wages and unemployment benefits etc. In the third level, love and affection needs become motivators and hence management may provide work environment for friendly interpersonal relationship.social clubs, coffee clubs, recreational activities, lunch arrangements,sports.picnic etc are motivators. Further, arrange periodical meeting with workers and subordinates, have a friendly supportive supervision and make them partners than employees, give challenging jobs, recognize, reward them, give them authority, train and develop them, even involve them in goal setting. Finally, encourage creativity, communication and criticism and with the freedom of expression make them the owners of the organization. 2.22.3 DAVID MCCLELLANDS THEORY OF ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION Macclelland propounded this theory, which states that an organization offers an opportunity to satisfy at least three needs.for achievement, for affiliation and for power. The theory emphasizes that the intensity of the individuals need for achievement is the major factor for willingness to perform. The
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achievement motive can be defined as a desire to succeed in competitive situations based upon an established or perceived standard of excellence. Such individuals ask for a challenging job, requiring creativity, ingenuinity and hard work. They look for situations of success and want credit for success. They take calculated risk and expect quick feed back on their performance. They believe more in solving complex problems than in any financial gain. It is for the management to segregate them, detect the needs and provide motivators suitably. Studies show that people with a high need to achieve do better and tougher tasks beneficial and profitable to the organizations. These people can start new business. However only 10% of employees are found to be achievers. So McClelland suggest that the other 90% should be attracted to achiever category 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 othersthat is the need for power. By this an individual manipulates and controls the activities of others to suit his own purposes. Normally such people look for leadership. They also are good managers setting goals, making decisions etc. The negative aspect of power is some seek power for personal aggrandizement and that too at the cost of others. Also some managers prefer socialized power to personalized power. Of course they are highly loyal to the organization. They keep the interests of the company superior to personal interests. 2.22.3b NEED FOR AFFILIATION Some individuals desire for friendly and warm relationship with others. This is a powerful social need. They tend to seek affiliation with those having similar beliefs, background and outlook on life. This is how informal groups and organizations are formed. You can see in society itself people of same kind only mixing very freely. Even in an organization workers have a tendency to get involved in calling for interpersonal relationships with the same set of cadres having the same wavelength. Where personal support and approvals are there such individuals perform very well. They do not quarrel. Since
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people are social animals most of them would like to interact and associate with cohesive groups, where they feel they belong and accepted. In fact they want jobs calling for interactions and relationship. The drawback is that such people are rarely successful when they work in isolation. Research shows that in many organizations managers with high need for affiliation could succeed in integrating different departments by attending to others feelings, others personal matters etc. 2.22.4 HERZBERGS 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 200 organizations and the answers were recorded for analysis. Some of the findings were startling. The analysis revealed two critical factors intrinsic and extrinsic. All the hygiene factors are extrinsic and all motivational factors are intrinsic. It is found that when hygiene factors are absent it increased dissatisfaction with the job. When these factors are present, they helped in preventing dissatisfaction but do not increase satisfaction or motivation to perform the job. When motivational factors are not present they prevented satisfaction and motivation. When these factors are present they increased satisfaction and motivation. 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 viewed as preventive measures that remove job dissatisfaction from the environment. Hygiene factors do not help the growth in performance but they prevent deterioration of performance. caused by work restriction. Herzberg believed that hygiene created little positive motivation but its absence created negative motivation. Motivational factors are real motivators that are associated with the positive feelings of employees about the job. Since they are related to the content of the job they make people satisfied with their job. These factors have a positive influence on morale satsfaction, efficiency and productivity. Their high morale is evidenced by lack of absenteeism, commitment to goals and
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late hours working. If the manager wants to increase the motivation and performance above a level then there must be job enrichment and freedom on the job. Recognition is a motivational factor. Thrusting with more responsibility is a motivational factor. To conclude Herzeberg says that these factors are interrelated and are positively related to motivation. Job promotion, participation and responsibility and executive benefits are all signs of growth and advancement and add to dedication and commitment of employees. Have you understood ? 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 get as a result of their job performance. The nature of reward is the perceived value that the employee assigns to the reward. The employee believes that such hard work will lead to better performance. This performance gets him the reward, which is the effect of motivation on his work behaviour. When employees are treated and recognized well that results in excellent performance. So the motivators are treatment and recognition that influenced the behaviour to do better. When the subordinates are participating in goal setting that acts as a powerful motivator to achieve the goals. Participation as a motivator influences work behaviour favourably. Motivation is closely tied to job satisfaction. The primary condition for performance is that employee must like the job. If not their morale will be low and they get demotivated to do the job even with less efficiency. Steps to be taken by management at this juncture are good wages, salary, timely promotions, fringe benefits, participative style of management, team spirit and good working conditions etc. These motivating agents can bring sweeping positive changes in the behaviour of workers. Gains sharing programme has a decisive influence on work behaviour and it is recorded that production has gone up by 40 to 50 % in companies as a result of sharing the profit or extra gains. Gains sharing are a motivator that can positively influence work behaviour. Workers in highly skilled cadre looking for achievement must be given challenging job so that they turnout quality and tough jobs bringing name to the organization.
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Just like benefits motivate workers to be more productive, they may turn out to be demotivators if unproductive workers also get the same benefits. Friendly and supportive supervision is an excellent motivation that contributes to job satisfaction. Creating conditions for interpersonal relationship and creating small groups are motivators as this improves communication and togetherness 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 contribute to 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 an organization 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 employees and enables the employer to retain them on whom they have invested a lot in training etc. 9) an involved worker contributes for cost reduction by way of suggestions and 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 on resources. 12) an early feedback of employees, if positive ,encourages growth and innovative approaches. It is needless to mention that job and human behaviour are directly related. A satisfied job means positive attitude and less resentment. Positive attitudes reinforce behaviour that is desirable and permanent. Explaining the significance of the job is a powerful motivator that can change the output tremendously. Henry Ford once told the blue collared workers that 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 productivity of Fords by 20%, it appears.
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Give the worker the freedom to schedule his work and allow him to experience the responsibility. The results are astonishing worker feels responsible for success or failure and of course spares no efforts for successful performance. Richard M.Steers in his study at 3M found that the above factors of motivation 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 needs reduced by 14%. 6) The cost reduction was brought about. Although many theories of motivation may not be applicable to Indian situations some are common to all countries. Thus the motivational system for mangers is different from that for workers. Job security and financial incentives are not motivating factors to managers, but they are for workers. Recognition of work is applicable to both as motivating factors. Similarly lack of technical competency of managers, poor administrative set-up, and ineffective supervision. lack of opportunities for growth etc are deterrents to job satisfaction, which is the aim of motivation. While top managers want value satisfaction and achievement followed by self-actualization, middle level managers want career progress and accomplishment But workers have different needs to be satisfied. Hence while designing a motivational system for an organization care must be taken that all people have enough different motivators to achieve the individual, group and organizational objectives. People behave because they are motivated to behave. And needs once aroused become motives and the motive makes you to act or behave. The organization has to establish a motivational system that makes them behave in a manner desired Have you understood ? List the positive effects of motivation for an organization. Which is the most essential need for survival / How do firms maintain this?
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SUMMARY This chapter has covered the concepts of personality in individuals and the importance of personality while selecting employees to the organization as well as during their performance. The various theories of personality stand proof to the significance of personality. The interesting factors that should be known to us so as to interpret the influence on work behaviour and corrective actions to be taken by managers are discussed in detail. The various learning theories accompanied by reinforcement concepts are discussed in detail. That learning theory can be used to explain and control behaviour 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 significance is elucidated. Perceptual process and its implication on work behaviour along with interpersonal perception have been discussed at length. The factors influencing perception like needs, size, personality and mechanism of selection have been discussed in detail. The chapter closes with the elucidation of motivation and various theories. The motivators for effective organizational functioning have been explained. The effects of motivation on 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. Maslows 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.
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CASE STUDY THE GAS CUTTERS In one public sector undertaking with a chequered past, a line manager was appointed as the chief of personnel. Within a year after taking up the assignment, he had to sign a wage agreement with the workers union. Nontechnical staff dominated the union at that time. The unions charter of demands favoured the interests of its dominant member groups. It asked for a significant revision in Gardners pay., but was not equally vocal in pressing for the increase in the pay scales of workers in certain technical grades. The management conceded these demands as the union cooperated with them in keeping the burden of the pay revision well within the guidelines of the Bureau of Public enterprises. Once the agreement was signed and communicated to the employees / members by the management and the union respectively, there was commotion among the technical staff. They walked out of the union and formed a separate technical staff union and marched round the company premises holding placards which read Here is where grass cutters get more than the gas cutters In that engineering assembly unit, till the pay revision occurred, welding was a highly rated job. But not any longer. Now gardeners get more than welders. QUESTIONS : 1. What if grass- cutters get more than gas cutters ? 2. Evaluate the approaches of both the management and the union in this case. SHORT QUESTIONS : Discuss at least three measures to improve perception in an organisation for a worker. Assume he is suspicious of his boss for 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 two contextual examples. Explain two methods to bring attitudinal changes. Link motivation and motivating force with example.
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List a few personality characteristics of an urban worker educated in contrast to that of a rural worker.
LONG QUESTIONS : Briefly describe the various personality theories. Integrate some of the features to get a satisfactory theory on personality. How does the personality affects the behavior of the person, how do you apply personality concept in organisation? What are the theories of learning? Differentiate with examples learned and inherited characteristics. What are different reinforcements, how reinforcement shape behaviour of people? What are the managerial implications of perception? How does management 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 and effects of motivation on work behaviour?
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UNIT - III
GROUP BEHAVIOUR
3.1 INTRODUCTION It was a rainy day when a scientist was waiting in a bus stop outside the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay (the present Mumbai). A Mercedes Benze was coming out of the premises with a gentleman who politely parked the car in front requesting the scientist to board the car as it was heavily raining. The scientist thanked the gentleman in suit and introduced himself as a scientist engaged in research in Tata Institute. The scientist did not 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 TatasYou know that Tata was independently wealthy but would not give up his job at 6o. Why? Because he really liked the people he worked with. He enjoyed the regular interaction that came from the group in which he was a member. The emphatic but polite reply of Mr. Tata stand testimony to the fact that for many people job and interactions are the primary source for fulfilling their needs for affiliation and social needs. Further there was self esteem when Tata replied a feeling of self-worth. There is no single reason why individual join groups and many groups are formed. May be you feel that united we stand, divided we fall or union is strength It may be a matter of security, self-esteem or affiliation. It can also be to share the work load of life. It could be to increase the voice power of the individual. Thus individual can influence groups and in turn groups can influence organizations or associations. In the process leaders are born and some working and even behavioural norms are born. Automatically for leaders and followers to survive interpersonal relations and communications becomes a tool for survival. This makes the managers
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to device tools for controlling the members of the organization so that things are always in command for the betterment of the organization as well as the employees. 3.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, you should be able to understand 3.3 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.
ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
3.3.1 Concept of organization structure Organization structure is a basic framework within which the managers decision-making power takes place. Structure basically deals with relationships. Study into the relationship is science just like scientists analyzing the structure of a human cell and the relationship among the various elements in the cell. A marketing manager seeks to discover the structure of the market and its segments and establishes a relationship between products and consumers. Drawing parallel to this an organization structure is also consisting of various parts. For that matter structure is the pattern in which various parts of components are interrelated and interconnected. The organization structure is the pattern of relationships among various components or parts of the organization. This prescribes the relationships among various activities and positions. Because various persons hold these positions, the structure is the relationship among people in the organization. Normally, the organization structure is not visible in the same way as a biological or mechanical structure, though it can be inferred from the actual operations and behaviours of the organization. According to Sheldon, Organization is the process of so combining the work, which individuals or groups have to perform with the facilities necessary for its execution , that t he dut ies so p erfo rmed pro vide t he best channels fo r t he efficient,systematic,positive and coordinated application of the available effort.
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The process actually means functioning of the organization. Though it is difficult to draw a distinction between the structure and process of the organization, one cannot be understood without the other. While the structure of an organizational system is arrangement of subsystems and components, the process is the dynamic change in the matter and information of the system over time. Thus the structure in an organization links production depatment, finance department, stores, warehouse etc. along with tool cribs, inspection etc as components. The line authority and staff authority and policies etc of these component departments play the processing role and these are changing over time and hence process is dynamic. This leads you to accept that the structure and process are static and dynamic features of the organization respectively. You can conclude that organization structure is a pattern of established relationships among the components of the organization What is important is the patterning of relationships between departments and the degree of permanency of the established relationship can be referred to as organization structure. Design of the basic structure of an organization involves analysis of how the work of the organization will be divided and assigned among the various groups, positions, departments etc and to strike coordination among these so as to achieve the organizational objectives. In addition to the formally established relationships, people also create their own relationship independent of the formal relationship. These are the informal relationships. Thus organization structure is the totality of both formal and informal relationships. The organizational process consists of control procedure, information system, reward system, punishment, rules and regulations etc. These are the structural variables that can be utilized to decide what is required to motivate the employees to perform their best to achieve the organizational objectives collectively. Have you understood ? 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 the organizational objectives, a formal structure is required. All of them perform independent functions but interrelated. Hence you need to plan the work so that they are completed in time to achieve the objectives independently and collectively. A formal structure enables the individuals to overcome their
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limitations and also enables the management to direct, coordinate and control the business. Hence if the organization is ill designed it shakes the very foundation of the management. You hence need a well crafted organization to smooth run the business, progress, diversify, optimum usage of resources, improvements, new products and procedures etc. This only can stimulate creativity. A sound organisationalstructure is required for 1) Facilitating management : It helps management, which works with certainty and continuity. It groups and arranges activities to get the best results. Functional groups know their direction and each employee is aware of the goals. When key activities are overlooked or subordinated the results would be detrimental. Good management hence develops a good organizational structure. Only a good structured organization can look after the delegation of authority, defining responsibility, effective communication, control and coordination. Also it takes care of modifications of all these as per the needs. 2) Encouraging growth : A dynamic and flexible structure enables growth and changes , enabling diversification, optimization and expansion. A constant vigil is always called for to absorb growth and modifications in the structure. 3) Optimum use of technology. A lot of new technology is introduced today to mitigate market competition and you need a dynamic organizational structure to accommodate the technology. For example, a R&D department or a new computer department etc. calls for a new structure as there can be cost reduction and innovation due to the new technologies. 4) Providing psychological satisfaction : The importance of employee satisfaction is so high that an organization will poorly perform in its absence. People derive this satisfaction only from the work allocation and relationship among the individuals established through the structure. Again it is the structure that provides opportunities for training and development. 5) Stimulation of creativity : A good organization provides professional opportunities for innovative thinking and creativity by providing suitable facilities for specialists and special tasks. With rewards and support for ideas etc many enterprises have turned out brilliant employees who contributed a lot to the technical and commercial progress of the company.
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Have you understood ? 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 the goals and objectives of the organization have been fixed, you have to identify the activities to achieve the objectives. These activities are broken down into sub activities and they are distributed to the lowest level possible in the hierarchy. Only necessary activities are taken into consideration and unwanted ones are carefully discarded. Now each individual knows his duties and responsibilities. 1) Closely related and similar activities are grouped into departments or divisions so that best coordination is possible. Grouping can be done based on functions, geographical regions, types of customers, types of equipments etc. Grouped activities in form of departments are then assigned to various positions. Various individuals occupy these positions. Thus you get production managers, finance managers, personnel managers, marketing managers etc in the organization. They in turn delegate and distribute jobs to their subordinates down the line. The major care to be taken is that the personnel and their jobs must match well. 2) Since the persons who are assigned particular activities are performing these duties to the best of their abilities they must be given corresponding authority to discharge their obligations. Responsibility and authority are tied together. In fact responsibility is really the accountability of authority. As you now know that authority without responsibility is the most risky for management results. Thus if a marketing manager has the authority to recruit additional sales force to increase the sales, then he is also equally responsible for the sales results, leave alone the duty of salesmen to increase the sales. Have you understood? What are the steps involved in the formation of organizational structure. 3.4.1 DETERMINANTS OF ORGANISATION STRUCTURE. Different organizations you can see have different structures due to the fact that they have different characteristics and requirements. Each structure
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satisfies the particular needs of the set up at a particular point of time and is subject to changes as called for by many factors like environment, technology and size of the company. It must be so to meet the organizational objectives optimally. The interaction of these three factors will decide the philosophy and strategy of central management, which forms the foundation of the organizational 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 its operations. The environment consists of customers, culture, and economy and International conditions also. The organization structure depends on whether the the external environment will be stable or changing. A stable environment means you can go for a structure that is mechanistic. But successful organizations have structures varying with the environment and such structure is known as organic structure. An uncertain environment calls for experts to deal with problems created by the elements that cannot be predicted. Technology : The structure depends on the tools, techniques and the knowhow 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 concluded that technology has a telling effect on the organizational structure. Mass production with interdependence of departments, production with robots and N.C. machines in cybernetics surroundings etc call for organic structure of the organization for optimal results. The size of the organization : The number of people working in the organization will naturally decide the type of structure that will be effective in the given conditions. Every organization grows and it increases the number of managers, number of functional departments, number of employees with diversified responsibilities, number of specialists section etc. This results in increased coordination, supervision and hence human problems. It then calls
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for high degree of discipline a formally structured chain of command is the solution . With that a mechanistic structure is born. Philosophy and strategy of the organization : This has a definite relation with the structure of the organization. Take for example, a small organization. Everything is centralized here. The power is concentrated here with one man or a small group. As the organization grows such a simple structure becomes ineffective and inefficient. Hence the organization changes its strategy and hence the organizational structure also. There are two strategies as you know. one is the stability strategy and the second one is the growth strategy. When you want to grow or expand you will be coming across a number of problems and complexities, uncertainty etc. This calls for an organic structure of the organization. Have you understood ? List the determinants of organization structure. 3.4.2 TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS Depending on the philosophy and the type of organization you can have mechanistic or organic or a combination of both as your organizational structure. In practice many of the organizational structures are mechanistic in 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 normally followed by many companies. Here the authority is in hierarchical structure and flows from the top most to down the level. From the President of the company to vice President to managers to foremen to workers . The authority flows from managerial level to operating level. As a result the system clearly defines the authority, responsibility and accountability at each level. These relationships in the hierarchy connect the positions and tasks of each level with the level up and below. There is unity of command and clearly a person in a level enjoys independence but answerable to his boss or superior. Also the line people are directly involved in the achievement of the organizational objectives. Drawn below is a typical diagram of the line structure.
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Here, normally, the size is small because of which the line structure is simple and authority and responsibility are clear-cut and well defined. The same are easily assignable and traceable and measurable. Communication and feedback are fast and being close to each other a sense of belongingness can be a natural outcome. The discipline and control are also easier due to the size and limited levels. Any system has its limitations and accordingly you have some drawbacks here also. Assume that the president and managers are good people ,then a sense of family orientation and closeness can be the benefits to the organization. On the contrary, if they are dictatorial in nature which is quite possible in this set-up, then the employees will resent and hurdles will be created to achieve the goals. In this structure there is no specialization or scope for specialists or innovative suggestions etc. the growth can be curtailed. Optimization cannot be effective. Hence for a growth-oriented firm this structure may not be suitable. The line type can be pure line type or department line type. In pure line type all similar activities are performed at one level. Each group of activities is independent of the other units and performs their duties without the help from other units. But in departmental line type of organization respective workers and supervisors are grouped based on their functions like finance, production, marketing, human resources etc. In other words, this is a functional structure. Have you understood ? Name the different types of organizations.
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3.4.3 LINE AND STAFF ORGANISATION In this structure, functional specialists are added to the line thereby the line getting the advantage of specialists. This is the popular structure among the large enterprises. The staff does not possess any command or authority over line managers. They are only advisory or service oriented. There are two types of staffthe general staff and the special staff. The general staff like assistants to management are normal executives with no special back ground like research, design,quality control etc but instead they may be special assistants in administration, pay rolls, personal assistants etc. Specialized staff is like the experts in some functional areas like maintanance, quality control, transportation public relations etc. The line for competitively achieving the objective effectively uses the experience of the specialists. A line and staff diagram is shown below.
President
Legal council
Public. Relations Advisor
(staff) Vice President (Line) Engineering (staff)
(staff)
Personnel (staff)
Plant Manager (Line)
Supervisor Machine Shop (Line)
Supervisor Assembly (Line)
Workers
Workers
The specialized services improve the organizational performance. Further the line managers are busy with the daily routine and hence it is the specialists who plan and foresee future and advise the line to prepare for the future. Thus the legal department, advertising department, new product development department etc. serve the line for future growth especially, in decision-making
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and policy formulation. The important aspect of the staff specialist is that they are conceptually oriented towards looking ahead and strategic planning to analyze the effects of future on the enterprise. The defects of this structure are that there will be often conflicts between line and staff and resulting confusion. The cost of hiring specialist is also high to very high. Moreover it is the experience in some organizations that the specialists consider themselves to the more important contributors that the line executives, thereby questioning the authority and responsibility of line executives. Have you understood ? What is line and staff organization ? 3.4.4 FUNCTIONAL ORGANISATION The defect of line organization is the lack of specialization of line executives giving an upper hand to the staff specialists unwillingly causing conflicts in the organization. A line manager cannot become a specialist in all the areas like design, quality control, purchasing etc. But in a line and staff structure the staff does not have the authority to implement their suggestions. Frederick W. Taylor hence introduced the concept of Functional organization. A specialist was allotted to every area and his authority was used to enforce his recommendations and directive within the scope of his authority. The examples are quality control, labour relations department, industrial safety, legal department, new product department etc. Each function like production, finance, marketing, R&D, personnel etc has its own hierarchy. It is only grouping together of jobs of single organizational function or specialized skill. The chain of command leads to a functional head in each function. The functional head reports to the top manager. An organizational chart is shown below.
President
Dean, School of Education
Dean, School of Business
Dean, School of Sciences
Department of Business Adm.

