Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Udaipur

Individual and Group Dynamics (IGD)

Batch: 2022-2024

Course Instructors: Arpana Rai

 Pre Mid Term
IGD Course Outline  Session 1: Functions of Managers
 Session 2: Human Behaviour
 Session 3: Values and Beliefs
 Session4: Attitudes
 Session 5: Human Differences/ Diversity
 Session 6: Personality
 Session 7: Self-Evaluation
 Session 8: Evaluating Others
 Session 9& 10: Group Dynamics
 Session 11 & 12: Teams, Conflict management
Post Mid term
 Session 13: Motivation
 Session 14: Emotions
 Session 15 & 16: Leadership
 Session 17: Stress and Well being at work
 Session 18: Work-life balance
 Session 19: Power and Politics
 Session 20: Role Transition (from managers to
leaders)
 Session 21: Creativity
 Session 22: Ethics 2
 Roles/ Functions of Managers
He has been named as Top Management Thinker
 Interpersonal
Henri Fayol (1918) Henri Mintzberg (1990)  Informational
 Decisional

 Planning  Figurehead (Ceremonial/ routine duties)

 Organizing   Leader (leads and motivates employees)
  Liaison (contacting & fostering relationships with others)
Leading
 Monitor (internal and external information)
 Controlling  Disseminator ( transmits information from outsiders)
 Spokesperson ( transmits information to outsiders)
 Entrepreneur (initiates projects)
Frame of  Disturbance Handler (corrective actions)
Reference  Resource Allocator (makes/approves organizational decisions)
 Negotiator (negotiates on behalf of organization)

Managers won't necessarily fulfill every role as part of their job, they constantly switch roles as tasks,
situations, and expectations change.

Mintzberg, H. (1989). Mintzberg on management: Inside our strange world of organizations. Simon and Schuster.
 Management Skills

Decision making or conceptual skills: Mental ability to diagnose, analyse and solve complex situations.
Technical skills: specialized knowledge or expertise.
Human/ Interpersonal skills: ability to work with, understand and motivate others (good listeners, good
at managing conflict)
Individual and Group Dynamics (IGD)
Session2: Human Behavior
 Human Behavior

 Actions or reactions of individuals in relation to their environment

 Responses of individuals to external and internal stimuli
 The way humans acts and reacts

General Human Behaviour and Behaviour in Organizations

1. The Nature Vs Nurture View

2. Kurt Lewin’s Equation of Behavior

Behaviour = ƒ(Person × Environment)

What Behaviours do these statements capture?
◦ I meet performance expectations (Task Performance)
◦ Creating and implementing new ideas for difficult issues (Innovative work behaviors)
◦ Develop and make suggestions for issues that may influence the work group or raise concern about
organizational issues (Voice)
◦ Willingly give your time to help others who have work-related problems (Organization Citizenship
behaviours)
◦ Put little efforts on assigned tasks or waste time in office, come late in office, daydreaming, taking
longer breaks than assigned, neglect to follow instructions (Workplace Deviance/ Counter productive
workplace behaviors; time theft)
◦ Habitual non-presence of an employee at their job (Absenteeism)
◦ When employees leave the organization (Turnover)
Individual and Group Dynamics (IGD)
Session 3: Values and Beliefs

Course Instructor:
Arpana Rai
 Nature & Nurture

Human Behavior:

Genetic Endowments + Nurtured Tendencies + Memetic Endowments

◦ Memes are mental analogues to biological genes: ideas and beliefs that
pass on from one generation to another
◦ Examples: family and cultural traditions or values

 Memes & VABEs Eating curd and sugar before heading out brings good
luck

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ideas and beliefs that pass on from one generation to another

It is believed that
fasting clean off your
sins.

Memes

Arranged Marriage a
tradition originating
from the swayamvar
system
 Memes constitute our VABEs

B = ƒ(P,E) VABEs = Values, Assumptions, Beliefs & Expectations

We all have our Judgement Filters about how

we and people around us should behave.

These judgement filters are known as our VABEs =

Values, Assumptions, Beliefs & Expectations

When we say that a person should do this or should

do that, we are expressing our VABEs.

VABEs drive our day-to-day actions and behavior.

Our VABEs make us who we are, how we act, what types of

decisions we make, how we perceive others’ decisions.
 How VABEs are developed?

