Chapter 1: Organizational Behaviour

Question 1

Incorporating OB principles importance

Answer 1

For one, companies known as good places to work have been found to generate superior performance from their employees
Second, developing managers’ interpersonal skills helps organizations attract and keep high-performing employees, which is important because outstanding employees are always in short supply and costly to replace.
Third, there are strong associations between the quality of workplace relationships and employee job satisfaction, stress, and turnover.
Finally, increasing the OB element in organizations can foster social responsibility awareness.

Question 2

Organizational behaviour (OB)

Answer 2

field of study that investigates the impact individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of using such knowledge to improve an organization’s effectiveness.

Question 3

OB studies three determinants of behaviour in organizations

Answer 3

1) Individuals
2) Groups
3) and structure

Question 4

OB Core Topics

Answer 4

Motivation

Leader behaviour and power

Interpersonal communication

Group structure and processes

Attitude development and perception

Change processes

Conflict and negotiation

Work design

Question 5

Scientific Study

Answer 5

A methodology used to generate and confirm knowledge. It consists of generating hypotheses and empirically testing them using methods that ensure the objective reliability and validity of the results

Question 6

Evidence-based Management (EBM)

Answer 6

The basing of managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence

Question 7

Intuition

Answer 7

A gut feeling not necessarily supported by research

Question 8

Big data

Answer 8

Extensive use of statistical compilation and analysis
(A manager who uses data to define objectives, develop theories of causality, and test those theories can determine which employee activities are relevant to the objectives)

Question 9

OB behavioural disciplines

Answer 9

Psychology, social psychology, sociology, anthropology, and, increasingly, political science and neuroscience.

Question 10

Psychology (OB discipline)

Answer 10

Science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behaviour of humans and other animals
(More recently, their contributions have expanded to include learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee-selection techniques, work design, and job stress.)

Question 11

Social Psychology (OB discipline)

Answer 11

Focuses on people’s influences on one another

contribute to measuring, understanding, and changing attitudes; identifying communication patterns; and building trust

Question 12

Sociology (OB discpline)

Answer 12

The study of people in relation to their social environment or culture
(sociologists have studied organizational culture, formal organization theory and structure, organizational technology, communications, power, and conflict.)

Question 13

Anthropology (OB discpline)

Answer 13

The study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.
(Much of our current understanding of organizational culture, organizational environments, and differences among national cultures is a result of the work of anthropologists or those using their methods.)

Question 14

Political science (OB discpline)

Answer 14

The study of systems of government but also political behaviours and activities.
(contribute to our understanding of the government regulation of industry, strategic mergers and acquisitions, group behaviour and decision making, public relations, and the use of personal-influence tactics and power plays within organizations.)

Question 15

Neuroscience (OB discipline)

Answer 15

The study of the structure and function of the nervous system and brain.
(impact of hormone levels on risk-taking in business contexts, the influence of pheromones on team behaviours, and the underlying cognitive structures and neural processes that contribute to inadvertent prejudice and associated skill discounting and underutilization of workers.)

Question 16

bounded rationality

Answer 16

which states that decision making is influenced not only by rational assessment but also by cognitive limitations that can result in subconscious biases and inaccurate risk assessments.

Question 17

institutional theory

Answer 17

which focuses on how norms, rules, and routines become entrenched over time and evolve into authoritative guidelines that regulate behaviour, sometimes continuing to be followed even after circumstances change and they become less functional.

Question 18

Contingency Variables

Answer 18

Situational factors: variables that moderate the relationship between two or more other variable

Question 19

Employed

Answer 19

working for a for-profit or nonprofit company, an organization, or an individual, either for money and/or benefits, with established expectations for performance and compensation

Question 20

Underemployed/underutilized:

Answer 20

working in a position or with responsibilities that are below one’s educational or experience attainment level, or working less than full-time when one wants full-time employment

Question 21

Re-employed:

Answer 21

refers to either employees who were dismissed by a company and rehired by the same company, or to employees who left the workforce (were unemployed) and found new employment

Question 22

Unemployed/jobless:

Answer 22

currently not working; may be job-seeking, either with or without government benefits/assistance, either with or without severance pay from a previous job, either new to the workforce or terminated from previous employment, either short-term unemployed (months) or long-term/chronic unemployed (years)

Question 23

Entrepreneur:

Answer 23

one who has ended his or her career in a profession, either voluntarily by choice or involuntarily by an employer’s mandate

Question 24

Job seeking:

Answer 24

currently unemployed; actively looking for a job, either with or without government benefits from previous job or from disability/need, either with or without severance pay from previous job, either new to the workforce or terminated from previous employment

Question 25

Furloughed:

Answer 25

similar to a layoff; an employer-required work stoppage, temporary (weeks up to a month, usually); pay is often suspended during this time, though the person retains employment status with the company

Question 26

Laid off:

Answer 26

can be a temporary employer-required work stoppage, usually without pay, but is more often a permanent termination from the company in which the employee is recognized to be not at fault

Question 27

Full-time:

