UNIT 5

LEARNING AND BEHAVIOUR Personality, Values

and Attitudes
MODIFICATION
Objectives
After going through this unit, you will be able to:
• understand the nature of learning process
• explain various theories on learning
• discuss how reinforcement helps in motivating a person to learn
• importance of learning in organisations
• understand the concept of behaviour modification
• importance of behaviour modification in organisations

Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Concept and Definition
5.3 Theories of Learning
5.4 Reinforcement and Learning
5.5 Role and Methods of Reinforcement
5.6 Punishment
5.7 Extinction
5.8 Organisational Learning
5.9 Learning Organisation
5.10 Behaviour Modification
5.11 Behaviour Modification Process
5.12 Organisational Behaviour Modification (OBM)
5.13 Summary
5.14 Self-Assessment Questions
5.15 Further Readings/ References

5.1 INTRODUCTION
Every action and behaviour of an individual has some element of learning
involved. Behaviour is something which can be publicly viewed, but there is also
an unobservable, inner cognitive behaviour which will influence the individual.
Thus, the outcome can take the form of desirable or undesirable behaviour.
Of course, only desirable work behaviour can contribute towards achieving
organisational goals. That is why, it is necessary on the part of the individual
employee to learn periodically new knowledge and skills. Further, learning 85
Intrapersonal is a powerful incentive for many employees to stick to certain organisations.
Processes Learning has significant impact on individual behaviour as it influences abilities,
role perceptions, and motivation. Along with its role in individual behaviour,
learning is essential for knowledge management that enhances an organisation’s
capacity to acquire, share, and utilise its resources in ways that improve its
survival and success.
In this unit, we try to understand the cognitive aspect and meaning of learning
by analysing the various theories of learning. We have also discussed the role
of reinforcement, both positive and negative, and its impact on employee
behaviour. The unit concludes with focussing on the different reinforcement
methods and its administration.

5.2 CONCEPT AND DEFINITION

The concept of learning is very important for organisational behaviour. It
has assumed tremendous significance because everything that we do in an
organisation, some learning is definitely involved.
The concept of learning can be used in many contexts. It refers to the process
of acquiring the response adequately to a situation which may or may not have
previously encountered.
A widely accepted simple definition of ‘learning’ is any relatively permanent
change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience. As per this definition,
one cannot see the process of learning but if there is a noticeable change in
behaviour then it can be said that learning has taken place. This means we are
actually seeing the changed behaviour in individuals as a result of learning.
Thus, learning as a concept seems to be an abstract and a theoretical one and is
not observable directly.
It is also said that learning is a relatively permanent change in the frequency
of occurrence of a specific individual behaviour. In an organisational setting, it
is the work-set and organisational norms, which will act as objective bases for
determining whether an employee’s behaviour is desirable or undesirable and
whether he or she needs to learn and practise productive work behaviour. Thus,
it is the process by which skills, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour are formed
and developed as a result of education, training, socialisation and experience.
Learning also occurs as a result of conditioning and restriction. A person is
persuaded to adopt guidance or regulation or conformity and compliance based
on each situational requirement. Moreover, people learn at different rates, times
and stages during their life time. Of course, ultimately it is the individual’s
own needs and drives, and rewards that enhance one’s potential and expertise,
marketability along with increased esteem, and respect and status that will act
as the motivational drive(s) in inducing the person to learn.
There are six important components of learning:
1) Learning involves change, although the change may be for good or bad
from an organisation’s point of view.
2) Not all changes reflect learning. To constitute learning, change should be
86 relatively permanent.
3) Learning is reflected in behaviour. A change in an individual’s thought Learning and
process or attitudes, not accompanied by behaviour, is no learning. Behavioural
Modification
4) The change in behaviour should occur as a result of experience, practice, or
training.
5) The practice or experience must be reinforced in order for learning to
occur. If reinforcement does not accompany the practice or experience, the
behaviour will eventually disappear.
6) Learning occurs throughout one’s life.
When employees learn, they acquire both explicit and tacit knowledge. Explicit
knowledge is organised and can be communicated from one person to another.
Explicit knowledge can be written down and given to others. However, this is
only a small portion of total knowledge.
Majority of the people have tacit or implied knowledge. Tacit knowledge is
the idea that one knows more than what he or she can tell. Tacit knowledge is
embedded in our actions and ways of thinking, but is not clearly understood
and therefore cannot be communicated explicitly. This knowledge is acquired
through observation and direct experience. Most knowledge in organisations is
tacit and one of the challenges in knowledge management is to make implicit
knowledge explicit so that it may be stored and shared more easily.

