UNIT-3 & 4

Personality
The term personality has been defined differently by different psychologists.
Floyed Allport says ‘personality traits may be considered as so many important dimensions
in which people may be found to differ.” Watson opines that personality is everything that
we do.
Kimble Young says, “Personality refers to the more or less organised body of ideas,
attitudes, traits, values and habits which an individual has built into roles and status for
dealing with others and with himself.” In brief, personality is a comprehensive concept that
give importance on the growth and behaviour of the child as an organised whole.
The word personality itself stems from the Latin word persona, which refers to a theatrical
mask worn by performers in order to either project different roles or disguise their
identities.
At its most basic, personality is the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors that make a person unique. It is believed that personality arises from within the
individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.
There are a number of theories about how personality develops, and different schools of
thought in psychology influence many of these theories. Some of these major perspectives
on personality include the following.
Type theories are the early perspectives on personality. The concept of Type A and Type B
Personality was coined by two American Cardiologist Meyer Friedman and Ray H.
Rosenman, in the year 1976. In their study, they discovered that people with Type A
personality are likely to suffer coronary artery disease in their later life. These theories
suggested that there are a limited number of "personality types" that are related to
biological influences, including:
Type A: perfectionist, impatient, competitive, work-obsessed, achievement-oriented,
aggressive, stressed
Type B: low stress, even-tempered, flexible, creative, adaptable to change, patient,
tendency to procrastinate
Type C: highly conscientious, perfectionists, struggle to reveal emotions (positive and
negative)
Type D: feelings of worry, sadness, irritability, pessimistic outlook, negative self-talk,
avoidance of social situations, lack of self-confidence, fear of rejection, appearing gloomy,
hopelessness

Type A Personality

Type A personality implies a temperament which is stress-prone, concerned with time

management. They are ambitious, rigidly organised, hard-working, anxious, highly status-
conscious, hostile and aggressive. Individuals who possess Type A personality have the
following behavioural patterns:
They move, walk and eat fast.
Great at multitasking.
Self-driven feels guilty when relaxing.
Feels impatient with the pace of things, dislikes waiting.
They have a busy schedule and does not have time to enjoy life.
Uses nervous gestures, like a clenched fist or banging hand on the table.
They are high-achievers, perform beyond par.
They do not easily accept failure.

Type B Personality

Type B personality is one that is less prone to stress, easy going, work steadily, enjoy
achievement, modest ambition, and live in the moment. They are social, creative,
thoughtful, procrastinating. Individuals who possess a Type B personality are associated with
the following behavioural traits:
They are not concerned about time.
They compete for fun, not to win.
Mild-mannered.
Never in a hurry and has no pressing deadlines.
Does not brag.
Focus on quality rather than quantity.
Laidback and live a stress-less life.

BASIS FOR
TYPE A PERSONALITY TYPE B PERSONALITY
COMPARISON

Meaning Type A personality is one which is Type B personality is one which is

stress prone, in a hurry, impatient and less stress prone patient, relaxed
fast in whatever they do. and easy going.

Nature Sensitive and proactive Reflective and innovative

Patience level Low High

Temperament Short-termpered Even-tempered

Competition Highly-competitive Less-competitive

Multitasking Does several things at a time. Does one thing at a time.

Stress level High Low

Time constraints Encounters pressure because of time Is not affected by time

constraints constraints.
Factor influencing personality
Different factors affecting personality can be mainly divided into two namely: Individual or
Personal Factors and Environment or Social Factors.
Individual or Personal Factors Affecting Personality Development
The individual factors are those factors inherent in a person. Some of them are not
changeable or cannot develop. The individual factors include:
a) Heredity
Heredity is something that passes from generation to generation. You may possess some
skills your father or your mother have. It is transferred to you as an inborn character from
your parents. Traits, skills that is passed to you from your parents in the form of genetic
transfer can determine your personality.
b) Physique
You may be a short person, you may be a tall person, like that each people have different
physical appearances. Physique of a person affects his personality. That is biological makeup
or body type of a person is a factor that determine personality of that person.
c) Biological Factors
Difference in biological factors like gender, hormone level, functioning of endocrine glands
like thyroid, parathyroid, pituitary gland, adrenal gland, gonads etc. will affect personality of
a person. This determines how an individual behaves in certain situations. These biological
factors enable a person to mold the social environment according to his requirements.
d) Nervous System
Central nervous system which includes brain and the spinal cord has a fundamental and
important role in determining behavior of a person. The brain and the spinal cord play an
important role in a person’s reaction and adjustments to a situation. Thus, growth and
functioning of nervous system affects personality of a person.
e) Intelligence
Persons with different intelligence behaves or adjust differently in social environments
surrounding them. They are different in dealing with society, have different habits, etc.
Thus, it is considered as a factor that determine personality of a person.
Environmental or Social Factors Affecting Personality Development
Environment has its own impact on the development of an individual’s personality. Social
factors or environmental factors are those factors which surrounds a person. Some social
factors affect the personality of a person are as follows:
a) Family
First and the foremost important factor that influence personality development of a person
is family. A child spends more time with his family so, home atmosphere influences
personality development of a child. Parent’s behavior and attitude, their expectations from
the child, their education and attention to the child, all make an influence in child’s
personality development. The type of experiences received from family in early childhood
will play an important role in the development of personality. Economic and social
conditions of the family will also influence child’s personality development.
b) School
Next social factor that affect child’s personal development is school. School atmosphere and
discipline affects personality development of a child. Teacher’s personality and character,
peer students’ attitude and character, all influences child’s personality development.
c) Maturation
Maturation is the process of learning to cope and react in an emotionally appropriate way.
Social surroundings around them helps to understand how to react to various situation. It is
part of growth, but not always happen with aging or physical growth. Maturation improves
the coordination of numerous relationships and thus in personality development of a
person.
d) Early Experience
Development of brain and personality has a clear influence with the early experience of a
person. Good experience and interaction from surrounding can help child to develop
positive attitude, while bitter experience can affect negatively. So, creating positive
experience at the early stage is important for personality development.
e) Success and Failures
Success and failures are part of life and it is only how we perceive it. That is, it depends on
where we fix our frame of reference in life. When it comes to personality development, it
can consider as a factor as it has the power to motivate and demotivate a person.
f) Cultural
Cultural traditions, environment and values in a society can influence personality of a
person. This can contribute greatly to the development of believes, and moral values in a
person. Along with that culture can also influence the way people behave and develop social
interaction.
g) Geography
Many studies show that geography plays an important role in personality development of a
person. Place of birth and living influences people’s lifestyle and the way they live. Thus,
determines their behavior and reactions to various situations.

Other Factors Affecting Personality Development

There are many other factors like language, inter personal relationships, social role, and
ability to observe or perceive or think etc. will also affects the development of personality.
Education: Education can affect personality because this is the most powerful way to
develop the personality. So, we mention education is the first factor that affects personality.
2. Family Environment: Every person learns his first lesson from his family. Every child
follows his / her parents and this is the starting point of growing the human personality.
So, the family environment another most important factor that affects personality. The
family is the cradle of all social virtues. The original setting, the kid moves in, is his home.
Here the child comes connected along with his oldsters, and different loved ones his likes,
dislikes, stereotypes concerning individuals, expectations of security, and emotional
responses all area unit formed in the time of life.
The kind of coaching and time of life experiences received from the family plays a crucial
role in the development of temperament.
Besides this, economic factors, i.e., condition of the household and therefore the variety of
relations between the fogeys also influence the personality of the kid.
3. Culture: Culture has a great impact on a person’s personality. As a result of this, we saw
personality differ in the various socio-cultural country.
4. Religion thoughts: Religion can play a vital role in developing a person’s personality
because from childhood a man grows up which his / her religious value.
Factors Affecting Personality
5. Workplace environment: Men spend most of the time in their work environment so, the
work environment is a great important factor that affects personality. For example, the
personality of doctors and police has a great distance which happens for their work
environment.
6. Social status: Social status can affect personality very effectively. We can see this impact
of social status in personality if we look at different people whose status is different in
society.
7. Characteristics of peer group: This is another most important factor that affects
personality more effectively.
8. Childhood memories: Human personality can effect by childhood memories. There are a
huge number of people who have much affection for the particular thing this happens for
childhood memories.
9. Sex Differences: Sex variations play a significant role in the development of the
temperament of the individual. Boys are typically a lot of assertive and vigorous. They like
adventures as well as sex differences. Women area unit quieter and a lot of bruised by
personal, emotional, and social issues.
10. Intelligence & Nervous System: Intelligence is primarily hereditary. Persons of the
United Nations agency area unit terribly intelligent will build higher adjustment in a home,
faculty, and society than those that area unit less capable. The development of
temperament is influenced by the character of the system.
11. Cultural Environment: The cultural setting refers to bound cultural traditions, ideals, and
values, etc., that area unit accepted in a very explicit society. These factors leave a
permanent impression on the child’s temperament.
12. School Environment: Schools play a crucial role in molding the personality of the kids as
a result of a significant part of a child’s life is spent in class between the ages of vi and
twenty years. Within the faculty, the teacher substitutes the fogeys for the students.
The varsity poses new issues that have to be solved. As well as the new taboos need to be
accepted into the superego and new models for imitation and identification, all of that
contribute their share in molding temperament.
13. Language: Human beings have a particular characteristic of communication through
language. Language is a crucial vehicle by the society is structured and culture of the race
transmitted from generation to generation. The method of interaction forms the child’s
temperament through language with different members of his setting.
14. Social Role: The child needs to play many roles like the younger son, elder brother
student, finance officer, husband, and father. The Social effective roles are also delineated
as the method by that the co-operative behavior and communications among the society
members area unit expedited.
15. Interpersonal Relations: Interpersonal relationships among the members of a
community area unit vital mean that that facilitates the development of bound social
temperament characteristics like attraction towards others, the conception of friendly
relationship, love, sympathy, hostility, and additionally isolation that could be a negative
orientation.
16. Psychological Factors: These embody our motives, noninheritable interests, our
attitudes, our can and character, our intellectual capacities like intelligence, i.e., the skills to
understand, to observe, to imagine, to suppose, and to reason.
These factors verify our reactions in numerous things, and so have an effect on our
temperament, growth, and direction. A person with a substantial quantity of can power is
ready to build choices a lot of quickly than others.
Thus, we have a tendency to see that hereditary, environmental and psychological factors
contribute towards the event of temperament.
Learning
Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirect
experience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and training, practice
and experience. It is completed by acquisition of knowledge and skills, which are relatively
permanent.

