1) Explain different approaches to the study of Organizational Behavior?

Ans: Organizational Behavior is the study of human behavior in organizations. There

are 4 basic approaches to the study of organizational behavior:

a) Human Resources Approach: People are the greatest asset of any organization.
They are the central sub system and resource of an organization, this approach is
concerned with the growth and development of people towards higher levels of
competency, certainty and fulfillment. It assumes that increased capabilities and
expanded opportunities for people will lead to the improvement of the
organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

b) Contingency Approach: This approach is also referred to as ‘situational approach’

a technique that works in one situation will not necessarily work in all cases.
Hence managers have to identify the technique which will best contribute to the
attainment of the management’s goal in a particular situation, under particular
circumstances and at a particular time. This method discourages habitual practices
of universal assumptions about methods and people.

c) Human Relations Approach: Organizations should be viewed as a social system

with economic and social dimensions. The work environment should be
conducive for the restoration of man’s dignity. The Humanistic approach is based
on the following assumptions:
1) The organization is a system designed to produce a product or a service at
a reasonable price.
2) The organization is a social system through which the individuals try to
find expression for their needs, goals and aspirations. Hence the basic
model for this approach should be employer participation, job satisfaction
and increased productivity.

d) Systems Approach: The Systems approach to OB, views organization as a unified,

powerful system composed of interrelated parts. Activity of any segment of an
organization, affects in different degrees the activity of other segment.

These 4 behavioral approaches facilitate understanding of organizational behavior.

2) Explain Henry Mintzberg's Managerial Roles?

Ans: Mintzberg identified ten separate roles in managerial work, each role defined as
an organized collection of behaviors belonging to an identifiable function or position.
He separated these roles into three subcategories: Interpersonal contact, Information
Processing and Decision making.

Interpersonal Contact:
 1. FIGUREHEAD: the manager performs ceremonial and symbolic duties as head
of the organization;
2. LEADER: fosters a proper work atmosphere and motivates and develops
subordinates;
3. LIASION: develops and maintains a network of external contacts to gather
information;

Information Processing:
1. MONITOR: gathers internal and external information relevant to the
organization;
2. DISSEMINATOR: transmits factual and value based information to
subordinates;
3. SPOKESPERSON: communicates to the outside world on performance and
policies.

Decision Making:
1. ENTREPRENEUR: designs and initiates change in the organization;
2. DISTURBANCE HANDLER: deals with unexpected events and operational
breakdowns;
3. RESOURCE ALLOCATOR: controls and authorizes the use of organizational
resources;
4. NEGOTIATOR: participates in negotiation activities with other organizations
and individuals.

3) What are the characteristics of an organization?

Ans: The characteristics of an organization are:

a. Every organization is bound by a common purpose. The organization
structure should build around common and clear cut objectives.
b. Organization is a composition of interrelated individuals. People constitute
the dynamic human element of an organization.
c. Division of labour and specialization are the characteristic feature of any
organization. Organization helps in dividing the work into related activities
so that they are assigned to different individuals.
d. An organization consists of various positions arranged in a hierarchy with
well defined authority and responsibility. A chain of superior-subordinate
relationships known as chain of command exists.
e. Various functions of an organization depend upon one another and the
performance of one influences the other. This calls for co ordination of
different activities and parts of an organization so that it functions as an
integrated whole.
f. An organization cannot be static or mechanistic since it functions in an
environment comprising economic, social, political and legal factors.

4) Define Organizational Behavior?

Ans: Organizational Behavior can be defined as studying, predicting and managing
human behavior caused by individuals, groups, and structures towards the requirements
of organizational strategies.

5) What is Organizational Structure?

Ans: Organization structure is an established partner structure of relationships among
the components of the organization. It is a system of relationship that governs the
activities of people who are dependant upon each other for achieving the common
objectives.

6) Explain Eustress?
Ans: Eustress is a type of positive stress that keeps a person vital and exited about life.
E.g. A roller coaster ride, a Horror movie etc. Eustress refers to the optimal amount of
stress which helps promote health and growth.

7) What is Job Design?

Ans: Job design is defined as the process of deciding on the content of the job in terms
of its duties and responsibilities, on the methods to be used in carrying out the job, in
terms of technologies, systems and procedures and on the relationships that should exist
between the job holder and his superiors, subordinates and colleagues.

8) What is stereotyping?
Ans: Stereotyping is judging people on the basis of characteristics of the group to
which they belong.

9) What is Halo Effect?

