Foundation of human

skills
Tejal Mahajan
Unit 1 – Understanding of human nature
a) Individual Behaviour – 3 lectures
1. Concept of a man,
2. Individual differences,
3. Factors affecting individual differences,
4. Influence of environment.
 b) Personality and attitude – 6 lectures
1. Determinants of personality
2. Personality traits theory
3. Big five model
4. Personality traits important for organizational behavior like authoritarianism, locus of control, Machiavellian ism, introversion-
extroversion achievement orientation, self-esteem, risk taking, self-monitoring and type A and B personalities.
5. Concept of understanding self through JOHARI WINDOWS
6. Nature and components of attitude
7. Functions of attitude
8. Ways of changing attitude
9. Reading emotions
 c) Thinking, learning and perceptions – 8 lectures
1. Thinking skills, Thinking styles and thinking hat
2. Managerial skills and development.
3. Learning characteristics, theories of learning (Classical conditioning, operant conditioning and
social learning approaches)
4. Intelligence, type (IQ, EQ, SQ, at workplace)
5. Perception features and factor influencing individual perception
6. Effects of perceptual error in managerial decision making at work place (Errors such as Halo
effect, stereotyping, prejudice attributional)
The Unit 2 includes the following topics:
d) Introduction to Group Behaviour: – 6 lectures
1. Group Dynamics-
2. Nature,
3. Types,
4. Group behavior model.
5. (roles, norms, status, process, structures)
e) Organizational processes and system – 6 lectures
6. Power and politics –
7. Nature,
8. Bases of power,
9. Politics nature,
10. Types,
11. Causes of organizational politics,
12. Political games
13. Organizational conflicts and resolution:
14. Conflict features,
15. Types,
16. Causes leading to organizational conflicts,
17. Levels of conflicts,
18. Ways to resolve conflicts through five conflicts resolution strategies with outcomes
 Unit 3 includes the following topics:
 f) Organizational Culture – 5 lectures
1. Characteristics of organizational culture
2. Types, functions and barriers of organizational culture
3. Ways of creating and maintaining effective organizational culture.
 g) Motivation at work place – 5 lectures
1. Concept of motivation
2. Theories of motivation in an organizational setup: A. Maslow need hierarchy, F. Hertzberg
dual factor, Mc. Gregor theory X and theory Y.
3. Ways of motivating through carrot (positive reinforcement) and stick (negative reinforcement)
at workplace
The Unit 4 includes the following topics:
 h) Organizational change and creativity-
1. Concepts of organizational change
2. Factors leading /influencing organizational change
3. Kurt Lewins model of organizational change and development
4. Creativity and qualities of a creative person
5. Ways of enhancing creativity for effective decision making
6. Creative problem solving
 i) Organizational Development and work stress: 6 lectures
1. Need for organizational development
2. OD Techniques
3. Stress, types of stress
4. Causes and consequences of job stress
5. Ways for coping up with job stress
HUMAN NATURE
 Human nature has been a topic of great interest to managerial personnel, especially those who
have to handle and manage human beings.
 Human being is a resource and when put to best use can increase the organizational multifold.
 If human resource are not well handled, an organization would face a number of problems
ranging from conflict, power, politics, stress, absenteeism, lowered motivation among
employees, increased job turnover etc.
 A man is a social animal. He always lives in a society.
 A person has to depend on others for satisfying his needs to have the ability to get his work done
by others. This ability can be developed by thoroughly understanding human nature and
developing his own human skill. “Human skill is the ability to work with, understand and
motivate other people both individually and in groups”, for e.g., through human skill, a manager
can take maximum advantage from other materials of organization such as money, technology
and raw material.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
 All individuals are not equal. They all differ from each other not only in physical characteristics
but also in behavioural characteristics
 The science that studies these qualitative and quantitative differences among people is known
as the study of individual differences (also called as differential psychology). The differences
among people are not sharp but there is continuity.
 Meaning: Individual differences means differences between individuals which makes one a
unique individual.
INTER- AND INTRA-INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
There are two kinds of individual differences:
(i) inter-individual differences and
(ii) intra-individual differences.
(ii) Inter-individual differences: All differences among persons in their attitude, physical features,
intelligence, personality, interest, learning etc. It refers to differences in a particular
characteristics among various individuals, for e.g.,
(iii) (ii) Intra-individual differences: Intra-individual differences refers to differences among
various characteristics possessed by the same person. Different abilities are present in the
same person, for e.g., a person may be good at painting but relatively less good at studies and
bad at singing.
FACTORS AFFECTING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE
1. Emotional Differences: Some people are calm most of the time. Some are generally irritable. Some are very
peaceful and some become very angry very easily. It is true that the emotion of anger is common to all
people but its intensity and depiction is different in different people. Differences in personality
characteristics ranging from very slightly to extreme are noticed, for e.g., two children are scolded by the
teacher for not doing their homework. One child decides to be regular with his homework next time. The
other child cries a lot and refuses to go to school next day.
2. Differences in Intelligence: People differ immensely in intelligence. Intelligence refers to:  Capacity to
learn with speed and accuracy  Capacity to solve problems  Capacity to adjust in the society
3. Differences in Abilities, Attitudes and Achievement: Wide variety have been observed among individuals in
the field of creative abilities, special aptitudes and personality traits. Through achievement test, it has
been found that individuals differ in their achievement abilities. Difference in achievement is also found
among those individuals who have the same level of intelligence, for e.g., sports siblings in the same family.
4. Differences in Social Behaviour: Differences in social class among individuals arise because they come from
different socio-economic backgrounds, from different communities, from different religions, from different
localities etc. These differences are reflected in their motivation, readiness and achievement, for e.g.,
there are some people who are timid and shy that as soon as a member comes from outside visit at home
they go inside and avoid conversation but there are other kind of people who become friendly with strangers
without any hesitation.
5. Gender Differences: There is a general belief that motor skills requiring great endurance, muscular strength and
persistence can be tackled by men than women. Women are supposed to excel in skills involving close co-ordination
of small muscles and strict attention to details. For e.g., men learn driving faster than women.
 Girls are found high in fluency, memory and fine motor co-ordination
 Boys are found superior in numerical reasoning and spatial ability
 Girls have high interest in aesthetics, social service, domestic science and literary fields
 Boys have higher scientific, mechanical and theoretical interests
 Girls are more emotional, jealous and social  Boys are more aggressive, dominant, ambitious and independent
 Girls show better performance in language, speech, art and music
 Boys are better in social sciences and mathematics

