Suggestive Celine Health

Social Shopping-Leveraging the Power of Groups. BY SANJAI VELAYUDHAN

HUMAN GROUPS- A SOCIOLOGICAL INTRODUCTION:

 

Humans by nature are social and pro-active communicators. Their evolution from nomads to a settled life has been supported by the development of languages that facilitated effective communication between each other. This skill played a crucial role in the formation of societies and civilizations created by co-existing groups-both cooperating and competing ones. Social interactions between humans have established an extremely wide variety of traditions, rituals, ethics, values, social norms, and laws, which together form the basis of human society which is but an aggregation of a variety of groups. Humans with their advanced cognitive capabilities have revolutionized their own socio-technological progress that would not have been possible without intra-group compatibility. For Homo sapiens, Communication is not just a way of life, but a compulsion.

 

Human nature is marked by inherent contradictions-despite being driven by individualism, living in groups all their lives are one of them. Overcoming strong obstacles of individualism had its strong motivation- survival. Their relatively smaller size as well as the lack of natural defenses like horns, sharp teeth, claws etc. put humans at a disadvantage compared to other animals. It is by coming together and living in groups, that they overcame these deficiencies and survived. As an outcome of living together for centuries, humans have learnt the art of collective decision making as well as influencing each other.

 

HUMAN GROUPING & HERD MENTALITY:

 

As discussed above, people tend to form groups or join them as a natural process. This grouping could be voluntary or involuntary. Groups may also be structured or unstructured. The type of group a person is a member of also defines the person.

 Living together in societies for a long time has made humans dependent upon the opinions of its own kind and this has sociological/psychological underpinnings. Its outcome has been studied under the academic discipline appropriated called “group behaviour”. It may be understood as” the behaviour exhibited by people while interacting within groups-large or small”. The dynamic processes of communication in a group tend to be different than between non-connected individuals.  Formation of rules and regulations that operate in a group ensures that a large number of people within a group act in tandem to achieve a goal that differs from what individuals would do acting alone. 

 

One of the crucial outcomes of people living in groups and societies for most of their organised lives seems to have been the formation of “herd mentality”. It may be described as the way in which people influence and are influenced by their peers to adopt acceptable behaviors & follow popular trends. It implies a fear-based reaction to peer pressure which makes individuals act in order to avoid feeling “left behind” from the group. This necessity to be a “part of the flow” is a very strong factor that continues to influence the behavioural patterns of people.

The results of an experiment conducted by researchers at Leeds University, led by Prof. Jens Krause, brought out the power of herd mentality . They performed a series of experiments where volunteers were told to randomly walk around a large hall without talking to each other. A select few were then given more detailed instructions on where to walk. The scientists discovered that people end up blindly following one or two people who appear to know where they’re going. The published results showed that it only takes 5% of what the scientists called “informed individuals” to influence the direction of a crowd of around 200 people. The remaining 95% follow without even realizing it. “There are strong parallels with animal grouping behavior,” says Prof Krause, who reported his study with John Dyer in the Animal Behavior Journal. “We’ve all been in situations where we get swept along by the crowd but what’s interesting about this research is that our participants ended up making a consensus decision despite the fact that they weren’t allowed to talk or gesture to one another… In most cases the participants didn’t realize they were being led by others.” This is excellent example of how the human brain is setup for social life. Even without a top-down organizer or any obvious rules, society just falls into place. (10)

Mark Earls (11) proposes that each individual does what they do largely because of what other people do or don’t do (even if our brain tells us other wise). In fact Mark Earls turns the idea of thinking then doing on its head and argues that people actually act and then think about it later. He would also argue that there’s not much point in spending too much time, energy or money asking people why they do what they do because, quite simply, they don’t actually know. We like to think that we make individual decisions and that we choose our own behaviour. However, the truth is that most of the time we are heavily influenced by the behaviour of those around us. It is a herd mentality.

As behavioural scientists have proposed, any behaviour that is constantly rewarded will be re-inforced and those that are not will be extinguished. The large no. of people who pay heavy membership fees to be part of exclusives clubs or gated communities are actually wanting to a part of “their type of people”. To be out of such communities means a loss of reputation and support system. 

Since social behaviour seems to have been re-inforced in humans over a period of time, there has to be obvious benefits of doing so. Some of the benefits may be highlighted thus:

* Security

* Recognition & Status

* Self –esteem

* Power

* Comfort of group decisions & group responsibility

INTERNET AND SOCIAL NETWORKING:

 

It is a fact that the internet has brought about a radical transformation in the way we interact & communicate with each other. By opening up the possibilities of instant communication, it has affected our social, cultural as well as commercial behaviour.  The rapid sharing of information through online congregations has helped the Internet to become a very powerful tool and pivot of information, recreation, and socialization. It has become a vast repository where people can find information, inspiration, like-minded people, communities and collaborators faster than ever before. New ideas, services, business models and technologies emerge and evolve at dizzying speed in this social media.

 

The explosive diffusion of the Internet since the mid-1990s resulted in it evolving as a robust platform and brought along technological advances. Advanced digital technology enabled people to create their own content, including images, words, video or audio on the internet. This has been supported by the falling prices of computers, digital cameras, and high-speed internet access. Easy access and widespread availability of free or low-cost, idiot-proof editing software allows people to have a live blog website up and running within minutes of deciding to do so. In fact, among the defining characteristics of social media are the blurring of definitions, rapid innovation, reinvention and mash-ups. Many websites and software developers encourage people to play with their services and reinvent them. Most of the content in these sites are generated by its members themselves. It may be safely assumed that they build, own, operate and manage these spaces resulting in a participatory boom!

 

Social Networking has made the world a sm
aller place thus making communications easier. With people connected across continents and this has resulted in instant exchange and cross-fertilization of ideas. Emerging from the net, virtual communities as social aggregations have undergone its share of evolution and started to become alternative to physical interactions. Today’s powerful technologies enable one to do business across continents without any physical movements or have friends across the ocean without having ever crossed it,  create powerful business proposals from two different continents and so on and so forth. Geographical distances are no longer a hindrance and fast becoming a myth.  

