UNIT - I
UNDERSTANDING OF HUMAN NATURE
Individuals differ in their behavior because of individual differences. A manager has to deal with various types of employees. To increase his effectiveness, he needs to understand the basic assumptions that are made in terms of human nature. Managerial actions are taken or the basis of these assumptions. The assumptions guide him. Since a long period of time managerial actions are taken based on these assumptions. A number of models of man have been developed in terms of nature behavior and different strategies that management needs to adopt while dealing with employees.
Schien has identified four models of man, they are:
(1) Rational-Economic man
(2) Social man
(3) Self-actualizing man and
(4) Complex man
One more model of man can be added to these models, the organization man identified by Mr. Whyte. It fits between social man and self-actualizing man. These models of man are in the order of their origin.
(1) Rational -Economic man -
(a) It is the earliest model of man.
(b) this model of man is based on the principle of maximizing self-interest.
(c) According to this model, two things determine the maximization of self-interest.
(d) First one is that Rational-economic man can calculate the cost of his efforts for getting any incentive. He can also calculate the value of the incentive that he receives for his efforts.
(e) Second one is that man can evaluate all the alternatives as well as he is able to know all the alternatives available.
(f) Hence, he maximizes his self-interest by putting efforts equal to incentives.
Following are the assumptions relating to Rational-economic man:
I) Man is basically motivated by economic incentives and will only do things that maximize his economic returns.
Ii) People can be made to put more efforts by giving more economic incentives.
(iii) With more production, both organization and employees are happy.
Iv) There is no conflict between employees and organization as both are satisfying their needs.
(2) Social man
(a) The model of social man is based on the principle that man is a part of the society.
(b) Man is affected by society and wants to satisfy those needs that help him in maintaining social relationships. This belief has led to human relations approach in management.
The following are the assumptions related to social man:
I) Man is mainly motivated by his social needs and he puts all his efforts to satisfy this need by maintaining relationships with people.
Ii)Man reacts more positively to group pressure rather than the pressure of the management, because. Man values social relationships more than economic incentives.
Iii) Management should organize work in such a way that provides a sense of belongingness in terms of interpersonal relationships as well as man's relationship with his job.
Iv) The manager should not focus only on the task but should also focus on the people. When a manager gives importance to people's needs over the needs of the task, it leads to greater productivity and high morale.
v) More than being concerned about motivating people through economic incentives, a manager should be concerned about employee's feelings about their belongingness.
(vi) A manager should be a facilitator and supporter than being a controller of behavior for individuals.
Vii) Hence, the whole system of social man gives importance to people.
(3) Organization man -
(a) Organization man is an extension of social man.
(b)This model is based on the group and organization.
(c) It is based on the principle of value of loyalty to the organization and co-operation with other employees.
(d) According to this model, organization man is guided by social ethics (morals) following are the assumptions related to organization man:
I) The group is the main source of creating. The individual on his own is isolated and meaningless.
Ii)An individual can create only when he joins other people. In groups, an individual is able to produce more than he could produce alone.
Iii) Belongingness is the most important need of the individual.
There should be no conflicts between individual and society because what is generally considered as conflict is a simple misunderstanding which can be solved.
(iv) The concept of organization man states that there is no conflict between organization and employees and if there is any then organization will take care of it. According to this concept management should design its actions, for satisfying employees.
(4) Self - actualizing man
(a) Self-actualizing man is an extension of organization man and social man.
(b) It is based on Maslow's theory of human needs, which while allowing the fulfilment of other needs, gives importance to an individual's need for self-fulfillment as the prime motivator.
(c) This model makes the following assumptions:
I) An individual is self-motivated and self-controlled.
Ii) He matures on the job.
Iii) The various needs of man may be put in a hierarchy Maslow had put various needs in a hierarchy.
Self-Actualizing Needs |
Esteem Needs |
Social Needs |
Safety Needs |
Physiological Needs |
Iv) As he satisfies the needs according to the hierarchy, any unsatisfied need is a motivating factor for man.
v) Self-actualizing is his final goal because most of his basic needs are fulfilled by then.
(vi) Man moves from immaturity to maturity in self-actualizing model.
(vii) External (outside) controls and pressures reduce individual's autonomy and hence, affect his motivation.
(5) Complex man
(a) Complex man is based on the principle that people are complex and have many motives which combine into a complex motive pattern. This model makes the following assumptions:
i) People are variable individual has many motives which he arranges in a hierarchy. The hierarchy cannot be universal that is all the people will have different motives and different hierarchies.
Ii) Also, the hierarchy of motives of an individual change from time to time and situation to situation.
Iii) An individual act as per managerial strategies whether he will act in a given way or not will depend on the individual's needs at that time.
Iv) Earlier models which we discussed above assume that individual's will always behave according to a particular set pattern while this theory believes that a person is 'complex and does not behave as per a set pattern because all people have different motives.
v) Human needs fall into many categories and change as per the person' s stage of personal development and situation.
Vi) Hence, managers need to understand the difference in needs. One-size-fits-all is not suitable in dealing with all employees.
One of the most obvious things amongst individuals is that they differ. Each and every person in this world is different from another in some way or the other. Each individual is unique.
For example: Each individual has different height, weight, texture of skin. Color of hair, color of eyes, complexion, ability, intelligence, aptitudes, attitudes, interests, achievement, personality, etc.
While assigning different jobs to different individuals the manager has to analyses the differences amongst individuals in such a way that their work is done efficiently and effectively.
Individual Differences mean those differences in a particular person that distinguish that person from another person and makes that particular person a unique person.
An organization consists of a number of individuals. Each individual this has diligent attitude, aptitude, intelligence, values, abilitiesetc. all the individual's different. Makes the behavior of Individual's Behavior at work is influenced by a number of factors.
(1) Environmental Factors:
Environmental factors are external factors affecting an individual's behaviors. Environmental factors consist of economic environment political environment, change in technology and cultural Environment Various Environmental factors affecting an individual's behavior are as follows:
A) Economic Environment. An individual works within the framework of economic environment, it affects an individual greatly. Economic environment consists of employment opportunities, rate of
Wages and general economic conditions existing in the country.
(i) Employment opportunities:
(a) Employment opportunities greatly influence an individual's behavior.
(b) When there are more job opportunities, employees change their jobs frequently. They try job at one organization, then they join another one, where there are more opportunities, then they join another one. This cycle continues as they get good opportunities of job in the market employees are not loyal to their organization.
(c) While when there are few opportunities for job, employees have a fear of losing their job, they look for job security while joining a job.
(d) The type of job an individual performs also influences an individual's behavior.
For E.g. The behavior of a manager is different from the behavior of an employee. The behavior of a mechanic will be different from the behavior of a receptionist.
(ii) Rate of wages:
(a) Wages provide basic facilities of food, clothing and shelter to employees.
(b) Wages help an organization in retaining its employees.
(c) The behavior of an employee who is satisfied with his wages is different from the behavior of an employee who is paid less wage.
(d) Wages are also a status symbol and measurement of an employee’s achievement in terms of money.
(e) Wages also affect employee's performance.
(f) Hence, wages deeply influence an employees or worker's behavior.
(iii) General economic conditions existing in the country:
(a) The general economic conditions existing in the country also influence behavior of employees.
(b) The general conditions like the wages, salary paid to employee's in other industries, economic cycles, etc. affect an employee's view about his job. (c) When there is prosperity or boom in the country the employees are paid good money, job security is also there but when there is recession in the country organizations are forced to lay-off some employees, to reduce its costs, this leads to job insecurity.
(d) The employees working in public sector organization have different behavior as compared to the employees who work in private sector organizations. The employees working in public sector have a permanent job while, those in
Private sector does not have a permanent job. Public sector employees may be motivated by some other factors as they job security while, private sector employees may be motivated by job security as they do not have relatively permanent job.
(e) If other industries pay more wages, salary for the same job, then employees are likely to be dissatisfied by their job. Hence, General Economic conditions affect an individual's behavior.
(B) Change in Technology-
(a) Change in technology affects all the employees. However, it has slightly greater impact on employees at lower level.
(b) Change in technology takes place in the form of new technology for production, computerization, using automation, etc.
(c) Sometimes, employees are not able to adjust to new technology this results in job dissatisfaction and change in job.
(d) When the technology is easy to use employees are satisfied with their job and they stay in a job for a longer time.
(C) Political Environment-
(a) When there is political stability, employees are more satisfied with their jobs as there is security of jobs, more job opportunities are available, the quality of jobs available is also good.
(b) While, when the government is not stable, fewer employment opportunities are available.
(c) Foreign companies do not invest more capital due to instability, in the country, job available are either related to agricultural sector or labor-intensive industries. Hence, employees are either temporarily employed or are employed in jobs that satisfy their basic needs.
(d) The political system of a country also affects behavior of people some countries practice democracy, some countries practice controlled system. The freedom given by the government affects the educational opportunities, career opportunities, structure of management, etc.
(D) Cultural Environment-
(a) Cultural Environment consists of factors that are common to society such as values, beliefs, attitudes, behavior, preferences, work culture, etc.
(b) Every country has its own cultures every society has its own culture for E.g. The culture of high society people is different from the culture of people belonging to the middle-class society and lower section of society.
(c) Differences in culture among country to country or society to society, leads to differences in behavior among people.
(d) Values involve an individual's perception about what is right or wrong. An employee's values affect his behavior to a great extent.
