notes - organisational behaviour

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

1. Define Organizational Behaviour. State reasons for studying

Organizational Behaviour

Organizational behaviour is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and organizational structure have on behaviour within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving organizational effectiveness”.

OB entails integration of studies undertaken relating to behavioural sciences like psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, social psychology and political science. Therefore, organizational behaviour is a comprehensive field of study in which individual, group and organizational structure is studied in relation to organizational growth and organizational culture, in an environment where impact of modern technology is great. The aim of the study is to ensure that the human behaviour contributes towards growth of the organization and greater efficiency is achieved.

REASONS FOR STUDYING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

1) Capitalizing on Human Resources

OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. OB is

concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization. The study of Organizational Behaviour can greatly clarify the factors that affect how manager manage. It is the fields job to describe the complex human context in which managers work and to define the problems associated with that realm. The value of Organizational Behaviour is that it isolates important aspects of managers job & offers specific perspectives on the human side of management: People as organizations, people as resources and people as people. Managers today continue to search for ways to better integrate organization and the people who constitute them. An understanding of Organizational Behaviour can play a vital role in managerial work.

2) Understand Organizational Events:

Organization that we work in is an important aspect of our life. We feel more

comfortable when we understand the events that occur in the organization and

also the reason of their occurrences. It also helps us question and rebuild our

personal presumptions that we might have developed through observation or

experience.

3) Influence Organizational Events:

We influence the environment in which we live in. Whether one is a Finance

Manager or a Pharmacist, we need to know how to communicate with people at

various levels in your organization, manage conflict, make better decisions, work

in teams effectively etc. The role of every individual in an organization is

important and influences the organization. Thus the knowledge of Organization

Behaviour will help you influence the various events in the organization.

4) Predict Organizational Events:

Anticipating future events could be possible as field of Organization Behaviour

uses systematic study to understand Organization Behaviour. Even though

perfect prediction of events may not be possible as human behaviour is

influenced by a complex combination of factors, we can make sense of the

workplace and to some extent predict what people will do under certain

circumstances.

2. Describe the key forces / factors affecting Organizational Behaviour

PEOPLE: People are the main component of any organization that has to be managed. Every individual has a personal goal to be achieved. Organizations must need to identify the need spectrum of individuals and take suitable steps for its fulfillment to enable them to perform effectively so that they complete their allotted task in time. Relationship between the workers, with subordinates and superiors should be established based on full understanding and complete faith based on mutual trust so that it is easy to communicate and understand each other’s views. Work teams and Groups play a vital role in the organization. Apart from managing internal workforce, it is also important to manage customers who are the end persons using organization’s products or services.

STRUCTURE : There are two types of organizations, formal and informal. Informal organizations do not have specified structure. Formal organizations are built upon the objective set for it. Organizational structure in such organization is hierarchical in nature, with people at each level having their own objectives, which contribute towards fulfillment of all organizational objectives. An organization may have several levels and pyramid like organizational structure. The efficiency of such organization will depend upon free flow of information, efficient communication system prevailing in organization, well defined authority and responsibility supported by detailed policies, rules and regulations.

TECHNOLOGY : Managing technology is an important job of any management. Selection of technology, procurement, installation, operation and maintenance is importance and no compromise should be made in procuring latest technology. Based on technology, an organization should formulate job structure and resultant procurement of human resource so that they are complimentary to each other.

PROCESS : Management of processes and its interdependence is very crucial to high productivity and higher job satisfaction. Ensuring the high morale of work force is important for the manager. To ensure this he must identify various managerial dictums. Select appropriate subordinates to carry out the job based on aptitude, personality traits, mental build up and attitude. He should also involve himself and lead subordinates by examples.

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT : When we talk about managing people in the organization, what we have to study and manage is influence of culture and its impact on individuals. A manager should examine as how he is going to come up with changes. If one scans the external environment that is prevailing to Indian context, one will

Organisation Behaviour – Prof. Simran Mistry

find that individuals are racing to catch up the upper class. In addition it is also important to evaluate prevailing culture and how individuals are likely to respond to the call of organization. Managers must therefore keep in mind the internal and external factors and make the best amalgam and work to achieve organizational effectiveness

3. Describe the functions, roles and skills of a Manager

Managers get things done through other people. They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals. Managers do their work in an organization which is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. The people who oversee the activities of others and who are responsible for attaining goals in these organizations are managers.

(A)Management FunctionsIn the early part of the twentieth century, a French industrialist by the name of Henri Fayol wrote that all managers perform management functions such as planning, organizing, leading & controlling.

Planning : Because organizations exist to achieve goals, someone has to define those goals and the means for achieving them. Management is that someone. The planning function encompasses defining an organization’s goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Evidence indicates that this function is the one that increases the most as manager’s move from lower-level to midlevel management.

Organizing : Managers are also responsible for designing an organization’s structure. We call this function organizing. It includes determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

Leading : Every organization contains people, and it is management’s job to direct and coordinate those people. This is the leading function. When managers motivate employees, direct the activities of others, select the most effective communications channels, or resolve conflicts among members, they are engaging in leading.

Controlling : The final function managers perform is controlling. To ensure that things are going as they should, management must monitor the organization’s performance. Actual performance is then compared with the previously set goals. If there are any significant deviations, it is management’s job to get the organization back on track. This monitoring, comparing, and potential correcting is what is meant by the controlling function.

So using the functional approach, the answer to the question “what do managers do?” is that they plan, organize, lead and control.

(B) RolesManagement roles can be determined by what managers do on their jobs. The different types of roles are (1) interpersonal, (2) informational, & (3) decisional.

Interpersonal Roles: All managers are required to perform duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. For instance, when the president of a college hands out diplomas at commencement or a factory supervisor gives a group of college students a tour of the plant, he or she is acting in a figurehead role. All mangers also have a leadership role. This role includes hiring, training, motivating,


and disciplining employees. The third role within the interpersonal grouping is the liaison role. This activity is to contacting outsiders who provide the manager with information. These may be individuals or groups inside or outside organization. The sales manager who obtains information from the quality-control manager is his or her own company has an internal liaison relationship. When that sales manager has contacts with other sales executives through a marketing trade association, he or she has an outside liaison relationship.

Informational Roles: All managers, to some degree, collect information from outside organizations and institutions. Typically, they obtain it by reading magazines and talking with other people to learn of changes in the public’s tastes, what competitors may be planning, and the like. This is called as monitor role. Managers also act as a conduit to transmit information to organizational members. This is the disseminator role. In addition, managers perform a spokesperson role when they represent the organization to outsiders.

Decisional Roles: There are four roles that resolve around making choices. In the entrepreneur role, managers initiate and oversee new projects that will improve their organization’s performance. As disturbance handlers, managers take corrective action in response to unforeseen problems. As resource allocators, managers are responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary resources. Finally managers perform a negotiator role, in which they discuss issues and bargain with other units to gain advantages for their own unit.

(C)Management SkillsStill another way of considering what managers do is to look at the skills and competencies they need to achieve their goals. There are three essential management skills: technical, human, conceptual.

Technical Skills: Technical skills encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. When you think of the skills of professionals such as civil engineers or dental surgeons, you typically focus on their technical skills. Through extensive formal education, they have learned the special knowledge and practices of their field. Of course, professionals don’t have a monopoly on technical skills, and not all technical skills have to be learned in institutions or other formal training programs. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.

Human Skills: The ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in groups, defines human skills. Many people are technically proficient but interpersonally incompetent. They might be poor listeners, unable to understand the needs of others, or have difficulty managing conflicts. Because managers get things done through other people, they must have good human skills to communicate, motivate, and delegate.

Conceptual Skills: Managers must have the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. These tasks require conceptual skills. Decision making for instance, requires managers to identify problems, develop alternative solutions to correct those problems, evaluate those alternative solutions, and select the best one. Managers can be technically and interpersonally competent yet still fail because of an inability to rationally process and interpret information.


4. Recognize the emerging trends in Organizational BehaviourA. Globalization

1. Occurs when an organization extends its activities to other parts of the world, actively participates in other markets, and competes against organizations located in other countries.

2. Implications for organizational behavioura. Requires new structures and different forms of communication

to assist the organization’s global reach.b. Creates new career opportunities and potentially brings in new

knowledge to improve the organization’s competitive advantage.

c. Emphasizes the need to recognize the contingencies of effective OB practices in different cultures.

B. The Changing Work Force 1. Increase of minorities in the workforce.

a. Increase of a multicultural workforce due to an increasing demographic diversity.

b. Increasing representation of women in the workforce.c. There are many young as well as older employees working in an d. organizations and hence needs to both need to be considered.

2. How diversity impacts organizational behavioura. Can lead to a competitive advantage by improving decision-

making and team performance on complex tasks.b. Can present new challenges for companies to overcome.

C. Emerging Employment Relationships 1. Employability: employees perform a variety of work activities rather

than hold specific jobs, and they are expected to continuously learn skills that will keep them employed.

2. Contingent work: any job in which the individual does not have an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment or one in which the minimum hours of work can vary in a non-systematic way.

3. Telecommuting: working from home usually with a computer connection to the office.

4. Virtual teams: cross-functional groups that operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries with members who communicate mainly through electronic technologies.

D. Information Technology 1. Lead to rise in telecommuting and virtual teams.2. Creates opportunities to connect people around the world.3. Allows small businesses in developing countries to compete in the

global marketplace.4. Leads to the creation of a network organization - an alliance of several

organizations for the purpose of creating a product or serving a client.E. Workplace Values and Ethics

1. Organizational values - those which are widely and deeply shared by people within the organization. Ethics is the study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad.

