Organizational Behavior

Module 2: Foundations of individual behavior

Vinay Kumar, Ph.D

Vidisha Garg, MBA

ICBM-SBE, 2014

What do you see in these pictures?

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 2

Diversity

• Individual differences

– Surface level differences

• such as demographics; progressively less important

– Deep level differences

• such as personality and values; progressively more important

• Continuous process of matching and separating

• Handling diversity

– Mutual adjustments at interpersonal level

– Norm-based adjustments at group level (Unit 3)

– Structural adjustments at organizational level (Unit 5)

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 3

Discrimination

• A form of soft violence

– an act of separation often harmful to employees and/or organization

– Some forms in which people are discriminated include

• Unequal opportunities

• Sexual harassment

• Intimidation / bullying

• Mockery and insult

• Incivility

• Exclusion

– Nepotism

– Cronyism

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 4

Discrimination

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Surface-level bases for differentiation

• Biographical characteristics

• Physical and intellectual capacities

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Biographical characteristics

• Age

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Religion

• Sexual orientation

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 7

Read more @ http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/indias-new-hr-challenge-managing-multigenerational-workforce/

Biographical characteristics

• Age

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Religion

• Sexual orientation

• Visit: http://glassceiling.info

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 8

Read more @ http://thediplomat.com/2014/07/japanese-women-fight-to-break-the-bamboo-ceiling/

Read more @ http://www.theprovince.com/news/Whitecaps+female+shatters+glass+ceiling+business+sports/10026898/story.html

Biographical characteristics

• Age

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Religion

• Sexual orientation

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 9

Read more @ http://www.businessinsider.in/Indo-American-Identity-Difficult-Combination-At-Work/articleshow/37962756.cms

Read more @ http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/07/white_privilege_extends_to_the_poor.html

Biographical characteristics

• Age

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Religion

• Sexual orientation

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 10

Read more @ http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/HC-Reserves-Order-on-Implementation-of-Handicapped-Quota/848002

Read more @ http://www.mid-day.com/articles/students-with-learning-disability-in-mumbai-stuck-with-only-3-testing-centres/15431174

Biographical characteristics

• Age

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Religion

• Sexual orientation

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 11

Read more @ http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/opinion/mailbag/hobby-lobby-ruling-sounds-like-discrimination----lisa/article_f9872f61-1903-54ab-b40b-264fcd822fee.html

Read more @ http://www.sikh24.com/2014/07/american-sikhs-and-muslims-outraged-by-official-documents-using-term-raghead/#.U8P4hPmSySp

Biographical characteristics

• Age

• Gender

• Ethnicity

• Disability

• Religion

• Sexual orientation

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 12

Read more @ http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/lgbt-community-celebrates-five-years-of-delhi-court-s-historic-judgement-114070300284_1.html

Physical capacities

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 13

Source: Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational Behavior,15th Edition. Pearson: New Jersey.

Intellectual capacities

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 14

Source: Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2013). Organizational Behavior,15th Edition. Pearson: New Jersey.

Just Imagine !!

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 15

Dealing with diversity—Mutual adjustments

• Being civil

• Deciphering facts from opinions

• Involving in continuous process of reflection

• Willing to share / participate in a give-and-take process

• Learning to collaborate and co-exist

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 16

Dealing with diversity—Mutual adjustments

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 17

Kolb’s learning cycle

CE: Where the learner is gaining real experience Example: Retaliation in response to aggression

RO: Where the learner is reflecting over experience Example: Finding the cause for aggression/retaliation

AC: Where the learner is trying to abstract/conceptualize Example: Trying to generalize the new understanding; such as showing aggression to strong people is not good; may be it works with weak ones

AE: Where the learner is testing his new theory Example: When you find the chance, shout at weak people, and gauge their response

Picture source: http://www.d.umn.edu/~kgilbert/educ5165-731/Readings/experiential-learning-theory.pdf

Kolb’s learning cycle

• Can be entered and exited at any point

– In the case of formal education, for example, students enter at AC and get an

opportunity for AC through their field projects. That makes formal education

cater to only quarter-circle.

• Think about where the other three-quarters can be coursed!

– In the case of vocational training, for example, apprentice enters at CE and

keep tracking back to AE to gain expertise in handling equipment.

• Both clockwise and counter-clockwise movements possible

• Full cycle represents comprehensive learning

• Guide for learning ‘how we learn things’

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One block in learning process—Stereotyping

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• A widely held, but fixed and

oversimplified, image or idea of a

particular type of person or thing. This

could include one’s own self.

• Problems with stereotyping:

– Obstructs reflective capacity

– Deteriorates the capacity to decipher facts

from opinions

– Often see in how people justify or explain

their case for discrimination

Other blocks in learning process

• Fixation / Parable of boiling frog

• Constraints

– Roles

– Situations

– Boundaries

• Opportunities to get things done without learning

– For example, a monkey investing randomly has almost an equal chance

of making profits as an experienced speculator.

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 20

Exercise

• Write a reflective note on your learning from the experience of

going through the recently concluded EDP workshop.

– Use as many words as you can describe your experience

– Try to avoid over simplifying or exaggerating

– Decipher facts from your feelings or someone’s opinions

– Denote the sources from where you have gained your learning

– Write simple sentences; confounding and clarity don’t go together

– Do not worry about the length of the write up. Feel free to write as long

or as short as you like. But try to spend at least fifteen minutes to

reflect on the experience.

Vinay Kumar; Vidisha Garg 21

For discussion

• Hard choices

– Experience vs. Talent

– Wisdom vs. Dynamism

– Safety vs. Speed

– Incremental change vs. Radical innovation

– Personal morals vs. Organizational values

– Social ethics vs. Business ethics

– Freedom for expression vs. Freedom for silence

– Should you allow employees to develop personal relationships?

Alternatively, should you consider hiring employees who are related?

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End of module 2.

Please post your feedback for this session to vinay@icbm.ac.in / vidisha@icbm.ac.in

Do not forget to mention the ‘session date/section’ details

Upcoming

Module 3: Personality and attitude