Introduction to Individual Behaviour
Personality
Attitudes
Perception
Attribution
Impression Management
Theories of Motivation
Learning and Reinforcement
Inter-personal relations
Managing Stress and Aggressive Bebahiour
Suggested Readings:
Luthans, Fred: Organizational Behaviour, McGraw Hill
Robbins, Stephen P.: Organizational Behaviour (12th edition), Prentcie Hall of IndiaSlocum, John W., and Hellriegel Don: Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Thomson Learning
Relevant journals/Business Magazines and Newspapers
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Individual Behaviour Handout # 1
Introduction to Individual Behaviour
What is behaviour?
Behaviour is the pattern of how a person responds to a stimulus.
Responses can be influenced by
Culture: the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.
Attitude: a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's like or dislike for an item; mental position relative to a way of thinking or being. The current popular usage of attitude implies a negative mindset, a "chip on the shoulder" behavior, and an inner anger toward the prevailing majority of thought.Emotion: a feeling that is private and subjective; a state of psychological arousal an expression or display of distinctive somatic and autonomic responses.
Values: beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something)Ethics: response based on what is right; the process of determining how one should hold the interests of various stakeholders, taking into account moral values/principles
Authority: the power or right to give orders or make decisionsCoercion: obtaining a response by use force; compelling a person to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats/intimidationPersuasion: obtaining a response by convincing a person; the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on "appeals" rather than force.
Genetics: inherited from parents; pertaining to genes or any of their effects.
Why to study Individual Behaviour?
Learn one’s own behaviour pattern
Interpret one’s own behaviour pattern
Take corrective measures to develop appropriate behaviour pattern for personal effectiveness
Develop Self Competency
Self Competency
Understanding one’s own personality
Taking responsibility for managing oneself
Assessing and establishing one’s own developmental, personal and work related goals
A Management Student should cultivate 6 basic competencies
Intellectual:
Information Collection
Problem Analysis
Creativity
Technical expertise
Judgment
Planning
Perspective
Learning Orientation
Numerical Interpretation
General Awareness
Personal:
Adaptability
Independence
Integrity
Stress Tolerance
Resilience
Detail Consciousness
Self-Management
Change-orientation
Communication:
Reading
Written Communication
Listening
Oral Expression
Oral Presentation
Interpersonal:
Impact
Persuasiveness
Sensitivity
Flexibility
Ascendancy
Negotiation
Leadership:
Organizing
Empowering
Appraising
Motivating others
Developing othersLeading
Result Orientation:
What is behaviour?
Behaviour is the pattern of how a person responds to a stimulus.
Responses can be influenced by
Culture: the shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and affective understanding that are learned through a process of socialization. These shared patterns identify the members of a culture group while also distinguishing those of another group.
Attitude: a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's like or dislike for an item; mental position relative to a way of thinking or being. The current popular usage of attitude implies a negative mindset, a "chip on the shoulder" behavior, and an inner anger toward the prevailing majority of thought.Emotion: a feeling that is private and subjective; a state of psychological arousal an expression or display of distinctive somatic and autonomic responses.
Values: beliefs of a person or social group in which they have an emotional investment (either for or against something)Ethics: response based on what is right; the process of determining how one should hold the interests of various stakeholders, taking into account moral values/principles
Authority: the power or right to give orders or make decisionsCoercion: obtaining a response by use force; compelling a person to behave in an involuntary way (whether through action or inaction) by use of threats/intimidationPersuasion: obtaining a response by convincing a person; the process of guiding people toward the adoption of an idea, attitude, or action by rational and symbolic (though not always logical) means. It is strategy of problem-solving relying on "appeals" rather than force.
Genetics: inherited from parents; pertaining to genes or any of their effects.
Why to study Individual Behaviour?
Learn one’s own behaviour pattern
Interpret one’s own behaviour pattern
Take corrective measures to develop appropriate behaviour pattern for personal effectiveness
Develop Self Competency
Self Competency
Understanding one’s own personality
Taking responsibility for managing oneself
Assessing and establishing one’s own developmental, personal and work related goals
A Management Student should cultivate 6 basic competencies
Intellectual:
Information Collection
Problem Analysis
Creativity
Technical expertise
Judgment
Planning
Perspective
Learning Orientation
Numerical Interpretation
General Awareness
Personal:
Adaptability
Independence
Integrity
Stress Tolerance
Resilience
Detail Consciousness
Self-Management
Change-orientation
Communication:
Reading
Written Communication
Listening
Oral Expression
Oral Presentation
Interpersonal:
Impact
Persuasiveness
Sensitivity
Flexibility
Ascendancy
Negotiation
Leadership:
Organizing
Empowering
Appraising
Motivating others
Developing othersLeading
Result Orientation:
Individual Behaviour Handout # 2
Personality
What is personality?
Personal characteristics that lead to consistent patterns of behavior
Observable patterns of behaviour that last over time (Trait theory)
How the unconscious of an individual reacts to stimuli (Psychoanalytic theory)
Self-actualization and the drive to realize one’s potential (Humanistic theory)
According to Slocum and Hellriegal, 'Personality represents the overall profile or combination of stable psychological attributes that capture the unique nature of a person. It combines a set of mental and physical characteristics that reflects how a person looks, thinks, acts and feels.' Fred Luthans has defined personality as people’s external appearance and traits, their inner awareness of self, and the person-situation interaction make up their personalities. S P Robbins observes that personality is ‘sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others’.
Four Personality Attributes
Internal Locus of Control: People who believe that they can control their own destinies are said to have internal locus of control
External Locus of Control: People who believe that things happen just by accident or chance are said to have external locus of control.
Authoritarianism: Following are the traits of an authoritarian person –
Intellectually rigid
Judgmental,
Suspicious,
Resistant to change,
Respects highly placed people
Exploits subordinates
Machiavellianism: Following are the traits of Machiavellian person –
Pragmatic
Keeps an emotional distance
Believes that ends justify means
Takes decision quickly
Takes greater risks
Personality types based on temperament
The sanguine type is cheerful and optimistic, pleasant to be with, comfortable with his or her work. According to the Greeks, the sanguine type has a particularly abundant supply of blood (hence the name sanguine, from sanguis, Latin for blood) and so also is characterized by a healthful look, including rosy cheeks.
The choleric type is characterized by a quick, hot temper, often an aggressive nature. The name refers to bile (a chemical that is excreted by the gall bladder to aid in digestion). Physical features of the choleric person include a yellowish complexion and tense muscles.