2. Importance of values and ethicsa. Rise of globalization leads to a multitude of different values and

ethics in the workplace.


b. Old command-and-control system of direct supervision is not congruent with today’s more independently-minded workforce.

c. Increased societal pressure on organizations to engage in ethical practices.

PERSONALITY

1. Define Personality. Explain the factors that determine an individual’s

Personality.

Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment. Personality as the whole as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. We most often describe it in terms of the measureable traits a person exhibits.

Determinants of Personality

Personality is determined by heredity, environment (culture) and situation under which an individual works.

(I) Biological Factors or HeriditaryPhysical stature is an important factor that contributes to personality. An individual’s external appearance is proved to be having a tremendous effect on his personality. Personality features include height, weight, colour, facial features, etc. of the individual. Good physical appearance is an asset for the job and will influence the person’s effect on others. Heredity is transmitted through genes, which determine hormone balance, which later determine physique and subsequently the personality. Heredity refers to acquiring from parents certain biological, physical and psychological commonalities, which are further reflected in physical stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition. Nature of health and psychological make up that an individual enjoys can be traced from the traits his parents possessed. Parents prominently pass on shyness, fear and distress to the next generation.

(II)Environment –Every individual is born and brought up in a particular environment.Environment leaves an imprint on the personality of an individual. Environment should be viewed from the point of view of norms, ethics and value that are observed and the attitude displayed by the social group. The cultural background is important to evaluate personality. In childhood, parents, uncles, aunts and even neighbour’s behaviour is copied by a childFamily moulds character of children through role models re-enforcements, rewards and punishments. It is therefore important to study early conditions under which the child has been brought up, norms followed in the family and the existence of cultural value system in the society. All these factors have a marked influence on the personality of an individual.

3)Situation –

Situation further influences the effects of heredity and environment on personality. An individual's personality, while generally stable and consistent, does change in different situations. Individual has to interact with


number of problems in a given situation, which does not remain constant. It is subject to change and hence fluid in nature. There is therefore a need to recognise the person-situation interaction. It can be social learning activity of personality. Thus personality is situational, the uniqueness of each situation and any measure of personality must be examined. It has been observed that many arrogant and undisciplined employees become humble and disciplined in a particular situation. Given responsibility, those having an errant background may become powerful and strong administrators, dominant politicians, etc.

2. Describe Personality Type Theories

(I) Physical Type

Endomorph

Ectomoph

Mesomorph

(II) Psychological Type

Introvert

Extrovert

(I) Physical Type

The type theories attempt to describe personalities by placing individuals into clearly identifiable categories. Sheldon’s physiognomy theory presents a unique body type-temperamental model that shows a link between anatomical/ physiological traits. He defines three body types:

1. Endomorph:He is bulky and beloved. Sheldon contends the endomorph to be rather fat,thick in proportion to his height.His personality temperament is viscerotonic i.e., the person seeks comfort, loves fine food, eats too much, jovial, affectionate and liked by-all-person.

2. Mesomorph:He is strong, athletic and tough and his physique is appreciated by all.This is the personality that all other morphs wish for.According to Sheldon he will tend to be more somatotopic temperament i.e., heis fond of muscular activity; he tends to be highly aggressive and self-assertive.He can run faster, smile brighter, and beats alone the other two morphs together.

3. Ectomorph:These people are thin, long and poorly developed physically. Though physically weak he leads the league in the intellectual department.His temperament is cerebrotonic i.e., excessive inhibition, restraint and avoidance of social contact etc.


He is is labelled as absent minded, shy, but brilliant university professor strepotype.

Psychological profiling based on anatomical features is generally not considered to be reliable these days. The basic issue is that the classification according to type theory leads to stereotype labels. Thus it ignores individual differences among the members of that group and hence it is a faulty type of classification.

(I) Psychological Type - INTROVERT v/s EXTROVERT

The most well known theory is by Carl Jung who divided individuals into two types- Introverts and Extroverts. The idea of classifying people into neat and well defined types is simple and attractive but it does not seem to have a scientific validation. An individual may show both introvert and extrovert tendencies in different situations.

An introvert is more interested in the inner world of thoughts and feelings rather than in the outer world of affairs and actions. He does not easily mix with others; he is sensitive and easily hurt.

The extrovert on the other hand is interested in the environment. He is a practical man of action and enjoys being with others. He is not unduly sensitive and is prepared for the rough and tumble of life.


3.TYPE A & TYPE B PERSONALITIES Characteristics of Type A’s :• Always moving, walking and talking rapidly

• Strive to think or do two things at once

• Feel impatient with the rate at which events take place

• Obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire.

• Cannot cope up with leisure


Characteristics of Type B’s:• Never suffered from a sense of time urgency with its

accompanying impatience

• Feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure is demanded by situation

• Play for fun and relaxation rather than to exhibit their superiority

• Can relax without guilt

4. Describe the Big Five Personality model

The Big Five factors of personality are five broad domains or dimensions of personality which are used to describe human personality. The Big five factors are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN):

1. Openness to experience : The openness to experience dimensions addresses one’s range of interests and fascination with novelty. Extremely open people are creative, curious and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of openness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar. It enables training performances, enhances leadership and adaptability to change.

2. Conscientiousness The Conscientiousness dimension is major of reliability. A highly conscientious personal is responsible, organized, dependable and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized and unreliable. It enables better performance, leadership and greater longevity.

3. Extraversion The extraversion dimension captures one’s comfort level with relationships. Extravert tends to be gregarious, assertive and sociable. Introvert tends to be reserved timid and quiet. It enables better performance, leadership, higher job and life satisfaction.

4. Agreeableness The agreeableness dimension refers to individual propensity to defer to others. Highly agreeable people are co-operative, warm and trusting. People who score low on agreeableness are cold, disagreeable and antagonistic. It enables better performance, lowering levels of deviant behaviour.

5. Neuroticism / Emotional stability Emotional stability dimension often labelled by its converse, neuroticism taps a person’s ability to withstand stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to calm, self confident and secure. Those with high negative score tends to be nervous, anxious, depressed and insecure. It enables better performance, higher job and life satisfaction and low stress levels.


5. Describe the Myers Briggs Typr Indicator (MBTI)

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is the most commonly used to determine the personality type. Respondents are asked a series of situational questions and their answers are categorized on four scales to determine personality type.

Four Classification Scales:Extraverted/Introverted (E or I)

People scoring higher on the extraverted side of the scale are outgoing, social and assertive while those on the introvert side are quiet and shy.

1) Sensing/Intuitive (S or N)Sensing individuals are practical, details oriented and prefer routine and order. Intuitive people are more “big picture” oriented and rely on “gut” feelings.

2) Thinking/Feeling (T or F)This scale is important in decision making: thinking type use logic and reason while feeling type use emotions and their own personal values to make decisions.

3) Judging/Perceiving (J or P)Judging types are control oriented and prefer their world to be ordered and structured. Perceivers are more flexible and spontaneous.

Sixteen Personality Types:The above classifications together describe 16 personality typesFor instance:

ESTJ: extraversion (E), sensing (S), thinking (T), judgment (J). This type of person is called “Entrepreneur”.

INTJ: introversion (I), intuition (N), thinking (T), judgment (J). These type of persons are “Visionaries”.

And so on for all 16 possible type combinations.

The MBTI is widely used in practice by organisations. Inspite of its popularity, the evidence is mixed as to whether the MBTI is valid measure of personality with most of the either one type or another(i.e. either Introverted or


extroverted). There is no in-between though people can be both Introverted or extroverted to some degree. The best we can say is that the MBTI can be valuable tool for increasing self awareness and providing career guidance. But these results tend to be unrelated to job performance and should not be used as an employment selection tool.

6.What are the personality attributes affecting OB.

The following are the factors affecting OB:

1. Locus of control (Core Self Evaluation): People differ in the degree to which they like or dislike themselves and whether they see themselves as capable and effective. This self perspective is the concept of Locus of control. People who have positive core self-evaluation like themselves and see themselves as effective, capable and in control of their environment. Those with negative core self evaluation tend to dislike themselves, question their capabilities and view themselves as powerless over their environment. Core self evaluation is related to job satisfaction because people with positive core self evaluation set more ambitious goals, are more committed to their goals, persist longer at attempting to reach these goals and perform better than others

2. Machiavellianism: An individual with high Machiavellianism (or Mach) is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means. “ If it works, use it” is consistent with a high- Mach perspective. High Machs manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less, and persuade others more than do low Machs. People with high Machs flourish (i) when they interact face-to –face with others rather than indirectly (ii) when situation has a minimal number of rules and regulations, thus allowing latitude for improvisation and (iii) when emotional involvement with details irrelevant to winning distracts low Machs. This whether high Machs make good employees depends on the type of job. In jobs that require bargaining skills or that offer substantial rewards for winning high Machs will be productive.

3. Narcissism: Narcissism in psychology is described as a person who has a grandiose sense of self importance, requires excessive admiration , has a sense of entitlement and is arrogant. They are not that good leaders as they often want to gain the admiration of others and receive affirmation of their superiority, they tend to talk down to those who threaten them, treating others as if they were inferior. Narcissists also tend to be selfish and exploitive and they often carry the attitude that other exist for their benefit. Studies indicate that narcissists are rated by their bosses as less effective at their jobs than others, particularly when it comes to helping other people.

