types of behaviour in ob

7/27/2019 Types of Behaviour in Ob

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PROJECT ON

TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR

Submitted by

Ms. SONALI D. MITHBAWKAR

ROLL NO. 11

M.COM-II (Business Management)

SUBMITTED TO

University of Mumbai

PROJECT GUIDE

Prof. Mrunmayee R.Thatte

VPMs

K. G. Joshi College of Arts

& N. G. Bedekar College of Commerce

Chendani Bunder Road, Thane (W) 400601.

Tel. No. 022-25332412

Academic Year


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2013-2014

CERTIFICATE

Miss. Sonali Dhairyadhar Mithbawkar of M.Com (Business Management) Semester

3rd Roll No.11 has undertaken & completed the project work titled Types of Behaviors

during the academic year 2013-14 under the guidance of Prof. Mrunmayee R. Thatte

submitted on K. G. Joshi to this college in fulfillment of the curriculum of MASTER OF

COMMERCE (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT) UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI.

This is bonafide project work & the information presented is True & original to the

best of our knowledge & belief.

Project Guide External Examiner


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In brief, this project has taught me basic fundamentals of Types of Behaviors. I

take this opportunity to thank the people who have helped me in preparing my

project.

It gives me immense pleasure in expressing my post-graduate to my project guide

Prof. Mrs. Mrunmayee R. Thatte for giving her precious time & helped me in

completing my project.

I would also like to thankProf. Mr. Murdeshwar Sir our Principal Dr. Mrs. S.

A. Singh for their valuable suggestions & support provided during the project &

also the library staff for providing the books whenever demanded by us.

I thank them for being informative & tolerant. I would not have been able to

complete to my project without sincere guidance & effort of above. Mentionedpeople, where presence was blessing in disguise for me, which motivated me to

complete my project on time.


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DECLARATION

I Sonali D. Mithbawkar the student of Joshi- Bedekar College presently

studying in M-Com (Business Management) Semester 3rd

hereby declare that, I

have completed this project on Types of Behaviors in Academic year2013-14.

The information submitted is true & original to the best of my knowledge.

Place: Thane

Date:

[ Sonali D. Mithbawkar ]


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INDEX


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SR. NO PARTICULARS PG. NO.

1 Behavior 6

2 Organizational Behavior 7

3 Nature of OB 8

4 History 9

5 Methods used in organizational studies 12

6 Theories & Models 13

7 Elements of OB 17

8 Importance of OB 17

9 Group Behavior 20

10 Defining Characteristics of Groups 21

11 Types of groups 22

12 Group structure 22

13 Stages of group development 23

14 Consequences of intergroup relations 26

15 Human Behavior 32

16 Consumer Behavior 35

17 Evaluation of alternatives 37

18 Conclusion 39

19 Bibliography 40


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Behavior

Behavior or behaviour is the range of actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems,

orartificial entities in conjunction with their environment, which includes the other systems or

organisms around as well as the physical environment.

It is the response of the system or organism to various stimuli or inputs, whether internal or

external, conscious or subconscious, overt or covert, and voluntary or involuntary.

Organization as a purposeful system with several subsystems where individuals and activities are

organized to achieve certain predetermined goals through division of labor and coordination of

activities. Division of labor refers to how the work is divided among the employees and

coordination refers to how all the various activities performed by the individuals are integrated or

brought together to accomplish the goals of the organization. The term organizing is used to

denote one aspect of the managerial activities when he or she is preparing and scheduling the

different tasks that need to be completed for the job to be done.

It is the behavior of the people working in an organization to achieve common goals or

objectives. Organization comprises of people with different attitudes, cultures, beliefs, norms and

values.

So let us understand organizational behavior and what it exactly it means. Organizational

Behavior can be defined as the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around

organizations. The study of Organizational Behavior facilitates the process of explaining,

understanding) predicting, maintaining, and changing employee behavior in an organizational

setting.

The value of organizational behavior is that: it isolates important aspects of the managers job

and offers specific perspective on the human side of management:

People as organizations, People as resources, People as people

In other words, it involves the understanding, prediction and control of human behavior and

factors affecting their performance and interaction among the organizational members. And

because organizational behavior is concerned specifically with employment related situations,

you should not be surprised to find that it emphasizes behavior as related- to concerns such as

jobs, work, absenteeism, employment turnover, productivity, human performance and

management
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_Intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_Intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systemshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organism


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Organizational behavior

Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups

and structures have on behavior within an organization for the purpose of applying such

knowledge towards improving an organization's effectiveness. It is an interdisciplinary field that

includes sociology, psychology, communication, and management; and it complements theacademic studies oforganizational theory (which is focused on organizational and intra-

organizational topics) and human resource studies (which is more applied and business-oriented).

It may also be referred to as organizational studies or organizational science. The field has its

roots in industrial and organizational psychology.

Organizational Behavior is field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and

structure have on behavior within organization. It is the study and application of knowledge

about how people act within organizations. It is a human tool for human benefit. It applies

broadly to the behavior of people in all types of organizations, such as business, government,

schools and services organizations. It covers three determinants of behavior in organizations:individuals, groups, and structure. OB is an applied field. It applies the knowledge gained about

individuals, and the effect of structure on behavior, in order to make organizations work more

effectively. OB covers the core topics of motivation, leadership behavior and power,

interpersonal communication, group structure and process, learning, attitude development and

perception, change process, conflict, job design and work stress.

Overview

Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple viewpoints, methods,

and levels of analysis. For instance, one textbook divides these multiple viewpoints into three

perspectives: modern, symbolic, and postmodern. Another traditional distinction, present

especially in American academia, is between the study of "micro" organizational behaviour

which refers to individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting and "macro"

strategic management and organizational theory which studies whole organizations and

industries, how they adapt, and the strategies, structures and contingencies that guide them. To

this distinction, some scholars have added an interest in "meso" scale structures - power, culture,

and the networks of individuals and i.e. ronit units in organizationsand "field" level analysiswhich study how whole populations of organizations interact.

Whenever people interact in organizations, many factors come into play. Modern organizational

studies attempt to understand and model these factors. Like all modernist social sciences,

organizational studies seek to control, predict, and explain. There is some controversy over the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dynamicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_(management)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Explainhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predicthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_(management)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_dynamicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_and_organizational_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resource_managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_theory


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ethics of controlling workers' behavior, as well as the manner in which workers are treated (see

Taylor's scientific management approach compared to the human relations movement of the

1940s). As such, organizational behaviour or OB (and its cousin, Industrial psychology) have at

times been accused of being the scientific tool of the powerful. Those accusations

notwithstanding, OB can play a major role in organizational development, enhancing

organizational performance, as well as individual and group performance / satisfaction /

commitment.

One of the main goals of organizational theorists is, according to Simms (1994), "to revitalize

organizational theory and develop a better conceptualization of organizational life." An

organizational theorist should carefully consider levels assumptions being made in theory, and is

concerned to help managers and administrators.

