Foundations of Behaviour
Introduction
Organisational Behaviour is concerned with the actions of people at work. Organisational Behaviour focuses primarily on two major areas:
Individual Behaviour
This is based on contributions from psychologists, this area includes themes such as: attitudes, personality, perception, learning and motivation.
Group Behaviour
This includes norms, roles, team building and conflict.
Our knowledge about groups comes from the work of sociologists and social psychologists. The behaviour of a group cannot be understood by merely considering the actions of each individual. Individuals in groups behave differently from individuals acting alone.
Organisational Behaviour shows those invisible or hidden aspects that exist in an organisation. Those that are visible are: strategies, objectives, structure, technology, authority. Those which are invisible and relate to Organisational Behaviour are: Attitudes, perceptions, group norms, informal interaction and interpersonal conflicts.
Goals of Organisational Behaviour
The goals of Organisation Behaviour (OB) are to explain and predict behaviour. Managers need such skill in order to manage their employees’ behaviour. If a manager depends on his operatives to succeed, then the success depends on his ability to explain why employees have a particular behaviour at the workplace. Also, it is good for managers to predict behaviour. If employees are faced with a workload to meet a tight deadline, then their behaviour will be different from what it is now. They will feel stressed, may have less motivation and probably carry out many activities without much concentration.
Attitudes
Attitudes are evaluative statements that are either favourable or unfavourable about employees. It can also be related to objects and events. To better understand attitude, it should be interpreted as follows:
Attitudes has three components namely:
The cognitive component of attitude
It is concerned with the beliefs, opinions, knowledge or information held by a person. For example, touching a lighted matchstick for long can burn the fingers. Individuals should know that rules must be obeyed in an organisation.
The affective component of attitude
It is concerned with the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude. When there is death, people mourn and express their grief. At a football match, people can express their joy. An individual is moved when he is greeted by his fellows or manager.
The behavioural component of attitude
© October 2002-Swami Dayanand Institute of Management-N.K.Betchoo
It refers to an intention to behave in a way towards someone or something. Going outdoors in the evening in Mauritius may not be good because of insecurity. Purchasing products that come from a particular country may not be good because there can be a risk of disease or contamination. People who are vegetarians and teetotal would not purchase products that contain meat or alcohol not only because of their emotions (affective component) but also of their way they behave.
Cognitive dissonance theory
Leon Festinger, in the late 1950s, proposed the theory of “Cognitive dissonance.” This theory sought to explain the relation between attitudes and behaviour. Dissonance means inconsistency.
Cognitive dissonance refers to any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behaviour and attitudes. Festinger argued that any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will attempt to reduce the dissonace, that is, the discomfort. Individuals will look for a situation of minimal discomfort.
No individual can completely avoid dissonance. Festinger stated that the desire to reduce dissonance is determined by the importnace of the elements creating the dissonance, the degree of influence the individual believes he or she has over the elements, and the rewards that may be involved in the dissonance.
If the elements creating the dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct the imbalance is low. If the dissonance comes from the brand of a TV set, then consumers will be satisfied so far as the TV set is colour and is compatible with video or DVD.
The degree of influence that individuals have over the elements will impact on how they will react to the dissonance. Someone purchases an LG Flatron Television set with flat screen. But the name of Sony Wega Trinitron may impact on him as a result of its established brand name.
Rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance. High dissonance accompanied with high rewards tends to reduce the tension in the dissonance.
Perception, Personality and Conditioning
Some people are cool and quiet, others are loud and aggressive. People are therefore described as proud, sociable, aggressive, ambitious, placid, inward-looking, extroverted. These are therefore considered as personality traits. An individual’s personality is the combination of the psychological traits that are used to classify an individual.
Personality
Personality is a combination of psychological traits that classifies a person. There are many traits and in this lesson, six are outlined.
Locus of control
Some people believe that they control their own fate. Others believe that their condition depends on fate. Those who believe that they are self-made have an internal locus of control, they believe that they can control their destiny. Those who believe that they are governed by destiny have an external locus of control.