4. Self monitoring It refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors. Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations. High self-monitors are capable of presenting striking contradictions between their public persona and their private self. They also receive better performance ratings, are more likely to emerge as leaders, and show less commitment to their organizations. In addition, high self monitoring managers tend to be more mobile in their careers, receive more promotions and are more likely to occupy central position in an organization.Low self monitors


can’t disguise themselves in such a way. They tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation hence there is high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.

5. Risk taking: People differ in their willingness to take chances. This propensity to assume or avoid risk has been shown to have an impact on how long it takes managers to make a decision and how much information they require before making a choice. Some studies have shown that managers in large organizations to be more risk averse than growth-oriented entrepreneurs who actively manage small businesses, but recent findings suggest that managers in large organizations may actually be more willing to take risks than entrepreneurs.

(PERCEPTION

1. Define Perception. Outline the perceptual process

Perception can be defined as a process by which individuals select, organize and interpret their sensory impressions, so as to give meaning to their environment. Perception is a complex cognitive process and differs from person to person. People's behavior is influenced by their perception of reality, rather than the actual reality.


Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information.

Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment.

Perception Process:

Perception process presents three elements of perception these are as follows:

A. Existence of stimuli (objects, event, and people)

B. Perceptual mechanism (selection, organizing and interpretation)

C. Perceptual output (attitude, opinion and values)

Let us see how perceptual process works in terms of its three basic elements

A. Perceptual Input

The stimuli in the environment objects, events or people can be considered as the perceptual inputs. Thus everything in the setting where the events occur or which contributes to the occurrence of the events can be treated as perceptual input. When the perceiver interacts with a stimulus, sensation take place which starts perceptual process. (Sensation can be described as the response of a physical sensory organ. The physical senses are vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste.)

B. Perception Mechanism

Perception mechanism involves three elements –selection of stimuli, organization of stimuli and interpretation of stimuli.

Selection of stimuli:After receiving the stimuli from the environment, some are selected for further processing while others are screened out because it is not possible for a person to select all stimuli which he see in the environment. There are two types of factors which affects the selection of stimuli. These are external and related to stimuli ad internal related to the perceiver.Organization of stimuli:After the stimuli are selected these are organized in some form of in order to make sense out of that. The various forms of organizing stimuli are figure-ground, perceptual grouping, simplification and closure.Interpretation of stimuli:The perceptual inputs that have been organized will have to be interpreted by the perceiver to extract some meaning of what is going on in the situation. People interpret the meaning of what they have selected and organized in terms of their own assumption of people, thing as good/bad, beautiful/ugly, and so on. Interpretation of stimuli is affected by situation under which perception take place and characteristics of perceiver.

C. Perceptual output:

Based on perceptual mechanism which ends with interpretation of stimuli, perceptual output emerges. The output may be in the form of attitudes, opinions, beliefs,


impression about the stimuli. This output along with other factors affecting human behavior may result in overt behavior.

2.State the factors affecting perception of an individual. Explain the

phenomenon of Selective Perception

(I)Factors in the perceiver:

Many factors which play a part in influencing how things are perceived are relatively

‘stable’ or long-term individual factors. These include personality, cognitive styles,

gender, occupation, age, values, attitudes, motives, long-term motivations, religious

beliefs, socio-economic status, cultural background, education, habits and past

experience. But there are other factors which may contribute to individual differences

in perception which are more transitory. These include current mental ‘set’, mood

(affective/emotional state), goals, intentions, interest, situational motivation and

contextual expectancies

(II)Factors in the situation:

There are factors in the situation you face the stimuli in, which affects our perception

of that stimuli. Few of the factors are time, space you are in, work setting, social

setting etc.


Perception

Factors in the perceiverAttitudesMotivesInterestsExperienceExpectations

Factors in the targetNovelty and familiarityMotionSizeIntensityContrastRepetition

Factors in the situationTimeWork settingSocial setting

(III)Factors in the target: Characteristics of the target that we observe can affect

what we perceive

Novelty and familiarity: Either novelty or familiarity can attract attention.

Motion: A moving factor is more likely to be perceived than stationary factor

Size: The larger the size, the more likely it is to be perceived.

Intensity: The more intense an external factor (bright light, loud noise, high pitch

sound etc.) the more likely it is to be perceived

Contrast: External factors that stand out against the background or things that are

not which people expect are more likely to be perceived.

Repetition: A repeated factor is more likely to be noticed. Marketing managers use

this principle in trying to get attention of the prospective customers.

A combination of these or similar factor may be operating at any time to affect

perception. Along with the internal factors, they determine whether any particular

stimulus is more or less likely to be noticed.

3. Explain the Gestalt’s principle of visual organization.

Gestalt is a psychology term which means "unified whole". It refers to theories of visual perception which attempts to describe how people tend to organize visual elements into groups or unified wholes when certain principles are applied. There are five principles of visual perception as below:

1) Similarity:-Similarity occurs when objects look similar to one another. People often perceive them as a group or pattern.

The example above (containing 11 distinct objects) appears as as single unit because all of the shapes have similarity. Unity occurs because the triangular shapes at the bottom of the eagle symbol look similar to the shapes that form the sunburst. When similarity occurs, an object can be emphasized if it is dissimilar to the others. This is called anomaly.

2) Continuation:-Continuation occurs when the eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object.


Continuation occurs in the example above, because the viewer's eye will naturally follow a line or curve. The smooth flowing crossbar of the "H" leads the eye directly to the maple leaf.

3) Closure:-Closure occurs when an object is incomplete or a space is not completely enclosed. If enough of the shape is indicated, people perceive the whole by filling in the missing information.

Although the panda above is not complete, enough is present for the eye to complete the shape. When the viewer's perception completes a shape, closure occurs.

4) Proximity:-Proximity occurs when elements are placed close together. They tend to be perceived as a group.

The fifteen figures above form a unified whole (the shape of a tree) because of their proximity.

5) Figure and GroundThe eye differentiates an object form its surrounding area. a form, silhouette, or shape is naturally perceived as figure/object, while the surrounding area is perceived as ground (background).Balancing figure and ground can make the perceived image more clear. Using unusual figure/ground relationships can add interest and subtlety to an image.

In this image, the figure and ground relationships change as the eye perceives the form of a shade or the silhouette of a face.


4. Explain the biases / errors in perceptual process

The perpetual processes may result in errors in judgement or understanding. An important part of understanding individual differences in perception is knowing the source of these errors. Five most common type of perceptual errors are-

1. Perceptual defense2. Stereotyping 3. The halo effect4. Projection5. Expectancy effect

Perceptual defense

Perceptual defense is the tendency of the people to protect themselves against ideas, objects or situations that are threatening. the tendency of people to protect themselves against ideas, objects, or situations that are threatening. E.g. An employee who really enjoys his work, likes most of his colleagues and is satisfied with his pay might simply ignore some aspects of his work experience that are negative (such as an irritating co-worker).

Stereotyping

It is the belief that all members of specific group share similar traits in behavior. It is commonly held popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The use of stereotypes can have powerful effects on the decisions that managers make. If most of the people in a group have some characteristics, it’s natural for us to think that the entire group posses those traits E.g. people generally expect someone identified as a doctor, a president of a company, or a professor to have certain positive attributes, even if they meet someone who does not. Halo effect

It refers to evaluating another person solely on the basis of one attribute, either favorable or unfavorable. In other words, a halo blinds the perceiver to other attributes that also should be evaluated to obtain a complete, accurate impression of the other person. Managers have to guard against the halo effect in rating employee performance. A manager may single out one trait and use it as a basis in judging all other performance measures.

An important aspect of halo effect is the self-fulfilling prophesy. The self fulfilling prophecy is the tendency for someone’s expectations about another to cause that individual to behave in a manner consistent with those expectations. Expecting certain things to happen shapes the behavior of the perceiver in such a way that the expected is more likely to happen. It can take both positive and negative forms. In the positive case, building high expectations of another tends to improve the individual’s performance, which is known as Pygmalion effect.

Projection

It is the tendency for the people to see their own traits in other people. That is why they project their own feelings, personality characteristics, attitudes or motives onto others. Projection may be especially strong for undesirable traits that perceivers posses but fail to recognize in themselves. People whose personality traits include stinginess, obstinacy and disorderliness tend to rate others higher on these traits than do people who don’t have these personality traits.


Expectancy effect: - it is the extent to which prior expectation bias perception of events, objects and people. E.g. your perception of a committee to which u have been recently been assigned may be positive if she tells you that the committee’s work is important and that it will be staffed by talented people from several departments. However your perception may be negative if she tells you that the committee exists solely for “political reasons” and contain some real dead woods from other departments.

5.Explain how perception affects the decision-making process. Outline the

six steps in the rational decision-making model

Perception has a crucial role in individual decision- making in organizations. The decision taken by an individual is a complex process involving the intake of data, screening procession, interpreting and evaluating of data based on the perceptions of an individual.

Individuals in organizations make decisions; which means they make choices from among two or more alternatives.

Top managers determine their organization’s goals, what products or services to offer, how best to finance operations, or where to locate a new manufacturing plant.

Rational decision making models

Data are typically received from multiple sources. Questions like which data are relevant to the decision and which are not need to be answered. Alternatives will be developed, and the strengths and weaknesses of each will need to be evaluated based on perceptions. The optimizing decision maker is a rational process. A rational decision maker often makes consistent, value-maximizing choices within specified constraints.

