3 PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION, and ATTRIBUTION · Web viewRobbins & Judge (2013) argues that some variables do moderate the relationship between attitude and behavior. These factors include

FIJI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, HOSPITALITY AND TOURSIM

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT, IR AND OHS

MGT701 ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS AND BEHAVIOUR

LECTURE GUIDE

YOGITA SWAMY

MGT701 LECTURE GUIDE Page 1

CONTENT

LECTURE OUTLINE

Topic 1 What is organizational behaviour? Week 1

Topic 2 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction Week 2

Topic 3 Personality and Values Week 3

Topic 4 Perception and Individual Decision Making Week 4

Topic 5 Motivation Week 5

Topic 6 Foundations of Group Behaviour Week 6

Topic 7 Communication Week 8

Topic 8 Leadership Week 9

Topic 9 Conflict and Negotiation Week 10

Topic 10 The Foundations of Organization Structure Week 11

Topic 11 Organization Culture and Change Week 12

Sample Final Exam Paper

Copyright © Yogita Swamy 2016

No part of these notes may be reproduced by any means (including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without prior written permission from the author.


Fiji National UniversityCollege of Business, Hospitality & Tourism Studies

MGT701 Organizational Behaviour & AnalysisLecture Notes Week 1

Topic 1: What is organizational behaviour?Learning outcome:The student should be able to understand what is organizational behaviour and its major challenges and opportunities.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:1.1 Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace1.2 Describe the manager’s functions, roles and skills1.3 Define organizational behaviour (OB)1.4 Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB concepts1.5 Compare the 3 levels of analysis in OB

Learning Outcome 1.1Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace

Managers need a whole cadre of skills to create a productive workplace, including technical and quantitative skills. However, leadership and communication skills are critical to organizational success. When managers have solid interpersonal skills, there are positive work outcomes for the organization. These outcomes include lower turnover of strong employees, improved recruitment pools for filling employment positions, and a better bottom line.

According to Robbins and Judge (2013), interpersonal skills result in1

Understanding the organization behaviour hereafter will be described as (OB) helping to determine manager effectiveness

Leadership and communication skills that are critical as a person progresses in a career Lower turnover of quality employees Higher quality applications for recruitment Better financial performance

Learning Outcome 1.2Describe the manager’s functions, roles and skillsA manager is someone in the organization who gets things done through the efforts of other people. Organization refers to 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

1 Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, 15th Ed. United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall.


(Robbins & Judge, 2013). Similarly, Gibson, Ivanceivich & Konopaske (2011) confirms “an organization is a coordinated unit consisting of at least two people who function to achieve a common goal or set of goals”. It is important to keep in mind that an organization is defined as a social entity comprised of two or more people and can be found at any level within the organization2.

Henri Fayol of France originally defined the functions of management as planning, organizing, leading and controlling. When thinking about these functions one realization comes forward. They all involve the interpersonal skills of communication for their effective implementation. Henry Mintzberg, looked at management differently when he defined the 10 roles of managers which are highly interrelated roles or sets of behaviors attributable to their jobs. Similarity between the two theorists on these roles involves implementation through the interpersonal skills of communication.3

Minztberg’s 10 Managerial Roles as depicted in the exhibit below

Source: Adopted from Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, 15 th Ed. United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall.

In fact, if you look at the three categories of roles suggested by Mintzberg following his research, you’ll note the distribution of communication and interpersonal skills such as tact, diplomacy, and the like, focusing on both internal and external audiences in the role’s activities. For this reason, developing the interpersonal skills introduced in this course is essential to the

2 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill3 Ibid page 7


professional development of young professionals. It is also essential to managerial success (Robbins and Judge, 2013).

Management skills are categorized into three skills, namely technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills

Technical Skills refers to the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job. When you think of the skills of professionals such as civil engineers or oral surgeons, you typically focus on the technical skills they have learned through extensive formal education.

Human Skills refers to the ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in groups, describes human skills.

Conceptual Skills refers to the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. 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.4

Learning Outcome 1.3What is organizational behaviour?

Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study that includes effects at all levels in the organization. An organization is comprised of sub-organizations and downward, depending on the size of the firm, to the individual level. When the concept and practices of OB are internalized and applied, they contribute to the manager’s accomplishing worthwhile outcomes for the benefit of the organization and those who work for it. (Robbins and Judge, 2013)5

Gibson, Ivanceivich & Konopaske (2011)6 states that OB is the field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individuals’ perceptions, values, learning capacities, and actions while working in groups and within the organization and to analyze the external environment’s effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies.

“Organisation Behaviour is concerned with the study of what people do in an organisation and how that behaviour affects the performance of the organisation.” (Robbins: 1998, 9)7

4 Ibid 85 Ibid 106 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill7 Robbins, S.P (1998), Essentials of Organizational Behaviour, United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall.


McShane, Olekains & Travaglione (2011) defines OB as the field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individuals’ perceptions, values, learning capacities, and actions while working in groups and within the organization and to analyze the external environment’s effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies. 8

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

According to Robbins & Judge (2013), the study of OB involves:9

consideration of the interaction among the formal structure (organisational context in which the process of management takes place)

the tasks to be undertaken the technology employed and the methods of carrying out work the behaviour of people the process of management the external environment

Many people say that the ideas and concepts of OB are common sense. However, the systematic study of OB has come closer to finding ways to predict the behavior of individuals and groups with an understanding of the situation and composition of the people. Evidence-based management suggests that the scientific method of research can be applied to OB to find the effective relationships of predictable variables to find the probability or independent variables, the person and his or her behavior.

Of course intuition is a decision-making and activity approach advocated by numerous managers and pundits. In reality, the contents of “intuition” are the results of experience and learning that are based-on facts and experiences. EBM and the systematic study of behavior enhance the understanding of these internal contributors to organization behavior.

8 McShane,S., Olekains,M. &Travaglione, T. (2011), Organizational Behaviour On the Pacific Rim, 3rd Ed, Australia: McGrawHill9 Ibid page 11


Learning Outcome 1.4Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB concepts

Robbins & Judge (2013) describes the following as the challenges of OB10

Responding to Economic Pressure

In economic tough times, effective management is an asset. In good times, understanding how to reward, satisfy, and retain employees is at a premium. In bad times, issues like stress, decision making, and coping come to the fore. During economic difficulties, the need for effective managers is heightened. Anyone can manage during good times; it is much tougher to manage through economic struggles. Often when there are economic pressures, managers are forced to make decisions based on resource constraints. These situations may include laying off employees, motivating employees when there are limited resources, and encouraging employees when they are stressed about their futures.

Responding to Globalization

Increased Foreign Assignments

Organizations now exist in an environment with no national borders. As a result, the manager’s job has changed. They need to have a broader perspective when making decisions. As foreign assignments increase you will need to be able to manage a workforce that is different than what you may be used to and may bring different needs, aspirations and attitudes to the workplace. If you’re a manager and you are transferred to your employer’s subsidiary in another country, you have to manage a workforce having different needs, aspirations, and attitudes.11

Working with People from Different Cultures

You will also have individuals coming to work in your own country that come from different cultures and you will need to find ways to accommodate their needs and help them assimilate to your workplace culture (Robbins & Judge, 2013)12.

According to Gibson et al., (2011) the effects of globalization require new organizational structures and different forms of communication. It adds more diversity to the workforce which increases competitive pressures, merges, work intensification and demands for work flexibility from employees.

10 Ibid page 1511 Dr. Geetanjali Pradhan, nd. Lecture notes retrieved from www.bput.ac.in/lecture-notes-download.php?file=lecture_note_92311150135560...12 Ibid 16


Managing Workforce Diversity

Workforce diversity acknowledges a workforce of women and men; many racial and ethnic groups; individuals with a variety of physical or psychological abilities and people who differ in age and sexual orientation.

Surface-level diversity refers to the observable demographic or physiological differences in people. For example, race, ethnicity, gender, age, physical capabilities. Deep-level diversity refers to the differences in the psychological characteristics of employees. For example, personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes, differences across age cohorts such as Gen-X & Gen-Y. (Gibson et al., 2011)13

As the borders are disappearing, we are seeing more and more heterogeneity in the workplace. Managers today need to embrace diversity and find ways to manage it effectively. The changing demographics have shifted management philosophy in a way that recognizes and utilizes differences to create productivity, profitability, and welcoming cultures.

Improving Customer Service

The majority of employees in developed countries work in service jobs nowadays. Employee attitudes and behavior are associated with customer satisfaction. Thus, jobs worldwide have begun to focus on service industries such as retail, banking, insurance, and communications. These jobs are different from manufacturing jobs in the basis for what makes them attractive to people to perform well. OB helps to identify the characteristics and situations that can be managed to make employees and managers more sensitive to customer satisfaction, the essential outcome to successful service delivery (Robbins & Judge, 2013).

Improving People Skills

People skills are essential to managerial effectiveness. OB provides the concepts and theories that allow managers to predict employee behavior in given situations. Organizations are comprised of people. Organizations cannot achieve desired outcomes without people. So skills to manage people successfully are essential to the effectiveness of anyone in a managerial or leadership role. OB provides the concepts and theories that help predict behavior to create a more effective organization, accomplishing desired goals (Robbins & Judge, 2013).14

Stimulating Innovation and Change

13 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill14 Ibid 17


Successful organizations must foster innovation and master the art of change. Employees can be the impetus for innovation and change or a major stumbling block. Managers must stimulate employees’ creativity and tolerance for change.

Today’s volatile economy and business environments mean that organizations and the people that comprise them must adopt innovation and change to counter major disruptions, modifications, and changes in the operational environment. Employees or managers in the operational core are closes to the firm’s policy implementation, process operation and output characteristics. They are best suited to suggestion innovation and change to improve the organization, its people, processes and products to successfully meet the challenge of the operational environment (Robbins & Judge, 2013)15.

Coping with “Temporariness”Organizations must be flexible and fast in order to survive. Managers and employees must learn to cope with temporariness as well as learn to live with flexibility, spontaneity, and unpredictability. OB provides help in understanding a work world of continual change, how to overcome resistance to change, and how to create an organizational culture that thrives on change.

The volatile operational environments lead to a sense of “temporariness” in today’s organization. Responding effectively and efficiently to these modifications means that managers and leaders of the organization must learn to cope with the uncertainty and ambiguity of temporariness. They must adopt and practice flexibility, spontaneity and unpredictability to meet environmental challenges. OB is key to the skills needed to reduce resistance to change and to create successful organizational cultures16.

Working in Networked Organizations

Networked organizations are becoming more pronounced. Manager’s job is fundamentally different in networked organizations. Challenges of motivating and leading “online” require different techniques.

Helping Employees Balance Work-Life Conflicts

The creation of the global workforce means work no longer sleeps. Communication technology has provided a vehicle for working at any time or any place. Employees are working longer hours per week. The lifestyles of families have changed—creating conflict.

15 Ibid 1916 Ibid 22


Balancing work and life demands now surpasses job security as an employee priorityBecause of the expansion of networked business to global competition, time is no longer a definable boundary of organizational activity and personnel responsibility. Managers and leaders of organizations must shoulder the responsibility to help employees to balance work and life roles to ensure they remain effective and viable members of the team. Lacking such concern by leaders and managers can allow employees to believe they must work twenty-four hours a day to cover global time. This can lead to personnel burn-out, ineffectiveness, and dissatisfied employees.

Creating a Positive Work EnvironmentOrganizations have realized creating a positive work environment can be a competitive advantage. Positive organizational scholarship or behavior studies what is ‘good’ about organizations.

This field of study focuses on employees’ strengths versus their limitations as employees share situations in which they performed at their personal best. Creating a positive work environment has been found to be a basis for employee satisfaction, increased productivity, and longevity of skilled personnel. Responsibility for positive work environments is not a part of traditional management practice but as the work environment has changed in terms of characteristics and behaviors of younger generations the focus on making work a good place to be is important to success.17

Improving Ethical Behavior

Ethical dilemmas are situations in which an individual is required to define right and wrong conduct. Good ethical behavior is not so easily defined. Organizations are distributing codes of ethics to guide employees through ethical dilemmas. Managers need to create an ethically healthy climate.

Increased scrutiny by society and governmental entities has increased business concern with ethical behavior. Lapses in ethical behavior have resulted in everything ranging from public sanctions against businesses to legal penalties against a firm and its managers. Manager and leaders must focus on leading by example what constitutes appropriate ethical behavior by the organization and its people.

Learning Outcome 1.5Compare the 3 levels of analysis in OB

Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), proposes three types of variables, inputs, processes, and outcomes, at three levels of analysis, individual, group, and organizational. The model

17 Ibid 23


proceeds from left to right, with inputs leading to processes, and processes leading to the outcomes. The outcomes can influence inputs in the future.18

Source: Adopted from Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, 15 th Ed. United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hal page 25.

InputsInputs are factors that exist in advance of the employment relationships. For example, individual diversity characteristics, personality, and values are shaped by a combination of an individual’s genetic inheritance and childhood environment. Group structure, roles, and team responsibilities are typically assigned immediately before or after a group are formed. Finally, organizational structure and culture are usually the result of years of development and change as the organization adapts to its environment and builds up customs and norms.

ProcessesProcesses are actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes. At the individual level, processes include emotions and moods, motivation, perception, and decision-making. At the group level, they include communication, leadership, power and politics, and conflict and negotiation. Finally, at the organizational level, processes include human resource management and change practices.

OutcomesScholars have emphasized individual-level outcomes like attitudes and satisfaction, task performance, citizenship behavior, and withdrawal behavior. At the group level, cohesion and functioning are the dependent variables. Finally, at the organizational level we look at overall profitability and survival. Because these outcomes will be covered in all the chapters, we’ll briefly discuss each here so you can understand what the “goal” of OB will be.

