University of Cebu

Graduate School

Name: Marian P. Oclarit

Subject: Organizational Behavior
Course event

1. Cite at least three behavioral sciences theory explaining human behavior in

organization. 

1. Frederick W. Taylor's scientific management theory — Introduced in 1909, this

theory argues that the best way to optimize employee performance and boost
productivity is to split activities into smaller tasks and encourage cooperation
between workers and the management.
Application: Given the company’s target levels that continuously gets higher, our manager
always make different approach in our business processing every year. She always see to it
that our processing is efficient (e.g. delegating task to our so called “task force” to help
other divisions hasten the processing), thus encouraging cooperation among workers and
management.
2. Relations Management and the Hawthorne studies — This model explains that
social interactions between managers and their workers impact business
outcomes. As such, organizations should personally invest in their employees.
Application: 1. Everyone wants to be heard and valued that’s why in our organization we are
encouraged to converse, ask questions during meetings. 2. Right people, right group.
Productive and less productive employees are grouped together to influence or motivate
the less productive employees thus enhancing their productivity.
3. McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y — According to this model, managers who
promote a conducive work environment by providing employee development
opportunities (Theory Y) are more successful than managers who micromanage
all organizational aspects (Theory X)
Application: Before, our Division Chief check us with our whereabouts even bathroom
breaks and didn’t delegate tasks other than our usual task. We felt untrusted that time but
eventually our head thought of better way of giving each one of us extra task to avoid idle
time thus giving us opportunities to become more knowledgeable and learned employee.

.
 2. Discuss the basic perceptual processes and common perceptual errors and discuss
how it affects  OB. 

Perception in Organizational Behavior

Perception is simply defined as how a person sees the world around them and how they
interpret that information. It's a subconscious thing that the mind does and is contingent on
your ability to pay attention to your surroundings and your existing knowledge. 1 The mind
will occasionally filter information out, which is why you don't notice every single thing
around you; it would be a complete information overload otherwise.

In organizational behavior and business, perception often helps shape a person's personality
and how they act in certain situations. These can affect how they respond to certain things-
like stressful situations-their performance at tasks, and even their creativity. 2 For
management, paying attention to personality traits in employees can help them determine
the person's work ethic and strengths. That is, if the manager's perception is not hindered in
some ways. Below are the perceptual processes.

1. Selection

Selecting is the first part of the perception process, in which we focus our attention on
certain incoming sensory information. In selection, we choose stimuli that attract our
attention.

We focus on the ones that stand out to our senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch).
We take information through all five of our senses, but our perceptual field includes so many
stimuli that it is impossible for our brains to process and make sense of it all.

2. Organization

Organizing is the second part of the perception process, in which we sort and categorize
information that we perceive based on innate and learned cognitive patterns.

Three ways we sort things into patterns are by using proximity, similarity, and difference

3. Interpretation
After we have attended to a stimulus, and our brains have received and organized the
information, we interpret it in a way that makes sense using our existing information about
the world Interpretation simply means that we take the information that we have sensed
and organized and turn it into something that we can categorize to understand better and
react to the world around us.

Perception of others involves sensing, organizing, and interpreting information about

people, and what they say and do. The sensation is a main characteristic of perception as it
relates to outside input. In the perceptual process, firstly the perceiver should select what
will be perceived.

But what does perception have to do with employment?

Well, there are various ways that a person can perceive a situation in the work environment
that can lead to problems. For example, the following can occur among employees in the
workplace on a daily basis:

A perceptual error is the inability to judge humans, things or situations fairly and accurately.

There are many types of perceptual errors in workplace:

1.Selective Perception-People generally interpret according to their basis of interests, idea

and backgrounds. It is the tendency not to notice and forget the stimuli that cause
emotional discomfort.

2.Halo Effect-We misjudge people by concentrating on one single behavior or trait. It has
deep impact and give inaccurate result most of the time.

3.Stereotypes-We always have a tendency to classify people to general groups /categories in

order to simplify the matter.

4. Impression-We all know the term "first impression is the last impression" and we apply
that too.

5. Recency effect- when the most recent information influences our judgement, even though
we have a whole lot of other information of the person.
 3. How learning takes place in organization and outline basic learning models that
influence OB. 

