Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven Mc

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

Teaching Notes for Additional Cases Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

EOTC

Teaching Notes for Additional Cases

INTRODUCTION TO TEACHING NOTES FOR ADDITIONAL CASES This document includes teaching notes for the additional cases in Organizational Behavior, Tenth Edition.

Each case analysis includes a list of the most relevant case topics, a brief case synopsis, and a case analysis.

The Additional Cases do not have any discussion questions. This gives instructors more flexibility to use these cases for assignments or in-class discussion. However, many of the teaching notes include case questions with suggested answers. Alternatively, some teaching notes present a suggested analysis of the case in terms of symptoms, problems, and recommendations.

The next page provides a matrix of topics related to the additional cases in this book. The primary topics— those discussed specifically in the teaching notes—are indicated with a black dot. Secondary topics are indicated with a white dot. Secondary topics are not explicitly discussed in the teaching notes but are potentially relevant to the case.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Case

Chapter->

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Arctic Mining Consultants Bayou Life Assurance and Waltham Financial CentraClear Inc. Keeping Suzanne Chalmers The Regency Grand Hotel Tamarack Industries The Outstanding Faculty Award Conifer Corp.

Verberg Kansen N.V. Vêtements Ltée

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior Chapter 2: Individual Differences: Personality and Values Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity Chapter 8: Team Dynamics Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures Chapter 14: Organizational Culture Chapter 15: Organizational Change

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

ARCTIC MINING CONSULTANTS These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Motivation, individual performance (MARS), leadership, and team dynamics

Case Synopsis A crew of four people staked claims for Arctic Mining Consultants. The case describes their production over the seven days, as well as incidents that occurred over this time. In particular, the case describes how the leader (Parker) reacts to the lower performance of Millar and the other crew members.

This is one of my favorite cases because it covers diverse topics and has a personal touch to it. Students seem to be very involved in the case—it is written in a way that they can easily visualize (even though few of us have worked in these harsh conditions). We don‘t have an epilogue, except to say that Millar works in the forest industry in a management position.

Symptoms The main symptoms in this case are that Millar‘s work effort decreased by the end of the project, Millar was thinking about quitting during the assignment, Millar did not accept subsequent job offers from Parker, and Millar felt dissatisfied with the assignment and with Parker.

Problem Analysis The main problems in this case relate to the issues of motivation, leadership, and team dynamics.

Motivation Expectancy theory explains why Millar didn‘t work as hard at the end of the assignment, and why he did not accept further assignments. Millar had a low E-to-P expectancy due to Parker‘s poor coaching. Rather than working with Millar on further improving his performance, and rewarding Millar for his good performance, Parker criticized Millar. This criticism continually weakened Millar‘s perception that he is able to perform this type of work. Millar‘s low perception of competence made him ―give up‖ during the last day. (This is significant because Millar‘s extra effort would have enabled the crew to complete the assignment on time.)

Millar‘s lack of effort on the last day can also be explained by his P-to-O expectancy. Specifically, Millar believed that he received insults from Parker no matter how well he performed the task. Notice that on the days that Millar completed 8.5 and 7 lengths, Parker said nothing. On days when Millar‘s performance was lower, Parker criticized Millar.

The P-to-O expectancy also explains the effect of pay and the bonus on Millar‘s motivation. Specifically, on the last day, Millar felt that getting an extra day‘s pay was almost as good as receiving the bonus, particularly considering the hard work (a negative outcome) he would have to endure to complete the work by the end of the day.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

(NOTE: Rather than using expectancy theory, students can analyze Millar‘s motivation through behavior modification, particularly Parker‘s use of punishment. Equity theory might also explain Millar‘s behavior on the last day of work. Specifically, he compared himself to Boyce, who continually had lower performance than Millar yet received less verbal abuse. Millar adjusted his inputs—job performance—so that his outcome/input ratio would be balanced with Boyce‘s ratio.)

MARS Model The key to this case is that Millar had misguided role perceptions. Specifically, he put his effort into higher quality (―picture perfect‖) posts and too much blazing (marking out the area), whereas Parker required more quantity than quality. Millar was motivated to perform the work, and he demonstrated an ability to perform the work. Some students will argue that Millar had more difficult territory than the others (i.e., the situation undermined his performance). However, the evidence suggests otherwise. The team covered extensive area over an entire week, so the law of averages suggests that the territory would be fairly evenly distributed over that time. Also, Parker and Talbot worked on the territory of others (assisting them) without any decrease in performance. Even if Millar had more difficult terrain throughout the week, he was short by only 2.5 lengths, which would have been achieved if he focused on quantity and less quality from the beginning.

Leadership According to the path–goal leadership model, Parker is effective at setting goals (achievement-oriented style). However, he does not provide enough (any?) supportive leadership. He does not treat them with respect nor is he concerned for their well-being. Yet, path–goal theory says that the leader should be supportive because the work (physical labor, deadlines) is stressful.

Parker also fails to use the directive style, yet there is some evidence that he needs to clarify performance criteria. Specifically, near the end of the assignment, Parker complains that Millar is too neat with his work, that is, he should focus more on quantity than quality. This suggests that Millar (and perhaps the others) could use some guidance on the type of performance required for this assignment.

Team Dynamics There are several team dynamics operating in this case. Parker and Talbot share one tent, and Millar and Boyce share the other tent. This physical arrangement may have weakened relations between Parker and the employees in the other tent. Team cohesion is perhaps also low due to the low task interdependence in this assignment.

Team cohesiveness seems to be low because the team norm of completing the project on time was not supported by Boyce. (Boyce said that he worked only as hard as he had to.)

Recommended Solution It is probably too late to encourage Millar to work with this company again. However, several long-term actions would improve motivation, performance, and retention of other employees.

One recommendation would be to find out why Parker did not provide more supportive and directive leadership. If he lacks supervisory knowledge, then the company should consider providing him (and perhaps other crew leaders) leadership training. The lack of clear role perceptions is a major issue here, which can be traced back to Parker‘s lack of clear direction and coaching (he noticed Millar‘s work earlier in the week but said nothing).

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

There may be some problem with the size of the bonus relative to the size of the paycheck for an extra day‘s work. Depending on its cost-effectiveness, the company might consider increasing the size of the bonus.

If Millar (and perhaps other employees) are paying too much attention to the quality of takes and not enough attention to the quantity, then it may be useful to provide some basic ―role perception‖ training. This would be a short session (one-half day?) where employees learn about the performance standards more clearly.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

BAYOU LIFE ASSURANCE AND WALTHAM FINANCIAL These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Organizational culture and organizational conflict

Case Synopsis Waltham Financial, a large life insurance and financial services company headquartered in Boston performs well internationally but has been losing market share within the United States. It divided the company into its international and American businesses and acquired Bayou Life Assurance of Jackson, Mississippi, which Waltham then merged with its American business. Waltham‘s American business was moved to Bayou‘s offices in Jackson. Employees of Waltham‘s American business were shocked and stressed by the announced move to Jackson. Bayou‘s employees were equally anxious, mainly about the uncertainty of who would acquire the firm and what lay ahead for their careers, later in terms of how to fit in with Waltham‘s imposed culture. Ten ―assertive‖ Waltham managers from Boston arrived in Jackson to decide amalgamation and downsizing of groups with high duplication. They learned from a consultant‘s analysis that the two companies had significantly different cultures. Six months later, more than 10 percent of Bayou‘s staff and almost all of its executive team had left (quit, fired, retired). The annuities department was significantly short-staffed as many Bayou employees departed and almost all of Waltham‘s annuities people refused to move to Jackson, resulting in significantly delayed annuities payments to clients. Many Bayou employees looked forward to some of the changes imposed by Waltham, but they also resented Waltham‘s arrogance and imposition on Bayou staff. For almost two years, employees in the merged organization worked long overtime hours in overcrowded and cramped conditions in four buildings spread across Jackson.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers 1. Diagnose this case in terms of merging two organizational cultures.

The merger of Waltham‘s and Bayou‘s organizational cultures was handled very poorly, in several ways.

First, no bicultural audit of the companies‘ corporate cultures occurred before the merger was completed.

Waltham executives paid no attention to organizational culture in its analysis and decision to acquire Bayou Life Assurance. Waltham saw the acquisition as ―an ideal fit‖ from a business perspective, namely that Bayou was well established and successful in the American insurance market, which Waltham‘s American business lacked. The issue of organizational culture did not arise until after Waltham had acquired Bayou, specifically when Waltham‘s integration team arrived in Jackson and a consultant evaluated Bayou‘s executives.

Second, Waltham and Bayou had significantly different organizational cultures, which imposed major problems for the merger. As one Waltham manager admitted: ―We were blindsided by the new problems we faced and by the different worldviews of these companies.‖ Waltham‘s culture was described as ―aggressive, entrepreneurial, consultative, and sales-oriented.‖ Bayou‘s culture was more ―bureaucratic, Page 1-7 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

formal, patriarchal, and focused on financial controls.‖ We have only indirect information about how the clashing cultures affected the merged organization, but Bayou employees resented Waltham‘s intrusion and many Bayou employees left (both voluntary and dismissed). This led to staff shortages, which caused customer service problems. The resentment among Bayou staff likely also slowed their integration in the merged organization as well as cooperation with Waltham coworkers.

Third, Waltham applied a deculturation strategy to merge the two cultures. Specifically, it imposed Waltham‘s culture on Bayou employees. Students should point out that deculturation is difficult to apply successfully even when the most appropriate strategy because ―the acquired firm‘s employees resist the cultural intrusions from the buying firm, thereby delaying or undermining the merger process.‖ For the Waltham–Bayou merger, deculturation was almost certainly the wrong strategy because Waltham‘s American business was not performing as well as Bayou‘s business, and some aspects of Bayou‘s culture (more mechanistic—formal, bureaucratic, financial controls, etc.) likely contributed to that success. An integration strategy would likely have been the best approach for this merger because Bayou employees appreciated elements of Waltham‘s culture, and Bayou‘s culture likely provided some competitive advantages over Waltham in the U.S. market.

2. Diagnose this case in terms of organizational conflict.

Dysfunctional conflict occurred among employees throughout the merger of Waltham‘s U.S. and Bayou‘s businesses. Much of this conflict was felt by Bayou employees toward Waltham (mainly managers, but possibly also toward its employees transferred to Jackson).

The main source of conflict between Bayou employees and Waltham is differentiation. Waltham and Bayou staff had different ―worldviews,‖ which created friction in decision making and behaviors. We don‘t have details about those clashes, just comments from Waltham and Bayou staff that these differences existed, that many Bayou employees felt antagonism toward Waltham managers, and that many Bayou staff left the company. The different organizational cultures would have led to overt conflicts regarding the right way of doing things, as well as covert conflict in the minds of Bayou employees when required to apply Waltham‘s work practices. Not all of the practices imposed by Waltham caused conflict, however, because Bayou employees did appreciate some of them (employee involvement, entrepreneurialism, and sales-oriented thinking).

Conflict between Bayou employees and Waltham also occurred due to poor communication from Waltham managers (and likely from some Waltham employees) to Bayou staff. Waltham staff communicated with an ―air of superiority‖ and subtle ―condescending opinion of the Bayou assurance company and its staff.‖ This condescension and belittlement of Bayou employees was threatening to their self-concept (―We felt like second-hand goods.‖), status, and likely their career potential at the merged organization.

Interdependence is another source of conflict because Waltham managers worked closely with Bayou employees after the merger.

Students might observe that conflict also occurred between Waltham‘s employees in Boston and the company‘s executives. Specifically, many employees felt threatened by the move to Jackson. We don‘t have much detail about this conflict but we do know that many Boston employees resented and were stressed by the prospects of being transferred to Bayou‘s head offices in Jackson. Many had a Page 1-8 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

condescending view of Bayou Life Assurance and of Jackson, Mississippi. The decision to move them to Jackson and into the merged firm would have threatened their self-view, their physical workspace comforts (which were very good in Boston), and possibly their career potential. The main source of conflict between Waltham‘s employees in Boston and the company‘s executives is incompatible goals.

Waltham executives had a set of objectives that conflicted with the career and lifestyle preferences of many Boston employees.

Other Possible Topics for Case Analysis Organizational culture and organizational conflict are the two most obvious topics for this case, but there are many other relevant topics. Here are brief comments on others: Organizational change. The process of merging two businesses and moving a large number of people to another city is a substantial organizational change. You might ask students to conduct a force field analysis, particularly on the various restraining forces that employees exhibited against the move.

Employee attitudes. Students could examine issues of organizational commitment and job satisfaction among Bayou and Waltham employees, including the EVLN model. For example, they might assess Waltham‘s management in building commitment among Bayou employees by examining each of the five strategies for building commitment.

Perceptions. This case is an organizational variation of group-level perceptual differences and biases.

Some Waltham employees seem to have engaged in stereotyping (and discrimination) of people from Jackson, Mississippi. But more generally, both groups engaged in the categorization, homogenization, and differentiation process, which may have slowed the process of coming together as a unified organization. This topic is also relevant from a positive view by examining what interventions were introduced later to integrate the two organizations. These include the bus tours, onboarding process, focus groups, counseling, and moving all employees into one building.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

CENTRACLEAR INC. These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Organizational power, influence, and politics

Case Synopsis Nanoklar GmbH, a German firm, became majority shareholder of CentraClear Inc., an American manufacturer of centralized and stand-alone industrial air filtration systems. Sven Andersen, CentraClear‘s founder and majority stockholder, continued to operate the firm with limited influence by Nanoklar, but two years later the German firm was acquired by a large European conglomerate that wanted Nanoklar to impose more control over CentraClear. Relations between Andersen and Nanoklar deteriorated. Andersen was eventually forced out by the board when Leon Kaminski, a CentraClear manager who held 15 percent of the stock, agreed to sell his holdings to Nanoklar so the German firm could mandate complete acquisition of the firm. Kaminski immediately became CEO, but he had not participated with (nor known about) Nanoklar directors hiring a new chief operating officer. Mitch Logan was offered the position with strong support from Nanoklar directors on CentraClear‘s board but without support from Kaminski. The case describes the problems that Logan faced during the next six months as he tried to receive support and information so that he could perform his job. His main problems came from Kaminski and from Jules Dubois, the director of finance who had briefly held the chief operating officer position.

What Actually Happened? This case is an adaptation of a court case in another country in which the terminated chief operating officer (named Mitch Logan in this case) sued CentraClear‘s director of finance (Jules Dubois in this case). CentraClear had given Logan a reasonable severance payment for the termination, but Logan sought tort damages from Dubois for the intimidating political tactics that Dubois had engaged in to ensure Logan‘s departure. The lower court awarded damages to Logan after concluding that Dubois‘ actions intended to harm Logan. The majority of the Court of Appeal agreed that Dubois‘ actions were ―reprehensible,‖ but they reversed the lower court‘s award on the grounds that intimidation was not illegal or actionable. One court of appeal judge dissented, explaining why the lower court‘s decision to award Logan should stand. In other words, while the lower court claimed victims of ―backstabbing‖ and related organizational politics may sue for damages, the majority of the court of appeal disagreed.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers The dominant theme in this case is organizational power, influence, and politics. Consequently, the questions below focus on this topic. However, the CentraClear case can also be discussed around other topics, including: organizational conflict (Andersen against Nanoklar; Dubois and Kaminski against Logan); and motivation (expectancy theory analysis of Dubois‘ motivated behaviors).

1. What influence tactics were organizational politics used by Dubois and Kaminski against Logan?

Several influence tactics were used as organizational politics by Dubois and Kaminski. Dubois distributed information selectively by providing incomplete information on some occasions and Page 1-10 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

completely refusing to provide any information on some matters to Logan. Dubois actively formed a coalition against Logan. Dubois and Kaminski represented a coalition to CentraClear‘s Board of Director‘s to oust Logan. Dubois engaged in the political tactic of attacking and blaming Logan in an effort to get the new chief operating officer dismissed. Specifically, in his conversations with other CentraClear staff, Dubois attacked Logan‘s management skills and ―fit‖ with the organization. He also accused Logan of being a ―plant‖ for Nanoklar‘s management. Kaminski also used controlling communication channels as an influence tactic by allowing Dubois to present his side of the story to the Board of Directors whereas Logan did not have this opportunity.

2. What conditions exist in this case that have encouraged organizational politics?

CentraClear was in the midst of major organizational change. The CEO and founder had just been removed from the company and the majority shareholder was taking greater control over the firm.

Considering the hostility between the founder and Nanoklar‘s management, it is reasonable to infer that this organizational change was both traumatic and threatening to CentraClear employees.

Both Dubois and Kaminski overtly demonstrated their strong need for power. While it is not easy to say whether this is socialized or personalized power, the latter seems to be the case considering that the organization is not well served by trying to dismiss an apparently qualified executive (Logan).

Dubois‘s political behavior occurred because he apparently coveted the chief operating officer job. This may be considered a scarce resource since there is only one general manager position but at least two people who want the job.

There is some evidence that CentraClear developed an organizational culture that tolerates political behaviors. This may have started with Andersen as he used his power to keep Nanoklar‘s management out of the company. Kaminski‘s promotion to CentraClear‘s president after signing over his shares to Nanoklar is more than coincidental. Nanoklar‘s representatives on CentraClear‘s Board of Directors is another example of political behavior that has served as a role model to shape and reinforce this emerging political culture.

3. How does information play a role in organizational power, influence, and politics in this case?

Dubois had expert power over Logan and possibly over the Board of Directors. Dubois clearly possessed the most information about the organization‘s internal activities. Kaminski had been head of the Western operations whereas Dubois had a more central role in CentraClear‘s headquarters while Andersen was in charge. Second, Dubois had held the chief operating officer job briefly before Logan was hired. This gave him more expertise over the position. Logan needed Dubois‘s knowledge about operational activities as well as background knowledge of CentraClear. CentraClear‘s Board of Directors also seems to be within Dubois‘s expert power since they clearly did not want him to quit (even though CentraClear‘s chairman had earlier described Dubois as a bookkeeper who is not their choice for the chief operating officer job).

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

KEEPING SUZANNE CHALMERS

These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Motivation, job design, money, and rewards

Case Synopsis This case describes a meeting between software engineer Suzanne Chalmers and Thomas Chan, the vice president of software engineering at Advanced Photonics Inc. (API). Chalmers arranges the meeting to indicate her intention to leave API. Chan tries to keep her by offering better conditions and, eventually, more money and share options. But Chan knows that Chalmers is already a millionaire from her share options and the appreciation of API‘s share price. The case highlights the difficulty in motivating people to stay and the relative importance of financial rewards compared to other sources of motivation. Soon after the meeting, Chalmers submits her resignation and, after a few months rest, takes up a position at a start-up company.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers 1. Why didn’t money motivate Suzanne Chalmers to stay with API? In this particular situation, the needs fulfilled by money (mainly physiological, safety, and social) were not strongest for Suzanne. Instead, it seems that Suzanne required more self-actualization, particularly work with more variety and challenge. The job seems to be getting routine. Furthermore, she later took a job at a start-up firm where she probably performed a wider variety of tasks.

Students might also argue that Suzanne is motivated by money, but that the potential financial gains at a start-up are much greater than at API, which is a mature company with less upward stock potential. The case clearly points to Suzanne‘s need for more challenging work, but the financial potential of a small firm cannot be dismissed either. Also, it is incorrect to assume that someone who is already financially well-off is no longer motivated by money. Money is a complex resource that can motivate even for people who seemingly have enough already.

2. Do financial rewards have any value in situations such as this, where employees are relatively wealthy?

Yes, most people value money even when they have enough. The textbook explains that money affects employee motivation in complex ways. It satisfies most needs to some extent. For example, Chalmers might value a special bonus or pile of share options for completing a special project. The money is valued for its symbolism, not as much for what it buys.

At the same time, the facts in this case suggest that money has relatively low importance to Suzanne. She didn‘t mention money at all in the meeting, except in response to a question from Chan. She has been offered several jobs with more money (or higher potential appreciation of share options).

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

3. What innate drives seem to be motivating Suzanne Chalmers?

All drives operate in everyone, with the drive to defend most active only when the person is threatened.

However, it seems that the drive to learn is probably the most important (unfulfilled) one for Suzanne in this situation because she subsequently entered a new job with a variety of job duties. Students might also suggest that the drive to acquire is apparent, specifically that she wants to acquire new experiences. At the same time, Suzanne definitely does not have a drive to acquire material goods such as money or physical resources. Moreover, she doesn‘t express a strong drive to bond, particularly since she is motivated to leave API. 4. Of what importance is job design in this case?

Possibly a great deal. In between the lines, Chalmers seems to indicate that her work is becoming a bit too routine. The case indicates that people rarely move around to different jobs at API. Instead, the company prides itself at keeping employees focused on their specialized area of expertise. While this may be desirable for many employees, there are indications that Suzanne might want a career change or at least a break from her usual work. Even people in complex jobs can get tired of their jobs if they are very narrowly defined.

Another piece of evidence that job design is important here comes from information about the company Chalmers joined. She joined a start-up firm, likely one (as Chan explained) where employees perform a variety of work. We cannot say for certain that this variety motivated Chalmers to join a start-up firm, but it may be a factor.

5. If you were Thomas Chan, what strategy, if any, would you use to motivate Susan Chalmers to stay at API? As the previous question suggests, I would look more closely at job design and career issues. There is some evidence that Chalmers wants to do something different from IP software engineering. The job seems to be getting routine. Moreover, she later took a job at a start-up firm where she probably performed a wider variety of tasks. Chan should have explored these needs with Chalmers. Instead, he focused on working conditions—the size of office, financial compensation, and so on.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

THE REGENCY GRAND HOTEL These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Empowerment, job design, motivation, individual behavior, and stress

Case Synopsis The Regency Grand Hotel was one of Bangkok‘s most prestigious hotels when it was recently sold to a large American hotel chain. John Becker, an American with 10 years of management experience with the hotel chain, was appointed as the new General Manager. Becker applied empowerment practices to the hotel‘s 700 employees, who have always worked according to management‘s instructions. He told the hotel‘s supervisors to give employees the opportunity to use their initiative and to coach and assist rather than provide direct orders. Becker reduced the number of bureaucratic rules, which upset those who previously had decisionmaking power over these issues. The general manager spent time encouraging empowerment among employees, although they still had trouble knowing the limits of their autonomy. Supervisors would reverse employee decisions by stating that they were major issues requiring management approval. Eventually, employees reverted back to relying on their superiors for decision making. Rather than improve customer service, the hotel‘s performance deteriorated. Absenteeism and turnover of staff also increased.

NOTE: This is a true case that occurred in another (but culturally similar) Asian country. The industry has also been changed to maintain anonymity. The original industry also requires high levels of customer service.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers 1. Identify the symptoms indicating that problems exist in this case.

The main symptoms in this case are that employees stop using their initiative, that employees applied empowerment ineffectively, and that the hotel experienced higher turnover, absenteeism, stress, and customer complaints. Students might also identify conflict and dissatisfaction.

2. Diagnose the problems in this case using organizational behavior concepts.

Empowerment Problems The most obvious problem in this case is that the empowerment process did not create a setting that supports empowerment. First, it is not clear that all employees possessed the necessary competencies to feel comfortable with that degree of autonomy.

Second, empowerment requires a learning orientation culture, yet it is clear that employees were not supported when mistakes were made. Similarly, although John Becker seems to trust employees, other supervisors seemingly do not have the same level of trust.

Third, empowerment requires jobs with a high degree of autonomy with minimal bureaucratic control.

The opposite seems to exist here. Employee decisions were reversed, thereby undermining their autonomy. The MARS model helps to explain why employees did not apply their autonomy: Page 1-14 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

• Role perceptions—lack of role clarity about how and to what degree employees can make decisions without being reversed by their managers • Motivation—some employees were initially motivated to use their autonomy, but not later for reasons explained in the expectancy theory section (below) • Ability—(maybe) some knowledge for autonomous work probably missing • Situational contingencies—generally OK; they have resources and time (NOTE: Management reversal of employee actions is not a lack of opportunity issue.)

Job design problems This case can also be understood from the perspective of job design. Empowerment is a form of job enrichment. According to job characteristics model, enrichment requires certain conditions, lacking here: • Skills/knowledge—employees did not have competencies or role clarity to engage in empowerment • Growth needs—some employees probably lacked growth needs because of their contented roles taking orders from management (but as noted above, other employees demonstrated that they did have fairly high growth-need strength) • Work context—fine initially, but deteriorated with low supervisor support Some concepts from other chapters are also relevant to this topic. These include expectancy theory, behavior modification, and stress management.

Expectancy theory Expectancy theory is the main motivation theory that applies here, particularly regarding employee motivation to engage in empowerment practices. With respect to the E-to-P expectancy, employees were uncertain about how much discretion they had in their jobs. When they did try some initiative, their supervisor‘s reversed these actions. This likely undermined their self-efficacy regarding the ability to work in an empowered job. Low self-efficacy results in a lower E-to-P expectancy.

P-to-O expectancy also had an adverse effect on employee motivation. Employees who tried empowerment experienced negative outcomes from their supervisors, and possibly from customers.

While Becker initially supported employee empowerment, he later retreated to his office, thereby providing less favorable outcomes to employees who took initiative. Overall, employees stopped taking initiative because both their E-to-P and P-to-O expectancies decreased.

Needs hierarchy theories Some students might apply needs-based motivation theories to explain part of this case. Specifically, they might suggest that most Regency employees have low growth/self-actualization needs because they were comfortable with the previous leadership, which did not offer much job challenge. This point may be true for some employees, but several Regency staff members DID try to apply empowerment, suggesting that they had some degree of growth-need strength. Furthermore, needs theories generally explain what needs people possess, not what behaviors they engage in.

Behavior modification This case can also be discussed in terms of behavior modification. The supervisors either punished or provided extinction reinforcement to employees who engaged in empowerment practices.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Stress management Some employees quit or increased their absenteeism because they experienced higher levels of stress.

Several stressors explain the causes of this stress: • Role-related stressors—ambiguous expectations and practices about how to engage in empowerment • Interpersonal stressors—employees experiencing increasing conflict with management • Organizational stressors—the purchase of the Regency as well as subsequent changes probably added to stress, but this issue isn‘t certain 3. Recommend solutions that overcome or minimize the problems and symptoms in this case.

Students might identify a variety of recommendations for this content-rich case. Some might suggest that Becker (or his successor, as some students doubt that Becker has any credibility now) requires sessions in cultural sensitivity. Others suggest that empowerment will work at the Regency if employees are given clearer instruction and training, and employees see role model examples of empowerment. It might also be useful to introduce the process slowly so employees have time to adjust with less stress.

The empowerment intervention is a major form of organizational change, so students who have read that chapter would recommend a number of change management initiatives, including coercion to supervisors who do not ―get on board‖ the change effort.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

TAMARACK INDUSTRIES These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Conflict management and team dynamics

Case Synopsis Tamarack Industries hires college students during summers to work on the production line. Regular employees resented being split up to reform teams with some students, so the foreperson decided to allow the students to form their own team. Rivalry soon formed between members of the regular team and student team. Eventually, this led to sabotage, which motivated the foreperson to break up the teams.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers 1. What are the signs (symptoms) of conflict in this case?

This case describes several symptoms from both parties (regular employees and students). In the past, the regular employees ―resented‖ working with the college students and ―complained‖ about their work performance. Although these conflicts did not exist this year, the regular employees resented comments about them from the college students as well as their work on shorter production runs. The demeaning remarks by the college students might also be considered symptoms of dysfunctional conflict. The most overt symptoms of conflict were the sabotage of the other team‘s work.

2. Use the conflict model to (a) identify the structural causes of conflict and (b) discuss the escalation of conflict described in this case. Your answer should also identify the signs (symptoms) of conflict in this case.

The main source of conflict in this case is differentiation. The teams consisted of people with significantly different backgrounds, values, and beliefs (i.e., college vs. regular staff). Some of the other sources of conflict had minimal relevance. For example, the teams had low (pooled) interdependence regarding task resources, their goals were not incompatible, and they did not lack resources to perform their work.

However, there was ambiguity in rules of conduct. Also, the case suggests significant communication problems in the sense that the two teams did not talk to each other but formed stereotypes. The rivalry that formed between the teams might suggest that there was a values scarce resource—superior performance. Only one team could be the best, which may have explained why the teams tried to undermine each other‘s performance through sabotage.

Conflict escalation: This case nicely illustrates the problem of escalating conflict when the underlying sources of conflict are not identified and resolved soon enough. Initially, the conflict was limited to verbal taunts by students and complaints by the regular staff. Later, this conflict escalated into sabotage of production output.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

3. Analyze this case using relevant theories on team dynamics.

The main team dynamics concepts that apply to this case are team norms and cohesion. Both teams develop norms of misbehavior toward the other team, even condoning or encouraging sabotage. The motivation for employees to engage in this dysfunctional behavior was amplified by team cohesion. Both teams became highly cohesive, for several reasons: • Member similarity—members of each team were similar to each other; college students or regular staff • Team size—not much information, but sounds like the teams are reasonably small • Member interaction—members of each team seem to have a high degree of interaction with each other and less with people on other teams • Somewhat difficult entry—no evidence that this affected team cohesion • Team success—this likely influenced cohesion, particularly on the college team due to its higher performance and rapid development • External competition and challenge—the other team became an external challenge Together, the dysfunctional team norms and high team cohesion produced dysfunctional behavior in this case.

4. If you were Dan Jensen, what action would you take in this situation?

This question should generate considerable debate because the solution is not that simple.

To begin, the instructor might want to ask whether the foreperson‘s solution is the best option here. Most likely, the foreperson‘s action will NOT work. On the one hand, mixing teams could improve relations among college students and regular staff because they would now work together and have more opportunity to know and understand each other (see the conflict chapter on communication and mutual understanding as a solution to conflict). However, this conflict management strategy works only if differentiation is sufficiently low. If the two groups are quite different, then mixing them together could, as predicted, spark resignations, or at least reduce organizational commitment. There is also the problem that mixing teams will cause teams to revert to an earlier stage of team development, which could hurt performance.

The alternative solution is to maintain the two teams, but introduce actions that minimize conflict within the existing structure. For the remainder of this year (until students return to school), this option may be better. What actions can minimize conflict and its dysfunctional consequences? First, the foreperson needs to reinforce a set of behavioral norms that includes respectful behavior. It is likely that clarifying the need to avoid verbal abuse will help. Also, the foreperson needs to be firm about the wrongdoing of sabotage. Although punishment should generally be avoided, there are times when extreme behavior such as sabotage requires action. Another strategy is to introduce a performance-based reward that includes a financial reward for the individual‘s own team as well as the other team. This might encourage cooperation or, at least, reduce attempts to undermine the other team‘s performance.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

THE OUTSTANDING FACULTY AWARD These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Team dynamics and decision making, individual decision making

Case Synopsis This case describes the experience of a faculty member who sat on an Outstanding Faculty Award committee for the College of Business. The case describes the process from nomination to selection, as well as discussion regarding differences of opinion. The committee used a structured decision process involving weighted criteria and scores for candidates on each criterion. However, the final choice went to a faculty member who received the bottom score.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers 1. What problems in team decision making likely caused the committee to select for the award the worst applicant on their list?

Students should be able to identify at least two team decision-making problems in this case. One problem is that more influential people derailed a logical decision process because their preference had more weight. The chapter on team decision making advises that no one on the team should dominate the process.

A second problem is that individual committee members were easily swayed by the support that others gave to the associate dean‘s suggestion. This relates to peer pressure in that others probably do not wish to appear at odds with the group attitude.

Another observation here is that when a committee debates over the top two alternatives (candidates), the conflict can become so strong that a third alternative wins the race. This likely occurs because strong emotions make it more difficult for each side in the conflict to accept the other party‘s preference, whereas a neutral (but less qualified) third choice receives positive support.

2. What would you recommend to future committees so they avoid the problems identified in this case?

Several suggestions are possible, preferably based on the discussion in the preceding questions: Ensure that all committee members have equal status or that those with higher status (such as associate deans) avoid using their influence.

Ensure that committee members develop criteria and weights for those criteria early in the process (before candidates are identified), and that they agree to stick with those criteria.

Students might debate whether committee members should debate the merits of each candidate before voting. This is probably a good idea in that it brings out information. However, debate can sometimes cause people to move toward the group preference in spite of contrary evidence.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

3. Discuss what happened in this case using concepts and theories of individual decision making (Chapter 7).

The structural aspects of the decision-making process are generally fine. The committee worked through a logical process of identifying applicants and evaluating them. After realizing that they could not evaluate the candidates holistically, they followed a rational process of selecting the best candidate through a procedure of rating candidates on a set of five criteria. This process resulted in identification of a candidate with the highest score.

The problem with the decision-making process wasn‘t so much with the process itself; the problem was that committee members abandoned the process on a few occasions. First, after the top candidate was identified, committee members debated over the decision criteria, suggesting that some people did not like the outcome of the logical process. This reflects the human tendency to form preferences earlier than the rational decision process. When some committee members did not like the top scorer, they wanted to change the criteria to fit their preconceived preference. This problem relates to the emotionality of decision making, particularly that we form preferences long before working through inferences (reasons) for liking or disliking that alternative.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

CONIFER CORP.

These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

NOTE: This is the ―Treetop Forest Products‖ case, renamed because its popularity has resulted in case notes (even videos!) distributed across the Internet.

Primary Case Topics Team dynamics

Case Synopsis Conifer Corp. is a sawmill operation in Oregon, that is owned by a major forest products company, but operates independently of headquarters. The mill is divided into six operating departments: boom, sawmill, planer, packaging, shipping, and maintenance. It won packaging quality awards over the past few years, but product quality has recently fallen and customers have switched to other producers. The planning and sawmilling departments have significantly increased productivity over the past couple of years, whereas the packaging department has decreased productivity. This has resulted in a backlog of finished product, adding to Conifer‘s inventory costs and the risk of damaged stock. The company pays packaging employees overtime to complete the work on Saturdays. The packaging department extends its lunch and coffee breaks, and usually leaves work early. The packaging department is located in a separate building from the others and has no supervisor.

Discussion Questions and Suggested Answers 1. What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong?

The main symptom—negative outcome—in this case is that productivity of the packaging department is below the level that employees should be performing. Students should identify evidence of this performance ―gap,‖ including (a) engineering estimates that output should be higher and (b) performance in this department was relatively higher in the past. In addition, students should identify specific evidence of nonproductive behavior, including new staff reducing output after a short time and department staff taking long breaks and leaving work early.

2. What are the main causes of these symptoms?

The main problem in this case is that the packaging department‘s norms appear to conflict with organizational goals. There is subtle or indirect evidence that employees in this department are encouraged or supported for taking extra time off and that those who work harder are discouraged from doing so. Students should use the team cohesion-performance concept to explain how high cohesion and counterproductive norms result in lower team performance.

As part of this analysis, students need to provide information suggesting that this team has high cohesion.

Students should note that the organizational environment, task characteristics, and team size support high

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

team cohesion. The team is relatively small, and they work together in a separate building away from others. This cohesion motivates employees to support the team‘s dominant norms. The problem, as mentioned, is that these norms are counterproductive.

Note that many students argue that the main problem is ―lack of supervision.‖ They cite the fact that this department does not have a supervisor regularly overseeing the team. There are a few problems with this argument. First, there is probably no theory (certainly not in this book) stating that the most effective teams are closely supervised. On the contrary, the highest performing teams (self-directed teams) have no direct supervision at all. Second, this department performed relatively well in the past (they won awards for their packaging quality), even though there was minimal supervision at that time. Third, direct supervision is a potential solution, not the theoretical foundation of a problem analysis. But, as noted below, direct supervision is a high-cost solution.

NOTE: This analysis can also be studied from the perspective of motivation. Students can use expectancy theory to explain why the packaging department is completing work late rather than on time.

3. What actions should executives take to correct these problems?

Many students fall into the trap of recommending that the case will be solved through closer supervision.

This may be true to some extent, but it creates other problems. Direct supervision is costly, and employees increasingly dislike situations where they are closely monitored. Direct supervision may be required in the short term to align behavior (e.g., working required hours), but there are better long-term alternatives. Supervision is only one of three forms of ―control‖ over employees, so students should also explore the other two (systems/structures and culture/values).

The main problem is dysfunctional team norms, and the textbook identifies a few ways to change team norms. Some would be more feasible than others in this case. For example, this is an existing team, so it is too late to introduce performance-oriented norms as soon as the team is created. However, it is possible to formally announce the problem—both extra time off and delayed production—to the entire team.

Asking them to help solve the problem might help to change the norm, but it might not if the norm is deeply entrenched.

Another strategy is to select new team members who will bring desirable norms to the group.

Unfortunately, this has already been tried—the positive norm employee changed to be like the others.

Unless many new employees enter this group at the same time, the strategy may not work.

Although the textbook is skeptical about the effectiveness of team-based rewards in changing norms, it might work here. Currently, packaging employees are really rewarded for supporting their norm—taking time off and getting lots of overtime for catching up on the backlog. They are essentially rewarded for working slowly during regular work hours. At the same time, they apparently receive no reward for efficiency or quality. A team reward for winning the quality award and for completing the work on time might alter the norms here. Similarly, if feasible, the overtime to catch up on packaging backlog work might be given to employees from other departments who possess enough skill to complete packaging work.

Disbanding the group and forming a new team is an option, but possibly expensive and disruptive. It takes time for new employees to learn the work practices, and the strong action may adversely affect employee relations with others.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

There are many possible solutions here, including the above-mentioned reward system. One structural change would be to move the packaging work closer to the other employees. Line-of-sight relations with other employees might create a peer pressure situation whereby packaging employees are discouraged from working slowly and taking time off.

Goal-setting and feedback systems could be introduced that might change the behavior of packaging employees without more direct supervision. If they see trends in production and quality, perhaps their values will become more aligned with these goals.

As mentioned, some students might recommend more supervision of the packaging employees. This might work, but it could be costly because the company will need to pay for one more supervisor.

Moreover, direct supervision merely introduces the use of punishment rather than resolving the underlying root causes of the behavior.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

VERBERG KANSEN N.V.

These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

NOTE: Verberg Kansen N.V. (Verkan) is a complete rewriting of the popular case ―Hausser Food Products Company‖ by Steven Palesy and the late David A. Nadler. The case and company name, all characters, and text have been rewritten. For those familiar with the Hausser case, Brenda Cooper at Hausser is Anke Jansen at Verberg Kansen. Cooper‘s office was in Atlanta and the sales team was in Florida, whereas in the current case study Anke Jansen is located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and the sales team is in Northern Italy. A close inspection of the company name will reveal something about the case theme.

Primary Case Topics Motivation, team dynamics, and conflict

Case Synopsis Verberg Kansen N.V. (Verkan), one of the leading European food manufacturers, is suffering from slower sales, particularly in its baby food division. The company is encouraging sales staff to discover new baby food growth opportunities, but ideas have been limited. Anke Jansen, Verkan‘s regional sales manager responsible for baby foods in Southern Europe, is relatively new to the company and is concerned that her sales teams won‘t meet its sales targets. She observes that the sales team in Northern Italy consistently exceeds its sales goals by 10 percent, yet the team doesn‘t provide any reasonable explanation for its success.

A university researcher studying Verkan‘s operations and management practices visits the Northern Italy sales team and discovers why they have been so successful. In spite of financial incentives and company encouragement, the sales team has avoided revealing the secret behind their success.

Discussion Questions with Suggested Answers 1. What symptom(s) exist in this case to suggest that something has gone wrong?

• The Northern Italy sales team is hiding their discovery about selling baby food to older customers. In other words, they are not motivated to inform Jansen or others at Verkan‘s headquarters about their discovery.

• The Northern Italy sales team are dissatisfied with and lack affective commitment to the organization.

This is evident, for instance, when Orbel says that the team‘s manager (Angelo) is ―not management; he‘s one of us.‖ • The Northern Italy sales team perceives conflict between them and Verkan management.

• The Northern Italy sales team has an informal norm of limiting sales volume, rather than maximizing sales.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

2. What are the underlying problems that have led to these symptoms? In other words, what theories explain what went wrong in this case?

Team Norms (and Cohesion) That Undermine Verkan’s Financial Success The case identifies two norms that are enforced by members of the Northern Italy sales team. One norm is to hide their discovery of selling baby food to older people. This was apparent in the interviews and in how Angelo approached the researcher about this matter. The second norm seems to be that team members should not increase sales results too high. The team‘s actions for not abiding by the second norm was apparent in how Pietro was treated when he tried to increase sales volume more than the team wanted. Other team members sabotaged sales orders and misdirected shipments until Pietro realized that the team was serious about restricting output. This team norm is likely caused by Verkan‘s sales goal system, which increases minimum sales goals in future years based on sales results in past years.

The Northern Italy sales team is highly cohesive. They have regular meetings, socialize together, and seem to have similar views about their work and interactions. Several have worked together for many years. This cohesion is apparent from statements by the team members. For example, Anzil says ―You couldn‘t ask for a greater bunch of people to work with‖ and ―we are true friends.‖ This high cohesion motivates team members to abide by the team‘s norms. In this case, the high cohesion motivates all team members to support the team‘s norms, specifically hiding from head office the seniors‘ market for baby food sales and limiting sales volume output each year.

Motivation to Hide from Verkan Management the Seniors’ Market for Baby Food Salespeople in the Northern Italy team are motivated to hide from Anke Jansen and anyone else at Verkan headquarters their discovery of lucrative sales of baby food to older people. This motivation can be explained through expectancy theory of motivation. (a) Effort-to-Performance Expectancies There are two ―performance‖ levels in this situation: (a) hiding the seniors‘ market idea and (b) sharing that information with Verkan headquarters. The E-to-P expectancy of sharing the information is 1.0 probability. The team likely has an E-to-P expectancy of less than 1.0 of hiding this information, but it is likely very high given their success and faith in Angelo to throw off management about the team‘s ongoing success (10 percent above sales goal each year). (b) Outcomes and Their Valences The focus of the analysis is the P-to-O expectancies of sharing/hiding the idea and the valences of those outcomes. The main outcomes that are stated or implied in the case, along with apparent valences (using −10 to +10), are: 1. Bonus for exceeding sales by 10 percent (+8) 2. One-time bonus (€3,000) for sharing idea about seniors‘ baby food market (+2, but could be argued this valence should be negative because it is tied with losing the guaranteed 10 percent sales increase) 3. Peer pressure/punishment from other team members for violating team norm of hiding the idea (−10)

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

4. Stress from achieving sales goals (−5) 5. Workload (−5) Comments: The interviews clearly indicate that some or most team members value the bonus from exceeding the annual sales goal by 10 percent. Some say it is the most valued aspect of the job; others say they couldn‘t get better pay elsewhere with their education. The one-time bonus has been described as ―a joke‖ or ―insult,‖ referring to its low value. As stated above, this outcome might actually be negative because receiving the one-time bonus means that the team loses other valued outcomes. Peer pressure is clearly important because the team is highly cohesive and members value each other‘s friendship. Some interviews mention the hard work of achieving the goals and the stress of doing so if they didn‘t have the almost guaranteed buffer of seniors‘ market sales. This list of outcomes is not necessarily exhaustive.

Students might identify other outcomes mentioned in the case. (c) Performance-to-Outcome Expectancies Hiding the Seniors’ Baby Food Market Idea 1. Bonus for exceeding sales by 10 percent (0.9) 2. One-time bonus (€3,000) (0.0) 3. Peer pressure (0.0) 4. Stress from achieving sales goals (0.3) 5. Workload (0.3) Comments: The probability of a 10 percent sales increase is high (0.9) because they did so in past years and getting found out about the source of their sales seems minimal so far. The one-time bonus and peer pressure have nil probability (0.0) because those outcomes are directly tied to sharing the idea. Even with the seniors‘ market buffer, the salespeople refer to stress and workload in their job, so this exists to some degree (stated as 0.3, but some may argue it is higher).

Sharing the Seniors’ Baby Food Market Idea 1. Bonus for exceeding sales by 10% (0.2) 2. One-time bonus (€3,000) (1.0) 3. Peer pressure (1.0) 4. Stress from achieving sales goals (0.8) 5. Workload (0.8) Comments: The probability of a 10 percent sales increase is low (0.2) because the seniors‘ market buffer has been removed. The one-time bonus is a certainty (promised by Verkan management). Peer pressure (likely extreme ostracism) is a certainty if one employee shared the idea against the wishes/norms of the entire team. It is possible that the entire team agrees to share the idea, but this is unlikely. The level of stress and workload will likely be considerably higher because without the seniors‘ market buffer employees must work much harder in future to achieve their sales goals. (d) Calculating Effort

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Students can calculate their estimates of probabilities and valences to discover that the composite valence of hiding the idea is substantially higher than the composite valence of sharing. Using our estimates, the composite valences are: Hiding the idea = 4.2 Sharing the idea with Verkan mgt. = −14.4 Conflict between Northern Italy Team and Verkan Management This case has considerable animosity between the Northern Italy salespeople and Verkan management.

This conflict explains the symptoms of dissatisfaction and low affective commitment with the organization.

This conflict can be analyzed in terms of the sources of conflict in the conflict model.

1. Goal incompatibility—Verkan management wants to continuously increase sales of baby food and other products even when the market has flattened, is declining, or has increased competition. This goal is institutionalized in the sales goals mandated to each region and sales team. Evidence suggests that these goals are very difficult or almost impossible to achieve for many or most sales teams. The one-time bonus is a symbol of management‘s desire for employees to creatively identify better ways to increase sales. The Northern Italy sales team‘s goals are to maximize their pay with minimal effort and stress.

These goals directly oppose management‘s goals, with the result that the sales team acts contrary to management‘s wishes (it doesn‘t share its idea) and generates a psychological distance (us vs. them) between management and the sales team.

2. Differentiation—Students might argue that differentiation contributes to the perceived conflict between management and sales staff (at least those in Northern Italy, but likely elsewhere). The management group have common educational backgrounds from major MBA programs and their career tracks seem to avoid any work directly in the field as salespeople. The salespeople in Northern Italy have distinctly different education (more have partial or no education beyond high school) and have no management experience or regular interaction with management. Some students might also suggest that differentiation occurs culturally—Northern Italian salespeople versus Verkan management located in the Netherlands and possibly mostly from that country or nearby. The differentiation contributes to the ―us versus them‖ mindset.

3. Scarce resources—This factor could be argued as a source of conflict, where the resource scarcity is the level of financial rewards, largely due to flat or declining or increasingly competitive market for baby food. For instance, Verkan management increases the sales goal each year, which reduces the amount of bonus available to salespeople for performing as well as the previous year. If the baby food market was expanding quickly, there would be less animosity regarding the increasing sales goals.

4. Interdependence—Any level of interdependence contributes to conflict. In this case, the interdependence between salespeople and Verkan management might be similar to sequential because what the salespeople accomplish directly affects what Verkan management receives by way of their bonuses and goal accomplishments.

5. Poor communication—This is the fifth structural source of conflict. Students might suggest that lack of communication between Verkan management and the sales force contributes to the conflict. There is

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

certainly evidence in the case that the Northern Italy salespeople rely on stereotypes of Verkan management back in Amsterdam, which implies a lack of mutual understanding due to limited interaction (communication).

6. Ambiguous rules—The way that Verkan management decides the sales goals seems to be ambiguous, which might contribute to the conflict the sales staff have toward management in this process. The calculation is sufficiently vague that employees do not trust management and are not committed to the goals.

Other Possible Problem Analyses The team dynamics, motivation, and conflict analyses explain the symptoms stated in this analysis, but other theories could be identified to further explain these and possibly other symptoms not mentioned here but implied in the case. For instance, Angelo Ricci‘s behavior can be explained through self-concept theory, especially the social identity process. Some students might rely on the attitude model (beliefs, feelings, behavioral intentions) to explain the negative attitudes and behavior of the Northern Italy sales team. The salespeople lack commitment to the sales goals, which might be (minimally) explained through goal-setting theory (e.g., missing some SMARTER elements). Some students will refer to the MARS model to explain why some sales teams have difficulty achieving the sales goals (i.e., situational factors).

Expectancy theory might also be used to explain some low sales, namely low E-to-P when the goals are so high and the market is difficult.

3. What actions should the organization take to correct these problems and their associated symptoms? (a) Increase motivation to share discovery about selling baby food to older customers. The solution to this symptom relates to elements of expectancy theory as well as to the sources of conflict.

Regarding expectancies, the company clearly needs to revise the suggestion reward so it is better aligned with its value to the company and potential financial loss to the sales team. For example, Verkan might create a reward that allows the team providing the suggestion to receive the same or perhaps slowly declining percentage of their bonus from that new market (seniors) over the next decade or more. The sales team would experience little or no financial loss for sharing the idea in the short and midterm, whereas the company would reap enormous gains. Sharing the idea may also increase their respect by other salespeople, who would now have this new source of sales revenue. To a much lesser extent, the motivation to share the idea might increase by reducing conflict between Verkan management and the sales team. That solution is discussed next. (b) Reduce conflict between the sales team and Verkan management. Conflict probably cannot be reduced through scarce resources (Verkan can‘t increase the baby food market) or interdependence (management will continue to depend on employee sales). Conflict can be reduced through a couple of other sources of conflict described in the problem analysis. First, Verkan management needs to develop a process of sales goals that is more transparent, understandable, objective, and ultimately agreed upon by employees. At least, the company needs to justify its sales goal

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

decisions such that some sales staff can understand why those goals were created and why they are achievable. This reduces the problem of ambiguous rules and may reduce goal incompatibility (employees see the problem out in the market, not in management). Conflict can also be reduced through better/more communication and possibly reduced differentiation. Regarding communication, it is evident that Verkan management beyond regional managers spend little time in the field getting to know the salespeople and the situations they face. Ongoing informal gatherings with senior management may help somewhat in this regard. Differentiation will remain a challenge unless Verkan decides to promote sales staff into management positions and possibly require management trainees from education (MBA) programs to work in the field as salespeople for a year or so. (c) Change team norms to be aligned with Verkan‘s success—To a large extent, this problem and its associated symptoms may be reduced through the changes described above. A sales goals system that is more transparent, understandable, and accepted could reduce employee resistance to these goals. An ―idea‖ bonus that doesn‘t have adverse outcomes for those who suggest the idea (and that benefits salespeople elsewhere in the company) could effectively wipe out the norm of hiding good ideas. Managing conflict through social interaction and career path changes could increase the local sales team managers allegiance to the organization‘s goals, while having senior management interaction with salespeople could improve mutual understanding and possibly some commitment to the company‘s success.

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

VÊTEMENTS LTÉE

These case teaching notes were prepared by Steven L. McShane, Interconnected Knowledge.

Primary Case Topics Motivation

Case Synopsis Vêtements Ltée is a chain of men‘s retail clothing stores located throughout the province of Quebec, Canada.

Two years ago, the company introduced new incentive systems for both store managers and sales employees.

However, the sales employees began to engage in activities that had an adverse effect on inventory management, employee cooperation, and customer relations. The store managers have tried, with limited success, to correct these problems.

Discussion Questions with Suggested Answers 1. What symptom(s) exist in this case to suggest that something has gone wrong?

• Employees stand near the store entrance, creating customer service problems.

• There are occasional conflicts among employees over ―ownership‖ of customers.

• Some parts of the store are left unattended.

• Employees are unwilling to restock and reorder inventory.

• Employee morale has fallen, particularly in terms of poorer relations with the store manager.

2. What are the underlying problems that have led to these symptoms? In other words, what theories explain what went wrong in this case?

Expectancy theory Expectancy theory can be applied to this case to explain employee motivation to hoard customers at the store entrance rather than (a) attend to lower traffic parts of the store and (b) complete inventory duties.

The E-to-P expectancy is likely least important because it is almost certain that any employee can stand near the front of the store to hoard customers. However, some students might point out that the E-to-P expectancy drops when every employee tries to hoard customers (i.e., competition for customers reduces the change that effort will result in having more customers and therefore more sales).

P-to-O expectancy is the critical variable here. Students should map out the relevant outcomes, such as (a) higher pay, (b) conflicts with other staff, (c) getting fired for leaving assigned post, and (d) feelings of fair pay. The ―performance‖ variable would be grabbing customers at the front of the store or performing the allotted share of inventory work and remaining in the assigned location. A calculation of these

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

factors, including the valence of each outcome, will reveal that grabbing customers at the front of the store easily has the highest perceived payoff.

Equity theory Equity theory also applies to this case because it refers to staff ―resentment‖ that some staff get more customers and that they are motivated to get ―more of their share.‖ To analyze this case, students need to first identify the equity elements, including inputs (effort, time, ability), outcomes (pay, achievement), and comparison (other employees). Then students need to apply the equity model. Specifically, employees who stock inventory and serve low traffic parts of store have same inputs but lower outcomes than the ―hoarders.‖ These staff feel inequity and thereby adjust their behavior to minimize tension of inequity.

OB Modification This case can also be explained by behavior modification, although OB Mod offers less detail than does expectancy theory. The facts in this case clearly show that the reward system reinforces the inappropriate behaviors. The OB Mod model suggests that sales employees are motivated through positive reinforcement to maximize sales assigned to them. This means not only helping customers make purchases but also ensuring that customers are assigned to them. This accounts for the tendency of employees to stand near the store entrance and possibly fight over who owns the customer. The more customers a sales employee has, the more sales will be rung up in that employee‘s name.

The OB Mod concept of extinction explains why sales employees do not perform inventory control duties as much as under the previous compensation arrangement. By leaving the sales floor to restock merchandise and complete reorder forms, employees are losing the opportunity to increase sales assigned to their name. Potential rewards (higher commissions) are withheld or lost while employees are doing inventory work.

Store managers made ineffective use of punishment. Punishment is applied when store managers reprimand and threaten to dismiss employees for failing to perform inventory duties. Notice that this tactic is effective only when the store manager is in the store. This is because punishment tends to be effective only when the punishing agent (the manager) is present. Punishment also results in negative attitudes of those being punished toward the punisher.

3. What actions should the organization take to correct these problems?

An important prerequisite to recommending a solution to the problems in this case is to understand the organization‘s goals with respect to sales employee performance. It appears that the performance criteria assigned to store managers—sales volume, inventory management, store appearance, and so on—should be applied to all of these employees.

Based on both expectancy theory and behavior modification, the organization should redesign its incentive system for sales employees so that they also receive financial compensation for these organizational goals. For example, in addition to a sales commission, sales employees could share a quarterly reward for the store with the best appearance. Thus, this goal would receive more positive valence (or be positively reinforced) for employees in the winning store. A similar arrangement could be implemented to reward inventory management duties.

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By redesigning the commission system to motivate group rather than individual performance, the problems of customer ownership and intimidation would be reduced. The redesigned incentive would motivate team performance (i.e., performance of employees together at a particular time) by dividing the work team‘s reward equally among its members. Team incentives tend to have somewhat lower motivation effect because some employees could slack off and still receive the reward, but group pressures tend to correct some of this problem and the trade-off may be worth the slightly lower motivational effect.

The use of punishment in organizations is difficult, but sometimes necessary. In this case, punishment dealt mainly with the symptoms rather than the underlying root causes of the inappropriate behavior.

With the new reward system, punishment should not be required very often, therefore reducing its negative consequences in this case. In the future, punishment should be used sparingly and should follow other managerial actions, including extinction and clarifying role requirements. Managers should be advised to follow the features of applying punishment effectively.

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Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

Chapter 1: Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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1

Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 1-1 Define organizational behavior and organizations.

1-2 Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for organizations.

1-3 Describe the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

1-4 Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–life integration, and remote work.

1-5 Diagram the MARS model and describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and performance.

1-6 Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY ability—the natural aptitudes, learned capabilities, and habits required to successfully complete a task adaptive task performance—how well employees modify their thoughts and behavior to align with and support a new or changing work process or work setting corporate social responsibility (CSR)— organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm‘s immediate financial interests or legal obligations

evidence-based management—the practice of making decisions and taking actions based on research evidence human capital—the knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued resources that employees bring to the organization inclusive workplace—a workplace that values people of all identities and allows them to be fully themselves while contributing to the organization

counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs)— voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization

MARS model—a model depicting the four variables—motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors—that directly influence an individual‘s voluntary behavior and performance

deep-level diversity—differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes

motivation—the forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of effort for voluntary behavior

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

open systems—the view that organizations are dependent on the external environment for resources (inputs), consist of internal subsystems that transform inputs to outputs, and affect the environment through those outputs

remote work—any arrangement whereby an individual performs organizational tasks while located away from the employer‘s physical premises, usually connected through various forms of information technology

organizational behavior (OB)—the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations

role perceptions—the degree to which a person understands the job duties assigned to or expected of them

organizational citizenship behavior (OCBs)— various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the organization‘s social and psychological context

stakeholders—individuals, groups, and other entities that affect, or are affected by, the organization‘s objectives and actions

organizational effectiveness—an ideal state in which an organization has a good fit with its external environment, effectively transforms inputs to outputs through human capital, and satisfies the needs of key stakeholders organizations—groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose proactive task performance—how well employees take the initiative to anticipate and introduce new work patterns that benefit the organization proficient task performance—how well employees perform the work efficiently and accurately

surface-level diversity—the observable demographic or physiological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical disabilities task performance—the individual‘s voluntary goaldirected behaviors that contribute to organizational objectives; includes proficient, adaptive, and proactive task performance work–life integration—the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 1-1 Define organizational behavior and organizations.

Organizational behavior is the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations. It examines how individuals and teams in organizations relate to one another, and how organizations interact with their external environments. This field of knowledge emerged around the early 1940s, but organizations have been studied by other disciplines for more than 2,000 years. Organizations are groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose. They consist of people who interact with one another in an organized way and have a collective sense of purpose.

LO 1-2 Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for organizations.

Organizational behavior is important for you because it offers a core foundation of knowledge and skill development for your success in organizations. The skills and knowledge that employers look for in new hires, above anything else, are the topics found in organizational behavior, including problem-solving,

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

working effectively in teams, communication, and leadership. More broadly, OB helps you adopt better personal theories to understand, predict, and influence organizational events. OB knowledge is for everyone, not just managers.

OB theories and practices are vital to the organization‘s survival and success. In fact, most OB theories implicitly or explicitly try to improve organizational effectiveness—an ideal state in which an organization has a good fit with its external environment, effectively transforms inputs to outputs through human capital, and satisfies the needs of key stakeholders. Organizational behavior knowledge is highly relevant to the open systems view of organizations by identifying organizational characteristics that ―fit‖ some external environments better than others. OB theories offer guidance on how to effectively transform inputs to outputs.

OB is also important for organizations because it identifies ways for organizations to develop and leverage the potential of human capital—the knowledge, skills, abilities, creativity, and other valued resources that employees bring to the organization. Several organizational behavior topics also give us a better understanding of relations with stakeholders—individuals, groups, and other entities that affect, or are affected by, the organization‘s objectives and actions. This latter focus includes the role of corporate social responsibility—organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm‘s immediate financial interests or legal obligations.

1-3 Describe the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

The systematic research anchor states that OB knowledge should be based on systematic research, consistent with evidence-based management. The practical orientation anchor states that OB theories need to be useful in practice, such as by helping organizations become more effective. The multidisciplinary anchor states that the field should develop from knowledge in other disciplines (e.g., psychology, sociology, and economics), not just from its own isolated research base. The contingency anchor states that OB theories generally need to consider that there will be different consequences in different situations. The multiple levels of analysis anchor state that OB topics may be viewed from the individual, team, and organization levels of analysis.

1-4 Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–life integration, and remote work.

An inclusive workplace values people of all identities and allows them to be fully themselves while contributing to the organization. It views diversity as a valued resource. An organization‘s workforce has both surface-level diversity (observable demographic and other overt differences in people) and deeplevel diversity (differences in personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes). Inclusive workplaces produce better decisions, employee attitudes, team performance, and a host of other favorable outcomes for employees and the organization. However, diversity also poses challenges, such as dysfunctional conflict and slower team development.

Work–life integration refers to the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains. Various work and nonwork roles are inherently integrated because the physical, cognitive, and emotional resources produced or consumed by one role potentially enrich or undermine the success and enjoyment of other roles. There are several ways to maximize work–life integration, such as doing things that mix two roles,

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

engage in flexible work scheduling, ensure that work and nonwork roles are aligned with your personal characteristics, and engage in some degree of ―boundary management‖ across roles.

An increasing percentage of the workforce performs their job remotely some or all of the time rather than at the organization‘s physical work site. Some organizations are completely remote—everyone works at home and cafés and the company has no physical head office. Working remotely potentially benefits employees and employers, but there are also disadvantages. The effectiveness of remote work depends on the employee, job, and organization.

1-5 Diagram the MARS model and describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and performance.

Four variables—motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors—which are represented by the acronym MARS, directly influence individual behavior and performance. Motivation represents the forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior; ability includes both the natural aptitudes and the learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task; role perceptions are the extent to which people understand the job duties (roles) assigned to them or expected of them; and situational factors include conditions beyond the employee‘s immediate control that constrain or facilitate behavior and performance.

1-6 Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

There are five main types of workplace behavior. Task performance refers to goal-directed behaviors under the individual‘s control that support organizational objectives. It includes proficiency, adaptivity, and proactivity. Organizational citizenship behaviors consist of various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others that support the organization‘s social and psychological context. Counterproductive work behaviors are voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization. Joining and staying with the organization refers to agreeing to become an organizational member and remaining with the organization. Maintaining work attendance includes minimizing absenteeism when capable of working and avoiding scheduled work when not fit (i.e., low presenteeism).

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior Slide 2: Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 1-1 Define organizational behavior and organizations.

1-2 Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for organizations.

1-3 Describe the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

1-4 Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–life integration, and remote work.

1-5 Diagram the MARS model and describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and performance.

1-6 Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations

Slide 3: The Great Resignation The Great Resignation during the COVID-19 pandemic connects with many organizational behavior topics, such as organizational culture, job satisfaction, leadership, task performance, organizational change, team dynamics, stress, and organizational commitment.

Slide 4: Organizational Behavior and Organizations Organizational behavior (OB) • Studies what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations • Emerged as a distinct field sometime around the early 1940s, but topic has been studied for more than 2,500 years

Organizations • Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose • Collective entities • Collective sense of purpose

Slide 5: Importance of OB for You OB is important for everyone, not just for ―management‖ The most important skills and knowledge employers look for in new hires are OB

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

• Problem-solving, communication, teamwork, adaptability, initiative, resiliency

OB helps students adopt better personal theories to comprehend, predict, and influence organizational events • Comprehend workplace events—fulfills need to understand what goes on around us • Better able to predict workplace events—improves the accuracy of our personal theories • Get things done by influencing and coordinating more successfully with others

Slide 6: Importance of OB for Organizations OB theories ultimately try to improve the organization‘s effectiveness—the ultimate dependent variable in organizational behavior OB concepts improve the organization‘s effectiveness: • Sales, profitability, patient survival, and other indicators of effectiveness • Are ―positive screens‖ for selecting companies with best investment returns

Organizational Effectiveness—an ideal state in which the organization: • Has a good fit with its external environment (open system) • Effectively transforms inputs to outputs (human capital) • Satisfies the needs of key stakeholders

Organizational effectiveness is considered the ultimate dependent variable in OB

Slide 7: Organizations as Open Systems Organizations are dependent on the external environment for resources (inputs), consist of internal subsystems that transform inputs to outputs, and affect the environment through those outputs Effective organizations • Maintain a good ―fit‖ with the changing external environment—inputs, processes, and outputs are aligned with the resources available and needs of the external environment • Transform inputs to outputs—subsystems need to coordinate with one another, including team performance, influencing other work units

Slide 8: Human Capital as Competitive Advantage Human capital—knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued resources that employees bring to the organization Company‘s competitive advantage because: • Employees are essential for the organization‘s survival and success Page 1-39 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

• Employee talents are difficult to find, copy, or replace with technology

Human capital improves organizational effectiveness: • Developing employee skills and knowledge directly improves individual behavior and performance • Organizations with skilled, motivated employees are better at performing diverse tasks in unfamiliar situations, so they adapt better to rapidly changing environments • Investing in and rewarding employees motivates them to reciprocate through greater effort in their jobs and assistance to coworkers

Slide 9: Organizations and Their Stakeholders Organizations are more effective when they understand, manage, and satisfy stakeholder needs and expectations Stakeholders: any entity who affects or is affected by the organization‘s objectives and actions, for example, employees, shareholders, suppliers, unions, and government Challenge: Stakeholders have conflicting interests and firms have limited resources to satisfy all stakeholders Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is associated with stakeholders • Organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm‘s immediate financial interests or legal obligations • Triple-bottom-line philosophy • Economic—survive and be profitable • Society—maintain or improve conditions • Environment—become ―greener‖

Evidence: companies with a positive CSR reputation tend to have better financial performance, more loyal employees, and better relations with customers, job applicants, and other stakeholders

Slide 10: Integrative Model of OB Individual inputs and processes influence individual outcomes, which have a direct effect on the organization‘s effectiveness Team inputs influence team processes, which then affect team performance and other outcomes Team processes and outcomes affect individual processes and outcomes

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

Organizational inputs and processes have macro-level influence on both teams and individuals

Slide 11: Organizational Behavior Anchors (1 of 2) 1. Systematic research anchor • OB knowledge should be based on systematic research • Forming research questions, collecting data, and testing hypotheses

Evidence-based management • Making decisions and taking actions on research evidence • Scientific method, not fads and personal beliefs that are untested

Why decision makers don‘t apply evidence-based management • Bombarded with popular, unresearched sources—most OB research is in obscure journals with limited access • Management fad sources are rewarded for being persuasive, not for research evidence—opposite for OB researchers • Perceptual errors bias decision maker toward popular and personal theories and to ignore contrary evidence • OB knowledge is necessarily generic—difficult to see relevance to specific situations • Herd mentality motivates decision makers to follow what is popular, not what is best evidence

Creating a more evidence-based organization • Be skeptical of hype (beware of ―new,‖ ―revolutionary,‖ ―proven‖) • Seek out the views of several expert sources, not lone charismatic stars and management gurus • Use stories/examples to illustrate, not as validation of an idea or practice • Resist the temptation to engage in herd behavior—decision makers need to be self-confident and involve others in the decision

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

2. Practical orientation anchor • OB theories need to be useful in practice • Implicit or explicit objective of making organizations more effective • True ―impact‖ of an OB theory—actually applied and valued in organizations

Slide 12: Organizational Behavior Anchors (2 of 2) 3. Multidisciplinary anchor • Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines •

For example, psychology (individual, interpersonal behavior); sociology (team dynamics, power); communications; marketing; and information systems.

• OB develops its own theories but also scans other fields • Risks of OB not developing more of its own theoretical foundations 4. Contingency anchor • A particular action may have different consequences in different situations—no single solution is best all the time • Need to understand and diagnose the situation and select the strategy most appropriate under those conditions 5. Multiple levels of analysis anchor • Individual—includes characteristics and behaviors as well as thought processes, for example, motivation, perception, and values • Team (including interpersonal)—looks at the way people interact, for example, team dynamics, decisions, and power • Organizational—how people structure their working relationships and how organizations interact with their environment • OB topics usually relevant at all three levels of analysis

Slide 13: Emerging Workplace: Inclusive Workplace Inclusive workplace—values diversity and allows people of all identities to be fully themselves while contributing to the organization • Individual level—people of all backgrounds feel psychologically safe, engaged, valued, authentic, listened to, and respected • Collective level—diverse groups have voice through formal structures and everyday processes— continually assesses fairness of organizational systems

Surface-level diversity

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Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

• Observable demographic or physiological differences in people (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical capabilities) • Surface-level diversity is increasing in many countries

Deep-level diversity • Differences in the psychological characteristics of employees (e.g., personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes) • Can‘t directly see deep-level diversity—evident in words, decisions, actions • Some deep-level diversity is associated with surface-level diversity (e.g., gender differences in values, attitudes, and personality)

Generational diversity • Deep-level diversity—values, expectations, attitudes—exists across generations, but differences are more subtle than many think • Differences are due more to person‘s stage of life than to their cohort (decade of birth)

Slide 14: Inclusive Workplace Benefits and Challenges Inclusive workplace benefits • More creativity, better decisions in complex situations (especially teams with high informational diversity (different knowledge and skills)) • Better representation to recognize and address community needs • Surface-level and some deep-level diversity is a moral/legal imperative • Fulfills ethical standard of fairness (selection, promotions, etc.), better hiring, promotion, employee satisfaction, and loyalty • Inclusive workplaces generally have better decisions, employee attitudes, team performance • Benefits depend on several factors (leadership, team structure, psychological safety)

Inclusive workplace benefits challenges • Diverse teams usually take longer to perform effectively together • Higher risk of dysfunctional conflict—less information sharing and morale • Sometimes results in a curvilinear relationship between diversity and team performance—too little versus too much diversity

Slide 15: Emerging Workplace: Work–Life Integration Increased blending of work and nonwork for many employees—influenced by information technology and globalization Work–life integration—the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains Page 1-43 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Solutions Manual Organizational Behavior Emerging Knowledge Global Reality 10th Edition by Steven McShane, Mary Von Glinow

• Occurs by satisfying the demands and experiencing positive emotions of various segments of life • Our various roles are inherently integrated—resources generated and consumed by one role enhance or starve other roles

Problem: heavy demands of one role deplete personal resources, which starve other roles Example: consuming most energy and time performing/thinking about job leaves insufficient time and energy for other life roles Practicing work–life integration 1. Literally integrate two or more roles • meetings while exercising; dogs at work; on-site child care 2. Flexible work scheduling • attend meetings remotely from home then flexible work next day; parental leave programs 3. Align work and nonwork roles with personal attributes (personality, values) 4. Boundary management—prevent work roles from encroaching on time and attention devoted to your nonwork roles • Schedule time blocks—stop work at a set time, set aside nonwork time • Create physical role spaces—distinct home office space • Apply technological boundaries—right to disconnect, ignore work notices after hours • Communicate role boundary expectations—auto-messages when away for office

Slide 16: Remote Work at Automattic Automattic is a completely distributed organization. All of its employees are remote workers located across several dozen countries. The hiring process occurs completely through chat and text messaging. Team leaders regularly convene video-based meetings, and teams meet in person twice each year.

Slide 17: Emerging Workplace: Remote Work Remote work—performing the job away from the organization‘s physical premises—usually connected to coworkers, clients, and company data through information technology Most common is working from home or other non-client site away from the traditional workplace, but it may also include working at client sites Hybrid work arrangements—working from home part of the week and at the company‘s premises at other times Distributed organizations—have a completely remote workforce—no physical company offices (e.g., Automattic and Gitlab)

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Slide 18: Remote Work Benefits and Risks Potential benefits of remote work • Better work–life integration—more time, more control to juggle work with family—but requires sufficient workspace and privacy at home • Attractive benefit for job applicants • Low employee turnover • Higher employee productivity—less stress, some former commute time becomes work time—allows work to continue during natural disasters • Lower unpaid time and travel costs • Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and public transportation infrastructure • Reduced corporate real estate

Potential risks of remote work • More social isolation—due to less connection with coworkers • Less informal communication with coworkers—less word-of-mouth information about promotional opportunities • Lower team cohesion • Weaker organizational culture • More stressful due to home space and roles

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Slide 19: Remote Work Contingencies Employee characteristics • High self-motivation • High self-organization • High need for autonomy • Able to fulfill their social needs outside work • Good information technology skills

Job characteristics • Tasks have fairly low interdependence with other jobs • Work resources can be transported home or are available digitally • Task performance is measurable

Organizational characteristics • Reward employees for performance not office presence (face time) • Maintaining team cohesion and psychological connectedness with the organization—limit remote work days, have special in-person meetings/events, video communication

Slide 20: MARS Model of Individual Behavior Individual voluntary behavior and performance is influenced by motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors • Represented by the acronym MARS • All four factors influence individual voluntary behavior and performance—behavior or performance is low if any one factor is low

MARS is built on earlier models of individual behavior and performance: • Performance = person × situation—person includes individual characteristics and situation represents external influences on the individual‘s behavior • Performance = ability × motivation—―skill-and-will‖ model, two specific characteristics within the person • Ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO)—refers to the three variables but with a limited interpretation of the situation • Role perceptions literature

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Slide 21: MARS Model: Motivation Internal forces (cognitive and emotional conditions) that affect a person‘s effort for voluntary behavior • Direction—path along which people steer their effort—motivation is goal-directed, not random • Intensity—amount of effort allocated to the goal • Persistence—continuing the effort for a specific amount of time

Slide 22: MARS Model: Ability Natural aptitudes, learned capabilities, and habits required to successfully complete a task • Aptitudes—natural talents that help people learn specific tasks more quickly and perform them better • Learned capabilities—acquired physical and mental skills and knowledge • Habits—tendencies to engage in specific behaviors in response to contextual cues and enacted with little conscious awareness or reflection—triggered by situational cues—minimal or no consciously motivated thought

Person–job matching—produces higher performance and tends to increase the employee‘s well-being 1. Select applicants who demonstrate the required competencies 2. Provide training to enhance individual performance and results 3. Redesign the job so employees perform only tasks they are currently able to perform

Slide 23: MARS Model: Role Perceptions The extent to which people understand the job duties (roles) assigned to or expected of them Role perceptions are clearer (role clarity) when we: • Understand which tasks or consequences we are accountable for • Understand the priority of tasks and performance expectations • Understand the preferred behaviors/procedures for tasks

Benefits of clear role perceptions: • More accurate/efficient job performance (due to clearer direction of effort) • Better coordination with others • Higher motivation due to clearer link between effort and outcomes

Slide 24: MARS Model: Situational Factors Any context beyond the individual‘s immediate control

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Two influences of situation on behavior 1. Constraint or facilitator—for example, time, budget, work facilities, consumer preferences, and economic conditions 2. Cues—guide and motivate behavior—for example, physical barriers and safety warning signs

Slide 25: Types of Individual Behavior (1 of 2) Task performance Voluntary goal-directed behaviors under the individual‘s control that contribute to organizational objectives • Involve working with people, data, things, and ideas

Three types of performance: 4. Proficient task performance—employees work efficiently and accurately 5. Adaptive task performance—employees modify their thoughts and behavior to align with and support a new or changing environment 6. Proactive task performance—employees take initiative to anticipate and initiate new work patterns that benefit the organization

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) Various forms of cooperation with and helpfulness to others that support the organization‘s social and psychological context Directed toward: • Individuals—for example, adjusting work schedule to accommodate coworkers • Organization—for example, supporting the company‘s public image

Some OCBs are discretionary (don‘t need to perform them), whereas other OCBs are job requirements even if they aren‘t explicitly stated OCBs can have a significant effect on individual, team, and organizational effectiveness OCBs can have negative consequences for employees—take effort away from task performance and nonwork obligations

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Slide 26: Types of Individual Behavior (2 of 2) Counterproductive work behaviors Voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization Examples: harassing coworkers, creating unnecessary conflict, avoiding work obligations Joining and staying with the organization Forming the employment relationship and remaining with the organization Organization‘s effectiveness hurt by: • Lack of job applicants—unable to complete work processes • High employee turnover—loss of human capital—removes valuable knowledge, skills, and relationships with coworkers and external stakeholders

Maintaining work attendance Absences due mainly to situation (weather) and motivation (avoiding stressful workplace) Presenteeism—attending scheduled work when one‘s capacity to perform is significantly diminished by illness or other factors

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

3. A friend suggests that organizational behavior courses are useful only to people who will enter management careers. Discuss the accuracy of your friend’s statement.

This chapter explains that although technical skills and knowledge are important in many occupations, the skills and knowledge that employers tend to rank above anything else are the topics associated with organizational behavior, such as problem-solving, teamwork, communicating, and adaptability/initiative.

In addition to helping students acquire these valuable skills and knowledge foundations, organizational behavior helps students to adopt better personal theories to understand, predict, and influence organizational events. By adopting better personal theories, we are able to make more accurate sense of what goes on around us and are better able to coordinate our work objectives with coworkers and other organizational stakeholders. In other words, OB knowledge helps us to get things done more effectively in organizations. The above benefits of OB lead to a key principle in this book, namely that OB is for everyone who works in and around organizations. Although managers may require OB knowledge more intensively, people in all jobs ultimately require the skills that employers seek out and people need to develop more accurate personal theories of why events and behavior occur in organizational settings.

4. Problem-solving, teamwork, communication, and adaptability/initiative are four of the top skills identified by employers as most important when hiring (see Exhibit 1.1). How have these skills been important (or unimportant) for you in jobs that you have held or as a student? Identify one other skill that you would place at or near the top of the list for working effectively in organizations.

This question lays the foundation for an open discussion of how organizational behavior concepts associated with these skills are useful in organizations. The four top skills that employers seek in job applicants are shown below, along with some suggested applications of these skills at work.

Problem-solving (including analytic and strategic thinking)—As discussed in the chapter on decision making, effective problem-solving is a critical requirement in most jobs yet is fraught with numerous biases and limitations. Effective decision makers provide more effective assignment of organizational resources, ranging from creating a more engaged workforce to making more efficient use of cash flow and budgets. Problem-solving also includes creativity, which many business leaders say is perhaps their firm‘s key competitive advantage.

Teamwork (including collaboration, interpersonal skills, and people management)—This skill is discussed in the chapter on teams but also relates to managing conflict, influencing others, and understanding and managing emotions. The teams chapter points out that employees work in teams more than ever, so they need to learn how to develop the five behaviors of effective team members. Without team skills, employees undermine work processes, adversely affect the satisfaction and commitment of others, and potentially undermine everyone‘s work performance. Teamwork skills are also important for coordinating work, in other words, just getting your individual work accomplished because it typically requires the support of coworkers.

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Communication—The ability to convey information and to use words persuasively are important skills for effective coordination and getting things done with others. Students might mention how communication problems or successes have helped their career or to navigate their interaction in tricky situations.

Adaptability/initiative/resiliency—These three related skills are discussed throughout this book as essential individual characteristics and behaviors. Adaptability is one of the three types of individual performance; it also connects with creativity, teamwork behavior, and organizational change. Initiative refers to self-motivation, which is discussed as an applied performance practice (self-leadership).

Resiliency, the capacity to recover from setbacks, is discussed in the context of work-related stress.

Students can identify several other skills associated with organizational behavior beyond the four listed above. Some of these include managing (coping with) stress, organizational citizenship behaviors, involving others in decisions, and deciding and acting ethically.

5. Organizational behavior provides valuable knowledge to improve and maintain organizational effectiveness. Scan through the topics of this book to identify a few ways that OB knowledge is useful. Your answer should refer not only to the OB chapter theme but also to open systems, human capital, and/or stakeholders.

This open discussion question relates to most (or all) chapters in this book and to many topics within a chapter. The key point of this question is for students to link the selected topic to one or more of the three elements of organizational effectiveness: open systems, human capital, and/or stakeholders. Below are three examples: Team development (Chapter 8: or specific subtopics—cohesion, norms, mental models, etc.): Team development plays a central role in the effective transformation of inputs to outputs (open systems) because teams are core subsystems and therefore central to the transformation process in almost all organizations. Team development also relates to human capital because the cohesion, mental models, norms, and so on that develop within teams are valuable human resources. This value is evident when something occurs (e.g., high employee turnover) that undermines that team development.

Emotional intelligence (Chapter 4): Employees with high emotional intelligence strengthen organizational effectiveness in various ways. Employees who work with people outside the organization (boundary spanners) benefit from high emotional intelligence because they have greater awareness of the emotions of clients, suppliers, government officials, community leaders, and other stakeholders. This increases the company‘s sensitivity to stakeholders so it can respond to those needs and expectations.

This also applies to the broader topic of open systems because emotional intelligence increases the company‘s ability to sense the external environment, making it aware of risks to resource availability and to environmental responses to its products/services and other outputs to the environment. Emotional intelligence is also an important employee attribute in human capital, which influences the effective transformation of inputs to outputs. For example, emotionally intelligent employees work more effectively with coworkers and with people in other work units.

Organizational structure (specifically, departmentalization—Chapter 13): The type of departmentalization applied to a company affects its organizational effectiveness. An extreme example would be assigning a simple structure to a large multinational firm. That arrangement would result in disastrously poor coordination among work units, which undermines the transformation process (open Page 1-51 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

systems). Departmentalization also relates to how the organization relates to its stakeholders and more generally to the external environment. For example, companies organize around products or client groups when those groups are diverse and require unique relations with the organization.

4. After attending a seminar on human capital, a mining company executive argues that this view of organizations ignores the fact that mining companies could not rely on people alone to stay in business. They also need physical capital (such as digging and ore-processing equipment) and land (where the minerals are located). In fact, these two may be more important than what employees carry around in their heads. Discuss the mining executive’s comments in the context of human capital and organizational effectiveness. ―People are our most value assets‖ reflects the fact that land and capital have little value without people.

For instance, this mining company would not have found land with ore deposits unless it had the human capital (skills, knowledge, creativity, etc.) to find those deposits. Similarly, it could not operate the equipment to extract the ore unless it had the requisite human capital to purchase, operate, and maintain that equipment.

The executive comments that companies could not remain in business with only human capital. On the contrary, some of the wealthiest organizations (including many software companies and consulting firms) have few physical assets. Banks are selling off their corporate headquarters because their competitive advantage—their source of wealth—is found in human expertise. Mining companies are also outsourcing several aspects of physical assets. Their ships and digging equipment are often owned by third-party firms that have human capital expertise in buying and maintaining those resources. The major mining companies today are mainly in the knowledge business—scouting for ore deposits or maintaining logistics to get ore that others have extracted and to sellers where it is processed.

5. Most companies actively hire and retain employees with diverse backgrounds, particular race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexual orientation. Based on this ongoing effort, many claim their organization is an inclusive workplace. Explain why the existence of a diverse workforce differs from having an inclusive workplace.

Workforce diversity differs from an inclusive workforce. Diversity refers to the characteristics (typically surface-level, but potentially also deep-level) of employees, whereas an inclusive workforce refers to how well the organization values diversity and allows people of all identities to be fully themselves while contributing to the organization.

This distinction is evident when people in some groups are not given the opportunity to fully participate in the organization due to their diversity characteristics. It also occurs when people of a particular group (ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) are members of the organization but their self-concept needs to be suppressed to actively participate in the organization. In other words, diversity refers only to the demographics or more subtle characteristics of the organization. An inclusive workplace is an ongoing process that enables people of all backgrounds to feel psychologically safe, engaged, valued, authentic, listened to, and respected. For example, an inclusive workplace monitors organizational systems to ensure that they do not unfairly differentiate or discriminate against people with some forms of diversity.

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6. What does evidence-based management mean? Describe situations you have heard about in which companies have practiced evidence-based management, as well as situations in which companies have relied on fads that lacked sufficient evidence of their worth.

There are two parts to this question. The first requires students to define ―evidence-based management.‖ The second part asks students to provide an example of fads that lacked evidence, but which companies relied on in the past. Answers to the second part will vary based on individual student experiences.

A sample answer to the first part of the question ―evidence-based management‖ may include the following: Evidence-based management is the idea that management decisions and initiatives should be based on the systematic research anchor to ensure effective implantation. In other words, we should manage the workplace based on sound evidence gathered as a result of systematic research. This involves using knowledge flowing from the process of forming research questions, systematically collecting data, and testing hypotheses against those data. Applying evidence-based management would significantly reduce the risk of corporate leaders embracing fads and relying on their pet beliefs before finding out if they actually work.

7. Work–life integration is one of the most important issues that job applicants consider when choosing where to work. Think about the variety of specific benefits, working conditions, or resources that employers offer to support work–life integration. Which of these is most valuable to you personally at this stage in your life and career? Why? In what ways have you personally been able to minimize conflict between your work (including school) and nonwork roles?

This question prompts open discussion of students‘ personal preferences and the variety of work–life integration benefits, conditions, and resources available in organizations. It also brings out specific examples of ways that people effectively integrate their work (or school duties) and nonwork life roles.

Numerous work–life integration benefits, conditions, and resources might be discussed. Here is a small set of them: • Remote work • Flexible hours • Workplace recreation facilities • Activity-based meetings • Exercising while working • Paid parental leave • Company policies restricting after-work communication • Flexible vacation schedules • Sabbaticals • Child care center support or in-house • Career counseling (for better alignment of job requirements with personal characteristics) 8. Automattic and several other businesses (e.g., Emsisoft and Gitlab) are completely remote (distributed) companies. Everyone who works for these firms performs their jobs from home or Page 1-53 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

cafés. In your opinion, will distributed companies become more common in the future? Why or why not? Would you prefer working in a remote company—one that has no physical location, just (maybe) an occasional gathering of staff at a conference setting or resort? Or do you prefer working face-to-face most days with coworkers at a company worksite? Why? This question encourages debate about the viability of this emerging form of organization, in which everyone works remotely and most of these companies don‘t have a physical headquarters. It also encourages discussion about personal preferences for working in remote arrangements, whether in a completely remote organization or just where the student is a permanent remote worker.

The viability of completely remote organizations touches on the issues at Yahoo and other companies that reduced or completely withdrew employee opportunities for remote work. But there is also plenty of writing about the success of Automattic and a few other completely remote companies.

This book identifies a few job and organizational features that are important for remote work, and these are even more critical for entirely remote organizations. In addition, some of the ideas that students might discuss about the viability of remote organizations are: • Whether people need more social integration than occurs in remote firms or remote work.

• Whether remote firms require leadership skills that are difficult to develop.

• Whether the average employee performs better under guidance (or close watch) of a ―manager‖ rather than working autonomously from home.

• Whether remote companies are more viable in some knowledge work businesses than in others. For example, students might consider the form of interaction with customers and other external stakeholders. Also, consider how the confidentiality of information used by staff might limit the viability of remote work and organizations.

• Whether financial arrangements—from salaries to financial benefits—get too complex in completely remote companies, particularly where employees are located in several countries (or whether global remote firms simply shift to contract-based workers).

• Whether remote companies can overcome or manage the potentially heightened conflict and misunderstanding that tends to occur when staff rely on leaner communication channels (text messaging, online chat, etc.).

Regarding student preferences for working in remote organizations, a variety of personal characteristics and conditions could be discussed. These might begin with the personal characteristics identified in this chapter of the book: • High self-motivation • High self-organization • High need for autonomy • Good skill with information technology

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• Able to fulfill their social needs outside work These and other personal factors are associated with personality, values, past experiences, and so forth, which might be noted by students during this discussion.

9. A federal government department has high levels of absenteeism among the office staff. The head of office administration argues that employees are misusing the company’s sick leave benefits.

However, some of the mostly female staff members have explained that family responsibilities interfere with work. Using the MARS model, as well as your knowledge of absenteeism behavior, discuss some of the possible reasons for absenteeism here and how it might be reduced.

The MARS model of individual behavior states that behavior is a function of motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors. With respect to absenteeism, employees may be away from assigned work because they don‘t want to attend work that day (motivation), they don‘t realize that this is their work day (role perceptions), they are ill or injured to the degree that makes them physically unable to attend work (ability), and/or environmental conditions prevent them from attending work (situational factors).

In this incident, situational factors may explain mostly why female employees are absent. Specifically, family responsibilities interfere with their work attendance. However, some absenteeism among men and women may be due to sick leave policies. It is known that generous sick leave benefits reduce attendance motivation.

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CS

CASE STUDY: PROMOTING SAFE BEHAVIOR AT MOTHER PARKERS

Case Synopsis This case describes the activities at Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee Inc. to increase safe behaviors of employees, contractors, and others at the coffee manufacturer.

Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions 10. Apply the MARS model to explain how Mother Parkers improves safety in the workplace.

The MARS model fits nicely with this case study because Mother Parkers applies the four elements of MARS to guide employees toward safe behaviors.

Motivation—Employee motivation to act safely occurs both directly and indirectly. Directly, they feel empowered through employee involvement in safety decisions (including ergonomic blitzes and buying expensive equipment) and the associated recognition by company leaders of their expertise in the work area. ―We wanted to empower the operators to recognize hazards in their work area, voice those concerns, and to be a part of the solutions,‖ says Khan. Employees are also motivated to report safety issues because they can comfortably approach their peer safety representatives (who had been in ergo blitzes).

Ability—Mother Parkers invests in employee safety training, including safety procedures and the availability of emerging safety technology. Employees also learn through their involvement in safety decisions. Safety training is also required of all contractors.

Role perceptions—Mother Parkers continuously reminds employees and contractors that safety is an important part of everyone‘s job. This role awareness is conveyed in ongoing safety training, erg blitzes, and the presence of safety cues. The company also accentuates safety role clarity by beginning production meetings and shift handovers by talking about safety. Ergo blitz team members serve as role models to other employees on how to behave safely.

Situation—Situation seems to be the prominent method of generating safer behaviors. It has ―welldesigned barriers and cues‖ in its production facilities, which represent the two forms of situational contingencies (constraints/facilitators and cues). Barriers separate people from dangerous equipment.

Safe walking and stop-look areas are clearly marked (cues). Signs on doors identify necessary attire for the next room. Employees and contractors are also required to wear safety equipment that minimizes safety risks.

11. What other organizational behavior topics are generally apparent in this description of how Mother Parkers creates a safe workplace?

Students can identify a few other OB topics of relevance to this case. These may include: Decision making and employee involvement—The case notes how decisions about safety practices and equipment purchases are made with information and involvement of employees because they possess Page 1-56 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

more information and need to be empowered to enact those practices. Some decisions have high employee involvement, such as safety committees and ergo blitzes.

Teamwork—Mother Parkers relies on teams for safety committees, ergo blitzes, and other aspects of safety involvement. Although details are not provided, the team structures are likely used rather than individual decision making to maximize involvement and to bring in the necessary variety of information for safety decisions.

Human capital—Mother Parkers has a highly skilled and committed workforce because the company dedicates resources to their well-being and skill development. As Adrian Khan, Mother Parkers‘ Senior Manager of Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security for North America, stated: ―They make a commitment to us to help produce great quality products; we make a commitment to them to provide them with a safe working environment.‖ Motivation—As noted in Question #1 above, Mother Parkers engages in activities that motivate employees to practice safety, particularly by listening to and applying their ideas, and by involving teams or employees in key safety decisions. Students might also look at motivation from the perspective of the predictors of employee empowerment.

Organizational culture—Although Mother Parkers‘ safety culture is only implied in the case, there are numerous artifacts to reinforce this idea. These artifacts range from rituals (discussing safety at the beginning of each production meeting), visual symbols (walking paths, warning signs), and the like.

Leadership—Adrian Khan, Mother Parkers‘ Senior Manager of Environmental, Health, Safety, and Security for North America, serves as an effective transformational leader. Although only implied in this case, he formed a strong vision of the company‘s safety orientation, continuously communicates this image of the company‘s culture, invariably enacts safety behaviors, and motivates employees to buy into the vision of Mother Parkers as a safety-focused company.

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T E

TEAM EXERCISE: WYE & VALVE PLUMBING: A MARS DIAGNOSTIC EXERCISE

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you practice using the MARS model to diagnose a specific issue relating to employee behavior and performance.

Materials Teams should have a way to document their analysis for other teams to view. This might be flip chart paper for face-to-face classes or a dedicated virtual whiteboard for each team in remote classes.

Instructions Step 1: Students are organized into teams (typically five to seven people per team). After reading the Wye & Valve (W&V) Plumbing incident below, the team will diagnose W&V‘s customer service issues and discuss specific ways the retailer can improve customer service at the company. The discussion should explain whether and in what ways each MARS element can guide better customer service. All four elements of the MARS model should be considered.

Step 2: The team summarizes its recommendations on flip chart paper (in-person) or presentation slide or virtual whiteboard (remote class). Each recommendation should be assigned under one of the four MARS elements (e.g., a strategy to improve employee motivation would be stated under the ―M‖ category).

Step 3: The class debriefing will discuss the strategies systematically for each MARS element. For example, the class will review the ―M‖ strategies across teams and comment on similarities and difference among those recommendations.

Comments for Instructors This is an excellent early activity to help students to engage in theory-based diagnostic analysis of an incident or situation. It is simple to the degree that students rely on only one theory (MARS model) to analyze the situation. That model has four distinct components, which makes it easier to debrief this exercise.

The activity directs students to the symptoms, namely that W&V is experiencing customer service issues.

The company earns below-average customer service ratings, and specific types of complaints are noted, such as (a) staff do not proactively assist clients with information/suggestions, (b) staff respond inappropriately to client requests, and (c) staff seem inhospitable and reluctant to assist clients when specialized parts (only staff can retrieve) are requested.

Students should systematically examine each of the four MARS model elements to determine the extent that each is responsible for the various symptoms (manifest customer service failures).

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Ability Diagnosis: The scenario suggests that many of W&V‘s staff have industry experience, so they are knowledgeable of most supplies and practices. They also receive regular training sessions on new products and techniques in the industry. This suggests that a large percentage of W&V‘s staff have the ability to answer almost all queries from do-it-yourself (DIY) customers and probably most questions from tradespeople. For the latter group, W&V staff would at least know the existence and whereabouts of specialized parts that knowledgeable tradespeople request. Overall, some specific staff may lack sufficient ability to serve clients (especially tradespeople) for specific issues, ability is NOT a major factor in the customer service issues that W&V is trying to resolve.

Recommendations: Although most staff have sufficient ability, it may be worthwhile identifying specific staff members who are uncomfortable with low-level knowledge of plumbing techniques and/or with W&V‘s products. These people might either receive better training or possibly be moved to secondary roles, such as (re)stocking shelves and cashiering transactions.

Role Perceptions Diagnosis: The knowledge and skills that W&V staff possess does not translate into their awareness of required work behaviors in the store. In other words, they may have poor role perceptions about appropriate behavior toward clients. They can answer questions, but the incident suggests a lack of initiative to answer those questions in a respectful way. It also states that employees assume customers know what parts and tools they need, which is further evidence that staff lack correct role perceptions (due to inaccurate perceptions about customer needs). As such, it is possible that some W&V staff do not realize that they need to be more proactive in serving customers and in providing them with supplies that require more effort to retrieve. This element of MARS may require further investigation, but it likely means that staff require customer service training to improve role perceptions. It is also possible that some staff are ill-suited to this retail work because they don‘t view themselves as needing to serve customers politely.

Recommendations: W&V should consider introducing customer service training that makes staff more aware of specific role behaviors necessary to service clients. This may include behavior modeling as well as sessions in which staff learn about candid feedback from customers about their customer experiences at W&V. Such training would also emphasize the importance of proactive, respectful behavior toward customers, such as the effect of lost accounts and how competitors have excelled in the customer service experience. Overall, this learning process should help W&V staff realize that specific behaviors (proactively approaching customers, showing empathy and friendliness, etc.) are an important part of their jobs and the success of the company.

Situational Factors Diagnosis: The incident mentions that staff are particularly inhospitable when asked for specialized parts that only staff can retrieve. The scenario suggests that retrieving specialized parts requires some effort. There are thousands of parts, and many of these are retrievable only by staff in an area behind the main customer desk.

This element of MARS may require further investigation, but it suggests that the layout of supplies hampers good customer service. It might be a challenge locating specific parts, the physical area may be cumbersome for staff to access, or there may be many similar parts that all need to be brought to the customer and then restocked. In any event, the physical layout may be an impediment to effect customer service.

Recommendations: W&V should investigate the layout of its stores to determine more efficient ways for parts to be displayed and restocked. Alternatively, W&V might consider dividing staff so some are involved Page 1-59 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

in retrieving and restocking the specialized behind-counter parts, whereas staff who are most knowledgeable about trade practices and how have strong customer service presentation skills work in the front area of the stores. Behind counter staff would become more proficient at retrieving and restocking specialized supplies even though they are not plumbing experts to consult DIY and tradespeople.

Motivation Diagnosis: Lack of motivation by some (most?) of W&V staff seems to be a major cause of the poor customer service. W&V staff generally do not actively volunteer information or recommendations to customers, even though customers value that service. Some of this low motivation could be an outcome of situational factors (i.e., difficult physical layout reduces employee motivation to retrieve parts that customers need). Role perceptions could be another reason—staff aren‘t aware that this is important for their job duties.

But lack of motivation seems to be a factor beyond these explanations. It seems likely that employees don‘t care about customer satisfaction under any circumstances (i.e., they know it is their job duty, but don‘t engage in that duty). Perhaps they have counter motivational influences such as status-like behavior over DIY clients. Or the workplace has developed norms whereby staff aren‘t encouraged to improve customer service. There is no information of how staff are financially rewarded, although targeted performance rewards are not always necessary to motivate people to perform obligated work tasks. Overall, motivation seems to be a strong explanation why staff are providing poor customer service.

Recommendations: One suggestion is to alter store norms such that customer service is continually highlighted as important. This goes beyond changing role perceptions; it is rather like a corporate culture value in which employees eventually decide to engage in desired behaviors or seek work elsewhere. A second recommendation is to more carefully recruit and hire people whose values and natural skills at customer service are better than those currently working at W&V. To some extent, motivation is influenced by a person‘s personality and values, which are difficult to change. Hiring people who inherently want to serve clients and who naturally have a pleasant presentation style can be a core strategy for reducing the customer served problems identified here. A third suggestion is to incentivize employees through bonuses based on customer service skills and feedback. This financial recommendation should be treated cautiously, however, because financial rewards can have unintended consequences and may discourage staff from engaging in necessary work activities that are not financially rewarded.

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C E

CLASS EXERCISE: WORLD CAFÉ ON THE EMERGING WORKPLACE

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand organizational behavior issues that arise in the emerging workplace landscape, particularly regarding inclusive workplace, remote work, and work–life integration.

Materials This exercise is possible as a face-to-face (f2f) class or a remote class. For f2f classes, the learning space should allow for one large table or other dedicated area for approximately every 10 students in the class. For remote classes, each team is assigned to a separate team room (i.e., six team rooms instead of six tables). One person (the ―scribe‖) at each table/room will write notes on the ideas presented. These ideas can be rewritten later as a summary of the event.

Instructions Step 1: Students are organized into teams of approximately 10 people. For f2f classes, each team is initially assigned to a large table or dedicated space for the team. For remote classes, each team is permanently assigned to a virtual team room. The instructor will assign one of the three themes (see below) to each table.

For example, if the class has 60 students, there would be six tables/team rooms of 10 students. In this example, two tables/rooms would be assigned the theme of inclusive workplace, two tables/rooms would look at remote work, and two tables/rooms would look at work–life integration.

Step 2: For either f2f or remote classes, one person on each team volunteers to be the ―scribe‖ for that table.

The scribe makes notes on the main ideas presented by students at that table/room. For f2f classes, the scribe remains at the same table for the entire exercise, whereas the rest of the team moves from one table to another table when the instructor advises. For remote sessions, only the scribes move from one team room to the next when the instructor advises. In remote sessions, each team remains in the same team room and receives a different scribe (and topic) when the instructor advises. All scribes will later debrief the class on the key points they documented on the theme assigned to them.

Step 3: Teams will read the questions assigned to the theme of their initial table/topic (see below). They have a fixed time (usually between 10 and 15 minutes) to discuss their views and offer answers to those questions.

The scribe will document ideas presented by the team.

Step 4: After the preset discussion time has ended, the instructor will advise the class to move to the next table (f2f) or topic (remote). For f2f classes, each team (except the scribe) moves to another table that has a different theme. For example, students at a ―remote work‖ table would together move to a table on either ―work–life integration‖ or ―inclusive workplace.‖ For remote classes, only the scribes move to another room identified by the instructor that has not discussed the scribe‘s topic. Students will read the questions assigned to the theme of this second table/topic. The instructor again assigns a fixed time (10 to 15 minutes) for students to discuss their new theme.

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Step 5: The scribe will add ideas identified by the second group to existing notes presented earlier by the first team. The scribe should not tell the second group what the first group discussed about this theme. The scribe should remain quiet, except asking for clarification.

Step 6: One more transition occurs after the preset discussion time. For f2f classes, the instructor will advise each team to move to the next table. For remote classes, the instructor will advise each scribe to move to the next team room. In either situation, the scribe will interact with a team that has not yet discussed that topic (i.e., they will discuss the third topic described below). Scribes document ideas from their third group without informing them of what the previous teams discussed on that theme.

Step 7: After the third round of discussion has ended, the entire class will gather and listen to the main ideas documented by the scribes. This is usually a few minutes per scribe. If two or more scribes have been responsible for the same theme, those scribes should present at the same time or consecutively (e.g., if two scribes have the remote work theme, they should speak to the class together or one after the other).

World Café Discussion Themes (provided in the book) Table 1: Inclusive Workplace An inclusive workplace values people of all identities (i.e., surface- and deep-level diversity) and allows them to be fully themselves while contributing to the organization.

7. What challenges do organizations and their employees experience on their journey toward an inclusive workplace? Provide specific examples.

8. How can leaders (supervisors to executives) nurture and maintain an inclusive workplace? Provide specific examples from your experience in an organization that emphasizes and leverages (or undermines) workplace inclusion.

9. What personal characteristics of leaders (supervisors to executives) make them better (or worse) equipped to support and lead people in an inclusive workplace? Why are those attributes important?

Table 2: Remote Workers Remote workers are people who perform organizational tasks while located away from the employer‘s physical premises. For this exercise, we focus specifically on remote working from home.

10. What are the challenges for the organization and for employees who work remotely in terms of their effectiveness and well-being in this work arrangement? Provide specific examples. Several firms (Yahoo, IBM, etc.) had reduced the degree of remote work prior to the pandemic. What problems do you think they experienced?

11. What personal characteristics enable some people to work remotely better (or worse) than other people? Why are those attributes important?

12. How can leaders (supervisors to executives) support and maintain the performance and well-being of remote workers? Provide specific examples from your experience as a remote worker, a supervisor of remote workers, or knowledge of others in those situations.

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Table 3: Work–Life Integration Work–life integration refers to the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains.

13. In what specific ways can employees apply each of the four strategies for improving work–life integration? What challenges do they face in trying to apply each of these strategies? Provide specific examples from your experience—or your knowledge of others—in applying work–life integration.

14. What personal characteristics enable some people to be more successful at maintaining work–life integration? Why are those attributes important?

15. In what specific ways can organizations and their leaders help employees to improve or maintain work–life integration? Provide specific examples that you know about of corporate initiatives that try to improve employees‘ work–life integration.

Comments for Instructors This is an excellent activity to involve students on topics that they know about or at least likely have opinions about. The World Café structure of the exercise is particularly helpful because it can be used in larger classes. (Steve has conducted this activity in MBA classes with almost 80 students using six tables—two sets of each of the three topics listed above and 13 people per table!)