The Six-Step Rational Decision-Making Model

Step 1: Defining the problemA problem is a discrepancy between an existing and a desired state of affairs.Many poor decisions can be traced to the decision maker overlooking a problem or defining the wrong problem.

Step 2: Identify the decision criteria important to solving the problem

The decision maker determines what is relevant in making the decision. Any factors not identified in this step are considered irrelevant to the decision maker.This brings in the decision maker’s interests, values, and similar personal preferences.

Step 3: Weight the previously identified criteria in order to give them the correct priority in the decision

Step 4: Generate possible alternatives that could succeed in resolving the problem

Step 5: Rating each alternative on each criterion. Critically analyze and evaluate each alternative The strengths and weaknesses of each alternative become evident as they are compared with the criteria and weights established in the second and third steps.

Step 6: The final step is to compute the optimal decision


ORGANISATION CULTURE

1.Define Org Culture . What are the Seven Elements of any Org culture

Organizational Culture –The pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered, or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration There seems to be wide agreement that Organizational Culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. This system of shared meaning is on closer examination, a set of key characteristics that the organization values. Seven elements capture the essence of an organizations culture.

(1) Innovation and Risk taking – The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and to take risks.

(2) Attention to detail – The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis, and attention to detail.

(3) Outcome orientation – The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve those outcomes.

(4) People orientation – The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization.

(5) Team orientation – The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals.

(6) Aggressiveness – The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easy going.

(7) Stability – The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo, in contrast to growth.

Each of these elements exists on a continuum from low to high. Appraising the organization on these seven elements, then gives a composite picture of the organization’s culture. This picture becomes the basis for feelings of shared understanding that members have about the organization, how things are done in it, and the way members are supposed to behave.


2.How do employees learn about Org culture

Culture is transmitted to employees in a number of forms, the most potent being

stories, rituals, material symbols, and language.

Stories :

Stories such as these typically contain a narrative of events about the organization’s

founders, rule breaking, rags-to-riches successes, reductions in the workforce,

relocation of employees, reactions to past mistakes, and organizational coping. They

anchor the present in the past and provide explanations and legitimacy for current

practices. For the most part, these stories develop spontaneously. Some

organizations actually try to manage this element of culture learning.

Rituals

Rituals are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key

values of the organization, what goals are most important, which people are

important, and which are expendable.

Artifacts

Artifacts are the physical things that are found that have particular symbolism for a culture. They may even be endowed with mystical properties. The first products of a company and Prizes won (Troppies ) in grueling challenges are all artifacts.

The purpose of artifacts are as reminders and triggers. When people in the culture see them, they think about their meaning and hence are reminded of their identity as a member of the culture, and, by association, of the rules of the culture.

Material Symbols :

Symbols, like artifacts, are things which act as triggers to remind people in the

culture of its rules, beliefs, etc. They act as a shorthand way to keep people aligned.

Symbols can also be used to indicate status within a culture. This includes clothing,

office decor and so on. Status symbols signal to others to help them use the correct

behavior with others in the hierarchy. They also lock in the users of the symbols into

prescribed behaviors that are appropriate for their status and position. There may be

many symbols around an organization, from pictures of products on the walls to the

words and handshakes used in greeting cultural members from around the world.

The layout of corporate headquarters, the types of automobiles top executives that

are given, and the presence or absence of corporate aircraft are a few examples of

material symbols. These material symbols convey to employees who is important,

the degree of egalitarianism desired by top management, and the kinds of behavior

that are appropriate.


Language :

Many organizations and units use language as a way to identify members of a culture

or subculture. By learning this language, members attest to their acceptance of the

culture and help to preserve it. Organizations, over time, often develop unique terms

to describe equipment, offices, key personnel, suppliers, customers, or products that

relate to its business. Once assimilated, this terminology acts as a common

denominator that unites members of a given culture or subculture.

3.Describe the process of Socialisation. What are the outcomes of this

process.

Socialization

No matter how good the job the organisation does in recruiting and selecting new

employees are not fully indoctrinated in the organisation culture. Because they are

familiar with the organisation culture, new employees are potentially likely to disturb

the belief and customs. The organisation will, therefore want to help new employees

adopt to its culture .This adaptation process is called Socialization

Process of socialization

Socialization process has three stages:

1. Pre arrival

2. Encounter

3. Metamorphosis

Pre arrival: This stage tries to ensure that prospective members arrive at an

organization with a certain set of values, attitudes and expectations. This is usually

taken care of at the selection stage itself. Selectors try to choose the “right type” of

people, who they feel, will be able to “fit” the requirements of an organization. Thus

an organization, even before allowing an outsider to “join”, makes an attempt to

ensure a proper match which contributes toward the creation of a uniform culture

within the organization. The views of the founding fathers of an organization as well

as the ethos of the present tip management influences-consciously or inadvertently

the selection of the parameters of this “proper-match”.


Encounter: After gaining and entry into the organization new members faces an

encounter stage. There is always a possibility of difference between his expectations

of an organization and the Organization Culture. If the expected image and

Organization Culture matches, then encounter stage passes off smoothly leading to

confirmation of the image. If the imbalance between the two is acute, the person has

usually two choices open. First, he undergoes further socialization which detaches

him from his previous expectations, replaces these with another set of expectation

and thus helps him get adjusted to the prevailing system. Second, he drops out due

to disillusionment. In both the cases the final result is the same: the status quo of

traditions and customs are maintained.

Metamorphosis: People who had discovered an anomaly between their

expectations and Organization Culture, but decided not to drop out, enter into the

metamorphosis stage. They must sort out their problems and go through change-

hence this is called metamorphosis. When this metamorphosis is complete, the

member’s developed a uniform perception of OC and feel ‘comfortable’ with the

organization and job. Successful metamorphosis results in the member’s productivity

being as per organization’s ‘norm’, ‘average’ commitment and lowered propensity to

leave the organization. All these are indications of “typical” or “normative” behavior.

Outcomes :

(I)Internalise - Rigidity in behaviour

The process of socialization helps members to internalize the norms, values, customs

and practices that are widely preferred by the organization. Its purpose is to avoid

occurrence and reoccurrence of deviations in future. If the value system of the

organization is rigid and highly taxing to members, members have the very tendency

to develop dissatisfaction and stress.

(II)Job Satisfaction

The management approach and personal philosophy have high influence over the

behavior of the members. The treatment members experience from management

determines their level of job satisfaction and job stress. . In an organization where

the value system supports excessive control, punitive steps like the management

domination, low preference towards human sentiments and relations, there is no

probability for employees' involvement, commitment and loyalty.

(IIII) Motivation

If the organizational value system provides a better opportunity to fulfill member's psycho social and economic needs. A culture where, there is no opportunity to realize even the lower level needs, there members are not eligible even to think about their high level needs. The low level of motivation thus results in increased job dissatisfaction and job stress.


(IV) Job Involment

Several factors affect member's interest to work for the organization. Among which a value system which promotes team work, innovation, freedom, autonomy, risk taking, use of creativity, supervisory support, empowerment, informal communication, opportunity for advancement, objective feedback etc., facilitates employees decision to work with confidence and interest.

(V)Commitment

Commitment is basically a value-oriented behaviour of individual and group. It is the

attitude and sentiment of member's attaches with the organization to do their best.

4.Explain Kurt Lewins Field Force Theory

Force Field Analysis

Kurt Lewin assumes that in any situation there are both driving and restraining forces that influence any change that may occur.

Driving Forces

Driving forces are those forces affecting a situation that are pushing in a particular direction. They tend to initiate a change and keep it going.

Forces Of Organizational Change

External Environment

Internal Environment

Individuals

Restraining Forces

Restraining forces are forces acting to restrain or decrease the driving forces.

Reasons For Resistance

Uncertainty

Concern Over Personal Loss

Belief that change is not in the Best Interest

Kurt Lewin theorized a three-stage model of change that has come to be known as the unfreezing-change-refreeze model that requires prior learning to be rejected and replaced.


Stage 1 – becoming motivated to change (unfreezing)

This phase of change is built on the theory that human behavior is established by past observational learning and cultural influences. Change requires adding new forces for change or removal of some of the existing factors that are at play in perpetuating the behavior. This unfreezing process has three sub-processes that relate to a readiness and motivation to change.

• Disconfirmation where present conditions lead to dissatisfaction, such as not meeting personal goals. However, the larger the gap between what is believed and what needs to be believed for change to occur, the more likely the new information will be ignored.

• Previous beliefs now being seen as invalid creates “survival anxiety.” However, this may not be sufficient to prompt change if learning anxiety is present.

• Learning anxiety triggers defensiveness and resistance due to the pain of having to unlearn what had been previously accepted. Three stages occur in response to learning anxiety: denial; scapegoating & passing the buck; and maneuvering & bargaining.

It is necessary to move past the possible anxieties for change to progress. This can be accomplished by either having the survival anxiety be greater than the learning anxiety or, preferably, learning anxiety could be reduced.

Stage 2 – change what needs to be changed (unfrozen and moving to a new state)

Once there is sufficient dissatisfaction with the current conditions and a real desire to make some change exists, it is necessary to identify exactly what needs to be changed. Three possible impacts from processing new information are: words take on new or expanded meaning, concepts are interpreted within a broader context, and there is an adjustment in the scale used in evaluating new input.

A concise view of the new state is required to clearly identify the gap between the present state and that being proposed. Activities that aid in making the change include imitation of role models and looking for personalized solutions through trial-and-error learning.

