INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

MCQ
1: Organisational behaviour is_______
a) A science
b) An art
c) A science as well as an art
d) None of the above

2: Communication begins with _____

a. encoding
b. idea origination
c. decoding
d. channel selection

3: A study of the culture and practises in different societies is

called _____
a) Personality
b) Anthropology
c) Perception
d) Attitudes

4: Forces affecting organisational behaviour are _______

a) People
b) Environment
c) Technology
d) All of the above

5: Scope of Organizational Behaviour does not include ______

a. Leadership
b. Perception
c. Job Design
d. Technology

6: In present context, challenges for Organizational Behaviour

are _____
a) Employee expectation
b) Workforce diversity
c) Globalization
d) All of the above

7: Meso organisation behaviour is related with

a) Individual behaviour
b) Group behaviour
c) Organisational behaviour
d) None of these

8: Organizational behaviour focuses at 3 Levels-

a. Individuals, Organisation, Society
b. Society, Organisation, Nation
c. Employee, Employer, Management
d. Individual, Groups, Organisation

9: __________ is recognised as father of “Human relations”

a) William Gilbreth
b) Hendry Fayol
c) F.W.Taylor
d) Elton Mayo

10: Hawthorne Studies is related to which stage of the organisational

behaviour evolution?
a) Industrial revolution
b) Scientific management
c) Organisational behaviour
d) Human relations movement

11: Which of the following represents the correct sequencing of

historical developments of Organisational Behaviour?
a) Industrial revolution —> Scientific management –> Human
relations movement –> OB
b) Industrial revolution —> Human relations movement —> Scientific
management –> OB
c) Scientific management —> Human relations movement –>
Industrial revolution –> OB
d) None of these.

12: The field of organizational behaviour examines such questions as

the nature of leadership, effective team development, and______
b) Organisational control; conflict management
a) Interpersonal conflict resolution; motivation of individuals
c) Motivation of individuals; planning
d) Planning; development

13: Organisational Behaviour is a field of study backed by a body

associated with growing concern for people at the workplace
a) Theory
b) Research
c) Application
d) All of the above

14: Which of the following is not correct for the organisational

behaviour?
a) Organisational behaviour is an integral part of management
b) Organisational behaviour is a disciplinary approach
c) Organisational behaviour helps in analysis of behaviour
d) Organisational behaviour is goal-oriented

15: Which one of the following is the definition given by Fred

Luthans _____
a) Organisational behaviour is to understand, predicting and
controlling human behaviour at work
b) Organisational behaviour is subset of management activities
concerned to human behaviour
c) Organisational behaviour is a branch of social sciences that seeks
to build theories
d) Organisational behaviour is a field of study that investigates the
impact on behaviour

16: Contribution/s of human relations movement is/are

a) Great Depression
b) Labour Movement
c) Hawthorne Studies
d) All of these

17: Nowadays a lot of stress is being put on the __________ of the

employee in the organisation
a. Character
b. improvement
c. Behaviour
d. Rewards

18: The term ‘psychology’ is derived from the word ‘psyche’, which
means ‘soul’ or ‘spirit’_______
a) Latin
b) French
c) Greek
d) None of these

19: The field of organisational behaviour is primarily concerned

with _____
a) The behaviour of individual and groups.
b) How resources are effectively managed.
c) Control processes and interactions between organisations,
external context.
d) Both a and c.

20: The____________ is based on the environment.

Though____________ like thinking, expectations and perception do
exist, and they are not needed to manage or predict behaviour.
a) Behaviouristic approach, Cognitive processes,
b) cognitive processes, behaviouristic approach
c) Social cognitive, behaviouristic approach
d) Cognitive processes, social cognitive

21: Organisational Behaviour is the study of _____________ in the

organisation
A. Human
B. Employer
C. Human Behaviour
D. Employees

22: The Hawthorne experiment was conducted by________

a) William Gilbreth
b) Hendry Fayol
c) F.W.Taylor
d) Elton Mayo

23: OB Helps to understand behaviour of human in ___________.

a) work place and Society
b) work place only
c) Society only
d) Department only

24: OB does Not contribute to improve

a) Motivation
b) Efficiency
c) interpersonal relations
d) Communication

25: Due to emphasis on productivity & efficiency, employee are not

allowed to work with harmony with one another is a limitation
of_____
a) Organizational Cultural
b) Organizational Structure
c) Organizational Behaviour
d) Organisational Value

26: Common uniform, canteen, office does not mean common

treatment is a limitation of
a) Organizational Cultural
b) Organizational Structure
c) Organizational Behaviour
d) Organisational Value

27: Which of the following is not a contributing discipline of OB

a) Anthropology
b) Psychology
c) physiology
d) sociology

QUESTIONS
Q1: What do you mean by Organisational Behaviour? Discuss its
nature & scope. Why do you study OB?
Ans: . MEANING & DEFINITION
Organizational Behaviour is concerned with the understanding,
prediction and control of human behaviour in organizations. It
focuses on the individuals, the groups and the organization and also
on their interactional relationships. It is the study and application of
knowledge about how people act with organizations.
It is a human tool for human benefit. It applies broadly to the
behaviour of people in all types of organizations. Wherever
organizations are, there is a need to understand organizational
behaviour.
According to Fred Luthans, “Organisational behaviour is directly
concerned with the understanding, production and control of human
behaviour in organisations.”
NATURE
The nature/ characteristics of OB are as given below:
1. OB is a part of general management and not the whole of
management. It represents behavioural approach to management.
2. OB contains a body of theory, research and application associated
with a growing concern for people at the work place. It helps in
understanding human behaviour in work organizations.
3. OB is a human tool for human benefit. It helps in predicting the
behaviour of individuals.
4. OB is inter-disciplinary field of study. It tries to synthesize
knowledge drawn from various behavioural and social sciences such
as Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Political-science, Economics,
etc. In fact, OB is an applied behavioural science.
5. OB involves three levels of analysis of behaviour-individual
behaviour, group behaviour and behaviour of the organization itself.
6. OB is an action-oriented and goal-directed discipline. It provides a
rational thinking about people and their behaviour
7. OB is both a science and an art. The systematic knowledge about
human behaviour is a science. The application of behvioural
knowledge and skills clearly leans towardss being an art.
8. OB seeks to fulfil both employees’ needs and organizational
objectives.
SCOPE OF OB
“OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals,
groups, and structure have on behaviour within organizations, for
the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an
organisation’s effectiveness”.
The scope of OB involves three levels of behaviour in organizations:
individuals, groups and structure.
1. Individual Behaviour
(i) Personality
(ii) Perception
(iii) Values and Attitudes
(iv) Learning
(v) Motivation

2. Group Behaviour
(i) Work groups and group dynamics
(ii) Dynamics of conflict
(iii) Communciation
(iv) Leadership
(v) Morale
3. Organization: Structure, Process and Application
(i) Organizational Climate
(ii) Organizational Culture
(iii) Organizational Change
(iv) Organizational Effectiveness
(v) Organizational Development

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR/ WHY TO STUDY OB:

1. It builds better relationship by achieving, people, organizational,
and social objectives.
2. It covers a wide array of human resource like Behavior, training
and development, change management, leadership, teams etc.
3. It brings coordination which is the essence of management.
4. It improves goodwill of the organization.
5. It helps to achieve objectives quickly.
6. It makes optimum utilization of resources.
7. It facilitates motivation.
8. It leads to higher efficiency.
9. It improves relations in the organization.
10. It is multidisciplinary in the sense that applies different
techniques, methods, and theories to evaluate the performances.

Q2: Explain approaches of OB.

ANS: Organizational Behavior relates to the relationship between
employees and the employer in an organization. Both are working
towards the realization of the goals and objectives of any
organization, and a close and fruitful coordination between the two
is one of the major factors towards this realization.
Organizational behavior approaches are a result of the research done
by experts in this field.
These experts studied and attempted to quantify research done
about the actions and reactions of employees, with regard to their
work environments.
It is a field that has begun developing only recently and new
approaches and results are being expounded every day.
There are 4 Approaches to Organizational Behavior studies;

1. Human resources approach.

2. Contingency approach.
3. Productivity approach.
4. Systems approach.
And one more approach to study organizational behavior is
Interdisciplinary Approach.
Human Resources Approach
This approach recognizes the fact that people are the central
resource in any organization and that they should be developed
towards higher levels of competency, creativity, and fulfillment.
People thus contribute to the success of the organization.
The human resources approach is also called as the supportive
approach in the sense that the manager’s role changes from control
of employee to active support of their growth and performance.
The supportive approach contrasts with the traditional management
approach.
In the traditional approach, managers decided what employees
should do and closely monitored their performance to ensure task
accomplishment.
In the human resources approach, the role of managers changes
from structuring and controlling to supporting.
Contingency Approach
The contingency approach (sometimes called the situational
approach) is based on the premise that methods or behaviors which
work effectively in One situation fail in another.
For example; Organization Development (OD) programs, way work
brilliantly in one situation but fail miserably in another situation.
Results differ because situations differ, the manager’s task,
therefore, is to identify which method will, in a particular situation,
under particular circumstances, and at a particular time, best
contribute to the attainment of organization’s goals.
The strength of the contingency approach lies in the fact it
encourages analysis of each situation prior to action while at the
same time discourages the habitual practice of universal assumptions
about methods and people.
The contingency approach is also more interdisciplinary, more
system – oriented and more research-oriented titan any other
approach.
Productivity Approach
Productivity which is the ratio of output to input is a measure of an
organization’s effectiveness. It also reveals the manager’s efficiency
in optimizing resource utilization.
The higher the numerical value of this ratio, the greater the
efficiency.
Productivity is generally measured in terms of economic inputs and
outputs, but human and social inputs and outputs also are
important.
For example, if better organizational behavior can improve job
satisfaction, a human output or benefit occurs.
Organizational behavior decisions typically involve human, social,
and/or economic issues, and so productivity usually a significant part
of these decisions is recognized and discusses extensively in the
literature on OB.
Systems Approach
The Systems Approach to OB views the organization as a united,
purposeful system composed of interrelated parts.
This approach gives managers a way of looking at the organization as
a whole, whole, person, whole group, and the whole social system.
In so doing, the systems approach tells us that the activity of any
segment of an organization affects, in varying degrees the activity of
every other segment. A systems view should be the concern of every
person in an organization.
The clerk at a service counter, the machinist, and the manager all
work with the people and thereby influence the behavioral quality of
life in an organization and its inputs.
Managers, however, tend to have a larger responsibility, because
they are the ones who make the majority are people oriented.
The role of managers, then, is to use organizational behavior to help
build an organizational culture in which talents are utilized and
further developed, people are motivated, teams become productive,
organizations achieve their goals and society reaps the reward.
Inter-Disciplinary Approach
Organizational behavior is an integration of all other social sciences
and disciplines such as psychology, sociology, organizational theories
etc.
They all are interdependent and influence each other. The man is
studied as a whole and therefore, all disciplines concerning man are
integrated.

Q3: What are the challenges and opportunities in OB?

Ans: Challenges and opportunities for organizational behavior are
massive and rapidly changing for improving productivity and meeting
business goals. Although the problems with organizations and the
solutions over the ages have not changed, the emphasis and
surrounding environmental context certainly have changed.
Although the resulting lean and mean organizations offered some
short-run benefits in terms of lowered costs and improved
productivity, if they continued to do business, as usual, they would
not be able to meet current or future challenges.
As a Harvard Business Review article argues, “These are scary times
for managers”.
The singular reason given for these frightening times – the increasing
danger of disruptive change.
The nature of work is changing so rapidly that rigid job structures
impede the work to be done now, and that may drastically change
the following year, month, or even week.
Main challenges and opportunities of organizational behavior are;
1. Improving Peoples’ Skills.
2. Improving Quality and Productivity.
3. Total Quality Management (TQM).
4. Managing Workforce Diversity.
5. Responding to Globalization.
6. Empowering People.
7. Coping with Temporariness.
8. Stimulating Innovation and Change.
9. Emergence of E-Organisation & E-Commerce.
10. Improving Ethical Behavior.
11. Improving Customer Service.
12. Helping Employees Balance Work-Life Conflicts.
13. Flattening World.

Improving People’s Skills

Technological changes, structural changes, environmental changes
are accelerated at a faster rate in the business field.
Unless employees and executives are equipped to possess the
required skills to adapt to those changes, the targeted goals cannot
be achieved in time.
These two different categories of skills – managerial skills and
technical skills.
Some of the managerial skills include listening skills, motivating skills,
planning and organizing skills, leading skills, problem-solving skills,
decision-making skills.
These skills can be enhanced by organizing a series of training and
development programs, career development programs, induction,
and socialization
Improving Quality and Productivity

Quality is the extent to which the customers or users believe the

product or service surpasses their needs and expectations.
For example, a customer who purchases an automobile has a certain
expectation, one of which is that the automobile engine will start
when it is turned on.
If the engine fails to start, the customer’s expectations will not have
been met and the customer will perceive the quality of the car as
poor. The key dimensions of quality as follows.
 Performance: Primary rating characteristics of a product such
as signal coverage, audio quality, display quality, etc.
 Features: Secondary characteristics, added features, such as
calculators, and alarm clock features in handphone
  Conformance: meeting specifications or industry standards, the
workmanship of the degree to which a product’s design or
operating characteristics match pre-established standards
 Reliability: The probability of a product’s falling within a
specified period
 Durability: It is a measure of a product’s life having both
economic and technical dimension
 Services: Resolution of problem and complaints, ease of repair
 Response: Human to human interfaces, such as the courtesy of
the dealer « Aesthetics: Sensory characteristics such exterior
finish
 Reputations: Past performance and other intangibles, such as
being ranked first.
More and more managers are confronting to meet the challenges to
fulfill the specific requirements of customers.
To improve quality and productivity, they are implementing
programs like total quality management and reengineering programs
that require extensive employee involvement.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy of management
that is driven by the constant attainment of customer satisfaction
through the continuous improvement of all organizational processes.
The components of TQM are;
(a) An intense focus on the customer,
(b) Concern for continual improvement,
(c) Improvement in the quality of everything the organization does,
(d) Accurate measurement and,
(e) Empowerment of employees.
Managing Workforce Diversity
This refers to employing different categories of employees who are
heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, relation,
community, physically disadvantaged, elderly people, etc.
The primary reason to employ the heterogeneous category of
employees is to tap the talents and potentialities, harnessing the
innovativeness, obtaining synergetic effect among the divorce
workforce.
In general, employees wanted to retain their individual and cultural
identity, values and lifestyles even though they are working in the
same organization with common rules and regulations.
The major challenge for organizations is to become more
accommodating to diverse groups of people by addressing their
different lifestyles, family needs, and work styles.
Responding to Globalization
oday’s business is mostly market-driven; wherever the demands exist
irrespective of distance, locations, climatic conditions, the business
operations are expanded to gain their market share and to remain in
the top rank, etc. Business operations are no longer restricted to a
particular locality or region.
The company’s products or services are spreading across nations
using mass communication, the internet, faster transportation, etc.
More than 95% of Nokia (Now Microsoft) handphones are being sold
outside of their home country Finland.
Japanese cars are being sold in different parts of the globe. Sri
Lankan tea is exported to many cities around the globe.
Garment products of Bangladesh are exporting in the USA and EU
countries. Executives of Multinational corporations are very mobile
and move from one subsidiary to another more frequently.
Empowering People
The main issue is delegating more power and responsibility to the
lower level cadre of employees and assigning more freedom to make
choices about their schedules, operations, procedures and the
method of solving their work-related problems.
Encouraging the employees to participate in the work-related
decision will sizable enhance their commitment to work.
Empowerment is defined as putting employees in charge of what
they do by eliciting some sort of ownership in them.
Managers are doing considerably further by allowing employees full
control of their work.
Movement implies constant change an increasing number of
organizations are using self-managed teams, where workers operate
largely without a boss.
Due to the implementation of empowerment concepts across all the
levels, the relationship between managers and the employees is
reshaped.
Managers will act as coaches, advisors, sponsors, facilitators and help
their subordinates to do their tasks with minimal guidance.
Coping with Temporariness
In recent times, the product life cycles are slimming, the methods of
operations are improving, and fashions are changing very fast. In
those days, the managers needed to introduce major change
programs once or twice a decade.
Today, change is an ongoing activity for most managers.
The concept of continuous improvement implies constant change.
In yesteryears, there used to be a long period of stability and
occasionally interrupted by a short period of change, but at present,
the change process is an ongoing activity due to competitiveness in
developing new products and services with better features.
Everyone in the organization faces today is one of permanent
temporariness. The actual jobs that workers perform are in a
permanent state of flux.
So, workers need to continually update their knowledge and skills to
perform new job requirements.
Stimulating Innovation and Change
Today’s successful organizations must foster innovation and be
proficient in the art of change; otherwise, they will become
candidates for extinction in due course of time and vanished from
their field of business.
Victory will go to those organizations that maintain flexibility,
continually improve their quality, and beat the competition to the
market place with a constant stream of innovative products and
services.
For example, Compaq succeeded by creating more powerful personal
computers for the same or less money than EBNM or Apple, and by
putting their products to market quicker than the bigger competitors.
The emergence of E-Organisation & E-Commerce
It refers to the business operations involving the electronic mode of
transactions. It encompasses presenting products on websites and
filling the order.
The vast majority of articles and media attention given to using the
Internet in business are directed at online shopping.
In this process, the marketing and selling of goods and services are
being carried out over the Internet.
In e-commerce, the following activities are being taken place quite
often – the tremendous numbers of people who are shopping on the
Internet, business houses are setting up websites where they can sell
goods, conducting the following transactions such as getting paid and
fulfilling orders.
It is a dramatic change in the way a company relates to its
customers. At present e-commerce is exploding. Globally, e-
commerce spending was increasing at a tremendous rate.
Improving Ethical Behavior
The complexity in business operations is forcing the workforce to
face ethical dilemmas, where they are required to define right and
wrong conduct to complete their assigned activities.
 Should the employees of a chemical company blow the whistle
if they uncover the discharging its untreated effluents into the
river are polluting its water resources?
 Do managers give an inflated performance evaluation to an
employee they like, knowing that such an evaluation could save
that employee’s job?
The ground rules governing the constituents of good ethical behavior
has not been clearly defined, Differentiating right things from wrong
behavior has become more blurred.
Following unethical practices have become a common practice such
as successful executives who use insider information for personal
financial gain, employees in competitor businesses participating in
massive cover-ups of defective products, etc.
Improving Customer Service
OB can contribute to improving organizational performance by
showing drat how employees’ attitudes and behavior are associated
with customer satisfaction.
In that case, service should be the first production-oriented by using
technological opportunities like a computer, the internet, etc.
To improve customer service we need to provide sales service and
also the after-sales service.
Helping Employees Balance Work-Life Conflicts
The typical employee in the 1960s or 1970s showed up at the
workplace Monday through Friday and did his or her job 8 or 9-hour
chunk of time.
The workplace and hours were specified. That’s no longer true for a
large segment of today’s workforce.
Employees are increasingly complaining that the line between work
and non-work time has become blurred, creating personal conflict
and stress.
Many forces have contributed to blurring the lines between
employees’ work life and personal life.
First, the creation of global organizations means their world never
sleeps. At any time and on any day, for instance, thousands of
General Electric employees are working somewhere.
Second, communication technology allows employees to do their
work at home, in their cars, or on the beach in Cox’s Bazar.
This lets many people in technical and professional jobs do their
work anytime and from any place.
Third, organizations are asking employees to put in longer hours.
Finally, fewer families have only a single breadwinner. Today’s
married employee is typically part of a dual-career couple. This
makes it increasingly difficult for married employees to find the time
to fulfill commitments to home, spouse, children, parents, and
friends.
Today’s married employee is typically part of a dual-career couple.
This makes it increasingly difficult for married employees to find the
time to fulfill commitments to home, spouse, children, parents, and
friends.
Employees are increasingly recognizing that work is squeezing out
personal lives and they’re not happy about it.
For example, recent studies suggest that employees want jobs that
give them flexibility in their work schedules so they can better
manage work/life conflicts.
Also, the next generation of employees is likely to show similar
concerns.
A majority of college and university students say that attaining a
balance between personal life and work is a primary career goal.
They want a life as well as a job.
Flattening World
Thomas Friedman’s book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the
Twenty-First Century makes the point that the Internet has
“flattened” the world and created an environment in which there is a
more level playing field in terms of access to information.
This access to information has led to an increase in innovation, as
knowledge can be shared instantly across time zones and cultures.
It has also created intense competition, as the speed of business is
growing faster and faster all the time.

UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

MCQ
1: ________ refers to evaluative statements or judgments
concerning objects, people, or events.
(a) Attitude
(b) Behavior
(c) Appearance
(d) Demeanor

2: The statement, "A person who eats meat and then fights for
animal rights demonstrate double standards" is an evaluative
statement. Such an opinion constitutes the ________ component of
an attitude.
(a) cognitive
(b) affective
(c) reflective
(d) behavioural

3: Which of the following statements represents the cognitive

component of attitude?
(a) I have decided to inform my supervisor that I will be quitting
my job.
(b) I intend to work during the weekend to meet the month's
deadline.
(c) I feel upset about having to work during Christmas.
(d) This job is not giving me the opportunity to explore my skills.

4: Which of the following is an example of the affective component

of an attitude?
(a) Believing that one achieved all objectives of a project
(b) Relying on the information of a company's annual report
(c) Perceiving whistle-blowing as the right thing to do
(d) Feeling hurt at being unfairly accused of a wrongdoing

5: Janvi feels disheartened because she was not selected for the
campaign exchange program in Ahmedabad. Which component of an
attitude does Janvi's feeling represent?
(a) Cognitive
(b) Affective
(c) Reflective
(d) Behavioral

6: The theory of cognitive dissonance was proposed by ________.

(a) Abraham Maslow
(b) Leon Festinger
(c) Geert Hofstede
(d) Daryl Bem
7: Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between
behavior and attitudes results in ________.
(a) organizational dissonance
(b) cognitive dissonance
(c) attitudinal clarification
(d) positivity offset

8: Leon Festinger argued that ________ follow(s) ________.

(a) behavior; attitudes
(b) emotions; attitude
(c) attitudes; behavior
(d) thought processes; moods

9: Employees with ________ strongly identify with and care about

the kind of work they do.
(a) high job involvement
(b) high cognitive dissonance
(c) low psychological empowerment
(d) low organizational commitment

10: ________ refers to a positive feeling about one's job resulting

from an evaluation of its characteristics.
(a) Job satisfaction
(b) Job design
(c) Positivity offset
(d) Constructive dismissal

11: Which of the following statements represents a person's job

attitude?
(a) I enjoy my work because it offers me challenges and helps me
hone my networking skills.
(b) I believe my work has a direct impact on the processes of the
organization.
(c) I believe my work performance indicates my caliber and
potential.
(d) I agree with the organization about its commitment to the
environment.

12: Which of the following actions best represents Kelly's high job
involvement?
(a) Kelly always complains about her work to her colleagues.
(b) Kelly actively takes part in team activities and proactively
takes up additional job responsibilities.
(c) Kelly shares the organization's vision of supporting renewable
energy.
(d) Kelly dislikes the unethical practices followed by her employer.

13: Which of the following questions best helps understand an

employee's organizational commitment?
(a) Do you feel you have a good working relationship with team
members?
(b) Do you feel the organization will take care of you and your
family in times of need?
(c) Do you believe in the organization's objective of sustainable
work practices?
(d) Does the organization provide valuable feedback to help you
increase productivity?

14: ________ is the degree to which employees believe the

organization values their contribution and cares about their well-
being.
(a) Psychological empowerment
(b) Employee engagement
(c) Perceived organizational support
(d) Organizational commitment

15: Employees are most likely to perceive their organization as

supportive when ________.
(a) they experience a cognitive dissonance between their job
attitude and behavior
(b) the affective component of the attitude is extremely strong
(c) there is a weak relationship between their attitude and
behavior
(d) they have a voice in decisions

16: The most important thing a manager can do to raise employee

satisfaction is to focus on ________.
(a) employee pay
(b) benefits
(c) work hours
(d) intrinsic parts of the job

17: A satisfied workforce does not guarantee successful

organizational performance. In order to improve organizational
effectiveness, managers ________.
(a) must use 360-degrees appraisal procedures
(b) must try to improve employee attitudes
(c) must make jobs easier and targets achievable
(d) must offer periodic salary increments

18: ________ is the process by which individuals organize and

interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their
environment.
(a) Sensation
(b) Impression
(c) Perception
(d) Attribution

19: Which of the following statements is true regarding perception?

(a) The perception of reality is independent of one's personality.
(b) Our perception of a target is not affected by the context of the
situation in which the perception is made.
(c) Our perception of reality can be different from objective
reality.
(d) Our perception of reality is independent of our past
experiences.

20: Which of the following is a factor present in a target which may

affect a person's perception?
(a) Attitude
(b) Motive
(c) Interest
(d) Novelty

21: Which of the following is a factor present in a situation which

may affect a person's perception?
(a) Similarity
(b) Size
(c) Expectation
(d) Time

22: When systems undergo transition, it creates;

(a) Uncertainty and Confusion
(b) Certainty and Confusion
(c) Uncertainty and Clarity
(d) Certainty and Clarity

23: As per the Indian perspective, knowledge is a species of;

(a) Logic
(b) Reasoning
(c) Awareness
(d) Feelings

24: _______ explains the ways in which we judge people differently,

depending on the meaning we assign to a given behavior.
(a) Attribution theory
(b) Equity theory
(c) Object relations theory
(d) Attachment theory

25: According to the attribution theory, if everyone who faces a

similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior
shows ________.
(a) distinctiveness
(b) tractability
(c) consensus
(d) consistency

QUESTIONS

Q1: What is Biographical Characteristics in Organizational

Behavior?
Ans: Biographical Characteristics Definition
‘Personal characteristics - such as age, gender, race, and length of
tenure - that are objective and easily obtained from personnel
records. These characteristics are representative of surface-level
diversity.’
Biographical Characteristics Explanation
Biological attributes are characters or characters that impact an
individual. These attributes regularly influence an individual in one
manner or the other inside an association or inside society. Individual
attributes, for example, age, sexual orientation, race and length of
residency that are target and effectively gotten from work force
records are instances of true to life qualities. Think about "memoir,"
which means a story or point by point portrayal of somebody's life.
To create a memoir, explore regarding the matter of the life story
must be done, and true to life qualities are noted. Numerous
businesses do inquire about on these attributes to pick the most
ideal possibility for the activity.