 

As an extension of social activities on the physical plane, online communities have widened its scope and enabled people to reach out to those who otherwise might not have been reachable. Online social networks have evolved from their original purpose of being just virtual meeting places where people can interact with one another to becoming an

 

important platform for innovation. With the advent of an increasingly stable mobile platform, the development of location based services and the adoption of mobile devices such as smart phones by a wide variety of users, social networks have evolved from “pure-play” web-based applications to hybrid (Web-based and mobile-based) applications and those which are based entirely on the mobile platform.

SOCIAL SHOPPING-THE NEW MANTRA

While the world got flatter and the political borders turned less obtrusive, the emerging lifestyles at least in the metropolitan cities seem to have managed to contract the active social life of many people. Work pressures and tighter deadlines combined with virulent ambition to succeed seem to have left little time on energy with people to meet and mingle with friends and acquaintances after work.  Being social animals by nature this possibly left a void in their lives. For all people constrained of time or wanting instant results, social networking came as a boon. One of the very reasons for its success itself comes from the fact that it was a solution for an existing inherent need.

The explosive growth of internet and its increased usage has naturally enabled people to aggregate on it for socialization and networking. The internet is still growing fast and its constant evolution has been forcing development of cutting edge technologies. Modern web applications had enabled the addition of easy-to-use yet, cutting edge functionalities. Driven by these new functionalities, the web has become more people-friendly and interconnected people like never before. The web is not a one-way street anymore but rather corresponds to the main idea of a participative internet. The fast growth of social networks and the successful concept of attracting previously orthodox activities by people are the central phenomenon of the transformed “social web”.

Due to steadily increasing and active participation by its members, social web services have gained enormous popularity in the last couple of years. The launch of social networking sites like orkut, face book, twitter, MySpace, and media sites like Flickr, YouTube came as a relief to most people as it opened up new avenues of interaction with other humans and demonstrate the varied functionalities of social sites.  It has made friends and acquaintances accessible from anywhere creating a wider social arc than ever before. Millions of people are logged-in at any given

 

point in time seeking their collective social ambrosia. It wasn’t long before organisations identified these voluntary aggregations as potential business opportunities. It wasn’t the organisations that started social shopping but it was an outcome of the current need of the masses. Many people were discussing about products on social sites significantly affecting products or services. Peer-reviews were being generated in large numbers and people lapping them up. Left without interference or influence these reviews had the power to make or mar products and for that matter companies. This trend of using public space to review products, online retail and e-commerce environments had to rapidly adapt to accommodate the opinion of people, its consumers or otherwise. Providing the opportunity to freely discuss within the sacred space of an organisation’s website was a cathartic experience for its customers. It was also the beginning of the process of integrating them within the system. Thus, a modern shop visitor can recommend products, leave comments, rate vendors or publish wish lists. This phenomenon, called social commerce or social shopping, leads to increased customer satisfaction & user participation. Successful exploitation of the social shopping concept has led to a strong demand for innovative social commerce models and concepts like crowd-sourcing, consumer generated content, live shopping etc.

Combining social activities with purchase decisions does not represent a paradigm shift because; shopping has always been a social activity. For the pre-internet generation too, shopping trips to the market were not only for purchasing essentials but also for meeting people. The marketplace thus, has always been a place of convergence. Social shopping is nothing but an extrapolation of the same convergence-albeit over the net. A layman’s definition of social shopping would be “a form of e-commerce that leverages the “wisdom of the crowds” where a large no. of people communicate, share recommendations and aggregate information about products, prices and deals”. Social shopping concept makes sense as “aggregation of information in groups’ results in better decision making and are more valuable than those generated by individuals”. The “wisdom of the crowds” generated among peers has more credibility since people tend to trust product recommendations that come from community members. Credibility of the opinions are established due to its diverse sources within the community. According to a Yankelovich Research, consumers trust friends above experts when it comes to product recommendations (65% trust friends; 27% trust experts).  Social psychology has shown that people tend to develop relationships with those who have similar interests like them, transcending demographics and psychographics. And those who have established a strong relationship with each other have the capacity to influence each others’ behavior.  Social shopping enabled by the internet is one of the most effective business ideas to come out in the recent times. Combining the power of two popular activities among the e-masses-networking and shopping, it is turning out to be the new frontier in e-commerce.

 

According to a Nielsen report, it has been estimated that two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit a social network or blogging site and these activities now account for almost 10% of all internet time. ‘Member Communities’ has overtaken personal Email to become the world’s fourth most popular online sector after search, portals and PC software applications. ‘Member Communities’ has taken a foothold in every major market from 50% of the online population in Switzerland and Germany to 80% in Brazil (12). Immensely popular social marketing enables organisations to tap into consumer peer groups who communicate regularly through the Internet and is proving, in most cases, to be even more effective than advertising, by creating loyal consumer bases and providing real time consumer-to-consumer interaction. It’s not just blogs and virtual communities where customers can exchange notes; interactive websites that centre on specific brands are also being created that entice both brand loyalists as well as curious potential customers. “The web is fast moving from a publishing mode to a participation mode. It is a medium where community participants are opinion leaders who help in adopting brand values by sharing personal experience, views and suggestio
ns with other members.

 

Social networks’ market power and their mass of potential customer, are forcing a mutation of existing shopping concepts & social commerce has become the synonym for the next generation online commerce and is significantly affected by a fast preceding social networking. Up until recently, Internet shops were largely a replica of traditional stores – departments and categories that largely were produced for the convenience of the shop. However, people don’t shop online in the same way as they do in a traditional retail store. Social shopping websites develop their own distinct personalities and are redefining e-commerce by influencing customers. Shoppers can find out the best deals and the best items for specific purposes. E-shopping sites are responding to the online behaviour which is much more social. Affected by changing customers preferences, enormous popularity & expansion of social networking, conquest of niche markets, online sellers have created a new generation of business and sales concepts within the past few years, which differ fundamentally from conventional e-shops.