Stage 3 – making the change permanent (refreezing)

Refreezing is the final stage where new behavior becomes habitual, which includes developing a new self-concept & identity and establishing new interpersonal relationships.


5. What is Workplace Spirituality?Workplace spirituality is not about organized religious practices. Its not about God or theology. Workplace spirituality recognizes that people have an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by meaningful work that takes place in the context of community. Organizations that promote a spiritual culture recognize that people have both a mind and a spirit, seek to find meaning and purpose in their work, and desire to connect with other human beings and be part of a community.

Characteristics of Spiritual Organization:The concept of workplace spirituality draws on our previous discussions of

topics such as values, ethics, motivation, leadership, and work/life balance. As you’ll see, for instance, spiritual organizations are concerned with helping people develop and reach their full potential. This is analogous to Maslow’s description of self-actualization that we discussed in relation to motivation. Similarly, organizations that are concerned with spirituality are more likely to directly address problems created by work/life conflicts.

Strong Sense of Purpose:Spiritual organizations build their cultures around a meaningful purpose.

While profits may be important, they’re not the primary values of the organization. Southwest Airlines, for instance is strongly committed to providing the lowest airfares, on time service, and a pleasant experience for customers.Focus on Individual Development:

Spiritual organizations recognize the worth and values and value of people. They aren’t just providing jobs. They seek to create cultures in which employees can continually learn and grow. Recognizing the importance of people, they also try to provide employment security. Trust and Openness:

Spiritual Organizations are characterized by mutual trust, honesty, and openness. Managers aren’t afraid to admit mistakes. And they tend to be extremely up front with their employees, customers and suppliers.Employee Empowerment:

The high-trust climate in spiritual organizations, when combined with the desire to promote employee learning and growth, leads to management empowering employees to make most work-related decisions. Managers in spiritually based organizations are comfortable delegating authority to individual employees and teams. They trust their employees to make thoughtful and conscientious decisions. As a case in point, Southwest Airline employees – including flight attendants, customer service representatives, and baggage handlers – are encouraged to take whatever action they deem necessary to meet customer needs or help fellow workers, even if it means breaking company policies.Tolerance of Employee Expression:

The final characteristic that differentiates spiritually based organizations is that they don’t stifle employee emotions. They allow people to be themselves – to express their moods and feelings without guilt or fear of reprimand. Employees at Southwest Air, for instance, are encouraged to express their sense of humor on


the job, to act spontaneously, and to make their work fun.

GROUP DYNAMICS

1.What are Groups. How are they classified in an org.

DEFINATION

“two or more people who share a common definition and evaluation of themselves and behave in accordance with such a definition”

a collection of people who interact with one another, accept rights and obligations as members and who share a common identity.

Groups can be mainly classified as follows:

(A )Formal Groups:

These groups are defined by the organisation’s structure and with designated work assignments. The behaviour that one engages in is stipulated by and directed towards the organisational goals.

Formal Groups can further be classified as:

1. Command Group: It is determined by the organisational chart. It is a collection of subordinates who report to the same supervisor. Most of the organisational work is channelled through work groups and hence they play a very important role. The supervisors or leaders of these groups determine the effectiveness of such groups.

2. Task Force: It is a collection of people who come together to achieve a specific goal and once that is achieved the group disbands. Sometimes when task forces are addressing a permanent problem, they never disband but their membership continuously changes to get fresh insights. Such permanent task forces are known as standing committees or task groups.

3. Team: It is a formal group with a high level of interaction between the members who work intensely to achieve their goals. They draw on the capabilities of the group members to achieve goals which otherwise could not have been achieved individually.

Due to the high level of interaction teams are tricky to manage. Also, many a times teams spend a lot of time coming to an agreement and hence they may not always be effective.

4. Self managed team: A team with no manager or leader is called a self managed team. It is the responsibility of the team members to undertake leadership tasks such as determining how the group should go about achieving its goals, distributing work to individual members, disciplining members who are not


performing at the adequate level, co ordinating efforts across group members and hiring and firing.

(B) Informal Groups: Informal groups emerge naturally in an organisation and are not formally structured. They help fulfil the employees’ needs for social contact. For e.g.: employees who gel along with each other and like each other’s company may start eating their food together and form a lunch group.

Informal groups are further classified as:

1. Friendship Group: It is a collection of organisational members who enjoy each other’s company and socialise with each other both on and off the job. They meet the need for social interaction and can be an important mean of social support.

2. Interest Group: Members of an organisation form an interest group when they have a common goal regarding their organisational membership and they want to achieve it by uniting their efforts. They get an outlet to voice their concerns and bring about much needed organisational change.

For e.g.: when employees come together to ask for a company sponsored day care centre, they form an interest group.

2. Explain The Group Development Models

Groups generally pass through a standardized sequence in their evolution. We call this sequence the five stage model of group development.

(I) FIVE STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Bruce W Tuckman described the five distinct stages that a group can as it comes together and starts to operate. This process can be subconscious, although an understanding of the stages can help group reach effectiveness more quickly and less painfully.

Stage 1: Forming

Individual behaviour is driven by a desire to be accepted by the others, and avoid controversy or conflict. Serious issues and feelings are avoided, and people focus on being busy with routines, such as team organisation, which does what, when to meet, etc. But individuals are also gathering information and impressions - about each other, and about the scope of the task and how to approach it. This is a comfortable stage to be in, but the avoidance of conflict and threat means that not much actually gets done.

Stage 2: Storming


Individuals in the group can only remain nice to each other for so long, as important issues start to be addressed. Some people's patience will break early, and minor confrontations will arise that are quickly dealt with or glossed over. These may relate to the work of the group itself, or to roles and responsibilities within the group. Some will observe that it's good to be getting into the real issues, whilst others will wish to remain in the comfort and security of stage 1. Depending on the culture of the organisation and individuals, the conflict will be more or less suppressed, but it'll be there, under the surface. To deal with the conflict, individuals may feel they are winning or losing battles, and will look for structural clarity and rules to prevent the conflict persisting.

Stage 3: Norming

As Stage 2 evolves, the "rules of engagement" for the group become established, and the scope of the group’s tasks or responsibilities is clear and agreed. Having had their arguments, they now understand each other better, and can appreciate each other's skills and experience. Individuals listen to each other, appreciate and support each other, and are prepared to change pre-conceived views: they feel they're part of a cohesive, effective group. However, individuals have had to work hard to attain this stage, and may resist any pressure to change - especially from the outside - for fear that the group will break up, or revert to a storm.

Stage 4: Performing

Not all groups reach this stage, characterised by a state of interdependence and flexibility. Everyone knows each other well enough to be able to work together, and trusts each other enough to allow independent activity. Roles and responsibilities change according to need in an almost seamless way. Group identity, loyalty and morale are all high, and everyone is equally task-orientated and people-orientated. This high degree of comfort means that all the energy of the group can be directed towards the task(s) in hand.

Ten years after first describing the four stages, Bruce Tuckman revisited his original work and described another, final, stage:

Stage 5: Adjourning

This is about completion and disengagement, both from the tasks and the group members. Individuals will be proud of having achieved much and glad to have been part of such an enjoyable group. They need to recognise what they've done, and consciously move on. Some authors describe stage 5 as "Deforming and Mourning", recognising the sense of loss felt by group members.

Tuckman's original work simply described the way he had observed groups evolve, whether they were conscious of it or not. But for us the real value is in recognising where a group is in the process, and helping it to move to the Perform stage. In the real world, groups are often forming and changing, and each time that happens, they can move to a different Tuckman Stage. A group might be happily Norming or Performing, but a new member might force them back into Storming. Seasoned leaders will be ready for this, and will help the group get back to Performing as quickly as possible.

Many work groups live in the comfort of Norming, and are fearful of moving back into Storming, or forward into Performing. This will govern their behaviour towards each other, and especially their reaction to change.


(II) An Alternative Model: For Temporary Groups with Deadlines

Recent studies, however, indicate that temporary groups with task-specific deadlines follow a very different pattern.

Temporary groups with deadlines don’t seem to follow the previous model. Studies indicate that they have their own unique sequencing of actions (or inactions):

1) Their first meeting sets the group’s direction.

2) This first phase of group activity is one of inertia.

3) A transition takes place at the end of this first phase, which occurs exactly when the group has used up half its allotted time.

4) A transition initiates major changes.

5) A second phase of inertia follows the transition


6) And, the group’s last meeting is characterized by markedly accelerated activity. This pattern is called the punctuated-equilibrium model.

3.What are the variables in a Group

(1) Norms: Norms are defined as a set of expectations about appropriate individual and group behaviour commonly agreed on by members (Feldman – 1984). They are established over time for behaviours that have significant impact on a group, like facilitating its survival, increasing predictability of member behaviours, ensuring member satisfaction, expressing values important to the group’s identity and preventing embarrassing inter personal problems.

Performance Norms : These norms are extremely powerful in affecting an individual employee’s performance – they are capable of significantly modifying a performance prediction that was based solely on the employee’s ability and level of personal motivation.

Appearance factors. This includes things like appropriate dress, loyalty to the work group or organization, when to look busy and when it’s acceptable to goof off. Norms frequently developed to dictate the kind of clothing that should be worn to work. Presenting the appearance of the loyalty is important in many work groups and organizations.

Allocation of resources. These norms can originate in the group or in the organization and cover and over things like pay assignment of difficult jobs, and allocation of new tools and equipments.

(2) Conformity: It is adjusting one’s behaviour aligning with the norms of the group. As a member of a group, we desire acceptance by the group. Because of our desire for acceptance, we are susceptible to conforming to the group’s norms. There is considerable evidence that groups can place strong pressures on individual members to change their attitude and behaviour to conform to group’s standards.

