UNIT IV – GROUP BEHAVIOUR

CONCEPT OF GROUP
 A group comprises of people who have individual goals but work together
collectively for a common purpose. While groups work toward separate goals, they
have a related interest or identity that brings them together.
 Group is collectivity of 2 or more persons who interact with each other to achieve a
common purpose who is found to be interacting with one another so that each person
influences and is influenced by others
 Group is defined as consisting of individuals who perceive the existence of a group
and their membership in it.
 A team is considered to work interdependently and is committed to achieve one
common goal.

CONCEPT OF A TEAM

 A team is defined as a group of people who perform interdependent tasks to work

toward accomplishing a common mission or specific objective.
 They are usually composed of 7-12 members and are helping each other to develop
new skills to which it can help improve their performance.
 They don’t usually rely on a leader for supervision.

NEED FOR THE GROUP

 Groups or work teams are the primary tools used by managers.

 Managers need groups to co-ordinate individual behavior in order to reach the
organizational goals.
 Groups can make a manager's job easier because by forming a group, he need not
explain the task to each and every individual.
 In a group, individuals communicate with each other, discuss their work performances
and take suggestions from each other to make it better.
 Group efforts affect an individual, his attitude and behavior.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROUP & TEAM

GROUP
 A collection of individuals who work
together in completing a task.
 Members have Independence
 Process- Discuss, Decide and
Delegate.
 Focuses on Accomplishing individual
goals.
 Individual Accountability
 Management - May be more of an
autocratic nature
 Individual Success or Failure
TEAM
 A group of persons having collective
identity joined together, to
accomplish a goal.
 Members have Interdependence
 Process- Discuss, Decide and Do
 Focuses on Accomplishing team
goals.
 Individual or Mutual Accountability
 Management – In the form of
collective efforts and decision making
 Collective Success or failure
GROUP FORMATION & DEVELOPMENT

 Groups can form when individuals with similar goals and motives come, together.
Groups are formed voluntarily.
 The individuals of a group can join and leave the group any time and they can also
change their tasks. Hence, understanding how groups form and develop is important
for managers.
 There are certain motives because of which, the individuals join a group, which are as
follows:
 Organisational motives to join groups
 Personal motives to join groups
 Interpersonal attraction
 Interest in group activities
 Support for group goals
 Need for affiliation
 Instrumental benefits

STAGES OF GROUP/TEAM DEVELOPMENT

 FORMING
 Members first get together during this stage. It is important for members to get
involved with each other, including introducing themselves to each other.
 Clear and strong leadership is required from the team leader during this stage to
ensure the group members feel the clarity and comfort required to evolve to the next
stage.
 STORMING
 During this stage, members begin to voice their individual differences, join with
others who share the same beliefs, and jockey for position in the group.
 The team leader should help members to voice their views, and to achieve consensus
(or commonality of views) about their purpose and priorities.
 NORMING
 In this stage, members begin to share a common commitment to the purpose of the
group, including to its overall goals and how each of the goals can be achieved.
 The team leader should focus on continuing to clarify the roles of each member, and a
clear and workable structure and process for the group to achieve its goals.
 PERFORMING
 In this stage, the team starts working effectively and efficiently toward achieving its
goals.
 During this stage, the style of leadership becomes more indirect as members take on
stronger participation and involvement in the group process.
 CLOSING AND CELEBRATION
 At this stage, it is clear to members and their organization that the team has achieved
its goals
 It is critical to acknowledge this point in the life of the team, lest members feel
unfulfilled and skeptical about future team efforts.
GROUP COHESIVENESS

 According to Rcnsis Likert, "cohesiveness is the attractiveness of the members

towards the group or resistance of the members leaving it". It refers to the attachment
of members with the group.
 According lo K. Aswathappa, "cohesiveness is understood as the extent of liking each
member has towards others and how far everyone wants to remain as the member of
the group". Attractiveness is the key to cohesiveness.
 Cohesiveness is the extent to which group members are loyal and committed lo the
group and to each other.
 In a highly cohesive group, the members work well together, support and trust one
another and are generally effective at achieving their chosen goals.

TYPES OF TEAMS

 Permanent teams- These teams perform on a permanent basis and are not dissolved
once the task is accomplished. Work or no work, the human resources team, operation
team, administration team always function effectively through out the year and hence
are permanent teams.
 Temporary Teams- These teams will have existence till the time the task is
accomplished. Such teams are usually formed for a shorter duration either to assist the
permanent team or work when the members of the permanent team are busy in some
other project.
 Task Force - Such teams are formed for a special purpose of working on any specific
project or finding a solution to a very critical problem.
 The government generally appoints special teams to investigate critical issues like
bomb blasts, terrorist attacks and so on.
 The task force explores all the possible reasons which led to a severe problem and
tries to resolve it within a given deadline.
 Self-managed Teams – Consist of individuals who work together again for a
common purpose but without the supervision of any leader.
 Every individual is accountable for his individual performance. The team members of
self managed teams must respect each other and should never loose focus on their
target.
 No leader is appointed and the team members have to take their own responsibility.
They directly manage the day-to-day operation of their particular process or
department.
 They are authorized to make decisions on a wide range of issues, such as safety,
quality, maintenance, scheduling, and personnel.
 Committee - Committees are generally formed to work on a particular assignment
either permanently or on a temporary basis. Individuals with common interests, more
or less from the same background, attitude come together on a common platform to
form a committee and work on any matter.
 Process improvement teams – They are project teams that focus on improving or
developing specific business processes. These teams come together to achieve a
specific goal, are guided by a well-defined project plan, and have a negotiated
beginning and end.
 Functional Teams- These teams are permanent and always include members of the
same department with different responsibilities.
 A manager is responsible for everything, and everyone reports to him.
  These types of teams are more likely to be found in companies that incorporate
traditional project management.
 Cross Functional Team – They are made up of members from various departments.
These teams tackle specific tasks that require different inputs and expertise.
 They improve coordination and integration, improve problem-solving and enhance the
decision-making process.
 Cross-functional teams foster a spirit of cooperation, making achieving business goals
and customer satisfaction a lot easier.
 Virtual Teams - Virtual teams consist of individuals who are separated by distances
and connected through computer. Here individuals communicate with each other
online through internet. Such teams are helpful when employees need to connect with
each other and are located at different places.

GROUP DYNAMICS

 Dynamics comes from the Greek word meaning force

 Group dynamics refers to the interaction of forces between group members in a social
situation
 Group Dynamics describes how a group should be organised and operated. This
includes democratic leadership, participation and cooperation
 Group Dynamics is also viewed from the internal nature of the group, their formation,
structure and processes and the way they affect individual members, other groups and
the organisation

GROUP THINK

 Group Think can be defined as “deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and
moral judgment resulting from in-group pressure”
 Groupthink occurs when individuals in a group feel pressure to conform to what
seems to be the dominant view in the group.
 Dissenting views of the majority opinion are suppressed and alternative courses of
action are not fully explored.

GROUP DECISION MAKING TECHNIQUES

 Group decision making (also known as collaborative decision making) is a situation

faced when individuals are brought together in a group to solve problems. According
to the idea of synergy decisions made collectively tend to be more effective than
decisions made by a single individual.
 Techniques frequently used:
 Brainstorming
 Dialetical Enquiry
 Nominal group Meeting
 Electronic Meeting
 Delphi Technique
 Consensus Decision making
 Decision making made by authority without group discussion
 Decision by Expert
 Decision by averaging Individual’s opinions
 Decision made by authority after Group Discussion
 Decision by Majority vote
 Decision by Minority