5.3 THEORIES OF LEARNING

In a work setting, how can learning take place? Four theories have been used
to explain how learning can take place in a work setting. These are: classical
conditioning theory, operant conditioning theory, social cognitive theory, and
learning theory. Of the four, it is the operant conditioning theory and social
cognitive theory which are more helpful in understanding the behaviour of
others.
Classical Conditioning Theory
Classical conditioning is the process by which individuals learn to link the
information value from a neutral stimulus to a stimulus which in the natural
course will not cause a response-. Such learned behaviours (or reflexive
behaviour) may not be under an individual’s conscious control. In the classical
conditioning process, an unconditional stimulus (environmental event) will
result in a natural response. Then a neutral environment event (also referred to
as conditioned stimulus) is associated with the unconditioned stimulus, which
will bring out the behaviour. Subsequently, the conditioned stimulus by itself
will bring out the behaviour, which is called the conditioned response.
The name most frequently associated with classical conditioning is the Russian
physiologist, Ivan Pavlov, whose experiments with the dogs led to the early
formulations of the classical conditioning theory. In Pavlov’s famous experiment,
the sound of a metronome (the conditioned stimulus) was associated and paired
with the conditioned response - the salivation response. Eventually, as per
the experiment, the dogs learned to exhibit a salivation response (conditional
response) to the sound of metronome alone.
87
Intrapersonal The process of classical conditioning can help to understand a variety of
Processes behaviours in organisational life. The special lights displayed in front of the
emergency room in any hospital will indicate that a patient who immediately
needs medical attention and treatment has arrived; whereas the lights displayed
across the building during the opening of a new office will indicate the feeling
of joy at the opening of a new business establishment.
Classical conditioning is a passive one i.e., when something happens we read it
in a particular way. Classical conditioning is not used in work settings mainly
because the desired employee behaviours usually do not include responses
which can be changed with classical conditioning techniques i.e., it can explain
only simple reflexive behaviours and not the complex behaviours that occur in
organisations.
Operant Conditioning Theory
B.F. Skinner is closely associated with this learning theory. Skinner proposed
that behaviour is determined from outside, which means that it is a learned
involuntary behaviour. The term operant conditioning is used in context of
voluntary behaviours which are called operants, for they have some influence on
the environment. Skinner had opined that if certain pleasant consequences were
created to reinforce desirable forms of behaviour, there would be an increase
in the frequency of such behaviour. This means that people will be engaged in
desirable behaviours provided they are positively reinforced. Also that rewards
would be more effective, if the desired behaviour is immediately rewarded.
Further, undesirable behaviour if punished, is less likely to be repeated. In fact,
most of our behaviours like walking, talking, working can be termed as operant
behaviour.
Social Cognitive Theory
Skinner’s work was extended by Albert Bandura and others by demonstrating
that people learn new behaviour in a social situation, by watching others and then
imitating their behaviour. According to the social cognitive theory, the ‘social’
aspect indicates the involvement of individuals to learn as a part of the society
and the ‘cognitive’ part acknowledge that individuals use thought processes to
make decisions. This theory has relevance to organisational behaviour because
most of the work that goes on in organisations is based on the knowledge and
behaviour generated by others in that organisation.
The social cognitive theory has five dimensions. Understanding of these five
dimensions will help one to realise why employees behave differently while
facing the same situation.
• Symbolizing: People have the tendency to use symbols, which help them to
process visual experiences into models which will help them to guide their
behaviour and then react to their environment.
• Forethought: Forethought is used by persons to anticipate, plan and guide
their behaviours and actions.
• Vicarious Learning: Almost all forms of learning involve vicariously (or
sharing imaginatively in the feelings or action of other persons) by observing
88 the behaviour of other people and the consequences of that behaviour.
• Self-Control: Self-control learning is said to occur when a new behaviour Learning and
is learned even in the absence of any external pressure. Behavioural
Modification
Managers and colleagues of employees can use self-efficacy to help employees
learn to believe in themselves. This is possible by creating situations in which
the employee may respond successfully to the task required.
Human resource trainers have been using the social cognitive theory in the form
of programmes and offer the same to organisations so as to instil team spirit,
develop leadership skills, improve an employee’s (including managers) self-
efficacy and bring about managerial effectiveness.
Learning Theory
Learning theory approach emphasises the assessment of behaviour in objective,
measurable (countable) terms. This implies that the behaviour must be publicly
observable and does not give due importance to unobservable, inner, cognitive
behaviour.
In organisations, desirable work behaviours will contribute towards achieving
organisational goals. Conversely, undesirable work behaviours will hinder
achievement of these goals. For instance, the HR manager may find the
behaviour of a shop floor worker returning late from a coffee break as
undesirable; while the friends of the worker may find the same desirable because
he is satisfying his social needs. In the work set-up, certain organisational
norms are prescribed. The more an employee deviates from the organisational
norms, the more undesirable his behaviour is. These organisational norms
will vary from organisation to organisation. For instance, in companies like
Infosys all employees are encouraged to open up and communicate (two-
way communication) with their superiors because professional interactions is
considered to be healthy. As against this, among the defence forces, questioning
of superior’s instructions and orders will be treated as insubordination and may
even invite severe disciplinary actions against the subordinate.
To be effective, a manager has to try and identify observable employee behaviours
and the environment affecting these behaviours. Then he has to make efforts at
controlling and guiding employee behaviour. Thus, the manager’s goal will be
to provide learning experiences in an environment that will promote employee
behaviours desired by the organisation.

