Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Perception and Learning in Organizations Chapter Three

3-2 Perception Defined The process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us  deciding which information to notice  how to categorize this information  how to interpret information within our existing knowledge framework

3-3 Selective Attention Characteristics of the object  size, intensity, motion, repetition, novelty Characteristics of the perceiver  Emotional marker process  expectations  self-concept and beliefs

3-4 Perceptual Organization/Interpretation Categorical thinking  Mostly unconscious process of organizing people/things  Perceptual grouping principles — Closure -- filling in missing pieces — Identifying trends — Similarity or proximity Mental models  Broad world-views or ‘theories-in-use’  Help us to quickly make sense of situations  May block recognition of new opportunities/perspectives

3-5 Social Perception through Social Identity Categorization process  compare characteristics of our groups with other groups Homogenization process  similar traits within a group; different traits across groups Differentiation process  develop less favorable images of people in groups other than our own

3-6 Stereotyping Assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category Occurs because:  Categorical thinking  Innate drive to understand and anticipate others’ behavior  Enhances our self-concept

3-7 Problems with Stereotyping Overgeneralizes  Stereotypes don’t represent all or most people in the category Discrimination  Systemic  Intentional (prejudice) Overcoming stereotype biases  Difficult to prevent stereotype activation  Possible to minimize stereotype application

3-8 Attribution Process Internal Attribution  Perception that person’s behavior is due to motivation/ability rather than situation or fate External Attribution  Perception that behavior is due to situation or fate rather than the person

3-9 Rules of Attribution External Attribution FrequentlyConsistencySeldom Internal Attribution FrequentlyDistinctivenessSeldomSeldomConsensusFrequently

3-10 Attribution Errors Fundamental Attribution Error  attributing own actions to external factors and other’s actions to internal factors Self-Serving Bias  attributing our successes to internal factors and our failures to external factors

3-11 Positive Self-Fulfilling Prophecies at Cocoplans Cocoplans president Caesar T. Michelena believes in treating employees as customers. “ It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you believe that [employees] will not last, your behavior towards them will show it … You get what you expect. ”

3-12 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Cycle Supervisorformsexpectations Expectations affect supervisor’s behavior Supervisor’s behavior affects employee Employee’s behavior matches expectations

3-13 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Contingencies Self-fulfilling prophecy effect is strongest: 1.At the beginning of the relationship (e.g. employee joins the team) 2.When several people have similar expectations about the person 3.When the employee has low rather than high past achievement

3-14 Other Perceptual Errors Halo effect  one trait forms a general impression Primacy effect  first impressions Recency effect  most recent information dominates perceptions False-consensus effect  overestimate the extent to which others have beliefs and characteristics similar to our own

Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Improving Perceptions Perception and Learning in Organizations

3-16 Strategies to Improve Perceptions 1. Awareness of perceptual biases  Consciously try to minimize these errors 2. Improving self-awareness  Awareness of your values, beliefs and prejudices  Applying Johari Window 3. Meaningful interaction  Close and frequent interaction toward a shared goal  Equal status  Engaged in a meaningful task  Improves empathy

3-17 Known to Self Unknown to Self Known to Others Unknown to Others OpenAreaBlindArea UnknownArea HiddenArea Know Yourself (Johari Window) OpenAreaBlindArea HiddenAreaUnknownArea Disclosure Feedback

3-18 Vodafone Executive Grahame Maher Vodafone executive Grahame Maher maintains meaningful interaction with staff by discarding the executive suite and working alongside employees every day. Grahame Maher Vodafone Czech CEO

Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Learning in Organizations Perception and Learning in Organizations

3-20 Definition of Learning A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavior tendency) that occurs as a result of a person’s interaction with the environment

3-21 Explicit vs.Tacit Knowledge Explicit knowledge  Knowledge that is articulated through language, such as documents Tacit knowledge  Knowledge acquired through observation and direct experience

3-22 Behavior Modification We “operate” on the environment  alter behavior to maximize positive and minimize adverse consequences Learning is viewed as completely dependent on the environment Human thoughts are viewed as unimportant

3-23 A-B-Cs of Behavior Modification Consequences What happens after behavior Co-workersthankoperator Example Behavior What person says or does Machine operator turns off power Antecedents What happens before behavior Warninglightflashes

3-24 Contingencies of Reinforcement Behavior increases/ maintained Behavior decreases Consequence is introduced Consequence is removed Punishment Positivereinforcement ExtinctionPunishment Negativereinforcement No consequence

3-25 Behavior Modification in Practice Behavior modification is used in:  every day life to influence behavior of others  company programs to reduce absenteeism, improve safety, etc. Behavior modification problems include:  Reward inflation  Behaviorist philosophy vs. learning through mental processes

3-26 Social Learning Theory Behavioral modeling  Observing and modeling behavior of others Learning behavior consequences  Observing consequences that others experience Self-reinforcement  Reinforcing our own behavior with consequences within our control

3-27 Concreteexperience Reflectiveobservation Abstractconceptualization Activeexperimentation Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model

3-28 Developing a Learning Orientation Value the generation of new knowledge Reward experimentation Recognize mistakes as part of learning Encourage employees to take reasonable risks

3-29 Organizational Learning Knowledge acquisition  Extracting information and ideas from the external environment as well as through insight Knowledge sharing  Distributing knowledge to others across the organization Knowledge use  Applying knowledge in ways that adds value to the organization and its stakeholders

Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Perception and Learning in Organizations Chapter Three