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Category: Organizational Behavior ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆ

  • How are attitudes formed?

    In the last blog, we looked at cognitive dissonance and understood the source of such a dissonance. In today’s blog, we look at how we form attitudes.

    When we reflect on the way we have learnt, we begin to see two distinct manners – one, where we have had direct experiences and second where we learn by observing others and then trying out ourselves.

    Our first few experience with mathematics, the experience which our teachers created for us when we learnt science, or the questions they asked in the exams in history really made our attitude towards these subjects. There were direct experiences in childhood that we carry even today. Such experiences derived from personal experience are stronger, held confidently, and are found to be more resistant than the ones we pick up from indirect experience (those that were just told and believed in by us)

    The second type of learning occurs when we look at our own surroundings – we observer our parents, friends, seniors etc We create “models” in our mind of these people and attempt to create our attitudes by merely observing others. This process of observing and creating our attitude generally would have 4 processes in it:

    1. We would focus and observe our model
    2. What is observed is retained in our mind
    3. We as learners practice what we observed as a behavior
    4. We are constantly motivated to learn from such a model.
    Having shown that we have 2 broad ways in which we learn an attitude, it would be extremely important to understand that society we live in and the cultural context of our operation have a major influence on the way we form our attitudes.

  • Cognitive Dissonance

    In the last blog, we attempted understanding Attitude using the ABC model. In today’s blog we take a situation and understand the underlying issue and how it is handles in real life.


    Assume you are a salesperson who strictly believes that selling damaged goods to customers is an unethical behavior. For the day, you have been posted to the TV section of the show room; you know that a specific model (the last in its model currently available) of TV is damaged. A customer approaches you and asks for the same model and to be delivered immediately. How would you react?


    There are many responses you could take to a situation like this, some of these are: you might refuse to sell the TV, or you could rationalize saying that the defects in the TV are those that wouldn’t harm the customer who doesn’t know about it and move ahead to sell it or any such approach. Invariably in any stance the behavior that you have adopted creates some form of “dissonance” or “discomfort” that is the result of a conflict between the “attitude” and “behavior”.


    Cognitive Dissonance is a state of tension that is produced when an individual experiences conflict between attitude and behavior. It originates from our attempt to be consistent in everything that we believe in and do. We prefer a consistency between our attitude and behavior.


    As manager, one would need to understand cognitive dissonance since the employees who work with them and find themselves in situations in which their attitudes conflict their behavior. If there is a sudden shift in the behavior of an employee, might possibly be due to the attempt to reduce dissonance. In extreme cases it could also lead to one quitting the job.

  • Cost Minimization and Organizational Innovation

    In the last blog we began understanding the relation between innovation and outsourcing. In this blog we move to discuss the first of the various factors that influence the outsourcing choice – Cost Minimization.
    Cost minimization is one of the most common motivations towards cost minimization. Cost minimization is derived from economies of scale which help spread the large fixed across a larger customer base. It works best when the market has a large number of buyers and seller – indicating that there is high competition in the market. The market therefore would have a large pool to choose from for the vendor who would give them the product at the least cost and therefore benefit from outsourcing.
    One would also need to think of a globalized context in the present context. The globalization in the present context enables the companies to source the product from a larger pool and also benefit from the lower cost of factors of production the not so developed locations of the world – This is how the IT Enabled services industry has developed. The large fixed cost that these companies incur is spread across the large number of clients that these companies serve.
    Let us take the example of Bharat Forge and understand this better – 
    Bharat forge is an Indian company focused on forging – it is the second largest in the world. It has made significant investments in fully automating the forging processes and has instituted an IT enabled knowledge management system to capture and leverage the intellectual capabilities of its engineers and brought about improvements in the forging process that enabled it produce superior products at competitive prices.
    The above example also indicates an additional advantage that a company that invests in cost minimization through specialization – by aggregating the demand of multiple customers – the company also begins to innovate. By doing a relatively narrow set of tasks, the company would be in a better position to figure out superior ways of performing the task and hence are able to innovate greater than a generalist organization. 

  • Evolutionary view of organizational change and Innovation

    In the last blog we learnt about the classification of theories on organizational change. In today’s blog we attempt to understand the relation between evolutionary view of organizational change and the associated innovation. 
    When one thinks of organization’s established structures, procedures, norms etc, we realize that generally these would have developed as learning from organization’s response to the challenges it faced. Every time a new challenge is posed to the organization, these very systems that have been set up to handle some similar but past situations turn to be inertial force. Thus these organizations are slowed down in responding relatively to the threats and opportunities that the environment poses.
    When faced by environmental change, new entrants within the industry would potentially displace the established organizations that do not react quickly enough. It has also been observed that new entrant companies play a “competence-destroying” technological innovation, while the existing companies thrive at “competence-enhancing” technological change adaptation. It would be interesting to also relate these to the discussion we had on the J-Form and adhocracy models and the innovation. We leave that as a thought exercise for the readers here.

