Motivation

Motivation can be defined as the processes that account for an individual’s

intensity, direction and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. As may be seen,
there are three elements in this definition: -

(i) Intensity- It describes how hard a person tries. This is the element most of us focus
when we talk about motivation.

(ii) Direction- There should be a clear direction towards which one’s efforts are
leading to. Despite high intensity, a person might not succeed unless his/her efforts
are channeled in a clear direction. Therefore, quality of the effort also matters not
only the quantity.

(iii) Persistence of Effort-This is the third dimension. It measures how long a person can
maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task long enough to achieve
motivation.

Theories of Motivation
Let us have a look on how studies and researches on motivation have been
summarized into theories to explain the concept of motivation. The theories of motivation
could be divided into three broad categories: -

(i) Content theories- Content theories primarily focus on individual needs

(physiological/psychological) and emphasize the “what” aspects of motivation.
They tend to look for ways to improve motivation by dealing with activated or
deprived needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, Herzberg’s Two Factor
theory, McGregor’s X and Y theory and McClelland’s Acquired Needs theory are
some examples of content theories.

(ii) Process theories- Process theories focus on the thought/cognitive processes that
take place within individual minds that influence/determine one’s behavior. Adam’s
Equity theory and Vroom’s Expectancy theory are some examples in this category.

(iii) Reinforcement theories- These theories focus on the ways through which the
process of controlling individual’s behavior by manipulating its consequences takes
place. Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning are the two reinforcement
theories.
 We will focus here only on five of these theories.

Hierarchy of Needs Theory

One of the best known theories of motivation, it was proposed by Abraham
Maslow. According to this theory, within every human being, there exists a hierarchy of
following five needs: -

(i) Physiological needs (hunger, thirst, sex, shelter and other bodily needs)
(ii) Safety needs (security and protection from physical and mental harm)
(iii) Social needs (affection, belongingness, acceptance, friendship)
(iv) Esteem needs (internal factors such as self- respect, autonomy, achievement, and
external factors such as status, recognition, and attention)
(v) Self- actualization (drive to become what we are capable of becoming, achieving
highest potential one has).

According to the theory, no need is fully gratified ever. However, once sufficiently
satisfied, it no longer motivates and the next one becomes dominant. If you want to
motivate someone, according to Maslow’s theory, asses at which level the person is
currently and focus on satisfying the need at that level and the next level. Also, according
to the theory, physiological and safety needs are lower order needs usually gratified
externally. But esteem needs and self-actualization needs are higher order needs satisfied
internally.

Motivation Hygiene Theory

Frederick Herzberg proposed a theory known as Motivation Hygiene theory.
According to this theory, job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are totally separate and
independent dimensions and therefore, an entirely different set of factors cause -job
satisfaction and job dissatisfaction. The theory proposes two set of factors known as (i)
Hygiene factors, and (ii) Motivation factors.

Herzberg believed that hygiene factors are sources of job-dissatisfaction. These

factors are associated with the job context or work setting i.e. they relate more to the
environment in which people work than to the nature of the work itself. The major
hygiene factors are (i) organizational policies (ii) quality of supervision (iii) working
conditions
(iv) base wage/salary (v) peer relations (vi) relationship with subordinates (vii) status and
(viii) security. Improving hygiene factors will reduce job dissatisfaction but it will not
improve job satisfaction or motivate people to work.

The theory proposes a separate set of factors known as ‘motivation factors’ which
are related to job satisfaction. These factors are usually related to the job content. These
factors are (i) achievement (ii) recognition (iii) nature of work (iv) responsibility (v)
advancement
and (vi) growth. Herzberg believed that adding these factors to job motivates workers and
improves performance.

Acquired Needs Theory

David McClelland proposed a motivation theory which focuses on three important
needs that help explain motivation. According to the theory, following three needs
explain motivation: -

(i) Need for Achievement (nAch)- the desire to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of
standards, to strive to succeed, the desire to do something more efficiently, to solve
problems or master complex tasks.
(ii) Need for Power (nPow)- the desire to make others behave in a way you want them
to behave or in a way they would not have behaved otherwise, the desire to control
and influence others or to be responsible for others.
(iii) Need for Affiliation (nAff)- the desire for friendly and close interpersonal
relationships.

