Remya Mohan Nair

July 2020
OB

1. Anand has been raised in economically modest family and has seen family struggle
to make ends meet. What worked well for Anand was his hard work and sheer
dedication because of which he was able to get through to civil services exam in the
first attempt itself. As soon as Anand’s training finished he was placed as a District
Magistrate. Soon he notices a scam under a government scheme involving huge
amount of money. He raised the concern to the higher authorities to which he was
asked to be involved in it and get a huge part of the deal. Anand is now in dilemma
as he is in need of money to look after his family requirements. Bring out how the
three personality traits as per the psychoanalytic theory of Sigmund Freud act on
him. (10 Marks)

Answer: A PERSON PERSONALITY CONSISTS OR MADE UP OF 3 PARTS: we

are born we work and earn and than we grow old ,during these three stages.so according
to sigmund freud psychoanalytic theory an individual’s personality is made up of 3 parts
:ID,EGO,SUPEREGO
ID:it develos at a vey young age ,it generally sets the goals or dreams or aspirations of the
individual when he is really infant
EGO:it is the second stage to ID and hence develops through it ,it helps in acheiving ID’s
goals in a more socially acceptable way .
SUPEREGO:it makes sure that while performing above tasks the moral standards are
being followed.
IF THERE IS A CLASH BETWEEN ID AND SUPEREGO ,EGO ACT AS A MOTHER
IN SOLVING A SITUATION

IN THE ABOVE SITUATION OF ANAND:he comes from a very small background but
through his dedication and complete hardwork he inspite of adverese conditions has made
his ends met i.e he has become a IAS officer.

In an individual the thought pattern, the feeling, behavior according to which a personal
behaves depends on various aspects of life. To study these behaviors in a similar fashion
there are various theories proposed. One of the most famous theory is Psychoanalytic
Theory which is work of Sigmund Freud. The main observation/conclusion that he had
studied was regards to personality were that the most of the personality and behavior of
an individual throughout the life has a lot of influence to do with his childhood
experiences and unconscious desires of an individual. Throughput study and observation
we made throughout he has explained the personality theory describing personality
theory, personality development in terms of a series of psychosexual stages. According to
Freud each stage has influence on a person’s personality.
As per Freud theory there are three main composing to a personality development.
ID/EGO an SUPERGO. All these components add a very different flavor to everybody’s
personality.

Starting from ID, this component comes directly from birth. This is the most primitive
one and works subconsciously. ID has mainly to do with desires, wants and needs.
In the above case study, it is very clear that Anand is coming from a financial weak
background and had lack of money but his confidence and dedication has brought him up
to the stage were we cleared the civil service exam and could do extra-ordinary work in
this life. It clearly shows that Anand had subconsciously desire to make his life better and
achieve greater things in life. This is not coming out of ego an attitude it is mainly due to
pleasure he had not received while growing up. ID is not formed looking the
consequences or effects of a situation. It is the way mind response at the situation for
immediate action. The most basic and first instinct is ID. It is impulsive and mostly to
satisfy inner self.

. In the present case, Anand was raised in economically modest family and has seen
family struggle to make ends meet. Anand worked hard and his sheer dedication
was able to get through to civil services exam in the first attempt. The id according to
Freud is the part of the unconscious that seeks pleasure. His idea of the id explains why
people act out in certain ways when it is not in line with the ego or superego. The id is the
part of the mind, which holds all of humankind’s most basic and primal instincts. It is the
impulsive, unconscious part in the mind that is based on desire to seek immediate
satisfaction. The id does not have a grasp on any form of reality or consequence. Freud
understood that some people are controlled by the id because it makes people engage in
need-satisfying behavior without any accordance to what is right or wrong.

The Superego
The superego is concerned with social rules and morals—similar to what many people
call their” conscience” or their “moral compass.” It develops as a child learns what their
 culture considers right and wrong. The superego is the portion of the mind in which
morality and higher principles reside, encouraging us to act in socially and morally
acceptable ways. In this case, Anand was driven by morals and had ethics towards
his job. He noticed a scam under a government scheme involving huge amount of
money. He raised the concern to the higher authorities as he was being responsible
towards his duty.

