Unit 02

The term ‘system’ implies an orderly arrangement, an interrelationship of parts. In the

arrangement, every part has a fixed place and definite role to play. The parts are bound by
interaction. To understand the functioning of a system, for example the human body, one has to
analyse and identify the sub-systems (e.g. circulatory, nervous, digestive, excretionary systems
etc.) and understand how these various subsystems enter into specific relations in the fulfillment
of the organic function of the body.

Likewise, society may be viewed as a system of interrelated mutually dependent parts which
cooperate to preserve a recognisable whole and to satisfy some purposes or goal. Social system
may be described as an arrangement of social interactions based on shared norms and values.
Individuals constitute it and each has place and function to perform within it.

Meaning of Social System:

It is Talcott Parsons who has given the concept of ‘system’ current in modern sociology. Social
system refers to’ an orderly arrangement, an inter relationships of parts. In the arrangement, every
part has a fixed place and definite role to play. The parts are bound by interaction. System
signifies, thus, patterned relationship among constituent parts of a structure which is bas ed on
functional relations and which makes these parts active and binds them into reality.

Society is a system of usages, authority and mutuality based on “We” felling and likeness.
Differences within the society are not excluded. These are, however, subordinated to likeness.
Inter-dependence and cooperation are its basis. It is bound by reciprocal awareness. It is
essentially a pattern for imparting the social behaviour.

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It consists in mutual inter action and interrelation of individuals and of the structure formed by their
relations. It is not time bound. It is different from an aggregate of people and community.
According to Lapiere, “The term society refers not to group of people, but to the complex pattern
of the norms of inter action that arises among and between them.”

Applying these conclusions to society, social system may be described as an arrangement of

social interactions based on shared norms and values. Individuals constitute it, and each has
place and function to perform within it. In the process, one influences the other; groups are formed
and they gain influence, numerous subgroup come into existence.

But all of these are coherent. They function as a whole. Neither individual, nor the group can
function in isolation. They are bound in oneness, by norms and values, culture and shared
behaviour. The pattern that thus comes into existence becomes the social system.

A social system may be defined, after Parsons, a plurality of social actors who are engaged in
more or less stable interaction “according to shared cultural norms and meanings” Individuals
constitute the basic interaction units. But the interacting units may be groups or organisation of
individuals within the system.

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The social system, according to Charles P. Loomis, is composed of the patterned interaction of
visual actors whose’ relation to each other are mutually oriented through the definition of the
mediation of pattern of structured and shared symbols and expectations.

All social organisations are, therefore, ‘social system’, since they consist of interacting individuals.
In the social system each of the interacting individual has function or role to perform in terms of
the status he occupies in the system. For example, in the family parents, sons and daughters are
required to perform certain socially recognised functions or roles.

Similarly, social organisations function within the frame work of a normative pattern. Thus, a social
system presupposes a social structure consisting of different parts which are interrelated in such
a way as to perform its functions.

Social system is a comprehensive arrangement. It takes its orbit all the diverse subsystems such
as the economic, political, religious and others and their interrelation too. Social systems are
bound by environment such as geography. And this differentiates one system from another.

Elements of Social System:

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The elements of social system are described as under:

1. Faiths and Knowledge:

The faiths and knowledge brings about the uniformity in the behaviour. They act as controlling
agency of different types of human societies. The faiths or the faith is the result of the prevalent
customs and beliefs. They enjoy the force of the individual are guided towards a particular
direction.

2. Sentiment:

Man does not live by reason alone. Sentiments – filial, social, notional etc. have played immense
role in investing society with continuity. It is directly linked with the culture of the people.

3. End Goal or object:

Man is born social and dependent. He has to meet his requirements and fulfill his obligations.
Man and society exist between needs and satisfactions, end and goal. These determine the
nature of social system. They provided the pathway of progress, and the receding horizons.

4. Ideals and Norms:

The society lays down certain norms and ideals for keeping the social system intact and for
determining the various functions of different units. These norms prescribe the rules and
regulations on the basis of which individuals or persons may acquire their cultural goals and aims.

In other words ideals and norms are responsible for an ideal structure or system of the society.
Due to them the human behaviour does not become deviant and they act according to the norms
of the society. This leads to organization and stability. These norms and ideals include folkways,
customs, traditions, fashions, morality, religion, etc.

5. Status-Role:

Every individual in society is functional. He goes by status-role relation. It may come to the
individual by virtue of his birth, sex, caste, or age. One may achieve it on the basis of service
rendered.

6. Role:

Like the status, society has prescribed different roles to different individuals. Sometimes we find
that there is a role attached to every status. Role is the external expression of the status. While
discharging certain jobs or doing certain things, every individual keeps in his mind his status. This
thing leads to social integration, organization and unity in the social system. In fact statuses and
roles go together. It is not possible to separate them completely from one another.

7. Power:

Conflict is a part of social system, and order is its aim. It is implicit, therefore, that some should
be invested with the power to punish the guilty and reward those who set an example. The
authority exercising power will differ from group to group; while the authority of father may be
supreme in the family, in the state it is that of the ruler.

8. Sanction:

It implies confirmation by the superior in authority, of the acts done be the subordinate or the
imposition of penalty for the infringement of the command. The acts done or not done according
to norms may bring reward and punishment.

Characteristics of Social System:

Social system has certain characteristics. These characteristics are as follows:

1. System is connected with the plurality of Individual actors:

It means that a system or social system cannot be borne as a result of the activity of one individual.
It is the result of the activities of various individuals. For system, or social system, interaction of
several individuals has to be there.

2. Aim and Object:

Human interactions or activities of the individual actors should not be aimless or without object.
These activities have to be according to certain aims and objects. The expression of different
social relations borne as a result of human interaction.

3. Order and Pattern amongst various Constituent Units:

Mere coming together of various constituent units that from social system does not necessarily
create a social system. It has to be according to a pattern, arrangement and order. The underlined
unity amongst various constituent units brings about ‘social system’.

4. Functional Relationship is the Basis of Unity:

We have already seen different constituent units have a unity in order to form a system. This unity
is based on functional relations. As a result of functional relationships between different
constituent units an integrated whole is created and this is known as social system.

5. Physical or Environmental Aspect of Social System:

It means that every social system is connected with a definite geographical area or place, time,
society etc. In other words it means that social system is not the same at different times, at
different place and under different circumstances. This characteristic of the social system again
point out towards its dynamic or changeable nature.

6. Linked with Cultural System:

Social system is also linked with cultural system. It means that cultural system bring about unity
amongst different members of the society on the basis of cultures, traditions, religions etc.

7. Expressed and implied Aims and Objects:

Social system is also linked with expressed and implied aims. In other words, it means that social
system is the coming together of different individual actors who are motivated by their aims and
objectives and their needs.

8. Characteristics of Adjustment:

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Social system has the characteristic of adjustment. It is a dynamic phenomenon which is

influenced by the changes caused in the social form. We have also seen that the social system
is influenced by the aims, objects and the needs of the society. It means that the social system
shall be relevant only if it changes itself according to the changed objects and needs. It has been
seen that change takes place in the social system due to human needs, environment and
historical conditions and phenomena.

9. Order, Pattern and Balance:

Social system has the characteristics of pattern, order and balance. Social system is not an
integrated whole but putting together of different units. This coming together does not take place
in a random and haphazard manner. There is an order am’ balance.

It is so because different units of the society do not work as independent units but they do not
exist in a vacuum but in a socio-cultural pattern. In the pattern different units have different
functions and roles. It means that there is a pattern and order in the social system.
Types of Social System:

Parsons presents a classification of four major types in terms of pattern variable. These
are as follows:

1. The Particularistic Ascriptive Type:

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According to Parsons, this type of social system tends to be organized around kinship and
sociality. The normative patterns of such a system are traditional and thoroughly dominated by
the elements of ascription. This type of system is mostly represented by preliterate societies in
which needs are limited to biological survival.

2. The Particularistic Achievement Type:

There is a significant role of religious ideas as differentiating element in social life. When these
religious ideas are rationally systematized that possibility of new religious concepts emerge. As a
result of this nature of prophecy and secondly it may depend on non-empirical realm to which the
porphyry is connected.

3. The Universalistic Achievement Type:

When ethical prophecy and non-empirical conceptions are combined, a new set of ethical norms
arise. It is because the traditional order is challenged by the ethical prophet in the name of
supernatural. Such norms are derived from the existing relations of social member; therefore they
are universalistic in nature. Besides, they are related with empirical or non-empirical goals,
therefore they are achievement oriented.

4. The Universalistic Ascription Type:

Under this social type, elements of value orientation are dominated by the elements of ascription.
Therefore emphasis is placed on status of the actor, rather than his performance. In such a
system, actor’s achievements are almost values to a collective goal. Therefore such a system
becomes politicized and aggressive. An authoritarian State example of this types.

Maintenance of Social System:

A social system is maintained by the various mechanisms of social control. These mechanisms
maintain the equilibrium between the various processes of social interaction.

In brief, these mechanisms may be classified in the following categories:

1. Socialization.

2. Social control.

(1) Socialization:
It is process by which an individual is adjusted with the conventional pattern of social behaviour.
A child by birth is neither social nor unsocial. But the process of socialization develops him into a
functioning member of society. He adjusts himself with the social situations conforming with social
norms, values and standards.

(2) Social Control:

Like socialisation, social control is also a system of measures by which society moulds its
members to conform with the approved pattern of social behaviour. According to Parsons, there
are two types of elements which exist in every system. These are integrative and disintegrative
and create obstacles in the advancement of integration.

Functions of Social System:

Social system is a functional arrangement. It would not exist if it were not so. Its functional
character ensures social stability and continuity. The functional character of society, Parsons has
discussed in depth. Other sociologists such as Robert F. Bales too have discussed it.

It is generally agreed that the social system has four primary functional problems to attend.
These are:

1. Adaptation,

2. Goal attainment,

3. Integration,

4. Latent Pattern-Maintenance.

1. Adaptation:

Adaptability of social system to the changing environment is essential. No doubt, a social system
is the result of geographical environment and a long drawn historical process which by necessity
gives it permanence and rigidity. Yet, that should not make it wooden and inelastic. It need be a
flexible and functional phenomenon.

Economy for its maintenance, division of labour for better production of goods and effective
services, and role differentiation for job opportunity is essential. Durkheim in Division of Labour in
society has given great attention to the role of division of labour and role differentiation as these
make possible a higher average degree of skill than would otherwise be possible.

Lack of adaptability, very often has caused the social system to be challenged. It has caused
revolution resulting in the overhauling of the system. The British system, in the nineteenth century,
when the continent was in the inferno of revolution, showed remarkable adaptability. It responded
well to the mounting demands of change. Over the time our system has demonstrated the
excellent sense of adaptability.

2. Goal Attainment:
Goal attainment and adaptability are deeply interconnected. Both contribute to the maintenance
of social order.

Every social system has one or more goals to be attained through cooperative effort. Perhaps the
best example of a societal goal is national security. Adaptation to the social and nonsocial
environment is, of course, necessary if goals are to be attained. But in addition, human and
nonhuman resources must be mobilised in some effective way, according to the specific nature
of tasks.

For example, there must be a process of ensuring that enough persons, but not too many, occupy
each of the roles at a particular time and a process for determining which persons will occupy
which roles. These processes together solve the problem of allocation of members in the social
system. We have already touched upon the “need” for property norms. The rules regulating
inheritance e.g., primogeniture-in part solve this problem.

The allocation of members and the allocation of scarce valuable resources are important, of
course, for both adaptation and goal attainment. The difference between adaptation and goal
attainment is a relative one.

The economy of a society is that subsystem which produces goods and services for a wide variety
of purposes; the “polity”, which includes above all the Government in complex societies, mobilizes
goods and services for the attainment of specific goals of the total society regarded as a single
social system.

3. Integration:

Social system is essentially an integration system. In the general routine of life, it is not the society
but the group or the subgroup in which one feels more involved and interested. Society, on the
whole does not come into one’s calculations. Yet, we know as indicated by Durkheim, that
individual is the product of society. Emotions, sentiments and historical forces are so strong that
one cannot cut oneself from his moorings.

The working of these forces is best seen when society is involved in a domestic crisis or an
external challenge. An appeal in the name of society, culture, heritage, patriotism, national
solidarity or social welfare invokes quick response. Cooperation in effort is often demonstrative of
integrating. It is the real basis of integration.

During normal times, the spirit of integration is best expressed by not disregarding the regulative
norms. Abiding by them is essential, as otherwise, it will be the domination of might over right, of
self over society, and the spirit of mutuality which is based on common welfare, will get eliminated.
The command and obedience relation as it exists is based on rationality and order. If it is not
sustained, the social order would break down.

In almost every social system, and in every system as large as a society, some participants,
including whole subgroups, violate the relational or regulative norms. So far as these norms meet
social needs, violations are a threat to the social system,

This necessitates the need for social control. “Social control” is the need for standardized
reactions to violations in order to protect the integrity of the system. When there is dispute
concerning the interpretation of relational or regulative norms, or concerning the factual aspects
of conflicts of interest, there is need for agreed-upon social arrangements for settling the dispute.
Otherwise the social system would be subject to progressive splits.

4. Latent Pattern-maintenance:

Pattern maintenance and tension management is the primary function of social system. In
absence of appropriate effort in this direction maintenance and continuity of social order is not
possible. In fact within every social system there is the in built mechanism for the purpose.

Every individual and subgroup learns the patterns in the process of the internalization of norms
and values. It is to invest the actors with appropriate attitude and respect towards norms and
institution, that the socialization works. It is not; however, merely the question of imparting the
pattern, equally essential is to make the actor to follow it. For this there is always a continuous
effort -in operational terms of social control.

There may yet be occasions when the components of social system may become subject of
distraction and disturbance. Tension may arise due to internal or external causes and society may
get involved into a critical situation. Just as a family in distress draws upon all its resources to
overcome it, so also society has to overcome it.

This process of ‘overcoming’ is the management of the tension. Society has the responsibility,
like a family, to keep its members functional, to relieve them of anxiety, to encourage those who
would be detrimental to the entire system. The decline of societies has been very much because
the pattern maintenance and tension management mechanism has often failed.

Equilibrium and Social Change:

Equilibrium is a state of ‘balance’. It is “a state of just poise”. The term is used to describe the
interaction of units in a system. A state of equilibrium exists, when systems tend towards
conditions of minimum stress and least imbalance. The existence of balance between units
facilitates the normal operation of system. Community evaluates and recognises the importance
of equilibrium.

The equilibrium condition, is a “condition of integration and stability”. It is sometimes made

possible with the development of a certain set of productive forces such as pressure groups which
brings into being an appropriate super structure of institutions. Equilibrium can also be of moving
sort, which according to Parsons, is “an orderly process of change of the system”.

The maintenances of equilibrium, according to him resolve two fundamental types of process:
“The first of these are the process of the socialization by which actors acquire the orientations
necessary to the performance of their roles in the social systems, when they have not previously
possessed them; the second type are the process involved in the balance between the generation
of motivations to deviate behaviour and the counter balancing motivations to restoration of the
stabilized interactive process which we have called mechanism of social control”.

A social system implies order among the interacting units of the systems. This order, be it
equilibrium or harmonious relations between individuals, is likely to be disturbed, at times, by
social changes, occasioned by innovations which force new conceptions of roles and norms. The
role of a housewife is affected when she goes for work away from home. This change is bound to
influence other social institutions as well.
Maintaining the orderliness or social system is difficult when social changes are frequent. Herbert
Spencer introduced the cause and effect relationships to explain the changing nature of societies
in the equilibrium/disequilibrium’ analysis.

The structural-functional pattern of institutions which constitute a society would change in

accordance with change it may encounter in its total external environment, and with changes in
its internal conditions. There would be a changing disposition of the parts of a society until some
appropriate ‘equilibrium’ is reached.

