TABLE OF CONTENTS

2
CHAPTER 1
Motivation to Work

6
CHAPTER 2
Leadership and Management

11
CHAPTER 3
Group Behavior in Organisations

15
CHAPTER 4
Organisational Work Conditions

21 Satisfaction at Work
CHAPTER 5
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PSYCHOLOGY AND ORGANIZATIONS

1. MOTIVATION TO WORK
1.1 Need theories

1.1.1 Hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1970)

• All needs can be arranged in a hierarchy- you move up as
you fulfil each level starting with basic physiological
needs.
• Maslow’s original hierarchy of needs (1943):
1.1.2 ERG theory (Alderfer, 1972)
• Revision of Maslow’s, simplifies into 3:
o Existence needs: basic survival needs such as
physiological and safety needs.
o Relatedness needs: social and self-esteem needs. The
latter is divided into:
▪ Internal and external
▪ Need of relatedness satisfies external self-esteem.
• Updated model (1970) has 8 stages: o Growth needs: self-development and advancement
o Biological and physiological needs: basic survival that match self-actualisation and self-esteem needs
needs; air, shelter, water, food, sleep, sex. from Maslow’s hierarchy.
o Safety needs: stable society with appropriate legal and ▪ Satisfies internal element of self-esteem needs.
justice systems. • It is not a hierarchical approach and one can be
o Love and belongingness needs: includes work, family, motivated by multiple needs at once.
friends as well as romantic relationships. • However, the importance of these needs might change
o Esteem needs: refers to achievements: skills, status, throughout your life.
independence etc. Some feel sense of esteem through o Relatedness needs may be most important in
their family roles, well-paid jobs, voluntary work or adolescence and early adulthood, followed by growth
creation of something that receives critical acclaim. needs as we establish a career and then relatedness
o Cognitive needs: relates to our need for information, needs again when we start a family.
knowledge and meaning.
o Aesthetic needs: our need and appreciation of beauty. 1.1.3 Achievement motivation (McClelland,
o Self-actualisation: reaching our personal potential and
becoming fulfilled. 1965)
o Transcendence needs: refers to our ability to help • According to McClelland, different needs motivate
others to also achieve self-actualisation. different people and these differences are measurable.
• The three types are:
o Need for achievement (N-Ach): need to get things
done, achieve and be successful. These people are
highly motivated by challenges and appraisals
(feedback).
o Need for affiliation (N-Affil): need to be liked by
others, to be accepted, to put effort into developing
and maintaining social relationships. They prefer to

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work with others and will be motivated by cooperative • Specific goals are more effective than vague goals as
tasks. they are challenging and will compel workers to work
o Need for power (N-Pow): need to have influence and harder.
control over others. They are motivated by the chance • 5 key principles for goal setting theory (4C F):
to gain status or prestige or to be looked up to by o Clarity: goals should be clear, specific, unambiguous
others. and measurable.
• N-Ach can be measured by Thematic Apperception Test o Challenge: should be relevant and linked to rewards.
or TAT. o Complexity: should be achievable within a specific
o These are series of ambiguous images which individual time period.
is asked to interpret. o Commitment: must be understood and accepted.
• This theory comes under projective test: personality test o Feedback: must involve feedback on task progress and
that uses ambiguous stimuli such as ink blots or the achievement.
Thematic Apperception Test. ▪ Feedback allows to identify weaknesses and find
o The response is thought to reveal hidden emotions more efficient, easier and quicker ways of achieving
and conflicts which the individual projects onto his the goal.
depiction of the image. ▪ Feedback should be positive and constructive,
o As it is subjective, it has low reliability and validity. focusing on the strategies used.
▪ It should also involve reflection by the individual
Evaluation themselves rather than feedback by an authority.
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs: o SMART Goal:
o It’s difficult to support the belief that needs are ▪ Specific
arranged in a hierarchy, hence Alderfer’s approach may ▪ Measurable
be more accurate. ▪ Attainable
o Maslow’s self-actualisation has also been hard to test ▪ Relevant
as it was based on a small number of people that he ▪ Timescale
thought were ‘self-actualised’. • Final method of goal setting is ‘Backward Goal Setting’ in
o However, the theories of motivation can be applied to which individual works backward to determine the most
workplaces as the organisation tries to implement appropriate way of reaching this goal.
needs such as physiological, safety, social and self-
esteem. 1.2.2 VIE (expectancy) theory (Vroom,1964)
• McClelland’s theory can also be applied in the • This theory states that workers are rational and their
workplace to help understand personal characteristics decisions are guided by logical thought processes where
and to ensure that people are given roles that suit their potential costs and rewards play a significant role.
particular need for achievement.
• He believes that performance can be influenced by
factors such as knowledge, skills, experience and
1.2 Cognitive theories
individual characteristics like personality, different
1.2.1 Goal-setting theory (Latham and Locke, ambitions and goals.
• According to Vroom, workers can be motivated if:
1984) o There is clear relationship between the effort and
performance.
• Locke and Latham based their theory on Ryan (1970)’s
o The favourable performance is rewarded.
claims which stated that “human behaviour is affected
o The reward satisfies a need.
by conscious purposes, plans, intentions, tasks etc”.
o The desire to satisfy the need is strong enough to
• According to Locke (1980), goal setting is a key motivator
make the effort worthwhile.
for people to work hard and improve their performance.
• He proposed the equation:
𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 = 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑦 × 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑦
× 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒
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• Expectancy is perception of how effort relates to ▪ Alternatively, the same cognitive reasoning and
performance and the worker’s level of confidence in distortion can be used as underpayment.
their capability of achieving the task.
o It can be modified using additional resources or Evaluation
training and supervision. o All three theories support the individual explanation
• Instrumentality is perception of how much effort will be o The theories have high ecological validity but will be
rewarded and whether workers actually believe that difficult to generalise to all organisations due to many
they will be awarded. It is positively affected if the different variables involved in each.
management ensures the reward is given as promised. • Application to the workplace:
• Valence is perception of strength/size of the reward as o Goal setting theory: helps understand which specific
well as the extent to which this reward is needed or goals and feedback are the most effective for the job
wanted. o Expectancy theory: the equation proposed by Vroom
shows us the factors that influence performance,
1.2.3 Equity Theory (Adams, 1963) including effort and rewards
o Equity theory: demonstrates the importance and
• Application of social psychology where Social Exchange
impact of the way individuals compare themselves.
Theory predicts that people do a cost-benefit analysis
before doing a task. 1.3 Motivators at work
• It states that workers want fair treatment and expect
pay, status and recognition to equate to the effort put 1.3.1 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
in. However, if we perceive others as treated better, the
perceived inequality will lead to demotivation. • Intrinsic (internal): motivation that comes from within
• Moreover, workers can bring certain inputs (I) to job like by the actual performance of the task rather than the
skills, qualifications, energy, enthusiasm and effort. consequences of it.
o It may be perceived input (Ip) or actual (Ia). o It includes factors like enjoyment, sense of
satisfaction, feeling of contribution, achievements etc.
• In turn, workers expect outcomes (O) from their job like
pay, recognition, involvement and other benefits. • Extrinsic (external): motivation from consequences of
o It may be perceived outcome (Op) or actual (Oa). the task eg money, promotion and bonuses.
• The key proposal of the theory is that workers compare
1.3.2 Reward systems
themselves to others to check equity (fairness) of their
positions. • Can include pay, bonuses, profit sharing and
• Inequity however can lead to low motivation and has performance-related pay.
two types: o Pay can be linked to performance- the harder you
o Underpayment: when you are not paid as much as work or faster you complete tasks, the higher pay you
you deserved or as someone else in the same post. will receive.
▪ To bring it to equity, you might increase the o Bonuses: additions to salaries.
outcomes of your job eg ask for a raise, or you might o Profit sharing: a percentage of the profit is shared by
decrease your input. all the workers. It gives a sense of belonging and
▪ Alternatively, you can change your cognition by increases motivation.
concluding that the comparison made was • There are different views if monetary rewards are
inappropriate and should instead compare yourself successful in improving productivity i.e:
with someone else. Or, distort the way the inputs and o A paper by de Waal and Jansen (2011) summarizes a
outcomes are perceived. number of research findings.
o Overpayment: when you are being paid more than ▪ They cited studies demonstrating that over half the
you deserve or in comparison to someone else in the growth in productivity in Chinese State industries
same post. could be attributed to the use of bonuses (Yao, 1997)
▪ You may increase input by working harder will be and studies demonstrating the positive effects of
unlikely to decrease your outcomes such as a pay cut. performance-related pay (Belfield & Marsden, 2005).
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▪ However, de Waal and Jensen also include o Lack of empirical (observational) evidence but still all
contradictory evidence as they cite studies which these ideas can be tested experimentally to find
demonstrate that in organisations with very high effectiveness of different rewards.
inequalities there is also very high turnover of staff • Individual vs Situational
which was also true in another study. o There are individual differences; what motivates one
▪ This suggests that any gains in productivity shown by person won’t motivate the other.
the high performers are outweighed by the costs to o Someone working in a highly creative environment is
the low performers. more likely to be motivated by non-monetary rewards
▪ There were also other studies where there was no compared to a competitive business environment.
relationship between the size of bonus payments and
performance.
o Research in many organisations in the UK and Holland
found no relationship between bonus payments and
performance.

