Foundations of Individual Behaviour

Foundations of Individual Behaviour: Individual behaviour: Foundations of individual

behaviour. Ability: Intellectual abilities, Physical ability, the role of disabilities.
Personality: Meaning, formation, determinants, traits of personality, big five and MBTI,
personality attributes influencing OB.
Attitude: Formation, components of attitudes, relation between attitude and behaviour.
Perception: Process of perception, factors influencing perception, link between perception and
individual decision-making.

ABILITY: An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current

assessment of what one can do. The ability are essentially made up of two set of factors:
intellectual and physical abilities
INTELLECTUAL ABILITY: are abilities needed to perform mental activities for Thinking,
Reasoning, and Problem solving. People in most societies place a high value on intelligence and
for good reason. Compare to others, smart people earn more money and attain higher levels of
education. Smart people are also more likely to emerge as leaders of groups.
DIMENSIONS OF INTELLECTUAL ABILITY

Dimension Description Job example

Number aptitude Ability to do speedy & accurate Accountant: computing the sales
arithmetic tax on a set of items

Verbal Ability to understand what is read or Plant manager: following

comprehension heard and relationship of words to corporate policies on hiring
each other

Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual Fire investigator: identifying clues

understanding quickly and accurately to support charge of arson

Inductive Ability to identify logic sequence in Market researcher: forecasting

reasoning a problem and then solve a problem demand for a product in the next
time period

Deductive Ability to use logic to solve a Supervisor: choosing between 2

reasoning problem different suggestions offered by
employees.

Spatial Ability to imagine how an object Interior decorator: redecorating an

visualization would look if its position in space office
were changed

Memory Ability to retain and recall past Sales person: remembering the
experiences names of customers

PHYSICAL ABILITIES: The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and
similar characteristics.

Nine basic Physical abilities

Dynamic Strength The strength of a rickshaw puller. They use muscular force repeatedly and
continuously for pulling the rickshaw.

Trunk Strength Trunk strength is used for lifting heavy load

Static Strength Static strength is to exert force on an object that we cannot move, the
muscles stay the same length and it is useful for things like arm wrestling.

Explosive Strength People may use his explosive strength while breaking any door of a house,
if required.

Extent Flexibility People use extent flexibility while lifting any object from ground to a
higher place, which is above of his head.

Dynamic People use dynamic flexibility while cycling.

Flexibility

Body Coordination Swimming is a good example of Body Coordination.

Balance Balancing ability while cycling.

 Stamina For a long duration and hardworking game (i.e. football, marathon,
long distance swimming, etc.)

BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Age
1. The relationship between age and job performance is increasing in importance.
 First, there is a widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing age.
 Second, the workforce is aging; workers over 55 are the fastest growing sector of the
workforce
2. Employers’ perceptions are mixed.
 They see a number of positive qualities that older workers bring to their jobs, specifically
experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality.
 Older workers are also perceived as lacking flexibility and as being resistant to new
technology.
 Some believe that the older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job. That
conclusion is based on studies of the age-turnover relationship.
3. It is tempting to assume that age is also inversely related to absenteeism.
 Most studies do show an inverse relationship, but close examination finds that the age-
absence relationship is partially a function of whether the absence is avoidable or
unavoidable.
 In general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence. However, they have
higher rates of unavoidable absence, probably due to their poorer health associated with
aging and longer recovery periods when injured.
 4. There is a widespread belief that productivity declines with age and that individual skills
decay over time.
 Reviews of the research find that age and job performance are unrelated.
 This seems to be true for almost all ty pes of jobs, professional and nonprofessional.
5. The relationship between age and job satisfaction is mixed.
 Most studies indicate a positive association between age and satisfaction, at least up to
age 60.
 Other studies, however, have found a U-shaped relationship. When professional and
nonprofessional employees are separated, satisfaction tends to continually increase
among professionals as they age, whereas it falls among nonprofessionals during middle
age and then rises again in the later years.
Gender
1. There are few, if any, important differences between men and women that will affect
their job performance, including the areas of:
 Problem-solving
 Analytical skills
 Competitive drive
 Motivation
 Sociability
 Learning ability
2. Women are more willing to conform to authority, and men are more aggressive and more
likely than women to have expectations of success, but those differences are minor.
3. There is no evidence indicating that an employee’s gender affects job satisfaction.
4. There is a difference between men and women in terms of preference for work schedules.
 Mothers of preschool children are more likely to prefer part-time work, flexible work
schedules, and telecommuting in order to accommodate their family responsibilities.
5. Absence and turnover rates
 Women’s quit rates are similar to men’s.
 The research on absence consistently indicates that women have higher rates of
absenteeism.
 The logical explanation: cultural expectation that has historically placed home and
family responsibilities on the woman.
Marital Status
 There are not enough studies to draw any conclusions about the effect of marital status on
job productivity.
 Research consistently indicates that married employees have fewer absences, undergo
fewer turnovers, and are more satisfied with their jobs than are their unmarried
coworkers.
 More research needs to be done on the other statuses besides single or married, such as
divorce, domestic partnering, etc.
Tenure
1. The issue of the impact of job seniority on job performance has been subject to
misconceptions and speculations.
2. Extensive reviews of the seniority-productivity relationship have been conducted:
 There is a positive relationship between tenure and job productivity.
 There is a negative relationship between tenure to absence.
 Tenure is also a potent variable in explaining turnover.
 The evidence indicates that tenure and satisfaction are positively related.
PERSONS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
 Individuals who demonstrate a slower rate of learning and a limited capacity to learn are
identified as having an intellectual disability.
 Intellectual Disability is seven times more prevalent than deafness and 15 times more
prevalent than total blindness and 35 times more prevalent than muscular dystrophy.
 However, because of their learning limitations, certain teaching and coaching strategies
are more successful than others.
 Specifically, demonstration, physical prompt, and manipulation of body parts are
preferred to verbal instruction.
WHO ARE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES?
Asch and Mudrick have foundagreement that people with disabilities:
 have a permanent or chronic physical or mental impairment or condition;
 the impairment or condition may differ in degree of severity;
 the impairment or condition may differ in degree of visibility to others; and
 The age of onset of the impairment or condition varies by individual.
 PERSONALITY
 The word personality is derived from a Greek word “persona” which means “to speak
through.”
 Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s unique
identity.
 The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others.
 It is the study of basic traits of an individual, relationships between the traits & the way
in which a person adjusts to other people & situations.
FORMATION OF PERSONALITY
Personality trait is basically influenced by two major features −
 Inherited characteristics
The features an individual acquires from their parents or forefathers, in other words the gifted
features an individual possesses by birth is considered as inherited characteristics. It consists
of the following features −
 Color of a person’s eye
 Religion/Race of a person
 Shape of the nose
 Shape of earlobes
 Learned characteristics
Nobody learns everything by birth. First, our school is our home, then our society, followed
by educational institutes. The characteristics an individual acquires by observing, practicing,
and learning from others and the surroundings is known as learned characteristics.
Learned characteristics includes the following features −
 Perception − Result of different senses like feeling, hearing etc.
 Values − Influences perception of a situation, decision making process.
 Personality − Patterns of thinking, feeling, understanding and behaving.
 Attitude − Positive or negative attitude like expressing one’s thought