Spencer elaborating the theory of equilibrium has indicated its universal applicability. He pointed
out that members of a society are continuously in the process of adapting to its material
substance. “Each society”, he wrote, “displays the process of equilibration in the continuous
adjustment of its population to its means of subsistence.

A tribe of men living on wild animals and fruits is manifestly like every tribe of inferior creatures,
always oscillating from side to side of that average number which the locality can support. Thought
by artificial production unceasingly improved, a superior race continually alters the limit which
external conditions put to population, yet there is ever a checking of population at the temporary
limit reached”.

In elaborating his theory of equilibrium, Spencer has referred to several economic aspects, and
to the industrial system, of a society which continuously adjusts itself to the forces of ‘supply and
demand’. He has also discussed political institutions in ‘equilibrium-disequilibrium’ terms. It is
applicable to, all societies equally.

Taking society as a total entity, and its interrelationship with its parts, the changes in them can be
explained by ‘equilibrium- disequilibrium’ adjustments. “Marxian Historical Materialism” remarks
Ronald Fletcher, in The Making of Sociology is in fact an” equilibrium-disequilibrium analysis of
the historical sequences of social order and social changes, and the explanation of this process
in terms of material changes, attendant social conflict, and its resolution.”
 Unit 03
Importance of human resource management

An organisation cannot build a good team of working professionals without good Human
Resources. The key functions of the Human Resources Management (HRM) team include
recruiting people, training them, performance appraisals, motivating employees as well as
workplace communication, workplace safety, and much more. The beneficial effects of these
functions are discussed here:

Recruitment and Training

This is one of the major responsibilities of the human resource team. The HR managers come up
with plans and strategies for hiring the right kind of people. They design the criteria which is best
suited for a specific job description. Their other tasks related to recruitment include formulating
the obligations of an employee and the scope of tasks assigned to him or her. Based on these
two factors, the contract of an employee with the company is prepared. When needed, they also
provide training to the employees according to the requirements of the organisation. Thus, the
staff members get the opportunity to sharpen their existing skills or develop specialised skills
which in turn, will help them to take up some new roles.

Performance Appraisals

HRM encourages the people working in an organisation, to work according to their potential and
gives them suggestions that can help them to bring about improvement in it. The team
communicates with the staff individually from time to time and provides all the necessary
information regarding their performances and also defines their respective roles. This is beneficial
as it enables them to form an outline of their anticipated goals in much clearer terms and thereby,
helps them execute the goals with best possible efforts. Performance appraisals, when taken on
a regular basis, motivate the employees.

Maintaining Work Atmosphere

This is a vital aspect of HRM because the performance of an individual in an organisation is largely
driven by the work atmosphere or work culture that prevails at the workplace. A good working
condition is one of the benefits that the employees can expect from an efficient human resource
team. A safe, clean and healthy environment can bring out the best in an employee. A friendly
atmosphere gives the staff members job satisfaction as well.

MANAGING DISPUTES

In an organisation, there are several issues on which disputes may arise between the employees
and the employers. You can say conflicts are almost inevitable. In such a scenario, it is the human
resource department which acts as a consultant and mediator to sort out those issues in an
effective manner. They first hear the grievances of the employees. Then they come up with
suitable solutions to sort them out. In other words, they take timely action and prevent things from
going out of hands.
Developing Public Relations

The responsibility of establishing good public relations lies with the HRM to a great extent. They
organise business meetings, seminars and various official gatherings on behalf of the company
in order to build up relationships with other business sectors. Sometimes, the HR department
plays an active role in preparing the business and marketing plans for the organisation too.

Any organisation, without a proper setup for HRM is bound to suffer from serious problems while
managing its regular activities. For this reason, today, companies must put a lot of effort and
energy into setting up a strong and effective HRM.

Functions of Human Resource Management

 Planning
 Organizing
 Directing
 Controlling

Planning

A manager must plan ahead in order to get things done by his subordinates. It is also important
to plan in order to give the organization its goals.

Also, planning helps establish the best procedures to reach the goals. Further, some effective
managers devote a substantial part of their time to planning.

With respect to the human resource department, planning involves determining the personnel
programs that can contribute to achieving the organization’s goals.

These programs include anticipating the hiring needs of the organization, planning job
requirements, descriptions, and determining the sources of recruitment.

Organizing

After the human resource manager establishes

the objectives and develops plans and programs
to achieve them, he needs to design and develop
the organization’s structure to carry out the
different operations. Developing the
organization’s structure includes:

 Grouping of personnel activity into functions

or positions
 Assigning different groups of activities to different individuals
 Delegating authority according to the tasks assigned and responsibilities involved
 Coordinating activities of different employees
Directing

The HR Manager can create plans, but implementing the plans smoothly depends on how
motivated the people are. The directing functions of HRM involve encouraging people to work
willingly and efficiently to achieve the goals of the organization. In simpler words, the directing
functions of HRM entail guiding and motivating people to accomplish the personnel programs.

The HRM can motivate the employees through career planning and salary administration by
boosting the employee’s morale, developing relationships, providing safety requirements, and
looking after the welfare of employees.

In order to do this effectively, the HRM must identify the needs of the employees and the means
and methods to satisfy them. Motivation is a continuous process as employees have new needs
and expectations when the old ones are satisfied.

Controlling

Controlling is all about regulating activities in accordance with the plans formulated based on the
objectives of the organization. This is the fourth function of the HRM and completes the cycle. In
this, the manager observes and subsequently compares the results with the set standards.

Further, he corrects any deviations that might occur. Controlling is one of the important functions
of HRM as it helps him evaluate and control the performance of the department with respect to
different operative functions. It also involves appraisals, audit, statistics, etc.

Operative Function Includes:

1. Recruitment/Hiring

Hiring is a process which brings pool of prospective candidates who can help organization achieve
their goals and allows managements to select right candidates from the given pool.

2. Job Analysis & Design

Describing nature of the job like qualification, skill, work experience required for specific job
position is another important operative task. Whereas, job design includes outlining tasks, duties
and responsibilities into a single work unit to achieve certain goal.

3. Performance Appraisal

Checking and analyzing employee performance is another important function that human
resource management has to perform.

4. Training & Development

This function allows employees to acquire new skills and knowledge to perform their job
effectively. Training and development also prepares employees for higher level responsibilities.

5. Salary Administration
Human Resource Department also determines pays for different job types and incudes
compensations, incentives, bonus, benefits etc. related with a job function.

6. Employee Welfare

This function takes care of numerous services, benefits and facilities provided to an employee for
their well-being.

7. Maintenance

Minimizing employee turnover and sustaining best performing employees within the organization
is the key. Minimizing ROI within HR department is also a key goal for Human resource
management team.

8. Labor Relations

Labor relation is regards to the workforce who work within a trade union. Employees in such
domain form a union/group to voice their decisions affectively to the higher management.

9. Personal Research

Research is a vital part of human resource management. It is performed to keep a check on

employee opinion about wages, promotions, work condition, welfare activities, leadership,
employee satisfaction and other key issues.

10. Personal Record

This function involves recording, maintaining and retrieving employee related information
including employment history, work hours, earning history etc.
 Definition: Training and
Development

Training and Development is a

subsystem of an organization
which emphasize on the
improvement of the performance
of individuals and groups. Training
is an educational process which
involves the sharpening of skills,
concepts, changing of attitude and
gaining more knowledge to
enhance the performance of the
employees. Good & efficient
training of employees helps in
their skills & knowledge
development, which eventually
helps a company improve.

Training is about knowing where you are in the present and after some time where will you reach
with your abilities. By training, people can learn new information, new methodology and refresh
their existing knowledge and skills. Due to this there is much improvement and adds up the
effectiveness at work. The motive behind giving the training is to create an impact that lasts
beyond the end time of the training itself and employee gets updated with the new phenomenon.
Training can be offered as skill development for individuals and groups.

Organizational Development is a process that “strives to build the capacity to achieve and sustain
a new desired state that benefits the organization or community and the world around them.”
(From the Organizational Development Network website).

Relation between Training and Development

There is a relation between training and development, and there is clear difference between the
two based on goals to be achieved. Development is made to answer the training problems:

TRAINING DEVELOPMENT
Training is meant for operatives Development is meant for executives
It is reactive process It is pro- active process
 AIM: To develop additional skills AIM: To develop the total personality
It is short term process It is continuous process
OBJECTIVE: To meet the present need of an OBJECTIVE: To meet the future need of an
employee employee
Initiative is taken by the management Initiative is taken by an individual.

Importance of Training and Development

For companies to keep improving, it is important for organizations to have continuous training and
development programs for their employees. Competition and the business environment keeps
changing, and hence it is critical to keep learning and pick up new skills. The importance of training
and development is as follows:

• Optimum utilization of Human resources

• Development of skills like time management, leadership, team management etc

• To increase the productivity and enhance employee motivation

• To provide the zeal of team spirit

• For improvement of organization culture

• To improve quality, safety

• To increase profitability

• Improve the morale and corporate image

Need for Training and Development

Training and development of employees is a costly activity as it requires a lot quality inputs from
trainers as well as employees. But it is essential that the company revises its goals and
efficiencies with the changing environment. Here are a few critical reasons why the company
endorses training and development sessions.

• When management thinks that there is a need to improve the performances of employees

• To set up the benchmark of improvement so far in the performance improvement effort

• To train about the specific job responsibility and skills like communication management, team
management etc
• To test the new methodology for increasing the productivity

Advantages of training and development

Training and development has a cost attached to it. However, since it is beneficial for companies
in the long run, they ensure employees are trained regularly. Some advantages are:

1. Helps employees develop new skills and increases their knowledge.

2. Improves efficiency and productivity of the individuals as well as the teams.

3. Proper training and development can remove bottle-necks in operations.

4. New & improved job positions can be created to make the organization leaner.

5. Keeps employees motivated and refreshes their goals, ambitions and contribution levels.

Disadvantages of training and development

Even though there are several advantages, some drawbacks of training and development are
mentioned below:

1. It is an expensive process which includes arranging the correct trainers and engaging
employees for non-revenue activities.

2. There is a risk that after the training and development session, the employee can quit the job.

Training and Development Process

Training and development is a continuous process as the skills, knowledge and quality of work
needs constant improvement. Since businesses are changing rapidly, it is critical that companies
focus on training their employees after constantly monitoring them & developing their overall
personality.

Steps for training and development processes are:

1. Determine the need of training and development for individuals or teams

2. Establish specific objectives & goals which need to be achieved

3. Select the methods of training

4. Conduct and implement the programs for employees

5. Evaluate the output and performance post the training and development sessions.

6. Keep monitoring and evaluating the performances and again see if more training is required.
Unit 04

Value Crisis In Contemporary Indian Society

Excessive overplaying of materialistic values and subsequent downplaying of all other human
values, often seen as roadblocks on the path leading to success has lead to value crisis in the
contemporary Indian society. Our upbringing and en-culturation has trained us for a single minded
pursuit – attainment of personal happiness and gratification. Success is synonymous to
unrestricted enjoyment of materialistic & sensuous pleasure and fulfillment of unlimited worldly
desires. Our life has been transformed into a consumerist haven.

We have lost faith in ideology of ‘simple living and high thinking’ and the slogan of the day has
taken a new shape and form altogether “higher the amount of consumption better is the quality of
life”. With the rise of isms such as selfish individualism, consumerism, materialism, candidly
speaking our society has turned into a mere numerical collection of consumers who are devoid of
all the finer senses that ought to exist in a true human being. We always question ourselves
“what is in it for me?” the sole aim of all our striving’s at the individual level is personal well-being.

The concept of common good has taken a back seat in our society. Steep rise in our right
consciousness with a steeper decline in our duty consciousness has contributed effectively
towards the societal decay and disintegration. We have a tendency to adopt a double standard
of judgement “a much higher one for others and a much lower for ourselves”. We over the period
of time have adroitly mastered the art of concealing our own faults. But surprisingly enough even
the minor mistakes committed by others do not escape our censorious scrutiny.

It has become quite an accepted fact that thoughts, words and action may not have any parity
with each other. That is why we often encounter certain cases where we see people speaking of
high ideals and morals in life, exhorting us to follow the path shown by ‘sant-mahatmas’ and the
very same person stooping much below his dignity to satisfy his hunger for name, fame, and
power.

It is a known fact that virtue has been divorced from the education system long back. Stamp or
degrees from a prestigious institution is sufficient enough to successfully place you among the
empowered section of the society. Ethics, values, integrity of character, aesthetic sensibilities are
no more counted as the hallmark of a good human being.

However there are some people who refuse to submerge themselves in this trend. Their growing
respectability and preference for integrity of personality and possession of a sound mental health
makes them stand out in the crowd. However it is painstaking to register that these kind of people
are often castigated and penalized for no fault of their own because their ethicality is not for
sale. People who are emotionally immature to handle power and position find it very difficult to
fight their sense of uprightness and righteousness. So the best available solution to the problem
is to suppress their voice, by making use of all sorts of odd means. I guess they succ essfully
manage to do so because man is no more an end in himself he is only a means to an end.

Each one of us at some point of time or the other has encouraged venality, demoralization, and
dishonesty that is evident in and around us citing the excuse that “situation demanded me to make
compromise”. But when this knavery happens with us, when my dear ones are adversely affected
by the viciousness and vileness of others we raise a hue and cry. We often tend to forget that
the rights of one can only be preserved when others perform their duty.
We are social animals, all our achievements, accomplishment are drawn from the society and
have meaning only in relation to it. Let’s take a pledge my friends we will fight the evil dwelling in
each of us to become a good person and frame a good society free of corruption, debauchery
and devilry

Aesthetics, also spelled esthetics, the philosophical study of beauty and taste. It is closely
related to the philosophy of art, which is concerned with the nature of art and the concepts in
terms of which individual works of art are interpreted and evaluated.
To provide more than a general definition of the subject matter of aesthetics is immensely difficult.
Indeed, it could be said that self-definition has been the major task of modern aesthetics. We are
acquainted with an interesting and puzzling realm of experience: the realm of the beautiful, the
ugly, the sublime, and the elegant; of taste, criticism, and fine art; and of contemplation, sensuous
enjoyment, and charm. In all these phenomena we believe that similar principles are operative
and that similar interests are engaged. If we are mistaken in this impression, we will have to
dismiss such ideas as beauty and taste as having only peripheral philosophical interest.
Alternatively, if our impression is correct and philosophy corroborates it, we will have discovered
the basis for a philosophical aesthetics.
The nature and scope of aesthetics

Aesthetics is broader in scope than the philosophy of art, which comprises one of its branches. It
deals not only with the nature and value of the arts but also with those responses to natural objects
that find expression in the language of the beautiful and the ugly. A problem is encountered at the
outset, however, for terms such as beautiful and ugly seem too vague in their application and too
subjective in their meaning to divide the world successfully into those things that do, and those
that do not, exemplify them. Almost anything might be seen as beautiful by someone or from
some point of view, and different people apply the word to quite disparate objects for reasons that
often seem to have little or nothing in common. It may be that there is some single underlying
belief that motivates all of their judgments. It may also be, however, that the term beautiful has no
sense except as the expression of an attitude, which is in turn attached by different people to
quite different states of affairs.

Moreover, in spite of the emphasis laid by philosophers on the terms beautiful and ugly, it is far
from evident that they are the most important or the most useful either in the discussion and
criticism of art or in the description of that which appeals to us in nature. To convey what is
significant in a poem, we might describe it as ironic, moving, expressive, balanced, and
harmonious. Likewise, in characterizing a favourite stretch of countryside, we may prefer to
describe it as peaceful, soft, atmospheric, harsh, and evocative, rather than beautiful. The least
that should be said is that beautiful belongs to a class of terms from which it has been chosen as
much for convenience’ sake as for any sense that it captures what is distinctive of the class.

