ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

INDRANILMUTSUDDI
Attitudes
Types of Attitudes
Nature of Attitudes
 Attitudes are understood as the beliefs,
feelings and action tendencies of an
individual or group of individuals towards
objects, ideas and people.

 Attitudes can be described as mental states

of readiness, learned and organized
through experience, exerting a specific
influence on a person’s response to people,
objects and situations with which it is
related.
About Attitudes….
 Attitudes are learned.
 Attitudes refer to feelings & beliefs of
individuals or group of people.
 These feelings & beliefs define one’s
predispositions towards given aspects of
the world.
 Attitudes can fall anywhere.
 Attitudes are organized & are core to an
individual.
 Components of Attitude

Affective Cognitive

Attitude

Behavioral
Tendency
Components of Attitude
 Cognitive Component: It refers to what
we know or we think that we know about
an object, situation or an individual.
 Affective Component: It consists of the
feelings a person has towards an object,
situation or an individual.
 Behavioral Tendency Component: It is
the way an individual is inclined towards an
object, situation or an individual.
Attitude & Behavior Relationship

Affective
Component

Behavior towards
Cognitive
Attitude object, situation,
Component
person

Behavioral
Tendency
Component
 The Attitude Behavior Cognition
(ABC) Model of Attitude
Managerial Style
Technology
Stimuli Noise
Work Related Factors Peers
Reward System
Career opportunities

My supervisor is unfair
Cognition Beliefs & values Having a fair supervisor
Is important to me

Affecting Feelings & emotions I don’t like my supervisor

Stage

Behavior Intended Behavior I am going to request for

a transfer
 Attitude Formation

Experience with
The object

Mass Classical
Communication Conditioning

Attitudes

Economic Operant
Status Conditioning

Family &
Neighborhood Social Learning
Peer Groups
 Functions of Attitudes

Ego
Adjustment
Defensive

Attitudes

Value
Knowledge
Expression
 Difficulties in Changing Attitudes
 Escalation of Commitment
 Cognitive Dissonance
 Insufficient Information
Escalation of Commitment
 It refers to the prior commitment of people
to a particular cause & their unwillingness
to change.

 Extension of groupthink could lead to

escalation of commitment.
The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Desire to reduce dissonance

• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements
• Rewards involved in dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
 The discomfort experienced by
people feeling cognitive dissonance
leads to efforts to reduce the tension
by:
 Changing the attitudes
 Changing the behavior

 Rationalizing the inconsistency

Measuring the A-B Relationship

 Recent research indicates that the

attitudes (A) significantly predict
behaviors (B) when moderating variables
are taken into account.

Moderating Variables
• Importance of the attitude
• Specificity of the attitude
• Accessibility of the attitude
• Social pressures on the individual
• Direct experience with the attitude
Ways of Changing Attitudes
Changing attitudes of the self:

 Be aware of one’s own attitudes

 Think for self
 Realize that there are few, if any, benefits from
harboring negative attitudes
 Keep an open mind
 Get into continuous education & development
programs
 Build a positive self-esteem
 Stay away from negative influences.
Ways of Changing Attitudes
Changing attitudes of the Employees:

 Give feedback on a regular basis.

 Accentuate positive attitude.
 Be the role model
 Provide new information
 Use fear & coercion
 Use rewards
 Influence of friends/peers
 Applying co-opting approaches
Work Related Attitudes
 Job Satisfaction
 Organizational Commitment
 Involvement & Participation
 Psychological Ownership
Self-Perception Theory
An Application: Attitude Surveys
Sample Attitude Survey
Job Satisfaction
 It refers to the general attitude of the
employees towards their jobs & the
organization.
 Job Satisfaction
 Measuring Job Satisfaction
 Single global rating
 Summation score
 How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
 Job satisfaction declined to 50.7% in 2000
 Decline attributed to:
 Pressures to increase productivity

 Less control over work

 A Model of Job Satisfaction
Low
Turnover

Organizational Job Low

Factors Satisfaction Absenteeism
Outcomes
Expected/valued

Group Factors

Outcomes High
Turnover
Received Job
Individual
Dissatisfaction
Factors

High
Absenteeism
The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee
Performance

 Satisfaction and Productivity

 Satisfied workers aren’t necessarily more
productive.
 Worker productivity is higher in organizations
with more satisfied workers.
 Satisfaction and Absenteeism
 Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable
absences.
 Satisfaction and Turnover
 Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
 Organizations take actions to cultivate high
performers and to weed out lower performers.
Causes of Job Satisfaction
Organizational factors:

 Wages
 Promotions
 Nature of Work (work content, challenges,
skill variety, task identity etc)
 Organizational policies & procedures
 Working Conditions
Causes of Job Satisfaction
Group factors:

 Size
 Supervision

Individual factors:

 Personality variables
 Expectations
 Interests
 General life satisfaction
 Performance & Job Satisfaction
Perceived
Equity of rewards
Extrinsic
Rewards

Job
Performance
Satisfaction

Intrinsic
Rewards

Lawler-Porter Model of Performance & Job Satisfaction

Responses to Job Dissatisfaction
How Employees Can Express
Dissatisfaction
 Organizational Commitment
 It is the relative strength of an individual’s
identification with and involvement in a
particular organization.
Components

Affective Normative Continuance

Component Component Component

It is based on the
It is based on the
Emotional Belief that
Costs an employee
Attachment to the Commitment is
Associates with
organization “the right” thing
Leaving the orgn.
“to do”
 Causes of Organizational Commitment

Employability
Personal
Traits

Organizational
Job/Role Commitment Organizational
Expectations Propensity Commitment

Experienced
meaningfulness

Job Choice Initial Work

factors Experience Experienced
responsibility

Psychological
Ownership
Psychological Ownership
 It is the state in which an individual feels as
though the target of ownership (or a piece
of ownership) is their own.

 It develops through empowerment, self-

management opportunities, expanded
roles, and participation in organizational
problem solving.
Job Satisfaction and OCB
 Satisfaction and Organizational
Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
 Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by
and are trusting of the organization are more
willing to engage in behaviors that go beyond
the normal expectations of their job.
 Causes & Consequences of Psychological
Ownership

Antecedent Conditions Consequent Conditions

Organizational
Citizenship
Behavior
Information
(intimate Assumption of
Involvement Knowledge) Psychological
Opportunities Responsibility
Ownership
Influence Satisfaction
Investing of Organizational
Oneself Commitment

Assumption of
Personal Risk for
The target of
Ownership
Management of Employee Attitudes
 Organizational Structure
 Organizational Climate
 Organizational Culture
 Working Conditions
 Job Design Employee attitudes,
 Impact of Technology beliefs, feelings &
 Security intentions
 Organizational Policies
 Pay & Rewards
 Co-workers
Financial Impact of Attitudes (tools)

 HR Accounting
 Behavioral Accounting
 Procedure for assessing Financial
Impact of Attitudes
 Identifying & measuring relevant attitudes
 Identifying & measuring relevant “Cost
Items”
 Pricing behavioral “Cost Items”
 Identifying the relationship b/w Attitudes &
Behavioral “cost items”
 Estimating the Financial Impact of Attitude
Changes
Values
Types of Values –- Rokeach Value Survey
Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
Values in
the
Rokeach
Survey
(cont’d)
 Mean Value
Rankings of
Executives, Union
Members, and
Activists
Dominant Work Values in Today’s
Workforce
Values, Loyalty, and Ethical
Behavior

Ethical Values and

Behaviors of
Leaders

Ethical Climate in
the Organization