 BRAINSTORMING
 Brainstorming involves group members verbally suggesting ideas or alternative
courses of action.
 The "brainstorming session" is usually relatively unstructured. The situation at hand is
described in as much detail as necessary so that group members have a complete
understanding of the issue or problem.
 The group leader or facilitator then solicits ideas from all members of the group.
Usually, the group leader or facilitator will record the ideas presented on a flip chart
or marker board.
 Once the ideas of the group members have been exhausted, the group members then
begin the process of evaluating the utility of the different suggestions presented.
 Brainstorming is a useful means by which to generate alternatives, but does not offer
much in the way of process for the evaluation of alternatives or the selection of a
proposed course of action.
 One of the difficulties with brainstorming is that some individuals are hesitant to
propose ideas because they fear the judgment or ridicule of other group members.
 In recent years, some decision-making groups have utilized electronic brainstorming,
which allows group members to propose alternatives by means of e-mail or another
electronic means, such as an online posting board or discussion room.
 DIALETICAL INQUIRY
 Dialetical inquiry is a group decision-making technique that focuses on ensuring full
consideration of alternatives.
 Essentially, it involves dividing the group into opposing sides, which debate the
advantages and disadvantages of proposed solutions or decisions.
 NOMINAL GROUP TECHNIQUE.
 A better form of Brainstorming is Nominal Group Decision Making Technique.
 People are restricted to have discussion or inter-personal communication during
nominal session. Employees are met physically but they act independently, they are
asked to write their ideas in response to a problem individually.
 After this silent period, each member presents his ideas to the group, until all ideas
have been presented and recorded no discussion takes place.
 The group now discusses the ideas for clarity and evaluates them. Each group member
silently and independently ranks the idea. The idea with the highest aggregate ranking
determines the final decision. It is much better technique to make a decision in a
group
 ELECTRONIC MEETING:
 In Electronic Meeting, Nominal Group Technique is merged with new computer
technology.
 Half dozen to a dozen people sit around a table and same process is repeated,
respondents write their ideas on computers in front of them which are apparent to
others just by a click of tab.
 This process is considered as the best because individual comments as well as
aggregate votes are displayed on a projection screen. It allows people to be brutally
honest, and the process is fast as chitchat is eliminated. Participants can talk at once,
and remain anonymous.
 CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING:
 A consensus decision represents a reasonable decision that all members of the group
can accept.
 It is not necessarily the optimal decision for each member. When all the group
members feel this way, you have reached consensus as we have defined it.
 This means that a single person can block consensus if he or she feels that it is
necessary. Consensus decision-making process fully utilizes the resources of a
group.
 DELPHI TECHNIQUE.
 The Delphi technique is a group decision-making process that can be used by
decision-making groups when the individual members are in different physical
locations.
 The individuals in the Delphi "group" are usually selected because of the specific
knowledge or expertise of the problem they possess.
 In the Delphi technique, each group member is asked to independently provide ideas,
input, and/or alternative solutions to the decision problem in successive stages.
 These inputs may be provided in a variety of ways, such as e-mail, fax, or online in a
discussion room or electronic bulletin board. After each stage in the process, other
group members ask questions and alternatives are ranked or rated in some fashion.
 DECISION MADE BY AUTHORITY WITHOUT GROUP DISCUSSION
 The designated leader makes all decisions without consulting group members.
 Advantages - Takes minimal time to make decision , High on assertiveness scale
 Disadvantages - No group interaction , Team may not understand decision or be
unable to implement decision , Low on cooperation scale
 DECISION BY EXPERT
 Select the expert from group, let the expert consider the issues, and let the expert
make decisions.
 Advantages – Useful when one person on the team has the overwhelming expertise
 Disadvantages - Unclear how to determine who the expert is , No group interaction ,
May become popularity issue or power issue
 DECISION BY AVERAGING INDIVIDUALS' OPINIONS
 Separately ask each team member his/her opinion and average the results.
 Advantages-Extreme opinions and errors cancelled out , Group members consulted ,
Useful when it is difficult to get the team together to talk , Urgent decisions can be
made
 Disadvantages-No group interaction, team members are not truly involved in the
decision , Opinions of least and most knowledgeable members may cancel ,
Commitment to decision may not be strong , • Unresolved conflict may exist or
escalate
 DECISION MADE BY AUTHORITY AFTER GROUP DISCUSSION
 The team creates ideas and has discussions, but the designated leader makes the final
decision. The designated leader calls a meeting, presents the issue, listens to
discussion from the team, and announces her/his decision.
 Advantages – Listening to the team increases the accuracy of the decision
 Disadvantages-Team may compete for the leader’s attention , Team members may tell
leader “what he/she wants to hear”
 DECISION BY MAJORITY VOTE
 This is the most commonly used method in the United States. Discuss the decision
until 51% or more of the team members make the decision.
 Advantages- Useful when the complete team-member commitment is unnecessary for
implementing a decision
 Disadvantages-Minority opinion not discussed and may not be valued , Full group
interaction is not obtained
 DECISION BY MINORITY
• A minority of the team, two or more members who constitute less than 50% of the
team, make the team’s decision
• Advantages-Method often used by executive committees , Useful for large number of
decisions and limited time
• Disadvantages- May create an air of competition among team members , May not
have full team commitment to decision

LEADERSHIP
 Leadership is an integral part of management and plays a vital role in managerial
operations. It provides direction, guidance, and confidence to the employees and helps
in the attainment of goals in much easier way.
 Leadership influences behavior of the individuals. It has an ability to attract others
and potential to make them follow the instructions.
 Individuals can be induced to contribute their optimum towards the attainment of
organizational goals through effective leadership.
 Leadership is the art of influencing and inspiring subordinates to perform their duties
willingly, competently and enthusiastically for achievement of groups objectives.
 According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the process of encouraging and helping
others to work enthusiastically towards objectives”.
 According to Koontz and O'Donnell, "Leadership is the art or process of influencing
people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group goals".

SIGNIFICANCE OF LEADERSHIP

 MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES – Motivation is necessary for work performance.

Higher the motivation better would be the performance. A good leader, by exercising
his leadership, motivates the employees for higher performance.
 CREATING CONFIDENCE – A good leader may create confidence among his
followers by directing them, giving them advice and getting through them good
results in the organization. Once an individual , puts high efficiency with the help of
the leader he acquires confidence.
 BUILDING MORALE – Morale is expressed as attitudes of employees towards
organization, management and voluntary cooperation to offer their ability to the
organization. High morale leads to high productivity and organizational stability.

LEADERS Vs MANAGERS

 Managers takes rational and logical decisions while leadership takes decision on
expectations of the followers.
 Leadership has an emotional appeal while management acts on rationality.
 Managers have formal authority but the leaders have no such authority.
 All leaders are not managers and all managers are leaders.
 Management is a process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling the
activities of others to attain the organizational objectives. Leadership on the other
 hand, is a process of influencing the behavior of the people to attain their assigned
tasks. A successful manager must possess both the managerial and leadership
qualities.
 Leadership emphasizes transformational aspect and therefore transformational
leadership emerges. Management focuses on transactional aspect and therefore
transactional leadership emerges.

STYLES OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership styles are the patterns of behaviour which a leader adopts in influencing
the behaviour of his followers.
 AUTOCRATIC OR AUTHORITARIAN LEADERSHIP

 In this type of leadership, there is a complete centralization of authority in the leader,

i.e., authority is centered in the leader himself.
 He has all the powers to make decisions.
 He uses coercive measures and adopts, negative method of motivation. He wants
immediate obedience of his orders and instructions. Any negligence on the part of
subordinates results in punishment.
 There is no participation from the subordinates in decision-making. A leader thinks
that he is the only competent person in the organization.
 Hard Boiled or Strict Autocrat: Leader, under such type uses negative influence and
expects that the employees should obey his orders immediately. Non-compliance of
his orders results in punishment. He makes all decisions and does not disclose
anything to anyone. He is quite rigid on performance.
 Benevolent Autocrat: Benevolent autocrat leader uses positive influences and
develops effective human relations. He is known as paternalistic leader. He praises his
employees if they follow his orders and invites them to get the solutions of the
problems from him. He feels happy in controlling all the actions of his subordinates
Manipulative Autocrat: Leader, under such type is manipulative in nature. He creates
a feeling in the minds of his subordinates and workers that they are participating in
decision-making processes. But he makes all decisions by himself. Non-compliance
of his orders also results jn punishment

 DEMOCRATIC OR PARTICIPATIVE LEADERSHIP

 It is also known as group centered or consultative leadership. In this type of
leadership, leaders consult their groups and consider their opinion in the decision-
making process.
 Leaders encourage discussion among the group members on the problem under
consideration and arrive at a decision depending on their consent.
 Participation or involvement of the employees in the decision-making process is also
rewarded.Leaders give more freedom to their group members, who feel that, their
opinions arc honored and they are given importance.
 It develops a sense of confidence among subordinates and they derive job satisfaction.
It improves quality of decision as it is taken after due consideration of valued opinions
of the talented group members.
 The demerit of this type of leadership is that it takes more time to arrive at a decision,
as a lot of time is wasted while taking the views from the employee.
  LAISSEZ-FAIRE OR FREE REIN LEADERSHIP
 In this type of leadership, there is virtual absence of direct leadership. It is, therefore,
known as "no leadership at all".
 There is complete delegation of authority to subordinates so that they can make
decisions by themselves.
 Absence of leadership may have both positive and negative effects.
 Free rein leadership may be effective if members of the group are highly committed to
their work.
 The negative aspect shows that the leader is not competent enough to lead his group
effectively. Members may feel insecure and develop frustration for lack of decision-
making authority.