(3) Status: It is a socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others. Status is an important factor understanding human behaviour because it is a significant motivator and has major behavioural consequences when individuals perceive a disparity between what they believe their status to be and what others perceive it to be.

Formal and Informal Status: Status may be formally imposed by a group – that is, organizationally imposed through titles or amendments. More often we deal with status in an informal sense. Status may be informally acquired by such characteristics as education, age, sex, skill and experience. Anything can have status value if others in the group evaluate it as status – conferring.


(4)Size: The size of group affects the group’s overall behaviour. For instance, smaller groups are faster at completing task than the larger ones. However, if the group is engaged in problem solving, large groups consistently get better marks than their smaller counterparts. Large groups with a dozen or more members are good for gaining diverse input. So, if the goal of the group is fact finding, larger groups should be more effective. On the other hand, smaller better at doing that something productive with that input. Groups with approximately seven members therefore, tend to be more effect in taking action.

Social loafing: social loafing is the tendency of group members to do less than they are capable of individually, resulting in an inverse relationship between group-size and individual performance. It indirectly challenges the logic that the productivity of the group as a whole should at least equal the sum of the productivity of each individual in that group.

Composition: most group activities require a variety of skills and knowledge. Given this requirement, it would be reasonable t conclude that heterogeneous groups-those composed of dissimilar individual-would be more likely to have abilities and information and should be more effective. When a group is heterogeneous in terms of personalities, opinion, abilities, skills and perspectives, there is an increased probability the group will possess the needed characteristics to complete its task effectively. (5) CohesivenessCohesiveness promotes sharing of similar ideas and mutual acceptance of ideas. The more cohesive a group the more effective it will be in meeting member needs and the more conformity can demand from its members.

Group cohesiveness and productivity: In the relationship between cohesiveness and productivity, it is found that highly cohesive groups are more effective in meeting their objectives when compared to groups low in cohesion. For this, it is important for the group’s goals to be compatible with organizational goals if the relationship between the two is to continue.

4. What are different Group Decision Styles

(I) THE COMMAND STYLE OF GROUP DECISION MAKING What It Is

The “command” style of group decision making refers to a situation where the leader makes a decision for a group with little or no input from the members of that group. The group members may provide specific information on request, but are not asked to contribute towards finding a solution. The leader makes the decision then typically “sells” the merits of the decision to the rest of the group.

Advantages and Disadvantages

The advantage with the “command” style is that the decision is made quickly (which can be an important consideration).

The disadvantage of the “command” style is that, although group members may have been consulted, some or all of them may still disagree with the decision that has been made, and therefore may have little or no commitment to that decision.

When It Is Used


Use the “command” style of group decision making when any of the following applies:

the group perceives you to be the “expert,” the group likes all of the possible decisions that could be made, the group asks you to decide, it is not important that the group be committed to the decision that is made, There is not enough time to use a consultative or consensus style of decision

making (e.g., in a “crisis” situation).

(II) THE CONSULTATIVE STYLE OF GROUP DECISION MAKING

What It Is

The “consultative” style of group decision making refers to a situation where the leader seeks input and advice from the group before making a decision for a group, but then makes the final decision himself or herself.


The advantage of the “consultative” style is that the decision is more likely to meet the needs of the group than with the command style.

The disadvantage of the “consultative” style is that, although the group members have been consulted, some or all of them may still disagree with the decision that has been made. When It Is Used

Use the “consultative” style of decision making when any of the following applies:

the group does not have the information, education, skills, or experience to

make a high quality decision,

the group does not share the same goals or objectives that you hope to achieve by solving the problem.

(III)THE CONSENSUS STYLE OF GROUP DECISION MAKING

What It Is

The “consensus” style of group decision making refers to a situation where the leader seeks input and advice from a group, and works through the decision making process with the group, until every member of the group can “live with” the final decision that is made.


The advantage of the “consensus” style of decision making is that it leads to a high degree of “buy-in” and commitment to the decision by all members of the group. All of the members of the group are actively involved in the decision making process and all of their interests are addressed.


The principal disadvantage of the “consensus” style of decision making is the time required to make a decision and the associated costs of people’s time.

When It Is Used

Use the “consensus” style of decision making when any of the following applies:

the group shares the same goals or objectives that you hope to achieve by

solving the problem,

the group members have the education, skills, and experience to make a high quality decision,

it is important that the group have a high degree of commitment to the decision reached,

there is time available to use this style (i.e., it is not a “crisis” situation).

5.Differnce between Groups & Teams. What are diff type Of Teams

Characteristics Difference between Team and Group: Characteristics of a Team Characteristics of a Group

Shared Leadership roles Strong, clearly focused leader solo leader

Team discusses, decides, and does real work together

The Leader discusses, decides and delegates

Specific Team purpose that the team delivers itself

The group’s purpose is the same as the organizational mission

Individual and mutual team accountability

Individual Accountability

Collective work products Individual work products Measures performance directly

by assessing collective work products

Measures effectiveness indirectly eg financial performance of the business

Encourages open-ended discussion and active problem-solving meetings

Runs efficient meetings with information sharing main activity


TYPES OF TEAMS

(I) Problem Solving Teams Group of 5-12 who meet to improve current work processes and methods.

Discuss ways of improving

• Quantity

• Quality

• Efficiency

• Productivity

• Work Environment

Tools Used are Brain Storming and Creative Thinking

(II) Self Managed Work Teams Group of 10-15 people who take on responsibility of their supervisor

Assigning task, Scheduling work and collective control over pace of work.

Empowerment

Working with customers and suppliers

(III) Cross Functional Teams Employees from same hierarchy level but diff departments.

Come together to accomplish a particular task.

Resolve inter departmental issues to work in Collaboration.

Example

CFM – Customer Focus Meet

CRM – Customer Relation Management Team

(IV) Virtual Teams Teams that use Technology to tie together physically dispersed members in

order to achieve a common goal.

Mode Of Comm – Chat, emails, video conf calls, conf calls, cells, landlines

Advantage - Team members come up with more Creative Ideas and Share Best Practices


Disadvantage –

Miscommunication, misunderstandings leading to Conflict and Stress.

Reluctance to Share information

MOTIVATION

Define Motivation. Describe key elements of Motivation

Motivation is a process of stimulating a person to take action, which will bring about satisfaction of need or desire and achievement of a desired goal. The term motivation could be traced to the Latin word “movere” which means ‘to move’.

It could also be said that motivation refers to those forces operating within an individual, which push him to act or not to act in a certain way.

Key Elements of Motivation

Motivation is the process that accounts for an individual's intensity, direction and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal.

The three key elements in the definition above are as follows

Intensity : It is concerned with how hard a person tries. It signifies the

quantum of efforts put forth. However, high intensity is unlikely to lead to

favourable job-performance outcomes unless the effort is channelled in a

direction that benefits the organisation. So the quality of effort as well as its

intensity both needs to be considered.

Direction : It refers to choice made among available alternatives to expend

the efforts. Effort that is directed towards and consistent with the

organisation’s goals is the kind of effort that we should be seeking.

Persistence : Motivation also has a persistence dimension. This is a measure

of how long a person can maintain effort. It denotes the tenacity with which

individual perseveres in the job, even against odds.

When employees follow an efficient and effective direction, contribute high levels of

effort and are persistent, then high motivation occurs. Motivated individuals stay with

a task long enough to achieve their goal.


Why is there a need for motivating employees

Securing Employee Co-operation: Motivation is needed for securing cooperation and willing participation. It is also needed for creating efficient, stable and cooperative work force, which is the real asset of any company.

Stimulating Employees: Motivation is needed in order to stimulate the employees to improve their performance. It is needed for optimum utilasation of energy of employees so as to achieve business objectives.

Maintaining Human Relations: Motivation is needed to tackle human relations problems, which the management faces from time to time.

Raising Productivity and Efficiency: Motivation is needed for improving the overall productivity and efficiency of an organistion.

Attending to Human Needs: Human aspect needs special attention in management as motivated employees are needed for success and stability of business.

Raising Morale: Motivation is required in order to raise the morale of the employees.

Cordial Industrial Relations: Motivation is needed to develop cordial relations with employees, which helps in human relations among employees.

Facilitates Change: Motivation helps in tackling resistance as satisfied employees are more receptive to changes. They willingly work to achieve objectives of the business.

Reduces Absenteeism and Labour Turnover: When employees are motivated they report to work on time. Job security helps the employees to be motivated to do their work.


What are the methods of motivating employees ? There are different

methods, which can be used for motivating employees. These can also be treated as motivational factors/stimulators. They include monetary and non-monetary factors.Important motivational factors are as noted below:

A] MONETARY FACTORS:1) Salaries/wages: Money happens to be the most important motivating factor. While determining salaries, management must give to employees security of income along with ability to lead respectable life. Salary should be revised periodically to meet the cost of living.2) Bonus: Under the bonus payment act, 1965 a company has to declare bonus whenever it earns profit. Bonus adds to annual income of the employees and it becomes monetary incentive.3) Incentives: When employees are paid over and above their salary, an additional payment in recognition of better work, it is called incentive. When incentive payment is offered, employees work hard to earn more and they remain motivated.4) Allowances: Management provides to employees both statutory and non-statutory types of allowances such as medical allowance, leave travel allowance, house rent allowance, recreation allowance, educational allowance and so on. These allowances act as motivators.5) Special incentives: There are certain monetary incentives offered only to deserving employees, e.g. performance bonus, attendance bonus etc. it has a positive impact on others because they also work hard to earn these special incentives.

