Human Behavior in Organizations

Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
3. As brains – inventive and rational, resilient and
Topic Outline
flexible
1. Introduction to OB 4. As cultures – values, principles, attributed ways
2. Understanding People at Work: Individual
of thinking
Differences
3. Perception 5. As political systems – power, authority,
4. Attitude at Work responsibility, political activity, patronage, etc.
5. Motivation 6. As psychic prisons – members are confined by
their own representation to the outside world and
INTRODUCTION TO OB by the distortions of their own culture
7. As flux and transformation – changing all the
ORGANIZATION
time, generative processes (how it develops,
• Entity – such as a company, an institution, or an grows and regenerates)
association. 8. As vehicles of domination – they impose their
• Comprising two or more people and having a will on others
particular purpose.
• Refers to a collection of people who are WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
involved in pursuing defined objectives.
• The systematic study and application of
• “Social System” comprises all formal human knowledge about how individuals and
relationships. groups act within the organizations where
• Encompasses division of work among they work.
employees and alignment of tasks towards • OB draws from other disciplines to create a
the ultimate goal of the company. unique field.
• The process of identifying and grouping the • Those who study organizational behavior are
work to be performed, defining and interested in several outcomes such as work
delegating responsibility and authority, and attitudes.
establishing relationships for the purpose of
• A distinction is made in OB regarding which level
enabling people to work most effectively
of the organization is being studied at any given
together in accomplishing objectives.
time.
• Collectivity with a relatively identifiable o Three key levels of analysis in OB.
boundary; a normative order (rules); ranks of 1. Examining the individual
authority (hierarchy); communications 2. Examining the group
systems, and membership coordinating 3. Examining the organization
systems (procedures); this collectivity exists on
a relatively continuous basis, in an environment, WHY OB MATTERS?
and engages in activities that are usually related
to a set of goals; the activities have outcomes for OB matters at three critical levels.
organizational members, for the organization
itself, and for society (Hall). 1. All about things you care about. OB can help
you become a more engaged organizational
WHY STUDY ORGANIZATIONS? member.
2. Employers care about OB.
• Organizations are a dominant component of a
contemporary society. The following were the top five personal
• We study organizations because they have qualities/skills:
outcomes.
1. Communication Skills (verbal and
written)
ORGANIZATIONS AS METAPHORS
2. Honesty/Integrity
1. Organizations as machines – with structures, 3. Interpersonal Skills (relates well to
levels and routines others)
2. As organism – adaptive 4. Motivation/Initiative
Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
5. Strong Work Ethic Rokeach’s hierarchy of values:

3. Employers care about OB. The best TV: a world of beauty; an exciting life; family security;
companies in the world understand that the inner harmony; self-respect
people make the place. Organizations that value
IV: broadminded; clean; forgiving; imaginative; obedient
their employees are more profitable than those
that do not. Research indicates that values are shaped early in
life and show stability over the course of a lifetime.
UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE AT WORK:
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES • Generation Xers (those born between the mid-
1960s and 1980s) are more individualistic and
INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE: THE ROLE are interested in working toward
OF FIT organizational goals so long as they coincide
with their personal goals.
When hiring employees, companies are interested in
• Baby boomers (born between the 1940s and
assessing at least two types of fit:
1960s), are also less likely to see work as
1. Person-Organization Fit – refers to the degree central to their life and more likely to desire
to which a person’s values personality, quick promotions.
goals, and other characteristics match those
What do millennials want from an employer?
of the organization.
2. Person-Job Fit – is the degree to which a 1. A company with a clear mission
person’s skills, knowledge, abilities, and 2. A company that values collaboration, innovation,
other characteristics match the job demands. and an investment in professional development
and the employee experience.
VALUES AND PERSONALITY 3. A management team that is committed to
employee success.
• Refer to stable life goals that people have,
reflecting what is most important to them. 4. A flexible work schedule and remote work
opportunities.
• Established throughout one’s life as a result of
5. Healthy Work-Life integration.
the accumulating life experiences and tend to be
relatively stable
BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS
• The values that are important to people tend to
affect the types of decisions they make, how Trait Description
they perceive their environment, and their actual
Openness Being curious, original,
behaviors. intellectual, creative, and
• Value attainment is one reason why people open to new ideas
stay in a company.
Conscientiousness Being organized,
systematic, punctual,
TYPOLOGIES OF VALUES achievement oriented and
dependable
• Personality encompasses the relatively stable
feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a Extraversion Being outgoing, talkative,
sociable, and enjoying
person has.
social situations
Terminal values (TV): end states people desire in life Agreeableness Being affable, tolerant,
such as leading a prosperous life and a world at sensitive, trusting, kind,
peace. and warm
Neuroticism Being anxious, irritable,
Instrumental values (IV): deal with views on temperamental, and
acceptable modes of conduct, such as being honest moody
and ethical, and being ambitious.