Learning

Learning is any permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. There
are a few different learning theories that apply in the employment context. Let’s take a look
at social learning. People can learn through observation and respond to how they perceive
and define consequences, not necessarily by consequences to themselves. For instance, an
employee might learn that it is unacceptable to dress informally for meetings with
customers in the office because a co-worker was warned not to wear an informal outfit
during such a meeting.

Additionally, shaping systematically reinforces each successive step that moves an individual
closer to a desired response. There are four ways to shape behavior:

Nature of Learning

Nature of learning means the characteristic features of learning. Learning involves change; it
may or may not guarantee improvement. It should be permanent in nature, that is learning is
for lifelong.
The change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and training. Learning is
reflected through behavior.

Factors Affecting Learning

Learning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by this
experience. The key elements or the major factors that affect learning are motivation,
practice, environment, and mental group.
Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors −
 Motivation − The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to
achieve a goal is known as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning as it
acts gives us a positive energy to complete a task. Example − The coach motivated
the players to win the match.
 Practice − We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a
perfectionist or at least complete the task, it is very important to practice what we
have learnt. Example − We can be a programmer only when we execute the codes we
have written.
 Environment − We learn from our surrounding, we learn from the people around us.
They are of two types of environment – internal and external. Example − A child when
 at home learns from the family which is an internal environment, but when sent to
school it is an external environment.
 Mental group − It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to hang out
with. In simple words, we make a group of those people with whom we connect. It
can be for a social cause where people with the same mentality work in the same
direction. Example − A group of readers, travel
These are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root level for
our behavior and everything we do is connected to what we learn.

How Learning Occurs?

Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our
behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are −

 Operant Conditioning Theory

 Social Learning Theory
 Cognitive Learning Theory

Operant Conditioning Theory

The major focus of operant conditioning is on the effects of reinforcements, or rewards, on

desired behaviors. One of the first psychologists to examine such processes was J. B.
Watson, a contemporary of Pavlov, who argued that behavior is largely influenced by the
rewards one receives as a result of actions. 4 This notion is best summarized in
Thorndike’s law of effect. This law states that of several responses made to the same
situation, those that are accompanied or closely followed by satisfaction (reinforcement)
will be more likely to occur; those that are accompanied or closely followed by discomfort
(punishment) will be less likely to occur.5

In other words, it posits that behavior that leads to positive or pleasurable outcomes tends
to be repeated, whereas behavior that leads to negative outcomes or punishment tends to
be avoided. In this manner, individuals learn appropriate, acceptable responses to their
environment. If we repeatedly dock the pay of an employee who is habitually tardy, we
would expect that employee to learn to arrive early enough to receive a full day’s pay.

A basic operant model of learning is presented in Exhibit 4.2. There are three important
concepts of this model:

Drive. A drive is an internal state of disequilibrium; it is a felt need. It is generally believed

that drive increases with the strength of deprivation. A drive, or desire, to learn must be
present for learning to take place. For example, not currently being able to afford the house
you want is likely to lead to a drive for more money to buy your desired house. Living in a
run-down shack is likely to increase this drive compared to living in a nice apartment.

Habit. A habit is the experienced bond or connection between stimulus and response. For
example, if a person learns over time that eating satisfies hunger, a strong stimulus-
response (hunger-eating) bond will develop. Habits thus determine the behaviors, or
courses of action, we choose.

Reinforcement or reward. This represents the feedback individuals receive as a result of

action. For example, if as a salesperson you are given a bonus for greater sales and plan to
use the money to buy the house you have always wanted, this will reinforce the behaviors
that you believed led to greater sales, such as smiling at customers, repeating their name
during the presentation, and so on.

Social Learning Theory

The key assumptions of social learning theory are as follows −

 Learning is not exactly behavioral, instead it is a cognitive process that takes place in
a social context.
 Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the outcomes of the
behavior (known as vicarious reinforcement).
 Learning includes observation, extraction of information from those observations,
and making decisions regarding the performance of the behavior (known as
observational learning or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond an observable
change in behavior.
 Reinforcement plays an important role in learning but is not completely responsible
for learning.
 The learner is not a passive receiver of information. Understanding, environment, and
behavior all mutually influence each other.
A model of social learning processes is shown in Exhibit 4.4. As can be seen, three factors—
the person, the environment, and the behavior—interact through such processes as
vicarious learning, symbolic representations, and self-control to cause actual learned
behaviors.