At the same time, there seems to be no clear way of delimiting the class in question—not at least
in advance of theory. Aesthetics must therefore cast its net more widely than the study either of
beauty or of other aesthetic concepts if it is to discover the principles whereby it is to be defined.
We are at once returned, therefore, to the vexing question of our subject matter: What should a
philosopher study in order to understand such ideas as beauty and taste?

Three approaches to aesthetics

Three broad approaches have been proposed in answer to that question, each intuitively
reasonable:

1. The study of the aesthetic concepts, or, more specifically, the analysis of the “language of
criticism,” in which particular judgments are singled out and their logic and justification displayed.
In his famous treatise On the Sublime and Beautiful (1757), Edmund Burke attempted to draw a
distinction between two aesthetic concepts and, by studying the qualities that they denoted, to
analyze the separate human attitudes that are directed toward them. Burke’s distinction between
the sublime and the beautiful was extremely influential, reflecting as it did the prevailing style of
contemporary criticism. In more recent times, philosophers have tended to concentrate on the
concepts of modern literary theory—namely, those such as representation, expression, form,
style, and sentimentality. The study invariably has a dual purpose: to show how (if at all) these
descriptions might be justified and to show what is distinctive in the human experiences that are
expressed in them.

2. A philosophical study of certain states of mind—responses, attitudes, emotions—that are held

to be involved in aesthetic experience. Thus, in the seminal work of modern aesthetics Kritik der
Urteilskraft (1790; The Critique of Judgment), Immanuel Kant located the distinctive features of
the aesthetic in the faculty of “judgment,” whereby we take up a certain stance toward objects,
separating them from our scientific interests and our practical concerns. The key to the aesthetic
realm lies therefore in a certain “disinterested” attitude, which we may assume toward any object
and which can be expressed in many contrasting ways.

3. The philosophical study of the aesthetic object. This approach reflects the view that the
problems of aesthetics exist primarily because the world contains a special class of objects toward
which we react selectively and which we describe in aesthetic terms. The usual class singled out
as prime aesthetic objects is that comprising works of art. All other aesthetic objects (landscapes,
faces, objets trouvés, and the like) tend to be included in this class only because, and to the extent
that, they can be seen as art (or so it is claimed).

If we adopt such an approach, then there ceases to be a real distinction between aesthetics and
the philosophy of art; and aesthetic concepts and aesthetic experience deserve their names
through being, respectively, the concepts required in understanding works of art and the
experience provoked by confronting them. Thus Hegel, perhaps the major philosophical influence
on modern aesthetics, considered the main task of aesthetics to reside in the study of the various
forms of art and of the spiritual content peculiar to each. Much of recent aesthetics has been
similarly focused on artistic problems, and it could be said that it is now orthodox to consider
aesthetics entirely through the study of art.

The third approach to aesthetics does not require this concentration upon art. Even someone who
considered art to be no more than one manifestation of aesthetic value—perhaps even a
comparatively insignificant manifestation—may believe that the first concern of aesthetics is to
study the objects of aesthetic experience and to find in them the true distinguishing features of
the aesthetic realm. Unless we restrict the domain of aesthetic objects, however, it becomes
extremely difficult to maintain that they have anything significant in common beyond the fact of
inspiring a similar interest. This means that we should be compelled to adopt the second approach
to aesthetics after all. And there seems no more plausible way of restricting the domain of
aesthetic objects than through the concept of art.

The three approaches may lead to incompatible results. Alternatively, they may be in harmony.
Once again, it can only be at the end point of our philosophy that we shall be able to decide.
Initially, it must be assumed that the three approaches may differ substantially, or merely in
emphasis, and thus that each question in aesthetics has a tripartite form.

What are Values?

According to the dictionary, values are “things that have an intrinsic worth in usefulness or
importance to the possessor,” or “principles, standards, or qualities considered worthwhile or
desirable.” However, it is important to note that, although we may tend to think of a value as
something good, virtually all values are morally relative – neutral, really – until they are qualified
by asking, “How is it good?” or “Good to whom?” The “good” can sometimes be just a matter of
opinion or taste, or driven by culture, religion, habit, circumstance, or environment, etc. Again,
almost all values are relative. The exception, of course, is the value of life. Life is a universal,
objective value. We might take this point for granted, but we all have the life value, or we would
not be alive. Life is also a dual value – we value our own life and the lives of others.

What are Morals?

Moral values are relative values that protect life and are respectful of the dual life value of self
and others. The great moral values, such as truth, freedom, charity, etc., have one thing in
common. When they are functioning correctly, they are life protecting or life enhancing for all. But
they are still relative values. Our relative moral values must be constantly examined to make sure
that they are always performing their life-protecting mission. Even the Marine Corps core values
of “honor, courage and commitment” require examination in this context. Courage can become
foolish martyrdom, commitment can become irrational fanaticism, honor can become self-
righteousness, conceit, and disrespect for others. Our enemies have their own standard of honor,
they have courage, and they are surely committed. What sets us apart? Respect for the universal
life value sets us apart from our enemies.

What is Ethics?

A person who knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses right is moral. A person
whose morality is reflected in his willingness to do the right thing – even if it is hard or dangerous
– is ethical. Ethics are moral values in action. Being ethical id an imperative because morality
protects life and is respectful of others – all others. It is a lifestyle that is consistent with mankind’s
universal values as articulated by the American Founding Fathers – human equality and the
inalienable right to life. As warriors it is our duty to be protectors and defenders of the life value
and to perform the unique and difficult mission of taking the lives of those acting immorally (against
life) when necessary to protect the lives of innocent others.

When you must kill protecting life it is still hard, but it is moral. Those who kill those not observant
of their narrow relative religious, ethnic or criminal values – in other words, kill over relative values
– are immoral. A dedication to protecting the life value of self and others – all others – makes the
Ethical Warrior different and moral.

Values

Let's start with values. Values are the foundation of a person's ability to judge between right and
wrong. Values include a deep-rooted system of beliefs. They have intrinsic worth, but are not
universally accepted. This system allows each individual to determine what should and shouldn't
be.

What Is Important or Valuable?

For example, if someone's value system is founded upon honesty, they would probably make a
proper judgment between cheating on a college entrance exam (wrong) and studying hard to ace
a college entrance exam (right).

Conversely, if someone valued achievement and success over honesty, that person may opt to
cheat on the exam in order to achieve the desired result. This relates to which value is "worth
more" to the individual.

These fundamental beliefs are the barometer that go on to guide a person's decisions. Values
don't necessarily need to be "system wide" in a group of people. Rather, they tend to be a
personal, individual foundation that influences a particular person's behavior.

Morals

Next, we have morals, which are formed out of values. They're the actual system of beliefs that
emerge out of a person's core values. Morals are specific and context-driven rules that govern a
person's behavior. Because this system of beliefs is individually tailored to a person's life
experience, it's subject to opinion.

Amoral vs. Immoral

Be careful with the terminology in this category. Sometimes, the words "amoral" and "immoral"
are interchanged. However, they're quite different. If someone is amoral, they have no sense of
right and wrong. They don't have the foundation that comes with a sound set of values.

Meanwhile, if someone if immoral, you can be sure they know right from wrong. They're just
choosing to do the wrong thing.

A Moral Dilemma

Given the personal nature of morals, someone might deem an action to be "good" even if it's
breaking a law. For example, what if a daughter couldn't afford the life-saving medicine her dying
mother needed but she, somehow, had access to the storeroom where the medicine was housed?

In this instance, her core values might tell her stealing is wrong. However, her morality would tell
her she needs to protect her mother. As such, the daughter might end up doing the wrong thing
(stealing, as judged by her values) for the right reasons (saving her mother, as judged by her
morals).

Ethics

Finally, we have ethics. Ethics are the vehicle to our morals. They're our morals in action. Ethics
enact the system we've developed in our moral code. As such, someone will behave ethically or
unethically. For example, someone's ethics will prevent them from taking action and telling a bold-
faced lie or stealing their mother-in-law's secret recipe for cornbread.

This might seem like muddy water to you. The line between morals and ethics is so fine, it's easy
to miss. Well, you're not alone. Encyclopedia Britannica considers "morals" and "ethics" to be
interchangeable terms. However, the context in which they're used might provide further
distinction.

Professional Ethics

We tend to link morals to matters of religion and spirituality. Meanwhile, ethics are closely linked
to matters pertaining to medicine or law. We know doctors are held to a strict code of ethics when
they swear the Hippocratic Oath. Similarly, an organization like PETA literally stands for "People
for the Ethical Treatment of Animals."

Consider morals as the rulebook and ethics as the motivator that leads to proper or improper
action.

Sound Moral Judgment

Sound moral judgment is rooted in strong values and acted upon by our ethics. It seems like the
three are the same, but they're different enough to warrant a closer study. If you're writing a short
story, you might want to approach your main character from this viewpoint.

As you develop the conflict your main character will face, try to create a deep-rooted set of values.
Consider where those values might have come from. Then, use their morality as the barometer
in any decisions they have to make.

INTRODUCTION values and ethihcs

Values and ethics are central to any organization; those operating in the national security arena
are no exception. What exactly do we mean by values and ethics? Both are extremely broad
terms, and we need to focus in on the aspects most relevant for strategic leaders and decision
makers. What we will first discuss is the distinctive nature of ethics for public officials; second, the
forces which influence the ethical behavior of individuals in organizations; and third, explore the
actions strategic leaders can take to build ethical climates in their organizations.

THE CHARACTER OF VALUES AND ETHICS

Values can be defined as those things that are important to or valued by someone. That someone
can be an individual or, collectively, an organization. One place where values are important is in
relation to vision. One of the imperatives for organizational vision is that it must be based on and
consistent with the organization's core values. In one example of a vision statement we'll look at
later, the organization's core values - in this case, integrity, professionalism, caring, teamwork,
and stewardship- were deemed important enough to be included with the statement of the
organization's vision. Dr. John Johns, in an article entitled "The Ethical Dimensions of National
Security," mentions honesty and loyalty as values that are the ingredients of integrity. When
values are shared by all members of an organization, they are extraordinarily important tools for
making judgments, assessing probable outcomes of contemplated actions, and choosing among
alternatives. Perhaps more important, they put all members "on the same sheet of music" with
regard to what all members as a body consider important.

The Army, in 1986, had as the theme for the year "values," and listed four organizational values-
loyalty, duty, selfless service, and integrity-and four individual values- commitment, competence,
candor, and courage. A Department of the Army pamphlet entitled Values: The Bedrock of Our
Profession spent some time talking about the importance of values, and included this definition:

Values are what we, as a profession, judge to be right. They are more than words -they are the
moral, ethical, and professional attributes of character . . . there are certain core values that must
be instilled in members of the U.S. Army-civilian and uniformed soldier alike. These are not the
only values that should determine our character, but they are ones that are central to our
profession and should guide our lives as we serve our Nation.

Values are the embodiment of what an organization stands for, and should be the basis for the
behavior of its members. However, what if members of the organization do not share and have
not internalized the organization's values? Obviously, a disconnect between individual and
organizational values will be dysfunctional. Additionally, an organization may publish one set of
values, perhaps in an effort to push forward a positive image, while the values that really guide
organizational behavior are very different. When there is a disconnect between stated and
operating values, it may be difficult to determine what is "acceptable." For example, two of the
Army's organizational values include candor and courage. One might infer that officers are
encouraged to "have the courage of their convictions" and speak their disagreements openly. In
some cases, this does work; in others it does not.

The same thing works at the level of the society. The principles by which the society functions do
not necessarily conform to the principles stated. Those in power may covertly allow the use of
force to suppress debate in order to remain in power. ("death squads" are an example.) In some
organizations, dissent may be rewarded by termination-the organizational equivalent of "death
squad" action. In others, a group member may be ostracized or expelled.

Group members quickly learn the operating values, or they don't survive for long. To the extent
they differ from stated values, the organization will not only suffer from doing things less
effectively, but also from the cynicism of its members, who have yet another reason for mistrusting
the leadership, or doubting its wisdom.

VALUES PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR JUDGMENTS ABOUT WHAT IS IMPORTANT FOR THE
ORGANIZATION TO SUCCEED IN ITS CORE BUSINESS.

So, there are some disconnects, and these disconnects create problems. However, the central
purpose of values remains. They state either an actual or an idealized set of criteria for evaluating
options and deciding what is appropriate, based on long experience. The relevance of the Army's
values, for example, is apparent. When soldiers may be called upon to expose themselves to
mortal danger in the performance of their duty, they must be absolutely able to trust their fellow
soldiers (to do their fair share and to help in the event of need) and their leaders (to guard them
from unnecessary risk). So the Army's values prescribe conditions that facilitate trust, a
necessary element in willingness to face danger. Without trust, risk tolerance will be low, as will
combat effectiveness.

TO BEHAVE ETHICALLY IS TO BEHAVE IN A MANNER THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT

IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED TO BE RIGHT OR MORAL. ETHICAL BEHAVIOR IS THE
BEDROCK OF MUTUAL TRUST.

So how do values relate to ethics, and what do we mean by ethics? One of the keys is in the
phrase we quoted above from the DA pamphlet: "Values are what we, as a profession, judge to
be right." Individually or organizationally, values determine what is right and what is wrong,
and doing what is right or wrong is what we mean by ethics. To behave ethically is to
behave in a manner consistent with what is right or moral. What does "generally considered
to be right" mean? That is a critical question, and part of the difficulty in deciding whether or not
behavior is ethical is in determining what is right or wrong.

Perhaps the first place to look in determining what is right or wrong is society. Virtually every
society makes some determination of morally correct behavior. In Islamic countries, a
determination of what is right or moral is tied to religious strictures. In societies more secular, the
influence of religious beliefs may be less obvious, but still a key factor. In the United States much
of what is believed to be right or wrong is based in Judeo-Christian heritage. The Ten
Commandments, for many people, define what is morally right or wrong. Societies not only
regulate the behavior of their members, but also define their societal core values. "Life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness" represent core American values.

Experience often has led societies to develop beliefs about what is of value for the common good.
(Note that societies differ from one another in the specifics, but not in the general principles.) One
example is the notion of reciprocity. ("One good deed deserves another.") Another is the notion
of good intent. ("A gentleman's word is his bond.") Yet, a third is the notion of appreciation of merit
in others regardless of personal feelings. ("Give the Devil his due.")

These all contain implied "shoulds" about how people interact and behave toward one another in
groups, organizations, and societies. These "shoulds" define collective effort because they are
fundamental to trust and to team relationships that entail risk. The greater the potential risk, the
more important ethical practices become.

Organizations, to some extent, define what is right or wrong for the members of the organization.
Ethical codes, such as West Point's "A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do,"
make clear what the organization considers to be right or wrong. To quote again from the DA
Pamphlet, "Values: The Bedrock of Our Profession," statements such as :

Loyalty to the Nation, to the Army, and to the unit is essential.

Selfless service puts the welfare of the Nation and the accomplishment of the ass igned mission
before individual welfare. All who serve the Nation must resist the temptation to pursue self-gain,
personal advantage, and self-interest ahead of the collective good.
[Integrity] is the basis for trust and confidence that must exist between the leaders and the led.
Furthermore, integrity is demonstrated by propriety in one's personal life.

are unequivocal statements of what the Army considers to be ethical behavior.

What does "generally considered to be right" mean? All one needs to do is to look at the positive
values of society and the organizations one belongs to, and what is right or wrong should be
evident. There is another aspect to be considered, however, and that is the influence of societal
or organizational norms. Norms are the unstated rules, usually informally reached by the
members of a group, which govern the behavior of the group's members. Norms often have a
greater effect on what is and isn't done by the members of a group than formal rules and
regulations.