Phlegmatic temperament. These people are characterized by their slowness, laziness, and dullness. The name obviously comes from the word phlegm, which is the mucus we bring up from our lungs when we have a cold or lung infection. Physically, these people are thought to be kind of cold, and shaking hands with one is like shaking hands with a fish.
Melancholy temperament. These people tend to be sad, even depressed, and take a pessimistic view of the world. The name has, of course, been adopted as a synonym for sadness, but comes from the Greek words for black bile. Now, since there is no such thing, we don’t quite know what the ancient Greeks were referring to. But the melancholy person was thought to have too much of it!
What shapes personality?
Heredity: We inherit 60-70% abilities and intelligence About 50% of our overall personality 30-40% of our religious and political beliefs (Minnesota Studies); 30-50% shyness and tendency to get upset easily (Bouchard and others). Physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy levels etc are broadly attributed to biological factors. Parents’ biological, physiological and inherent psychological make-up contribute to an individual’s personality to a great extent. According to ‘Heredity’ approach, the ultimate explanation of an individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes.However, the critics observe that if personality characteristics were completely dictated by heredity, they would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience/learning could alter them. There are evidences to prove that experience and learning can shape one’s personality to a fairly great extent although changing physical features and personal disposition is not possible.
Socialization: Socialization involves learning the following:Social customsValuesNormsAttitudesRelationshipsHierarchiesStructures
Environment plays an important role in shaping one’s personality. People are greatly influenced by culture, values, traditions, formal and informal groups etc. More importantly, an individual learns to react to situations in a particular way as a result of socialization process one is exposed to.
Person-situation interaction: An individual’s personality, although generally stable and consistent, does change in different situations. Individuals react to different situations differently. Moreover, individuals may also react differently to an identical situation. Thus, person-situation interactions keep adding to overall development of one’s personality.
Personality Traits
The Big Five Personality Traits:
There are five core personality traits that best predict performance at the workplace. Although, the five traits are largely independent factors of personality, they operate alongside other traits to provide a unique mix of personality.
Following are the five core traits of personality:
Emotional stability: degree to which a person is relaxed, secure and unworried
High emotional stability: Stable, Confident, Effective
Low emotional stability: Nervous, self-doubting moody
Agreeableness: person’s ability to get along with others
High agreeableness: Warm, tactful, considerate
Low agreeableness: independent, cold, rude
Extraversion: person’s comfort level with relationship
High on extraversion:Gregarious, energetic, self-dramatizing Low on extraversion:Shy, unassertive, withdrawn
Conscientiousness: the number of goals on which a person focuses
High Conscientiousness: Careful, neat, dependable
Low Conscientiousness:Impulsive, careless, irresponsible
Openness: person’s curiosity and range of interests
High on openness: Imaginative, curious, original
Low on openness: Dull, unimaginative
What is personality?
Personal characteristics that lead to consistent patterns of behavior
Observable patterns of behaviour that last over time (Trait theory)
How the unconscious of an individual reacts to stimuli (Psychoanalytic theory)
Self-actualization and the drive to realize one’s potential (Humanistic theory)
According to Slocum and Hellriegal, 'Personality represents the overall profile or combination of stable psychological attributes that capture the unique nature of a person. It combines a set of mental and physical characteristics that reflects how a person looks, thinks, acts and feels.' Fred Luthans has defined personality as people’s external appearance and traits, their inner awareness of self, and the person-situation interaction make up their personalities. S P Robbins observes that personality is ‘sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others’.
Four Personality Attributes
Internal Locus of Control: People who believe that they can control their own destinies are said to have internal locus of control
External Locus of Control: People who believe that things happen just by accident or chance are said to have external locus of control.
Authoritarianism: Following are the traits of an authoritarian person –
Intellectually rigid
Judgmental,
Suspicious,
Resistant to change,
Respects highly placed people
Exploits subordinates
Machiavellianism: Following are the traits of Machiavellian person –
Pragmatic
Keeps an emotional distance
Believes that ends justify means
Takes decision quickly
Takes greater risks
Personality types based on temperament
The sanguine type is cheerful and optimistic, pleasant to be with, comfortable with his or her work. According to the Greeks, the sanguine type has a particularly abundant supply of blood (hence the name sanguine, from sanguis, Latin for blood) and so also is characterized by a healthful look, including rosy cheeks.
The choleric type is characterized by a quick, hot temper, often an aggressive nature. The name refers to bile (a chemical that is excreted by the gall bladder to aid in digestion). Physical features of the choleric person include a yellowish complexion and tense muscles.
Phlegmatic temperament. These people are characterized by their slowness, laziness, and dullness. The name obviously comes from the word phlegm, which is the mucus we bring up from our lungs when we have a cold or lung infection. Physically, these people are thought to be kind of cold, and shaking hands with one is like shaking hands with a fish.
Melancholy temperament. These people tend to be sad, even depressed, and take a pessimistic view of the world. The name has, of course, been adopted as a synonym for sadness, but comes from the Greek words for black bile. Now, since there is no such thing, we don’t quite know what the ancient Greeks were referring to. But the melancholy person was thought to have too much of it!
What shapes personality?
Heredity: We inherit 60-70% abilities and intelligence About 50% of our overall personality 30-40% of our religious and political beliefs (Minnesota Studies); 30-50% shyness and tendency to get upset easily (Bouchard and others). Physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy levels etc are broadly attributed to biological factors. Parents’ biological, physiological and inherent psychological make-up contribute to an individual’s personality to a great extent. According to ‘Heredity’ approach, the ultimate explanation of an individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the chromosomes.However, the critics observe that if personality characteristics were completely dictated by heredity, they would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience/learning could alter them. There are evidences to prove that experience and learning can shape one’s personality to a fairly great extent although changing physical features and personal disposition is not possible.
Socialization: Socialization involves learning the following:Social customsValuesNormsAttitudesRelationshipsHierarchiesStructures
Environment plays an important role in shaping one’s personality. People are greatly influenced by culture, values, traditions, formal and informal groups etc. More importantly, an individual learns to react to situations in a particular way as a result of socialization process one is exposed to.
Person-situation interaction: An individual’s personality, although generally stable and consistent, does change in different situations. Individuals react to different situations differently. Moreover, individuals may also react differently to an identical situation. Thus, person-situation interactions keep adding to overall development of one’s personality.
Personality Traits
The Big Five Personality Traits:
There are five core personality traits that best predict performance at the workplace. Although, the five traits are largely independent factors of personality, they operate alongside other traits to provide a unique mix of personality.