Q2: What are different types of Individual Behaviour?

Ans: There are five types of individual behaviours that enable
organization to interact with their environment; acquire share; and
use knowledge to the best advantage and meet the needs of various
stakeholder.
The below diagrams highlight the five type of individual behavior;
task performance, organizational citizenship, counterproductive
work behaviors, joining and staying with the organization, and work
attendance
1. Task Performance
It refers to goals directed behaviors under individual’s control that
support organizational objectives. Task performance behaviors
transform raw materials into goods and services or support and
maintain technical activities. For example, foreign exchange traders
at Wachovia make decisions and take actions to exchange currencies.
Employees in most jobs have more than one performance
dimension. Foreign exchange traders must be able to identify
profitable trades, work cooperatively with clients and co-workers in a
stressful environment, assist in training new staff, and work on
special telecommunications equipment without error. Some of these
performance dimensions are more important than others, but only
by considering all of them can we fully evaluate an employee’s
contribution to the organization.
 
2. Organizational Citizenship
Companies could not effectively compete, transform resources, or
serve the needs of their stakeholders if employees performed only
their formal job duties. Employees also need to engage in
organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) —various forms of
cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the
organization’s social and psychological context. In other words,
companies require contextual performance (i.e., OCBs) along with
task performance.
 
Organizational citizenship behaviors take many forms. Some are
directed toward individuals, such as assisting co-workers with their
work problems, adjusting your work schedule to accommodate co-
workers, showing genuine courtesy toward coworkers, and sharing
your work resources (supplies, technology, staff) with co-workers.
 
3. Counterproductive Work Behavior
Organizational behavior is interested in all workplace behaviors,
including those on the “dark side,” collectively known as
counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). CWBs are voluntary
behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the
organization. They include abuse of others (e.g., insults and nasty
comments), threats (threatening harm), work avoidance (e.g.,
tardiness), work sabotage (doing work incorrectly), and overt acts
(theft). CWBs are not minor concerns. One recent study found that
units of a fast-food restaurant chain with higher CWBs had a
significantly worse performance, whereas organizational citizenship
had a relatively minor benefit.
 
4. Joining and Staying with the Organization
Task performance, organizational citizenship, and the lack of
counterproductive work behaviors are obviously important, but if
qualified people don’t join and stay with the organization, none of
these performance-related behaviors will occur. Attracting and
retaining talented people is particularly important as worries about
skill shortages heat up.
 
Companies survive and thrive not just by hiring people with talent or
potential; they also need to ensure that these employees stay with
the company. Organizations with high turnover suffer because of the
high cost of replacing people who leave. When people leave, some of
this vital knowledge is lost, often resulting in inefficiencies, poorer
customer service, and so forth. This threat is not trivial: Between
one-third and one-half of employees say they would change
companies if offered a comparable job.
 
5. Maintaining Work Attendance
Along with attracting and retaining employees, organizations need
everyone to show up for work at scheduled times. Situational factors
—such as severe weather or car breakdown—explain some work
absences. Motivation is another factor. Employees who experience
job dissatisfaction or work-related stress are more likely to be absent
or late for work because taking time off is a way to temporarily
withdraw from stressful or dissatisfying conditions. Absenteeism is
also higher in organizations with generous sick leave because this
benefit limits the negative financial impact of taking time away from
work. Studies have found that absenteeism is also higher in teams
with strong absence norms, meaning that team members tolerate
and even expect co-workers to take time off.
 
Q3: What is individual behaviour in an organisation? Discuss factors
influencing this behaviour.
Ans: Individual behaviour refers to the way in which an individual
reacts or behaves at his place of work. It can be defined as a
combination of reactions to internal and external stimuli. Individual
behaviour defines how a person will respond under distinct
conditions and will express different emotions such as happiness,
rudeness, love, anger etc. It refers to some concrete action by an
individual. Study of individual behaviour reveals the behaviour of
human at the working environment. Behaviour of an individual have
a great influence on the performance of organization. Positive
behaviour will lead to enhance the productivity. Whereas on another
hand, negative behaviour will cause damages and bring heavy losses
for company.
Factors Influencing Individual Behaviour
Various factors affecting the individual behaviour is classified into
following categories: –
1. Personal Factors
2. Environmental Factors
3. Organizational Factors
Personal Factors
Personal factors are of 2 types: Biographic and Learned
Characteristics
Biographic Characteristics: Biographic characteristics are genetic
nature and are inherited by individual by their parents or forefathers.
These are gifted features that an individual possesses by birth. All of
these biographic characteristics are listed below: –
 Psychical Characteristics- Personal characteristics relates to
skin, complexion, vision, height, weight, size of nose etc. which
influence the performance of individual. A person with good
physical characteristics have an attractive personality, they
dress well and behave gently in an organization.
 Age- Age is an individual inherited characteristic that is
determined by date of birth. Young people are expected to be
more efficient, energetic, risk-taking, innovative and ambitious.
 Gender- Gender is an inherited characteristic as being a men or
women is genetic in nature. Woman are expected to be more
emotional than men and generates high turnover rates. It is
due to more likeness of woman quitting their job citing
personal reasons.
 Religion- Religious values of individual influence distinct
aspects of his/her behaviour in organization. Highly religious
person is stricter towards following moral values, ethics and
code of conduct while performing their roles.
  Marital Status- Researcher indicated that with marital status,
responsibilities of individual get inclined and for them having
steady proper job becomes more important. Such employees
have less absences, low turnovers and more job satisfaction.
Learned Characteristics: Learned characteristics refers to the
changes in persons behaviour that comes from his/her interactions
with environment. 
 Personality- Personality solely do not refer to physical
characteristics of person but indicates the growth of
individual’s psychological system. These are the personal traits
of persons that comprises of patience, extrovertness,
dominance, aggressiveness etc.
 Perception- It is a viewpoint of individual through which it
interprets a particular situation. Perception is defined as a
process via which information enters mind and an
interpretation takes place for providing some sensible meaning
to world.
 Values- These are global beliefs that guides distinct actions and
judgements in several situations. It comprises of idea of an
individual that is based on good, right and desirable opinions.
Environmental Factors
The external environment has an effective role in influencing the
individual behaviour.
 Employment level- Employment opportunities available within
the country act as a major determinant of individual behaviour.
In case of less employment opportunities, he/she will remain
stick to same job level irrespective of how much satisfaction is
attained. However, if there are more employment
opportunities available then employees will shift to other jobs. 
 Wages Rate- Monetary compensation is a major factor that
every employee considers before joining any organization.
Therefore, a decision whether to stay in a particular company
or shift anywhere else is taken on the basis of wages he/she is
getting.
  General Economic Environment- Economic cycle in a country
greatly influences the behaviour of individual in an
organization. They are subject to retrenchment and layoffs. Job
security and a stable income are the most relevant factors of
motivation for these type of employees. Whereas, employees
of public sector undertakings are not affected by economic
position within the country as they receive their fixed salaries
irrespective of economic conditions.
 Political Factors- Political factors indirectly influences the
behaviour of an individual. In a politically stable environment,
there will be large opportunities of steady job positions. It will
provide better freedom to individual which will influence their
career choice, performance and jib design.
Organizational Factors
Wide range of organizational factors influence behaviour of
individual which are listed below: –
 Physical Facilities- Physical environment at work place have a
great influence on behaviour of individual. It comprises of
factors like lighting, cleanliness, heat, noise level, office
furnishing, strength of workers etc.
 Structure and Design- It is concerned with set-up design of
departments within an organization. Individual behaviour is
influenced by where an individual perfectly fits in a hierarchy of
organization.
 Reward System- Fair reward system adopted by company for
compensating its employees enhances the overall performance
and behaviour of individual.
 PERSONALITY
MCQ
1: Freud's theory of personality is popularly known as
 The ld-Ego-Superego
 Psychoanalysis theory of personality
 Psychoanalytical theory of personality
 Psychological theory of personality

2: The way in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities,

perception, altitudes, values and ethics differ from one individual to
another is referred to as.
a)PersonaIity
b)lndividual differences
c)The basis for group differences
d)Variation in traits

3: A relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an

individual's behaviour defines
 Behavioural predispositions
 Personality
 The humanistic approach to behaviour
 The approach emphasizing the perceptual process
4: The immaturity to maturity continuum of personality development
was proposed by
 Chris Argyris
 Max Weber
 Sigmund Freud
  Vilfredo Pareto

5: According to Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytical theory, ethical or

moral part of personality with perfection as its goal is called
 ld
 Ego
 Superego
 Supreme Ego

6: Type A people
 enjoy leisure time
 struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time
 never suffer from a sense of time urgency
 none of these

7: According to Sigmund Freud's Psychoanalytical theory, ethical or

moral part of personality with perfection as its goal is called
 ld
 Ego
 Super Ego
 Supreme Ego

8: Instinct theory of personality was developed by

 Freud
 Jung
 Maslow
 Lewin
9: ……… states that people have unconscious needs drives, motives
and desires for personality development.
 Freudian theory
 Levinson theory
 Jungian theory
 Neo-Freudian theory
10: The overall value one places on oneself as a person is
 self-actualization
 self esteem
 self-efficacy
 all of these

11: Which one of the following is a type of projective technique used

for personality assessment?
 Rorschach/ink-blot test
 Delphi technique
 instrumentality
 fixed interval schedule

12: How did Freud describe the super ego?

 the agent of adaptation
 an internalization of parental values
 the primary process
 the engine

13: People with which type of personality trait commonly make poor
decisions because they make them too fast?
  type As
 self-monitors
 type Bs
 extroverts

14: Some people think that what happens to them is a result of fate,
chance, luck etc. this is
a) extroversion
b) internal locus of control
c) conscientiousness
d) external locus of control

15: High "Machs" are people

 who are highly emotional
 who are no pragmatic
 who believe that ends can always justify means
 who believe "If it works, use it"

16: Which dimension of Big 5 personality traits represents artistically

sensitive, refined etc.
a) Culture
b) Conscientiousness
c) Emotional stability
d) Extroversion
17: Which one of the following is related to Sigmend Freud's
psychoanalytical theory?
a)ld
b) Ego
c) Super Ego
d) All of these

18: Mismatch between personality and organization may lead(s) to

(A) Confusion and chaos
(B) Loss of interest by members in organization
(C) Low morale and job satisfaction
(D) All of the above

19: Roger’s defines the ________ as an organized, consistent,

conceptual gestalt composed of perceptions of the characteristics of
the ‘I’ or ‘me’.
(A) The self concept
(B) The work concept
(C) The team concept
(D) None of the above

20: Identify the process influence personality development.

(A) Socialization process
(B) Identification process
(C) Both (A) and (B)
(D) None of the above

QUESTIONS

Q1: Describe how individual personality and behavior impacts the

typical contemporary work experience
Ans: Every work environment is different. While there may be
similarities between them, every organization is comprised of
different people which creates a unique groupings of personalities.
While every organization is different, there are certain similarities we
can discuss to comprise a “typical” contemporary work experience.
Understanding personality traits is the key to predicting behavior and
understanding how situations can influence individuals.
As we have discussed in many of the previous modules,
organizational behavior operates on three levels. This section will
also evaluate how work experience can differ at each level. Keep in
mind while reviewing this section that there are outliers to every
situation. The first part of this module will examine a typical work
experience and how to best understand and navigate it.
Personality Traits
Recognizing your personality traits is the first step in successfully
achieving your goals. Being able to capitalize on your strengths and
also understanding how to strengthen your weaknesses is the
cornerstone of success. When we use our personality to make
decisions best suited for ourselves, we are more likely to find long-
lasting happiness and satisfaction. Similarly, understanding the
personalities of others will help us to form stronger relationships.
In some ways, finding someone with differing personality traits can
be beneficial. Relationships involving individuals with opposite
personalities can challenge each person to view situations from a
different perspective. In the workplace, differing personality traits
are important to creating a diverse workplace where creativity and
varying ideas can thrive. At the same time, it is also important to
surround yourself with people who have similar core beliefs, values,
and goals. If you are generally a positive person but choose to
surround yourself with negative people, you will most likely become
more pessimistic. This type of toxic personality trait can be
detrimental to the workplace. Hiring employees while taking their
personality into consideration (through behavioral based interview
questions, personality tests, etc.) can help foster an inclusive and
positive work environment.
Before we dive into the varying types of personalities and how
personality traits can be categorized we first need to address the
difference between personality and character. Though the two are
often used interchangeably, they are indeed two different topics.
Personality is fairly easy to identify early in a relationship. Even when
just first meeting someone, it is easy to tell if that person is outgoing,
talkative, funny, or energetic. It is also easy to determine if someone
is boring, negative, or shy. On the other hand, character traits such
as loyalty, honesty, kindliness, etc. are harder to identify immediately
upon meeting someone. Character traits require experience with an
individual to fully understand and interpret their choices and actions.
While having a strong character is extremely important for any
strong relationship, for the purpose of this section, we will focus
primarily on personality.
Thousands of personality traits have been identified over the years.
It would be nearly impossible to find an effective way to identify
each and every one of an individual’s personality traits. To help
streamline the process, multiple types of personality tests are
available to help individuals recognize their strengths, preferences,
communication style, among many other important characteristics.
Let’s look into some of the most popular personality tests used
today.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
First, let’s examine the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). This test
was created by Isabel Myers and her mother, Katherine Briggs. They
made the first assessment in the 1940s based on their familiarity
with Carl Jung’s theory on personality types. Myers and Briggs did
not intend to point out people’s flaws but instead aimed to help
people better understand themselves so they could live a happier
life. They used four different scales in their assessment:
1. What energizes you and gets you excited?
 Extraversion (E): Are you a person who draws energy
from the outside world of people, things, activities or
interaction most of the time? (Keywords: external,
outside thrust, talks out, thinks of many things, involved
with people/things, interaction, action, do-think-do)
 Introversion (I): Are you a person who draws energy from
the internal world of ideas, emotions or impressions most
of the time? (Keywords: internal, inside thrust, hold back
on comments, thinks deeply of few things, involved with
own thought, work alone, reserve, think-do-think)
2. Where do you put most of your attention?
 Sensing (S): Do you prefer to take in information through
the five senses, noticing what is here and now most of the
time? (Keywords: The five senses, what is real, practical,
present orientation, facts, using established skills, utility,
step-by-step)
  Intuition (N): Do you prefer to take in information
through a “sixth sense,” noticing what might be most of
the time? (Keywords: sixth sense, hunches, what could
be, theoretical, future possibilities, insight, earning new
skills, novelty, leap around)
3. What do you value most when making a decision or judgment?
 Thinking (T): Do you prefer organizing and structuring
information and deciding in a logical, objective way most
of the time? (Keywords: head, logical system, objective,
justice, critique, principles, reason, firm but fair)
 Feeling (F): Do you prefer organizing and structuring
information to decide in a personal, value-oriented way
most of the time? (Keywords: heart, value system,
subjective, mercy, compliment, harmony, empathy,
compassionate)
4. What do you show outwardly most of the time?
 Judging (J): Do you prefer living a planned and organized
life and are strong on decision making most of the time?
(Keywords: plan oriented, regulate, control situation,
settled, run one’s life, set goals, decisive, organized)
 Perceiving (P): Do you prefer for living a spontaneous and
flexible life and are strong on information gathering most
of the time? (Keywords: spontaneous oriented, flow
along, adapt to situation, tentative, let life happen, gather
information, open, flexible)
Based on how they answered questions in each category,
participants receive a four letter code using one letter from each of
the four categories listed above (e.g., ISTJ, ENFP). These four letter
codes categorize individuals into 16 different personality types.
The Big Five
Another popular way to assess a person’s personality is the The Big
Five. The Big Five is a psychology based assessment that focuses on
five wide-ranging categories that describe personality. The acronym
used for The Big Five is OCEAN and include openness,
conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Openness
People high in openness are more likely to be creative thinkers and
enjoy taking on new activities and challenges. People low in this trait
tend to be less imaginative and may not do well with change.
Conscientiousness
People high in conscientiousness are good at planning ahead,
organizing details, and meeting deadlines. They are also mindful of
others and understand how their decisions and actions can influence
those around them. People who are low in conscientiousness
procrastinate on or fail to complete tasks. They also tend to be shy
away from schedules and live unorganized lives.
Extraversion
People high in extraversion enjoy meeting new people and inserting
themselves into gatherings and conversations. They tend to make
friends easily and have a large group of friends. People low in
extraversion, also known as introverts, prefer seclusion over
company. They also try to avoid small talk and being at the center of
attention.
Agreeableness
People high in agreeableness show a genuine concern for others.
They are known for helping others in need and feeling empathy for
the struggles of others. On the other hand, people low in
agreeableness tend to act rude and inconsiderate towards others or
even use manipulation to put their own needs above anyone else.
Neuroticism
Someone high in neuroticism tends to be very moody, stressed, and
anxious. They may get stressed and upset easily. People low in
neuroticism tend to be emotionally stable and do not allow stressors
to effect their mood
Each personality test we discussed are used today to help companies
better understand their employees or employee candidates. It is
important to remember that there are thousands of different
personality traits. Each individual has their own unique set and
combination of personality traits. While each of the personality tests
we discussed in this module are effective in their own right, there is
no exact science to identifying each and every personality trait
present in an individual. In addition, many personality tests are
based upon an individual’s self-assessment and results may differ
from day to day. Personality tests may help to confirm things you
already believed to be true or they may open your eyes to a side of
yourself you didn’t realize existed. Let’s move onto the next section
to examine how an individual’s personality can help to predict their
choices and behavior.
Personality and Behavior
As we discussed in the last section, personality traits do not fall
under a one-size-fits-all category. Every individual has their own
unique personality that helps to form their outlook on life and
shapes their interactions with others. Imagine being able to take an
individual’s personality fingerprint and predict how they would act in
any given scenario. While seeing into the future is impossible, using
personality traits to predict an individual’s behavior is on the
spectrum of possibilities.
Personalities have been studied and discussed dating back to Ancient
Greece and Roman times. Research has been conducted for years
and years to try to determine how to properly predict behavior using
an individual’s personality traits. However, in the 1970s, after years
of research and testing, psychologists Daryl Bem and Walter Mischel
had limited success in making consistently successful predictions [1].
Their frustrations led them to believe that situational factors and
stressors were more responsible for decisions than an individual’s
personality.
So which is it? Is it personality or the situation that plays a leading
role in influencing a person’s behavior? The short answer is both.
Many people expect a clear-cut answer to the question. However,
that is an impossible task when it comes to predicting behavior. It is
important to take into account the individual’s personality in
addition to the situation they find themselves in. The next section
will discuss how situations can influence behavior, but for the
purpose of this section, let’s explore the benefits and limitations of
using personality to predict behavior.
Personality traits are all on a spectrum. The more extreme an
individual is on the spectrum, the easier it is to predict their
behavior. Since many personality tests focus on broad traits (OCEAN
for example), there is a wide range for interpretation. Let’s look at
introverts versus extraverts as an example. Everyone falls
somewhere on the introvert vs. extravert scale. Even if you are more
of an extravert than an introvert you may still not be considered a
very outgoing person. Depending on the group of individuals you find
yourself with may also change others’ perception of you. For
example, if you are surrounded by extremely extraverted people,
you may appear to be introverted, even though you consider
yourself an extravert. Similar to weight or height, everyone has a
measurement unique to them but it may appear to be higher or
lower when compared to that of others. According to McAndrew, [2]
Research has shown that the more to one of the extremes a person
falls on a trait, the more consistently the trait will be a factor in his or
her behavior.
It is also important to take into consideration that observing
personality traits in multiple scenarios can be more accurate in
predicting behavior. Trying to make a prediction based on a single
interaction does not paint a completely accurate picture of an
individual. Being able to observe the varying degrees of an
individual’s personality can help to better understand a person and
determine the best way to maximize their strengths and support
their weaknesses
So how is predicting behavior helpful in the workplace? Using
personality traits to form workgroups and teams can be extremely
beneficial in the long run. As we discussed in previous modules,
diversity is important to success. At the same time, pairing together
like-minded individuals can help to promote efficiency and
collaboration. Using personality traits and tests to form teams can
help to bring together a beautifully balanced group. It is important to
keep in mind; however, that observing an individual’s personality
multiple times may provide additional insight into how they operate.
It is extremely important to utilize new found information and
observations to rearrange team dynamics.
Personality traits alone cannot successfully predict behavior.
Situations also play an important role in determining how an
individual will act. Let’s move onto the next section to better
evaluate and understand the role situations play in determining
behavior and influencing personality.
Situational Influences on Personality
Certain situations and circumstances can influence a person’s day in
a positive or negative way. Depending on the circumstance, a
normally positive person may become more negative. On the other
hand, a traditionally pessimistic person may appear to be more
positive. So how is this possible? You have experienced both
triumphs and tribulations in your lifetime and whether or not you
realized it, they most likely impacted the way you acted and altered
your personality for that period of time. It is human nature for
emotions and personalities to differ depending on what is happening
in our lives.
Even if we are not aware of what others may be going through, it is
reasonable to assume that certain situations in the lives of all
individuals impacts their personality. For example, you are out with
friends, and you see your friend Lorenzo, who is the most
extroverted person in the group, crying in the corner. Does this mean
Lorenzo is no longer an extravert but rather an introvert? Or could
he be crying because he just heard some upsetting news? Chances
are, the latter option is a more realistic one. While the news may
have changed his personality during that social setting on that day, it
most likely did not alter it permanently.
Let’s look at another example. The coworker you disagree with most,
Kayla, who constantly argues against your ideas, comes into work
Monday morning with a pep in her step. At your team meeting, she
completely supports your proposed project idea and offers to help
execute it. Has Kayla turned a corner and has decided to end the
feud between you two? Possibly. But odds are there is something in
her life that has temporarily altered her personality. What you may
not know, is that over the weekend her all time favorite team won
the Super Bowl. Her excitement from the day before spilled over into
Monday, presenting a much version of Kayla that seems to like you a
great deal more.
These are just two small examples of how situations in people’s lives
can alter the way they act. People can also change their personality
based on who they’re around. If the person you’re with makes you
uncomfortable, you’re not likely to be very talkative and offer up
good conversation. However, if you’re on the phone with a friend
you haven’t talked to for awhile, you’re likely to have an animated
conversation.
If situations can influence personality and personality can predict
behavior, then situational influences also contribute to predicting
behavior. It also brings into question whether or not personality
traits are consistent since they are easily influenced by situations. In
1968, Walter Mischel published a book entitled Personality &
Assessment. In his book, Mischel argued that an interactionist
approach was best suited when exploring personality, situations, and
behavior. This interactionist approach believes that both personality
and situational circumstances create behavior. In addition, Mischel
explained that personalities tend to differ across a range of situations
(personality at work versus home); however, they keep consistencies
within similar situations (work meetings). This revelation created an
upset in the traditional view of personality by arguing that
personality stability and instability can each exist at the same time. [3]
 There are two main correlations to
remember here:
1. Situations can influence an individual’s personality.
2. An individual’s personality paired with the situation can help to
predict behavior.
Companies can use these correlations to create stronger and more
efficient teams. While unique circumstances may arise,
understanding personality traits is the first step in developing a
strong organization.

Q2: How Do Personalities Develop?

Ans: Within the field of psychology, personality has been studied for
many years. Psychologists have been conducting research in the field
by engaging in experiments, case studies, self-reported research, and
clinical research. As early as the mid-1700s, researchers began
making evaluations and trying to learn more about personality.
Over the years, various people have conducted research into
personality development, and each has his or her own ideas
regarding it. Some viewpoints share similarities, and all attempt to
explain why people are the way they are and how they got that way.
The results of all this research include such theories as:
  type theories, the psychological differences and classifications
of people;
 psychoanalytic, our interactions with other mechanisms;
 behaviorist, which looks at what impacts our personality from
the outside;
 social cognitive, involving the process of thinking and judging;
 humanistic, which looks at our "free will" to do things.
The mission of each research method is to learn as much as possible
about how personalities develop, with some of the findings building
off of prior theories.
Words to Know
Psychology: the study of the mind and behavior, dating back to 1653.
Cognitive: the functions of thinking, reasoning, and remembering.
Temperament: the individual's emotional response and sensitivities
Multiple Theories in Psychology
Throughout this article, you will be introduced to the multiple
theories that exist in the field on personality psychology. Some of the
more popular ones, such as personality type, you may be more
familiar with than others. It is still important to learn about some of
the other theories out there.
There are three main influences on personality development that we
are going to look at in this lesson. Those are heredity, environment,
and situation.
Heredity: This refers to the influences on your personality that you
are born with. They are in your genes and there is not much you can
do to change these traits. They can include your temperament,
which helps to determine how you react to situations and how
easygoing you are. In kids, it may affect how well they get along with
others. Genetics, of course, also determines how someone looks.
Environment: Our environment is the nurturing aspect of our lives. It
is the type of environment in which we live and grow up.
Environment would include home, school, work, or other places that
you spend a lot of time. Environmental factors also include such
things as languages, religion, etc.
Situations: These are the experiences that each individual person
goes through. The various things that people experience will leave
imprints on and help to develop his or her personality. Everything
from divorce, death, trauma, and even happy times fit into the
"situations" category of shaping one's personality.
You have most likely at some point in your life heard someone say
that people are a "product of their environment." This means their
personality has been greatly influenced by the three things we just
looked at. They were born with particular traits, and their living
situation and any impacting situations they experienced all helped to
create who they are.

Genes or Experiences?
Many people wonder if one's personality primarily comes down to
nature versus nurture. This is a debate that has waged for quite
some time. Is someone's personality determined more by genes and
heredity or childhood experiences and situations?
The nature vs. nurture debate is one that does not have a clear
winner. Researchers believe there is no way to tell which influences
personality more. They go hand in hand to help develop someone's
personality.
The Developing Personality
Interested in learning more? Why not take an online class in
Personality Development?
As you can see, how one's personality develops is not as simple as
just saying that it is one thing; however, there is one thing that most
researchers seem to agree on: one's childhood lays the foundation
for the personality that one will have as an adult. The genes we are
born with, coupled with the environment we are brought up in and
the situations we live through, all work together. They end up
creating the personality you see as an adult.

