Globalization Trends

Responding to Globalization
Organizations are no longer constrained by national borders. Burger King is owned
by a British firm, and McDonalds sells hamburgers in Moscow. ExxonMobil, a socalled U.S. company, receives almost 75 percent of its revenues from sales outside
the United States. New employees at Finland-based phone maker Nokia are
increasingly being recruited from India, China, and other developing countriesnonFinns now outnumber Finns at Nokias renowned research center in Helsinki. And all
major automobile makers now manufacture cars outside their borders; Honda builds
cars in Ohio, Ford in Brazil, Volkswagen in Mexico, and both Mercedes and BMW in
South Africa. The world has become a global village. In the process, the managers
job has changed.
Increased Foreign Assignments
If youre a manager, you are increasingly
likely to find yourself in a foreign assignmenttransferred to your employers
operating division or subsidiary in another country. Once there, youll have to
manage a workforce very different in needs, aspirations, and attitudes from those
you are used to back home.
Working with People from Different Cultures
Even in your own country,
youll find yourself working with bosses, peers, and other employees born and
raised in different cultures. What motivates you may not motivate them. Or your
communication style may be straightforward and open, which others may find
uncomfortable and threatening. To work effectively with people from different
cultures, you need to understand how their culture, geography, and religion have
shaped them and how to adapt your management style to their differences.
Managers at global companies such as McDonalds, Disney, and Coca-Cola have
come to realize that economic values are not universally transferable. Management
practices need to be modified to reflect the values of the different countries in
which an organization operates.
Overseeing Movement of Jobs to Countries with Low-Cost Labor
Its
increasingly difficult for managers in advanced nations, where minimum wages are
typically $6 or more an hour, to compete against firms that rely on workers from
China and other developing nations where labor is available for 30 cents an hour.
Its not by chance that many in the United States wear clothes made in China, work
on computers whose microchips came from Taiwan, and watch movies filmed in
Canada. In a global economy, jobs tend to flow where lower costs give businesses a
comparative advantage, though labor groups, politicians, and local community
leaders see the exporting of jobs as undermining the job ---market at home.
Managers face the difficult task of balancing the interests of their organization with
their responsibilities to the communities in which they operate.
Managing Workforce Diversity
One of the most important challenges for organizations is adapting to people who
are different. We describe this challenge as workforce diversity. Whereas
globalization focuses on differences among people from different countries,
workforce diversity addresses differences among people within given countries.
Workforce diversity
acknowledges a workforce of women and men; many racial
and ethnic groups; individuals with a variety of physical or psychological abilities;
and people who differ in age and sexual orientation. Managing this diversity is a
global concern. Most European countries have experienced dramatic growth in
immigration from the Middle East, Argentina and Venezuela host a significant
number of migrants from other South American countries, and nations from India to

Iraq to Indonesia find great cultural diversity within their borders. The most
significant change in the U.S. labor force during the last half of the twentieth
century was the rapid increase in the number of female workers. In 1950, for
instance, only 29.6 percent of the workforce was female. By 2008, it was 46.5
percent. The first half of the twenty-first century will be notable for changes in racial
and ethnic composition and an aging baby boom generation. By 2050, Hispanics will
grow from todays 11 percent of the workforce to 24 percent, blacks will increase
from 12 to 14 percent, and Asians from 5 to 11 percent. Meanwhile, in the near term
the labor force will be aging. The 55-and-older age group, currently 13 percent of
the labor force, will increase to 20 percent by 2014. Though we have more to say
about workforce diversity in the next chapter, suffice it to say here that it presents
great opportunities and poses challenging questions for managers and employees in
all countries. How can we leverage differences within groups for competitive
advantage? Should we treat all employees alike? Should we recognize individual
and cultural differences? How can we foster cultural awareness in employees
without lapsing into political correctness? What are the legal requirements in each
country? Does diversity even matter?
Improving Customer Service
American Express recently turned Joan Weinbels worst nightmare into a nonevent.
It was 10:00 p.m. Joan was home in New Jersey, packing for a weeklong trip, when
she suddenly realized she had left her AmEx Gold card at a restaurant in New York
City earlier in the evening. The restaurant was 30 miles away. She had a flight to
catch at 7:30 the next morning, and she wanted her card for the trip. She called
American Express. The phone was quickly answered by a courteous and helpful
AmEx customer service representative who told Ms. Weinbel not to worry. He asked
her a few questions and told her, Help is on the way. To say Joan was
flabbergasted when her doorbell rang at 11:45 p.m. is an understatementit was
less than 2 hours after her call. At the door was a courier with a new card. How the
company was able to produce the card and get it to her so quickly still puzzles Joan,
but she said the experience made her a customer for life.
Today, the majority of
employees in developed countries work in service jobs, including 80 percent in the
United States. In Australia, 73 percent work in service industries. In the United
Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, the percentages are 69, 68, and 65, respectively.
Service jobs include technical support representatives, fast-food counter workers,
sales clerks, waiters and waitresses, nurses, automobile repair technicians,
consultants, credit representatives, financial planners, and flight attendants. The
common characteristic of these jobs is substantial interaction with an organizations
customers. And because an organization cant exist without customerswhether it
is American
Stimulating Innovation and Change
Whatever happened to Montgomery Ward, Woolworth, Smith Corona, TWA,
Bethlehem Steel, and WorldCom? All these giants went bust. Why have other giants,
such as General Motors, Sears, Boeing, and Lucent Technologies, implemented huge
cost-cutting programs and eliminated thousands of jobs? The answer is to avoid
going broke. Todays successful organizations must foster innovation and master
the art of change, or theyll become candidates for extinction. Victory will go to the
organizations that maintain their flexibility, continually improve their quality, and
beat their competition to the marketplace with a constant stream of innovative
products and services. Dominos single-handedly brought on the demise of small
pizza parlors whose managers thought they could continue doing what they had

been doing for years. A mazon.com is putting a lot of independent bookstores out
of business as it proves you can successfully sell books (and most anything else)
from a Web site. After years of lackluster performance, Boeing realized it needed to
change its business model. The result was its 787 Dreamliner and a return to being
the worlds largest airplane manufacturer. An organizations employees can be the
impetus for innovation and change, or they can be a major stumbling block. The
challenge for managers is to stimulate their employees creativity and tolerance for
change. The field of OB provides a wealth of ideas and techniques to aid in realizing
these goals

Emerging trends in organisational behaviour

Organizations have witnessed a great development from the olden times
particularly in respect of structure, operations and people. There is a considerable
change in the crossculture environment, influence of MNCs, growth in the technical
know-how and quality management which has provided different environment in the
modern organizations. Some of the important trends observed are mentioned
below:
Globalisation
Emerging employment relationships
changing workforce
Knowledge Management
Information technology and OB
Globalization
Organisation in recent days has changed the style of working and tries to spread
worldwide. Trapping new market place, new technology or reducing cost through
specialization or cheap labour are few of the different reasons that motivates
organizations to become global Moreover the way companies integrate their
business practices with other countries has also changed. Instead of controlling the
whole supply chain countries outsource some part of it to gain advantage of
specialization. Thomas Friedman highlights this phenomenon in his book The world
is flat There are several types of organizational changes that has occurred to help
business adopt to globalisation, as the old principles no longer work in the age of
globalisation Strategic changes, technological change, change in organizational
cultural including organizational structural change and a redesign of work tasks are
some of the important one. In line with these changes, there is strong expectation
of employee to improve their knowledge and become an integral part of successful
business formula in order to respond to the challenges brought by the global
economy. In other words it leads to formation of a learning organisation, which is
characterized by creating, gaining and transferring the knowledge, and thus
constantly modifying the organizational behaviour.
Emerging employment relationship:
Changing trends in organisations in recent years have made it utmost important to
consider some of the emerging employee relations issues which can affect
employers in the coming decade. Understanding these issues will help management
to better plan and respond to changes in the workplace. Employer employee
relationship is also showing change in the modern era. Employers are no more
autocrats and participative style of leadership is welcomed. Flexible working hours
and increased authority motivates employees to perform to their best. Management

now welcomes upward communication and participation of lower level employees in

the decision making process.
Changing workforce
The demographic of the workforce has changed in the recent years.. This is due to
a number of factors such as an aging population, labour shortages and immigration.
Another significant factor that has changed the workforce is the changes in the
attitudes of workers. Employers need to adapt their recruitment, training and
management processes to adapt to changing workforce. An example of this is that
where employers may have previously looked to younger people as a source of
recruits, they may now have to broaden their view as there are currently a large
number of older people either currently employed or seeking employment. These
people may need extra training to bring their skills up to date. New parents now
want to work closer to home or from home, employers may find that they need to
make this a possible option in order to retain or find new staff. Allowing people to
work from home will also make the employer and job more attractive to a wider
range of people. Recent days is also witnessing a shortage of skilled labour in many
sectors. Hence employers may have to take on less skilled workers initially and
develop them, rather than simply hiring experienced people. Hiring employees from
overseas also serves the purpose.
Knowledge Management:
Knowledge management is a structured activity that improves an organizations
capacity to acquire, share, and utilize knowledge for its survival and success.
Knowledge management is around us from a very long period of time in one form or
the other. The decisions we make and the action we take both are enabled by
knowledge of some type. Hence to improve quality of these actions and decisions it
is important to understand the process of knowledge management. Studies in
knowledge management has proved an inseparable relationship between
knowledge management and organizational culture (Davenport and Prusak,2000;
Von Krogh, 2000; Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) Research has also proved that
organizational culture is a major barrier to leveraging intellectual assets. They focus
on four ways in which culture influences organizational behaviours central to
knowledge creation, sharing, and use. The first is the shared assumptions about
what knowledge is and which knowledge is worth managing. Second is the
relationship between individual and organizational knowledge. Third is the context
for social interaction that determines how knowledge will be used in particular
situations. Fourth is the processes by which knowledge is created, legitimated, and
distributed in organizations. There are three basic elements of knowledge
management 1. Knowledge acquisition:- It is method of learning through
experiences, sensation or perception. 2. Knowledge sharing:- Knowledge sharing
is a process through which knowledge is shared among family, friends or any
community. 3. Knowledge dissemination: It is conceptual and instrumental use
of new knowledge. Increased awareness and ability to make informed choice among
available alternatives are the outcomes of knowledge dissemination. Knowledge
maps:- Knowledge maps guide employees to understand what knowledge is
needed to increase their efficiency and productivity and where these knowledge are
located.
Information Technology and OB
Technological change and advancement is one of the most salient factors impacting
organizations and employees today. In particular, the prominence of information
technology (IT) has grown many folds in recent years. This innovation in IT has

opened new ways for conducting business that are different from the past.
Technology has changed the nature of work as well as the roles of employees.
Managerial decision making, stress handling, and attitude towards work have
changed as an impact of technology.It is also seen from decades that there is a
normal tendency of human being to resist to changes, making adoption of new
technologies a little difficult. It has become important for the business and
management to understand and take these issues into consideration while
introducing or implementing any new technology. Frequent sessions on change
management can help employees understand, use and adopt new technologies
easily.

Organizational behavior anchor

THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY ANCHOR
As part of the social sciences, organizational behaviour is anchored around the idea
that it should draw on knowledge from other disciplines rather than just its own
isolated research base. In other words, OB should be multidisciplinary. The upper
part of fig. 1 identifies the traditional disciplines that have had the greatest impact
on organizational behaviour knowledge. Of these, the fields of psychology and
sociology have contributed the most to current OB knowledge. The field of
psychology has aided our understanding of individual and interpersonal behaviour.
Sociologists have contributed to our knowledge of dynamics, organizational
socialization, organizational power, and other aspects of the social system.
Anthropology has mainly helped us to understand organization culture, whereas
political science contributed ideas regarding power and politics (competing
interests, strategies to gain control & influence) in organizations. Engineering
played an early role in OB with productivity issues. Economics influenced early OB
writing on organizational power, negotiations, and decision making. However, as
recent economics concepts are applied to OB writing, some scholars warn that
economics offers only one of way to view organizations
The bottom part identifies some of the emerging fields from which organizational
behaviour might acquire knowledge. The communications field is currently helping
us to understand the dynamics of electronic mail, communication corporate culture,
and socialization processes. Information systems writers are exploring the effects of
information technology on team dynamics, decision making, and knowledge
management.
The true test of OBs multidisciplinary anchor is how effective OB scholars continue
to transfer knowledge from traditional and emerging disciplines history suggests
that field of inquiry tend to become more inwardly focused as they mature.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD ANCHOR
A second anchor of organizational behaviour relates to the way we study
organizations. For the part, OB researches test their hypothesis about organizations
by collecting information according to the scientific method. The scientific method is
not a single procedure for collecting data; rather, it is a set of principles and
procedures that help researchers systematically understand previously unexplained
events and conditions
In the Systematic Research Anchor, OB researchers believe in the systematic
collection of data and information about organizations. It also utilizes the scientific
method by forming research questions, systematically collecting data, and testing

hypotheses.
THE CONTINGENCY ANCHOR
it depends is a phrase that OB scholars often use to answer a question about the
best solution to an organization problem. The statement may frustrate some people,
yet it reflects an important way of understanding and predicting organizational
events, called the contingency approach. This anchor states that a particular action
may have different consequences in different situations. In other words, no single
solution is best in all circumstances
Many early OB theorists have proposed universal rules to predict and explain
organizational life, but there are usually too many exceptions to make these one
best way theories useful.
Although contingency oriented theories are necessary in most areas of
organizational behaviour, we should also be wary about carrying this anchor to an
extreme. Some contingency models add more confusion than value over universal
ones. Consequently, we need to balance the sensitivity of contingency factors with
the simplicity of universal theories.
THE MULTIPLE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS ANCHOR
Organizational events are usually studied from three common levels of analysis:
individual, team, and organizational.
Three Levels of Analysis in Organizational Behaviour
1.INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES
2.TEAM PROCESSES
3.ORGANISATIONAL PROCESSES
The individual level includes the characteristics and behaviour of employees as well
as the thought processes attributed to them, such as motivation, perception,
personalities, attitudes, and values. The team level of analysis looks at the way
people interact. This includes team dynamics, decisions, power, organizational
politics, conflict, and leadership. At the organizational level, we focus on how people
structure their working relationships and on how organizations interact with their
environments.
THE OPEN SYSTEMS ANCHOR
Phil Carroll is describing the fifth anchor of organizational behavior- the view that
organizations are open systems. This means that organizations consist if
interdependent parts that work together to continually monitor and transact with
the eternal environment. An organizational system acquires resources from its
external environment, including raw materials, employees, information, financial
support, and equipment. Technology (such as equipment, work methods, and
information) transforms these inputs into various outputs that are exported back to
the eternal environment. The organization receives feedback from the eternal
environment regarding the use of these outputs and the availability of future inputs.
It also receives more resources in return of its outputs. This process is cyclical and,
ideally, self-sustaining, so that the organization may continue to survive and
prosper.
To understand the open system anchor better, think about its opposite: close

system. A closed system exists independently of anything beyond its boundaries. In

other words, it is closed off from the outside environment and has all the resources
needed to survive indefinitely. Organizations are never completely closed system,
but those operating in very stable environments tend to become relatively closed by
ignoring their surrounding for long period of time. For example, monopolies are
relatively closed system because they dont need to respond to customers or other
stakeholders very much.
Open systems thinking are an important anchor in how we view organizations.
However, it has traditionally focused on physical resources that enter the
organization and are processed into physical goods (outputs). This was
representative of the industrial economy, but not of the emerging knowledge- based
economy. Organizational behaviour scholars increasingly recognize that knowledge
is the driving variable in organizations survival and success. Consequently, they
have created an entire subfield of research dedicated to the dynamics of knowledge
management

Knowldege management
Knowledge acquisition= Knowledge acquisition includes the organizations ability to
extract information and ideas from its environment as well as through insight. One
of the fastest and most powerful ways to acquire knowledge is through grafting
hiring individuals or acquiring entire companies.For instance, Nortel Networks
quickly became a leader in fibre optic networks by acquiring Bay Networks, Qtera
Corp., and other organizations with leading-edge knowledge. Knowledge also enters
the organization when employees learn about the external environment, such as
discovering what the competition is doing or how customer needs are changing. A
third knowledge acquisition strategy is through experimentation. Companies receive
knowledge through insight as a result of research and other creative processes
Knowledge sharing= Nearly half of Canadian executives say their companies are
poor at transferring knowledge to other parts of the organization. To improve
knowledge sharing, organizations need to improve communication . For example,
lawyers at McMillan Binch in Toronto share all of their old and current precedents
through a common database. Larger companies further encourage knowledge
sharing through communities of practice. These are informal groups bound together
by shared expertise and passion for a particular activity or interest.Andersen
Consulting and Buckman Labs further improve knowledge sharing by awarding
bonuses to employees who regularly contribute to the companys knowledge
database and online forums.
Knowledge use Acquiring and sharing knowledge are wasted exercises unless
knowledge is effectively put to use. Companies are finding they need better ways
of leveraging the knowledge that they already have, says an executive at Open
Text Corp. in Toronto.69 To do this, employees must realize that the knowledge is
available and that they have enough freedom to apply it. This requires a culture that
supports experiential learning

ORGANIZATIONAL MEMORY
Intellectual capital can be lost as quickly as it is acquired. Corporate leaders need to
recognize that they are the keepers of an organizational memory. This unusual
metaphor refers to the storage and preservation of intellectual capital. It includes

information that employees possess as well as knowledge embedded in the

organizations systems and structures. It includes documents, objects, and anything
else that provides meaningful information about how the organization should
operate. How do organizations retain intellectual capital? One method is to keep
good employees. Our assets go home at night, explains a Microsoft executive. If
enough of them dont come back in the morning, the corporation is in danger. A
second strategy is to transfer knowledge systematically before employees leave.
For instance, many employees at New Flyer Industries are getting close to
retirement, so executives at the Winnipeg bus manufacturer anticipate the need for
consultants who work exclusively at transferring knowledge from retiring employees
to younger ones. A third organizational memory strategy is to transfer knowledge
into structural capital.This includes bringing out hidden knowledge, organizing it,
and putting it in a form that can be made available to others. DecisionOne Corp., a
provider of computer maintenance and technology support services, has
knowledge architects at each site that document best practices and other
information from call centre operators. This information will then be available to
everyone long after a particular call centre expert leaves. Before leaving the topic of
organizational memory and knowledge management, you should know that
successful companies also unlearn. Sometimes it is appropriate for organizations to
selectively forget certain knowledge. This means that they should cast off the
routines and patterns of behaviour that are no longer appropriate. Employees need
to rethink their perceptions, such as how
(Three years of employee buyouts and early retirements have left Ottawas City Hall
with a bad case of corporate amnesia. The municipality started receiving more
complaints about snowplow operators who had damaged homeowners lawns with
their equipment. The reason? Several experienced employees had taken early
retirement without teaching rookie snowplow operators about snow removal on
specific streets in Ottawa. City councillors also had to reopen budget deliberations
because they werent notified of a $1.4 million debt to the Province of Ontario. An
audit found that employees who knew about the money had left the company due
to downsizing. When the city loses a long-term employee, it loses a piece of its
corporate memory, said the consultant who audited these incidents.75 What
strategies could the City of Ottawa apply to minimize this loss of organizational
memory?)
they should interact with customers and which is the best way to perform a task.