Social shopping as a venture has evolved over time. As online shopping gained steam in the early days, pioneer e-merchants like eBay and Amazon gained control, and remain very much in that position, of the market. Companies are using social shopping to increase membership, empower & engage community members, stoking buzz, engaging influencers, nurturing brand advocates; network listening, market research, product development, offer enhanced customer service and thus, develop a two-way communication channel between the community and the decision makers of the company. Although essentially companies create online communities to strengthen their emotional connection with consumers, they’re obviously not eliminating the idea of a potential sale. After all, the greater the engagement with the brand, the better the chances of positive action.

FEW BENEFITS OF ENABLING SOCIAL SHOPPING:

(1) Ability to influence consumers at the point of decision: Most customers visit social sites to check for peer reviews and recommendations about items they want to purchase or check the same on e-commerce sites. Influencing participants to positively review products help in affirmative shopping decisions.

(2) Increased Web traffic- One of the selling points for retailers social shopping is its collaborative nature. Shoppers can invite one or more friends, increasing the number of site visitors. The more time the website can engage visitor’s attention—the more likely they are to buy.

(3) Driving Immediate Purchases- While some online shoppers may only research products but not necessarily buy; positive reinforcement from a friend or family member could convince them to make the purchase at that moment.

 

(4) Increased Conversion Rates/Multiple Purchases- Friends often share common denominators and preferences. If a shopper shares their prospective purchase with another, both may be likely to buy the product.

(5) Enabling Shared Discovery: Each of us has a finite attention span and different aptitudes for finding the right product. In some cases shared discovery simply means your friend puts products in your basket. In other cases ideas start flowing and build off one another: One may find a good pair of jeans but not a party shirt to go with it. One may seek the help of a friend to choose a good one. Thus, a perfect outfit may be selected by involving close ones.

 

(6) Providing Purchase Validation: On the simplest level, shopping with a friend provides a style check. As shown by Barry Schwartz in The Paradox of Choice, the incredible range of styles and products available generate a plethora of choices, which makes it difficult for shoppers to choose the product that is right for them. Shopping with friends can provide validation that one would, in fact, look good in a short denim skirt.  

 

(7) Making it Fun: Young people go to the mall together virtually every weekend, even though the stores are generally the same, the merchandise doesn’t change that often and they have little money. The process of shopping together provides a framework for their social interaction. Every visit to the mall results in conversations with friends, discovery of new products and a unique experience. Up to now retailers have been at best marginally successful imbuing the online experience with peer-to-peer interaction.

 CONCLUSION:

 

The universe has been evolving since its formation and along with it everything that survives on it. As the saying goes “change has been the only constant”. Evolution affects everything-animates and in-animates. As far as humans are concerned despite our resistance to any change, we have been forced to change constantly.

 

Internet has brought about a renaissance in human way of life. It has moved on from being a practical communication tool to something that has the capability to profoundly influence large no. of people’s beliefs and perceptions. The power of the “Net” has become too important to ignore and due to the large no. of people interacting on it, one can only ignore it at ones peril. The Net has been cast very wide and its popular has been on the rise. It has radically affected modern society and influences the lives of billions of people, and that number keeps growing rapidly. It has also become a powerful business engine capable of changing the dynamics of every industry from banking to retailing. Over the last years, a boost of innovative developments pushed the social web, an environment where users collaborate and participate online. The spectrum reaches from smaller social media networks to more complex multi-blog communities and fully integrated social commerce platforms.

 

Traditionally, retail and CPG industries are known to be slow changers. Yet today, the dynamics of the industries are shifting extremely fast driven by the changing demands of the rulers-Shoppers! E-commerce has evolved dramatically since its emergence in the mid-1990s as a retail-driven, transaction-focused channel, completely separate from a merchant’s “real” stores. By embracing technology faster than most retailers, the consumers are driving retailers to enhance their support of social shopping.  This adoption is resulting in a consumer-technology-driven retail transformation.

Contemporary social shoppers have a broad array of online tools at their disposal to exchange advice and opinions about products and services. No longer shackled to email or instant messaging, social shoppers write reviews, comment on those reviews, post blogs, and even create and post videos—if not on the retailer’s site, then on a variety of comparison sites ensuring its rapid transmission.

Enabling social shopping has become an important criterion for sellers because; social interaction plays an important role in the buying process. Peers can help each other find products of interest, and in decision making whether to buy and also make the shopping experience more fun. Social validation is a foundational piece of a shopper’s decision to buy a product. In the online world, shopping has largely been a solitary experience. This has prompted online stores to change their focus from being purely transactional to becoming experiential. These changes indicate a radical shift in power-from the sellers to the buyers re-affirming the power of online communities.

 

Social shopping is a win-win opportunity for its users-members as well as organisations. It offers the opportunity for everyone to acquire or disperse information about products they intend to buy or sell. As technology develops more robust methods for onl
ine social interaction, consumers will expect this social software to flow into their online shopping experiences. To be successful, online retailers should facilitate the types of opinion gathering, collaborative discovery and social shopping experiences we see in the offline world.

 

 

 

Consumer engagement within social networks has the potential to change the way consumers are targeted, not just through the digital medium, but through all forms of traditional media. By supporting the key decision points in the shopping process consumers are more engaged and get the affirmation they need to click the buy button. Social or collaborative shopping is not only helping retailers boost sales, but it has many short and long term benefits for online retailers, creating the opportunity to impact the shopper mindset and increase lifetime value.

REFERENCES:

 

(1)     http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/ecomnr1108.pdf

 

(2)     Morgan Stanley, 2009

 

(3)     The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2009.