The superego, which develops around age four or five, incorporates the morals of society.
Freud believed that the superego is what allows the mind to control its impulses that are
looked down upon morally. The superego can be considered to be the conscience of the
mind because it has the ability to distinguish between realities as well as what is right or
wrong. Without the superego, Freud believed people would act out with aggression and
other immoral behaviors because the mind would have no way of understanding the
difference between right and wrong. The superego is considered to be the
"consciousness" of a person’s personality and can override the drives from the id.

The Ego
In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational, pragmatic
part of our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly conscious and partly
unconscious. It’s what Freud considered to be the “self,” and its job is to balance the
demands of the id and superego in the practical context of reality. The ego acts as both a
conduit for and a check on the id, working to meet the id’s needs in a socially appropriate
way. It is the most tied to reality and begins to develop in infancy. For Example, in the
present case, Anand is now in dilemma as he is in need of money to look after his
family requirements

CONCLUSION
Freud believed these three parts of the mind are in constant conflict because each part has
a different primary goal. Sometimes, when the conflict is too much for a person to
handle, his or her ego may engage in one or many defense mechanisms to protect the
individual.
Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that adult
personality and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles throughout
childhood. He believed that a person who has a strong ego has a healthy personality and
that imbalances in this system can lead to neurosis (what we now think of as anxiety and
depression) and unhealthy behaviors.

2. Shritika is an entrepreneur, she has her own HR consultancy firm. In her work
Shritika gets to meet a lot of clients which she really enjoys. Whenever she is
stressed because of her work, she goes out with her friends or family and then
resumes work with new enthusiasm and energy. She is one such boss that whenever
the employees face any problem they do not hesitate to share with her. At times
when the client is annoyed and loses his cool Shritika still maintains her composure
and tries to solve his concerns. Based on all the above narration discuss Shritika’s
personality on the basis of Big Five/OCEAN (10 Marks)
 Answer:
openness;
opennes refers to a trait where an individual is generally remains unmoved/does not
think about the result ,he wants to try out all the probables for the given situation
and want to see all their outcomes and hence when needed can apply some of past
outcome to the present problem and is still willing to try .individual who possess
such trait are generally omnidirectional they know about and literally have
knowledge about everything in an organisation,they have insights they are
thoughtful ,they are imaginative they are broad minded and are much involved in
process .such individual does not changes end in adverse conditions,they try to solve
each and every problem /sitation laid in front of them

in shritika’s case here:it is difficult to point one openness feature at a particular time ,it is
present everywhere in each of the situation presented or laid towards her from meeting the
clients to going out when she is stressed to coming back with a bang and solving the
employes problem with the same zist and than when the client is annoyed she knows ,how
to handle such situation because she has faced such situations in the past and learned from
it
one most important trait of opennes in shritika personality which reflect complete openness
is that she had kept her door open not only the clients but also to the employees generally
what happens in an organisation is that the work is divided and there are particular set of
person designated to a particular role he/she fit in they are generally doing that sort of
work and in an pyramid work structure of organisation it takes time for a problem to reach
to the boss because it has to pass through many rounds before it reaches shritika therefore
either it does not reaches or pinned down in any such level but what does not happen in
shritika’s case is thay she is extremely open to the fact that even at the microest level of
employees is able to reach her which helps in building trust within organisation and
building flow in itself and smoothning the work process which contributes to the process
itself.

conscientiousness:the holders of such personality traits are generally goal directed they are
so much wrapped and engrossed about the goal that they try to think twice before doing
any thing,such individuals have their own methods and are logical about their
approach,such people make plans and the most important thing i.e follow them as
accordingly as they have made ,the holders of such personality if given a task would never
return them incomplete ,thay are competent to fulfill any task laid before them,they
generally work through given situation in orderly way ,going through sequence i.e on by
one hence the few facts drive from such personality are self disciplined,achievemment
striving or goal directed behaviour ,self diciplained individuals.work in order and have
plans and go through them