Types of Individual Behaviour

Task Performance
Task performance refers to goal-directed behaviours under the individual's
control that support organisational objectives. Task performance behaviours
transform raw materials into goods and services, or support and maintain
technical activities.58 For example, foreign exchange traders at the Bank of

New Zealand make decisions and take actions to exchange currencies.

Employees in most jobs have more than one performance dimension. Foreign
exchange traders must be able to identify profitable trades, work
cooperatively with clients and coworkers in a stressful environment, assist in
training new staff and work on special telecommunications equipment without
error. Some of these performance dimensions are more important than others,
but only by considering all of them can we fully evaluate an employee's
contribution to the organisation.
Organisational Citizenship
Companies could not effectively compete, transform resources or serve the
needs of their stakeholders if employees performed only their formal job
duties. Employees also need to engage inorganisational citizenship
behaviours (OCBs) Various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others
that support the organisation's social and psychological context. In other
words, companies require contextual performance (i.e. OCBs) along with task
performance.

Australia Post Superstar Performance

Australia Post's Dandenong Letters Centre is the largest mail-processing
facility in the Southern Hemisphere. Fifteen hundred employees work across
seven shifts, processing more than 7 million separate mail articles each day.
During Christmas season, daily production jumps to 12 or 13 million items.
Computerised equipment processes most letters, directing them to regions
and specific delivery routes. Each day thousands of documents aren't
readable by machine, so the computer scans them and sends the image to
human video coders who view the image and type in the correct postcode.
The performance of these video coders is staggering. One video coder
named Edna routinely processes 5000 addresses per hour, even while
carrying on a conversation. She can sit there and just talk; she's just got
such a light touch, says supervisor Michelle D'Rozario, who calls Edna her
superstar.59

Organisational citizenship behaviours take many forms. 61 Some are directed

toward individuals, such as assisting coworkers with their work problems,
adjusting your work schedule to accommodate coworkers, showing genuine
courtesy toward coworkers and sharing your work resources (supplies,

technology, staff). Other OCBs represent cooperation and helpfulness toward

the organisation in general. These include supporting the company's public
image, taking discretionary action to help the organisation avoid potential
problems, offering ideas beyond those required for your own job, attending
voluntary functions that support the organisation and keeping up with new
developments in the organisation.
In many ways, employees who engage in organisational citizenship act like
company owners because they go beyond their own interests to the wellbeing
of others and the organisation. This is illustrated in a recent story from Procter
& Gamble (P&G) in India. P&G was waiting for a shipment of materials needed
to keep its production lines running. The shipment had arrived in customs, but
due to heavy rains the government declared a holiday for all of its offices
(including customs). Undeterred by the weather, a P&G plant engineer took
the initiative of arranging to pick up a customs official from his house and take
him to the customs office to authorise clearance of the valuable materials.
When the materials were cleared through customs, the engineer then made
sure they were delivered to the plant the same day. By going beyond the call
of duty, the engineer (with the cooperation of the customs officer) was able to
keep the production lines running.62
Counterproductive Work Behaviours
Organisational behaviour is interested in all workplace behaviours, including
those on the dark side, collectively known as counterpr. CWBs are
voluntary behaviours that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the
organisation. They include abuse of others (e.g. insults and nasty comments),
threats (threatening harm), work avoidance (e.g. tardiness), work sabotage
(doing work incorrectly) and overt acts (theft). CWBs are not minor concerns.
One Australian study found that units of a fast-food restaurant chain with
higher CWBs had a significantly worse performance, whereas organisational
citizenship had a relatively minor benefit. 63
Joining and Staying with the Organisation
Task performance, organisational citizenship and the lack of counterproductive
work behaviours are obviously important, but if qualified people don't join and
stay with the organisation, none of these performance-related behaviours will
occur. Although staff shortages vary as the economy rises and falls, it appears
that some employers never seem to get enough qualified staff. During the
most recent economic recession, for example, one Australian newspaper
published stories of employers who didn't have any qualified applicants in

spite of rising unemployment. (Most employers filled their vacancies after the
stories were reported.) The effects of staff shortages are apparent in
Wittlesea, Victoria, where a chronic shortage of paramedics has resulted in
cancellation of some ambulance services. The shortage has also placed a
heavy strain on existing staff, some of whom are regularly (and reluctantly)
working fourteen-hour days without a lunch break, and also covering other
shifts on their days off. The paramedics are exhausted and each patient is
then forced to wait longer for treatment, says the union representing
paramedics.64
Companies survive and thrive not just by hiring people with talent or
potential; they also need to ensure that these employees stay with the
company. Companies with high turnover suffer because of the high cost of
replacing people who leave. More important, as mentioned earlier in this
chapter, much of an organisation's intellectual capital is the knowledge carried
around in employees' heads. When people leave, some of this vital knowledge
is lost, often resulting in inefficiencies, inferior customer service and so forth.
This threat is not trivial: One large-scale survey revealed that nearly two-thirds
of Indonesian employees plan to move to a different employer even though
the position, area of work and remuneration are the same. During the recent
mining boom, a survey of thirteen mining operations across Australia reported
an average turnover rate of 24 per cent, with some mining sites experiencing
annual employee turnover approaching 60 per cent. 65
Maintaining Work Attendance
Along with attracting and retaining employees, organisations need everyone
to show up for work at scheduled times. Situational factorssuch as severe
weather or car breakdownexplain some work absences. Motivation is
another factor. Employees who experience job dissatisfaction or work-related
stress are more likely to be absent or late for work because taking time off is a
way to temporarily withdraw from stressful or dissatisfying conditions.
Absenteeism is also higher in organisations with generous sick leave because
this benefit limits the negative financial impact of taking time away from work.
Studies have found that absenteeism is also higher in teams with strong
absence norms, meaning that team members tolerate and even expect
coworkers to take time off. One study of Queensland government employees
discovered that absenteeism rates changed over time, and that these
changing absence levels may be due to changing norms about how much
unscheduled time off team members should take. 67
Google Attracts and Keeps Talent through Cool Campuses

Courtesy of Camenzind Evolution

Google is ranked by university students in many countries as one of the top
ten places to work. One reason why the internet technology company is
able to attract so many applicants is that its workplaces look like every
student's dream of a university campus. Google's headquarters (called
Googleplex) in Mountain View, California, is outfitted with lava lamps,
exercise balls, casual sofas, foosball, pool tables, workout rooms, video
games, slides and a restaurant with free gourmet meals. Google's new
EMEA engineering hub in Zurich, Switzerland, also boasts a fun, campus-like
environment. These photos show a few areas of Google's offices in Zurich,
including private temporary workspaces in beehives and ski gondolas.
Google's offices are so comfortable that executives occasionally remind
staff of building code regulations against making the offices their
permanent home.66

05. Contemporary Challenges for Organisations

Perceptual Selection
Perceptual selection is driven by internal and external factors.
Internal factors include:

Personality - Personality traits influence how a person selects perceptions. For

instance, conscientious people tend to select details and external stimuli to a
greater degree.
Motivation - People will select perceptions according to what they need in the
moment. They will favor selections that they think will help them with their current
needs, and be more likely to ignore what is irrelevant to their needs.
Experience - The patterns of occurrences or associations one has learned in
the past affect current perceptions. The person will select perceptions in a way that
fits with what they found in the past.
External factors include:

Size - A larger size makes it more likely an object will be selected.

Intensity - Greater intensity, in brightness, for example, also increases
perceptual selection.
Contrast - When a perception stands clearly out against a background, there
is a greater likelihood of selection.

Motion - A moving perception is more likely to be selected.

Repetition - Repetition increases perceptual selection.
Novelty and familiarity - Both of these increase selection. When a perception
is new, it stands out in a person's experience. When it is familiar, it is likely to be
selected because of this familiarity.
Perceptual Organization
After certain perceptions are selected, they can be organized differently. The
following factors are those that determine perceptual organization:

Figure-ground - Once perceived, objects stand out against their background.

This can mean, for instance, that perceptions of something as new can stand out
against the background of everything of the same type that is old.
Perceptual grouping - Grouping is when perceptions are brought together into
a pattern.
Closure - This is the tendency to try to create wholes out of perceived parts.
Sometimes this can result in error, though, when the perceiver fills in unperceived
information to complete the whole.
Proximity - Perceptions that are physically close to each other are easier to
organize into a pattern or whole.
Similarity - Similarity between perceptions promotes a tendency
to group them together.
Perceptual Constancy - This means that if an object is perceived always to be
or act a certain way, the person will tend to infer that it actually is always that way.
Perceptual Context - People will tend to organize perceptions in relation to
other pertinent perceptions, and create a context out of those connections.
Each of these factors influence how the person perceives their environment, so
responses to their environment can be understood by taking the perceptual process
into account.

Social identity theory features

Tajfel and Turner (1979) proposed that there are three mental processes involved in
evaluating others as us or them (i.e. in-group and out-group. These take
place in a particular order.
The first is categorization. We categorize objects in order to understand them and
identify them. In a very similar way we categorize people (including ourselves) in
order to understand the social environment. We use social categories like black,
white, Australian, Christian, Muslim, student, and bus driver because they are
useful.
If we can assign people to a category then that tells us things about those people,
and as we saw with the bus driver example, we couldn't function in a normal

manner without using these categories; i.e. in the context of the bus. Similarly, we
find out things about ourselves by knowing what categories we belong to. We
define appropriate behavior by reference to the norms of groups we belong to, but
you can only do this if you can tell who belongs to your group. An individual can
belong to many different groups.
In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we
have categorized ourselves as belonging to. If for example you have categorized
yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of a student and
begin to act in the ways you believe students act (and conform to the norms of the
group). There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group,
and your self-esteem will become bound up with group membership.
The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorized ourselves as part
of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group
with other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to
compare favorably with other groups. This is critical to understanding prejudice,
because once two groups identify themselves as rivals, they are forced to compete
in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem. Competition and hostility
between groups is thus not only a matter of competing for resources (like in Sherifs
Robbers Cave) like jobs but also the result of competing identities.
Conclusion
Just to reiterate, in social identity theory the group membership is not something
foreign or artificial which is attached onto the person, it is a real, true and vital part
of the person. Again, it is crucial to remember in-groups are groups you identify
with, and out-groups are ones that we don't identify with, and may discriminate
against.

Improving perceptual accuracy

This article throws light on the seven important strategies for improving
perceptual skills, i.e, (1) Knowing Oneself Accurately, (2) Emphatize with
Others, (3) Having a Positive Attitude, (4) Positive Impression Formation,
(5) Communicating Openly, (6) Comparing Ones Perception with that of
Others, and (7) Improving Diversity Management Programmes.
1. Knowing Oneself Accurately:
One of the powerful ways to minimize perceptual distortions is to know yourself.
One should be aware of his or her values, beliefs and prejudices. People normally

misperceive others because they fail to perceive themselves accurately. The more
accurately a person understands himself, the more accurately he can perceive
others. The concept of Johari window must be applied by people so as to increase
awareness about self and others.
2. Emphatize with Others:
Empathy refers to a persons ability to understand and be sensitive to the feelings
of others. Empathy is a natural phenomenon and develops within an individual by
itself. However, empathy skills can also be developed over a passage of time by
proper feedback system and by close interaction and working. By emphasizing with
other person, one can perceive the other individual more aptly.
3. Have a Positive Attitude:
Attitudes have a strong and long lasting effect on perception. If one holds a
negative attitude towards someone or something, our perception is undoubtedly
going to be distorted. We should make effort to have a positive attitude and should
not let our personal biases to crop in and hinder the perceptual powers.
4. Postpone Impression Formation:
It is a natural tendency of the human beings to form impression about something or
someone very quickly. Just in a meeting or two we draw conclusion about someone.
Forming judgments with such limited information is very wrong. A much better
strategy is to postpone the impression formation until more information about the
individual and the situation is collected.
5. Communicating Openly:
Much of misperception in an organisation arises due to inadequate communication
or one way communication. Utmost care should be taken, so that the message
reaches the right person, at the right time and in the right manner. Proper
transmission of information followed by appropriate feedback can help minimize
perceptual distortions.
6. Comparing Ones Perceptions with that of Others:
Another useful strategy to reduce perceptual errors is to compare ones own
perception with the perception of the other person about the same object. By
sharing perceptions we come across different point of views and potentially gain a
much better understanding of the situation and the object.

7. Introducing Diversity Management Programs:

If we talk of todays organisations, they are very much diverse and heterogeneous.
The workforce is so diverse with language differences, religious differences and
cultural differences that it becomes really hard to make the employees work
together in an effective manner. The biggest challenge in front of the management
in to minimize perceptual bias and benefit from such diversity.
For this purpose, an important strategy it to use training programs which may help
in communicating the value of diversity on one hand and help the participants
acquaint with one another and provide them room to mix with one another with
different backgrounds. These training programs mainly increase the employees,
awareness of difference and thus help in minimizing perceptual biases and
distortions.
To include we can say that successful managers understand the importance of
perception on behaviour and they act accordingly. They are aware of perceptual
distortions and they know that perceptual differences are likely to exist in any
situation. As a result they try to make decisions and take action with a true
understanding of the work situation as it is viewed by all persons concerned.

Johari window
Have you ever been part of a team where everyone was completely open with one
another?
If so, then the chances are that you worked extremely effectively together. You
knew your co-workers very well, and there was a solid foundation of trust between
you. As a result of this positive working environment, you probably accomplished a
great deal with this group.
Most of us realize that teams rely on trust in order to function productively, but how
do you go about building that trust?
The Johari Window is a model that helps you do this, and it helps you learn
important things about yourself, and so develop as a human being.
In this article we'll look at how the Johari Window works, and we'll see how you can
use it with your team to improve communication and trust.

About the Model

The Johari Window is a communication model that is used to improve understanding
between individuals. The word "Johari" is taken from the names of Joseph Luft and
Harry Ingham, who developed the model in 1955.
There are two key ideas behind the tool:
1.
2.

That you can build trust with others by disclosing information about yourself.
That, with the help of feedback from others, you can learn about yourself and
come to terms with personal issues.

By explaining the idea of the Johari Window, you can help team members to
understand the value of self-disclosure, and you can encourage them to give, and
accept, constructive feedback.
Done sensitively, this can help people build better, more trusting relationships with
one another, solve issues, and work more effectively as a team.
Explaining the Johari Window
The Johari Window is shown as a four-quadrant grid, which you can see in the
diagram below.

The four quadrants are:

1. Open Area (Quadrant 1)

This quadrant represents the things that you know about yourself, and the things
that others know about you. This includes your behavior, knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and "public" history.
2. Blind Area (Quadrant 2)
This quadrant represents things about you that you aren't aware of, but that are
known by others.
This can include simple information that you do not know, or it can involve deep
issues (for example, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, unworthiness, or
rejection), which are often difficult for individuals to face directly, and yet can be
seen by others.
3. Hidden Area (Quadrant 3)
This quadrant represents things that you know about yourself, but that others don't
know.
4. Unknown Area (Quadrant 4)
This last quadrant represents things that are unknown by you, and are unknown by
others.
The End Goal
The ultimate goal of the Johari Window is to enlarge the Open Area, without
disclosing information that is too personal. The Open Area is the most important
quadrant, as, generally, the more your people know about each other, the more
productive, cooperative, and effective they'll be when working together.
The process of enlarging the Open Area quadrant is called "self-disclosure," and it's
a give-and-take process that takes place between yourself and the people that
you're interacting with.
As you share information, your Open Area expands vertically and your Hidden Area
gets smaller. As people on your team provide feedback to you about what they
know or see about you, your Open Area expands horizontally, and your Blind Area
gets smaller.
Done well, the process of give and take, sharing, and open communication builds
trust within the group.