McClelland believed that these needs are learned /acquired over time as a result of
life experiences. The theory was particularly useful because each need can be linked with
a set of work preferences. Such as, people with high nAch prefer individual
responsibilities, challenging goals and performance feedback. Since these needs are
acquired/learned, it is possible to acquaint people with the need profiles required to
succeed in various types of job.

Equity theory
Proposed by J. Stacy Adams, the Equity theory rests on the phenomenon of social
comparison. As employees, we put in efforts, experience, education, and competence in
our jobs and get in return salary, promotions, increments, recognition, social status etc.
We keep comparing this input-outcome ratio in our jobs with that of our colleagues,
friends, and neighbors. If we believe this ratio to be equal to that of the relevant others
with whom we are comparing ourselves, a state of equity exists. But if we see this ratio to
be unequal, we experience equity tension. When we see ourselves under rewarded, the
tension creates anger; when we see ourselves as over rewarded, it creates guilt. Both the
situations motivate employees to do something to correct it and according to Adam’s, we
are likely to engage in one of the following behaviors in such situations:-

(i) Change work inputs (work less if underpaid or more if overpaid)

(ii) Change the outcomes (ask for promotion, increment or if paid on per hour/unit
basis, try to work/produce more)
(iii) Quit job
(iv) Change the comparison reference (start comparing with somebody else)
(v) Distort perceptions of self (I thought I work slowly but I realize I work faster than
many others)
(vi) Distort perceptions of others (His job is not as good as mine).

The equity comparisons mediate between the rewards and its impact on the
recipients. It implies that such feelings of inequity are determined solely by the
individual’s interpretation of the situation. Research indicates that people who feel they
are overpaid increase the quantity or quality of their work whereas those who feel
underpaid decrease the quantity or quality of their work.

Expectancy theory
Victor Vroom proposed the Expectancy theory which posits that motivation is a
result of a rational calculation. A person is motivated to the degree that he or she believes
that (i) effort will yield acceptable performance, (ii) performance will be rewarded and
(iii) the value of rewards is highly positive.

Three factors are involved in this process:-

(i) Expectancy- The probability that work effort will be followed by performance
accomplishment.
(ii) Instrumentality- The probability that performance will lead to various work
outcomes.
(iii) Valence- The value of various work outcomes for an individual.

Suppose a manager is curious to know whether the chances of promotion would

motivate an employee. Expectancy theory predicts that motivation to work hard for
promotion would be low if expectancy is low-that is if the person feels that he or she
cannot achieve the necessary performance. Motivation will also be low if instrumentality
is low- that is if the person is not confident that high level of performance will result in
promotion. Motivation will also be low if valence is low-that is if the person finds the
promotion to be of not much importance. Also, motivation will be low if any combination
of these exists.

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 Job Satisfaction

Before we discuss about job satisfaction, it is important to have a brief background

on what attitudes are. Attitudes are ‘evaluative statements’- either positive or negative
about objects, people or events. For example, a positive attitude could be like “MMMUT
is a good university” and a negative attitude could be “Gorakhpur is not a good city”.
Attitudes have three major components: -

(i) Cognitive component- We possess facts/knowledge/information about every object,

person, thing about which we hold attitudes. It is the informative/cognitive
component of the attitudes.
(ii) Affective component- Affective component is the emotional component that means
how you feel about that particular object, person or event.
(iii) Behavioral component- Behavioral component indicates the intention to
behave/treat that particular object/person, event in a particular way.

Job Satisfaction
We hold thousands of attitudes about various people, objects and events. However,
Organizational/Industrial Psychology specifically focuses on a limited number of
work/workplace related attitudes such as job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational
commitment etc. So, it is clear that job satisfaction is an attitude towards one’s
profession/job/work. Job satisfaction can be defined as “a positive feeling about one’s job
resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics”. Therefore, a person with high level of
job satisfaction will hold positive feelings about his/her job whereas a person with low
job satisfaction will hold negative feelings.