The belief that satisfied employees are more productive than dissatisfied employees has been a basic tenet among managers for years, though only now has research begun to support. Some 18 Ibid 25


people might think that influencing employee attitudes and stress is purely soft stuff, and not the business of serious managers, but as we will show, attitudes often have behavioral consequences that directly relate to organizational effectiveness.

Task performance is the most important human output contributing to organizational effectiveness, so in every chapter we devote considerable time to detailing how task performance is affected by the topic in question19.

Citizenship Behavior

The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace, is called citizenship behavior. Successful organizations need employees, who will do more than their usual job duties—who will provide performance beyond expectations.

In today’s dynamic workplace, where tasks are increasingly performed by teams and flexibility is critical, employees who engage in “good citizenship” behaviors help others on their team, volunteer for extra work, avoid unnecessary conflicts, respect the spirit as well as the letter of rules and regulations, and gracefully tolerate occasional work-related impositions and nuisances. Organizations want and need employees who will do things that aren’t in any job description. Evidence indicates organizations that have such employees outperform those that don’t. As a result, OB is concerned with citizenship behavior as an outcome variable.20

Employee Withdrawal

Employee withdrawal can have a very negative effect on an organization. The cost of employee turnover alone has been estimated to run into the thousands of dollars, even for entry-level positions. Absenteeism also costs organizations significant amounts of money and time every year.

Tutorial 1

1. Discuss the growing importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.

2. How are the management functions of planning, organizing, and leading different from

one another? Explain.

3. Samantha Reeves works as a sales manager at Synergy Bank. Explain the nature of tasks

she would be performing according to Mintzberg's concept of leadership role.



4. According to Mintzberg, how does the monitor role differ from the disseminator role?

5. How do Mintzberg's roles of a liaison, spokesperson, and entrepreneur differ from one another? Explain.

6. What are conceptual skills? How are they different from human skills?

7. What is organizational behavior?


References

1. Robbins, S.P (1998), Essentials of Organizational Behaviour, United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall.

2. Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, 15th Ed. United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall.

3. McShane,S., Olekains,M., &Travaglione, T. (2011). Organizational Behaviour on the Pacific Rim, (3rd Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill

4. Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill

5. Robbins, S.P. & Boyle, M. (2011), Organizational Behaviour, (6th Ed). Australia: Pearson 6. Dr. Geetanjali Pradhan, nd. Lecture notes retrieved from www.bput.ac.in/lecture-

notes-download.php?file=lecture_note_92311150135560...


Topic 2: Attitudes and Job SatisfactionLecture Notes Week 2

Learning outcome:The student should be able to assess the impact of attitude on behaviour which in turn affects workplace performance.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:2.1 Contrast the three components of an attitude2.2 Understand the relationship between attitudes and behaviour2.3 Compare and contrast the major job attitudes2.4 Define job satisfaction and show how we can measure it2.5 Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction2.6 Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction

Learning Outcome 2.1Contrast the three components of an attitude

Gibson, et al (2011), states attitudes are determinants of behavior because they’re linked with perception, personality, and motivation. An attitude is a positive or negative feeling or mental state of readiness, learned and organized through experience that exerts specific influence on a person’s response to people, objects, and situations. This definition of attitude has certain implications for managers.21

1. Affect. The emotional, or “feeling,” component of an attitude is learned from parents, teachers, and peer group members. One study illustrates how the affective component can be measured. A questionnaire was used to survey the attitudes of a group of students toward the church. The students then listened to tape recordings that either praised or disparaged the church. As the tapes played, students’ emotional responses were measured with a galvanic skin response (GSR) device. Both pro-church and anti-church students responded with greater emotion (displayed by GSR changes) to statements that contradicted their attitudes than to those that reflected their attitudes.

2. Cognition. The cognitive component of an attitude consists of the person’s perceptions, opinions, and beliefs. It refers to the thought processes, with special emphasis on rationality and logic. An important element of cognition is the evaluative beliefs held by a person. Evaluative beliefs are manifested as the favorable or unfavorable impressions someone holds toward an object or person.

3. Behavior. The behavioral component of an attitude refers to a person’s intention to act toward someone or something in a certain way (e.g., friendly, warm, aggressive, hostile, or

21 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill


apathetic). Such intentions could be measured or assessed to examine the behavioral component of attitudes (Gibson, et.al 2011)22.

The diagram below illustrates the contrast between three components of an attitude.

Source: Adopted from Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, (15 th Ed). United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall.

Robbins & Judge (2013) proposes that attitudes are evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Attitudes are made up of three components. The cognitive component is made up of the belief in the way things are. The affective component is the more critical part of the attitude as it is calls upon the emotions or feelings. The behavioral component describes the intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. These three components work together to aid in our understanding of the complexity of an attitude.

The statement “My pay is low” is the cognitive component of an attitude— a description of or belief in the way things are. It sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude—its affective component. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and is reflected in the statement “I am angry over how little I’m paid.” Finally, affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component of an attitude describes an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something—to continue the example, “I’m going to look for another job that pays better.”23

22 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill23 Ibid 70


a. Cognitive componenti. The employee thought he deserved the promotion (cognitive)

b. Affective componenti. The employee strongly dislikes his supervisor (affective)

c. Behavioral componenti. The employee is looking for another job (behavioral) ii. In organizations, attitudes are important because of the behavioral component24

Learning Outcome 2.2Understand the relationship between attitudes and behaviour

The theory of affective, cognitive, and behavioral components as determinants of attitudes and attitude change has a significant implication for managers. They must be able to demonstrate that the positive aspects of contributing to the organization outweigh the negative aspects. Many managers achieve effectiveness by developing generally favorable attitudes in their employees toward the organization and the job (Gibson, et al. 2011)25.

The attitudes people hold determine what they do. Festinger, nd cited in Robbins & Judge (2013)26 proposed that cases of attitude following behavior illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance.

Robbins & Judge (2013) argues that some variables do moderate the relationship between attitude and behavior. These factors include the importance of the attitude to the person, the correspondence of the attitude to the behavior, the accessibility of the attitude, the existence of social pressures on behavior, and the personal and direct experience of the attitude. These mitigating variables will affect the ability to predict how a certain attitude will predict behavior. The mitigating variables must be considered in the analysis process to alter what might be considered standard response as behavior to a specific attitude.

The term cognitive dissonance describes a situation where there’s a discrepancy between the cognitive and behavioral components of an attitude. Any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable so individuals attempt to reduce dissonance (Gibson, et al., 2011). He further reveals that dissonnance, then, is viewed as a state within a person that, when aroused, elicits actions designed to return the person to a state of equilibrium.

Similarly according to Robbins & Judge (2013) “Cognitive Dissonance is incompatibility an individual might perceive between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes”27.

24 Ibid 7025 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill26 Ibid 7127 Ibid 71


Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior. Some variables do moderate the relationship between attitude and behavior. These factors include the importance of the attitude to the person, the correspondence of the attitude to the behavior, the accessibility of the attitude, the existence of social pressures on behavior, and the personal and direct experience of the attitude.

These mitigating variables will affect the ability to predict how a certain attitude will predict behavior. The mitigating variables must be considered in the analysis process to alter what might be considered standard response as behavior to a specific attitude.

Managers often face the task of changing employees’ attitudes because existing attitudes hinder job performance. Although many variables affect attitude change, they can all be described in terms of three general factors: trust in the sender, the message itself, and the situation. Employees who don’t trust the manager won’t accept the manager’s message or change an attitude. Similarly, if the message isn’t convincing, there’s no pressure to change (Gibson, et al., 2011)28

Learning Outcome 2.3Compare and contrast the major job attitudes

OB focuses our attention on a very limited number of job-related attitudes. Most of the research in OB has been concerned with three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. The field of OB focuses on how attitudes will influence the workplace.

The first is job satisfaction, which is the positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. A high level of job satisfaction equals positive attitudes toward the job and vice versa. Job Satisfaction When people speak of employee attitudes; they usually mean job satisfaction, which describes a positive feeling about a job, resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive feelings about his or her job, while a person with a low level holds negative feelings.

The second is job involvement. Job involvement looks at the degree of psychological identification with the job where perceived performance is important to self-worth. Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they do.An additional job attitude is logical empowerment, the belief in the degree of influence their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their job, and their perceived autonomy (Robbins & Judge, 2013)29. Organizational Commitment28 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill29 Ibid 73


Organizational Commitment is identifying with a particular organization and its goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization.The following are the three dimensions:

Affective – emotional attachment to organization

Continuance Commitment – economic value of staying

Normative – moral or ethical obligations

Organizational commitment has been found to have some relationship to performance and in particular for new employees. One distinct benefit to organizational commitment is the likelihood that an employee will engage in work withdrawal even if they are dissatisfied to a tolerable level, because in spite of a feeling of dissatisfaction, the employee feels a sense of organization loyalty30.

Learning Outcome 2.4 Define job satisfaction and show how we can measure it

Gibson, et al, (2011) argues that job satisfaction is an attitude that individuals have about their jobs. It results from their perceptions of their jobs, based on factors of the work environment, such as the supervisor’s style, policies, and procedures, work group affiliation, working conditions, and fringe benefits.31

While numerous dimensions have been associated with job satisfaction, five in particular have crucial characteristics.

1. Pay - The amount received and the perceived equity of pay.2. Job - The extent to which job tasks are considered interesting and provide opportunities for learning and for accepting responsibility.3. Promotion opportunities - The availability of opportunities for advancement.4. Supervisor - The supervisor’s abilities to demonstrate interest in and concern about employees.5. Co-workers - The extent to which co-workers are friendly, competent, and supportive.32

Similarly, Robbins & Judge, (2013) states that job satisfaction is a positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. Jobs require interacting with coworkers and bosses, following organizational rules and policies, meeting performance standards, living with less than ideal working conditions, and the like. This is an important job attitude because it incorporates so many of the other measures. There are multiple ways to measure job

30 Ibid 7431 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes (14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill32 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes (14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill


satisfaction, but the most accurate way is to ask the question if people are satisfied in their jobs and provide them with a scale to report their degree of satisfaction33.

Two approaches for measuring Job Satisfaction are as follows: The single global rating

The single global rating is a response to one question, such as “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?” Respondents circle a number between 1 and 5 on a scale from “highly satisfied” to “highly dissatisfied.”(Robbins & Judge, 2013)

The summation of job facetsIt identifies key elements in a job such as the nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relations with coworkers.34

Learning Outcome 2.5 Summarise the main causes of job satisfaction

According to Robbins and Judge (2013), interesting jobs that provide training, variety, independence, and control satisfy most employees. There is also a strong correspondence between how well people enjoy the social context of their workplace and how satisfied they are overall. Interdependence, feedback, social support, and interaction with coworkers outside the workplace are strongly related to job satisfaction even after accounting for characteristics of the work itself.


Personality also plays a role in job satisfaction

33 Ibid 7934 ibid


Research has shown that people who have positive core self-evaluations (CSEs) are more satisfied with their jobs than those with negative core self-evaluations. Those with negative core self-evaluations set less ambitious goals and are more likely to give up when confronting difficulties (Robbins & Judge, 2013)35

PayPay does correlate with job satisfaction and overall happiness for many people, but the effect can be smaller once an individual reaches a standard level of comfortable living. (Please refer to Exhibit 3-4 given on next page)


Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Robbins & Judge (2013) claims that an organization’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), or its self-regulated actions to benefit society or the environment beyond what is required by law, increasingly affects employee job satisfaction.

Organizations practice CR in a number of ways, including environmental sustainability initiatives, nonprofit work, and charitable giving. Although the link between CSR and job satisfaction is strengthening, not all employees find value in CSR. Therefore, organizations need to address a few issues in order to be most effective.

a. First, not all projects are equally meaningful for every person’s job satisfaction, yet participation for all employees is sometimes expected.

b. Second, some organizations require employees to contribute in a prescribed manner.

35 Ibid 82


c. Third, CSR measures can seem disconnected from the employee’s actual work, providing no increase to job satisfaction36.

Learning Outcome 2.6 Identify four employee responses to dissatisfaction

Robbins & Judge, (2013) identifies the following as employee response to dissatisfaction:

1. Exit. The exit response directs behavior toward leaving the organization, including looking for a new position or resigning.

2. Voice. The voice response includes actively and constructively attempting to improve conditions, including suggesting improvements, discussing problems with superiors, and undertaking union activity.

3. Loyalty. The loyalty response means passively but optimistically waiting for conditions to improve, including speaking up for the organization in the face of external criticism and trusting the organization and its management to “do the right thing.”

4. Neglect. The neglect response passively allows conditions to worsen and includes chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and increased error rate.37

Tutorial 21. What are the three components of an attitude?2. Why is it difficult to analyze the three components of an attitude separately? Provide a

workplace example that demonstrates the three components. 3. Describe a workplace example of how people seek consistency among their attitudes

and their behavior by reducing cognitive dissonance. Then, sort your example into the three main components of attitudes.

4. Jonathan is a scientist for a local manufacturer that employs a large percentage of the small town where he lives. Until recently Jonathan loved his job. However, it has been discovered that the company is releasing small amounts of toxins into the local river. Jonathan is extremely bothered by this information. Based on what you know about Jonathan, describe the cognitive dissonance that he is experiencing, and two ways that Jonathan can alter his behavior or attitude to reduce the dissonance.