6. Physical differences: Among the physical differences, important differences are:

 Differences in chronological age
 Differences in physical maturity
 Differences in appearances
For e.g., Person in different countries located in different geographical areas have different characteristics, for
e.g., Indians, Americans, Germans etc.
(a) Difference in chronological age: There is general belief that children learn better than adults.
Many studies have been made on the relation between age and learning. The results indicate
that the ability to learn material increases until about 16 years. Thereafter, it remains
constant till 20s. After that, there is a slight drop. Round about 50 years, the drop becomes
sharper. Differences in speed of learning and retention do not depend upon age but on mental
age or levels of intelligence. Variation in methods and motivation may make it possible for
children to learn a given task even at an earlier or later age.
(b) Difference in physical maturity: It is noted that even though the children may be more or less
of the same age, they may not necessarily have the same level of mental and emotional
maturity of learning. This may be on account of different levels of physical maturity. The
capacity to learn is vitally connected with the growth and maturity of the nervous system, the
development of muscles, body proportions and the functioning of the sensory organs. Physical
maturity, thus, affects readiness to learn. It is also one of the reasons in interests in early and
late matures. It must be remembered that adequate physical development is essential for
satisfactory mental functioning.
(c) Difference in appearances: Body built may influence the self-concept of an individual on
account of the expectations of adults and other individuals. Some individual are good-looking,
some are ordinary, few are plain and some
The role of environment
Environment refers to the external world. In other words environment consists of
the society in which we are born and brought up. Environment includes both
prenatal (before birth) and postnatal (after birth) conditions.
I. Prenatal environment – it refers to the environment before birth. It is the
environment to which the newly conceived human beings is exposed to in the
mothers womb. Before birth the individual develops in the mothers womb.
Everything that happens to a women during pregnancy can affect the child.
1. prenatal nourishment
2. drug intake- medicine, alcohol, smoking
3. mothers health
4. medical x-rays
5. mothers age
6. environmental hazards
II. Postnatal environment – is also known as external environment/ social
environment. It refers to the various factors in the external world that affect a
persons growth and development.
1. Social environment – family structure and family atmosphere
2. Physical environment
3. Cultural environment
Personality – determinants /factors affecting
personality
Personality is the aggregate of a persons feelings, thinking, behaviors and
responses to different situation and people. Personality arises from within
individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life
every person has a different personality and there are a lot of factors which
contribute to that personality.
Definations
“Personality refers to individuals characteristics patterns of through emotions
and behaviour, together with the psychological mechanism hidden or not behind
those patterns”
Determinants / factors affecting
 Heredity factors
 Environmental factors of personality
 Physical factors of personality
 Situational factors of personality
The big five personality model
The big five are broad categories of personality traits. There is a significant body of
literature supporting this five factor model of personality
1. Extraversion
2. Agreeableness
3. Conscientiousness
4. Neuroticism
5. Openness
Others
6. Locus of control
7. Narcissism
8. Risk taking
9. Authoritarianism
10. machiavellianism
Johari window model
 The Johari Window model is a simple and useful tool for illustrating and improving
self-awareness, and mutual understanding between individuals within a group. This
model can also be used to assess and improve a group's relationship with other
groups. This model is particularly useful in team development.
 This model is also referred to as a 'disclosure/feedback model of "self-awareness"
and by some people an "information processing tool".
• The Johari Window actually represents information - feelings, experience, views,
attitudes, skills, intentions, motivation, etc - within or about a person - in relation to
their group, from four perspectives, which are described below. 
• The model can also be used to represent the same information for a group in
relation to other groups. Terminology hereafter refers to 'self' and 'others': 'self'
means oneself, ie, the person subject to the analysis. 'Others' means other people in
the person's group or team.
• The four Johari Window perspectives are called 'regions' or 'areas' or 'quadrants'.
Each of these regions contains and represents the information - feelings, motivation,
etc - known about the person, in terms of whether the information is known or
unknown by the person, and whether the information is known or unknown by
others in the group. The four regions in the model are outlined in detail below.
 What are the Four Regions of the Johari Window Model?
1. What is known by the person about him/herself and is also known by
others - open area, open self, free area, free self, or 'the arena'
2. What is unknown by the person about him/herself but which others know
- blind area, blind self, or 'blindspot'
3. What the person knows about him/herself that others do not know
- hidden area, hidden self, avoided area, avoided self or 'facade'
4. What is unknown by the person about him/herself and is also unknown by
others - unknown area or unknown self
OPEN AREA-
