Perception and Learning in Organizations: Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Mcshane/Von Glinow Ob 5E

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Perception and

Learning in
Organizations

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 2 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 3 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 4 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 5 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Perception Defined

 The process of receiving information


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

3-6
The Perceptual Process (may even be as fast as “6 seconds”!)

Environmental Stimuli
Our
Touch Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting 5 senses

(1) Selective Attention

(2a) Organization and


(2b) Interpretation

(3a) Attitudes and


(3b) Behavior
(1) Selective Attention
(The process of accepting or ignoring certain information)

What factors influence selective attention?

(i) Characteristics of the Target/Object


• size, intensity, motion, repetition, novelty

(ii) Characteristics of the Perceiver (you)


• Preferences, Expectations and assumptions
• Self-concept (confirmation bias may occur)
- Confirmation bias
 Screen out information contrary to our
beliefs/values/assumptions

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The Perceptual Process

Environmental Stimuli

Touch Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting

(1) Selective Attention

(2a) Organization and


(2b) Interpretation

(3a) Attitudes and


(3b) Behavior
(2) Organization & Interpretation
(2a) Perceptual Organization
-also known as Categorical thinking
• C.T: the automatic, non-conscious process of
organizing ‘people’ and ‘objects’ into preconceived
categories that are stored in our long-term memory.
 Perceptual grouping principles (rules our mind uses when
categorizing people/objects)
• Similarity – a group of Profs.
• Perceived Trends – petroleum price hike
(2b) Interpreting incoming information (facial image)

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The Perceptual Process

Environmental Stimuli

Touch Hearing Seeing Smelling Tasting

Selective Attention

Organization and
Interpretation

(3a) Attitudes and


(3b) Behavior
Mental Models in Perceptions

 Broad world-views or ‘theories-in-use’


 Help us to quickly make sense of situations
• Fill in missing pieces
• Help to predict events
 Problem with mental models:
• May block recognition of new
opportunities/perspectives (viewing from different
perspectives e.g. marketers vs. accountants)

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Social Identity
-we define ourselves by the groups we belong to

The Social Identity “process”:

Step 1 : Categorization UTAR UM


• Categorizing people into students students

distinct groups

Step 2: Homogenization (similar) (similar)


• Thinking that people in the

same group have similar traits

Step 3: Differentiation
• Develop less favorable images of people
in others groups we don’t belong to
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Korean/Philippino/ Chinese Indian/Egyptian/Iranian

Indian/Peruvian
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 14 Korean/Japanese/Chinese
© 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Stereotyping
 Assigning ‘traits’ (characteristics) to people based on
their membership in a certain ‘social category’
(example of social category: gender, race, age, nationality, etc)

Step 1: male female Separating Gender into 2 different social categories

Assigning the trait “rational” to all males in the 1st category


Step 2: Rational Emotional
Assigning the trait “emotional” to all females in the 2nd category

Step 3: John’s Social Category = male.


Stereotyping
happens!!! John? Stereotyping happens if we assign the trait “rational” to
John JUST BECAUSE he is in the male social category

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Stereotyping
 Why it happens?
• “energy-saving”, that simplifies our understanding
of the world
• To fill in the “missing pieces”
• Enhances our self-concept

 Problems with stereotyping


• Making wrong assumptions about others

• Discrimination

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Attribution Process
The perceptual process of deciding whether an observed behavior is
caused by internal of external factors

Internal External
Attribution Attribution
Perception that the person’s Perception that the behavior is
behavior is caused by the due to the situation /environment
person’s own motivation or
ability -- beyond the person’s control

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Rules of Attribution

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Is the Attribution process perfect?

What type of errors may occur?

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Attribution Errors

1. Fundamental Attribution Error


• The tendency to see the person rather than the
situation as the cause of the behavior

2. Self-Serving Bias
• attributing our success to internal factors,
but our failures to external factors

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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
The perceptual process in which our expectations about another person
cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with our expectations

Supervisor
forms
expectations

Employee’s Supervisor’s expectations


behavior matches affect
Supervisor’s expectations supervisor’s behavior

Supervisor’s
behavior affects
employee
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Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Effect is Strongest...

...at the beginning of the relationship (e.g.


employee joins the team)

...when several people have similar


expectations about the person

...when the employee has a history of low


achievement

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Other Perceptual Errors
 Halo effect
• one trait forms a general impression (failed in one trait,
therefore others fail)

 Primacy effect
• first impressions (lasting impressions)
 Recency effect
• most recent information dominates perceptions
 False-consensus effect (similar to me effect)
• overestimate the extent to which others have
beliefs and characteristics similar to our own

3-23
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 24 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 25 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
What are the solutions/methods
to improve perception?

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3 Strategies to Improve Perceptions

1. Increase awareness of perceptual biases

• Via Diversity awareness training

2. Improving self-awareness
• Applying the “Johari Window” (via feedback and disclosure)

3. Meaningful interaction
• Close, frequent interaction
• Contact hypothesis: A theory stating that “the more we
interact with someone, the less prejudiced or perceptually
biased we will be against that person.”
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Know Yourself (Johari Window)

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McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 29 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Learning in Organizations

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

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Explicit vs.Tacit Knowledge

 Explicit knowledge
• Knowledge that is acquired through reading
documents or books

 Tacit knowledge
• Knowledge acquired through observation and
direct experience

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Learning in Organizations

3 Ways people learn in organizations:

(1) Behavior Modification (aka Reinforcement)


(2) Social Learning Theory: Learning via Observation
(3) Experience

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(1) Behavior Modification

Antecedents Behavior Consequences

What happens What the person What happens


before behavior says or does after behavior

Example

Warning Machine Co-workers


light operator turns thank
flashes off power operator

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(1) Behavior Modification
 A theory that explains learning in terms of the
antecedents and consequences of behavior
 Human beings alter their behaviors to maximize
positive consequences and minimize
adverse/negative consequences

Limitations of this theory:


 Learning is viewed as completely dependent on the
environment
 Human thoughts are viewed as unimportant

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‘Contingencies’ of Reinforcement
(i.e. consequences that increase, maintain, or reduce behavior)

(give good consequences) (remove bad consequences)


Behavior
increases/ Positive Negative
maintained reinforcement reinforcement

Behavior (give bad consequences) (no consequences)


decreases Punishment Extinction

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McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e 36 © 2010 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
(2) Social Learning Theory

This form of learning occurs in three ways:

1. Behavioral modeling
• Observing and modeling behavior of others

2. Learning behavior consequences


• Observing consequences that others experience

3. Self-reinforcement
• Reinforcing our own behavior with consequences
(rewards) within our control

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(3) Learning Through Experience

 Most tacit knowledge and skills are acquired


through experience and observation
 Experiential learning steps
• Engagement with environment
• Reflecting on experience
• Form new theories
• Experimenting/testing these theories

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Developing a ‘Learning
Orientation’ in the organization
 Value the generation of new knowledge
 Reward experimentation
 Recognize mistakes as part of learning
 Encourage employees to take reasonable
risks

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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

3-40
Perception and
Learning in
Organizations

McGraw-Hill/Irwin
McShane/Von Glinow OB 5e Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.3-41

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