Chapter 1.

1 Foundations of Human Behavior

You might be aware of the fact that people differ in their attitudes and behavior. For instance,
you interact daily with people who have different types of personalities. And haven't you seen
family members or friends behave in ways that prompted you to wonder: Why did they do that?
Effective human beings need to understand behavior and this handout introduces several
psychological factors that influence behavior. It is to be noted that the context of this handout
is that of employee-management and hence various behavioral theories and their implications
are studded with examples from the organized sector.

The Iceberg of Human Behavior

One of the biggest challenges in understanding human behavior is that it addresses issues that
aren't obvious. Like an iceberg, behavior has a small visible dimension and a much larger
hidden portion. What we see when we look at people is their visible aspects: actions, attitudes,
speech, acts, dress, language used, gait, etc. But under the surface are other elements that we
need to understand - elements that influence how people behave they way they do and how
they work. As we shall see, behavior provides us with considerable insights into these
important, but hidden, aspects of human beings.

Attitudes
Attitudes are evaluative statements - either favorable or unfavorable - concerning objects,
people, or events. They reflect how an individual feels about something. When a person says,
"I like my job," he or she is expressing an attitude about work.

To better understand the concept of attitudes, we should look at an attitude as made up of three
components: cognition, affect, and behaviour. The cognitive component of an attitude is made
up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held by a person.

The belief that "discrimination is wrong" illustrates cognition. The affective component of an
attitude is the emotional or feeling part of an attitude. Using our earlier example, this
component would be reflected by the statement, "I don't like Ali because he discriminates
against women". Finally, affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component of
an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. To
continue our example, I might choose to avoid Ali because of my feelings about him. Looking
at attitudes as being made up of three components - cognition, affect, and behavior - helps show
the complexity of attitudes. But for the sake of clarity, keep in mind that the term attitude
usually refers only to the affective component. Attitudes and Consistency Did you ever notice
that people change what they say so it doesn't contradict what they do? Perhaps a friend of
yours has repeatedly argued that she thinks joining a sorority is an important part of college
life, but then she goes through rush and doesn't get accepted. All of a sudden, she's saying that
she thinks sororities are dumb and sorority life isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Research has generally concluded that people seek consistency among their attitudes and
between their attitudes and behavior. This means that individuals try to reconcile differing
attitudes and align their attitudes and behavior so they appear rational and consistent. When
there is an inconsistency, individuals will take steps to make it consistent either by altering the
attitudes or the behavior or by developing a rationalization for the inconsistency.
For example, a campus recruiter for R & S Company, who visits college campuses, identifies
qualified job candidates, and sells them on the advantage of R & S as a good place to work,
would experience conflict if he personally believed that R & S had poor working conditions
and few opportunities of promotion. This recruiter could, over time, find his attitudes towards
R & S becoming more positive. He may, in effect, convince himself by continually articulating
the merits of working for the company. Another alternative is that the recruiter could become
openly negative about R & S and the opportunities within the company for prospective
applicants.

The original enthusiasm that the recruiter might have shown would dwindle, probably to be
replaced by cynicism towards the company. Finally, the recruiter might acknowledge that R &
S is an undesirable place to work but, as a professional recruiter, realize that his obligation is
to present the positive aspects of working for the company. He might further rationalize that
no workplace is perfect and that his job is not to present both sides of the issue but to present a
favorable picture of the company.

Personality

Some people are quiet and passive; others are loud and aggressive. When we describe people
using terms such as quiet, passive, loud, aggressive, ambitious, extroverted, loyal, tense, or
sociable, we're categorizing them in terms of personality traits. An individual's personality is
the unique combination of the psychological traits we use to describe that person.

