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Personal Learning
Paper –
Organizational
Behavior

Manjit Singh, FT152070,

Section 2
 Manjit Singh FT152070 1

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: NEW PERSPECTIVE FOR MANAGEMENT

The nine sessions of Organizational Behaviour have been extremely insightful for me. Since we all
had some work experience before joining the B-School, the concepts we learned and discussed in
the class room were quite relevant and we were able to link to what is being discussed in class. In
the beginning of the session we discussed the paradigm shift in which the management on thought
that employees are only interested in money. This is something which is still present in many
organizations. I would like to quote a small example to support this. In my company whenever an
employee used to put up his resignation the only thing which was discussed was the salary. The
organization thinks that the employees work only for money however there are lot of other thinks
such as working environment, culture, regular interaction which is required at certain periods of
time.

The Jeff Pleffer’s summary of the status of Organizational Behaviour – or the “one-eighth” situation
is actually true in the real organization world. Back in my organization I was working as service
engineer and so had an opportunity to work with different teams such as project, operations, and
sales which meant working in as many number of teams which in turn had as many different
managers and leads. All the leads and managers, except one, had a habit of referring to us as
resources and most of the team members felt that they were indeed being used as material
resources and that their human value was not being considered. The five factors preventing
managers from effective implementation and sustainability:

 Hollow talk
 Debilitating fear
 Destructive internal competition
 Poorly designed and complex measurement systems
 Mind-less reliance on precedent

These traits were present in most of the managers and this need to change for the development of
employees and the organisation.

Personal Learning Paper – Organizational Behavior

 Manjit Singh FT152070 2

PERSONALITY AND PERCEPTION

If I have to mention one key takeaway to me it will be “Perception”. Perception which was defined
as an individual’s unique interpretation of things that the individual confronts and choses to register
is not just a theoretical concept but it works exactly like that. To understand the concept we saw a
short video in class “Eye of the Beholder” and saw how different people interpret single person in
different ways. In the movie the artist was perceived as a different person by each of the characters.
The artist mother treated him as a good person, the maid perceived him as a murderer, the waiter in
the hotel considered him as a smooth person or ladies’ man. However in reality he was a completely
different person. This is something which we do in organisations. We make up lot of things in our
mind without actually knowing the person.

Now I could relate to how others might have perceived about me in the organization I worked at. It
also helped me understand what were the factors which made me see what I perceived about
others. The fact that perception depends upon the status, role and visible characters of a perceive
were known to me but I was oblivious of the fact that perception also depended on what the
perceiver’s attributes like:

 Knowing one-self makes it easier to see others accurately.

 One's own characteristics affect the characteristics one is likely to see in others.
 People who accept themselves are more likely to be able to see favourable aspects of other
people.
 Accuracy in perceiving others is not a single skill.

When I look back at the years I worked in an organization I can today understand how important a
role perception and impression management play. While from these topics I learn what I need to
change about myself and what to keep.

“Personality” is a cognitive process of organizational behaviour. Personality is defined as a relatively

stable set of characteristics that influence an individual’s behaviour. Every individual in an
organization has different traits or personalities. Irrespective of the person’s position in the company
personality plays an important role in how an individual approaches a job, interact with others and
completes the task at hand. Personality also affects the person’s performance and accordingly we
can decide which who is best suited for the job position. This can lead to increased productivity and
job satisfaction, helping your business function more efficiently.

Factors affecting personality:

 The role of heredity and the brain

 Self esteem
 Person-situation interaction
 The socialization process

Personal Learning Paper – Organizational Behavior

 Manjit Singh FT152070 3

PERSONALITY INSTRUMENTS

The class instrument “Big Five” which was conducted in the class also helped in knowing my traits
and blind spots and provided great insights about me. While I knew I would score high in
agreeableness (65%) and conscientiousness (64%) but scoring 48% in openness was something I did
not knew as I always thought myself as a practical and efficient person but the score clearly meant I
am neither a explorer nor a preserver but I am moderator. When I analysed it with past experiences I
could see that there were many instances that support this result but I had not looked at them
earlier.

Personal Learning Paper – Organizational Behavior

 Manjit Singh FT152070 4

Another instrument which we discussed in class was “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator” also known as
MBTI. It is based on a very old theory but very widely used. This instrument helps us in determining
the personality dimensions or traits of a person. MBTI based on the personality traits divides the
individuals in 16 distinct types. In MBTI the question relate to how people prefer to focus their
energies, give attention and collect information, process and evaluate information and make
decisions and finally how they orient themselves to the outside world. I have shown my MBTI rating
below and came out to be Promoter and I am quite satisfied with the result.

E I S N T F J P
Q&C P Q&C P Q&C P Q&C P Q&C P Q&C P Q&C P Q&C P

3A 2 3B 2 2A 2 2B 2 4B 2 4A 1 1A 2 1B 2
6A 2 6B 1 5B 1 5A 1 14B 2 14A 1 7A 1 7B 1
9A 2 9B 1 10A 1 10B 2 22B 2 22A 2 7C 1
13A 1 13B 2 12A 1 12B 2 30A 2 30B 1 8A 1 8B 2
16A 2 16B 2 15B 1 15A 0 32A 1 32B 1 11A 2 11B 1
21A 2 21B 2 20A 2 20B 2 33B 2 33A 0 17A 2 17B 2
24A 1 24B 1 23B 2 23A 1 37A 1 37B 2 18A 1 18B 1
26A 1 26B 0 28A 2 28B 1 39A 1 39B 1 19A 1 19B 1
29B 2 29A 2 31B 2 31A 0 40B 2 40A 1 25A 1 25B 1
36B 2 36A 1 35A 2 35B 1 44A 1 44B 2 25C 0
43B 1 43A 1 38B 2 38A 0 46A 2 46B 0 27A 2 27B 2
42A 1 42B 2 47B 2 47A 1 34A 2 34B 2
45B 2 45A 0 49A 2 49B 1 41A 2 41B 2
48A 1 48B 1 50A 2 50B 0

TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL

11 5 11 6 8 8 7 10
POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS

E/I S/N T/F J/P

11 and 5 11 and 6 8 and 8 7 and 10
E S T P

Promoters are tactical operators, concrete in speech and utilitarian in action. In social situations,
they are directive and expressive. Promoters are the most adept among the types at manoeuvring
other people to their position. They make a point of getting to know those in positions of influence.
Promoters are also resourceful, knowing where the fun and the action are. They like to indulge
themselves in the finer things in life and to bring other people with them. Their goal in life is to sell
themselves and their ideas to others. Dramatic and debonair, they are gifted at earning others'
confidence.

Personal Learning Paper – Organizational Behavior

 Manjit Singh FT152070 5

CONCLUSION

To conclude, the course on OB so far has been a good mix of theory, examples and instruments used
in class. While knowing the different theories help in expanding our horizons the examples and
instruments help in greater understanding of the theories. I too had stereotyped OB, like many
others, and written it off as an unimportant subject but after the initial classes and reading this text i
have a completely different perception of the subject. This is what forms the basis of an organization
and I can now appreciate the nuances of it. I look forward for the next part of the course.

Personal Learning Paper – Organizational Behavior