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR Proactive personality: refers to a person’s inclination
to fix what is perceived as wrong, change the status
SUMMARY OF MBTI TYPES quo, and use initiative to solve problems.
Dimension Explanation
Self-esteem: is the degree to which a person has
EI Extraversion: Those Introversion: those who overall positive feelings about his or herself.
who derive energy derive their energy from
from other people inside Self-efficacy: is a belief that one can perform a
and objects
specific task successfully.
SN Sensing: Those who Intuition: those who rely
rely on their give on their intuitions and Locus of control: deals with the degree to which
senses to perceive hunches to perceive the people feel accountable for own behaviors.
the external external environment
environment
PERCEPTION
TF Thinking: those who Feelings: those who use
use their logic to their values and ideas Perception: the process with which individuals
arrive at conclusions about what is right and detect and interpret environmental stimuli.
wrong to arrive at
solutions VISUAL PERCEPTION
JP Judgment: those Perception: those who
who are organized, are curious, open Our visual perception goes beyond the physical
systematic, and minded and prefer to information available to us as we extrapolate from
would like to have have some ambiguity the information available to us.
clarity and closure

PSYCHOLOGICAL TYPE SURVEY SELF-PERCEPTION

Positive and Negative Affectivity Self-enhancement bias: the tendency to

overestimate our performance and capabilities and
• Behavior is also a function of moods. see ourselves in a more positive light than others
see us.
Positive affective people experience positive moods
more frequently, whereas negative affective people Self-effacement bias: the tendency for people to
experience negative moods with greater frequency. underestimate their performance, undervalue
capabilities, and see events in a way that puts them
Negative people focus on the “glass half empty” and in a more negative light.
experience more anxiety and nervousness while positive
affective people tend to be happier at work and their FALSE CONSENSUS ERROR
happiness spreads to the rest of the work environment.
Overestimating how similar we are to other people,
Tips on how to work with people with negative assuming that whatever quirks we have are shared by a
affectivity larger number of people than in reality.

1. Understand that you are unlikely to change The problem for behavior in organizations is that,
someone else’s personality. when people believe that a behavior is common and
2. Keep an open mind. normal, they may repeat the behavior more freely
3. Set a time limit. which may lead to high level of unethical or even illegal
4. You may empower them to act on the negatives behaviors.
they mention.
5. Ask for specifics. SOCIAL PERCEPTION