All of us have our personal set of VABEs

 Parents, family upbringings and principles
 We carry thousands of VABEs around with us.  People around us (Friends, Teachers)
 Culture
 Our VABEs develop early and over many years  Life experiences (which help us to draw our
own conclusion of how people should behave)
 VABEs may change over time (VABEs can  Education
mutate)  Work experiences

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 Meaning Chain

REB Model
Event + VABE Conclusion Emotions Behavior

Events and our

Our VABEs What did you see?
perceptions of them
What do you believe?
(External Vs. Internal)
What conclusion do you draw
from that?
How does that make you feel?
Conclusion
(External Vs. Internal)

Emotions and Feelings Match/mismatch between our observations and VABEs (Positive or negative emotions)

Behavior
 One of the main sources of our VABEs
The ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular society.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Geert Hofstede (1980)

 He studied more than 116000 IBM employees in 40 countries

about their work related values and found that employees
varied on five cultural dimensions.

 These dimensions are known as Hofstede Cultural Dimensions

1. Power Distance (unequal distribution of power in organizations): We should never disrespect our boss
2. Individualism vs Collectivism (independence vs interdependence/ We vs. I ): Family is important than money
3. Masculinity vs Femininity (society is driven by competition, achievement and success)
A high masculinity rating indicates that culture promotes separate roles for man and women, with men dominating the society.
A high femininity rating indicates that culture promotes no difference between men and women roles and treats both equally.
4. Uncertainty Avoidance (how people in a culture deal with uncertain situations)
People in culture low on uncertainty avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity, take more risk and accept changes more readily.
5. Long term vs Short term orientation (future oriented or present focused)
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High: look to the future and value thrift and persistence; Low: People value present
Individual and Group Dynamics
Session 4: Attitudes
 Attitudes

 Attitudes are our

Evaluative statement (may be favourable or unfavourable) about people, objects and events
Our minds predisposition towards people, objects and events

 Example: I like my job (expressing your attitude about your job)

I love eating in this restaurant
Attitudes reflect how we feel about something

Attitude is the non-observable component of why we do what we do.

While, behavior is the observable component of what we do.
 Three Domains of Attitudes:
Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral
(CAB/ABC model of Attitudes)

Cognitive (head) What you believe/ think about a event/ object (opinion)

Structure of Attitudes Affective (heart) Way you feel (emotion or feeling related part of an attitude)

Behavioral Your intention to behave in a certain way

Your attitudes result in your behaviours

My pay is low; I am angry as I am paid low; I am going to look for another job that pays better
 Job Attitudes Vs Behaviors
How we think Vs. How we Act

1. Job Satisfaction: positive feeling about job resulting from an evaluation of the characteristics of a job (pay, task variety,
autonomy, task significance, support).

2. Job involvement: how much employee identify with his/her job and actively participate in it

3. Organizational commitment: how much employee identify himself with his organization, its goals and wish to remain in the
organization

4. Perceived Organizational Support: the degree to which employees believe organization value their contribution and care
for their well-being

5. Employee Engagement: A positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind characterized by vigour (high energy), dedication
(sense of significance) , and absorption (fully concentrated and deeply engrossed in one’s work).

6. Psychological empowerment: the degree to which employee feel empowered (they have competence, autonomy, have
meaningful jobs)

7. Creativity: generation of new ideas

8. Turnover intentions: intentions to leave the organization

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 Cognitive Dissonance (Leon Festinger)
Modify our Cognitions
Action
(ours/others)
Trivialize (make less
Dissonance important) Dissonance
Inconsistency
Add more Cognitions
Attitude/
This dissonance is uncomfortable and
Belief Denying Cognitions
people try to reduce/ minimize it
By altering our attitudes/behaviours or by
developing a rationalization for the
discrepancy
When our attitudes don’t align with our behaviours, we experience cognitive dissonance
 Employees Responses to Dissatisfying Situations
EVLN Typology
What happens when employees
are not satisfied with their Jobs?

 Constructive and Destructive

 Active and Passive

 Employees may look for alternative job options (exit/intention to quit)

 Rise your concerns, Try to improve the conditions or come up with new ways (voice)
 Optimistically wait for conditions to improve (loyalty)
 Allowing conditions to worsen, may even involve in deviant workplace behavior (neglect)-
reduced efforts, lateness
disstaified employees are more likely to engage in deviant behaviors
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Individual and Group Dynamics
Session 5: Diversity
 Diversity in the workplace can include:
Age

What is Diversity? Race (biological heritage people use to identify themselves)

Ethnicity (Cultural characteristics: Indian, Jewish or Asian)

Workplace diversity is understanding, accepting, and valuing
Gender
differences between people including those:
of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, disabilities, and Sexual orientation (LGBT)
sexual orientations Religious affiliation
with differences in education, personalities, skill sets, experiences, and
Disability
knowledge bases