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 surroundings, 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, travelers, etc.
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 −
  Classical Conditioning Theory
 Operant Conditioning Theory
 Social Learning Theory
 Cognitive Learning Theory

Classical Conditioning Theory

The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an

unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus like
the sound of a tuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective like the
taste of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned stimulus is an
unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.
After this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur after
a single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the conditioned
stimulus, when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The conditioned response is
mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but unlike the unconditioned response, it
must be acquired through experience and is nearly impermanent.

Operant Conditioning Theory

Operant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is a

learning process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes.
Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to get the candy inside, or
learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison, the classical conditioning develops a
relationship between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be further elaborated as
the child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble at the sight of an angry
parent.
In the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of these
two sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior analysis.
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.
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 skill, manager’s attitude are all 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.
 Perception

Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to

represent and understand the environment.

All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or chemical
stimulation of the sense organs.

It is not the passive receipt of these signals but is shaped by learning, memory, expectation, and
attention.

The study, of these perceptual processes, shows that their functioning is affected by three classes of
variables – the objects or events being perceived, the environment in which perception occurs, and
the individual doing the perceiving.

What is Perception?

Perception depends on complex functions of the nervous system but subjectively seems mostly
effortless because this processing happens outside of conscious awareness.

According to Joseph Reitz; “Perception includes all those processes by which an individual receives
information about his environment—seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling.”

According to B. V. H. Gilmer, “Perception is the process of becoming aware of situations, of adding

meaningful associations to sensations.”

Uday Pareek said perception can be defined as “the process of receiving, selecting, organizing,
interpreting, checking, and reacting to sensory stimuli or data.”

According to S. P. Robbins, perception can be defined as “the process by which individuals organize
and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environments.”

Perception includes the 5 senses; touch, sight, taste smell and sound. It also includes what is known
as perception, a set of senses involving the ability to detect changes in body positions and
movements.
Importance of Perception
Perception is a subjective, active and creative process through which we assign meaning to sensory
information to understand ourselves and others. It can be defined as our recognition and
interpretation of sensory information. It also includes how we respond to the information.

Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act within
our environment.

1. Perception is very important in understanding human behavior because every person

perceives the world and approaches life problems differently. Whatever we see or feel is not
 necessarily the same as it really is. When we buy something, it is not because it is the best,
but because we take it to be the best.
2. If people behave on the basis of their perception, we can predict their behavior in the
changed circumstances by understanding their present perception of the environment. One
person may be viewing the facts in one way which may be different from the facts as seen
by another viewer.
3. With the help of perception, the needs of various people can be determined, because
people’s perception is influenced by their needs.
4. Perception is very important for the manager who wants to avoid making errors when
dealing with people and events in the work setting. This problem is made more complicated
by the fact that different people perceive the same situation differently. In order to deal
with the subordinates effectively, the managers must understand their perceptions
properly.
5. Perception can be important because it offers more than objective output; it ingests an
observation and manufactures an altered reality enriched with previous experiences.
6. Perception builds character (not necessarily good or bad character) that defines different
roles individuals fall into the clown, the hypocrite, the self-righteous, the victim, etc..
7. It is vitally important if we want to get along with others to try to see things from their
perspective or walk in their shoes for a while. If we walk in their shoes we will gain a new
perspective about things and in that understand the other and also can love and help the
other more appropriately.

Thus, for understanding human behavior, it is very important to understand their

perception, that is, how they perceive the different situations.

People’s behavior is based on their perceptions of what reality is, not on reality itself. The
world as it is perceived is the world that is important for understanding human behavior.

Factors Affecting Perception

Perception is the process by which an individual selects, organizes, and interprets

information to create a meaningful picture. Perception depends not only on the physical
stimuli but also on the stimuli’s relation to the surrounding field and on conditions within
the individual. Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their
sensory perceives in order to give meaning to their environment.

However, what one perceives can be substantially different from objective reality. It is the
process through which the information from the outside environment is selected, received,
organized and interpreted to make it meaningful.

The factors which affect the perception are shown in the figure below:
 Process of Perception

 Reception: In this process, a person receives the information through stimuli.

 Selection: This is governed by two types of factors:
o External factors: These are size, intensity, proximity, motion and novelty.
o Internal factors: These are attitude, motives, experiences, interests and expectations.
 Organization: It is the process by which we sort stimuli into a meaningful pattern. It involves
the following:
o Grouping: Assembling of stimuli on the grounds of similarity.
o Proximity: This is the closeness of stimuli to one another that affects perception.
o Closure: It is the ability to organize stimuli so that together they form a whole pattern.
 Interpretation: It is the formation of an idea about the information that is sensed, selected
and organized. It involves the following phenomena: primacy effect, selective perception,
stereotyping, halo effect, projection and expectancy effect. They are the types of perceptual
errors.
o Primacy/ Recency Effect:  The first impression is given the most important which is known
as the primacy effect. Recency effect, on the other hand, is that human beings remember
latest events more than the less recent ones.
o Stereotyping:  It is the effect caused by forming a certain belief about a category of stimuli
and generalizing that notion to encounters with each member of that category. In reality,
there is a difference between the perceived notion of each category and the actual traits of
the members. It may affect the interview process in an organization.
o Halo effect: It is the process of generalizing from a comprehensive analysis to a single
attribute or trait. A negative halo effect is known as the reverse halo effect. It affects the
performance appraisal of employees in a company.
o Projection: It is a psychological defence mechanism which makes a person compare his
negative traits with other people and conclude that they are better off than others. 
Perceptual checking minimizes the negative effects of projection.
o Selective Perception: This means a person sees, feels or hears what he wants to and skips
other information which are inconsistent to his view.
o Expectancy effect: It is the tendency of an individual to interpret any person or object based
on how he expects the person or object to be in the first place. It is also called as Pygmalion
effect.

