Download Foundations of Individual Behaviour

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
LEARNING
OBJECTIVES
1. Define the key biographical characteristics
2. Identify two types of ability
3. Learning and Theories of Learning
4. Shape the behavior of others.
5. Distinguish between the four schedules of
reinforcement.
6. Specific Organizational Applications
OB MODEL
Independent Variables
Individual Behaviour
•Age
•Gender
•Marital Status
•Tenure
Group Behaviour
Organizational System
Dependent Variables
•Employee Productivity
•Absenteeism
•Turnover
•Citizenship
•Job Satisfaction
Biographical Characteristics
Relationship Between Biographical Factors and
Other Outcomes
 Age
 Gender
 Marital Status
 Tenure
AGE
 Age and Job performance
– Common Notion: Job performance declines with
increase age
– On the other hand: People with older age bring
positive qualities to the organization
 Age and Productivity
– Strong and significant relation
– Older people and lacking in flexibility, resistance to
change
Age (Cont…….)
 Age and Absenteeism
– Inverse relation
– More regular and less chances to quit
 Age and Turnover
– Less chances to quit Job
– Less chances outside the organization
 Age and Job Satisfaction
– Researchers found mixed results between these two
variables
– Positive relations found in some studies.
Gender
 Male and Female management styles
– Females are more inclined to participation, democratic
behaviour and power sharing.
– Males are good in instant decisions.
 Working Mother Issues
 Gender and Absenteeism & Turnover
Marital Status
 No enough evidence on this relation
 Generally married people are more likely to be
settled
 Still studies need to discover the relations
between divorced and separated relations on Job
satisfaction, Absenteeism and Turnover.
Tenure
 CVs reflect past behaviour of organizational
commitment
 Seniority (Tenure) directly relate with job
satisfaction
 Past behaviours can predict future behaviours.
 Studies show that employees remain with
organization because of their peer circle.
Ability
(Ability = Knowledge * Skills)
Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
1. Number Aptitude: Ability to do speedy and accurate
arithmetic
2. Verbal Comprehension: Ability to understand what is
read or heard and the relationship of words to each other.
3. Perceptual Speed: Ability to identify visual similarities
and differences quickly and accurately.
4. Inductive Reasoning: Ability to identify a logical
sequence in a problem and then solve the problem.
Dimensions of Intellectual Ability, Contd.,
5. Deductive Reasoning: Ability to use logic and assess the
implications of an argument.
6. Spatial Visualization: Ability to imagine how an object
would look if its position in space were changed.
7. Memory: Ability to retain and recall past experiences.
Physical Ability
The capacity to do tasks
demanding stamina, dexterity
(swiftness or precision),
strength, and similar
characteristics.
Nine Physical Abilities, Contd.,
1. Dynamic strength: Ability to exert muscular force
repeatedly or continuously over time.
2. Trunk strength: Ability to exert muscular strength using
the trunk (particularly abdominal) muscles.
3. Static strength: Ability to exert force against external
objects.
4. Explosive strength: Ability to expend a maximum of
energy in one or a series of explosive acts.
5. Extent flexibility: Ability to move the trunk and back
muscles as far as possible.
Nine Physical Abilities, Contd.,
6. Dynamic flexibility: Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing
movements.
7. Body coordination: Ability to coordinate the simultaneous
actions of different parts of the body.
8. Balance: Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces
pulling off balance.
9. Stamina: Ability to continue maximum effort requiring
prolonged effort over time.
The Ability-Job Fit
Employee’s
Abilities
Ability-Job
Fit
Job’s Ability
Requirements
Learning
 All complex behaviours are learned
 What is learning?
Any relatively permanent change in behaviour that
occurs as a result of experience.
– First, learning involves change.
– Second, the change must be relatively permanent.
– Third, our definition is concerned with behavior.
– Finally, some form of experience is necessary for learning.