Personality Traits

How would you describe your personality? There are dozens of personality traits you could
use; for instance, aggressive, shy, ambitious, loyal and lazy. Over the years, researchers have
attempted to focus specifically on which traits would lead to identifying one's personality. Two
of the most widely recognized efforts include the Myers-Briggs Type indicator and the five
factor model of personality.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator:

Personality assessment tests are commonly used to reveal an individual's personality traits. One
of the most popular personality tests is the Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). It consists of
more than a hundred questions that ask people how they usually act or feel in different
situations. The way you respond to these questions puts you at one end or another of four
dimensions:

1. Social interactions: Extrovert or Introvert (E or I). An extrovert is someone who is outgoing,

dominant, and often aggressive and who wants to change the world. Extroverts need a work
environment that is varied and action oriented, that lets them be with others, and that gives
them a variety of experiences. An individual who's shy and withdrawn and focuses on
understanding the world is described as an introvert. Introverts prefer a work environment that
is quiet and concentrated, that lets them be alone, and that gives them a chance to explore in
depth a limited set of experiences.
2. Preference for gathering data: Sensing or Intuitive (S or N). Sensing types dislike new
problems unless there are standard ways to solve them; they like an established routine, have a
high need foreclosures, show patience with routine details, and tend be good at precise work.
On the other hand, intuitive types are individuals who like solving new problems, dislike doing
the same thing over and over again, jump to conclusions, are impatient with routine details,
and dislike taking time for precision.

3. Preference for decision making: Feeling or Thinking (F or T). Individuals who are feeling
type are aware of other people and their feelings, like harmony, need occasional praise, dislike
telling people unpleasant things, tend to be sympathetic, and relate well to most people.
Thinking type are unemotional and uninterested in people's feelings, like analysis and putting
things into logical order, are able to reprimand people and fire them when necessary, may seem
hard-hearted, and tend tolerate well only to other thinking types

4. Style of making decision: Perceptive or Judgmental (P or J). Perceptive types are curious,
spontaneous, flexible, adaptable, and tolerant. They focus on starting a task, postpone
decisions, and want to find out all about the task before starting it. Judgmental types are
decisive, good planners, purposeful, and exacting. They focus on completing a task, make
decisions quickly, and want only the information necessary to get a task done.

Combining these preferences provide descriptions of 16 personality types.

It is said that these personality types influence the way people interact and solve problems. For
instance, if your boss is an intuitive type and you're sensing type, you'll gather information in
different ways. An intuitive type prefers gut reactions, whereas a sensor prefers facts. To work
well with your boss, you would have to present more than just facts about a situation and bring
out how you feel about it. The MBTI has been used to help managers select employees who
are well matched to certain types of jobs. All in all, The MBTI can be a useful tool for
understanding personality and predicting people's behavior.
Chapter 2.2 Leadership

Leadership is a process by which an executive can direct, guide and influence the behavior
and work of others towards accomplishment of specific goals in a given situation. Leadership
is the ability of a manager to induce the subordinates to work with confidence and zeal.

Leadership is the potential to influence behaviour of others. It is also defined as the capacity
to influence a group towards the realization of a goal. Leaders are required to develop future
visions, and to motivate the organizational members to want to achieve the visions.

According to Keith Davis, “Leadership is the ability to persuade others to seek defined
objectives enthusiastically. It is the human factor which binds a group together and motivates
it towards goals.”

A leader by definition is a person who leads a group, organization or a country. Leadership

being the most influential element of any business has the greatest impact on the results. For
any project to be successful the choice of a competent leader is important.

Leadership plays the most vital role in the achievement of the organizational excellence. An
organization without a leader is like a ship without a captain. He is the one guiding the sails. A
leader is a man with a Vision he has to express his vision to the team and let his words turn
into action. No doubt all the team members are capable of achieving some good but it is the
leader who extracts the best and presents a victorious picture that crowns all.

Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps to maximize efficiency and
to achieve organizational goals. The following points justify the importance of leadership in a
concern.