Measuring Job Satisfaction

A job does not merely involve a task or set of tasks. It also involves regularly
interacting with colleagues and bosses, following organizational policies and rules,
meeting performance standards etc. So, an employee’s evaluation/assessment of his/her
job satisfaction is a complex summation of many discrete elements. Now a question
arises, how to measure the level of job satisfaction of an employee or a group of
employees in your organization.
Two approaches to measure job satisfaction are particularly popular.

a. Single Global Rating approach- In this method, a general question is asked about
an employee’s overall satisfaction with his/her job and the employee has to rate on
a 5 point rating scale from highly dissatisfied (1) to highly satisfied (5). Besides
being simple and less time consuming, it is equally valid and reliable in measuring
job satisfaction accurately as is the second approach.
b. Summated Rating approach- This approach is little more sophisticated. It consists
of various questions about various aspects of a person’s job such as pay, nature of
work, quality of supervision, growth opportunities, peer relations, work conditions
etc. Employee has to indicate his/her satisfaction with each of these aspects on a 5
point rating scale from highly dissatisfied (1) to highly satisfied (5). Ratings for all
the questions are summated to create an overall job satisfaction score. Though
complex and a bit lengthy, this approach helps managers to identify the
problematic areas and deal with them faster and accurately.

What causes Job Satisfaction?

From the above discussion, it is clear that job satisfaction is a job related attitude
i.e. evaluation of various aspects of one’s job which can be measured using two
approaches. Now you might be curious to know what exactly causes job satisfaction.
Following are some important factors which play important role in increasing/ decreasing
job satisfaction.

(i) Pay- Money does motivate people. Therefore, pay level of an employee definitely
contributes to job satisfaction and happiness. But once an individual reaches a
level of comfortable living, the relationship between pay and job satisfaction
virtually disappears. For example, people who earn Rs. 20 Lakhs p.a. are, on
average, no happier than people who earn Rs. 15 Lakhs p.a.
(ii) Nature of Work- The kind of work one is doing is the second most important factor.
Interesting jobs that provide training, variety, independence, and control satisfy
employees.
(iii) Job Conditions- There is a strong link between how well people enjoy the social
context of their workplace and how satisfied they are overall. Interdependence,
feedback, social support, and interaction with co-workers outside the workplace are
strongly related to job satisfaction.
(iv) Personality- Job satisfaction is not all about external conditions. Personality
factors also play important role. Research shows that people who strongly believe
in their inner worth and basic competence are more satisfied with their jobs than
those who evaluate themselves negatively. People with positive self evaluations see
their work fulfilling and challenging and they are more likely to be attracted
towards challenging jobs. People with negative self evaluations usually set less
ambitious goals and are more likely to give up in difficult situations.

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction

Let us have a look on how job satisfaction affects various organizational outcomes.

1. Job satisfaction and productivity- Studies, after gathering satisfaction and

productivity data from various organizations, conclude that there is a clear link
between job satisfaction and organizational efficiency. Organizations with more
 satisfied employees tend to be more effective than organizations with fewer. Hence,
satisfied workers tend to be productive workers.

2. Job satisfaction and customer satisfaction- Those working in service sector interact
with customers on a regular basis. It has been found that satisfied employees
increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

3. Job satisfaction and absenteeism- There is a consistent negative correlation

between job satisfaction and absenteeism. Dissatisfied employees are more likely to
remain absent from office for various reasons as compared to the satisfied
employees.

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Stress Management
We all are familiar with the word ‘stress’ to some extent. Newspapers, magazines,
television programmes often report surveys indicating that people complaint of being
stressed while trying to balance their work and family responsibilities. Research shows
that, in most cases, work is the major source of stress in people’s lives. Let us examine
what stress is, its causes, consequences and how to manage it.