Stages of Development
In this article, we will begin to look at the stages of development that
help to create who we are. These stages of development begin when
we are children and play a key role in shaping our personalities.
While there are quite a few theories regarding development, some
of them are more popularly known than others, such as the Freudian
stages of development, as well as Erik Erikson's stages of
development. Here, we will look at both of these different theories.
Sigmund Freud's Stages of Development
You have probably heard of Sigmund Freud. If not, you will likely
hear his name from here on out. His is one of the most widely known
names in the field of psychology. While he is considered to be a great
contributor to the field, he also is quite controversial. He had many
theories that people thought were a little off or even completely
wrong.
All the same, he made contributions to the field of personality
psychology, as well as many other areas in the field, so they are
worth learning about. Some of the theories that he lay out were later
expanded upon by other psychologists, while still others set out to
prove those theories invalid.
Freud's theory of personality development was that it was a result of
a series of stages during childhood. He believed that the
development process involved a pleasure-seeking source that
revolved around psychosexual energy. His stages of development
include:
Oral stage. This is the first stage, which begins at birth. Calling it the
"oral stage" makes sense because it is often oral fixation that soothes
babies; e.g., bottle, nipple, pacifier. The child seeks oral gratification
in order to gain pleasure. During this stage, if a child does not have
its oral needs met, for example, not being fed when crying, he or she
learns to not trust. If children have those needs met, they learn to
trust those around them.
Anal stage. This is the next stage in Freud's theory of child
development. It focuses on learning to control bowel movements
and maintain bladder control. When children gain this ability, they
feel independent and a sense of accomplishment. This stage is
affected by how parents approach potty training. If they punish and
ridicule or are very strict, the child can go on to be anal-retentive and
have such personality traits as being obsessive, rigid, etc. This stage
lasts up until the child is around 3 years old.
Phallic stage. During this stage the focus is on the genitals. This is
when males and females realize there is a difference. Freud believed
that the girls suffered from "penis envy" because they were not
males and that boys were in competition with their fathers to get
their mothers' attention. This stage lasts until the child is around 5.
Latent period. This was believed to be an important period in
personality development, when children focus on relationships with
their peers, finding hobbies they enjoy, and pursuing interests. This
stage takes place from age 6 to about 12.
Genital stage. This final stage starts when the child is about 12 years
old. It is the period that children go through puberty and start
gaining sexual interest. In this stage, the child begins to establish an
interest in other people and, in turn, become well-balanced.
Freud's stages of psychosexual development may seem a little odd at
first, but for a while they were all that people had to go off of. It is
largely where some of the first ideas regarding personality
development originated.
Erik Erikson's Stages of Development
Another popular psychologist in the field was Erik Erikson. His stages
of development focused on trying to provide a theory on social
development. He was influenced by Sigmund Freud. Erikson's stages
of development did not stop when a child turned 18. He believed
that the person continued to develop and have personality outcomes
into adulthood as well.
His stages of development, considered his contribution to personality
development, included:
Infancy. In this stage, the focus is trust versus mistrust. Hope is the
virtue that comes out of this stage, as the child learns to trust or
mistrust his caretakers.
18 months to 3 years. In this autonomy versus shame stage, the
virtues gained are self-control and courage. It is the stage in which
we learn to walk, talk, eat, and gain small motor control, as well as
learning toilet training. This is a vulnerable stage. If parents are
harsh, especially during potty training, it may create a child with low
self-esteem.
3 to 5 years. This is the initiative versus guilt stage, in which children
copy the adults around them. They also take the initiative to play on
their own. Children learn to do some things on their own, such as get
dressed. If children feel guilty about doing these things, they will
have difficulties later.
6 to 12 years. This is the industry versus inferiority stage, and the
virtues gained are method and competence. Children in this stage
compare their own worth to those around them and may feel
inferior if they do not measure up.
12 to 18 years. Identity versus role confusion is the outcome of this
stage, with the virtues being devotion and fidelity. At this stage, peer
relationships are most important and these teens question
themselves. As they are trying to figure out who they are and what
their plans are, they can experience role confusion if their parents
are pushing a different version of themselves than they may feel.
18 to 35 years. The development outcome in this stage is intimacy
and solidarity versus isolation. The basic strengths are love and
affiliation. It is the stage that we seek out a satisfying relationship
and start a family. If someone is not successful in this quest, he or
she may turn to isolation.
35 to 55 years or so. This is the stage that people often feel they
have a "mid-life crisis." It is the generativity versus self-absorption or
stagnation stage. This is the stage in which people often size up all
they have done thus far and measure to see if they feel they have
accomplished enough.
55 or so until death. The basic strength in this stage is wisdom, and
the ego outcome is integrity versus despair. At this stage, if people
look back upon their lives and experiences and are pleased, they feel
integrity, while those who are not feel despair.
As you can see, there are many stages that are believed to go into
personality development. You may even be able to identify some of
your own experiences in these stages.
Need a Little Personality?
By now you have begun to get an idea of what personality is and how
it develops over time. You have delved into some of the influences
that exist, such as heredity, environment, and situations. You have
also started looking at some of the stages of development and have
learned how the things we experience during those stages can
impact your personality.

In this article, you will be introduced to "needs." In discussing what

needs are, you will also learn about how they affect one's personality
development. We will also look at research within the field of
psychology that pertains to needs.
Needs vs. Wants
When it comes to determining what needs are, it is important to
distinguish them from wants. Needs are those things that are
necessities to someone, while wants are those things that people can
do without, but they just have a strong desire to have.
Examples of needs include basic food, water, shelter, health care,
basic clothing, breathing, etc. They are the essential things in life that
we need in order to survive.
Examples of wants include those things that you feel will improve the
quality of your life, but you can survive without having. These things
include dining out, Internet, computers, movies, vacations, fashion
clothing, makeup, cable television, new cars, etc.
See the difference between needs and wants? When it comes to
your breakfast tomorrow morning, you need food, and something
basic will do. However, you may want to dine out at IHOP to get a
Belgian waffle topped with whipped cream.
Believe it or not, psychologists believe that needs impact your
personality. Consider this for a moment: If you lacked shelter, do you
think it would impact your personality and the way you act? It
absolutely would! You may suffer from low self-esteem, among other
things. If all your basic needs are being met, you will feel more
comfortable in life, which will make you feel more secure and
confident, and your personality will reflect this.
What if all your wants were being met? As is often the case, when
people get just about everything they want, it may also affect their
personality. They may be over-confident or arrogant, act superior to
others, or, in the case of children, act like spoiled brats.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
To help put this all together we need to take a look at Abraham
Maslow's famous Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow was a psychologist
who in 1943 proposed his idea of the hierarchy of needs and how it
affects who we are.
The Hierarchy of Needs is in a triangle shape, with the most
important things being at the bottom and then it works its way up,
with needs narrowing as you go along. Here are the layers of the
hierarchy:
Physiological: These are the most important needs that must be
met. They include food, water, breathing, excretion, sleep, sex, etc.
Safety: Once your basic needs have been met, the next most
important thing is safety. In this layer, you will need security,
employment, family, property, health, morality, etc.
Love and belonging: This layer in the hierarchy is smaller but still
important. It includes the love and social relationships we have with
people, including friends, family, and lovers.
Esteem: This is the layer that deals with your confidence. What
matters here is that people respect you, your self-esteem is high, you
respect other people, experience personal growth and
accomplishment, etc.
Self-actualization: This is the need at the top of the triangle. It
represents the idea that people are self-aware. The idea is that
people focus on fulfilling their own potential and no longer worry so
much about what others think. At this point, people are concerned
with their own personal growth.

Maslow believed, much like the stages of development that we have

already studied, that people gradually moved through these stages.
Starting at the bottom, when each need is met in that level, we go on
to the next. However, if something were to threaten our needs, such
as not having food or safety, etc., we can easily go back down the
hierarchy. If our needs are not being met, it can have a profound
impact on our personality development. If all of our needs are being
met, we will progress and continue to grow. Essentially, Maslow
believed that we do not advance to the next level until the needs of
each have first been met. For example, if someone is at the safety
level, they cannot advance to love and belonging until all of their
safety needs have been met.
Now you have an idea of the difference between needs and wants,
why needs are so important, and how it all affects our personality
development.

PERCEPTION
MCQ
1: _____ is the process by which individuals organize and interpret
their sensory impressions.
 Perception
 Intuition
  Analysis
 Self-serving bias

Question 2.
According to _____, when observing the behaviour of others,
individuals attempt to determine if the behaviour is internally or
externally caused.

o randomness error
o utilitarianism
o attribution theory
o confirmation bias
Question 3.
If a person is seen as having been forced into a situation, the cause of
his/her behaviour is ____.
o internal
o independent
o external
o random
Question 4.
_____ refers to whether an individual displays different behaviour in
different situations.

o Distinctiveness
o Consistency
o Consensus
o None of the above
Question 5.
When we judge someone on the basis of our perception of the group
to which he or she belongs, we are using the decision making
technique of _____.
o projection
o escalation of commitment
o self-fulfilling prophecy
o stereotyping

Question 6.
The decision maker's interests, values, and similar personal
preferences are important when engaging in the _____ step of the
rational decision-making model.

o defining the problem

o analyzing the alternatives
o weighing the evidence
o identifying the decision criteria
Question 7.
The rational decision making process assumes _____.
o the decision maker has complete information
o the decision maker is able to identify all of the relevant
options in an unbiased manner
o the decision maker will choose the option with the
highest utility
o all of the above
Question 8.
Through _____, decision makers construct simplified models that
extract the essential features from problems without capturing all of
their complexity.

o bounded rationality
o intrinsic task motivation
o creative thinking skills
o expertise
Question 9.
_____ is a non-conscious process created from distilled experience.
o Rational decision making
o Information modeling
o Satisficing
o Intuitive decision making

Question 10.
_____ bias is the tendency to fixate on initial information.

o Overconfidence
o Anchoring
o Confirmation
o Representative

Question 11.
_____, a dimension of conscientiousness, increases the likelihood of
escalation of commitment.
o Dutifulness
o Achievement-striving
o Utilitarianism
o Self-esteem
Question 12.
Which of the following statements about gender differences in
decision-making is TRUE?
o Men tend to analyze decisions more than women.
o Women are less likely to engage in rumination.
o Gender differences in decision-making are most clear
among young children and older adults.
o Women are more likely to carefully consider problems
and choices.
Question 13.
Which of the following is NOT an organizational constraint?
o performance evaluations
o reward systems
o historical precedents
o culture

Question 14.
Which is not an ethical decision-making criterion?

o justice
o rights
 o utilitarianism
o personal benefit

Question 15.
Use of _____ decision criteria would protect whistle-blowers,
individuals who report unethical or illegal practices by their employer
to outsiders.
o justice
o rights
o utilitarianism
o personal benefit

Question16
In stereotyping, the observer's perception of others is influenced by
the observer's own
characteristics rather than by those of the person observed.
TRUE
FALSE

17: If a manager thinks that all attractive employees are also

productive employees, the manager 
is committing an error based on a halo effect.
TRUE
FALSE

18:  --------------- is “the reactions of individuals to new or threatening

factors in their work environments”
A) Attitude
B) Stress
C) Disappointment
D) Dissonance

19: The 0B subject of "perception" has been most influenced by

which behavioural science discipline?
 political science
 Psychology

20:The subject of organizational culture has been most influenced by

which behavioural science discipline?
a. Anthropology
b. Psychology
. social psychology
d. political science

QUESTIONS
Q1: What Is Perception?
Ans: Perception is the sensory experience of the world. It involves
both recognizing environmental stimuli and actions in response to
these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information
about the properties and elements of the environment that are
critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of
the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment.
What Is Perception?
Perception includes the five senses; touch, sight, sound, smell, and
taste. It also includes what is known as proprioception, a set of
senses involving the ability to detect changes in body positions and
movements. It also involves the cognitive processes required to
process information, such as recognizing the face of a friend or
detecting a familiar scent.
Learn more about how we go from detecting stimuli in the
environment to actually taking action based on that information.
Types of Perception
Some of the main types of perception include:
 Vision 
 Touch
 Sound
 Taste
 Smell
There are also other senses that allow us to perceive things such as
balance, time, body position, acceleration, and the perception of
internal states. Many of these are multimodal and involve more than
one sensory modality. Social perception, or the ability to identify and
use social cues about people and relationships, is another important
type of perception.
How It Works
The perceptual process is a sequence of steps that begins with the
environment and leads to our perception of a stimulus and action in
response to the stimulus. It occurs continuously, but you do not
spend a great deal of time thinking about the actual process that
occurs when you perceive the many stimuli that surround you at any
given moment.
For example, the process of transforming the light that falls on your
retinas into an actual visual image happens unconsciously and
automatically. The subtle changes in pressure against your skin that
allow you to feel objects occur without a single thought.
Perception acts as a filter that allows us to exist and interpret the
world without becoming overwhelmed by the abundance of stimuli. 1
Steps in the Perceptual Process
1. The Environmental Stimulus
2. The Attended Stimulus
3. The Image on the Retina
4. Transduction
5. Neural Processing
6. Perception
7. Recognition
8. Action
Impact of Perception
In order to see the impact of perception, it can be helpful to look at
how the process works. This varies somewhat for every sense. In the
case of visual perception:
1. The environmental stimulus: The world is full of stimuli that
can attract attention through various senses. The
environmental stimulus is everything in the environment that
has the potential to be perceived.
2. The attended stimulus: The attended stimulus is the specific
object in the environment on which attention is focused.
3. The image on the retina: This involves light actually passing
through the cornea and pupil and onto the lens of the eye. The
cornea helps focus the light as it enters the eye, and the iris of
the eye controls the size of the pupils in order to determine
how much light to let in. The cornea and lens act together to
project an inverted image onto the retina.
4. Transduction: The image on the retina is then transformed into
electrical signals in a process known as transduction. This
allows the visual messages to be transmitted to the brain to be
interpreted.
5. Neural processing: The electrical signals then undergo neural
processing. The path followed by a particular signal depends on
what type of signal it is (i.e. an auditory signal or a visual
signal).
6. Perception: In this step of the process, you perceive the
stimulus object in the environment. It is at this point that you
become consciously aware of the stimulus.
1. Recognition: Perception doesn't just involve becoming
consciously aware of the stimuli. It is also necessary for the
brain to categorize and interpret what you are sensing. The
ability to interpret and give meaning to the object is the next
step, known as recognition.
2. Action: The action phase of perception involves some type of
motor activity that occurs in response to the perceived and
recognized stimulus. This might involve a major action, like
running toward a person in distress, or something as subtle as
blinking your eyes in response to a puff of dust blowing through
the air.
The perceptual process allows you to experience the world around
you and interact with it in ways that are both appropriate and
meaningful.
Take a moment to think of all the things you perceive on a daily
basis. At any given moment, you might see familiar objects in your
environment, feel the touch of objects and people against your skin,
smell the aroma of a home-cooked meal, and hear the sound
of music playing in your next-door neighbor's apartment. All of these
things help make up your conscious experience and allow you to
interact with the people and objects around you.
Tips and Tricks
There are some things that you can do that might help you perceive
more in the world around you—or at least focus on the things that
are important.
 Pay attention. Perception requires you to attend to the world
around you. This might include anything that can be seen,
touched, tasted, smelled, or heard. It might also involve the
sense of proprioception, such as the movements of the arms
and legs or the change in position of the body in relation to
objects in the environment.
 Make meaning of what you perceive. The recognition stage is
an essential part of perception since it allows you to make
sense of the world around you. By placing objects in meaningful
categories, you are able to understand and react appropriately.
 Take action. The final step of the perceptual process involves
some sort of action in response to the environmental stimulus.
This could involve a variety of actions, such as turning your
head for a closer look or turning away to look at something
else.
Potential Pitfalls
The perceptual process does not always go smoothly and there are a
number of things that may interfere with perception. Perceptual
disorders are cognitive conditions that are marked by an impaired
ability to perceive objects or concepts.
Some disorders that may affect perception include:
 Spatial neglect syndromes, which involve not attending to
stimuli on one side of the body
 Prosopagnosia, a disorder that makes it difficult to recognize
faces
 Aphantasia, a condition characterized by an inability to visualize
things in your mind
 Schizophrenia, which is marked by abnormal perceptions of
reality2
Some of these conditions may be influenced by genetics while others
result from stroke or brain injury

Q2: What is Perception in Organisational Behaviour?

Ans: Perception in Organisational Behaviour – Meaning, Features,
Elements of Perceptual Process, Factors, Perceptual Selectivity and
Managerial Implications of Perception
Meaning of Perception:
Different individuals have different thinking styles, beliefs, feelings
and objectives etc. and almost every individual behaves accordingly.
Just because of these factors different people take different meaning
for the same things. For some, a particular thing is right where as for
some it is totally wrong. It is all because how you take things, what is
your point of view, how you look at things. This is perception.
Stephen P. Robbins defines perception as:
“Perception may 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. Intellectual process through which a person selects the data from
the environment, organises it and obtains meaning from it.
2. Basic cognitive or psychological process. Peoples actions,
emotions, thoughts or feelings are triggered by the perception of
their surroundings.
3. A subjective process.
Elements of Perceptual Process:
(1) Perceptual Inputs:
This is the first stage in the perception process where the perceiver
comes across various information in the formal objects, events,
people etc. All these factors exist in the environment itself. These
factors provide stimuli to the perceiver. When the perceiver interacts
with a stimulus, sensation takes place which starts perception
process.
Stimuli may be in the form of-
i. Objects
ii. Events
iii. People
(2) Perceptual Mechanism:
This involves three elements:
(a) Selection of Stimuli:
Various forms of stimuli exist in the environment. As human being is
also a part of the environment he receives the stimuli from it. There
are basically two type of factors in the environment. One is internal
factor, which relates to the perceiver. Second is external factor which
is related to stimuli.
(b) Organisation of Stimuli:
Arranging stimuli in some form so as to make sense. Various forms of
organising stimuli are-
i. Figure Ground:
This is one of the principles of collecting information. This principle is
known as figure ground principle. Here, while collecting information,
two things are kept in mind, first is focus and second is background.
Decision is made on the basis of the focus keeping in consideration
the background of the matter. E.g. in most of the organizations, good
performance is taken as the focus for promotions and their relations
with the superiors are taken as background, whereas it is just the
opposite in some organizations where relations with the superiors
are taken as the focus whereas the performance is taken as the
background. This varies from organization to organization.
ii. Perceptual Grouping:
On the basis of the proximity and similarities various stimuli are
grouped together into recognizable patterns. This grouping of stimuli
helps the individuals in perceiving things in a proper manner or in a
manner in which they want to perceive. Grouping is also done by
them accordingly.
iii. Simplification:
Every person tries to decrease the burden whenever he is
overloaded. Here we are talking of overload of information. In order
to reduce this load, people try to simplify the process or contents of
the matter. This they do by eliminating the less important or less
required information and concentrating upon the important
information. This decreases their work load and helps them in
understanding things in a better manner.
iv. Closure:
This is known as the winding up of the matter or filling the gap to
make things meaningful or understandable. This is followed
whenever the manager realizes that there is some gap in the
information which he has received or when he finds the information
incomplete. So through his own experience, past history and analysis
he fills the gap of incomplete information and makes the information
complete.
(c) Interpretation of Stimuli:
After selecting and organizing stimuli the next step is interpretation.
Here the perceiver interprets things according to his thinking styles,
state of mind, environment, circumstances, objectives, beliefs etc.
This is done by making assumption about people, by using past
experience etc.
(3) Perceptual Output:
i. These outputs may be in the form of covert action like
development of attitudes, opinions, beliefs, impressions etc. about
the stimuli.
ii. It may also result into overt action. e.g.,
(a) See an ad-stimuli (Input)
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(b) Perceive the product as good (Mechanism)
(c) Buy the product (overt output)
Factors Influencing Perception:
The factors which affects perceptual mechanism are of three kinds:
1. Characteristics of the Perceiver
2. Characteristics of the Perceived or target, and
3. Characteristic of the Situation
ADVERTISEMENTS:
1. Characteristics of the Perceiver (Internal Factors):
These are the personal characteristics of the individuals:
(i) Needs & Motives:
Individuals perception is basically determined by their inner needs
and motives. They take things differently according to their different
needs and motives. Different needs results in different stimuli,
similarly people select different items to satisfy their needs.
According to Freud, “Wishful thinking is the means by which the Id, a
part of personality, attempts to achieve tension reduction.” In such
cases, people will perceive only those items which suit their wishful
thinking.
(ii) Self Concept:
How actually a person views others or the rest of the world will
clearly decide that how he thinks about himself, or what his self-
concept is. It is largely based upon individuals complex psychological
make-up. Self-understanding helps understanding others.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
(iii) Beliefs:
A persons belief has direct impact on his perception. It is very
difficult for an individual to think beyond his personal beliefs because
most of the times people go as per their beliefs and they perceive in
the same manner.
According to Daniel Katz:
a. An individual self-censors his intake of communications so as to
shield his beliefs and practices from attack.
b. An individual seeks out communication which support his beliefs
and practices
c. The latter is particularly true when the beliefs and practices in
question have undergone attack.
(iv) Past Experience:
Peoples perception is greatly influenced by their past experiences. A
person, having good experience in past will perceive accordingly and
vice versa.
(v) Current Psychological State:
Current psychological or emotional state of people plays an
important role in perception. Present position of the person defines
how a person will perceive thing. Like, a person in a good mood will
perceive in a different manner as compared to a person who is not in
a good mood.
(vi) Expectations:
Again expectations are major players in deciding how a person will
perceive. Expectations are related with the state of anticipation of
particular behaviour from a person. E.g. If a person thinks that Mr. X
will never do anything good to him then even if Mr. X is right that
person will always remain under an impression that Mr. X is wrong.
2. Characteristics of the Perceived or Target:
(i) Size- The bigger is the size of the perceived stimulus, the greater
the possibility that it is perceived & vice versa. People tend to
understand things better when it is explained in a clearer manner
and they understand the same accordingly.
(ii) Intensity- More intense the external stimulus is, the more likely it
is to be perceived e.g. a loud sound, bright colour etc. is more likely
to attract attention than a soft sound or relatively dull colour.
(iii) Frequency- The greater the frequency of repetition of things, the
greater will be the perceptual selectivity. This is also in accordance
with the repetitive theory of learning.
(iv) Status- Perception is also influenced by the status of the
perceiver. High status people can have greater influence on
perception of an employee as compared to low status people.
(v) Contrast – The stimulus which is in contrast with the surrounding
environment attracts more attention as compared to the stimuli that
blends in.
3. Situational Factors:
Time, place and situation at the time of the communication plays an
important role in perception.
Such situational factors can be further classified as:
(i) Physical setting- This includes place, location, light, heat,
ventilation, basic amenities etc. If all these things are proper then
people may perceive positively and vice versa.
(ii) Social setting- This includes human resources i.e. the people
around you or the affected parties or the people concerned about
you or the persons you are concerned about or the people who you
work with.
(iii) Organizational setting- This includes the hierarchy in the
organization, organizational setup, structure etc. All these influence
the perception.
Perceptual Selectivity:
i. Perception is a selective process as people can sense only limited
amount of information in the environment. They are
characteristically selective.
ii. By selection certain aspects of stimuli are screened out and others
are admitted.
iii. Such a selectivity in perception can be brought about by different
factors which can be broadly classified as external and internal
factors.
I. External Factors in Perceptual Selectivity:
External factors are in the form of the characteristics of perceptual
input or stimuli.
Impact of external factors on the perceptual selectivity.
(1) Size:
May affect the perceptual selectivity by affecting the attraction of
the perceiver. Usually bigger is the size of perceived stimulus, higher
is the probability that it attracts the – attention of the perceiver and
he may select it for perception. E.g. Letters of larger size in books
catch attention of the readers and they tend to read it before reading
the entire text.
(2) Intensity:
More intense the external stimulus is, the more likely it is to be
perceived e.g. loud sound or strong odour, bright light. E.g.
Commercials on TV are slightly louder than the programme.
(3) Repetition:
Repeated external stimulus is more attention getting than a single
one.
(4) Novelty and Familiarity:
Either a novel or a familiar situation can serve as attention getter.
E.g. Job rotation makes people more attentive to their new job or
communication in a familiar jargon is better accepted.
(5) Contrast:
Stimuli which stands against the background or which are not what
people expect, receive more attention.
E.g. –
i. Bold letters
ii. Differently dressed person.
iii. Different colour
(6) Motion:
Moving objects draw more attention as compared to stationary
objects.
E.g. TV commercials get more attention than print advertisements.
All these factors must be used judiciously e.g. a loud supervisor may
put off subordinates instead of attracting their attention.
II. Internal Factors in Perceptual Selectivity:
These are related to the individuals complex psychological makeup.
(1) Self Concept:
The way a person views the world depends a great deal on the
concept or image he has about himself.
Peoples own characteristics affect the characteristics they are likely
to see in others. They select only those aspects which they find
match with their characteristics.
(2) Beliefs:
A fact is perceived not on what it is but what a person believes it to
be.
The individual normally censors stimulus inputs to avoid disturbance
of his existing beliefs
(3) Expectations:
We expect trade union officials to use rough language.
A Mental set about beliefs, expectations and values filter perception.
(4) Inner Need:
People with different needs select different items to remember or
respond to and experience different stimuli.
When people are not able to satisfy their needs they engage in
wishful thinking to satisfy the needs not in the real world but in
imaginary world. In such cases people perceive only those items
which are consistent with their wishful thinking.
(5) Response Disposition:
Refers to a persons tendency to perceive familiar stimuli rather than
unfamiliar ones.
E.g. In an experiment people with dominant religious values took
lesser time in recognising such related words as priest or minister.
Whereas they took longer time in recognising words related with
economic values such as cost or price.
(6) Response Salience:
It is the set of dispositions which are determined not by the
familiarity of the stimulus situations, but by the persons own
cognitive predisposition.
E.g. a particular problem in an organisation may be viewed as a
marketing problem by the marketing person but as control problem
to the accounting person and as human resource problem to the
personnel person.
The reason is that people are trained to look at the situation from
one point of view only, not from other point of view.
(7) Perceptual Defence:
Refers to the screening of those elements which create conflict and
threatening situation in people. They may even perceive other
factors to be present that are not a part of the stimulus situation.
Perceptual defence is performed by:
(a) Denying the existence of conflicting information
(b) Distorting the new information to match the old one
(c) Acknowledging the new information but treating it as a non-
representative exception.
Managerial Implications of Perception:
A manager is primarily concerned with the achievement of
organisational objectives. Perception affects the behaviour of
employee. So facts necessarily may not always be accepted. Thus
understanding human perception is important in understanding and
controlling the behaviour. There are five major areas which require
special attention so far as the perceptual accuracy is concerned.
(1) Interpersonal Working Relationship:
Managers in the organization need to know whether or not members
share similar or at least compatible perceptions. If people are not
misunderstanding each other, if they are not working with
preoccupied minds and having positive approach then the
interpersonal relations can be strengthened.
Misperceptions usually lead to strained relations and may even result
in open conflict among people.
(2) Selection of Employees:
Selection is based on tests, interviews and review of the applicants
background. Managers perception should not be biased. Selection of
the employees also depends upon how a candidate is taking the
question. His answers will be accordingly.
If the candidate is taking the questions in the same manner as it is
asked then he will be in a better position to answer it in a positive
manner. Perceptual difference totally changes the meaning of the
response which sometimes results in major problems.
(3) Performance Appraisal:
Appraisal is highly affected by the accuracy of a managers
perception. In most of the cases promotions, transfers, increments,
continuation of the employees etc. depends upon the perceptual
process of the boss. Performance appraisal is related with the
performance of the employees and must be based on objective
criteria. But irrespective of this fact, it is dependent upon the
subjective criteria e.g. personal likes and dislikes of superior.
(4) Level of Efforts:
While judging the level of effort of a person the manager appraises
the qualitative aspect of an employees performance. If he perceives
them as putting in sufficient efforts and being sincere then he would
rate them high in spite of their not achieving targets and vice versa.
Manager must be careful while judging this aspect.
(5) Increase in Loyalty Level:
With proper application of perception the loyalty level can be
increased. If the employees think that management is not taking any
undue advantage from them, management is understanding them,
then they will perceive it as their own organization and switching
over of jobs will be decreased.
 LEARNING
MCQ
1: What is the meaning of conditioning in learning theory?
a) It describes as the process of responding to external stimuli.
b) It is a general concept in learning theory that describes the
conditions for learning.
c) It describes 'automatic' responses to stimuli.
2: Reinforcement is an important concept in learning theory. Which
statement is true about reinforcement?
a) Reinforcement deals with the use of punishment in stimulating
preferred responses.
b) Reinforcement deals with the process of stimulating certain
behaviours to occur.
c) Reinforcement deals with the use of power to stimulate behaviour

3: Which of the following statements is true about the communities

of practice perspective on learning?
a) It emphasizes the fact that learning is something individuals do.
b) The communities of practice perspective argues that learning
takes place in social settings in which a shared world of practice is
developed.
c) This perspective describes how cultures are developed.

