CHAPTER 2

FOUNDATION OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR AND LEARNING IN AN ORGANIZATION

Being diversity is now a fact of organizational life and managers must master the challenges of fully
understanding individual differences that make each person unique human being.
Individual behavior is influenced by various factors. Managers everywhere face the challenge of
understanding and managing individual differences. Effective managers need to analyze individual
behavior in the context of the business setting to understand organizational behavior fully.
We are each unique in our views, reactions, and behaviors because of combination of many factors,
including demographics, physical, psychological, and behavioral differences. These are at the core of who
we are. Each employee is different in many respects. A manager needs to ask how such differences
influence the behavior and performance of subordinates. Managers who ignore such differences often
become involved in practices which hinder achieving organizational and personal goals.
Today’s managers must be more broadly informed and capable in recognizing and dealing with individual
differences based on personality, perception, learning and attitudes.
2.1. Perception
Human behavior in any context-including organizational settings-is largely a function of individual’s
current interpretations (perceptions) of the world around them. Individual perceptions are likely to
influence the nature of their interactions.
Perception is active mental process which involves the selection, organization, structuring and
interpretation of information in order to make inferences and give meaning to the information. It is the
process through which we select, organize, and interpret information brought to us by our senses in
order to understand the world around us. Because each person gives his or her own meaning to stimuli,
different individuals will “see” the same thing in different ways.
Since perception refers to the acquisition of specific knowledge about objects or events at any particular
moment, it occurs whenever stimuli activate the sense. Thus, perception includes the interpretation of
objects, symbols, and people in the light of pertinent experiences. In other words, perception involves
receiving stimuli, organizing the stimuli, and translating or interpreting the organized stimuli so as to
influence behavior and form attitudes.
2.2 The Perceptual Process
The perceptual process in which incoming sensory data is gradually transformed in to a perception is
divided in to three stages.
Stage1: Attention and Selection - the tendency to acknowledge some stimuli and ignore or mask out
others. People are often confronted with more stimuli than they can comprehend at the same time. Some
are outside the range of their sensory apparatus and some are screened out to enable attention to be

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focused on others.
Stage2: Stimulus Organization and Recognition - the organization of stimulus information in to
meaningful patterns that form identifiable wholes.
Stage3: Interpretation and Inference - in the two prior stages certain stimuli receive attention while
others are largely ignored, and those that are accepted are organized in to meaningful patterns. However, a
perception doesn’t take place until a decision is made. In this stage much more significant events take
place. An identity and nature is imputed and, since sensory data is usually insufficient to provide
unequivocal evidence about identity, we make inferences, that is, we reach a conclusion about something
based on incomplete evidence, and make assumption about what the missing evidence is.
2.3 Social Perception and Factors influencing Perception
Social perception is the task of combining, integrating, and interpreting information about others to
gain an accurate understanding of them. It is the process of interpreting information about another person.
Virtually all management activities relay on perception. In appraising performance, managers use their
perceptions of an employee’s behavior as a basis for the evaluation.
There are three major categories of factors influence our perception of another person. They are
Characteristics of ourselves, as perceivers; characteristics of the target person we perceive; and
characteristics of the situation on which the interaction takes place.
A. Characteristics of the Perceiver
When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is
heavily influenced by personal characteristics of the individual perceiver.
Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect social perception. One such characteristic is familiarity
with the target (the person being perceived). When we are familiar with a person, we have multiple
observations up on which to base our impression of him or her. If the information we have gathered
during these observation is accurate, we may have an accurate perception of the other person. Familiarity
does not always mean accuracy, however, sometimes, when we know a person well; we tend to screen out
information that is in consistent with what we believe the person is like. This is a particular danger in
performance appraisals where the rater is familiar with the person being rated.
The perceiver’s attitudes also affect social perception. Suppose you are interviewing candidates for a
very important position in your organization - a position that requires negotiating contracts with suppliers,
most of whom are male. You may feel that women are not capable of holding their own in tough
negotiations.
Mood (the way we feel at particular time) can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone.
We think differently when we are happy than we do when we are depressed. When in a positive mood,
we form more positive impressions of others. When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others

