Spring / February 2012

Master of Business Administration MBA Semester 1 MB0038 Management Process and Organizational Behaviour 4 Credits
(Book ID: B1127) Assignment Set 2 (60 Marks) Q1). Explain sensitivity training. Answer: Sensitivity training is a psychological technique in which intensive group discussion and interaction are used to increase individual awareness of self and others; it is practiced in a variety of forms under such names as T-group, encounter group, human relations, and groupdynamics training. The group is usually small and unstructured and chooses its own goals. A trained leader is generally present to help maintain a psychologically safe atmosphere in which participants feel free to express themselves and experiment with new ways of dealing with others. The leader remains as much as possible outside the discussion. Issues are raised by the group members, and their interactions evoke a wide variety of feelings. The leader encourages participants to examine verbally their own and others reactions. It is believed that as mutual trust is developed, interpersonal communication increases, and eventually attitudes will change and be carried over into relations outside the group. Often, however, these changes do not endure. Sensitivity training seems to be most effective if sessions are concentrated and uninterrupted, as in several days of continuous meetings. Sensitivity-training methods derived in large part from those of group psychotherapy. They have been applied to a wide range of social problems (as in business and industry) in an effort to enhance trust and communication among individuals and groups throughout an organization. Q2). Describe the basis of power. Answer: Bases of Power: Power can be categorized into two types: Formal and informal A. Formal Power: It is based on the position of an individual in an organization. Formal power is derived from either ones ability to coerce or reward others or is derived from the form al authority vested in the individual due to his/ her strategic position in the organizational hierarchy. For example, a manager may threaten to withhold a pay raise, or to transfer, demote, or even recommend the firing of a subordinate who does not act as desired. Such coercive power is the extent to which a manager can deny desired rewards or administer punishments to control other people. The availability of coercive power also varies across organizations. The presence of unions and organizational policies on employee treatment can weaken this power base significantly. Formal power may be categorized into four types which are as follows: 1. Coercive Power: The coercive power base is being dependent on fear. It is based on the application, or the threat of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of pain, the ROLL No. - 511223187 1

Spring / February 2012 generation of frustration through restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of basic physiological or safety needs. In an organization one can exercise power over another if they have the power to dismiss, suspend, demote another assuming that the job is valuable to the person on whom power is being unleashed. 2. Reward Power: The opposite of coercive power is reward power. Reward power is the extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other people. Examples of such rewards include money, promotions, compliments, or enriched jobs. Although all managers have some access to rewards, success in accessing and utilizing rewards to achieve influence varies according to the skills of the manager. 3. Legitimate Power: The third base of position power is legitimate power, or formal authority .It stems from the extent to which a manager can use subordinates internalized values or beliefs that the boss has a right of command to control their behavior. For example, the boss may have the formal authority to approve or deny such employee requests as job transfers, equipment purchases, personal time off, or overtime work. Legitimate power represents a special kind of power a manager has because subordinates believe it is legitimate for a person occupying the managerial position to have the right to command. The lack of this is legitimacy will result in authority not being accepted by subordinates. Thus this type of power has the following elements: It represents the power a person receives as a result of his/her position in the formal hierarchy. Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers. Legitimate power, however, is not limited to the power to coerce and reward. It encompasses the acceptance of the authority of a position by members of an organization. 4. Information Power: This type of power is derived from access to and control over information. When people have needed information, others become dependant on them. (For example, managers have access to data that subordinates do not have). Normally the higher the level, the more information would be accessed by managers. B. Personal Power (Informal Power) Personal power resides in the individual and is independent of that individuals position. Three bases of personal power are expertise, rational persuasion, and reference. Expert power is the ability to control another persons behavior by virtue of possessing knowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person lacks, but needs. A subordinate obeys a supervisor possessing expert power because the boss ordinarily knows more about what is to be done or how it is to be done than does the subordinate. Expert power is relative, not absolute. However the table may turn in case the subordinate has superior knowledge or skills than his/ her boss. In this age of technology driven environments, the second proposition holds true in many occasions where the boss is dependent heavily on the juniors for technologically oriented support. ROLL No. - 511223187 2

Spring / February 2012

Rational persuasion is the ability to control anothers behavior, since, through the individuals efforts, the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a viable way of achieving it. Rational persuasion involves both explaining the desirability of expected outcomes and showing how specific actions will achieve these outcomes. Referent power is the ability to control anothers behavior because the person wants to identify with the power source. In this case, a subordinate obeys the boss because he or she wants to behave, perceive, or believe as the boss does. This obedience may occur, for example, because the subordinate likes the boss personally and therefore tries to do things the way the boss wants them done. In a sense, the subordinate attempts to avoid doing anything that would interfere with the pleasing boss subordinate relationship. Followership is not based on what the subordinate will get for specific actions or specific levels of performance, but on what the individual represents a path toward lucrative future prospects. Charismatic Power is an extension of referent power stemming from an individuals personality and interpersonal style. Others follow because they can articulate attractive visions, take personal risks, demonstrate follower sensitivity, etc. Q3). What are the hindrances that we face in perception? Answer: Individuals have a tendency to use a number of shortcuts when they judge others. An understanding of these shortcuts can be helpful toward recognizing when they can result in significant distortions. 1. Selective Perception Any characteristic that makes a person, object, or event stand out will increase the probability that it will be perceived. It is impossible for an individual to internalize and assimilate everything that is seen .Only certain stimuli can be taken in selectively. Selectivity works as a shortcut in judging other people by allowing us to speed-read others, but, not without the risk of drawing an inaccurate picture. The tendency to see what we want to see can make us draw unwarranted conclusions from an ambiguous situation. 2. Halo Effect The halo effect (Murphy & Anhalt, 1992) occurs when we draw a general impression on the basis of a single characteristic. For example, while appraising the lecturer, students may give prominence to a single trait, such as, enthusiasm and allow their entire evaluation to be tainted by how they judge the instructor on that one trait which stood out prominently in their estimation of that person. Research suggests that it is likely to be most extreme when the traits to be perceived are ambiguous in behavioral terms, when the traits have moral overtones, and when the perceiver is judging traits with which he or she has had limited experience. 3. Contrast Effects Individuals do not evaluate a person in isolation. Their reaction to one person is influenced by other persons they have encountered recently. For example, an interview situation in which one ROLL No. - 511223187 3