What is Stress?
Stress can be defined as “a dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted
with an opportunity, demand, or resource related to what the individual desires and for
which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain/unpredictable and personally
relevant”. Stress is typically discussed in a negative fashion, but it is not necessarily bad;
sometime it also has a positive value. It’s an opportunity when it offers potential gain.
Recent researches show that the factors that cause stress (known as “stressors”) could be
differentiated as below: -

i. Challenge Stressors- Stressors associated with workload, pressure to complete

tasks, and time urgency. They have potential to benefit employees if high level of
organizational commitment and support exists.

ii. Hindrance Stressors- Stressors that keep prevent you from reaching your goals.
Some hindrance stressors are red tape, organizational politics, role ambiguity,
role confusion, role overload, job insecurity, environmental uncertainty. Studies
consistently report that hindrance stressors are negatively related to job
performance i.e. job performance reduces in presence of hindrance stressors.

Typically, stress is associated with demands and resources. Demands are

responsibilities, pressures, obligations, and uncertainties individuals face at the work
place. Resources are things within an individual’s control that he or she can use to resolve
the demands.
Potential Sources of Stress
There are three categories of potential stressors: environmental, organizational, and
personal. Let’s examine each of these categories.

i. Environmental- Environmental uncertainties also influences stress levels among

employees in an organization. In fact, uncertainty is one of the biggest reason
people have trouble coping with organizational changes. There are three main
types of environmental uncertainties: economic, political and technological.
Changes in business cycles or poor performance by economy lead to downsizing
threatening job security of employees. When political situation is volatile,
unstable, or political
leadership changes, business priorities may have to change which in turn might
lead to organizational changes ultimately stressing the employees. Also, new
innovations can make an employee’s skills and experience obsolete in a very short
time which, again, threatens job security. Computer, robotics, automation, and
similar forms of technological change are a threat to many people.

ii. Organizational- There could be huge number of potential stressors present in any
organization. These could be divided into two major categories- task demands and
role demands. Task demands include the design of job (autonomy, variety,
automation), working conditions, and physical work layout. Role demands mean
pressures a person faces because of having a particular role in the organization. It
includes role ambiguity, role conflict and role overload. Role ambiguity exists
when the employee is not sure about what exactly he has to do. Role conflict
occurs when the employee is expected to do something which is hard or
impossible for him to do. Role overload occurs when the employee is expected to
do more than time permits.

iii. Personal- Several factors in the employee’s personal life also affect his/her stress
levels. Family and personal relationship problems such as marital difficulties,
breaking up of close relationship, death of a loved one, discipline issues with
children are some major family issues identified as family factors that influence
stress. Poor financial management at individual level is also a major stressor.
Desires exceeding earning capacity and overextended financial resources create
stress and distract one’s attention from work. Studies have also reported that some
people may have an inherent tendency to focus/ highlight on the negative aspects
of the world. That means, stress symptoms can also originate from individual’s
personality.

Stressors are Additive

Stress is an additive phenomenon- it builds up. Each new and persistent stressor adds to
an individual’s stress level. So a single stressor may be relatively unimportant in itself,
but if it is added to an already high level of stress it can prove to be disastrous for the
person.
Symptoms/ Consequences of Stress
Stress shows itself in a number of ways such as high blood pressure, ulcers,
irritability, loss of appetite, etc. These symptoms/consequences could be classified into
three categories.
i. Physiological symptoms: Early research on stress of more focused on
physiological symptoms because researchers were specialists in medical and
health sciences. Stress could create changes in metabolism, increase heartbeat,
increase breathing rate, increase blood pressure, headaches etc. Recent researches
link stress also with even more harmful diseases such as hypertension, heart
diseases, respiratory illnesses and poor immune functions.
ii. Psychological Symptoms: Job dissatisfaction is the “simplest and most obvious
psychological effect” of stress. But stress is also expressed in other psychological
symptoms boredom, tension, anxiety, irritability, depression, insecurity,
meaninglessness, powerlessness, disengagement, procrastination, and isolation.
Multiple demands, feeling of lack of control and autonomy at work significantly
increases stress.
iii. Behavioral symptoms: Behavior-related stress symptoms include sleeping
difficulties, lack of punctuality, absenteeism, withdrawal, exhaustion, unhealthy
eating habits, risk taking behavior, suicidal talk or behavior, accident, excessive
smoking or drug/alcohol addiction.

