Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
Topic Outline
1. Introduction to OB
2. Understanding People at Work: Individual
Differences
3. Perception
4. Attitude at Work
5. Motivation
INTRODUCTION TO OB
ORGANIZATION
• Entity – such as a company, an institution, or an
association.
• Comprising two or more people and having a
particular purpose.
• Refers to a collection of people who are
involved in pursuing defined objectives.
• “Social System” comprises all formal human
relationships.
• Encompasses division of work among
employees and alignment of tasks towards
the ultimate goal of the company.
• The process of identifying and grouping the
work to be performed, defining and
delegating responsibility and authority, and
establishing relationships for the purpose of
enabling people to work most effectively
together in accomplishing objectives.
• Collectivity with a relatively identifiable
boundary; a normative order (rules); ranks of
authority (hierarchy); communications
systems, and membership coordinating
systems (procedures); this collectivity exists on
a relatively continuous basis, in an environment,
and engages in activities that are usually related
to a set of goals; the activities have outcomes for
organizational members, for the organization
itself, and for society (Hall).
WHY STUDY ORGANIZATIONS?
• Organizations are a dominant component of a
contemporary society.
• We study organizations because they have
outcomes.
ORGANIZATIONS AS METAPHORS
1. Organizations as machines – with structures,
levels and routines
2. As organism – adaptive
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3. As brains – inventive and rational, resilient and
flexible
4. As cultures – values, principles, attributed ways
of thinking
5. As political systems – power, authority,
responsibility, political activity, patronage, etc.
6. As psychic prisons – members are confined by
their own representation to the outside world and
by the distortions of their own culture
7. As flux and transformation – changing all the
time, generative processes (how it develops,
grows and regenerates)
8. As vehicles of domination – they impose their
will on others
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
• The systematic study and application of
knowledge about how individuals and
groups act within the organizations where
they work.
• OB draws from other disciplines to create a
unique field.
• Those who study organizational behavior are
interested in several outcomes such as work
attitudes.
• A distinction is made in OB regarding which level
of the organization is being studied at any given
time.
o Three key levels of analysis in OB.
1. Examining the individual
2. Examining the group
3. Examining the organization
WHY OB MATTERS?
OB matters at three critical levels.
1. All about things you care about. OB can help
you become a more engaged organizational
member.
2. Employers care about OB.
The following were the top five personal
qualities/skills:
1. Communication Skills (verbal and
written)
2. Honesty/Integrity
3. Interpersonal Skills (relates well to
others)
4. Motivation/Initiative
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
5. Strong Work Ethic Rokeach’s hierarchy of values:

3. Employers care about OB. The best TV: a world of beauty; an exciting life; family security;
companies in the world understand that the inner harmony; self-respect
people make the place. Organizations that value
IV: broadminded; clean; forgiving; imaginative; obedient
their employees are more profitable than those
that do not. Research indicates that values are shaped early in
life and show stability over the course of a lifetime.
UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE AT WORK:
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES • Generation Xers (those born between the mid-
1960s and 1980s) are more individualistic and
INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE: THE ROLE are interested in working toward
OF FIT organizational goals so long as they coincide
with their personal goals.
When hiring employees, companies are interested in
• Baby boomers (born between the 1940s and
assessing at least two types of fit:
1960s), are also less likely to see work as
1. Person-Organization Fit – refers to the degree central to their life and more likely to desire
to which a person’s values personality, quick promotions.
goals, and other characteristics match those
What do millennials want from an employer?
of the organization.
2. Person-Job Fit – is the degree to which a 1. A company with a clear mission
person’s skills, knowledge, abilities, and 2. A company that values collaboration, innovation,
other characteristics match the job demands. and an investment in professional development
and the employee experience.
VALUES AND PERSONALITY 3. A management team that is committed to
employee success.
• Refer to stable life goals that people have,
reflecting what is most important to them. 4. A flexible work schedule and remote work
opportunities.
• Established throughout one’s life as a result of
5. Healthy Work-Life integration.
the accumulating life experiences and tend to be
relatively stable
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS
• The values that are important to people tend to
affect the types of decisions they make, how Trait Description
they perceive their environment, and their actual
Openness Being curious, original,
behaviors. intellectual, creative, and
• Value attainment is one reason why people open to new ideas
stay in a company.
Conscientiousness Being organized,
systematic, punctual,
TYPOLOGIES OF VALUES achievement oriented and
dependable
• Personality encompasses the relatively stable
feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a Extraversion Being outgoing, talkative,
sociable, and enjoying
person has.
social situations
Terminal values (TV): end states people desire in life Agreeableness Being affable, tolerant,
such as leading a prosperous life and a world at sensitive, trusting, kind,
peace. and warm
Neuroticism Being anxious, irritable,
Instrumental values (IV): deal with views on temperamental, and
acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest moody
and ethical, and being ambitious.