Nature of Organizational Behavior (OB)

Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science that is built on contributions from a

number of behavioral disciplines such as psychology, sociology, social psychology,

anthropology and economics.

Psychology

Psychology is the study of human behavior which tries to identify the characteristics of

individuals and provides an understanding why an individual behaves in a particular way.

This thus provides us with useful insight into areas such as human motivation, perceptual

processes or personality characteristics.

Sociology

Sociology is the study of social behavior, relationships among social groups and

societies, and the maintenance of social order. The main focus of attention is on the social

system. This helps us to appreciate the functioning of individuals within the organization

which is essentially a socio-technical entity.

Social psychology

Social psychology is the study of human behavior in the context of social situations. This

essentially addresses the problem of understanding the typical behavioral patterns to be

expected from an individual when he takes part in a group.

Anthropology

Anthropology is the science of mankind and the study of human behavior as a whole. The

main focus of attention is on the cultural system, beliefs, customs, ideas and values
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_psychology


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within a group or society and the comparison of behavior among different cultures. In the

context of todays organizational scenario. It is very important to appreciate the

differences that exist among people coming from different cultural backgrounds as

people are often found to work with others from the other side of the globe.

Economics

Any organization to survive and sustain must be aware of the economic viability of their

effort. This applies even to the non-profit and voluntary organizations as well-technical

entity.

Political Science

Although frequently overlooked, the contributions of political scientists are significant to

the understand arrangement in organizations. It studies individuals and groups within

specific conditions concerning the power dynamics. Important topics under here include

structuring of conflict, allocation of power and how people manipulate power for

individual self-interest etc.

History

While Classical philosophies rarely took upon a task of developing a specific theory of

organizations, some had used implicit conceptions of general organization in construct views on

politics and virtue; the Greek philosopher Plato, for example, wrote about the essence of

leadership, emphasized the importance of specialization and discussed a primordial form of

incentive structures in speculating how to get people to embody the goal of the just city in TheRepublic. Aristotle also addressed such topics as persuasive communication. The writings of

16th century Italian philosopher Niccol Machiavelli laid the foundation for contemporary work

on organizational power and politics. In 1776, Adam Smith advocated a new form of

organizational structure based on the division of labour. One hundred years later, German

sociologist Max Weber wrote about rational organizations and initiated discussion of charismatic

leadership. Soon after, Frederick Winslow Taylor introduced the systematic use of goal setting

and rewards to motivate employees. In the 1920s, Australian-born Harvard professor Elton

Mayo and his colleagues conducted productivity studies at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant in

the United States.

Though it traces its roots back to Max Weber and earlier, organizational studies began as an

academic discipline with the advent of scientific management in the 1890s, with

Taylorism representing the peak of this movement. Proponents of scientific management held

that rationalizing the organization with precise sets of instructions and time-motion studies


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would lead to increased productivity. Studies of different compensation systems were carried

out.

After the First World War, the focus of organizational studies shifted to how human factors and

psychology affected organizations, a transformation propelled by the identification of

the Hawthorne Effect. This Human Relations Movement focused on teams, motivation, and the

actualization of the goals of individuals within organizations.

Prominent early scholars included Chester Barnard, Henri Fayol, Frederick Herzberg, Abraham

Maslow, David McClelland, and Victor Vroom.

The Second World War further shifted the field, as the invention of large-scale logistics

and operations research led to a renewed interest in rationalist approaches to the study of

organizations. Interest grew in theory and methods native to the sciences, including systems

theory, the study of organizations with a complexity theory perspective and complexity strategy.

Influential work was done by Herbert Alexander Simon and James G. March and the so-called

"Carnegie School" of organizational behavior.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the field was strongly influenced by social psychology and the emphasis

in academic study was on quantitative research. An explosion of theorizing, much of it at

Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon, produced Bounded Rationality, Informal

Organization, Contingency Theory, Resource Dependence, Institutional Theory, and

Organizational Ecology theories, among many others.

Starting in the 1980s, cultural explanations of organizations and change became an important

part of study. Qualitative methods of study became more acceptable, informed by

anthropology, psychology and sociology. A leading scholar was Karl Weick.

Elton Mayo -

Elton Mayo, an Australian national, headed the Hawthorne Studies at Harvard. In his

classic writing in 1931, Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization, he advised

managers to deal with emotional needs of employees at work.

Mary Parker Follett -

Mary Parker Follett was a pioneer management consultant in the industrial world. As a

writer, she provided analyses on workers as having complex combinations of attitude,

beliefs, and needs. She told managers to motivate employees on their job performance, a

"pull" rather than a "push" strategy.

Douglas McGregor -

Douglas McGregor proposed two theories/assumptions, which are very nearly the

opposite of each other, about human nature based on his experience as a management


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consultant. His first theory was "Theory X", which is pessimistic and negative; and

according to McGregor it is how managers traditionally perceive their workers. Then, in

order to help managers replace that theory/assumption, he gave "Theory Y" which takes a

more modern and positive approach. He believed that managers could achieve more if

they start perceiving their employees as self-energized, committed, responsible and

creative beings. By means of his Theory Y, he in fact challenged the traditional theorists

to adopt a developmental approach to their employees. He also wrote a book, The Human

Side of Enterprise, in 1960; this book has become a foundation for the modern view of

employees at work.

Current state of the field

Organizational behavior is a growing field. Organizational studies departments generally form

part of business schools, although many universities also have industrial psychology andindustrial economics programs.

The field is highly influential in the business world with practitioners such as Peter

Drucker and Peter Senge, who turned the academic research into business practices.

Organizational behaviour is becoming more important in the global economy as people with

diverse backgrounds and cultural values must work together effectively and efficiently. It is also

under increasing criticism as a field for its ethnocentric and pro-capitalist assumptions.

During the last 20 years, organizational behavior study and practice has developed and expanded

through creating integrations with other domains:

Anthropology became an interesting prism to understanding firms as communities, by

introducing concepts like Organizational culture, 'organizational rituals' and 'symbolic

acts' enabling new ways to understand organizations as communities.

Leadership Understanding: the crucial role of leadership at various levels of an

organization in the process of change management.

Ethics and their importance as pillars of any vision and one of the most important driving

forces in an organization.

Aesthetics: Within the last decades a field emerged that focuses on the aesthetic sphere of

our existence in organizations, drawing on interdisciplinary theories and methods from

the humanities and disciplines such as theatre studies, literature, music, visual studies and

many more.


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Methods used in Organizational Studies

A variety of methods are used in organizational studies, many of which are found in other social

sciences.

I. Quantitative methods

a. Multiple Regressionb. Non-Parametric Statisticsc. Time Series Analysisd. Meta-Analysise. ANOVA

II. Computer simulationComputer simulation is a prominent method in organizational studies and strategic

management. While there are many uses for computer simulation (including the

development of engineering systems inside high-technology firms), most academics in

the fields of strategic management and organizational studies have used computer

simulation to understand how organizations or firms operate. More recently, however,

researchers have also started to apply computer simulation to understand organizational

behaviour at a more micro-level, focusing on individual and

interpersonal cognition and behavior such as team working.