(e) An individual's need for achievement also influences his behavior. An individual with a high need for achievement likes taking responsibility, sets achievable goals and takes less risks while, an individual with a low need to achieve is not responsible, sets unrealistic targets, may take risks, etc. the attitude of both kinds of individuals affects their behavior in different ways. Individual's with high need to achieve can be easily motivated while, those with low need to achieved cannot be easily motivated.
(2) Personal Factors-
Personal factors means the personal characteristics of individuals at work, such as age, gender, abilities, education, marital status, experience, etc.
(A) Age
(a) An individual 's age affects his performance, productivity, satisfaction, and turnover.
(b) Following are the general assumptions about an individual's behavior at work related to his age.
(i) An individual's performance differs according to his age.
(ii) Younger employees are more productive while older employees may be less productive.
(iii) Performance declines with age.
(iv) Older employees are more satisfied with their job, so they do not quit job. While, young employees are not satisfied with their jobs, this makes them quit their job frequently.
(v) Older employees may not like the use of new technology as they may not be able to adopt to it while, younger employees may find it easier to use new technology as they can adopt it easily.
(B) Gender
(a) The gender of an employee may also influence his behavior and skills.
(b) Research has shown that females may do better in Jobs that require verbal abilities, perceptual skills and manual movements.
For E.g. Secretarial jobs, Stenography, Typing, Handling office work managerial positions, etc.
(c) While men may do better in jobs that require Visual-spatial numerical and mechanical ability.
For E.g. Accountant, Engineer, etc. However, who will do better at a job also depends on an individual's ability and intelligence.
(d) In some organizations, women are not promoted to higher level while men are promoted.
(e) Gender of an individual also affects his absenteeism and turnover. It is said that female employees have higher rate of absenteeism as compared to males, because females have to look after their family.
(C) Ability
(a) An individual possesses a number of abilities. If an individual has got the needed ability to perform a job, then his performance increases, this leads to job satisfaction.
(b) While when an employee does not have the needed abilities to perform his job his performance declines as a result, his job satisfaction also declines.
(D) Education
(a) Level of education of an individual affects his expectations from the job.
(b) Educated individuals expect good job, better working conditions higher income, etc. while those who are less educated do not have much expectations from their job they expect basic needs to be met.
(c) Educated people are also more talented as they bring along with them more knowledge which helps in performing the job well.
(E) Experience
More the experience in the relevant field, better is performance of an individual.
(F) Marital Status
Married employees look out for steady job and continuous income so, they are more likely to be less absent, and satisfied with their job.
3) Psychological Factors-
It includes mental features of an individual such as personality, values, attitudes, learning. Thinking, etc. All these factors influence an individual's behavior.
4) Organizational Factors-
An individual's behavior is affected by organizational factors such as physical facilities, reward system, leadership, etc.
(A) Physical facilities:
(a) The physical facilities provided to an individual at work such as lighting. Painting on walls, air conditioning facilities, filtered and cool water, space provided for employee, art work, etc. influence an employee's behavior and also his performance.
(b) Employees perform well when they are given good facilities and environment.
(B) Reward System:
(a) Reward system adopted by an organization motivates an employee to work more.
(b) When an organization adopts good reward system the performance of employee increases while when employees are not rewarded properly the performance of employees get reduced. This results in job dissatisfaction and finally change in the job by employees.
(C) Leadership style:
(a) The leadership system adopted by an organization influences the behavior of its employees.
(b) If the leader is authoritative and dictates his own terms on the employees, the employees may not like it. They may feel like a slave. This results in job dissatisfaction
(c) When the leader gives adequate freedom to the employees and is supportive. The employees have high level of satisfaction in their jobs.
The team heredity according to G. J. Mendel refers to "the transmission (transfer) of biological characters from parents to their offspring’s (children)." In simple words, it refers to those characteristics which we acquire from our parents.
In the simplest of words, heredity refers to the passing of traits or characteristics through genes from one generation (parent) to the other generation (offspring). This heredity is very evidently seen in sexual reproduction, as the variation of characteristics that are inherited is high.
Physical attractiveness, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level and biological rhythms are examples of characteristics that are generally considered to be influenced by parents.
Our biological, physiological and psychological make-up is inherited from our parents. So, we can say that heredity includes overall influences that are transferred from parents to their children.
In the definition given above by G. J. Mendel, Biological characters include overall influences i.e. Biological, Physiological and psychological characters. A person cannot control heredity because it comes from parents We cannot add or subtract anything from our heredity.
For e.g. If an individual's parents are shorter in height it is quite possible that he may have a shorter height. He cannot do anything to change his heredity but he can try to do something with the help of environment like he can try to do various exercises and have healthy and nourishing food to increase his height. So, we can say that each person is aresult of heredity and environment.
To know how heredity affects our development we must first know how an individual is formed or conception of an individual.
Trait means a distinguishing Quality or Characteristic, that makes an individual different from others. A trait is a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in a certain way. The trait approach to personality gives importance to differences between individuals.
Examples of Traits are intelligence, excitement, anger, outgoing between individuals. Reserved, kind, short-tempered, even tempered, etc. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are made up of a number of traits The combination of various traits forms a personality that is unique to ever individual. Trait Theory identifies and measures these individual personality characteristics.
English dictionary contains a large number of words describing different personality traits. It is impossible to predict behavior due to such a large number of traits. In the beginning Gordon Allport found that English dictionary contained 4,000 words describing various personality traits. Later, RaymondCattell reduced the number of personality traits to 16 factors. Cattell referred these 16 factors as primary factors Cattell's theory is one of the most important personality trait theory Cattell developed a very popular and widely used personality assessment crown as the sixteen-personality factor questionnaire.
Cattell says that each person contains all of the 16 traits to a certain degree, they might be high in some traits and low in the others. The following personality Trait list contains the 16 primary factors and descriptors of low range and high range. Cattle's 16 personality factor model identifies and measures individual personality characteristics on a scale.
| Descriptor of Low Range | Primary Factor | Descriptor of High Range |
1. | Reserve | Warmth | Outgoing |
2. | Reactive | Emotional Stability | Emotionally Stable |
3. | Silent | Liveliness | Lively |
4. | Shy | Social Boldness | Socially Bold |
5. | Trusting | Vigilance | Vigilant |
6. | Open | Privateness | Private |
7. | Traditional | Openness to Change | Open to Change |
8. | Concrete | Reasoning | Abstract |
9. | Co-operative | Dominance | Forceful |
10. | Non-Confirming | Rile Consciousness | Confirming |
11. | Tough-Minded | Sensitivity | Sensitive |
12. | Practical | Abstractedness | Abstract(Imaginative) |
13. | Confident | Apprehension | Worried |
14. | Dependent | Self-Reliance | Self-Reliant |
15. | Undisciplined | Perfectionism | Perfectionistic |
16. | Relaxed | Tension | Tensed |
For e.g.: When an individual personality is assessed for the primary factor of warmth. If the primary factor is low in range, then the individual will be term as reserved.
As the name suggests, the basis of this model is that there are five basic dimensions that form the basis of all other personality dimensions. The five basic dimensions can be classified as follows:
High Agreeableness Low Agreeableness
High Conscientiousness Low Conscientiousness
Positive Emotional Stability Negative Emotional Stability
More Openness Less Openness
High Agreeableness Low Agreeableness
(1) Agreeableness -This factor concerns how well people get along with others. While extroversion concerns source of energy and the pursuit of interactions with others, agreeableness concerns one's orientation to others. It is a construct that rests on how an individual generally interacts with others.
(a) Characteristics of individuals who are high in agreeableness are as follow:
(i) Individual's high in agreeableness, like getting along with others.
(ii)They are pleasant to be around. They work to help others and cooperate well in groups.
(iii)They have positive social interactions and show affection towards others.
(iv) They are considerate, friendly, generous and willing to compromise their interests with others and have an optimistic view of human nature.
(v) They believe people are trustworthy, decent and honest.
Characteristics of individuals who are low in agreeableness are as follows:
(i) Individuals low in agreeableness, behave exactly in opposite manner as compared to high agreeable individuals.
(ii) They are demanding in groups, disagreeable and antagonistic.
(iii) They do not trust other's intentions and lack social skills.
(iv) They are manipulative in their social relationships.
(v) They are never interested in other's problems. They have little concern for others.
(vi) They like to compete rather than cooperate with people.
(2) Conscientiousness-
Conscientiousness is a trait that can be described as the tendency to control impulses and act in socially acceptable ways, behaviors that facilitate goal-directed behavior (John & Srivastava, 1999). Conscientious people excel in their ability to delay
Gratification, work within the rules, and plan and organize effectively.
(a) Characteristics of individual's who
Conscientiousness are as follows:
(i) They are organized and disciplined.
(ii) They have a desire to complete the task with perfection. They are achievement oriented.
(iii) They have a sense of duty as they want to do their work in the best possible way.
(iv) They are hardworking and reliable. When taken to extremes they may also be perfectionistic and workaholics.
(v) They are always prepared and follow a schedule. They are organized and dependable.
(vi) They generally like to do one task at a time.
Characteristics of individuals who are low in conscientiousness are as follows:
(i) They are unreliable and lack ambition.
(ii)They are unorganized, careless and lack discipline.
(iii) They are never planned and prepared.
(iv) They like doing too many tasks at one time.
(v) They make a mess of things as they are careless.
(vi) They avoid their duties. So, they experience many pleasures by escaping from their responsibilities.
(vii) They are often criticized for their behavior.
(3) Neuroticism/ Emotional Stability:
Neuroticism is not a factor of meanness or incompetence, but one of confidence and being comfortable in one's own skin. It encompasses one's emotional stability and general temper.