  • Organization Theory – 16

    In the earlier blog, we discussed to see if there is an interrelation amongst the various dimensions of differentiation. In today’s blog, we would look at the implications of complexity for an organization.
    As the complexity of an organization increases – there is an increasing need for effective communication, co-ordination and control. Let’s take an example and attempt understanding this – our very famous IBM.
    IBM has office all over the globe. Let us assume that they are working for a client in the United States of America and the development of the specific problem is being done in India. The sales team in the US would take the initial steam into getting the deal; this is then that the business analysts begin detailing the development cycle in association with the technical analyst. Given the cost factors, the technical analyst would stay in India. The technical analyst and project manager would details the technology road map of the project towards completion. The project manager then initiates the team leads under him to get the project implemented through the developer. Developers again are busy with development and too much time would be needed for the testing and quality aspects hence the product would be generally tested by the quality team. 
    In all this, we see that there is an increasing complexity and along with that comes the issues of communication. It is important to ensure that every aspect of the project is communicated well and only then will the full team have the momentum. Given the large number of people working on this – ensuring that the resources are available at the right time is critical also come along is the aspect that the business has to be well controlled and not slip away.
    Simply put – we could definitely say:  The higher the complexity, greater attention needs to be paid to these 3 aspects
    • Communication
    • Coordination
    • Control

    Read in Kannada:

  • Organization Theory – 15

    In the earlier 3 blogs, we looked at the various dimensions of complexity – The last one completed Spatial Differentiation. Having explained these varieties, it is definitely an interesting and would have occurred in our mind that these might be interrelated; the question now is – can we predict them?
    A look around us, and we would definitely realize that there are a different varieties of organizations. We have a small tea shop, we have food chains like McDonald, we have government and its various services etc. All these are at different sizes and different levels of complexity. It would be hard to generalize the relation amongst different dimensions of complexity.
    In organization like the Indian government administration machinery – we have high complexity on every dimension – horizontal, vertical and spatial. And in the case of the small “kaka tea shop” run by kaka himself, there is absolutely no complexity of any type. Excepting for these 2 extreme cases; it would be very hard to generalize a rule about the inter-relation amongst the various dimensions – hence these 3 dimensions do not come as a package.
    In an academic set up like the engineering college – There would be very little vertical differentiation, but the horizontal differentiation would be very high; and almost no spatial differentiation. The opposite case could be seen in an army – very high vertical differentiation with very little horizontal differentiation.
    Read in Kannada:

  • ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ವರ್ತನೆ ಚರ್ಚೆ – ೨

    ಈ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಅಂಕಣದಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಉದ್ಯೋಗಿಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ವ್ಯವಹಾರಗಳ ವರ್ತನೆಯನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಎಂದು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡೆವು. ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಮುಂದುವರೆದು ಈ ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ವರ್ತನೆಯ ಗುಣ ಸ್ವಭಾವಗಳನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನಿಸೋಣ. ನಾನು ಕಲಿತಂತೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲವು ಗುಣ ಸ್ವಭಾವಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬ ಪ್ರಬಂಧಕನು ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲೇ ಬೇಕು:
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ವಿಧದ ವಿಷಯಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ವೈಯಕ್ತಿಕ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸಗಳಿಂದಾಗಿ ನಿಶ್ಚಯವಾಗುತ್ತವೆ.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯತೆಗಳಿಂದಲೂ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ನಿರ್ದಿಷ್ಟ ಗುರಿ ಮತ್ತು ಉದ್ದೇಶದಿಂದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯನ್ನು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಕ್ಕೆ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಬಹುದು.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಸಕ್ರಿಯ, ಅಂತೆಯೆ ಸ್ಥಾಯಿಯೂ ಆಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯನ್ನು ಬಹು ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರವಾದಿಸಬಹುದು.
    • ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಹಿಂದಿನ ಅನುಭವಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರಭಾವಿತವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ.
    ವ್ಯವಹಾರ ವರ್ತನೆಯನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ಅನುಭವಗಳನ್ನು ಮೆಲುಕು ಹಾಕಿ, ಅದರ ಬೆಳಕಿನಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಇಂದಿನ ಅನುಭವಗಳನ್ನು ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಮಾತ್ರ ಅರ್ಥೈಸ ಬಹುದು. ಇದನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಯಾವುದೇ ಸುಲಭ ವಿಧಾನವಿಲ್ಲ. ಮನುಷ್ಯನ ಆಧಾರಿತ ಈ ಅಧ್ಯಯನವು ನಮ್ಮಂತೆಯೇ ಜಟಿಲ ಮತ್ತು ನುಣುಚಾದದು.

    ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಅಂಕಣ:

  • Organizational Behavior – 2

    Understanding Nature and Characteristics of Behavior

    In the last blog we understood that OB relates to the behavior of people and organizations; a good understanding of the nature and characteristics of behavior is essential to effectively use organization behavior in the managerial roles. Here are some characteristics of Behavior which every aspiring manager needs to know:
    • Behavior is influenced by a number of factors
    • Behavior is influenced by various kinds of factors
    • Behavior is determined by individual differences
    • Behavior is affected by similarities
    • Behavior is goal directed and purposeful
    • Behavior is modifiable to a very large degree
    • Behavior is dynamic as well as stable
    • Behavior is predictable to some degree
    • Behavior is influenced by past experience
    You can take the best out of learning Organization Behavior if you are able to reflect them to your daily surrounding and analyze their implications. There is no easy way to understand OB. It is complex and evasive just as we human beings are.

  • ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆ ಚರ್ಚೆ – ೧

    ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಬೆಳವಣಿಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ, ಮಾನವ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಪಾತ್ರ ವಹಿಸುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದು ಈ ಹಿಂದೆ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡೆವು. ಮನುಷ್ಯನ ಸ್ವಭಾವ ಅರ್ಥೈಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಪ್ರಯತ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ಮನುಷ್ಯನ “ಅಹಂ” ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಂಡೆವು. ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮನುಷ್ಯನ ವರ್ತನೆಯನ್ನು ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಮಾಡಿದಾಗ ಸಾಕಷ್ಟು ಅಂಶಗಳು ಹೊರ ಬರುತ್ತವೆ – ಇದನ್ನೆ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆಯೆಂದು (ಆರ್ಗನೈಸೇಶನಲ್ ಬಿಹೇವಿಯರ್) ಕರೆಯುತ್ತೇವೆ.

    ಪ್ರಬಂಧಕರು ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆಯ ಮೂಲಕ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಮತ್ತು ಉದ್ಯೊಗಿಗಳ ನಡುವಿನ ಸಂಬಂಧದಿಂದ ತಿಳಿದು ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಧ್ಯೇಯಗಳನ್ನು ಸಾಧನೆಯನ್ನು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದು. ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ವಿಧಗಳು
    ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆ: ಉದ್ಯೊಗಿಗಳ ವರ್ತನೆ ಇಂದ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಮೆಲಿನ ಪರಿಣಾಮದ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ
    ಸ್ಥೂಲ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆ: ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯು ಉದ್ಯೋಗಿಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಬೀರುವ ಪ್ರಭಾವ.

    ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಪ್ರಬಂಧಕನು ಆತನು ದಿನನಿತ್ಯ ನೋಡುವ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಅರ್ಥೈಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು, ನಿರ್ದೇಶಿಸಬೇಕು, ನಿಗ್ರಹಿಸಬೇಕು ಮತ್ತು ಇವುಗಳಿಂದ ಮುಂಬರುವ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶವನ್ನು ಊಹಿಸಬೇಕು. ಇದರಂತೆ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆಯು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನದಿಂದ ಸಾಧಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೌಶಲ್ಯವೆನ್ನುವುದು ಖಚಿತವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.

    ಇಂತಹ ಮಾನವ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲದ ಪ್ರಬಂಧನೆಯ ಬಹು ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅಂಗವಾದ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಿಕ ವರ್ತನೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮುಂಬರುವ ಅಂಕಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ತಿಳಿದುಕೊಳ್ಳೋಣ.

  • Organizational Behavior Discussion – 1

    One of the core part of Human Resource Management (we saw why this was the most significant business function) involves understanding the Human Being. We began with our attempt to understand the Human being with the blog on ego. The behavior of the human beings in organization gives significant inputs on the way the human being thinks. Understanding their behavior hence would be would be very significant and this study is called Organization Behavior (OB)

    OB assists managers develop an insightful understanding of how people and organizations behave and interact with each other in accomplishing their goals. This field of OB could be classified into two categories:
    • Micro OB – that dealing with the way individuals influence the organization
    • Macro OB – that dealing with the way the organization influence the behavior of the people

    Whatever the focus, it is certain that OB deals with behavior of people and organization. For a manger dealing with OB, it would mean understanding, directing, controlling and predicting behavior in organizations of both people and organization.
    This means that the field of OB comes in with a significant practice oriented rider – it is only by practice that the manager would gain acquaintance with the people and organization he works with and thereby accomplishes the objectives.

    In the upcoming series on HR related issues, we could continue our understanding of OB before going to other divisions of the HRM – as Human resource form the core of every organization.