Benefits & Challenges of Diversity

 Ensures a variety of different perspectives Communication
 Increased creativity/ innovation Resistance to change
 Higher employee engagement Successful management of diversity in the workplace
 Increased profits Poor hiring results
 Better company reputation
 Improved hiring results
 Biographical Characteristics
 Age
 Sex
Levels of Diversity  Race and Ethnicity
 Disability Status

Surface-level diversity (observable traits):

 Difference in easily perceived characteristics.
 It can lead employees to perceive one another
through stereotype and assumption.
 Examples: age, gender, race & ethnicity, disability
status
 Personality
 VABEs
Deep-level diversity (non observable traits):  Attitudes
 Is difficult to judge from appearance. It includes  Religion
internal/ psychological characteristics.
 Sexual orientation &
 More important for determining similarity as people
get to know one another.
Gender identity
Cultural identity
 Examples: vales, personality, and work preferences.
 Stereotype & Stereotyping
A stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.”
(Cardwell, 1996) that doesn’t take individual differences into account and might not be true.

Asians are good at math

women are empathetic
Girls are not good at math  Stereotypes can be positive and negative.
Men are strong and do all the work  Most of the stereotypes are gender and
Girls are not good at sports culture based.
Guys are messy and unclean  Stereotypes lead to unconscious biases
Men are not as sensitive as women and unfair decision making
women are not good in negotiation/ driving

 Stereotyping : Judging someone on the basis of stereotypes

Individual and Group
Dynamics
Session 5: Personality
 Learning Objectives

Personality and Determinants of Personality

Different personality Frameworks

 Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
Big Five Personality Model/ Ocean Model
Dark Triad of Personality
Other Personality Traits (Core self evaluation, Self-monitoring and Proactive Personality)

Theories: SST & TAT

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 Determinants of Personality
Personality
Hereditary

Cu
t
en

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Personality is the total psychological

nm

re
makeup of an individual – a profile that

ir o
reflects experiences, motivations, attitudes, Personality

v
En
beliefs, and values. determinants
Fa
m
Enduring characteristics that describe an ba ily

n
ck an

io
individual’s behaviour.
gr d s

at
tu
ou o
nd cia

Si
Your personality is a combination of various l
traits, which differentiate you from others. Nature and Nurture
 It encompasses all the traits and Example: Disciplined (Conscientiousness)
characteristics that set you apart from Shyness (genetic) AMBIVERT
everyone else.
Likewise, there could be some inherited and learned
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(or mutated) aspects of your personality.
 Personality Frameworks

Myers Briggs Type Indicator - Overview of MBTI

Swiss psychiatrist
 The most widely used Personality test

Mother daughter duo: Isabel Myers and her mother,

Katherine Briggs.

The MBTI is based on Carl Jung’s work.

Mother

◦ Humans experience the world using four pairs of psychological preferences, and we have
our preference in each pair which determines our personality.

https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/home.htm?bhcp=1
E- Extraversion I-Introversion
S- Sensing As per MBTI, we all have Four pairs of Personal Preferences N- Intuition
T- Thinking Four pairs of Psychological F- Feeling
J- Judging
Preferences P- Perceiving

EWhere do you focus your attention and get your energy? I

Is it the outer world or inner world

S How do you take in information?

N
receive and process new information either by using your five senses or in more abstract ways

T How do you make decisions? F

Look at logic and consistency or based in your feelings

How do you like to structure or

J orientate yourself in the world? P
Prefer decided things or are open to new information or options
Extraversion Introversion Intuition
Sensing

E
Extravert Characteristics
•Talkative
I
Introvert Characteristics
•Energized by time alone
S N
•Inventive
•Realistic
•Social/outgoing •Keep to self •Aware of surroundings •Imaginative
•Likes groups, parties, etc. •Quiet •Notices details •Deep
•Energized by interaction •Fewer friends •Practical •Abstract
•Have many friends •Prefer smaller groups •Factual •Idealistic/ Optimis

Thinking Feeling Judging Perceiving

T
•Logical
•Objective
Logic Vs. Emotions

F
•Decides with heart
•Dislikes conflict
J
•Organized
P
•Adaptable
•Relaxed
•Decides with head •Passionate •Structured
•Rational •Driven by emotion •Quick at tasks •Disorganized
•Impersonal •Gentle & Warm •Responsible •Spontaneous
•Critical •Easily hurt •Likes closure •Keeps options open
•Firm with people •Empathetic •Makes plans •Dislikes routine
•Caring of others •Flexible
 MBTI Type Table
Activity:
4×4=16 Personality Types
What is your Personality?

