Principles of Management

Perception and Attitudes

The Window

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood.

The next morning, while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hang the wash outside.

That laundry is not very clean. She doesnt know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap, she said
Her husband looked on, but remained silent. .

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, the young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband: Look! She has learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this.

The husband said:

I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows!

And so it is with life: What we see when watching others, depends on the purity of the window through which we look. Before we give any criticism, it might be a good idea to check our state of mind and ask ourselves if we are ready to see the good rather than to be looking for something in the person we are about to judge.
.

 we dont see things as they

are, we see things as we are.

Gestalt Principle
Whole is greater than sum of its parts!

Perception-Concepts & Applications

Peoples behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself. The world as it is perceived is the world that is behaviorally important.

Factors Influencing Perception

Factors in the situation Time Work Setting Social Setting

Factors in the perceiver Attitudes Motives Interests Experience Expectations

Perception
Factors in the Perceived Novelty Motion Sounds Size Background Proximity Similarity

Characteristics of the Perceived

Principles
Figure and ground People tend to organize perceptions into figureand-ground relationships. The ground is usually hazy. Marketers usually design so the figure is the noticed stimuli.

Lacostes campaign uses a very plain ground so the symbol really shows.

Principles
Grouping People group stimuli to form a unified impression or concept. Grouping helps memory and recall.

Principles
Closure People have a need for closure and organize perceptions to form a complete picture. Will often fill in missing pieces Incomplete messages remembered more than complete

Person Perception: Making Judgments About Others

Distinctiveness: Shows different behaviors in different situations.

Consensus: Response is the same as others to same situation. Consistency: Responds in the same way over time.

Attribution Theory
Observation Interpretation H Attribution of cause External Internal External

Distictinctiveness

L
H

Individual behavior

Consensus

Internal

H Consistency

Internal External

H high

L- Low

Example
Consensus is Low

Consistency is High

X delays the project Distinctiveness is Low

Internal Attribute (X is inefficient)

Why did the students fall asleep during the lecture?

E.g. The majority of the students fell asleep in Viji Mams lecture on theories of attribution. They also fell asleep during her other lectures, but not lectures given by other teaching staff. High consensus Boring High consistency lecturer? High distinctiveness

Why did the students fall asleep during the lecture?

E.g. The majority of the students fell asleep in Viji Mams lecture on theories of attribution. They never fell asleep during her other lectures, or in lectures given by other teaching staff. High consensus Low consistency High distinctiveness

Monday morning blues?

After lunch?

To Test You
Kohli: Absent a lot, his team mates are seldom

absent, he was absent a lot on his previous job

(before coming to cricket) . Sachin: Doesnt absent himself a lot, his team mates are also absent a lot, and was almost never absent in previous job.

Describe These People

/ prejudice

Examples of Stereotyping

timid; devious; crafty flatterers; given to empty threats; marginal honesty; minimum generosity; provincial; eccentric; submissive.

honest; just; quiet; empty threats; kind; selfish; unreliable in crisis; cowardly flatterers.

provincial; selfish; garrulous; cliquish; simple; intelligent; cowardly; unreliable.

honest; innocent; cliquish; generous; good; quick to anger; rash; lawless; obstinate; boastful; hardworking.

Source: Grimshaw, A.D. Social epithet in India - a Hindi example. J. Soc. Psychol. 1967, 72.

Errors and Biases in Attributions

Errors and Biases in Attributions (contd)

Frequently Used Shortcuts in Judging Others

/ horns effect

Interpretation
Perceptual Distortion
Stereotypes People hold meanings related to stimuli Stereotypes influence how stimuli are perceived

Interpretation
Perceptual Distortion
First Impressions First impressions are lasting The perceiver is trying to determine which stimuli are relevant, important, or predictive

Interpretation
Perceptual Distortion
Jumping to Conclusions People tend not to listen to all the information before making conclusion Important to put persuasive arguments first in advertising

Interpretation
Perceptual Distortion
Halo Effect Consumers perceive and evaluate multiple objects based on just one dimension Used in licensing of names Important with spokesperson choice

The halo effect helps Adidas break into new product categories.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy/ Pygmalion Effect power of expectation

Goethe said, "Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be."