At first glance, the Johari Window may look like a complex tool, but it's actually very
easy to understand with just a little effort. As such, it provides a visual reference
that people can use to look at their own character, and it illustrates the importance
of sharing, being open, and accepting feedback from others.
People who have a large Open Area are usually very easy to talk to, they
communicate honestly and openly with others, and they get along well with a
group. People who have a very small Open Area are difficult to talk to, they seem
closed off and uncommunicative, and they often don't work well with others,
because they're not trusted.
Other people might have a large Blind Area, with many issues that they haven't
identified or dealt with yet. However, others can see these issues clearly. These
people might have low self-esteem, or they may even have anger issues when
working with others.
Using the Tool
The process of enlarging your Open Area involves self-disclosure. Put simply, the
more you (sensibly) open up and disclose your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and
goals, the more you're going to build trust with your team.
Tip:
Try to avoid "over-sharing" in your self-disclosure. Disclosing small, harmless items
builds trust, however, avoid disclosing personal information which could damage
people's respect for you.
Another important aspect of enlarging your Open Area is accepting feedback from
others on your team. This feedback helps you learn things about yourself that
others can see, but that you can't. This is important for personal growth.
Tip:
Be careful in the way you give feedback . Some cultures have a very open and
accepting approach to feedback, but others don't.
You can cause incredible offense if you offer personal feedback to someone who's
not used to it, so be sensitive, and start gradually.
If someone is interested in learning more about you, they can reciprocate by
disclosing information in their hidden quadrant.
For example, imagine that you tell someone on your team that you're interested in
going to business school to get your MBA. She responds by telling you that she

enrolled just a few months ago, and then she tells you all about the MBA program
that she's involved with. You reciprocate by opening up about your career goals, and you discuss how an MBA will help you achieve them.
As a person's level of confidence and self-esteem rises, it becomes easier to invite
others to comment on their blind spots. Obviously, active and empathic
listening skills are useful in this exercise.
The Johari Window in a Team Context
Keep in mind that established team members will have larger open areas than new
team members. New team members start with smaller open areas, because they
haven't yet had the opportunity to share much information about themselves.
Feedback
The importance of feedback in this process can't be overstated. It's only by
receiving feedback from others that your Blind Area will be reduced, and your Open
Area will be expanded.
Group members should strive to help other team members to expand their Open
Area by offering constructive feedback. The size of the Open Area can also be
expanded vertically downwards into the Hidden Area, as people disclose information
and feelings to the group.
Also, group members can help a person expand their Open Area into the Hidden
Area by asking personal questions. Managers and team leaders play a key role here,
by teaching team members how to give constructive feedback to individuals
about their own Blind Areas.
Key Points
Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham developed the Johari Window in 1955. The tool is a
useful visual representation of a person's character, and is represented with a fourquadrant grid.
The goal of the Johari Window is to demonstrate the importance of open
communication, and to explain its effect on group trust. The model also teaches you
the importance of self-disclosure, and shows how group feedback can help you
grow, both personally and professionally.
Your Open Area is expanded vertically with self-disclosure, and horizontally with
feedback from others on your team. By encouraging healthy self-disclosure and
sensitive feedback, you can build a stronger and more effective team

Personality Traits and Workplace Culture

Determine how compatible you are with your primary work group.
Have you ever stopped in the middle of a work frenzy and asked yourself, Why do I
continue to work for this organization? When you try to promote your ideas, do
most of your peers frequently react with indifference? If so, it may be time to
evaluate the relationship between you and your company.
This article will help you explore one dimension of this complex relationship: the
cultural match factor, or How compatible is your personality with the organizational
culture of the company for which you work? Even more than that, it will provide
you with the assessment tools to figure out whether you are, indeed, compatible.
One tool helps you evaluate the company culture, one tests your personality type
on the related dimensions, and the third shows you how to compare responses to
see how closely they match. Together they help you address the question of How
well do I fit in this organization?
The cultural match between an individual and an organization is determined by the
degree to which the individuals personal traits fit the organizational culture, or
perhaps vice versa. A lower cultural match may indicate that the individual is
drained of important resources by having to continuously adjust to the workplace
environment. A higher cultural match suggests the potential for a more satisfying
interaction for both the individual and the organization.
It is generally assumed that a successful relationship between an individual and an
organization is based on a shared foundation of beliefs and behaviors. Similar
beliefs and ways of working usually encourage communication and tend to support
the working relationship, allowing synergies to emerge. In contrast, a high level of
dissimilarity usually requires a high consumption of adaptive energy.

Integrated Cultural Framework as a measure of organizational

culture
Organizational culture can be described as a set of collective beliefs and values that
influence behavior. The Integrated Cultural Framework (ICF) developed by Mallinger
and Rossy offers a means for measuring organizational culture. The ICF contains six
dimensions which are described below. Also included is a set of questions to assess
the level of each component.

Ability to influence is the extent to which individuals are able to influence

outcomes within the organization. A high ability to influence suggests that the
organization is open to input from a wide range of members and is willing to
consider and react to those suggestions. It is likely decentralized. A low ability to
influence indicates a culture where most individuals have little chance to impact the
outcomes. Decisions are made by a small group of individuals at the top who are
not open to input from more than a select group of employees. Assessing questions
include:

Where are decisions made within the organization?

Is the organization centralized or decentralized?
To what extent can most members participate in changing procedures and
policies?

Comfort with ambiguity describes the extent to which the members of the
organization are comfortable with uncertainty and risk taking.

Are there lots of rules and regulations that explicitly define the way things
should be done here?
Can decisions be made without complete information?
Is risk encouraged?

Achievement Orientation refers to the extent to which the members of the

organization are striving to accomplish goals and improve performance.

Is goal accomplishment the norm?

Is there a high expectation of achievement?

Individualism vs. Collectivism refers to the extent to which the members of the
organization are encouraged or given incentives to focus primarily on personal gain
(individualism) versus considering first the interests of the group as a whole
(collectivism)

Are rewards individual or group based?

To what extent do members work as a team?

Time Orientation measures the extent to which the organizations missions/goals

are focused on values from past, present or future. However, combinations of time
orientation can exist. For example, an organization may demonstrate both present
and future orientation (e.g., focus on bottom line, while also engaging in meaningful
strategic planning)

Is the vision based on the values of the founders (i.e. past), the current
environment (present) or an estimation of the future?
Is the implementation of the strategy past, present or future oriented?

Space Orientation refers to the extent to which physical layout is public, private
or a mix of both.

To what extent is office space shared?

To what extent do you see closed versus open doors?
To what extent are members protective of their space?

Myers Briggs Personality Types

The phrase Myers Briggs is most often used to describe a personality theory
developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother Katherine Briggs. It explains some
of the main differences between people and is often used to help choose a career,
improve relationships, develop leadership skills, etc.
Overview
There is a lot to Myers Briggs theory, though at its heart are four simple
preferences. Do you prefer to deal with:

People and things (Extraversion or "E"), or ideas and information (Introversion

or "I").
Facts and reality (Sensing or "S"), or possibilities and potential (Intuition or
"N").
Logic and truth (Thinking or "T"), or values and relationship (Feeling or "F").
A lifestyle that is well-structured (Judgment or "J"), or one that goes with the
flow (Perception or "P").
Extraversion and Introversion - The first pair of styles is concerned with the
direction of your energy. If you prefer to direct your energy to deal with people,
things, situations, or "the outer world", then your preference is for Extraversion. If
you prefer to direct your energy to deal with ideas, information, explanations or
beliefs, or "the inner world", then your preference is for Introversion.
Sensing and Intuition - The second pair concerns the type of information/things
that you process. If you prefer to deal with facts, what you know, to have clarity, or
to describe what you see, then your preference is for Sensing. If you prefer to deal
with ideas, look into the unknown, to generate new possibilities or to anticipate
what isn't obvious, then your preference is for Intuition.
Thinking and Feeling - The third pair reflects your style of decision-making. If you
prefer to decide on the basis of objective logic, using an analytic and detached
approach, then your preference is for Thinking. If you prefer to decide using values i.e. on the basis of what or who you believe is important - then your preference is
for Feeling.

Judgment and Perception - The final pair describes the type of lifestyle you
adopt. If you prefer your life to be planned, stable and organised then your
preference is for Judging (not to be confused with 'Judgmental', which is quite
different). If you prefer to go with the flow, to maintain flexibility and respond to
things as they arise, then your preference is for Perception.

Values
Values refer to stable life goals that people have, reflecting what is most important
to them. Values are established throughout ones life as a result of the accumulating
life experiences and tend to be relatively stable. [1] The values that are important to
people tend to affect the types of decisions they make, how they perceive their
environment, and their actual behaviors. Moreover, people are more likely to accept
job offers when the company possesses the values people care about. [2] Value
attainment is one reason why people stay in a company, and when an organization
does not help them attain their values, they are more likely to decide to leave if
they are dissatisfied with the job itself. [3]
What are the values people care about? There are many typologies of values. One
of the most established surveys to assess individual values is the Rokeach Value
Survey. [4] This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in alphabetical
order. Terminal values refer to end states people desire in life, such as leading a
prosperous life and a world at peace. Instrumental values deal with views on
acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest and ethical, and being
ambitious.
According to Rokeach, values are arranged in hierarchical fashion. In other words,
an accurate way of assessing someones values is to ask them to rank the 36 values
in order of importance. By comparing these values, people develop a sense of which
value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the individual priority of each
value emerges.

Where do values come from? Research indicates that they are shaped early in life
and show stability over the course of a lifetime. Early family experiences are
important influences over the dominant values. People who were raised in families
with low socioeconomic status and those who experienced restrictive parenting
often display conformity values when they are adults, while those who were raised
by parents who were cold toward their children would likely value and desire
security. [5]
Values of a generation also change and evolve in response to the historical context
that the generation grows up in. Research comparing the values of different
generations resulted in interesting findings. For example, Generation Xers (those
born between the mid-1960s and 1980s) are more individualistic and are interested
in working toward organizational goals so long as they coincide with their personal
goals. This group, compared to the baby boomers (born between the 1940s and
1960s), is also less likely to see work as central to their life and more likely to desire
a quick promotion. [6]
The values a person holds will affect his or her employment. For example, someone
who has an orientation toward strong stimulation may pursue extreme sports and
select an occupation that involves fast action and high risk, such as fire fighter,
police officer, or emergency medical doctor. Someone who has a drive for
achievement may more readily act as an entrepreneur. Moreover, whether
individuals will be satisfied at a given job may depend on whether the job provides a
way to satisfy their dominant values. Therefore, understanding employees at work
requires understanding the value orientations of employees.

Personality
Personality encompasses the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral
patterns a person has. Our personality differentiates us from other people, and
understanding someones personality gives us clues about how that person is likely
to act and feel in a variety of situations. In order to effectively manage
organizational behavior, an understanding of different employees personalities is
helpful. Having this knowledge is also useful for placing people in jobs and
organizations.
If personality is stable, does this mean that it does not change? You probably
remember how you have changed and evolved as a result of your own life
experiences, attention you received in early childhood, the style of parenting you
were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school, and other life
events. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time. For example, we
tend to become more socially dominant, more conscientious (organized and
dependable), and more emotionally stable between the ages of 20 and 40, whereas
openness to new experiences may begin to decline during this same time. [7] In

other words, even though we treat personality as relatively stable, changes occur.
Moreover, even in childhood, our personality shapes who we are and has lasting
consequences for us. For example, studies show that part of our career success and
job satisfaction later in life can be explained by our childhood personality. [8]
Is our behavior in organizations dependent on our personality? To some extent, yes,
and to some extent, no. While we will discuss the effects of personality for
employee behavior, you must remember that the relationships we describe are
modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and outgoing personality may
encourage people to seek friends and prefer social situations. This does not mean
that their personality will immediately affect their work behavior. At work, we have a
job to do and a role to perform. Therefore, our behavior may be more strongly
affected by what is expected of us, as opposed to how we want to behave. When
people have a lot of freedom at work, their personality will become a stronger
influence over their behavior. [9]

Big Five Personality Traits

Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative,

and open to new ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in situations that
require being flexible and learning new things. They are highly motivated to learn
new skills, and they do well in training settings. [11] They also have an advantage
when they enter into a new organization. Their open-mindedness leads them to
seek a lot of information and feedback about how they are doing and to build
relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to the new job. [12] When supported,
they tend to be creative. [13] Open people are highly adaptable to change, and teams

that experience unforeseen changes in their tasks do well if they are populated with
people high in openness. [14] Compared to people low in openness, they are also
more likely to start their own business. [15]
Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized,
systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is
the one personality trait that uniformly predicts how high a persons performance
will be, across a variety of occupations and jobs. [16] In fact, conscientiousness is the
trait most desired by recruiters and results in the most success in
interviews. [17] This is not a surprise, because in addition to their high performance,
conscientious people have higher levels of motivation to perform, lower levels of
turnover, lower levels of absenteeism, and higher levels of safety performance at
work. [18] Ones conscientiousness is related to career success and being satisfied
with ones career over time. [19] Finally, it seems that conscientiousness is a good
trait to have for entrepreneurs. Highly conscientious people are more likely to start
their own business compared to those who are not conscientious, and their firms
have longer survival rates. [20]
Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, and sociable,
and enjoys being in social situations. One of the established findings is that they
tend to be effective in jobs involving sales. [21] Moreover, they tend to be effective as
managers and they demonstrate inspirational leadership behaviors. [22]Extraverts do
well in social situations, and as a result they tend to be effective in job interviews.
Part of their success comes from how they prepare for the job interview, as they are
likely to use their social network. [23] Extraverts have an easier time than introverts
when adjusting to a new job. They actively seek information and feedback, and
build effective relationships, which helps with their adjustment. [24] Interestingly,
extraverts are also found to be happier at work, which may be because of the
relationships they build with the people around them and their relative ease in
adjusting to a new job. [25] However, they do not necessarily perform well in all jobs,
and jobs depriving them of social interaction may be a poor fit. Moreover, they are
not necessarily model employees. For example, they tend to have higher levels of
absenteeism at work, potentially because they may miss work to hang out with or
attend to the needs of their friends. [26]
Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive, trusting,
kind, and warm. In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likeable
people who get along with others. Not surprisingly, agreeable people help others at
work consistently, and this helping behavior is not dependent on being in a good
mood. [27] They are also less likely to retaliate when other people treat them
unfairly. [28] This may reflect their ability to show empathy and give people the
benefit of the doubt. Agreeable people may be a valuable addition to their teams
and may be effective leaders because they create a fair environment when they are
in leadership positions. [29] At the other end of the spectrum, people low in

agreeableness are less likely to show these positive behaviors. Moreover, people
who are not agreeable are shown to quit their jobs unexpectedly, perhaps in
response to a conflict they engage with a boss or a peer. [30] If agreeable people are
so nice, does this mean that we should only look for agreeable people when hiring?
Some jobs may actually be a better fit for someone with a low level of
agreeableness. Think about it: When hiring a lawyer, would you prefer a kind and
gentle person, or a pit bull? Also, high agreeableness has a downside: Agreeable
people are less likely to engage in constructive and change-oriented
communication. [31] Disagreeing with the status quo may create conflict and
agreeable people will likely avoid creating such conflict, missing an opportunity for
constructive change.
Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable,
aggressive, temperamental, and moody. These people have a tendency to have
emotional adjustment problems and experience stress and depression on a habitual
basis. People very high in neuroticism experience a number of problems at work. For
example, they are less likely to be someone people go to for advice and
friendship. [32] In other words, they may experience relationship difficulties. They
tend to be habitually unhappy in their jobs and report high intentions to leave, but
they do not necessarily actually leave their jobs. [33] Being high in neuroticism seems
to be harmful to ones career, as they have lower levels of career success
(measured with income and occupational status achieved in ones career). Finally, if
they achieve managerial jobs, they tend to create an unfair climate at work. [34]

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Positive and Negative Affectivity

You may have noticed that behavior is also a function of moods. When people are in
a good mood, they may be more cooperative, smile more, and act friendly. When
these same people are in a bad mood, they may have a tendency to be picky,
irritable, and less tolerant of different opinions. Yet, some people seem to be in a
good mood most of the time, and others seem to be in a bad mood most of the time
regardless of what is actually going on in their lives. This distinction is manifested
by positive and negative affectivity traits. Positive affective people experience
positive moods more frequently, whereas negative affective people experience
negative moods with greater frequency. Negative affective people focus on the
glass half empty and experience more anxiety and nervousness. [37]Positive
affective people tend to be happier at work, [38] and their happiness spreads to the
rest of the work environment. As may be expected, this personality trait sets the
tone in the work atmosphere. When a team comprises mostly negative affective
people, there tend to be fewer instances of helping and cooperation. Teams
dominated by positive affective people experience lower levels of
absenteeism. [39] When people with a lot of power are also high in positive
affectivity, the work environment is affected in a positive manner and can lead to
greater levels of cooperation and finding mutually agreeable solutions to
problems. [40]
OB Toolbox: Help, I work with a negative person!
Employees who have high levels of neuroticism or high levels of negative affectivity
may act overly negative at work, criticize others, complain about trivial things, or
create an overall negative work environment. Here are some tips for how to work
with them effectively.

Understand that you are unlikely to change someone elses personality.