5.4 REINFORCEMENT AND LEARNING

Reinforcement as a term refers to the psychological process of motivating
a person. Though used synonymously, there is a slight difference between
motivation and reinforcement. Motivation is a fundamental psychological
process and a broader connotation than reinforcement. Motivation can be
referred to as an intrinsic process, whereas reinforcement is related to the
environment. Simply put, reinforcement will be any action that a person finds
rewarding. Few common reinforcement gestures could be a pat on the back, an
increase in pay, and a day off or a citation.
Reinforcement is something which enhances the strength of the response and
prompts repetitions of the behaviour that preceded reinforcement. From the
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Intrapersonal above perspective it may be noted that reinforcement is not merely a reward.
Processes This means that the reward aspect is something which is presumed to be desirable
from the perspective of the presenter (or manager). Although, if the employee
being rewarded does not find it sufficiently rewarding, then no reinforcement
will take place.
Contingency of Reinforcement
Contingency of reinforcement refers to the relationship between a person’s
behaviour and the preceding and following environmental events which will
influence that behaviour. A contingency of reinforcement comprises of an
antecedent, a behaviour, and a consequence.
It should be noted that the presenting or withdrawal of a particular antecedent
increases the probability of a particular behaviour likely to occur. For instance,
managers should ideally prepare ‘a list of to do’ items every day. This list as
an antecedent helps to organise their jobs/tasks for the day and also calls for
their attention on specific behaviours required. A consequence will be the
outcome or result of a behaviour, which can be either positive or negative in
terms of accomplishment of the goal. The manager’s response to an employee’s
behaviour is contingent on the consequences of the behaviour.
Reinforcement, punishment, and extinction play a key role in learning process.
Reinforcement is used to enhance desirable behaviour while punishment and
extinction are employed to minimise undesirable behaviour.
Reinforcement is always knowledge of feedback about the success of past
behaviour. Feedback is information that can be used to modify or maintain
previous behaviours. However, this information has to be perceived, interpreted,
given meaning and used in decisions about future behaviours. The feedback has
to be processed.
Reinforcement is the attempt to develop or strengthen desirable behaviour.
There are two types of reinforcement – positive and negative reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement: Positive reinforcement strengthens and enhances
behaviour by the presentation of positive reinforcers. There are primary
reinforcers and secondary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers satisfy basic
biological needs and include food, water, and sexual pleasure. However,
primary reinforcers do not always reinforce. For instance, food may not be
a reinforcer to someone who has just completed a five course meal. Most
behaviours in organisations are influenced by secondary reinforcers. These
include such benefits as money, status, grades, trophies, and praise from others.
These become positive reinforcers because of their association with the primary
reinforcers and hence often called conditional reinforcers.
Positive reinforcement is based on certain principles:
• The principle of contingent reinforcement states that the reinforcer must be
admitted only if the desired behaviour has occurred.
• The principle of immediate reinforcement states that the reinforcer will be
most effective if administered immediately after the desired behaviour has
occurred.
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• The principle of reinforcement size states that the larger the amount of Learning and
reinforcement delivered after the desired behaviour, the more effect the Behavioural
Modification
reinforcer will have on the frequency of the desired behaviour.
• The principle of reinforcement deprivation states that the more a person is
deprived of the reinforcer, the greater it will have on the future occurrence
of the desired behaviour.
Negative reinforcement: An unpleasant event that precedes a behaviour is
removed when the desired behaviour occurs.
Just as there are positive reinforcers, there are negative reinforcers as well.
Negative reinforcers are the stimuli that strengthen responses that permit an
organism to avoid or escape from their presence.
We see negative reinforcement in organisations and in personal life. Supervisors
apply negative reinforcement when they stop criticising employees whose
poor performance has improved. Also negative reinforcement occurs when
parents give in to their childrens’ tantrums – especially in public places, such as
restaurants and shopping malls.
Thus, both positive and negative reinforcement are procedures that strengthen or
increase behaviour. Positive reinforcement strengthens or increases behaviour
by the presentation of desirable consequences. On the other hand, negative
reinforcement strengthens and increases behaviour by the threat of and use of
undesirable consequences. Negative reinforcement is sometimes confused with
punishment, because both use unpleasant stimuli to influence behaviour.
Activity 1
In the context of your role as a student, identify examples of each schedules of
reinforcement that influence your behaviour. Which works best? Why?
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5.5 ROLE AND METHODS OF

REINFORCEMENT
From the discussions so far we have seen that reinforcement plays a major role
especially in human resources management areas such as training, appraisal,
adaption to change and performance. Moreover, reinforcement is also a
powerful tool to increase desirable behaviour and reduce undesirable patterns
of behaviour. It is to be remembered that more than reinforces, it is the pattern
(or manner) and the time in which reinforcement is administered which has
an impact on the resulting behaviour. So let us have a look at the methods of
administering reinforcement in organisations.
There are four methods of administering reinforcement in organisations: (a) the
fixed ratio method; (b) the variable ratio method; (c) the fixed interval schedule; 91
and (d) the variable interval schedule.
Intrapersonal a) Fixed Ratio Method
Processes
Under this technique reinforcement is given after a certain specified number
of responses are shown. A fixed ratio which reinforces after every response
is called 1 : 1 to begin with when learning progresses, we shift to a fixed
ratio of 2 : 1, 4 : 1, and so on and so forth.
This technique can bring about a high rate of response. This is because
when the employee realises that the reinforcement is contingent upon the
number of responses, then he is motivated to perform well so as to achieve
the specified award. An example is that other things remaining the same, the
worker’s performance should remain energetic and continue to be steady.
But in reality things may not be the same and this technique may not lead
to the same kind of behaviour.
b) Variable Ratio Method
As per this method, a certain number of desired behaviours must occur
before reinforcer is delivered. Managers make use of a variable ratio
schedule with praise and recognition. State or other lotteries use this method
of reinforcement to lure patrons.
c) Fixed Interval Schedule
Under this schedule, the reinforcement is administered after a specific
period of time, which is measured from the last reinforced response. For
example, in a fixed interval, one hour schedule, the first desired behaviour
that occurs after an hour has elapsed is reinforced.
But administering rewards as per this schedule produces an uneven pattern
of behaviour. Prior to the reinforcement, the behaviour is frequent and
energetic but immediately after the reinforcement, the behaviour becomes
less frequent and energetic. This behaviour could be because the person
knows that the next reward will take time to come. A common instance of
this reinforcement is the payment of wages to employees on hourly, weekly
or monthly basis.
d) Variable or Interval Schedule
Either ratio or interval schedules can be administered on a variable basis.
That is, the reinforcement is given in an irregular or haphazard manner.
This variable interval schedule is slightly different from the variable ratio
schedule. Under this schedule, the reward is reinforced after a randomly
distributed length of time rather than after a specified number of responses.
For instance, if it is said that the employee is being reinforced after a
50 minute variable interval schedule, it implies that on an average, the
individual is reinforced after 50 minutes though the actual reinforcement
may be given anywhere from every few seconds to every 2-3 hours.
Although we have mentioned the four most commonly used methods of
reinforcement, quite a few organisations use a few combinations of these
four reinforcements.

