What Is Organizational Behavior free essay sample

Successful managers and entrepreneurs recognize that: a. technical knowledge is all that is needed for success. b. interpersonal skills are not important. c. technical skills are necessary, but insufficient, for succeeding in management. d. an understanding of human behavior does not impact effectiveness (c; Challenging; pp. 2-3) What Managers Do 2. Which one of the following is not considered an organization? a. church b. university c. a military unit d. all 45-year-old adults in a community (d; Easy; p. 4) 3. Workforce diversity means that organizations are becoming more homogeneous in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. (False; Moderate; p. 15) 103. People must set aside their cultural values when they come to work. (False; Moderate; p. 15) 104. 46 percent of the U. S. labor force are women. (True; Challenging; p. 15) 105. Diversity, if positively managed, can increase creativity and innovation in organizations. (True; Easy; p. 15) 106. A philosophy of management that is driven by the constant attainment of customer satisfaction through the continuous improvement of all organizational processes is termed â€Å"reengineering. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is Organizational Behavior? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (False; Moderate; p. 16) 107. Quality management has an intense focus on the customer and a goal of employee empowerment. (True; Easy; p. 16) 108. Putting employees in charge of what they do is termed â€Å"reengineering. † (False; Easy; p. 16) 109. Process reengineering asks, â€Å"How would we do things around here if we were starting over from scratch? † (True; Easy; p. 16) 110. In tight labor markets, those managers who don’t understand human behavior risk having no one to manage. (True; Moderate; p. 17) 111. An employee who is empowered is given greater opportunity to determine how she does her job. True; Moderate; p. 19) 112. There’s a blurring between the roles of managers and workers. (True; Moderate; p. 20) 113. Managing today is described as long periods of ongoing change, interrupted occasionally by short periods of stability. (True; Moderate; p. 21) 114. Today’s managers and employees must learn to cope with temporariness – learning to live with flexibility, spontaneity, and unpredictability. (True; Moderate; p. 19) 115. OB has little to offer in stimulating employee creativity and tolerance for change. (False; Challenging; p. 20) 116. Your firm is experiencing lower than normal pro fits. You realize that you should write off some questionable accounts, but your supervisor suggests that you wait until next year. This is a modern example of an ethical dilemma. (True; Easy; p. 21) Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model 117. There are three levels of analysis in OB, and, as we move from the individual level to the group level to the organization systems level, we add systematically to our understanding of behavior in organizations. (True; Challenging; p. 22) 118. The key factors you want to explain or predict in a model are termed independent variables. (False; Moderate; p. 23) 119. Typical dependent variables in organizational behavior are productivity, absenteeism, and job satisfaction. (True; Moderate; p. 23) 120. Organizational behavior models generally assume job satisfaction to be an independent variable. (False; Moderate; p. 23) 121. An organization is productive if it achieves its goals and does so by transferring inputs to outputs at the lowest cost. (True; Moderate; p. 23) 122. The annual cost of absenteeism in the U. S. is estimated at over $40 billion. (True; Challenging; p. 24) 123. A conservative estimate of the cost of recruiting, selecting, and training an employee is about $25,000. False; Challenging; p. 24) 124. Reasonable levels of employee-initiated turnover facilitate organizational flexibility and employee independence. (True; Challenging; p. 24) 125. The difference between the amount of rewards workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive is termed job satisfaction. (True; Moderate; p. 25) 126. Job satisfaction represent s an attitude rather than a behavior. (True; Moderate; p. 25) 127. Independent group level variables studied in organizational behavior include perception, learning, and motivation. (False; Moderate; p. 25) As part of the program, you should expect to see all of the following except: a. improvement in quality. b. empowerment of employees. c. emphasis on individual achievement. d. accurate measurement. (c; Moderate; p. 16) 138. You should expect your job to change in which of the following ways? a. more imposed rules from management b. more measurement of performance variables c. more free time d. less real employee power (b; Moderate; p. 6) Application of Developing an OB Model Allison and Gail both are studying for a final exam. Both students have a goal of making a grade of 91 or better. Gail studied 6 hours and made a grade of 92. Allison studied for 9 hours and also made a grade of 92. 139. Which of the students was effective? a. only Gail b. only Allison c. neither Gail nor Allison d. both Gail and Allison (d; Moderate; p. 23) 140. Which of the following statements is true? Organizing includes the determination of what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made. The leading function involves motivating employees, directing activities of others, selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts among members. Controlling involves monitoring, comparing, and potential correcting to get the organization back on track. 