Personality is relatively stable and criticizing someones personality will not bring
about change. If the behavior is truly disruptive, focus on behavior, not
personality.
Keep an open mind. Just because a person is constantly negative does not
mean that they are not sometimes right. Listen to the feedback they are giving
you.
Set a time limit. If you are dealing with someone who constantly complains
about things, you may want to limit these conversations to prevent them from
consuming your time at work.
You may also empower them to act on the negatives they mention. The next
time an overly negative individual complains about something, ask that person
to think of ways to change the situation and get back to you.
Ask for specifics. If someone has a negative tone in general, you may want to
ask for specific examples for what the problem is.

Self-Monitoring
Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his or
her actions and appearance in social situations. In other words, people who are
social monitors are social chameleons who understand what the situation demands
and act accordingly, while low social monitors tend to act the way they feel. [41] High
social monitors are sensitive to the types of behaviors the social environment
expects from them. Their greater ability to modify their behavior according to the
demands of the situation and to manage their impressions effectively is a great
advantage for them. [42] In general, they tend to be more successful in their careers.
They are more likely to get cross-company promotions, and even when they stay
with one company, they are more likely to advance. [43] Social monitors also become
the go to person in their company and they enjoy central positions in their social
networks. [44] They are rated as higher performers, and emerge as leaders. [45] While
they are effective in influencing other people and get things done by managing their
impressions, this personality trait has some challenges that need to be addressed.
First, when evaluating the performance of other employees, they tend to be less
accurate. It seems that while trying to manage their impressions, they may avoid
giving accurate feedback to their subordinates to avoid confrontations. [46] This
tendency may create problems for them if they are managers. Second, high social
monitors tend to experience higher levels of stress, probably caused by behaving in
ways that conflict with their true feelings. In situations that demand positive
emotions, they may act happy although they are not feeling happy, which puts an
emotional burden on them. Finally, high social monitors tend to be less committed
to their companies. They may see their jobs as a stepping-stone for greater things,
which may prevent them from forming strong attachments and loyalty to their
current employer. [47]
Proactive Personality
Proactive personality refers to a persons inclination to fix what is perceived as
wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems. Instead of
waiting to be told what to do, proactive people take action to initiate meaningful
change and remove the obstacles they face along the way. In general, having a
proactive personality has a number of advantages for these people. For example,
they tend to be more successful in their job searches. [48] They are also more
successful over the course of their careers, because they use initiative and acquire
greater understanding of the politics within the organization. [49] Proactive people
are valuable assets to their companies because they may have higher levels of
performance. [50] They adjust to their new jobs quickly because they understand the
political environment better and often make friends more quickly. [51] Proactive
people are eager to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve
their skills. [52] Despite all their potential, under some circumstances a proactive
personality may be a liability for an individual or an organization. Imagine a person

who is proactive but is perceived as being too pushy, trying to change things other
people are not willing to let go, or using their initiative to make decisions that do not
serve a companys best interests. Research shows that the success of proactive
people depends on their understanding of a companys core values, their ability and
skills to perform their jobs, and their ability to assess situational demands
correctly. [53]
Self-Esteem
Self-esteem is the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about his
or herself. People with high self-esteem view themselves in a positive light, are
confident, and respect themselves. On the other hand, people with low self-esteem
experience high levels of self-doubt and question their self-worth. High self-esteem
is related to higher levels of satisfaction with ones job and higher levels of
performance on the job. [54] People with low self-esteem are attracted to situations in
which they will be relatively invisible, such as large companies. [55] Managing
employees with low self-esteem may be challenging at times, because negative
feedback given with the intention to improve performance may be viewed as a
judgment on their worth as an employee. Therefore, effectively managing
employees with relatively low self-esteem requires tact and providing lots of positive
feedback when discussing performance incidents.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy is a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. Research
shows that the belief that we can do something is a good predictor of whether we
can actually do it. Self-efficacy is different from other personality traits in that it is
job specific. You may have high self-efficacy in being successful academically, but
low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix your car. At the same time, people
have a certain level of generalized self-efficacy and they have the belief that
whatever task or hobby they tackle, they are likely to be successful in it.
Research shows that self-efficacy at work is related to job performance. [56] This
relationship is probably a result of people with high self-efficacy setting higher goals
for themselves and being more committed to these goals, whereas people with low
self-efficacy tend to procrastinate. [57] Academic self-efficacy is a good predictor of
your GPA, whether you persist in your studies, or drop out of college. [58]
Is there a way of increasing employees self-efficacy? Hiring people who are capable
of performing their tasks and training people to increase their self-efficacy may be
effective. Some people may also respond well to verbal encouragement. By showing
that you believe they can be successful and effectively playing the role of a
cheerleader, you may be able to increase self-efficacy. Giving people opportunities

to test their skills so that they can see what they are capable of doing (or
empowering them) is also a good way of increasing self-efficacy. [59]
OB Toolbox: Ways to Build Your Self-Confidence
Having high self-efficacy and self-esteem are boons to your career. People who have
an overall positive view of themselves and those who have positive attitudes toward
their abilities project an aura of confidence. How do you achieve higher selfconfidence?

Take a self-inventory. What are the areas in which you lack confidence? Then
consciously tackle these areas. Take part in training programs; seek
opportunities to practice these skills. Confront your fears head-on.
Set manageable goals. Success in challenging goals will breed selfconfidence, but do not make your goals impossible to reach. If a task seems
daunting, break it apart and set mini goals.
Find a mentor. A mentor can point out areas in need of improvement, provide
accurate feedback, and point to ways of improving yourself.
Dont judge yourself by your failures. Everyone fails, and the most successful
people have more failures in life. Instead of assessing your self-worth by your
failures, learn from mistakes and move on.
Until you can feel confident, be sure to act confident. Acting confident will
influence how others treat you, which will boost your confidence level. Pay
attention to how you talk and behave, and act like someone who has high
confidence.
Know when to ignore negative advice. If you receive negative feedback from
someone who is usually negative, try to ignore it. Surrounding yourself with
naysayers is not good for your self-esteem. This does not mean that you should
ignore all negative feedback, but be sure to look at a persons overall attitude
before making serious judgments based on that feedback.

Locus of Control
Locus of control deals with the degree to which people feel accountable for their
own behaviors. Individuals with high internal locus of control believe that they
control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own doing, while those
with high external locus of control feel that things happen to them because of other
people, luck, or a powerful being. Internals feel greater control over their own lives
and therefore they act in ways that will increase their chances of success. For
example, they take the initiative to start mentor-protg relationships. They are
more involved with their jobs. They demonstrate higher levels of motivation and
have more positive experiences at work. [60] Interestingly, internal locus is also
related to ones subjective well-being and happiness in life, while being high in
external locus is related to a higher rate of depression. [61] The connection between
internal locus of control and health is interesting, but perhaps not surprising. In fact,
one study showed that having internal locus of control at the age of ten was related
to a number of health outcomes, such as lower obesity and lower blood pressure

later in life. [62] It is possible that internals take more responsibility for their health
and adopt healthier habits, while externals may see less of a connection between
how they live and their health. Internals thrive in contexts in which they have the
ability to influence their own behavior. Successful entrepreneurs tend to have high
levels of internal locus of control. [63]

Personality Testing in Employee Selection

Personality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. Matching people to
jobs matters, because when people do not fit with their jobs or the company, they
are more likely to leave, costing companies as much as a persons annual salary to
replace them. In job interviews, companies try to assess a candidates personality
and the potential for a good match, but interviews are only as good as the people
conducting them. In fact, interviewers are not particularly good at detecting the
best trait that predicts performance: conscientiousness. [64] One method some
companies use to improve this match and detect the people who are potentially
good job candidates is personality testing. Companies such as Kronos and Hogan
Assessment Systems conduct preemployment personality tests. Companies using
them believe that these tests improve the effectiveness of their selection and
reduce turnover. For example, Overnight Transportation in Atlanta found that using
such tests reduced their on-the-job delinquency by 50%100%. [65]
Yet, are these methods good ways of selecting employees? Experts have not yet
reached an agreement on this subject and the topic is highly controversial. Some
experts believe, based on data, that personality tests predict performance and
other important criteria such as job satisfaction. However, we must understand that
how a personality test is used influences its validity. Imagine filling out a personality
test in class. You may be more likely to fill it out as honestly as you can. Then, if
your instructor correlates your personality scores with your class performance, we
could say that the correlation is meaningful. In employee selection, one
complicating factor is that people filling out the survey do not have a strong
incentive to be honest. In fact, they have a greater incentive to guess what the job
requires and answer the questions to match what they think the company is looking
for. As a result, the rankings of the candidates who take the test may be affected by
their ability to fake. Some experts believe that this is a serious problem. [66] Others
point out that even with faking, the tests remain validthe scores are still related to
job performance. [67] It is even possible that the ability to fake is related to a
personality trait that increases success at work, such as social monitoring. This
issue raises potential questions regarding whether personality tests are the most
effective way of measuring candidate personality.
Scores are not only distorted because of some candidates faking better than others.
Do we even know our own personality? Are we the best person to ask this question?

How supervisors, coworkers, and customers see our personality matters more than
how we see ourselves. Therefore, using self-report measures of performance may
not be the best way of measuring someones personality. [68] We all have blind areas.
We may also give aspirational answers. If you are asked if you are honest, you
may think, Yes, I always have the intention to be honest. This response says
nothing about your actual level of honesty.
There is another problem with using these tests: How good a predictor of
performance is personality anyway? Based on research, not a particularly strong
one. According to one estimate, personality only explains about 10%15% of
variation in job performance. Our performance at work depends on so many factors,
and personality does not seem to be the key factor for performance. In fact,
cognitive ability (your overall mental intelligence) is a much more powerful
influence on job performance, and instead of personality tests, cognitive ability
tests may do a better job of predicting who will be good performers. Personality is a
better predictor of job satisfaction and other attitudes, but screening people out on
the assumption that they may be unhappy at work is a challenging argument to
make in the context of employee selection.
In any case, if you decide to use these tests for selection, you need to be aware of
their limitations. Relying only on personality tests for selection of an employee is a
bad idea, but if they are used together with other tests such as tests of cognitive
abilities, better decisions may be made. The company should ensure that the test
fits the job and actually predicts performance. This process is called validating the
test. Before giving the test to applicants, the company could give it to existing
employees to find out the traits that are most important for success in the particular
company and job. Then, in the selection context, the company can pay particular
attention to those traits. The company should also make sure that the test does not
discriminate against people on the basis of sex, race, age, disabilities, and other
legally protected characteristics. Rent-A-Center experienced legal difficulties when
the test they used was found to be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA). The test they used for selection, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory, was developed to diagnose severe mental illnesses and included items
such as I see things or people around me others do not see. In effect, the test
served the purpose of a clinical evaluation and was discriminating against people
with mental illnesses, which is a protected category under ADA

Attitude

In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors

toward a particular object, person, thing, or event.

Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing.

They can have a powerful influence over behavior.

While attitudes are enduring, they can also change.

A Closer Look at Attitudes
What's your opinion on the death penalty? Which political party does a better job of
running the country?
Should prayer be allowed in schools? Should violence on television be regulated?
Chances are that you probably have fairly strong opinions on these and similar
questions. You've developed attitudes about such issues, and these attitudes
influence your beliefs as well as your behavior. Attitudes are an important topic of
study within the field of social psychology.
How Do Psychologists Define Attitudes?
Psychologists define attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain
way. This can include evaluations of people, issues, objects, or events. Such
evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times.
For example, you might have mixed feelings about a particular person or issue.
Researchers also suggest that there are several different components that make up
attitudes. The components of attitudes are sometimes referred to as CAB or the
ABC's of attitude.

1.
2.

Cognitive Component: Your thoughts and beliefs about the subject.

Affective Component: How the object, person, issue or event makes you
feel.

3.

Behavioral Component: How the attitude influences your behavior.

Attitudes can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitudes are those that we are
consciously aware of and that clearly influence our behaviors and beliefs. Implicit
attitudes are unconscious, but still have an effect on our beliefs and behaviors
There are a number of different factors that can influence how and why attitudes
form.
Experience:
Attitudes form directly as a result of experience. They may emerge due to direct
personal experience, or they may result from observation.

Social Factors:
Social roles and social norms can have a strong influence on attitudes. Social roles
relate to how people are expected to behave in a particular role or context. Social
norms involve society's rules for what behaviors are considered appropriate.
Learning:
Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways. Consider how advertisers use classical
conditioning to influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a television
commercial, you see young, beautiful people having fun in on a tropical beach while
enjoying a sport drink. This attractive and appealing imagery causes you to develop
a positive association with this particular beverage.
Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes develop. Imagine
a young man who has just started smoking. Whenever he lights up a cigarette,
people complain, chastise him and ask him to leave their vicinity. This negative
feedback from those around him eventually causes him to develop an unfavorable
opinion of smoking and he decides to give up the habit.
Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing the people around them. When
someone you admire greatly espouses a particular attitude, you are more likely to
develop the same beliefs. For example, children spend a great deal of time
observing the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to demonstrate similar
outlooks.
How Do Attitudes Influence Behavior?
We tend to assume that people behave in accordance with their attitudes. However,
social psychologists have found that attitudes and actual behavior are not always
perfectly aligned. After all, plenty of people support a particular candidate or
political party and yet fail to go out and vote.
Factors That Influence Attitude Strength
Researchers have discovered that people are more likely to behave according to
their attitudes under certain conditions:

When your attitudes are the result of personal experience.

When you are an expert in the subject.

When you expect a favorable outcome.

When the attitudes are repeatedly expressed.

When you stand to win or lose something due to the issue.

Attitudes Can Change to Match Behavior

In some cases, people may actually alter their attitudes in order to better align
them with their behavior. Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon in which a
person experiences psychological distress due to conflicting thoughts or beliefs. In
order to reduce this tension, people may change their attitudes to reflect their other
beliefs or actual behaviors.
An Example of Changing an Attitude Due to Cognitive Dissonance
Imagine the following situation: You've always placed a high value on financial
security, but you start dating someone who is very financially unstable. In order to
reduce the tension caused by the conflicting beliefs and behavior, you have two
options.
You can end the relationship and seek out a partner who is more financially secure,
or you can de-emphasize the importance of fiscal stability. In order to minimize the
dissonance between your conflicting attitude and behavior, you either have to
change the attitude or change your actions

5 Dimensions of Emotional Intelligence

Self-Awareness

Know your own mood and how you feel about it

Know your own emotional strengths and

weaknesses
Know words (signs) for your feelings
Know what action options you have (what you can
do about
your feelings)
Handling Emotions

Motivation
those goals

Know
Know
Know
Know
Know

how
how
how
how
how

to
to
to
to
to

handle upset feelings

calm yourself
control impulses
stay positive under pressure
be flexible

Able to set your own goals and work to achieve

Able to set small steps to achieve large goals
Able to continue to work despite frustration

(perseverance)
Able to follow through and finish tasks (persistence)
Empathy

Able to read and understand other peoples feelings

Able to read body language

Able to take anothers perspective

Want to help others who are hurt or sad.
Social Skills

Able
Able
Able
Able
Able
in different

to get along with others

to work well in groups and teams
to make and keep friends
to solve problems and conflicts with others
to interact appropriately with different people
situations

Categories of Organizational Commitment

Given that the nature of organizational commitment is layered in terms of ones
possible commitment level, three specific commitment types have been identified:

Affective Commitment Refers to ones feelings of loyalty to a company or

organization because he or she believes in the organization. This is the most
common type studied and refers to "an employee's emotional attachment to and
identification with the organization" (PSUWC, 2013). Because of this loyalty, one is
fully willing to accept the companys goals and values as his/her own. Affective
commitment can enhance job satisfaction because employees agree with the
organizations objectives and principles, because employees feel they are treated
fairly in terms of equity, and because employees receive organizational care,
concern, and support (Hawkins, W.D. 1998). Affective commitment involves staying
with the organization because you want to (PSUWC, 2013). This type of
commitment is typically the result of a supportive work environment in which
individuals are treated fairly and the value of individual contributors is embraced.

Continuance Commitment - Refers to an employee feeling that he/she has

to stay with the company because the costs of leaving are too great. This is
manifested by an individual who maintains commitment to the organization
because he/she is unable to match salary and/or benefits with another
employer. Continuance commitment involves staying with the organization
because you have to (PSUWC, 2013). For example, an employee that has
already vested many years in a company, building up years of leave,
employee benefits (such as pension) and salary. If the employee were to
leave to the company, he/she may lose the time vested, as well as seniority
and pension loss. It would not be beneficial for this employee to leave, so he
stays because he has to, not because he wants to stay loyal to the company.
While employees may remain with an organization, they do not necessarily
feel compelled to perform at a high level.

Normative Commitment Of the three types of commitment, normative is

the least researched of all of them and refers to the employee that feels that
he/she owes it to the employer to stay out of a perceived obligation. These
feelings of obligation may come because the employer took a chance on the
employee when nobody else would. In turn, the employee feels indebted to
the employer. Therefore, by a show of loyalty and duty, it would be difficult to
leave. Normative commitment involves staying with the organization because
you ought to (PSUWC, 2013). For example, an employee may feel a sense of
obligation to stay with their employer during its time of need even though it
is no longer advantageous to do so. They may fear the potential
disappointment in their employer or teammates.

