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Organizational Behaviour I Foundations of Individual Behaviour (CHP. 2)

Individuals Behaviour
Perhaps, the most important dependent variable in industrial and organizational psychology is job performance. Researchers have discovered that an Individuals Behaviour, performance and satisfaction is affected by his/her abilities and biographical characteristics.

Abilities
Everyone has strengths and weaknesses in terms of ability that make him or her relatively superior or inferior to others in performing certain tasks or activities. The term ability refers to an individuals capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current assessment of what one can do. An individuals overall abilities are essentially made up of two sets of factors. Intellectual Abilities Physical Abilities

Intellectual Abilities These kinds of abilities are needed to perform mental activities for thinking, reasoning and problem solving. People in most societies place a high value on intelligence, and for good reason. Compared to others, smart people generally earn more money and attain higher levels of education. Smart people are also more likely to emerge as leaders of groups. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) tests, for example, are designed to ascertain a persons general intellectual abilities. The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization and memory. Following Exhibit describes these dimensions.

EXHIBIT 2-1: Dimensions of Intellectual Ability

Dimension Number Aptitude Verbal Comprehension Perceptual Speed Inductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Spatial Visualization Memory Description Ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic Ability to understand what is read or heard and relationship of words to each other Ability to identify visual similarities differences quickly and accurately and Job Examples Accountant; Computing the Sales tax on a set of items Plant Manager; Following corporate policies on hiring Fire Investigator; Identifying clues to support a charge of arson Market Researcher; Forecasting demand for a product in the next time period Supervisor; Choosing between two different suggestions offered by employees Interior Decorator; Redecorating an office Salesperson; customers Remembering the names of

Ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and solve the problem Ability to use logic and assess the implications of argument Ability to imagine how an object would look its position in space were changed Ability to retain and recall past experiences

Physical Abilities It is the capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength and similar characteristics. Physical abilities have been and will remain important for successfully doing jobs that involve performance of physical tasks. Physical ability consists primarily of motor skill, the ability to manipulate objects in an environment physically, and physical skill, a persons fitness and strength. Following Exhibit describes these dimensions.

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Organizational Behaviour I Foundations of Individual Behaviour (CHP. 2)

EXHIBIT 2-2: Nine Basic Physical Abilities

Strength Factors 1. 2. 3. 4. Dynamic Strength Trunk Strength Static Strength Explosive Strength Description Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly abdominal) muscles Ability to exert force against external objects Ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive acts.

Flexibility Factors 5. 6. Extent Flexibility Dynamic Flexibility Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements

Other Factors 7. 8. 9. Body Coordination Balance Stamina Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the body Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time

Biographical Characteristics
These are personal characteristics, such as, Age, Gender, Race, and Length of Service (Tenure) that are objective and easily obtained from personal records. Age The relationship between age and job performance is increasing importance at least three reasons. First, there is a widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing age. Second, the age profile of workers is also a contributory factor leading to diversity at the workplace. That is, the workforce is aging; workers over 55 are the fastest growing sector of the workforce. The third reason is the retirement age. Employers perceptions (are mixed). They see a number of positive qualities that older workers bring to their jobs, specifically experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality. Older workers are also perceived as lacking flexibility and as being resistant to new technology. Some believe that the older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job. That conclusion is based on studies of the age-turnover relationship. It is tempting to assume that age is also inversely related to relationship. Most studies do show an inverse relationship, but close examination finds that the age-absence relationship is partially a function of whether the absence is avoidable or unavoidable. In general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence. However, they have higher rates of unavoidable absence, probably due to their poorer health associated with aging and longer recovery periods when injured. There is a widespread belief that productivity declines with age and that individual skills decay over time. Reviews of the research find that age and job performance are unrelated.

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Organizational Behaviour I Foundations of Individual Behaviour (CHP. 2) This seems to be true for almost all types of jobs, professional and nonprofessional. The relationship between age and job satisfaction is mixed. Most studies indicate a positive association between age and satisfaction, at least up to age 60. Other studies, however, have found a U-shaped relationship. When professional and nonprofessional employees are separated, satisfaction tends to continually increase among professionals as they age, whereas it falls among nonprofessional during middle age and then rises again in the later years.

