organizational bahaviour (ob) by tutor; joseph kasika hrm professional

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Prepared and compiled

BY TUTOR:

JOSEPH L. KASIKA

November 27, 2012

[email protected]

Sign.…………………

[email protected] January, 27, 2013 1 | P a g e

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0.1 Introduction to OB:

Normally human beings are born in organizations; they grow up in an organization, and finally die and disappear from organizations. In other words, the life of a human being can be looked at as comprising three important stages;

The childhood stage, The adult stage and Old-age stages.

During the childhood and old-age stages, the human being has limited ability to contribute towards the functioning of organizations and society. As a matter of fact, organizations and society help him or her to grow and survive by providing him or her virtually free with what he/she needs to continue living.

1.1 Meaning and cope of OB

Organizational behavior –is a field of study that investigates the impact that individual, Groups and structures have on bahaviour within an organization for the purpose of applying that knowledge towards improving organization’s effectiveness. Or

OB Is concerned with what people in an organization behave and how that (their) behavior affects the performance of the organization.

Organizational behavior is the study of human behavior in the workplace, the interaction between people and the organization with the intent to understand and predict human behavior. OR

It is the study of human behavior, attitudes and performance within an organizational setting.

Management and organization behavior draws on theory, methods and principles from various disciplines to learn about individual perception, values, learning capacities, action of people in an organization. OR

Organizational Behavior (OB) is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives. OR

“Organization Behavior is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization.” OR

It is the study of human behavior in the workplace,

It is the interaction between people and the organization,

And the organization itself.

1.2 Elements of Organizational Behavior

Major elements of organizational behavior as outlined: The organization’s base rests on management’s philosophy, values, vision and goals.



This in turn drives the organizational culture which is composed of the formal organization, informal organization, and the social environment.

The culture determines the type of leadership, communication, and group dynamics within the organization.

The workers perceive this as the quality of work life which directs their degree of motivation.

The final outcomes are performance, individual satisfaction, and personal growth and development.

All these elements combine to build the model or framework that the organization operates from.

Designing and developing your organization roles and responsibilities. Employing all kinds of people–ensuring a diverse workforce in an organization.

1.3 Benefits of Studying Organization Behavior

Major benefits of studying organization behavior are listed below: • Develop skills to function effectively in the workplace.

• Grow personally through insight into human behavior.

• Enhance overall organizational effectiveness.

• Sharpen and refine common sense.

1.4 Needs for the Study of Organisational BehaviourA study of organisational behaviour is beneficial in many ways. Some of the benefits ofStudying organisational behaviour are listed below:

It helps an individual understand oneself. It is a systematic study of the actions and attitudes that people exhibit within organisation.

It helps managers in getting the work done through effective ways. It emphasises the interaction and relations between the organisation and individual

behaviour, thus making an attempt to fulfill psychological contract between individuals and the organisation.

It helps to develop work-related behaviour and job satisfaction. It helps in building motivating climate. It helps in building cordial industrial relations. It helps in the field of marketing through deeper insight of consumer behaviour, and

managing and motivating field employees. It helps in predicting behaviour and applying it in some meaningful way to make

organisations more effective. It implies effective management of human resources. It helps to improve functional behaviour leading to productivity, effectiveness, efficiency,

organisational citizenship, and also helps to reduce dysfunctional behaviour at workplace like absenteeism, employee turnover, dissatisfaction, tardiness etc.

The study of organisational behaviour can be said to be most important contributor towards building managerial skills. After studying this whole subject, you would realise that contributions of organisational behaviour towards building the following skills and values are unparalleled:

Self development Personality development



Development of human values and ethical perspective Managing stress and achieving mental hygiene Creative use of emotions Creating learning individual and learning organisation Managing creativity and innovation Motivation and morale Job satisfaction Effective communication Interpersonal effectiveness including persuasion, coaching, counselling,

mentoring, goal setting, decision making, politicking, negotiation, conflict handling.

Team building Leadership Creating effective organisational culture Managing change Continuous development through behavioural interventions.

1.5 Scope of Organizatioal Behaviour:

OB has scope in its field of study as following;

It involves /covers into the;

1) Individual Behaviour (IB)2) Group Behaviour (GB) and3) Organizational Theories/Iself (OT)

What is an Organization?