(a) TRAIT THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

This theory of studying leadership is taken into consideration to analyze the personal,
psychological and physical traits of strong leaders. The assumption made in this theory was
that some basic traits or set of traits differentiates leaders from non-leaders. The existence of
these traits determines the importance of leadership. Possession of these traits helps the
individuals to gain possession of leadership.
 Achievement drive: High level of effort, high levels of ambition, energy and initiative
 Leadership motivation: an intense desire to lead others to reach shared goals
 Honesty and integrity: trustworthy, reliable, and open
 Self-confidence: Belief in one’s self, ideas, and ability
 Cognitive ability: Capable of exercising good judgment, strong analytical abilities,
and conceptually skilled
 Physical Features: Height, weight, external appearance
 Knowledge of business: Knowledge of industry and other technical matters
 Emotional Maturity: well adjusted, does not suffer from severe psychological
disorders.
 Others: charisma, creativity and flexibility

(b) BEHAVIOURAL THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP

The behavioral theory assumed that effective leaders behaved differently from ineffective
leaders. It also identified the need of consistency of behavior of good leaders. Researchers at
the University of. Michigan, led by Rensis Likert, began studying leadership in the late
1940s. Depending on broad discussions with both the managers and sub-ordinates, the
Michigan studies identified two forms of leadership behavior.

 MICHIGAN STUDIES
 Job-centered leadership behavior : The first was called job-centered leadership
behavior, which focuses on performances and efficient completion of the assigned
tasks. A job-centered leader interacts with group members to explain task procedures
and oversee their work.
 Employee centered leadership behavior: The second behavior was identified as
employee centered leader behavior, which focuses on, high performance standards to
be accomplished. This can be done by developing a cohesive work group and
ensuring that employees are satisfied with their jobs. Thus, the leader's primary
concern is the welfare of the ordinates. The Michigan researchers thought a leader
could show signs of one kind of behavior, but not both.
  OHIO STATE LEADERSHIP STUDIES
 The Ohio State leadership studies also identified two major kinds of leadership
behaviors or styles, which are as follows:
 Initiating-structure behavior: In initiating-structure behavior, the leader clearly
defines the leader-subordinate roles so that everyone knows what is expected. The
leader also establishes formal lines of communication and determines how tasks will
be performed.
 Consideration behavior: In consideration behavior, the leader shows concern for
subordinates feelings' and ideas. He attempts to establish a warm, friendly and
supportive.
 The researtchers assumed the behaviors to be independent variables, which means
that a leader could exhibit varying degrees of initiating structure and consideration
at the same time i.e. a particular leader could have higher ratings on both
measures, low ratings on both or high ratings on one and low on the other.

 BLAKE & MOUTON’S MANAGERIAL GRID

The managerial grid model (1964) is a behavioral leadership model developed by Robert R.
Blake and Jane Mouton. This model originally identified five different leadership styles
based on the concern for people and the concern for production. The optimal leadership style
in this model is based on Theory Y. The model is represented as a grid with concern for
production as the [x-axis]] and concern for people as the Y-axis; each axis ranges from 1
(Low) to 9 (High). The resulting leadership styles are as follows:
 Impoverished Style (1,1) : evade and elude. In this style, managers have low concern
for both people and production. Managers use this style to preserve job and job
seniority, protecting themselves by avoiding getting into trouble. The main concern
for the manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less
innovative decisions.
  Country Club style (1,9): yield and comply. This style has a high concern for people
and a low concern for production. Managers using this style pay much attention to the
security and comfort of the employees, in hopes that this will increase performance
.The resulting atmosphere is usually friendly, but not necessarily very productive.
 Produce or perish style (9,1): control and dominate. With a high concern for
production, and a low concern for people, managers using this style find employee
needs unimportant; they provide their employees with money and expect performance
in return. Managers using this style also pressure their employees through rules and
punishments to achieve the company goals. This dictatorial style is based on Theory
X of Douglas McGregor, and is commonly applied by companies on the edge of real
or perceived failure. This style is often used in cases of crisis management.
 Team style (9,9): contribute and commit. In this style, high concern is paid both to
people and production. As suggested by the propositions of Theory Y, managers
choosing to use this style encourage teamwork and commitment among employees.
This method relies heavily on making employees feel themselves to be constructive
parts of the company.
 Middle-of-the-road style (5,5): balance and compromise. Managers using this style
try to balance between company goals and workers' needs. By giving some concern to
both people and production, managers who use this style hope to achieve suitable
performance but doing so gives away a bit of each concern so that neither production
nor people needs are met.
 The opportunistic style: exploit and manipulate. Individuals using this style, which
was added to the grid theory before 1999, do not have a fixed location on the grid.
They adopt whichever behaviour offers the greatest personal benefit.
 The paternalistic style: prescribe and guide. This style was added to the grid
theory before 1999. In The Power to Change, it was redefined to alternate
between the (1,9) and (9,1) locations on the grid. Managers using this style praise
and support, but discourage challenges to their thinking.

(c) CONTINGENCY THEORY (OR) SITUATIONAL THEORY

The main assumption of contingency theory is that the behavior of an appropriate leader
varies from one situation to another. The motive of a contingency theory is to identify key
situational factors and to specify how they interact to determine appropriate behavior of a
leader

The three most important and widely accepted contingency theories of leadership are as
follows:

(i) Fielder’s Contingency (or) The LPC theory: The first contingency theory of leadership is
Fred Fielder's Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) Model. Fielder identified two types of
leadership: task-oriented and relationship-oriented. Fielder believes that a leader's tendency to
be task-oriented or relationship oriented remains constant. In- other words, a leader is either
task-oriented or relationship-oriented while leading his group members. Fielder used the
Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale to measure the type of leadership. A leader is asked to
describe characteristics of the person with whom he or she is least comfortable while
working. They can do this by marking in a set of sixteen scales at each end, by a positive or
negative adjective. For example, three of the scales Fielder uses in the LPC are:

Helpful -------------------- Frustrating 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Tense ------------------- Relaxed 12345678

Boring ------------------- Interesting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

The leader's LPC score is (hen calculated by adding up the numbers below the line checked
on each scale. A high total score is assumed to reflect a relationship orientation and a low
score, a task orientation by the leader. The LPC measure is controversial because researchers
disagree about its validity. This is because some of the LPC measures show whether the score
is an index of behavior, personality or some other unknown factor.

According to Fielder, the contingency factor favours the situation from the leader's point of
view. This factor is determined by leader-member relations, task-structure and position-
power, which are discussed as below:

 Leader-member relations: A Leader-member relation refers to the nature of

relationship between the leader and his work group. If the leader and the group enjoy
mutual trust, respect, confidence and they like one another, relations will remain
good. If there is little trust, respect or confidence and. if they do not like one another,
relations will remain bad. Good relations are assumed to be favourable and bad
relations unfavorable.

 Task-structure: Task-structure is the degree to which the group's task is clearly

defined. When the task is routine, easily understood, and unambiguous and when the
group has standard procedures, the structure is assumed to be high. When the task is
non-routine, ambiguous, complex, with no standard procedures and precedents,
structure is assumed to be low. High structure is more favourable for the leader and
low structure is unfavorable. If the task structure is low, the leader will have to play a
major role in guiding and directing the group's activities. If the task structure is high,
the leader will not have to pay much attention.