The first piece of advice, particularly for instructors in larger classes, is ORGANIZATION. Have café tables set up with sufficient space for all students in each cohort to gather around.

Also important is to carefully instruct students on the process before the process begins. Few would have done a world café previously and there is potential for confusion when teams move to the next table (or to the next ―topic‖ with a new scribe for remote groups). Instructors should carefully describe how one person needs to take notes and remain with the same topic for the entire exercise, how after a fixed time (when the instructor advises to move) either all members of a group except the scribe will move to the next café table (f2f sessions) or in remote sessions the scribe moves to another group‘s room, how the scribe remains quiet except asking for clarification (e.g., the scribe does NOT summarize any notes to the next team), and how the team discusses the topic associated with each table, so everyone (except scribes) eventually discusses all three topics after moving through the three tables.

Several minutes before each move, let each table know where they will move next and in how many minutes (e.g., in a f2f session, say, ―This group, except the scribe, will move the table near the window in about 4 minutes. I‘ll advise the class when it is time to move.‖). Be sure to remind the scribe what to do at the end of the session—that is, to stay at the table in f2f sessions and to move to the next designated group‘s room in remote sessions. Either way, the scribe should AVOID telling the next group what previous groups have stated to the scribe. If the next group just repeats the same ideas, that merely reinforces the importance of those ideas (and requires less note-taking).

A major challenge for scribes is to present a brief summary of the key points. Scribes need to organize the ideas for a class presentation. In some instances, the class might have a break before debriefing, which gives scribes time to organize their ideas. In any event, emphasize that scribes are not expected to repeat everything that was discussed, just the main/more frequently discussed ideas. The other challenge is to condense the ideas into an approximately three-minute debriefing to the class. Scribes often talk longer due to lack of organization and desire to get every idea into the summary.

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Another key role for instructors is to encourage scribes to ask one or two specific students to repeat the excellent examples they mentioned in the café. The instructor should adjust the debriefing time for examples provided by one or more students to the class during the debriefing.

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: IT ALL MAKES SENSE?

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students comprehend how organizational behavior knowledge can help them understand life in organizations.

Instructions Students are asked to read each of the statements and circle whether the statement is true or false, in their opinion. The class will consider the answers to each question and discuss the implications for studying organizational behavior. After reviewing these statements, the instructor will provide information about the most appropriate answer. (This exercise may also be conducted as a team activity, whereby students answer these questions in teams rather than alone.)

Comments for Instructors This exercise addresses the point that common sense isn‘t always correct. Of course, some students will be counterintuitive in anticipation that these are ―trick‖ questions. We have included some true statements to complicate the exercise. By reviewing each statement, you can help students to see that organizational behavior systematically studies these issues and helps us to correct or clarify popular misperceptions.

Here are the 10 statements with their correct answers and references to their discussion in the textbook.

12.

A happy worker is a productive worker.

TRUE. To be more accurate, the answer is ―true, to some extent.‖ This is one of those ―truths‖ that students will probably answer correctly and many OB instructors will answer incorrectly because they rely on old organizational behavior research. The latest research indicates that job satisfaction has a moderately strong association with job performance (a correlation of around 0.30). For details, see Chapter 4 on workplace emotions and attitudes.

13.

A decision maker‘s effectiveness increases with the number of choices or alternatives available to them.

FALSE. At some point when the number of alternatives increases, the decision maker becomes less efficient and effective in choosing among those alternatives (see Chapter 7). When the number of alternatives is very large, decision makers reduce their motivation to decide such that they avoid thinking about the decision at all! The main reason is that decision makers are able and motivated to process a finite amount of information.

As the number of alternatives increases, decision makers are faced with dramatically more information to consider, because each choice has several bits of information about factors to consider. One could argue that having very few choices is also less effective, but this would be true only if the environment offers many choices and the alternatives available to the decision maker are not among the best ones.

14.

Organizations are more effective when they minimize conflict among employees.

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FALSE. Actually, the correct answer is in a state of flux. The dominant OB research indicates that constructive (task-oriented) conflict is often beneficial (such as in decision making) whereas relationship conflict has negative consequences. But research now concludes that even constructive conflict can be a problem because it generates relationship conflict (i.e., difficult to separate them). We discuss this topic in Chapter 11.

15.

Employees have more power with many close friends than with many acquaintances.

FALSE. Social network research reports that people with many ―weak ties‖ (many acquaintances) tend to have more career success and related outcomes in their lives than those with mainly strong ties (close friends). The main reason is that weak ties provide less redundant social capital. Acquaintances give us unique information (expert power), unique connections and opportunities (referent power), wider visibility, and so forth. Close friends tend to give us information faster and give us more opportunities, but these resources tend to be similar across our close friends. See Chapter 10 for details.

16.

Companies are more successful when they have strong corporate cultures.

FALSE. As with so many organizational behavior concepts, the more precise answer is ―it depends.‖ Chapter 14 explains that there is a weak relationship between corporate culture strength and organizational performance. Three reasons are offered. First, a strong culture can be a problem when the values are inconsistent with the organization‘s environment. Second, a very strong culture can blind employees from seeing other perspectives. Third, a very strong culture suppresses dissenting values that may be important in the future as the environment changes.

17.

Employees perform better without stress.

FALSE. As we learn in Chapter 4, some level of stress is essential for life. We need a certain level of stress to energize us. The problem is that we sometimes (or often) experience stress beyond this beneficial level.

18.

The best way to change people and organizations is by pinpointing the source of their current problems.

FALSE. This statement refers to the dominant model of problem-solving and organizational change, namely, to identify the problem before looking for solutions. In contrast, emerging knowledge suggests that a positive rather than problem-focused approach may be more effective in many or most circumstances. We discuss this first in Chapter 5 under the topic of strengths-based coaching and feedback. Research indicates that focusing on an employee‘s weaknesses (problems) creates defensiveness to such an extent that it undermines any potential benefits of such a Discussion. In Chapter 15, we introduce the approach to organizational change called appreciative inquiry. According to this model, dwelling on problems can bog down the change process and degenerate into political quagmires. Instead, change agents need to focus the group on its potential and positive elements.

19.

Female leaders involve employees in decisions to a greater degree than do male leaders.

TRUE. There is lot of debate about whether men and women lead differently. As we learn at the end of Chapter 12, men and women are mostly similar in their leadership styles. But there is one exception: Female leaders involve employees in decisions to a greater degree than do male leaders. Of course, some female leaders are not participative, and some male leaders are very participative. But generally, female leaders are more participative.

20.

The best decisions are made without emotion.

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FALSE. The truth is, all decisions involve emotion and require emotion. Without emotion, people are unable to recognize problems and opportunities, and are unable to make choices. As explained in Chapter 7 (and noted in Chapters 3, 4, and 5), people form emotionally anchored preferences before they consciously think about the issue. Indeed, our ―awareness‖ of a problem or opportunity is an emotional reaction to sensory information. Although our rational thought process can evaluate information, those conclusions must be processed by our emotional center(s) in order to make a choice. An important point here is that emotions are an inherent and essential part of human behavior. This is different from ―getting emotional,‖ which occurs when emotions are so strong that they influence our actions without conscious control.

10.

If employees feel they are paid unfairly, then nothing other than changing their pay will reduce their feelings of injustice.

FALSE. When it comes to money, people tend to play interesting mind games to avoid feeling overreward inequity. Students will read in Chapter 5 that underpaid (underrewarded) employees might reduce the injustice by working less, taking nonmonetary resources, changing the comparison other, or leaving the field (such as quitting). This question also needs to consider that ―injustice‖ is affected just as much by procedures as by distribution. Thus, injustice might be reduced by allowing appeals, ensuring the decision maker considers all information, ensuring that the underrewarded employees are treated with respect, and ensuring that they are given an opportunity to state their views (voice).

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.1: ARE YOU A GOOD REMOTE WORKER?

Overview and Instructions Remote work (formerly known as telecommuting) is an increasingly popular workplace relationship, and it potentially offers benefits for both companies and remote workers. However, some people are better suited than others to working away from the traditional workplace. You can discover how well you adjust to remote work by locating this self-assessment in Connect if it is assigned by your instructor.

This instrument is designed to help you to identify your ―remote work disposition,‖ that is, the degree to which your needs, values, and competencies are compatible with remote work arrangements. This scale does not cover every personal characteristic related to effective remote work, but it measures three of the most important dispositions. Also, please keep in mind that this scale only considers your personal characteristics.

Other factors, such as organizational, family, and technological systems support, must also be taken into account.

Feedback for the Remote Work Scale Some people thrive in remote work arrangements, whereas others discover that it is neither a satisfying nor productive work environment for them. This scale assesses three personal dispositions that are identified in the literature as characteristics of effective remote workers: (a) high company alignment, (b) low social needs at work, and (c) independent initiative.

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Company alignment estimates the extent to which you follow company procedures and have values congruent with company values. The greater the alignment, the more likely that you can abide by company practices while working alone and without direct supervision. While some deviation from company practices may be appropriate, remote workers need to agree with company values and provide work that is consistent with company expectations most of the time. Scores on this scale range from 4 to 20.

Score

Interpretation

15–20 points

High company alignment

9–14 points

Moderate company alignment

4–8 points

Low company alignment

Low social needs at work People with a high score on this subscale do not rely on coworkers to satisfy their social needs. Successful remote workers tend to score higher on this subscale (i.e., have lower social needs at work) because working from home or similar remote site offers less opportunity for social interaction with coworkers than when working in an office setting each day. Scores on this scale range from 4 to 20.

Score

Interpretation

15–20 points

High score (low social need at work)

9–14 points

Moderate score (medium social need at work)

4–8 points

Low score (high social need at work)

Independent initiative One of the most important characteristics of successful remote workers is that they are able to set their own work goals and maintain a productive work schedule without direct supervision. People who score higher on this subscale tend to have a higher degree of independent initiative. Scores on this scale range from 6 to 30.

Score

Interpretation

15–20 points

High company alignment

9–14 points

Moderate company alignment

4–8 points

Low company alignment

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Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

Chapter 2: Individual Differences: Personality and Values Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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2

Individual Differences: Personality and Values

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: a. Define personality and discuss how the Big Five personality factors relate to workplace behavior and performance. b. Describe the dark triad personality and identify its effects on behavior in organizations. c. Summarize psychological types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and discuss the usefulness of this model in organizations. d. Summarize Schwartz’s model of individual values and discuss the conditions where values influence behavior. e. Describe four ethical principles and discuss three factors that influence ethical behavior. f. Describe five values commonly studied across cultures.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY achievement–nurturing orientation—cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize competitive versus cooperative relations with other people agreeableness—a personality dimension describing people who are trusting, helpful, good-natured, considerate, tolerant, selfless, generous, and flexible collectivism—a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize duty to groups to which they belong and to group harmony conscientiousness—a personality dimension describing people who are organized, dependable, goal-focused, thorough, disciplined, methodical, and industrious

counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs)— voluntary behaviors that have the potential to directly or indirectly harm the organization dark triad—a cluster of three socially undesirable (dark) personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy distributive justice—an ethical principle stating that appropriate decision criteria should be applied to calculate how various benefits and burdens are distributed ethic of care—an ethical principle stating that everyone has a moral obligation to help others within their relational sphere to grow and selfactualize

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ethics—moral principles (human good) or societal norms that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad

neuroticism—a personality dimension describing people who tend to be anxious, insecure, selfconscious, depressed, and temperamental

extraversion—a personality dimension describing people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive

openness to experience—a personality dimension describing people who are imaginative, creative, unconventional, curious, nonconforming, autonomous, and aesthetically perceptive

five-factor model (Big Five)—the five broad dimensions representing most personality traits: conscientiousness, emotional stability, openness to experience, agreeableness, and extraversion; also known as the ―Big Five‖ individualism—a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture emphasize independence and personal uniqueness Machiavellianism—a personality trait of people who demonstrate a strong motivation to achieve their own goals at the expense of others, who believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve their goals, who take pleasure in outwitting and misleading others using crude influence tactics, and who have a cynical disregard for morality moral intensity—the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles moral sensitivity—a person‘s ability to recognize the presence of an ethical issue and determine its relative importance Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)—an instrument designed to measure the elements of Jungian personality theory, particularly preferences regarding perceiving and judging information narcissism—a personality trait of people with a grandiose, obsessive belief in their superiority and entitlement, a propensity to aggressively engage in attention-seeking behaviors, an intense envy of others, and tendency to exhibit arrogance, callousness, and exploitation of others for personal aggrandizement

organizational politics—the use of influence tactics for personal gain at the perceived expense of others and the organization personality—the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics power distance—a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture accept unequal distribution of power in a society psychopathy—a personality trait of people who ruthlessly dominate and manipulate others without empathy or any feelings of remorse or anxiety, use superficial charm, yet are social predators who engage in antisocial, impulsive, and often fraudulent thrill-seeking behavior uncertainty avoidance—a cross-cultural value describing the degree to which people in a culture tolerate ambiguity (low uncertainty avoidance) or feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty (high uncertainty avoidance) utilitarianism—an ethical principle stating that the only moral obligation is to seek the greatest good for the greatest number of people values—relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person‘s preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations

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CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE a. Define personality and discuss how the Big Five personality factors relate to workplace behavior and performance.

Personality refers to the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics. Personality is formed through heredity (nature) as well as socialization (nurture).

The Big Five personality factors include conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion. Conscientiousness and extraversion are the best overall predictors of job performance in most job groups. Extraversion and openness to experience are the best predictors of adaptive and proactive performance. Emotional stability (low neuroticism) is also associated with better adaptivity. Conscientiousness and agreeableness are the two best personality predictors of organizational citizenship and (negatively) counterproductive work behaviors.

Four issues to consider about the Big Five personality factors are that (a) people with higher personality levels aren‘t necessarily the best performers, (b) specific personality traits are sometimes better predictors of behavior than are the broader Big Five factors, (c) personality changes to some extent over a person‘s lifetime, and (d) the five-factor model doesn‘t cover all of an individual‘s personality. b. Describe the dark triad personality and identify its effects on behavior in organizations.

The dark triad is a cluster of three socially undesirable personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. They have a common core of low humility/honesty or a tendency to malevolently undermine others to maximize one‘s own gains. Machiavellianism refers to people who demonstrate a strong motivation to achieve their own goals at the expense of others, who believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve their goals, who take pleasure in outwitting and misleading others using crude influence tactics, and who have a cynical disregard for morality. Narcissism is a personality trait of people with a grandiose, obsessive belief in their superiority and entitlement, a propensity to aggressively engage in attention-seeking behaviors, an intensive envy of others, and tendency to exhibit arrogance, callousness, and exploitation of others for personal aggrandizement. Psychopathy refers to people who ruthlessly dominate and manipulate others without empathy or any feelings of remorse or anxiety, use superficial charm, yet are social predators who engage in antisocial, impulsive, and often fraudulent thrill-seeking behavior. People with the dark triad personality engage in more organizational politics, white-collar crime, workplace aggression, and (to some degree) counterproductive work behaviors and poor team behavior. They also make riskier decisions, resulting in poorer investment returns. However, the dark triad personality is also associated with manipulative political skill that can lead to higher performance reviews, more central positions in employee networks, and better pay. c. Summarize psychological types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and discuss the usefulness of this model in organizations.

Based on Jungian personality theory, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) identifies competing orientations for getting energy (extraversion vs. introversion), perceiving information (sensing vs. intuiting), processing information and making decisions (thinking vs. feeling), and orienting to the external world (judging vs. perceiving). The MBTI and underlying Jungian theory are popular, possibly because the various types are logical extensions of how people interact with their environment Page 2-72 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

(perceiving and deciding). The theory also recognizes both the strengths and limitations of each type in different situations. However, Jungian theory and the MBTI were created with little or no empirical validation, resulting in broadly defined and possibly ambiguous categories, some of which seem to overlap and some pairs that don‘t seem to be opposites. The MBTI also has several measurement flaws. d. Summarize Schwartz’s model of individual values and discuss the conditions where values influence behavior.

Values are stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations. Compared to personality traits, values are evaluative (rather than descriptive), more likely to conflict, and formed more from socialization than heredity. Schwartz‘s model organizes 57 values into a circumplex of 10 dimensions along two bipolar dimensions: openness to change to conservation, and self-enhancement to self-transcendence. Values influence behavior in three ways: (1) shaping the attractiveness of choices, (2) framing perceptions of reality, and (3) aligning behavior with self-concept and self-presentation. However, the effect of values on behavior also depends on whether the situation supports or prevents that behavior and on how actively we think about them and understand their relevance to the situation. Values congruence refers to how similar a person‘s values hierarchy is to the values hierarchy of another source (organization, team, etc.). e. Describe four ethical principles and discuss three factors that influence ethical behavior.

Ethics refers to moral principles (human good) or societal norms that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad. Four ethical principles are utilitarianism (greatest good for the greatest number), individual rights (upholding natural rights), distributive justice (appropriate decision criteria (rules) should be applied to distribute benefits and burdens), and ethic of care (the moral obligation to help others). Ethical behavior is influenced by the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles (moral intensity), the individual‘s ability to recognize the presence and relative importance of an ethical issue (moral sensitivity), and situational forces. Ethical conduct at work is supported by codes of ethical conduct, mechanisms for communicating ethical violations, the organization‘s culture, and the leader‘s behavior. f. Describe five values commonly studied across cultures.

Five values often studied across cultures are individualism (valuing independence and personal uniqueness); collectivism (valuing duty to in-groups and group harmony); power distance (valuing unequal distribution of power); uncertainty avoidance (tolerating or feeling threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty); and achievement–nurturing orientation (valuing competition vs. cooperation).

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LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Individual Differences: Personality and Values Slide 2: Learning Objectives a.

Define personality and discuss how the Big Five personality factors relate to workplace behavior and performance.

b.

Describe the dark triad personality and identify its effects on behavior in organizations.

c.

Summarize psychological types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and discuss the usefulness of this model in organizations.

d.

Summarize Schwartz‘s model of individual values and discuss the conditions where values influence behavior.

e.

Describe four ethical principles and discuss three factors that influence ethical behavior.

f.

Describe five values commonly studied across cultures.

Slide 3: Personality Testing in the Workplace Many companies try to estimate the personality traits of job applicants and employees • Personality assessments can offer fairly good predictions of employee behavior and performance if they are carefully developed, customized to specific jobs, and have been carefully validated • Problem 1: Many firms use off-the-shelf tests that fail to predict job performance and unfairly discriminate against some applicant groups • Problem 2: Some applicants fake their personality test responses to match perceptions of the ideal employee for that job

Slide 4: Personality in Organizations Personality defined—relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterize a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics • Estimate personality from individual‘s observable behaviors • Infer internal states from observable behaviors • A few perspectives of personality, so can be difficult to define

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Personality traits • Broad concepts referring to discernible patterns that allow us to label and understand individual differences • Evident across situations, but people do vary their behavior to suit the situation, even if the behavior is at odds with their personality

• For example, talkative people may talk less in a library where ―no talking‖ rules are explicit and enforced

Slide 5: Nature versus Nurture of Personality Personality determined by both nature and nurture • Nature: Heredity explains up to 50 percent of behavior and 30 percent of temperament preferences • Nurture: Socialization, life experiences, and other interactions with the environment also affect personality Personality stabilizes in young adulthood (about age 30) We form a clearer and more rigid self-concept as we get older • Executive function (part of the brain that monitors and regulates goal-directed behavior) tries to keep our behavior consistent with self-concept But some personality factors continue to change • openness to experience and social vitality increase to young adulthood, then decline in later years • agreeableness, conscientiousness tend to increase through to late life • personality affected by long-term job activity and by migration to another culture

Slide 6: Five-Factor Personality Model Conscientiousness • High: organized, dependable, goal-focused, thorough, disciplined, methodical, industrious • Low: careless, disorganized, less thorough Agreeableness • High: trusting, helpful, good-natured, considerate, tolerant, selfless, generous, flexible • Low: uncooperative, intolerant of others‘ needs, more suspicious, self-focused Neuroticism • High: anxious, insecure, self-conscious, depressed, temperamental • Low (high emotional stability): poised, secure, calm Openness to experience

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• High: imaginative, creative, unconventional, curious, nonconforming, autonomous, aesthetically perceptive • Low: resistant to change, less open to new ideas, more conventional and fixed in their ways Extraversion • High: outgoing, talkative, energetic, sociable, assertive • Low (introversion): quiet, cautious, less interactive with others

Slide 7: Five-Factor Model and Work Performance Personality mainly affects behavior and performance through motivation—influences direction and intensity of effort All Big Five factors predict individual behavior to some extent Personality predictors of proficient task performance • Conscientiousness is the best personality predictor of proficient task performance • Especially industriousness (achievement, self-discipline, purposefulness) and dutifulness • Set higher personal goals, more persistent • Extraversion second best personality predictor of proficient task performance • Especially specific traits of assertiveness and positive emotionality • Assertive employees frame situations as challenges rather than threats Personality predictors of adaptive task performance • Emotional stability (low neuroticism): cope with ambiguity and uncertainty of change • Extraversion (especially assertiveness): comfortable influencing others, engaging with environment • Openness to experience: have more curiosity, imagination, and tolerance of change Personality predictors of proactive task performance • Extraversion (especially assertiveness): comfortable influencing others, engaging with environment • Openness to experience: have more curiosity, imagination, and tolerance of change Personality predictors of organizational citizenship • Conscientiousness: more dutiful, dependable • Agreeableness: motivated to be cooperative, sensitive, flexible, and supportive Personality predictors of counterproductive work behaviors • Conscientiousness (negative correlation): people with low conscientiousness are less dependable and feel less obligation toward others

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• Agreeableness (negative correlation): people with low agreeableness are less caring of others, less need to be liked Slide 8: Five-Factor Model and Behavior: Further Information Effective leaders and salespeople tend to be somewhat more extraverted than general population— influencing others, being comfortable in social settings Openness to experience is associated with successful performance in creative work Conscientiousness is usually a weak predictor of adaptive and proactive performance (require more structure, clarity) Agreeableness • Fairly good personality predictor of performance as team members and in customer service jobs • A weak predictor of proficient or proactive task performance (lower motivation to set goals, achieve results)

Slide 9: Issues When Applying the Five-Factor Model 1.

Higher Big Five scores aren‘t always better • Model implies that higher scores are better • But personality–performance relationship may be nonlinear—optimal level somewhere between high and low • Example: best salespeople have moderate extraversion, not very high or low

2.

Specific traits may predict better than their Big Five factor • Big Five factors cluster specific personality traits • Some specific traits predict behavior/performance better than the broader Big Five factor • Example: assertiveness and positive emotionality (traits within extraversion) predict proficient task performance better than the overall extraversion factor

3.

Personality isn‘t static • False assumption that adults have a fixed/static personality • Some Big Five factors tend to increase or decrease as we age • Changes in our environment—new culture, new type of work—can change personality over a long time

4.

The five-factor model doesn‘t cover all personalities • Several perspectives of personality—five-factor model represents only some • Dark Triad and Jungian model (MBTI) only partially overlap with the Big Five

Slide 10: The Dark Triad Five-Factor model development excluded explicitly positive/negative valence words

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Dark Triad—reexamined personality clusters with valences—three socially undesirable personality traits of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy Machiavellianism • Named after Niccolò Machiavelli, 16th-century Italian philosopher who wrote about political behavior • Strong motivation to get what they want at the expense of others—believe that getting more than one deserves is acceptable • Believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve goals—cynical disregard for moral principles • Take pleasure in misleading, outwitting, and otherwise controlling others • Seldom empathize with or trust coworkers Narcissism • Named after Narcissus in Greek mythology—obsessed with his beauty, could not stop admiring his reflection in a pool of water (died of thirst) • Obsessive belief in their superiority, entitlement (often called ―grandiose narcissism‖) • Excessive need for attention—engage in self-promotion, exhibitionism, other attention-seeking behaviors • Intensely envious—eventually shows as arrogance, schadenfreude (pleasure from others‘ misfortune), callous disregard for others‘ feelings, exploitation of others for personal power/status

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Psychopathy • Considered the most sinister of the triad—callously do as they please and take what they want • Social predators—ruthlessly dominate and manipulate others without empathy or feelings of remorse or anxiety • Mask of psychopathy—use superficial charm while being selfish self-promoters • Engage in antisocial, impulsive, and often fraudulent thrill-seeking behavior

Slide 11: Dark Triad and Workplace Behavior Dark Triad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy) are prevalent throughout the workplace 1.

Organizational politics • Using influence tactics for personal gain at the expense of others and the interests of the entire organization • The Dark Triad motivates political tactics because dishonesty and malevolently undermining others are core characteristics

2.

Serious white-collar crime activity • Significantly predicted by Dark Triad • Lesser counterproductive work activities are predicted better by the Big Five

3.

Workplace aggression/bullying • Significantly associated with psychopathy

4.

Poor decision making • Associated with psychopathy—excessive risks due to overconfidence, disregard for consequences

5.

Ineffective team behaviors • Complex effect—helpful in short term to gain favors, but long-term distrust coworkers and focus on their own goals at the expense of team goals

Dark Triad may have some positive outcomes • Manipulative political skill—some supervisors rate favorably—can result in higher power by gaining more central positions • Narcissistic CEOs—higher direct pay—higher pay gap from other executives

Slide 12: Jungian Personality Theory and MBTI Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung proposed that personality is primarily represented by the individual‘s preferences regarding perceiving the environment and judging (obtaining and processing) information Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)—estimates Jungian personality types Extroversion versus introversion (E–I) • Similar to Big Five factor with same names Page 2-79 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Perceiving information (S–N) • Sensing—perceiving information directly through the five senses to acquire factual and quantitative details • Intuition—relies on insight and subjective experience Judging, for example, making decisions (T–F) • Thinking—rely on rational cause–effect logic and systematic data collection to make decisions • Feeling—rely on emotional responses to the options as well as how those choices affect others Orientation toward the outside world (P–J) • Perceiving—open curious, flexible, adapt spontaneously to events, prefer to keep options open

• Judging—prefer order and structure; want to resolve problems quickly

Slide 13: Jungian Theory in the Workplace Most widely used personality test, but popularity isn‘t a proxy for validity Limitations of Jungian and MBTI • Jung‘s theory was never systematically tested or empirically validated—developed from observation and interpretation of patients • Research suggests questionable value in predicting leadership effectiveness and team development • Jung/MBTI ―types‖ are broadly defined—ambiguous, might not be distinct from each other—some opposing pairs aren‘t actually opposites • Questionable assumptions—for example, individual‘s type is completely caused by nature • Jungian/MBTI dichotomize people to distinct groups—should be a continuum • Measurement flaws—dichotomous forced choice.

Strengths of Jungian/MBTI • Modeled around perceiving and deciding—logical extensions of how people interact with their environment.

• Recognizes both the strengths and limitations of each type in different situations (good for coaching, development), whereas Big Five views low as bad and high as good.

Slide 14: Values in the Workplace Stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations • Define right/wrong, good/bad • Tell us what we ―ought‖ to do (normative, prescriptive) • Direct our motivation and, potentially, our decisions and behavior

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• A moral compass because—evaluate what is right or wrong re: universal virtues, societal norms • Provide justification for past decisions and behavior Value system—hierarchy of values preferences—relatively stable, long-lasting Values exist within individuals, but OB also refers to shared values within a team, department, organization, profession, and society Values differ from personality traits • Values are evaluative (what we ought to do); personality traits are descriptive (what we tend to do) • Values conflict with each other (e.g., valuing excitement conflicts with valuing stability); personality traits have minimal conflict

• Values affected more by nurture (socialization, reinforcement) than nature (heredity); personality about equally affected by nature and nurture

Slide 15: Schwartz’s Values Model Dominant model of personal values was developed and tested by social psychologist Shalom Schwartz and many others Fifty-seven specific values cluster into 10 broad value categories—further clustered into four quadrants Openness to change • Motivated to pursue innovative ways Conservation • Motivated to preserve the status quo Self-enhancement • Motivated by self-interest Self-transcendence • Motivated to promote the welfare of others and nature

Slide 16: Importance of Values at IKEA IKEA describes itself as a values-driven company, so job applicants need to reflect on whether their personal values are congruent with the global retailer‘s organizational values

Slide 17: Values and Individual Behavior Personal values influence decisions and behavior in three ways: 1.

Values influence the attractiveness of choices—values generate positive or negative feelings (valences) toward the available choices

2.

Values frame our perceptions of reality—values influence whether we notice something as well as how we interpret it

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3.

Values help regulate the consistency of behavior—people want to act consistently with their personal values—the more clearly a behavior is aligned with a specific value that identifies us, the more motivated we are to engage in that behavior

Slide 18: When Values Don’t Predict Behavior • Situational factors—barriers or lack of opportunity—for example, more difficult to be environmentally friendly if no recycling facilities • Counter-motivational forces—coercion from others (threat of job loss) motivates people to engage in unethical business activities • Lack of values awareness (salience)—we often ignore values in our decisions/actions because: 1. Values are abstract (difficult to link to specific behavior) 2. Behavior is often routine, so less mindful of consistency with personal values

Slide 19: Values Congruence Values congruence—how similar a person‘s values hierarchy is to the values hierarchy of the organization, a coworker, or another entity Values congruence with organization‘s values • higher job satisfaction, loyalty, and organizational citizenship • decisions are more compatible with organizational expectations • lower stress and turnover

Slide 20: Ethical Values and Behavior Ethics—moral principles (human good) or societal norms that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad Values versus ethics • Values are personal preferences—ethics have a foundation in societal norms or universal principles of ―human good‖ • Example: value stimulating work—a personal preference, not usually a societal norm Four Ethical Principles • Utilitarianism principle • An ethical principle stating that the only moral obligation is to seek the greatest good for the greatest number of people—highest overall satisfaction to those affected • Problem 1: Cost–benefit analysis—many outcomes aren‘t measurable • Problem 2: Focuses on the consequences, but means of achieving those consequences could be immoral • Individual rights principle

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• Everyone has same natural rights and moral norms of society—for example, freedom of speech and fair trial • Problem: conflicting rights—for example, shareholders‘ right to be informed conflicts with executive‘s right to privacy • Distributive justice principle • An ethical principle stating that appropriate decision criteria should be applied to calculate how various benefits and burdens are distributed • May be based on equity, equality, or need • Problem: difficult to agree on the value of benefits and burdens and on the contribution or need of the people affected • Ethic of Care • Everyone has a moral obligation to help others within their relational sphere to grow and selfactualize—caring for others is a fundamental characteristic of humanity • Includes being attentive to others‘ needs, giving care to others, being responsive to (having empathy for) others • Core concept in stakeholder theory and servant leadership

Slide 21: Moral Intensity and Ethical Conduct The degree that an issue demands the application of ethical principles High moral intensity—strong ethical implications, so need to more carefully apply ethical principles Moral intensity of a situation increases with: • the severity (good or bad) of the decision‘s consequences • the probability that the decision will have good or bad consequences • the number of people who will experience the decision‘s good or bad consequences • the level of agreement by others that the decision has good or bad consequences

Slide 22: Moral Sensitivity and Ethical Conduct A person‘s ability to recognize the presence of an ethical issue and determine its relative importance More quickly and accurately estimate an issue‘s moral intensity Necessary for moral behavior—need to be aware of moral dilemma to apply ethical principles But people with higher moral sensitivity are not always more ethical—just better awareness of a moral situation Moral sensitivity is higher in people with: 1. Expertise/knowledge of prescriptive norms and rules—for example, expertise in accounting

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2.

3.

4.

5.

Past experience with specific moral dilemmas—internal cues develop to trigger awareness when moral issue arises again More empathy—more sensitive to the needs and situation of others A self-view as morally sensitive person—put more energy into maintaining ethical conduct High situational mindfulness—receptive and impartial attention to and awareness of the present and to own thoughts and emotions in that moment—higher moral sensitivity by monitoring the environment

Situational factors—along with moral intensity and moral sensitivity Include opportunity and motivational forces—influence people to act contrary to moral principles and personal values

Slide 23: Supporting Ethical Behavior Corporate code of ethical conduct • Firm‘s statement about desired practices, rules of conduct, and philosophy about relationship to stakeholders and environment • Codes tend to improve the company‘s ethical image, increase employees‘ ethics awareness and intentions • Problem: Limited effect on ethical behavior—also need other ethics initiatives Ethics training and testing—for example, quizzes to educate and assess employee awareness of ethical practices Systems for communicating and impartially investigating wrongdoing • Confidential ethics hotlines and websites • Ethics ombudspersons Compliance-focused initiatives • Reward ethical conduct, punish unethical conduct, and evaluate employee performance on ethical attitudes and behavior Ethical culture and ethical leadership • Firm‘s values aligned with ethical conduct • Ethical conduct and vigilance of corporate leaders—role model ethical standards

Slide 24: Individualism Emphasize independence and person uniqueness Value personal freedom, self-sufficiency, control over one‘s life, and unique personal qualities Country examples: • High: United States, Chile, Canada, South Africa • Medium: Japan, Denmark

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• Low: Taiwan, Venezuela

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Slide 25: Collectivism Value duty to groups to which we belong and to group harmony Define by group memberships, emphasize personal connection to others in in-groups, and value goals and well-being of people within those groups NOTE: Contrary to popular belief, individualism is not the opposite of collectivism—the two concepts are unrelated (both horizontally and vertically) Country examples: • High: Israel, Taiwan • Medium: India, Denmark • Low: United States, Germany, Japan

Slide 26: Power Distance Extent to which people accept unequal distribution of power in a society High power distance • Accept and value unequal power • Value obedience to authority • Comfortable receiving commands from superiors without consultation • Prefer to resolve conflicts through formal rules rather than directly Low power distance • Expect relatively equal power sharing • View relationship with boss as interdependent, not dependence • Expect power sharing and consultation in decisions affecting them Country examples: • High: India, Malaysia • Medium: United States, Japan • Low: Denmark, Israel

Slide 27: Uncertainty Avoidance Degree to which people tolerate ambiguity or feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty High uncertainty avoidance • Feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty • Value structured situations, clear documentation, direct communication

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Low uncertainty avoidance • Tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty Country examples: • High: Belgium, Greece • Medium: United States, Norway • Low: Denmark, Singapore

Slide 28: Achievement–Nurturing Competitive versus cooperative view of relations with other people High achievement orientation • Value assertiveness, competitiveness, and materialism • Appreciate people who are tough, who favor acquisition of money/material goods High nurturing orientation • Emphasize relationships and the well-being of others • Focus on human interaction and caring, not competition/personal success Country examples: • High: Austria, Japan • Medium: United States, Brazil • Low: Sweden, Netherlands

Slide 29: Cultural Diversity within the United States Deep-level diversity across ethnic and regional groups Ethnic values diversity • Higher individualism among African Americans (compared to Americans with European, Hispanic, and Asian origins) • Asian Americans have lowest individualism among these demographic groups Regional variations in collectivism • Highest: Southern states, California, and Hawaii • Lowest: Mountain, Northwest, and Great Plains states Regional variations in openness to experience (personality factor) • Highest: New England, Middle Atlantic, and Pacific regions • Lowest: Great Plains, Midwestern, and Southeastern states

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Regional variations in neuroticism (personality factor) • Highest: Northeast and Southeast • Lowest: Midwest and West Regional variations seem to be caused by: • Regional institutions (local governments, educational systems, religious groups)—affect socialization practices and social controls (cultural tightness) • Regional migration—people migrate to places that are more compatible with their values and self-views

• Physical environment—landscape has limited effect; regional migration has greater effect on regional variations

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

16. Studies report that heredity has a strong influence on an individual‘s personality. What are the implications of this influence in organizational settings?

There are a number of issues that students might—and should—raise in response to this question. First, the strong effect of heredity suggests that applicant selection is an important way to improve job performance and employee well-being (by ensuring their work matches their personality). Although we might try to change an employee‘s style of behavior, the person‘s inherent style is strongly determined already. This is why many companies refer to ―hire for attitude, train for skill.‖ A second implication is that training for some types of behavior (fun-oriented, detailed, talkative, etc.) might be less successful than employers assume. It would be better to transfer people into jobs that more closely match their personality.

17. All candidates applying for a management trainee position are given a personality test that measures the five dimensions in the five-factor model. Which personality traits would you consider most important for this type of job? Explain your answer.

The textbook provides information about how much each Big Five personality dimension is associated with various forms of behavior and performance. All five personality dimensions predict employee performance and related behaviors to some extent, but three dimensions probably apply best to managerial roles.

First, conscientiousness (especially industriousness and dutifulness) and extraversion (especially assertiveness) is important because it is the best predictor of proficient task performance in almost every job group. Various studies have reported that conscientious employees set higher personal goals for themselves, are more motivated, and have higher performance expectations than do employees with low levels of conscientiousness. They also tend to have higher levels of organizational citizenship and are less likely to engage in counterproductive work behaviors.

Another important personality dimension is extroversion. It is the second best predictor of proficient task performance. Extraverts frame situations as challenges. They are also comfortable interacting with and influencing people. Extraversion is also one of the strongest personality predictors that predicts both adaptive and proactive performance. All of these factors—proficient, adaptive, proactive task performance, organizational citizenship, low counterproductive behavior, comfortable in social and influence situations—make extraversion an important personality dimension to consider for managerial positions.

Emotional stability (lower neuroticism) is a third personality dimension that students should consider. It is a significant predictor of adaptive task performance, which relates to managerial roles in managing change. Emotional stability is also associated (although only moderately or inconsistently) with task proficiency, organizational citizenship, and counterproductive behaviors. Emotionally stable people also cope better with ambiguous situations, which applies to managers in more strategic roles.

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18. As head of product development for mobile telephones, you are about to hire someone to assist in the human interface features of product design. The nature of this work calls for a creative, ―break out of the box‖ thinker who works well in a team setting. Five short-listed applicants have completed a valid measure of the Big Five personality factors. If these applicants all have similar intelligence and work experience, which Big Five personality factors would best predict job performance (you may select one or more factors)? Which Big Five factor would be least relevant? Justify your answer.

This scenario identifies two specific features desired in job applicants: (a) creativity and (b) team orientation. From these two criteria, we can identify the most important Big Five factors.

Creativity—Openness to experience is by far the most important personality factor associated with creativity. The book states that people with higher openness have more curiosity, imagination, and tolerance of change. The other Big Five factors are not associated as much with this criterion. However, some students might argue that extraversion has some importance because people with higher extraversion are more energetic and assertive, which would be important in jobs where the work has unclear outcomes and likely numerous failures along the way.

Team-oriented—The book points out that employees with relatively high agreeableness tend to be better team members (they are motivated to get along with others). People who are somewhat extraverted and conscious might also be better team members. Extraverted employees are more comfortable intersection with others, and moderate conscientiousness is associated with the motivated to fulfill one‘s duties (including helping others). The latter point is noted in the book because conscientiousness predicts organizational citizenship.

19. The dark triad is understandably a personality cluster of great concern in organizations. Yet, even though it consists of three socially undesirable personality traits, there is evidence that senior executives are more likely than the rest of us to possess some of these traits. Why would this occur? Does this mean that the dark triad isn‘t so bad after all?

This question calls for recollection of information in the book as well as some speculation about why people are motivated to follow those with Dark Triad characteristics. The book notes that employees with manipulative political skill sometimes receive better performance ratings, including promotions into management. Their motivation to manipulate others also places them in more strategic and central positions in the organization, which increases their potential to enter management positions.

Narcissistic people have an obsessive belief in their superiority and entitlement. These traits produce higher confidence, which people associate with leadership. The sense of entitlement likely motivates narcissistic people to move into leadership roles without the hesitation that others might experience.

Those with psychopathic tendencies are self-promoters, which under some conditions can increase their likelihood of entering management positions (due to confidence and persuasion). The ―mask of psychopathy‖ refers to the short-term ability to charm others, which might also open doors to management roles.

This question also leads to open debate about why people follow others. Students will refer to the persons‘ confidence as a key factor, as well as their associated comfort with being in positions of power and motivation to get ahead in the organizational hierarchy. Students may also note the dark triad personality‘s tendency to undermine others, which may reduce opposition to management roles. Finally, some students might argue that effective leaders can‘t be swayed too much by others‘ opinion of them or

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how others feel (e.g., leaders need to have moderate or lower agreeableness), and dark triad personality has extreme levels of this insensitivity.

20. Big Box Corp. wants its employees to behave more consistently with the digital technology retailer‘s core value of mutual support (being helpful and cooperative with coworkers). Big Box executives believe that most employees strongly support this value, but they do not enact the value in as many situations as is possible. Explain why Big Box employees do not act consistently with this value, even if it dominates their personal values. Also, suggest what steps Big Box can take to help employees enact the mutual support value more often.

The textbook identifies three reasons why employees who embrace a particular value might not act consistently with that value in the workplace.

Situational factors. Although less likely in this case, employees might not engage in ―mutual support‖ consistent behavior because the situation makes such behavior difficult. For example, ―mutual support‖ may require more time, yet employees might be under significant time constraints in their own work.

Counter-motivational forces. The company may want to investigate conditions that discourage employees from engaging in mutual support activities. For instance, the reward system might be higher individualist, which creates a competitive rather than cooperative motivation among employees. Alternatively, supervisory staff might not embrace the mutual support value, so they discourage employees from ―wasting time‖ helping coworkers with their tasks.

Ambiguity and low salience. There are really two reasons here. First, as with many values, ―mutual support‖ is an ambiguous concept that might be difficult to translate into everyday work behaviors. In other words, employees support this value but don‘t know how to enact it. Second, the ―mutual support‖ value might not be salient (at the forefront of employees‘ minds) for most of their work behavior. When performing many tasks, they don‘t think about how their actions are consistent or inconsistent with ―mutual support.‖ Based on the analysis above, there are a few ways that Big Box Corp. might be able to improve employees‘ enactment of the ―mutual support‖ value.

1.

Improve employee awareness of how to enact the ―mutual support‖ value. Provide examples of what employee behaviors display this value.

2.

Regularly remind employees of the mutual support value. This will increase the salience of this value, so employees consciously think about this value in their everyday work life.

3.

Diagnose the organization for counter-motivational forces, such as the values of supervisors and informal employee leaders. Celebrate specific instances in which employees have surpassed expectations in their enactment of the mutual support value.

4.

Diagnose the workplace for conditions that prevent employees from engaging in behaviors representing the mutual support value, such as time and opportunities for social interaction.

21. The CEO and two other executives at an automotive parts manufacturer were recently fired after being charged with fixing prices on several key automotive parts sold to the auto industry. Executives at competing manufacturers face the same charges for also participating in this collusion. Profit margins have come under intense pressure in the industry, which could cause one or more auto parts firms

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(possibly this company) to go bankrupt. When the wrongdoing was discovered, most employees involved in product pricing (but not implicated in price-fixing) were surprised. The executives were highly respected in their fields of expertise, so many staff members interpreted the unusual pricing decisions as a new strategy, not an illegal activity. Apply your knowledge of personal and ethical values and behavior to explain why the unethical activity may have occurred.

There are two parts to the answer to this question: ethical concepts related to the wrongdoing and the ethical concepts related to how other reacted to the unethical decisions.

Ethical analysis of the wrongdoing—The case notes that these companies are experiencing to lower profit margins and one or more firms could go bankrupt. At least in the short run, these executives could be under tremendous pressure from shareholders to maintain profit margins, which motivates them to do so illegally. Some executives could also be motivated by the prospect of running a business into bankruptcy, which is disastrous for the executive‘s résumé and the executives would face considerable strife and anger from employees who lose their jobs. Note that these ―situational‖ conditions are actually motivational influences—they do not require or prohibit the executives from engaging in wrongdoing.

Ethical analysis of product pricing employees—The question describes how product pricing employees were surprised when the executives were charged with price-fixing. This highlights the low moral sensitivity that the product pricing employees experienced. They failed to detect the moral issue, likely because they had less expertise regarding the prescriptive norms and rules. They would have had core knowledge due to their job expertise, but these employees believed that the executive directives reflected even greater knowledge rather than illegal activity. (NOTE: This misunderstanding has actually occurred by employees in some of the most serious incidents of corporate accounting fraud.) Students might also argue that staff may have had fairly low mindfulness of price-fixing risks in their day-to-day work lives.

If they had been more sensitive to the threat of price-fixing, some of them may have questioned the executive directives.

22. HyperTXT Inc., which provides information technology services to retail and business customers, wants its employees to act ethically in all of their business activities. Recent incidents suggest that employees engage in unethical conduct due to low moral sensitivity. Some wrongdoing occurred because HyperTXT employees (including executives) didn‘t realize that their actions crossed the line on ethical conduct, such as being contrary to laws or industry rules of practice. In other situations, acceptable practices on the surface were deemed unethical (although not illegal) because they had serious negative consequences for others (clients, suppliers, etc.). Staff in those situations did not actively think through the consequences of their decisions. As a consultant, identify ways to help HyperTXT employees improve their ethical conduct and decision making by increasing their moral sensitivity.

This situation suggests that ethical violations are occurring mainly because employees (and executives) have relatively low moral sensitivity. As such, students should discuss the answer using the framework of the five specific conditions for high moral sensitivity listed in this chapter.

Expertise or knowledge of prescriptive norms and rules. Some wrongdoing occurred because employees didn‘t realize that their actions were contrary to laws or industry rules of practice. The main solution here is to provide extensive training and subsequent testing on ethical practices for employees in jobs where this problem is occurring. An ethical code of conduct should also be developed and communicated as a set of general guidelines for employees, but specific training on legal and industry standards practices is vital.

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Previous experience with specific moral dilemmas. This factor is relevant in this situation to the extent that employees who have previously experienced ethical dilemmas might be useful coaches or peer instructors to other employees in similar job groups.

Ability to empathize with those affected by the decision. This incident states that wrongdoing sometimes occurred because employees engaged in behaviors or decisions that had serious negative consequences for others, even though they may have been acceptable practices on the surface. This calls for specific programs to improve employee empathy with these stakeholders. For example, employees might have information/listening sessions with customers, suppliers, and others whose rights or sense of fairness have been violated by the company.

A strong self-view of being a morally sensitive person. Employees who strongly define themselves by their moral character put more energy into maintaining ethical conduct. The company can support this self-view in many (but unlikely all) employees and executives. Frequently reminding staff of their ethical imperative would increase the salience of ethical behavior in everyday work life. Celebrating employees who displayed a high level of ethical conduct in specific situations would reinforce and role-model moral sensitivity.

A high degree of situational mindfulness. Mindfulness increases moral sensitivity because it involves actively monitoring the environment as well as being sensitive to our responses to that environment.

There are numerous training and coaching programs to help employees improve their situational mindfulness. To some extent, the activities recommended above contribute to mindfulness (e.g., improving expertise, improving empathy toward those affected by employee decisions).

23. People in a particular South American country have high power distance and high collectivism. What does this mean, and what are the implications of this information when you (a senior executive) visit employees working for your company in that country?

In high power distance cultures, people tend to accept the power differential which exists in their society.

This extends to the workplace as well. I would expect the employees to address me by my surname. I would not interpret this as being aloof or unfriendly. The social interchange between the employees and I would be formal.

High collectivism would encourage me to celebrate the achievements of everyone as a group. Any discussion would emphasize and focus on improving or maintaining group harmony and teamwork.

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CS

CASE STUDY: PERSONALITY AND VALUES AT BRIDGEWATER ASSOCIATES

Case Synopsis This case study describes the personality and values practices at Bridgewater Associates. It explains how the company, which manages the world‘s largest hedge fund, carefully hires applicants based on their personality and values, and how this information is shared among employees to improve interpersonal dynamics. It also explains how employees regularly evaluate each other through a systematic process, which eventually adjusts each person‘s personal attribute scores.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions To what extent and in what ways would Bridgewater Associates benefit from measuring the personalities and values of job applicants, and from displaying these attributes to all staff in employee Baseball Cards?

This question asks only for the potential benefits of Bridgewater‘s practices. The risks and problems are covered in the next question. Measuring each applicant‘s personality traits might help Bridgewater select better employees because some personality traits are known to predict individual performance. This means that employees will be better matched with the job requirements, such as analytic thinking, social interaction, and teamwork. Measuring personal values potentially improves person–organization values congruence, which would result in higher organizational commitment and motivation, and lower employee turnover.

This question also asks students to discuss the potential benefits of displaying each employee‘s personal attributes (dominant personality traits and values) to all other Bridgewater staff through the Baseball Cards. Students might comment on the benefits of mutual awareness among employees, such as being better able to understand and anticipate the actions of others when you know their personality and values.

The Baseball Cards might also help team leaders to select employees to join the team, either due to their compatible characteristics or their diversity from others.

24. What problems and limitations might generally occur from Bridgewater‘s (or any other firm‘s) reliance on personality and values assessments to make decisions about hiring, assigning job duties, and placement into teams? What specific personality and values assessment practices at Bridgewater might create problems or be less effective than the company believes?

It is unclear whether the company has carefully validated its personality tests for measuring job performance. Specifically, we don‘t know whether the job requirements have been carefully aligned with specific personality traits, whether the personality tests satisfy quality standards (e.g., reliability), whether the association between each trait and job dimension has been empirically supported, and whether the tests avoid unfairly discrimination against identifiable groups (adverse effect). The same applies for personal values. Also, values are less stable within individuals and possibly more difficult to measure in competitive situations, suggesting that it might be easier to fake results in personal values tests.

A few concerns are evident already. The case states that Bridgewater uses the MBTI as one of its personality tests and another personality test ―developed by the company.‖ The MBTI has poor results for Page 2-94 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

predicting job performance, and the company‘s own test might not have received the degree of validation found in professional tests. The personal values test is also created by the company, whereas established instruments might have more reliable and valid results.

Another concern is that by carefully choosing people whose personality and values are similar to others in the organization, Bridgewater may be creating a corporate culture in which employees are less likely to have divergent perspectives and opinions. This could lead to less creativity and slower response to threats in the external market.

Students might also question the Baseball Cards practice to the extent that ―radical transparency‖ may violate individual privacy and may have negative emotional consequences for some employees, even though they may be just as successful in contributing to the organization.

25. Bridgewater believes that peer feedback improves the initial estimates of employee attributes. Do you think this is true? Why or why not?

This question is set up as a foundation for debate among students. Here are a few positions that might be mentioned.

1.

Feedback helps employees develop their skills and interpersonal abilities. As such, the Dot Collector and related peer feedback can help employees become more successful at work and in their lives.

2.

Peer feedback helps employees better understand the expectations of fellow employees. This may improve role clarity, thereby directing effort for efficiently.

3.

Peer feedback isn‘t objective feedback. Even when several people evaluate an individual, their rating can be tainted by irrelevant factors, some of which are discriminatory (e.g., sex, ethnicity, and age).

4.

Frequent feedback with peers may increase uncomfortable relationships and possibly political behavior. Some (many?) employees may become so consumed by how others view and rate them that they actually perform worse compared to situations where performance feedback is occasional or, better yet, delivered from more objective sources (e.g., fund performance and usefulness of reports).

5.

Some people provide excellent outcomes for the organization even though their interpersonal skills are far from ideal. Yet the peer feedback likely overweights the interpersonal aspects of the employee‘s behavior more than their actual contribution to the project or other work activity.

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: WHICH BIG FIVE FACTORS FIT SPECIFIC OCCUPATIONS?

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you think about and understand how the Big Five personality factors are associated with the motivational and situational requirements of specific occupations.

Instructions (Large Class) Below are two sets of questions relating to the Big Five personality factors and various occupations. Answer each of these questions, relying on your knowledge of the five-factor model of personality and their relationship to job performance generally. Later, your instructor will show you answers based on scholarly results.

Instructions (Small Class) Below are two sets of questions relating to the Big Five personality factors and various occupations. Working in small teams, answer each of these questions, relying on your team‘s knowledge of the five-factor model of personality and their relationship to job performance generally. Be prepared to explain your decisions and select a spokesperson if the instructor asks specific teams to present their answer. During the debriefing, your instructor will show you answers based on scholarly results. (NOTE: The instructor might create a friendly competition to see which team has the most answers correct.)

Exercise Answers You have been asked to select job applicants for a nine-month overwinter assignment working in an Antarctic research station with a dozen other people. Assuming that all candidates have equal skills, experience, and health, identify the level of each personality dimension that would be best for people working in these remote, confined, and isolated conditions.

Answer: Conscientiousness—average (but possibly below average relating to high tolerance to lack of achievement and low need for order) Agreeableness—above average Neuroticism—low (relatively high emotional stability) (this seems to be the most significant factor) Openness to experience—above average, but ambiguous findings because also high tolerance of lack of stimulation and does not become bored easily Extroversion—below average (i.e., moderately introverted and low need for social interaction, ―but socially adept‖)

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Sources: D.M. Musson, G.M. Sandal, M. Harper, and R.L. Helmreich, ―Personality Testing in Antarctic Expeditioners; Cross Cultural Comparisons and Evidence for Generalizability,‖ in 53rd International Astronautical Congress, The World Space Congress (Houston: International Astronautical Federation, 2002); A. Sarris, ―Personality, Culture Fit, and Job Outcomes on Australian Antarctic Stations,‖ Environment and Behavior 38(3) (2006): 356–72; L.A. Palinkas and P. Suedfeld, ―Psychological Effects of Polar Expeditions,‖ The Lancet 371(9607) (2008): 153–63.

26. Listed below are several occupations. Please check one or two personality factors that you believe are positively associated with preferences for each occupation.

Answer: Budget analyst: conscientiousness Corporate executive: extroversion Engineer: openness to experience Journalist: openness to experience Life insurance agent: extroversion Nurse: extroversion and agreeableness Physician: extroversion and agreeableness Production supervisor: conscientiousness Public relations director: openness to experience Research analyst: openness to experience School teacher: extroversion and agreeableness Sculptor: openness to experience Note: There is ongoing debate regarding the association between vocational preference and personality.

Sullivan & Hanson (2004) report that specific traits within the Big Five factors (such as enthusiasm and sociability traits within the extraversion factor) are better predictors of vocational interest than are the overall factors.

Sources: A. Furnham, ―Vocational Preference and P-O Fit: Reflections on Holland‘s Theory of Vocational Choice,‖ Applied Psychology: An International Review 50 (1) (2001): 5–29; R.P. Tett and D.D. Burnett, ―A Personality Trait-Based Interactionist Model of Job Performance,‖ Journal of Applied Psychology 88(3) (2003): 500–17; M.R. Barrick, M.K. Mount, and R. Gupta, ―Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between the Five-Factor Model of Personality and Holland‘s Occupational Types,‖ Personnel Psychology 56(1) (2003): 45.

Assignment of some of these personality dimensions to specific occupations may be based on limited data. Also, although these are identified as the most significant personality predictors, other five-factor dimensions also likely have a significant influence on occupational preferences.

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: PERSONAL VALUES EXERCISE

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand Schwartz‘s values model and relate its elements to their personal values and the values held by others in the class.

Materials The instructor needs to prepare the following items prepared before class: (a) One student handout per person (handout is on a following page). This handout is the list of 44 personal values. (See Comments for Instructors below for explanation of the 44 rather than 57 values.) (b) Three (3) yellow sticky (Post-It) notes for each student (c) Three (3) sticky notes in a different (preferably contrasting) color for each student (d) One copy (per class, NOT per student) of each of the ten (10) values category signs. A miniature version of the 10 values category signs is shown below. A ready-to-print PDF is available on the instructors‘ resource website. Print each sign in landscape (horizontal) format on 11 by 17 inches (or A3) paper for easier readability.

Preparing the 10 Values Category Signs As indicated in the materials section above, the instructor needs to print one copy (per class, NOT per student) of each of the ten (10) values category signs. Print each values category sign in landscape (horizontal) format on at least 11 by 17 inches (A3) paper for easy readability. These 10 pages are posters or signs that students will see on the classroom walls.

Before class, the instructor places the 10 large values category signs around the room. These signs must (a) be posted around the classroom in the same order as Schwartz’s values circumplex, (b) be placed high on the wall so there is plenty of space for posting sticky notes below, and (c) have solid wall space below each sign so sticky notes will adhere. If possible, cover the values category signs with blank paper that can be easily removed when students have finished writing on their six sticky notes.

Place the 10 signs around the room in the same order as Schwartz‘s values circumplex. For example, you might place security, power, and achievement (in that order clockwise) across the front of the class; hedonism and stimulation (in that order clockwise) along the left-side wall; self-direction, universalism, and benevolence (in that order clockwise) across the back wall; and conformity and tradition along the right-side wall. Of course, the number of values category signs posted on each wall depends on available wall space and student access to that space. Ideally, place signs on all walls and balance the number of signs around the room so students feel they are in the center of a classroom-sized values circumplex.

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Place each sign high on the wall. This is so students can see them easily and there is enough space under the sign for students to place their sticky notes (see instructions below). Also, the wall space needs to be solid enough so the sticky notes adhere. If some walls are not suitable (e.g., walls have fabric), whiteboards or flip chart stands might be used.

If possible, cover each values category sign with blank paper so students can‘t see the text on each sign.

These blank pages are removed quickly after students have written on their six sticky notes (Step #2).

Instructions Distribute the first three materials (student handout page, three yellow sticky notes, and three sticky notes in the second color) to each student at the beginning of the exercise.

Step 1: Students are asked to pick three (3) of the 44 phrases on the student handout page that represent the MOST important values to them personally. Students print each of the three values on the three yellowcolored sticky notes provided. IMPORTANT: Remind students that they print only one value on each sticky note. Also, students do NOT put their name on these sticky notes (i.e., they remain anonymous).

Step 2: From the remaining 41 values statements on the student handout, students pick three (3) that represent the LEAST important values to them personally. Students print each of these three values on three sticky notes of the second color provided. Again, students print only one value on each note, and they do NOT put their name anywhere on the sticky note.

Step 3: When students have completed (or nearly completed) Step #2, the instructor removes the blank pages covering the 10 values category signs (if the signs were covered). Then, the instructor announces the following: Around the room are 10 signs representing the values categories in Schwartz‘s values circumplex. Each sign names the specific values in your handout associated with that values category. Find the values category signs that list the specific values you printed on each of your six sticky notes. Post your yellow notes (the three most important values) IMMEDIATELY under the signs listing those specific values. Place your sticky notes in the second color (the three least important values) FAR below the corresponding values category signs. The second color sticky notes should be placed far enough below that all of the yellow sticky notes associated with that sign can be placed above the second color notes.

Step 4: Debrief the exercise with discussion about the resulting distribution of sticky notes and the issues students considered when choosing their most and least important values. Consider the following questions:

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1. To what extent are the yellow and second color sticky notes clustered around the room? What values categories are they clustered around? What does this clustering mean for the values of people in this room? Do you think this clustering of values represents the values of most people in this department/faculty/program? Why or why not?

2. What do you notice about how you personally or how the class generally placed yellow compared to the second color notes? Are they located near each other or more at opposite sides of the circumplex? Why? 3. What were you thinking about to help you identify the most and least important values from the list? Did you reflect on your emotional feeling about each of them? Did you logically think about how often you use each of these values?

4. Consider the dominant values of the place where you work or do your education. Are the company‘s/school‘s values similar to the three most important values you identified here, or are they more in the opposing categories of the circumplex? Have you experienced values incongruence because of these differing values priorities?

Comments for Instructors This activity has quickly become one of the most popular and engaging classroom events for students.

Schwartz‘s values circumplex comes alive as students pick their most and least important values, then move around the room to post their sticky notes. The debriefing occurs literally ―within‖ the collective reality of that circumplex. Students are fascinated (and sometimes surprised) by the clustering of sticky notes. They think more actively about personal values and the 10 categories in the circumplex model.

I have conducted this exercise on three continents (North America, Asia, Australia) and with a wide range of participants (undergraduate students, graduate students, college faculty, executive program participants). All seem to enjoy the experience. Many participants photograph the class results for future reference. This activity is easiest in classes with fewer than 40 participants and in rooms with plenty of space near the walls.

However, I have conducted it in a large lecture theatre with more than 100 participants. I have also conducted it where only some walls were useable (due to fabric on walls, lack of space between the wall and seating, or obstructing pillars).

The setup isn‘t as complex or difficult as it may seem. Just be sure to arrive well before class to tape/stick tack the 10 values category signs around the room in the right order (have a copy of Schwartz‘s model handy so you get them in the right order!). I tape a blank page (Letter/A4 size is enough) over the text of each large sign because students might be influenced if they see the information on the signs.

In Step #3, as I verbally give students the instructions to post their notes, I pull the blank pages off to reveal the text on the 10 signs. I also provide a small demonstration—I put a yellow sticky note immediately under one of the signs and put a second color note further below that sign. This shows that the second color notes need to leave space above for any yellow sticky notes that others will post there. However, you might need to move some sticky notes around during the activity where students didn‘t leave space or misunderstood this instruction.

The class debriefing is almost always a delight. (At worst, students need debriefing questions to help them see the information and issues.) The yellow and second color sticky notes always cluster in some meaningful way. Achievement, self-direction, and benevolence tend to receive the most yellow sticky notes among business students and faculty (across all countries). Conformity, tradition, and hedonism seem to attract the most second color (least important values) sticky notes. I have not tried this activity with a nonbusiness

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audience (e.g., engineering and fine arts), but I suspect the clusters would be noticeably different. One of the most interesting surprises is that ―tradition‖ is consistently identified (in almost a dozen events) as one of the LEAST important values among business students and faculty in mainland China. Participants explain that (a) business students and faculty aren‘t representative of the population in China and/or (b) what people believe in and value (e.g., self-direction) can differ from what society expects of them (e.g., tradition).

An important observation during the debriefing is how sticky notes differ in the opposing categories. For example, ―self-direction‖ tends to receive a large number of ―most important‖ (yellow) sticky notes, whereas the opposing categories of security, conformity, and tradition either receive few yellow notes or have several notes of the other color (least important values). Similarly, ―benevolence‖ receives many yellow sticky notes, whereas the opposing categories of stimulation and hedonism tend to attract more notes of the opposite color.

While observing results, it can help to notice if the same specific values are listed in a cluster. For instance, most yellow notes under ―Achievement‖ might state ―capable‖ whereas few state ―influential‖ or ―ambitious.‖ The debriefing should also remind students that the second color sticky notes merely indicate the least important values to participants. They may still consider their three least important values as important.

Therefore, it would be incorrect to say that a values category with mostly second color (least important values) sticky notes are disliked or rejected by participants. Rather, they are weighted much less than the other values categories when making decisions about right/wrong and good/bad.

Finally, students might wisely ask: Why does the handout list 44 values when Schwartz‘s model is based on 57 values? The answer is that Schwartz identified 44 values that fit squarely in each category. The other 13 values are also mostly associated with one category, but not as clearly as these 44 values. Therefore, we offer only the 44 values with the clearest fit into the 10 values categories.

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STUDENT HANDOUT: PERSONAL VALUES ACTIVITY Instructions This page has 44 words or phrases representing different personal values. Pick THREE (3) of these that represent the MOST important values to you personally. Print each of the three values on three YELLOW-colored sticky/Post-it notes (i.e., one value on each note).

From the remaining values on this page, pick THREE (3) of these that represent the LEAST important values to you personally. Print each of the three values on three sticky/Post-it notes provided in the SECOND COLOR (i.e., one value on each note).

The instructor will next advise you what to do with the six sticky notes on which you wrote your most and least important values. a varied life a world of beauty independent ambitious influential an exciting life loyal authority moderate broadminded national security capable obedience choosing own goals pleasure clean politeness creativity preserving my public image curious protecting the environment daring reciprocation of favors devout respect for tradition enjoying life responsible equality self-discipline family security self-indulgent forgiving social justice freedom social order helpful social power honest successful honoring parents and elders unity with nature humble wealth wisdom

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

FOR INSTRUCTORS ONLY: This page shows miniature versions of the 10 values category signs that you will place around the classroom. Each category should be on a large page (at least 11 by 17 inches or A3).

The instructors‘ website for this book usually includes a PDF with these 10 signs ready to print. If the PDF is unavailable, copy each cell below to a separate landscape (horizontal) oriented page in your preferred word processing software, cleanup formatting, and set the print function output to 11 by 17 inches (A3) size. The values category label should be in large bold text and the specific values should be listed below the label in somewhat smaller text (as shown below).

POWER

ACHIEVEMENT

authority preserving my public image social power wealth

ambitious capable influential successful

HEDONISM

STIMULATION

enjoying life pleasure self-indulgent

a varied life an exciting life daring

SELF-DIRECTION

UNIVERSALISM

choosing own goals creativity curious freedom independent

a world of beauty broadminded equality protecting the environment social justice unity with nature

BENEVOLENCE

TRADITION

forgiving helpful honest loyal responsible

devout humble moderate respect for tradition

CONFORMITY

SECURITY

honoring parents and elders obedience politeness self-discipline

clean family security national security reciprocation of favors social order

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

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TEAM EXERCISE: ETHICS DILEMMA VIGNETTES

Purpose This exercise is designed to improve student awareness of the ethical dilemmas people face in various business situations, as well as the competing principles and values that operate in these situations.

Instructions (Small Class) The instructor will form teams of four or five students. Team members will read each case below and discuss the extent to which the company‘s action in each case was ethical. Teams should be prepared to justify their evaluation using ethics principles and perceived moral intensity of each incident.

Instructions (Large Class) Working alone, students read each case below and determine the extent to which the company‘s action in each case was ethical. The instructor will use a show of hands to determine the extent to which students believe case represents an ethical dilemma (high or low moral intensity), and the extent to which the main people or company in each incident acted ethically.

Comments for Instructors There is, of course, no right answer to this exercise, but the process and application of ethics principles is important in the discussion. Students tend to get into debates about the merits and problems with each activity, but they also should dig deeper into the three ethics principles, and the moral intensity of each issue.

Here are each of the vignettes along with background and comments:

Case 1 A global provider of customer assistance, telemarketing, and technical support services for well-known corporations and government organizations has shifted most employees from offices to remote work in their own homes. To ensure that employees maintain a professional work setting and do not steal confidential customer information (such as credit card details), the firm has developed a monitoring system with webcams and sophisticated artificial intelligence software that randomly scans the employee and work area. The company has strict rules for home-based work, similar to rules in the office, such as no eating during work times and no objects nearby that create a security risk (e.g., mobile phones and paper). Employees must have a home work area that separates them from family members; the monitoring system includes facial recognition that alerts the company if someone other than the employee is in the work area. The call center company explains that home monitoring merely replicates the system that has existed for some time in its offices. It also suggests that the webcams will also be valuable for training and team building activities, and for watching employee well-being due to isolation and lack of social support found in an office environment.

The monitoring systems are installed only where they are accepted or requested by clients and do not violate

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

existing laws. The company publicly states that workers in most countries can ―opt in‖ to the monitoring system, but internal memos indicate that it is mandatory as a condition of employment.

Comments to Instructors: This case represents an ethical dilemma that has been at the forefront of discussion since the pandemic sent most employees into remote work arrangements. On the one hand, the company wants to monitor employee behavior (as they do to some extent in the company‘s premises) so that customer data aren‘t compromised and employees maintain a standard or customer service as well as efficiency. On the other hand, monitoring employees in a home setting invades the individual‘s privacy in their own personal domain. Having a separate work area at home might reduce this sense of invasion to some extent, but it creates another challenge that some people don‘t have a large enough home or compatible area to enable a separate workspace. Furthermore, some monitoring methods are much more precise and continuous than what employees typically experience at the office or other work setting. The company‘s suggested benefits seem contrived—that is, that webcams will help training, team building, and social interaction—and the ―opt in‖ condition ignores the company‘s power in the employment relationship.

Case 2 A 16-year-old hired as an office administrator at a small import services company started posting her thoughts about the job on her Facebook site. After her first day, she wrote: ―first day at work. omg!! So dull!!‖ Two days later, she complained ―all i do is shred holepunch n scan paper!!! omg!‖ Two weeks later she added ―im so totally bord!!!‖ These comments were intermixed with the other usual banter about her life.

Her Facebook site did not mention the name of the company where she worked. Three weeks after being hired, the employee was called into the owner‘s office, where he fired her for the comments on Facebook and then had her escorted from the building. The owner argues that these comments put the company in a bad light, and her ―display of disrespect and dissatisfaction undermined the relationship and made it untenable.‖ Comments to Instructors: This case occurred at a small industrial services business in the United Kingdom (see: A. Levy, ―Teenage Office Worker Sacked for Moaning on Facebook About Her ‗Totally Boring‘ Job,‖ Daily Mail, February 26, 2009). However, there are several similar cases involving Facebook, blogs, and other social media, where employees write negative comments about their employer. For example, this incident parallels two earlier cases in which (a) a Starbucks employee was fired for complaining about his boss‘s decision on a work issue and (b) an employee who worked in marketing for government in northern Canada was fired for posting artistic photos of garbage in the snow. To some people, the case of the teenage Facebook complainer is a clear case of an employee who should be dismissed because she lacks sufficient commitment to and appreciation of the job. The company owner later explained to media: ―We were looking for a long-term relationship with Miss Swann as we do with all our staff. Her display of disrespect and dissatisfaction undermined the relationship and made it untenable.‖ But others would say that the owner‘s activities were unethical because (a) the owner was snooping on the employee‘s private communication (although obviously open for others to read), (b) her statements may have been an accurate reflection of the work, (c) there is no evidence that her work performance was undermined by her statements or attitude, and (d) she did not name the company when writing these negative comments. To add interest to this class activity, look for the YouTube video in which the fired employee is interviewed. (NOTE: A news segment on this incident might still be available on YouTube.)

Case 3 A large multinational grocery chain that emphasizes healthy lifestyles is recognized as one of the nation‘s ―greenest‖ companies and is perennially rated as one of the best places to work. Full-time and longer-service part-time staff receive health insurance coverage. Most employees receive a 20 percent discount on company Page 3-105 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

products. Employees who participate in the company‘s voluntary ―Healthy Discount Incentive Program‖ receive up to another 10 percent discount on their purchases (i.e., up to a total 30 percent discount). These additional discounts are calculated from employees‘ blood pressure, total cholesterol (or LDL) levels, body mass index (BMI), and nicotine-free lifestyle. For example, the full additional 10 percent discount is awarded to those who do not use nicotine products, have 110/70 or lower blood pressure, have cholesterol levels under 150, and have a BMI of less than 24. Employees do not receive the additional discount if they use nicotine products, or have any one of the following: blood pressure above 140/90, cholesterol of 195 or higher, or BMI of 30 or higher. In his letter to employees when announcing the plan, the CEO explained that these incentives ―encourage our Team Members to be healthier and to lower our health care costs.‖ Comments to Instructors: This case describes information about the health incentive program at Whole Foods, which led to considerable controversy on several fronts. One of the main concerns is that the incentive is unfair because to some degree a person‘s weight (as well as blood pressure and cholesterol, which are also considered in the incentive) is beyond their control due to heredity or metabolism. One human rights expert pointed out the incentives should apply only to conditions over which people have considerable control.

Human rights advocates go one step further; they claim the Whole Foods incentive program is unfair discrimination because obesity is a disability (at least in some circumstances). Another concern is that the Whole Foods incentive relies on BMI, a century-old measure that has been criticized for its poor measurement of obesity. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey acknowledged the limitations of BMI and other measures used, but dismissed the issue by saying that ―they do have the virtues of being relatively good, easy to measure and not too expensive to monitor.‖ (See C. Tobias, ―Whole Foods Controversy,‖ Canadian Business, May 2, 2011; L. Sloane, ―Why Whole Foods Wellness Program Hurts Employees: An Open Letter,‖ Psyched in San Francisco, December 14, 2015.)

Case 4 Computer printer manufacturers usually sell printers at a low margin over cost and generate much more income from subsequent sales of the high-margin ink cartridges required for each printer. One global printer manufacturer now designs its printers so that they work only with ink cartridges made in the same region. Ink cartridges purchased in the United States will not work with the same printer model sold in Europe, for example. This ―region coding‖ of ink cartridges does not improve performance. Rather, it prevents consumers and gray marketers from buying the product at a lower price in another region. The company says this policy allows it to maintain stable prices within a region rather than continually changing prices due to currency fluctuations.

Comments to Instructors: This case refers to actions by Hewlett Packard (HP). (See D. Pringle and S. Stecklow, ―Electronics With Borders,‖ Wall Street Journal, January 17, 2005, B1.) Students might see both sides of the issue here. Although the sense of freedom to purchase globally may dominate the discussion, some students might agree with the concern that companies are buffeted by currency fluctuations to such an extent that they cannot adapt quickly enough to price changes and shifting supplies with those currency fluctuations. For instance, a large buyer of HP printer ink in Europe might ship much of that ink to the United States if the Euro rises appreciatively against the U.S. dollar, thereby causing a shortage of printer ink in Europe. Others may argue that this supply shift is a small portion of the supply of ink cartridges in most regions, so HP‘s actions are unfair. In terms of moral intensity, students may realize that few people are affected by HP‘s restrictions and that it has low proximity (not nearby), so moral intensity is low. In classes where most students believe there is no (or minimal) moral dilemma with HP‘s actions, I show the newspaper article and ask why the story was on the front business page of a leading newspaper!

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

Update: HP recently introduced printers that issue failure warnings when nonbranded ink cartridges are used, even though the non-HP products work on the printers. HP claims the required use of HP-branded ink (which costs more than luxury perfume per quart or per liter) is to protect its intellectual property in the printer. The rejection of the budget inks occurred after HP issued a firmware update, in some cases long after consumers had purchased the printer and had been using generic ink cartridges (see Z. Kleinman, ―HP Printers Start Rejecting Budget Ink Cartridges,‖ BBC News, September 19, 2016, http://www.bbc.com/news/technology37408173).

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.1: WHAT IS YOUR BIG FIVE PERSONALITY?

Overview and Instructions Personality experts have organized the dozens of personality traits into five main dimensions, known as the five-factor or ―Big Five‖ model. Each dimension consists of several specific personality traits that cluster together. Most scholarly research on personality relies on this model, but it is also useful in everyday life as a relatively easy categorization of personalities.

This self-assessment estimates your self-assessed tendencies regarding each of these Big Five personality dimensions. To complete this instrument, indicate the extent to which each of the 40 words listed below accurately or inaccurately describes you. Think of yourself generally or typically, as compared with other persons you know of the same gender and of roughly your same age.

Feedback for the Big Five Personality Measure This instrument is Saucier‘s widely used ―mini-marker‖ brief version of the IPIP Big Five personality test.

All five scales range from 8 to 72. The feedback currently does not divide scores into specific groups from low to high. However, the following information provides the average score on each personality dimension from a large group of students.

Personality Dimension

Average Score

Conscientiousness

50

Agreeableness

57

Neuroticism

33

Openness to Experience

53

Extraversion

47

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.2: ARE YOU INTROVERTED OR EXTRAVERTED?

Overview and Instructions One of the most widely studied and discussed personality dimensions in the five-factor (Big Five) model of personality is introversion–extraversion. Introversion characterizes people who tend to be quiet, shy, and cautious. Extraversion characterizes people who tend to be outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive.

The statements in this scale represent the 10-item introversion–extroversion scale in the International Personality Item Pool. This is the short version, so it estimates overall introversion–extroversion but not specific facets within the personality dimension.

Feedback for the IPIP Introversion–Extraversion Scale Extroversion characterizes people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive. It includes several facets, such as friendliness, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity level, excitement-seeking, and cheerfulness. The opposite of extroversion is introversion, which refers to the personality characteristics of being quiet, shy, and cautious. Extroverts get their energy from the outer world (people and things around them), whereas introverts get their energy from the internal world, such as personal reflection on concepts and ideas. Introverts are more inclined to direct their interests to ideas rather than to social events.

This is the short version of the IPIP Introversion–Extroversion Scale, so it estimates overall introversion– extroversion but not specific facets within the personality dimension. Scores range from 0 to 40. Low scores indicate introversion; high scores indicate extroversion. The norms in the following table are estimated from results of early adults (under 30 years old) in Scotland and undergraduate psychology students in the United States. However, introversion–extroversion norms vary from one group to the next; the best norms are likely based on the entire class you are attending or with past students in this course.

Score  35–40  28–34  21–27  7–20  0–6

Interpretation  High extroversion  Moderate extroversion  In-between extroversion and introversion  Moderate introversion  High introversion

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.3: CAN YOU IDENTIFY PERSONALITY TRAITS FROM BLOGGING WORDS?

Overview and Instructions Personality influences all aspects of our lives, including the words we use when writing blogs. In fact, some companies now use sophisticated software to estimate the personality traits of job applicants from the words they use in blogs and other online writing.

In this self-assessment, students are shown a list of 25 words that were commonly found in several hundred weblogs. How often each word was used was associated with the blog author‘s personality. Students are asked to select the Big Five personality dimension of authors who are most likely to use each word in their weblogs. For example, select ―extraversion‖ for words that you think are used more often by blog authors with high extraversion than by blog authors with other dominant personalities.

Feedback for the Personality Traits from Blogging Words Measure This measure estimates how well students can identify the personality of weblog authors from the words they use in their blogs. The overall score and graphic display indicate the percentage of words that the student identified correctly with the corresponding personality dimension (range is from 0 to 100). In addition, students can see the percentage of words that they identified correctly for each of the five personality dimensions. The instrument does not provide feedback on how well students typically perform in this activity.

This instrument illustrates the importance of personality in many aspects of our lives. In this case, personality predicts the language we use in weblogs and related writing. Using sophisticated software and algorithms, a few companies are even researching blogs, social media sites (such as Facebook), and other public domains to estimate the dominant personality traits of the job applicants who created those sites.

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.4: HOW MACHIAVELLIAN ARE YOU?

Overview and Instructions Machiavellianism is a personality trait characteristic of people who demonstrate a strong motivation to achieve their own goals at the expense of others, who believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve their goals, who take pleasure in outwitting and misleading others using crude influence tactics, and who have a cynical disregard for morality. Few people want to be viewed as Machiavellian, yet many of us exhibit aspects of this trait to some extent.

Students are asked to indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree that each statement in this instrument describes them.

Feedback for the Machiavellianism Scale Machiavellianism is named after Niccolò Machiavelli, the 16th-century Italian philosopher who wrote The Prince, a famous treatise about political behavior. People with high Machiavellian values are comfortable with getting more than they deserve and believe that deceit is a natural and acceptable way to achieve this goal. They seldom trust coworkers and tend to use cruder influence tactics, such as bypassing one‘s boss or being assertive, to get their own way.

Scores on this scale range from 40 to 160. A higher score indicates a higher tendency toward Machiavellian behaviors. Students, college instructors, and accountants have average scores between 86 and 90 points. The table shown here represents the distribution of scores for more than 2,000 students, college instructors, and accountants.

Score

Interpretation

121–160 93–120 76–92 61–75 40–60

High Machiavellianism Above average Machiavellianism Average Machiavellianism Below average Machiavellianism Low Machiavellianism

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.5: ARE YOU A SENSING OR INTUITIVE TYPE?

Overview and Instructions Nearly a century ago, Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung proposed that personality is primarily represented by the individual‘s preferences regarding perceiving and judging information. Jung explained that perceiving, which involves how people prefer to gather information or perceive the world around them, occurs through two competing orientations: sensing (S) and intuition (N).

This self-assessment estimates whether students have a preference for sensing or intuition when perceiving the world around them. The measure asks them to indicate the point that best places them between the two opposing labels of each scale. There is no exact ―in-between‖ option, so students need to indicate which label describes them better, even if only very slightly. This survey has 10 statements.

Feedback for the Sensing-Intuitive Type Measure Jung‘s theory proposes that perceiving involves bringing data to a person‘s consciousness. It relates to how people prefer to gather information or perceive the world around them. Perceiving occurs through two competing functions: sensing (S) and intuition (N). Scores on this instrument range from 10 (clear intuition) to 60 (clear sensing). The results show categories of scores across the range, based on results from a large number of MBA students.

1. Sensing: This function involves perceiving information directly through the five senses; it relies on an organized structure to acquire factual and preferably quantitative details. People with a clear preference for sensing focus on the present. They prefer working with tangible, specific data rather than conceptual information.

2. Intuition: This function relies on insight and subjective experience to see relationships among variables.

Intuitive types focus on future possibilities. They prefer information that is theoretical and abstract.

Score

Interpretation

54–60

Clear sensing

42–53

Moderate sensing

36–41

Slight sensing

28–35

Slight intuition

18–27

Moderate intuition

10–17

Clear intuition

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.6: WHAT ARE YOUR DOMINANT VALUES?

Overview and Instructions Values are stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations. They are perceptions about what is good or bad, right or wrong. We arrange our personal values into a hierarchy of preferences, called a value system. Each person‘s unique value system tends to be stable and long lasting because it was developed and reinforced through socialization from parents, religious institutions, friends, personal experiences, and the society in which we live.

Schwartz‘s values circumplex organizes the dozens of personal values into 10 categories placed in a circle (circumplex). In this questionnaire students are to ask themselves: ―What values are important to ME as guiding principles in MY life, and what values are less important to me?‖ There are two lists of values in this self-assessment. These values come from different cultures. In the parentheses following each value is an explanation to help students understand its meaning.

Feedback for Schwartz‘s Dominant Values Scale This instrument estimates preferences for a broad range of personal values. These values are grouped into 10 broad domains of values, described below. Scores on each domain potentially range from −1 to +7. However, students are unlikely to have such an extreme score on any domain because the self-assessment asked them to use the extreme responses sparingly. Instead, the results shown in this instrument give students an estimate of their value system. They indicate their relative preference across the broad range of values.

POWER: social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources ACHIEVEMENT: personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards HEDONISM: pleasure or sensuous gratification for oneself STIMULATION: excitement, novelty, and challenge in life SELF-DIRECTION: independent thought and action—choosing, creating, exploring UNIVERSALISM: understanding, appreciation, tolerance, and protection for the welfare of all people and for BENEVOLENCE: preservation and enhancement of the welfare of people with whom one is in frequent personal contact TRADITION: respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provide CONFORMITY: restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms SECURITY: safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self

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Score

Interpretation

+5–+7 +2–+4 −1–+1

High importance Moderate importance Low importance

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.7: HOW MUCH DO YOU VALUE INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM?

Overview and Instructions Cross-cultural values have become an important part of organizational life due to globalization and an increasingly multicultural workforce. Organizational behavior researchers have studied several cross-cultural values, but none has had as much attention as the two measured in this self-assessment: individualism and collectivism. At one time, experts thought that these two cross-cultural values were opposites. Now, we understand that they represent separate values that are generally unrelated to each other.

Students are asked to read each of the statements in this instrument and select the response that they believe best indicates how well these statements describe them. This instrument has 16 statements.

Feedback for the Individualism–Collectivism Scale Each scale has a potential score ranging from 8 to 40 points. Higher scores indicate that the person has a higher level of each cross-cultural value.

Individualism Individualism refers to how much we value our independence and personal uniqueness. Highly individualist people value personal freedom, self-sufficiency, control over their own lives, and appreciation of their unique qualities that distinguish them from others. The following graph shows the range of individualism in general.

However, keep in mind that the average level of individualism is higher in some cultures (such as the United States) than in others.

Score

Interpretation

31–40 23–30 8–22

High individualism Moderate individualism Low individualism

Collectivism Collectivism refers to how much we value our duty to groups to which we belong and to group harmony.

Highly collectivist people define themselves by their group membership and value harmonious relationships within those groups. The following graph shows the range of collectivism in general. However, keep in mind that the average level of collectivism is lower in some cultures (such as the United States) than in others.

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Score

Interpretation

31–40 23–30 8–22

High collectivism Moderate collectivism Low collectivism

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.8: WHAT IS YOUR LEVEL OF POWER DISTANCE?

Overview and Instructions Some employees value obedience to authority and are comfortable receiving commands from their superiors without consultation or debate. Others expect equal status and authority with their manager. This power distance orientation varies from one person to the next; it also varies across cultures. This instrument estimates your power distance orientation. To complete this instrument, read the nine statements and indicate how accurately each statement describes you.

Feedback for the Power Distance Scale This instrument estimates power distance orientation. Power distance refers to the extent to which people accept unequal distribution of power in a society. Those with high power distance accept and value unequal power. They value obedience to authority and are comfortable receiving commands from their superiors without consultation or debate, and prefer to resolve differences through formal procedures rather than directly. In contrast, people with low power distance expect relatively equal power sharing. They view the relationship with their boss as one of interdependence, not dependence; that is, they believe their boss is also dependent on them, so they expect power sharing and consultation before decisions affecting them are made.

The power distance instrument ranges from 9 (low power distance) to 63 (high power distance). The results are organized into three categories along the range, as indicated in the table below.

Score

Interpretation

50–63 25–49 9–24

High power distance Moderate power distance Low power distance

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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3

Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: g. Describe the self-concept characteristics and processes, and explain how each affects an individual’s behavior and well-being. h. Outline the perceptual process and discuss the effects of categorical thinking and mental models in that process. i. Discuss how stereotyping, attribution, self-fulfilling prophecy, halo, false-consensus, primacy, and recency effects influence the perceptual process. j. Discuss three ways to improve perceptions, with specific application to organizational situations. k. Outline the main features of a global mindset and justify its usefulness to employees and organizations.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY attribution process—the perceptual process of forming beliefs about whether an observed behavior or event is caused largely by internal or external factors

empathy—the ability to understand another person‘s situation or viewpoint (perspective taking), be sensitive to their thoughts and feelings, and experience their emotions

categorical thinking—organizing people and objects into preconceived categories that are stored in our long-term memory

false-consensus effect—a perceptual error in which we overestimate the extent to which others have beliefs and characteristics similar to our own

confirmation bias—the processing of screening out information that is contrary to our values and assumptions, and to more readily accept confirming information.

fundamental attribution error—the tendency to see the person rather than the situation as the main cause of that person‘s behavior

contact hypothesis—a theory stating that the more we interact with someone, the less prejudiced or perceptually biased we will be against that person

global mindset—an individual‘s ability to perceive, appreciate, and empathize with people from other cultures, and to process complex cross-cultural information

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halo effect—a perceptual error whereby our general impression of a person, usually based on one prominent characteristic, colors our perception of other characteristics of that person Johari Window—a model of mutual understanding that encourages disclosure and feedback to increase our own open area and reduce the blind, hidden, and unknown areas locus of control—a person‘s general belief about the amount of control they have over personal life events mental models—visual and relational images that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us perception—the process of receiving information about, and making sense of, the world around us primacy effect—a perceptual error in which we quickly form an opinion of people based on the first information we receive about them recency effect—a perceptual error in which the most recent information dominates our perception of others selective attention—the process of attending to some information received by our senses and ignoring other information

self-concept—an individual‘s self-beliefs and selfevaluations self-efficacy—a person‘s belief that they have the ability, motivation, correct role perceptions, and favorable situation to complete a task successfully self-enhancement—a person‘s inherent motivation to have a positive self-concept (and to have others perceive them favorably), such as being competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, and important self-fulfilling prophecy—the perceptual process in which our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations self-serving bias—the tendency to attribute our favorable outcomes to internal factors and our failures to external factors self-verification—a person‘s inherent motivation to confirm and maintain their existing self-concept social identity theory—a theory stating that people define themselves by the groups to which they belong or have an emotional attachment stereotype threat—an individual‘s concern about confirming a negative stereotype about their group stereotyping—the process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE g. Describe the self-concept characteristics and processes, and explain how each affects an individual’s behavior and well-being.

Self-concept includes an individual‘s self-beliefs and self-evaluations. It has three structural characteristics—complexity, consistency, and clarity—all of which influence employee well-being, behavior, and performance. People are inherently motivated to promote and protect their self-concept (self-enhancement) and to verify and maintain their existing self-concept (self-verification). Selfevaluation consists of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and locus of control. Self-concept also consists of both

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

personal identity and social identity. Social identity theory explains how people define themselves by the groups to which they belong or have an emotional attachment. h. Outline the perceptual process and discuss the effects of categorical thinking and mental models in that process.

Perception involves selecting, organizing, and interpreting information to make sense of the world around us. Perceptual organization applies categorical thinking—the mostly nonconscious process of organizing people and objects into preconceived categories that are stored in our long-term memory. Mental models—knowledge structures that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us— also help us make sense of incoming stimuli. i.

Discuss how stereotyping, attribution, self-fulfilling prophecy, halo, false-consensus, primacy, and recency effects influence the perceptual process.

Stereotyping occurs when people assign traits to others based on their membership in a social category.

This assignment economizes mental effort, fills in missing information, and enhances our self-concept, but it also lays the foundation for stereotype threat as well as systemic and intentional discrimination. The attribution process involves forming beliefs about whether an observed behavior or event is caused mainly by the person (internal factors) or the environment (external factors). Two attribution rules— distinctiveness and consensus—influence whether we believe an individual‘s actions are caused mainly by internal or external factors, while the consistency rule influences our confidence in that attribution belief. Self-serving bias and fundamental attribution error are two attribution errors. A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations. This effect is stronger when employees first join the work unit, when several people hold these expectations, and when the employee has a history of low achievement. Four other perceptual errors commonly noted in organizations are the halo effect, false-consensus effect, recency effect, and primacy effect.

j. Discuss three ways to improve perceptions, with specific application to organizational situations.

One way to minimize perceptual biases is to become more aware of their existence. Awareness of these biases makes people more mindful of their thoughts and actions, but this training sometimes reinforces rather than reduces reliance on stereotypes and tends to be ineffective for people with deeply held prejudices. A second strategy is to become more aware of biases in our own decisions and behavior. Selfawareness increases through formal tests such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) and by applying the Johari Window, which is a process in which others provide feedback to you about your behavior, and you offer disclosure to them about yourself. The third strategy is meaningful interaction, which applies the contact hypothesis that people who interact will be less prejudiced or perceptually biased toward one another. Meaningful interaction is strongest when people work closely and frequently with relatively equal status on a shared meaningful task that requires cooperation and reliance on one another.

Meaningful interaction helps improve empathy, which is a person‘s understanding and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, and situations of others.

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

k. Outline the main features of a global mindset and justify its usefulness to employees and organizations.

A global mindset refers to an individual‘s ability to perceive, know about, and process information across cultures. This includes (1) an awareness of, openness to, and respect for other views and practices in the world; (2) the capacity to empathize and act effectively across cultures; (3) an ability to process complex information about novel environments; and (4) the ability to comprehend and reconcile intercultural matters with multiple levels of thinking. A global mindset enables people to develop better cross-cultural relationships, to digest huge volumes of cross-cultural information, and to identify and respond more quickly to emerging global opportunities. Employees develop a global mindset through self-awareness, opportunities to compare their own mental models with people from other cultures, formal cross-cultural training, and immersion in other cultures.

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

Slide 1: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations Slide 2: Learning Objectives g.

Describe the self-concept characteristics and processes, and explain how each affects an individual‘s behavior and well-being.

h.

Outline the perceptual process and discuss the effects of categorical thinking and mental models in that process.

i.

Discuss how stereotyping, attribution, self-fulfilling prophecy, halo, false-consensus, primacy, and recency effects influence the perceptual process.

j.

Discuss three ways to improve perceptions, with specific application to organizational situations.

k.

Outline the main features of a global mindset and justify its usefulness to employees and organizations.

Slide 3: Self-Concept and Career Fulfillment Nicolas Gerlier and Claude Silver changed their career directions so their work would be more compatible and consistent with their self-concepts

Slide 4: Self-Concept Defined Our self-beliefs and self-evaluations • We ask ourselves ―Who am I?‖ and ―How do I feel about myself?‖ • Guide our decisions and actions We compare our images of a job with our current (perceived) self and desired (ideal) self to evaluate our fit with a career, job, or decision Three levels of self-concept: • Individual self—personal traits • Relational self—connections to friends and coworkers

• Collective self—membership in teams, organizations, social groups, and so on

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Slide 5: Self-Concept Model: Three Cs and Four Selves Three Cs—characteristics of self-concept • Complexity • Consistency • Clarity Four selves—four self-concept processes • Self-enhancement • Self-verification • Self-evaluation • Social self

Slide 6: Self-Concept Characteristics (Three Cs) Complexity • Number of distinct and important roles/identities people perceive about themselves • People have multiple self-concepts—for example, student, friend, and daughter • People motivated to increase their complexity (called self-expansion) • Self-concept complexity includes degree of separation of selves—more complexity when selves are separate (example: not all work-related) • Specific selves dominate at different times • Domain specific (e.g., parent at home and manager at work) Consistency • High consistency when: (a) multiple selves require similar personal characteristics and/or (b) multiple selves require personal characteristics that are similar to our actual personal attributes • Low consistency when multiple selves differ significantly (e.g., cautiousness in one identity and riskoriented in another identity) and/or multiple selves differ from our actual personal characteristics

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Clarity • High clarity—person‘s self-concept is clear, confidently defined, and stable • Confident about ―who I am‖ • Can describe our important identities to others • Can provide the same description of dominant selves across time • Clarity increases with age because: • personality and values become relatively stable by adulthood • we develop better self-awareness through life experiences • Clarity higher when multiple selves have higher consistency—consistency reduces ambiguity of various identities

Slide 7: Self-Concept Characteristics Effects on Well-Being and Behavior Better psychological well-being with: • Fairly distinct multiple selves (complexity) • Protects self-esteem when some identities are threatened or damaged (like a ship with compartments) • Selves are similar to each other and compatible with personal traits (consistency) • Too much variation causes internal tension and conflict • Well-established selves (clarity) • Less ambiguity, less swayed by influential people, less stress in decisions, less threatened by threats to self-esteem Effects on individual behavior/performance • Self-concept complexity • Complex selves have more adaptive decisions and performance—they have more diverse experiences and role patterns, so easier to shift thinking and behavior to suit new tasks/situations • Complex selves often have more diverse social networks—more resources, social support • Limitation of high complexity: requires more effort to maintain and juggle—more stressful and less efficient, whereas those with low complexity (e.g., all work) use their resources to develop those fewer identities better • Self-concept clarity • Higher performance, vital for leadership • More focused career development paths • Feel less threatened by interpersonal conflict—more constructive problem-solving • Very high clarity may have role inflexibility—less adaptive to change

Slide 8: Self-Concept: Self-Enhancement An innate human drive to promote/protect a positive self-view—and to be perceived favorably by others • Being competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, valued • Most evident in situations that are common and important

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Self-enhancement outcomes: • Better mental/physical health • Higher motivation due to ―can-do‖ beliefs (self-efficacy)—motivates persistence in difficult or risky tasks • Problems: More risk-oriented decisions, inflated estimate of personal causation, slower to recognize mistakes

Slide 9: Self-Concept: Self-Verification Motivation to confirm and maintain our existing self-concept Stabilizes our self-concept—anchors our thoughts and actions • We actively communicate our self-concept (tell others who we are) • Seek and welcome feedback consistent with our self-concept—even if not flattering (e.g., not good at accounting) Self-verification outcomes: • Affects perceptions—recall information consistent and screen out info inconsistent with our self-concept • Higher self-concept clarity more likely to consciously dismiss feedback contradicting their self-concept • Motivated to interact with others who affirm our self-concept—affects how well employees get along with team members and bosses

Slide 10: Self-Concept: Self-Evaluation Our evaluation of ourselves has three elements Self-esteem • Extent to which people like, respect, and are satisfied with themselves in specific roles and overall (global self-evaluation) • High self-esteem—less influenced by others, more persistent, more logical thinking

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Self-efficacy • Person‘s belief about successfully completing a task (―can-do‖ attitude) • Perceived motivation, ability, role clarity, and favorable situation (MARS elements) • Typically task specific (confidence in performing a specific task), but also general self-efficacy (across situations) • Higher self-efficacy produces higher overall self-evaluation Locus of control • Person‘s general beliefs about the amount of control over personal life events • Internal locus of control—believe that life events are caused mainly by their personal characteristics • External locus of control—believe events are mainly beyond personal control (fate, luck, external environment) • Person‘s locus of control is most apparent in new situations—ability to control events is uncertain • People with an internal locus of control have a more positive self-evaluation—also tend to perform better, have more successful careers, earn more money, be better suited for leadership, and cope better in stressful situations

Slide 11: Self-Concept: Social Self Two opposing human motives: personal and social identity Personal identity (internal self-concept) • Motivation to be distinctive and unique from others • Includes attributes that highlight a person‘s uniqueness (unusual skill or accomplishment) Social identity (external self-concept) • People define themselves by the groups to which they belong or have an emotional attachment.

• Motivation for inclusion and assimilation with others • Several factors influence social identity: 1. How easily others identify you with a social group (sex, race, etc.)

2. Your minority status in a group (e.g., person‘s sex where most people are the opposite sex) 3. Social group‘s status—we identify with groups that make us feel better about ourselves—selfenhancement (e.g., high status groups) People differ in priority for uniqueness (personal identities) versus belongingness (social identities) Those with strong social identity self-concepts • More motivated to abide by team norms • More easily influenced by peer pressure Those with strong personal identity self-concepts • Speak out more frequently against the majority

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• Less motivated to follow the team‘s wishes • Expressing disagreement—a sign of distinctiveness, forms clearer (personal identity) self-concept

Slide 12: Perception and Selective Attention Perception: Process of receiving information about and making sense of the world around us • Determining which information to notice • Determining how to categorize this information • Determining how to interpret information within our existing knowledge framework Selective attention: Process of attending to some information received by our senses and ignoring other information Influences on selective attention: • Characteristics of the person or object being perceived—size, intensity, motion, repetition, novelty, and context • Characteristics of the perceiver—assumptions, expectations, needs, and so on.

Our brain quickly and nonconsciously assesses incoming stimuli and attaches emotional markers (worry, happiness, etc.)

• Help us store information in memory, later reproduced when recalling information Selective attention biases • Assumptions/expectations—focus on some types of incoming stimuli, but screen out other useful information • Confirmation bias—nonconsciously screen out information contrary to our decisions, beliefs, values, and assumptions and to more readily accept confirming information

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Slide 13: Perceptual Organization/Interpretation Perceptual organization (grouping) processes reduce the huge volume and complexity of incoming information Categorical thinking • Mostly nonconscious process of organizing people/things into preconceived categories that are stored in our long-term memory • Observable similarity—sex, age, race, clothing style, and so on Other perceptual grouping principles: • Proximity—see clusters rather than a random distribution of people • Filling in missing information—using past experiences, images to fill in gaps • Perceive patterns or trends—for example, apparent winning streak Perceptual interpretation • Emotional markers automatically evaluate information as good or bad • Quick judgments of perceptual interpretation—1/20th of a second (50 milliseconds)

Slide 14: Mental Models in Perceptions Knowledge structures we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us • Visual (image maps) or relational (cause–effect) representations of our environment—important for sense making • Mental models partly rely on perceptual grouping (fill in missing information) • Mental models help us make sense of the situation Problem: Mental models make it difficult to see the world in different ways • Block recognition of new opportunities Need to constantly question our mental models

Slide 15: You People: Exposing Stereotyping South African restaurant chain Nando‘s recently launched a witty advertisement that pokes fun at our tendency to stereotype people who are different from us Stereotyping causes viewers to misperceive the actors‘ role in the scene (upscale customer vs. employee) or the meaning of their actions (running for exercise vs. running away from police) Nando‘s advertisement also shows that those who stereotype ―you people‖ fail to recognize similar behavior in themselves

Slide 16: Stereotyping Process of assigning traits to people based on their membership in a social category

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

1. Assign (usually difficult to observe) characteristics to an identifiable group 2. Automatically transfer those features to people we believe belong to that group Stereotypes are usually shared beliefs across society, sometimes across several cultures • Usually have a few kernels of truth • But the kernels are embellished and distorted—and include features that do not represent the group Why people stereotype: • Categorical thinking—energy-saving process, simplifies perceptions • Fulfills drive to comprehend and predict others—stereotypes quickly fill in missing information before we receive actual details • Motivated by observer‘s need for self-enhancement and social identity—categorization, homogenization, differentiation

Slide 17: Categorization, Homogenization, Differentiation Combination of social identity and self-enhancement leads to three activities that are the foundation of stereotyping: 1. Categorization—naturally tend to categorize people into distinct groups 2. Homogenization—assign similar traits to members within a group; different traits to other groups—lose sight of fact that every person is unique 3. Differentiation—assign more favorable characteristics to our groups than to other groups • Motivated by self-enhancement—increase self-esteem as member of better group • Generates negative stereotypes of people outside our social identity groups

Slide 18: Problems with Stereotyping 1. Highly inaccurate, because stereotype characteristics: • Are distorted and embellished • Do not accurately describe everyone (or most people) in a social category 2. Stereotype threat—individual‘s concern about confirming a negative stereotype about their group • Stereotyped group member tries to: (a) avoid confirming the undesirable trait and (b) push the negative image from their mind • Both activities divert energy and attention, more difficult to perform task well • Weakens self-efficacy (less confident in performing tasks) • Results in poorer behavior/performance—displays stereotype trait trying to avoid 3. Foundation for unfair discrimination • Unintentional (systemic) discrimination—decision makers implicitly, nonconsciously rely on stereotypes to establish the ―ideal‖ person—less favorable evaluation to those who do not fit the stereotyped ideal • Intentional discrimination (prejudice)—unfounded negative attitudes toward people belonging to a particular stereotyped group Overcoming stereotype biases:

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• Difficult to prevent stereotype activation—hardwired in our brain cells—and stereotyping serves some functions • Possible to minimize stereotype application—consciously minimize the extent to which we rely on that stereotypic information

Slide 19: Attribution Theory The perceptual process of deciding whether an observed behavior or event is caused mainly by internal or external factors Internal attribution—perceiving that behavior/event is caused mainly by the person (ability, personality, motivation, etc.)