B] NON-MONETORY FACTORS:1) Job security and job enrichment: Job security is useful for the motivation of employees. Such security keeps the employee away from the tension of becoming unemployed. Job enrichment provides an opportunity for greater recognition and advancement. Job enrichment refers to redesign of jobs.

2) Fair treatment to employees: Employer should give attention to the needs, difficulties and grievances of employees. Small work groups and effective communication are useful for solving problems of workers. Employees must be given decent treatment. They will be co-operative only when they are treated with sympathy and love, affection and dignity. Employees should also be given help in personal matters.

3) Recognition of good work: Recognition of good work at an appropriate time gives encouragement to employees to show better performance in future. As an appreciation of good work, prizes, rewards, promotions, etc. should be given.4) Encouragement to self-development and career development:

Employees should be given varied training facilities. Training facilitates self-development and also provides opportunities for career development. Every employee has a desire to grow, develop, and rise higher. This desire should be exploited fully for motivating employees. For this, training as well as management development program should be introduced.


5) Delegation of authority: Due to delegation of authority, a subordinate employee feels that superior faith in him and also in his ability to use authority in a proper manner. Employees get mental satisfaction when authority is given to them. They take interest and initiative in the work and try to prove that they are competent to work at the higher levels. Thus, delegation of authority becomes a motivating factor.6) Congenial working conditions: It is a non-financial incentive for motivation. Employees should be given various facilities and conveniences at the work place. The work environment should be pleasant, safe and reasonably comfortable. This creates the desire to work efficiently.7) Help attitude of management: The help attitude of management towards its employees creates a sense of affinity for the organization. Fair treatment to workers creates better understanding among workers. Cordial industrial relations also motive employees. Thus, enlightened and pro-employee attitude of management acts as a motivating factor.8) Fair opportunity of promotion: Fair opportunity of promotion to all eligible workers is one more method useful for motivating employees. They take interest in work as they feel that they will be rewarded in the form of promotions. Training facility should be provided to employees in order to make them eligible for promotion.9) Labour participation in management: Labour participation in management is useful for motivation of employees. Workers get higher status and better scope for expressing their views through such participation. Even the formation of quality circles or joint management councils is useful for motivating employees.10) Designation and status: When an employee is provided with a better designation, it adds to his status. Employees are proud to reveal their attractive and high-sounding designation.


(A) Traditional theories:

Abraham Maslow’s theory of needERG Content Theory

Herzberg’s two factor theory

(I)Abraham Maslow’s Theory of need:

Abraham Maslow was dubbed as the Father of Humanist Psychology

According to Maslow, a fulfilled need did little to motivate an employee. For example, a person who has sufficient food to eat cannot be enticed to do something for a reward of food. In contrast, a person with an unfulfilled need can be persuaded to work to satisfy that need. Thus, a hungry person might work hard for food. Maslow called this the Deficit Principle.

Deficit Principle

· It is a person’s unsatisfied needs that influence his behavior

· The unsatisfied need becomes a focal motivator.

· The satisfied need no longer influences an individual’s behavior.

· Managers should be alert for unmet needs and then create rewards to satisfy them.

Progression Principle

· Higher order needs are not active motivators until lower order needs are fulfilled.

· Unfulfilled lower order needs take precedence over higher level needs. For example, for a person who is hungry, his need for food will far outweigh his need for self respect.

* Physiological Needs – needs required to sustain life such as: air, water, food, and sleep. According to this theory, if these needs are not satisfied, then an individual will


surely be motivated to satisfy them. Higher order needs will not be recognized not unless one satisfies the needs that are basic to existence.

* Safety and Security – Once physiological needs are met, one’s attention turns to safety and security in order to be free from the threat of physical and emotional harm. Such needs maybe fulfilled by: living in a safe area, medical insurance, job security, and financial reserves.

* Social Needs – Once lower level needs are met, higher level motivators awaken. The first of which are social needs. Social needs are those related to interaction with others and may include: friendship, belonging to a group, and giving and receiving love.

* Esteem Needs – After a person feels that he or she belongs, the urge to attain a degree of importance emerges. Esteem needs can be categorized as external motivators and internal motivators. Internally motivating esteem needs are those such as self-esteem, accomplishment, and self-respect. External esteem needs are those such as reputation, social status, and recognition.

Applying Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy – Business Management Implications

If Maslow’s theory holds, there are some important implications for management. Managers have varied opportunities to motivate employees through management style, job designs, company events, and compensation packages. To pattern after Maslow’s theory, management can do the following:

· Physiological Motivation: Provide ample breaks for lunch and recuperation. Devise a salary scheme that would allow your workers to buy life’s essentials.

· Safety Needs: Employees cannot reach maximum effectiveness or efficiency when they feel the need to constantly check their backs and scan their surroundings for fear of potential threats. Physical threats in the work environment can be alleviated by security guards, cameras, and responsive management personnel. Managers should also provide relative job security, retirement benefits, and the like.

· Social Needs: Generate a feeling of acceptance, belonging, and community by reinforcing team dynamics, planning team-based projects and social events.

· Esteem Motivators: Recognize achievements, assign important projects, and provide status to make employees feel valued and appreciated.

· Self-Actualization: Offer challenging and meaningful work assignments which enable innovation, creativity, and progress according to long-term goals. Provide opportunities that would allow your employees to reach their full career potential.

*Remember, everyone is not motivated by the same needs. At various points in their lives and careers, various employees will be motivated by completely different needs. It is imperative that you recognize each employee’s needs that are currently being pursued.


(II) ERG Theory of Motivation

ERG theory, and was created to align Maslow’s motivation theory more closely with empirical research.

Alderfer distinguishes three categories of human needs that influence worker’s behavior. These are existence, relatedness and growth.

· Existence Needs: physiological and safety needs such as hunger, thirst and sex.

· Relatedness Needs: social and external esteem involvement with family, friends, co-workers and employers.

· Growth Needs: internal esteem and self actualization the desire to be creative, productive and to complete meaningful tasks.

The ERG theory does not believe in levels of needs. A lower level need does not have to be gratified. This theory accounts for a variety of individual differences, which would cause a worker to satisfy their need at hand, whether or not a previous need has been satisfied. Hence, needs in the different ERG areas can be felt simultaneously.

ERG Theory recognizes that the importance of the three categories may vary for each individual. Managers must recognize that an employee has multiple needs that must be satisfied simultaneously. According to the ERG theory, if you focus exclusively on one need at a time, this will not effectively motivate.

Applying Alderfer’s ERG Theory – Business Management Implications

According to Alderfer, the frustration-regression principle has an impact on workplace motivation. For example, if growth opportunities are not offered to the employees, they may regress towards relatedness needs, and socialize more with co-workers. If management can recognize these conditions early, steps can be taken to satisfy the frustrated needs until the employees are able to pursue growth again.


Comparison between Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and ERG Theory:

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs ERG Theory

1.Needs are divided into five

groups.

1.Needs are divided into three

groups.

2.Once a level is attained, it

need not be revisited.

2.This includes a unique

frustration - regression

component. This suggests that

an already satisfied need can

become activated when a

higher need cannot be

satisfied

3. Access to the higher levels of

his pyramid required

satisfaction in the lower level

needs

3. ERG theory does not rank

needs in any particular order.

4. The theory is standard for

everyone.

4. Importance of the three

categories may vary for each

individual depending on the

circumstances experienced by

the individual and also how the

individual perceives the circumstances.5.One need may operate at a given time

5. Recognizes multiple needs

may be driving an individual at

a given point to understand

their behavior and to motivate

them


(III) Herzberg’s two factor theory: (Motivation – hygiene theory)

The two factor theory also known as Motivation-hygiene theory was proposed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg. He believed that an individual’s relation to work is basic and the one’s attitude towards work can very well determine success or failure. He asked people a simple question i.e. “What do people want from their job?” and asked them to describe, in details, what they felt good or bad about their jobs. And he got the following response.

The replies of the people given when they felt good about their jobs were significantly different from the replies given when they felt bad.

According to Herzberg, the factors leading to job satisfaction are separate and distinct from those that lead to job dissatisfaction. Therefore managers who seek to eliminate factors that can lead to job dissatisfaction may bring about peace but not necessarily motivation. They will be placating their work force rather than motivating them. As a result, conditions surrounding the job such as quality of supervision, pay, company policies, physical working conditions, relations with others, and job security were characterized by Herzberg as hygiene factors. When they’re adequate, people will not be dissatisfied; neither will they be satisfied.If we want to motivate people on their jobs, Herzberg suggested emphasizing factors associate with work itself or to outcomes directly derived from it, such as promotional opportunities for personal growth, recognition, responsibility, and achievements. These are the characteristics that people find rewarding.The major drawbacks of this theory are:

1. The procedure used is limited by its methodology.

2. No overall measure of satisfaction was utilized.

3. It ignores situational variables.

4. It assumes a relationship between satisfaction and productivity.


Process Theories:

McClelland’s Theory Of Needs

Equity Theory

Locke’s Goal Setting theory

(I)McClelland Theory of Needs:David McClelland and his associates proposed McClelland’s theory of Needs / Achievement Motivation Theory. This theory states that human behaviour is affected by three needs - Need for Power, Achievement and Affiliation.

