Course Code: MGN572 Course Title: Individual dynamics and

Leadership
Course Instructor: Preet Kanwal Student’s Reg. No: 11900221

Academic Task No.: CA2 Academic Task Title: Assignment 2

Date of Allotment: 19 March 2021 Date of submission: 4 April 2021

Learning Outcomes: To analyse a field of study by applying the theoretical concepts to real life
situations. To understand issues about motivational, perception and conditional theories
concepts and real life application.

Declaration:
I declare that this assignment is my individual work. I have not copied it from any other
student’s work or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made
explicitly in the text, nor has any part been written for me by any other person.

Student’s Signature: Chethan S N

Evaluator’s Comments (For Instructor’s use only)

General Observation Suggestions for Improvement Best part of assignment

Evaluator’s Signature and Date: ______________

Marks Obtained: ______________ Max. Marks: ______________
1. Discuss factors that influence perception and specific applications of
shortcuts in organizations
Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in
order to represent and understand the environment.
Perception is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli to meaningful
information. It is the process of interpreting something that we see or hear in our mind and
use it later to judge and give a verdict on a situation, person, group etc.
It can be divided into six types −
 Of sound − The ability to receive sound by identifying vibrations.
 Of speech − The competence of interpreting and understanding the sounds of
language heard.
 Touch − Identifying objects through patterns of its surface by touching it.
 Taste − The ability to receive flavor of substances by tasting it through sensory
organs known as taste buds.
 Other senses − They approve perception through body, like balance, acceleration,
pain, time, sensation felt in throat and lungs etc.
 Of the social world − It permits people to understand other individuals and groups of
their social world. Example − Priya goes to a restaurant and likes their customer service, so
she will perceive that it is a good place to hang out and will recommend it to her friends, who
may or may not like it. Priya’s perception about the restaurant is good.
Perceptual Process
Perceptual process are the different stages of perception we go through. The different stages
are −
 Receiving
 Selecting
 Organizing
 Interpreting
Important factors influencing the perceptual set, i.e, (a) Characteristics of the Perceiver, (b)
Characteristics of the Perceived, and (c) Characteristics of the Situation.

A. Characteristics of the Perceiver:

When a person looks at a target and attempts to interpreter what he sees, his
interpretation is greatly influenced by his personal characteristics which are discussed
as follows:

1. Needs and Motives:

Our need pattern play an important part in how we perceive things. A need is a feeling
of discomfort or tension when one things he is missing something or requires
something. Therefore, unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert
a strong influence on their perception. When people are not able to satisfy their needs
they are engaged in wishful thinking which is a way to satisfy their needs not in the real
world but imaginary world. In such cases, people will perceive only those items which
suit their wishful thinking. Motives also influence the perception of people. People who
are devious are prone to see others as also devious.

2. Self-Concept:
Self-concept indicates how we perceive ourselves which then influences how we
perceive others and the situation we are in. The more we understand ourselves, the more
we are able to perceive others accurately. For example, secure people tend to see others
as warm and friendly. Less secure people often find fault with others. Perceiving
ourselves accurately and enhancing our-self-concept are factors that enhance accurate
perception.

3. Past Experience:
Our perceptions are often guided by our past experiences and what we expect to see. A
person’s past experiences mould the way he perceives the current situation. If a person
has been betrayed by a couple of friends in the past, he would tend to distrust any new
friendship that he might be in the process of developing.
4. Current Psychological State:
The psychological and emotional states of an individual are likely to influence how
things are perceived. If a person is depressed, he is likely to perceive the same situation
differently than if he is elated. Similarly, if a person is scared out of wits by seeing a
snake in the garden, she is likely to perceive a rope under the bed as a snake.

5. Beliefs:
A person’s beliefs influence his perception to a great extent. Thus, a fact is conceived
not on what it is but what a person believes it to be. The individual normally censors
stimulus inputs to avoid disturbance of his existing beliefs.

6. Expectations:
Expectations affect the perception of a person. Expectations are related with the state of
anticipation of particular behaviour from a person. For example, a technical manager
will expect that the non- technical people will be ignorant about the technical features of
the product.

7. Situation:
Elements in the environment surrounding an individual like time, location, light, heat
etc., influence his perception. The context in which a person sees the objects or events is
very important.

8. Cultural Upbringing:
A person’s ethics, values and his cultural upbringing also play an important role in his
perception about others. It is difficult to perceive the personality of a person raised in
another culture because our judgement is based upon our own values.
B. Characteristics of the Perceived:
Characteristics of the person who is being observed can affect what is perceived.
Though, it may go against logic and objectivity, but it cannot be denied that our
perceptions about others are influenced by their physical characteristics such as
appearances, age, gender, manner of communication as well as personality traits and
other forms of behaviour. For example, loud people are more likely to be noticed in a
group than are quite ones. So too are extremely attractive or extremely ugly individuals.