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Department of Economics
Department of Computers
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The merits in this type are 1) It enhances operational efficiency and product quality because of specialists. 2) Resources are allocated function wise rather than organization as a whole. The main disadvantage is that it allows only narrow specialization thereby preventing 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. Have you understood ? What is functional organization ? 3.4.5 THE DIVISIONAL ORGANIZATION Too many departments in an organization forces the management to adopt self contained structures in the sense that different departments begin to operate as small organizations within the large organizations. Each department becomes a division with similar group of people; activities and characteristics The divisional goals are prescribed by the organizational policies and plans. The decisions are decentralized and the division guides its 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 improves efficiency of the enterprise. Based on factors like customers, products, government rules, competition etc you can have departmentation by products, by geography or area and by time. At some points, sheer size and diversity of products make servicing by functional departments unwieldy. When a companys departmentalization becomes too complex for the functional structure top managers will generally create semi-autonomous divisions each of which plan, designs, and produces and market its own products. This is also known as product or market organization structure, the organization of a company by divisions that bring together all those involved with certain type of product or customer. Thus, you can have the activities grouped based on customers or products or area or time. Each division resembles a separate business. The division head concentrates on the operations of his division and is accountable for
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the profit and loss of his division. Hence he may even compete with other units to give results. The fact remains that the division head has to report to the central headquarters. That is to say a division is not a separate or new enterprise 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 trucks division. 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
Have you understood ? What is divisional organization ? 3 . 4 . 6 M ER IT S AN D ORGANIZATIONS DE M E RI TS OF DI VI S I O N AL
Since all the activities, skills, expertise etc required to produce and market the products are grouped in one place under one single head a whole job can be more easily and effectively coordinated and performed well. The decisions made at divisional level being close to to the scene of action, the quality and effectiveness of decisions will be commendable. The accountability and responsibility is on the division head and this reduces the worry of central headquarters. Every divisions performance can be measured by its profit and loss.
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The demerits are 1)The interests of the division is placed ahead of the organizational goals and needs. 2) It creates politics during allocation of resources to divisions. 3) There will be no coordination of activities among divisions.4) Divisional tasks are accomplished at the cost of corporate priorities. Have you understood ? 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 from different departments like design, research and development, marketing, planning etc. This is new project organization. When the project is completed they will go back to the respective departments. The specialists are selected purely based on their skills and expertise and not on decision-making skills. Have you understood ? What is a project organization ? 3.4.8 MATRIX ORGANIZATION A matrix structure is a combination and interaction of project and functional structures, the idea being avoidance of problems due to either functional or project structure. Matrix organization is defineds Any organization that employs multiple command system that includes not only the multiple command structure but also related support mechanism and an associated organizational culture and behavioural pattern. The key features of matrix structure is that the functional and project lines of authority are superimposed with each other and are shared by both functional and project managers. While the project managers are responsible for the direction and integration of activities and resources related to project, the functional managers are concerned with the operational aspects of the project. The project manager has to complete the work as per schedule and budget the functional manager has to give all the technical assistance and skilled staff to complete the project. Greiner sees that cross functional teams are used in matrix organization due to complexity in size, technology,market and competitors. As a result, there will be information processing and communication problems also that can
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be dealt by matrix structure more effectively. In todays competitive market you need to share resources and matrix is the answer. You have to note that there 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 subordinates and specialists should report to both functional as well as project managers. Since the matrix structure integrates the efforts of both project and functional authority, the vertical and horizontal authority flows down and across. The line structure makes the authority to flow down from superiors to subordinates, while the project authority flows across because the authority is for coordinating efforts which is a horizontal function. The project authority is not for giving orders and directions, as it is the work of line managers or functional 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
Vertical flow of functional authority and responsibility Have you understood ? What is a matrix organization ? 3.5 GROUPS IN ORGANIZATIONS Groups exist in any organization. They affect the behaviour of individuals as well as that of other groups and finally they affect the organization as a whole. Such groups are created by organization to achieve the organizational goals. but organization members also create their own groups for their own satisfaction. The groups formed by the organization splits the work to subordinates who in turn distribute it down the lowest level till no more unit
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of work is there. In the process, the members form their groups because of the socio psychological pressure at work place. In fact these groups are also essential for efficient functioning of the organization. If you have to study the organization you have to understand the effect of both the groups on 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 purpose or objective, communicate with each other to accomplish the objective, who know each other, who consider themselves as a part of the group. The group has common motivation. Thus you find in society many groups family, cricket team, club, music troupe, film fans, etc. You also have political groups, consumer groups, sports groups, religious groups etc. You are concerned with groups at work in an organization. There may be various types of groups but in an organizational setting there are two types of groups classified on the basis of structuring. These are formal and informal groups. They also are a kind of organization only. Formal groups are created to fulfill the organizational needs but informal groups are created to give socio psychological satisfaction to the employees. The formal groups hence are deliberately and consciously created and are normally permanent like the top management team, services team, marketing team, production team, control and inspection team etc. There can be a temporary formal group also as in the case of a new project and the team is dismantled after the work is completed. However, informal groups are created in the organization because of social and psychological forces operating at work place. Members create such groups for their own satisfaction and they are not regulated by the general organizational rules and regulations. Since the functioning of both the groups are different a manager must understand the differences for efficient troublefree functioning of the enterprise. Their characteristics are also different. Have you understood ? Briefly write about groups in organizations. 3.5.1 FORMAL GROUPS This structure has well defined jobs as they are designed to achieve preplanned objectives of the organization. Each job level has got a definite authority, responsibility and accountability. The formal organization has four pillarsdivision of labour, scalar and functional processes, structure and span of control-. These are also called the principles of organization.
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Have you understood ? What is meant by formal organization ? 3.5.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL GROUPS Organization structure for formal groups is designed by the top management to fulfill requirements that enables the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. The structure is based on the principle of division of labour and efficiency of operation. The attention of the management is on the total jobs rather than on individual job. Based on the authority and responsibility thrust on people they are placed in a hierarchy and their status and designations are fixed accordingly. Each employee has to strictly adhere to the job responsibility and authority given. The procedures, rules and processes enable control and coordination of members.
Formal groups include command groups, which consists of managers and subordinates, and committees and task forces which are created to carry out specific organizational assignments and activities. Take for example your college. You have three formal groups there. They are - students, teachers and administration. In the command group the top administrator is the principal and he has the professors and heads of departments as his subordinates. Similarly, different committees are formed to look after the academic activities of the college. There are also task forces created to select students, faculty and special staff ,to develop curriculum, pedagogy of teaching etc. You also have audit group, accounts group, sports group, academic group etc. While the command force and committee continue to exist the task force is dismantled once the task is over. In a manufacturing organization the task force has a lot of significance. Managers ,technical experts, production and marketing specialists form a task force to design a new product and manufacture and market the same. Have you understood ? What are the characteristics of formal groups ? 3.5.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS Informal organization refers to the natural grouping of people having similarities in an organization. According to Litterer informal organizations
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refer to people in-group associations at work, but these associations are not specified in the blueprint of the formal organization. Again informal organization means natural grouping of people in the work situations. When they work together they evolve some sort of relationship not prescribed by the formal organization. This is a social relationship. Thus the characteristics of informal organizations can be as follows Informal organizations are not planned or designed but they are a naturaloutcome. Informal groups are formed on the basis of similarities among the people like age, sex, place of origin, caste, religion, personality characteristics likings and disliking etc. Membership is voluntary and a member can be a member in many informal groups. Behaviour of members of informal group is controlled by group norms and not by the norms of formal organizations. Informal organizations are created because of the socio psychological factors at work place and hence their behaviour is not in a way prescribed by theframers of the organization.
Some times informal groups are formed to perform a task better or hold production at a particular level. In rigid organizations these informal groups meet regularly to cut short the rigid bureaucratic practices. In informal groups members go to their leader to solve their problems and not to the formally assigned supervisor. Some of the additional aspects of informal groups are group norms, group roles, group goals, leadership, and group cohesiveness The informal groups have their own norms as rules of conduct and standard of behaviour. Similarly there is an unwritten assignment within the group regarding who should the task and under what conditions etc. They have their own goals and this can affect the productivity. Similarly, the informal leader emerges from the group either due to his personal charisma or social status or his technical expertise. Group cohesiveness is the degree and strength of interpersonal attraction among members of the group. High cohesiveness promotes high motivation and finally a good productivity. Group cohesiveness contributes to overall productivity. Informal groups is a powerful instrument in the sense that if they 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 an additional channel of communication for the management.
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Have you understood ? 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 individuals are shaped by primary groups. The immediate example is family and peer group. Some time small group replaces the term primary group. Being small the group has close intimacy, comradeship, loyalty and common values among the members. In Hawthorne studies the concept of primary group has been extended to work groups. These work groups have primary group qualities that influence individual behaviour irrespective of contacts or environment. Have you understood ? What is primary group? Give examples ? 3.5.5 MEMBERSHIP GROUPS AND REFERENCE GROUPS Clubs, cooperative societies, workers union, all belong to this group. Individuals actually belong to this group. Reference group is one with which the individual identifies or to which he would like to belong. An individual may be a member of several groups but he may be actively participating only in one or two groups activities that attract him or gratify him. The more the attraction of the norms of the reference group more will be the influence of reference group on the individual in determining his behaviour. Have you understood ? 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 subordinates reporting to a common superior. Production manager and his subordinates, college principal and faculty are examples. A task group is formed to solve a particular problem and the group is disbursed after the task is completed. Have you understood ? What is command group and task group ?
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3.5.7 INGROUPS AND OUT GROUPS A set of individuals holding prevailing values in a society having a dominant place in social functioning form an in-group. The out-group is a conglomerate who is looked upon as subordinates or marginal in society. The communication is prescribed in formal groups through a chain of command. In informal groups the communication pass through informal channels. The formal group can be abolished at any time but the informal groups are difficult to abolish, as management does not have control on them. Have you understood ? 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 organization and the efficient functioning of the organization depends on how these groups perform sicerely and effectively. Since a group is made up of two or more individuals, the individuals decide the behaviour of the group only. The only difference is that one or a few individuals may dominate in the group and accordingly the influence on the organization is also affected. Whether the group is formal or informal every group has its influence on the over all productivity of the organization. When you have seen that factors like the personality of an individual, the perception of an individual, attitude of an individual, the motivation of an individual have so much effect on the performance of many individuals, obviously the same will be applicable to the behaviour of the different groups also. Of course the degree of influence and the direction of influence will be different for the group. Listed below for your reference are some of the positive influences of a formal group on the organization. It accomplishes tasks that cannot be done by individuals. The multi various skills required for the performance of a complex and difficult 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 these views after due consideration. Only a powerful group can provide this as union is strength
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A group formalized is an efficient way to implement discipline and control the behaviour. Similarly to promote and implement policies, procedures and also tobring about changes in them you need a formal group designed and approved by the management. It is through this group the organization can convey the corporate mission and vision not only to existing employees but also to the new employees. In order to share the common values and beliefs of the organization to the new employees the group can be highly useful. The group educates the new employees will be more powerful and effective than by the authority of management. An individual learns and gains new technical skills and the exact functioning of the organization from the group mainly. The employees existing and new learn about the environment and itsimpacton them as well as on the organization through the group. It is the working, suggestion, cooperative approach while in a team etc thatenables an individual and hence many individuals to satisfy their personal needsas well as social acceptances and affiliation needs.
Organizational committees are quite popular in organizations. These committees 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 by this committee only. The committee is made up of specialists from different departments to form a special group and they share their expertise to find solutions at the earliest and within the budget allotted. It cannot of course interfere in all spheres and areas without the knowledge of top management. While meeting the group makes face-to-face communication, things are openly discussed, recorded, all conforming to organization alprescriptionsandthisgroup behaviour enhances the prestige of the organization not only within but also with the stakeholders and the investors and the market. Though all members have equal authority, the chairman of the committee has more powers in the form of a casting vote to break the deadlock and to arrive at some decision. This means the organization will not suffer from lack of decision.
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Contribution and participation is compulsory for every member, as he hasbeen specially appointed. When members involve in deliberations decisionsare arrived at, views are adjusted and a beneficial decision is taken. Often there will be group pressure in committee meetings and individualmembers exert pressure on the ideas, suggestions, comments and judgments on others. The integration of ideas by pooling results in a 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 respected by others , and this makes him fall in line with the majority working or generalthinking of the group. Collective decision of a group will always be cohesive and strong enabling the organization to defend itself against any onslaught from environment. A committee comes to the rescue of an organization stuck-up due to lack ofcoordination, planning, execution and new technologies. A committee provides an opportunity for an individual to air his views and recommendations that will be beneficial to the enterprise. An important impact of committee as a group is that it represents variousinterested groups. Thus boards of directors, welfare committee, grievancecommittee, customer relations management committee etc are examples. Each groups representation only improves the loyalty and commitment to thedecision taken. Some committees are constituted to control too much of authority on a single individual. Thus board of directors checks the authority of the C.E.O. Committee meeting improves the morale of members and catalyses motivation to result in an enhanced performance by individuals. A meeting with group gives tremendous exposure to individual managers and serves as a training ground for further development. When a manager is stuck up with a problem and is in a dilemma that can 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, they will bemore responsible and accountable. In a group they will follow an easy-gopolicy.
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Some managers misuse the committee to thrust their personal ideas. Since committees avoid taking action, the aggrieved do not get relief and 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 influence of this group on the organization is phenomenal. Though temporary, this group has broader powers of action and decision., responsibilities for investigation ,planning, research and analysis. Members of the task force are from different departments and they are sent back to the respective departments once the task is completed. The chance the member is getting to 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 during the execution of the special task gives him and others interacting a special but profitable experience to the organization as well as to the career development of the task force member. Task force gives the executives who are assigned tasks an unusual training ground .The creative energy of the task force members get a channel for releasing their talents which could not be done by the hierarchy. The greatest benefit for the organization apart from the technical and human resource achievement is the savings in the cost as the department is dismantled and not permanent. It need not be maintained like other departments whether work is there or not. The bad influence of task group is that department managers will have to give their subordinates to them at the cost of their routine work and that having 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 use quality control techniques throughout the organization, which ends up their own skill up gradation along with that of other members. It contributes a lot to the improvement, training and development of employees. It respects humanity and instills the essence of quality in everybodys mind. This builds a happy work place worthy to work. Quality is an attitude and hence it sets a 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 group and enables the organization for unusual and unexpected increase in quality standards, which makes the enterprise the market leader in quality products. When they make final oral presentation to management it improves the communication between workers and management and this forces the management to take interest and to get involved in QC.
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The influence of informal groups is different in many respects. This group gives satisfaction to the affiliation needs of employees as proximity of work place A kind of security in individuals help the management in satisfying the security needs of employees to that extent. Because of interaction and activities among the group a sentimental bond is developed and it makes them stronger to achieve group goals. The spirit of comradeship solves many of organizational problems, provides solutions, improves coordination and reduces tension of the employees to meet the target. Informal group is essential to support the formal group because the shortcomings of formal group working are compensated by informal group settings as these give the much-needed socialization and psychological satisfaction. Activities assigned by formal organization may not satisfy all the needs of the employees and this tends to activate separate relationships among them . This gives rise to the fact that there is a social imperative side by side with technical imperative. Mans quest for social satisfaction not given 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 through informal get together and dialogues. There will be no special motivation for special jobs and the morale may be even eroded. Informal organization through informal interaction comes to the rescue of such employees. An idle brain works like a devilthis is true in case of individual whose capabilities far exceed the actual job requirement. Such people have enough time for informal interaction in the absence of which these individuals get frustrated or develop a tendency to quit the job . Being subjected to too much of control employees seek to have a free ambience through informal organizations. Sayles has classified informal groups into four categories - Apathetic, erreatic, strategic, and conservative. Each has its own influence on the organization. Thus apathetic are indifferent and may not have a leader, while erratic are inconsistent with a leader. The strategic are consistent and are under pressure to give output. The conservative cooperate and have unity are active in union activities and grievance procedure. Since informal groups have their informal way of communication, they help in solving problems of members at work. A set of norms maintained by informal group enables the management to get things done in a democratic way. The bad influence of informal group is that an autocratic leader can exploit the situation and give prominence to his personal objectives more than to organizational objectives.
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To understand the influence of groups in organization the factors like group norms, group cohesion and group decision-making are also studied and analyzed. The norms apply to only behaviour and not for private thoughts. Norms simplify and a summary what the group feels is important. Group norms enable the group goals to be achieved smoothly. It helps to maintain group cohesiveness that contribute a lot to productivity. Have you understood ? What are the influences of formal and informal groups on the organization ? 3.7 GROUP DYNAMICS You know there is no organization where there are no groups. The groups affect 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 phenomena of the universe as an operation of force. Dynamics is opposite of statics meaning stationary. Dynamic means things are always on the move. The same is applicable to organizations in the sense that there are various forces in the organization keeping it in motion day to day. Literally it means the forces acting between groups, groups and individuals, group and individual etc. The forces are thus the leadership, the participation of members, cooperation of members, debate within the groups ,brain storming, training and development, group therapy, formation of groups into formal and informal, the rules and regulations for both the groups, the very structure of the organization and the processes going on in the organization. Group dynamics is defined as the social process by which people interact face to face in small groups is called group dynamics. Thus the interaction going 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 extracted out, the way in which the needs of members are satisfied etc all will form part of group dynamics. It is the quality and nature of group dynamics that will reflect the organizational effectiveness ultimately. Another definition says that group dynamics is the interaction of forces among members in a social situation. It also means the set of techniques employed so as to bring a behaviour to the members and group to work cohesively, to make the leader and members effective. Thus the technique wants the members to play their role in management situations of group discussions,
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team building, finding solutions to problems, while transacting and interacting with others. Kurt Lewin is of the view that group dynamics is the formation of groups, the conditions for the formation, their structure, process, their functions and how it affects the individuals and groups in an enterprise etc. Since the subjects like concept of groups, formation of different types of groups, their characteristics, Group behaviour, group commnication, group influence in organizations, group decision-making, group relations, which are subject matter of group dynamics, have been separately covered the same is not being repeated. Have you understood ? What is group dynamics ? 3.8 EMERGENCE OF INFORMAL LEADERS AND WORKING NORMS Informal organizations are created because of limitations of formal organizations. The actual organization is the result of the relationship between formal and informal groups. The official chart is not giving a picture of a complete organization chart .The informal organization refers to people in group or association at work place but these associations are not in the blueprint of the formal organization. It is the natural grouping of people. You can briefly refer to the causes of informal organizations though covered in detail previously. 3.8.1 CAUSES Desire on the part of members to socialize to overcome extreme specialization work and psychological fatigue and boredom of the job. This enables the members to satisfy their social needs. Physical nearness stimulates them to have relationship with others. Activities assigned by formal organization do not fulfill all the needs and hence a social or informal group is formed. Also job monotony, too much capability of individuals giving them leisure time, dislike of control and hence looking for a vent are other factors that prompt the formation of 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 the different leaders for informal groups, how do they emerge out etc.
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Have you understood ? What are the causes for the emergence of informal leaders and working norms ? 3.8.2 WORKING OF INFORMAL ORGANIZATIONS In contrast to formal organizations,. where the role, status, decision making channel, authority relationship, are all prescribed,, there is no prescription in the case of informal organizations. Thus such processes take place in an unstructured way in informal organizations though they interact with formal organizations. This can affect formal organization or the vice-versa. Hence the three most important elements viz. authority, leadership and communication of informal organizations can affect the human behaviour in the enterprise as a whole. Have you understood ? What are the elements of informal organizations that affect the human behaviour in an enterprise ? 3.8.3 AUTHORITY Since the informal organization is the result of innumerable social and personal relationships that arose spontaneously, this network does not require any authority by formal authority. In fact some of the relationship will be contradictory to formal rules and regulations. A third level worker may be the president of canteen committee. Then what is the source of authority for informal group? The authority is personal in informal group. Power is not delegated here but rather it is earned or given permissively by group members based on qualities and leadership and service mentality of the group head designate. The power comes from peers rather than from superiors of formal set-up. The leader can use this power across the organizational lines into other departments. However this authority is unstable compared to formal authority, as it is a product or gift of sentiments. In fact the power is same as any other informal member has. But the power can influence the behaviour of a member of the group without any legal entanglement. This is due to the acquiescence from peers and subordinates., though not empowered. Have you understood ? What is the influence of authority on human behaviour ?
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3.8.4 LEADERSHIP Leadership is very important for directing behaviour in informal organizations. In scientific management the leadership may come from superiors but it need not be so in informal organizations. Any member of the informal organization can be a leader. A leader performs some vital functions that contribute to the groups ability to survive in its environment. Thus a leader initiates action. A leader facilitates consensus, compromise, mediates etc and acts as a powerful liaison with the managers, outside world, with other groups, other members and with union etc. Any one who performs these functions efficiently, smoothly, without hassles etc becomes leader of the informal group. Apart from these such persons who are capable of satisfying the social needs, psychological needs, affiliation needs etc. of the members will become the informal leaders fully accepted by majority of the members. A leader does not need any majority in informal organization but should have the abilities as mentioned above to become the leader. Of course the personality of the leader plays a role to make him an acceptable leader. Generally, a superior is in a better position to perform these functions for members as he is in such a level but there are cases where juniors have outsmarted 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 around the work area and a responsive personality. Just like the situations the causes are 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 context capable of satisfying the groups needs. The members may not make any rational calculation with regard to who will lead the group to satisfy their needs but they give way to their feelings about the experience of proposed leader and to the belief of other members of the group. If a leader is able to impress upon them by some positive statements then also the members accept him as a leader of the informal group. An informal leader who is appointed as superior by formal authority will find it very difficult to satisfy the needs of members as well as that of the enterprise. Though with the appointment he gets a formal authority, he has to utilize this authority to satisfy the needs of both. The fact remains that such authority is not available for informal leader. Therefore, because of the two conflicting roles, enterprise objectives and group objectives, normally the leader appointed fails in his endevour as a leader. In history there are many cases where the informal leaders turn out to be ineffective and develop destructive conflict as soon as they receive formal authority.
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There is also a tendency on the part of member observers to refer any problem to the assumed informal leaders as though a single leader could be identified in every group. These are fine as long as the group is small. But in bigger groups, controversies are bound to occur and the tasks are multifarious that one leader can not tackle alone. In these cases there are two or more leaders who control the group. Not only that leaders share responsibilities, some act as task masters to achieve the group goals while other leaders function to maintain the human relations and integrity of the group Have you understood ? What is the influence of leadership on human behaviour ? 3.8.5 COMMUNICATION The informal communication channel called grapevine has a number of positive impact on the organizations. Of course it depends on the informal leadership to protect the value and the speed of communication. What the formal channel cannot achieve due to bureaucracy, it will be achieved by informal channel. Normally informal communication pass through the informal leader at some point of time and hence any rectification can be done by the group in consultation with the group leader. Many a time management depends on informal leaders to send communications for speed and acceptance or to get a better and speedier feedback etc. Have you understood ? 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 and regulations so that the members behave in a way that is subject to evaluation. These points of evaluation also serve as reference points. Thus the pattern of behaviour of the group can be termed as normative. The normative function is of great importance to the manager of an organization because the manager wants to know why and how an individual behaviour is in line with the group norms. The group members tend to form the norms and conform to the norms. Norms are rules of behaviour or proper ways of action, which are accepted as legitimate by the members of the group. In fact the kind of behaviour expected out of the members of the group are specified by these norms.
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Norms thus formed have other characteristics as follows Norms, while influencing the process of behaviour, simplify the processes and 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, then it 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 the members of the group so desire. Thus if the members wish that a particularnorm is required urgently, then they can institute such a norm suddenly 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 the letteroflawthan others. Thus a director of a firm may come ten minutes late to office,while an officer can not enjoy that liberty unless there aresomeexigenciesthat too with permission from superiors. Norms help the group in the achievement of goals as per budget and target. The members move in a fixed direction as per norms towards the goal andthis leads to uniformity. More the success of some norms new norms blossom out to accomplish the goals effectively. The norms keep the integrity of the group and in case of any weakness ofnorms modified norms in the best interest of the group will be the outcome. The group applies pressure on individuals employing the norms and if necessary t he individual will be advised t o be ready fo r resignationbutstillwould ensure the maintenance of the entity. Members conform to norms as long as it is profitable to them and if not a new norm will replace that by majority. Norms that make individual goals and group goals match are immediatelyintroduced. The degree of conformity to group norms vary according to personality traits of members and situations.
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Have you understood? List a few working norms. 3.9 GROUP DECISION MAKING TECHNIQUES In situations when the organization faces a unique problem that cannot be solved by a single individual, the responsibility is entrusted to a group of experts to look at the problem objectively and come up with solutions or recommendations. The group decision is very appropriate especially for non-programmed decisions. These decisions are complex and individuals may not possess the required skills to make the best decisions. It has been established that groups decision are much superior and more quality oriented than that could be by individuas. This is because groups can generate more ideas and alternative solutions than individuals. Thus for example, to solve an academic problem like result etc in a college, all faculty, professors, heads of departments staff and student representatives jointly discuss to find solutions. Groups do not make decision based on emotions or sympathy. Different individuals of the group may have varying background and hence the group evaluation will be highly valid. Have you understood ? 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 good decision. Acceptability for a group decision is high compared to individual decision. The group decision-making process consists of the following steps. Specification of objective. Identification of the problems.
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Search for alternative solutions to them. Evaluation of alternatives based on cost, implimentability, wide acceptability etc. Selection of the best alternative. Implimentation of the solution. Measurement of results. Feedback.
Have you understood ? 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 ordinary group interactions to advance techniques like Brain storming, Nominal group techniques, Delphi technique, Dialectic decision method and Fish bowling method. Creativity is encouraged in these techniques. Have you understood ? List the various techniques for group decision-making. 3.9.3 BRAIN STORMING Brain storming technique involves a group of people usually five to ten members sitting around a table in a classroom setting, generating ideas in the form of free association. The primary focus in this technique is on generation of ideas rather than on evaluation of ideas. The process also results in generation of large number of ideas so that a unique and creative solution can be found. All these ideas are written on the black board so that everybody can see those ideas and improve upon those ideas. The leader of the group explains the problem to the group and the rules to be followed. The problem is stated so precisely and clearly that memberscanfocus their attention on it to get a good direction. Each member is asked to give as many ideas as possible. Here the intention is quantity of ideas rather than quality of ideas. Factors financial, bias, legal, procedural etc inhibiting the free flow of ideasare pushed back. Brainstorming is conducted in a free, relaxed, frank ambience to get creative solutions.
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No criticism, judgement or comment on the ideas is allowed. Idea evaluation is deferred to a later stage to enable free flow of ideas without constraints. Brainstorming can be employed for simple well defined problems. It encourages enthusiasm, competitive spirit in members for generating ideas. Group members feel happy as chances of solutions are in sight.
Have you understood ? What is brain storming ? 3.9.4 NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE This is a structured group meeting wherein the members are not allowed verbal communication during the process of generation of ideas. The individuals 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, they areevaluated. The members rank the ideas and a decision is arrived at using the highest ranked one as solution. In case of disagreement the procedure is repeated.
This technique encourages creativity, controls majority force on minority, gives time to think etc.
The leader defines and explains the problem
Small group sits at table
Members silently write down all possible solutions
Ideas are ranked and the highest ranked idea is chosen
Ideas are discussed clarified and evaluated by members
The leader collects and records all theses solutions