 Position-power: Position-power is the power vested in the position of a leader in an

organization. If the leader has the power to assign work, administer rewards and
punishment, recommend employees for promotion or demotion, position-power is
assumed lo be strong. If the leader does not have required powers, the position-power
is weak. From the leader's point of view, strong position power is favourable and
weak position power is unfavorable.

Fielder and his associates conducted various studies highlighting if a situation

favors the leadership and group effectiveness or not.
 When the situation includes good relations, high structure and strong power, a
risk-oriented leader to lie most effective. However, when relations are good but task structure
is low and position-power is weak, li relationship-oriented leader is considered to be most
effective.

 A final point about LPC theory is that, Fielder argues that any particular-type of
leadership, which is measured by the LPC is inflexible and cannot be changed. In
other words a leader cannot change his behavior to fit a particular situation. Fielder's
contingency theory has been criticized on the ground that LPC measure lacks validity
and that the assumption about the inflexibility of the leader's behavior is unrealistic.

(ii) The Path-Goal theory

The path-goal model of leadership was introduced by Martin Evans and Robert House. Path-
goal theory says that a leader can motivate subordinates by influencing their expectations.
Leaders can motivate sub-ordinates by making clear what they have to do to get the reward
they desire. The path-goal model assumes that leaders can change their style or behavior to
meet the demands of a particular situation. This model identifies four kinds of leader
behavior: directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented. According to this
model managers can adjust their behavior to include any four kinds of leadership behavior.

 The directive path-goal clarifying leader behavior refers to situations where the
leader lets followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform
their tasks. The theory argues that this behavior has the most positive effect when the
subordinates' role and task demands are ambiguous and intrinsically satisfying.
 The achievement-oriented leader behavior refers to situations where the leader sets
challenging goals for followers, expects them to perform at their highest level, and
shows confidence in their ability to meet this expectation. Occupations in which the
achievement motive were most predominant were technical jobs, sales persons,
scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
 The participative leader behavior involves leaders consulting with followers and
asking for their suggestions before making a decision. This behavior is predominant
when subordinates are highly personally involved in their work.
 The supportive leader behavior is directed towards the satisfaction of subordinates
needs and preferences. The leader shows concern for the followers’ psychological
well being. This behavior is especially needed in situations in which tasks or
relationships are psychologically or physically distressing.

Path-goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as
situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables, such as environment and
follower characteristics, that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship.
Environment is outside the control of the follower-task structure, authority system, and work
group. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required if the follower
outcomes are to be maximized. Follower characteristics are the locus of control, experience,
and perceived ability. Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the
environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their
followers achieve goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. In
contrast to the Fiedler contingency model, the path-goal model states that the four leadership
styles are fluid, and that leaders can adopt any of the four depending on what the situation
demands.

Environmental characteristics are factors, which are beyond the control of subordinates. It
includes task structure, the primary work group and the formal authority system. For instance,
when structure is high, directive leadership is less effective than when structure is low. Sub-
ordinates do not usually need their boss to repeatedly tell them how to do a routine job.
According to the path-goal theory, these environmental factors can create uncertainty for
employees.

Leaders do not always have control over environmental factors, but the theory emphasizes
that leaders can use the control they want, to adjust the environment and to motivate sub-
ordinates.

(iii) Leader Member Exchange Theory:

The leader-member exchange theory of leadership focuses on the two-way relationship

between supervisors and subordinates. These are not the only 2. Also known as LMX, LMET
or Vertical Dyad Linkage Theory, leader-member exchange focuses on increasing
organisational success by creating positive relations between the leader and subordinate.

In particular, leaders usually have special relationships with an inner circle of assistants and
advisors, who often get high levels of responsibility and access to resources. This is often
called the “in-group,” and their position can come with a price. These employees work
harder, are more committed to task objectives, and share more administrative duties. They are
also expected to be totally committed and loyal to their leader. Conversely, subordinates in
the “out-group" are given low levels of choice or influence and put constraints on the leader.

These relationships start very soon after a person joins a team and follows these three stages:

1. Role-taking: The member joins the team and the leader evaluates his or her abilities and
talents. Based on this, the leader may offer opportunities to demonstrate capabilities.
2. Role-making: In the second phase, the leader and member take part in an unstructured and
informal negotiation whereby a role is created for the member and the unspoken promise of
benefit and power in return for dedication and loyalty takes place. Trust-building is very
important in this stage, and any feelings of betrayal, especially by the leader, can result in the
member being demoted to the out-group. This negotiation includes relationship factors as
well as pure work-related ones, and a member who is similar to the leader in various ways is
more likely to succeed. This perhaps explains why mixed gender relationships regularly are
less successful than same gender ones. The same effect also applies to cultural and racial
differences.

3. Routinization: In this phase, a pattern of ongoing social exchange between the leader and
the member becomes established. Being a successful or in-group member usually includes
being similar in many ways to the leader. The members work hard at building and sustaining
trust and respect. The members are often empathetic, patient, reasonable, sensitive, and are
good at seeing the viewpoint of other people, especially their leader. Aggression, sarcasm and
a self-centered view are qualities seen in the out-group.

The quality of the LMX relationship varies. It is better when the challenge of the job is
extremely high or extremely low. The size of the group, financial resource availability and
the overall workload are also important. The theory can also work upwards as well. The
leader can gain power by being a member of his or her manager's inner circle, which the
leader can then share with subordinates.

The main limitation of leader-member exchange research is that it is not particularly helpful
in describing the specific leader behaviors that promote high quality relationships. At best it
only implies generalities about the need for leaders to show trust, respect, openness,
autonomy and discretion.

(iv) Hersey and Blanchard Situational Theory

The Situational Leadership Theory, is a leadership theory developed by Paul Hersey and
Ken Blanchard. The theory was first introduced as "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership".
During the mid 1970s, "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" was renamed "Situational
Leadership theory".

In the late 1970s/early 1980s, the authors both developed their own models using the
situational leadership theory; Hersey - Situational Leadership Model and Blanchard et al.
Situational Leadership II Model.The fundamental underpinning of the situational leadership
theory is there is no single "best" style of leadership. Effective leadership is task-relevant and
that the most successful leaders are those that adapt their leadership style to the maturity ("the
capacity to set high but attainable goals, willingness and ability to take responsibility for the
task, and relevant education and/or experience of an individual or a group for the task) of the
individual or group they are attempting to lead/influence. That effective leadership varies, not
only with the person or group that is being influenced, but it will also depend on the task, job
or function that needs to be accomplished. The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership
Theory rests on two fundamental concepts; leadership style and the individual or group's
maturity level.
Hersey and Blanchard characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of Task Behavior
and Relationship Behavior that the leader provides to their followers. They categorized all
leadership styles into four behavior types, which they named S1 to S4:

 S1: Telling - is characterized by one-way communication in which the leader defines the
roles of the individual or group and provides the what, how, why, when, and where to do
the task

 S2: Selling - while the leader is still providing the direction, he or she is now using two-
way communication and providing the socio emotional support that will allow the
individual or group being influenced to buy into the process.

 S3: Participating - this is now shared decision making about aspects of how the task is
accomplished and the leader is providing less task behaviors while maintaining high
relationship behavior.

 S4: Delegating - the leader is still involved in decisions; however, the process and
responsibility has been passed to the individual or group. The leader stays involved to
monitor progress.

Of these, no one style is considered optimal for all leaders to use all the time. Effective
leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt themselves according to the situation.

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

The extent to which a leader is transformational, is measured first, in terms of his influence
on the followers. The followers of such a leader feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect for
the leader and because of the qualities of the transformational leader are willing to work
harder than originally expected. These outcomes occur because the transformational leader
offers followers something more than just working for self gain; they provide followers with
an inspiring mission and vision and give them an identity. The leader transforms and
motivates followers through his or her idealized influence (earlier referred to as charisma),
intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. In addition, this leader encourages
followers to come up with new and unique ways to challenge the status quo and to alter the
environment to support being successful. Leadership can simultaneously display both
transformational and transactional leadership.

TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Transactional leadership is a term used to know about the interactions between leaders and
followers. A transactional leader focuses more on a series of "transactions". Such leaders are
primarily interested in looking out for themselves, have exchange benefits with their
subordinates and clarify a sense of duty with rewards and punishments to reach goals.
Transactional leaders believe that people are motivated by reward or punishment. These
leaders give clear instructions to followers about what their expectations are and when those
expectations are fulfilled there are rewards in store for them and failure is severely punished.
They allocate work to subordinates whether resources are there or absent.

CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP

Charismatic leader is one who provides an environment full of energy and positive
reinforcement. If you are naturally charismatic, you are very fortunate! This is a trait that is
not so easily learned. Charismatic leaders inspire others and encourage them to be their best.
Employees in order to impress their charismatic leader , work hard and strive to succeed. A
major problem with charismatic leadership is that group success tends to hinge on the leader.
The charismatic leader is the glue that holds a group together.

ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
IMPORTANCE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Change simply refers to alteration in the existing conditions of an organization.

Organisational Change is the alteration of work environment in Organisation. It implies a
new equilibrium between different components of the Organisation – technology, structural
arrangement, job design and people. Even in most stable organizations change is necessary to
maintain stability. The economic and social environment is so dynamic that without adapting
to such change even the most successful organizations cannot survive in the changed
environment. Therefore, management must continuously monitor the outside environment
and be sufficiently innovative and creative to implement these changes effectively.

Organisational Change has the following features:

 When change occurs in any part of the organization it disturbs the old equilibrium
necessitating the development of a new equilibrium
 Any change may affect the whole organization. Some parts of the organsiation may be
affected more and others less
 Organisational change is a continuous process
NATURE OF CHANGE

Organizations introduce changes through people. Unless the people arc willing to accept the
need and responsibility for organizational change, intended changes can never be translated
into reality. In addition, individuals have to learn to adapt their attitudes and
behavioral patterns to constantly changing environments.

Management of change involves both individual and organizational change.

Individual change is behavioral change, which is determined by individual characteristics of
members such as their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, needs, expectations and skills. It is
possible to bring about a total change in an organization by changing behaviors of individual
members through participative and. educative strategies. Although, the degree of difficulty
involved in the change and the time taken to bring about the change will depend on the target
of change.The attitudes towards change are largely dependent on the nature of the situation
and the manner in .which changes are initiated and executed.

Changing individual behavior is more time consuming and a difficult task. The linkage
between attitude and behavior is not direct and therefore changing behavior is more difficult
than changing attitudes. One's attitude does not necessarily get reflected in one's behavior.
For example, we know that honesty is the best policy and we have favourable altitudes
towards people- who are honest but in certain situations, we may still act in a less honest
way.

Changing group behavior is usually a more prolonged and harder task. Every group has its
own dynamics of push and pull that attempt to neutralise the change that may have taken
place in an individual. Due to this group dynamics, individual member's ‘changed behavior’
may revert to earlier normative behavior in order to maintain the change in the existing
conditions. However, due to the same reasons of a group's over-riding influence on individual
members, sometimes it may be easier to tackle the group as a whole rather than trying to
change the behavior of members one by one.

FACTORS IMPORTANT FOR NECESSIATING ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

Organizations encounter different forces for change. These forces come from external and
internal sources of the organization.

EXTERNAL FORCES

External forces for change originate outside an organization. There are four key external
forces for change:

Demographic Characteristics: These include age, education, skill level and gender of
employees. Organizations need to effectively manage these characteristics in order to receive
maximum contribution and commitment from their employees.
Technological Advancements: Both manufacturing and service organizations are
increasingly using technology as a means to improve productivity and market
competitiveness.

Market Changes: The emergence of a global economy is forcing Indian organizations to

change the way they do business. Organizations are entering into new partnerships with their
suppliers in order to deliver higher quality products at lower prices.

Social and Political Pressures: These forces are created by social and political events.
Personal values affect employees’ needs, priorities and motivation. Therefore, managers need
to adjust their managerial style according to the changing employee values. Political events
also create substantial change in an organization. Although it is difficult for organizations to
predict changes in political forces, many organizations hire lobbyists and consultants to help
them detect and respond to social and political changes.

INTERNAL FORCES

Internal forces for change come from inside the organization. This may come from both
human resource problems and managerial behavior.

Human Resource Problems

These problems stem from employee perceptions about their work environment and conflict
between an employee and organization needs. Organizations might respond to these problems
by using the various approaches to job design by implementing realistic job previews and by
reducing employees' role conflict, stress, work overload and ambiguity.

Managerial Behavior

Excessive interpersonal conflict between managers and their subordinates is a sign of

implementing an immediate change. Inappropriate leader behavior such as inadequate
direction and support are the cause of conflict between managers and their subordinates.

APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE – PLANNED (PROACTIVE)

CHANGE & REACTIVE CHANGE

As organizational change is a complex process, therefore managers must approach it

systematically and logically. Some organizational changes are planned whereas other changes
are reactive. Planned change (proactive change)is designed and implemented by an
organization in an orderly and timely fashion in the anticipation of future change.

Reactive change results from a reaction of an organization to unexpected events. In contrast

to planned change, it is a piece-meal response to circumstances as they develop. External
forces that the organization has failed to anticipate or interpret always bring about reactive
change. Since reactive change may have to be carried out hastily, it increases the likelihood
of a poorly conceived and poorly executed Program.
Planned change is always preferable to reactive change. Managers who sit back and respond
to change only when they can no longer avoid it are likely to waste a lot of time and money
trying to patch together a last-minute solution. The more effective approach is to anticipate
the significant forces for change working in an organization and plan ways to address them.
To accomplish this, managers must understand the steps needed for effective change.

OBJECTIVES OF PLANNED CHANGE

 Environmental adaptation – Organisation has to work in an environment which is

marked by dynamic characteristics. Every organization has a tendency to maintain
balance and equilibrium. If the changes cannot be adapted to the existing framework
the organizational equilibrium will be imbalanced and organizational effectiveness is
adversely affected. Therefore the organsaition requires some innovation which is in
the form of various changes the organisation has to incorporate.
 Individual Adaptation - The second objective of planned change is to achieve
individual adaptation. The organization cannot reach to the objective of
environmental adaptation unless some basic internal adaptation is achieved. These
internal factors may be individuals, organization structure, technology, task etc.
Individuals are the first in this context. For organizational effectiveness people have
to change themselves so that they can cope with the requirements of changed
circumstances.
 Structural Adaptation – Organisation structure is the pattern of relationships among
various positions and among various position holders. Structural adaptation involves
changing the internal structure of the organization. The change may be in the whole
set of relationships, work assignment, and authority structure.
 Technological Adaptation – In order to cope with the changed environment which
may include technological factor as well , the organization has to incorporate changed
technology. This technological adaptation directly forces the organization to change
its task.
 Task Adaptation – Technological changes may bring many types of changes in
organizational task. Due to the many new types of jobs the existing job performing
techniques may not be suitable. There may also be new job load due to job
enlargement. A new equilibrium therefore need to be created to match people with
jobs.

PROCESS OF PLANNED CHANGE

The comprehensive model of change shown in the figure below shows seven steps that can
lead to effective change. This model is useful for both planned and reactive change.

1. Recognize need for change

The first step in this model is recognizing need for change. For marketing managers who
anticipate needed . change, recognition is likely to come much earlier, as a result of
marketing forecasts indicating new market potential, expert indications about impending
socio-economic change or a perceived opportunity to capitalize on a key technological
breakthrough. These managers tend to ‘initiate change because they expect it to be necessary
in the near future in any case’.
2. Establish goals for change

The manager must then set goals for the proposed change. It is important for the manager to
specify goals that the change is supposed to accomplish. The goals can be set to maintain or
increase the market standing, to enter new markets, to restore employee morale, to reduce
turnover, to settle a strike and to identify good investment opportunities.

3. Diagnose relevant variables

An important next step is diagnosing organizational variables that have brought about the
need for change. Turnover, for example, may be caused by a variety of factors such as low
pay, poor working conditions, poor supervision, better alternatives in the job market or
employee job dissatisfaction etc. Thus, if turnover is the recognized stimulus for change, the
manager must understand what has caused it in a particular situation in order to make the
right changes. To carry out this diagnosis, the manager may discuss the situation with
employees and other managers.