1. Initiates action- Leader is a person who starts the work by communicating the
policies and plans to the subordinates from where the work actually starts.
2. Motivation- A leader proves to be playing an incentive role in the concern’s working.
He motivates the employees with economic and non-economic rewards and thereby
gets the work from the subordinates.
3. Providing guidance- A leader has to not only supervise but also play a guiding role
for the subordinates. Guidance here means instructing the subordinates the way they
have to perform their work effectively and efficiently.
4. Creating confidence- Confidence is an important factor which can be achieved
through expressing the work efforts to the subordinates, explaining them clearly their
role and giving them guidelines to achieve the goals effectively. It is also important to
hear the employees with regards to their complaints and problems.
5. Building morale- Morale denotes willing co-operation of the employees towards
their work and getting them into confidence and winning their trust. A leader can be a
morale booster by achieving full co-operation so that they perform with best of their
abilities as they work to achieve goals.
6. Builds work environment- Management is getting things done from people. An
efficient work environment helps in sound and stable growth. Therefore, human
 relations should be kept into mind by a leader. He should have personal contacts with
employees and should listen to their problems and solve them. He should treat
employees on humanitarian terms.
7. Co-ordination- Co-ordination can be achieved through reconciling personal interests
with organizational goals. This synchronization can be achieved through proper and
effective co-ordination which should be primary motive of a leader.

Types of Leadership Styles

1. Democratic Leadership
Commonly Effective

Democratic leadership is exactly what it sounds like -- the leader makes decisions based on
the input of each team member. Although he or she makes the final call, each employee has
an equal say on a project's direction.

Democratic leadership is one of the most effective leadership styles because it allows lower-
level employees to exercise authority they'll need to use wisely in future positions they might
hold. It also resembles how decisions can be made in company board meetings.

2. Autocratic Leadership
Rarely Effective

Autocratic leadership is the inverse of democratic leadership. In this leadership style, the
leader makes decisions without taking input from anyone who reports to them. Employees are
neither considered nor consulted prior to a direction, and are expected to adhere to the
decision at a time and pace stipulated by the leader.

Frankly, this leadership style stinks. Most organizations today can't sustain such a hegemonic
culture without losing employees. It's best to keep leadership more open to the intellect and
perspective of the rest of the team.

3. Laissez-Faire Leadership
Sometimes Effective

If you remember your high-school French, you'll accurately assume that laissez-faire
leadership is the least intrusive form of leadership. The French term "laissez faire" literally
translates to "let them do," and leaders who embrace it afford nearly all authority to their
employees.

Although laissez-faire leadership can empower employees by trusting them to work however
they'd like, it can limit their development and overlook critical company growth
opportunities. Therefore, it's important that this leadership style is kept in check.
4. Strategic Leadership
Commonly Effective

Strategic leaders sit at the intersection between a company's main operations and its growth
opportunities. He or she accepts the burden of executive interests while ensuring that current
working conditions remain stable for everyone else.

This is a desirable leadership style in many companies because strategic thinking supports
multiple types of employees at once. However, leaders who operate this way can set a
dangerous precedent with respect to how many people they can support at once, and what the
best direction for the company really is if everyone is getting their way at all times.

5. Transformational Leadership
Sometimes Effective

Transformational leadership is always "transforming" and improving upon the company's

conventions. Employees might have a basic set of tasks and goals that they complete every
week or month, but the leader is constantly pushing them outside of their comfort zone.

This is a highly encouraged form of leadership among growth-minded companies because it

motivates employees to see what they're capable of. But transformational leaders can risk
losing sight of everyone's individual learning curves if direct reports don't receive the right
coaching to guide them through new responsibilities.

6. Transactional Leadership
Sometimes Effective

Transactional leaders are fairly common today. These managers reward their employees for
precisely the work they do. A marketing team that receives a scheduled bonus for helping
generate a certain number of leads by the end of the quarter is a common example of
transactional leadership.