1.3.3 Non-monetary rewards

• Includes praise, respect, recognition, empowerment and
a sense of belonging.
• Reward and recognition are different.
o Rewards are promised since the start, this affects your
extrinsic motivation as you work for salary.
o Recognition is not promised from the start but rather
when a worker is recognised for their contributions or
achievements. E.g.: letter of thanks from employer for
a job well done, ‘employee of the month’ etc.
• Achievement of a difficult task or completion of a task
can lead to feeling of empowerment.
• Rose (1998) estimates that around 75% of organisations
in the UK had some form of non-monetary recognition
scheme which was mostly in organisations with
customer contact.
• Such schemes can highlight desired behaviours and
through recognition, create role models for other to
imitate and they are often low-cost as well.
• Evidence also suggests that staff turnover can be
positively affected.

Evaluation
o This might help you find what motivates you and what
job you want to aim for.
o It will also be helpful to organisations as they would
find out what motivates their workers.
o It can be considered a behaviourist approach to
motivation as it considers the effect of certain
outcomes (reinforcements) on behaviour rather than
focusing on cognitive aspects.

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2. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT TRADITIONAL ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP
LEADERSHIP
2.1 Traditional and modern theories of Is about authority and Is about helping others find
leadership issuing direction to their inner authority
others
2.1.1 Universalist and behavioural theories Is about maintaining Is about challenging norms
organisational norms and traditions; exploring
• Universalist theory: and traditions new ways of working
o Great man theory: argues that leaders are born with Makes use of skills and Pushes boundaries in
leadership qualities, not made. competencies available attempts to extend skills
• Behavioural theory: looks at specific behaviours rather and competencies
than personal qualities. These behaviours are divided Is useful in times of Is useful in times of
into two distinct categories: certainty uncertainty
o At Ohio State University: Initiating structure and Is about solutions or Is about new solutions or
Consideration directions based on past directions that have not
o At University of Michigan: Task-oriented behaviours experiences been explored, having
and relationship-oriented behaviours unknown outcomes

INITIATING STRUCTURE/ CONSIDERATION/

TASK ORIENTED RELATIONSHIP-
ORIENTED • Key principles of adaptive leadership:
Allocating tasks to people Expressing concern the o Get on the balcony: seeing the entire picture, viewing
feelings for and well- the organisation and how it works as though observing
being of workers from above.
Creating groups and o Identify the adaptive change: determining the nature
defining goals and extent of adaptive change - be it organisational
Setting deadlines/targets Establishment of a structure, values, working practices or relationships.
and ensuring they are rapport with workers o Regulate stress: managing stress and pressure from
met adaptive change such that it is enough to motivate
Monitoring and Spend time examining people to change but not so much that it overwhelms
supervising progress and understand them. The adaptive leader must tolerate uncertainty
interpersonal skills
and frustration whilst communicating confidence.
between workers.
o Maintain disciplined attention: being open to
2.1.2 Adaptive leadership (Heifetz, 1997) contrasting perspectives and confronting issues
directly.
• The need for change or adaptation when traditional o Give the work back to the people: stepping back from
forms of leadership are ineffective. the traditional role of telling, and instead allowing
• Heifetz et all define leadership as ‘the art of mobilising employees to use their special knowledge and
people to tackle tough issues, adapt and thrive’. recognise that they are best suited to identify solution
• Rather than leading by providing solutions, having the to problems.
management solve problems, and maintaining o Protect voices of leadership from below: giving voice
organisational norms – an adaptive leader must shift the to all people to learn of imminent challenge; silencing
responsibility for change to the entire work force, such them can be fatal to the organisation.
that employees may take new roles, learn new skills,
align with new values or even leave the workforce.
• Adaptive leadership allows for disorientation, conflict
and challenge to create a new organisation that can
survive.

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2.1.3 Three levels of leadership (Scouller, • Research methods:
o Research conducted by Ohio state university and
2011) university of Michigan data collection from numerous
organisations and individuals, making their findings
generalisable.
o Heifetz et al and Scouller present theoretical models of
leadership.

2.2 Leadership style

2.2.1 Effectiveness: contingency theory

• Public leadership: behaviour required to influence (Fiedler, 1967)
groups of people • Different leadership styles will be effective in different
• Private leadership: behaviours involved in influencing situations.
individuals. • Least preferred co-worker scale (LPC):
• Personal leadership: the inner level concerning o 16 item questionnaire asking leaders about the person
leadership qualities shown by the individual, including: they work least well with.
skills, beliefs, emotions, subconscious behaviour and o As everyone’s LPC is equally unpleasant, the scores
presence. indicate more about the test taker rather than their
o Leaders need to grow their leadership presence and least preferred co-worker.
know-how (procedural knowledge) by cultivating the o Low LPC score: task oriented (harsh ratings)
right attitude towards others, working on psychological o High LPC score: relationship-oriented (positive ratings)
self-mastery, self-awareness, technical competence,
and connecting with those around them.
o Scouller argues that the personal leadership is the
most powerful of the three levels – the inner core and
source of a leader’s outer effectiveness.