My personality:

E- Extraversion I-Introversion

S- Sensing N- Intuition E- Extraversion I-Introversion

T- Thinking F- Feeling S- Sensing N- Intuition

J- Judging P- Perceiving T- Thinking F- Feeling

J- Judging P- Perceiving

ISFJ
Your Personality Type:  When you decide on your preference in
each category, you have your personality type expressed as a four-
letter code. 
 Strengths and Weakness of MBTI

 A leading globally recognised and certifiable personality assessment tool.

 Significant scientific (psychometric) deficiencies. Lack reliability and validity

 It doesn’t indicate high or low on a particular trait.

 Not being comprehensive (due to missing neuroticism).

 Big Five Personality Framework
‘Big’ because they are ‘Broad’

(Five-factor model/ OCEAN model)

 These five traits have been found

across ages and cultures.

 We have all the five personality traits in

varying degree; One personality trait
dominates in each of us in relation to
other traits.

 An individual may score high, moderate

or low on each personality trait.

Paul Costa & Robert R. McCrae and Warren Norman & Lewis Goldberg
 Low---Moderate---High

 Openness to Experience (Moderate)

 Conscientiousness (Moderate)
My Personality  Extraversion (Introvert)
 Agreeableness (High)
 Neuroticism/ Emotional Stability (Low)

The combination of these traits — How dominant each trait is in a given individual
relative to the other traits – makes up the personality profile.
  I am full of ideas.
 I am quick to understand things.
Openness to Experience  I have a vivid/ active imagination.
 I spend time reflecting on things.
The active seeking and appreciation of experiences for their own sake  I am inventive.
 I value artistic, aesthetic experiences.
Sub-traits
Low Moderate high

• Fantasy (Imaginative):  Receptivity to the inner world of imagination

• Aesthetics (Artistic):  Appreciation of art and beauty
• Feelings (Excitable):  Openness to inner feelings and emotions
• Actions (Wide interest):  Openness to new experiences on a practical level, adventurous
• (like adventures and new experiences)
• Ideas (Curious): Intellectual curiosity (Scientific and Artistic Curiosity/ divergent thinking/ thirst for knowledge)
• Values Unconventional/ liberal/ broad-minded/ Nonconforming/ Spontaneous/ risk takers and
dislike being bound by routines

Creative, Curious and artistically sensitive and imaginative cautious and conventional

Are you low/ moderate/ high on Openness to experience?

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  I am always prepared.
 I follow a schedule.
Conscientiousness 

I like order.
I do things efficiently.
degree of organization, persistence, control and  I am a reliable worker.
motivation in goal directed behaviour  I persevere until the task is finished.
 I pay attention to details.

• Competence (efficient):  Belief in own self efficacy/ diligent

• Order (organized): 
• Dutifulness:  Responsible, reliable, emphasis placed on importance of fulfilling moral obligations
• Achievement Striving:  Need for personal achievement and sense of direction, plan, set and follow goals
• Goal directed
• Self-Discipline:  Capacity to begin tasks and follow through to completion despite
boredom or distractions, persistent, not lazy
• Deliberation (not impulsive): Tendency to think things through before acting or speaking/ behave cautiously

Responsible, organized, dependable & persistent easily distracted, disorganized and unreliable

Are you low/ moderate/ high on conscientiousness?

Is an important indicator of success 36
  I am the life of the party.
 I am talkative and full of energy and enthusiasm.
Extraversion  I feel comfortable around people.
 I start conversations.
Quantity and intensity of energy directed  I don’t mind being the centre of attention.
outwards into the social world  I talk to a lot of different people at parties.

• Positive Emotions (enthusiastic) :  Predisposed/ Tendency to experience positive emotions/ affect (PA)
• Warmth (outgoing) :  Interest in and friendliness towards others
• Gregariousness (sociable) :  Preference for the company of others
• have more friends, sped more time in social situations
• Assertiveness:  forcefulness of expression
• Activity (energetic) :  Pace of living
• Excitement Seeking:  Need for environmental stimulation

Gregarious, assertive and sociable reserved and quiet

Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert? 37

  I am interested in people.
 I am aware of others’ emotions.
Agreeableness  I have a soft heart.
the kinds of interactions an individual prefers from  I am helpful and unselfish with others.
compassion to tough mindedness  I like to cooperate with others.
 I am generally trusting.
 I take time out for others.
 I sympathize with others’ feelings.

• Trust:  Belief in the sincerity and good intentions of others

• Straightforwardness:  Frankness in expression; not demanding
• Altruism:  Active concern for the welfare of others
• Compliance:  Response to interpersonal conflict; not stubborn
• Modesty:  Tendency to play down own achievements and be humble, no show-off
• Tender-Mindedness:  Attitude of sympathy for others
• Agreeableness “involves getting along with others in pleasant, satisfying relationships”

Cooperative, warm and trusting cold and uncooperative

Are you low/moderate/ high on Agreeableness?