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR Proactive personality: refers to a person’s inclination
to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the status
SUMMARY OF MBTI TYPES quo, and use initiative to solve problems.
Dimension Explanation
Self-esteem: is the degree to which a person has
EI Extraversion: Those Introversion: those who overall positive feelings about his or herself.
who derive energy derive their energy from
from other people inside Self-efficacy: is a belief that one can perform a
and objects
specific task successfully.
SN Sensing: Those who Intuition: those who rely
rely on their give on their intuitions and Locus of control: deals with the degree to which
senses to perceive hunches to perceive the people feel accountable for own behaviors.
the external external environment
environment
PERCEPTION
TF Thinking: those who Feelings: those who use
use their logic to their values and ideas Perception: the process with which individuals
arrive at conclusions about what is right and detect and interpret environmental stimuli.
wrong to arrive at
solutions VISUAL PERCEPTION
JP Judgment: those Perception: those who
who are organized, are curious, open Our visual perception goes beyond the physical
systematic, and minded and prefer to information available to us as we extrapolate from
would like to have have some ambiguity the information available to us.
clarity and closure

PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPE SURVEY SELF-PERCEPTION

Positive and Negative Affectivity Self-enhancement bias: the tendency to

• Behavior is also a function of moods.
Positive affective people experience positive moods
more frequently, whereas negative affective people
experience negative moods with greater frequency.
Negative people focus on the “glass half empty” and
experience more anxiety and nervousness while positive
affective people tend to be happier at work and their
happiness spreads to the rest of the work environment.
Tips on how to work with people with negative
affectivity
overestimate our performance and capabilities and
see ourselves in a more positive light than others
see us.
Self-effacement bias: the tendency for people to
underestimate their performance, undervalue
capabilities, and see events in a way that puts them
in a more negative light.
FALSE CONSENSUS ERROR
Overestimating how similar we are to other people,
assuming that whatever quirks we have are shared by a
larger number of people than in reality.