 

(4)     comScore, February 2009; IMRG Capgemini, March 2009; TNS Infratest, November 2008; FEVAD, January 2009.

 

(5)     JP Morgan, January 2009.

 

(6)     ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, 2007.

 

(7)     Internet Retailer Survey, September 2008.

 

(8)     Rosetta, January 2009.

 

(9)     Econsultancy, March 2009.

 

(10) Vito Rispo, Understanding the Human Herd Mentality, http://www.adsavvy.org/understanding-the-human-herd-mentality/

 

(11) Mark Earls, an expert in human behaviour, communications and strategic thinking has explored the link between human behaviour and successful and effective strategies probably more than anyone. He is the award-winning author of several books on the subject including Herd – How to change mass behaviour by harnessing our true nature.

(12) Global Faces and networked places, A Nielsen Report on social networking’s new global footprint, March 2009.

(13) NCR research.

© Sanjai velayudhan

Endnote: The author would like your feedback-both bouquets & brickbats. Write to me- sanjai.velayudhan@gmail.com.

INTRODUCTION

In every organization, there are three major resources to be managed if the organization wants to achieve its objectives and goals. These resources are Humans, materials and financial resources. And out of these three, human resource management is the most important and difficult to manage. The reason being that every human being is born unique and therefore is bound to have different characteristics– that is, the ways they think feel reason and act. Secondly, human beings control and coordinate the other resources. They constitute the workforce of an organization and are referred to as personnel. Since human nature plays a very major part in the overall success of an organization, it is therefore important to have an effective working relationship between the employee and the manager as this is essential for the success of the organization.

Human Resource Management, which involves the efficient and effective management within an organization, is one of the vital functions of Educational Administrators. This is because every administrator has a function to perform through his staff and his own abilities. Every university like other formal organizations needs human beings to execute its programmes and achieve educational goals and objectives. To be able to achieve this, the Registrar who is the ‘chief of administration’ has to ensure that personnel with whom he works knows what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Another name for human resource management is personnel management. No matter the name we chose to call it, its basic function is to deal with people who make up an organization. And these people have diverse interest, goals and values.

Akpakwu (2003), regards personnel management as the proper utilization of the people in an organization towards achieving their needs and organizational goals. To this extent, it involves understanding the nature of people in an organization, their needs and aspiration and evolving the necessary strategies to accomplish these needs and aspirations. It also involves identifying the objectives of the organization and creating a conducive atmosphere towards leading staff to achieving the goals of the organization. Armstrong in Akpakwu (2003), sees personnel management as the process of obtaining, organizing and motivating the human resources needed in by an organization. He advocated for the creation of a very conducive and cordial environment in order to satisfy the needs of the workers and achieve organizational goals. Denga (1990), on the other hand, regards Human management as an exercise in human engineering. People have needs, problems, feelings temperament etc which they come along with to these institutions. What ever name it is called, human resource management is the responsibility of all those who manage people. The administrative manager must therefore find ways of satisfying these needs in such a way that the individual, organization and society’s objectives are achieved.

FUNCTIONS OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The primary responsibility of a human resource manager is to ensure that human resources are utilized and managed as efficiently and effectively as possible. To this end, the university chief administrator is required meet the following objectives:

1. Recruitment and selection, developing the work place required by the organization.

2. Helping in creating a working environment that is conducive for his members of staff so as to promote maximum contentment thereby motivating them.

3. Ensuring that the abilities and skills of the workforce are used to the optimum in pursuance of the university’s mission and mandate.

4. Ensuring a fair balance between the personal needs of staff and the needs of the Registry and the university in general.

The effectiveness and of any organization is dependent on the efficient use of its resources particularly the human resource. Human resource functions can be generally classified into three basic functions namely:-

1. Personal utilization to meet organizational needs

2. Motivation of employees to meet their needs and organizational needs

3. Maintenance of human relationships.

Other human resource management functions include :-

1. Recruitment and Selection:- This involves searching for a suitable person to fill the vacant position. In the registry department, the least qualification for an administrative secretary is a bachelor’s degree. The basic goal of staffing is to locate qualified applicant who will stay with the organization.

2. Training and Education:- This involves developing staff to professional growth. In the Registry department, training involves induction of new employees, formal training of staff which may include on the job training.

3. Wages and salary Administration:- This refers to the financial benefits that are given to staff for the jobs they have performed. In the university administration, fixing of salaries is a continuous exercise as position and posts keep changing due to growth and functional advancement.

4. Staff Appraisals:- This is the continuous process of feed back to subordinates about how well they have performed on their jobs. In the registry department, members of staff are formally appraised annually by their immediate supervisors and the evaluation ratified by the Appointments and promotions committee.

5. Welfare:- In University administration, the main purpose of welfare is to provide assistance to members of staff and also encourage a positive relationship between staff and the university by providing extra security comforts.

6. Trade Union Relations: – According to Akpakwu (2003), trade unions are “sounding boards” for policies and decisions affecting staff. In university administration, joint committees comprising management team and trade unions have proved to be effective in resolving conflicts. Trade Unions champion the problems and grievances of their members with the view of improving the welfare of their members.

The functions of chief administrative officer in the university are many. Generally though, he is to plan, organize, coordinate, direct and report activities in relation to staff under him.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

All organizations including educational institutions are made up of people who chose to work in it primarily because it enables them to satisfy at least some of their personal needs. Virtually everybody works, plays or is educated in an organization. Attempt must be made to define what an organization is. Ede (2000), defines organization as a system of consciously coordinated activities which are deliberately structured for the purpose of realizing specific goals. Dale (1978), views organization thus: “Whenever several people are working together for a common end, there must be some form of organization: that is the task must be divided among them and the work of the group must be coordinated. Dividing the work and arranging for coordination make up the process of organization and once that is completed, the group may be described as an organization.”