The open free area, or 'the arena', can be seen as the space where good
communications and cooperation occur, free from distractions, mistrust, confusion,
conflict and misunderstanding.
• Established team members logically tend to have larger open areas than new team
members. New team members start with relatively small open areas because relatively
little knowledge about the new team member is shared. The size of the open area can be
expanded horizontally into the blind space, by seeking and actively listening to feedback
from other group members. This process is known as 'feedback solicitation'. 
• Other group members can help a team member expand their open area by offering
feedback, sensitively of course. The size of the open area can also be expanded vertically
downwards into the hidden or avoided space by the person's disclosure of information,
feelings, etc. about him/herself to the group and group members. 
• Group members can help a person expand their open area into the hidden area by asking
the person about him/herself. Managers and team leaders can play an important role in
facilitating feedback and disclosure among group members and indirectly giving feedback
to individuals about their own blind areas. 
• Leaders also have a big responsibility to promote a culture and expectation for open,
honest, positive, helpful, constructive, sensitive communications, and the sharing of
knowledge throughout their organization. Top-performing groups, departments,
companies and organizations always tend to have a culture of open positive
communication, so encouraging the positive development of the 'open area' or 'open
self' for everyone is a simple yet fundamental aspect of effective leadership.
BLIND AREA
• This blind area is not an effective or productive space for individuals or groups. This blind
area could also be referred to as ignorance about oneself, or issues in which one is
deluded. 
• A blind area could also include issues that others are deliberately withholding from a
person. This relates to the difficulty one experiences when being "kept in the dark".
• By seeking or soliciting feedback from others, the aim should be to reduce this area and
thereby to increase the open area i.e, to increase self-awareness.  
 Group members and managers can take some responsibility for helping an individual to
reduce their blind area - in turn increasing the open area - by giving sensitive feedback
and encouraging disclosure. 
• Managers should promote a climate of non-judgemental feedback, and group response to
individual disclosure, which reduces fear and therefore encourages both processes to
happen.
• The extent to which an individual seeks feedback, and the issues on which feedback is
sought, must always be at the individual's own discretion. 
• Some people are more resilient than others - care needs to be taken to avoid causing
emotional upset. The process of soliciting serious and deep feedback relates to the process
of 'self-actualization' described in  Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs development and
motivation model.
HIDDEN AREA. 
• This hidden or avoided self represents information, feelings, etc., anything that a person
knows about him/self, but which is not revealed or is kept hidden from others. 
• The hidden area could also include sensitivities, fears, hidden agendas, manipulative
intentions, secrets - anything that a person knows but does not reveal, for whatever
reason. 
• It is natural for very personal and private information and feelings to remain hidden,
indeed, certain information, feelings and experiences have no bearing on work, and so
can and should remain hidden. However, typically, a lot of hidden information is not very
personal, it is work- or performance-related, and so is better positioned in the open area.
 Relevant hidden information and feelings, etc, should be moved into the open area
through the process of 'disclosure'.
• The aim should be to disclose and expose relevant information and feelings - hence the
Johari Window terminology 'self-disclosure' and 'exposure process', thereby increasing
the open area. 
• By telling others how we feel and other information about ourselves we reduce the
hidden area and increase the open area, which enables better understanding,
cooperation, trust, team-working effectiveness and productivity. 
• Reducing hidden areas also reduces the potential for confusion, misunderstanding, poor
communication, etc, which all distract from and undermine team effectiveness.
UNKOWN AREA
They can be feelings, behaviours, attitudes, capabilities, aptitudes, which can be quite close
to the surface, and which can be positive and useful, or they can be deeper aspects of a
person's personality, influencing his/her behaviour to various degrees. Large unknown areas
would typically be expected in younger people, and people who lack experience or self-belief.
 Examples of unknown factors are as follows, and the first example is particularly relevant
and common, especially in typical organizations and teams:
• An ability that is under-estimated or un-tried through lack of opportunity,
encouragement, confidence or training
• A natural ability or aptitude that a person does not realise they possess
• A fear or aversion that a person does not know they have
• An unknown illness
• Repressed or subconscious feelings
• Conditioned behaviour or attitudes from childhood
 The processes by which this information and knowledge can be uncovered are
various and can be prompted through self-discovery or observation by others, or in
certain situations through collective or mutual discovery, of the sort of discovery,
experienced on outward bound courses or other deep or intensive group work.
Counselling can also uncover unknown issues, but this would then be known to the
person and by one other, rather than by a group.
Categories of Johari window