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unfavorably.
Perceiver’s self-concept can also affect social perception. An individual with a positive self concept
tends to notice positive attributes in another person. In contrast, a negative self-concept can lead a
perceiver to pick out negative traits in another person. Greater understanding of self allows us to have
more accurate perceptions of others.
B. Characteristics of the Target
Characteristics of the target, who is the person being perceived, influence social perception. Physical
appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The perceiver will notice the target’s physical
features like height, weight, estimated age, race, and gender. Clothing says a great deal about a person.
Perceivers tend to notice physical appearance characteristics that contrast with the norm that are intense,
or that are new or unusual. Physical attractiveness of the target, often colors, affects our entire
impression of another person. Verbal communication from targets also affects our perception of them.
We listen to the topics they speak about, their voice tone and their accent and make judgments based on
this inputs. Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. Eye
contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all are deciphered by the perceiver in an
attempt to form an impression of the target. The perceiver’s interpretation of the target’s intensions
affects the way the perceiver views the target.
C. Characteristics of the Situation
The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target, takes place has an influence
on the perceiver’s impression of the target. The social context of the interaction is a major influence.
Some situations provide strong indication as to appropriate behavior.
2.4 Barriers to Social Perception
Several factors lead to inaccurate impressions of others. Some of these barriers to social perception are
selective perception, stereotype, halo effect, first impression error, implicit personality theory, and
self fulfilling prophecies.
 Selective perception: is our tendency to choose information that supports our view points.
Individuals often ignore information that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatens their view
points.
 Stereotyping: When we judge someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or she
belongs, we are using the shortcut called stereotyping. It is a generalization about a group of people.
It is the general inclination to place a person in some category according to some easy and quickly
identifiable characteristic such as age, sex, ethnic member ship, nationality, or occupation and then
attribute the person as having qualities believed to be typical of members of that category. It assumes
that all people in a certain category are assumed to have common characteristics. Almost any

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 characteristics can be used to make stereotyped judgments, for instance; age - older people are
resistant to change; all engineers are good at Mathematics. Stereotypes reduce information about
other people to a workable level and they are efficient for compiling and using information. It can be
accurate, and when they are accurate, they can be useful perceptual guidelines. Most of the time,
however, stereotypes are inaccurate. They harm individuals when inaccurate impressions of them are
inferred and are never tested or changed.
 Halo Effect - the assumptions that because a person has a certain trait he or she automatically has
other traits. In this case, a particular trait is taken to be an indication that a person also has a number
of other traits. The halo effect can lead to generalizations that are either positive or negative
 First Impression Error - the tendency to form lasting opinions about an individual based on initial
perceptions. We observe a very brief bit of a person’s behavior in our first encounter and infer that
this behavior reflects what the person is really like. Primacy effects can be particularly dangerous in
interviews.
 Projection: It is easy to judge others if we assume that they are similar to us. For instance, if you
want challenge and responsibility in your job, you assume that others want the same. Or, you are
honest and trustworthy, so you take it for granted that other people are equally honest and trustworthy.
In summary, managers need to know as much as possible about individual differences in order to
understand themselves and those with whom they work. An understanding of personality characteristics
can help a manager appreciate differences in employees.
Managers use social perception constantly on the job. Knowledge of the forces that affect perception and
the barriers to accuracy can help the managers form more accurate impression of others. Determining the
causes of job performance is a major task for the manager, and attribution theory can be used to explain
how managers go about determining causality.
2.5 Personality
Personality is the unique but stable set of characteristics and behavior that sets each individual apart from
others. It implies relatively stable and enduring aspects of an individual that distinguish him or her from
other people and at the same time form a basis for our predictions concerning his or her future behavior.
In short, personality refers to the lasting ways in which a given person is different from all others. It is a
stable set of physical and psychological characteristics that makes each person unique. Personality is
made up of a number of personality traits and is the product of interacting biological and environmental
factors. It is the primary factor in individual differences.
2.5.1 Determinants of Personality
General factors that can shape personality are:
 Genetic Factors/ heredity: - Heredity is transmitted through genes, which determine hormone