1. Understand that you are unlikely to change The problem for behavior in organizations is that,
someone else’s personality. when people believe that a behavior is common and
2. Keep an open mind. normal, they may repeat the behavior more freely
3. Set a time limit. which may lead to high level of unethical or even illegal
4. You may empower them to act on the negatives behaviors.
they mention.
5. Ask for specifics. SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Self-monitoring: refers to the extent to which a
person is capable of monitoring his or her actions
and appearance in social situations.
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The study of how people form impressions and make
inferences about other people as sovereign
personalities, where they learn about the feelings and
emotions of others by collecting the information they
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
gather from physical appearance, verbal and non-verbal • If you believe that a behavior is due to the
communication. Facial expressions, tone of voice, hand internal characteristics of an actor, you are
gestures, and body position or movement are just a few making an internal attribution.
examples. • An external attribution is explaining someone’s
behavior by referring to the situation.
STEREOTYPES
3 factors of attribution
• Are generalizations based on group
characteristics 1. Consensus – do other people behave the same
• They can be positive, negative, or neutral. way?
• What makes stereotypes potentially 2. Distinctiveness – does this person behave the
discriminatory and a perceptual bias is the same way across different
tendency to generalize from a group to a situations?
particular individual. 3. Consistency – does this person behave this
way in different occasions in the same situation?
COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL PERCEPTION
Consensu Distinctivenes Consistenc Attributio
1. Observation s s y n
1.1 People-physical influence High High Low External
Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency
• As social perceivers, we cannot help being Everyone This person This person
influenced by hair, color, height, weight, style of else does not does not
clothing, tone of voice, etc. making a first behaves usually behave usually
impression. the same this way in behave this
• Certain facial features are associated with way different way in this
situations situation
specific personality types.
Low Low High Internal
1.2 Situations – context of experiences Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency
No one This person Every time
• People are able to easily predict the sequences else usually this person
or outcomes of an event based on the scope behaves behaves this is in this
and depth of their past experiences with a the same way in different situation, he
similar event. way situations or she acts
• The ability to anticipate the outcomes of a the same
way
situation is also highly influenced by an
individual’s cultural background, as this 4. Integration
inevitably shapes the types of experiences.
Information integration theory
• Situational observations lead humans to have
pre-established notions about certain events or • Developed by Norman Anderson, a social
to explain the causes of human behaviors. psychologist.
1.3 Behaviors and non-verbal communication • This theory states that impressions are made
from the personal dispositions of the
• Non-verbal communication helps people perceiver and a weighted average of the
express their emotions, attitudes and characteristics of the target individual.
personalities. The most dominant form of non-
The differences between the perceivers are due to the
verbal communication is the use of facial
fact that people use themselves as a standard or frame
expressions to channel different emotions.
of reference when judging or evaluating others, they
2. Attribution: the causal explanation we give
tend to see that their own abilities and traits are
for an observed behavior.
favorable for others to have them as well. These