Process of Perception

 The Perception Process

o Reception: In this process, a person receives the information through stimuli.

o Selection: This is governed by two types of factors:
o External factors: These are size, intensity, proximity, motion and novelty.
o Internal factors: These are attitude, motives, experiences, interests and
expectations.
o Organization: It is the process by which we sort stimuli into a meaningful
pattern. It involves the following:
o Grouping: Assembling of stimuli on the grounds of similarity.
 o Proximity: This is the closeness of stimuli to one another that affects
perception.
o Closure: It is the ability to organize stimuli so that together they form a whole
pattern.
o Interpretation: It is the formation of an idea about the information that is
sensed, selected and organized. It involves the following phenomena:
primacy effect, selective perception, stereotyping, halo effect, projection and
expectancy effect. They are the types of perceptual errors.
o Primacy/ Recency Effect: The first impression is given the most important
which is known as the primacy effect. Recency effect, on the other hand, is
that human beings remember latest events more than the less recent ones.
o Stereotyping: It is the effect caused by forming a certain belief about a
category of stimuli and generalizing that notion to encounters with each
member of that category. In reality, there is a difference between the
perceived notion of each category and the actual traits of the members. It
may affect the interview process in an organization.
o Halo effect: It is the process of generalizing from a comprehensive analysis to
a single attribute or trait. A negative halo effect is known as the reverse halo
effect. It affects the performance appraisal of employees in a company.
o Projection: It is a psychological defence mechanism which makes a person
compare his negative traits with other people and conclude that they are
better off than others. Perceptual checking minimizes the negative effects of
projection.
o Selective Perception: This means a person sees, feels or hears what he wants
to and skips other information which are inconsistent to his view.
o Expectancy effect: It is the tendency of an individual to interpret any person
or object based on how he expects the person or object to be in the first
place. It is also called as Pygmalion effect.
o

Managerial Implications of Perception

People in organisations are always judging each other. Managers must appraise their
subordinate’s performance. Let us look at the more obvious applications of perceptions in
organisations.

Employment Interview

Performance Evaluation

Performance Expectations
Employee Loyalty

Managerial Implications of Perception

Managerial Implications of Perception

Employment Interview

A major input into who is hired and who is rejected in any organisation is the employment
interview. Evidence indicates that interviewers often make inaccurate perceptual
judgements. Interviewers generally draw early impressions that become very quickly
entrenched.

Performance Evaluation

An employee’s performance appraisal very much depends on the perceptual process. The
performance appraisal represents an assessment of an employee’s work. While this can be
objective, many jobs are evaluated in subjective terms. Subjective measures are, by
definition, judgemental.

Performance Expectations

A manager’s expectations of an individual affect both the manager’s behaviour towards the
individual and the individual’s response.

Employee Loyalty

Another important judgement that managers make about employees is whether they are
loyal to the organisation. Few organisations appreciate employees, especially those in the
managerial ranks openly disparaging the firm.

Values And Attitudes

Values are standards or ideals with which we evaluate actions, people, things, or situations.
Beauty, honesty, justice, peace, generosity are all examples of values that many people
endorse. In thinking about values it is useful to distinguish them into three kinds: Personal
values: values endorsed by an individual.

Values defined in Organizational Behavior as the collective conceptions of what is

considered good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

Some common business values are fairness, innovations and community involvement.
 According to M. Haralambos, “A value is a belief that something is good and desirable”.

According to R.K. Mukherjee, “Values are socially approved desires and goals that are
internalized through the process of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become
subjective preferences, standards, and aspirations”.

According to Zaleznik and David, “Values are the ideas in the mind of men compared to
norms in that they specify how people should behave. Values also attach degrees of
goodness to activities and relationships”

The characteristics of values are:

 These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just techniques but also an
understanding of the strategic context.
 These can provide standards of competence and morality.
 These can go beyond specific situations or persons.
 Personal values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a combination of internal and
external factors.
 These are relatively permanent.
 These are more central to the core of a person.
 Most of our core values are learned early in life from family, friends, neighborhood school,
the mass print, visual media and other sources within the society.
 Values are loaded with effective thoughts about ideas, objects, behavior, etc.
 They contain a judgmental element in that they carry an individual’s ideas as to what is
right, good, or desirable.
 Values can differ from culture to culture and even person to person.
 Values play a significant role in the integration and fulfillment of man’s basic impulses and
desire stably and consistently appropriate for his living.
 They are generic experiences in social action made up of both individual and social
responses and attitudes.
 They build up societies, integrate social relations.
 They mold the ideal dimensions of personality and depth of culture.
 They influence people’s behavior and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.
 They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life. They help in creating norms to
guide day-to-day behavior.

The values of a culture may change, but most remain stable during one person’s lifetime.

Socially shared, intensely felt values are a fundamental part of our lives. These values
become part of our personalities. They are shared and reinforced by those with whom we
interact.

Since values often strongly influence both attitude and behavior, they serve as a kind of
personal compass for employee conduct in the workplace.
 These help to determine whether an employee is passionate about work and the workplace,
which in turn can lead to above-average returns, high employee satisfaction, strong team
dynamics, and synergy.

Types of Values

There are two types of values;

1. Terminal Values.
2. Instrumental Values.

Terminal Values are most desirable to humans and Instrumental values are views of how
human desires should be achieved.

Terminal Values

These are values that we think are most important or most desirable.

These refer to desirable end-states of existence, the goals a person would like to achieve
during his or her lifetime.

They include happiness, self-respect, recognition, inner harmony, leading a prosperous life,
and professional excellence.

Instrumental Values

Instrumental values deal with views on acceptable modes of conductor means of achieving
the terminal values.

These include being honest, sincere, ethical, and being ambitious. These values are more
focused on personality traits and character.

There are many typologies of values. One of the most established surveys to assess
individual values is the Rokeach Value Survey.

This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in alphabetical order.

They are given below:

Terminal Values Instrumental Values

A comfortable life (a prosperous life) Ambitious (hardworking)

An exciting life (a stimulating, active life) Broadminded (open-minded)
A sense of accomplishment (lasting contribution) Capable (competent, efficient)
A world of peace (free of war and conflict) Cheerful ( lighthearted, joyful)
 A world of beauty (the beauty of nature and the
Clean (neat, tidy)
arts)
Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity for all) Courageous (standing up for your beliefs)
Family security (taking care of loved ones) Forgiving (willing to pardon)
Freedom (independence, free choice) Helpful (working for the welfare of others)
Happiness ( contentedness) Honest (sincere, truthful)
Inner harmony (freedom from inner conflict) Imaginative (daring, creative)
Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy) Independent (self-reliant, self-sufficient)
National security (protection from attack) Intellectual (intelligent, reflective)
Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life) Logical (consistent, rational)
Salvation (saved, eternal) Loving (affectionate, tender)
Self-respect(self-esteem) Obedient (dutiful, respectful)
Social recognition (respect, admiration) Polite (courteous, well-mannered)
A true friend (close companionship) Responsible (dependable, reliable)
Wisdom ( a mature understanding of life) Self-controlled (restrained, self-disciplined)

Attitude

Attitude is defined as a more or less stable set of predispositions of opinion, interest or

purpose involving expectancy of a certain kind of experience and readiness with an
appropriate response.

Attitudes are also known as “frames of reference“. They provide the background against
which facts and events are viewed An attitude describes persons’ enduring favorable or
unfavorable cognitive evaluations, feelings, and action tendencies toward some object or
idea. People have attitudes regarding almost everything such as religion, politics, cloth,
music, food.

A person’s attitudes settle into a coherent pattern and to change one may require difficult
adjustment in many others. Thus, a company would be well advised to fit its product into
existing attitudes rather than to try changing people’s attitude.

Attitude can be defined as learnt predispositions to respond to an object or class of objects

in a consistently favorable or unfavourable way.

Components of Attitude(This is also Known as ABC model)

1. Cognitive component
2. Affective component
3. Behavioral component

Cognitive component
Beliefs are the cognitive components of consumer attitude. Cognitive component of attitude
is associated with the value statement. It consists of values, belief, ideas and other
information that a person may have faith in.
Positive brand associations enhance brand equity and are achieved through a number of
positioning strategies. Through brand associations, marketers establish and influence
favorable beliefs about a brand and unfavorable beliefs about competitors. Example:
Quality of sincere hard is a faith or value statement that a manager may have.
Affective component
Affective is the emotive component of consumer attitude. Affective component of attitude is
associated with individual feelings about another person, which may be positive, neutral or
negative.
Three research models describe the determinants of affective response.

 Functional theory of attitude explains that consumers buy as a result of one of four
psychological functions: adjustment, ego defense, value expression, and application of
prior knowledge.

 Fishbein model relates consumer beliefs and evaluations to affective response: if beliefs

are strong and desirable, affective responses are positive.

 Belief importance model analyses affective responses across competing brands.

Example: I don’t like Sam because he is not honest, or I like Sam because he is sincere. It is
an expression of feelings about a person, object or a situation.
Behavioral component
Intention is the behavioral component of consumer attitude. Behavioral component of
attitude is associated with the impact of various condition or situations that lead to person
behavior based on cognitive and affective components.
Two research models demonstrate the relationship between intention to purchase and
actual purchase and consumption.

 The theories of reasoned action explain purchasing behavior as a direct result of

intention, influenced by attitude toward purchase and by subjective norms.

