Transcript Chapter 5 What is Perception and Why is it Important?  Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in.

Chapter 5
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What is Perception and Why is
it Important?
 Perception
is a process by which
individuals organize and interpret their
sensory impressions in order to give
meaning to their environment.
 It’s important because people’s behavior is
based on their perception of what reality
is, not on reality itself.
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Factors
Perceiver – attitudes, motives,
interests, experiences, expectations
 The Target – novelty, motions, sounds,
size, background, proximity, similarity
 The Situation – time, work setting, social
situation
 The
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Attribution Theory
Fundamental Attribution Error
 The


tendency to…
Underestimate the influence of external
factors (outside of a person’s control)
Overestimate the influence of internal (what
you can control) factors
When making judgments about the behavior of
others.
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Attributions
Self-Serving Bias
 The
tendency for individuals to attribute
their own successes to internal factors
while putting the blame for failures on
external factors.
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Sample “Shortcuts”
Selective Perception

People selectively interpret what they see on the basis of
their interest, background, experience, and attitudes.
Halo Effect

Drawing a general impression about an individual on the
basis of a single characteristic.
Contrast Effects

Comparisons with other people recently encountered
who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.
Projection

Attributing one’s own characteristics to other people
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Specific Applications in
Organizations


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Employment Interview
 Perceptual biases affect the accuracy of interviewers’
judgments of applicants.
Performance Expectations
 Self-fulfilling prophecy (pygmalion effect): The lower
or higher performance of employees reflects
preconceived expectations about employee
capabilities.
Performance Evaluations
 Appraisals are subjective perceptions of performance.
Employee Effort
 Assessment of individual effort is a subjective
judgment subject to perceptual distortion and bias. 7
Assumptions of the Rational
Decision-Making Model
1. Problem clarity
2. Known options
3. Clear preferences
4. Constant
preferences
5. No time or cost
constraints
6. Maximum payoff
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So, how are decisions actually
made in organizations?

Bounded Rationality
Individuals make decisions by
constructing simplified models that
extract the essential features from
problems without capturing all their
complexity.

Intuitive Decision Making
Intuition = an unconscious
process created out of distilled
experience.
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“Problems? What Problems?”
 How
and why are some problems
identified?

Visibility over importance of problem
• Attention-catching, high profile problems
• Desire to “solve problems”

Self-interest (if problem concerns decision
maker!)
 Alternative

Development
“Good enough”: seeking the first alternative
that solves problem.
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Organizational Constraints on
Decision Makers

Performance Evaluation
 Evaluation criteria influence the choice of actions.
 Reward Systems
 Decision makers make action choices that are
favored by the organization.
 Formal Regulations
 Organizational rules and policies limit the alternative
choices of decision makers.
 System-imposed Time Constraints
 Organizations require decisions by specific deadlines.
 Historical Precedents
 Past decisions influence current decisions.
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Summary and Implications for
Managers

Perception
- Individuals behave based on what they see or believe
reality to be.
- Evidence suggests that what individuals perceive from
their work situation will influence their productivity more
than will the situation itself.
- Absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction are also
reactions to the individual’s perceptions.
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Summary (continued)

Individual Decision Making
- Individuals think and reason before they act.
- Under some decision situations, people follow the rational decisionmaking model. However, this doesn’t happen very often…
So, what can managers do to improve their decision making?
- Analyze the situation.
- Be aware of biases.
- Combine rational analysis with intuition.
- Don’t assume that your specific decision style is
appropriate for every job.
- Use creativity-stimulation techniques when possible.
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