Gender - There are few, if any, important differences between men and women that will affect their job performance, including the areas of: Problem-solving Analytical skills Competitive drive Motivation Sociability Learning ability - Women are more willing to conform to authority, and men are more aggressive and more likely than women to have expectations of success, but those differences are minor. - There is no evidence indicating that an employees gender affects job satisfaction. - There is a difference between men and women in terms of preference for work schedules. Mothers of preschool children are more likely to prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, and telecommuting in order to accommodate their family responsibilities. - Absenteeism and turnover rates Womens quit rates are similar to mens. The research on absenteeism consistently indicates that women have higher rates of absenteeism. The logical explanation: cultural expectation that has historically placed home and family responsibilities on the woman. Marital Status - There are not enough studies to draw any conclusions about the effect of marital status on job productivity. - Research consistently indicates that married employees have fewer absences, undergo fewer turnovers, and are more satisfied with their jobs than are their unmarried co-workers. - More research needs to be done on the other statuses besides single or married, such as divorce, domestic partnering, etc. Race Race is a controversial issue. Studies in OB have found that: In employment settings there is a tendency for individuals to favour colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotions decisions and pay raises. There are substantial racial differences in attitudes toward affirmative action.

Social Group In India, reservation benefits are extended to certain social groups. Reservation is a form of affirmative action whereby a percentage of seats are reserved for individuals belonging to these categories. Preference is given to persons belonging to categories that have been recognized as scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. Other parameters such as religion and state of domicile are also taken into consideration for providing such opportunities. Likewise, in Pakistan similar kinds of quotas are maintained for provinces, minority religious group and women in all provinces.

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Organizational Behaviour I Foundations of Individual Behaviour (CHP. 2) Reservation policies need to be understood in terms of their effect on organizational structures, selection policies, and workplace discrimination. Tenure (Length of Service) Employees job experience is exceptionally an important factor for the productivity of an organization. Seniority-Productivity relationship reviews have been conducted by researchers. Most recent evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between seniority and job productivity. Therefore, Tenure appears to be a good predictor of employee productivity and credibility. Religion It is a touchy subject. Not only do religious and non-religious people question each others belief, often people of different religious faith conflict. There are often violent differences among sects of same religion. In most countries law prohibits employers from discriminating against employees based on their religion, with a very few exception. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Employers differ a lot in how they treat sexual orientation. In most countries, the law does not prohibit discrimination against employers based on sexual orientation, though some countries do have antidiscrimination policies.

Learning
Human beings are initially blank slates that are shaped by their environment. B.F. Skimmer, believed too much in the power of the environment that he said, give me a child at birth and I can make him into anything you want. On the other hand, evolutionary psychology tells us that human beings are basically hardwired at birth. After a thorough study, I have arrived at the conclusion, that there are some psychological characteristics of human that do not change. Some psychological characteristics may change by the passage of time and some aspects are learned from the environment. In fact, learning occurs all the time. Therefore, it is generally defined as any relative permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience. Or we can say that changes in behaviour indicate that learning has taken place and learning is a change in behaviour. Let us clarify. First, learning involves change. Change may be good or bad from an organizational point of view. People can learn unfavourable behaviours-to hold prejudices or to get rid of their responsibilities. Second, the change must become ingrained. Immediate changes may only reflexive or a result of fatigue and thus may not represent learning. Third, some form of experience is necessary for learning. Theories of Learning Experts offer three theories to explain the process by which we acquire patterns of behaviour. Classical Conditioning (Theory) It is a type of conditioning in which an individual responds to some stimulus that would not ordinarily produce such a response. Classical conditioning theory involves learning a new behaviour via the process of association. In simple terms two stimuli are linked together to produce a new learned response in a person or animal. A Russian physiologist called Ivan Pavlov, studied salivation in dogs as part of his research programme. Normally, dogs will salivate at the when food is presented, but Pavlov was interested why the dogs had started to salivate when the saw the people that usually fed them (they also responded to the sound of the dishes being used for their meals). Pavlov set up an experiment to find out if the dogs could be trained to