An Organization Defined

A deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose OR, An organization- refers to a structured process in which individuals interact in their

efforts to pursue the achievement of common objectives. for instance includes; Family Church University Business entity Club not for profit entity

1.6 Common Characteristics of Organizations

o Have a distinct purpose (goal)

o Composed of people

o Have a deliberate structure

Behaviour–refers to persistent individual actions, deeds, conduct or manners in their daily conduct with other colleagues and non-HR.



MAJOR ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCES

The organization is where resources come together. Organizations use different resources to accomplish goals. The major resources used by organizations are often described as follow: (1) human resources, (2) financial resources, (3) physical resources, and (4) information resources.

Organizational resources- are those resources that support to HR in functioning within an organization for the purpose of running ad transacting business daily in order to grow, run and survival of the company other concrete resources includes;

Methods Time.

Weed to take notes that HR and non-HR are different that is why as a scholar you need to know those differences. The rationale for studying people’s behavior in the work organization accrues from the difference that exists between human and no-human resources in the following major aspects;

1.7 DIFFERENT BETWEEN HUMAN AND NO-HUMAN RESOURCES.

1) Human being is most important resources of any organization. They are the resources, which no organization under the sun can totally survive without HR in it. It is normal to find organization which has no;

Money, or With broken- down machines, Without raw materials, Methods that do not work or An information system that does not work. Such organization can continue to

exist and devise solutions for these problems e.g. to i. Borrow money,

ii. Repair their machines or purchase new ones,iii. Expedite delivery of their raw materials,iv. Take corrective measures to make their methods and information

system work. But regardless of the stage of technological advancement, there can be no organization under the sun without people in it. Yet the managerial job is made difficult mainly by the existence of people.

2) Human beings are unique creation. No human exactly resembles another in all respects e.g. in interests, thinking, and abilities. People act and think in a certain way because of individual differences in abilities, individual differences in needs motivation to work, and individual differences in work attitudes. This is to be contrasted with machines, for example. One million machines of a particular design, looks exactly similar not only in physical appearance but also their performance is exactly similar.The significance of this concept to human resources management is that people’s abilities are different and so, managers should tolerate and accept that employees doing the same job may perform differently. This concept underscores the need for



an individual-oriented management approach and establishes the ground/roots for values, attitudes, job satisfaction and employee motivation theories.

3) Human beings have multiple memberships in organizations.A person belongs to more than one organization at a time in order to be able to satisfy enough of his needs. A factory operative for instance belongs to;

His family, Religious congregation, Sports club, Political party Work organization and Country.

In each one of these organizations the person occupies different positions and performs different activities which influence his abilities and behavior. Yet every time we meet this person, he/she is complete with the mix of influences acquired from the different organizations to which he/she belongs.

The multiple membership character of human beings complicates human behavior because it subjects it to environmental influences all the time. Lenin explained this relationship as follows:

Behavior (B) = f (P, E) or behavior is a function of the person and the environment.

Key letters explaining: Behaviour= B

Function= f

Person =P

Environment=E

At a time either a person or an environment predominates, but very often behavior is influenced by both variables. Again significance of this attribute is that managers are required to be tolerant with and understandings of unexpected irregularities in human behavior as people adjust from one set to of behavior to another. Also managers should help employees to adjust their bahaviour to that is consistent with their job roles in the organization.

4) Human beings do not always behave rationally. In accordance with predictable procedure of sensible and logical reasoning. Human behavior calls for analysis it should not be taken for granted. Human beings can behave differently in a similar case for different reasons while Machines can’t do this.

5) Human being posses a sense of purpose.They are able to work consciously towards the achievement of their objectives. They can also explain why they do, what they do, and e.g.

Why they join organizations Why they remain there and Why they do or do not co-operate in performing this or that task within an

organizations while other resources such as finance, Materials etc can’t do those above of human beings.



1.8 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIORS: MAJOR GOALS

Major goals are listed below:

Explain, predict, and control behavior of worker in an organization. It is the study of human behavior in the workplace, interaction between people and the

organization, and the organization itself. It is the study of how employees work to become assets of organization and how

leadership works to assist them in doing so in organization. It is study of the interaction between individuals and groups (may include reactions). It is the study of people’s work habits, ethics, and how people conduct their day-to-day

tasks…how leaders can oversee work in an organization. It is the study of interactions between various employees within the organization with

encompasses various levels of management, chain of command within organization and interactions between employees and their superiors.

It involves action taken by a group of people in an organized way…pre-thought in order to have actions done at peak performance of group.