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3.9.5 DELPHI TECHNIQUE In this technique, members do not have any face-to-face discussion. A small group prepares questionnaires on the problem and these are given to large number of members for filling up. It is through written communication solutions are sought. These filled question and answers are analyzed to improve the questions and again the process repeated. The responses of the original batch are fed back to the second batch of respondents. The process is repeated till a consensus is reached. Though this technique is time consuming, the members feel insulated from undue influence during face-to-face discussion. There is no conformity and domination as is the case usually in interactions. The quality of decision is far higher as opinions are very free because of geographical separation of participants. The steps can be represented as follows. Delphi leader defines the problemA sample of experts is selected Questionnaires are developed and sent to participants Responses are compiled and summarized into questionnairesParticipants revalue the responsesNew questionnaires prepared from new responses consensus reached Solution developed. Have you understood ? What is Delphi technique ? 3.9.6 DIALECTIC TECHNIQUE When you face a situation wherein the solution to the problem is yes or no, then you employ this technique. Exampleto buy or not to buy, to punish or not to punish, to merge or not to merge, to invest or not to invest etc. Such a situation needs an exhaustive discussion and extensive investigation since a wrong decision can have very serious repercussions. Since in such a situation there can be advantages as well as disadvantages of either of the two alternatives, the group required to make the decision is split into two subgroups, one favoring the go decision and the other favouring the no go . decision. Thus the first group lists all points for while the second group lists all the points against. These two groups meet and discuss the points thoroughly. After an exhaustive debate the weak group joins the strong group with valid points. Since it is democratically held, there is interchange of ideas, understanding of the viewpoints, tolerance etc leading to facts and an acceptable decision. A chart of the steps involved is shown below.
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Problem
Proposal A generated
Proposal B generated
Assumptions underlying A identified
Assumptions underlying B identified
Presentation of pros and cons of A
Presentation of pros and cons of B
Choice
A or B
Compromise of A and B
New alternatives
Steps in dialectic decision making Have you understood ? What is dialectic technique ? 3.9.7 FISHBOWLING This is a reformation of brain storming method. Here the members of the group 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 and give his views of the problem and proposed solution. The other members can ask him as many questions as necessary but relevant ones. The discussion is always between the center and one member at a time only and no discussion between other members is allowed. After the first person is through the second person repeats. The process continues till the last member completes the circle. They further discuss the responses and ideas of experts in a group now and a consensus is reached.
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Have you understood ? What is fishbowling ? 3.10 INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS People join organizations to satisfy their socio-economic as well as psychological needs. Individuals when thy join, they bring their skills as well as their customs, beliefs, values etc also. You know how individuals form groups. But when for many reasons individuals do not like other individuals, disagree with others; point out others weakness, express their hostility to others, criticize others etc. under certain circumstances. These cause interpersonal conflicts. It has been researched and established that the main factors responsible for the conflicts among individuals and groups are generally competetion, differing values, exploitative nature of human beings, streotype behaviour etc. Competition is a major source of interpersonal conflict. In a competitive environment people are rewarded for their competency and results. Naturally when every time the same person gets the award the other feels jealous of him. This results in dissatisfaction in others and their self-respect is challenged. Under the circumstances the hostility is directed to the individual who was awarded or to the authority that awarded the individual. Thus either 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 management union relations and this is the cause of negative interpersonal relations by management with workers. Some other managers view may be favorable and positive. Thus two sets of managers have two types of interpersonal relations with employees. one tensed interpersonal relations and the other has easy relations. People make rash judgment about others forming wrong opinions. This type of 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, with many religions, castes, languages etc to which managers and the workers belong. There can be conflicts if the bias is there. Interpersonal conflicts arise in groups and teams also. This is due to the tendency on the part of individuals to take undue advantage of the outcome of the group, though their contribution may be limited.
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Have you understood ? Briefly discuss interpersonal relations ? 3.10.1 CAUSES OF CONFLICTS S.Chandan defines conflict as a disagreement between two or more individuals or groups with each individual or group trying to gain acceptance of its views or objectives over others. Intergroup relations and interactions depend on how much they depend on each other and also how much they differ from each other. The greater the differentiation greater will be the potential for conflict. Some of the causes for conflicts are goals, attitudes, interdependence uncertainty of tasks, overload of work, differences in rank, ambiguity in the roles of employees, improper understanding of each others role and functions and differential reward system. Also are the factors like size of the firm, line-staff distinction, behavioural aspects like emotions, feelings, perceptions, values who cause disturbance to interpersonal relations. It must be understood that individuals are members in formal and informal groups for different purposes. Hence performance of intergroup depends on the remedial measures for the above-mentioned causes of conflict whether individuals or groups. Have you understood ? 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 assessing the interpersonal or intergroup relations as it has an impact on the efficiency of the working of the organization. 3.10.3 CONFLICT WITHIN THE INDIVIDUAL This is mostly value and belief related. The Indians coming to America find it very difficult to remain vegetarians. This is against their values. This creates conflict within them. Role conflict is equally an important form worth consideration. A policeman invited for a marriage finds that guests are drinking alcohol. It creates conflicts in him. A good lathe operator is asked to look after milling job though temporarily. It is creating a role conflict.
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Have you understood ? What do you mean by conflict within individual? 3.10.4 INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT Conflict between two or more individuals is called interpersonal conflict. It affects interpersonal relations. If there is a vacancy for a professor post, and if three persons are competing with budget constraints and policy constraints, conflicts arise among them. Two managers of the same firm develop conflicts to share the common resources. This affects the relations. Again when there are disagreements of goals, objectives, responsibilities and authority there is bound to be a conflict affecting the interpersonal and intergroup relations. Thus members of the board want a separate syllabus on labour laws of knowledge workers but the others object to that. You can also come across two marketing managers having difference of opinion with regard to the advertising media to be selected or the content of the message or the timing of ads. These types of clashes are due to personality problems. Have you understood ? 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 which individuals are members. It so happens that an individual does not want to abide 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 few individuals may not accept it. When group incentive scheme is in operation with the norm that it should be equally shared, an individual feels he deserves more ending up in conflict with the group. Manager as an individual fires a worker of a group resulting in the group reducing the productivity. The crew of the ship rose against the leader and that is the Mutiny on the Bounty. Have you understood ? 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, sections and departments. Often there are conflicts between union and management. There is a fight between line and staff as to who should report to whom even though organizational chart is clear. There is a conflict between task force and routine production group to share the resources.
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Over and above this you can observe clashes between one unit and the other in the same division. Thus the motor manufacturing unit does not supply the components to the machine assembly unit affecting the output of the latter, resulting in intergroup rivalry. Have you understood ? 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 be introduced, wastage should be reduced; make a senior work hard by giving importance to a junior etc. Build interpersonal trust. Decentralization of power and authority. Reduction of interdependency.
Have you understood ? List the remedial measures for better interpersonal relations 3.11 COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another perso n. It is a way o f reaching ot hers by t ransmit ting ideas, facts,,thoughts,feelings,and values. Accordingly information passed from person to person, group to group, section-to-section form part of communication. The contents, timeliness, the method and the situation at the time of transfer of information is critical in the sense that the effectiveness as well as usefulness of the message could be determined by these factors. Communication within the organization is very important for the very survival, leave alone the growth, of the organization Amistimed, wrong, out of context and exaggerated information can cause such damage that cannot be repaired at all.
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3.11.1 CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION Communication is a word derived from Latin, meaning commonness . It means the ideas of the sender of a message to a receiver must be same and that is the commonness. Actually, this is a process involving various elements through which two or more persons share meanings among themselves. Though there are a number of definitions you may restrict the definition to organizational context. Davis defines communication thus. Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another perso n. It is a way o f reaching ot hers 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 message or information, a medium through which transmission of the message is effected. Of course instead of message it can be feelings, ideas, etc which can be the subject of communication. An important aspect of communication is that must consider and respect the receiver of the message while structuring and delivering the message. Because if the response from the receiver is poor or wrong it shows that no proper consideration has been given to the receiver. Further there is an element of understanding in communication. Sharing of understanding is possible only when the receiver of the message understands the 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 the knowledge of its effect is passed on from the receiver to the sender in the form of a feedback. Thus communication involves correct interpretation and understanding of the message. From recruitment to retirement, the need for effective communication is paramount. Communication is the connecting link between the people and the purpose of the organization-Chester Barnard. Have you understood ? Define communication ? 3.11.2 IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATION 1. Communication is the process by which managers accomplish the functions 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
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peers, subordinates, supervisors, suppliers, inspectors, purchase men, customers etc. Also he will be having electronic, telephonic, or e-mail communication with all his connected individuals. The communication subject can be planning, alternative actions, new thinking etc. 3. Also the efficient functioning of the manager depends on how good he is at gathering information from his subordinates, peers, supervisors about everything connected to the job and output. Then only there is a meaning for his authority and responsibility. 4. A study in U.S.A. shows that the top management and middle management spend 60% of the work time in communication, while the plant itself spends about 50% of the work time in communication. 5. The foundation of good and effective management is communication according to Peter Drucker. 6. The most important functions of management are planning, organizing, directing and controlling and these can be performed successfully only through communication in some form or other. 7. A ccompany has to depend on marketing reports in the form of communication so as to plan its products, quantity, quality, and raw materials. Again to procure the materials and communicate with the market they need communication, printed, visual audio, web or through any other media. 8. How should a firm adapt itself to the changes in their technology, marketing plan and policy etc to the environment? oly through communication with the concerned. 9. To achieve the organizational goals the leader has to convey his decisions, exercises and efforts to the members and also to motivate them by announcing schemes and awards etc. The tool employed is communication only. 10. The very interaction with people in organization results in communication. Have you understood ? 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 message through media to a receiver who responds.
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Sender > Message > Media> Receiver This model indicates there are clearly four essential elements in communication process, though David Berlov, Shannon Weaver and others have given parallel models worthy of consideration. David Berlov is of the view that communication is a dynamic interactive process. He goes on to indicate that before the communication process commences, you need the ideas or purpose in the form of a message or information to be conveyed to the intended receiver .The message is converted into a symbolic form and passed along some channel to the receiver who translates the message into a meaning. The response of the receiver is the feedback. Please look at the model. 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 or other in formations. In an organization a manager wishes to communicate information about an important production deadline for motivating other members of the department. This makes the production line worker to contact the supervisor for additional help technical or commercial. Thus unless 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 by choosing symbols as mentioned above. Lack of mutuality ends up in lack of communication and it creates only misunderstanding. Thus the process of converting the message into symbols is known as encoding. The message is the physical form of thought, which can be experienced or understood by one or more senses of the receiver. It can be in such forms 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 receivers background in the mind. Perhaps a microchip engineer should not use the technical terms in his communication to advertising department. So also the advertising department need not refer to the demographics etc in its communication to engineers, as it will be unreceptive.
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Channel is the vehicle used in the transmission of the message. It is the carrier of a medium, which bridges the gap between the sender and the receiver. It can be a face-to-face oral channel of communication, a telephone conversation, written form, or it can be any other form of physical gesture. The channel is thus air for spoken words and paper for written or letters. For communication to b effective and clear the channel must be precise. What is the use of telephone to urgently convey technical features in an engineering drawing? You must use an overnight express mail or e-mail through Internet all subject to scanning. Of course the need and requirement of the receiver is necessary to decide the channel. 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 or anybody inside and outside the organization. The receivers senses perceive the senders message. If the message has not reached the receiver then communication has not taken place. Equally bad is the consequence if the receiver does not understand the message. Decoding is the process by which the receiver interprets the message and translates it into meaningful information. It is a two step process. perceive the message and interpret the message.Decoding is influenced by the receivers past experience, personal assessment of symbols and gestures, peoples expectation and mutuality of meaning with the sender. The more the match more effective is the communication. Response to the communication is the next step in the process. The receiver carries out the instructions or acts upon that, or records and files the message for future references etc. The feedback is the final stage in the process and confirms whether the receiver has taken the required action or not. The feedback completes the process of communication.
Have you understood ? 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
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Even informal rumor mill and grapevine communications are oral. This is very effective for leaders with oratorical style to address followers. Oral communication is effective because the receiver is able to hear the content of the message, see the physical gestures associated with as well as changes in pitch, tone, speed and volume of the spoken word. Any clarification needed is sorted out on the spot. Oral communication is more forceful in organizations to bring about changes in attitudes, behaviour and perceptions of the employees. An emotional communication can touch the feelings and can instill faith, confidence, trust and sincerity. Further, it is simple, direct, time saving and least expensive. Immediate feedback and instantaneous action plan are the hallmarks of oral communication. Needless to mention that it creates warmth and friendliness. The main disadvantage is that distortion can occur as the message passes through the hierarchy down or up. More over there is no record if at all to show that there was an error in the communicated contents. Different people depending on their experience and education and context can understand the gesture in different ways, with different perceptions.. Hence the feed back may be wrong sometimes. A long oral communication cannot be patiently heard and ineffective. Written communication refers to personal letters, memoranda, policy, procedure, manuals, notices, appoitment orders, purchase orders and associated communications etc. A written communication is precise, verified and can be in records for future reference. Unlike spoken message, written message can be corrected if necessary Lengthy and complicated messagesparticularly technically oriented can be communicated only in written form. The disadvantages are that it is delayed and slow right from preparation of the text of the message. Again the written communication faces competition from other written messages from different persons in the hands of the same receiver. More dependence on written communication delays the matters. Have you understood ? Discuss the various methods of communication. 3.11.5 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATIONS An organization generally provides channels for the flow of information on which the decisions of the organizations will be based. In an organization there has to be communication from top to bottom levels known as downward communication, there has to be upward communication and
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similarly there can be communication among the pees or equal level called horizontal communication. Hence you can call an organization a network of communications. The channels of communication can be intentionally designed and prescribed formally, in which case it is called a formal channel and the communication through that channel is called formal communication. It is a deliberate attempt to regulate the flow of information and organizational communication enabling smooth, orderly and accurate flow of information to the correct destinations. All other forms of communication taking place outside the preview of formal channels are all called informal communications and the concerned channels called informal channels. Whether formal or informal the communication within the organizations are normally two-way communication only, whereas the communication to customers, suppliers.sales tax departments and other government parties are all one-way communication only. Management is a two-way traffic as it is based on an effective machinery of communication. Two-way is possible only when the receiver of the message responds or the feedback is generated. Feedbacker has the power to make constructive criticism of the original message and the sender can adjust the message or rectify the message. There is every possible chance for addition and deletion of information in the interest of the enterprise. Of course there should not be any prestige issue between the sender and receiver. Have you understood ? What is meant by formal and informal communication ? 3.11.6 FORMAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK
chain
wheel
circular
Free flow
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Single chain: Here the flow is from superior to the immediate subordinate down wards through each successive level and similarly upwards. Wheel: Here the superior is the hub and all subordinates communicate through him only. Circular : Here each person communicates with his adjoining two persons and the flow is circular and slow. Free flow; Here each person communicates with all the others freely but lacks coordination. Task force is an example. Inverted V: Here the subordinate can communicate with his superior and superiors superior. This makes flow faster more effectively. Have you understood ? Briefly sketch the formal communication network 3.11.7 INFORMAL COMMUNICATION NETWORK Also known as grapevine communication are caused because of the operation of social forces at work place. Grapevine communication for example will be active when there is a formal communication on computerization sections, some new appointments or changes, when people come close in work place or when people form cluster with trust worthy friendly colleagues. The network 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 who has similar perceptions and outlook etc. There are positive and negative influences of informal communications.
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Have you understood? Draw the informal communication network. 3.11.8 BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION One of the major problems cited by management is breakdown in communication. This is because of the hurdles in the communication process. The problem of communication arises because of many barriers to communication. You have to worry about barriers to organizational communication. One of the important barriers is semantic barrier. This means the symbols like words, pictures, actions etc carry different meanings. If their perception and interpretation goes wrong then the message will be misunderstood. Lack of clarity and precision also makes the interpretation wrong. Poorly chosen words, phrases, ideas, lack of cohesion, awkward vocabulary etc causes barriers to communication. Also faulty translations and assumptions are other reasons of barriers. The communication of specialists is more technical not clearly understood by common workers. Added to this are the emotional and psychological barriers. Depending on their state of mind things are half understood or prematurely evaluated, or inattentively receiving the communication not responding to circulars, bulletins etc. Distortion in messages is common in organizations. Specifically organizational policy if not supportive of free flow in all directions and restrictions are there then the communication is inadequate. Further organizational rules, regulations, specification of channels etc filter the contents of the message. Multiple levels of managers can delay and block the 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 other barriers to communication. Have you understood ? What are the various barriers of communication. 3.11.9 EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Any communication is effective if the message is fully interpreted and understood by the receiver in the way the sender wants it should be understood which is measured from the positive feedback from the receiver. Steps employed for effective communications are 130
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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 of messages. Ensure that feedback is received for corrective action.
Have you understood? What is an effective communication? 3.12 CONTROL In any field if things are being achieved as per plan and norms then the question of controlling the process does not arise. Unfortunately control is there everywhere, confirming that things do not conform to standards and targets inviting the exercise of the control function. In the management process control can be defined as the process of analyzing whether actions are being taken as per plan and are the respective and necessary corrective actions taken or not so that the actions can conform to planning. Essentially control process is the measurement of deviations between planned performance and actual performance and to suggest corrective actions wherever needed.. One famous definition is Control is a management function controlling is measurement and correction of performance in order to make sure that enterprise objectives and plans devised to attain them are accomplished. Have you understood? 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 and exercise its control on its participants. All social units need control but the problem of controlling human behaviour is acute. In natural social units like family natural obligations are there for a member to carry on with his activities. There is inbuilt control mechanism in such units. It is not true with organizations because an organization is a deliberate and purposive creation. They are established for the achievement of objectives. Hence members
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behaviour has to be controlled, as they will not automatically contribute to the achievement of organizational objective. Therefore, an organization has to devise ways and means to achieve conformity of members behaviour to certain specified standard. The ways and means designed should be such that control aims at performance achievement, maintain a system of reward and reinforcement and meet the organizational and individual needs. Have you understood? Why there should be control? 3.12.2 FEATURES OF CONTROL It is an important forward looking management function because future happenings are checked and not the past. In control process always the past performance is measured since it will not be possible to measure the outcome of a future event that has not occurred. In the light of these measurements managers can suggest corrective measures and actions for future period. Control is both a process as well as result. You have thus production control, quality control, inventory control, administrative control etc. Control is a continuous process. Control is related various organizational processes. It affects other processes and is affected by other processes. Some processes are directly related to control while other processes are indirectly related to control. Similarly some processes are closely related to control while others are not closely related to control. Thus control is directly related to planning action, delegation of authority and communication. Control guarantees performance against a set standard. To support the compliance of members behaviour with the norms, formal reward and punishment systems must be established.
Have you understood ? What are the various types of control ? 3.12.3 LINK AG E O F CO NTRO L W ITH O RG ANIZATIO NAL PROCESSES. Planning is the basis of control, action is the essence, delegation is the key and information is the guide for control.
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3.12.4 PLANNING The planning lays the foundation for control as it sets the behavioural norms and activities in the organization. Control measures these activities and behaviour in the organization. Control is applied in order to remove any deviation in behaviour or norms. Control shows that there are some goals and policies and standards. Planning process sets the goals. The result of planning, policy and goal is control. Many information provideed by control is used for planning and replanning. Thus planning precedes control and control succeeds planning. Both are linked by actions only. You may refer the figure below.
Thus various elements of planning provide what is intended and expected and the means by which the goals are achieved . These elements also provide a means for reporting back the progress made against the goals and a general framework for new decisions and actions in an integrated pattern. A very well conceived plan itself provides means for effective control. Have you understood ? What is the importance of planning in control ? 3.12.5 ACTION Control emphasizes what actions should be taken to correct deviations that may be found between standards and actual results. During the execution of the managerial process for the achievement of organizational objectives actions and further actions are necessary. Also side by side there may be changes in actions and corrections in actions as per information provided by control procedure will be taking place. Essentially control means an action to correct a condition found to be in error or action to prevent such a condition. Have you understood ? What is the significance of action in control ?
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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 defective actions. There are factors that are controllable by managers but those not controllable will be out of his jurisdiction. More the factors that are controllable by managers, more effective will be the organizational performance. Delegation of authority hence plays a crucial role in control. Have you understood ? Why delagation is important while exercising control ? 3.12.7 INFORMATION Management information system and management control system are so closely interlinked that the information, which is the key for any control action, provided enables effective control by managers. Adequacy of information is a must for control action to be fruitful. Again it is through the authority and responsibility that a manager ensures adequate information. 3.12.8 CONTROL PROCESS
Control is a process and has certain specific steps Control is reciprocally related to planning. It is performed in the context of planning and aids in two waysdraws attention to situations where new plan is required, it provides some of the data upon which plans can be based. In order to exercise control managers have to take four steps as indicated in the above sketch. These steps are, 1. Setting performance standards. 2. Measuring actual performance. 3. Analysing variance. 4. Taking corrective actions.
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Have you understood ? Briefly sketch the control process. 3.12.9 TYPES OF CONTROL Post-action control based on feedback from the actionfeedback control Control of inputs required in actionfeed forward control. Control at different stages of action processreal time control.
Concurrent control
Feedforward control
Inputs
Processing
outputs
Flow of information Corrective action
Feedback control
List the types of control. 3.12.10 CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT BY EXCEPTION Planned performance cannot be always adhered to as per plan. There will be some exceptions on which the manager has to bestow his special attention. This is management by exception. Thus control also must be based on the time honoured exception principle. There will be signals where the manager can identify and communicate with some behaviour calling for his special attention. A knowledge of the past performance or measurement is required so that it can be compared with the present behaviour. This enables the manager to identify the exceptions and put a special attention to set right the behaviour. Superiors attention is drawn only to exceptional differences between planned performance and subordinates handle actual performance and routine things.
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Have you understood ? W h a t i s t h e li n k a g e o f ma n a g e men t b y exce p t i o n wi t h control? 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. Physical sanctions like coercive power, punishment etc as in jail or material sanctions like reward and material resources, salaries and wages or symbolic sanctions like prestige and status to alter the behaviour of members are all practiced. Have you understood ? 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 it is misinterpreted and misperceived resulting in adverse impact of control. You must remember that man is a social animal and hence may not like control .Man always resents control and objects to being evaluated. Control no doubt puts pressure on members to behave in a desired way. People would 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 people behave so as to be in conformity with the organizational expectations but may not be so actually. Finally they behave as required by organization.
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Have you understood ? What are the behevioural implications of control ? 3.12.13 MEASURES FOR EFFECTIVE CONTROL Spell out the organizational rules, regulations.policies, procedures, and guidelines for expected behaviour. Build mutual trust and create an attractive perception about organizational control mechanism. Design a communication system upward and downward for carryingcontrolinformation so that control can be effected through communication itself.
Control system should be tailor made, as all people cannot like the same system. Control results can be very good if motivational mechanism in tune with the 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.
Have you understood ? List the various measures for effective control ? Summary In this unit a detailed discussion has been done on the formal and informal groups that are prevalent in organizations. The structure of an organization and the features of the structure have been elaborately described. This enables a study on the group behaviour and its influence on the organization. Alongside a discussion has also been made on interpersonal relations and the effect of communication and control on the behaviour of the group. A brief description on the techniques of group decision-making and their working 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.
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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 orga nization 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 you study them in detail? Elucidate the influence of both formal and informal groups in an organization. What is communicat ion? Differentiate formal and informal communication.
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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 through growth and prosperity. Mahatma Gandhi as a leader could lead the country to freedom . It is his leadership that brought the victory finally and the British leadership could not but surrender to his goals. But what are the qualities required for a leader, whether it is same for all types of organizations etc are all to be studied and researched. This is done in detail in this unit. The various theories associated with the different types of leadership styles stand a testimony to the significance of the style of leadership. You also have to see whether a leader is born or made. What is the role of power on leadership and how far the power helps a leader in achieving the results will be known as you proceed in this unit. There is a striking difference between a leader and a manager. A leader has admirers and followers but a manager has only subordinates. A manager is appointed by higher authorities while a leader is elected or selected by a group in a social situation purely based on his charisma or other personal traits. It is necessary for you to know whether you need a good leader or a good manager for your organization or can a manager be a leader also? 4.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After going through this unit you will be able to understand What is meant by leadership. What are the different styles of leadership.
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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 LEADERSHIPMEANING AND DEFINITION One single factor that differentiates a successful enterprise from an unsuccessful enterprise is the dynamic and effective leadership. Behaviour can be influenced by the exercise of power and authority. But relying only on these elements for a desirable behaviour in the organization may not bring the maximum result. People may not be enthusiastically and willingly contributing for the achievement of organizational objectives. You need men of caliber at the helm of affairs to get the willing cooperation of people even in war. These men of calibre who can motivate the employees and get their willing cooperation and enthusiasm in the achievement of organizational objectives are the leaders. A right leadership has a long term positive effect on the behaviour of people. But there are different forms and styles of leadership, the degree of whose success and contribution varies. The meaning of leadership can now be explained as follows. Leadership is the process of influencing the behaviour of others to work willingly and enthusiastically for achieving the predetermined goals. In the previous chapter, mention has been made about the response of individuals that vary from resistance to commitment, to the application of power and authority. The objective of leadership is to ensure that any tendency to resistance should be unwilling and to commitment must be willing. So a leader must be capable of influencing group activities with regard to goal formation and goal accomplishment. Therfore leadership is a value-loaded term. People can be hypnotized to become achievement oriented willingly by a good leader. Often you hear reports of business failures and an analysis can prove that poor leadership is the major contributor for the failure. While managers in a firm are the product of both social and technical processes, the leadership stems out of social influence process only. Leadership is not the attribute of business alone .It is there in army, colleges, university, hospitals etc. You have seen in the previous chapter how different groups, formal and informal, are formed and how leaders emerge out in groups. You need a leader to guide, motivate and get result as desired from members of the group. Different leaders of different groups get different recognition because of difference in their competency.
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Have you understood ? What is the meaning of leadership ? 4.3.1 DEFINITIONS Leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts towards goal achievements in a given situation S.Chandan Leadership is the art of influencing and inspiring subordinates to perform their duties willingly, competently and enthusiastically for achievement of group objectives. From these definitions, you find that the most essential ingredients of leadership are 1) followers, f 2) goals, g 3) a measure of willingness on the part of followers, w4) a given situation, s. Hence a leadership function can be L= F (f, g, w, s) Tennenbaum et al defines leadership as interpersonal influence exercised in a situation and directed through communication process , towards the attainment of a specified goal or goals. This definition emphasizes that influencing behaviour is through communication but does not speak about enthusiasm. Terry says therefore Leadership is essentially a continuous process of influencing behaviour. A leader breathes life into the group and motivates it towards goals. The lukewarm desires for achievement are transformed into a burning passion for accomplishmentthis establishes that the will to do is triggered by leadership. Another behaviour scientist defines it Leadership is the process of influencing and supporting others to work enthusiastically toward achieving objectives However, Peter Drucker defines leadership as follows. Leadership is the lifting of mans vision to higher sights, the raising of a mans performance to a higher standard, the building of a mans personality beyond its normal limitations Have you understood ? Write the various definitions of leadership. 4.4 IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP Leaderships importance stems out of the fact that human participation in an organization should be whole-hearted and such a situation can be inspired only by a good leader. No individual can devote all the hours of work for
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the organization. He involves partially only and he spends the other hours for other activities that fulfill his socio-psychological needs like affiliation etc which also demand his time, energy and his faculty. Obviously, these extra organizational aspects can affect the behaviour expected by the organization. Hence a suitable modification is required in the organizational structure and administration. Only a leader can effect this and bring about changes. Again the environmental effect on the organization through legal, technological, cultural, economical factors etc. can call for professional changes 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 all these call for new coordination and strategy. This can be done by a leader only 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 some exigencies for a desired behaviour of members and such a change can be done only by a wise leader. If you want to secure desirable actions from a group of followers voluntarily without the use of coercion, you should have the ability that is available with leaders only This ability only makes the leadership to seek defined objectives enthusiastically. Only a leadership has the special quality of understanding the human factors that bind the group which if motivated yields fantastic results. Motivation is necessary for work performance. Higher the motivation better will be the performance. A good leader motivates the employees for high performance and the very existence of a good leader itself is a motivation for the whole organization. A good leader can instill confidence in his followers by directing them, guiding them for success. A good leader trains his followers well, advises them well, patiently solves their problems and pulls out the hidden talents and skills of the followers. Boosting up the morale of employees is an artistic ability normally available with good leaders. Morale is an attitude on the part of employees towards management, organization and voluntary cooperation to offer their ability to the organization. High morale leads to high productivity and organizational stability. Thus you can say that good leadership is essential in all aspects of management be it motivation, communication or direction.