5. Compare and contrast job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.

6. Rachel, a sales executive at a bank, earns $35,000 a year. Her company often allows her to work her schedule around her daughter's school athletic events. She believes in the goals of her organization and works hard toward achieving them. Rachel's husband, Peter has recently joined an engineering firm as a designer. He earns $75,000 a year. His



job involves working long hours from Monday to Friday and his work is often stressful. But he enjoys his work and is passionate about the projects he works on. Due to Peter's time constraints, his wife, Rachel, attends all their children's school events. How would you compare Rachel and Peter's levels of job satisfaction? Describe how you would measure their satisfaction level if the level of comfortable living in their country is $40,000. In addition, name at least three major job attitudes that play a part in each of their satisfaction levels.

7. What are the major causes of job satisfaction? 8. Sally has just been passed over for a promotion and is still earning less than $40,000 a

year. She is experiencing a very low level of job satisfaction. Describe two active responses that Sally might undertake due to her dissatisfaction. Design a plan that Sally's immediate supervisor can use to diffuse the situation and keep her on board

9. Karen is upset with her supervisor because she was denied her requested vacation days. She is experiencing a very low level of job satisfaction, but cannot afford to quit her job. Describe three negative, passive responses that Karen might take due to her dissatisfaction. Imagine that her manager actively catches her in a manifestation of workplace deviance. Predict the outcome of Karen's behavior.

10. Compare and contrast the four ways that employees can express job dissatisfaction.

References






Topic 3: Personality and ValuesWeek 3 Lecture Notes

Learning outcome:The student should be able to examine personality and values to understand individual behaviour in the workplace.PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:

3.1 Define personality, describe how it is measured, and explain the factors that determine an individual’s personality.3.2 Identify the key traits in the big five personality model3.3 Demonstrate how the big five traits predict behaviour at work3.4 Identify other personality traits relevant to OB3.5 Define values, demonstrate the importance of values, and contrast terminal and instrumental

values3.6 Identify Hofstedes’s five value dimensions of national culture.

Learning Outcome 3.1Define personality, describe how it is measured, and explain the factors that determine an individual’s personality.

Personality is a dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person’s whole psychological system; It looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.

According to Gibson et al, (2011), Personality is influenced by hereditary, cultural, and social factors. Regardless of how it’s defined, however, psychologists generally accept certain principles:

1. Personality is an organized whole; otherwise, the individual would have no meaning.2. Personality appears to be organized into patterns that are to some degree observable and measurable.3. Although personality has a biological basis, its specific development is also a product of social and cultural environments.4. Personality has superficial aspects (such as attitudes toward being a team leader) and a deeper core (such as sentiments about authority or the Protestant work ethic).5. Personality involves both common and unique characteristics. Every person is different from every other person in some respects while being similar to other persons in other respects.38

These five ideas are included in this definition of personality: An individual’s personality is a relatively stable set of characteristics, tendencies, and temperaments that have been significantly formed by inheritance and by social, cultural, and environmental factors. This set of variables determines the commonalities and differences in the behavior of the individual.

Personality is defined as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. (Robbins: 1998, 9). Most often described in terms of the measurable traits a person exhibits.

38 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill


One of the greatest challenges in the study of personality has been “How we measure it.” The most important reason this is needed is that accurately measuring personality gives managers an advantage in the recruitment and hiring processes. It is difficult since most measurement of personality is accrued through self-report surveys filled out by the individuals themselves. However, stride has been made to put personality measurement into observation by others making the determination of personality more independent (Robbins & Judge, 2013)39.

Learning Outcome 3.2Identify the key traits in the big five personality model

An impressive body of research supports that five basic dimensions underlie all other personality dimensions.

The five basic dimensions are as follows:

ExtraversionExtraversion is a comfort level with relationships. Extroverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet.

Agreeableness, Agreeableness is Individual’s propensity to defer to others. High agreeableness people are cooperative, warm, and trusting. Low agreeableness people are cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic. Conscientiousness is a measure of reliability.

ConscientiousnessA high conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.

Emotional stabilityEmotional stability describes a person’s ability to withstand stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure.

Openness to experience. Openness to experience suggests the range of interests and fascination with novelty. Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of the openness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.40

39 Ibid 13340 Ibid 136


Learning Outcome 3.3Demonstrate how the big five traits predict behaviour at work

Source: Adopted from Robbins, S.P. & Judge, T.A. (2013), Organizational Behaviour, (15 th Ed). United States of America: Pearson Publishing as Prentice Hall. Page 138

According to Robbins & Judge (2013), research has shown relationships between these personality dimensions and job performance. Employees who score higher for example in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge. Conscientiousness is as important for managers as for front-line employee. The study found conscientiousness—in the form of persistence, attention to detail, and setting of high standards—was more important than other traits. These results attest to the importance of conscientiousness to organizational success. Although conscientiousness is the Big Five trait most consistently related to job performance, there are other traits are related to aspects of performance in some situations41.

Of the Big Five traits, emotional stability is most strongly related to life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and low stress levels. This is probably true because high scorers are more likely to be positive and optimistic and experience fewer negative emotions. They are happier than those who score low. People low on emotional stability are hyper vigilant (looking for problems or impending signs of danger) and are especially vulnerable to the physical and psychological effects of stress.

People who are agreeable are more satisfied in their jobs and contribute to organizational performance by engaging in citizenship behavior. They are also less likely to engage in organizational deviance. One downside is that agreeableness is associated with lower levels of career success (especially earnings).

41 Ibid 137


Extraverts tend to be happier in their jobs and in their lives as a whole. They experience more positive emotions than do introverts, and they more freely express these feelings. They also tend to perform better in jobs that require significant interpersonal interaction, perhaps because they have more social skills—they usually have more friends and spend more time in social situations than introverts.

Finally, extraversion is a relatively strong predictor of leadership emergence in groups; extraverts are more socially dominant, “take charge” sorts of people, and they are generally more assertive than introverts. One downside is that extraverts are more impulsive than introverts; they are more likely to be absent from work and engage in risky behavior such as unprotected sex, drinking, and other impulsive or sensation-seeking acts. One study also found extraverts were more likely than introverts to lie during job interviews.

Individuals who score high on openness to experience are more creative in science and art than those who score low. Because creativity is important to leadership, open people are more likely to be effective leaders, and more comfortable with ambiguity and change. They cope better with organizational change and are more adaptable in changing contexts. Recent evidence also suggests, however, that they are especially susceptible to workplace accidents. You might expect agreeable people to be happier than disagreeable people. They are, but only slightly. When people choose romantic partners, friends, or organizational team members, agreeable individuals are usually their first choice.

Agreeable individuals are better liked than disagreeable people, which explain why they tend to do better in interpersonally oriented jobs such as customer service. They also are more compliant and rule abiding and less likely to get into accidents as a result. 42

Learning Outcome 3.4Identify other personality traits relevant to OBSome other Personality Traits Relevant to OB includes the following:

Core Self-EvaluationPeople who have a positive core self-evaluation see themselves as effective, capable, and in control. People who have a negative core self-evaluation tend to dislike themselves. Some can be too positive. In this case, someone can think he or she is capable, but he or she is actually incompetent? 43

MachiavellianismAccording to Gibson, et al (2011), Machiavellianism, a concept derived from the writings of Italian philosopher and statesmen Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527), helps answer the question. Machiavelli was concerned with the manipulation of people and with the orientations and tactics used by manipulators versus non manipulators. Machiavellianism (a term with negative connotations) is associated with being a political maneuverer and power manipulator.44

42 Ibid 13843 Ibid 13944 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill


From anecdotal descriptions of power tactics and the nature of influential people, various scales have been constructed to measure Machiavellianism. One scale organizes questions around a cluster of beliefs about tactics, people, and morality.

In the money allocation game just discussed, the individuals who get the lion’s share are those who score high on this scale, the LOW MACH scorers get only slightly less than would be expected by a fair, one-third split. In a job situation, Machiavellianism does seem to have an effect on job performance. HIGH MACH scorers would probably be suited for activities such as selling, negotiating, and acquiring limited resources. LOW MACH scorers would seem to be better suited for structured, routine, and nonemotional situations. They would seem to better suited for planning, conceptualizing, and working out details (Gibson, et al., 2011).45

Narcissism Narcissism describes a person who has a grandiose sense of self-importance. They “think” they are better leaders. Often they are selfish and exploitive (Robbins & Judge, 2013)46.

Self-Monitoring Self-Monitoring refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors. Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability. They are highly sensitive to external cues, can behave differently in different situations, and are capable of presenting striking contradictions between their public persona and their private self.47

Risk Taking The 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 their choice. High risk-taking managers make more rapid decisions and use less information in making their choices. Managers in large organizations tend to be risk averse; especially in contrast with growth-oriented entrepreneurs.

Proactive Personality Proactive Personality is a person who actively takes the initiative to improve his or her current circumstances while others sit by passively. Proactive identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere.

Other- OrientationSome people just naturally just seem to think about other people a lot, being concerned about their well-being and feelings while others behave like “economic actors,” primarily rational and self-interested. Those who are other-oriented feel more obligated to help others who have helped them (pay me back), whereas those who are more self-oriented will help others when they expect to be helped in the future (pay me forward). Employees high in other-orientation also exert especially high levels of effort when engaged in helping work or prosocial behavior. 48

45 Gibson, J.,Ivanceivich, J.,& Konopaske, R. (2011), Organisations: Behaviour, Structure, Processes,(14 th Ed.). Australia: McGrawHill46 Ibid 14047 ibid48 Ibid 141


Learning Outcome 3.5Define values, demonstrate the importance of values, and contrast terminal and instrumental values

According to Robbins and Judge (2013), values represent basic convictions in a person. A specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence. Values have both content and intensity attributes. An individual’s set of values ranked in terms of intensity is considered the person’s value system. Values have the tendency to be stable.

The importance of values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation. Values generally influence attitudes and behaviors. We can predict reaction based on understanding values.

There are two types of values, namely terminal and instrumental values.

Terminal Values refer to desirable end states of existence. These are the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime. Some examples of terminal values in the Rokeach Value Survey are: Prosperity and economic success, Freedom, Health and well-being, World peace, Social recognition, and Meaning in life.

Instrumental Values refer to preferable modes of behavior. That is, the means of achieving the terminal values. The types of instrumental values illustrated in RVS are Self-improvement, Autonomy and self-reliance, Personal discipline, kindness, Ambition, and Goal-orientation.49

Learning Outcome 3.6Identify Hofstedes’s five value dimensions of national culture.

Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Cultures suggests five value dimensions of national culture.

1. Power distance - which is the degree, to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations, is distributed unequally.

2. Individualism versus collectivism, Individualism is the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups. Collectivism equals low individualism.

3. Masculinity versus femininity describes Masculinity as the degree to which values such as the acquisition of money and material goods prevail. Femininity is the degree to which people value relationships and show sensitivity and concern for others.

4. Uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations. In cultures that score high on uncertainty avoidance, people have an increased level of anxiety about uncertainty and ambiguity and use laws and controls to reduce uncertainty.

5. Long-term versus short-term orientation define Long-term orientations look to the future and value thrift and persistence. Short-term orientation values the past and present and emphasizes respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations.50

49 Ibid 15150 Ibid 150


Tutorial 3

1. What are the two main means of measuring personality? Discuss.2. Does heredity determine a person's personality? Explain.3. Briefly describe the five key traits in the Big Five personality model. 4. Describe conscientiousness and explain how it can predict behavior at work. 5. Valerie Clark works as a campaigner at the Oceans Protection Foundation in Japan. During

campaign implementation activities, she prefers to follow structured processes and ensures her team undertakes activities in an orderly fashion. In addition, she takes responsibility for milestones to be achieved and key project activities. Her colleagues and team members find that they can depend on her for support and guidance and admire her quality of never giving up on a challenge. Explain the categories of personalities Clark would most likely fit into according to the Myers-Briggs type indicator and the Big Five model.

6. Compare and contrast the characteristics of extraverts with those of introverts. 7. Michelle Young, who works as a sales manager at a bank, often has to deal with a lot of stress to

meet monthly targets for her team. However, irrespective of stressful situations, she manages to handle problems with ease and a smile on her face. Her team members are often surprised at how she deals with such situations with so much confidence. They believe the reason she manages to be such a good role model of handling volatile situations is because she is confident of her capabilities and sees herself as an effective manager. Describe Young's personality in terms of the Big Five Model and core self-evaluation.

8. Percy Collins works as a life advisor at an insurance firm and often looks for constant admiration from his manager every time he sells a policy. He also feels that he is the best at his work and no other advisor in his company has the ability or the skills to sell the amount of policies that he can. Often during meetings and team building exercises, colleagues find him rude, distant, and antagonistic. What categories according to the Big Five Factor Model and other personality traits is Collins most likely to be characterized by?

References





5. Dr. Geetanjali Pradhan, nd. Lecture notes retrieved from www.bput.ac.in/lecture-notes-download.php?file=lecture_note_92311150135560...

Topic 4: Perception and Individual Decision Making

Week 4 Lecture Notes

Learning outcome:The student should be able to explain the interrelationships between perceptions and decision


making.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:4.1 Define perceptions and explain the factors that influence it.4.2 Explain attribution theory and list the 3 detriments of attribution.4.3 Identify the short cuts individuals use in making judgments about others.4.4 Explain the link between perception and decision making.4.5 Apply the rational model of decision making and contrast with bounded rationality and

institution4.5 List and explain the common decision biases or errors.4.7 Explain how individual differences and organizational constraints affect decision making.4.8 Contrast the 3 ethical decision criteria.

Learning Outcome 4.1Define perceptions and explain the factors that influence it.

Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. It is important to the study of OB because peoples’ behaviors are based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. However, what we perceive can be substantially different from objective reality.