 The ideal window

 The interviewer
 the bull in a china shop
 Hermit
The Johari window and feedback
 When behaviour that can cause irritation or annoyance is not addressed, this may lead
to misunderstanding, uneven relationships and a tense atmosphere.
 Behaviour in the Blind Spot is particularly difficult to discuss with others. Through
feedback rules, the message feels less harsh and the recipient won’t feel as attacked. As
a result, he is more likely to become aware of his behavior.
 In addition, good feedback results in mutual understanding, joint agreements and
pleasant cooperation.
 The basic rule for feedback is to communicate from your own experienceTalking to
each other leads to good ideas that are acceptable to the person being addressed and
that make him feel comfortable. The Open Space is now complete and the issue can be
openly discussed.
Aspects for effective feedback

 Avoid hurting others

 Help others to grow
 Be specific and to the point ‘
 Do not follow
 Listen carefully and avoiding reacting negatively
Elements of attitude
Function of attitude
 Adjustment function- This type of attitude is based on rewards and
punishments, meaning we develop attitudes based on how much pleasure or
pain a certain thing will bring us. For instance, when people buy products, they
buy it because it is beneficial to them or they like it. Individuals tend to make
decisions that will bring them the greatest amount of happiness. Another
example is the clothes kids wear to school. People are more inclined to buy
clothes they feel will help them fit in.
 Knowledge - Knowledge function of attitude helps with the decision making
process. Knowledge helps customers make a buying decision based off of what
they know about the products and brands they are buying. For example, as a
consumer I am an exclusive apple product user. If apple comes out with a
product, I trust their quality based off the other products I already own. Because
I have the knowledge of my apple products, I can make a simple decision on any
future apple products I would want.
 The value function of attitude - allows consumers to express their core values,
self-concept, and their beliefs to others. The things in which consumers value,
are important in the decision making for them when looking to purchase
products. These products will serve as an outward expression of what the
consumer values.
 An ego defensive function of attitude - helps consumers justify what they know
is threatening but choose to ignore. Another way is to help them boost their self
esteem. So essentially it is exactly what it’s named [“ego”]. This defensive
attitude defends the consumers from things they know are wrong, or from things
they are insecure about.
Source/ formation of attitudes