Persons, objects or events that are similar to each other tend to be grouped together.
People dressed in business suits are generally thought to be professionals, while
employees dressed in ordinary work clothes are assumed to be lower level employees.
Manner of communication, both verbal and non-verbal, affect our perception about
others. For example, the choice of words and precision of language can form impressions
about the education and sophistication of the person. The tone of voice indicates the
mood of the person. The depth of conversation and choice of topics provide clues of
people’s intelligence. The body language or expressive behaviour such as how a person
sits and the movement of his eyes or a smile can indicate whether he is nervous or self-
confident.
The status or occupation of a person also influences the perception. We tend to behave in
a more respectful way when we are introduced to the principal of a school in which our
child is studying, judge of the high court or Supreme Court or a famous cricket player.
Sometimes our perception of a person tends to be; biased, depending upon the
description given to us by other persons. When we meet a person who is described to us
as warm and friendly, we treat him differently as compared to meeting a person who is
known to be cold & calculating.
C. Characteristics of the Situation:
The context in which we see objects or events is very important. The surrounding
environment and the elements present in it influence our perception while perceiving a
particular situation or event, its physical, social and organisational setting can also
influence the perception. For example, if you meet a person for the first time and he is
with a person whom you respect and admire, you will create a favourable image about
him in your mind as compared to a situation in which you see him with another person
whom you intensely dislike.
 Of course, the initial impressions may change with the passage of time, but the saying
that “First impression is the last impression” is very valued.
Location of a given event is also very important factor in determining the behaviour.
For example, a conversation with the boss taking place in a casual reception area may be
perceived differently than when taking place in the boss’s office with the door closed.
Organisational setting also affects the behaviour of the people.
An organisation setting where people are given an opportunity to interact in a friendly
and sociable work situation, they become more trustworthy and less defensive.

Specific Applications of shortcuts in Organizations:

People in organizations are always judging each other. Managers must appraise their
employees’ performances. We evaluate how much effort our co-workers are putting into their
jobs. When a new person joins a work team, he or she is immediately “sized up” by the other
team members. In many cases, these judgments have important consequences for the
organization. Let’s briefly look at a few of the more obvious applications.

Employment Interview: A major input into who is hired and who is rejected in any
organization is the employment interview. It’s fair to say that few people are hired without
any interview. But the evidence indicates that interviewers make perceptual judgments that
are often inaccurate. In addition, agreement among interviewers is often poor that is, different
interviewers see different things in the same candidate and thus arrive at different conclusions
about the applicant.

Interviewers generally draw early impressions that become very quickly entrenched. If
negative information is exposed early in the interview, it tends to be more heavily weighted
than if that same information comes out later. Studies indicate that most interviewers’
decisions change very little after the first 4 or 5 minutes of the interview. As a result,
information elicited early in the interview carries greater weight than does information
elicited later, and a ‘good applicant’ is probably characterized more by the absence of
unfavourable characteristics than by the presence of favourable characteristics.

Importantly, who you think is a good candidate and who another thinks is one may differ
markedly. Because interviews usually have so little consistent structure and interviewers vary
in terms of what they are looking for in a candidate, judgments about the same candidate can
vary widely.
If the employment interview is an important input into the hiring decision and it usually is
you should recognize that perceptual factors influence who is hired and eventually the quality
of an organization’s labour force.

Performance Expectations: There is an impressive amount of evidence that demonstrates

that people will attempt to validate their perceptions of reality, even when those perceptions
are faulty. This characteristic is particularly relevant when we consider performance
expectations on the job.

In other words, if a manager expects big things from his people, they’re not likely to let him
down. Similarly, if a manager expects people to perform minimally, they’ll tend to behave so
as to meet those expectations. The result then is that the expectations become reality.

An interesting illustration of the self-fulfilling prophecy is a study undertaken with 105

soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces who were taking a 15 week combat command course.
The four course instructors were told that one third of the specific incoming trainees had high
potential, one third had normal potential, and the potential of the rest was unknown. In
reality, the trainees were randomly placed into these categories by the researchers. The results
confirmed the existence of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The trainees whom instructors were told
had high potential scored significantly higher on objective achievement tests, exhibited more
positive attitudes, and held their leaders in higher regard than did the other two groups. The
instructors of the supposedly high-potential trainees got better results from them because the
instructors expected it.

Ethnic Profiling: Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour 120,000 Americans of
Japanese heritage – most living on the west coast – were required to relocate into detention
camps. Many of them were forced to stay there throughout World War II. The reason for this
action is that the US government feared that these Americans might hold Japanese attitudes
and spy against the United States. Over time, most Americans came to see this as terrible
mistake and dark footnote in American history.
2. Discuss in detail the application of motivational theories
2.1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

According to Smith & Cronje, the way Maslow’s theory is explained relies on the fact that
people want to increase what they want to achieve in life and their needs are prioritized
according to their importance. Deriving from the hierarchy of needs by Maslow, content
theories of job satisfaction revolve around employees’ needs and the factors that bring them a
reasonable degree of satisfaction.