Managing Stress

The strategies to manage stress can be classified into two different, but not
exclusive, categories: individual and organizational approaches.

i. Individual approaches: An employee can take personal responsibility to reduce

stress levels. Individual techniques that have shown to be effective in managing
stress include time-management techniques, increased physical exercise,
relaxation training, and expanded social support networks. Most of the people
manage their time poorly which causes avoidable stress. So an understanding and
utilization of time management principles can help employees better cope
tensions created by job demands. A few best known time management principles
include (a) make a daily list of activities to be undertaken, (b) prioritize activities
by importance and urgency, (c) scheduling the activities, and (d) handling the
most demanding part of your job when you are most alert and productive.
Physicians have recommended noncompetitive physical exercises such as
aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming, cycling to deal with excessive stress
levels. Physical activities increase heart capacity, lower the at-rest heart rate, and
even slow down the physical and mental effects of ageing. Relaxation techniques
such as meditation, Yoga, hypnosis, biofeedback etc. help the individual to reach
 a state of deep physical relaxation in which he/she feels somewhat detached from
the immediate environment. Relaxation techniques bring significant changes in
heart rate, blood pressure, and other physiological factors. Expanding social
support networks and spending time
with family members, relatives, friends, colleagues etc. provide opportunities for
someone to hear you and offer a more objective perspective of the situation.

ii. Organizational approaches- Several factors that cause stress-particularly task and
role demands- are controlled by management and thus can be modified or
changed. Strategies that could be employed by organizations include improved
personnel selection and job placement, training, realistic goal setting, redesign of
jobs, increased employee involvement, improved organizational communication,
employee sabbaticals, and corporate wellness programmes.

Leadership

Can you guess what is common between Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte,
Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Aung San
Suu Kyi, JRD Tata, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai? You are
entirely correct if your answer is ‘leadership’. All these personalities, despite having
radically different backgrounds and interests, are or have been world leaders in their
domains. The list is not exhaustive and hundreds of names could be further added to this
list. Have you ever contemplated about questions such as what it means to be a leader?
what differentiates leaders from non-leaders? etc. We will try to briefly discuss here some
of these questions.

Defining leadership
Leadership can be defined as “the ability to influence a group toward the
achievement of a vision or a set of goals”. It is a kind of interpersonal influence that gets
an individual or group to do what the leader or manager wants done. Leadership appears
in two forms: -

(i) Formal leadership- Influence that is exerted by persons appointed/ elected to

positions of formal authority in organizations.

(ii) Informal leadership- Influence exerted by persons who become influential because
they have special skills that meets the resource needs of others.

Currently, there is a controversy whether the terms ‘leadership’ and ‘management’

are similar or different and if so, how. One way of distinguishing between the two is that
the role of management is to promote stability or enable the organization to run smoothly,
whereas the role of leadership is to promote adaptive or useful changes. In short,
management is about coping with complexity and leadership is about coping with
change. Persons in managerial positions could be involved with both management and
leadership activities, or they could emphasize one activity at the expense of other.
However, both management and leadership are needed.

Theories of leadership

Trait Theories
Throughout history, strong leaders have been described in terms of their traits. A
trait is a distinguishing personal quality or characteristic. Therefore, trait theories of
personality focus on personal qualities or characteristics of prominent leaders. The search
for social, physical or intellectual attributes that differentiate leaders from non-leaders’ is
one of the earliest attempts to study leadership.