The reason norms are important for a discussion of ethics and values is that norms may allow or
even encourage certain behavior as "OK" that is not in keeping with society's or an organization's
stated values. When there is a disconnect between stated and operating values, it may be difficult
to determine what is "right." An example might be a company that has among its stated values to
treat everyone with dignity and respect, but whose norms have permitted and perhaps even
encouraged a pattern of sexual harassment over a number of years. Do those in the organization
know that the behavior is wrong, but condone it nevertheless? Is it clear to the Bosnian Serbs that
ethnic cleansing is unethical and wrong, or would it fall under the mantle of behavior that is
considered to be acceptable in that society? Listen to the arguments in support of ethnic cleansing
that have been made, and you will find that many of the perpetrators argued that they did nothing
wrong, and were only righting previous wrongs done to them.

THE PUBLIC TRUST

If ethics and morality are important for groups and organizations, they should also be important
for public officials, and for very much the same reasons. York Willbern, in an article entitled "Types
and Levels of Public Morality," argues for six types or levels of morality (or ethics) for public
officials. By public officials, he means those who are in policy making positions in public
institutions; in other words, strategic decision makers in the government, including the national
security arena. The six levels he differentiates are: basic honesty and conformity to law; conflicts
of interest; service orientation and procedural fairness; the ethic of democratic responsibility; the
ethic of public policy determination; and the ethic of compromise and social integration.

WILLBERN'S LEVEL OF PUBLIC MORALITY

 ETHIC OF COMPROMISE AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION

 ETHIC OF PUBLIC POLICY DETERMINATION
 ETHIC OF DEMOCRATIC RESPONSIBILITY
 SERVICE ORIENTATION AND PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS
 CONFLICT OF INTEREST
 BASIC HONESTY AND CONFORMITY TO LAW

BASIC HONESTY AND CONFORMITY TO LAW. "The public servant is morally bound, just as
are other persons, to tell the truth, to keep promises, to respect the person and the property of
others, and to abide by the requirements of the law" (Willbern). In many ways, this level only
describes the basic adherence to moral codes that is expected of all members of a group or
society. There are some basics of behavior that are expected of all if a society is to function for
the collective good. For public officials, there is an additional reason why it is important to adhere
to these basic moral codes and laws: they have more power than the average member of the
society, and hence more opportunity for violation of those codes or laws. There also is the
negative example that misconduct by public officials provides.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST. This relates to public officials, because it deals with the conflict
between advancing the public interest, which a public official is charged to do, and advancing
one's self-interest. The duty here is to ensure that the public interest comes first, and that one
does not advance his own personal interest at the expense of the public.

Willbern uses embezzlement of public funds, bribery, and contract kickbacks as examples of
pursuing personal interests at the expense of those of the public. The requirements for public
officials to divest themselves of investments that might be influenced by the performance of their
duties (or put them in trust) and to recuse themselves in situations where they have a personal
interest are designed to help public officials avoid conflicts of interest. Ultimately, it still comes
down to the individual making an ethical decision.

Avoidance of conflict of interest is often difficult because it is often hard to separate personal and
public interests, and because individuals as private citizens are encouraged to pursue private
interests through any legal means. One of the areas where there is the greatest potential for
conflicts of interest is where public officials deal with private organizations which are pursuing
their private interests, and where any decision by a public official on allocation of resources will
favor some private interest. The fields of government contracting and acquisition are two areas
where the possibility of conflicts of interest is high.

SERVICE ORIENTATION AND PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS. This level relates closely to the last,
and deals with the responsibility of public officials to ensure their actions serve the public, and
that the power they wield is used only for that purpose. It is easy to abuse the power that comes
with public office. Procedural safeguards are designed to prevent that abuse. The moral obligation
of public servants is to follow established procedures, and not to use their power to circumvent
those procedures for their own convenience or benefit. Power must be used fairly and for the
benefit of the public. One can again think of examples of public officials who have violated this
moral charge by using their influence and power for their own benefit or for the benefit of special
interest groups, or who have circumvented established procedures for their own benefit or
convenience. One frequent example is the use of government vehicles or aircraft for nonofficial
business.

These first three levels of public morality share one important characteristic: they all relate to the
behavior or conduct of public officials. These three levels are the areas that get most of the
attention in discussions of ethics, this is where public officials are most likely to get in trouble.
However, there are three additional levels of public morality equally important. These deal with
the content of what public officials do, "the moral choices involved in deciding what to do, in
pursuing the purposes of the state and the society" (Willbern).

THE ETHIC OF DEMOCRATIC RESPONSIBILITY. Given that public officials are operating within
a democratic system, they either are elected by the people or appointed by an elected official.
This confers upon them the obligation to carry out the will of the people. However, public officials
also have the responsibility to make moral choices consistent with their own values, and that may
be in conflict with what they perceive to be the will of the people.
Willbern contends that the public official acts according to his or her own judgment, rationalizing
that it would be the will of the people if they were well enough informed on the issue. To give one
example of this level of public morality, consider whether or not the representative in Congress is
morally bound to support policies and legislation which his constituents overwhelmingly support
but he personally opposes.

THE ETHIC OF PUBLIC POLICY DETERMINATION. This level involves the most difficult ethical
choices, because it concerns making moral judgments about public policies. The responsibility is
to make moral policies; the difficulty is in determining how moral a policy is. Public policies almost
always deal with very complex issues, where ethical choices are rarely clear, and it is often difficult
to determine if a policy is right or wrong. For example, many public policies deal with the
distribution of limited resources. Is it right or wrong to slash funding for one program, or to increase
funding for another? In almost any decision, there will be winners and losers, and there will be
some benefit for some and cost to others. "Right" and "wrong" may not apply. Equity and fairness
are important considerations, but not always easy to discern. The determ ination of how much
funding to provide for national security, and which social programs to fund, involves ethical
choices of the most difficult type. What is the difference between equality and equity? Consider
the controversy around affirmative action programs: are they examples of moral public policies?

THE ETHIC OF COMPROMISE AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION. This final level deals with an area
not as salient as some of the others. It deals with the necessity for compromise in a society. A
society with irreconcilable differences on fundamental issues will be torn apart. Hence, it becomes
a moral obligation of public officials to engage in give and take, working toward compromise in
the policies they develop. One often sees legislators in our political system establishing positions
where they may not get all they want from particular legislation, but will settle for some of what
they want. Willbern contends that compromise, rather than standing on principle, is moral,
because without compromise there will be discord and conflict, and disintegration rather than
integration of the society.

Public officials are given the trust of the public to develop and carry out policies that are in the
public's best interest. Living up to this trust has a significant impact on the national will; public
confidence is essential to the exercise of national power. Public officials have a moral duty to act
in a trustworthy manner.

Why, then, do individuals behave unethically? One reason is the complexity of the issues leaders
deal with, and the difficulty in many instances of determining which is the most ethical alternative.
There are several systemic factors. One is the competition for scarce resources. It is easy to slip
into unethical acts to gain a competitive advantage in the race for position or power. A second is
conflicting loyalties, which Johns labels "the most troublesome ethical dilemma facing public
officials." The Iran Contra affair is a case of unethical behavior on the part of North, Poindexter,
Secord, and McFarlane because of misplaced loyalty to the executive chain of command.

Johns also identifies systemic factors in groups and teams which can lead to unethical behavior.
One is groupthink, which can occur in a homogeneous group with a strong leader. A second is
the presence of idealogues: individuals who view their own extreme positions as "right" and any
opposing positions as "wrong." A third is the organization's response to dissent. There are few
incentives for "whistleblowers" or those who try to expose unethical behavior in organizations.
Organizational norms encourage "going along" and discourage questioning the unethical actions
of others. This can quickly compromise ethical standards in any organization.
CAUSES OF UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR

INDIVIDUAL

 COMPLEXITY OF STRATEGIC ISSUES OBSCURES ETHICS

 COMPETITION FOR SCARCE RESOURCES/ POWER/POSITION
 CONFLICTING LOYALTIES

GROUP

 GROUPTHINK
 PRESENCE OF IDEALOGUES
 NEGATIVE ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE TO DISSENT

ETHICS IN PRACTICE

Kenneth R. Andrews, in "Ethics in Practice," contends that there are three aspects to ethical
behavior in organizations: the development of the individual as an ethical person, the effect of the
organization as an ethical or unethical environment, and the actions or procedures developed by
the organization to encourage ethical behavior and discourage unethical behavior.

INFLUENCES ON ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

 PRIOR DEVELOPMENT OF INDIVIDUAL AS ETHICAL PERSON.

 THE ORGANIZATION AS AN ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT.
 PROCEDURES THAT ENCOURAGE ETHICAL BEHAVIOR.

Most of an individual's ethical development occurs before entering an organization. The influence
of family, church, community, and school will determine individual values. The organization, to a
large extent, is dealing with individuals whose value base has been established. This might imply
that ethical organizations are those fortunate enough to bring in ethical individuals, while unethical
organizations brought in unethical people. But it is not that simple. While the internalized values
of individuals are important, the organization has a major impact on the behavior of its members,
and can have a positive or negative influence on their values. One example of the development
of ethical individuals is the service academies. In their admissions processes, the academ ies
attempt to get individuals of good character with the values integral to the military profession.
However, the academies also recognize that their core values may be different than those
prevalent in society, and they devote considerable effort to the development and internalization
of their core values. As is evident from periodic breaches of integrity at the academies, e.g.,
cheating scandals, these attempts to instill core values do not always succeed.

There are three qualities individuals must possess to make ethical decisions. The first is the ability
to recognize ethical issues and to reason through the ethical consequences of decisions. The
ability to see second and third order effects, one of the elements of strategic thinking, is very
important. The second is the ability to look at alternative points of view, deciding what is right in a
particular set of circumstances. This is similar to the ability to reframe. And the third is the ability
to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty; making a decision on the best information available.
ATTRIBUTES FOR ETHICAL DECISIONS

 SEEING SECOND- AND THIRD-ORDER CONSEQUENCES-"WARGAMING" ETHICAL

CONSEQUENCES OF DECISIONS
 SEEING ALTERNATIVE POINTS OF VIEW-REFRAMING
 DEALING WITH AMBIGUITY AND UNCERTAINTY-MAKING DECISIONS WITH BEST
INFORMATION AVAILABLE

As important as these individual characteristics are, the influence of the organization is equally
important. The ethical standards that one observes in the organization will have a significant effect
on individual behavior. "People will do what they are rewarded for doing" (Andrews). The
organization has its greatest impact in the standards it establishes for ethical and unethical
conduct in its formal reward systems. Informal norms also have a strong influence on individuals'
behavior as do the actions of the leaders of the organization. Strategic leaders must understand
that their actions, more than words alone, will determine the operating values in the organization.

We should remember, however, that this...works only as long as most of us live by an honorable
moral compass. Since our trust isn't grounded in self-interest, it is fragile. And, indeed, we all
know of organizations, industries, and even whole societies in which trust has given way either to
a destructive free-for-all or to inflexible rules and bureaucracy. Only our individual wills, our
determination to do what is right, whether or not it is profitable, save us from choosing between
chaos and stagnation.

ETHICAL RESPONSES

Chaloupka, in "Ethical Responses: How to Influence One's Organization," asserts that

organization members have only three choices when confronted with unethical behavior: exit,
voice, or loyalty.

Exit is the most direct response: if you can't live with behavior that does not meet your own ethical
standards, leave. However, exit is not only a direct response, it is a final one, so the personal and
organizational consequences must be considered. The most important personal consequences
are the costs. Where do you go from there? What other options are available? How marketable
are you? Can you afford the financial loss?

There are specific organizational consequences as well. Will the ethics of the organization's
leaders change? Will they do business with someone else who doesn't have the high standards
you do? In leaving, one gives up the ability to influence the organization directly. When
considering exit, one must ask, "Could I have had more of an impact by remaining in the
organization and trying to change it from within?"

Voice. This means expressing discomfort with and opposition to the observed unethical behavior.
To whom do you voice your objections? The obvious choice is your supervisor. But what if your
supervisor condones the unethical behavior, or worse, is its source? You may be jeopardizing
your position, and maybe your membership in the organization. A second choice is to go to senior
management. This also has potential risk. The senior leadership may be condoning or even
directing the unethical behavior. This action may bring your loyalty into question. If so, your
objections may be covered up or ignored, and you may end up being forced out of the
organization.

On the other hand, it may be that the senior leadership is unaware of the unethical behavior, and
you may have initiated an organizational response eliminating unethical behavior and restoring
ethical standards. A third option is to go public, to engage in "whistleblowing." This is also risky,
because it can lead to reprisals with negative consequences. The level of risk depends on the
commitment of the organization to high ethical standards and on its willingness to encourage
whistleblowing in its own best interests. Many organizations have shown commitment to ferreting
out unethical individuals and maintaining high ethical standards by establishing procedures for
anonymous reporting of ethical breaches and safeguards to protect whistleblowers.

Exit and voice may be combined. An individual resigns in protest and goes public with his or her
reasons for leaving. This leaves the individual vulnerable to the label of an employee who quit
before being fired, but it also can lead to increased credibility as someone acting on conviction in
spite of personal cost. Exit combined with voice is most effective if taken by someone at the upper
levels of the organization. An organization can more easily ignore the "exit + voice" of a lower
level employee than it can the resignation of a strategic leader, followed immediately by a press
conference. The widely publicized resignation of former President Bush from the National Rifle
Association over what he viewed as extreme actions is an example of exit combined with voice.
It undoubtedly had a much greater effect on the NRA than the resignation of someone less well
known and respected. The resignation of James Webb as Secretary of the Navy is another
example of effective exit combined with voice.

Loyalty. The final response to unethical behavior in an organization is loyalty. This is the
alternative to exit. Instead of leaving, the individual remains and tries to change the organization
from within. Loyalty thus discourages or delays exit. Loyalty also may discourage public voice,
since being loyal to the organization means trying to solve problems from within without causing
public embarrassment or damage. Loyalty can also encourage unethical behavior, particularly in
organizations which promote loyalty above all. These organizations discourage exit and voice,
and basically want their members to "go along" with organizational practices. An interesting
question is, "Can an individual be loyal to an organization by engaging in exit or voice as a
response to unethical behavior?"

Chaloupka maintains that both exit and voice must exist for continued organizational
effectiveness. Additionally, an organization cannot maintain high ethical standards without
mechanisms for eliminating unethical behavior. Also, loyalty is not always a virtue. Loyalty should
be predicated on the organization's ethical demonstration that it is worthy of loyalty. If the
organization condones unethical behavior, it relieves the individual of any responsibility to be
loyal.

BUILDING AN ETHICAL CLIMATE

How can the strategic leaders of an organization build an ethical climate? Andrews suggests a
number of steps that foster corporate ethics. First are the actions of the strategic leadership and
the way they deal with ethical issues. The pattern of top leaders' behavior determines
organizational values. A second step is to make explicit ethics policies. Ethical codes are one
common example. The next step is to increase awareness of how to apply those ethical codes.
Training on how to deal with situations with an ethical dimension, and how to anticipate situations
that involve ethical choices, can go a long way toward ethical institutional practices.
Another step to increase the salience of ethics is to expand the information system to focus on
areas where ethics may come into play. Knowing what actually is going on in the organization is
essential to understanding the ethical principles which govern behavior. The information system
should also support ethical behavior, and allow the strategic leader to know when or where there
are potential ethical breaches so that corrective action can be taken. The real danger is that when
unethical behavior is unnoticed, or not punished, members will assume it is condoned by the
organization's leadership.

CONCLUSION

Establishing moral principles means determining the core values which should guide the
organization. O'Brien suggests four for consideration: localness, merit, openness, and leanness.
By localness, he means adopting a philosophy of pushing power down to the lowest level possible,
and encouraging initiative and autonomy. By merit, he means directing actions toward the overall
goals of the organization, and what is best for all. By openness, he means being forthright and
honest in all dealings. And by leanness, he means efficient use of resources and economies when
possible.