Self-monitoring: refers to the extent to which a The study of how people form impressions and make
person is capable of monitoring his or her actions inferences about other people as sovereign
and appearance in social situations. personalities, where they learn about the feelings and
emotions of others by collecting the information they
Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
gather from physical appearance, verbal and non-verbal • If you believe that a behavior is due to the
communication. Facial expressions, tone of voice, hand internal characteristics of an actor, you are
gestures, and body position or movement are just a few making an internal attribution.
examples. • An external attribution is explaining someone’s
behavior by referring to the situation.
STEREOTYPES
3 factors of attribution
• Are generalizations based on group
characteristics 1. Consensus – do other people behave the same
• They can be positive, negative, or neutral. way?
• What makes stereotypes potentially 2. Distinctiveness – does this person behave the
discriminatory and a perceptual bias is the same way across different
tendency to generalize from a group to a situations?
particular individual. 3. Consistency – does this person behave this
way in different occasions in the same situation?
COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL PERCEPTION
Consensu Distinctivenes Consistenc Attributio
1. Observation s s y n
1.1 People-physical influence High High Low External
Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency
• As social perceivers, we cannot help being Everyone This person This person
influenced by hair, color, height, weight, style of else does not does not
clothing, tone of voice, etc. making a first behaves usually behave usually
impression. the same this way in behave this
• Certain facial features are associated with way different way in this
situations situation
specific personality types.
Low Low High Internal
1.2 Situations – context of experiences Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency
No one This person Every time
• People are able to easily predict the sequences else usually this person
or outcomes of an event based on the scope behaves behaves this is in this
and depth of their past experiences with a the same way in different situation, he
similar event. way situations or she acts
• The ability to anticipate the outcomes of a the same
way
situation is also highly influenced by an
individual’s cultural background, as this 4. Integration
inevitably shapes the types of experiences.
Information integration theory
• Situational observations lead humans to have
pre-established notions about certain events or • Developed by Norman Anderson, a social
to explain the causes of human behaviors. psychologist.
1.3 Behaviors and non-verbal communication • This theory states that impressions are made
from the personal dispositions of the
• Non-verbal communication helps people perceiver and a weighted average of the
express their emotions, attitudes and characteristics of the target individual.
personalities. The most dominant form of non-
The differences between the perceivers are due to the
verbal communication is the use of facial
fact that people use themselves as a standard or frame
expressions to channel different emotions.
of reference when judging or evaluating others, they
2. Attribution: the causal explanation we give
tend to see that their own abilities and traits are
for an observed behavior.
favorable for others to have them as well. These

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
impressions formed on others can be influenced by the Implications:
current and temporary mood of the perceiver.
• Attitudes are learned - this means that
5. Confirmation attitudes get formed on the basis of some
experience with or information about the object.
KEY TAKEAWAY • Attitudes are predispositions and reside in
the mind of the individual.
• While perceiving our surroundings, we go
• Attitudes cause consistent response - This
beyond the objective information available to us,
means attitudes precede and produce behavior.
and our perception is affected by our values,
needs, and emotions.
3 COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE:
• There are many biases that affect human
perception of objects, self, and others. When 1. Cognitive: what a person believes about the
perceiving the physical environment, we fill in source of the attitude
gaps and extrapolate from the available 2. Affective: how a person feels about the source
information. of the attitude
• We also contrast physical objects to their 3. Behavioral: how a person acts towards the
surroundings and may perceive something as source of the attitude
bigger, smaller, slower, or faster than it really is.
• In self-perception, we may commit the self- When attitude predicts behavior
enhancement or self-effacement bias,
Initial Attitude: I do not like psychology.
depending on our personality. We also
overestimate how much we are like other Cognitive: I believe psychology is uninteresting.
people.
• When perceiving others, stereotypes infect our Affective: Being in this psychology class makes me
behavior. Stereotypes may lead to self-fulfilling angry (or bored)
prophecies. Stereotypes are perpetuated
because of our tendency to pay selective Behavioral: I stop attending my psychology class.
attention to aspects of the environment and
Consequence: I did not become a psychology major
ignore information inconsistent with our beliefs.
When perceiving others, the attributions we • There is a high degree of overlap between job
make will determine how we respond to the satisfaction and organizational commitment
situation. Understanding the perception process because things that make us happy with our job
gives us clues to understand human behavior. often make us more committed to the
company as well.
ATTITUDE AT WORK • Companies believe that these attitudes are
worth tracking because they are often
• Human beings can alter their lives by altering
associated with important outcomes such as
their attitudes of mind.
performance, helping others, absenteeism, and
• The only disability in life is bad attitude.
turnover.
ATTITUDE
HOW STRONG IS THE ATTITUDE -BEHAVIOR
• Refers to our opinions, beliefs, and feelings LINK?
about aspects of our environment.
1. Your attitude toward your colleagues may
• The favorable or unfavorable evaluative
influence whether you actually help them on a
reaction toward something or someone that
project, but they may not be a good predictor of
is developed, maintained, and changed via the
whether you will quit your job.
interactive relationship among one’s thoughts,
2. It is worth noting that attitudes are more strongly
feelings, and behavior.
related to intentions to behave in certain way,
rather than actual behavior. For example, when