It is based on relationships and interactions between different people with similar or different roles, inside the organization, and their relationships with outside stakeholders.

It includes the way an enterprise condones doing business. Ethics are the guide to achieve goals in organization.

It primarily focuses on attitudes, customs and beliefs that a company/organization holds. It is expected for certain ways of business. The way people think and act in an organized

manner. The way corporations will gear its thinking or actions toward other companies or people.

It is the way in which you function and interact with fellow employees in a business setting.

It is an attitude and judgment of those within an organization.

1.9 Why is the study of organization behavior important?

The environment is changing rapidly making adaptation and change crucial to survival- organizations as closed systems isn’t a valid model.

Improving Quality and Productivity

Improving ethical behavior

Viewing organizations as closed systems is no longer valid

Components are no longer homogeneous – Work Place diversity

Globalization makes hierarchical communications too slow

Information Technology gives power and information to the one who can use it best.

10.1 Why do we study organizational behavior OB?

Curiosity-This is meant that trying to understand much and much on how people behave i.e. the abilities of knowing people’s behaviours.

Develop prediction skills-This is to be able to predict the bahaviuor of people in their interaction activities and personality within the business firm and in the society.



Management career-The motive is to pursue the career in the management. Academic requirement-This involves as a part &parcel of the BHRM course. Research purpose-This acquiring skill for business research.

Chart the evolution of management thought on the nature of the organization

Understanding of the organizational factors that influence work

Understanding of how the work environment shapes organizational performance

OB emphasizes that human factor is not merely an instrument in the organization but the very core of the organizational existence. Consequently OB provides opportunity for analyzing human behavior for understanding and prescribing means for shaping human behavior for desires results.

In particular OB contributes to understanding human behavior, control and direct it, and to adapt the organization to given situations.

OB offers several ides to management as to how human factor should be properly emphasized to achieve organizational objectives. Human factor is not merely an instrument in the organization but very core of organizational existence.

Some of the related bahaviour OB seeks to investigate people includes the following why:

Joining the organization Remaining with the organization Maintain work attendance Performing required tasks and Exhibiting organizational citizenship.

10.2 Multidisciplinary Nature of Organizational Behavior (OB)

The disciplines that contributing (OB) is five as following;

To gain further insight into the field of Organizational Behavior, we will examine the multidisciplinary origins of the subject.

• PSYCHOLOGY: study of the individual

• SOCIOLOGY: study of small group behavior

• ANTHROPOLOGY: study of cultures (corporate culture)

• ECONOMICS: rational decision-making

• POLITICAL SCIENCE: power and conflict; coalitions and alliances

• ENGINEERING: Industrial engineering area has contributed a great deal in the area of man-machine relationship.

• MEDICINES: Medicine is one of the newest fields which are now being related to the field of organizational behaviour.



• SEMANTICS: Semantics helps in the study of communications within the organisation.

Let’s explain each one at a time;

A. PSYCHOLOGY: It’s the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. E.g. it deals with the study of human being’s mind and how it operates.

Early industrial/organizational

(Specific contributions to OB includes)

Fatigue, boredom, and other factors relevant to working conditions that could impede efficient work performance.

More recently,


learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, motivation and job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee selection techniques, work design, and job stress

Explanations of points above;

i. Learning- ability of an individual to acquire skills, knowledge, and aptitude also experiences.

ii. Motivation and job satisfaction-this what makes people take certain course of action in presence of other course of action or what make people satisfied or unsatisfied with their work.

iii. Perception –the way people perceive/observe on certain phenomena.iv. Attitude-feelings, thoughts or mind-set about various issues in the organizationv. Personality- the total physique and mental makeup of individuals.

vi. Decision making-making rational (based on reason) decisions.vii. Behavior modification- it is possible for mangers to change behaviours of subordinates.

B. SOCIOLOGY:Refers to the study of people in relation to their fellow human beings as they play their roles in the social system (i.e. study of society).


The discipline has contributed the following to OB;

Group Bahaviour (Group Dynamism)-The way groups behave is different from individuals.

Socialization process-this is familiarization of few employees in the work place.



Organization culture-this is based on beliefs, attitudes and values/norms dominating at work place usually tend to shape the employee bahaviour.

Organizational change-this based on methods, structures, policies, procedures, rules e.tc

Bureaucracy-this pioneered by Max Webber (a German sociologist) who demanded a clear organization structure through a clear separation of roles, duties, responsibilities e.tc

Conflict management-Managers have a duty to manage conflict (note: conflict mgt not resolution.)