 Direct experience
 Vicarious learning
 Family and peer groups
 Economic status and occupations
 Mass communications
Ways of changing attitude

 Rewards and performance

 Clarity in defining roles
 Providing new information
 Use of fear
 Influence of friends or peers
 Choose or elect as a colleague
Thinking style
 Monarchic style – do one thing at a time. Motivated by a single goal,
concentrate only on one issue and access a situation only from their view
point
 Hierarchic style – do many things at a once , setting priorities, how much time
and energy to devote to each, motivated by a hierarchy goal, organized and
systematic decision making
 oligarchic thinking- do many things at once but have trouble setting
priorities, might problems with allocating resources
 Anarchic style - If you describe someone or something as anarchic, you 
disapprove of them because they do not recognize or obey any rules or
laws.  complete disrespect for authority
6 hats thinking
Characteristics of learning
 Learning leads growth
 Learning is adjustment
 Learning is purposeful
 Learning is experience
 Learning is active
 Learning is both individual and social
 Learning is the product of the environment
 Learning affects the conduct of the learner
Theories of learning
Classical Conditioning
 Classical conditioning is a type of conditioning in which an individual responds to
some stimulus that would not ordinarily produce such as response.
 It is the process of learning to associate a particular thing in our environment with a
prediction of what will happen next.
 Classical conditioning, the association of such an event with another desired event
resulting in behavior, is one of the easiest to understand processes of learning.
Operant conditioning
 Operant conditioning argues that one’s behavior will depend on different situations.
People will repeatedly behave in a specific way from where they will get benefits.
 On the other hand, they will try to avoid a behavior from where they will get nothing.
Skinner argued that creating pleasing consequences to specific forms of behavior would
increase the frequency of that behavior.
Cognitive Theory
 Cognition refers to an individual’s thoughts, knowledge of interpretations, understandings, or
ideas about himself, and his environment.
 This is a process of learning through active and constructive thought processes, such as a practice
or using our memory
 One example might be that you were taught how to tell time by looking at a clock.
 Someone taught you the meaning of the big hand and little hand, and you might have had to
practice telling the time when you were first learning it.
 This process of learning was entirely inside your mind and didn’t involve any physical motions or
behaviors. It was all cognitive, meaning an internal thought process.
Social Learning Theory
 The social learning theory also called observational learning, stresses the ability of an” individual
to learn by observing what happens to other people and just by being told about something.
 One can learn things by observing models, parents, teachers, peers, motion pictures, TV artists,
bosses, and others.
 Many patterns of behavior are learned by watching the behaviors of others and observing its
consequences for them. In this theory, it is said that the influence of models is the central issue.
Perception- factors influencing perception
Personal characteristics that affect perception include a person's attitudes,
personality, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations. There are
some factors that influence the target such as- novelty, motion, sounds, size,
background, proximity, similarity, etc.
Factors
1. Characteristics of the perceiver
- attitude
- motivate
- interest
- expectations
2. Characteristics of the target
3. Characteristics of the situation
Perceptual errors
 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.
 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.
2. Introduction to group behavior
Types of group
Formal group
 Command group
 Task (temporary) group
Informal group
 Interest group
 Friendship group
Reasons of people joining groups
 Proximity, interaction and influence
 Security
 Esteem
 Power
Stages of group development
Work group behavior
 Overall strategy of an organization
 Authority structure
 Formal regulations
 Resources
 Performance evaluation and reward system
 Organizational culture
 Physical work setting
Group structuring
 Formal leadership
 Role
 Role identity
 Role conflict
 Role ambiguity
 Norms (performance, appearance, social aggreement)
 Status
 Cohesiveness (interaction, thereat, shared goals, size of the group)
Work team
All organizations have at least one process or work team. Process teams are also
referred to as natural work groups. Work groups are the people that work
together each day to make sure one or more processes are executed to meet the
needs of the customer. Self-directed work teams are an advanced form of a
process team. A work team can also be called a process team.
Types of teams
 Problem solving team
 Self managed work team
 Cross functional team
 Virtual teams
How to create team
 Prework
 Making available proper resources
 Forming and building the team – clarification, acceptance, responsibilities
 Providing ongoing assistance
Turning individual into team player