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  I am easily disturbed.
 I get irritated easily.
 I get stressed out easily.
Neuroticism/ Emotional stability  I have frequent mood swings.
Identifies individuals who are prone to psychological distress  I worry about things.

• Anxiety (tense):  Level of free floating anxiety

• Angry Hostility ((irritable):  Tendency to experience anger and related states such as frustration and bitterness
• Depression ((not contented) : Tendency to experience feelings of guilt, sadness, and loneliness
• Self-Consciousness :  Social anxiety
• Impulsiveness(moody):  Tendency to act on cravings and urges
• Vulnerability (not self-confident):  General susceptibility to stress

Calm, self-confident and secure nervous, anxious, depressed (negative thinking and negative emotions) and insecure (hypervigila

Are you low/moderate/ high on Neuroticism?

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 The Dark Triad: Negative Personality Traits

Termed as dark because of their malevolent characteristics/ negative nature

The Dark Triad: a constellation of negative personality traits consisting of

Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy.

 These are socially undesirable traits.

 Individuals may have these traits in varying degree.

 They do not always occur together.

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 Machiavellianism (Mach)
Niccolò Machiavelli: Italian Diplomat

 Tendency to deceive, manipulate or exploit others for personal gain

 Believe that ends can justify means

 Individuals are focused only on their own interests and ambition. Lord Varys and Lord Baelish - Game of Thron
 They seem confident and charming.
 When necessary, they will lie, cheat, manipulate and deceive. Shakuni Mama
 For them, power and money matters more than relationships.
 They tend to use flattery frequently.
 There is a total lack of values or principles.
 Empathy is either deficient or totally lacking.
 Due to their calculating nature, they can be extremely patient.

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 Narcissism

• Grandiose sense of self-importance and superiority

• Lives in a fantasy world that supports their delusions
• Likes to control others
• Needs constant praise and admiration
• Needs people around, always!
• Very concerned with what others think; require excessive
important
• Deeply insecure
• Degrading of others , lack of empathy and arrogant
• Exploit others without guilt or shame
• Frequently demean, intimidate, bully, or belittle others
• Very confident

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 Psychopathy

• Lacking empathy and close attachments with others

• Lak of guilty and remorse when action causes harm
• High self-confidence and social assertiveness Joffrey Baratheon, Game Of Thrones
• Poor impulse control; poor behavioural constraints
• Lacking affect and urge control
The most chilling psychopath in history: Ted
• Demand for immediate gratification; exploitative tendencies
Bundy
• Destructive excitement seeking
• Tendency to lie often • He was known to be very sly and charming; He killed
• Manipulating and hurting others at least 30 people across the United States, was
described as a “heartless evil.”

Psychopathy is a neuropsychiatric disorder marked by

deficient emotional responses, lack of empathy and poor
behavioral controls, commonly resulting in persistent
antisocial deviance and criminal behavior.
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 Other Personality Traits
Core self evaluation, Self-monitoring and Proactive Personality

 Core self-evaluations represent a

stable personality trait which
encompasses an individuals’
fundamental evaluations about
their abilities, competence and
worth/value and control.

 People with high core self-evaluations think positively of themselves and be

confident in their own abilities whereas people low in core self-evaluation has
a negative appraisal of themselves and lack of confidence.
 Locus of Control refers to an individual's perception about the
underlying main causes of events in his/her life.

  My success is because of luck, fate,

timing, other people or some type  Your success is a direct result of your hard work
of divine intervention.
 Theories
B = f (P,E)

Situation Strength Theory Trait Activation Theory (TAT)

Some situations, events or interventions may

Strength of activate a trait.
situation
 Openness to Experience
 Conscientiousness
 Extraversion
Personality Behaviour  Agreeableness
 Neuroticism

If the situation/ environmental factors are strong, your If your job requires creativity, your traits related
personality has to do little with your behaviour. to creativity ( openness to experiences or
proactive personality) may be activated)
Individual and Group Dynamics
Sessions 7 & 8 Perceptions
 We see the world, not as it is, but as we are!!

• Perception: A process by which individuals organize and interpret

their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their
environment.
‘the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses’

Perceptions Vs Reality

Biases Our Perceptions are different from reality

Our perception is our reality
Our perception becomes the reality from which we act

Have others ever misunderstood you?

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 Attribution Theory
(How we attribute causes of behaviours)

• When we observe people, we attempt to explain their behaviour.

