Learning theories and Behaviour

Modification
 Learning Objective
Students will be able to understand
• What is learning
• Theories of learning
• Behaviour Modification
 What do Employees Learn?
• Practical Skills:
– Job-specific skills, knowledge, technical competence.
• Intrapersonal Skills:
– Self: Problem solving, critical thinking, alternative work
processes, risk taking.
• Interpersonal Skills:
– Others: Interactive skills such as communicating,
teamwork, conflict resolution.
• Cultural Awareness:
– The social norms of organizations, company goals, business
operations, expectations, and priorities.
 Learning
Any relatively permanent change
in behavior that occurs as a result
of practice or experience.

• Involves change
• Is relatively permanent
• Is acquired through experience
 Theories of Learning

• Classical Conditioning
• Operant Conditioning
• Social-Learning Theory
• Shaping Behavior
 Classical Conditioning
A type of conditioning in which an individual
responds to some stimulus that would not
ordinarily produce such a response.

S R
Key Concepts
• Unconditioned Stimulus
• Unconditioned Response
• Conditioned Stimulus
• Conditioned Response
 Classical Conditioning
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-xRDTyX
qbo
 Operant Conditioning
A type of conditioning in which desired
voluntary behavior leads to a reward or
prevents a punishment.

Key Concepts
• Reflexive (unlearned) behavior
• Conditioned (learned) behavior
• Reinforcement
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtdP6n0
ft38
Operant Conditioning Role play
Classical and Operant Conditioning
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTVQHhb
hYbA
- Classical Conditioning - Organizational
Behavior, Christ University
 Social-Learning Theory
People can learn through observation
and direct experience.

Key Concepts
• Attention processes
• Retention processes
• Motor reproduction processes
• Reinforcement processes
 Social-Learning Theory
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqScOIrH
x2A

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnDq_b
VBUw
 The first robot declared a citizen by Saudi
Arabia
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Ox6H64yu8 -Meet
Sophia
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWlL4KjIP4M - Humanoid
Robot Tells Jokes on GMB! | Good Morning Britain
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9PqcJ6Hs7s -
Humanoid Sophia Meets the Press, Without Her Mentor
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtX-qVUfCKI - Robot
Meets Self Driving Car - Sophia by Hanson & Jack by Audi
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg_tJvCA8zw - Tonight
Showbotics: Snakebot, Sophia, eMotion Butterflies
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1NxcRNW_Qk - Two
robots debate the future of humanity
 Shaping Behavior
Systematically reinforcing each successive step
that moves an individual closer to the desired
response.

Key Concepts
• Reinforcement is required to change behavior.
• Some rewards are more effective than others.
• The timing of reinforcement affects learning speed and
permanence.
 Types of Reinforcement
• Positive reinforcement
– Providing a reward for a desired behavior.
• Negative reinforcement
– Removing an unpleasant consequence
when the desired behavior occurs.
• Punishment
– Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate
an undesirable behavior.
• Extinction
– Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to
cause its cessation.
 Question

• Which technique is more effective?

• Should we avoid using punishment in the
workplace altogether? What do you think?
 Schedules of Reinforcement
Continuous Reinforcement
A desired behavior is reinforced each time it is
demonstrated.

Intermittent Reinforcement
A desired behavior is reinforced often enough to
make the behavior worth repeating but not every
time it is demonstrated.
 Schedules of Reinforcement
Fixed-Interval Schedule
Rewards are spaced at uniform time intervals.

Variable-Interval Schedule
Rewards are initiated after a fixed or constant
number of responses.
 Question

• Which methods is more effective?

 OB MOD Organizational Applications
• Well Pay versus Sick Pay
– Reduces absenteeism by rewarding attendance, not
absence.
• Employee Discipline
– The use of punishment can be counter-productive.
• Developing Training Programs
– OB MOD methods improve training effectiveness.
• Self-management
– Reduces the need for external management control.
 Quiz Question
Ron is a sensitive person, and he works very
hard so that his boss doesn't criticize him.
Criticism is a(n) __________ of Ron's work.
A) Punisher
B) Positive reinforcer
C) Extinguisher
D) Negative reinforcer
E) Continuous reinforcer
 Learning Theories
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-xRDTyXqbo
Classical Conditioning
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtdP6n0ft38 -
Operant Conditioning Role play
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTVQHhbhYbA -
Classical Conditioning - Organizational Behavior
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqScOIrHx2A- Social
Learning
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQnDq_bVBUw –
Social Learning
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmY1ojovpjE -
Organizational Behavior Role Play
Motivation
 Learning Outcomes
• Motivation
• Theories of Motivation
 Defining Motivation
Motivation
The processes that account for an individual’s
intensity, direction, and persistence of effort
toward attaining a goal.