Evaluation
• Nature vs nurture debate:
o Nature: The Great person Theory states leaders are
born and not made.
o Nurture: Scouller believes that leadership presence
can be developed.
o Heifetz et al suggest leaders needs to adapt and
change and that leadership skills can be learned.
• Individual vs situational debate:
o Situational: 3Ps model and Adaptive leadership show 2.2.2 Situational leadership (Hersey and
that different skills will be required for different
Blanchard, 1988)
situations e.g. trying to persuade an individual rather
than a group. Heifetz et al argue strongly for adaptive • There’s no single effective leadership style - leaders may
leadership in uncertain situations. have their preferred styles but they must adapt their
o Individual: some individuals may be better qualified to style to suit the situation.
provide adaptive leadership, and the extent to which • The situational leadership model is dependent on
personal leadership is developed differs per person. leadership style and the individual/group’s maturity
level. An effective leadership style must be relevant to
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the task, and adapt to the maturity level of the group o M3: experienced and able to do the task but lack
they’re leading. confidence or willingness to take on responsibility.
o Maturity: capacity to set high but attainable goals, o M4: experienced and comfortable in their ability to do
willingness and ability to take responsibility, relevant the task, along with taking responsibility for it.
education and/or experience of an individual/group for
the task. M1 M2 M3 M4
ABLE? No No Yes Yes
WILLING TO TAKE No Yes No Yes
RESPONSIBILITY?
ENTHUSIASTIC? No Yes No Yes

2.2.3 Styles of leader behaviour (Muczyk and

Reimann, 1987)
• Muczyk and Reimann argue that democratic leadership
is not always the most effective leadership style and may
not work at all in some situations.
• The democratic style will only be effective if the
followers are both willing and able to participate in the
decision making process.
• If they are not, the leader cannot be democratic without
also being directive.
o This is because despite having shared decision making
(participation), the implementation of the decision still
needs to be directed to the people (directive).
• This therefore produces 4 types of leadership
• Types of leadership style: behaviours –effective in certain situations–, which are:
o Telling (directive leadership) (S1): largely directing;
the leader will define the roles for each member, whilst
explaining/telling them how, why, when and where to
do the task.
o Selling (S2): directive but involves 2-way
communication, along with relationship skills so that
members ‘buy into’ or feel part of the process.
o Participating (democratic leadership) (S3): leader
proves less direction, however there’s shared decision
making, along with high relationship skills.
o Delegating (S4): leader is involved in the decision-
making process but responsibility is delegated to the Evaluation
group – leader is monitoring rather than directing. • Individual vs Situational debate
• Levels of maturity: o Fiedler believes that different leadership styles will be
o M1: individual/group lacks specific skills required, is effective in different situations
unable and unwilling to do or take responsibility for the o Hershey and Blanchard believe that the leader must
task. adapt to different situations and the extent to which
o M2: unable to take responsibility for the task, but are they are able to do this determines the success rate of
willing to work at it. They are enthusiastic, but need the organisation.
more training and support. o Muczyk and Reimann highlight the applications and
usefulness of styles of leader behaviour. They note that

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decision-making will be ineffective if it is not o This involves each person’s investment and return to
implemented. the other.
o Overall, for leaders to be effective, they need to adapt
to different situations and groups. 2.3.2 Followership: qualities of and types
• LPC scale
(Kelley, 1988)
o Ratings tell little about an individual’s leadership style
o Prone to social desirability bias • Kelley believes that the failure of a group is not entirely
o Difficult to construct unbiased test on to a leader, but also on how well followers can follow.
o Tests may reveal more about the assumptions of the • Followership: the way an individual actively follows a
test maker leader.
o Relatively easy to administer and mark • The 4 main qualities of effective followers are:
o Produces quantitative data that is easily analysed o Self-management: the ability to think critically, be in
o Objective way to measure personality characteristic control of one’s action and to work independently,
especially when the leader delegates tasks.
2.3 Leaders and followers o Commitment: refers to an individual being committed
to the vision/goal of a group/organisation. This helps
2.3.1 Leader-member exchange model keep one’s -and other team member’s- morale and
(Dansereau, 1994) and individualised energy levels high.
o Competence: the skills and attitudes necessary to
leadership model (Dansereau, 1995) complete the goal. Competent individuals continue
• Leadership exchange model: leaders can treat their expanding their knowledge.
followers either with trust or in more formal ways. o Courage: ability to be true to beliefs and upholding
The relation can be developed through 3 stages: ethical standards, especially amidst dishonest/corrupt
o Role-taking: leaders.
▪ Individuals become team members and meet their • 5 types of followers:
leader. o The sheep:
▪ Leaders make expectations clear ▪ Passive and lack commitment
▪ Team members make skills and abilities evident to ▪ Require external motivation and constant supervision
the leader so that they can determine how he/she from the leader
can contribute o The yes-people:
o Role-making: ▪ Committed to the leader and their goals.
▪ Team members become integrated into the team and ▪ Conformists who do not question the
begin work, giving the opportunity to further prove decisions/actions of the leader.
skills and team-work abilities. ▪ Defend the leader when faced with opposition.
▪ Leader then decides in-group and out-group o The pragmatist:
members. ▪ They will not stand behind controversial/unique ideas
o Role routinisation: until the majority of the group does.
▪ In-group members and leader engage in ‘mutual and ▪ They remain in the background of the group.
high quality leader-subordinate exchanges’, further o The star followers:
developing their relation ▪ Positive, active and independent thinkers.
▪ This also lead to improvement within groups: out- ▪ Don’t blindly accept the decisions/actions of the
group members communicated well with in-group leader until they have evaluated them
members in attempts to become closer to the leader ▪ Succeed without the presence of the leader
and a move into the in-group (Erdogan et al (2015))
• Individual leadership model: each follower should be
understood as independent and each leader as unique.

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2.3.3 Measuring leadership: Leadership
Practices Inventory (Kouzes and Posner,
1987)
• Kouzes and Posner argue that leadership is a
measurable, learnable and teachable set of behaviours.
• Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI): measures the
extent to which an individual engages in each of the
following 5 practices (with 6 behavioural statements
each) of exemplary leadership.
1) Modelling desired behaviour: e.g ‘sets a personal
example of what he/she expects of others’
2) Inspire a shared vision: e.g ‘describes a
compelling image of what our future looks like’
3) Challenge the process: e.g ‘experiments and takes
risks despite chances of failure’
4) Enable others to act: e.g ‘treats others with
dignity and respect’
5) Encourage the heart: e.g ‘praises people for a job
well done’
o LPI consists of self and observer ratings of the
frequency at which these behaviours are demonstrated
o It can thus be used for personal development.

Evaluation
• Kouzes and Posner
o Support nurture/situational side of nature-nurture
debate as they believe leadership can be learned, and
leaders develop based on their situation.
• Kelly doesn’t explicitly support either nurture nor nature
as followers can be born with or develop certain
qualities.
• Both Kelly and Danserau emphasise on the importance
of leader-follower relationship to an organisation.

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3. GROUP BEHAVIOUR IN ORGANISATIONS ▪ Quickly recognise the value of each member
▪ Weakness: may delegate too much personal
3.1.1 Group development and roles responsibility and may be manipulative
Group development (Tuckman, 1965) o Team workers: encourage cooperation
Tuckman proposes that all groups go through the ▪ Prioritise team cohesion, and help members get along
following 5 stages during their formation: ▪ Provide support and ensure effective team work
▪ Are negotiators, flexible, diplomatic and perceptive
▪ Weakness: indecision and difficulty committing to a
position
o Resource investigators: explore outside opportunities
▪ Innovative, enthusiastic and curious
▪ Explore available options, develop contacts and
negotiate for resources on the team’s behalf
▪ Work with external stakeholders to help team
achieve objectives
▪ They are extraverted, and people generally respond
positively to them
Team roles (Belbin, 1981) ▪ Weakness: may lose enthusiasm quickly
Belbin proposes that an ideal team consists of people • Thought-oriented roles:
who are prepared to take on different roles: o Plants: present new ideas and approaches
• Action oriented roles: ▪ Creative, imaginative and can solve problems
o Shapers: challenge the team to improve ▪ Introverted, prefer to work on their own
▪ Dynamic, extroverted and enjoy stimulating others ▪ Weaknesses:
▪ Question established views and find the best ▪ Thrive on praise, struggle to take criticism
approach for solving problems ▪ Sometimes impractical and poor communicators
▪ See obstacles as exciting challenges and thrive on o Monitor evaluators: analyse the options
pressure ▪ Good at analysing and evaluating ideas proposed
▪ Weakness: may be argumentative and upset ▪ Shewed, objective and strategic; carefully weigh pros
colleagues and cons before making decisions
o Implementers: put ideas into actions ▪ Weakness: may seem detached or unemotional
▪ Turn the team’s ideas and concepts into practical o Specialists: provide specialised skills
actions and plans ▪ Dedicated, self-motivated and provide a rare set of
▪ Work systematically, efficiently and is organised knowledge and skills
▪ Weakness: can be inflexible and resistant to change ▪ Weakness: may focus on technicalities at the expense
o Complete-finishers: ensure thorough, timely of the bigger picture, slowing the process
completion
▪ Ensure there’s been no mistakes and pays attention Measuring team roles: Belbin team inventory
to the smallest of details A paid self-report test for assessing team roles that
▪ Strict with deadlines and makes sure job is completed produces a detailed report of your skills and abilities in
on time relation to Belbin’s team roles e.g.
▪ Weakness: perfectionists who may worry o Advice on which role you must be most comfortable in
unnecessarily and find it difficult to delegate o Roles you may be best/least suited
• People-oriented roles: • Note: the inventory is split into 8 sections, where a total
o Coordinators: act as chair person of 10 points need to be allocated per section e.g.
▪ Guide the team to objectives and delegate tasks
effectively
▪ Excellent listeners, calm and good natured
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▪ Has real life application as it can be used to identify
the person best suited for a particular task based on
his skills/role. This will increase work satisfaction and
productivity.
▪ Can identify hiring needs of an organisation
o Disadvantages:
▪ As it is a self-report, there is risk of social desirability
reducing validity.