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
impressions formed on others can be influenced by the
current and temporary mood of the perceiver.
5. Confirmation
KEY TAKEAWAY
• While perceiving our surroundings, we go
beyond the objective information available to us,
and our perception is affected by our values,
needs, and emotions.
• There are many biases that affect human
perception of objects, self, and others. When
perceiving the physical environment, we fill in
gaps and extrapolate from the available
information.
• We also contrast physical objects to their
surroundings and may perceive something as
bigger, smaller, slower, or faster than it really is.
• In self-perception, we may commit the self-
enhancement or self-effacement bias,
depending on our personality. We also
overestimate how much we are like other
people.
• When perceiving others, stereotypes infect our
behavior. Stereotypes may lead to self-fulfilling
prophecies. Stereotypes are perpetuated
because of our tendency to pay selective
attention to aspects of the environment and
ignore information inconsistent with our beliefs.
When perceiving others, the attributions we
make will determine how we respond to the
situation. Understanding the perception process
gives us clues to understand human behavior.
ATTITUDE AT WORK
• Human beings can alter their lives by altering
their attitudes of mind.
• The only disability in life is bad attitude.
ATTITUDE
• Refers to our opinions, beliefs, and feelings
about aspects of our environment.
• The favorable or unfavorable evaluative
reaction toward something or someone that
is developed, maintained, and changed via the
interactive relationship among one’s thoughts,
feelings, and behavior.
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Implications:
• Attitudes are learned - this means that
attitudes get formed on the basis of some
experience with or information about the object.
• Attitudes are predispositions and reside in
the mind of the individual.
• Attitudes cause consistent response - This
means attitudes precede and produce behavior.
3 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE:
1. Cognitive: what a person believes about the
source of the attitude
2. Affective: how a person feels about the source
of the attitude
3. Behavioral: how a person acts towards the
source of the attitude
When attitude predicts behavior
Initial Attitude: I do not like psychology.
Cognitive: I believe psychology is uninteresting.
Affective: Being in this psychology class makes me
angry (or bored)
Behavioral: I stop attending my psychology class.
Consequence: I did not become a psychology major
• There is a high degree of overlap between job
satisfaction and organizational commitment
because things that make us happy with our job
often make us more committed to the
company as well.
• Companies believe that these attitudes are
worth tracking because they are often
associated with important outcomes such as
performance, helping others, absenteeism, and
turnover.
HOW STRONG IS THE ATTITUDE -BEHAVIOR
LINK?
1. Your attitude toward your colleagues may
influence whether you actually help them on a
project, but they may not be a good predictor of
whether you will quit your job.
2. It is worth noting that attitudes are more strongly
related to intentions to behave in certain way,
rather than actual behavior. For example, when
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
you are dissatisfied with your job, you may have
the intention to leave. Whether you actually
leave is a different story as leaving will depend
on many factors: availability of alternative jobs,
your employability, and sacrifices you have to
make while changing your jobs.
3. Behavior is also strongly influenced by
situational constraints.
Two job attitudes that have the greatest potential to
influence how we behave:
1. Job satisfaction
2. Organizational commitment
JOB SATISFACTION
• Refers to the feelings people have toward
their job.
• It is probably the most important job attitude.
Organizational commitment is the emotional
attachment people have toward the company they
work for.
HOW CAN YOU BE HAPPIER AT WORK?
1. The role personality. Having a positive attitude
about it.
2. A good fit with the job and company is
important to one’s happiness.
3. Get accurate information about the job and
the company.
4. Develop good relationships at work. (friends,
mentors, social network)
5. Pay is important, but job characteristics matter
more to
6. Being proactive in managing organizational
life. (time management, good social network,
being proactive in getting to the source of stress,
ask for directions)
7. Know when to leave. (after extended period of
time and there is little hope of solving the
problems)
WHAT CAUSE POSITIVE WORK ATTITUDES?
Personality Job Satisfaction
Person-environment fit Organizational
Commitment
Job characteristics
Psychological contract
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Organizational justice
Work relationships
Stress
Work-life balance
1. Personality – positive affective disposition;
neurotic personality (moody, temperamental,
critical of themselves and others);
conscientiousness, self-esteem, locus of control
and extraversion are related to positive work
attitudes
2. Person-environment fit – abilities matching
job demands and personal values match
organizational values
3. Job Characteristics – use of variety of skills;
having autonomy at work; receiving
feedback; and performing a significant task;
high growth need.
4. Psychological Contract – an unwritten
understanding about what the employee will
bring to the work environment and what the
company will provide in exchange.
5. Organizational Justice – level of how fairly
people are treated; fairness of company
policies and procedures, treatment from
supervisors, and pay and other rewards they
receive from the company.
6. Relationship at Work – referring to
relationship with coworkers and managers –
people they interact with, their degree of
compassion, level of social acceptance in their
work group, and whether they are treated with
respect.
7. Stress – the amount of stress is related to
satisfaction and commitment: experiencing
role ambiguity (vagueness of responsibilities),
role conflict (contradictory demands at work) and
organizational politics; and job security. On the
other hand, working under time pressure and
having high degree of responsibility are stressful
yet they can be perceived as challenges and
tend to be related to high levels of satisfaction.
8. Work-Life Balance
CONSEQUENCES OF POSITIVE WORK
ATTITUDES
1. High/er work performance, more engaged and
motivated to work
2. Organizational citizenship behavior - behaviors
that are not part of the job but are valuable to the
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
organization, such as helping new employees or
working voluntary overtime
3. Absent less frequently and for shorter duration,
and demonstrate less aggression at work.
4. Likely to stay with a company longer
5. On firm-level outcomes, positive work attitudes
are related to customer satisfaction and loyalty,
profitability, and safety in the workplace
ASSESSING WORK ATTITUDES
1. Attitude survey
2. Exit interview
JOB PERFORMANCE
1. Or in-role performance, refers to the
performance level on factors included in the
job description.
2. Measures of job performance included the
quantity and quality of work performed by
the employee, the accuracy and speech with
which the job is performed, and the overall
effectiveness of the person performing the job.
3. Job performance determines whether the
person is promoted; rewarded with pay
raises, given additional responsibilities, or
fired from the job.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A
BOOKKEEPER
• Establishing different accounts
• Maintaining records of financial transactions by
posting and verifying
• Defining bookkeeping policies and procedures
• Developing systems to account for financial
transactions by establishing a chart of accounts
• Maintaining subsidiary accounts by posting,
verifying and allocating transactions
• Reconciling entries to balance subsidiary
accounts
• Maintaining a balanced general ledger
• Preparing a trial balance for the accountants
• Preparing financial reports by collecting,
analyzing and summarizing accounting for
information
• Ensuring compliance with federal, state and
local legal requirements
• Monitoring for variances from the projected
budget
Manuel
• Advising management on compliance needs
• Assisting in financial activities such as running
payroll and generating invoices
BOOKKEEPER QUALIFICATIONS
Qualifications vary based on organization’s needs.
• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or
related discipline
• CPA is desirable
• Previous bookkeeping experience preferred
• Experience working in a fast-paced environment
BOOKKEEPER SKILLS
Here is a list of desired bookkeeper skills. Again, include
what is relevant to your company.
• Basic accounting knowledge
• Understanding of industry benchmarks in
accounting best practices
• Knowledge of industry-standard accounting
frameworks
• Expertise in Microsoft Excel or any other
spreadsheet
• Establishing accounts
• Developing standards
• Data entry
• Deep understanding of accounting principles
• Confidentiality
• Attention to detail
• Comfortable dealing with huge volumes of
complex data
MAJOR PREDICTORS OF JOB PERFORMANC E
1. General mental ability
2. How one is treated within an organization –
fairness
3. Stress – for example, financial stress
4. Work attitudes – job satisfaction
5. Personality – particularly conscientiousness
MOTIVATION
Job performance is viewed as a function of three
factors and is expressed with the equation below
(Mitchell, 1982; Porter & Lawler, 1968). According to this
equation, motivation, ability, and environment are the
major influences over employee perform.
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
Performance = Motivation x Ability x Environment • Instead of the five needs that are hierarchically
organized, Alderfer proposed that basic
Motivation: one of the forces that lead to performance. human needs may be grouped under three
categories,
• Motivation is defined as the desire to achieve
1. Existence: corresponds to Maslow’s
a goal or a certain performance level, leading
physiological and safety needs
to goal-directed behavior.
2. Relatedness: corresponds to social needs
Ability: or having the skills and knowledge required 3. Growth: refers to Maslow’s esteem and
to perform the job—is also important and is sometimes self-actualization
the key determinant of effectiveness.
Ener
Environmental factors: such as having the gy
resources, information, and support one needs to
perform well are critical to determine performance.