While the strategy researchers have tended to focus on testing theories of firm

performance, many organizational theorists are focused on more descriptive theories, the

one uniting theme has been the use of computational models to either verify or extend

theories. It is perhaps no accident that those researchers using computational simulation

have been inspired by ideas from biological modeling, ecology, theoretical

physics and thermodynamics, chaos theory, complexity theory and organization

studies since these methods have also been fruitfully used in those areas.

III. Qualitative methods

a. Ethnography, Which Involves Direct Participant Observationb. Single And Multiple Case Analysisc. Grounded Theory Approachesd. Other Historical Methods
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participant_observationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounded_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounded_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participant_observation


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Theories and Models

Current theories of organization can be divided into two broad categories:

Organizational Behavior - focusing on the behavior of individuals within organizations

Organization Theory - focusing on the behavior of organizations and populations oforganizations

I. Organizational Behavior

Chester Barnard recognized that individuals behave differently when acting in their

organizational role than when acting separately from the organization. Organizational behavior

studies these differences to describe and model the behavior of individuals and groups in

organizations.

Organizational Behavior draws most heavily on psychology and social psychology.

Motivation in Organizations

Motivation the forces either internal or external to a person that arouse enthusiasm and resistance

to pursue a certain course of action.

According to Baron etal. (2008): "Although motivation is a broad and complex concept,

organizational scientists have agreed on its basic characteristics. Drawing from various social

sciences, we define motivation as the set of processes that arouse, direct, and maintain human

behavior toward attaining some goal"

II. Organization Theory

Organizational Theory studies the organization as a whole or populations of organizations. The

focus of organizational theory is to understand the structure and processes of organizations andhow organizations interact with industries and societies.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Barnardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Barnard


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Systems theory

The systems framework is also fundamental to organizational theory as organizations are

complex dynamic goal-oriented processes. One of the early thinkers in the field was Alexander

Bogdanov, who developed his Tectology, a theory widely considered a precursor of Bertalanffy's

General Systems Theory, aiming to model and design human organizations. Kurt Lewin wasparticularly influential in developing the systems perspective within organizational theory and

coined the term "systems of ideology", from his frustration with behavioral psychologies that

became an obstacle to sustainable work in psychology (see Ash 1992: 198-207). The complexity

theory perspective on organizations is another systems view of organizations. German

sociologist Niklas Luhmann (1927 - 1998) developed asociological system theory and

describes organizations - alongside interactions and society - as one of three main entities.

The systems approach to organizations relies heavily upon achieving negative

entropy through openness and feedback. A systemic view on organizations is transdisciplinary

and integrative. In other words, it transcends the perspectives of individual disciplines,integrating them on the basis of a common "code", or more exactly, on the basis of the formal

apparatus provided by systems theory. The systems approach gives primacy to the

interrelationships, not to the elements of the system. It is from these dynamic interrelationships

that new properties of the system emerge. In recent years, systems thinking has been developed

to provide techniques for studying systems in holistic ways to supplement

traditional reductionistic methods. In this more recent tradition, systems theory in organizational

studies is considered by some as a humanistic extension of the natural sciences.

Organization Structures and Dynamics

Incentive theory is a concept ofhuman resources ormanagement theory. In the corporate sense,

it states that firm owners should structure employee compensation in such a way that the

employees' goals are aligned with owners' goals. As it applies to the operations of firms, it is

more accurately called the principalagent problem.

Complexity theory and organizations

Contingency theory French & Raven's Five bases of Power

Hybrid organization

Informal Organization

Merger integration

Model of Organizational Citizenship behaviour
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal%E2%80%93agent_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resources


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Model of Organizational Justice Model of Organizational Misbehavior Resource dependence theory Mintzberg's Organigraph

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy is most commonly attributed to Max Weber. Weber argued that bureaucracy was

the application of rational-legal authority to the organization of work: through the application of

rationality, bureaucracy was the most technically efficient form of organization. Charles

Perrow has extended this work, showing the continuing application of bureaucratic concepts to

the study of organizations. Perrow argues that all organizations can be understood in terms of

bureaucracy and that organizational failures are more often a result of insufficient application of

bureaucratic principals.

Weber's principals of bureaucratic organization:

A formal organizational hierarchy

Management by rules

Organization by functional specialty and selecting people based on their skills and

technical qualifications

An "up-focused" (to organization's board or shareholders) or "in-focused" (to the

organization itself) mission

Purposefully impersonal to apply the same rules and structures to all people.

Organizational Ecology

Organizational Ecology models apply concept from evolutionary theory to the study of

populations of organizations, focusing on birth (founding), growth and change, and death (firm

mortality). In this view, organizations are 'selected' based on their fit with their operating

environment.

Economic Theories of Organization

Theory of the Firm

Transaction Cost Economics

Agency Theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_Firmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_Cost_Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_Theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_Theoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transaction_Cost_Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_the_Firmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_theory


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Organizational Culture

There are two broad approaches of organizational culture.

The first studies the impact of regional and national cultures on the organization. In this school

of thought, the regional or national culture has a significant impact on all aspects of

organizational behavior. Understanding these differences is important for both working with

other organizations from other cultures and in structuring organizations for and managing people

from other cultures. This is exemplified by Geert Hofstede's Hofstede's cultural dimensions

theory. In an ongoing research program, Hofstede has surveyed a large number of cultures and

identified six dimensions of national culture that effect the behavior of individuals in

organizations:

Power Distance

Individualism

Uncertainty Avoidance Masculinity

Long Term Orientation

The second approach to organizational culture emphasizes the culture of the organization itself.

This approach presumes that organizations can be characterized by cultural dimensions such as

beliefs, values, rituals, symbols, and so forth. Within this approach, the approaches generally

consist of either developing models for understanding organizational culture or developing

typologies of organizational culture. Edgar Schein developed a model for understanding

organizational culture and identified three levels of organizational culture:

Artifacts and Behaviors

Espoused Values

Shared Basic Assumptions

Schein argued that if any of these three levels were divergent tension would result: if, for

example, espoused values or desired behaviors were not consistent with the basic assumptions of

an organization it is unlikely that these values or behaviors would be rejected.

Typologies of organizational culture identified specific organizational culture and related thesecultures to performance or effectiveness of the organization.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Scheinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Schein


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ELEMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

The key elements in the organizational behaviour are people, structure, technology and the

environment in which the organization operates.

People:People make up the internal and social system of the organization. They

consist of individuals and groups. The groups may be big or small; formal or

informal; official or unofficial. Groups are dynamic and they work in the organization

to achieve their objectives.

Structure:Structure defines the formal relationships of the people in organizations.

Different people in the organization are performing different type of jobs and they

need to be (elated in some structural way so that their work can be effectively co-

ordinated.