3.2 Decision-making

3.2.1 The decision-making process (Wedley

and Field, 1984)
• Wedley and Field propose that managers should be
Evaluation encouraged to pre-plan the decision making process as
• Tuckman’s model: once started, it is difficult to stop.
o Advantages: o Pre-planning includes: type of leadership to use,
▪ Provides guidance and understanding on how groups whether to involve others, how to gather information,
form and allows organisations to see what they go who to contact etc.
through is part of normal developmental process • Stages of (rational problem solving) decision making:
o Disadvantages: o Identify the problem/opportunity
▪ Originally proposed as an explanation for small o Formulate your objective(s)
groups  may not be useful for understanding larger o Familiarise yourself with the problem
groups o Generate alternative solutions
▪ Timescale for moving from one stage to another not o Evaluate the alternatives
provided o Choose the best alternative
▪ Group formation is cyclical, not linear o Implement the alternative
▪ Does not consider the differing team roles members o Follow up with the evaluation of the results
might have to adopt • A decision support system (DDS) is a computer based
• Belbin’s theory: system that supports decision making.
o Advantages:
▪ Recognises need for diversity, characteristics and 3.2.2 Group think (Janis, 1971) and
skill-sets within groups strategies to avoid groupthink
▪ Assesses preferred roles of members
▪ Encourages all members to appreciate characteristics • A psychological phenomenon within a group wherein the
and strengths of others desire for harmony in the group results in an irrational
▪ Members in small groups will take more than one decision making outcome.
role (so not very reductionist) • Symptoms of group think (Janis 1971):
o Disadvantages: o Illusions of invulnerability: members of the group
▪ Many management teams have too many believe that they can do no wrong and can never be in
implementers and shapers, and not enough plants any sort of trouble. This leads to optimistic thinking
and team workers  plans may lack creativity and about outcomes and encourages risky behaviours.
some members alienated. o Unquestioned beliefs
• Belbin’s inventory: o Rationalising: the group members ignore warning
o Advantages: signs and assume everything will be okay.

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o Stereotyping: if anyone tries to raise concern or o Attribution errors are made when members make
questions about the risky decision, they will be ignored decisions based on inaccurate assessments of an
and labelled as part of the 'outgroup.' individual’s behaviour
o Self-censorship: members are less likely to listen to • Sins of Imprecision: relying too heavily on heuristics
their own doubts as it appears that no one else has any (shortcuts) that oversimplify complex decisions.
doubts, thus everyone is convinced there’s nothing to o Availability heuristic: over reliance on information
worry about. It is similar to ‘pluralistic ignorance’ seen that’s readily available
in bystanders – since no one is responding, there’s no o Conjunctiva bias: failure to consider relationships
real emergency. between events
o Mind guards: even if we are worried, we hide our o Representativeness heuristic: heavy reliance on
worry. If everyone does this, it can lead to risky decision making factors that appear meaningful but are
behaviours. actually misleading.
o Direct pressure to conform to those that disagree –
they are made to appear as though they are being 3.3 Group conflict
disloyal and traitorous by asking questions.
• Benefits of group think: in large groups, decisions, tasks 3.3.1 Levels and causes of group conflict:
and projects are completed quickly and efficiently. organisational to interpersonal
• Causes:
o When group members are similar to one another • Levels:
o Presence of an extremely charismatic leader o Intra-group conflict
o High levels of stress o Inter-group conflict
o Morally challenging situations o Inter-individual conflict (within a group)
• Strategies to reduce the risk of group think: • Causes:
o Give members the opportunity to express themselves o Organisational/situational factors: conflict over
o Break up members into smaller independent groups status, salary, disagreements, resources, space and
o The leader should not state their views at the start of a such.
discussion o Interpersonal factors: personality clash and such.
o Have someone take the role of the ‘devil’s advocate’
3.3.2 Positive and negative effects of conflict
3.2.3 Cognitive limitations and errors • Positive effects:
(Forsyth, 2006) o Produces change, especially in small organisation
where change can be more easily implemented.
• Sins of Commission: misuse of information in the o Resolution of conflict may strengthen
decision making process. This may involve: unity/commitment
o Belief perseverance: using information that is known o Decisions are fully explored, thus preventing risky
to be inaccurate decision making and group think
o Sunk cost fallacy: members may remain committed to o Produce more creative/innovative suggestions
a flawed plan due to the time/money already invested o Forms healthy competition for eg highest sales which
in it can have a positive impact on revenue
o Extra evidentiary bias: choosing to use information • Negative effects:
despite being told to ignore it o Distracts workers, reduces overall productivity and
o Hindsight bias: falsely overestimating the importance wastes time
of past knowledge/experience o Goals become distorted as focus is towards the
• Sins of Omission: overlooking key information. conflict
o Base rate bias: overlooking basic relevant info o Toll on psychological and physical health, increasing
absenteeism and turnover and reducing satisfaction

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o If made public, it could reduce the reputation of the
organisation

3.3.3 Managing group conflict (Thomas,

1976)
• Competition: individuals may persist in conflict until
there is a winner.
• Accommodation: when one individual makes a sacrifice
to end the conflict.
• Compromise: compromises are effective in ending
conflicts when both sides give up something.
• Collaboration: working together to finish the conflict
• Avoidance: suppressing/withdrawing from the conflict
entirely. This doesn’t end the conflict but creates a cool
off period.
• Subordinate goal: groups/individuals are working
towards a goal rather than engaging in conflict.