 The theory of trying to consume explains actual consumption behavior of purchasers. It

provides insight into the establishment and maintenance of long-term relationship with
consumers.
Example: I don’t like Sam because he is not honest is an affective component, I, therefore,
would like to disassociate myself with him, is a behavioural component and therefore I
would avoid Sam.
Cognitive and affective components are bases for such behaviour. Former two components
cannot be seen, only the behaviour component can be seen. Former is important because it
is a base for the formation of attitude.

Job Related Attitude

There are broadly three types of attitude in term of organisational behavior
1. Job satisfaction
2. Job involvement
3. Organizational commitment

Types of Attitude

Job satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an individual holds toward his or her
job.A person will hold a positive attitude if had a high level of satisfaction, while dissatisfied
people will generally display a negative attitude towards life.When we talk about attitude,
we generally speak about job satisfaction because they are inter-related in organizational
behaviour.
The feelings people have toward their job. It is probably the most important job attitude and
denotes how satisfied an employee is at his work. A person with high job satisfaction
appears to hold generally positive attitude, and one who is dissatisfied holds negative
attitude towards their job.

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. (Robbins)
Higher job satisfaction leads to low absenteeism & employee turnover and indicates that
the individual cares for his job.

Organizational commitment
Organizational commitment refers to a degree to which an employee identifies himself
with the organizational goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.
Organizational commitment is the emotional or psychological attachment people have
toward the company they work for. A highly committed employee identifies completely
with the organizations’ objectives and is willing to put in whatever effort it takes to meet
them. Such an employee will be willing to remain with the organization and grow with it.

Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment

Employees tend to associate satisfaction and commitment in jobs with certain
characteristics.
Nature of Job − Employees are satisfied and committed when they feel that their job
provides the ability to use their inherent skills, having autonomy at work, performing a
seemingly significant task, having healthy feedback mechanism, etc. Employees also tend
to be more satisfied when their jobs help them build new skills and improve themselves.
Job Fitment − It is the degree to which an employee’s personal beliefs, values and goals are
in synergy with those of the organization. An employee who sees a healthy synergy will
remain satisfied and committed.
Organizational Justice − Every individual likes to be treated fairly in all situations. This also
applies to the workplace and plays a big role in creating and sustaining satisfaction and
commitment levels. How fair the company policies are, how fairly the management and
superiors treat the employees and how fair is the compensation an employee receives in
return for his contribution, are some factors.
Work Relationships − Another major influencer of an employee’s satisfaction and
commitment is the relationship with juniors, peers and managers. Relationship refers to
the way they are treated, whether they are socially accepted in the work group, how
considerate is the manager, how fair he is towards the employees, etc.
Psychological Association − An employee who is emotionally attached with the
organization will be satisfied and willing to commit himself to achieving the organizational
objectives. It is the unspoken informal bond that silently plays a maj
Unit –4

Motivation & leadership

Motivation is an inspiration that helps to use the employees’ knowledge and skill for the
growth and development of the organization. It is an act of persuading the people who work
in the organization. It is defines as the psychological process that hell to increase the will to
do work. It is the process of inspiring people from which the people can use their ability. It is
an important function of management. The employees who are engaged in the organization
must be motivated. Without motivation, their ability and skill can’t be used properly. Every
employee has the capacity to do work. It is the process that helps the employee to explore
their talent.

“The concept of motivation is mainly psychological. It relates to those factors or forces

operating with the individual employee or subordinate which impel him to act or not to act in
certain ways.”

–Delton e. McFarland

Importance of motivation

1. Proper utilization of production factor: Motivation is the mechanism which is used to

stimulate the employees. Stimulated employees are ready to use the production factor
properly and efficiently. So it results in increase in production and productivity.

2. Willingness and interest creation: Motivation stimulates the employees in an

organization. It influences the willingness of employees to work hard and help to present
better performance. It is a process that acts according to desire of employees and increases
the willingness and interest of employees to do work.
3. High productivity: When the employees are fully motivated there is better performance.
It results high production and productivity increment.
4. Organizational goals:The machine, equipment, money cannot be effectively used when
the employees are not motivated to do the work in an organization to the maximum
extent.so it helps to achieve the organizational goals.
5. Readiness for change:Changes are required in every organization. Such changes may be
in technology, environment etc. when the changes are introduced in the organization there
is tendency to resist them by the employee or hesitate to accept the change. Motivated
employees are already made ready to accept the change.
6. Efficiency in work:Motivated employees perform their duties according to the goals of
the organization. They perform work efficiently and timely and increase the efficiency
7. Reduce absenteeism: – Motivated employees don’t want to be absent frequently. In
other words, Motivated employees stay in the organization more and non Motivated
employees are careless for the organizational goals.
8. Employees’ satisfaction:employee’s satisfaction is an important aspect for the managerial
point of view. Employees may be motivated by fulfilling their needs and giving satisfaction in
their work. In short Motivated employees are always satisfied.

9. Fewer disputes and strikes:  disputes and strikes are harmful for organizational activities.
When the employees are not motivates they are dissatisfies which creates disputes in the
organization.
10. Better human relation: all employees must be treated as human beings by the
organization. Motivation I mainly related to behave the human beings.

Types of Motivation
The two types of motivation are:
1. Intrinsic motivation
2. Extrinsic motivation
Types of motivation
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation can arise from self-generated factors that influence people’s behaviour.
It is not created by external incentives.
It can take the form of motivation by the work itself when individuals feel that their work is
important, interesting and challenging and provides them with a reasonable degree of
autonomy (freedom to act), opportunities to achieve and advance, and scope to use and
develop their skills and abilities.

Extrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation occurs when things are done to or for people to motivate them. These
include rewards, such as incentives, increased pay, praise, or promotion; and punishments,
such as disciplinary action, withholding pay, or criticism. Extrinsic motivators can have an
immediate and powerful effect, but will not necessarily last long.

Motivation theories

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Human motivation can be defined as the fulfillment of various needs. These needs can
encompass a range of human desires, from basic, tangible needs of survival to complex,
emotional needs surrounding an individual’s psychological well-being.

Abraham Maslow was a social psychologist who was interested in a broad spectrum

of human psychological needs rather than on individual psychological problems. He is best
known for his hierarchy-of-needs theory. Depicted in a pyramid (shown in Figure 1), the
theory organizes the different levels of human psychological and physical needs in order of
importance.
 Figure 1. Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs is illustrated here. In some versions of the pyramid, cognitive and
aesthetic needs are also included between esteem and self-actualization. Others include
another tier at the top of the pyramid for self-transcendence.

The needs in Maslow’s hierarchy include physiological needs (food and clothing), safety
needs (job security), social needs (friendship), self-esteem, and self-actualization. This
hierarchy can be used by managers to better understand employees’ needs and motivation
and address them in ways that lead to high productivity and job satisfaction.

At the bottom of the pyramid are the physiological (or basic) human needs that are
required for survival: food, shelter, water, sleep, etc. If these requirements are not met, the
body cannot continue to function. Faced with a lack of food, love, and safety, most people
would probably consider food to be their most urgent need.

Once physical needs are satisfied, security (sometimes referred to as individual safety) takes

precedence. Security and safety needs include personal security, financial security, and
health and well-being. These first two levels are important to the physical survival of the
person. Once individuals have basic nutrition, shelter, and safety, they seek to fulfill higher-
level needs.

The third level of need is social, which includes love and belonging; when individuals have
taken care of themselves physically, they can address their need to share and connect with
others. Deficiencies at this level, on account of neglect, shunning, ostracism, etc., can impact
an individual’s ability to form and maintain emotionally significant relationships. Humans
need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social
group or a small network of family and friends. Other sources of social connection may be
professional organizations, clubs, religious groups, social media sites, and so forth. Humans
need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. Without these
attachments, people can be vulnerable to psychological difficulties such as loneliness, social
anxiety, and depression. These conditions, when severe, can impair a person’s ability to
address basic physiological needs such as eating and sleeping.

The fourth level is esteem, which represents the normal human desire to be valued and
validated by others, through, for example, the recognition of success or status. This level
also includes self-esteem, which refers to the regard and acceptance one has for oneself.
Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People
suffering from low self-esteem may find that external validation by others—through fame,
glory, accolades, etc.—only partially or temporarily fulfills their needs at this level.

At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization. At this stage, people feel that they have
reached their full potential and are doing everything they’re capable of. Self-actualization is
rarely a permanent feeling or state. Rather, it refers to the ongoing need for personal
growth and discovery that people have throughout their lives. Self-actualization may occur
after reaching an important goal or overcoming a particular challenge, and it may be marked
by a new sense of self-confidence or contentment.