Technology: Technology such as machines and work processes provide theresources with which people work and affects the tasks that they perform. The

technology used has a significant influence on working relationships. It allows people

to do more and work better but it also restricts people in various ways.

Environment:All organizations operate within an external environment. It is the part

of a larger system that contains many other elements such as government, family and

other organizations. All of these mutually influence each other in a complex system

that creates a context for a group of people.

IMPORTANCE OF Organizational behaviour

Organizational behaviour offers several ideas to management as to how human factor should be

properly emphasized to achieve organizational objectives. Barnard has observed that an

organization is a conscious interaction of two or more people. This suggests that since an

organization is the interaction of persons, they should be given adequate importance in managing

the organization. Organizational behaviour provides opportunity to management to analyze

human behaviour and prescribe means for shaping it to a particular direction.

Understanding Human Behaviour Organizational behaviour provides understanding the human

behaviour in all directions in which the human beings interact. Thus, organizational behaviour

can be understood at the individual level, interpersonal level, group level and inter-group level.


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Organizational behaviour helps to analyze why and how an individual behaves in a particular

way. Human behaviour is a complex phenomenon and is affected by a large number of factors

including the psychological, social and cultural implications.

Organizational behaviour integrates these factors to provide simplicity in understanding the

human behaviour.

I nterpersonal Level:Human behaviour can be understood at the level of

interpersonal interaction. Organizational behaviour provides means for

understanding the interpersonal relationships in an organization. Analysis of

reciprocal relationships, role analysis and transactional analysis are some of the

common methods, which provide such understanding.

Group Level:Though people interpret anything at their individual level, they are

often modified by group pressures, which then become a force in shaping human

behaviour, thus, individuals should be studied in groups also... Research in groupdynamics has contributed vitally to organizational behaviour and shows how a

group behaves in its norms, cohesion, goals, procedures, communication pattern

and leadership. These research results are advancing managerial knowledge of

understanding group behaviour, which is very important for organizational morale

and productivity.

I nter-group Level:The organization is made up of many groups that develop

complex relationships to build their process and substance. Understanding the

effect of group relationships is important for managers in todays organization.

Inter-group relationship may be in the form of co-operation or competition.

The co-operative relationships help the organization in achieving its objectives.

Organizational behaviour provides means to understand and achieve co-operative group

relationships through interaction, rotation of members among groups, avoidance of win-lose

situation and focusing on total group objectives.

Controlling and Directing Behaviour:After understanding the mechanism of

human behaviour, managers are required to control and direct the behaviour so

that it conforms to the standards required for achieving the organizational

objectives. Thus, managers are required to control and direct the behaviour at all

levels of individual interaction. Therefore, organizational behaviour helps

managers in controlling and directing in different areas such as use of power and


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sanction, leadership, communication and building organizational climate

favorable for better interaction.

Use of Power and Sanction:Thebehaviors can be controlled and directed by the

use of power and sanction, which are formally defined by the organization. Power

is referred to as the capacity of an individual to take certain action and may be

utilized in many ways. Organizational behaviour explains how various means of

power and sanction can, be utilized so that both organizational and individual

objectives are achieved simultaneously.

Leadership:Organizational behaviour brings new insights and understanding to

the practice and theory of leadership. It identifies various leadership styles

available to a manager and analyses which style is more appropriate in a given

situation. Thus, managers can adopt styles keeping in view the various

dimensions of organizations, individuals and situations.

Communication:Communication helps people to come in contact with each

other. To achieve organizational objectives, the communication must be effective.

The communication process and its work in inter-personal dynamics have been

evaluated by organizational behaviour.

Organi zational Climate:Organizational climate refers to the total organisational

situations affecting human behaviour. Organisational climate takes a system

perspective that affect human behaviour. Besides improving the satisfactory

working conditions and adequate compensation, organisational climate includes

creation of an atmosphere of effective supervision; the opportunity for therealization of personal goals, congenial relations with others at the work place and

a sense of accomplishment.

Organisational Adaptation:Organisations, as dynamic entities are characterised

by pervasive changes. Organisations have to adapt themselves to the

environmental changes by making suitable, internal arrangements such as

convincing employees who normally have the tendency of resisting any changes.


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Group behaviour

Group behaviour sociology refers to the situations where people interact in large or small groups.

The field of group dynamics deals with small groups that may reach consensus and act in a

coordinated way. Groups of a large number of people in a given area may act simultaneously to

achieve a goal that differs from what individuals would do acting alone (herd behaviour). A largegroup (a crowd or mob) is likely to show examples of group behaviour when people gathered in

a given place and time act in a similar wayfor example, joining a protest or march,

participating in a fight or acting patriotically.

Special forms of large group behaviour are:

Crowd "hysteria" Spectators - when a group of people gathered together on purpose to participate in an

event like theatreplay, cinema movie, football match, a concert, etc.

Public - exception to the rule that the group must occupy the same physical place. Peoplewatching same channel on television may react in the same way, as they are occupying

the same type of place - in front of television - although they may physically be doing

this all over the world.

Group behaviour differs from mass actions, which refers to people who behave similarly on a

more global scale (for example, shoppers in different shops), while group behaviour refers

usually to people in one place. If the group behaviour is coordinated, then it is called group

action.

Swarm intelligence is a special case of group behaviour where group members interact to fulfill a

specific task. This type of group dynamics has received much attention by the soft computing

community in the form of the particle swarm optimization family of algorithms.

Why do people join groups

People join groups for a multitude of reasons. A major reason is that group membership often

results in some form of need satisfaction on the part of the individual. Membership in a group

can fulfill numerous needs, including some that group members may not realize they benefit

from:

Companionshipgroups provide members to simply be in the company of other people. Survival and securityFrom a historic or evolutionary perspective our ancestors would

partake in group experiences for hunting and defence.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_hysteriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_theaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_publichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_action_%28sociology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_action_%28sociology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_action_%28sociology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_swarm_optimizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_swarm_optimizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_computinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarm_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_action_%28sociology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_action_%28sociology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_action_%28sociology%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_publichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movie_theaterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_hysteriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowd


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Affiliation and statusmembership into various groups can provide individuals withcertain socials status' or security.

Power and controlwith group membership comes the opportunity for leadership roles;individuals who feel they need to exert their power and opinions over others can have

such experiences within group settings.

Achievementgroups have the capability to achieve more than individuals acting alone.Organizations typically form groups to accomplish work related tasks. However, a member of a

work group may unintentionally reap numerous benefits that are independent of the original

group construct.

Defining characteristics of groups

Currently, no universal definition describes what constitutes a group. Groups can have varying

numbers of members, communication styles, and structures. Research identifies a few common

requirements that contribute to recognition of individuals that work in a collaborative

environment considered a "group":

Interdependence: For an individual of the collective to accomplish their part in theassigned task, they depend, to some degree, on outputs of other collective members.

Social interaction: To accomplish the goal requires some form of verbal or nonverbalcommunication amongst members of the collective.

Perception of a group: All members of the collective must agree they are, in fact, part ofa group.

