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C H A P T E R 1Organizational Behavior

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

After reading this chapter, you should be able to understand and articulate answers to the followingquestions:

1. What is organizational behavior (OB)?

2. Why does organizational behavior matter?

3. How can I maximize my learning in this course?

4. What research methods are used to study organizational behavior?

5. What challenges and opportunities exist for OB?

1. MAINTAINING A CUSTOMER SERVICE CULTURE:THE CASE OF LES SCHWAB TIRES

FIGURE 1.1 Les Schwab Tires

Source: © Thinkstock

Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc. (a privately held company) was founded in 1952 and has built a reputation ofstellar customer service. This company oversees retail tire and brake shops that generate nearly $2 billion inannual revenue. They have more than 7,000 employees across more than 400 locations in eight states in theUnited States. It is well known for its service orientation and product guarantees. For example, they are knownto fix flat tires for free and it is estimated that they give away more than $10 million in repairs each year. Cus-tomer stories of heroic Les Schwab Tire Centers service include a customer who went to one of their stores

© 2013 Flat World Knowledge, Inc. All rights reserved. Created exclusively for [email protected]

and had the tire chains installed for a ski trip, an hour before the store opened. Another customer reports be-ing rescued by Jeremiah Cook, a Les Schwab employee, who changed her tire in the pouring rain on his dayoff. When asked why he did it, he replied, “That’s just the way we do things here. What if that was my mom onthe side of the road?”

So how is a tire company with thousands of employees in dispersed locations able to achieve such employeecommitment and customer excitement? As Pollie Sengstake, General Manager for Human Resources for LesSchwab says, “We sell tires. Other stores sell tires. Our organizational culture is our secret sauce that makes ussuccessful.” How do they create such a strong sense that providing excellent customer service is the rightthing to do? Sengstake notes that to create and maintain their strong culture, Les Schwab starts right awaywith new employee onboarding that stresses the “Les Schwab way” of doing things. Then the culture is rein-forced through regular performance feedback that stresses the importance of not just what employees do,but how they do it. All Les Schwab employees are expected to understand and behave consistently with theorganizational culture and bonuses are tied to performance on this dimension.

When thinking about Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., it makes sense to think of the organization as encom-passing three separate eras. The founder, Les Schwab, had clear goals and values of treating employees likefamily that influenced how he ran his business while at the helm. The fact that he never sold the company isreflected in those goals. He referred to his successor as the closest thing to a son that he had, and things re-mained stable in the years to come. However, with the departure of both of these family men, a new era hasbegun.

The early years of the company may be termed The Les Schwab era (1952-1983). Les Schwab’s personal lifestory is a big piece of the puzzle of how he approached his business. Les was orphaned at age 15. He suppor-ted himself and his brother by leaving school early each day to complete his work as a newspaper deliveryboy. His is a “rags-to-riches” success story and his cowboy-hat-wearing persona is legend. He built his com-pany from the ground up after borrowing $11,000 from a relative. He was known for driving his 1962 jeepfrom shop to shop and living by modest means. He was also famous for his signature cowboy hat and givingaway free steaks to anyone who purchased four tires during March of each year, when sales were typicallyslow. Schwab is best known for starting a policy of sharing 55% of the company’s profits with his employeesthrough bonuses, health benefits, and retirement trusts. It was not uncommon for store managers to earn six-figure annual salaries and to retire as millionaires. Schwab seemed perplexed when other companies didn’tfollow suit. “Why be greedy?” he asked. “If I can help make twenty young people become successful, doesn’tthat make me 20 times more successful?” When he passed away in 2007, it was a huge blow to the organiza-tion that he had founded.

The G. Phillip Wick era (1983-2008) was consistent in many ways with the Les Schwab era. Les Schwab TireCenters historically had a strong orientation toward promoting from within. Wick rose through the ranks of thecompany. In 1965 he began his tenure with the company and within three years he was promoted to man-ager of the store. At age 24, this made him the youngest manager in the company’s history. In 1983 he suc-ceeded Les Schwab as the second president of the company and then became Chairman of the Board of Dir-ectors until 2008. Wick remained with the company on the Board of Directors until his death in 2010. Wick isquoted as saying, “Since I joined Les Schwab, it has been more than a way of life. Our employees and custom-ers make this company a great place to work, and I am proud of our accomplishments.”

The Dick Borgman era (2008-present) represents the first Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., CEO to be hired fromoutside of the company. Under his tenure, executives have been brought in from such diverse outside firms asAdidas, Starbucks, and General Mills. During the Les Schwab era, it was clear that promoting from within wasthe way things were done. "Les has always wanted to have employees who think of this as a partnership," saidBorgman, while he was still vice president. "As a result, I think it's almost a competition among stores to seewho gets the most compliment letters, who takes care of the customers the fastest." However, rather than be-ing promoted from a store location, Borgman was trained as a lawyer and economist and hired as an execut-ive. More recently, Borgman led the move out of Prineville, Oregon, where Les Schwab first began his business.It is clear to those who knew him that Les Schwab never would have supported such a move if he were alivetoday. The old headquarters was a simple, one-story building, and Les Schwab had estimated that staying inPrineville added an extra forty cents to each tire. However, he resisted relocating and abandoning the com-munity that had supported him from his early years. The new headquarters is three stories high, sits on atwelve-acre site, and includes many modern amenities, such as solar panels and bike storage for employees.The architecture of the new upscale Bend, Oregon, headquarters was designed to resonate with and celebratethe company’s history. Each wing of the building is devoted to a different decade of the company’s history. Inaddition, etched glass in each conference room depicts actual Les Schwab Tire ads from bygone eras and ahuge photo of Les Schwab greets visitors when they arrive at the front door.

10 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR VERSION 2.0.1


The question now is whether Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., can maintain its distinctive and focused customer-service culture. When organizations transition from a customer focus to a more administrative focus, chal-lenges may surface. Time will tell whether Les Schwab’s legacy will be strengthened by making tough busi-ness decisions in tough economic times, or whether evolving away from the roots of Prineville and Schwab’sfocus on internal employees as the key to success will lead Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., to becoming “just an-other tire company.”[1]

C A S E D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S

1. Think about the three eras described above. How would you describe each of the eras? Please beprepared to support your answer with examples of each.

2. Think of examples in your own life of when a firm has delivered excellent customer service. Are thereexamples in which you’d be moved to write a positive customer service letter? What do you think are themain reasons why Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., are so successful at garnering such positive customerfeedback?

3. Do you think Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., has a competitive advantage because of their corporatehistory? Why or why not?

4. Do you think Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc., will continue to be as successful as it has been if it falls on hardeconomic times? Why or why not?