According to Unachukwu (1997), the more complex an organization is, the more difficult it is to coordinate activities, predict events or phenomena and attain set objectives maximally. We can therefore view organizational behaviour as the systematic study of the nature of organizations; how they begin, how they develop and their effects on individual members. It is also a systematic attempt to understand the behaviour of people in an organization; not just human behaviour but structural behaviour, elements behaviour, systems behaviour and even policy behaviour. Thus for staff in the registry department of the university to function efficiently and effectively, the Registrar must understand the nature of people he is working with and be able to interpret their behaviours. Organizational behaviour follows the principle of human behaviour: Peop
le in an organization are governed by the same psychological mechanisms both on the job and outside the job. Organizational behaviour is human behaviour in a particular setting. The behaviour of an individual in an organization is determined to some extent by internal and external factors. These include learning ability, motivation, perception, attitude, emotions, frustration etc. while the external factors include stress, reward system, degree of trust, group cohesiveness, social factors, office policies etc. Organizational behaviour can also be situational. An individual’s behaviour cannot be disassociated from the situation he finds himself. For example, a normally calm individual is forced into constant close physical aggressiveness with some other people. The behaviour of that individual is therefore a function of interaction between his characteristics and other environmental variables. Organizations are seen as complex systems consisting of interrelated subsistence. Changes or alteration in any part of the system have consequences on other part of the system. Modification in the system leads to desired positive changes called functions. Negative consequences in response to alteration or change in the system are called dysfunction. Therefore the behaviour of an individual is borne out of the decisions that have been taken in an organization.

Organizations represent constant interaction between structure and process. To get an assignment accomplished in an organization, we need to define who does what. Structures refer to organizational shapes, definitions and rules. It is what binds an organization together. Process is the sequence of activity in the system. Decision Making, Communication, Leadership and Conflict are few examples of the many processes that take place within an organization. Ocho (1997), aptly suggests that human beings in an organization need to be constantly motivated for adequate production and commitment. Consequently, the primary responsibility of the Registrar is to ensure that human resources are utilized and managed effectively and efficiently to meet the university goals.

HUMAN RELATIONS APPROACH TO MANAGEMENT

Good human relations in an organization, for it to function effectively and efficiently cannot be over-emphasized. It provides knowledge on how people interact and respond in different organizational situations in an effort to satisfy their needs and in the process meet organizational goals. The chief administrator’s ability to understand his staff and their problems, and his belief in and the practice of democratic leadership will go a long way to make him succeed in his supervisory and administrative task. The effective operation of any organization depends on the Human Resources in that organization. Unachukwu (1997), implicitly states that Educational Administration is concerned with the mobilization of the efforts of people for the achievement of educational objectives. It is therefore imperative that the Registrar cultivates the habits of Human Relations in his odious administrative task. Edem (1987), observed that the difference between the ideas of the Efficiency movement and those of the Human Relations movement was that of the former emphasizing getting most out of the worker, even to the extent of requiring him to subordinate his interest and needs of those in the organization, while the latter emphasized the humanitarian aspects which sought to satisfy the needs of the worker, minimize his frustrations and increase the level of job satisfaction.

According to Mary Follet,(1964), a prominent pioneer of the Human Relations movement in the National Society For The Study of Education, she stated that the real service for business men is no t just the production and distribution of manufactured articles, but to give an opportunity for individual development and self-actualization through better organization of human relationships. The process of production is as important for the welfare of society as the product of production. Follet perceives administration as a shared responsibility, asserting that organizational structures should permit a free interplay of ideas in order to minimize the rigidity of hierarchical structures; but warned that shared responsibility should not be construed as being synonymous with laissez-faire and absence of focal points of reference.

Unachukwu (1997), itemized the human relations movement stress as thus:

1. Human relations focus on workers as human beings rather than as

producers.

11. It focuses on the development of morale and individual.

111. Human relations emphasize paying attention to workers as human

beings in an informal associations within an organization.

1V. Human Relations led to the policy of consultation of participation by

Workers.

V. Human Relations approach led to the diffusion of authority which led to

a wider participation in decision making. It led to a decentralized

approach to organization rather than centralization. This explains why

committees are used as tools for decision making.

MOTIVATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Without human resource, there can be no organization. These human resources are in two categories: Management and Subordinates.

Okonkwo (1997), is of the view that workers and their needs should be uppermost in the minds of the leadership of any organization. In other words, poor management of human resources in an organization will lead to ineffectiveness or collapse of the organization. Edem (1998), states that the Barnard-Simon theory of motivation recognizes the relationship between the satisfaction by organizations of the needs of workers and the workers productivity. The theory assumes that workers will perform satisfactorily well if their needs are met. Nwankwo (1982), opines that the more the needs of workers are satisfied within the organization, the more they are motivated to work and thus satisfy the needs of the organization. To motivate a worker therefore is to propel, impel and energize him into action that will lead eventually to the achievement of organizational goals. Thus motivation is primarily concerned with spending effort towards a goal. Leavitt (1972), provided motivation model from three basic premises:-

(I) Behaviour is caused: The things we do, do not just happen. There

always underlying factors

(11) Behaviour is directed: In the ultimate sense, there aimless behaviour.

(111) Behaviour is motivated: Underlying what we do are motives and

drives which provide us with the energy to attain goals or at least to

move in the direction of goals.

These three premises help a lot in understanding the behaviour of workers in an organization. When Adam Smith conceptualized the economic basis of human motivation, it was his opinion that people work primarily for money and are unconcerned about social feelings, and are motivated to do only that which provides them with them with the greatest reward. This approach has been criticized because its view of man is dehumanizing. Money may not be the only primary source of rewarding behaviour in an organization as there is limit to which money can be used in motivating workers. According to Argyle (1972), People can become committed to the goals of the organization as a result of participating in decision making in their work place or co-partnership schemes or through their relationships with groups or supervisors. Commitment could also come through the job itself. For example through ones achievements, recognition, responsibility and professional growth. All these are motivators that would energize human resources to meet organizational goals and objectives. The ability of the educational manager to therefore plan and organize human resources effectively, motivate and control the staff is crucial to the effective and efficient management of the university. This is because good human resource management practice not only helps
in attracting and retaining the best of staff, but also motivating them to outstanding work performance. Lack of motivation in work situations has serious effect on job satisfaction and when job satisfaction is absent, the worker might soon leave the organization. Saiyadanin (1999), supporting states that advancement or changing one’s status reflects when this growth is not experienced, the staff member becomes frustrated and dissatisfied.