(a) Characteristics of individuals with positive emotional stability are as follows:
(i) The individuals having positive emotional stability are calm, self-confident, secure and enthusiastic.
(ii) They are emotionally stable and free from persistent negative feelings.
(iii) They do not get upset easily and are less emotionally reactive.
(iv) They donot worry about things.
(v) They are relaxed most of the time.
Characteristics of individuals with negative emotional stability are as follows:
(i) They tend to be nervous, depressed, insecure anxious or angry.
(ii) They are emotionally reactive.
(iii) Their reactions tend to be more intense than normal.
(iv) They are more likely to think of ordinary situations as threatening without any logic.
(v) The negative emotions reduce their ability to think properly, make decisions and cope with stress.
(vi) They experience mood swings.
(vi) They get upset easily.
Those high in neuroticism are generally prone to anxiety, sadness, worry, and low self-esteem. They may be temperamental or easily angered, and they tend to be self-conscious and unsure of themselves (Lebowitz, 2016a).
Individuals who score on the low end of neuroticism are more likely to feel confident, sure of themselves, and adventurous. They may also be brave and unencumbered by worry or self-doubt.
(4) Openness to experience-
Openness to experience has been described as the depth and complexity of an individual's mental life and experiences (John & Srivastava, 1999). It is also sometimes called intellect or imagination. Openness to experience concerns people's willingness to try to new things, their ability to be vulnerable, and their capability to think outside the box.
(a) Characteristic of extremely open people are as follows:
(i) They are intellectually curious, appreciative of art and sensitive to beauty.
(ii) They are creative. They like novelty and innovation.
(iii) They have a wide range of interest. They are full of ideas.
(iv) They like to adopt new ideas and beliefs because of this reason they hold unconventional and individualistic beliefs.
(v) They like learning new things.
(b) Characteristics of individuals who have low levels openness are as follows:
(i) They are down-to-earth and conventional people.
(ii) Their range of interest is narrow.
(iii) There are less curious and creative.
(iv) They may not like new ideas and find comfort in the familiar.
(v) They are conservative and do not like change.
(5) Extroversion -
This factor has two familiar ends of its spectrum: extroversion and introversion. It concerns where an individual draws their energy from and how they interact with others. In general, extroverts draw energy from or recharge by interacting with others while introverts get tired from interacting with others and replenish their energy with solitude.
(a) Characteristics of extroverts are as follows:
(i) They enjoy being with people, are full of energy and experience positive emotions.
(ii) They like being the center of attention.
(iii) They are the life of the party.
(iv) They are assertive and sociable.
(v) They like to talk, and draw attention to themselves.
(vi) They are enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals who like to take over new opportunities.
Characteristics of Introverts are as follows:
(i) They are reserved, quiet and timid.
(ii) They have less energy and activity levels then extroverts.
(iii) Their lack of social involvement does not mean that they are sky.
(iv) It is only that their basic nature demands more time alone to recharge themselves.
(v) They do not like to draw attention to themselves.
(vi) They take time to develop new relationships.
Besides the personality traits studies above, other personality traits important for organizationalbehavior are authoritarianism, locus of control. Machiavellianism, introversion-extroversion, achievement orientation, self-esteem, risk taking, self-monitoring and Type A and B personalities let us study each one of them in detail.
Authoritarianism
(a) The term 'authoritarianism' means 'demanding strict obedience of authority and rules.
(b) The Authoritarianism Personality' was theorized by Theodor w. Adorno.
(c) The personality type identified can be defined by the following traits:
(i) Conventionalism
(ii) Authoritarian anger
(iii) Power
(iv) Authoritarian submission
(v) Superstition
(vi) Toughness
(d) In simple words,
(i) Authoritarians are very conventional i.e. they don't like change.
(ii) Authoritarian submission means they like the work to be done as per the rules of formal authority.
(iii) Authoritarian anger means they get angry to people who challenge authority.
(iv) Superstition means that authoritarians believe in fate.
(v) Power and toughness means that they are dominating.
(e) Authoritarians believe that obedience to authority is important.
(f) Those with authoritative personality believe that there are two types of people in this world, strong people and weak people The world would be a better place it the strong were in leaders and the weak were followers. They do not like people who do not agree with this philosophy.
(g) Authoritarians give high moral values on their beliefs towards conformity to rules and regulation.
(h) Authoritarians are rigid in their positions They prefer stable and structured work environment.
Locus of control
(a) Locus of control means whether an individual believes that he can control events or events control him.
(b) There are two types of people, internals and externals.
(c) Internals believe that they can control events or outcomes while externals believe that events or outcomes control them.
(d) For example - Managers with a strong internal locus of control may believe that the targets were achieved through their own abilities and efforts while those with a strong external locus of control may believe that the targets were achieved because of their good luck.
(e) Hence, externals are less likely to expect that their own efforts will result in their success and so they do not work-hard for it.
(f) Individuals who have external locus of control are less satisfied with their jobs, have higher absents rates, are less involved in their jobs as compared to internals. Individuals who have high external locus of control believe that luck, chance or other people mainly determine what happens to them.
(g) Internals when in the same situation, believe that organizational outcomes are result of their own actions. Internals perform better in their jobs as compared to externals.
(h) Internals have greater self-control they search more actively for information before making a decision.
They put great efforts in controlling their environment. They are suitable for jobs that require initiative and independence.
(i) Externals like to follow directions and become followers. They do well in routine jobs.
Machiavellianism
(a) The personality traits of Machiavellianism is named after Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote. II Principe (The Prince) on how to gain power.
(b) The term Machiavellianism is used to describe a person's tendency to deceive and manipulate others for personal gain.
(c) Machiavellian's are pragmatic, maintain emotional distance and believe that ends can justify means. They manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less and persuade others more. They do well when they interact face to face with others.
(d) Machiavellian's approach situations logically and thoughtfully many times also lie to achieve their goals. They rarely believe in being loyal, friendships, keeping their own promises or the opinions of other people.
They have a high self-esteem. They do well in jobs that require bargaining skills or where there are substantial rewards for winning.
Introversion and Extroversion
Introverts
(a) Introverts are reserved, Quiet and timid.
(b)They have less energy and activity levels than extroverts.
(c) Their lack of social involvement does not mean they are shy. It is only that their basic nature demands more time alone to recharge themselves.
Extroverts
(d) Extroverts enjoy being with people, are full of energy and experience positive emotions.
(e) Extroverts like being the center of attention
(f) Extroverts are life of party.
(g) Extroverts are assertive and sociable.
(h) Extroverts like to talk and draw attention to themselves.
(i) Extroverts are enthusiastic action-oriented individuals who like to take over new opportunities.
(5) Achievement orientation
(a) Achievement orientation is about getting results.
(b) It is about working towards excellence.
(c) Individuals who are achievement-oriented set high standards.
(d) They think about how well they have done something and find for new ways to improve their performance.
(e) Achievement oriented individuals are never fully satisfied as they constantly work towards doing things in a better way.
(f) They try to overcome difficulties and take calculated risks if the situation demands, to achieve their goals.
(g) On the other hand, employees who lack achievement orientation like to work in their comfort zone.
They rely on others to set targets and standards.
(h) Employees who lack achievement orientation are often found completing their incomplete work. They are also unable to complete their work on time.
(i) Hence, achievement-oriented employees get more raises and promotions as compared to employees who lack achievement orientation.
(j) Organization which employ achievement-oriented employees grow faster and are more profitable.
Self-Esteem
(a) Self-Esteem means the extent to which an individual likes or dislikes himself.
(b) It shows an individual's overall sense of self-worth.
(c) Individuals with high self-esteem like to take more risk in job selection and are more likely to choose unconventional jobs as compared to people with low sell-esteem.
(d) People with high esteem have favorable evaluation of themselves, which leads to better performance.
(e) People with low self-esteem doubt themselves and question their self-worth. They have unfavorable evaluation of themselves.
(f) Low self-esteem individuals view themselves in negative terms and are not able to deal effectively with others.
(g) Low self-esteem individuals believe that events control them. They blame outcomes on the lack of ability or on fate while, high sell-esteem individuals believe that they can control events. They work hard to achieve their goals.
(h) Low self-esteem individuals look for positive evaluations from others. They want that others should praise them. Hence, they try to please others.
Risk-taking
(a) Risk-taking means to what extent an individual is willing to take risk, for achieving a positive outcome.
(b) People like to take risks or do not like to take risks.
(c) People have different capacities for taking or avoiding risks.
(d) In organizations, High risk-taking managers make quick decisions. They use less information to make decisions while low risk-taking managers are slow in making decisions, they also need more information for making decisions.
(e) It is very important to consider the manager's risk-taking capacity some organizations need high risk-taking managers while others need low risk-taking managers. The suitability of an employee to a job depends on the duties and responsibilities of that job.
(f) For example: The job of an investment manager requires individuals with high risk-taking capacity while the job of a clerk requires individuals with low-risk taking capacity.
Self-monitoring
(a) It means an individual’s ability to adjust his behavior to external situational factors.
High self-monitors
(b) (i) High self-monitors show considerable adaptability.
(ii) They can behave differently in different situations.
(iii) They are concerned about how they are perceived by others and they change their behaviour to fit in different situations.
(iv) They think that they will be perceived negatively by others, the change their behaviour to be perceived positively.
Low self-monitors
(c) (i) Low self-monitors are less concerned with how people perceive them.
(ii) Low self-monitors cannot disguise themselves like high self-monitors.
(iii) Low-self monitors tend to show their true dispositions an attitude in almost every situation. They cannot change their behaviour as per the situation.