5. Which costs to do you think are associated with maintaining a strong organizational culture, such as thatof Les Schwab Tire Centers, Inc.? What are the potential benefits?

2. UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR


1. Learn about the layout of this book.2. Understand what organizational behavior is.3. Understand why organizational behavior matters.4. Learn about OB Toolboxes in this book.

2.1 About This BookThe people make the place.

- Benjamin Schneider, Fellow of the Academy of Management

This book is all about people, especially people at work. As evidenced in the opening case, we will sharemany examples of people developing, growing, and making their workplaces work. People can makework an exciting, fun, and productive place to be, or they can make it a routine, boring, and ineffectiveplace everyone dreads. The late Steve Jobs, cofounder and former chairman and CEO of Apple Inc., at-tributed the innovations at Apple, which include the iPod, MacBook, iPhone, and iPad, to people, not-ing, “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. It’s not about money. It’sabout the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.”[2]

CHAPTER 1 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 11


FIGURE 1.2

Steve Jobs (1955-2011) was known fordeveloping innovative products by hiring theright people for the job and fostering a cultureof hard work and creativity.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Image:SteveJobsMacbookAir.JPG.

organizational behavior(OB)

The systematic study andapplication of knowledgeabout how individuals andgroups act within theorganizations where theywork.

Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Inc., a billion-dollar cosmetics company,makes a similar point, saying, “People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. Itdoesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company isonly as good as the people it keeps.”[3]

Just like people, organizations come in many shapes and sizes. We understand thatthe career path you take may include a variety of different organizations. In addition,we know that each student reading this book has a unique set of personal and work-re-lated experiences, capabilities, and career goals. On average, a person working in theUnited States will change jobs more than eleven times in their career.[4] In order to suc-ceed in this type of career situation, individuals need to be armed with the tools neces-sary to be lifelong learners. So, this book is not about giving you all the answers to everysituation you may encounter when you start your first job or as you continue up the ca-reer ladder. Instead, this book gives you the vocabulary, framework, and critical-think-ing skills necessary for you to diagnose situations, ask tough questions, evaluate the an-swers you receive, and act in an effective and ethical manner in a variety of differentcontexts.

Throughout this book, when we refer to organizations, we will include examplesthat may apply to diverse organizations, such as publicly held, for-profit organizationslike Google and American Airlines; privately owned businesses such as Les Schwab TireCenters and SAS institute; and not-for-profit organizations, such as the Sierra Club. Wewill also refer to both small and large corporations. You will see examples from Fortune500 organizations, such as Intel Corporation or PepsiCo, as well as small start-up or-ganizations. Keep in mind that some of the small organizations of today may becomelarge organizations in the future. For example, in 1998, eBay Inc. had only 29 employ-ees and $47.4 million in income, but by 2014 they had grown to 33,500 employees andover $16.05 billion in revenue.[5] Regardless of the size or type of organization you maywork for, people are the common denominator of how work is accomplished withinorganizations.

Together, we will examine people at work both as individuals and within workgroups and how they impact and are impacted by the organizations where they work.Before we can understand these three levels of organizational behavior, we need toagree on a definition of organizational behavior.

2.2 What Is Organizational Behavior?Organizational behavior (OB) is defined as the systematic study and application of knowledgeabout how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work. As you will seethroughout this book, definitions are important. They are important because they tell us whatsomething is as well as what it is not. For example, we will not be addressing childhood development inthis course—that concept is often covered in psychology—but we might draw on research about twinsraised apart to understand whether job attitudes are affected by genetics.

OB draws from other disciplines to create a unique field. As you read this book, you will mostlikely recognize OB’s roots in other disciplines. For example, when we review topics such as personalityand motivation, we will again review studies from the field of psychology. The topic of team processesrelies heavily on the field of sociology. In the chapter relating to decision making, you will come acrossthe influence of economics. When we study power and influence in organizations, we borrow heavilyfrom political sciences. Even medical science contributes to the field of organizational behavior, partic-ularly to the study of stress and its effects on individuals.



FIGURE 1.3

OB spans topics ranging from the individual tothe organization.

levels of analysis

In OB, includes examining theindividual, the group, and theorganization.

Those who study organizational behavior—which now includes you—are inter-ested in several outcomes, such as work attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction and organiza-tional commitment) and workplace behaviors (e.g., customer service and counterpro-ductive work behaviors). A distinction is made in OB regarding which level of the or-ganization is being studied at any given time. There are three key levels of analysis inOB: the individual, the group, and the organization. For example, if we want to under-stand our boss’s personality, we would be using the individual level of analysis. If wewant to know about how our manager’s personality affects our team, we are examiningthings at the team level. But, if we want to understand how our organization’s cultureaffects our boss’s behavior, we would be interested in the organizational level ofanalysis.

2.3 Why Organizational Behavior MattersOB matters at three critical levels. It matters because it is all about things you careabout. OB can help you become a more engaged organizational member. Getting alongwith others, getting a great job, lowering your stress level, making more effective de-cisions, and working effectively within a team; these are all great things, and OB ad-dresses them!

It matters because employers care about topics that are covered in OB. A recentsurvey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) asked employ-ers which skills are the most important for them when evaluating job candidates, andOB topics topped the list.[6]

The top five personal qualities/skills:1. Ability to make decisions and solve problems2. Ability to verbally communicate with those within and outside the organization3. Ability to work in a team structure4. Ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work5. Ability to analyze data

Finally, it matters because organizations care about understanding people. The best companies in theworld understand that the people make the place. How do we know this? Well, we know that organiza-tions that value their employees are more profitable than those that do not.[7] Research shows that suc-cessful organizations have a number of things in common, such as providing employment security, en-gaging in selective hiring, utilizing self-managed teams, being decentralized, paying well, training em-ployees, reducing status differences, and sharing information.[8] Glassdoor.com, a popular review web-site of corporations, highlights the best companies, such as Facebook, McKinsey & Company, and Ri-verbed Technology, where employees give kudos to management for providing learning opportunities,giving employees challenging and interesting work and not micromanaging the process, and treatingemployees with respect. Research shows that organizations that are considered healthier and moreeffective focus on how they relate to their employees by being deliberate and mindful about providingrole clarity, information sharing, and performance feedback. Unfortunately, research shows that mostorganizations are unhealthy, with 50% of respondents saying that their organizations do not engage ineffective people management practices covered in OB.[9]

In the rest of this chapter, we will build on how you can use this book by adding tools to your OBToolbox in each section of the book as well as assessing your own learning style. In addition, it is im-portant to understand the research methods used to define OB, so we will also review those. Finally,you will see what challenges and opportunities businesses are facing and how OB can help overcomethese challenges.