Following are the five core traits of personality:
Emotional stability: degree to which a person is relaxed, secure and unworried
High emotional stability: Stable, Confident, Effective
Low emotional stability: Nervous, self-doubting moody
Agreeableness: person’s ability to get along with others
High agreeableness: Warm, tactful, considerate
Low agreeableness: independent, cold, rude
Extraversion: person’s comfort level with relationship
High on extraversion:Gregarious, energetic, self-dramatizing Low on extraversion:Shy, unassertive, withdrawn
Conscientiousness: the number of goals on which a person focuses
High Conscientiousness: Careful, neat, dependable
Low Conscientiousness:Impulsive, careless, irresponsible
Openness: person’s curiosity and range of interests
High on openness: Imaginative, curious, original
Low on openness: Dull, unimaginative
Individual Behaviour Handout # 3
Attitude
What is attitude?
Attitude is a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object. Broadly speaking, attitudes are general evaluations that people make about themselves, others, objects or issues that develop from past experience, guide our current behavuiour and direct our development in future. These are relatively lasting feelings, beliefs, and behavior tendencies directed toward specific people, groups, ideas, issues, or objects. Attitude can also be defined as a multiplicative function of beliefs and values.
Attitudes consist of three components
Affective = feelings
Cognitive = beliefs
Behavioural = predispositions to act
Attitudes are a complex cognitive process that has three basic features:
they persist unless changed in some way,
they range along a continuum,
they are directed towards an object about which a person has feelings/beliefs
Does attitude influence human behaviour?
Attitudes do not normally predict or cause behaviour in a simple and direct way.
Three principles relate attitudes to behavior:
–General attitudes best predict general behaviors
–Specific attitudes best predict specific behaviors
–The less time that elapses between attitude measurement and behavior, the more consistent will be the relationship between them
What are various functions of attitudes?
According to D Katz, there are four functions of attitude:
Adjustment Function Attitudes often helps individuals adjust to their work environment. When employees are well treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude towards management and organization. When they are berated and given minimal salary increase, they develop negative attitude towards their management/organization. These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and are basis for their future behaviour.
Ego-defensive Function Attitudes help people in defending their own image. For instance, an older manager whose decisions are continuously challenged by a younger subordinate may feel that the latter is brash, cocky, immature, and inexperienced. In reality, the younger subordinate may be right in challenging the decisions. The older manager may not be an effective leader and may constantly make poor decisions. However, the older manager may not admit this. Rather he will protect his ego by putting the blame squarely on the younger subordinate. He will develop a negative attitude towards the younger subordinate. On the other hand, even the younger subordinate will develop a negative attitude towards the older manager. He will think that the boss is not doing his job properly. Thus he will protect his own ego.
Value-Expressive Function Attitudes provide people with a basis for expressing their values. For instance, a manager who believes strongly in the work ethic will tend to voice attitudes towards specific individuals or work practices as a means of reflecting this value. A supervisor who wants a subordinate to work harder may put it this way: ‘You have got to work harder. That has been a tradition of the company since its inception.
It helped us get where we are today.’
Knowledge Function Attitudes also provide standards and frames of references that allow people to organize their worldview and express them emphatically. For instance, a trade union leader may have a negative attitude toward management. This attitude may not be based on fact but it does help the individual relate to the management.
How attitudes are formed?
Social Learning: acquiring attitudes by way of social interactions and value system
Direct Experience
Modeling: acquiring attitudes by observing others.
What are job related attitudes?
Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. H M Weiss has been defined Job satisfaction as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job an affective reaction to one’s job and an attitude towards one’s job. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors, e.g. the quality of one's relationship with their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of fulfillment in their work, etc.
Mechanism of changing attitudes
Richard M Steers has suggested following methods of engineering attitude change
1. Providing new information
2. Fear arousal or reduction
3. Dissonance arousal (dissonance leads to inconsistencies in attitude and behaviour causing unpleasant feeling which results in change in attitude)
4. Position discrepancy
5. Participation in decision-making
Kelman has suggested the following processes to alter attitude:·
Compliance: applying subtle pressure on the individual to comply with a particular norm either by threat of punishment or by promise of reward·
Identification: Change agent influences the individual with his own attributes that is so powerful that people start identifying with him and following his way of looking at things.·
Internalization: new attitude is integrated with other attitude and becomes a part of individual’s personality.
What is attitude?
Attitude is a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some object. Broadly speaking, attitudes are general evaluations that people make about themselves, others, objects or issues that develop from past experience, guide our current behavuiour and direct our development in future. These are relatively lasting feelings, beliefs, and behavior tendencies directed toward specific people, groups, ideas, issues, or objects. Attitude can also be defined as a multiplicative function of beliefs and values.
Attitudes consist of three components
Affective = feelings
Cognitive = beliefs
Behavioural = predispositions to act
Attitudes are a complex cognitive process that has three basic features:
they persist unless changed in some way,
they range along a continuum,
they are directed towards an object about which a person has feelings/beliefs
Does attitude influence human behaviour?
Attitudes do not normally predict or cause behaviour in a simple and direct way.
Three principles relate attitudes to behavior:
–General attitudes best predict general behaviors
–Specific attitudes best predict specific behaviors
–The less time that elapses between attitude measurement and behavior, the more consistent will be the relationship between them
What are various functions of attitudes?
According to D Katz, there are four functions of attitude:
Adjustment Function Attitudes often helps individuals adjust to their work environment. When employees are well treated, they are likely to develop a positive attitude towards management and organization. When they are berated and given minimal salary increase, they develop negative attitude towards their management/organization. These attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and are basis for their future behaviour.
Ego-defensive Function Attitudes help people in defending their own image. For instance, an older manager whose decisions are continuously challenged by a younger subordinate may feel that the latter is brash, cocky, immature, and inexperienced. In reality, the younger subordinate may be right in challenging the decisions. The older manager may not be an effective leader and may constantly make poor decisions. However, the older manager may not admit this. Rather he will protect his ego by putting the blame squarely on the younger subordinate. He will develop a negative attitude towards the younger subordinate. On the other hand, even the younger subordinate will develop a negative attitude towards the older manager. He will think that the boss is not doing his job properly. Thus he will protect his own ego.
Value-Expressive Function Attitudes provide people with a basis for expressing their values. For instance, a manager who believes strongly in the work ethic will tend to voice attitudes towards specific individuals or work practices as a means of reflecting this value. A supervisor who wants a subordinate to work harder may put it this way: ‘You have got to work harder. That has been a tradition of the company since its inception.
It helped us get where we are today.’
