Unit - 5

Behaviour
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Organizational Level
 Organizational Change
• Organizational change refers to any alteration that occurs in total work
environment. 
• Organizational changes can be
• In the structure of an organization
• In the structure of an organizational operation and size of a workforce
• In working hours or practices Click to add text
• Technology of an existing organization
• In the way roles are carried out
• But why Organizational Change is required???
• Organizational change is required to maintain equilibrium between various
external and internal forces, to achieve organization objectives. It helps an
organization to be more effective and efficient for the purpose of achieving its
objectives.
 Forces for Change in Organization contd…
External Forces
• Technological change
• Globalization
• Social & Political changes
• Workforce diversity
 Forces for Change in Organization contd…
Internal Forces
• Changes in managerial personnel
• Declining effectiveness
• Changes in work climate
• Deficiencies in existing system
• Crisis
• Employee expectation
 Response to Organizational Change
• Every change is responded by the people working in the organization. These
responses may be positive or negative depending upon the fact as how they
affect people.
 Lewin’s Force Field analysis Model
• Developed by American psychologist Kurt Lewin’s.
• It provides a framework for looking at the factors (forces) that influence a
situation in the organization.
• It looks at forces that are either driving towards a goal (helping forces) or
blocking a goal (hindering forces).
• Kurt Lewin’s assumes that in any situation there are both driving and restraining
forces that influence any change that may occur:
• Driving Forces
• Restraining Forces
• Equilibrium
 Lewin’s Force Field analysis Model contd…
• Driving forces
• Driving forces are forces that push in a direction that causes change to occur.
• Driving forces facilitate change because they push the organization in the desired
direction.
• They cause a shift in the equilibrium towards change
• Restraining forces
• Restraining forces are forces that counter driving forces.
• Restraining forces hinder change because they push the organization in the opposition
direction
• Restraining forces cause a shift in the equilibrium which opposes change
• Equilibrium
• Equilibrium is a state of being where driving forces equal restraining forces and no
change occurs
• Equilibrium can be raised or lowered by changes that occur between the driving and
restraining forces
Lewin’s Force Field analysis Model contd…
Lewin’s Force Field analysis Model contd…
 Process of Organizational Change
• Unless the behavioral patterns of the employees change, the change will have a
little impact on the effectiveness of the organization.
• A commonly accepted model for bringing change in people was suggested by
Kurt Lewin in terms of three phase process:
 Process of Organizational Change
• Unfreezing: The essence of unfreezing phase is that the individual is made to realize
that his beliefs, feelings and behaviour are no longer appropriate or relevant to the
current situation in the organization. Once convinced, people may change their
behaviour. Reward for those willing to change and punishment for others may help in
this matter.
• Changing: Once convinced and ready to change, an individual, under this phase,
learns to behave in new ways. He is first provided with the model in which he is to
identify himself. Gradually he will accept that model and behave in the manner
suggested by the model. In another process (known as internalization), the individual
is placed in a situation where new behaviour is demanded of him if he is to operate
successfully.
• Refreezing: During this phase, a person has to practice and experiment with the new
method of behaviour and see that it effectively blends with his other behavioral
attitudes. Reinforcement, for creating a permanent set in the individual, is provided
through either continuous or intermittent schedules.
 Resistance to Change
Individual resistance Organizational resistance
Fear of the unknown Threat to power structure
New learning Inertia of organizational structure
Disruption of stable friendship System relationships
Distrust of management Sunk costs and varied interests.
 Types of Organizational Change
• Anticipatory Change: These are systematically planned changes intended to take
advantage of expected future events or situations
• Relative change: Changes that become imperative due to changes in environment and
unexpected events.
• Incremental change: It involves changes in the subsystem of an organization in order to
keep it on the correct path/ direction.
• Strategic change: Theses changes affect the overall working and direction of an
organizations.
• Planned change: It helps an organization to prepare and adapt to changes in
organization goals and objectives.
• Proactive change: it takes place when forces for change lead an organization to make
changes in its structure, technology or people as it is desirable.
• Reactive change: When forces for change make it necessary for a change to be
implemented.
Stress
 Stress
• Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with
opportunity, demand or resource to what the individual desires and for which the
outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.
• Stress is not necessarily bad.
• Stress occurs when a demand exceeds an individual's coping ability and disrupts
his or her psychological equilibrium. Stress occurs in the workplace when an
employee perceives a situation to be too strenuous to handle, and therefore
threatening to his or her well-being.
 Types of Stress
• Eustress or challenge stress: The term was coined by endocrinologist Hans
Selye, consisting of the Greek prefix eu- meaning "good", and stress, literally
meaning "good stress".