shritika’s personlity here reflects the conscientiousnes feature as she is not very impulsive
on her client when the same is not happy or is having some problems ,shritika maintains
compusure and try to solve the problem tactically which should help in easing of the client
and the actual problem raising up and hence getting fullfilled ,if she does not maintain
composure which helps in disrupting her relations with the client ,generally a “don’t ever”
kind of situation in an organisation,also she is a goal oriented woman from the fact that she
maintains composure and she knows that even if the client has lost his/her cool she has to
maintain her and has to just talk it through ,she is generally a step further her client and is
often cautious or careful of how her behaviour might afffect others which tells us few thing
about shritika that she is thinking towards goal and and goal ,she does have a clear picture
in mind regarding result,the fact that she is a methodical and work through a given set of
schedule whenever she is loaded with work or feel stressful she takes out time for herself
and spend the same with her family

extraversion: the term “extraversion” reflects something extra which characterises

talkative,sociality,outgoing and talking it though ,full of energy.
the holders of such personality trait people are generally talkative and are full of energy
and they enjoy certain kind of attention,such people are expressive and cannot like to talk
it through ,for any given problem ,they likes to solve any problem in the orgainise and
never minds to take the credit for the same.it is good to have few people around which
possess such feautres it become an easy task to work in an orgainsation as you might have
heard of a synonym “where work does not feel work”,it becomes a that kind of situation
with such people.if you are a goal oriented organisation you just ought to have such people
who are highly talkative ,enjoys being a centre of attraction .there is wrong saying about
such people that they do every thing for their concerned “fame” but what the complainers
forget is that they still”they have to earn it”

shritika here does possess extraverse feature in her personality when she meet a lot and lot
of clients she enjoys it and even if she is bored she takes time for herself and get into the
same ship ,she is a talkative and centre of attention kind of person is clearly visible as she
enjoys her meetings with clients and which are lot also she likes to solve problem which
isn’t hers like she has kept her door open for employees signifies such trait that the
employees can nearly talk about anything and even if she is stressed she is with people ,she
likes being with people she is not an introvert ,she likes to have conversations in any point
of her life she can never be alone ,this signifies her extraversed trait in her personality.
also she likes to solve problem whichever and whatever in the world the situation is.

agreeableness:the holder of such personality traits are generally kind ,more humane are
helpful also are willing to compromise,they tend to bring harmony in the organisation,such
people never catogearises among people,they may not be the centre of attention in the
organisation but is the main pillar in the orgainsation as they are someone whom everyone
can discuss anything and everything ,the most important thing with such people is that they
do not judge people,people are comfortable with such people ,they helps in building trust
in the organisation also such people take into consideration each and every person view in
solving the problem which opens up the oraganisation.they work from the roots in an
orgainsation .

in shritika’s case here:she has kept her door open for everyone which means she is open for
any discussion /problem of any kind any employee from the lower level to the senior level to
the most executive level,even the security guard can share his /her problem /isuue/view if
he/she have any regarding anything which is generally find missing in orgainsational
structure,shritika also knows the fact that for smooth working of any organisation it is
essential that the problem reaches to her ,her action of keeping the door open show us
that.she feels a sense of empathy towards her people and is concerned about that not only
concerned she has made efforts to assimilate the same in the organisation so that it works
like a family rather than a business!

neuroticism:”it is all in mind” we all have come through this little phrase once in a while in
our lifetime,people who are less reactive on such traits are those who generally know how
to deal with stress ,anxiety and are emotionally stable.they don;t care too much about the
problem they focuuses more on the process and are more driven by this thought also their
are times in each and every individual life when he/she feels sad/depressed but their is
always a way to deal with it and people who are low on such trait or are less reactive about
it knows how to deal with itas compare to those people who are more prone to
sad/depression/anxiety.their is a word going through in the market thesedays known as
“chill”.so what actually this “chill” is? chill is stop worrying about the result and focussing
more on process which has become an effort to well in any field nowadays!

in shritika’s case here their are times when she feels sad or is at bored at times but she
takes times for herself and spend the time with friends/family and gets to the work with a
bang .the only solution to this problem or situation whatever you may call “you show know
how to deal with it” you have to find a way that works well for you ,this feature doesnot
connect directly in the organiation but indirectly it adds to your armour.