Knowledge Function Attitudes also provide standards and frames of references that allow people to organize their worldview and express them emphatically. For instance, a trade union leader may have a negative attitude toward management. This attitude may not be based on fact but it does help the individual relate to the management.
How attitudes are formed?
Social Learning: acquiring attitudes by way of social interactions and value system
Direct Experience
Modeling: acquiring attitudes by observing others.
What are job related attitudes?
Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction describes how content an individual is with his or her job. H M Weiss has been defined Job satisfaction as a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job an affective reaction to one’s job and an attitude towards one’s job. Job satisfaction can be influenced by a variety of factors, e.g. the quality of one's relationship with their supervisor, the quality of the physical environment in which they work, degree of fulfillment in their work, etc.
Mechanism of changing attitudes
Richard M Steers has suggested following methods of engineering attitude change
1. Providing new information
2. Fear arousal or reduction
3. Dissonance arousal (dissonance leads to inconsistencies in attitude and behaviour causing unpleasant feeling which results in change in attitude)
4. Position discrepancy
5. Participation in decision-making
Kelman has suggested the following processes to alter attitude:·
Compliance: applying subtle pressure on the individual to comply with a particular norm either by threat of punishment or by promise of reward·
Identification: Change agent influences the individual with his own attributes that is so powerful that people start identifying with him and following his way of looking at things.·
Internalization: new attitude is integrated with other attitude and becomes a part of individual’s personality.
Individual Behaviour Handout # 4
Perception
What is perception?
Perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. The word perception comes from the Latin perception-, percepio, , meaning "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.
According to Stephen P Robbins, Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. The term originated from a Latin word ‘percepio’ meaning receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.
Fred Luthans has defned Perception as a complicated interactions of selection, organization and interpretation of stimuli. According to Luthans, the perceptual process comprises of External environment—Confrontation—Registration—Interpretation—Feedback—Behaviour—Consequence.Perceptual ProcessObjects in the environment—Observation—Perceptual Selection—Perceptual Organization—Interpretation—ResponsePerceptual SelectivityPerceptual selection is the process by which people filter out irrelevant or less significant information so that they can deal with the most important matters.Perceptual Selection is determined by
External Factors
Internal Factors
External Factors affecting perceptual selection:
Size: The larger the size, the more likely it is to be perceived. The tallest person in the office will invariably be noticed.
Intensity: The more intense an external factor (bright light, loud noise, high pitch sound etc.) the more likely it is to be perceived. One may notice that the TV commercials always have high pitch as compared to normal telecast.
Contrast: External factors that stand out against the background or things that are not which people expect are more likely to be perceived.
Motion: A moving factor is more likely to be perceived than stationary factor. Films (motion pictures) attract people more than a static picture.
Repetition: A repeated factor is more likely to be noticed. Marketing managers use this principle in trying to get attention of the prospective customers.
Novelty and familiarity: Either novelty or familiarity will can attract attention. People would quickly notice a person riding an elephant on a busy street in Delhi. On the other hand, one is likely to spot a familiar face in a crowd or a familiar voice even if there is a lot of noise and confusion.
A combination of these or similar factor may be operating at any time to affect perception. Along with the internal factors, they determine whether any particular stimulus is more or less likely to be noticed.
Internal factors affecting perceptual selection:
Personality: Personality has an interesting influence on what and how people perceive. For example, conscientious people tend to pay more attention to external environmental cues than does a less conscientious person. Less conscientious persons are impulsive, careless, and irresponsible. They see their environment as hectic and unstable which affects the way they make perceptual selections. On the other hand, more conscientious people organize their perceptions into neat categories, allowing themselves to retrieve data quickly and in an organized manner. In other words, they are careful, methodical, and disciplined in making perceptual selections.Learning: Learning determines the development of perceptual sets. A perceptual set is an expectation of a particular interpretation based on past experiences with the same or an identical object. In organizational settings, past experiences of the managers and employees influence their perceptions to a great extent.
Motivation: A person’s most urgent needs and desires at any particular time can influence perception. People perceive things that promise to help satisfy their needs and that they have found rewarding in the past. Also, according to Pollyanna principle, people process pleasant event more efficiently and accurately than they do unpleasant events. For example, an employee who receives both positive and negative feedback during the appraisal meeting may more easily and clearly remember the positive statements than the negative ones.
Perceptual Organization
Figure-ground: Perceived objects stand out as separable from their general background. In the context of organizations, a company may import a new technology in order to compete in the globalized economy. Here import of a new technology is a figure and global competitive environment is the background. The employees will immediately notice the installation of new technology whereas the global competitive environment is not visible by naked eyes.
Perceptual grouping: There is a general tendency among individuals to group several stimuli together into a recognizable pattern. There are certain underlying uniformities in grouping. When simple constellations of stimuli are presented to people, they tend to group them together by closure, continuity, proximity, and similarity.
Closure: An individual may perceive a whole while one actually does not exists. The person’s perceptual process closes the gaps that are unfilled by from sensory inputs. In a formal organization, employees may either see a ‘whole’ that does not exits or not be able to put the pieces together into a ‘whole’ that does exists. For example, head of a project team may take the view that the entire team agrees to his plan of action whereas there are differing views among the team members, which remains unarticulated in a formal manner. On the other hand, a functional team might view/perceive that their objectives are the objectives of the whole company.Continuity: An individual tend to perceive continuous lines/patterns. This leads to inflexible thinking on the part of organizational members (both managers and employees). Thus, only the obvious, continuous patterns or relationships are perceived. For example, a new design for some production process or product may be limited to obvious flows or continuous lines/patterns. New innovative ideas or designs may not be perceived.
Proximity: A group of stimuli that are close together will be perceived as a whole pattern of parts belonging together. For example, several employees in an organization may be identified as a single group because of physical proximity. Several workers who work on a particular process may be viewed as a single whole. If the output is low and the supervisor reports a number of grievances from the group, the management may perceive that all the workers working on that particular process are trouble makers whereas in some of them might be loyal and dedicated employees.
Similarity: The greater the similarity of stimuli, the greater is the tendency to perceive them as a common group. Similarity is conceptually related to proximity but in most cases stronger than proximity. In an organization, all employees who wear blue collars may be perceived as a common group, when in reality, each employee is a unique individual. This might also lead to perceptual error termed as stereotyping.
Perceptual Constancy: There are two issues. While objective reality of stimuli remains unchanged, people’s subjective reality also remains constant. That is, the individual is likely to give meaning to stimuli in the same way whenever exposed to them unless and until objective reality has been revealed more broadly by way of undoing the perceptual errors. For example, a manager in the company who believes that female employees are poor performers would continue to have the same perception until and unless the latter prove that they are better than their male colleagues.