Determinants of Personality
 Biological factors: The study of the biological contributions to personality may be
studied as follows
  Heredity: Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical
stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy
level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are considered to be inherent from
one’s parents. The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an
individual's personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the
chromosomes.
 Research on animals has showed that both physical and psychological characteristics can
be transmitted through heredity. But research on human beings is in adequate to support
this view point. However, psychologists and geneticists have accepted the fact that
heredity plays an important role in one's personality.
 Physical Factors
One of the most important factors in determining personality is the ‘Physical
Characteristics’ of an individual. It is believed that this factor plays a vital role in
determining one’s behavior in any organization. Physical features may involve the height of a
person (short or tall), his color (white or black), his health status (fat or skinny) and his
beauty (handsome or ugly). These factors are involved when interacting with any other
person and thus contribute in the personality development in many ways.
 Social Factors
Social factors also play a vital role in determining one’s personality. The things that revolve
and evolve around us on a regular basis determine our personality. The society that we live
in, the cultural environment that we face daily, the community we get interacted to, all are
included in this factor. Relationships, co-ordination, co-operation, interaction, environment in
the family, organizations, workplaces, communities, societies all contribute in way or another
as personality determinants.
 Cultural and Religious Factors:
The culture in which one life in that may involve traditional practices, norms, customs,
procedures, rules and regulations, precedents and values, all are important determinants of
personality. Moreover, the creed, religion and believes are also very important factors of
personality determinants.
TRAITS OF PERSONALITY
A trait is a predisposition to respond in an equivalent manner to various kinds of stimuli.
Important personality traits are:
THE BIG FIVE MODEL THEORY OF PERSONALITY
In psychology, the Big Five personality traits are five broad domains or dimensions of
personality that are used to describe human personality, the five-factor model (FFM) The five
factors are openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
 Extroversion-Extraversion describes energy, positive emotions, assertiveness,
sociability, talkativeness, and the tendency to seek stimulation in the company of others.
 Agreeableness-Agreeableness is the tendency to be compassionate and cooperative
towards others rather than suspicious and antagonistic.
 Conscientiousness - Conscientiousness is a tendency to show self-discipline, act
dutifully, and aim for achievement. Conscientiousness also refers to planning,
organization, and dependability.
 Neuroticism - Neuroticism describes vulnerability to unpleasant emotions like anger,
anxiety, depression, or vulnerability. Neuroticism also refers to an individual's level of
emotional stability and impulse control and is sometimes referred to as emotional
stability.
  Openness - Openness to experience describes a person's degree of intellectual curiosity,
creativity, and preference for novelty and variety. Some disagreement remains about how
to interpret this factor, which is sometimes called intellect.

MODEL OF HOW BIG FIVE INFLUENCE OB CRITERIA

Big Five Trait Why it is relevant? What does it Affects?

Emotional • Less –ve thinking & fewer – • Higher job & life
Stability ve emotions satisfaction

Extroversion • Better interpersonal skills • Higher performance

• Greater social dominance • Enhanced leadership

Openness • Increased learning • Training performance

• More creative • Enhanced leadership

Agreeableness • Better liked • Higher performance

Conscientiousness • Greater effort & persistent • Higher performance

• More drive & discipline • Enhanced leadership

THE MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI)

 MBTI is an introspective self-report questionnaire designed to indicate psychological
preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.
 The MBTI was constructed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs
Myers.
 A personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into 1 of 16
personality types
Personality Types
• Social interaction :Extroverted vs. Introverted (E or I)
• Preference for gathering data :Sensing vs. Intuitive (S or N)
• Preference for decision making :Thinking vs. Feeling (T or F)
• Style of making decisions Judging vs. Perceiving (P or J)
 • Extrovert or Introvert (E or I):
 Extrovert is people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable & assertive.
 Introvert people who are quiet shy & cautious.
 Introvert feel comfortable being alone whereas extrovert does not.
• Sensing/intuitive :
 S-people use organisation structure to acquire factual & quantitative information.
 I-collect information based on their intuition & relying on subjective manner
• Thinking/feeling :
 T- Cause & effect logic.
 F-consider how their choice affect others before making decisions.
• Perceiving/judging :
 J-prefer order & structure in their relationship with other.
 P-types are more flexible & they like to adapt to situations as they occur & keep their
options open .
• Personality types influence the way people interact & solve problems.
• MBTI is used to help managers’ better match employees to certain types of jobs.
• MBTI used in business world for career counselling, developing management styles,
team building and conflict management

MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING OB

 Locus of control
 Machiavellianism
 Self-esteem
 Self-monitoring
 Risk taking
 Type A personality
Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe they are masters of their own fate. It is of 2 types
 Internals
Individuals who believe that they control what happens to them.
 Externals
Individuals who believe that what happens to them is controlled by outside forces such as
 luck or chance. Employees are less satisfied with their jobs & less involved than those
who are internals.
MACHIAVELLIANISM
 Machiavellianism in psychology refers to a personality trait which sees a person so
focused on their own interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to
achieve their goals
 The term itself derives from a reference to the infamous Niccolò Machiavelli, a diplomat
and philosopher in the Renaissance whose most well-known work became ‘The Prince”
(Il Principe).
 Jobs that require bargaining skills (purchasing manager),getting rewards for
excelling(sales person working on commission)
 high Mach's are productive
 High Machs are focused on their own wellbeing. They believe that to get ahead, one must
be deceptive. They don’t trust human goodness and think depending on others is naive.
Prioritising power over love and connection, they don’t believe that humankind is by
nature good.
 A low Mach, on the other hand, tends to show empathy to others, and is honest and
trusting. They believe in human goodness and that if you abide by good morals you will
do well in life. Too low on the scale, however, can see people being submissive and too
agreeable.
SIGNS OF MACHIAVELLIANISM
 only focused on their own ambition and interests
 prioritize money and power over relationships
 come across as charming and confident
 exploit and manipulate others to get ahead
 capable of causing others harm to achieve their means
 low levels of empathy
 often avoid commitment and emotional attachments
 can be very patient due to calculating nature
 rarely reveal their true intentions
 can be good at reading social situations and others
 lack of warmth in social interactions
  not always aware of the consequences of their actions
 might struggle to identify their own emotions