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

American psychologist Frederick Herzberg is regarded as one of the great original thinkers

in management and motivational theory. Herzberg set out to determine the effect of
attitude on motivation, by simply asking people to describe the times when they felt really
good, and really bad, about their jobs. What he found was that people who felt good about
their jobs gave very different responses from the people who felt bad.

The results from this inquiry form the basis of Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
(sometimes known as Herzberg’s “Two Factor Theory”). Published in his famous article,
“One More Time: How do You Motivate Employees,” the conclusions he drew were
extraordinarily influential, and still form the bedrock of good motivational practice nearly
half a century later. He’s especially recognized for his two-factor theory, which hypothesized
that are two different sets of factors governing job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction: 
“hygiene factors,” or extrinsic motivators and “motivation factors,” or intrinsic motivators.

Hygiene factors, or extrinsic motivators, tend to represent more tangible, basic needs—i.e.,
the kinds of needs included in the existence category of needs in the ERG theory or in the
lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Extrinsic motivators include status, job security,
salary, and fringe benefits. It’s important for managers to realize that not providing the
appropriate and expected extrinsic motivators will sow dissatisfaction and decrease
motivation among employees.
Motivation factors, or intrinsic motivators, tend to represent less tangible, more emotional
needs—i.e., the kinds of needs identified in the “relatedness” and “growth” categories of
needs in the ERG theory and in the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Intrinsic
motivators include challenging work, recognition, relationships, and growth potential.
Managers need to recognize that while these needs may fall outside the more traditional
scope of what a workplace ought to provide, they can be critical to strong individual and
team performance.

The factor that differentiates two-factor theory from the others we’ve discussed is the
role of employee expectations. According to Herzberg, intrinsic motivators and extrinsic
motivators have an inverse relationship. That is, intrinsic motivators tend to
increase motivation when they are present, while extrinsic motivators tend to reduce
motivation when they are absent. This is due to employees’ expectations. Extrinsic
motivators (e.g., salary, benefits) are expected, so they won’t increase motivation when
they are in place, but they will cause dissatisfaction when they are missing. Intrinsic
motivators (e.g., challenging work, growth potential), on the other hand, can be a source of
additional motivation when they are available.

If management wants to increase employees’ job satisfaction, they should be concerned

with the nature of the work itself—the opportunities it presents employees for gaining
status, assuming responsibility, and achieving self-realization. If, on the other hand,
management wishes to reduce dissatisfaction, then it must focus on the job environment—
policies, procedures, supervision, and working conditions. To ensure a satisfied and
productive workforce, managers must pay attention to both sets of job factors.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

 The idea that a manager’s attitude has an impact on employee motivation was originally
proposed by Douglas McGregor, a management professor at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology during the 1950s and 1960s. In his 1960 book, The Human Side of Enterprise,
McGregor proposed two theories by which managers perceive and address employee
motivation. He referred to these opposing motivational methods as Theory X and Theory Y
management. Each assumes that the manager’s role is to organize resources, including
people, to best benefit the company. However, beyond this commonality, the attitudes and
assumptions they embody are quite different.

Theory X

According to McGregor, Theory X management assumes the following:

 Work is inherently distasteful to most people, and they will attempt to avoid work whenever
possible.
 Most people are not ambitious, have little desire for responsibility, and prefer to be
directed.
 Most people have little aptitude for creativity in solving organizational problems.
 Motivation occurs only at the physiological and security levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs.
 Most people are self-centered. As a result, they must be closely controlled and often
coerced to achieve organizational objectives.
 Most people resist change.
 Most people are gullible and unintelligent.

Essentially, Theory X assumes that the primary source of employee motivation is monetary,
with security as a strong second. Under Theory X, one can take a hard or soft approach to
getting results.

The hard approach to motivation relies on coercion, implicit threats, micromanagement,

and tight controls— essentially an environment of command and control. The soft approach,
however, is to be permissive and seek harmony in the hopes that, in return, employees will
cooperate when asked. However, neither of these extremes is optimal. The hard approach
results in hostility, purposely low output, and extreme union demands. The soft approach
results in a growing desire for greater reward in exchange for diminished work output.

It might seem that the optimal approach to human resource management would lie

somewhere between these extremes. However, McGregor asserts that neither approach is
appropriate, since the basic assumptions of Theory X are incorrect.

Drawing on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, McGregor argues that a need, once satisfied, no
longer motivates. The company uses monetary rewards and benefits to satisfy employees’
lower-level needs. Once those needs have been satisfied, the motivation disappears. Theory
X management hinders the satisfaction of higher-level needs because it doesn’t
acknowledge that those needs are relevant in the workplace. As a result, the only way that
employees can attempt to meet higher-level needs at work is to seek more compensation,
so, predictably, they focus on monetary rewards. While money may not be the most
 effective way to self-fulfillment, it may be the only way available. People will use work to
satisfy their lower needs and seek to satisfy their higher needs during their leisure time.
However, employees can be most productive when their work goals align with their higher-
level needs.

McGregor makes the point that a command-and-control environment is not effective

because it relies on lower needs for motivation, but in modern society those needs are
mostly satisfied and thus are no longer motivating. In this situation, one would expect
employees to dislike their work, avoid responsibility, have no interest in organizational
goals, resist change, etc.—creating, in effect, a self-fulfilling prophecy. To McGregor, a
steady supply of motivation seemed more likely to occur under Theory Y management.

Theory Y

The higher-level needs of esteem and self-actualization are ongoing needs that, for most
people, are never completely satisfied. As such, it is these higher-level needs through which
employees can best be motivated.

In strong contrast to Theory X, Theory Y management makes the following assumptions:

 Work can be as natural as play if the conditions are favorable.

 People will be self-directed and creative to meet their work and organizational objectives if
they are committed to them.
 People will be committed to their quality and productivity objectives if rewards are in place
that address higher needs such as self-fulfillment.
 The capacity for creativity spreads throughout organizations.
 Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common in the
population.
 Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility.

Under these assumptions, there is an opportunity to align personal goals with organizational
goals by using the employee’s own need for fulfillment as the motivator. McGregor stressed
that Theory Y management does not imply a soft approach.

McGregor recognized that some people may not have reached the level of maturity
assumed by Theory Y and may initially need tighter controls that can be relaxed as the
employee develops.

If Theory Y holds true, an organization can apply the following principles of scientific

management to improve employee motivation:

 Decentralization and delegation: If firms decentralize control and reduce the number of
levels of management, managers will have more subordinates and consequently need to
delegate some responsibility and decision making to them.
 Job enlargement: Broadening the scope of an employee’s job adds variety and
opportunities to satisfy ego needs.
 Participative management: Consulting employees in the decision-making process taps their
creative capacity and provides them with some control over their work environment.
 Performance appraisals: Having the employee set objectives and participate in the process
of self-evaluation increases engagement and dedication.

If properly implemented, such an environment can increase and continually fuel motivation

as employees work to satisfy their higher-level personal needs through their jobs.

Leadership Concept & importance

Leaders and their leadership skills play an important role in the growth of any organization.
Leadership refers to the process of influencing the behaviour of people in a manner that they
strive willingly and enthusiastically towards the achievement of group objectives.

A leader should have the ability to maintain good interpersonal relations with the followers or
subordinates and motivate them to help in achieving the organizational objectives.

Features of Leadership

 Influence the behaviour of others: Leadership is an ability of an individual to influence

the behaviour of other employees in the organization to achieve a common purpose or
goal so that they are willingly co-operating with each other for the fulfillment of the
same.

 Inter-personal process: It is an interpersonal process between the leader and the

followers. The relationship between the leader and the followers decides how efficiently
and effectively the targets of the organization would be met.

 Attainment of common organizational goals: The purpose of leadership is to guide the

people in an organization to work towards the attainment of common organizational
goals. The leader brings the people and their efforts together to achieve common goals.

 Continuous process: Leadership is a continuous process. A leader has to guide his

employees every time and also monitor them in order to make sure that their efforts are
going in the same direction and that they are not deviating from their goals.

 Group process: It is a group process that involves two or more people together
interacting with each other. A leader cannot lead without the followers.

 Dependent on the situation: It is situation bound as it all depends upon tackling the
situations present. Thus, there is no single best style of leadership.
Importance of Leadership:

 Initiating Action: Leadership starts from the very beginning, even before the work
actually starts. A leader is a person who communicates the policies and plans to the
subordinates to start the work.

 Providing Motivation: A leader motivates the employees by giving them financial and

non-financial incentives and gets the work done efficiently. Motivation is the driving
force in an individual’s life.

 Providing guidance: A leader not only supervises the employees but also guides them in
their work. He instructs the subordinates on how to perform their work effectively so
that their efforts don’t get wasted.