External attribution—perceiving that behavior/event is caused mainly by factors beyond the person‘s control (resources, coworkers, luck)

Slide 20: Attribution Rules Distinctiveness and consensus determine internal versus external attribution. Consistency determines reliability/confidence in the attribution • Distinctiveness: Actor‘s response is similar (low distinctiveness) or different (high distinctiveness) in the presence of different entities (e.g., different tools and different customers) • Consensus: Others‘ response is similar (high consensus) or different (low consensus) as the actor in the presence of the entity • Consistency: Actor‘s response is similar (high consistency) or varies (low consistency) over time in the presence of the entity, and in whatever way the entity is presented Internal attribution: Low distinctiveness, low consensus, and high consistency External attribution: High distinctiveness, high consensus, and high consistency

Slide 21: Attribution Example Internal attribution: • Low distinctiveness—target person produces poor quality products on this machine AND poor quality products on other machines • Low consensus—other people produce good quality products on this machine • High consistency—target person consistently (over time, different situations) produces poor quality on this machine External attribution: • High distinctiveness—target person produces poor quality on this machine BUT produces good quality on other machines • High consensus—other people produce poor quality products on this machine

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• High consistency—target person consistently (over time, different situations) produces poor quality on this machine

Slide 22: Attribution Outcomes and Errors Importance of the attribution process • Our estimate of causation—enables us to work more effectively with others and to assign praise or blame to them • We respond differently to attributions of our own behavior and performance—for example, more likely to quit if your poor performance is perceived as an external attribution (due to lack of control over the outcome) Self-serving bias • Tendency to attribute our failures more to external causes, and attribute our successes more to internal causes • We take credit for our successes and blame others or the situation for our mistakes • Two reasons for self-serving bias • Deliberate influence tactic (impression management) • Self-enhancement process (actually believe caused by external factors) Fundamental attribution error (correspondence bias) • Tendency to overemphasize internal causes of another person‘s actions (i.e., their motivation and ability) and to discount or ignore external causes of their behavior • Fundamental attribution error does occur, but is less common than once thought • Two reasons for fundamental attribution error • Difficult to see external factors constraining another person‘s behavior • People like to think that people (not situation) are the prime sources of behavior

Slide 23: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Cycle Expectations about another person cause that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations 4. Supervisor forms expectations about the employee • For example, supervisor develops expectations about employee‘s future behavior and performance 5. Supervisor‘s expectations affect behavior toward employee—high-expectancy employees receive: • More emotional support through nonverbal cues (e.g., more smiling and eye contact) • More frequent/valuable feedback/reinforcement • More challenging goals and better training • More opportunities to demonstrate their performance 6. Supervisor‘s behavior affects employee‘s ability and motivation (self-confidence) • Better training/more practice—results in more skills and knowledge • Employee becomes more self-confident

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

7. Employee‘s behavior/performance becomes more consistent with supervisor‘s initial expectations • High-expectancy employees have higher motivation and better skills, resulting in higher performance—opposite effect on low-expectancy employees

Slide 24: Contingencies of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Self-fulfilling prophecy effect is strongest: • At the beginning of the relationship (such as when employee is first hired) • When several people hold same expectations of the person • When the employee has a history of low achievement (low self-esteem) Main lesson from the self-fulfilling prophecy—leaders need to develop and maintain a positive, yet realistic, expectation toward all employees Minimizing self-fulfilling prophecy error • Positive self-fulfilling prophecy through organizational culture of support/learning • Hiring supervisors who are inherently optimistic toward their staff • Awareness of this error has minimal benefit at reducing it

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Side 25: Other Perceptual Effects Halo effect • General impression of a person, usually based on one prominent characteristic, colors our perception of other characteristics of that person • General impression (halo) fills in missing information—when concrete information is missing or perceiver lacks motivation to search for it False-consensus effect (similar-to-me effect) • Overestimate extent that others have beliefs/characteristics similar to our own • Occurs because: 1. Comfort from belief that others engage in similarly unfavorable behavior 2. More interaction with people who do that behavior, not representative of population 3. Confirmation bias—we remember events consistent with our own views 4. Social identity homogenization process—perceive all in group have similar behavior Recency effect • Most recent information dominates our perceptions—for example, most recent observations overweighted in supervisor‘s evaluation of employee‘s performance • Most common when people make a complex evaluation Primacy effect (first impressions are lasting impressions) • Quickly form opinion of others based on first information received about them • First impressions are lasting impressions—we seek out confirming information (confirmation bias) of first impressions, particularly negative impressions

Slide 26: Improving Perceptions: Perceptual Bias Awareness Knowing perceptual biases exist—tries to make us more mindful of our thoughts and actions—can reduce some perceptual errors to some extent Examples: • Diversity training to minimize discrimination • Performance management training to minimize halo and primacy effect • Cultural awareness training to minimize stereotyping with coworkers in other cultures Problems with perceptual bias awareness training: • Little effect for some biases (e.g., self-fulfilling prophecy) • Depends on how presented (e.g., describing other culture and not judging own‘ culture), motivation of attendees, and company‘s culture (e.g., inclusive) • Unintended effect of reinforcing stereotypes we are trying to dispel

• Ineffective for people with deeply held prejudices

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Slide 27: Improving Perceptions: Improving Self-Awareness Become more aware of our own beliefs, values, and attitudes • Better understand biases in our own decisions and behavior • Two main types: Implicit bias tests and Johari Window Problems with improving self-awareness: • Difficult to prevent implicit biases (automatic activation)—need to focus on application of those biases • Perceptual bias self-awareness can cause people to become more sensitized and self-conscious Implicit bias tests  Estimates implicit biases toward specific groups (older people, different ethnic groups, etc.)

• Example: Implicit association test (IAT) • Tests seem to reflect implicit bias and make people more aware of personal biases, but ongoing discussion among experts of this approach Johari Window (see next slide)

Slide 28: Johari Window Self-awareness and mutual understanding • Divides information about you into four ―windows‖ based on what is known to you and others • Open area—information about you known to you and others • Blind area—information known to others but not to yourself • Hidden area—information known to you, unknown to others • Unknown area—values, beliefs, and experiences not known to you or others • Objective is to increase size of open area so that both you and colleagues are aware of your perceptual limitations: • Disclosure—tell others about yourself (reduces hidden area) • Feedback—receive feedback about your behavior (reduces blind area)

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Slide 29: Improving Perceptions: Meaningful Interaction Any activity in which people engage in valued (meaningful, not trivial) activities • Applies contact hypothesis—the more we interact with someone, the less prejudiced or perceptually biased we will be against that person • Reduces dependence on stereotypes—reduces psychological distance, improves knowledge off specific individuals, able to observe person‘s unique attributes • Improves empathy • Understanding and being sensitive to the feelings, thoughts, and situations of others • Visualize ourselves in the other person‘s place (cognitive), feel the other‘s emotions (emotional), and somewhat react somewhat similarly to those thoughts and feelings (experiential) • Improves attribution—more sensitive to external causes of other person‘s behavior Best conditions for meaningful interaction • Close, frequent interaction • Shared goal requiring mutual cooperation and reliance • Equal status in a meaningful task, and positive interaction experiences

Slide 30: Global Mindset at EY Professional services firm EY encourages and supports temporary transfers to other countries so employees develop a global mindset. ―My secondment to EY London has allowed me to develop a global mindset by working with individuals from different backgrounds and cultures,‖ says one EY employee from Hong Kong.

Slide 31: Global Mindset Abilities and Development An individual‘s ability to perceive, know about, and process information across cultures 8. Adopting a global perspective • A global frame of reference about business and its environment • Knowledge and appreciation of other cultures • Avoid judging others by their national/ethnic origins 9. Empathizing and acting effectively across cultures • Understanding perceptions/emotions of coworkers from other cultures • Results in ability to use words/behaviors compatible with other cultures 10.

Processing complex information about novel environments • Ability to cognitively receive/analyze much information in new and diverse situations

11.

Developing new multilevel mental models • Ability to quickly develop multiple levels of understanding to intercultural cross-cultural issues and work environments • Develop useful mental models of situations at both local and global levels

Developing a Global Mindset

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• Use same strategies for improving perceptions—awareness, self-awareness, and meaningful interaction • Begins with self-awareness—understanding one‘s own beliefs, values, and attitudes • Compare own mental models with those of people from other cultures/regions • Develop better knowledge of people and cultures, preferably through immersion—embed in the other culture, follow local practices, use local language

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

27. You are the manager of a district that has just hired several recent university and college graduates. Most of these people are starting their first full-time job, though most of them have held part-time and summer positions in the past. They have general knowledge of their particular skill area (accounting, engineering, marketing, etc.) but know relatively little about specific business practices and developments. Explain how you would nurture the self-concepts in these new hires to strengthen their performance and maintain their psychological well-being. Also explain how you might reconcile the tendency for self-enhancement while preventing the new employees from forming a negative self-evaluation.

This question asks students to apply the core information about self-concept to this specific situation. The answer can be approached systematically by reviewing each of the three characteristics and four processes: Complexity—Well-being and likely performance can be enhanced by encouraging employees to develop diverse strengths. Within the organization, manager might help employees to become better technically as well as nurture their leadership talents. Managers should also encourage employees to develop personal strengths outside of work, such as sports and volunteering, and to recognize/reward these outside interests.

Consistency—Managers can support self-concept by discovering the employee‘s personality, values, and competencies, and then guiding them into careers that are consistent with those personal attributes. They can also help employees to understand ―who they are‖ so they personally recognize when a role (at work or outside work) is incompatible with their personal attributes and with other aspects of self.

Clarity—Clarity tends to develop through experience and maturity. However, managers can help this dimension of self-concept by developing the employee‘s self-confidence when dilemmas arise and by giving them experience and feedback in various roles. For example, if the employee opposes or strongly encourages something in a meeting, the manager can later thank the employee for standing up for their beliefs. Similarly, the manager can offer supportive feedback when an employee recognizes that a particular role or situation is incompatible with their strengths or character.

Self-enhancement—This is perhaps the most difficult self-concept process to manage because people tend to have more favorable image of themselves than is the case. The most important task for a manager would be to ensure that the employee engages in some self-enhancement (which then relates to a positive self-evaluation). At the same time, managers (and coworkers) are challenged by employees who have substantially inflated self-concept (i.e., too much self-enhancement). The latter part of this question refers to this issue. The best advice might be the evidence on feedback that is discussed in Chapter 5.

Specifically, people prefer to receive negative feedback from nonsocial sources. If self-enhancement is too strong, then the employee should experience more accurate information about themselves, but it should arrive through non-social sources and privately. This ―reality check‖ will sting, but less so than if delivered by the boss or publicly displayed.

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Self-verification—This process refers to the motivation to receive feedback that is consistent with our self-concept and to maintain that self-concept. Managers can play a role in this process by (a) monitoring how well coworkers recognize the employee in terms of their self-concept and (b) coaching and giving the employee opportunities to develop and demonstrate their self-concept strengths.

Self-evaluation—This is likely the most widely discussed self-concept process in managing employees.

Essentially, managers need to help employees to develop a strong, positive self-concept around specific selves. This occurs by recognizing and rewarding employees for their positive performance and other behaviors and by supporting them when they experience negative shocks to their self-concept. Positive organizational behavior practices (such as strengths-based or appreciative coaching) apply here. When employees experience significant failures in one of their significant selves (e.g., failing a professional entrance exam; losing a promotion opportunity), the manager can offer emotional support and coach them to develop strengths in one or more of their other selves. Indeed, managers can help avoid these major shocks by nurturing a complex self-concept in employees (as discussed above).

Social self (social identity)—Managers can develop employee performance and well-being by steering employees toward peers with desirable characteristics and away from those who can undermine the employee‘s self-concept. Specifically, employees work better around peers who appreciate and support the employee‘s talents, accept their self-views, and have a positive, performance-oriented (yet balanced) orientation toward their work and careers. As employees define themselves with teams and work units where these values and norms operate, they will guide the employee‘s behavior and performance.

28. Do you define yourself in terms of the university you attend? Why or why not? What are the implications of your answer for your university or college?

This question offers open discussion of social identity as well as several topics throughout this organizational behavior book. Usually, the status of the college plays an important role. Another factor is the difficulty of entry (which also relates to status). A third factor that student will usually mention is the ―brand‖ of the college. Many students will identify with a college that is a highly practical school with close ties to industry.

The implications of social identity with the college are varied. One outcome is how often students mention the college. Another is how they defend the college when it might be criticized by people from other schools. Attendance at social and sporting events related to the college possibly is a fourth outcome.

29. A high-performance company has launched a ―total focus‖ initiative that requires all employees to give complete attention and dedication to the company‘s growth and success. In an email to all staff members, the CEO wrote: ―We live in a competitive world, and only those businesses whose employees give their total focus to the business will survive. As such, we are offering a generous severance to employees leaving because they can‘t devote 110 percent to this firm.‖ The company announced that it would invest heavily in employee training and career development, but employees who held second jobs or were engaged in time-consuming hobbies would be asked to leave. Discuss the company‘s ―total focus‖ initiative and its consequences from the perspective of employee self-concept complexity, consistency, and clarity.

The company‘s ―total focus‖ initiative will likely have the effect of reducing self-concept complexity among employees. It clearly encourages employees to leave if they have nonwork self-views that consume a considerable part of their overall identity and cognitive energy, with the result that those

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remaining would have a high percentage of their self-concept connected to various work-related selves.

The initiative may also cause some employees to reduce their attention to nonwork-related selves and to give higher priority and attention to work-related selves in their everyday thinking and self-perception.

Some or many employees in this company would still have many selves, but most of them would be correlated with each other through work. For example, employees may still identify as an engineer, manager, and friend, but these may be mostly attached to their work environment. By reducing selfconcept complexity, this initiative may motivate employees to focus their development on a narrower range of (work-related) life roles, such as managing others and better skill development in their profession. But this reduced range and higher correlation of roles also have negative consequences, such as less social networking with distant groups and increased mental health problems, particularly when employees lose their jobs or discover they are not performing well in their main work-related roles.

The ―total focus‖ initiative would have a mixed effect on self-concept consistency. On the one hand, it may increase self-concept consistency because those who do not strongly identify with their work and company (e.g., incompatible values with the company values) would leave and those who identify with the company are more likely to remain. However, it may somewhat weaken self-concept consistency if it motivates those who remain to devote more of their attention and identity to selves that are not as compatible with their underlying personal attributes. For example, someone who has a creative streak but works in a fairly noncreative job can fulfill their creativity through nonwork roles. But if the company discourages nonwork outlets for creativity and force employees to amplify their work roles in overall self-concept, then the person‘s self-concept consistency would be lower.

The effect of this initiative on self-concept clarity is also mixed. On the one hand, focusing more on a few roles in an environment that reinforces that identity may increase a person‘s self-concept clarity. On the other hand, this assumes that the company actually encourages and reinforces development of each person‘s work-related self-view. The company might actually have a political environment that causes many people to question their value or might not provide the experiences necessary for employees to nurture development of their work-related selves.

30. Several years ago, senior executives at energy company CanOil wanted to acquire an exploration company (HBOG) that was owned by another energy company, AmOil. Rather than face a hostile takeover and unfavorable tax implications, CanOil‘s two top executives met with the CEO of AmOil to discuss a friendly exchange of stock to carry out the transaction. AmOil‘s chief executive was previously unaware of CanOil‘s plans, and as the meeting began, the AmOil executive warned that he was there merely to listen. The CanOil executives were confident that AmOil wanted to sell HBOG because energy legislation at the time made HBOG a poor investment for AmOil. AmOil‘s CEO remained silent for most of the meeting, which CanOil executives interpreted as an implied agreement to proceed to buy AmOil stock on the market. But when CanOil launched the stock purchase a month later, AmOil‘s CEO was both surprised and outraged. He thought he had given the CanOil executives the cold shoulder, remaining silent to show his disinterest in the deal. The misunderstanding nearly bankrupted CanOil because AmOil reacted by protecting its stock. What perceptual problem(s) likely occurred that led to this misunderstanding?

This incident describes true events in Dome Petroleum‘s acquisition of Conoco, Inc., subsidiary Hudson Bay Oil and Gas (HBOG). (See J. Lyon, The Rise and Fall of the House that Jack Built (Toronto: McMillan, 1983).) HBOG‘s high acquisition price (due to Conoco‘s resistance strategy) along with other

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debts, increasing interest rates, and falling oil prices put Dome on the brink of bankruptcy. The company was later acquired by Amoco.

This incident is a classic example of false-consensus effect. The CanOil executives interpreted the AmOil CEO‘s silence as tacit agreement with the plan, likely because they wanted to believe AmOil would support the stock swap strategy. Not only was this plan critical to the CanOil‘s executives‘ personal goals, but it was also a high-risk strategy that relied on questionable accounting procedures. These conditions likely further added to the CanOil executives‘ perceptual bias that the AmOil CEO was on board.

31. Before joining an organization or beginning education at a new school, we form mental models of what the work setting and activities will be like. How did your preemployment or preenrollment mental models differ from the actual situation? Why did your mental models differ from reality, and what effect did those differences have on your adjustment to the new work or school?

This is an open discussion question that asks students to reflect on the visual and relational (causal) images and assumptions their formed before beginning a new job or beginning education at a particular school.

Students may raise a variety of issues based on their individual experiences and perceptions. Encourage students to focus on their mental images and their assumptions and expectations of their job or education.

In the example of entering a new educational program or school, for example, ask students to think about what they expected in terms of relations with other students and with instructors, about the physical setting (what the classrooms would look like), and about what the class assignments might be like (team vs. individual, heavy vs. light load, practical vs. abstract content, etc.).

This chapter provides limited information on the outcomes of inaccurate mental models, but the topic is given attention later in the book. For instance, the consequences of mental models of work that differ from perceived reality are discussed in the chapter on organizational socialization. The gap tends to produce ―reality shock‖ (particularly when the reality falls short of the mental model expectations), but the degree of resulting stress and dissatisfaction depends on whether the employee concludes that the company provided misleading information (didn‘t live up to its promises) or whether the employee concludes that they formed false expectations (i.e., takes personal responsibility for the gap between expectations and reality).

32. During a diversity management session, a manager suggests that stereotypes are a necessary part of working with others. ―I have to make assumptions about what‘s in the other person‘s head, and stereotypes help me do that,‖ she explains. ―It‘s better to rely on stereotypes than to enter a working relationship with someone from another culture without any idea of what they believe in!‖ Discuss the merits of and problems with the manager‘s statement.

This question raises the fundamental dilemma that stereotyping is both a necessary and a troublesome activity in the perceptual process. On the one hand, the manager is correct that stereotyping helps us to fill in missing information, such as the nonobservable characteristics of a person that only become apparent after a long time. Also, stereotyping helps us to organize information more efficiently by placing people into predetermined categories.

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Although most stereotypes have some truth to them, there is also plenty of error and distortion that could lead to employment discrimination. It is unlikely that someone perfectly fits the stereotype category, so we tend to assign traits that are untrue. Stereotyping makes it difficult for people to alter their beliefs about a person regarding traits that conflict with the stereotype.

33. Describe how a manager or coach could use the process of self-fulfilling prophecy to enhance an individual‘s performance.

Self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our expectations about another person causes that person to act in a way that is consistent with those expectations. When the boss/coach believes in others, individuals can achieve increased levels of performance. In other words, the boss/coach can influence reality. Steps include: (a) Form a positive expectation about the individual‘s future behavior and performance and increase individual self-efficacy by displaying confidence in their skills and ability. (b) Develop a learning orientation, that is, appreciate the value of the individual‘s learning, not just completing tasks. (c) Apply leadership behaviors including skill development, emotional support, feedback, challenging goals, and so on as appropriate to the situation.

34. Self-awareness is increasingly recognized as an important ingredient for effective leadership. Suppose that you are responsible for creating a leadership development program in a government organization.

What activities or processes would you introduce to help participants in this program constructively develop a better self-awareness of their personality, values, and personal biases?

This is an important question because it lays the foundation for leadership development as well as improving perceptions about ourselves and others. The quick answer here is for leadership trainees to receive more feedback about themselves. This can occur through novel experiences which then provide feedback to the participant about their behavior and performance. One such example is an assessment center, where observers monitor participant behaviors during exercises and later provide confidential feedback to those participants. A related activity is 360-degree feedback, where trainees receive systematically compiled feedback from peers, subordinates, and bosses in a form that offers clarity about strengths and areas for improvement.

35. Almost everyone in a college or university business program has developed some degree of a global mindset. What events or activities in your life have helped nurture the global mindset you have developed so far? What actions can you take now, while still attending school, to further develop your global mindset?

This question provides an opportunity for the class to reflect on and discuss their personal experiences that they believe have developed their global mindset. Probably the most common response will be the various countries where students have visited or lived. Some students might discuss an immersion experience, where they actively worked in another culture and tried to adopt some of the local practices (such as food, dress, and talking style). Some students might describe the nature of their work within this country that required frequent interaction or communication with coworkers, suppliers, and others located in other countries and cultures. Some might note dilemmas they faced in their multicultural teams. Global mindset also refers to processing a large volume of novel information from other cultures, so a few students might refer to their experiences of information overload or how they dealt with being in a strange place with no clear guidelines on how to act.

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CS

CASE STUDY: BRIDGING THE TWO WORLDS

Case Synopsis The writer has been hired by Aluminum Elements Corp. (disguised name of an actual company) as a manager in charge of customer service, logistics, and some purchasing. In this position, he reported directly to George. The writer noticed that there was almost no communication between the floor and the office employees. Management used different washrooms and separate lunchrooms, and it was often perceived as demanding by shop floor personnel. The writer, by walking around, talking to floor employees, and showing interest in them managed to get the trust of the shop employees. Soon the author became a go-between for the office and shop employees. John, who often engaged in conflicts with George, was a crucial shop employee helping the writer reduce delivery order times from four to five weeks to less than one day in most cases. Both George and the author, recognizing the contribution John has made, decided to promote John to a management position. When George asked John if he is interested in attending a management skills seminar, John came into the writer‘s office upset and ready to quit.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions What symptoms in this case suggest that something has gone wrong?

The main symptom at the end of the case is that John, who is a productive employee, was upset/dissatisfied with management‘s offer for him to take a management skills seminar. He was ready to quit and leave the company. He also formed an even stronger negative image of George and other managers at the company. Another symptom is the ongoing negative attitudes that shop floor employees have of management.

36. Explain the causes of these symptoms using your knowledge of self-concept and perceptions concepts and theories. Analyze the case facts separately for each theory and refer to the symptom(s) that the theory explains from the facts.

Stereotyping: Shop floor employees rely on their stereotypes of ―management‖ to interpret the actions that management takes without considering alternative reasoning or perspectives. Students should look at the foundations of stereotyping, specifically the process of categorization, homogenization, and differentiation. Notice how the shop floor employees cluster (categorize) all of the managers and assign them common attributes (homogenization). They distinguish the author of this case only after some time of more personal interaction. They also clearly reveal a negative view of the managers versus their own capabilities and ethics (differentiation). This stereotyping, and particularly the differentiation element, partly explains why John is dissatisfied with the offer to receive training in management. Students might also conduct a similar analysis of the managers‘ perceptions of the employees, although there is somewhat less information to do that analysis.

Self-concept and social identity. We can infer from the case that John has a self-view that is firmly anchored in his shop floor role. This is apparent when he is offered training in management, which he considers an insult. John‘s self-concept is apparent through his social interaction with other shop floor employees and his status in that group. This can be discussed in the context of social identity theory.

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George may also be understood better through his social identity with other managers and his selfconcept as a supervisor. However, we have less information about his thoughts in his social identity.

Contact hypothesis. Although the contact hypothesis is introduced as a way to improve perceptions (i.e., a solution to perceptual problems), it can be applied to diagnose the problem of why John and George misunderstand each other. Both people have very limited direct contact—they work in separate physical spheres with limited direct communication with each other. The communication sent by George is formal (written), which likely conveys status differences and position of power. The two have no interaction at all through work on common equal-status activities. Along with the previous analyses (stereotyping and self-concept social identity), the contact hypothesis explains why George and John have low empathy for each other—they don‘t understand each other‘s intentions or anticipated feelings toward their actions.

Communication. This case can also be analyzed to some extent using concepts on communication described later in this book. For example, it is apparent that George‘s use of memos is an ineffective communication channel that amplifies the misunderstanding with John. Management and shop floor employees also differ in their jargon (ranging from swearing to technical jargon), which reinforces their distinct social identities.

37. What would you recommend to the manager and company overall to improve the situation (reduce or remove the symptoms) in the future. Provide recommendations for both immediate and longer-term actions.

One of the clearest solutions here is for management and shop floor employees to engage in structural contact and, ultimately, in some form of meaningful interaction. A professional facilitator, for instance, might get John and George together and explain to John the reasons for the request made by George. Care must be taken to present this opportunity as a reward, rather than a sign of dissatisfaction. Other actions may include asking John to attend weekly management meetings, or other management social functions, in line with future promotion.

The immediate action is to correct John‘s misperception of the management training program. The case author might take this communication role since he seems to be better at communicating underlying meaning than does George. But if George can communicate his true intent of the training, then a face-toface explanation would be beneficial.

Author‘s Insights To further enrich the discussion, the following information is an account of what actually happened. This can be used to stimulate discussion, as well as provide the students with the sense of real-world environment.

George notified John of the seminar using a memo. The memo was on company letterhead and had official tone to it. In addition, John had some family issues that day and other nonwork-related pressures. The combination of the factors, in addition to the biases and perceptions of the two individuals, led to the conflict.

The conflict was resolved and cleared up, and John went to a number of seminars and conferences.

To enrich the discussion of this case even further, one can discuss the accuracy of the information given.

Noting that the case presents the story from only one viewpoint, it expected of at least some students to identify that there are other views (such as that of a management or the shop floor employees). This angle of discussion should also be investigated and entertained.

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Finally, you may wish to share with the students the outcome of this experience. The author had difficulty dealing with the apparent division between office and the floor. Whereas his efforts were given ―lip-service,‖ he felt that there was no true intent on the part of the company to deal with the issue. He resigned his position after only 15 months of employment.

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CE

TEAM EXERCISE: WHY DID THEY DO THAT?

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand the attribution process and to apply the three attribution rules to justify their conclusions about causation in each mini-case.

Materials None, but it is useful for teams to have presentation resources (flip chart paper) or technologies (presentation slides) to show their analysis to the class.

Instructions (Small or Large Class) Step 1: The instructor will organize students into teams with membership size that allows meaningful team discussion and decision-making. This exercise can also be completed individually. It can also be conducted in remote or hybrid classes.

Step 2: Team members will read each case below and select one of the four answer options, relating to whether the focal behavior (response) should be attributed to the person (internal attribution), to the identified situational entity (resource, person, work setting, etc.), to an unknown situational entity, or to a combination of these. The team will also indicate its level of confidence in their beliefs about the attributional cause of the person‘s response. The team justifies its conclusion by commenting on each of the three attribution rules and referring to specific facts in the mini-case that relate to those rules. The team should document its justification regarding the three rules to show the class during debriefing.

Step 3: The class will debrief the exercise by sharing their results and discussing how the three rules guided those results.

Case 1: Completing Risk Assessments at an Insurance Firm A national property and life insurance company has one office in every state that helps clients complete the insurance application documents. The state office then digitally transfers those documents to the company‘s risk assessment department, which has two dozen assessors, all of whom work in one centralized location.

One risk assessor, Jess, typically requires one hour to estimate a potential client‘s risk level. Jess rarely completes an assessment in less than 45 minutes and a few applications require 90 minutes or more.

However, when Jess receives client applications from the company‘s office in State X, the assessment sometimes takes up to two hours. Jess‘s coworkers also require up to two hours to complete a risk assessment for client applications submitted by State X. Other employees typically require the same range of time as Jess to complete risk assessments from other states. Recently, the director of risk assessment encouraged staff to speed up the assessment process without increasing errors. However, this request had little effect on how quickly Jess or the others completed their assessment of clients in State X or in other states.

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Select one of these answers regarding this mini-case, and use the attribution rules along with facts in this case to justify your answer: A. Something about Jess probably caused Jess to complete risk assessments more slowly for State X client application files.

B. Something about State X client application files probably caused Jess to complete those risk assessments more slowly.

C. Something or someone at Jess‘s workplace or in Jess‘s life probably caused Jess to complete risk assessments of State X client application files more slowly.

D. Some combination of A, B, and C above probably caused Jess to more slowly complete risk assessments of State X client application files. (You need to specify which two of A, B, and C apply, or whether all three apply.)

For Instructors—Case 1 Analysis: Answer: ―B‖—Something about State X client application files probably caused Jess to complete those risk assessments more slowly.

Distinctiveness: Jess‘s behavior has HIGH distinctiveness because she takes significantly longer to complete risk assessment applications from State X (up to two hours) whereas applications from other company offices take noticeably less time (typically between 45 and 90 minutes).

Consensus: Jess‘s behavior has HIGH consensus because coworkers also require up to two hours to complete a risk assessment for client applications submitted by State X, which is noticeably longer than they require to complete risk assessments from other states (about 45 to 90 minutes, same as the time Jess requires).

Consistency: Jess‘s behavior has HIGH consistency because she consistently OVER TIME takes longer with State X applications compared to applications from offices in other states. This time range remains about the same even when Jess and other staff are explicitly urged to speed up the assessment process.

Explanation: Distinctiveness and consensus determine whether the attribution should be internal or external.

HIGH distinctiveness and HIGH consensus indicate that we should make an EXTERNAL attribution, in this case that something about State X client application files probably caused Jess to complete those risk assessments more slowly. Furthermore, Jess‘s time to complete the risk assessments has HIGH consistency, indicating that we should have high confidence in our external attribution about Jess‘s behavior.

Case 2: Showing up Late for a City Government Management Meeting Ten municipal department managers whose offices are located throughout a large city have monthly meetings to review budgets and policies. These gatherings are held in late afternoon at City Hall. Today‘s meeting is scheduled to begin now, but two managers have just rushed in and one manager is still absent. ―Typical of Kim, always late,‖ complained one manager, Sandy. ―You‘ve been late for these meetings, too,‖ another manager, Yui, reminded Sandy. Sandy shot back: ―I was late only a couple of times this year, not as often as Kim. And when I‘m late, it‘s because I‘m very busy!‖ A third manager, Ben, chimed in: ―Calm down you two, we‘re all busy. In fact, these meetings should be quarterly, not monthly, so we can get our jobs done.‖ Two other managers who haven‘t spoken nodded in agreement.

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

―Quarterly meetings would be better for me. My office is across town, further than most of you,‖ agreed Regina, one of two managers who arrived just when the meeting was scheduled to start. Another manager, Jackson, countered: ―I‘m probably the furthest away, and traffic is terrible at this time, just as parents pick up kids from school.‖ ―Isn‘t Kim‘s office in the same building as yours, Jackson?‖ Ben asked. ―Sure, but Kim‘s job requires daily travel around the city,‖ Jackson replied. ―Kim could be working today near city hall or closer to our outer suburb office. Anyway, I arrived here five minutes before the meeting was supposed to start.‖ At that moment, Kim flew into the room (as Kim often does), and apologized for being late. The city‘s administrative leader then began the meeting, 10 minutes later than scheduled.

Select one of these answers regarding this mini-case, and use the attribution rules along with facts in this case to justify your answer: A. Something about Kim probably caused Kim to arrive late for this particular meeting.

B. Something about Kim‘s work situation probably caused Kim to arrive late for this particular meeting.

C. Something about this meeting probably caused Kim to arrive late for this particular meeting.

D. Some combination of A, B, and C above probably caused Kim to arrive late for this particular meeting.

(You need to specify which two of A, B, and C apply, or whether all three apply.)

For Instructors—Case 2 Analysis: Answer: ―A‖—Something about Kim probably caused Kim to arrive late for this particular meeting.

Distinctiveness: Although open to debate, most students would probably conclude that Kim has LOW distinctiveness in her lateness for meetings. That is, Kim is late even under different conditions (entities).

Kim always seems to be late, even though she is not always located at her main office, which is far from City Hall. Kim sometimes works far from City Hall and other times works near City Hall. ―Kim‘s job requires daily travel around the city,‖ so Kim ―could be working today near city hall or closer to our outer suburb office.‖ This presents evidence that Kim is late for meetings even under the ―presence of different entities‖ (i.e., different distances and locations from City Hall).

Consensus: Kim‘s lateness has LOW consensus with others. Two managers, Regina and Jackson, are located furthest from City Hall, certainly as far away as Kim‘s office and the furthest she would be located on a given day. Regina and Jackson have the longest distance to get to this meeting, yet they have arrived on time and there is no indication that either of them tends to arrive late for these meetings. In other words, Regina and Jackson have a different response from Kim (i.e., they tend to arrive at meetings on time) even though they are in the presence of the same entity that Kim sometimes experiences (i.e., they both need to travel a long distance to get to City Hall).

Consistency: Kim seems to have HIGH consistency in being late to these monthly budget/policy meetings at City Hall. Others have commented on Kim‘s regular lateness, and how that tendency exceeds the behavior of other managers.

Explanation: Distinctiveness and consensus determine whether the attribution should be internal or external.

LOW distinctiveness and LOW consensus indicate that we should make an INTERNAL attribution, in this case, that something about Kim probably caused Kim to arrive late for this particular meeting. Furthermore, Kim‘s lateness has HIGH consistency, indicating that we should have high confidence in our internal attribution about Kim‘s behavior.

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

Case 3: Positive Interpersonal Style in an Electronics Store A large electronics store has two dozen sales staff answering customers‘ questions and helping them to select products. Today, as on other days, Zoe displayed a positive, energetic, and talkative interpersonal style to most customers. Zoe is popular for this style along with her good product knowledge. All other sales staff are also very knowledgeable. Most also have a positive manner toward customers because the company carefully hires sales staff who can regularly display that style. Customer X, who visits the store a few times each month on various days and is known for buying products most of the time, approached Zoe today for assistance. Zoe was subdued and in a barely discernible way seemed reluctant to serve that person. Zoe displayed a clearly positive interpersonal style to all other customers she helped today. Three other employees also spoke with Customer X today (although more briefly), all of whom displayed their usual positive approach toward Customer X. Zoe exhibited a similar subdued demeanor to Customer X in past interactions. Some staff weren‘t particularly positive toward a few other customers today, but that variability also occurs on other days.

Select one of these answers regarding this mini-case, and use the attribution rules along with facts in this case to justify your answer: A. Something about Zoe probably caused Zoe to behave differently toward Customer X today.

B. Something about Customer X probably caused Zoe to behave differently toward Customer X today.

C. Something about the store or situation outside the store probably caused Zoe to behave differently toward Customer X today.

D. Some combination of A, B, and C above probably caused Zoe to behave differently toward Customer X today. (You need to specify which two of A, B, and C apply, or whether all three apply.)

For Instructors—Case 3 Analysis: Answer: ―D‖—Some combination of A, B, and C above probably caused Zoe to behave differently toward Customer X today. Specifically, the combination of A and B probably caused Zoe to behave differently toward Customer X today. Zoe‘s behavior toward Customer X seems to be a product of both Zoe and this specific customer. (Option ―C‖ is probably not a factor.)

Distinctiveness: Zoe‘s behavior (subdued, reluctant interpersonal style) toward Customer X today has HIGH distinctiveness from Zoe‘s ―clearly positive interpersonal style‖ behavior toward all other customers today.

Consensus: Zoe‘s behavior toward Customer X has LOW consensus with other employees. All of the other employees displayed a positive interpersonal style toward Customer X, which is the same behavior they tended to display toward other customers today or on other days.

Consistency: Zoe has HIGH consistency because Zoe ―exhibited a similar subdued demeanor to Customer X in past interactions.‖ Also, Zoe typically displays ―a positive, energetic, and talkative interpersonal style to most customers‖ today and on other days. In fact, Zoe ―is popular for this style,‖ indicating that a positive style is typical of Zoe‘s behavior toward customers.

Explanation: We cannot reliably make an external attribution about Zoe‘s behavior toward Customer X because there is low consensus (other employees do not respond differently to Customer X than to other customers). But neither can we make an internal attribution about Zoe‘s behavior toward Customer X because there is high distinctiveness (Zoe acts differently today toward other customers). There is no evidence of a third factor (another ―entity‖) influencing Zoe‘s behavior—nothing about the store or situation

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

outside the store that accounts for Zoe acting uniquely toward Customer X. For example, the store manager did not monitor Zoe interacting with all other customers but not while she interacted with Customer X. Consequently, we would attribute Zoe‘s different interpersonal style toward Customer X as an idiosyncratic condition or relationship between Zoe and Customer X (i.e., a combination of Option ―A‖ and Option ―B‖).

For example, there may be a past event involving Customer A that Zoe knows about but other employees do not know about that motivates Zoe to avoid and act less friendly toward this person.

Consistency plays a meaningful role in this analysis, once again, by estimating reliability of our attribution.

For instance, if Zoe was subdued toward a few people (not just Customer X) today and on past days, even if very positive toward the majority of customers, we would be less confident in the high distinctiveness rule and might even hesitatingly consider an internal attribution (i.e., something about Zoe causes the behavior toward Customer X).

General Comments for Instructors This exercise is based on the pioneering and subsequent experimental studies that were conducted to investigate and test the three attribution rules. The incidents presented here are new but have been adapted from real-world incidents (most of us are aware of similar examples). The four options are based on similar statements in the pioneering experimental studies.

These three incidents provide one of the best ways to help students understand attribution theory and its rules for determining internal versus external attribution. The first incident (Jess) is relatively simple, so it is fairly easy for students to apply the three rules. The second incident (Kim) provides evidence of the opposite attribution, but some of the evidence is perhaps a little less certain or obvious. The third incident (Zoe) requires greater mastery of the three attribution rules because it does not sit squarely into the external or internal attribution categories.

The development of this exercise is particularly timely because the rules of attribution have been misunderstood for quite some time in some organizational behavior books. A review of the original conceptual literature and numerous empirical studies on attribution theory and rules reveals a much simpler and more logical analysis. Specifically, distinctiveness and consensus predict internal versus external attribution, and consistency indicates the level of confidence (reliability) we can have in our attribution decision. If distinctiveness and consensus go in different directions (one high, the other low), then there is an idiosyncratic situation between the actor and the entity (machine, customer, etc.), or there is a third factor (another entity) that needs to be considered as a causal influence.

Students may have difficulty understanding Option ―C‖ in these incidents. This option essentially asks if another entity might be affecting the actor‘s behavior. I provide a potentially useful example in the comments for Case 3. Specifically, imagine that the store manager watches Zoe interacting with all other customers but not while she interacted with Customer X. In this hypothetical example, Zoe‘s change in interpersonal style with Customer X could be attributed to this alternative external entity, namely the manager watching Zoe.

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

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TEAM EXERCISE: MY USER MANUAL

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students strengthen cooperation and coordination through improved perceptions and mutual understanding.

Materials Students should complete the ―My User Manual‖ template before class. This exercise also assumes that students have been organized into ongoing teams (i.e., not teams created only for this activity). These teams work together for class assignments or other class events at other times. The instructor might remove categories or include additional categories in the ―My User Manual,‖ in which case the revised template will be distributed separately by the instructor.

Instructions Step 1: When assigning this activity (prior to the class when this activity occurs), the instructor should clearly emphasize the following: • The purpose of the activity is to improve perceptions and mutual understanding among team members.

• Students are NOT pressured to share anything about themselves that they are uncomfortable sharing.

• The content of each template is shared only with other members of the team (i.e., this activity does not ask students to share their user manual with the entire class).

Step 2: Each student should complete the ―My User Manual‖ template BEFORE class. The information should be documented in a way that can be easily shared with other members of the individual‘s team, such as posted to a private online team space or written in a presentation slide.

Step 3: Each team member shares their user manual with other members of the team and answers any questions about what the individual has described about themselves.

Comments for Instructors This team exercise may initially surprise students (hopefully with a chuckle), but it is widely known activity and applied in many organizations. In some respects, it is an activity designed to expand the ―open area‖ in the Johari Window model. Describing what energizes them at work, when they prefer working, what communication channels they prefer, how they like to receive feedback, and so forth goes a long way to helping other team members understand the character and preferences of the individual who wrote that manual. Certainly, most of us can identify with these factors. In fact, this book highlights the important dynamics of understanding the preferred communication channels of coworkers (Chapter 9), the things that

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Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in Organizations

motivate them (energizing, strengths, growth areas—see Chapter 5), and the coordinating and interpersonal relationships they thrive on (similar to what we look for in managing our boss—see Chapter 10).

The exercise description doesn‘t offer much detail about what to do with the completed manuals other than share them with other members of the student‘s immediate team. Although these user manual categories are mainstream, instructors should be sensitive to the fact that students are revealing more about themselves. In fact, the exercise makes it clear that students are NOT pressured to share anything about themselves that they are uncomfortable sharing. They also know that their manual is shared only with other members of the team, not with the entire class.

However, the instructor can engage the class more generally, particularly a week or more after the manuals have been distributed to fellow team members. For instance, the instructor might ask the class the following: 1. Which ―categories‖ in the user manual did other students find most helpful to understand and work with the manual writer?

2. Which ―categories‖ in the user manual did students have to engage in further self-reflection; that is, it took time for them to think about and write about themselves for that category?

3. What other ―categories‖ not listed in this exercise might be very useful for future user manuals? (NOTE: other My User Manual exercises have somewhat different categories, so there are others to consider.)

4. Do you think that the team benefited from learning more about each other through the user manuals they shared? If so, how did it specifically help?

5. This exercise is sometimes associated with the Johari Window. Explain specifically how this activity contributes to the Johari Window process.

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.1: HOW MUCH DOES WORK DEFINE YOUR SELF-CONCEPT?

Overview and Instructions Work is an important part of our lives, but some people view it as secondary to other life interests whereas others view work as central to their identity as individuals. This scale estimates the extent to which students view work as a central or not-so-central life interest.

Students are asked to read each of the statements below and decide how accurate each one is in describing their focus in life. Class discussion will focus on the meaning of this scale and its relevance to self-concept and perceptions.

Feedback for the Work Centrality Scale The work centrality scale measures the extent that work is an important part of the individual‘s self-concept.

People with high work centrality define themselves mainly by their work roles and view nonwork roles as much less significant. Consequently, people with a high work centrality score likely have lower complexity in their self-concept. This can be a concern because if something goes wrong with their work role, their nonwork roles are not of sufficient value to maintain a positive self-evaluation. At the same time, work dominates our lives, so those with very low scores would be more of the exception than the rule in most societies.

Scores range from 6 to 36 with higher scores indicating higher work centrality. The norms in the following table are based on a large sample of employees in North America (average score was 20.7). However, work centrality norms vary from one group to the next. For example, the average score in a sample of nurses was around 17 (translated to the scale range used here).

Work Centrality Norms Score

Interpretation

29–36

High work centrality

24–28

Above average work centrality

18–23

Average work centrality

13–17

Below average work centrality

6–12

Low work centrality

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.2: HOW MUCH GENERAL SELF-EFFICACY DO YOU HAVE?

Overview and Instructions Self-efficacy refers to a person‘s belief that they have the ability, motivation, and resources to complete a task successfully. Self-efficacy is usually conceptualized as a situation-specific belief. You may believe that you can perform a certain task in one situation, but are less confident with that task in another situation.

However, there is also evidence that people develop a more general self-efficacy.

Students are asked to read each of the statements and circle the response that best fits their personal belief.

This self-assessment is completed alone so that students rate themselves honestly without concerns of social comparison. However, class discussion will focus on the meaning of self-efficacy, how this scale might be applied in organizations, and the limitations of measuring self-efficacy in work settings.

Comments for Instructors One issue is where this scale may be applied in organizational settings. It is probably easy to fake the results—people who want to look good will answer each item so that a high self-efficacy score results. Thus, it is probably inappropriate for employment selection. Instead, students might suggest that this scale may be useful for coaching and career development where employees are more willing to be honest with themselves.

Students can identify several ways to improve self-efficacy. One way is through supportive coaching from leaders and coworkers. Someone with low self-efficacy may develop a stronger ―can-do‖ attitude when their supervisor indicates a strong belief in the employee‘s potential. (This is discussed under the topic of effort-toperformance expectancy in the motivation chapter and self-fulfilling prophecy in the chapter on perceptions.)

Feedback may also increase self-efficacy where employees learn that their actions are having a favorable result. For example, knowing that you are serving customers well would increase your self-efficacy regarding this customer service task. The third strategy is to match people with jobs for which they possess the necessary competencies. The more we possess the necessary skills and knowledge, the more confidence we have in performing the task.

Scores on the general self-efficacy scale range from 8 to 40. Higher scores indicate that you have a higher general self-efficacy. The following graph shows the range of scores compared to undergraduate psychology students in the United States (77% female; average age = 23).

General Self-Efficacy Norms Score

Interpretation

Above 34

High self-efficacy

32–34

Above average

28–31

Average

24–27

Below average

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

Score

Interpretation

Below 24

Low self-efficacy

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.3: WHAT IS YOUR LOCUS OF CONTROL?

Overview and Instructions Locus of control is one component of self-evaluation, which is part of an individual‘s self-concept. It is a person‘s general belief about the amount of control they have over personal life events. Individuals who feel that they are very much in charge of their own destiny in the workplace have an internal locus of control; those who think that events in their work life are due mainly to fate/luck or powerful others have an external locus of control.

The Work Locus of Control Scale is designed to assess control beliefs in the workplace. For each statement, students are asked to select the response that best indicates the degree to which they agree or disagree with that statement. This instrument has 16 statements, which concern beliefs about jobs in general. They do not refer only to the person‘s present job.

Feedback for the Work Locus of Control Scale Scores on the scale can range from 16 to 96. Higher scores indicate that you have a higher external work locus of control. Lower scores indicate more of an internal work locus of control. The average score for employees and students in Canada and the United States is 40.

Work Locus of Control Scale Norms Score

Interpretation

70–96

External locus of control

43–69

In-between locus of control

16–42

Internal locus of control

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.4: HOW MUCH PERCEPTUAL STRUCTURE DO YOU NEED?

Overview and Instructions Some people have a greater need than do others to quickly or completely ―make sense‖ of things around them. This personal need for perceptual structure relates to selective attention as well as perceptual organization and interpretation.

This self-assessment is designed to help you to estimate your personal need for perceptual structure. Students are asked to read each of the statements and select the response that best indicates the degree to which they personally agree or disagree with that statement. Class discussion will focus on the meaning of need for structure in terms of how we engage differently in the perceptual process at work and in other settings.

Feedback for the Personal Need for Structure Scale Some people need to ―make sense‖ of things around them more quickly or completely than do other people.

This personal need for perceptual structure relates to selective attention as well as perceptual organization and interpretation. For instance, people with a strong personal need for closure might form first impressions, fill in missing pieces, and rely on stereotyping more quickly than people who don‘t mind incomplete perceptual situations.

The Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale estimates the extent to which people are motivated to structure their world in a simple and unambiguous way. Scores range from 12 to 72 with higher scores indicating a high personal need for structure, that is, a higher need to quickly and unambiguously make sense of the world. PNS norms vary from one group to the next. For instance, a study of Finnish nurses reported a mean PNS score of 34, whereas a study of 236 male and 303 female undergraduate psychology students in the United States had a mean score of 42. This graph shows your score on the PNS scale compared with results from the U.S. sample of undergraduate psychology students.

Personal Need for Structure Scale Norms Score

Interpretation

58–72

High personal need for structure

47–57

Above average personal need for structure

38–46

Average personal need for structure

27–37

Below average personal need for structure

12–26

Low personal need for structure

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.5: HOW STRONG IS YOUR PERSPECTIVE TAKING (COGNITIVE EMPATHY)?

Overview and Instructions Empathy refers to a person‘s understanding of and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, and situation of others. The ―understanding‖ part of empathy is called perspective taking or cognitive empathy. It represents an intellectual understanding of another person‘s situational and individual circumstances.

This self-assessment is designed to help students estimate their propensity for perspective taking. It includes seven statements, and students are asked to indicate the degree to which each statement does or does not describe them very well.

Feedback for the Cognitive Empathy (Perspective-Taking) Scale This self-assessment is designed to help students to estimate their propensity for perspective taking.

Perspective taking is an important part of the perceptual process because it makes us more aware of the external causes of another person‘s performance and behavior. It also improves the communication process by helping us to put the words of other people in their proper context.

This score represents a personal estimate of how well students can understand the feelings, thoughts, and situation of others. Scores on this scale range from 7 to 35. A higher score indicates a higher level of perspective taking (also called cognitive empathy).

The following graph shows the range of perspective-taking scores and where students score in comparison.

The average score in recent studies across several U.S. and Canadian groups of people is approximately 20.

Also, keep in mind that women tend to score about 1.5 points higher than men on this perspective-taking scale.

Perspective-Taking (Cognitive Empathy) Scale Norms Score

Interpretation

26–35

High perspective taking

16–25

Moderate perspective taking

7–15

Low perspective taking

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.6: HOW STRONG IS YOUR EMOTIONAL EMPATHY?

Overview and Instructions Empathy refers to a person‘s understanding of and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, and situation of others. The ―sensitivity‖ part of empathy is called emotional empathy. It refers to experiencing the feelings of the other person. This self-assessment is designed to help students to estimate their propensity for emotional empathy. It includes seven statements, and students are asked to indicate the degree to which each statement does or does not describe them very well.

Feedback for the Emotional Empathy Scale This self-assessment is designed to help students to estimate their propensity for emotional empathy.

Emotional empathy is an important part of the perceptual process because it makes us more aware of the external causes of another person‘s performance and behavior. It also improves the communication process by helping us to put the words of other people in their proper context.

This score represents a personal estimate of how sensitive students are to the feelings, thoughts, and situation of others. Scores on this scale range from 7 to 35. A higher score indicates a higher level of emotional empathy.

The following graph shows the range of perspective taking scores and where students score in comparison.

The average score in recent studies across several U.S. and Canadian groups of people is approximately 23.

Also, keep in mind that women tend to score about two points higher than men on this emotional empathy scale.

Emotional Empathy Scale Norms Score

Interpretation

26–35

High perspective taking

16–25

Moderate perspective taking

7–15

Low perspective taking

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

4

Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: l. Explain how emotions and cognition (conscious reasoning) influence attitudes and behavior. m. Describe emotional labor and discuss strategies for displaying expected emotions at work. n. Define emotional intelligence and discuss its importance in the workplace. o. Explain how job satisfaction and dissatisfaction affect work behavior, including job performance and customer service. p. Summarize the three types of organizational commitment, and discuss strategies to increase affective commitment. q. Define stress and stressors, and explain why people differ in their response to the same stressor. r. Identify five ways to manage workplace stress.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY affective organizational commitment—an individual‘s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in a particular organization attitudes—the cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings, and behavioral intentions toward a person, object, or event (called an attitude object) cognitive dissonance—an emotional experience caused by a perception that our beliefs, feelings, and behavior are incongruent with one another continuance commitment—an individual‘s calculative attachment to an organization emotional intelligence (EI)—the ability to recognize and regulate our own emotions as well as the emotions of other people

emotional labor—the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions emotions—physiological, behavioral, and psychological episodes experienced toward an object, person, or event that create a state of readiness empathy—the ability to understand another person‘s situation or viewpoint (perspective taking), be sensitive to their thoughts and feelings, and experience their emotions exit–voice–loyalty–neglect (EVLN) model—the four ways, as indicated in the name, that employees respond to job dissatisfaction

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Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress

general adaptation syndrome—a model of the stress experience, consisting of three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion job satisfaction—a person‘s evaluation of their job and work context norm of reciprocity—a felt obligation and social expectation of helping or otherwise giving something of value to someone who has already helped or given something of value to you

trust—positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk work–life integration—the degree that people are effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork roles and have a low degree of role conflict across those life domains

service profit chain model—a theory explaining how employees‘ job satisfaction influences company profitability indirectly through service quality, customer loyalty, and related factors stress—an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the person‘s well-being stressors—any environmental conditions that place a physical or emotional demand on the person

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE l. Explain how emotions and cognition (conscious reasoning) influence attitudes and behavior.

Emotions are physiological, behavioral, and psychological episodes experienced toward an object, person, or event that create a state of readiness. Emotions differ from attitudes, which represent a cluster of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral intentions toward a person, object, or event. Beliefs are a person‘s established perceptions about the attitude object. Feelings are positive or negative evaluations of the attitude object. Behavioral intentions represent planned effort to engage in a particular behavior toward the target.

Attitudes have traditionally been described as a purely rational process in which beliefs predict feelings, which predict behavioral intentions, which predict behavior. Each link in that model has contingencies that reduce predictability. We now know that emotions also have an influence on behavior that is equal to or greater than that of cognition. This dual process is apparent when we internally experience a conflict between what logically seems good or bad and what we emotionally feel is good or bad in a situation.

Emotions also affect behavior directly. Behavior sometimes influences our subsequent attitudes through cognitive dissonance, which is an emotional experience caused by a perception that our beliefs, feelings, and behavior are incongruent with one another.

m. Describe emotional labor and discuss strategies for displaying expected emotions at work.

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Emotional labor consists of the effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions. It is more common in jobs requiring a variety of emotions and more intense emotions, as well as in jobs in which interactions with clients are frequent and long in duration. Employees experience stress, job dissatisfaction, psychological separation from self, and low job performance when they are required to display emotions that differ markedly from the emotions they actually experience at that time. The extent to which employees are expected to hide their true emotions varies considerably across cultures.

Employees sometimes fulfill their emotional labor obligations through surface acting—they consciously display behaviors that represent the expected emotions even though their actual emotions are different. A second strategy is deep acting, whereby employees actively change their true emotions, so they are similar to the required emotions. The five ways to regulate emotions are to (a) change the situation, (b) modify the situation, (c) suppress or amplify emotions, (d) shift attention, and (e) reframe the situation. n. Define emotional intelligence and discuss its importance in the workplace.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize and regulate our own emotions as well as the emotions of other people. This concept includes four components arranged in a hierarchy: awareness of one‘s own emotions, management of one‘s own emotions, awareness of others‘ emotions, and management of others‘ emotions. Most jobs involve social interaction with coworkers or external stakeholders, so employees need emotional intelligence to work effectively. Some firms try to measure emotional intelligence in job applicants. More often, companies train current employees to improve their emotional intelligence abilities. Emotional intelligence also increases with age. o. Explain how job satisfaction and dissatisfaction affect work behavior, including job performance and customer service.

Job satisfaction represents a person‘s evaluation of their job and work context. People generally respond to job dissatisfaction in four ways: (a) quitting or otherwise getting away from the dissatisfying situation (exit), (b) attempting to change the dissatisfying situation (voice), (c) patiently waiting for the problem to sort itself out (loyalty), and (d) reducing work effort and performance (neglect). There is a moderately positive relationship between job satisfaction and performance, with three specific reasons why the relationship isn‘t stronger. Job satisfaction has a stronger effect on customer service, which is explained by the service profit chain model. Job satisfaction predicts customer satisfaction because (a) the positive emotions of satisfied employees transfer to customers and (b) satisfied employees are less likely to quit their jobs, so they have more work experience and more consistent service. Job satisfaction is also an ethical issue that influences the organization‘s reputation in the community p. Summarize the three types of organizational commitment, and discuss strategies to increase affective commitment.

Affective organizational commitment is the employee‘s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in a particular organization. Employees with high affective commitment have higher work motivation, organizational citizenship, customer service, and somewhat higher job performance.

Continuance commitment is a calculative attachment to the organization. This form of commitment exists when quitting incurs significant financial or social costs or when there is limited alternative employment.

High continuance commitment leads to lower performance, fewer organizational citizenship behaviors,

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

and more use of formal grievances to resolve conflicts. Normative commitment—a felt obligation or moral duty to the organization—is a third form of organizational commitment. Companies increase employees‘ affective commitment through organizational justice and support, shared values, trust, organizational comprehension, and employee involvement. q. Define stress and stressors, and explain why people differ in their response to the same stressor.

Stress is an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to a person‘s well-being. The stress experience, called the general adaptation syndrome, involves moving through three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. High stress (distress) is a source of numerous physiological and psychological health problems. Stress also leads to various behavioral outcomes such as increased absenteeism, workplace accidents, and aggressive behavior as well as lower job performance and poorer decision making. Stressors are the causes of stress and include any environmental conditions that place a physical or emotional demand on a person. Four of the most common workplace stressors are organizational constraints, interpersonal conflict, work overload, and low task control. r. Identify five ways to manage workplace stress.

Many interventions are available to manage work-related stress, including removing the stressor, withdrawing from the stressor, changing stress perceptions, controlling stress consequences, and receiving social support.

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LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress Slide 2: Learning Objectives l.

Explain how emotions and cognition (conscious reasoning) influence attitudes and behavior.

m.

Describe emotional labor and discuss strategies for displaying expected emotions at work.

n.

Define emotional intelligence and discuss its importance in the workplace.

o.

Explain how job satisfaction and dissatisfaction affect work behavior, including job performance and customer service.

p.

Summarize the three types of organizational commitment, and discuss strategies to increase affective commitment.

q.

Define stress and stressors, and explain why people differ in their response to the same stressor.

r.

Identify five ways to manage workplace stress.

Slide 3: Pulse Checking Employee Emotions and Attitudes Hootsuite, Circles.Life, and other organizations use pulse checks and other indicators of employee emotions and attitudes, which influence employee performance, well-being, and customer service

Slide 4: Emotions Defined Psychological, behavioral, and physiological episodes experienced toward an object, person, or event that create a state of readiness • Brief events/episodes directed toward something (frustration with task, customers) • Longer emotion experiences due to waves from continuously thinking about the source of emotion • Experiences—represent changes in our physiological state (e.g., heart rate), psychological state (e.g., thought processes), and behavior (e.g., facial expression) • Most emotions are subtle and occur without our awareness • Emotions motivate—put us in a state of readiness to act Moods—Nondirected emotions, tend to be longer-term emotional states

Slide 5: Types of Emotions Two dimensions of all emotions depicted in the circumplex model 1. Activation • Emotions put us in a state of readiness • Generate some level of energy within us—primary source of motivation 2. Evaluation (core affect, valences) • Emotions generate a global evaluation

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• Positive or negative valence (e.g., that something is good or bad and helpful or harmless) • Stronger levels of activation from negative than positive emotions

Slide 6: Attitudes versus Emotions Attitudes • Cluster of beliefs, assessed feelings, and behavioral intentions toward an attitude object (i.e., person, object, or event) • Judgments—evaluation of the attitude object • Usually involves conscious logical reasoning • More stable over time  Emotions • Experiences—operate as events • Nonconscious—usually occur without our awareness • Emotions experienced briefly

Slide 7: Emotions, Attitudes, and Behavior Model Behavior influenced by both attitudes and emotions Traditional attitude model (left side of model) considers only logic and perceptions, not emotions Also need to consider contingencies—explains why people in same situation form different attitudes and behavior

Traditional Model of Attitudes Beliefs • Established perceptions about the attitude object • Formed from experience, other learning • For example, employee discovers that job involves long hours and challenging work

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Feelings • Conscious positive/negative evaluations of the attitude object • Feelings formed from valences of beliefs about the attitude object • For example, people form a negative feeling about their job from negative valences of job elements such as long hours, challenging work, and unfriendly coworkers Behavioral intentions • Motivation to engage in a particular behavior regarding the attitude object • Intentions are formed from feelings—the source and direction of motivation Behavior • Behavioral intentions (motivation to act) are the best predictor of behavior

Slide 8: Attitude–Behavior Contingencies Beliefs–Feelings Contingencies: • Two people have the same belief but different valences about that belief—affects feelings toward attitude object • For example, challenging work is positive for some and negative for others Feelings–Behavioral Intentions Contingencies: • Two people have the same feelings but form different behavioral intentions due to unique experience, personality, and social norms • For example, two employees dislike long work hours, but one complains about long hours; the other doesn‘t complain because complaining didn‘t work in past Behavioral Intentions–Behavior Contingencies: • Two people have same behavioral intentions, but different situation or skills enables only one of them to act.

• For example, employee wants to quit (intention) but can‘t find a suitable job elsewhere (behavior)

Slide 9: How Emotions Influence Attitudes and Behavior • Emotional markers are automatically (nonconsciously) attached to incoming sensory information (see Chapters 3, 4, and 5) • Emotional experiences occur when information is first received and later when thinking about that information (remembering activates emotional markers) • Feelings and beliefs are influenced by cumulative emotional episodes (fuzzy dots in model) along with cognitive evaluation described earlier • Emotions influence (potentially distort/bias) our cognitive thinking (beliefs, feelings, intentions) about the attitude object

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• We ―listen in‖ on our emotions while thinking through what we like or dislike • Potential conflict (―mental tug-of-war‖) when cognitive and emotional processes disagree with each other • That is, sensing that something isn‘t right even though they can‘t think of any logical reason to be concerned • Firms create a workplace that generates more positive than negative emotions • Emotions also directly influence a person‘s behavior without conscious thought • For example, facial expressions are usually nonconscious emotional responses • Emotions also influenced by personality, not just the situation—for example, more positive emotions among people with higher emotional stability and extraversion

Slide 10: Cognitive Dissonance Emotional experience (feeling ambivalent, regret) caused by a perception that our beliefs, feelings, and behavior are incongruent with one another • Violates need to look rational and logical • Emotional response motivates more consistency by changing one or more elements Usually difficult to undo or reverse decisions and behavior (e.g., remove expensive digital whiteboards)— others already aware your behavior contradicts your beliefs/feelings How people tend to reduce cognitive dissonance—changing beliefs and feelings: 1. Amplify or discover additional positive features of the selected choice 2. Amplify or discover additional problems or weaknesses with the alternatives not chosen 3. Compensate the dissonant decision by recognizing previous consonant behavior

Slide 11: Emotional Labor Effort, planning, and control needed to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions  Display rules—employees required to display behaviors representing specific emotions and to hide observable evidence of other emotions  Emotional labor demands are higher in jobs requiring: • Variety of emotions (e.g., anger as well as joy) • More intense emotions (e.g., showing delight) • Frequent and longer interactions with clients • Follow display rules precisely (not casually)

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• Emotional labor causes stress and exhaustion (from emotional tension), particularly when required emotions displayed: • Are quite different from actually experienced emotions • Are contrary to one‘s self-concept

Slide 12: Smiling in Russia Less smiling at customers in Russia because of different interpretation of smiling compared to the United States and some other societies. Consequently, Russians tend to experience more stress from emotional labor when forced to smile at customers • Russians (as well as Japan, Korea, Iran, France, and other countries) tend to view strangers who smile often as less intelligent • Frequent smiling is interpreted as a sign of higher intelligence in several other cultures, particularly Germany, Switzerland, Malaysia, China, and Austria • Russia has a high corruption score, so they tend to view people (particularly men) who smile fairly often as less honest than non-smiling strangers

Slide 13: Emotion Display Norms across Cultures Cultural variations in emotional display norms • Some countries/cultures strongly discourage emotional expression • Relatively monotonic voice intonation and avoid physical movement and touching that display emotions expression in several Asian and African countries (Japan, Ethiopia) • Some countries/cultures encourage open display of one‘s true emotions • People expected to be dramatic and animated in Spain, Cuba, and some Middle Eastern countries

Slide 14: Strategies for Displaying Expected Emotions Two approaches—surface acting versus deep acting Approach #1: Consciously engage in verbal and nonverbal behaviors that represent the expected emotions • Surface acting—pretending to be experiencing the expected emotions even though actual emotions are different • Requires considerable mental effort, psychological separation of self from role • Difficult to replicate facial muscles and body positions when pretending to feel an emotion—observers see evidence that we are faking the emotion

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Approach #2: Regulate actual emotions so desired emotion behaviors occur naturally from the emotions Deep acting—display desired emotions by actively changing emotions—five strategies 4. Change the situation—move out of or into work settings that affect our emotions • For example, temporarily leave a work area that makes us feel lethargic 5. Modify the situation—within the same physical location, adapt conditions or events so they alter emotions • For example, stop working on an aggravating task and move to a more enjoyable task 6. Suppress or amplify emotions—consciously trying to block out dysfunctional emotions or to increase the intensity of expected emotions • For example, stop thinking about events that bother us 7. Shift attention—change the focus of our attention • For example, engage in work that takes your mind off earlier problems 8. Reframe the situation—cognitively reevaluate something so it generates more appropriate emotions • For example, view a failed client presentation as a learning experience with low chance of success

Slide 15: Emotional Intelligence The ability to recognize and regulate our own emotions as well as the emotions of other people—fourquadrant model represent four main dimensions of emotional intelligence 9. Awareness of own emotions • Able to perceive and understand the meaning of your own emotions • Able to eavesdrop in on your emotional responses to specific situations and to use this awareness as conscious information 10. Management of own emotions • Ability to manage your own emotions • Goes beyond displaying behavior that represents desired emotions—requires deep acting to generate or suppress emotions 11. Awareness of others‘ emotions • Ability to perceive and understand emotions of others • Empathy—understanding/sensitivity to feelings, thoughts, and situation of others • Being organizationally aware—for example, sensing office politics and social networks 12. Management of others‘ emotions • Managing other people‘s emotions—for example, consoling and inspiring Four dimensions form a foundational hierarchy—lowest to highest listed above—for example, need to recognize others‘ emotions before regulating others‘ emotions

Slide 16: Emotional Intelligence Outcomes and Development Most jobs involve social interaction—and EI is useful in social duties

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Emotional intelligence outcomes • More effective team members • Perform better in jobs requiring emotional labor • Better leaders • Make better decisions involving others • More positive mindset for creative work Emotional intelligence does not improve performance on tasks that require minimal social interaction Selecting applicants for emotional intelligence Developing emotional intelligence—some tests available • Training, personal coaching, practice, and feedback • EI increases with age—maturity

Slide 17: EVLN: Responses to Dissatisfaction Job satisfaction A person‘s evaluation of their job and work context • Appraisal of the perceived job characteristics, work environment, and emotional experiences at work Problems with general job satisfaction surveys • People reluctant to reveal feelings in a single direct question—threatens self-esteem • Different responses to scales across cultures—some avoid extreme scores • Job satisfaction changes with economic conditions Exit–voice–loyalty–neglect (EVLN) model Identifies four ways employees respond to dissatisfaction: Exit • Leaving the situation • Quitting, transferring, being absent • Tends to occur through shock events, not slow buildup of dissatisfaction

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Voice • Attempt to change the dissatisfying situation • Constructive ideas, complaining, formal grievance, subtle resistance, and so on Loyalty • Patiently waiting for the situation to improve Neglect • Passive activities with negative consequences for the organization • For example, reducing work effort/quality and increasing absenteeism Preferred EVLN action depends on personality, past experience, and situation • High-conscientiousness—less neglect, more voice • Low loyalty (low affective commitment)—more quitting, less voice • Quitting less likely when (a) few job opportunities and (b) other employees dependent on them

Slide 18: Job Satisfaction and Performance Moderately positive relationship between job satisfaction and performance—happy workers are more productive workers, to some extent. Not stronger because: 13. Satisfaction is a general attitude, so a weak predictor of specific behaviors • Several responses to dissatisfaction (EVLN)—quitting, complaining, patiently waiting, rather than reduced performance (neglect) 14. Limited control over performance • For example, assembly line controls work speed and some quality whether employee is happy or not with work 15. Reverse causation (performance causes satisfaction) • Higher performers receive more rewards so are more satisfied than low-performing employees who receive fewer rewards • Performance–satisfaction correlation is moderate because good performance is not rewarded very well

Slide 19: Service Profit Chain Model Employees‘ job satisfaction influences customer satisfaction and company profitability: 1. Organizational practices affect employee satisfaction (and commitment) 2. Satisfaction (a) reduces turnover and (b) improves motivation/behavior 3. Low turnover and higher motivation improve service quality 4. Better service quality improves customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and company profitability Two reasons why job satisfaction improves customer satisfaction: 5. Employee emotions affect customer emotions

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• Satisfied employees usually have a more positive mood • Positive mood causes more natural/frequent display positive emotions • Customer emotions more positive when served by staff displaying positive emotions • Effect is reciprocal—happier customers make employees feel happier 6. Experienced employees provide better service • Satisfied employees have longer employment/more experience on the job • Experienced employees have more skill/knowledge to provide better service • Service is more consistent with a longer employment staff

Job Satisfaction and Business Ethics (no slide) People spend a large portion of their time working in organizations Many societies now expect companies to provide work environments that are safe and enjoyable—influences the organization‘s reputation

Slide 20: Organizational Commitment Affective organizational commitment • Person‘s emotional attachment to, involvement in, and identification with organization • Psychological bond—intrinsically motivated (not motivated by external forces) • Lower absenteeism, less likely to quit, higher motivation, higher organizational citizenship, better customer service • Risks: higher conformity, lower creativity, more motivated to defend firm through illegal activity Continuance commitment • Calculative attachment to the organization • Occur with (a) significant social or economic loss from leaving the company and (b) limited alternative employment opportunities • Outcomes: Lower job performance, less organizational citizenship, more grievances rather than problemsolving to resolve conflict Normative commitment • A felt obligation or moral duty to the organization • Applies the norm of reciprocity—expectation of helping or giving something of value to someone who has already helped or given something of value to you

Slide 21: Building Affective Commitment Justice and support • Support organizational justice • Support employee well-being

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Shared values • Employees believe their values are congruent with the organization‘s dominant values Trust • Positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk • Reciprocal effect—employees trust management when they show trust in employees • Job security supports trust Organizational comprehension • How well employees understand the organization—strategic direction, social dynamics, and physical layout • Difficult to identify with or feel loyal to something that you don‘t know very well • Employees need a clear mental model of the organization—announcements, coworker meetings, learn about history and plans Employee involvement • Psychological ownership and social identity—feel part of company • Involvement demonstrates trust—builds loyalty

Slide 22: What Is Stress?

Adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the person‘s well-being • Prepares us to adapt to hostile or noxious environmental conditions Eustress • Some level of stress is necessary—motivates people to achieve goals, change their environments, and succeed in life‘s challenges • It motivates people to achieve goals, change their environments, succeed in challenges Distress • Physiological, psychological, and behavioral deviation from healthy functioning

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Slide 23: General Adaptation Syndrome Model of the stress experience consisting of three stages: 7. Alarm reaction • Threat or challenge activates the physiological stress responses • Decreased energy and coping effectiveness 8. Resistance • Activates biochemical, psychological, and behavioral mechanisms—produces more energy and coping mechanisms to overcome or remove the source of stress • Body reduces resources to the immune system 9. Exhaustion • Usually able to remove the stressor or remove ourselves before exhaustion • Frequent exhaustion increases long-term physiological/psychological damage

Slide 24: Consequences of Distress Physiological • Tension headaches, muscle pain • Cardiovascular disease—heart attacks, strokes • Some forms of cancer Psychological • Job dissatisfaction, moodiness, depression, lower organizational commitment Behavioral • Lower job performance, poor decision making, increased workplace accidents, aggressive behavior Job Burnout  Process of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment resulting from prolonged exposure to stress  Stage 1: Emotional exhaustion—lack of energy  Stage 2: Cynicism (depersonalization)—indifferent attitude toward work, emotional detachment, strictly follow rules  Stage 3: Reduced personal accomplishment—diminished confidence

Slide 25: Workplace Stressors Stressors are causes of stress—any environmental condition that places a physical or emotional demand on the person

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Many types of stressors—four most common work-related stressors described in the book 10. Organizational constraints • Lack of resources—equipment, supplies, budget funding, coworker support, information, and so on • Interfere with task performance, indirectly threatens rewards, status, job security • Situational element of MARS model—only element beyond individual‘s control—undermines human drive to influence our environment 11. Interpersonal conflict • Dysfunctional conflict typically caused by structural sources—ambiguous rules, lack of resources, and conflicting goals • Stress particularly strong when conflicting parties attack each other‘s personal attributes (intelligence, experience, etc.) rather than arguments presented • Conflict is associated with workplace harassment—workplace bullying, sexual harassment, and other forms of mistreatment by coworkers, managers, or customers 12. Work overload • Working more hours, more intensely than one can cope • Affected by technology (tethered to work), globalization (24/7 schedule), and ideal worker norm (expecting selves and others to perform beyond regular work hours) 13. Low task control • Lack of control over how and when tasks are performed • Task control as a stressor increases with level of responsibility • For example, assembly-line workers have low task control but lower stress because of low responsibility; sports coaches lack task control but high responsibility

Slide 26: Individual Differences in Stress People experience less stress and/or negative stress consequences when they have: 14. Better physical health • Regular exercise, healthy lifestyle 15. Better coping strategies • Seeking support from others, reframing stressor in a positive light 16. Personality • Low neuroticism (high emotional stability); extraversion (interact with others, degree of positive thinking) 17. Positive self-concept (high self-esteem, self-efficacy, and internal locus of control) • More confident, feel in control, sense of optimism

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Slide 27: Managing Work-Related Stress Remove the stressor • Assigning employees to jobs that match their skills/preferences • Reducing workplace noise • Having a complaint system and taking corrective action • Giving employees more control over the work process • Work–life integration initiatives (e.g., personal leave benefits, remote work, rules to separate work from nonwork) Withdraw from the stressor • Permanently—transferred to jobs with better fit • Temporarily—vacations, holidays, sabbaticals, game rooms Change stress perceptions • Improved self-concept, personal goal setting, self-reinforcement, humor Control stress consequences • Keeping physically fit (not just exercising), meditation, wellness programs, employee assistance programs (EAPs) Receive social support • Others provide emotional and/or informational support—potentially improves the person‘s optimism and self-confidence

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

38. SuperTelco is shutting down its customer service center and moving all of its staff into remote work (work from home). These employees will be required to have a separate area of their home for work and special cameras and other equipment will be installed to maintain work compliance (e.g., no eating on the job) and minimize theft (e.g., employees stealing credit card information). Some of the 200 employees are enthusiastic about the shift to remote work whereas others are dreading it. Some employees opposed to the change have already quit and a few have complained to management. Using just the cognitive part of the attitude model (beliefs, feelings, behavioral intentions), explain how this move to remote work leads to different feelings, behavioral intentions, and behaviors.

This scenario provides information enabling students to diagnose most aspects of employee beliefs, feelings, behavioral intentions, and behavior. However, they must also fill in some missing information linking some elements in the attitude model. The analysis should begin by identifying the ―attitude object‖ which, in this case, is moving to remote work and associated technologically based monitoring systems.

Beliefs–Feelings: The scenario states that some employees have positive (enthusiastic) feelings about the change whereas others have negative feelings (they are dreading the move). Students should consider specific stated and unstated aspects of the new work arrangements that explain these feelings. For example, some employees value their privacy at home and therefore have strong negative valences toward electronic monitoring, where this monitoring is unimportant to other employees. Some employees have strong social needs, so would have a negative valence toward working remotely, physically away from other employees. Some employees may value the flexible work or removal of commuting time, which results in positive feelings toward the change.

Feelings–Behavioral intentions–Behavior: The scenario doesn‘t explicitly mention any behavioral intentions. Instead, it refers to specific behaviors of those who oppose the move to remote work. These people generally have the same (negative) feelings toward the move to remote work, yet some quit while others complain to management. The difference can be explained by individual differences mentioned in the EVLN model. Employees who complain instead of just quitting may have different personalities (more assertive), and/or they may have had positive experiences with this response to dissatisfaction in the past.

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39. A software development company has formed a ―fun‖ committee to help its 100 employees experience more positive emotions in the workplace. Its first event was a space hopper race (employees ride a bouncy ball along a wide hallway to a finish line), which occurred throughout one morning. The event rotated through four groups of employees, each participating for one hour. Most employees enjoyed the experience, which was evident from friendly chatter and laughter that afternoon. However, a few people hated the experience and a couple even said they might move to another company. Apply the entire attitude model (cognitive and emotional components) to explain how this so-called fun activity might influence employee attitudes and behavior toward this organization.

Starting with the emotional components of the attitude model, companies introduce ―fun‖ events so employees will experience positive emotions and associate those emotions with the work experience.

These emotions are experiences and in this case the emotions would mostly be conscious because of the heightened level of the experiences. The problem with ―fun‖ events is that they presume employees will experience positive emotions. Usually they do, but there are also plenty of instances (as in this scenario) where events intended to create positive emotions actually generated negative emotional experiences in some employees. The activity might be irritating (maybe a waste of time), embarrassing (causes awkward social incidents), or any number of other negative emotions. These emotional events would affect employees‘ beliefs and feelings about aspects of the company, such as that management cares about employees (or that it forces employees to participate in cringeworthy activities). It would also affect beliefs and feelings toward coworkers, such as emotions related to increased social bonding (or the opposite for those who hated the experience).

This scenario also enables diagnosis of the cognitive part of the attitude model, particularly explaining how employees differ in their response to the fun event. Most employees enjoyed the event, meaning that they had positive feelings toward it. These feelings were formed from specific elements of the event, such as social bonding, humor, and friendly challenges that occurred during these activities. Those who hated the event would have similar beliefs, but some of these have negative rather than positive valences attached. For instance, employees with low social needs might feel more discomfort than enjoyment of the social aspects of the event. Those who disliked the event might also have different beliefs about its appropriateness in a business setting. Others might have felt uncomfortable in a competitive rather than collaborative activity. The positive (or negative) of these elements of the event combined to form positive or negative overall feelings about the event.

This scenario also states that a couple of employees who disliked the fun event said they might quit (move to another company). This refers to behavioral intentions of these people. Others who disliked the event might not form this behavioral intention; instead, the EVLN model points to three other actions, including complaining to the company about these events (voice), silently tolerating these events in the hope that they will eventually stop (loyalty), and (although very unlikely in this situation) acting destructively toward the company (neglect).

40. Studies report that college instructors are frequently required to engage in emotional labor. Identify the situations in which emotional labor is required for this job. In your opinion, is emotional labor more troublesome for college instructors or for people working at emergency service call centers?

This question really has two parts to it. In the first part, students can be asked to identify situations where instructors use emotional labor, and what display rules are considered appropriate. Some situations are as follows:

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A student asks for an assignment extension one too many times. The instructor must maintain a calm demeanor, yet display firmness in their reply.

The instructor has been teaching for six hours straight, yet must maintain an image of fresh enthusiasm throughout that final hour.

A student asks a profoundly silly question without realizing it. The instructor must maintain a sense of interest and show respect for the student‘s query.

In the second part of this question, students can be asked to compare these emotional labor incidents with those of emergency operators. In spite of the difficult tasks that instructors may think they experience in emotional labor, most students will say it pales against the work of emergency operators.

Students should be asked to explain why these emergency service call center workers must engage in more emotional labor than professors. Generally, students will note how emergency operators face more extreme emotional events that test their ability to remain calm and to console others. They also experience more extreme frustration given the life-threatening nature of the situation for their clients.

Generally, the discussion should review the three factors that provide challenges to emotional labor: (a) frequent interaction with other people; (b) need to display a variety of emotions (to some extent for emergency operators); and (c) the organization and job requires strict display rules.

Note: For a study of emotional labor among emergency operators, see: K. Tracy and S.J. Tracy, ―Rudeness at 911,‖ Human Communication Research 25 (December 1998): 225–51.

41. Recall situations where you had to regulate your emotions. For example, think of times when you wanted to feel more serious than you would otherwise, or experience more happiness for someone at a time when events caused your emotions to be less positive. Which of the five emotion regulation strategies did you apply? Why were those strategies chosen? How difficult was it to actually change your emotions?

This question involves reviewing the five emotion regulation strategies, but it also asks for students‘ personal experiences in attempting to apply these strategies in various situations and for various emotions.

Change the situation. This is likely a common strategy, whereby people simple move to another physical location that is more aligned with their desired or required emotions. People leave their desk to get reenergized. Some keep away from office areas where unfriendly coworkers dwell. Employees who work in flexible work spaces (e.g., choose anywhere to work) sometime choose quiet spaces so they can concentrate on the work. One of the issues with this strategy is what emotions the employee was trying to change. Also, were those emotions a form of emotional labor (required for the job) or were they emotions the student either believed would help them to work better or would fulfill their fundamental drives/needs (such as visiting coworkers to wash away the emotions associated with lack of social interaction).

Modify the situation. The ―situation‖ can be a task, a topic of discussion, or a physical characteristic of the setting. The book provides examples of the first two types of situations (working on a more enjoyable task, changing the topic of discussion with coworkers). The physical setting can change a person‘s emotions as well. This might include changing the lighting (a warmer desk light and turning off flickering or cool white overhead lights). It might involve introducing plants or family photos into the work area.

Again, students should consider what emotions they were attempting to change and whether they were

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required emotions (emotional labor) or whether they believed the emotions would make them work more productively or would fulfill personal needs better.

Suppress or amplify emotions. This is a conscious process to trying to strengthen or weaken the intensity of emotions the person is feeling. If you dislike a client, you might actively try to stop feeling that dislike. If you don‘t feel motivated enough to work quickly, then you might recognize this and consciously think about being more intensively motivated to complete the task. This strategy is often confused with ―reframing‖ described below. Suppressing and amplifying emotions occurs directly, such as by convincing yourself to work harder or by having an inner conversation to put a distracting emotion (frustration, worry) out of your mind.

Shift attention. This strategy involves changing the focus of our attention. Although this approach may overlap with other forms of emotion regulation (e.g., reframing), it is perhaps best identified by deliberately distracting oneself from conditions that generate undesirable emotions. For instance, students might mention how their frustration or sadness of receiving a low grade earlier that day for an assignment interferes with their ability to study that evening for a forthcoming exam. Some people can distract themselves from the source of the negative emotions by studying the most enjoyable content first, visualizing their success in the exam they are studying for, or moving somewhere that is less likely to trigger memories of the poor assignment result.

Reframe the situation. This strategy involves looking at a situation differently—rather like the glass being half full rather than half empty. Students might mention how they were able to serve a difficult client better by viewing the client‘s rude behavior as a feature of the client‘s personality, not a personal attack on them. Or they might reevaluate a poor grade on an assignment as a learning experience that could have been worse (i.e., the assignment weight was relatively low).

Along with these five emotion regulation strategies, watch out for examples where students say they pretend to show the desired emotion. This ―surface acting‖ falls outside the framework of emotion regulation but is an approach for displaying desired emotions without regulating the person‘s actual emotions. The discussion should consider the problems with faking emotions as well as conditions where it may be necessary.

42. Recognizing and regulating emotions in ourselves and others is an important capability in the workplace.

Looking at each of the four components of this concept, what special training and daily informal activities can help us to increase our emotional intelligence?

This question is partly answered with information in the book, but the question asks students to provide more specific training ideas to improve emotional intelligence. As such, students need to reflect on how each quadrant of emotional intelligence can be bolstered through training.

Awareness of our own emotions. The book mentions that coaching employees can improve emotional self-awareness. This might have trainees reflect on their emotional experience during an observed event and then describe that to the trainer. Student might suggest that a group of trainees might provide feedback to increase each other‘s emotional experience during specific training events. This is rather like Johari Window in which feedback increases the employee‘s open area (self-awareness).

Management of own emotions. This component can be trained in a few ways. Specific training events that require emotion management (e.g., emotion regulation) would apply here, such as handling a

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difficult customer and then receiving feedback from the coach and/or other trainees on how well the trainee managed their own emotions in that situation. Informal daily activities might include asking coworkers to describe the employee‘s emotional presentation after a meeting or other event.

Awareness of others‘ emotions. One method for this aspect of emotional intelligence is to test the trainee‘s ability to ―read‖ emotions from facial expressions. These might be from still images or short video clips, where the training group discusses the perceived emotions of the person or people shown in those images. Awareness of others‘ emotions might also strengthen through meaningful dialogue with people in other social groups to understand their emotions during specific situations (i.e., improve empathy). Informal daily activities might include asking coworkers to describe an observed person‘s emotional state, such as when watching a customer or another specific employee from a distance. It can also involve nondirective casual chats with others to gain a better understanding of their situation.

Management of others‘ emotions. This is probably best trained through real-world activities or through acted role plays. The trainee engages with the other party (a customer, or an actor pretending to be a customer or coworker) and the coach and/or fellow trainees debrief on how the target person‘s emotions were managed in that situation.

43. Recall or imagine yourself in a customer-facing job, such as restaurant waiter or retail salesperson. Use the service profit chain model to explain how being happy working in this job and for this company affects the satisfaction that your customers experience.

This question focuses students on part of the entire service profit chain model. It leaves out the segment causing job satisfaction as well as the causation from customer satisfaction to company profitability. An employee‘s job satisfaction influences customer satisfaction in two main ways: 1. Employee emotions affect customer emotions. Job satisfaction tends to put employees in a more positive mood, and people in a good mood more naturally and frequently display friendliness and positive emotions. When employees have good feelings, their display of positive emotions typically ―rubs off‖ on customers, so customers feel happier. Also, customers displaying positive emotions tend to produce more positive emotions among employees serving those customers.

2. Experienced employees provide better service. Satisfied employees are less likely to quit their jobs, so they have more work experience (i.e., better knowledge and skills) to serve clients. Better skilled employees provide better service to customers, which increases customer satisfaction. Also, lower turnover enables customers to have the same employees serve them on different occasions, so there is more consistent service.

44. Two college graduates recently joined the same major newspaper as journalists. Both work long hours and have tight deadlines for completing their stories. They are under constant pressure to scout out new leads and be the first to report new controversies. One journalist is increasingly fatigued and despondent and has taken several days of sick leave. The other is getting the work done and seems to enjoy the challenges. Use your knowledge of stress to explain why these two journalists are reacting differently to their jobs.

This incident describes two journalists with similar stressors experiencing different levels of stress and stress consequences. This illustrates the distinction between stressors and stress. It may also highlight the importance of individual differences in stress.

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One possible reason why these two journalists are experiencing different stress levels is that they might perceive the situation differently. The low stress journalist might have higher self-esteem and confidence that they can complete the work.

A second explanation might be that the journalists have different threshold levels of resistance to a stressor. Both are recent graduates. But we don‘t know if they are a similar age. However, the high stress journalist might have less resistance because of recently experiencing other stressors, such as death of a family member.

Finally, the different stress levels might be explained by the different strategies used to manage the stress.

The high stress journalist might be using ineffective coping strategies (or hasn‘t been applying stress management practices at all), whereas the low stress journalist is using stress management practices that work well here.

45. Recall or imagine yourself in the job of a financial advisor, who gives advice to clients for investing in stocks and other asset classes. Clients are sometimes angry or frantic when investments fall, and they often expect to move their investment around more quickly than is possible. They have your personal phone number and some call you outside the usual workday. For each of the five types of stress management practices discussed in this chapter, identify ways to manage your stress in this profession.

This question asks students to translate the five types of stress management practices into practical realworld advice for this situation.

Remove the stressor. This is arguably the most difficult stress management practice to apply because interacting with clients in inherently part of a financial advisor‘s job. However, these suggestions may remove the stressor to some degree: (1) Set up clear role expectations when signing up clients so they know that investments are long term (i.e., don‘t be frantic in the short run) and that the financial advisor can be contacted at specific times through company communication. (2) Where possible, carefully choose future clients who have a moderately high-risk tolerance (less likely to get stressed by market dips) or are less prone to be impatient in advisor–client interactions. (3) Proactively communication with clients through one-way channels (e.g., email messages) updating them and calming them about the current situation.

Withdraw from the stressor. The question assumes the advisor remains in this job, so the main recommendation here is to temporarily withdraw from the stressor. This can include taking stress-buster breaks during the day and going on vacation after a stressful work period. If advisors work in teams, these people might rotate into roles (e.g., weekly) that involve direct interaction with the team‘s clients.

Change stress perceptions. Financial advisors might receive coaching and training to improve their selfconcept, personal goal setting, and self-reinforcement practices. These features help people to change how they perceive the stressor (e.g., irate clients). In team settings, financial advisors might develop a culture of generating humor which can also reframe the situation.

Controlling stress consequences. Keeping physically fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle are effective stress management strategies because they control stress consequences. Advisors might also receive information and training on better nutrition, sleep, and other health habits.

Receive social support. The company can encourage employees (financial advisors and related staff) to form social bonds which increases mutual support. This support might include informational guidance to

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resolve client issues, but they might involve making coworkers feel valued and worthy, which generates in them more optimism and self-confidence.

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CS

CASE STUDY: DIANA’S DISAPPOINTMENT: THE PROMOTION STUMBLING BLOCK

These case notes were prepared by Rosemary Maellaro, University of Dallas Graduate School of Management

Case Synopsis Diana Gillen is a general manager of a Cobb Street Grille restaurant who hopes to be promoted to a multiunit district manager position. She was recently passed over for a similar position because, although she is proficient technically, she lacks interpersonal competence. She believes that she should be promoted based on her tenure and her success in managing single units and is not in tune with the company‘s new emphasis on a bigger picture focus and on developing managers. She is not sensitive to the feelings of others and interacts with people in a perfunctory manner; she chooses to keep relationships with her employees at arm‘s length. She is also rather inflexible, and openly resists change.

Diana has not acknowledged or taken responsibility for her interpersonal skill deficiencies. Her supervisors sense Diana‘s reluctance to address her weaknesses, so they typically steer clear of any development discussions in an effort to avoid uncomfortable situations. Because Diana is unable to accurately assess her skills and competencies in relation to the needs of the organization, she is surprised and confused with the regional director‘s decisions to promote outsiders or her more recently hired colleagues.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions Apply your knowledge of the four emotional intelligence dimensions to discuss the likely reasons why Diana wasn‘t offered a promotion.

Awareness of own emotions Diana does not recognize or acknowledge her feelings of insecurity and fear about not being promoted.

She disregards the fact that her unrefined interpersonal skills are holding her back and does not consider her lack of overall leadership competence when assessing her promotability; that is, she focuses only on her technical skills.

Diana demonstrates minimal self-confidence by deciding to interview for the current opening only after considering others‘ favorable assessments of her abilities (Store Manager of the Year award, managing the flagship restaurant).

Management of own emotions Diana‘s extreme disappointments over not being promoted have manifested in rage and uncontrollable tears. She does not know how she will handle not being promoted. She focuses on not being selected and is cynical in her anticipation of the ―excuses‖ that might be offered.

Awareness of others’ emotions By purposely avoiding organizational politics, Diana fails to recognize the shift in the valued competencies for multi-unit managers.

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Management of others’ emotions Rather than attempt to influence employees to change their behavior, Diana simply fires them so as not to have to deal with them. She steadfastly holds onto her old tried and true management methods, unwilling to try different approaches or test new techniques.

46. What skills does Diana need to develop to be promotable in the future? What can the company do to support her developmental efforts?

Accurate self-assessment. Diana needs to honestly appraise her limitations and strengths. She also needs to be more open to feedback and ask for help in developing the competencies necessary for promotion.

Self-control. Diana would benefit by being able to remain unflappable when confronted by trying situations. She needs to be aware of the disturbing emotions she experiences and keep her impulses in check so she will not become enraged or cry uncontrollably.

Optimism. Rather than viewing the lack of promotion as a setback, Diana must embrace the opportunity to further develop the competencies necessary for promotion.

Organizational awareness. Diana needs to make an effort to understand the political forces at work in her organization and get in tune with the changes taking place, particularly as they relate to the new competencies that are valued for district managers.

Change catalyst. Diana‘s promotability would be enhanced if she was better able to recognize the need for change, challenge the status quo, and champion a new order. She also must find practical ways to overcome barriers to change.

Teamwork and collaboration. It is critical that Diana generate an atmosphere of friendly collegiality, draw others into active, enthusiastic commitment to the collective effort, and build spirit and identity. She must spend time forging and cementing close relationships beyond mere work obligations.

Diana‘s supervisor and regional director are obliged to be candid with her about the shift in promotional requirements and thoroughly explain the new competencies necessary to become a district manager. They must be honest with Diana about her need to balance technical expertise with emotionally intelligent leadership skills. They should set specific objectives with Diana to acquire these competencies and systematically give her constructive feedback, despite her reluctance to accept guidance or performance improvement suggestions.

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: WHAT DOES THAT FACE TELL YOU?

Purpose To help students estimate and understand their awareness of others‘ emotions through facial expressions, as a dimension of emotional intelligence.

Materials Students just require a pen/pencil. The instructor will display and distribute all materials for this exercise.

Instructions (Small or Large Class, Face-to-Face or Remote) Step 1: The instructor will distribute a scoring sheet that each student will use to select their answers. The sheet has a set of emotions words for each item. Students do NOT write their name on the scoring sheet unless advised by the instructor. Usually, only the student sees their results, although their results may be shared with others in a large group (Step 3) and the instructor may ask for the sheets to give grouped feedback to future classes.

Step 2: The instructor will show students a series of faces on a projection screen or monitor (not on paper).

For each face, students are given time to select the emotion word that best represents the emotion on that face. However, where possible, the instructor shows the face for a very short time (e.g., 0.5 seconds), typically with a warning when the face will be shown. This is repeated for each face shown and students have selected one emotion for each item (face) on the scoring sheet. Students will NOT change their answers after all of the faces have been shown.

Step 3: (Optional, and typically for face-to-face classes under 60 students) Students are placed into larger groups (10 to 15 people in each group). A scribe in each group has a blank copy of the scoring sheet. With a show of hands, the group sees which emotions were chosen for each face. The scribe counts the number of group members who selected each answer for each face. The instructor may collect the group sheets for grouped results to show future classes.

Step 4: (Optional) The instructor hands out a sheet showing all of the faces that students had briefly viewed and scored. Students will briefly look at these faces and determine if they would change any of their original answers. Students must not change the original answers but can mark up the scoring sheet with additional notes.

Step 5: (Optional) If the faces in this exercise came from a video, the instructor will show that video at this time. As students see the faces in the video, they determine if they would change any of their original answers. Students can note this on the scoring sheet but must not change their original answers.

Step 6: For each face, the instructor will show the answer that is most likely correct. If the instructor has results from previous classes, that information will also be shown for each face. As each face and ―correct‖ answer is shown, students will score their own result. A value of ―1‖ is given to a correct answer and ―0‖ to an incorrect answer.

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Step 7: The instructor will debrief the class and lead discussion about this faces exercise and how to improve awareness of others‘ emotions.

Comments for Instructors Identifying faces is an important way of testing a person‘s awareness of others‘ emotions. I have used this exercise for many years and among all types of participants—from undergraduates to executive programs.

The event is invariably successful because students are challenged, the activity is highly relevant, and students receive meaningful feedback. However, the instructor needs to develop the exercise (faces slides, debriefing slides) and conduct a few initial runs to refine those materials.

Selecting Faces. Instructors need to find the face images, typically between 12 and 15. These images will be displayed (one at a time) to students, so images need to be mainly headshots and high resolution. Also, these images should show a variety of emotions, preferably in a work setting. These still images are easily available from a variety of sources, such as free-to-use image sites. But rather than getting a series of unrelated still images, I recommend getting these images from a short (five-minute) segment of a film, such as a business meeting. For example, the faces activity I developed uses images selected sequentially from a business meeting early in the movie ―What Women Want.‖ The stills were screen captures from a highresolution copy of the film, with mainly the person‘s head showing (i.e., crop out most background). The advantage of images from a film is that you can show the video clip after students have completed the scoring to see if they change their choices after observing the person immediately before and after the still image (see Step 5).

Displaying faces to students. Students should view each face for LESS THAN ONE SECOND. This can occur using presentation software (PowerPoint, Keynote) in which the presentation moves automatically from the image slide to the next slide which is blank except perhaps stating the image number of the previous image slide. I also recommend counting down (3-2-1) before you activate the presentation for each image.

Technically advanced instructors might use other methods, such as creating a non-looping animated GIF for each image, which includes a countdown (3-2-1), then the image, and finishing with a blank screen with a statement of the image number. Each GIF can be activated separately or inserted in their own slides of a single presentation file. Again, the images need to be large and high resolution with mostly headshots so students can (very briefly) observe the face.

Scoring sheet. The instructor creates a one-page scoring sheet that has five emotion words/phrases for each of the images displayed. The images are NOT shown on this sheet. Instead, each row has an image number (e.g., from 1 to 15). Students are asked to circle one of the five emotion words/phrases after briefly viewing the face image. To determine the best answer for each image, the instructor should ask other people (who have good awareness of others‘ emotions) to write out one or two emotion words that describes each image.

The instructor will then collate those notes to identify the best (correct) word/phrase for each image. The other four responses for each image are also emotion words but are sufficiently different from the correct answer. However, one or two responses should be in the same general category. For example, if the correct emotion word for an image is ―relieved,‖ two other responses might be ―happy‖ and ―surprised,‖ whereas the remaining responses might be quite different (e.g., ―worried‖ and ―confused‖). The emotions circumflex model as well as a dictionary thesaurus can assist with this process. The scoring sheet can be improved over time from student comments and discussion.

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Feedback. Confidential student feedback is an important part of this activity. Each student should be able to learn how well they score without having their total score known to others. This can occur in some or all of the following ways. Steps 3, 4, and 5 are optional, whereas the activity should definitely have Step 6.

• Step 3: Tally activity. In large groups, students have a show of hands for which response they selected.

A scribe in each group uses a blank scoring sheet to document the number of people selecting each response. No one knows the correct answer at this stage, but they learn how much the group has agreement or varied selection of answers. This tally activity is also very useful for the instructor to collect information about student responses, so future feedback can be provided (see Step 6) and possibly the scoring sheet can be correct or improved. This tally is not intended for discussion, which will occur later as a class.

• Step 4: Viewing Images on Paper. The instructor distributes a sheet (typically two pages with images 1/8 of a page in size) showing all face images and their associated number. This allows students to inspect each image carefully rather than briefly. They learn how their initial impression of a 1/2 second image differs from their interpretation of that image with more time. Students should be reminded NOT to change their original answer, just to recognize that their decision might be different. At this time, the instructor might explain that emotional expressions appear briefly, so seeing a still image is not a realistic situation. However, it allows students to carefully inspect each facial expression.

• Step 5: Video Screening. If the images come from a video clip, show this clip to students. Ideally, the images appear sequentially in the video. These images are difficult to point out during the video, and the video is best uninterrupted. In my experience, however, students can recognize most of them, particularly if they receive the sheet showing all images. Students often discover how seeing events immediately before and after the image adds further clarity about the emotional expression. Students should be reminded NOT to change their original answer, just to recognize that their decision might be different.

• Step 6: Correct Results Presentation. In this required final step of the activity students privately score their sheet. Remind students that they should be scoring the answer they selected when the image was shown very briefly. An effective approach is for instructors to create a presentation in which the opening step of each slide shows one of the images in a small size along with the five responses for each image. If the instructor has past class results, the presentation slide should have a second step showing the percentage of (past) students who selected each of the five options for that image. The presentation slide‘s third step identifies the correct answer for that image. The process is repeated for each image. I tend to have two images per slide. This is typically a good time to discuss the degree of consensus of results for each image as well as images where most students select the wrong emotion word. Students calculate their score as they see the correct answer for each image. The score is simply 1 = correct and 0 = incorrect for each image, and then summed. Remind students that they will NOT be asked to reveal their actual score.

Debriefing. Most debriefing occurs during Step 6 when the presentation shows the correct answers and possibly the percentage of students in past classes who selected each response. However, if the instructor has a general idea of the range of scores, students might be asked to indicate if they had a score ABOVE a specific number (e.g., ―Who identified the correct emotion for 9 or more of the 15 images shown?,‖ where most students would have had less than nine correct). Also, while showing the correct results, the instructor might suggest reasons why an image was incorrect for most students. The reasons vary with the situation and Page 5-188

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emotion, but might include (1) multiple emotions use similar facial features (e.g., someone concentrating looks similar to someone looking concerned); (2) the emotion is consciously generated and culturally specific (e.g., a smirk is a Western tendency that is consciously created and is less easily interpreted in some other cultures); and (3) the emotion is more complex and is best recognized through a brief video sequence rather than a still image.

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: ATTITUDES TOWARD MEL THE MANAGER

Purpose To help students to understand the model of emotions, attitudes, and behavior by applying that model to a specific situation.

Materials Teams should be able to display their analysis to others in the class, such as flip chart paper (for face-to-face classes) or a team digital space or presentation slides for remote teams.

Instructions (Small or Large Class, Face-to-Face or Remote) Step 1: Students will be placed in teams (typically five to seven people). This exercise is possible in large classes when assigned individually rather than in teams.

Step 2: Each team (or individual student in large classes) reads the mini-case below. Using the model of emotions, attitudes, and behavior, diagnose and compare the attitudes and behavior of the two employees interviewed toward their manager Mel. The analysis should systematically identify the stated beliefs, feelings, behavioral intentions, and behavior of these two employees toward Mel. The analysis needs to consider contingencies at each step in the model, including the valences of key features about Mel. Step 3: The class will debrief this mini-case. Teams will be asked to show their analysis of the attitudes of each employee. Team diagnoses will be compared to determine different approaches or applications of the emotions, attitudes, and behavior model.

Background A small financial services company with four offices in one state sells well-known branded financial products across the industry (investment funds, bonds, annuities, etc.) The firm also offers clients a small number of its own investment funds, model portfolios, and term deposits. The financial services department in the company‘s main branch employs 30 staff (financial advisors). Mel, the manager of that department, was hired from a competitor six months ago. An outside interviewer met confidentially with two employees to discuss their views about the manager.

Comments for Instructors This is an excellent activity for students to apply the model of emotions, attitudes, and behavior. Students consider the elements of beliefs, feelings, behavior intentions, and behavior as well as contingencies between each variable regarding the attitude that two employees have toward their manager, Mel. The best way to analyze the information provided is to examine how the two employees react to each of the three central beliefs about Mel. These results can also be diagrammed where the three beliefs have varying Page 5-190

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levels of positive or negative valence regarding overall feelings about Mel, and those feelings product behavior intentions regarding Mel. See exhibit further below in these notes.

5. Belief 1: Mel’s knowledge of and communication about financial products Employee A: Believes that Mel is highly knowledgeable, but also believes that Mel communicates this expertise ―as a badge of superiority‖ that feels like a ―put-down‖ (demeaning toward Employee A). As a result, Employee A has negative feelings (negative valence) about Mel‘s expertise and/or communication of that expertise.

Employee B: Believes that Mel is highly knowledgeable, that Mel provides this information quickly, and that this quickly available information enables Employee B to provide better service and develop a better reputation with clients. No mention (perception) that Mel communicates this expertise ―as a badge of superiority.‖ As a result, Employee B has positive feelings (positive valence) about Mel‘s expertise and/or communication of that expertise.

6. Belief 2: Mel’s supervisory style (i.e., micromanaging vs. giving employees autonomy) Employee A: Believes that Mel gives employees autonomy and micromanages them somewhat less than the previous manager. Employee A has a positive valence (―That‘s good‖) regarding Mel‘s tendency to provide employee autonomy rather than micromanaging. However, this is a relatively low positive feeling because autonomy versus micromanaging has relatively low importance to Employee A. Employee B: Believes that Mel gives employees autonomy and micromanages them significantly less than the previous manager (Employee B considers the former manager a ―true micromanager‖). Autonomy versus micromanaging is very important to Employee B. As a result, Employee B has a strong positive valence toward Mel‘s management style.