Key Elements
1. Intensity: how hard a person tries
2. Direction: toward beneficial goal
3. Persistence: how long a person tries
Early Theories of Motivation
Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Maslow)

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

There is a hierarchy of five needs
—physiological, safety, social,
esteem, and self-actualization; as
each need is substantially
satisfied, the next need becomes
dominant.
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Lower-Order Needs Higher-Order Needs
Needs that are satisfied Needs that are satisfied
externally; physiological internally; social, esteem,
and safety needs. and self-actualization
needs.
ERG Theory (Clayton Alderfer)
ERG Theory
There are three groups of core needs: existence,
relatedness, and growth.
Core Needs
Existence: provision of basic
material requirements.
Relatedness: desire for
relationships.
Growth: desire for personal
development.
Concepts
More than one need can be
operative at the same time.
If a higher-level need cannot
be fulfilled, the desire to
satisfy a lower-level need
increases.
David McClelland’s Theory of Needs
Need for Achievement Need for Affiliation
The drive to excel, to achieve The desire for friendly
in relation to a set of and close personal
standards, to strive to relationships.
succeed.

Need for Power nPow

The need to make others
behave in a way that they
would not have behaved
otherwise.
nAch nAff
Theory X and Theory Y (Douglas McGregor)
Theory X
Assumes that employees dislike
work, lack ambition, avoid
responsibility, and must be
directed and coerced to perform.

Theory Y
Assumes that employees like
work, seek responsibility, are
capable of making decisions,
and exercise self-direction and
self-control when committed to
a goal.
Two-Factor Theory (Frederick Herzberg)
Two-Factor (Motivation-Hygiene) Theory
Intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction,
while extrinsic factors are associated with
dissatisfaction.

Hygiene Factors
Factors—such as company policy
and administration and supervision
— that, when adequate in a job,
When factors are adequate, people
will not be dissatisfied.
Contemporary Theories of
Motivation
Goal-Setting Theory (Edwin Locke)
Goal-Setting Theory
The theory that specific and difficult goals, with
feedback, lead to higher performance.

Factors influencing the goals–

performance relationship:
Goal commitment, adequate self-
efficacy, task characteristics, and
national culture.
 Self Efficacy Theory (Albert Bandura)
• Self-Efficacy
The individual’s belief that he or she is
capable of performing a task.

• Albert Bandura proposes four ways of

increasing self-efficacy:
Enactive mastery (gain experience)
Vicarious modeling (see someone else)
Verbal persuasion (someone convinces)
Arousal (psyched up)
 Reinforcement Theory
The assumption that behavior is a function of its
consequences.

Concepts:
Behavior is environmentally caused
Behavior can be modified (reinforced) by providing
(controlling) consequences
Reinforced behavior tends to be repeated
 Equity Theory
Equity Theory
Individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes
with those of others and then respond to eliminate
any inequities.

Referent
Comparisons:
Self-inside
Self-outside
Other-inside
Other-outside
Equity Theory (cont’d)
 Equity Theory (cont’d)

Choices for dealing with inequity:

1. Change inputs (slack off)
2. Change outcomes (increase output)
3. Distort/change perceptions of self
4. Distort/change perceptions of others
5. Choose a different referent person
6. Leave the field (quit the job)
 Equity Theory (cont’d)
Propositions relating to inequitable pay:
1. Overrewarded hourly employees produce more than
equitably rewarded employees.
2. Overrewarded piece-work employees produce less,
but do higher quality piece work.
3. Underrewarded hourly employees produce lower
quality work.
4. Underrewarded employees produce larger quantities
of lower-quality piece work than equitably rewarded
employees
 Equity Theory (cont’d)
Distributive Justice
Perceived fairness of the
amount and allocation of
rewards among individuals.