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5.6 PUNISHMENT Learning and
Behavioural
Punishment is the attempt to eliminate or weaken an undesirable behaviour. It Modification
is in two ways – one way to punish a person is to apply a negative consequence
called punishers – following an undesirable behaviour. The other way to
punish a person is to withhold a positive consequence following an undesirable
behaviour. Even though punishment may stop an undesirable behaviour of
an employee, the potential negative outcomes may be greater than the cost of
undesirable behaviour.
It is generally accepted that the reinforcing desired behaviour is more effective
than punishing undesirable behaviour. However, C.C. Walters and J.E. Brusek
(1977) suggested after a review of research that punishment can be effective if
it meets the following conditions:
• The punishment should be quick and short.
• It should be administered immediately after the undesirable behaviour.
• It should be limited to its intensity.
• It should specifically relate to behaviour and not to character traits.
• It should be restricted to the context in which the undesirable behaviour
occurs.
• It should not send ‘mixed messages’ about what is accepted behaviour.
• Penalties should take the form of withdrawal of rewards, not physical
pain.
Managers rely on punishment because it produces faster and immediate change
in the employee’s behaviour. However, it is imperative on the part of the
manager to view the long term detrimental effects of punishment and only try
to use a punishment suitable to the situational requirement.
Activity 2
What type of punishment should be used by the managers of your organisation
for disciplining employees? Give reasons.
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5.7 EXTINCTION
An alternate to punishing undesirable behaviour is extinction. Extinction is the
weakening of a behaviour by ignoring it or making sure it is not reinforced. The
rationale for using extinction is that a behaviour not followed by any reinforcer
is weakened. In other words, if rewards are withdrawn for behaviour that were
previously reinforced, the behaviours probably will become less frequent and
eventually die out. Extinction needs time and patience to be effective. 93
Intrapersonal Extinction, as a type of reinforcement is applied to reduce undesirable
Processes behaviour, especially when such behaviours were previously rewarded. From
organisational point of view, if an employee is consistently late to work and
thus consistently fails to get praise from his superior and is not recommended
for a pay raise, then we would expect this reinforcement to lead to “extinction”
of the habit of behaviour of coming late to work.

5.8 ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING

The importance of learning was first put forward by a Chinese philosopher,
Confucius (551-479 BC) in these words: “Without learning, the wise become
foolish; by learning, the foolish become wise”. Learning refers to relatively
permanent changes in behaviour occurring as a result of experience. The concept
of learning organisation is not new; many authors have talked about it from
others and their own past experiences. Probably, Garratt was the first to publish
a book on the subject in 1987. But the concept was popularised by Senge when
his famous book “The Fifth Discipline” was released in 1990. Senge’s book
triggered a great deal of interest in the subject of learning organisations. A large
number of publications appeared on the subject during the current decade.
Concept and Definition
In 1970s, Argyris proposed the concept of a different qualitative learning.
Contrasted with traditional learning, or the ‘single-loop’ learning (involving
incremental change within an existing framework), ‘double-loop’ learning
emphasised testing of the underlying assumptions and achieving transformational
change. Senge contrasted adaptive learning with generative learning.
David Garvin (1993), defines a learning organization as “an organization
skilled at creating, acquiring and transferring knowledge and at modifying its
behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insights.”
The above definition is of interest for a number of reasons. First, it focuses on
‘behaviour’. Second, it implies that organisations have skills, an essential one
being that of learning. Third, it focuses on ‘transferring knowledge’. Finally,
the use of concepts such as ‘skills’, ‘knowledge’, and ‘modifying behaviour’
indicate a language suggestive of HRD practice.
Peter M. Senge in his ground breaking book, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and
Practice of The Learning Organization, described a learning organization as “a
place where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they
truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where
collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to
learn together.”
Ross, Smith, Roberts and Kleiner advocate this definition: “Learning in an
organization means the continuous testing of experience and the transformation
of that experience into knowledge - accessible to the whole organization and
relevant to its core purpose.”
Organisational learning means the process of improving actions through better
knowledge acquisition, clearer understanding, and improved performance. It is
a method of detecting and correcting errors. The main issues in organisational
94 learning are (three Ms):
Meaning - Well-grounded definition of learning organisations; It must Learning and
be actionable and easy to apply. Behavioural
Modification
Management - Clearer guidelines for practice, filled with operational
advice rather than high aspirations.
Measurement - Better tools for assessing an organisation’s rate and level
of learning to ensure that gains in fact have been made.
Further, a learning organisation is one which facilitates the learning of all its
members, and which continuously transforms itself.