Perceptual Context: It gives meaning and value to simple stimuli in the environment. The organizational culture and structure provide the primary context in which workers and managers perceive things. Thus, a verbal order, an e-mail message, a new policy, a suggestion, a raised eyebrow, a pat on the back takes on special meaning and value when placed in the context of work organization.
Perceptual Errors:
Accuracy of judgment:Similarity error: People are predisposed towards those having similar traits, socio-economic-cultural background.
Contrast error: People tend to compare among the available resources and thus arrive at a conclusion that might be far from the objective reality.
Race/gender/age bias: People’s perception may be tempered by their prejudices vis-à-vis race, gender, and age.First impression error: People may hold a long-term view about a person or thing based on first impression.
Perceptual defense: People tend to defend the way they perceive things. Once established, a person’s way of viewing the world may become highly resistant to change. Sometimes, perceptual defense may have negative consequences. This perceptual error can result in manager’s inability to perceive the need to be creative in solving problems. As a result, the individual simply proceeds as in the past even in the face of evidence that business as usual is not accomplishing anything worthwhile.Stereotyping: It is the belief that all members of a specific groups share similar traits and behaviour. Most often, a person is put into a stereotype because the perceiver knows only the overall category to which the person belongs. However, because each individual is unique, the real traits of the person are generally quite different from those that stereotype would suggest.
Halo effect: Under halo effect, a person is perceived on the basis of a single trait. It generally occurs during performance appraisal where the supervisor rates an employee on the basis of only one trait e.g. intelligence, punctuality, cooperativeness appearance etc.
Projection: It is the tendency of seeing one’s own traits in others. Thus, individuals project their own feelings, personality characteristics attitudes, or motives onto others. Projection may be especially strong for undesirable traits that the perceivers possess but fail to recognize in themselves. People whose personality traits include stingyness, obstinacy, and disorderliness tend to rate others higher on these traits than do people who do not have these traits.
What is perception?
Perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. The word perception comes from the Latin perception-, percepio, , meaning "receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.
According to Stephen P Robbins, Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment. The term originated from a Latin word ‘percepio’ meaning receiving, collecting, action of taking possession, apprehension with the mind or senses.
Fred Luthans has defned Perception as a complicated interactions of selection, organization and interpretation of stimuli. According to Luthans, the perceptual process comprises of External environment—Confrontation—Registration—Interpretation—Feedback—Behaviour—Consequence.Perceptual ProcessObjects in the environment—Observation—Perceptual Selection—Perceptual Organization—Interpretation—ResponsePerceptual SelectivityPerceptual selection is the process by which people filter out irrelevant or less significant information so that they can deal with the most important matters.Perceptual Selection is determined by
External Factors
Internal Factors
External Factors affecting perceptual selection:
Size: The larger the size, the more likely it is to be perceived. The tallest person in the office will invariably be noticed.
Intensity: The more intense an external factor (bright light, loud noise, high pitch sound etc.) the more likely it is to be perceived. One may notice that the TV commercials always have high pitch as compared to normal telecast.
Contrast: External factors that stand out against the background or things that are not which people expect are more likely to be perceived.
Motion: A moving factor is more likely to be perceived than stationary factor. Films (motion pictures) attract people more than a static picture.
Repetition: A repeated factor is more likely to be noticed. Marketing managers use this principle in trying to get attention of the prospective customers.
Novelty and familiarity: Either novelty or familiarity will can attract attention. People would quickly notice a person riding an elephant on a busy street in Delhi. On the other hand, one is likely to spot a familiar face in a crowd or a familiar voice even if there is a lot of noise and confusion.
A combination of these or similar factor may be operating at any time to affect perception. Along with the internal factors, they determine whether any particular stimulus is more or less likely to be noticed.
Internal factors affecting perceptual selection:
Personality: Personality has an interesting influence on what and how people perceive. For example, conscientious people tend to pay more attention to external environmental cues than does a less conscientious person. Less conscientious persons are impulsive, careless, and irresponsible. They see their environment as hectic and unstable which affects the way they make perceptual selections. On the other hand, more conscientious people organize their perceptions into neat categories, allowing themselves to retrieve data quickly and in an organized manner. In other words, they are careful, methodical, and disciplined in making perceptual selections.Learning: Learning determines the development of perceptual sets. A perceptual set is an expectation of a particular interpretation based on past experiences with the same or an identical object. In organizational settings, past experiences of the managers and employees influence their perceptions to a great extent.
Motivation: A person’s most urgent needs and desires at any particular time can influence perception. People perceive things that promise to help satisfy their needs and that they have found rewarding in the past. Also, according to Pollyanna principle, people process pleasant event more efficiently and accurately than they do unpleasant events. For example, an employee who receives both positive and negative feedback during the appraisal meeting may more easily and clearly remember the positive statements than the negative ones.
Perceptual Organization
Figure-ground: Perceived objects stand out as separable from their general background. In the context of organizations, a company may import a new technology in order to compete in the globalized economy. Here import of a new technology is a figure and global competitive environment is the background. The employees will immediately notice the installation of new technology whereas the global competitive environment is not visible by naked eyes.
Perceptual grouping: There is a general tendency among individuals to group several stimuli together into a recognizable pattern. There are certain underlying uniformities in grouping. When simple constellations of stimuli are presented to people, they tend to group them together by closure, continuity, proximity, and similarity.
Closure: An individual may perceive a whole while one actually does not exists. The person’s perceptual process closes the gaps that are unfilled by from sensory inputs. In a formal organization, employees may either see a ‘whole’ that does not exits or not be able to put the pieces together into a ‘whole’ that does exists. For example, head of a project team may take the view that the entire team agrees to his plan of action whereas there are differing views among the team members, which remains unarticulated in a formal manner. On the other hand, a functional team might view/perceive that their objectives are the objectives of the whole company.Continuity: An individual tend to perceive continuous lines/patterns. This leads to inflexible thinking on the part of organizational members (both managers and employees). Thus, only the obvious, continuous patterns or relationships are perceived. For example, a new design for some production process or product may be limited to obvious flows or continuous lines/patterns. New innovative ideas or designs may not be perceived.
Proximity: A group of stimuli that are close together will be perceived as a whole pattern of parts belonging together. For example, several employees in an organization may be identified as a single group because of physical proximity. Several workers who work on a particular process may be viewed as a single whole. If the output is low and the supervisor reports a number of grievances from the group, the management may perceive that all the workers working on that particular process are trouble makers whereas in some of them might be loyal and dedicated employees.
