Chapter 1: Introduction to Organizational Behavior

Question 1

Management Theory

Answer 1

A collection of understandings and findings that help managers best support their teams and goals

Question 2

In addition to advances in technology, ________ was a large motivation in the development of management theory during The Industrial Revolution.

Answer 2

Productivity

Question 3

Scientific Management Theory

Answer 3

• each task should be completed as efficiently as possible
• everyone should be assigned a particular job based on their skills and abilities and must be evaluated based on the quantity and quality of their work
• It is not fair or cost-effective to pay every employee the same amount, regardless of their output.
• managers strictly manage and employees simply work

Question 4

Administrative Management Theory

Answer 4

• focuses on the organizational structure of a company as a whole
• ensuring each employee had only one direct manager to report to
• healthy manager-employee relationship
• everyone in a company should be aligned by organizational goals

Question 5

Bureaucratic Management Theory

Answer 5

• bureaucracy meant carefully developing and spelling out company objectives and divisions of labor.
• developing a hierarchy of command within the company
• supporting and developing employees
• increased use of technology could have a negative impact on a company’s culture.
• extremely important to hire based on skill and, just as importantly, personality

Question 6

Human Relations Management Theory

Answer 6

• known as The Hawthorne Effect
• centered around human interactions and relationships
• highlighted the importance of individual and group dynamics

Question 7

General Systems Theory

Answer 7

• Humans are most healthy and functional when all aspects of their being are working together effectively.
• external factors can prove to be toxic to an environment
• negativity and other toxic outlooks can have a harmful effect on motivation and performance at all levels in an organization

Question 8

X&Y Management Theory

Answer 8

• all managers can be grouped into two categories X & Y
• Theory X managers have a negative view of their employees and believe that employees need to be forced or coaxed into working (micromanaged)
• Theory Y managers believe that employees are inherently motivated to work (focus on a team versus independent work)
• All managers had to do was to provide monetary incentive plans, ensure job security, and provide good working conditions.
• This theory overlooks and oversimplifies too many aspects

Question 9

When was “Organizational Behavior” Developed?

Answer 9

Since the 1970s, organizational behavior has developed into its own unique field covering a wide variety of topics for individual and group relations within organizations.

Question 10

How is management theory connected to organizational behavior?

Answer 10

Management Theory established the foundation for Organizational Behavior.

Question 11

Organizational Behavior

Answer 11

• the study of how human behavior affects an organization.
• more psychological approach
• by understanding people, you can better understand an organization
• behavior affects an organization and an organization affects behavior.
• tends to be more theoretically oriented and at the micro level (as opposed to applied and/ or macro level) see figure 1.2 on page 16

Question 12

What are the three levels of influence

Answer 12

• The Individual
• The Group
• The Organization

Question 13

The Individual

Answer 13

• Each individual acts differently which affects group dynamics and the organization as a whole.
• If there are a lot of happy and efficient individuals, the work environment will be an efficient and productive one.
• If there are a lot of negative and disgruntled individuals, it can create a toxic environment.

Question 14

The Group

Answer 14

• any groups within an organization (regardless of size)

- individuals can affect a group and a group can affect an organization

Question 15

The Organization

Answer 15

generally happier

• made up of individuals and groups
• the organization impacts the individual and group behavior and that individual and group behavior impacts an organization

Question 16

Telecommuting

Answer 16

A work arrangement that allows employees to work remotely, often from home, while completing their tasks. (+ means advantage, - means disadvantage):
+allows people to work from anywhere, anytime
+often self-motivated and generally happier
+can save a lot of money on office space
-rely on other electronic methods to ensure their team is meeting deadlines
-cuts back on daily interactions with other employees
-feel isolated and struggle with the lack of face-to-face communication.

Question 17

Sustainability

Answer 17

• The ability to successfully perform tasks in the present, while also doing what is necessary to protect the future
• Change towards sustainability starts with the organizational level but is executed at the individual and group level.
• Organizational behavior needs to change on all three levels in order to be successful.

Question 18

Outsourcing

Answer 18

-the practice of hiring external assets to provide services to help perform job functions typically done by internal employees
+companies can save $
-multiple backgrounds and cultures

Question 19

Baby Boomers

Answer 19

• born between 1946 and 1964
• working the longest
• often expect others to value their input and opinions
• believe that long hours and that integrity in the workforce should be top priority
• “live to work” and place extreme value on career advancement and promotion

Question 20

Generation X

Answer 20

• born between 1965 and 1981
• been through a roller-coaster of economic events
• work to live” mentality and value their life outside of the workplace
• while having a good work ethic, their work-life balance is of highest importance to them

Question 21

Generation Y

Answer 21

• born between 1982 and 1997 (Millennials)
• grew up with two working parents and a to-do list constantly on display throughout their childhood
• adept at the ability to multitask and also values work-life balance.
• tends to be very goal-oriented and efficient

Question 22

Generation Z

Answer 22

• has never known a world before technology
• “always on” world where technology is readily available and used on a regular basis
• extremely tech savvy
• Generation Z is starting to enter into the workforce with the oldest members turning 22-years-old in 2019

Question 23

Three Major Dimensions of Management

Answer 23

• technical,
• conceptual
• human

Question 24

Technical Dimension of Management

Answer 24

consists of the manager’s functional expertise in their field

Question 25

Conceptual Dimension of Management

Answer 25

Conceptual skills allow a manager to visualize the entire organization and work with ideas and the relationships between abstract concepts.