From a managerial point of view, better managers are those who have a strong internal locus of control. e.g. Bill Gates from Microsoft or Richard Branson from the Virgin group.
Authoritarianism
It refers to a belief there should be a status and power differences among people in organisations. A highly authoritarian person is intellectually rigid, has a judgment of others, likes to differentiate himself from those above him and exploits those who are below him. A highly structured job can meet the aspirations of an authoritarian person not a job where there should be a high degree of participation and flexibility.
Example: This was more reflected by the Big Brother attitude during the years of communism and the rule of autocratic leaders like Hitler and Mussollini.
Self-esteem
People differ in degree to which they like or dislike themselves. People who have a high self esteem think that they can succeed in every job they undertake. They are more likely to choose unconventional jobs. Low self-esteems are those people who want to get the opinion of others in order to decide on something. They will tend to conform to the beliefs and behaviour of those whom they respect. They will be concerned with pleasing others and less likely to prove themselves unpopular to others.
It is believed that the more effective managers are those that must show a high level of self esteem.
Self-monitoring
This defines a personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behaviour to external situational factors. High self-monitors can present big contradictions between their public image and their private selves. (comedians) Low self-monitors display their true dispositions and personality.
Risk Taking
People differ in their willingness to take chances. High risk taking managers can make more rapid decisions and use less information in making choices than the low risk-taking managers.
Machiavellianism
It is a measure of the degree to which people are pragmatic, maintain emotional distance, and believe that ends can justify means.
Perception
Perception is a process by which individuals organise and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. Research shows that individuals may look at the same thing but perceive it differently.
Perception is affected by:
-The perceiver-the person who actually perceives something. Individual characteristics of the person are going to influence the interpretation. The characteristics are attitudes, personality, motives, interests, expectations,..
-The target-Loud people are noticed better than quiet people. Also too are extremely attractive or unattractive individuals.
-The context also influences our perception. It refers to the time at which an object or event was perceived as well as the location, light, heat and any other situational factor.
Learning
Learning is described as any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience. It occurs all the time as we continually learn from our experiences.
Operant Conditioning
Operant conditioning argues that behaviour is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something that they do not like. Operant conditioning is a type of conditioning in which the desired voluntary behaviour leads to a reward or prevents punishment.
The theory was developed by Skinner.
An example is that to pas a test, one must learn something that is likely to be examined otherwise he will fail
Operant Conditioning explains behaviour. If a behaviour is not positively reinforced, the probability that the behaviour will be repeated declines.
20.4 Importance of personality to management
It is important that managers learn about personality aspects because it will help them understand how they are evolving as employees in their firm. It is important for a manager to have a strong personality that shows determination, commitment to objectives, seriousness among others. Managers should also try to adjust themselves with the environment where they are working. An organic organization would look for a manager who is less formal and rigid. Conversely, it is also good to have knowledge of the personality of employees. Shy and inward-looking employees may constitute a handicap in a firm where employees re required to show more of themselves, in marketing, for instance.
| Personality | Characteristics |
| Assertive | Confident, ability to take decisions, sure about decisions taken |
| Individualistic | Interested in taking individual decisions that will impact on the organisation Motivated by personal drive |
| Introvert | Inward looking Reserved and thinking or reflective Determined to pursue individual goals |
| Extrovert | Open-minded Wants to mix up Wants to show off |
Group size
Group Concepts
Introduction
It is important for managers to understand group concepts and behaviour. In general, group behaviour is unpredictable since it depends upon the situation prevailing in the organisation, the group structure and group norms.
A sound understanding of group behaviour will help management work in good terms with groups and enjoy a harmonious relationship. Group behaviour is more complex than individual behaviour since members of the group come from different environments with different perceptions and expectations. Nevertheless it is relatively to assess group behaviour provided that there is conformity and goal congruence in groups.
Group norms
All groups have established norms or acceptable standards that are shared by group members. Norms are reflected onto matters like: output levels, absenteeism rates, and the amount of socialising allowed on a job. In some organisations, for instance, workers might have their hair trimmed.