As it is clear from above listed points about shritika that she is not a one directional
individual ,it tells us a lot about her she want to achieve her goals that setup for her in the
organisation.she is goal oriented,centre of attention at times but she cares for all those
people in the organisation . she is not perfect like any other individual she faces some issues
but she has a solution to it and keep her moving and working towards goal.she knows how
to deal with people be it clients or employees or friends/family whatever ,she maintains that
“balance “which is very essential in every aspect of life or organisation whatever it may be.

The acronym OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and

neuroticism) are the big five traits. Always remember that behavior involves an
interaction between a person's underlying personality and situational variables. The
situation that a person finds himself or herself plays a major role in how the person
 reacts. However, in most cases, people offer responses that are consistent with their
underlying personality traits.

OPeness
Openness to experience concerns people’s willingness to try to new things, their ability to
be vulnerable, and their capability to think outside the box and are ready to accept new
idea at organisational level .such people do not have any pre conceived notions on things
and vary on range

People who are high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests. They are curious
about the world and other people and eager to learn new things and enjoy new experiences. They
tend to be more adventurous and creative. People low in this trait are often much more traditional
and may struggle with abstract thinking and may find themself in drowned when they are
denied,it is hard for such people to move on ,to enjoy their work such persons usualally work on
examples which are set rather than creating new one they work on old one. An individual who is
low in openness to experience probably prefers routine over variety, sticks to what he or she
knows, and prefers less abstract arts and entertainment. In the present case, Shritika possesses
openness in her behavior as she gets to meet a lot of clients which she really enjoys.
Whenever she is stressed because of her work, she goes out with her friends or family.

Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is a trait that can be described as the tendency to control impulses and
act in socially acceptable ways, behaviours that facilitate goal-directed behavior.
Conscientious people excel in their ability to delay gratification, work within the rules,
and plan and organize effectively.
People high in conscientiousness are likely to be successful in school and in their careers,
to excel in leadership positions, and to doggedly pursue their goals with determination
and forethought. People low in conscientiousness are much more likely to procrastinate
and to be flighty, impetuous, and impulsive. Shritika is said to be conscientiousness as
she is the owner of a HR Consultancy firm and she also maintains her composure
and tries to solve her clients concerns.

Extraversion
Extraversion (or extroversion) is characterized by excitability, sociability, talkativeness,
assertiveness, and high amounts of emotional expressiveness. People who are high in
extraversion are outgoing and tend to gain energy in social situations. Being around other
people helps they feel energized and excited. They tend to seek out opportunities for
social interaction, where they are often the “life of the party.” They are comfortable with
others, are gregarious, and are prone to action rather than contemplation.
People who are low in extraversion (or introverted) tend to be more reserved and have
less energy to expend in social settings. Social events can feel draining and introverts
often require a period of solitude and quiet in order to "recharge."
Here, whenever Shritika is stressed because of her work, she goes out with her
friends or family and then resumes work with new enthusiasm and energy. Meeting
her peers gives her courage and energy to get back to her work with zeal.
  
Agreeableness
This personality dimension includes attributes such as trust, altruism, kindness, affection,
and other prosocial behaviors. People who are high in agreeableness tend to be more
cooperative while those low in this trait tend to be more competitive and sometimes even
manipulative.
This factor concerns how well people get along with others. People high in agreeableness
tend to be well-liked, respected, and sensitive to the needs of others. They likely have few
enemies and are affectionate to their friends and loved ones, as well as sympathetic to the
plights of strangers.
People on the low end of the agreeableness spectrum are less likely to be trusted and
liked by others. They tend to be callous, blunt, rude, ill-tempered, antagonistic, and
sarcastic. Although not all people who are low in agreeableness are cruel or abrasive,
they are not likely to leave others with a warm fuzzy feeling. For instance, though
Shritika is the boss, but her employees trust her because whenever the employees
face any problem they do not hesitate to share with her.