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 balance, which later determine physique and subsequently the personality. Heredity refers to
acquiring from parents certain biological, physical and psychological commonalities, which are
further reflected in physical stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition and
even reflect. Inherited factors that influence physical and mental characteristics. The genes we inherit
play some part in the formation and development of our metal characteristics including that of
personality.
 Social Factors - factors that influence personality that arise from interaction with other people.
Humans are social animals and their psychological characteristics are in part a reflection of their
interactions with other members of the species. Therefore early socialization, which includes
interactions with parents, siblings and peers, has an effect on personality and behavior in later life.
 Cultural Factors - wider social beliefs, values and motives that are absorbed by an individual and
guide behavior towards that which is acceptable within a particular social context. A culture embraces
patterns of belief, values and motives that are acceptable in a particular society, and these give
individuals a general set of predispositions to behave in certain set ways.
 Situational Factors: - the effect of a specific experience or situations on a person’s feelings and
behavior. Different experiences can affect personality, for example, the trauma of losing a parent or a
loved one can sometimes change a person in a dramatic way. In addition, certain situations can bring
out up till now unrecognized aspects of personality that could have been repressed in the past, and
once these are released they can become part of a person’s current repertoire of behavior.
3.2.4 Measuring Personality - Some Basic Methods
Several methods can be used to assess personality. These include projective tests, behavioral measures
and self report questionnaires.
The Projective test: Individuals are shown a picture, abstract images, or photo and are asked to describe
what they see or to tell a story about what they see. The rationale behind projective tests is that each
individual responds to the stimulus in a way that reflects his or her unique personality.
Behavioral measures: are personality assessments that involve observing an individual’s behavior in a
controlled situation to identify personality characteristics needed for different contexts. We might assess a
person’s sociability, sensitively, decisiveness, career ambition, integrity, independence, initiatives,
energy…etc. And the behavior is scored in some manner to produce an index of personality.
Self report questionnaires: In this case, individuals respond to a series of standard questions describing
aspects of themselves and their behavior usually in agree /disagree or true /false format.
3.2.5 Personality Characteristics in Organization
Managers should learn as much as possible about personality in order to understand their employees.
Most organizations have their own cultures and accepted patterns of behavior. Thus personality

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differences mean that some people are likely to fit in to a culture better than others.
Some personality characteristics such as locus of control, self esteem, self efficacy, self monitoring,
positive or negative effect, and honesty and dishonesty are briefly discussed below.
A. Locus of control: – is the degree to which people believe that they are masters of their own fate. It is
the concept, which determines whether an individual’s control events or the events control the individuals
and that they become only the pawns of situation. People have both internal locus of control and external
locus of control, only the degree varies is the degree to which people believe that they are masters of their
own fate. It is the concept, which determines whether an individual’s control events or the events control
the individuals and that they become only the pawns of situation. It is an individual’s generalized belief
about internal orientation (self) versus external orientation (situation or others control) is called locus
of control.
Those with an internal orientation feel that they can exert a great deal of influence on events around
them and have a strong desire to play prominent part in these events. For example, ‘internals’ believe that
what happens to them is mainly the result of their own actions. Conversely, those with an external
orientation are more likely to believe that they are swept along by events, and that what happens is
determined by fate or luck.
Self-esteem: - Self-esteem refers to individuals’ degree of liking or disliking himself. People’s self-
esteem has to do with their self-perceived competence and self-image. Individuals with high self esteem
have positive feeling about them, perceive themselves to have strengths as well as weakness, and believe
their strengths are more important than their weaknesses. Individuals with low self esteem view
themselves negatively. They are more strongly affected by what other people think of them, and they
compliant individuals who give them feed back while cutting down people who give them negative
feedback.
Self esteem may be strongly affected by situations. Success tends to raise self esteem, where as failure
tends to lower it. Given that high self esteem is generally a positive characteristic; managers should
encourage employees to raise their self esteem by giving them appropriate challenges and opportunities
for success.
 Self–efficacy - an individual believes and expectancies about his or her ability to accomplish a
specific task effectively. Individuals with high self efficacy believe that they have ability to get things
done, that they are capable of putting in effort to accomplish the task, and that they can overcome any
obstacles to their success. Self efficacy leads to high performance on a wide variety of physical and
mental tasks. High self efficacy has also led to success in breaking addictions, increasing pain
tolerance, and recovering from illness. Managers can help employees develop their self efficacy. This
can be done by providing job challenges, coaching and counseling for improved performance,