Question 26

Human Dimension of Management

Answer 26

Human skills, also called human relation skills, require communication and attention to relationships with others

Question 27

The “One-eigth” situation

Answer 27

The idea that about 1/2 of managers really believe and buy into the importance of the human side of the enterprise. About 1/2 of those who believe this do something about it (pay for performance, self managed teams, 360 degree reviews). About 1/2 of those who do something about it stick with the approach. So 1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 = 1/8

Question 28

Reasons why managers do not fully commit to the approach - implementation and sustainability (Knowing - Doing Gap)

Answer 28

1) Hollow talk
2) Debilitating fear
3) Destructive internal competition
4) Poorly designed and complex measurement system
5) Mindless reliance on precedent

Question 29

Hawthorne Studies

Answer 29

Page 9 - 11 read the study
Summary: A series of studies done to examine the relationship between light intensity on the shop floor and employee productivity. The study did not prove anything but did make some key observations on human behavior (accidental discovery).

Question 30

Internal validity

Answer 30

A study has internal validity if there are no plausible explanations of the reported results other than those reported.

Question 31

External validity

Answer 31

A study has external validity when it is applicable to a wide range of people and situations. Field studies tend to have better external validity than lab studies because the study takes place in a real setting.

Question 32

Cognitive Framework

Answer 32

The cognitive approach emphasizes the positive and freewill aspects of human behavior and uses concepts such as expectancy, demand, and intention. Cognitions precede behavior and constitute input into the persons thinking, perception, problem-solving and information processing.

Question 33

Behavioristic framework

Answer 33

Historical roots in Pavlov and Watson. Stimulus-response explanation of human behavior. A stimulus elicits a response (S-R). Later Skinner’s work felt that early behaviorists helped explain respondent behaviors but not complex operant behaviors. The notion of the R-S was also important - the organism has to function in the environment so it will respond accordingly to receive the desired consequence. The behavioristic approach is environmentally based, meaning cognitive processes such as thinking, expectancies, and perception may exist but are not needed to predict and control or manage behavior.

Question 34

Social Cognitive Theory / Framework

Answer 34

• The cognitive approach has been accused of being mentalistic, and the behavioristic approach has been accused of being deterministic.
• Incorporates both cognitive and behavioristic concepts and principles. Perhaps the most unifying and comprehensive foundation for an evidenced-based approach to organizational behavior. It recognizes that each can make an important contribution to the understanding, prediction, and control of organizational behavior.
• This social cognitive process can be a unifying theoretical framework for both cognition and behaviorism.

Question 35

Social Learning

Answer 35

Social learning takes the position that behavior can be best explained in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction among cognitive, behavioral, and environmental determinants.

Question 36

Basic Human Capabilities According to Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)

Answer 36

Page 19

1) Symbolising
2) Forethought
3) Observational
4) Self-regulatory
5) Self-reflective

Question 37

Meta-analysis

Answer 37

Meta-analysis is based on the simple idea that if one study shows that a management technique doesn’t work and another study shows that it does, an average of those results is probably the best estimate of how well that
management practice works (or doesn’t work).

Question 38

Edward Tolman

Answer 38

Tolman believed behavior to be the appropriate unit of analysis, he felt that behavior is purposive, that it is directed toward a goal.
For example, animals learned to behave as if they expected food when a certain cue appeared.

Question 39

environmental or contextual

dimensions for organizational behavior

Answer 39

1. Globalization
2. diversity
3. ethics

Question 40

Human Capital

Answer 40

what you know—education, experience, skills

Question 41

Social Capital

Answer 41

who you know—networks, connections, friends

Question 42

positive psychological capital

Answer 42

who you are in terms of confidence, hope, optimism, resiliency, and, more importantly, who you can become, i.e., one’s possible authentic self

Question 43

Human Resource of an organization includes:

Answer 43

1. Human Capital
2. Social Capital
3. positive psychological capital

Question 44

Paradigm shift

Answer 44

• from the Greek paradeigma, which translates as “model, pattern, or example.
• is now used to mean a broad model, a framework, a
  way of thinking, or a scheme for understanding reality

Question 45

James Brian Quinn offers the “intelligent enterprise” as new paradigm

Answer 45

the organization of enterprises and effective strategies will depend more on development and deployment of intellectual resources than on the management of physical assets.

Question 46

Jeff Pfeffer’s “3 Its”

Answer 46

1. Believe it
2. Do it
3. Stick with it

Question 47

Organizational Theory

Answer 47

tends to be more theoretically oriented and at the macro level of analysis - see figure 1.2 on page 16

Question 48

Organization Development

Answer 48

tends to be more application oriented and at the macro level of analysis

Question 49

Human resource management

Answer 49

tends to be more application oriented and at the micro level of analysis