Procedural Justice
The perceived fairness of
the process to determine
the distribution of
rewards.
 Expectancy Theory
Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom)
The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way
depends on the strength of an expectation that the
act will be followed by a given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.
Expectancy Theory Relationships
• Effort–Performance Relationship
– The probability that exerting a given amount of
effort will lead to performance.
• Performance–Reward Relationship
– The belief that performing at a particular level
will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.
• Rewards–Personal Goals Relationship
– The degree to which organizational rewards
satisfy an individual’s goals or needs and the
attractiveness of potential rewards for the
individual.
FOUNDATIONS OF GROUP
BEHAVIOR
 Important Link
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4COK6qU
be5Q
– Foundations of Group Behaviour
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdXVt8u
qfQA
– Stages of Group Development
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKf51o8Y
xOs
-Five stages of group development
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_gptRm
pFyk-
 Learning Objective
• Group – Why People Join Group
• Stages of Group Development
• Groups Properties
 Case Study

IF TWO HEADS ARE BETTER THAN ONE, ARE

FOUR EVEN BETTER
 Group

• Two or more individuals interacting

and interdependent, who have come
together to achieve particular
objectives
• Formal Group • Informal Group
– Defined by the – Alliances that are
organization’s neither formally
structure with structured nor
designated work organizationally
assignments determined
establishing tasks – Appear naturally in
response to the need
for social contact
– Deeply affect behavior
and performance
 Subclassifications of Groups
Formal Groups Informal Groups
• Command Group • Interest Group
– A group composed of – Members work
the individuals who together to attain a
report directly to a specific objective with
given manager which each is
• Task Group concerned
– Those working together • Friendship Group
to complete a job or – Those brought together
task in an organization because they share one
but not limited by or more common
hierarchical boundaries characteristics
 Why People Join Groups
Social Identity Theory

• Similarity
• Distinctiveness
• Status
• Uncertainty
Reduction
Five Stages of Group Development Model
 Discussion Question?
• What stage of group development is most
important?

A. Forming
B. Storming
C. Norming
D. Performing
 Movie Example: 13 going on 30

• How does the group on the dance floor

move through the stages of group
development?
Five Stages of Group Development
1. Forming - Members feel much uncertainty.
2. Storming - Lots of conflict between members of
the group.
3. Norming - Members have developed close
relationships and cohesiveness.
4. Performing - The group is finally fully
functional.
5. Adjourning - In temporary groups,
characterized by concern with wrapping up
activities rather than performance.
 Group Properties
Norms
Status
Roles

Group
Performance

Cohesiveness Size
 Question?
• What is the degree to which members are
attracted to their group?

A. Group Consistency
B. Group Organization
C. Group Cohesiveness
D. Group Loyalty
 Group Decision Making Phenomena
• Groupthink
a. Situations where group pressures for conformity
deter the group from critically appraising unusual,
minority, or unpopular views
b. Hinders performance
• Group shift
a. When discussing a given set of alternatives and
arriving at a solution, group members tend to
exaggerate the initial positions that they hold.
b. This causes a shift to more conservative or more
risky behavior.
 Team
• A group whose members work intensely
with each other to achieve a specific,
common goal or objective.

• All teams are groups but not all groups are

teams.
• Teams often are difficult to form.
• It takes time for members to learn how
to work together.
Groups’ and Teams’ Contributions to
Organizational Effectiveness
Types of Groups and Teams in Organizations
 Decision-Making Process
• Decision-making = the process of choosing a
course of action to deal with a problem or
opportunity
• Five steps:
1. Recognize and define problem or opportunity
2. Identify and analyze alternative courses of action
3. Choose preferred course of action
4. Implement
5. Evaluate results and follow up
 Types of Decisions
• Programmed Decisions
– Standard responses to routine problems,
based on past experience

• Non-programmed Decisions
– Create unique solutions for non-routine
problems
– Focus of most higher level managers’
decision-making
 Decision Environments
• Certain Environment
– Enough info to predict expected results of
decision-making alternatives
– Uncommon decision-making environment
• Risk Environment
– No complete certainty about outcomes but can
identify probabilities of expected results
associated with various actions
– Common decision environment
 Decision Environments
3. Uncertain environment
– So little info that cannot even assign probabilities to
predict outcomes
– Most difficult decision environment
– Requires creativity in problem-solving
– E.g., organized anarchy: a division or firm in transition
and characterized by rapid change and no legitimate
hierarchy
• Organizations can use systematic process to assess
degree of risk in various aspects of operations and
environments, then develop contingency plans