Spring / February 2012 sees a pool of job applicants can distort perception. Distortions in any given candidates evaluation can occur as a result of his or her place in the interview schedule. 4. Projection This tendency to attribute ones own characteristics to other people which is called projection can distort perceptions made about others. When managers engage in projection, they compromise their ability to respond to individual differences. They tend to see people as more homogeneous than they really are. 5. Stereotyping Stereotypingjudging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs. Generalization is not without advantages (Hilton & Hippel, 1996). It is a means of simplifying a complex world, and it permits us to maintain consistency. The problem, of course, is when we inaccurately stereotype. In organizations, we frequently hear comments that represent stereotypes based on gender, age, race, ethnicity, and even weight. From a perceptual standpoint, if people expect to see these stereotypes, that is what they will perceive, whether or not they are accurate.6. First-impression errors Individuals place a good deal of importance on first impressions. First impressions are lasting impressions. We tend to remember what we perceive first about a person, and sometimes we are quite reluctant to change our initial impressions. First-impression error means the tendency to form lasting opinions about an individual based on initial perceptions. Primacy effects can be particularly dangerous in interviews, given that we form first impressions quickly and that these impressions may be the basis for long-term employment relationships. Q4). What are the consequences of conflict in organizations? Answer: Organizational Conflict can have both positive and negative consequences. Negative consequences: Increased costs (time, money) devoted to dealing with the conflict, wasted resources and energy spent dealing with the conflict, Decreased productivity, Lowered motivation, Decreased morale, Poor decision-making, Withdrawal and miscommunication or non-communication, Complaints and blaming, Backstabbing and gossip, Attitudes of distrust and hostility (that may influence all future interactions, (Permanent) erosion to personal, work, and community relationships, Harm to others not directly involved in the conflict, Damaged emotional and psychological well-being of those involved in the conflict, Dissatisfaction and stress. Positive consequences: Leads to new ideas, Stimulates creativity, Motivates change, Promotes organizational vitality, Helps individuals and groups to establish identities, Serves as a safety valve to indicate problems, Builds cooperation, Helps individuals to develop skills on how to manage conflicts, Improving quality decisions. Q5). Explain the four processes of Social Learning Theory. Answer: The Social Learning Theory was proposed by Albert Bandura. It recognizes the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. The four processes of Social Learning Theory are: ROLL No. - 511223187 4

Spring / February 2012 a) Attention processes, b) Retention processes, c) Motor reproduction processes, d) Reinforcement processes a) Attention processes: Social Cognitive Theory implies that you must pay attention for you to learn. If you want to learn from the behavior of the model (the person that demonstrates the behavior), then you should eliminate anything that catches your attention other than him. Also, the more interesting the model is, the more likely you are to pay full attention to him and learn. b) Retention processes: The ability to store information is also an important part of the learning process. Retention can be affected by a number of factors, but the ability to pull up information later and act on it is vital to observational learning. c) Reproduction processes: Once you have paid attention to the model and retained the information, it is time to actually perform the behavior you observed. Further practice of the learned behavior leads to improvement and skill advancement. d) Reinforcement processes: Finally, in order for observational learning to be successful, you have to be motivated to imitate the behavior that has been modeled. Reinforcement and punishment play an important role in motivation. While experiencing these motivators can be highly effective, so can observing other experience some type of reinforcement or punishment. For example, if you see another student rewarded with extra credit for being to class on time, you might start to show up a few minutes early each day. Q6). Ms. Chanchal Das Gupta is a recruitment specialist. For the post of QCManager, she interviews three candidates. Given below are the physicalcharacteristics of the candidates. Candidate Mr. Ravi Mr. Gineesh Mr. Ramgopal Physical Characteristics Muscular, thick skin, rectangular shaped. Thin, delicate build, large brain, tall. Soft, round shaped, underdeveloped muscles.

From the above descriptions, what personality traits can Ms. Chanchal derive out of the candidates as per Sheldons theory of personality? Answer: Per Sheldon`s theory of personality, below are the traits that Ms. Chanchal can derive: Mr. Ravi represents Mesomorph body type. He is well-proportioned. Psychologically he is Adventurous, Courageous, Indifferent to what others think or want, Assertive/bold, Zest for physical activity, Competitive, With a desire for power/dominance, And a love of risk/chance Mr. Gineesh represents Ectomorph body type. Psychologically he is Self-conscious, Private, Introverted, Inhibited, Socially anxious, Artistic, Intense, Emotionally restrained, Thoughtful Mr. Ramgopal represents Endomorph body type. Psychologically he is Sociable, Funloving, Love of food, Tolerant, Even-tempered, Good humoured, Relaxed, With a love of comfort, And has a need for affection.

ROLL No. - 511223187