NEED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION ERG

Theor
1. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
y
2. Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory
3. Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory Relate Grow
dness th
4. David McClelland’s Acquired Needs

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

TWO-FACTOR THEORY
• Based on a simple premise: Human beings Herzberg labeled factors causing dissatisfaction of
have needs that are hierarchically ranked workers as “hygiene” factors because these factors
(Maslow, 1943; Maslow, 1954). were part of the context in which the job was
• There are some needs that are basic to all performed, as opposed to the job itself. In contrast,
human beings, and in their absence nothing motivators are factors that are intrinsic to the job
else matters. As we satisfy these basic needs, and the conditions that truly encourage employees
we start looking to satisfy higher order needs. In to try harder.
other words, once a lower-level need is satisfied,
it no longer serves as a motivator.
Hygiene Motivators
Self Company Policy Achievement
Actualizat Supervision and Recognition
ion Relationship Interesting Work
Esteem Working Conditions
Increased Responsibility
Salary
Advancement and
Social
Security Growth

Safety ACQUIRED NEEDS BY MCCLELLAND

According to this theory, individuals acquire three

Physiological types of needs as a result of their life experiences.

a. Need for achievement - a strong need to be

ERG THEORY successful.
b. Need for affiliation – the need to be liked and
• Developed by Clayton Alderfer, is a accepted by others.
modification of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs c. Need for power – the need to influence others
(Alderfer, 1969). and control their environment.
Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
PROCESS-BASED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Seek legal action Suing the company for
filing a complaint
1. Equity Theory
2. Expectancy Theory FAIRNESS BEYOND EQUITY: PROCEDURAL
3. Reinforcement Theory AND INTERACTIONAL JUSTICE