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Have you understood ? Briefly write about the importance of leadership in organizational context. 4.4.1 FORMAL AND INFORMAL LEADERSHIP When a person is appointed as an authority figure or elected ,then it is formal leadership. Thus a person is appointed as production manager and authority is given to exercise formal leadership over the subordinates an example of formal leadership. The ambassador to a country is appointed and he acquires the authority of leadership in giving directions to the people concerned. But when a person uses interpersonal influence in a group without designated authority or power using only their charm, intelligence, skills, and other traits so that people turn to them for advice, direction and guidanceinformal leadership is emerging out in him. Religious leaders, civic leaders, opinion leaders are examples. Successful formal managers having charismatic personality are also becoming informal leaders in situations. However, there are some common traits and qualities for a leader that enables him 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 of these traits only can become a good leader, as all leaders cannot possess all these qualities.
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Have you understood ? Differentiate the formal leadership from that of the informal leadership. 4.5 LEADERSHIP STYLES Different leaders approach the problem of altering the behaviour of followers in different ways. The pattern of behaviour displayed by a leader in influencing the behaviour of his followers is called the style of leadership. Followers are subordinates in organizational context. The particular pattern of behaviour of a leader emerges out when he begins to respond very similarly in similar conditions He then develops some actions habitually and those who are closely working with him can predict these actions. Later you will see that leadership itself is a personality trait. The various pattern of behaviour displayed by leaders are called different styles of leadership. Each leader follows a philosophy, which in itself is the leadership style. A style of leadership is a relatively enduring set of behaviour, which is a characteristic of the individual, regardless of the situation. You have leadership styles based on behavioural approach, some based on situational approach. Have you understood ? List the different leadership styles. 4.5.1 AUTOCRATIC OR DICTATORIAL LEADERSHIP These leaders keep the decision-making authority and control in their hands and take full responsibility for all actions. They will never make anybody a scapegoat for any of their faults. They structure the situations in their own way and expect the workers to follow their orders. They will not allow any deviation from their orders. The subordinates are instructed to carry out their orders without any question. Also the subordinates entirely depend on their leader and normally they suffer in the absence of their leaders. Some autocratic leaders are tough and highly dictatorial and are a source of fear or intimidation. Some leaders are paternalistic depending on the approach of the leader. The motivational approach of the leader can be threat and punishment or appreciation and rewards. When highly dictatorial, the subordinates develop a kind of fear, sense of insecurity, frustration,low morale, and will avoid responsibility. The drive and initiative in them is killed and they do not display
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their innovative behaviour. The autocratic leader believes that his leadership is unquestionable as it is conferred upon him because of the position he enjoys. He also believes that his knowledge is superior, power to punish or reward is his privilege They even impose penalty on subordinates or use abusive language in front of others and criticize. But autocratic leaders who positively motivate are a class you enjoy to work with. But the biggest nuisance is from those autocratic leaders who hide their incompetence for fear of being exposed. This style permits quick decisions, as there is only a single person to take decisions. There are also many members who prefer working under strict discipline and under central authority. The style provides motivation and rewards to a manager who gives results. However a majority of members do not like strictness and discipline especially because motivation is negative. Single leadership creates frustration and lacks motivation. Morale is lost and unbalanced rewards create conflicts jeopardizing the organizational efficiency since communication is also oneway. Have you understood ? 4.5.1 What is meant by autocratic leadership ? 4.5.2 PARICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP This is also known as democratic leadership. Here the subordinates are consulted and their feedback is taken into decision-making process. Though the leader makes the final decision, he acts more as a moderator and of course he takes responsibility for the results. The management in this type recognizes the fact that there are employees who are capable to give innovative ideas, intelligent, skillful, competent, suggestive etc. Obviously the group members get an opportunity to display their talents and are encouraged to demonstrate initiative and creativity. The members thus get a chance to participate in decision-making. This incidentally leads to a good management-labour understanding or relations, higher morale and greater job satisfaction. This style is very useful when you have educated lobour , experienced, dedicated and ready to work independently with nil or least directives. By this you are developing a set-up conducive to growth and development. Good climate is generated for growth and individual personality development too. This style is also consultative and ideographic. When participation is there, it means mental and emotional involvement of a person in a group
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situation is assured. It ends up in sharing of responsibilities and contribution to group goal achievement. Moreover, a participative manager decentralizes the decision making process which increases positive motivation. The leader does not take any unilateral decision and believes in consultation and participation of members. The superior even rewards the subordinates for the best suggestions during consultation. The benefits of this style of leadership are The productivity is high as participants are the decision makers. They share the responsibility with the superior thereby ensuring not only his safety but also for themselves. You will not drill a hole in the boat in which you are traveling with your friend. High morale and favourable attitude of employees result in organizational stability. It is a motivating technique as the employees feel highly elevated as their 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 to subordinates. To start with, the manager decides the policy,programme and limitations for actions. Then the entire process is left to the subordinates Here the group members perform everything and the manager keeps liaisonwith outside only to get materials for the group to perform. This style leaves everything to subordinates, who make their own decisions and it helps subordinates to develop independent personality. But the contribution of the manager is nil and it can create chaos. It may be creative with a free and informal work environment but can lead to inefficiency if members are not capable of decision making or wrong decision makers. All members are not leaders and hence can create frustratio n and noncooperation. With so much of freedom there is a possibility that a member may put his individual interest above the group interest. Have you understood ? What is free rein ?
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4.6 THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP 4.6.1 MANAGERIAL GRID A style of leadership developed by Blake and Mouton is known as managerial grid. According to them the style of leadership is influenced by factors of both task oriented and relation oriented behaviour in varying degrees. For this they used the phrase concern for in the model, to convey how managers are concerned for people or production, rather than how much production that will be getting out of the group. Thus the model does not represent the real production or the extent to which human relationship needs are satisfied. When the model refers to concern for production, it means the attitude of superiors towards a variety of things like quality of policy decision, procedures, work efficiency, volume of output, creativeness of research, processesetc. Concern for people refers to the degree of personal commitment towards goal achievement, maintaining the self-esteem of workers, responsibility based on trust, satisfying interpersonal relations. Thus the managerial grid gives five different styles of leadership as shown in the figure below.
High 9
Concern for people
1.9
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9.9
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Low 1 2 3 4 Low 1
Concern for Production
High
Concern for Production The Managerial grid Have you understood ? 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 from people and keep the organizational morale high. 1.9 Thoughtful attention to needs of people leading to a friendly and comfortable organizational climate and work tempo.
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9.1 An excellent arrangement of work resulting in efficiency. Human elements have no effect in this style. 5.5 A style in which leaders maintain equal concern for people as well as for work or production. 9.9 The style displays the highest concern for people as well as for production resulting in the best performance with the support of committed people. Each style points out the relative contents of concern for production or people and implies that the most desirable leader behaviour is 9.9. Blake and Mouton have designed training programmes to change the behaviur of managers towards 9.9 style. Managerial grid is a useful device to a manager as he will be able to find out the pitfalls in his own style and accordingly change his botheration either towards people or towards production . However, managerial grid has many points each representing a style. When you should adopt a particular point depends on many factors and why a manager is at a particular point depends on factors like superior, subordinates, power of supervision etc. A training programme can be hence designed after considering factors affecting the managerial efficiency. 4.6.2 TRIDIMENSIONAL GRID This theory of leadership was propounded by Reddin. He conceptualized a three 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 dimensions only, by adding effectiveness Reddin is integrating the concept of leadership styles according to situational demand. Task orientation means the extent to which a manager directs the subordinates Efforts towards goal achievement. This calls for planning, organizing and controlling functions on the part of the manager well. Relationship orientation means the extent to which a manager has personal relationships. This depends on how far the manager encourages his subordinates to give suggestions and new ideas, how far he is respecting
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those ideas and their feelings, how much trust he keeps on his subordinates etc. Finally, effectiveness means how far the manager is successful in his position (reflected in results and relations). It is quite obvious that if the style 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 leadership is ineffective. This establishes that the difference between an effective and ineffective styles is not the difference in behaviour but it is the appropriateness in the behaviour to the situation. Thus the degree of TO or RO or the combination of both used by the leaders results in four different styles of leadership as shown below.
Related
Integrated
High Relationship Orientation Low
Separated
Dedicated
Low
High
Task and relationship orientation Have you understood ? What is tridimensional leadership ? 4.6.3 EXPLANATION These four types represent four types of behaviour. The separated manager is concerned with corrections of deviations. So he writes rules and policies and enforces them. The related manager sees the organization as a social system and he accepts others and finds them out and no pressure is applied for time. He naturally gets cooperation as he sets examples and he wants to work with others. The dedicated manager is domineering, bothers about production and does not identify with subordinates. He cannot work without power. Interestingly the integrated manager worries about production and about people. He himself sets an example, involves people, and carries out twoway communication with strong identification and emphasizing teamwork. However these styles are not effective in all situations. Any style is effective only for particular situation. Thus displayed out of context each style can be less effective or more effective as shown below.
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More effective styles Developer Less Effective Bureaucrat Executive Benevolent Autocrat Basic Styles Related Separated Integrated Dedicated
Less effective Styles Missionary Deserter Compromiser Autocrat
More Effective
Thus the four styles give birth to eight more styles as stated below. Basic styleLess effective styleMore effective style. Integrator------CompromiserExecutive DedicatedAutocratBenevolent autocrat RelatedMissionaryDeveloper Separator DeserterBureaucrat Have you understood ? What is the explanation you can give from the diagram ? 4.6.4 FIEDLERS CONTINGENCY THEORY Fred Fiedler is one of the earliest profounders of leadership theory. His theory explicitly accounted for situational factors. According to him three situational variables affect the group performance. They are 1) Leader member relations 2) Task structure 3) Leaders positional power. It is these factors that determine the extent of control a leader is ought to have.
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Leader-member relations. The extent of relationship reflects the extent to which the followers have confidence and trust in their leader and his leadership quality. A situation in which the relations are good, trust and open communications will be there. It is easy to manage then than in a situation where the relations are strained. Task structure. Here the tasks performed by the subordinates are measured and how far is the conformity to the expectation and specification is examined. This involves clarity of goals and clearly defined steps to achieve the goals. When the tasks are well structured, policies, rules and procedures are clear then there is no ambiguity at all for accomplishment of job. Positional power. This means the power enjoyed by the leader because of his official position in the organization. This will decide his limit of decisionmaking, allocation of resources, rewards and sanctions. Lower position has only limited authority. Higher position enables him to take charge of the situation. The most favorable situation for a leader as per this model is when the task is structured, leader has substantial power and authority to exercise influence on subordinates. You need different styles for different situations and since leadership style cannot be changed, it is for the leader to change the situation to suit his style. In fact Fiedler has developed a leadership-training programme based on this. Fielders situational analysis can be represented through the following diagram.
Style of Leadership
Task Directed
Human Relations
Very + favourabl
favourable
unfavourable
Very unfavourable
Favorableness of a situationFiedler model of leadership. He identified leadership styles on two dimensionstask directed and human relations oriented. Task directed is concerned with achievement of task performance. He derives satisfaction out of performance. Human relations oriented style is concerned with a good interpersonal relations and achieving
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a position of personal performance. Fiedler used two types of scores to measure the style adopted by a leader. Scores based on least preferred worker (LPC), and assumed similarity of opposites (AS). How it is measured is shown below. Friendly 87654321 Unfriendly _____________________________________________________________________ Enthusiastic 87654321 Unenthusiastic _____________________________________________________________________ Cooperative 87654321 Uncooperative _____________________________________________________________________ Helpful 87654321 Frustrating _____________________________________________________________________ Interesting 87654321 Boring _____________________________________________________________________ Distant 87654321 Close _____________________________________________________________________ Have you understood ? What is Fielders contingency theory ? 4.6.5 PATH GOAL THEORY House and Mitchell proposed this theory. They propose that the effectiveness of leaders can be measured from their impact on the subordinates motivation, on their ability to perform effectively and their satisfaction. The leader behaves inorder to compliment the group work setting and aspirations so that the goal achievement of the subordinates gets a boost up.It also clarifies the path. This approach is based on the workers belief that efforts would lead to successful outcomes. Since the leader sets very clear path and guidelines the subordinates achieve personal as well as work related goals. Also the leader helps them in this endevour. The subordinates accept the behaviour of the leader, as it is a source of satisfaction to them. This goal path is shown below.
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
Both employee and organization are better able to reach the goals
Path goal leadership process
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Now the leader may adopt any one style depending on situation. 1. Directive. The leader gives specific orders to subordinates and keeps him busy with planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling the activities of the subordinates. 2. The leader shows friendly behaviour towards the employees and shows his concern for their needs and welfare. Overall he creates a pleasant organizational climate. 3. Participative The leader makes the decisions with the active participation of the employees and shares information with them and invites suggestions from them. 4. Achievement. The leader sets challenging assignments and seeks improvement of performance by instilling confidence in them. Have you understood ? What is Path-goal theory ? 4.6.6 SITUATIONAL VARIABLES While exercising the above leadership styles two types of situational variables are 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 of leadership 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 is due 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 work group. The task may be structured or unstructured. A structured task is well defined in activities, authority and responsibility associated is tagged to
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task, and the type of relation is made clear. All these are absent in unstructured task. The authority system tells how much authority has been delegated to the leader for influencing the subordinates. Workgroup means the type of group in the organization to which the employee belongs. Leadership Style And Situations
Leadership style Directive Situation in which appropriate Positive effect on satisfaction and expectancies of subordinates working on unstructured task Positive effect on satisfaction on subordinates working on dissatisfying, stressful or frustrating task Positive effect on satisfaction of subordinates who are ego-involved with non-repetitive task Positive effect on the confidence that the efforts will lead to effective performance of subordinates working on ambiguous and non-repetitive task
Supportive
Participative
Achievement oriented
Thus there is no best style of leadership. Appropriate style has to be adopted that enables the subordinates achieve objectives in spite of organizational or environmental ambiguity. That style of leadership capable of reducing uncertainties setting clear path is the best as this will increase the expectations of the subordinates. And hence it will lead to good results. Have you understood ? 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 personal characteristics like physical, personality, mental, attitudinal etc are associated with leadership success. The research relates many of the traits to a successful leader. A broad classification of six categories of traits is given below. The personal, external and physical attributes of the leader like height, weight, age etc. Socio economic status like education, social status, mobility and experience. Intelligenceability, knowledge, judgment.
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Personality factors aggressiveness, alertness, dominence, enthusiasm, extrversion, independene, self-confidence and authoritarianism. Work behaviour characteristics achievement need, responsibility, initiative and persistence. Social characteristicssupervisory ability, cooperativeness, popularity, prestige, tact, diplomacy.
These characteristics are valid indicators of successful leaders. But when compared in real life there is not much agreement with these facts. There are cases where leaders are intelligent but not brighter than subordinates. Hence you cannot be sure personality or such traits alone can make successful leaders. This theory totally neglects the importune of subordinates. Without subordinates cooperation no leader can succeed. Perhaps traits of a person coupled with demand of situational factors can make a good leader. Have you understood ? What is Trait theory ? 4.6.8 SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Bandura propounded social learning theory. He proves that there is always interaction between person, environment and behaviour. Please refer the sketch below. PERSON BEHAVIOUR ENVIRONMENT
MUTUAL INTERACTION IN SOCIAL LEARNING The behaviour of an individual is determined by environment. An individual normally in his actions produce the environmental conditions that affect his behaviour in a reciprocal fashion. The individuals behavioural actions partly determine what he would become and can do. This will affect his subsequent behaviour. Thus individuals learn in an environment in the process of interacting with others, which is a social process. This theory is applied to understand the behaviour of a leader and the continuous reciprocal interaction between the person (leaders cognitions) and the environment (including subordinates, their needs, experiences, objectives, abilities, skills, energy, performance etc known as contingencies that regulate their behaviour).
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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 controlled by various needs, situations and experiences. The leader discovers the needs, situations and experiences and joins the subordinates to detect ways by which their behaviour as a whole can be managed for mutual satisfaction as well as organizational outcomes. The speciality of this theory is that there is a cordial relationship between the leader and subordinates paving the way for interactive negotiations.. They are also continuously aware of how to modify or influence each others behaviour by giving rewards, appreciations or withholding performance respectively. Have you understood ? What is social learning theory ? 4.6.9 HERSEY AND BLANCHARDS SITUATIONAL MODEL T he leadership st yle varies as p er t he mat ur it y o f t he subordinates.According to them. Maturity, according to Hersey, is not age or emotional stability but the desire for achievement, willingness to accept responsibility; task related ability and experience .The striking variables are the goals and knowledge of the followers in this model. Briefly you can say that the ability and willingness of the people for directing their own behaviour is maturity. The theory says that the relationship between a manager and his subordinate moves through four phases. It is a kind of life cycle and hence this is also known as Life cycle theory. Ability is the knowledge and skills of an individual to do a job and hence it is job maturity. The psychological maturity of an individual is willingness and is reflected with confidence and commitment of the individual. These variables of maturity can be considered only with reference to a specific job to be performed. This shows that an individual is neither mature nor immature towards a job. All are supposed to be more or less mature to a job, objective or task, which the leader is trying to accomplish through their efforts. Besides assessment of individual the leader has to assess the group also.
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When both components of maturity ability and willingness are combined you 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 willingnesshigh maturity. Combining leadership styles and maturity (leadership style which is appropriate at a given level of maturity of subordinates) you will arrive at a relationship between the two as shown below.
High
Relationship behavior
Participating
Selling
Delegating
Telling Low Low High Task behavior Maturity of followers High Low
Hersey-Blanchards model of situational leadership styles Thus there are four leadership styles each being appropriate to a specific level of maturity. The four leadership styles are telling, selling, participating and delegating. Telling. When subordinates have low maturity, they neither have ability to perform nor they have willingness to do in which case you have to do selling of leadership. It obviously calls for a directive behaviour and involves high task behaviour and low relationship behaviour. Selling. There are subordinates who have moderate maturity i.e. having high willingness but lacking ability, selling leadership style is the appropriate strategy. The subordinates require both supportive and directing beheviour that is marked by high task and high relationship behaviour.
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Participating. Subordinates having moderate to high maturity have ability to do but lack willingness to do , require high external motivating force. A participative leadership style is adopted here with low task behaviour and high relationship behaviour. Delegating. Subordinates who have high maturity have both ability and willingness to perform need no leadership support. The appropriate leadership style is delegating which involves low task and low relationship behaviour. The situational leadership theory has generated interest because it recommends a leadership type that is dynamic and flexible rather than static. The motivation, experience and ability of subordinates must be constantly assessed in order to determine which style combination would be most appropriate under flexible and changing conditions. If the style is appropriate it motivates the subordinates and moves them towards maturity. Thus the manager,. who develops subordinates, increases their confidence and help them to learn their work will constantly be shifting his style. Have you understood ? Briefly describe the Hersey-Blanchards model of leadership theory. 4.7 LEADER vs. MANAGER Basically a leader has followers while a manager has subordinates. It will be interesting and illuminating to differentiate leadership from managership. Managership is a wider concept; including leadership. i.e. every manager isalso a leader. But leadership is a narrower concept as every leader may or may not be a manager. Thus Gandhiji was a leader but not a manager. Managership is applicable to only formal groups i.e. there are no managers in informal groups or unorganized groups. But leadership is found in both formal and informal groups. The higher-ups appoint a manager while the followers in a group select a leader. A manager acts on the basis of authority formally delegated to him while a leader operates basically by virtue of his power posses through his charisma and personal qualities. His formal authority is of little use and impact.
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Managership is more significant and rather imperative in the context of business enterprises and other organized endeavours. Leadership is required in political organizations, military and government administration. A manager is more concerned with the shaping or moulding behaviour of subordinates towards attainment of common objectives. A leader is concerned with inspiring followers through zeal anenthusiasm in them towards the attainment of common objectives. A manager makes a formal appeal to subordinates while a leader makes an emotional appeal to his followers. A manager deals with a technical and human organization while a leader deals with only human organization. A manager is a boss and pusher of his subordinates, but a leader is a friend and pulls his followers. A manager induces subordinates to give their best performance applying his formal authority and creating an environment favourable to this end. He then engages in the task of planning, coordinating, motivating and controlling the efforts of others to wards a specific objective. Leadership is the art of inspiring and influencing thebehaviour and performance of followers towards the most enthusiastic attainment of the objectives.
Have you understood ? 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 own way, mobilizing the resources in his own way, acquire any thing that is required for 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 represent power. A manager gets higher budget allotted for his department than other departments. 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.
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Any manager uses his influence to change the behaviour of subordinates so that goals are attained to his satisfaction. The process of influence can be ranging from direct pressure on subordinates using his power and authority through exercise of benevolent leadership to effective communication that is closer to persuasion. The different methods to influence the organizational behaviour are adopted because every attempt to do that may not succeed in producing the intended effect on the behaviour, since influence is dependent on various factors. Though power and authority go together during application they are not the same. Also along with power and authority two more phenomena go with. they are politics and status that will be discussed in ensuing chapters. Incidentally, power and politics have negative connotations in society. This is because you perceive power as a tool for manipulation. Power has been perceived as an extractor of compliance and enforcer of obedience. This goes against your democratic norms that are culture of freedom and rights. Politics is closely related to power because only powerful people can play politics and get away with it. Exercise of power and politics means decisions are made on the basis of the point of view of the powerful man rather than what is just and right. Power is defined by Max Weber as follows Power is the probability that one actor within the relationship will be in a position to carryout his own will despite resistance. Nord defines power as The ability to influence the flows of available resources towards certain goals as opposed to other goals. Power is assumed to be exercised only when these goals are at least partially in conflict with each other. Robbins gives a different explanation Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B, so that B does something he or she would not otherwise do. Thus power is defined as basically a capacity to do something to get intended results from others. Hence you can summarize the characteristics of power as follows. Getting a promotion to a subordinate prematurely. Power is one of the means to influence others for getting results. It implies that influence can be exercised by other means also like leadership, communication and authority. The influence process is different when power is employed. Power not only gets things done but also makes negative decisions.
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Power though influences decision making it also makes negative decisions and limits actual decisions. Power is extra organizational in nature and anyone can use it if he is capable of.
Have you understood ? What is the concept and definition of power ? 4.8.1 IMPORTANCE OF POWER Though personal power lacks legitimacy, it is crucial factor in managing behavioural changes in organizations. Hicks and Gullet compared power to the 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 essence of a motor, the most important factor to be appreciated is electricity as the power source, which makes the motor run, makes the gears to turn, which operate mechanisms etc. Likewise, the organization runs because of power. Power is required in the organization for effective performance of activities of the people. In its absence there can be chaos that results in insecurity for members. Hence some form of power is necessary to run modern organizations and educated people are prepared to obey power because a person likes success more than he dislikes being controlled by power. Have you understood ? What is the importance of power ? 4.8.2 AUTHORITY AND POWER Authority is attached to the hierarchical position of the person. Subordinates report to him and authority is reporting relationship and power is associated with ones position. Power can be exercised in upward, downward and horizontal directions in an organization. But authority can be exercised only in downward direction along the hierarchy. There are some specific characteristics for authority. They are Getting a promotion to a subordinate prematurely. Authority is derived from organizational positions.
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Authority is generally accepted by subordinates because they perceive that 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 influence the organizational relationships. So you cannot expect the subordinates to completely accept you passively and obey a constant stream of orders just because you have authority. Thus if there is a powerful union the first line supervisors can not have formal authority. So power cannot be gained just because of ones position in the organizational hierarchy. Among other things ones expertise, personal qualities, style, access to key information, and ability to provide or withhold rewards determine ones power in an organization. Managers need power to execute their responsibility by leading the team and this leadership is important to organizational effectiveness. Power can also be misused for corruption and exploitation. People who want power do not show the hunger towards power but they engage in the machination of power secretly. Have you understood ? 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 Reward power Coercive Power Legitimate power Expert power Referent power 4.8.4 INTERPERSONAL SOURCES OF POWER These sources of power focus on the interpersonal relationships between manager and the subordinates. French and Raven have identified five sources of power from interpersonal relationships. They are reward power, coercive power, legitimate power, and expert power and referent power.
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4.8.4a Reward power: The base here is the extent to which a person has control over rewards that are valued by another. The greater the perceived value of the power greater is the power. An individual is rewarded for his potential ability and worthy behaviour. The leader has the power to give tangible rewards like promotions, time-off work, office space, special furniture including computers, attractive work assignment and help to subordinates. If all these are rewarded then the manager is supposed to have very high power. Praise, appreciation, approval and recognitions are other psychological rewards given to them by the leader or superior. In the process the subordinates believe that the leaders have access to higher authorities and hence can give the awards. Incidentally this reward power of the manager can also increase his charismatic and legitimate power.. For example, if the principal of a college is able to appoint, give tenures and promotions for the faculty then he has high power. Have you understood ? 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 control people sometimes even denying the legitimate awards to the employees. If a manager can slap more sanctions on a member then his coercive power is stronger. Coercive power is the power to reprimand. Hence some managers belittle the efforts of others in front of their peer and get away with it. They possess coercive power to that degree. Normally reprimand is avoided as the cost of hostility created by that is very high especially replacement of employees, demotion or firing of employees etc. b What is coersive power ? 4.8.4c Legitimate power: This is the power vested in the leadership to take actions. In specific areas of responsibility the very position of the manager gives him the power over his subordinates. The subordinates recognize the legitimate power of the manager to prescribe certain behaviour expected of them and acknowledge it also. Hence the subordinates will respond to his directives without any grudge. Legitimate power is like formal authority and it can be created, withdrawn, granted, or changed at any time by the formal organization. The strength of the legitimate authority is determined by the hierarchical position. Higher the level higher is the power in general. However in democratically set organization the superiors and subordinates may be on equal footing.
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In a mechanistic organization the legitimate power for each position is specified. There may be cases where legitimate power is given to a particular leader by society, when he is elected by the populate. Thus you have the President of India having power and authority. The elected Mayor has his power and authority. Power is also culturally given to parents, upper castes, old age etc. What is meant by legitimate power ? 4.8.4d Expert Power : Some leaders can control the behaviour of people by their sheer knowledge and expertise over the subordinates who lack these qualities. It is due to this ability they are powerful and it is not organizationally given. Such power is more of personal power than organizational power. The subordinates simply obey their superior just because they believe that superior knows what best has to be done and how things should be done. You can take for example the computer experts who design computer information system will dictate the design and operations of a system and in this field their expertise will have to be accepted. So also generally people follow a doctors or accountants advice and carry out their instructions because you believe in their knowledge and ability in their areas. Thus if subordinates accept their leader to be competent and meritorious, then, they will accept and follow the leader. In such case, the credibility of the leader increases and the leader can make them trust his judgments and decisions like a lawyer, doctor, physicist or a chemist or a computer programmer or a purchase officer 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 the attraction exerted by the leader over the followers. It is not a positional tribute but it is purely of a personal nature. That is to say that his power is not designed or acquired but because of personal charisma which make the followers to associate themselves with the leader. The stronger the association stronger is the power. This association means that the subordinate will only obey his superior because he wants to behave same as his superior as he identifies himself with the superior. Film stars, celebrities have this charismatic power because of which their fans follow the stars. In
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organizations a subordinate is simply attracted by the superior or leader because of his attractions and would follow him in all respects and the charismatic leader easily influences the subordinate. The subordinate also behaves 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 of power within the organization and this involves knowledge as power, resources as power, decision making, as power and link with others as power. 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 individuals who have critical information that is absolutely necessary to operate an organization in order to achieve the objectives and goals, are all having power. The effectiveness of organization depends a lot on the correctness of application and utilization of valuable information in hand. Accordingly, people who are in a position to control the information or the flow of information about current operations or future events and plans have enormous power to influence the behaviour of others. Knowledge is power goes the saying. The software industrys workers are called the knowledge workers and they are powerful to control the very industry and economy today 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 other things. Hence resources are the backbone of an organization. History tells about the downfall of enterprises due to the inadequate resources. These resources are capital,equipment,personnel,raw materials, customers etc.So any person who can provide any of these resources can attain power. That is why suppliers of rare materials are powerful to dictate their terms and conditions. He who has the gold makes the rulesresources are power. b Briefly write about resource as power.
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4.8.5c Decision making as power Any leader or manager who employs his authority to make decisions or influence the decision makers are having power and they are the sources of power. It is thought that the decision-making power rests with the final decision makers. This is not so. Even though the decision maker acts, it is those who are capable of influencing the decision makers who really have the power. You are buying a car . Your friend influences you to buy a particular car and you do so accordingly. Obviously your friend holds the power though you acted upon it. Thus a task force studies an issue and recommendations are given to solve the problem to the decision maker. Now the decision maker is likely to be influenced by the task force in making a decision and hence 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 power shall be bestowed on certain roles within the system The higher the level of a person greater is the amount of his power. This is easily said than done because multiple bases of power are present. All managers have two dimensional power bases. One is the power generated because of the position of the manager in the hierarchy of the organization and the second one is his personal power. A successful manager is the one who has built up both positional as well as personal power base. The positional power base can be built and enhanced by the following factors. They are centrality, scarcity, and uncertainity and substitutability. Have you understood ? What are power centers ? 4.9.1 Centrality: This refers to all the activities that are most central to the workflow of the organization. If the information goes through the manager and if it gets filtered there and in the process the manager gets a say in the work of many other units , then the manager has acquired positional power. You can take the example of an accounts manager in a firm having the powers to approve the expenses of other departments and also making payments of other departments. You can see that the finance manager has an extra power base that can affect the behaviour of other departments. Write a note on centrality ?