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 and rewarding employees’ achievements. Empowerment, or sharing power with employees, can be
accomplished by interventions that help employees increase their esteem and self-efficacy.
 Self – monitoring – Is the extent to which people base their behavior on cues from people and
situations. High self-monitors pay attention to what is appropriate in particular situations and to the
behavior of other people, and they behave accordingly. Low self monitors, in contrast, are not as
vigilant to situational cues and act from internal states rather than paying attention to the situation.
High self-monitors respond more readily to work group norms, organizational culture, and
supervisory feedback than do low self monitors, who adhere more to internal guidelines for behavior.
In addition, high self- monitors may be enthusiastic participants in the trend toward work teams
because of their ability to assume flexible roles.
Managers need to know as much as possible about personality in order to understand themselves and
those with whom they work.
Key Dimensions of Personality
The Type “A” and the Type “B “Behavior Patterns – persons can be classified as Type “A” show high
levels of competitiveness, irritability, and time urgency (they are always in a hurry). In addition, they
demonstrate certain stylistic patterns, such as loud and accelerated speech, and a tendency to respond very
quickly in many contexts (For example, during conversations they often begin speaking before others
are).
In contrast, the Type B personality lacks these characteristics and is not prone to coronary problems. Type
B people may well work hard and have considerable drive, but they feel no pressing conflict with people
or time.
The differences between Type A and Type B persons have important implications for their behavior in
work settings. The most central of these involves differences in their personal health, their performance
on many tasks, and their relations with others.
 The A Type Pattern and Health - persons who frequently push themselves to their limits may
adversely affect their own health. Research findings indicate that Type A’s are more than twice as
likely as Type B’s to experience serious heart disease. Type A persons certainly pay a high price for
their hard–driving, over stimulated lifestyle. Type A’s tend to perceive themselves as being more over
loaded by their jobs than Type B’s. Such congestive appraisals pay a crucial role in determining the
level of stress/load actually experienced by individuals in many situations.
 The Type A Pattern and Task Performance - given their high level of competitiveness, Type A’s
will work harder at various tasks than other persons, and will perform at higher levels. Type A’s
tending to work faster on many tasks than Type B’s, even when no pressure or deadline is involved.
They are able to get more done in the presence of distractions and Type A’s often seeking more

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 challenge in their work and daily lives than type B’s. For example, when given a choice, they select
more difficult tasks than type B’s. Surprisingly, though, Type A’s do not always perform better than
Type B’s. For example, Type A’s frequently do poorly on tasks requiring patience or careful,
considered judgment. They are simply too hurry to complete such work in an effective manner.
In sum, available evidence suggests that type A’s tend to do better than type B’s on some tasks-especially
ones involving time pressure or solitary work. However, they may actually do worse than Type B’s on
tasks involving complex judgment, accuracy rather than speed, and working as part of a team. Thus,
neither pattern appears to have an overall edge. Rather it is the nature of the tasks being performed that
will usually determine whether Type A’s or Type B’s tend to excel.
The Type A pattern and Interpersonal Relations - Type A and Type B persons also demonstrates
contrasting styles of interpersonal behavior. First, because they are always in a hurry, Type A’s tend to
become in patient with other persons, and frequently grow angry if someone delays them in any way.
Second, when given a choice, Type A’s preferred to work by themselves rather than with others. They are
definitely loners-not team players. Third, Type A’s are more irritable and aggressive than type B’s. They
lose their tempers more frequently, and are more likely to lash out at others for even slight provocations.
As a result of these tendencies, type A’s report becoming involved in more conflicts at work than type B’s.
In sum, several characteristics of type A’s seem to get them in to more than their share of interpersonal
difficulties at work.
2.6 Attitudes
Attitudes are evaluative statements —either favorable or unfavorable —concerning objects, people, or
events. They reflect how one feels about something. When you say “I like my job,” you are expressing
your attitude about work. As individuals, we respond favorably or unfavorably toward many things:
animals, co-workers, our own appearance, and politics. The importance of attitude lies in their link to
behavior. For example, some people prefer either cats or dogs. Individuals who prefer cats may be
friendly to cats but hesitate in approaching dogs. Attitude is a tendency or predisposition to evaluate
an object or symbol of that object in a certain way”. In effect attitude is used in a generic sense, as to
what people perceive, feel and express their views about a situation, object or other people.
3.6.1 The Functions of Attitudes
Unlike other individual differences, which probably have a genetic component, attitudes are man-made.
They are part of an individual psychological makeup, and develop and change in response to the person’s
current needs. Attitudes have four functional categories:
 The Adjustment Function – helps the person adjust to his or her world and to obtain reward and
avoid punishments from the environment.
 The Ego-defensive Function – helps the person to defend his or self-image.