2.4 Adding to Your OB Toolbox

Your OB Toolbox

© Thinkstock

OB Toolboxes appear throughout this book. They indicate a tool that you can try out today to help you devel-op and apply your OB skills.

Throughout the book, you will see many OB Toolbox features. Our goal in writing this book is to cre-ate something useful for you to use now and as you progress through your career. Sometimes we willfocus on tools you can use today. Other times we will focus on things you may want to think about thatmay help you later. As you progress, you may discover some OB tools that are particularly relevant toyou while others are not as appropriate at the moment. That’s great—keep those that have value to you.You can always go back and pick up tools later on if they don’t seem applicable right now.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the more tools and skills you have, the higher thequality of your interactions with others will be and the more valuable you will become to organizationsthat compete for top talent.[10] It is not surprising that, on average, the greater the level of educationyou have, the more money you will make. Those with a college degree make 65% more money thanthose who had a high school degree and the differences in pay continue to grow with those earning amaster's degree making more than double the income of a high school graduate.[11] Organizationsvalue and pay for skills as the next figure shows.

FIGURE 1.4

Education and training have financial payoffs as illustrated by these unemployment rates and earnings for workersage 25 and older.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm.

Tom Peters is a management expert who talks about the concept of individuals thinking of themselvesas a brand to be managed. Further, he recommends that individuals manage themselves like freeagents.[12] The following OB Toolbox includes several ideas for being effective in keeping up your skillset.



journaling

The process of writing outthoughts and emotions on aregular basis.

OB Toolbox: Skill Survival Kit

© Thinkstock

< Know yourself. Take a personal inventory and see where you are. What are your talents? Where are youweak and could use additional practice?

< Keep your skills fresh. Consider revolutionizing your portfolio of skills at least every six years.

< Master something. Competence in many skills is important, but excelling at something will set youapart.

< Embrace ambiguity. Many people fear the unknown. They like things to be predictable. Unfortunately,the only certainty in life is that things will change. Instead of running from this truth, embrace thesituation as a great opportunity.

< Be authentic. Don't force yourself to be something you are not. You won't be comfortable and otherswon't get to know the "real you."

< Network. The term has been overused to the point of sounding like a cliché, but networking works.This doesn’t mean that having two hundred connections on LinkedIn or Facebook makes you moreeffective than someone who has fifty, but it does mean that getting to know people is a good thingin ways you can’t even imagine now.

< Don't over (or under) sell yourself. Under promising and over delivering can be a wise strategy, butdon't sell yourself short. Be sure to share your successes with others as well, just don't overdo it.

< Appreciate new technology. This doesn’t mean you should get and use every new gadget that comesout on the market, but it does mean you need to keep up on what the new technologies are andhow they may affect you and the business you are in.[13]

A key step in building your OB skills and filling your toolbox is to learn the language of OB. Once youunderstand a concept, you are better able to recognize it. Once you recognize these concepts in real-world events and understand that you have choices in how you will react, you can better manage your-self and others. An effective tool you can start today is journaling, which helps you chart your pro-gress as you learn new skills. For more on this, see the OB Toolbox below.

OB Toolbox: Journaling as a Developmental Tool

© Thinkstock

< What exactly is journaling? Journaling refers to the process of writing out thoughts and emotions on aregular basis.

< Why is journaling a good idea? Journaling is an effective way to record how you are feeling from dayto day. It can be a more objective way to view trends in your thoughts and emotions so you are notsimply relying on your memory of past events, which can be inaccurate. Simply getting yourthoughts and ideas down has been shown to have health benefits as well such as lowering thewriter’s blood pressure, heart rate, and decreasing stress levels.

< How do I get started? The first step is to get a journal or create a computer file where you can add newentries on a regular basis. Set a goal for how many minutes per day you want to write and stick to it.Experts say at least ten minutes a day is needed to see benefits, with twenty minutes being ideal. Thequality of what you write is also important. Write your thoughts down clearly and specifically whilealso conveying your emotions in your writing. After you have been writing for at least a week, go



back and examine what you have written. Do you see patterns in your interactions with others? Doyou see things you like and things you’d like to change about yourself? If so, great! These are thethings you can work on and reflect on. Over time, you will also be able to track changes in yourself,which can be motivating as well.[14]

2.5 Isn’t OB Just Common Sense?As teachers we have heard this question many times. The answer, as you might have guessed, isno—OB is not just common sense. As we noted earlier, OB is the systematic study and application ofknowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work. Systematicis an important word in this definition. It is easy to think we understand something if it makes sense,but research on decision making shows that this can easily lead to faulty conclusions because ourmemories fail us. We tend to notice certain things and ignore others, and the specific manner in whichinformation is framed can affect the choices we make. Therefore, it is important to rule out alternativeexplanations one by one rather than to assume we know about human behavior just because we are hu-mans! Go ahead and take the following quiz and see how many of the ten questions you get right. Ifyou miss a few, you will see that OB isn’t just common sense. If you get them all right, you are wayahead of the game!

Putting Common Sense to the Test

Please answer the following ten questions by noting whether you believe the sentence is true or false.

1. Brainstorming in a group is more effective than brainstorming alone. _____

2. The first five minutes of a negotiation are just a warm-up to the actual negotiation and don’t mattermuch. _____

3. The best way to help someone reach their goals is to tell them to do their best. _____

4. If you pay someone to do a task they routinely enjoy, they’ll do it even more often in the future._____

5. Pay is a major determinant of how hard someone will work. _____

6. If a person fails the first time, they try harder the next time. _____

7. People perform better if goals are easier. _____

8. Most people within organizations make effective decisions. _____

9. Negative people are more likely to quit their jobs when they are unhappy at work. _____

10. Teams with one smart person outperform teams in which everyone is average in intelligence. ______

You may check your answers with your instructor.

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

This book is about people at work. Organizations come in many shapes and sizes. Organizational behavior isthe systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organiza-tions where they work. OB matters for your career, and successful companies tend to employ effective OBpractices. The OB Toolboxes throughout this book are useful in increasing your OB skills now and in the future.

W H A T D O Y O U T H I N K ?

1. Which type of organizations did you have the most experience with? How did that affect yourunderstanding of the issues in this chapter?

2. Which skills do you think are the most important ones for being an effective employee?

3. What are the three key levels of analysis for OB?

4. Have you ever used journaling before? If so, were your experiences positive? Do you think you will usejournaling as a tool in the future?

5. How do you plan on using the OB Toolboxes in this book? Creating a plan now can help to make youmore effective throughout the term.