Self-Esteem and Self-Monitoring

 Self-Esteem (SE): Individuals’ degree of liking or disliking themselves. High self-esteem
person tend to take more risks in job selection than low esteem.
 Self-Monitoring
A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to
external, situational factors. High self-monitoring individuals show considerable adaptability
in adjusting their behavior.

PERSONALITY TYPES
Type A’s
 The theory describes Type A individuals as ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status-
conscious, sensitive, impatient, anxious, proactive, and concerned with time
management.
 People with Type A personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics." They push
themselves with deadlines, and hate both delays and ambivalence
Type B’s
The Type B personality generally lives at a lower stress level and are typically:
 They work steadily, enjoying achievements but not becoming stressed when they are not
achieved.
 When faced with competition, they do not mind losing and either enjoy the game or back
down.
 They may be creative and enjoy exploring ideas and concepts.
 They are often reflective, thinking about the outer and inner worlds.
ATTITUDE
Attitudes are the evaluative statements – either favorable or unfavorable – concerning objects,
people or events. Attitudes reflect how one feels about something
Three Main Components of Attitudes
Cognition – an opinion or belief
“I just found out I am paid 20% less than my coworkers.”
Affect – the emotional or feeling segment associated with that belief
“I feel angry that I am not being treated fairly.”
Behavior – the intention to behave in a certain way
“I am going to quit this job soon as I can, and I am taking the red stapler with me!”

FORMATION OF ATTITUDE
1. Direct Personal Experience:
A person’s direct experience with the attitude object determines his attitude towards it. The
personal experience of an individual, whether it is favourable or unfavourable, will affect his
attitude deeply. These attitudes which are based on personal experience are difficult to change.
For example, an individual joins a new job, which is recommended to him by his friend. But
when he joins the job, he find his work repetitive, supervisors too tough and co-workers not so
co-operative, he would develop a negative attitude towards his job, because the quality of his
direct experience with the job is negative.
2. Association:
Sometimes an individual comes across a new attitude object which may be associated with an
old attitude object. In such a case, the attitude towards the old attitude object may be transferred
towards the new attitude object. For example, if a new worker remains most of the time in the
company of a worker, who is in the good books of the supervisor, and towards whom the
supervisor has a positive attitude, the supervisor is likely to develop a favourable attitude
towards the new worker also. Hence the positive attitude for the old worker has been transferred
towards the new worker because of the association between the old and the new worker.
3. Family and Peer Groups:
Attitudes like values are acquired from parents, teachers and peer group members. In our early
years, we begin modeling our attitudes after those we admire, respect or may be even fear. We
observe the way our family and friends behave and we shape our attitudes and behaviour to align
with theirs. We do so even without being told to do so and even without having direct
experience. Similarly, attitudes are acquired from peer groups in colleges and organisations. For
example, if the right thing is to visit “Hot Millions”, or the “Domino’s”, you are likely to hold
that attitude. If your parents support one political party, without being told to do so, you
automatically start favouring that party.
4. Neighbourhood:
The neighbourhood in which we live has certain cultural facilities, religious groupings and ethnic
differences. Further, it has people, who are neighbours. These people may be Northerners,
Southerners etc. The people belonging to different cultures have different attitudes and
behaviours. Some of these we accept and some of these we deny and possibly rebel. The
conformity or rebellion in some respects is the evidence of the attitudes we hold.
5. Economic Status and Occupations:
The economic status and occupational position of the individual also affect his attitude
formation. Our socio-economic background influences our present and future attitudes. Research
findings have shown that unemployment disturbs former religious and economic values.
Children of professional class tend to be conservatives. Respect for the laws of the country is
associated with increased years of higher education.
6. Mass Communications:
Attitudes are generally less stable as compared to values. Advertising messages for example,
attempt to alter the attitude of the people toward a certain product or service. For example, if the
people at Hyundai Santro can get you to hold a favourable feeling toward their cars, that attitude
may lead to a desirable behaviour (for them)-your purchase of a Santro car.