Similarity: The greater the similarity of stimuli, the greater is the tendency to perceive them as a common group. Similarity is conceptually related to proximity but in most cases stronger than proximity. In an organization, all employees who wear blue collars may be perceived as a common group, when in reality, each employee is a unique individual. This might also lead to perceptual error termed as stereotyping.
Perceptual Constancy: There are two issues. While objective reality of stimuli remains unchanged, people’s subjective reality also remains constant. That is, the individual is likely to give meaning to stimuli in the same way whenever exposed to them unless and until objective reality has been revealed more broadly by way of undoing the perceptual errors. For example, a manager in the company who believes that female employees are poor performers would continue to have the same perception until and unless the latter prove that they are better than their male colleagues.
Perceptual Context: It gives meaning and value to simple stimuli in the environment. The organizational culture and structure provide the primary context in which workers and managers perceive things. Thus, a verbal order, an e-mail message, a new policy, a suggestion, a raised eyebrow, a pat on the back takes on special meaning and value when placed in the context of work organization.
Perceptual Errors:
Accuracy of judgment:Similarity error: People are predisposed towards those having similar traits, socio-economic-cultural background.
Contrast error: People tend to compare among the available resources and thus arrive at a conclusion that might be far from the objective reality.
Race/gender/age bias: People’s perception may be tempered by their prejudices vis-à-vis race, gender, and age.First impression error: People may hold a long-term view about a person or thing based on first impression.
Perceptual defense: People tend to defend the way they perceive things. Once established, a person’s way of viewing the world may become highly resistant to change. Sometimes, perceptual defense may have negative consequences. This perceptual error can result in manager’s inability to perceive the need to be creative in solving problems. As a result, the individual simply proceeds as in the past even in the face of evidence that business as usual is not accomplishing anything worthwhile.Stereotyping: It is the belief that all members of a specific groups share similar traits and behaviour. Most often, a person is put into a stereotype because the perceiver knows only the overall category to which the person belongs. However, because each individual is unique, the real traits of the person are generally quite different from those that stereotype would suggest.
Halo effect: Under halo effect, a person is perceived on the basis of a single trait. It generally occurs during performance appraisal where the supervisor rates an employee on the basis of only one trait e.g. intelligence, punctuality, cooperativeness appearance etc.
Projection: It is the tendency of seeing one’s own traits in others. Thus, individuals project their own feelings, personality characteristics attitudes, or motives onto others. Projection may be especially strong for undesirable traits that the perceivers possess but fail to recognize in themselves. People whose personality traits include stingyness, obstinacy, and disorderliness tend to rate others higher on these traits than do people who do not have these traits.
Individual Behaviour Handout # 5
Attribution
What is attribution?
Attribution refers to our intuitive attempts to infer the causes of human behaviour. One of the major attribution tasks we face is determining whether an observed behaviour reflects something about the person or something about the situation in which we observe the person. We attribute as we seek to make sense of the world, assign people’s action/behaviour to either internal or external causes. Generally we attribute in a fairly logical way.
Attributions also implies the ways in which people come to understand the causes of their own and others’ behaviour. In essence, the attribution process reflects people’s need to explain events through deliberate actions of others rather than viewing them as random events.
Attribution Process
People make attributions in an attempt to understand why people behave as they do and to make better sense of their situations. Individuals do not consciously make attributions all the time although they may do it unconsciously most often. However, under certain circumstances, people are likely to make causal attributions consciously. For example, causal attributions are common in the following situations:
The perceiver has been asked an explicit question about another’s behaviour (Why did she/he do that?
An unexpected event occurs (I have never seen him behave that way. I wonder what is going on?
The perceiver depends on another person for desired outcomes. (I wonder why my boss made that comment about my expense account?)
The perceiver experiences feelings of filaure or loss of control. (I can’t believe, I failed in my public lecture assignment despite so much of preparation.
There are three steps involved in attribution process:
Antecedent –Factors internal to the perceiver: Information, Beliefs, Motivation
Attribution –made by the perceiver: Perceived causes of behaviour (such as internal versus external causes)
Consequences –for the perceiver: Behaviour, Feelings, and Expectations
Types of Attribution
There are two types of attributions: dispositional/internal and situational/external. In case of dispositional or internal attribution, we tend to attribute an observed behaviour to person’s beliefs, attitudes, and personality characteristics. On the other hand, we attribute any observed behaviour to a situation in case of situational/external attribution. Indeed, there is always some external cause leading to a particular behaviour. However, we overlook causal power of situations in our day-to-day reasoning. An individual’s behaviour is so compelling to us that we take it as a face value representation of a person and give insufficient weight to the circumstances surrounding it. We underestimate the situational causes of behaviour, jumping too easily to conclusions about the person’s disposition. If we observe someone behaving aggressively, we instantly assume that he or she has an aggressive personality.
The scenario when we underestimate the situational influence on behaviour and give credence to one’s personality leads to fundamental attribution error. We make fundamental attribution error so often because it is an over-learned, automatic process that frequently occurs outside our conscious awareness. We can correct our initial, automatic dispositional attributions with reference to plausible situational causes only when we have the cognitive resource to think deliberately and carefully.
Besides fundamental attribution error, another significant issue is that of self-serving bias. People readily accept credit when told that they have succeeded (attributing the success to their ability and effort), yet often attribute failure to such external situational factors as bad luck, or the problem’s inherent impossibility.
Harold Kelley’s Model of Attribution
Kelley’s model is based on three broad concepts:
Consistency: the extent to which the person perceived behaves in the same manner on other occasions when faced with the same situation.
Distinctiveness: the extent to which the person perceived acts in the same manner in different situations.
Consensus: the extent to which others, when faced with similar situation behave in the manner similar to that of the perceiver.
Kelley provides a framework to adjudge whether the cause of poor performance can be attributed to internal or external factors.
Kelley has explained his model through an example of poor performance of a subordinate
Co-workers are also performing poorly—High Consensus
The subordinate performed poorly only during this time—Low Consistency
The subordinate does well on other tasks—High distinctiveness
Co-workers are performing very well on this particular task—Low consensus
The subordinate does not do well on this task at any time—High consistency
The subordinate does poorly on other tasks as well—Low distinctiveness
Following inferences can be made by using Kelley’s model of attribution
Behaviour--------------------Attribution
High consensus--------------External
Low consistency-------------External
High distinctiveness---------External
Low Consensus-------------Internal
High Consistency-----------Internal
Low distinctiveness---------Internal
What is attribution?