Early research on identifying the important leadership traits could not be successful
until the Big Five Personality framework was proposed. The Big Five Factor model of
personality believes that there are five major dimensions through which a person’s
personality could be described. These dimensions are: -

(i) Extraversion (sociability, talkativeness, assertiveness)

(ii) Agreeableness (trust, altruism, kindness)
(iii) Conscientiousness (thoughtfulness, good impulse control, goal directed behavior)
(iv) Neuroticism (sadness, moodiness, emotional instability)
(v) Openness (imagination, insight, perspective taking, good abstract thinking)

Of the above five dimensions, three dimensions namely extraversion,

conscientiousness and openness have been found to be strongly correlated and good
predictor of leadership qualities. Some other important traits helpful in identifying leaders
are: -

(i) Achievement orientation (desire to excel and achieve)

(ii) Self-confidence (confidence in self)
(iii) Integrity (honest, ethical)
(iv) Tenacity (ability to overcome obstacles)
(v) Flexibility (ability to respond appropriately to changes in the setting)
(vi) Social intelligence (understanding of social setting)

Behavioral theories
The behavioral theories propose that there is something unique in the way effective
leaders behave. According to behavioral theories, there are specific behaviors that
differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Two classic studies known as ‘Michigan Studies’
and ‘Ohio State Studies’ are useful in providing insights into leadership behaviors.

Researchers in the Michigan Studies group identified two basic form of leader
behaviors: employee centered (or human relations oriented) and production centered
(task oriented). Employee centered supervisors are those who place strong emphasis on
their subordinates’ welfare. In contrast, production-centered supervisors are more
concerned with getting the work done. In general, employee centered leaders have found
to be more effective than the production centered leaders.

Results of the Ohio State Studies were somewhat similar. They too identified two
dimensions of leadership behavior: consideration and initiating structure. A leader high
on consideration is sensitive to people’s feelings and tries to make things pleasant for the
followers. In contrast, a leader high in initiating structure is more concerned with spelling
out the task requirements and clarifying other aspects of the work agenda. These two
dimensions are quite similar to the dimensions identified in Michigan Studies.
A major contrast between Trait theories and Behavioral theories is that Trait
theories focus on identifying people with the right kind of qualities whereas Behavioral
theories focus on training people to behave like leaders.

Contingency theories
Contingency theories focus on situational influences. They believe that leadership
effectiveness depends on whether a particular quality or behavioral style suits to the
given condition or not. Suppose, for example, we identify three styles or qualities of
leadership as a, b and c and three conditions as x, y and z. Contingency theories would
suggest that style a might be good for condition x but not for other conditions. Similarly,
other styles might be best for specific situations and not good for others.

Some major contingency theories are Fiedler’s Contingency Model, Blanchard’s

Situational Theory and Robert House’s Path Goal Theory.

Charismatic leadership theory

Charismatic leadership theory is one of the contemporary theories of leadership.
The term ‘charismatic’ derives from a Greek word ‘charisma’ which means gift.
Charisma can be defined as a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of
which he or she is set apart from ordinary people and treated as endowed with
supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities. These
qualities/powers are regarded as of divine origin or as exemplary on the basis of which an
individual is treated as leader.

Interestingly, answer to both the questions- are charismatic leaders born? or people
learn to be charismatic leaders? is yes. Individuals are born with traits that make them
charismatic leaders. Experts also believe that individuals can be trained to exhibit
charismatic leadership qualities. In fact, researchers have suggested a four step process to
train people to behave as charismatic leaders: -

(i) Articulate an overarching goal;

(ii) Communicate high performance expectations;
(iii) Show confidence in the ability of followers to meet these expectations;
(iv) Empathize with the needs of the followers.

How do charismatic leaders actually influence followers? Researchers suggest that

there is a four step process by which charismatic leaders influence their followers: -

(i) Articulating an appealing vision, a long-term strategy for attaining a goal;

(ii) Articulating a formal vision and mission statement;
(iii) Through his words and actions, the leader conveys a new set of values and set an
example for followers to imitate.
(iv) Engaging in emotion-inducing and often unconventional behavior to demonstrate
courage and conviction about the vision.

Research shows impressive correlation between charismatic leadership and high

performance and satisfaction among followers. People working with charismatic leaders
are motivated to exert extra effort and, because they like and respect their leaders, express
greater satisfaction. Organizations with charismatic CEOs are more profitable, and
charismatic professors are highly popular among students.