ULTIMATELY, THE QUEST FOR ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION MUST BEGIN WITH

A PERSONAL COMMITMENT WITHIN EACH INDIVIDUAL TO PURSUE MORAL
EXCELLENCE.
Understanding Workplace Values

Your newest recruit, Brandon, has been working with your team for several weeks now, and you're
wondering if you made a mistake in hiring him.

His workplace values are very different from those of your team, and from the values of your
organization as a whole.

Your core team members care passionately about doing work that helps others. They value
teamwork, and they're always willing to pitch in or stay late if someone is behind on an important
deadline. This has led to a culture of trust, friendliness, and mutual respect within the team.

Brandon, on the other hand, wants to climb the corporate ladder. He's ambitious and ruthless,
and he wants to focus on projects that will either build his expert status or achieve a public win.
The problem is that his core career values clash with the core values of your team. This divide is
causing infighting and bad feeling within the group.

We all have our own workplace values. And, while you can't always make sure that each person's
values are perfectly aligned, you can try to hire people who fit. In this article, we'll look at how you
can better recognize and understand these values – the attitudes that "make them tick."

The Importance of Workplace Values

Your workplace values are the guiding principles that are most important to you about the way
that you work. You use these deeply held principles to choose between right and wrong ways of
working, and they help you make important decisions and career choices.

Some (possibly conflicting) examples of workplace values include:

 Being accountable.
 Making a difference.
 Focusing on detail.
 Delivering quality.
 Being completely honest.
 Keeping promises.
 Being reliable.
 Being positive.
 Meeting deadlines.
 Helping others.
 Being a great team member.
 Respecting company policy and rules, and respecting others.
 Showing tolerance.

Your organization's workplace values set the tone for your company's culture, and they identify
what your organization, as a whole, cares about. It's important that your people's values align with
these.
When this happens, people understand one another, everyone does the right things for the right
reasons, and this common purpose and understanding helps people build great working
relationships. Values alignment helps the organization as a whole to achieve its core mission.

When values are out of alignment, people work towards different goals, with different intentions,
and with different outcomes. This can damage work relationships, productivity, job satisfaction,
and creative potential.

The most important thing that you need to do when interviewing someone is understand his or
her workplace values. After all, you can train people to cover skills gaps, and you can help people
gain experience. But it's really hard to get people to change their values; and they will be "problem
workers" until they do.

Core Values in the Workplace

Before you learn how to identify the values of others, make sure that you understand your own
values. For example, does meeting a project deadline take priority over delivering exceptional
work?

Once you have a thorough understanding of the values that are most important to you, you can
better understand and identify others' values. Your goal in identifying these is to raise awareness
and encourage good behavior and habits.

Start by talking with your most respected team members about the workplace values that they
feel are important. Ask them to brainstorm the values that they believe are most prevalent among
good performers, and list these on a whiteboard or flip chart for them to see.

Once they have come up with their ideas, work together to cut the list down to the five most
important workplace values

Next, discuss how people demonstrate these values every day. How do they make these values
come to life? And how can you encourage more of these behaviors?

You can also talk to team members one-on-one to get a better idea of their workplace values,
coach them to explore beliefs and values, or simply study their behavior. For instance, team
members might say that they value teamwork, but it's the people who stay late to help a colleague
who actually demonstrate this.

Also, check your employee handbook or rule book. Organizations often list their values in these
documents. Pay a lot of attention to these.

You can also identify organizational values by looking at how people work within the company,
and by looking at the actions that the organization has taken over the last few years.

How to Understand People's Workplace Values

To create a cohesive team, you need to identify people who will fit best with its culture and values.

Ask Focused Interview Questions

When you're interviewing potential team members, do what you can to identify their workplace
values – this is usually the most important thing that you need to explore at interview. There are
several ways to do this.

First, ask questions focused around your own organization's workplace values. For instance,
imagine that you want to find a team member who, among other values, is highly tolerant of other
cultures.

You could ask questions like these:

 "Describe a time when you had to work with a wide variety of people. How did you go
about identifying and understanding their points of view? How did you adapt your own
working style to work more effectively with these people? What was the outcome?"
 "Has there ever been a time when your beliefs clashed with someone else's on your team?
If so, how did you overcome these differences?"

These questions encourage interviewees to open up about how they approach these issues. See
our article on structuring interview questions for more on this.

Use Role-Playing Scenarios

When you're interviewing a new recruit, use techniques such as role-playing, or an Inbox/In-tray
Assessment to see a potential hire in action.

Set up scenarios or problems that are subtly centered around the workplace values that you're
looking for. People in role-playing scenarios have to think on their feet, which means that it's
difficult for them to adjust their behaviors to the ones they think you want to see. This means that
you're more likely to get an accurate look at how they would behave in your team.

Look at Past Work History

You also need to look at the potential recruit's past work history. Examine the organization that
they worked at previously to identify any possible clash in values (this might be most obvious if
they've worked with a well-known competitor).

Keep in mind that while most people can be coached to adapt to a new working culture, some
professionals will find it hard to shift their priorities. Deeper values may be very hard to change.

Use Psychometric Tests

Psychometric tests are useful for measuring the values and beliefs of potential hires, because
they're standardized. Recruits can't simply tell you what they think you want to hear. Instead, they
must answer questions that will point to their deepest values, beliefs, and motivating factors. You
can use tests such as The California Psychological Inventory (CPI™) to identify many aspects of
an individual's interpersonal experience, values, and feelings.

Key Points
Workplace values drive the attitudes and behaviors that you want to see within your team. These
values might include respecting others, keeping promises, showing personal accountability, or
providing excellent customer service.

It's important to identify and understand the workplace values of successful team members, so
that you can select new recruits who share these values.

When interviewing new recruits, ask focused interview questions, use role-playing scenarios and
tools, look at past history, and use psychometric tests to find the recruits with the best cultural fit.

Unit 05
Works ethics
Professional values and ethics:

At the very basic level, a professional is someone who has undergone specialized training for a
certain vocation. However, a professional is not solely defined by this attribute but also by his
adherence to certain values and behavior that are inherent in the particular profession. This is
because every professional group has a code of conduct which stipulates what is admissible
behavior within the profession.

A professional is required to align himself/herself to these values and constantly aim to exhibit
certain principles and responsibilities which are desired in the particular profession. Professional
ethics are stipulated by professional bodies which endorse the code of ethics that professionals
in a certain field should adhere to.

Ethics can loosely be defined as a system of moral principles by which social conduct is judged
as either “right” or “wrong”. As such, ethics are moral principles which prescribe what legitimate
behavior in varied dealings is. On the other hand, Values are what professionals judge to be right
and they are obtained from a higher authority than the individual; for example, the government or
the society (Bagad, 2007).

These values and ethics act as the standard for the professional and take precedence over other
qualities therefore dictating the manner in which an individual may act in particular instances.
While professional values and ethics may vary from profession to profession, they are of utmost
important for they define standards that are to be expected from the professional. Professional
values and ethics are not only desirable but mandatory for the success of the organization or
setting in which the professional applies himself.

Sources of Professional Values

One profession which has well established ethics and values is the teaching profession. These
ethical issues are enshrined in the “National Educational Associations” code of ethics which
prescribes what is considered to be good behaviour for a teaching professional (NEA, 2010).
These ethical values for teachers are based on the underlying principles of commitment to the
student and commitment to the teaching profession that every member of the teaching practice
is meant to ascribe to. From the NEA code, teachers are able to obtain the standard code of
proper conduct for the teaching profession as well as ideals that regulate their conduct therefore
leading to professionalism.

Need for work ethics

Work ethic is a belief that hard work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability,
virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities.[1] It is a set of values centered on
importance of work and manifested by determination or desire to work hard. Social ingrainment
of this value is considered to enhance character through hard work that is respective to an
individual's field of work.

Factors

Proponents of a strong work ethic consider it to be vital for achieving goals, that it gives strength
to their orientation and the right mindset. A work ethic is a set of moral principles a person uses
in their job. People who possess a strong work ethic embody certain principles that guide their
work behavior, leading them to produce high-quality work consistently and the output motivates
them to stay on track. A good work ethic fuels an individual's needs and goals, it is related to the
initiative by a person for the objectives. It is considered as a source of self-respect, satisfaction,
and fulfillment.

Factors are-

1. Goal-oriented actions: it is not about making plans or the next logical steps; it's about
getting things done so that the work invested wouldn't be counter-productive.
2. Prioritized focus: focusing on qualitative activities that a person is responsible of and in
areas where they can make a difference or a high impact based on objectives.
3. Being available and reliable: spending time on the work and building oneself up for the
task.
4. Conscientiousness: a desire to do a task well, being vigilant and organized.
5. Creating a rewarding routine/system: Engaging in tasks that provide strength and energy
which can be transferred to your ultimate goals, creating a habit and a habitat for success.
6. Embracing positivism: shape a problem with the statement "good, (action) (problem)", e.g.
"I'm tired and it is time for a workout" leads to "Good. Workout tired".

A negative work ethic is a behavior of a single individual or a group that has led to a systematic
lack of productivity, reliability, accountability and a growing sphere of unprofessional/unhealthy
relationships (e.g., power politics, lack of social skills, etc.

Assumptions

Assumptions about good work ethic is drawn out in philosophical writings of Goldman, they are-

1. The path to what you want is to take action.

 2. The success of action plans depend upon how congruent one's worldview
(Weltanschauung) is with the society's.
3. Many problems faced are only a temporary breakdown of self-management.
4. Setting time limits for achieving goals helps to overcome the edge of discomforts that time
can have on subjective needs.
5. A positive problem-solving or goal attainment experience improves one's ability to cope
with the next difficulty.
6. Hardships in life is a normality, they become a problem when they are the same over and
over.
7. A person is what s/he does, and feelings flow from behavior.
8. Feelings can be viewed as beliefs about one's wants.

Need for work ethics:

Benefits of Ethics in the Workplace:

The following mentioned are few advantages of ethics in the workplace.

1. Asset Protection and Assurance:

When your workers possess an ethical working environment and ethical behaviour in the
workplace, your companies maintenance cost decreases to a remarkable extend because they
are well aware of their duties and responsibilities towards the company. They also realise that
they should not do any damage to any of the machines and equipment are given to them as they
are very valuable for the company and doing damage to these things will be a wrong act, so
automatically things will be taken care of and everything will work systematically.

2. Productivity will increase:

When the work staff and the workers value the work given to them and then they will do all the
given work in time and achieve their set targets, this will greatly affect the sales and the
productivity of the company. Due to this it is assured that you will have a group of people who will
sail your business even in the worst of the downfall of the market, and keep the growth of the
company and business consistent.

3. Team Work will develop:

When all the workers does their jobs in a responsible way, then a time comes when they have
achieved the target way before the given deadline, then a question arises What Next? So the
situation automatically bonds up all the individuals into a team. These individual now work as a
team and work in the benefit of the company for which they will be getting or achieving their
incentives. This mutual understanding of the employees is a positive signal that the company will
sustain for a very long period in the variable market conditions.

4. Public Image and Brand Value Increases:

Yes if all the members of the company are dedicated to work as well as figure out there values
and responsibility towards the environment, then it is for sure that the type of cleanliness and the
disposal of the waste product of the company will be unbeatable in the market, hence resulting in
attracting a bigger customer base due to the clean and quality of the services or products.
Moreover, increase in the public image and increase in the customer base is directly proportional
to an increase in the brand value. In simpler words when you gain popularity amongst your
customers you start to develop your company into a brand.

5. Adaptive to changes:

Workers with professional ethics in the workplace is definitely the master key to the lock of
success. The team of understanding, trust worthy, reliable, motivate, concern and responsible
people will defiantly adapt themselves into any kind of position and work they are filled with.

Moreover in general, it has been seen worldwide that in the digressive market conditions, if the
company asks for any changes in the production or changes in the kind of work then the workers
oppose.

In some situations, the company is left empty-handed falling short of workers as they leave the
company due to changes, but things are just opposite when you have a trustworthy and
responsible bunch of people as they themselves demand for changes according to the companies
situation and let the company run even in the hard market situations.

6. Decision making and implementing is always easy:

Whenever there is a need to take a big decision then the best one made is by the advice of the
employees of the company, and what will be better than every single employ respecting the
decision and supporting the company to go ahead with their decision. This is the power of ethics
in the employers who respect the decision of the company and let it go along with the flow. This
is very rare in the big companies but where this scene happens; the company turns big brands
over the night.

7. Trouble free working environment:

Generally, where everyone is unknown and moreover no one wants to know each other there are
higher chances of great trouble and where there is a friendly, respectful and understanding
environment between the employees there are fewer chances of least troubles from the
employee’s end.

If in case, a situation arises where there is some little misunderstanding between the employees ,
it gets solved within them due to better and strong understanding between all the employees.
Even the management does not have to bother about those small little things as they know that
the employees will take better care of themselves.

8. There is no one left negative:

When people are detached from one another and someone gets negative regarding the
companies work then it has been seen that from that single negative employee many are affected.
Thus there is a sudden decline in the working of the employees, but when everything is good to
go and everyone is concerned about one another then things become systematic and in case if
someone gets negative, the positive and supportive environment works as a boost up for the
person and again he/she starts working to their best.
9. Less Legal Issues:

When everything is systematic and functional and in addition your workers are cooperative and
understanding then you won’t be facing any problems or legal obligations from the employee’s
end, because all the workers are treated equally and all are well known with their duties which
the job requires from them.

When everything is managed and systematic then all the paperwork and the legal formalities are
the primary things which is considered the most, so there is no question of any legal issues.

10. The company will Touch New level of Success:

When everything is so managed and systematic along with the understanding of the employees
because of their strong ethics, the company will surely touch new heights of success and even
the growth of your business will be assured.

When your employees become expert in their respective works and respective fields, then their
dedication and will to do the work will show true colors and give more fruitful results.

Workplace Ethical Laws in Business:

There are few Occupational Safety, Health Administration and anti-discrimination laws mandated
by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These laws help the employees to make sure
that certain things are practiced completely unbiased, such as:

 Anti-discrimination policies
 Anti-harassment policies
 Policies for interactions with clients
 Safety policies

Examples of Workplace Ethics Violations:

Usually, violations of workplace ethics in the companies are not tolerated. Strict actions are taken
depending upon the level of violation done. It is better to know, understand and follow ethics as it
helps you build a professional value in you.

Examples of ethical violations that can occur in the workplace include:

 Asking a candidate whether she has children or no is the clear violation of ethics
 Discrimination of clients when quoting the price for a service is a violation
 The supervisor not taking any safety measures for their employees when doing the
dangerous task
 An employee taking a step ahead for lying, making decisions even if he is not responsible
for it.
 Spreading rumours about co-workers
 Not providing exact updates to the supervisor
 Not helping out a colleague who has experienced sexual abuse at the workplace, even
after being a direct witness
ETHICAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS •
Due to increased emphasis on the business ethics over last three decades, this field is suffering
and is troubled by the lack of proper directions and is struck in the issues like logic, reasons etc.
• The past conception of the companies about the ethical issues in business was related to the
administration of rules, regulations in the organizations. • Today, people from the top management
level and the business owners have understood that this concept of ethical issues in business is
far superior than handling the rules and regulations and their effective implementation.
• There are wide ranges of issues related to the business ethics currently observed by the market
analysts. today, • Ethical issues can be varying in nature. • professional ethics . • Employee right
issues which can be further divided into different categories.. • Functional areas of business .