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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 will be a struggle for resources. In this race the manager who manages the resources obviously acquires power. The importance of the power will not be felt when resources are in abundance. But when it is scarce only the importance begins.and the difference in power becomes apparent.Salanick conducted a study on the power of academic institutions and found that the power of academic department was associated with their ability to get funds sanctioned for research and other such activities including outside sources. This is more critical to their power and important than the number of graduates turned out. Write a note on scarcity. 4.9.3 Uncertainty Future is always uncertain for any organization in this most competitive market. Some of the factors are so unpredictable that they can play havoc to the very survival of the firm. In such circumstances if there is somebody who can manage the changes after predicting the future events with fair accuracy then that manager acquires power. Relatively he will be recognized as the strategist. Of course he must be able to cope up with the uncertainty well. 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 those functions that provide greater control over what the organization currently finds problematic: sales and marketing people when markets are competitive, production experts when materials are scarce and demand is high, labour relations specialists when labour is scarce, lawers, lobbyists and public relations specialists when government regulations impinge, finance and accounts when business is bad and money is tight. There is a turning to those elements of the system that seem to have the power to create more certainty in the face of dependency, and to generate more advantageous position for the organization Write briefly on uncertainty. 4.9.4 Substitutability In organizations you may come across some people whose contributions to the organizations make them more indispensable than others, though you may argue that nobody is indispensable. Some are indispensable because
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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 long such expertise will be validonly as long as it is marketable. Thus a few years back engineers were in scarcity and hence the available engineers had the negotiation power to fix higher salaries and perks, since they could not be substituted easily. Today the situations different as engineers are available in abundance. They cannot threaten the employers any more for unreasonably increasing their salaries etc. Today of course the computer engineers are dictating terms for exorbitant benefits. They are wielding extensive power in the organization. So greater is the value of a person or a group in an organization, greater is the power it holds. Lammers deals with the issue of power Managers and Managed in organizations at the same time come to influence each other more effectively and thereby generate joint power as the outcome of a better command by the organization over its technological, economic and human resources in the service of certain objectives. Thus the amount of power in organization as well as in single interpersonal situation is variable and the amount of power changes over time Tannenbaum observes that expansion of power takes place under two conditions 1) external expansion of power into the organizations environment. 2) Internal conditions of an organization that subsume structural conditions expediting interaction and influence among members Motivational conditions implying increased interest by members in exercising control and greater amenability by members to being controlled. At any point of time the amount of power in an organization is fixed and the change is 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 waysstructural power and functional power. 4.10.1a Structural power distribution Hierarchically structured organizations distribute power according to positions. The role in the hierarchy provides some important power
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attributes; the most striking is the legitimacy. In power relationship legitimacy is a powerful factor. Legitimate power in a formal organization is relationship between offices and not between persons. Acceptance of an office as right is a basis for legitimate power. A judge has a right to levy fines and a foreman should assign work. So every higher office has more power compared to a lower office because it is able to invoke more sanctions, to distribute more rewards and punishments. 4.10.1b Functional power distribution Organization assigns functions that has an important vehicle for allocating its power resources. The allocation of function largely depends on the specialization and division of labour. Specialisation creates dependence in which each participant contributes to the achievement of organizational objectives in greater or smaller degree. A specialized job in isolation produces nothing. Power hence is important to perform or fail to perform and has its effect on the rest of the organization. The nature and criticality of the function determines the power attached to the function. Various persons perform various functions and their power also varies accordingly. Hickson has provided a model in this connection.
Coping with uncertainties
Non-substitutability uncertainties Pervasiveness Strategic contingencies in power in organisation
Critically of tasks
Power
Based on this model, power exercised by various units is based on the following 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 theses factors in task more critical it is, Theses contingent relationships are not static but dynamic and in the same organisation, different units may emerge as Critical at different times, for example, Kanter has observed that the more power goes to those people in
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those functions that provide grater control over what the organisation finds currently problematic sales and marketing people when markets are competitive, production experts when materials are scarce and demand is high personnel or industrial relations specialists when labour is important; lawyers and lobbyists and external relations specialists when government regulations impinge; finance and accounting executives when business is bad and money tight. There is a truing to those elements of the elements of the system that seem to have the power to create more certainty in the face of dependency and to generate a more advantageous position for the organizations. 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 in the hands of a few in spite of the structural functional adjustments in the organisation. It is claimed that a basic dynamic of organisation process is an 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 an absolute control over the most vital functions of the organisation and thus establish themselves in power. Hence the tendency towards concentration of power in a few hands increases as the size of organisation increases. Another reason for the concentration of power in few hands relates to specialization itself. As organizations grow and become complex, the individual roles become more specialized. Fewer and fewer people have the particular competence to fill theses unique positions and power emerges. Since each unit competes, the power struggle begins in which one of theses units or combination of theses emerges dominant and oligarchy appears. There are evidences, which support the contentions of Michels: however, it is doubtful whether power to few elites is absolute. Write how power is concentrated.
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4.10.3 Tactics to Gain Power It is a natural phenomenon for people to gain more power in the organisation to satisfy their power motive. Therefore, researcher has made attempt to identify the tactics that are used to gain more power. Some analysts have focused their attention on analytical approaches for gaining power while many others have suggested tactics only from practical point of view in which cause and effect relationship cannot be established easily. Therefore we shall take analytical approaches. From this point of view, some common tactics are creating and managing uncertainties, norm of reciprocity identification with power centers, impression management, pressure building competition coalition, and cooptation. Some of these tactics allow cooperation and sharing among individuals and groups. Others are more competitive and increases the power of on at the cost others. 1. Creating and Managing Uncertainties. Perrow has suggested that the person who can created a fiction of uncertainties and steer the organisation into areas of uncertainties that the person seeking power can manage will gain power. Uncertainty may be defined as a lack of information about future events so that alternatives and their outcomes cannot be predicted. The power seeker may manipulate, filter, or withhold the information in his possession and may create the fiction of uncertainty 2. Norm of Reciprocity. Norm of reciprocity is based on the theory of social exchange in which two persons in a continuing relationship feel a strong obligation to repay their social debts to each other. In the organizational context norm of reciprocity applies to a trade or if you do something for me, I will do something for you. When such a trade off is successfully arranged, both parties get something they want. Thus the parties are able to get power. 3. Identification with power centres. The person can enjoy more power by identifying himself with power centers. Identification with powerful figures in the organisation can be achieved through developing rapport with them. Others may perceive this identification as a source of power and they will share their problems with the power seeker. 4. Impression Management. Impression management is concerned with the protection of self image by the person while intentionally affecting others assessment of him. Self-image of the person affects his attraction to others which helps him to gain more power. Some of the actions, which may be required in impression management, are sending nonverbal cues. Using flattery, and doing favors for others.
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5. Pressure Building. Pressure building tactics may be adopted by persons with high non-substitutability of group of people like trade unions to gain more power. However, building excessive pressure to gain power may be counter productive. In the case of person, it may create bad impression about him, which may affect his power relationship in the organisation. In the case of groups, the organisation may resort to stern action like threat of lockout in response to threat of a strike. Therefore, pressure tactics should be used judiciously. 6. Competition. Competition refers to the rivalry among competing parties to gain control over organizational resources which are limited by their nature. Each party tries to influence the criteria used for resource allocation and each party tries to have the maximum thus each party looks at is relative position vis--vis others and argues those criteria which are likely to fetch it more power. 7. Coalition. Coalition refers to combination of two or more persons groups, or organisation for common goal, as discussed in chapter 2. Coalition is generally used to gain more power. Thus in the organizational context, power seekers may form coalition or temporary alliance to gain more power. 8. Cooptation. Cooptation occurs when a group gives some of its important positions to members of other groups or includes them in its policy-making committees. Other does this to avoid threats of criticisms or retaliation. In this way, the group is able to control more power. Have you understood ? What are the tactics employed to gain power ? 4.10.4 Politics Politics is universal phenomenon in organized society. Political behavior is not limited to those who hold public positions. We can expect political behavior in every organisation. In the previous section, you have seen how people and groups in organisation use politics to gain more power. Pfeiffer and Sherwood have commented that the who gets what (politics) is endemic to every organisation, regardless of size, function, or character of ownership. Furthermore, it is to be found at every level of the hierarchy, and it intensifies as the stakes become more important and the area of decision possibilities greater. On survey of 400 , managers provides the insight into their views towards organizational politics. To a larger extent, mangers agreed that
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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 so that they can take suitable course of actions to minimize its dysfunctional consequences. 4.10.5 Concept of Politics It can be observed that everyone plays some kind of politics at some point of time in the organisation. We can find references that define politics as one or more of the following: self serving behavior, acquisition of power, protection of ones own domain, building of support through group formation, or influence maneuvering. In all theses cases, politics involves acquisition of power or be around power and engage in self-serving behavior. Therefore, individuals and groups for achieving personal goals can refer to politics as actions for seizing, holding extracting and executing or power. Because of organisation politics, organizational decisions are affected in such a way that they contribute to personal goals rather the organizational goals. Tushman has defined politics as follows: Politics refers to the structure and process of the use of authority and power to affect definition of goals, directions and the other major parameters of the organization. Decisions are not made in a rational or formal way but rather through compromise, accommodation and bargaining. This definition, though explains the process of politics and its effect on decision making which does not remain rational, does not specifically indicate self-serving behavior of the people engaged in politics. Miles has included self- interest concepts in defining politics. He says that : Organizational politics is the process whereby individuals or groups use whatever power they can amass to influence organizational decisions in the direction 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 organizational politics. Organizational politics refer to intentional behaviours that are designed to enhance or protect a persons influence and self- interest.
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Based on the definition of politics, its main features can be described as follows: 1. Political behavior involves some kind of power either directly or indirectly. Power can be exercised by those who are in formal positions and enjoy authority. It can be also influenced by other persons close to those who hold formal authority. 2. Politics involves behavior that is self- serving. It suggests that either organizational resources are used for personal benefits or benefits to be given to one person or given to another. In both the cases, the decision is not rational from organizations point of view. 3. Politics takes place when an individual recognizes that achievement of his goals is influenced by the behavior of others in such a case, politicking involves the elimination of adversaries by the influential maneuvers of a member of the organization. 4. All self serving behaviors which do not involve use of power or threat of use of power cannot be termed as politics. For example, an employees asking for a rise in pay is not political behavior, but the use of threat to unionise to obtain in pay rise amounts to political behavior Have you understood ? How do organizational politics arise ? Summary This unit has covered the meaning of leadership as well as the importance of leadership in organizations. The unit has explained the characteristics of different styles of leadership and how the different variables affect the organizational culture and behaviour. The important aspect of difference between a manager and a leader is also brought well. The nature and influence of power on leadership is explained comprehensively. The impact of politics in an organization and hence on leadership has also been brought out understandably. The sources of power and the distribution of power has been 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.
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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 Fidlers 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 the significance. What are the common qualities and traits of leadership? Differentiate formal and informal leadership characteristics. Describe in detail any two leadership theories. What are the situational variables that hinder the exercise of leadership styles? What is the importance of work environment in exercise of leadership. Write various definitions of power? What are the different sources of power.
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UNIT - V
DYNAMICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
5.1 INTRODUCTION A study of organizational behaviour will be incomplete unless you know the dynamics of the group working in the organization. A knowledge of the organizational climate is a must in order to implement various policies. It is the climate that can contribute a lot to job satisfactions. It is the culture and climate that create perceptions in individuals and groups. Based on the perceptions and attitudes the behaviour of employees may be useful or detrimental to the growth of the organization. Then you will have to bring about changes in the organization in response to the call from environment. You have to introduce new technologies, new products, new systems etc failing which your organization will be left behind in the race. Should you bring the changes proactively or reactively has to be decided intelligently for paving the way for the growth of the organization. It is not that easy to implement changes and as usual there will be resistance from the members for the change . You must know how to manage the resistance and manage the change. Then only there will be development for the organization. What are the characteristics and objectives of O.D. is to be understood thoroughly before you embark upon the team building and training and development programme. These steps enable you to bring in organizational effectiveness. How to achieve organizational effectiveness and what are the steps required for organizational effectiveness must be learnt in advance by you. 5.2 LEARNING OBJECTIVES After going through this unit you will be able to understand
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What are organizational climate and its importance? What is meant by job satisfaction and what are the determinants of job satisfaction? 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 other organizations also. However, each organization has some unique characteristics and properties. This psychological structure of the organization and their sub-units is referred to as Organizational culture. The culture is also quoted as climate, atmosphere, environment, and milieu. Many studies done on the measurement of organizational culture got operationalised to organizational climate. Basically organizational climate reflects a persons perception of the organization to which he belongs. You as a member of the organization have some expectations, beliefs and image of the organization. Culture deals more with the nature of these beliefs and expectations while climate is an indicator of whether these beliefs and expectations are being fulfilled. Hence organizational climate serves as guidelines for dealing with people and has a major influence on motivation and productivity of individuals as well as total work group. A good climate is an organizational asset. After all the world climate in the usual sense is nothing but the average course or condition of the weather at a place for a period of one year as exhibited by wind velocity, temperature, and precipitation? Of course it is difficult to equate natural climate with that of organization as the very complexity of organizational environment and the unpredictability of situational variables act as hurdles for the study. One way to understand the organizational climate is to consider its potential properties. Forehand and Gilmer are of the view that a set of characteristics that describe an organization, distinguish it from other organizations and over time influence the people in it. It is a set of attributes specific to a particular organization
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that may be induced from the way that organization deals with its members and its environment. There are many relevant factors that contribute to the climate. They are the individuals perception of the relevant stimulai, constraints and reinforcement contingencies that govern human behaviour. Renato in 1968 opines that Organizational climate is the enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by members, influences their behaviour and can be described by a particular set of values of the characteristics of the organization. Stephen P. Robbins defines organizational culture as a relatively uniform perception held about the organization having descriptive characteristics integrating individuals, groups and system variables. The organization has some dos and donts, totems and taboos and these form its culture. Individuals have to move, work, interact and achieve the goals amidst this culture or climate. The system now dictates each individual to behave in a particular way, the employees to deal with outside clients, collegues, competitors, supervisors, subordinates and strangers. Thus the organizational climate is manifested in the attitudes of individuals and groups. Obviously an organization can attract people who are fit for the climate. The hierarchy can create cultural variations and hence a varying climate inside the organization which members get accustomed. The other factors affecting the 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 observed and measured are hierarchy, financial resources, and goals of organizations, skills and abilities of personnel, technology, performance standards and efficiency measurements. The invisible parts that cannot be quantified are supportiveness, employees feelings, attitudes, values, morale, social interaction with peers, subordinates and superiors and job satisfaction. The organizational culture is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that develop within the organization and guides the behaviour of its members. It is also known as corporate culture. Corporate culture has a great impact on the quality of performance of the organization as a whole. The corporate culture consists of the norms, values and unwritten rules of conduct of an organization as well as the management styles, priorities, beliefs and interpersonal behaviour that prevail. Together they create an organizational
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climate that influences the communication of the people, planning and decision-making. Employees understand the philosophy of the organization and make decisions that support the organizational standards and corporate values. Just like culture varies from society to society, corporate culture also varies from country to country. Thus American culture is to work individually and win laurels. They believe in independence. The Japanese culture is interdependence and teamwork and an extension of their family life. The authority relations are often paternalistic in nature and strong links exist between the welfare of the individual, the corporation and the nation. Have you understood ? Give a brief account of organizational climate. 5.4 FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE The factors that affect the organizational climate include both internal and external factors. The main internal factors are 1) The organizational structure. This is perception of the organizational constraints, rules, regulations and red-tapism. 2) Individual responsibilityfeeling of autonomy of being ones own boss 3) Rewardsfeeling confident of adequate and appropriate rewards. 4) Risk and risk taking perceptions of the degree of challenge and risk in the work situation. 5) Warmth and support feelings of general good and fellowship and helpful work set up. 6) Conflict and tolerance- limiting conflicts to a level and degree of confidence 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.
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The physical environment consists of the size and location of the building in which the employees work, the size of the city, the weather conditions, the place and the external conditions of environment all affect the organizational climate. An employee working in a clean, hygienic, quite and safe environment will have a good perception of the organizational climate. So also the interior environment, decoration, working space, canteen,health centers, first-aid boxes, fire extinguishers etc all affect the climate. The absence of all these create frustration, bad feelings, aggressive attitudes, nervesnousness etc resulting in a negative effect on the organizational climate. 2. Leadership style influences the dimensions of organizational culture having impact on the climate. It can be an authoritarian style with high power motivation, democratic style with affiliation motivation or goal directed style with achievement motivation. Each style has a different influence on the climate. 3. Organizational goals can be achieved with proper policies only. For example, if a companys policy statement is that the lay-off will be declared only to cope up with the business down-turn, then it is a supportive and humanistic policy only to increase the value of the climate. If similarly, a declaration is made that the first profit will be shared with employees and not the share holders, then the climate is characterized by high reward orientation., high growth orientation and high development orientation. 4. Value based executives can influence the climate because values lead to actions and shape decisions. Hence values add to perceptions of the organization as impersonal, paternalistic, formal, informal, hostile or friendly. 5. Organizational structure represents the framework that establishes formal relationships and delineates authority and functional responsibility. The structure of the organization affects the internal environment. According to Lensis Likert organizations can be grouped into major four groups based on the way the organizational processes are conducted. They are System 1 exploitive or distrust authoritative System 2 Beneficial authoritative System 3 Consultative democratic System 4 Participative democratic
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To categorize an organization into any one group the following factors are evaluated. 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 can affect the organizational climate prevailing in the organization. For example an organization with well qualified, ambitious and dynamic young employees will have a far different climate compared to an organization having a less educated and older employees. The former will encourage frank, competitive, progressive and calculated risk taking environment obviously. 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 with stress on vertical distribution of responsibilities. These factors lead to different environments. Besides the internal factors the society also influences the organizational climate and culture. Thus social forces that shape organizational culture undergoes changes. The education level of new employees is superior to the olden generations. The societal values are different giving fresh impact on the culture. Recreational and leisure values are different now. Expectations of employees are different now. Employees want more satisfying jobs and wants undergo training and development. The concept of job enrichment, job content etc is changing the very profile of employees. All these have a telling impact on the organizational climate. Bartlett has identified five more items that contribute to organizational climate. They are managerial support, managerial structure, concern for new employees, inter-agency conflict, agent dependence and general satisfaction. Taguiri has identified another five factors that contribute to organizational climate. They are practices relating to providing a sense of direction or
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purpose to their jobssetting objectives, planning and feed back, opportunities for exercising individual initiative, working with a superior who is competent, working with cooperative and pleasant people, working with a profit and sales oriented company. Warmth, support, reward orientation and individual autonomy are other factors that affect organizational climate. Have you understood ? 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 are attracted to Ooty or Kodaikanal during summer. If you have the will you nay change over to the new place where the climate that you are longing for is available and opportunities are there for switchover. The same is with regard to organizational climate. You have studied the concept behind the organizational climate. You can now learn that it is very important for the effectiveness, nay, even for the very survival of the organization. You know that there are various types of interpersonal and interactive behaviour, group behaviour, use of power, authority, leadership, conflict, communication, and control etc in an organization and this shapes the climate of the organization. The quality of such factors like leadership, finding solutions to conflicts, quality of communications, how freely people can communicate official as well as personalmatters, quality of control and its exercise meaning whether it is supportive or subjugative, style of employment of power and authority etc determine the climate. If the climate is commensurate with the expectations of the employees well and good there will be stability of production, cooperation and profitable output. Conversely a bad or unpleasant climate can be detrimental to the progress of the organization. Again the importance of an organizational climate is due to the fact that it a a potential differentiator. It influences and shapes the individual, group and the organizational behaviour as a whole. It has a major influence on human performance through its impact on individual motivation and job satisfaction.. It is the climate that creates certain expectancies in the minds of people and it also defines the consequences of different actions.. Thus the expectations of individuals and their fulfillment depend on the perception of the organizational climate and how the climate suits to the satisfaction of their needs.
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The organizational climate provides a type of work environment in which individuals feels satisfied or dissatisfied. You know that satisfaction goes a long way in determining the efficiency of the individuals and hence the efficiency of the organization. There are four mechanisms by which organizational climate affects performance, satisfaction, and attitudes of people, which are some of the most important determinants of organizational effectiveness. The four mechanisms are Organizational variables can operate as constraint systems in both a positive and negative sense by providing knowledge of what kind of behaviour are rewarded, punished or ignored. The organization can influence behaviour by attaching various rewards and punishments to varying behaviours. In other words for different behaviour outcomes different values are attached so that people most interested in specific values will behave accordingly. Organizational variables can affect the behaviour of individuals through evaluation of the self and others. Such evaluation also influences behaviour. There are both physiological and psychological variables associated with this evaluation process. Organizational factors work as stimuli; they influence an individuals arousal level, which is a motivational variable directing beheviour. The level of arousal will directly affect the level of activation and hence performance. The very perception of the organization is formed by the various variables and the behaviour and performance are linked to this perception. The climate plays a major role in the formation of perception.
There is no hard and fast rule for an organization to have a specific set of variables that should result in an excellent climate. It all depends on the nature of products, the skills and education required, the competetion, the government rules and regulations, the innovative approach of the management, the value chain associated with the set-up, the mission and vision of the enterprise etc. The values are set within the boundaries which the organization feels are the best, as the boundaries are set with reference to the desirability of certain goals. This leads you to the point that organizational climate should represent the philosophy and goals of those who join together to create the organization. Also the organizational climate has a contingency relationship with the organization meaning that the type of 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.
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Another significance of organizational climate is that depending on the different class of men who have different set of thinking and motivation, the organization also must get acclimatized to the differences.i.e different organizational climate is called for. This is also due to the fact that the nature of men may be economic, social or self-fulfilling oriented. The climate for the economic man who is motivated by money and long-range economic security, should have such economic factors to attract, keep and motivate the employees. For a social man positive social relations and interactions are 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 is appropriate to him. For a self-fulfilling man you need a climate of freedom in order to promote achievement, accomplishment and meaningful experience. Thus you find each type of man needs a particular climate. Hence a manager must understand the people in his organization. Building a climate conducive to motivation, a climate that tailors the individuals to leadership, a climate that designs the job, which he will respond with commitment etc, are the hallmarks of a efficient and effective set-up. Some valuable features of organizational climate are that Absence of political manoeuring for organizational positions and other personal gains. Linking rewards with performance and not with blood relations or friendship, or social background. Encouraging for participation, group decisions and implementation. Encouraging freedom and innovation. Tolerance to individual difference and assigning high value to interpersonal amity. High standards of moral integrity.
Have you understood ? List some important features of organizational climate. 5.6 JOB SATISFACTION Job satisfaction is employees perception that the job content and context actually provide what an employee values in the work situation. Job satisfaction is defined as a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experience. This positive emotional state is highly contributory to an employees physical and mental well-being..
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Organizationally speaking high level of job satisfaction reflects a highly favorable organizational climate resulting in attracting and retaining better workers. Hop pock opines that job satisfaction is a combination of psychological, physiological and environmental factors that make a person to say I am happy at my job. Such a description indicates but a variety of variables that influence satisfaction but does not tell you about the nature of job satisfaction. It is an end state feelingmeaning the feeling is experienced after a task is accomplished or a highly individualistic effort has borne fruit. An example is given like this Mr. Kulkarni, a foreman working in an organization has been assigned a special task to complete a special order of the companys customer. It gives him a positive job satisfaction as among so many he has been particularly chosen to complete the work. Further, he is happy as he can earn more wages due to overtime, he badly is in need of money owning to some domestic problem. But the same could be dissatisfaction if he is not in need of money or any recognition now. Thus each one of these variables leads to an end state of feeling, that you call satisfaction. It means attitude, motivation and morale all play a big role in defining job satisfaction. L.M.Prasad is of the view that job satisfaction is a set of favourable and unfavourable feelings with which employees view their jobs, more specifically the nature of the jobs they do, the quality of supervision they receive, coworkers pay and work, promotional avenues and degree of partiality in treatment. Job satisfaction is linked to absenteeism, employee turn over and job performance. Less employee turnover, less absenteeism and high performance mean a high job satisfaction. Job satisfaction thus has become an important factor drawing the attention of managers and academicians. You will appreciate its importance to productivity in the next chapter. However, DuBrins defines job satisfaction the amount of pleasure or contentment associated with a job. If you like your job intensely, then you have a high job satisfaction. If you dislike your job intensely then you will experience job dissatisfaction. Job satisfaction is also an important dimension of morale. Morale for all practical purpose refers to the attitude of the worker and relates to a group while job satisfaction is an individual feeling that could be caused by a variety of factors including the group. Industrial morale is a collective phenomenon while job satisfaction is a distributive one. Job satisfaction is a general attitude of an individual towards work but morale is a group phenomenon.
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Literature defines morale as subordination of personal objectives to the larger goals of the group/organization. Of course morale itself can also be a source of job satisfaction. Have you understood ? 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 more education and hence enjoy better benefits that improve longevity. Job satisfaction is essential to maintain physical health Chronic dissatisfaction at work causes stress emotionally resulting in hypertension, 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 results from psychologically wrong jobs. Hence job satisfaction influences general satisfaction of life and vice-versa. Unexcused absenteeism due to avoidable reasons is the result of job dissatisfaction. Have you understood? What is the importance of job satisfaction ? 5.7 DETERMINANTS OF JOB SATISFACTION Research has classified the following factors that contribute to job satisfaction. 1. Organizational factors 2. Work environmental factors.
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3. Factors related to work itself. 4. Personal factors. Organizational factors: Salaries and wages form the first set of organizational factors as sources of job satisfaction. The salaries determine the level of job satisfaction irrespective of the level of position that an employee holds in an organization. Pay is a primary determinant has been well established by Locke, especially when it is perceived as fair and equitable compared to others and relative to employees own efforts and contribution. Pay satisfies the first level of Maslows need hierarchy, so it is the prime mover Pay is a symbol of achievement and higher pay means higher degree of contribution towards organizational operations and welfare. Promotions: Promotional opportunities are second important source of job satisfaction. A promotion indicates the worth of an employee. It hence is a morale boosting activity. A promotion results in higher salary, lesser supervision, increased responsibility, more challenging work assignment and decision making freedom. Promotion incidentally is a higher source of job satisfaction for higher executives than for lower level jobs like secretaries, watchman, etc because promotion brings with it a huge benefits for executives compared to administrative clerks. The job content: Easily maneourable and flexible job brings better satisfaction. Job content refers to the intrinsic value of the job. This depends on the requirement of skills for performing it and the growth it offers. A higher content of these gives a higher job satisfaction. Thus a repetitive work creates boredom and fatigue and less satisfaction. However a job rotation increases job satisfaction. The type of leadership: A leadership that cares for employees is a source of satisfaction. Interaction and opportunity: to participate in decision-making enhances the quantum of job satisfaction. Interaction results in exposing ones self and capabilitya source of satisfaction. Participation gives identity and recognition another source of job satisfaction. All these facilitate in goal achievement within the target- a big source of job satisfaction. The level of the job: The level or position is a source of satisfaction because ones power, authority, prestige and self-control. Valuable jobs
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and valuable positions are always respected. It also satisfies the need fulfillment theory. People in higher-level jobs find most of their needs satisfied than in lower level jobs. Have you understood ? Give an account of the determinants of job satisfaction. 5.7.1a COMPANY POLICIES Organizational policies and structure play a good role in establishing an environment conducive to job satisfaction. For example, a highly authoritative or autocratic structure can create more a resentment for the employees who very much long for an open and democratic leadership. Again the policies of the organization have its impact on the employees job satisfaction strict or liberal policies. It accordingly generates positive or negative feelings in their minds. Liberal and fair policies are having direct relationship with job satisfaction. Employees who feel constrained due to policies get frustrated, 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 friendly supervisors. In fact a step further satisfied employees create an environment where the supervisors are considerate of such employees. Thus a close relationship between worker and supervisor, their participation in decision making on issues concerning workers etc are conducive to job satisfaction. Work group: A workers happiness also depends on the cooperative and supportive group in which he is a member. The smooth interpersonal relations with the group contributes to morale and hence to job satisfaction. Larger the group lesser is the interpersonal interaction and hence the satisfaction is also less. Larger group also delays interpersonal communication, delays in reaching other comrades. Smaller group provides better opportunities for all these. Work group is also the model for social, moral, emotional support for the employee. If the group exhibits similar societal characteristics, such as attitudes and beliefs they tend to be drawn closer to each other resulting in a climate conducive to job satisfaction. Working conditions: Good working conditions are highly desirable because they lead to greater physical comfort and health. A clean and orderly work stations, controlled heat, humidity, air, light along with adequate tools for their operations and a welcome work schedule all can contribute to job satisfaction. These conditions are taken for granted nowadays. However poor working conditions will definitely cause dissatisfaction, discomfort and physical danger.