 Creating confidence: A leader acknowledges the efforts of the employees, explains to

them their role clearly and guides them to achieve their goals. He also resolves the
complaints and problems of the employees, thereby building confidence in them
regarding the organization.

 Building work environment: A good leader should maintain personal contacts with the
employees and should hear their problems and solve them. He always listens to the
point of view of the employees and in case of disagreement persuades them to agree
with him by giving suitable clarifications. In case of conflicts, he handles them carefully
and does not allow it to adversely affect the entity. A positive and efficient
work environment helps in stable growth of the organization.

 Co-ordination: A leader reconciles the personal interests of the employees with the
organizational goals and achieves co-ordination in the entity.

 Creating Successors: A leader trains his subordinates in such a manner that they can
succeed him in future easily in his absence. He creates more leaders.

 Induces change: A leader persuades, clarifies and inspires employees to accept any
change in the organization without much resistance and discontentment. He makes sure
that employees don’t feel insecure about the changes.
Often, the success of an organization is attributed to its leaders. But, one must not forget that
it’s the followers who make a leader successful by accepting his leadership. Thus, leaders and
followers collectively play a key role to make leadership successful.

Qualities of a Leader
 Personality: A pleasing personality always attracts people. A leader should also friendly
and yet authoritative so that he inspires people to work hard like him.

 Knowledge: A subordinate looks up to his leader for any suggestion that he needs. A
good leader should thus possess adequate knowledge and competence in order to
influence the subordinates.

 Integrity: A leader needs to possess a high level of integrity and honesty. He should have
a fair outlook and should base his judgment on the facts and logic. He should be
objective and not biased.

 Initiative: A good leader takes initiative to grab the opportunities and not wait for them
and use them to the advantage of the organization.

 Communication skills: A leader needs to be a good communicator so that he can explain

his ideas, policies, and procedures clearly to the people. He not only needs to be a good
speaker but also a good listener, counsellor, and persuader.

 Motivation skills: A leader needs to be an effective motivator who understands the

needs of the people and motivates them by satisfying those needs.

 Self-confidence and Will Power: A leader needs to have a high level of self-confidence
and immense will-power and should not lose it even in the worst situations, else
employees will not believe in him.

 Intelligence: A leader needs to be intelligent enough to analyze the pros and cons of a
situation and take a decision accordingly. He also needs to have a vision and fore-
sightedness so that he can predict the future impact of the decisions taken by him.

 Decisiveness: A leader has to be decisive in managing his work and should be firm on the
decisions are taken by him.

 Social skills: A leader should possess empathy towards others. He should also be a
humanist who also helps the people with their personal problems. He also needs to
possess a sense of responsibility and accountability because with great authority comes
great responsibility.

Leadership Styles

The three types of leadership styles in business?

In 1939, Kurt Lewin identified three types of leadership styles in business: autocratic,
democratic, and laissez-faire. Each, of course, comes with its own advantages and
disadvantages.

1. The autocratic business leader

The autocratic leader understands the strength of authority. Autocratic leaders are not
interested in opening up the decision-making process to the entire group. Instead, they choose
to bear the leadership completely alone. They expect those who fall under their authority to
follow orders.

Advantages of an autocratic business leader

The main advantage of an autocratic leader is streamlined work that improves efficiency and
productivity. They create firm deadlines and have a very clear set of expectations. This is
ideal in a time of crisis or when last-minute decisions are needed. This leadership style allows
for fewer misunderstandings as directions are passed down.

The disadvantages of an autocratic business leader

They often have a limited perspective. Given that they only draw from their own ideas and
experience, any input from other members of the team will likely go unspoken. Those who
work under this leadership style sometimes end up resenting their manager. They feel
undervalued due to limited recognition of their contributions. Additionally, this leader is
more likely to micromanage their team. Autocratic leaders tend to find themselves at the
center of low work morale and high employee turnover. 

When to use this style

The autocratic style is best used during a crisis when a leader is most valuable. You need
someone who takes control to make quick and difficult decisions to potentially reduce
damage. During times of emergency, teams appreciate a strong and decisive leader.
Autocratic leadership may also come in handy when team correction is necessary. After the
crisis has passed, it is generally beneficial to switch styles.

2. The democratic business leader

A democratic leader encourages the free exchange of ideas throughout the team. All members
have a valued voice and the leader acts as a spokesperson or facilitator. Democratic leaders
rely on the participation of every member of the group. They emphasize the value and
expertise each member brings to the table. Every team member shares the freedoms and
responsibilities of leadership.

Advantages of a democratic business leader

An advantage of democratic leadership is the boundless creativity of the entire group that
allows for open discussion of issues and solutions. Team unity generally grows as a result of
democratic leadership. This environment can make an employee feel appreciated,
accomplished, and important to the success of the organization. Common office politics such
as gossiping, cliques, and manipulation become much less prevalent. The end result is an
improved work environment and lower employee turnover: 63% of employees who are
recognized for their work are less likely to job hunt.

The disadvantages of a democratic business leader

Under democratic leadership, deliberation can be an unaffordable luxury. If decisions need to

be made quickly, a democratic team may be unable to adapt and function under the stress.
Democratic leadership can result in a lack of clarity around team members’ roles and
responsibilities, and difficulty identifying employees who aren’t carrying their weight.

When to use this style

This is the most effective method for day-to-day work as it allows the group to take part in
decision-making. This gives teams a feeling of ownership over projects, deliverables, and
results. Many business leaders identify the democratic leadership style as their go-to style,
but this technique can be less effective during times of crisis.

3. The laissez-faire business leader

Laissez-faire leaders are the hands-off type. They assign tasks and give general direction but
they’re usually uninvolved in day-to-day tasks. Employees decide on the best approach to
fulfill their responsibilities. Laissez-faire leaders put a great amount of faith in the individual.
They trust them to remain self-motivated, on-task, and accountable. If issues arise, these
leaders are available to offer direction, but only upon request. Laissez-faire leaders allow
each member of their team to succeed or fail based on their own abilities.

Advantages of laissez-faire business leaders

An advantage of laissez-faire leadership is the freedom to operate without restrictions or

interference from management. This gives skilled and self-motivated employees a chance to
reach their fullest potential. 

The disadvantages of laissez-faire business leaders

A disadvantage can be the loss of productivity without a strong leadership hand to keep it on
track. This can result in missed deadlines, omissions in the process, and low-quality work.
With each team member pursuing goals in their own way, team unity may suffer. Some may
start to lose interest in work due to distant and seemingly uninterested leaders. This can lead
to significant losses for the organization. Disengaged employees can cost American
businesses an estimated $450-550 billion per year.

When to use this style

Laissez-faire leadership is best when individuals are able to function without supervision.
Before using this style, make sure each team member has the right skill level and self-
direction capability. They must be able to motivate themselves to keep the work going.
Otherwise, this approach could backfire and cause more harm than good.

Choose your type of leadership style

Review your current team dynamic. Are they excelling or unengaged? If it’s the latter, you
might want to review your methods. Figure out what needs to stay the same and what needs
to change. A leader sets the tone for the entire team. By changing the way you lead, you may
find that your team will adapt, evolve, and improve.

Which business leadership style is right for you? You may find that you don’t fit neatly into
any one category. The most successful leaders are those who jump between leadership styles.
Pick and choose techniques that best fit the team or task at hand and adapt them along the
way as needed. Effective leadership is, and always has been, about knowing what techniques
to use and when.

The most important leadership skill that you can develop is self-awareness; know what works
and what doesn’t. By understanding these most common business leadership styles, you’ll be
able to move between them as needed, and set yourself and your team up for success.

Additional Leadership Styles and Models

In addition to the three styles identified by Lewin and his colleagues, researchers have
described numerous other characteristic patterns of leadership. A few of the best-known

Transformational Leadership

Transformal leadership is often identified as the single most effective style. This style was
first described during the late 1970s and later expanded upon by researcher Bernard M.
Bass. Transformational leaders are able to motivate and inspire followers and to direct
positive changes in groups.

These leaders tend to be emotionally intelligent, energetic, and passionate. They are not
only committed to helping the organization achieve its goals, but also to helping group
members fulfill their potential.

Research shows that this style of leadership results in higher performance and more
improved group satisfaction than other leadership styles. One study also found that
transformational leadership led to improved well-being among group members.

Transactional Leadership

The transactional leadership style views the leader-follower relationship as a transaction. By

accepting a position as a member of the group, the individual has agreed to obey the leader.
In most situations, this involves the employer-employee relationship, and the transaction
focuses on the follower completing required tasks in exchange for monetary compensation.