McClelland’s Theory of Needs:The Theory of Needs concept was popularized by American behavioral psychologist David McClelland. Building on earlier work of Henry Murray (1938) who described a comprehensive model of human needs and motivational processes, McClelland states in 1961 that the motivation of an individual can result from three dominant needs: the Need for Achievement, Power and Affiliation.

Need for Achievement (N-Ach)

It is the extent to which a person wants to perform difficult and challenging tasks on a high level. Achievers avoid low-risk situations because the easily attained success is not a genuine achievement

Some characteristics of high N-Ach people

1) They want to have success and need to receive positive feedback often. 2) They seek to stretch themselves and thus tend to avoid both low-risk and

high-risk situations. In high-risk projects, achievers see the outcome as one of chance rather than a result of their own effort.

3) They like to work alone or with other high achievers.

According to McClelland such kind a people make the best leaders, although there can be tendency to demand too much of their staff in the belief that they are all also highly results driven.

The Need for Affiliation (N-Affil)

It means that people seek good interpersonal relations with others and need to feel accepted by the other people.

Some characteristics of high N-Affil people

1) They want to be liked and accepted by others, and attach importance to a personal interaction.

2) They tend to conform to the norms of their work group.

3) They strive to make and keep relationships with a high amount of trust and mutual understanding.

4) They prefer cooperation over competition.

5) Obviously, they perform well in customer service and client interaction situations


McClelland believed that a strong Need for Affiliation undermines the objectivity and decision-making capability of managers.

The Need for Power (N-Pow)

This is typical for people who like to be in charge. This motivational need stems from one's desire to influence, teach, or encourage others

A person's need for power (nPow) can be one of two types

1) Personal power- This people want to direct and influence others.

2) Institutional power- This people like to organize the efforts of others to achieve the goals of the organization.

Some characteristics of high N-Pow are as follows

1) High power people enjoy competition and status-oriented positions.2) While these people are attracted to leadership roles, they may not possess

the required flexibility and people-centered skills.

3) Managers with a high need for institutional power tend to be more effective than those with a high need for personal power.

All these 3 needs are generally present in an individual. They are shaped and acquired over time by the cultural background of the individual, his life experience and also by his current environmental situations.

(II) Equity TheoryEquity Theory attempts to explain relational satisfaction in terms of perceptions of

fair/unfair distributions of resources within interpersonal relationships. Equity theory

is considered as one of the justice theories. It was first developed in 1963 by John

Stacey Adams, a workplace and behavioral psychologist, who asserted that

employees seek to maintain equity between the inputs that they bring to a job and

the outcomes that they receive from it against the perceived inputs and outcomes of

others. The belief is that people value fair treatment which causes them to be

motivated to keep the fairness maintained within the relationships of their co-workers

and the organization. The structure of equity in the workplace is based on the ratio of

inputs to outcomes. Inputs are the contributions made by the employee for the

organization; this includes the work done by the employees and the behavior brought

by the employee as well as their skills and other useful experiences the employee

may contribute for the good of the company.

Equity Theory has been widely applied to business settings by Industrial

Psychologists to describe the relationship between an employee's motivation and his

or her perception of equitable or inequitable treatment. In a business setting, the


relevant dyadic relationship is that between employee and employer. As in marriage

and other contractual dyadic relationships, Equity Theory assumes that employees

seek to maintain an equitable ratio between the inputs they bring to the relationship

and the outcomes they receive from it. Equity Theory in business, however,

introduces the concept of social comparison, whereby employees evaluate their own

input/output ratios based on their comparison with the input/outcome ratios of other

employees. Inputs in this context include the employee’s time, expertise,

qualifications, experience, intangible personal qualities such as drive and ambition,

and interpersonal skills. Outcomes include monetary compensation, perquisites,

benefits, and flexible work arrangements. Employees who perceive inequity will seek

to reduce it, either by distorting inputs and/or outcomes in their own minds, directly

altering inputs and/or outcomes, or leaving the organization. Thus, the theory has

wide-reaching implications for employee morale, efficiency, productivity, and

turnover.

Assumptions of Equity Theory applied to businessThe three primary assumptions applied to most business applications of Equity Theory can be summarized as follows:1. Employees expect a fair return for what they contribute to their jobs, a concept referred to as the “equity norm”.2. Employees determine what their equitable return should be after comparing their inputs and outcomes with those of their coworkers. This concept is referred to as “social comparison”.3. Employees who perceive themselves as being in an inequitable situation will seek to reduce the inequity either by distorting inputs and/or outcomes in their own minds, by directly altering inputs and/or outputs, or by leaving the organization.Implications for managers:Equity theory has several implications for business managers:• People measure the totals of their inputs and outcomes. This means a working mother may accept lower monetary compensation in return for more flexible working hours.• Different employees ascribe personal values to inputs and outcomes. Thus, two employees of equal experience and qualification performing the same work for the same pay may have quite different perceptions of the fairness of the deal.• Employees are able to adjust for purchasing power and local market conditions. Thus a teacher from Alberta may accept lower compensation than his colleague in Toronto if his cost of living is different, while a teacher in a remote African village may accept a totally different pay structure.• Although it may be acceptable for more senior staff to receive higher compensation, there are limits to the balance of the scales of equity and employees can find excessive executive pay demotivating.• Staff perceptions of inputs and outcomes of themselves and others may be incorrect, and perceptions need to be managed effectively.• An employee who believes he is over-compensated may increase his effort. However he may also adjust the values that he ascribes to his own personal inputs. It


may be that he or she internalizes a sense of superiority and actually decrease his efforts.


(III) Locke’s Goal Setting Theory

Understanding SMART Goal Setting Goal setting is a powerful way of motivating people, and of motivating yourself. The

value of goal setting is so well recognized that entire management systems, like

Management by Objective, have goal setting basics incorporated within them.

In fact, goal setting theory is generally accepted as among the most valid and useful

motivation theories in industrial and organizational psychology, human resource

management, and Organizational behavior.

To set SMART goals. It seems natural to assume that by setting a goal that's Specific,

Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound, we will be well on our way to

accomplishing it.

Five Principles of Goal SettingTo motivate, goals must have:1. Clarity. 2. Challenge. 3. Commitment. 4. Feedback. 5. Task complexity.

Clarity

Clear goals are measurable and unambiguous. When a goal is clear and specific, with

a definite time set for completion, there is less misunderstanding about what

behaviors will be rewarded. You know what's expected, and you can use the specific

result as a source of motivation. When a goal is vague – or when it's expressed as a

general instruction, like "Take initiative" – it has limited motivational value.

To improve your or your team's performance, set clear goals that use specific and

measurable standards. "Reduce job turnover by 15%" or "Respond to employee

suggestions within 48 hours" are examples of clear goals.


When you use the SMART acronym to help you set goals, you ensure the clarity of

the goal by making it Specific, Measurable and Time-bound.

Challenge

One of the most important characteristics of goals is the level of challenge. People are often motivated by achievement, and they'll judge a goal based on the significance of the anticipated accomplishment. When you know that what you do will be well received, there's a natural motivation to do a good job.Rewards typically increase for more difficult goals. If you believe you'll be well compensated or otherwise rewarded for achieving a challenging goal, which will boost your enthusiasm and your drive to get it done.Setting SMART goals that are Relevant links them closely to the rewards given for achieving challenging goals. Relevant goals will further the aims of your organization, and these are the kinds of goals that most employers will be happy to reward.When setting goals, make each goal a challenge. If an assignment is easy and not viewed as very important – and if you or your employee doesn't expect the accomplishment to be significant – then the effort may not be impressive.

Commitment

Goals must be understood and agreed upon if they are to be effective. Employees are

more likely to "buy into" a goal if they feel they were part of creating that goal. The

notion of participative management rests on this idea of involving employees in

setting goals and making decisions.

This doesn't mean that every goal has to be negotiated with and approved by

employees. It does mean that goals should be consistent and in line with previous

expectations and organizational concerns. As long as the employee believes the goal

is consistent with the goals of the company, and believes that the person assigning

the goal is credible, then the commitment should be there. Interestingly, goal

commitment and difficulty often work together. The harder the goal, the more

commitment is required. If you have an easy goal, you don't need a lot of motivation

to get it done. When you're working on a difficult assignment, you will likely

encounter challenges that require a deeper source of inspiration and incentive.

As you use goal setting in your workplace, make an appropriate effort to include

people in their own goal setting. Encourage employees to develop their own goals,

and keep them informed about what's happening elsewhere in the organization. This

way, they can be sure that their goals are consistent with the overall vision and

purpose that the company seeks.

Task Complexity


The last factor in goal setting theory introduces two more requirements for success.

For goals or assignments that are highly complex, take special care to ensure that

the work doesn't become too overwhelming. People who work in complicated and

demanding roles probably have a high level of motivation already. However, they can

often push themselves too hard if measures aren't built into the goal expectations to

account for the complexity of the task.

Key points:

The whole point of goal setting is to facilitate success. Therefore, you want to make sure that the conditions surrounding the goals don't frustrate or inhibit people from accomplishing their objectives. This reinforces the "Attainable" part of SMART.Goal setting is something most of us recognize as necessary for our success.

By understanding goal setting theory, you can effectively apply the principles to

goals that you or your team members set. Locke and Latham's research confirms the

usefulness of SMART goal setting, and their theory continues to influence the way we

measure performance today.

Use clear, challenging goals, and commit yourself to achieving them. Provide

feedback on goal performance. Take into consideration the complexity of the task. If

you follow these simple rules, your goal setting process will be much more

successful, and your overall performance will improve.