4. Select change intervention

After the manager has developed an understanding of the problem and its causes then he must
select a change intervention that will accomplish the intended goal. An intervention is a
specific change induced in an organization with the intention of solving a particular problem
or accomplishing a specific objective. For example, if turnover is caused by low pay, then a
new reward system is required and if the cause is poor supervision then interpersonal skills
and training for supervisors is required.

5. Plan implementation of change

The manager must then carefully plan the implementation of change. Planning the
implementation of change involves consideration of the cost of the change, how the change
will affect other areas of the organization and the degree to which employees should
participate in bringing about the change. Hastily implemented change can result in more harm
than benefit. For example, if the change involves the use of new equipment, the manager
should not make any changes that rely on the use of new equipment until it has arrived and
been installed and workers know how to use it. Moreover, if change is thrust upon them too
quickly, their resistance may stiffen.

6.Implement change

A systematically implemented change is more likely to proceed smoothly and to encounter

fewer obstacles than is a change that is implemented too quickly and without adequate
preparation.

7.Evaluate implementation

Finally, after the change has been implemented, the manager should verify that it has
accomplished its intended goals. A change may fail to bring about the intended results. This
may be due to inappropriate goals or inaccurate diagnosis of the situation or wrong selection
of intervention.

8.ACTIONS FOR CHANGE:

Actions for Change comprises three stages: Unfreezing, Changing and Refreezing

Unfreezing

The focus of this stage is to make organization open to change. In doing so individuals are
encouraged to replace old behaviors and attitudes with those desired by management.
Managers also need to devise ways to reduce the barriers to change during this stage.

Changing

The focus of this stage is in providing employees with new information, new behavioral
models, or new ways of looking at things. The purpose is to help employees learn new
concepts to implement change. Role models, mentors, experts, benchmarking organization
against world-class organizations and training are useful mechanisms to facilitate change.

Re freezing

The focus of this stage is stabilizing the change during refreezing by helping employees
integrate the changed behavior or attitude into their normal way of doing things. This is
accomplished by first giving employees the chance to exhibit the new behaviors or attitudes.
Once exhibited, positive reinforcement is used to reinforce the desired change. Additional
coaching and modelling are also used at this point to reinforce the stability of the change.

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Although organizations initiate changes in order to adjust to the changes in their

environments but people sometimes resist them. Therefore, managers need to recognize the
manifestations of resistance both in themselves and in others, if they want to be more
effective in supporting change. For example, managers can use the list given in following
table.

Acceptance  Enthusiasm
 Cooperation
 Cooperation under pressure from
management

 Acceptance
 Passive resignation
 Indifference

Indifference  Apathy: loss of interest in the job

 Doing only what is ordered
 Regressive behavior

Passive  Non-learning
 Protests
Resistance  Working to rule
 Doing as little as possible

Active  Slowing down

 Persona! withdrawal (increased time off
Resistance the job)

 Committing "errors"
 Spoilage
 Deliberate sabotage

The sources of resistance to change within organizations are classified into organizational
sources of resistance and individual sources of resistance.

ORGANIZATIONAL SOURCES OF RESISTANCE

According to Daniel Kantz and Robert L Khan, organizational sources of resistance can be
divided into following six general groups.

 Over determination or structural inertia refers to the tendency of an organization's

rules, policies and structure to maintain the existing conditions and therefore resist
change even when change would benefit the organization more than stability.
 When an organization tries to change one of its division or part of the division without
recognizing the interdependence of the division with other divisions of the
organization, then it is said to have a narrow focus of change. Often a part of division
cannot be changed without changing the whole division.
  Group inertia may weaken an individual’s attempt to bring about change.
 Resistance may also take the form of threatened expertise if the change lends to
weaken special expertise built after years of experience. Organizational restructuring
that involves reducing the number of job categories often meets this kind of
resistance.
 Any change that may alter the power relationships within an organization may meet
the form of resistance known as ‘threatened power’.
 Resistance may occur when a change threatens quantum of resource allocation from
one part of the organization to another.

INDIVIDUAL SOURCES OF RESISTANCE

According to researchers, individuals have the following reasons for resisting change:

 Simple habits create a lot of resistance. Most people prefer to do their work the way
they did it last week rather than learn a new approach.
 Perhaps the biggest cause of employee resistance to change is uncertainty. In the face
of impending change, employees are likely to become anxious and nervous. They
worry about their ability to meet new job demands therefore, leading to feeling of job
insecurity.
 Some people resist change to avoid feeling of loss. For example, many organizations
change interventions and alter work arrangements, thus disrupting existing social
networks. Social relationships are important to most people, so they resist any change
that might adversely affect those relationships. Change may also threaten people's
feelings of familiarity and self-confidence.
People may resist change because their perceptions of underlying circumstances differ from
the perceptions of those who are promoting the change.

OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Managers need not abandon planned change in the face of resistance. Before recommending
specific approaches to overcome resistance, there are three key conclusions that should be
kept in mind. First, an organization must be ready for change. Second, the top management
should inform the employees about the process of change. Third, the employees perceptions
or interpretations of a change should be considered.

The following methods of overcoming-resistance to change are as follows:

 Participation: Participation is generally considered the most effective technique for

overcoming resistance to change. Employees who take part in planning and
implementing change are better able to understand the reasons for the change than
those who are not involved. They become committed to the change and make it work.
Employees who have the opportunity to express their own ideas and to understand the
perspectives of others are likely to accept change gracefully. It is a time consuming
process.
 Education and Communication: Educating employees about the need for and the
expected results of an impending change help reduce their resistance. Managers
should maintain an open channel of communication while planning and implementing
change. However, it is also a time consuming process.
  Facilitation of Change: Knowing ahead of lime that employees are likely to resist
change then the manager should do as much as possible to help them cope with
uncertainly and feeling of loss. Introducing change gradually, making only necessary
changes, announcing changes in advance and allowing time for people to adjust to
new ways of doing things can help reduce resistance.
 Force-Field Analysis: In almost any situation where a change is being planned, there
are forces acting for and against the change. In force-field analysis, the manager list
each set of forces and then try to remove or minimize some of the forces acting
against the change.
 Negotiation: Where someone or some group will clearly lose out in a change and
where that group has considerable power to resist, there negotiation is required.
Sometimes it is a relatively easy way to avoid major resistance.
 Manipulation and Cooperation: This is followed when other tactics will not work or
are too expensive. It can be quick and inexpensive, However, it can lead to further
problems if people feel manipulated.
 Explicit and Implicit Coercion: This is adopted where speed is essential and where
the change initiators possess considerable power. It is speedy and can overcome
resistance.
Each of the above methods has its advantages and disadvantages. There is no universal
strategy for overcoming resistance to change. Hence, an organization that plans to introduce
certain changes must be prepared to face resistance from its employees. An organization
should also have a planned approach to overcome such resistances.

CHANGE AGENTS

Any planned change needs Change agents. These are the persons who initiate change in the
Organisation. Though management as a whole is involved with innovation as a continuing
process , its role is somewhat limited to regular change. In a planned change however the
type of requirements may be different and internal management has to get the help of external
change agents. There are two types of change agents – external and internal.

External agents are in the form of consultants for change. These are the persons who are
necessarily experts in the specific area of organizational change. The internal change agents
may be the existing organisational personnel from any level of department., depending upon
the needs of change. Often both these agents work in harmony.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The term Organizational Development (OD) refers to a broad range of behavioral science
based strategies used to diagnose the need for change in organizations and to implement
changes when necessary. OD can be defined as a technique for bringing change in the entire
organization, rather man focusing attention on individuals to bring change easily in the entire
organization.
Nature of OD

OD is a general strategy or approach to organizational change mat is employed to analyze

and diagnose the sources of organizational problems and to develop and implement action
plans for their solution. According to Bennis, OD has the following characteristics;

 It is an educational strategy for bringing planned change.

