Course: MBA
Subject: Organizational Behaviour
Module 1 - Part 2
Perception
Module 1 - Part 2
• Perception: An Overview
• Job Attitudes: Meaning and Concept
• Learning: An Overview
• Principle of Reinforcement
Perception
Perception: An Overview
Perception is an integral part of organisational behaviour as it fundamentally influences how individuals
interpret and respond to their work environments.
• Definition: Perception is the cognitive process that enables us to interpret and understand our
surroundings. It involves the acquisition, interpretation, selection, and organisation of sensory
information to represent and understand the environment.
• Perception in Organisational Behaviour: Perception is crucial in the workplace because what people
perceive is often substantially different from objective reality. It's not the reality that influences
people's behaviour but what they perceive that reality to be. Therefore, understanding the perceptual
process can help improve workplace communication, decision-making, and interpersonal relations.
• Implications in Organisational Behaviour: Perception plays a role in various areas of organisational
behaviour, including leadership (how a leader is perceived by their employees), motivation (how
rewards are perceived by employees), job design (how meaningful tasks are perceived by workers),
and decision making (how managers perceive problems and solutions).
Perception
Perceptual Process
In the context of organisational behaviour, the perceptual process
involves several stages:
1. Stimulus or Environmental Inputs: The perceptual process
begins with environmental stimuli, such as actions, objects, or
people that provide sensory input.
2. Sensory Reception: The senses receive and process stimuli from
the environment.
3. Selective Attention: Due to the abundance of stimuli, individuals
cannot attend to all information simultaneously.
4. Organisation and Categorisation: The attended stimuli are
organised and interpreted in the brain based on existing
schemas or frameworks that come from past experiences and
cultural norms.
5. Interpretation: This is a subjective process where individuals
assign meaning to the stimuli.
6. Response: The final step is the individual's reaction or behaviour
in response to their perception.
Perception
Factors Influencing Perception
Perception
Continued…….
• Person Perception
Person perception refers to the process by which individuals form impressions and judgments about
others within an organisational context. It involves interpreting and understanding the characteristics,
behaviours, and intentions of individuals. Person perception influences how people interact, make
decisions, and collaborate in organisations. Factors such as physical appearance, nonverbal cues,
communication style, attribution, stereotypes, and biases shape a person perception. Awareness of
these factors is crucial for creating a fair and inclusive work environment.
• Interpersonal Perception
Interpersonal perception refers to the process of how individuals perceive and understand others in
interpersonal interactions within an organisational context. It involves interpreting verbal and
nonverbal cues, forming impressions, and making judgments about others' characteristics, intentions,
and behaviours.
Perception
Job Attitude: Meaning and Concept
• Job attitudes refer to the set of evaluations and beliefs that employees hold about their work
environment. These attitudes reflect how an employee feels about their job, including various
aspects such as the work itself, coworkers, supervisors, pay, work conditions, organisational policies,
and more. These attitudes can influence work behaviour, including job performance, organisational
citizenship behaviour, and turnover intentions.
• Job Satisfaction refers to the extent to which employees have a positive affective orientation towards
employment by the organisation. Job satisfaction encompasses different aspects, such as satisfaction
with the work itself, compensation, colleagues, supervision, and opportunities for growth. High levels
of job satisfaction can lead to improved productivity, enhanced employee engagement, and reduced
turnover.
Perception
Characteristics and Components of Attitude
a. Cognitive Component: A person's beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or facts are at stake in this. It
represents the thoughts or beliefs that an individual has about an attitude object. For example, an
employee might believe that they are underpaid or that their boss is unfair.
b. Affective Component: This has to do with how someone feels or behaves towards an attitude object.
It is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude and can range from extreme negativity to
extreme positivity. For example, an employee might feel frustrated with their workload.
c. Behavioural Component: This involves the way the attitude we have influenced our behaviour. This
is not always a direct correspondence, however. For example, an employee might dislike a coworker
(affective component) and believe that the coworker is incompetent (the cognitive component) but
still cooperate with that coworker on tasks (the behavioural component) out of necessity or
professionalism.
Perception
Attitudes and Productivity
1. Attitude refers to individuals' evaluation, beliefs, and feelings, while productivity is the level of
output.
2. Attitudes significantly influence employees' motivation, engagement, and commitment to their work,
which in turn affects their productivity levels.
3. Positive attitudes, such as job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and job engagement,
contribute to increased motivation and effort, leading to higher productivity.
4. Creating a positive work environment, promoting job satisfaction, and aligning employees' goals with
the organisation's objectives can enhance attitudes and ultimately improve productivity.
Perception
Learning: An Overview
1. Learning is an integral part of any organisational setup. It involves acquiring knowledge, skills, values,
attitudes, and understanding through experiences or studying.
2. Learning can occur consciously or unconsciously and plays a pivotal role in promoting a knowledge-
based culture within organisations, facilitating their growth, and strengthening their competitive
stance.
3. Individual Learning Individual learning is the bedrock of organisational learning and involves the
development of the individual's knowledge and skills.
4. Organisational Learning Organisational learning, on the other hand, refers to the collective learning
process where organisations learn from past experiences and adapt to the evolving business
environment.
Perception
Principle of Reinforcement
• The Principle of Reinforcement is a fundamental concept of behavioural psychology, particularly
associated with the work of B.F. Skinner. According to this theory, actions that result in positive
reinforcements (results) are more likely to be repeated than actions that result in negative
reinforcements.
Types of Reinforcement
In psychology, particularly within the context of Operant Conditioning and the work of B.F. Skinner,
there are four primary types of reinforcement:
1. Positive Reinforcement: This occurs when a desired stimulus or reward is given after a behaviour,
which strengthens the behaviour and makes it more likely to occur again in the future. An example
could be praising an employee for good work, encouraging them to continue performing well.
2. Negative Reinforcement: This occurs when an unfavourable condition or stimulus is removed after
a behaviour, which also strengthens the behaviour and makes it more likely to be repeated. For
instance, if an employee finishes their work quickly and accurately, they might be allowed to leave
early, thus removing the less desirable condition of staying late.
Perception
Limitations of Behaviour Modification
a. Overemphasis on Observable Behaviour
b. Manipulative
c. Temporary Behaviour Change
d. Generalisation
e. Ignorance of Social Factors
f. Reinforcement Saturation
Thank You