3. UNDERSTANDING LEARNING AND YOUR LEARNINGSTYLE


1. Understand different dimensions of learning styles.2. Diagnose your own learning style.3. Explore strategies for working with your preferred learning style.

3.1 LearningHave you ever wondered how humans learn? Learning is defined as a relatively permanent change inknowledge or skill produced by experience.[15] Let’s break down this definition to emphasize the keypieces needed to establish that learning has taken place. First, no learning has occurred if it is not last-ing. Second, if a person already knew the content and then took a test and scored 100%, that doesn’t in-dicate learning happened recently; of course, at some point, this person learned the material on the ex-am. Finally, experience can occur in many ways. Hearing about another person's experience, reading abook, or practicing a new skill are all types of experiences. However, as simple as the definition oflearning is, we know that learning is a complex process. Factors affecting whether learning takes placeinclude learner characteristics such as ability, readiness, and motivation to learn. The learning environ-ment and context also matter, such as the location where learning takes place, what needs to be learned,and how similar or dissimilar the new knowledge or skill is to previous learning. Another factor is howoften a learner will use the newly acquired knowledge or skill. For example, bank employees often“overlearn” procedures to be followed during a bank robbery. In other words, they practice repeatedlyeven after acquiring the basic skills because while an actual robbery is relatively rare, and hostages be-ing taken is even more rare, the stakes are high to perform well during one.[16]

Another key aspect when thinking about learning is how much is retained over time and how wecan enhance retention. We do know that the retention of information three days after a meeting orother event is six times more effective when information is presented using a combination of visual andoral modes when compared to only speaking. This makes sense as 83% of human learning takes placevisually for those with intact vision.[17] Retention is also enhanced when learners are active parti-cipants. Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. In-volve me and I learn.” When adult learners are asked to engage in group discussions, practice whatthey’ve learned, and teach it to others, they are actively learning. Conversely, when they listen to a lec-ture, read a textbook, or see a demonstration, they are receiving information more passively. In addi-tion, research shows that individuals absorb more when taking handwritten notes than typing notes onlaptops. The researchers posit that those who take notes by hand spend more time and energy rewritingwhat they hear in a lecture into their own words while those using laptops tend to transcribe the lectureverbatim without absorbing as much of it.[18] Next, we turn our attention to learning styles and theirrole in how individuals learn.



visual learner

One who processesinformation most effectivelyby looking at words anddiagrams.

auditory learner

One who processesinformation most effectivelyby listening or talking.

kinesthetic (tactile) learner

One who processesinformation most effectivelyby actively engaging with thematerial.

3.2 Learning StylesTo maximize your learning in this course and in any learning situation, it’s important to understandwhat type of learner you are. Some people learn better by seeing information. For example, if you no-tice that you retain more information by reading and seeing diagrams and flow charts, you may be avisual learner. If you primarily learn by listening to others such as in lectures, conversations, andvideos, you may be an auditory learner. Finally, if you have a preference for actually doing things andlearning from trial and error, you may be a kinesthetic (tactile) learner. If you are unaware of whatyour primary learning style is, take a moment to diagnose it at the website listed below.

What Is Your Learning Style?

Take the following online learning style quiz to find out what type of learning style you have:

http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles.shtml

Keep in mind that while individuals tend to have a dominant, or primary, learning style, being able to adapt todifferent learning situations is a big plus, so anytime you get a chance to learn in a new way, grab it. The moreyou practice, the better you will become at learning to process information in different ways.




FIGURE 1.5

Source: Image courtesy of Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., Erdogan, B., and Short, J. (2013). Principles of Management. Irvington, NY: FlatWorld Knowledge. Photos © Thinkstock


People tend to have a preferred learning style. Visual learners see things to learn them. Auditory learners hearthings to learn them. Kinesthetic learners do things to learn them.



hypotheses

Tentative guesses or hunchesfor an expected observation,phenomenon, or scientificproblem that can be tested.

variables

Entities that can take ondifferent values.

Surveys

Research tools used to elicitrespondents’ reactions tospecific questions.


1. Were you surprised by your primary learning style? Why or why not?

2. How does your learning style affect the kinds of classes you take?

3. Try out a few of the suggestions for your learning style over the next week and see how they work.

4. Now that you’ve learned more about your own learning style, are there some things you might considerdoing to expand on your other styles? If so, what steps might you take to do this?

4. UNDERSTANDING HOW OB RESEARCH IS DONE


1. Learn the terminology of research.2. Understand the different types of OB research methods used.

4.1 OB Research MethodsOB researchers have many tools they use to discover how individuals, groups, and organizations be-have. Researchers have working hypotheses based on their own observations, readings on the subject,and information from individuals within organizations. Based on these ideas, they set out to under-stand the relationships among different variables. There are a number of different research methodsthat researchers use, and we will discuss a few of these below. Imagine that your manager has asked youto find out if setting goals will help to make the employees at your company more productive. We willcover the different ways you could use research methods to answer this question, impress your boss,and hopefully get a promotion.

Surveys

Surveys are one of the primary methods management researchers use to learn about OB. A basic sur-vey involves asking individuals to respond to a number of questions. The questions can be open-endedor close-ended. An example of an open-ended question that could be used to address your manager’squestion would be to ask employees how they feel about goal setting in relation to productivity, thensummarize your findings. This might work if you have a small organization, but open-ended surveyscan be time consuming to summarize and hard to interpret at a glance. You could get more specific byasking employees a series of close-ended questions in which you supply the response key, such as a rat-ing on a scale of one to five. Today it is easy to create online surveys that quickly compile the resultsautomatically. There are even several free survey tools available online such ashttp://freeonlinesurveys.com/, http://www.surveymonkey.com/, and http://www.surveygizmo.com/,or you can use paper-and-pencil surveys. Both approaches have pros and cons but the key is to matchyour survey technique to the particular sample and research questions involved.

Sample Survey About the Effectiveness of Goal Setting

Instructions: We would like to gather your opinions about different aspects of work. Please answer the follow-ing three questions using the scale below:

Response Scale:

1=Strongly disagree

2=Disagree

3=Neither agree nor disagree

4=Agree

5=Strongly agree



http://freeonlinesurveys.com/

http://www.surveymonkey.com/

http://www.surveygizmo.com/

Field studies

Research conducted in actualorganizations. They mayinclude observation,interviews, surveys, orexperiments.

experimental design

A study having a group thatreceives a treatment and acomparison group thatreceives no treatment.

control group

A group that does not receiveany experimentalmanipulation so it can becompared to a treatmentgroup.

treatment group

A group that receivesexperimental manipulation.

lab study

Research conducted undercontrolled conditions andmay include observation,interviews, surveys, orexperiments.

case studies

In-depth descriptions of asingle industry or company.

generalizability

The likelihood that findings ina given study would befound in another setting orstudy.