Pygmalion Effect
The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how shes treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl and always will, but I know I can be a lady to you, because you always treat me as a lady and always will. Eliza Doolittle Shaws Pygmalion in George Bernard

Galatea Effect

Whether you think you can or

can'tyou are right.

How Good is Your Memory?

1. Pygmalion 2. Attribution Error 3. Stereotype 4. Consensus 5. Self-Serving Bias 6. Halo Effect 7. Selective Perception 8. Galatea Effect 9. Power of Expectation 10. Contrast Effect

Primacy Effect
(First Impression)

Recency Effect

During appraisals and exams last minute preparation!!!

Specific Applications in Organizations

Employment Interview
Perceptual biases affect the accuracy of

interviewers judgments of applicants.

Performance Appraisals
Appraisals are subjective perceptions of performance. Leniency, harshness, central tendency ratings

Team Work
Perceptual bias, attribution

How we perceive affects our

attitude

There were Stone-cutters toiling on the roadside

When asked for their Responses, one replied with pains, No choice! I have got to do this Labor for my child

Another said with pride, Our roads are getting built; I do it as Duty to my Nation

While the third calmly said, I do it as Worship of the Lord at the Temple that is being built.

The Child of the first became A Stonecutter,

An Army Officer of the Second,

And A Renowned Architect of the third

They were doing the same job -

Stonecuttingbut

their ATTITUDE made the

whole difference.

A candidate for a news broadcasters post was rejectedAby officials news broadcasters post was not fit for candidate for a since his voice was
rejected by officials since his voice was not fit for a a news broadcaster. news broadcaster.
He was also told that with his obnoxiously long was also told would never be famous. name, he that with his obnoxiously

He

long

name, he He is ??? be famous. would never

He is ???

A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was A little girl - the 20th of 22 children, was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. born prematurely and her survival was doubtful.

When she was 4 years old, she contracted double When she was 4 years old, she contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk and began to walk without it. without it. By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, By 13 she had developed a rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She She decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. One day she actually won a race. And then another. Eventually won every race she entered. From then on shethis little girl -, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.

Wilma Rudolph (won three Olympic gold medals. )

In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca recording Company.

The executives were not impressed. While turning down

this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." The group was called ????.

In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book

Modeling Agency told a hopeful, struggling model

Norma Jean Baker,

"You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married."

She went on and became A LEGEND

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Oprah,

Fired a singer after one performance.

He told him,

"You ain't goin' nowhere....son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck."

He went on to become on of the legends in the era of music .

When he invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work.

A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times.

He said, -

"I never failed once. I invented the light

bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."

A school teacher scolded a boy for not paying

attention to his mathematics and for not being

able to solve simple problems.

She told him that you would not become anybody in life. The boy grew up to be A MATHEMATICS WIZKID

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

A small boy - the fifth amongst seven siblings of a poor father, was selling newspapers in a small village to earn his living.

He was not exceptionally smart at school but was fascinated by religion and rockets. The first rocket he built crashed.

A missile that he built crashed multiple times and he was made a butt of ridicule.

He is the person to have scripted the Space Odyssey of India

single-handedly

Concept of Attitudes
An attitude is a predisposition to act

or feel a certain way towards a

person or thing.

Attitudes are positive or negative feelings about objects, people, or events.

Exercise 1
Make a chart on the board with three columns: At work, At
home, and At college. Then ask: What causes you to have a

bad attitude in each of these areas?

According to your responses, who controls your attitude,

you or people around you?

Tri-Component Model of Attitude

Affect
(How I feel about it)

Behavioural/ Conative
(Tendency to act)

Affective

Cognitive

Behavioral

Cognitions
(What I think or know)

Is A Happy Worker A Productive Worker?

Over the years, one of the most strongly held beliefs among
managers and I/O psychologists is that there is a relationship between a workers job satisfaction and his/her job performance. In 60 years worth of research I/O psychologists have found highly variable linkages between job satisfaction and job

performance.
The most recent examination by Timothy Judge and his colleagues suggests a correlation of .30 between satisfaction and performance, a small but meaningful association.

Job Attitudes The Variety

1. Job Satisfaction 2. Job Involvement 3. Organizational Commitment 4. Organizational Citizenship Behavior 5. Organizational Justice 6. Employee Engagement

So What is YOUR attitude?