For example, all employees in a firm may view it as a great place to work—favorable working conditions, interesting job assignments, good pay, excellent benefits, understanding and responsible management—but, as most of us know, it’s very unusual to find such agreement.51

Factors that shape and can distort perception include the perceiver, the target, or the situation.

Perceiver When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver. The more relevant personal characteristics affecting perception of the perceiver are attitudes, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations (Robbins & Judge, 2013)52.

Several characteristics of a perceiver define one's perception of another person. Familiarity with the person being perceived leads the perceiver to believe that he or she understands the intentions of the individual. Attitudes and moods also affect one’s impressions of others. The perceiver's self-concept leads to a more negative or positive view of the attributes of others. Finally, a person’s cognitive structure, or pattern of thinking, affects his or her perception of others.53

51 Ibid 16652 Ibid 16753 3 PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION, and ATTRIBUTION, retrieved from www.swcollege.com/management/nelson-quick/instructor/ob4e/nqimch03.doc


TargetThe characteristics of the observed target can affect what we perceive. Loud people are more likely to be noticed in a group than quiet ones. Some characteristics of the target include motion, sounds, size, background, proximity and similarity.

SituationThe context or situation is also important. The actual time of day or night at which we see the object or event can influence our attention, as can location, light, heat or any number of situational factors.

The social context in which you meet an individual has a great deal to do with perceiving the individual positively or negatively. The strength of the situational cues also affects person perception. Strong situational cues lead to the assumption that the situation prompts a person's behavior rather than his/her own personality54.


Learning Outcome 4.2Explain attribution theory and list the 3 detriments of attribution.

Attribution theory suggests that when we observe an individual’s behavior, we attempt to determine whether it was internally or externally caused. Internally caused refers to those that are believed to be

54 Ibid 167


under the personal control of the individual. Externally caused - resulting from outside causes. That is, the person is seen as having been forced into the behavior by the situation.

Determination depends on three factors: Distinctiveness refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different

situations. Consensus occurs if everyone who is faced with a similar situation responds in the same way. Consistency refers to the consistency in a person’s actions.55

Learning Outcome 4.3Identify the short cuts individuals use in making judgments about others.

The shortcuts we use in judging others are frequently valuable: they allow us to make accurate perceptions rapidly and provide valid data for making predictions. However, they are not foolproof. They can and do get us into trouble when they result in significant distortions.

Selective Perception Any characteristic that makes a person, an object, or an event stand out will increase the probability we will perceive it. Why? Because it is impossible for us to assimilate everything we see; we can take in only certain stimuli. This explains why you’re more likely to notice cars like your own, or why a boss may reprimand some people and not others doing the same thing. Because we can’t observe everything going on about us, we engage in selective perception. A classic example shows how vested interests can significantly influence which problems we see. When we judge someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs, we are using the shortcut called stereotyping.56

Halo EffectThe halo effect occurs when we draw a general impression on the basis of a single characteristic. This phenomenon frequently occurs when students appraise their classroom instructor. Propensity for halo effect to operate is not random. The reality of the halo effect was confirmed in a classic study. Subjects were given a list of traits such as intelligent, skillful, practical, industrious, determined, and warm, and were asked to evaluate the person to whom those traits applied.

When the word “warm” was substituted with “cold” the subjects changed their evaluation of the person. The experiment showed that subjects were allowing a single trait to influence their overall impression of the person being judged. Research suggests that it is likely to be most extreme when the traits to be perceived are ambiguous in behavioral terms, when the traits have moral overtones, and when the perceiver is judging traits with which he or she has had limited experience.57

Contrast effect

The third shortcut is the Contrast Effects. We do not evaluate a person in isolation. Our reaction to one person is influenced by other persons we have recently encountered. For example, an interview

55 ibid 16856 Ibid 17057 Ibid 171


situation in which one sees a pool of job applicants can distort perception. Distortions in any given candidate’s evaluation can occur as a result of his or her place in the interview schedule.58

Stereotyping

The fourth shortcut is Stereotyping. Stereotyping is judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs. Generalization is not without advantages. It is a means of simplifying a complex world, and it permits us to maintain consistency.

The problem, of course, is when we inaccurately stereotype. In organizations, we frequently hear comments that represent stereotypes based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, and even weight. From a perceptual standpoint, if people expect to see these stereotypes, that is what they will perceive, whether or not they are accurate.59

Learning Outcome 4.4Explain the link between perception and decision making.

Individuals in organizations constantly make decisions. They make choices from among two or more options many times during the day and at different levels of important or intensity.

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. Middle- and lower-level managers determine production schedules, select new employees, and decide how pay raises are to be allocated.

Non-managerial employees also make decisions including whether or not to come to work on any given day, how much effort to put forward once at work, and whether or not to comply with a request made by the boss. A number of organizations in recent years have been empowering their non-managerial employees with job-related decision-making authority that historically was reserved for managers.

Decision-making occurs as a reaction to a problem. There is a discrepancy between some current state of affairs and some desired state, requiring consideration of alternative courses of action. One person’s problem is another’s satisfactory state of affairs. Every decision requires interpretation and evaluation of information.60

Learning Outcome 4.5Apply the rational model of decision making and contrast with bounded rationality and institution

The Six steps of the Rational Decision-Making process are listed below.

58 Ibid 17159 Ibid 17260 Ibid 174


Step 1: Defining the problem. A 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. This brings in the decision maker’s interests, values, and similar personal preferences.

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

Step 4: Develop alternativesGenerate possible options that could succeed in resolving the problem.

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

Step 6: Select the best alternativeCompute the optimal decision. Evaluate each option against the weighted criteria and select the alternative with the highest total score.61

Learning Outcome 4.6List and explain the common decision biases or errors.Decision makers allow systematic biases and errors to creep into their judgments. People tend to rely on experience, impulses, gut feelings and rules of thumb. Decision makers engage in bounded rationality, but they also allow systematic biases and errors to creep into their judgments.

Overconfidence Bias It’s been said that “no problem in judgment and decision making is more prevalent and more potentially catastrophic than overconfidence.

Anchoring Bias The anchoring bias is a tendency to fixate on initial information and fail to adequately adjust for subsequent information. It occurs because our mind appears to give a disproportionate amount of emphasis to the first information it receives.62

Confirmation Bias The rational decision-making process assumes we objectively gather information. But we don’t. We selectively gather it. The confirmation bias represents a specific case of selective perception: we seek out information that reaffirms our past choices, and we discount information that contradicts them.

61 Ibid 17562 Ibid 178


Availability Bias More people fear flying than fear driving in a car. But if flying on a commercial airline really were as dangerous as driving, the equivalent of two 747s filled to capacity would crash every week, killing all aboard. Because the media give much more attention to air accidents, we tend to overstate the risk of flying and understate the risk of driving.63

Learning Outcome 4.1Explain how individual differences and organizational constraints affect decision making.Let’s look at the Individual Differences that affect decision-making.

1. Personality- little research so far conducted on personality and decision-making suggests personality does influence our decisions.

2. Conscientiousness. Specific facets of conscientiousness—rather than the broad trait itself—may affect escalation of commitment.

3. Achievement-striving. Achievement-striving people were more likely to escalate their commitment, whereas dutiful people were less likely. Achievement-oriented people hate to fail, so they escalate their commitment, hoping to forestall failure. Achievement-striving individuals appear more susceptible to the hindsight bias, perhaps because they have a greater need to justify their action.

4. Dutifulness. Dutiful people, however, are more inclined to do what they see as best for the organization. People with high self-esteem are strongly motivated to maintain it, so they use the self-serving bias to preserve it. They blame others for their failures while taking credit for successes.64

Learning Outcome 4.8Contrast the 3 ethical decision criteria.According to Robbins & Judge (2013), Ethical considerations should be an important criterion in organizational decision-making.

Three Ethical Decision Criteria include the

Utilitarian criterion, which is when decisions are made solely on the basis of their outcomes or consequences.

The Focus on rights calls on individuals to make decisions consistent with fundamental liberties and privileges as set forth in documents such as the Bill of Rights.

A third criterion is to impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially to ensure justice or an equitable distribution of benefits and costs. Union members typically favor this view.

Each criterion has advantages and liabilities. A focus on utilitarianism promotes efficiency and productivity, but it can sideline the rights of some individuals, particularly those with minority representation. The use of rights protects individuals from injury and is consistent with freedom and privacy, but it can create a legalistic environment that hinders productivity and efficiency. Public concern about individual rights and social justice suggests managers should develop ethical standards based on non utilitarian criteria. A focus on justice protects the interests of the underrepresented and less 63 Ibid 17864 Ibid 177


powerful, but it can encourage a sense of entitlement that reduces risk taking, innovation, and productivity.65

Tutorial 4

1. What is perception? Discuss the factors that influence perception.

2. Discuss the attribution theory.

3. What is selective perception?

4. Victoria Hastings works as a sales manager at a bank and her behavior is characterized by the fundamental attribution error and halo effect. Explain with the help of an example what Hastings' behavior is most likely to be toward her team in such a situation.

5. Danielle Gilbert, a regional manager at an insurance firm in New Jersey, is known in her office to be characterized by an overconfidence and self-serving bias. Explain with the help of examples how Gilbert's work and interpersonal relation is most likely to be in her workplace.

6. Explain the relationship between decision making and perception.

7. Explain how stereotyping can cause problems for some managers when making ethical decisions. Provide an example.

8. Explain the three components of creativity. Name two biases and examples of how they would affect creativity.

9. What are the three ethical decision criteria? Explain.References





Topic 5: Motivation

Week 5 Lecture Notes

Learning outcome:The student should be able to discuss motivation principles and practices and relate how these affect employee performance.

65 Ibid 187


PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:5.1 Appreciate an in depth knowledge of concepts of employee motivation5.2 Understand and compare the merit and demerits of various theories on motivation5.3 Explain the concept of employee motivation as applied in the workplace.5.4 Relate the concept of quality at work life and job satisfaction in the employee motivation process.

Learning Outcome 5.1Appreciate an in depth knowledge of concepts of employee motivation

Motivation is the result of the interaction of the individual and the situation. Motivation is “the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal” (Robbins & Judge, 2010)66.

The three key elements of our definition of motivation are intensity, direction, and persistence. Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries to do anything. This is the element most of us focus on when we talk about motivation. Direction is the orientation that benefits the organization. It can be positive or negative. Persistence is a measure of how long a person can maintain his or her effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal67.

Learning Outcome 5.2Understand and compare the merit and demerits of various theories on motivationMaslow’s Hierarchy of Needs TheoryThe well and best-known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.


Maslow hypothesized that within every human being, there exists a hierarchy of five needs:

1. Physiological - Includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex, and other bodily needs. 2. Safety - Security and protection from physical and emotional harm. 3. Social - Affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.

66 Ibid 20267 Ibid


4. Esteem - Internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement, and external factors such as status, recognition, and attention.

5. Self-actualization - Drive to become what we are capable of becoming; includes growth, achieving our potential, and self-fulfillment. Although no need is ever fully gratified, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. Thus as each becomes substantially satisfied, the next one becomes dominant. 68

Implications of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory This model helps the managers to understand and deal with issues of employee motivation at the workplace. This model can be applied to motivate people at all levels in the organization. Managers who understand the need patterns of their staff can help the employees to engage in the kinds of work activities and provide the types of work environment that will satisfy their needs at work. For instance, the employees love and belonging needs can be fully satisfied by organizing yearly dinner and dance program, office week end parties, creating recreation clubs or social clubs etc.

As a need becomes substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. No need is ever fully gratified; a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates.69

Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y concluded that a manager’s view of the nature of human beings is based on a certain grouping of assumptions and he or she tends to mold his or her behavior toward employees according to these assumptions.

Theory X assumptions are basically negative. Employees inherently dislike work and, whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it. Since employees dislike work, they must be coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment. Employees will avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction whenever possible. Most workers place security above all other factors and will display little ambition.

Theory Y assumptions are basically positive. Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play. People will exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives. Employees can view work as being as natural as rest or play.70

68 Ibid 20369 Ibid 20470 Ibid 205


The Two-Factor Theory or Motivation- Hygiene TheoryThe Two-Factor Theory is sometimes also called motivation-hygiene theory. Proposed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg when he investigated the question, “What do people want from their jobs?” He asked people to describe, in detail, situations in which they felt exceptionally good or bad about their jobs. These responses were then tabulated and categorized as shown below.71


From the categorized responses, Herzberg concluded that Intrinsic factors, such as advancement, recognition, responsibility, and achievement seem to be related to job satisfaction. Dissatisfied respondents tended to cite extrinsic factors, such as supervision, pay, company policies, and working conditions. The opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction. Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job does not necessarily make the job satisfying. Job satisfaction factors are separate and distinct from job dissatisfaction factors.72

McClelland’s Theory of NeedsThe next traditional theory is McClelland’s Theory of Needs. This theory focuses on three needs: achievement, power, and affiliation.

Need for achievement, which is abbreviated nAch, - is the drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed. High achievers perform best when they perceive their probability of success as 50-50. They like to set goals that require stretching themselves a little.

Need for Power (nPow ) is the need to make others behave in a way they would not have otherwise. Is the desire to have impact, to be influential, and to control others. Individuals high in nPow enjoy being “in charge.” They strive for influence over others. They prefer to be placed

71 Ibid 20572 Ibid 206


into competitive and status-oriented situations. And they tend to be more concerned with prestige and gaining influence over others than with effective performance.