7. Belief 3: Mel’s use of humor.

Employee A: Believes that Mel tries, but fails, to be funny/humorous. However, this has a strong negative valence to Employee A because this employee considers Mel‘s ―dumb jokes or irritating puns‖ as ―truly cringeworthy.‖ Employee B: Believes that Mel is very funny/humorous, which has positive consequences for Employee B‘s stress, well-being, and energy. Specifically, Mel is able to ―cheer you up,‖ ―get my energy moving again,‖ and has a ―way with words that can really bring a smile to anyone.‖ Consequently, Employee B has a strong positive valence regarding Mel‘s use of humor.

8. Behavioral intentions and Behavior toward Mel The two employees have different valences (direction and degree) regarding each of the three beliefs about Mel, which explains their significantly different feelings toward Mel. Employee A has fairly strong negative feelings toward Mel whereas Employee B has strong positive feelings toward Mel. These different feelings explain the significantly behavioral intentions of the two employees, and actual behavior of Employee B. Employee A: This person would definitely NOT recommend a friend to work in Mel‘s department and, in fact, implies that this employee might leave the company due to Mel. Employee B: This person would definitely recommend a friend to work in Mel‘s department. In fact, this employee has recently done so (i.e., actual behavior related to the person‘s attitude toward Mel).

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: RANKING JOBS ON THEIR EMOTIONAL LABOR

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students to understand the jobs in which people tend to experience higher or lower degrees of emotional labor.

Instructions Step 1: Students are asked to individually rank order the extent that the jobs listed below require emotional labor. In other words, they assign a ―1‖ to the job they believe requires the most effort, planning, and control to express organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions. They would assign a ―10‖ to the job they believe requires the least amount of emotional labor. Students mark their rankings in Column 1.

Step 2: The instructor will form teams of four or five members, and each team will rank order the items based on consensus (not simply averaging the individual rankings). These results are placed in Column 2.

Step 3: The instructor will provide expert ranking information. This information should be written in Column 3. Then, students calculate the differences in Columns 4 and 5.

Step 4: The class will compare the results and discuss the features of jobs with high emotional labor.

Comments for Instructors This expert ranking provided below is based on a careful review of information in the U.S. Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) from the Occupational Outlook Handbook 2000-01. See website: http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm.

Although this expert ranking uses established information, it is not necessarily the most accurate source. One problem is that there can be significant differences in the experiences of people within the occupation. For example, some social workers might have very cooperative and relatively well-adjusted clients, whereas others must work intensively with more difficult people. Another issue is that the rankings are inferred from job descriptions. These descriptions include work requirements in a social setting, but they do not directly describe or estimate the degree of emotional labor required for the occupation. The expert results also provide a brief explanation of the ranking.

Generally, teams make better decisions than do individuals working alone in this exercise. This is reflected by a ―Team Score‖ that is usually lower than the ―Individual Score.‖ The reason (which students learn in Chapter 8) is that team members bring more information to the decision than does the average individual However, some individuals score better than the group because they have expertise on this topic, and their team does not rely completely on the suggestions of members who claims to be experts.

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The discussion following the exercise should focus on the reasons why students ranked some jobs higher than others on the level of emotional labor. Generally, emotional labor increases with: 1. The extent to which the job has required display rules. Emotional labor is higher where the job requires the job incumbent to display emotions while interacting with customers, suppliers, and others.

2. The frequency and length of interaction with other people. Emotional labor is higher where employees must display emotions frequently and for long periods of time.

3. The intensity of emotions required during this interaction. Emotional labor is higher where the job incumbent must display more extreme emotions.

4. The extent to which the display rules create emotional dissonance. Emotional labor is higher where incumbents must display emotions that are dissimilar or contrary to their true emotions at the time of the emotional display.

Along with presenting the results of this exercise, the instructor may want to encourage students to discuss their personal experiences in any of these jobs. In classes with older students, I have found that students have numerous fascinating stories about how they had to cope with difficult interactions involving clients, patients, suppliers, and others.

EXPERT RANKING ON EMOTIONAL LABOR (1 = HIGHEST) Occupation

Bartender

Cashier

Dental hygienist

Expert Ranking

Explanation of Ranking

4

Bartenders ―must be friendly and helpful with customers.‖ In small establishments, bartenders must also deal with unruly customers, but this is typically handled by other employees in larger establishments.

Some bartenders do not interact directly with customers. Some bartenders serve customers but have limited interaction with them, so they have limited emotional labor duties.

8

Although cashiers work almost all of their time in front of customers, the interaction with each customer is typically brief, routine, and with limited conversation.

7

People in this job work with patients, but the job description involves mainly performing tasks with limited interaction with patients (who are usually unable to speak during the work anyway). However, emotional labor is required by maintaining a pleasant or neutral disposition throughout the visit. They also spend some time talking with patients about dental hygiene. Dental hygienists must also maintain a calm disposition when assisting the dentist during surgical work.

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Insurance adjuster

Lawyer

Librarian

Postal clerk

Registered nurse

Social worker

6

5

9

10

Although adjusters interact with claimants, a fair portion of their task involves collecting information about the event, reviewing police records, and comparing data with other claims. Interaction with claimants may require some emotional labor where the claim is a personal injury or loss of valuable goods. However, this interaction is relatively brief. Some emotional labor may also occur where claims need to be negotiated with the claimant.

The emotional labor required of lawyers varies significantly with the type of work. Barristers (trial lawyers) must ―be able to think quickly and speak with ease and authority.‖ Other lawyers spend most of their time performing research or attending to the practice‘s administrative tasks. Most lawyers spent some time with clients, which requires both authority and empathy from the lawyer during these interviews.

The librarian‘s interaction with the public can vary with the specific position. Some have little direct interaction, relying instead on technology to manage most queries. Other librarians must help to answer customer questions, read to children, and work with public groups. However, ―librarians spend a significant portion of time at their desks or in front of computer terminals.‖ Most interaction tasks are for a short duration and have low intensity.

Postal clerks include people who work at retail counters and those who process letters and packages. The former are similar to cashiers (see above) in their emotional labor requirements. The latter have almost no interaction with the public, just with other postal employees. Thus, their emotional labor requirements would be no more than for any other job involving some interaction with coworkers.

2

Registered nurses vary from staff nurses in hospitals to public health nurses in schools. Most hospital nurses engage in considerable emotional labor and ―need emotional stability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stresses.‖ They must frequently exhibit emotions that they are ―caring and sympathetic.‖ They must also manage the emotions of patients and visitors.

1

Social workers have frequent interaction with clients, sometimes with heavy caseloads. They ―see clients who face a life-threatening disease or a social problem.‖ Depending on the type of client, social workers must display emotions of control, empathy, and support. The job ―can be emotionally draining.‖

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Television announcer

SA

3

Television announcers must sound and look consistently pleasant onair, and display similar emotions during the many public events required for the job. ―The most successful announcers attract a large audience by combining a pleasing personality and voice with an appealing style.‖ This can create emotional dissonance where the announcer works under tight deadlines or interviews people with aggressive behavior. However, announcers also spend a large portion of their time away from an audience preparing on-air scripts.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.1: WHAT IS YOUR EMOTIONAL PERSONALITY?

Overview and Instructions Emotions are influenced by the situation, but also by the individual‘s own personality. In particular, people tend to have a dispositional mood, that is, the level and valence of emotion that they naturally experience due to their personality.

This instrument estimates dispositional mood, that is, the level of emotion that a person naturally experiences as part of their personality. It consists of 20 words representing various emotions that a person might have experienced. For each word presented, students are asked to indicate the extent to which they have felt this way generally across all situations over the past six months.

Feedback for the Dispositional Mood Scale This self-assessment is designed to help students to estimate their dispositional mood, that is, their general emotional tendency based on your personality. The four dispositional mood categories created in this scale are positive energy, relaxation, negative arousal, and tiredness. These four categories are distinguished in two ways: (1) positive affectivity versus negative affectivity and (2) high activation and low activation. Thus, the four subscales are consistent with the affect circumplex model (positive–negative emotion, and high–low intensity emotion). The only difference is that this scale measures emotional personality rather than emotions in a specific setting.

Positive energy People who score high on positive energy have positive affectivity and high activation. Positive affectivity is the tendency to experience positive emotional states. It is very similar to extroversion, a personality trait depicting people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive. Positive energy also includes high Page 5-196

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activation, meaning that people who score high on this scale experience more energizing or motivating positive emotions. Scores on this scale range from 1 to 5. From a sample of hospital employees, the average score was 3.0.

Score

Interpretation

3.8–5.0 2.4–3.7 1.0–2.3

High positive energy Moderate positive energy Low positive energy

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Relaxation People who score high on relaxation have positive affectivity and low activation. Positive affectivity is the tendency to experience positive emotional states. It is very similar to extroversion, a personality trait depicting people who are outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive. Relaxation also includes low activation, meaning that people who score high on this scale experience more passive (less energizing) positive emotions. Scores on this scale range from 1 to 5. From a sample of hospital employees, the average score was 2.6.

Score

Interpretation

3.8–5.0 2.4–3.7 1.0–2.3

High relaxation Moderate relaxation Low relaxation

Negative arousal People who score high on negative arousal have a tendency toward negative affectivity and high activation.

Negative affectivity is the tendency to negative emotions. Negative arousal also includes high activation, meaning that people who score high on this scale experience negative emotions that demand our attention (e.g., anger, upset). People with negative arousal tend to be more distressed and unhappy because they focus on the negative aspects of life. Scores on this scale range from 1 to 5. From a sample of hospital employees, the average score was 2.1.

Score

Interpretation

3.8–5.0 2.4–3.7 1.0–2.3

High negative arousal Moderate negative arousal Low negative arousal

Tiredness People who score high on tiredness have a tendency toward negative affectivity and low activation. Negative affectivity is the tendency to negative emotions. Tiredness also includes low activation, meaning that people who score high on this scale experience more passive (less demanding) negative emotions. Scores on this scale range from 1 to 5. From a sample of hospital employees, the average score was 2.3.

Score

Interpretation

3.8–5.0 2.4–3.7 1.0–2.3

High tiredness Moderate tiredness Low tiredness

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.2: HOW WELL DO YOU RECOGNIZE AND REGULATE EMOTIONS?

Overview and Instructions Emotional intelligence has become an important concept and ability in the workplace. It is a skill that people develop throughout their lives to help them interact better with others, make better decisions, and manage the attitudes and behavior of other people.

Although emotional intelligence is best measured as an ability test, this scale offers you an opportunity to estimate your perceptions and self-awareness of this ability in yourself.

Students are asked to read each of the statements below and select the response that best describes them.

Then they use the scoring key in Appendix B of this book to calculate your results. This self-assessment is completed alone so that students rate themselves honestly without concerns of social comparison. However, class discussion will focus on the meaning and dimensions of emotional intelligence, its application in the workplace, and the best ways to measure emotional intelligence.

Feedback for the Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment Scale This scale measures the four dimensions of emotional intelligence described in this book. The meaning of the four dimensions are as follows: Awareness of own emotions. This is the ability to perceive and understand the meaning of your own emotions.

Management of own emotions. This is the ability to manage your own emotions. It includes generating or suppressing emotions and displaying behaviors that represent desired emotions in a particular situation.

Awareness of others’ emotions. This is the ability to perceive and understand the emotions of other people, including the practices of empathy an awareness of social phenomena such as organizational politics.

Management of others’ emotions. This is the ability to manage other people‘s emotions. It includes generating or suppressing emotions in other people, such as reducing their sadness and increasing their motivation.

Scores on the four Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment dimensions range from 4 to 20. The overall score ranges from 16 to 80.

The table on the next page shows norms from a sample of 235 MBA students. Most of these respondents are from Australia, but about 15 percent are from MBA classes in Singapore. Also, many of the Australian students come from other parts of the world (Asia, Europe, South America, North America). Respondents range from about 25 to over 50 years old, with an average age of approximately 32 years old. Approximately 30 percent are female. Norms vary from one population to another, so the MBA student norms shown here might not be as relevant for people attending some courses.

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

To illustrate how to read the norms in the table, look at the top 10 percentile for self-awareness. The score shown is 19, indicating that 10 percent of the 235 MBA students in this sample scored 19 or 20 and 90 percent scored below 19 on this dimension. Keep in mind that these results represent self-perceptions.

Evaluations from others (such as through 360-degree feedback) may provide a more accurate estimate of emotional intelligence on some (not necessarily all) dimensions.

Emotional Intelligence Self-Assessment Norms

Percentile

Awareness of Own Emotions

Management of Own Emotions

Awareness of Others’ Emotions

Management of Others’ Emotions

Total

Average score

16

14.7

14.7

14.8

60.4

Top 10 percentile

19

18

18

18

70

Top 25th percentile 18

17

16

16

66

Median (50 percentile)

16

15

15

15

61

Bottom 25th percentile

15

13

13

13

56

Bottom 10 percentile

14

11

11

12

51

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.3: HOW COMMITTED ARE YOU TO YOUR SCHOOL?

Overview and Instructions Organizational (affective) commitment refers to an individual‘s emotional attachment to, involvement in, and identification with an organization. It is mostly discussed in this book as an employee‘s attitude toward the company where they work. But affective commitment is also relevant to a student‘s attitude toward the college or university where they are taking courses. This self-assessment adapts a popular organizational commitment instrument, so it refers to the person‘s commitment as a student to the school where they are attending this program.

Students are asked to read each of the statements and select the response that best fits their personal belief.

Class discussion should focus on the meaning of the different types of organizational commitment and how well this scale applies to the commitment of students toward the college or university they are attending.

Feedback for the School Commitment Scale Affective commitment Affective commitment refers to a person‘s emotional attachment to, identification with, and involvement in a particular organization. In this scale, the organization is the school where you are attending as a student.

Scores on this scale range from 6 to 42. A higher score indicates a higher level of affective commitment.

How does your score compare with others? Ideally, you would compare your score with the collective results of other students in your class, but this might not be possible. Alternatively, the following graph provides a more general estimate of high and low affective commitment based on a sample of Canadian employees.

Score

Interpretation

Above 37

High affective commitment

32–36

Above average

28–31 20–27

Average Below average

Below 20

Low affective commitment

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Continuance commitment Continuance commitment occurs when employees believe it is in their own personal interest to remain with the organization. People with a high continuance commitment have a strong calculative bond with the organization. In this scale, the organization is the school where you are attending as a student.

How does your score compare with others? Ideally, you would compare your score with the collective results of other students in your class, but this might not be possible. Alternatively, the following graph provides a more general estimate of high and low continuance commitment based on a sample of Canadian employees.

Score

Interpretation

Above 32 26–31 21–25 13–20

High continuance commitment Above average Average Below average

Below 13

Low continuance commitment

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.4: HOW STRESSED ARE YOU?

Overview and Instructions Stress is an adaptive response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to the person‘s well-being. It is an increasing concern in today‘s society.

This self-assessment is designed to help students to estimate their perceived general level of stress. The questions in this scale ask students about their feelings and thoughts during the last month. In each case, students are asked to indicate how often they felt or thought a certain way. As with other instruments, students need to be honest with themselves too for a reasonable estimate of their general level of stress. This instrument has 14 statements.

Feedback for the Perceived Stress Scale The perceived stress scale estimates the extent to which recent events in our life are appraised as stressful. It taps into the degree to which people believe events in their lives are currently unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloading. The scale is not restricted to specific situations, so it is appropriate for people in a variety of situations (e.g., students, executives, and children).

Scores on the perceived stress scale range from 0 to 56. Higher scores indicate that the respondent perceives their current life situation as stressful. Based on samples of over 1,000 people (mostly college students in the United States), the average score is around 24 for men and 25 for women.

Score

Interpretation

40–56 20–39 0–19

High perceived stress Moderate perceived stress Low perceived stress

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.5: ARE YOU A WORKAHOLIC?

Overview and Instructions Some people are highly involved in work, have an inner compulsion to work at full speed, and yet don't enjoy work. People with these personal characteristics are called workaholics, and they tend to experience high levels of (dis)stress, which can produce long-term health problems.

The Work Addiction Risk Test estimates the student‘s level of workaholism. Workaholics are highly involved in work, feel compelled or driven to work because of inner pressures, and have low in enjoyment at work. They exhibit compulsive behavior and are preoccupied with work, often to the exclusion and detriment of the workaholic‘s health, intimate relationships, and participation in child-rearing.

Students are asked to read each statement in this instrument and indicate the extent to which each statement is true of their work habits. This instrument has 21 statements.

Feedback for the Work Addiction Risk Test This scale estimates an overall workaholism score as well as scores on the three dimensions of workaholism: compulsive tendencies, need for control, and decision impairment. Scores on all scales range from 0 to 3.

Compulsive tendencies People with high scores on this subscale tend to push their work effort beyond reasonable expectations and impose excessive pressure on their work performance. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 3.

Score

Interpretation

2.1–3.0 1.1–2.0 0–1.0

Strong compulsive tendencies Some compulsive tendencies Low compulsive tendencies

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Need for control People with high scores on this subscale have a high need for perfection and control over the situation.

Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 3.

Score

Interpretation

2.1–3.0 1.1–2.0 0–1.0

Strong need for control Some need for control Low need for control

Decision impairment People with high scores on this subscale tend to act before fully thinking through the process or implications of their actions. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 3.

Score

Interpretation

2.1–3.0 1.1–2.0 0–1.0

Strong decision impairment Some decision impairment Low decision impairment

Work addition total score This is the total score on the work addition risk test. People with higher scores are more likely to experience workaholism. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 3.

Score

Interpretation

2.1–3.0 1.1–2.0 0–1.0

Severe work addiction Moderate work addiction Low work addiction

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.6: HOW DO YOU COPE WITH STRESSFUL SITUATIONS?

Overview and Instructions People cope with stress in several ways. The best coping strategy usually depends on the source of stress and other circumstances. However, people also have a natural preference for some types of coping strategies more than others.

This self-assessment is designed to estimate the individual‘s preferred styles of coping. Students are asked to read each statement in this instrument and select the response that best indicates how much they tend to react in that way when faced with a difficult, stressful, or upsetting situation.

Feedback for the Stress Coping Preference Scale People cope in various ways with stress and various challenges in life. While the preferred coping strategy depends to some degree on the source of the stress, people also have a natural preference for some types of coping strategies more than others. Coping strategies also change over different stages of one‘s life.

The Stress Coping Preference Scale estimates the person‘s current preference to use four sets of coping strategies: problem-solving, social support, avoidance, and blaming others. These do not represent the full set of ways that people cope with life‘s challenges, but they are common tactics. They are identified as helpful or dysfunctional approaches to stress management.

Problem-Solving People with high scores on this subscale tend to deal with stress by actively attempting to remove the stressor by changing the situation. This coping strategy is associated with higher resilience and usually improves your ability to manage stress. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 16. The average score in similar measures of coping is between 8 and 9.

Score

Interpretation

12–16

High problem-solving coping

7–11 0–6

Moderate problem-solving coping Low problem-solving coping

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Social Support People with high scores on this subscale tend to deal with stress by actively seeking emotional support, information, or guidance from others. This coping strategy is part of the ―tend and befriend‖ response that some research suggests is more common among women than among men. Generally, coping through social support has a beneficial effect and is identified as a favorable approach to stress management. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 16. The average score in similar measures of coping is slightly less than 8.

Score

Interpretation

11–16 6–10 0–5

High social support coping Moderate social support coping Low social support coping

Avoidance People with high scores on this subscale tend to deal with stress by cognitively and/or behaviorally acting in ways that prevent the person from coming to terms with and resolving the source of stress. While avoidance may be effective when the problem is short-lived and beyond one‘s control, research concludes that this coping strategy is usually an ineffective approach to stress management. In fact, it significantly differentiates people with high and low resilience. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 16. The average score in similar measures of coping is around 6.

Score

Interpretation

10–16 5–9 0–4

High avoidance coping Moderate avoidance coping Low avoidance coping

Blaming others People with high scores on this subscale tend to deal with stress by directing their energy to identify and seek justice against those perceived as the source of the stressor. This form of coping may include exhibiting emotions or engaging in behaviors that get back at the alleged perpetrators. Blaming others is generally considered a maladaptive response to stress because it redirects energy away from productive approaches to deal with the stressor. Furthermore, this strategy can potentially alienate others, which reduces opportunities for social support. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 16. The average score in similar measures of coping is around 7.

Score

Interpretation

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

Score

Interpretation

11–16 6–10 0–5

High coping through blaming others Moderate coping through blaming others Low coping through blaming others

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

5

Foundations of Employee Motivation

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: s. t.

Define motivation, and explain how drives and emotions influence employee motivation.

Explain through four-drive theory the process of human motivation, and summarize Maslow’s needs hierarchy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and learned needs theory. u. Outline the expectancy theory model, and prescribe how to improve employee motivation through the elements of this model. v. Describe organizational behavior modification (OB Mod) and social cognitive theory, and explain their relevance to employee motivation. w. Discuss the characteristics of effective goal setting and feedback. x. Explain how equity theory, procedural justice, and interactional justice influence employee motivation.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY distributive justice—an ethical principle stating that appropriate decision criteria should be applied to calculate how various benefits and burdens are distributed drives—hardwired characteristics of the brain that correct deficiencies or maintain an internal equilibrium by producing emotions to energize individuals equity theory—a theory explaining how people develop perceptions of fairness in the distribution and exchange of resources

expectancy theory—a motivation theory based on the idea that work effort is directed toward behaviors that people believe will lead to desired outcomes extrinsic motivation—occurs when people are motivated to engage in an activity for instrumental reasons, that is, to receive something that is beyond their personal control four-drive theory—a motivation theory based on the innate drives to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend that incorporates both emotions and rationality

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Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation

goal—a cognitive representation of a desired end state that a person is committed to attain interactional justice—the perception that appropriate rules were applied in the way the people involved were treated throughout the decision process

need for power (nPow)—a learned need in which people want to control environment, including people and material resources, to benefit either themselves (personalized power) or others (socialized power) needs—goal-directed forces that people experience

intrinsic motivation—occurs when people fulfill their needs for competence and autonomy by engaging in the activity itself, rather than from an externally controlled outcome of that activity

organizational behavior modification (OB Mod)—a theory that explains employee behavior in terms of the antecedent conditions and consequences of that behavior

Maslow‘s needs hierarchy theory—a motivation theory of needs arranged in a hierarchy, whereby people are motivated to fulfill a higher need as a lower one becomes gratified

procedural justice—the perception that appropriate procedural rules were applied throughout the decision process

motivation—the forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of effort for voluntary behavior need for achievement (nAch)—a learned need in which people want to accomplish reasonably challenging goals and desire unambiguous feedback and recognition for their success need for affiliation (nAff)—a learned need in which people seek approval from others, conform to their wishes and expectations, and avoid conflict and confrontation

self-reinforcement—reinforcement that occurs when an employee has control over a reinforcer but doesn‘t ―take‖ it until completing a self-set goal social cognitive theory—a theory that explains how learning and motivation occur by observing and modeling others as well as by anticipating the consequences of our behavior strengths-based coaching—an approach to coaching and feedback that focuses on building and leveraging the employee‘s strengths rather than trying to correct their weaknesses

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE s. Define motivation, and explain how drives and emotions influence employee motivation.

Motivation is defined as the forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of effort for voluntary behavior. Drives (also called primary needs) are hardwired characteristics of the brain that attempt to keep us in balance by correcting deficiencies. Drives do this by generating emotions, which put us in a state of readiness to act. Needs are the motivational forces of emotions channeled toward specific goals and associated behaviors. Individual differences—including self-concept, social norms, and past experience—influence which goals and behaviors are chosen to direct the motivated effort. Individual differences also affect the intensity of experienced emotions. t. Explain through four-drive theory the process of human motivation, and summarize Maslow’s needs hierarchy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and learned needs theory.

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Four-drive theory states that emotions are the source of human motivation and that these emotions are generated through four drives: to acquire, bond, comprehend, and defend. These drives produce emotions, which become conscious needs. The employee‘s personal characteristics and experiences (mental skill set) direct emotional energy to goals perceived to have a high probability of achieving the goal of fulfilling those felt needs. Four-drive theory‘s two recommendations are that organizations should help employees fulfill all four drives and that fulfillment of the four drives must be kept in balance.

Maslow‘s needs hierarchy groups needs into a hierarchy of five levels and states that the lowest needs are initially most important, but higher needs become more important as the lower ones are satisfied.

Although popular, needs hierarchy theory lacks research support, mainly because it wrongly assumes that everyone has the same hierarchy. The emerging evidence suggests that needs hierarchies vary from one person to the next, according to their personal values. However, Maslow transformed how we think about human motivation by emphasizing that theory needs to be holistic, humanistic, and positive-oriented.

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation controlled by the individual and experienced from the activity itself, whereas extrinsic motivation occurs when people are motivated to receive something that is beyond their personal control for instrumental reasons. Intrinsic motivation is anchored in the innate drives for competence and autonomy. Some research suggests that extrinsic motivators may reduce existing intrinsic motivation to some extent and under some conditions, but the effect is often minimal.

McClelland‘s learned needs theory argues that needs can be strengthened through learning. The three needs studied in this respect have been need for achievement, need for power, and need for affiliation. u. Outline the expectancy theory model, and prescribe how to improve employee motivation through the elements of this model.

Expectancy theory states that work effort is determined by the perception that effort will result in a particular level of performance (E-to-P expectancy), the perception that a specific behavior or performance level will lead to specific outcomes (P-to-O expectancy), and the valences that the person feels for those outcomes. The E-to-P expectancy increases by improving the employee‘s ability and confidence to perform the job. The P-to-O expectancy increases by measuring performance accurately, distributing higher rewards to better performers, and showing employees that rewards are performancebased. Outcome valences increase by finding out what employees want and using these resources as rewards. v. Describe organizational behavior modification (OB Mod) and social cognitive theory, and explain their relevance to employee motivation.

Organizational behavior modification takes the behaviorist view that the environment teaches people to alter their behavior so that they maximize positive consequences and minimize adverse consequences.

Antecedents are environmental stimuli that provoke (not necessarily cause) behavior. Consequences are events following behavior that influence its future occurrence. Consequences include positive reinforcement, punishment, negative reinforcement, and extinction. The schedules of reinforcement also influence behavior.

Social cognitive theory states that much learning and motivation occurs by observing and modeling others, as well as by anticipating the consequences of our behavior. It suggests that people typically infer (rather than only directly experience) cause-and-effect relationships, anticipate the consequences of their

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

actions, develop self-efficacy in performing behavior, exercise personal control over their behavior, and reflect on their direct experiences. The theory emphasizes self-regulation of individual behavior, including self-reinforcement, which is the tendency of people to reward and punish themselves as a consequence of their actions. w. Discuss the characteristics of effective goal setting and feedback.

Goal setting is the process of motivating employees and clarifying their role perceptions by establishing performance objectives. Goals are more effective when they are SMARTER (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-framed, exciting, and reviewed). Effective feedback is specific, relevant, timely, credible, and sufficiently frequent. Strengths-based coaching maximizes employees‘ potential by focusing on their strengths rather than weaknesses. Strengths-based coaching tends to be effective because people are more receptive to information about their strengths rather than flaws, and because a person‘s motivation and ability becomes more stable over time. Employees usually prefer nonsocial feedback sources to learn about their progress toward goal accomplishment. x. Explain how equity theory, procedural justice, and interactional justice influence employee motivation.

Organizational justice exists in several forms, the main three of which are distributive, procedural, and interactional. Distributive justice refers to the perception that appropriate decision criteria (rules) have been applied to calculate how various benefits and burdens are distributed. These rules relate to equality, need, or equity. Equity theory has four elements: outcome/input ratio, comparison other, equity evaluation, and consequences of inequity. The theory also explains what people are motivated to do when they feel inequitably treated.

Procedural justice is the perception that appropriate procedural rules have been applied throughout the decision process. These rules include that the decision maker is unbiased, considers the full complement of accurate information, considers the interests of all groups affected, applies ethical principles, applies decision criteria and procedural rules consistently, allows employees to present their views, and allows appeal of decisions. Interactional justice is the perception that appropriate rules have been applied in the way employees are treated throughout the decision process. These rules include that employees are treated with respect and politeness, that employees receive explanations that are thorough and logical, and receive honest and timely information about the decision. Lack of procedural and interactional justice results in negative emotions (ranging from anger to shame) as well as a variety of behaviors that harm the organization (such as lower performance and higher incidence of turnover, aggression, and theft).

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LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Foundations of Employee Motivation Slide 2: Learning Objectives s.

Define motivation, and explain how drives and emotions influence employee motivation.

t.

Explain through four-drive theory the process of human motivation, and summarize Maslow‘s needs hierarchy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and learned needs theory.

u.

Outline the expectancy theory model, and prescribe how to improve employee motivation through the elements of this model.

v.

Describe organizational behavior modification (OB Mod) and social cognitive theory, and explain their relevance to employee motivation.

w.

Discuss the characteristics of effective goal setting and feedback.

x.

Explain how equity theory, procedural justice, and interactional justice influence employee motivation.

Slide 3: Motivation through Coaching and Goal Setting Many companies are improving employee motivation by transforming their old performance appraisal systems into coaching and developmental conversations, with more responsive goal setting and feedback • Henkel AG enables employees to request feedback from anyone, at any time, on any aspect of their performance • Accenture has replaced traditional annual performance appraisals and ratings with real-time, in-person feedback, forward-looking conversations and support to grow their careers • Goldman Sachs performance review process now places more emphasis on coaching employees throughout the year

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Slide 4: Employee Motivation Motivation defined: The forces within a person that affect the direction, intensity, and persistence of effort for voluntary behavior • Direction—the goal or outcome toward which people steer their effort • Intensity—the amount of physical, cognitive, and emotional energy expended at a given moment to achieve a task or other objective • Persistence—how long people sustain their effort as they move toward their goal Motivated employees are willing to exert a particular level of effort (intensity), for a certain amount of time (persistence), toward a particular goal (direction) Employee engagement: Employee‘s emotional and cognitive motivation, particularly a focused, intense, persistent, and purposive effort toward work-related goals

Slide 5: Employee Drives Hardwired characteristics of the brain that correct deficiencies or maintain an internal equilibrium by producing emotions to energize individuals • No agreement on list of drives, but several understood—drive for social interaction, competence, to comprehend our surroundings, to defend ourselves • Drives are innate and universal—exist from birth, everyone has them • Drives produce emotions that energize us to act on our environment—put us in a state of readiness • Drives (and emotions produced by drives) are the prime movers of behavior (our motivation originates from drives)

Slide 6: Employee Needs Goal-directed forces that people experience Motivational forces generated from emotions are channeled toward specific goals Goals formed by self-concept, social norms, and past experience—guide direction of our effort Individual differences in needs—self-concept, social norms, and past experience amplify or suppress drivebased emotions

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Slide 7: Four-Drive Theory States that emotions are generated through four drives Drive to acquire • Drive to seek, take, control, and retain objects and personal experiences • Produces the need for achievement, competence, status, and self-esteem; foundation of competition Drive to bond • Drive to form social relationships and mutual caring commitments with others • Produces the need for belonging and affiliation—motivates cooperation • Explains why people form social identities (align self-concept with social groups) Drive to comprehend • Drive to satisfy our curiosity, to know and understand ourselves and our environment • Produces the need to understand and to fulfill our knowledge potential • Related to higher-order needs of growth and self-actualization Drive to defend • Drive to protect ourselves physically and socially; ―fight-or-flight‖ response; includes defending our relationships and belief systems All four drives are innate, independent of each other, and nonhierarchical Three drives are proactive—they are regularly activated by our perceptions to seek fulfillment—only drive to defend is reactive (triggered by threat)

Slide 8: How Four Drives Motivate 1. Four drives determine which emotions are automatically tagged to incoming information (emotional markers) 2. Emotions are usually nonconscious but become conscious experiences when sufficiently strong or conflict 3. When emotions energize us, our mental skill set transforms this primary motivation into goal-directed choice and effort

• Mental skill set includes social norms, personal values, and past experience

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Slide 9: Four-Drive Theory Practical Implications Provide a balanced opportunity for employees to fulfill all four drives 1. Best workplaces for employee motivation and well-being help employees fulfill all four drives 2. Keep fulfillment of all four drives in balance—organizations should avoid too much or too little opportunity to fulfill each drive • Four drives counterbalance one another • Drive to bond counterbalances the drive to acquire • Drive to comprehend counterbalances the drive to defend

Slide 10: Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory Most widely known theory of human motivation—physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and selfactualization • Two additional categories not in the hierarchy—need to know and need for beauty (beauty includes ―beauty, symmetry, and likely simplicity, completion, and order‖) • Strongest source of motivation is the lowest unsatisfied need • When lower need is satisfied, next higher need becomes the primary motivator • Highest need (self-actualization)—called a ―growth need‖ because it continues to develop even when temporarily satiated Maslow‘s model lacks empirical support • People have different needs hierarchies (Maslow assumed all have same hierarchy) • Employee needs are strongly influenced by self-concept, personal values, and personality—these differ across people—can also change over time Maslow‘s Contribution to Motivation • Multiple needs should be studied together because they operate together • Higher-order needs influenced by thoughts (e.g., personal values), not just instinct • Positive view of motivation—people motivated to reach their potential (self-actualization—growth needs)—earlier research focused on deficiencies (e.g., hunger)

Slide 11: Intrinsic Motivation at Hubspot Hubspot employees say they feel intrinsically motivated through autonomy and personal growth. ―I have a lot of autonomy in how and when and where I work,‖ applauds an employee at the Cambridge, MA, sales and marketing software firm

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Slide 12: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Intrinsic motivation—fulfilling needs for competence and autonomy by engaging in the activity itself, rather than from an externally controlled outcome of that activity • Drive for competence—applying skills and observing positive, meaningful outcomes from those talents • Drive for autonomy—motivation is self-initiated rather than controlled from an external source Extrinsic motivation—occurs when people want to engage in an activity for instrumental reasons—to receive something that is beyond their personal control • Directing effort toward a reward that indirectly fulfills personal needs • Example: motivated to win recognition awards, which indirectly fulfill need for status • Also, indirect forms of extrinsic motivation—example: motivated to avoid peer pressure to complete assignment on time Effect of extrinsic motivation on intrinsic motivation • Question whether extrinsic motivators add motivation beyond intrinsic motivators or reduce intrinsic motivation • Research evidence—extrinsic motivators may reduce existing intrinsic motivation to some extent and under some conditions, but the effect is often minimal

Slide 13: Learned Needs Theory Needs are learned (shaped, amplified, suppressed) through self-concept, social norms, and past experience • Training can change a person‘s need strength through reinforcement and altering their self-concept

Three Learned Needs Need for achievement (nAch) • Want to accomplish reasonably challenging goals through their own effort • Choose moderately challenging tasks, desire unambiguous feedback and recognition for their success, and prefer alone versus teams; money is a weak motivator • Successful entrepreneurs tend to have high achievement need Need for affiliation (nAff) • Seek approval of others, conform to their wishes and expectations, and avoid conflict and confrontation • High-nAff employees are more easily biased by a strong need for approval—therefore, less effective at making difficult decisions about distributing scarce resources Need for power (nPow) • Desire control over others, involvement in team decisions, use persuasion, desire to maintain a leadership position • Personalized power—want power for its own sake, to advance personal interests

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• Socialized power—desire power as a means to help others • Effective leaders—have high need for socialized rather than personalized power

Slide 14: Expectancy Theory of Motivation Work effort is directed toward behaviors that people believe will lead to desired outcomes—explains what people are motivated to do Effort-to-Performance (E-to-P) expectancy • Perceived probability that our effort will result in a particular level of performance • Ranges from 0.0 (no chance) to 1.0 (certainty) Performance-to-Outcome (P-to-O) expectancy • Perceived probability that a performance level will lead to a particular outcome • Ranges from 0.0 (no chance) to 1.0 (certainty) Outcome valences • Anticipated satisfaction/dissatisfaction from receiving an outcome • Positive valence when outcome is consistent with our values and satisfy our needs; negative valence when outcome opposes values and inhibit need fulfillment

Slide 15: Expectancy Theory in Practice Increasing E-to-P expectancies • Select/train staff and adjust job duties to skills • Provide sufficient time and resources • Provide coaching and behavioral modeling to build self-efficacy (Assure employees that they have the required abilities and resources) • Provide clear role perceptions on how employees achieve desired performance • Clearly communicate the tasks required for the job • Provide behavior modeling and supportive feedback

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Increasing P-to-O expectancies • Measure job performance accurately • Clearly explain the outcomes that will result from successful performance • Describe how the employee‘s rewards were based on past performance • Provide examples of others whose good performance has resulted in higher rewards Increasing outcome valences • Distribute rewards that employees value • Individualize rewards • Minimize countervalent outcomes (e.g., peer pressure)

Slide 16: A-B-Cs of Behavior Modification Expectancy theory says motivation is determined by employee beliefs about expected performance and outcomes • OB Mod and social cognitive theory explain how people learn those expectancy beliefs (probabilities) Organizational behavior modification (OB Mod) • Explains employee behavior from antecedents and consequences of that behavior • Focuses on environment, not thoughts

A-B-Cs of OB Mod Central objective of behavior modification is to change behavior (B) by managing its antecedents (A) and consequences (C) Antecedents • Events preceding the behavior • Informs employees that a particular action will produce specific consequences—for example, sound signaling that an email has arrived Behavior • What people say or do—for example, checking phone for a new message Consequences

• Events following behavior that influences its future occurrence—for example, see new message with valuable information

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Slide 17: OB Mod Consequences, Schedules, Results Positive reinforcement • Occurs when introducing a consequence increases or maintains the frequency or future probability of a specific behavior • Example: receiving praise after completing a project • Preferred consequence for reinforcing desired behaviors Punishment • Occurs when a consequence decreases the frequency or future probability of a behavior • Example: being demoted or ostracized by our coworkers Extinction • Occurs when the target behavior decreases because no consequence follows it • Example: performance declines when manager stops congratulating employees for their good work Negative reinforcement • Occurs when removing or avoiding a consequence increases or maintains the frequency or future probability of a behavior • Example: manager stops criticizing employee when poor performance improves • Desired consequence for reducing undesirable behaviors

OB Mod Schedules of Reinforcement Continuous reinforcement schedule • Positive reinforcement after every occurrence of the desired behavior • Best for learning new tasks Variable ratio schedule • Employee behavior is reinforced after a variable number of times • Makes behavior highly resistant to extinction

Evaluating OB Mod Everyone uses organizational behavior modification principles in one form or another to influence behavior of others • In everyday life (e.g., thank people for a job well done) • Formal company programs to reduce absenteeism, improve task performance, improve safety, and so on

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• OB Mod principles embedded in ―gamification‖ and some ―nudge‖ interventions • Gamification—reinforcing behavior through digital games • Nudges—a broader range of interventions that gently guide an individual to select one choice rather than others—for example (1) make some choices more difficult to use, (2) introduce behavior preference cues, and (3) generate reinforcement through ongoing feedback.

Behavior modification problems/limitations include: • Reward inflation—the reinforcer is eventually considered an entitlement • Variable ratio schedule may be viewed as gambling or too random • Ignores relevance of cognitive processes in learning

Side 18: Social Cognitive Theory Learning and motivation occurs by observing and modeling others as well as by anticipating the consequences of our behavior Learning behavior consequences • Observing consequences that others experience • For example, coworker fired for being rude to a customer • Anticipating consequences in other situations • Fired coworker incident affects your P-to-O expectancy about being fired if rude to coworkers Behavior modeling • Observing, imitating, and practicing behavior of others • Increases self-efficacy Self-regulation • People engage in intentional, purposive action • They set their own short- and long-term goals, standards of achievement, plan of action, consider alternatives, and anticipate consequences

• Self-reinforcement—reinforce behavior by rewarding/punishing themselves with consequences within their control

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Slide 19: Goal Setting The process of motivating employees and clarifying their role perceptions by establishing performance objectives Apply ―SMARTER‖ goals for effective goal setting: • Specific—what, how, where, when, and with whom the task needs to be accomplished • Measurable—how much, how well, at what cost • Achievable—challenging, yet accepted (maintain high E-to-P expectancy) • Relevant—within employee‘s control • Time-framed—due date and when assessed • Exciting—employee commitment, not just compliance • Reviewed—feedback and recognition on goal progress and accomplishment

Slide 20: Characteristics of Effective Feedback 3. Specific—information refers to identifiable behaviors and (when possible) measurable outcomes—for example, ―Sales increased by 5% this month‖ 4. Relevant—relates to the behavior and outcomes within employee‘s control 5. Timely—available as soon as possible so employees see a clear association between their actions and consequences 6. Credible—information source should have complete and accurate information, recall information reliably, be unbiased in communicating and applying the feedback, describe the feedback in a supportive and empathetic manner 7. Sufficiently frequent—information is provided more often for those learning new tasks, and according to the job cycle‘s frequency

Slide 21: Strengths-Based Coaching A positive approach to coaching and feedback—focuses on building and leveraging the employee‘s strengths rather than trying to correct their weaknesses Strengths-based coaching process • Employees describe areas of work where they excel or demonstrate potential • Coach asks employee exploratory questions—discover ways to build on strengths • Identify situational barriers and strategies to overcome

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Strengths-based approach motivates because: • People are more receptive to information about their strengths, less about their flaws • Employee personality becomes stable as a young adult, which limits flexibility in interests, preferences, and abilities

Slide 22: Sources of Feedback Nonsocial sources—feedback from by nonhuman sources (e.g., electronic displays) Social sources—feedback directly from human sources (e.g., boss, customers, multisource) • Multisource feedback—a full circle of people around the employee • Potentially accurate and fair • Potentially expensive, time-consuming, ambiguous, inflated, and so on Preferred feedback source: • Use nonsocial feedback for goal progress feedback.

• Nonsocial more accurate, whereas social sources tend to delay/distort negative feedback • Negative feedback less damaging to self-esteem • Use social sources for conveying positive feedback • Enhances employee‘s self-esteem

Evaluating Goal Setting and Feedback Goal setting and feedback—generally a highly effective practice for employee motivation and performance Goal setting/feedback limitations: • Focuses employees on a narrow set of measurable performance indicators (i.e., ―What gets measured, gets done‖) • Difficult goals may motivate unethical behavior to achieve those goals • Difficult goals are stressful, which can undermine overall job performance • Interferes with learning process in new, complex jobs despite being effective in established jobs

• Motivates employees to set easy goals when tied to pay (bonus)

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Slide 23: Organizational Justice Organizational justice—the perception that appropriate formal or informal rules have been applied to the situation Three most common types of justice: 8. Distributive justice—perception that appropriate decision criteria (rules) have been applied to calculate how various benefits and burdens are distributed • Decision rules (criteria)—such as effort, need, or membership—determine how much each person should receive • Several distributive justice principles and associated criteria • Equality principle: everyone in the group should receive the same outcomes • Need principle: those with greatest need should receive more outcomes than others • Equity principle: people should receive outcomes in proportion to their contribution 9. Procedural justice—perception that appropriate procedural rules have been applied throughout the decision process 10.

Interactional justice—perception that appropriate rules have been applied in the way employees are treated throughout the decision process

Slide 24: Equity Theory Model Outcome/input ratio • Inputs—what employee contributes, for example, skill, effort, reputation, performance, experience, and hours worked • Outcomes—what employee receives, for example, pay, promotions, recognition, interesting jobs, and opportunities to improve skills Comparison other • Person/people against whom we compare our ratio • Not easily identifiable—may be someone in the same job, another job, or another company, or a ―generalized‖ comparison other Equity evaluation • Compare outcome/input ratio with the comparison other

• Result: perception of equity, underreward inequity or overreward inequity

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Slide 25: Correcting Inequity Tension Inequity tension • Occurs when we believe we are underrewarded or overrewarded • Motivated to reduce this negative emotion

Equity theory identifies several ways people correct underreward inequity 11.

Reduce our inputs—for example, work more slowly, offer fewer suggestions, and engage in less organizational citizenship behavior 12.

Increase our outcomes—for example, ask for a pay raise and make unauthorized use of company resources 13.

Increase the comparison other‘s inputs—for example, ask the better-paid coworker to do a larger share of the work 14.

Reduce comparison other‘s outcomes—for example, ensuring the coworker gets fewer desirable jobs or working conditions 15.

Change our perceptions/beliefs, that is, perceptual rather than behavioral—for example, believe that the coworker really is doing more such as working longer hours 16.

Change the comparison other—for example, compare yourself more with a friend who works in a similar job than the higher-paid coworker 17.

Leave the field—for example, move to another department, quit

Slide 26: Procedural Justice Rules Perception that appropriate rules are applied in the procedures used throughout the decision process Procedural justice rules: • Decision makers are not biased by self-interest or restrictive doctrines • Allocation decisions are based on a full complement of accurate information • Decision makers consider the interests of all groups affected by the outcomes • Decisions and procedures are compatible with ethical principles • Decision criteria/procedures applied consistently across persons and over time • Employees present their evidence and opinions to decision makers (voice) • Questionable decisions and procedures can be appealed and overturned

Slide 27: Interactional Justice Rules Perception that appropriate rules are applied in the way the people involved are treated throughout the decision process Interactional justice rules: • Employees are treated in a polite manner

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• Employees are treated with respect • Employees receive thorough and well justified explanations about the decision • Employees receive honest, candid, and timely information about the decision Consequences of Procedural and Interactional Injustice Victims experience negative emotions Common outcomes: less work effort (and performance), fewer organizational citizenship behaviors, less cooperation with coworkers, increased involvement in union activities, increased turnover Victims retaliate to restore their self-esteem, status, power in the relationship, educate the decision maker, reduce future injustices Increased aggression toward decision maker and those treated more favorably More extreme dysfunctional behaviors—theft, sabotage, violence

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

47. Four-drive theory recommends that companies must keep fulfillment of the four drives in balance. What is this ―balance‖ and why is it important? Give an example (real or hypothetical) of how a company maintains balanced drive fulfillment. Also describe a company that does not provide this balance, including the consequences of this imbalance on employees‘ attitudes and behavior.

Four-drive theory identifies four innate drives that create emotions as the foundations of employee motivation. There are two reasons why the theory recommends that companies support ongoing employee fulfillment of these four drives. First, the theory implies that employee motivation and wellbeing is highest through fulfillment of all four drives. Supporting fulfillment of one or two drives may undermine the employee‘s well-being and may lead to suboptimal motivation.

The second reason why companies need to support ongoing employee fulfillment of all four drives is that these drives exist as opposing pairs. Specifically, the drive to defend contrasts with the drive to comprehend (one is defensive, the other is exploratory). The drive to acquire contrasts with the drive to bond (one is competitive, whereas the other is cooperative). Companies need to provide opportunities for employees to fulfill all four drives so the emotions derived from these drives have some degree of balance. Otherwise, the dysfunctions of each drive will not have a counterbalancing drive to minimize those dysfunctions. For instance, if the drive to bond is not supported, the drive to acquire will dominate, which can lead to dysfunctional competitiveness among employees. But if the driver to bond is supported without the drive to acquire, the company may have less employee initiative and instead nurture a country club culture of employees getting along for its own sake.

How do companies provide this balance? Students should consider applied workplace activities and outcomes that help employees to fulfill each drive. For instance, social interaction and team working support fulfillment of the drive to bond, whereas competitive performance-based promotions and rewards support fulfillment of the drive to acquire. Fulfillment of the drive to comprehend occurs when companies encourage and reward formal occupational learning as well as creativity and productive discovery (such as through a learning orientation culture—discussed later in this book). The counteracting drive to defend is nurtured through protective activities or conditions, such as formal grievance processes and other procedural justice structures.

Student should have a relatively easy time identifying companies that did not provide a balance of drives fulfillment. Hypercompetitive companies often have internal politics problems due to the imprecise nature of performance measurement and reward allocation. Companies that create uncertainty or a legalistic culture of employee rights can amplify the drive to defend. Companies that encourage cooperative behavior and ―getting alone‖ cultural values amplify the drive to bond, which can lead to suboptimal decisions because people are unwilling to engage in constructive debate.

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48. Learned needs theory states that needs can be strengthened or weakened. How might a company strengthen the achievement needs of its management team?

McClelland‘s learned needs theory identifies three needs. However, this question requires students to focus only on the need for achievement (nAch) and describe how it could be strengthened or weakened.

This theory holds that needs can be strengthened via reinforcement, learning and social conditions.

Therefore, answers should address these strategies in a workplace setting. A typical answer might refer to the following: Behavioral modeling. The company could develop programs where trainees observe and interact with high achievers and try to replicate their actions and thoughts. For instance, they might be asked to write achievement-oriented stories, or practice achievement-oriented behaviors in various types of simulations.

They could also learn how to develop and write achievement plans.

Provide reinforcement. Employees could be encouraged to engage in more achievement-oriented behaviors, if the company provided a combination of effective feedback and recognition. The recognition could take the form of awards, praise, time off, or monetary incentives.

Social conditions. The company could strive to establish an environment where achievement is celebrated by supervisors, and peers. Some group incentives for reaching certain objectives could be put in place to socialize success among groups of employees.

49. Everyone who works as an electronic game developer has extrinsic sources of motivation, and most also experience some degree of intrinsic motivation. Considering the dynamics of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, what should companies in this industry do to ensure that their game developers are highly motivated at work?

There are essentially two elements of this question: (a) how to motivate intrinsically and extrinsically and (b) how to incorporate extrinsic motivation that does not undermine intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation occurs when people seek need fulfillment from doing the activity itself. In particular, people are intrinsically motivated when they perform tasks that fulfill their drive for competence and autonomy. In practice, this suggests that companies need to design jobs in which employees can fully apply their skills and experience freedom from external controls (micromanaging bosses, highly formalized rules). The next chapter of this book discusses autonomy as a job design strategy. Fulfilling the drive competence calls for jobs that are aligned with the employees‘ skills and knowledge, make full use of those abilities, and possibly stretch the employee‘s capabilities so competencies are further developed.

Extrinsic motivation. There are many ways to motivate employees extrinsically. Specific financial rewards as well as general reward strategies are discussed in the next chapter. However, students should discuss the fact that extrinsic motivation takes three forms: (1) clearly external sources (bonus, micromanaging boss), (2) internal pressure associated with external sources, and (3) internalized value of external sources. All three can motivate and have value in specific situations. However, students might argue that the third option has particular appeal because it feels more internally sourced and therefore is less likely to diminish the person‘s feeling of autonomy. The employee identifies with the company‘s values and, therefore, feels motivated more from an internal source—personal values—than from

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external sources. In contrast, the other two forms of extrinsic motivation seem to be further removed from the individual and therefore feel less controllable.

Effect of extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. The other issue in discussing extrinsic motivation has to do with what effect a specific extrinsic motivator has on intrinsic motivation. The textbook identifies a few characteristics of extrinsic motivators that are unlikely to have an adverse effect on intrinsic motivation. These include extrinsic motivators that are unexpected, such as a surprise bonus, that have low value relative to the intrinsic motivator, and that are not contingent on specific behavior.

Students should identify specific rewards and other forms of extrinsic motivation that satisfy some or all of these characteristics.

50. Use all three components of expectancy theory to explain why some employees are motivated to show up for work during a snowstorm whereas others don‘t make any effort to leave their homes.

Students need to look separately at the E-to-P expectancies, P-to-O expectancies, and outcome valences of employees who do and don‘t show up for work during a snowstorm.

E-to-P expectancies. Students would focus on whether the employee believes they are able to make it through the snowstorm (where P = performance of actually showing up at the workplace). A low expectancy would exist where employees depend on public transportation that is shut down during the storm. Similarly, a low expectancy exists among employees who drive to work but where the roads are impassable (not yet plowed). Some students might also consider the alternative ―P‖ in which the employee can just as easily perform the work from home (i.e., remote work). Even if getting to the workplace is possible (say, 80% probability), this probability would still be less than the probability of being fully productive through remote work.

P-to-O expectancies. Students can identify a wide range of outcomes related to showing up (or not showing up) to work. They might mention that showing up at the office is a sign of dedication, which gives you a more favorable reputation to the boss and company. Another outcome for some people is being able to perform work more completely (i.e., some resources are at the office, making remote work less feasible), so showing up at work reduces or avoids the backlog of work that would occur if the employee did not attend the workplace. A related issue is the positive or negative consequences of missing an important event at work, such as a conference meeting with overseas clients. For some, showing up for work also affects whether they get a paycheck that day. Outcomes for NOT attending the workplace should also be considered. Students might note the positive outcome of having a day off work (―snow day‖ for employees). Others would consider the risk of accident or health problems resulting from trying to go to the workplace.

Outcome valences. For each of the outcomes (O) mentioned above, students should assign a positive or negative valence and possibly a strength of the valence. For example, getting into an accident trying to attend work would have a strong negative valence for most people (remember, the valence of an outcome differs from the probability that the outcome will occur). Gaining reputation by showing up for work would have a positive valence, and so forth.

51. The opening case study for this chapter describes how many companies have replaced or supplemented traditional annual performance appraisals with frequent, constructive, and future-focused development reviews. Apply expectancy theory to explain why the more frequent feedback and more strengths-based

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future focus of the new performance review process might motivate employees more than the traditional judgment-oriented, problem-focused, annual performance appraisal process.

There are several motivational benefits of the emerging developmental performance process compared to traditional (and still widely practiced) performance appraisal systems. Many of these benefits can be explained through expectancy theory. The most obvious of these is that developmental reviews provide more timely feedback, which gives employees more accurate and salient information about whether their effort is resulting desired performance. In other words, better feedback can strengthen—or at least make clearer—the E-to-P expectancy linkage. This is also indirectly explained by OB Mod and social cognitive theory—employees experience more timely and frequent information about the consequences of their behavior, and they receive better information about the consequences of behavior engaged by coworkers than occurs in traditional performance reviews.

Developmental reviews also help managers and other company representatives to better understand what specific employees value. In other words, they have a better opportunity to know the valences of supposedly desired outcomes. Through this information, managers can guide employees to work activities and career paths that will result in more desirable (more positively valent) outcomes. Through developmental feedback, managers can, in some circumstances, and choose alternative outcomes (pay, time off, recognition, etc.) for desired behaviors.

Developmental reviews also enable managers to more quickly and clearly clarify the outcomes that will outcome for employee behavior and performance. These conversations develop in employees more accurate, salient, and clearer P-to-O expectancies regarding key performance goals.

This question also asks about the role of strengths-based feedback/coaching on employee motivation in terms of expectancy theory. By focusing on their strengths, employees have stronger E-to-P expectancies compared to focusing on work activities that they perform poorly and have limited interest or capacity to improve. Strengths-based coaching also directs employees toward work that is most rewarding to them— in other words, toward outcomes that have higher valence than work actives that are less aligned with their self-concept and competencies.

52. Describe a situation in which you used organizational behavior modification to increase or decrease someone‘s motivation regarding a specific behavior. What specifically did you do? What was the result?

Ask students to reflect on their experiences with influencing the behavior of another person. It may be helpful to encourage students to first describe the behavior they wanted to see demonstrated before considering what they did to influence the demonstration of the behavior. The following steps are intended to serve as an outline: Ask students to specifically describe what behavior they wanted the person to demonstrate.

Identify events or cues they used to increase the likelihood the desired behavior would be demonstrated.

Identify what they did after the desired behavior was demonstrated to influence its future occurrence.

Discussion may also be generated regarding how they felt about the use of behavior modification as a means to influence behavior.

Also, ask student to discuss how they felt about the use of behavior modification as a means to influence behavior. Some students may suggest we all practice behavior modification on a day-to-day basis (e.g.,

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when we thank someone for something they did). However, encourage students to raise issues about ethical concerns—for example, is behavior modification a form of manipulation?

53. Using your knowledge of the characteristics of effective goals, establish two meaningful goals related to your performance in this class.

The textbook identifies seven characteristics of effective goals. The goals that students describe should reflect each of these features.

Specific. A student‘s goal statement should state what needs to be accomplished, how it should be accomplished, and where, when, and with whom it should be accomplished. For example, a goal regarding completion of weekly assignments not only identifies the task (weekly assignment in this course) and when the assignment should be completed (e.g., three days before due). It should also state the way it should be completed and, if relevant, where and with whom it should be completed.

Measurable. Goals need to be measurable. Therefore, a meaningful student goal would state the deadline and, if relevant, the performance level (e.g., grade received and number of words submitted).

Achievable. Student goals must be achievable, meaning that they are sufficiently but not overly challenging. Goals that are too challenging undermine motivation when students realize that they are very difficult.

Relevant. Goals need to be relevant and within the student‘s control. For example, goals regarding the work that students perform (e.g., completing assignments, speaking in class, and engaging in specific study habits) are more relevant than are final outcome goals (course grades).

Time-framed. Goals should specify when the objective should be completed or when it will be assessed for comparison against a standard. This partly relates to the characteristics of specific goals but is more focused on the ―when‖ the task should be conducted and completed, as well as milestone deadlines for longer-term goals.

Exciting. Goals tend to be more effective when students are committed to them, not just compliant. What makes students committed to and excited by course goals is a matter of debate as well as personal preference. Students would be more committed to goals where they have been involved in them, so assignments where students individually (and possibly collectively) participate in the assignment design might be more engaging. Student commitment also tends to be higher in goals that are challenging but not impossible.

Reviewed. The motivational value of goal setting depends on students receiving feedback about reaching those goals. Most student goals can satisfy this characteristic because their classwork is measurable without instructor feedback. For example, students can quickly see from learning management systems how long before the weekly assignment deadline they submitted the weekly assignment.

Students should be encouraged to write draft goal statements and then, working in small groups or with a partner, refine their draft goal statements to ensure each of the above criteria are applied. Each goal statement needs to reflect the individual‘s current level of performance, knowledge, and so on. For example, what is challenging to one student may be unattainable, therefore, demotivating to another student.

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54. Most people think they are ―worth more‖ than they are paid. Furthermore, most employees seem to feel that they exhibit better leadership skills and interpersonal skills than others. Please comment on this human tendency.

When people believe that the ―average is above average,‖ this is not rational! When people in general are asked if they are ―better than average‖ or below average, most tend to respond better than average. That isn‘t statistically likely! We also know from studies of the military, that 90 percent of all officers in the U.S. Navy think they‘re in the top 10 percent of officers in the U.S. Navy. Again … statistically improbable! The same holds true for leadership skills and interpersonal skills. Try finding anyone who thinks they‘re below average in interpersonal skills. This nonrational nature of human nature is what makes many motivational programs demoralizing and dehumanizing. If I think I‘m better than average and you‘re trying to ―correct‖ my self-concept of myself, the likely outcome will be one of frustration and most likely disbelief. When we extrapolate to the realm of pay, equity theory is spot on in explaining why we think we‘re underpaid vis-à-vis our coworkers.

55. You are an external consultant hired by a large organization to investigate possible causes of employee perceptions of procedural and interactional injustice regarding various management decisions (promotions, vacation rostering, assigned tasks, office location, etc.). Many employees have complained that management is unfair in how it makes these decisions. Even those who say they get a fair deal in these decisions agree that the process is suspicious and therefore subject to doubt by those who receive less than they expected. In a few instances, employees have also complained about the information (or lack of information) they receive about how the decision was justified, as well as how they have been treated when trying to discuss the decision with management. As an external consultant, identify specific activities and issues you would investigate to pinpoint the ways in which management can improve employee perceptions of procedural and interactional justice.

This question directs students to the specific rules associated with procedural and interactional justice and asks them to identify practical company activities that support these rules. The question does NOT ask students to identify ways of improving distributive justice, so the answers would not refer to equity theory, for example.

10.

Procedural Justice Decision makers are not biased by self-interest or restrictive doctrines—Managers must not create incidents that others may misinterpret as favoritism (e.g., spending more time with one or two employees and seeing some employees socially after work).

Allocation decisions are based on a full complement of accurate information—Managers need to demonstrate that they are familiar with all aspects of the decision, including counterarguments to their decision Decision makers consider the interests of all groups affected by the outcomes—Managers and other decision makers need to listen to all sides of the dispute. They need to demonstrate attentiveness to everyone who presents their complaint, comments, or ideas regarding the issue.

Decisions and procedures are compatible with ethical principles.

Decision criteria and procedures are applied consistently across persons and over time—Managers need to avoid exceptions to the rules of resource and reward allocation.

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Employees have the opportunity to present their evidence and opinions to decision makers (voice)—A top priority is to give the employee who feels underrewarded an opportunity to speak up about their complaint and offer reasons for that complaint.

Questionable decisions and procedures can be appealed and overturned—Employees who feel underrewarded by the decision should have the right to provide their arguments to a higher authority (e.g., the boss‘s boss) if the above actions do not resolve the matter Interactional Justice Interactional justice has four main rules. Two rules state that employees need to be treated with respect and in a polite manner. Students need to consider the meaning of these phrases. For instance, ―treated with respect‖ refers to maintaining the individual‘s sense of self-worth, so managers need to find ways of preserving employees‘ self-concept if they do not receive the benefits that were assumed would be received. For example, if an employee does not win a promotion, the manager might point out the employee‘s positive features that were considered and point out ways they the person‘s shortcomings in the competition can be developed for as better chance of future career progress.

The second pair of rules for interactional justice refer to giving employees ―well justified‖ as well as ―honest, candid, and timely‖ information about decisions affecting them. This occurs by having managers provide sound explanations for their decision and actively communicate those explanations to employees affected by the decision soon after the decision is made. Students need to consider ―well-justified‖ explanations from the employee‘s point of view, which means that to provide information with high interactional justice, managers need to understand employee assumptions and expectations regarding promotions and other resource allocation decisions.

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CS

CASE STUDY: MOTIVATED TO WORK IN THE SLOW LANE

Case Synopsis This case describes how, over several summers working several summers at the city‘s Parks and Recreation Department, Quinn McGee became motivated (and proficient) at working slowly without appearing to be a slow worker.

Apply expectancy theory of motivation to explain why Quinn McGee and coworkers were motivated to work at a slow pace rather than at a ―normal pace for most humans.‖ The E-to-P expectancy component of expectancy theory isn‘t particularly relevant in this case because McGee and others have 1.0 probability of completing the work by the planned deadline and probably can complete most tasks much sooner than planned. Instead, the motivation to work at a slow pace is related to the P-to-O expectancies and the valences of those outcomes. Students should compare the work on time (a slow pace) performance with the ―normal pace for most humans,‖ which is usually completing the work ahead of schedule. Note that valences will be the same for the outcome in both performance conditions (i.e., early layoffs have the same negative valence no matter whether the performance is slow or normal). The specific outcome along with their probabilities and valences provided below are the author‘s judgments. Students might describe the outcome differently and their estimates might vary from these numbers. These differences are fine as long as the outcomes are generally similar, have corresponding probabilities (i.e., high, medium, low), and have valences are in the same direction (depending on how the outcome is stated).

Performance–outcome probabilities and outcome valences of completing the work at a NORMAL human pace (i.e., ahead of schedule) (a) happy supervisor—low probability (+0.2), medium positive valence (+4) (b) need to look busy— medium-high probability (+0.7), medium negative valence (−4) (c) poor performance evaluation—medium-low probability (+0.4), medium negative valence (−4) (d) laid off early—high probability (+0.9), medium-high negative valence (−7) (e) unused departmental budget—high probability (+0.9), low negative valence (−2) (f) full lunches and breaks— low probability (+0.2), medium positive valence (+4) Performance–outcome probabilities and outcome valences of completing the work at a SLOW pace (i.e., scheduled completion deadlines) (a) happy supervisor—medium-high probability (+0.7), medium positive valence (+4) (b) need to look busy— low probability (+0.2), medium negative valence (−4) (c) poor performance evaluation—very low probability (+0.1), medium negative valence (−4)

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(d) laid off early—low probability (+0.2), medium-high negative valence (−7) (e) unused departmental budget—very low probability (+0.1), low negative valence (−2) (f) full lunches and breaks— high probability (+0.9), medium positive valence (+4) Students should multiple each probability and valence and then add up these products within each of the two performance levels. The estimates above result in −10.9 for the ―normal‖ performance level and +3.6 for the slow pace performance level. The slow performance level clearly creates more positive emotions for McGee. To simplify this question, the instructor may want to provide the above list of outcomes to students and ask them to complete the analysis using those outcomes.

56. To what extent do goal setting and equity theories of motivation explain the motivation problems in this case?

Goal setting. The case states that ―The department assigned goals for how long each task should take to complete.‖ These goals cascaded down to teams and individual. The departmental goals for each task were apparently quite lax in terms of time and possibly budget for completion, which had the perverse effect of motivating employees and managers to complete the work at a much longer time than they could have completed the work. Students should mention that the goals had specific rewards, namely that consuming the budget to complete those goals rewarded the departmental with the same (or possibly higher) budgets the following year. There were no financial outcomes associated with completing the work better than the planned goals.

Equity theory. At first glance, students might not recognize how equity theory relates to this case because there are no clear instances of employees feeling unfairly treated. However, equity theory does exist in a more subtle way. During his first year, McGee would have felt overpaid compared to someone performing the work at a ―pace normal to most human beings.‖ In fact, McGee initially performed the job at that normal pace, implying that he felt that level of effort was equitable. Students might also refer to equity theory to explain the ―lifer‘s‖ scolding of McGee, although this action might refer more to expectancy outcomes than to feelings of unfairness.

57. Assume you are a consultant with this information. What recommendations would you provide the city‘s executives to improve employee motivation in the Parks and Recreation Department?

Students should answer this question at the individual (or team) and city level. At the individual/team level, the department should consider financial (or preferably nonfinancial) incentives for employees to complete the work ahead of schedule. Students might mention a meaningful perk for teams that complete major project ahead of schedule and under budget. Time off for completing work early probably wouldn‘t work because it conveys the wrong image to the public.

The most important changes probably need to occur at the city level, particularly regarding setting budgets and departmental goals. Rather than agreeing to the department‘s estimates, the city might have comparisons with other cities on completion of major tasks. Another recommendation is to avoid reducing budgets if there is a surplus. Instead, the city would improve the accuracy of its budget setting the following year, such as ensuring that more work is completed. In extreme cases, the city might establish a special project team separate from any specific department and consisting of the temporary

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staff. This separation might avoid the leisurely pace norms of the permanent department staff. With good leadership and performance-oriented team norms, the special project team would perform major projects outside the department‘s normal budget and task goals.

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CS

CASE STUDY: CINCINNATI SUPER SUBS

Note: Cincinnati Super Subs is a revision of the famous ―Perfect Pizzeria‖ case, which was written by J.E. Dittrich and R.A. Zawacki

Case Synopsis Cincinnati Super Subs is one of 300 restaurant franchises throughout Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. Each operation has one manager, an assistant manager, a few team leaders, and many employees (mostly college and high school students who work part-time). Most employees earn minimum wage. The manager and assistant manager get a bonus for keeping costs (wastage) low. However, employees raise costs by helping themselves to food and by adding free ingredients when their friends order a sub. Errors are supposed to be charged back to the responsible employee, but the night manager rarely writes this up because of peer pressure. The manager tried to reduce costs by limiting the free food allowance to only staff who work six or more hours (most work less than that minimum), but employees still nibbled whenever the manager and assistant manager were away. Morale fell and about 20 percent of the experienced employees quit. The high turnover and resulting staff shortages required the manager and assistant manager to train staff and spend more time in food preparation (even though managers are discouraged from working directly in food preparation). Accidental wastage increased due to new staff, but deliberate wastage fell while the managers were in the restaurant. However, wastage increased again almost immediately after the managers stepped back from daily operations. In response, the manager withdrew all free food allowance and threatened to fire employees caught consuming food.

What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong?

An important symptom in this case is the high level of food wastage. Another symptom is morale problems—employees were dissatisfied with their benefits (no more free food allowed) and management.

Similarly, Cincinnati Super Subs suffered from poor employee–management relations. Valued employees quit. The restaurant experienced lower productivity due to inexperienced staff hired and staff shortages.

Employee loyalty is very low. Employees remain with the company only due to continuance commitment.

58. What are the main causes of these symptoms? (a) Lack of Motivation to Minimize Food Costs. The level of food wastage at Cincinnati Super Subs was high because employees had little motivation to reduce food costs. This can be explained in terms of the P-to-O expectancy in expectancy theory.

Employees received several positive outcomes from the high food wastage. They enjoyed eating the free food (+). They enjoyed the support of their peers for taking food (+). Employees also fulfilled their social needs (drive to bond) and possibly need for status (drive to acquire) by giving free ingredients to their friends (+). Lastly, employees seem to feel inequity in their level of pay relative to other people in the labor market and compared with their previous rewards (better free food allowance). They redressed their feelings of inequity by taking food (+).

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

There were few negative consequences of keeping food costs high. The manager‘s threat of dismissals wasn‘t very effective because some employees didn‘t value the job anyway (i.e., some quit) and others probably didn‘t believe (low P-to-O expectancy) that the manager could fire them. Specifically, most employees were taking food, and the manager couldn‘t fire everyone.

Employees perceived almost no positive outcomes of keeping food costs low. They received no rewards contingent on food costs. They apparently weren‘t praised by the manager for keeping food costs low (and, in any event, relations were so poor that any praise wouldn‘t have much valence).

Employees perceived negative outcomes of keeping food costs low. They would receive peer pressure from other employees. Their friends might be critical, thereby leaving relatedness needs unfulfilled. (b) Team Leaders Lacked Motivation (and Power). The team leaders were given legitimate power by the company, but employees continued to eat and give away food because they had more power over the team leader (ostracizing at school) than the team leader had over them. (NOTE: This part of the case analysis refers to concepts beyond this chapter. See Chapter 10.)

Team leaders had legitimate power, but they did not exercise that authority due to risk of ostracism and, in any event, employees would reject the team leader‘s legitimate power over them. Team leaders also had reward and coercive power in the sense that they could write up reports of food wastage. However, these team leaders were not motivated to complete these reports. Expectancy theory provides an explanation for this lack of motivation. The night manager apparently didn‘t receive any positive outcomes for writing up the reports. No bonus went to the night manager. The night manager received less than minimum wage, so it is likely that the manager felt inequitably rewarded (and possibly took some food). There were also negative outcomes of writing up these reports. The night manager valued friendships with some of the employees, so relatedness needs would be threatened if reports were written. (c) Ineffective Use of Punishment. This case clearly illustrates the problems with using punishment to change behavior, as well as the negative consequences of punishment. The manager‘s use of punishment strained relations with employees.

Another problem with punishment that is apparent in this case is that it is usually effective only when the source of punishment is nearby. As soon as the manager stopped working in the restaurant, employees returned to their previous behaviors of eating and giving away free food.

This case also illustrates the problem that punishment creates disruptions in work activities. When employees quit due to the punishment imposed (reduced food allowance), the managers had to help with food preparation and train several new people. These disruptions undoubtedly disrupted the workflow and increased production costs.

59. What actions should Cincinnati Super Subs‘ managers take to correct these problems?

One of the most important solutions to this case is to link food costs (wastage) to employee rewards. This would motivate employees to reduce wastage and may reduce their feelings of inequity. One strategy would be to offer employees a bonus on their salary based on achieving specific food wastage targets for the month. Depending on the ability to collect more precise food wastage data, the manager might link food wastage on each work shift to bonuses for employees working on that shift. This would further strengthen the P-to-O expectancy.

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Bonuses would probably work best because employees feel they are underpaid relative to others in the labor market. However, the manager might first consider using token awards, such as T-shirts, free subs coupons, or challenges with rewards donated to the school or some other cause.

It will be difficult to completely restore employee–manager relations in the short term. However, some actions may help. The manager would certainly improve relations somewhat by removing threats and other sources of punishment, except for the most serious infractions.

The manager might also let employees create special social events on or off the job. This will be difficult at first, but employees might support them over time. (For example, the restaurant might have a special ―top hat‖ sub promotion in which employees wear top hats and customers get a discount for one premium sub with the works.) This would improve social bonding among employees and improve loyalty to the company. It might improve employee–management relations if the manager gets involved and is seen as the source of these positive events.

Cincinnati Super Subs needs to rethink the team leader‘s role. It is evident that peer pressure and lack of legitimate power (in the eyes of employees) makes the team leader‘s duties of reporting food wastage unreasonable. Fortunately, the performance-based reward system for employees should minimize the need for supervision. If the team leader needs a power base for their role, then the company should consider hiring people who are not as closely associated with the employees, are paid more, receive a bonus for minimizing food wastage, and have reward and coercive power over employees.

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: MOTIVATION DILEMMA INCIDENTS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students apply motivation theories to understand and resolve motivationrelated issues in real situations.

Instructions (Small or Large Class) This exercise may be completed either individually or in teams. It is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may be appropriate in moderately large classes. When the individuals (or teams) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Read each motivation dilemma incident. Identify one motivation theory that best relates to that incident and apply that theory to diagnose the problem(s) described. Next, use the same motivation theory to provide recommendations on how to resolve some or all of the problems and thereby improve employee motivation.

Finally, where feasible, identify a second motivation theory that might help to understand some aspects of the incident.

Incident 1: Gofer Distribution Equity theory applies best to this incident. The seniority-based pay system and performance appraisal system that is apparently biased toward seniority results in feelings of fairness among the higher performing employees, most of whom have less seniority. This incident lends itself nicely to the equity theory model for analysis.

Comparison other—Lower-paid/less senior employees and higher-paid employees (typically higher seniority old employees) compare each other.

Outcomes—Pay level is the dominant outcome in this incident analysis. Many younger employees are paid less than older employees.

Inputs—The lower-paid/less senior employees emphasize their performance contribution, such as the number of orders processed per day. Meanwhile, higher-paid/more senior employees refer to their loyalty and valuable knowledge as key inputs in the equity equation.

Correcting inequities—The employees who believe they are underpaid are complaining in an effort to shift to a pay-for-performance rather than pay-for-seniority reward system (i.e., increase the outcomes for themselves and likely reduce the outcomes of the more senior/lower performance employees).

Some employees have already quit (left the field).

Recommendations: Students will invariably recommend that the company should pay employees purely based on their output, perhaps in the form of a piece rate system. A shift toward pay-for-performance is likely appropriate. However, students should be challenged on whether seniority has any value, and whether more senior employees have ―valuable knowledge‖ (which is unspecified in the incident) that should be

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rewarded. The instructor might refer to the costs of high turnover versus a more stable (higher seniority) workforce. Students should also be encouraged to think of a fair method of rewarding senior staff if they do, indeed, have valuable knowledge (e.g., how to process complex orders and how to complete orders for special, longtime customers).

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Incident 2: Målbanken This case can be analyzed using goal-setting theory, equity theory, and expectancy theory.

Goal setting. Students will likely refer to goal setting first because goals are at the center of this incident.

Although something is clearly wrong here, Målbanken‘s goal setting system satisfies many of the SMARTER criteria. The goals applied by the bank are specific, measurable, time-framed, reviewed (good feedback), and likely exciting (challenging, with employee commitment). However, the incident states that ―it is almost impossible to achieve goals for some products in some branches because of the type of customers,‖ indicating that these goals are not relevant (to the job or within the employee‘s control), or achievable (overly challenging) for some employees and branches. Another goal-related problem is that the goal setting system cannot (and does not) reward employees for performing tasks that are not easily measured (i.e., ―satisfy customer needs with services for which measurable goals do not exist and are not possible‖). Some employees also complain that the goal setting system also ignores important branch tasks that are measurable.

Equity theory. Feelings of inequity occur in a few ways in this incident. First, inequities clearly exist across branches. Specifically, ―some branches have wealthier and a larger number of customers per employee, making it easier to achieve any goal than in other branches.‖ In other words, employees in some branches receive more outcomes (goal-based bonuses) without working any harder than employees in branches with less favorable clients. Second, the incident states that employees are frustrated by failing a particular sales goal during one quarter yet easily being achieve that goal in another quarter when the bonus isn‘t offered. By inference, employees feel unfairness where the comparison other is oneself in each quarter or possibly other employees who achieve the goal in quarters when the bonus is paid. Third, employees who perform tasks that do not receive goal-based bonuses (e.g., ordering supplies, communicating with other branches) feel unfairness because they are not financially rewarded for these tasks while other employees who do not take time to perform these tasks receive bonuses.

Expectancy theory. The relevance of expectancy theory is subtle at first glance, but it explains some of the motivations mentioned in this incident. One such motivation is that employees are motivated to serve a client even when someone else in that branch has better skills to serve the client on that matter. The incident states: ―the bank‘s goal system discourages anyone from referring a customer to the skilled coworker for that product.‖ Students can analyze this in terms of the P-to-O of serving the clients versus handing off that client to the more skilled coworker. Another issue relevant to expectancy theory is the motivational effect of goals that are ―almost impossible to achieve goals for some products in some branches because of the type of customers.‖ This situation has a low E-to-P expectancy, which weakens the employees‘ motivation to achieve some goals. Third, students might suggest that the limited number of bonus-related goals each quarter might discourage employee motivation on tasks that do not receive a bonus during that quarter.

Finally, a few students might suggest that the experience of achieving a performance goal during a quarter when that goal receives no bonus might undermine employee motivation by weakening the P-to-O expectancy (i.e., feeling that the employee only achieves the goal in quarters when there is no bonus).

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: PREDICTING HARRY’S WORK EFFORT

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand expectancy theory and how its elements affect a person‘s level of effort toward job performance.

Instructions This exercise may be completed either individually or in small teams of four or five people. When the individuals (or teams) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Read the following interview case. Then, calculate whether Harry will engage in high or ―just acceptable‖ performance effort under the conditions described. Valence scores range from −1.0 to +1.0. All expectancies are probabilities ranging from 0 (no chance) to 1.0 (definitely will occur). The effort level scores are calculated by multiplying each valence by the appropriate P-to-O expectancy, summing these results, and then multiplying the sum by the E-to-P expectancy.

Discussion Question Use the expectancy theory model to predict Harry’s motivation to achieve high or ―just acceptable‖ performance in his job. Identify and discuss the factors that influence this motivation.

Students should work systematically through the three elements of expectancy theory to reach their conclusion. The effort level scores are calculated by multiplying each valence by the appropriate P-to-O expectancy, summing these results, and then multiplying the sum by the E-to-P expectancy. The results are presented in the exhibit below. The result is that Harry is more motivated to exert lower effort (0.816) than high effort (0.621). (NOTE: These values become .896 and .711 if the valence of a secure job is 1.0 rather than 0.9.)

E-to-P expectancy: All expectancies are probabilities ranging from 0 (no chance) to 1.0 (definitely will occur). The E-to-P expectancies are explicitly stated in the interview.

P-to-O expectancy: Students need to first identify the outcomes that are salient to Harry. These seem to be job security, raise, promotion, and ridicule from coworkers. The P-to-O expectancies for raise and promotion are explicitly stated in the interview. The expectancy for ridicule in the high-performance level is also explicitly stated. The expectancy of ridicule at the acceptable performance level is zero based on Harry‘s statement that ―the guys will not make fun of me‖ in that situation. A secure job has a 1.0 expectancy at both performance levels because Harry ―is certain‖ to keep his job if he works at either a high or acceptable performance level.

Valences: Valence scores can have any equally balanced range. The exhibit below uses the range from −1.0 to +1.0. Secure job is ―the most important‖ outcome, so it is assigned at least the same value as ridicule (either 0.9 or 1.0).

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: NEEDS PRIORITY EXERCISE

Purpose This class exercise is designed to help students understand employee needs in the workplace.

Instructions (Small Class) Step 1: The table below lists in alphabetical order 16 characteristics of the job or work environment. Working alone, use the far-left column to rank order the importance of these characteristics to you personally. Write in ―1‖ beside the most important characteristic, ―2‖ for the second most important, and so on, through to ―16‖ for the least important characteristic on this list.

Step 2: Students are assigned to teams, where they compare each other‘s rank order results. Note reasons for the largest variations in rankings and be prepared to discuss these reasons with the entire class. Students should pay close attention to different needs, self-concepts, and various forms of diversity (ethnicity, profession, age, etc.) within the class to identify possible explanations for any variation of results across students.

Step 3: The instructor will provide results of a recent large-scale survey of Millennial postsecondary students (i.e., born in 1980 or after). When these results are presented, discuss the reasons for any noticeable differences between the survey and class rankings. Relate the differences to your understanding of the emerging view of employee needs and drives in work settings.

Instructions (Large Class) Step 1 and Step 2: Same as the small class instructions.

Step 3: The instructor will ask students, by a show of hands (or use of classroom technology), to identify their top-ranked attributes.

Step 4: Same as the small class instructions.

Comments to Instructors The items in this activity were surveyed to 23,413 millennial undergraduate university students. The results of that large-scale study are shown in the table on the next page. The table shows the mean scores (on a fivepoint scale) for each of the 16 job attributes as well as the ranking of those attributes.

These results provide some insight regarding how Millennials think about employee needs. However, we hasten to point out that the study also found significant differences by gender, visible minority status, grade point average, work experience, and year of study. The differences by visible minority status were mainly that those in the visible minority group gave much higher importance to strong commitment to employment diversity. As for gender differences, women gave much higher ratings compared to men for strong commitment to employment diversity, opportunities to have a social impact, commitment to social responsibility, good health and benefits plan, and opportunities to have a personal impact.

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

This exercise is a popular activity because students have varied opinions regarding which needs are most important. Also, students are often surprised to see how different their priorities are to each other. Part of this activity involves linking the specific items in the exhibit to employee needs. This should be done with both Maslow‘s needs hierarchy and with the four drives in four-drive theory. For example, students should notice that ―good people to work with‖ relates to the drive to bond (four-drive theory) and need for affiliation (Maslow‘s hierarchy).

Needs Priority Survey Results

Mean Survey Score Ranking Based on (where 5 = essential; 1 Survey Results (1 = = not at all important) most important)

Attributes of Work (Listed Alphabetically) Challenging work

4.07

10

Commitment to social responsibility

3.84

12

Good health and benefits plan

4.32

6

Good initial salary level

4.17

9

Good people to report to

4.43

3

Good people to work with

4.46

2

Good training opportunities/developing new skills

4.41

4

Good variety of work

4.23

7

Job security

4.18

8

Opportunities for advancement in position

4.49

1

Opportunities to have a personal impact

3.98

11

Opportunities to have a social impact

3.82

13

Opportunity to travel

3.46

16

Organization is a leader in its field

3.65

14

Strong commitment to employee diversity

3.58

15

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

Attributes of Work (Listed Alphabetically)

Mean Survey Score Ranking Based on (where 5 = essential; 1 Survey Results (1 = = not at all important) most important) 4.33

Work–life balance

5

Based on information in: E. Ng, L. Schweitzer, and S. Lyons. ―New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation,‖ Journal of Business and Psychology 25(2) (2010): 281–92.

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.1: HOW STRONG ARE YOUR GROWTH NEEDS?

Overview and Instructions Many human needs are called ―deficiency‖ needs because they become active only when unfilled. However, Abraham Maslow popularized the idea that people also have ―growth needs,‖ which continue to motivate even when temporarily satiated. Growth needs are associated with self-actualization and intrinsic motivation.

People vary in their growth need strength, which is evident from the type of work they prefer.

The questions in this instrument give students a chance to say just what it is about a job that is most important to them. For each question, two different kinds of jobs are briefly described. Students are asked to indicate which of the two jobs they personally would prefer if they had to make a choice between them. In answering each question, students should assume that everything else about the jobs is the same. Students should pay attention only to the characteristics actually listed.

Feedback for the Growth Need Strength Scale This well-known scale estimates growth need strength. Growth need strength indicates the strength of a person‘s growth needs, including self-esteem, personal achievement, and self-actualization. Although organizational behavior scholars now doubt that people have a predetermined needs hierarchy, it is well established that we do have growth needs.

Scores on the Growth Need Strength Scale range from 12 to 60. Higher scores indicate a higher growth need strength (i.e., stronger growth needs). A total score below 30 indicates a relatively low growth need strength, whereas a score above 42 indicates a relatively high growth need strength.

Score

Interpretation

43–60 30–42 12–29

High growth needs Moderate growth needs Low growth needs

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.2: HOW STRONG ARE YOUR LEARNED NEEDS?

Overview and Instructions Everyone has the same innate drives, but these drives produce different need strengths due to each person‘s socialization and personality. David McClelland particularly examined three learned needs, two of which are measured in this self-assessment.

Feedback for the Personal Needs Scale This instrument measures two of the three ―learned needs‖ studied by David McClelland: achievement striving and need for social approval.

Achievement striving This scale, formally called ―achievement striving,‖ estimates the extent to which you are motivated to take on and achieve challenging personal goals. It includes a desire to perform better than others and to reach one‘s potential. This scale ranges from 0 to 28. How high or low is your need for achievement? The ideal would be to compare your score with the collective results of other students in your class. Otherwise, the following exhibit offers a rough set of norms for you to compare your score on this scale.

Score

Interpretation

24–28

High level of need for achievement

18–23

Above average level of need for achievement

12–17

Average level of need for achievement

6–11

Below average level of need for achievement

0–5

Low level of need for achievement

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Need for social approval The need for social approval scale estimates the extent to which you are motivated to seek favorable evaluation from others. Based on the drive to bond, the need for social approval is a secondary need in that people vary in this need based on their self-concept, values, personality, and possibly socialized social norms.

This scale ranges from 0 to 32. How high or low is your need for social approval? The ideal would be to compare your score with the collective results of other students in your class. Otherwise, the following exhibit offers a rough set of norms for you to compare your score on this scale.

Score

Interpretation

28–32

High level of need for social approval

20–27

Above average level of social approval

12–19

Average level of need for social approval

6–11

Below average level of need for social approval

0–5

Low level of need for social approval

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.3: WHAT IS YOUR GOAL ORIENTATION?

Overview and Instructions Everyone sets goals for themselves, but people differ in the nature of those goals. This self-assessment estimates your goal orientation. To complete this instrument, read the 12 statements and indicate how accurately each statement describes you.

Feedback for the Personal Needs Scale People have different mindsets about goals, particularly in achievement situations. Some view goals as challenges that assist learning. Others see goals as demonstrations of one‘s competence. Still others view goals as threatening one‘s image if they are not achieved. This goal orientation instrument estimates your level on each of these three orientations: learning goal orientation, performance goal orientation, and avoidance goal orientation.

Learning goal orientation People with a learning goal orientation view striving for goals as the way to acquire new skills and knowledge. This orientation views ability as malleable—something that can be developed through effort and persistence (such as trying to achieve challenging goals). Effort is the means through which new competencies are developed.

Score

Interpretation

22–28 11–21 4–10

High learning goal orientation Moderate learning goal orientation Low learning goal orientation

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

Performance goal orientation People with a performance goal orientation view goals as means to demonstrate (rather than develop) their skills and knowledge. They view their ability as fixed, so goals test that ability rather than develop it. People with a performance goal orientation are particularly motivated to seek out goals that they can achieve rather than goals with a high probability of failure.

Score

Interpretation

22–28 11–21 4–10

High performance goal orientation Moderate performance goal orientation Low performance goal orientation

Avoidance goal orientation Avoidance goal orientation is similar to performance goal orientation in that people with this orientation view goals as means to demonstrate (rather than develop) their skills and knowledge. However, an avoidance goal orientation is apparent by the motivation to avoid goals that might produce a negative judgment by others. In other words, people with this orientation pay attention to goals that might cause them to fail, whereas people with a performance goal orientation are motivated to seek out goals that demonstrate their success.

Score

Interpretation

22–28 11–21 4–10

High avoidance goal orientation Moderate avoidance goal orientation Low avoidance goal orientation

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.4: HOW SENSITIVE ARE YOU TO INEQUITIES?

Overview and Instructions Correcting feelings of inequity is one of the most powerful motivating forces in the workplace. But people react differently to equitable and inequitable situations based on their equity sensitivity. Equity sensitivity refers to a person‘s outcome/input preferences and reaction to various outcome/input ratios when compared to other people. Students are asked to read each statement in this instrument and indicate the degree to which they personally agree or disagree with that statement. This instrument has 16 statements.

Feedback for the Equity Sensitivity Scale The Equity Sensitivity Scale ranges from 16 to 80. People are divided into three categories, depending on their score along this scale. The three categories are: ―Entitleds‖ (16–37 points on the scale) feel more comfortable receiving proportionately more than others.

They might accept having the same outcome/input ratio as others but would prefer receiving more than others performing the same work. ―Equity sensitives‖ (38–58 points on the scale) fit the standard equity theory model. They want their outcome/input ratio to be equal to the outcome/input ratio of the comparison other. As the ratios become different, equity sensitives feel an uncomfortable tension. ―Benevolents‖ (59–80 points on the scale) are tolerant of situations where they are underrewarded. They might still prefer equal outcome/input ratios to the comparison other but don‘t mind if others receive more than they do for the same inputs.

Score

Interpretation

59–80 38–58 16–37

Benevolents Equity sensitives Entitleds

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

6

Applied Performance Practices

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: y. Discuss the meaning of money and identify several individual-, team-, and organizational-level performance-based rewards. z. Describe five ways to improve reward effectiveness. aa. List the advantages and disadvantages of job specialization. bb. Diagram the job characteristics model and describe three ways to improve employee motivation through job design. cc. Define psychological empowerment and identify strategies that support empowerment. dd. Describe the five elements of self-leadership and identify specific personal and work environment influences on self-leadership.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)—a reward system that encourages employees to buy company stock gainsharing plan—a team-based reward that calculates bonuses from the work unit‘s cost savings and productivity improvement job characteristics model—a job design model that relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organizational consequences of those properties job enlargement—the practice of increasing the number and variety of related tasks assigned to a job

job enrichment—the practice of giving employees more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating, and planning their own work job evaluation—systematically rating the worth of jobs within an organization by measuring the required skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions job specialization—the result of division of labor, in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people mental imagery—the process of mentally practicing a task and visualizing its successful completion

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Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices

profit-sharing plan—a reward system that pays bonuses to employees on the basis of the previous year‘s level of corporate profits

stock options—a reward system that gives employees the right to purchase company stock at a future date at a predetermined price

psychological empowerment—a perceptual and emotional state in which people experience more self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact regarding their role in the organization

task analyzability—the degree to which job duties allow the application of established procedures and rules to guide decisions and behavior (high analyzability); employee creativity and judgment are necessary to perform jobs with low task analyzability

scientific management—the practice of systematically partitioning work into its smallest elements and standardizing tasks to achieve maximum efficiency self-leadership—specific cognitive and behavioral strategies to achieve personal goals and standards through self-direction and self-motivation self-talk—the process of talking to ourselves about our own thoughts or actions skill variety—the extent to which employees must use different skills and talents to perform tasks within their jobs

task identity—the degree to which a job requires completion of a whole or an identifiable piece of work task significance—the degree to which a job has a substantial impact on the organization and/or larger society task variability—the degree to which job duties are nonroutine and unpredictable; employees perform diverse tasks from one day to the next because they are faced with unfamiliar and unexpected issues

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE y. Discuss the meaning of money and identify several individual-, team-, and organizational-level performance-based rewards.

Money (and other financial rewards) is a fundamental part of the employment relationship, but it also relates to our needs, our emotions, and our self-concept. It is viewed as a symbol of status and prestige, as a source of security, as a source of evil, or as a source of anxiety or feelings of inadequacy.

Organizations reward employees for their membership and seniority, job status, competencies, and performance. Membership-based rewards may attract job applicants and seniority-based rewards reduce turnover, but these reward objectives tend to discourage turnover among those with the lowest performance. Rewards based on job status try to maintain internal equity and motivate employees to compete for promotions. However, they tend to encourage a bureaucratic hierarchy, support status differences, and motivate employees to compete and hoard resources. Competency-based rewards are becoming increasingly popular because they encourage skill development. However, they tend to be subjectively measured and can result in higher costs as employees spend more time learning new skills.

Awards and bonuses, commissions, and other individual performance-based rewards have existed for centuries and are widely used today. Many companies are shifting to team-based rewards such as team bonuses and gainsharing plans, and to organizational rewards such as employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), stock options, and profit sharing. Although ESOPs and stock options create an ownership

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

culture, employees often perceive a weak connection between individual performance and the organizational reward. z. Describe five ways to improve reward effectiveness.

Financial rewards have a number of limitations, but reward effectiveness can be improved in several ways. Organizational leaders should ensure that rewards are linked to work performance, rewards are aligned with performance within the employee‘s control, team rewards are used where jobs are interdependent, rewards are valued by employees, and rewards have no unintended consequences.

Unintended reward consequences include gaming the system, manipulating reward-related information, cherry-picking tasks, ignoring nonmeasured tasks, shifting to a transactional employment relationship, and creating unexpected hidden costs. aa. List the advantages and disadvantages of job specialization.

Job design is the process of assigning tasks to a job, including the interdependency of those tasks with other jobs. Job specialization subdivides work into separate jobs for different people. This increases work efficiency by requiring fewer skills and less knowledge to learn (jobs are mastered more quickly), enabling more frequent practice (shorter cycle time), having less attention residue from changing tasks, and enabling easier person–job matching. However, job specialization may reduce work motivation, create mental health problems (tedious, socially isolating, and cognitively dysfunctional work), and increase costs through discontentment, absenteeism, and turnover. Job specialization can improve output quality because jobs are mastered more quickly. But job specialization can also reduce work quality because of decreasing attentiveness and motivation, and because of lower awareness of the overall product or service. bb. Diagram the job characteristics model and describe three ways to improve employee motivation through job design.

The job characteristics model is a template for job redesign that specifies core job dimensions, psychological states, and individual differences. The five core job dimensions are skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and job feedback. Two other sets of job characteristics are social characteristics (social interaction requirements and social feedback) and the information processing demands of task variability (predictability of work activities) and task analyzability (degree of work procedure clarity). Contemporary job design strategies try to motivate employees through job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment. Organizations introduce job rotation to reduce the incidence of repetitive strain injuries, increase employee multiskilling, improve quality through knowledge of the overall work process, and improve motivation and satisfaction. Job enlargement involves increasing the number of tasks within the job. Two ways to enrich jobs are clustering tasks into natural groups and establishing client relationships. cc. Define psychological empowerment and identify strategies that support empowerment.

Psychological empowerment is a perceptual and emotional state in which people experience more selfdetermination, meaning, competence, and impact regarding their role in the organization. Individual characteristics seem to have a minor influence on empowerment. Job design is a major influence, particularly autonomy, task identity, task significance, and job feedback. Empowerment is also supported

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

at the organizational level through a culture that encourages informal learning and discovery, sufficient information and resources, and corporate leaders who trust employees. dd. Describe the five elements of self-leadership and identify specific personal and work environment influences on self-leadership.

Self-leadership refers to specific cognitive and behavioral strategies to achieve personal goals and standards through self-direction and self-motivation. These strategies include personal goal setting, constructive thought patterns, designing natural rewards, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement.

Constructive thought patterns include self-talk and mental imagery. Self-talk occurs in any situation in which people talk to themselves about their own thoughts or actions. Mental imagery involves mentally practicing a task and imagining successfully performing it beforehand. People with higher levels of conscientiousness, openness, extroversion, and a positive self-concept engage in more self-leadership.

Self-leadership also occurs more readily in workplaces that support empowerment and have high trust between employees and management.

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Applied Performance Practices Slide 2: Learning Objectives y.

Discuss the meaning of money and identify several individual-, team-, and organizational-level performance-based rewards.

z.

Describe five ways to improve reward effectiveness.

aa.

List the advantages and disadvantages of job specialization.

bb.

Diagram the job characteristics model and describe three ways to improve employee motivation through job design.

cc.

Define psychological empowerment and identify strategies that support empowerment.

dd.

Describe the five elements of self-leadership and identify specific personal and work environment influences on self-leadership.

Slide 3: Applied Performance Practices at Expensify Expensify employees require considerable self-leadership because they have maximum autonomy to craft their work assignments with negligible supervision or performance measures • High autonomy and personal responsibility in generalist positions • Seeks out employees who excel in self-leadership • Pay practices compare each other and ignore location premium payments

Slide 4: Meaning of Money at Work Money and other financial rewards are a form of exchange in return for employee‘s labor, skill, and knowledge Money also relates to our needs and our self-concept and generates various emotions • A symbol of achievement and status • A source of enhanced or reduced anxiety People vary in their perception of money • Valued as an instrument for acquiring other things of value • Valued for its own sake Money ethic—higher when money is perceived as • Not evil • A symbol of achievement, respect, and power • Something of value to be budgeted carefully

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Male–female differences in the meaning of money • Money is valued more by males than by females • Males tend to view money as a symbol of power/status, means to autonomy • Females tend to view money as instrumental—exchanged for things of value, particularly as a symbol of generosity and caring Meaning of money varies across cultures • High power distance cultures—money has higher respect/priority • Nurturing (egalitarian) cultures—discourage discussing or displaying wealth • Cultural differences in value of saving versus spending money Money motivates more than previously believed • Due more to money‘s symbolic value than to what it can buy • Higher performance with higher paycheck—affects self-concept evaluation

• Symbolic value of money depends on its distribution (equal/unequal) in the firm

Slide 5: Membership/Seniority-Based Rewards Fixed wages, seniority-based rewards—largest part of most paychecks Advantages • Potentially reduce turnover and attract job applicants Disadvantages • Do not directly motivate job performance • May discourage poor performers from leaving voluntarily

• May act as ―golden handcuffs‖—discourage employees from quitting

Slide 6: Job Status–Based Rewards Higher pay for employees in jobs with higher worth or status Some perks (company car, club memberships, etc.) based on job status Job evaluation—systematically rating the worth of jobs within an organization by measuring the required skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions Advantages • Estimates internal pay equity—identifies unfair pay discrimination (comparable worth of jobs) • Motivates competition for promotions Disadvantages • Encourages bureaucratic hierarchy

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

• Reinforces status versus egalitarian workplace culture • Potentially motivates dysfunctional completion—exaggerated job duties, hoarding resources

• Estimating job status through external market rates often results in unfair discrimination—but estimating job worth through job evaluation is also subjective

Slide 7: Competency-Based Rewards Two main types of competency pay 1. Competency-based pay structures—employees progress through pay range within their job group as they demonstrate higher competency levels for that group 2. Skill-based pay structures—employees receive higher pay based on how quickly or accurately they perform specific tasks and operate equipment (skill blocks) Advantages • Motivates learning new skills • More flexible workforce—multiple skills and more adaptive • Higher product/service quality Disadvantages • Overdesigned programs (complex) • Competency definitions may be vague/subjective—skill-based plans are more objective • Higher training costs

Slide 8: Profit Sharing at Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines distributes bonuses to every employee based on the airline‘s profits in the previous year. For example, Delta distributed a profit share bonus of about two months pay to every employee in the year before the pandemic

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Slide 9: Performance-Based Rewards Individual-level rewards • Bonuses (executives), piece rates (hotel housekeeping), and commissions (sales)

Team rewards • Team performance bonus • Gainsharing plans Bonuses from cost savings/productivity gains (i.e., team and firm share cost savings) May improve team dynamics, knowledge sharing, and pay satisfaction Motivates because of reasonably strong effort-to-performance link Organizational rewards • Companywide performance bonus—distributes bonuses to some or all employees for achieving preset organizational goals or companywide productivity improvements • Employee stock ownership plan (ESOP)—a reward system that encourages employees to buy company stock • Stock options—the right to purchase company stock at a future date at a predetermined price • Profit-sharing plan—distributes a predetermined percentage of the company‘s profits to some or all employees Evaluating organizational rewards • ESOPs, stock options create an ―ownership culture‖—employees feel aligned with firm‘s success • Profit sharing automatically adjusts pay with firm‘s prosperity—less need for layoffs

• Problem: Weak connection between individual effort and companywide rewards (low P-to-O expectancy)

Slide 10: Improving Reward Effectiveness Problems with performance-based rewards • Distances management from employees • May undermine intrinsic motivation • May discourage creativity • Used as quick fixes, ignoring true causes of poor performance Reward systems (particularly performance and competency rewards) motivate employees, are used at successful companies, and are important for human capital development. But reward effectiveness depends on specific conditions: 1. Link rewards to performance • Higher rewards to those with better performance (link pay with performance) • Minimize biases/inconsistencies through more objective plans, for example, gainsharing and ESOPs 2. Ensure rewards are relevant

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

• Reward outcomes within employee‘s control (―line of sight‖) • Need to adjust for situational factors—for example, varied economic conditions in sales areas 3. Use team rewards for interdependent jobs • Difficult to measure individual performance when jobs are interdependent 4. Ensure rewards are valued • Avoid assuming what employees want or that everyone values the same reward 5. Watch out for unintended consequences • Several types of dysfunctional consequences—motivates people to: get better ratings, not better performance (gaming the system) manipulate information in their favor select work that achieves the reward more easily (cherry picking, cream skimming) focus on measured outcomes and away from unmeasured outcomes adopt a transactional than a relational employment relationship adopt more efficient work methods that actually have much higher hidden costs

Slide 11: Job Design and Work Efficiency Effective job design tries to balance potentially competing effects of efficiency and motivation • Jobs with few tasks and requiring few skills—become efficient quickly, but lack motivation potential • Jobs with many tasks and requiring many skills—can be highly motivating (to a point), but long timer to become efficient Work efficiency through job specialization • The result of a division of labor, in which work is subdivided into separate jobs assigned to different people • Short cycle time—the time required to complete the task before starting over with another item or client

Slide 12: Job Specialization and Scientific Management Job specialization improves work efficiency because: • Fewer skills and less knowledge to learn—master specialized jobs more quickly because less training time/costs • More frequent practice—shorter cycle times, so jobs are mastered more quickly • Less attention residue from changing tasks—specialized jobs have fewer and less varied tasks, so there is less changeover—less attention residue and productivity loss • Better person–job matching—employee abilities matched more precisely with specific job requirements Scientific management • Maximize work efficiency through job specialization and task standardization • Also advocated employee selection, training, goal setting, and work incentives

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

• Championed by Frederick Winslow Taylor in early 1900s Problems with job specialization • Low motivation—jobs become tedious, socially isolating, and cognitively dysfunctional • Higher absenteeism and turnover • May require higher wages to offset dissatisfying, narrowly defined work • Affects work quality in two opposing ways Higher quality because easier to master the job Lower quality due to less attentiveness, lower motivation, and difficulty recognizing problems in work process

Slide 13: Job Design and Work Motivation Job characteristics model—a job design model that relates the motivational properties of jobs to specific personal and organizational consequences of those properties Core job characteristics • Skill variety—using different skills/talents to perform tasks For example , sales clerks also stock inventory and change store-front displays • Task identity—completing a whole or identifiable piece of work For example, assembling an entire broadband modem rather than just soldering circuitry • Task significance—job‘s perceived effect on firm and/or society For example, quality of servicing aircraft engines affects passenger safety • Autonomy—freedom, independence, and discretion in scheduling the work and determining procedures • Job feedback—direct sensory feedback from job about task performance For example, pilots can tell how well they land the plane while performing the task Critical psychological states • Felt meaningfulness of the work—believe the work is worthwhile/important • Felt responsibility for work outcomes—feel personally accountable for work consequences • Knowledge of work results—information on consequences of work effort Individual differences • Job dimensions motivate only when employees have skills and knowledge to master job

• Model originally also included growth-need strength, but mixed support for this contingency

Slide 14: Social and Information Processing Job Characteristics Social job characteristics • Social interaction requirements—job requires employees to interact with coworkers, clients, suppliers, and other stakeholders—greater use of emotion regulation skills and higher task complexity

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

• Social feedback—from coworkers, clients, and so on—may be through conversation or nonverbal cues Information processing demands of the job • Task variability—how predictable the job duties are from one day to the next High task variability—job involves different types of tasks each day and next tasks aren‘t known until that time Low task variability—tasks are repetitive and predictable • Task analyzability—how much the job can be performed using known procedures and rules High task analyzability—rely on established guidelines for most decisions and actions Low task analyzability—job requires employee creativity and judgment

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Slide 15: Frequent Job Rotation Moving employees from one job to another, typically one or more times each day Benefits • Lower health risks—less risk of repetitive strain and heavy lifting injuries • Employees learn multiple jobs • More aware of overall work process, how to improve quality • Higher motivation potential—employees use a wider variety of skills (skill variety) throughout the day

Slide 16: Job Enlargement Increasing the number and variety of related tasks assigned to a job • Combining two or more complete jobs into one or adding more tasks requiring different skills to an existing job • Increases skill variety and reduces the risk of repetitive strain injuries Example: Video journalist is an example of an enlarged job • A traditional news team consists of a camera operator, a sound and lighting specialist, and the journalist who writes and reports the story • One video journalist performs all of these tasks

Slide 17: Job Enrichment Giving employees more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating, and planning their work Job enrichment benefits: higher job satisfaction and work motivation, lower absenteeism and turnover— higher productivity when task identity and job feedback are improved, higher quality due to higher felt responsibility and sense of ownership Job enrichment strategies: 1. Natural grouping Combining interdependent tasks into one job For example, video journalist (news story), assembling an entire product, and so on 2. Establishing client relationships Employee has direct responsibility for clients Employee communicates directly with their clients—no supervisor in between

Slide 18: Dimensions of Psychological Empowerment Definition: a perceptual and emotional state in which people experience more self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact regarding their role in the organization Self-determination • Employees believe they have freedom, independence, and discretion over their work activities

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Meaning • Employees care about their work and believe that what they do is important Competence • Employees are confident about their ability to perform the work well and have a capacity to grow with new challenges (self-efficacy) Impact

• Employees view themselves as active participants in the organization—their decisions and actions influence the company‘s success

Slide 19: Supporting Psychological Empowerment Job design factors • Autonomy, task identity, task significance, and receive job feedback Organizational factors • Accessible resources/information, learning orientation culture, and employees are trusted Individual factors • Possess abilities, can perform the work, and can handle additional decision-making demands

Slide 20: Practicing Self-Leadership in Surgery Orthopedic surgeon Sarah Coll practices self-leadership by focusing on positive rather than negative self-talk and by engaging in constructive mental imagery

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Slide 21: Self-Leadership Defined Cognitive and behavioral strategies to achieve personal goals and standards through self-direction and selfmotivation

• Includes concepts/practices from goal setting, social cognitive theory, and sports psychology

Slide 22: Self-Leadership Practices (1 of 2) Personal goal setting • Set goals for your own work effort • Apply effective goal-setting practices • Requires a high degree of self-awareness Constructive thought patterns • Positive self-talk—talking to ourselves about our own thoughts or actions Positive self-talk increases self-efficacy, reduces anxiety • Mental imagery—two parts: Mentally practicing a task and anticipating obstacles—improves response preparedness Visualizing successful task completion—increases goal commitment/motivation

Slide 23: Self-Leadership Practices (2 of 2) Designing natural rewards • Finding ways to make the job more motivating For example, altering the way the task is accomplished—making slight changes to suit personal needs and preferences Self-monitoring • Keeping track of one‘s progress toward a self-set goal • Using naturally occurring feedback For example, lawn maintenance employees can see improved lawn • Designing feedback systems For example, arranging to receive a monthly report on sales levels Self-reinforcement • ―Taking‖ a reinforcer only after completing a self-set goal For example, taking a break after reaching a predetermined stage of your work

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Slide 24: Predictors of Self-Leadership Individual factors: • Higher levels of conscientiousness and extroversion • Positive self-concept evaluation (self-esteem, self-efficacy, and internal locus) Organizations factors: • Job autonomy • Participative and trustworthy leadership

• Measure-oriented culture

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

60. As a consultant, you have been asked to recommend either a gainsharing plan or a profit-sharing plan for employees who work in the four regional distribution and warehousing facilities of a large retail organization. Which reward system would you recommend? Explain your answer.