EQUITY THEORY BY J. STACEY ADAMS • Distributive justice refers to the degree to

According to this theory, individuals are motivated by
a sense of fairness in their interactions. Moreover,
our sense of fairness is a result of the social
comparisons we make. Specifically, we compare our
inputs and outcomes with other people’s inputs and
outcomes. We perceive fairness if we believe that the
input-to-outcome ratio we are bringing into the situation
is similar to the input-to-outcome ratio of a comparison
person, or a referent. Perceptions of inequity create
tension within us and drive us to action that will
reduce perceived inequity.
Why do employees care about procedural justice?
Person Referent Other
Outcomes Outcomes
Inputs = Inputs
• Inputs are the contributions people feel they
are making to the environment.
• Outcomes are the perceived rewards
someone can receive from the situation.
POTENTIAL RESPONSES TO INEQUITY
which the outcomes received from the
organization are perceived to be fair.
• Procedural justice refers to the degree to
which fair decision-making procedures are
used to arrive at a decision.
• Interactional justice refers to the degree to
which people are treated with respect,
kindness, and dignity in interpersonal
interactions. We expect to be treated with
dignity by our peers, supervisors, and
customers.
1. People tend to believe that fairness is an end in
itself and it is the right thing to do.
2. Fair processes guarantee future rewards. If your
name was picked out of a hat, you have no
control over the process, and there is no
guarantee that you will get future promotions. If
the procedures are fair, you are more likely to
believe that things will work out in the future.
3. Fairness communicates that the organization
values its employees and cares about their well-
being.

Reaction to Inequity Example Being a Fair Person

Distort perception Changing one’s thinking • When distributing rewards, make sure you pay
to believe that the attention to different contribution levels of
referent actually is more
employees.
skilled
• Sometimes you may have to disregard people’s
Increase referent inputs Encouraging the referent contributions to distribute certain rewards.
to work harder
• Pay attention to how you make decisions.
Reduce own input Deliberately putting forth • Pay attention to how you talk to people.
less effort at work;
• Remember that justice is in the eye of the
reducing quality of work
beholder.
Increase own outcomes Negotiating a raise for • People do not care only about their own justice
oneself or using unethical
level.
way of increasing
rewards such as stealing
EXPECTANCY THEORY
Change referent Comparing oneself to
someone who is worse • Argues that the strength of a tendency to act
off in a certain way is dependent on the strength
Leave the situation Quitting one’s job of the expectation that they will receive a

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
given outcome and that the outcome is REINFORCEMENT METHODS
desired.
• According to this theory, individuals ask Positive reinforcement: a method of increasing the
themselves three questions. desired behavior (Beatty & Schneier, 1975).

• Positive reinforcement involves making sure

that behavior is met with positive
consequences.
Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence
Effort Performance Rewards Negative reinforcement: also used to increase the
2. Will 3. Do I desired behavior.
1. Will my
perform Find
effort
ance the • Negative reinforcement involves removal of
lead to
lead to outco unpleasant outcomes once desired behavior
high
outcom mes
performa is demonstrated.
e? desira
nce?
ble?
Extinction: used to decrease the frequency of
WAYS IN WHICH MANAGERS INFLUENCE: negative behaviors.

Expectancy • Extinction is the removal of rewards following

• Make sure employees have proper skills,
abilities, and knowledge
• Ensure that the environment facilitates
performance
• Provide encouragement to make people believe
that their effort makes a difference
Instrumentality
• Reward employee performance
• Inform people in advance about the rewards
• Try to eliminate non-performance influence over
rewards
Valence
• Find rewards that are desirable to employees
• Make sure that the rewards are viewed as fair
• Give employees choice over rewards
REINFORCEMENT THEORY
negative behavior.
Sometimes, negative behaviors are demonstrated
because they are being inadvertently rewarded.
Thus, when the rewards following unwanted
behaviors are removed, the frequency of future
negative behaviors may be reduced.
Punishment: involves presenting negative
consequences following unwanted behaviors.
EFFECTIVE USE OF DISCIPLINE
• Consider whether punishment is the most
effective way to modify behavior.
• Be sure that the punishment fits the crime.
• Be consistent in your treatment of employees.
Have disciplinary procedures and apply them in
the same way to everyone.
• Document the behavior in question.
• Be timely with discipline.