• Challenge stressors are defined as stressful demands that are perceived as
opportunities for learning, growth, and achievement.
• It is the positive cognitive response to stress that is healthy, or gives one a
feeling of fulfilment or other positive feelings.
• Distress or hindrance stress: Hindrance stressors are stressful demands that are
perceived as hindering progress toward personal accomplishments or goal
attainment. Work hindrance stressors are sorted into role conflict, role ambiguity,
role overload, and daily hassles.
 Potential sources of stress
• Environmental factors: there are environmental sources of stress. The economy
may be in a downturn, creating uncertainty for job futures and bank accounts.
There may be political unrest or change creating stress. Finally, technology can
cause stress, as new developments are constantly making employee skills
obsolete, and workers fear they’ll be replaced by a machine that can do the same.
Employee are also often expected to stay connected to the workplace 24/7
because technology allows it.
• Personal factors: personal commitments of an employee to his/her family,
Financial stress, like the inability to pay bills or an unexpected new demand on a
person’s cash flow might also be an issue that disturbs an employee’s time at
work. Finally, an individual’s own personality might actually contribute to stress.
People’s dispositions—how they perceive things as negative or positive—can be
a factor in each person’s stress as well.
 Potential sources of stress contd….
• Organizational Factors: There’s a plethora of organizational sources of stress.
• Task or role demands: these are factors related to a person’s role at work, including the design of a
person’s job or working conditions. A stressful task demand might be a detailed, weekly presentation
to the company’s senior team. A stressful role demand might be where a person is expected to achieve
more in a set amount of time than is possible.
• Interpersonal demands: these are stressors created by co-workers. Perhaps an employee is
experiencing ongoing conflict with a co-worker he or she is expected to collaborate closely with. Or
maybe employees are experiencing a lack of social support in their roles.
• Organizational structure: this refers to the level of differentiation within an organization, the degree
of rules and regulations, and where decisions are made. If employees are unable to participate in
decisions that affect them, they may experience stress.
• Organizational leadership: this refers to the organization’s style of leadership, particularly the
managerial style of its senior executives. Leaders can create an environment of tension, fear and
anxiety and can exert unrealistic pressure and control. If employees are afraid they’ll be fired for not
living up to leadership’s standards, this can definitely be a source of stress.
• Organizational life stage: an organization goes through a cycle of stages (birth, growth, maturity,
decline). For employees, the birth and decline of an organization can be particularly stressful, as those
stages tend to be filled with heavy workloads and a level of uncertainty about the future.
 Consequences of stress
• Physiological symptoms: Low energy, headaches, Upset stomach, pains, and
tense muscles, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia, frequent colds and
infections.
• Psychological symptoms: Depression or anxiety, anger, irritability, or
restlessness, feeling overwhelmed, unmotivated, or unfocused, trouble sleeping
or sleeping too much, racing thoughts or constant worry, problems with memory
or concentration or Making bad decisions
• Behavioral symptoms: Changes in appetite -- either not eating or eating too
much, procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities, increased use of alcohol,
drugs, or cigarettes, exhibiting more nervous behaviors, such as nail biting,
fidgeting, and pacing.
 Stress management
Individual approaches.
• Time management: The well-organized employee, like the well organized student, can often
accomplish twice as much as the person who is poorly organized. So an understanding and
utilization of basic time management principles can help individuals better cope with tensions
created by job demands.
• Physical exercise: Non-competitive physical exercises such as aerobics, walking, jogging,
swimming and riding a bicycle have long been recommended by physicians as a way to deal with
excessive stress levels. These forms of physical exercise increase heart capacity lower the at-rest
heart rate provide mental diversion from work pressures, and offer a means to ‘let off steam’.
• Relaxation techniques: Individuals can teach themselves to reduce tension through relaxation
techniques such as meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback.  Deep relaxation for 15 or 20 minutes a
day releases tension and provides a person with a pronounced sense of peacefulness.
• Social support network: Having friends, family to or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet
when stress levels become excessive. Expanding your social support network therefore can be a
means for tension reduction. It provides you with someone to hear your problems and to offer a
more objective perspective on the situation.
 Stress management contd….
Organizational approaches.
• Selection and placement: Individuals with little experience or an external locus
of control tend to be more prone to stress. Management shouldn’t restrict hiring
to only experienced individuals with an internal locus, but such individuals may
adapt better to high stress jobs and perform those jobs more effectively.
• Training:  Training can increase an individual’s self efficacy and thus lessen job
strain.
• Goal Setting: Use of realistic goal setting 
• Redesigning jobs.
• Increasing employee involvement.
• Organizational communication.
End of Unit-5