Transactional leadership helps establish roles and responsibilities for each employee, but it
can also encourage bare-minimum work if employees know how much their effort is worth
all the time. This leadership style can use incentive programs to motivate employees, but they
should be consistent with the company's goals and used in addition to unscheduled gestures
of appreciation.
7. Bureaucratic Leadership
Rarely Effective

Bureaucratic leaders go by the books. This style of leadership might listen and consider the
input of employees -- unlike autocratic leadership -- but the leader tends to reject an
employee's input if it conflicts with company policy or past practices.

Employees under this leadership style might not feel as controlled as they would under
autocratic leadership, but there is still a lack of freedom in how much people are able to do in
their roles. This can quickly shut down innovation, and is definitely not encouraged for
companies who are chasing ambitious goals and quick growth.
Chapter 2.3 Conflict and Motivation

At first glance the two concepts; Conflict and Motivation, don’t seem to have any connection.
Upon further reflection though we will see that there is a potentially very productive
connection between the two.

Most of us don’t like conflict. Here is a thought though; conflict is part of human life.
Conflict is part of your marriage, much like love is part of your marriage. Kids learn by
playing and having conflicts and resolving them. This teaches them where they stand in life,
what other people really think and why things work the way they do. Similarly in work,
conflict can be a healthy thing.

Having someone compete with you for the same resources or rewards or business success
will bring out the desire to win. There will be some dynamic tension going on and that can be
very motivating as it will bring out the best in you, when you see what is going on. You will
feel the heath and it will keep you on your toes and motivate you to be the very best
performer you can be.

Those who don’t understand what is going on will see the dynamic tension, or conflict as a
battle for life or death and become very unproductive and a liability for your business. So
conflict and motivation can go hand in hand, but you need to be very aware of what is going
on in your team to avoid unnecessary infighting and destructive tendencies.

One of the ways to bring some dynamic tension in the team is by inviting junior people to
established meetings, like your staff meeting, and have them actively contribute to the topics.
Giving some assignments and some well chose delegation will do the rest. See how all
members smell the competition and start excelling to beat the crowd.

Your role is to guard for derailing of the process and call out the ones that are turning healthy
competition and dynamic tension from a motivating healthy conflict into an unproductive
battle zone.

Chapter 2.3 Conflict Management

Definition of Conflict Management

Conflict management is the practice of being able to identify and handle conflicts sensibly,
fairly, and efficiently. Since conflicts in a business are a natural part of the workplace, it is
important that there are people who understand conflicts and know how to resolve them. This
is important in today's market more than ever. Everyone is striving to show how valuable
they are to the company they work for and at times, this can lead to disputes with other
members of the team.
Conflict Management Styles
Conflicts happen. How an employee responds and resolves conflict will limit or enable that
employee's success. Here are five conflict styles that a manager will follow according to
Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann:
An accommodating manager is one who cooperates to a high degree. This may be at the
manager's own expense and actually work against that manager's own goals, objectives, and
desired outcomes. This approach is effective when the other person is the expert or has a
better solution.
Avoiding an issue is one way a manager might attempt to resolve conflict. This type of
conflict style does not help the other staff members reach their goals and does not help the
manager who is avoiding the issue and cannot assertively pursue his or her own goals.
However, this works well when the issue is trivial or when the manager has no chance of
winning.
Collaborating managers become partners or pair up with each other to achieve both of their
goals in this style. This is how managers break free of the win-lose paradigm and seek the
win-win. This can be effective for complex scenarios where managers need to find a novel
solution.
Competing: This is the win-lose approach. A manager is acting in a very assertive way to
achieve his or her own goals without seeking to cooperate with other employees, and it may
be at the expense of those other employees. This approach may be appropriate for
emergencies when time is of the essence.
Compromising: This is the lose-lose scenario where neither person nor manager really
achieves what they want. This requires a moderate level of assertiveness and cooperation. It
may be appropriate for scenarios where you need a temporary solution or where both sides
have equally important goals.