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Organizational Behavior: Solutions for Management
Paul D. Sweeney, University of Central Florida
Dean B. McFarlin, University of Dayton
Organizing Perceptions and Avoiding Biases

Chapter Objectives


1

Our actions are based on our interpretation of events. So understanding perception plays a key role in effective behavior management. Perceptual skills are multifaceted building blocks that pay a major role in problem solving and decision making.

2

Both external (e.g., size/intensity, figure-ground effect) and internal (e.g., self-disclosure) factors drive the perception process. Awareness of these factors helps us understand how we form judgments about others, and in turn, how we can better manage those judgments.

3

Impression management tactics can be either self-enhancing (e.g., name-dropping) or other-enhancing (e.g., flattery). These tactics are used frequently and can be effective, especially under certain conditions. However, certain tactics (e.g., excuse-making) tend to be problematic. Effective managers learn how to both limit the negative effects of impression management and to use impression management tactics judiciously to advance their goals.

4

Impression management also occurs at the firm level. Few companies will pass up opportunities to polish their images. And image and reputation do seem to matter when it comes to financial performance.

5

Two barriers to accurate perception of others include audience extraction (i.e., the creation of self-fulfilling prophecies) and audience selectivity (i.e., paying attention to only certain bits of information). Effective managers can actually take advantage of self-fulfilling prophecies to improve subordinate performance. Likewise, effective managers understand the types of errors that come with selectivity (e.g., halo effects, stereotyping) and take appropriate steps to minimize their negative effects.

6

When observing others, we ultimately make either internal or external attributions for their behavior based on consistency, consensus, and distinctiveness information. Common errors in this process include the actor-observer effect and self-serving bias. Successful managers know how the attribution process works and how to combat common forms of bias.




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