4: Why is the shift from the individual to the organizational level

tricky in studying learning?
a) Learning is a concept connected to individuals; organizations, per
se, cannot learn.
b) Since organizations consist of many individuals it is hard to
capture all learning.
c) Due to political processes, individual learning processes can be
distorted in organizations.

5: Etzioni describes three types of organization in terms of their use

of knowledge. Which are they?
a) Manufacturing organizations, service organizations and
professional organizations
b) Professional organizations, service organizations and non-
professional organizations
c) Professional organizations, public organizations and service
organizations

6:  What is learning?
a. A change in one’s cognition, action or interaction with others
b. A planned intervention
c. A portfolio of knowledge, skills or attitudes
d. A step-by-step instructional process

7: Who developed the learning style inventory?

a. Bandura
b. Piaget
c. Skinner
 d. Kolb

8: Learning theories of personality developed from the earlier work

of _________ such as Pavlov, _____ and _____. These theorists
believed that only ________ phenomena was suitable for scientific
study. As a result, they were _______ specifically with personality.
However, their theories suggested mechanisms that could explain
how personality might develop. For example the concept of the
_______ (where a conditioned responses transfers to similar stimuli),
and _______ (where a conditioned response is weakened through
repeated presentations of a conditioned stimuli without reward,
until the response disappears). Both are important concepts for
understanding how people's preferences may develop and change.

o Biospychologists, Eysenck, Gray, not concerned, directly

observable, shaping, extinction.
o Situationists, Mischel, Funder, social, concerned,
extinction, generalisation, cessation.
o Behaviourists, Watson, Skinner, directly observable, not
concerned, generalisation, extinction.
o Behaviourists, Watson, Skinner, social, concerned,
shaping, extinction, cessation.

9: In his theory of operant conditioning, Skinner suggested that

understanding the consequences of a response is the key to
understanding why behaviour is performed. What two types of
reinforcement did he propose to explain learning and the
development of patterns of behaviour?
o Positive and Negative reinforcement
 o Generalised and specific reinforcement
o Weak and strong reinforcement
o None of these

10: Which of the following are suggested about personality by the

work of early behaviourists?
o Learning is a somewhat passive process
o Personality can be "unlearnt".
o The concept of traits can describe, but not explain,
behaviour.
o Early childhood experiences have a great impact on the
development of personality.
o All of the above.

11: What did Hull include in his theory of learning to better explain
behaviour?
o Abstract and Concrete goals
o Intervening variables (e.g. drives)
o Reinforcement schedules
o Personal constructs

12: What four parts did Dollard and Miller (1950) suggest comprise
learning habits?
o Drives, Goals, Responses, Reinforcements
o Drives, Cues, Responses, Reinforcements
o Drives, Emotional Responses, Behavioural Responses,
Reinforcements
o Drives, Responses, Goals, Reinforcements
 13: Dollard and Miller suggested that when trying to satisfy goals an
individual might face a situation in which they would have to choose
between one goal that is partly desirable and one goal that is partly
undesirable. What type of conflict is this known as?
o Approach-Approach conflict
o Double approach-avoidance conflict
o Approach-avoidance conflict
o Avoidance-Avoidance conflict
14: What concept did Tolman propose to explain how cognitions
from different learning environments may be combined to create
generalised beliefs?
o Cognitive maps
o Associated perception
o Valence
o Strivings

15: Rotter's social learning theory suggests that personality is not a

purely "internal" phenomenon. What were the main four
components of his theory?
o Expectancy, reinforcement value, behavioural potential,
psychological situation.
o Expectancy, valence, reinforcement value, behavioural
potential.
o Valence, behavioural potential, psychological situation,
social situation.
o Goal, expectancy, behavioural potential, psychological
situation.
16: Linda is a psychology undergraduate and has just received the
results of one of her year 2 exams, a 1st. She believes she achieved
her result owing to how organised she had been with her revision
and how hard she had worked for the weeks before she sat the
exam. According to Rotter, what type of Locus of control does the
student appear to have?
o Internal locus of control
o Concrete locus of control
o Abstract locus of control
o External locus of control
17: What term did Bandura use to refer to the overall process of
social learning?
o Vicarious reinforcement
o Self-efficacy
o Modelling
o Conditioning

18: What unit did Mischel propose using to describe individual

differences instead of traits?
o Expectancies
o Social-cognitive person variables
o Classes
o Personal constructs

19: Shoda, Mischel and Wright (1993, 1994) proposed a _________

theory of learning which attempted to explain why people's
behaviour appeared consistent across situations. To do this they
suggested that some situations are perceived as _____, learning
people to employ the similar types of behaviour (referred to as
___________). He suggested that people have characteristic
reactions to situations, which he called ___________.
o Behaviourist, unusual, functionally different class of
situations, situational signature.
o Social cognitive, similar, functionally equivalent class of
situations, behavioural signature of personality.
o Behaviourist, similar, functionally equivalent class of
situations, behavioural signature of personality.
o Social cognitive, unusual, functionally different class of
situations, situational signature.

20: Which are the four main theoretical perspectives on learning?

 Behaviourism, cognitivism, sociocultural and economic theory
 Behaviourism, socialism, constructivism and feminism.
 Behaviourism, socialism, agency theory and positive psychology
 Behaviourism, cognitivism, experiential learning and social
Learning

QUESTIONS
Q1: Explain learning.
Ans: Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior
due to direct and indirect experience. It means change in behavior,
attitude due to education and training, practice and experience. It is
completed by acquisition of knowledge and skills, which are
relatively permanent.
Nature of Learning
Nature of learning means the characteristic features of learning.
Learning involves change; it may or may not guarantee
improvement. It should be permanent in nature, that is learning is
for lifelong.
The change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and
training. Learning is reflected through behavior.
Factors Affecting Learning
Learning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes
will be caused by this experience. The key elements or the major
factors that affect learning are motivation, practice, environment,
and mental group.
Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors −
 Motivation − The encouragement, the support one gets to
complete a task, to achieve a goal is known as motivation. It is a
very important aspect of learning as it acts gives us a positive
energy to complete a task. Example − The coach motivated the
players to win the match.
 Practice − We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In
order to be a perfectionist or at least complete the task, it is
very important to practice what we have learnt. Example − We
can be a programmer only when we execute the codes we have
written.
 Environment − We learn from our surroundings, we learn from
the people around us. They are of two types of environment –
internal and external. Example − A child when at home learns
from the family which is an internal environment, but when
sent to school it is an external environment.
 Mental group − It describes our thinking by the group of people
we chose to hang out with. In simple words, we make a group
of those people with whom we connect. It can be for a social
 cause where people with the same mentality work in the same
direction. Example − A group of readers, travelers, etc.
These are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these
are the root level for our behavior and everything we do is
connected to what we learn.
How Learning Occurs?
Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories
that will explain our behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are −
 Classical Conditioning Theory
 Operant Conditioning Theory
 Social Learning Theory
 Cognitive Learning Theory
Classical Conditioning Theory
The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is
coupled with an unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned
stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus like the sound of a tuning fork,
the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective like the taste
of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned
stimulus is an unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.
After this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning
may already occur after a single coupling), an individual shows a
conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned stimulus, when the
conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The conditioned response is
mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but unlike the
unconditioned response, it must be acquired through experience and
is nearly impermanent.
Operant Conditioning Theory
Operant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental
conditioning. This theory is a learning process in which behavior is
sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes.
Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to
get the candy inside, or learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In
comparison, the classical conditioning develops a relationship
between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be further
elaborated as the child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or
to tremble at the sight of an angry parent.
In the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by
the analysis of these two sorts of learning, and they are still at the
core of behavior analysis.
Social Learning Theory
The key assumptions of social learning theory are as follows −
 Learning is not exactly behavioral, instead it is a cognitive
process that takes place in a social context.
 Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing
the outcomes of the behavior (known as vicarious
reinforcement).
 Learning includes observation, extraction of information from
those observations, and making decisions regarding the
performance of the behavior (known as observational learning
or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond an observable
change in behavior.
 Reinforcement plays an important role in learning but is not
completely responsible for learning.
 The learner is not a passive receiver of information.
Understanding, environment, and behavior all mutually
influence each other.
Cognitive Learning Theory
Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge,
interpretation, understanding about himself and environment.
This theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking
on a problem or situation based upon known facts and responding in
an objective and more oriented manner. It perceives that a person
learns the meaning of various objects and events and also learns the
response depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli.
This theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in
memory which stores organized information about the various
events that occurs.
Learning & Organizational Behavior
An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly
affected by learning.
Example − Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned.
Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips −
 Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair
attendance.
  Improving employee discipline by dealing with employee’s
undesirable behavior, drinking at workplace, stealing, coming
late, etc. by taking appropriate actions like oral reprimands,
written warnings and suspension.
 Developing training programs more often so as to grab the
trainees’ attention, provide required motivational properties
etc.

Q2: Explain Reinforcement theory.

Ans: Reinforcement Theory of motivation aims at achieving the
desired level of motivation among the employees by means of
reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Reinforcement approach,
which can be both positive and negative, is used to reinforce the
desired behavior. Punishment acts as a deterrent to undesirable
behaviors of the employees. Extinction refers to diminishing the
probability of undesirable behavior.
The Reinforcement Theory was proposed by B.F. Skinner and his
associates. It is based on the concept of “Law of Effect”, i.e., the
behavior of individual towards positive consequences tends to
repeat, but the behavior of individual towards negative
consequences tends not to repeat.
Skinner said, “Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated;
behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out or be
extinguished”.
Behavior that elicits consequences is called as the operant behavior
and the reinforcement theory works on the relationship between the
operant behavior and the associated consequences. This process is
called the Operant Conditioning and the change in the behavior is
caused due to the reinforcement given after the response.
This theory of motivation totally focuses on what happens to an
individual when he/she takes some action. It is no way related to the
internal state of an individual i.e., inner feelings and drives of an
individual is ignored.
Thus, the external environment of the organization should be
designed positively and effectively so as to motivate the employees.
This theory is a strong tool for analyzing controlling mechanism for
individual’s behavior.
Following are the methods for controlling the behavior of the
employees −
  Positive Reinforcement − Positive reinforcement explains that,
when an employee gives a positive and a required behavior, the
response towards them should be positive. This stimulates the
occurrence of a behavior. Reward to an employee who
performs well reinforces his/her desire to perform better
because of positive results of doing so.
 Negative Reinforcement − Negative reinforcement takes place
when certain deterrent(s) or obstruction(s) is removed and the
employee(s) responds to a desired behavior after such removal.
For instance, an employee who commutes from a long
distances wraps up a few projects faster than desired; but,
when he is told by the manager to take the projects home for a
couple of days and complete them, it stimulates him/her to
work as expected. By removing the negative stimuli, the
desired behavior is reinforced.
 Punishment − Punishment refers to imposing negative
consequences or removing positive consequences with a view
to preventing employee(s) from repeating undesirable and
uncalled for behaviors. It can, therefore, be both positive and
negative.
 Extinction − Extinction refers to extinguishing a learned
behavior by withholding a positive reinforcement or reward
that has encouraged the behavior.
To conclude, the reinforcement theory revolves round a basic idea
that consequences influence behavior. Consequence that brings
rewards propels a particular behavior and consequences that give
punishment diminish the occurrences of a behavior. Last but not the
least, the consequences that give neither reward nor punishment put
an end to a behavior. The theory helps the mangers to choose the
right method of motivation to motivate their employees basing upon
the prevailing situation.
Q3: Explain reward system.
4. Ans: How do organizations choose the best appraisal system for
their organization?
After a company has designed and implemented a systematic
performance appraisal system and provided adequate feedback to
employees, the next step is to consider how to tie available
corporate rewards to the outcomes of the appraisal. Behavioral
research consistently demonstrates that performance levels are
highest when rewards are contingent upon performance. Thus, in
this section, we will examine five aspects of reward systems in
organizations: (1) functions served by reward systems, (2) bases for
reward distribution, (3) intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards, (4) the
relationship between money and motivation and, finally, (5) pay
secrecy.
Functions of Reward Systems
Reward systems in organizations are used for a variety of reasons. It
is generally agreed that reward systems influence the following:
 Job effort and performance. Following expectancy theory,
employees’ effort and performance would be expected to
increase when they felt that rewards were contingent upon
good performance. Hence, reward systems serve a very basic
motivational function.
 Attendance and retention. Reward systems have also been
shown to influence an employee’s decision to come to work or
to remain with the organization. This was discussed in the
previous chapter.
 Employee commitment to the organization. It has been found
that reward systems in no small way influence employee
 commitment to the organization, primarily through the
exchange process.
That is, employees develop ties with organizations when they
perceive that the organization is interested in their welfare and
willing to protect their interests. This exchange process is shown in
(Figure). To the extent that employee needs and goals are met by the
company, we would expect commitment to increase.

Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has also been shown to be related to

rewards, as discussed in the previous chapter. Edward E. Lawler, a
well-known researcher on employee compensation, has identified
four conclusions concerning the relationship between rewards and
satisfaction: (1) satisfaction with a reward is a function of both how
much is received and how much the individual feels should have
been received; (2) satisfaction is influenced by comparisons with
what happens to others, especially one’s coworkers; (3) people differ
with respect to the rewards they value; and (4) some rewards are
satisfying because they lead to other rewards.

 Occupational and organizational choice. Finally, the selection of

an occupation by an individual, as well as the decision to join a
particular organization within that occupation, are influenced
by the rewards that are thought to be available in the
occupation or organization. To prove this, simply look at the
classified section of your local newspaper and notice how many
jobs highlight beginning salaries.
The Exchange Process Between Employee and Organization
Reward systems in organizations have far-reaching consequences for
both individual satisfaction and organizational effectiveness.
Unfortunately, cases can easily be cited where reward systems have
been distorted to punish good performance or inhibit creativity.
Consider, for example, the Greyhound Bus Company driver who was
suspended for 10 days without pay for breaking a company rule
against using a CB radio on his bus. The bus driver had used the radio
to alert police that his bus, with 32 passengers on board, was being
hijacked by an armed man. The police arrested the hijacker, and the
bus driver was suspended for breaking company rules.
Bases for Reward Distribution
A common reality in many contemporary work organizations is the
inequity that exists in the distribution of available rewards. One
often sees little correlation between those who perform well and
those who receive the greatest rewards. At the extreme, it is hard to
understand how a company could pay its president $10 to $20
million per year (as many large corporations do) while it pays its
secretaries and clerks less than $15,000. Each works approximately
40 hours per week, and both are important for organizational
performance. Is it really possible that the president is 1,000 times
more important than the secretary, as the salary differential
suggests?
How do organizations decide on the distribution of available
rewards? At least four mechanisms can be identified. In more cases
than we choose to admit, rewards go to those with the
greatest power (either market power or personal power). In many of
the corporations whose presidents earn eight-figure incomes, we
find that these same people are either major shareholders in the
company or have certain abilities, connections, or status that the
company wants. Indeed, a threat of resignation from an important or
high-performing executive often leads to increased rewards.
A second possible basis for reward distribution is equality. Here, all
individuals within one job classification would receive the same, or at
least similar, rewards. The most common example here can be found
among unionized workers, where pay rates are established and
standardized with little or no reference to actual performance level.
Instead of ability or performance, these systems usually recognize
seniority as the key factor in pay raises or promotions.
Team Based Rewards
Performance appraisals, whether team or individual, provide
feedback to workers or organizational teams. Traditionally,
performance evaluations provide information to help improve
individual performance, increase efficiency and define
management’s expectations. Performance appraisals compare work
performed against measurable objectives that the employee and
supervisor agreed to at the beginning of the appraisal period. As
work has become more team oriented, performance appraisals now
measure how a team of workers perform rather than just how an
individual performs his job. (Attribution; Deb Nystrom/ flickr/
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
The basis for the social welfare reward system in this country is need.
In large part, the greater the need, the greater the level of support. It
is not uncommon to see situations in business firms where need is
taken into account in layoff situations—where an employee is not
laid off because she is the sole support of a family.
A fourth mechanism used by organizations in allocating rewards
is distributive justice. Under this approach, employees receive (at
least a portion of) their rewards as a function of their level of
contribution to the organization. The greater the contribution (such
as performance), the greater the reward. This mechanism is most
prominent in merit-based incentive programs, where pay and
bonuses are determined by performance levels.
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards
The variety of rewards that employees can receive in exchange for
their contributions of time and effort can be classified as
either extrinsic or intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic rewards are external to
the work itself. They are administered externally—that is, by
someone else (usually management). Examples of extrinsic rewards
include wages and salary, fringe benefits, promotions, and
recognition and praise from others.
On the other hand, intrinsic rewards represent those rewards that
are related directly to performing the job. In this sense, they are
often described as “self-administered” rewards, because engaging in
the task itself leads to their receipt. Examples of intrinsic rewards
include feelings of task accomplishment, autonomy, and personal
growth and development that come from the job.
In the literature on employee motivation, there is considerable
controversy concerning the possible interrelationship of these two
kinds of reward. It has been argued (with some research support)
that extrinsic rewards tend to drive out the positive effects of some
intrinsic rewards and can lead to unethical behavior.
Consider, for example, the child next door who begs you to let her
help you wash your car. For a young child, this task can carry
considerable excitement (and intrinsic motivation). Now, consider
what happens on a Saturday afternoon when you need your car
washed but the child has other options. What do you do? You offer
to pay her this time to help wash your car. What do you think will
happen the next time you ask the neighbor to help you wash the car
for free? In other words, when extrinsic rewards such as pay are tied
closely to performance (called performance-reward
contingency), intrinsic motivation—the desire to do a task because
you enjoy it—can decrease.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that because extrinsic rewards
are administered by sources external to the individual, their
effectiveness rests on accurate and fair monitoring, evaluating, and
administration. Implementation can be expensive, and the timing of
performance and rewards may not always be close. For example, you
may perform well on a task, but unless there is a way for that to be
noticed, evaluated, recorded, and rewarded within a reasonable time
frame, an extrinsic reward may not have a significant impact.
Intrinsic rewards are a function of self-monitoring, evaluation, and
administration; consequently, these rewards often are less costly and
more effectively administered. For example, even if no one else
notices or rewards you for superior performance on a task, you can
still reward yourself with a mental pat on the back for a job well
done or a sense of satisfaction for overcoming a challenge. The
implications of this finding will become apparent when exploring
efforts to enrich employees’ jobs.
Money and Motivation: A Closer Look
A recurring debate among managers focuses on the issue of whether
money is a primary motivator. Some argue that most behavior in
organizational settings is motivated by money (or at least monetary
factors), whereas others argue that money is only one of many
factors that motivate performance. Whichever group is correct, we
must recognize that money can have important motivational
consequences for many people in many situations. In fact, money
serves several important functions in work settings.

MOTIVATION
MCQ
1:  Which of the following is not an important aspect of employee
involvement?
a) Employee motivation
b) Employee empowerment
c) Team and Teamwork
d) Keeping employee morale down

2:  Motivation is the process of stimulating people to accomplish

_________
a) Desired goals
b) Desired homework
c) Desired assignment
d) Desired homework and assignment

3: Motivation is the process of attempting to influence others to do

their work through the possibility of getting rewards. Who gave this
definition of ‘motivation’?
a) Edwin B. Flippo
b) E.F.L. Breach
c) Crosby
d) Deming

4: Which of the options is incorrect with respect to the importance of

‘employee motivation’?
a) It promotes employee involvement
b) It promotes job satisfaction
c) Reduces absenteeism
d) Increases absenteeism
5: Motivation creates a congenial working atmosphere in the
organization and promotes __________
a) Internal hatred
b) External hatred
c) Interpersonal cooperation
d) Internal and external hatred

6: Which of the following is not part of the basic needs mentioned by

Maslow?
a) Physiological needs
b) Safety needs
c) Social needs
d) Hazard needs

7: According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the biological needs

required to preserve human life are called __________
a) Physiological needs
b) Safety needs
c) Social needs
d) Hazard needs

8: According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the needs for food,

cloth, and shelter belong to _____________
a) Survival needs
b) Social needs
c) Esteem needs
d) Self – actualization needs

9: According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which of the following

does not belong to safety needs?
a) Protection from fire and accident
b) Lack of economic security involving health and insurance
c) The desire for an orderly and predictable environment
d) The desire to know the limits of acceptable behavior

10: Safety needs are provisions against deprivation in the future.

a) True
b) False
11: Early theories concentrate on what motivates individuals in their
work. They include:
A. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
B. Herzberg’s hygiene and motivator factors
C. Both A&B
D. All of the above

12: Rearrange the six steps of motivation logically.

A. Engages in goal - directed behaviour

B. Reassess needs deficiencies
C. Performs
D. Identifies needs
E. Searches for ways to satisfy the needs
F. Receives either rewards or punishment

a. DFCAEB
b. BCDEAF
c. DEACFB
d. ABCDEF
13:  ___________ is the name given to a philosophy and set of
methods and techniques that stressed the scientific study and
organisation of work at the operational level.

a. Scientific Management
b. Human Relations Model
c. Two factor theory
d. Achievement motivation theory

14: Rearrange the steps of Maslow's Need Hierarchy Theory.