Meta-analysis

The process of summarizingresearch findings fromstudies on related topics.

Setting goals at work helps me to focus 1 2 3 4 5

Goal setting is effective in improving performance 1 2 3 4 5

I get more done when I use goal setting 1 2 3 4 5

Regardless of the method you choose to collect your information, the next step is to look at the averageof the responses to the questions and see how the responses stack up. But this still wouldn’t really an-swer the question your boss asked, which is whether using goal setting would help employees be moreeffective on the job. To do this, you would want to conduct a field study.

Field Studies

Field studies are those conducted in actual organizational settings with a population of workers. Mostfield studies involve surveying employees and managers working in organizations. At the same time,compelling evidence comes from field studies that employ an experimental design. Here you wouldassign half the employees at your company to the goal-setting condition and the other half to the con-trol group condition. The control group wouldn’t get any information about goal setting but thetreatment group would. If you found that the treatment group was more effective than the controlgroup, you could tell your boss that goal setting works.

Laboratory Studies

OB researchers are often interested in basic research questions such as “Can we show that goal settingincreases performance on a simple task?” This is how research on goal setting started, and it is also howwe can establish the conditions under which it works more or less effectively. Again, to address this, re-searchers may conduct a lab study, which is a study conducted in artificial situations outside of actualorganizations. Lab studies usually follow an experimental design. You may even have been involved ina lab study during your time at your university. One of the most important concepts to understandwith lab studies is that they give the researcher a great deal of control over the environment they arestudying but do so in a less “realistic” way, since they are not studying real employees in real work set-tings. For example, in a lab study, a researcher might create an artificial job in which “employees” arepaid for each t-shirt folded. Then, the researcher can examine the effects of goal setting by setting a goalfor the experimental group, and not setting goals in the control group, comparing the resulting per-formance levels. While such a study would be interesting for examining the effects of goal setting, it is astudy on students acting as employees for a short period of time and therefore would give us limited in-formation about whether goal setting would work in actual organizations.

Case Studies

Case studies are in-depth descriptions of a single industry or company. Case writers typically employa systematic approach to gathering data and explaining an event or situation in great detail. The be-nefits of case studies are that they provide rich information for drawing conclusions about the circum-stances and people involved in the topics studied. The downside is that it is sometimes difficult to gen-eralize what worked in a single situation at a single organization to other situations and organizations.

Meta-Analysis

Meta-analysis is a technique used by researchers to summarize what other researchers have found ona given topic. This analysis is based on taking observed correlations from multiple studies, weightingthem by the number of observations in each study, and finding out if, overall, the effect holds or not.For example, what is the average relationship between job satisfaction and performance? Researchshows that, looking across 300 studies, the relationship is moderately strong.[19] This is useful informa-tion because for years people had thought that the relationship did not exist, but when all the studies todate were examined together, the original beliefs about the satisfaction–performance relationship de-teriorated. The advantage of meta-analysis is that it gives a more definitive answer to a question than asingle study ever could. The downside is that meta-analysis is only possible if sufficient research hasbeen done on the topic in question.



reliability

The consistency ofmeasurement.

validity

The degree to which ameasure captures what itintends to measure.

correlations

Measures the strength of therelationship between twovariables.

causation

The act of making somethinghappen.

datum

The term that refers to asingle observation.

data

The term used to describemultiple observations and isalways plural (as if you wereusing the word numbers).

4.2 Measurement Issues in OBAnother important thing to understand is the difference between reliability and validity. Reliabilityrefers to the consistency of measurement, whereas validity refers to whether the measure captures whatit is expected to capture. Imagine that you are using a scale to measure how shy a person is. If the ques-tionnaire is administered to the same person at three different times, you would expect the results to bevery highly correlated with each other. If they are, that would mean that you have a reliable scale. Thisis because you would not expect people to have different levels of shyness at different times of the day,or from one day to the next. At the same time, if your measure includes questions about how much youlike watching television, then your measure will have validity problems, given that both shy and outgo-ing people may enjoy watching television. A measure that is not reliable cannot be valid, so you canthink of reliability as a necessary condition for validity.

Finally, much of management research addresses correlations between two concepts rather thanactual causation. Correlation simply means that two things co-vary, but correlation does not equalcausation. For example, ice cream consumption and drowning tend to be correlated over time, but itwould be inaccurate to assume that one causes the other. Instead, there is a third factor here that ex-plains the observed correlation, which is the temperature. Ice cream and swimming pools tend to havemore customers in summer months, explaining the observed correlation. Yet many people claim theirproduct caused a positive outcome when, in fact, the data do not support their claim any more than theexample above. This brings up something that confuses even seasoned researchers. When you haveonly one observation it is called a datum. When you use the word data, it refers to multiple observa-tions, so it is always plural.


OB researchers test hypotheses using different methods such as surveys, field studies, case studies, and meta-analyses. Reliability refers to consistency of the measurement while validity refers to the underlying truth ofthe measurement. It is important to recognize the difference between correlation and causation.


1. Create a hypothesis about people at work. Now that you have one in mind, which method do you thinkwould be most effective in helping you test your hypothesis?

2. Have you used any of the OB research methods before? If not, what can you do to become more familiarwith them?

3. Give an example of a reliable measure.

4. Give an example of a valid measure.

5. How can you know if a relationship is causal or correlational?



Business ethics

When ethical principles areapplied to situations thatarise at work.

5. TRENDS AND CHANGES


1. Understand current challenges for OB.2. Understand current opportunities for OB.

5.1 Challenges and OpportunitiesThere are many trends within the workplace and around the globe that have and will continue to affectthe workplace and your career. We are sure you have noticed many of these trends simply by readingnewspaper headlines. We will highlight some of these trends along with the challenges and opportunit-ies they present for students of organizational behavior.

Ethical Challenges

Business ethics refers to applying ethical principles to situations that arise at work. It feels like it’sbeen one ethical scandal after the other. Enron Corp., AIG, Tyco International, WorldCom, and Hal-liburton Energy Services have all been examples of what can be described in terms ranging from poorjudgment to outright illegal behavior. The immediate response by government has been the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which went into effect in 2002. This act consists of eleven different requirements aimed atgreater accountability, which companies must comply with in terms of financial reporting.



FIGURE 1.6 Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX)

Source: Image courtesy of Dave Ketchen and Jeremy Short, Mastering strategic management, (Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge, 2011).