Gainsharing plans are team rewards that motivate team members to reduce costs and increase labor efficiency in their work process. Profit sharing includes any arrangement where a designated group of employees receives a share of corporate profits.

In this situation, a gainsharing plan in each of the four regional facilities would probably be more appropriate. The main reason is that these employees would have a small effect on corporate profits but could significantly influence costs in their respective facility. As noted in the textbook, rewards are more effective when employees have direct control over the outcomes measured for those rewards.

A related explanation is that gainsharing is team-based, whereas profit sharing applies to all employees.

The mandate here is clearly to introduce a reward system for people within the four facilities, not a reward for the entire organization.

61. Expensify, which was described in the opening case study to this chapter, has an unusual process for determining pay rates. Twice yearly, employees do a paired comparison of employees. Each person‘s skill and contribution is documented and that information is ranked against the skill and contribution of every other employee. Most employees participate in this process even though it takes many hours to complete. Expensify‘s pay rate calculation practice relates to which of the four financial reward practices discussed in this chapter? What are the potential advantages of this process? What problems might occur by using this method to determine individual pay?

Most students will quickly conclude that Expensify‘s rank ordering of individual employees relates to the reward practice of individual-level performance-based pay. This would be correct in that the system considers the individual‘s contribution, which is at least partly (or mostly) associated with their individual performance.

However, a more accurate answer would also incorporate one or more of the other three financial reward practices. The competency-based reward practice is relevant because the ranking explicitly ranks people based on their skills. This would include their broader competencies, which would be more valued for people in advanced specialties and senior executive positions. Expensify‘s ranking system would also relate to the status-based financial reward practice because those doing the ranking would implicitly engage in subjects form of job evaluation, that is, ranking the job of each employee based on their ―worth‖ to the company. The membership/seniority-based financial reward practice is probably the least likely to be incorporated into Expensify‘s ranking system because most of these rewards are equal across employees or consider the person‘s time with the company. But some people involved with the ranking might take each coworker‘s time with the company as positive contribution to the organization.

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

62. Waco Tire Corporation redesigned its production facilities around a team-based system. However, the company president believes that employees will not be motivated unless they receive incentives based on their individual performance. Give three reasons why Waco Tire should introduce team-based rather than individual rewards in this setting.

Waco Tire should definitely use team rather than only individual rewards in this situation. One reason is that the company probably won‘t be able to identify or measure individual contributions very well in the redesigned production facility.

Even if Waco Tire could distinguish individual performance, it should use team incentives because they tend to make employees more cooperative and less competitive. People see that their bonuses or other incentives depend on how well they work with coworkers, and they act accordingly.

The third reason for having team rewards in team settings is that they influence employee preferences for team-based work arrangements. If Waco Tire wants employees to accept and support the team-based structure, a team-based reward system would help to increase that acceptance.

63. A national retail chain selling electronics and kitchen appliances wants to motivate its employees to increase sales, reduce product returns (customer changed mind within 14 days), and reduce waste (less product packaging damage). Sales staff have different areas of knowledge (kitchen appliances, home WiFi technology, home cleaning technology, etc.). Discuss each of the five strategies to improve reward effectiveness in the context of a performance-based reward system for this organization and each of its stores.

This question asks students to describe a performance-based financial reward system for this organization and each of its stores and assess that recommended system against the five reward effectiveness strategies. There is plenty of variation in the reward system that students might recommend, but the question does indicate that it should consider store and organization-wide measures, not just individual measures of performance.

For example, students might suggest a multidimensional measure of store performance based on sales, product returns, packaging damage, and possibly other measurable factors. (Those familiar with the ―balanced scorecard‖ reward system would be familiar with this method.) The financial reward might score stores in a weighted system on these criteria, which would result in store ratings across the organization. A preset organization-wide performance pool of funds or perhaps a percentage of the company‘s annual profits would be distributed based on each store‘s score, and each store‘s performance reward would cascade down to individual employees in each store based on hours worked and possibly other criteria.

After describing a financial reward system for this organization, students should then assess its effectiveness against the five reward effectiveness strategies.

Link rewards to performance. The financial reward system described above seems to fulfill this strategy.

It relies on objective performance criteria and each employee‘s bonus might be significant enough to create positive emotions. The weakness is that the ―performance‖ is store level, so the effort-toperformance expectancy may be somewhat weaker than in purely individual reward systems, depending on how many employees work in each store.

Ensure that rewards are relevant. The reward system needs to ensure that the performance criteria are within the control/influence of employees in each store. This would generally be true for all three factors Page 7-271 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

stated in the question. However, sales might vary depending on economic conditions (regions) or local demographics (stores). The company might be able to adjust performance measures across stores due to these factors beyond employees‘ control.

Use team rewards for interdependent jobs. The proposed store-level reward system is compatible with this reward effectiveness strategy because employees have a degree of interdependence within each store and minimal interdependence across stores. However, the opposite is not true. If an individual employee‘s performance has low interdependence with coworkers, then the proposed reward system needs to consider more individual-level performance criteria.

Ensure that rewards are valued. The proposed reward system distributes the same type of financial reward (likely a lump-sum bonus) to everyone, so there might be limited capacity to adjust rewards to individual preferences. However, the company might offer a transferor some or all of the bonus for discounted goods or services that are below what individual employees would pay.

Watch out for unintended consequences. Almost all performance-based financial rewards carry risks of unintended consequences. Students should review the various types of unintended consequences to determine which, if any, could occur from their proposed financial reward plan. Two unintended consequences stand out as most risky for any store-level reward system. Focusing employees on measured outcomes and away from unmeasured outcomes is a real concern because the proposed reward system definitely targets specific types of work activities, whereas many other work activities (inventory, personal customer service, etc.) are not directly measured and are much more remotely related to store performance measures. The other unintended consequence may be that the reward system encourages employee and store manager behaviors that have higher unmeasured costs but achieve better measured and rewarded outcomes. For example, discouraging customers from returning products or being reluctant to accept returns with damaged packaging would produce better short-term store performance scores but could create a poor reputation with customers in the longer term. Other unintended consequences are less likely. Gaming the system is unlikely, although store managers might try to shift costs or sales from one fiscal period to the next. The information is relatively objective, so it would be difficult for store managers to manipulate information in their store‘s favor. A third unintended consequence—cherry picking or cream skimming—mainly applies to individual employee behavior where tasks can be chosen, whereas the store-based plan does not easily allow for that problem.

64. Most of us have watched pizzas being made while waiting in a pizzeria. What level of job specialization do you usually notice in these operations? Why does this high or low level of specialization exist? If some pizzerias have different levels of specialization than others, identify the contingencies that might explain these differences.

The answer to this question partly depends on how pizzas are made in your area. Our nonsystematic observation of pizza-making is that, in busy pizza places, several people are assigned to specific tasks.

One person prepares the dough; one or more people fill the orders (puts ingredients on the pizza and places it in the conveyor or fixed oven); someone else unloads, cuts, and boxes the cooked pizzas. The person operating the cash register usually has the pizza unloading task. Other people perform the pizza delivery task.

This relatively high level of specialization occurs because it increases efficiency. Time is saved because employees don‘t change tasks. They develop their skills quickly in their assigned task (an important issue

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

where pizza shops rely on students and other temporary part-time staff). This specialization also allows the store to assign people to tasks for which they demonstrate the best skill. For example, some people have better coordination at tossing the pizza dough so it spreads out evenly. Others have good physical strength to cut pizzas.

Students will probably identify different degrees of specialization than we have noted here. Smaller pizza shops may be operated by two people who share most tasks (except delivery). They might both prepare the pizzas as well as load and unload them from the oven.

Technology may also play a role in the division of labor. Conveyor-type ovens (uncooked pizza is placed on one end and cooked pizza comes out the other end) would allow two people to load and unload the pizzas, respectively. A fixed oven (where the pizza is loaded in and pulled out) might work better with one person because they keep track of the cooking time.

Lastly, some students might note that jobs are generally specialized but there is job rotation throughout the shift. This might occur to minimize boredom and avoid repetitive strain injuries.

65. Social characteristics are often overlooked in job design. Identify two jobs that have high social interaction requirements and/or high social feedback. Next, identify two jobs that have low levels of these two job characteristics. To what extent do these two job characteristics improve employee motivation?

Explain why.

This question asks students to identify specific jobs with high and low social job characteristics.

Specifically, a job with high social job characteristics has (a) high social interaction requirements with coworkers, clients, suppliers, and other stakeholders and/or (b) high levels of social feedback. Physicians, teachers, emergency rescue teams, and most retail sales jobs have HIGH social job characteristics. Some jobs with LOW social characteristics include trucker drivers, nature photographers, repair shop technicians, and many types of digital software engineers. Students need to explain how the jobs they identify should be categorized as high or low in social characteristics. Next, students should explain how those high or low social characteristics influence motivation of people in those positions. For example, people own job requiring high social interaction need greater use of emotion regulation skills and/or the work has more complexity due to the person‘s interdependence with coworkers, clients, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

66. Describe a time when you practiced self-leadership to perform a task successfully. With reference to each step in the self-leadership process, describe what you did to achieve this success.

This question provides the opportunity for students to reflect on their own application and experience with self-leadership. Increasingly, corporate leaders desire to hire employees with the ability to demonstrate self-leadership. Reflecting on a time when you demonstrated self-leadership and describing your behaviors will prepare you to respond to an interview question designed to assess this valued competency. Responses will vary. Following are some considerations that an organizational recruiter may look for: Personal goal setting. Establishing goals that were specific, results-oriented and challenging.

Constructive thought patterns. Engaging in positive self-talk and/or using mental imagery to visualize successful completion of a task.

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Designing natural rewards. Considering your own needs and preferences to make your job more motivating and satisfying.

Self-monitoring. Keeping track of your progress and/or ensuring you received feedback needed to enhance your performance.

Self-reinforcement. Using self-induced forms of positive reinforcement to reward yourself for completing a task or achieving a goal.

67. The city manager of a large city government wants to reduce supervisory costs by encouraging employees to motivate and manage themselves much of the time. The manager has heard of selfleadership and believes that it may be a key strategy to reduce the number of supervisors in the organization. Discuss the extent to which self-leadership practices among employees would support the city manager‘s objectives. Also, summarize the content of a training module that would improve any one of the self-leadership practices?

Students should begin answering this question with the definition of self-leadership: It refers to specific cognitive and behavioral strategies to achieve personal goals and standards through self-direction and self-motivation. Self-leadership is a replacement for some (not all) roles of a supervisor or other leader.

Through self-leadership, employees set their own goals, monitor and guide their own behavior, motivate themselves through positive thinking (self-talk), and reward themselves (self-reinforcement). Selfleadership does not completely replace supervisory roles. For example, managers are still needed for macro-level planning, division of work, and resolving interpersonal and interdepartmental conflicts.

Another factor to consider is that even under the best conditions, some employees do not easily apply self-leadership practices. They may be very effective employees with normal supervision, but lack the ability or personality to engage in self-leadership to the extent that supervisors are not required. Thus, the city manager might be able to reduce the number of supervisors, but the issues stated here limit how much and even whether this can occur. At the very least, the current supervisors would have more freedup time in some of their tasks (setting goals and motivating staff) because some or most employees would take on more of these roles through self-leadership training.

The part of this question asks students to describe a training module for any one of the self-leadership practices. Here are some ideas regarding each self-leadership practice: Personal goal setting. This module would have employees learn the basic features of effective goals (see SMARTER list in Chapter 5), write goals for specific activities in their own job, and receive feedback from the trainer or manager on the quality of these goals and how to improve them. Another module might focus on the daily activity of personal goal setting, such as having a coach check in with employees on whether they have set goals for themselves that day, how well they remained focused on those goals, and how they learned to improve goals setting through this experience.

Constructive thought strategies. A training module might be similar to how David McClelland taught participants to develop strongly a need for achievement, but in this instance participants would learn to develop a more positive ―can-do‖ mindset. For example, have students write out positive stories about their near future selves, speak to other participants about themselves in a positive way—and receive feedback when their discussion is too self-critical. Another training approach would be to work with a personal coach who gets the employee to repeat that they are able to be the best person for a particular task or role. Another training module could focus on the mental imagery aspect of constructive thought Page 7-274 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

strategies. This could involve having participants think through (and perhaps write down) the steps in a task, recognize things that could go wrong, and identify strategies to avoid or overcome those problems.

This is a form of scenario planning for individuals (see Chapter 7).

Designing natural rewards. A module covering this practice would educate employees and have them practice forms of natural rewards, such as trading off tasks with other employees, taking on more of tasks they enjoy, changing ways that tasks are accomplished to make them more enjoyable, and by teaching employees to reframe a specific work activity that isn‘t particularly motivating so it may feel more motivating.

Self-monitoring. A training model for this practice would have employees diagnostically review every way their current job gives them feedback on their performance on specific tasks. Then employees are asked to identify ways to make the feedback easier to receive or, where tasks lack good feedback, identify strategies to generate that feedback within given resources.

Self-reinforcement. Along with describing self-reinforcement, participants in this training module would write out possible self-reinforcers at work and describe occasions where they applied them (i.e., previously engaged in self-reinforcement). Participants might share examples of self-reinforcement, particularly if they are in similar jobs. A coaching-type of training module might have a coach speak to other coaches at various times about a task they are performing and what reinforcer they will apply to themselves when the task is completed or a milestone has been reached. The idea is for trainees to understand self-reinforcement, find examples of it in their job and past behavior, and maintain vigilance of the self-reinforcement process in their daily work life.

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CS CASE STUDY: YAKKATECH, INC. Case Synopsis This case describes events at the customer service centers of YakkaTech, Inc., an information technology services firm employing 1,500 people throughout Washington and Oregon. YakkaTech relies on a ticket system, in which staff complete work for a specific ―ticket‖ rather than serve one client all of the time. The system (as well as dramatically larger customer service centers) has resulted in several problems, including poorer customer service, employee indifference to client problems, slow response, and lack of staff knowledge about each client. Staff turnover has increased above the industry average. Employees report that the work is monotonous and they feel disconnected from their work results. The company increased pay rates and introduced a vested profit-sharing plan to improve morale and reduce turnover. Turnover dropped, but customer complaints and productivity remain below expectations or have worsened.

Discussion Questions with Suggested Answers What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong?

This case identifies several symptoms, including poorer customer service, employee indifference to client problems, slow response, lack of staff knowledge about each client, high staff turnover (prior to reward system change), declining employee referrals, and lower productivity. Students should distinguish these symptoms according to their causes (problem analysis).

68. What are the main causes of these symptoms? (a) Jobs Have Low Motivational Potential The main problem in this case is that the jobs have low motivational potential. Students need to analyze the motivational potential of these jobs by considering the five core job characteristics: Skill variety—Seems to be moderate because each ticket would result in some variety of tasks. However, staff say the work gets monotonous over time. Furthermore, staff are organized into departments, which may result in a narrow range of tasks performed by each person.

Task identity—Some students might say task identity is high because staff complete an entire ticket. But is the ticket an entire task? The case suggests that managing the client‘s entire system (or subsystem, such as software maintenance and hardware maintenance) is the ―whole task.‖ As such, the ticket system results in fairly low task identity.

Task significance—This appears to be quite low because staff don‘t know how their work affects the client. Also, if they perform one small task for a particular client (low task identity), the significance of their work is less apparent and likely perceived to be low.

Autonomy—Not much information on autonomy. We don‘t know whether staff members need to follow precise procedures or whether they have a lot of freedom to conduct their work. However, the ticket system necessarily restricts autonomy regarding managing one‘s job duties, because staff are fed precise

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

jobs to perform, rather than having the autonomy to arrange timing on when they perform a variety of jobs.

Job feedback—The case indicates that employees receive very little job feedback. They don‘t know whether their actions produced a long term or only brief solution to the problem, because a recurring problem results in a new ticket submitted randomly to another staff member. Furthermore, the case implies that staff have limited direct interaction with clients. Client feedback, including subtle verbal and nonverbal communication, can be considered a form of job feedback, so job feedback is low in this regard.

This diagnosis predicts that employees experience low meaningfulness in their jobs, a condition which is verified in employee comments that they feel disconnected from the results of their work and that employees show little care toward client issues. Jobs with low motivational potential also result in lower job satisfaction and lower work effectiveness, both of which are apparent in this case. (b) Poor Alignment of Money and Rewards The latter part of this case stated that YakkaTech increased raise pay rates for its customer service staff to become among the highest in the industry. The assumption was that the high pay rates would improve morale and reduce turnover, thereby reducing hiring costs and improving productivity. In addition, YakkaTech introduced a vested profit-sharing plan, in which employees received the profit-sharing bonus only if they remained with the company for two years after the bonus was awarded. These actions reduced turnover because both were clearly linked to continued employment. The vested profit-sharing plan punished those who quit because they lost up to two years of profit-sharing bonus. The significant pay increase punished those who left because few other jobs in the industry paid as well.

However, the reward system was misaligned in other ways. First, these pay interventions were only remotely associated with individual job performance. Specifically, the profit-sharing bonus would have been affected to a very small extent by each employee‘s performance. This remote connection is unlikely to motivate employees to perform better, particularly in a company of this size and when the bonus is not paid out two years later. The pay system also relies heavily on individual membership, whereas it appears that these jobs have a degree of interdependence, such as working with the on-site team or sharing a ticket with people in another department. Thus, the individual reward plan was minimally aligned with the work. (c) Continuance Commitment from Golden Handcuffs Some students will analyze this case, in part, from the perspective or continuance commitment (see Chapter 4). Specifically, the company introduced a vested profit-sharing plan, in which employees receive the profit-sharing bonus for that year only if they remain with the company for the subsequent two years. This situation creates continuance commitment, in which it becomes more costly to leave the company—employees who quit or are sacked for just cause lose up to two years of profit-sharing bonus.

Continuance commitment tends to produce lower job performance and lower job satisfaction, both of which occurred in this case after the vested profit-sharing plan was introduced. (d) Exit–Voice–Loyalty–Neglect (EVLN) Some students might apply the EVLN model (see Chapter 4). In this case, however, EVLN is more a description of what happened rather than any explanation. Exit (high turnover until pay incentive Page 7-277 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

introduced), Voice (indirect complaints to management, survey results), Loyalty (not much evidence of this), and Neglect (poor service, not passing on jobs).

69. What actions should YakkaTech executives take to correct these problems?

The clearest action in this case is to reorganize jobs to increase their motivational potential as well as improve coordination for interdependent work. Job enrichment around establishing client relationships seems to be well-suited to this situation. In effect, individuals (or more likely, teams) would be organized around clients such that clients approach the same staff for all of their IT problems and needs. Staff members would feel a greater sense of task significance and task identity. They would develop a better understanding of the client‘s needs for each incident, would develop better feedback about the effectiveness of their interventions, and would feel more responsibility for their actions (because of greater psychological closeness to the client).

A second solution is to revise the reward and recognition practices so they are aligned with the work and desirable attitudes and behaviors. If jobs are redesigned around teams and clients, then a team-based reward system could be considered because specific people can be identified with specific long-term client successes and failures. Profit sharing might remain, but more proximate rewards are preferred.

TE

TEAM EXERCISE: JOB DESIGN SCENARIOS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students learn how to apply job design concepts and practices to real-world situations.

Instructions (Small or Large Class) This exercise may be completed either individually or in teams. It is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may be appropriate in moderately large classes. When the individuals (or teams) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Students are asked to read each job design scenario and complete the requested tasks, which refer to specific aspects of job design.

State Construction Inspectors Task: The Office of Construction Compliance wants construction compliance inspectors to experience more job enrichment by performing several tasks currently completed by their supervisor. These include receiving Page 7-278 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

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all work orders, scheduling inspections, and dealing directly with contractor complaints and inquiries.

(Contractors often dispute the state department‘s inspection reports.) What advice would you give the Office of Construction Compliance regarding this job enrichment intervention?

Comments to Instructors: From a job design perspective, delegating many of the supervisor‘s tasks to the construction compliance inspectors would potentially increase job enrichment because it would give them more ―scheduling, coordinating, and planning their own work.‖ It would increase the autonomy, skill variety, and possibly other characteristics of their jobs. To some extent, the change increases job enrichment by establishing stronger client relationships. However, students might also raise concerns that this heightened degree of autonomy and interaction with construction contractors could increase the risk of bias and wrongdoing. As such, delegating manager tasks to construction compliance inspectors may require more oversight systems to minimize these problems.

Instructors Teaching OB and Other Courses Task 1: Diagnose the job of a college instructor in terms of the two social job characteristics (social interaction requirements and social feedback) and two information processing job characteristics (task variability and task analyzability). Explain whether and to what extent each of these four job characteristics affect job enrichment and the incumbent‘s (instructor‘s) motivation.

Comments to Instructors: Students should have an easy time addressing this part of the exercise because they have good information about an instructor‘s teaching activities. However, the social and information processing characteristics of instructors may vary with their teaching methods and style as well as the degree of in-person versus remote teaching. Instructor jobs generally have high social interaction requirements, particularly if their teaching methods and style or interactive rather than one-way lectures. But students should also note that instructors have relatively low social interaction for some tasks, such as preparing classes and grading assignments. Social feedback for instructors comes in various forms. Most instructors receive formal social feedback in the form of teaching ratings. However, instructors also receive nonverbal feedback from students in each class, such as how engaged students are with the content and how their emotion displays (e.g., facial expressions) communicate their approval or disapproval with the instructor‘s behavior.

Regarding information processing job characteristics, most instructional work might be considered moderate for both task variability and task analyzability. Instructional jobs can be repetitive to some degree—low task variability—as anyone who has taught three sections of a class on the same day will attest, particularly when the instruction is straight lecture. However, task variability tends to be higher with interactive learning due to the range of student questions, presentations, team behaviors, and so on. In other words, instructors face more unexpected situations when students are active in the learning process. Task variability also depends on how much novelty instructors create in their courses (i.e., new class exercises, new topics, etc.). Students might argue that instructors have moderately high degree of task analyzability, but again this depends on the teaching methods. Instructors need to follow fairly precise procedures for some aspects of the class, such as attendance, distributing materials, and forming teams. Presenting a lecture could easily be documented in a workflow chart. However, engaging in a new type of class activity may have low task analyzability because of unknown events in the student activity.

Task 2: As a Taylorist consultant, you have been hired to redesign jobs that involve teaching organizational behavior and other courses (finance, marketing, etc.). Specifically, this school or faculty wants to introduce a very high degree of job specialization of teaching staff in the expectation that these interventions will significantly improve work efficiency and work quality. You may assume that people in these jobs are mostly involved in teaching with a small percentage of administration (i.e., no research, consulting, executive Page 7-279 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

programs, or community work for the college). Detail how you would divide teaching positions into more specialized jobs. Refer to the benefits of job specialization to justify this job redesign. Also explain what negative outcomes might result if this job specialization intervention occurred.

Comments to Instructors: This is an interesting assignment, one that will get students thinking about the distinct ―parts‖ of an instructor‘s job. It will no doubt make instructors cringe at the thought of this job specialization actually occurring (at least, at an extreme level). Students first need to divide up the instructor job and argue why division of labor is possible for some components. This division of labor mainly requires low interdependence among people in the divided jobs or, at least, a high level of coordination (see Chapter 13 for details on this). Here are some possible specialist instructor jobs, although students and instructors may discover others.

• Class activity developer—selects (occasionally develops) in-class and remote learning activities • Class activity facilitator—orchestrates in-person and remote learning activities, including debriefing of those activities • Class lecture developer—prepares and/or selects lecture content, including presentation slides, video clips, images, and so on • Class lecture presenter—responsible for presenting content in a lecture format • Exam and assignment developer—prepares examinations/tests/assignments, such as by writing or selecting preexisting questions, and cases (NOTE: This job may be divided into two positions where one person develops exams/tests and a different person develops or selects more complex assignments such as case analyses.)

• Exam and assignment evaluator/grader—evaluates and grades examinations, tests, and other assignments (NOTE: This job may be divided into two positions where one person grades exams/tests and a different person grades more complex assignments such as case analyses.)

• Student coach/counsellor—works with individual students or teams of students outside class times to support and guide student learning • Administrative liaison—coordinates operational logistics and policy interpretation between the faculty leadership and the various types of instructors, such as room assignment and communicating new faculty policy on teaching process Students should explain the advantages and disadvantages of specializing the instructor‘s job. For advantages, see the benefits of job specialization, including person–job matching, fewer skills to learn, faster skill development (due to more practice), and less attention residue. The disadvantages include tedious and cognitively dysfunctional work, lower quality work due to less attentiveness and motivation, and problems with coordination among several ―instructors‖ rather than when these jobs are combined in one person.

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

TE

TEAM EXERCISE: IS STUDENT WORK ENRICHED?

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students to learn how to measure the motivational potential of jobs and to evaluate the extent that jobs should be further enriched.

Instructions (Small Class) Being a student is like a job in several ways. You have tasks to perform and someone (such as your instructor) oversees your work. Although few people want to be students most of their lives (the pay rate is too low!), it may be interesting to determine how enriched your job is as a student.

Step 1: Students are placed into teams (preferably four or five people).

Step 2: Working alone, each student completes both sets of measures in this exercise. Then, using the guidelines below, they individually calculate the score for the five core job characteristics as well as the overall motivating potential score for the job.

Step 3: Members of each team compare their individual results. The group should identify differences of opinion for each core job characteristic. They should also note which core job characteristics have the lowest scores and recommend how these scores could be increased.

Step 4: The entire class will now meet to discuss the results of the exercise. The instructor may ask some teams to present their comparisons and recommendations for a particular core job characteristic.

Instructions (Large Class) Step 1: Working alone, each student completes both sets of measures in this exercise. Then, using the guidelines below, they individually calculate the score for the five core job characteristics as well as the overall motivating potential score for the job.

Step 2: Using a show of hands or classroom technology, students indicate their results for each core job characteristic. The instructor will ask for results for several bands across the range of the scales.

Alternatively, students can complete this activity prior to class and submit their results through online classroom technology. Later, the instructors will provide feedback to the class showing the collective results (i.e., distribution of results across the range of scores).

Step 3: Where possible, the instructor might ask students with very high or very low results to discuss their views with the class.

Comments to Instructors This exercise is self-explanatory. The answer key is provided in the textbook for students to score their own results.

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Students tend to enjoy this exercise because it forces them to evaluate something that is central to them (particularly full-time students). Be prepared for some searching questions about why some instructors don‘t make student work more enriched! Here are some discussion activities for this exercise.

1. Compare student enrichment scores with those of other jobs. The average scores of the five core job characteristics and MPS for selected job groups are presented in the exhibit below. (This information is not provided in the textbook.)

2. Determine where students are least enriched in their work, and determine how this could become more enriched. In other words, after identifying the weakest core job characteristic(s), identify job enrichment strategies that would raise the motivating potential score for students along this or these dimensions.

Motivating Potential Scores for Selected Job Groups Variable Skill variety Task identity Task significance Autonomy Job feedback MPS

Managerial 5.6 4.7 5.8 5.4 5.2 156

Clerical 4 4.7 5.3 4.5 4.6 106

Sales 4.8 4.4 5.5 4.8 5.4 146

National (United States) 4.7 4.7 5.5 4.9 4.9 128

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.1: WHAT IS YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD MONEY?

Overview and Instructions Money is a fundamental part of the employment relationship, but it is more than just an economic medium of exchange. Money affects our needs, our emotions, and our self-concept. People hold a variety of attitudes toward money. One widely studied set of attitudes, known as the ―money ethic,‖ is measured in this selfassessment.

Students are asked to read each of the statements in the survey instrument and select the response that they believe best reflects their position regarding each statement. This instrument has 12 questions, which produces results on all three dimensions of money ethic.

Feedback for the Money Attitude Scale This self-assessment generates considerable interest among students, which is not surprising given the interest that most people have in money.

This money attitude scale estimates the person‘s overall ―money ethic‖ as well as scores on its three dimensions: money as power/prestige, retention time, and money anxiety. Each subscale has a potential score ranging from 4 to 20 points; the overall money attitude scale has a range from 12 to 60 points. Higher scores indicate that the person has a higher level of each attitude. The following tables indicate the range of scores among a sample of over 200 MBA students.

Money as Power/Prestige

People with higher scores on this dimension tend to use money to influence and impress others. Scores on this subscale range from 4 to 20. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 9.9.

Score

Interpretation

12–20

High power/prestige score

9–11

Moderate power/prestige score

4–8

Low power/prestige score

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

Retention Time People with higher scores on this dimension tend to be careful financial planners. Scores on this subscale range from 4 to 20. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 15.

Score

Interpretation

17–20

High retention time score

14–16

Moderate retention time score

4–13

Low retention time score

Money Anxiety People with higher scores on this dimension tend to view money as a source of anxiety. Scores on this subscale range from 4 to 20. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 12.8.

Score

Interpretation

12–20

High money anxiety score

9–11

Moderate money anxiety score

4–8

Low money anxiety score

Money Attitude Total This is a general estimate of how much respect and attention you give to money. Scores on this total scale range from 12 to 60. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 37.6.

Score

Interpretation

41–60

High money ethic score

35–40

Moderate money ethic score

16–34

Low money ethic score

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.2: ARE YOU EMPOWERED AS A STUDENT?

Overview and Instructions Empowerment is a psychological concept represented by feelings of self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact. The empowerment concept applies to people in a variety of situations, not just the workplace. This self-assessment specifically refers to your position as a student at your college or university.

Students are asked to read each statement in this instrument and select the response that best indicates the degree to which they personally agree or disagree with that statement. This instrument has 12 statements.

Feedback for the Student Empowerment Scale The School Empowerment Scale estimates your personal feelings of empowerment as a student at the school where you are enrolled. Specifically, this scale considers the feelings of self-determination, meaning, competence, and impact you have as a student. Scores on this scale range from 12 to 84. A higher score indicates a higher level of empowerment as a student.

How does your score compare with others? Ideally, you would compare your score with the collective results of other students in your class, but this might not be possible. Alternatively, the following graph provides a more general estimate of high and low scores on student empowerment.

Score

Interpretation

60–84

High empowerment

36–59

Moderate empowerment

12–35

Low empowerment

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.3: HOW WELL DO YOU PRACTICE SELF-LEADERSHIP?

SA

Overview and Instructions Self-leadership refers to specific cognitive and behavioral strategies that people apply to themselves to support the self-direction and self-motivation needed to perform a task. It recognizes that successful employees mostly regulate their own actions rather than rely on others to motivate them.

Students are asked to individually read each of the statements in the instrument and select the response that they believe best reflects their position regarding each statement

Feedback for the Self-Leadership Scale The six components of self-leadership measured in this scale are personal goal setting, mental practice, designing natural rewards, self-monitoring, self-reinforcement, and cueing strategies. It is very useful for students to complete this self-assessment before any lecture or discussion of the topic because students pay much more attention to the details after estimating their own score.

The following table applies to each of the six self-leadership subscales.

Score

Interpretation

13–15

High score

8–12

Average score

3–7

Low score

Personal Goal Setting Self-leadership includes the practice of setting your own performance-oriented goals and, more specifically, establishing specific, challenging, and relevant goals. Scores on this subscale range from 3 to 15. A higher score indicates a higher level of personal goal setting. In a sample of 200 MBA students across several classes and years, the average score was 11.57.

Mental Practice Mental practice (called mental imagery in the textbook) involves mentally rehearsing future events. Mental practice includes thinking through the activities required to perform the task, anticipating obstacles to goal accomplishment, and working out solutions to those obstacles before they occur. Mentally walking through the activities required to accomplish the task helps us to see problems that may occur. Scores on this subscale Page 7-286 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

range from 3 to 15. A higher score indicates a higher level of mental practice. In a sample of 200 MBA students, the average score was 11.06.

Designing Natural Rewards Designing natural rewards is the process of altering tasks and work relationships to make the work more motivating. This might involve changing the way you complete a task so the activity is more interesting. Or it might involve making slight changes in your job duties to suit your needs and preferences. Scores on this subscale range from 3 to 15. A higher score indicates a higher level of designing natural rewards. In a sample of 200 MBA students, the average score was 11.4.

Self-Monitoring Self-monitoring is the process of keeping track of your progress toward a goal. It includes consciously checking at regular intervals how well you are doing. Scores on this subscale range from 3 to 15. A higher score indicates a higher level of self-monitoring. In a sample of 200 MBA students, the average score was 11.78.

Self-Reinforcement Self-reinforcement is the practice of rewarding yourself after successfully completing a task. It occurs whenever you have control over a reinforcer but don‘t ―take‖ the reinforcer until completing a self-set goal.

Scores on this subscale range from 3 to 15. A higher score indicates a higher level of self-reinforcement. In a sample of 200 MBA students, the average score was 11.49.

Cueing Strategies The cueing strategies component of self-leadership is not explicitly described in your textbook‘s discussion of self-leadership. However, it relates to the process of self-managing the antecedents (cues) of behavior described in the chapter on behavior modification. In self-leadership, cueing strategies are self-set or selfcontrolled antecedents rather than introduced and controlled by others. Scores on this subscale range from 3 to 15. A higher score indicates a higher level of cueing strategies. In a sample of 200 MBA students, the average score was 10.98.

Self-Leadership (Total) Self-leadership is the process of influencing oneself to establish the self-direction and self-motivation needed to perform a task. Scores on this overall scale range from 18 to 90. A high score indicates a higher level of overall self-leadership. In a sample of 200 MBA students, the average score was 68.29.

The following table shows the range of scores in categories based on the distribution of scores from 200 MBA students across several classes and years.

Score

Interpretation

73–90

High score

65–72

Average score

18–64

Low score

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.4: DO YOU HAVE A PROACTIVE PERSONALITY?

Overview and Instructions People differ in how much they try to influence the environments in which they live. Those with a proactive personality take action to change things while less proactive people adapt to the existing situation. Proactive personality is a stable personality characteristic and is associated with self-leadership.

Feedback for the Proactive Personality Self-Assessment This instrument estimates the individual‘s proactive personality. People with a proactive personality have a tendency to take action to change things, show initiative, and persevere until the desired change has occurred.

They seek out opportunities and enact change. Those with less proactive personality patiently wait for circumstances to improve or passively adapt to the existing situation. Proactive personality is considered a relatively stable individual characteristic. This instrument has six questions.

Score

Interpretation

28–36

High score

15–27

Average score

6–14

Low score

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

7

Decision Making and Creativity

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: ee. Describe the elements of rational choice decision making. ff. Explain why decision makers deviate from rational choice decision making when identifying problems and opportunities. gg. Explain why people differ from rational choice decision making when searching for, appraising, and choosing alternatives. hh. Discuss how emotions and intuition relate to decision making. ii. Explain how decision makers bias the evaluation of decision outcomes, and identify ways to minimize those decision evaluation problems. jj. Outline the creative process, and identify employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity. kk. Summarize the benefits of employee involvement, and discuss five contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY anchoring and adjustment heuristic—a natural tendency for people to be influenced by an initial anchor point, such that they do not sufficiently move away from that point as new information is provided availability heuristic—a natural tendency to assign higher probabilities to objects or events that are easier to recall from memory, even though ease of recall is also affected by nonprobability factors (e.g., emotional response and recent events)

bounded rationality—the view that people are bounded in their decision-making capabilities, including access to limited information, limited information processing, and tendency toward satisficing rather than maximizing when making choices confirmation bias—the processing of screening out information that is contrary to our values and assumptions, and to more readily accept confirming information

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Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity

creativity—the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution decision making—the conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs design thinking—a human-centered, solutionfocused creative process that applies both intuition and analytical thinking to clarify problems and generate innovative solutions divergent thinking—reframing a problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue escalation of commitment—the tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action implicit favorite—a preferred alternative that the decision maker uses repeatedly as a comparison with other choices intuition—the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning learning orientation—a set of beliefs and norms in which people are encouraged to question past practices, learn new ideas, experiment putting ideas into practice, and view mistakes as part of the learning process

mental models—visual and relational images that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us prospect theory effect—an innate tendency to feel stronger negative emotion from losing a particular amount than positive emotion from gaining an equal amount rational choice decision making—the process of using pure logic and all available information about all alternatives to choose the alternative with the highest value representativeness heuristic—a natural tendency to evaluate probabilities of events or objects by the degree to which they resemble (are representative of) other events or objects rather than on objective probability information satisficing—selecting an alternative that is satisfactory or ―good enough,‖ rather than the alternative with the highest value (maximization) scenario planning—a systematic process of thinking about alternative futures and what the organization should do to anticipate and react to those environments self-enhancement—a person‘s inherent motivation to have a positive self-concept (and to have others perceive them favorably), such as being competent, attractive, lucky, ethical, and important

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE ee. Describe the elements of rational choice decision making.

Decision making is a conscious process of making choices among one or more alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs. Rational choice decision making identifies the best choice by calculating the expected valence of numerous outcomes and the probability of those outcomes. It also follows the logical process of identifying problems and opportunities, choosing the best decision style, developing alternative solutions, choosing the best solution, implementing the selected alternative, and evaluating decision outcomes.

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ff. Explain why decision makers deviate from rational choice decision making when identifying problems and opportunities.

One problem with problem identification is that decision makers tend to jump to a solution before understanding the problem, mainly because have been reinforced by past successes with that solution and they are comforted by closure to problems. Second, some executives are rewarded for making decisions decisively before understanding the problem. A third problem is stakeholder framing, which occurs when others use selective information to make the decision maker see the situation as a problem or not. Fourth, decision makers occasionally experience perceptual defense; they either fail to recognize or quickly forget information that signals the existence of a serious problem. Finally, decision makers‘ own mental models frame the situation in ways that distort or hide the problem or opportunity. Problem identification problems can be minimized by being aware of problem identification biases, resisting the temptation to look decisive, create a norm of divine discontent, and discussing the situation with colleagues. gg. Explain why people differ from rational choice decision making when searching for, appraising, and choosing alternatives.

Goals are a critical component of rational choice decision making, but appraising and choosing alternatives in reality are often challenging because organizational goals are ambiguous or in conflict.

Information processing of decision alternatives also deviates from the rational choice view. Due to limited information-processing capacity, individuals appraise only a few alternatives and only a handful of characteristics. They also follow a sequential appraisal process using an implicit favorite—a preferred alternative used repeatedly as a comparison with other choices. This occurs because it is difficult to have all alternatives available at the same time, human beings have a natural preference for comparing two choices, the implicit favorite enables decision makers to minimize cognitive effort, and this comparative and implicit favorite process helps decision makers to maintain cognitive consistency and coherence (their emotional preferences match the logical choice).

Decision makers also have decision heuristic biases that affect choice selection. Anchoring and adjustment heuristic states that we are influenced by an initial anchor point and do not sufficiently move away from that point as new information is provided. Availability heuristic is the tendency to estimate the probability of something occurring by how easily we can recall that event. Representativeness heuristic states that we pay more attention to whether something resembles (is representative of) something else and less attention to more objective statistics about its probability.

Decision makers tend to choose the first alternative that exceeds an acceptable standard for their needs and preferences (satisficing) rather than the alternative with the highest expected value (maximization).

Satisficing occurs because it is impossible to receive complete and perfect information required for maximization, decision makers do not have sufficient time or information-processing capacity, and they want to minimize cognitive effort. When too many choices are presented, people are motivated to avoid making any decision, although this decision paralysis depends on characteristics of the decision maker and the choices.

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hh. Discuss how emotions and intuition relate to decision making.

Emotions shape our preferences for alternatives and the process we follow to assess alternatives. We also listen in on our emotions for guidance when making decisions. This latter activity relates to intuition— the ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning. Intuition is both an emotional experience and a rapid, nonconscious, analytic process that involves pattern matching and action scripts. ii. Explain how decision makers bias the evaluation of decision outcomes, and identify ways to minimize those decision evaluation problems.

Postdecisional justification and escalation of commitment make it difficult to accurately evaluate decision outcomes. Postdecisional justification is the decision maker‘s tendency to support their implicit favorite and to maintain consistency in their preference and decision. Escalation is the tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action. It is mainly caused by the self-justification effect, self-enhancement effect, the prospect theory effect, and sunk costs effect. These decision evaluation biases are minimized by separating decision makers from decision evaluators, establishing a stop-loss point to abandon the project, seeking out factual information as well as feedback from others, and by changing the mindset regarding the situation. jj. Outline the creative process, and identify employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity.

Creativity is the development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution. The four creativity stages are preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. Incubation assists divergent thinking, which involves reframing the problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue.

Four of the main features of creative people are intelligence, persistence, expertise, and independent imagination. Creativity is also strengthened for everyone when the work environment supports a learning orientation, the job has task significance and autonomy, the organization provides a reasonable level of job security, and project leaders provide appropriate goals, time pressure, and resources. Four types of activities that encourage creativity are redefining the problem, associative play, cross-pollination, and design thinking. Design thinking is a human-centered, solution-focused creative process that applies both intuition and analytical thinking to clarify problems and generate innovative solutions. Four rules guide this process: human rule, ambiguity rule, redesign rule, and tangible rule. kk. Summarize the benefits of employee involvement, and discuss five contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement.

Employee involvement refers to the degree that employees influence how their work is organized and carried out. The level of participation may range from an employee providing specific information to management without knowing the problem or issue, to complete involvement in all phases of the decision process. Employee involvement may lead to higher decision quality and commitment, but several contingencies need to be considered, including the decision structure, source of decision knowledge, decision commitment, risk of conflict among employees, and employee-firm goal congruence.

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LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Decision Making and Creativity Slide 2: Learning Objectives ee.

Describe the elements of rational choice decision making.

ff.

Explain why decision makers deviate from rational choice decision making when identifying problems and opportunities.

gg.

Explain why people differ from rational choice decision making when searching for, appraising, and choosing alternatives.

hh.

Discuss how emotions and intuition relate to decision making.

ii.

Explain how decision makers bias the evaluation of decision outcomes, and identify ways to minimize those decision evaluation problems.

jj.

Outline the creative process, and identify employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity.

kk.

Summarize the benefits of employee involvement, and discuss five contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement.

Slide 3: Deciding How to Decide at Syntegon Technology Syntegon, the German developer of processing and packaging equipment, relies on a variety of decisionmaking approaches to match different types of problems or opportunities • Lean practices for decisions about improving production efficiency, quality, and cost reduction • Design thinking practices for highly complex and novel decisions • Agile practices used where decisions relate to somewhat dynamic or unstable situations

Slide 4: Rational Choice Decision Making Decision making—the conscious process of making choices among alternatives with the intention of moving toward some desired state of affairs

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Rational choice decision making • Process of using pure logic and all available information about all alternatives to choose the alternative with the highest value • Throughout history, pure rationality has been considered the ideal state of decision making Two key elements of rational choice 1. Rational choice formula calculating the best choice (highest positive valence) 2. Rational choice systematic decision process

Slide 5: Rational Choice Best Alternative Calculation Determines which alternative has the highest expected value (maximization) • Also embedded in expectancy theory (Chapter 5) and attitude model (Chapter 4) Calculation: expected satisfaction (valence) of each outcome multiplied by the probability that the alternative will provide that outcome, summing the product across all outcomes within each alternative Example of two suppliers (two alternatives) and three outcomes (selection criteria) Outcomes (selection criteria) and their valences (expected satisfaction of each outcome) • Provides high-quality product (+9) • Provides on-time delivery (+4) • Offers low prices (+6) NOTE: Outcome valences are the same for both suppliers because the decision maker‘s belief about the value of something is the same no matter which alternative is being considered Supplier A probabilities (likelihood of providing each outcome) • High-quality product (0.7) • On-time delivery (0.9) • Low prices (0.8) Supplier B probabilities (likelihood of providing each outcome) • High-quality product (0.9) • On-time delivery (0.6)

• Low prices (0.4)

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 Rational choice calculation: valence X probability for each outcome, then products are summed within supplier  Supplier A: (0.7 × 9) + (0.8 × 6) + (0.9 × 4) = 14.7  Supplier B: (0.9 × 9) + (0.4 × 6) + (0.6 × 4) = 12.9  Supplier A has the higher expected satisfaction (higher positive valence) NOTE: This example differs from the game theory model in classic economic theory. In classic economic theory, the ―outcomes‖ are alternatives, so the probabilities must add up to 1.0. The decision model shown here calculates each alternative‘s composite valence from a set of criteria (outcomes) associated with all alternatives

Slide 6: Rational Choice Decision-Making Process Rational choice decision making assumes this systematic process is followed: 1. Identify problem/opportunity • Problem—gap between ―what is‖ and ―what ought to be‖ (this gap is a ―symptom‖ of a ―problem‖ that caused that gap) • Opportunity—deviation between current expectations and potentially better situation(s) not previously expected 2. Choose the best decision process (meta-decision—deciding how to decide) • Decide alone or involve others • How much time to make the decision • How accurate are the outcome probabilities (decision uncertainty) • Routine or novel decision—programmed decisions are standard procedures developed from past decisions, nonprogrammed decisions require all steps in the decision model because the problems are new, complex, or ill-defined 3. Identify or develop possible choices • Search for ready-made solutions first, then develop/modify custom-made solution 4. Choose the choice with the highest expected satisfaction • See calculation in previous slide 5. Implement the selected choice • Rational choice assumes implementation occurs without resistance or other problems 6. Evaluate the selected choice • Determines whether gap between ―what is‖ and ―what ought to be‖ has narrowed

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Slide 7: Discovering and Defining the Decision Problem Rather than passively accept whatever problem is handed to them by clients or managers, effective decision makers actively discover and define the problem. ―If engineering is going to solve the problems of tomorrow, there‘s a desperate need to practice problem finding today,‖ advises an executive at multinational engineering firm Aurecon

Slide 8: Problem Identification Challenges Problems and opportunities are constructed—not ―given‖ to us Five Problem Identification Challenges: 7. Solution-focused problems • Problem defined as a veiled solution—underlying problem has not been analyzed • Occurs because past successes reinforce decision maker to select that choice again • Decision makers are comforted by the closure of having a solution 8. Decisive leadership—leaders rewarded for decisiveness, so they conclude problems or opportunities without careful assessment 9. Stakeholder framing • Employees, suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders ―frame‖ the situation to their advantage, hoping decision maker will perceive a problem, opportunity, or no issue • For example, suppliers market their new products as unique opportunities and competitor offerings as risky alternatives • Decision makers accept stakeholder framing to simplify information overload 10.

Perceptual defense

• Blocking out bad news as a coping mechanism (fail to see threatening information) 11.

Mental models • Visual and relational images that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us • Existing mental models blind us from seeing unique problems or opportunities • People tend to dislike ideas or situations that deviate from their mental model

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Slide 9: Identifying Problems Effectively 12.

Be aware of the five problem identification biases

13.

Resist temptation of looking decisive when more thoughtful examination of the situation should occur

14.

Create a norm of ―divine discontent‖—avoid being complacent with the status quo and adopt an aversion to complacency—more actively search for problems/opportunities 15.

Discuss the situation with others to discover blind spots and see different perspectives

Slide 10: Choosing Alternatives: Rational Choice Assumptions versus OB Evidence Bounded rationality (Herb Simon)—people process limited and imperfect information, rarely select the best choice (NOTE: bounded rationality is the best-known theory, but it excludes some aspects of human ―imperfect rationality‖ that other theories discuss and are included here—for example, implicit favorite, sequential evaluation, and heuristic biases) Problems with goals • Rational—goals are clear, compatible, and agreed-upon • OB—goals are ambiguous, conflicting, and lack full support Problems with information processing • Rational—people can calculate all information about all alternatives and outcomes • OB—people have limited information-processing abilities Problems with evaluation timing • Rational—alternatives are evaluated simultaneously • OB—alternatives are evaluated sequentially Problems with evaluation standards • Rational—use absolute standards to evaluate alternatives • OB—evaluate alternatives against an implicit favorite (preferred anchor comparison) Problems with information quality • Rational—choices are made using factual information • OB—choices are made using distorted information Problems with decision objective • Rational—people maximize (i.e., choose alternative with the highest payoff) • OB—people satisfice (i.e., select ―good enough‖ alternative)

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Slide 11: Sequential Evaluation and Implicit Favorite Biases Rational choice approach—assumes we will evaluate all alternatives against one another at the same time using unbiased estimates of valences and outcome probabilities Reality (imperfect rationality)—decision makers evaluate each alternative sequentially against an implicit favorite Implicit favorite • An alternative the decision maker prefers and is the repeated comparison against the other choices • This favorite is ―implicit‖ because decision makers don‘t make this comparison consciously (often aren‘t even aware of their favoritism) Why decision makers follow a sequential evaluation process using an implicit favorite?

1. Alternatives not all available at same time—need to evaluate early available choices against the best choice so far 2. Natural human preference—compare two choices (ipsative) rather than evaluate many alternatives at the same time—implicit favorite serves as an anchor comparator against which the other choices 3. People are cognitive misers (minimize mental effort)—quickly form a preference (implicit favorite), then mainly seek supporting evidence (confirmation bias) 4. Human need for cognitive consistency and coherence—change beliefs/feelings about alternatives to maintain consistency with implicit favorite preference

Slide 12: Biased Decision Heuristics Rational choice assumptions: Decision makers use factual information to choose alternative with the highest expected satisfaction Reality (imperfect rationality)—people have built-in decision heuristics that bias evaluation of alternatives 1. Anchoring and adjustment heuristic • Initial anchor point influences our perspective—anchors our view of high versus low—limited movement away from that point as new information is provided • For example, high price of an initial contract tender anchors negotiations around that price

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2. Availability heuristic • Tendency to estimate the probability of something occurring by how easily we can recall those events • Problem—ease of recall is also higher for events that are recent or emotional, not just how often they occur (probability) • For example, we easily remember emotional events (e.g., shark attack) so we overestimate how often these emotional events occur 3. Representative heuristic • Tendency to estimate probability of something based on its similarity to known others rather than by more precise statistics • For example, 20 percent of students are in engineering and 80 percent are business majors, yet we believe one student is in engineering because they look like a typical engineering student

Slide 13: Problems with Maximization Rational choice assumption: people are both motivated and able to identify and select the highest value alternative (maximization) Reality (imperfect rationality): three phenomena: (1) people satisfice, (2) people oversimplify the decision calculation, and (3) people avoid the decision 1. People engage in satisficing • They choose first ―good enough‖ alternative • Satisficing occurs because: • Information is imperfect, costly, or can‘t be found at all when the decision is made • People don‘t have the time or cognitive capacity to input/analyze the complex data • Many features and alternatives create endless trade-offs—leads to worse decisions 2. People oversimplify the decision calculation • They discard alternatives using fewer easily identifiable factors • They use fewer criteria (expected outcomes) 3. People avoid making any decision when too many choices are presented Decision paralysis/avoidance less likely when: • Decision maker is familiar/expertise with products • Decision maker knows what criteria • Choices have a wide range on key criteria (very good to very bad features, taste, appearance, etc.)

• Choices are systematically organized rather than presented randomly • Example: financial advisors can more easily choose from hundreds of investment funds because of expertise, know most important fund features, fund features are widely varied, and fund information is well organized Appraising opportunities • Opportunity is a favorable solution, so alternative opportunities are rarely investigated

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• Decision makers form an emotional attachment to and personalization of the opportunity—makes impersonal analysis of the opportunity difficult

Slide 14: Emotions and Making Choices How emotions affect the evaluation of alternatives 1. Emotions form preferences before conscious cognitive evaluation • Emotional marker process determines our preferences for each alternative before we consciously evaluate those alternatives.

2. Moods and emotions affect the decision appraisal process • Moods and emotions affect how carefully we appraise alternatives • For example, we may pay more attention to details when in a negative mood, tend to skim over evaluating when in a good mood 3. Emotions serve as information • We ―listen in‖ on our emotions for guidance when making choices • For example, visualize using product, pay attention to resulting emotion

Slide 15: Intuitive Decision Making Intuition—ability to know when a problem or opportunity exists and to select the best course of action without conscious reasoning Intuition is an emotional experience • Gut feelings are emotional signals • Not all emotional signals are intuition Intuition also includes rapid nonconscious analysis • Uses action scripts—programmed decision routines that shorten the decision-making process

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Slide 16: Making Choices More Effectively 5. Be more contemplative than decisive for complex problems 6. Use intuition only in combination with logical analysis 7. Revisit decisions later, when in a different mood/emotions 8. Use scenario planning—a disciplined method for imagining possible futures

Slide 17: Decision Evaluation Problems Confirmation bias (postdecisional justification) • Tendency to ignore or underemphasize negative outcomes of the choice they made and overemphasize new information about its positive features • Gives people an excessively optimistic evaluation of their decisions Escalation of commitment  Tendency to repeat an apparently bad decision or allocate more resources to a failing course of action Four causes of escalation of commitment: 9. Self-justification effect • Convey a positive public image, demonstrate that their choices will be successful • Most common when decision makers: • Are personally identified with the project • Have staked their reputations on the project‘s success • Have low self-esteem 10.

Self-enhancement effect • Natural tendency to think we are above average (lucky, competent) • Creates overoptimistic interpretation of poor outcomes, overestimates probability of rescuing failing projects • Self-enhancement mostly nonconscious bias (vs. self-justification is conscious action)

11.

Prospect theory effect (loss aversion) • We experience stronger negative emotions when losing something of value than positive emotions when gaining something of equal value • Stopping a project is more painful than spending more on it

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12.

Sunk costs effect • Sunk costs—the value of resources already invested in the decision • Decision makers motivated to invest more when large resources already invested (sunk costs) in the project • Problem: future investments should NOT consider size of previous investment in the project, only the expected future gains • Past investment includes time—people motivated to spend more time when much time has been devoted to the project already • Closing costs (financial or nonfinancial penalties associated with shutting down a project) are a form of sunk costs that motivates escalation

Escalation of commitment isn‘t always poor decision making—may be attempt to further understand an ambiguous situation

Slide 18: Improving Decision Evaluation 13.

Separate decision maker from decision evaluator • Minimizes the self-justification effect • Best when the decision evaluators have limited alliance with those who made the decision

14.

Create a stop-loss • Publicly establish a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or reevaluated • Problem: complexity makes it difficult to identify point where to abandon project

15.

Seek factual and social feedback • Objective information weakens evaluation biases

• Involving others may notice problems sooner than when someone is working alone 16. Change the decision maker‘s mindset • Divert attention away from the negative emotions of the project‘s losses—focus more on the future (growing the business)

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Slide 19: Creative Process Model Creativity—development of original ideas that make a socially recognized contribution—valuable throughout the decision-making process 17.

Preparation • Investigating the problem or opportunity in many ways—learning about the issue

18.

Incubation • Period of reflective thought—put the problem aside, maintain low level of awareness • Assists divergent thinking • Reframing problem in a unique way, generating different approaches to the issue • Contrasts with convergent thinking—calculating the conventionally accepted ―right answer‖ to a logical problem

19.

Illumination • The experience of suddenly becoming aware of a unique idea • Begins with ―fringe‖ awareness (barely perceptible) • Short-term memory—easily forgotten, so need to document

20.

Verification • Logical evaluation, experimentation, and further creative insight

Slide 20: Characteristics of Creative People Cognitive and practical intelligence • Cognitive intelligence—ability to synthesize/analyze information • Practical intelligence—ability to assess potential usefulness of ideas Persistence • Based on: (a) higher need for achievement, (b) strong motivation from the task itself, and (c) moderate or high degree of self-esteem • Necessary to offset tendency of others to doubt and criticize creative ideas Knowledge and experience • Expertise/subject matter knowledge needed to acquire new knowledge • Double-edged sword— expertise form strong mental models that may increase mindlessness—less likely to question why things happen Independent imagination • Cluster of personality traits and values • Consists of: (a) high openness to experience (personality), moderately low need for affiliation (drive/motive), and higher self-direction and stimulation (values)

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Slide 21: Creative Work Environments Learning orientation • A set of beliefs and norms in which people are encouraged to question past practices, learn new ideas, experiment putting ideas into practice, and view mistakes as part of the learning process Enriched jobs • Motivation from the job itself—task significance, autonomy Communication with coworkers • So employees can share ideas and information Sufficient resources, job security, and nontraditional offices • Creativity suffers during times of downsizing and corporate restructuring Supportive leaders and coworkers (usually) • Leaders have an appealing vision of the future, encourage employees to experiment • Coworker support and competition increase creativity—depends on situation • Too much or too little pressure on employees to be creative may be ineffective

Slide 22: Creativity Activities Redefine the problem • Revisit abandoned projects—might be seen in new ways • Explore the problem with people unfamiliar with issue (fresh eyes) Associative play • Playful activities—unusual variations of traditional games • Challenge to create something new from existing unrelated products (e.g., design a product to clean cutlery from an electric toothbrush and a hair dryer) • Morphological analysis—listing different dimensions of a system and the elements of each dimension and then looking at each combination Cross-pollination • Employees across the firm exchange ideas or are brought into the team • Examples: formal social gatherings, happenstance interactions with people from other work areas, moving their desks every few months to other areas • It encourages informal social interaction in the organization

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Design thinking (see next slide) • A human-centered, solution-focused creative process that applies both intuition and analytical thinking to clarify problems and generate innovative solutions • Guides employees through the decision-making process using creative thinking, logical analysis, empathy, and intuition

Slide 23: Design Thinking Four rules of design thinking 21.

Human rule • Design thinking is a team activity—requires collaboration and co-creation among several people so the issue and possible solutions are viewed from several angles • Need to empathize with clients, end users—involve them in the problem identification and solution development process

22.

Ambiguity rule • Need sufficient ambiguity in the problem and its potential solutions • Refine the problem—do not assume client‘s original problem statement is accurate • Question and refine the stated problem • Develop more than one solution to the problem

23.

Redesign rule

• Review past solutions—how those inventions tried to satisfy human needs, and their flaws and limitations • Use foresight tools (e.g., environmental scanning) to visualize trends and contexts 24.

Tangible rule • More time doing, less planning • Build several low-cost prototypes to test ideas • Don‘t analyze alternatives at a purely conceptual level • Tolerate failure; embrace a learning orientation

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Slide 24: Employee Involvement Employees participate in and influence decisions about their jobs, work units, or organization Several levels of involvement 25.

No involvement: Decision maker completes the entire decision process using own knowledge, without conferring with anyone else 26.

Low involvement: Ask specific individuals for information—they are not told the problem and do not make recommendations 27.

Medium involvement: Problem is described to selected individuals (or team) and asked for information and recommendations—decision maker makes final decision and is not required to take others‘ advice 28.

Medium high involvement: Problem is described to employees collectively, who are asked to provide their ideas and recommendations— decision maker makes final decision and is not required to take others‘ advice 29.

High involvement: Group of employees responsible for entire decision-making process—they identify the problem, discover alternative solutions, choose the best alternative, and implement that choice—Decision maker is facilitator, guides decision process

Slide 25: Employee Involvement Model Potential benefits (outcomes) of employee involvement • Better problem identification—Recognizing problems more quickly and defining them more accurately • More/better choices generated—Team members create synergy by pooling their knowledge to form new alternatives • More likely to choose the best alternative—Decision choices are assessed from diverse perspectives, broader range of values • Higher decision commitment—Participation creates sense of ownership and responsibility for decision‘s success • Higher job enrichment, motivation, affective commitment, and job satisfaction

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Slide 26: Contingencies of employee involvement Decision structure • Problem is new and complex • Less involvement for programmed decisions Source of decision knowledge • More involvement when employees have relevant knowledge beyond leader‘s knowledge Decision commitment • Commitment to decision increases with involvement, so some involvement is important if employee would otherwise lack commitment Risk of conflict among employees • High involvement may be possible if consensus is likely—moderate or lower involvement necessary when employees can‘t agree on preferred solution Employee–firm goal congruence • Higher level of involvement is possible when employee goals and norms are congruent with the organization‘s goals

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SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

70. A management consultant is hired by a manufacturing firm to determine the best site for its next production facility. The consultant has had several meetings with the company‘s senior executives regarding the factors to consider when making the recommendation. Discuss the decision-making problems that might prevent the consultant from choosing the best site location.

This question directly relates to the section on evaluating and choosing solutions. The consultant is asked to determine the best site location, and this process is subject to the problems presented below. Each problem should include an example relating to this incident.

Problems with goals. The consultant likely discovered that executives at the manufacturing firm are not fully agreed on the priority of factors to consider when choosing a site. They may have conflicting goals—such as a site that is conveniently located yet low cost. Some of the goals will be ambiguous, such as ―convenience.‖ Problems with information processing. The consultant is subject to the same human limitations as other people. The consultant‘s personal biases may cause some information to be screened out or viewed in an unrealistically favorable light. The consultant is unable to evaluate all possible sites (there must be thousands of them!), let alone consider every factor for each site. Finally, the consultant probably compares sites against an implicit favorite, rather than look at all prospective sites simultaneously.

Problems with maximization. The consultant‘s recommendation probably won‘t be the absolutely best site. Given the volume of information and the sequential decision process, the recommended site is probably one that is ―good enough.‖ In other words, the consultant will satisfice.

71. You have been asked to personally recommend a new travel agency to handle all airline, accommodation, and related travel needs for your organization of 500 staff. One of your colleagues, who is responsible for the company‘s economic planning, suggests that the best travel agent could be selected mathematically by inputting the relevant factors for each agency and the weight (importance) of each factor. What decision-making approach is your colleague recommending? Is this recommendation a good idea in this situation? Why or why not?

Rational choice decision making is being recommended for this decision.

The idea that relevant factors should be identified and weighted is good. At least this would help us think about which factors are most important for the company. These could include such factors as cost, speed of service, quality of service, and so on.

However, his suggestion that the best decision could be arrived at mathematically is somewhat misleading. While the rational choice approach may rest on the assumption that people evaluate and choose the best alternatives logically, that is not borne out by empirical evidence.

OB experts have demonstrated that decision makers may not choose the best alternatives for a variety of reasons. For example, decision makers have limited information-processing abilities, evaluate alternatives sequentially and against implicit favorites, and are influenced by perceptual errors, biases, and emotions.

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Moreover, when it comes to making a final choice, their decisions are often made on the basis of satisficing rather than maximization.

72. Intuition is both an emotional experience and a nonconscious analytic process. One problem, however, is that not all emotions signaling that there is a problem or opportunity represent intuition. Explain how we would know if our ―gut feelings‖ are intuition or not, and if not intuition, suggest what might be causing them.

All gut feelings are conscious awareness of emotional experiences. However, not all emotional experiences constitute intuition.

Intuition involves using well-established mental models and templates (derived from tacit knowledge we have acquired) to compare what fits or doesn‘t fit in an observable situation. The unconscious comparison allows us to anticipate future events. Intuition also relies on action scripts, which are preprogrammed routines for responding to matched or mismatched patterns. These scripts allow us to act without having to consciously evaluate the alternatives.

Gut feelings, on the other hand, are not based on well-grounded templates or mental models. Therefore, gut feelings would be more likely to occur in situations where one has limited experience. The cause of these feelings would be due to some emotional reaction to a given situation.

73. A developer received financial backing for a new business financial center along a derelict section of the waterfront, a few miles from the current downtown area of a large European city. The idea was to build several high-rise structures, attract large businesses to those sites, and have the city extend transportation systems out to the new center. Over the next decade, the developer believed that others would build in the area, thereby attracting the regional or national offices of many financial institutions. Interest from potential business tenants was much lower than initially predicted and the city did not build transportation systems as quickly as expected. Still, the builder proceeded with the original plans. Only after financial support was curtailed did the developer reconsider the project. Using your knowledge of escalation of commitment, discuss three possible reasons why the developer was motivated to continue with the project.

Escalation of commitment occurs when an individual repeats a bad decision or continues to allocate resources to a failing cause of action. This incident is a variation of the Canary Wharf project in London, which nearly put developer Olympia and York into bankruptcy. It is unfair to say that the Canary Wharf event was due to escalation of commitment (we don‘t have enough information about the internal decision making), but the incident described here certainly provides a setting for discussion of this topic.

There are four main causes of escalation: Self-justification effect. Canceling the development may have suggested that the developer (who originally proposed and championed the project) made a bad decision whereas continuing the development would be vote of confidence toward their leadership ability. The developer also may have continued the project if they had linked it to the company‘s future success. To reverse this position would convey an image of inconsistent leadership.

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Self-enhancement effect. The developer likely screened out or neutralized negative information because of a self-perception of being above average. In addition, the project was clearly high risk (redesigning a significant portion of the city), so the developer seems to exhibit self-enhancement in the form of perceiving a higher probability of success in spite of these risks. In other words, decision makers falsely believe that luck is on their side, so they invest more in a losing course of action.

Prospect theory effect. The discomfort associated with losing money on this project may have outweighed the desire for gains. In other words, knowing that stopping the project would mean certain loss, they were willing to go to great lengths to avoid this, even it meant a smaller pay off in the end.

Sunk costs effect. Discontinuing the project would almost certainly have high financial costs for the developer, such as past expenditures and canceling contracts. The amount of investment ―sunk‖ into the project would have motivated the developer to continue investing further even if those investment resources would have been more productive elsewhere.

74. Ancient Book Company has a problem with new book projects. Even when others are aware that a book is far behind schedule and may engender little public interest, sponsoring editors are reluctant to terminate contracts with authors whom they have signed. The result is that editors invest more time with these projects than on more fruitful projects. As a form of escalation of commitment, describe two methods that Ancient Book Company can use to minimize this problem.

The textbook identifies four strategies to improve decision evaluation: Separate the decision maker from decision evaluator. The most effective strategy is to separate decision choosers from decision implementers. This minimizes the problem of saving face because the person responsible for implementation and evaluation would not be concerned about saving face if the project is cancelled.

Establish a stop-loss decision rule. Another way to minimize escalation of commitment is to establish a preset level at which the decision is abandoned or reevaluated. The problem with this solution is that conditions are often so complex that it is difficult to identify an appropriate point to abandon a project.

However, this approach may work if a stopping point can be determined, and it is established by someone other than the decision maker.

Seek factual and social feedback. The clearer the feedback, the more difficult it is to deny that the project has problems. Unfortunately, this solution is rarely available because many decisions have only ambiguous feedback. A related recommendation is to receive feedback from others about the decision.

This social information might result in earlier awareness of problems. By relying on advice from several people, the decision maker might also have less psychological attachment to any recommendation to cancel the project.

Change the decision maker’s mindset. Decision makers may be less likely to engage in escalation of commitment if they change their mindset regarding the situation. This includes refocusing the decision maker‘s attention away from the negative emotions of the project‘s past financial losses, and by focusing on growing the business rather than on maintaining past obligations or preventing losses in past decisions.

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75. A recent graduate is offered a job by an employer she admires even before she can start her job search.

The student thinks it is an opportunity and grabs it. Explain the recent graduate‘s decision in terms of the role of emotions in decision making.

The rational choice paradigm assumes that decision makers follow the systematic process. However, emotions affect the evaluation of alternatives. Emotional marker process determines our preferences for each alternative before we consciously think about those alternatives. The student probably has done this in the given situation. Emotions also influence the process of evaluation. Therefore, the student probably has been quick to choose an employer she admires here and has been biased toward other alternatives if any. Emotions also serve as information when we evaluate alternatives. Hence, the student perhaps was swayed by her emotional reaction; however, she still seems to be informed by reasons of why she admired the employer in the first place.

76. Think of a time when you experienced the creative process. Maybe you woke up with a brilliant (but usually sketchy and incomplete) idea, or you solved a baffling problem while doing something else.

Describe this incident to your class and explain how the experience followed the creative process.

For this question, students should be encouraged to think about a recent project they may have completed and done well (e.g., major research project). They may initially recall the event in a general sense, but should strive to divide it according to the four stages outlined in the creative process model The illumination stage should be particularly relevant since it is the point at which one idea may come while thinking or doing something else. Students should try to remember how the idea came to them and how they documented and tested it. Once done, they may be able to also recall the previous stage (incubation).

77. Two characteristics of creative people are that they have relevant experience and are persistent in their quest. Does this mean that people with the most experience and the highest need for achievement are the most creative? Explain your answer.

The answer is probably ―No.‖ The textbook states that there is a dilemma regarding experience. On the one hand, people need plenty of experience to be familiar with the issues. The literature on creativity suggests that it may take several years of experience before a person has reached creative potential.

The dilemma is that the longer a person is in one field of study, the more they develop a mental model that stifles creativity. Some companies prefer people with no experience in an industry so they are more creative. These two points are not exactly contradictory—a person may be new to an industry but have many years of experience in a particular skill or trade. However, the issue does suggest that there is an optimal level of experience before mental models undermine creative potential.

It is less certain whether creativity continues to increase with need for achievement. The textbook explains that need for achievement makes creative people more persistent, which is necessary in the face of short-term failures and doubts from others. Would a very strong need for achievement undermine creative potential? This is a matter for debate. Most likely too much need for achievement will create blind drive which can prevent people from seeing alternative strategies and the obvious inappropriateness of existing routes.

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78. Employee involvement applies just as well to the classroom as to the office or factory floor. Explain how student involvement in classroom decisions typically made by the instructor alone might improve decision quality. What potential problems may occur in this process?

Problem identification. Because students have a different perspective than the instructor, their involvement might help identify issues or problems the instructor was unaware of. This could lead to improvements in the quality of the learning experience.

Generating alternatives. Student involvement could potentially improve the number and quality of solutions generated. This typically happens when more people look for solutions, because individuals have different perspectives.

Better solutions. The likelihood of choosing the best solution, from the list of alternatives generated, would be increased due to diverse perspectives and values.

Increased commitment. When students are involved in identifying the issues, generating alternative solutions, and choosing a solution, they may also feel more committed to the decision taken.

Increased perception of fairness. Being involved in the process may also promote a sense of fairness among students.

To avoid problems with this process, limits should be placed on the extent of participation, and the number of issues requiring student involvement. For example, the determination of grades should be left up to the instructor. The types of questions and weightings of exams should also be predetermined.

The instructor would have to make sure all students are equally involved to avoid a small influential and vocal group of students from dominating the others.

Lastly, the instructor should be mindful that increasing student involvement requires more time, which may in turn reduce teaching time.

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CS

CASE STUDY: DOGGED BY THE WRONG PROBLEM

Case Synopsis This case describes how animal shelters are addressing the problem of 3 million dogs entering these shelters each year in the United States. It specifically provides details about the traditional and emerging approach at.

The Animal Care Centers (ACC) of New York City. The case also refers to the Downtown Dog Rescue in Los Angeles, which pioneered this different way of thinking about this problem.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions What stage of decision making is mainly discussed in this case about dog surrenders? To what extent and in what ways did the change in that stage of decision making affect later stages of decision making about dog surrenders?

This case mainly focuses on the problem identification stage of decision making. Specifically, it describes how animal shelters traditionally defined the problem as how to find new owners for dogs that had been sent to the shelters. The Downtown Dog Rescue in Los Angeles, Animal Care Centers of New York City, and other animal welfare organizations have redefined the problem as one of how dog owners can keep their pets rather than surrender them to animal shelters.

This emerging problem definition does not replace the traditional problem definition. Instead, the emerging view is a supplemental problem that reduces the severity of the traditional problem. The emerging problem definition recognizes that many dog owners love their dogs but are unable to care for them due to insufficient financial resources, lack of physical space, and inability (in most cases, lack of skill) to control the dog.

The redefined problem definition for animal shelters affects later stages in the decision-making process.

Specifically, discovering and developing possible choices (alternatives) shifted from ways to attract new dog owners to ways of finding resources and developing skills for the current dog owners so they can keep their pet rather than surrender it. The new problem definition also refocused on ways of diagnosing the dog surrender process, rather than blindly assume the dog owners didn‘t want their pet. This led to discovering and developing more effective ways of interacting with and gathering information from people who are about to surrender their pets.

The redefined problem also leads to different decision-making evaluation criteria and analyses. The traditional problem definition evaluates the success of solutions in terms of how many surrendered dogs are assigned to new owners. The emerging problem definition evaluates the success of solutions in terms of how many potential dog surrenders are avoided through the various interventions (providing resources to current owners, training current owners in better dog behavior, etc.).

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79. How has creativity played a role in the events described in this case study?

Creativity occurs throughout the decision-making process, and this is apparent in this situation. First, the emerging problem definition required creative thinking (particularly lateral thinking) to break away from the traditional mindset. In fact, Matthew Bershadker, CEO of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, refers to the classic creativity ―light bulb‖ metaphor when referring to the shift in thinking about the problem definition.

Second, as the case describes, creativity was vital to discover better ways to find and provide resources to dog owners so they could keep their pet. The case mentions that the Animal Care Centers of New York City ―found increasingly innovative and customized solutions to enable owners to keep their pet.‖ Similarly, it required creative thinking to recognize more effective ways of interacting with and gathering information from current dog owners, which would enable the animal shelter agencies to find an appropriate solution that would reduce the current owners‘ motivation to surrender the pet.

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT INCIDENTS

Scenario Synopsis These four scenarios provide an excellent opportunity for students to discuss the conditions under which various levels of employee involvement should be applied. To decide the best level, students should consider the benefits of and problems with employee involvement described in this chapter.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions The five levels of involvement identified in each of the three scenarios is as follows: Decide alone. Use your personal knowledge and insight to complete the entire decision process without conferring with anyone else.

Receive information from individuals. Ask specific individuals for information. They do not make recommendations and might not even know what the problem is about.

Consult with individuals. Describe the problem to selected individuals and seek both their information and recommendations. The final decision is made by you, and you may or may not take the advice from these others into account.

Consult with the team. You bring together a team of people (all department staff or a representation of them if the department is large) who are told about the problem and provide their ideas and recommendations. You make the final decision, which may or may not reflect the team‘s information.

Facilitate the team’s decision. The entire decision-making process is handed over to a team or committee of subordinates. You serve only as a facilitator to guide the decision process and keep everyone on track. The team identifies the problem, discovers alternative solutions, chooses the best alternative, and implements their choice.

Scenario 1: The Productivity Dividend Decision Situation: As head of the transmission/distribution group (TD group) in the city‘s water agency, students have been asked to reduce costs over the next year and need to determine whether and to what extent to involve the 300 employees in the business unit.

To what extent should your employees be involved in this decision? Select one of the following levels of involvement.

Most teams will likely identify a medium high level of involvement (consult with the team), although some tend to suggest lower involvement (receive information from individuals or consult individuals only).

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80. What factors led you to choose this alternative rather than the others?

This question can be answered by reviewing the four contingencies of employee involvement discussed in the textbook.

Decision structure: This decision has low structure. The scenario provides a situation that is relatively complex and requires a variety of knowledge sources. Consequently, some level of involvement will be necessary.

Source of decision knowledge: This scenario states that you have limited knowledge relative to employees, and that even supervisors two levels below you lack sufficient details about the work to provide enough information. Therefore, it will be necessary to involve frontline employees. Furthermore, given the complexity of the business and dispersion of knowledge at the front lines, it is reasonable to argue that ―receiving information from individuals‖ would be too low a level of involvement. The reason is that you would not know what information to request. Therefore, involvement probably needs to include describing the problem to employees. However, this medium-level involvement also carries risks because of the risks of conflict between employees and the company, discussed below.

Decision commitment: There isn‘t any direct information about employee commitment to decisions under various levels of involvement. However, since a moderate level of involvement is probably necessary (see above), this may be sufficient if any commitment is otherwise lacking.

Risk of conflict among employees: Employees may have difficulty agreeing among themselves because the unit has diverse employees with different skills and knowledge. It doesn‘t seem that this risk is very high, but it is a possibility. For example, some employees might suggest changes to another job group in the TD group, which causes employees in the affected group to oppose that idea. Overall, the conflict among employee discourages high involvement but will support a medium level of involvement.

Employee–firm goal congruence. Lack of goal compatibility between employees and the company is a very high risk because the productivity dividend decisions may eventually have negative consequences for employees. Consequently, the level of involvement needs to be moderate or lower. The union clearly opposes the initiative and might encourage some employees to make decisions for their personal or union‘s benefit without consideration of other stakeholder needs (e.g., lower costs to consumers). Even if employees ignore the union‘s warnings, they might make decisions that work well for their unit but result in higher costs elsewhere in the organization. The scenario states: ―employees may be unaware of or care little about these repercussions, because there is limited interaction with or social bonding by employees across the departments.‖ 81. What problems might occur if less or more involvement occurred in this case (where possible)?

A high degree of involvement is likely problematic because of the risk of conflict between employees and the organization‘s interests and with other work units in the organization. There may also be conflict among employees within the TD group because some decisions may have adverse effects on specific subgroups in that unit.

A low level of involvement, including deciding alone and receiving information from individuals, would be too low due to your lack of knowledge about how to find ways to improve efficiency and even lack of knowledge about what questions to ask frontline staff on this matter. The business is too complex.

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Scenario 2: The Sugar Substitute Research Decision Situation: As head of research and development (R&D) at a major beer company, students are asked to determine whether and to what extent to involve the department‘s researchers in allocating budget for further research on a new sugar substitute into which one researcher has tentatively discovered.

To what extent should your employees be involved in this decision? Select one of the following levels of involvement.

Most teams will likely identify some level of consultation, although some tend to suggest high involvement (facilitate the team‘s decision). The answer to the next question explains why medium involvement is probably best here.

82. What factors led you to choose this alternative rather than the others?

This question can be answered by reviewing the four contingencies of employee involvement discussed in the textbook.

Decision structure: This decision has low structure. The incident says that there is a decision process for funding projects behind schedule, but there are no rules or precedents about funding projects that would be licensed but not used by the organization. Consequently, some level of involvement may be valuable.

Source of decision knowledge: The incident clearly says that the sugar substitute project is beyond your technical expertise and that it is difficult to determine the amount of research required. Scientists have information unavailable to the leader, but they would not have sufficient information to make the decision alone. Overall, this suggests that some involvement (consultation with individuals or the team) is desirable.

Decision commitment: This might be debatable, but most employees know that funding decisions are ultimately in the hands of executives who must take responsibility for those decisions. Also, it sounds like past funding decisions are made by the leader, not employees (mainly due to conflict problems described below). Moreover, employees don‘t implement anything as a result of this decision, so there is probably minimal adverse effect of low commitment.

Risk of conflict among employees: It is almost certainly true that conflict will occur among employees.

This is a win–lose situation where funding one project reduces or eliminates funding on other projects.

This potential conflict among employees means that the decision should not be given to the team, but consultation with individuals or the team is fine.

Employee–firm goal congruence: The incident says that you believe that most researchers in the R&D unit are committed to ensuring company‘s interests are achieved. Consequently, this factor would allow a high level of involvement.

83. What problems might occur if less or more involvement occurred in this case (where possible)?

A higher degree of involvement would probably be difficult because of the problem of conflict among employees. Employees could not agree because a decision to fund the project would reduce their own funding. A low level of involvement would lose some of synergy of discussion about the issue. This synergy brings out valuable information and potentially more creative solutions to the problem.

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Scenario 3: Coast Guard Cutter Decision Problem Situation: Students are placed in the role of a captain of a Coast Guard cutter who is searching for a plane that has crashed offshore. After 20 hours of searching, a major storm is approaching and the captain must decide whether to abandon the search or to continue and place the ship at risk. Students must determine whether and to what extent to involve the crew in the decision.

To what extent should your employees be involved in this decision? Select one of the following levels of involvement.

The preferred level of involvement is ―Decide alone‖ (no involvement). Specifically, the captain would solve the problem or make the decision themself using information available at the time.

84. What factors led you to choose this alternative rather than the others?

This question can be answered by reviewing the four contingencies of employee involvement discussed in the textbook.

Decision structure: This decision probably has high structure because the captain must ultimately protect the ship and crew, or would have reasonably clear rules on taking this sort of risk.

Source of decision knowledge: The captain has as much information as anyone on the ship about which option to select.

Decision commitment: The crew will likely support the captain‘s decision without any involvement.

Risk of conflict among employees: There is a reasonable possibility that crew members will be divided (i.e., conflict will occur) over the preferred alternative. Consequently, a very high level of involvement is not advisable or possible.

Employee–firm goal congruence: Crew members likely have goals aligned with the interests of the ship and coast guard organization, so a high level of involvement is possible based on this factor.

85. What problems might occur if less or more involvement occurred in this case (where possible)?

The main problem with applying a higher level of employee involvement here is that the problem is well structured and the time-consuming process may be redundant. There is also a chance that subordinates would engage in dysfunctional conflict if they were asked to make the decision.

Scenario 4: The Social Media Policy Decision Situation: Students are placed in the role of head of the state government‘s industry initiatives agency.

Comments from potential applicants have led you to consider having a social media policy in the agency, particularly to have work-related sites they can access and develop during work hours. Students are asked to determine whether and to what extent employees should be involved in forming a social media policy within the agency.

To what extent should your employees be involved in this decision? Select one of the following levels of involvement.

Most teams will likely identify a medium high level of involvement (consult with individuals and/or the entire agency).

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86. What factors led you to choose this alternative rather than the others?

This question can be answered by reviewing the four contingencies of employee involvement discussed in the textbook.

Decision structure: This decision has low structure because there is no existing standard policy in the state government or even within the department to which the agency reports. Consequently, some level of involvement will likely to be valuable.

Source of decision knowledge: The scenario reveals that although you are interested and intrigued by the potential of social media, you lack sufficient information relative to the professionals in your agency, particularly younger staff. It is unclear whether you have enough information about social media to ask others for specific information. Generally, some level of involvement is required, possibly at least telling others about the problem (need for a policy).

Decision commitment: It is apparent that some people strongly support (and currently have) social media at work, whereas others are opposed. Involving people in the social policy decision to some degree might increase support for the final decision because at least everyone has had their voice heard on this matter.

Therefore, most students would likely suggest that the agency head needs to tell the problem to others and consult as many people as possible (individually, possibly in groups).

Risk of conflict among employees: Conflict will almost certainly occur among employees because the scenario describes opposing views. Some actively use social media and support it, whereas others are apparently strongly opposed to the activity in the workplace. As such, the final decision must rest with the agency head (the highest level of involvement is not recommended).

Employee–firm goal congruence: It is unclear whether there will be goal compatibility between employees and the agency or state government. However, the highest involvement is not recommended due to other factors, even if employees would decide in the agency‘s best interests.

87. What problems might occur if less or more involvement occurred in this case (where possible)?

Due to the risk of conflict among employees, a high degree of involvement (facilitate the team‘s decision) would likely result in no decision due to lack of agreement.

A low level of involvement—where the agency head asks specific employees for information without describing the issue—may be possible, but carries two risks. First, the agency head might not have enough knowledge to know what information to request. Second, there is a risk of lack of employee commitment because the issue is polarized. Giving everyone an opportunity to present their views may increase acceptance of the decision whichever way it goes.

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CE

CLASS EXERCISE: CREATIVITY BRAINBUSTERS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand the dynamics of creativity and team problem-solving.

Instructions This exercise may be completed alone or in teams of three or four people, although the latter is more fun. If teams are formed, students who already know the solutions to these problems should identify themselves and serve as silent observers. When finished (or time is up), the instructor will review the solutions and discuss the implications of this exercise. In particular, be prepared to discuss what you needed to solve these puzzles and what may have prevented you from solving them more quickly (or at all).

Comments for Instructors (NOTE: The instructor resources include a set of PowerPoint slides that visually display the answers to these creativity brainbusters.)

Double Circle Problem. I have found that students are usually dumbfounded and don‘t even try. How can you draw two circles with one line and no connection between them? Here‘s the answer: Draw the outer circle anywhere on the page. When finished, fold a corner of the paper over so that it lies on top of the circle and the paper edge is beside your pencil (see Exhibit (a) below). Move the pencil across this folded over edge to a point inside the circle you just drew. Move the corner back to its original position and complete the second circle.

Nine-Dot Problem. (NOTE: This is sometimes known as the Eskimo puzzle because Inuit people apparently have less trouble solving them. The reason is that they have no fences, so their brain doesn‘t restrict their solutions within the area of the dots.) There are many ways to solve this puzzle. The first solution below (Exhibit (b)) is the most common. Solution (c) is somewhat questionable because the pencil doubles back across existing lines. Some might say that there are more than four lines, although we see only four lines.

Nine-Dot Problem Revisited. Some students will figure out the nine-dot problem with four lines. Fewer will figure out the three-line solution. The most obvious solution is shown in (d) below. Now, ask students for a solution with FEWER than three lines. There are a few ways of doing this. Draw nine large dots on a very large piece of paper, then roll the paper into a large tube. Next, draw a single line on a slight angle from the top of one column of dots down and around the tube to the middle row, then around the tube again to the third column of dots. The result is shown in the third illustration below. If students suggest that this method would not cover the dots correctly, you could suggest that the paper could be so large that the angle becomes asymptotically minuscule. Also, you could keep the paper flat and draw a straight line twice around the Earth. Another way to pass a pencil line through all dots with a single straight line is to make the line wide enough to cover all of the dots. Some students might also consider folding the paper so that the dots are folded on top of each other. Then punch a hole with your pencil through all of the dots. It would be an unusual line, but it seems to fit within the protocol!

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Word Search Problem. The trick here is to correctly interpret the meaning of the instructions. May people tend to look for five letters that they can cross out. Instead, they should cross out the words ―five letters‖ that are embedded in the row of letters. This leaves the word ―creative.‖ (NOTE: This exercise is fairly new, so it may be possible that students can cross out any five letters in the sequence to form a single word. However, we have not yet found this option.)

Burning Ropes. This is a real challenge to most students in my class, but a few people get the solution. At time 0, light BOTH ends of one rope and one end of the second rope. The first rope will necessarily burn up in 30 minutes. When this is done, light the second end of the second rope. With 30 minutes of the second rope burned up, burning both ends of the remainder will take exactly 15 minutes. Some students suggest cutting the rope in half, but they forget that burn time is not equal across the rope. If you cut a rope in half and burn both ends of each, one might burn for five minutes and the other for 25 minutes (not necessarily 15 minutes each).

Bonus Brainbuster Roman Numeral Problem: Draw the Roman numbers ―IX‖ (without quotation marks) on an overhead or whiteboard. Then say to students: ―Here is the Roman numeral 9. Add only one line to create a six.‖ Answer to Roman Numeral Problem: This puzzle can be solved by drawing an ―S‖ in front of the ―IX.‖ Alternatively, the solution could simply be to draw a ―6,‖ because this a single line, too. A third solution requires a wide marker the same color as the paper on which the IX is written. Turn the paper upside down (so you see an XI). Now, draw a straight line across the bottom half of the two Roman numerals (thereby hiding them against the paper background). The result shows the Roman numeral ―VI.‖

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.1: WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED DECISION-MAKING STYLE?

Overview and Instructions Effective decision making is a critical part of most jobs, particularly in professional and executive positions.

But people have different decision-making styles, including how much they rely on facts and logical analysis or emotional responses and gut instinct.

This scale includes statements describing how individuals go about making important decisions. Specifically, it estimates the extent to which students prefer rational and intuitive decision making. Students are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement. This instrument has eight statements.

Feedback for the Decision-Making Style Self-Assessment The decision-making style inventory estimates the extent to which students prefer rational and intuitive decision making. Both the ―rational‖ and ―intuitive‖ decision styles have a maximum score of 20 points and a minimum score of 4 points. Notice that students can have higher or low levels of BOTH decision-making styles. For example, someone might score very high on both rational and intuitive decision making. This is not contradictory. Some people engage in more intense rational and intuitive thinking.

Rational decision style People with high scores on this scale like to make decisions based on facts and logical analysis. They try to avoid or ignore gut instinct when it contradicts objective information.

Score

Interpretation

15–20

Strong preference for rational decision making

10–14

Moderate preference for rational decision making

4–9

Low preference for rational decision making

Intuitive decision style People with high scores on this scale like to make decisions based on their inner feelings or ―gut instinct.‖ They try to avoid rational choices if they are inconsistent with their intuition.

Score

Interpretation

15–20

Strong preference for intuitive decision making

10–14

Moderate preference for intuitive decision making

4–9

Low preference for intuitive decision making

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.2: HOW WELL DO YOU ENGAGE IN DIVERGENT THINKING?

Overview and Instructions A key feature of creativity is divergent thinking—reframing the problem in a unique way and generating different approaches to the issue. One way to test divergent thinking is by presenting questions or problems in which the answer requires a different approach or perspective from the usual frame of mind. This selfassessment presents a dozen of these questions.

Feedback for the Divergent Thinking Scale This self-assessment does not provide scores, although students can count the percentage of questions where they wrote in the correct answer. Instead, the results on the student OLC show the answer to each question along with the correct answer and an explanation where needed. The correct answers are also shown on the next page of this manual.

Comments for Instructors This is definitely a fun self-assessment (although perhaps also frustrating to some extent). Some of the questions require creative thinking, whereas students will point out that others require more logical analysis and recollection of basic mathematical principles.

Although this is a self-assessment, I usually present it in class as a team activity. This process is more active and illustrates the potential benefits of teams rather than individuals in solving problems (i.e., the questions are answered faster because someone in the team usually has an answer to some of the question).

Students can discuss some of the creative processes involved in answering these questions. For example, many students get the bucket of water question wrong (#8) because of their assumption that the second bucket also has water (or, more likely, ice) in it. This sense of closure frames the question and makes it difficult to identify the correct answer.

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

Creative Bench Strength Questions and Answers Questions

Answers

1. There is one word in the English language that is always pronounced incorrectly. What is it?

Incorrectly.

2. A man gave one son 10 cents and another son was given 15 cents. What time is it?

1:45. The man gave away a total of 25 cents. He divided it between two people.

Therefore, he gave a quarter to two.

3. A boat has a ladder that has six rungs, each rung is 1 None, the boat rises with the tide. foot apart. The bottom rung is 1 foot from the water.

The tide rises at 12 inches every 15 minutes. High tide peaks in one hour. When the tide is at its highest, how many rungs are under water?

4. There is a house with four walls. Each wall faces south. There is a window in each wall. A bear walks by one of the windows. What color is the bear?

White. If all the walls face south, the house is at the North Pole, and the bear, therefore, is a polar bear.

5. Is half of two plus two equal to two or three?

Three, if you follow the mathematical orders of operation. Division is performed before addition. So, half of two is one. Then add two, and the answer is three.

6. There is a room. The shutters are blowing in. There is broken glass on the floor. There is water on the floor. You find Sloppy dead on the floor. How did Sloppy die?

Sloppy is a goldfish. The wind blew the shutters in, which knocked his goldfishbowl off the table, and it broke, killing him.

7. How much dirt would be in a hole 6 feet deep and 6 None. No matter how big a hole is, it‘s still feet wide that has been dug with a square edged a hole: the absence of dirt. (And those of shovel? you who said 36 cubic feet are wrong for another reason, too. You would have needed the length measurement too. So, you don‘t even know how much air is in the hole.)

8. Suppose you are in Juneau, Alaska, and drop a bowling ball from a height of 3 feet into a bucket of water at 45°F. Then, you drop a bowling ball of the same weight, mass, and size from the same height into another bucket at 20°F. Which ball would hit the bottom of the bucket fastest?

The ball in the bucket of 45°F water hits the bottom of the bucket last. Did you think that the water in the 20°F bucket is frozen?

Think again. The question said nothing about that second bucket having anything in it. Therefore, there is no water (or ice) to slow the ball down.

9. What is the significance of the following: The year is 1978 34 minutes past noon on May 6.

The time and month/date/year are 12:34, 5/6/78.

10. What can go up a chimney down, but can‘t go down a chimney up?

An umbrella.

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

11. If a farmer has five haystacks in one field and four One. If he combines all of his haystacks, haystacks in the other field, how many haystacks they all become one big stack. would he have if he combined them all in the center field?

12. What is it that goes up and goes down but does not The temperature. move?

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.3: DO YOU HAVE A CREATIVE PERSONALITY?

Overview and Instructions Everyone is creative to some extent, but some people have personality traits and personal values that give them higher creative potential. This instrument estimates the student‘s creative potential as a personal characteristic. The scale recognizes that creative people are intelligent, persistent, and possess an inventive thinking style. Creative disposition varies somewhat from one occupational group to the next.

This self-assessment consists of an adjective checklist with 30 words. Students are asked to put a mark in the box beside the words that they think accurately describe them. They MUST NOT mark the boxes for words that do not describe them.

Feedback for the Creative Personality Instrument The table below is based on norms for undergraduate and graduate university students in the United States.

Scores range from −12 to +18. People with higher scores have a higher creative personality.

Score

Interpretation

+10 to +18

High creative personality

+1 to +9

Average creative personality

−12 to 0

Low creative personality

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

Chapter 8: Team Dynamics Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

8

Team Dynamics

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Define teams and informal groups, and explain why employees join informal groups.

8-2 Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams.

8-3 Outline the team effectiveness model, and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness.

8-4 Discuss how the six team processes—team development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust, and mental models—influence team effectiveness.

8-5 Identify the features of self-directed teams (SDTs), and discuss ways to support the success of SDTs. 8-6 Contrast remote teams with traditional teams in organizations, and discuss ways to support the success of remote teams.

8-7 Identify four constraints on team decision making, and describe four structures that support idea generation in teams.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY brainstorming—a freewheeling, face-to-face meeting where team members aren‘t allowed to criticize but are encouraged to speak freely, generate as many ideas as possible, and build on the ideas of others

evaluation apprehension—occurs when individuals are reluctant to mention ideas that seem silly because they believe (often correctly) that others in the decision-making group are silently evaluating them

brainwriting—a variation of brainstorming whereby participants write (rather than speak about) and share their ideas

mental models—visual and relational images that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us

electronic brainstorming—a form of brainstorming (or brainwriting) that relies on networked digital devices for submitting and sharing creative ideas Page 8-331

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Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

nominal group technique—a variation of brainwriting consisting of three stages in which participants (1) silently and independently document their ideas, (2) collectively describe these ideas to the other team members without critique, and then (3) silently and independently evaluate the ideas presented norms—the informal rules and shared expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members

self-directed teams (SDTs)—cross-functional work groups that are organized around work processes, complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks social loafing—the problem that occurs when people exert less effort (and usually perform at a lower level) when working in teams than when working alone social networks—social structures of individuals or social units that are connected to one another through one or more forms of interdependence

process losses—resources (including time and energy) expended toward team development and maintenance rather than the task

task interdependence—the extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs

production blocking—a time constraint in team decision making due to the procedural requirement that only one person may speak at a time

team cohesion—the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members

psychological safety—a shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking; specifically, that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors will not result in coworkers posing a threat to their self-concept, status, or career

team efficacy—the collective belief among team members of the team‘s capability to successfully complete a task teams—groups of two or more people who interact with and influence one another, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization

remote teams—teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks role—a set of behaviors that people are expected to repeatedly perform because they hold formal or informal positions in a team and organization

trust—positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 11. Define teams and informal groups, and explain why employees join informal groups.

Teams are groups of two or more people who interact and influence one another, are mutually accountable for achieving common goals associated with organizational objectives, and perceive themselves as a social entity within an organization. There are many types of teams in organizations, which can be distinguished by three characteristics: team permanence, skill diversity, and authority dispersion. All teams are groups, but many groups do not satisfy our definition of teams. In contrast to a

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

team, an informal group is any gathering of people who have little or no interdependence and no organizationally mandated purpose.

People join informal groups for four reasons: (1) They have an innate drive to bond, (2) individuals have an inherent need to define themselves to some extent by their group affiliations, (3) some personal goals are accomplished better in groups, and (4) individuals are comforted in stressful situations by the mere presence of other people.

12. Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams.

Under the right conditions, teams make better decisions, develop better products and services, and create a more motivated workforce than do employees working alone. Teams also coordinate more easily than do people working in separate departments. In many situations, employees are more motivated when working in teams than alone. This occurs because the drive to bond motivates team members to fulfill team goals, employees are monitored by and feel accountable to team members, and each team member creates a moving performance standard for the others.

Two limitations of teams are process losses and social loafing. Process losses are resources expended toward team development and maintenance rather than directly toward task performance. These costs increase with the team‘s diversity, with its size, and with the addition of new members. Social loafing occurs when people exert less effort (and usually perform at a lower level) in teams than when working alone. It is more likely to occur under several conditions: (1) Individual performance is hidden or difficult to distinguish from the performance of other team members; (2) the work is boring or has low task significance; (3) the individual team member has low conscientiousness, low agreeableness, and low collectivism; and (4) the individual team member has low motivation to help the team achieve its goals, which occurs when the employee doesn‘t identify with the team, doesn‘t believe others are pulling their weight, and doesn‘t believe their effort will affect the team‘s success. Social loafing can be minimized by forming smaller teams, measuring individual performance, specializing tasks, increasing job enrichment, increasing mindfulness of team obligations, and selecting motivated, team-oriented employees.

13. Outline the team effectiveness model, and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness.

Team effectiveness includes the team‘s ability to achieve its objectives, fulfill the needs of its members, and maintain its survival. The team effectiveness model includes several elements grouped into three main categories: (a) organizational and team environment, (b) team design, and (c) team processes.

Team design includes three elements: task characteristics, team size, and team composition. Teams tend to be better suited for situations in which the work is complex yet tasks are well structured and have high task interdependence. Teams should have enough members to perform the work yet be small enough for efficient coordination and meaningful involvement. Effective teams are composed of people who are motivated and able to perform tasks (taskwork) but who are also motivated and able to engage in teamwork—behaviors that support the team‘s existence and functioning. These include cooperating, coordinating, communicating, comforting, and conflict handling (i.e., the Five Cs). Team member diversity has advantages and disadvantages for team performance.