 It relates to real problems of an organization.
 Laboratory training methods based on experienced behavior are primarily used to
bring change.
 Change agent applying OD technique for change is external to the forms of
consultants.
 There is a close working relationship between change agents and the people who are
being changed. The relationships involve mutual trust, joint goals, means, and mutual
influence.
 The change agents share social philosophy about human value. They are humanists
seeking to get a humanistic philosophy in organization.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 Planned Change – OD is a strategy of planned change for organizational

improvement. This planned emphasis separates OD efforts from other aspects of more
haphazard changes that are frequently undertaken by organizations.
 Comprehensive Change- OD efforts focus on comprehensive change in the
Organisation rather than focusing attention on individuals, so that change is easily
absorbed. The concept of comprehensive change is based on the systems concept-
open, dynamic and adaptive system. OD efforts take an organization as an interrelated
whole and no part of it can be changed meaningfully without making changes in other
parts.
 Long- Range Change – OD efforts are not meant for changing short-term,
temporary, isolated problems. Rather, OD focuses on the elevation of an Organisation
to a higher level of functioning by improving the performance and satisfaction of
members on a long term basis which is timeconsuming.
 Dynamic Process – OD is a dynamic process and includes the efforts to guide and
direct changes as well as to cope with or adapt to changes imposed. If organizational
goals change, the methods of attaining these goals should also change . Therefore OD
is an interactive, ongoing and cyclic process.
 Participation of Change Agent – Most OD experts stress the need for an outside
change agent or catalyst. There is a closing working relationship between the change
agent and the target organizational members to be changed. Relationship involves
mutual trust and mutual influence.
 Emphasis on Intervention and Action Research – OD approach results into an
active intervention in the on going activities of the organization. Action research is the
basis for such intervention. A change agent in OD process does not just introspect the
people and introduce changes but he conducts surveys, collect relevant data ,
evaluates these data and then takes actions for intervention.
 Normative Educational Process – OD is based on the principle that norms become
the basis for behaviour and change is a re-educative process of replacing old norms by
 new ones. OD attempts to provide opportunities to increase awareness, participation
and integrate individual and organizational goals.

OBJECTIVES OF ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

 To place emphasis on humanistic values and goals consistent with these values
 To treat each human being as a complex person with a complex set of needs important
in his work and in his life
 To increase the level of trust and mutual emotional support among all organizational
members
 To increase the level of enthusiasm and personal satisfaction at all levels of the
organization
 To increase the openness of communication in all directions – vertically, horizontally
and laterally
 To increase the level of self and group responsibility in planning and its
implementation
 To create an environment in which authority of assigned role is augmented by
authority based on knowledge and skills

OD INTERVENTIONS

OD interventions refer to various activities which consultant and client organization perform
for improving organizational functioning by enabling organization members to better manage
their team and organization cultures. French and Well have defined OD interventions as "sets
of structured activities in which selected organizational units (target groups or individuals)
engage with a task or a sequence of tasks where the task goals are related directly or
indirectly to organizational improvement. Interventions constitute the action thrust of
organization development; they make things happen and are what is happening.”

Intervention Techniques

 Sensitivity Training
 Process Consultation
 Team Development
 Grid Organization Development

Sensitivity Training: Sensitivity training is a small-group interaction under stress in an

unstructured encounter group, which requires people to become sensitive to one another's
feelings in order to develop reasonable group activity. In sensitivity training, the actual
technique employed is T-group. T-group has several characteristic features:

 The T-group is generally small, from ten to twenty members

 The group begins its activity with no formal agenda
  The primary role of trainer is to call attention of members from time to time lo the
ongoing process within the group
 The procedure lends to develop introspection and self-examination, with emotional
levels of involvement and behavior.

The objectives of such training are increased openness with others, more concern for others,
increased tolerance for individual differences, less ethnic prejudice, understanding of a group
process, enhanced listening skills and increased trust and support.

Process Consultation: Process Consultation (P-C) represents a method of intervening in an

ongoing system. The basic content of P-C is that the consultant works with individuals and
groups to help them learn about human and social processes and learn to solve problems that
stem from process events. P-C consists of many interventions and activities which affect the
various organizational processes such as. communication, roles and functions of group
members, group problem-solving and decision-making, group norms, authority and
leadership and inter-group cooperation and conflicts.

Team Development: The underlying aim of team development is to increase trust among
team members because people work better together when there is open and honest sharing
about the problems and difficulties that they have with one another. As such, at the initial
level, the attempt should be to develop such an environment where such trust can be
developed among the team members

Grid Organization Development: Grid organization development, developed by Blake and

Mounton, is a comprehensive and systematic OD Program. The Program aims at individuals,
groups and the organization as a whole. It utilizes a considerable number of instruments,
enabling individuals and groups to assess their own strength and weaknesses. It also focuses
on skills, knowledge and processes necessary for effectiveness at the individual, group and
inter-group and total organization levels.

In addition to these people focused interventions, there may be other types of interventions
too. e.g. structural and job interventions such as job enlargement, job enrichment,
management by objectives, rules, procedures and authority structure.OD offers some very
attractive methodologies and philosophies to practicing managers and academicians. William
Halal is right when he says "OD in future includes any method for modifying the behavior in
the organization, hereby, encompassing the entire spectrum of applied behavioral science".
There also have been experiences of failure in OD but these are being recorded and collected
to be reviewed. In general, OD shows a promising future, since there are no rigid sets of
procedures in OD work and different strategies have to be evolved for different types of
organizations.
 ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE
Even though organizational culture and organizational climate are sometimes used
interchangeably, there are certain differences between the two. According to Bowditch and
Buono. "Organizational culture is concerned with the nature of beliefs and expectations about
organizational life, while climate is an indicator of whether those beliefs and expectations are
being fulfilled." Organizational climate is a relatively enduring quality of the internal
environment that is experienced by its members, influences their behavior, and can be
described in terms of the values of a particular set of characteristics."

It is a set of characteristics and factors of the organization that are perceived by the
employees and, which serve as a major force in influencing their behavior. These factors may
include job descriptions, performance arid evaluation standards, leadership style, challenges
and innovations.

FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

In every organization, there exist certain factors that exert deep influence on the climate.
Schneider and Barlett describe six factors that have an influence over organizational climate
such as managerial support, managerial structure, concern for new employees, inter-agency
conflict, agent dependence and general satisfaction. Lawrence James and Allan Jones have
identified five factors influencing climate, which include management philosophy,
organizational structure and process, which include communication, motivation and
leadership, physical environment and values. Similarly, Kahn has identified factors such as
rules orientation, the nurture of subordinates, strict supervision and promotional achievement
orientation. Thus, it is very difficult to generalize exactly the factors affecting the climate .

Organizational climate has a major influence on human performance through its impact on
the motivation, job satisfaction and attitudes of people.

POWER AND POLITICS

Power is easy to feel but difficult to define. It is the potential ability of a person or group to
influence another person or group. It is the ability to get things done the way one wants them
to be done. Both formal and informal groups and individuals may have power; it does not
need an official position or the backing of an institution to have power. Influence can take
many forms. One person has influenced another if the second person's opinions, behavior or
perspectives have changed as a result of their interaction. Power is a factor at all levels of
most organizations. It can be a factor in almost any organizational decision.

“Power is the probability that one actor within the relationship will be in a position to carry
out his own will despite resistance” – Max Weber

“ Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B so that B does
something he or she would not otherwise do” – Bass and Stogdill
SOURCES OF POWER
Understanding the bases of power is important because these bases generate different types of
power and a particular type of power is effective in a particular situation. The most important
classification of power has been provided by French and Raven who have suggested five
types of power – reward, coercive, legitimate, referent and expert. With the re-emergence of
charismatic leadership and complexity of organizations requiring information charismatic
power and information power is also added.

LEGITIMATE POWER

A person's position within organization provides him with legitimate power. The organization
gives managers the power to direct the activities of their subordinates. Legitimate power is
similar to formal authority and hence it can be created, granted, changed or withdrawn by the
formal organization.

REWARD POWER

This type of power is the extent to which one person has control over rewards that are valued
by another. The greater the perceived values of such rewards, the greater the power.
Organizational rewards include pay, promotions and valued office assignments. A manager
who has complete control over such rewards has a good deal of power. Manager who uses
praise and recognition has also a good deal of power. In the organizational context the power
is based on the control of salaries, wages, commissions, fringe benefits and amenities.