CONCLUSION

Basically, the Registrar who is the Chief Administrative Manager deals with human beings at various levels. Administration at all levels involves effective planning, organizing, supervising, controlling and evaluating. It is therefore his duty too co-ordinate all activities in the registry to meet the university’s mission and mandate. Attempt has been made to understand the meaning of human resource management as the understanding of human behaviours, their needs, aspiration in an organization and developing strategies to accomplish these needs and aspirations. Knowing that if these needs are neglected, it could lead to failure in achieving set goals for the university system. This paper has also shown that organizational behaviour is not just the study of the systems, processes, and structures in an organization. But also the systematic study of individuals’ behaviour in an organization. It should be understood that these individuals work with external and internal environments which are psychological and sociological in nature. University administrators should therefore deal with staff individually and collectively with a view of understanding them deeply. To this end, it has therefore becomes necessary for university registrars to advocate the use of good human relations so as to ensure effective and efficient administration in universities. This paper has also traced the need to motivate workers not only through monetary means but also to recognize the individual’s worth and enhance their feeling of responsibility and achievements

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Is Aggressive Behavior Biologically or Environmentally based? By Daena V. De Souza

1.0 INTRODUCTION

The nature versus nurture topic has been an unremitting debate for various aspects of human behavior including aggressive behavior. Aggressive behavior is any behavior exhibited verbally or physically with the intention to destroy property or to injure or infuriate another person. There are studies supporting the source of aggression to be innate, indicating links between behavior and biochemical activities, while other studies have considered environmental and societal factors as influences on behavior.

The founder of behaviorism John B. Watson argued that the conditioned response was viewed as the smallest unit of behavior, from which more complicated behavior could be created. Evidence supporting aggression as a learned behavior comes from studies of behavior in experimental and natural settings, social learning theory and the effect of cultural and social variables.

Biological theories propose that aggression may have a chemical, hormonal or genetic component. Scientists have explored various possibilities of behavior. Some of the most compelling evidence comes from genetics, serotonin research and the influence of hormones on aggression.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the existing theories and research findings that support both the nativist view and the empiricist view and to reveal the relationship between biology and the environment in determining behavior.

Aggression is learned

2.1 Studies of behavior.

Controlled studies of behavior in experimental settings have demonstrated that aggressive behavior is similar to other operant behavior because it is influenced by rewards and punishment. We can use the example of the rat in the “skinner box” to demonstrate the effect of operant conditioning in experimental settings. When the rat presses the bar, it is rewarded with a food pellet. The food is the reward which reinforces the action that leads to the rat pressing the bar again in order to obtain another reward. This concept can be applied in the natural setting. If you give a child a toy to stop him or her from exhibiting temper tantrums, the toy will reinforce that behavior. Children then learn that aggression can enable them to control resources such as toys and gain parental attention. If after behaving aggressively, a subject receives positive reinforcement, they are likely to repeat the behavior in order to gain more rewards. This is a form of operant conditioning where the positive reinforcement encourages further display of aggression, concluding that aggression is learned through reinforcement.

2.2 Social learning theory.

Bandura, (1977), pioneered the social learning theory which emphasized the role of learning by observation of behavior. Bandura disputed that social imitation rather than Skinner’s model of reinforcement was responsible for aggressive behavior, implying that aggression is imitated rather than learned through conditioning. Research such as the Bobo Doll study (Bandura) has shown that aggression can be learnt through imitation. Children learn aggression by imitating adult actions from live experiences or from viewing violence through the media. Bandura concluded that viewing aggression increases the likelihood of the viewer acting aggressively. By demonstrating aggression one can unknowingly encourage aggression in suggestible children. They can learn that aggressive behavior is common and acceptable and can be used to solve problems, attain needs, influence another person or even make them a hero. The media portray the violent model as a hero who is rewarded. Children by imitation learn how to be violent and this behavior is reinforced by learning the “rewards” of violence.

2.3 Aggression is influenced by cultural and social factors.

Cohen and Nisbett (1994) attributed the existence of regional subcultural differences in aggression in the United States to different local norms for aggressive behavior. Society plays a fundamental role in influencing behavior. Poverty and crime has become an intrinsic part of society; which unfortunately molds the behavior of people through imitation and reinforcement. The residents of a high crime area such as Laventille, Trinidad form a social order where their lifestyle reinforces criminal activity as a means for survival. Members of this society know who the criminals are and do not report them. When residents of these communities commit crimes or aggressive acts such as robberies, their actions are reinforced when they escape the law and obtain positive reinforcement such as material possessions. The children in these communities learn aggression through social imitation. They also become desensitized towards aggression and view it as common and acceptable behavior in their community.

Aggressive behavior can also be a function of national culture. Residents of some countries show a more pervasive tendency to think of violence as means of solving problems than persons living in other nations (Archer & McDaniel, 1995). In some cultures, ones religious view is expressed aggressively with the subject sacrificing his or her life (in some cases risking the lives of others) for the sake of their god. In other cultures, aggressive behavior is influenced by sports. American football, Wrestling, Ice Hockey and Boxing promotes behavior that is intended to physically injure another person. I am by no means diminishing the sport to a mere exhibition of rough play but simply stating that some sports disguise aggressive behavior as part of the art.