Need for Affiliation (nAff ) is the desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships

A high need to achieve does not necessarily make someone a good manager, especially in large organizations. Needs for affiliation and power tend to be closely related to managerial success.73

The illustration below shows the comparison of Various Needs theory

Source: Source: Adopted from Robbins, Stephen. (2005), Organizational Behaviour, (9 th Ed) San Diego State University, Prentice Hall International Page 112 74

Learning Outcome 5.3Explain the concept of employee motivation as applied in the workplace.

Expectancy Theory Expectancy theory is one of the most widely accepted explanations of motivation. Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory has its critics but most of the research is supportive. Expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.

73 Ibid 20774 Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International Retrieved on 19th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html


It says that an employee will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when he/she believes that effort will lead to a good performance appraisal. That a good appraisal will lead to organizational rewards, and that the rewards will satisfy his/her personal goals75

Three key relationships in Expectancy Theory include:

Effort-performance relationship, which is the probability, perceived by the individual that exerting a given amount of effort will lead to performance.

Performance-reward relationship is the degree to which the individual believes that performing at a particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.

Rewards-personal goals relationship is the degree to which organizational rewards satisfy an individual’s personal goals or needs and the attractiveness of those potential rewards for the individual.76

The key to expectancy theory is the understanding of an individual’s goals and the linkage between effort and performance, between performance and rewards, and finally, between the rewards and individual goal satisfaction. Some critics suggest that the theory has only limited use, arguing that it tends to be more valid for predicting in situations where effort-performance and performance-reward linkages are clearly perceived by the individual.

Learning Outcome 5.4Relate the concept of quality at work life and job satisfaction in the employee motivation process.

As research on the motivational effects of rewards has accumulated, it increasingly appears extrinsic rewards can undermine motivation if they are seen as coercive. They can increase motivation if they provide information about competence and relatedness.

In the Goal-Setting Theory, clear and difficult goals lead to higher levels of employee productivity, supporting goal-setting theory’s explanation of this dependent variable. The theory does not address absenteeism, turnover, or satisfaction, however.

Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance variables such as employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. But it assumes employees have few constraints on decision-making, such as bias or incomplete information, and this limits its applicability. Expectancy theory has some validity because for many behaviors people consider expected outcomes.77

75 Ibid 22476 Ibid 22577 Ibid 228


Tutorial 5

1. Describe the three key elements in the definition of motivation.

2. Briefly explain Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory.

3. Explain how a manager motivates employees with reference to Herzberg's two-factor theory.

4. Explain, in terms of McClelland's theory of needs, the relationship between the need for achievement and job performance.

5. Explain the similarities between Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory and McClelland's theory of needs.

6. Why are people motivated by challenging goals?

7. What are the three relationships in Vroom's expectancy theory?

References





5. Robbins, S.P. & Boyle, M. (2011), Organizational Behaviour, (6th Ed). Australia: Pearson


Topic 6: Foundations of Group Behaviour

Lecture Notes Week 6

Learning outcome:The student should be able to discuss group dynamics and relate them to effective creation of teams.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:6.1 Explain factors that contribute for group formation in organizations.6.2 identify and explain the differences between formal and informal groups.6.3 Understand the significance of group norms, values and roles in the motivation process.6.4 Identify and make positive contributions towards team building and productivity.

Learning Outcome 6.1Explain factors that contribute for group formation in organizations

A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. The tendency to take personal pride or offense for the accomplishments of a group is the territory of social identity theory. There is no single reason why individuals join groups.

Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the failure or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the performance of the group. It helps us understand who we are and where we fit in with other people, but they can have a negative side as well. Probably the biggest downside is that social identities encourage in-group favoritism.78

When do people develop a social identity? Several characteristics make a social identity important to a person.

Similarity suggests it is not surprisingly, people who have the same values or characteristics as other members of their organization have higher levels of group identification.

Distinctiveness suggests that people are more likely to notice identities that show how they are different from other groups. Respondents in one study identified more strongly with those in their work group with whom they shared uncommon or rare demographic characteristics.

Status sees a category because people use identities to define themselves and increase self-esteem; it makes sense that they are most interested in linking themselves to high-status groups. Graduates of prestigious universities will go out of their way to emphasize their links to their alma maters and are also more likely to make donations.

Uncertainty reduction sees membership in a group helping some people understand who they are and how they fit into the world.79

78 Ibid 27379 Ibid 274


Learning Outcome 6.2Identify and explain the differences between formal and informal groups.

Groups can be either formal or informal. Formal groups are those defined by the organization’s structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks. The behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals.

An airline flight crew is an example of a formal group. Informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. These are natural formations in the work environment in response to the need for social contact. Three employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch together is an informal group.80

Learning Outcome 6.3Understand the significance of group norms, values and roles in the motivation process

All groups have norms—“acceptable standards of behavior that are shared by the group’s members.” Norms tell members what they ought and ought not to do under certain circumstances.

Performance norms provide explicit cues about how hard members should work, what the level of output should be, how to get the job done, what level of tardiness is appropriate, and the like. These norms are extremely powerful and are capable of significantly modifying a performance prediction based solely on ability and level of personal motivation.

Appearance norms include dress codes, unspoken rules about when to look busy and the like.

Social arrangement norms focus on whom to eat lunch or whether to form friendships on and off the job.

Resource allocation norms include the assignment of difficult jobs, and the distribution of resources, like pay or equipment.81

Learning Outcome 6.4 Identify and make positive contributions towards team building and productivity.

Groups differ in their cohesiveness which is “the degree to which members are attracted to each other and are motivated to stay in the group.” Cohesiveness is important because it is related to the group’s productivity. The relationship of cohesiveness and productivity depends on the performance-related norms established by the group. If performance-related norms are high, a cohesive group will be more productive. If cohesiveness is high and performance norms are low, productivity will be low.

80 Ibid 27281 Ibid 280


Encourage group cohesiveness by making the group smaller, encourage agreement with group goals, increase the time members spend together, increase the status of the group and the perceived difficulty of attaining membership in the group. Stimulate competition with other groups, give rewards to the group rather than to individual members, or physically isolate the group.82

Stages of Group Development ProcessIllustration below shows the stages in group development process


FormingAt this stage, group members try to comprehend where they stand in the group and how they are being perceived by others in the group. The members are very cautious in their interactions with each other and the relationships among the group members are very superficial. Members’ seldom express their feelings in the group and the individual members who are trying to understand who they are in the group have concerns about how they will fit in the group as permanent group members. This is characterized by much uncertainty about group’s purpose, structure and leadership. This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group.

StormingAt this stage, disagreement tends to get expressed among the group members, and feelings of anxiety and resentment are also expressed. Some power struggle may ensure at this stage to determine who should assume the informal leadership role in the group. This group is characterized by intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but there is resistance to the control the group imposes on individuality. There is sometimes conflict over who will control the group. When this stage is complete, there will be a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership within the group.

Norming This stage is characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness. The group sets norms, tries to attain some degree of cohesiveness, understands the goals of the group, starts making good decision, expresses feelings openly and makes attempts to resolve problems and attain group effectiveness. At this stage, members’ roles get defined, and task and maintenance roles are assumed by group members. Group members’ also begin to express satisfaction and confidence about being members of the group. 83

82 Ibid 28883 Ibid 275


Performing This stage is characterized by collaboration and integration. The group members evaluate their performance so that the members develop and grow. The group relationships and structures are set and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other, to performing the task at hand. Feelings are expressed at this stage without fear, leadership roles shared among the members, and the group members’ activities are highly co-coordinated. The task and maintenance roles are played very effectively. The task performance levels are high and member satisfaction, pride and commitment to the group also high. Both performance and members’ satisfaction are sustained indefinitely.

Adjourning This stage is characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance. The group prepares for its disbandment. High task performance is no longer the group’s top priority. Instead, attention is directed towards finalizing activities. As the group approaches the terminal phase, members break off their bonds of affection and stop interaction with each other. Some feel pride in what the group has accomplished. Others may be negative and critical of the way the organization has treated the group and others may be sad over the loss of friendship gained during the life of the work groups. These five stages of group development are only a suggestive and not prescriptive. Sometimes, groups do not always proceed clearly from one stage to the next. Sometimes, several stages go on simultaneously as when groups are storming and performing at the same time. Under some conditions, high levels of conflict are conducive to high group performance.84

Tutorial 6

1. Describe the characteristics of the social identity theory.2. List and briefly describe the stages in the five-stage model of group development. 3. What are four common classes of norms? 4. What is the relationship between performance norms, cohesiveness, and group

productivity?5. How does group size affect a group's behavior?

References




Topic 7: Communications

84 Ibid 275



Learning outcome:

The student should be able to understand the nature and functions of communication in organizations.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:7.1 Understand the need and importance organizational communication.7.2 Discuss the essential aspects of the nature and methods of communication in organization7.3 Analyze the basic ingredients of effective organizational communication.7.4 Identify and explain the barriers to effective communication.

Learning Outcome 7.1Understand the need and importance organizational communication

Communication is more than merely imparting meaning. An idea, no matter how great, is useless until it is transmitted and understood by others. It must include both the transference and the understanding of meaning. There are four major functions of communication control, motivation, emotional expression, and information.

Communication acts to control member behavior in several ways. First, organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. Informal communication also controls behavior. When work groups tease or harass a member who produces too much, they are informally communicating with, and controlling, the member’s behavior.85

Learning Outcome 7.2Discuss the essential aspects of the nature and methods of communication in organization

The communication model is made up of eight parts: the source, encoding, the message, the channel, decoding, the receiver, noise, and feedback.

The source initiates a message by encoding a thought. The message is the actual physical product from the source.

The channel is the medium through which the message travels. The receiver is the object to whom the message is directed.

Decoding is the process where the symbols in the message must be translated into a form that can be understood by the receiver. The receiver is limited by his/her skills, attitudes, knowledge, and social-cultural system.

Noise represents communication barriers that distort the clarity of the message. Feedback is the check on how successful we have been in transferring our messages as originally

intended.86

Downward Communication is when communication flows from one level of a group organization to a lower level is a downward communication. This is typically what we think of when managers communicate with workers. Its purpose is to assign goals, provide instructions, communicate policies and procedures, provide feedback, etc. It does not have to be face-to-face or an oral communication. When engaging in downward communication, managers must explain the reasons why a decision was made.

85 Ibid 33686 Ibid 338


Another problem in downward communication is its one-way nature; generally, managers inform employees but rarely solicit their advice or opinions. The best communicators explain the reasons behind their downward communications but also solicit communication from the employees they supervise.87

Learning Outcome 7.3Analyse the basic ingredients of effective organizational communication

In an organizational context communication is commonly broken down into three formal small-group networks.

There is the chain, which is a very formal and rigid chain of command. Employees know who the next person in the chain is and that is where they give and get their information.

The wheel is a network where there is a central figure that controls all the communication. This must be a team with a very strong leader who can communicate effectively.

The all-channel network is much more fluid where all group members communicate actively with each other and there is no formal channel or single person. This works best in a situation such as a self-managed team.

An individual must carefully choose the channel of communication based on the message they want to send or the media richness. A “rich” channel will be able to handle multiple cues at the same time, facilitate rapid feedback, and be very personal. Different generations will see communication channels differently in this regard. Managers must take this into account when communicating. 88

Learning Outcome 7.4Identify and explain the barriers to effective communication.

The following are the barriers to effective communication:

FilteringFiltering refers to a sender’s purposely manipulating information so it will be seen as more favorable by the receiver. For example, telling the boss what she wants to hear. The more levels in an organization’s structure, the more opportunities there are for filtering. Being reluctant to give bad news, or trying to please one’s boss distorts upward communications.

Selective PerceptionSelective Perception describes when receivers in their communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background, and other personal characteristics. Receivers project their interests and expectations into communications as they decode them.89 Information Overload Information Overload is when the information we have to work with exceeds our processing capacity, the result is information overload. The result is they tend to select out, ignore, pass over, or forget

87 Ibid 33988 Ibid 34389 Ibid 353


information. Or they may put it aside until the overload situation is over. The result is lost information and less effective communication.

EmotionEmotion is how a receiver feels at the time a message is received will influence how he or she interprets it. Extreme emotions are likely to hinder effective communication. During those times we are most likely to disregard objective thinking and substitute emotions for judgments.90

Language as a barrierWords mean different things to different people. Individuals interpret meanings in different ways. For example, incentives and quotas are often perceived as implying manipulation causing resentment among lower levels of the organization. English, our common language, is far from uniform in usage. If we knew how each of us modified the language, we could minimize communication difficulties, but we usually don’t know. Senders tend to assume the words and terms they use mean the same to the receiver as to them. This assumption is often incorrect.

Silence as a barrierIt’s easy to ignore silence or lack of communication, precisely because it is defined by the absence of information. Research suggests silence and withholding communication are both common and problematic. One survey found that more than 85 percent of managers reported remaining silent about at least one issue of significant concern. Employee silence means managers lack information about ongoing operational problems. And silence regarding discrimination, harassment, corruption, and misconduct means top management cannot take action to eliminate this behavior91.

Tutorial 7

1. What are the seven key parts of the communication process?

2. Explain and provide a workplace example for each of the following communication situations: oral communication in downward flowing direction; written communication in upward flowing direction; and non-verbal communication in lateral flowing direction.

3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of oral communication.

4. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of written communication.

5. Describe intonation. How does it act as a barrier to communication at an interpersonal and cultural level?

6. Janice is a part of a work team comprised of five members. Explain the various ways in which this team may be organized and how it would impact the team's communication.