(d) High self-monitors pay close attention to the behaviour of others.
(e) High self-monitoring managers are more mobile in their careen and they receive more promotions. They have the capacity to put different faces for different audiences.
Type A and B personalities:
Type A Personality:
(a) According to Friedman and Rosenman: Type A Personality is always impatient, excessively time conscious, insecure about status highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation.
(b) The characteristic details of type A personality are as follows:
(i) are always moving, walking and eating rapidly
(ii) Feel Impatient with the rate at which most events take place.
(iii) Strive to think or do two or more things at a time.
(iv) Cannot cope with leisure
(v) are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how much of everything they acquire.
Type B Personality:
(a) According to friedman and Rosenman: Type B personality is rarely hurried by the desire to obtain an increasing number of things or participate in events demanding an ever-decreasing amount of time.
(b) They never suffer from a sense of time urgency with accompanying impatience.
(c) The characteristic details of type B personality are as follows:
(i) They feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishment unless such exposure is demanded by the situation.
(ii) Play for fun and relaxation rather than to show their superiority at any cost.
(iii) Can relax without guilt.
(iv) In organisations, great sales persons are Type A individuals. The reason is, market of sales is competitive, that demands great efforts to sell a product.
(v) Generally, Type B's make good senior executives. They are wise, creative and tactful, they get more promotions. While, Type A's are hasty, quick decision makers, impatient and aggressive so, they do not get more promotions.
Hence, personality is very important in determining behaviour of employees in an organisation. Managers while assigning jobs to employees need to consider personality differences among employees and place them properly as per their personality traits.
The Johari Window model was developed by Joseph Luft and harry Ingham in 1955. Luft and Ingham named this model as ‘Johari’ after combining their first names, Joe and Harry. This is a very famous model for-
(1) Self-awareness,
(2) Personal development,
(3) Group development and
(4) Understanding relationship with others.
Johari window is a technique created to help people in understanding their relationship with self and others. The Johari window model is widely used for understanding and training self-awareness, personal development, improving communications, inter-personal relationships, group development, team development and inter-group relationships.
In this model the four Johari window perspectives are known as 'Quadrants'. These four quadrants contain information about feelings, experience, skills, attitudes, motivation, view, intentions, etc. known about the person in terms of whether the information is known or unknown to him and whether the information is known or unknown by others in the team The diagram of Johari window model is as follows:
| Known by Self | Unknown by Self |
Known by Others |
| 2. Blind Area |
Unknown by Others | 3. Hidden Area | 4. Unknown Area |
(1) First Quadrant-open/free area
a) Open or free area means what is known by the person about himself and is also known by others.
b) When individuals work in a group or team the aim should always be to develop the open area for every person.
c) To be effective, a group needs good communication among its members, co-operation, trust, and mutual understanding.
d) All this can be achieved by developing the 'open area' for every member so that they can share their attitude, feelings, emotions knowledge, experience, skills, views, etc. with each other.
(2) Second Quadrant-Blind Area-
(a) It means what is known about a person by others in the group, but is unknown by the person himself.
(b) By taking feedback from others an individual can reduce this area.
(c) It is a non-effective space for individuals or groups.
(d) This area represents an individual’s ignorance about himself.
e) Managers need to create an environment for true feedback to reduce this area.
(f) Discovery through active listening and sensitive communications helps in knowing the unknown area.
(3) Third Quadrant - Hidden area
(a) Hidden area means what is known to an individual but is kept hidden from others.
(b) It contains information about feelings, experience, attitudes skills, intentions, motivation, view, etc. Anything that a person knows about himself but which is kept hidden from others.
(c) It also includes sensitivities, hidden agendas, fears, secrets. Anything that a person knows but does not reveal.
d) It is natural tendency to hide personal and private information and feelings. Any information that does not have anything to do with w should remain hidden. However, a lot of hidden information is very personal. It is related to work or performance.
e) In order to be effective the manager needs to create environment of self-disclosure about work related issue Manager needs to find ways by which he can reduce the hidden area and increase the open area of the employees. This helps in better understanding, cooperation, trust, group effective and productivity.
f) Reducing hidden area, helps in reducing confusion and misunderstanding.
Quadrant 4-Unknown area
(a) Unknown area contains information that is both unknown to the person himself as well as to others in the group.
b) It contains information, about feelings, abilities, aptitudes, experiences etc.
(c) These unknown abilities or issues are inside his mind but he does not know them.
For example,
(i) An individual not knowing about his natural ability that he possesses.
(ii) Childhood experiences under his subconscious mind.
(iii) An individual's fear of something, not known by him.
d) Managers need to create an environment that encourages self-discovery and constructive observation and feedback among group members.
e) To bring out hidden talents, managers employees with the opportunity to try new things.
Definition:
According to Stephen Robbins "attitude are evaluated statements or judgements concerning objects people or events."
In simple words, attitudes are evaluated statements either favorable or unfavorable about objects, people or events. They reflect how one feels about something.
FEATURES NATURE OF ATTITUDES
1. Attitudes refer to feelings and beliefs of individuals or group if individuals.
2. The feelings and beliefs are directed towards some stimuli (stimuli : anything in the environment to which we respond it may be an obey person, event or issue).
3. Attitudes result in behaviour or action.
4. Attitudes may be positive, negative or ambivalent.
(a) Positive attitude means a favourable attitude towards a stimuli.
e.g.- I like cakes and I shall eat them.
(b) Negative attitude means an unfavourable attitude towards a stimuli..
e.g.- I do not like cakes and I will not eat them.
(c) Attitude ambivalence refers to the fact that an individualevaluate of a stimulus are not always uniformly positive or negative, they are mixed consisting of both positive and negative reactions.
e.g. I like cakes but I will not eat them because they are fattening.
5. Attitudes endure (last long), and it is difficult to change them.
6. Every person irrespective of his status or intelligence holds attitudes.
7. We have attitudes about everything in the world.
8. Attitudes strongly influence our thinking about the social world, eve life our overt (outward) behaviour does not reflect them.
COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE
An attitude has three components they are :
(1) Cognitive or Informational Component
(2) Affective or Emotional Component
(3) Behavioural Component
(1) Cognitive or Informational Component:
It refers to the belief and information that the individual has about the object.
For e.g.: I like my BMS course.
(2) Affective or Emotional Component:
Affective component refers to the feelings of an individual about the object.
For Eg: The BMS course is challenging and interesting.
(3) Behavioural Component:
Behavioural Component refers to an individual's intention to behave in certain way toward the object.
For Eg: I am hard working and I will complete the BMS course with firs class.
Attitudes perform certain functions in determining our behaviour o actions towards particular persons, objects or events. The important functions of attitudes are:
1. Knowledge function: Attitude is often replaced for knowledge. In the absence of knowledge about a particular person or object we use our attitudes to organise and make sense of what is perceived. Regardless of how accurate a person's view of reality is attitudes towards people, events and objects help the individual make sense out of what is going on.
For e.g.: (a) Whenever new inventions are introduced people do not have knowledge about their usage. So they develop negative attitude towards them.
2. Value expressive function: Another function that attitudes perform pressing our values and beliefs. Our attitudes express our value systemand beliefs and our value expressive attitudes are closely related to our self-concept. When we express our attitudes, we are expressing our beliefs and value system which provide us with a distinct identity.
For eg.: One whose central value is freedom, the individual may express every positive attitude towards flexible work schedules and relaxation of dresscodes in the organisation.
3. Self-esteem function: Attitudes help us to maintain or enhance ourfeelings of self-worth. We sometimes feel that we are superior to other as we believe that the views which we hold are right ones held b intelligent and sensible persons.
4. Ego-Defensive function: People often form and maintain certain attitudes to protect their own self-images. Attitudes help them defend their self-images. People often form and maintain certain attitudes to protect their own self-images. For example, workers may feel threatened by the employment or advancement of minority or female workers in their organisation. These threatened workers may develop prejudices against the new workers.
They may develop an attitude that such newcomers are less qualified and they might mistreat these workers. This attitude helps the worker protect the ego and is known as an ego defensive attitude.
This ego defensive attitude is used by the employees in coping with a feeling of guilt or threat. Unless this feeling is removed, this kind of attitude will Remain unchanged.
For eg.: Students in a particular class may feel threatened by the admission of bright students in their class. They may feel that if more and more bright students are admitted, they may lag behind. They may develop prejudices against the new comers. They may develop an attitude that such new comers are only trying to impress the teachers and are not that brilliant and they might mistreat these new comers. This kind of ego-defensive attitude is formed and used to cope with a feeling of guilt or threat. If this feeling is not removed, this kind of attitude will not change. Hence attitude also serves the ego-defensive function.
5. Impression motivation function: Sometimes we make use ofattitudes to impress other people. We often wish to make a good impression on others by expressing the right view or opinions.
Attitudes can be changed in the following ways:
1.Providing New Information:
(a) People change their attitude when new information is provided to them.
(b) People generally hold negative attitude towards something or someone due to lack of information.
(c) For Eg.: Tobacco consuming people have negative attitude towards people who tell them not to have it but when they are provided with new information about its ill-effects they may change their attitude towards those people and agree with them.
(2) Fear:
(a) Fear has the capacity to change attitudes.
(b) Change of attitude depends upon the degree of fear.
(c) When the level of fear is less, people ignore the message.
(d) When the level of fear is moderate, people become aware of the situation or message and they change their attitudes.
(e) When the level of fear is high, people reject the message as they find it very much threatening and unbelievable. They do not trust the message as they find it exaggerated.