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
you are dissatisfied with your job, you may have
Organizational justice
the intention to leave. Whether you actually
leave is a different story as leaving will depend Work relationships
on many factors: availability of alternative jobs, Stress
your employability, and sacrifices you have to Work-life balance
make while changing your jobs.
1. Personality – positive affective disposition;
3. Behavior is also strongly influenced by
neurotic personality (moody, temperamental,
situational constraints.
critical of themselves and others);
Two job attitudes that have the greatest potential to conscientiousness, self-esteem, locus of control
influence how we behave: and extraversion are related to positive work
attitudes
1. Job satisfaction 2. Person-environment fit – abilities matching
2. Organizational commitment job demands and personal values match
organizational values
JOB SATISFACTION 3. Job Characteristics – use of variety of skills;
having autonomy at work; receiving
• Refers to the feelings people have toward feedback; and performing a significant task;
their job. high growth need.
• It is probably the most important job attitude. 4. Psychological Contract – an unwritten
understanding about what the employee will
Organizational commitment is the emotional
bring to the work environment and what the
attachment people have toward the company they
company will provide in exchange.
work for.
5. Organizational Justice – level of how fairly
people are treated; fairness of company
HOW CAN YOU BE HAPPIER AT WORK?
policies and procedures, treatment from
1. The role personality. Having a positive attitude supervisors, and pay and other rewards they
about it. receive from the company.
2. A good fit with the job and company is 6. Relationship at Work – referring to
important to one’s happiness. relationship with coworkers and managers –
3. Get accurate information about the job and people they interact with, their degree of
the company. compassion, level of social acceptance in their
4. Develop good relationships at work. (friends, work group, and whether they are treated with
mentors, social network) respect.
5. Pay is important, but job characteristics matter 7. Stress – the amount of stress is related to
more to satisfaction and commitment: experiencing
6. Being proactive in managing organizational role ambiguity (vagueness of responsibilities),
life. (time management, good social network, role conflict (contradictory demands at work) and
being proactive in getting to the source of stress, organizational politics; and job security. On the
ask for directions) other hand, working under time pressure and
7. Know when to leave. (after extended period of having high degree of responsibility are stressful
time and there is little hope of solving the yet they can be perceived as challenges and
problems) tend to be related to high levels of satisfaction.
8. Work-Life Balance
WHAT CAUSE POSITIVE WORK ATTITUDES?
CONSEQUENCES OF POSITIVE WORK
Personality Job Satisfaction ATTITUDES
Person-environment fit Organizational
Commitment 1. High/er work performance, more engaged and
Job characteristics motivated to work
Psychological contract 2. Organizational citizenship behavior - behaviors
that are not part of the job but are valuable to the
Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
organization, such as helping new employees or • Advising management on compliance needs
working voluntary overtime • Assisting in financial activities such as running
3. Absent less frequently and for shorter duration, payroll and generating invoices
and demonstrate less aggression at work.
4. Likely to stay with a company longer BOOKKEEPER QUALIFICATIONS
5. On firm-level outcomes, positive work attitudes
are related to customer satisfaction and loyalty, Qualifications vary based on organization’s needs.
profitability, and safety in the workplace
• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or
related discipline
ASSESSING WORK ATTITUDES
• CPA is desirable
1. Attitude survey • Previous bookkeeping experience preferred
2. Exit interview • Experience working in a fast-paced environment