Biological Perspectives

3.1 Electrical stimulations

Electrical stimulations and lesion in specific parts of the hypothalamus can influence one’s tendency to behave aggressively (Moyer, 1976). When a cat’s hypothalamus is stimulated using implanted electrodes, the animal hisses and would strike at any object that is placed in its cage. However, electrical stimulation of a different area of the hypothalamus causes the cat to act in a different way. Similarly, a laboratory rat bred in isolation from other rats and has never seen the aggressive behavior of a wild rat can live in harmony with a mouse. However, when the hypothalamus is electrically stimulated, the rat will attack and kill the mouse by using a similar technique that its untamed kin uses. By injecting the rat with a neurochemical blocker in the same area of the hypothalamus that was previously stimulated, the rat then becomes temporarily peaceful. These responses provide proof that animals have an innate aggressive drive that can become active or inactive with the right stimulus.

3.2 Neurotransmitters and behavior.

A neurotransmitter is a chemical that diffuses across the synaptic gap and stimulates the next neuron. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine are three of the most common chemicals found in the brain and are associated with aggressive behavior.

Serotonin, or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is produced in the brain from an amino acid tryptophan and is involved in inhibiting impulsive responses to frustration such as aggression. Tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH) is an enzyme that controls the rate of synthesis of the neurotransmitter serotonin. It can limit the production of serotonin since it is the only catalyst in the reaction producing serotonin. Therefore, serotonergic activity is linked to the deficiency of TPH. Serotonergic activity can be determined by measuring the levels of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the cerebrospinal fluid. Individuals who exhibit abnormal low levels of serotonin are said to suffer from serotonin depletion and were found to be more violent or impulsive than those who had normal serotonergic activity. Studies done by Linnoila and colleagues (1983) have found that men imprisoned for violent crimes have lower levels of serotonin than nonimpulsive violent offenders. Decreased s
erotonergic activity may produce some symptoms such as irrational behavior, anger, and obsessive worry; which can be treated by drugs such as Prozac. Prozac is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor that manipulates serotonin levels. It inhibits the reuptake of serotonin into the neurons, enabling serotonin to remain active in the synapse for a longer period of time and therefore controls impulsive behavior.

Dopamine is used to regulate emotion and is also converted to norepinephrine which is affected by stress and moods in the brain. The release of norepinephrine and dopamine can be stimulated by the drugs classified as amphetamine. Prolonged use of amphetamines can result in hallucinations, paranoia and violent behavior. Scientist suggests that schizophrenia results from excess dopamine activity in certain brain regions or as a result from an abnormal sensitivity to dopamine. Evidence supporting this claim comes from the antipsychotic drugs which reduce psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia by blocking brain receptors from dopamine.

3.3 The influence of hormones on aggression.

The male sex hormone testosterone is associated with aggressive behavior in both humans and animals. Testosterone contributes to antisocial behavior in some women especially during the premenstrual period. The imbalance of the estrogen-progesterone ratio during the premenstrual period triggers both physical and psychological impairments such as changes in mood, depression, irritability and aggression. These elevated levels of aggression and irritability is associated with the hormone testosterone. Research has found that a significant number of females imprisoned for aggressive criminal acts were found to have committed their crimes during the premenstrual phase, and female offenders were found to be more irritable and aggressive during this period. Reinisch (1981) found that girls whose mothers were treated with a hormone similar to testosterone while pregnant grow up to be more aggressive than comparable control subjects. Research done by Olweus (1988) has also shown that adolescent boys who have more testosterone behave more aggressively when provoked. To control aggressive behavior in stallions, horse owners usually remove the testes of males that will not be used for breeding. All these studies have provided a link between testosterone and aggressive behavior.

3.4 The frustration-aggression hypothesis

Aggression, according to the drive theory, is created by some innate human need. The frustration-aggression hypothesis assumes that whenever a person is inhibited from reaching their goal an aggressive drive is induced that motivates behavior that causes the person to injure the person or object that is causing the frustration. This basic drive is like behavioral units of ability that are switched on or off as an appropriate challenge or task presents itself. In animals, this drive tells them when to migrate, when and how to court one another, when to feed their young, and so on. Animals like humans know what to do instinctively. For instance, if a person is being attacked by someone, their initial response may be to retaliate; frustration stimulates an inner drive that leads the victims to respond aggressively. This aggressive instinct or drive is what has allowed human beings to survive and protect their interest. Even though aggression is not a guaranteed response to frustration, it is certainly a frequent one. Laboratory studies have shown that animals behave aggressively in response to stressful situations. Caged animals respond aggressively to each other when they are shocked and the behavior then stops when the shocking has ended.

3.5 Psychoanalytic theory

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, asserts that human behavior is motivated by sexual and instinctive drives. When expressions of these instincts are repressed, these urges are displayed as aggression. Examples of expression of aggression are explained by Freud in his studies of childhood aggression and the Oedipal complex. A young boy begins to develop an intense sexual desire for his mother because she is the ultimate provider of love and food. The desire for his mother causes the boy to reject and display aggression toward his father because he views his father as a competitive rival for his mother’s affection. The boy later recognizes his father’s superiority and learns to reject his mother as a love object and eventually identifies with his father. The Oedipal complex relates to childhood aggression in girls. The theory is similar, in which the girl develops penis envy while trying to relate to her father and rejects her mother. The girl eventually realizes that her father is an inappropriate love object and identifies with her mother instead. These examples reveal the idea that aggression is an innate personality characteristic in all humans which is motivated by sexual drives.