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

14. Discuss how the six team processes—team development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust, and mental models—influence team effectiveness.

Six team processes are team development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust, and team mental models. Team development incorporates the other five processes. Teams develop through the stages of forming, storming, norming, performing, and eventually adjourning. Team building consists of activities that attempt to speed up or improve these team development processes.

As teams evolve, they develop norms to regulate and guide member behavior. Norms exist because employees believe these behaviors improve team performance or well-being; because they want predictability and conflict avoidance in their relations with other team members; and because norms routinize behavior, which improves social order and coordination with minimal cognitive effort.

Team members are assigned or acquire roles—a set of behaviors they are expected to perform. Some roles are assigned in team design; others are informally acquired as a team process. There are numerous team roles, but all generally focus directly either on task performance (taskwork) or on team maintenance (teamwork).

Team cohesion is the degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members. Cohesion increases with member similarity, smaller team size, higher degree of interaction, somewhat difficult entry, team success, and external challenges. Cohesion increases team performance when the team has high interdependence and its norms are congruent with organizational goals. Trust refers to positive expectations one person has toward another person in situations involving risk. People trust others on the basis of three foundations: calculus, knowledge, and identification.

Team mental models are cognitive images that team members form about the team‘s tasks, relationship dynamics, and knowledge repository. High-performing teams form shared mental models about their collective objectives, values, norms, work style, and interaction in the work process. Complementary mental models are unique to each team member but are compatible with the mental models held by other team members. Team mental models establish effective coordinating routines and generate perceptions of the team‘s purpose and performance. They also help team members quickly know where knowledge is located within the team.

15. Identify the features of self-directed teams (SDTs), and discuss ways to support the success of SDTs. Self-directed teams (SDTs) complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks, and they have substantial autonomy over the execution of their tasks. SDTs should be responsible for an entire work process and should have sufficient autonomy to organize and coordinate their work. Team members should have a relatively high degree of interdependence with each other but are sufficiently independent from other teams. SDTs are also more successful when the work site and technology support coordination and communication among team members 16. Contrast remote teams with traditional teams in organizations, and discuss ways to support the success of remote teams.

Remote teams are teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks. Remote teams differ from

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traditional (colocated) teams in two ways: (1) one or more members work remotely at least some of the time and (2) remote team members depend on information technologies in addition to or instead of faceto-face interaction to communicate and coordinate their work effort.

Remote teams are more effective when their members apply effective teamwork behaviors (the Five Cs) and have good communication technology skills, strong self-leadership skills, and higher emotional intelligence. They should have a variety of communication channels and the ability to choose which and when to use them. Remote teams require plenty of task structure. Remote team members should also meet face-to-face fairly early in the team development process.

17. Identify four constraints on team decision making, and describe four structures that support idea generation in teams.

Team decisions are impeded by time constraints, evaluation apprehension, conformity to peer pressure, and overconfidence. These concerns can be minimized through a shared belief that engaging in interpersonal risk-taking will not have adverse consequences (psychological safety), checks and balances that prevent anyone from dominating discussion, a team size that is as small as practicable, and wariness about the team‘s overconfidence. Four structures potentially improve creative decision making (specifically, idea generation) in team settings: brainstorming, brainwriting, electronic brainstorming, and nominal group technique.

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Team Dynamics Slide 2: Learning Objectives 8-1

Define teams and informal groups, and explain why employees join informal groups.

8-2

Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams.

8-3

Outline the team effectiveness model, and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness.

8-4

Discuss how the six team processes—team development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust, and mental models—influence team effectiveness.

8-5

Identify the features of self-directed teams (SDTs), and discuss ways to support the success of SDTs.

8-6

Contrast remote teams with traditional teams in organizations, and discuss ways to support the success of remote teams.

8-7

Identify four constraints on team decision making, and describe four structures that support idea generation in teams.

Slide 3: Teamwork at Cisco Systems Teams are central to where work gets done at Cisco Systems, so the technology company has introduced several systems and practices to support team dynamics and team success • Company identified more than 15,000 teams, many exist briefly and don‘t appear in the organizational chart • Cisco introduced strengths-based team role self-reflection analysis so teams can understand and align their role preferences • New ways to develop team leaders—improve team dynamics with varying degrees of team remoteness

• Developed a team-oriented internal collaboration communication system

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Slide 4: What Are Teams?

• Groups of two or more people • Exist to fulfill a purpose • Held together by their interdependence and need for collaboration to achieve common goals • Team members mutually accountable and influence each other

• Perceive themselves to be a team

Slide 5: Types of Teams Permanence • How long the team exists Skill diversity • Variety of member skills and knowledge Authority dispersion • Distribution of decision making throughout the team Example: task forces have low permanence, medium/high skill diversity, and medium authority dispersion

Slide 6: Informal Groups Groups that exist primarily for the benefit of their members Reasons why informal groups exist: • Fulfills the human drive to bond • Social identity—shape/reinforce our self-concept • Accomplish personal objectives requiring others—achieve things individuals working alone could not accomplish • Emotional support—comforted in the presence of others during stressful times Informal groups potentially benefit organizations • Reduces stress

• Build social networks—information sharing, power, influence

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Slide 7: Benefits and Limitations of Teams Benefits of teams 1. Make better decisions and develop better products/services 2. Share information and coordinate tasks more effectively 3. Larger pool of expertise for clients 4. Higher employee motivation/engagement—three motivating forces • Fulfills drive to bond—motivated to belong, felt obligation to the group • Accountable to team—team members monitor each other‘s performance • Coworkers are moving performance standard of comparison Limitations of teams 1. Individuals are better than teams for some tasks—when work isn‘t complex and one person possesses all necessary abilities 2. Process losses • Resources expended toward team development/maintenance rather than performance • Takes time for members to resolve disagreements, mutually understand goals, negotiate roles, agree on conduct, and so on • Process losses increase with team diversity (more conflicts) and size (more coordination) • Process losses amplified when adding new members—adding people to a late software project makes it later (Brooks‘s law)

3. Social loafing—employees exert less effort in teams than when working alone

Slide 8: Social Loafing Causes and Remedies Social loafing is more likely to occur: 1. When individual performance is hidden or difficult to distinguish from others • In larger teams • Team has single output (e.g., solve client problem), not separate for each member (e.g., number of clients served by each team member) 2. When work is boring, has low task significance

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

3. Due to individual characteristics • Low conscientiousness • Low agreeableness • Low collectivist values 4. When employees lack motivation to help the team achieve its goals • Employees have low social identity with the team • Employees believe others aren‘t pulling their weight (unfair workload) • Employees don‘t believe their effort affects team‘s success (e.g., in large teams) Minimizing social loafing • Form smaller teams—individual performance more noticeable • Measure individual performance • Specialize tasks—individual effort and performance more noticeable • Increase job enrichment—especially task significance • Increase mindfulness of team obligations—have employees declare their commitment to the team

• Select motivated, team-oriented employees—high conscientiousness, agreeableness, somewhat collectivist value orientation, strong social identity with the team

Slide 9: Team Effectiveness Model Team effectiveness defined—extent that the group: • Fulfills organizational (or other system) purpose (i.e., accomplishes tasks) • Fulfills needs of individual members • Ability and motivation of team members to remain together as a team to accomplish team objectives Elements of team effectiveness model • Organizational and team environment • Team design • Team processes (evolving cognitive and emotional dynamics of the team)

• Team outcomes (effectiveness)

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Slide 10: Organizational and Team Environment All conditions beyond the team‘s boundaries that influence its effectiveness—supports or inhibits the team‘s ability to function and achieve its objectives • Reward systems—at least partly rewarded for team performance • Communication systems—facilitate coordination among team members • Organizational structure—assigns discrete clusters of work activity to teams • Organizational leadership—values team diversity and all team members, not stars

• Physical space—physical layout makes a difference

Slide 11: Best Task Characteristics for Teams 5. Complex tasks divisible into specialized roles • Requires skills/knowledge beyond one person • Possible to allocate parts of work to people with those different skill sets 6. Well-structured, predictable tasks—easier to coordinate work among people • Low task variability—same tasks each day • High task analyzability—work is predictable enough for well-established procedures • Teams can still perform well in tasks with less structure where members are experienced in well-defined roles (e.g., surgery) 7. Higher task interdependence • Extent to which team members must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs • Three levels—pooled, sequential, reciprocal (see next slide) • High interdependence usually requires teams, not individuals in different departments (a) provides better communication/coordination (b) stronger motivation for team membership

• Problem: teams might create excessive conflict when members have different goals (such as serving different clients) but have high interdependence with others to achieve those unique goals—Solution: reduce interdependence or rely on other coordinating mechanisms (e.g., direct supervision as a buffer or mediator)

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Slide 12: Levels of Task Interdependence Pooled interdependence (lowest level) • Sharing a common resource (equipment, budget, etc.)

Sequential interdependence • Output of one person becomes the direct input for another person (e.g., assembly line) Reciprocal interdependence (highest level)

• Work output is exchanged back and forth among individuals—interwoven relationship (e.g., medical team)

Slide 13: Team Size Smaller teams are better because: • Less process loss (better coordination and resolving conflicts) • More motivated to work in the team—more influence, feel more responsible • Faster team development—know each other faster/better, more trust But team must be large enough to accomplish task

Slide 14: Team Composition Team members must engage in taskwork and teamwork Taskwork—behaviors that complete the assigned tasks • They have the motivation, ability, and role perceptions (MARS model elements) to perform their job Teamwork—behaviors that maintain the team‘s existence and functioning—effective team member behaviors (Five Cs): • Cooperating—willing and able to work together (i.e., sharing resources and being flexible to accommodate others) • Coordinating—actively manage the team‘s work so it is performed efficiently and harmoniously (i.e., keep the team on track and align work with others) • Communicating—transmit information freely (vs. hoarding), efficiently, and respectfully; listen actively to coworkers • Comforting—help coworkers maintain a positive and healthy psychological state (i.e., show empathy, provide psychological comfort, and build coworker feelings of confidence and self-worth)

• Conflict handling—have skills and motivation to resolve dysfunctional disagreements (i.e., effective diagnostic skills and use various conflict-handling skills effectively)

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Slide 15: Diverse Teams in the Finance Industry The finance industry has shifted toward teamwork. Investment reports prepared by teams have significantly more accurate earnings forecasts, which increase with the team‘s diversity. Investment advisory firms depend on teams because no individual has sufficient expertise to provide complex investment services

Slide 16: Team Composition: Diversity Extent that team members have diverse knowledge, skills, values, mental models, and perspectives Advantages of team diversity • View problems/alternatives from different perspectives • Broader pool of technical abilities • Provide a better representation of constituents (e.g., clients and other departments) Disadvantages of team diversity • Take longer to develop a high-performing team • Susceptible to ―fault lines‖ • Split team into subgroups by surface- or deep-level features • Reduces motivation to communicate and coordinate across fault lines

Slide 17: Team Processes Cognitive and emotional dynamics of the team that continually change with the team‘s ongoing evolution and development Includes team development, norms, roles, cohesion, trust, and mental models Team development—heart of team processes—the other team processes are embedded in team development

Slide 18: Stages of Team Development 8. Forming • Period of testing and orientation • Members defer to the existing authority • Expectations learned, and how members fit into the team 9. Storming • More conflict as members compete for roles • Members try to establish norms 10.

Norming • Cohesion develops • Norms and roles established, consensus forms around group objectives • Converging team mental models/expectations

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

11.

Performing

• Team becomes more task-oriented • Efficient work coordination, conflict resolution • Highly cooperative, high trust, committed to goals, identify with the team 12.

Adjourning • Team is about to disband

• Members shift from task to relationship focus

Slide 19: Team Norms Informal rules and shared expectations to regulate member behaviors • Apply only to behavior, not private thoughts or feelings • Begin when the team forms, some norms change over the team‘s life span Why teams develop norms 13. Members associate these behaviors with team‘s performance or member well-being 14. Improve predictability and minimize conflict in coworker relations 15. Routinize behavior with minimal cognitive effort—better coordination and social order Team members abide by norms through: • Enforcement—other members use rewards and punishment • Members conform to norms without direct reinforcement or punishment because they identify with the group (social identity in self-concept) Developing/changing team norms: • Select team members with compatible values and past behavior • State/justify the desired norms when people are assigned to the team • Ongoing coaching of norms to team members • Introduce team-based rewards that counter dysfunctional norms

• Disband teams with dysfunctional norms

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Slide 20: Team Roles Role: a set of behaviors that people are expected to repeatedly perform because they hold formal or informal positions in a team and organization Roles versus norms • Both establish and reinforce expected patterns of behavior • A role typically applies to one or a few people; norms typically apply to all members Some roles are formally assigned, others are acquired informally • Through positioning and negotiation • Individuals attracted to roles that suit their personality, may be shared but eventually claimed or associated with one or more team members Types of roles • Taskwork roles—assist the team‘s performance; for example, coordinating the team, providing constructive critique, and motivating team members in their task performance

• Teamwork roles—support team development/dynamics; for example, providing emotional support, maintaining harmony, and creating opportunities for social interaction

Slide 21: Team Cohesion The degree of attraction people feel toward the team and their motivation to remain members Factors that strengthen or speed up team cohesion: 1. High member similarity • Similarity-attraction hypothesis—we bond more quickly and easily with coworkers who are similar to us—faster/stronger cohesion • Generally, takes longer/more difficult for diverse teams to become cohesive, but this depends on the form of diversity 2. Smaller team size • Smaller teams usually more cohesive—easier to agree on goals and coordinate work activities, each member has more influence on the team 3. Regular/frequent member interaction • Regular interaction increases cohesiveness

• More interaction through higher task interdependence

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4. Somewhat difficult entry • Cohesion increased when entry to team is restricted—the more elite the team, the more prestige it confers • Caution: severe initiation can weaken cohesion 5. Higher team success • Successful teams fulfill member needs and goals • Success increases social identity with the team • NOTE: Team success (performance) affects cohesion to some extent, but cohesion has a much stronger effect on team performance (see next slide) 6. More external competition and challenges • External competition/challenges increase cohesion

• Cohesion weakens if external threats are severe and/or overwhelming

Slide 22: Team Cohesion and Performance High cohesion teams usually perform better because: • Motivated to maintain membership and achieve team objectives • Share information more frequently • Higher coworker satisfaction • Better social support (minimizes stress) • Resolve conflict more swiftly and effectively Team cohesion increases performance when: 16. Task interdependence is high • Cohesion motivates cooperation, so less important when people have minimal interdependence 17. Team norms are consistent with organizational objectives • Cohesion motivates conformity to team norms • Cohesion improves team performance when norms are aligned with firm‘s goals • Cohesion undermines team performance when norms oppose firm‘s goals NOTE: Higher cohesion causes better team performance, and better performance causes higher team cohesion—In real-world established teams, cohesion has a much stronger effect on team performance than the effect of team performance on team cohesion

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Slide 23: Trust in Teams Positive expectations toward another person or group in situations involving risk Three levels of trust • Calculus-based trust • Logical calculation that other team members will act appropriately because of sanctions, that is, based on deterrence • Lowest potential trust and is easily broken—not enough to sustain a relationship • Knowledge-based trust • Based on the predictability of another team member‘s behavior and/or confidence in the person‘s competence • More stable because it develops over time • Identification-based trust • Based on mutual understanding and emotional bonds • Potentially the strongest of the three types of trust • Transgressions quickly forgiven because the individual‘s self-concept is based partly on team membership Swift trust • New team members tend to have a moderate or high level—not a low level of trust in their new coworkers

• Swift trust is fragile in new relationships because it is based on assumptions rather than experience, that is, easily broken

Slide 24: Team Mental Models Mental models—visual or relational images in our mind that we develop to describe, explain, and predict the world around us Two types of team mental models: • Shared mental models—team members hold similar images, expectations about team‘s objectives, shared values, norms, work style, and member task involvement • Complementary mental models—each team member‘s unique mental model, which is compatible with the unique mental models held by other team members Benefits of shared and complementary team mental models • Improve coordination—habitual work practices and expectations with others • Generates belief/confidence that the team is a functioning social entity

• Helps team members know where knowledge is located within the team—team‘s diverse knowledge repository

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Slide 25: Team Building Team building—formal activities that try to speed up or improve team development Several types of team building to serve the various team development processes 18. Clarify team‘s performance goals and build motivation to achieve goals 19. Improve the team‘s problem-solving skills 20. Clarify and reconstruct each member‘s role perceptions and expectations of others—related to shared and complementary team mental models 21. Improving interpersonal relations within the team—build trust, strengthen team cohesion Team-building activities can be effective under specific conditions: • Target-specific team problems, not a general solution • An ongoing process, not a one-shot inoculation

• Occur on-the-job, not just away from the workplace

Slide 26: Self-Directed Teams Self-directed teams defined—cross-functional groups organized around work processes that complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks and have substantial autonomy over the execution of those tasks Two distinct features of SDTs: • They complete an entire piece of work requiring several interdependent tasks • They have substantial autonomy over the execution of their tasks Self-directed team success factors 22. Responsible for an entire work process—making a product, provide a service 23. High interdependence within the team 24. Low interdependence with other teams 25. Sufficient autonomy to organize and coordinate work 26. Work site and technology support team communication/coordination and job enrichment

Slide 27: Remote Teams at Automattic Automattic is a completely distributed organization with remote teams. However, the company ensures that these teams physically meet at least twice annually, including at the company‘s all-hands Grand Meetup

Slide 28: Remote Teams Teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks Differ from traditional teams in two ways: • One or more members work remotely some of the time rather than always colocated (working in the same physical area)

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• Due to their lack of colocation, members depend primarily on information technologies rather than face-toface interaction to communicate and coordinate Team remoteness increases with the: • Geographic dispersion of team members • Percentage of members who work apart • Percentage of time that members work apart Remote teams are more common and possible than ever before because: • Employees perform knowledge-based work rather than physical production • Information technologies make it easier to communicate and coordinate at a distance • Human capital—people are competitive advantage, so firms try to leverage that resource, which are often located geographically far apart Remote team success factors • Members apply effective teamwork behaviors (Five Cs) and have good communication technology skills, strong self-leadership, and higher emotional intelligence • Remote teams have a toolkit of communication technologies/channels and freedom to choose channels that work best for them • Remote teams have fairly high task structure (e.g., clear operational objectives)

• Members meet face-to-face, especially early in the team development process

Slide 29: Team Decision-Making Constraints Time constraints • Teams take longer than individuals to make decisions

• Time to organize/coordinate/maintain relationships

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• Production blocking—a time constraint in team decision making due to the procedural requirement that only one person may speak at a time • Listening to other‘s ideas makes it difficult for them to concentrate on own ideas • Flickering ideas die out the longer people wait to speak • Concentrating on own ideas makes it difficult to focus on the conversation Evaluation apprehension • Reluctance to mention ideas that seem silly because of belief (often true) that other team members are silently evaluating them • Based on desire for a favorable self-presentation—creative ideas often sound bizarre • Most common when higher status person attends meeting, or members formally evaluate each other Peer pressure to conform • Suppressing dissenting opinions that oppose team norms • Members might punish the violator, persuade them that the opinion is incorrect • Conformity is subtle—we question our ideas when team members disagree Overconfidence (inflated team efficacy) • High team efficacy is usually beneficial—set more challenging goals, more motivated to achieve goals • Curvilinear relationship between team efficacy and the team‘s performance—too little or too much undermines the team‘s effectiveness • Inflated team efficacy has negative outcomes • Less vigilant making decisions • Less task-oriented conflict (less active discussion, constructive debate) • Less likely to seek or accept information located outside the team • Inflated team efficacy caused by: • Collective self-enhancement effect • High team cohesion—mutual reinforcement • External threats/competition—further motivates self-enhancement • Mutually reinforcing beliefs within the team—echo and amplify a common point of view

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Slide 30: General Guidelines for Team Decisions 27.

Checks and balances so the leader or other members don‘t dominate

28.

Maintain optimal team size—minimize production blocking and process losses

29.

Encourage team confidence (efficacy), but wary of overconfidence

30.

Team norms should encourage critical thinking

31.

Support psychological safety—a shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking; specifically, that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors will not result in coworkers posing a threat to their self-concept, status, or career

32.

Introduce team structures that encourage creativity

Slide 31: Creative Team Structures: Brainstorming Team structure in which participants think up many ideas for the ultimate objective of generating the most creative ideas Four brainstorming rules: • Rule 1: Judicial judgment is ruled out (no criticism or evaluation of ideas) • Rule 2: ―Wildness‖ is welcome—crazy ideas often the source of creative ideas • Rule 3: Quantity is wanted—the goal of brainstorming is to produce the most creative ideas, but this occurs by producing as many ideas as possible • Rule 4: Combination and improvement are welcome—creative ideas emerge by piggybacking and combining others‘ ideas Brainstorming tends to work well in creative firms but not in student lab studies because: • Skilled facilitators (not inexperienced students) run brainstorming sessions • Employees are confident, have psychological safety to provide crazy ideas (student labs lack these conditions)—that is, less evaluation apprehension in firms than in student labs • Goal is to produce the most creative ideas, NOT the largest number of ideas Brainstorming limitations • Fixation/conformity effect—initial ideas restrict variety of subsequent ideas

• Production blocking

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Slide 32: Other Creative Team Structures Brainwriting • Variation of brainstorming that removes conversation during idea generation • Individuals write down and distribute their ideas to others, who develop further ideas • There is less production blocking and possibly less fixation effect than brainstorming Electronic brainstorming • A form of brainwriting that uses digital networks rather than handwritten cards to document and share ideas • Participants enter their ideas using special digital software • Ideas distributed anonymously to other participants, who are encouraged to piggyback (build on them) • Participants vote electronically on the ideas presented • Face-to-face discussion usually follows • Strengths: efficient process, reduces production blocking, evaluation apprehension, and fixation effects compared to brainstorming or traditional brainwriting • Limitations: lack of social interaction might suppress creative thinking, considered too structured and technology-bound Nominal group technique • Variation of face-to-face brainwriting, but includes a verbal stage for description of ideas • Three-stage process: 1. Individuals silently write and independently write their ideas (possible solutions) 2. Group describes ideas to the other team members (usually round-robin format)—no criticism or debate, however clarification of ideas is encouraged 3. Individuals silently and independently evaluate/vote on the ideas presented • Effectiveness of nominal group technique • It creates high task orientation, low potential for conflict • Production blocking and evaluation apprehension still occur

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

1. There are many types of teams in organizations. This chapter identified three types of teams— departmental teams, self-directed teams, and task force/project teams—and distinguished them in terms of three team characteristics: team permanence, skill diversity, and authority dispersion.

Identify two other types of teams and describe them in terms of these three team characteristics.

The first step to answering this question might be challenging for students because the three types of teams stated in this book—departmental teams, self-directed teams, and task force/project teams—are by far the most common. Some other types of teams would include production/service teams, executive teams (they aren‘t really a ―department‖), and advisory teams.

Production/service teams Typically, multiskilled (employees have diverse abilities), team members collectively produce a common product/service. They typically have an assembly-line type of interdependence and have less autonomy than self-directed teams (i.e., supervisor-led).

Team permanence: High—production/service teams continue indefinitely.

Skill diversity: Varies from medium low to high. Some of these teams have members with similar skills (medium-low diversity), such as auto assembly workers. In other production/service teams, members have high diversity (each brings unique skills), such as a satellite design team at NASA or the European Space agency.

Authority dispersion: Varies from low to medium high. Unlike self-directed teams, production/service teams have a traditional supervisory or management person coordinating and making some team decisions. Supervisor authority may be very high in highly structured production teams (i.e., low authority dispersion) Executive teams Similar to self-directed teams except that executive teams make corporate decisions that cross specializations. For example, the finance and marketing executives are jointly involved in making the same policy decisions, whereas specialists in self-directed teams would perform their own specialized tasks.

Team permanence: High—executive teams continue indefinitely.

Skill diversity: Medium to high. Members are usually leaders of specific functions (finance, manufacturing, etc.) or regions or product groups. Members of some executive teams have developed expertise across several of these areas, but each team member still brings considerable unique knowledge.

Authority dispersion: Medium to high. The answer depends on the company‘s and society‘s culture. In some executive teams, members freely debate and collectively decide when the discussion is completed

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

(high dispersion). In other teams, the CEO controls the team meetings, decision process, and makes the final decision after debate among the executive team (medium dispersion).

Advisory teams Advisory teams provide recommendations to decision makers. These teams include committees, advisory councils, work councils, and review panels. Some are temporary, but often permanent, some with frequent rotation of members.

Team permanence: Varies from low to high. Some advisory teams exist for a short time to address a specific issue in the organization. Other advisory teams, such as work councils in Europe, are permanent.

Skill diversity: Varies from medium low to high. Some advisory teams consist of people with similar expertise, such as medical professionals on a government committee. Other advisory teams have members with very wide skill diversity—each person has expertise in a different field, such as a university ethics committee.

Authority dispersion: Medium to medium high. Most advisory teams have a chairperson who controls the process, but the team typically makes the decision. However, some advisor teams might be purely consultative—they provide advice, but the chair controls the process and makes the decisions (i.e., medium authority dispersion).

2. Although teams have limitations, they can also be very effective. Identify three reasons why a team of six students potentially produces a better report for a major course assignment than the average quality of their reports completed individually. Detail the motivational benefits as one reason why teams are potentially better.

Larger pool of expertise: Student teams will have a wider range of expertise/knowledge, which helps them to discover relevant information more quickly and easily than an individual student working alone.

More hands on deck: Individuals cannot read through as a much content as a team of six students.

Although there are challenges of coordinating the work for a team versus individual report, ultimately a team report will be based on a larger volume of conceptual resources.

Potentially higher motivation to prepare the report: Team members are potentially motivated more in a team report than when completing the report alone, for three reasons: (a) each student has high accountability to fellow team members; (b) team members pace each other as a moving performance standard (e.g., seeing in each meeting how much other members have completed) and (c) are often motivated to work for the team because they value their association with fellow students (drive to bond— at least, when students choose their own teams).

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3. You have just been transferred from the Kansas office to the Denver office of your company, a national sales organization of electrical products for developers and contractors. In Kansas, team members regularly called customers after a sale to ask whether the products arrived on time and whether they are satisfied. But when you moved to the Denver office, no one seemed to make these follow-up calls. A recently hired coworker explained that other coworkers discouraged her from making those calls. Later, another coworker suggested that your follow-up calls were making everyone else look lazy. Give three possible reasons why the norms in Denver might be different from those in the Kansas office, even though the customers, products, sales commissions, and other characteristics of the workplace are almost identical.

Both team norms and peer pressure to conform to those norms are operating in this incident. Team norms are informal rules and expectations that groups establish to regulate the behavior of their members. In the Denver office, employees have a norm of not bothering with follow-up sales calls, whereas the Kansas office has a norm that encourages follow-up sales calls.

Your experience (and the experience of the recently hired employee) were attempts at conformity because both of you violated the norm at the Denver office. Employees suggested that you change your behavior. They made comments about the inappropriateness of making follow-up calls, implying that it was an act against other employees (it made them look lazy).

Students can describe any three of the following reasons why norms in Kansas might be different from those in the Denver office. (a) Team leaders or senior management in the Kansas office might have explicitly stated the importance of follow-up calls, whereas this might not be happening in the Denver office. (b) The Kansas office might have had a critical event that encouraged more follow-up calls, such as a lost customer or comments from an important customer on the value of follow-up calls. The Denver office might not have had these critical events. (c) The primacy effect might have shaped this norm at the two offices. For example, when the Kansas office was first started, the manager might have declared the importance of follow-up calls. (d) This norm may have developed from the beliefs and values that members brought to the team. When the Denver office was first formed, for instance, the employees brought to that office might have had weak customer service values.

4. Consider the six team roles summarized in Exhibit 8.6. Which two of these best describes your role tendency or role preference in a typical team at school or work? What factors do you think influence a person’s role preferences?

This can be a fun discussion question because students can usually identify with each of these roles in themselves and in others. In most cases, students have engaged in most or all of these roles, but they do tend to gravitate toward two or three of them. Each of the roles has a positive orientation, so most students should be willing to discuss their tendencies. Consider forming groups of about 10 students and have a show of hands for each role indicating people who think they tend to engage in that role more than average. Then ask what each person does specifically to enact that role. Finally, ask what personal characteristics are aligned with that role preference.

To discuss the factors influencing a person‘s role preferences, consider comparing each role with the five-factor personality model and with Schwartz‘s personal values circumplex (4 quadrants and 10 value Page 9-354

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

categories). For example, ―organizer‖ would relate to conscientiousness in the Big Five and to power or achievement in Schwartz‘s values model. ―Innovator‖ would be most relevant to people with higher openness to experience in the Big Five and openness to change in Schwartz‘s values model.

5. You have been given the task of forming an eight-member team of software engineers to secretly develop an important new component (feature) for the company’s main software, which is used widely by financial advisors and their clients. Suppose that high team cohesion is critical for this team, whose members will be working on the team for up to six months. The company’s software engineers are located in several cities in North America, as well as three locations in Europe and Asia. What actions would you take to create a software team that would quickly become highly cohesive, while still maintaining the company’s standards of an inclusive workplace?

This team has a few important features to consider for developing cohesion. All members have similar occupational backgrounds (software engineering) but may differ in cultural backgrounds. This is a remote team in which members are located around the planet, so in-person gatherings would be costly. This team is a special group, completing a secret project. The team is also relatively small with eight members.

Finally, the group will exist for only six months. We do not know if any members previously worked together.

To answer this question, students should work through the six main influences on team cohesion and identify ways to apply those factors to improve cohesion.

Member similarity: The team already has some advantage for cohesion because its members work in similar fields (software). However, there are cultural differences, which may slow down the team development process. This can be improved through activities that help team members understand each other, such as in getting-to-know-you or my-user-manual events. Also, the team leader can organize social bonding sessions during which team members discover mutual life activities across cultures (e.g., hiking and soccer).

Team size: The team is relatively small with eight members. This is a fixed feature of the team that can‘t be adjusted for the purpose of improving cohesion.

Member interaction: This is likely the most important factor to speed up the team‘s cohesion. It can occur in a few ways. First, the team needs to engage in a routine of regular communication, and some of that communication should have high social presence, such as having video calls a few times each week. The team should also develop a routine of near-synchronous text/chat communication because synchronicity tends to improve collaboration and coordination. Second, the team should set aside time for social bonding events, such as 30-minute video gatherings to discuss nonwork ideas or amusements. Third, this remote team should kick-start its team development (including developing cohesion) by having an inperson gathering for a few days. These face-to-face sessions are perhaps the most important for accelerating team cohesion.

Somewhat difficult entry: This team is secretly developing an important new component (feature) for the company‘s main software. As such, team members were likely specially selected for this project. The team leader should emphasize this point and remind team members that they have this special value and purpose to the organization.

Team success: This team will have a series of completion stages as well as challenges that are conquered.

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the team leader should ensure that these events are celebrated, particularly that the success is attributed to the overall team rather than to specific individuals.

External competition and challenges: This company almost certainly has competitors, and the secret nature of this team‘s project highlights the competitive nature of the work in this industry. As such, the team leader can strengthen cohesion by reminding members that other companies covet their work and are likely trying to develop a similar component for their software product. Project setbacks, such as difficult coding or related issues, can also be viewed as cohesion-building challenges that are overcome through the team‘s collective effort.

6. Describe your personal experience—or a situation in a movie—of a team that had well-developed shared and complementary team mental models. What evidence can you provide that this team had well-developed mental models?

Students might initially struggle with this question because they need to grasp the idea of working in a team that ―thinks as one,‖ ―is a well-oiled machine,‖ and where team members can finish each other‘s sentences. Students who have not had this experience can refer to team situations in well-known movies.

Students can identify a number of indicators where the team has shared and complementary mental models. Here are a few: • Team members correctly anticipate another team member‘s actions in a work process.

• Team members have strong empathy for other team members who are facing challenges, even though they perform different roles and occupations.

• Team members quickly agree on revised project plans when circumstances change.

• Team members quickly agree on work priorities, such as degree of quality versus quantity of output.

• Conflicts between two team members are usually resolved quickly because they understand each other‘s situations fairly well.

• A team member performs a task (e.g., completes a document, prepares work in progress) that correctly predicts what another team member will need soon after.

7. You are responsible for convening a major event in which senior officials from several state governments will try to come to an agreement on environmental issues. It is well known that some officials take positions to make themselves appear superior, whereas others are highly motivated to solve the environmental problems that cross adjacent states. What team decision-making problems are likely to be apparent in this government forum, and what actions can you take to minimize these problems?

By reviewing the various problems with team decision making, students can identify a few problems in this situation. Here are the main issues that will likely be identified: (a) Evaluation apprehension—With posturing and politicking, some officials may be reluctant to present ideas that initially seem silly or unintelligent. (b) Pressure to conform—The emotionally charged nature of this topic, as well as the strong positions held by some participants, may lead to pressure by some delegates to have others conform to the dominant views in the forum.

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(c) Time constraints—As in any meeting, only one person can typically speak at one time, causing others to either forget their ideas while listening or ignore what others are saying while they think through their own ideas. (d) Inflated team efficacy—This is unlikely to be a problem in this situation. There is no evidence that this is a highly cohesive group (just the opposite!), so they won‘t reinforce each other‘s overconfidence.

Also, there aren‘t any apparent external threats sufficient to make this group feel bound together and distort their superiority (the differentiation effect discussed in Chapter 3).

8. The chief marketing officer of Sawgrass Widgets wants marketing and sales staff to identify new uses for its products. Which of the four team structures for creative decision making would you recommend? Describe and justify this process to Sawgrass’ chief marketing officer.

Benefits: Brainstorming is the most popular structure for encouraging creative ideas. Brainstorming encourages divergent thinking while minimizing evaluation apprehension and other team dynamics problems. In addition, brainstorming can bring benefits beyond the number of ideas produced.

Brainstorming participants interact and participate directly, thereby increasing decision acceptance and team cohesiveness. Brainstorming rules tend to keep the team focused on the task. (Further evidence from research, but not mentioned in the book: There is also evidence that effective brainstorming sessions provide valuable nonverbal communication that spreads enthusiasm. Team members share feelings of optimism and excitement which may encourage a more creative climate. By involving clients in brainstorming sessions, these positive emotions may produce higher customer satisfaction than if people are working alone.)

Potential limitations: Organizational behavior researchers warn that brainstorming has potential limitations: Brainstorming does not completely remove evaluation apprehension; employees still know that others are silently evaluating the quality of their ideas. Production blocking and related time constraints prevent all ideas from being presented. In addition, research also indicates that in some situations, individuals working alone produce more potential solutions to a problem than if they work together brainstorming.

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CS

CASE STUDY: THE OPERATING ROOM SURGICAL TEAM

Case Synopsis The surgical team in a hospital operating room consists of several skilled professionals, each from different specialties. This case describes specific positions and roles in a typical operating room surgical team.

Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions 1. From the information presented in this case, diagnose the task complexity, task variability, task analyzability, and task interdependence of a typical operating room surgical team. Do these task characteristics vary among the members of this team? To what extent are these task characteristics best suited to teams than to individuals working independently of each other?

Task complexity: Surgical teams perform complex tasks. This is evident from the variety of specialized roles in the team and the diverse tasks they perform. The surgeon and assistant (resident physician or surgical assistant) alone perform complex tasks such as suctioning, sponging, suturing, and retractor holding. Furthermore, each patient has some unique variations that the surgeon and others in the ―sterile field‖ need to address and adjust in the procedure. Task complexity is also apparent for the variety of instruments involved in the procedure. In fact, the materials involved are so complex that a separate person (scrub nurse or surgical technologist) is responsible for preparing those instruments and materials, including assembling some of these items. Task complexity is further evident in the multiple layers of attention. While the surgeon and assist perform the intervention, they and others must carefully monitor behaviors that might compromise sterility during the operation. In fact, one person in most operations (circulating nurse) is responsible for ensuring that there is no breach of sterility standards.

Task variability: Task variability would range from moderately low to moderately high. Teams dedicated a specific type of surgery—such as hip replacement, cataract surgery, and angioplasty—would have moderately low task variability, even if different people are on the team for each surgery. Variability might occur from unexpected or unusual conditions of the patient during the operation. Otherwise, the team members perform the same roles with very specific coordinated activities that would vary little from one operation to the next. But some dedicated (specialized) surgical teams perform very complex interventions, such as neurosurgery (brain surgery), which would have more task variability because of the higher incidence of unexpected conditions that arise during the operation. Surgical teams whose members work together on different types of surgery, such as teams in community hospitals, would have higher task variability due to the different procedures and sterilization risks associated with each type of surgery.

Task analyzability: Task analyzability would be moderately high for most types of surgery. These interventions have occurred many times under various conditions with different types of patients, with the result that the work processes have been well documented. Indeed, the high risk of error and sterile contamination mandates detailed documentation during each surgical event. Consequently, surgeons in every field of specialization have a well-published ―procedure manual‖ to guide them through the

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process. Task analyzability is likely even higher for most support roles. For example, the scrub nurse or surgical technologist would follow precise protocols for preparing each instrument and associated materials. These items would be used in different types of surgery, yet the procedure for preparation would be very similar in the scrub nurse‘s role.

Task interdependence: The case illustrates that surgery has high task interdependence among some team members and lower task interdependence with other team members. Team members within the sterile field, including the surgeon, surgical assistant, and scrub nurse (surgical technologist) work together in a highly reciprocal interdependent relationship. The surgeon and assistant are constantly interacting to edge in the intervention, whereas the scrub nurse interacts at specific points of time during that process (handing over instruments and receiving used instruments). The anesthesiologist (and assistant) have less interaction with team members in the surgical field, usually reporting monitor conditions or notifying of unusual conditions with the patient. The circulating nurse also has low task interdependence with other team members. That person will work with the scrub nurse in unpacking instruments, but otherwise watches and documents the proceedings.

2. Explain whether and to what extent team mental models (shared and complementary) are important for effective performance of an operating room surgical team?

Shared and complementary mental models are highly important for effective surgical teams. Surgical operations are completed under time pressure to reduce the risk of disease, effects of medications, and other complications from the surgery. Consequently, team members need to accurately understand and anticipate each other to avoid delays that occur from detailed communication and clarification. This accurate understanding and prediction of each other‘s needs and actions occurs through shared and complementary mental models.

The surgeon and assistant (resident physician or surgical assistant) are constantly working together, so they need to exist almost as a single person with two pairs of hands—in fact, three pairs of hands when the scrub nurse is needed to also engage in the intervention. The scrub nurse or surgical technologist also has a high need for shared and complementary mental models with the surgeon and assistant, such as preparing instruments and handing them off to the surgeon or assistant at the right moment, and anticipating when to receive completed materials from those team members.

The circulating nurse, who monitors and documents all procedures, actions, and events during the operation, needs to have a mental model of the overall surgical process that is compatible with the process envisioned by the surgeon and other team members. If the circulating nurse‘s mental model of the process differs from others, that person would be frequently disrupting the surgery by calling out violations or questioning specific activities that differ from that person‘s expectations.

3. What team norms might exist in a surgical team, even though most teams have different members for each surgical operation?

Three general norms in all surgical teams stand out in the case description: Technical and procedural accuracy: Surgical work usually has little room for error, so team members would be mindful of the need to follow best practices. In fact, one team member (the circulating nurse) monitors this procedural accuracy and is responsible for alerting the team for any violations.

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Time efficiency: The case states that surgical operations are completed under time pressure to reduce the risk of disease, effects of medications, and other complications from the surgery. As such, these teams would have norms that discourage time wasting behaviors, either inefficient work practices or stopping to engage in idle chatter. In fact, most operations have considerable silence to minimize distraction.

Sterility: Infection from external pathogens is a serious concern in operating rooms, so these teams monitor each other closely for any breaches of protocols that minimize this risk. This norm is also embedded in the circulating nurse‘s role to monitor everyone‘s behavior for any events that might compromise sterility.

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

CS

CASE STUDY: THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY ACCOUNTING TEAM

Case Synopsis This case describes how a team of accountants from several offices across the country must work together as a remote team after their respective companies merged into one decentralized organization. The case is written from the perspective of one of the accountants on that team, who explains their dislike of working in teams and discusses some of the problems in the assigned team. The case relates to several issues in the effectiveness of remote teams, including the problem of applying ambiguous and complex tasks to remote teams, team development without face-to-face communication, and team members who lack motivation and/or ability (technologically and interactively) to work in remote teams.

Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions 4. What type of team was formed here? Was it necessary, in your opinion?

The team created in this case was a remote team because it consisted of members who operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries and are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational tasks.

Whether it was necessary to form this team requires students to consider a few factors, some of which are not explicit in the case. First, it seems reasonable for an organization to rely on experts in a specialization to put their heads together to form a strategy to improve business in their specialization. Without making too many assumptions, it is difficult to imagine how the firm could develop strategy without the collective involvement of these people.

The key question, therefore, isn‘t whether the team should have been formed. The key question is how the team should be structured. The answer to the next question provides some details on this point, but students can suggest in this question that maybe a collocated team would be more effective under these conditions. Specifically, perhaps these people could have been brought together face-to-face for a few days to work through many of the main issues for the strategy.

5. Use the team effectiveness model and related information in this chapter to identify the strengths and weaknesses of this team’s environment, design, and processes.

Students should break down this answer into the various components of the team effectiveness model that relate to this situation: Team environment: Students can identify a number of environmental concerns that make it difficult for this team to operate effectively. The team relies on email, which seems to lack the qualities (media richness—as we learn in the next chapter) for communicating on the complex and ambiguous issues about corporate strategy. Moreover, given the lack of coordination, it appears that the organizational structure supports individual performance rather than team performance. This point is reflected in the author‘s statements that they could just as well work alone on the required tasks. Students can speculate on the quality of leadership influences here.

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Team tasks: Students should recognize that forming a strategic plan to improve shipping accounting business is a potentially messy affair that the team members do not seem to engage in individually, let alone together very often. In other words, the task is novel, complex, and ambiguous. This is definitely not ideal for remote teams, particularly remote teams that clearly are far from the performing level of team development.

Team size/composition: Team size seems to be fine; four people should be able to develop as a remote team relatively well, controlling for other factors. However, team composition is clearly a concern here.

While everyone on this team seems to have appropriate expertise in accounting for shipping firms, there is a lack of motivation and competencies for remote team dynamics. The author and possibly others on the team have little desire to work in a team environment. They have apparently worked alone for some time before the merger.

Students should review this case using the Five Cs model of team competencies.

• Cooperating—Mixed evidence of this, at best. Some cooperation with some members, but the author in particular prefers to work alone. Also, note the limited willingness to be flexible.

• Coordinating—Again, limited competencies here. Little evidence that each is sensitive to each other‘s circumstance, or attempts to make the team more efficient.

• Communicating—Team members also seem to lack skills in communicating through information technology. One team member doesn‘t use email very well. None of the team members has used conference calling much in the past. Other, potentially more effective communication media have not been mentioned in this case.

• Comforting (psych support)—No evidence at all that anyone is being supportive of each other as they work through the trials of teamwork. Possibly some support between a couple of people, but this is implied rather than stated.

• Conflict resolving—Conflicts are very apparent here, but the case provides no evidence that anyone on the team is working effectively to resolve those conflicts.

Team processes: One of the glaring problems with the remote team in this case is that the team members have had almost no opportunity or resources to develop as a team. One of the striking characteristics of effective remote teams is that their members have had an opportunity to meet face-to-face at some point (preferably early) in the team‘s life cycle. This has not occurred here, except that the author (one of the accountants) has briefly met another team member from another office. The result is that team members do not understand each other, cannot agree on anything other than the most basic issues, and seem to have very low cohesiveness.

6. Assuming that these four people must continue to work as a team, recommend ways to improve the team’s effectiveness.

Students can identify several things to improve the effectiveness of this remote team. They might even begin by questioning the wisdom of relying on a remote team for such an ambiguous and complex problem. A multiday retreat for these four people and perhaps other senior executives might be wiser and, in the long run, less costly.

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One recommendation is for the team members to meet face-to-face to at least begin the strategy plan and to possibly participate in some team-building activity. This personal contact may improve team dynamics by moving the team development process further along and build some level of cohesiveness.

Another recommendation is to develop skills in these (and possibly other) employees regarding communicating through information technology as well as working in teams. It is clear that these people need to become better versed in a variety of communication channels so they can choose information technology that matches the complexity of this and other tasks.

TE

TEAM EXERCISE: TEAM TOWER POWER

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand team roles, team development, and other issues in the development and maintenance of effective teams.

Materials The instructor will provide enough Lego pieces or similar materials for each team to complete the assigned task. All teams should have identical (or very similar) amount and type of pieces. The instructor will need a measuring tape and stopwatch. Students may use writing materials during the design stage (Stage 2 below).

The instructor will distribute a ―Team Objectives Sheet‖ and ―Tower Specifications Effectiveness Sheet‖ to all teams (provided on the following pages of this instructor‘s manual).

Instructions Step 1: The instructor will divide the class into teams. Depending on class size and space available, teams may have between four and seven members, but all should be approximately equal size.

Step 2: Each team is given 20 minutes to design a tower that uses only the materials provided, is freestanding, and provides an optimal return on investment. Team members may wish to draw their tower on paper or flip chart to assist the tower‘s design. Teams are free to practice building their tower during this stage. Preferably, teams are assigned to their own rooms so the design can be created privately. During this stage, each team will complete the Team Objectives Sheet distributed by the instructor. This sheet requires the Tower Specifications Effectiveness Sheet, also distributed by the instructor.

Step 3: Each team will show the instructor that it has completed its Team Objectives Sheet. Then, with all teams in the same room, the instructor will announce the start of the construction phase. The time elapsed for construction will be closely monitored and the instructor will occasionally call out time elapsed (particularly if no clock in the room).

Step 4: Each team will advise the instructor as soon as it has completed its tower. The team will write down the time elapsed that the instructor has determined. It may be asked to assist the instructor by counting the number of blocks used and height of the tower. This information is also written on the Team Objectives Sheet. Then, the team calculates its profit.

Step 5: After presenting the results, the class will discuss the team dynamics elements that contribute to team effectiveness. Team members will discuss their strategy, division of labor (team roles), expertise within the team, and other elements of team dynamics.

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Comments for Instructors This is a fun, competitive activity that suits a variety of organizational behavior topics (e.g., goal setting, organizational structure). It is presented here in the team dynamics chapter because some interesting team work is involved. One observation is how the work is divided up. One person tends to keep track of time; someone else tends to take over much of the design. In some teams, there is a clear leader to guide the group.

In others, the team breaks into subgroups with a lack of coordination. It is also interesting to compare teams where students know each other well with teams consisting of strangers. The latter tend to require more time to organize themselves during the planning stage.

When conducting this exercise, please remember that the specifications for height and number of pieces assume the use of Lego blocks. You should change these specifications if larger materials (e.g., straws) are used. Before beginning Stage 3, watch out for teams that have materials ―preassembled.‖ Be sure that all blocks are separated before the teams construct their towers. I usually have students spread the blocks out on the floor, and I scramble them around just before construction begins. These towers must be freestanding, so they cannot touch walls or be held up by team members. If time permits, you may want to give teams a second run of the construction stage. Generally, teams are faster during the second run. This might be discussed in terms of team development (e.g., clearer assumptions and division of roles.)

TEAM OBJECTIVES SHEET (STUDENT HANDOUT)

Team Goal

Actual Result

Profit/(Loss)

Material Requirements (number of pieces used) Engineering Proficiency (height in centimeters) Labor Efficiency (time in seconds)

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TOWER SPECIFICATIONS EFFECTIVENESS SHEET (PAGE 1) (Student Handout)

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TOWER SPECIFICATIONS EFFECTIVENESS SHEET (PAGE 2) (Student Handout)

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

TE TEAM EXERCISE: SURVIVAL ON THE MOON Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand the importance and dynamics of team decision making.

Materials All materials for students are provided in the textbook. They include the ―Survival on the Moon Scenario‖ and the ―Survival on the Moon Scoring Sheet‖ for ranking items individually and as a team. The expert ranking (stated in class but not given to students) is in these instructor notes.

Instructions Students working alone are asked to rank the 15 items listed in the exercise according to their importance to an individual‘s survival. They indicate the most important item with ―1,‖ going through to ―15‖ for the least important. This information is written in the ―Your Ranking‖ column. Students should keep in mind the reasons why each item is or is not important.

After everyone working alone has ranked these 15 items, the instructor will organize students into approximately equal-sized teams. Team members should try to reach a consensus (NOT an average ranking from individual scores) on the rank order of each of these 15 items. The team‘s ranking of items is marked in the ―Team Ranking‖ column. When introducing this part of the exercise, emphasize that survival depends on the team‘s ability to AGREE on the importance of these items, as well as logical explanation of their value and how to use them.

When the teams have completed their rankings, the instructor will describe the expert ranking, which is provided later in these notes for instructors. Students enter the expert‘s ranking in the ―Expert Ranking‖ column. Next, each student will compute the absolute difference (i.e., remove minus signs) between the individual ranking and the expert‘s ranking, and record this information in the ―Your Score‖ column. They sum the absolute values and write that sum at the bottom of the column. Next, students determine their team‘s score in the same manner using the ―Team Score‖ column. A class discussion of the merits of individual versus team decision making will follow.

Survival on the Moon Scenario The year is 2025. You and your crew are traveling toward the Moon in the Orion spacecraft. Orion is a gumdrop-shaped spacecraft designed to carry people from Earth to the Moon. Orion is similar in shape but larger than the capsules used during the Apollo program. Attached, or docked, to Orion is the Lunar Surface Access Module (LSAM), which you alone will use to land on the Moon (other crew members remain onboard the Orion).

As your spacecraft enters lunar orbit, you spot the lunar outpost. This outpost has grown, having been built piece by piece during past missions. You are excited to see the outpost. It is located on a crater rim near the lunar south pole, in near-constant sunlight. This location is not far from supplies of water ice that can be found in the cold, permanently shadowed part of the crater.

After transferring into the LSAM and separating from Orion, you prepare to descend to the lunar surface.

Suddenly, you notice that there is a problem with the thrusters. You land safely, but off course, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the lunar outpost. Looking across the charcoal-gray, dusty surface of the Moon, Page 9-367

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

you realize that your survival depends on reaching the outpost, finding a way to protect yourself until someone can reach you, or meeting a rescue party somewhere between your landing site and the outpost.

You know the Moon has basically no atmosphere or magnetosphere to protect you from space radiation. The environment is unlike any found on Earth. The regolith, or lunar soil, is a mixture of materials that includes sharp, glassy particles. The gravity field on the Moon is only one-sixth as strong as Earth‘s. More than 80 percent of the Moon is made up of heavily cratered highlands. Temperatures vary widely on the Moon. It can be as cold as −193°C (−315°F) at night at its poles and as hot as 111°C (232°F) during the day at its equator.

Comments for Instructors This is one of the great classic ―survival‖ exercises. It is also an excellent activity for demonstrating the power of team versus individual decision making. Furthermore, the exercise creates an environment to study and reflect on several organizational behavior topics, such as individual decision making, conflict handling, influence tactics, leadership, and, of course, team dynamics.

Generally, teams make better decisions than do individuals working alone. This is reflected by a ―Team Score‖ that is usually lower than the ―Individual Score.‖ However, some individuals score better than the group because they have expertise on this topic and their team does not rely completely on the suggestions of members who claims to be experts.

The discussion following the exercise should focus on the reasons why teams tend to make better decisions.

Specifically, team members bring diverse perspectives and a better representation of values to the decision process, thereby increasing the team‘s ability to see the problem in different ways and to avoid narrow mental models. Furthermore, team members bring more information to the decision, so the collective decision is usually more accurate than the typical individual‘s decision. The instructor should also ask about situations in which team members ignored ideas from members who would have provided a more accurate solution.

Instructors should also ask about team member behaviors that helped the team, such as comforting when some discussion got overheated. Other topics might include difficulties students had getting their ideas recognized by fellow team members and perceptual errors that may have occurred (fixed mental models by some team members).

Discussion Questions 7. Did most team members have higher (worse) or lower (better) total scores than the total ―team score‖? Why did this difference occur?

The answer to this question is discussed above.

8. In what situations, if any, would someone’s total personal score be very similar to the total team score? Did this occur for anyone on your team? Why? Student expertise is usually the main explanation. You probably won‘t have many students who have been stranded on the moon, but expertise can occur as (a) scientific knowledge of the moon and (b) expert knowledge in earth-based survival situations.

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

9. When the team was ranking items, which items had the most difference of opinion regarding the item’s importance? Why did this disagreement occur, and how was it resolved by the team?

This question brings out different assumptions and mental models among team members. It also probes conflict situations and how the team members handled those differences.

10. While the team was determining the collective ranking of items, did specific team members take on specific roles, such as leading the discussion, encouraging opinions from quieter members, managing conflict, and so forth? If so, why do you think these people took on these roles?

This is an excellent question for investigating team roles as well as effective team member behaviors.

11. Was your team composed mostly of people you have worked with previously in teams? If so, do you think the discussion was more effective or less effective than when making decisions with people who are new to you? Why? This question casts a spotlight on the importance of team development. Note that team development will not inherently improve the team‘s scores based on collective knowledge. Instead, highly developed teams enable all members to bring out their arguments (see effective team decision making), work efficiently in reaching consensus, and to collectively reflect on the best answers.

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Survival on the Moon: Expert Ranking and Explanations NOTE: NASA received independent results from two experts. Their ranking was identical on the top seven items and three others (i.e., 10 items ranked the same). Only one or two rank difference occurred on four other items. Only the life raft had a larger difference (8th vs. 12th rank). The ranking list below relies on the first expert‘s ranking but presents explanation for both experts (indicated by ―E1‖ and E2‖). There is no information suggesting that one expert is more accurate than the other, but they are remarkably similar in ranking and explanation for almost all items.

Expert Ranking

1

Item

Explanations

Oxygen: Two 45.5kilogram (100 pound) tanks

E1.

With basically no atmosphere on the Moon, oxygen (O2) to breathe is the most pressing survival need. The average person needs about 0.84 kilograms (a little less than 2 pounds) of O2 per day.

E2.

Oxygen to breathe is the most important survival need, since the Moon has virtually no atmosphere.

2

Water: one 38 liter (10 gallon) container

3

Food: dehydrated concentrate to which water is added

4

Radio receiver– transmitter: a solarpowered communication instrument

5

First aid kit: a basic kit with pain medication and medicine for infection

E1.

Though we believe there is some water in the form of ice on the Moon, there is no liquid water. Water is essential to all life. Currently, each astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) uses about 11 liters (3 gallons) of water daily.

E2.

Water is another basic survival need for the astronauts.

Because there is no liquid water on the Moon, the astronauts will need the water they brought with them to survive.

E1. Food concentrate is a good source of food and an efficient way to carry it.

E2.

Although the food concentrate must have water added to be useful, it is lightweight and easy to carry, meeting a third basic need for survival.

E1. Hopefully people from the lunar outpost are looking for you while you are trying to reach them. A solarpowered radio receiver–transmitter is important to maintain this communication.

E2. As people from the lunar outpost are looking for you, you should try to reach them. Maintaining communication with your outpost is essential.

E1. No matter where you are, a first aid kit is a good idea. Be sure you carry pain medication and medicine for infections.

E2. A first aid kit takes up little space and may be important to have in case of illness or injury.

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Expert Ranking

6

7

Item Map: document showing the Moon‘s surface/terrain

Space suit repair kit: kit with materials to repair tiny holes in fabric

Explanations E1. A map of the Moon‘s surface is your primary way to identify your location and to help you navigate.

E2. With no other directional tools available, a map of the Moon‘s surface is the most important means of finding your way from one location to another.

E1. You cannot afford to have any tears in your space suit. Your suit protects you from harsh conditions while you make your way to the lunar outpost. The soil of the Moon (regolith) ―sticks‖ to space suits and equipment. It is very sharp, like tiny fragments of glass or coral, and can cut holes that put your life at risk.

E2. Your space suit protects you from the harsh conditions on the Moon. The sharp soil of the Moon can cut tiny holes in the suit, which may compromise its effectiveness.

8

9

Rope: 15 meters (approximately 50 feet) of nylon rope

Space blanket: a thin sheet of plastic material that is coated with a metallic reflecting layer

E1. The nylon rope is useful in scaling cliffs or craters you may have to cross. To prevent injury or in case you cannot walk, rope is helpful for tying you to others.

E2. The rope makes dragging the life raft easier or may come in handy when crossing difficult terrain.

(Ranked 10) E1. The space blanket helps reduce heat loss from a person‘s body. The reflective material reflects about 80 percent of the wearer‘s body heat back to the body. The reflected side is also used to prevent absorption of sunlight.

E2. The space blanket is used to insulate the oxygen and water from the hot daytime temperatures.

Temperatures vary widely on the Moon. It can be as cold as −193°C (−315°F) at night at its poles and as hot as 111°C (232°F) during the day at its equator.

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Expert Ranking

10

Item

Signal mirror: a handheld mirror

Explanations E1. The signal mirror is an important way to communicate during the daylight. The Moon‘s daylight is brighter and harsher than Earth‘s. There is virtually no atmosphere to scatter the light, no clouds to shade it, and no ozone layer to block the sun burning ultraviolet light.

E2. The signal mirror is used as a form of communication if the radio is not working. (Ranked 12)

11

Portable lights: with solar-powered rechargeable batteries

E1. These lights allow for nighttime travel. The nights on the Moon are brighter than nights on Earth, at least on the side of the Moon that is facing Earth.

With its clouds and oceans, Earth reflects more light than the dark Moon rocks. Earthlight on the Moon is much brighter than moonlight on Earth.

E2. The lights are helpful if you travel across large shadowed areas. Some areas in the polar regions are permanently dark.

12

Life raft: a self-inflatable flotation device

13

Parachute: a large piece of silk cloth

14

Magnetic compass: a tool that uses a magnetic field to determine direction

15

Matches (box of): wooden sticks with sulfur-treated heads

E1. A life raft is of little use for survival on the Moon.

Although it could be used to drag heavy items, the sharp regolith would quickly puncture the raft.

E2. The life raft makes a great sled for carrying the oxygen and water. (Ranked 8) E1. Compared to other items, this item is of little use.

E2. Parachute silk comes in handy as a backup sled to the life raft, or as shade.

E1. The Moon has no global magnetic field, which makes a magnetic compass virtually useless.

E2. The compass is virtually useless because there is no Moon-wide magnetic field. (Ranked 15) E1. Matches are virtually useless on the Moon because there is little oxygen.

E2. With little oxygen on the Moon, the matches are useless. (Ranked 14)

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.1: ARE YOU A TEAM PLAYER?

Overview and Instructions Some people would like to work in teams for almost every aspect of their work, whereas other people would like to keep as far away from teams as possible. Most of us fall somewhere in between.

This self-assessment estimates the extent to which the person completing this instrument is positively predisposed to work in teams. Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with that statement. This instrument has 10 statements.

Feedback for the Team Player Inventory The Team Player Inventory estimates the extent to which you are positively predisposed to working on teams. The higher your score, the more you enjoy working in teams and believe that teamwork is beneficial.

This scale has a range from 10 to 50. The following chart compares your results with a sample of Canadian undergraduate psychology students.

Score

Interpretation

40–50 21–39 10–20

Strong preference for teamwork Moderate preference for teamwork Low preference for teamwork

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.2: WHAT TEAM ROLES DO YOU PREFER?

Overview and Instructions All teams depend on their members to fill various roles. Some roles are assigned through formal jobs, but many team roles are distributed informally. Informal roles are often claimed by team members whose personality and values are compatible with those roles.

Students are asked to read each of the statements and circle the response that they believe best reflects their position regarding each statement. This scale assesses only a few of the many possible team roles.

Feedback for the Team Roles Preferences Scale NOTE: This instrument calculates preferences on five team roles: encourager, gatekeeper, harmonizer, initiator, and summarizer. These are among the most important roles in teams, but keep in mind that teams have several other roles that are not measured by this scale.

All of the team roles identified in this instrument use the following scoring interpretation.

Score

Interpretation

12–15 8–11 3–7

High preference Moderate preference Low preference

Encourager People who score high on this dimension have a strong tendency to praise and support the ideas of other team members, thereby showing warmth and solidarity to the group. The average score in a sample of MBA students is 10.25.

Gatekeeper People who score high on this dimension have a strong tendency to encourage all team members to participate in the discussion. The average score in a sample of MBA students is 10.0.

Harmonizer People who score high on this dimension have a strong tendency to mediate intragroup conflicts and reduce tension. The average score in a sample of MBA students is 9.85.

Initiator People who score high on this dimension have a strong tendency to identify goals for the meeting, including ways to work on those goals. The average score in a sample of MBA students is 9.79.

Summarizer People who score high on this dimension have a strong tendency to keep track of what was said in the meeting (i.e., act as the team‘s memory). The average score in a sample of MBA students is 8.44.

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.3: HOW TRUSTING ARE YOU?

Overview and Instructions Some people have a tendency to trust others, even if they have never met them before, whereas others take a long time to develop a comfortable level of trust. This propensity to trust is due to each individual‘s personality, values, and socialization experiences.

Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with that statement. This instrument has eight statements.

Feedback for the Propensity to Trust Scale Trust is a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based on positive expectations of the intent or behavior of another person. While trust varies from one situation to the next, some people have a higher or lower propensity to trust. In other words, some people are highly trusting of others, even when first meeting them, whereas others have difficulty trusting anyone, even over a long time. This propensity to trust is due to each individual‘s personality, values, and socialization experiences.

This Propensity to Trust Scale estimates a person‘s general willingness to trust other people. The actual propensity to trust will vary to some extent with the situation, whereas this scale provides a broad indication of one‘s initial level of trust as well as willingness to maintain trust when violations occur.

Scores range from 8 to 48 with higher scores indicating a high propensity to trust. The following graph compares the propensity to trust score to the general population. These norms are estimates based on results of several studies using similar instruments.

Score

Interpretation

36–48 24–35 8–23

High trust Moderate trust Low trust

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

9

Communicating in Teams and Organizations

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Explain why communication is important in organizations, and discuss four influences on effective communication encoding and decoding.

Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of digital written communication channels, other verbal communication channels, and nonverbal communication.

Discuss the relevance of synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness when choosing the preferred communication channel.

Discuss various barriers (noise) to effective communication, including cross-cultural and male–female differences in communication.

Explain how to get your message across more effectively, and summarize the elements of active listening.

Summarize effective communication strategies in organizational hierarchies, and review the role and relevance of the organizational grapevine.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY communication—the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people emotional contagion—the nonconscious process of ―catching‖ or sharing another person‘s emotions by mimicking that person‘s facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior grapevine—an unstructured and informal communication network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions information overload—a condition in which the volume of information received exceeds the person‘s capacity to process it

management by wandering around (MBWA)—a communication practice in which executives get out of their offices and learn from others in the organization through face-to-face dialogue media richness—the medium‘s data-carrying capacity; that is, the volume and variety of information that can be transmitted during a specific time persuasion—using facts, logical arguments, and emotional appeals to change another person‘s beliefs and attitudes, usually for the purpose of changing the person‘s behavior social media—digital communication channels that enable people to collaborate in the creation and exchange of user-generated content

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Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations

social presence—the extent to which a communication channel creates psychological closeness to others, awareness of their humanness, and appreciation of the interpersonal relationship

synchronicity—the extent to which a communication channel requires or allows both sender and receiver to be actively involved in the conversation at the same time (synchronous) or at different times (asynchronous)

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 21. Explain why communication is important in organizations, and discuss four influences on effective communication encoding and decoding.

Communication refers to the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people. Communication is important for coordinating work, making decisions, changing others‘ behavior, and supporting employee well-being. The communication process involves forming, encoding, and transmitting the intended message to a receiver, who then decodes the message and provides feedback to the sender. Effective communication occurs when the sender‘s thoughts are transmitted to and understood by the intended receiver. The effectiveness of this process depends on whether the sender and receiver have similar codebooks, the sender‘s proficiency at encoding that message to the audience, the sender‘s and receiver‘s motivation and ability to transmit messages through that particular communication channel, and their common mental models of the communication context.

22. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of digital written communication channels, other verbal communication channels, and nonverbal communication.

The two main types of communication channels are verbal and nonverbal. Verbal communication uses words, so it includes both spoken (oral) and written channels. Spoken communication tends to be better for transmitting emotions and persuading the receiver. Written communication is more appropriate for recording, presenting, and retrieving technical details. Nonverbal communication is any type of communication that does not use words, such as images, diagrams, and hand gestures. It also includes facial gestures, voice intonation, physical distance, and even silence. Unlike verbal communication, nonverbal communication is less rule-bound and is mostly automatic and nonconscious. Some nonverbal communication is automatic through a process called emotional contagion.

Digital communication in organizations has changed rapidly. Email once dominated, but has decreased to the point where it is almost equal to channel text messages and private text chats among knowledge workers. Video chats and meetings have increased, whereas voice-only communication has decreased.

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly increased the use of text messages and video chat. However, this trend began several years earlier due to the arrival of enterprise communication platforms and a new generation of employees with emerging communication preferences.

The main advantage of digital written communication is that it can be written, edited, and transmitted quickly to many people. Most of these channels reduce social and organizational status differences, are asynchronous and, with search functions, are somewhat efficient filing cabinets. However, digital written communication is relatively poor at communicating emotions, tends to reduce politeness and respect, and contributes to information overload. It is also inefficient at communicating in ambiguous, complex, and novel situations.

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Emerging digital communication channels are forms of social media. They enable people to collaborate in the creation and exchange of user-generated content. Social media facilitate reciprocally interactive content, such that senders and receivers become ―users‖ in a community of shared content.

Digital nonverbal communication, particularly emojis and animated GIFs, is increasing in organizations.

The main benefit of emojis is that they usually transmit rich emotional meaning which tends to be too subtle or ambiguous in text-only messages. They also symbolize ideas or objects, thereby strengthening or clarifying the meaning of the written text. Third, emojis potentially improve interpersonal relations.

23. Discuss the relevance of synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness when choosing the preferred communication channel.

The most appropriate communication medium depends on several factors. Synchronicity refers to the channel‘s capacity for the sender and receiver to communicate at the same time (synchronous) or at different times (asynchronous). Synchronous channels are better when the issue is urgent or the topic is complex. Asynchronous channels are better when it is costly for both parties to communicate at the same time or when the receiver should have time to reflect before responding. A channel has high social presence when it creates psychological closeness to the other party and awareness of their humanness.

This is valuable when the parties need to empathize or influence each other. Social acceptance refers to how well the communication medium is approved and supported by others. This acceptance depends on organizational or societal norms, each party‘s preferences and skills with the channel, and the symbolic meaning of a channel. Media richness refers to a channel‘s data-carrying capacity. Nonroutine and ambiguous situations require rich media. However, technology-based lean media may be possible where users can multicommunicate, have high proficiency with that technology, and don‘t have social presence distractions.

24. Discuss various barriers (noise) to effective communication, including cross-cultural and male– female differences in communication.

Several barriers create noise in the communication process. People misinterpret messages because of misaligned codebooks due to different languages, jargon, and the use of ambiguous phrases. Filtering messages and information overload are two other communication barriers. Cross-cultural settings also pose problems with differences in the meaning of nonverbal cues, silence, and conversational overlaps.

There are also some communication differences between males and females, such as the tendency for males to exert status and engage in report talk in conversations, whereas females use more rapport talk and are more sensitive to nonverbal cues.

25. Explain how to get your message across more effectively, and summarize the elements of active listening.

To get a message across, the sender must learn to empathize with the receiver, repeat the message, choose an appropriate time for the conversation, and be descriptive rather than evaluative. Listening includes sensing, evaluating, and responding. Active listeners support these processes by postponing evaluation, avoiding interruptions, maintaining interest, empathizing, organizing information, showing interest, and clarifying the message.

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26. Summarize effective communication strategies in organizational hierarchies, and review the role and relevance of the organizational grapevine.

Some companies try to encourage communication across the organization through workspace design as well as through digital communication channels. Some executives also meet directly with employees by engaging in management by wandering around (MBWA) and by holding town-hall meetings.

In any organization, employees rely on the grapevine, particularly during times of uncertainty. The grapevine is an unstructured and informal network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions. Although early research identified several unique features of the grapevine, some of these features may be changing as the Internet plays an increasing role in grapevine communication.

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Communicating in Teams and Organizations Slide 2: Learning Objectives 7.

Explain why communication is important in organizations, and discuss four influences on effective communication encoding and decoding.

8.

Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of digital written communication channels, other verbal communication channels, and nonverbal communication.

9.

Discuss the relevance of synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness when choosing the preferred communication channel.

10.

Discuss various barriers (noise) to effective communication, including cross-cultural and male–female differences in communication.

11.

Explain how to get your message across more effectively, and summarize the elements of active listening.

12.

Summarize effective communication strategies in organizational hierarchies, and review the role and relevance of the organizational grapevine.

Slide 3: Emerging Communication Practices at RealFoundations RealFoundations employees rely on team-oriented communication on the company‘s digital collaboration platform. The Dallas-based professional services firm for the real estate industry particularly uses team channels and team videos rather than private chat, calls, and emails between two people

Slide 4: Communication: Definition and Importance Process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or more people Effective communication—the receiver accurately deciphers the sender‘s message

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Importance of Communication 1. Coordinating work activities • Frequent, timely, and accurate communication is the primary means through which employees and work units synchronize their work 2. Better decision making • Communication provides information about the decision context, alternatives available, likely outcomes of those options, and the decision‘s actual consequences 3. Changing others‘ behavior through influence • May be passive—for example, describing the situation or may be a deliberate attempt to change someone‘s thoughts/actions 4. Support employee well-being • Conveying knowledge that helps employees better manage their work environment • Communication events fulfill the drive to bond; supports self-worth, social identity

Slide 5: Communication Process Model 1. Sender forms and encodes message into words, gestures, voice intonations, and other symbols or signs 2. Encoded message is transmitted to the intended receiver through one or more communication channels (media) 3. Receiver senses the incoming message and decodes it into something meaningful (ideally, the decoded meaning is what the sender had intended) 4. Sender looks for evidence that the other person received and understood the transmitted message, for example, formal or indirect NOTE: Feedback repeats the communication process, that is, intended feedback is encoded, transmitted, received, and decoded from receiver to sender of the original message Noise—psychological, social, structural barriers—distort/obscure intended message

Slide 6: Coding/Decoding Differences across Generations Today‘s multigenerational workforce creates communication challenges because each generation has increasingly divergent communication channel preferences, abilities, and even codebooks • Fifty-five percent of Generation Z workers (18 to 21 year olds) prefer online chat and instant messaging, whereas 85 of Baby Boomers prefer face-to-face communication (one-third of them have never used instant messaging) • Global survey: 80 percent of employees said that the most important difference with working in a multigenerational workplace is communication styles

Slide 7: Improving Communication Coding/Decoding Four main factors that influence the effectiveness of the encoding–decoding process:

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5. Sender and receiver have similar codebooks • Codebooks—dictionaries of symbols, language, gestures, idioms, and other tools used to convey information • Benefits of similar codebooks • More accurate communication—similar meaning of symbols and so on • More efficient communication—less need to repeat message in different ways 6. Sender has experience encoding the message for the specific audience • More experience with subject matter and for a specific audience • Sender learns which words, and so on, work best for accuracy and persuasion 7. Sender and receiver are motivated and able to use the selected communication channel • Both use the communication channel effectively (e.g., text messaging proficiently) • Motivation to use a channel—increases communication effort 8. Sender and receiver have shared mental models of the communication context • Mutual understanding of communication setting/environment—for example, both parties understand activities and setting of a national electricity market control center • Requires less communication about context and increases accurate transfer of meaning about communication content

Slide 8: Verbal Communication Channels Two main types of communication channels • Verbal—uses words and occurs through spoken or written channels • Nonverbal—any part of communication that does not use words

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Verbal communication—uses words, includes spoken (oral) and written channels • Spoken communication (e.g., face-to-face interaction) tends to be better for transmitting emotions, persuading others • Usually accompanied by nonverbal and paralanguage (intonations, loudness, silence) • Usually enables immediate feedback from the receiver—sender can adjust message • Written communication tends to be better for recording, presenting, and retrieving technical details • Gives receivers a higher content comprehension • Traditionally much slower at transmitting messages, but digital technology has increased written communication efficiency

Slide 9: Nonverbal Communication Channels  Any communication that doesn‘t use words (e.g., images, diagrams, facial gestures, physical distance, and voice intonation) • In face-to-face conversations, most information is communicated nonverbally • Like a parallel conversation, nonverbal cues signal subtle information to both parties • Differs from verbal communication because it is: • Less rule-bound than verbal communication—therefore more ambiguous and susceptible to misinterpretation • Mostly automatic and nonconscious—therefore, some nonverbal communicates the same meaning across cultures, for example, smiling Emotional contagion  Nonconscious process of ―catching‖ or sharing another person‘s emotions by mimicking that person‘s facial expressions and other nonverbal behavior Three functions of emotional contagion 1. Provides continuous feedback that we understand and empathize with the sender 2. Improves empathy—better emotional understanding of the other person‘s experience 3. Fulfills drive to bond—contagion experience develops relationship (mutual experience)

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Slide 10: Digital Written Communication Earliest digital written communication • ARPANET—network of connected computers across research centers funded by U.S. Department of Defense—became the foundation of the Internet • Usenet—ability to post information that could be retrieved by anyone else on the network—world‘s first digital social network Digital written communication is rapidly evolving in the workplace • Dramatic changes in workplace digital communication due to: • emerging workplace platforms (most didn‘t exist before 2014) • increase in remote/hybrid work arrangements—accelerated by pandemic • generational preferences—younger employees grew up with text messaging, use email much less often Specific workplace digital communication changes • Equal or more time in text messaging/chat than email • Email dominated workplace digital communication a decade ago • Today, chat/messaging (team channels) about equal to or exceed email (time use) • More time in video meetings (meetings, two-person chat)—replace or supplement in-person meetings.

• Continuing decline in time using voice-only communication at work • Other digital communication methods (calendars, whiteboards, project management tools) have increased only slightly, possibly because they are not time intensive (NOTE: Exhibit data are rough estimates, based on monitored usage among 12,000 knowledge workers (2014–2019) and macro data in 2020 and 2021 on user counts and corporate adoptions of Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Zoom, as well as global email activity. Also, small-scale surveys by project.co are similar to the estimates shown here in digital workplace communication during 2020 and 2021.)

Slide 11: Benefits of Digital Written Communication Digital messages, chats, and emails are the first choices for coordinating work and transmitting well-defined information • Can be written, edited, and transmitted quickly to many people • Most can be asynchronous (less need for coordination with other party) • Enterprise platforms and email have search engines—convenient filing cabinets

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Effects of digital written communication • Reduces face-to-face interactions • Reduces traditional phone calls • Increases upward communication (to people further up the hierarchy) • Reduces status differences between sender and receiver—but some subtle forms of status differences remain (e.g., speed of response and message length)

Slide 12: Problems with Digital Written Communication Faulty communication of emotions • Digital messages lack the parallel nonverbal communication channel that conveys the emotional meaning of words (e.g., facial expression) • People are getting better at conveying emotions through other symbols (e.g., emojis and expressive language) Less politeness and respectfulness (flaming) • Written digital channels have low social presence, so less empathy/sensitivity • Digital messages are written/transmitted before the sender‘s emotions subside • Receivers infer a more negative interpretation than was intended Inefficient for ambiguous, complex, and novel situations • Written digital channels don‘t transmit large volumes of information with rapid feedback Contributes to information overload • Messages are created and copied to many people with little effort required

Slide 13: Social Media in the Workplace Digital communication channels that enable people to collaborate in the creation and exchange of usergenerated content • Channels are ―social‖ because they enable reciprocally interactive content • Users contribute feedback, link other content, actively edit the original content Enterprise communication platforms (e.g., Microsoft Teams and Slack) are social media • Interactive team messages channels, shared file space, collaborative document editing, media sharing, team video calls, shared task scheduling Social media functions and benefits —better information sharing—improve decision making—improve commitment through involvement of many people—better collegiality

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Slide 14: Digital Nonverbal Communication Digital nonverbal communication (emoticons, emojis, and animated GIFs) increasingly supplements digital text messaging • Emoticons—keyboard symbols or letters combined to look like a face or object • Emojis—small images depicting faces, animals, and objects • GIFs—short video clips showing emotional response of a person/animal • All are symbolic representations of sender as if in-person with the recipient Emojis improve digital written communication 4. Emojis can transmit emotional meaning better than the text message • Most emojis create similar emotional response in receiver as in-person faces • Many people are more comfortable expressing emotions through emojis than in phone or in-person conversations 5. Emojis symbolize ideas or objects (not just emotions), thereby strengthening or clarifying the meaning of the written text message • People interpret the meaning of emojis more quickly than the text message 6. Emojis improve interpersonal relations • Closer social presence when the message includes positive emojis • Depict personal characteristics of the sender (thoughtful, humorous, cool)

Slide 15: Choosing Channels: Synchronicity Extent that the channel requires or allows both sender and receiver to be actively involved in the conversation at the same time (synchronous) or at different times (asynchronous) • Face-to-face conversations—almost always synchronous • Most digital text communication (team channel messages)—usually asynchronous • Digital chat threads are asynchronous, but near synchronous with fast responses Synchronous versus asynchronous channel preference depends on these contingencies: 7. Time urgency (high immediacy)—use synchronous when urgent 8. Complexity of the topic—use synchronous when complex 9. Cost of both parties communicating at the same time—use asynchronous when synchronous is costly/inconvenient 10. Whether receiver should have time to reflect before responding—use asynchronous when reflection time is helpful

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Slide 16: Choosing Channels: Social Presence Extent to which a communication channel creates psychological closeness to others, awareness of their humanness, and appreciation of the interpersonal relationship • Face-to-face—usually highest social awareness • Email to large distribution list—usually low social awareness Social presence tends to be higher with: • Synchronous communication—more connected to other person • Message content uses casual language and provides personal information about the sender Higher social presence channel is preferred when purpose is to: 11. empathize with others 12. influence others

Slide 17: Choosing Channels: Social Acceptance Extent to which the channel is approved and supported by others (receiver, team, organization, or society) for that purpose Social acceptance of a channel is influenced by: 13. Norms held by others involved in the communication event • For example, email or text messaging is the norm in some organizations, whereas face-to face interaction is expected more in other firms/departments 14. Individual preferences for specific communication channels • For example, some coworkers ignore (or rarely check) voice mail, but quickly respond to text messages or email • Influenced by sender‘s and receiver‘s personality, values, and past experience 15. Symbolic meaning of a channel • Some channels are perceived as more professional than casual • Some channels convey a greater degree of urgency (e.g., phone call vs. email)

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Slide 18: Choosing Channels: Media Richness Communication channel‘s data-carrying capacity—the volume and variety of information that can be transmitted during a specific time Communication channel has high richness when it: • Is able to convey multiple cues, for example, both verbal and nonverbal information • Allows timely feedback from receiver to sender • Allows the sender to customize the message • Makes use of complex symbols (e.g., words with multiple meanings)

Slide 19: Hierarchy of Media Richness Highest for face-to-face—transmit verbal and nonverbal, get almost immediate feedback from the receiver, quickly adjust message and style, and use complex language Lowest for lean channels (e.g., financial statements, newsletters, and email) Contingencies of media richness: 16. Nonroutine situations—lean media are better in routine situations because the sender and receiver have common expectations through shared mental models 17. Ambiguous (vs. clear) situations—ambiguity requires rich media—parties must share more information with immediate feedback to resolve multiple/conflicting interpretations

Slide 20: Exceptions to Media Richness Media richness theory doesn‘t apply as well to digital communication channels because: 18. Ability to multicommunicate through lean channels • Multiple lean media may transmit simultaneously as much as a media rich channel • For example, text messaging while listening to a discussion at a large meeting 19. Communication proficiency varies among senders • Proficient users can ―push‖ more information through the channel • More varied with digital than traditional verbal communication channels • For example, experienced smartphone users can process messages quickly 20. Social presence effects • High media richness channels tend to have more social presence • High social presence increases status and self-presentation, which can distort or divert attention away for the message (more noise) • Benefits of media rich channels may be offset by social presence distractions

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Slide 21: Communication Channels and Persuasion Persuasion—the use of facts, logical arguments, and emotional appeals to change another person‘s beliefs and attitudes, usually for the purpose of changing the person‘s behavior Spoken communication (particularly face-to-face interaction) is more persuasive because it: • Usually accompanied by nonverbal communication (animated hand gestures amplifies the emotional tone of the message) • Provides high-quality immediate feedback about whether the receiver understands and accepts the message—sender can adjust message in response more quickly • Has high social presence—listeners are more motivated to pay attention and consider the sender‘s idea But written communication can be persuasive when more technical detail is required

Slide 22: Communication Barriers Imperfect perceptual process • Receivers don‘t listen as well as senders assume • Our needs and expectations influence what signals get noticed and ignored • Senders overestimate how well other people understand the message Language problems • Different languages • Sender/receiver have different languages, so they use a common language with low proficiency (codebook inexperience) • Specific words have different meaning across cultures • Ambiguous language • Word/phrase has multiple meanings, causes misunderstandings • Sometimes use ambiguous language deliberately to reflect the ambiguity of the topic or to avoid unwanted emotional responses • More general (ambiguous) language used so message is understood in diverse audiences Jargon • Designed to improve communication efficiency • Becomes noise when specialized words and phrases are transmitted to people who do not have the jargon codebook

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Filtering • Delete or delay negative information • Using less harsh (less emotive) words so the message sounds more favorable Information overload • (see next slide)

Slide 23: Information Overload A condition in which volume of information received exceeds person‘s capacity to process it • Information-processing capacity—the amount of information an employee is able to process in a fixed unit of time • Information load—the amount of information to be processed per unit of time (information load varies across time within a job) Information overload problem (noise)—information gets overlooked or misinterpreted when people can‘t process it fast enough—poorer decisions and higher stress Managing information overload Solution 1: Increase information-processing capacity • Learn to read faster • Scan through documents more efficiently • Remove distractions • Time management • Temporarily work longer hours Solution 2: Reduce information load • Buffering—having incoming information filtered • Omitting—overlooking messages • Summarizing—reading executive summaries

Slide 24: Cross-Cultural Communication Language problems • Sender/receiver use common language they seldom use (codebook inexperience) • Sender‘s accent distorts the usual sound of words Voice intonation differences • Cultural differences in how loudly, deeply, and quickly people speak • Affects message meaning due to cultural differences in meaning of intonations

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Cultural differences in meaning of silence (conversational gaps) • In Japan, silence symbolizes: (a) interpersonal harmony (disagreeing without offending), (b) respect and thoughtful reflection, and (c) empathizing without words • For most in the United States and similar cultures, silence conveys disagreement Cultural differences in meaning of conversational overlaps • In Brazil, France, and so on, talking over others symbolize person‘s interest/involvement in the conversation • In Japan, talking over others is considered rude/disrespectful Nonverbal differences across cultures • Nonconscious/involuntary nonverbal cues tend to have same meaning across cultures (e.g., smiling) • Meaning varies for deliberate gestures (culturally specific)

Slide 25: Male–Female Communication Differences Males and females differ in their communication styles, although these differences tend to be less frequent or obvious than some sources suggest Males more likely than females to: • Engage in report talk—view interaction as impersonal, efficient information exchange • Give advice directly • Dominant style—view conversations as negotiations of relative status and power • Apologize less often • Less sensitive to nonverbal cues Females more likely than males to: • Engage in ―rapport talk‖—relationship building • Give advice/requests indirectly (―Do you think … ?‖) • Flexible deferential conversation style—deferential (less focus on their own power)—apologize more often; seek advice more quickly/often • Be more sensitive to nonverbal cues in face-to-face meetings

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Slide 26: Getting Your Message Across 21.

Empathize

• For example, being sensitive to words that may be ambiguous or trigger the wrong emotional response 22.

Repeat the message

• For example, rephrase the key points a couple of times 23.

Use timing effectively

• Find a time when the receiver is less likely to be distracted 24.

Be descriptive

• Focus on the problem not the person • When communicating bad news or criticism

Slide 27: Active Listening Process and Strategies 1. Sensing • Postpone evaluation—not forming an opinion until the speaker has finished • Avoid interruptions—give speaker chance to finish message • Maintain interest—stay motivated to listen to the speaker 2. Evaluating • Empathize—understand, be sensitive to the speaker‘s feelings, thoughts, and situation • Organize information—assign speaker‘s ideas to categories 3. Responding • Show interest, for example, maintain sufficient eye contact and send back signals, for example, ―I see‖ • Clarify the message—rephrase speaker‘s ideas at appropriate breaks, for example, ―So you are saying that … .‖

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Slide 28: Communicating Throughout the Hierarchy Workspace design • Redesigning hallways, offices, cubicles, and communal areas • Open-space offices • Increase social interaction among staff (more communication) • Potentially produce more noise, distractions, loss of privacy • Cloister employees into team spaces and/or create spaces for happenstance meetings (cubbyholes, breakouts, large conference spaces) Digital-based organizational communication • Traditional company magazine replaced by intranet web pages or PDFs • Employees increasingly skeptical of management‘s packaged news; therefore: • Company news increasingly through emerging enterprise collaborative platforms—employee-written blogs, shared notices, text messages, and so on • These channels have real-time communication allowing user feedback (social media) Direct communication with management • Town-hall meetings • Executives brief staff at a large gathering • More personal and credible than video or written channels • Opportunity for employee questions • Roundtable forums—executives meet with a small group of employees • Management by wandering around (MBWA) • Minimize filtering due to direct communication and observation • Deeper meaning and quicker understanding of organizational problems • Employees might develop better empathy with executives

Slide 29: Organizational Grapevine Grapevine—an unstructured and informal network founded on social relationships rather than organizational charts or job descriptions • Employees rely on the grapevine when they have few other options Early research findings • Transmits information very rapidly in all directions • Cluster chain pattern—a few people actively transmit information to many others • More active among similar people with easy communication access

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• Some degree of truth, but distorts/exaggerates information, removes details Changes due to Internet • Emerging grapevine channels—email, social networking, and tweets • Social networks are now global, not local, so grapevine is extended Grapevine Benefits and Limitations Benefits • Fills in missing information not available through formal channels • Strengthens corporate culture, for example, communicates stories • Relieves anxiety—most active during times of uncertainty • Associated with drive to bond—drive for social interaction Limitations • Distorted/exaggerated information might escalate rather than reduce anxiety • Employees develop more negative attitudes toward the organization when management is slower than the grapevine What should corporate leaders do with the grapevine?

• View grapevine activity as a signal of employee anxiety, then correct the cause of this anxiety • Directly inform employees of news before it spreads through the grapevine

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

12. You have been hired as a consultant to improve communication between engineering and marketing staff in a large high-technology company. Use the communication model and the four ways to improve that process to devise strategies to improve communication effectiveness among employees between these two work units.

The textbook describes four ways to improve communication through coding–decoding. Students can identify various practices to improve communication for each of these general categories: Ensure that both parties have similar ―codebooks‖—In this scenario, this might occur by having marketing and engineering staff learn basic concepts commonly used by the other profession. Staff in each unit might include people who have double degrees or have spent part of their careers in the other profession, so have acquired the language and meaning of words used by both groups.

Ensure the sender has experience encoding (sending) the message topic—This strategy specifically refers to experience with communicating on the topic rather than just experience with the work context. The main recommendation, therefore, is that the sender has practiced communicating the message. This might occur by having one person speak to many others about important matters (e.g., executive ―A‖ communicates new human resource policies whereas executive ―B‖ keep employee informed about financial matters. By specializing the communication role, each communicator becomes an expert at communicating that narrower band of content to employees throughout the organization. In contrast, if Person ―A‖ is responsible for communicating all company matters to one particular employee group, that communicator would have less knowledge and experience about communicating each topic.

Ensure that sender and receiver are motivated and able to use the communication channel—This category suggests that both engineers and marketing specialists should be familiar with meetings, email, instant messaging, and other channels through which both parties will be communicating. Training and establishing ground rules can also improve communication effectiveness in this regard. For example, before starting a project involving engineers and marketing staff, both groups might receive training in videoconference meetings, and they might form rules on when to use this communication channel and what behaviors are required or discouraged when using this communication channel. The group might also figure out which media people prefer to use more than others.

Ensure that both parties have similar mental models about the context of the information—This can be accomplished by having people in both professions gain experience in specific project areas. For example, if one of the company‘s work fields is laser technology, then both engineering and marketing staff who communicate with each other should have previous experience working on projects in that area.

In contrast, communication problems and inefficiencies will increase when either party is new to working on laser technology (either as engineers or marketing specialists).

13. A consumer goods company holds quarterly meetings involving its three dozen sales managers.

These managers are located in several cities and countries, so more than half of them ―participate‖

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in the meeting as remote attendees. The one-day meeting has an opening and closing talk by CEO and vice president (VP) of sales, but most of the day consists of open discussion as well as one small-group session on strategic and operations sales issues. Which digital communication channel(s) would likely work best for involving the remote participants in these sessions? You may assume that more than one digital channel can be used throughout the day and, for some channels, more than one channel may be used at the same time. Your answer should refer to the four factors to consider when choosing the best communication channel (synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness).

To answer this question, students need to delineate the different types of communication activities— specifically, two CEO and VP Sales presentations, one small group session, and most of the time in open discussions involving all three dozen people. They also need to consider the four communication channel factors.

CEO and VP Sales presentations: This may be the easiest part of the session to discuss in terms of communication. The conversation seems to be mostly one-way (e.g., from CEO to audience). Most likely, the remote sales managers would use either a one-way video channel or a visual channel (to view presentation slides) along with live audio to listen to the presenter. The people physically attending would use the face-to-face channel. The channel needs to be synchronous because the audience needs to have that information immediately—the presentation presumably lays the foundation and provides information to guide the later sessions. Social presence of the speaker may be important to the extent that the CEO and VP Sales are trying to persuade their audience. But media richness can probably be low because the message is mainly one way. If the speakers value real-time reactions of the audience, higher media richness is necessary, but this may be sufficient with the in-person audience whereas it would be challenging to replicate this effect with 18 people in the remote audience. This is also a relatively formal communication event, so social acceptance is important.

Small group session: This is also fairly easy to determine the optimal communication channels. The inperson participants would meet face-to-face with live two-way videoconferencing technology with the remote participants. The session is a fast-paced, live discussion addressing unknown or ambiguous issues.

Therefore, it requires a channel with high media richness, synchronicity, and possibly high social presence for persuasive effects. The videoconference channel meets these criteria, as best as any digital channel is able to at this time. Videoconferencing is feasible because the groups have few members— perhaps eight people with half of them participating from a distance. The remote participants can therefore be visible as four quadrants on one screen. Audio-only communication can be challenging because participants have more difficulty anticipating when to break into the conversion.

Open discussion with all participants: This is the most challenging activity for selecting the best communication channel. In fact, students might suggest that this aspect of the quarterly meeting be reconsidered in favor of small group sessions culminating in a collective gathering of results from the small group discussions. One problem with a large session is that approximately half of the participants (18 people) would be together in-person trying to provide information and ideas to each other and trying to persuade the others. This group size alone (not considering the other 18 participating remotely) is very cumbersome (too many people want to talk) and restrictive (few people will be able to provide their viewpoints or persuade others). Face-to-face still works best for the reasons provided in the small group session, but it does not solve the fundamental problem with the large discussion session. The second problem with a large discussion session is that it would be almost impossible with current technology to Page 10-398

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have all 18 remote participants engage in these sessions using a channel with high media richness, social presence, and synchronicity. Live two-way videoconferencing might overwhelm digital bandwidth, and displaying 18 people on screens might simply visualize the excessive size of this discussion group. Even if the session had ways for remote participants to speak, the arrangement may end up being too structured and controlling for spontaneous dialogue. Other digital channel options present other limitations. For example, remote participants might text questions or comments. However, the conversation may have moved on by the time the message is sent, and a conveyor would have to interrupt the fluid in-person discussion to read out the text messages.

14. Digital communication has changed dramatically over the past decade. Emails are being replaced by team channels and private chat messaging. Video chats and team meetings have become standard practice. To what extent have these changes in digital communication occurred where you are taking this course in organizational behavior? Is email still widely used? Why or why not?

What further changes in digital communication can you recommend to improve your course and college experience?

This is an open discussion question, asking students to describe the changing communication landscape in their school. Across many organizations, the most frequently used communication channels have changed dramatically, particularly since the pandemic. It would be interesting to discover whether these changes are also evident regarding communication that students have with each other, with instructors, and with administration in universities and colleges. These observations should be compared to the changes in workplace digital communication described in this chapter (see exhibit in this chapter showing recent shifts in amount of time spent in video, text, and other communication).

Some significant changes have almost certainly occurred in every school. Courses have dramatically shifted toward online learning, such as remote and hybrid classes. This alone would have increased the amount of time on video communication. Class and team activities in remote classes would have escalated the use of chat-oriented digital text channels. Similarly, team assignments outside the class time require digital communication because only some students are able to meet in person, and digital communication is often preferred to minimize travel time. The question is whether most students rely on digital team chat channels to collaborate and coordinate for those assignments, or whether many still use email. To what extent are communication systems embedded in learning management systems (LMS) actively used for communicating with other students and with the instructor, and to what extent are these LMS communication channels effective? A separate relationship is communicating between students and instructors and with college administration. Is this mainly through email or other digital communication channels?

This question also asks students to recommend digital communication channels to improve the students‘ course and college experience. The instructor should separate out different communication functions/relationships, such as class-time communication, team activity communication, and student interactions with instructors and administration. The recommended communication channel would likely differ from one function to the next. It would be helpful to have students evaluate their recommended channels against the four factors for choosing the best communication channel: synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness. These factors provide an important template to diagnose the appropriateness of a communication channel for each communication function.

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15. Some (or many) senders include emojis or animated GIFs as a nonverbal channel to supplement their text messages or emails. In what work situations, if any, are emojis and GIFs most appropriate and helpful to communicate messages? Under what conditions should these nonverbal digital elements definitely NOT be used? If you use either emojis or animated GIFs in text messages or emails, what rules or principles would you recommend to someone who hasn’t yet used these?

This is a timely question because emojis and GIFs are increasingly used in digital communication, yet the acceptance, appropriateness, and even effectiveness of these nonverbal channels is unclear or in active debate for some situations.

This chapter identifies three potential benefits of emojis, which likely also apply to animated GIFs: (1) emojis can transmit emotional meaning better than the text message; (2) emojis symbolize ideas or objects (not just emotions), thereby strengthening or clarifying the meaning of the written text message; and (3) emojis improve interpersonal relations (more social presence, depict personal characteristics of sender). Students should refer to these benefits when explaining why emojis or GIFs should be used to supplement their workplace text messages or emails.

When discussing the risks and problems with using emojis and GIFs in the workplace, students should consider the points mentioned in the Debating Point feature found in this chapter near the discussion on nonverbal digital communication. These include: (1) some types of people do not approve of any emojis in work-related messages; (2) for some types of messages, the use of emojis generates undesirable perceptions by recipients of the sender; (3) the norms of using emojis remain unclear, but particularly between people of different organizational status; and (4) people easily misinterpret the meaning of many (most?) emojis.

Following the discussion on when, where, and to what extent people should use emojis and GIFs in work situations, students should identify specific rules or principles to advise first-time users of these nonverbal digital channels. For example, students might recommend using only emojis that are widely used and perhaps ensuring that the emoji‘s meaning is clear in the text message. Another principle might be to avoid using emojis when communicating with people further up the organizational hierarchy, at least until the relationship has become sufficiently casual and friendly (and preferably after the more senior person has communicated with an emoji).

16. You are about to form a project team to design new marketing strategies for one of the company’s global products. The team consists of eight marketing, technology, and sales coworkers located in the United States, Brazil, Singapore, and France. All speak English sufficiently, but some are understandably hesitant and slower than those whose first language is English. During the first two weeks, the team will resolve ambiguous details about the project’s main features, deadlines, and distribution of team tasks. What preferred communication channels (more than one can be used) should this team use to decide these initial team phase issues? Justify your choice of each channel in terms of synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness.

To answer this question, it is important to first recognize some of the key characteristics of the communication content and actors during this early phrase of the project. Consider the following: (a) Much of the communication content during the first two weeks will be ambiguous. High media richness channels are recommended for communication situations that are unclear and/or ambiguous.

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(b) The team members originate from diverse cultures, and some (technologists) have different occupational perspectives from others (marketing and sales team members). As such, team members will likely have different perspectives on the task and experience somewhat more conflict than more homogeneous teams. Conflict management requires higher social presence (to subdue flaming and differentiation) as well as higher media richness to work through the conflict resolution. (c) A marketing strategy likely has some degree of complexity (consistent with the ambiguity of details about the project‘s main features). Written communication is typically required to transmit the details of complex messages, possibly beginning during the initial team phase. (d) Some team members do not have high fluency in English. As such, these people likely work better with asynchronous communication because they can take time to understand the message and craft a response. Synchronous communication, such as video meetings, would pose challenges because those with limited English would not be able to accurately or completely understand all of the fast-paced dialogue. They would also be hesitant to contribute to the discussion and/or may communicate their messages inaccurately due to the real-time communication event.

These three conditions create a communication dilemma. If everyone was fluent in English, the best route would be to have several intensive video meetings to address the ambiguous details, resolve potential different points of view among team members, and enhance social presence among team members.

Written communication would also be required to effectively document the complex details of the marketing strategy. However, video meetings are fast-paced and synchronous, which disadvantages and increases communication error risks among those with less-fluent English skills.

A compromise in ideal communication channels is likely required, at least during the early stages of the project. Video meetings will be essential, but the team could also create team text threads for specific subthemes and chat channels for near-synchronous discussion on specific short-term issues. These would enable those with poorer English skills to read (and translate, when necessary) the written messages.

Indeed, team text channels are used widely in global distributed companies (such as Automattic, Gitlab, and Emsisoft) because these written channels enable people with limited English language skills to participate more actively and accurately. Text channels also document the information discussed.

Another channel might be a collective document development site in which all team members would write aspects of the marketing strategy content. This site might also have comments so other team members could address queries. However, this collective document site might not be required until after the initial phase of project development.

17. Under what conditions, if any, do you think it is appropriate to use a text message to notify an employee that they have been laid off or fired? Why are text messages and other digital written communication channels usually considered inappropriate for conveying this information?

This question often produces an interesting discussion. To explain why some communication channels are usually considered inappropriate for conveying layoffs and dismissals, students should refer to the four factors for choosing the best communication channel.

Social acceptance. This chapter explains that text messages and email are generally considered unacceptable channels to communicate layoffs and dismissals. The reason is that these channels are too impersonal and, consequently, symbolize that the employee is unimportant to the company and therefore doesn‘t merit personal communication. One work tribunal stated: ―termination of employment is a matter Page 10-401

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of such significance that basic human dignity requires that dismissal be conveyed personally.‖ Text messages and email symbolically fail to demonstrate sufficient human dignity.

Social presence. The lack of social acceptance of text messages and emails for layoffs and dismissals is mostly due to their low social presence. Channels with high social presence create psychological closeness to others, awareness that there is another human being in the conversation, and appreciation of the interpersonal relationship. Personal communication from a manager conveys more empathy to the affected employee. Therefore, to show respect to someone who is being laid off or fired, companies are advised to notify the employee through high social presence channels, particularly in-person interactions.

However, there have been situations in which large groups of employees stated they would prefer to be notified by text message or email of an impending layoff. Their reasoning is that the high social presence of being notified in person is more socially uncomfortable and embarrassing than being notified by a text message or email. This preference for low social presence channels mainly occurs for layoffs where employees have already been advised of the company‘s general intentions and reasons for the downsizing.

Synchronicity. Technically, a text message or email is preferable to the extent that it can be conveyed asynchronously—the company can notify the employee even when the employee is not available to receive the message. However, only a few asynchronous communication channels automatically notify the sender when the recipient has received the message, which is important for matters of employment.

Media richness. This factor probably isn‘t relevant for many layoff and dismissal notices, unless the arrangements are complex and/or ambiguous.

18. Explain why females and males are sometimes frustrated with each other’s communication behaviors.

Although females also engage in report talk, they have a higher likelihood than males to communicate to build or maintain social bonds (rapport talk). For this reason, they are less likely to give advice and will use indirect questions. Females tend to be more willing than males to apologize. Finally, females tend to be more sensitive than males to nonverbal cues in face-to-face meetings. The result is that females get frustrated with males because they receive impersonal and status-based advice from males when they are trying to form rapport. Males get frustrated because they can‘t understand why females don‘t appreciate their advice.

19. In your opinion, has the introduction of digital written communication (team channel text messages, email, private chat, etc.) increased or decreased the amount of information flowing through the corporate grapevine? Explain your answer.

This is purely a discussion question, but students should be able to bring out logical foundations for their arguments. The textbook points out that digital written communication channels have changed the nature of grapevine communication such that public and enterprise social network platforms have expanded as employees communicate with each other around the globe, not just around the next cubicle. Public websites have become virtual water coolers by posting anonymous comments about specific companies for all to view. This technology extends gossip to anyone, not just employees connected to social networks.

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These changes do not directly mean that the amount of information flowing through the corporate grapevine has increased. However, a couple of arguments suggest that grapevine communication has increased. First, digital communication channels make it easier to communicate, as well as easier to communicate with more people at a larger distance. Logically, this suggests that there is less of an investment barrier to engage in the grapevine.

Second, digital communication such as text messages and email tend to be fairly lean media, whereas the grapevine tends to relate to unique and sometime complex events. As such, it requires more ongoing communication to clarify messages and correct misinterpreted messages. Third, by sending grapevine messages to more people, the total volume of communication might increase as more people receive the information and either pass the information onward or contact the sender for more clarity or provide personal opinion.