Attribution refers to our intuitive attempts to infer the causes of human behaviour. One of the major attribution tasks we face is determining whether an observed behaviour reflects something about the person or something about the situation in which we observe the person. We attribute as we seek to make sense of the world, assign people’s action/behaviour to either internal or external causes. Generally we attribute in a fairly logical way.
Attributions also implies the ways in which people come to understand the causes of their own and others’ behaviour. In essence, the attribution process reflects people’s need to explain events through deliberate actions of others rather than viewing them as random events.
Attribution Process
People make attributions in an attempt to understand why people behave as they do and to make better sense of their situations. Individuals do not consciously make attributions all the time although they may do it unconsciously most often. However, under certain circumstances, people are likely to make causal attributions consciously. For example, causal attributions are common in the following situations:
The perceiver has been asked an explicit question about another’s behaviour (Why did she/he do that?
An unexpected event occurs (I have never seen him behave that way. I wonder what is going on?
The perceiver depends on another person for desired outcomes. (I wonder why my boss made that comment about my expense account?)
The perceiver experiences feelings of filaure or loss of control. (I can’t believe, I failed in my public lecture assignment despite so much of preparation.
There are three steps involved in attribution process:
Antecedent –Factors internal to the perceiver: Information, Beliefs, Motivation
Attribution –made by the perceiver: Perceived causes of behaviour (such as internal versus external causes)
Consequences –for the perceiver: Behaviour, Feelings, and Expectations
Types of Attribution
There are two types of attributions: dispositional/internal and situational/external. In case of dispositional or internal attribution, we tend to attribute an observed behaviour to person’s beliefs, attitudes, and personality characteristics. On the other hand, we attribute any observed behaviour to a situation in case of situational/external attribution. Indeed, there is always some external cause leading to a particular behaviour. However, we overlook causal power of situations in our day-to-day reasoning. An individual’s behaviour is so compelling to us that we take it as a face value representation of a person and give insufficient weight to the circumstances surrounding it. We underestimate the situational causes of behaviour, jumping too easily to conclusions about the person’s disposition. If we observe someone behaving aggressively, we instantly assume that he or she has an aggressive personality.
The scenario when we underestimate the situational influence on behaviour and give credence to one’s personality leads to fundamental attribution error. We make fundamental attribution error so often because it is an over-learned, automatic process that frequently occurs outside our conscious awareness. We can correct our initial, automatic dispositional attributions with reference to plausible situational causes only when we have the cognitive resource to think deliberately and carefully.
Besides fundamental attribution error, another significant issue is that of self-serving bias. People readily accept credit when told that they have succeeded (attributing the success to their ability and effort), yet often attribute failure to such external situational factors as bad luck, or the problem’s inherent impossibility.
Harold Kelley’s Model of Attribution
Kelley’s model is based on three broad concepts:
Consistency: the extent to which the person perceived behaves in the same manner on other occasions when faced with the same situation.
Distinctiveness: the extent to which the person perceived acts in the same manner in different situations.
Consensus: the extent to which others, when faced with similar situation behave in the manner similar to that of the perceiver.
Kelley provides a framework to adjudge whether the cause of poor performance can be attributed to internal or external factors.
Kelley has explained his model through an example of poor performance of a subordinate
Co-workers are also performing poorly—High Consensus
The subordinate performed poorly only during this time—Low Consistency
The subordinate does well on other tasks—High distinctiveness
Co-workers are performing very well on this particular task—Low consensus
The subordinate does not do well on this task at any time—High consistency
The subordinate does poorly on other tasks as well—Low distinctiveness
Following inferences can be made by using Kelley’s model of attribution
Behaviour--------------------Attribution
High consensus--------------External
Low consistency-------------External
High distinctiveness---------External
Low Consensus-------------Internal
High Consistency-----------Internal
Low distinctiveness---------Internal
Individual Behaviour Handout # 6
Impression Management
What is impression management?
Connotations of Impression include feeling, idea, notion, thought, sense, intuition, inkling, hunch, and consciousness.
Impression management on the hand, is the process by which a person knowingly attempts to influence the perception of the other about him/her. It is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction. It is usually synonymous with self-presentation, if a person tries to influence the perception of their image.
It can also be defined as an attempt by an individual to manipulate or control the impression that others form about them. They are especially likely to use these tactics when talking with people who have power over them or on whom they are dependent for promotions and key assignments.
And while the term 'impression management' may sound like just a buzzword, the concept has been around for quite a long time. In fact, Benjamin Franklin wrote quite candidly about impression management in his autobiography, first published in 1868. He writes: "In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I dressed plainly; I was seen at no places of idle diversion… and, to show that I was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchased at the stores through the streets on a wheelbarrow."
Still good ideas today! Another example: Dale Carnegie's long-time bestseller How to Win Friends and Influence People was first published in 1936, going on to sell over 15 million copies. Similarly, Harrison Monarth’s book The Confident Speaker helps presenters of today manage the impressions of audiences everywhere. Impression management has clearly been around for quite awhile, undoubtedly long before Benjamin Franklin. However, in today's branding oriented world, it's more critical to success than ever. Organizations worldwide devote much of their efforts to actively managing their brands and reputations. And just like the smart corporate players - managers, employees and entrepreneurs should also seek to manage their reputations and the impressions they leave on people – their own personal brands.
Factors that provides direction to Impression Management
Self-concept
Desired/Undesired Identity
Role Constraints
Targets’ Values
Current Social Image
Impression Management Techniques
Behavioural Matching: Person matches his behaviour to that of the perceiver. For example, employee tries to imitate her manager’s behaviour by being aggressive and fast paced.
Self-promotion: The person tries to present her personal attributes in a highly positive and exaggerated way. For example, employee reminds her boss about her previous accomplishments and associate with co-workers who are valued.
Conforming to Norms: Person follows agreed upon norms for behaviour in the organization. For example, employee stays late at night even if she has completed all her assignments because staying late is one of the norms of her organization.
Flattering others: Person compliments others profusely. But beyond a certain limit, the person is exposed.
Being Consistent: Person’s belief and behaviour are consistent.
Face-saving: Person apologies in case he has committed some mistakes.
Maintain a professional and well-groomed physical appearance: If you want a star role, you have to dress the part! In the career world, this means dressing professionally and attractively, exemplifying whatever dress code is appropriate for your particular workplace. While you usually won't be expected to wear the latest fashions, your clothes should be clean, pressed, and relatively new. Your personal appearance should also be neat and clean. This communicates the message that you are aware how you come across and committed to putting your best foot forward.