Motivational cycle

Most of our motives have a cyclical nature- they are

aroused, they trigger behaviour, which leads to a goal and finally, after the goal is
reached, they are shut off. The behaviour that is related to drive state is called
"Instrumental behaviour" because it is instrumental in bringing about the goal or
the satisfaction of need.
Stages of Motivational Cycle
The first stage of the motivational cycle is the Driving State, simply called as drive.
This term is often used when the motive state has a biological or physiological
basis. It is regarded as impelling a person or animal to action.
Drives can originate when an organism lacks something. Drives can also be aroused
by environmental stimuli, such as advertisements from newspaper magazines and
television etc.
For example, when someone sees a sexy picture in a magazine, his sex drive is
aroused. Besides all these factors, some cognitive factors like thoughts and memory
can also trigger driving states. Very often term "need" is used to refer to the driving
state. Drives can originate when an organism lacks something in its needs. This is
one meaning of the word need. The need creates a drive state in the organism. It
acts as if it pushes the orgs to behave in a certain fashion to satisfy its need.
The second stage of the motivational cycle is the instrumental behaviour. It is
instigated by the driving state. Thirst, for example, drives an animal to explore
water. Sooner or later this behaviour succeeds, thereby reducing the need and the
drive state, in other words, the animal's exploratory behaviour is instrumental in
finding water and reducing the thirst drive.
When instrumental behaviour achieves its goal, the need is satisfied there follows a
temporary period of relief. This is the third stage of motivational cycle. For example,
in thirst, lack of water in the body produce need and a drive state (first stage); the
organism has shown some explore behaviour (second stage) and finally he
quenches his thirst by drinking water i.e., reaching the goal (third stage).
When the thirst is satisfied, motivational cycle is over. But when the need for water
will build up again, the organism will once more go through motivational cycle.

Goals may be positive or negative. Food, sexual satisfaction and championship are
some of the examples of positive goals. These are the goals, which the individual
approaches or tries to reach.
On the other hand, negative goals are those, which the organism tries to escape
from or avoid. Dangerous, unpleasant and embarrassing situations are some of the
examples if negative goals. However, goals depend upon the drives or needs, which
are active.
Needs, Drives, and incentives
The terms such as need, drive and motive are frequently used interchangeably. But
each term is distinguished from the other.
Motive is a general term, which refers to any process internal or external involved in
instigation, direction and termination of behaviour. All voluntary responses involve
motivation.
Motivational process consists of (a) a drive state in the individual, (b) the behaviour
aroused and directed by this state and (c) le goal towards which the behaviour is
directed.
Thus motivation is one of le determinants of behaviour. Motivation is considered to
be a state of the individual where his/her energies are mobilized selectively towards
the attainment of a goal. It is an internal or external state of an organism that forces
it to action- to start upon a sequence of behaviour.
Therefore motivational states are specific to particular "drives" and "needs" and are
explained in terms of specific goals and the directions it takes. Motives cannot be
observed directly. It is inferred from behaviour of the organism.
Needs are the physiological or environmental imbalances that give rise to rives". A
need is the absence of something desired, required for the organism's welfare,
individual is aware of his needs when she/he is in a state deprivation. When a
person is hungry, he/she needs food, when thirsty needs water, and when alone,
needs social companion.
Drives are the effects of the deficits and lacks, which define needs. Drives the
tendencies or urges to act in specific ways, determined by the nature the need that
gives rise to the drive. For example, on account of fasting, the fed for food gives rise
to hunger drive. The hunger drive may then be seen a motive for behaviour relating
to eating.
Incentives are motivators of behaviour. Like need and drive incentive motivational
concept, which is associated with drive-reduction components or subjective value
attached to a goal.
Incentive means value or effectiveness of the goal as a motive for behaviour. For
example attractiveness of dress material determines one's behaviour purchasing it.
But goals or objectives do not possess the same incentive value for a person; they
have low or high incentive values.

Therefore incentives are conditions or objects that are perceived as satisfier of some
need. The greater the value of an object the greater is its perceived incentive.
Further, a supplementary reward for example, a bonus in a company job, a merit
promotion in an office serves as incentive before reaching the goal. Annual prize
ceremony in schools for high rank holders is an incentive better performance in
examinations

Motivation in the Workplace

Generally speaking, motivation is what energizes, maintains, and controls behavior.
As such, it is clear why it plays an important role in the workplace. But empirically
measuring that role is another matter; it is challenging to capture an individual's
drive in quantitative metrics in order to ascertain the degree to which higher
motivation is responsible for higher productivity. However, it is widely accepted that
motivated employees generate higher value and lead to more substantial levels
of achievement. The management of motivation is therefore a critical element of
success in any business; with an increase in productivity, an organization can
achieve higher levels of output.
Research has shown that motivated employees will:

Always look for a "better" way to complete a task

Be more quality-oriented

Work with higher productivity and efficiency

In summary, motivated employees will retain a high level of innovation while
producing higher-quality work more efficiently. There is no downsidei.e., the
opportunity cost of motivating employees is essentially zero, assuming it does not
require additional capital to coach managers to act as effective motivators.
Internal and External Motivation
Salary is often enough to keep employees working for an organization, but it's not
always necessarily enough to push them to fulfill their full potential.
Herzberg's theory emphasizes that while salary is enough to avoid dissatisfaction, it
is not necessarily enough to propel employees to increase their productivity and
achievement. In fact, the output of employees whose motivation comes solely from
salary and benefits tends to decline over time. To increase employees' efficiency
and work quality, managers must turn to understanding and responding to
individuals' internal and external motivations. External motives include
work environment (e.g., cramped cubicle vs. airy, open office); internal motivations

include thoughts and emotions (e.g., boredom with performing the same task over
and over vs. excitement at being given a wide variety of project types).

Theories of motivation
Dozens of theories of motivation have been proposed over the years. Here are 5
popular theories of motivation that can help you increase workplace productivity
1. Hertzbergs Two-Factor Theory
The Two-Factor Theory of motivation (otherwise known as dual-factor theory or
motivation-hygiene theory) was developed by psychologist Frederick Herzberg in
the 1950s.
Analysing the responses of 200 accountants and engineers who were asked about
their positive and negative feelings about their work, Herzberg found 2 factors that
influence employee motivation and satisfaction
1. Motivator factors Simply put, these are factors that lead to satisfaction and
motivate employees to work harder. Examples might include enjoying your work,
feeling recognised and career progression.
2. Hygiene factors These factors can lead to dissatisfaction and a lack of
motivation if they are absent. Examples include salary, company policies, benefits,
relationships with managers and co-workers.
According to Herzbergs findings, while motivator and hygiene factors both
influenced motivation, they appeared to work completely independently of each
other
While motivator factors increased employee satisfaction and motivation, the
absence of these factors didnt necessarily cause dissatisfaction. Likewise, the
presence of hygiene factors didnt appear to increase satisfaction and motivation
but their absence caused an increase in dissatisfaction.
How to apply it to the workplace
This theory implies that for the happiest and most productive workforce, you need
to work on improving both motivator and hygiene factors.

To help motivate your employees, make sure they feel appreciated and supported.
Give plenty of feedback and make sure your employees understand how they can
grow and progress through the company.
To prevent job dissatisfaction, make sure that your employees feel that they are
treated right by offering them the best possible working conditions and fair pay.
Make sure you pay attention to your team and form supportive relationships with
them.
Dont forget that all of your employees are different and what motivates one person
might not motivate another. Paul Hebert of Symbolist believes that benefits
packages should not be one-size-fits all
For true engagement to occur in a company you must first remove the issues that
cause dissatisfaction the baseline benefits offered by the company that satisfy the
hygiene needs of the employee. Then you must focus on the individual and what
they want out of their association with your enterprise.
2. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
The Hierarchy of Needs theory was coined by psychologist Abraham Maslow in his
1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation.
The crux of the theory is that individuals most basic needs must be met before they
become motivated to achieve higher level needs.
The hierarchy is made up of 5 levels:
1. Physiological these needs must be met in order for a person to survive, such
as food, water and shelter.
2. Safety including personal and financial security and health and wellbeing.
3. Love/belonging the need for friendships, relationships and family.
4. Esteem the need to feel confident and be respected by others.
5. Self-actualisation the desire to achieve everything you possibly can and
become the most that you can be.
According to the hierarchy of needs, you must be in good health, safe and secure
with meaningful relationships and confidence before you are able to be the most
that you can be.
How to apply it to the workplace
Chip Conley, founder of the Joie de Vivre hotel chain and Head of Hospitality at
Airbnb, used the Hierarchy of Needs pyramid to transform his business. According to

Chip, many managers struggle with the abstract concept of self actualization and so
focus on lower levels of the pyramid instead.
Conley found one way of helping with higher levels was to help his employees
understand the meaning of their roles during a staff retreat
In one exercise, we got groups of eight housekeepers at a table and asked an
abstract question: if someone from Mars came down and saw what you were doing
as a housekeeper in a hotel, what name would they call you? They came up with
The Serenity Sisters, The Clutter Busters, and The Peace of Mind Police. There
was a sense that people were doing more than just cleaning a room. They were
creating a space for a traveler who was far away from home to feel safe and
protected.
Conleys team were able to realise the importance of their job to the company and
to the people they were helping. By showing them the value of their roles, the team
were able to feel respected and motivated to work harder.
In order to get the most out of your team, you should also make sure you support
them in other aspects of their lives outside work. Perhaps you could offer flexible
working hours to give employees time to focus on their families and make sure they
are paid fairly to help them feel financially stable.
3. Hawthorne Effect
The Hawthorne Effect was first described by Henry A. Landsberger in 1950 who
noticed a tendency for some people to work harder and perform better when they
were being observed by researchers.
The Hawthorne Effect is named after a series of social experiments on the influence
of physical conditions on productivity at Western Electrics factory at Hawthorne,
Chicago in the 1920s and 30s.
The researchers changed a number of physical conditions over the course of the
experiments including lighting, working hours and breaks. In all cases, employee
productivity increased when a change was made. The researchers concluded that
employees became motivated to work harder as a response to the attention being
paid to them, rather than the actual physical changes themselves.
How to apply it to the workplace
The Hawthorne Effect studies suggest that employees will work harder if they know
theyre being observed. While I dont recommend hovering over your employees

watching them all day, you could try providing regular feedback, letting your team
know that you know what theyre up to and how theyre doing.
Showing your employees that you care about them and their working conditions
may also motivate them to work harder. Encourage your team to give you feedback
and suggestions about their workspace and development.
4. Expectancy Theory
Expectancy Theory proposes that people will choose how to behave depending on
the outcomes they expect as a result of their behaviour. In other words, we decide
what to do based on what we expect the outcome to be. At work, it might be that
we work longer hours because we expect a pay rise.
However, Expectancy Theory also suggests that the process by which we decide our
behaviours is also influenced by how likely we perceive those rewards to be. In this
instance, workers may be more likely to work harder if they had been promised a
pay rise (and thus perceived that outcome as very likely) than if they had only
assumed they might get one (and perceived the outcome as possible but not likely)
Expectancy Theory is based on three elements:
1. Expectancy the belief that your effort will result in your desired goal. This is
based on your past experience, your self confidence and how difficult you think the
goal is to achieve.
2. Instrumentality the belief that you will receive a reward if you meet
performance expectations.
3. Valence the value you place on the reward.
Therefore, according to Expectancy Theory, people are most motivated if they
believe that they will receive a desired reward if they hit an achievable target. They
are least motivated if they dont want the reward or they dont believe that their
efforts will result in the reward.
How to apply it to the workplace
The key here is to set achievable goals for your employees and provide rewards that
they actually want.
Rewards dont have to come in the form of pay rises, bonuses or all-expenses paid
nights out (although I find these are usually welcomed!) Praise, opportunities for
progression and employee of the month style rewards can all go a long way in
motivating your employees.

5. Three-Dimensional Theory of Attribution

Attribution Theory explains how we attach meaning to our own, and other peoples,
behaviour. There are a number of theories about attribution.
Bernard Weiners Three-Dimensional theory of attribution assumes that people try
to determine why we do what we do. According to Weiner, the reasons we attribute
to our behaviour can influence how we behave in the future.
For example, a student who fails an exam could attribute their failure to a number
of factors and its this attribution that will affect their motivation in the future.
Weiner theorised that specific attributions (e.g. bad luck, not studying hard enough)
were less important than the characteristics of that attribution. According to Weiner,
there are three main characteristics of attributions that can affect future motivation.
1. Stability how stable is the attribution? For example, if the student believes
they failed the exam because they werent smart enough, this is a stable factor. An
unstable factor is less permanent, such as being ill.
According to Weiner, stable attributions for successful achievements, such as
passing exams, can lead to positive expectations, and thus higher motivation, for
success in the future.
However, in negative situations, such as failing the exam, stable attributions can
lead to lower expectations in the future.
2. Locus of control was the event caused by an internal or an external factor?
For example, if the student believes its their own fault they failed the exam,
because they are innately not smart enough (an internal cause), they may be less
motivated in the future. If they believed an external factor was to blame, such as
poor teaching, they may not experience such a drop in motivation.
3. Controllability how controllable was the situation? If an individual believes
they could have performed better, they may be less motivated to try again in the
future than someone who believes they failed because of factors outside of their
control.
How to apply it to the workplace
Weiners Three-Dimensional theory of attribution has implications for employee
feedback.

Make sure you give your employees specific feedback, letting them know that you
know they can improve and how they can about it. This, in theory, will help prevent
them from attributing their failure to an innate lack of skill and see that success is
controllable if they work harder or use different strategies.
You could also praise your employees for showing an improvement, even if the
outcome was still not correct. For example, you might praise someone for using the
correct methodology even though the results werent what you wanted. This way,
you are encouraging employees to attribute the failure to controllable factors, which
again, can be improved upon in the future.

Content Theories
Focuses on the content of motivation, or the needs that motivate us to take action
and achieve goals that satisfy these needs. Content theories include:

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs: our behaviour and actions are driven by a

hierarchy of needs where lower level needs, such as survival, must be satisfied
before we are motivated to meet higher level needs, such as feeling connected
and self-actualisation.
Alderfers ERG Theory: uses empirical research to
modify Maslows hierarchy of needs to: Existence, Relatedness and Growth
(ERG). Alderfers needs can operate at the same time, rather than in a hierachy.
Where higher level e.g. self-actualisation needs are frustrated, we seek out greater
satisfaction of a lower lever need e.g. financial security, to compensate.
Herzbergs Motivators & Hygiene Theory: two groups of factors affect
motivation at work. Intrinsic motivators (relate to Maslows higher needs) such as
achievement and recognition can positively influence motivation, while extrinsic
hygiene factors (relate toMaslows lower needs) such as pay and working
conditions can negatively impact motivation if they are not satisfactory. Hygiene
factors do not motivate, but can negatively affect motivation if they are absent.
Motivators improve motivation but do not eliminate dissatisfaction.
McClellands Theory: we are motivated by three forces Achievement, Power
and Affiliation. The intensity of each varies by individual and one will tend to
dominate.
The following theories explain managers attitudes towards people, which in turn
influence how they will try to motivate employees. These theories include:
McGregors Theory X & Y: a managers style reflects their attitudes to
people and about human behaviour / nature. It is either: X negative, needing
coercion to work, or Y positive, that work is a natural state and that people are
self-controlling.
The theory can also be related to Maslow: X indicates where lower order
needs are influencing motivation and Y reflects motivation by higher order needs.
3. Process Theories

Process theories focus on the process of motivation. They try to identify the
variables that influence motivation, the relationship between them and how their
design can be improved in order to improve motivation.
Process theories include Expectancy-based models and Equity, Goal and Attribution
Theories.
Expectancy-based models are based on the premise that peoples motivation is
influenced by the expected results of their actions. Key theories include:

Vrooms Expectancy Theory: motivation is a function of three variables,

Valence: the preference for a particular outcome, Instrumentality: the extent to
which these outcomes to lead to second-level outcomes and Expectancy: the
probability that the action will lead to the preferred first-level outcome. Valence and
Expectancy combine to form the motivational force.<
Porter and Lawlers Expectancy Model: further
developed Vrooms model, stating that motivational force (effort) does not lead
directly to the desired level of performance, as it is moderated by a persons
abilities, traits and role perceptions.
Lawlers Revised Expectancy Model: further developed that model by
defining two types of expectancy. The first is the probability that the effort will lead
to the intended level of performance and second, the probability that the given level
of performance will deliver the need-related outcome. Both probabilities are
measured on a scale of 0 to 1, when 0 is zero probability and 1 is certainty.
See also House and House and Dessler Path Goal Theory: a contingency
theory of leadership that is based on expectancy models of motivation.
Ways to Reduce Inequity
Employer Options
Employers also need to remember that employees can value different outcomes.
For example, younger employees tend to value more pay (Miles, et. al., 1994). Even
if an employee receives a higher salary than their co-worker they could still develop
a perception of inequity if that co-worker has a flexible schedule, and a flexible
schedule is more valuable to them than extra salary. To combat this problem,
employers can implement two strategies. First, they could continually request
feedback from employees to determine what they value and how they would prefer
to be compensated. Another strategy used by employers is to offer a choice in
benefits. For example, one employee might want to use a health flexible spending
account while another employee might prefer to have a dependent care flexible
spending account. Employers can offer choices on health or dental insurance as well
as other choices among benefits. This type of plan, called a cafeteria style, allows
employees to select outcomes that they value most. This can help prevent
perceptions of inequity because each employee has the outcomes that they value

the highest. This helps increase their ratio of inputs to outcomes when compared to
their co-workers.
Employers can also utilize intangible rewards such as a pat on the back, a luncheon,
or even simple praise in front of co-workers. These simple intangible rewards can
help balance a measure of inputs and outcomes.
Utilizing equity theory to understand how employees measure their inputs and
outcomes can help employers prevent problems related to perceptions of inequity,
such as reduced productivity or theft. In addition to reducing or preventing negative
behavior, employers will maintain satisfied and motivated employees.
Behavioral Options1.