143. Why is it important to replace intuition with systematic study in our attempts to understand behavior within organizations? Pages 8-10) It is important to replace intuition with systematic study in our attempts to understand behavior within organizations to help uncover important facts and relationships. This will provide a base from which more accurate predictions of behavior can be made. That is, we can improve our predictive ability by replacing intuitive opinions with a more systematic approach. Systematic study looks at r elationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and basing conclusions on scientific evidence. This helps to explain and predict behavior. 144. How have the fields of psychology and sociology contributed to our understanding of organizational behavior? (Page 12) Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and change the behavior of humans. Contributions have been made by learning theorists, personality theorists, counseling psychologists, and industrial and organizational psychologists. Contributions have been made in learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, motivation, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee selection techniques, work design, and job stress. Sociology studies people in relation to their fellow human beings. The greatest contributions by sociologists have been in the study of group behavior in organizations, group dynamics, design of work teams, organizational culture, formal organization theory, organizational structure, organizational technology, communications, power, and conflict. 145. How does globalization affect a manager’s people skills? (Page 14) Globalization affects a manager’s people skills in at least two ways. First, managers are increasingly likely to find themselves in a foreign assignment. Once there, it will be necessary to manage a work force that is likely to be very different in needs, aspirations, and attitudes from the ones managed back home. Second, managers are going to find themselves working with bosses, peers, and other employees who were born and raised in different cultures. To work effectively with these people, managers will need to understand their culture, how it has shaped them, and how to adapt the management style to their differences. 146. Explain the term â€Å"workforce diversity. † (Page 15) Workforce diversity means that organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. It also includes the physically disabled, gays and lesbians, and the elderly. 147. What is the difference between effectiveness and efficiency? (Page 25) Productivity implies a concern for both effectiveness and efficiency. A business firm is effective when it attains its sales or market share goals, but its productivity also depends on achieving those goals efficiently. Popular measures of organizational efficiency include return on investment, profit per dollar of sales, and output per hour. 148. Discuss the U. S. labor shortage. (Page 17) The U. S. labor shortage is a function of two factors – birth rates and abor participation rates. The problem becomes severe around 2006, when the major exodus of Boomers from the workplace begins. New entrants to the workforce from foreign countries will not do much to correct the supply shortage. While women provided a new supply of talented and skilled workers, this source has now been tapped. The combination of the smaller Gen-X population, the already high participation rate of women in the work force, and early retirements will lead to a significantly smaller future labor pool from which employers can hire. MEDIUM LENGTH DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 49. Briefly discuss three of the challenges facing contemporary managers. (Pages 14-16) Three challenges that managers are facing today are globalization, managing workforce diversity, and improving quality and productivity. Organizations are no longer constrained by national borders. Globalization affects a manager’s people skills in at least two ways. First, you are likely to find yourself in a foreign assignment managing people from different cultures. Second, you are likely to work with bosses, peers, and other employees wh o were born and raised in different cultures. One of the biggest challenges is adapting to people who are different. This is workforce diversity. Whereas globalization focuses on differences between people from different countries, workforce diversity addresses differences among people within given countries. More managers are having to improve their organization’s productivity and the quality of the products and services they offer. Toward quality and productivity, they are implementing programs such as quality management ad process reengineering – programs that require extensive employee involvement. 150. Explain quality management and process reengineering. Pages 16-17) Quality management and process reengineering help improve quality and productivity in organizations. Quality management is driven by the constant attainment of customer satisfaction through the continuous improvement of all organizational processes. It has implications for OB because it requires employees to rethink what they do and become more involved in workplace decisions. Process reengineering asks managers to reconsider how work would be done and their organization structured if they were starting over. 151. What independent and dependent variables are usually identified for construction of an OB model? Pages 23-26) Dependent variables are the key factors that you want to explain or predict and that are affected by some other factor. Scholars have historically emphasized productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction. Today, organizational citizenship has been added to this list. The independent variables are divided into individual-level, group-level, and organization systems level