Commonality of purpose: All the members of the collective come together to serve orattain a common goal.

Favoritism: Members of the same group tend to be positively prejudiced toward othermembers and tend to discriminate in their favor.

Some researchers suggest additional characteristics must be identified to categorize a collective

of individuals as a group such as: working the same shifts, shared physical work locations, and

reporting to the same manager. However the commonalities of the multiple definitions reviewed

suggest that the definition of a group is based on the interdependence of people who come

together to accomplish a common goal.


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Types of groups

Group types are routinely distinguished by the work that the groups do:

Production groups consist of front line employees who produce some tangible output.Autonomous production groups are self-directed or self-managing while semi-

autonomous production groups typically have a dedicated supervisor who oversees alloperations.

Service groups consist of employees that work with customers on a repeated basis, suchas airline teams, maintenance groups, sales groups, call centres, etc.

Management groups consist of an executive or senior manager along with managers thatreport directly to him/her. Management groups are often able to organize themselves

towards goals such as policy making, budgeting, staffing, and planning.

Project groups are generally cross-function groups of individuals brought together forthe duration of a specific, time-limited project. Project groups are usually disbanded once

the project is complete.

Action and performing groups are groups that typically consist of expert specialistswho conduct complex, time-limited performance events. Examples include musical

bands, military crews, surgery teams, rescue units or professional music groups.

Advisory groups consist of employees that work outside of, but parallel with, productionprocesses. Examples include quality circles, selection committees, or other advisory

groups pulled together to make recommendations to an organization.

Group structure

A group's structure is the internal framework that defines members' relations to one another over

time. The most important elements of group structure are roles, norms, values, communication

patterns, and status differentials.

A role can be defined as a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a

particular way. Roles may be assigned formally, but more often are defined through the process

of role differentiation. Role differentiation is the degree to which different group members have

specialized functions. Functional (task) roles are generally defined in relation to the tasks the

team is expected to perform. Other types of roles are the socio-emotional role, which helpsmaintain the social fabric of the group, the individual role and the leader role.

Group norms are the informal rules that groups adopt to regulate members' behaviour. Norms

refer to what should be done and represent value judgments about appropriate behaviour in social


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situations. Although they are infrequently written down or even discussed, norms have powerful

influence on group behaviour.

Group values are goals or ideas that serve as guiding principles for the group. Like norms, values

may be communicated either explicitly or on an ad hoc basis. Values can serve as a rallying point

for the team. However, some values (such as conformity) can also be dysfunction and lead to

poor decisions by the team.

Communication patterns describe the flow of information within the group and they are

typically described as either centralized or decentralized. With a centralized pattern,

communications tend to flow from one source to all group members. Centralized

communications allow consistent, standardization information but they may restrict the free flow

of information. Decentralized communications make it easy to share information directly

between group members. When decentralized, communications tend to flow more freely, but the

delivery of information may not be as fast or accurate as with centralized communications.

Another potential downside of decentralized communications is the sheer volume of information

that can be generated, particularly with electronic media.

Status differentials are the relative differences in status among group members. Status can be

determined by a variety of factors, including expertise, occupation, age, gender or ethnic origin.

Status differentials may affect the relative amount of pay among group members and they may

also affect the group's tolerance to violation of group norms (i.e., people with higher status are

given more freedom to violate group norms).

Stages of Group Development

Group development focuses on the somewhat unique way groups are formed and the way they

may change over time. There are a variety of development theories and some suggest that groups

develop through a series of phases culminating in effective performance. The most common of

these models is Tuckman's (1965) Stage Model.

It breaks group development into the following five stages:

I. Forming: As the group convenes, conflict is usually low to non-existent as everyonetries to determine their individual role and the personalities of fellow team members.

This stage is often marked by agreeable neutrality while the group takes form and

begins to navigate the unknown.


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II. Storming: Storming occurs after the group overcomes the sense of uncertainty andbegins to actively explore roles and boundaries. Chaos, pronounced efforts to influence

others, and instances of conflict and/or enthusiasm are common.

III. Norming: Norming in groups indicate that norms and role ownership are emerging.Generally this means that conflict and chaos is decreasing or has ended.

IV. Performing: Originally noted as the final stage, performing occurs when the teamcompletes their primary task(s).

V. Adjourning: Tuckman (1977) refined the model to include a fifth stage to address howthe group begins to disengage and move on to new tasks potentially beyond the team.

While Tuckman's (1965) model is useful in describing developmental processes, there are

instances when groups do not strictly adhere to the exact sequence. Additionally, the storming

stage may decrease but not fully dissipate and continue across other stages.

Intergroup dynamics and behaviour

Intergroup behaviour, or the way groups interact with other groups, is best examined in terms of

the frequency and interaction type the groups engage in. Thomas (1976) elaborated on this

concept by noting that the nature of intergroup interactions depends largely on the degree to

which groups must interact to achieve their goals, and the degree of compatibility between the

goals of different groups.

Accommodation interaction is based on groups having similar goals and taking part inminimal to moderate mutual concession and cooperation to achieve them.

Avoidance interaction is found between groups where there are different or conflictinggoals and even minimal collaboration is not warranted. Both of these interactions are

viewed as having no to low impact on successfully achieving each group's goals.

Collaboration interaction is necessary when the goals of two groups are largelycompatible and partnership is required for successful goal accomplishment.

Competition interaction usually occurs when two groups must interact to meet specificgoals that are vastly incompatible.

Compromise interaction occurs when two groups have a moderate need to interact tomeet specific goals that are moderately compatible. In this interaction, the two groups

may work together on a semi-regular basis to ensure they are on track to meet theoverlapping goals.

Deindividuation is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals of a group become lessaware of their values.


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Diffusion of responsibility is the tendency for group members to feel diminishedresponsibility for their actions when surrounded by others who are behaving in a similar

manner.

Intergroup behaviour is influenced by factors beyond interaction types. Examples of theseinclude Interdependence, Organizational Culture, Past History, and Organizational Social

Networks.

Interdependence is the degree to which group depend on each other and is determinedby the type of group tasks (i.e., simple versus complex), organization structure, and the

organizational authority system). Interdependence may occur in one of three common

forms:

o Pooled interdependence: The combined efforts of largely separate groupspositively contribute to the organization.

o Sequential interdependence: The effort or output of one group is used as theinput for another group.

o Reciprocal interdependence: A series of mutual exchanges between groups,requiring a high degree of continuous interactions.

Organizational culture and its shared norms, values, and power structure, often dictatethe frequency and degree to which intergroup interactions and collaborations occur.

Past history with intergroup relationships also impact interdependence behaviour. Theinfluence of this factor is directly connected to the past interaction experience between

groups. Whether the interaction was positive or negative, new group members may be

influenced in the direction of the group's previous experience.

Social networks in organizations are another vital factor when considering intergroupbehaviour. Cordial individual group member interaction is believed to greatly impact the

quality of intergroup relationships.