5.9 LEARNING ORGANISATION

A learning organisation:
• Is an active philosophy; not merely an organisational system.
• Believes that its only competitive advantage is learning.
• Encourages people to learn to produce the results they desire.
• Nurtures creative and innovative patterns of collective learning.
• Develops fresh organisational capabilities all the time.
New ideas are essential if learning is to take place. Whatever their source, these
ideas trigger organisational improvement. However, creating or acquiring new
knowledge is not enough; what is more important is the successful application
of knowledge in one’s own activities. Learning organisations are skilled at five
main activities:
1) Systematic Problem-Solving:
– Relying on the scientific method rather than guesswork for diagnosing
problems.
– Insisting on data rather than assumptions, as background for decision-
making.
– Depending on simple statistical tools to organise data and draw
inferences
2) Experimentation:
– Systematic searching for and testing of new knowledge. Continuous
improvement in new methods and technologies.
– Successful ongoing programmes to ensure a steady flow of new ideas,
even if imported from outside the organisation.
– Demonstration of organisational capabilities by introducing self-
managing teams and high level of worker autonomy.
3) Learning from Past Experience:
– Companies must review their success and failures, assess them
systematically and record lessons in a form that employees find open
and accessible. 95
Intrapersonal 4) Learning from Others:
Processes
– Sometimes, the most powerful insights come from one’s immediate
outside environment.
– Even companies in completely different businesses can be fertile
sources of ideas and catalysts for creative thinking.
– Best industry practices are to be uncovered, analysed, adopted and
implemented.
– The greatest benefits come from studying practices; the way work gets
done rather than results.
5) Transferring Knowledge:
– Knowledge must spread quickly and efficiently throughout the
organisation.
– Make use of mechanisms such as written and oral communications, site
visits and tours, personnel rotation programmes, education and training
programmes for transferring knowledge.
– Transfer may be from division to division, department to department,
or facility to facility; they may involve senior, middle, or first level
managers.
Characteristics of Learning Organisation
Some of the common operational practices of learning organisations dealing
with people are openness, systematic thinking, creativity, awareness of personal
and organisational values, empathy and sensitivity.
Senge, who popularised the term learning organisation states that such
organisations have the following five principles:
1) Personal Mastery: Creating an organisational environment, which
encourages all its members to develop themselves toward goals and
purposes they choose.
2) Mental Models: Reflecting upon, continually clarifying, and improving
internal pictures of the world, and seeing how they shape our actions and
decisions.
3) Shared Vision: Building a sense of commitment in a group, by developing
shared images of the future and guiding principles and practices.
4) Team Learning: Transforming conversational and collective thinking
skills, so that groups of people can reliably develop intelligence and ability
greater than the sum of individual members’ talents.
5) Systems Thinking: Thinking about, and a language for describing and
understanding forces and interrelationships that shapes the behaviour of
systems.
These principles translate into the following three key practices that enable an
96 organisation to promote and support continuous learning:
1) The ability to learn from each other Learning and
Behavioural
2) The ability to learn from personal experience Modification

3) The ability to learn from the system (that is, organisation successes and
failures)
A learning organisation is characterised by:
Openness: The learning organisation has to be open to enquiry and tolerant of
criticism and debate.
Innovation: The learning organisation has an organic structure and culture
which permits it to evolve rapidly. It has a deep skill base and capacity to deal
internally with complexity and uncertainty.
Strategic Orientation: The learning organisation cares both for its customer
and its employees.
Pedler (1991), suggest eleven features or characteristics that will be present in
a learning organisation. They are as follows:
1) The learning approach or strategy
2) Participative policy making
3) Informating
4) Formative accounting and control
5) Internal exchange
6) Reward flexibility
7) Enabling structures
8) Boundary workers as environmental scanners
9) Inter-company learning
10) Learning climate
11) Self-development opportunities for all
Organisations of the future will not survive without becoming communities
of learning. It is absolutely essential for organisations to learn from their
environments, to continually adjust to new and changing data, and just as
in the case with the individual, to learn how to learn from the uncertain and
unpredictable future.
Garvin argues that organisations learn through five main activities: (1) systematic
problem solving; (2) experimentation with new approaches; (3) learning from
their own experience and past history; (4) learning from the experiences and
best practices of others; and (5) transferring knowledge quickly and efficiently
throughout the organisation.
Organisational learning is the result of an ongoing process that includes the
following:
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Intrapersonal 1) Assimilating information.
Processes
2) Translating that information into knowledge.
3) Applying that knowledge to real needs.
4) Receiving feedback to revise the information and reshape the knowledge.
Three levels of training interact to make up organisational learning:
a) individual learning,
b) small group learning; and
c) whole organisational learning.
Individual learning occurs as each employee acquires the knowledge, develops
the skills, and adopts the attitudes and beliefs that will help the organisation
succeed.
Small group learning occurs as the members of a group discover together how
best to contribute to the performance of the group as a whole. They learn from
and about each other, they learn how to work effectively as a group, and how to
apply that knowledge in order to achieve the purposes of the group.
Organisational learning occurs through the shared insights, knowledge, and
mental models of the organisation. Organisational learning builds on past
knowledge and experience, i.e., on organisational memory, which depends on
institutional mechanisms (e.g. policies, strategies, and explicit models) used to
retain knowledge.
Application of Learning in Organisations
Three systematic approaches to incorporating learning in organisations involve
training, organisational behaviour management and discipline.
Training: Training is the process through which people systematically acquire
and improve the skills and knowledge needed to better job performance. Many
executive training programmes systematically attempt to develop the skills of
their top managers. This is accomplished either by bringing in outside experts
to train personnel in-house, or by sending them to specialised programmes
conducted by outside agencies.
The principles that help in the effectiveness of training are:
1) Participation: People not only learn more quickly, but also retain the skills
longer when they have actively participated in the learning process.
2) Repetition: The benefits of repetition for learning new skills or performing
a task need not be emphasised.
3) Transfer of Training: What is learned during training sessions must be
applied on the job.
4) Feedback: It is extremely difficult for learning to occur in the absence
of feedback - that is, knowledge of the results of one’s actions. Feedback
provides information about the effectiveness of one’s training.
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Organisational Behaviour Management: It implies systematic application of Learning and
positive reinforcement principles in organisational settings for the purpose of Behavioural
Modification
raising the incidence of desirable organisational behaviours. To be effective in
using organisational behaviour management programmes, managers should:
1) Pinpoint the desired behaviour.
2) Determine exactly how will people perform the behaviour they wish to
change.
3) Determine exactly what performance goal is being sought.
4) Decide exactly how the desired behaviour will be rewarded.
5) Facilitate learning by rewarding behaviours that come closer to the
criterion.
6) Revaluate the programme periodically.
Discipline: Just as organisations systematically use rewards to encourage
desirable behaviour, they also use punishment to discourage undesirable
behaviour. There are innumerable problems in an organisation such as
absenteeism, late coming, theft, alcoholism, substance abuse, which cost
companies vast sums of money. The companies manage such situations by
timely administration of punishment.
Learning Disabilities
Senge is his book has identified a number of learning disabilities. Some of them
are listed below:
a) The myth of teamwork (i.e., most teams operate below the level of lowest
IQ in the group).
b) The delusion of learning from experience (i.e., attempting to understand the
future by relying on the past, which means we solve the same problem over
and over again, hence we make the problem worse).
c) To offset the learning disabilities, he has enunciated Laws of the Fifth
Discipline:
1) Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions”.
2) The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
3) Behaviour grows better before it grows worse.
4) The easy way out usually leads back in.
5) The cure can be worse than the disease.
6) Faster is slower.
7) Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space.
8) Small changes can produce big results — but the areas of highest leverage
are often the least obvious.
9) You can have your cake and eat it too — but not at once. 99
Intrapersonal 10) Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.
Processes
11) There is no blame.
Developing the Learning Organisation
There are three primary tasks toward developing the learning organisation.
1) First, leaders and managers must create opportunities for learning.
2) Second, they must foster desirable norms and behaviours.
3) Third, they must personally lead the process of discussion, raise questions,
listen attentively and provide feedback.
Organisations learn only through individuals who learn. Individual learning
does not guarantee organisational learning; but without it no organisational
learning occurs. The approach that needs to be taken is that learning must be
continuous and integrated so that employees understand and accept the need for
change which finally results in improved work culture.
Learning organisations are not built overnight. It is a slow and steady process
of cultivated attitudes, commitments and management processes. Any company
that wishes to become a learning organisation can begin by taking a few simple
steps. The first step is to foster an environment that is conducive to learning.
The second step is to open up boundaries and stimulate the exchange of ideas.
The third step is to eliminate barriers that impede learning and assign learning
a higher position in the organisational agenda.
Based on a large number of case studies, Ramanarayan and Bhatnagar (1993),
laid out the following factors that facilitate organisational learning:
1) Commitment to well-defined organisational priorities.
2) Effective HRD systems.
3) Mechanisms of collective thinking.
4) Flexible and participative leadership styles.
5) Collaboration and teamwork.
They also found the following factors that hinder organisational learning:
1) Culture of complacency arising from past successes.
2) Excessive bureaucratic and centralised methods of working leading to
delays.
3) Narrow definition of roles of organisational members in hierarchical
organisation leading to loss of creativity among employees.
4) Due to preoccupation with day-to-day firefighting functions, less attention
is usually given to important issues of change and innovation.