Although each group will have its unique set of norms, there are common classes of norms that appear in most organisations. These focus on effort, performance, dress and loyalty. The most widespread norms relate to the levels of effort and performance. Workgroups will provide their members with explicit information on how hard to work, what level of output to have, when to look busy,..
Illustration of group norms in Mauritius
Employees in the construction sector do not work on Mondays.
The payday can be an occasion for a dinner in certain firms.
Dressing habits, earring for men, can be a norm in certain groups.
Highly unionised organisations give special consideration and esteem to their group leaders.
Group behaviour
An area of considerable interest to behavioural scientists has been the process of interaction within groups. Lewin who worked on group behaviour used to “T-group” approach to speak on group behaviour. The T-group behaviour is based on unstructured, leader-less groups whose task is to study their own behaviour and provide feedback to individual group members. Each group is aided by a tutor or consultant whose task is to help groups with the feedback aspect. As a bsis for developing information, the T-group has become very useful. As a practical training method, it has been less popular because individuals do not want to expose overtly their behaviour too others.
In any group activity a number of roles are likely to be performed. There are the roles of leader-the person who speaks and takes decisions on behalf of the group.
-The peacemaker-the person who brings about consensus in a group.
-The ideasman-the person who brings about clear ideas and perspectives to the group.
tchoo-The humorist-the person who tells jokes.
-The devil’s advocate-the person who brings contradictory ideas to the group.
In formal groups, many roles are defined such as chairman, secretary. Sometimes there can be role conflict in such groups. Roles are also influenced by organisational cultures.
Competition between groups
In the sixties, Sherif and his colleagues in the USA made a systematic study of intergroup competition. They organised a boy’s camp to create two groups for experimentation. Effort was made to create division between the groups. The changes were noted as such:
Within groups
It was a collection of individuals, with no special ties with each other. They grew into close-knit groups. The group climate changed from being play-oriented to work-oriented. Leadership became more autocratic and each group became highly structured.
Between groups
Each group began to see the other group as the ‘enemy.’ Hostility increased between the members while communication decreased. Negative stereotypes about different group members began to emerge.
Conclusions:
To reduce the negative side effects of groups, the following would be required:
1. Encourage and reward groups on the basis of their contribution to the organisation as a whole.
2. Stimulate high interaction and communication between groups. Provide rewards for group interaction.
3. Encourage movement of staff across group boundaries to increase mutiual understanding.
4. Avoid putting groups in a win-lose situation where intense competition can exist.
The Communication Process
Introduction
Communication involves the transfer and understanding of meaning. Perfect communication, if it were possible, would exist when a transmitted thought or idea was perceived by the receiver in the same way as it was expected by the sender. Another element of good communication is that it must include the clarity of understanding. Many people believe in a quite erroneous way that good communication means that the receiver agrees with what the sender is saying. In fact, the receiver does not necessarily have to be in agreement with the sender because his perception on a subject can be quite different.
The issue of communication is a vital one for any organisation. Communication is the process of creating, transmitting and interpreting facts, ideas, opinions and feelings. It is a process that is essentially a sharing one. In organisations, communications is generally thought in terms of:
(i). The media of communication-memos, reports
(ii). The skills of communication-instructions, interviewing, meetings
(iii). The organisation of communications-committees, briefing groups
Communication questions that face practically every organisation are:
(i). What do we need to communicate?
Information, facts, ideas, beliefs and opinion.
(ii). When should we communicate?
Timing of information.
(iii). To whom should we communicate?
The recipient of the message.
(iv). How should we communicate?
The oral form or the verbal form.
Interpersonal communication is the communication between two or more people in which the parties are treated as individuals rather than objects. For interpersonal communication to be effective, there must be:
Understanding between the sender and the receiver.
Simple, clear and understandable message.
Proper tuning of message.
Proper timing of message.
The Communication Process
Feedback
Message
| Feedback |
Noise
e
Message
| e |
Before communication takes place, there must be a message. A message describes what is to be conveyed. It can be an oral or a written message.
The message passes between the source-sender-and a receiver. The message is encoded, that is, it is put into symbolic form and passed by way of some medium-channel-to the receiver who retranslates the sender’s message called decoding. The result is the transfer of meaning from one person to another one.