A. Self - Actualisation Needs

B. Physiological needs
C. Belongingness and love needs
D. Self - esteem needs
E. Safety needs

a. ABCDE
b. ADCBE
c. DCBEA
d. ADCEB

15: Which of the following is a content theory?

a. Expectancy theory
b. ERG Theory
c. Equity theory
d. None of the above
16: The two factor theory is based on which factors?
a. Hygiene and behavioural
b. Safety and self - esteem
c. Self - actualisation and status quotient
d. None of the above

17: What does "E", "R" and "G" stand for in the ERG theory?
a. Export, Risk and Guarantee
b. Exponential, Reliability and Growth
c. Existence, Relatedness and Growth
d. None of the above

18: Which of the following is a process theory?

a. Achievement Motivation theory
b. Performance - satisfaction model
c. ERG theory
d. Two factor theory

19: What are the alternate names used for the expectancy model?
a. Instrumentality theory
b. Path - goal theory
c. Valence - instrumentality - expectancy theory
d. All of the above

20: Which of the following option, is an important term used in the

theory?
a. Inputs
b. Promotion
c. Working condition
d. Responsibility
21: Which of the following options is a factor which the equity theory
is not clear about?
a. How does a person choose the comparison other?
b. Carefully explaining to the employees what their roles are
c. Making sure the rewards dispersed are valued by the employees
d. None of the above

QUESTIONS
Q1: Explain motivation in OB.
Ans: Motivation can be described as the internal force that impacts
the direction, intensity, and endurance of a person’s voluntary choice
of behavior. It consists of −
 Direction − focused by goals.
 Intensity − bulk of effort allocated.
 Persistence − amount of time taken for the effort to be
exerted.
Example − A team leader encourages team members to work
efficiently.
Features of Motivation
Motivation is an internal feeling, that is, it defines the psychological
state of a person. It is a continuous process and we should make sure
that it is not disturbed. A person should be encouraged completely.
Motivation consists of three interacting and dependent elements −
 Needs − The requirements or deficiency which is created
whenever there is physiological imbalance.
 Drives − The various camps or events organized to motivate the
employees and give them new opportunities.
  Incentives − Employees need to be rewarded for their nice
work in order to keep them encouraged.
Importance of Motivation
We need to motivate employees because of the following reasons −
 Motivated employee are more quality oriented.
 Highly motivated employees are more productive as compared
to other employees.
 It helps in achieving three behavior dimension of human
resource namely
o Candidates must be attracted not only to join but also
remain in the firm.
o Employees must perform task in a dependable manner.
o Employees should be creative, spontaneous and
innovative at work.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory
This theory was produced in order to answer the question “What
motivates an individual”. Every second need comes to force when
the first need is satisfied completely. Maslow explained the hierarchy
of needs by grouping them into two: deficiency needs and growth
needs.
Physiological Needs
Every individual needs to take care of the basic requirements
required to sustain. These requirements include food to eat, clothing
to wear and shelter to live in. These necessities are relatively
independent of each other but are finite.
Safety Needs
Everybody wants to stay in a protected environment with minimal
danger so that they can have a peaceful life. Safety needs basically
includes protection from physiological danger like accident and
having economic security like bank accounts, health insurance
In an enterprise, it includes job security, salary increment, etc. The
managerial practice to satisfy this involves offering pension scheme,
provident fund, gratuity etc.
Social Needs
We have all heard that man is a social animal, we want to be there
with those people where we are loved and we are accepted as we
are; nobody wants to be judged. This is a common requirement
every human desires.
This theory helps managers to think about encouraging their
employees by identifying employee needs. In short, it presents
motivation as constantly changing force, expressing itself to the
constant need for fulfilment of new and higher levels of needs.
Esteem
Esteem means the typical human desire to be accepted and valued
by others. People often involve in a profession or hobby to gain
recognition, earn fame and respect. According to Maslow, the needs
of humans have strict guidelines - the hierarchies rather than being
sharply separated, are interrelated. This means that esteem and the
consequent levels are not strictly separated but are closely related.
Self-Actualization
Self-actualization means realizing one’s full potential. Maslow
describes this as a desire to complete everything that one can, to
become the most that one can be

Q2: Discuss motivation types and theories.

Ans: The concept of motivation focuses on explaining what "moves"
behaviour. In fact, the term motivation is derived from the Latin
word 'movere', referring to movement of activity. Working, studying,
playing and caring are some important daily activities which are
considered purposeful. Motives help explain our movement towards
the chosen goals. Hence, motivation is one of the determinants of
behaviour. Instincts, drives, needs, goals, and incentives come under
the broad cluster of motivation.
The Motivational Cycle
• A need is lack or deficit of some necessity. This condition leads to
drive, which is a state of tension or arousal.
• Drive energises random activity. When one of the random activities
leads to a goal, it reduces the drive, and the organism stops being
active. The organism returns to a balanced state.

Types of Motives
Basically, there are two types of motives : biological and
psychosocial.
Physiological / Biological Motives
Biological motives are also known as physiological motives as they
are guided mostly by the physiological mechanisms of the body. It is
the earliest attempt to understand causes of behaviour. This theory
states that organisms have needs (internal physiological imbalances)
that produce drive, which stimulates behaviour leading to certain
actions towards achieving certain goals, which reduce the drive.
The earliest explanations of motivation relied on the concept of
instinct. The term instinct denotes inborn patterns of behaviour that
are biologically determined rather than learned.
Some of the basic biological needs explained by this approach are
hunger, thirst, and sex, which are essential for the sustenance of the
individual.

Psychosocial motives
Psychosocial motives are complex forms of motives mainly resulting
from the individual's interaction with her/his social environment.
Social motives are mostly learned or acquired. Social groups such as
family, neighbourhood, friends, and relatives do contribute a lot in
acquiring these motives.
Need for Affiliation
• Need for affiliation is aroused when individuals feel threatened or
helpless and also when they are happy.
• People try to get close to other people, to seek their help, and to
become members of their group. Seeking other human beings and
wanting to be close to them both physically and psychologically is
called affiliation. It involves motivation for social contact.

Need for Power

• Need for power is an ability of a person to produce intended
effects on the behaviour and emotions of another person.
Need for Achievement
Achievement motivation refers to the desire of a person to meet
standards of excellence. Need for achievement, also known as n-Ach,
energises and directs behaviour as well as influences the perception
of situations.
Curiosity and Exploration
 Often people engage in activities without a clear goal or
purpose but they derive some kind of pleasure out of it. It is a
motivational tendency to act without any specific identifiable
goal.
 The tendency to seek for a novel experience, gain pleasure by
obtaining information, etc. are signs of curiosity. Hence,
curiosity describes behaviour whose primary motive appears to
remain in the activities themselves.
General Motives
 This is an intermediate category of motives between the
physiological and socio-psychological.
 The motives in this category are unlearned but not
physiologically based.

Work Motivation
Katzell and Thompson (1990) define Work Motivation as a "broad
construct pertaining to the conditions and processes that account for
arousal, direction, magnitude, and maintenance of effort in a
person's job". More recently, Robbins (2005) defines work
motivation as "the willingness to exert high levels of effort towards
organisational goals, conditioned by the effort's ability to satisfy
some individual needs".
Classification of Motives at Work:
Primary & Secondary Motives:
Primary motives are unlearned, physiological needs that include
hunger, thirst, sleep, sex, avoidance of pain etc. These needs are
important for survival and are virtually universal, but they vary in
intensity from one person to another.
Secondary motives are learned, social motives that arise as a result
of interaction with other people and develop as people mature.
Included in this category are affiliation - desire to associate with
others; recognition - need for frequent tangible proof that one is
getting ahead; status - need to have a high rank in society etc.

Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and
fringe benefits, promotion, contract of service, the work
environment and conditions of work.
Intrinsic motivation is related to psychological rewards such as the
opportunity to use one's ability, a sense of challenge and
achievement, receiving appreciation, positive recognition and being
treated in a caring and considerate manner.
Importance of Motivation in Organisations:
Employee motivation is essential to the success of any organisation,
big or small. In the modern workplace, human resources are valued
above all others. Motivated employees are productive, happy and
committed. The spin-off of this includes reduced employee turnover,
results-driven employees, company loyalty and workplace harmony.
Motivation is very important for an organisation because of the
following benefits it provides:
 Increased productivity and improved employee performance
 Stability of workforce
 Positive workplace culture
 Better teamwork
 Workplace harmony
Theories of Motivation:
There are many competing theories which attempt to explain the
nature of motivation. These theories centre on three different
aspects of motivation: the individual's predisposition, the cognitive
process, and the consequences deriving from the individual's action.
Based on these aspects, there are three
types of theories of motivation:
• Content theories - These theories are concerned with identifying
people's needs and their relative strengths, and the goals they
pursue in order to satisfy these needs.
• Process theories - These theories are concerned more with how
behaviour is initiated, directed and sustained and attempt to identify
the relationship among the dynamic variables, which make up
motivation.
• Reinforcement theory (outcome theories) - This theory seeks to
explain what types of consequences motivate different people to
work. It focuses on how environment teaches us to alter our
behaviours so that we maximise positive consequences and minimise
adverse consequences.

Q3: Explain classification of motives

Ans: Primary Motives:
Primary motives are essential for survival. They must be satisfied first
before we can take up any other activity. Primary motives come to
action when the physiological balance of the body is upset. This
balance is called homeostasis.
Hunger or Thirst drive:
When an organism experiences hunger or thirst, certain biological
changes occur in the body. Once the hunger/thirst is fulfilled, the
physiological balance or homeostasis is restored. Respiratory drive is
the drive for air or oxygen. If oxygen supply is not there even for a
moment, it may result in brain damage, loss of memory and loss of
control on one’s body.
Sleep drive occurs usually at regular intervals for a person. Lack of
sleep or inadequate sleep over long periods can result in confusion,
attention deficit, muscle tremors and increased sensitivity to pain.
The metabolism rate drops during sleep regenerating energy.
Drive for elimination of wastes:
When the bladder or intestine becomes distended with waste
material, they cause pressure and discomfort. The person becomes
restless until the waste materials are eliminated and pressure
relieved. Sex drive is considered a biological drive since it is
dependent on physiological conditions. Unlike hunger and thirst, sex
is not essential for survival of the individual but is necessary for the
survival of the species.
Maternal drive:
Maternal behaviour is instinctive in nature. It is unlearned.
Physiological drive causes maternal behaviour. Maternal drive is
caused by prolactin, a hormone secreted by pituitary.
Social/Learned/Secondary Motives:
Human life has not only just biological aspect but also social aspect.
Hence human behaviour is activated by the following social motives.
1. Achievement motives
2. Affiliation motives
3. Aggression motives
4. Power motives
5. Curiosity motives.
These are called social motives since they develop as a result of
relationships with people.
1. Achievement motives:
They refer to a drive towards some standards of excellence. People
with high-level achievement motives prefer tasks that would promise
success and are moderately difficult. David C McClelland has found
that while high achievers tend to succeed, low achievers tend to
avoid failures.
High achievers challenge failures and work harder while low
achievers accept failures and go for less difficult tasks. High achievers
prefer personal responsibility and like to get feedback about their
works.
Children whose parents have accepted their independence tend to
become high achievers, while those of overprotective parents tend
to become low achievers. Children learn by copying the behaviour of
their parents and other important people in their lives who serve as
models. The parental expectations also develop achievement
motivation in children.
2. Affiliation motives:
Man cannot exist in isolation. The need to be with other people is
known as affiliation need. This need is revealed through one’s
attraction to others through friendship, sociability or group
membership. They make more local phone calls, visits and seek
approvals of others.
Need to rely on others which is called dependency motive is one
form of the need for affiliation. When little children are frightened,
they seek others to comfort them. This kind of experience in early
life makes one seek the friendly company of others when faced with
anxiety and fear.
3. Aggression motives:
Intense frustrations after high expectations, verbal and nonverbal
insults, fear and anxiety can trigger aggression. Television and
cinema depicting violence can make youngsters model themselves to
aggressive behaviour.
Psychoanalysts maintain that each individual, as part of his biological
inheritance, possesses destructive death urges as well as
constructive life urges. In most of us, a favourable balance exists
between life and death urges so that kindness triumphs over cruelty.
Social learning (modeling), classical conditioning and instrument
conditioning are the ways in which hostile aggression may be
learned.
4. Power motives:
Social power is defined as the ability of an individual to produce
intended effect on the behaviour or emotions of other people.
Persons with power motives will be concerned with having impact,
influence and reputation.
They exercise their power by joining political parties, voluntary
organizations, and associating themselves with prominent and
popular men. They select jobs which have an impact on others and
dominate weaker sections of the society. They often try to convince
others, play more competitive sports and tend to drink more.
5. Curiosity Motives:
Almost all individuals have a desire to have some standing position
among the people of his society or group. Nobody likes to be
considered inferior. Efforts to achieve a rank in the hierarchy of the
group are present not just in human beings, but even among birds
and animals, e.g. ‘pecking order’ among hens.
 LEADERSHIP
MCQ
1:  ___________ is increasing Leadership rapidly:
A. Strategy
B. Command
C. Control
D. Getting others to follow

2: Regarding leadership, which statement is false?

A. Leadership does not necessarily take place within a hierarchical
structure of an organisation
B. When people operate as leaders their role is always clearly
established and defined
C. Not every leader is a manager
D. All of the above

3:  __________ are the approaches to the study of leadership which

emphasise the personality of the leader:
A. Contingency theories
B. Group theories
C. Trait theories
D. Inspirational theories

4: The effectiveness of a leader is dependent upon meeting

_______ areas of need within the workgroup:
A. One
B. Three
C. Five
D. None of the above
5: Needs, setting standards and maintaining discipline, and
appointing sub-leaders according to Adair’s approach, called as:
A. Work functions
B. Task functions
C. Individual functions
D. Team functions

6: The Ohio State Leadership Studies revealed _____________ and

initiating structure as two major dimensions of leadership
behaviour:
A. Control
B. Communication
C. Collaboration
D. Consideration

7: Identify the four main styles of leadership displayed by the

manager which identified in Tannenbaum and Schmidt’s continuum
of possible leadership behaviour:
A. Tells, help, joins and leads
B. Commands, sells, consults and resists
C. Tells, sells, consults and joins
D. Commands, help, joins and leads

8: Contingency theories of leadership based upon:

A. That there is no single style of leadership appropriate to all
situations
B. That there is a single style of leadership appropriate to all
managers
C. That there is a single style of leadership appropriate to all
situations
D. None of the above

9: Leaders with a low LPC score gain satisfaction from

_______________ according to Fiedler’s LPC scale:
A. Developing team relationships
B. Achieving objectives
C. Both of these
D. None of the above

10: Model of leadership based on which aspects of a leader’s

decision is Vroom and Yetton’s contingency?
A. Decision acceptance
B. Decision quality
C. Both of these
D. None of the above

11: An individual’s motivation is dependent on:

A. Whether path-goal relationships are clarified
B. Expectations that increased effort to achieve an improved level
of performance will be successful
C. Their effective performance
D. The necessary direction, guidance, training and support is
provided

12: A firm that chooses a cost-leadership business strategy focuses

on gaining advantages by reducing its costs to a level equal to all of
its competitors.
True
False

13: The best example of a firm following a cost-leadership business

strategy is
(A) Wal-Mart
(B) Rolls Royce
(C) Mercedes Benz.
(D) .Macy’s

14: Cost-leadership and product-differentiation strategies are so

widely recognized that they are often called
(A) common business strategies.
(B) generic business strategies.
(C) generic corporate strategies
(D) common corporate strategies.

15: Cost leadership as a strategy requires a firm to __.

(A). aim at a cost advantage in a niche market
(B). be unique in its product offering
(C). aggressively search out efficiencies to maintain the lowest cost
structure
(D). aim to be similar to its competition in most operations

16: Firms implementing cost-leadership strategies will generally

adopt a
(A) multidivisional structure.
(B) functional organizational structure.
(C) product divisional structure.
(D) matrix structure.

17: Firms implementing cost-leadership strategies will have

________ layers in their reporting structure.
(A) relatively complex
(B) relatively simple
(C) relatively few
(D) many

18: The typical risks of a cost leadership strategy includes:

(A). production and distribution processes  becoming obsolete
(B). the inability to balance high differentiation and low price.
(C). excessive differentiation to
(D). loss of customer loyalty.

19: The typical risks of a cost leadership strategy includes:

(A). production and distribution processes becoming obsolete
(B). the inability to balance high differentiation and low price.
(C). excessive differentiation to
(D). loss of customer loyalty.

20: Firms pursuing a cost-leadership strategy are typically

characterized by?
(A) loose cost control systems.
(B) close supervision of labor, raw materials, inventory, and other
costs.
(C) Both A and B
(D) a de -emphasis on quantitative cost goals and costs.
(E). None of these

21: What must a cost-leadership strategy accomplish to be

successful?
(A). It must increase the firm’s cost above that of its competitors
while offering adequate value.
(B. It must reduce the firm’s cost below that of its competitors while
offering superior value.
(C). Both A and B
(D). It must reduce the firm’s cost below that of its competitors
while offering adequate value.
(E). None of these

22: Which of these are some different domains of leadership?

 Leading groups
 Leading oneself
 Leading organizations
 All of these

23: Which of the following are true?

 Each leadership domain requires different leadership skills
 The same leadership skills are needed in every domain
 Leading oneself requires skills in, e.g., assertiveness, emotional
intelligence and stress management
 None of these
24: Which of the following are/is true?
 An organization's culture should match the style of its top
leader
 The style of the top leader should mostly match its culture
 Leadership exists only in the top leaders
 Leadership exists throughout an organization

QUESTION

Q1: What is Behavioural Leadership Theory?

Ans: Behavioral leadership theory is a management philosophy that
evaluates leaders according to the actions they display in the
workplace. Supporters of this theory believe that all you need to do
to be an effective leader is to learn a certain set of behaviors. If you
are interested in becoming a more efficient leader or in
implementing a new leadership style, you can benefit from learning
about behavioral leadership theory. In this article, we define
behavioral leadership and discuss the different types of behaviors
associated with certain leadership styles.
What is behavioral leadership theory?
Behavioral leadership theory argues that the success of a leader is
based on their behavior rather than their natural attributes.
Behavioral leadership theory involves observing and evaluating a
leader's actions and behaviors when they are responding to a specific
situation. This theory believes that leaders are made, not born.
Proponents of this theory suggest that anyone can become an
effective leader if they can learn and implement certain behaviors.
Behavioral leadership theory is highly relevant in several fields. Every
project manager, CEO, activities coordinator or any other kind of
professional leader can all be evaluated according to the criteria
developed by the behavioral leadership theory. This theory promotes
the idea that all leaders are capable of learning and developing
through adopting beneficial behaviors and performing them in their
workplace. Behavioral leadership theory also encourages leaders to
be self-aware of their behavior and to recognize how it affects the
productivity and morale of their team.
Types of behavioral leadership
There are several key styles of behavioral leadership. Each one
involves a different set of behaviors and may be more or less
effective in certain work environments:
 People-oriented leaders
 Task-oriented leaders
 Participative leaders
 Staus-quo leaders
 Indifferent leaders
 Dictatorial leaders
 Country club leaders
 Sound leaders
 Opportunistic leaders
 Paternalistic leaders

People-oriented leaders
People-oriented leaders focus on behaviors that allow them to meet
the needs of the people they interact with, including supervisors,
employees and clients. They are primarily driven by interpersonal
connection and communication. People-oriented leaders build
relationships with their team members to motivate them to perform
well. This type of leader favors behavior related to:
 Encouraging collaboration
 Rewarding success
 Observing their team's progress
 Mentoring team members

Task-oriented leaders
Task-oriented leaders are primarily focused on setting goals and
achieving objectives. Task-oriented leaders thrive in a well-structured
environment and often show authoritative behavior. They are
typically more focused on their team's final results rather than the
day-to-day developmental process. Behaviors that are common for a
task-oriented leader include:
 Initiating projects
 Organizing processes
 Clarifying instructions
 Gathering relevant data
Participative leaders
Participative leaders make an effort to include their entire team in
decision-making processes. They prioritize active communication,
collaboration and feedback. Participative leaders know their team's
strengths and weaknesses and assign tasks accordingly. This
leadership style allows every team member's voice to be heard and
considered. Participative leaders are likely to:
 Facilitate team meetings
 Ask for constructive feedback
  Take suggestions for improvement
 Delegate tasks to other team members

Status-quo leaders
Status-quo leaders make an effort to prioritize both productivity and
employee satisfaction. They ensure that all tasks are finished on time
while also providing support and encouragement to their team
members. Staus-quo leaders typically meet the needs of their team
without going above or beyond expectations. Some behaviors
associated with status-quo leaders include:
 Distributing tasks evenly
 Requiring regular progress reports
 Enforcing company policies fairly
 Responding to feedback neutrally
Indifferent leaders
Indifferent leaders do not prioritize interaction or communication
with their team. They usually oversee progress from a distance and
do not contribute to their team's daily efforts. They are primarily
focused on personal success and advancement. Due to the lack of
cooperation, an indifferent leadership style is widely considered the
most ineffective of the behavioral leadership types. Behaviors typical
for indifferent leaders include:
 Avoiding questions
 Procrastinating
 Self-preserving
 Assigning unwanted tasks to others
Dictatorial leaders
Dictatorial leaders often value results more than they do people.
They may pressure their team members to perform well even during
stressful or challenging periods. Dictatorial leaders are often
successful in delivering high-quality results but may experience high-
turnover rates due to employee dissatisfaction and burnout. The
behaviors of a dictatorial leader include:
 Setting inflexible deadlines
 Disregarding excuses
 Ignoring feedback
 Achieving short-term goals
Country club leaders
Country club leaders prioritize their team members' happiness and
satisfaction level. They believe that a team that is comfortable and
well-provided for is more likely to be successful. Team members are
likely to show high levels of trust and loyalty when working with
country club leaders. Some country club leaders might sacrifice
productivity in exchange for improving their team's morale or
workplace relationships. Country club leaders' behavior often
involves:
 Responding to team member feedback
 Focusing on employees' well-being
 Defending employees' interests and rights
 Supporting the team members' decisions
Sound leaders
Sound leadership is considered the most effective type of behavioral
leadership. However, it is typically difficult to practically implement.
Sound leaders equally prioritize productivity and team morale. They
value their team members, set achievable goals and deliver high-
quality results. They are intrinsically motivated to succeed and find
satisfaction in supporting their team's progress. Sound leaders
exhibit behaviors like:
 Encouraging open communication
 Allowing employees to work independently
 Listening to and implementing feedback
 Providing training and continuing education to team members
Opportunistic leaders
Opportunistic leaders pick and choose different behaviors from the
previous styles. They can adjust and adapt their leadership style to fit
a particular situation. They are goal-oriented and will use whatever
methods are necessary to achieve their objectives. For example, they
might adopt a dictatorial persona in the weeks leading up to a major
deadline and then shift to country club leadership afterward to repair
their relationship with their team. The specific behaviors of an
opportunistic leader vary, but may include:
 Lack of consistency
 Pursuing results regardless of cost
 Enforcing their own standards for success
 Caring for their team to improve performance
Paternalistic leaders
This leadership style strives to be stern but fair, much like a father
with a child. Paternalistic leaders are goal-oriented but are willing to
be flexible regarding methodology. They frequently set lofty goals
and reward team members that achieve them. They value their team
members' individual skills and offer opportunities for them to
develop professionally. Other behaviors associated with the
paternalistic style include:
  Rewarding positive behavior or success
 Disciplining failure
 Disregarding feedback
 Offering leadership opportunities to promising employees

Q2: Explain Trait Theory of leadership.

Ans: The trait model of leadership is based on the characteristics of
many leaders - both successful and unsuccessful - and is used to
predict leadership effectiveness. The resulting lists of traits are then
compared to those of potential leaders to assess their likelihood of
success or failure.
Scholars taking the trait approach attempted to identify physiological
(appearance, height, and weight), demographic (age, education and
socioeconomic background), personality, self-confidence, and
aggressiveness), intellective (intelligence, decisiveness, judgment,
and knowledge), task-related (achievement drive, initiative, and
persistence), and social characteristics (sociability and
cooperativeness) with leader emergence and leader effectiveness.
Successful leaders definitely have interests, abilities, and
personality traits that are different from those of the less effective
leaders. Through many researches conducted in the last three
decades of the 20th century, a set of core traits of successful leaders
have been identified. These traits are not responsible solely to
identify whether a person will be a successful leader or not, but they
are essentially seen as preconditions that endow people with
leadership potential.
Among the core traits identified are:
 Achievement drive: High level of effort, high levels of ambition,
energy and initiative
  Leadership motivation: an intense desire to lead others to reach
shared goals
 Honesty and integrity: trustworthy, reliable, and open
 Self-confidence: Belief in one’s self, ideas, and ability
 Cognitive ability: Capable of exercising good judgment, strong
analytical abilities, and conceptually skilled
 Knowledge of business: Knowledge of industry and other
technical matters
 Emotional Maturity: well adjusted, does not suffer from severe
psychological disorders.
 Others: charisma, creativity and flexibility
Strengths/Advantages of Trait Theory
 It is naturally pleasing theory.
 It is valid as lot of research has validated the foundation and
basis of the theory.
 It serves as a yardstick against which the leadership traits of an
individual can be assessed.
 It gives a detailed knowledge and understanding of the leader
element in the leadership process.
Limitations of The Trait Theory
 There is bound to be some subjective judgment in determining
who is regarded as a ‘good’ or ‘successful’ leader
 The list of possible traits tends to be very long. More than 100
different traits of successful leaders in various leadership
positions have been identified. These descriptions are simply
generalities.
  There is also a disagreement over which traits are the most
important for an effective leader
 The model attempts to relate physical traits such as, height and
weight, to effective leadership. Most of these factors relate to
situational factors. For example, a minimum weight and height
might be necessary to perform the tasks efficiently in a military
leadership position. In business organizations, these are not the
requirements to be an effective leader.
 The theory is very complex
Implications of Trait Theory
The trait theory gives constructive information about leadership. It
can be applied by people at all levels in all types of organizations.
Managers can utilize the information from the theory to evaluate
their position in the organization and to assess how their position
can be made stronger in the organization. They can get an in-depth
understanding of their identity and the way they will affect others in
the organization. This theory makes the manager aware of their
strengths and weaknesses and thus they get an understanding of
how they can develop their leadership qualities.
Conclusion
The traits approach gives rise to questions: whether leaders are born
or made; and whether leadership is an art or science. However,
these are not mutually exclusive alternatives. Leadership may be
something of an art; it still requires the application of special skills
and techniques. Even if there are certain inborn qualities that make
one a good leader, these natural talents need encouragement and
development. A person is not born with self-confidence. Self-
confidence is developed, honesty and integrity are a matter of
personal choice, motivation to lead comes from within the individual,
and the knowledge of business can be acquired. While cognitive
ability has its origin partly in genes, it still needs to be developed.
None of these ingredients are acquired overnight.

Q3: Discuss challenges faced by the leaders.

