1. “Halo effect and selective perception are the shortcuts in judging others” Explain.

Individuals have a tendency to use a number of shortcuts when they judge others. An
understanding of these can be helpful toward recognizing when they can result in
significant distortions.
Halo Effect:
The halo effect [Murphy & Anhalt, 1992] occurs when we draw a general impression on
the basis of a single characteristic. For example, while appraising the lecture, students
may give prominence to a single trait, such as enthusiasm and allow heir evaluation to be
tainted by how they judge the instructor on that trait which stood out prominently in their
estimation of that person. Research suggests that it is likely to be most extreme when the
traits to be perceived are ambiguous in behavioral terms, when the traits have moral
overtones, and when he perceiver is judging traits with which he or she has had limited
experience.
Selective Perception:
Any characteristic that makes a person, object, or event stand out will increase the
probability that it will be perceived. It is impossible for an individual to internalize and
assimilate everything that is seen. Only certain stimuli can be taken in selectively.
Selectivity works as a shortcut in judging other people by allowing us to “speed-read”
others, but not without the risk of drawing an inaccurate picture. The tendency to see
what we want to see can make us draw unwarranted conclusions from an ambiguous
situation.

2. Explain “Emotional Intelligence”

The importance of both emotion and intelligence in making decisions and achieving
success in life was well accepted in ancient India. A concept of ‘Sthitha Prajna’
[emotional stability] similar to the concept of emotional intelligence can be traced in the
second chapter of ‘Srimad Bhagavat Gita’, in a specific conversation between lord
Krishna and Arjuna in a situation of Kurukshetra battle field. Before the battle started
Arjuna was in deep sorrow and pity, found his close relatives, friends and respected gurus
in enemy side. The win the battle he was supposed to kill those beloved ones. He got
confused about his rightful duty. Due to this heat of non strength, he refused to join the
battle. In this context lord Krishna who played the chariot to Arjuna advised him to
become the steady minded person. He also told that an individual achieved his/her goal
only then the mind becomes steady, poised and balanced. This concept talks about a
unique interdependence between emotion and intelligence for effective decision making
which was most essential in excelling in every sphere of life.
Similar views on the role of emotional intelligence as a learning process for achieving a
balanced personality in different stages of life on an intergenerational basis has been
depicted in the Vedas. In Particular, Dr. Radha Krishnan, in his book mentioned that the
attitude of Vedas is one of trust tempered by criticism. This view aptly points out the
need for emotional intelligence in everyday life to become more emotionally balanced
and functional individuals in society. Emotional intelligence is an aggregate of
individual’s cognition of own and others’ emotions, feelings, interpretation and action as
per environmental demand to manipulate the consequences which in turn result in a
superior performance. So having high emotional intelligence doesn’t mean that the
person never panics or loses his/her control. It does mean that he/she brings own feelings
under control and channels them into productive behaviors. The most popular and
accepted mixed model of emotional intelligence is the one proposed by Goleman. He
viewed emotional intelligence as a total of personnel and social competencies. Personnel
competencies determine how we manage ourselves, where as social competence
determines how we handle our interpersonal relationships.

Personnel Competence: It comprises of three dimensions of emotional intelligence, such

as self awareness, self regulation and motivation. Self awareness is the ability of an
individual to observe him/herself and to recognize a feeling as it happens. Self regulation
is the ability to control emotions and to redirect those emotions that can have negative
impact.
Motivation is the ability to channelize emotion to achieve a goal through self control and
by moderation impulses as per the requirement.

Social Competence: It compromises of two dimensions namely, empathy and social

skills. Empathy is the ability to feel and get concerned for others, take their perspective
and to treat people according to their emotional reactions. Social skills are the ability to
build rapport and to manage relationships with people. People having the skill are very
effective at persuasiveness and team management. Social skills are the culmination of all
other components of emotional intelligence.

Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Model

3. “A group formation passes through various stages.” Explain various stages of
group formation.

The important stages through which the group formation passes are described below.
a. Forming:
In this stage the members are entering the group. The main concern is to facilitate the
entry of the group members. The individuals entering are concerned with issues such as
what the group can offer them, their needed contribution, similarity to their personal
needs, goals and group goals, the acceptable normative and behavioral standards
expected for group membership and recognition for doing the work as a group.

b. Storming:

This is a turbulent phase where individuals try to basically form coalitions and cliques to
achieve a desired status within the group. Members go also through the process of
identifying to their expected role requirements in relation to group requirements. In the
process, membership expectations tend to get clarified, and attention shifts toward
hurdles coming in the way of attaining group goals. Individuals begin to understand and
appreciate each others interpersonal styles and efforts are made to find ways to
accomplish group goals, while also satisfying individual needs.

c. Norming:
From the norming stage of group development, the group relay begins to come together
as a coordinated unit. At this point, close relationship develop and the group shows
cohesiveness. Group members will strive to maintain positive balance at this stage.