Power –is the ability of mangers to influence subordinates to do what they would not have done in the absence of such influence.

Communication-Managers should have ability to communicate with the whole entire organization and stakeholders also employee likewise in order to maintain interpersonal relationship to effective communication among the members of the organization.Also sociology has sub-category of social psychology as follows;

C. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY:This deals mainly with interpersonal behavior, it seeks to explain why individuals behave as they do in group settings.


a) Attitude mouldingb) Patterns of communicationc) Perceptiond) Social Relationship.

D. ANTHROPOLOGY: This is the discipline which studies society particularly primitive ones (man’s past) in order to learn about people and changes in their activities. Or is study of cultures (corporate culture).


• Organization environment.• Organizational culture.

E. POLITICAL SCIENCE:It’s a discipline that studies the behavior of an individuals and groups in an environment dominated with conflicting interests.


Power-A leader should have required attributes to influence people within the society and an organization also he/she must not be having EGO state in managing the company.

Conflict management-differing in interest, objectives and goals between individuals in the organization and country as whole.

Organizational politics-the way people manipulate organization policies, objectives e.tc.



F. ECONOMICS: rational decision-making in using allocating organization resources properly for the growth of economy of the firm.

G. ENGINEERING: Industrial engineering area has contributed a great deal in the area of man-machine relationship through time and motion study, work measurement, workflow analysis, job design, and compensation management. Each of these areas has some impact on organisational behaviour.

H. MEDICINES: Medicine is one of the newest fields which are now being related to the field of organisationalbehaviour. Issues like work-related stress, tension and depression are common to both: the area of medicine, and organisational behaviour.

I. SEMANTICS: Semantics helps in the study of communications within the organisation. Misunderstood communication and lack of communication lead to many behaviour-related problems in theorganisation. Accordingly, adequate and effective communication is very important fororganisational effectiveness.

10.3 Biography of human beings:

Biography is a system of individual ages from childhood to old age.

Biographic characteristics

Behavior of individuals employees vary owing to biographic characteristics as follows;

Age –active group involve; 18-40, 40-50 and 50+ where by people with 50+ has greater job satisfaction than those with below and tend to have a negative correlation with job-turnover i.e. the longer an employee stays in an organization the longer he/she will stay there.Sex-there are few or more differences between sexes in job performance as follows;

Problem solving ability-research shows that no significant different between males and females managers.

Analytical skills- no significance difference between male and females. Have the same competitive drive towards attainment of goals.

Motivation-what motivates females may also motivate males. Leadership skills-no significance different and sometimes women are better

than men. Learning –no difference between males and females.

Psychological studies have proved that women are more willing to conform to authority than men. Men are more aggressive and more likely to have hi rate of turnover. However recent studies show that also females are subjected to high turnover rates, this may be due to changing roles in family responsibilities.

Marital status-an employee with a good number of dependents is prone to absenteeism, also are prone to stay longer in work organization because the job is security in their



families. Impact of seniority on job performance –records indicates that past performance tend to be related to output in a new position but seniority in itself in not a good indicator for productivity.

10.4 Personality:

Introduction:

Personality is very important in work behavior and thus managers must be concerned by it. This is because employee bahaviour cannot be understood unless the concept of personality is seriously considered. Personality is so interrelated with perception, attitudes, learning and motivation which is equally important in understanding individual’s behavior.

Personality refers to some total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others; usually this is measured by personal traits (attributes/characteristics). Or

Personality can be defied as an individual’s relatively stable set of attributes, tendencies, and temperaments that have been significantly formed by inheritance and by social, cultural and environmental factors.

This set of variables determines the commonalities and differences in the behavior of the individual. Personality is also combination of stable physical and mental characteristics that gives an individual his/her identity. These attributes or traits, including how one looks, thinks, acts and feels are the products of interacting genetic and environmental influences.

We study personality in order to have a systematic way of understanding individual behavior.

Personality addresses the following;

Why some people are loud and aggressive? Why some people are quite and passive? Are there certain personality types better to be adapted for certain job types? Why some people have shyness? Why some people have ambitiousness? and, Why some people have loyalty? Why personality traits occur?

Determinant of personality:

Personality is both hereditary and made i.e. there are some in born attributes and acquired ones. Thus it is possible to change an individual’s personality. One’s personality is a result of three factors namely;

Hereditary, Environment and Situation.