COERCIVE POWER

People have, coercive power if they have control over some form of punishment such as
threat of dismissal, suspension, demotion or other method of embarrassment for the people.
Perhaps, a manager can cause psychological harm also lo an employee. A manager’s coercive
power increases with the number and severity of the sanctions over which the manager has
control.

INFORMATION POWER

Information power comes from access to and control of information. People in organisations
who have information that others need can make those dependent on them. For eg, people
who have access to sensitive information like organisation’s future course of action ,
confidential financial data etc can use this information to influence their subordinate’s
behaviour in a particular way.

EXPERT POWER

It is more of personal power than organizational power. Expert power is that influence which
one wields as a result of one's experience, special skill or knowledge. This power occurs
when the expert threatens to withhold his knowledge or skill. Since any person who is not
easily replaceable has more power as compared to those who are easily replaceable. If the
sub-ordinates view their superior as competent, and knowledgeable, naturally they will obey
and respect the superior. To the extent, that a low-ranking worker has important knowledge
not available to a superior, he is likely to have more power.

REFERENT POWER

A person who is respected by certain others for whatever reason has referent power over
those people. A person with referent power may have charisma and people who respect that
person are likely to get emotionally involved with the respected person and identify with,
accept and be willing to follow him or her.

CHARISMATIC POWER

Charismatic power emerges from an individual’s charisma, a quality that is unique. Because
of this charisma, the individual can articulate attractive visions , take personal risk,
demonstrate environmental sensitivity and is willing to engage in behaviour that most others
consider unconventional. Charismatic power is found to be more popular in political fields.

POLITICAL BEHAVIOR AND ORGANIZATIONAL

POLITICS
Power and politics are inextricably interwoven with the fabric of an organization's life. In any
organization, at any given moment, a number of people are seeking to gain and use power to
achieve their own ends. This pursuit of power is political behavior. Organizational politics
refers to the activities carried out by people to acquire, enhance and use power and other
resources to obtain their preferred outcomes in a situation where there is uncertainly or
disagreement. One great organizational scholar, Tushman defined politics, “as the structure
and process of the use of authority and power to affect definition of goals, directions
and the other major parameters of the organization. Decisions are not made in rational
or formal way but rather through compromise accommodation and bargaining.”

“ Organisational Politics refers to intentional behaviours that are designed to enhance

or protect a person’s influence and self- interest”- Drory and Romm

“Organisational politics is the process whereby individuals or groups use whatever

power they can amass to influence organizational decisions in the direction of their own
interests” - Miles

FACTORS INFLUENCING POLITICAL BEHAVIOR or

ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS
Organisational Politics is a natural phenomenon of every group or organisation. When the
group or the organisation works for certain time it tends to generate political behaviour.
Factors influencing organizational politics are as follows:
COMPETITION FOR POWER

Organizational politics emerges because people want to derive power through the authority
delegated to them formally. Since power is a scarce resource competition exists for acquiring
power and people feel it rational to manoeuvre the things in such a way that it gives them
more power.

DISCRETIONARY AUTHORITY

Organisations provide positions with discretionary authority to use powers in the case of
special needs like emergency in organisations. Such authority is used based on individual
judgement. For eg, the production manager may be given discretionary authority to appoint
personnel of certain category in the case of emergency without making reference to the
personnel department. Such discretionary authority may later become a stimulant for
organizational politics.

SUBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE

Subjective evaluation of performance may also lead to political behaviour. In many cases
performance evaluation may not be based on concrete achievement and it is the judgment of
the superior which is taken as the basis for performance evaluation. When subjective
evaluation of performance is taken and members may think some bias about superior’s
evaluation they may be forced into dysfunctional political behaviour

SATURATION IN PROMOTION

When employees feel that they have reached a saturation level in promotion and they have
achieved their maximum level in terms of talents and skills, they resort to political behaviour

JOINT DECISION MAKING

Large organisations emphasize on joint decision making to solve common problems faced by
various units. Joint decision making generates conflict and politics.In order to get favourable
decision people involve in politics by forming coalitions and associations through which they
will be able to accomplish their objectives.

AMBIGUOUS GOALS

When the goals of a department or the entire organization are ambiguous then there is more
room available for playing politics. Some people may use the ambiguity to manipulate the
situation for their benefit.

SCARCE RESOURCES

When resources are scarce, people have the tendency to use political behavior to make sure
that they get the biggest possible share of the resource.
CHANGES IN TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT

Organizational effectiveness is largely a function of the organization’s ability to appropriately

respond to external environment which is highly dynamic and generally unpredictable as well
as adequately adopt to complex technological developments. Thus, political behavior is
increased when the internal technology is complex and when external environment is highly
volatile.

NON-PROGRAMMED DECISIONS

Sometimes, the companies have to make a lot of non-Programmed decisions on certain

issues. These decisions are not based on clear standards and precedents, because such issues
involve many factors and variables that are complex in nature. Hence decisions are taken on
intuition, bunch and guesses and all these subjective feelings can be affected by political
behavior.

ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

Whenever there are changes in the organizational structure and policies, peoples in powerful
positions have the opportunity to play politics. These changes may include restructuring of a
division or creating a division, personnel changes, introducing a new product line and all
these changes influence political behavior when various individuals and groups try to control
the given situation.

TECHNIQUES OF POLITICAL BEHAVIOR

The most commonly used techniques of political behavior are:

 Controlling information

 Controlling lines of communication

 Controlling agenda -

 Using outside experts

 Game playing :

 Image building

 Building coalitions

One technique of political behavior is to control the dissemination of critical information to

others. The more critical (he information and fewer the people who have it, the stronger is
political power base of those who possess these information.

Controlling lines of communication is another political technique related to the flow of

information. People who have some control over lines of communication can yield
considerable political power. For example, the secretary may have considerable power in
deciding who sees the boss and who does not at a given time. She may use this power in
favoring those whom she likes and frustrating those against whom she may have it grudge.

Controlling the agenda also gives a person power over information. The person who controls
a meeting's agenda, for instance, may consistently put a particular item last on the list and
then take up time so that meeting adjourns before considering the item.

The opinions of outside experts and consultants often curry much weight in organizations and
many consultants can be swayed by political interests. Consultants know who is paying them
and even honest consultants are likely to give opinions consistent with those of their
employer. Hence, hiring an outside consultant can be a clever political move.

Game playing can range from fairly innocent to very manipulative. It involves people doing
something insincere, but not outright illegal or unethical to gain political ends. For instance, a
manager who does not want to answer a committee's tough questions may, for instance, avoid
meeting by going out of the town on the day of meeting.

Image building is creating positive impression reflected by the personality, appearance and
style. Some of the factors that enhance a preferred image consist of being well dressed,
having a pleasant smile, being attractive, honest, sociable and loyal to the organizational
interests. In addition, always project an image of competence and self-assurance.

Building coalitions or alliance is another technique of gaining political power. It is necessary

to have the alliance with the right people.

Managing Political Behavior

Though it is virtually impossible to eliminate political behavior in organizations, it is possible
to reduce it, if a manager understands the reasons for it and the techniques of political
behavior. Politics when carried to the extreme can damage morale, create enemies, destroy
loyalty, damper co-operative spirit and much time and energy is spent planning attacks and
counter attacks which are detrimental to organizational health. Accordingly, combating
politics must be undertaken by the top management and some of the steps that can be
undertaken are: open communication, reduction of uncertainty and creating awareness. Open
communication can reduce the political activity if all employees know how and why an
organization allocates resources, the employees will be likely to put their energy into meeting
the stated criteria for gelling resources rather than into political activity. Uncertainty in the
form of ambiguous goals and changes that affect the organization tends to increase the use of
political activity. Reducing such uncertainty can, therefore, reduce the political behavior.
Open communication is one of the ways an organization can reduce uncertainty. For instance,
laying down clear criteria and making it transparent to the employees who will be laid off, in
case of lay off the organization can reduce political behavior.

Finally, managers who develop an ability to recognize and predict political activity are in the
best position to limit its effects. Managers with this awareness will expect an increase in
political activity during times of organizational change and will learn how to handle it.