Ans: Halo Effect is using a single personality trait of an individual to draw a general
meaning or impression about him. It is a shortcut of making judgments about people
quickly.

10) What is perceptual grouping?

Ans: Perceptual grouping is the tendency to club individual stimuli together into
recognizable and meaningful patterns on the basis of similarity or proximity.

11) List the six perceptual errors?

Ans: Common perceptual errors are:
a) Stereotyping
b) Halo Effect
c) Selective Perception
d) Attribution
e) Distortion
f) Projection

12) What is locus of control?

Ans: Locus of control is the extent to which people believe that they can control events
which affect them. Individuals can either have an external or an internal locus of
control.

13) What is selective perception?

Ans: Selective perception is the tendency to perceive things according to the believes
and needs that a person has more than as they really are; it also includes rejection of
certain elements of the environment.
Selective perception is the personal filtering of what we see and hear so as to
suit our own needs. Much of this process is psychological and often unconscious.

14) Explain Adult Ego State?

Ans: Adult ego is a state in which the individual acts as a matured person, the
characteristics of an adult state include rational behavior, calculative, objectivity,
fairness, logical choice etc.

15) What is perceptual organization?

Ans: Perceptual organization involves organizing raw sensory stimuli into meaningful
experiences involves cognition, a set of mental activities that includes thinking,
knowing, and remembering.

16) What is social learning?

Ans: Social or Observational learning is the process of learning that occurs as a
function of observing, retaining and replacing behavior observed in others.

17) What is attitude?

Ans: Attitude is an evaluation of a thing, person or an object in a specific way. It is a
psychological phenomenon and forms the basis of human behavior.

18) What is attitude formation?

Ans: An attitude formation is a psychological process of developing impressions and
using them in the process of judging. Attitudes are not inborn but they are formed and
developed out of continuous learning.

19) What is Likert scale?

Ans: Likert scale is a type of attitude rating scale which asks people to shows the extent
to which that agree or disagree with the statements.
The components of Likert scale are:
a) Strongly Approve
b) Approve
c) Undecided
d) Disapprove
e) Strongly Disapprove

20) What is group cohesiveness?

Ans: Group Cohesiveness refers to the degree to which group members like to be
together, are attracted and motivated to stay in the group. It reveals the strength of the
members desiring to stay in the group and their commitment to it.

21) What is Organizational Effectiveness?

Ans: Organizational effectiveness is the extent to which an organization, given certain
resources and means, achieves its objectives without placing undue stress on its
members.

22) What is a learning organization?

Ans: A learning organization is one that learns and encourages learning among its
people. It promotes exchange of information between employees hence creating a more
knowledgeable workforce. This produces a very flexible organization where people will
accept and adapt to new changes through the shared vision.

23) What are Machiavellianism and Kautilyanism?

Ans: Machiavellianism is the political doctrine of Machiavelli which denies the
relevance of mortality in political affairs and holds that craft and deceit are justified in
pursuing and maintaining political power. It is a belief that a ruler can use any means to
stay in power.
Kautilyanism is philosophy advocated by Kautilya on political behavior. He
advocated measures for the king to deal with treacherous high officials in a manner that
would make the traitor feel that his suffering had been caused by the situation at hand
and the king in no way was responsible for the same while in reality the situation was
created by the king himself.

24) Discuss various functions/elements or principles of management?

Ans: A management process is the sequence of activities or functions that a manager
needs to perform in an organization. Henry Fayol has classified the process as Planning,
Organizing, Communicating, Co-Ordination and controlling as follows:

1. Planning: It is the most important element or function of management and failure

to plan leads to hesitation, false step and untimely changes in directions, which
causes weakness in the organization.
2. Organising: It is the process of bringing together physical, financial and human
resources and establishing productive relations among them for the achievement
of specific goals.
3. Commanding: This function is necessary to execute plans. This function includes
the influencing the behaviour and work of others in a group to the realization of
specified goals in the given situation.
4. Coordination: Co-ordination as a function of management refers to the task of
integrating the acts of separate units of an organization to accomplish the
organizational goals effectively.
5. Controlling Controlling refers to the process of ensuring that acts of subordinates
and use of resources is in conformity with the pre determined goals.
25) What is Personality?
Ans: Personality is sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts
With others. It is a dynamic organization within an individual of those psychological
systems that determine his unique adjustments with his environment.

26) Define Self?

Ans: Self refers to an individual person from the perspective of that person. It is the
individual’s conception of himself or herself and the underlying capacity of the persons
mind or intellect which formed that conception.