1. Hereditary This is associated to factors which determine personality through biological inheritance. Personality traits such as shyness, fear, aggressiveness, e.tc are most likely caused by inherited genetic attributes as it is the case with appearance. Also the physical body i.e.



facial attractiveness or unattractiveness, sex, muscle composition, energy level and biological rhythms.

This involves transference of personality qualities from parents to the young ones at conception through genes. This kind of analysis can be used to explain why a doctor or a teacher gives birth to a doctor or a teacher? If personality was completely hereditary it could be very difficult to change individual’s behavior.However, personality is not wholly determined by heredity, there are environmental factors which may impact on tem.

2. Environment Among the factors that exert pressures on personality formation are the culture in which we are raised; early conditioning (the way you are brought up); the norms in families (e.g. brought in family where you are not allowed to challenge a male idea), friends (the company or pear you are brought with) and social groups (religious, political, ethnical groups e.tc) and other influence that we experience.

These environmental factors play a substantial role in shaping our personalities. Culture is a key in establishing norms, attitudes and values that are passed through generations’ overtime to have an identifiable pattern of behavior among its members. As far as environment is concerned culture can be scribed by the influence of birth order i.e. first born, later born and last born. For example, research findings indicate that; first born are;

More susceptible to social pressure (they can’t with stand) More dependants than later born More likely to experience the world as more orderly predictable and rational Less likely to break the rules imposed by authorities. More ambitious, like to realize more and more (they need to set example) Hard working More cooperative More prone to guilt and anxiety. Less openly aggressive (they can say YES meaning NO)

Thus heredity sets the parameter of order limit but an individual full potential will be determined by how well he/she adjust to the demand and requirement of the environment.

3. Situation-Situation influences the effects of hereditary and environment on personality. Though an individual’s personality is generally stable and consistent it does change in different situations. Different situation would demand different aspects of one’s personality. For example, work stress, participation in functions; time management etc may influence an individual to display different situational personalities.

10.5 THEORIES OF PERSONALIYTY:

Here are the three notable theories of personality: traits, psychodynamic and humanistic approach.



TRAITS PERSONALITY THEORIES.

People may be labeled or classified by their psychological or physical traits. Classification helps to organize diversity and reduce the many to just a few. Traits theories are organized around this practice.

Trait is considered to be the building blocks of personality the guideposts for action, and the sources of individual’s uniqueness according to Gordon Allport. They are inferred predictions that direct the behavior of an individual in consistent and characteristic ways. Furthermore, they produce consistencies in behavior because they are enduring attributes, and they are general and broad in scope.

Raymond B.Cattell conducted research on traits and came with out 16 personality Factors (16PF) which are basic in underlying individual differences. He developed a questionnaire though which the degree of those traits can be measured among individuals. These traits are:

Sixteen Personality Traits:

1. Reserved vs. Outgoing (extrovert/friendly)2. Less intelligent vs. More intelligent3. Affective by feeling vs. Emotionally stable4. Submissive vs. Dominant5. Serious vs. Happy-go-lucky6. Expedient vs. Conscientious7. Timid (oga) vs. Venturesome8. Tough-minded vs. Sensitive9. Trusting vs. Suspicious10. Practical vs. Imaginative11. Forthright vs. Shrewd (elevu)12. Self-assured vs. Apprehensive13. Conservative vs. Experimenting14. Group dependent vs. Self-sufficient15. Uncontrolled vs. Controlled16. Relaxed vs. Tense

The Big Five Model:

Long and confusing list of personality dimension have been cut down to the “Big five”. These are extraversion, agreeableness, consciousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.

The Big Five Personality Dimension:S/N Personality dimension Positive Score Characteristics Negative Score

Characteristics 1. Extraversion -Outgoing, talkative, sociable,

assertive -Introvert, reserved, timid, quiet

2. Agreeableness -Trusting, good natured, cooperative, soft hearted.

-Disagreeable, cold, antagonistic.



3. Conscientiousness -Dependable, responsible, achievement oriented, persistent.

-Distracted, disorganized, unreliable.

4. Emotional Stability -Relaxed, secure, and unworried. -Nervous, anxious, depressed, insecure.

5. Openness to experience -Intellectual, imaginative, curious, broad minded

-Convectional, find comfort in familiar matters.