7. How would you relate the concepts of wheel network and information overload?

8. List and explain four of the barriers to effective communication. 90 Ibid 35391 Ibid 354


References






Topic 8: LeadershipLecture Notes Week 9

Learning outcome:The student should be able to analyze the different styles of managerial leadership in organizations.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:8.1 Compare, contrast and apply different theories of managerial leadership8.2 Identify and implement the different types of managerial leadership styles in organizations and

assess their effectiveness.8.3 Explain how effective managerial leadership intervention can prevent organizational conflicts8.4 Discuss the approaches and process of managing conflicts in organizations.

Learning Outcome 8.1Compare, contrast and apply different theories of managerial leadership

Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. The source of this influence may be formal, such as that provided by managerial rank in an organization.

But not all leaders are managers, nor, for that matter, are all managers’ leaders. Just because an organization provides its managers with certain formal rights is no assurance they will lead effectively. Non sanctioned leadership—the ability to influence that arises outside the formal structure of the organization—is often as important or more important than formal influence. In other words, leaders can emerge from within a group as well as by formal appointment92.

Similarly, Koontz and O’Donnell (1976), describes leadership as “influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group goals”93

Trait Theory

Trait theories of leadership thus focus on personal qualities and characteristics. The search for personality, social, physical, or intellectual attributes that differentiate leaders from non-leaders goes back to the earliest stages of leadership research.94

The trait approach does have something to offer. Leaders who like being around people and are able to assert themselves (extraverted), who are disciplined and able to keep commitments they make (conscientious), and who are creative and flexible (open) do have an apparent advantage when it comes to leadership, suggesting good leaders do have key traits in common. One reason is that conscientiousness and extraversion are positively related to leaders’ self-

92 Ibid 368.93 Koontz, H. and C. O’Donnell. “Management: A System of Contingency Analysis of Managerial Functions”. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1976. 94 Ibid 369


efficacy, which explained most of the variance in subordinates’ ratings of leader performance. People are more likely to follow someone who is confident she’s going in the right direction.95

Behavioral Theory

The most comprehensive theories resulted from the Ohio State Studies in the late 1940s, which sought to identify independent dimensions of leader behavior. Beginning with more than a thousand dimensions, the studies narrowed the list to two that substantially accounted for most of the leadership behavior described by employees: initiating structure and consideration.

Initiating structure is the extent to which a leader is likely to define and structure his or her role and those of employees in the search for goal attainment. It includes behavior that attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals. A leader high in initiating structure is someone who “assigns group members to particular tasks,” “expects workers to maintain definite standards of performance,” and “emphasizes the meeting of deadlines.”

Consideration is the extent to which a person’s job relationships are characterized by mutual trust, respect for employees’ ideas, and regard for their feelings. A leader high in consideration helps employees with personal problems, is friendly and approachable, treats all employees as equals, and expresses appreciation and support. In a recent survey, when asked to indicate what most motivated them at work, 66 percent of employees mentioned appreciation.96

Contingency Theory

The first comprehensive contingency model for leadership was developed by Fred Fiedler, who proposed that effective group performance depends upon the proper match between the leader’s style and the degree to which the situation gives control to the leader. Fiedler believed that a key factor in leadership success is the individual’s basic leadership style. He created the least preferred coworker (LPC) questionnaire. It purports to measure whether a person is task- or relationship-oriented.

Fiedler believes that based on the respondents’ answers to this questionnaire, he can determine their basic leadership style. If the least preferred coworker is described in relatively positive terms (a high LPC score), the respondent is primarily interested in good personal relations with this coworker. If the least preferred coworker is seen in relatively unfavorable terms (a low LPC score), the respondent is primarily interested in productivity and thus would be labeled task-oriented. Fiedler assumes that an individual’s leadership style is fixed.97

95 Ibid 37096 Ibid 37197 Ibid 373


Situational Leadership

Situational leadership is a contingency theory that focuses on the followers. Successful leadership is achieved by selecting the right leadership style, which is contingent on the level of the followers’ readiness.

The term readiness refers to “the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task.” A leader should choose one of four behaviors depending on follower readiness. If followers are unable and unwilling to do a task, the leader needs to give clear and specific directions. If they are unable and willing, the leader needs to display high task orientation to compensate for followers’ lack of ability and high relationship orientation to get them to “buy into” the leader’s desires. If followers are able and unwilling, the leader needs to use a supportive and participative style. If they are both able and willing, the leader doesn’t need to do much.98

Path Goal Theory

Path-Goal Theory is one of the most respected approaches to leadership is the path-goal theory developed by Robert House. It is a contingency model of leadership that extracts key elements from the Ohio State leadership research on initiating structure and consideration and the expectancy theory of motivation. It is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide the necessary direction and/or support to ensure that their goals are compatible with the overall objectives of the firm. The term path-goal is derived from the belief that effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve their work goals.

According to path-goal theory, whether a leader should be directive or supportive or should demonstrate some other behavior depends on complex analysis of the situation. It predicts the following.

Directive leadership yields greater satisfaction when tasks are ambiguous or stressful than when they are highly structured and well laid out.

Supportive leadership results in high performance and satisfaction when employees are performing structured tasks. Directive leadership is likely to be perceived as redundant among employees with high ability or considerable experience.99

Robbins, S (2005) stated that Path-goal theory identifies four leadership behaviours that might be used in different situations to motivate individuals:

• The directive leader lets followers know what is expected of them, schedules work to be done, and gives specific guidance as to how to accomplish tasks. This closely parallels the Ohio State dimension of initiating structure. This behaviour is best used when individuals have difficulty

98 Ibid 37699 ibid


doing tasks or the tasks are ambiguous. It would not be very helpful when used with individuals, who are already highly motivated, have the skills and abilities to do the task, and understand the requirements of the task.

• The supportive leader is friendly and shows concern for the needs of followers. This is essentially synonymous with the Ohio State dimension of consideration. This behaviour is often recommended when individuals are under stress or otherwise show that they need to be supported.

• The participative leader consults with followers and uses their suggestions before making a decision. This behaviour is most appropriate when individuals need to buy in to decisions.

• The achievement-oriented leader sets challenging goals and expects followers to perform at their highest level. This behaviour works well with individuals who like challenges and are highly motivated. It would be less effective with less capable individuals or those who are highly stressed from overwork.100

Learning Outcome 8.2Identify and implement the different types of managerial leadership styles in organizations and assess their effectiveness

Charismatic Leadership Theory was proposed by Robert House. Followers make attributes of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain behaviors. General characteristics are:

they have vision, they are willing to take personal risk, they are sensitive to followers’ needs and, they exhibit extraordinary behaviors.101

A question always arises: Are Charismatic Leaders Born or Made? Individuals are born with traits that make them charismatic. Most experts believe individuals can be trained to exhibit charismatic behavior. A three-step process is suggested.

First, an individual needs to develop the aura of charisma by maintaining an optimistic view; using passion as a catalyst for generating enthusiasm; and communicating with the whole body, not just with words.

Second, an individual draws others in by creating a bond that inspires others to follow.

Third, the individual brings out the potential in followers by tapping into their emotions. This approach seems to work as evidenced by researchers who have succeeded in actually scripting undergraduate business students to “play” charismatic leaders. Moreover, followers of these

100 Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International Retrieved on 20th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html101 Ibid 380


leaders had higher task performance, task adjustment, and adjustment to the leader and to the group than did followers who worked under groups led by non-charismatic leaders.102

The Dark Side of Charismatic Leadership is evident. These leaders don’t necessarily act in the best interest of their companies. Many have allowed their personal goals to override the goals of the organization. For example, the results at companies such as Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, and HealthSouth were leaders who recklessly used organizational resources for their personal benefit and executives who violated laws and ethical boundaries to inflate stock prices and allow leaders to cash in millions of dollars in stock options.

It’s little wonder research has shown that individuals who are narcissistic are also higher in some behaviors associated with charismatic leadership. It’s not that charismatic leadership isn’t effective; overall, it is. But a charismatic leader isn’t always the answer. Success depends, to some extent, on the situation and on the leader’s vision. Some charismatic leaders—Hitler, for example—are all too successful at convincing their followers to pursue a vision that can be disastrous.103

Differentiation Between transformational and transactional leaders

The exhibit below depicts the characteristics of transactional and transformational Leaders


102 ibid103 Ibid 381


A stream of research has focuses on differentiating transformational and transactional leaders. The Ohio State studies, Fiedler’s model, path-goal theory, and the leader participation model—have concerned transactional leaders. These kinds of leaders guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task requirements.

Transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization. They change followers’ awareness of issues by helping them to look at old problems in new ways; and they are able to excite, arouse, and inspire followers to put out extra effort to achieve group goals. Transformational leadership is built on top of transactional leadership—it produces levels of follower effort and performance that go beyond what would occur with a transactional approach alone.

Transactional and transformational leadership complement each other; they aren’t opposing approaches to getting things done. The best leaders are transactional and transformational.104

Transformational leaders are more effective because they are more creative, but also because they encourage those who follow them to be creative, too. Companies with transformational leaders have greater decentralization of responsibility, managers have more propensities to take risks, and compensation plans are geared toward long-term results—all of which facilitate corporate entrepreneurship. Transformational leaders are able to increase follower self-efficacy, giving the group a “can do” spirit.105


104 Ibid 382105 Ibid 383


Learning Outcome 8.3Explain how effective managerial leadership intervention can prevent organizational conflicts

Role of Team Leaders Robbins (2005) identified certain common responsibilities that all leaders had to assume. These included coaching, facilitating, handling disciplinary problems, reviewing team/individual performance, training, and communicating.

Four specific roles that team leaders play are as follows:

Liaisons with outsidersOutsiders include upper management, other internal teams, customers, and suppliers. The leader represents the team to other constituencies, secures needed resources, clarifies others’ expectations of the team, gathers information from the outside, and shares this information with team members.

Troubleshooters When the team has problems and asks for assistance, team leaders sit in on meetings and try to help resolve the problems. This rarely relates to technical or operational issues because the team members typically know more about the tasks being done than does the team leader. The leader contributes by asking penetrating questions, by helping the team discuss problems, and by getting needed resources from external constituencies.

For instance, when a team in an aerospace firm found itself short-handed, its team leader took responsibility for getting more staff. He presented the team’s case to upper management and got the approval through the company’s human resource department.

Conflict managersWhen disagreements surface, team leaders help process the conflict. What is the source of the conflict? Who is involved? What are the issues? What resolution options are available? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? By getting team members to address questions such as these, the leader minimizes the disruptive aspects of intra team conflicts.

Coaches They clarify expectations and roles, teach, offer support, cheerlead, and do whatever else is necessary to help team members improve their work performance.106

106 Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International page 276 Retrieved on 19th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html


Learning Outcome 8.4 Discuss the approaches and process of managing conflicts in organizations

Conflict Management StrategiesConflict researchers often use dual concern theory to describe people’s conflict management strategies. Dual concern theory considers how one’s degree of cooperativeness (the degree to which one tries to satisfy the other person’s concerns) and assertiveness (the degree to which one tries to satisfy one’s own concerns) determine how a conflict is handled.

The five conflict-handling strategies identified by the theory are as follows:

Forcing -imposing one’s will on the other party Problem solving - trying to reach an agreement that satisfies both one’s own and the

other party’s aspirations as much as possible Avoiding - Ignoring or minimizing the importance of the issues creating the conflict. Yielding - Accepting and incorporating the will of the other party. Compromising - Balancing concern for oneself with concern for the other party in order

to reach a solution.

Forcing is a win-lose solution, as is yielding, while problem solving seeks a win-win solution. Avoiding conflict and pretending it does not exist, and compromising, so that neither person gets what they want, can yield lose-lose solutions.

In addition, some situations call for particular strategies. For instance, when a small child insists on trying to run into the street, a parent may need a forcing strategy to restrain the child. Co-workers who are having a conflict over setting deadlines to complete a project on time may decide that problem solving is the best strategy to use. 107

Robbins (2015) further states that when parties are potentially in conflict, they may choose to negotiate a resolution. Negotiation occurs in the interactions of almost everyone in groups and organisations: Labor bargains with management; managers negotiate with employees, peers and senior management; salesperson negotiates with customers and purchasing agent negotiates with suppliers.

Robbins (2015) defines negotiation as a process in which two or more parties try to agree on the exchange rate for goods and services they are trading. 108

107 Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International page 202 Retrieved on 19th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html108 Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International page 205 Retrieved on 19th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html


Exhibit 6-6 given below illustrates five strategies, along with specific actions that one might take when using them. Choosing a particular strategy for resolving conflict depends on a variety of factors. Research shows that while people may choose among the strategies, they have an underlying disposition to handle conflicts in certain ways. 109

Source: Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9 th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International page 202 Retrieved on 19 th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational- behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html

109 Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International page 202 Retrieved on 19th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html


Tutorial 8

1. What is leadership? How is it different from management?2. What is the role played by traits in predicting leadership behaviors?3. Identify and explain the two dimensions of leadership described in the Ohio State

studies. 4. According to the Fiedler model of leadership, how can leader effectiveness be

improved?5. Describe the path-goal theory of leadership.6. What are the key characteristics of charismatic leaders?7. Compare and contrast charismatic leadership from the understanding of leadership

under the attribution theory.

References

1. CliffsNotes.com n.d., Situational Approaches to Leadership, viewed 20 March 012,<http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-8944,articleId-8913.html


3. Robbins, S (2005) Organizational Behaviour, 9th Ed Sam Diego State University, prentice Hall International Retrieved on 19th March from https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html



6. Koontz, H. and C. O’Donnell. “Management: A System of Contingency Analysis of Managerial Functions”. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1976.


https://www.pdfdrive.com/organizational-behavior-stephen-robbins-e18717987.html

Topic 9: Conflict and NegotiationLecture Notes Week 10

Learning OutcomesThe student should be able to discuss the different approaches/techniques in resolving conflicts in the workplace.PERFORMANCE CRITERIA9.1 Examine the causes of conflict in the workplace.9.2 Identify and explain the different types of conflicts, individuals, groups, organizations.9.3 Identify how conflicts can be resolved in the workplace.9.4 Explain the different approaches and processes in resolving a conflict.9.5 Examine the essential skills for building a positive and productive culture.

