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LECTURE 27
Chapter 3
Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
Robbins and Judge (2008): Organizational Behavior, Pearson, Prentice Hall
Learning Objectives
Learning Theories
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Attitude
Components of attitude
Relationship between attitude and behavior
Job satisfaction and other job attitudes
Main causes of job satisfaction
Employees responses to job dissatisfaction
Operant Conditioning Theory
Classics conditioning theory explains reflexive behavior: elicited in response to identifiable events
whereas most behaviors are voluntary or learned rather than elicited
Operant conditioning is the study of the impact of consequences on behavior.
Learning that takes place when the learner recognizes the connection between a behavior and its
consequences.
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Behaviors with positive consequences are acquired.
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Behaviors with negative consequences are eliminated
Behaviors: Desirable organizational behaviors and undesirable organizational behaviors.
Consequences of Behavior: Include positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement for
desirable organizational behaviors; and extinction and punishment for undesirable
organizational behaviors.
Consequences of Behavior
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Positive Reinforcement: Administering positive consequences to workers who perform the
desired behavior. P.R. occurs when the introduction of a consequence increases or maintains
the frequency or future probability of a behavior. (receiving bonus after successful completion
of a project creates positive reinforcement)
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Negative Reinforcement: Removing negative consequences to workers who perform the
desired behavior.
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Occurs when the removal or avoidance of consequence increases or maintains the frequency or
future probability of a behavior.
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Supervisors apply negative reinforcement when they stop criticizing employees whose
substandard performance has improved. (Basically you want the employees to engage in desired
behavior to escape or avoid unpleasant consequence.)
Social Learning Theory
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Learning theory takes into account the fact that thoughts and feelings influence learning.
Individuals learn by observing others what happens to other or by telling something or through
direct experience
People response based on how perceive and define consequence
Processes of Model influence
Attention Processes: Individual is influenced by model that are attractive and important to us
Retention Processes: Influence depends on how well individual remember model 's action
Motor Production Processes: After seen new behavior by observing the model it must be converted to
doing
Reinforcement Processes: Individual will exhibit modeled behavior if incentives are provided
Shaping Behavior: A Managerial Tool
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Manager shape behavior by systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves an
individual closer to the desired response.
Example: If student usually come late in class 20 minutes and if he comes comes 10 minutes we
can reinforce the improvement
Problems with reinforcement theory:
The relationship between stimulus. Response and consequence is never so simple, individual use
thinking process to weigh value of different stimulus, consequences and circumstances to
choose appropriate behavior
Example: Asking good question given compliment by supervisor
Attitude:
Attitudes are evaluative statements
Favorable or unfavorable concerning people, object or events
It reflect how one feel about something
Example: I like my job, My supervisor is good, I like my teacher
Attitude:
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Are attitudes consistent?
Why people change attitudes and behavior?
Individual seek to reconcile divergent attitudes and align their behavior and attitudes so they
appear rational and consistent
In state of equilibrium, external forces are initiated to return to state of equilibrium again in
which behavior and attitudes are consistent
Individual attain state of equilibrium through changing attitude, behavior or by developing
rational for discrepancies
Festinger proposed the theory of cognitive dissonance in late 1950s
Theory try to explain link between attitude and behavior
Dissonance mean discrepancy or inconsistency
Cognitive dissonance means inconsistency between two or more attitudes or between attitude
and behavior
Inconsistency is discomfort hence individual tries to reduce it
There is tendency in individuals to achieve stable state having minimum dissonance
Self Perception Theory
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Self perception theory explains whether behavior influence attitude or not
Attitudes are based on experience after behavior
Individual tend to infer attitude from behavior
However, when strong attitudes have developed then they direct behavior
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Job Satisfaction:
Positive feeling about job based on evaluation of
characteristics
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Job Involvement:
Degree of to which people associates with job
psychologically and consider perceived performance important for self worth
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Psychological empowerment
- Degree to which employee belief that they can influence their work environment and
perceived autonomy in their job
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Participation in decision making, independence to schedule their work and discretion to decide
how to do work
Job Attitudes
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Organizational Commitment
- A state in which employee wish to remain in the organization
Affective Commitment
Emotional attachment to organization and belief in its values
Continuance Commitment
Perceived economic value of being part of the organization as compare to quit
Normative Commitment
- Moral or ethical obligation to remain in the organization
- Example: Working on strategically important project
Occupational Commitment
Others Job Attitudes
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Perceived Organizational Support
o employee belief that organization value his contribution and efforts and will extend
support in case of problem and will do for his well being
Measuring Job Attitudes:
Attitude Surveys
o -Managers should use attitude surveys to get feedback on feelings of employees (about
their job, about work conditions, peer support, supervision, about pay, about
policies and practices)
o It alerts management what is going in organization and timely feedback allow to take
corrective actions or change wrong perceptions
- Think about promotion policies like seniority based promotion you feel just and fair but
what employees think
Job Dissatisfaction Response
Managerial Implications:
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Be aware of attitudes as they influence behavior
o Give warnings for potential problems
- Organizations don't want to loose their employees specially
o Managers should try to improve job satisfaction
o Make job challenging
o Right pay and reward system
o Person-Job fit
o Understand their cognitive dissonance
Source: Robbins and Judge (2008): Organizational Behavior, Pearson, Prentice Hall
productive workers