Ans: Just because you become a leader in your organization doesn’t

mean that the floor won’t drop out around you. That is what you, as
a leader, have been chosen to handle. In fact, it is your quest if you
accept it. There are 10 issues that leaders always have to face, but
with the right tact and skill, you can route a strong course and come
out on top.
Change
The fact that you have accepted a leadership role is a change all to
itself, but everyday is filled with possibilities for change. Some of
them are things that you have chosen and others are the luck of the
draw. Your role as a leader is to not get off balance because of
change. You either have to see it coming and prepare or be able to
handle it on the fly because both things are inevitable.
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass
1. Difficult People
There will always be people on your team, in your organization and
in your working life who are difficult. Your goal, as a leader, is to
handle them with grace and kindness. Don’t feed into them. Don’t
prolong your exposure to them. Above all, don’t let them get you
down.
2. Pressure
The work environment has a lot of pressure built into it. Your ability
to accept and release some of that pressure will benefit you in the
long run. You can’t run at full speed 100% of the time and allowing
some quieter moments that help you find balance will be paramount
to your success as a leader.
3. Letting Someone Go
As a leader it will, at some point, be your job to either recommend
that someone leave your organization or you are going to have to
move someone on yourself. Never do this in a rash manner or under
anger. Your ability to calmly make this organizational change for the
better of the organization is the mark of true leadership.
4. Delivering Bad News
Products will fail, timelines won’t be met, your goals will lag—that is
all just part of business, but it will be your job to tell your board or
your superiors. Being able to tell bad news without drama and with
clarity will allow you to find the next steps. Bad stuff happens; it is
how you share it that is going to matter in your next move.
5. Staying Motivated
Sometimes as a leader you can feel your motivation for the project
or the organization fall flat. It happens to the best of us, but what
you need to do is muster all of the good stuff around you and get
back on track. Don’t spend time dwelling on what isn’t working
unless you can fix it. You won’t always be the number one
cheerleader in your own mind, but your team is expecting you to be
so get out there and share the enthusiasm you do have; even when
you are a little off your game.
6. Culture Issues
Just because you work in an organization doesn’t mean that you
don’t have issues with your culture. You might be an office that
doesn’t get along well as a team, has communication issues, gossips,
or has undermining team members. Whatever it is, you are going to
have to deal with it as the leader. Changing cultural habits in an
organization isn’t easy, but you set the tone. If you don’t want
people to gossip, don’t gossip. If you want teams to work better
together, you have to work well with teams. You are setting the
entire tone of how the culture in your organization exists.
7. Being Respected and Being Liked
You aren’t always going to be liked. The minute you put your hand
up to lead something, someone else is going to shoot you down. That
is just life. Don’t get swayed by that and work to be kind and focused
in your communications. Respect will come, and if you are lucky, you
might even be liked.
8. Maintaining Focus
It is so easy to get distracted! Everyone wants something, is selling
you something, or is trying to get you to notice them. That is part of
accepting the role of leadership. Your job is to not get distracted by
the shiny objects and to remain focused on the end game. You have
a team to lead, a product to deliver, or a project to complete—make
your plan, keep your head down and maintain focus.
9. Communication Problems
Inevitably someone is going to reply all to an email that they
shouldn’t have, a team member isn’t going to get the deadline
straight, or someone just isn’t going to get the memo all together.
Communication issues are probably your number one stressor as a
leader. Practicing your skills at being clear and brief will benefit the
entire organization.
10. Handling a Dud
Every once in a while, a project just doesn’t work or the event is a
bust. Don’t worry. It happens to the best of us. How you handle it is
what matters. Don’t let your team go down into a spiral of self pity or
blame. Just dust yourself off and figure out how the next thing is
going to be awesome.
Leadership isn’t just about the hard stuff, but it is a big part of
shouldering the responsibility. Each time you have to grapple with
something difficult, you are practicing how to do it better because
stuff will always come up. Your growth in leadership is dependent on
the lessons you learn on dealing with the good and the bad.

GROUPS AND TEAMS

MCQ
1: How do you describe a work group that comprises workers with
demarcated tasks and distant line managers?
a) Dependent
b) Independent
c) Interdependent
d) Collaborative

2: What is the term for the set of behaviours and tasks that a
member of the group is expected to perform because he or she is a
member of the group?
a) Group roles
b) Virtual teamwork
c) Synergy
d) Role making
3: Which one of the following is not a characteristic of a team?
a) Minimal and formal knowledge sharing
b) Collective output
c) Individual and collective responsibility
d) Fluid dimension to roles and tasks

4: What is the term Tuckman uses for reaching consensus as a

group?
a) Storming
b) Performing
c) Forming
d) Norming

5: According to Belbin (1981) an extroverted and enthusiastic person

fits with what role?
a) Co-ordinator
b) Shaper
c) Resource investigator
d) Implementer

6: What are group norms?

a) Modes of behaviour that are acceptable to and shared by group
members
b) Modes of behaviour that are shared by some members of the
group
c) Modes of behaviour that challenge group values and beliefs
d) Modes of behaviour that are different of those of the other group
members

7: What is T-group training?

a) A group whose aim is transformational change
b) A group brought together to deliver training programmes
c) Team training for the purposes of advancing technology
d) Team building activities involving learning

8: What is the purpose of a 'quality circle'?

a) Bring together managers and workers to find improvements.
b) Bring together managers and workers to discuss output.
c) Bring together managers and workers to review quality of work.
d) Bring together managers and workers to review targets.

9: What is characteristic for the location of a virtual team?

a) In the same building
b) In the same industry
c) In the same country
d) remotely

10: Which of these is not an advantage of a virtual team?

a) Team members can be recruited for their specific skills or
experience.
b) No overhead costs associated with physical buildings.
c) Conflict can be resolved easily using face-to-face meetings.
d) Low transport or commuting costs.

11: Teams occur when a number of people have

____________________ and recognise that their personal success is
dependent on the success of others.
o A common goal
o The same manager
o A shared work environment
o Similar jobs

12: Groups which are formed as the consequence of organisational

structure and work division are known as:
o informal groups
o formal groups
o operational groups
o target groups

13: Boynton and Fisher noted that ________________ teams can be

formed specifically to initiate organisational change.
o Virtual
o Change
o Super
 o Virtuoso
14: Reasons for the formation of groups include:
o The provision of guidelines on generally acceptable
behaviour.
o The provision of protection for its membership.
o The performance of certain tasks which can be performed
only through combined efforts of individuals working
together.
o All of the above

15: In the Tuckman model, groups at the ___________________

stage develop guidelines and standards of acceptable behaviour.
o Adjourning
o Forming
o Storming
o Norming

16: A potential disadvantage associated with cohesive groups is:

o A tendency to focus on social activities which may reduce
output
o A tendency to see other groups as rivals
o A tendency to develop attitudes which are hard to change
o All of the above

17: Which of the following is not a characteristic of an effective work

group?
o The open expression of feelings and disagreements.
o The resolution of conflict by members themselves.
 o A belief in shared aims and objectives.
o A sense of commitment by individual members to their
own goals and objectives.

18: A virtual team is a collection of people who are

_________________ separated but still __________________
together closely.
o Temporally; work
o Geographically; work
o Geographically; decide
o Physically; think

19: A role-set is the range of contacts with whom an individual in a

particular role has:
o A line management relationship
o Meaningful interactions
o Daily contact
o Regular appraisals

20: Belbin’s initial research led him to propose how many team
roles?
o Seven
o Six
o Eight
o Nine
21: The team-role which is likely to demonstrate such positive
qualities as imagination and creativity but may show disregard for
practical details is:
o Specialist
o Team Worker
o Shaper
o Plant

22: The team-role which is likely to demonstrate such positive

qualities as strategic vision and accurate judgement but may also be
overly critical is:
o Team Worker
o Monitor-Evaluator
o Shaper
o Specialist

23: The type of communication network which is most efficient for

simple tasks is the:
o Circle
o Y-chain
o All channel
o Wheel
24: The risky-shift phenomenon means that there is a tendency for
groups to make decisions which are _______________________
than those which individual members would make.
o Less risky
o More conservative
o Less consistent
o More risky
25: Brainstorming as a problem-solving and decision-making
technique:
o Involves everyone
o Encourages communication
o Focuses the mind
o All three of the above

26: Which of the following is an explanation of the “Johari Window”

o A blind area
o A simple framework for looking at self-insight
o Hidden behaviour
o None of the above
27: According to Douglas are people management skills are the
______________ types of skills.
o Natural
o Formal
o Direct and honest
o More difficult and rare
o None of the above

QUESTIONS
Q1: What is Group Dynamics?
Ans: Group dynamics refers to a process of group interaction which
determines how the group functions and how effective it is.
Group dynamics definition
Group dynamics refers to a process of group interaction which
determines how the group functions and how effective it is. It can be
divided into intragroup dynamics (interactions within a group) and
intergroup dynamic (interaction between groups).
Group dynamics research can be very beneficial for businesses as it
gives an insight into what motivates teams, what type of people
make up successful teams and what inhibits team success.

Q2: What is group formation in Organisational Behaviour?

Ans: A group refers to two or more individuals who have come
together with a common objective. The members of a group interact
and are interdependent on each other with the view of achieving a
particular objective. The main purpose of forming formal groups is to
help the organization achieve certain objectives.
Then, what is meant by group formation?
Definition: The Group Development means, forming the association
of people to work as a group and direct their actions towards the
accomplishment of a common goal. It is often called as
a team building or team development.
Also Know, wHAT IS group in organizational
behavior? Organizational Behavior - Groups. Advertisements.
A group can be defined as two or more interacting and
interdependent individuals who come together to achieve particular
objectives. A group behavior can be stated as a course of action
a group takes as a family. For example: Strike.
Also question is, what are the five stages of group formation?
Bruce Tuckman presented a model of five stages Forming,
Storming, Norming, and Performing in order to develop as a group.
 Orientation (Forming Stage)
  Power Struggle (Storming Stage)
 Cooperation and Integration (Norming Stage)
 Synergy (Performing Stage)
 Closure (Adjourning Stage)
How are groups formed in an Organisation?
Formal groups are deliberately created by the organization in order
to help the organizational members achieve some of the important
the organizational goals. The informal groups, in contrast, develop
rather spontaneously among an organization's members without any
direction from the organizational authorities.
Why is group formation important?
They also form groups for safety, security and social achievements.
People cooperate with members of the group on social as well as
economic grounds to reach satisfactory levels. People form groups
basically for activities, interaction and due to sentiments. People
living in proximity frequently discuss their problems.
What are the 5 types of teams?
Here are five different types of teams that currently exist: Working
Teams. Working teams are teams that are basic to any organization:
Marketing teams, Human Resource teams, Finance Teams. Special
Purpose Teams. Multi-functional Teams. Self-Directed Teams.
Management Teams.
What are the theories of group formation?
Theories of Group Formation: Propinquity Theory: The most basic
theory explaining affiliation is propinquity. Homan's Theory:
According to George C. Balance Theory: Another very comprehensive
theory is a Balance Theory of group formation. Exchange Theory: This
theory is based on reward-cost outcomes of interactions.
What is a team model?
They define a team as “a small group of people with complementary
skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals,
and approach for which they are mutually accountable.” The model
suggests that there are five levels of teamwork: Working group:
Team members are operating as individuals and not together

Q3: What are stages of group formation.

Ans: Stages of group formation can be a rather exciting and effective
process. Before heading into the intricacies of group formation, it is
important to learn about the basic group dynamics. These group
dynamics provide a strong base for a clear understanding of the
different stages in the process of group formation.
What is a group?
A group refers to two or more individuals who have come together
with a common objective. The members of a group interact and are
interdependent on each other with the view of achieving a particular
objective. Groups are of 2 broad categories: formal group and
informal group.
An organizational structure defines the formal groups with
establishing a set of tasks and jobs. The main purpose of forming
formal groups is to help the organization achieve certain objectives.
Examples of formal groups are departmental teams, project groups
who work as a group until the completion of the project, etc.
Informal groups are those groups that do not get their definition and
formation by an organization. Informal groups are neither formal
structures or have an organizational determination.
They are simply a group of people who have come together in an
informal manner to achieve a particular goal. Examples of informal
groups are family and related groups, friend groups, social peer
groups, etc.
Why do people join groups?
People join groups and want to be a part of a group for one or more
of the following reasons:
 To receive a sense of social security and safety.
 Being excluded from a group or not being a part of a group can
pull down one’s status. Therefore, one of the reasons is to
satisfy the status demands.
 To have self-esteem is crucial for everyone in every part of the
social strata.
 Affiliation to the idea of having a system to provide you with
moral support and help you achieve goals.
 Being a part of a group often gives you a subtle sense of power.
 Last but not least, a group can help in the process of successful
goal achievement.
The 5 Stages of Group Formation
Tuckman was responsible for coining the 5 main stages in the
process of group discussion. They are also known as Tuckman’s 5
stages of group development. Moreover, these stages of group
formation are meant to be followed in the exact sequence as they
are below:
Forming
This is a beginning stage and lasts only a few days (or weeks).
Members begin by planning their work and their new roles.
Moreover, the emotions here are positive. The groups should begin
by learning about team processes in preparation for the rough times
ahead.
However, it is crucial for them to learn the aspects of conflict
resolution, communication, group decision-making and time
management.
Storming
There exists a considerable amount of fights and arguments in this
stage. People begin to feel the stress of frustration, resentment, and
anger. Moreover, as the problem festers, the job remains undone.
Managers also experience frustration and are worried about the
situation, thereby, are tempted to intervene. Members experience a
drastic emotional roller coaster from elation to depression.
Moreover, the situation seems bleak. Usually, the storming period
may last 1-2 months. Also, without effective training and support,
the team may experience retarded growth.
Conflicts are usually frowned upon. However, they are the definition
of normal, natural, and even necessary events in an organization. It is
critical for the group to handle it well because they are great in
helping to build skill and confidence for the next stage
Norming
In the norming stage, the group works through individual and social
issues. The group establishes its own norms of behaviour and begin
to trust each other. Moreover, as the group develops interpersonal
skills, it becomes all the more skilled.
Members begin the art and knack of problem-solving. They also
cross-train and learn new and adequate job skills. This stage usually
lasts for 4-12 months.
Performing
In this stage, the group is ready to begin performing its respective
task and assigned jobs. In this stage, the group has become well
acquainted with one another and has clarity with regard to what
needs to and has to be done. The performing stage begins when the
group is comfortable to work and ends when the job is completed.
Adjourning
Post the performing stage, the group is adjourned. The adjourning
stage ends the process of group formation. Because the group is
adjourned once the task that is assigned to the group is completed.

Question on Stages of Group Formation

Q. Why is ‘the adjourning phase’ a critical phase in the formation of a
group?
Answer: Similar to how after a corporate meeting, it is important to
establish normalcy in operations, adjourning a group is crucial. A
group is formed through collective efforts of forming, norming,
storming and performing.
However, adjourning a group completes the group formation. It
shows that the group has been successful in completing its pre-
determined objective.

STRESS MANAGEMENT
MCQ
1: Which of the following statements is true
1. In small quantities, stress is good
2. Too much stress is harmful
 3. All stress is bad
4. Only ‘1’ & ‘2’ are right

2:  Stress management is about learning

1. How to avoid the pressures of life
2. How to develop skills that would enhance our body’s
adjustment when we are subjected to the pressures of life
3. Both ‘1’ & ‘2’ are true
4. None of the above

3: Which of the following statements is true about stress

management
1. Stress management is learning about the connection between
mind and body
2. Stress management helps us control our health in a positive
sense
3. Stress management teaches us to avoid all kinds of stress
4. Only ‘1’ & ‘2’ are right

4: Which of the following are the basic sources of stress

1. The Environment
2. Social Stressors
3. Physiological
4. Thoughts
 5. All of the above

5: Examples of environmental stressors are

1. Weather
2. Traffic
3. Financial problems
4. Substandard housing
5. Only ‘1’ , ‘2’ & ‘4’ are right

6: Examples of social stressors are

1. Financial problems
2. Divorce
3. Loss of a loved one
4. Job interviews
5. All of the above

7: Examples of physiological stressors are

1. Menopause
2. Giving birth
3. Sleep disturbances
4. Relationship problems
5. Only ‘1’, ‘2’, & ‘3’ are true

8: The following are the characteristics of Positive Stress

 1. It improves performance
2. It feels exciting
3. It motivates
4. All of the above

9: The following are the characteristics of Negative Stress

1. It causes anxiety
2. It feels unpleasant
3. It decreases performance
4. All of the above

10: Which of the following statements is true

1. Positive stress is short-term
2. Negative stress can be short or long-term
3. Negative stress can lead to mental as well as physical problems
4. Negative stress is perceived within our coping abilities
5. All of the above
6. All except ‘4’ is true

11: The following are the examples of negative stressors

1. Unemployment
2. Legal problems
3. Divorce
4. All of the above
12: The following are the examples of positive stressors
1. New job
2. Having a child
3. Buying a home
4. All of the above
13: Which of the following statements is true
1. Habitual behaviour patterns like over scheduling,
procrastination, etc. Can cause negative stress
2. Thoughts like fear, worrying about future etc. can cause
negative stress
3. Both ‘1’ & ‘2’ are true
4. None of the above

14: Which of the following are the physical symptoms of anxiety

1. Racing heart
2. Sweaty palms
3. Flushed cheeks
4. All of the above

15: What are the behavioural reactions to anxiety

1. Avoiding situation where there are chances of experiencing
anxiety
2. Escaping situations when feelings of anxiety begin
3. Both ‘1’ and ‘2’ are true
 4. None of the above

16: Anxiety can cause the following moods

1. Irritable
2. Nervous
3. Panicky
4. Anxious
5. All of the above

17:  What thoughts come to the mind when you’re under negative
stress
1. You think that you can cope with the situation
2. You think that you cannot cope with the situation
3. You think that everything will get fine eventually
4. You think that you will get hep immediately

18: The symptoms of stress can be divided in to the following

categories
1. Cognitive
2. Emotional
3. Physical
4. Behavioural
5. All of the above

19: Which of the following statements is true

 1. Moodiness is a cognitive symptom of stress
2. Moodiness is an emotional symptom of stress
3. Poor judgement is an emotional symptom of stress
4. Agitation is cognitive symptom of stress
20: The following are true about the behavioural symptoms of
stress
1. The subject’s starts eating more or less
2. The subject starts sleeping more or less
3. The subject isolates himself/herself from others
4. All of the above

21: Aches, shallow breathing and sweating, frequent colds are

1. Physical symptoms of stress
2. Behavioural symptoms of stress
3. Emotional symptoms of stress
4. Cognitive symptoms of stress

22: The following are true about the effects of stress

1. Hair loss and baldness
2. Spasmodic pains in the neck and shoulders
3. Hypertension
4. All of the above
23: What are the questions you need to ask yourself while you are
assessing yourself for stress
1. Where do you feel stress in your body
2. How do you know when you are stress
3. How do you react to stress
4. All of the above
24: Who was the first to describe the “fight or flight response”
1. Walter B. Cannon
2. Sigmund Freud
3. Atkinson Potter
4. Mrunal Sengupta

25: Which of the following are true in relation to Relaxation

Response
1. It is a physical state of deep rest
2. Eliciting this reduces your metabolism
3. Eliciting this reduces your blood pressure
4. All of the above

26: Which of the following is true about eliciting the relaxation

response
1. Repetition of a word
2. Passive disregard of everyday thoughts
3. Both ‘1’ & ‘2’ are true
4. Doing weight training
27: Which of the following Mindfulness meditation techniques can
help relieve stress
1. Body Scan
2. Walking Meditation
3. Mindful Eating
4. All of the above

28: Which of the following are true about ‘mini-relaxation

exercises’
1. You can do them anywhere
2. You can do them without eliciting attention from others around
you
3. It is most beneficial if you do it on a regular basis
4. All of the above

29: Which of the following is true about ‘deep breathing relaxation

technique’
1. It can be self-taught
2. It releases tension from the body and clears your mind
3. You have to do this under-water
4. Only ‘1’ & ‘2’ are true