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 The Value-expressive Function – allows the person to derive satisfaction from expressing attitudes
that reflect his or her central values and concept of self.
 The Knowledge Function – helps the person mentally to structure and organize his or her world so
that it is more understandable.
3.6.2 Attitude Formation
Attitudes are learned. There are a number of potential sources from which we derive our attitudes, the
most prominent of which are given below.
► Direct Experience – it is the direct experience of people with an object or person which is a powerful
influence on attitude. We know that we like Biology or dislike Math from experience in studying the
subjects.
► Social Learning – the process of deriving attitudes from family, peer groups, religious organizations,
and culture. These factors shape an individual’s attitude in an indirect manner. Substantial social learning
occurs through modeling, in which individuals acquire attitudes by merely observing others.
►Cultural Influence – play a definitive role in attitude development. Different societies and nations
have different value systems from which spring different social conventions about what is polite or
impolite, good or bad, and acceptable or unacceptable behavior. We should not expect people in all
countries to have similarly positive or negative attitudes towards the same thing.
3.6.3 Work Related Attitudes
A person can have thousands of attitudes, but OB focuses our attention on a very limited number of job-
related attitudes. These job-related attitudes tap positive or negative evaluations that employees hold
about aspects of their work environment.
Most of the research in OB has been concerned with three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement,
and organizational commitment.
I) Job Satisfaction: - refers to an individual’s general attitude toward his or her job. A person with a high
level of job satisfaction holds positive attitudes toward the job, while a person who is dissatisfied with
his or her job holds negative attitudes about the job. When allowed to operate freely, job satisfaction
can contribute substantially to organizational effectiveness. It can contribute to productive output in
the form of high quantity and quality of products or services, as well as to organizational performance
objectives. Job satisfaction has been treated both as a general attitude and as satisfaction with five
specific dimensions of the jobs: pay, the work itself, promotion opportunities, supervision, and co-
workers.
 Pay – there seem to be more connection between pay and satisfaction; first, whether the financial
reward for job is regarded as adequate, and second, whether it is considered to be equitable

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 compared to that receivable by other people. To some people pay is a reflection of how much their
efforts are recognized.
 The Work Itself – this dimension reflects the match between expectations and experience in terms of
whether the job provide interesting tasks, a measure of responsibility and opportunities for
learning. To the extent that there is a good match, this aspect of satisfaction is likely to be rated
positively.
 Promotion Opportunities – it reflects the perceived possibilities for an increase in status. However,
promotion is not desired by everybody and so satisfaction in this regard is very strongly influenced by
the match between expectations and receipts.
 Supervision – this dimension reflects the extent to which a person derives satisfaction from the
relationship with his or her immediate supervisor. Satisfaction with supervision is usually connected
to two aspects of supervisor behavior: Interpersonal support – the supervisor’s interest in the
person’s welfare and technical support – the extent to which the supervisor provides technical and
task related help and guidance
 Co-workers – satisfaction in this respect has similar effects to supervision and reflects the extent that
members of an individual’s work group are perceived to be socially supportive and competent in their
own tasks.
Satisfaction is a highly personalized matter that is closely connected with the match between expectations
and receipts. Not everybody welcomes a close personal interest and some people interpret a high level of
technical guidance as a sign that the supervisor has a lack of trust in their work.
Effects of Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction among employees does affect many aspects of organizational behavior. People react to
job satisfaction or dissatisfaction in a number of ways that can have important implications for job
performance.
 Employee Turnover – there is convincing evidence that where job satisfaction is high labor turnover
is reduced. The lower individuals’ level of satisfaction with their jobs, the more likely they are to
resign and seek other opportunities.
 Employee Absenteeism – the lower individuals’ satisfaction with their jobs, the more likely they are
to be absent from work. People who are dissatisfied with their jobs are absent more frequently, are
more likely to quit, and report more psychological and medical problems than do satisfied employees.
II) Organizational Commitment – state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization
and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. It refers to degree to which an
employee identifies himself with the organizational goals and wishes to maintain membership in the
organization. It is an attitude towards the organization as a whole reflecting the individual’s

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 acceptance of its goals and values, his or her willingness to expend effort on its behalf and an intention
to remain with the organization. Certain organizational conditions encourage commitment.
Participation in decision making and job security are two such conditions. Certain job
characteristics also positively affect commitment. These include autonomy, responsibly, and
interesting work. Organizational commitment is related to lower rates of absenteeism, higher
quality of work, and increased productivity. Managers should be concerned about organizational
commitment because committed individuals expand more task related effort and are less likely than
others to leave the organization.
Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are two important work related attitudes.
III) Job involvement: - Job involvement refers to the degree to which a person identifies himself
(psychologically) with his job, actively participates and considers his perceived performance level
important to self-worth.