Learning Outcome 9.1Examine the causes of conflict in the workplace

There are several common themes which underlie most definitions of conflict. First, the parties involved must perceive conflict is present. Commonalties in the definitions are opposition or incompatibility and some form of interaction.

Robins and Judge (2013) define conflict as “a process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affects, something that the first party cares about.” This describes that point when an interaction “crosses over” to become an inter-party conflict. It encompasses the wide range of conflicts that people experience in organizations110.

Conflict can be experienced in an organization through many different avenues. It can be that the goals of the individuals are incompatible or there is a difference in opinion over the interpretation of facts. Many conflicts also arise through disagreements about how people should behave111.

Learning Outcome 9.2Identify and explain the different types of conflicts, individuals, groups, organizations

The interactionist view of conflict encourages conflict on the grounds that a harmonious, peaceful, tranquil, and cooperative group is prone to becoming static, apathetic, and unresponsive to needs for change and innovation. Not all conflicts are good. Functional, constructive forms of conflict support the goals of the group and improve its performance. Conflicts that hinder group performance are dysfunctional or destructive forms of conflict.112

What differentiates functional from dysfunctional conflict? You need to look at the type of conflict. Task conflict relates to the content and goals of the work. Relationship conflict focuses on interpersonal relationships. Studies demonstrate that relationship conflicts are almost always dysfunctional. It appears that the friction and interpersonal hostilities inherent in relationship conflicts increase personality clashes and decrease mutual understanding, which

110 ibid 446111 ibid 112 Ibid 447


hinders the completion of organizational tasks. Process conflict relates to how the work gets done. Low levels of process conflict and low to moderate levels of task conflict can be functional, but only in very specific cases. For process conflict to be productive, it must be kept low. Intense arguments create uncertainty.113

Learning Outcome 9.3Identify how conflicts can be resolved in the workplace

Researchers, including those who had strongly advocated the interactionist view, have begun to recognize some problems with encouraging conflict. There are some very specific cases in which conflict can be beneficial. However, workplace conflicts are not productive, they take time away from job tasks or interacting with customers, and hurt feelings and anger often linger after conflicts appear to be over. People seldom can wall off their feelings into neat categories of “task” or “relationship” disagreements, so task conflicts sometimes escalate into relationship conflicts.

Conflicts produce stress, which may lead people to become more close-minded and adversarial. Studies of conflict in laboratories also fail to take account of the reductions in trust and cooperation that occur even with relationship conflicts. Longer-term studies show that all conflicts reduce trust, respect, and cohesion in groups, which reduces their long-term viability.

In light of these findings, researchers have started to focus more on managing the whole context in which conflicts occur, both before and after the behavioral stage of conflict occurs. A growing body of research suggests we can minimize the negative effects of conflict by focusing on preparing people for conflicts, developing resolution strategies, and facilitating open discussion.114


113 Ibid 448114 Ibid 449


In Stage I of the Conflict Process potential oppositionIn Stage I of the Conflict Process potential opposition or incompatibility (See Exhibit 14-1) is present. Communication as a source of conflict represents those opposing forces that arise from semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and “noise” in the communication channels. Differing word connotations, jargon, insufficient exchange of information, and noise in the communication channel are all barriers to communication and potential antecedents to conflict. 115

In Stage II we see Cognition and Personalization characteristicsAntecedent conditions lead to conflict only when the parties are affected by and aware of it. Conflict is personalized when it is felt and when individuals become emotionally involved. This stage is where conflict issues tend to be defined and this definition delineates the possible settlements. Second, emotions play a major role in shaping perceptions. Negative emotions produce oversimplification of issues, reductions in trust, and negative interpretations of the other party’s behavior. Positive feelings increase the tendency to see potential relationships among the elements of a problem, to take a broader view of the situation, and to develop more innovative solutions.116

In Stage III IntentionsIntentions are decisions to act in a given way. Why are intentions separated out as a distinct stage? Merely one party attributing the wrong intentions to the other escalates a lot of conflicts.

Conflicts handling intentions are as follows:

Competing : When one person seeks to satisfy his or her own interests, regardless of the impact on the other parties to the conflict, that person is competing.

Collaborating : In collaborating, the intention of the parties is to solve the problem by clarifying differences rather than by accommodating various points of view.

Avoiding : In avoiding, a person may recognize that a conflict exists and want to withdraw from it or suppress it.

Accommodating : A party who seeks to appease an opponent may be willing to place the opponent's interests above his or her own, sacrificing to maintain the relationship. We refer to this intention as accommodating.

Compromising : In compromising, there is no clear winner or loser. Rather, there is a willingness to ration the object of the conflict and accept a solution that provides incomplete satisfaction of both parties' concerns. 117

115 Ibid 450116 Ibid 452117 Ibid 453


Stage IV is where conflicts become visible The behavior stage includes the statements, actions, and reactions made by the conflicting parties. These conflict behaviors are usually overt attempts to implement each party’s intentions. At the lower part of the continuum, conflicts are characterized by subtle, indirect, and highly controlled forms of tension. Conflict intensities escalate as they move upward along the continuum until they become highly destructive. If a conflict is dysfunctional, what can the parties do to de-escalate it? Or, conversely, what options exist if conflict is too low and needs to be increased?118

Stage V OutcomesOutcomes may be functional, that is, improving group performance, or dysfunctional in hindering it. The Functional Outcomes include the following. Conflict is constructive when it improves the quality of decisions, when it stimulates creativity and innovation, when it encourages interest and curiosity, when it provides the medium through which problems can be aired and tensions released, and when it fosters an environment of self-evaluation and change.119

Learning Outcome 9.4Explain the different approaches and processes in resolving a conflictOrganisations today are often utilizing third party negotiators to work through conflicts. They may use a mediator who is a neutral third party helping to facilitate a negotiated solution by using reason, persuasion, and suggestions for alternatives. They may use an arbitrator who helps to negotiate solutions but has the authority to dictate an agreement. A conciliator may also be brought in who is a trusted third party who provides informal communication between the parties. Or a consultant may be utilized as a skilled conflict manager who will attempt to facilitate creative problem solving through communication and analysis.

Managing Functional Conflict isn’t easy. But, If managers recognize that in some situations conflict can be beneficial, what can they do to manage conflict effectively in their organizations? One of the keys to minimizing counterproductive conflicts is recognizing when there really is a disagreement. Many apparent conflicts are due to people using different language to discuss the same general course of action. For example, someone in marketing might focus on "distribution problems,” while someone from operations will talk about “supply chain management” to describe essentially the same issue. Successful conflict management recognizes these different approaches and attempts to resolve them by encouraging open, frank discussion focused on interests rather than issues (we’ll have more to say about this when we contrast distributive and integrative bargaining styles). 120

118 Ibid 454119 Ibid 455120 Ibid 457


According to Robbins and Judge (2013), negotiation is a “process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree upon the exchange rate for them.” We use the terms negotiation and bargaining interchangeably. Although we commonly think of the outcomes of negotiation in one-shot economic terms, every negotiation in organizations also affects the relationship between the negotiators and the way the negotiators feel about themselves.

Depending on how much the parties are going to interact with one another, sometimes maintaining the social relationship and behaving ethically will be just as important as achieving an immediate outcome of bargaining. Note that we use the terms negotiation and bargaining interchangeably.121

An example of distributive bargaining is buying a car: You go out to see the car. It is great and you want it. The owner tells you the asking price. You do not want to pay that much. The two of you then negotiate over the price. Its most identifying feature is that it operates under zero-sum conditions. The essence of distributive bargaining is negotiating over who gets what share of a fixed pie. (See Exhibit 14-6) By fixed pie, we mean a set amount of goods or services to be divvied up. When the pie is fixed, or the parties believe it is, they tend to bargain distributively.122

Exhibit below differentiates Distributive and integrative Bargaining.


121 Ibid 458122 Ibid 459


TUTORIAL 9

1. Define conflict or provide the characterizations of conflict.

2. List and explain the causes of conflict in organizations or workplaces.

3. Enlighten the aim of conflict management.

4. Describe the transitions in conflict thought that is, from the traditional view of conflict to the current

view or temporary view of conflict.

5. There are two forms of interactionist conflict. Define each, and provide examples.

6. Conflict follows through a series process. Explain the conflict process studied in class.

7. Conflicts can be resolved effectively by managers. State and describe any best ten conflict resolution

techniques to be carried out by mangers.

8. Differentiate between negotiation and bargaining. Describe the two general approaches to

bargaining.

9. Negotiation goes through a process until the two parties come to an agreement. Describe the

negotiation process.

References





5. Robbins, S.P. & Boyle, M. (2011), Organizational Behaviour, (6th Ed). Australia: Pearson 6. Lussier, R.N. & Poulos, M. (2001), Organizational Behavior, Singapore: McGraw Hill


Topic 10: The Foundations of Organization Structure


Learning OutcomeThe student should be able to appreciate the different forms of organizational structures and their importance in the workplace.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:10.1 Explain what an organizational structure is.10.2 Explain why organizations are divided into departments10.3 Explain departmentalization and its significance in the organization.10.4 Assess the usefulness and problems of a matrix organization structure.10.5 Identify the pros and cons of various methods of departmentalization

Learning Outcome 10.1 Explain what an organizational structure isAn organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated. The framework is typically hierarchical, within which an organization arranges its lines of authority and communications, and allocates rights and duties.123

Learning Outcome 10.2 Explain why organizations are divided into departmentsOrganizational structure determines the manner and extent to which roles, power, and responsibilities are delegated, controlled, and coordinated, and how information flows between levels of management.

Learning Outcome 10.3Explain departmentalization and its significance in the organization

Departmentalization defines how jobs are grouped together so common tasks can be coordinated. There are a number of options to choose from when grouping jobs – you could organize around function, product, location, process, or customer. When jobs are grouped, departments are formed.

One of the most popular ways to group activities is by functions performed.

By Functions PerformedFor example, a manufacturing manager might organize his/her plant by separating engineering, accounting, manufacturing, personnel, and purchasing specialists into common departments. The advantage to this type of grouping is obtaining efficiencies from putting like specialists together. 124

By products or Service an organisations ProducersTasks can also be departmentalized by the type of product or service the organization produces. Procter & Gamble recently reorganized along these lines. Each major product—such as Tide, Pampers, Charmin, and Pringles—will be placed under the authority of an executive who will have complete global

123 Ibid 480124 Ibid 482


responsibility for that product. The major advantage to this type of grouping is increased accountability for product performance under a single manager.125

By Geography or Territory Another way to departmentalize is on the basis of geography or territory. The sales function, for instance, may have western, southern, mid-western, and eastern regions.

By ProcessesProcess departmentalization can be used for processing customers as well as products. For example, at the state motor vehicles office you might find: Validation by motor vehicles division, Processing by the licensing department and Payment collection by the treasury department.

By CustomerA final category of departmentalization is by type of customer. Microsoft, for instance, recently reorganized around four customer markets: consumers, large corporations, software developers, and small businesses. he assumption is that customers in each department have a common set of problems and needs that can best be met by having specialists for each.126

Learning Outcome 10.4Assess the usefulness and problems of a matrix organization structure.

The Matrix Structure is used in advertising agencies, aerospace firms, research and development laboratories, construction companies, hospitals, government agencies, universities, management consulting firms, and entertainment companies. It combines two forms of departmentalization—functional and product.

The strength of functional departmentalization is putting like specialists together and the pooling and sharing of specialized resources across products. Its major disadvantage is the difficulty of coordinating the tasks. Product departmentalization facilitates coordination. It provides clear responsibility for all activities related to a product, but with duplication of activities and costs. 127

Tutorial 10

1. Describe the five common ways of departmentalization. Give an example of each.

2. Explain the concept of chain of command.

3. Why is span of control important within an organization, and which common organizational design would most likely have the widest span of control? Explain your answer.

4. Compare and contrast centralized and decentralized organizations.

5. Describe the simple structure. Discuss its advantages and disadvantages.

125 Ibid 482126 Ibid 483127 Ibid 488.


6. Describe the various characteristics of bureaucracy.

7. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a matrix structure.

8. Compare and contrast the three common organizational designs: simple structure, bureaucracy, and matrix structure.

References






Topic 11: Organization Culture and Change


Learning outcome:The student should be able to examine organizational culture and change as contributors to organizational success and sustainability.

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA:11.1 Define change and elements of a change process.11.2 Explain leadership theories when designing and implementing change programs.11.3 Identify and explain factors that lead to organizational change.11.4 Apply theories of change management in introducing and managing change program in an

organization.11.5 Discuss the role of managerial leadership in a change program.

Learning Outcome 11.1Define change and elements of a change process.

There are many things that force change in an organization such as the nature of the workforce, technology, competition, economic forces, social trends, and world politics. Every organization goes through periods of transformation that can cause stress and uncertainty.

To be successful, organizations must embrace many types of change. Businesses must develop improved production technologies, create new products desired in the marketplace, implement new administrative systems, and upgrade employees' skills.