Relation between attitude and behaviour

An attitude results in intended behavior. Unfavorable attitude in the form of job dissatisfaction
can result in costly Labour turn over, absenteeism, tardiness, low productivity & even impaired
physical or mental health.
The three job related attitudes are:
 Job satisfaction: job satisfaction is all about how one feel about one’s job a person with
a high degree of job satisfaction holds a positive attitude toward his job while person who
is dissatisfied with his job will have a negative attitude toward his job. When people
speak of employee attitude more often than not they mean job satisfaction.
 Job involvement: this refers to the extent to which individual a psychologically involved
with his/her job and will try to perform the job to the best of his/her ability. A higher
level of job involvement results in a display of positive disposition towards job,
subordinate, colleagues and superiors. Higher degree of job involvement also ensures
lesser rate of absenteeism and lower labour turnover.
  Organizational commitment: organizational commitment means one’s involvement
with his employing organization. Employees with a high degree of organizational
commitment will feel proud of their organization, will process a sense of well-being and
will take pleasure and will be effectively engaged in attaining the organizational goal.
Organizational commitment results in a stable work force.
PERCEPTION
A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment.
Perception is the process of selecting, organizing & interpreting or attaching meaning to events
happening in the environment.
Ex : when there is an accident in a factory ,the supervisor may treat it as due to carelessness of
workers while the workers may treat it as due to lack of safety measures provided by
management.
 Perceptions differ from person to person.
 Each individual perceives the same situation differently.
 Group perceptions can influence one’s perception.
 Individuals organize and interpret things based on their past experiences and the
important values they consider important
FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION
1. Characteristics of the Perceiver: Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect
perception. When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she stands
for, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual
perceiver. The major characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are:
a) Attitudes: The perciver's attitudes affect perception. For example, Mr. X is interviewing
candidates for a very important position in his organization - a position that requires negotiating
contracts with suppliers, most of whom are male. Mr. X may feel that women are not capable of
holding their own in tough negotiations. This attitude with doubtless affect his perceptions of the
female candidates he interviews.
b) Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think
differently when we are happy than we do when we are depressed. In addition, we remember
information that is consistent with our mood state better than information that is inconsistent
with our mood state. When in a positive mood, we form more positive impressions of other.
When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others unfavourably.
c) Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong
influence on their perceptions. For example, in an organizational context, a boss who is insecure
perceives a sub ordinate's efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat to his or her own position.
Personal insecurity can be translated into the perception that others are out to "get my job",
regardless of the intention of the subordinates.
d) Self - Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceivers self-
concept. An individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another
person. In contrast, a negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits in
another person. Greater understanding of self allows us to have more accurate perceptions of
others.
e) Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our interests. Because our
individual interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a situation can differ from
what other perceive. For example, the supervisor who has just been reprimanded by his boss for
coming late is more likely to notice his colleagues coming late tomorrow than he did last week.
f) Cognitive structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects
perception. Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and
appearance, more readily. Cognitive complexity allows a person to perceive multiple
characteristics of another person rather than attending to just a few traits.
g) Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your perceptions in that you will see what
you expect to see. The research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon S Zalking and
Timothy W Costello on some specific characteristics of the perceiver reveal
i) Knowing oneself makes it easier to see others accurately.
ii) One's own characteristics affect the characteristics one is likely to see in other.
iii) People who accept themselves are more likely to be able to see favorable aspects of other
people.
iv) Accuracy in perceiving others is not a single skill. These four characteristics greatly influence
how a person perceives other int he environmental situation.
2) Characteristics of the Target: Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect
what is perceived. Physical appearance pals a big role in our perception of others. Extremely
attractive or unattractive individuals are more likely to be noticed in a group than ordinary
looking individuals. Motions, sound, size and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it.
Verbal Communication from targets also affects our perception of them. Nonverbal
communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. The perceiver deciphers eye
contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all in a attempt to form an impression
of the target.
3) Characteristics of the Situation: The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver
and the target takes place, has an influence on the perceiver's impression of the target. The
strength of the situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations provide strong cues
as to appropriate behaviour. In this situation, we assume that + i.e individual's behaviours can be
accounted for by the situation, and that it may not reflect the individual's disposition.