Intergroup conflict

Intergroup conflict may be caused by competition for resources, goal incompatibility, time

incompatibility, and contentious influence tactics. There are activities that organizations can

participate in to reduce or prevent competition between groups.

Resources: Resources (e.g., budgets, personnel, physical space) are generally limitedwithin organizations so that competition for resources between groups is oftenunavoidable.

Goal Incompatibility: Goal incompatibility occurs when the goals of two or moregroups are in direct opposition such that one group achieves its goal while the other

group cannot meet their goal. Goal incompatibility may be distinguished between real

goal incompatibility and perceived goal incompatibility.


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Time Incompatibility: Work groups perform different tasks, have different goals, andinteract with different customers, such that groups operate under different deadlines.

Contentious Influence Tactics: Contentious influence tactics (e.g., threats, demands,and other negative behaviour) may be used to try to influence members of another group,

creating cycles of retaliation and influencing opinions of those within their own group

(e.g., creating bad reputations).

Consequences of intergroup conflict

Effects related to conflict between groups may be either negative or positive.

Group members' perceptions of one another change in a negative manner where adistinction is made between "in-group" and "out-group".

Members of groups in conflict develop an "us versus them" mentality and view membersof the other group as fundamentally different from themselves but similar to each other.

Group members become more cohesive to compete against a "common enemy". Quality of intergroup interactions (e.g., communication) may decline among groups in

conflict, which in turn may decrease the quality of work.

Negative perceptions of the other group may be transferred to incoming group members. Conflict may create discrepancies between the goals of the group and the goals of the

organization.

Improving the quality of intergroup relations

Superordinate goals are goals that are approved by all groups and that may require the groups

to interact in a cooperative manner to achieve the goals (e.g., produce a product, prepare a report,

and complete a service to customers). Superordinate goals may also be used to create a "common

enemy" that increases the cohesion among group members to defeat the enemy.

Negotiation may facilitate communication of issues that cause conflict between groups so that

groups can form a resolution suitable to everyone.Principled negotiation is a style of negotiation

where members try to problem-solve until they reach a resolution, rather than focus on individual

positions. (Fischer and Ury, 1981)

Member exchanges allow group members to exchange roles with those of the other group

members. These exchanges are intended to provide a new perspective.


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Intergroup Team Development may be used to improve relations for members within the same

group or between groups. One intervention developed by Blake, Shephard, and Mouton (1964)

has members of both groups generate one list about how the group perceives the other group and

one list that describes how they think the other group describes them. The groups share the lists

to reduce misperceptions.

Reducing the need for intergroup interaction may be necessary for work groups that cannotwork well together. A "coordinating group" may be used as an intermediary between groups so

that each group would communicate through the "coordinating group". Organizations may create

slack resources by adding additional inventory so that groups do not have to interact as

frequently. Organizations may also reduce task interdependence between those groups that

function under different time frames and deadlines (i.e., physically separate the groups).

The resource allocation process should be fair so that all groups have access to the process and

political considerations between groups are minimized. Organizations should first reexamine the

process to determine that groups have the resources needed to be effective.

Ethical behaviour is intrinsic to the way we conduct our business and is part of our legacy from

the founder of the Tata Group, Jamsetji Tata, who believed that business must operate in a way

that respects the rights of all its stakeholders and creates an overall benefit for society.

Tata Steel believes in adopting the best practices in terms of corporate governance that have been

and continue to be developed. The company conducts all aspects of its business with full

transparency and accountability.

Risk management

The Group regularly reviews and updates its risk

management system to address the complex

risks faced across our global business.

Our risk management process is assured through

the Groups corporate assurance and risk

management function with reporting to the

Group chief financial officer and reports and

recommendations made to the audit committee

of the Board.


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Business Ethics and our code of conduct

We do not tolerate corrupt or fraudulent practices. We expect honesty, integrity and transparency

in all aspects of our business from our employees, contractors and other business counterparts.

Our ethical principles are clearly and unambiguously articulated in the Tata Code of Conduct, to

which all Tata Group companies subscribe. Originally written in 1998, the Code was updated in2008 to better reflect changing expectations within society and the increasingly global scale of

the Groups activities.

Human rights

The Tata Steel Group is proud of its longstanding reputation as a fair and caring employer, and

respects all human rights both within and outside the workplace. The Tata Code of Conduct

stipulates that all employees have a personal responsibility to help preserve the human rights ofeveryone at work and in the wider community.

Ethical tin sourcing

Our European packaging business produces tinplate for a global market. We include ethical

sourcing protocols in our tin supplier contracts and make a constant effort to have reliable and

auditable information concerning the origin of the acquired minerals so we can avoid the use of

conflict minerals.

We are cooperating in the tin supply chain with the International Tin Research Institute (ITRI)

and are also involved in activities led by the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH). We also

work with NGOs such as the Dutch Friends of the Earth.

Getting started on business ethics

Best practices in corporate governance can only emerge when informed by an established set of

business principles and a defined approach towards organizational behaviour, says management

consultant Anil Chopra.

The fall of many US corporations in the early years of the 21st century brought one clear

message to the fore: ethics matters in business. You can fool some people all the time, or all


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people some of the time, but ultimately you cannot fool all the people all the time. If you are not

running an ethical enterprise, it will cost you dearly at some point or the other. Business leaders,

thus, need to bring ethical conduct to the core of their agenda, if they have not already done so.

But how does a company go about doing this? To share experiences and look for answers, four

business ethics organizations joined forces in early 2004 to create the first European conference

for ethics and compliance practitioners. The conference, called Ideas and Best Practices inBusiness Ethics, was held in France and around 100 corporate ethics practitioners from nine

countries attended it. The meeting provided them an opportunity to meet their counterparts, share

ideas and best practices, and create a forum for continuous dialogue among ethics and

compliance professionals in organizations. The participants came from a range of industries,

including information technology, telecommunications, oil and gas, defence, banking and

finance, utilities, automotive, retail and healthcare. The overwhelming majority of the delegates

gave the event a high rating and voted in favour of having another conference this year.

The main take away from the conference is simple: the sooner companies begin discussing and

enacting processes for managing integrity standards within their organizations, the better. InIndia senior business leaders have to start giving more thought to this area of organizational

behaviour, start framing their beliefs on integrity standards, circulate these among their

employees and get their conference and affirmation on adherence to these standards.

More important, senior leaders must create communication platforms that encourage employees

(and other associates of the company) to raise concerns related to possible or actual deviations

from integrity standards especially those that could damage the reputation of the organization.

All such platforms and processes must get institutionalized in due course.

Kenneth E. Goodpaster, professor of business ethics at the University of St. Thomas,

Minneapolis, USA, emphasizes that "business leaders are the principal architects of corporate

conscience. They are the ones who must manage the challenges associated with pursuing profit

while maintaining integrity. They are the ones most responsible for delivering on the moral

agenda of the corporation. That agenda includes three broad imperatives: orienting,

institutionalizing and sustaining ethical values within the corporate culture."