Noise
The entire process is subject to noise. Noise refers to disturbances that interfere with the transmission of the message.
Typical examples of noise include:
-illegible print-reading matter that cannot be deciphered.
-telephone static-no information is passed through the phone
-inattention from the receiver-there are some distraction factors affecting the receiver’s attention.
-background sounds of machinery from the shop floor or the environment.
Anything that interferes with understanding –whether internal-or external –represents noise. Noise can create distortion at any point in the communication process.
The impact of external noise is self-evident. The hooter of an automobile.
A source initiates a message by encoding a thought.
Skills, knowledge, attitudes and the socio-cultural system affect the encoded message.
Skills-The way a person addresses when he speaks or writes is dependent on his writing skill.
Attitudes-A message that is nice to read may inform that the sender is in a good mood.
Knowledge-A message has substance when the person sending it is knowledgeable. Someone talking on history must have sufficient facts and evidences to relate.
Socio-cultural variable-Our beliefs and values influence us in communication.
The channel
The channel is the medium through which the message travels. It is selected by the sender. Common channels can be the air for the spoken word and paper for the written word. Other media are the microphone, the radio, television, e-mail through the Internet. Managers must be aware of the influence of the channel that they choose on the receiver. The medium is the message-a phrase coined by Marshall Mc Luhan, pays attention to the impact of the channel as a medium. In fact, the channel can give a certain intonation and value to the message.
The receiver
The receiver is the individual to whom the message is directed. But before the message is sent, it must be decoded. The encoder or sender could have been limited by his own sphere of intelligence-knowledge, skills and attitudes. So is the receiver. The sender must know who the receiver is and tune his message so that it is acceptable to the receiver. Sometimes receivers can be numerous, example, an advertiser or marketer sending information to a large and undifferentiated message. This basically refers to mass communication and the message must be tailored to the needs of the large audience.
Feedback
The final link in the communication process is feedback. It sends back a message-an interpretation-to the sender telling him whether the message has been well received. Sometimes the receiver talks, asks questions, at other times, it may be a simple nod of the head to say that the message has been understood. Feedback ascertains whether the sender has received the message or not.
If feedback did not exist, then senders could believe that every information sent has been received. This is not always the case.
-Junk mail is rarely consulted by the receiver.(audience).
-Some recipients find a message too technical.
-Recipients may be “flooded” by several messages.
-Recipients may have their own selective retention of messages.
The tone of the message
It is clearly seen that a message must have a good tone in order to be effective. It means that the sender must understand at what level he must tune his speech so that it is clearly understood by the receiver. Otherwise, this may lead to what is called a breakdown in communication.
Communication breakdown
Communication breakdown is a major concern for managers in the communication process. A major part of such breakdown is linked with noise.
Other barriers are as follows:
-Too technical message.
-Unclear presentation of message.
-Information sent too fast.
-Biased assumption that every item is understood.
-Information overload.
-Poor and ineffective presenter (sender of message)
-Language difficulties.
Overcoming Barriers to Communication
Introduction
Given that barriers exist to distort or affect communication, the question is: How can managers overcome such barriers in order to improve their communications?
Techniques
Use of feedback
If a manager uses a feedback loop, then he can ensure that the communication that he sent was well received or not. Feedback can be verbal or nonverbal. Feedback should go beyond yes and no answers. The manager can ask a set of questions to test whether the message has been understood or not. Feedback does not have to be conveyed in words. Actions can speak louder than words.
Simplifying language
Since language can represent a barrier, managers should choose words that are simple, clear and effective. The manager has to simplify his language to match the level of understanding of the receiver. Moreover, it would be suitable for him to repeat the message for the benefit of his employees.
Active listening
Listening should be active. Unlike hearing, active listening demands total concentration. Active listening is improved by developing empathy with the sender. Empathy makes it easier for the manager to listen better as he tries to understand the receiver from this standpoint. Active listening is listening for full meaning without making premature judgments or interpretation.
Constrain emotions
Emotions can cloud and distort the transferring of meaning. A manager who shows lots of emotions prior to listening a message can have a poor feedback. The best way to avoid such a problem is to have a good composure while listening.