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5.7.1c WORK FACTORS The major part is the work content. What is the scope of the job, meaning the responsibility, work pace, feedback provided. Higher the level, higher the scope, higher the job satisfaction. Secondly the variety of the job also contributes to satisfaction. While excessive variety creates confusion and stress, too little a variety causes monotony and fatigue. Hence a balanced variety is the solution. There should be freedom on the work methods; less of supervisory control on routine matters etc can enhance satisfactin. Any step 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 the job may be good. Age, seniority, tenure also influence job satisfaction. As people grow in the organization they climb up the ladder into more challenging and responsible positions. 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 and recognition. But without any incentive there will be only dissatisfaction and negative or anti-establishment thinking. Hence it must be realized that dissatisfaction is more fatal and dangerous much worse than getting rid of them. A feeling of job security with tenure is a source of job satisfaction. They can plan their future without fear of losing job. Above all the intrinsic traits /personality of the individual is a great source of job satisfaction. The traits are self-assurance, self-esteem, maturity, decisiveness, and sense of autonomy, challenge and responsibility. It has been established that higher a person is on Maslows need hierarchy higher is his job satisfaction. Have you understood ? What is the role of work environment, personal factors, and work factors in job satisfaction ? 5.8 MEASUREMENT OF JOB SATISFACTION Job satisfaction cannot be quantified; only its qualitative measurement can be done. It is a state of mind and varies from person to person for the same
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job and also from time to time for the same job for the same person. Hence job satisfaction can be measured only by job satisfaction questionnaire. It is similar to the measurement of intelligence-by-intelligence test. Various aspects of the work and the resultant behaviour are a measure of job satisfaction. Though a lot of studies have been done on job satisfaction, most of the studies are concerned with operationalising it rather than defining it. In fact all the factors that can contribute to job satisfaction can be separated and each one can be qualitatively measured. Again job satisfaction is an attitude in itself and hence factors that enhance positive attitudes can also be a measure of job satisfaction. You know that the staff turn over, absenteeism are all linked to job satisfaction or dissatisfaction as the case may be. Hence if a suitable questionnaire is designed to elicit responses from the employees whose job satisfaction have to be measured, then it can be a solution to the measurement problem. Hoppock has developed essentially four items ,each one with seven alternative responses. For example, the question can be like thisAre you satisfied with the job description? The answer/response can have seven alternatives for each item or question or statement. The alternatives are given 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 700 marks is given to most satisfied . This means the second alternative has 200, the third 300, the fourth 400, the fifth 500,the sixth 600 and the seventh alternative carries a mark of 700. Thus if a respondent chooses first alternative for all the four items his total score is 100x 4= 400. If he chooses the third alternative for all the four items, 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
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average of 100700 as satisfaction index. The average is say, 350. Thus if the total score for all the four items is more than 350, then there is job satisfaction and if it is less than 350, then there is job dissatisfaction. There are more methods developed recently by researchers. This is known as S-D (satisfaction and dissatisfaction) inventory. Pestoneji in 1973 has developed this method ,using 80 interrogatory type of statements in Hindi, English and Gujarathi. The items lead to yes-no type responses. About 20 items 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. Have you understood ? 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. They begin to work more productively and actively. They discuss and react fast for any problems in the work place. The workers start giving suggestions to the superiors. It reduces the absenteeism as well as wastage of time and materials. The work is performed so joyfully that the employees cooperation to fellow workers will be commendable. An unprecedented enthusiasm can be observed in a satisfied employee. It increases production. It also reduces accidents. 5.10 ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE Change is a necessary way of life in many organizations. You are seeing change around you in many areas like fashion, social environment, the seasons, technology, biological processes etc. The biggest task for managers is to prepare for the change and ensure that the organization is viable, current and dynamic. Any organization not listening to the call for change is likely to be left behind in the race. When you say change, you actually mean a change in status quo in the organization. Even the most stable organizations find that change is absolutely necessary to maintain the level of stability. How to cope up with the inevitable barrage of change is haunting the managers. For example, many good old industries enjoying protection from government regulations are dying today due to liberalization and competitive posture of industries. This is a drastic change, as the losers were not prepared for the change-taking place invisibly.
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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 organization cannot be silent spectator of these changes. Once the horn is blown it is for you keep aside of the road or else you will be injured or even killed. Same is the case here. The horn for change is audible, it is for the organizations to listen to the horn and change accordingly. A number of changes are therefore taking place in organizations especially in processes. For successful running of the enterprise and mitigate competition an 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 approach in finding solutions to the problems, find ways for better and more effective way of utilization of resources. Bharat Ram remarked at the time of the reforms introduced by Dr. Man Mohan Singh on liberalization, globalization etc and curtailing the protection to industries that 30% of the industries would die and it was so. They were not prepared for the sudden change introduced through reforms, which was necessary for India to march with others. It is an open economy today and hence highly competitive. Change, innovate or perish said Bharath Ratna Dr. Visweswaraih of Karnataka long back Have you understood ? What do you understand by organizational change ? 5.10.1 NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE Organizational change basically means a change in the structural relationship and roles of people in the organization. Change takes place in all organizations at varying speeds and significances. Normally the change occurs in the field of production, structure, people, technology and such elements. Statistical study shows that recently 60% of American firms, 44% of Japanese firms.60% of German firms and 72% of South Korean firms have changed their organizational structure between 1989 and 1992indicating the importance of change. Organizational change implies a new equilibrium between different components of the organizationtechnology, job design, structural arrangement, people and such elements. Any change in the organization naturally disturbs the old equilibrium necessitating the development of new equilibrium. The type of new equilibrium depends on the degree of change and its impact on the organization.
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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 be absorbed by the present equilibrium while major changes can be absorbed only by new equilibrium. In brief you can say that a change to any part of the organization will affect it throughout. Barney and Griffin have pointed out that failure of organizations is there because managers are not properly anticipating and responding to forces of change. The change even if responded to by managers the employees but resist it, as they do not want any change in the mechanical relationship established among them. Thus you have to take care of both internal and external forces of change. Have you understood ? What is the nature of organizational change ? 5.10.2 EXTERNAL FACTORS Every organization exists in some context. No organization is an island in itself. Each must interact with other organizations, suppliers, customers, unions, government, shareholders, even with competitors. Each organization has its own goals and responsibilities relative to other organizations. During the conduct of its operations to achieve its goals and objectives, it should also consider the goals and objectives of other organizations also. The dynamic changes that maketing, financial, political, technological, economic environment are undergoing so swiftly that the functions of many organizations 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 organizational change? 5.10.3 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS When the competitors adopt a new and forward technology you will become less competitive, less cost effective and less innovative. Your very position in the market will be weakened. And when the organization adopts corresponding new technology it will have to change its structure, its human resources management. This will affect the very behaviour of the group. Thus computers and automation you know are responsible for drastic changes in organizational structure often affecting the morale and job satisfaction of
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people. Similarly when the oil crisis hit the world, the Japanese were quick enough to introduce fuel-efficient small cars while America lagged behind. Americans were making only large and luxurious cars, now were forced to invest billions of dollars to retool and redesign the car industry with new people, new designs, new methods etc. Changes in laws on pollution control hit many industries. Unemployment rate, social changes like women going for work often occupying high positions, fast food and star hotels, laptop, cellphones and fast changing fancy dress and clothing etc brought about tremendous changes by both suppliers and manufactures. In the process companies who were slow or did not care for the changes were destroyed. What is the influence of technological factors on organizational change ? 5.10.4 CHANGES IN MARKETING CONDITIONS The export oriented faces the bulk of the onslaught of change. Foreign technology and methods put many organizations behind the clock. The way international marketing was carried out using web-enabled marketing, logistics management, intermodal trasportation, multimodal operations by foreign firms threw many of domestic industry into hardships. The market faced competition from five different forceshead-on from direct competitors, from substitute products, from new products satisfying the same needs at a lower cost, from suppliers who dictated prices for rare raw materials, from customers who bargained for prices threatening to buy from other makers of other brands of products. The organization had to rise to the occasion to change strategy of pricing, communication, promotion, educating, after sales service, goods tracking, attending to grievances and opening grievance cell etc. The organizations had to make products as per changing likes, needs, preferences etc of customers. Have you understood ? What is the effect of marketing conditions on organizational change? 5.10.5 SOCIAL CHANGES The global culture has invaded our culture. The global ideas of life have penetrated into our blood. The result is higher education, information on health, sports, hygiene, food habits, dietary controls, feeling of autonomy, need for automobiles, entertainment suspirations etc. All these have brought about social changes.
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5.10.6 POLITICAL AND LEGAL CHANGES The impact of political and legal system of a country and the world is very high. In the event of a minute or major change in any one or both of them the effect on organization is considerable. If a capitalist government wants taxation, it will be opposed by communist rule If a country with American collaboration for industry turn into an ethnic /fundamentalists rule the effect is simply horrible and negative. Have you understood ? W h a t i s t h e ef fe ct o f p o li t i ca l a n d so ci a l c h a n g es o n organizational climate ? 5.10.7 INTERNAL FACTORS Essentially the major internal change is on the individual as well as on group behaviour of people. The major factors influencing are 5.10.8 CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL Retirement, transfer, dismissal and especially promotions create telling changes internally in an organization. These are normal events but when the external environment forces upon change, these are also brought about by the organization. New managers, more qualified managers, specialists etc replace old managers. The new manager brings with him new ideas of working and new ways of working. Also this brings about changes in existing relationships, especially in informal relationships. Attitudes of people change though they by themselves do not change. The total organization thus changes. Have you understood ? What is the effect of change in management personnel on organizational climate ? 5.10.9 DEFICIENCY IN EXISTING ORGANIZATION It is also possible that there are deficiencies in the present organizational arrangement. Large number of managerial levels, unmanageable span of management, lack of coordination between departments, obstacles in communications, multiplicity of committees, lack of uniformity in policy decisions, lack of cooperation between line and staff all cause the deficiencies forcing the changes in the organization. Have you understood ? H o w f a r t h e d ef i c i e n c y i n t h e e xi st i n g sy st em a ff ec t organizational climate ?
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5.10.10 CHAIN EFFECT OF CHANGE Often a change touches of a sequence of related changes and supporting changes. This is known as domino effect. Since change brings in new equilibrium, the organization has to modify many aspects to adjust to the new equilibrium. Thus, if market calls for new products the organization has to adopt new technology. This changes the present persons and even the pay scales. This is because the very job contents changes. Or else you have to train the present employees for the new job and invest money and time in them. This changes the relationship and positions and challenges and morale also. Thus you find a series of changes due to one forced change. Similarly, shift in the socio cultural changes and values in work force require changes in the corporate culture and structure. Workers are becoming more and more educated, women are joining work, and workers are becoming less conservative. The strict dress code, domination by management etc have to be changed to accommodate the demographic shifts. There are changes in the board of directors, employees, and shareholders that affect strategy, philosophy, decisions and other activities. Individual change is behavioral which is determined by individual characteristics of members such as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, needs, expectations etc. Participative education can bring total change in the organization. But the degree of change and the time taken for change depend upon 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 very difficult Change is beneficial for some organizations while it is a death knell for others. The attitude towards change depends on the context of the situation, nature and extent of change and the manner in which changes are initiated and executed. The difficulty for changing behaviour and the time taken is depicted below. Time and difficulty involved in change
Organizational behavior
Short .. long Time taken to change
Group behaviour
Individual behaviour Attitude
Knowledge Easy . Difficult
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Some changes are required for adjustments within the organization and these changes take place gradually. These are called evolutionary changes. Such changes do not promote any enthusiasm and they also do not constitute any departure from the past practices. Thus any organization has to go through its birth, growth, maturity, decline, entropy or death. These changes may be smooth and evolutionary and sometimes sudden and revolutionary. According to Greiner an organization grows to mature to young stage, tiny to giant size. It actually passes through five phases of evolution each of which ends up in with a period of crisis and revolution. Have you understood ? What is the sequential effect of organizational change ? 5.10.11 REVOLUTIONARY CHANGES Changes sometimes may be sudden and violent. The revolutionary changes often overturn the status quo arrangements, causes violations, rejections or suppressions of old expectations. But revolutionary changes are rarely introduced unless there is an intolerable situation revolutionary movements causes strong resistance and sometimes power is exercised to implement changes. Have you understood ? Briefly write the significance of revolutionary changes. 5.11 STABILITY vs. CHANGE Newtons law states that bodies in motion tend to be in motion and bodies at rest tend to be at rest. So also organizations, which are on the move to grow, tend to move and grow and those do not know or want to move remain where they are and in business it is the sign of doom. This enables you to distinguish growth oriented and stationary organizations. Change is the only constant in business world. Those companies want to be stable cannot remain stable by not changing anything come what may. They are normally resistant to change, as they want to be in the state of rest. But progressive companies want to be stable and survive with growth by planned movements and changes. Planned change aims to prepare the organization to adapt to significant changes in organizations goals and direction. Planned change 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
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the organization amidst many destabilizing forces of the environment. The manager takes strategic steps to ensure stability of the organization by implementing the necessary changes. He also makes sure that the change takes place smoothly without many hassles. As long as you know that the critical aspects of the organization like technology, task, structure and people have to keep pace with the changes whether it is mild, slow, violent or sudden, the stability of the organization can be maintained. Thus an organization, which is stable as on date, has to change the procedures for decision-making and problem solving processes if the market demands that so as to maintain the stability. Otherwise the enterprise will get destabilized unable to meet or face the competition. The above technology change brings about changes forcibly on the skills required, new job content, new job description etc. These changes called task-related changes are necessary to maintain stability. The stability of the organization will be shaken unless you focus on high internal work motivation and high quality work performance. An organization appearing to be stable has to bring about structural changes to maintain the very stability because the change will force or redefine the nature of relationships among the various organizational positions. The number of hierarchical levels has to vary, the organization itself may become entirely new, the span of management will change, the line and staff functional authority will change for stability to continue or survive. Over and above all these you have to note that even people have to be changed if you want stability in growth. New technology calls for new technologists, new products call for new designers etc. You need people of different behavior to meet some changes as otherwise it can disturb the equilibrium. The objectives of planned change are to meet the organizational objectives only. You can say an organization is stable year after year only when the organizational objectives are achieved. Hence you can briefly state that stability amidst environmentally forced changes is a fact. What is necessary is environmental adaptation, individual adaptation, structural adaptation, technological adaptation and task adaptation that will take care of adjustments required for attitudes, values and other behavioural changes to keep growing without any loss to stability.
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Have you understood ? Comment on stability visa-vis changes 5.12 PROACTIVE AND REACTIVE CHANGES Forces of change arise out of an organizations interactions with elements in its internal or external environment. The action of competitors, government, suppliers, public etc have substantial impact on change. Similarly social and cultural factors such as stages of life cycles, life styles, values and beliefs all lead to significant changes. These forces make it necessary to react immediately for a change that is implimentable. A reactive change is undertaken when it is pressed by some factors external or internal. Organizations, which work on traditional basis normally, go for reactive changes. These enterprises introduce new methods and systems only when they are faced with insurmountable challenges and hence forced to do that change. Thus many manufacturing business did not care for installing pollution control devices. They installed them only after being forced by pollution board. The labour welfare measures were not introduced by many organizations until they were forced to do that. These types of changes are only a reaction of the enterprises in response to the call or force from outside. Similarly when the firm finds that intermingling of some departments or segregation or splitting of the existing departments can enhance the quality and quantity of output and that too with timesaving, they act immediately as a reaction for the call from inside. Change is the order of the day. Change is inevitable because of factors such as death,retirement,transfer,promotion,discharge or resignation and also due to constantly changing elements in the external environment. One of the major forces of change is the newly recruited executives who bring about sweeping changes in many areas and influencing the behaviour of the participants .The new executive may have different objectives, organizational designs, tasks, procedures and policies and this sets a trend for new managerial behaviour which then has a cascading effect on individual and group behaviour and finally on the organizational behaviour. The changes by the new manager can be reactive or proactive as per the environmental need as well as according to the personal or egoistic need of the new recruit. The new manager maybe having a different personality, intelligence and temperament but may have the necessary qualification for the position and hence he has the right to bring about the changes that may be reactionary or even proactively. Proactive changes take place when some forces lead the organization to think and conclude that a particular change is desirable to achieve the
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objectives more efficiently. Such organizations go about introducing but planned changes, which are desirable intuitively. If the management thinks that introducing a new incentive scheme or some other benefit to employee can boost up the morale of the employee that increases motivation as well as satisfaction, then the organization is proactive. Suppose the organization introduces the benefits because of demand from the labour union, and then the change is reactive. Therefore, proactive change is the one identified as desirable by the organization and forced on it by any other factors. On the other hand, reactive change is a change implemented in an organization because it is made necessary by outside forces. Whether the change is evolutionary or revolutionary or glacial it must be either reactive or proactive. Proactive change is brought out of the anticipation of the likely behaviour of the forces having impact on the organization. Such organizations are called prospectors and will be constantly interacting with the environment to identify new opportunities and threats. These organizations incorporate the change before they are forced by these opportunities or threats. Many organizations undertake change programmed on regular basis in order to avoid developing inertia of inflexibility. Conscious managers view that their organizations should be dynamic because a single method is not the best tool of management at every time. The greatest advantage for proactive change is that people like the changes, as they are not forced on them all on a sudden but gradually with their participation and the employees being fully aware of the importance of the change. Have you understood ? Briefly discuss proactive vs. reactive changes. 5.13 THE CHANGE PROCESS Organizational change does not occur instantaneously; instead it involves formidable exercise on the part of management. major organizational change requires considerable planning. The change is successful if it is taken in a planned 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
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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
Have you understood ? 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 the organization is required because change for the sake of change can produce resistance whereas useful and necessary changes will be welcome and supported by members of the organization. Though there are various external forces acting on the organization, it is better for the organization to analyze the forces acting and find out these forces that are affecting the functions of the organization. If the forces external to the firm are not affecting the organization, then there is no need for any change. It is the organizations feedback and control section that can foretell the nature and importance of the external forces and advise whether a change is required, if so what is the direction of the change and quantum of the change. The very process of change is a control dominated function as the data as well as the corrective actions are all designed and supplied by control department only. Some of the features of the organization can indicate through the data that a change is required in the cost of production, declining profit, role conflict, and employee turn over, need for growth and expansionist. These indicators will force the management to analyze what actions can be taken for overcoming these defects. There will be normally a gap between the desired state of affairs and the actual state of affairs. This gap has to be seriously analyzed as this gap tells you what the organization has achieved and what it should have achieved. This gap analysis cannot be a permanent data even for months due to ever changing environment. The gap found a few months or days back may not be valid today or a few days later as competition, technology (software),
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social and demography etc vary at different rate fast, super fast and mega fast. If a new product enters the market, it may not affect the prospects immediately but within a short period it will affect. Hence the gap analyzed will 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 of the change. The clues about the change are obtained during the process of identification of change. The clues direct you to diagnose the problems caused because of which change is required. Thus declining profit, no doubt, requires change. But what elements have to be changed? This calls for diagnosing the factors responsible for declining profit. May be you need a sophisticated technology or you may need qualified and more experienced people, or you need to change the structure to arrest the declining trend of profit. Normally you change technology, people or structure in an organization. The nature and extent of change required depend on the type of problems faced by the organization. Structural changes take place in the fields of job design, job definitions, basis of departments, policies, span of control, coordination mechanism, power structure, flow of tasks and procedures. Technological changes mean changes in plant and equipment, production processes, method of doing work etc. When technology changes the organization changes in some form of or other Changes in people include changes in behaviour, attitudes, interaction pattern, skills and informal grouping. While some changes affect in all these dimensions, other changes affect only to a limited extent. Introducing a systems department fully computerized call for not only new people but also a change in the organizational structure also. Normally whenever there is a change in executive levels it creates major changes in the structure. They observe below their level to ensure that the levels and concerned people are conducive to implement their ideas and programmes to achieve the goals. He then makes sweeping changes and in the process the opponents resign and with new recruitment he gets an opportunity for a re-examination of the entire structure. Have you understood ? What are the elements to be changed ?
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5.13.3 PLANNING FOR THE CHANGE This is an important step towards the actual change. The planning includes who will bring the change, when to bring the change and how to bring the change. The person who brings about the change practically is called the change agent. Though all managers are change agents as they are bringing about some changes occasionally, some agents are noted for the tough and special changes being brought in. The second question is when to bring about the change is related to time dimensions of change. Before deciding the time frame you have to consider many factors that resist the change and the time required to set right these forces. You also need the time necessary for training and developing the people for accepting the change. You also need time to make the resources available for the change. The next question is how to bring about the change depends on how early you draw the procedures, prepare the chronological order of various events for change The change process is actually a continuous process because a change affects other aspects not considered. This hence calls for some other changes. In the process some dysfunctional aspects will be detected and lead for another aspect of change. The process thus goes on. Have you understood ? 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 recognized and accepted, the management must introduce the change process in such a manner that such change is more or less permanent and the management does not shift back to the old or more familiar ways of doing things. Kurt Lewins has proposed a three phases of change process for moving the organization 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 process when people and organizations become aware of the change and prepares them for the change. Because Lewin believes that people should not be caught unaware of the change. Such a sudden step would be socially destructive. That is why the management should pave the way for unfreezing
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the situation. This enables the management to easily implement the change with the acceptance of the members of the organization. Also if there is any resistance the same can be neutralized. According to Schein unfreezing is the process of breaking the old attitudes, behaviours, customs and traditions in order to start afresh with a clean chit. This needs communicating with the employees. This can be done through the in-house bulletin, holding meetings, making announcements, and promoting the ideas through personal contacts and through group conferences. This also needs physical removal of the individuals being changed from their accustomed routine, sources of information and social relationship. Again the individuals must be motivated to think for the change. Link reward with willingness to work consistently for the change and link punishment with unwillingness to change. Kreitner has suggested the following We can all improve the effectiveness of our organization if we all cooperate in a comprehensive programme of finding out where we are, where we want to go and how we can go there. The unfreezing process basically cleans the slate so that it can accept new writings on it, which can then become the operational style. 5.13.4b. Changing or moving to new conditions : Once the unfreezing process is completed and the members recognize the need for the change and have been fully prepared to accept such a change their behaviour pattern have to be redefined. There are three ways of assessing their behaviour as per H.C.Kellman. They are a) compliance b) identification c) internalization. a) Compliance: Compliance is achieved by enforcing reward and punishment strategy for good or bad behaviour. Fear of punishment, actual punishment or actual reward can change the behaviour for the better. b) Identification: Members sometimes get impressed with the idea of getting identified psychologically with some role models whose behaviour they would like to imitate or adopt and try to become like them. You can see many a firm using celebrities advising youngsters not to smoke or get addicted to drugsetc. c) Internalization : Internalization involves changing of the thought processes of people inside the organization in order to adjust to the new environment. First members are left alone to look within themselves
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and they are given freedom to learn and adopt the new behaviour so as to succeed in the new environment. Often soul searching transforms the individuals into more accepting and adjusting workers bringing a new dimension in the philosophy of existenceand thus brings about changes in such a behavioural pattern that are not considered socially professionally redeeming. Besides all these you have to follow the guidelines as follows. Recognize that the primary purpose of change is to improve performance results. 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 larger organizational picture. Use positive energy, meaningful language, and bold leadership to drive change relentlessly.
5.13.4c Refreezing: When the new behaviour becomes the normal way of life refreezing occurs. The new behaviour replaces the old behaviour fully to implement the change successfully. The change has to be permanent in nature. Therefore it must be reinforced continuously so that the newly acquired behaviour does not diminish or extinguish. It must be noted that change is not a one-time process but it is a continuous process due to the ever-changing environment and dynamism in the environment. Accordingly the process of unfreezing, changing and refreezing is a continuous cyclical process. Force field analysis. Is another methodology to induce, impliment and manage change as propounded by Kurt Lewin. There are change forces known as driving forces. There will be forces resisting the change and these are known as restraining forces. Please refer below. Driving forces Equilibrium Restraining forces Managers must be strategic enough to encourage and strengthen the driving forces and weaken the restraining forces sufficiently so that change can take place. Have you understood ? a What is meant by unfreezing the situation
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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 D3 D2 D1
Dn
Driving forces Length of an arrow shows significance of the force
The figure above clarifies that organizational equilibrium is not static rather it is dynamic. This is because everything depends on who is stronger driving forces or restraining forces. If the driving forces are stronger then management can implement the changes without much hassles. But if the restraining forces are stronger then the management may not implement the changes, rather allow the driving forces to gain strength or immobilize the restraining forces. The management also can convert the restraining forces into driving forces artistically and strategically. All said and done the prime responsibility of the management lies in building the driving forces or debuilding the restraining forces so that people can accept the change. The moment the driving and restraining forces are brought to a desired level then the management can go for the change employing unfreezing, changing or refreezing techniques. 5.13.4d Feedback on change: A feedback on the progress of the change is a must in order to know whether the change is in the right direction or not as the change should not create any dysfunctional effect. As the change progresses the change may create minor problems in some unrelated areas and hence a close watch is necessary. In case of any problems that should be sorted out quickly so that results are better. The impact of the change is measured from the objectives. Hence objectives of the change must be defined clearly to make measurement.
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5.13.4e Responses to change All individuals may not accept the change favorably. Hence the degree of acceptance or the degree of resistance to change depends on many factors like perception, attitude, social recognition etc of the individuals. Different responses indicate the varying behavioural influences of change. The reaction to change may not be logic often and it may be feelings of how a change will affect the individuals need satisfaction in the organization. An individual normally joins with the group concerned and expresses his reactions in one of the following ways.
Probable Individual responses A Works harder than before Actual responses Willing acceptance
Personal histories
B Avoids doing new things Resistanc e
Change
C Argues with the boss
Work environment
D leaves the orgnisation
Group response
Forced acceptanc e
E Goes on strike F Feels indifferent Responses to change
Rejection
Though individuals have different responses like cooperation, acceptance, strike, fight, neutral etc, the individual when joins the group the behaviour will be willing acceptance, resistance, forced acceptance and rejection of the change as the case may be all depend on the resultant of the varying behaviour exhibited by them. 5.14 RESISTANCE TO CHANGE Man always follows the path of least resistance. Generally change is resented and is very difficult to implement. Especially when the outcome of the change is uncertain due to the very nature of being new, you may feel that it is easier to introduce known methods than to change over to new methods. You experience the same effect almost when you change over to a new home or
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new college or new school or new job. But when the potential rewards for the change is good, then the change is easier. Thus a person changes the job as the new job offers him better pay and facilities. However if the employee is transferred to another section on same financial terms but less comfortable physical conditions, the employee may resist the change. Whatever be the resistance the change if beneficial to the organization, it has got to be implemented. The society will become stagnant if no changes take place. Hence it is imperative to study the causes for the resistance to change in order to deal with the resistance properly. It must be noted that most of the time the resistance is not for the technical changes but the social changes that accompany the technical changes. By social changes what is meant is the human relationships. You have to lay therefore much emphasis on reducing the strain that might develop due to changes in these relationships. Essentially individuals resist change because he has to learn new tasks, new habits and make some sacrifices. Another reason for resistance is homeostasis meaning tendency on the part of the organization to maintain equilibriumself correcting characteristics. People act to establish a steady state of need fulfillment and secure themselves from disturbance to that balance. Since the days of industrial revolution workers have resisted introduction of new technology even in a violent fashion. Divisional managers have fought for realignment of units or corporate structure. While individual resistance is due to personal, economic or social reasons, the organizational resistance is due to structure, organizational constraints threats of power or influence etc. Resistance may be covert or overt. Overt resistance is when employees deliberately start doing things very slowly and without any enthusiasm. for the 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 resistance as given below. Individual factors: Homeostasis, tendency to maintain equilibrium, resists all 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 and anything not in line with perception is resisted.
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Dependence: An individual used to depend on the group and others suddenly cannot do innovative work independently or with a new group. Super ego in him may prevent acceptance of change if not in conformity with his belief. Insecurity uncertainty about the impact of the change especially on job security. 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 to resistance. Rapidity and the extent of change create resistance. Slower the change slower the resistance. Have you understood ? What is meant by resistance to change ? What are the causes for the change ? 5.14.1 Group resistance: Many a time when there is a group resistance the individual belonging to the group also resists. The individual complies with the group norms and codes of conduct .The labour union strike is an example where the individual joins the strike though not in support of it just to express his support to the group. 5.14.1a Emotional turmoil: A change may cause emotional disturbance because of past negative experiences .The result is lack of trust, misunderstanding, misinterpreting the change itself even if the change is well intended. Thus if a rumour is spread about possible lay-off due to sophisticated technological change, there will be stiff resistance against the change. In 1970 there was a strike at Hindusthan Aeronautics Ltd, Bangalore protesting the introduction of Tungsten carbide tools that will work at very high speed in machine- tools to give four to five times the existing productivity in the place of High Speed Tools. This created a fear of loss of jobs, retrenchment or undesirable transfer of people. The management had to sign an agreement with the union assuring security of present jobs. 5.14.1b Loss of power: Often the change reduces the power base of an individual; group or unit and the prospect of such a loss of power will create resistance, even though the change is for the good of the organization. Downsizing, for example, reduces the power resulting in resentment.