WHAT SHORTCUTS INDIVIDUALS USE IN MAKING JUDGEMENTS ABOUT

OTHERS?
 Selective perception: the tendency to selectively interpret what one sees on the basis of
one’s interests, background, experience and attitudes.
 Halo effect: the tendency to draw a general impression about an individual on the basis
of single characteristics.
  Contrast effects: Evaluation of a person’s characteristics i.e affected by comparisons
with other people recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same
characteristics.
 Stereotyping: judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which
that person belongs
 Profiling: a form of stereotyping and the use of personal characteristics or behavior
patterns to make generalizations about a person, as in gender profiling, racial profiling

PERCEPTUAL PROCESS
I. Perceptual Inputs:
A number of stimuli are constantly confronting people in the form of information, objects,
events, people etc. in the environment. These serve as the inputs of the perceptual process. A few
of the stimuli affecting the senses are the noise of the air coolers, the sound of other people
talking and moving, outside noises from the vehicular traffic or a street repair shop or a loud
speaker playing somewhere plus the impact of the total environmental situation. Some stimuli do
not affect the senses of a person consciously, a process called subliminal perception.
II. Perceptual Mechanism:
When a person receives information, he tries to process it through the following sub processes of
selection, organisation and interpretation.
(A) Perceptual Selectivity:
Perceptual selectivity refers to the tendency to select certain objects from the environment for
attention. The objects which are selected are those which are relevant and appropriate for an
individual or those which are consistent with our existing beliefs, values and needs. For this, we
need to screen or filter out most of them so that we may deal with the important or relevant ones.
The following factors govern the selection of stimuli:
(i) External Factors
(ii) Internal Factors
(i) External Factors:
(a) Size:
The bigger the size of the stimulus, the higher is the probability that it is perceived. Size always
attracts the attention, because it establishes dominance. The size may be the height or weight of
an individual, sign board of a shop, or the space devoted to an advertisement in the newspaper. A
very tall person will always stand out in the crowd on the other hand; a very short person will
also attract attention. A full page advertisement will always catch attention as compared to a few
lines in the classified section.
(b) Intensity:
Intensity attracts to increase the selective perception. A few examples of intensity are yelling or
whispering, very bright colours, very bright or very dim lights. Intensity will also include
behavioural intensity. If the office order says “Report to the boss immediately,” it will be more
intense and effective as compared to the office order which says “Make it convenient to meet the
boss today.”
c) Repetition:
The repetition principle states that a repeated external stimulus is more attention drawing than a
single one. Because of this principle, supervisors make it a point to give the necessary directions
again and again to the workers. Similarly, the same advertisement or different advertisement but
for the same product shown, again and again on the TV will have more attention as compared to
an advertisement which is shown once a day.
(d) Status:
High status people ran exerts greater influence on the perception of the employees than the low
status people. There will always be different reactions to the orders given by the foreman, the
supervisor or the production manager.
(e) Contrast:
An object which contrasts with the surrounding environment is more likely to be noticed than the
object which blends in the environment. For example, the Exit signs in the cinema halls which
have red lettering on a black background are attention drawing or a warning sign in a factory,
such as Danger, written in black against a red or yellow background will be easily noticeable. In
a room if there are twenty men and one woman, the woman will be noticed first because of the
contrast.
ii) Internal Factors:
The internal factors relate to the perceiver. Perceiving people is very important for a manager,
because behaviour occurs as a result of behaviour.
Following are the internal factors which affect perception:
1. Learning:
Although interrelated with other internal factors learning may play the single biggest role in
developing perceptual set. A perceptual set is basically what a person expects from the stimuli on
the basis of his learning and experience relative to same or similar stimuli. This perceptual set is
also known as cognitive awareness by which the mind organizes information and forms images
and compares them with previous exposures to similar stimuli. A number of illustrations have
been used by psychologists to demonstrate the impact of learning on perception.
Some are as explained below:
(i) Learning creates an expectancy in an individual and expectancy makes him see what he wants
to see.
Take the following figure for example:
It takes a few seconds for the reader to realize that there is an extra “the” in the sentence. One
tends to read the sentence, because of prior learning in the triangle as “turn off the engine.”
(ii) In this figure, the individual is caught in “Verbal Response Set.” He is likely to read the last
words “Mac-Hinery” instead of machinery