Answer 27

hours for full-time employment are established by companies, generally more than 30 hours per week in a set schedule, sometimes with salary pay and sometimes with hourly pay, often with a benefit package greater than that for the part-time employment category

Question 28

Part-time:

Answer 28

hours for full-time employment are established by companies, generally less than 30 hours per week in a set schedule, often with hourly pay, often with a benefit package less than that for the full-time employment category

Question 29

Flex-time:

Answer 29

an arrangement in which the employee and employer create nonstandard working hours, which may be a temporary or permanent schedule; may be an expectation for a number of hours worked per week

Question 30

Job share:

Answer 30

an arrangement in which two or more employees fill one job, generally by splitting the hours of a full-time position that do not overlap

Question 31

Contingent:

Answer 31

the workforce of outsourced workers (including professional service firms, specialized experts, and business consultants), these employees are paid hourly or by the job and do not generally receive any company benefits and are not considered as part of the company; contingent workers may be also temporary employees or independent contractors

Question 32

Independent contractor:

Answer 32

an entrepreneur in essence, but often a specialist professional who does not aspire to create a business but who provides services or goods to a company

Question 33

Temporary:

Answer 33

individuals who may be employed directly by the organization or through an employment agency/temporary agency; their hours may be fixed per week or vary, they do not generally receive any company benefits, and they are not considered part of the company; they are employed either for a short duration or as a trial for an organization’s position openings

Question 34

Reduced hours:

Answer 34

reduction in the normal employee’s work schedule by the employer, sometimes as a measure to retain employees/reduce layoffs in economic downturns as in Germany’s Kurzarbeit program, which provides government subsidies to keep workers on the job at reduced hours; employees are only paid for the time they work

Question 35

Intern:

Answer 35

short-term employment, often with an established term, designed to provide practical training to a pre-professional, either with or without pay

Question 36

Anchored (office/cubicle):

Answer 36

an employee with an assigned office, cubicle, or desk space

Question 37

Floating (shared space):

Answer 37

an employee with a shared space workplace and no assigned working area

Question 38

Virtual:

Answer 38

an employee who works through the Internet and is not connected with any office location

Question 39

Flexible:

Answer 39

an employee who is connected with an office location but may work from anywhere

Question 40

Work from home:

Answer 40

an employee who is set up by the company to work from an office at home

Question 41

Local:

Answer 41

employees who work in one established location

Question 42

Expatriate:

Answer 42

employees who are on extended international work assignments with the expectation that they will return (repatriate) after an established term, usually a year or more; either sent by corporate request or out of self-initiated interest

Question 43

Short-term assignee:

Answer 43

employees on international assignments longer than business trips yet shorter than typical corporate expatriate assignments, usually 3 to 12 months

Question 44

Flexpatriate:

Answer 44

employees who travel for brief assignments across cultural or national borders, usually 1 to 2 months

Question 45

International business traveller:

Answer 45

employees who take multiple short international business trips for 1 to 3 weeks

Question 46

Visa employee:

Answer 46

an employee working outside of his or her country of residence who must have a work visa for employment in the current country

Question 47

Union/nonunion employee:

Answer 47

an employee who is a member of a labour union, often by trade, and subject to its protections and provisions, which then negotiates with management on certain working condition issues; or an employee who works for a nonunion facility or who sometimes elects to stay out of membership in a unionized facility

Question 48

Salary:

Answer 48

employee compensation based on a full-time workweek, in which the hours are generally not kept on a time clock but where it is understood that the employee will work according to job needs

Question 49

Hourly:

Answer 49

employee compensation for each hour worked, often recorded on time sheets or by time clocks

Question 50

Overtime:

Answer 50

for hourly employees, compensation for hours worked that are greater than the standard workweek and paid at an hourly rate determined by law

Question 51

Bonus:

Answer 51

compensation in addition to standard pay, usually linked to individual or organizational performance

Question 52

Contract:

Answer 52

pre negotiated compensation for project work, usually according to a schedule as the work progresses

Question 53

Time-off:

Answer 53

either paid or unpaid; negotiated time off according to the employment contract (including vacation time, sick leave, and personal days) and/or given by management as compensation for time worked

Question 54

Benefits:

Answer 54

generally stated in the employment contract or the Human Resources Employee Handbook; may include health insurance plans, savings plans, retirement plans, discounts, and other options available to employees at various types of employment

Question 55

Workforce diversity

Answer 55

The concept that organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and inclusion of other diverse groups

Question 56

Service employees

Answer 56

include technical support representatives, fast-food counter workers, sales clerks, nurses, automobile repair technicians, consultants, financial planners, and flight attendants.

Question 57

positive organizational scholarship

Answer 57

The study of how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential

Question 58

ethical dilemmas

Answer 58

Situations in which members of organizations are required to define right or wrong conduct

Question 59

ethical choices

Answer 59

Decisions made on the basis of ethical criteria, including the outcomes of the decision, the rights of those affect, and the equitable distribution of benefits and costs.

Question 60

Model

Answer 60

An abstraction of reality; simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon

Question 61

three types of variables

Answer 61

(inputs, processes, and outcomes)

Question 62

three levels of analysis

Answer 62

(individual, group, and organizational)