Exhibit 4.4 A Basic Model of Social Learning Source: Adapted from “A Social Learning

Approach to Behavioral Management: Radical Behaviorists ‘Mellowing Out,’ ” by Robert
Kreitner et al. Organizational Dynamics. (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding

about himself and environment.
This theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking on a problem or
situation based upon known facts and responding in an objective and more oriented
manner. It perceives that a person learns the meaning of various objects and events and also
learns the response depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli.
This theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which stores
organized information about the various events that occurs.
Learning & Organizational Behavior
An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by learning.
Example − Employee skills, knowledge and some attitudes can be learned.
Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips −
 Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance.
 Improving employee discipline by dealing with employee’s undesirable behavior,
drinking at workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate actions like
oral reprimands, written warnings and suspension.
 Developing training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention,
provide required motivational properties etc.
Major Influences on Learning. 

Considerable evidence also demonstrates that we can facilitate learning by providing

individuals with feedback on their performance. A knowledge of results shows individuals
where they are correct or incorrect and furnishing them with the perspective to improve.
Feedback also serves as an important positive reinforcer that can enhance an individual’s
willingness or desire to learn.

In many cases, prior learning can increase the ability to learn new materials or tasks by
providing needed background or foundation materials. It is easier to learn if addition has
been mastered. These beneficial effects of prior learning on present learning tend to be
greatest when the prior tasks and the present tasks exhibit similar stimulus-response.

4. Discuss the influence of motivation to perceptual processes and learning in

organization.

These are the effects or influences of motivation in perceptual processes and learning in the
organization.

1. Puts human resources into action

Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the
goals. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making
full use of it. This can be done by building willingness in employees to work. This will
help the enterprise in securing best possible utilization of resources.

2. Improves level of efficiency of employees

The level of a subordinate or employee does not only depend upon his qualifications
and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and
willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of
subordinates. This will result into-

a. Increase in productivity,
b. Reducing cost of operations, and
c. Improving overall efficiency.
3. Leads to achievement of organizational goals

The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following factors take
place:

a. There is best possible utilization of resources,

b. There is a co-operative work environment,
c. The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner,
 d. Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes place
simultaneously which can be effectively done through motivation
4. Builds friendly relationship

Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be

done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the
employees. This could initiate the following things:

a. Monetary and non-monetary incentives,

b. Promotion opportunities for employees,
c. Disincentives for inefficient employees.

In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a concern, the above steps should
be taken by a manager. This would help in:

iv. Effective co-operation which brings stability,

v. Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce,
vi. The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no
resistance to the change,
vii. This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual
interests will coincide with the organizational interests,
viii. This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity.
5. Leads to stability of work force

Stability of workforce is very important from the point of view of reputation and
goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal to the enterprise only when
they have a feeling of participation in the management. The skills and efficiency of
employees will always be of advantage to employees as well as employees. This will
lead to a good public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified
people into a concern. As it is said, “Old is gold” which suffices with the role of
motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into
a concern which can be of benefit to the enterprise.

From the above discussion, we can say that motivation is an internal feeling which can be
understood only by manager since he is in close contact with the employees.

Needs, wants and desires are inter-related and they are the driving force to act. These needs
can be understood by the manager and he can frame motivation plans accordingly. We can
say that motivation therefore is a continuous process since motivation process is based on
needs which are unlimited. The process has to be continued throughout.

We can summarize by saying that motivation is important both to an individual and a

business.
Motivation is important to an individual as:

1. Motivation will help him achieve his personal goals.

2. If an individual is motivated, he will have job satisfaction.
3. Motivation will help in self-development of individual.
4. An individual would always gain by working with a dynamic team.

Similarly, motivation is important to a business as:

1. The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered the team is.
2. The more is the team work and individual employee contribution, more profitable
and successful is the business.
3. During period of amendments, there will be more adaptability and creativity.
4. Motivation will lead to an optimistic and challenging attitude at work place.