Neuroticism
Neuroticism is not a factor of meanness or incompetence, but one of confidence and
being comfortable in one’s own skin. It encompasses one’s emotional stability and
general temper. Neuroticism is a trait characterized by sadness, moodiness, and emotional
instability.
Individuals who are high in this trait tend to experience mood swings, anxiety, irritability,
and sadness. They may be temperamental or easily angered, and they tend to be
self-conscious and unsure of themselves.
Those low in this trait tend to be more stable and emotionally resilient. Individuals who
score on the low end of neuroticism are more likely to feel confident, sure of themselves,
and adventurous. For example, Shritika doesn’t get angered by her clients even
though they lose their cool sometimes. She maintains composure and tries to listen
to them and solve their problems. Thus, it can be said that Shritika is low on this
trait.

CONCLUSION
These five factors do not provide completely exhaustive explanations of personality, but
they are known as the Big Five because they encompass a large portion of
personality-related terms. The five factors are not necessarily traits in and of themselves,
but factors in which many related traits and characteristics fit.

3. As the famous saying goes by, “What you see and what you hear depends a great
deal on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.”

a. Justify this statement by throwing more light on the concept of perception. (5

Marks)
Answer: Perception is an intellectual process of transforming sensory stimuli to
meaningful information. It is the process of interpreting something that we see or hear in
our mind and use it later to judge and give a verdict on a situation, person, group etc.

Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in

order to represent and understand the environment.
All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical
or chemical stimulation of the sense organs. The study, of these perceptual processes,
shows that their functioning is affected by three classes of variables – the objects or
events being perceived, the environment in which perception occurs, and the individual
doing the perceiving. Perception includes the 5 senses; touch, sight, taste smell and
sound. It also includes what is known as perception, a set of senses involving the ability
to detect changes in body positions and movements.

However, what one perceives can be substantially different from objective reality. It is the
process through which the information from the outside environment is selected,
received, organized and interpreted to make it meaningful. Thus, C.S. Lewis said: “What
you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing. It also
depends on what sort of person you are.” This means a number of factors operate to
shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors can reside in the perceiver in the
object or target being perceived, or in the context of the situation in which the perception
is made.
When an individual looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he or she sees, that
interpretation is heavily influenced by the personal characteristics of the individual
perceiver.
Perception is very important in understanding human behavior because every person
perceives the world and approaches life problems differently. Whatever we see or feel is
not necessarily the same as it really is. When we buy something, it is not because it is the
best, but because we take it to be the best. One person may be viewing the facts in one
way which may be different from the facts as seen by another viewer.

Importance of Perception in OB
We need to understand what the role of perception in an organization is. It is very
important in establishing different role of perceptions like −
● Understanding the tasks to be performed.
● Understanding associated importance of tasks allotted.
● Understanding preferred behavior to complete respective tasks.
● Clarifying role perceptions.
For example, every member in a group has to be clear regarding the role allotted to them.
Programmer writes the code, tester checks it, etc.

CONCLUSION
Our perceptions vary from person to person, and the meaning we take from those
perceptions varies. This is why people have different tastes in music, art, architecture,
clothes, etc. The way we perceive the world around us varies and is as unique as our
 individual personalities. Even though we might look at the same picture, what we
interpret will vary depending on a number of factors, including what we expect to see.

b. Also, discuss in depth about few perceptual distortion/errors?

c. what perception does not take into account or what may be called as its errors is
that it look to a situation through the eyes of the equation that was useful in solving
previous problem.for eg;to make a maggi good in taste ,if mrs shalini add some
origano to it which makes the maggi delicious and if she did the same to improve the
taste of curry but as a result the curry doesnot taste that much good,hence
mrs.shalini’s perception of adding origano to every edible item is a perception error.

What perception misses is that it concentrates too much on the past solutions
THE OVER RELIANCE on past solution is a main factor adding to the perception errors.