(3) Persuasion:
(a) Persuasion means "efforts to change other's attitudes through the use of various kinds of messages."
(b) Radio and television commercials, newspapers and magazine ads, hoardings, political speeches, ads on internet etc. use persuasion to change people's attitudes.
(4) Co-opting approach:
(a) It involves changing of a person's attitude who belongs to a different group, by involving him in own group.
(b)For Eg.: Suppose there are two rival companies, one company hires the talented employee of another company and promises him better pay package, accommodation and other luxurious facilities, to have a good hold over the market. The hiring company knows that the talented employee is not satisfied with the rival company and wants to leave it for better future. This is co-opting approach.
5. Influence of friends and Peers:
(a) A very effective way of changing one's attitudes is through his friends and peers.
(b)Their opinions are often more important to the individual.
(c)When an individual's friends convince him about changing attitude towards something or someone, he changes it as he trusts them.
Understanding the emotions felt by others is a difficult task. "Reading ions is our ability to read other's noticeable emotions". We do this by observing other's verbal (spoken) and non-verbal (unspoken, actions) signs. n learn to read other display emotions by focusing on verbal, non-verbal, paralinguistic signs.
a) Ask about emotions: The easiest way to find out what someone's feeling is to ask them. Asking something simple as "Are you OK? What's the problem? can frequently provide you with the information to assess an individual s emotional state. But depending only on a verbal response has two drawbacks. First, almost all of us hide our emotions to some extent for privacy and to reflect some social expectations. So, we might not be willing to share our true feelings. Second, sometimes even if we want to share our feelings verbally, we may not be able to do so. Some people have difficulty in understanding their own emotions and so, are unable to express them verbally. So, verbal responses provide only partial information.
b) Look for non-verbal signs: Non-verbal signs also play a very important role in determining an individual's emotional state. Suppose you are talking with a co-worker. You notice that his back is rigid, teeth are clenched, and his facial muscles tight, this shows you that he is angry. Facial expressions, gestures, bod movements, and physical distance are non-verbal signs that car provide additional understanding into a person's feeling, facial expressions are considered to be a window into a person's feelings.
c) Look for how things are said: How an individual expresses his feelings also convey a lot about his emotional condition. Communication goes beyond the specific spoken words. It includes pitch rate, and voice quality of speech. This is called paralanguage. People not only convey their feelings in what they say, but also how they say it.
Reading emotions is a very important skill that managers need to develop, as they have to get work done with the help of others. So they must know how others are feeling and what they want.
List of some common interpretations of Body Language.
| Body Language | Meaning |
1. | Smile | Happiness, Friendliness |
2. | Open Palm | Sincerity, openness |
3. | Waiving | Used to greet a person or say “Hello” |
4. | Nodding of head | Signifies “Yes” or agreement |
5. | Erect walking | Confidence |
DEFINITIONS:
"Thinking refers to the mental processing of data."
Thinking refers to the process of using one’s brain in an attempt to solve some problems or to arrive at some conclusion or some particular topic.
According to Edward de Bono "Thinking is deliberate exploration of experience for a purpose that purpose may be understanding, decision solving, judgement, action and so on."
THINKING SKILLS
Thinking skills are considered as the "building blocks of thinking today s information age, thinking skills are viewed an essential for education persons to cope with the rapidly changing world. For effective thinking we need to develop all the below mentioned Thinking Skills. We can learn then through practicing.
Thinking skills are a set of basic and advanced skills and sub skills that govern a person's mental processes. They are as follows:
(1) Focusing Skills: "Focusing skills are thinking skills that focus on necessary information and ignore information that is irrelevant" There are two types of focusing skills they are-
(a) Identifying Problems: Identifying Problems is a focusing skill that defines needs, differences or confusing situations.
(b) Setting Goals: Setting goals is a focusing skill that develop purpose and direction for solving problems.
(2) Information Gathering Skills: "Information gathering skills an l thinking skills that collect together relative information needed lo thinking". There are two types of information gathering skills:
(a) Observing: Observing skills is an information gathering skill acquires information from various senses.
(b) Forming questions: Forming questions is information gathering skill which collects new information through inquiry.
(3) Remembering Skills: "Remembering skills are thinking skills that store and bring back information when needed". There are two types of remembering skills:
(a) Encoding: Encoding skill is remembering skill that stores information in long-term memory.
(b) Recalling: Recalling skill is a remembering skill that brings back the information from the long-term memory.
(4) Organizing Skills: "Organizing skills are thinking skills that arrange information in a particular order so that it can be used properly". There are four types of organizing skills.
(a) Comparing: Comparing skills is an organizing skill that points out the similarities and differences between entities.
(b) Classifying: Classifying is an organizing skill that classifies entities into various categories on the basis of the features that they have in common.
(c) Ordering: Ordering is an organizing skill that sequences things according to a given standard by which it may be judged.
(d) Representing Skills: Representing skills is an organizing skill that changes the structure of the information, but not the matter of the information.
(5) Analyzing Skills: "Analyzing skills are thinking skills that examine existing information into parts and relationships". There are four types of Analyzing skills.
(a) Identifying features and Components: Identifying features and components is an analyzing skill that analyzes features or the parts of a particular entity.
(b) Identifying relationships and Patternsrelationships and patterns is an analyzing skill that identifies ways in which elements are related.
(c) Identifying main ideas: Identifying main ideas is an analyzing skill that identifies the main ideas or the main element.
(d) Identifying Arguments: Identifying Arguments is an analyzing skill that identifies arguments and logical errors and corrects them.
(6) Generating Skills: "Generating skills are thinking skills that produce new information or ideas". There are three types of generating skills.
(a) Inferring: Inferring is a generating skill that looks beyond available information to determine what may be true.
(b) Predicting: Predicting is a generating skill that looks forward to next events which may happen, or the result of situations.
(c) Elaborating: Elaborating is a generating skill that builds on other ideas, relevant information, and details required.
(7) Integrating Skills: Integrating skills are thinking skills that connect and combine the whole information. They are of two types:
(a) Summarizing: Summarizing is an integrating skill that briefly states the main points and combines it together.
(b) Restructuring: Restructuring is an integrating skill that changes existing knowledge structure to include new information.
(8) Evaluating Skills: Evaluating Skills are thinking skills that judge about the quality and reasonableness of ideas. There are two types of evaluating skills.
(a) Establishing Standards: Establishing Standards is evaluating skills that sets standards for making judgements about ideas.
(b) Verifying: Verifying skill is an evaluating skill that confirms accuracy of ideas i.e. it shows that the ideas are accurate or not.
SIX THINKING HATS
The six thinking hats method was invented by Dr. Edward de Bono in early 1980s. The 'Six thinking hats' represents six ways of thinking, six thinking hats is a powerful technique that helps a person to ant decisions rom various point of views. The purpose of the hat is to direct thinking, not classily either the thinking or the thinker. In 'six thinking hats technique' every hat represents a way of thinking, which is identified by a color following are the six thinking hats.
(1) White Thinking Hat: It is the observer hat. It focuses on available information, required facts, what is needed and how it can be obtained. When we use white thinking hat, we focus on the data available. We look at the information that we have and see what we can learn from it. We look for gaps in our knowledge we either try to fill them or consider them while taking decisions.
(2) Black Thinking Hat: This hat is for judgement and caution. It is a most valuable hat. It is not in any manner, inferior or negative hat. It is a logical hat when we use black hat. We think cautiously and defensively. It helps us to know the weak points in a plan while taking actions. Black thinking that is one of the great benefits of this technique," as many successful people get so used to thinking positively that often they cannot see problems in advance, leaving them unprepared for difficulties. Black hat helps us to eliminate weak points, change our approach or make advance plans to handle problems that may arise in future
(3) Red Thinking Hat: This hat represents emotions, feelings, hunches ideas based on feeling), gut instinct, intuition and justification. This hat allows the thinker to put forward an intuition, emotions, feelings, and gut instinct. When we use this hat we try to think how other people will react emotionally and we also try to understand the intuitive responses of people who do not know our reasoning.
(4) Yellow Thinking Hat: This hat represents values and benefits. Yellow hat thinking helps us to think positively. It helps us to see all the benefits of the decision and the values in it, and recognize the opportunities that arise from it. It helps us to keep going everything looks dull and difficult. It is a logical positive hat. It can be used in looking forward to the results of some proposed action, but can also be used to find something what has already happened.
(5) Green Thinking Hat: This is the hat of creativity, alternatives, productions and changes, ideas generation and solution.
It enables us to generate the ideas on how things could be hand effectively. It helps to develop creative solution to a problem.In the way of thinking, there is little criticism of ideas.
(6) Blue Thinking Hat: Blue thinking hat is an observer hat. This ha controls the thinking process. It focuses, formulates next steps to taken.
It is a meta-hat. It ensures that each hat gets effectively used. This hat thinks about thinking, overall process.
Benefits of Six Thinking Hats:
(1) It enhances the thinking process.
(2) It improves communication.
(3) It speeds up decision making.
(4) It avoids debate.
(5) It separates ego from performance.
(6) It creates awareness about various ways of thinking.
(7) It ensures all the point of views are considered while taking decision.
(8) It encourages creative, lateral and parallel thinking.
THINKING STYLES
Different people have different thinking styles. There are five thinking styles. These styles categorize different ways of thinking and problem solving. Following are the five thinking
Styles.