• Based on the work of Ivan Pavlov on DESIGNING A MOTIVATING WORK

behavioral conditioning and the later work of
Burrhus Frederic Skinner on operant
conditioning (Skinner, 1953).
• According to reinforcement theory, behavior is a
function of its outcomes.
• Based on a simple idea that may be viewed as
common sense.
ENVIRONMENT
MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH JOB
DESIGN
How a job is designed has a major impact on employee
motivation, job satisfaction, commitment to an
organization, absenteeism, and turnover.

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Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AND JOB
SPECIALIZATION
• A philosophy based on the ideas of Frederick
Taylor as presented in his 1911 book,
Principles of Scientific Management.
Frederick Taylor
• Taylor’s book is among the most influential
books of the 20th century;
• Taylor was a mechanical engineer in the
manufacturing industry.
• He also believed that scientific methods
could be used to increase productivity.
• Taylor’s work paved the way to automation
and standardization that is virtually universal
in today’s workplace.
Scientific management proposed a number of ideas
that have been influential in job design in the following
years.
• Important idea: to minimize waste by
identifying the most efficient method to perform
the job.
• Standardized job performance methods were
an important element of scientific management
techniques.
JOB SPECIALIZATION
• Entails breaking down jobs into their
simplest components and assigning them to
employees so that each person would perform
a select number of tasks in a repetitive manner.
Advantages to job specialization:
• Breaking tasks into simple components and
making them repetitive reduces the skill
requirements of the jobs and decreases the
effort and cost of staffing.
• Training times for simple, repetitive jobs tend to
be shorter as well.
Disadvantages:
• From a motivational perspective, these jobs are
boring and repetitive and therefore associated
with negative outcomes such as absenteeism
• Also, job specialization is ineffective in rapidly
changing environments where employees may
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need to modify their approach according to the
demands of the situation
ROTATION, JOB ENLARGEMENT, AND
ENRICHMENT
• Job rotation involves moving employees from
job to job at regular intervals. When
employees periodically move to different jobs,
the monotonous aspects of job specialization
can be relieved.
Advantages of job rotation:
• It is an effective way for employees to acquire
new skills and in turn for organizations to
increase the overall skill level of their
employees
• When workers move to different positions, they
are cross-trained to perform different tasks,
thereby increasing the flexibility of managers to
assign employees to different parts of the
organization when needed.
• Job rotation is a way to transfer knowledge
between departments
• Rotation may also have the benefit of
reducing employee boredom, depending on
the nature of the jobs the employee is
performing at a given time.
• From the employee standpoint, rotation is a
benefit, because they acquire new skills that
keep them marketable in the long run.
JOB ENLARGEMENT
• Refers to expanding the tasks performed by
employees to add more variety.
Benefits of job enlargement:
1. Maybe similar with job rotation because it may
also involve teaching employees’ multiple tasks.
2. Research indicates that when jobs are enlarged,
employees view themselves as being capable of
performing a broader set of tasks
3. There is some evidence that job enlargement is
beneficial, because it is positively related to
employee satisfaction and higher quality
customer services, and it increases the chances
of catching mistakes
 Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
4. Giving employees more tasks that require them SKILL VARIETY
to be knowledgeable in different areas seemed
to have more positive effects Refers to the extent to which the job requires a
person to utilize multiple high-level skills.
JOB ENRICHMENT
TASK IDENTITY
• Is a job redesign technique that allows
workers more control over how they perform Refers to the degree to which a person is in charge
their own tasks. of completing an identifiable piece of work from start
• This approach allows employees to take on to finish.
more responsibility.
• As an alternative to job specialization, TASK SIGNIFICANCE
companies using job enrichment may Refers to whether a person’s job substantially affects
experience positive outcomes. other people’s work, health, or well-being.
• At the same time, there is evidence that job
enrichment may sometimes cause AUTONOMY
dissatisfaction among certain employees.
Is the degree to which a person has the freedom to
REMEMBER: job enrichment is not suitable for decide how to perform his or her tasks.
everyone. Not all employees desire to have control over
how they work, and if they do not have this desire, they FEEDBACK
may become frustrated with an enriched job.
Refers to the degree to which people learn how
JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL effective they are being at work. Feedback at work
may come from other people, such as supervisors,
• The job characteristics model is one of the peers, subordinates, and customers, or it may come
most influential attempts to design jobs with from the job itself.
increased motivational properties.
• Proposed by Hackman and Oldham, the Increasing the Feedback You Receive
model describes five core job dimensions
• If you are not receiving enough feedback on the
leading to three critical psychological states,
job, it is better to seek it instead of trying to
resulting in work-related outcomes.
guess how you are doing.
• Be genuine in your desire to learn.
Core Job Psychological Outcomes
• Develop a good relationship with your manager.
States
Characteristic • Consider finding trustworthy peers who can
s share information with you regarding your
• Meaningful • Motivatio
• Skill performance.
ness n
variety • Be gracious when you receive feedback.
• Responsibi • Perform
• Task
identity lity ance
• Knowledge • Satisfact EMPOWERMENT
• Task
of results ion
signific May be defined as the removal of conditions that
ance • Absente
eism make a person powerless (Conger & Kanugo, 1988).
• Autono
my • Turnover
Tips for Empowering Employees
• Feedba
ck • Change the company structure so that
employees have more power on their jobs. Give
them discretion at work.