2. Motivation:
Besides the learning aspects of the perceptual set, motivation also has a vital impact on
perceptual selectivity. For example, a person who has a relatively high need for power, affiliation
or achievement will be more attentive to the relevant situational variables. For example, when
such a person walks into the lunch room, he may go to the table where several of his co-workers
are sitting, rather than a table which is empty or on which just one person is sitting.
B. Perceptual Organization:
After having selectively absorbed the data from the range of stimuli we are exposed to at any
given time, we then try to organize the perceptual inputs in such a manner that would facilitate us
to extract meaning out of what we perceive. Or in other words, person’s perceptual process
organizes the incoming information into a meaningful whole. While selection is a subjective
process, organizing is a cognitive process.
How we organize the stimuli is primarily based on the following principles:
(i) Figure and Ground:
Figure-Ground principle is generally considered to be the most basic form of perceptual
organization. This principle simply implies that the perceived object or person or event stands
out distinct from its back ground and occupies the cognitive space of the individual. For
example, as you read this page, you see white as the background and black as the letters or words
to be read. You do not try to understand what the white spaces amidst the black letters could
mean.
Likewise, in the organizational setting, some people are more noticed or stand out than others.
For example, an individual in the organization might try to focus his entire attention on his
immediate supervisor, trying to be in his good books, completely ignoring his colleagues and
how they feel about his behavior. According to this principle, thus, the perceiver tends to
organize only the information which stands out in the environment which seems to be significant
to the individual.
(ii) Perceptual Grouping:
Grouping is the tendency to curb individual stimuli into meaningful patterns. For instance, if we
perceive objects or people with similar characteristics, we tend to group them together and this
organizing mechanism helps us to deal with information in an efficient way rather than getting
bogged down and confused with so many details. This tendency of grouping is very basic in
nature and largely seems to be inborn.
III. Perceptual Outputs:
Perceptual outputs encompass all that results from the throughout process. These would include
such factors as one’s attitudes, opinions, feelings, values and behaviours resulting from the
perceptual inputs and throughputs. Perceptual errors adversely affect the perceptual outputs. The
lesser our biases in perception, the better our chances of perceiving reality as it exists or at least
perceiving situations with the minimum amount of distortions.
This will help us to form the right attitudes and engage in appropriate behavioural patterns,
which in turn will be beneficial for attaining the desired organisational outcomes. It is essentially
important for managers who are responsible for organisational results to enhance their skills in
order to develop the right attitudes and behaviours.