Developing Interpersonal Skills
There are a few ways to develop interpersonal skills. Active listening, as explained earlier can lead to a better understanding of a message. Empathy requires oneself to be in the speaker’s shoes. An active listener develops acceptance. He listens objectively without making a premature evaluation.
Developing active listening skills
Maintain eye contact
Making eye contact with the speaker focuses the attention of the manager, reduces the likelihood that one will become distracted and encourages the speaker. It also shows that the receiver is interested in attaining the message. Eye contact is critical for effective oral communications. Avoiding eye contact can mean that the sender is keeping distance or the receiver has gone astray.
Making affirmative nods and facial expressions
Affirmative nods and appropriate facial expressions when added to good eye contact convey to the speaker that someone is listening to him. They may also assume that the receiver is serious and attentive. Also, there may be an element of empathy.
Avoiding distracting actions or gestures
Yawning or looking at some other thing, or even speaking to a third person means that one is escaping the sender. This may also imply that the message is not well tailored to the needs of the recipient. Also, it may indicate that the recipient is not showing enough respect for the sender.
Asking questions
The critical listener analyses what he hears and asks questions. This behaviour provides clarification, ensures understanding, and assures the speaker that he is being listened to. Questions are normally asked at the end of the debate.
Paraphrasing
It means restating what a speaker has said but in your own words. You will understand Management better as a subject by restating it in your own words. The listener can use phrases like: “Do you mean…” or “Is it that you want to say…?”
Avoid interrupting the speaker
The speaker should be given the time and opportunity to end his speech. In the meanwhile, he should not be interrupted and allowed to speak. Sometimes, a third party can abruptly intervene. To encourage good communication to take place, the sender of the message can politely clamp down the third person and maintain contact with his recipient. Interrupting the speaker can also reduce the concentration of the sender and disrupt his communication.
Making smooth transitions
In a lecture, it is the lecturer who talks. The student listens or takes notes. As a listener, he has to make transitions smoothly from speaker to listener then back to speaker. It means that one should give the chance to the speaker to speak, then answer back to him by practising not thinking what one has to say.
The Motivation Process
27.0 Introduction
Motivation is defined as the willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organisational goals. It is conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need. The three key elements in the definition of motivation are: effort, organisational goals and needs.
The effort is a measure of intensity. When someone is motivated, he tries hard to reach his goal. High levels of effort may also not lead to good job performance if the effort is not channeled in the right direction. Motivation is more some sort of need-satisfying process.
A need is some internal state that makes certain outcomes appear attractive. An unsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates drives within an individual. These drives generate a search behaviour to find particular goals that, if reached, will satisfy the need and reduce tension.
The Motivation Process
The Hierarchy of Needs
The best known theory of motivation is Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
Physiological needs: These refer to food, drink, shelter, sexual satisfaction, and other bodily requirements. It is considered as the lowest order need.
Safety needs: A person’s needs for security, protection from physical and emotional harm. This is a level above the physiological need.
Social needs: A person’s needs for affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship. As an individual, one needs friendship and acceptance from group members.
Esteem needs: Internal factors such as self-respect, autonomy and achievement; and external factors such as recognition and attention. This is a higher order need.
Self-actualising needs: A person’s drive to become what he or she is capable of becoming.
It is the highest order need and it also creates self-satisfaction and fulfillment on the part of the individual.Criticisms:
All needs do not necessarily follow such an order. Some individuals may be only concerned with monetary gains.
Self-actualising needs are more appropriate for people who have an inclination for the arts and who are inward-looking.
Theory X and Y
Mc Gregor proposed two distinct views of the human beings: a basically negative view called Theory X and a basically positive view called Theory Y.
Under Theory X, the assumptions are:
1. Employees inherently dislike work, and wherever possible try to avoid it.
2. Employees dislike work, therefore they should be coerced, controlled and threatened.
3. Employees will shirk responsibilities and seek formal direction.
4. Most workers place security above all other factors at work.
Under Theory Y:
1. Employees view work as being natural as rest or play.
2. Employees will exercise self-direction and self-control.
3. The average person will accept to seek responsibility.
4. The ability to make good decisions is widely dispersed throughout the population.
The theory considers two extremes of the attitudes of employees. It looks prescriptive in approach. Yet, it is a valuable contribution to understand the motivation of people under a certain context.