JOB PERFORMANCE BOOKKEEPER SKILLS

1. Or in-role performance, refers to the Here is a list of desired bookkeeper skills. Again, include
performance level on factors included in the what is relevant to your company.
job description.
2. Measures of job performance included the • Basic accounting knowledge
quantity and quality of work performed by • Understanding of industry benchmarks in
the employee, the accuracy and speech with accounting best practices
which the job is performed, and the overall • Knowledge of industry-standard accounting
effectiveness of the person performing the job. frameworks
3. Job performance determines whether the • Expertise in Microsoft Excel or any other
person is promoted; rewarded with pay spreadsheet
raises, given additional responsibilities, or • Establishing accounts
fired from the job. • Developing standards
• Data entry
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A • Deep understanding of accounting principles
BOOKKEEPER • Confidentiality
• Establishing different accounts • Attention to detail
• Maintaining records of financial transactions by • Comfortable dealing with huge volumes of
posting and verifying complex data
• Defining bookkeeping policies and procedures
MAJOR PREDICTORS OF JOB PERFORMANC E
• Developing systems to account for financial
transactions by establishing a chart of accounts 1. General mental ability
• Maintaining subsidiary accounts by posting, 2. How one is treated within an organization –
verifying and allocating transactions fairness
• Reconciling entries to balance subsidiary 3. Stress – for example, financial stress
accounts 4. Work attitudes – job satisfaction
• Maintaining a balanced general ledger 5. Personality – particularly conscientiousness
• Preparing a trial balance for the accountants
• Preparing financial reports by collecting, MOTIVATION
analyzing and summarizing accounting for
Job performance is viewed as a function of three
information
factors and is expressed with the equation below
• Ensuring compliance with federal, state and
(Mitchell, 1982; Porter & Lawler, 1968). According to this
local legal requirements
equation, motivation, ability, and environment are the
• Monitoring for variances from the projected
major influences over employee perform.
budget

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
Performance = Motivation x Ability x Environment • Instead of the five needs that are hierarchically
organized, Alderfer proposed that basic
Motivation: one of the forces that lead to performance. human needs may be grouped under three
categories,
• Motivation is defined as the desire to achieve
1. Existence: corresponds to Maslow’s
a goal or a certain performance level, leading
physiological and safety needs
to goal-directed behavior.
2. Relatedness: corresponds to social needs
Ability: or having the skills and knowledge required 3. Growth: refers to Maslow’s esteem and
to perform the job—is also important and is sometimes self-actualization
the key determinant of effectiveness.
Ener
Environmental factors: such as having the gy
resources, information, and support one needs to
perform well are critical to determine performance.

NEED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION ERG

Theor
1. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
y
2. Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory
3. Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory Relate Grow
dness th
4. David McClelland’s Acquired Needs

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

TWO-FACTOR THEORY
• Based on a simple premise: Human beings Herzberg labeled factors causing dissatisfaction of
have needs that are hierarchically ranked workers as “hygiene” factors because these factors
(Maslow, 1943; Maslow, 1954). were part of the context in which the job was
• There are some needs that are basic to all performed, as opposed to the job itself. In contrast,
human beings, and in their absence nothing motivators are factors that are intrinsic to the job
else matters. As we satisfy these basic needs, and the conditions that truly encourage employees
we start looking to satisfy higher order needs. In to try harder.
other words, once a lower-level need is satisfied,
it no longer serves as a motivator.
Hygiene Motivators
Self Company Policy Achievement
Actualizat Supervision and Recognition
ion Relationship Interesting Work
Esteem Working Conditions
Increased Responsibility
Salary
Advancement and
Social
Security Growth

Safety ACQUIRED NEEDS BY MCCLELLAND

According to this theory, individuals acquire three

Physiological types of needs as a result of their life experiences.

a. Need for achievement - a strong need to be

ERG THEORY successful.
b. Need for affiliation – the need to be liked and
• Developed by Clayton Alderfer, is a accepted by others.
modification of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs c. Need for power – the need to influence others
(Alderfer, 1969). and control their environment.
Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
PROCESS-BASED THEORIES OF MOTIVATION Seek legal action Suing the company for
filing a complaint
1. Equity Theory
2. Expectancy Theory FAIRNESS BEYOND EQUITY: PROCEDURAL
3. Reinforcement Theory AND INTERACTIONAL JUSTICE

