Organizational Behavior

Perception and decision making are both very important aspects of organizational management. "Perception is a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment," (Robbins, 2005, p. 134). According to Robbins (2005) decision making is when one has to decide something based on two or more options. Something anyone in management has to do on a daily basis. The process of decision making is largely based on the perception of the person making the decision. For example, one manager may make a totally different decision based on different rationale than another manager faced with the exact same criteria depending on their perception of the item at hand.

The perception of a one person can greatly affect the organization behavior. Robbins (2005) tells that perception is based on ones perception of reality, not on reality itself. If a manager sees a behavior that they believe is under personal control of the individual exhibiting that behavior, it is said to be an internally caused behavior according to Robbins (2005). If a manager perceives that someone has been forced into a behavior or it was caused by forces outside of the individual's control Robbins (2005) tells that this is known as an externally caused behavior. From the interactive exercise that goes along with this area of study, one can see that the perception of management may have a huge impact on the organizations behavior. If someone is late and it is perceived to be an internally caused behavior, management may be more likely to reprimand the person for being late. If management perceives the same behavior to be externally caused, then they may feel it a more appropriate route to coach the employee and let them know they need to try to rectify the situation as soon as possible.