5.10 BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION

Ashok was recently transferred to ABC firm’s office in Mumbai. Though the
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Manager did not know much about Ashok she realised that, Ashok was a little Learning and
aggressive in his approach and whenever he was expected to work in a team, Behavioural
Modification
he would end up arguing. This was having grave impact on the other team
members and the employees in the firm.
Udit worked as a clerk in accounts department of an organization. Any time
a job was assigned to him, though he would try to do his best, he could never
complete in time and would make lots of errors. This would not only affect his
performance but would also impact the overall work of that department.
In the above case studies it can be seen that something is wrong with the
behaviours of Ashok and Udit that may call for behaviour modification.
Before we try to understand what is behaviour modification, we first need
to understand the term behaviour. Behaviour can be described as any overt
manifestation of the individual. It can be related to what is said or done by the
individual behaviour can be further described in terms of behaviour deficit or
behaviour excesses. Behaviour deficit indicates absence or lack of something,
where as behaviour excesses indicates certain behaviour that is not under control
and is excessive. For example, in a work set up, if an employee is not been
able to adequately interact with others which has resulted in lowering of team
productivity and performance then it can be said that there is behaviour deficit.
On the other hand is an employee has been very aggressive, which has resulted
in damage to the organisational property then this can be termed as behaviour
excessive. Such behaviours can cause problem and need modification.
Behaviour Modification is mainly based on learning theories and there are five
main principles underlying this technique (Rao, 2003):
1) As human behaviour is mainly learned (except in case of maturation
process), it is possible to modify it.
2) Behaviour can be changed based on the changes in the environment.
3) The principles of social learning can be effectively used to change or
modify behaviour, for example, modelling can be used effectively to change
behaviour (as is done in various advertisements).
4) The behaviour change can be an indicator of effectiveness of counselling or
the behavioural modification process.
5) The counselling or the behaviour modification technique used needs to be
based on the needs of the individual whose behaviour is to be modified.
Behaviour modification involves encouragement of desirable behaviour and
removal or minimisation of behaviour that is undesirable. This can also be done
with the help of reinforcement, which can be positive or negative. Behaviour
modification thus involves techniques that are scientifically tested and can be
used to reduce certain behaviours that are maladaptive in nature and increase
behaviours that are healthy or adaptive.
The first reference to behaviour modification can be traced to an article written by
Thorndike in 1911 titled “Provisional Laws of Acquired Behaviour or Learning
in which he referred to ‘modifying behaviour’. Various learning theories
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Intrapersonal like Classical conditioning by Pavlov, Operant Conditioning by Skinner and
Processes social learning theory by Bandura further contributed to the development of
this field. Various experiments were carried out by Skinner that indicated that
behaviour could be modified with the help of reinforcements (both positive and
negative).
Concepts in Behaviour Modification
Let us understand the significant concepts in this regard
• Law of effect: One of the main principles of behaviour modification is
that the behaviour mainly depends of its outcome. Thus if the outcome is
controlled or manipulated the behaviour can also be managed. For example,
if the out come of tantrums by a child is gaining of the toy he/she wanted
then the likelihood of this behaviour (of throwing tantrums) being repeated
is high. But if the outcome is manipulated then this behaviour can be
changed. Thus the law of effect has significantly contributed to behaviour
modification. Law of effect states that “a person tends to repeat behaviour
that is accompanied by favourable consequences and tends to not repeat
behaviour that is accompanied by unfavourable consequences (Newstrom
and Davis, 1997, pg 132). Thus this also requires the counsellor or the
immediate superior or manager of the employee to identify the possible
consequences that need to be modified or manipulated. In this regard either
positive or negative reinforcement can be suitably used.
• Positive reinforcement and shaping: Using positive reinforcement
increases the likelihood that the behaviour that is reinforced will be repeated.
“A positive reinforcement is a stimulus or event which, when it follows
a response, increases the likelihood that the response will be made again
(Morgan et al, 1996, pg 149). For example, if an employees is punctual
then this behaviour can be reinforced by his/ her manager/ supervisor by
recognising it and even verbally complementing the employee. Yet another
concept in this context is that of shaping. This mainly involves application
of positive reinforcement in a more systematic and gradual manner. This can
help shape the behaviour of the employee. For example, when a new recruit
joins, the manager can systematically and gradually shape his/her behaviour
towards becoming more productive by giving positive reinforcement as
and when the right behaviour is displayed by him/her. Rewards can also be
effectively used to promote right behaviours.
• Negative reinforcement and punishment : Using negative reinforcement
increases the likelihood that the behaviour that is reinforced will not be
repeated. “A negative reinforcer is a stimulus or event which, when its
cessation or termination is contingent on a response, increases the likelihood
that the response will occur again” (Morgan et al, 1996, pg 149) This mainly
involves removal of an outcome that is not favourable. For example in order
to avoid the smell of chemicals the employee is encouraged to use a mask.
In this case the use of a safety device that is mask is reinforced due to the
negative reinforcement that is created by the smell of the chemicals.
Punishment is not same as negative reinforcement and in punishment, the
behaviour is followed by outcome that is not favourable. “ A punisher is a
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 stimulus or event which, when its onset is contingent on a response, decreases Learning and
the likelihood that the response will occur again” (Morgan et al, 1996, pg Behavioural
Modification
150). For example, if an employee has not been following the safety norms
then he/ she has to pay a fine. Punishment have its own advantages and
disadvantages. Whee on one hand it conveys strong message, on the other,
the punisher may not be liked by others or the employee or subordinates.
• Extinction: It is also to be noted that if a particular reinforced behaviour
is not reinforced, extinction of that behaviour could take place due to lack
of reinforcement. For example, an employee who was earlier awarded for
his/ her innovative ideas, was not reinforced recently when he/ she came
up with a creative solution to an impending problem, then this behaviour is
likely to become extinct. Thus the managers also need to be cautious in this
regard so as to avoid certain favourable behaviours of the employees from
going extinct.