Given the high competitive pressures, it is easy for business leaders to say that enforcing ethical

conduct is difficult, but this is not an excuse they can use. As Jeffrey E. Garten, dean of the Yale

School of Management, wrote in his book, The Politics of Fortune: A New Agenda for Business

Leaders, "The essential point should not be lost: the more complex the markets become, the more

the integrity of its leaders matters, and the less likely that higher prescriptive laws and

regulations will really matter."

Thomas W. Dunfee of the Wharton School, who holds the Kolodny Chair of Social

Responsibility in Business, even has a tool the C2 Principles for Combating Corruption that

business leaders can use as a starting point for framing their own ethical standards.


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Among the first issues that need discussing in organizations that want to be seen as ethical are

the following:

Creating the post of ethics practitioner or counselor, with a specific description of the job

and its responsibilities.

Discussion of ways and means of embedding values in an organization.

Route map for implementing a code of conduct and establishing a clearly stated set ofintegrity standards.

Working out the relationship between ethics and other business functions, and aligning

company policies with the code.

Planning for ethics training and communication to employees.

Creating a structure for ethics monitoring, compliance auditing and whistle blowing.

Best practices in corporate governance can emerge when informed by an established set of

business principles and a defined approach towards organizational behaviour. Without such

business ethics, governance stands bereft of a well-reasoned rationale. Left to itself, corporate

governance runs the real risk of becoming a mere form-filling exercise, dedicated to observingform. The roadmap, thus, needs to be based on substance, which means adhering to a dedicated

code of behavioural norms in its spirit.

My past employers, the Tatas, have used the maxim 'leadership with trust' to promote ethical

conduct throughout the group, and this is borne out by its longevity. The group's embedded

values have been unity, integrity, excellence, responsibility and understanding. Since 1999, the

group has circulated to all its employees a document called the 'Tata code of conduct', which is

simple, easy to understand and easy to follow. In its journey towards institutionalization, the

substance of the code is constantly communicated at all levels of the organization, apart from

parties with whom the Tatas do business.

The content of the code covers such areas as commitment towards national interest, maintaining

harmonious relations with employees, abhorrence of bribery and corruption, avoidance of

conflicts of interest, and emphasis on corporate social responsibility. The Tata code enhances

internal and external trust and confidence.

The key pitfall to avoid while drawing up such codes is that the contents should not give

employees a feeling that these are a set of dos and don'ts, or that they are too complex. In fact,

whenever employees are faced with ethical dilemmas, the code should offer clear integrity

standards to follow. The organization (through its senior leadership) should communicate often

that it has formally adopted a specific position or set of beliefs regarding these fundamental

values or principles and that it expects (and wants) employees to use them as the basis for

business decision-making.


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A code's credibility depends largely on setting up an effective compliance programme, the key

elements of which should include:

Clear, established standards, policies and procedures that are reasonably capable of

reducing the likelihood of violations of the code.

Assigned supervision to high-level personnel. Each CEO should be the principal

ethics officer, with the process being delegated, top down, to credible individuals ineach company.

A clearly designated ethics counselor / officer. At Tatas the role of the ethics

counselor is well defined.

Encouragement to whistleblowers to report violations, or possible violations, to the

ethics counselor.

Communication and training to all employees. This is the ultimate guarantee of the

success of the ethics code.

Establishment of an advisory channel so that employees can obtain advice regarding

possible ethics dilemmas.

Establishment of uniform disciplinary actions in case of violations and taking

preventive steps to head off future violations, after understanding the 'root' causes of

such violations; for example, by forming appropriate organizational policies.

At company management conferences, the CEO, as the principal ethics officer, could facilitate

occasional 'breakout sessions' to discuss subjects like payment of facilitation and speed money,

handling letters received in anonymity, board oversight of the process for driving ethical

behaviour and so on.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act stipulates that any company whose securities are registered or traded inthe US has to adopt a code of ethics. Calpers (the California Public Employees' Retirement

System), one of largest US pension funds, is a prominent crusader for reform in corporate

governance and its fund managers may well adopt reality tests on whether processes for

managing business ethics are in place to safeguard the interests of its shareholders, that is, US

pensioners.

While economists and managers know how to measure efficiency, we also need to define and

find acceptable measures of fairness. Tools have been developed to capture the perceptions of

employees in organizations that have developed robust ethical standards per se. Moving forward,

companies need to collaborate to weed out corrupt practices. At the macro level, though,effective corporate governance would largely depend on reforms related to robust corporate law,

accounting standards, strong regulations, an efficient judicial system, and determined efforts to

establish integrity standards within companies by clamping down on corruption and preventing

violations. .


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In India, the Department of Company Affairs, the Securities and Exchange Board and

organizations such as the Central Vigilance Commission need to start a dialogue with

international bodies like the Ethics Officers Association, the Conference Board, USA, and

Transparency International, Berlin, among others. This will help put in place appropriate

processes for managing ethics, implementing codes of integrity standards and business principles

for countering bribes, dissuading corrupt practices and the like.

*Anil Chopra is a management consultant and was till recently a senior consultant on the

management of business ethics at Tata Quality Management Services. This article has been taken

from the February 2005 issue of Indian Management, a publication from the Business Standard

group.

Human behavior

Human behavior refers to the range ofbehaviors exhibited by humans and which are influenced

by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis,persuasion, coercion a

nd/orgenetics.

The behavior of people (and otherorganisms or even mechanisms) falls within a range with

some behavior being common, some unusual, some acceptable, and some outside acceptable

limits. In sociology, behavior in general is considered as having no meaning, being not directed

at other people, and thus is the most basic human action. Behavior in this general sense should

not be mistaken with social behavior, which is a more advanced action, as social behavior is

behavior specifically directed at other people. The acceptability of behavior is evaluated relativeto social norms and regulated by various means ofsocial control.

The behavior of humans is studied by the academic disciplines ofpsychiatry, psychology, social

work, sociology, economics, and anthropology.

Human behaviour is experienced throughout an individuals entire lifetime. It includes the way

they act based on different factors such as genetics, social norms, core faith, and attitude.

Behaviour is impacted by certain traits each individual has. The traits vary from person to person

and can produce different actions or behaviour from each person. Social norms also impact

behaviour. Humans are expected to follow certain rules in society, which conditions the way

people behave. There are certain behaviors that are acceptable or unacceptable in different

societies and cultures. Core faith can be perceived through the religion and philosophy of that

individual.

It shapes the way a person thinks and this in turn results in different human behaviors. Attitude

can be defined as "the degree to which the person has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_(psychology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(personal_and_cultural)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuasionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coercionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_deviancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_deviancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behaviorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_(sociology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_disciplinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_workhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_workhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_workhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_workhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_disciplinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_controlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norm_(sociology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_behaviorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_deviancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_deviancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coercionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuasionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnosishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapporthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_(personal_and_cultural)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_(psychology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavior


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the behavior in question." Your attitude highly reflects the behaviour you will portray in specific

situations. Thus, human behavior is greatly influenced by the attitudes we use on a daily basis.