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CS CASE STUDY: DIFFICULT CONNECTIONS Case Synopsis Sophia Reddy is about to participate in an accounting audit with a team of accountants from the Nashville office of the firm (Alicamber LLC) where she works in Chicago. She tries to communicate with Thomas Kerbakker, the project team leader, but initially doesn‘t receive any replies to her text messages (which is the typical communication channel used by staff in Chicago). Reddy learns from her boss that Kerbakker doesn‘t do text messages; instead, he can be reached mainly through a telephone call or in-person meeting. Reddy hesitates to phone Kerbakker because she seldom uses and doesn‘t feel comfortable with that communication channel. Instead, she sends him an email version of her text message, but significantly alters the writing style with more formality and status differentiation.

Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions Identify one or more symptoms that something has gone wrong here.

One symptom is that there is a lack of communication initially—Sophia Reddy had not received any communication from Thomas Kerbakker, and Reddy‘s message has not been received (or perhaps has been ignored due to the channel selected) by Kerbakker. Ultimately, the desired communication has been delayed by several days. The lack of response from Kerbakker was, itself, a form of communication that sent negative messages to Reddy (she was not valued or the project was delayed).

Second, the two parties eventually communicate with each other, but Reddy assigns negative meaning to the style of Kerbakker‘s reply. It seems reasonable to infer that Kerbakker did not intend that meaning in his very terse and unformatted words.

Third, Sophia Reddy is dissatisfied with the communication experience with Kerbakker. She has also formed doubts about joining this project, which she was initially enthusiastic about.

20. Analyze the causes of these symptom(s) using one or more communication concepts from this chapter.

Two communication theories that apply well to this case are (a) issues in the coding–decoding process and (b) factors to consider when choosing the preferred communication channel. First, as background, we need to consider the purposes for the communication. Reddy wanted to communicate with Kerbakker for two reasons. First, her stated reason was to receive a list of team members and the project schedule, both of which would help Reddy do her job on the project in Nashville as well as schedule her other work in Chicago. The second reason, which is more subtle, is that Reddy wanted to form relationships with Thomas Kerbakker and other project members, as well as gain a sense of involvement. This is evident when she did not initially receive any communication or reply from Kerbakker—the lack of communication inferred that she wasn‘t valued.

Issues in Encoding–Decoding

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The main problem in the encoding–decoding process (or, more generally, the entire communication process) is that Sophia Reddy and Thomas Kerbakker are (somewhat) skilled and motivated to use different communication channels. Reddy states that she is motivated and able to use text messaging and in-person interactions. She lacks motivation to make phone calls and might not be particularly skilled on that channel. She seems neutral on the use of email but seems sufficiently skilled at it. The case states that Kerbakker ignores text messages but is sufficiently motivated to use email and in-person meetings.

However, his reply to Reddy suggests that he lacks much skill at using email.

A related problem is that Sophia Reddy has almost no experience communicating with people similar to Kerbakker, that is, coworkers who are not fluent in the use of contemporary communication channels and have little interest in trying. Reddy acknowledges that a phone call could be difficult because of her lack of awareness (and empathy) with Kerbakker and her admitted limited experience making phone calls.

Factors to Consider When Choosing the Preferred Communication Channel Sophia Reddy relied initially on text messaging and later switched to email. She deliberately avoided phoning Thomas Kerbakker, even though Reddy was advised that Kerbakker mainly communicated through phone calls or in-person conversations (the latter was not possible because Reddy and Kerbakker were located in different cities). Students should examine each of the four factors as well as Reddy‘s purpose for the communication.

Synchronicity— The preferred communication channel probably does not require synchronicity because there is no time urgency, the information requested was not complex, synchronous communication might be moderately inconvenient given time zones differences, and the information exchanged would not require time for reflective thought. Thus, text messaging and email would be appropriate from this factor.

Social presence—A channel with high social presence might have been preferred to satisfy Sophia Reddy‘s need to feel involved and valued in the Nashville team. A phone call or video call would have satisfied this factor. However, text messaging and emails can provide some degree of social presence if the sender‘s message is personable. Unfortunately, Kerbakker‘s terse one-word answers represented the extreme of low social presence.

Social acceptance—This is an important factor in the preferred communication channel selected in this case. Unfortunately, Reddy and Kerbakker are skilled and motivated to use different communication channels. Reddy prefers text messaging—which is the preferred channel for her age-group and is widely used where she works. Kerbakker apparently doesn‘t use or even look at text messaging at all even though the company has provided the technology necessary for this channel. At the same time, Kerbakker apparently prefers direct conversations (in person or by phone calls), whereas the case shows that Reddy lacks the motivation (and possibly ability) to communicate effectively on the phone. This lack of shared motivation and ability to use the same communication channel has resulted in most symptoms. The communication process took several days and Reddy was uncomfortable and irritated communicating with Kerbakker, which spilt over to her feelings about working with him and the project. Reddy and Kerbakker were able to communicate through email. However, one might infer that Kerbakker is not skilled in email communication because the terseness of his reply probably communicated negative meaning that he did not intend to communicate. Notice that communication channel norms at this firm are probably to send text messages—this is true in Chicago and could be inferred in Nashville because people in that office ―are aware of‖ Kerbakker‘s communication preferences. Also, students might debate

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the symbolic meaning of text messaging versus email versus phone calls. Status seems to play a role here, which is evident from Reddy‘s change of writing style in the email. One might argue that text messaging is highly casual and, consequently, might be viewed as more friendly and egalitarian than a formal email would be symbolically.

Media richness—The purposes of Reddy‘s communication did not require high data-carrying capacity.

And one might infer that the team list and schedule are not particularly nonroutine or ambiguous. Some students might argue that the preferred channel should have high media richness, but their argument is likely more about social presence, not data-carrying capacity.

Students can identify other theories and concepts in the communication chapter to explain the symptoms in this case. Some might note that Reddy‘s perceptions produced ―noise‖ in the process because she was seeking validation of her role in the project team. Others might suggest that sex plays a role in this communication disaster. Kerbakker‘s terse response depicted typical male-oriented report talk with elements of dominance and status in the dialogue. Reddy‘s messages revealed more rapport talk, such as referring to her emotions (―excited to join your project‖) and sharing (―learn from each other‖). Even her more formal email presented this socially connecting language.

21. What do you recommend that Sophia do at this time regarding her interaction with Thomas and the Nashville team? Assume that Sophia cannot back out of her assignment to the Nashville project?

This is an excellent question for students to ponder and offer recommendations. The answers need to consider both the communication channel and the style and frequency of communication. Many students would suggest that Reddy should continue with her current strategy of using email—that channel is the closest common ground between the two of them. She should also continue to use her style that includes both report talk and rapport talk. She might reply to Kerbakker‘s email within a day, for example, asking specifically for the team list and permission to communicate with those coworkers. She could repeat her request for a schedule, explaining that she needs the information to coordinate her own work in Chicago.

A few students might suggest that Reddy give Kerbakker a phone call. Assuming that Kerbakker is not as rude or aloof as his email, this could repair the initially faltering relationship and Reddy‘s attitude toward the project. However, the call might seem redundant to Kerbakker, thinking that he already addressed her questions. Also, Reddy felt awkward about making such a call, so the resulting interaction might lead to further miscommunication.

22. What should Alicamber LLC do to minimize these problems in the long run?

Alicamber‘s preferred communication channel among employees (other than face-to-face) seems to be text messages. Thomas Kerbakker‘s refusal to use text messaging might, therefore, be an anomaly. He was given a company phone, so this communication channel is available to him. If the situation is rare, then we might recommend that Alicamber doesn‘t need to take any action.

However, some students might argue that if text messaging is the norm at Alicamber, then employees should be urged to at least check messages daily even if they don‘t like or have much skill using this channel. One reason is that—as a norm—some employees (such as Sophia Reddy) would assume that text messages would be received and read. Communication therefore is delayed—occasionally with negative consequences for customer service—if even only a few people in the company ignore that

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channel completely. Employees who prefer other channels can reply using their preferred channel (phone, email, etc.) or indicate their preference for another channel in an initial text message. The second reason for urging all staff to monitor their text messages is that the company likely uses text messages to alert employees to news or possibly even urgent events. Employees who deliberately ignore text messages miss out on this means of improving organizational comprehension.

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

TE

TEAM EXERCISE: CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION GAME © 2001, 2011 Steven L. McShane

Purpose This exercise is designed to develop and test student knowledge of cross-cultural differences in communication and etiquette.

Materials The instructor will provide one set of question/answer cards to each pair of teams. Master pages for these cards are provided on the following pages, with four cards provided per page. Copy these pages on thick paper and cut out the four cards per page. Prepare one set of cards for each pair of teams.

Instructions Step 1: The class is divided into an even number of teams. Ideally, each team would have three students.

(Two or four student teams are possible if matched with an equal-sized team.) Each team is then paired with another team and the paired teams (Team ―A‖ and Team ―B‖) have a private space away from other matched teams.

Step 2: The instructor will hand each pair of teams a stack of cards with the multiple-choice questions face down. These cards have questions and answers about cross-cultural differences in communication and etiquette. No books or other aids are allowed.

Step 3: The exercise begins with a member of Team A picking up one card from the top of the pile and asking the question on that card to both people on Team B. The information given to Team B includes the question and all alternatives listed on the card. Team B has 30 seconds after the question and alternatives have been read to give an answer. Team B earns one point if the correct answer is given. If Team B‘s answer is incorrect, however, Team A earns that point. Correct answers to each question are indicated on the card and, of course, should not be revealed until the question is correctly answered or time is up. Whether or not Team B answers correctly, it picks up the next card on the pile and asks it to members of Team A. In other words, cards are read alternatively to each team. This procedure is repeated until all of the cards have been read or time has elapsed. The team receiving the most points wins.

Comments to Instructors Forty (40) question cards for this exercise appear over the next 10 pages. This information originates from the sources listed below. Please make one copy of each page for each group and cut along the lines to make the four cards on each page. Preferably copy these pages onto somewhat heavier color paper so the cards are stiff to hold and the answers cannot be seen through the cards. For shorter exercises, use any subset of these cards.

The textbook provides a limited amount of information pertaining to the questions in this exercise. Rather, students must rely on past learning, logic, and luck to win. The instructor can, of course, change some of the rules of the game, such as how points are awarded or how much time is allowed for each question. Based on my previous experience, this is one of the most memorable exercises in the course. It works for second-year undergraduate students, MBA students, and military officers. It is educational, competitive, and humorous.

Don‘t be surprised if you see students giving strange hand signals for several days after this activity! This exercise mainly intended as a game without debriefing. However, the instructor can pull the class together after the game is over to discuss which questions students had the most difficulty answering correctly.

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Sources of Card Material R. Axtell, Essential Do’s and Taboos (New York: Wiley, 2007); B. Goldsmith, ―Europeans Dress Most Casually for Work, Indians Dress Smartest,‖ Reuters, August 5, 2010; J. Mole, Mind Your Manners, 3rd ed.

(London: Nicholas Brealey, 2003); Government of Canada. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. ―Cultural Information‖ various countries, http://www.intercultures.ca; Kwintessential. ―Country Etiquette Guides,‖ various countries, http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.html; and additional sources.

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Which African or Middle Eastern country has the strongest protocol about business cards, such as having them available, using your right hand to give and receive them, and taking time to read cards received from others?

In which of these countries would male professional and management staff be most expected to wear a suit regularly at work? a) Sweden b) India

a) Kenya

c) Russia

b) South Africa

d) Italy

c) Ethiopia

e) United States

d) Iran e) Chad

© Steven L. McShane

© Steven L. McShane

In which of these countries is it least appropriate to use colorful or exaggerated words (e.g., ―it was a catastrophe‖) to emphasize something important?

You want to do business with a Greek company, but the representative insists on examining every detail of your proposal for several hours. This procedure most likely means that the Greek representative:

a) Switzerland

a) doesn‘t trust the accuracy of your proposal.

b) France

b) is being polite and really doesn‘t want to go ahead with the deal.

c) Brazil d) Australia

c) is signaling you to consider a more reasonable offer but doesn‘t want to ask directly.

e) Chile

d) is uncomfortable with detailed proposals and would prefer a simple handshake. e) is showing good manners and respect to you and your proposal. © Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

Japanese clients visit you at your office for a major meeting. In the meeting, where should the top Japanese official be seated?

While visiting a German client, you make a compliment about the client‘s beautiful pen

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

set. What will probably happen? a) closest to the door. b) as close to the middle of the room as is possible.

a) The client will insist very strongly that you take it.

c) anywhere in the room; seating location isn‘t important to Japanese business people.

b) The client will tell you where to buy such a pen set at a good price.

d) somewhere away from the door with a piece of artwork behind them.

c) The client will accept the compliment, then get on with business.

e) always beside rather than facing the host.

d) The client will probably get upset that you aren‘t paying attention to the business at hand.

© Steven L. McShane

e) The client will totally ignore the comment. © Steven L. McShane

In which countries does holding your nose with thumb and forefinger mean ―It smells bad!‖

In which of these countries is it fairly common for the local coworker to ask during your first meeting about your education and age?

a) Jamaica b) United States

a) South Korea

c) Japan

b) United States

d) Russia

c) Thailand

e) All of the above

d) Germany e) None of the above

© Steven L. McShane

© Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

You visit a Tibetan tribesman, who sticks out his tongue at you. The tribesman is signaling that:

People (particularly men) from which of these countries tend to shake hands the most? a) Japan

a) you are not welcome here.

b) France

b) he has prepared a delicious meal for you.

c) Scotland

c) you wear ugly clothes.

d) Chile

d) you are welcome here.

e) Finland

e) this is not an opportune time to visit.

© Steven L. McShane

Male guests in many Latin American countries often give their visitors an abrazo when greeting them. An abrazo is: a) a light kiss on the nose. b) a special gift, usually wine or food. c) clapping hands in the air as the visitor approaches. d) a strong embrace. e) a firm two-handed handshake, lasting almost one minute.

© Steven L. McShane

A polite way to give your business card to a Japanese business person is: a) casually, after several hours of getting to know the person. b) when first meeting, presenting your card with both hands. c) at the very end of the first meeting. d) casually during the meeting, with the information face down to show humility. e) never; it is considered rude in Japan to give business cards.

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

In which of these countries is it important to show respect to guests by bowing when greeting them?

When doing business with clients or meeting coworkers in Thailand, which of the following is considered particularly rude or unprofessional?

a) Germany a) looking directly at other people for more than a second or two.

b) Italy c) Venezuela

b) showing the bottom of your feet or shoes.

d) Hong Kong

c) trying to shake hands with coworkers of your same sex.

e) Japan

d) for men, attending a meeting without a tie. e) asking during the first meeting about types of food they enjoy eating. © Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

A male American manager arrives in Brazil and greets a female manager from that country.

They know each other by email but have never met in person. How should the American greet his Brazilian colleague?

Several people enter an elevator (lift) in a Japanese company. Who should take responsibility for operating the elevator?

a) Shake her right hand vigorously with both of his hands.

b) The most senior person unless they are far away from the controls.

b) Kiss the air beside her left cheek, then her right cheek.

c) The employee with the highest technical skills.

c) Say ―Hello‖ but do not touch; men rarely touch women in Brazilian business settings.

d) The person closest to the controls, no matter what position or status they hold.

d) Reach out his right hand to shake her hand, watching that she does the same.

e) The most junior person unless they are far away from the controls.

a) No one in particular.

e) Kiss the air beside her right cheek only.

Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

In which of the following countries are two male business associates most likely to hold hands or be arm-in-arm in public? a) Saudi Arabia b) United Kingdom c) Australia

While visiting Southern France, the concierge asks you whether the meeting room is satisfactory. You give the OK signal of thumb and fore finger touching to make an ―O.‖ What does this gesture most likely mean to the concierge?

d) Tibet

a) This is a rude gesture meaning that the concierge is an unmentionable orifice.

e) Norway

b) ―How much does it cost?‖ c) ―It‘s worthless!‖ d) ―It‘s OK, just fine, thanks.‖ e) This gesture has no meaning in Southern France. © Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

In which of these countries are executives most likely to ask employees further down the hierarchy for their opinion about a business matter that might be relevant to them?

In which country is it most appropriate to mention (and indicate on your business card) that your organization has been in business for many years?

a) Netherlands

a) United States

b) Hong Kong

b) Peru

c) Italy

c) Germany

d) Taiwan

d) Nigeria

e) Venezuela

e) Mexico

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

For most Americans, sticking your thumb up with a closed fist means ―Everything is OK.‖ In Australia, it means:

Nodding your head up and down tends to mean ―No‖ in which country? a) Bulgaria

a) ―Get me one of those‖ (i.e., signaling one).

b) Australia

b) ―Look up, mate!‖

c) Brazil

c) the person is about to shake your hand.

d) China

d) a rude gesture (―Up yours‖).

e) Pakistan

e) ―Everything is OK!‖

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

In many parts of India, when people rock their head slowly back and forth, side-to-side, it usually means:

In which of these countries do people tend to have the least physical distance between them in line-ups, stand-up conversations, and the like?

a) ―Yes, I agree with you.‖ b) ―No, I disagree with you.‖

a) United States

c) ―Yes, I‘m listening.‖

b) Germany

d) ―You‘re crazy!‖

c) Iceland

e) None of the above.

d) Malaysia e) Argentina

© Steven L. McShane

© Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

In which of these countries is it usually inappropriate to set up an important meeting for Friday afternoon? a) Australia b) Thailand

You are responsible for giving presentations to company employees in several countries about the new product line. In which country should you subdue your excitement more than the other countries listed here? a) Czech Republic

c) Norway

b) Kenya

d) Israel

c) United States

e) Chile

d) Spain e) Brazil

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

In which country do people typically give brief and not-so-firm (fairly weak) handshakes between men?

Managers from which country are least likely to tolerate someone being five minutes late for an appointment?

a) Germany

a) United States

b) Russia

b) Australia

c) France

c) Brazil

d) China

d) Sweden

e) United Kingdom

e) Saudi Arabia

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

In which country is grasping one‘s ear a sign of apology?

Which of these gestures has the specified meaning in virtually every part of the world?

a) India b) Taiwan

a) Congratulating someone with a pat on the back.

c) Mexico

b) Smiling to show happiness or politeness.

d) Australia

c) Shaking your head to show disagreement.

e) Portugal

d) Sticking your thumb up to show everything is OK. e) Greeting someone by waving (shaking hand back and forth with arm raised).

© Steven L. McShane

© Steven L. McShane

In Chile, the fist slap (slapping the closed fist of one hand with the open palm of the other) means:

Most Americans interpret the finger touching thumb in an ―O‖ shape as ―OK.‖ In which country is this gesture very rude?

a) It is a rude gesture (―Up yours!‖).

a) Russia

b) ―What a great idea.‖

b) Greece

c) ―I think we can reach agreement.‖

c) Brazil

d) ―You‘re crazy!‖

d) All of the above

e) ―Congratulations!‖

e) None of the above

© Steven L. McShane

© Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

A German colleague makes two fists with thumbs tucked inside and makes a slight upand-down or pounding motion. This says,

When trying to point to an object, Japanese people tend to:

a) ―I‘m angry with you.‖

a) raise their noses in the direction of the object.

b) ―Good luck!‖

b) point with their thumb.

c) ―Let‘s get down to business.‖ d) ―Up yours!‖

c) point with their index finger (as in the United States).

e) ―Hurry up!‖

d) point with their right elbow. e) point with an open hand.

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

In Saudi Arabia, you are asked to pass a dish of food to someone. Which of the following should you do?

In the United States, scratching your head usually means that the person is confused or skeptical. In Russia, it means:

a) Pass the dish using your left hand.

a) ―You‘re crazy!‖

b) Pass the dish using your right hand.

b) ―I am listening carefully.‖

c) Pass the dish using both hands.

c) ―I want to get to know you better.‖

d) Ask a servant/waiter to pass the dish; never touch it yourself.

d) ―I‘m confused or skeptical.‖ e) None of the above.

e) Any of these actions is acceptable.

© Steven L. McShane

© Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

The top management team (CEO and VPs) calls a meeting of sales and marketing staff regarding proposed changes to the company‘s marketing strategy. In which of these countries is the executive team mainly reporting on the strategic change rather than expecting staff to discuss and consensually decide on those changes?

Which of the following gestures have the same meaning in almost every part of the world? a) Shaking your fist (anger). b) Making a circular motion with the hand over the stomach (hunger). c) Yawning (showing tiredness).

a) Ireland

d) All of the above.

b) United Kingdom

e) None of the above.

c) Turkey d) Finland e) New Zealand

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

In which country is it usually not necessary to spend several hours discussing network-related topics before turning to business issues?

In Japan, who should arrive first at a meeting? a) The most senior employees.

a) Brazil

b) The most junior employees.

b) Ethiopia c) Greece

c) Employees who missed the previous meeting.

d) Hong Kong

d) The oldest employee.

e) None of the above

e) No particular order is expected.

© Steven L. McShane © Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

TE

TEAM EXERCISE: VISUAL INSTRUCTIONS EXERCISE

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand the importance of media richness, choosing communication channels, and related issues on effective communication.

Materials Each team will receive one sheet of flip chart paper as well as one nonpermanent (e.g., whiteboard) marker.

The instructor should have some means of posting each team‘s final flip chart sheet, such as with tape or removable adhesive tac.

Instructions Step 1: The class will form teams (usually five or six students per team). (NOTE: Alternatively, your instructor might ask students to complete this activity individually rather than in teams.)

Step 2: The instructor will ask each team to draw instructions on how to perform a well-known activity.

These instructions are intended for people who have never heard about that activity. The instructions use pictures only—without any words. Teams will have a fixed time frame to prepare these visual instructions.

Each team will display its instructions on the flip chart sheet provided. These sheets will be posted around the class so all students can see every team‘s instructions for that task.

Step 3: With all visual instructions posted, the class will debrief on the exercise, guided by a set of questions posed by the instructor.

Comments to Instructors This activity is an adaptation of the ―Draw Toast‖ activity that has become quite popular among technology companies and other organizations that want to emphasize ―agile‖ and systems thinking. This activity highlights the importance—and challenges—of communication. It particularly provides a visual display of how a fairly common activity is depicted differently based on each person or team‘s mental models and skills at translating concepts into visual symbols.

The number and variety of ―instructions‖ to depict with pictures is almost limitless. But beware of tasks that are complex. Even simple activities (toasting bread) can be a challenge to present visually. Here are a few instructions to consider.

Draw picture instructions on how to make toast.

Draw picture instructions on how to put a shirt through the laundry process.

Draw picture instructions on how to make pancakes.

Draw picture instructions on how to register online for a course in this school.

Draw picture instructions on how to brush your teeth.

Draw picture instructions on how to make a cheese (or salad or meat) sandwich.

The debriefing can be hilarious—considering how different people visualize the same thing, not to mention their diverse drawing skills. But the main objective is to determine the form of this diversity and why it exists. Most teams will show images of each step in the process, whereas a few teams might show one object (a toaster) and sub-pictures around it depicting items at each step. Most intriguing is often how teams depict abstract aspects of instructions. For example, many instructions require communication of time, or space, or Page 10-420

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

distance, or integration. How these are visualized is interesting and likely different across teams. This aspect also raises questions about instruction clarity.

For further details about this type of activity, see online information about the ―Draw Toast‖ exercise: https://gamestorming.com/draw-toast/. http://www.drawtoast.com/. https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_wujec_got_a_wicked_problem_first_tell_me_how_you_make_toast.

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.1: ARE YOU AN ACTIVE LISTENER?

Overview and Instructions Listening is a critical component of communication. But most people put more effort into how well they communicate as a sender than how well they listen as a receiver. Active listening is a skill that can be learned, so the first step is to know which components of active listening require further development.

Students are asked to think back to face-to-face conversations they have had with a coworker or client in the office, hallway, factory floor, or other setting. Using the scale, they should indicate the extent that each item describes their behavior during those conversations. They are asked to answer each item as truthfully as possible so that they get an accurate estimate of where their active listening skills need improvement.

Feedback for the Active Listening Skills Inventory The textbook describes three main dimensions of active listening: sensing, evaluating, and responding.

Together, these three dimensions represent the total active listening score.

Sensing Sensing is the process of receiving signals from the sender and paying attention to them. Active listeners improve sensing in three ways. They postpone evaluation by not forming an opinion until the speaker has finished, avoid interrupting the speaker‘s conversation, and remain motivated to listen to the speaker.

Evaluating This dimension of active listening includes understanding the message meaning, evaluating the message, and remembering the message. To improve their evaluation of the conversation, active listeners empathize with the speaker—they try to understand and be sensitive to the speaker‘s feelings, thoughts, and situation.

Evaluation also improves by organizing the speaker‘s ideas during the communication episode.

Responding Responding, the third dimension of active listening, is feedback to the sender, which motivates and directs the speaker‘s communication. Active listeners show interest through nonverbal cues (eye contact, nodding, symbiotic facial expression) and by sending back-channel signals (e.g., ―I see‖). They also clarify the message, such as by summarizing or rephrasing the speaker‘s ideas at appropriate breaks (―So you‘re saying that ... ?‖).

Scores on the three Active Listening dimensions range from 4 to 20. The overall score ranges from 12 to 60.

Norms vary from one group to the next. The following table shows norms from a sample of 100 MBA students in two countries (Australia and Singapore). For example, the top 10 percentile for sensing is 17, indicating that 10 percent of people score 17 or above and 90 percent score below 17 on this dimension.

Keep in mind that these scores represent self-perceptions. Evaluations from others (such as through 360degree feedback) may provide a more accurate estimate of your active listening on one or more dimensions, particularly the responding dimension which is visible to others.

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

Active Listening Norms Percentile (% with scores at or below this number)

Sensing Score

Evaluating Score

Responding Score

Total Score

Average score

14.5

14.4

16.7

45.6

Top 10 percentile

17

17

19

53

Top 25th percentile

15

16

18

48

Median (50th percentile)

15

14

17

45

Bottom 25th percentile

13

13

16

43

Bottom 10 percentile

11

12

14

39

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

10

Power and Influence in the Workplace

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Describe the dependence model of power and the five sources of power in organizations.

Discuss the four contingencies of power.

Explain how people and work units gain power through social networks.

Describe eight types of influence tactics, three consequences of influencing others, and three contingencies to consider when choosing an influence tactic.

Identify the organizational conditions and personal characteristics associated with organizational politics, as well as ways to minimize organizational politics.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY centrality—a contingency of power pertaining to the degree and nature of interdependence between the power holder and others

dark triad—a cluster of three socially undesirable (dark) personality traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy

charisma—a personal characteristic or special ―gift‖ that serves as a form of interpersonal attraction and referent power over others

impression management—actively shaping through self-presentation and other means the perceptions and attitudes that others have of us

coalition—a group that attempts to influence people outside the group by pooling the resources and power of its members

influence—any behavior that attempts to alter someone‘s attitudes or behavior

countervailing power—the capacity of a person, team, or organization to keep a more powerful person or group in the exchange relationship

inoculation effect—a persuasive communication strategy of warning listeners that others will try to influence them in the future and that they should be wary of the opponent‘s arguments

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Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace

legitimate power—an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others

structural hole—a gap between two or more social networks that lack network ties upward appeal—a type of influence in which someone with higher authority or expertise is called upon in reality or symbolically to support the influencer‘s position

norm of reciprocity—a felt obligation and social expectation of helping or otherwise giving something of value to someone who has already helped or given something to you organizational politics—the use of influence tactics for personal gain at the perceived expense of others and the organization persuasion—the use of facts, logical arguments, and emotional appeals to change another person‘s beliefs and attitudes, usually for the purpose of changing the person‘s behavior power—the capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others referent power—the capacity to influence others on the basis of an identification with and respect for the power holder social capital—the knowledge, opportunities, and other resources available to members of a social network, along with the mutual support, trust, reciprocity, and coordination that facilitate sharing of those resources social networks—social structures of individuals or social units that are connected to each other through one or more forms of interdependence

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 28. Describe the dependence model of power and the five sources of power in organizations.

Power is the capacity to influence others. It exists when one party perceives that they are dependent on the other for something of value. However, the dependent person must also have countervailing power— some power over the dominant party—to maintain the relationship, and the parties must have some level of trust.

There are five power bases. Legitimate power is an agreement among organizational members that people in certain roles can request certain behaviors of others. This power has restrictions, represented by the target person‘s zone of indifference. It also includes the norm of reciprocity (a feeling of obligation to help someone who has helped you), as well as control over the flow of information to others. Reward

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

power is derived from the ability to control the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions. Coercive power is the ability to apply punishment. Expert power is the capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills that they value. An important form of expert power is the (perceived) ability to manage uncertainties in the business environment. People have referent power when others identify with them, like them, or otherwise respect them.

29. Discuss the four contingencies of power.

Four contingencies determine whether these power bases translate into real power. Individuals and work units are more powerful when they are nonsubstitutable. Employees, work units, and organizations reduce substitutability by controlling tasks, knowledge, and labor, by differentiating themselves from competitors, and by developing a personal brand—a unique combination of knowledge, skills, and experience that are valuable to current or prospective employers.

A second contingency is centrality. People have more power when they have high centrality, which means that many people are quickly affected by their actions. The third contingency, visibility, refers to the idea that power increases to the extent that a person‘s or work unit‘s competencies are known to others. Discretion, the fourth contingency of power, refers to the freedom to exercise judgment. Power increases when people have the freedom to use their power.

30. Explain how people and work units gain power through social networks.

Social networks are social structures of individuals or social units (e.g., departments and organizations) that connect to one another through one or more forms of interdependence. People receive power in social networks through social capital, which is the goodwill and resulting resources shared among members in a social network. Three main resources from social networks are information, visibility, and referent power.

Employees gain social capital through their relationship in the social network. Social capital tends to increase with the number of network ties. Strong ties (close-knit relationships) can also increase social capital because these connections offer more resources more quickly. However, having weak ties with people from diverse networks can be more valuable than having strong ties with people in similar networks. Weak ties provide more resources that we do not already possess. Another influence on social capital is the person‘s centrality in the network. Network centrality is determined in several ways, including the extent to which you are located between others in the network (betweenness), how many direct ties you have (degree), and the closeness of these ties. People also gain power by bridging structural holes—linking two or more clusters of people in a network.

31. Describe eight types of influence tactics, three consequences of influencing others, and three contingencies to consider when choosing an influence tactic.

Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someone‘s attitudes or behavior. The most widely studied influence tactics are silent authority, assertiveness, information control, coalition formation, upward appeal, impression management, persuasion, and exchange. ―Soft‖ influence tactics such as friendly persuasion and subtle ingratiation are more acceptable than ―hard‖ tactics such as upward appeal and assertiveness. However, the most appropriate influence tactic also depends on the influencer‘s power base; whether the person being influenced is higher, lower, or at the same level in the organization; and personal, organizational, and cultural values regarding influence behavior.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

32. Identify the organizational conditions and personal characteristics associated with organizational politics, as well as ways to minimize organizational politics.

Organizational politics refer to the use of influence tactics for personal gain at the perceived expense of others and the organization. It is more common when ambiguous decisions allocate scarce resources and when the organization tolerates or rewards political behavior. Individuals with a high need for personal power and dark triad personality have a higher propensity to use political tactics. Organizational politics can be minimized by providing sufficient resources, establishing clear resource allocation rules, applying effective organizational change strategies (communication, learning, involvement), and purging political behavior norms and people who are role models for political behavior.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Power and Influence in the Workplace Slide 2: Learning Objectives Describe the dependence model of power and the five sources of power in organizations.

Discuss the four contingencies of power.

Explain how people and work units gain power through social networks.

Describe eight types of influence tactics, three consequences of influencing others, and three contingencies to consider when choosing an influence tactic.

Identify the organizational conditions and personal characteristics associated with organizational politics, as well as ways to minimize organizational politics.

Slide 3: The Power of Managing Your Boss Managing your boss is a valuable process of gaining power and using influence for the benefit of the organization.

• Begins with understanding and adapting to your boss‘s preferences and style • Influence your boss in a way that doesn‘t look like negotiation • Process is mutual, not one-sided—set boundaries and rules on how you and your manager work together • Communicate effectively with people further up the hierarchy—communicate intent • Help your boss succeed in their job—be a problem solver, not a problem pyromaniac

Slide 4: The Meaning of Power The capacity of a person, team, or organization to influence others

• The potential to change someone‘s attitudes or behavior  Not the actual attempt to change others  People may have power they don‘t use—may not even know they have power • Based on target‘s perception that the power holder controls a valuable resource • Involves unequal (asymmetric) dependence of one party on another (see next slide) • Requires some minimal level of trust between the parties

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Slide 5: Power and Dependence The less powerful party still has some degree of power—called countervailing power:

• Countervailing power is the capacity of a person, team, or organization to keep a more powerful person or group in the exchange relationship • Person A dominates the power relationship, but Person B has enough countervailing power to keep Person A in the exchange relationship • Power relationships depend on some minimum level of trust

Slide 6: Model of Power in Organizations Power is derived from five sources

• Legitimate • Reward • Coercive • Expert • Referent The model also identifies four contingencies of power

• Effect of sources on power depends on the presence of these contingencies

Slide 7: Legitimate Power Agreement that people in certain roles can request behaviors from others

• A perceived right or obligation • Originates from job descriptions and informal rules of conduct • Employees also have legitimate power over their bosses (legal and administrative rights) Zone of indifference

• Domain of behaviors that power holder can ask of others—deference to authority • Zone of indifference tends to be larger when the individual: Trusts the power holder • Values conformity, tradition, and high power distance • Works in a firm that supports deference to management requests Norm of reciprocity •

• Felt obligation to help someone who has helped you • A form of legitimate power—informal rule of conduct that society expects us to follow Legitimate power through information control

• Right to control information that others receive (gatekeeper)

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

• Generates power in two ways 1. Gatekeeper of information (valued resource) creates dependence 2. Framing situation—selective distribution of information frames how other perceive the situation, which affects their attitudes and decisions

Slide 8: Expert Power Capacity to influence others by possessing knowledge or skills valued by others—originates from within the person Managing uncertainties

• Individual‘s or work unit‘s perceived ability to manage uncertainties • Fulfills organization‘s need to reduce uncertainty through control or predictability of external environment Coping with uncertainty (three types/levels of expert power):

1. Prevention—prevent environmental changes from occurring—for example, finance experts prevent cash shortages 2. Forecasting—predict environmental changes—for example, emerging consumer trends 3. Absorption—absorbing or neutralizing the impact of environmental shifts as they occur— for example, maintenance crews fix equipment breakdowns

Slide 9: Other Sources and Deference to Power Reward power—control over the allocation of rewards valued by others and to remove negative sanctions (not just for managers) Coercive power—ability to apply punishment (not just for managers) Referent power

• Capacity to influence others through identification with and respect for the power holder • Occurs when others identify with them, like them, or otherwise respect them • Associated with charisma—self-presentation characteristics and nonverbal communication behaviors (i.e., signaling) that generate interpersonal attraction and referent power over others as well as deference to the charismatic person

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Deference to Power Human tendency to mindlessly follow the guidance of people who are charismatic (i.e., have referent power) or claim to have legitimate or expert power Deferential followers:

• minimally evaluate the appropriateness of the requested behavior • might not even check power holder‘s claimed legitimate authority or expertise

Slide 10: Power through a Personal Brand Your personal brand leverages power through visibility and nonsubstitutability. ―Nurturing and enhancing your professional ‗brand‘ should be up there with performance as top priorities in your career journey,‖ says public relations executive Curtis Sparrer Nonsubstitutability—how much your personal brand differentiates you from others Visibility—managing your image and making your talents known ―In order for your great performance to be appreciated, it needs to be visible,‖ says OB expert Jeffrey Pfeffer

Slide 11: Power Contingency: Nonsubstitutability Four contingencies of power affect whether sources of power facilitate or block the use of power Power increases with nonsubstitutability

Few/no alternative sources of the resource—monopoly power Few/no substitutes of the resource—for example, documentation substitutes for employee expertise Increasing nonsubstitutability

1. Control access to the resource—for example, some professions control and limit access to the profession and often to the educational programs that train people into that profession 2. Differentiate the resource from alternatives—for example, consultants use unique labels and features to differentiate their expertise from others with similar expertise

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Slide 12: Other Contingencies of Power Centrality

• Degree and nature of interdependence with power holder • Higher centrality when: 1. many people are affected by the power holder 2. people are quickly affected by the power holder Visibility

• You are known as holder of valued resource • Visibility increases by:  working in people-oriented jobs  strategically locating in more visible work areas  displaying symbols of one‘s power (e.g., diplomas and special clothing) Discretion

• The freedom to exercise judgment • Rules limit discretion—selective use of rewards and punishment

Slide 13: Consequences of Power Effect of power on power holder depends on type of power

• People often have both types of power (empowered and power over others).

• More about how the power holder views their power Type A: Feeling empowered

• Believe they have power over themselves and freedom from being influenced by others • Higher motivation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job performance • But tends to increase automatic rather than mindful thinking • Tend to rely more on stereotypes, have more difficulty empathizing, and have less accurate perceptions of those with less power Type B: Power over others (e.g., legitimate, reward, and coercive power)

• Tends to produce a sense of duty/responsibility for people under power holder‘s authority • Tend to be more mindful of how their actions affect others, engage in less stereotyping

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Slide 14: Power through Social Networks Social networks—people connected to each other through forms of interdependence

• Many networks held together through common interests, status, expertise, kinship, and physical proximity • People join networks to fulfill drive to bond, social norms (e.g., guanxi), acquire resources/power Cultural differences in emphasis on social networks

• Guanxi—Chinese term—Confucian culture values social connections Social capital—the knowledge, opportunities, and other resources available to members of a social network, along with the mutual support, trust, reciprocity, and coordination that facilitate sharing of those resources Social networks provide three types of resources (power):

• Information (expert power)  Receive valuable knowledge more easily and more quickly from others in the network  Increases individual‘s expert power • Visibility  Members more easily remember fellow members when opportunities arise • Referent power  Network members have common beliefs, identity, and trust  Produces more reciprocity—helping each other, favors

Slide 15: Social Network Ties Strong ties:

• Close-knit relationships—frequent interaction, share resources, and multiple relationships (friend, coworker) • Advantage: provide resources more quickly and plentifully • Disadvantage: have similar information/resources to each other and us (high redundancy)

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Weak ties:

• Acquaintances • Advantage: offer unique resources from others and link to others with low redundancy (good for career job hunting) • Disadvantage: resources transmitted more slowly, lower visibility Many ties:

• Resources increase with number of ties • Information technology has amplified number of ties possible, but still limited time/energy on number of ties one can create

Slide 16: Social Network Centrality Person‘s (or team‘s or firm‘s) importance in the network Three factors in centrality: 1. Betweenness—the extent to which the person is located between others in the network (e.g., gatekeeper who controls the flow of information to and from many people in the network) 2. Degree centrality—number or percentage of connections the person has to others in the network 3. Closeness—higher closeness occurs when a member has a shorter, more direct, and efficient path or connections with others in the network Example: ―A‖ has highest network centrality due to all three factors: ―B‖ has lowest centrality Dark side of social networks—excludes some people from valuable knowledge that they should receive (e.g., female executives in social network of male executives)

Slide 17: Influencing Others Any behavior that attempts to alter another person‘s attitudes or behavior

• Power in motion: applying power sources to change others‘ attitudes/decisions/behavior • Applies one or more power bases, amplified or suppressed by power contingencies Influence is an essential activity in organizations

• Coordinate with others • Part of leadership definition • Everyone engages in influence

Slide 18: Types of Influence (1 of 3) Silent authority Occurs when someone complies with a request because of the requester‘s legitimate power as well as the role expectations of the person receiving the request

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

• Deference to authority • Most common form of influence in high power distance cultures Assertiveness Vocal authority—actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others

• Persistently reminding an employee; using threats; checking employee‘s work • Workplace bullying—extreme assertiveness, uses threats of punishment

Slide 19: Types of Influence (2 of 3) Information control Explicitly manipulating someone else‘s access to information for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behavior

• Withholding, filtering, and rearranging information Coalition formation Forming a group that attempts to influence others by pooling the resources and power of its members

• Three ways that coalitions influence others: 1. Pools power and resources of many people 2. Symbolizes that issue is legitimate/important—represents broad support 3. Increases member confidence and motivation through social identity theory Upward appeal Relying symbolically or actually on higher authority or expertise to support our position

• Directly—asking authority for a decision, sign of support • Indirectly—implying that authority source supports without formally involving them (e.g., referring to firm‘s policies/values/goals)

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Slide 20: Types of Influence (3 of 3) Persuasion Using facts, logical arguments, and emotional appeals to change another person‘s beliefs and attitudes, usually for the purpose of changing the person‘s behavior

• One of three ―soft‖ influence tactics—person being influenced has more autonomy and control over the influence process than with ―hard‖ tactics Persuasion effectiveness depends on persuader, message, channel, and audience

• Persuader characteristics  Expertise, credibility, and neutrality • Message content—more important than the persuader when issue is important  Multiple viewpoints, few strong arguments, repeat points, emotional appeals, and offer solutions  Inoculation effect—warning listeners to be wary about counterarguments the opponent will attempt to use to persuade them • Communication channel  Channels with high social presence and media richness (e.g., face-to-face)  Social presence increases credibility  Media richness provides faster feedback whether the influence strategy works Audience  More difficult to persuade those with high self-esteem, intelligence, self-concept tied to opposing view Impression management Actively shaping the perceptions and attitudes that others have of us (through self-presentation and other means)

• Self-presentation—crafting or public image to shape perceptions • Personal brand—applies impression management—distinctive features (clothing, behavior) • Ingratiation—attempt to increase liking by or perceived similarity to targeted person Exchange Promising benefits or resources in exchange for the target person‘s compliant behavior

• Exchange is used as influence tactic in:  Negotiation  Norm of reciprocity  Social networks

Slide 21: Consequences of Influence Resistance Page 11-438 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

• People oppose the behavior desired by the influencer • Degrees of resistance  High resistance: refusing/delaying to engage in the behavior  Lower resistance: perform the required duties yet maintaining/stating their opposition Compliance

• Motivated to implement influencer‘s request, usually only the required level of effort • Requires external sources (e.g., rewards) to initiate and maintain the behavior Commitment

• Strongest outcome of influence • Identify with the influencer‘s request • Highly motivated without external incentives

Slide 22: Contingencies of Influence ―Soft‖ tactics generally produce a more commitment than ―hard‖ tactics Appropriate influence tactic depends on:

4. Influencer‘s strongest sources of power  For example, people with expertise may be successful using persuasion; people with strong legitimate power base may be successful using silent authority 5. Organizational position  Whether person being influenced is higher, lower, or at the same level in the organization  For example, employees may face consequences from being too assertive with their boss 6. Personal, organizational, and cultural values  Assertiveness more likely if influencer who values power; upward appeals more likely if influencer values conformity  Persuasion—more common in a collegial corporate culture  Ingratiation—more common in the United States than in Hong Kong (due to power distance)

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Slide 23: Organizational Politics The use of influence tactics for personal gain at the perceived expense of others and the organization

• All organizational politics apply one or more influence tactics • Perpetrator is motivated by self-interest • Action is likely to have an adverse effect on others and the organization • Necessarily a perception—difficult to know the perpetrator‘s motives or awareness of consequences Can organizational politics be beneficial?—Probably NO—―positive politics‖ literature either avoids the definition or views all influence tactics as ―politics,‖ contrary to public and other research definitions Widely reported adverse consequences of organizational politics

• Lower job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship, task performance • Higher work-related stress, motivation to quit Organizational politics more common among people with:

• Strong need for personalized (not socialized) power—seek power for its own sake, try to acquire more power • Dark triad personality  Machiavellianism—achieve personal goals through lies, manipulation, and exploitation  Narcissism—arrogantly exploit coworkers for personal aggrandizement, take pleasure in others‘ misfortune  Psychopathy—selfish self-promoters, manipulate others, enact antisocial, impulsive, and often fraudulent thrill-seeking behavior without feelings of remorse Minimizing organization politics

7. Provide sufficient resources  When resources are scarce, people rely on political tactics to safeguard their resources and maintain the status quo 8. Clarify resource allocation rules  Politics motivated by ambiguous, complex, or absence of decision rules in allocating resources

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

9. Manage organizational change effectively  Change creates ambiguity, threatens employee‘s power and other resources  Apply organizational change strategies described in that chapter 10. Purge political behavior norms and role models  Some reward systems or corporate cultures nurture self-serving behavior  Diagnose and alter systems and role modeling that support self-serving behavior  Support values that oppose organizational politics (e.g., altruism and customer focus)  Leaders need to be organizational citizenship role models

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

1. What role does countervailing power play in the power relationship? Give an example of one of your own encounters with countervailing power at school or work.

Countervailing power is the power that the dependent person or group has over the more powerful party in the relationship. This power is weaker than the other party‘s, but it is strong enough to keep the more powerful party in the relationship.

For example, although your boss probably has the greater power in the work relationship, you have countervailing power by providing skills and knowledge that the company (and your boss) needs. This countervailing power is sufficient to keep you employed.

At school, instructors typically (although not always) have more power over students. Students have countervailing power, however, in several ways. First, students are customers, and without them, instructors wouldn‘t have work. Second, teacher ratings that students provide influence the instructor‘s self-esteem and often salary. Third, student behavior influences the instructor‘s ability to present knowledge in an effective way. If students are disruptive, instructors cannot accomplish their goal.

2. Until recently, a mining company’s data resided in the department that was responsible for that information. Property data were on the computers in land administration, hydrocarbon data were in the well administration group, maps were found in the map department, and so on. The executive team concluded that this arrangement was dysfunctional, so the CEO announced that all information would become widely accessible on a central server system. If someone needs a color map, for example, they can retrieve it from the central server without going through the map department. Rather than welcome the change, employees in several departments complained, offering several arguments why other groups should not have direct access to their data files. Some departments tried to opt out of the centralized server system. Using the model of sources and contingencies of power, explain why some groups opposed the central server model of data access.

This incident actually occurred in a resources company and was a major challenge for those implementing the change. Students should answer this question by breaking it down into the power sources and contingencies.

The main source of power at issue here is legitimate power and, in particular, control over information control. Each group had unilateral control (monopoly) over the distribution of the knowledge within their department (e.g., maps in the map department). Students should also recognize that employees elsewhere have legitimate power to request that information, and the department probably has an obligation to fulfill that request. However, these departments still experience power through the requesting process.

Furthermore, if someone asks in an inconsiderate way, the department might fulfill the request more slowly or incompletely. Some students might also suggest that the old system generated more expert power. Because the information was housed in one group, they would likely have more detailed knowledge of that resource.

Equally important as the sources of power are the contingencies of power in this incident. One key contingency is nonsubstitutability. Under the old system, each department had a monopoly over the Page 11-442 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

resource and possibly gained special knowledge on how to access that resource. As such, they were almost nonsubstitutable. Under a central server system, on the other hand, information is easily and quickly accessible by employees elsewhere, so the department staff lack control over the resource and therefore are more substitutable. Students would also point to centrality as a key factor. Under the old system, department staff affected others, whereas they likely have less immediate affect on fewer employees when those people can retrieve the information without department assistance. Visibility might also play a role here because bypassing a department means they are less connected to the data and therefore less visible. Some students might also argue that discretion is relevant here such as that the department staff previously had discretion about whether, how, and when to release information.

However, discretion is a relatively minor issue because the department ultimately had an obligation to distribute the knowledge.

3. You have just been hired as a brand manager of toothpaste for a large consumer products company. Your job mainly involves encouraging the advertising and production groups to promote and manufacture your product more effectively. These departments aren’t under your direct authority, though company procedures indicate that they must complete certain tasks requested by brand managers. Describe the sources of power you can use to ensure that the production and advertising departments will help you make and sell toothpaste more effectively.

As brand manager, you might be able to use most sources of power, depending on the circumstances.

Here are some possible explanations.

Legitimate Power. Although you do not have direct authority, you do have some legitimate power through the rules and procedures saying that the advertising and production groups must work with you to sell toothpaste more effectively. If they refuse to cooperate, you have the legitimate right to seek redress from higher authorities.

Reward Power. You probably don‘t have direct control over merit increases or other financial rewards for the advertising and production people, but you do have reward power by using praise. In addition, you might indirectly have reward power by making favorable comments about certain employees to more senior line managers who make financial reward decisions for advertising and production staff members.

Coercive Power. You can make life difficult for advertising and production people by constantly nagging them for the promised work, or by criticizing their work. Indirectly, you can report to senior management about the poor performance of some people, which may affect their employment security. Although these forms of coercive power are available, you should be aware that these actions carry risks such as lack of future cooperation from advertising and production people.

Expert Power. You have just been hired, so it is unlikely that the advertising or production people believe you have much expertise. You might develop this source of power in the long term, however, by learning about effective brand management practices and applying impression management tactics to shape their opinion of your expertise. For example, you might gain expert power more quickly by being seen with someone whose expertise is respected.

Referent Power. As a recent hire, it is unlikely that you currently have much, if any, of this power base over advertising and production employees. Furthermore, given your different background, it is difficult to develop referent power with these groups. However, you might find common experiences (schools Page 11-443 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

attended, hobbies) with some people in those departments, or you might develop common experiences by frequently interacting and networking with these people.

4. Your personal brand is an important form of power for career success. In what ways can you and other students strengthen their personal brand? What sources and contingencies of power are relevant in building a personal brand?

Much of this question asks students to provide practical solutions to the question of how to build a personal brand. However, parts of the structural model of power (power sources and contingencies) are also discussed in this question.

Sources of power in personal brand. Expert power is generally recognized as the main source of power associated with personal brand. An employee‘s brand refers to something of value that they bring to the work unit and organization. That ―something‖ is almost always a unique skill or knowledge. It may be technical knowledge, a skill that is difficult to master, or a capacity for creativity and innovation. But expert isn‘t everything in personal brand. Brand also incorporates valuable uses of other power bases. For instance, employees might develop a reputation for cheering coworkers and maintaining optimism during difficult situations (reward power). Others form a personal brand that applies their legitimate power judiciously, such as by being a high-involvement manager. Some students might also suggest that a few people have a personal brand around their charisma (referent power).

Contingencies of power. These are also relevant to personal brand. In fact, this chapter mainly describes personal brand in the contingencies of power section, namely under nonsubstitutability. This is because a personal brand should be unique—something the employee possesses that is different from what others possess. This uniqueness might be a rare skill or knowledge, or to some extent it may be how a less rare competency is framed as unique (not that we‘re recommending this strategy). This chapter also refers to visibility as an important contingency of personal brand. After all, no brand has value if it is unknown.

Therefore, employees need to make their unique resource known to others in the organization. They may even rely on symbols to anchor their personal brand (in some instances, personal branders wear unique clothing to stand out and perhaps reflect their brand). Some students might suggest that centrality is also important in personal brand. This may be true, particularly when the centrality is dependent on the person‘s unique something they bring to the organization. This talent will be more evident and appreciated when the work unit or organization is heavily dependent on its centrality.

5. You have been asked to form and lead a task force of students to recommend improvements to an important college process (such as course registration, parking and public transportation, or grade appeals). The committee consists of one student from each of eight disciplines at the college. These people have diverse backgrounds and experiences (since their education programs are in different departments or faculties). You are selected to lead because you are in your final year and have succeeded in other student leadership roles. Among the eight influence tactics described in this chapter, which two or three would you apply the most to steer the committee, such as keeping discussion on track, minimizing dominant members, and pushing agreement on various issues?

Which influence tactics are unlikely to ever be used by you in this committee role?

To some extent, the answer to this question relates to personal preferences because people feel comfortable with influence tactics that are compatible with their personality and values. For the most part, however, the preferred influence tactics rate to the situation. In this case, the student leader has only moderate legitimate power over the committee members; the committee members are likely volunteers so Page 11-444 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

there isn‘t much reward or coercive power; students tend to have fairly low power distance in many cultures; and the committee leader and members probably want to depict themselves as independent mature decision makers (i.e., not reliant on power of the college administration). With those features in mind, here are suggested views on each of the influence tactics described in this chapter: Silent Authority. This is probably a weak form of influence because you (the task force leader) have relatively little legitimate power over the committee members, and these members likely value their power and autonomy in the decision process (i.e., unwilling to defer to the task force leader).

Assertiveness. This tactic might occasionally be used in its mildest form, such as reminding the task force members of the deadline and the need to demonstrate their capacity to work effectively together. Any attempt to bully or punish task force members, however, would be disastrous because the members probably don‘t feel a strong need to remain on the task force under these assertive conditions.

Information Control. This tactic would be unwise and probably unavailable. There is no evidence that the task force leader has control of any information unavailable otherwise to the task force members. And if such information control did exist, task force members would rebel against that manipulation of ―framing‖ if/when the tactic became evident.

Coalition Formation. This strategy would apply only if a few task force members took a particular position and the leader worked with them to convince the others of that coalition‘s idea. The probability is that a leader who uses this tactic would be viewed as biased, whereas task force leaders need more neutrality where the groups are making decisions and they have low power distance.

Upward Appeal. The task force leader might use this tactic if one or more members of the group try to act outside of acceptable behavior to influence the others. In particular, the leader would warn the offenders that they would be reported to the college for their indiscretions, or at least these people would be reminded of college policies or the college‘s expectations and mandate for this task force. However, upward appeal is risky because student task forces generally want to display their capacity to maturely lead themselves, so any attempt to symbolically or actually call on the college administration for help would be viewed with disdain.

Persuasion. This would be by far the most commonly used tactic by the task force leader to steer the committee. For example, the leader would remind members to examine the information received, to consider the arguments and evidence provided for the positions held, to remind dominant members that effective decisions involve all task force members, and so forth.

Impression Management. There are many forms of impression management, and everyone engages in some of these all of the time. As such, the task force leader would apply some of these, and they may be effective at managing task force member behavior. For instance, how the leader dresses and presents themself may affect how the group views the leader‘s legitimacy and respect. The leader‘s ongoing positive views of task force members may increase the members‘ willingness to defer to the leader on some matters. Ingratiation (congratulation or thanking specific members for their ideas) may also have a positive effect on the influence of the leader‘s persuasion attempts, but only if the ingratiation is sincere and logical when it occurs.

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Exchange. There may be situations in which the task force leader agrees with some (or all) task force members to do something in exchange for their support. However, the task force leader has few resources to offer, except maybe timing of meetings.

6. Consider a situation in which there is only one female member on a team of six people, and she is generally excluded from informal gatherings of the team. What kind of influence tactics can she use to address this situation?

Social networks generate social capital, the goodwill and resulting resources shared among members in a social network. A female team member in a situation as above is likely to miss opportunities and favors from team members for both expressive and instrumental purposes and it turns out to be a limitation.

Perhaps it may be useful for her to understand the cultural situation first because socializing with male colleagues is in itself received very differently across cultures. She needs to approach the leader of the team to update them of the situation and to request for a mechanism wherein all work-related information is shared with her. She will need to be very watchful and diplomatic in all the formal meetings.

7. In the mid-1990s, the CEO of Apple Computer invited the late Steve Jobs (who was not associated with the company at the time) to serve as a special adviser and raise morale among Apple employees and customers. While doing so, Jobs spent more time advising the CEO on how to cut costs, redraw the organizational chart, and hire new people. Before long, most of the top people at Apple were Jobs’s colleagues, who began to systematically evaluate and weed out teams of Apple employees. While publicly supporting Apple’s CEO, Jobs privately criticized him and, in a show of nonconfidence, sold the 1.5 million shares of Apple stock he had received. This action caught the attention of Apple’s board of directors, who soon after decided to replace the CEO with Steve Jobs. The CEO claimed Jobs was a conniving backstabber who used political tactics to get his way.

Others suggest that Apple would be out of business today if he hadn’t taken over the company. In your opinion, were Steve Jobs’s actions examples of organizational politics? Justify your answer.

This question refers to events in 1997 when Apple CEO Gil Amelio bought Next computers from Steve Jobs and invited Jobs to help build morale among employees. (Jobs cofounded Apple in the 1970s but was ousted in the 1980s.) Within a year, Jobs had convinced Apple‘s board to fire Amelio and install Jobs as an interim CEO. (Jobs didn‘t need the position because he was already CEO of Pixar Animation Studios.)

The answer to this question is definitely open for debate. The key point here is that organizational politics is in the eye of the beholder. Therefore, some students will agree with Amelio‘s opinion of Jobs while others will disagree. What is important is how students justify their answers based on their knowledge of material they learned in the chapter.

Some influence tactics are obviously recognized as political tactics by almost everyone. However, other influence activities may be viewed as political (as Amelio specifically accused Steve Jobs). On the one hand, Jobs‘s tactics were not as aboveboard as one might want. He did not explicitly tell Amelio that he didn‘t trust his leadership to save Apple (which was in trouble at the time due to previous poor leadership). On the other hand, by the time Steve Jobs passed away in 2011, he was regarded as one of the greatest entrepreneurs and leaders in business. He turned Apple around and saved the company from almost certain demise.

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8. A coworker suggests that the company where you both work would be much more effective if there were no organizational politics. What would you say to this person in reply?

Organizational politics is well known for its negative consequences on employees and the organization. It is associated with lower levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational citizenship, and task performance. It is also responsible for higher levels of work-related stress and motivation to leave the organization. Surveys report that organizational politics is one of the major causes of workrelated stress and is a reason why many employees prefer working away from the office.

The problem is that it is essentially impossible to remove all organizational politics, for at least two main reasons: First, organizational politics is a perception that observers have of an actor‘s influence tactics.

Specifically, they believe that the actor‘s behavior occurs for personal gain at the perceived expense of others and the organization. This may be universally true for some types of influence-oriented behavior.

But there will always be occasions in which people affected by another person‘s actions believe those actions are political tactics even when the actor sincerely attempted to change a situation with the intent to help the organization. In other words, people will assume organizational politics when they have been adversely affected even when the action benefits the organization and was intended for that purpose, not for the actor‘s personal gain.

The second reason why it is impossible to completely remove organizational politics is that human beings are sometimes self-serving—they will occasionally take steps to protect themselves, even if it is not in the interests of the greater good. In other words, some employee actions really are organizational politics (they apply an influence tactic for personal gain that really is detrimental to others and the organization).

For example, employees and departments hoard resources when sharing those resources would improve the organization‘s effectiveness. Employees hide information that harms their reputation (filtering information up the hierarch), whereas more complete transmission of information may result in better organizational decisions.

And then there is the reality that some employees have a natural tendency to engage in organizational politics, such as those with a strong need for personalized power, and those with dark traid personality traits.

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CS

CASE STUDY: RESONUS CORPORATION

By Steven L. McShane, based on an earlier case written by John A. Seeger

Case Synopsis Frank Choy recently joined Resonus Corporation, a hearing aid designer and manufacturer, as director of engineering. Over the first eight months, he has experienced several problems of coordination and cooperation with other work units and individuals. In particular, CEO Bill Hunt supports Doc Kalandry‘s (the research director) request for last-minute technology changes to the product in development. These delays cause Choy‘s engineering services group to increase their costs and ultimately fail to achieve their time deadline for completing the engineering specifications for this product.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. What sources and contingencies of power existed among the executives and departments at Resonus?

Students can analyze this case by examining the power dynamics among the key players, particularly Doc and Choy. The key issue here is why Choy and his team are unable to fulfill their work obligations of completing the engineering specification on time.

Clearly, Doc Kalandry wields tremendous power, so his wishes are usually fulfilled. Doc‘s power is through expert power and referent power. Hunt (and others) recognize Doc as an authority on the product‘s technology. Furthermore, Hunt claims this expertise is a key factor in the company‘s success.

Doc also seems to have referent power, at least among some staff. His over-the-top enthusiasm and optimism are compelling. Doc also seems to have referent power over Hunt because of Hunt‘s apparent identification with Doc‘s department, where Hunt held his first job at Resonus.

Doc also has all four contingencies of power in his favor. Hunt considers Doc unique and irreplaceable (nonsubstitutable). Doc has considerable discretion because Hunt trusts his actions and allows him to ignore product development deadlines and other rules/procedures. Doc‘s visibility is strong, due to his direct informal reporting relationship with the CEO and his quirky style (personal brand). Doc and his team also have considerable centrality. When they make changes and cause delays, Choy and other are directly and immediately affected. Similarly, if their product development efforts are poor, the company suffers in the marketplace.

In contrast, Choy and his engineering services team have limited power. He is new to the organization, so he has no referent power. He would have expertise to secure his senior position at Resonus, but this expertise isn‘t mentioned by Hunt or in the case. The case also refers to perceptions that Choy‘s team lack expertise (―We shouldn‘t have to prove our ability all the time, but we spend as much time defending ourselves as we do getting the job done.‖) The organizational chart indicates that Doc reports to Choy, but this legitimate power does not exist in practice because of the informal reporting relationship from Doc to CEO Hunt.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Regarding contingencies of power, Choy and his team have centrality—their work affects production, sales, and others. However, this centrality does not extend to Doc or his team (i.e., they are unaffected by Choy‘s work). But Choy seems to have limited discretion. He can‘t dictate deadlines to Doc, his team needs to receive and respond to whatever Doc‘s team provides, and they can‘t act without the output from Doc‘s team. Students might note that Choy has visibility. However, Choy‘s visibility is not about his sources of power. Rather, he and his team have been visible for failing to achieve the set deadlines. This is not the ―visibility‖ of one‘s power referred to in the power model.

Overall, Doc has considerably more power than does Choy, so Doc‘s actions take priority and Choy‘s team is unable to achieve their work objectives.

2. What influence tactics were evident in this case study? Would you define any of these influence activities as organizational politics? Why or why not?

The information about influence tactics in this case is more limited. Choy does not take any steps to influence others. On the contrary, he holds back, fearing that he might experience same fate as the previous two directors. Doc relies on persuasion, silent authority (his expertise), and possibly impression management to influence Hunt. Hunt relies mainly on silent authority, such as urging others to be more cooperative. But he also relied on assertiveness when firing the previous director of engineering. The sales director also seemed to rely on assertiveness, such as when he became furious with Choy.

3. Suppose you are a consultant invited to propose a solution to the problems facing this organization’s product delays. What would you recommend, particularly regarding power dynamics among the executives and departments?

Almost every student first recommends that Doc should report to Choy and not to Hunt. In other words, Hunt should enforce the organizational chart (in which Doc is a direct report to Choy, not to Hunt). This is a valuable suggestion for debate, but it might not solve the underlying power dynamic problems.

If Doc was required to report only to Choy, Doc might quit if Choy demanded strict time schedules. More likely, Hunt would side with Doc if the conflict became manifest (Doc might report to Choy, but Hunt would logically be the final arbitrator when the two disagree). Alternatively, knowing Hunt‘s desire for innovation at any cost and for his admiration of Doc (i.e., Doc‘s referent power over Hunt), Choy might also give in to Doc‘s poor time management of product development. Finally, Choy might have limited capacity to reject Doc‘s requests for last-minute changes because Doc‘s group seems to have more perceived expertise than does Choy or his engineering services group. Thus, public opinion would quickly shift away from Choy if he used his legitimate authority over Doc. A more likely solution for Choy here is a two-stage strategy. First, Choy should use (initially subtle) persuasion tactics on Hunt regarding the value of production deadlines. Choy might show the costs of late product completion schedules, or he might refer to the collapse of other companies because they consistently released products that were late and flawed due to last-minute changes. Choy might be able to have Hunt speak with CEOs of other firms that have discovered the value of production schedule deadlines and the false benefits (or high risks) of making last-minute changes. Choy might also find subtle ways to let Hunt and others know about Choy‘s expertise, which would give him more power and influence, and would improve his persuasiveness.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

If the first stage (persuasion approach) is unsuccessful, Choy might have to apply the second stage, which is to be more assertive in his influence and less avoidance-oriented in his conflict-handling style. Choy needs to assert the importance of product development deadlines while using a problem-solving style to resolve the requirement of these deadlines with Doc‘s need to add new technology at the last minute.

Quite likely, the interests are perfectly opposing, so Choy would revert to a more forceful style.

Compromise might not work because Doc seems to ignore any middle ground options.

Additional Case Question on Conflict Resonus Corporation is also an excellent case for discussion of the sources of conflict as well as ineffective conflict handling tactics. Conflict is discussed in the next chapter, so this additional question should be assigned only when the conflict topic has been covered.

4. Analyze this case in terms of the sources of conflict and conflict-handling styles. Your answer should also briefly identify incidents of manifest conflict.

There is clear evidence of conflict in this case. Choy is experiencing conflict with Doc Kalandry and with CEO Bill Hunt, even though the conflict is not manifest and Doc and Hunt might not be aware of this conflict. Choy perceives that Doc‘s actions are interfering with the engineering services‘ ability to perform their job, such as completing engineering specification on time. Hunt is also a partner in this conflict because of his support for Doc‘s requests.

Most structural sources of this conflict are at work here: • Incompatible goals—Doc and Hunt want to push new technology into the product, whereas Choy and his department want to get the engineering specifications ready on time. As Doc adds more technological changes to the product, Choy‘s group is less able to achieve their goals.

• Differentiation—Doc and Hunt seem to value innovation and have low priority for timeliness or predictable production scheduling.

• Interdependence—Choy‘s team is dependent on Doc to prepare the final product design work. This seems to be sequential interdependence because the work is passed from Doc‘s group to Choy‘s group, not back and forth.

• Scarce resources—The main scarcity here is time. Doc is using up time that Choy‘s team needs to get the specifications completed for production.

• Ambiguous rules—Although the company has some clear procedures for handover of work, these structural rules and processes are not followed. Hunt allows Doc to ignore the product development schedule. Hunt also discourages bureaucracy (rules and procedures), preferring informal relationships among the managers (i.e., give and take), which makes the rules and regulations less clear.

• Communication—Less central to this case, but some communication problems exist in that managers are not forming a mutual understanding of their differences. For instance, Choy wants to raise his concerns to Hunt (and possibly to others) but does not do so.

In addition to these structural sources of conflict, the case illustrates the problem of the avoiding style of conflict. The avoiding style is clearly emphasized by CEO Bill Hunt (―I‘m sure we can resolve these differences if we just learn to get along better‖ and ―I spent too much time smoothing out arguments‖).

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The problem with Hunt pushing this style is that the underlying causes of the conflict (see the conflict sources above) are not addressed, which results in frustration, stress, and late deadlines.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

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TEAM EXERCISE: POWER, INFLUENCE, AND POLITICS MINI-CASES

NOTE: All three of these mini-cases are slight variations of actual events—they actually happened.

Names, locations, and minor details have been changed.

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand and diagnose situations involving forms and degrees of power, influence, and organizational politics.

Materials Teams should have a method of summarizing their analysis for other teams to view. This might be flip chart paper for face-to-face classes or a dedicated virtual whiteboard or presentation slide for each team in remote classes.

Instructions (Small or Large Classes) This exercise may be completed either individually or in teams. It is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may be appropriate in moderately large classes. When the individuals (or teams) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Step 1: Students are organized into teams (typically five to seven people per team). Students read each minicase below. The instructor might assign any or all of these mini-cases for discussion.

Step 2: The team will analyze each mini-case by answering the following questions: 1. What sources of power is the main person in this mini-case using? What contingencies of power supported or limited that person‘s power potential? (More than one source and contingency of power may be relevant.)

2. What was this person trying to achieve, and what influence tactics did this person use to get others to align their attitudes and behavior toward that objective. (More than one influence tactic might be relevant.)

3. Did this person engage in organizational politics? What makes you say they did or did not use political tactics?

4. If you were senior executive and were advised of this person‘s actions, what steps would you take to encourage or discourage this type of change behavior in future?

Mini-Case 1: Getting Promoted in City Government Summary: Daniel Moulin was hired by South City chief executive Sam Boyce into the newly created general manager position of a mid-sized municipality. Soon after, Moulin forced his boss (Boyce) out of the organization. Six months later, Moulin had become the city‘s chief executive.

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5. What sources of power is the main person in this mini-case using? What contingencies of power supported or limited that person’s power potential? (More than one source and contingency of power may be relevant.)

The mini-case states that Moulin tried to convince the city council to restructure the organization, and Moulin produced a report to city council blaming Boyce‘s leadership style and philosophy for the city‘s problems. This implies that Moulin relied on legitimate power. As general manager, Moulin was in a position in which he was allowed to directly influence city council, and he prepared documents that used information to have councilors see problems from the perspective that Moulin wished. Moulin engaged in these activities while Boyce was on sick leave, indicating that Moulin also had legitimate power to control information flow. Although not explicit, it is likely that Moulin had some degree of referent or perceived expertise in the eyes of city council, because it is difficult to believe that councilors would so easily agree to Moulin‘s recommendations based on his reports alone.

All four contingencies operated in Moulin‘s favor. Moulin was nonsubstitutable because the chief executive (Boyce) was on sick leave and city council didn‘t seem to have other sources of information about the restructuring and sources of city problems. (There is no mentioned what the acting chief executive was doing.) Moulin also had considerable visibility because he effectively took control of relations between city council and the administration. (There is no indication that the acting CEO took any steps to inform council.) Moulin clearly had discretion—even though some actions weren‘t authorized or allowed—such as securing Boyce‘s severance and preparing a report blaming Boyce for the city‘s problems. Moulin might also have had centrality to the extent that his actions (e.g., getting Boyce to quit, preparing a report on Boyce‘s performance) were felt very quickly by council and city employees.

6. What was this person trying to achieve, and what influence tactics did this person use to get others to align their attitudes and behavior toward that objective. (More than one influence tactic might be relevant.)

We can only infer that Moulin‘s motive was to aggressively seek the CEO position of South City. He did so from the outset of his employment, and engaged in unauthorized (actually, illegal) activities to ensure that his career goal was achieved. Some students might suggest that Moulin saw problems with South City and was sincerely trying to repair the organization. There are a few problems with this argument.

First, Moulin acted to remove Boyce soon after Moulin was hired; it would have been impossible for Moulin to discover sufficient wrongdoing of the incumbent CEO in so short a time. Second, Moulin‘s actions—which were unauthorized, unethical, and (as it turns out) illegal—further throw doubt on Moulin‘s sincere belief that the city needed restructuring, that Boyce was the problem and should be fired, and that Moulin was the best choice for the chief executive job. Third, Moulin was hired by Boyce, yet made no attempt to raise concerns about South City government during the hiring process (given that Moulin could not have gathered this information quickly enough between his being hired and his actions to remove Boyce). Fourth, Moulin took very strong steps to convince the city council that he (Moulin) was the best choice for the job when, in fact, he had limited experience for the position.

Moulin relied on a few influence tactics. First, Moulin seems to have controlled the conduct of information from city administration to city council and used that information control to frame the situation regarding Boyce‘s performance. Information control also occurred to the extent that Moulin kept council in the dark while he arranged the Boyce‘s dismissal and generous severance payment.

Second, Moulin engaged in persuasion by trying to convince council that: (a) the city should be Page 11-453 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

restructured, (b) Boyce‘s leadership was ineffective and the cause of city problems, and (c) that he (Moulin) was the best person for the job of city chief executive. Third, it is reasonable to infer that Moulin used various impression management practices to convince city councilors of his expertise and leadership capacity. Although not stated in the mini-case, Moulin was described as ―ambitious and forthright,‖ indicating a style that displays drive and confidence in one‘s role. It is also possible that Moulin engaged in degrees of assertiveness toward the city council. This is indirectly apparent by Moulin‘s brash behavior in other aspects of this case and by the lack of pushback by councilors. In fact, a subsequent state government report concluded that city council acted passively while Moulin engaged in his tactics. (The state government dismissed the entire city council two years later following a detailed three-person inquiry into these events.)

7. Did this person engage in organizational politics? What makes you say they did or did not use political tactics?

Absolutely! The case states: ―Almost as soon as Boyce left, Moulin produced a report to city councilors blaming Boyce‘s leadership style and philosophy for the current problems, explaining that a new leader was needed for the proposed restructuring.‖ As stated in Question #2, Moulin would not have had enough time or experience to even begin to determine problems with Boyce‘s leadership, let alone problems with the city. Furthermore, Moulin could not have acted in the best of the city because his actions were clearly in violation of city policies and regulations. (His actions were later referred to police because they were illegal.) Moulin‘s effort to convince city council that ―he was the best person for the job‖ is further evidence his actions were organizational politics because Moulin ―lacked experience and skills for the job‖ of chief executive.

8. If you were senior executive and were advised of this person’s actions, what steps would you take to encourage or discourage this type of change behavior in future?

Moulin‘s actions were unauthorized and unethical (a state government report concluded they were clearly illegal). Therefore, the steps required begin with accountability of those above this process. This would include the mayor and city councilors. In fact, the state government—which provides oversight of governance of municipalities—did act quickly to investigate this matter. It set up a panel of three expert lawyers to determine if and how various parties acted illegally or irresponsibly. Two years later, the state government dismissed the entire city council. Meanwhile, city councilors and city employees generally should receive more education in what activities constitute wrongdoing. Elected representatives also need to be educated about individuals who are effective at framing council views, effective at shifting blame, and at engaging in a variety of other serious forms of organizational politics.

Mini-Case 2: The New Enterprise Communication System Summary: Katrin Szema wanted the food products company where she is a marketing manager to introduce an enterprise communication platform so any department or region could post its own news as it happens.

She would initially want news from executives to be a social media style whereby employees could post feedback or add further updates to the executive posts and news reports. But Szema‘s boss was reluctant to advance her suggestions to top management, so she approached two other people—in IT and human resources—who were also keen to have an enterprise communication platform. They all approached the Page 11-454 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

executive who led the task force on the company‘s new Internet system about the possibility of a communication platform. Word got around to others who had favorable views of a new communications system and the CEO‘s office soon saw its potential benefits.

9. What sources of power is the main person in this mini-case using? What contingencies of power supported or limited that person’s power potential? (More than one source and contingency of power may be relevant.)

Katrin Szema‘s success occurred mainly by teaming up with others who supported the initiative. In this respect, she developed referent power through a social network. Equally important, the three people had considerable expertise on matters related to such a platform, and this expertise likely played a role in gaining attention and acceptance by others. Szema‘s marketing skills are related to internal communications, the IT person has knowledge of technology systems and the new systems being considered (the IT person opened the door to the executive responsible for the new intranet system), and the human resources person has expertise on how employees would benefit from this system. Third, Szema began by using reasoned arguments to support the enterprise communication platform, and subsequent discussions would have also relied on persuasion attempts. These persuasion events are ultimately based on legitimate power (the right of employees to communicate facts and arguments for change to others).

The main contingency of power evident here is visibility. Szema formed a coalition that ultimately tapped into the social networks of coalition members, thereby dramatically increasing the visibility of these people and their idea about an enterprise communication platform. There is no indication that Szema or her coalition had nonsubstitutability. Their centrality was not particularly evident (their actions didn‘t necessarily affect many others, or affect others quickly). The discretion they had was not authorized— Szema ultimately worked around her boss to get the project moving.

10. What was this person trying to achieve, and what influence tactics did this person use to get others to align their attitudes and behavior toward that objective. (More than one influence tactic might be relevant.)

The clear objective that Szema and her two coworkers were trying to achieve was the introduction of an enterprise communication platform. At the minimum, Szema wanted to give employees the opportunity to offer feedback and supplemental information to news from executives.

The most evident influence tactic was the formation of a coalition of three people who believe in the same objective. These people combined their knowledge and, importantly, their connections (social networks) to others in the organization who would raise this topic ultimately to the CEO‘s office. These people also relied on persuasion using facts, arguments, and possibly emotional appeals to highlight the benefits of the communication platform. Impression management would have also been applied, but there is no direct information about what specific impression management tactics were used. There is no evidence or likelihood of silent authority, assertiveness, upward appeal, information control, or exchange.

11. Did this person engage in organizational politics? What makes you say they did or did not use political tactics?

There is no indication at all of organizational politics, at least not from Katrin Szema. Her goal to introduce an enterprise communication platform had no known benefit to her career, yet she was Page 11-455 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

motivated to see that system introduced into the organization. In fact, the initiative eventually seems to have moved beyond Szema‘s direct involvement to people at the top of the organization (CEO, vice president of research, and possibly the executive responsible for the new intranet system).

12. If you were senior executive and were advised of this person’s actions, what steps would you take to encourage or discourage this type of change behavior in future?

This event illustrates the importance of coalitions, social networks, and information sharing. As such, students would recommend ways to improve social networking so employees can discover others with similar interests in changing and developing the organization. This incident also suggests that organizations need to encourage employees to engage in ―shared leadership,‖ that is, they should be empowered to take the initiative to encourage change in the organization through persuasion, coalitions, and other accepted means of motivating change. Third, this case suggests that companies need to train managers to be more open and empowering to employees who have ideas, rather than make unsupported assumptions about why initial suggestions wouldn‘t work.

Mini-Case 3: King of the Coin Summary: Max Dampf is head of the foreign currency options group at a large European bank. He has been engaging in inappropriate (and ultimately illegal) activities, particularly ―smoothing‖ gains and losses. Later, his team made outsized bet on currencies that exceeded the banks trading limits. Mila Horn told Dampf‘s boss about the smoothing activity, and Dampf threatened her when he found out about it. The mini-case describes other incidents in which Dampf used assertive tactics to keep people in line or change their behavior.

13. What sources of power is the main person in this mini-case using? What contingencies of power supported or limited that person’s power potential? (More than one source and contingency of power may be relevant.)

Students will likely identify two prominent sources of power in this mini-case: expert and coercive.

Dampf, in particular, and his team of currency traders ―were considered ‗untouchable‘ geniuses who were given free rein at the bank.‖ Their expertise generated huge profits for the bank, which benefited the board and stockholders. Dampf probably personally used his expert power to motivate some employees to follow his orders without question.

Dampf also relied heavily on coercive power. He ran the foreign currency options group with ―tight control.‖ He was in charge of the foreign currency options group, which gave him the right to hire, fire, and assign preferred tasks. To some extent, his position also gave Dampf license to use assertive behaviors without complaints from staff or superiors.

Students might also point out that Dampf was head of the foreign currency options group. As such, he had considerable legitimate power to order staff to do what he wanted. Perhaps his success, or equally likely his use of coercive power, increased the size of the zone of indifference among his staff.

Dampf would have had reward power as head of currency group, and no doubt that power base was used.

But the case doesn‘t provide any examples where Dampf applied reward power on his employees.

However, his power over superiors might be related to the profitability of his group, which is a form of reward power. Finally, Dampf may have had referent power, but this power source also lacks much direct Page 11-456 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

evidence. One might argue that Dampf‘s success and lack of corrective action by his superiors is due to his referent power over them, but their inaction may be due more to his expert power and success.

14. What was this person trying to achieve, and what influence tactics did this person use to get others to align their attitudes and behavior toward that objective. (More than one influence tactic might be relevant.)

The clearest evidence is that Dampf was trying to create a highly successful—and profitable (for him and the company)—currency group. Students might suggest that Dampf was primarily motivated by personalized power and may be demonstrating aspects of the dark triad personality. Therefore, he was trying to advance and amplify his personal success, superiority, and grandeur. We don‘t have direct evidence of this selfish intent, but it seems to be apparent from his behavior toward employees and his practices that contravene company policy. (In fact, Dampf‘s activities were illegal; he was eventually sentenced and jailed.)

Dampf relied heavily on assertiveness as an influence tactic. He actively bullied employees, threatening to fire them and possibly physically harm them. He publicly criticized employees who acted contrary to his expectations (even though those expectations were contrary to bank policy and ultimately illegal).

Dampf also engaged in information control by trying to prevent superiors from knowing about his wrongful activities in the group. Dampf likely engaged in other influence tactics (exchange, persuasion, and impression management), but these are not directly known in the mini-case.

Students might suggest that Dampf used ―silent authority‖ to influence Mila Horn, because Dampf was silent toward her. However, this isn‘t silent authority, which occurs when a manager assigns a task and that work is completed without use of other influence tactics. Dampf‘s ―silence‖ occurred after Horn engaged in behavior that Dampf opposed.

15. Did this person engage in organizational politics? What makes you say they did or did not use political tactics?

This question could generate considerable debate based on whether Dampf was trying to benefit himself or the organization and fellow employees. Certainly, a currency manager might engage in minor unethical conduct for the good of the organization, and Dampf‘s practices had benefited the organization.

However, there are strong reasons to believe that Dampf‘s actions do constitute organizational politics.

He was extremely assertive, to the point where the balance of probabilities is that he relished this power (personal gain) for its own sake, not for the betterment of the organization. Dampf was also engaging in wrongful activities (smoothing, and later exceeding bank trading limits), which is further evidence that his actions were not in the bank‘s best interests. (Although not stated in the mini-case, Dampf and a few other traders were later jailed for securities violations, and both the CEO and board chair of the bank quit or were fired.)

16. If you were senior executive and were advised of this person’s actions, what steps would you take to encourage or discourage this type of change behavior in future?

This mini-case demonstrates the need to hold more senior executives accountable for unethical and illegal conduct among people further down the hierarchy. In particular, executives (and board members) need to be frequently reminded that successful conduct by a particular departmental group does not justify

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

overlooking their conduct and easing oversight of their activities. (Incidentally, a similar problem of executive blindness from success occurred at JPMorgan involving trading of the ―London Whale.‖) Dampf‘s behavior was almost certainly known to his boss and possibly people further up the hierarchy.

(In fact, the CEO and board chair were eventually removed from their jobs.) This suggests that organizations need to more carefully hire people whose values are deeply embedded in legal conduct. As an interim CEO of another organization stated after his predecessor was fired: ―Compliance is like oxygen. Without it, we die.‖ This culture or mindset is essential in organizations where moving outside the range of complaint behavior has dire long-term consequences for the organization.

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TEAM EXERCISE: DECIPHERING THE NETWORK

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students interpret social network maps, including their implications for organizational effectiveness.

Materials The instructor will distribute the three social network diagrams to each student. These student handouts are provided over the three pages following these instructor notes. Ideally, print these diagrams in color.

Instructions (Smaller Classes) The instructor will organize students into teams (typically four to seven people, depending on class size).

Teams will examine each social network diagram to answer the following questions: 17. What aspects of this diagram suggest that the network is not operating as effectively as possible?

18. Which people in this network seem to be most powerful? Least powerful? What information or features of the diagram lead you to this conclusion?

19. If you were responsible for this group of people, how would you change this situation to improve their effectiveness?

After teams have diagnosed each social network map, the class will debrief by hearing each team‘s assessments and recommendations.

Instructions (Larger Classes) This activity is also possible in large classes by projecting each social network diagram on a screen and giving students a minute or two to examine the diagram. The instructor can then ask specific questions to the class, such as pointing to a specific individual in the network and asking whether they have high or low power, what level of centrality is apparent, and whether the individual‘s connections are mainly strong or weak ties. The instructor might also ask which quadrant on the map indicates the most concern and then allow individual students to provide their explanation why.

Comments for Instructors This activity can be very engaging, particularly after students have read this chapter or attended the lecture on the basics of social network analysis. Here are suggested answers for each of the three social network diagrams: Bank Consultants This diagram shows that the three consulting groups have limited informal networking with each other, which implies limited communication, collaboration, or information sharing. A high degree of networking exists within two of the groups (business services and information systems), but relatively low networking within the organizational consulting group (where four distinct clusters are apparent). This diagram identifies Page 11-459 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

a few individuals with considerable centrality, particularly the information systems group person at the bottom left of that group. Most of the organizational consulting group seems to have fairly low power through networking (the most powerful seems to be the person at far right of that group), but the lowest power is apparent among a few employees at the top far left of the information systems group. One person (possibly a newcomer) has no network linkage. This diagram suggests that if any collaboration exists, it is occurring somewhat more between the business services and organizational consulting group.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Retail Managers This diagram shows informal networking (communication) among district managers, the four regional directors, and the vice president. One important observation is that the diagram suggests the organization is quite hierarchical, because many employees interact mainly through the formal reporting ties. In the top right and bottom left groups, for example, two managers in each group network only with their boss. Furthermore, regional directors communicate mainly with their boss (vice president); only two regional managers have any meaningful networking with other regional managers. Students should notice the lack of networking from district managers to the vice president, likely another strong indicator of strong hierarchical culture.

Interestingly, there is one exception, and that individual also has several connections with peers both within and between regional groups.

Another observation is that the degree of networking among district managers is varied and generally low.

The bottom right group is particularly well networked within the group (several connecting lines that are also short) but still has minimal ties with people in other regions. Coincidentally, this regional director is also the most networked with other directors, suggesting that this director is a savvy networker who encourages the same among staff. In contrast, the top right group has minimal networking, implying that cohesion among district managers within this region is quite low. In fact, one manager in this group has stronger connections to district managers in the adjacent (top left) group, suggesting perhaps that this individual may have recently transferred from that group.

This diagram suggests that the regional directors tend to be the most powerful because information flows through them (high betweenness) to people in other regions. The bottom right director seems to be the most powerful among these, both in the number of connections (high degree) and direct connection to two other regional directors (higher betweenness). Those with the least power are the several district managers with only one link, invariably to their regional director.

Two Merged Firms This diagram reveals that the integration of the two merged firms is far from successful. Financial professionals continue to interact mainly with their peers from the same previous firm. The diagram shows some ties with people from the other organization, possibly due to work requirements, but these ties are typically limited and weak. The ―Company 1‖ analysts are peripheral in the clusters dominated by ―Company 2‖ analysts, and vice versa.

Student should observe a second noteworthy feature of this network structure, namely that the Company 2 analysts seem to be much better networkers than are the Company 1 analysts. This is apparent by the number of ties and short distance in those ties among Company 2 staff. Why this difference? Most likely, Company 2 staff enjoyed a stronger culture of networking and high social cohesion.

This diagram shows a few very powerful individuals, particularly the two people near the middle center and bottom center of the exhibit. Not surprisingly (given the observations above), all of the most powerful people through networking were former Company 2 staff. The Company 1 staff universally have little centrality (few ties, long ties, limited betweenness), so they have the least networking power.

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This diagram is a fictionalized adaptation of the informal network among internal consultants in a large bank. The image shows three consulting groups. The bank’s leaders want these groups to work closely together to collectively serve the bank’s divisions effectively.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

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Social Network Exhibit 1: Bank Consultants

This diagram is a fictionalized version of the informal network among all district managers and regional directors of a national retail organization. The regional managers report to the regional directors, who report to the vice-president.

The executive team wants district managers to actively network with each other so they share information, learn from each other, and develop a level of cohesion within and across regions so they form a strong identity with their leadership roles and with the organization.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

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Social Network Exhibit 2: Retail Managers

This diagram is a fictionalized version of the informal network among financial professionals in two small investment fund firms that merged within the past year.

The managing partner’s goal is to develop a “highly networked”, integrated organization, where analysts work and share information together without any special allegiance to their pre-merger colleagues.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

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Social Network Exhibit 3: Two Merged Firms

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

TE TEAM EXERCISE: BINGO NETWORKING Purpose This exercise is designed to improve student networking by practicing how to meet and quickly acquire information from other people.

Materials The instructor will distribute one Bingo card with rules to each student. Students need to supply their own pen or pencil to initial the other students‘ Bingo cards. This activity requires sufficient space for social interaction.

Instructions This exercise can involve any number of students, depending on the space available. Each student completes boxes in the Bingo card by finding another student in the class who has done the activity stated in that box.

That other person initials the box. For example, if a box says that the person has ridden a horse within the past five years, only a student who satisfies that condition can initial the box.

Students need to follow the specific rules of the activity. In particular, participants cannot volunteer information about themselves and can only ask and answer specific questions related to a specific box on the Bingo card.

This activity has similarities to classic Bingo in that your objective is to fill in boxes along an entire row, column, and/or diagonal. Unlike classic Bingo, however, the activity does not end when you complete a sequence of boxes. Instead, it ends after a fixed period of time. After completing a row, column, and/or diagonal, students will continue to complete more boxes.

Everyone is a winner in this activity because it is a social event where you get to know others better.

However, the instructor might ask how many participants have completed one or more entire rows, columns, and diagonals.

Instructions: Bingo Rules 1. Formally introduce yourself to each person you meet (e.g., say your name, shake hands).

2. You cannot volunteer information about yourself, only answer questions asked regarding a specific box on the Bingo card (i.e., you cannot ask: ―Which of these boxes apply to you?‖).

3. When someone satisfies one of the boxes, that person should initial the box.

4. You cannot initial any boxes on your own card.

5. The goal is to get initials along one or more entire rows, columns, or diagonals.

Comments for Instructors This exercise is similar to classic Bingo except the boxes are filled with initials of other people in class who satisfy the condition in that box. For example, only students who have ridden a horse within the past five years can initial the third box under ―G.‖ Before beginning the game, you need to decide how the game should end and how or whether it is won. The classic option is that the game ends when one person calls out ―Bingo‖ (i.e., first person to have initials along a row, column, or diagonal). However, this approach can be too rushed for networking. Instead, the game Page 11-465 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

might end after a set time (e.g., 20 minutes) and the winner(s) are those with the most completed rows, columns, and diagonals. A third option is not to have winners at all. Instead, focus on the debriefing topics.

The debriefing should focus on the fine art of approaching people and either providing or receiving valuable information from them quickly, yet respectfully. Ask students how they accomplished this and what they would do differently to improve their respectfulness or efficiency at getting information. Discuss the allimportant first statement after the person introduces themselves. Also, be sure to consider the interesting dynamic where both parties are seeking different information from each (i.e., they likely have different objectives for the conversation). Finally, consider the delicate task of withdrawing from the conversation.

This is likely less of a concern in this activity (where both parties are eager to discover the traits of other people), but there is an element of politely ending the conversation.

STUDENT

HANDOUT

CLASS EXERCISE: BINGO NETWORKING Speaks any Asian language.

Has visited any library or library website within the past seven days.

Has paddled a canoe or kayak within the past 12 months.

Written code with SQL/PHP.

Has the letter ―X‖ or ―Z‖ in their name.

A parent/guardian worked in military for five or more years.

Has NOT used a cell/mobile phone today or yesterday.

Lives with a dog or cat and at least one other pet.

Has foreign currency on them right now.

Has baked a pie or cake within the past year.

Watched half or more of the most recent Superbowl.

Has played a musical instrument to a public audience.

FREE SPACE!

Has ridden a horse within the past five years.

Visited a Facebook website within the past 24 hours.

Has NOT drunk coffee within the past month.

Waterskied or scuba dived within the past year.

Travelled to Europe within the past 24 months.

Sent a Twitter ―tweet‖ in the 48 hours before this exercise started.

Has read a mystery/crime novel within the past year.

Ever worked at McDonald‘s or similar fast-food restaurant chain.

Speaks any nonEnglish European or South American language.

Has a motorcycle license.

Participated in yoga or Pilates within the past two months.

Has their own website and/or weblog (not Facebook).

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

RULES 1. Formally introduce yourself to each person you meet (e.g., say your name and shake hands).

2. You cannot volunteer information about yourself, only answer specific questions asked (NOT ―Which of these boxes apply to you?‖).

3. When someone satisfies one of the boxes, get that person to initial the box.

4. You cannot initial any boxes on your own card.

5. The goal is to get initials along one or more entire rows, columns, or diagonals.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

TE TEAM EXERCISE: MANAGING YOUR BOSS Purpose This exercise is designed to help students apply influence tactics to real situations, in this case influencing people above them in the hierarchy.

Materials None.

Instructions (Smaller Classes Only) The instructor will organize students into teams (typically four to seven people, depending on class size).

Teams will identify specific strategies to influence people above them in the organizational hierarchy. Teams should consider each of the various influence tactics to determine specific practices that might change the attitudes and behavior of their bosses. During this team discussion, students should determine which influence tactics are most and least appropriate for managing their bosses. Teams should also consider relevant concepts from other chapters, such as perceptions (Chapter 3), emotions and attitudes (Chapter 4), motivation (Chapter 5), and (if already covered in the course) conflict (Chapter 11).

The class will regroup, and each team will present specific recommendations for influencing people in higher positions.

Comments for Instructors This activity receives very active discussion in MBA classes, as well as in classes where students have had a reasonable amount of work experience. However, it is an excellent learning activity even for those without work experience because it requires them to think through the sources and contingencies of power.

Some editions of this book have a Global Connections feature that provides some information about how to manage bosses. This feature is a good starting point because it highlights several key strategies. But there are many upward influence practices that could not be packed into that case study. Students might answer this assignment by working through the sources and contingencies of power. Here are some ideas organized in that way: Sources of Power Reward power: Be an asset, not a liability to your boss. Do your job well. Be solution-oriented, not problem-oriented. Discover and offer strengths that you have to aid your boss‘s weaknesses (e.g., working with numbers when your boss is less number-oriented). Adapt to your boss‘s style and values. For example, discover how your boss prefers to communicate and use that approach (which gives your boss more positive experiences).

Referent power: Build the relationship by discovering similarities (common past, interests, etc.). Build trust by being reliable (trustworthy—e.g., fulfill promises). Help convey your boss‘s competencies to others (i.e., help your boss develop their career opportunity—a form of indirect ingratiation). Try to think more like your boss—increase your empathy of their situation and convey that awareness.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Legitimate power: Clarify mutual expectations with your boss (work standards, work capacity). This ensures that you are doing what your boss expects and you have a right to oppose requests that fall outside those boundaries. Find ways to develop reciprocity, such as by supporting your boss when that support is needed (and appropriate). By coming to their aid, your boss may feel more reciprocal obligation to help you in future.

Expert power: Develop new knowledge that makes your boss more dependent on you (e.g., develop a social network with others in the company that provide insight into the company that your boss would value). Use your knowledge and experience to persuade your boss when necessary.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Coercive power: Coercive power should never be used directly when managing your boss. It may occur indirectly when your boss becomes dependent on you and you legitimately cannot assist (e.g., vacation, other work deadlines). However, you should also develop an exit strategy when you eventually realize that your boss is a problem. If your boss puts undue pressure on you (and others) or engages in severe bullying tactics, use the exit strategy before you lose your boss‘s favor.

Contingencies of Power Nonsubstitutability: In subtle ways, let your boss discover your unique knowledge and abilities, inferring that you are the ―go-to‖ person for that knowledge or skill. Keep up to date in your professional knowledge so you have more value than others in your position.

Visibility: Introduce yourself to your new boss. Be sure you show up to meetings and events where your boss is present. Speak up for your boss when the opportunity arises at meetings (and where the boss‘s position is valid). Use subtle symbols in your workspace to demonstrate your value to the organization and possibility similarities to your boss (e.g., same school and home town).

Centrality: In some situations, it may be appropriate and desirable to arrange your work such that your boss is quickly affected if you are unavailable to perform it. For example, be the key person to provide information in executive reports or to assist with new projects. In other words, create a situation where your boss quickly realizes your value when you aren‘t available to assist (vacation, busy on other projects, etc.).

Discretion: It is less clear how employee discretion plays a role in managing your boss.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.1: DO YOU HAVE A GUANXI ORIENTATION

Overview and Instructions Connections and social networks are important, no matter where you do business around the world. These interpersonal relationships are called guanxi in China, where they are very important due to Confucian values and the unique history of that country.

This instrument estimates guanxi orientation; that is, the extent to which the respondent accepts and applies guanxi values.

Feedback for the Guanxi Orientation Scale The Guanxi Orientation scale estimates the extent to which you apply guanxi values in your business and personal relationships. The guanxi approach to cultivating special relationships includes developing right contacts with the right people, maintaining a network of good relationships, being an ―insider,‖ being reciprocal by returning favors, developing guanxi through gift-giving, and being cooperative. Guanxi is associated with the collectivist values traced back to the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

Scores on the Guanxi Orientation Scale range from 9 to 63 with higher scores indicating a higher tendency to apply guanxi values. Although norms for this scale are very limited, one study reported that the average Guanxi Orientation score varies from one group to the next. The average score is 41 for a small sample of managers in state-owned and joint venture organizations in China, whereas the average score is 55 among managers in privately owned enterprises in China. The latter would be considered high guanxi, which we would expect for managers in China. The following graph shows your score against the range of possible scores on this instrument.

Score

Interpretation

49–63

High guanxi

36–48

Moderate guanxi

9–32

Low guanxi

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.2: WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO INFLUENCING COWORKERS?

Overview and Instructions Working with others in organizations is an ongoing process of coordination and cooperation. Part of that dynamic is changing our attitudes and behavior as well as motivating others to change their attitudes and behavior. In other words, everyone engages in influence tactics to get things done. There are many ways to influence other people, some of which work better than others, depending on the situation.

In this self-assessment, students are asked to think about the occasions when a coworker disagreed with them, opposed their preference, or was reluctant to actively support their point of view about something at work. These conflicts might have been about company policy, assignment of job duties, distribution of resources, or any other matter. Students are asked what they did over the past six months to try to get the coworker to support their preference. (NOTE: Students who have not been in the workforce recently can complete this self-assessment exercise thinking about influencing another student instead of a coworker.)

Feedback for the Coworker Influence Scale Influence refers to any behavior that attempts to alter someone‘s attitudes or behavior. There are several types of influence, including the eight measured by this instrument. This instrument assesses preferences for using each type of influence on coworkers and other people at a similar level as the respondent‘s position in the organization.

Persuasion: Persuasion refers to using logical and emotional appeals to change others‘ attitudes. This is one of the most widely used influence strategies toward others in any position (e.g., coworkers, bosses, and subordinates).

Silent authority: The silent application of authority occurs when someone complies with a request because the target person is aware of the requester‘s legitimate or expert power. This influence tactic is very subtle, such as making the target person aware of the status or expertise of the person making the request.

Exchange: Exchange involves the promise of benefits or resources in exchange for the target person‘s compliance with your request. This tactic also includes reminding the target of past benefits or favors with the expectation that the target will now make up for that debt. Negotiation is also part of the exchange strategy.

Assertiveness: Assertiveness involves actively applying legitimate and coercive power to influence others.

This tactic includes demanding that the other person comply with your wishes, showing frustration or impatience with the other person, and using threats of sanctions to force compliance.

Information control: Information control involves explicitly manipulating others‘ access to information for the purpose of changing their attitudes and/or behavior. It includes screening out information that might oppose your preference and embellishing or highlighting information that supports your position. According to one survey, more than half of employees believe their coworkers engage in this tactic.

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Coalition formation: Coalition formation occurs when a group of people with common interests band together to influence others. It also exists as a perception, such as when you convince someone else that several people are on your side and support your position.

Upward appeal: Upward appeal occurs when you rely on support from people higher up the organizational hierarchy. This support may be real (senior management shows support) or logically argued (you explain how your position is consistent with company policy).

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Ingratiation: Ingratiation is a special case of impression management in which you attempt to increase the perception of liking or similarity to another person in the hope that they will become more supportive of your ideas. Flattering the coworker, becoming friendlier with the coworker, helping the coworker (with expectation of reciprocity), showing support for the coworker‘s ideas, and asking for the coworker‘s advice are all examples of ingratiation.

Scores on the eight Coworker Influence Scale dimensions range from 3 to 15. Higher scores indicate that the person has a higher preference for and use of that particular tactic. Norms vary from one group to the next.

The following table shows norms from a sample of 225 MBA students. Most are from Australia, but some completed courses in Singapore and many students originate from other regions (Europe, South America, Asia, North America). The average age is about 31 years old and two-thirds would be male. To read this chart, consider the top 10 percentile for Assertiveness. The score is 9, indicating that 10 percent of people score 9 or above and 90 percent score below 9 on this dimension. Keep in mind that these scores represent self-perceptions. Evaluations from others (such as through 360-degree feedback) may provide a more accurate estimate of your preferred influence tactics.

Coworker Influence Scale Norms Percentile

Persuasion

Silent Authority Exchange

Assertiveness

Average score

12.3

9.7

7.4

5.8

Top 10th percentile

15

12

10

9

Top 25th percentile

14

11

9

7

Median (50th percentile)

12

10

8

5

Bottom 25th percentile

11

8

6

4

Bottom 10th percentile

10

7

4

3

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Coworker Influence Scale Norms (cont.)

Percentile

Information Control

Coalition Formation

Upward Appeal

Ingratiation

Average score

7.3

8

7.9

8.8

Top 10th percentile

10

11

11

12

Top 25th percentile

9

10

9

11

Median (50th percentile)

7

8

8

9

Bottom 25th percentile

6

6

6

6

Bottom 10th percentile

5

4

5

5

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.3: HOW POLITICALLY CHARGED IS YOUR SCHOOL?

Overview and Instructions Every organization has some degree of organizational politics. Depending on behavioral norms and organizational culture, employees in some companies actively use influence tactics to get their own way for personal gain. In other workplaces, employees who engage in organizational politics are quickly reminded to avoid these tactics or are eventually asked to work somewhere else. Students can usually sense the level of organizational politics at the college where they are taking courses.

This self-assessment instrument asks students several questions that estimate their school‘s level of organizational politics. These statements refer to the administration of the school, not the classroom. Students are asked to indicate whether they agree or disagree with each statement.

Feedback for the Perceptions of Politics Scale (POPS) The Perceptions of Politics Scale estimates the degree to which you believe the school where you attend classes has a politicized culture. It particularly measures the extent to which people at this school get ahead by avoiding disagreements with school administrators.

Score

Interpretation

36–45

Extremely political

27–35

Considerably political

18–26

Somewhat political

9–17

Minimally political

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

Chapter 11:

Interconnected Knowledge

Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace Prepared by Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

11

Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

LEARNING OJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Define conflict, and debate its positive and negative consequences in the workplace.

Distinguish task conflict from relationship conflict, and describe three strategies to minimize relationship conflict during task conflict episodes.

Diagram the conflict process model, and describe six structural sources of conflict in organizations.

Outline the five conflict-handling styles, and discuss the circumstances in which each would be most appropriate.

Apply the six structural approaches to conflict management, and describe the three types of third-party dispute resolution.

Discuss activities in the negotiation preparation, process, and setting that improve negotiation effectiveness.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA)—the best outcome you might achieve through some other course of action if you abandon the current negotiation conflict—the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party negotiation—the process in which interdependent parties with divergent beliefs or goals attempt to reach agreement on issues that mutually affect them

psychological safety—a shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking; specifically, that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors will not result in coworkers posing a threat to their self-concept, status, or career relationship conflict—a type of conflict in which people focus their discussion on qualities of the people in the dispute, rather than on the qualities of the ideas presented regarding a task-related issue superordinate goals—goals that the conflicting parties value and whose attainment requires the joint resources and effort of those parties

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Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace

task conflict—a type of conflict in which people focus their discussion around the issue (i.e., the ―task‖) in which different viewpoints occur while showing respect for people involved in that disagreement third-party conflict resolution—any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help the parties resolve their differences

win–lose orientation—the belief that conflicting parties are drawing from a fixed pie, so the more one party receives, the less the other party will receive win–win orientation—the belief that conflicting parties will find a mutually beneficial solution to their disagreement

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE LO 1-3 Define conflict, and debate its positive and negative consequences in the workplace.