QUESTIONS
Q1: Explain Stress in organisation.
Ans: Defining Stress
Stress is defined in terms of its physical and physiological effects on a
person, and can be a mental, physical, or emotional strain.
Stress
Stress is defined in terms of how it impacts physical and
psychological health; it includes mental, physical, and emotional
strain. Stress occurs when a demand exceeds an individual’s coping
ability and disrupts his or her psychological equilibrium. Stress occurs
in the workplace when an employee perceives a situation to be too
strenuous to handle, and therefore threatening to his or her well-
being.
Stress at Work
While it is generally agreed that stress occurs at work, views differ on
the importance of worker characteristics versus working conditions
as its primary cause. The differing viewpoints suggest different ways
to prevent stress at work. Different individual characteristics, like
personality and coping skills, can be very important predictors of
whether certain job conditions will result in stress. In other words,
what is stressful for one person may not be a problem for someone
else.
Stress-related disorders encompass a broad array of conditions,
including psychological disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-
traumatic stress disorder) and other types of emotional strain (e.g.,
dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension), maladaptive behaviors (e.g.,
aggression, substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (e.g.,
concentration and memory problems). Job stress is also associated
with various biological reactions that may ultimately lead to
compromised physical health, such as cardiovascular disease.
Categories of Work Stress
Four categories of stressors underline the different causal
circumstances for stress at work:
1. Task Demands – This is the sense of not knowing where a job
will lead you and whether the activities and tasks will change.
This uncertainty causes stress that manifests itself in feelings of
lack of control, concern about career progress, and time
pressures.
2. Role Demands – Role conflict happens when an employee is
exposed to inconsistent or difficult expectations. Examples
include: interole conflict (when there are two or more
expectations or separate roles for one person), intrarole
conflict (varying expectations of one role), person-role conflict
(ethics are challenged), and role ambiguity (confusion about
their experiences in relation to the expectations of others).
3. Interpersonal Demands – Examples include: emotional issues
(abrasive personalities, offensive co-workers), sexual
harassment (directed mostly toward women), and poor
leadership (lack of management experience, poor style, cannot
handle having power).
4. Physical Demands – Many types of work are physically
demanding, including strenuous activity, extreme working
conditions, travel, exposure to hazardous materials, and
working in a tight, loud office.
Causes of Workplace Stress
Work stress is caused by demands and pressure from both within
and outside of the workplace.
Work-Related Stress
Problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both
employers and employees. Symptoms of stress can manifest both
physiologically and psychologically. Work-related stress is typically
caused by demands and pressure from either within or outside of the
workplace; it can be derived from uncertainty over where the job will
take the employee, inconsistent or difficult expectations,
interpersonal issues, or physical demands.
Although the importance of individual differences cannot be ignored,
scientific evidence suggests that certain working conditions are
stressful to most people. Such evidence argues that working
conditions are a key source of job stress and job redesign should be
used as a primary prevention strategy.
Studies of Work-Related Stress
Large-scale surveys of working conditions—including conditions
recognized as risk factors for job stress—were conducted in member
states of the European Union in 1990, 1995, and 2000. Results
showed a time-related trend that suggested an increase in work
intensity. In 1990, the percentage of workers reporting that they
worked at high speeds for at least one-quarter of their working time
was 48%; this increased to 54% in 1995 and 56% in 2000. Similarly,
50% of workers reported that they worked against tight deadlines at
least one-fourth of their working time in 1990; this increased to 56%
in 1995 and 60% in 2000. However, no change was noted in the
period from 1995 to 2000 in the percentage of workers reporting
sufficient time to complete tasks (data was not collected in 1990 for
this category).
A substantial percentage of Americans work very long hours. By one
estimate, more than 26% of men and more than 11% of women
worked 50 hours or more per week (outside of the home) in 2000.
These figures represent a considerable increase over the previous
three decades—especially for women. According to the Department
of Labor, there has been an upward trend in hours worked among
employed women, an increase in work weeks of greater than forty
hours by men, and a considerable increase in combined working
hours among working couples, particularly couples with young
children.
Power and Stress
A person’s status in the workplace can also affect levels of stress.
Stress in the workplace has the potential to affect employees of all
categories, and managers as well as other kinds of workers are
vulnerable to work overload. However, less powerful employees
(those who have less control over their jobs) are more likely to
experience stress than employees with more power. This indicates
that authority is an important factor complicating the work stress
environment.
Economics and Stress
Economic factors that employees are facing in the 21st century have
been linked to increased stress levels as well. Researchers and social
commentators have pointed out that advances in technology and
communications have made companies more efficient and more
productive than ever before. This increase in productivity has
resulted in higher expectations and greater competition, which in
turn place more stress on employees.
The following economic factors can contribute to workplace stress:
 Pressure from investors who can quickly withdraw their money
from company stocks
 Lack of trade and professional unions in the workplace
 Inter-company rivalries caused by global competition
 The willingness of companies to swiftly lay off workers to cope
with changing business environments
Social Interactions and Stress
Bullying in the workplace can also contribute to stress. Workplace
bullying can involve threats to an employee’s professional or
personal image or status, deliberate isolation, or giving an employee
excess work.
Another type of workplace bullying is known as “destabilization.”
Destabilization can occur when an employee is not given credit for
their work or is assigned meaningless tasks. In effect, destabilization
can create a hostile work environment for employees, negatively
affecting their work ethic and therefore their contributions to the
organization.
Stress Outside of the Workplace
Non-work demands can create stress both inside and outside of
work. Stress is inherently cumulative, and it can be difficult to
separate our personal and professional stress inducers. Examples of
non-work stress that can be carried into the workplace include:
 Home demands: Relationships, children, and family
responsibilities can add stress that is hard to leave behind when
entering the workplace. The Academy
of Management Journal states that this constitutes “an
individual’s lack of personal resources needed to fulfill
commitments, obligations, or requirements.”
 Personal demands: Personal demands are brought on by the
person when he or she takes on too many responsibilities,
either inside or outside of work.
Consequences of Workplace Stress
Stress can impact an individual mentally and physically and so can
decrease employee efficiency and job satisfaction.
Symptoms of stress: Stress can manifest as various symptoms
affecting one’s body, mind, behavior, and/or emotions.
Stress
Negative or overwhelming work experiences can cause a person
substantial distress. Burnout, depression, and psychosomatic
disorders are particularly common outcomes of work-related stress.
In general, individual distress manifests in three basic forms:
psychological disorders, medical illnesses, and behavioral problems
Psychological Disorders
Psychosomatic disorders are a type of psychological disorder. They
are physical problems with a psychological cause. For example, a
person who is extremely anxious about public speaking might feel
extremely nauseated or may find themselves unable to speak at all
when faced with the prospect of presenting in front of a group. Since
stress of this type is often difficult to notice, managers would benefit
from carefully monitoring employee behavior for indications of
discomfort or stress.
Medical Illnesses
Physiological reactions to stress can have a long-term impact on
physical health. In fact, stress is one of the leading precursors to
long-term health issues. Backaches, stroke, heart disease, and peptic
ulcers are just a few physical ailments that can arise when a person is
under too much stress.
Behavioral Problems
A person can also exhibit behavioral problems when under stress,
such as aggression, substance abuse, absenteeism, poor decision
making, lack of creativity, or even sabotage. A stressed worker may
neglect their duties, impeding workflows and processes so that the
broader organization slows down and loses time and money.
Managers should keep an eye out for such behaviors as possible
indicators of workplace stress.
Organizational Effects of Stress
Stress in the workplace can be, so to speak, “contagious”—low job
satisfaction is often something employees will discuss with one
another. If stress is not noted and addressed by management early
on, team dynamics can erode, hurting the social and cultural
synergies present in the organization. Ultimately, the aggressive
mentality will be difficult to remedy.
Managers are in a unique position when it comes to workplace
stress. As they are responsible for setting the pace, assigning tasks,
and fostering the social customs that govern the work group,
management must be aware of the repercussions of mismanaging
and inducing stress. Managers should consistently discuss job
satisfaction and professional and personal health with each of their
subordinates one on one.
Reducing Workplace Stress
A combination of organizational change and stress management is a
productive approach to preventing stress at work.
Stress management refers to a wide spectrum of techniques and
therapies that aim to control a person’s levels of stress, especially
chronic stress, to improve everyday functioning.
Preventing Job Stress
If employees are experiencing unhealthy levels of stress, a manager
can bring in an objective outsider, such as a consultant, to suggest a
fresh approach. But there are many ways managers can prevent job
stress in the first place. A combination of organizational change and
stress management is often the most effective approach. Among the
many different techniques managers can use to effectively prevent
employee stress, the main underlying themes are awareness of
possibly stressful elements of the workplace and intervention when
necessary to mitigate any stress that does arise.
Specifically, organizations can prevent employee stress in the
following ways:
Intentional Job Design
 Design jobs that provide meaning and stimulation for workers
as well as opportunities for them to use their skills.
 Establish work schedules that are compatible with demands
and responsibilities outside the job.
 Consider flexible schedules—many organizations allow
telecommuting to reduce the pressure of being a certain place
at a certain time (which enables people to better balance their
personal lives).
 Monitor each employee’s workload to ensure it is in line with
their capabilities and resources.
Clear and Open Communication
 Teach employees about stress awareness and promote an open
dialogue.
 Avoid ambiguity at all costs—clearly define workers’ roles and
responsibilities.
  Reduce uncertainty about career development and future
employment prospects.
Positive Workplace Culture
 Provide opportunities for social interaction among workers.
 Watch for signs of dissatisfaction or bullying and work to
combat workplace discrimination (based on race, gender,
national origin, religion, or language).
Employee Accountability
 Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions and
actions that affect their jobs.
 Introduce a participative leadership style and involve as many
subordinates as possible in resolving stress-producing
problems.
Stress Prevention Programs
St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company conducted several
studies on the effects of stress prevention programs in a hospital
setting. Program activities included educating employees and
management about workplace stress, changing hospital policies and
procedures to reduce organizational sources of stress, and
establishing of employee assistance programs. In one study, the
frequency of medication errors declined by 50% after prevention
activities were implemented in a 700-bed hospital. In a second study,
there was a 70% reduction in malpractice claims among 22 hospitals
that implemented stress prevention activities. In contrast, there was
no reduction in claims in a matched group of 22 hospitals that did
not implement stress prevention activities.
Q2: Discuss Stress Model.
Ans: Stress Models and Theories
Occupational stress research refers to the study of the negative
impact of organizational environments on employees. In the last half
century, occupational stress has become an important topic within
the field of industrial and organizational psychology, and there is no
reason to believe this will change in the near future. In this entry,
some of the most common models and theories that have guided
occupational stress research are described.
Before providing an overview of the models and theories, it is
important to define these two terms. In science, a model is a replica
or abstraction of some phenomenon or process. A theory is very
similar to a model; the difference, however, is that a theory is more
abstract. Specifically, a theory presents a set of ideas and
propositions about something, whereas a model represents a
detailed description of how those ideas fit together to explain some
process or phenomenon.
In the social and behavioral sciences, models and theories are useful
to both researchers and those who apply research findings in real
settings. For researchers, models and theories help to guide
investigations and serve as benchmarks by which research findings
can be evaluated. Many research studies are either direct tests of
models or theories or use models and theories to set them up. It is
common to evaluate research findings on the basis of whether they
are or are not consistent with some model or theory.
Occupational Stress Models and Theories
Before describing the specific models and theories used in
occupational stress research, the manner in which they are used in
this field of study must be discussed. Like other areas of industrial
and organizational psychology, models and theories are used to
guide occupational stress research and evaluate research findings.
Unlike researchers in other areas, however, few occupational stress
researchers conduct direct model tests (one notable exception will
be described later). The most likely reason is that models and
theories in occupational stress are generic, and thus they are hard to
use to directly derive testable hypotheses.
In describing models and theories, a distinction can be made
between generic frameworks, general models, and testable theories.
Generic frameworks are general theories or theoretical propositions
that guide research but cannot be empirically tested. General models
represent a higher level of specificity than generic frameworks in
that they describe specific steps in the stress process. Though
general models can be tested, they rarely are, either because the
components of such models are so general or because the models
are very complex. Testable theories are the most concrete and, in
that sense, represent the only truly testable hypotheses in the field
of occupational stress.
Generic Frameworks
Most readers who have had any exposure to the field of occupational
stress have heard of Hans Selye, whom many acknowledge as the
“father of stress.” Selye, a medical researcher, was studying sex
hormones when he noticed that the reactions to adverse physical
conditions of the animals he used in his research tended to follow a
similar pattern. From these observations, he came up with the
general adaptation syndrome (GAS) as a response to stressors, and
this has become a common generic framework in stress research.
According to the GAS, when faced with a stressor, an individual will
progress through three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. In
the alarm stage, the body’s physiological systems react to a stressor
or threat in the environment. This is represented by increased heart
and respiration rates, as well as increased production of adrenal
hormones; in a sense, the body is preparing for battle. In the
resistance stage, the body continues to fight the stressor threat using
the same mechanisms that kicked into action in the alarm stage. In
some cases, the effort that the body puts forth in the resistance
stage is enough to mitigate or at least neutralize the stressor or
threat. If this is not the case, the body can only hold out so long, and
if the stressor persists, it will ultimately reach the third stage,
exhaustion. In this final stage, the mechanisms the body uses to fight
the stressor will wear down and sustain damage; in the animals Selye
observed, the exhaustion stage often ended in death.
Although the GAS cannot be directly tested in organizational settings,
it can be an important lens through which to understand the stress
process. Consider, for example, an employee who works for an
abusive, rude supervisor. When this employee first encounters the
supervisor’s abusive behavior, the stressor is likely to evoke a
number of physiological and psychological reactions, which could be
considered alarms. If the abusive behavior continues over time, the
employee will attempt to cope with the situation in some way,
perhaps by trying to reason with the supervisor, fighting back, or
simply trying to interact with him or her as little as possible—all of
these responses could be considered forms of resistance. Over time,
however, if these efforts do not reduce the abusiveness of the
supervisor, the employee may develop emotional or physical
problems or perhaps leave the organization altogether, which would
represent exhaustion.
Another notion that is prevalent in occupational stress research and
may be considered a generic framework is that of person-
environment fit. The basic idea of person-environment fit, which
certainly could be applied to many areas of psychology, is that
people tend to be happier and adapt better when they fit into the
environment they are placed in. Organizational research—and
occupational stress research in particular—has focused on the skill
and ability requirements of jobs and the skills and abilities possessed
by job incumbents. As one might imagine, the most stressful work
situations are those in which an employee lacks the skills and abilities
to perform his or her job. It may also be problematic if an employee
possesses skills and abilities that are far above those required by the
job that he or she is performing.
Though early work on person-environment fit focused on skills and
abilities, more recent work has expanded the concept to other areas,
such as the fit between organizational culture and an individual’s
personality, the fit between work content and an individual’s
interests, and the fit between specific types of work organization
(e.g., team-based work) and an employee’s skills and preferences. In
general, research has supported the basic notion of person-
environment fit.
General Models
By far, the most popular general model of occupational stress was
developed by researchers at the Institute for Social Research (ISR) at
the University of Michigan during the early 1960s. The ISR model, as
it is known, was developed to serve as a guide for one of the first
large-scale studies of occupational stress funded by the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
The ISR model proposes that all employees in organizations
encounter objective characteristics of the work environment, such as
the amount of work they are assigned. These objective
characteristics of the work environment are perceived or appraised
by the employee, and based on this appraisal, there is some short-
term reaction that may be psychological, physical, or behavioral in
nature. If an employee exhibits these short-term reactions for a long
period of time, his or her response may ultimately lead to poor
mental or physical health.
In addition to describing the process by which stress leads to mental
and physical health problems, the ISR model proposes that each step
in this process may be affected by characteristics of the individual
(e.g., demographic characteristics, personality traits), as well as the
interpersonal relations within the individual’s work environment.
This aspect of the model has become very important, particularly in
recent years, because much occupational stress research has focused
on how individual differences influence the stress process.
Although occupational stress researchers have not focused on
testing the ISR model, its importance to the field of occupational
stress cannot be overstated. Its focus on the psychological
interpretation of the work environment, in particular, has influenced
the way researchers measure stressors. Specifically, most
occupational stress researchers assess work-related stressors by
using employees’ perceptions of stressful aspects of the work
environment. Unfortunately, however, this focus on perceptions led
researchers to pay too little attention to the objective environment—
a criticism often leveled at occupational stress research conducted by
social and behavioral scientists.
The other general model of occupational stress that has influenced a
great deal of research was described by Terry Beehr and John
Newman in an extensive review published in 1978. According to this
model, characteristics of the individual interact with characteristics
of the work environment through perceptual or appraisal processes.
Based on the precise nature of this interaction, there may be
consequences for both the individual employee and the organization
in which he or she works. For the individual, these consequences
may include health problems, whereas the organizational
consequences may include decreased productivity and increased
health care costs. The final step in the model is represented by
adaptive responses on the part of both the individual and the
organization. This simply represents actions that people and
organizations take to mitigate the effects of stress when they are
recognized. The final component of Beehr and Newman’s model,
which cuts across all other components, is time. This component
simply recognizes that all of the steps in the stress process are
embedded in a temporal framework. For example, in some cases,
stressful conditions at work may occur suddenly—an unexpected
layoff or a violent incident, perhaps. In other cases, stressful
conditions take much more time to manifest themselves— a
relationship with a coworker deteriorates over time, or physical
working conditions gradually deteriorate. Employee and
organizational responses to these conditions will likely be much
different.
Readily Testable Models
Over the past 25 years, the most tested occupational stress model
has been the demands-control model developed by Robert Karasek
during the late 1970s. The basic idea put forth in this model is very
straightforward: The most stressful situations are those in which
employees are subjected to high work demands yet have low control
over decisions concerning their work. Another way to look at the
demands-control model is that demands and control interact in such
a way that job demands are related most strongly to strain when
control is low. Many blue-collar jobs fit this high demand-low control
pattern; that is, employees are expected to do or produce a great
deal, yet have little say in how they do their jobs or how the
organization operates.
Since Karasek proposed the demands-control model in the 1970s,
the model has been modified based on research findings.
Specifically, research has shown that the demands-control
interaction is stronger among employees who lack high levels of
social support from others. Thus, it has become common for
researchers to refer to Karasek’s model as the demands-control-
support, or DCS, model. A small number of empirical studies have
shown that the inter-action is stronger among individuals with high
self-efficacy. Self-efficacy refers to an individual’s belief that he or
she is capable of carrying out some task or course of action;
individuals with low self-efficacy are less likely than their high-self-
efficacy counterparts to derive the benefits of high control. As yet,
however, self-efficacy has not been included as a part of the
demands-control model by most researchers.
Support for the demands-control model has been quite mixed, for a
number of reasons. Perhaps the most important reason is that there
is no agreement as to exactly what constitutes support for the
model. According to Karasek, minimum support for the model is
represented by the additive effects of job demands and control, even
if the interaction between the two is not supported. By this criterion,
the model has received abundant support. Some, however, view the
true test as the interaction between demands and control. If this
criterion is applied, support is much more modest.
The other model that is quite testable—though it has not been
tested as extensively as the demands-control model—is the effort-
reward-imbalance model developed by Johannes Siegrist in
Germany. According to this model, people evaluate their work
situation in terms of the effort they put into it relative to the rewards
they derive. In stressful situations, employees feel as though they are
putting a great deal into their job or doing a great deal for their
organization, yet they feel as though they are not receiving rewards
that are commensurate with these efforts.
A final model proposed relatively recently (1992) is the cybernetic
model developed by Jeff Edwards. Edwards proposed that employees
compare their current work situation with what they desire their
work situation to be. If this comparison results in a negative
discrepancy, or if the current situation is not what the employee
wants it to be, the employee experiences the job as stressful. The
model goes further, however, and describes the process by which
employees attempt to change this negative discrepancy. Although
Edwards’s theory is complex, it is also much better at describing the
stress process in real time than many other stress theories. As yet,
this theory has not been explicitly tested, but in the future, it has a
great deal of potential in occupational stress research

CONFLICT MANAGMENT
MCQ:
1: Most conflicts have their roots in uncertainty, and negotiation is a
way of managing the
A. Resultant Risk
B. Failure
C. Uncertainty
D. Inputs

2: Contracts between a firm and its suppliers, its trade unions, and its
customers are written to govern the settlement of
A. Potential risk
B. Potential Uncertainty
C. Potential Risk
D. Potential Failure

3: Process which begins when one party perceives that the other has
frustrated, or is about to frustrate, some concern of his, is known as
A. Conflict
B. Risk
C. Uncertainty
D. Poor management

4: The organization establishes set of rules for itself and the

individuals and groups with whom it interacts in the form of
A g r e e men t
B. Orientation
C. Negotiation
D. Contracts

5: Brute force can be a time-honored method for

A. Resolving uncertainty
B. Resolving conflict
C. Removing errors
D. Removing risk

6: In dual concern model the style which represents a low level of

concern for both self and other known as__________.
Avoiding
Dominating
Obliging
Compromising
7: Third party usually helps, clarifies and grounds each disputing
party’s alternatives to agreement in___________.
Reality testing
Litigation
Negotiation
Dispute
8: A person holds_____ power when he influences others by
coercing, threatening, harming and irritating.
Reward
Coercive
Normative
Expert

9: Research and investigation can be examples of sources of

_________power.
Expert
Reward
Normative
Democratic

10: A dispute between two neighbors can be example of

_________power.
Expert
Reward
Ecological
Social
11: Formal power is exercised in a ________manner.
Bottom-up
Top-down
Horizontal
Vertical

12: The influence which is deliberate or purposive in nature may be

called_____.
Motivation
Power
Integration
None of the given options

13: When one disputant is forced to litigation then __________style

is not possible.
Compromising
Integration
Authoritative
Avoiding

14: Dual concern model assumes that no disputant has

________orientation.
Positive
Negative
Neutral
Zero-Sum

15: In dual concern model the style which represents a moderate

level of concern for self and other known as__________.
Avoiding
Dominating
Obliging
Compromising

16: Negotiation in which the disputants are the only participants is

called________.
Adjudication
Mediation
Simple negotiation
Facilitated negotiation

17: An interpersonal conflict in which no participant is aware of the

divergence of goals, needs, or interests is known as__________.
Latent conflict
False conflict
Cause of action
None of the given options
18: A conflict situation in which the disputants believe that when
one disputant helps him/herself, the other disputant is also helped
is_______________.
Constructive conflict
Competitive conflict
Destructive conflict
Cooperative conflict

19: A situation involving actual incompatibility of needs, interests

or goals is defined
as__________.
False conflict
True conflict
Veridical conflict
Both true and veridical conflict

20: Conflict causes predictable and destructive changes in the

disputant’s attitudes, perceptions and interactions is
called____________.
Perceived conflict
Real conflict
Escalating conflict
Data type conflict

21: Meeting one party’s goals is just like promoting other party’s
goals known as:
Promotive Interdependence
Contrient Interdependence
Positive Interdependence
None of the given options

22: The first step in conflict diagnosis is to describe

the______________.
Conflict
Disputant
Motives
Position

23: In interpersonal conflict the reality understood by each

participant is highly__________.
Objective
Personal
Subjective
Biased

24: There is/are usually ___________ source /sources of any given

conflict.
Single
Multiple
Sole
Distinct
25: One can infer attitudes and make judgments about people and
things through _____________.
Perception
General attribution theory
Stimuli
Cognitive Structure

26: High levels of trust between disputants makes:

Negotiation more efficient
Disputants less responsive
Decrease disputant’s willingness to try to find additional ways to
trust each other
A competitive conflict cycle more likely

27: Which type of trust is founded on control?

Calculus-based trust
Knowledge-based trust
Identification-based trust
Productive based trust

QUESTIONS
Q1: What is Conflict Management?
Ans: Conflict management is the approach and strategies geared
towards achieving a positive outcome and resolution amongst the
parties involved in matters relating to conflicts. These strategies and
approaches are dependent on the type of conflict that exist,
organizations, or institutions involved. It could be a systematic or
unordered method that is task-specific, research-oriented, and
requires proper attention. A conflict could be an outcome of
Workplace Incivility.
Every technique applied to manage conflict is aimed at resolution
with fair judgment, but it's worthy of note that it is not all
approaches to solving disputes that lead to a decision or positive
outcomes.
Some findings have been carried out over the years to identify and
even classified the approaches to managing conflicts. For instance,
Rahim (2002) was able to identify five different management
approaches to combating conflicts. These are;
1. Avoiding
2. Accommodating
3. Compromising
4. Collaborating
5. Competing

I have observed that the more the people involved in any situation or
matter, the more likely conflict arise. This is not far-fetched as we
humans have a different philosophy, culture, educational
background, and conflicting goals. Proper understanding of the five
strategies to conflict management will go a long way to minimize rifts
among members of an organization, business, and institutions.
Let's briefly discuss these five approaches as identified by Rahim
(2002)
1. Avoiding
This is a type of conflict management strategy where there is an
existence of avoidance such that the avoiders ignore the conflict. It is
a conscious effort to delay with the hope that the issue(s) would be
resolved over time. This can assume any sides of the coin in the
sense that, the problem can be solved as time passes or the longer
the time to resolve the issue, the more the conflict escalates. It has
been observed that some with power to pull the dispute will not
want to adopt this strategy, but someone with low esteem and no
capacity will avoid problems hoping that someday he/she will be
capable enough.
2. Accommodation
This kind of conflict management requires that the parties involved
accept the views of one another. Both or one is ready to give the
other party/side what is needed. For instance, in a business
environment where employees are required to dress formal
throughout the working days of the week. An employee can
approach the organization to allow the wearing of casuals on Fridays.
This can cause conflicts between the company and the employee
because that may be a core organizational principle. But the
company can apply an accommodation strategy by allowing the
employees to wear casuals on Fridays. People are happy and feel
among when this strategy is employed.
3. Compromising
This management strategy is such that parties have almost the same
if not equal capacity to pull issues further that will result in conflict.
But both decided to give in by accepting and agreeing to see how
resolution can be established. Most businesses would embrace this
strategy to resolve a dispute when parties observe that there is a risk
at the end, as any of them could lose something of value in matters
that caused the conflict. Contract negotiation, customer service, and
big investors are aspects you will see businesses compromising their
standard to work with the other party.
4. Collaborating
In conflict resolution and management, sometimes because of the
differences in ideology and knowledge that usually cause a rift in
business, parties integrate ideas to find a common ground of
acceptance for everyone involved. Companies can always consult
with employees to formulate policies and work collaboratively during
the decision process on some specific issues in the organization.
5. Competing
This type of conflict management strategy often involves individuals
who are assertive and have the will power to fight till they achieve
their goal and the other losing. For instance, a company might hold
on to this competitive strategy by conflicting and holding on until
they win on issues that will damage the organization reputation
based on an employee trying to defraud the company.
Irrespective of the impacts of all the strategies discussed above, once
there are people from different groups and ideology coming
together, conflict is likely to occur.
This will lead us to discuss the characteristics of conflict as follows;
1. Conflict involves opposition
2. Conflict has come to stay among humans
3. There are processes involved that usually result in conflicts
4. Conflict is not to be avoided
5. Conflict takes different shapes and form
 
1. Conflict involves opposition
Conflict exists if a party is in disagreement will another (it could be
internal or external) because one does not accept or agree with the
other. Therefore, there is a level of interaction or point of contact for
conflict to take its course.
2. Conflict has come to stay among humans
Since there will always be differences between human based on
incompatibility, the battle has become the usual thing in life for
everyone. There is an adage that says, ‘if you always see two friends
smiling all the time, it shows that they haven't been telling each
other the truth.’ Funnily, conflict is not a problem if attention is given
amongst parties to adopt some of the conflict management
strategies.
3. There are processes involved that usually result in conflicts
Many times it will start with a misunderstanding; one party with a
standpoint wants the other to see from his viewpoint. No company
wants her interest to be jeopardized and treated as a second-level
issue with no dignity.
4. Conflict is not to be avoided
It is worthy of note that no two persons are the same even twins. So,
a dispute will always exist. Once there are two people or more
involved in a matter, because of the differences in self-concept,
educational level, background, organizational training, and a host of
others, conflicts can't be avoided. Nonetheless, this non-avoidance
nature of the battle is useful sometimes as the end goal can make
parties evolve stronger and better.
5. Conflict takes different shapes and form
Battle sometimes can be unidimensional, can be inflicted and
perceptional. Interaction will always occur between an individual and
a group of people, organization, institutions, and these activities
result in interdependence. This comes in various degrees under the
groups involved. Conflict can be similar so, almost the same conflict
management strategy or combinations of approaches can be applied
to achieve resolution or minimize the negative impact.

Concept of Conflict Management

Managing conflict is an area of human that is necessary because we
constitute and manage an organization. This may sometimes require
training in different skills that can be adopted in different situations
of life. For instance, we have seen people going to take an advanced
course in conflict management, and this is broad. Members of an
organization should go through either a long or short training on this
subject matter as it's capable of minimizing unnecessary issues that
lead to conflict.
Conflict Based on the Results
There is always an end goal for every conflict. This could be positive
or negative, destructive or constructive, and restrictive or creative.
One can say conflict is constructive when it produces solutions to
problems from the understanding that exists between parties
involved. The other side of the coin is destructive in that parties fail
to achieve the end goal(s)
Conflict Based on Sharing by Groups
When conflict results from sharing resources with one party winning
and the other losing, it is termed as distributive. The opposite of it is
integrative which involve the parties accommodating one another's
viewpoints by compromising, and this usually results in a better
outcome.
Conflict Based on the Scope
This can be seen from the angle of being substantive or affective.
Substantive, in the sense that it does not involve individual but
associated with jobs and enhanced by collaborative decision.
Affective conflict, on the other hand, is based on the interpersonal
relationship that centers on emotion. This can be highly destructive
to an organization if a proactive measure is not put in place to
resolve it as quickly as possible. Substantive conflict can be observed
when there is a confusion with the group on a task being performed.
Conflict Based on Strategy
Base on a strategic approach, conflict can be seen to be cooperative
or competitive. Cooperative in the sense that the benefits of interest
among parties seek a win-win solution. Before this will occur, there is
always a kind of relationship to resolve by negotiating for mutual
benefits. When there is a will power to fight without bilateral
cooperation among parties involved, this is called competitive. Many
times low esteem usually plays in this kind of concept of conflict, and
it is accumulated over time. It typically results in conclusions that are
not of sound judgment because issues that the conflict emanates
from tend to be irrelevant to the point on ground.
Conflict Based on Interests and Rights
People sometimes are granted specific right by law based on initial
agreement, and this is known as conflict of rights. This kind of
conflict has been sealed and approved by law, and when an
individual or group is denied of their rights, it will always want to
result in a dispute. Sometimes the interest of a group of people or an
individual due to certain privileges he/she is entitled to is not backed
up by law; this is called conflict of interest. Conflict of interest will
only come out positively when parties involve decide to
accommodate, cooperate, and negotiate so that it does not attract
unusual and baseless situation.

Q2: Explain Types of Conflict.

Ans: In literature, fledgling writers learn that there are many
different kinds of conflict that arise in literature. One might see a plot
that outlines the “man vs. man” scenario, and another might be
“man vs. nature.”  When examining workplace conflict, one sees that
there are four basic types, and they’re not terribly different from
those other conflicts you learned in freshman literature except that
they all deal with conflict among people. They are:
 Intrapersonal
 Interpersonal
 Intragroup
 Intergroup
 Intrapersonal Conflict
The intrapersonal conflict is conflict experienced by a single
individual, when his or her own goals, values or roles diverge. A
lawyer may experience a conflict of values when he represents a
defendant he knows to be guilty of the charges brought against him.
A worker whose goal it is to earn her MBA might experience an
intrapersonal conflict when she’s offered a position that requires her
to transfer to a different state. Or it might be a role conflict where a
worker might have to choose between dinner with clients or dinner
with family.
Interpersonal Conflict
As you might guess, interpersonal conflict is conflict due to
differences in goals, value, and styles between two or more people
who are required to interact. As this type of conflict is between
individuals, the conflicts can get very personal.
Intragroup Conflict
Intragroup conflict is conflict within a group or team, where
members conflict over goals or procedures. For instance, a board of
directors may want to take a risk to launch a set of products on
behalf of their organization, in spite of dissenting opinions among
several members. Intragroup conflict takes place among them as
they argue the pros and cons of taking such a risk.
Intergroup Conflict
Intergroup conflict is when conflict between groups inside and
outside an organization disagree on various issues. Conflict can also
arise between two groups within the same organization, and that
also would be considered intergroup conflict.
Within those types of conflict, one can experience horizontal conflict,
which is conflict with others that are at the same peer level as you,
or vertical conflict, which is conflict with a manager or a subordinate.
Creating good conflict is a tough job, and one that’s not often done
right. But organizations that don’t encourage dissent won’t be
around for very long in today’s world. Companies today go out of
their way to create meetings where dissension can occur, reward
people who are courageous enough to provide alternative points of
view, and even allow employees a period of time to rate and criticize
management.

POWER AND POLITICS IN ORGANISATION

MCQ
1: Three bases of position power are ____________.

(a) reward, expertise, and coercive power

(b) legitimate, experience, and judgment power
(c) knowledge, experience, and judgment power
(d) reward, coercive, and knowledge power

2: ____________ is the ability to control another's behavior because,

through the indi- vidual's efforts, the person accepts the desirability
of an offered goal and a reason- able way of achieving it.