• We try to determine whether an individual’s behaviour is internally (dispositional attribution) or externally (situational
attribution) caused.

 Dispositional attribution assigns the cause of behavior to some internal characteristic of a person,
rather than to outside forces.
 Situational attribution assigns the cause of behavior to some situation or event outside a person's
control rather than to some internal characteristic.

Dispositional attribution Situational attribution

He is bad tempered Something bad might have happened

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Perception Distortions
Our common shortcuts in judging others which results in significant distortions

Types of Cognitive Biases (Unconscious Bias)

 Selective Perception
 Halo effect & Horn Effect  We all are susceptible to these biases.
 Contrast effect  Our Biases impact our perceptions
 Stereotyping

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 1. Selective Perception

 We focus on information that is in line with our briefs and tend to overlook or forget information
that contradicts our beliefs or expectations.

What to focus on and what to filter based on your beliefs and past
experiences

 If you smoke, you are likely to disregard all the information that suggests
that smoking is bad for health.

 if an HR manager in charge of hiring has negative beliefs and stereotypes  Virat Kohli is the worst-behaved
of a certain gender or race, they likely aren't going to hire them. player, you disregard his past
performance and just focus on his
 You overlook the fouls your favorite team makes in a game. recent behaviour/ performance

 You vote for a political party, only because it caters to your beliefs,
irrespective of whether it contributes to any valuable changes in society 51
 2. Halo Effect Vs Horn Effect
 Our initial impression individuals influences what we think of them overall.
 It is a cognitive bias that causes you to draw positive or negative impression
about a person based on one trait, either good (halo) or bad (horns).

Halo Effect : Attractive individual are Horn Effect : Overweight people are lazy
intelligent, and incompetent
competent, and qualified.

One single prejudice can make you believe a person has a One single prejudice can make you believe a person has a
whole set of additional positive qualities. whole set of additional negative qualities.

 Application:
Job applicants perceived as attractive and likable are also more liable to be viewed as
competent, smart, and qualified for the job.
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 3. Contrast Effect

• Evaluation of a person’s characteristics that is affected by comparisons with other people recently
encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.

Examples:

 The tendency for a superior to evaluate her/his subordinate relative

to other individuals rather than on-the-job requirements.

 In a group of low performers, a mediocre performer would be rated

as high performer if there is no set performance standards.

 Strong(er) candidates who interview after weak(er) ones may

appear more qualified than they are because of the contrast
between the two.

 Two girls are approaching you, one beautiful and another average.
Because of the contrast effect, the beautiful girl may look more
attractive to you (than in reality).
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Sharma Ji ka beta
Stereotyping
Judging someone on the basis of one’s perception of the group to which that person belongs.
 Overconfidence Bias

 People tend to be overconfident about their abilities and the

abilities of others.
 Overconfidence bias is a tendency to hold a false and
misleading assessment of our skills, intellect, or talent. In
short, it’s a belief that we're better than we actually are.
 Individuals whose intellectual and
interpersonal abilities are weakest are most
likely to overestimate their performance and
ability.
• Finance professor Terrance Odean says, “People think
they know more than they do, and it costs them.”
• 80-90 percent of people think that they are above the
average in many things.

55
 Anchor is a focal point as a reference or starting point.

Anchoring Bias

 Anchoring bias occurs when people rely too much the first information or
on pre-existing information they find when making decisions.

 Anchoring bias is a tendency to fixate on initial information (known as

anchor). Once an anchor/ reference point is set, other judgements are made
around that anchor, and there is a bias toward interpreting other information Price tags
around the anchor. 
Anchors are widely used by
people for negotiations.
Marketing:
• Companies keep their products price high but have frequent ‘discounts’. By
having a high ‘anchor’ price, it makes the discounts seem like a good deal.

• Salesperson deliberately set the anchor too high so that any future decrease
in price will seem like a discount. 56
 Confirmation Bias:
One of the most widely committed cognitive biases

Confirmation bias represents a case of selective perception: Our tendency to search for or interpret
information in a way that confirms our own perceptions/ beliefs.

We seek out information that reaffirms our past choices, and we discount information that contradicts them.

In the workplace, when we seek the advice of like-minded people.

For example, suppose a person believes that women are

bad drivers. In that case, he will cite the example of the
reports and incidents that confirms his belief and will ignore
any evidence or incident that proves otherwise.
57
 Availability Bias
People make thousands of decisions per day and
factors such as media coverage, emotional
reactions and vivid images have greater influence
• Availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that leads us to draw than they would in an entirely rational calculation.
conclusions based on the information that comes to our
mind immediately. While making decisions, we rely on the For example, after seeing several news reports about
car thefts, you might make a judgment that vehicle
information that we can recall easily or things that we already theft is much more common than it really is in your
see in front of us. area.