27.3 The Motivation-Hygiene Theory
Herzberg proposed the motivation-hygiene theory. According to him, factors leading to job satisfaction are separate and distinct from those that lead to job dissatisfaction. Managers who aim to reduce dissatisfaction bring peace but not motivation. These are termed hygiene factors. To increase job satisfaction, employees should be motivated by motivators-those that will bring in satisfaction.
Motivators Hygiene Factors
Satisfaction No satisfaction No dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction
Herzberg found the following motivators:
Achievement-Personal success of the individual
Recognition-Acknowlegment of effort by superior
Work itself-The satisfaction derived from the actual job
Responsibility-Shouldering responsibility in the job
Advancement and Growth-Upward mobility in the firm.
The following were the hygiene factors:
Company policy-The different practices and philosophy of the company
Supervision-The degree of invigilation and control
Relationship with supervisor-The relations between employer and employee : formal and informal
Working conditions-Good working conditions reduce dissatisfaction
Salary-A decent salary will encourage employees to stay at work
Relationship with peers –Good relations at work constitute a hygiene factor
Status and Security-Employees are in need of security and status at work
Contemporary Theories of Motivation
Introduction
Some modern theories represent the current “state-of-the-art” explanations on employee motivation. Theories on motivation developed by Chris Argyris, Mc Clelland, Vroom and Lawler, among others will be discussed. These prove to be more elaborate than the previous models discussed. They are significant contributions to the undertanding of motivation in management.
The Immaturity-Maturity Theory
Chris Argyris’s view on motivation were focused on the relationship between people’s needs and the needs of the organisation. His immaturity-maturity theory suggests that the human personality develops from immaturity to maturity in a continuum, in which a number of key changes takes place.
Individuals tend to immature at the start of their career. With time, they progress through the organisation.
|
| Maturity |
| Passivity………………….. Dependence……………… Behave in a few ways…… Erratic, Shallow Interests... Short time perspective…… Subordinate position…….. Lack of Self awareness…... | Activity Relative dependence Behave in many ways Deeper interests Long term perspective Equal or superior position Awareness and control of the self |
The lessons for motivation are important. The more one understand human needs, the more it will be possible to integrate them with the needs of the organisation. If goals of the organisation and those of the individual are brought together, the resulting behaviour will be cooperative. Argyris’s theory favours the self-actualising man.
28.2 The Three Needs Theory
David McClelland proposed the Three Needs theory. There are three major relevant motives or needs in work situations.
The need for achievement (nACh): The drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed.
The need for power (nPow): the need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.
The need for affiliation (nAff): The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.
The need for power is the desire to have impact and be influential.
The need for achievement states that achievers like jobs that offer responsibility, feedback and moderate risk.
Individuals with high affiliation needs strive for friends, prefer co-operative situations and desire relationships with mutual understanding.
Mc Clelland put emphasis on the need for affiliation which more closely reflects the motivation concept. Better relations create a congenial atmosphere at the workplace.
The Expectancy Theory
The theories referred to earlier focus their attention on motives or needs. In the model of motivation, motives induce selected behaviour directed to some goal or end. In themselves, they are only part of the total motivational process. One set of ideas that does attempt to study the process of motivation is the Expectancy theory. It was developed by Vroom and Lawler.
The core theory relates to three variables: Effort, performance and reward. The strength of particular outputs or rewards for an individual is termed valence. The probability that a valence will produce an outcome is called ‘expectancy’. Valences and expectancies depend on the individual’s own perception of a situation.
Effort or motivated behaviour occurs when an individual perceives that the effort leads to effective performance, which in turn leads to rewards that are seen as attractive. Effort alone will not lead to effective performance. The individual’s own characteristics (personality, knowledge and skills) and the way in which he perceives his role. Other environmental factors are not shown but they may also affect performance like job constraints, organisation style,..
