Download HND – 2. Individual Behavior

Lim Sei Kee @ cK
How biographical characteristics (such as age
and gender) and ability (which includes
intelligence) affect employee performance
and satisfaction.
Objective and easily obtained personal characteristics.
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Age
 Older workers bring experience, judgment, a strong work
ethic, and commitment to quality.
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Gender
 Few differences between men and women that affect job
performance.
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Tenure
 People with job tenure (seniority at a job) are more
productive, absent less frequently, have lower turnover,
and are more satisfied.
An individual’s capacity to perform the various
tasks in a job.

Made up of two sets of factors:
 Intellectual Abilities
 Physical Abilities
The abilities needed to perform mental activities- for
thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
General Mental Ability (GMA) is a measure of overall
intelligence.
Examples: IQ (Intelligence quotient) tests, GCE ‘O’ level.
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Number Aptitude
 Accountant: Computing the sales tax
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Verbal Comprehension
 Plant manager: Following corporate policies on hiring
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Perceptual Speed
 Fire investigator: Identifying clues to support a charge of
arson

Inductive Reasoning
 Market researcher: Forecasting demand for a product in
the next time period
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Deductive Reasoning
Supervisor: Choosing between two different
suggestions offered by employees

Spatial Visualization
Interior decorator: Redecorating an office

Memory
 Salesperson: Remembering the names of
customers
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The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina,
dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.
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Strength Factors
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Dynamic strength
Trunk strength
Static strength
Explosive strength
Flexibility Factors
 Extent flexibility
 Dynamic flexibility
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Other Factors
 Body coordination
 Balance
 Stamina

Jobs make differing demands on people and
that people differ in their abilities.

Employee performance is enhanced when
there is a high ability-job fit.

Employees are likely to fail.
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Organizational efficiencies and possible
declines in employee satisfaction.
Any relatively permanent change in behavior that
occurs as a result of experience
 Learning components:
 Involves Change
 Is Relatively Permanent
 Is Acquired Through Experience

Classical Conditioning
 A type of conditioning in which an individual responds
to some stimulus that would not ordinarily produce
such a response.

Operant Conditioning
 A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary
behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.
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Social-Learning Theory
 People can learn through observation and direct
experience.
Experiments to teach dogs to salivate in
response to the ringing of bell, conducted in
the early-1900s by Russian physiologist Ivan
Pavlov.
Meat: Unconditioned stimulus
Reaction that took place: Unconditioned
response
Bell: Conditioned stimulus
Behavior of the dog: Conditioned response
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Pavlov’s Dog Drool
Key Concepts:
 Unconditioned stimulus
▪ A naturally occurring phenomenon.
 Unconditioned response
▪ The naturally occurring response to a natural stimulus.
 Conditioned stimulus
▪ An artificial stimulus introduced into the situation.
 Conditioned response
▪ The response to the artificial stimulus.
This is a passive form of learning. It is reflexive and not
voluntary – not the best theory for OB learning.
# Your romantic partner always uses the same
shampoo. Soon, the smell of that shampoo
makes you feel happy.
# You have a meal at a fast food restaurant that
causes food poisoning. The next time you see a
sign for that restaurant, you feel nauseous.
# The nurse says “Now this won’t hurt a bit” just
before stabbing you with a needle. The next time
you hear “This won’t hurt” you cringe in fear.
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B. F. Skinner’s concept of Behaviorism: behavior
follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner.
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Key Concepts:
 Conditioned behavior: voluntary behavior that is learned,
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not reflexive.
Reinforcement: the consequences of behavior which can
increase or decrease the likelihood of behavior repetition.
Pleasing consequences increase likelihood of repetition.
Rewards are most effective immediately after
performance.
Unrewarded/punished behavior is unlikely to be
repeated.
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Behavior is a function of its consequences.
People learn to behave to get something they
want or to avoid something they don’t want.
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A child learns to clean his/her room after
being rewarded with TV time, every time he
cleans it.

A person stops teasing his fiance about an
issue after she gives him the silent treatment.
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Based on the idea that people can also learn
indirectly: by observation, reading, or just
hearing about someone else’s – a model’s –
experiences.
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Advertisements are prime examples of Social
Learning Theory. We watch them, then copy
them.
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If your a new person to IGS and it's lunch
time, and you finish with your lunch but you
don't know where to put the tray you would
follow someone who knows what their doing.
So you learn off of other peoples examples.
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Systematically reinforcing each successive
step that moves an individual closer to the
desired response
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Four ways
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
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Positive Reinforcement
Following a response with something pleasant.
Negative Reinforcement
Following a response by the termination or withdrawal of
something unpleasant.
Punishment
Attempts to decrease the probability of specific behaviours
being exhibited (eliminate undesirable behavior.)
Extinction
Eliminating any reinforcement that is maintaining a
behavior. its purpose is to reduce unwanted behavior.
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Two Major Types:
 Continuous Reinforcement
▪ A desired behavior is reinforced each time it is
demonstrated
 Intermittent Reinforcement
▪ A desired behavior is reinforced often enough to make
the behavior worth repeating but not every time it is
demonstrated
▪ Multiple frequencies.
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Ratio
 Depends on the number of responses made.
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Interval
 Depends on the time between reinforcements.
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Fixed
 Rewards are spaced at uniform time intervals or
after a set number of responses.
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Variable
 Rewards that are unpredictable or that vary
relative to the behavior.
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Schedules Of Reinforcement : The timing of the behavioural
consequences that follow a given behavior.
Reinforcement
Schedule
Nature Of
Reinforcement
Effects On Behavior
Example
Continuous
Reward given after
each desired behavior
Fast learning of new
behavior but rapid
extinction
Compliments
Fixed Interval
Reward given at fixed
time intervals
Average and irregular
performances with rapid
extinction
Weekly Paychecks
Variable Interval
Reward given at
variable time intervals
Moderately high and stable
performance with slow
extinction
Pop Quizzes
Fixed Ratio
Reward given at fixed
amounts of output
High and stable
performance attained
quickly but also with rapid
extinction.
Piece-rate Pay
Variable Ratio
Reward given at
variable amounts of
output
Very high performance with
slow extinction
Commissioned
Sales
The application of reinforcement concepts to
individuals in the work setting.
 Follows the Five-Step Problem-Solving
Model:
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Identify critical behaviors
Develop baseline data
Identify behavioral consequences
Develop and apply intervention
Evaluate performance improvement
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OB Mod ignores thoughts and feelings.
OB Mod may not explain complex behaviors
that involve thinking and feeling.
Stimuli may not be consciously given as a
means of shaping behavior.
Modern managers and OB theorists are using
cognitive approaches to shaping behavior.