Part I

1. A
2. C
3. E
4. C
5. D
6. A
7. D

Part II
1. Factors that Affect Individual behavior
The way an individual addresses a situation single-handedly or say in a group is influenced by
many factors. The key factors influencing an individual’s attitude in personal as well as social
life are:-
I. Abilities

Abilities are the traits a person learns from the environment around as well as the traits a person
is gifted with by birth. These traits are broadly classified as −

 Intellectual abilities
 Physical abilities
 Self-awareness abilities

In order to understand how these affect a person’s behavior, we need to know what these abilities
are.

 Intellectual abilities − It personifies a person’s intelligence, verbal and analytical

reasoning abilities, memory as well as verbal comprehension.
 Physical abilities − It personifies a person’s physical strength, stamina, body
coordination as well as motor skills.
 Self-awareness abilities − It symbolizes how a person feels about the task, while a
manager’s perception of his abilities decides the kind of work that needs to be allotted to
an individual.
Thus, the psychological, physical, self-assurance traits owned by a person defines the behavior of
a person in social and personal life. 

II. Gender
Research proves that men and women both stand equal in terms of job performance and mental
abilities; however, society still emphasizes differences between the two genders. Absenteeism is
one area in an organization where differences are found as women are considered to be the
primary caregiver for children. A factor that might influence work allocation and evaluation in
an organization is the manager’s perception and personal values.

For example − an organization encourages both genders to work efficiently towards the
company’s goal and no special promotion or demotion is given or tolerated for any specific
gender.

III. Race & Culture

Race is a group of people sharing similar physical features. It is used to define types of persons
according to perceived traits. For example − Indian, African. On the other hand, culture can be
defined as the traits, ideas, customs and traditions one follows either as a person or in a group.
For example − Celebrating a festival.

Race & culture have always exerted an important influence both at the workplace as well as in
the society. The common mistakes such as attributing behavior and stereotyping according to
individual’s race & culture basically influences an individual’s behavior.

In today’s diverse work culture, the management as well as staff should learn and accept
different cultures, values, and common protocols to create more comfortable corporate culture.

For example − A company invites candidates for a job post and hires one on the basis of
eligibility criteria and not on the basis of the country a person belongs to or the customs one
follows.

IV. Perception

Perception is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli into meaningful information.

It is the process of interpreting something that we see or hear in our mind and use it later to judge
and give a verdict on a situation, person, group, and etc. for example: an employee may have his
own method to conduct his tasks and he will recommend that method to its colleagues at work
place who may or may not like it. However, his perception about the method remains good.

V. Attribution
Attribution is the course of observing behavior followed by determining its cause based on
individual’s personality or situation.
Attribution framework uses the following three criteria −
 Consensus − the extent to which people in the same situation might react similarly.
 Distinctiveness − the extent to which a person’s behavior can be associated to situations
or personality.
 Consistency − the frequency measurement of the observed behavior, that is, how often
does this behavior occur.
The framework mentioned says it is all about how an individual behaves in different situations.

VI. Attitude
Attitude is the abstract learnt reaction or say response of a person’s entire cognitive process over
a time span.

For example − A person who has worked with different companies might develop an attitude of
indifference towards organizational citizenship.

2. Personality
Personality refers to the stable characteristics and behavior that encompass a person’s unique
adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and
emotional patterns. Various concepts explain the structure and development of personality in
different ways, but all agree that personality helps govern behavior. (APA)

 Agreeableness is a measure of an individual’s tendencies with respect to social harmony.

This trait reflects how well the individual gets along with others, how cooperative or
skeptical they are, and how they might interact within a team.

 Conscientiousness is a measure of how careful, deliberate, self-disciplined, and

organized an individual is. Conscientiousness is often predictive of employee
productivity, particularly in lower-level positions.
  Extraversion is a measure of how sociable, outgoing, and energetic an individual is.
Individuals who score lower on the extraversion scale are considered to be more
introverted, or more deliberate, quiet, low key, and independent. Some types of positions
are better suited for individuals who fall on one side of the spectrum or the other.

 Openness measures the extent to which an individual is imaginative and creative, as

opposed to down-to-earth and conventional.

 Stress Tolerance measures the ways in which individuals react to stress.

3. Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is the culture inherent in the organization, which determines its internal
atmosphere and the overall personality. It refers to a pattern of accepted and learned behavior,
which are mutually shared and are taught to the new joiners as to how to perceive, think and
behave in the organization. Moreover, it develops a sense of identity and uniqueness in the
employees.

Dimensions of Organizational Culture

Innovation and Risk-Taking: The extent to which employees are motivated to become
innovative, willing to experiment and take risks.

Attention to detail: The standard to which organizations workers are expected to work on
precision, analysis and pay attention to details.

Outcome Orientation: The degree to which the company’s management is oriented towards the
outcomes instead of the strategies and processes employed to achieve them.

People Orientation: The extent to which the impact of the decisions made and the consequences
of these decisions on people of the organization are considered by the management, through
greater participation. Hence, it is all about the degree of value and respect for people working in
the organization.

Team Orientation: The extent to which relevance is given to effective teamwork in comparison
to the individual efforts and contributions to the organization, by way of collaborative problem-
solving.
Aggressiveness: It is all about the employee’s approach to the work, i.e. the extent to which
employees show competitiveness towards work, instead of having a casual approach.

Stability: It determines how open an organization is, with respect to change. Moreover, it is also
associated with the company’s status quo, i.e. to what extent the company gives preference on
maintaining the statement of affairs.

4. Lewin’s Change Management Model

Lewin developed the change model as a way to illustrate how people react when facing changes
in their lives. The three stages of this process include unfreezing (the person has an existing
state), moving or changing towards new ways of being, and then refreezing into a new state
altogether!

The first phase

The first phase of the process involves everything required for someone to become ready and
willing to make a change. This state when they are not yet committed or certain is called
unfreezing. For example, it could involve anything from finding out about a problem to receiving
the go-ahead for action.

The second phase

In the second phase, people actually make a change. This implies moving or changing, and it’s
usually not easy! People face a number of different challenges from being uncomfortable to
feeling uncertain about making changes. Employees might also feel as though they were losing
something important by leaving their old ways behind, which would fall under resistance during
this period.

The final phase

In the final phase, people are able to refreeze into a new state finally. This is when they accept
their changes and feel like it was worth all the energy that was channeled into making them.
They may also feel more comfortable than ever about what’s going on in their lives right now.
When employees make positive changes at work, they begin to feel motivated and committed!

If all three phases are completed successfully, it can be said that the change management process
has been successful!
5. Characteristics of a boundaryless and Learning organization
Boundaryless organizations remove obstacles to innovation and promote the generation and
implementation of new ideas. The goal is to permeate boundaries so that ideas can travel through
the organization with little hindrance.

Boundaryless organizations
Boundaryless organizations have more agility, flexibility, and a higher degree of integration.
This means that the organization can better marshal resources into new products and services.
The result is more innovation potential.

Learning organization Characteristics

 Organizational structure
Learning organizations have managerial hierarchies that enhance opportunities for employee,
career and service user involvement in the organization. All are empowered to make relevant
decisions. Structures support teamwork and strong lateral relations (not just vertical).
Networking is enabled across organizational and hierarchical boundaries both internally and
externally.

 Organizational culture
Learning organizations have strong cultures that promote openness, creativity, and
experimentation among members. They encourage members to acquire, process and share
information, nurture innovation and provide the freedom to try new things, to risk failure and to
learn from mistakes.

 Information systems
Learning organizations require information systems that improve and support practice and that
move beyond those used in traditional organizations where information is generally used for
control purposes. 'Transformational change’ requires more sophisticated information systems
that facilitate rapid acquisition, processing and sharing of rich, complex information which
enables effective knowledge management.

 Human resource practices

People are recognized as the creators and users of organizational learning. Accordingly, human
resource management focuses on provision and support of individual learning. Appraisal and
reward systems are concerned to measure long-term performance and to promote the acquisition
and sharing of new skills and knowledge.

 Leadership
Like most interventions aimed at securing significant organizational improvement,
organizational learning depends heavily on effective leadership. Leaders model the openness,
risk-taking and reflection necessary for learning, and communicate a compelling vision of the
learning organization, providing the empathy, support and personal advocacy needed to lead
others towards it. They ensure that organizations and work groups have the capacity to learn,
change and develop.