 Selection
 Training
 Rewards
Barriers to effective teamwork
 Insufficient time
 Unreal goals and objectives
 Task no worthwhile
 Team leaders is not accepted by others
 Team member dissatisfied
 Intra team conflict
Unsuccessful team
Common mistakes with team by management
 Prepare weak strategies and following poor business practices
 Poor experience by one team not transferred to another team
 Ambiguous roles, vague assignment
 Improper training
 Poor staffing
 Lack of trust
Mistakes by team members
 Not convinced about their role
 Try to do many things at a time
 Conflict among members
 Poor interpersonal skills
 Lack of trust
 Resistance to change with time
Sources/ types of power
Organizational politics
 Workplace politics is the process and behavior in human interactions involving power and authority.  It is also a tool
to assess the operational capacity and to balance diverse views of interested parties. It is also known as office
politics and organizational politics. It involves the use of power and social networking within a workplace to achieve
changes that benefit the organization or individuals within it. "Organizational politics are self-serving behaviors" that
"employees use to increase the probability of obtaining positive outcomes in organizations". Influence by individuals
may serve personal interests without regard to their effect on the organization itself. Some of the personal advantages
may include:
 access to tangible assets
 or intangible benefits such as status
 -authority that influences the behavior of others
Positive politics are behaviors that are designed to influence others with the goal of helping both the organization and
the person playing the politics.  Examples of positive politics include portraying a professional image, publicizing one's
accomplishments, volunteering, and complimenting others. On the other hand, organizational politics can increase
efficiency, form interpersonal relationships, expedite change, and profit the organization and its members
simultaneously. Both individuals and groups may engage in office politics which can be highly destructive, as people focus
on personal gains at the expense of the organization. "Self-serving political actions can negatively influence our social
groupings, cooperation, information sharing, and many other organizational functions." Thus it is vital to pay attention to
organizational politics and create the right political landscape. Negative politics are designed to achieve personal gain at
the expense of others and the organization. Examples of negative politics are spreading rumors, talking behind someone’s
back, and not telling someone important information.
"Politics is the lubricant that oils your organization's internal gears.
"John Eldred has characterized politics as "simply how power gets worked out on a practical, day-to-day basis."
Types of organizational politics
 Attacking or blaming others
 Selective distribution of information
 Controlling information channel
 Informal groups
 Increasing indispensability
 Game playing
 Controlling the agenda
Reasons for organizational politics
 Scarce resources
 Limited opportunities
 Never ending change
 Promotions are less plentiful
 Lack of clarity
 Pressure to perform well
 Politics played by top levels
Managing political behavior

 Define job duties clearly

 Appropriate reward system and on time feedback
 Allocate resources unbiasedly
Organizational conflicts
Organizational conflict, or workplace conflict, is a state of discord caused by the actual or
perceived opposition of needs, values and interests between people working together. Conflict
 takes many forms in organizations. There is the inevitable clash between formal authority and
power and those individuals and groups affected. There are disputes over how revenues should be
divided, how the work should be done, and how long and hard people should work. There are
jurisdictional disagreements among individuals, departments, and between unions and 
management. There are subtler forms of conflict involving rivalries, jealousies, personality clashes,
role definitions, and struggles for power and favor. There is also conflict within individuals –
between competing needs and demands – to which individuals respond in different ways.
Definition: Organizational Conflict or otherwise known as workplace conflict, is described as the
state of disagreement or misunderstanding, resulting from the actual or perceived dissent of
needs, beliefs, resources and relationship between the members of the organization. At the
workplace, whenever, two or more persons interact, conflict occurs when opinions with respect to
any task or decision are in contradiction.
In simple terms, organizational conflict alludes to the result of human interaction, that starts when
one member of the organization discerns that his/her goals, values or attitude are incompatible,
with those of other members of the organization. The incompatibility in opinions can come into
being, within a member, between two members, or between groups of the organization.
Characteristics of conflicts
 Spread like crazy
 Conflicts evolve
 Bred by different values
 Opposing interest
 Poor communication
 Trust break down
 Incompatible goals
 Different personalities
Types of organizational conflict
Causes of conflict
 Managerial expectation
 Lack of resources
 Lack of trust
 Threats to status
 Personality clashes
 Differing set of values
Conflict resolution style
Conflict outcomes

 Win/win
 Win/lose
 Lose/win
 Lose/lose
Negotiation process