(1) Synthesists: Synthesist thinkers are creative thinkers who view the world in terms of opposites. When we say black, they think white; when we say fat, they think thin. Their ideas are based on guess work. They make new and original things out of their own views. Their basic approach to solve problems is combining different things to find the best solution. They are always ready to take risks and are open to ideas. They do not like stability i.e. they like changes. The details of synthesists are:
(a) Appearance -
- Synthesists appear challenging and skeptical (not easily convinced)
- They appear unconnected to the present subject.
- They appear aggressive.
(b) Like -
- They like to control the process.
- They like to do things in a big way.
- They like intellectual arguments.
- They like to point out mistakes.
(c) Dislike -
- They do not like the present situation.
- They do not like discussion which is based on facts.
- They do not like routine tasks.
- They do not like lack of change.
- They do not like people pretending to agree.
(d) Strategy to solve problems -
- They directly face the problems.
- They question assumptions.
- They observe other people.
- They ignore opposing ideas.
- They handle problems on the basis of guesswork and imagination.
(e) Strengths -
- They can be of great help in preventing bad ideas.
- They can open-up new ideas.
(f) Weaknesses -
- They may opt out when they feel they are not being listened to.
- They do not follow details.
(2) Realists: Realist thinkers are fast-moving doers. They are corrective, result-oriented and problem-fixing persons. They work on the basis of facts. They believe that facts should not be influenced by personal factors. If they are unable to solve a problem, they rely on an expert. They are optimistic in nature i.e. they always think about thing in hopeful manner. They easily form and express their views.
Realist thinkers always trust their senses, personal experience and fads while taking important decisions. The details of realists are:
(a) Appearance -
- They appear direct and forceful.
- They appear frank and positive.
- They quickly form and express their opinions.
(b) Like -
- They like forming strategies and tactics for getting things done.
- They like playing with ideas on down to earth level.
- They like to have a number of projects at once.
(c) Dislike –
- They do not like talk that they feel is dry, dull or humorless.
- They do not like talk that is speculative and abstract.
- They do not like facts being influenced by personal opinions.
(d) Strategy to solve problems -
- Their work is based on observation and experiences rather than theory.
- They solve problems by setting objectives, fixing and correcting them.
(e) Strengths -
- They can achieve concrete results.
- They are good at identifying the resources for solving problems.
- They can easily categorize information after observing required data.
(f) Weaknesses -
- They simplify the problem so much that an inaccurate impression of it is formed.
- They have low tolerance for ambiguity.
- They do not like persons who do not stand up to the expectations.
- It is very hard to change their minds.
3) Pragmatists : Pragmatic thinkers are flexible thinkers who look for short-cuts and quick pay-offs. They are interested in practical short-term results and a plan of action that will get the things started in the right direction without much pains. They believe that whatever works in situation, should be done.
Pragmatists have a habit of seeing things as what others really want and not as what they should want. So they fit in where others fail. The details of pragmatists are :
(a) Appearance -
- They appear energetic and intelligent.
- They appear restless, unpredictable and impulsive.
- They appear open, humorous and friendly.
(b) Like -
- They like to form plans, tactics and ideas for getting things done.
- They like playing with ideas on a practical and realistic level.
(c) Dislike -
- They do not like talk that is dull or humorless, abstract or speculative.
- They do not like facts and values having equal values.
(d) Strategy to solve problems -
- They use tactics to solve a problem.
- (ii)They may experiment, to find new solutions to a problem.
- They look for quick pay-offs.
(e) Strengths -
- They are good diplomats.
- They can tolerate ambiguity.
(f) Weaknesses -
- They agree quickly with other people's ideas.
- They have difficulty in dealing with idealists.
(4) Analyst Thinkers: Analyst thinkers think methodically. They like to collect information, measure it, categorize it, and rationally and methodically get the right answer to any problem. They believe that if we go scientifically, things will work out. They plan carefully with enough information to find the 'best way. They believe things will go wrong if a detail is ignored. They like stability. The details of analyst thinkers are:
(a) Appearance.
- They appear cool and studious.
- They appear hard to read, perfectionists, thorough disciplined and careful.
(b) Like -
- They like stability.
- (ii)They like logical evaluations of issues and thoroughness.
(c) Dislike -
- They do not like talk that does not contain logic.
- They do not like talk that is too speculative and experimenting.
(d) Strategy to solve problems -
- While solving problems, they systematically analyze all the alternatives.
- They search for more data.
- They do one thing at a time.
(e) Strengths -
- They can help us to look at the problem from various point of views.
- They can be useful when the situation requires logical and analytical calculation.
(f) Weaknesses -
- They may be too time consuming.
- They may lack feedback.
(5) Idealists: Idealist thinkers take a broad view of the various available alternatives. They are future oriented and goal-oriented persons. They are willing to consider new ideas. While taking decisions they always first think what is good for people and society, they have a tendency to trust others. They are helpful and open in nature and they always want to do the right thing. They are emotional persons. They deeply believe in the importance of trust and truth. They hate selfish and dishonest people. If they find anybody being dishonest to them they stop taking interest in him. Idealist thinkers always try hard for agreement, and they feel disappointed when people do not agree with them. If a person is not willing to compromise with other's point of view, then they do not like him. They are humanitarian persons i.e. they are always concerned with welfare of people. The details of idealistic are:
(a) Appearance -
- They appear as people who respond alternatively and receptively.
- They always show a supportive and open smile.
- When others speak, they have a habit of listening properly, they show their interest in other persons talk by nodding their head and doing other gestures.
(b)Like -
- They like feeling- level discussions about people and the problems.
- They like discussions about values, judgements and emotions.
(c) Dislike -
- They do not like conflicting arguments.
- They do not like open argument.
- They do not like talk that is dehumanizing.
(d) Strategy to solve problems -
- They look at the whole situation.
- They practice receptive listening.
- They focus on large range issues.
(e) Strengths -
- They can induce us on real impact of our decision.
- They are empathetic, tolerant and open.
- They can be excellent at gathering information.
- They are good at increasing group participation.
(f) Weaknesses -
- They avoid setting goals and standards.
- Sometimes, they may be overwhelmed by emotions.
Once we know our thinking styles and the thinking styles of person with whom we have to interact, we can easily understand their values, rules tendencies, their decision-making styles and their management style knowing different thinking styles, helps us to develop good rapport with others and it helps us to know what we should not do while dealing with different persons of different thinking styles.
(1) Planning: Panning skills involve selecting missions and objectives and actions to achieve them. There are various types of plans, ranging ho overall purpose and objectives to the most detailed actions to be taken.
(2) Conceptual Skills: Conceptual skills consist of the ability to see the whole organisation and the interrelation-ships between its parts. These skills refer to the ability to visualize the whole picture or to consider a situation in its totality. These skills help the manager to conceptualize the environment to analyse and evaluate the complex situations.
This skill also help in rational processing and interpretation of the information.
(3) Decision-making Skills : Decision-making skill is our ability to select course of action from among various alternatives.
Decision making requires manager to spot the problems, identify alternatives that can correct those problems, evaluate those alternatives and select the best one.
(4) Technical Skills: Technical skills refer to the ability to apply knowledge and expertise in using equipment’s, involved in performing specific tasks. For e.g.: Ability in programming and operating computers is a technical skill.
There are two things a manager must know. Firstly, which technical skills should be employed in particular project and he must be familiar enough with the use of these skills to ask judgmental questions to his technical advisors. Secondly, a manager must understand the role of each skill used and its interrelations between other skills. Technical ability is related to "the mastery of things".
(5) Leadership Skills: "Leadership skills is the ability to influence the behaviour and work of others in a group effort towards the realization of specific goals in a given situation. A manager has to get work done with the help of other people, for this he needs to develop leadership skills. In a way, managers are leaders of an organisation who perform tasks and act in a way that provides employees with satisfaction and fulfillment in performing the work required and reaching the objectives.
Leadership is raising of employee’s performances to a high standard, the building of employee’s personality beyond its normal limitations.
(6) Supervisory skills: "Supervisory skills is our ability to ensure that everything is done correctly.
Supervision is made up of two words 'super' and 'vision, it means expert overseeing of employees at work. It involves direct personal contact with sub-ordinates.
Supervision is necessary at all levels of management. Managers must have supervision skills in order to know what exactly an employee is doing or how much effort he is putting to do the work. Supervisory skills help a manager in smooth working within the organisation.
For effective interaction with others a person should not only possess all the skills discussed till now but he must also be able to demonstrate them. i.e. his behaviour should reflect that all these skills are present in him. In order to be effective, managers need to develop and demonstrate all the skills discussed till now. Intrapersonal skills help us to be at comfort with our own selves. Inter personal skills help us in interacting effectively with others, whereas managerial skills help a manager to perform his job effectively.
DEFINTIONS:
According to Stephen Robbins, Learning means "any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience
According to Normal L Munn, "Learning is the process of having one's behaviour modified, more or less permanently, by what he does and the consequences of his action, or by what he observes."
(1) Learning involves change in behaviour.
(2) The change must be relatively permanent.
(3) Learning should be reflected in behaviour. A change in an individual's attitude or knowledge if not reflected in his behaviour cannot be called as learning.
(4) The change in behaviour should take place experience, training or practice.
(5) Learning takes place throughout an individual's life.
There are three theories of learning:
1. Classical conditioning
2. Operant conditioning
3. Social learning
1. Classical Conditioning:
(a) It is a form of learning based on association.
(b) Classical conditioning is form of learning. In which on stimulus which is neutral in the beginning, later, acquire the capacity to evoke reactions because of repeated pairing with another stimulus.
(c) The occurrence of one stimulus indicates that another will also follows.