Use appropriate and positive body language: Develop body language that is both welcoming and confident. Maintain comfortable eye contact. Smile when it's appropriate, whether it’s the “social” smile or an authentic smile of joy. Reflect your self-confidence and self-esteem by standing straight and tall, with great posture and your head held high. Offer a firm handshake. Discuss ideas with open palms.
Develop relationships at the office: Strengthen your position in the team by cultivating friendly and positive relationships with your coworkers and superiors. This doesn't necessarily mean schmoozing, or professing your love for cats to your cat-loving boss – even though you’re allergic to felines. Chances are, you have at least one or two things in common with everyone at your office. Look for these shared interests or experiences, and use them as an opportunity to genuinely relate to your coworkers.
Be a team player: Be willing to cover your teammates' or your bosses' backs once in a while. This doesn't mean consistently taking the fall for someone else's incompetence; however, mistakes do happen, sometimes at inopportune times. If you can help minimize the fallout, you should do so. By helping your coworkers maintain their professional reputations, you'll earn their gratitude and respect, and they'll be more inclined to do the same for you in a similar situation. Besides, it's the golden rule.
Demotion preventive strategies
Accounts: Person explains the reasons of his/her failure
Apologies: Person simply apologies for his/her mistakes
Dissociation: Person dissociate himself from the group on the pretext that his voice/suggestions are unheard and that is why he should not be party to eventual failure of the project.
Promotion enhancing strategies
Entitlements: Person claims certain incentives/non-monetary reward as a matter of right after the project has succeeded.
Enhancements: Person asks for increasing incentives/non-monetary reward as he/she thinks that his/her efforts have not been compensated properly.
Obstacle disclosure: Person discloses the obstacles encountered during project implementation so as to claim better appreciation for his/her efforts.
Creating a politically correct impression
Frame arguments in terms of organizational goals
Develop right image
Gain control of organizational resources
Make yourself appear indispensable
Be visible
Develop powerful allies
Avoid tainted members
Support your boss
What is impression management?
Connotations of Impression include feeling, idea, notion, thought, sense, intuition, inkling, hunch, and consciousness.
Impression management on the hand, is the process by which a person knowingly attempts to influence the perception of the other about him/her. It is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating and controlling information in social interaction. It is usually synonymous with self-presentation, if a person tries to influence the perception of their image.
It can also be defined as an attempt by an individual to manipulate or control the impression that others form about them. They are especially likely to use these tactics when talking with people who have power over them or on whom they are dependent for promotions and key assignments.
And while the term 'impression management' may sound like just a buzzword, the concept has been around for quite a long time. In fact, Benjamin Franklin wrote quite candidly about impression management in his autobiography, first published in 1868. He writes: "In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I dressed plainly; I was seen at no places of idle diversion… and, to show that I was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchased at the stores through the streets on a wheelbarrow."
Still good ideas today! Another example: Dale Carnegie's long-time bestseller How to Win Friends and Influence People was first published in 1936, going on to sell over 15 million copies. Similarly, Harrison Monarth’s book The Confident Speaker helps presenters of today manage the impressions of audiences everywhere. Impression management has clearly been around for quite awhile, undoubtedly long before Benjamin Franklin. However, in today's branding oriented world, it's more critical to success than ever. Organizations worldwide devote much of their efforts to actively managing their brands and reputations. And just like the smart corporate players - managers, employees and entrepreneurs should also seek to manage their reputations and the impressions they leave on people – their own personal brands.
Factors that provides direction to Impression Management
Self-concept
Desired/Undesired Identity
Role Constraints
Targets’ Values
Current Social Image
Impression Management Techniques
Behavioural Matching: Person matches his behaviour to that of the perceiver. For example, employee tries to imitate her manager’s behaviour by being aggressive and fast paced.
Self-promotion: The person tries to present her personal attributes in a highly positive and exaggerated way. For example, employee reminds her boss about her previous accomplishments and associate with co-workers who are valued.
Conforming to Norms: Person follows agreed upon norms for behaviour in the organization. For example, employee stays late at night even if she has completed all her assignments because staying late is one of the norms of her organization.
Flattering others: Person compliments others profusely. But beyond a certain limit, the person is exposed.
Being Consistent: Person’s belief and behaviour are consistent.
Face-saving: Person apologies in case he has committed some mistakes.
Maintain a professional and well-groomed physical appearance: If you want a star role, you have to dress the part! In the career world, this means dressing professionally and attractively, exemplifying whatever dress code is appropriate for your particular workplace. While you usually won't be expected to wear the latest fashions, your clothes should be clean, pressed, and relatively new. Your personal appearance should also be neat and clean. This communicates the message that you are aware how you come across and committed to putting your best foot forward.
Use appropriate and positive body language: Develop body language that is both welcoming and confident. Maintain comfortable eye contact. Smile when it's appropriate, whether it’s the “social” smile or an authentic smile of joy. Reflect your self-confidence and self-esteem by standing straight and tall, with great posture and your head held high. Offer a firm handshake. Discuss ideas with open palms.
Develop relationships at the office: Strengthen your position in the team by cultivating friendly and positive relationships with your coworkers and superiors. This doesn't necessarily mean schmoozing, or professing your love for cats to your cat-loving boss – even though you’re allergic to felines. Chances are, you have at least one or two things in common with everyone at your office. Look for these shared interests or experiences, and use them as an opportunity to genuinely relate to your coworkers.
Be a team player: Be willing to cover your teammates' or your bosses' backs once in a while. This doesn't mean consistently taking the fall for someone else's incompetence; however, mistakes do happen, sometimes at inopportune times. If you can help minimize the fallout, you should do so. By helping your coworkers maintain their professional reputations, you'll earn their gratitude and respect, and they'll be more inclined to do the same for you in a similar situation. Besides, it's the golden rule.
Demotion preventive strategies
Accounts: Person explains the reasons of his/her failure
Apologies: Person simply apologies for his/her mistakes
Dissociation: Person dissociate himself from the group on the pretext that his voice/suggestions are unheard and that is why he should not be party to eventual failure of the project.
Promotion enhancing strategies
Entitlements: Person claims certain incentives/non-monetary reward as a matter of right after the project has succeeded.
Enhancements: Person asks for increasing incentives/non-monetary reward as he/she thinks that his/her efforts have not been compensated properly.
Obstacle disclosure: Person discloses the obstacles encountered during project implementation so as to claim better appreciation for his/her efforts.
Creating a politically correct impression
Frame arguments in terms of organizational goals
Develop right image
Gain control of organizational resources
Make yourself appear indispensable
Be visible
Develop powerful allies
Avoid tainted members
Support your boss
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