One of the main advantages of this leadership style is that it creates clearly defined
roles. People know what they are required to do and what they will be receiving in
exchange. This style allows leaders to offer a great deal of supervision and direction, if
needed.
Group members may also be motivated to perform well to receive rewards. One of the
biggest downsides is that the transactional style tends to stifle creativity and out-of-the-box
thinking.

Conflict & Culture

Power & Power tactics

The concept of power refers to the capacity that a person has to influence the behaviour of
another person. The influencing person influences another person to make them act in
accordance with the influencing persons’ wishes. Moreover, in other words, power exists as a
potential or fully actualizing influence over a dependent relationship. Many may be unaware of
casual trivia that organizational power is also known as power politics.

Bases of Power
The concept of power derives its ultimate meaning from the 2 strong bases of power. In other
words, the following 2 bases are the core foundation for organizational power. They are as
follows:

 Informal Power refers to the power that comes from an individual’s unique
characteristics. These are the most effective because personal skills, traits and
knowledge influence personal power.

 Formal Power refers to the power that establishes because of the individual’s position in
an organization.

Sources of Formal Individual Power

1. Legitimate Power – The power to monitor and use the organization’s resources in order
to accomplish organizational goals. For example Firing, demotion, & subordinate’s
authority. Another example is that of a CEO who uses a Private Jet to travel.

2. Reward Power – The power that allows you to give pay raises, promotion, praise,
interesting projects, and other rewards to your subordinates. Moreover, there is a limit
to the number of rewards, however, it can be a great tool to motivate subordinates.

3. Coercive Power – The power to punish or to withhold a punishment. Punishments

have negative side effects and should be used with caution. Furthermore, punishments
can be:
o Suspension to demotion

o Termination

o Unpleasant job assignments

o Withholding of praise and goodwill

Sources of Informal Individual Power
1. Expert Power – An informal concept of power that stems from superior ability or
expertise. In this, the group members will tend to consult this person (the expert) for
advice or help on a project. However, it is this dependency is what gives the individual
power over their peers.

2. Referent Power – Fame is a critical aspect of referent power. However, this fame could
be in the field of film, sports, music stars, etc. Moreover, agreeable, conscientious, and
giving people are also awarded referent power. People with referent power possess high
expertise. Their ability to obtain resources, and also to secure their surroundings is what
provides them referent powers.

3. Charismatic Power – Intense form of referent power that comes from someone’s

personality. It also comes from physical attributes or abilities that induce others to
follow and believe in that person.

The Concept of Power Tactics

There are 9 organizational power tactics. These tactics are ways in which individuals translate
power bases into specific actions. The 9 influence tactics are legitimacy, rational persuasion,
inspirational appeals, consultation, exchange, personal appeals, ingratiation, pressure and
coalitions.

 Rational persuasion. A tactic that is used to try and convince someone with a valid
reason, rational logic, or realistic facts.

 Inspirational appeals. A tactic that builds enthusiasm by appealing to emotions, ideas

and/or values.

 Consultation. A tactic that focuses on getting others to participate in the planning

process, making decisions, and encourage changes.

 Ingratiation. A tactic that emphasizes on getting someone in a good mood prior to

making a request. It includes being friendly, helpful, and using praise or flattery.

 Personal appeals. A tactic that refers to friendship and loyalty while making a request.

 Exchange. A tactic that suggests that making express or implied promises and trading
favours.

 Coalition tactics. Refers to a tactic that prescribes getting others to support your effort
to persuade someone.

 Pressure. A tactic that focuses on demanding compliance or using intimidation or

threats.
 Legitimating tactics. This tactic suggests that basing a request on one’s authority or
right, organizational rules or policies, or express or implied support from superiors, is a
best.

Conflict

Conflict is defined as an incompatibility of goals or values between two or more parties in a

relationship, combined with attempts to control each other and antagonistic feelings toward each
other. Conflict is difficult to define, because it occurs in many different settings. The essence of
conflict seems to be disagreement, contradiction, or incompatibility. Thus, CONFLICT refers to any
situation in which there are incompatible Goals, Cognitions, or Emotions within or between
individuals or groups that lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction. The definition recognizes
three basic types of conflict: Goal conflict is situation in which desired end states or preferred
outcomes appear to be incompatible.

Conflict can be destructive to a team and to an organization. Disadvantages can

include:

 Teams lose focus on common goals

 Winning eclipses any other goals of the group
 Judgement gets distorted
 There is a lack of cooperation
 Losing members lack motivation to continue participation

But if managed well, conflict can be healthy and spark creativity as parties try to
come to consensus. Some of the benefits of conflict include:

 High energy
 Task focus
 Cohesiveness within the group
 Discussion of issues

There has been plenty of conflict over how conflict is viewed in the workplace over
the years. Just like our concept of teams, our concepts of managing people and how
they’re motivated, our concepts of stress in the workplace have changed as we’ve
learned.

Six Sources of Conflict

Here are six common sources within an organization that may lead to interpersonal
conflict:

1. LACK OF ROLE CLARIFICATION

Conflict can emerge when it is unclear who is responsible for what task or what part
of a project. Clear job descriptions and expectations can reduce this contributor to
conflict.

2. POOR PROCESSES
Often poorly constructed processes and procedures can create conflict. To avoid this
pitfall, it is helpful to regularly review your procedures and policies to ensure they
support teamwork and collaboration.

3. COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS
This is a common contributor to conflict and can occur among all levels of staff.
Keeping communication channels open and having a culture where questions are
welcomed will go a long way in mitigating this contributor to conflict.

4. LACK OF PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

When performance and quality standards are not clear, individuals quickly sort out
their own personal expectations around work quantity and quality. This can put them
at odds with others whose standards are different. Leadership and management
should be fair, clear, and consistent in articulating performance standards.

5. LACK OF RESOURCES
If employees have to compete for resources, whether it’s managerial support, tools,
equipment, or financial resources, the stage is set for competition and conflict.
Asking employees what’s needed and then providing it (if possible) will build a spirit
of collaboration rather than competition.

6. UNREASONABLE TIME CONSTRAINTS

Workplace conflict can occur when coworkers are not aware of the steps involved
and the time others need to complete their portion of a task or project. As a result,
they may expect more of each other than is reasonable. Taking time to consider job
design and cross-training employees can work to mitigate this contributor to conflict.

TYPES OF CONFLICT

The types of conflicts in an organization may differ, but there are some
broad categories we can put them into. After all, people worldwide function
in somewhat similar ways in the workplace.

Identifying and addressing various types of conflict in the workplace will

ensure an improvement in productivity levels. Resolving conflict leads to
members of the team understanding each other better and working as a
cohesive unit.

Let us look at the main types of conflicts in an organisation.

1.INTRAPERSONAL CONFLICT
 Out of all the types of conflicts in an organization, this is the best one to
start with. Humans are complex beings. Each of us carries unique
potential, morals, ideas, beliefs. Intrapersonal conflict refers to the
struggle that an individual faces while working in an organization.
Intrapersonal conflict can arise when the ideas, mission, or vision of the
organization are not aligned with the moral values and belief systems of
an individual. The individual is rendered unable to work because they do
not believe in the work they are doing. Intrapersonal conflict can be
resolved by soul-searching and understanding what it is one truly wants.

2.INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT
Every individual is unique. Even if you are working towards the same
goal, there are chances that differences arise in approaches. These
differences can be about philosophy, work ethic, rule adherence, vision,
or management style. Out of all types of conflicts in an organization,
interpersonal conflict is the one most of us would have most likely
experienced. Sometimes taking an ugly form through office gossip or
even categorized as ‘office politics,’ interpersonal conflicts is almost
inevitable when people with different perspectives and from different
walks of life spend a significant amount of their time together.
Interpersonal conflicts adversely affect productivity and morale. They can
easily escalate if not attended to in a timely manner.

3.INTRA-TEAM CONFLICT
Organizational goals are often ambitious—they require the coming
together of people with varying levels of experience and expertise.
Therefore, it is common for the workforce to be divided into teams for
smooth functioning. Like some other types of conflicts in an organization,
intra-team conflict is a result of diverse personalities working together in
the same team. It is possible that a few people from the team or the
group hold a few values and beliefs in common, but as the size of the
team increases, the chances are that conflict does too. Intra-team
conflict can be managed by a clear division of responsibilities, a fair
division of work, and a management policy under which no team
member is given any kind of ‘special’ treatment.