(d) In simple words, when one event regularly occurs before another, the occurrence of first event becomes an indication la the occurrence of another. As a result, we gradually, give sane kind of reaction to the first event as we give to the second event.
(e) Classical conditioning was first experimented by Russian Psychologist, Ivan Pavlov, to teach dogs to salivate in response to the ringing of a bell. Pavlov rang a bell before giving food to his dog. In spite of salivating in the presence of meat. The dog started to salivate in response to the ringing of the bell, after a few repeated pairings. In this experiment, the occurrence of first event that is ringing of bell became an indication of occurrence of another that is, provision of met Hence, the dog. Gradually, gave same kind of reaction to the in event as he gives to the second one. He started associating the ringing of Bell with the food.
After repeatedly hearing the sound of the bell, before getting meat the dog started salivating as soon as he heard the sound. The dog had learnt to salivate in response to the bell.
Hence, learning occurs through the process of classical conditioning psychological studies have shown that classical conditioning (learning) can occur below the level of conscious awareness even if an individual is not aware of the stimuli that forms the basis of this kind of conditioning. Such a conditioning is called as subliminal conditioning.
2. Operant Conditioning
(a) B.F. Skinner proposed the operant condition theory.
(b) The operant conditioning theory is based on the idea that behaviour is repeated and strengthened if the outcome is positive and behaviour is weakened and suppressed if the outcome is negative.
(c) An individual repeats and strengthens behaviour that results in positive outcome while, he weakens or suppresses behaviour that results in negative outcomes. He does not repeat it quite often.
(d) Reinforcement (rewards) or punishment is important in this type of learning.
(e) Generally, behaviour that obtains continuous rewards supported and maintained by an individual than the behaviour that does not obtain rewards or positive outcomes.
(f) For example:
(i) Teachers reward students with smiles and praises for answering their questions. The positive outcomes of smile and praise makes the student repeat and strengthen his behaviour of answering the question asked by the teacher.
(ii) During childhood parents reward their children with hugs, kisses, smiles, etc. for holding the right behaviour which they themselves hold. Gradually, children begin to understand that if they continue to hold the same behaviour they will be rewarded by parent's so they strengthen and continue to hold that behaviour.
(iii) Teachers scold students for interrupting the class. Students begin to understand that this kind of behaviour should not be repeated as it leads to negative outcome. Hence, gradually, their behaviour of interrupting is weakened and suppressed. They do not repeat it.
3. Social Learning / Observation Learning
(a) The social learning theory was proposed by Bandura.
(b) Social learning theory is based on the idea that learning takes place by observing others.
(c) Social learning theory is a form of learning in which individuals acquire newbehaviors or thoughts by observing others.
(d) In this process an individual learns to adopt new behaviours from other persons only by observing them.
(e) An individual can learn new behaviours by observing models such as parents, teachers, friends, neighbours, actors, managers, etc.
For Example:
(i) He may learn to work sincerely by observing his father.
(ii) An individual may learn to copy in exams by observing his friends doing the same thing in school.
(iii) An individual may learn to smoke by observing his friends.
(iv) An individual may learn to live a luxurious life by observing moves, commercials.
In all the above examples, an Individual acquires behaviours by observing a model. The influence of model is important in the social learning theory.
(f) The influence of model depends upon four processes of social learning they are as follows:
(i) Attention Process -
(a) People learn from a model only when they recognise and pay attention to its critical features.
(b) learning needs full attention.
(c) models that are attractive, Interesting, and which are important to an individual are more likely to influence him.
(ii) Retention Process -
(a) The influence of a model depends on how well the individual remembers the models action alter it is no longer readily available.
(b) The ability to store information is very important in learning process.
(c) Retention can be affected by a number of factors, but the ability to remember all the information later and act on it is important in observational learning.
(iii) Reproduction Process -
(a) After a person sees a new behaviour by observing the model, the watching must be converted to doing.
(b) The individual must actually perform the behaviour he observed.
(iv) Reinforcement (rewards) Process -
(a) An individual gets motivated to perform the modelled behaviour if positive rewards are provided to him.
(b) Behaviour that is rewarded is strengthened and continued over a long period of time. It is repeated quite often. "
Terman says- intelligence is the capacity for carrying on abstract thinking.
Weschler says- it is the aggregate or global capacity of the individual to act purposefully, to think rationally and to deal effectively with his environment.
Spencer says- intelligence is the capacity organism to adjust to an increasingly difficult environment.
Intelligence Quotient
The IQ of a person gives proper indication of a person s intelligence than mental age. It shows how much a person is more or less intelligent as compared to others. Weschler devised the deviation 1o This is generally used in practice. If the IQ of a person is 100 and the standard deviation is 15 points, then the distribution takes the shape of a normal distribution curve. In a normal distribution curve, 68.26%, of the population comes in one standard deviation unit from the mean. The Normal distribution curve gets the shape of the bell When plotted graphically, it has highest frequency in the middle and this frequency reduces as we move away from the center to either of the ends. The Mean Median and Mode are all equal in a perfect normal curve
The following table shows the distribution of IQ on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence scale:
IQ | Description | Percentage of Adults |
130 and above | Very superior gifted | 2.2% |
120-129 | Superior | 6.7% |
110-119 | Bright Normal | 16.1% |
90-109 | Average | 50% |
80-89 | Dull normal | 16.1% |
70-79 | Borderline | 6.7% |
Below 70 | Mentally retarded | 2.2% |
Mentally-retarded person have been subdivided as shown below:
IQ Score | Classification | Percentage of population |
55-69 | Mildly retarded | 2.1 |
40-54 | Moderately retarded | 0.1 |
25-39 | Severely retarded | 0.003 |
Below 25 | Profoundly retarded | 0.0000005 |
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is comparatively new area of psychological research The first published attempt toward making a definition was made by Salovey and Mayer in 1990. According to them "Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor one's own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide one's thinking and actions". In spite of the early definition, there has been confusion about the exact meaning of this term. The definitions given by various psychologists are very different and the field is growing so faster that researchers are constantly making changes in their own definitions. Till now, there are three main models of Emotional Intelligence.
a) Ability-based Emotional models.
b) Mixed models of Emotional intelligence
c) Trait Emotional intelligence model.
In simple words, Emotional intelligence refers to "the ability to perceive and control emotions of oneself as well as of others."
Individuals differ in emotional intelligence i.e. they differ in the manner in which they deal with their own emotions and other people's emotions. So, we can say that an emotionally intelligent person is one who has higher degree of self-awareness about his emotions and can manage his own and other people's emotions in a healthy manner. According to Goleman, emotional intelligence has five dimensions-
(1) Knowing one’s own emotions: An emotionally intelligent person has high degree of self-awareness and is able to identify his feelings as and when they occur. A person can know his emotions only when he is able to know his feelings from time to time.
(2) Controlling one's own emotions: An individual with high emotional intelligence is not only capable of understanding his own feelings but also is able to control or manage his emotions and feelings effectively according to the demands of the situation.
Emotionally intelligent persons are able to deal successfully with conflicts in life.
(3) Self-motivation: Self-motivation means "the ability of individual to persist in setbacks and failures."
A person who is emotionally intelligent has the ability to motivate himself. He motivates himself even in ups and down of life. He puts his emotions in productive and healthy manner to achieve his goals. He always motivates or encourages him irrespective of whether the conditions are favourable or unfavourable. He tries to take situations to his side.
(4) Recognizing the emotions of others: Recognising the l emotions of others means that an emotionally intelligent person has the "ability to sense how others are feeling." It is the ability to understand the feelings of others. This involves developing empathy (understanding and sharing the feelings of others). In fact, empathy is an important feature of emotionally intelligent people. People with high level of empathy are able to succeed in caring professions like social work, nursing, etc. They are able to understand emotions, feelings and needs of others.
(5) Controlling the emotions of others / social skills: It refers to "the ability to handle the emotions of others."
Individuals with higher emotional intelligence are good in social relationship. They are able to interact effectively with others. They are highly capable of handling social relationships.
Spiritual Quotient (SQ) at workplace.
We have studied about the importance of Intelligent Quotient IQ and Emotional Quotient EQ at workplace. However, the concept of Spiritual Quotientn is also emerging as the next Big requirement at workplace. Spiritual Intelligence is related with the growth of human beings.
According to Zohar and Marshall "Spiritual Intelligence is our moral intelligence, giving us an innate ability to distinguish right from wrong It is the intelligence with which we exercise goodness, truth, beauty and compassion in our lives. According to them, there are 12 Qualities of Spiritual Quotient, they are.
i) Self- Awareness
Ii) Living in and being responsive to the moment.
Iii) Acting from principles and deep-belief and living according to them.
Iv) Humility
v) Valuing Diversity.
Vi) Ability to see larger patterns, relationships, and connections having a sense of belonging.
Vii) Compassion
Viii) Tendency to ask fundamental why' questions and seek answers.
Ix) Ability to work against convention.
x) Standing back from a situation and seeing the bigger picture.
Spiritual Quotient relates to an individual's ability to understand and comprehend the spiritual aspects of life. Computers have Intelligence Quotient (IQ), animals have Emotional Quotient (EQ), while human beings have Spiritual Quotient (SR) as well, this makes them different from machines and animals.
For being successful, an individual needs IQ, EQ and SQ.
Intelligence Quotient |
Emotional Quotient |
Spiritual Quotient |
Today employees are seeking more out of work than just pay cheque. They have a need to be a part of something greater that satisfies their need for accomplishment. An individual's spirituality is the essence of who he is? It defines the inner self. Spirituality in the workplace is about seeing work as a spiritual path, as an opportunity to grow personally and to contribute to the society. It is about learning to be caring and compassionate, with fellow employees and bosses.