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
• Provide employees with access to information • Setting impossible goals and then punishing
about things that affect their work. people for not reaching these goals is cruel and
• Make sure that employees know how to perform will demotivate employees.
their jobs.
• Do not take away employee power. Time-Bound.
• Instill a climate of empowerment in which
• The goal should contain a statement
managers do not routinely step in and take over.
regarding when the proposed performance
level will be reached.
MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH GOAL
SETTING
WHY DO SMART GOALS MOTIVATE?
• Goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990) is
one of the most influential and practical theories Energi
of motivation. ze

• The theory has been supported in over 1,000

studies with employees ranging from blue- Make
you SMA
collar workers to research-and-development RT Give
think
directi
outsid Goal
employees, and there is strong support that e the
on
setting goals is related to performance box s
improvements
Provid
e
challen
SETTING SMART GOALS ge

Accumulating research evidence indicates that effective

goals are SMART. A SMART goal is a goal that is
specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, and time-
bound.
Specific and Measurable.
• Effective goals are specific and measurable.
Aggressive.
• Effective goals are difficult, not easy.
• Aggressive goals are also called stretch goals.
• People with difficult goals outperform those
with easier goals. Why? Easy goals do not
provide a challenge.
• When goals are aggressive and require people
to work harder or smarter, performance tends
to be dramatically higher.
Realistic
• While goals should be difficult, they should also
be based in reality.
• In other words, if a goal is viewed as impossible
to reach, it will not have any motivational
ENSURING GOAL ALIGNMENT THROUGH
MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO)
Goals direct employee attention toward a common
end. Therefore, it is crucial for individual goals to
support team goals and team goals to support
company goals. A systematic approach to ensure that
individual and organizational goals are aligned is
Management by Objectives (MBO).
First suggested by Peter Drucker MBO involves the
following process:
MBO PROCESS
• Setting companywide goals derived from corporate
strategy
1
• Determining team- and department-level goals
2
• Collaboratively setting individual-level goals that are
aligned with corporate strategy
3
• Developing an action plan
4
• Periodically reviewing performance and revising goals

value. 5

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