DECISION MAKING
 Decisions: Choices made from among alternatives developed from data perceived as
relevant.
 Problem: A perceived discrepancy between the current state of affairs and a desired
state.
STEPS IN THE RATIONAL DECISION-MAKING MODEL
(1) Recognizing the problem: When a manager makes a decision it is in effect the organization’s
response to a problem. Hence it is necessary to search the environment for the existence of a
problem. A problem is said to exist;
(a) When there is deviation from past experience. For example the present year’s sales are lower
than previous year, the expenses are more than previous years etc.,
(b) When there is deviation from plan. For example sales are lower than anticipated, expenses
are more than expected etc.,
(c) When competitors outperform. For example other companies manufacture the goods of same
quality at lower costs.
(d) When people bring problems to the manager, For example workers may complain about poor
ventilation.
(2) Deciding priorities among problems: A manager might have identified a number of
problems. All these problems vary in their importance. He may find that some of the problems
are such that they can be solved by their subordinates because they are closest to them. All such
problems should be passed on to them. Some problems may need information available only at
higher level or affecting other departments. Such problems are referred to higher level managers.
And those problems which can be best solved by him are to be focused.
(3) Diagnosing the problems: Symptoms of the problem that are observed by the manager may
sometimes mislead him. The symptom may lead manager to suspect one part when the defect
may lie hidden in another part. For example if there is decline in sales, the management may
think that the problem is one of poor selling procedure or the saturation of the old market. But
the real problem may be inability to move quickly to meet changing needs of the customers. For
diagnosing the problem a manager should follow the systems approach. He should study all the
sub-parts of his organization which are connected with the sub-part in which the problem seems
to be located.
(4) Developing alternative solutions or courses of action: A problem can be solved in several
ways; however all the ways cannot be equally satisfying. If there is only one way of solving a
problem, then no question of decision arises. Therefore decision maker must identify various
alternatives available in order to get most satisfactory result of a decision. It should also be borne
in mind that it is not possible to consider all alternatives either because information about all
alternatives may not be available or some of the alternatives cannot be considered because of
limitations. Hence while developing alternatives; the concept of limiting factor should be
applied. Limiting factor is one which stands in the way of accomplishing a desired objective. For
example, if an organization has limitation in raising sizable finance, it cannot consider projects
involving high investment. A decision maker can identify alternatives using his own experience,
practices followed by others and using creative technique. A decision maker using past
experience takes into account the action taken by the decision maker in the past with the
difference between former challenges and the present one. The successful action of the past may
become an alternative for the future. The limitation of this is, what was successful in the past
may not be so in the present context because of change in context under which decision was
made. Copying from experience of others is another way of generating alternatives. Alternatives
used by successful decision makers can be thought of alternatives of decision making. The third
method of generating alternatives is through creative process where various exercises are taken
to generate entirely new ideas. Creative ideas of individuals or groups help in developing
alternatives. One popular group technique is brain storming. The brain storming group consists
of 5 to 10 people. The best idea behind brain storming is to think of as many alternatives as
possible without pausing to evaluate them.
(5) Measuring and comparing consequences of the alternative solution: Once various
alternatives are developed, the next step is to measure and compare their consequences of
alternatives using quality and acceptability. The quality of a decision must be determined
considering both tangible and intangible consequences. Tangible consequences are those which
can be quantitatively measured or mathematically demonstrated. For example the one can
calculate the installing and running costs of two types of air conditioners. Intangible
consequences cannot be measured quantitatively. For example the effect of good labor
relationship in one location cannot be compared with the local taxes in another location.
Acceptability of solution is also important. A decision though good in quality may be poor in
acceptability or decision though acceptable may not be good in quality. In such cases managers
must find the relative importance of these two. In production, finance, purchase etc. the
solution’s quality is important than acceptability, where as in all human maters such as lighting
condition, layout of office etc., the acceptability is more important. If sufficient information
about quality or acceptability of a solution
is not available, it is suggested to experiment it on a small scale known as pilot testing. For
example a company may test a new product in a certain market before expanding its sale
nationwide.
(6) Converting the decision into effective action and follow up of action: This step involves
communication of decisions to the employees. Decision must be communicated in clear and
unambiguous terms. All necessary efforts should be made to secure employees participation in
some stages of decision making. Association of employees in decision making not only enhance
the acceptability, but also improves the quality of decision. Sometimes due to non-availability of
data, a manager may not take correct decision. As a safeguard against incorrect decision, the
manager while converting a decision into effective action should institute a system of follow-up
so that he can modify or alter his decision at the earliest opportunity.

LINK BETWEEN PERCEPTION AND INDIVIDUAL DECISION MAKING

 Individuals in organizations make decisions, choices from among two or more
alternatives.
 Top managers determine their organization’s goals, what products or services to offer,
how best to finance operations, or where to locate a new manufacturing plant.
 Middle- and lower-level managers set production schedules, select new employees, and
decide how to allocate pay raises.
 Non managerial employees decide how much effort to put forth at work and whether to
comply with a boss’s request
COMMON BIASES AND ERRORS IN DECISION MAKING
 Anchoring bias: a tendency to seek out information, from which one then fails to
adequately adjust for subsequent information
 Confirmation bias: a tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to
discount information that contradicts past judgements.
 Availability bias: a tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is
readily available to them
 Overconfidence Bias: The overconfidence bias is our tendency to be more confident in
our ability to act ethically than is objectively justified by our abilities and moral
character.