variables. The individual-level variables include biographical characteristics, ability, values, attitudes, personality, emotions, perception, individual decision making, learning, and motivation. Group-level variables include communication, leadership, power, and politics. Organization systems level variables include structure, work processes, human resource policies, and practices. COMPREHENSIVE ESSAYS 152. Discuss Mintzberg’s ten different roles. Group them as being primarily concerned with interpersonal relationships, the transfer of information, and decision making. (Exh. 1-1; Pages 4-5) Mintzberg identified ten managerial roles. The interpersonal roles include figurehead, leadership, and liaison roles. Performing ceremonial and symbolic duties is the figurehead role. The leadership role includes hiring, training, motivating, and disciplining employees. The liaison role involves contacting outsiders who provide the manager with information. The information roles include monitor, disseminator, and spokesperson. Collecting information from organizations and institutions outside their own is the monitor role. The disseminator role involves acting as a conduit to transmit information to organizational members. The spokesperson role occurs when managers represent their organization to outsiders. Decisional roles include entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator. In the entrepreneur role, managers initiate and oversee new projects that will improve their organization’s performance. As disturbance handlers, managers take corrective action in response to unforeseen problems. As resource allocators, managers are responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary resources. Managers perform a negotiator role, in which they discuss issues and bargain with other units to gain advantages for their own unit. 153. Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science built upon contributions from a number of different disciplines. What are these disciplines and what are the contributions of each discipline? Be complete in your response and include five different behavioral science disciplines. (Exh. 1-3; Pages 11-12) Organizational behavior has been built upon the contributions of psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. Psychology has contributed to 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. Sociology has contributed through the study of formal and complex organizations – including group dynamics, design of work teams, organizational culture, formal organization theory and structure, organizational technology, communications, power, and conflict. Social psychology has contributed in the areas of measuring, understanding, and changing attitudes; communication patterns; building trust; the ways in which group activities can satisfy needs; and group decision-making processes. Anthropology has contributed to an understanding of organizational culture, organizational environments, and differences between national cultures. Political science has contributed to an understanding of structuring of conflict, allocation of power, and how people manipulate power for individual self-interest. 154. How have the roles of managers and workers been blurred? (Pages 20-21) The roles of managers and workers have been blurred as the relationship between the two has been reshaped. Managers are being called coaches, advisers, sponsors, or facilitators in some organizations. Employees are now called associates. Decision making is being pushed down to the operating level, where workers are being given the freedom to make choices about schedules and procedures and to solve work-related problems. Managers are going considerably further by allowing employees full control of their work. More self-managed teams are being used where workers operate largely without bosses and managers are empowering employees. 155. What is an ethical dilemma? How are organizations responding to these dilemmas? (Pages 21-22) An ethical dilemma is a situation in which employees are required to define right and wrong conduct. Dilemmas include whether to blow the whistle, whether they should follow orders with which they don’t personally agree, whether they should give an inflated performance evaluation to an employee whom they like, knowing that such an evaluation could save that employee’s job, or whether they should allow themselves to play politics in the organization if it will help their career advancement. These ethical dilemmas result from the blurring of the line differentiating right from wrong. Managers and their organizations are responding to this problem from a number of directions. They are writing and distributing codes of ethics to guide employees through ethical dilemmas. They are offering seminars, workshops, and training programs to try to improve ethical behaviors. They are also using in-house advisors to provide assistance and they are creating protection mechanisms for employees who reveal internal unethical practices. 156. Define turnover. Why is it of concern to organizations? (Page 24) Turnover is the voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization. A high turnover rate results in increased recruiting, selection, and training costs – which are quite significant. A high rate of turnover can also disrupt the efficient running of an organization when knowledgeable and experienced personnel leave and replacements must be found and prepared to assume positions of responsibility. However, reasonable levels of employee-initiated turnover facilitate organization flexibility and employee independence, and they can lessen the need for management-initiated layoffs. Unfortunately, turnover often involves the loss of people the organization doesn’t want to lose.