Trait theories are criticized for lack of explanatory dimension of how behavior is caused. The identification of those traits does not give any insight into the development and dynamics of personality. Moreover, trait approaches have not been successful in predicting behavior across a spectrum of situations, due to the fact that situation (the job, the work activities) are largely ignored in trait theories.

Psychodynamic Personality Theories. Sigmund’freud addressed seriously the dynamic nature of personality. He accounted for individual differences in personality by suggesting that people deal with their fundamental drives differently. He observed that those differences reside with the two conflicting parts of personality, the ID and SUPEREGO and moderated by EGO.

Freud suggests that ID is the primitive, unconscious part of personality, the storehouse of fundamental drives. It operate irrationally and impassively without considering whether what is desired is possible or morally and acceptable. The superego is the storehouse of an individual’s values, including moral attitudes shaped by society. The superego, which corresponds roughly to conscious, is often in conflict with the ID: the id wants to do what feels good, while the superego insists on doing what is “right”. The ego acts as arbitrator of conflict. It represents the persona’s picture of physical and social reality, of what leads to what and of which things are possible in the perceived world. Part of the ego’s job is to choose actions that gratify id impulses without having undesirable consequences. Often the ego has to compromise, to try and satisfy both id and superego. This sometimes involves using ego defense mechanisms-mental processes that resolve conflict among psychological states and external realities.

Some Ego Defense Mechanisms:Mechanism How it is applied in an organizationRationalization (realize)

Attempting to justify one’s behavior as being rational and justifiable (e.g. I had to violate company policies to get the job done)

Identification Increasing feeling of worthiness by identifying self with person or institution of illustrious standing (e.g. I am working for Jim, who is really the best manager in the country )

Compensation (compare bahaviour)

Covering up weakness by emphasizing desirable traits or making up for frustration in one area by over-gratification in another ( e.g. I may be a harsh manager, but I play no favorites)



Denial of reality Protecting self from unpleasant reality by refusing to perceive it ( e.g. there is no chance that this company will have to let people go because of economy)

Feud is acknowledged to have contributed to the modern understanding of behaviuor. The emphasis he put on unconscious determinants of behavior is important. The significance he attributed to early-life origins of adult bahaviour encouraged the study of child development. In addition, his method of treating neurosis through psychoanalysis has added to our understanding of how to get people back on the right track toward effective functioning.

Humanistic Personality Theories.These theories emphasize the individual’s growth and self-actualization and the importance of how people perceive their world and all forces influencing them. Carl Rogers, for insistence, took humanistic (people -centered approach to understand personality. His advice is to listen to what say about themselves and to attend to those views and their significance in the person’s experiences. He believes that the human organism’s most drive is toward self-actualization the constant striving to realize one’s inherent potential.These theories are criticized for failing to explain clearly the origin of mechanism for attaining self-actualization. Also they are criticized for an overemphasis on self while neglecting the reality of having to function in a complex environment.

Conclusion.Each major theoretical approach improves our understanding of personality. Trait theories provide a catalog that describes the individual. Psychodynamic theories integrate the attributes of people and explain the dynamic nature of personality development. Humanists’ theories emphasize the person and the importance of self-actualization to personality. Each approach attempts to highlight the unique qualities of an individual that influence her/his behavior pattern.

10.6 PERSONALITY TRAITS:Personality traits refers to the enduring characteristics which describe an individual behavour and usually are persistent regardless of the situation he/she is exposed. Examples of personality traits includes; shyness, aggressiveness, ambitiousness, loyalty etc.

When the characteristics above exhibited in a number of situations are called Traits. An individual personality can be described by dominant traits. (No. of traits occasions).

MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING OB.There are about five identifiable personalities that influence individual and hence organizational behavior, namely; locus of control, achievement orientation, authoritarianism, Machiavellianism and risk taking propensity.

What is Locus of Control?



Within psychology, Locus of Control is considered to be an important aspect of personality. The concept was developed originally Julian Rotter in the 1950s (Rotter, 1966).

Locus of Control refers to an individual's perception about the underlying main causes of events in his/her life. Or, more simply:

Locus of control-refer to a degree to which an individual believes that he/she can control his/her destiny (what you want to realize) and vice-versa.

Types of Locus of control:a) Internal locus of controlb) External locus of control

a) Internal locus of control-includes people who believe they are able to master their own fate.(power)

They believe that no one to blame except themselves for their work so, they are ready to accept failures.