3.6 Genetic contributions.

Behavior genetics combines the methods of genetics and psychology to study the inheritance of behavioral characteristics. Genes are the basic unit of heredity that determines the traits of human characteristics ranging from intelligence to height to emotionality. Selective breeding and twin and adoption studies have provided evidence for an association between genetic makeup and behavior. Selective breeding studies the inheritance of particular traits in animals. A study done on the inheritance of learning ability in rats provided evidence that intelligence is hereditary (Thompson, 1954). Rats that did poorly in learning to run the maze were mated with similar dull rats and those that did well (bright rats) were mated with other bright rats. After a few rodent generations, bright and dull strains of rats were produced. It is complicated to perform selective breeding studies on humans; however similarity in biological traits can be shown using twin and adoptive studies. In most studies of twins, the degree of consistency between the criminality of identical twins is approximately twice that of fraternal twins. In adoptive studies most cases reveal that criminality of the biological parent is a better predictor of the child’s criminal involvement than the criminality of the adoptive parents. Research has shown that there is a hereditary predisposition for schizophrenia, since the risk of developing the illness is higher if an individual is genetically related to a schizophrenic person. In all the above studies subjects shared the common characteristic of genes, showing the relationship between non typical traits and genetics.

Links between biological and environmental factors

4.1 The Link between the frustration-aggression hypothesis and social learning

According to the frustration-aggression hypothesis, frustration stimulates a drive that leads to aggression. However, frustration is not the only variable that causes aggression. The response to frustration may differ depending on the kind of responses a person has learned to use in coping with frustrating situations. If a person has learnt (through imitation or social learning) that aggression can elicit a desired result, then they would respond to frustration with aggressive behavior. For example, people in poorer communities become frustrated when their physiological needs cannot be met and some are motivated to acquire these needs through crime. This is where social learning plays a role. When a person becomes frustrated they are motivated to react in a way that they learnt would produce results. People can learn that crime pays. Therefore, while frustration and aggression seem to be closely linked, the mere presence of frustration does not seem to suggest aggression, social learning is also an instigating factor.

4.2 The Link between aggressive behavior and people in poor communities

People in poorer communities may exhibit more aggression; not only because of frustration but their monetary limitations may hamper their ability to have proper diets, particularly one high in protein. The link is seroto
nin. Serotonin is produced in the brain from the amino acid tryptophan which is derived from foods high in protein. Tryptophan hydroxylase enzyme is the only catalyst in the reaction producing serotonin and can therefore limit its production. Therefore a person’s diet may control the levels of serotonin that their body produces. People with low serotonin levels are more likely to act aggressively.

4.3 The relationship between genetics and environment

Genetics may influence both development and behavior however, it fully determines neither. Genes are hereditable and are not affected by environment factors such as rearing conditions however rearing conditions can influence gene expression. A person’s genes may predispose them to mental illness, diabetes or aggressive behavior however environmental factors may cause the emergence of these conditions. Someone may carry the gene for diabetes and may never develop it however, obesity increases their risk. There is a hereditary predisposition for schizophrenia and the risk of developing it depends on how closely a person is related to someone with schizophrenia. Conversely, environmental stress can also trigger schizophrenia in a person that is predisposed to the mental illness. Although some children may be biologically inclined to behave aggressively, their behavior can be controlled by the environment. Instead of rearing an aggressive child in an environment that fosters more aggression, it is better to provide an environment that reduces the inclination for the child to act aggressively. Parents who promote hitting as a means of discipline and often quarrel in the presence of their children encourage their children to resolve conflict by using aggression. The probability of aggressive behavior transpiring depends on the situational factors. Sometimes the same stimulation that causes a person to react aggressively to one person may not trigger the same reaction towards someone else. These reactions are controlled by the cortex and are influenced by previous experiences and social influences. Aggressive behavior in monkeys can be induced by electrically stimulating certain areas of the brain. The final behavior depends on the monkey’s position in the hierarchical structure of the monkey colony. Dominant monkeys will exhibit aggres¬sive behavior when electrically stimulated in the presence of a submissive monkey but would suppress the aggressive behavior in the presence of another dominant monkey.

4.0 Freedom of choice

Unlike animals, humans are equipped with a large cerebral cortex that allows for reasoning, consideration, creativity and behavior control. Humans are not hard wired like computers, where given a fixed command or stimulus results in a fixed response. We have the ability to choose our course of action and our decisions are preceded by will and thought. This capability has enabled us to survive and stand greater than animals. Because of our ability to consciously choose the values we instill in our children, our species can influence the outcome of our children’s behavior. Choice is the ability to select from a number of alternatives. When frustrated an individual has the choice to react in a certain manner. They can think about something else, distance themselves, suppress their anger or even laugh it off. The magnificence of human complexity is our ability to choose from an infinite amount of possible reactions.

Conclusion

Is aggression biologically or environmentally based? The answer is simple. Aggression cannot be credited to just one origin. Biological and environmental factors are complementary in understanding the origin of aggression. The traditional phrase for the debate nature versus nurture should be re-phrased as nature being nurtured. A normal person must be provoked and aroused to act aggressively. A person may have a genetic predisposition to aggression but the act would not occur unless certain environmental influences are present. It is best to approach the nature nurture debate from a position that embraces both view points in order to truly understand the basis of aggression. Biology provides the instrument for aggression but environment teaches us how to use them.

REFERENCE LIST



1. MORE THAN TWO AUTHORS

Atkinson, Smith, Bem & Nolen-Hoeksema. Hilgard’s Introduction to Psychology (13th edition)

Taylor, Stout, & Green. Biological Science one and two (2nd edition)

2. NO AUTHOR / EDITOR GIVEN

Does media violence really influence human behavior?

Genes and aggression: Is the propensity for violence inherited?

3. INTERNET ARTICLES

D’Orban, P.T. & J. Dalton. Violent crime and the menstrual cycle

McCawley, S. The nature of aggression (or is it nurture?)

Silvis, D. Brain-behavior and nature-nurture: Two interacting scientific debates.

4. WORKS IN SEVERAL VOLUMES

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2003

5. DOCTORAL DISSERTATION (PUBLISHED)

Fishbein, D. Biological Perspectives in Criminology. Published Doctoral Dissertation, University of Baltimore, Baltimore.

6. ARTICLES

Geen, R. The importance of learning in aggression. University of Missouri- Columbia

Rowell Huesmann, L. How biology influences human aggression. University of Michigan.