IGNORANT TO NEW IDEAS;people who rely heavenly on perception are generally

ignorant to the new ideas as finding new problem and hence the solution,it is the
overocuurence of the same problem that create a distort to their percepted theory and
create a new one instead.
inablity to understand everyone;people sometime just failed to understand that they
can’t understand everything ,you have to give each and averything a chance and then take
it from ground zero.
perception out of personal interest:perception generally creates out of one’s
interest,hobbies likes and dislikes and the same individual fails or is not able to take into
or go further beyond it .
stereotyping:nowwhen one has come this much far ,this chain never breaks and it
expands to further which is called stereotyping.stereotyping or creating a pattern and
most importantly believing in it that it will help the organisation it is the most common
erroe in the process of perception.a set pattern fails to take into account the new solution
which could solve the problem in a more smart way and same

Putting you before organisation:as in our teens somewhere in our business textbooks
their always was on quote stated “business and entity are two different things” this
remains the bottomline to this day.but the perception fails to realise this and take the
things on whole.
putting culture ,belief expectation:a person who has recently moved from south to
north would find it difficult to drink tea over coffee,so if their was an idea to open a new
tea outlet in kanpur (uttar pradesh) it does not works for him and vice versa! this may not
be a perfect example but the point is that the people who beleived in going forward
through perception believes mus on their customs ,beliefs and the expectation he is
looking through them.

Quick judgements:perception generally arises from quick judgements .Likewise when a

situation arises it does not take much time for the individual to create a pattern in his
mind and working through it
 HOW TO FIX IT?

1. AVOID WORKING TO THE SAME PATTERN THAT IS BEING CREATED IN

YOUR MIND AND MOST IMPORTANTLY BREAKING THE SET PATTERNS
AND WORKING TOWARDS THEM EFFICENTLY.
2. TAKING EACH AND EVERYTHING FROM CHAPTER 0 I.E STARTING
FROM GROUND ZERO
3. PUTTING ORGANISATION BEFORE YOU AND YOUR INTEREST,CUSTOMS
,BELIEFS AND EXPECTATION
4. TAKING A SECOND THOUGHT OR PUTTING A DOUBT BEFORE THE
DECISON

Answer: A perceptual error is the inability to judge humans, things or situations fairly
and accurately. Examples could include such things as bias, prejudice, stereotyping,
which have always caused human beings to err in different aspects of their lives.
Often the intentions some ones act are misunderstood and perceptual bias may develop.
Perceptual biases are Systematic errors in perceiving others. Perceptual bias can be quite
damaging between individuals in the society. To a large extent Perceptions are the root
cause of conflict.

Perceptual error has strong impact in organisation and it hampers in proper decision
making skill while hiring, performance appraisal, review, feedback etc.
There are many types of perceptual errors in workplace:

1. Selective Perception-People generally interpret according to their basis of interests,

idea and backgrounds. It is the tendency not to notice and forget the stimuli that cause
emotional discomfort. For example we might think that fresher graduates with above
80 % marks will exceptionally do well in technical interviews of respective subjects.

2. Halo Effect-We misjudge people by concentrating on one single behavior or trait. It

has deep impact and give inaccurate result most of the time. For example we always
have an impression of a lazy person can never be punctual in any occasion.

3. Stereotypes-We always have a tendency to classify people to a general groups

/categories in order to simplify the matter. For example-Women are always good
homemakers and can do well in work life balance.

4. Contrast Effect-We again sometimes judge people in comparison to others. This

example generally found in sports, academics and performance review.
5. Projection-This is very common among Perceptual errors. Projection of one's own
attitude, personality or behavior into some other person. For example- To all honest
people, everybody is honest.
6. Impression-We all know the term "first impression is the last impression" and we apply
that too .For example-During the time of hiring, thought like this "The most decent and
modest person in the interview can do very well in every roles and responsibilities "
always arise.

Strategies for Improving Perceptual Skills

● Knowing Oneself Accurately: One of the powerful ways to minimize perceptual

distortions is to know yourself.
● Empathize with Others:
● Have a Positive Attitude:
● Postpone Impression Formation:
● Communicating Openly:
● Comparing One's Perceptions with that of Others:
● Introducing Diversity Management Programs

CONCLUSION

Perceptual barriers are often the hardest to detect; they reflect how and what a person
perceives internally about what is going on externally. They affect how we communicate
with others and how we receive messages communicated by others. Like most other
barriers to communication, perceptual barriers act like filters to how we interpret
messages we receive and what messages we send to others.