Unfortunately, charismatic leaders might not always act in the best interests of their
organizations/followers. Many of them recklessly use organizational resources for their
personal benefits, violate law and professional ethics, and allow their own interests and
personal ambitions to override the goals of the organization. Many charismatic leaders
have been extremely successful in convincing their followers to pursue a vision that can
prove to be disastrous for organizations.

Group Dynamics

There is no doubt that groups can be important sources of performance, creativity,

and enthusiasm for organizations. But it takes great leadership to achieve these results
consistently. The pathway to such success begins with an understanding of groups in
organizations.
What is a group?
A group can be defined as “a collection of two or more people who work together to
achieve common goals.” In a true group, members (i) are mutually dependent on each
other to achieve common goals, and (ii) interact regularly with one other to pursue those
goals over a sustained period of time. Groups are important resources that are good for
both organizations and their members. Groups could be classified to be of two major
types: -

(i) Formal group- It is a type of group defined by organization’s structure with

designated task to serve an organizational purpose. The organization creates such a
group to perform a specific task or set of tasks, which typically involves the use of
resources to create a product, service, commodity, or decision. The behavior of
 team members in formal groups is stipulated by and directed towards organizational
goals. Formal groups may be further classified into two categories- permanent
(command) groups and temporary (task) groups. Permanent groups often appear on
the organizational charts as departments, divisions, teams etc. and each of them are
officially created to perform specific function on an ongoing basis. These groups
continue to exist until it is decided to change or reconfigure the structure of
organization. In contrary, temporary (task) groups are created for a specific period
of time to solve a problem or perform a defined task. These groups cease to exist
once the assigned purpose or task has been accomplished.

(ii) Informal group- Informal groups are neither formally structured nor
organizationally determined. Such groups are natural formations that appear in
response to the need for social contact. Such groups are formed spontaneously
through personal relationships or special interests and not by any organizational
endorsement. Informal groups could be further classified into two types- friendship
group and interest group. Friendship groups consist of persons with natural
affinities for one another. They tend to work together, sit together, take breaks
together, and even do things together outside the workplace. Interest groups consist
of persons who share common interests. These may be job related interests, such as
learning more about computers, or non-work interests such as community service,
sports or religion.

Why do people form groups?

Why do people form groups, particularly informal groups, and why do they feel so
strongly about them? Answer to this question comes from a much celebrated theory in
Social Psychology known as ‘Social Identity Theory’. The theory proposes that
individual develop a lot of social identities through the course of their lives. For example,
an individual might define himself in terms of his organization, city, profession, religious
background, ethnicity, gender, native place. Such identities help us understand who we
are, where do we fit in with other people and what they should do.

Social identity theory proposes that people have emotional reactions to the failure
or success of their group because their self-esteem gets tied into the performance of the
group. When your group does well, you feel good and your self-esteem rises. When your
group does poorly you might feel bad, you feel bad about yourself.

Properties of a Group
Groups have properties that shape members’ behavior and help explain and predict
individual behavior within the group as well as the performance of the group itself. Some
of these properties are discussed below: -

(i) Roles- Roles are set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying
 a given position in a social unit. We all are members of various groups
simultaneously and are required to play a number of roles. Our behavior varies with
each of the roles. Different groups impose different role requirements on
individuals.

(ii) Norms- Acceptable standards of behavior shared by all members of a group that
indicated what one should do and what not to do under given circumstances. When
agreed to and accepted by the group, norms influence members’ behavior. Different
groups, communities, and societies have different norms, but they all have them.
Norms can cover virtually any aspect of behavior.

(iii) Status- A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by
others. Status tends to derive from three sources (i) the power a person exerts over
others, (ii) a person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals, and (iii) individual’s
personal characteristics. The more a person is likely to control resources or
outcomes of a group, the higher will be his status. Similarly, the more critical your
contribution will be for the group, the higher will be your status. Also, people who
have certain qualities which are positively valued by a group are more likely to
enjoy a high status.
(iv) Size- The total number of members that constitute the group. Smaller groups are
faster at completing tasks than larger ones and individuals perform better in smaller
groups than in larger ones. Larger groups are good at fact finding and problem
solving, whereas smaller groups are effective in executing something using such
inputs.