d. Performing:
The group now becomes capable of dealing with complex tasks and handling internal
disagreements in novel ways. The structure is stable, and members are motivated by
group goals and are generally satisfied. The structure is fully functional and accepted at
this stage. Group energy makes a transition from members focus on getting to know and
understand each other to performing. For permanent work groups, performing is the last
stage in their development.

e. Adjourning:
A well integrated group is able to disband, if required, when its work is accomplished,
through in itself it maybe a painful process for group members, emotionally. The
adjourning stage of group development is especially important for the temporary groups
that are rampant in today’s workplaces. Members of these groups must able to convene
quickly, do their jobs on a tight schedule, and then adjourn often to reconvene later,
whenever required. Groups do not always proceed clearly from one stage to the next.
Sometimes several stages go on simultaneously, as when groups are storming and
performing. Groups may at times regress to earlier stages. Another problem is that it
ignores organizational context. For instance, a study of a cockpit crew in an airliner found
that, within 10 minutes, three strangers assigned to fly together for the first time had
become a high performing group. The rigid organizational context provides the rules, task
definitions, information and resources required for the group to perform effectively.

“Power is the ability to make things happen in the way an individual wants, either
by self or by the subordinates. The essence of power is to control over the behavior
of others”. Explain the various bases of power.

Power can be categorized into two types: Formal and informal.

Formal Power:
It is based on the position of an individual in an organization. Formal power is derived
from either one’s ability to coerce or reward others or is derived from the formal
authority vested in the individual due to his /her strategic position in the organizational
hierarchy. For example a manager can threaten to hold the pay hike. Such coercive power
is the extent to which a manager can deny desired rewards or administer punishments to
control other people. The presence of unions and organizational policies on employee
treatment can weaken this power base significantly. Formal power may be categorized
into 4 types which are as follows:

a. Coercive Power:
The coercive power base is being dependent on fear. It is based on the application, or the
threat of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of pain, the generation of
frustration through restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of basic
physiological or safety needs. In an organization one can exercise power over another if
they have the power to dismiss, suspend, demote another assuming that the job is
valuable to the person on who power is being unleashed.

b. Reward Power:
The opposite of coercive power is reward power. It is the extent to which a manager can
use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other people. Examples of such rewards
include money, compliments, promotions etc. Utilizing rewards to achieve influence
varies according to the skills of the manager.

c. Legitimate Power:
It stems from the extent to which a manager can use subordinates internalized values of
beliefs that the boss has a right to command to control their behavior. Legitimate power
represents a special kind of power a manager has because subordinates believe it is
legitimate for a person occupying the managerial position to have the right to command.
The lack of this is legitimacy will result in authority not being accepted by subordinates.
Thus this type of power has the following elements:
· It represents the power a person receives as a result of his/her position in the formal
hierarchy.
· Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers.
· It encompasses the authority of a position by members of an organization.
d. Information Power:
This type of power is derived from access to and control over information. When people
have needed information, others become dependent on them. Normally, higher the level,
the more information would be accesses by managers.

Personal Power:
Personal power resides in the individual and is independent of that individual’s position.
The bases of personal power are expertise, rational, persuasion and reference.

a. Expert Power:
It is the ability to control another person’s behavior by virtue of possessing knowledge,
experience or judgment that the other person lacks, but needs. A subordinate obeys a
supervisor possessing expert power because the boss ordinarily knows more about what
to be done or how it is to be done than subordinate. However the table may turn upside
in case the subordinate knows more than the boss. This holds true in many cases where
the boss heavily depends on juniors for technologically oriented support.

b. Rational Power:
It is the ability to control another’s behavior, since through the individual efforts; the
person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a viable way of achieving it. This
involves explain the desirability of expected goal and showing how specific actions will
achieve these goals.

c. Reference Power:
It is the ability to control another’s behavior because the person wants to identify with the
power source. In this case, a subordinate obeys the boss because he or she wants to
behave, perceive, or believe as the boss does. The subordinate attempts to avoid doing
things that would interfere with the pleasing boss-subordinate system. This is based on
what the individual represents a path toward lucrative future.

d. Charismatic Power:
This is an extension of reference power stemming from any individuals personality and
inter personnel style. Others follow because they can articulate attractive visions, take
personal risks, demonstrate follower sensitivity etc.

Dependency is the key to power:

· The greater B’s dependency on A, the greater the power that A exerts over B.
· Dependency, inversely proportional to the alternate sources of supply.
Three factors that are responsible for dependency are:
· Importance
· Scarcity
· Non-suitability
1. Explain the Organizational Development Process.
A typical Organizational Development Process can be divided into the following phases:
Problem Identification: The first step in OD process involves understanding and
identification of the existing and potential problems in the organization. The awareness of
the problem includes knowledge of the possible organizational problems of growth,
human satisfaction, the usage of human resource and organizational effectiveness.

