Social Cognitive Theory: Learning by Observing Others

This essay discusses social cognitive theory, which focuses on learning new things by observing others. It explores a case study of a hotel rebranding and the impact on staff members' attitudes and behaviors. The essay also examines the behavioral and environmental factors that influence learning and how social cognitive theory can improve learning and performance.

Social Cognitive
Theory

Contents
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Social cognitive theory refers to a theoretical perspective where the main focus of study
is to learn new things by observing others. It is a theory which is mainly grounded by different
assumptions where the most essential element is leaning by observing others. It has also been
analysed that learners can effectively enhance their behaviors as well as knowledge by observing
people (Schunk and DiBenedetto, 2020). It is a type of psychological practice which says that it
is quite easy as well as helpful in order to learn new things just be analyzing and observing the
individuals within their surroundings. In the present essay, a case study is going to be discussed
where staff members face some difficulties while management decide to re-branding. Along with
this, it has also been said that the report should include detail analysis about social cognitive
theory.
MAIN BODY
As per the given case study, it has been analysed that the Principal Hotel London which
is also known as the ‘Russell Hotel’ brings a IHG Hotels, international Hotel chain within May
2018. By this, hotel provide employment opportunities to almost 200 people in different
departments. The hotel chain have their own brand known as Kimpton which is a boutique &
environmental friendly hotels. The hotel management decides to renowned so that they can
provide high quality service to their customers. By doing such modifications it has been
observed that the attitude and behavior of staff members changes after communicating them
about re-branding the process and structure of the hotel. For understanding and knowing the
attitude of individuals in an effective manner, social cognitive theory is going to be discussed in
a detail manner (Wesley, Schultz, Azar and Adam 2008). Social cognitive theory was proposed
by Albert Bandura. As per this theory, it has been said that the theory shows that whenever
individuals observe someone performing an attitude and behavior, the result or outcome of the
behavior remember by them in sequence. All these information help in guiding subsequent
behaviors. According to his theory of learning it has been concluded that there are mainly three
way to examine the behavior of human. These three factors includes dynamic as well as
reciprocal communication of personal factors, behavior and the environment. As per this
learning theory, the attitude of an individual person is examine by three main factors.

It has been said that people learn new things by observing others in faster manner and
implement them in an effective manner within their life. It is said that, the main or basic concepts
of social cognitive theory is discussed by Albert Bandura with the help of a systematic triadic
reciprocal causation. On the basis of social cognitive theory it has been said that it is very
important for a person to have trust in oneself and in self-efficacy, so that they can perform their
works in an effective manner related to job attitudes as well as behaviors. This will help an
individual person in order to known their own capabilities and skills. Two aspects of Social
Cognitive theory are going to be discussed as follows in a detail manner.
1. Behavioral: It refers to an effective element which shows the overall response of an individual
person once they perform a behavior (Callaway, 2020). It says that the behavior of a person
changes or modify after watching or observing other individuals way of conducting their work.
Therefore, it can easily be understood that behavior of a person can change other person behavior
or attitude in both positive and negative way.
2. Environmental: Another essential aspect which influences the overall learning of an individual
person is the environment. It creates very huge impact on the performance of a person and its
ability to conduct the functionality. Therefore, it is very essential to create an effective and
positive environment so that they can improve their own efficiency and effectiveness in an
effective manner.
It is very necessary to note and consider that learning mainly occur without doing any
kind of changes in the behavior and attitude of an individual person. As per the opinion of J.E.
Ormrod's it has been said that it is a general principles of this theory that any kind of changes in
the behavior and attitude shown by an individual is a common proof (Alexander, Cao and
Alfonso, 2020). Along with this, it has also been identified that due to learning by observing
alone, major drawback is that all the learning is not necessarily seen by others in their
performance. As a result, these are interdependent or interlinked with each other as well as its
impact is directly associated with group and individuals psychological behavior. On the other
hand, on the basis of opinion of Alex Stajkovic & Fred Luthans it is crucially very important to
examine that relative impact exerted by various interacting elements on the motivated attitude
which is depending on various individuals, different types of activities as well as circumstances.

According to the given case scenario, it can easily be extracted that a hotel management
team decides to rebrand its organization so that they can easily interact with changing needs of
human beings. For re-branding the overall process and structure of the Hotel it is declared by the
higher authorities that for some period of time, they need to close all the functions but on the
other hand give assurance to their staff members that they will be shifted to other Hotel located
within London. Some of the staff members shown negative response towards the action taken by
management team as the same process has been followed by them in the month of April and now
they are going to perform this again. This creates threat among the mind of employees regarding
their job security. Apart from this, manager of the company ensure their staff members that there
jobs are secure and by maintaining corporation with the managers their skills will be enhanced
by providing them training session on a regular basis. On the other hand, it has also been
identified that apart from some negative response from the staff members, large number of
individuals were excited towards the re-branding of hotel. Reason behind this is that they will be
able to grab new career opportunities at the competitive marketplace. This will help them in their
professional life and aid them in achieving their targets in an appropriate and faster manner.
Overall scenario of the case study shows that, behavior and attitude of individuals changes
on a regular basis if they face any kind of environmental changes. By observing the changes in
attitude and behavior of individuals or in the staff members, managers of the hotel assure them
that there jobs are secure and they will not face any kind of negative issues. Along with this, for
creating positive relationship with their staff, management team take them for outing and interact
with them on a personal level. In addition to this, by observing the attitude and performance of
other people, each and every person learn new things which will aid them in near future. With
the assistance of Social Cognitive theory, individuals working within an organization learn new
things by observing and analyzing other people. This will help them in enhancing their
performance and improve their working as well as knowledge in an effective manner. Therefore,
Social cognitive theory, help in improving learning of an individual person with the help of
observing others in an effective manner which leads towards the attainment of personal goals and
objectives within appropriate manner.

CONCLUSION
By analyzing the above essay, it is said that social cognitive theory is a framework
mainly used by every individual in their life as its main aim is to learn new things by observing
others. It is one of the easiest method with the help of which learning and experience of a person
can be increased just by observing other individuals. Furthermore, it has also been analysed with
the help of above essay that there are two main elements which are behavioral as well as
environmental factors. Both of these highly affect the learning of individuals. With the help of
social cognitive theory, it has been concluded that managers will be able to modify their
strategies and policies according to the changing attitude of their staff members, so that they can
easily motivate them in a positive manner.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Callaway, J.L., 2020. Using Social Cognitive Theory to Teach Radiographic
Positioning. Radiologic Technology, 91(3), pp.300-302.
Fifolt, M., and et. Al., 2020. Exercise behaviors of persons with multiple sclerosis through the
stepwise implementation lens of social cognitive theory. Disability and
rehabilitation, 42(7), pp.948-956.
Alexander, D.S., Cao, C. and Alfonso, M.L., 2020. Examining Whether the Social Cognitive
Theory Concepts Predict Childhood Obesity Prevention Outcome
Expectations. International Quarterly of Community Health Education,
p.0272684X20915383.
Hsieh, T.C., and et. Al., 2020. Challenges of UAVs Adoption for Agricultural Pesticide
Spraying: A Social Cognitive Perspective.
Online
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Available
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Wesley P. Schultz, Azar M. Khazian & Adam C. Zaleski (2008) Using normative social
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10.1080/15534510701755614
The Relationship Between Self-Efficacy and Help Evasion
<https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1090198112473109?journalCode=hebc>
Robert Wood and Albert Bandura The Academy of Management Review Vol. 14, No. 3 (Jul.,
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