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4. ORGANISATIONAL WORK CONDITIONS • Notes:
o These studies were conducted during economic
4.1 Physical and psychological work depression hence the threat of losing one’s job would
conditions explain increased work levels.
o Original experiment also lacked thoroughness with
4.1.1 Physical: The Hawthorne Studies many uncontrolled variables and changes of
participants.
(Wickstrom and Bendix, 2000) o Workers were being paid according to an incentive pay
• Refers to the idea that individuals modify their system based on outcome of the experimental group
behaviour in response to their awareness of being rather than the workforce as a whole and this is likely
observed. to have improved productivity.
• Originally conducted in 1924 in USA. • Wickstrom and Bendix advised against referring to the
• The managers studied the effects on productivity due to Hawthorne effect in regards to intervention studies as it
changes in light and work structure (eg. working hours will add more confusion than clarity.
and break times).
4.1.2 Bullying at work (Einarsen, 1999)
• First study: effect of light on productivity examined.
o Experimental group was exposed to decreasing levels • According to Einarsen, bullying is ‘hostile and aggressive
of light while the control group was exposed to a behaviour, either physical or non-physical, directed at
constant level of light. one or more colleagues or subordinates.’
o Results: Both groups increased their performance on o He emphasizes on the need to understand the
their tasks; only when the light was very bright that the different types of bullying.
experimental group showed decrease in productivity. • Zapf (cited in Einarsen, 1999) suggested there are five
o Conclusion: light level didn’t significantly affect the types of bullying behaviour:
productivity as long as it was sufficient for the job to be
done.
• Workers received special privileges for taking part in the
experiments.
• Other experiments were conducted with different
variables. Each had drawn the conclusion that the
variables didn’t significantly affect the productivity.
Conclusions:
• Improved relationships between workers and the
management would improve productivity.
• Kahn (1975) • One of the key factors in workplace bullying is power.
o Workers in one of the studies increasingly took • According to Einarsen, managers and supervisors are
opportunities to alter their work roles. thought as bullies in most cases and bullying by
o Kahn described this as the transfer of power, as superiority is more psychologically distressing compared
instead of being supervised, they were consulted about to a co-worker.
each stage of the experiment.
• Note: important to consider whether peer-bullying and
• Greenwood (1983) interviewed the participants of the leadership are the same or different enough to warrant
original study 50 years later and concluded that they had separate examination.
worked harder in the test rooms to avoid being sent
• Four stages of bullying include:
back to ordinary manufacturing rooms as the supervision
o Aggressive behaviour
was too ‘harsh’.
o Bullying
o Stigmatisation
o Severe trauma
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• Causes of bullying include: o Employees had their own space and they had to travel
o Individual or personality factors of the victim and bully down corridors and around partitions to communicate.
o Psycho-social or situational factors
• Bjorkqvist et al., 1994 surveyed employees in a Finnish
university and identified three main reasons of bullying:
o Competition concerning status and job position
o Envy
o Aggressor being uncertain about their own abilities
▪ High proportion of the sample said that the • Reasons management wanted to shift offices:
personality of the victim was a significant factor. o Current office was not near a railway, hence, papers
• Evidence proves that bullied workers are different than had to be moved by trucks to a railway station costing
their non-bullied colleagues. more and taking up more time.
o Victims are more sensitive, suspicious and angry, tend o There were a lot of practical problems like lack of air
to have lower self-esteem and more anxious in social conditioning, difficult to heat and limited storage
settings. space.
o However, conclusions should be carefully drawn as no o Current layout limited good communication between
longitudinal study has been conducted to investigate individuals and departments. Open plan would
this. alleviate this problem and create a positive working
• Situational factors of bullying: environment.
o Deficiencies in work design • The new open plan office:
o Deficiencies in leadership behaviour o Near a railway line as a typical open plan design.
o Socially exposed position of the victim o There were no internal walls and no cabinets or
o Low morale in the department partitions.
• According to Einarsen, there are 2 types of Bullying: o There were no private offices anywhere except for 2
o Predatory bullying/institutional harassment meeting rooms.
▪ When the victim has done nothing to trigger the o All members of a department were still grouped
bullying, but is ‘accidentally’ in a situation where a together.
predator is showing power over others. o Staff working in the pressroom stayed in the same
o Scapegoating work space, forming a naturally occurring control
▪ When people are stressed or frustrated and want to group.
release the tension. This is an explanation of
prejudice.
• Quite often, bullying is either not responded to properly
or there aren’t proper policies and procedures in action.

4.1.3 Open plan offices (Oldam and Brass,

• Informed consent was present throughout all stages of
1979) this process and everyone was in agreement to the
change.
• A field study was conducted which showed that Note: the office was the only changes made, there were
employee satisfaction ratings fell after the working no changes made to the working conditions, contracts,
environment was changed to an open plan. salaries or duties.
• Research was conducted in a large newspaper office in
the USA. EXPERIMENT
• At the start, all employees worked in a conventional Hypothesis
‘multi-cellular’ office. • It was predicted that there would be an increase in
o Each department was in a separate office and each supervisor and co-worker feedback, friendship
workstation was partitioned.
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opportunities, intra-departmental and inter- • Application:- important to organisational psychologists
departmental interactions in an open pan office. for more effective work environment.
Sample Research methods
• All 140 full time employees were invited to participate, • Hawthorne studies and study of open plan offices were
out of which 128 participated in some way and 76 both experimental studies.
participated in all stages. • Hawthorne was a field experiment meaning there is high
• 5 workers from the pressroom were the control group ecological validity although there will be low levels of
who participated in all stages. control.
Data Collection • The study of open plan offices was a natural experiment
• Data was collected using questionnaires which was given also having high levels of ecological validity but hardly
out to groups each ranging from 2 to 12 people. any controls.
• T1: first set of data was collected about 8 weeks before o Control group had only 5 individuals making
moving to the new office comparisons difficult.
• T2: data collected 9 weeks after the move o Data was only collected on worker motivation and
• T3: data collected 18 weeks after move satisfaction however scores on productivity and
• The questionnaire contained: efficiency may have been significant to the study.
o Work satisfaction o In addition, a longer study may have had more positive
o Interpersonal satisfaction results.
o Internal work motivation
Procedure 4.2 Temporal conditions of work
• Participants were told that this was a study to assess environments
employee’s reaction to their new office and their work.
• Participants had to write their names so the responses 4.2.1 Shift work (Pheasant, 1991)
could be followed through the stages of the study and it • Many people work in ‘shifts’, meaning their working
was kept confidential. pattern does not involve the same work pattern every
• Management and staff were also questioned informally week.
for feedback. • Types of shifts:
Results o Day shift: typically between 6am-2pm.
• A decrease in internal motivation and satisfaction with o Afternoon/twilight shift: typically between 2pm-
work and colleagues in new office plan. 10pm.
• Control group showed no such changes. o Night shift: typically between 10pm-6am.
• Workers felt difficult to concentrate and complete a • Shift work should be managed efficiently to avoid
task, to develop friendships and to maintain privacy. negative effects.
• Supervisor also commented that they would have to • Pheasant identified two main approaches:
move to private meeting room to give feedback to a o Rapid rotation shifts: frequent shift changes.
worker. ▪ Metropolitan rotas: pattern of 2 day shifts + 2
• Conclusion afternoon shifts + 2 night shifts + 2 days off. As this is
• The findings indicated that open plan offices was the an 8-day pattern, it moves one day ahead each week.
cause of decreased satisfaction and motivation. ▪ Continental rotas pattern of 2 day shifts + 2
afternoon shifts + 3 night shifts + 2 days off followed
Evaluation by 2 day shifts + 3 afternoon shifts + 2 night shifts + 3
Issues and debates days off.
• Individual-situational debate: clearly, the effect of o Slow rotation shifts: infrequent changes e.g: day shifts
different working conditions/situation such as office for multiple weeks then night shifts for multiple weeks.
layout or bullying causes changes in the individual. ▪ This allows circadian rhythms (physical, mental, and
behavioural changes that follow a daily cycle) to