EQUITY THEORY BY J. STACEY ADAMS • Distributive justice refers to the degree to

which the outcomes received from the
According to this theory, individuals are motivated by organization are perceived to be fair.
a sense of fairness in their interactions. Moreover, • Procedural justice refers to the degree to
our sense of fairness is a result of the social which fair decision-making procedures are
comparisons we make. Specifically, we compare our used to arrive at a decision.
inputs and outcomes with other people’s inputs and • Interactional justice refers to the degree to
outcomes. We perceive fairness if we believe that the which people are treated with respect,
input-to-outcome ratio we are bringing into the situation kindness, and dignity in interpersonal
is similar to the input-to-outcome ratio of a comparison interactions. We expect to be treated with
person, or a referent. Perceptions of inequity create dignity by our peers, supervisors, and
tension within us and drive us to action that will customers.
reduce perceived inequity.
Why do employees care about procedural justice?
Person Referent Other
1. People tend to believe that fairness is an end in
Outcomes Outcomes itself and it is the right thing to do.
2. Fair processes guarantee future rewards. If your
Inputs = Inputs name was picked out of a hat, you have no
control over the process, and there is no
guarantee that you will get future promotions. If
• Inputs are the contributions people feel they
the procedures are fair, you are more likely to
are making to the environment.
believe that things will work out in the future.
• Outcomes are the perceived rewards
3. Fairness communicates that the organization
someone can receive from the situation.
values its employees and cares about their well-
being.
POTENTIAL RESPONSES TO INEQUITY

Reaction to Inequity Example Being a Fair Person

Distort perception Changing one’s thinking • When distributing rewards, make sure you pay
to believe that the attention to different contribution levels of
referent actually is more
employees.
skilled
• Sometimes you may have to disregard people’s
Increase referent inputs Encouraging the referent contributions to distribute certain rewards.
to work harder
• Pay attention to how you make decisions.
Reduce own input Deliberately putting forth • Pay attention to how you talk to people.
less effort at work;
• Remember that justice is in the eye of the
reducing quality of work
beholder.
Increase own outcomes Negotiating a raise for • People do not care only about their own justice
oneself or using unethical
level.
way of increasing
rewards such as stealing
EXPECTANCY THEORY
Change referent Comparing oneself to
someone who is worse • Argues that the strength of a tendency to act
off in a certain way is dependent on the strength
Leave the situation Quitting one’s job of the expectation that they will receive a

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
given outcome and that the outcome is REINFORCEMENT METHODS
desired.
• According to this theory, individuals ask Positive reinforcement: a method of increasing the
themselves three questions. desired behavior (Beatty & Schneier, 1975).

• Positive reinforcement involves making sure

that behavior is met with positive
consequences.
Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence
Effort Performance Rewards Negative reinforcement: also used to increase the
2. Will 3. Do I desired behavior.
1. Will my
perform Find
effort
ance the • Negative reinforcement involves removal of
lead to
lead to outco unpleasant outcomes once desired behavior
high
outcom mes
performa is demonstrated.
e? desira
nce?
ble?
Extinction: used to decrease the frequency of
WAYS IN WHICH MANAGERS INFLUENCE: negative behaviors.

Expectancy • Extinction is the removal of rewards following

negative behavior.
• Make sure employees have proper skills,
abilities, and knowledge Sometimes, negative behaviors are demonstrated
• Ensure that the environment facilitates because they are being inadvertently rewarded.
performance
• Provide encouragement to make people believe Thus, when the rewards following unwanted
that their effort makes a difference behaviors are removed, the frequency of future
negative behaviors may be reduced.
Instrumentality
Punishment: involves presenting negative
• Reward employee performance consequences following unwanted behaviors.
• Inform people in advance about the rewards
• Try to eliminate non-performance influence over EFFECTIVE USE OF DISCIPLINE
rewards
• Consider whether punishment is the most
Valence effective way to modify behavior.
• Be sure that the punishment fits the crime.
• Find rewards that are desirable to employees • Be consistent in your treatment of employees.
• Make sure that the rewards are viewed as fair Have disciplinary procedures and apply them in
• Give employees choice over rewards the same way to everyone.
• Document the behavior in question.
REINFORCEMENT THEORY • Be timely with discipline.