5.11 BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION PROCESS

The behaviour modification process is discussed as follows:
1) Setting of the goal: The main goal of behaviour modifications is bringing
about a change in behaviour, as discussed before, this change can be in terms
of a behaviour that is newly developed like learning a new skill or further
strengthening of a behaviour, for example, a person may have leadership
skills but they can be further enhanced. It can also include maintenance
of a particular behaviour like safety related behaviour and practices or
hygienic behaviour and last but not the least, decreasing or eliminating the
unwanted behaviour, aggressive behaviour, for example, can be completely
eliminated.
2) Behavioural Assessment: As discussed above, before the behaviour
modification process is started, the goal has to be whether behaviour is to be
strengthened or reduce or a new behaviour is to be developed or a particular
behaviour is to be maintained is to be decided. This can be decided based on
the behavioural assessment. A behavioural assessment will help understand
the problem in a better manner. This assessment includes the following:
– Frequency: How frequent is the behaviour. For example, if a person
has been aggressive just once, we can say that it was due to the situation
and the person may not be as such aggressive by nature. But if the
person has been aggressive a number of times then this is a matter of
concern.
– Duration: For how long the behaviour has been persistent is also
important to be noted. For example, the duration that the employee
has been aloof or upset or displaying lack of interest in job related
activities.
– Intensity: This has to do with the severity of the behaviour. For example,
how extreme was the aggressiveness displayed by the employee.
The behaviour is further analysed with the help of functional analysis, that can
be done using ABC,
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Intrapersonal A, that stands for Antecedent, that is, what happened before the behaviour B,
Processes stands for Behaviour, the behaviour of the employee C, stands for consequences.
What happened after the behaviour.
3) The intervention or techniques that could be used are specified: To
suggest or specify a particular intervention or technique it is necessary
that
– the antecedent factors are mentioned and described,
– the consequences are also noted down,
– the goals of behaviour modification are specified and,
– target response that requires to be changed is noted
Once this is done then suitable technique for behaviour modification can be
used.
4) Evaluation and followup: Evaluation and follow up are carried out to see
if any change in the behaviour has taken place or not. If there are no changes
in the behaviour after use of a particular intervention or technique, the same
can be changed or modified.
Activity 3
Explain behavioural assessment.
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5.12 ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

MODIFICATION (OBM)
OBM can be defied as “a programme in which manager identifies a work related
behaviour and encourages the same by suitable intervention strategy having
positive motivation till the undesirable behaviour is weakened and desirable
behaviour is strengthened” (Singh, 2003 pg 330).
Organisational Behaviour Modification (OBM) can be described as a form of
operant conditioning that mainly used by Lutherans and Kreitner in order to
shape the behaviours of the employees (Quick, Nelson and Khandelwal, 2013).
Stajkovic and Lutherans (1997) carried out a meta analysis of the effect of
OBM on task performance. The review indicated that OBM had a positive and
significant effect on the task performance of employees in both service and
manufacturing organisations.
OBM can be effectively applied in an organisational set up in order to:
• Improve employee productivity
• Promote discipline amongst the employees
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• Ensure and enhance the safety related behaviour of the employees. Learning and
Behavioural
• Development of training programs Modification