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adapt to one shift without feeling forced or causing o Pregnancy:
health problems. ▪ Existing relationship between shift work and low birth
weight as well as shift work and premature birth.
4.2.2 The effects of shift work on health ▪ Increased risk of miscarriage among shift workers.
o Exacerbation of existing disorders:
(Knutsson, 2003)
▪ Biological processes can be interrupted by shift work
• Knutsson reviewed the effects of shift work highlighting indicating that taking medicines can be more complex
the relationship between working at night or a shift work during shift work.
pattern and specific medical disorders. ▪ Taking same dose at same time can cause different
• According to him, shift work doesn’t affect longevity. effects due to differences in internal body clock.
• Two studies directly compared mortality rates between ▪ Sleep deprivation can also affect existing disorders
day and night workers. such as frequency of seizures experienced by
o The study conducted in UK showed no significant epileptics and frequency of asthma attacks.
difference and the one conducted in Denmark showed
a small increase in relative death risk for shift workers. 4.2.3 Shift work and accidents (Gold et al.,
• The specific disorders and conditions include:
1992)
o Gastrointestinal disease:
▪ More common in shift workers than day workers. • Gold et al. conducted a self-administered questionnaire
▪ Mostly constipation and diarrhoea experienced by in Massachusetts regarding shift work, sleep and
night shift workers. accidents in 1986.
▪ Peptic ulcers are common for regular shift workers Sample
like drivers, factory workers etc. • 878 nurses
▪ Risk of duodenal ulcers are doubled in shift workers. • Day and evening shift work was grouped together as it
o Cardiovascular disease: doesn’t show to disrupt circadian rhythms.
▪ Physical working conditions like chemicals, noise and • Other groups were night shift workers and ‘rotators’
vibrations along with psycho-social factors such as (who change patterns frequently).
stress and work schedules can contribute to Procedure
cardiovascular diseases. • Questions asked:
▪ Multiple studies support relationship between shift o Whether they worked variable shifts or same shift
work and cardiovascular disease. (asked about current week, previous 2 weeks and
o Cancer: following week on the number of day, evening or night
▪ Increased risk of breast cancer in women who work shifts worked)
night shifts. o Sleep and wake times for all shifts and for days off
▪ Study conducted with nurses, flight attendants and o Quality of sleep
radio and telegraph operators. o Use of alcohol
▪ However, exposure to other carcinogens cannot be o Use of prescription or non-prescription medication
controlled. o Sleeping aids
▪ No conclusive evidence on increased risk of cancer o Times they had ‘nodded off’ (fallen asleep) at work (in
due to shift work. the past week)
o Diabetes and other metabolic disturbances: o Times they had ‘nodded off’ while driving to and from
▪ Certain substances have higher concentration during work (in the past year)
night work like potassium, uric acid, glucose and o Accidents, errors and ‘near-miss’ accidents in the past
cholesterol which can increase metabolic year: includes driving accidents, medication errors, job
disturbances. procedural errors and work-related personal injuries
▪ Some studies show higher BMIs and risk of diabetes that could be attributed to sleepiness.
in those working shift work.

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Results • The study by Knutsson was a correlation which doesn’t
• Out of 878 questionnaires, 687 returned. Mean age of imply causation; hence, an experiment would lead to
sample was 33.9 years. more valid results but would raise ethical issues
• Rotators and night shift workers had fewer hours of • The study by Gold relies heavily on self-reports and can
sleep than day/evening workers be described as quasi-experimental as he was able to
• 92% of day/evening nurses,6.3% night nurses obtained compare two naturally occurring groups, thus creating
regular anchor sleep. (4 or more hours of sleep during an independent variable.
the same clock hours every night). o He was not able to randomly allocate participants to
• Anchor sleep disruption was experienced by 49% of these different groups meaning that there may be
day/evening workers, 94% of rotators and 2.9% of night many differences between them explaining the results.
nurses. o However, the research findings are supported by
• Night nurses were 1.8 times more likely to report poor laboratory experiments into short-term sleep
quality sleep than day/evening nurses and rotators were deprivation and cognitive errors.
2.8 times more likely to report poor quality sleep than o There might be reporting bias and a longitudinal study
day/evening workers. Night nurses and rotators were might be more effective as it will track errors and
twice as likely to use medications to help them sleep. accidents that can be correlated with shift work
• Nodding off on the night shift occurred at least once a patterns.
week in 35% of rotators, 32% of night nurses and 20% of
day evening workers who worked the occasional night 4.3 Health and safety
shift, in contrast, only 2.7% of day/evening nurses and
2.8% of rotators reported any incidences of nodding off 4.3.1 Accidents at work: errors and accidents
on day or evening shifts. in operator-machine systems (Nagel, 1988)
• When compared to day/evening nurses, rotators were
Background
3.9 times as likely and night nurses 3.6 times as likely to
• A popular case of human error happened at the Three
nod off while driving to and from work in the previous
Mile Island power plant in the USA in 1979.
year.
• An employee left an alternate feedwater pipe switched
• Rotators reported twice as many accidents as
off, leaving the reactor to overheat.
day/evening nurses including factors like length of time
working, age and use of alcohol. • It took 2 hours and 18 minutes to find the fault as over
1600 gauges had to be examined to find the fault.
• Results are consistent with laboratory demonstrations of
the effects of sleep deprivation and the disruption of • However, other than human error, there were several
circadian rhythms considering increased cognitive errors. errors in the system itself eg. a colour sometimes
represented safety whereas in another part it meant
• These principles of work schedule will improve health
danger.
and safety for nurses and patients.
• Since then, machines have been made more user
Evaluation friendly, operators take regular breaks and systems have
Issues and debates been tried and tested as emergency procedures.
• Nature versus nurture debate- shift work might
4.3.2 Reducing accidents at work (Fox et. al,
interfere with a person’s natural circadian (daily) rhythm
and affect them negatively. 1987)
• All researches are very useful applications. Workers will
• Investigated the use of token system to reward workers
be informed about these risks and can work accordingly
for not having accidents or injuries for a specified
to minimise risks.
amount of time.
Research methods
• The study was conducted at two open pit mines using
the same mining procedures and their associated
product processing plants in USA.
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• The two mines used the same mining procedures and • The miners had to record some data including the
were of similar sizes. frequency of accidents and total numbers of days lost
• Prior to the study, the number of absences from work (severity).
due to injuries was significantly higher than the national • In addition, direct costs of injuries and accidents were
average. also recorded along with the cost of trading stamps to
Sample calculate a cost to benefit ratio.
• Participants are the employees in the two mines Results
including office and clerical workers, engineers, • There were significant decreases in the number of days
managers, custodial, maintenance and production lost in both mines in the first year.
workers. • Costs of accidents and injuries in both the mines
• Employees in first mine were ultimately 214 Employees declined by approximately 90%.
in second mine were 501 in 1983. Conclusion
Procedure • Days lost from work, accidents and injuries decreased
• Workers were divided into four groups based on the and no deaths or permanent disabilities occurred at
numbers of working days lost due to injury: either mine during the token economy.
o G1- workers in least hazardous jobs (office workers) • Anecdotal evidence suggests that these stamps were
o G2- foremen, shift supervisors, technicians, engineers greatly appreciated by all workers regardless of being
and surveyors sceptical in the beginning.
o G3- mechanics, labourers, maintenance workers and
operators of bulldozers, etc 4.3.3 Safety promotion campaigns (Cowpe,
o G4- workers in most hazardous jobs (electricians,
1989)
scraper operators and fuel and lobe workers)
• Workers were given ‘trading stamps’ along with their • At time of research, chip-pan fires were a major cause of
pay if: domestic fires in the UK and had heavy associated costs.
o They didn’t suffer lost time injuries or injury that Aim
required doctors’ attention during the month. • To test the effectiveness of the campaigns shown on tv
o They prevented damage to property which was measured using fire brigade statistics (quasi-
o If they prevented another person from injury experiment).
o If their entire group prevented injuries (group reward) o Two 60 sec advertisements were produced showing
• As the difficulty of the job increased, so did the number cause of fire (overfilling and leaving unattended) and
of trading stamps. actions to contain them.
• No stamps due to: Procedure
o Days lost due to injury. E.g day or two’s work resulted • Two strategies were considered for Cowpe’s advertising
in no stamps for a month. campaign.
▪ As the number of days lost increased, so did the o Prevention strategy: involved an advert showing how
duration of no stamps for a maximum of 6 months. to avoid chip-pan fires. E.g: don’t overfill the pan with
o Damage to property (loss of stamps for a max of 12 oil, don’t leave the pan unattended.
months) o Containment strategy: people would be educated
o Failing to report an injury (loss of stamps for 1 month). about how to deal with fires.
o The group would lose group rewards for as many • The prevention strategy was rejected as it would be
months as the individual lost his individual awards. unsuccessful and ignored (‘this won’t happen to me’)
• Stamps could be ‘spent’ at local stores and could be whereas the containment strategy would raise
exchanged for anything from a huge range of awareness and be effective.
merchandise. Results
• There was an overall 12% drop in fires along with higher
levels of awareness and recall of the adverts for
extended periods.
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Conclusion • Gratification of higher-level needs are sought, which are
• Adverts were effectiveness in reducing in chip-pan fires met by the nature of their work rather than just the
however the effectiveness of either strategy in the salary.
advert was unknown. Sample
• Cowpe suggested that the adverts increased knowledge • 200 engineers and accountants in Pittsburg area were
and confidence but the combination of the two chosen for interviews.
strategies helped reduce fires, save money and save Procedure
lives. • Participants were asked to give a detailed description of
periods in which they were ‘exceedingly happy’ and
Evaluation ‘exceedingly unhappy’ with their jobs.
• Fox et al
o Application of token system is simple behaviourist Results
which offers consistent and predictable rewards to • Factors of the job that caused gratifying characteristics
desired behaviour (safety training). such as a sense of achievement lead to satisfaction
o Its very useful as the number of accidents reduced and • However, if these gratifying characteristics were absent,
the worker safety increased although it is argued that it did not lead to dissatisfaction.
this approach is over-controlling and unethical. • Dissatisfaction is caused by different factors such as
o The study shows that the way the working working conditions, technical problems and salaries.
environment (situation) is created can have significant • Hygiene factors: factors that don’t contribute to
effects on the behaviour of workers. satisfaction but their absence causes dissatisfaction eg:
• Cowpe o Job security
o As the study used an experimental approach, the o Salary
cause and effect were easily measured but it was o Working conditions
difficult to control extraneous variables. o Benefits: paid holidays, insurance
o There was high ecological validity as the participants • Motivating factors: factors that produce satisfaction but
were members of the general public who watched tv their absence does not lead to dissatisfaction eg:
adverts. However, it’s impossible to tell who was o Challenging and rewarding work
affected and whether the advert specifically helped o Responsibility and autonomy
prevent a fire. o Recognition and sense of accomplishment
o Over using media campaigns reduce effect and
awareness as people become desensitised to the
message.