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There are major social factors responsible for resistance of change. People derive satisfaction of social needs through mutual compatible interactions. To this end they form their own social groups at the work place. When satisfaction of these needs are affected people resist it.. The desire to maintain the existing social interactions and feeling of outside interference (change initiated by managers affecting workers) are the major causes of resistance for the change. These types of resistance should be tackled or nipped in the bud. Some of the 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 groups within the organization resist change but also even the organization itself resists the change for some lethargic reasons. Thus many organizations are designed to be innovation resisting. Many powerful organizations like IBM, XEROX, CATERPILLAR, T I CYCLES, STANDARD MOTORS, have been victims of corporate disease. They grew successfully but wanted to stabilize at a particular level without opting for the necessary change signaled by the environment. These companies counted on their past success, by stabilizing the systems with no scope for change, resource limitations for change and the sunk cost involved in various assets. What is group resistance and the role played by emotional turmoil 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 peoples resistance to change successfully. Unless this is overcome the change even if effected may not give the desired result or may not be as functional as
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envisaged by the management. Lacovini observes, The secret to real success is effective management of emotional vulnerability that accompanies organizational change If the changes are to be implemented successfully, they need full acceptance from employees. The easiest way to get this acceptance is the participation of employees in the change effort. Research conducted by Coch and French in a clothing factory indicted that the total participation in the change process resulted in increased productivity. Some of the specific strategies employed in reducing the resistance to change are: 5.15.1 Participation and Involvement. The employees should genuinely want the participation of employees in the process of change so that they are enthusiastic about it. It should not be simply a mechanical act of calling upon many people to participate. Participation should be a part of and a result of the total treatment of the employee. Such participation of employees would ensure commitment to implementation of change. Secondly, participation will be easier to obtain form the individuals if they see some personal benefit to be gained from the change. 5.15.2 Communication and education. If the employees do not have adequate information or if the information that they have is inaccurate, then it is necessary to educate them about the change, its process and its working. This education can be carried out through training classes, meetings and conferences. The reasons about the change must be communicated very clearly and without ambiguity at theses meetings. This will help persuade employees about the necessity of change and once persuaded, they may actively seek the change. The management can change the basic values of the people by training and psychological councelling. They must be taught new 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 the manager who is acting as a change agent, the grater will be his influence upon the employees who will be involved in the changes process. In addition to the manager who is the authorized leader, there may be an informal leader, who may have a stronger influence because of respect and high prestige that he commands from the members and he may be able to exert emotional pressure on his followers to bring about the change. 5.15.4. Negotiation and agreement. Negotiation and agreement techniques are used when costs and benefits must be balanced for the benefit of all concerned parties. This is often used in bargaining with labour unions.
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It is especially important in situations where the individuals or groups will end up as losers as a result of the change and where such individuals and groups have considerable power to resist. 5.15.5. Willingness for the sake of the group. Some individuals may be willing to accept change, even if they are not totally satisfied with it, if the group that they belong to is willing to accept the change. This is specially true about the individuals who have a continuous psychological relationship with the group so that there is group cohesiveness or group togetherness. Accordingly, management must isolate such groups who have considerable influence upon its members and try to induce the group to involve itself in the change process and accept the change. 5.15.6 Time of change. Timing of introduction of change can have a considerable impact on the resistance. There is always a right time and a wrong time for introducing something new. The right time, obviously will meet less resistance. Therefore, management must be very careful in choosing the time when the organization climate is highly favorable to change, such as soon after a major improvement in working conditions. These factors can assist considerably in reducing resistance to change. The management must understand that while unilateral use of authority and vested power with the management can sometimes bring change and it may be necessary to use this power under certain situations, such a change would be highly resented and may be short lived. For long-term stability of the change process, the management must invite active and willing participation from the employees and share with them the benefits derived from the change. 5.15.7. Managers Support: Managers can be supportive. He can patiently cooperate; provide emotional support, training in new skills etc, to the employees. The support tries to remove organizational barriers that might hamper change or implementation of organizational policies to facilitate change. It includes assistance 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 can change the basic values of the people by training and psychological councelling. The managers emotional support deals with the personal concerns as opposed to technical concerns about change. Manager can assist employees experiencing anxiety induced by change through compassionate listing and helping them work out their concerns.
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The facilitative support is commonly used where people are resistive because of adjustment problems. Facilitation and support are most helpful when fear and anxiety lie at the heart or resistance. Tough and well as the efficacy of facilitative ways of dealing with it. The potential limitation of this method is that it can be expensive, time consuming without any guarantee of success. 5.15.9 Provision of Incentives: Providing incentives to resistors is another fruitful way of overcoming resistant to change. Where some persons in a group clearly lose out in a change and where group has considerable power to resist, provision of incentives are helpful. It becomes relatively easy to avoid major resistance through negotiation. But it can be too expensive or costly if it alters others to negotiate for compliance. 5.15.10. Manipulation and Cooptation: Sometimes the managers use secret attempts to influence others. Manipulation involves conscious structuring of events and the very selective use of information. Cooptation is a form of manipulation, which involves giving individuals a desirable role in design or implementation of change. Manager is used to resort manipulation particularly when all other tactics are infeasible or have failed when applied. One potential benefit of this method is that it can be relatively quick and inexpensive solution to the resistance. However, one potential danger of this technique is that it can lead to future problems if people feel they are manipulated. 5.15.11 Forcing change: Sometimes, managers do not have other ways than to resort to coercion (i.e. they deal with the resistance coercively). They essentially force people to accept a change by explicitly or implicitly threatening them (with the loss of their jobs, promotion possibilities, and so forth) or by actually firing and transferring them. This method is not followed when the speed is essential in implementing change and the change initiator possesses considerable power. One definite advantage of this method is that it can be speedy, and can overcome any kind of resistance. But at the same time, it can be risky if it leaves people mad at the initiators. Have you understood ? 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 change only, such changes are routine and regular ones. However, in a planned change, the requirement is totally different from what you have internally. This introduces the concept of external change agents.
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The external change agents are normally consultants who are experts in specific areas of operation. The internal change agents are picked up from the various levels in the organization according to their expertise and experience. The two agents sit together and exchange ideas. Finally, the consultants thrust upon the internal agents the ideas on change to be implemented. These are accepted without protest as the internal change agents are well trained and convinced. The objective of change agents is to bring about the desired change in the organization. In general a specific role is required to be performed by the change agents., external and internal. Their roles may be different in the change process. The external agent is able to view the change from a total system point of view, as he is not inhibited by organizational norms. The top management gives full cooperation to the consultants as they appoint them only. The consultant 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 ideas and implement the change leading the organization to growth and development. Have you understood ? Who are change agents ? 5.16 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Organizations are existing amidst fast changing environment and subjected to various forces necessitating changes suddenly and gradually. You can not implement any change just like that. How to bring about organizational
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synthesis and change the organizational environment to accommodate the change is a big question but also a challenge. A number of variables are affecting the system. The values of these variables are also changing rapidly. Hence the organizational change should be brought about not in a haphazard way but in a pre-planned way. Harold Rush has defined O.D. as a planned, managed and systematic process to change the culture, systems and behaviourof an organization in order to improve the organizations effectiveness in solving its problems and achieving its objectives. Basically O.D. is integration of organizational needs with individual needs. The task is canalizing the human resources towards the organizational mission. The question now is how to decide the internal communication strategy, how to organize the work, how should you make decisions, how to set the norms and values, how to decide the ground rules etc so that peoples individual needs for self-worth, achievement, satisfaction etc are significantly met at the work place. Thus O.D. has a great responsibility of working out and organizing the interaction between the human resources and its utilization for the specific work to the best benefit of both the organization and the employees. Beckhard is of the view that O.D. is an effort planned, organization wide and managed from the top to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organizations processes using behavioural science knowledge. You may now analyze the various aspects of O.D. 5.16.1 Planned change: It is a planned evaluation and improvement, which includes examining the present and diagnose the organizations needs systematically so that you can formulate a specific plan for improvement. It also 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 the effectiveness of the total organization although specific aspects may focus on subsystems. The underlying fact is that an organization is a system of interrelated parts. 5.16.3 Management commitment: The key element to success is management whose commitment at all levels is a must. The support of the management serves as a standard for the rest of the organizations members.
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Have you understood ? What is organizational development ? There are various techniques of organizational development. Some of the most 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 individuals towards 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 twelve people. He arranges a group interaction openly who express their feelings and ideas freely. The group now works out its own methods of proceeding further. Individuals are allowed to focus on behaviour than on duties. The members learn about themselves as they discuss with the group. The important effect of sensitivity training is that communication is improved tremendously and hence leadership skills get developed faster. It opens the eyes of the individuals to look at themselves and look to others through the same eyes. It will not hide anything or manipulate the processes or brainwash the individuals. Have you understood? What is sensitivity training? 5.17 CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENT 5.17.1 Long-range change: O.D. efforts are meant for long-term effect on the organization. This only can elevate the organization to a higher level of functioning by improving the performance and satisfaction of the members
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on a long-term basis. Since long-term efforts take long time and hence the process of implementation fully may take a few months or even years. There may be pressure to get quick results but O.D. process is not a stopgap measure.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 small picture of the organization. This is because it aims at bringing a comprehensive change in the entire organization. It not only brings about change in the organizational design but also changes the philosophy and skills of individuals and groups. 5.17.3 Planned process: O.D. challenges to meet not only changes but even the running programmes with its own plus and minus points.. It recognizes the fact that the goals of the organizations are changing and hence the methods like motivation, educating the members, training etc are applied to ensure that changes are implemented without any resentment. O.D. is thus 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 efforts to guide and direct changes and at the same time to adapt to or cope with the changes already imposed. O.D. knows that organizational goals change and accordingly the methods to attain the goals also must change. It is not therefore a one-shot action rather it is an ongoing, interactive and cyclic process. 5.17.5 Role of change agent: An outside consultant can normally catalyze the change action. The outsider has specific limitations on approach and can 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 brought successfully with the cooperation of the members and hence he is humanistic in his approach. He obviously shares social philosophy and human values. 5.17.6 Deep intervention: O.D. will be effective only with deep intervention of the agent on the ongoing activities of the organization. Research into the activities by conducting surveys, collecting relevant data, interpreting the data and then taking action for active intervention professionally enable you to introduce changes. 5.17.7 Education process: After all change is nothing but changing the old norms with the new norms. Because norms form the basis for behaviour and by change you are only reeducating the members about norms but
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changed norms. On the education and installation of new norms there will be desirable outcomes in the form of effectiveness, problem solving, adaptability for the organization as a whole for the change.O.D. attempts to make 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 and managerial performance are mutually dependent. The organization is regarded as an interrelated whole and no part of the organization can be changed without affecting the other part. 5.17.9 Research orientation: The change agents can not normally introduce changes just like that .It calls for a systematic collection of data, analysis of data, consultation among experts and interpretation of the data before a decision is taken on a change that will have far reaching consequences on the entire organization. O.D. normally employs outside consultant who are professional and experts in the field. Thus O.D. is a researchoriented process only. 5.17 10 A goal setting action: No change agent works without setting the goals of change for the organization. The goals of different departments are different and all are set finally to achieve the changed organizational objectives. The goals are informed to the respective groups and together they try to achieve the same. Have you understood ? List the various characteristics of O.D. ? 5.18 OBJECTIVES OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES Margulies and Raia express that O.D. technology is aimed at developing new organizational learning and new ways of coping and dealing with the problems The primary objective of organizational development is to improve productivity, morale, and satisfaction of employees in an organization. The other objectives are Increasing the level of trust cooperation and mutual emotional support among all organizational members at all levels. Increasing the incidence of confrontation of organizational problems both within the groups and among groups in contrast to sweeping problems under the rug. That is to say it encourages an analytical approach to problem solving in a team spirit to resolve the problem instead of avoiding or postponing it.
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Creating an environment in which the authority is based on knowledge and skill. The idea here is to assign making and problem solving responsibilities to skilled and knowledgeable persons instead of any person in some level on some clumsy basis. Increasing the openness of communications laterally, diagonally and vertically. Increasing the level of enthusiasm and personal satisfaction among the employees in the organization. Finding the probable solutions to problems with greater frequency. Increasing the level of self and group responsibility in planning and implementation. Increasing the sense of belongingness to the organization so that the problems of the organization and the goal of the organizations become that of the members of the organization. To increase personal responsibility for planning, implementing the plans and be aware and responsible for the consequences. In the process this builds enthusiasm individually and groupwise and will also involve communication, feelings, open competition, compromise, conflict resolution etc resulting in the increase of a sense of self-direction for the members in the organization. It helps managers to manage according to objectives instead of depending on past practices. It also makes the managers goal oriented instead of process oriented.O.D. makes the managers to direct the efforts to all the related objectives in the area of responsibility. O.D. changes emphasis on humanistic values and goals consistent with these values. The very purpose of organizational development is looking at the whole human side of the organizational development. To provide opportunities for people to function as human beings rather than mere inputs in the production process. To provide opportunities for each organization member as well as for the 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 and challenging work.
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Allow or create opportunities for the people to relate their experience and personality traits to relate to work, organization and the existing environment. To treat the member as a human being and recognize his needs as important in his work as well as in his life.
Besides the O.D. has a specific idea in influencing the value of people inside the organization. Thus it wants to change the view that people are generally bad to the belief that people are basically good. Generally people are valued in the negative, but O.D. wants them to be considered as human beings with positive outlook. Generally people have a tendency to accept the individual differences but O.D. tries to make them accept the differences as reality and graciously accept it. It even utilizes the individual difference to the advantage of both the organization and individual. O.D does not encourage marksmanship and game playing but it expects authentic behaviour from the members.O.D. no longer can imagine distrust among members but wants trust among them . The tendency on the part of people is to avoid facing others with relevant data but O.D. resists this and makes the members confront the data appropriately and head-on collide with it for solutions. O.D. converts lethargic people who avoid risk taking into a set of bold people to willingly accept the risk for solution. O.D. emphasizes on collaboration and not on competition. Have you understood ? What are the objectives of O.D. programme ? 5.19 TEAM BUILDING The prime minister of a country seldom can achieve the national objectives alone. He needs a team of ministers in various areas like finance, industry, health, foreign affairs, education, home affairs etc. The proverb that union is strength is most apt at this juncture. Margulies and Raia hence says, The goal of team building is to regulate the operation of individuals as team, not to teach each of them as an independent isolated components of the organization Obviously team building is different from sensitivity training as this is concerned with the group, group performance and group achievement. In sensitivity training the focus was on the individual. Team building improves the organizational effectiveness or that of the work groups by 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.
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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 their own behaviour. The group follows the following steps to solve a problem.
2 1. Identification of problem 2.Contribution of information 3.Establishing task relationship 4. Strategy and solutions 1
TEAM BUILDING CYCLE Team building cycle in fact follows a logical cycle as is depicted in the figure above. Here employees belonging to a particular work group gather together and discuss the problems associated with the task performance. The necessary atmosphere is to carry out the discussions away from the normal work surroundings and also to have a candid free open chat that emanates a spirit of cooperation and solution seeking attempts. In a typical team building exercise session starts with identifying the current problems 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 perception on the problems, other issues and task relationships etc. This brings about an agreement on the key problems. Now the discussion shifts to the specific strategy to be adopted for overcoming these difficulties and finding solutions to the problems. Some of the merits of team building process are Team building facilitates the organizations problem solving ability and decision-making skills. The extraordinary skills of members can be pulled out to the advantage of the organization. The members get faith in interpersonal relationships. Many barriers of organizational communications are removed by intergroup communications.
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The interpersonal issues are nicely sorted out in open candid manner. This gives a real chance for the employees to participate in the organizational development programmes. This builds a spirit of cooperation, coordination, challenge, collaboration and harmony. Team building process creates a goal attaining attitude followed by interpersonal positive attitudes.
Some of the demerits of teambuilding are It does not take care of the structure or technology as it deals with only work groups. When new groups join complication and confusion of roles arise. The technical or administrative competence of new group are different from that of the existing one and this creates conflicts. Moreover the new team members give attention to tasks than relationships.
All said and done French and Bell have opined that probably the most important and single group of interventions in the O.D. are the teambuilding activities the goals of which are the improvement and increased effectiveness of various teams within the organization There is nothing special in this observation as you know people generally work in groups only in organizations, and hence the group effectiveness determines the organizational effectiveness. The study on the life cycle of a team is essential to know how synergy is established through team work, how problems arise in team work, how the various features of an effective team get developed so that more and more effective teams can be developed to deal with the changes necessitated by the environment. Have you understood ? Give an account of team building ? 5.19.1 LIFE CYCLE OF A TEAM FormingStorming Norming Performing Adjourning These stages of the life cycle of a team have been arrived after a research into the various problems associated with the team formation and that will be faced by members. Who will be members of the team who will perform
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what functions who will contribute to what what rules will be followed how can conflicts among the members be solved are some of the questions that ended up in the formation of a life cycle for a team as a team is formed by members only. 5.19.1a Forming: This is the first stage when members get introduced to each 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 over the 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 varying competence, different members feel out of place, experience tension and anxiety. No wonder this stage is called the storming stage. 5.19.1c Norming; After the storm things settle down, down to clear solutions and understanding. A balance is struck and norms are formed in cooperation that helps in forming cooperative behaviour and feelings and emotions. 5.19.1d Performing: The members commence operations as per the norms set and accepted. Functional roles are performed, exchanged as per needs and tasks and goals are achieved. 5.19.1e Adjourning: This is the end phase of the life cycle of a team. Once the mission of the team is completed the team has to be dismantled or adjourned. Even the most successful team also gets adjourned. The adjournment takes place especially in the case of teams formed for the purpose of a special task or a committee, or a task force etc. Other types may have some permanency but the members may change. The social relationships established come to an end once the team is adjourned. All teams may not follow the same pattern but they all will follow the life cycle depending 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 synergy generated during team interaction develops it into an effective team. Synergy is the process of putting two or more elements together to achieve a sum total greater than the sum total of individual elements separately. This effect can be described as 2+2=5 effect. Synergistic effect is not automatic but is the result of contribution of each member of the team or group.
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A team is created to display various skills required to solve the problems and hence the members of the team who are complimentary to each other play a major role in making the team very effective. A team becomes effective when the members are crystal clear about their roles as well as the roles of others in the team. Skills in any case are complimentary. A team member contributes positively and also strives to do so. Even if one member fails to deliver it will have a chain reaction ultimately affecting the performance of the team. A team should have super ordinate goals and hold the organizational goal as the super goal. far above the group or single teams goal -. Besides you need an excellent organizational climate for a team to be effective. And the team rewards must be commensurate with the tasks and levels for a team to be effective. Have you understood ? 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 the team. 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 the job.
In order to achieve the goals the team actually proceeds in the following way.
Problem Sensing Examining Perceptual differences Giving and Receiving feedback Developing Interactive skills Follow-up Action
Process of Team Building
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5.19.3a Problems are identified; problems are separated from each other from personal to group to organizational and through consensus and communication and agreed training they are solved. 5.19.3b Perceptual differences occur because people have different values, beliefs, personality, attitudes etc. Communication and awareness creation play a good role in bringing perceptual conformity. 5.19.3c Giving and receiving feedback: Normally a tense situation is created when their perception and feelings are relayed back to the members. Members report back their painful experiences at the time of evaluation of their feelings A discussion follows until all members make their comments and express their feelings. A feedback is then given to the members about their feelings, issue, how people talk about them, how well the topic of discussion is going on, who among the members are sincere to resolve the differences etc. This enables the members to evaluate themselves. Developing interactive skills : The basic idea here is to develop their ability for interactive skills ,to open dialogue in a friendly manner, to engage in constructive behaviour like building, developing and expanding the ideas of 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 is called and an assessment is made of what have been achieved and what have not been achieved. The left out items are followed up along with future activities. New areas, new responsibilities and new roles are also decided now. With supportive feelings the team functions cooperatively. Have you understood ? Describe the team building process. 5.20 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS If an organization is effective then in what respects it is effective is a big question that daunts everybody. You even come across various cricket teams and hear from friends that team A is very effective in tackling the situation compared to team B.etc. What would have made the A team more effective at 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 organizations playing its role for survival, name, profit, achieving other goals etc. The very popularity of a company today is dependent on its ability to impress
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the market from various anglesprofit, market share, excellent labour relations, sophisticated technology, always innovative, always first to introduce a new product, reputed for after sales service, most advanced quality control techniques, lowest % of rejections and many other details like from balance sheet and market news enable the organization to survive the onslaughts from Indian as well as foreign competition. You can then say that the organization is effective, the shareholders and other stakeholders can be free from worries of poor performance or losses. Why? Because the organization /company is working very effectively. In other words the organizational effectiveness of the firm is very high. Thus the topic organizational effectiveness has attracted the attention of many organizational analysts. One important factor you must notice is that an organization plays a major role in the life of people in society today. You and your friends and relatives are all dependent on one organization or the other without which there is no life for you and others. These organizations satisfy your needs and how effectively it satisfies the needs is the measure of the organizational effectiveness. In other words the need satisfaction depends on the degree of effectiveness of the organization. More effective the organization is, more satisfaction to the customers or people. It may be noted that the organizational effectiveness also depends on the very nature of the structure of the organization. There are a number of definitions on the concept but the central theme is to deliver right goods to right people at right time in right place at right price in right quality and right quantity. If so you can claim the organization is effective and will have its customers retained for a long time. Rather the firm may have loyal customers and it can also increase the customer base. Any growing organization is an effective organization as growth is impossible without being effective. Hence organizational effectiveness is also called organizational growth or success. It has also been conceptualized in different ways. What are all the factors that can be considered for measurement of organizational effectiveness? Productivity, efficiency, profitability, number of innovations, organizational growth rate etc can all be a measure of organizational effectiveness. Effectiveness can be defined as the degree to which an organization realizes its goals. Effectiveness of an organization can be seen in terms of the survival of the organization.
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An organization remains effective as long as it uses its resources in an efficient 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 different facets that may be relatively independent of one another. Though there are problems in defining O.E. due to the inability to find the exact identifying criteria, still organizations are classified as effective and ineffective based on some criteria referred already. Have you understood ? What do you understand by organizational effectiveness ? 5.21 EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY Today the very of management is the process of planning, organizing, leading and controlling the human, physical, financial and information resources of the organization in an effective and efficient manner to achieve the organizational goals By this definition management is a distinct process, a set of ongoing, coordinated activities that managers engage in as they carry out the organizational goals. But the most striking part of the definition is efficient and effective. It means an efficient manager does things right and an effective manager does the right things. An efficient manager uses resources carefully and expertly maximizing their application to the task at hand. The effective manager on the other hand understand the priorities of the organization and places emphasis of the organization and on those things that are most critical for success. Good management combines both efficiency and effectiveness. In engineering terms the word efficiency refers to the relationship between input and output. The ratio output /input directly gives the efficiency. Thus if the output is say 78 units and the input is 140 of same units, you can say the efficiency is 78divided by 140 or 78/140 is the efficiency. Now the question is have you achieved a production of 78 or not . Yes if you have achieved 78, then you are very or the most effective engineer. But if you have achieved only 65 then you are far less effective than expected obviously. All said and done you are not worried about how you have achieved. As long as you achieve the target you are effective but at what cost is the next question. When the question of cost comes in efficiency sweeps in.
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Organization effectiveness is the degree to which operative goals have been attained while the concept of efficiency represents the cost/benefit rate 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 processes whereas effectiveness reflects external phenomenon. Thus the cost of production 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 matching prices from the market for any reason then you are not effective although you are efficient. That is to say that the organization is incurring losses in spite of being efficient. Really this happens when the product is in the decline stage of its life cycle or when the competitor has a better lead over you in selling expenses or third party has introduced a new product meeting the same needs but at a lower price. Suppose the market situation is such that your products move due to demand and others fail to supply etc. You get a price more than expected in which case you are effective for the time being at least. Back to production you are not able to really maintain the cost of production or inventory control etc 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 and management problems, made huge profits for some time but when the situation changed they disappeared. Efficiency was low actually but was effective for some time. In the third case, an organization can be both effective and efficient at the same time. A number of organizations are falling in this category. In fact an organization should be like this only for long term survival of the same. Here people have a tendency to use effectiveness and efficiency interchangeably. Have you understood ? Comment on efficiency vs effectiveness.
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5.22 MEASUREMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS DIFFERENT APPROACHES. You have seen that various criteria are used to define organizational effectiveness. Accordingly, there are different ways of measuring the effectiveness of an organization. The importance of the measurement is 1) The managers must know whether the organization is running efficiently or as per policy or as expected or as per the target set etc. If not what are the remedial measures to be taken and that too how quickly. 2) another important reason is that an organization satisfies the needs of many people inside and mainly outside the organization. The customers and stakeholders of the organizations are to be satisfied in respective terms. Because of these two major reasons some criteria have been selected to measure the organizational effectiveness. No one approach can be considered ideal due to the inherent limitations in the approach. Hence there are four approaches that are employed to measure the effectiveness. They are Goal approach Behavioural approach System-resource approach Strategic constituencies approach
5.22.1 Goal approach: One can measure the organizational effectiveness in terms of the goals achievement by the organization. You have set goals for an organization, as without goals there is no target or purpose. You cannot play football without goal posts. Hence the degree of achievement of goals can be a measure of effectiveness because the achievement depends on how far the organization is effective. The degree of achievement of goals is high in the case of very effective organizations. The theorists have studied the effectiveness of an organization by making two assumptions. All organizations have an ultimate goal towards which they are striving. Ultimate goal can be identified and progress made towards the same can be measured.
Many specialists even define the organizational effectiveness in terms of the degree of goal orientation of the firm. The goal can tell you the profile of the firm, ability to do service, the possible productivity in the firm, the level of morale of the employees etc. Campbell has suggested several variables for
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measuring the effectiveness from goal point of view. They are, quality, productivity, readiness, efficiency, profit or return, stability, utilization of environment, turn over, employee retention, accidents, morale, motivation, satisfaction, internationalization of goals, flexibility adaptation, conflict cohesion and evaluation by external entities. Although many criteria have been proposed for measurement of organizational effectiveness based on goals none of the single criteria has proved to be the satisfactory or sole universal measurement of effectiveness. This made the managers to follow multiple goals at a time for measuring the effectiveness. Thus the degree of achievement of one goal with another becomes a yardstick of measurement. Also the degree of achievement of several goals by the firm can be compared with the same firm for a previous period or with similar firms in the same period. Some times the comparison is done for the last ten years. The example of Hindustan Lever Ltdusage of criteria for performance measurementis 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 comparative basis. Besides the company also uses other qualitative criteria like new product development, management development, training and development for workers etc.
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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 research is still going on in the field. No doubt organizations exist for some specific goals. Goal approach is successful when you measure productivity in absolute terms. Similarly goal approach is satisfactory for comparative organizational study and not for absolute studies because the goals of different organizations are different. Even comparison of morale, job satisfaction does not serve the purpose. The volume of work, the nature of skills required, the educational background of people are all different resulting in inadequacy of goal approach. Further, goals are ideals and practically not achieved. Goals arise out of the social environment outside and goals are not properties of the organization. In history, there are organizations that do not realize the goals but deviate with other benefits. The very mission statement is often not in agreement among the top team. Hence goal is imposed rather than a preferred end state towards which the organization is striving. This does not purport the view that it should be totally rejected. Some goals are still taken as criteria for measurement of O.E. 5.22.3 BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH The behaviour of people is taken into consideration for measuring the organizational effectiveness because no goal achievement is possible without a proper behaviour from the people in the organization. This is because organizations are nothing but collectivity of people having their own individual goals, which are different from organizational goals. Obviously the degree of effectiveness depends on the degree of integration of individual goals with that of the organizational goals. It is here the behaviour plays a decisive role for measuring the O.E. The integration of individual and organizational goals affects the organizational effectiveness because each individual tries to satisfy his needs by working in the organization. Naturally he may not take into consideration the organizational needs. Now the organization puts some control mechanism to achieve the organizational goals. Hence he cannot satisfy his needs without satisfying the organizational needs. Thus the integration of goals is possible only through the operation of fusion process. This fusion is not uniform for all individuals and organizations as the success of fusion depends on the varying characteristics of the individual as well as the organizations. Three possibilities are there in individual and organization goal relationships. They
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are 1. Low degree of goal integration 2. Moderate degree of goal integration 3. High degree of goal integration.
Organizational goals 1) Low degree of Goal integration
Organizational Effectiveness
Individual goals ----- 2) Moderate degree of goal integration Organizational goals--