An individual’s perception of rewards is a vital part of the theory. These rewards may be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic rewards are those derived from self-fulfilment, esteem and personal growth. Extrinsic rewards are those provided by the organisation like pay, promotion and good working conditions; factors over which the individual has no control.
The main features of the expectancy theory are:
1. It takes a comprehensive view of the motivation process.
2. It shows individuals’ dependency on outcomes.
3. It focuses on the importance of individual perceptions of the reality.
4. It implies that job satisfaction follows effective job performance rather the other way round.
5. It has led to the development of job re-design.
Extrinsic rewards can be:
Promotion with an increase in salary
Financial rewards
Gifts and tokens
Intrinsic rewards can be:
Personal satisfaction
Words of commendation
28.3.1 Another interpretation
Another interpretation of the Expectancy theory is through valences. The higher the valence, the greater is the degree of motivation.
v=f x e
Where v=Valence, f=Force and e=Expectations.
Contributions to Leadership Theory
Leaders are described as those people who are able to influence others and who possess managerial authority. There should be some distinction between managers and leaders. Managers are appointed, therefore they have legitimate power. Their ability to influence is founded upon the formal authority inherent in their positions. In contrast, leaders may either be appointed or emerge form a group. Let us look at the different types of power and see to whom they can be related.
29.1 Types of power
Power is the capacity to influence decisions and leaders as well as managers can both exercise certain types of power.
Coercive power
French and Raven described coercive power as one which is dependent on fear. This can be adverse to effective performance at the workplace because employeer can fear the “carrot-stick” approach.
Reward power
Power that is based on the ability to distribute anything that others may value. Money, favourable performance appraisals, promotions, among others are dependent on reward power. Employees are usually more motivated when they are aware of such inducement in their organization. E.g. Saint Géran best employee of the year.
Legitimate power
It is power based on one’s position in the hierarchy. Managers have authority (legitimate power over their subordinates.
Expert power
This is an example of power based on one’s expertise, special skill or knowledge. Very effective managers may have expert power in the same way as very able IT people.
Referent power
Power based on identification with a person who has desirable resources and personal traits. Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Che Guevara among others are usually symbols for many people in terms of their commitment to mankind. Every country may have a leader with such referent power.
29.2 Trait theories
These refer to theories isolating characteristics that differentiate leaders from non leaders. Kirkpatrick and Locke reviewed six traits that differentiate leaders from non leaders.
| Trait | Characteristics | ||
Drive | A high level of effort, lots of energy, tirelessly persistent. | ||
| Desire to lead | Strong desire to influence others. Want to take responsibility. | ||
| Honesty and integrity | Trusting relationships, high consistency between word and deed. | ||
| Self-confidence | Absence of self-doubt. Ability to convince followers. | ||
| Intelligence | Intelligence to gather, synthesise and interpret information. | ||
| © November 2002-Swami Dayanand Institute of Management-N.K.Betchoo | High knowledge about the company. Make Well-informed decisions. |
Traits are not sufficient to define leadership. They ignore situational factors. Behavioral theories can be considered as an important contribution to the understanding of leadership.
Behavioural Theories
They are defined as theories identifying behaviour that differentiate effective from ineffective leaders.
The Ohio State Studies
These studies sought to identify independent dimensions of leader behaviour. Starting with 1000 dimensions, they narrowed the list to two categories. They called them initiating structure and consideration.
Initiating structure
The extent to which a leader defines and structures his role and those of subordinates to attain goals.
Consideration
The extent to which a person has job relationships characterised by mutual trust, respect for subordinate ideas, and regard for their feelings.
Research based on such definitions found that a leader showing high initiating structure and consideration achieved best performance and satisfaction. He was a high-high leader.
The University of Michigan Studies
The Michigan group came up with two dimensions of leadership behaviour that they labelled employee-oriented or production oriented. Leaders who were employee oriented were described as emphasising interpersonal relationships, they took a personal interest in the needs of their subordinates and accepted individual differences among members.