Organizations that adapt successfully are both profitable and admired

Nature of the Workforce Greater diversity

Technology Faster, cheaper, more mobile

Economic Shocks Global financial crisis

Competition Global marketplace

Social Trends Baby boomer retirements

Changes can create new opportunities, but are often met with criticism from resistant individuals within the group.128

Whenever change is present, there is resistance to change. Individuals and groups become comfortable with things that are familiar, and change threatens the status quo. There are different ways that change

128 Ibid 579


is resisted by employees. It can be overt and immediate where complaints are voiced and people will fail to engage in job actions or perform negative actions that hinder productivity. It can also be implicit and deferred when employees lose their loyalty and their motivation. As the resistance is deferred, it becomes more difficult to find the link between the source and the reaction.129

Learning Outcome 11.2Explain leadership theories when designing and implementing change programs.

Overcoming Resistance to ChangeEight tactics can help change agents deal with resistance to Change

Education and CommunicationCommunicating the logic of a change can reduce employee resistance on two levels. First it fights the effects of misinformation and poor communication: if employees receive the full facts and clear up misunderstanding, resistance should subside. Second communication can help “sell” the need for change by packaging it properly.

Building Support and CommitmentWhen employee’s fear and anxiety are high, counseling and therapy, new skills training, or a short paid leave of absence may facilitate adjustment.

Develop Positive RelationshipsPeople are more willing to accept changes if they trust the managers implementing them.

Implementing Changes FairlyOne way organisations can minimize negative impact is to make sure the change is implemented fairly. Procedural fairness is especially important when employees perceive an outcome as negative, so its crucial that employees see the reason for the change and perceive its implementation as consistent and fair. 130

Learning Outcome 11.3Identify and explain factors that lead to organizational change.Organizational Development (OD)

A collection of planned interventions, built on humanistic-democratic values that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being. OD Values includes respect for people, trust and support, power equalization, confrontation and participation

There are six commonly used organizational development techniques. The first is sensitivity training that sets up groups that seek to change behaviour through unstructured group interaction by providing an environment of increased awareness of others and of themselves. This increases their empathy, listening skills, openness, and tolerance for others.

The second technique is the survey feedback approach where the organisations will use a questionnaire to identify discrepancies among member perceptions and then follow up with discussions and plans for 129 Ibid 581130 Ibid 583


improvement. Process consultation is the third technique. In this technique there is a consultant involved who gives the clients some insights into what is happening in the organisations and helps to identify a process for improvement.131

Learning Outcome 11.3Apply theories of change management in introducing and managing change program in an organization

Here, it is considered how an organization adapts to change. A proactive approach is how organisations can embrace change by transforming their culture. There are two approaches: stimulating an innovative culture and creating a learning organization.132

Simulating Culture for ChangeHow can organisations be more innovative? Robbins states that change refers to making things different. Innovation is new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process or service. Innovations can range from small incremental improvements such as netbook computers, to radical breakthroughs such as Nissan’s electric Leaf Car.

Sources of Innovation Structural variables have been the most studied potential source of innovation. A comprehensive review of the structure–innovation relationship leads to the following conclusions:

1. Organic structures positively influence innovation. Because they’re lower in vertical differentiation, formalization, and centralization, organic organizations facilitate the flexibility, adaptation, and cross-fertilization that make the adoption of innovations easier.2. Long tenure in management is associated with innovation. Managerial tenure apparently provides legitimacy and knowledge of how to accomplish tasks and obtain desired outcomes.3. Innovation is nurtured when there are slack resources. Having an abundance of resources allows an organization to afford to purchase innovations, bear the cost of instituting them, and absorb failures.133

Innovative organizations tend to have similar cultures. They encourage experimentation.They reward both successes and failures. They celebrate mistakes. Unfortunately, in too many organizations, people are rewarded for the absence of failures rather than for the presence of successes. Such cultures extinguish risk taking and innovation. People will suggest and try new ideas only when they feel such behaviors exact no penalties. Managers in innovative organizations recognize that failures are a natural by-product of venturing into the unknown.134

Creating a Learning Organization

131 Ibid 588132 Ibid 592133 Ibid 592134 Ibid 593


A learning organization has developed the continuous capacity to adapt and change. “All organizations learn, whether they consciously choose to or not—it is a fundamental requirement for their sustained existence.” Some organizations just do it better than others.135

Exhibit 18-6 illustrates characteristics of a Learning Organization


Learning Outcome 11.5 Discuss the role of managerial leadership in a change program

Managers can deal with change using the strategies given below:

Education and Communication Communicating the logic of a change can reduce employee resistance on two levels. First, it fights the effects of misinformation and poor communication: if employees receive the full facts and clear up misunderstandings, resistance should subside. Second, communication can help “sell” the need for change by packaging it properly.136

Participation

135 Ibid 594136 Ibid 582


It’s difficult to resist a change decision in which we’ve participated. Assuming participants have the expertise to make a meaningful contribution; their involvement can reduce resistance, obtain commitment, and increase the quality of the change decision.

Building Support and Commitment When employees’ fear and anxiety are high, counseling and therapy, new-skills training, or a short paid leave of absence may facilitate adjustment. When managers or employees have low emotional commitment to change, they favor the status quo and resist it. Employees are also more accepting of changes when they are committed to the organization as a whole.

Develop Positive Relationships People are more willing to accept changes if they trust the managers implementing them. One study surveyed 235 employees from a large housing corporation in the Netherlands that was experiencing a merger. Those who had a more positive relationship with their supervisors, and who felt that the work environment supported development, were much more positive about the change process.

Implementing Changes Fairly One way organizations can minimize negative impact is to make sure change is implemented fairly.

Manipulation and Cooptation Manipulation refers to covert influence attempts. Twisting facts to make them more attractive, withholding information, and creating false rumors to get employees to accept change are all examples of manipulation. If management threatens to close a manufacturing plant whose employees are resisting an across-the-board pay cut, and if the threat is actually untrue, management is using manipulation. Cooptation, on the other hand, combines manipulation and participation. It seeks to “buy off” the leaders of a resistance group by giving them a key role, seeking their advice not to find a better solution but to get their endorsement. Both manipulation and cooptation are relatively inexpensive ways to gain the support of adversaries, but they can backfire if the targets become aware they are being tricked or used.137

137 Ibid 583


TUTORIAL 11

1. Describe the factors that lead to changes and development in organizations.

2. Explain why employees resist changes in organization.

3. Describe the strategies of overcoming resistance organizational change.

4. Define organizational development and describe six techniques for organizational development.

5. How would a leader create a culture for change in an organization?

References

1. Daft, R.L (2010), Management, (9th Ed).South Western, Cen gage Learning retrieved from http://www.bms.lk/download/GDM_Tutorials/e-books/Management.pdf

2. Dorian LaGuardia, “Organizational Culture,” T+D 62, no. 3 (March 2008): 56-61. Retrieved on 27 February 2017 from https://www.capmembers.com/media/cms/Chapter_15_Web_A46143E86597C.pdf





7. Robbins, S.P. & Boyle, M. (2011), Organizational Behaviour, (6th Ed). Australia: Pearson 8. Lussier, R.N. & Poulos, M. (2001), Organizational Behavior, Singapore: McGraw Hill


College of Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies

Department of Management, IR and OHSMGT701 ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS AND BEHAVIOUR

Final Examination: Trimester II, 2016QUESTION PAPER

_________________________________________________________________________

This examination constitutes 40% of total assessment of this unit and students must score 40/100 in this examination in order to pass this unit

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Time Allowed: 3 HOURS with additional 10 MINUTES reading time.

2. All answers are to be written in the Answer Booklet provided.

3. Write your ID Number on ALL pages of your Answer Booklet and any extra sheets that you use.

4. This is a closed book examination. You are not permitted to access any books, notes or other

forms of written or electronic materials.

5. Attach the extra sheets securely at appropriate place before handing in the Answer Booklet to

the supervisor.

Sections Question Marks

Section A: Short Answers 6 Questions. All compulsory 40

Section B: Case Study 4 Questions. All compulsory 30

Section C: Essay Question 3 questions and attempt only TWO questions

30

Total/Weight 100/ 40%


SECTION A SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS 40 MARKS

There are six questions in this section. All questions are compulsory.

Question 1

Good communication is crucial to achieve organizational goals for any organization.

a) Illustrate the communication process and list and explain the key parts of a communication process. 4 marks

b) Identify and critically discuss three barriers to effective communication and provide examples of each communication barrier. 6 marks

Question 2

Often researchers and practitioners do not distinguish between leadership and management. However, there are some key differences and understanding these differences can be helpful for organizational improvement.

a) Differentiate between Leadership and Management with appropriate examples.4

marks

b) Differentiate between autocratic and bureaucratic style of leadership with examples. 4 marks

Question 3

Over the years, trust has been found to be a foundational characteristic of leadership. If you wish to become a good and effective leader, discuss how you can develop trust with your followers or the people that you lead. 5 marks

Question 4

Conflict can be experienced in an organization through many different avenues.

a) Identify and critically explain two forms of interactionist conflict with examples.4 marks

b) As an effective leader identify and explain two techniques that you would adopt to resolve conflicts at workplace. 4 marks


Question 5

Negotiation is a problem-solving process in which two or more people voluntarily discuss their

differences and attempt to reach a joint decision on their common concerns. Articulate the two general

approaches of negotiation. 5 marks

Question 6

Bureaucracy is a common organizational design. Critically analyze four characteristics of Bureaucratic

administration. 4 marks

SECTION B CAS E S TU D Y QUESTIONS 30 MARKS

Vodafone has one of the world’s largest mobile communications networks, with 83,900 employees serving over 370 million customers across more than 30 countries. With 2,200 retail stores and a further 10,300 branded franchises throughout the world. Vodafone products include messaging services for businesses and consumers, smartphones, mobile handsets and tablets. Its current strategy is aimed at increasing the ‘average revenue per user’ through offering more and more added value mobile services.

Detlef Schultz, winner of the 2011 Procurement Leader Award, was brought in to be the Global Supply Chain Management Director and chief executive officer of the Vodafone Procurement Company. His role was to not only manage the complexity of the procurement and supply chains for both goods and services but also fundamentally transform several fragmented supply chains into a single global function.

The Vodafone Procurement Company was set up in 2008 with its headquarters based in Luxembourg. Through ‘lean’ procurement techniques it was expected to achieve efficiencies and substantial savings on products such as handsets, network equipment, marketing and IT services.

Detlef Schultz, who joined Vodafone in March 2003, has 26 years’ experience in supply chain management. He has also appreciated diversity in his teams and knows how important communication, information sharing and empowerment are to success. When Schultz joined staffs were uncertain of the impact he would have, the changes that would be made and whether their jobs would be secure.

To bring about the transformational change required, Schultz used an inclusive process, which involved holding workshops with procurement and supply chain staff as well as consulting with key internal stakeholders across the organisation. He used his natural influence, persuasion and well-developed communication skills to gain consensus and buy-in for his plans across the whole procurement and supply chain.


Schultz and his team’s efforts resulted in Vodafone taking full advantage of its global scale and achieving ‘world-class’ savings and efficiencies across its business operations. Other benefits include a significant improvement in Vodafone’s working capital position, technology standardisation and policy development for global travel and labour.

One of the key drivers behind these successes has been Schultz’s interpersonal skills. The 2011 Procurement Leader award submission referred to Schultz’s ’inclusive and inspirational leadership style‘ and how it had been one of the critical success factors of the projects he led.

However, in accepting the award, Schultz said ’I’m very proud; this is a great recognition for the achievements of the entire Vodafone SCM team. At Vodafone we aim to be ambitious and competitive and getting this kind of recognition is a great motivator. This was deserved praise for a hard-working, committed and enthusiastic team he had built up from a small group of 30 to a team of 170 (from 24 countries), based at head office and localised procurement sites.

Source: Procurement Leaders Magazine, Issue 33 July/August 2011

The information included within the case study is based on real life organisations and people. However the details are for assessment purposes only and do not necessarily reflect the respective positions of the organisations or individuals concerned.

Questions

1. With reference to the above case study, identify and evaluate three appropriate leadership styles that Schultz would have adopted when transforming Vodafone’s global supply chain function. Clearly state an advantage of each of style.

9 marks2. Examine and analyze three key theories under the contingency theories of leadership

that Schultz could have adopted to engage effectively with key business stakeholders at Vodafone.

9 marks

3. Propose and evaluate two effective change management methods that Schultz could have used to ensure the supply chain transformational project to overcome any barriers to be a success.

6 marks4. Leaders of large organizations struggle to identify the best level and types of

centralization and decentralization. Critically discuss what Schultz should consider when determining the degree of decentralization.

6marks


SECTION C ESSAYS 30 MARKS

There are three questions in this section. Attempt any TWO questions from the three given below.

Each essay question is worth 15 marks.

Question 1

Organizational cultures are created, maintained, or transformed by people. Many organizations attempt

to create a culture for change through encouraging innovation. Critically evaluate the strategies a leader

would adopt to create a culture for change and innovation in an organization and provide examples.

15 marks

Question 2

An organizational structure is the pattern or arrangement of jobs and groups of jobs within an organization. It determines the manner and extent to which roles, power, and responsibilities are delegated, controlled, and coordinated, and how information flows between levels of management.

a. Identify and critically discuss six key elements that constitute an organization structure. 12 marks

b. Critically analyze three reasons why organization structures differ from one organization and to the other and provide examples. 3 marks

QUESTION 3

Workplace conflict may occur when people's ideas, decisions or actions relating directly to the job are in opposition, or when two people just don't get along. It may be productive if it leads to positive change, but can also be stressful and unpleasant.

(a) Identify and evaluate seven causes of conflict at workplaces. 7 marks

(b) Illustrate the conflict process model and analyze each stage of the process.8

marks

THE END

Documents

3 PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION, and ATTRIBUTION · Web viewRobbins & Judge (2013) argues that some variables do moderate the relationship between attitude and behavior. These factors include