5. SATISFACTION AT WORK
5.1 Theories of Job satisfaction

5.1.1 Two-factor theory (Herzberg, 1959)

• Two-factor theory states that job satisfaction and • Two factor theory produces 4 possible combinations:
dissatisfaction work independently of each other – each HYGIENE MOTIVATING DESCRIPTION
entity is separate, consisting of separate job FACTORS FACTORS
characteristics. HIGH High Highly motivated with few
• Herzberg states that workers are not satisfied with jobs complaints
that simply meet lower-level needs. HIGH Low Few complaints but not
highly motivated. Job is
viewed as a pay-packet

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LOW High Motivated with lots of • Vertical job enlargement: addition of further decision
complaints. Job is exciting making responsibilities and/higher level, challenging
and challenging but tasks without formal promotion. This increases
salaries and working competence and sense of empowerment. Allowing
conditions are poor teams to manage themselves is an example.
LOW Low Not motivated and have
many complaints
Evaluation
5.1.2 Job characteristic theory (Hackman • Two factory theory (Herzberg):
o Application to real life: Herzberg clearly differentiated
and Oldham, 1976) between factors that create satisfaction and those that
• A theory that includes the following set of characteristics create dissatisfaction. Organisations can use this
which lead to appealing and motivating jobs: information to improve satisfaction at work.
o Skill variety: jobs should require a variety of skill set o Generalisability was high due to a large sample of 200
and utilise the pre-existing skills of the worker people.
o Task identity: jobs should require completion of entire • Job characteristics theory (Hackman and Oldham’s):
work and involve workers holistically rather than in a o Application to real life: by identifying critical job
disjointed element. characteristics that affect motivation, satisfaction and
o Task significance: jobs should have significance and work performance, organisations can design jobs
impact on other people around these characteristics.
o Autonomy: jobs should allow workers to have some o Several studies demonstrate that core characteristics
autonomy and flexibility in planning, scheduling and do correlate with motivation and satisfaction.
doing their work etc. o Individual and situational debate: relatively small
o Feedback: the job itself should give information on changes to job characteristics (situation) can impact
how well the worker is performing individuals and attitudes.

5.2 Measuring job satisfaction

5.2.1 Job Descriptive Index (Smith et al.,

1969)
• Measures 5 aspects of job satisfaction:
o Experience of the work
o Salary
o Promotion prospects
o Experience of supervision
5.1.3 Techniques of job design o Experience of co-workers
• Advantages:
• Job enrichment: involves giving workers a greater
o Answered using simple language: yes, no or can’t
variety of tasks to perform increasing skill set and
decide
responsibility. This gives workers a greater sense of
o Results are compared with standardised norms based
control over their job and makes their job interesting.
on regularly updated data from large samples
• Job rotation: having regular changes in tasks within
o Scores between similar individuals can be compared
normal role eg workers in a kitchen can rotate around all
with normative/baseline scores to establish whether a
the different preparation areas.
person is more/less satisfied.
• Horizontal job enlargement: giving workers more tasks
o It measures specific, objective areas of job satisfaction
to do but usually at the same level of skills and
rather than in general terms
responsibility.

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o Easy to read and doesn’t use complex language,
making it easy to use within large variety of people
5.2.3 Quality of working life (QWL)
questionnaire (Walton, 1974)
• Quality of working life involves a range of factors such as
job security, reward system, pay, opportunities for
growth, etc
• Walton developed a typology which can be used to
assess the QWL and it consists of eight key components:
o Fair and adequate payment, which can be measured
by:
▪ Asking questions to find whether pay received is
enough and whether it is equivalent to that received
5.2.2 Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire by other workers
▪ Rating their agreement to statements such as ‘I am
(Weiss et al., 1967) satisfied with the amount I earn’
• Measures a range of aspects around the job including: o Safe and healthy working conditions: multiple factors
o Company policies such as appropriate clothing and safety procedures
o Scope for advancement must be in place to increase QWL.
o Security o Providing opportunities to use and develop skills:
o Independence autonomy, independence and skill development will
o Recognition increase QWL.
o Responsibility o Opportunity for career growth and security: job
o Variety and working conditions security and growth will increase QWL. Fixed term or
• It originally used the following 5 response choices: zero hour contracts (no guaranteed working hours) will
▪ Very satisfied drop QWL.
▪ Satisfied o Positive social relationships: this will increase
▪ N (neither satisfied nor dissatisfied) productivity, satisfaction and decrease stress,
▪ Dissatisfied absenteeism and turn over – increasing QWL.
▪ Very dissatisfied o The total life space: the extent to which employees
o However, results obtained tended to be ‘skewed’ and could maintain their work-life balance.
generally alternated between ‘satisfied’ and ‘very o Constitutionalism (policies and procedures): such as
satisfied’ those to limit bullying, harassment, etc and the extent
• Thus, a later version was created with the following to which employees agree with the organisational
responses: procedures, cultures etc.
▪ Not satisfied o Social relevance: the extent to which the work you –or
▪ Somewhat satisfied the organisation- does is relevant to society.
▪ Satisfied Evaluation
▪ Very satisfied • All three:
▪ Extremely satisfied o Psychometric form of testing that have demand
o Results from this version tended to be more varied characteristics and social desirability bias
and had more symmetrical distribution around o Widely used and the results can be applied to improve
‘satisfied’, the central point. aspects of working environment, satisfaction,
motivation and productivity.