4.INTER-TEAM CONFLICT
One of the biggest types of conflict in the workplace, in scale, would be
inter-team conflict. For any organization to function effectively, there has
to be equilibrium among all the cogs of the wheel. With multitudes of
individuals, groups, teams, boards, and other stakeholders working
together, it is the responsibility of the organizational leaders to resolve
inter-team conflicts. Supervisors need to ensure that communication
channels are open and any tension or lack of cooperation between
 teams is nipped in the bud. To do this, they need to eradicate bias,
allocate workload effectively, and build morale. A leader has to take
personality differences, co-worker relationships, and collective strength
into account. Verbal discussions and positive reinforcements go a long
way in resolving inter-team conflicts.

Conflict Management Styles

Whether you’re managing the conflict of two subordinates or embroiled in the midst
of your own conflict, you make a choice on how the conflict should be managed by
weighing the importance of the goal against the importance of the relationships in
questions.

Each person brings his own innate style of conflict management to the party. Are
they all right or all wrong? Let us examine each one of them

The avoiding style of conflict resolution is one where one has low concern for his or
her ultimate goal and low concern for his or her relationship with the other. In this
situation, Heitor might avoid any discussion with Teresa, n.ot wanting to start any
fights. He’s just not that kind of guy. But his idea isn’t getting furthered along, nor is
hers, nor is the company meeting its goals. The conflict hasn’t gone away, and the
job just isn’t getting done.

The accommodating style of conflict resolution is where one party focuses on the

needs of the other, and not the importance of the goal. If Heitor were one to adopt
the accommodating style, he might look at Teresa as a valued team player who
really needs a break after a couple of tough months. Without thought to the goal and
the outcome the company expects, he tells Teresa to go ahead with the direct mail
program.

The competing style of conflict resolution is defined by one party pushing ahead

with his or her own mission and goals with no concern for the other party in the
conflict. If Teresa were to adopt the competing style of conflict resolution, she might
move forward with the plan to use direct mail and ignore anything to do with Heitor’s
suggestion. She’d take her idea to their boss and implement and run right over any
objections Heitor had. As you might guess, this approach may exacerbate other
conflicts down the road!

Right in the middle of Figure 1 is the compromising style of conflict management.

Here, moderate concern for others and moderate concern for the ultimate goal are
exhibited, and a focus is placed on achieving a reasonable middle ground where all
the parties can be happy. For Heitor and Teresa, this might mean a joint decision
where they devote half of their marketing funds to the direct mail campaign that
Teresa wants to do, and the other half to the television spots that Heitor wants to do.
Neither party has gotten exactly what he or she wanted, but neither party is
completely dissatisfied with the resolution.

Finally, the collaborating style is one where there is high concern for relationships
and high concern for achieving one’s own goal. Those with a collaborating style look
to put all conflict on the table, analyze it and deal openly with all parties. They look
for the best possible solution: a win for each party in the conflict. In this situation,
Heitor and Teresa would sit down, look at the possible conversion rate of each of
their planned marketing campaigns. Perhaps they would find that a third option—
online advertising—would provide a more targeted audience at a discounted price.
With this new option that both parties could get behind, conflict is resolved and both
feel like the company’s goal will be satisfied.

Organisational culture & climate

What is Organizational Culture?

Organizational culture is a set of values, beliefs, behaviors, customs and attitudes that
govern how people behave within organizations. The culture of an organization provides
boundaries and guidelines that help the employees of the organization to know the
correct way of performing their jobs.
The culture of an organization is ingrained in the behavior of the employees within an
organization and in a way it shows the ‘personality’ of the organization. The unique
culture of an organization creates a distinct atmosphere that is felt by the people who are
a part of the group, and this atmosphere is known as the climate of an organization.

Basic elements of Organisational culture

Artifacts: It is the first level of organisational culture. It is observable symbols and signs of the
organisations. It includes visible parts of organisation e.g., structures, processes etc. Artifacts are
hard to decipher.

Espoused Values: These are the reasons (e.g., strategies, goals, philosophies) given by an
organisation for the way things are done. It is the second level of organisational culture.

Basic Assumptions: Basic assumptions are the beliefs that are taken for granted by the members of
an organisation. These are ultimate source of values and action that include: unconscious,
perceptions, takenfor-granted beliefs, thoughts, feelings etc. It is the third level of organisational
culture.

Organisational culture may be distinguished with respect to their core basic values. Core values are
the primary or dominant values that are accepted throughout the organisation. The dominant values
determine the dominant culture of an organisation. Thus, the dominant culture reflects the core
values that are shared by most of the members of the organisation.

According to Martin there are four such core basic values:

• Sensitivity to needs of customers and employees;

• Freedom to initiate new ideas;

• Willingness to tolerate new risks;

• Openness to communication options.

However presence of dominant culture within the organisation does not mean that there may not
be subcultures within any given culture. Particularly in large organisations there may be subcultures
within the dominant culture. Subcultures are minicultures within an organisation, typically defined
by department designations and geographical separation.

Some organisations may have strong culture whereas others may have weak culture. In
organisations having strong cultures, core values are intensely held and widely shared. In weak
cultures managerial styles may be more person-centred. Strong cultures lead to more behavioural
consistency and less employee turnover. Strong cultures may also serve as substitute of
formalisation.

Types of Organizational Culture

There are four types of cultures that can be identified in organizations as follows:

• Clan culture – It is where employees are behaving as an extended family, mentoring,

nurturing and participation can be seen.

• Adhocracy culture – It is where employees of the organization are dynamic, risk-taking

and innovative.

• Market Oriented culture – It is where employees are result oriented and focus on the
job, competition and achievements.

• Hierarchically oriented culture – It is where the employees undergo a rigid structure,

controls, former rules and policies. They expect to maintain stability, consistency and
uniformity in their processes.

For example, an educational institute has a hierarchically oriented culture. It is the way
all the activities function and also people perceive, think, and feel about things at the
institute. 

What is Organizational Climate?

Organizational climate is about the the perception and feeling of each regarding the
culture of a particular organization. The climate of an organization is subject to change
frequently with the direct influence of top management within the organization.
Organizational climate is much easier to experience and measure than organizational
culture.

Types of Organizational Climate

There are different types of climates that have been created by the culture of an
organization that can be categorized as follows:

• People-oriented climate – It is a climate that focuses on perceptions of individuals who

are working in the organization.

• Rule-oriented climate – It is a climate based on established rules, policies and

procedures in an organization.

• Innovation-oriented climate – It is a climate that encourages creative or new ways of

doing tasks.

• Goal-oriented climate – It is a climate that focuses on achieving organizational goals.

Elements of Organisational Climate

Likert has proposed six dimensions of organisational climate: leadership, motivation,
communication, decisions, goals, and control.

Litwin and Stringer have proposed seven dimensions of organisational climate: conformity,
responsibility, standards, rewards, organisational clarity, warmth and support, and
leadership.

They have also emphasized motivational framework of organisational climate. Motivational

framework of climate include motives of:

Achievement: concern for excellence;

Expert Influence: concern for making impact on others;

Control: concern for power and orderliness;

Extension: concern for others, and for macro issues;

Dependency: concern for being in close touch with others in a significant way;

Affiliation: concern for building and maintaining close personal relationships.

On the basis of review of various studies and discussions with managers, Pareek has
identified twelve processes of organisational climate. Let us learn them briefly.

Orientation: Priority of members may range between concern to adhere to established

rules, to concern for excellence and achievement.

Interpersonal Relationships: Depending on the pattern of relationship it may lead to climate

of clique formation, or climate of control, or a climate of dependency etc.

Supervision: Depending on supervisory style, the climate may be of extension or it may be

of affiliation, or even lem Managealienation.

Problems : Problems may be taken as an opportunity or irritants; manager may solve

problems alone or jointly by the superior and the subordinates.

Management of Mistakes: Attitudes towards mistakes may be of tolerance or of

annoyance; such attitudes contribute to organisational climate.

Conflict Management: Conflict may be perceived as opportunity or as threat; such

perceptions influence organisational climate.
Communication: Direction, dispersement, mode and type of communication influence
climate of an organisation.

Decision Making: Levels at which decisions are taken, degree of participation in decision
making are the issues, which influence organisational climate.

Trust: Degree of trust or its absence influence organisational climate.

Management of Rewards: Perception about what is rewarded in the organisation influences

the organisational climate.

Risk Taking: It is an important determinant of climate. Innovation and Change: Styles of

managing change and innovations are critical in establishing climate.

What is the difference between Organizational

Culture and Climate?
• Organizational climate can be clearly identified with the perceptions of individuals
regarding the quality and characteristics of the organizational culture.

• Culture represents the true image of the organization, whereas climate represents
individuals’ perceptions, although there might be differences between each of their
ideas.

• Organizational culture is concerned with the macro vision of an organization, whereas

organizational climate is very much concerned with the micro image of the organization.