Unfortunately, while there may be some benefit to businesses from complying with these rules,[20] fewsee this as the long-term solution to dealing with unethical behavior. The challenge is to continue tothink about business ethics on a day-to-day basis and institute cultures that support ethical decisionmaking. The opportunity for organizations to be on the forefront of ethical thinking and actions iswide open. OB research finds that the most important determinant of whether a company acts ethicallyis not necessarily related to the policies and rules regarding ethical conduct but instead whether it has aculture of consistently ethical behavior and if leaders are committed to this ethical behavior.[21]



Employee engagement

The degree to whichemployees are fully involvedin and enthusiastic abouttheir work.

OB Toolbox: Take an Ethics-at-Work Audit

© Thinkstock

< Do you integrate ethics into your day-to-day decisions at work? It’s easy to think about ethics assomething big that you either have or don’t have, but the reality is that ethical decisions are made ornot made each and every day.

< Do you take the “front page” test when making important decisions at work? Thinking about how youwould feel if the decisions you are making at work showed up on the front page of your localnewspaper can help you avoid engaging in questionable behavior.

< Do you role model ethics at work? Seeing others engage in unethical behavior is the start of a slipperyslope when it comes to ethics. Consider the decisions you are making and how they are consistent orinconsistent with how you would like to be seen by others.

< Do you consider if rewards are distributed ethically at work? Situations in which there are “haves” and“have nots” are breeding grounds of unethical behavior. Maintaining pay equity can help keepeveryone more honest.

< Have you held a “risk brainstorm” at work? If you ask those around you if they see any situations that arechallenging ethical behavior, you can uncover some seriously risky situations and avoid them.[22]

Lack of Employee Engagement

Studies suggest that fostering engagement, a concept related to passion, in employees has a significantimpact on the corporate bottom line. Gallup, for instance, has been on the forefront of measuring theimpact of what is called employee engagement. Employee engagement is a concept that is generallyviewed as managing discretionary effort, that is, when employees have choices, they will act in a waythat furthers their organization’s interests. An engaged employee is a person who is fully involved inand enthusiastic about their work. The consulting firm BlessingWhite offers this description of engage-ment and its value: “Engaged employees are not just committed. They are not just passionate or proud.They have a line-of-sight on their own future and on the organization’s mission and goals. They are‘enthused’ and ‘in gear’ using their talents and discretionary effort to make a difference in their employ-er’s quest for sustainable business success.”[23]

Engaged employees are those who are performing at the top of their abilities and happy about it.According to statistics that Gallup has drawn from 300,000 companies in its database, 70% of employ-ees are either “disengaged” or “actively disengaged,” costing an estimated $450 to $550 billion annually.In their global study of engagement, Gallup analyzed findings from nearly 50,000 business units across49 industries and 34 countries and found that overall, engagement was related to higher customer rat-ings, profits, productivity, lower turnover, higher safety, less theft, and higher quality work.[24]

Job satisfaction studies in the United States routinely show job satisfaction ratings of 50–70%. Butone study by the American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive of American workers wenta step further to understand what factors led to job satisfaction.[25] What did the researchers find?

< Only 46% reported satisfaction with the growth and development opportunities offered.< Only 60% reported satisfaction with opportunities to be involved in decision making, problem

solving, and goal setting at work.< Only 40% reported that their employer helps employees develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle.



FIGURE 1.7

A consequence of greater connectivity is thepotential for more work-family spillover andconflict.

© 2010 Jupiterimages Corporation

FIGURE 1.8

In 2005, Moore’s Law, whichpredicted that computingpower would double everytwo years, celebrated itsfortieth anniversary. Moorewent on to cofound Intelwith Robert Noyce.

Source: http://www.intel.com/

pressroom/kits/events/

moores_law_40th/Images_Assets/

Gordon_Moore/

GordonMoore_1_2005.jpg

Technology

Technology has transformed the way work gets done and has created many great op-portunities. The nexus of increasing personal computing power, the Internet, as well asnanotechnology are allowing things to be created that weren’t even imaginable sixtyyears ago. And the rate of technological change is not expected to slow down anytimesoon. Gordon Moore, a cofounder of Intel Corp., shocked the world in 1975 with whatis now termed Moore’s Law, which states that computing power doubles every twoyears. This explains why a three-year-old computer can barely keep up with the latestvideo game you have purchased. As computers get faster, new software is written tocapitalize on the increased computing power. We are also more connected by techno-logy than ever before. For years it has been possible to send and receive e-mails or textmessages with your coworkers and customers regardless of where in the world you are.More than 90 million Americans access their email through a mobile device each dayand Internet users around the world send an estimated 294 billion e-mails every day.[26]

Technology has also brought a great deal of challenges to individuals and organiza-tions alike. To combat the overuse of e-mail, companies such as Intel haveexperimented with ideas such as “no e-mail Fridays,” in which all communication is

done via other communication channels. The technology trend contains challenges fororganizational behavior.

Flattening World

Thomas Friedman’s book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century makes thepoint that the Internet has “flattened” the world and created an environment in which there is a morelevel playing field in terms of access to information. This access to information has led to an increase ininnovation, as knowledge can be shared instantly across time zones and cultures. It has also created in-tense competition, as the speed of business is growing faster and faster all the time. In his book Wiki-nomics, Don Tapscott notes that mass collaboration has changed the way work gets done, howproducts are created, and the ability of people to work together without ever meeting.

There are few barriers to information today, which has created huge opportunities around theglobe. Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape Communications Corporation, notes, “Today, themost profound thing to me is the fact that a fourteen-year-old in Romania or Bangalore or the SovietUnion or Vietnam has all the information, all the tools, all the software easily available to apply know-ledge however they want.”[27] Of course, information by itself is not as important as having the right in-formation at the right time. A major challenge for individuals in the flattened world is learning how toevaluate the quality of the information they find.



FIGURE 1.9

Social responsibility is notjust something organizationsdo at the price of profits.Toms operates as a for-profitcompany but also operates anon-profit subsidiary calledFriends of Toms, which isresponsible for running aunique program. For everypair of shoes sold by Toms, apair of shoes is donated toan impoverished child, withmore than 10 million shoesdonated in fifty-ninecountries.

Source: http://www.flickr.com/

photos/ohnodoom/5202639102

triple bottom line

Evaluating organizationsagainst three performancecriteria including economic,social, and environmentalviability.

Sustainable businesspractices

Practices that meet thecurrent needs of businesseswithout compromising theneeds of future generations.