• In the current business environment, the issues like fairness, justice and honesty are the main
issues that are posing complex dilemma to the businesses. • Any wrong or biased decision can
have a profound impact on the goodwill of the company as well as its market position.. • If they
choose to use legality and profitability as their measurement in determining what is right from
wrong then business ethics will surely become irrelevant

business code of ethics, besides the profit/loss, balance sheets and financial statements. •
Enhancing the financial figures and statements which is manipulated for the purpose of achieving
something which is unethical.
FUNDAMENTAL ISSUES IN ETHICS
• The most fundamental or essential ethical issues that businesses must face are integrity and
trust.
• When customers perceive that a company is exhibiting an unwavering commitment to ethical
business practices, a high level of trust can develop between the business and the people it seeks
to serve.
• Diversity Issues : An ethical response to diversity begins with recruiting a diverse workforce,
enforces equal opportunity in all training programs and is fulfilled when every employee is able to
enjoy a respectful workplace environment that values their contributions. Maximizing the value of
each employee’s contribution is a key element in your business's success.
• Decision-Making Issues : Ethical decision-making processes should centre on protecting
employee and customer rights, making sure all business operations are fair and just, protecting
the common good and making sure individual values and beliefs of workers are protected.
• Compliance and Governance Issues : Businesses are expected to fully comply with
environmental laws, federal and state safety regulations, fiscal and monetary reporting statutes
and all applicable civil rights laws. Commonly it states that, no one may ask any employee to
break the law, or go against company values, policies and procedures.
• Social Networking Ethics : Comments regarding employers or coworkers posted on social
networking websites are costing employees jobs across the country. (eg facebook)
• The ethical and legal challenges surrounding the use of social media and its consequences in
the workplace affects the business industry as a whole because employers across the nation are
setting policies regarding employee use of these websites while working and even what these
workers can say when off the clock.
• The line between an employer's right to monitor employees and an employee's right to privacy
can easily blur in this climate it has to be clearly derived.

• Harassment in the Workplace : Maintaining professional workplace relationships between

employees is a continuing challenge for employers regardless of the industry.

• This challenge can become more difficult when the image companies choose to project has a
significant sexual charge.

• There's never an excuse or a justifiable reason for harassment of any kind in any workplace,
though a willingness to use sexually charged imagery in advertising may indicate a working
climate where harmful behaviours can occur with costly lawsuits resulting from permissive
climates

Ethical leadership:

Ethics have to be right at the core of each leader. If you don’t have it, you are not fit enough to be
a leader. In regard to leadership, ethics is concerned with what leaders do and who leaders are.
Most of us take this topic for granted, thinking that they naturally understand this topic. However,
each person’s understanding and the level understanding could be different from one another.
Following five principles provide a common basis to think and act upon this topic in the workplace.

Ethical Leaders Respect Others

Every religion teach us how to respect

others. Therefore, if you are a spiritual
person, this is part of your character.
However, in the context of leadership
what it exactly means ? Respect
means that a leader listens closely to
followers, is empathic, and is tolerant of
opposing points of view. Every
individual needs to value the
differences of each individual and bear
in mind that everyone is superior to
others in some way. In other words,
team members don’t have to be like
you or you don’t have to be like them.
Let each individual be themselves, have their own values, needs and purposes.

Ethical Leaders Serves others

It is about leader’s altruism behavior. They place their followers’ welfare foremost in their plans.
In the workplace, this translates to activists such as mentoring, empowering, team building, etc.
Ethical leaders have a deep understanding of each individual and make decisions pertaining to
them that are beneficial and not harmful to their welfare. Ethical leaders must refrain from
advancing their ambitions at the expense of team members.

Ethical Leaders are Just

Ethical leaders make fairness and justice a top priority to treat all of the team members in an equal
manner. Equality is an core basis of any social group. As a rule, no one should receive special
treatment or special consideration except when his or her particular situation demands it. In other
words, equality necessarily means that leaders apply the same set of actions on each individual.
As mentioned in Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, it could also mean “ Treat them all the
same by treating them differently”. However, basis for different treatment must be clear and
reasonable and must be consistent across all individual.

All in all, it all boils down to one golden rule which was there for many generations and taught in
many religions “ Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

Ethical Leaders are Honest

Again, if you are spiritual person this must be in your blood. To be a good leader, one must be
honest. Honesty is easier understood by understanding the opposite which is dishonesty.
Dishonesty is form of lying, a way misinterpreting the reality. Honesty is not only about saying the
truth but also about being open. Having said that, leaders still have to strike balance between
when to say what. Because there could be sensitive information that could result in unintended
consequences if it is disclosed at the wrong time or in the wrong way. Therefore, leaders have to
be matured enough to handle information. In organizations, it goes further to behaviors such as,

 Not promising what you can deliver

 Not hiding behind spin-doctored evasions
 Not suppressing obligations
 Not evading accountability
 Not accepting that the ‘survival of the fittest’ pressures of business release any of us from
the responsibility to respect another’s dignity and humanity

Ethical leaders build community

Leadership is process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a

common goal. Defining the common goals requires the involvement of the entire community as
these goals need to be compatible with everyone. Working towards these mutual goals change
both leader and team members and this change must have a positive impact on everyone. A
positive impact that is unique to each individual. An ethical leader is
concerned with the common good, in the broadest sense.

Characteristics of ethical leadership

Here are 10 ethical leadership characteristics:

1. Justice
An ethical leader is always fair and just. They have no favorites, and treat everyone equally. Under
an ethical leader, no employee has any reason to fear biased treatment on the basis of gender,
ethnicity, nationality, or any other factor.

2. Respect others

One of the most important traits of ethical leadership is the respect that is given to followers. An
ethical leader shows respect all members of the team by listening to them attentively, valuing their
contributions, being compassionate, and being generous while considering opposing viewpoints.

3. Honesty

It goes without saying that anyone who is ethical will also be honest and loyal. Honesty is
particularly important to be an effective ethical leader, because followers trust honest and
dependable leaders. Ethical leaders convey facts transparently, no matter how unpopular they
may be.

4. Humane

Being humane is one of the most revealing traits of a leader who is ethical and moral. Ethical
leaders place importance in being kind, and act in a manner that is always beneficial to the team.

5. Focus on teambuilding

Ethical leaders foster a sense of community and team spirit within the organization. When an
ethical leader strives to achieve goals, it is not just personal goals that they’re concerned about.
They make genuine efforts to achieve goals that benefit the entire organization – not just
themselves.

6. Value driven decision-making

In ethical leadership, all decisions are first checked to ensure that they are in accordance with the
overall organizational values. Only those decisions that meet this criterion are implemented.

7. Encourages initiative

Under an ethical leader, employees thrive and flourish. Employees are rewarded for coming up
with innovative ideas, and are encouraged to do what it takes to improve the way things are done.
Employees are praised for taking the first step rather than waiting for somebody else to do it for
them.

8. Leadership by example

Ethical leadership is not just about talking the talk, this type of leader also walks the walk. The
high expectations that an ethical leader has of employees are also applicable on the individual
level. Leaders expect others to do the right thing by leading from example.
9. Values awareness

An ethical leader will regularly discuss the high values and expectations that they place on
themselves, other employees, and the organization. By regularly communicating and discussing
values, they ensure that there is consistent understanding across the organization.

10. No tolerance for ethical violations

An ethical leader expects employees to do the right thing at all times, not just when it is convenient
for them. Don’t expect a leader of such high values to overlook or tolerate ethical violations.

Unit 06

What is Social Responsibility?

Social responsibility (or, corporate social responsibility) is a theory that asserts that businesses,
in addition to maximizing shareholder value, have an obligation to act in a manner that benefits
society. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) emphasizes that a business's
ability to maintain a balance between pursuing economic performance and adhering to societal
and environmental issues is a critical factor in operating efficiently and effectively.

Understanding Social Responsibility

Social responsibility means that individuals and companies have a duty to act in the best interests
of their environment and society as a whole. Social responsibility, as it applies to business, is
known as corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The crux of this theory is to enact policies that promote an ethical balance between the dual
mandates of striving for profitability and benefiting society as a whole. These policies can be either
ones of commission (philanthropy - donations of money, time or resources) or omission ("go
green" initiatives like reducing greenhouse gases, abiding by EPA regulations to limit pollution).
Many companies, such as those with "green" policies, have made social responsibility an integral
part of their business models.
Additionally, more and more investors and consumers are factoring in a company's commitment
to socially responsible practices prior to making an investment or purchase. As such, embracing
social responsibility can actually benefit the prime directive - maximization of shareholder value.
There is a moral imperative as well. Actions, or lack thereof, will have an effect on future
generations. Put simply, being socially responsible is just good business practice and a failure to
do so can have a deleterious effect on the balance sheet.

In general, social responsibility is more effective when a company takes it on voluntarily, as

opposed to being required by the government to do so through regulation. Social responsibility
can boost company morale, and this is especially true when a company can engage employees
with its social causes.

Key Takeaways

 Businesses, in addition to maximizing shareholder value, have an obligation to act in a

manner that benefits society.
 Eliminate practices that harm or implement policies that benefit society and the
environment.
 Adopt socially responsible policies that can boost profitability and hence, shareholder
value.
 Moral imperative to "take care" of society and planet for future generations.

Social Responsibility in Practice

Social responsibility takes on different meanings within industries and companies. For example,
Starbucks Corp. and Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings Inc. have blended social responsibility
into the core of their operations. Both companies purchase Fair Trade Certified ingredients to
manufacture their products and actively support sustainable farming in the regions where they
source ingredients. Big-box retailer Target Corp., also well known for its social responsibility
programs, has donated money to communities in which the stores operate, including education
grants.

The key ways a company embraces social responsibility includes philanthropy, promoting
volunteering and environmental changes. Companies managing their environmental impact might
look to reduce their carbon footprint and limit waste. There's also the social responsibility of ethical
practices for employees, which can mean offering a fair wage, which arises when there are limited
employee protection laws.

Social Responsibility Concerns

Not everyone believes that businesses should have a social conscience. Economist Milton
Friedman stated that "social responsibilities of business are notable for their analytical looseness
and lack of rigor." Friedman believed only individuals can have a sense of social responsibility.
Businesses, by their very nature, cannot. Some experts believe that social responsibility defies
the very point of being in business: profit above all else.
The Importance of Social Responsibility

Although the activity of social responsibility is benefit for both social and business organizational,
the arguments for and against business social responsibility exist. There are several reasons of
agreement of the activity. The importance of social responsibility is state below: -

1 Best Interest of Business to Promote and Improve the Communities

Organizations, as members of society, have a moral obligation to help society deal with its
problems and to contribute to its welfare. It is the ethical thing to do by the business organizations.
A measurement should be made of whether the organization is performing such activities as
producing goods and services that people need, creating jobs for society, paying fair wages, and
ensuring worker safety.

People and organizations need each other. Social responsibility to employees extend beyond
terms and conditions of the formal contract of employment and give recognition to the workers as
a human being. People today have wider expectations of the quality of working life, included
justice is treatment, opportunities for consultation and participation, training in new skill and
technologies, effective personal and industrial relations policies, and provision of social and
leisure facilities. Organization should be, for example, give due consideration to the design of
work organization and job satisfaction, make very reasonable effort to give security of
employment, and provide employment opportunities for minority groups.

A number of leading companies have taken steps to develop more ethical cultures and system
by involving individual employees in corporate affairs. To provide or support some benefits to the
workers will lead to a good communities in the business organizations. Good communication in
the internal business would be leads to avoid miss understanding of each other. The workers
would then enjoy their work and work out more efficiency. The quality of goods and services of
the organization therefore increase. This will lead to profitable to the organization's business.
Therefore, the social responsibility is important in internal environment of the business too.

2 Improves Public Image of the Firm

To many people, responsibilities to consumers may be seen as no more than a natural outcome
of good business. There are, however, broader social responsibilities including providing good
value for money; the safety and durability of products or services; standard of after-sales service;
prompt and courteous attention to queries and complaints; long-term satisfaction, for example
serviceability, adequate supply of products or services, and spare and replacement parts; fair
standards of advertising and trading; full and unambiguous information to potential customers.
Increasing concern for social responsibilities to consumers can be seen by the activities of such
bodies as the Consumers Association, and the number of television and radio programmed
devoted to this subject.

As an example of degrading the quality of life, some people believe that cigarette companies,
because they produce goods that can harm the health of society overall, are socially irresponsible.
By doing that, the consumers would be loses of confidence on the organization's products, and
not buying their products. Then consumers will buy the goods from other organizations that they
are confidence to. Social initiatives taken by organizations tend to promote goodwill, public favor,
and corporate trust, and these may contribute to the long-run success of the organizations and
profit. Therefore, socially responsible would acts enhance an organization's image and business
in general.

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3 Improving Stock Price

To having the action of social responsibility of an organization would lead to their suppliers, and
business associates more confidence to the organization. The examples of social responsibility
might include: fair standards of trading, honoring terms and conditions of purchase or sale, and
settlement dates, for example payment of accounts, assistance to smaller organization;
engagement only in fair competition; respect for copyright and patents. By doing that, the other
organizations would view the company as less risky. This is in the stock holder’s best interest. It
will improve the price of stock in the long run because the stock market will views the company
as less risky and open to public attack. So, it would reduce the cost of the production of the
company. Therefore award it a high price-earnings ratio.

Some organizations extend the range of social responsibilities even future by, for example: giving
recognition to the needs of developing countries; limiting the extent of political involvement or
campaigning; donations to, or sponsorship of, the arts, educational or educational or research
institutions, sporting organizations or charities.

4 Solving Social Problems

Organizations have a responsibility not to misuse the scarce factors of production upon which the
wealth of the country depends. Organizations have a responsibility to society, to respect
environmental considerations and take care of amenities. For example, the effects and potential
dangers of pollution, noise, disposal of waste; the siting and appearance of new buildings;
transportation policies, such as the routing of heavy vehicles through narrow village roads; and
avoidance of excessive packaging and more use of biodegradable materials. All of that must be
think off since the decision making of the organizations to have their process of production. For
example, is the protest against aerosol sprays containing chlorofluorocarbons. These have been
blamed for damaging the ozone layer, which protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet rays from
sun. Organizations should, of course, respect and obey the law which is set up of government
even where they regard it as not in their best interests. But what is debatable is the extent to which
organizations should co-operate voluntarily with actions requested by the government. Some
examples are: restraint from trading with certain overseas countries, and the acceptance of
controls over imports or exports; actions designed to combat inflation.

By the side, some pollutions can not be avoid, and sometime, our government is too busy to solve
the others problems, society should give business a chance to solve social problems, such as air
pollution and water pollution, that government has failed to solve. To solving those social
problems, the environment will be cleaner. This would lead to a good image of the companies to
their consumers or other companies. The confidence of consumer's increases, and favor to buy
the goods from the companies. The profit of the companies will increase eventually. Therefore,
acts of social responsibility is very important by organizations help correct the social problems
that the organizations create.

5 Resource given by the organizations to solve the social problem

The measurement of social investment deals with the degree to which the organization is
investing both money and human resources to solve community social problems. Here, the
organization could be involved in assisting community organizations dedicated to education,
charities, and the arts.

For example, Ben and Jerry's have a great reputation for being a socially responsible company.
Management seems to include social responsibility issues in everything that it does. As an
example, when recently looking for a site to build its new factory, the company was torn between
building a new factory in its native Vermont to support struggling farmers or closer to the West
Coast to avoid the pollution caused and energy expended by transporting the ice cream a couple
of thousand miles. The Vermont site was eventually chosen.

A lot of money would be used for solving the social problems. Most of the time, there is limited
money for that. Technical also been used to solving problems. So, in order to avoid the limited of
resources, most of the organizations will possess the resources (such as money and expertise)
needed to tackle social problems. A good image of the companies develops. It will lead to even
more consumers to have confidence on that companies and more consume on the goods of the
companies. These companies would be profitable in the long run period. Therefore, being social
responsibilities is very important to an organization in order to create a good image to the
company.
What Is Business Ethics?

