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Management Practices and Organisational Behaviour




                    Notes              Defence Mechanism: When individuals are involved in conflict with other human beings,
                                       frustration often results. Defence mechanisms are  common reactions to the frustration
                                       that accompanies conflict.
                                       (a)  Aggressive mechanisms are aimed at attacking the source of the conflict. Some of
                                            these are fixation, displacement and negativism.
                                       (b)  Compromise mechanisms are used by individuals to make the best  of a  conflict
                                            situation.  Compromise  mechanisms include  compensation,  identification  and
                                            rationalization.
                                       (c)  Withdrawal mechanisms are exhibited when frustrated individuals try to flee from
                                            a conflict using either physical or psychological means. Flight, conversion and fantasy
                                            are examples of withdrawal mechanism.
                                       The Table 14.2 below illustrates several defence mechanisms seen in organisations.
                                                        Table 14.2:  Common Defence  Mechanisms

                                        Defence                           Psychological Process
                                        Mechanism
                                                                          Aggressive Mechanism
                                        1. Fixation   Person maintains a persistent, nonadjustive reaction even though all the
                                                      cues indicate the behaviour will not help in coping with the problem.
                                        2. Displacement  Individual  redirects  pent-up  emotions  toward  persons,  ideas,  or  objects
                                                      other than the primary source of the emotion.
                                        3. Negativism  Person uses active or passive resistance, operating unconsciously.
                                                                          Compromise Mechanisms
                                        1. Compensation Individual devotes himself or herself to a pursuit with increased vigour to
                                                      make up for some feeling of real or imagined inadequacy.
                                        2. Identification  Individual  enhances  own  self-esteem  by  patterning  behaviour  after
                                                      another's, frequently also internalizing the values and beliefs of the other
                                                      person;  also  vicariously  shares  the  glories  or  suffering  in  the
                                                      disappointments of other individuals or groups.
                                        3. Rationalization Person justifies inconsistent or undesirable behaviour, beliefs, statements,
                                                      and motivations by providing acceptable explanations for them.
                                                                          Withdrawal Mechanisms
                                        1. Flight or   Person  leaves  the  field  in  which  frustration,  anxiety,  or  conflict  is
                                                      experienced, either physically or psychologically.
                                          withdrawal
                                        2. Conversion  Emotional conflicts are expressed in muscular, sensory, or bodily symptoms
                                                      of disability, malfunctioning, or pain.
                                        3. Fantasy    Person daydreams or uses other forms of imaginative activity to obtain an
                                                      escape from reality and obtain imagined satisfactions.

                                   Source:  Timothy  W  Costello  and  Sheldon  S.  Zalkind,  “Psychology  in  Administration:  A  Research
                                   Orientation”,  Journal of Conflict Resolution,  III (1959)  Page  148–149.

                                       Coping with Difficult People: Many interpersonal conflicts arise when one person finds
                                       another person’s behaviour uncomfortable, irritating or bothersome in one way or another.
                                       Robert  Baramsom  has identified  seven  basic  types of  difficult  people  that  may  be
                                       encountered at work.
                                       The Table 14.3 presents the seven types of difficult people, along with suggestions for
                                       coping with them.







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