Joe Salatino's use of attribution theory and perception in sales management

Organizational Behavior

Joe Salatino (Revision)

Joe Salatino, president of Great Northern American case study

Joe Salatino

Joe Salatino is known as the Northern American President due to his determination and effort in maintaining high standards, in regards to his profession as a sales person. Joe was capable of hiring many employees in his organization, and used motivation as the major tool in helping his employees. The employees specialized in supplying general stationery and other appliances, to realize their objectives of maximizing production.

Attribution and Perception

Customers, according to Joe, are normal human beings. Human being has always been anxious and observant with the manner in which others behave, and relate it to how they behave themselves. There has always been a persistent urge to know differentiated reasons behind certain behavioral characteristics. If the attribution theory is used, it guides to explain how to get to know the causes of behavior, and others behavior. Employees are supposed to understand the way customers perceive things differently, and try to influence the customer's attribution; this is the first step in making sales (Nelson & Campbell, 2007, pg 84).

Joe expects his employees to understand attribution, as it affects the sales process directly. There are two categories of attribution, the external and internal attributions. The external attributions are caused by sources that are beyond human control. Suppose you went to school with a clean shirt, and you explained that there was enough water to wash due to a lot of rain, it means you attribute your neatness to the rain, hence making an external attribution. Internal attribution is caused by the internal sources. One going to school with a clean shirt could attribute it to belief in cleanliness. Belief is internal hence that would be an internal attribution.

Employees need to understand the patterns of attribution because of two main reasons, though the reasons are countless. One of the reasons is the motivation part. When one's performance at work is beyond expectations and is congratulated by the boss, one will attribute to hard work, or just think of it as luck. The later attribution shows an individual who is not motivated and who believes in incapability. The hardworking attribute shows a motivated individual. The other reason is for promotion and positional advancement in career development. During interviews, managers will look for candidates who are do not defend themselves, but are ready to link their failures to internal attributes. Managers such as Joe usually feared those employees that excuse themselves using external attribution, as they imagine these individuals will shift blames to others in the workplace.

Perception, however, can be defined as the way individuals pick, organize and deduce a response of their surroundings. These processes are mandatory in determining which products satisfy different customers. It is, therefore, necessary to equip employees like sales agents with necessary skills to help them study customer perceptions. Joe's employees had this knowledge. Different people can perceive the same thing in different ways, because of the different sensory impressions. The elements of perception include reception, processing, influence, output and lastly reaction. Many factors contribute to individual perception, both internalized and externalized. The internal factors include the personalities of the individual and employees have to understand each other's personality, to enhance relations and ties. Another factor is cultural and social factors. Employees have different cultures and social background. The faster they learnt each other's culture, the better for them, as they will know the socializing extends. The other factor is experience and prior knowledge. Employees who believe they are well experienced can request for promotions, hence job satisfaction. The other factors include emotional development and temperament, and intelligence and the learning process of an individual affects their perception (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2007, pg 70).

Application of the theories

The natures of simplicity made most managers including Joe prefer the social learning theory. The manager, such as Joe, would easily assist in implementation of the theory, by ensuring the stages of theory attainment are realized. Joe influenced production in many ways including making employees come to work early, and being strict during working hours to minimize time wasting. The manager should also motivate the employees by providing extra pays and allowing the right channels of communication, where employees can freely air their views and complaints. If the employees have the right behavior and enthusiastic attitude, there will be obvious improvement in their performance. Employees who perform according to expectation will raise organization standards because of the result, productivity (profit maximization). Joe also ensured there was space for change integration. Technology is necessary in every field for efficiency of record keeping and other technical matters like calculations and presentation of information. Technology, though expensive to install, allows for cheaper communication through emails, and preservation of information. Cost effectiveness and the fact that information at times is quite crucial, does not allow for options, but adoption of technology (Zammuto et al. 2007).

Effect of self- efficacy

Self-efficacy is a person's belief of the ability to perform certain tasks successfully. The individual exercises self- confidence and understands capabilities to accomplish certain responsibilities effectively and successfully within the period provided. It entails magnitude, which is the level of difficulty one can manage. Joe helped his employees realize their strength that determines the ability of working or the inability to work. Lastly is generality, which shows the expected result from the individual. Joe, therefore, put into consideration the three factors in order to implement change, concerning motivation of the present staff. However, this can be used during interviews, when recruiting new staff into the organization. Those with the self-confidence should be given first priority, to ensure acquisition of the best workforce. A skilled workforce means better organization performance. Self-efficacy will influence an employee's goals, the effort they will put in and there their anxiety to wanting to experience and tackle new challenges. (Lunenburg, 2011, pg 1-2)

Summary

In summation, some aspects are noticed concerning organizational behavior. They include the effects of perception and attribution, the learning theories and the effect technology has to the organization, and some of the obligations of the managers. Managers are the pillar stone of the organization, and should be ready to make clear decisions that will help influence the perception of employees. Motivation is also mandatory for any workforce to perform above normal standards. An organization with the right management should be in a position to maximize production.