Business ethics is the study of appropriate business policies and practices regarding potentially
controversial subjects including corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination,
corporate social responsibility, and fiduciary responsibilities. The law often guides business
ethics, but at other times business ethics provide a basic guideline that businesses can choose
to follow to gain public approval.

Business Ethics

Understanding Business Ethics

Business ethics ensure that a certain basic level of trust exists between consumers and various
forms of market participants with businesses. For example, a portfolio manager must give the
same consideration to the portfolios of family members and small individual investors. These
kinds of practices ensure the public receives fair treatment.

The concept of business ethics began in the 1960s as corporations became more aware of a
rising consumer-based society that showed concerns regarding the environment, social causes,
and corporate responsibility. The increased focus on so-called social issues was a hallmark of
the decade.
Since that time period, the concept of business ethics has evolved. Business ethics goes beyond
just a moral code of right and wrong; it attempts to reconcile what companies must do legally
versus maintaining a competitive advantage over other businesses. Firms display business ethics
in several ways.

[Important: Business ethics are meant to ensure a certain level of trust between
consumers and corporations, guaranteeing the public fair and equal treatment.]

Examples of Business Ethics

Here are a few examples of business ethics at work as corporations attempt to balance marketing
and social responsibility. For example, Company XYZ sells cereals with all-natural ingredients.
The marketing department wants to use the all-natural ingredients as a selling point, but it must
temper enthusiasm for the product versus the laws that govern labeling practices.

Some competitors' advertisements tout high-fiber cereals that have the potential to reduce the
risk of some types of cancer. The cereal company in question wants to gain more market share,
but the marketing department cannot make dubious health claims on cereal boxes without the risk
of litigation and fines. Even though competitors with larger market shares of the cereal
industry use shady labeling practices, that doesn't mean every manufacturer should engage in
unethical behavior.

For another example, consider the matter of quality control for a company that manufactures
electronic components for computer servers. These components must ship on time, or the parts
manufacturer risks losing a lucrative contract. The quality-control department discovers a
possible defect, and every component in one shipment faces checks.

Unfortunately, the checks may take too long, and the window for on-time shipping could pass,
which could delay the customer's product release. The quality-control department can ship the
parts, hoping that not all of them are defective, or delay the shipment and test everything. If the
parts are defective, the company that buys the components might face a firestorm of consumer
backlash, which may lead the customer to seek a more reliable supplier.

Unit 08

Motivation and perception:

Definition of motivation:

Motivation can be defined as the processes that account for an individual’s intensity, direction,
and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.
The word “motivation” comes from the Latin word “movere”, which means move.

Human motives are based on needs, whether consciously felt. Sonic are primary needs, such as
the physiological needs for water, air, food, sleep, and shelter.

Other needs may be regarded as secondary stitch as self-esteem, status, affiliation with others,
affection, giving, accomplishment, and self-assertion. Naturally, these needs vary in intensity and
over time among individuals.

“Motivation” is a general term applying to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and
similar forces.

To say that managers motivate their subordinates is to say that they do things which they hope
will ‘satisfy these drives and desires and induce the subordinates to act in a desired manner.

Motivation may be defined as the act of stimulating someone to take a desired course of action.

It is the art of inducing employees to work diligently and sincerely to the success of the enterprise.
It is the intensification of the desire of the workers or employees to work more cordially, carefully
and consciously.

In the words of L.A. Allen,

Motivation is the work of a manager who performs to inspire, encourage and impel people to take
the required action.

Motivation is often referred to as the “dynamic of behavior”.

The term ‘dynamic’ means energies or forces which produce motion in physical bodies. In
psychology and administration, it means the mental engaging force or motive that activates the
organism.

Many people incorrectly view motivation as a personal trait—that is, some have it and others do
not. Motivation is the result of the interaction between the individual and the situation.

The Three key elements of our definition are intensity, direction, and persistence:

1. Intensity
Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus
on when we talk about motivation.
2. Direction
The direction is the orientation that benefits the organization.
3. Persistence
Persistence is a measure of how long a person can maintain his or her effort. Motivated
individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve their goal.

Features of Motivation

Motivation is a captivating concept. It is a fascinating but a complex phenomenon.

The main features of motivation are as follows:

 Motivation is goal-oriented;
 Motivation is a continuous process;
 Motivation may be positive or negative;
 Motivation may be monetary or non-monetary;
 Motivation may be considered in totality, not in piecemeal;
 Motivation is a psychological phenomenon which converts abilities into performance.

Motivation theories

We can distinguish between contentand processmotivation theories. Content theories focus on

WHAT, while process theories focus on HOW human behaviour is motivated. Content theories
are the earliest theories of motivation. Within the work environment they have had the greatest
impact on management practice and policy, whilst within academic circles they are the least
accepted. Content theories are also called needs theories: they try to identify what our needs are
and relate motivation to the fulfilling of these needs. The content theories cannot entirely explain
what motivate or demotivate us. Process theories are concerned with “how” motivation occurs,
and what kind of process can influence our motivation.

The main content theories are: Maslow’s needs hierarchy, Alderfer’s ERG theory, McClelland’s
achievement motivation and Herzberg’s two-factor theory.

The main process theories are: Skinner’s reinforcement theory, Victor Vroom's expectancy
theory, Adam’s equity theory and Locke’s goal setting theory (Figure 1).

No single motivation theory explains all aspects of people’s motives or lack of motives. Each
theoretical explanation can serve as the basis for the development of techniques for motivating.
Figure 1. Motivation theories (Source: Author's own figure)

Maslow – hierarchy of needs

This is the earliest and most widely known theory of motivation, developed by Abraham Maslow
(1943) in the 1940s and 1950s.

This theory condenses needs into five basic categories. Maslow ordered these needs in his
hierarchy, beginning with the basic psychological needs and continuing through safety, belonging
and love, esteem and self-actualization (Figure 2). In his theory, the lowest unsatisfied need
becomes the dominant, or the most powerful and significant need. The most dominant need
activates an individual to act to fulfil it. Satisfied needs do not motivate. Individual pursues to seek
a higher need when lower needs are fulfilled.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often shown in the shape of a pyramid: basic needs at the bottom
and the most complex need (need for self-actualization) at the top. Maslow himself has never
drawn a pyramid to describe these levels of our needs; but the pyramid has become the most
known way to represent his hierarchy.
 Figure Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs
(Source: Author's own
figure)

1. Physiological needs
(e.g. food, water, shelter,
sleep)

It includes the most basic

needs for humans to
survive, such as air,
water and food. Maslow
emphasized, our body
and mind cannot function
well if these
requirements are not
fulfilled.

These physiological
needs are the most
dominant of all needs. So
if someone is missing
everything in his/her life,
probably the major
motivation would be to fulfil his/her physiological needs rather than any others. A person who is
lacking food, safety, love (also sex) and esteem, would most probably hunger for food (and also
for money, salary to buy food) than for anything else.

If all the needs are unsatisfied, and the organism is then overruled by the physiological needs, all
other needs may turn into the background. All capacities are put into the attendance of satisfying
hunger. Any other things are forgotten or got secondary importance.

2. Safety and security (secure source of income, a place to live, health and well-being)

If the physiological needs are relatively well contented, new needs will appear, the so called safety
needs. Safety needs refer to a person’s desire for security or protection. Basically everything
looks less important than safety and protection (the physiological needs even s ometimes). The
healthy and fortunate adults in our culture are largely satisfied in their safety needs. The peaceful,
sure, safety and unwavering society makes us feel in safety enough from criminal assaults,
murder, unbelievable natural catastrophes, and so on. In that case people no longer have any
safety needs as first-line motivators.

Meeting with safety needs demonstrated as a preference for insurance policies, saving accounts
or job security, etc., we think about the lack of economic safety. Children have a greater need to
feel safe. That is the reason why this level is more important for children.
Safety and security needs include: Personal security; Financial security; Health and well-being;
Safety mesh against accidents, illnesses and their adverse impacts.

To tell the truth, in real dangers and traumas – like war, murder, natural catastrophes, criminal
assault, etc. -, the needs for safety become an active, first-line and dominant mobilizer of human
beings.

3. Belongingness and love (integration into social groups, feel part of a community or a group;
affectionate relationships)

If both the physiological and the safety needs are fulfilled, the affection, love and belongingness
needs come into prominence. Maslow claimed people need to belong and accepted among their
social groups. Group size does not mean anything: social groups can be large or small. People
need to love and be loved – both sexually and non-sexually – by others. Depending on the power
and pressure of the peer group, this need for belonging may overbear the physiological and
security needs.

Love needs involve giving and receiving affections (love is not synonymous with sex – sex is a
physiological need). When they are unsatisfied, a person will immediately eliminate the lack of
friends, peers and partner. Many people suffer from social nervousness, loneliness, social
isolation and also clinical depression because of the lack of this love or belongingness factor.

4. Esteem (respect for a person as a useful, honourable human being)

In our society most people long for a stable and high valuation of themselves, for the esteem of
others and for self-respect or self-esteem.

Esteem means being valued, respected and appreciated by others. Humans need to feel to be
valued, such as being useful and necessary in the world. People with low self-esteem often need
respect from others. Maslow divided two types of esteem needs: a ‘lower’ version and a ‘higher’
version. The ‘lower’ version of esteem is the need for respect from others: for example attention,
prestige, status and loving their opinion. The ‘higher’ version is the need for self-respect: for
example, the person may need independence, and freedom or self-confidence.

The most stable and therefore the healthiest self-esteem is based on respect from others.
External fame or celebrity and unwarranted adulation won’t cause self-esteem, although you feel
better for a while.

5. Self-actualization (individual’s desire to grow and develop to his or her fullest potential)

‘What humans can be, they must be.’ (Maslow, 1954)

Self-actualization reflects an individual’s desire to grow and develop to his/her fullest potential.
People like opportunities, choosing his/her own versions, challenging positions or creative tasks.
Maslow described this level as the ‘need to accomplish everything that one can, to become the
most that one can be’. Maslow believed that people must overcome their other needs – described
above -, not only achieve them. At this level, individual differences are the largest.
As each level is adequately satisfied, we are then motivated to satisfy the next level in the
hierarchy, always new and higher needs are coming. This is what we mean, when the basic
human needs are drawn like a pyramid, a hierarchy. Life experiences, including divorce and loss
of job, may cause an individual to fluctuate between levels of the hierarchy. These five different
levels were further sub-categorised into two main groups: deficiency and growth needs.

Deficiency needs – The very basic needs for survival and security.

These needs include:

• physiological needs

• safety and security needs

• social needs – belongingness and love

• esteem needs

It may not cause a physical indication if these ‘deficiency needs’ are not fulfilled, but the individual
will feel anxious and tense. So the most basic level of needs must be fulfilled before a person
wants to focus on the secondary or higher level needs.

Growth needs – Personal growth and fulfilment of personal potential.

These needs include:

• self-actualisation needs

This hierarchy is not as rigid as we may have implied. For example, there are some humans for
whom self-esteem or self-actualization seems to be more important than love or belonging. The
popularity of this theory of motivation rooted in its simplicity and logic.

Alderfer – ERG theory: Existence needs, relatedness needs and growth needs

Alderfer (Furnham, 2008) distinguished three steps or classes of needs: existence, relatedness
and growth. Maslow’s physiological and safety needs belong together to existence needs.
Relatedness can be harmonised to belongingness and esteem of others. Growth is the same as
Maslow’s self-esteem plus self-actualization. Both Maslow and Alderfer tried to describe how
these needs, these stages of needs become more or less important to individuals.

• Existence needs: These include needs for basic material necessities. In short, it includes an
individual’s physiological and physical safety needs.

• Relatedness needs: Individuals need significant relationships (be with family, peers or
superiors), love and belongingness, they strive toward reaching public fame and recognition. This
class of needs contain Maslow’s social needs and external component of esteem needs.
• Growth needs: Need for self-development, personal growth and advancement form together
this class of need. This class of needs contain Maslow’s self-actualization needs and intrinsic
component of esteem needs.

Alderfer agreed with Maslow that unsatisfied needs motivate individuals. Alderfer also agreed that
individuals generally move up the hierarchy in satisfying their needs; that is, they satisfy lower-
order before higher-order needs. As lower-order needs are satisfied, they become less important,
but Alderfer also said: as higher-order needs are satisfied they become more important. And it is
also said that under some circumstances individuals might return to a lower need. Alderfer thought
that individuals multiply the efforts invested in a lower category need when higher categorized
needs are not consequent.

For example there is a student, who has excellent grades, friends, and high standard of living,
maybe also work at the university. What happens if this individual finds that he or she is frustrated
in attempts to get more autonomy and responsibility at the university, maybe also more
scholarship that generally encourage individuals’ growth? Frustration in satisfying a higher
(growth) need has resulted in a regression to a lower level of (relatedness) needs (‘I need just my
friends, some good wine, I do not want to go to the university anymore.’).

This event is known and called as the frustration-regression process. This is a more realistic
approach as it recognises that, because when a need is met, it does not mean it will always remain
met. ERG theory of motivation is very flexible: it explains needs as a range rather than as a
hierarchy. Implication of this theory: Managers must understand that an employee has various
needs that must be satisfied at the same time. ERG theory says, if the manager concentrates
only on one need at a time, he or she won’t be able to motivate the employee effectively and
efficiently. Prioritization and sequence of these three categories, classes can be different for each
individual.

McClelland – Need for achievement, affiliation and power

In the early 1960s McClelland – built on Maslow’s work – described three human motivators.
McClelland (Arnold et al., 2005) claimed that humans acquire, learn their motivators over time
that is the reason why this theory is sometimes called the ‘Learned Needs Theory’. He affirms
that we all have three motivating drivers, and it does not depend on our gender or age. One of
these drives or needs will be dominant in our behaviour.

McClelland’s theory differs from Maslow’s and Alderfer’s, which focus on satisfying existing needs
rather than creating or developing needs. This dominant motivator depends on our culture and
life experiences, of course (but the three motivators are permanent). The three motivators are:

• achievement: a need to accomplish and demonstrate competence or mastery

• affiliation: a need for love, belonging and relatedness

• power: a need for control over one’s own work or the work of others

These learned needs could lead to diversity and variety between employees. More precisely,
prioritization and importance of these motivational needs characterises a person’s behaviour. As
we wrote, although each person has all of these needs to some extent, only one of them tends to
motivate an individual at any given time.
Achievement motivation – a need to accomplish and demonstrate competence or mastery. It
pertains to a person’s need for significant success, mastering of skills, control or high standards.
It is associated with a range of actions. Individual seek achievement, attainment of challenging
(and also realistic) goals, and advancement in the school or job.

This need is influenced by internal drivers for action (intrinsic motivation), and the pressure used
by the prospects of others (extrinsic motivation). Low need for achievement could mean that
individuals want to minimise risk of failure, and for this reason people may choose very easy or
too difficult tasks, when they cannot avoid failure. In contrast, high need for achievement means
that humans try to choose optimal, sufficiently difficult tasks, because they want to get the chance
to reach their goals, but they have to work for it, they need to develop themselves.

Individuals with high need for achievement like to receive regular feedback on their progress and
achievements; and often like to work alone; seek challenges and like high degree of
independence.

Sources of high need for achievement can be: praise for success, goal setting skills, one’s own
competence and effort to achieve something, and it does not depend only on luck; of course
positive feelings and also independence in childhood. McClelland said that training, teaching can
increase an individual’s need for achievement. For this reason, some have argued that need for
achievement is not a need but a value.

Affiliation motivation – a need for love, belonging and relatedness

These people have a strong need for friendships and want to belong within a social group, need
to be liked and held in popular regard. They are team players, and they may be less effective in
leadership positions. High-need-for-affiliation persons have support from those with whom they
have regular contact and mostly are involved in warm interpersonal relationships. After or during
stressful situation individuals need much more affiliation. In these situations people come together
and find security in one another. There are times when individuals want to be with others and at
other times to be alone – affiliation motivation can become increased or decreased. Individuals
do not like high risk or uncertainty.