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Organizational Behaviour I Foundations of Individual Behaviour (CHP. 2) salivate at other stimuli such as the sound of a bell or a light. At feeding times, Pavlov would ring a bell and the amount of saliva produced by the dog was measured. After several 'trials' Pavlov rang the bell without presenting the food and found that the dogs salivated in the same way as if food was being presented. You will note that the conditional response is the same as the unconditioned response, the only difference being that the response is evoked by a different stimulus. The Classical Conditioning Procedure: In scientific terms, the procedure for this is as follows. 1. Food is the unconditioned stimulus or UCS. By this, Pavlov meant that the stimulus that elicited the response occurred naturally. 2. The salivation to the food is an unconditioned response (UCR) that is a response which occurs naturally. 3. The bell is the conditioned stimulus (CS) because it will only produce salivation on condition that it is presented with the food. 4. Salivation to the bell alone is the conditioned response (CR), a response to the conditioned stimulus. Classical conditioning can be used to explain why nursery rhymes often bring back pleasant memories of childhood and feelings of euphoria. It is also observed in organizational setting. It is passive. Something happens and we react in a specific way. Operant Conditioning Psychologist Burrhus Frederic Skinner was the first to describe operant conditioning. Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumental conditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behaviour. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between behaviour and a consequence for that behaviour. We can find examples of operant conditioning at work all around us. Consider the case of children completing homework to earn a reward from a parent or teacher, or employees finishing projects to receive praise or promotions. In these examples, the promise or possibility of rewards causes an increase in behaviour, but operant conditioning can also be used to decrease behaviour. The removal of an undesirable outcome or the use of punishment can be used to decrease or prevent undesirable behaviours. For example, a child may be told they will lose recess privileges if they talk out of turn in class. This potential for punishment may lead to a decrease in disruptive behaviours. Social Learning Individuals can learn by observing what happens to other people and just being told about something as well as through direct experiences. This view that we can learn through both observation and direct experience is called as social-learning theory. Four processes have been found to determine the influence that a model will have on an individual: 1. Attention Process People learn from a model only when they recognize and pay attention to its critical features. We tend to be most influenced by models that are attractive, repeatedly available, important to us, or similar to us in our estimation. 2. Retention Process A models influence depends on how well the individual remembers the models action after the model is no longer readily available. 3. Motor Reproduction Process After a person has seen a new behaviour by observing the model, the watching must be converted to doing. This process then demonstrates that the individual can perform the modelled activities.

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Organizational Behaviour I Foundations of Individual Behaviour (CHP. 2) 4. Reinforcement Process Individuals are motivated to exhibit the modelled behaviour if positive incentives or rewards are provided. Behaviours that are positively reinforced are given more attention, learned better and performed more often.

Shaping Behaviour A Managerial Tool

Managers will be concerned with teaching employees to behave in ways that most benefit the organization. Learning takes place on the job as well as prior to it. When we attempt to mould individuals by guiding their learning in graduated steps, we are shaping behaviour. Methods of Shaping Behaviour There are four ways in which to shape behavior: through positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, and extinction. Positive Reinforcement: Following a response with something pleasant is called positive reinforcement. This would describe, for instance, the boss who praises an employee for a job well done. Negative Reinforcement: Following a response by the termination or withdrawal of something unpleasant is called negative reinforcement. If your college instructor asks a question and you dont know the answer, looking through your lecture notes is likely to preclude your being called on. This is a negative reinforcement because you have learned that looking busily through your notes prevents the instructor from calling on you. Punishment: Punishment is causing an unpleasant condition in an attempt to eliminate an undesirable behaviour. Giving an employee a two-day suspension from work without pay for showing up drunk is an example of punishment. Extinction: Eliminating any reinforcement that is maintaining behaviour is called extinction. When the behaviour is not reinforced, it tends to be gradually extinguished. College instructors who wish to discourage students from asking questions in class can eliminate this behaviour in their students by ignoring those who raise their hands to ask questions. Hand-raising will become extinct when it is invariably met with an absence of reinforcement.

Prepared by:

Mohammad Azfar Javaid

(Student of EMBA-IT)