Availability Heuristic:
 What we recall
 What we see

Certain memories are automatically recalled for two main

reasons:
they appear to happen often or
they leave a lasting imprint on our minds.

58
 Hindsight Bias

Hindsight bias, the tendency, upon learning an outcome of an

event—such as an experiment, a sporting event, a military
“I knew it all along phenomenon.”
decision, or a political election—to overestimate one's ability to
have foreseen the outcome.

We tend to be expert at events after they have already occurred.

59
 How to overcome our Biases?
 If we have a brain, we have biases. 

• Heighten your awareness (self awareness) 

• Introspection/ Reflection
• Sensitivity Training

Are you suffering from any biases?

Think about your current and past behaviours

60
Individual and Group Dynamics
Session 09 & 10
Group Dynamics
 Defining and Classifying Groups

A group is two or more individuals, interacting Team is a group of people who share a common
team purpose and a number of challenging goals.
and interdependent, who have come together to
achieve particular objectives.

• Groups can be either formal or informal:

 A formal group (Groups A1-A13)
 An informal group

Work Groups Work Teams

Goal Share information Collective Work
Synergy Neutral Positive
Accountability Individual Mutual
Skills Varied Complementary
Group Properties (6)
Roles, norms, status, size, cohesiveness, and diversity

Role: Role perception; Role expectations; Role conflict

• Zimbardo Prison Experiment

Norms:
◦ Solomon Asch Experiment
◦ Hawthorne Studies

Status: Determinants of Status; Status and norms; Status and group interaction; Status inequality

Size: Social Loafing

Cohesiveness

Diversity: Faultline
 1st: Roles

How others believe you Role Conflict

How I am supposed to should act in a given A situation in which an individual is
act in a given situation? situation confronted with divergent role expectation
.

Intra-role Inter-role
demands are Demands
within a single across domains
domain of life of life

Role Perception Role Expectations

Role conflict is that situation when there is much
difference in role perception and role expectation
 2nd: Norms
Acceptable standard of behaviour within a group that are shared by group members
 Norms and Conformity
 Norms and Behaviour

Norms and Conformity: Norms and Behaviour:

Individuals are susceptible to confirm to group Hawthorne Effect

norms (We adjust our behaviours to align with
the norms of the group) When behaviors of individuals get modified due to awareness of

Group can place strong pressure on individual being observed/ and being treated differently: given a special
members to change their attitudes and behaviours status, when management is supportive, and employees feel
to match the group standards.
motivated and respected and enhance their performance.
Solomon Asch Experiments (1955) (first
experiment to establish the concept of The Hawthorne effect refers to a tendency in some individuals to
Conformity) alter their behavior in response to their awareness of being
observed.
Video VIDEO
 3rd: Status
Socially defined position or rank given to group or
group members (status is a significant motivator)

What determines Status?

Status Characteristics Theory: status tend to derives from one of three sources :

 The power a person yield over others (control over group resources)

 A person’s ability to contribute to a group’s goals (contributions are critical to group success)

 An individual personal characteristic (someone whose personal characteristics are positively valued
by others- intelligence, money or friendly nature etc.) personal power
 4th: Size and Dynamics
 Does the size of a group affect the group performance?
 What is a perfect Group Size?

Major concern related to the size of a group is:

Social Loafing: People are prone to exert less effort on a task if they are in a group
versus when they work alone. He asked participants to pull on a rope
both alone and in groups. He found that
when people were part of a group, they
The Ringelmann effect: Ringelmann's Rope-Pulling Experiment made less of an effort to pull the rope
Tendency for individual members of a group to become increasingly less productive than they did when working individually.
as the size of their group increases. Participants began to rely on their team
members to get the work done.

What causes Social Loafing? How to Reduce Social Loafing

Work ethics
Personality traits (Conscientiousness and Agreeableness) •Assigning individual tasks and responsibilities
Motivational losses •Highlighting the achievements of individual members
Mismatch between personal and group objectives •Establishing clear standards and rules
if employees feel less personally accountable for a task •Creating small groups
Group Size •Careful monitoring of employees.
Diffusion of responsibilities: Less clarity
 5 : Cohesiveness
th 6th: Diversity
the degree to which group members are
The degree to which members of the group similar to or different from each other
are attracted to each other and motivated to
stay in the group Side effects of diversity: Faultline
Formation of subgroups when members
identify more closely with some members of
their team due to shared characteristics
(surface level characteristics).