(v) Cohesion- The degree to which members are motivated to stay in the group.
Cohesiveness is important because it affects group productivity. Some groups are
cohesive because the members have spent a great deal of time together or group’s
small size facilitates higher interaction.

Group Processes
(i) Social loafing or Ringelmann Effect: One of the most researched and interesting
phenomenon about groups. Social loafing is the tendency for the individuals to
work less when working collectively than when working individually. That means,
total productivity of the groups increases with the size, but individual productivity
of each members decline. The reason why people might not work hard in groups
because (a) their individual contributions are less noticeable in the group context
and (b) they prefer to see others carry the workload.

(ii) Social facilitation: It is the tendency to for one’s behavior to be influenced by the
presence of others in a group or social setting. Social facilitation theory explains
that working in the presence of others creates emotional arousal/ excitement that
 stimulated behavior and affects performance. Such emotional arousal/ excitement
tends to work positively when the task is easier or one is proficient with it.
However, it negatively affects performance if the task is difficult or one is new to
the task.

(iii) Groupthink: The tendency of members in highly cohesive groups to lose their
critical evaluative capabilities. Groupthink occurs in highly cohesive groups when
their members tend to become unwilling to criticize one another’s’ ideas and
suggestions. The need to hold the group together and avoid unpleasant
debates/situations lead to an overemphasis on agreement and under emphasis on
critical discussion. Groupthink has been shown to be a serious threat to the quality
of decision making in groups. Group members should be alert to the symptoms of
groupthink and be quick to take corrective steps to avoid this situation.

Organizational Culture

A strong organizational culture provides stability to an organization. But for some

organizations, it can also be a major barrier to change. Every organization has a culture
that, depending on its strength, can have a significant influence on the attitudes and
behaviors of organization members.

What is organizational culture?

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that
distinguishes the organization from other organizations. Seven primary characteristics
seem to capture the essence of an organization’s culture: -
(i) Innovation and risk taking: To what extent employees are encouraged to be
innovative and take risks.

(ii) Attention to detail: The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit
precision and attention to detail.

(iii) Outcome orientation: The extent to which management focuses on outcomes/results

rather than on techniques/processes used to achieve them.

(iv) People orientation: The extent to which management decisions take into
consideration the effect of outcomes on people within organization.

(v) Team orientation: The degree to which work activities are organized around teams
rather than individuals.

(vi) Aggressiveness: The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather
than easygoing.
(vii) Stability: Whether organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in
contrast to growth.

Each of these characteristics range from low to high and these characteristics
together provide a complete picture of organizational culture. Organizational cultural is a
descriptive term- it is concerned with how employees perceive the characteristics of an
organization’s culture and not with whether they like them or not.

Functions of Organizational Culture

Organizational culture serves the following functions in an organization: -
(1) It has a boundary defining role: it creates distinction between one organization and
another.
(2) It conveys a sense of identity for organization members.
(3) It facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than individual self-
interest.
(4) It enhances stability of social environment in the organization by providing
appropriate standards for what employees say and do.
(5) It is a mechanism that guides and shapes employees’ attitudes and behavior.

Creating and sustaining cultures

Founders traditionally have a major role in creating organizational culture.
Founders create organizational culture in three ways: -

(a) Founders hire and keep only those employees who think and feel the same way they
do.
(b) They indoctrinate and socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling.
(c) Founders’ own behavior encourages employees to follow and internalize their
beliefs, values and assumptions.

When the organization succeeds, the founders’ personality becomes embedded in

the culture. Once a culture is in place, practices within the organization maintain it. The
selection process, training and development activities, and promotion process ensure
those hired fit in with the culture, reward those who support it, and penalize who
challenge it. Three forces play a particular part in sustaining organizational culture: -

(i) Selection practices

(ii) Actions of top management
(iii) Socialization methods