Changing their input to match outcomes (e.g., leaving early or slacking off)
("Motivation theories," 2009)

2.

Change outcomes to match inputs (e.g., asking for a pay increase, stealing)
("Motivation theories," 2009)

3.

Persuading others to change inputs (e.g., complaining to superiors)

("Motivation theories," 2009)

4.

Withdrawal (e.g., tardiness or turnover) ("Motivation theories," 2009)

Behavioral options in reducing inequity involve risks. Many times employees find
themselves avoiding these options because pursuing one of them and failing it
could be detrimental to the level of future rewards. As a result, the individual may
end up feeling worse than before. Often employees decide to restore equity through
mental processes instead (cognitively). Altering your thought process is not
perceived as the easier option; but it produces a minimal risk factor in comparison
to changing your behavior. (Redmond 2013)
Cognitive Options-

1.

Distort one's own inputs or outcomes (e.g., "I'm not really working that hard,"
"I have a lot of free time") ("Motivation theories," 2009).

2.

Distort the inputs or outcomes of others (e.g., he/she gets more money than
me but they have to live in Buffalo) ("Motivation theories," 2009).

3.

Change the comparison others ("Motivation theories," 2009). The longer a

person has had their comparison other the harder it is to change.

Equity Theory Components

Adams' equity theory is based on a ratio consisting of inputs to outcomes (Adams,
1963). Inputs consist of contributions by an individual. An attribute is only
considered an input if it is perceived as relevant by the individual (Adams, 1963).
Inputs can include abilities, effort, performance, age, seniority, education, and other
attributes. Outcomes are the rewards an individual receives for their inputs (Adams,
1963). Outcomes can include pay, benefits, status symbols, and even intrinsic
rewards (Adams, 1963). The value of an outcome is determined by the recipient
(Adams, 1963), so no outcome has a specific objective measure. For example, an
individual might rate their college degree as a more valuable input than the college
degree of another person due to their perception on a college's prestige. Or an
individual makes more money than a co-worker but has a less flexible schedule;
they might value the flexible schedule more than their extra income. An individual
calculates their subjective value of inputs and outcomes then compares it to others
ratios in order to determine if it is equitable.

Equity theory can be applied in almost any exchange situation, so there are a
multitude of components that can be listed as inputs or outcomes. There also can
be significant difficulty in determining these exact components due to their
subjective nature (Siegel, Schraeder, & Morrison, 2007). Siegel, et al. found that
there might be patterns to how individuals cognitively frame inputs and outcomes.
For example, employees tend to distinguish inputs based on whether they are
controllable, such as communications or attendance, or non-controllable, such as
seniority or job training (Siegel, et. al., 2007). Employees also distinguish differing
characteristics of outcomes (Siegel, et. al., 2007). Outcomes are evaluated on

whether they are economic or non-economic and whether they are personalized or
generalized outcomes (Siegel, et. al., 2007). It is important to understand if there
are general guides for how employees evaluate inputs and outcomes, in order to
help prevent perceptions of inequality. It is important for managers and employers
to find a suitable measure between them (Cory, 2006).
If managers can help prevent perceptions of inequality they can help prevent their
employees from becoming de-motivated. Swinton (2006) developed a list of ways
an employee can express motivation.
There needs to be a balance between the inputs and outputs received.
The employee must also be content when trying to perceive these all in balance.
However, if an employees perceived input is greater than their perceived
outcomes, they can become de-motivated and engage in disruptive behaviors
(Swinton, 2006). Examples of disruptive behaviors include decreasing productivity,
theft, increased breaks, or absenteeism. Management can do a lot to prevent
perceptions of inequity, the assessment of inputs and outcomes will remain based
on individual's subjective perception (Adams, 1963).
Although management can do a lot to prevent perceptions of inequity, the
assessment of inputs and outcomes will remain based on an individuals subjective
perception (Adams, 1963).

Equity Sensitivity
Individuals are happier and experience less tension when they are equitably
rewarded, as opposed to experiencing under-reward or over-reward (Austin &
Walster, 1974). Equity theory is based on the norm of equity which assumes that
everyone is equally sensitive to equity and inequity (Huseman, et. al., 1987). This
means that everyone experiences the same level of tension when they experience
the same level of inequity; however, this isnt always true. Research has found that
other norms may exist which are dependent upon factors such as age or personality
(Huseman, et. al., 1987).
The Equity Sensitivity Construct describes a spectrum of varying sensitivities to
equity and inequity (Huseman, et. al., 1987). The idea of equity sensitivity
determines the extent to which an individual will tolerate inequity. There are three
categories of individuals identified along the equity sensitivity
spectrum: benevolents, equity sensitives, and entitleds (Huseman, et.
al.,1987). Benevolents are givers and are more tolerant of underreward inequity
(Huseman, et. al., 1987). Equity sensitives are in the middle of the spectrum, and
behave in accordance with the norm of equity and equity theory. Equity

sensitives experience tension with inequity and will seek to restore a balance of
equity in their relationships (Huseman, et. al., 1987). On the other end of the
spectrum is the entitleds. Entitleds prefer to be over-rewarded. As the name
indicates, entitleds are individuals who frequently have an attitude that they are
owed and thus are entitled to great outcomes.
Equity sensitives will experience distress when faced with either type of inequity:
under-reward or over-reward. Benevolents will experience distress and possibly guilt
when they in a situation of over-reward. Because benevolents dont necessarily seek
out under-reward, they might not experience distress when in an equitable
relationship. Entitleds experience distress when in an equitable or under-reward
situation.
The Equity Sensitivity Construct is useful to understanding equity theory and
individual behavior; however, the three categories of equity sensitivity dont
account for all individual differences in preferences and behavior.
Individuals might show different equity sensitivities in different contexts (Huseman,
et. al., 1987). For example, an individual might be equity sensitive in their personal
relationships, preferring an equitable balance; however, they might be an entitled at
work and feel comfortable with over-reward.
In addition to preferring different outcome ratios, equity sensitivity groups also
differ in their preference for types of outcomes (Miles, Hatfield, & Huseman, 1994).
Specifically there are differences in preference for extrinsic tangible outcomes
versus intrinsic outcomes (Miles, et. al., 1994). Entitleds have a stronger preference
for extrinsic tangible outcomes (Miles, et. al., 1994). A specific example of this is in
the realm of pay: entitleds rate pay higher in importance than the other two equity
sensitivity groups (Miles, et. al., 1994). Conversely, benevolents rate extrinsic
outcomes lower in preference and show a stronger preference for intrinsic outcomes
(Miles, et. al., 1994). It is possible that some of these differences can be attributed
to other factors such as age. Younger workers and older workers value different
things and the meaning of work varies by age (Smith, 2000). With this is mind, it is
possible that age, or other external factors, might play a part in which equity
sensitivity group an individual is likely to be in.

Effective Goals
Challenging: Your goals should be realistic and suited to your present capabilities.
You cant go from habitual couch potato to world-class athlete overnight, or recover
the look you had in your 20's if youre pushing 60 right now. Small, progressive
steps toward reasonable, long-term goals are crucial to success. But your goals
should also push you to extend yourself beyond where you already are.Otherwise
you will get bored and quit the game.

Example: It's great to work on drinking those eight cups of water everyday, but
people do not lose weight from water drinking alone. Get thee off thy butt and go do
something that makes you sweat. Then you'll need the water and it won't be so
hard to drink.
1. Attainable: Don't take the challenging characteristic (above) too far. Make
sure you can actually achieve what you're setting out to do. Otherwise, you
will get frustrated and quit the game.
Example: Sixty minutes of aerobic exercise may be better than 30 minutes,
but two hours may not beespecially if you're so worn out afterward that
you have to stop exercising completely for a while. You can always build up
the time and intensity of your workouts as your fitness level improves over
time.
2. Specific: Trying to "do your best" or "do better" is like trying to eat the hole
in a donut. There's nothing there to chew on or digest. You need to define
some very specific, concrete, and measurable action-steps that tell you what
your goal looks like in real-life terms. Include how you will measure your
results so you can tell whether you are getting anywhere.
Example: If you want to get a handle on emotional eating and you've
decided that keeping a journal may help, set aside scheduled time to do your
writing each day; set up some specific changes in your behavior that you
want this work to produce (like not eating after your last scheduled snack);
and create a time interval and/or method to figure out whether your
journaling is helping you reach that goal or not.
3. Time-limited: Goals need to come with deadlines, due dates, and payoff
schedules. Otherwise, they'll fade into the background with your daily
hubbub, and you'll quit playing the game. If your long-term goal is going to
take a while to reach, create some intermediate- and short-term goals. These
will make your larger goal seem less daunting and keep you focused on what
you can do here and now to help yourself get there.
Example: If your overall goal is to have the weight off in one year, make sure
you set up some intermediate weight goals to serve as check points along
the way. Otherwise, those small things you need to do every day, and the
small successes you achieve, can seem so insignificant compared to how
much further you still have to go that you may lose interest.
4. Positive: Goals should always be framed in positive terms. Humans are not
designed to white-knuckle their way through life, always trying to not do
things or to avoid certain thoughts, feelings, actions or circumstances. We
are much better at approaching what we DO want than avoiding what we

don't want.
Example: If you want to reduce the amount of junk food you eat, frame
that goal in positive words likeincreasing the amount of calories you eat from
healthy foods, and identifying which healthy foods you want to eat more.
Instead of trying to eliminate chocolate treats, for example, plan a low-fat
yogurt with fruit for your sweet snack. If you do this for a few weeks, your
brain will disconnect the habitual association
between treat and chocolate and make a new one with the yogurt and fruit.
And youll be just as happy with this new treat!
5. Flexible: Good strategies and goals are always flexible, because nothing in
this world stays the same for very long, and staying alive and on course
means being able to adapt to changing circumstances.
Example: You are always going to run into circumstances that make it
difficult to stick to your diet or exercise planspecial occasions, unexpected
schedule conflicts, even just a really hard day where you need a break from
the routine for your mental health. Your goals should include some
contingency plans for dealing with these problems so that you dont fall into
that all-or-nothing thinking that lets one difficult situation become an excuse
for ditching your whole plan.
And remember, meeting your goals is 90% attitude. No one is perfect, and
youre going to have days where you just dont do what you set out to. Make
sure you build up some good stress management habits and tools to help
you deal with those days without losing sight of your long-term goals, or
losing your motivation.

Types of teams
Teams can be formed anywhere, anytime whenever the task is little difficult and
complicated. Let us understand the various types of teams in detail.
1. Permanent teams- These teams perform on a permanent basis and are not
dissolved once the task is accomplished. Let us understand the concept with
an example.
Mike, Peter, Joe and Ana had a strong inclination towards branding as well as
promotions and hence were a part of the branding team with a leading
organization. They were primarily responsible for promoting their brand and
designing marketing strategies to generate maximum revenue for their
organization. They worked extremely hard and always managed to achieve
their targets well in advance, but their team was always in place and never
dissolved. Their organization never asked them to leave or ever dissolved
their team. Such teams are called permanent teams.

Work or no work, the human resources team, operation team, administration

team always function effectively through out the year and hence are
permanent teams.
2. Temporary teams - Unlike permanent teams, temporary teams loose their
importance, once the task is accomplished. Such teams are usually formed
for a shorter duration either to assist the permanent team or work when the
members of the permanent team are busy in some other project.
When organizations have excess of work, they generally form temporary
teams which work in association with the members of the permanent team
for the accomplishment of the task within the stipulated time.
3. Task Force - Such teams are formed for a special purpose of working on any
specific project or finding a solution to a very critical problem.
The government generally appoints special teams to investigate critical
issues like bomb blasts, terrorist attacks and so on. The task force explores all
the possible reasons which led to a severe problem and tries to resolve it
within a given deadline.
4. Committee - Committees are generally formed to work on a particular
assignment either permanently or on a temporary basis. Individuals with
common interests, more or less from the same background, attitude come
together on a common platform to form a committee and work on any
matter.
To organize any cultural event, organizations generally make committees to
raise funds, invite celebrities and all the major tasks involved to successfully
organize any event. The committee members work together, design
strategies to successfully accomplish the task.
In educational institutes, various committees are formed where students with
a common interest join hands to organize cultural events and various other
activities required for the all round development of students.
5. Organization/Work Force - Such groups are formed in organizations where
team members work together under the expert guidance of leader. A leader
or a supervisor is generally appointed among the members itself and he
along with his team works hard to achieve a common goal. The leader all
through must stand by his team and extract the best out of each team
member. He must not underestimate any of his team members and take his
team along to avoid conflicts.
Samuel was working with a leading advertising firm with two members
reporting to him. Samuel always believed in his team members and worked
together with his team and no doubts his team always did wonders and was
way ahead of others.

6. Self Managed Teams - Self Managed Teams consist of individuals who work
together again for a common purpose but without the supervision of any
leader. Here as the name suggests every individual is accountable for his
individual performance. The team members of self managed teams must
respect each other and should never loose focus on their target. No leader is
appointed and the team members have to take their own responsibility.
Individuals take the initiative on their own and are their own guides and
mentors.
7. Virtual Teams - Virtual teams consist of individuals who are separated by
distances and connected through computer. Here individuals communicate
with each other online through internet. Sam at Los Angeles can form a team
with Mandy at Mexico and Sara at Denver all working for a common objective
but the communication is totally digital through internet. Such teams are
helpful when employees need to connect with each other and are located at
different places. Individuals supporting any community in social networking
sites such as facebook or orkut also form a virtual team as all the members
are from different locations but support a common community. They all have
a common objective -to support and promote their community.

Team effectiveness model

The first class in the Executive MBA program at the Naval Postgraduate School is a
course on managing teams. What my classmates and I learned during orientation
week is that the program has a strong team component, and that the NPS has seen
improved effectiveness by participants when starting the program with this course.
Central to this improved effectiveness is a model[1] introduced by McShane and
VonGinow that provides a framework for discussing and evaluating team
effectiveness in general. In my own journey to define team effectiveness, I hit upon
parts of this framework, about which Ive written previously. However, seeing it all
together in one model brought it home for me in a way that I havent achieved on
my own. In this post Id like to share the parts of this model, along with applying
the model to my own recent experiences with building and leading effective teams.

The model starts with a description of the Organizational and Team

Environment, defined by contextual factors that influence a teams design,
processes, and outcomes at the start:

Reward systems how members are at least partly rewarded for

participation;

Communication systems how the team communicated both internally and

externally, which is of special criticality for virtual teams;
Physical space the co-location and layout of physical space for the team;
Organizational environment the collection of resources, policies,
procedures, expectations, and regulations the surround the team;
Organizational structure the relationship between the team and key
stakeholders, along with the reporting structure; and
Organizational leadership the degree of buy-in and support the team can
expect to receive from key leaders outside the team.

In my own recent experiences with leading teams to develop strategies for

purchasing the goods and services we need for Mission Control-Houston, astronaut
training facilities, mission planning systems, and mission operations plan/train/fly
services, Ive hit upon all of these. Regular readers of Leading Space will note that
Ive spent quite a bit of my own time over the last few years writing on human
spaceflight policy and fiscal matters, and engaging the teams I lead in conversation
on how those might impact our workings as a team. (Thats a check in
the Organizational environment column.) Through experience, Ive developed and
shared a working understanding of the supporting and stakeholder organizations in
our work, which are different than what is typically encountered by the team
members. (Check in the Organizational structure column.) Ive also taken great
pains to work with upper management in my organization to outline expectations,
timetables and communication mechanisms, and to have the upper management
address the team at a kick-off meeting before the team starts work. (Check in
the Organizational leadership and Communication systems columns.) I arrange for
the team members to be assigned to the team full-time for the duration of the
effort, and for us to be co-located in a secure facility affectionately known as The
Bunker. (Check for the Physical space column.) Lastly, I arrange with management
for specialty rewards and recognitions for team members, and provide inputs into
their respective performance reviews. (Check for the Reward systems column.)
Based on this model, Im doing well at identifying and addressing all of the
contextual factors that can influence the good start of a team. I just need to keep
at it and continue to find ways to improve my performance in each.
The next major area of the model is Team Design, consisting of the following
elements:

Task characteristics a categorization of the work of the team in terms of

degree of interdependence: reciprocal, sequential, or pooled;
Team size the number of people on the team (theories abound as to the
ideal number; the best number is the amount necessary to do the work, and
no more); and
Team composition the balance between homogeneity (to unify) and
diversity (to broaden possibilities).

Regular readers of Leading Space will note that Ive devoted a lot of effort to the
team composition element, one that Ive determined previously as being critical to
team success. The model agrees that it is an important component, but not a sole
criterion for success. Team size and task characteristics are important as well, and
these are areas that Ill need to address carefully in the future. For instance, on task
characteristics Ive defaulted to an approach assuming the work requires reciprocal
interdependence, meaning that it is highly interactive and collaborative. This is
born out by the fact that I led most of the work through long team meetings in a
conference room. In retrospect, a significant fraction of the work doesnt require
that approach, and might be better suited to a sequential or pooled approach.
Additionally, Ive tended towards teams with 7 members, because that is the
maximum Im permitted under current guidelines. However, there are clear
instances where a smaller team (say, 4-5) is more appropriate. Both of these are
something for me to emphasize for future teams.
The third major area of the model is Team Processes, consisting of the following
elements:

Team development this is the forming, storming, norming, performing, and

adjourning lifecycle of a team;
Team norms the list of behaviors that the team agrees to exhibit and
discourage, developed and agreed to by the team itself;
Team roles the functions and positions held by team members that permit
the team to perform work;
Team cohesiveness the degree of attraction the members feel towards the
team and their motivation to remain team members, driven by interactions,
feedback, and team maintenance functions; and
Boundary management addresses who is and is not on the team, and who
the other critical partners are in other parts of the organization.