How to overcome negative

impacts of faultlines?
Individual and Group Dynamics
Session 11
Team Processes
 Meredith Belbin: Belbin Team Roles
When people work in effective combinations, they achieve so
much more than when they're working alone.

 Dr Meredith Belbin studied team-work for 9 years and

observed that people in teams tend to assume different
team roles.

 He was interested to study how the strengths and

weaknesses of employees can play role in team dynamics.

 He proposed/ identified 9 team roles (divided those roles

into three categories') which are essential for the success of
any team. In 1981, Meredith Belbin expounded Team Role
 He proposed the individuals in a team behave in any of the theory in his seminal book, “Management
nine ways- each fulfilling one/two or many function. A team Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail”. The
does not always require 9 people. book was later named as one of the top fifty
management books of all time.

Practical Implications
 By understanding our role within a particular team, we can develop our strengths and manage
our weaknesses as a team member, and accordingly improve how we contribute to the team.
 The Nine Belbin Team Roles
 A team role is simply “a tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.

9 distinct roles:
Three groups:
1. Shaper
1. Action Oriented Roles (focus on 2. Implementor
improving team performance, 3. Completer Finisher
putting ideas in the actions, meeting
deadlines and completing tasks)
4. Resource investigator
2. People Oriented Roles (draw 5. Team worker
together people and ideas) 6. Co-Ordinator

3. Thought Oriented Roles (analyse  Are crucial for success of any team
options and provide technical 7. Plant  Employees tend to behave in two or three ways
expertise) 8. Monitor Evaluator  Each role has its strengths and weaknesses.
9. Specialist  Each role has equal importance.
 They help to match right person with right job

Does every team require nine people? Are all Team Roles needed at all times?

Most employees fulfil two or three Belbin Team Roles It's not always necessary to have all Team Roles working
that they are most comfortable with, and this can simultaneously. It depends on team objectives and which
change over time.  tasks need to be undertaken are decided accordingly.
 Individual and Group Dynamics
Session 12: Conflict and Negotiation
 Conflict & its Types
 Perception of a party that the another party has affected or about to
negatively affect something the first party cares about.

On the basis of their effects: On the basis of type of disagreement Loci of conflict
 Functional Conflict  Task Conflict  Dyadic
 Dysfunctional Conflict  Relationship Conflict  Intragroup
 Process Conflict  Intergroup

 Content and goals of the work  Between two people

 Promotes Vs. Hinders goals and  Within a group or team
 Focuses on interpersonal relationships
productivity of groups  How the work gets done  Between groups and teams
 Conflict Management Styles

Conflict-handing intentions fall under two dimensions: Assertiveness and Cooperativeness

and result into five conflict-management styles

 Competing
 Collaborating
 Compromising
 Avoiding
 Accommodating
 Conflict Management Styles

Competing Collaborating
A party satisfies his need regardless of Both parties search for mutually
impact on other party. beneficial outcomes allowing both
parties goals to be completely achieved.
(I Win, You Lose)
(I Win, You Win)
Assertiveness
Compromising
The degree to
Willing to rationalize a conflict and accept a
which one party
solution, both the parties give up something
satisfies his/ her
resulting in incomplete satisfaction.
needs
(You Bend, I Bend)

Avoiding Accommodating
One party wants to avoid (ignore) from One party sacrifices his intertest, willing to place
the conflict or supress it. opponents intertest above his own to maintain the
relationship.
(No Winners, No Losers) (I lose, You win)

Cooperativeness: The degree to which one party

attempts to satisfy other party's needs
 Negotiation (or Bargaining)
Involve two parties:
Negotiator and Opponent

Negotiation is defined as the process

that occurs when two parties decide Bargaining Strategies
how to allocate limited/ scare resources,
resolve conflict and reach a mutually
acceptable solution. 

Distributive Integrative
Bargaining Bargaining
 Distributive Bargaining Integrative Bargaining 
You want to buy something, the Parties collaborate to find a solution to
owner tells you the price, but you their dispute by focusing on developing
don’t want to pay that much. The mutually beneficial agreements based on
two of you negotiate. the interests of both the parties.

The main features is that it The main feature is POSITIVE-SUM

operates under ZERO SUM SITUATION= Each party gains without a
CONDITION= Any gain I make corresponding loss for the other party.
is at your expense.

Also k/as Win lose situation Also k/as Win- Win situation

Involves short term The interest is on maintaining long

relationships. term relationship.

Involves low information Involves high information sharing as

sharing as sharing information sharing information will allow to satisfy
will only allow other party to take the interest of both the parties.
advantage.