Sustainability and Green Business Practices

The primary role of for-profit companies is to generate shareholder wealth. More recently, the conceptof the triple bottom line has been gaining popularity. Those subscribing to the triple bottom line be-lieve that beyond economic viability, businesses need to perform well socially and environmentally.While some organizations have embraced the concepts underlying the triple bottom line, businessesare also undergoing a great deal of “greenwashing,” which refers to the marketing of products or pro-cesses as green to gain customers without truly engaging in sustainable business practices. Sustainablebusiness practices are those that meet the present needs without compromising the needs of futuregenerations. The challenge is to reconcile the accountability that publicly owned firms have in generat-ing wealth for their shareholders while attending to the triple bottom line. On the other hand, organiz-ations also have an opportunity to leverage a proactive stance toward innovative processes that can res-ult in even greater profits for their products. For example, sales of the Toyota Prius, which combinescombustion engine efficiency with hybrid electric technology, have been dramatic and have helped pro-pel Toyota to record market share and profits and also spurred other companies to follow suit withtheir own hybrid offerings. An unlikely leader in the sustainability movement is Walmart. Walmarthired Adam Werbach, the former president of the Sierra Club, to help train 1.3 million North Americ-an Walmart employees about sustainability. This program was so successful that it was expandedacross 80 countries. Walmart has also been pressuring suppliers to produce compact fluorescent light-bulbs with less mercury and has slashed the resources needed in packaging by requiring all suppliers tomake packages smaller.[28] In the future, increasing interdependence between businesses, governmentalagencies, not-for-profit organizations, and NGOs is bound to affect change throughout the eco-nomy.[29] In a compelling example of this, ReCORK was founded to annually divert some of the morethan 13 billion used wine corks from landfills starting in 2007. By 2014, they have collected nearly 50million corks. In 2009 they partnered with SOLE, a Canadian footwear company who used the groundused cork to create the soles of new shoes. Additional partners include the Aria resort and casino in LasVegas and American Airlines, which gather and donate their used corks.

Aging Workforce and the Millennial Generation

You have probably heard that the American workforce is aging. Over the next 30 years, 76 million babyboomers will retire, but there will only be 46 million new workers from Generations X and Y enteringthe labor force. This demographic trend creates both challenges and opportunities for organizations.

The aging trend has been predicted for decades. “The number of U.S. workers over the age of 40has increased significantly over the past 30 years. By 2010, more than 51% of the workforce will be 40or older, up almost 20% over 30 years. At the same time, the portion of the workforce aged 25 to 39 willdecline by nearly 3%. The number of workers aged 55 and older will grow from 13% of the labor forcein 2000 to 20% in 2020.”[30] There will be record numbers of retirements, with 10,000 baby boomersentering retirement age every day until 2029 when the last baby boomer will turn 65.[31] Aging work-forces can create great opportunities for industries such as health care, but it can also mean great chal-lenges lie ahead as entire industries related to basic infrastructure face massive retirement projections.For example, everything from air traffic controllers to truck drivers are predicted to be in huge demandas thousands of retiring workers leave these industries at roughly the same time.[32]



FIGURE 1.10 Percentage of LaborForce by Age Group in 2004 compared toProjections for 2020

Source: "Bureau of Labor Statistics Economic Outlook

2010-2010," U.S. Department of Labor, accessed July 20,

3013, http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2012/01/art3full.pdf;

"Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook

2006–2007 edition," U.S. Department of Labor, accessed June

2, 2014, http://www.bls.gov/oco/images/ocotjc03.gif

FIGURE 1.11

A shamrock organizationincludes an equal number ofregular employees,temporary employees, andconsultants and contractors.

Outsourcing

An organization asking anoutside organization toperform functions that couldhave been performed byitself.

Offshoring

Refers to some or all of abusiness process beingmoved from one country toanother country.

The Millennial Generation (which includes those born between 1980 and 2000)differs from previous generations in terms of technology and multitasking as a way oflife. Having never known anything different, this population has technology embeddedin their lives. In addition, they value teamwork, feedback, and challenging work that al-lows them to develop new skills. If you are in this generation or know those who are,you know there is an expectation of immediate interaction.[33] The challenge for organ-izational behavior is to ensure that individuals from different generations communicateeffectively and manage people across generational lines despite different values placedon teamwork, organizational rewards, work-life balance, and desired levels ofinstruction.

The Global Marketplace for Staffing: Outsourcing

Outsourcing has become a way of life for many organizations—especially those basedin the United States that are outsourcing to other countries where labor is relatively in-expensive. Outsourcing refers to having someone outside the formal ongoing organiza-tion doing work previously handled in-house. This practice can involve temporary em-ployees, consultants, or even offshoring workers. Offshoring means sending jobs pre-viously done in one country to another country. Nowhere is there more outsourcingand offshoring than in the software technology industry. A survey of software de-velopers revealed that 94% outsource project work, and when they offshore, the workmost frequently goes to India, Singapore, Russia, and China.[34] Microsoft has been ex-panding their use of employees in Canada for a variety of reasons, such as closer prox-imity to Microsoft’s headquarters in Seattle, Washington, as well as similarity of lan-guage and time zones. Across industries, more than 80% of boards of directors in theUnited States have considered offshore outsourcing,[35] which is consistent with recentsurveys.[36] Charles Handy, author of The Age of Paradox, coined the term shamrock or-ganization, which is an organization comprising one-third regular employees, one-third temporary employees, and one-third consultants and contractors. He predicts

that this is where organizations are headed in the future. The darker side of the changing trend in or-ganization composition revolves around potential unemployment issues as companies move toward ashamrock layout. Fortunately, this shift also presents an opportunity for organizations to staff moreflexibly and for employees to consider the tradeoffs between consistent, full-time work within a singleorganization versus the changing nature of work as a temporary employee, contract worker, or consult-ant—especially while developing a career in a new industry, in which increased exposure to various or-ganizations can help an individual get up to speed in a short amount of time. The challenge for organ-izational behavior is managing teams consisting of different nationalities separated not only by cultureand language but also in time and space.




Trends include ethical challenges, rapid technological change, a flattening world, sustainable business prac-tices, demographic trends, and the global marketplace. A number of trends will influence the way work getsdone today and in the future. Understanding organizational behavior will help you anticipate and adapt tothese changes as a lifelong learner.


1. Share an ethical dilemma you have observed at work or school to someone in your class. What do youthink should have been done differently and why?

2. How has technology and the flattening world personally affected you in the last ten years? Please shareexamples of this.

3. Do you think the sustainability movement in business is a trend that’s here to stay or a business fad? Whyor why not?

4. Do you see the aging (and retiring) workforce as an opportunity or a threat for businesses? How do youthink this will affect your career based on your own generation?