Data Collection: Having understood the exact problem in this phase, the relevant data is
collected through personnel interviews, observations, the usage of human resource and
questionnaires.

Diagnosis: OD efforts begin with diagnosis of the current situation. Usually, it is not
limited to a single problem. Rather a number of factors like attitudes, assumptions,
available resources and management practices are taken into account in this phase. There
are four steps in organizational diagnosis:
– Structural Analysis: Determines how the different parts of the organization are
functioning in terms of laid down goals.
– Process Analysis: Process implies the manner in which events take place in a sequence.
It refers to the patter f decision making, communication, group dynamics and conflict
management patterns within organizations to help in the process of attainment of
organizational goals.
– Function Analysis: This includes strategic variables, performance variables, results,
achievements and final outcomes.
– Domain Analysis: This refers to the area of the organization for organizational
diagnosis.
Planning and implementation: After diagnosing the problem, the next step of OD, with
the OD interventions, involves the planning and implementation part of the change
process.
Evaluation and Feedback: Any OD activity is incomplete without proper feedback.
Feedback is a process of relaying evaluations to the client group by means of specific
report or interaction.

Write a short note on “Stress Management”

High or low levels of stress sustained over long periods of time can lead to reduced
employee performance, thus this requires action by management.

i. Individual approaches:
· Effective individual strategies include implementing time management techniques,
increasing physical exercise, relaxation training, and expanding the social support
network.
· Practicing time management principles also leaves as an important element in managing
stress, such as:
○ Making daily lists of activities to be accomplished.
○ Prioritising activities by importance and urgency.
○ Scheduling activities according to the priorities set.
○ Handling the most demanding part of your job during the high part of your cycle when
you are most alert and productive.
· Non competitive physical exercise has long been recommended as a way to deal with
excessive stress.
· Practicing relaxation techniques like hypnosis, yoga, meditation etc.

i. Organizational approaches:
· Improved personnel selection and job placement leading to right person job fit there by
reducing chances of non performance and stress level.
· Use of realistic goal setting, redesigning of jobs to reduce stress.
· Training in stress management.
· Increased employee involvement reduces stress level.
· Improved organizational communication helps in creating transparency in organization
and reducing confusion and stress levels.
· Establishment of corporate wellness programs is an important concept in managing
stress. This rejuvenates and refreshes them from time to time leading to increased
productivity with renewed energy.

Suggested frame work for Stress Management:

As there is positive side of stress which provides drive and excitement and motivation for
individuals to push themselves o achieve more in their lives in the fulfillment of their set
goals. Managing stress should be given importance rather than eliminating it.

i. Find optimum stress level for an individual:

There is no single level of stress that is optimal for each individual. We all are motivated,
distressed by different levels of simulation in a given situation. How much resilience a
person can exhibit while handling stressful situations, would vary across individuals as
they are likely to differ in their psychological responses to it. Researchers have shown the
following regarding the capabilities of handling stress:
· The person who enjoys arbitrating disputes and moves from job site to job site would be
stressed in a job which was stable and routine.
· Our personnel stress requirements and the amount which we can handle before we
succumb to stress changes with age.
· Many illnesses are related to unrelieved stress. If one is experiencing stress symptoms,
he has gone beyond the optimal stress level, then it is necessary to reduce stress.

i. Managing stress better:

Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of its effect on an individual’s life is
insufficient for reducing its harmful effects. There are two choices in this regard- either
change the source of stress and/or change your reaction to it. This can be done by
following the below path:
· Become aware of stressors and the emotional and physical reactions:
Notice what causes distress, ignoring them is not a solution. Listing out all the events
that cause distress is important.
· Recognizing what can be changed:
Is it possible to change stressors by avoiding or eliminating them completely? Can their
intensity be reduced? Is it possible to shorten an individual’s exposure to stress?
· Reduce the intensity of emotional reactions to stress:
The stress reaction is triggered by our perception of danger, physical danger or emotional
danger. Work at adopting more moderate views; try to see the stress as something you
can cope with rather than something that overpowers us is a solution for reducing stress
internally.
· Learning to moderate our physical reactions to stress:
Slow, deep breathing will bring your heart and respiration back to normal. Relaxation
techniques can reduce muscle tension. Electronic biofeedback can help you gain
voluntarily control over such things as muscle tension. However these alone cannot do
the job. Learning to moderate these reactions on our own is a desirable solution in the
long run.
· Build our physical reserves:
Exercise for cardiovascular fitness three to four times a week. Eating well balanced and
nutritious meals are a must. Avoiding nicotine, excessive caffeine and other stimulants
will be helpful. Being consistent with the sleep schedules; helps in reducing stress to a
large extent.

· Maintaining emotional reserves:

Developing some mutually supportive friendships and stable relationships help in sharing
bottled up emotions and reduce stress. Expecting some frustrations, failures and sorrows
as part of life can make us gear up mentally in handling stressful situations rather than
succumb to them.