Individual goals -----
Organizational goals
3) High degree of goal integration

Individual goals-----
The diagrams above represent the three alternatives of goal integration. Organizational effectiveness is low where there is low level of integration because individual goals are opposed to organizational goals. Employees generally do not bother about the welfare of the organization and concentrate on their own goals attainment at the cost of the other goal. This ends up in low morale, low performance, and losses to the organization or draining off assets. However, such a position does not last for a long time and either the individual quits or replaced. In moderate degree of integration of the two goals, there is a moderate degree of organizational effectiveness. This is a case where the both the goals are almost compatible and compromising. The actual performance is a combination of both. In high degree of integration of goals there is obviously a high degree of organizational effectiveness. Here, the two goals match and the mission statement is true to the belief of the individuals. There is a high degree of interaction between individual and organizational goals and that causes the most effective performance. The climate of the organization is such that either of the goals may occur and the individuals perceive that their goals
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same as that of the organization. Closer the individuals goals to that of the organization greater will be the organizational effectiveness. Therefore it is a strategy today for managers to ensure that the two goals match well. Perhaps this approach has given a lead to Management By Objectives (MBO). Have you understood ? 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 not independent of the environment. It emphasizes the interdependency of organizations, which are social structures only. The organization depends on the environment for many resources including the human activities. Besides raw materials, customers, market, finance, and such economic objects as well as technology also have their say from the environment on an organization. These resources are procured by various organizations competitively. Hence the bargaining power of organizations with its hierarchy is a yardstick of organizational effectiveness. Organizational effectiveness is, as such, is defined in terms of bargaining position , as reflected in the ability of the organization ,in either absolute or relative terms to exploit its environment in the acquisition of the scarce and valuable resources . The concept of bargaining position implies the exclusion of any specific goals as the ultimate criterion of organizational effectiveness. It points to the more general capability of the organization as a resource getting system. Hence the strategies of members to enhance the bargaining position linked with their personal goals can be a measure of the effectiveness. Along with the input, you have to also consider the value of throughput and output for measuring effectiveness. Have you understood ? Give an account of systems approach 5.22.5 STRATEGIC CONSTITUENCIES APPROACH Here the organization believes more in exporting the benefits to the socalled constituencies than considering any inputs from the environment. Identification of strategic constituencies is very important here. Thus for TISCO the following are the strategic constituencies.
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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, providing good machineries, speedy redressal of grievances, good promotion policy and training and development. 3. Customers: supply quality products at right prices, stick to business terms and policies, build their confidence and loyalty, prove your technical competency. 4. Community: Act as per social justice and respect the dignity of individuals., encourage talent and civic sense, undertake community development. These strategic constituencies and their expectation differ for different organizations based on the functions performed by them. In the case of business as shown above, these are owners, management, customers, suppliers, government, community etc. Though various approaches have been analyzed, you find that in all of them there is an emphasis on inputs, throughputs and outputs of an organization either implicitly or explicitly. You can say that O.E. can be measured in terms of The degree to which the organization is productive, profitable, selfmaintaining, 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 to the 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.
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Have you understood ? Describe the strategic constituencies approach for measuring organizational effectiveness ? 5.23 TIME DIMENSION OF ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS. It will not be possible to exactly predict the time required for an organization to become effective. The various steps taken for organizational development, if perfectly right, then depending on the nature of the organization the organization can attain a level of effectiveness that will be better than the present level in a matter of few years or months. This again depends on the degree of effectiveness required and also the particular area wherein it is required. If O.E. is required in the field of customer service or redressal of grievances it might be brought about in months time. But if technical competency is the measure of O.E. then it may take longer time. The size of the organization plays a crucial role in deciding the time for the organizational effectiveness to be in a state of measurement. Smaller size can make it more effective in lesser time. The personality of people, the type of organization, say, software, the economic and educational background of people, the complicacy of products, etc will play a decisive role in fixing a time frame for making an organization effective. You have seen cases where it took about ten years for organizations to become very effective in all respects and at the same time in a few months some less complicated fields became effective. You have also seen that the time dimension is influenced by the degree of integration of individual and group goals with organizational goals. Have you understood ? Briefly discuss the importance of time in O.E. 5.24 ACHIEVING ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS. Though various criteria are there for organizational effectiveness, the implementation of the steps for O.E. is possible only after a proper identification of the underlying factors. Each individual may be effective but his relationship with the organization plays a crucial role in O.E. From this point 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 and behavior that influence the course of development within the organizations.
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These are independent variables that can be changed or altered by management in order to bring in O.E. Intervening variables: These are those factors that get reflected in the internal state of the organization. The factors are loyalty, attitudes, motivation, performance goals, and perceptions of members their collective capacity for effective interaction, communication and decision-making. Though these are giving effect on a long-term basis many managers overlook them and it will affect the O.E. You know that these are the variables that build and develop organization and hence these are to be cared for seriously to bring O.E. End-result variables: These are variables that are caused by causal and intervening variables. These variables are dependent variables, which reflect the achievements of the organization. And you must naturally be interested to 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 and understand the functional deviations of the variables. This knowledge is very important to implement changes that form the basis for O.E. If so, then causal variables can be effectively employed, intervening variables can be strategically adjusted or improved and organizational effectiveness can be achieved/ end result can be achieved. An effective organization adapts itself to the environment. It implies that an organization should develop a system to cope with the environmental requirements. Schein has suggested that the various activities of the organization enable it to cope with the dynamics of the environment. It is not enough if an organization is efficient because it is only an internal condition but it must be capable of interacting with the environment properly. This means 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.
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The whole thing is called adaptive cycle. The cycle identifies points where the organization may fail to cope properly or adequately and hence require change action. The cycle is a continuous process. 1. Sensing change in some part of the organization is the first stage of implementation of effectiveness. The change may be in internal or external environment. The reasons for the change in external or internal can be many but failure to detect the changes in environment or incorrectly assessing or perceiving the changes can cause irreparable damage to the capability to cope with the environment. Normally most of the organizations have some subsystems like marketing research, research and development etc for effective coping with the environment. 2. The second stage of the cycle is importing of relevant information about the changes into those parts of the organization that can act upon the information. Organization is an input-output system and it draws materials, information. and resources from the environment. 3. It is difficult to perceive the type of inputs that will be taken by the organization from the environment. The conversion process is dependent on these inputs and hence the processes may be adjusted accordingly. 4. When you introduce desired changes a number of undesired products will be blossoming unexpectedly. Therefore, you have to stabilize the internal changes, which is a mixture of desired and undesirable products so that the desired ones dominate and the effects are only positive. 5. Having established stability you can now give what the environment wants. You now know what are the new methods required to deliver to the environment as per its requirements. If the organization fails to adopt new methods then it will become ineffective. 6. Feedback is the final stage of the cycle wherein you get a feedback from the external environment as a result of changes implemented in the internal environment. The measure of the outcome of the changes depends on the degree of integration of internal and external environment. All the stages have to be successfully negotiated by the organizations for effectiveness of coping. Some organizations find it difficult to cope with successfully because of the following. The organization requires an effective communication system through reliable and valid information can be passed. The internal flexibility should be good enough so that changes can brought and absorbed by the organizations. Successful coping requires integration and commitment to the organizational goals, which provides willingness for change.
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There should be supportive internal climate that encourage good communication, stimulate of self-protection and flexibility.
Emphasis is on effective communication here. Though communication has been dealt elsewhere ,transactional analysis is an important step for using communication as a tool. It is not enough if you establish organizational effectiveness but you must maintain it. When major changes are taking place the organization must be able to adopt the changes, which again depend on the O.D. More over these changes have to be brought about in a planned manner, the details of which have been discussed at length in the chapter on O.D. The factors causing ineffectiveness should be clearly understood by you in order 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 of ineffectiveness. The above-mentioned factors are at least controllable by managerial efforts in right direction. The managers must understand however there 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 to make the organization to be effective. In practice, the variables can be identified at three different levels so that the manager can decide the extent to which they can exercise control over
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the different variables in order to make the organization more efectiv. Thus causal variables can be identified at individual level, group level and organizational level separately. At individual levels the causal variables are physical attitudes, psychological attributes and technical factors. At group levels the variables are structure variables, group task demands and environmental conditions. At organizational level the variables are structural variables, task variables, control and reward systems, environmental conditions and existing personnel. All three levels have intervening variables already discussed. But the endresult variables are different as follows. The end-result variables at individual levels are personal output, individual effectiveness, creative output, loyalty commitment, personal development, conformity deviance and influence on others. The end result variables for the group levels are group effectiveness group productivity; group morale, conformity and adaptiveness.the endresult 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 be improved while other variables automatically improve or get corrected paving the way for greater organizational effectiveness. There is also a conflict between maximization of effectiveness and optimization of effectiveness. Maximization supported by economists want maximum achievement of goals or maximization of profit. This may find opposition among the employees as already you have exploited them and further squeezing attract non-cooperation from the members. Hence optimization is preferred by the administrative man who tries those steps that are satisfactory like market share, profit, and price and is content with simple satisfactory results. Have you understood ? List the controllable and not controllable factors during the process of achieving the organizational effectiveness. CASE STUDY I fail to understand how shuffling the cards can lead to vocationalisation of commerce education in India were the comments of 41-year-old Dr. Bhasin, who was coming out of a meeting to restructure commerce courses. His colleague nodded in approval. While in meeting, Dr. Bhasin has taken objection to the proceedings His comments on the deliberations were as under 240
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Here we are discussing the vocationalization of commerce education. All that I see is slicing and pairing of papers and shuffling them from one year to another. I do not quite see how it is going to help. As I see it, there is nothing lacking in the present syllabus of B.Com (Hons). The trouble lies in our teaching methods and lack of teachers theory. Theory and more theory while no effort is made to impart practical skills. We are like a motor driving school trying to teach motor driving while sitting in the classroom with the help 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 him to his remarks as wide off the mark. Another teacher pointed out that under the given University rules drastic changes were not possible. Some one pointed out that Dr.Bhasin was wasting time. Visibly upset, Dr.Bhasin withdrew and further proceedings started. QUESTIONS : 1. Why participants objected to the remarks of Dr.Bhasin? Was it possible to make Dr. Bhasins 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 organizational climate, its importance so that the climate plays a role for job satisfaction. It has been explained clearly about job satisfaction from an organizational point of view. The necessity to bring in changes and the type of changes have been elaborately discussed. Also the role and circumstances of organizational development are elucidated comprehensively. The significance of organizational effectiveness and the way in which it has to be implemented have 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.
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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 BlanchardOrganizational behaviour. 4. Hellriegel Organizational behaviour. 5. Slocum Organizational behaviour
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DBA 1604

FOCUS AND PURPOSE

DEFINITION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE FRAME WORK

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People Organization Structure Technology External Environment

Key Elements in organization behaviour

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Organization systems level

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Productivity Personality Perception Individual decision making Absenteeism

Values and attitude attitudes attitudes.

Turnover Learning Ability Satisfaction

Satisfaction Conflict Power and politics

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

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SUPER EGO THIRD LAYER

EGO SECOND LAYER

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There is another type of curve as shown below.

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curve follows an S-shaped curve as shown below.

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Perceptual inputs - Objects - Events - People

Perceptual mechanism Selection Interpretation

Perceptual outputs - Attitudes - Opinions - Feelings - Values

Characteristics of the situation

Characteristics of the perceiver

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