6. MOTIVATION KEY FOR SUCCESS: THE CASE OFXEROX

FIGURE 1.12Anne Mulcahy, Former Xerox Chairman of the Board (left), and Ursula Burns, Xerox CEO (right)

Source: Photo courtesy of Xerox Corporation.

Xerox Corporation is a large multinational corporation. Xerox has approximately $23 billion in annual sales,was founded in 1906, and operates in 180 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, and em-ploys over 140,000 people and has nearly 12,000 active patents. How does a company of such size and mag-nitude effectively manage and motivate employees from diverse backgrounds and experiences? Such com-panies depend on the productivity and performance of their employees. The journey over the last 100 yearshas witnessed many successes and failures. In 2000, Xerox was facing bankruptcy after years of mismanage-ment, piles of debt, and mounting questions about its accounting practices.

Anne Mulcahy turned Xerox around. Mulcahy joined Xerox as an employee in 1976 and moved up the corpor-ate ladder, holding several management positions until she became CEO in 2001. In 2005, Mulcahy wasnamed by Fortune magazine as the second most powerful woman in business. Based on a lifetime of experi-ence with Xerox, she knew that the company had powerful employees who were not motivated when shetook over. Mulcahy believed that among other key business changes, motivating employees at Xerox was akey way to pull the company back from the brink of failure. One of her guiding principles was a belief that inorder to achieve customer satisfaction, employees must be interested and motivated in their work. Mulcahynot only successfully saw the company through this difficult time but also was able to create a stronger andmore focused company.



In 2009, Mulcahy became the chairman of Xerox’s board of directors and passed the torch to Ursula Burns,who became the new CEO of Xerox. Burns became not only the first African American female CEO to head aStandard & Poor’s (S&P) company but also the first woman to succeed another woman as the head of an S&P100 company. Burns is also a lifetime Xerox employee who has been with the company for over 30 years. Shebegan as a graduate intern and was hired full time after graduation. Because of her tenure with Xerox, she hasclose relationships with many of the employees, which provides a level of comfort and teamwork. She de-scribes Xerox as a nice family. She maintains that Mulcahy created a strong and successful business but en-couraged individuals to speak their mind, to not worry about hurting one another’s feelings, and to be morecritical.

Burns explains that she learned early on in her career, from her mentors at Xerox, the importance of managingindividuals in different ways and not intentionally intimidating people but rather relating to them and their in-dividual perspectives. As CEO, she made it clear she wanted to encourage people to get things done, takerisks, and not be afraid of those risks. She motivates her teams by letting them know what her intentions andpriorities are. The correlation between a manager’s leadership style and the productivity and motivation ofemployees is apparent at Xerox, where employees feel a sense of importance and a part of the process neces-sary to maintain a successful and profitable business which handles $421 billion in accounts payable annually.In 2010, Anne Mulcahy retired from her position on the board of directors to pursue new projects. Ursula Burnsis now Chairman and CEO of Xerox.[37]

C A S E D I S C U S S I O N Q U E S T I O N S

1. How do you think Xerox was able to motivate its employees through the crisis it faced in 2000?

2. How does a CEO with such a large number of employees communicate priorities to a worldwideworkforce?

3. How might Ursula Burns encourage employees to take calculated risks?

4. Both Anne Mulcahy and Ursula Burns were lifetime employees of Xerox. How does an organization attractand keep individuals for such a long period of time?

7. CONCLUSIONThis chapter is designed to familiarize you with the concept of organizational behavior. We havecovered methods organizations might use to address issues related to the way people behave at work. Inaddition, you should now be familiar with the large number of factors, both within an individual andwithin the environment, that may influence a person’s behaviors and attitudes. In the coming years, so-ciety is likely to see a major shift in the way organizations function, resulting from rapid technologicaladvances, social awareness, and cultural blending. OB studies hope to enhance an organization’s abilityto cope with these issues and create an environment that is mutually beneficial to the company as wellas its employees.



8. EXERCISES

I N D I V I D U A L E X E R C I S E

Create an Action Plan for Developing Your OB Skills

1. Hopefully you have already completed reading this chapter. If not, wait until you’ve done so to completethis individual exercise.

2. If you have not done so already, please take the learning styles survey athttp://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles.shtml.

3. In addition, please be sure you have reviewed the table of contents for this organizational behaviortextbook.

4. What themes do you see? How do you think these topics affect your interactions with others? How mightyour learning style affect how you’ll approach this course? Have you ever considered journaling as atechnique for self-improvement and reflection?

5. Now, write down five action steps that you plan to take as you work through this book. Refer to thesesteps throughout the term and modify them as needed.

G R O U P E X E R C I S E

Best Job–Worst Job

1. Think about the best and worst jobs you have ever had. If you have never had a job, think of a schoolproject instead. What made the job or project great or horrible?

2. Now get into a small group of students and share your experience with them. Listen to what others aresaying and see if you see any themes emerge. For example, what are the most common features of thebest jobs? What are the most common features of the worst jobs?




1.

2.3.4.

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8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

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21.

22.

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37.

ENDNOTES

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Kirkpatrick, D. (1998). The second coming of Apple. Fortune, 138, 90.

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Adapted from ideas contained in Tom Peters, "Brand you survivalkit," FastCompany, August 31, 2007, http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/83/playbook.html; Meghan M. Biro, "5 steps to empowering the brandyou," Forbes, February 24, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/meghanbiro/2013/02/24/5-steps-to-empowering-the-brand-you/.

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Case written by Talya Bauer, Berrin Erdogan, and Carlene Reynolds to accompanyTalya Bauer, and Berrin Erdogan, Organizational Behavior, 2nd Edition, (WashingtonDC: Flat World Knowledge, 2015). Partially based on ideas and information containedin N. C. Tompkins, "Employee satisfaction leads to customer service," AllBusiness, ac-cessed June 2, 2014, http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/341288-1.html; "50 most powerful women," Fortune, accessed June 2, 2014, ht-tp://money.cnn.com/popups/2006/fortune/mostpowerfulwomen/2.html; "Profile:Anne M. Mulcahy," Forbes, accessed June 2, 2014, http://people.forbes.com/profile/anne-m-mulcahy/19732; Lance Whitney, "Anne Mulcahy to retire as Xerox chairman,"CNET News, accessed June 2, 2014, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-20001412-92.html; Adam Bryant, "Xerox’s new chief tries to redefine itsculture," New York Times, accessed June 2, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/21/business/21xerox.html?pagewanted=1&8dpc; Xerox at a glance. Retrieved June2, 2014 from http://www.xerox.com/about-xerox/company-facts/enus.html



http://www.litera.co.uk/t/NDk1MDA/

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0342.pdf

http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0342.pdf