–
 Theories of Learning
– Classical Conditioning theory
• Contributor : Pavlov
– Operant Conditioning theory
• B. F Skinner
– Social Learning
Classical
Conditioning
• A behavioral learning theory
according to which a stimulus is
paired with another stimulus
that elicits a known response
that serves to produce the same
response when used alone.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, and customized by Dr. George Thomas, PSU.
Model of Classical Conditioning
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, and customized by Dr. George Thomas, PSU.
Examples
 SAMBA
 Saudi Aramco
 Apple and Steve Job’s innovativeness
Instrumental (Operant)
Conditioning
• A behavioral theory of learning
based on a trial-and-error
process, with habits forced as the
result of positive experiences
(reinforcement) resulting from
certain responses or behaviors.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, and customized by Dr. George Thomas, PSU.
Operant Conditioning
 It suggests that behavior depends on its expected
consequences or rewards. Hence, managers can
influence employees’ behavior by manipulating
the consequences or rewards.
 Operant conditioning theory relies heavily on the
law of effect, which states that a person tends to
repeat behavior that is accompanied by favorable
consequences, and tends not to repeat behavior
that accompanied by unfavorable consequences.
Reinforcement of Behavior
Positive
• Positive
outcome
• Strengthen
likelihood
Negative
• Negative
outcome
• Encourages
behavior
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, and customized by Dr. George Thomas, PSU.
Reinforcement of Behavior
Extinction
• A learned
response is no
longer
reinforced
• The link is
eliminated
between
stimulus and
reward
Punishment
• A negative
reward is
awarded for
discouraging
an
unacceptable
behavior.
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, and customized by Dr. George Thomas, PSU.
Observational Learning
(modeling or Social
learning)
• A process by which individuals
learn behavior by observing the
behavior of others and the
consequences of such behavior
Copyright 2010 Pearson Education, and customized by Dr. George Thomas, PSU.




Attention processes
Retention processes
Motor reproduction processes
Reinforcement processes
 Always remember that managers and leaders are
closely observed by subordinates; this may even
lead to unintended learning.
Shaping Behavior: A Managerial Tool
Systematically reinforcing each
successive step that moves an
individual closer to desired
response.
Key Concepts
• Reinforcement is required to change behavior.
• Some rewards are more effective than others.
• The timing of reinforcement affects learning
speed and permanence.
Four Methods of Shaping Behavior
1. Positive reinforcement: Following a response with
something pleasant, e.g., boss praises an employee for
job well done or Instructor suggests good grades on
supplying correct answers
2. Negative reinforcement: Following a response by the
termination or withdrawal of something unpleasant,
e.g., If your college instructor asks a question and you
don not know the answer, looking through your lecture
notes is likely to preclude your being called on. This
negative reinforcement because you have learned that
looking busily through your notes prevents the
instructor from calling on you.
Four Methods of Shaping Behavior,
Contd.,
3. Punishment: Causing unpleasant condition in an
attempt to eliminate an undesirable behavior, e.g., giving
an employee a two-day suspension from work without
pay for showing up is an example of punishment.
4. Extinction: Eliminating any reinforcement that is
maintaining a behavior, e.g.,College instructors who wish
to discourage students from asking questions in class can
eliminate this behavior in their students by ignoring those
who raise their hands to ask questions.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Schedules of Reinforcement (cont’d)
Behavioral Modification
Problem-solving Five step Model
• Identify critical behaviors
• Develop baseline data
• Identify behavioral consequences
• Apply intervention
• Evaluate performance improvement
Class Exercise
ETHICAL DILEMMA:
Is OB Mod a form of
manipulation? If it is, is it
unethical for a manager to
manipulate the behavior of an
employee?
OB MOD Organizational Applications
 Well Pay
– Reduce absenteeism by rewarding attendance.
 Employee Discipline
– The use of punishment can be counter-productive.
 Developing Training Programs
– OB MOD methods improve training effectiveness.
 Self-management
– Reduces the need for external management control.