Authority/power motivation – a need to control over one’s own work or the work of others.
These persons are authority motivated. There is a strong need to lead and to succeed in their
ideas. It is also needed to increase personal status and prestige. This person would like to control
and influence others. McClelland studied male managers with high need for power and high need
for affiliation and found that managers with a high need for power tended to run more productive
departments in a sales organization than did managers with a high need for affiliation.

It is important to speak about gender differences in need for power. It is said that men with high
need for power mostly have higher aggression, drink more, act in sexually exploitative manner,
and participate in competitive sports, and also political unrests. At the same time women with
higher need for power show more socially acceptable and responsible manner, are more
concerned and caring. These types of people prefer to work in big, multinational organisations,
businesses and other influential professions.
McClelland argues that strong need for achievement people can become the best leaders – as
we wrote it above. But at the same time there can be a tendency to request too much of their
employees, because they think that these people are also highly achievement-focused and
results-driven, as they are. Think about your teachers and professors! I am sure they all want the
best for you, they would like to develop you, but I do not think you feel the same every time.
McClelland said that most people have and show a combination of these characteristics.

Herzberg – Two factor theory

It is also called motivation-hygiene theory.

This theory says that there are some factors (motivating factors) that cause job satisfaction, and
motivation and some other also separated factors (hygiene factors) cause dissatisfaction (Figure
3). That means that these feelings are not opposite of each other, as it has always previously
been believed.

Opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but rather, no satisfaction. According to Herzberg

(1987) the job satisfiers deal with the factors involved in doing the job, whereas the job
dissatisfiers deal with the factors which define the job context.

Figure 3. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory (Source: Author's own figure)

If the hygiene factors, for example salary, working conditions, work environment, safety and
security are unsuitable (low level) at the workplace, this can make individuals unhappy,
dissatisfied with their job. Motivating factors, on the other hand, can increase job satisfaction,
and motivation is based on an individual's need for personal growth. If these elements are
effective, then they can motivate an individual to achieve above-average performance and effort.
For example, having responsibility or achievement can cause satisfaction (human characteristics)
(Dartey-Baah, 2011).

Hygiene factors are needed to ensure that an employee is not dissatisfied. Motivation factors are
needed to ensure employee's satisfaction and to motivate an employee to higher performance.

Herzberg's Two Factory Theory (Source: Author's own table)

Dissatisfaction – Low level

No dissatisfaction-High level Hygiene factors

No satisfaction – Low level

Satisfaction – High level Motivating factors

Herzberg’s five factors of job satisfaction (motivating factors):

• achievement

• recognition

• work itself

• responsibility

• advancement

Only these factors can motivate us. But at the same time we need the lack of dissatisfactions (we
need hygiene factors, "workpeace") to achieve more efficient work.

Herzberg’s five factors of job dissatisfaction (hygiene factors – deficiency needs):

• company policy and administration

• supervision

• salary

• interpersonal relationships

• working conditions
Can we motivate with money, with higher salary? What did Herzberg and Maslow say? Is it just
the same or something different?

Herzberg addressed salary not a motivator in the way that the primary motivators are, just like
achievement and recognition. Salary can be a motivator, if you get always higher and higher
salary, but we cannot say that it is an incentive. Maslow said, money or salary is needed to buy
food to eat, to have some place to live and sleep, etc. It can be a physiological need. Some
differences between Herzberg and Maslow theory are described in Table 2.

Differences between Maslow’s and Herzberg’s theory (Source: Author's own table)

Points of Maslow’s theory Herzberg’s theory

view

Date of the in 1940’s in 1960’s

theory

Study group ordinary American people well-situated American people

About Every level of needs give us Not every type of needs can give us
needs satisfaction and give the satisfaction, just motivating factors.
opportunity to move on to the next
level of needs.

Limitations of this theory:

• This theory oversees situational variables.

• Herzberg supposed a correlation, linear between productivity, performance and satisfaction.

• The theory’s reliability is uncertain.

• No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used.

• The theory ignores blue-collar workers, only white-collar men’s opinion was discussed.

However, Herzberg tried to bring more humanity and caring into companies’ life. His intention was
not to develop a theory that is used as a 'motivational tool’, but to provide a guidance to improve
organisational performance.

Table 3. Summary of Content Theories of Motivation (Source: Author's own table)

Maslow Alderfer McClelland Herzberg

Physiological Existence Hygiene

Safety and security

 Belongingness and love Relatedness Need for Affiliation

Self-esteem Growth Need for power Motivators

Self-actualization Need for achievement

There are some critics for all need theories. Although, there is a consensus for the general
concept: human behaviour is motivated by the strong wish for fulfilling a human need. Critics are:

• Universality: they do not care about gender, age, culture, religious or other factor differences.

• Research support and methodology problems: these theories were not based on reliable and
creditable research results.

• Work focus: individuals have needs only at their workplaces, but not at any other places of their
life.

• Individual differences and stability over time.

• Process simplicity.

Skinner's reinforcement theory

The Reinforcement theory, based on Skinner's operant conditioning theory, says that behaviour
can be formed by its consequences (Gordon, 1987).

Positive reinforcements, for example praise, appreciation, a good mark/grade, trophy, money,
promotion or any other reward can increase the possibility of the rewarded behaviours' repetition.

If a student gets positive verbal feedback and a good grade for his test, this reinforc ement
encourages the performance of the behaviour to recur. If the teacher doesn’t tell precisely what
he expects, then the positive reinforcements can drive the behaviour closer to the preferred. For
example, when a student who is usually late to class gets positive feedback when he arrives on
time, the student becomes more and more punctual. Positive reinforcement motivates to get the
anticipated reinforcement of required behaviour.

We use negative reinforcement when we give a meal to a hungry person if he behaves in a

certain manner/way.

In this case the meal is a negative reinforcement because it eliminates the unpleasant state
(hunger).

Contrary to positive and negative reinforcement, punishment can be undesired reinforcement,

or reinforce undesired behaviour.

For example, if a student is always late to class and thus he gets negative verbal feedback and
also always has to tidy up the classroom at the end of the day, in this case the undesirable
behaviour is reinforced with an undesirable reinforcer. The punishment declines the tendency to
be late.
According to the theory, positive reinforcement is a much better motivational technique than
punishment because punishment:

• tries to stop undesirable behaviour and does not offer an alternative behaviour

• creates bad feelings, negative attitudes toward the activity, and the person who gives the
punishment

• suppresses behaviour, but does not permanently eliminate it.

Once certain behaviour has been conditioned through repetitive reinforcement, elimination of the
reinforcement will decline the motivation to perform that behaviour. Therefore it is better not to
give a reward every time. Reinforcement in the workplace usually takes place on a partial or
irregular reinforcement schedule, when reward is not given for every response.

The reinforcement theory is included in many other motivation theories. Reward must meet
someone's needs, expectations, must be applied equitably, and must be consistent. The desired
behaviour must be clear and realistic, but the issue remains: which reinforcements are suitable
and for which person?

Vroom's expectancy theory

The expectancy theory places an emphasis on the process and on the content of motivation as
well, and it integrates needs, equity and reinforcement theories.

Victor Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory aims to explain how people choose from the available
actions. Vroom defines motivation as a process that governs our choices among alternative forms
of voluntary behaviour. The basic rationale of this theory is that motivation stems from the belief
that decisions will have their desired outcomes.

The motivation to engage in an activity is determined by appraising three factors. These three
factors are the following (Figure 4):

• Expectancy – a person’s belief that more effort will result in success. If you work harder, it will
result in better performance.

In this case the question is: "Am I capable of making a good grade on a math test if I learn more?"
Appraisal of this factor is based on the effort to learn math, on knowledge of math, on the previous
experience of math test results, on self-efficacy and specific self-rated abilities.

• Instrumentality – the person’s belief that there is a connection between activity and goal. If you
perform well, you will get reward.

In this case the question is that: "Will I get the promised reward (a good mark) for performing well
on a math test?" Appraisal of this factor is based on the accuracy and consistency of marking. If
one day I get a good grade and another day I get a bad grade for the same performance, then
the motivation will decrease.

• Valence – the degree to which a person values the reward, the results of success.
In this case the question is that: "Do I value the reward that I get?" Appraisal of this factor is based
on the importance of its subject (math), the good mark, and the good performance in general.

Vroom supposes that expectancy, instrumentality and valence are multiplied together to
determine motivation. This means that if any of these is zero, then the motivation to do something
will be zero as well.

Figure 4. Vroom's expectancy theory (Source: Author's own figure)

A person who doesn’t see the connection between effort and performance will have zero
expectancy. A person who can’t perceive the link between performance and reward will have zero
instrumentality. For a person who doesn’t value the anticipated outcome, reward will have zero
valence.

For example if I think:

- that no matter how hard I’m studying I can’t learn math due to lack of necessary skills or

- that no matter how good I perform on the test I don’t always get good mark so the reward is
unpredictable, not dependent on my success or

- the good mark from math is not important for me, and I’m not interested in math, so the reward
is not attractive, then I won’t be motivated to learn for the exam.

The expectancy theory highlights individual differences in motivation and contains three useful
factors for understanding and increasing motivation. This theory implies equity and importance of
consistent rewards as well (Konig & Steel 2006).

Adams' equity theory

The equity theory states that people are motivated if they are treated equitably, and receive what
they consider fair for their effort and costs.

The theory was suggested by Adams (1965) and is based on Social Exchange theory.

According to this theory, people compare their contribution to work, costs of their actions and the
benefits that will result to the contribution and benefits of the reference person. If people perceive
that the ratio of their inputs-outputs to the ratio of referent other's input-output is inequitable, then
they will be motivated to reduce the inequity (Figure 5).

Figure 5. Adams' equity theory (Source: Author's own figure)

At the workplace the workers put inputs into the job, such as education, experience, effort, energy,
and expect to get some outcomes such as salary, reward, promotion, verbal recognition, and
interesting and challenging work each in equal amounts (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Examples for the inputs and outcomes in the equity theory (Source: Author's own figure)

The equity theory works not just in the workplace, but at school as well. For example, when for
the same oral exam performance two students get different marks, then inequity exists. In this
case, the student who gets the worse mark may lose his/her motivation to learn (reduce his/her
efforts), or persuade the teacher to give him/her a better mark, or change the perception of the
reference person's performance ("I did not know everything, but my classmate could answer all
the questions"). At the school it can demotivate students if someone who never studies or who
never performs better than the others always gets good mark. The greater the inequity the greater
the distress an individual feels, which will motivate the endeavour to make the outcomes and the
inputs equal compared to the reference person.

When inequity exists, a person might…

• reduce his/her inputs, efforts, quantity or quality of his/her work

• try to increase his/her outputs (ask for better mark, or pay raising)

• adjust his/her perception of reference person or his/her outcomes or inputs (re-evaluate his/her
or the reference person's effort or outcome)
• change the reference person

• quit the situation.

The problem with equity theory is that it does not take into account differences in individual needs,
values, and personalities. For example, one person may perceive a certain situation as
inequitable while another does not. Nevertheless ensuring equity is essential to motivation.

Locke's goal-setting theory

Locke's (1990) goal setting theory is an integrative model of motivation just like the expectancy
theory.

It emphasizes that setting specific, challenging performance goals and the commitment to these
goals are key determinants of motivation. Goals describe a desired future, and these established
goals can drive the behaviour. Achieving the goals, the goal accomplishment further motivates
individuals to perform.

We can distinguish goals according to specificity, difficulty and acceptance. A specific goal can
be measured and lead to higher performance than a very general goal like “Try to do your best!”
A difficult, but realistic goal can be more motivational than easy or extremely difficult ones. The
acceptance of the goal is very important as well, therefore involvement in the goal setting is
recommended.

For example, if I decide to pass a medium level language exam in German in six months – this
goal is specific and difficult enough – because I want to work in Germany – this goal is very
important for me, therefore the goal commitment is high – then I will be motivated to learn, and to
pass the exam.

The following guidelines have been useful in the goal-setting (Figure 7):

• Set challenging but attainable goals. Too easy or too difficult/unrealistic goals don’t motivate us.

• Set specific and measurable goals. These can focus toward what you want, and can measure
the progress toward the goal.

• Goal commitment should be obtained. If people don’t commit to the goals, then they will not put
effort toward reaching the goals, even specific, or challenging ones. Strategies to achieve this
could include participation in the goal setting process, use of extrinsic rewards (bonuses), and
encouraging intrinsic motivation through providing workers with feedback about goal attainment.
Pressure to achieve goals is not useful because it can result in dishonesty and superficial
performance.

• Support elements should be provided. For example, encouragement, needed materials,

resources, and moral support.

• Knowledge of results is essential – so goals need to be quantifiable and there needs to be

feedback.
Goal-setting is a useful theory which can be applied in several fields, from sport to a wide range
of work settings. Sports psychology in particular has adopted its recommendations. The concept
of goal-setting has been incorporated into a number of incentive programmes and management
by objectives (MBO) techniques in a number of work areas. Feedback accompanying goal
attainment may also enhance a worker’s job performance and ability to become more innovative
and creative on the job through a trial-and-error learning process. Since goal-setting is a relatively
simple motivational strategy, it has become increasingly popular.

Figure 7. Process of motivation according to goal-setting theory (Source: Author's own figure)

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 bosdy positions’
and movements.

It also involves the- cognitive processes required to process information, such as recognizing the
face of a friend or detecting a familiar perfume.

The study of these perpetual 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.

In simple words, we can say that perception is the act of seeing what is there to be seen. But what
is seen is influenced by the perceiver, the object and its environment. The meaning of perception
emphasizes all these three points.

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.

It is the process by which an organism detects and interprets information from the external world
by means of the sensory receptors. It is our sensory experience of the world around us and
involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli.

Through the perceptual process, we gain information about the properties and elements of the
environment that are critical to our survival.
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.

This input of meaningful information results in decisions and actions. A number of factors operate
to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver in the object
or target being perceived, or in the context of the situation in which the perception is made.
When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that
interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual perceiver.

Personal characteristics that affect perception include a person’s attitudes, personality, motives,
interests, past experiences, and expectations.

There are some factors which influence the target such as- novelty, motion, sounds, size,
background, proximity, similarity, etc.

Characteristics of the target being observed can affect what is perceived. Because targets are
not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background also influences perception,
as does our tendency to group close things and similar things together.

There are also some situational factors like the time of perceiving others, work settings, social
settings etc. which influence the perception process.

Besides these, there are some other factors like perceptual learning which is based on past
experiences or any special training that we get, every one of us learns to emphasize some
sensory inputs and to ignore others.

Another factor is the mental set, which refers to preparedness or readiness to receive some
sensory input.

Such expectancy keeps the individual prepared with good attention and concentration. The level
of knowledge we have may also change the way we perceive his or her behaviors.

For example- if a person knows that her friend is stressed out over family problems then she might
overlook her snappy comments. Learning has a considerable influence on perception.

It creates expectancy in people. The nature of the things which have to be perceived is also an
influential factor. By nature we mean, whether the object is visual or auditory, and whether it
involves pictures, people or animals.

Perception is determined by both physiological and psychological characteristics of the human

being whereas sensation is conceived with only the physiological features.

Thus, perception is not just what one sees with the eyes it is a much more complex process by
which an individual selectively absorbs or assimilates the stimuli in the environment, cognitively
organizes the perceived information in a specific fashion and then interprets the information to
make an assessment about what is going on in one’s environment.

When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that
interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual perceiver.

Personal characteristics that, affect perception included a person’s attitudes, personality motives
interest, past experiences, and expectations.