DEFINTION:
According to Stephen Robbins Perception can be defined as "a process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment".
FEATURES OF PERCEPTION
1. Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us. It involves all those processes by which an individual receives information about his environment such as seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling.
2. Perception is composed of six processes; they are as follows:
(a) Receiving stimuli.
(b) Selecting
(c) Organising
(d) Interpreting
(e) Checking
(f) Reacting to stimuli (stimuli is anything to which we respond to, it may be object, event or personal).
3. Perception is influenced by three factors namely,
(a) Characteristics of the perceiver
(b) Characteristics of the target
(c) Characteristics of the situation
4. Individuals differ in their perceptions with regard to people and inanimate objects. An individual perceives people and inanimate objects in a different way. People have beliefs, motives or intentions while, inanimate objects do not have such beliefs, motives or intentions. They are subject to laws of nature. An individual's perception of another person's actions is based on these assumptions.
FACTORS INELUENCING INDIVIDUAL PERCEPTION
An individual's Perception Is influenced by three factors, they are:
(I) Characteristics of the Perceiver
(II) Characteristics of the Target
(III) Characteristics of the Situation
(I) Characteristics of the Perceiver:
Perception is greatly influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual perceiver.
A number of characteristics of the perceiver can affect individual perceiver perception. When an individual looks at the target and tries to make out what he stands for, that interpretation is influenced but the personal characteristics of the perceiver. The characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are as follows:
(1) Attitudes -
(a) The attitudes of the perceiver affect his perception about the target.
(b) For Example: An individual may not like to study. However, when his parents tell him that being educated will fetch him a good job he does not like their advice or even understand it as he has negative attitude towards studies. In this way, his attitude affects his perception about the target.
(2) Moods -
(a) An individual's mood has a strong influence on the way he perceives the target.
(b) An individual thinks differently when he is happy than he does when he is unhappy.
(c) An individual also remembers information that is consistent with his mood state better than that information that is inconsistent to his mood state.
(d) When an individual is in a positive mood, he tends to form positive impressions of others while, when he is in a negative mood, he tends to form negative impressions of others.
(3) Interest -
(a) An individual pays more attention to what he is interested in.
(b) Individuals differ in their interests.
(c) Two persons may perceive the same object or situation in different manner due to their differences in interest.
(d) For Example: Two individuals may differ in their likings towards a cake, one individual may like to have cake while other may feel that cake has too many calories and not like to have it.
(4) Motives -
(a) unsatisfied needs or motives have a strong impact on an individual s perception.
(b) For Example: An employee having an unsatisfied need of being praised may always try to do his work promptly and perfectly to get the praises of his manager.
(5) Cognitive Structure -
(a) Cognitive structure means an individual's pattern of thinking and processing information. It also has a strong impact on an individual's perception.
(b) Some individuals have a tendency to perceive physical traits like colour, height, weight etc.
(c) Others have a tendency to focus on personality characteristics.
(d) An individual's cognitive structure or pattern of thinking determines what he will perceive. He will perceive multiple characteristics or only a few characteristics of another individual.
(6) Self-concept -
(a) Self-concept is an individual's belief and attitudes about himself.
(b) An individual who has a positive self-concept tends to notice positive characteristics of others. (c) An individual with a negative self-concept tends to notice negative characteristics of others. (d) An individual who understands himself better has the ability to have accurate perception of others.
Apart from the above-mentioned factors, several other factors that influence an individual's perception are expectations, past experience, habits, values and personality.
(II) Characteristics of the Target
The characteristics of the target that is being observed also affects Perception. Important characteristics of the target affecting perception are as follows:
(1) Physical Appearance:
(a) Physical appearance of the target plays an important role in an individual s perception about him.
(b) An individual perceives physically attractive targets in a different manner than less attractive ones.
(c) Physically attractive targets are perceived to be Mo dominant, mentally healthy, intelligent, etc.
(d) Attractive individuals are more likely to be noticed in a group.
(2) Age:
(a) Age of the target also influences perception.
(b) Research has shown that perception differs as per the age of the target.
(c) For Example: Employees may perceive a Young manager differently than a middle aged one.
(3) Verbal Communication:
(a) Verbal communication from the target also affects an individual's perception about him.
(b) An individual makes judgement based on what the target speaks, how he speaks, his voice tone and his accent.
(4) Non-Verbal Communications:
(a) Nonverbal communication conveys a lot of information about the target.
(b) An individual forms impression of the target based on eye contact, body movements facial expressions, postures, etc. of the target.
(5) Motion, Sound and Size:
(a) Motion, Sound and size of the target also affects an individual's perception.
(b) Object of larger size attract more attention than the smaller one.
(c) Moving object gets more attention than object that standing still.
(III) Characteristics of the Situation
The situation or setting in which the interaction between the individual and the target takes place influences an individual’sinception of the target. The context in which we see objects or events is d great importance.
(1) The physical, social and organizational setting of the situation influences perception. For Example, Meeting a Lawyer friend in his office. The individual may feel in a different manner when he meets his friend in a restaurant or at a party but meeting the same lawyer friend in his office may make him feel about his friend's authority and power in the society
(2) The strength of the situational cues affects perception. Background characteristics of the situation affect how the situation is perceived by the individual. For Example: when an employee knows his boss personally as his best friend, he may interact very casually when he meets his boss outside office in a restaurant or at a party or at his residence But, when he meets his same boss at his office the employee behaves very formally. This is due to their characteristic of situation.
People use a number of shortcuts to judge others. Due to this reason, perceptual errors take place. Understanding this tendency helps in knowing from where errors have taken place. Let us study these perceptual errors in detail.
(1) Selective Perception
(a) Any characteristic that makes a target stand out increases their chances that it will be perceived.
(b) It is impossible for an individual to pay full attention to all that he sees, only a certain stimulus can be perceived by him.
(c) Selectivity is a shortcut that helps individuals 'Speed-read' others, this leads to wrong conclusions about them.
(d) Selective perception is the tendency of individuals to selectively interpret what they see on the basis of their interests, experience background and attitudes. It is the tendency of individuals to focus on certain aspects of the environment or situation while ignoring other aspects.
(e) Managers need to understand that while making decision at workplace they have to pay full attention to details and avoid making use of selective perception as this leads to wrong interpretation about others.
(2) Halo Effect
(a) Halo effect means an individual's tendency of perceiving people in terms of good and bad and associate all good qualities to one who is liked and bad qualities to another who is disliked. An individual draws a general opinion either favourable or unfavourable on the basis of a single characteristic of the target.
(b) For Example: A manager rating two of employees for a number of tasks. For one of his employees he may believe that since he is good in one task he may be good in another task. Hence, he over rates his positive characteristics.
(c) Halo effect does not always mean over rating positive characteristics. An individual may be downgraded based on his negative characteristics. This is called as "Rusty Halo Effect". For example: Information coming from chairman is over rated while the same information coming from an employee is down rated. If an individual is perceived as favourable on some characteristic than he is perceived to be favourable on other characteristic also. At work place, when this occurs the results are not accurate and the quality of results is compromised. It leads to unrealistic expectations from the employees. Assessment of an individual's effort depends on a manager’s perception about him. What is perceived by the manager may be far from real.
(d) Hence, Halo effect is one of the major causes of perceptual errors in managerial decision making at workplace.
(3) Stereotyping
(a) Stereotyping means judging someone on the basis of an individual’s perception of the group to which he belongs to. But when it is inaccurately stereotyped it leads to wrong perception. In perceiving the target an individual group, him based on some characteristic such a gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion nationality, occupation, weight, etc.
(b) An individual's experiences with people who belong to ai particular group make him generalize that all the people the same who belong to that same category possess the same characteristics.
(c) For Example:
(a) It is stereotyped that Indian culture does not allow drinking (b) Germans are industrious
(c) Workers are always against management.
(d) Managers have a bossy attitude. They can't be friendly.
While, it is true that stereotypes allow a manager with a short cut i to predict behaviour but sometimes stereotyped behaviours are not correct For Example: It is generalized that workers are anti management but it is not always true many times, they are management friendly.
From perception point of view, if managers expect to see these stereotypes, they will see it whether they are true or not Hence, managers need to understand that stereotypes are not always true.
(4) Prejudice
(a) Prejudice distorts perception. If an individual has prejudice against the target it will distort how he perceives him.
(b) Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. It is an unfavourable opinion formed without knowledge, thought or reason. Managers have to be free from prejudice for proper decision making.
(5) Attribution
(a) Attribution refers to judging the causes of other people’s behaviour
(b) An incorrect attribution may lead to wrong perception. An individual s perception depends very much on the attribution he makes. A manager observes behaviour of employees determines its causes.
(c) For Example: When a good quality product is sold in larger quantities in the market its demand is increasing. The marketing manager will not get the credit as the increase in demand is attributed to the quality of the product. Errors in perception take place because of attribution as more importance is given to behaviour rather than on environment. Managers give importance to the causes of other people’s behaviour and attribute behaviour to the individual rather than on environmental factors like intentions, status and consequences influence the attribution process. High status individuals are considered to be more responsible than low status individuals. High status individuals are perceived to have good intentions than low status individuals Hence, managers need to understand that giving too much importance to behaviour than environment leads to barriers in perception. They have to overcome these barriers for accurate perception of the target or situation.
Avoiding Perceptual error helps in:
-understanding the difference between the perceived world and real world.
-performance appraisal
-decision making
-employee hiring
-determining loyalty of employees.