Production-oriented leaders emphasised the technical and task aspects of the job and were mainly concerned with accomplishing group tasks. Michigan researchers favoured leaders who were employee-oriented. They were associated with high productivity and job satisfaction in contrast with production-oriented leaders.
The Blake and Mouton Managerial grid
| 1,1 Impoverished 9,1 Task 9,9 Team Management Concern for people Concern for production 1,9 Country-club Management Middle of the road
1,1-Impoverished-Minimum effort is exerted by the leader to do some work. 9,1-Task-The leader concentrates on task efficiency but shows little concern for morale of subordinates. 1,9-Country-club Management-The leader focuses on being supportive and considerate to subordinates to the exclusion of task efficiency. 5,5-Middle-of-the-road-The leader maintains adequate task efficiency and satisfactory morale
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Contingency and Style theories of leadership
Introduction
In this final chapter, some more advanced theories on leadership are discussed. The style theory is mainly concerned with the styles that managers use to lead their employees. The contingency theory, on the other hand, looks more about leadership through contingencies or situations.
Style theories
The interest in the human factor at work was stimulated by researchers of Human Relations and taken up by the social psychologists who followed them. Style theories have led to quite useful devices for improving training for leadership.
The continuum starts from the authoritarian style of the manager who takes decisions on his own and little by little, allows the subordinates to make decisions. At the end of the continuum, where there is maximum democracy, subordinates are allowed to take decisions within the parameters defined by the manager.
Autocratic
Democratic
The Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum of leadership style
| Autocratic |
| Democratic |
| Manager makes decision and announ-ces it | Manager “sells” decision | Manager presents decisions and invites questions | Manager presents tentative decision subject to changes | Manager presents problem, gets sugges-tions, makes decision | Manager defines limits, asks group to make decisions | Manager permits subordinates to function within limits defined by superior |
Contingency theory
One of the most widely followed models is the situational leadership theory of Paul Hershey and Kenneth Blanchard. Situational leadership is a contingency factor that focuses on follows. Successful leadership is achieved by selecting the right leadership style. The emphasis on followers is that leadership effectiveness reflects the reality that it is the employees who follow and accept the leader. Regardless of what he does, effectiveness depends on the actions of his or her followers.
This is an important dimension that has been overworked or under-emphasised in most leadership theories.
The term maturity, as defined by Hershey and Blanchard, is the ability and willingness of people to take responsibility for directing their own behaviour.
Situational leadership uses two leadership dimensions identified by Fiedler. Task and relationship. However, Hershey and Blanchard go a step further by considering each as either high or low and then combining them into four specific leadership styles.
Telling, Selling, Participating and Delegating.
Telling: High task, low relationship: The leader defines roles and tells people what, how, when, and where to do the various tasks. There is direct control over the subordinates. It is a highly directive position. Employees may be considered to be people without sufficient knowledge and experience to conduct tasks efficiently.
Selling: High task, high relationship: The leader provides both directive and supportive behaviour. To some extent, the leader proposes alternatives that will be then worked out by the subordinates.
Participating: Low task, high relationship: The leader and the follower share in decision-making. The leader facilitates and communicates. There is more room for employees to make use of some of their personal knowledge at the workplace. It is a more democratic approach.
Delegating: Low task, low relationship: The leader provides little direction or support. Employees may be empowered to work and carry out activities according to their own level of discretion.
The Hershey-Blanchard model illustrates how employees can mature in the organisation. It also illustrates how managers can delegate their power and authority to employees.
Style of leadership
Relationship behaviour
| Immature Mature | Moderate | Low | |||||
M4 | M3 | M2 | M1 | ||||
End of syllabus
Initially, employees are told what to do according to the model. Through effective leadership and behaviour (task and relationship), employees gain maturity in the organisation. In the final stage, employees learn to carry out activities on their own with minimal intervention from management. Delegation takes place.
Summary of leadership theories
Theory | Contributors |
Trait theories | Kirkpatrick and Locke |
| Behavioural | Ohio and Michigan studies-Blake and Mouton |
| Style | Tannenbaum and Schmidt continuum |
| Contingency | Hershey and Blanchard Situational Leadership model |