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• Job Description Index: o Just for fun
o Most thoroughly tested and carefully validated based • A median split was performed on the reasons creating
on standardised norms two groups- high-reason acceptors and low-reason
o This means that scores can be compared to a huge acceptors.
sample of participants from different occupations
o Thus, scores can be used to identify whether the Results
individual is more or less satisfied than others of the • High-reason acceptors justified production slowdowns
same occupation, sex, age, etc more than low-reason acceptors.
• Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire: • High-reason acceptors also justified destruction of
o Well validated however offering respondents only machinery, premises or products more than low-reason
slightly different responses to choose from can have acceptors.
significant effects on the answers • High-reason acceptors justified causing chaos more than
o This reduces reliability and validity of the test low-reason acceptors.
• QWL is useful and has helped initiate policies regarding • However, high reason acceptors did not justify
bullying, compassionate leave and working flexibly dishonesty more than low reason acceptors.
allowing social activities that promote the quality of Conclusion
work life. • Regardless of acceptance justifying multiple forms of
sabotage, it doesn’t justify dishonesty as it is different
5.3 Attitudes to work than others.
• Work slowdowns, destruction and causing chaos may be
5.3.1 Workplace sabotage (Giacalone and aimed to hurt the company, but they don’t promote
Rosenfeld, 1987) monetary gains for employees.
• Dishonesty threatens self-esteem in a way that the other
• Behaviours that plan to break rules and try to stop work forms of sabotage do not.
in the workplace; it is usually a result of dissatisfaction
and powerlessness. 5.3.2 Absenteeism (Blau and Boal, 1987)
Sample
• Voluntary absenteeism: when the worker choses not to
• 38 unionised electrical factory workers
attend work due to dissatisfaction
Procedure
• Workers were asked to rate a set of reasons and • Involuntary absenteeism: absence usually due to illness
methods that would justify work sabotage on a scale of 1 • The paper by Blau and Boal uses the concepts of job
(not at all justifiable) to 7 (totally justifiable) involvement and organisational commitment to predict
• The 4 major general method categories were: an individual’s turnover and absenteeism.
o slowdowns • Both can be either high or low allowing 4 possible
o Destructiveness situations:
o Dishonesty 1) High job involvement and high organisational
o Causing chaos commitment.
• The reasons for sabotage were: ▪ ‘Stars’ of the organisation.
o Self defence ▪ Their work is important to their self-esteem.These
o Revenge individuals exert a lot of effort and time in their jobs.
o An eye for an eye ▪ They are highly involved with group activities that
o Protect oneself from boss/company help maintain the organisation.
o Protect one’s job ▪ They represent the most valued members of the
o The foreman/company deserved it organisation and are likely to move up in the firm.
o The foreman/company hurt me previously ▪ This group is likely to show the least level of turnover
o No one was hurt by the action and absenteeism and their loss is detrimental
o Release of frustrations
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2) High job involvement and low organisational o Continuance commitment: where workers remain in
commitment. their post (or organisation) as the costs and risks of
▪ ‘Lone wolves’ of the organisation. leaving might be too high. E.g: they need the salary or
▪ Although their work is important to them, they don’t don’t have better alternatives.
identify with the organisations or its goals o Affective commitment: workers might remain
▪ They will often show high levels of effort for because they have an emotional attachment to the
individual tasks but not for group tasks. organisation; might be because they firmly agree with
▪ They are highly sensitive to working conditions and its goals and overall beliefs.
pay. o Normative commitment: workers stay because of
▪ They are ready to take better opportunities. pressure from others or a feeling of obligation.
▪ Despite their high levels of individual efforts, they do Study by Mowday et al. (1979)
not integrate themselves within the organisation, Aim
which could create problems during group tasks. • The study was designed to assess the reliability and
▪ Their absenteeism is likely due to career enhancing validity of the Organizational Commitment
opportunities or attending to a personal goal. Questionnaire (OCQ) as well as its ability to discriminate.
3) Low job involvement and high organisational o The OCQ is a 15 item scale used to measure
commitment. organisational commitment. It consists of items such
▪ Known as the ‘corporate citizens’ of the organisation. as:
▪ Their work is not personally important to them, but ▪ I feel very little loyalty to this organisation
they identify with the organisation and their goals. ▪ I am willing to put in a great deal of effort beyond
▪ They put a lot of effort into group maintenance tasks that normally expected in order to help this
but not on individual tasks. organisation be successful
▪ Their absence can have a significant impact on ▪ I really care about the fate of this organisation
others. Sample
4) Low job involvement and low organisational • The scale was administered to 2563 people who worked
commitment. in a large variety of jobs in nine different organisations in
▪ Known as the ‘apathetic employees’ as they are the a number of separate studies.
least valuable people in the organisation. • The jobs and organisations included public employees
▪ Work is not viewed as being important to their self- such as those working in a range of hospital, social
image and so they do not put a great deal of effort services etc.
into individual tasks. Results
▪ As the organisation is not strongly identified with, • Mean scores ranged from a low 4 to a high 6.1,
they do not contribute to group maintenance. suggesting the scale produces an acceptable level of
discrimination.
5.3.3 Measuring organisational commitment • No items stood out as producing odd results or being
less related to the overall score than other items.
• According to Mowday et al., 1979, organisational
commitment is defined as ‘the relative strength of an • Test-retest scores were good, suggesting high reliability.
individual’s identification with and involvement in an • Correlations between the OCQ and other scales were
organisation’. high suggesting good validity.
• Some people believe there are three forms; the desire • Validity was also measured by correlating the OCQ with
to remain within the organisation, belief in and he individuals’ intention to stay in the organisation.
acceptance of the organisations values, and willingness • This single item measure was collected in five of the
to exert effort on behalf of the organisation. studies and all five revealed significant correlations.
• Other people like Allen and Meyer (1990) identify three • Evidence was also found to support the discriminant
types of organisational commitment: validity of the scale.
• Predictive validity was also checked by seeing if scores
on OCQ would accurately predict how long an employee
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would stay/leave the organisation (low scores meant
more likely to leave)
• Significant relationships were also found between low
organisational commitment and absenteeism and to a
lesser extent between commitment and performance.
Conclusion
• Although the above seems to support the OCQ, it is
possible that individuals may change answers if they feel
that the results may be used against them.
• It is therefore suggested that the shorter 9 item
questionnaire would be a better alternative than the 15-
item questionnaire.
• They end by identifying several areas for further
research, including the need to consider the relationship
between behavioural and attitudinal commitment and
some of the other factors (occupation, age, sex, etc.)
that may influence organisational commitment.

Evaluation
• Giacalone and Rosenfeld conducted a survey on
workplace sabotage that may have caused social
desirability bias.
• This study used a quasi-experimental approach when
comparing the high-reason acceptors with the low-
reason acceptors which gave useful results.
• One of the useful results was that both groups saw
‘dishonesty’ as qualitatively different from all other
forms of sabotage which might allow employers to react
to dishonesty differently from other forms of sabotage.
• Someone who commits an act of sabotage may be
sending a message to their employees about their
working conditions or their quality of work life proving
that this study shows how the workplace environment
(situation) can impact on the individual’s behaviour.
• The study by Blau was useful in bringing job involvement
and organisational commitment, allowing organisations
to predict potential staff turnover so they can take
measures accordingly.
• Mowday’s measurement of organisational commitment
was done by self-reports as the person however, it can
be biased (or responding to demand characteristics)
reducing validity and reliability.
• Interestingly, a study by Goffin and Gellatly suggested
that self-reported measures of commitment showed a
weak correlation with reports of commitment observed
by others.

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