They believe that health is under their control through proper habit. Their rate absenteeism is very low because they take control of their health, which

in turn results to lower incident etc. Internals do well on sophisticate tasks e.g. Managerial and other

professional jobs that require complex information processing and learning. Also are more suited on jobs that require initiative and independence of action.

b) External locus of control –these are people who believe that what happens to them in their life is due to luck or chance.

They believe are less satisfied with their jobs. They have higher absenteeism rate and always they will find a reason for their

absenteeism. They are alienated from the work setting (don’t feel to be part and parcel of the

work.) Are less involved in their jobs than internal.

External are more compliant and willing to follow directions. Suits on jobs that are well structured and routine and on which success depends heavily on complying with direction of others.

External Locus of Control

Individual believes that his/her behaviour is guided by fate, luck, or other external circumstances

Internal Locus of Control

Individual believes that his/her behaviour is guided by his/her personal decisions and efforts.



http://www.wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html#Rotter1966

Do you believe that your destiny is controlled by yourself or by external forces (such as fate, god, or powerful others)?

The full name Rotter gave the construct was Locus of Control of Reinforcement. In giving it this name, Rotter was bridging behavioural and cognitive psychology. Rotter's view was that behaviour was largely guided by "reinforcements" (rewards and punishments) and that through contingencies such as rewards and punishments, individuals come to hold beliefs about what causes their actions. These beliefs, in turn, guide what kinds of attitudes and behaviours people adopt. This understanding of Locus of Control is consistent, for example, with Philip Zimbardo (a famous psychologist):

A locus of control orientation is a belief about whether the outcomes of our actions are contingent on what we do (internal control orientation) or on events outside our personal control (external control orientation)." (Zimbardo, 1985, p. 275)

Thus, locus of control is conceptualised as referring to a unidimensional continuum, ranging from external to internal:

Is an internal locus of control desirable?

In general, it seems to be psychologically healthy to perceive that one has control over those things which one is capable of influencing.

In simplistic terms, a more internal locus of control is generally seen as desirable. Having an Internal locus of control can also be referred to as "self-agency", "personal control", "self-determination", etc. Research has found the following trends:

Males tend to be more internal than females As people get older they tend to become more internal People higher up in organisational structures tend to be more internal (Mamlin, Harris, &

Case, 2001)

However, its important to warn people against lapsing in the overly simplistic view notion that internal is good and external is bad (two legs well, four legs bad?). There are important subtleties and complexities to be considered. For example:

Internals can be psychologically unhealthy and unstable. An internal orientation usually needs to be matched by competence, self-efficacy and opportunity so that the person is able to successfully experience the sense of personal control and responsibility. Overly internal people who lack competence, efficacy and opportunity can become neurotic, anxious and depressed. In other words, internals need to have a realistic sense of their circle of influence in order to experience 'success'.

Externals can lead easy-going, relaxed, happy lives.



http://www.wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html#Mamlin2001

http://www.wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html#Mamlin2001

Despite these cautions, psychological research has found that people with a more internal locus of control seem to be better off, e.g., they tend to be more achievement oriented and to get better paid jobs. However, thought regarding causality is needed here too. Do environmental circumstances (such as privilege and disadvantage) cause LOC beliefs or do the beliefs cause the situation?

Sometimes Locus of Control is seen as a stable, underlying personality construct, but this may be misleading, since the theory and research indicates that that locus of control is largely learned. There is evidence that, at least to some extent, LOC is a response to circumstances. Some psychological and educational interventions have been found to produce shifts towards internal locus of control (e.g., outdoor education programs; Hans, 2000; Hattie, Marsh, Neill & Richards, 1997).

Achievement orientation.According to this personality characteristic individual employees can be classified as High Need Achievers (HNA) or Low Need Achievers (LNA).People with High Need for Achievement continually strive to do things better, they normally want overcome obstacles but want to own success or failure. They like tasks of intermediate difficult. They look for challenges having 50% of success don’t bother succeeding 100% -they are risk takers.Thus, jobs that provide intermediate difficult, rapid performance feedback and also jobs that allow employees to control over results e.g. sales, professional sports, management –the HNA will perform them well.

Authoritarianism.Refers to a belief that there should be power differences among people in the organizations.Extremely High Authoritarianism Personality (EHAP)

People with this type of personality possess the following attributes; They are intellectual rigid –what he/she believes/thinks is the right thing. They are judgmental of others-don’t believe others to do better. They always differ with their superiors. They are exploitative to their subordinates. They are distrustful or untruthful-don’t feel shy in cheating. They are resistant to change.