(a) Rational persuasion

(b) Legitimate power
(c) Coercive power
(d) Charismatic power
3: A worker who behaves in a certain manner to ensure an effective
boss-subordinate relationship shows ____________ power.

(a) expert
(b) reward
(c) approval
(d) referent
4: One guideline for implementing a successful empowerment
strategy is that ____________.

(a) delegation of authority should be left ambiguous and open to

individual interpretation
(b) planning should be separated according to the level of
empowerment
(c) it can be assumed that any empowering directives from
management will be automatically followed
(d) the authority delegated to lower levels should be clear and
precise

5: The major lesson of the Milgram experiments is that

____________.

(a) Americans are very independent and unwilling to obey

(b) individuals are willing to obey as long as it does not hurt another
person
(c) individuals will obey an authority figure even if it does appear to
hurt someone else
(d) individuals will always obey an authority figure

6: The range of authoritative requests to which a subordinate is

willing to respond without subjecting the directives to critical
evaluation or judgment is called the ____________.

(a) psychological contract

(b) zone of indifference
(c) Milgram experiments
(d) functional level of organizational politics
7: The three basic power relationships to ensure success are
____________.

(a) upward, downward, and lateral

(b) upward, downward, and oblique
(c) downward, lateral, and oblique
(d) downward, lateral, and external

8: In which dimension of power and influence would a manager find

the use of both position power and personal power most
advantageous?

(a) upward
(b) lateral
(c) downward
(d) workflow

9: Reason, coalition, bargaining, and assertiveness are strategies for

____________.

(a) enhancing personal power

(b) enhancing position power
(c) exercising referent
power
(d) exercising influence

10: Negotiating the interpretation of a union contract is an example

of ____________.

(a) organizational politics

(b) lateral relations
(c) an approval relationship
(d) an auditing linkage

11: ____________ is the ability to control another's behavior

because of the possession of knowledge, experience, or judgment
that the other person does not have but needs.

(a) Coercive power

(b) Expert power
(c) Information power
(d) Representative power

12: A ___________ is the range of authoritative requests to which a

subordinate is willing to respond without subjecting the directives to
critical evaluation or judgment.

(a) A zone of indifference

(b) Legitimate authority
(c) Power
(d) Politics
13: The process by which managers help others to acquire and use
the power needed to make decisions affecting themselves and their
work is called ______________.

(a) politics
(b) managerial philosophy
(c) authority
(d) empowerment
14: The pattern of authority, influence, and acceptable managerial
behavior established at the top of the organization is called
______________.

(a) organizational governance

(b) agency linkage
(c) power
(d) politics

15: __________ suggests that public corporations can function

effectively even though their managers are self-interested and do
not automatically bear the full consequences of their managerial
actions.

(a) Power theory

(b) Managerial philosophy
(c) Virtual theory
(d) Agency theory

16: For the most part, ______ research emphasises style; whereas
research on ________ focuses on tactics for gaining compliance.
 
            politics; leadership
            power; persuasion
            leadership; power
            communication; politics
17: Person A has ____ power over person B if A can dismiss, suspend,
or demote B, assuming that B values his or her job.
 
            reward
            referent
            legitimate
            coercive

18: Avoidance of ______ is why most organisations develop multiple

suppliers rather than give their business to only one.
 
            power
            independence
            dependency
            knowledge
19: The most popular power tactic used by managers to influence
subordinates is _____________.
 
            higher authority
            reason
            sanctions
            friendliness

20: The most popular power tactic used by managers to influence

subordinates is _____________.
 
            higher authority
            reason
            sanctions
            friendliness

21: Most studies confirm that the concept of ________ is central to

understanding sexual harassment.
 
            sex
            power
            politics
            locus of control

22: _____ occurs when people use whatever influence they can to
taint the facts to support their goals and interests.
 
            politicking
            playing hardball
            facilitating teamwork
            forming coalitions
 

23: Which of the following is not an individual factor related to

political behaviour?
 
            internal locus of control
            high self-monitoring
            reallocation of resources
            expectations of success

24: The process by which individuals attempt to control the

impressions others form of them is called______.
 
            misdirection
            perception management
            defensive behaviour
            impression management

25: ______ refers to a capacity that "A" has to influence the behavior
of "B" so that "B" does something he or she would not otherwise do.
 
            Dependence
            Power
            Politics
            Scarcity

26:   Identify the base of power in the following situation: A person

can make things difficult for other people, and you want to avoid
getting his or her angry.
 
            Referent power
            Coercive power
            Legitimate power
            Reward power

QUESTIONS
Q1: Difference between leadership and power.
Ans: It’s fair to conclude that an individual can have the ability to
influence, develop and enable without necessarily being the leader
of the team. In many situations it is possible to exert influence
without being in authority. People with power have ability to
influence following and to some extent control the action of others.
If you observe a group of people working together, you will be able
to determine who is the leader of the group.
Power is a person’s ability to control activities of other individuals.
Leadership is the ability to inspire people to follow your instructions
voluntarily and manage the completion of a project without
exercising any form of force. Traditionally, it was believed that power
was derived from leadership. However, in many instances, power
leads to leadership. However, the two are interrelated and can be a
source of confusion between different people who don’t fully
understand the differences. Leadership is dependent on power; a
good leader is he/she who has some form of power.
 What is Power?
Power is broadly defined as the ability of an individual to exercise
some form of control over another individual. There is a distinct
relationship between power and influence. Different definitions of
power regard it to be a causal efficacy which either be a change
noticed in the world or a psychological pressure that gives people
reasons to choose one alternative over the other. As a kid, your
parents had significant influence over your actions, and you would
often try to imitate their preferred behavior so as to please them. In
school, the same case applies with teachers, they could easily
influence you to do one thing instead of the other. In these two
cases, both the parents and teachers, have derived authority which
gave them the influence over you.
There are however other sources where power cab be derived from.
Reward power is that which is acquired from the ability to award the
followers or give some form of benefits. Coercive power is that
derived from the ability to enforce punishments or sanctions.
Legitimate power is that derived from an official position of authority
either in an organization or election. Referent power is based solely
on the individuals following. Expert power is acquired from one’s
expertise, knowledge of specialized skills. Integrative power is that
which is derived from the ability to bring people together.
In the scene of politics, power is essential. There are some instances
where novices have managed to inherit extreme power by virtue of
their birth either being the daughter or son of a President, Prime
Minister or the Royal family. Heads of armies have also been able to
take over governments forcefully or by staging coup. Power is often
used by individuals for their own personal benefits just as the saying
goes, ‘Power Corrupts’.

What is Leadership?
The term, ‘leadership’ brings about a bunch of ideas, a political
leader, an explorer leading a team of people through some jungle or
an executive within a company. Other people also broadly define a
leader as someone who basically leads a group of people either in
politics or within religion. What really is the right definition of a
leader? A leader is an effective individual who creates a vision,
motivates people to work towards achieving the vision, coaches and
builds the team that will pioneer the completion of the vision and
manages the end delivery of the vision.
Just like power there are different types of leadership. In total there
are twelve types, but here we discuss five of the main ones that you
have probably come across. Autocratic leadership is that which the
leader maintains full authority and responsibility over his/her
subjects. Democratic leadership is where the subordinates are
involved in decision making. Transformational leadership is that
leadership type that is centered around initiating some form of
change. Monarchy leadership is that which authority is passed on
from one person to another as a birth right. Laissez-faire is the
leadership type where subordinates are given all the necessary tools
to manage and complete projects on their own.
 
Differences Between Leadership and Power


1. Definition
Power is the ability of an individual to exercise some form of control
over another individual. On the other hand, leadership is the ability
to create a vision, motivate people to work towards achieving the
vision, coaching and building the team that will pioneer the
completion of the vision and managing the end delivery of the vision.


2. Credibility
Credibility is needed in leadership but not a necessity in power.

 3. Source
Power is derived form a position of authority. Leadership is a
personal attribute.


4. Nature
Power is generally controlling and forceful in making followers follow
commands. Leadership involves inspiring the subordinates to
complete tasks.


5. Dependence
Leadership requires power in order to be effective. However, power
does not depend on leadership. One can have power but not be a
leader. But, all leaders require some form of power in order to
successfully inspire subordinates.


6. Types
The types of power include coercive, legitimate, expert, referent and
reward. The main types of leadership include autocratic, democratic,
transformational, monarchical and laisses-faire.
Power vs. Leadership : Comparison Chart
Q2: Explain Power And Politics Within a Business Organizational.
Ans: Every environment has their own internal system that is
dictated by aspects such as power and politics. These things have as
much control over the functionality of an organizational as the
individual features of organizational behavior. Often, they can shift
how those components develop and affect those in the environment
as well. Their impact-and that of those who control them-can shape
the entire dynamics of an organization more so than any other force.
Power and politics within a business or organization are rather
similar to the traditional political structures of government: authority
is divided throughout the different parts of the system that power is
exerted in.1 There are often different sources of power competing for
control, which isn't necessarily a bad thing until someone decides to
fight dirty. The internal politics of an organization, too, can be
polarized as everyone will most likely relate to one side of an issue
over another no matter how neutral they attempt to remain. All in
all, the organizational power and politics in a business can be a
fascinating and unique thing that can have a serious impact on
organizational behavior.
 Power Struggles In Business 
 
 
Power struggles are a common occurrence in society, not just
business. One person wants something from someone else, yet that
person isn't willing to budge on the issue and just hand it over. In
response, that first person may try to exert their own power and
authority (perceived or actual) to try and persuade the other person
to concede.2 It's a tactic that can work on occasion, but it can make a
situation turn combative and toxic when it isn't successful. It occurs
between co-workers, employees and their supervisors, amongst
management, between different departments, and in board rooms in
businesses across the world.
As normal as they are, power struggles are not an effective way to
get things done in a working environment. They can damage the
climate of the workplace, turning it toxic and stressful even for those
who are not involved. It wastes time that can be better used towards
productivity and often causes the situation to unnecessarily
escalate.3 When a power struggle escalates, it often drags office
politics into the mix and forces people to take a side. Attempts to
avoid taking sides or getting roped in don't always work, and you
may still be bombarded with the conflict even if you are successful in
staying out of the situation.
The ability to stay out of a power struggle is a skill that can give you a
lot of power in business, one that is best used to protect yourself.
Surviving a power struggle is often the goal regardless of what
industry you work in. There's still the aftermath to deal with when
the dust settles, and the effects can hit anyone who happens to be
standing too close. Experts say that if you want to not get involved
with a power struggle, then your best bet is to not acknowledge a
person's position in an argument, but their feelings.4 Make neutral
observations, which can be used supportively should either party
confront you about the situation and your stance in it; i.e. 'This has
got to be so frustrating. I hope you two are able to work things out'
or something similar that validates the emotional component of the
situation.
 Power Types and What They Do  
Power in a business environment typically translates into authority
and influence, and can manifest differently. People develop
professional power differently, based on factors like their job, their
position within the company, and the industry that the business is in.
Typically, there are five types of power present in business:
          Legitimate-Based on a person's position in the structural
hierarchy of a business. Legitimate power can only be given and
wielded through, well, legitimate means, e.g. the person earned their
position.5 Those with legitimate power often can only exert their
power on those below them in the hierarchy, not above. A CEO, for
example, has legitimate power over a general manager in the same
company, but the general manager doesn't have legitimate power
over the CEO.
          Coercive-Coercive power can be rather harsh and easily
prone to abuse due to the abilities associated with it. Those with
coercive power influence others through punishments, sanctions,
and threats. It works well to ensure that employee behavior follows
policy and can be used to deal with violations. Most disciplinary
actions are carried out via coercive power, including firing or
terminating someone from the business.
          Reward-The opposite of coercive power, this type influences
other with rewards like promotions and bonuses.6 It generates an
incentive to motivate someone to do something and acts as a
positive reinforcement for behavior. Performance reviews and their
administrators tend to how some level of reward power in a
business.
          Referent-Those who are revered or admired in a business
have referent power. Typically, leaders gain this power when their
actions prompt a positive rapport and trust between them and the
employees under them. Most of the time, it will be evident if a
person has referent power by talking to their employees; positive
praise, loyalty, and other responses are good indicators.
Interested in learning more? Why not take an online class in
Organizational Behavior in Business?
          Expert-Those who have expert status tend to have power
over those who do not. It is gained through experience, skill, and
knowledge in regards to certain topics or areas of interest.7 A person
doesn't necessarily have to have expert status to have expert power;
those with more knowledge of a subject can have expert power over
those who know less. Those with expert power tend to have it
reflected in their reputation and their credibility on things.
The Politics of Business
As mentioned before, there is a political side to business. In a sense,
it follows the same science behind the politics found in
government.8 There is leadership that guides the group as a whole
and a company philosophy and ethical code that everyone is
expected to adhere to. The set up and style of the business'
leadership determines how power is divided and what role, if any,
the employees have in how the business is run. The people in that
business tend to have their own agenda in all of this, shaped by their
behavior and viewpoints, that surpasses the agenda of the
organization as a whole-which is the entire premise behind
organizational or business poltics.9
Politics tend to come up in a business when someone begins to act
on their own interest without regard to others in the company. It
commonly comes into play during times of conflict and power
struggles, as people with conflicting agendas will typically be the
ones at odds. Most experts and leaders state that business politics
are more harmful than good; they're inherently selfish.10 Business
politics bring down productivity amongst employees through
distraction, hurts motivation and morale, increases stress levels, and
warps the environment of the business.
Business politics do the worst damage when business leaders act
according to their personal agendas. Those in positions of power will
exert their authority based on their politics, which can lead to abuse.
This may also encourage conflict between opposing political sides.
Leaders higher up in the business' hierarchy, like CEOs, can stir-up
politics in their company regardless of if they are political
themselves.11 Changes to policies and leadership, as well as changes
to the components of organizational behavior, can help reduce the
power of office politics-or bolster them, if not done correctly.
Warning Signs Of Abuse In Positions Of Power
When politics and power come into play in a business, there is the
chance that someone will abuse the authority that they have. This
can be anyone who has some degree of power, no matter where
they sit in the business' hierarchy or how long they've held that
position. When a person abuses their power or goes on a power trip,
it can have damaging consequences for everyone. Depending on how
it starts and the person's position, it may not be immediately evident
that they are abusing their power. Here are some of the warning
signs common to abuse of power in the workplace:

          Unfair Disciplinary Measures-In some cases, a person will
abuse their power in order to bully those they have seniority over. As
a result, they may inflict unfair disciplinary measures on others for
mistakes. These tend to be punishments that do not fit the error that
was made-if one was actually made, that is. A person could
intentionally be picking on a specific employee or unleashing their
power on everyone during a power trip.
          Superiority-Superiority develops when someone is put into a
higher position and their ego takes over. It's usually done to rub the
fact that they now have power into the face of someone who doesn't
and boost their ego. They may humiliate those who are positioned
below them and make people do things simply because they can
make them do that.12 One of the worst parts of this is that they will
most likely try to convince you that you have no power over them
and you can't do nothing. (Spoiler alert: You can.)
          "My Way or the Highway" Behavior-If a person has an
authoritarian streak in their personality, it's quite likely that it will
come out in full force once they get an inkling of power over
someone else. They will try to get their way through ultimatums and
bullying, and will most likely micromanage everyone to make sure no
one strays.13 There's no leeway for anyone (except for them) and
even the tiniest deviation is enough to warrant their wrath.
Sometimes this is a tactic that is used to prevent anyone else from
looking professionally better than them and to block any kind of
advancement or growth.14
          Disrespecting Boundaries and Abilities-Usually tied in as a
kind of discrimination or harassment (depending on how it's being
carried out), disrespecting employees personal boundaries and
abilities tends to generate a very hostile work environment. It's
usually done to get something else from a person-such as in sexual
harassment-or to demean or humiliate them. This can be especially
problematic because instances can extend outside of the business
and drag down morale within it.
          Aggression-Everyone has lost their temper with another
person before but it's not supposed to be a normal occurrence.
Abuse in the workplace isn't always going to manifest solely as a
byproduct of authority. Verbal and physical abuse has occurred in
the professional world in varying degrees. Violence can be an intense
way to intimidate people and it's one of the most common causes of
injury and death in the workplace.15
 
 How To Deal with Workplace Abuse
No one wants abuses of power to happen in their business. It's
harmful to employees, the customers, productivity, and the business'
overall environment. Preventing it doesn't always work, as people
cannot be fully controlled. If there are abuses of power occurring in
your business, here are a few things that can be done:
          Confront The Person-Best done carefully and in private,
confronting the person who is on a power trip or abusing their power
is one way of getting them to stop.16 Someone who has only recently
started to become abusive due to their power may not realize that
what they are doing is hurtful and unprofessional; power can be an
intoxicating force. It should be noted that this can backfire and
should definitely not be done without assistance in severe cases.
          Document It-Keep track of instances of abuse by
documenting it. Write down notes on what happened, when, and
where, and take it home with you; never leave it at work where an
abusive person may find it and use it as a motive to attack.17 Check
what laws and policies there are regarding recording someone
without their permission. If there is physical evidence, take photos
and keep them with your notes. All of this can be presented to the
business' human resources department and used against an abuser.
          Human Resources-Here's that spoiler alert from earlier. A
business' human resources department is designed to handle any
instance of misbehavior amongst the staff at work. They will have the
resources to deal with the situation and will know what can or
cannot be done. Submitting a complaint-with copies of what you've
documented-can at least bring abusive behavior to the company's
attention. In severe cases where outside intervention like police or
legal action is needed, the HR department will usually need to get
involved in the situation on behalf of the business.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

MCQ
1: IBRD stands for _____.
a. International Board for Research and Development
b. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
c. International Bank for Research Development
d. International Barrier For Reconstruction and Development

2: IBRD also known as _____.

a. Exim Bank
b. World Bank
c. International Monetary fund
d. International Bank

3: The first phase of globalization started around 1870 and ended

with _______.
a. World War I
b. World War II
c. The Establishment of GATT
d. In 1913 when GDP was high

4: Which is the right sequence of stages of Internationalization?

a. Domestic, Transnational, Global, International, Multinational
b. Domestic, International, Multinational, Global, Transnational
c. Domestic, Multinational, International, Transnational, Global
d. Domestic, International, Transnational, Multinational, Global

5: Ultimately ______ was replaced by the ______ on 1st Jan 1995.

a. GATS, WTO
b. WTO, GATT
c. GATT, WTO
d. IMF, GATT

6: _____ is the application of knowledge which redefines the

boundaries of global business.
a. Cultural Values
b. Society
c. Technology
d. Economy

7: Subsidiaries consider the regional environment for policy or

Strategy formulation is known as _____.
a. Polycentric Approach
b. Regiocentric Approach
c. Ethnocentric Approach
d. Geocentric  Approach

8: According to ______ the holdings of a country’s treasure

primarily in the form of gold constituted its wealth.
a. Gold Theory
b. Ricardo Theory
c. Mercantilism Theory
d. Hecksher Theory

9: Globalization refers to ______.

a)  Lower incomes worldwide
b) Less foreign trade and investment
c) Global warming and their effects
d) A more integrated and interdependent world

10: IPR stands for ______

a. Intellectual property rights
b. International property rights
c. Internal promotion rights
d. Interior promotional rights

11: Capitalistic, communistic and Mixed are the types of ______.

a. Economic System
b. Social System
c. Cultural Attitudes
d. Political System

12: ______ is not an Indian Multinational Company.

a. Unilever
b. Asian Paints
c. Piramal
d. Wipro

13: Which of the following is not a force in the Porter Five Forces
model?
a. Buyers
b. Suppliers
c. Complementary products
d. Industry rivalry
14: Key controllable factors in global marketing are ______.
a. Government policy and legislation
b. social and technical changes
c. marketing activities and plans
d. all of the above.

15: ________ corporation produces in the home country or in a

single country and focuses on marketing these products globally or
vice a versa.
a. Global
b. International
c. Transnational
d. None of the above

16: The ___________ company produces, markets, invests and

operates across the world.
a. Global
b. International
c. Transnational
d. Multinational

17: MNC Stands for ______.

a. Multi-National Cooperation
b. Multi-National Corporation
c. Multi-National Company
d. Multi-National Collaboration

18: ________ is the first step in the internationalization process.

a. License
b. Foreign Investment
c. Sales
d. Export

19: SMEs stands for ______.

a. Small and Medium Entrepreneurs
b. Small Management of Enterprises
c. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.
d. Societies for Managing Exports

20: The OECD stands for _______.

a. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
b. Organization for Economic Coordination and Development
c. Organization for Environmental Cooperation and Development.
d. Organization for Environmental Control and Development

QUESTIONS
Q1: Discuss major trends in International business.
Ans: As the economy grows slowly at home, your business may have
to look at selling internationally to remain profitable. Before
examining foreign markets, you have to be aware of the major trends
in international business so you can take advantage of those that
might favor your company. International markets are evolving
rapidly, and you can take advantage of the changing environment to
create a niche for your company.
Growing Emerging Markets
Developing countries will see the highest economic growth as they
come closer to the standards of living of the developed world. If you
want your business to grow rapidly, consider selling into one of these
emerging markets. Language, financial stability, economic system
and local cultural factors can influence which markets you should
favor.
Population and Demographic Shifts
The population of the industrialized world is aging while many
developing countries still have very youthful populations. Businesses
catering to well-off pensioners can profit from a focus on developed
countries, while those targeting young families, mothers and children
can look in Latin America, Africa and the Far East for growth.
Speed of Innovation
The pace of innovation is increasing as many new companies develop
new products and improved versions of traditional items. Western
companies no longer can expect to be automatically at the forefront
of technical development, and this trend will intensify as more
businesses in developing countries acquire the expertise to innovate
successfully.
More Informed Buyers
More intense and more rapid communications allow customers
everywhere to purchase products made anywhere around the globe
and to access information about what to buy. As pricing and quality
information become available across all markets, businesses will lose
pricing power, especially the power to set different prices in different
markets.
Increased Business Competition
As more businesses enter international markets, Western companies
will see increased competition. Because companies based in
developing markets often have lower labor costs, the challenge for
Western firms is to keep ahead with faster and more effective
innovation as well as a high degree of automation.
Slower Economic Growth
The motor of rapid growth has been the Western economies and the
largest of the emerging markets, such as China and Brazil. Western
economies are stagnating, and emerging market growth has slowed,
so economic growth over the next several years will be slower.
International businesses must plan for profitability in the face of
more slowly growing demand.
Emergence of Clean Technology
Environmental factors are already a major influence in the West and
will become more so worldwide. Businesses must take into account
the environmental impact of their normal operations. They can try to
market environmentally friendly technologies internationally. The
advantage of this market is that it is expected to grow more rapidly
than the overall economy.

Q2: How Do Cultural Differences Affect International Business?

Ans: Culture is a complex thing.
It affects everything we do from the way we raise our kids to the way
we do business.
In this blog we are going to give you some insights into cultural
differences in international business.
We'll answer questions such as "How do cultural differences affect
business?", "Why do business professionals need cultural
awareness?" and "Where do we find cultural differences in
international business?"
Cultural Differences
Our cultures very much shape how we go about our business.
Culture informs our expectations, our behaviours, our motivations
and our perceptions of others.
When we are working with people from the same, or similar, culture,
it’s these shared rules that help give us structure and agreement in
how to go about doing things, whether that’s how we communicate,
run meetings or negotiate.
However, when we have to work with someone from a different
culture, the rules may no longer be the same.
Bringing different expectations, understandings, motivations, etc. to
the meeting or negotiation table may therefore cause problems, and
it does.

The Challenges of Cultural Difference in International Business

By way of exploring these differences, we are briefly going to look
at 3 ways in which culture can cause challenges.
These are:
1. Personal Challenges – the emotional challenges faced by
individuals.
 2. Cognitive Challenges – the mental challenges faced by people.
3. Pragmatic challenges - the practical challenges faced by
business.

1. Personal Challenges
When working in a multicultural environment or with another
culture, the personal challenges can be many.

When we come across cultural differences, and are unable to

recognise and deal with them, our responses are emotional. This
can have a detrimental impact on many factors including sense of
well-being and confidence.
Anxiety and stress are common reactions for people new to working
in a foreign culture. When people find themselves confronted with
difference, they feel challenged and therefore build mental walls to
help them cope. These walls, more often than not, do more harm
than good.
 
For example, decision making may be impaired or people may
withdraw from others, creating even more distance between
themselves and a solution.
Symptoms may also be physical, with people experiencing
headaches, migraines, exhaustion and burnout.
The ‘Culture Shock’ experienced by many expatriates who move
abroad is a very good example of how cultural differences affect
professionals on a personal level. Not being able to manage cultural
differences is a common reason cited for failed international
business assignments.

2. Cognitive Challenges
Working with people from different cultures can present
considerable cognitive challenges.

 
Cognitive challenges relate to how we think, process information
and essentially how we view the world.
When we come up against a foreign culture, this can cause us real
problems, especially if we fail to recognise differences and adapt.
Two simple examples of this are the concepts
of time and relationships.
 
Some cultures place a high value on time, others don’t. If you come
from a culture in which ‘time is money’ and you find yourself working
with a culture in which it isn’t, your cultural norms can result in you
making bad decisions.
Time conscious professionals can see lateness in other cultures as
unprofessional or even disrespectful. They don’t appreciate that in
the culture they are working with punctuality is a much more
nuanced concept.
In reverse, those cultures that are a lot more flexible with their
approach to time can see the time conscious professionals as rigid
and materialistic, which ties in with the value given to relationships.
In some cultures, it's relationships before business whereas in
others, business first. Usually those cultures that are time conscious
are less relationship orientated.
Now, what happens when you have a professional from a very task
orientated culture visit a client or colleague from a very relationship
focused culture?
Yes, they can see each other’s priorities incorrectly, i.e. the
relationship-driven culture sees the task-driven culture as
impersonal, unfriendly and disinterested, whereas the task-driven
culture is seen as not taking business serious enough, spending too
much time on small talk and breaching the line between personal
and professional matters.
The results is a sort of cognitive dissonance – both sides are looking
at one another through their own Cultural Lens which means they
are interpreting behaviours incorrectly and attributing erroneous
meaning to them.
This can happen at many levels, whether we are talking about a
general approach to business or in the more specific areas such as
how we communicate, manage hierarchy and conduct negotiations.