Based on the basic physical, biological, social and psychological needs of human beings,
Maslow came up with a five-stage theory that places the needs of the individual in different
categories and prioritizes their attainment. These categories, in order of decreasing priority,
are:

 physiological needs (food, shelter, clothing)

 safety and security needs (physical protection)
 social needs (association with others)
 esteem needs (receiving acknowledgement from others)
 Self-actualisation needs (the desire for accomplishment or to leave behind a legacy).

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs forms the basis of theories that try to explain job satisfaction.
Teachers, like all people, have needs that have to be satisfied. Besides the basic needs for
food, shelter and clothing, safety from physical, harm, and social interaction, they also need
the recognition and appreciation of students, colleagues, and parents.

2.2. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory/Motivator-Hygiene

Herzberg’s Two-factor theory, also known as Motivator-Hygiene, emanated from a study

conducted among accounts and engineers to determine what makes an individual feel good or
bad about their job. Regarding ‘satisfiers’, Herzberg noted that there were five features of
work that bring about satisfaction, namely achievement, recognition, the job itself,
responsibility and advancement. At the other end of the spectrum, Herzberg identified
institutional politics, the management approach, supervision, pay, relationships at work and
working conditions as factors that may demoralize employees.
 Assert that organizations are increasingly applying Herzberg’s theory to create opportunities
for “personal growth, enrichment and recognition” among their employees. Employees
should be promoted after completing certain stages of their career and should receive
recognition for special achievements – for example, when they produce exceptional results in
their subject areas; on a more basic level, they should also be given responsibility to
determine how to handle tasks that relate to their jobs. The Two-factor theory has however
drawn its share of criticism.

Golshan point out that it fails to distinguish between physical and psychological
aspects and to precisely explain what motivators are and how they differ from hygiene
factors; it also fails to express the degrees of satisfaction and dissatisfaction as a measure
instead of using numbers. Another criticism levelled against it is that it makes assumptions
that every individual will react in the same way in the similar situation.

2.3. McGregor’s X and Y Theories

McGregor’s (1960) Theory X and Y models categorize employees as belonging to

one of two groups based on two sets of assumptions. Theory X assumptions take a negative
perspective of people: People can have “an inherent dislike for work and avoid it if possible;
because of this, they must be coerced, controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to
make them work. They prefer to be directed, avoid responsibility, have little ambition, and
want security”. Theory Y assumptions take the opposite view: the mental and physical inputs
expended at the workplace are equated and par with those rest or play. External factors or any
threats from outside may not be the sole influence for exerting effort. Workers or people can
exercise caution and discipline to have objectives achieved, but the hunger in their desire to
commit to objectives is dependent on how big are the rewards as assigned to that kind of
achievement. Under normal circumstances, people can adapt to seek responsibility and not
only accept it. Applying these assumptions to a school environment, one could argue that two
of the main causes of dissatisfaction among teachers are having to deal with problem students
and a strict and inconsiderate management, for example a principal who is coercive and does
not appreciate the efforts of teachers, or an overly directive principal who never delegates or
allows teachers to make independent decisions. Conversely, a supportive principal may be a
source of job satisfaction to teachers.
2.4. McClelland’s Need Achievement Theory

McClelland’s need achievement theory postulates that some people are driven to
success through seeking “personal achievement rather than rewards themselves”. This theory
is readily applicable to academic environments and explains why some teachers are high
achievers, despite the difficulties they face: they set themselves high goals and achieving
these goals is what drives them.

Alderfer’s ERG theory is related to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs but reduces

Maslow’s five categories of a need to three; namely, relatedness being esteem/social needs,
then growth being and existence which is security/physiological needs.

2.5. The Equity Theory

Process theories explain ‘how’ satisfaction comes about, as opposed to ‘what’ causes
motivation. The equity theory postulates that employees will weigh their input into a job
against the output they receive from it – the more the rewards, the greater their satisfaction.
This resonates with Naveed definition of job satisfaction as the difference between employee
input and job output. Regarding this theory, employees who perceive that they receive more
output from their jobs than what they put into them will experience job satisfaction. Certain
aspects of the job itself also shape how an employee perceives it. Tasks that are clarified
bring a better job satisfaction since a clear role breeds a work force that is happy, committed
and shows much involvement in work that is done. Authors identified five major job
characteristics that impact on the psychological state of an employee and influence their
motivation and job satisfaction, as well as their levels of absenteeism, namely the variety of
skills involved in a task, the identity and significance of the task, autonomy, and feedback.
Employees compare their input-outcome ratio with that of other employees and if they
perceive it to be fair, employees will experience satisfaction. If employees perceive an
inequity in their input-outcome ratio compared to other employees, they become dissatisfied
and less motivated.
 2.6. Value – Percept Theory

Individual’s values determine their satisfaction on their job because employees in

organizations hold different value systems, therefore based on this theory, their satisfaction
levels will also differ. Having a look at Value – Percept theory, the assumption is that the
difference between expectations and what is received can bring dissatisfaction depending on
how important the job is to the individual. The potential problem with this theory is that there
is a possibility of a relationship between what people desire and what they consider
important.