People with EHAP are not suitable to the jobs which; Need sensitivity to the feeling of others Calls for the ability to adapt to complex and changing situation.

People with EHAP are suitable to jobs which are highly structured and success depends on close conformance to rules and regulation e.g. Army/military jobs, medicals doctors.

Extremely Low Authoritarian personality-exercises the reverse of EHAP. Machiavellianism (Mach) Personality.



http://www.wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html#Hattie1997

http://www.wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html#Hattie1997

http://www.wilderdom.com/psychology/loc/LocusOfControlWhatIs.html#Hans2000

This kind of personality is closely related to Authoritarianism. The name is after his founder Niccole Machiavelli. His focus was concerned on how to gain and manipulate power. Individual with mach;

Maintain a motional distance i.e. doesn’t loose temper easily or come joy easily they are moderate.

Believers that end can justify means i.e. how you realize to achieve goals is not a problem, whatever kinds of means if it works use it.

High Mach People are able to manipulate more, win more but are persuaded less. Situation on which H-mach can perform better include.

Where they can interact face to face with others rather then indirect. Where there is minimum number of rules and regulations. Jobs that won’t distract the individual motion.

Jobs which H-mach can perform better include;

Jobs requiring bargaining skills e.g. procurement, sales, labour negotiation jobs etc.Jobs with substantial reward for wining e.g. commission sales.NB. If end can’t justify the means for stance there are absolute standards on behaviour people with H-mach cannot perform better e.g. Math’s oriented operations.

Risk taking propensity.

This determines how long it takes a manager to make a decision. This categorize managers as High Risk Taking (HRT) and Low Risk Taking (LRT)

Managers with HRT normally;

Make quick/rapid decisions Use less information to make decisions Can generate much surplus to the organization.

Examples of jobs that suit HRT include; brokerage, policeman etc.

10.7 PERCEPTION

The underlying philosophy of perception is that “the way we see the out side world is not the same as the world really is”, therefore we tend to see the world as we want to perceive it. Hence, one’s perception could substantially be different from one another though they are focusing at one target and thus differing in behavior.

Perception involves acquiring specific knowledge about objects or events at any particular moment, thus it occurs whenever stimulus activate the senses. In this case perception involves cognition (knowledge) and interpretation of objects, symbols and people in the light of pertinent experiences.

In other words, perception involves receiving stimuli, selecting what is relevant, organizing them, and translating or interpreting the organized stimuli to influence behavior and form altitudes.



Each person selects various stimuli that influence his perceptions of people, objects and symbols. These factors together with their potential imbalance is the cause of people often misperception of another person, group or object.

To a considerable extent, people interpret the bahaviour of others in the context of the setting in which they find themselves.

Definitions of Perception can be defined as the process where by individual organize and interpret their sensory impression in order to give meaning to their environment. Or Perception is the process of making sense out of an experience as well as the imputing of meaning to experience (Burgoon 1994) or perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory stimulus.( Mullins 1998)

The definition of perception can be summarized as follows;

i.) Perception is the intellectual process, through which people selects the data form the environment, organizes it and obtain meaning from it. The physical process of obtaining data from the environment through five sensory organs is known as sensation.

ii.) Perception is the basic cognitive or psychological process. The manner in which a person perceives the environment affects his/her behavior. Thus, people’s actions, thoughts, or feelings are triggered by the perception of their surroundings.

Determinants of perception

Are those factors that decisively affect the nature or outcome of people in an organization.

Mainly three factors influences perception these include;

Perceiver The target The conceptual/situation

THE PERCEIVER –This include the personal attributes of an individual perceiver such as;

• Attitude- A settled way of thinking or feeling, typically reflected in a person's behavior. (How you regard something)

• Motive-unsatisfied need can greatly influence your perception. Or according to (Princeton’s WordNet) Motive means the psychological feature that arouses an organism/human being to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior.

• Past experiences- e.g. this can be brought up in a family/country conflicts or wars.• Expectations-we normally see things as we perceive them to be e.g. in a worship.• Personality of the perceiver- also tends to influence his/her perception.

THE TARGET-refer to attributes which are target/ object to be perceived E.g.



By tutor;

J. Kasika

HRM dept

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organizational bahaviour (ob) by tutor; joseph kasika hrm professional

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