Organizational Behavior

Perceptions
 What is Perception?
Perception is to organize and interpret the
meaning of the environment

We see the world as We perceive it NOT as it is

We see the world according to our
perceptions

Light receptors have sensitivity to different

ranges of light frequencies
 Factors Influencing Perception
• Factors in the Perceiver
– Attitude
– Motives
– Interests
– Experiences
– Expectations
 Factors Influencing Perception
• Factors in the target
– Novelty
– Motion
– Sounds
– Size
– Background
– Proximity
– Similarity
 Factors Influencing Perception
• Factors in the situation

– Time
– Work setting
– Social setting
 Making Judgment about others
• Attribute theory
– Judgment about Internal and external causation

Individual behavior
– Distinctiveness
– Consensus
– Consistency
Elements of Attribution Theory
 Errors and Biases in Attributions
• Fundamental Attribution Error
– The tendency to underestimate the influence of external factors and
overestimate the influence of internal factors when making judgments
about the behavior of others
– We blame people first, not the situation

• Self-Serving Bias
– The tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to
internal factors while putting the blame for failures on external factors
– It is “our” success but “their” failure
 Shortcuts in judging others
• Perceiving is burdensome
– Accurate rapid and valid solutions are shortcuts
– Simplify the complex world with consistency and
generalization

• Selective perception
• Selective distortion
• Selective retention
 Shortcuts in judging others
• Halo effect
• Contrast effect
• Projection
• Stereotyping
 Shortcuts in Organizations

• Employment interview
• Performance expectations
• Ethnic profiling
• Performance evaluation
 Perception and decision making
• Reaction to a problem

• Problem
– Discrepancy between the current state of affairs
and desired state of affairs
 Rational Decision making
• Define problem
• Identify the decision criteria
• Allocate weights to criteria
• Develop the alternatives
• Evaluate the alternatives
• Select the best alternative

Assumptions to the Model

 Improving creativity in decision
making
• Creative potential
• Three component model of creativity
– Expertise
– Thinking skills
– Task motivation
 Actual decision makings in
organizations
• Cost , time, complexity
• Bounded rationality
– Reduce complexity
– Choices highly visible
– No comprehensive analysis
– First alternative that meet good enough
– Not far from status quo
 Common biases and errors
• Over confident bias
• Anchoring bias
• Confirmation bias
• Availability bias
• Representative bias
• Escalation of commitment
• Randomness error
• Winner’s curse
• Hindsight
 Intuition
• When high level of uncertainty
• Little precedent to draw on
• Variable are less significantly predictable
• Facts are limited
• Facts don’t really point to the way
• Analytical data are of little use
• Several plausible alternatives to choose
• Time is limited