These concepts can be separable theoretically but practically hard to differentiate.

3. Explain the classical conditioning theory of learning in detail and its

application for managers in Industries.
Classical conditioning is a form of learning whereby a conditioned stimulus (CS)
becomes associated with an unrelated unconditioned stimulus in order to produce a
behavioural response known as a conditioned response. The conditioned response is the
learned response to the previously neutral stimulus. The unconditioned stimulus is usually a
biologically significant stimulus such as food or pain that elicits an unconditioned response
from the start. The conditioned stimulus is usually neutral and produces no particular
response at first, but after conditioning it elicits the conditioned response.

Extinction is the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no
longer presented with the conditioned stimulus. When presented with the conditioned
stimulus alone, the individual would show a weaker and weaker response, and finally no
response. In classical-conditioning terms, there is a gradual weakening and disappearance of
the conditioned response. Related to this, spontaneous recovery refers to the return of a
previously extinguished conditioned response following a rest period. Research has found
that with repeated extinction/recovery cycles, the conditioned response tends to be less
intense with each period of recovery.
Since Ivan Pavlov’s original experiments, many studies have examined the application
of classical conditioning to human behaviour.

Watson’s “Little Albert” Experiment

In the early 1900s, John B. Watson carried out a controversial classical conditioning
experiment on an infant boy called “Little Albert.” Watson was interested in examining the
effects of conditioning on the fear response in humans, and he introduced Little Albert to a
number of items such as a white rat, a bunny, and a dog. Albert was originally not fearful of
any of the items. Watson then allowed Albert to play with the rat, but as Albert played,
Watson suddenly banged a hammer on a metal bar. The sound startled Albert and caused him
to cry. Each time Albert touched the rat, Watson again banged the hammer on the bar.
Watson was able to successfully condition Albert to fear the rat because of its association
with the loud noise. Eventually, Albert was conditioned to fear other similar furry items such
as a rabbit and even a Santa Claus mask. While Watson’s research provided new insight into
conditioning, it would be considered unethical by the current ethical standards set forth by the
American Psychological Association.

Classical Conditioning in Humans

The influence of classical conditioning can be seen in responses such as phobias, disgust,
nausea, anger, and sexual arousal. A familiar example is conditioned nausea, in which the
sight or smell of a particular food causes nausea because it caused stomach upset in the past.
Similarly, when the sight of a dog has been associated with a memory of being bitten, the
result may be a conditioned fear of dogs.

As an adaptive mechanism, conditioning helps shield an individual from harm or prepare

them for important biological events, such as sexual activity. Thus, a stimulus that has
occurred before sexual interaction comes to cause sexual arousal, which prepares the
individual for sexual contact. For example, sexual arousal has been conditioned in human
subjects by pairing a stimulus like a picture of a jar of pennies with views of an erotic film
clip. Similar experiments involving blue gourami fish and domesticated quail have shown
that such conditioning can increase the number of offspring. These results suggest that
conditioning techniques might help to increase fertility rates in infertile individuals and
endangered species.
Behavioural Therapies

Classical conditioning has been used as a successful form of treatment in changing or

modifying behaviours, such as substance abuse and smoking. Some therapies associated with
classical conditioning include aversion therapy, systematic desensitization, and flooding.
Aversion therapy is a type of behaviour therapy designed to encourage individuals to give up
undesirable habits by causing them to associate the habit with an unpleasant effect.
Systematic desensitization is a treatment for phobias in which the individual is trained to
relax while being exposed to progressively more anxiety -provoking stimuli. Flooding is a
form of desensitization that uses repeated exposure to highly distressing stimuli until the lack
of reinforcement of the anxiety response causes its extinction.

Classical Conditioning in Everyday Life

Classical conditioning is used not only in therapeutic interventions, but in everyday life as
well. Advertising executives, for example, are adept at applying the principles of associative
learning. Think about the car commercials you have seen on television: many of them feature
an attractive model. By associating the model with the car being advertised, you come to see
the car as being desirable. You may be asking yourself, does this advertising technique
actually work? According to Cialdini, men who viewed a car commercial that included an
attractive model later rated the car as being faster, more appealing, and better designed than
did men who viewed an advertisement for the same car without the model.