Assessing my performance in the area, I see lots of reason to be pleased. With each
of the team I lead a team norms development meeting where we establish and
agree to the norms of behavior for the team, which are posted in the common area
and are enforced by each team member. Ive also shared the team lifecycle
description with team members and use the language during the entire time the
team is together, such as were storming! or were really performing! As for
roles, I strike a balance between initiative of individual team members to tackle
what needs to get done, as well as to assign tasks to members based on
preferences, aptitude, experience, and natural talents. As for cohesiveness, we
spend time talking about non-team related items, whether they are happenings in
the larger space community, or about our respective interests and activities outside
work. We also routinely get away from the Bunker and each lunch together every
Friday. Still, I could do a bit more in this area, such as starting the team with
sharing stories about ourselves, which I have seen other leaders use quite

effectively. Finally, I havent addressed boundary management in my previous

teams. This is definitely worth adding to my repertoire.
The final area of the model is Team Effectiveness, which addresses the elements
that define team success. These are as follows:

Achieve organizational goals obviously, did the team deliver meaningful

results?
Satisfy member needs were the needs of individual team members met?
Team growth/learning did the team members learn something new from the
experience?
Maintain team survival for continuing teams, do they survive outside
challenges and threats?
Satisfy outside stakeholder needs obviously, did the work of the team meet
expectations?

Assessing my performance in this area, again Im rather pleased. Ive focused on

achieving organizational goals and satisfying outside stakeholder needs, so nothing
more needs to be discussed here. Ive also put special emphasis on team members
learning something new from having been a part of the team, such as learning more
about the business side of NASA, or about the other team members. Both will have
benefits that extend beyond the lifetime of the team, and carryover into the work
when the team members return to their respective parts of the organization.
However, I can see room for improvement on satisfying member needs. This starts
with a question, up front: what are your needs? From there, continue to monitor
and reassess to ensure that individual needs are being met to the most practicable
extent.
I continue ahead in the Executive MBA program with a concrete example of a
benefit from participation. I would not have received the affirmation of a sound
approach to building and leading teams that Ive built on my own. I also now have
several areas for improvement identified by this model, which I will implement right
away. Overall, Im pleased and excited and am looking forward to new discoveries
as I continue in the program.

Stages of team development

Forming
In this stage, most team members are positive and polite. Some are anxious, as
they haven't fully understood what work the team will do. Others are simply excited
about the task ahead.
As leader, you play a dominant role at this stage, because team members' roles and
responsibilities aren't clear.

This stage can last for some time, as people start to work together, and as they
make an effort to get to know their new colleagues.
Storming
Next, the team moves into the storming phase, where people start to push against
the boundaries established in the forming stage. This is the stage where many
teams fail.
Storming often starts where there is a conflict between team members' natural
working styles. People may work in different ways for all sorts of reasons but, if
differing working styles cause unforeseen problems, they may become frustrated.
Storming can also happen in other situations. For example, team members may
challenge your authority, or jockey for position as their roles are clarified. Or, if you
haven't defined clearly how the team will work, people may feel overwhelmed by
their workload, or they could be uncomfortable with the approach you're using.
Some may question the worth of the team's goal, and they may resist taking on
tasks.
Team members who stick with the task at hand may experience stress, particularly
as they don't have the support of established processes, or strong relationships with
their colleagues.
Norming
Gradually, the team moves into the norming stage. This is when people start to
resolve their differences, appreciate colleagues' strengths, and respect your
authority as a leader.
Now that your team members know one another better, they may socialize
together, and they are able to ask one another for help and provide constructive
feedback. People develop a stronger commitment to the team goal, and you start to
see good progress towards it.
There is often a prolonged overlap between storming and norming, because, as new
tasks come up, the team may lapse back into behavior from the storming stage.
Performing
The team reaches the performing stage, when hard work leads, without friction, to
the achievement of the team's goal. The structures and processes that you have set
up support this well.

As leader, you can delegate much of your work, and you can concentrate on
developing team members.
It feels easy to be part of the team at this stage, and people who join or leave won't
disrupt performance.
Adjourning
Many teams will reach this stage eventually. For example, project teams exist for
only a fixed period, and even permanent teams may be disbanded through
organizational restructuring.
Team members who like routine, or who have developed close working relationships
with colleagues, may find this stage difficult, particularly if their future now looks
uncertain.

Causes of team cohesiveness

Attraction, task commitment and group pride are also said to cause group cohesion.
Each cause is expanded upon below.
Attraction[edit]
Festinger and colleagues (1950) proposed the theory of group cohesiveness that
suggests that cohesiveness can be considered as attractiveness to individuals
within the group and attractiveness to the group as a whole. [7] Lott and Lott argue
that interpersonal attraction within the group is sufficient to account for group
cohesion.[8] In other words, group cohesion exists when its members have mutual
positive feelings towards one another.
Other theorists believe that attraction to the group as a whole causes group
cohesion.[9][10] This concept of being attracted to the group itself is reminiscent of
the social identity theory. According to Hogg (1992), group cohesiveness is based
on social attraction, which refers to "attraction among members of a salient social
group"(p. 100).[9] Hogg usesself-categorization theory to explain how group
cohesiveness develops from social attraction. The theory states that when looking
at others' similarities and differences, individuals mentally categorize themselves
and others as part of a group, in-group members, or as not part of a group, outgroup members. From this type of categorizing, the stereotypes of their group
becomes more prominent in the individuals mind. This leads the individual to think
and behave according to group norms, thus resulting in attraction to the group as a
whole. This process is known as depersonalization of self-perception. The social
attraction (as used in Hogg's theory) refers to the liking of depersonalized
characteristics, the prototype of the group, which is distinct from interpersonal

attraction among individuals within the group. It is also important to note that group
cohesiveness is more associated with group attraction than with attraction to
individual members.[10]
Group pride[edit]
Many theorists believe that group cohesion results from a deep sense of "we-ness,"
or belonging to a group as a whole.[11][12] By becoming enthusiastically involved in
the efforts of the group and by recognizing the similarities that exist among group
members, more cohesion is formed. Furthermore, group pride creates a sense of
community that strengthens the bonds of unity that link group members to one
another.
Task commitment[edit]
Other theorists stress that cohesion comes from group members commitment to
work together to complete their shared tasks and accomplish their collective tasks
or goals.[13][14] Members of task-oriented groups typically exhibit
great interdependence and often possess feelings of responsibility for the groups
outcomes. The bonds of unity that develop from members concerted effort to
achieve their common goals are considered indicative of group cohesion.
Factors[edit]
The forces that push group members together can be positive (group-based
rewards) or negative (things lost upon leaving the group). The main factors that
influence group cohesiveness are: members similarity, [15][16] group size,[17] entry
difficulty,[18] group success[19][20] and external competition and threats. [21][22] Often,
these factors work through enhancing the identification of individuals with the group
they belong to as well as their beliefs of how the group can fulfill their personal
needs.
Similarity of group members[edit]
Similarity of group members has different influences on group cohesiveness
depending on how to define this concept. Lott and Lott (1965) who refer to
interpersonal attraction as group cohesiveness conducted an extensive review on
the literature and found that individuals similarities in background (e.g., race,
ethnicity, occupation, age), attitudes, values and personality traits have generally
positive association with group cohesiveness.
On the other hand, from the perspective of social attraction as the basis of group
cohesiveness, similarity among group members is the cue for individuals to
categorize themselves and others into either an ingroup or outgroup. [10] In this

perspective, the more prototypical similarity individuals feel between themselves

and other ingroup members, the stronger the group cohesiveness will be. [10]
In addition, similar background makes it more likely that members share similar
views on various issues, including group objectives, communication methods and
the type of desired leadership. In general, higher agreement among members on
group rules and norms results in greater trust and less dysfunctional conflict. This,
in turn, strengthens both emotional and task cohesiveness. [citation needed]
Entry difficulty[edit]
Difficult entry criteria or procedures to a group tend to present it in more exclusive
light. The more elite the group is perceived to be, the more prestigious it is to be a
member in that group[citation needed]. As shown in dissonance studies conducted by
Aronson and Mills (1959) and confirmed by Gerard and Mathewson (1966), this
effect can be due to dissonance reduction (see cognitive dissonance). Dissonance
reduction can occur when a person has endured arduous initiation into a group; if
some aspects of the group are unpleasant, the person may distort their perception
of the group because of the difficulty of entry. [18] Thus, the value of the group
increases in the group member's mind.
Group Size[edit]
Small groups are more cohesive than large groups. This is often caused by social
loafing, a theory that says individual members of a group will actually put in less
effort, because they believe other members will make up for the slack. It has been
found that social loafing is eliminated when group members believe their individual
performances are identifiable - much more the case in smaller groups. [23]

Causes of Conflict
Organizational Structure
Conflict tends to take different forms, depending upon the organizational
structure. [1] For example, if a company uses a matrix structure as its organizational
form, it will have decisional conflict built in, because the structure specifies that
each manager report to two bosses. For example, global company ABB Inc. is
organized around a matrix structure based on the dimensions of country and
industry. This structure can lead to confusion as the company is divided
geographically into 1,200 different units and by industry into 50 different units. [2]

Limited Resources
Resources such as money, time, and equipment are often scarce. Competition
among people or departments for limited resources is a frequent cause for conflict.
For example, cutting-edge laptops and gadgets such as a BlackBerry or iPhone are
expensive resources that may be allocated to employees on a need-to-have basis in
some companies. When a group of employees have access to such resources while
others do not, conflict may arise among employees or between employees and
management. While technical employees may feel that these devices are crucial to
their productivity, employees with customer contact such as sales representatives
may make the point that these devices are important for them to make a good
impression to clients. Because important resources are often limited, this is one
source of conflict many companies have to live with.
Task Interdependence
Another cause of conflict is task interdependence; that is, when accomplishment of
your goal requires reliance on others to perform their tasks. For example, if youre
tasked with creating advertising for your product, youre dependent on the creative
team to design the words and layout, the photographer or videographer to create
the visuals, the media buyer to purchase the advertising space, and so on. The
completion of your goal (airing or publishing your ad) is dependent on others.
Incompatible Goals
Sometimes conflict arises when two parties think that their goals are mutually
exclusive. Within an organization, incompatible goals often arise because of the
different ways department managers are compensated. For example, a sales
managers bonus may be tied to how many sales are made for the company. As a
result, the individual might be tempted to offer customers freebies such as
expedited delivery in order to make the sale. In contrast, a transportation
managers compensation may be based on how much money the company saves
on transit. In this case, the goal might be to eliminate expedited delivery because it
adds expense. The two will butt heads until the company resolves the conflict by
changing the compensation scheme. For example, if the company assigns the bonus
based on profitability of a sale, not just the dollar amount, the cost of the expediting
would be subtracted from the value of the sale. It might still make sense to expedite
the order if the sale is large enough, in which case both parties would support it. On
the other hand, if the expediting negates the value of the sale, neither party would
be in favor of the added expense.
Personality Differences
Personality differences among coworkers are common. By understanding some
fundamental differences among the way people think and act, we can better

understand how others see the world. Knowing that these differences are natural
and normal lets us anticipate and mitigate interpersonal conflictits often not
about you but simply a different way of seeing and behaving. For example, Type A
individuals have been found to have more conflicts with their coworkers than Type B
individuals. [3]
Communication Problems
Sometimes conflict arises simply out of a small, unintentional communication
problem, such as lost e-mails or dealing with people who dont return phone calls.
Giving feedback is also a case in which the best intentions can quickly escalate into
a conflict situation. When communicating, be sure to focus on behavior and its
effects, not on the person. For example, say that Jeff always arrives late to all your
meetings. You think he has a bad attitude, but you dont really know what Jeffs
attitude is. You do know, however, the effect that Jeffs behavior has on you. You
could say, Jeff, when you come late to the meeting, I feel like my time is wasted.
Jeff cant argue with that statement, because it is a fact of the impact of his
behavior on you. Its indisputable, because it is your reality. What Jeff can say is that
he did not intend such an effect, and then you can have a discussion regarding the
behavior.
In another example, the Hershey Company was engaged in talks behind closed
doors with Cadbury Schweppes about a possible merger. No information about this
deal was shared with Hersheys major stakeholder, the Hershey Trust. When Robert
Vowler, CEO of the Hershey Trust, discovered that talks were underway without
anyone consulting the Trust, tensions between the major stakeholders began to rise.
As Hersheys continued to underperform, steps were taken in what is now called the
Sunday night massacre, in which several board members were forced to resign
and Richard Lenny, Hersheys then current CEO, retired. [4] This example shows how
a lack of communication can lead to an escalation of conflict. Time will tell what the
lasting effects of this conflict will be, but in the short term, effective communication
will be the key. Now, lets turn our attention to the outcomes of conflict.

5 Conflict Management Styles

Here are the five conflict management styles according to Thomas, K.W., and R.H.
Kilmann:
1. Accommodating This is when you cooperate to a high-degree, and it
may be at your own expense, and actually work against your own goals,
objectives, and desired outcomes. This approach is effective when the

other party is the expert or has a better solution. It can also be effective
for preserving future relations with the other party.
2. Avoiding This is when you simply avoid the issue. You arent helping
the other party reach their goals, and you arent assertively pursuing your
own. This works when the issue is trivial or when you have no chance of
winning. It can also be effective when the issue would be very costly. Its
also very effective when the atmosphere is emotionally charged and you
need to create some space. Sometimes issues will resolve themselves, but
hope is not a strategy, and, in general, avoiding is not a good long term
strategy.
3. Collaborating This is where you partner or pair up with the other party
to achieve both of your goals. This is how you break free of the win-lose
paradigm and seek the win-win. This can be effective for complex
scenarios where you need to find a novel solution. This can also mean reframing the challenge to create a bigger space and room for everybodys
ideas. The downside is that it requires a high-degree of trust and reaching
a consensus can require a lot of time and effort to get everybody on board
and to synthesize all the ideas.
4. Competing This is the win-lose approach. You act in a very assertive
way to achieve your goals, without seeking to cooperate with the other
party, and it may be at the expense of the other party. This approach
may be appropriate for emergencies when time is of the essence, or when
you need quick, decisive action, and people are aware of and support the
approach.
5. Compromising This is the lose-lose scenario where neither party
really achieves what they want. This requires a moderate level of
assertiveness and cooperation. It may be appropriate for scenarios where
you need a temporary solution, or where both sides have equally
important goals. The trap is to fall into compromising as an easy way out,
when collaborating would produce a better solution.
By knowing your own default patterns you improve your self-awareness. Once you
are aware of your own patterns, you can pay attention to whether they are working
for you and you can explore alternatives.
By using a scenario-based approach, you can choose more effective conflict
management styles and test their effectiveness for you and your situations.
Conflict proce

Barganing zone model

In collective bargaining, both labor and management realize that their counterparts
will not completely agree on their ideas for a perfect settlement.

Therefore, both sides will prioritize potential settlements along a range of

acceptable and unacceptable positions. This gives both parties room for negotiation.
For any given issue, negotiators for both parties target two limits: the position most
favorable to their party and the position that is least acceptable. The space between
these two positions represents the bargaining range -- the area in which a
settlement is possible.
As both management and the union are driven by different factors, each side will
have their own upper and lower limits. They do not share this information directly
with one another.
The bargaining zone is the area where each sides bargaining range overlaps, and is
the area in which agreement is possible. Through the bargaining process,
negotiators for each side need to determine the others partys likely bargaining
range, whether the ranges overlap, and if so, how best to maximize a settlement for
their party within the bargaining zone. For example, managements bargaining
range for a wage increase is 1% to 6%. The unions range is 4% to 10%. So the
bargaining zone is between 4% and 6%.
If an offer extends past either sides limits, the settlement is unacceptable and the
negotiation is in danger of breaking down. Of course, both parties are able to modify
their range of acceptable and unacceptable offers, and often will do so to avoid
strikes and lockouts.
Keep in mind, that any contract negotiation can have hundreds of these bargaining
issues. While each issue will have its own range, they are rarely determined in
isolation of the other issues. Consider a second issue of employee sick leave.
Managements position ranges between 2 and 8 days, while the unions position is 5
to 13 days. This means the bargaining zone is between 5 and 8 days. However, if
the parties both agree to the lower end of the wage settlement, the union may not
settle for anything less than 10 additional sick leave days, throwing the sick leave
issue out of the bargaining zone.
Thus, negotiating on any particular issue will have a give-or-take effect on the
other bargaining issues. It is very important to view bargaining as a whole, because
a concession on one issue may knock a settlement on another issue out of the
bargaining zone.

Perspectives of Leadership

As we describe the leadership of Jacques Nasser-or any other leader in the private
or public sector-it becomes apparent that there are many ways to understand
leadership in organisational settings. There are a number of different perspectives
on leadership, five of which are shown here.

Competency (Trait) Perspective of Leadership

Probably the oldest perspective of leadership focused on the traits or competencies

of great leaders. Recall from chapter 2 of the textbook that competencies are the
abilities, values, personality traits, and other characteristics of people that lead to
superior performance. In other words, the competency perspective seeks to identify
the characteristics of effective leaders.
Recent writings suggest that effective leaders have:

Drive, that is, inner motivation. There is a strong link between leadership and
a high need for achievement as identified in McClelland's Theory of Learned
Needs (Week 5, chapter 3)

Leadership motivation. This tends to be seen as a high need for socialised

power in McClelland's theory.