• Based on the work of Ivan Pavlov on DESIGNING A MOTIVATING WORK

behavioral conditioning and the later work of
ENVIRONMENT
Burrhus Frederic Skinner on operant
conditioning (Skinner, 1953). MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH JOB
• According to reinforcement theory, behavior is a DESIGN
function of its outcomes.
• Based on a simple idea that may be viewed as How a job is designed has a major impact on employee
common sense. motivation, job satisfaction, commitment to an
organization, absenteeism, and turnover.

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT AND JOB need to modify their approach according to the
SPECIALIZATION demands of the situation

• A philosophy based on the ideas of Frederick ROTATION, JOB ENLARGEMENT, AND

Taylor as presented in his 1911 book, ENRICHMENT
Principles of Scientific Management.
• Job rotation involves moving employees from
Frederick Taylor job to job at regular intervals. When
employees periodically move to different jobs,
• Taylor’s book is among the most influential the monotonous aspects of job specialization
books of the 20th century; can be relieved.
• Taylor was a mechanical engineer in the
manufacturing industry. Advantages of job rotation:
• He also believed that scientific methods
could be used to increase productivity. • It is an effective way for employees to acquire
new skills and in turn for organizations to
• Taylor’s work paved the way to automation
increase the overall skill level of their
and standardization that is virtually universal
employees
in today’s workplace.
• When workers move to different positions, they
Scientific management proposed a number of ideas are cross-trained to perform different tasks,
that have been influential in job design in the following thereby increasing the flexibility of managers to
years. assign employees to different parts of the
organization when needed.
• Important idea: to minimize waste by • Job rotation is a way to transfer knowledge
identifying the most efficient method to perform between departments
the job. • Rotation may also have the benefit of
• Standardized job performance methods were reducing employee boredom, depending on
an important element of scientific management the nature of the jobs the employee is
techniques. performing at a given time.
• From the employee standpoint, rotation is a
JOB SPECIALIZATION benefit, because they acquire new skills that
keep them marketable in the long run.
• Entails breaking down jobs into their
simplest components and assigning them to
JOB ENLARGEMENT
employees so that each person would perform
a select number of tasks in a repetitive manner. • Refers to expanding the tasks performed by
employees to add more variety.
Advantages to job specialization:
Benefits of job enlargement:
• Breaking tasks into simple components and
making them repetitive reduces the skill 1. Maybe similar with job rotation because it may
requirements of the jobs and decreases the also involve teaching employees’ multiple tasks.
effort and cost of staffing. 2. Research indicates that when jobs are enlarged,
• Training times for simple, repetitive jobs tend to employees view themselves as being capable of
be shorter as well. performing a broader set of tasks
3. There is some evidence that job enlargement is
Disadvantages: beneficial, because it is positively related to
employee satisfaction and higher quality
• From a motivational perspective, these jobs are
customer services, and it increases the chances
boring and repetitive and therefore associated
of catching mistakes
with negative outcomes such as absenteeism
• Also, job specialization is ineffective in rapidly
changing environments where employees may
Manuel
 Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
4. Giving employees more tasks that require them SKILL VARIETY
to be knowledgeable in different areas seemed
to have more positive effects Refers to the extent to which the job requires a
person to utilize multiple high-level skills.
JOB ENRICHMENT
TASK IDENTITY
• Is a job redesign technique that allows
workers more control over how they perform Refers to the degree to which a person is in charge
their own tasks. of completing an identifiable piece of work from start
• This approach allows employees to take on to finish.
more responsibility.
• As an alternative to job specialization, TASK SIGNIFICANCE
companies using job enrichment may Refers to whether a person’s job substantially affects
experience positive outcomes. other people’s work, health, or well-being.
• At the same time, there is evidence that job
enrichment may sometimes cause AUTONOMY
dissatisfaction among certain employees.
Is the degree to which a person has the freedom to
REMEMBER: job enrichment is not suitable for decide how to perform his or her tasks.
everyone. Not all employees desire to have control over
how they work, and if they do not have this desire, they FEEDBACK
may become frustrated with an enriched job.
Refers to the degree to which people learn how
JOB CHARACTERISTICS MODEL effective they are being at work. Feedback at work
may come from other people, such as supervisors,
• The job characteristics model is one of the peers, subordinates, and customers, or it may come
most influential attempts to design jobs with from the job itself.
increased motivational properties.
• Proposed by Hackman and Oldham, the Increasing the Feedback You Receive
model describes five core job dimensions
• If you are not receiving enough feedback on the
leading to three critical psychological states,
job, it is better to seek it instead of trying to
resulting in work-related outcomes.
guess how you are doing.
• Be genuine in your desire to learn.
Core Job Psychological Outcomes
• Develop a good relationship with your manager.
States
Characteristic • Consider finding trustworthy peers who can
s share information with you regarding your
• Meaningful • Motivatio
• Skill performance.
ness n
variety • Be gracious when you receive feedback.
• Responsibi • Perform
• Task
identity lity ance
• Knowledge • Satisfact EMPOWERMENT
• Task
of results ion
signific May be defined as the removal of conditions that
ance • Absente
eism make a person powerless (Conger & Kanugo, 1988).
• Autono
my • Turnover
Tips for Empowering Employees
• Feedba
ck • Change the company structure so that
employees have more power on their jobs. Give
them discretion at work.