• Employee self management

OBM also helps the immediate supervisors or managers to carry out an analysis
of the employees’ behaviour, the reasons for its occurrence and consequences so
that it can be changed. Thus the manager/ supervisor can become more observant
and learn to carefully monitor employee behaviour. In this context some of the
general principles to be followed by the manager/ supervisor (Newstrom and
Davis, 1997) are highlighted as follows:
1) The behaviour that needs modification has to be identified: The manager/
supervisor has to first identify the behaviour that requires modification. For
example, if the employee has been frequently smoking in the workshop
area, thus violating the norm of not smoking, this is the behaviour that
needs modification.
2) Using positive reinforcement whenever possible and sparingly using
punishment: Positive reinforcements should be used more often and
punishments should be avoided and to be used only when absolutely
necessary.
3) Certain minor behaviours that are undesirable could be ignored: Certain
behaviours that do not have major repercussions or negative consequences
could be ignored. This again will depend on the judgement of the manager/
supervisor.
4) Shaping can be adequately used: Systematic and gradual positive
reinforcement can be used effectively to reinforce desirable behaviour.
5) The time between the correct response or behaviour and the
reinforcement should be minimal: This is especially important as the
employee will then associate the reinforcement with the behaviour and only
then the likelihood of desirable behaviour being repeated and undesirable
behaviour being avoided will increase. For example, if an employee achieved
a target given to him in given time, then he/ she should be immediately
rewarded.
6) Reinforcement should be frequently provided: This is also to be done to
avoid extinction of behaviours besides to encourage desirable behaviours
and discourage undesirable behaviours.
Role of Manager in application of OBM
The role of the manager and is extremely important in this context and besides
above there certain other guidelines are to be followed by them (Furnham,
2005), these are discussed as follows:
1) All the employees should not be reinforced or rewarded in the same
manner. In this regard there is no doubt that the manager has to be fair
and just. However, the reinforcement or the reward should be linked to the
individual performance or based on some criteria also needs to be informed
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Intrapersonal to the employees before hand. Further, the reinforcement provided should
Processes also match the behaviour or the performance output.
2) The employees need to know what is expected of them, only then they will
be motivated to work in that direction. They should have a fair idea about
whether quality, quantity or both is expected and how exactly they perform
will be measured. There should be great transparency in this and further no
discrimination should exist to ensure successful behavioural modification.
3) Besides informing the employees about what they are doing in a right
manner, they also need to be informed of what they are doing wrong.
For example, if an employee is not using safety devices, he/ she needs to
be informed that it is wrong. Such feedback will help in bringing about
behavioural change.
4) As it is said, praise in public but criticise in a closed room. In same lines
any unwarranted behaviour preferably should be criticised or punished in
absence of others as otherwise there could be detrimental effects as the
employee may feel insulted and the necessary change will not be in the
direction that it was expected.
The managers/ supervisors need to be adequately trained to use the principles
and techniques of OBM in order for it to be effective. Besides the managers/
supervisor as well as the employees and the management should have positive
attitude towards OBM and its application.
Criticisms of Organisational Behaviour Modification
Though to a greater extent organisational behaviour modification can be
effectively used to modify behaviour, it has also been criticised. Most often
the principles of behaviour modifications can be applied to very controlled
situation, however, when it comes to situations involving subtle interactions
and performances that are necessarily interdependent, it may not be possible
to apply behaviour modification. This can be effectively used with workers
or employees at lower levels, but not mush evidence is available with regard
to how it can be used successfully with higher level employees (Mckenna,
2012). OBM has also been criticised due to ethical issues, as it mainly involves
manipulation of behaviour or even punishment and in this context what is right
or wrong depends on the manager or superior. This can also be misused by
the managers and they may abuse this power to control the behaviours of their
subordinates. It is thus necessary that the manipulation of the behaviour is done
in a constructive and positive manner
Activity 4
A) Define Organisational Behaviour Modification.
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B) Discuss the role of managers in application of OBM. Learning and
Behavioural
........................................................................................................................... Modification

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5.13 SUMMARY
In this unit, we tried to understand concept of learning an it’s relevance in
organisations. Then it explained the concept of learning organisations and how
they can be evolved. The the process of behaviour modification and its relevance
in organsiations is explained.

5.14 SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

1) What is learning? What are its distinguishing features?
2) What are the four basic reinforcement strategies employed in encouraging
desirable behaviour and discouraging undesirable behaviour?
3) How do you distinguish between classical and operant conditioning? What
relevance these concepts have in an organisational setting?
4) Explain the various approaches to learning. How does each approach differ
from the other?
5) What are the schedules of reinforcement? In your opinion, which one of the
schedules is more suitable for continuous desirable behaviour?
6) Define learning curves. Differentiate between positive and negative
reinforcement.
7) What is learning organisation? What are its distinguishing characteristics?

5.15 FURTHER READINGS/ REFERENCES

Gray, J.L., and Stark, F.A., Organisational Behavior, Charles E. Merrill
Publishing Company, Ohio, 2009.
Greenberg, J., Behavior in Organizations, PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi,
2013.
Senge, P.M., The Fifth Discipline – The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organisation, Random House Business Books, London, 2006.
Kenfer, R., Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Consulting
Psychology Press, Palo Alto, California, 1990, PP. 75-169.
Pettinger, Richard, Mastering Organizational Behavior, Palgrave Master Series,
New York, 2000, P. 42.

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