Integrity. Trust between a leader and followers is critical. Telling the truth
and keeping commitments build trust.

Self-confidence.

Above-average intelligence. This does not however, require managers to be

geniuses.

Knowledge of the business. Knowledge of the business environment in which

they operate enables leaders to employ powerful intuition in their decision
making.

High emotional intelligence. This was discussed in detail in week 7 and

chapter 7 of the textbook. It requires self-monitoring, empathy and social

skills to build rapport.

Limitations and implications of this approach include:

It assumes that all leaders have the same competencies in the same measure
and that all of them are equally important in all situations. In reality, the
competency mix of successful leaders may vary and leaders may use some
competencies more or less depending on the situation.

The possession of `leadership characteristics may affect our perception that

someone is a leader. For example, we may treat someone with high selfconfidence as a leader because they act like a leader, not because they
actually make a difference.

The other side of the coin is that we may see someone as a leader and
attribute to them characteristics we consider essential to leadership whether
or not they actually possess those characteristics.

Hiring practices of organisations, looking for leadership potential at all levels,

will increasingly put weight on issues of personal
characteristics/competencies. Leadership potential, identified through the
possession of leadership competencies, will then need to be developed. It is
possible that people with lower levels of leadership competencies can
nevertheless become successful leaders if their potential is maximised
through training, development and experience.

Behavioural Perspective of Leadership

As the name implies, the behavioural perspective of leadership seeks to identify the
behaviours that make leaders effective. Two clusters of behaviour that are
associated with leadership effectiveness are:

People oriented behaviours - this cluster includes showing mutual trust,

exhibiting respect for subordinates and demonstrating a concern for
subordinates' needs and welfare.

Task oriented behaviours - this cluster includes define and structure work
roles.

Early studies linked people oriented behaviours with higher job satisfaction, with
associated lower turnover and absenteeism. However job performance was also
lower than employees with task oriented leadership. Task oriented leadership was
linked with higher productivity and team unity but had lower levels of job

satisfaction.
Behavioural leadership scholars hypothesised that the most effective leaders
display high levels of people- and task-oriented behaviours. This became know as
the `hi-hi leadership hypothesis. A popular program that grew out of this theory is
the Leadership Grid that is exhibit 14.3 in the textbook.

Have you worked with a leader who consistently exhibited the same style of
leadership?

Where did they fit on the Leadership Grid?

Was it an effective style of leadership? Why or why not?

If you have worked under a number of different leaders:

Did they all use the same style of management?

Were they all equally effective?

Does the Leadership Grid account for the differences?

If the Leadership Grid does not account for differences in effectiveness, what
else might?

Limitations with the behavioural approach include that it purports to be a universal

approach and it ignores the possibility that the best leadership style may depend on
the situation. As a result, there has been a shift towards contingency theories of
leadership, which are described next.
Contingency Perspective of Leadership

The contingency perspective of leadership is based on the idea that the most
appropriate leadership style depends on the situation. Several contingency theories
have been proposed over the years including Fiedler's contingency theory, Hersey
and Blanchard's situational leadership theory and path-goal theory.

Fiedler's Contingency Model:

This is the earliest of the contingency theories. Fiedler theorised that the style of
leadership appropriated depended on the level of situational control that the leader
had. Situational control consisted of a hierarchy of factors from the most important,
leader-member relations, through task structure to position power.
While an important milestone in leadership theory the leadership scale employed
has been widely criticised and the theory has only limited empirical support.
Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory:
This model suggests that leadership style should vary with the `readiness of the
followers. The readiness of followers is assessed on the basis of their
motivation/willingness and their ability to undertake a certain task. Leadership
behaviour was also a combination of two characteristics, directive behaviour and
supportive behaviour. (These bear strong resemblance to task- and people-oriented
behaviours of the Leadership Grid.)
This model has proven popular with trainers and is elegant and memorable but
unfortunately it lacks empirical support.
Path-goal Leadership Theory:
None of the contingency leadership theories is perfect, but path-goal leadership
theory has withstood scientific critique better than the others. Path-goal theory
states that effective leaders influence employee satisfaction and performance by
making their need satisfaction contingent on effective job performance. It identifies
four leadership styles:
Directive: The leader clarifies performance goals, means, standards and
consequences such as rewards or disciplinary actions.
Supportive: The leader treats employees with respect, and shows concern for
them.
Participative: The leader encourages employee involvement through providing the
opportunity to make suggestions, which they conscientiously consider before
making a decision.
Achievement oriented: The leader sets challenging goals, has high expectations
and continuously seeks improvement in the performance of the employee.
The theory identifies several contingencies relating to the characteristics of the
employee and the situation that indicate which style of leadership will be most

effective. These are:

The skill and experience of the employee - Where an employee perceives
themselves to be inexperienced or unskilled the best leadership style includes a
combination of both directive and supportive behaviours.
Locus of control - Employees with an internal locus of control prefer participative
and achievement oriented styles of leadership. An employee with an external locus
of control will prefer directive and supportive leadership.
Task structure - The more ambiguous and non-routine the task the better a
directive style of leadership. Non-routine tasks also suggest a participative style.
Highly tedious, routine tasks suggest a supportive style of leadership.
Team dynamics - High team cohesiveness can substitute for a number of
leadership functions, but when team norms run counter to the formal task a
directive style is called for. A team with low cohesiveness would benefit from a
supportive style of leadership.
Some of the contingencies of path-goal leadership are shown here:
[ TOP ]

Servant Leadership:
Path-goal theory states that effective leaders influence employee satisfaction and
performance by making their need satisfaction contingent on effective job
performance. This notion is further extended by the increasingly popular concept
called `servant leadership. Servant leaders do not view leadership as a position of
power; rather, they are coaches, stewards, and facilitators. Leadership is an

obligation to understand employee needs and to facilitate their work performance.

Servant leaders ask, "How can I help you?" rather than expect employees to serve
them.

The Fast Company article on the "grassroots leadership" of Commander D.

Michael Abrashoff relates to servant leadership, path-goal leadership, and other
forms of leadership. Read through this article, then give some thought to the
following questions to help you make the connections between what you have read
and practical situations.
1. This Fast Company On-Line feature describes how D. Michael Abrashoff
relies on what he calls "grassroots leadership". How does this leadership
model incorporate various path-goal leadership practices?
2. In this Fast Company article, Abrashoff describes six principles of
grassroots leadership. Can you relate them to anything you have read this
week?

Leadership Substitutes
So far, we have suggested that organisations need leaders with certain
competencies and styles to suit the situation. But one stream of research identifies
conditions that either limit the leader's ability to influence subordinates or make
that particular leadership style unnecessary. Leadership substitutes have
increasingly become important as organisations remove supervisors and move
toward team-based structures. An emerging concept is that effective leaders help
team members learn to lead themselves through leadership substitutes. Indeed,
self leadership is recognised as a potentially valuable leadership substitute in selfdirected teams.
Transformational Perspective of Leadership

Path-goal theory and other contingency models describe leadership from a

transactional view. Transactional leaders "manage" people; they help people

achieve their current objectives more efficiently, such as by linking job performance
to valued rewards and ensuring that employees have the resources needed to get
the job done.
But leadership involves more than the day-to-day tactics of improving employee
performance and well being. It is also about moving organisations in new and
better directions. This refers to transformational leadership.

Transformational leadership is a perspective that explains how leaders change

teams or organisations by creating, communicating, and modelling a vision for the
organisation or work unit, and inspiring employees to strive for that vision.

Transformational leaders are agents of change. They develop a vision for the
organisation or work unit, inspire and collectively bond employees to that vision,
and give them a `can do attitude that makes the vision achievable.
There are many transformational leaders throughout Australia and New Zealand.
John Anderson may come to mind because of his dramatic turnaround of BHP.
Stephen Tindall, founder of New Zealand's The Warehouse, is also recognised as a
transformational leader because he lives his values and "walks the talk" every day.
Jacques Nasser at Ford and Doug Daft at Coca-Cola are two Australians in the United
States who are clearly making changes in their respective organisations.
The elements of transformational leadership include:
Creating a strategic vision - A transformational leader creates a vision that is
integral to members' understanding of why the organisation exists. It is much more
than a statement on the wall or a document in a filing cabinet.
Communicating the Vision - They may use symbols, metaphor, stories or other
means but the effect is the same. Transformational leaders can communicate to the
employees in a way that makes their vision for the organisation seem both desirable
and attainable, creating an organisational community that has a new and dynamic
shared focus.
Modelling the vision - Transformational leaders not only talk about the vision but
their actions support and reinforce the vision.

Building commitment toward the vision - The communication, consistent

action, contagious energy, can do' attitude and persistence of transformational
leaders all act to build commitment in employees. They also tend to encourage
participation in the shaping of the vision.
Empirical study of transformational leadership is hampered by a tendency to define
a transformational leader in terms of their success. It may therefore be seen
as the most powerful and desirable form of leadership because failed
transformational leaders are not considered. This perspective is also a universal
approach and disregards the possibility that there may be situations in which a
transactional leader is actually more effective.
There is some evidence that employees under transformational leadership are more
satisfied in their jobs and perform them better. There is also evidence that
employees value transformational leadership over transactional leadership. For
example, one recent survey of 1,400 New Zealand managers reported that they
experience too much transactional leadership. In contrast, Australian and New
Zealand executives typically describe effective leaders in terms of transformational
activities.

Romance Perspective of Leadership

The various leadership perspectives that we have discussed so far assumed that
leaders enhance organisational performance. However, some leadership experts
suggest that the importance of leadership can be inflated through attributing
leadership, stereotyping leadership and the need for situational control. These
three perceptual processes are collectively known as the romance of leadership.

Elements of Organizational Culture:

There are many possible elements of organizational culture. The above
definition includes three of the elements of organizational culture.
Organizational Values. Values reflect what we feel is important.
Organizations may have core values that reflect what is important in the
organization. These values may be guiding principles of behavior for all members in
the organization. The core values may be stated on the organization's website. For
example, an organization could state that their core values are creativity, humor,
integrity, dedication, mutual respect, kindness, and contribution to society.
Organizational Beliefs. Beliefs that are part of an organization's culture may
include beliefs about the best ways to achieve certain goals such as increasing
productivity and job motivation. For example, an organization may convey the
belief that the expression of humor in the workplace is an effective way to increase
productivity and job motivation.
Organizational Norms. Norms reflect the typical and accepted behaviors in an
organization. They may reflect the values and beliefs of the organization. They
may reflect how certain tasks are generally expected to be acomplished, the
attributes of the work environment, the typical ways that people communicate in
the organization, and the typical leadership styles in the organization. For example,
the work environment of a company may be described as relaxed, cheerful, and
pleasant. Moreover, the organization may have a participative decision making
process in which many people in the organization are able to express their views
concerning important decisions. Also, an organization may have many meetings to
discuss ideas.
Strengthening organizational culture
Actions of founders and leaders Founders establish an organizations culture.62 In
the opening story to this chapter, we saw the powerful influence of PeopleSoft, Inc.,
cofounder Dave Duffield. The culture of any start-up is driven by the founder, says
a PeopleSoft executive. We are what Dave Duffield is.63 Founders develop the
systems and structures that support their personal values. Founders are often
visionaries whose energetic style provides a powerful role model for others to follow.
The founders cultural imprint often remains with the organization for decades. WalMart, the discount retailer, has a deeply embedded customer satisfaction value long
after its founder Sam Walton passed away. In spite of the founders effect,
subsequent leaders can break the organization away from the founders values if
they apply the transformational leadership concepts described in Chapter 14.
Transformational leaders strengthen organizational culture by communicating and
enacting their vision of the future.64 Cultural values are particularly reinforced
when leaders behave in ways that are consistent with the vision (walking the
talk). James Preston did this when he became CEO of Avon. He dismantled the
boys club culture by promoting women into more senior positions and removing
macho rituals (such as the annual hunting trip) that previously existed. Today, 44
percent of Avons senior vice presidents are women.65

Introducing culturally consistent rewards Reward systems strengthen corporate

culture when they are consistent with cultural values.66 Aggressive cultures might
offer more performance-based individual incentives, whereas paternalistic cultures
would more likely offer employee assistance programs, medical insurance, and
other benefits that support employee wellbeing. Home Depot relies on rewards to
strengthen its corporate culture. Employees at the Atlanta-based home
improvement retail chain receive stock incentives which the company hopes will
support a value system of customer service and entrepreneurship. Weve always
wanted this to be part of our culture, explains Home Depot CEO and cofounder
Arthur Blank, that associates feel that they own the stores, that they own the
merchandise, that they have total responsibility for the customers in their aisles,
and that they create the value.67
Maintaining a stable workforce An organizations culture is embedded in the minds
of its employees. Organizational stories are rarely written down; rituals and
celebrations do not usually exist in procedure manuals; organizational metaphors
are not found in corporate directories. Thus, organizations Exhibit 16.4 Strategies
for strengthening organizational culture Selecting and socializing employees
Introducing culturally consistent rewards Managing the cultural network Maintaining
a stable workforce Actions of founders and leaders Strengthening Organizational
Culture 514 Chapter Sixteen depend on a stable workforce to communicate and
reinforce the dominant beliefs and values. The organizations culture can literally
disintegrate during periods of high turnover and precipitous downsizing because the
corporate memory leaves with these employees. Corporate culture also weakens
during periods of rapid expansion or mergers because it takes time for incoming
employees to learn about and accept the dominant corporate values and
assumptions.68 For this reason, some organizations keep their culture intact by
moderating employment growth and correcting turnover problems. Managing the
cultural network Organization culture is learned, so an effective network of cultural
transmission is necessary to strengthen the companys underlying assumptions,
values, and beliefs. According to Max De Pree, CEO of furniture manufacturer
Herman Miller Inc., every organization needs tribal storytellers to keep the
organizations history and culture alive.69 The cultural network exists through the
organizational grapevine. It is also supported through frequent opportunities for
interaction so that employees can share stories and reenact rituals. Senior
executives must tap into the cultural network, sharing their own stories and creating
new ceremonies and other opportunities to demonstrate shared meaning. Company
magazines and other media can also strengthen organizational culture by
communicating cultural values and beliefs more efficiently. Selecting and socializing
employees When Terri Wolfe interviews applicants for employment at Patagonia, she
is looking for more than their ability to fill the vacant positions. The human
resources director of the Ventura, California, outdoor clothing company also wants
to see whether their values are compatible with the companys values. I screen for
corporate culture fit, Wolfe explains.70 Patagonia and a flock of other organizations
strengthen their corporate cultures by hiring people with beliefs, values, and
assumptions similar to those cultures. They realize that a good fit of personal and
organizational values makes it easier for employees to adopt the corporate culture.
A good person-organization fit also improves job satisfaction and organizational
loyalty because new hires with values compatible to the corporate culture adjust
more quickly to the organization.71 Job applicants are also paying more attention to
corporate culture during the hiring process. According to one recent survey, job

applicants ask corporate culture questions more than any other topic, aside from
pay and benefits.72 They realize that as employees, they must feel comfortable
with the companys values, not just the job duties and hours of work. Kathy Wheeler
learned this important point the hard way. A few years ago, the Hewlett-Packard
engineer accepted a career opportunity at Apple Computer. Apples headquarters
are only two miles away from HP, but its corporate culture is on another planet. HPs
culture emphasizes collaboration, consensus, and advanced engineering
technology, whereas Apples culture applauds marketers rather than engineers, and
slick user interfaces rather than advanced technology. Fourteen months later,
Wheeler was back at HP. I admire Apple to a large extent, says Wheeler. But I
wouldnt work there again because of the cultural issues.73 The point here is that
you need to look at corporate culture artifacts when deciding whether to join a
particular organization. By diagnosing the companys dominant culture, you are
more likely to determine whether its values are compatible with your own. Along
with selecting people with compatible values, companies maintain strong cultures
through the effective socialization of new employees. Organizational socialization
refers to the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and
social knowledge necessary to assume their roles organizational socialization copy
to come Organizational Culture 515 in the organization.74 By communicating the
companys dominant values, job candidates and new hires are more likely to
internalize these values quickly and deeply. We will learn more about the
organizational socialization process in the next chapter (Chapter 17) on
employment relations and career dynamics. At this point, you should know that
socialization partially includes the process of learning about the companys culture
and adopting its set of values. This process begins long before the first day of work.
People learn about the organizations culture through recruiting literature,
advertising, and news media reports about the company. During the recruitment
process, some companies provide information about the way things are done
around here. Even if this information is not forthcoming, applicants might learn
from employees, customers, and others who regularly interact with the
organization. By the first day of work, newcomers have a fairly clear (although not
necessarily accurate) perception about the companys culture. These perceptions
are tested against everyday experiences. To some extent, newcomers align their
values with the organizations to minimize conflict. Like Kathy Wheeler, however,
some employees eventually leave the organization when they realize how much
their personal values differ from the organizations culture.75 Throughout this
chapter, we have learned that organizational culture is pervasive and powerful. For
corporate leaders, it is either a force for change or an insurmountable barrier to it.
For employees, it is either the glue that bonds people together or drives them away
from the organization. So many artifacts communicate and reinforce the existing
culture that it requires a monumental effort to replace the current values.
Transformational leadership and effective management of change can assist in this
process, but it is a challenge that no leader should take lightly