Factors.

i. Genetics

Human behavior can be affected in many ways, one of which is genetics. Everyone has

different traits such as intelligence and shyness which they inherit through heredity.

These traits impact human behavior and there are indications that behavior is affected by

genetics.

First, behavior can be different in different species. People behave differently from how a

chickadee behaves for example.

Second, behavior can be reproduced in consecutive generations of humans. In eachgeneration of people there will be similar behaviors that occur.

Third, biological structures can be alternated resulting in behavior changes.

For example, if one develops a brain injury, one can change from behaving politely to

being aggressive. Another way behavior can be affected is by behaviors that are brought

up in families.

For example, certain behaviors that can occur from a mental illness that runs in the

family.

Fourth, evolutionary history of genetics has a big impact on behavior. All species haveDNA which can bind them all together. Geneticists are now able to introduce or exclude

specific genes, resulting in different traits and behaviors arising from those traits. One

gene does not create behavior. Behaviors result from a combination of genes, and these

genes can be affected by different factors. Factors such as genes and environment are

included in the growth of any trait. Genes can be manipulated and modified and the

environment can increase certain outcomes of genes. Understanding genetics in relation

to behavior is difficult and there are many things still being studied about this.

ii. Social norms

Social norm. Individuals behavior changes according to the group they go into, whichallows norms to provide an order in society. Without social norms, it would be difficult

for human society to function; humans beings need norms in order to guide and direct

their behaviors. Norms are used to create roles in society, which allows people to

function properly in different social class structures. These are some of the reasons why

people, believe that social norms are crucial to human behavior.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneticshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetics


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iii. Core faith and culture

Another important factor of human behavior is their corefaith. This faith can be

through religion, philosophy, culture, or personal belief and often affects the way a

person can behave. 80% of the United States public claims some sort of belief in a higher

power, which makes religion a large importance in society. It is only natural for

something that plays such a large role in society to have an effect on human behavior.

For example, when a lesbian couple was featured on the JC Penney Mother's

Day advertisement in 2012, thousands ofChristian mothers boycotted the pro-gay

marriage company. Morals are another factor of core faith that affects the way a person

behaves. Emotions connected to morals including shame, pride, and discomfort and these

can change the way a person acts. Most importantly, shame and guilt have a large impact

on behavior. Lastly, culture highly affects human behavior. The beliefs of certain cultures

are taught to children from such a young age that they are greatly affected as they grow

up. These beliefs are taken into consideration throughout daily life, which leads to people

from different cultures acting differently. These differences are able to alter the way

different cultures and areas of the world interact and act.

iv. Attitude

An attitude is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or

event. The interesting thing about an attitude and human beings is that it alters between

each individual. Everyone has a different attitude towards different things. A main factor

that determines attitude is likes and dislikes. The more one likes something or someone

the more one is willing to open up and accept what they have to offer. When one doesnt

like something, one is more likely to get defensive and shut down. An example of how

one's attitude affects one's human behavior could be as simple as taking a child to thepark or to the doctor. Children know they have fun at the park so their attitude becomes

willing and positive, but when a doctor is mentioned, they shut down and become upset

with the thought of pain. Attitudes can sculpt personalities and the way people view who

we are. People with similar attitudes tend to stick together as interests and hobbies are

common. This does not mean that people with attitudes do not interact, because they do.

What it means is that specific attitudes can bring people together (e.g., religious groups).

Attitudes have a lot to do with the mind which highly relates to Human behavior. The

way a human will behave depends a lot on how they look at the situation and what they

expect to gain from it. Positive attitudes are better than negative ones as negativity can

bring on negative emotions that most of the time can be avoided. It is up to humans to

make sure their attitudes positively reflect the behaviors they want to show. This can be

done by assessing their attitudes and properly presenting them in society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_couplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JC_Penneyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Dayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Dayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertisementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_(psychology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attitude_(psychology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moralshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycotthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertisementhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Dayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Dayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JC_Penneyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesbian_couple


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Consumer Behaviour

Consumer behaviour is the study of individuals, groups, or organizations and the processes they

use to select, secure, and dispose of products, services, experiences, or ideas to satisfy needs and

the impacts that these processes have on the consumer and society.

It blends elements from psychology, sociology, social anthropology and economics. It attempts

to understand the decision-making processes of buyers, both individually and in groups. It

studies characteristics of individual consumers such as demographics and behavioural variables

in an attempt to understand people's wants. It also tries to assess influences on

the consumerfrom groups such as family, friends, reference groups, and society in general.

Customer behaviour study is based on consumer buying behaviour, with the customer playing

the three distinct roles of user, payer and buyer. Research has shown that consumer behaviour is

difficult to predict, even for experts in the field. Relationship marketing is an influential asset for

customer behaviour analysis as it has a keen interest in the re-discovery of the true meaning of

marketing through the re-affirmation of the importance of the customer or buyer. A greaterimportance is also placed on consumer retention, customer relationship management,

personalization, customization and one-to-one marketing. Social functions can be categorized

into social choice and welfare functions.

Each method for vote counting is assumed as social function but ifArrows possibility

theorem is used for a social function, social welfare function is achieved. Some specifications of

the social functions are decisiveness, neutrality, anonymity, monotonicity, unanimity,

homogeneity and weak and strong Pareto optimality. No social choice function meets these

requirements in an ordinal scale simultaneously. The most important characteristic of a social

function is identification of the interactive effect of alternatives and creating a logical relationwith the ranks. Marketing provides services in order to satisfy customers. With that in mind the

productive system is considered from its beginning at the production level, to the end of the

cycle, the consumer (Kioumarsi et al., 2009).

Black box model

The black box model shows the interaction of stimuli, consumer characteristics, and decision

process and consumer responses. It can be distinguished between interpersonal stimuli (between

people) or intrapersonal stimuli (within people). The black box model is related to the black box

theory ofbehaviorisms, where the focus is not set on the processes inside a consumer, but

the relation between the stimuli and the response of the consumer. The marketing stimuli are

planned and processed by the companies, whereas the environmental stimuli are given by social

factors, based on the economical, political and cultural circumstances of a society. The buyers
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black box contains the buyer characteristics and the decision process, which determines the

buyers response.

Environmental factors Buyer's black boxBuyer's

responseMarketing

Stimuli

Environmental

Stimuli

Buyer

CharacteristicsDecision Process

Product

Price

Place

Promotion

Economic

Technological

Political

Cultural

Demographic

Natural

Attitudes

Motivation

Perceptions

Personality

Lifestyle

Knowledge

Problemrecognition

Information

search

Alternative

evaluation

Purchase decision

Post-purchase

behaviour

Product

choice

Brand choice

Dealer choice

Purchase

timing

Purchase

amount

The black box model considers the buyers response as a result of a conscious, rational decision

process, in which it is assumed that the buyer has recognized the problem. However, in reality

many

types of behaviour in ob

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