ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Assignment

Department of Management sciences

Submitted To: Ms.

Anum Shahid
Submitted by: Nimra
Hafeez (9155140)
B.com
4th semester

Final Term
Date of submission: May
12th, 2017.
Organizational Behavior

Lahore college for Women University

Classical Conditioning Theory

Classical conditioning is the association of one event with another desired event
resulting in a behavior. The most well known experiments on classical conditioning
were conducted by Ivan Pavlov, the Russian psychologist, who won the Nobel
Prize for his experiments on this subject. Pavlov conducted an experiment on dogs
and tried to establish a Stimulus-Response (S-R) connection. He tried to relate the
dogs salivation and the ringing of the bell. In his experiments, he put some meat in
front of dogs. The dogs responded to this stimulus by salivating. This response was
instinctive or unconditioned. Pavlov next began to ring a bell at the same time as
the meat was presented. Ringing the bell in itself, without the presentation of meat,
was not connected to any responses. But by ringing the bell at the same time as
presentation of meat, Pavlov established a relationship between the two stimuli-the
bell and the meat- in the mind of the dogs. By continuing this process, the ringing
of bell alone was sufficient stimulus to elicit a response of salivating, even when no
meat was presented. Thus, the bell became a conditioned stimulus, resulting in
conditioned or learned response.

The specific model for classical conditioning is:

A stimulus will naturally (without learning) elicit or bring about a reflexive

response
Unconditioned Stimulus (US) elicits > Unconditioned Response (UR)

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Neutral Stimulus (NS) --- does not elicit the response of interest

This stimulus is a neutral stimulus since it does not elicit the Unconditioned
(or reflexive) Response.

The Neutral/Orienting Stimulus (NS) is repeatedly paired with the

Unconditioned/Natural Stimulus (US).

The Neutral Stimulus (NS) is transformed into a Conditioned Stimulus (CS).

That is, when the CS is presented by itself, it elicits or causes the CR.

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Applications of Classical Conditioning

Repetition of advertisements

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Stimulus generalization

Stimulus discrimination

Repetition

Repetition increases the strength of the association between conditioned

stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus and slows the process of forgetting.

Stimulus generalization

This tells that learning depends on not only repetition but also on the ability
to generalize. This is the reason for success of imitative products.

Example: family branding

Stimulus discrimination

It is the opposite of stimulus generalization and results in selection of a

specific stimulus from among similar stimuli. It is the basis for unique
positioning of product or brand.

Implication of Classical Conditioning in Workplace

When employees are introduced to their roles and responsibilities it usually takes
them some time to learn. They may learn that they have a procedure to follow on a
daily, weekly or monthly basis. After some time these duties become part of a
conditioned response.

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Organizational Behavior
In an organizational setting we can see classical conditioning operating.

For example: At one manufacturing plant, every time the top executive from the
head office would make a visit the plant management would clean up the
administrative offices and wash the windows. This went on for years. Eventually,
employees would turn on their best behavior and look prim and proper whenever
the windows were cleaned even on those occasions when the cleaning was not
paired with the visit from the top brass. People had learnt to associate the cleaning
of the windows with the visit from the head office.

Suppose if there is one thing most people do not like their jobs or even in their
lives it is change. You have been conditioned over a period of time to know what is
you are supposed to do. Even if this new software is going to make your life easier
it is still going to require changing the way you do your job and that can easily
create resistance or even worse fear. The only way to alleviate these fears and to
teach them their new duties is undergoing an organizational change management
(OCM) initiative. The idea of OCM is to assess employees concerns, effectively
communicate to alleviate those concerns, increase system usage via training on the
new software and most important to maximize your companies ROI (Return on
investment). This can be solid undertaking if you have never done this before it can
be done with the right help. This is not a job to simply assign to your HR. It must
be done with extreme caution to not enhance the negative emotions employees are
already experiencing. Something cannot be done overnight and this is one of them.

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It is going to be a process of training employees and allowing them to ask all of
their questions to address everyones fears. This is a delicate process and is
honestly a 100 percent necessity in all organizations going through a new
initiative. Employees arent going to change simply because they are asked to.

You cant expect to get a new puppy and have them to know all their tricks right
away. Its the same thing with humans. It takes time and training. Take a hint from
Pavlov and get yourself some OCM.

Operant conditioning Theory

Operant conditioning is a behavioral theory created by famed

psychologist B.F. Skinner that suggests that behavior is most
easily modified when it produces a negative consequence. This
theory can be useful when applied to the workplace in several
ways from addressing how employees interact with one another
and with clients to how financially successful a company is
annually.

Reinforcement theory

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Organizational Behavior
Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF Skinner and his
associates. It states that individuals behavior is a function of its consequences. It
is based on law of effect, i.e. individuals behavior with positive consequences
tends to be repeated, but individuals behavior with negative consequences tends
not to be repeated. Reinforcement theory of motivation overlooks the internal state
of individual, i.e., the inner feelings and drives of individuals are ignored by
Skinner. This theory focuses totally on what happens to an individual when he
takes some action. Thus, according to Skinner, the external environment of the
organization must be designed effectively and positively so as to motivate the
employee. This theory is a strong tool for analyzing controlling mechanism for
individuals behavior. However, it does not focus on the causes of individuals
behavior.

The managers use the following methods for controlling the behavior of the
employees:

Positive Reinforcement- This implies giving a positive response when an

individual shows positive and required behavior. For example -
Immediately praising an employee for coming early for job. This will
increase probability of outstanding behavior occurring again. Reward is a
positive reinforce, but not necessarily. If and only if the employees
behavior improves, reward can said to be a positive reinforce. Positive
reinforcement stimulates occurrence of a behavior. It must be noted that
more spontaneous is the giving of reward, the greater reinforcement value
it has.

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Organizational Behavior
Negative Reinforcement- This implies rewarding an employee by
removing negative / undesirable consequences. Both positive and negative
reinforcement can be used for increasing desirable / required behavior.

Punishment- It implies removing positive consequences so as to lower the

probability of repeating undesirable behavior in future. In other words,
punishment means applying undesirable consequence for showing
undesirable behavior. For instance - Suspending an employee for
breaking the organizational rules. Punishment can be equalized by
positive reinforcement from alternative source.

Extinction- It implies absence of reinforcements. In other words,

extinction implies lowering the probability of undesired behavior by
removing reward for that kind of behavior. For instance - if an employee
no longer receives praise and admiration for his good work, he may feel
that his behavior is generating no fruitful consequence. Extinction may
unintentionally lower desirable behavior.

Implications of Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory explains in detail how an individual learns behavior.

Managers who are making attempt to motivate the employees must ensure that they
do not reward all employees simultaneously. They must tell the employees what
they are not doing correct. They must tell the employees how they can achieve
positive reinforcement.

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Organizational Behavior

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