3.6.4 Attitudes and Consistency

Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and between their
attitudes and their behavior. This means that individuals seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and align
their attitudes and behavior so they appear rational and consistent. When there is an inconsistency, forces
are initiated to return the individual to an equilibrium state where attitudes and behavior are again
consistent. This can be done by altering either the attitudes or the behavior, or by developing a
rationalization for the discrepancy.
2.7 Learning in an Organization
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior occurring as a result of experience. It is
continuous process, which occurs all the time. It has its basis in classical and operant conditioning.
A. Classical Conditioning (Learning by Association) – is the process of modifying behavior so that a
conditioned stimulus is paired with unconditioned stimulus and elicits an unconditioned response. The
classical conditioning process may help explain a variety of organizational behaviors. For example,
workers who have witnessed dangerous industrial accidents after certain warning lights have gone on may
be expected to feel fear the next time those lights begin to flash.
B. Operant Conditioning – is the process of modifying behavior through the use of positive and negative
consequences following specific behaviors. Our behavior usually produces consequences which may be
either positive or negative. If our actions have pleasant effects, then we will be more likely to repeat them
in the future. If, however, our actions have unpleasant effects, we are less likely to repeat them in the

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future. The consequences of behavior are used to influence, or shape, behavior through three strategies:
reinforcement, punishment, and extinction.
Reinforcement and punishment are administered through the management of positive and negative
consequences of behavior. Positive consequences are the results of a person’s behavior that a person
finds attractive or punishable. They might include a pay increase, a bonus, a promotion, a transfer to a
more desirable geographical location, or praise from a supervisor. Negative consequences are the results
of a person’s behavior that the person finds unattractive or aversive. They might include disciplinary
action, an undesirable transfer, a demotion, or harsh criticism from a supervisor. Positive and negative
consequences must be defined for the person receiving them. Therefore, individual, gender, and cultural
differences may be important in their classification. The use of positive and negative consequences
following a specific behavior either reinforces or punishes the behavior. Behaviors followed by positive
consequences are more likely to recur and behaviors followed by negative consequences are less likely to
recur.
 Reinforcement – is the attempt to enhance or strengthen desirable behavior by either bestowing
positive consequences or withholding negative consequences. Positive reinforcement results from
the application of a positive consequence following a desirable behavior. For example, bonus paid at
the end of successful business year. Negative reinforcement results from withholding a threatened
negative consequence when a desirable behavior occurs. For example, a manager who reduces an
employee’s pay (negative consequence) if the employee comes to work late ( undesirable behavior)
and refrains from doing so when the employees is on time (desirable behavior) has negatively
reinforced the employees on - time behavior. The employee avoids the negative consequence (a
reduction in pay) by exhibiting a desirable behavior (being on time to work).
 Punishment – is the attempt to eliminate or weaken undesirable behavior. It is used in two ways. One
way to punish a person is through the application of a negative consequence following an
undesirable behavior. For example, a professional athlete who is excessively offensive to an official
(undesirable behavior) may be ejected from a game (negative consequence). The other way to punish
a person is through the withholding of a positive consequence following an undesirable behavior.
For example, a sales person who makes few visits to companies (undesirable behavior) and whose
sales are well bellow the quota (undesirable behavior) is likely to receive a very small commission
check (positive consequence) at the end of the month. One problem with punishment is that it may
have unintended results. Because punishment is discomforting to the individual being punished, the
experience of punishment may result in negative psychological, emotional, performance, or
behavioral consequences. For example the person being punished may become angry, hostile,

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 depressed, or despondent. From the organizational standpoint, this result becomes important when
the punished person translates negative emotional and psychological responses in to positive actions.
 Extinction – an alternative to punishing undesirable is extinction – the attempt to weaken a behavior
by attaching no consequences (either positive or negative) to it. It is equivalent to ignoring the
behavior. The rationale for using extinction is that a behavior not followed by any consequence is
weakened. However, some patience and time may be needed for it to be effective. Extinction may be
practiced, for example, by not responding (no consequence) to the sarcasm (behavior) of the
colleague. Extinction may be most effective when used in conjunction with the positive reinforcement
of desirable behaviors. Extinction is not always the best strategy; however, punishment might be
preferable in cases of dangerous behavior to deliver a swift, clear lesson.
In relation to learning, people are of two types: introvert and extrovert. Introverts need quite time to
study, concentrate, and reflect on what they are learning. They think well when they are alone. Extroverts
need to interact with other people, learning through the process of expressing and exchanging ideas with
others. They think best in groups and while they are talking.
To summarize, people in organization learn from the consequences of their actions. Therefore, managers
must exercise care in the application of positive and negative consequences, ensuring that they are
connected to the behaviors they intend to reward or punish. Managers should also be judicious in the use
of punishment and should consider extinction coupled with positive reinforcement as an alternative to
punishment for shaping employee behavior.

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