Manuel
Human Behavior in Organizations
Prof. Abat
BSMA 1-2
• Provide employees with access to information • Setting impossible goals and then punishing
about things that affect their work. people for not reaching these goals is cruel and
• Make sure that employees know how to perform will demotivate employees.
their jobs.
• Do not take away employee power. Time-Bound.
• Instill a climate of empowerment in which
• The goal should contain a statement
managers do not routinely step in and take over.
regarding when the proposed performance
level will be reached.
MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH GOAL
SETTING
WHY DO SMART GOALS MOTIVATE?
• Goal-setting theory (Locke & Latham, 1990) is
one of the most influential and practical theories Energi
of motivation. ze

• The theory has been supported in over 1,000

studies with employees ranging from blue- Make
you SMA
collar workers to research-and-development RT Give
think
directi
outsid Goal
employees, and there is strong support that e the
on
setting goals is related to performance box s
improvements
Provid
e
challen
SETTING SMART GOALS ge

Accumulating research evidence indicates that effective

goals are SMART. A SMART goal is a goal that is ENSURING GOAL ALIGNMENT THROUGH
specific, measurable, aggressive, realistic, and time- MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES (MBO)
bound.
Goals direct employee attention toward a common
Specific and Measurable. end. Therefore, it is crucial for individual goals to
support team goals and team goals to support
• Effective goals are specific and measurable. company goals. A systematic approach to ensure that
individual and organizational goals are aligned is
Aggressive. Management by Objectives (MBO).
• Effective goals are difficult, not easy. First suggested by Peter Drucker MBO involves the
• Aggressive goals are also called stretch goals. following process:
• People with difficult goals outperform those
with easier goals. Why? Easy goals do not MBO PROCESS
provide a challenge.
• When goals are aggressive and require people • Setting companywide goals derived from corporate
strategy
to work harder or smarter, performance tends 1
to be dramatically higher. • Determining team- and department-level goals
2
Realistic • Collaboratively setting individual-level goals that are
aligned with corporate strategy
3
• While goals should be difficult, they should also
be based in reality. • Developing an action plan
4
• In other words, if a goal is viewed as impossible
to reach, it will not have any motivational • Periodically reviewing performance and revising goals

value. 5

Manuel