Conflict is the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. The earliest view of conflict was that it was dysfunctional for organizations.

Even today, we recognize that conflict sometimes or to some degree consumes productive time, increases stress and job dissatisfaction, discourages coordination and resource sharing, undermines customer service, fuels organizational politics, and undermines team cohesion. But conflict can also be beneficial.

It is known to motivate more active thinking about problems and possible solutions, encourage more active monitoring of the organization in its environment, and improve team cohesion (where the conflict source is external).

LO 1-4 Distinguish task from relationship conflict, and describe three strategies to minimize relationship conflict during task conflict episodes.

Task conflict occurs when people focus their discussion around the issue while showing respect for people with other points of view. Relationship conflict exists when people focus their discussion on qualities of the people in the dispute. Relationship conflict occurs when people attack each other‘s credibility, assert their superior status, and display aggression toward the other party. It is difficult to separate task from relationship conflict. However, three strategies or conditions that minimize relationship conflict during constructive debate are (1) emotional intelligence of the participants, (2) team development, and (3) norms that support psychological safety (a shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking).

LO 1-5 Diagram the conflict process model, and describe six structural sources of conflict in organizations.

The conflict process model begins with the six structural sources of conflict: incompatible goals, differentiation (different values and beliefs), interdependence, scarce resources, ambiguous rules, and communication problems. These sources lead one or more parties to perceive a conflict and to experience conflict emotions. This produces manifest conflict, such as behaviors toward the other side. The conflict process often escalates through a series of episodes.

LO 1-6 Outline the five conflict-handling styles, and discuss the circumstances in which each would be most appropriate.

There are five known conflict-handling styles: problem-solving, forcing, avoiding, yielding, and compromising. People who use problem-solving have a win–win orientation. Others, particularly forcing, Page 11-479 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

assume a win–lose orientation. In general, people gravitate toward one or two preferred conflict-handling styles that match their personality, personal and cultural values, and past experience.

The best style depends on the situation. Problem-solving is best when interests are not perfectly opposing, the parties trust each other, and the issues are complex. Forcing works best when the dispute requires quick action, your position is logically and morally stronger, and the other party would take advantage of a cooperative style. Avoiding is preferred when the conflict has become emotional, there is strong incentive to maintain harmony, or the cost of resolution outweighs the benefits. Yielding works well when the issue is less important to you, the value or logic of your position is less clear, the parties want to maintain harmony, and the other party has substantially more power. Compromising is preferred when there is a single issue (not complex) with opposing interests, the parties are under time pressure, they want to maintain harmony, and they have equal power.

LO 1-7 Apply the six structural approaches to conflict management, and describe the three types of third-party dispute resolution.

Conflict can be managed through six structural strategies. One of these is to increase the parties‘ commitment to superordinate goals—goals that the conflicting employees or departments value and whose attainment requires the joint resources and effort of those parties. Another method is to reduce differentiation between the conflicting parties, such as by temporarily assigning employees to other work units, rotating employees across the organization throughout their career, and by building a strong organizational culture. A third method is to improve communication and mutual understanding. This can occur by designing workspaces such that diverse groups coincidentally mingle, engaging in seminars that apply Johari Window principles across groups, and through intergroup mirroring interventions. Fourth, conflict can be minimized by reducing interdependence, such as by creating buffers, using integrators, or combining jobs. The final two structural approaches to conflict management involve increasing resources and clarifying rules and procedures.

Third-party conflict resolution is any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help the parties resolve their differences. The three main forms of third-party dispute resolution are mediation, arbitration, and inquisition. Managers tend to use an inquisition approach, though mediation and arbitration often are more appropriate, depending on the situation.

LO 1-8 Discuss activities in the negotiation preparation, process, and setting that improve negotiation effectiveness.

Negotiation occurs whenever two or more conflicting parties attempt to resolve their divergent goals by redefining the terms of their interdependence. Distributive negotiation is most common when the parties have only one item to resolve, such as product price or starting salary. Integrative negotiation is more common when multiple issues are open for discussion. Effective negotiators engage in several preparation activities. These include determining their initial, target, and resistance positions; understanding their needs behind these goals; and knowing their alternatives to the negotiation (BATNA).

During the negotiation process, effective negotiators devote more attention to gathering than giving information. They try to determine the other party‘s underlying needs rather than just their stated positions. They make fewer and smaller concessions but use concessions strategically to discover the

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

other party‘s priorities and to maintain trust. They try to avoid time traps (negotiating under deadlines set by the other side), and they engage in practices to maintain a positive relationship with the other party.

Characteristics of the setting—including location, physical setting, and audience characteristics—are also important in successful negotiations.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace Slide 2: Learning Objectives 1-7 Define conflict, and debate its positive and negative consequences in the workplace.

1-8 Distinguish task from relationship conflict, and describe three strategies to minimize relationship conflict during task conflict episodes.

1-9 Diagram the conflict process model, and describe six structural sources of conflict in organizations.

1-10 Outline the five conflict-handling styles, and discuss the circumstances in which each would be most appropriate.

1-11 Apply the six structural approaches to conflict management, and describe the three types of third-party dispute resolution.

1-12 Discuss activities in the negotiation preparation, process, and setting that improve negotiation effectiveness.

Slide 3: Extreme ―Niceness‖ Discourages Constructive Debate Companies that create a culture of extreme niceness are actually discouraging employees from engaging in constructive debate, which is needed for better decisions and creative ideas

Slide 4: Is Conflict Good or Bad? Conflict defined—the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party Negative consequences of conflict: • Lower performance • Higher stress, dissatisfaction, and turnover • Less information sharing and coordination • Increased organizational politics • Wasted resources • Weakened team cohesion (conflict among team members) Positive consequences of conflict: Better decision making • Tests logic of arguments • Questions assumptions • Generates creative thinking More responsive to the changing environment Stronger team cohesion (conflict between the team and outside opponents)

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Slide 5: Emerging View: Task versus Relationship Conflict ―Optimal‖ conflict perspective Adopted in 1970s when experts recognized that some conflict is beneficial Idea that some conflict is good; but conflict is bad beyond a particular level Optimal conflict view may be true in some respects—any form of conflict becomes dysfunctional beyond a level of intensity Task versus relationship conflict perspective Two types of conflict: task conflict and relationship conflict Represent two distinct ways that people approach and interact during disagreements Emerging view of conflict today Task (constructive) conflict Parties focus on the issue (task), show respect for people with other views Debates quality of the ideas presented (logical, accurate facts, reasonable assumptions) Avoids attention to the competence or power of the participants Almost all workplace conflicts can be framed as task conflicts (even so-called ―personality clashes‖) Beneficial outcomes, although likely an upper limit to the intensity of any disagreement, even if focused on the task

Slide 6: Relationship Conflict Critiques the personal characteristics of others in the dispute rather than the qualities of the ideas presented Three forms of relationship conflict: 7. Criticizing the competence of opponents • Claiming they lack expertise, intelligence, and credibility • Opponents‘ ideas/actions are invalidated indirectly through their alleged incompetence, not directly through debate about the idea‘s logic or factual foundation ―Argumentum ad hominem‖ fallacy—attacking people is neither sufficient nor direct evidence against their ideas 8. Asserting superior status over the opponent • Examples: having more experience, higher credentials than the opponent • Implies the opponent‘s inferiority 9. Assertive, aggressive behavior • Implies more power, demeans others Relationship conflict is dysfunctional because it: Threatens opponent‘s self-esteem—trigger defense mechanism Reduces trust by emphasizing interpersonal differences Reduces motivation to communicate—escalates conflict by distorting perceptions, increasing reliance on stereotypes to reinforce the threat perception

Slide 7: Minimizing Relationship Conflict Goal: encourage task conflict and minimize relationship conflict Page 12-483 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Problem: relationship conflict often develops when engaging in task conflict—impersonal task conflict debate potentially threatens self-concept and triggers the drive to defend Three conditions that minimize relationship conflict during task conflict episodes: 1. Emotional intelligence • Employees with higher EI (and associated emotional stability personality) are better at regulating their emotions during debate—less risk of escalation by suppressing feelings of hostility • Able to reframe coworker‘s emotional reaction as valuable information about that person‘s needs and expectations 2. Team development—less relationship conflict in highly developed teams • Better mutual understanding—team members better at understanding and anticipating other team members—reduces the risk that coworker‘s words or actions will be misinterpreted • Higher team cohesion—members have stronger social identity with the team—motivated to minimize relationship conflict because it threatens the team‘s stability and the member‘s future with that group 3. Norms support psychological safety • Shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking—belief that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors won‘t result in coworkers posing a threat to one‘s self-concept, status, or career • Norms encourage members to respect and value one another, demonstrate interest in one another, be open-minded about and tolerant with coworkers‘ opinions, and show positive intentions toward one another

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Slide 8: The Conflict Process Sources of conflict Leads one or both parties to perceive that conflict exists Become aware that other‘s statements/actions are incompatible with own goals Conflict perceptions and emotions Perceptions usually interact with emotions experienced Manifest conflict Conflict episodes—decisions and behaviors of one party toward the other Ranges from subtle nonverbal behaviors to aggression; also conflict resolution style Conflict escalation cycle Conflict process is a series of episodes that potentially cycle into conflict escalation Conflict outcomes—may be positive or negative

Slide 9: Structural Sources of Conflict at Under Armour Differentiation-based conflict was reported at Under Armour (UA) after the sports apparel company hired several executives from Nike and Adidas. These new hires and UA‘s long-service executives embraced different strategies, resulting in clashes about which products to develop and how many to produce

Slide 10: Structural Sources of Conflict (1 of 2) 10.

Incompatible goals

• Goals of one person or department seem to interfere with goals of another person or department—for example, cost efficiency versus customer service 11.

Differentiation • Differences among people/groups regarding training, values, beliefs, and experiences • Clashes over the ―right way‖ to do things • People may agree on the goal but have different beliefs about achieving the goal • Many differentiation situations: mergers, cross-cultural teams, new hires have different backgrounds/experiences than long-term employees • Intergenerational differentiation due to (a) unique technological advances and social forces and (b) different needs and priorities at each career and life stage

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12.

Interdependence • All conflict is partly caused by interdependence—the extent to which employees must share materials, information, or expertise to perform their jobs • Risk of conflict increases with level of interdependence Pooled (lowest)—work units share a common resource Sequential—one person‘s output is next person‘s input, for example, assembly line Reciprocal—employees share work back and forth—highest interdependence

Slide 11: Structural Sources of Conflict (2 of 2) 13.

Scarce resources • Scarcity creates competition for a resource—interferes with the other party‘s goals 14.

Ambiguous rules • Creates uncertainty—increases risk that others will threaten own goals • Encourages organizational politics—others use influence to gain for their benefit 15.

Communication problems • Poorly crafted communication creates and escalates conflict Conflict due to lack of ability or motivation to communicate diplomatically Aggressive/emotive communication escalates conflict, fuels relationship conflict • Lack of communication amplifies conflict Sometimes due to lack of opportunity Often because conflict reduces motivation to communicate Lack of communication increases stereotyping, generates us–them differentiation

Slide 12: Interpersonal Conflict-Handling Styles Five conflict-handling styles vary in assertiveness (satisfying own interests) and cooperativeness (satisfying other party‘s interests) Problem-solving • Win–win orientation—tries to find a mutually beneficial solution • Both collaborate to identify common ground, solutions that satisfy all 16.

Forcing • Win–lose orientation—tries to win the conflict at the other‘s expense • Relies on ―hard‖ influence tactics (e.g., assertiveness to get own way) • Also includes moderate behavior—speaking up, showing conviction for an idea

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17.

Avoiding • Smooth over or evade conflict situations • Although depicted as low concern for self and others, it can also be a necessary short-term conflict handling tactic even when the issue is important to you 18.

Yielding • Giving in completely to the other side‘s wishes • Making unilateral concessions, offering help without reciprocity expected 19.

Compromising • Reach a middle ground between the interests of the parties • Matching the other party‘s concessions

Slide 13: Conflict-Handling Style Contingencies (1 of 3) People have one or two preferred conflict-handling styles, but need to know how and when to apply each of them Best conflict-handling style depends on the situation

1. Problem-solving Preferred style when: • Interests are not perfectly opposing • Parties have trust/openness and time to share information • Issues are complex Problems—sharing information that the other party might use to their advantage

2. Forcing Preferred style when: • Quick resolution required • Your position objectively has a much stronger logical or moral foundation • Other party would take advantage of cooperation Problems—highest risk of relationship conflict; may damage long-term relations; reduce future problemsolving

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Slide 14: Conflict-Handling Style Contingencies (2 of 3) 3. Avoiding Preferred style when: • Conflict has become emotionally charged (relationship conflict) • Parties want to maintain harmony • Cost of resolving conflict outweighs its benefits Problems—doesn‘t usually resolve the conflict; may produce uncertainty and frustration

4. Yielding Preferred style when: • Issue is much less important to you than to the other party • Value/logic of your position is imperfect/unclear • Parties want to maintain harmony • Other party has much more power Problems—increases other party‘s expectations for future

Slide 15: Conflict-Handling Style Contingencies (3 of 3) 5. Compromising Preferred style when: • Single issue conflict with opposing interests • Parties lack time or trust for problem-solving • Parties want to maintain harmony • Parties have equal power Problem—suboptimal solution where mutual gains are possible

Slide 16: Cultural and Male–Female Differences in Conflict-Handling Styles Preferred conflict-handling styles vary across cultures A contingency to consider when choosing the best style Example: high collectivism cultures—prefer avoidance and problem-solving styles to maintain harmonious relations—but possibly only within group, not with outsiders Male–female differences in preferred conflict-handling style Males use the forcing style more than do females Females (compared to males) use more avoiding, slightly more problem-solving, compromising, and yielding styles Differences in conflict handling preferences occurs partly because females versus males tend to consider maintaining the relationship between the conflicting parties

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Slide 17: Structural Approaches to Conflict Management (1 of 2) 1. Emphasize superordinate goals • Superordinate goals—goals that the conflicting parties value and whose attainment requires the joint resources and effort of those parties • Higher-order aspirations such as the organization‘s strategic objectives • Reduces goal incompatibility

2. Reduce differentiation • Reduce differences that generate conflict • Create common experiences—generates a shared social identity • Ways to reduce differentiation Meaningful interaction with others—for example, participate in multidisciplinary projects Rotate staff to different departments/regions throughout their career—increases identification with overall firm rather than a region or department Build and maintain a strong organizational culture—shared values/assumptions—stronger sense of community

3. Improve communication and understanding • Conflicting parties are given more opportunities to communicate and understand each other • Doesn‘t necessarily reduce differentiation but may produce clearer awareness of and respect for one another‘s situation • Ways to increase communication and mutual understanding Increases interaction by changing physical or reporting arrangements Apply variations of the Johari Window—individuals disclose information about themselves and their self-perceptions to others, give feedback to others about how they are perceived Intergroup mirroring—each group in the conflict share (1) how the group perceives itself, (2) how it perceives the other group, and (3) how the group believes it is perceived by the other group • Two warnings about communication and understanding interventions (a) use only when differentiation is sufficiently low or has been reduced (b) direct communication interventions are less accepted in collectivist cultures

Slide 18: Structural Approaches to Conflict Management (2 of 2) 4. Reduce interdependence • Create buffers—loosens/weakens interdependence between two or people or work units For example, buildup inventories in assembly line versus just-in-time inventory system • Use integrators—coordinate the activities of multiple work units toward the completion of a shared task or project Reduce the amount of direct interaction required among these diverse people/units For example, brand managers coordinate efforts of research, production, and marketing for a product • Combine jobs—reduces task interdependence and is a form of job enrichment (e.g., each person assembles an entire product) Page 12-489 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

5. Increase resources • Increase the amount of resources available • But need to weigh costs of additional resources against conflict costs

6. Clarify rules and procedures • Establish rules and procedures (e.g., create a schedule to use equipment) • Clarifying roles, responsibilities, schedules, and so on

Slide 19: Types of Third-Party Intervention Any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help conflicting parties resolve their differences Third-party interventions—can be classified by their level of control over the process and control over the decision

7. Arbitration • High control over final decision—low control over process • Manager follows previously agreed-upon rules of due process • Final stage of union grievances and increasingly in nonunion conflict resolution

8. Mediation • High process control, little to no control over the conflict resolution decision.

• Coaches the disputing parties toward their own conflict resolution

9. Inquisition • High decision control, high process control—inquisitors decide how to investigate the issue and decide how to resolve that issue • Inquisitional approach common in European judicial systems

Slide 20: Choosing the Best Third-Party Intervention Strategy Managers prefer inquisitional strategy Consistent with decision-oriented nature of managerial jobs Usually the least effective third-party conflict resolution method Problem: conflicts with procedural justice principles Mediation Less efficient, but highest potential process and outcome satisfaction Gives employees more responsibility for resolving disputes Arbitration Predetermined rules and processes consistent with procedural justice Preferred where the organization‘s goals take priority over individual goals Use when mediation fails

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Slide 21: Negotiation: Definition and Approaches Negotiation: Interdependent parties with divergent beliefs or goals attempt to reach agreement on issues that mutually affect them Negotiation occurs when people: Need to work together (mutual dependence) Need to reach a consensus on decisions that affect them Initially don‘t have identical preferences regarding those decisions Distributive versus integrative approaches to negotiation  Distributive approach • Win–lose orientation • Perception that one party necessarily loses when the other party gains • Most common when the parties have only one item to resolve  Integrative (mutual gains) approach • Win–win orientation • Perception that resources at stake are expandable through a creative solution • More common when multiple issues are open for discussion—each issue may have different value/importance to each party Negotiators usually begin with a cautiously integrative approach to negotiations—shift to distributive approach when apparent that interests are perfectly opposing Personality, past experience also affect a person‘s distributive versus integrative perceptions

Slide 22: Bargaining Zone Model Successful negotiators develop goals but focus on their needs Goals represent end points of what to achieve (bargaining zone model)

Bargaining zone model Negotiators consider three goal-setting positions—shown in bargaining zone model

10. Initial offer point • Your opening offer—best expectation • Potentially anchors discussion at a point closer to own target point (anchoring and adjustment effect) • But avoid setting too high—undermines trust and breaks off negotiations

11. Target point • Your realistic goal or expectation for a final agreement • Negotiators with higher and clearer target points obtain better outcomes (effective goal-setting practices) • But also need to avoid overoptimistic expectations—need to reflect on the facts

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

• The point beyond which you will make no further concessions • Resistance point determined by BATNA Bargaining zone—area of potential overlap with a continuum that parties move along in opposite directions

Slide 23: Needs, BATNA, and Power Negotiation goals versus needs Successful negotiators develop goals (bargaining zone model) but try to understand their own needs and avoid becoming locked into fixed goals Needs can be fulfilled through different goals, so negotiators actively consider various goals that may achieve their needs Focusing on needs enables negotiators to actively consider new proposals and opportunities, sometimes better than the original negotiation goals Negotiators also prepare by anticipating other party‘s goals and needs

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Best alternative to a negotiated agreement (BATNA) BATNA—best outcome you might achieve through some other course of action if you abandon the current negotiation Estimates your power in the negotiation—cost of walking away from relationship Having more than one BATNA to a negotiation increases your power Problem: people tend to overestimate their BATNA Negotiation power Depends on the sources and contingencies of power Example: high expertise, high visibility, and high centrality in employment relationship

Slide 24: Negotiation Process: Gather Information Information is essential for successful negotiations Discover other party‘s needs hidden behind stated offers and negotiation goals Reveal other party‘s resistance point Potentially discover multiple issues to replace distributive with integrative approach Risk: giving information to other party may reveal your resistance point • Increases other side‘s power • Adopt cautious problem-solving style, look for other side‘s willingness to reciprocate Information gathering strategies: Listen closely to the other party Draw out more details by presenting open-ended questions and probe questions Pay attention to nonverbal communication Test how well you understand the other party but summarizing their statements and asking them to confirm and clarify Communicate own inner thoughts/reactions to other party‘s proposals

Slide 25: Negotiation Process: Manage Concessions One party‘s revision of a negotiating position, moving closer to other party‘s position Necessary for the parties to move toward agreement A form of communication • Signal relative importance of each issue being negotiated • Symbolize each party‘s motivation to bargain in good faith

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How successful negotiators manage concessions: Clearly label each concession as a concession Accompany each concession with expectation of reciprocity Offer concessions in installments—people experience more positive emotions from a few smaller concessions than from one large concession Be moderately tough/restrictive in giving concessions Give minimum concessions to communicate sincerity, motivation to resolve conflict Use multi-issue offers (not one issue at a time)—reveals relative importance of the issues to each party

Slide 26: Negotiation Process: Time and Relationship Manage time Problem: negotiators tend to make more concessions as a deadline get closer ―Exploding offers‖—offers with deadline produce time pressure on opponent Escalation of time commitment—the more time invested in the negotiation, the more committed people become to reaching agreement with generous concessions Build the relationship (trustworthiness) Trust during distributive negotiations—parties focus on the issue not personalities (i.e., task, not relationship conflict), motivates return to bargaining table, encourages future negotiations Trust in integrative negotiations—motivates information sharing, actively search for mutual gains (creative, integrative solution) Building trust in negotiations • Discover common backgrounds and interests • Manage first impressions • Signal trustworthiness—for example, be reliable and keep promises • Demonstrate shared understanding of negotiation process, including norms/expectations • Emotional intelligence—managing displayed emotions, managing other party‘s emotions

Slide 27: Negotiation Setting Location Home turf: familiar with negotiation setting; easier access to resources Consider a neutral territory Prefer face-to-face—digital communication channels have lower social presence, less media richness Physical setting Physical distance between the parties and formality of the setting affect perception of issues and each other Convey win–win orientation by dispersing people around the table Audience characteristics Audience—anyone with a vested interest in the negotiation outcomes When audience observes • Negotiators tend to be more competitive, less willing to make concessions, more likely to engage in assertive tactics, more motivated to save face

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Slide 28: Male–Female Differences in Negotiation In negotiations, females (compared to males) tend to: Avoid engaging in negotiation (i.e., tend to accept first offers) Less mindful when situation calls for negotiation Set lower personal target points Accept offers just above their own resistance points Rely less on alternatives to improve their outcomes Females are treated worse than males by the opposing negotiators Receive more deceitful tactics by the other party in negotiations Receive less generous offers for the same job or product When using effective negotiation tactics (such as making fewer and smaller concessions), females are viewed less favorably by opponents Main explanations for male–female differences in negotiation Females place higher priority on maintaining relationships Some effective negotiation activities violate stereotypes of females Females tend to negotiate as well as males when: They receive training and gain experience The situation signals that negotiation is expected (e.g., job opening says salary is negotiable) How well the female knows the expected bargaining range (e.g., search market rates)

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

1. Distinguish task conflict from relationship conflict, and explain how to maintain some degree of task conflict while minimizing relationship conflict.

The distinction between task (constructive) and relationship conflict is ultimately about how the parties approach or focus on their differences. Task conflict focuses on the issue (the task) in which different viewpoints occur. Each party examines the facts, assumptions, and logical arguments that the other party uses to support their position. Throughout, the parties show respect for each other and keep the issue separated from the people involved.

Relationship conflict does the opposite. It occurs when people focus their discussion on the qualities of the participants in the dispute. Rather than challenging the facts or logic of an issue, relationship conflict involves criticizing the abilities or qualifications of those holding competing positions. Essentially, this approach is about seeing the other people as the problem. Relationship conflict also occurs more indirectly when people rely on their allegedly superior status or expertise to defend their position. This approach implies the inferiority of others and does not directly consider the merits of their arguments.

Being abrasive or assertive is another form of relationship conflict. The aggressive behavior demeans others in the conversation, which symbolically communicates their inferiority to the aggressor.

Minimizing relationship conflict during task conflict is difficult because people tend to get defensive even if their ideas are challenged respectfully. Experts have identified three conditions that potentially minimize the level of relationship conflict during task conflict episodes: Emotional intelligence. Participants are less likely to resort to personal attacks when they have high emotional intelligence. Such individuals regulate their emotions during debate and are better able to use the emotions of others as information.

Team development. As teams develop, their members become better at understanding and anticipating one another, which minimizes misinterpretation of each other‘s words. Team development also increases team cohesion. Members of cohesive teams are motivated to minimize relationship conflict because these episodes threaten the team‘s stability and the member‘s future with that group.

Norms supporting psychological safety. Psychological safety is a shared belief that it is safe to engage in interpersonal risk-taking; specifically, that presenting unusual ideas, constructively disagreeing with the majority, and experimenting with new work behaviors will not result in coworkers posing a threat to their self-concept, status, or career. These conditions make it easier for team members to openly discuss their differing viewpoints. The norms motivate other members to be open, accepting, and supportive of those views, even if they seem critical.

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2. The chief executive officer of Creative Toys, Inc., read about cooperation in Japanese companies and vowed to bring this same philosophy to the company. The goal is to avoid all conflict, so that employees would work cooperatively and be happier at Creative Toys. Discuss the merits and limitations of the CEO’s policy.

This question addresses the idea that conflict can be both good and bad for organizations. To effectively manage conflict, organizational leaders must find interventions that alter the level and form of conflict in ways that maximize its benefits and minimize its dysfunctional consequences.

Task conflict is a form of conflict that benefits decision making. This constructive conflict helps people to recognize problems, to identify a variety of solutions, and to better understand the issues involved.

Conflict is also a catalyst for change and improved decision making. It occurs when people raise new perspectives of issues and these emerging views are debated. Under certain conditions, conflict between work teams is beneficial to the extent that it builds commitment to the team.

Of course, not all conflict is beneficial. When managed poorly, conflict encourages organizational politics by motivating people to attack or undermine the activities of their adversaries. This relationship conflict results in frustration, job dissatisfaction, and stress. Unbridled conflict may cause employees to escape from the situation through turnover or absenteeism.

3. Conflict among managers emerged soon after a French company acquired a Swedish firm. The Swedes perceived the French management as hierarchical and arrogant, whereas the French thought the Swedes were naive, cautious, and lacking an achievement orientation. Identify the source(s) of conflict that best explain(s) this conflict, and describe ways to reduce dysfunctional conflict in this situation.

The most apparent process to minimize conflict in this situation would be some form of structured dialogue. Specifically, the Swedes and French managers need to diplomatically bring out their concerns and understand the other party‘s rationale for their behavior. We emphasize ―structured‖ dialogue because informal dialogue (without a facilitator) may increase the risk of conflict escalation.

One dialogue-type strategy is intergroup mirroring. The process begins with a relationship audit in which consultants meet with individuals and groups of employees to identify the employment-connected relationships that have caused the current disruption and disagreement.

In this situation, relationship restructuring would involve interviews by consultants with representatives from the Swedish company and French company. Information collected from the relationship audit is used to evaluate the relationships, such as communication deficiencies, misaligned expectations, and corporate culture shifts. This would identify the sources of the conflict, which may be either structural problems or the way each side communicates with the other side.

Although intergroup mirroring and other dialogue-type interventions can reduce dysfunctional conflict, students should be able to think of factors in this situation that may interfere with the process. One problem might be that either the Swedes or the French employees might be less willing to discuss the conflict due to cultural values. Some cultures discourage open discussion of conflict, and this might occur here. Another problem may be that the conflict is due to fundamental differences between the parties, such as cultural differences in communication or stereotypes of each other. These are more difficult to change than are structural causes of conflict.

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NOTE: This incident is described in M. Raynaud and M. Teasdale, ―Confusions and Acquisitions: Post Merger Culture Shock and Some Remedies,‖ IABC Communication Journal 9 (May–June 1992): 44–5.

4. You are a special assistant to the commander-in-chief of a peacekeeping mission to a war-torn part of the world. The unit consists of a few thousand peacekeeping troops from the United States, France, India, and four other countries. The troops will work together for approximately one year.

What strategies would you recommend to improve mutual understanding and minimize conflict among these troops?

Multicultural forces minimize conflict by ensuring that troops eat and socialize together. Various social activities can occur, such as mixed sports teams (although finding a common sport can be a problem!).

Special dialogue sessions can help troops overcome stereotypes of each other. In these sessions, people from each representative country would discuss their backgrounds and how they think about their role in the peacekeeping activity. You will also need to assess and address other issues that could potentially create conflict (e.g., need for resources, task interdependence issues, and ensuring roles and procedures are clear).

5. The chief operating officer (COO) has noticed that production employees in the company’s Mexican manufacturing operations are unhappy with some of the production engineering decisions made by engineers in the company’s headquarters in Chicago. At the same time, the engineers complain that production employees aren’t applying their engineering specifications correctly and don’t understand why those specifications were put in place. The COO believes that the best way to resolve this conflict is to have a frank and open discussion between some of the engineers and employees representing the Mexican production crew. This open dialogue approach worked well recently among managers in the company’s Chicago headquarters, so it should work equally well between the engineers and production staff. Based on your knowledge of communication and mutual understanding as a way to resolve conflict, discuss the COO’s proposal.

The COO should be very cautious about launching into an intervention to improve communication and mutual understanding between these two groups. The problem is that, as the textbook warns, communication and mutual understanding interventions may fail when the parties have high differentiation, as is the case here. Furthermore, the Mexican culture has more conflict avoidance than occurs in the United States, which could further aggravate the situation.

Instead, the COO should first try to find ways to reduce differentiation, such as by having both groups perform an interesting task or team-building exercise together (e.g., Habitat for Humanity volunteering day). Even if differentiation is reduced, the national culture differences call for subtle forms of ―gettingto-know-you‖ events, such as social and task-related activities where each party comes to appreciate the uniqueness of the other group.

6. Describe the inquisitional approach to resolve disputes between employees or work units. Discuss its appropriateness in organizational settings, including the suitability of its use with a multigenerational workforce.

By applying the inquisitional approach, managers dominate the intervention process as well as make a binding decision. Specifically, inquisitional managers control all discussion about the conflict, ask questions to the disputing parties, and decide which information to select or ignore.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

The inquisitional approach is generally inappropriate in typical organizational settings. One problem is that managers tend to collect limited information about the problem using this approach, so their imposed decision may produce an ineffective solution to the conflict. Another problem is that employees tend to think that the procedures and outcomes of inquisitions are unfair because they have little control over this.

In an organizational setting with a multigenerational workforce, the inappropriateness of the inquisitional approach is even more evident. In such a workforce there already exists some tension between young and older workers, which has the potential to induce generational conflict. Using the inquisitional approach with its inherent lack of perceived fairness would exacerbate rather than mitigate conflict. The inquisitional approach may be successful in work environments where employees have a high power distance and are more accepting of autocratic management styles. However, younger employees in North America have different attitudes about work and the role of their superiors, which generally favor participative and more egalitarian management styles.

7. Jane has just been appointed as purchasing manager of Tacoma Technologies, Inc. The previous purchasing manager, who recently retired, was known for his ―winner-take-all‖ approach to suppliers. He continually fought for more discounts and was skeptical about any special deals that suppliers would propose. A few suppliers refused to do business with Tacoma Technologies, but senior management was confident that the former purchasing manager’s approach minimized the company’s costs. Jane wants to try a more collaborative approach to working with suppliers. Will her approach work? How should she adopt a more collaborative approach in future negotiations with suppliers?

The best strategy when entering negotiations is to begin with a cautious win–win orientation. This means that Jane should enter the negotiations with a problem-solving style by sharing information slowly.

However, she should carefully watch for evidence that the suppliers are responding with problem-solving behaviors.

If suppliers do not reciprocate with a problem-solving style, then Jane should retreat somewhat from the problem-solving approach, perhaps shifting to more of a compromising style. She should return to a more problem-solving approach later, again being cautious and watching for reciprocal behaviors from suppliers.

8. You are a new program manager with responsibility for significant funding and external relations, and because of downsizing issues in your area, you have lost two valuable employees (actually 1.5, because the second person is on half time now; she used to be your manager and was the person under whom you trained). You have been in the new job approximately two weeks; however, you have been in the unit for more than a year and have seen how systems are managed, from your manager’s perspective. You now have her job. Out of the blue, a senior person (not in your area) comes to you and says he is taking most of your space (when the company had to let the 1.5 people go). He doesn’t ask your permission, nor does he seem the least bit concerned with what your response is. What do you do?

You are in a tricky situation, because a superior from a different area is asserting his right to your area.

You have checked around and your boss has not been informed, but the senior management seem to approve. You go to your boss and inform her of the untenable situation. She then begins to ―yell‖ at the senior person, but he shifts blame to several others. The boss then goes to these several others and uses Page 12-499 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

the logic of the sensitivity of the materials, the ongoing criticality of the project to make the point. This whole process has rattled the remaining people in the unit, and you have ―mirrored‖ your boss‘s voice, by yelling at them. The result was that everyone in your unit felt that you were ―forcing‖ a decision down their throats. In reflecting on the OB course you recently had, you realized that perhaps a better strategy would be to aim for a win–win one, or something called problem-solving. Actually, the boss was using that technique, but you hadn‘t realized it at the time, unable to decouple ―what someone says‖ and ―why they say it.‖ Problem-solving is a critical step in dealing with real-time conflict, and it takes skill and practice to perfect it.

9. Laura is about to renegotiate her job role with her new manager. She has heard through the grapevine that he is a tough negotiator, highly competitive, and unwilling to take others’ needs into consideration. She has also heard that even if he gives concessions in the negotiation, he often fails to keep his word. If you were Laura, how would you prepare for this negotiation?

Laura faces two issues. The first is managing a tough negotiator. She will benefit from being prepared and knowing exactly what she wants and why she wants it. In framing her requests, she should think about how to frame them from her manager‘s perspective, that is, to think about what might persuade and motivate him to agree with her. She should also think about the kinds of obstacles and counterarguments that he might throw her way during the negotiation and be prepared to deal with. Laura may find it helpful to talk to others who have negotiated with him, to find out what kinds of approaches worked for them and to rehearse with friends or colleagues. She faces a second obstacle in that, as a female, she is likely to encounter resistance and even backlash just for ―asking.‖ Because women are not expected to ask for themselves, she might consider framing her requests as ―benefiting my team.‖ She would also benefit from providing advance notice of her intention to have this discussion, and from framing it as ―problem-solving‖ rather than ―negotiation.‖ She should keep notes and, after the negotiation, send a summary of key points and agreements to her new manager ―to make sure I understood our discussion and what we agreed to.‖

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CS CASE STUDY: MAELSTROM COMMUNICATIONS Case Synopsis Maelstrom Communications is a franchised distributorship that is part of a nationwide network of communications manufacturers of intercom, paging, sound, and interconnect telephone systems. The company has an ongoing conflict problem between the sales and service staff as well as between the company president Al Whitfield (who is sales-oriented) and the vice president of production Lawrence Henderson who oversees the service group. The sales staff complain that their clients do not receive service quickly enough from the service group, whereas the service group tries to distribute its resources systematically to satisfy the demands placed on it.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. What situational conditions have created the conflict in this case?

Goal incompatibility. The salespeople want to maximize client satisfaction and seem to have no problem offering them service support. However, the service group tries to process requests systematically so that it makes the most efficient use of existing resources.

Differentiation. The case suggests that service people have technical backgrounds, whereas the salespeople do not. At least, the two groups are different in their different work activities and forms of client interactions.

Task interdependence. The sales and service people have a high level of interdependence, at least at a sequential level. Specifically, the salespeople receive orders for equipment from clients and this sets in motion a request for service people to install and/or maintain the system. A reciprocal level of interdependence might occur if the service group sends the request for assistance back to the sales group, such as when the problem requires the client to purchases additional equipment.

Scarce resources. The conflict in this case is partly caused by the service group‘s limited number of service people to help clients and fulfill requests from the salespeople.

Communication. The case suggests that sales and service people communicate to each other indirectly through the president and vice president of production. Moreover, the two groups work with clients at different times (i.e., the sales people do not accompany the service people). Finally, the sales people do not receive timely feedback on the service progress. The result is that neither group understands the other‘s goals and beliefs very well and resorts to traditional stereotyping to explain the other party‘s actions (or lack of actions).

2. What actions should the organization take to manage the conflict?

Depending on resources and organizational objectives, Maelstrom may want to consider giving more funds to the service group to employ more service technicians. This would allow them to provide service faster and more fully to clients. There is some support for this point in the sense that the president has a sales orientation rather than a service orientation. It may suggest that the service group lacks the resources of the sales group, and certainly less than the sales group thinks it needs.

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A second option is to force sales and service people to investigate the ongoing conflict and to propose recommendations. This level of involvement may build commitment to a better system of service requests. It may also improve each side‘s perception of the other‘s goals and expectations.

A third strategy is for sales and service group employees to spend time in the other‘s department. For example, new sales staff members might travel with service people for a few days to understand their side of the business better. Service people could similarly travel with sales staff to understand their perspective better.

Finally, the president could try to reduce the conflict by focusing the two units on a superordinate goal.

However, the nature of this conflict is that both groups could probably believe that they already are serving the superordinate goal (e.g., service is serving customers as best as it can with existing resources).

If external competition becomes a threat, then the two groups may become more motivated to resolve the structural sources of conflict.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

CS CASE STUDY: DISCORD INVESTMENTS Case Synopsis Discord Investments brought in a global information technology (IT) consulting firm to implement a new client/server network. The company was not going to outsource its information systems activities, but the IT staff didn‘t get along with the consultants because they thought otherwise. The IT staff also fought over scheduling—the consultants wanted to work 12-hour days on Monday to Thursday, whereas IT staff had planned their nonwork lives around a traditional eight-hour day with a five-day week. Staff and consultants also disagreed on who should lead the project.

NOTE: Although fictional, this case is based on similar events reported at an American flooring manufacturer. The scheduling and leadership conflicts were particularly evident in that real-life situation.

Ultimately, the company thought they resolved the conflicts by clarifying rules on these matters and forming an executive committee to resolve further conflicts (likely with more rules and arbitration decisions). It is unclear from that real-world case whether the employees or consultants actually experienced less conflict after the company‘s interventions.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions 3. Identify and explain the main source(s) of conflict in this case.

Fear of losing their jobs or being transferred. This conflict is caused by (perceived) incompatible goals and ambiguous rules. Although misperceived by employees rather than actually planned by management or consultants, employees believed their jobs were in jeopardy or, at best, they would be transferred to the consulting firm. The consultants would likely benefit from these actions, so the employees viewed the consultants as competitors for the resource (their jobs). Even if employees kept their jobs but within the consulting firm, goal incompatibility occurs because employees naturally feel more comfortable with the existing arrangement than with an unknown future. This conflict is likely also due to ambiguous rules, namely, the future of the IT jobs. The employee misperceptions suggest such ambiguity. Other sources of conflict may apply here but are relatively weak explanations. There is always interdependence, but it is primarily pooled interdependence (employees assume that both want the same jobs). This conflict isn‘t about differentiation because there aren‘t disagreements about how to achieve a common goal. Communication is also peripheral as an explanation because there weren‘t specific misunderstandings or increased stereotyping due to reluctance to communicate.

Scheduling preferences. This conflict is caused mainly by incompatible goals, high interdependence, ambiguous rules, and possibly differentiation. The consultants and employees had different work–life integration practices and associated goals. The consultants preferred intensive workdays away from the home office with time to fly back home. The Discord IT staff preferred a regular workweek because they had arranged their lifestyles around that schedule. This situation has particularly high task interdependence—reciprocal interdependence—because both parties work back and forth with each other while the consultants are in town. This situation is also caused by ambiguous rules. The company apparently did not clarify dynamics—including scheduling—of the work relationship, so those rules were

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

ambiguous and subject to conflict with influence tactics. Some students might argue that this conflict occurs because the consultant and employees have different backgrounds. This argument is correct to some extent, but the conflict isn‘t about how they perceive the same thing differently. The conflict is due to structural differences in their work schedules.

Leading the project. This conflict is caused mainly by ambiguous rules, interdependence, and goal incompatibility. First, the case implies that the company did not sort out project leadership at the outset.

This affected expectations of both parties and conflict as they likely applied influence tactics to assume control. Second, the high (reciprocal) task interdependence among IT employees and consultants amplified this conflict because any attempt by one part of grab leadership roles immediately affected the other party. Third, this conflict relates to goal incompatibility because both parties have (or perceive they have) divergent motives for taking on the project leadership.

4. What actions should the organization take immediately and for future consulting interventions to manage the conflict more effectively?

This chapter states that the various structural sources of conflict have corresponding structural solutions.

These solutions can be applied to each of the conflict issues analyzed in the preceding question.

Fear of losing their jobs or being transferred. This conflict can be minimized by clarifying to the employees and consultants alike that the employees‘ jobs are secure and will continue in the foreseeable future in their current employment relationship. This essentially clarifies ambiguous rules regarding what will happen to the IT jobs as a result of the consulting project. The company may have difficulty convincing employees of this, but there are strategies, such as a written statement and repeated reminder that employees‘ jobs will not be lost or transferred. The usual strategy for incompatible goals is to focus both parties on a superordinate goal. That strategy probably won‘t work here because the incompatible goals is a false perception, not an actual situation.

Scheduling preferences. This conflict is also minimized mainly by clarifying rules. Specifically, the company needs to consider the needs of both groups and lay out a schedule that works best. It may be that the consultants‘ schedule wins the day because it would be expensive to adjust. This was clearly an oversight of the company—they didn‘t inform employees of the temporary work schedule revision. A second strategy is to find ways of reducing interdependence between the consultants and IT staff. Perhaps there are entire weeks in which the consultants perform work that does not require involvement of the IT employees. Alternatively, the company might identify key staff who are less adversely affected by the consultants‘ schedule and assign them more fully to work on the project. IT employees who are most adversely affected by the consultants‘ schedule can be mostly assigned to regular duties. It wouldn‘t be possible to reduce differentiation in this situation—the project is relatively brief, and the two groups have considerably different backgrounds. However, it is possible to reduce scheduling conflict through improved mutual understanding. Various activities could help both parties to empathize more with each other‘s work–life integration needs, which might increase their flexibility in scheduling. The issue of incompatible goals might be minimized by focusing employees and consultants alike on the ultimate common objective of developing a high-quality client/server network. This strategy could be difficult, particularly so late after the conflicts have occurred, but some increased cooperation might occur.

Leading the project. As with the other two conflicts, this conflict is mainly resolved by clarifying rules.

Specifically, the company needs to specify who is in charge of the project, or who has rights over the Page 12-504 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

other regarding specific aspects of the project. It isn‘t possible to reduce interdependence here because the IT staff collectively benefit from taking the leadership role rather than the consultants, and vice versa.

Goal incompatibility might be reduced somewhat through discussion about common objectives of the project, common viewpoints about how the project should proceed, and so forth. These discussions would essentially generate a sense of common understanding and therefore common goals regarding the project process and outcomes.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

EXERCISE: CONFLICT HANDLING CE CLASS INCIDENTS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand the factors to consider when choosing the preferred conflicthandling styles in organizational settings.

Instructions Step 1: Participants will read each of the three incidents presented below and select the most appropriate response from among the five alternatives for each incident.

Step 2 (Optional): The instructor may ask each student to complete the Conflict Handling Style Scale (available in Connect if assigned by the instructor) or a similar instrument. This instrument will provide an estimate of your preferred conflict-handling style.

Step 3: As a class, students identify their top two responses from the five provided. They discuss the situational factors they took into account in making those selections.

Step 4 (Optional): Students will compare their responses to the three incidents with their results from the conflict-handling self-assessment. Discussion will focus on the extent to which each person‘s preferred conflict-handling style influenced their alternatives in this activity, and the implications of this style preference for managing conflict in organizations.

Suggested Solutions to Scenarios Scenario 1 In this situation, you are a sonographer (medical ultrasound professional) who discovers that a coworker had taken your consulting room because she doesn‘t like the room assigned to her. She says that you can take her consulting room instead. Here are key contingencies to choose the preferred conflict-handling style: Distributive versus integrative—Seems to be distributive because the two rooms get divided up and the equipment apparently can‘t be moved.

Need for harmony—Fairly low need for harmony because you rarely work with this person. Also, it probably isn‘t a major face-saving or emotional matter for either of you.

Relative power and strength of conflict position—Power is mostly balanced between the two of you. Both of you are in the same job with neither having rights of the other. However, the other person does work at this site more often and claims she normally works in this room, both of which might influence her informal rights. On the other hand, the room was formally assigned to you.

Time—Very little, apparently less than 30 minutes to resolve this matter.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Importance—Seems to be more important to the other person than to you, but you also have some preference for this room due to equipment preference to serve one or more patients that day.

Trust and openness—Relatively low. You don‘t know the other person very well, no past bonding or cooperation of significance. The person‘s behavior also speaks to her indifference to your needs.

Preferred alternative: #4—You tell the sonographer that she can have the consulting room you were assigned for most of the day, but must swap rooms with you when you have appointments that are much better served by the equipment in this room. This is a form of compromise, which works best when the interests are directly opposing, the parties lack time or trust to resolve their differences, and they have equal power.

Second alternative: #2—You politely tell the other sonographer that as a favor to her, you will let her use the consulting room that you were assigned (and she has taken). Both people have arguments supporting their positions. The issue is essentially distributive and there isn‘t time to resolve this matter through problemsolving. Forcing would be unwise given that the conflict issue isn‘t important enough and you rarely work in the same clinic as this person. Also, the issue isn‘t so emotional or important that you would engage in avoiding (#5).

Scenario 2 In this scenario, you are a district manager with eight salespeople. Your boss, the company‘s national sales director, reverses several of your decisions, even though the director‘s explanations are obtuse and not particularly consistent. Here are key contingencies to choose the preferred conflict-handling style: Distributive versus integrative—This matter could have an integrative solution. It has some complexity and multiple issues to sort out.

Need for harmony—Probably fairly high for you because you are a direct report and work regularly with the national director.

Relative power and strength of conflict position—You are clearly in a position of lesser power. The national sales director is your boss, and you apparently are not viewed as a uniquely talented nonsubstitutable manager.

Time—This issue has some luxury of time in its favor, although your employees are getting restless about the problems that have occurred.

Importance—This issue is very important to you and your employees. There is implied that the national sales director also values their right to reverse decisions and to use that power.

Trust and openness—Moderate. The directors‘ actions have reduced trust, but you have already made polite overtures to the director about this matter. Also, the director is apparently fair to direct reports over the long term, even if the director can be briefly testy and vindictive.

Preferred alternative: #4—You meet with the director to discuss the issue of having decisions reversed. You ask the director to think of ways that would allow you to make decisions without the director feeling the need to reverse some of them. This is a form of problem-solving, which works best when an integrative solution may be possible, there is time to share information and seek out solutions, the parties have at least a moderate degree of trust to resolve their differences, and the issue has some complexity.

Second alternative #3—You speak to the director about their tendency to reverse decisions. You suggest that they can reverse decisions on specific matters where a change in decision is less disruptive (such as training budget allocation) but will not interfere with other types of district sales manager decisions (such as Page 12-507 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

addressing customer complaints). None of the four remaining options are nearly as good as #4. However, #3 might be the best of a bad lot of choices. It is a form of compromise. Compromise may be a necessary second choice because the issue is very important to you and your staff—yielding (#1) or avoiding (#5) aren‘t really an option due to importance. Compromise also maintains some degree of harmony. It may require some power but not as much as forcing (#2). And the power required for compromise may be within the normal range of expectations a manager has of a boss.

Scenario 3 You are the manager responsible for operational analysis at a national citrus fruit processing company. Your quarterly reports depend on each production facility to supply you with the raw data through a welldeveloped online reporting system. However, the manager of grapefruit production in Florida (Ben Estobar) has not yet submitted key information and says he is too busy to complete the task by the deadline (this week).

Distributive versus integrative—Likely a distributive solution in the immediate situation because any missing information might compromise the overall results. However, some students might suggest otherwise (e.g., that some information is more vital than other information). There may be an integrative longer-term solution.

Need for harmony—Probably moderate. You need to work with the reporting managers in future.

Relative power and strength of conflict position—You have more power in this situation because (a) the executive team increasingly relies on your reports for important decisions (high centrality) and these reports have given you a positive reputation and influence (expert power with nonsubstitutability). You also have a stronger position in this conflict because the quarterly reporting is well established with apparently plenty of time for completion, whereas Ben Estobar‘s position is relatively weak from the information provided.

Time—This issue has very little time to resolve, although it has more time in the longer term to discuss revised arrangements for all reporting managers.

Importance—This issue is very important to you and the executive team. There isn‘t enough evidence to suggest that Ben Estobar‘s reluctance or inability to complete the work on time is as important.

Trust and openness—Moderate. Ben is friendly and nonaggressive, but might twist facts in his favor. Both of you are discussing this matter openly.

Preferred alternative: #3—Give Ben Estobar an ultimatum that he must submit the required information by tomorrow afternoon. If he fails to do so, you will ask the COO (to whom you and Ben Estobar‘s manager reports) to compel him to provide the operational data this week. This solution applies the forcing conflicthandling style. It is appropriate because a quick solution is required, your position seems to be logically and morally stronger, and the issue is important to you.

Second alternative: #5—Ask the senior executive team if they would be willing to have your quarterly report postponed for a week or two, if possible. This is a form of avoiding because it does not directly work with Ben to solve the conflict. It is definitely a poor second choice relative to #3 because it risks undermining your reputation for reliability and could result in costly delays in executive decisions. However, it may be the best of a bad lot of alternatives, particularly if you can justify the explanation in terms of a manager failing to perform their role. Option #4 is compromise. Some students might properly argue that this should be the second alternative because Ben submits some information and your judgment might reasonably estimate the actual figures that are missing. However, it might undermine the quality of your analysis, thereby risking

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

your reputation and result in costly discussions by the executive team. Option #1 (yielding) might also undermine the quality of your analysis, probably even more so than Option #4 because all of the data are estimates. Option #2 is problem-solving, which might be a good long-term solution if the issue is complex as an integrative problem, but it does not resolve the current inability to complete the report this week.

Additional Comments to Instructors Before completing this activity, you might want students to complete the Conflict-Handling self-assessment (available through Connect). This instrument estimates the student‘s preferred conflict-handling style. In the context of this exercise, students can see how their choice of alternatives matches their preferred conflicthandling style, particularly when it differs from the majority of students in the class.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

TE

TEAM EXERCISE: KUMQUAT CONFLICT ROLE-PLAY

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand the dynamics of interpersonal and intergroup conflict as well as the effectiveness of negotiation strategies under specific conditions.

Materials The instructor will distribute roles for Dr. Rexa, Dr. Chan, and a few observers. These roles are provided on the following pages of these teaching notes. Ideally, each negotiation should occur in a private area, away from the other negotiations.

Instructions Preparation. The instructor should make sufficient copies of the role descriptions presented on the following pages. The activity works best when the location has enough space for several concurrent negotiations where the participants will not hear the others. The location should also allow each team to privately discuss their pre-negotiation strategy.

In-Class Instructions. The instructor will divide the class into an even number of small teams (usually four or five students per team, but larger teams are possible to accommodate larger classes). One student will remove themself from the team to be an independent observer of that team and the negotiation (e.g., 10 observers if there are 10 teams). One-half of the teams will take the role of Dr. Rexa and the other half will be Dr. Chan. (NOTE: This exercise may also be conducted using individuals rather than teams, but the process loses the interesting discussion of the pre-negotiations.)

After students have been assigned to a Dr. Rexa team, a Dr. Chan team, or as an observer for one of these teams, the instructor will read the following: ―I am Cathal. I represent the people of the cooperative that grows the world‘s only Caismirt Kumquats. We expect to produce 25,000 of these rare fruits this year, which will be harvested next month. We have learned that two companies represented by Dr. Chan and Dr. Rexa are interested in buying our Caismirt Kumquats. Our cooperative has decided to sell this year‘s production to the highest bidder.‖ (NOTE: ―Cathal‖ is usually pronounced as KA-HILL (the ―a‖ is short as in ―cat,‖ but the ―t‖ is silent). ―Caismirt‖ is pronounced KASH-MIRT.) Members of each team are given 10 minutes to learn their role and decide negotiating strategy. After reading their roles and discussing strategy, each Dr. Chan team is matched with a Dr. Rexa team to conduct negotiations. Based on the division of students into roles, each negotiation (two teams) will typically have two observers. Negotiations should take place in a quiet area away from other negotiations. The instructor should set a time limit (e.g., 15 minutes for negotiations).

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

At the end of the negotiations, the observers will describe the process and outcomes in their negotiating session. The instructor will then invite other participants to describe their experiences and the implications for conflict management.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Discussion Issues The Kumquat Conflict Role-Play exercise provides a unique situation of nearly perfect win–win bargaining because the Dr. Rexa team wants only the juice whereas the Dr. Chan team wants only the seeds. In effect, both teams can get all they need without significantly interfering with the other party‘s needs. Also notice that the two parties differ in their urgency to receive their part of the kumquat—Dr. Rexa‘s team needs to process the kumquat juice within weeks after harvest, whereas the chemical needed for Dr. Chan‘s team retains its quality in properly stored seeds for several months.

The speed of the negotiations depends on the extent that the parties are willing to share information. In practice, students usually assume a win–lose orientation and their negotiation strategies reflect this approach.

They try persuasion (which side‘s cause is more humanitarian) and power (who can pay more). The integrative possibilities tend to become apparent accidentally as one side says ―We need the kumquat seeds because ..... ‖ The other side often replies, ―Oh, we only need the juice!‖ and the negotiations turn to the easier task of determining a distribution schedule.

However, I have witnessed several negotiations where the other party will not reveal the complementary nature of the relationship and, instead, will use this information as a power base. For example, if the Dr. Chan team mentions it requires the seeds, the Dr. Rexa team might not acknowledge that it needs the juice.

Instead, it will reluctantly ―give‖ the seeds to the Dr. Chan team in return for a portion of Dr. Chan‘s royalties or a cash payment. As part of the agreement for being so generous, the Dr. Rexa team asks for every other part of the kumquat so that they ―may still get some value from the kumquat.‖ This tactic is very effective for one-time negotiations, but students should be aware of the risks if the parties must negotiate in the future.

One way to start the post-negotiation discussion is to have observers of the successful negotiations explain what happened. Members of the failed negotiations (where the parties maintained a win–lose orientation) are caught completely off-guard by the true situation. The discussion should then turn to preferred negotiation strategies, the value and risks of information sharing, and the use of power in negotiations.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

PARTICIPANT HANDOUT Role of Dr. Rexa You are Dr. S.A. Rexa, chief engineering scientist on a top secret project at a global private-sector business known for its highly sophisticated space and military technology products for the U.S. government and allied countries. The project you lead involves developing a special chemical coating to protect against the effects of gamma rays in outer space and the exosphere (outer atmosphere).

Gamma rays are the shortest wavelength and highest energy form of electromagnetic radiation. They exist throughout the universe but are blocked by the Earth‘s atmosphere. Gamma rays cause cancer and alter human DNA in human beings. They are also highly disruptive to sensitive equipment, resulting in incorrect sensor readings, short-circuits, and physical failure of those devices. Space and military equipment are currently protected to some extent against the harmful effects of gamma rays through use of specific materials, shielding devices, and other ―radiation hardening‖ techniques. Unfortunately, these techniques have a number of limitations and do not sufficiently prevent gamma radiation damage in several situations.

Your team has recently developed a chemical coating that potentially blocks gamma rays much more effectively than traditional ―radiation hardening‖ techniques. The new coating will have tremendous benefits for the company‘s growth and profitability. For example, these coatings will enable autonomously guided military projectiles to travel through the exosphere to their intended target with significantly less risk of gamma ray–induced equipment failure (which could misdirect the payload to civilian locations). The coating may also improve the health and safety of personnel during space journeys. However, your company designs and manufactures electronic equipment, so the coating would be applied in the near term to protect equipment, rather than people, from gamma rays.

Almost all of the ingredients for the new coating mixture are widely available, except for one unique chemical substance that is found only in Caismirt Kumquats. This particular variety of fruit is grown only by a small farm cooperative in another country. The fruit will be harvested next month, and the essential chemical must be extracted from the kumquat juice within a few weeks after the fruit has been picked. The cooperative produced 30,000 Caismirt kumquats last year, of which your company acquired from a third party a few hundred to develop and perfect its gamma ray protection coating formula. Your company will require the juice from this year‘s entire production of kumquats (assuming similar output of kumquats as last year) to fulfill its coatings project obligations to clients over the next year.

You have been informed that Dr. Z.W. Chan, who leads a research team at a pharmaceutical firm, also urgently wants to buy these Caismirt Kumquats. The pharmaceutical firm where Dr. Chan works is highly competitive with your company regarding chemical developments. Over the years, your firm and Dr. Chan‘s have sued each other several times for violations of industrial espionage laws and infringement of patent rights. Litigation on two suits is still in process.

Your company‘s clients, including the U.S. government, are eager to have your firm apply the new coating to its space and exosphere-located military equipment as soon as possible. You have been authorized to approach the cooperative‘s representative (whose name is Cathal) and purchase this year‘s entire production (up to 30,000) of Caismirt Kumquats for as much as US $10 per kumquat.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

You have been told the cooperative will sell its harvest of Caismirt Kumquats to the highest bidder. Before approaching Cathal and the cooperative, you have decided to personally persuade Dr. Chan to give your firm sole access to purchase this year‘s Caismirt Kumquat harvest.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

PARTICIPANT HANDOUT Role of Dr. Chan You are Dr. Z.W. Chan, a research scientist at a pharmaceutical firm specializing in eye diseases. Your research team has developed a unique eye-drop product that significantly slows degeneration of the cornea that occurs in a small percentage of the population with a rare gene mutation. People with this genetic mutation have a very high risk of blindness, whereas the regular application of the eye drops your team has developed would reduce total blindness for almost everyone in this group and extend functional eyesight for many throughout their adult life. Surgical transplants and other interventions have had limited success, have much higher risks, and are usually much more expensive.

Research trials with human volunteers have reported no dysfunctional side effects from the new product.

Based on the experimental results to date, government agencies in several countries have granted temporary approval for your company to distribute this product over the next 12 months to 5,000 people in the affected group who currently experience rapid corneal degeneration. Patent approval is expected next year, after successful completion of a replication of the earlier studies. The patent will give the pharmaceutical firm where you work much-needed revenue and profits to continue research on cures for other eye diseases.

Almost all of the ingredients for your team‘s new eye-saving product are widely available, except for one unique chemical substance that is extracted from the seeds of Caismirt Kumquats. This particular variety of fruit is grown only by a small farm cooperative in another country and will be harvested next month.

Fortunately, with proper storage, the essential chemical in the Caismirt Kumquat can be extracted from the seeds several months after the fruit has been picked. Last year, your team acquired from a third party a few hundred of the 30,000 Caismirt Kumquats produced at that time to develop and test the eye-drop formula.

Your company needs approximately 20,000 Caismirt Kumquats for production and research requirements over the next 12 months.

You have been informed that Dr. S.A. Rexa, chief engineering scientist at an elusive global private-sector electronics business, also urgently wants to buy these Caismirt Kumquats. The firm where Dr. Rexa works has been known for developing equipment in military missiles and spy satellites. Rexa‘s employer is also highly competitive with your company regarding chemical developments. Over the years, your firm and Dr. Rexa‘s have sued each other several times for violations of industrial espionage laws and infringement of patent rights. Litigation on two suits is still in process.

Health agencies and nonprofit organizations representing corneal degeneration sufferers want your firm to quickly expand production and distribution of the eye drops and to complete tests for final approval of the product. The pharmaceutical firm has authorized you to approach the cooperative‘s representative (whose name is Cathal) and purchase up to 20,000 of this year‘s Caismirt Kumquats for as much as US $4 per kumquat. You have been told the cooperative will sell its harvest of Caismirt Kumquats to the highest bidder.

Dr. Rexa communicated with your organization today to meet with you regarding the Caismirt Kumquats.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

PARTICIPANT HANDOUT Role of Observer

Please observe the negotiations of the team to which you are assigned, including the pre-negotiations. You will be a silent observer throughout the negotiation process. After Dr. Rexa and Dr. Chan complete their negotiations, you and the other observer for this negotiation should be prepared to answer the following questions for general class discussion.

In observing, look for the following: What conflict orientation (win–win, win–lose) did the team adopt before meeting with the other party?

20.

To what extent did the team share information with the other party?

21.

Did the parties trust each other?

22.

When one party disclosed information, to what extent did the other party reciprocate by disclosing information?

23.

Did either party use the information as a power base to secure a better outcome for itself? If so, how?

24.

How was negotiation progress affected by each team‘s initial conflict orientation?

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

11.1: WHAT IS YOUR SA SELF-ASSESSMENT PREFERRED CONFLICT-HANDLING STYLE? Overview and Instructions There are five main conflict-handling styles that people use in response to conflict situations. We are usually most comfortable using one or two of these styles based on our personality, values, self-concept, and past experience.

Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and indicate how well the statement reflects the way they tend to act in a conflict with someone else.

Feedback for the Conflict-Handling Style Self-Assessment This self-assessment estimates the extent to which the person prefers to use each of the five conflict-handling styles identified in the conflict management literature: yielding, compromising, forcing, problem-solving, and avoiding.

Yielding Yielding involves giving in completely to the other side‘s wishes, or at least cooperating with little or no attention to your own interests. This style involves making unilateral concessions, unconditional promises, and offering help with no expectation of reciprocal help.

Compromising Compromising involves looking for a position in which your losses are offset by equally valued gains. It involves matching the other party‘s concessions, making conditional promises or threats, and actively searching for a middle ground between the interests of the two parties.

Forcing Forcing tries to win the conflict at the other‘s expense. It includes ―hard‖ influence tactics, particularly assertiveness, to get one‘s own way.

Problem-Solving Problem-solving tries to find a mutually beneficial solution for both parties. Information sharing is an important feature of this style because both parties need to identify common ground and potential solutions that satisfy both (or all) of them.

Avoiding Avoiding tries to smooth over or avoid conflict situations altogether. It represents a low concern for both self and the other party. In other words, avoiders try to suppress thinking about the conflict.

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Conflict Handling Scale Norms Scores on the five Conflict Handling Scale dimensions range from 4 to 20. Higher scores indicate that the person has a higher preference for and use of that particular conflict-handling style. Norms vary from one group to the next. The following table shows norms from a sample of 225 MBA students. Most are from Australia, but some completed courses in Singapore and many of these people originate from other regions (Europe, South America, Asia, North America). The average age is about 31 years old and two-thirds would be male. To read this chart, consider the top 10 percentile for Yielding. The score is 14, indicating that 10 percent of people score 14 or above and 90 percent score below 14 on this dimension. Keep in mind that these scores represent self-perceptions. Evaluations from others (such as through 360-degree feedback) may provide a more accurate estimate of your preferred conflict-handling style.

Percentile

Yielding

Compromising Avoiding

Forcing

ProblemSolving

Top 10th percentile

14

16

14

16

19

Top 25th percentile

13

15

12

15

17

Median (50th percentile)

12

13

10

13

16

Bottom 25th percentile

10

12

8

11

15

Bottom 10th percentile

9

10

7

10

13

Average score

11.4

13.2

10.3

12.9

15.9

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

Chapter 12:

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

Leadership in Organizational Settings

Interconnected Knowledge

Prepared by Steven L. McShane

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Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings

12

Leadership in Organizational Settings

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Define leadership and shared leadership.

Describe the four elements of transformational leadership and explain why they are important for organizational change.

Compare managerial leadership with transformational leadership, and describe the features of taskoriented, people-oriented, and servant leadership.

Discuss the elements of path–goal theory and leadership substitutes theory.

Describe the two components of the implicit leadership perspective.

Identify eight personal attributes associated with effective leaders and describe authentic leadership.

Discuss cultural and male–female similarities and differences in leadership.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY authentic leadership—the view that effective leaders need to be aware of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their values, personality, and self-concept

leadership—influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members

implicit leadership theory—a theory stating that people evaluate a leader‘s effectiveness in terms of how well that person fits preconceived beliefs about the features and behaviors of effective leaders (leadership prototypes) and that people tend to inflate the influence of leaders on organizational events

leadership substitutes theory—a theory identifying conditions that either limit a leader‘s ability to influence subordinates or make a particular leadership style unnecessary learning orientation—a set of beliefs and norms in which people are encouraged to question past practices, learn new ideas, experiment putting ideas into practice, and view mistakes as part of the learning process

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managerial leadership—a leadership perspective stating that effective leaders help employees improve their performance and well-being toward current objectives and practices (also called functional leadership) path–goal leadership theory—a leadership theory stating that effective leaders choose the most appropriate leadership style(s), depending on the employee and situation, to influence employee expectations about desired results and their positive outcomes

shared leadership—the view that leadership is a role, not a position assigned to one person, such that people within the team and organization lead each other transformational leadership—a leadership perspective that explains how leaders change teams or organizations by creating, communicating, and modeling a vision for the organization or work unit and inspiring employees to strive for that vision

servant leadership—the view that leaders serve followers, rather than vice versa; leaders help employees fulfill their needs and are coaches, stewards, and facilitators of employee development

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 34. Define leadership and shared leadership.

Leadership is defined as the ability to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute to the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members. Leaders use influence to motivate followers and arrange the work environment so they do the job more effectively. Shared leadership views leadership as a role rather than a formal position, so employees throughout the organization act informally as leaders as the occasion arises. These situations include serving as champions for specific ideas or changes, as well as filling leadership roles where it is needed.

35. Describe the four elements of transformational leadership and explain why they are important for organizational change.

Transformational leadership begins with a strategic vision, which is a positive representation of a future state that energizes and unifies employees. A vision is values-based, a distant goal, abstract, and meaningful to employees. Transformational leaders effectively communicate the vision by framing it around values, showing sincerity and passion toward the vision, and using symbols, metaphors, and other vehicles that create richer meaning for the vision. Transformational leaders model the vision (walk the talk) and encourage employees to experiment with new behaviors and practices that are potentially more consistent with the visionary future state. They also build employee commitment to the vision through the preceding activities, as well as by celebrating milestones to the vision. Transformational leaders are not necessarily charismatic, and charismatic leaders do not necessarily apply transformational leadership behaviors.

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36. Compare managerial leadership with transformational leadership, and describe the features of task-oriented, people-oriented, and servant leadership.

Managerial leadership includes the daily activities that support and guide the performance and well-being of individual employees and the work unit to achieve current objectives and practices. Transformational and managerial leadership are dependent on each other, but they differ in their assumptions of stability versus change and their micro versus macro focus.

Task-oriented behaviors include assigning employees to specific tasks, clarifying their work duties and procedures, ensuring they follow company rules, and pushing them to reach their performance capacity.

People-oriented behaviors include showing mutual trust and respect for subordinates, demonstrating a genuine concern for their needs, and having a desire to look out for their welfare.

Servant leadership defines leadership as serving others to support their need fulfillment and personal development and growth. Servant leaders have a natural desire or ―calling‖ to serve others. They maintain a relationship with others that is humble, egalitarian, and accepting. Servant leaders also anchor their decisions and actions in ethical principles and practices.

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37. Discuss the elements of path–goal theory and leadership substitutes theory.

The path–goal theory of leadership takes the view that effective managerial leadership involves diagnosing the situation and using the most appropriate style for it. The core model identifies four leadership styles—directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented—and several contingencies related to the characteristics of the employee and of the situation. Leadership substitutes theory identifies contingencies that either limit the leader‘s ability to influence subordinates or make a particular leadership style unnecessary.

38. Describe the two components of the implicit leadership perspective.

According to the implicit leadership perspective, people have leadership prototypes, which they use to evaluate the leader‘s effectiveness. Furthermore, people form a romance of leadership; they want to believe that leaders make a difference, so they engage in fundamental attribution error and other perceptual distortions to support this belief in the leader‘s impact.

39. Identify eight personal attributes associated with effective leaders and describe authentic leadership.

The personal attributes perspective identifies the characteristics of effective leaders. Recent writing suggests that leaders have specific personality characteristics, positive self-concept, leadership motivation, drive, integrity, knowledge of the business, cognitive and practical intelligence, and emotional intelligence. Authentic leadership refers to how well leaders are aware of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their self-concept. This concept consists mainly of two parts: selfawareness and engaging in behavior that is consistent with one‘s self-concept.

40. Discuss cultural and male–female similarities and differences in leadership.

Cultural values influence the leader‘s personal values, which in turn influence their leadership practices.

Women generally do not differ from men in the degree of people-oriented or task-oriented leadership.

However, female leaders more often adopt a participative style. Research also suggests that people evaluate female leaders on the basis of gender stereotypes, which may result in higher or lower ratings.

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Leadership in Organizational Settings Slide 2: Learning Objectives Define leadership and shared leadership.

Describe the four elements of transformational leadership and explain why they are important for organizational change.

Compare managerial leadership with transformational leadership, and describe the features of task-oriented, people-oriented, and servant leadership.

Discuss the elements of path–goal theory and leadership substitutes theory.

Describe the two components of the implicit leadership perspective.

12-6 Identify eight personal attributes associated with effective leaders and describe authentic leadership.

Discuss cultural and male–female similarities and differences in leadership.

Slide 3: The Leadership of Melanie Perkins Melanie Perkins has led Canva with a combination of vision, persistence, and optimism about the company‘s growth and success

Slide 4: Leadership Defined Influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organizations of which they are members • Leaders motivate others through persuasion and other influence tactics • Leaders are enablers—They configure the work environment to make it easier for employees to achieve organizational objectives

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Slide 5: Shared Leadership The view that leadership is a role, not a position assigned to one person, such that people within the team and organization lead each other • Employees lead each other as the occasion arises • Example: champion new ideas and technologies Shared leadership flourishes where: • Formal leaders are willing to delegate power • Collaborative (not competitive) culture—employees support each other • Employees develop skills to influence each other

Slide 6: Perspectives of Leadership Chapter is organized around four main perspectives of leadership: 1. Transformational: effective leaders are agents of change 2. Managerial: leaders help employees improve performance and well-being toward current objectives/practices 3. Implicit leadership: leadership is a perception held by followers 4. Leader attributes: personal characteristics influence an individual‘s leadership potential

Slide 7: Transformational Leadership Model Four elements: • Develop and communicate a strategic vision • Model the vision • Encourage experimentation • Build a commitment to the vision

Slide 8: Features of a Strategic Vision A positive representation of a future state that energizes and unifies employees Features of an effective vision • Describes an aspirational future with a higher purpose • Linked to personal values • Fulfills needs of multiple stakeholders • Meaningful and appealing to employees—motivational • Distant goal, challenging objective—requires substantial change (e.g., new work practices and beliefs) • Abstract future state: • Future hasn‘t yet been experienced, so can‘t detail what it looks like • Enables vision to remain stable, yet flexible enough for external environment changes

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• Unifying ideal • A superordinate objective—bonds employees together • Aligned with personal and organization‘s values—supports organizational identification

Slide 9: Transformational Leadership Elements (1 of 2) Develop/communicate the vision • Communicate through symbols, metaphors, stories, and so on • Borrow images from other experiences to create meaning • Generates strong emotions about the vision • Frame the vision—guide or construct the listener‘s mental model of the situation • Leaders communicate with humility, sincerity, and passion—shows personal belief and optimism Model the vision • Enact the vision—―walk the talk,‖ leading by example • Symbolize and demonstrate the vision through significant events, daily routines • Importance of modeling the vision • Legitimizes and demonstrates what the vision looks like in practice • Words–actions consistency builds employee trust in the leader

Slide 10: Transformational Leadership Elements (2 of 2) Encourage experimentation • Necessary for ―transformational‖ (i.e., change) • Encourage employees to question current practices • Encourage employees to discover/try out new practices (learning orientation) Build commitment to the vision • Strengthened through earlier elements • Communicating the vision—builds enthusiasm • Modeling the vision—builds trust and understanding • Encourage experimentation—builds ownership through involvement • Higher commitment also through rewards, recognition, and celebrations

Slide 11: Transformational Leadership and Charisma Charisma defined: a set of self-presentation characteristics and nonverbal communication behaviors (i.e., signaling) that generate interpersonal attraction and referent power over others as well as follower deference to the charismatic person Some models claim charisma is an essential part of transformational leadership, but emerging view is that charismatic leadership is distinct from transformational leadership

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• Charismatic leadership may have the opposite to the effects of transformational leadership • Difference 1: Charisma is based on a personal trait and referent power; transformational leadership is based on the leader‘s behaviors (vision, modeling, etc.)

• Difference 2: Charismatic leadership produces dependent followers (deference to referent power); transformational leadership produces empowered followers (motivated through leader‘s persuasion and trust) Risk that leaders become intoxicated by their charisma —focuses them on self-interest more than common good

Slide 12: Evaluating Transformational Leadership Transformational leaders make a difference • Higher employee satisfaction, org commitment, performance, org citizenship, and better and more creative decisions Transformational leadership limitations: 1. Circular logic • Shouldn‘t define and measure transformational leadership by its effects on employees 2. Mixed models of transformational leadership • Some models mix leader behaviors with personal characteristics—Problem: cause (characteristics) and effect (behaviors) in the same concept 3. Universal theory • Unclear whether transformational leadership is more beneficial in some situations than others • Need to recognize differences across cultures—for example, specific elements may be more appropriate in North America

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Slide 13: Managerial Leadership Daily activities that support and guide the performance and well-being of individual employees and the work unit to support current objectives and practices Managerial leadership compared to transformational leadership • Managerial leadership assumes stable goals and aligned environment; transformational leadership assumes need to change goals due to misaligned environment • ―Doing things right‖ versus ―Doing the right things‖ • Managerial leadership is micro-focused; transformational is more macro-focused • Focuses on specific performance and well-being; transformational focuses more on unit/collective shift to a new situation Transformational and managerial leadership are interdependent • Depend on each other to create effective workplace • Transformational needs managerial to translate the abstract vision into more specific operational behaviors and practices • Managerial depends on transformational to set the right direction

Slide 14: Task versus People Leadership Styles Earliest managerial leadership studies identified two distinct styles (behavior clusters) Task-oriented behaviors: • Assign employees to specific tasks and clarify responsibilities • Set goals and deadlines • Evaluate and provide feedback • Establish work procedures • Plan future work activities People-oriented behaviors: • Show interest in others as people • Listen to employees‘ opinions and ideas • Make the workplace more pleasant • Show appreciation to employees for their performance contribution • Considers employee needs Both styles necessary, but different effects on employees • Task-oriented results in higher job performance • People-oriented results in higher satisfaction with leader, lower turnover

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

Slide 15: Servant Leadership Serving followers toward their need fulfillment, personal development, and growth • Leaders serve followers, rather than vice versa • Selfless, egalitarian, humble, nurturing, empathetic, and ethical coaches Three main features of servant leaders: • A natural desire or ―calling‖ to serve others—for that purpose alone • Humble, egalitarian, and accepting relations with followers—leading not about power/status • Anchor decisions/actions in ethical principles and practices

Slide 16: Path–Goal Leadership Contingency model of managerial leadership • Best leadership style depends on employee/situation Leaders use various styles to influence employee expectations (path) to achieve results (goals) and satisfaction (outcome valences) • Clarify the link between employee behaviors and outcomes (P-to-O expectancies) • Influence the valence of those outcomes • Provide a work environment to facilitate goal accomplishment Path–Goal Leadership Styles

1. Directive—same as task-oriented leadership • Clarify performance goals, means to reach goals, and performance standards

2. Supportive—same as people-oriented leadership • Friendly, approachable, makes work pleasant, and shows respect/concern

3. Participative—employee involvement in decisions • Leader consults with employees, asks for suggestions, and applies ideas

4. Achievement-oriented—encourage peak performance • Sets challenging goals, continuous improvement, and shows high confidence • Applies goal setting, positive self-fulfilling prophecy

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Slide 17: Path–Goal Leadership Model Effectiveness of the four styles depends on employee and environmental contingencies Leadership effectiveness: • Employee motivation and satisfaction • Acceptance of the leader Path–Goal Leadership Contingencies  Skill and experience • Low skills and experience—use directive and supportive • Skilled/experienced—avoid directive leadership

Locus of control • Internal—prefer participative and achievement-oriented leadership • External—more satisfied with directive and supportive leadership

Task structure • Nonroutine—directive style to minimize ambiguity; participative style for more discretion • Routine—avoid directive style; supportive leadership for tedious and lack of control work

Team dynamics • Low cohesion—use supportive style • Dysfunctional norms—use directive style to counteract • High cohesion with performance-oriented norms substitute for most leader interventions Evaluating Path–Goal Leadership Model • More research support than other contingency leadership models • A few contingencies haven‘t been researched much or at all • Theory assumes leaders easily change managerial styles—but leaders may prefer one style and have difficulty applying styles that differ from their personality and values

Slide 18: Leadership Substitutes Identifies conditions that either limit a leader‘s ability to influence subordinates or make a particular leadership style unnecessary Task-oriented leadership substitutes (potentially): • Performance rewards, training employees, coworker guidance, performance team norms, intrinsically motivating work, and employee self-leadership

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

People-oriented leadership substitutes (potentially): • Supportive coworkers, training employees, enjoyable work, and employee‘s effective stress coping skills Research evidence: • A few substitutes replace need for task or people-oriented leadership; others do not • Leadership substitutes do not completely replace leaders in these situations

Slide 19: Implicit Leadership Perspective Leadership also involves followers‘ perceptions of the characteristics and attributions of people in formal leadership positions

5. Leadership prototypes • Prototypes: preconceived beliefs about characteristics of effective leaders • Positive evaluation when leader‘s features and behaviors are similar to effective leader prototypes • Reason: leader effectiveness emerges over long time, but people need to quickly trust person‘s qualities as a leader

6. Romance of leadership effect • Followers tend to distort perception of leader‘s influence • Reason 1: Simpler explanation—leader ability versus many complex reasons • Reason 2: Need for situational control—employees feel better believing that leaders make a difference so they look for this evidence

Slide 20: Personal Attributes of Effective Leaders (1 of 2) Specific skills, knowledge, aptitudes, and other personal characteristics that contribute to person‘s effectiveness or potential as a leader Personality • Most Big Five personality dimensions predict effective leadership, but strongest are: • High extraversion—comfortable having an influential role • Conscientiousness—set higher goals for themselves (and others) and are more motivated to pursue those goals Self-concept • Complex, internally consistent, and clear self-view as a leader • Positive self-evaluation—high self-esteem, self-efficacy, and internal locus of control • View themselves as both transformational and managerial Leadership motivation • Motivated to lead others • Strong need for socialized power—seek power to accomplish organizational objectives Drive

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• Moderately high energy, need for achievement, initiative, tenacity, and ambition • Related to high conscientiousness, extraversion, and positive self-evaluation • Drive inspires inquisitiveness, an action orientation, and measured boldness

Slide 21: Personal Attributes of Effective Leaders (2 of 2) Integrity • Truthfulness and consistency of words and actions • Related to honesty and ethical conduct • Based on leader‘s values—anchor for behavior consistency Knowledge of the business • Understand the organization‘s environment in which they operate • Understand how the organization internally works effectively Cognitive and practical intelligence • Above-average cognitive ability—process large volumes of information • Superior ability to analyze complex alternatives and opportunities • Practical intelligence—understand relevance and application of ideas in real world Emotional intelligence • Able to recognize and regulate emotions in themselves and in other people • For example, can tell when their conversations are having the intended emotional effect on employees

Slide 22: Authentic Leadership The view that effective leaders need to be aware of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their values, personality, and self-concept Know yourself (self-awareness) • Engage in self-reflection • Receive feedback from trusted sources • Understand inner purpose that emerges from a life story (critical life event)

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Be yourself (don‘t pretend to be someone else) • Great leaders develop their own style • Self-discipline by applying and remaining anchored to their values • Maintain a strong, positive self-evaluation

Slide 23: Leader Attributes Perspective Limitations 7. Assumes all effective leaders have the same personal characteristics and are equally important in all situations • Leadership too complex for a universal list

8. Different combinations of attributes may be equally good 9. Views leadership as within the person • But leadership is relational—people are effective leaders because of their favorable relationships with followers

10. Link between attributes and effective leadership is muddied by implicit leadership • People who exhibit some attributes (e.g., self-confidence) are called leaders because they fit the prototype of an effective leader • Followers assign nonobservable traits (e.g., self-confidence) to successful leaders

11. Attributes indicate only leadership potential, not leadership performance • People become effective leaders only after developing and mastering the necessary leadership behaviors through experience

Slide 24: Cultural and Male–Female Leadership Societal cultural values and practices: • Shape leader‘s values/norms—also shapes expectations of followers • Influence decisions and actions—an executive who acts inconsistently with cultural expectations is more likely to be perceived as ineffective • Shape follower prototype of effective leaders Some leadership styles are universal, others differ across cultures: • ―Charismatic visionary‖ is universally recognized • Participative leadership is perceived as characteristic of effective leadership in low power distance cultures but less so in high power distance cultures

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Male–Female Similarities and Differences in Leadership • Male and female leaders have similar task- and people-oriented leadership—because real-world jobs require similar behavior from male and female job incumbents • Females adopt a participative leadership more readily than male leaders • Possibly more egalitarian upbringing • Somewhat better interpersonal skills • Male–female expectation stereotypes • Females rated higher on emerging leadership (coaching, teamwork, etc.), less positive when applying full ranging of leader styles (e.g., directive and autocratic)

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

5. 1. Why should organizational leaders encourage and support shared leadership?

Emerging views of leadership support the idea that leadership needs to be developed at all levels of an organization. In a recent study, only 8 percent of executives in large firms indicated their organizations had enough leadership. Effective leaders are responsible and their success may be determined by their ability to teach and empower employees to take leadership roles. In increasingly dynamic, team-based organizations, an organization‘s competitive success may be determined by employees‘ ability to understand the business environment and take action consistent with organizational goals. Characteristics associated with leadership such as self-confidence, emotional intelligence, and integrity are increasingly being used by organizations to select employees for positions at all levels within an organization (not just management and executive positions).

6. 2. Is it possible to be a transformational leader and have poor communication skills? Why or why not?

To answer this question, students should assess the extent to which communication is important for each of the four elements of transformational leadership and identify specific ways that communication is so important. Overall, students should report that communication is vital to at least some elements of transformational leadership, so having poor communication skills would undermine the potential for transformational leadership.

Develop/communicate a strategic vision. Communication is clearly and explicitly vital for this aspect of transformational leadership. This chapter points out that transformational leaders generate meaning and motivation in followers by relying on symbols, metaphors, stories, and other vehicles that transcend plain language. As such, leaders require an excellent grasp of language to communicate metaphors, similes, and other messages that have strong emotional appeal. This communication skill is important because it creates a richer understanding of the abstract vision that generates desired emotions and motivates people to pursue the vision.

Model the vision. Communication is not as explicitly relevant because modeling the vision relates more to behaviors and decisions. However, communication does play a role to the extent that modeling includes engaging in specific types of words and associated messages. For instance, if the vision is to have a more collegial culture, then the leader‘s modeling would include using words toward others that are compatible with that vision. Also, communication may be important to explain the rationale for specific actions. For instance, the leader may need to notify employees why a particular behavior or ritual is no longer being followed, or why the leader‘s schedule has changed. Communication provides clarity regarding how the changed activity models the desired vision.

Encourage experimentation. This aspect of transformational leadership is more about empowering others to discover new behaviors and practices that are better aligned with the desired vision. However, this also includes using supportive and ―encouraging‖ language that nurtures a learning orientation culture.

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Build commitment to the vision. This chapter notes that building commitment to the vision partly results from effectively communicating the strategic vision. It includes using words, symbols, and stories that build a contagious enthusiasm that energizes people to adopt the vision as their own. Building commitment also involves celebrating milestones along the road to the vision, and these celebrations require the leader to use language that reflects the positive emotions of success.

3. Transformational leadership is the most popular perspective of leadership. However, it is far from perfect. Discuss the limitations of transformational leadership.

Circular definition of effective leadership. One problem with the transformational leadership perspective is that some researchers define this concept in terms of the leader‘s success. They suggest that leaders are transformational when they successfully bring about change, rather than whether they engage in certain behaviors we call transformational. This is circular logic, because it means that all successful leaders use the transformational style.

Universal approach to leadership. The transformational leadership model still implies a universal rather than contingency approach to leadership. Only very recently have writers begun to explore the idea that transformational leadership is more appropriate or effective in some situations than others. For example, it may be less effective in some cultures.

Cross-cultural differences. Implicit in the discussion about the universal nature of transformational leadership is the notion that it applies across cultures. Yet we know that leadership includes behaviors and communication styles that might be inconsistent with some cultures. However, preliminary evidence suggests that transformational leadership is applicable across cultures.

7. 4. This chapter distinguished charismatic leadership from transformational leadership. Yet charisma is identified by most employees and managers as a characteristic of effective leaders. Why is charisma commonly related to leadership? In your opinion, are the best leaders charismatic?

Why or why not?

This is an open-ended question that will encourage students to question their notions of leadership.

Instructors may find it useful to begin by having students discuss the meaning of charisma. The next question would be: Is a leader who is viewed as charismatic to some people also viewed as charismatic to others as well?

One does not have to be charismatic to be a successful leader. Nonetheless, being viewed as charismatic is an advantage in securing the support of followers. There have been suggestions made that charismatic leaders produce dependent followers, whereas transformational leaders produce followers who are more empowered and therefore less dependent on the leader.

5. Consider your favorite teacher. What people-oriented and task-oriented leadership behaviors did that person use effectively? In general, do you think students prefer an instructor who is more people-oriented or task-oriented? Explain your preference.

NOTE: This question relates directly to a study that looked into the preferred leadership style of university students. See V.V. Baba, ―Serendipity in Leadership: Initiating Structure and Consideration in the Classroom,‖ Human Relations 42 (1989): 509–25.

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For this discussion, it may be useful for students to work in groups and write down critical events that characterized effective and ineffective leadership from teachers. Then, the class can compare these critical events to the features of people-oriented and task-oriented leadership.

In general, instructors will probably find that students value both people-oriented and task-oriented leadership in teachers. Particularly important is the idea that each style is probably more or less important in different situations. For example, people-oriented leadership would be more valuable in stressful situations (just before the exam!). Notice that it is difficult to discuss these two styles of leadership without moving into path–goal theory and its contingency approach.

Another observation is that, given a forced choice, students will prefer a task-oriented leader. As noted in the textbook, research has found that college students apparently value task-oriented instructors because they want clear course objectives and well-prepared lectures that abide by the course objectives.

6. Your employees are skilled and experienced customer service representatives who perform nonroutine tasks, such as solving unique customer problems. Use path–goal theory to identify the most appropriate leadership style(s) you should use in this situation. Be sure to fully explain your answer, and discuss why other styles are inappropriate.

According to path–goal theory, the most appropriate leadership styles in this situation are participative and achievement-oriented. Employees have the skill and experience to provide meaningful ideas, and the nonroutine task structure gives employees discretion over their work activities. This discretion is necessary for the participative leadership style because it gives employees more freedom to implement their ideas. Achievement-oriented leadership is appropriate here because employees have the skills and experience necessary to attempt challenging goals.

Directive leadership is inappropriate here because it introduces too much supervisory control for skilled and experienced employees. Supportive leadership is probably unnecessary in this situation. The work isn‘t too challenging (employees have the necessary skills and experience) nor is it too boring (employees have nonroutine tasks).

7. Discuss the accuracy of the following statement: ―Contingency theories don’t work because they assume that leaders can adjust their style to the situation. In reality, people have a preferred leadership style that they can’t easily change.‖ This is a valuable question for class debate, because the literature has opposing positions or assumptions about the extent to which leaders can adjust their style to the situation. Path–goal theory assumes that leaders can apply all of the four leadership styles (and possibly other styles not mentioned in that theory) based on the situation. In contrast, this chapter points out that adjusting the leadership style to the situation takes considerable effort because leaders typically prefer one style that is most consistent with their personality and values. In fact, some experts suggest that leadership styles are hardwired, so it is very difficult for most of us to consistently apply one or two styles that are contrary to our personality and values.

Students who believe managers can adjust their style to the situation might argue that using a particular style is usually temporary or short-term enough that any unnatural state could be tolerated. Also, the four leadership styles mainly refer to behaviors, such as showing empathy toward employees (supportive), providing training and directions (directive), involving employees in decisions (participative), and setting

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

challenging goals (achievement). As such, these styles can be enacted using a fairly clear guidebook of behaviors. These objective behaviors are probably easier to enact, at least temporarily, even if some aren‘t consistent with one‘s innate preferences.

8. Find two job advertisements for management or executive positions. What leadership personal attributes are mentioned in these ads? If you were on the selection panel, what methods would you use to identify these personal attributes in job applicants?

This is an open-ended exercise which could be used as an activity with subsequent class discussion. The main objective is to help students identify the personal attributes organizations are looking for when hiring managers and/or executives. The personal attributes perspective of leadership should be selfevident. Encourage students to compare the attributes identified in the job advertisements with the leadership attributes identified below: Personality—Higher levels of extraversion (outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive) and conscientiousness (careful, dependable, and self-disciplined).

Self-concept—The leader‘s self-beliefs and positive self-evaluation about their own leadership skills and ability to achieve objectives.

Drive—The leader‘s inner motivation to pursue goals.

Integrity—The leader‘s truthfulness and tendency to translate words into deeds.

Leadership motivation—The leader‘s need for socialized power to accomplish team or organizational goals.

Knowledge of the business—The leader‘s tacit and explicit knowledge about the company‘s environment, enabling the leader to make more intuitive decisions.

Cognitive and practical intelligence—The leader‘s above-average cognitive ability to process information (cognitive intelligence) and ability to solve real-world problems by adapting to, shaping, or selecting appropriate environments (practical intelligence).

Emotional intelligence—The leader‘s ability to monitor their own and others‘ emotions, discriminate among them, and use the information to guide their thoughts and actions.

9. How do you think emotional, cognitive, and practical intelligence influence authentic leadership?

Leadership is about influencing, motivating, and enabling others to contribute toward effectiveness of organizations, while authentic leadership refers to how well leaders are aware of, feel comfortable with, and act consistently with their self-concept. Emotional intelligence helps leaders to perceive and express emotion, assimilate emotion in thought, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in themselves and others. Since emotions influence human decision making, the ability to understand and express emotions is likely to allow the leader to be themself and also to allow others to see the leader as being authentic. Cognitive and practical intelligence project the competence and combined with emotional intelligence will demonstrate authentic leadership.

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CS

CASE STUDY: IBEXTEL

Case Synopsis IbexTel, a formerly government-owned telecommunications monopoly, enjoyed several decades of minimal competition in a midsize European country. Now, it faces increasing competition in mobile telecommunications, device interconnectivity, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence systems, which threaten the company‘s profitability. The company hired Jason Turner, who had previous executive experience in the industry and offered a focused strategy to improve IbexTel‘s future. IbexTel‘s board members were impressed with Turner‘ experience, high-octane energy level, self-confidence, decisiveness, congenial interpersonal style, and unique ―presence.‖ Turner lived up to his reputation as a decisive executive. He quickly hired two colleagues from a company where he worked a few years earlier, cut the workforce by 10 percent, rolled out next-generation wireless broadband technology, and invested in earlystage satellite communication systems. He also aggressively attacked the government for its regulation of IbexTel‘s business. The case describes how Turner‘ decisions resulted in a worsening position for IbexTel, to the point where the board eventually fired him.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. Use specific leadership concepts to explain what went wrong at IbexTel. The following leadership perspectives either relate to this case or (in the case of transformational leadership) some students incorrectly believe the perspective is relevant.

Implicit leadership. This case is mostly about implicit leadership, particularly the issue of charisma and leadership prototypes. Turner was clearly a charismatic individual. He had a unique presence ―which captured others‘ attention and their quick respect for his leadership.‖ He also displayed the characteristics that people tend to include in their prototype of effective leaders. One such characteristic is decisiveness (see decision making chapter for further discussion of this prototype). Turner was also well spoken, experienced, and confident, which people tend to align with effective leaders.

Leader attributes. This perspective of leadership is relevant here to some extent. Turner appears to have high extraversion (but his conscientiousness is less apparent). He seems to have high self-esteem, selfefficacy, and an internal locus of control. His strong personal drive is also apparent in this case. Turner also demonstrates a high level of leadership motivation (i.e., he is clearly motivated to lead others) and his past employment suggests a good knowledge of the business. Whether Turner has high cognitive and practical intelligence is unclear. He has survived in executive positions for several years, but the decisions he made at IbexTel were clearly flawed. We know less about his integrity and emotional intelligence. The problem with selecting the leadership attributes perspective is that Turner was ultimately ineffective as a leader. He made ill-advised decisions and undermined employee morale and commitment.

Transformational leadership. Students who try to evaluate Turner in terms of transformational leadership will have difficulty. There is almost no information suggesting that Turner led and motivated employees through the four transformational elements (vision, modeling, encourage experimentation, and build commitment). On the contrary, the case suggests that employees were not on-board with Turner‘ Page 13-539 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

plans. Also, Turner influenced the board through his charisma, which differs from transformational leadership.

2. Identify specific ways that IbexTel’s board of directors can reduce the risk of repeating these leadership problems?

The answer to this question is contingent on the leadership perspective selected in the previous question.

For students who selected the implicit leadership perspective, the best answer is the company boards need to be aware—and wary—of the tendency to evaluate the leadership of people based on implicit prototypes, which are not always accurate predictions of the leader‘s success. They also need to be aware that charisma does not necessarily translate into transformational leadership—some leaders use charisma to their personal advantage, or to get their way without substantial discussion of the merits of the decision.

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: WORLD CAFÉ ON LEADERSHIP

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand different leadership themes and specific behaviors and attributes of effective leaders associated with that theme.

Materials This exercise is possible as a face-to-face (f2f) class or a remote class. For f2f classes, the learning space should allow for one large table or other dedicated area for approximately every 10 students in the class. For remote classes, each team is assigned to a separate team room (i.e., six team rooms instead of six tables). One person (the ―scribe‖) at each table/room will write notes on the ideas presented. These ideas can be rewritten later as a summary of the event.

Instructions Step 1: Students are organized into teams of approximately 10 people. For f2f classes, each team is initially assigned to a large table or dedicated space for the team. For remote classes, each team is permanently assigned to a virtual team room. The instructor will assign one of the three themes (see below) to each table.

For example, if the class has 60 students, there would be six tables/team rooms of 10 students. In this example, two tables/rooms would be assigned the theme of charismatic leadership, two tables/rooms would look at managerial leadership, and two tables/rooms would look at transformational leadership.

Step 2: For either f2f or remote classes, one person on each team volunteers to be the ―scribe‖ for that table.

The scribe makes notes on the main ideas presented by students at that table/room. For f2f classes, the scribe remains at the same table for the entire exercise, whereas the rest of the team moves from one table to another table when the instructor advises. For remote sessions, only the scribes move from one team room to the next when the instructor advises. In remote sessions, each team remains in the same team room and receives a different scribe (and topic) when the instructor advises. All scribes will later debrief the class on the key points they documented on the theme assigned to them.

Step 3: Teams will read the questions assigned to the theme of their initial table/topic (see below). They have a fixed time (usually between 10 and 15 minutes) to discuss their views and offer answers to those questions.

The scribe will document ideas presented by the team.

Step 4: After the preset discussion time has ended, the instructor will advise the class to move to the next table (f2f) or topic (remote). For f2f classes, each team (except the scribe) moves to another table that has a different theme. For example, students at a ―charismatic leadership‖ table would together move to a table on either ―managerial leadership‖ or ―transformational leadership.‖ For remote classes, only the scribes move to another table, specifically to a table identified by the instructor that has not discussed the scribe‘s topic.

Students will read the questions assigned to the theme of this second table/topic. The instructor again assigns a fixed time (10 to 15 minutes) for students to discuss their new theme.

Step 5: The scribe will add ideas identified by the second group to existing notes presented earlier by the first team. The scribe should not tell the second group what the first group discussed about this theme. The scribe should remain quiet, except asking for clarification.

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Step 6: One more transition occurs after the preset discussion time. For f2f classes, the instructor will advise each team to move to the next table. For remote classes, the instructor will advise each scribe to move to the next team room. In either situation, the scribe will interact with a team that has not yet discussed that topic (i.e., they will discuss the third topic described below). Scribes document ideas from their third group without informing them of what the previous teams discusses on that theme.

Step 7: After the third round of discussion has ended, the entire class will gather and listen to the main ideas documented by the scribes. This is usually a few minutes per scribe. If two or more scribes have been responsible for the same theme, those scribes should present at the same time or consecutively (e.g., if two scribes have the managerial leadership theme, for example, they should speak to the class together or one after the other).

World Café Discussion Themes (Provided in the Book) Table 1: Transformational leadership

1. Provide specific examples of leaders who ―transformed‖ the work unit or organization to a better future.

What did they do regarding employees and other stakeholders to achieve this change?

2. What personal characteristics of leaders assist their transformational leadership?

3. In what situations, if any, would transformational leadership be dysfunctional?

Table 2: Managerial leadership

4. Provide specific examples of leaders who have been effective at improving the performance and wellbeing of employees in the work unit or organization. What did they do to make the group or firm more effective?

5. What personal characteristics of leaders assist their managerial leadership?

6. In what situations, if any, would managerial leadership be dysfunctional?

Table 3: Charismatic leadership

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

7. What does a charismatic leader do that makes them charismatic?

8. To what extent and under what conditions would charismatic leaders be effective leaders?

9. Under what conditions or in what ways, if any, is charisma dysfunctional in leaders?

Comments for Instructors This is an excellent activity to involve students on the important topic of leadership and on its various forms and concepts. The World Café structure of the exercise is particularly helpful because it can be used in larger classes. (Steve has conducted this activity in MBA classes with almost 80 students using six tables—two sets of each of the three topics listed above and 13 people per table!)

The first piece of advice, particularly for instructors in larger classes, is ORGANIZATION. Have café tables set up with sufficient space for all students in each cohort to gather around.

Also important is to carefully instruct students on the process before the process begins. Few would have done a world café previously, so there is potential for confusion when teams move to the next table (or to the next ―topic‖ with a new scribe for remote groups). Instructors should carefully describe how one person needs to take notes and remain with the same topic for the entire exercise, how after a fixed time (when the instructor advises to move) either all members of a group except the scribe will move to the next café table (f2f sessions) or in remote sessions the scribe moves to another group‘s room, how the scribe remains quiet except asking for clarification (e.g., the scribe does NOT summarize any notes to the next team), and how the team discusses the topic associated with each table, so everyone (except scribes) eventually discusses all three topics after moving through the three tables.

Several minutes before each move, let each table know where they will move next and in how many minutes (e.g., in an f2f session, say, ―This group, except the scribe, will move the table near the window in about four minutes. I‘ll advise the class when it is time to move.‖). Be sure to remind the scribe what to do at the end of the session—that is, to stay at the table in f2f sessions and to move to the next designated group‘s room in remote sessions. Either way, the scribe should AVOID telling the next group what previous groups have stated to the scribe. If the next group just repeats the same ideas, that merely reinforces the importance of those ideas (and requires less note-taking).

A major challenge for scribes is to present a brief summary of the key points. Scribes need to organize the ideas for a class presentation. In some instances, the class might have a break before debriefing, which gives scribes time to organize their ideas. In any event, emphasize that scribes are not expected to repeat everything that was discussed, just the main/more frequently discussed ideas. The other challenge is to condense the ideas into an approximately three-minute debriefing to the class. Scribes often talk longer due to lack of organization and desire to get every idea into the summary.

Another key role for instructors is to encourage scribes to ask one or two specific students to repeat the excellent examples they mentioned in the café. The instructor should adjust the debriefing time for examples provided by one or more students to the class during the debriefing.

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: LEADERSHIP DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students learn about the different path–goal leadership styles and when to apply each style.

Instructions Step 1: Students individually write down two incidents in which someone has been an effective manager or leader over them. The leader and situation might be from work, a sports team, a student work group, or any other setting where leadership might emerge. For example, students might describe how their supervisor in a summer job pushed them to reach higher performance goals than they would have done otherwise. Each incident should state the actual behaviors that the leader used, not just general statements (e.g., ―My boss sat down with me and we agreed on specific targets and deadlines, then he said several times over the next few weeks that I was capable of reaching those goals.‖). Each incident requires only two or three sentences.

Step 2: After everyone has written their two incidents, the instructor will form small groups (typically between four or five students). Each team will answer the following questions for each incident presented in that team: 1. Which path–goal theory leadership style(s)—directive, supportive, participative, or achievement-

oriented—did the leader apply in this incident?

2. Ask the person who wrote the incident about the conditions that made this leadership style (or

these styles, if more than one was used) appropriate in this situation. The team should list these contingency factors clearly and, where possible, connect them to the contingencies described in path–goal theory. (NOTE: The team might identify path–goal leadership contingencies that are not described in the book. These, too, should be noted and discussed.)

Step 3: After the teams have diagnosed the incidents, each team will describe to the entire class the most interesting incidents, as well as its diagnosis of that incident. Other teams will critique the diagnosis. Any leadership contingencies not mentioned in the textbook should also be presented and discussed.

Comments for Instructors This experiential exercise may sound rather mundane, but some teams can develop interesting examples regarding the value of different leadership styles. The exercise is an excellent diagnostic tool, because students must fit their reality-based examples with the path–goal leadership module.

There is also a possibility that an incident identifies a contingency for a leadership style that has not yet been discussed in the path–goal literature. Moreover, some teams may have difficulty fitting a particular leader behavior into one of the four path–goal leadership styles. This is because the four styles are not exhaustive.

The instructor can make the exercise more competitive by having other teams listen to an incident, then attempt to evaluate it. After some discussion, the team from which the example originated can present its analysis of the incident.

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.1: WHAT ARE YOUR TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP TENDENCIES?

Overview and Instructions Transformational leadership is about leading change toward a better future. This popular leadership perspective includes several dimensions, representing specific sets of behaviors.

This self-assessment estimates the student‘s transformational leadership. Students are asked to read the 12 statements and indicate how accurately each statement describes them most of the time. These statements refer to leadership in organizational settings. However, students may think about these statements in terms of how they lead others in project teams and other social settings. Also, remember that people engage in leadership even when they do not hold formal leadership positions.

Feedback for the Transformational Leadership Self-Assessment This book applies a behavioral definition of transformational leadership. It is the practice of creating (or championing), communicating, and modeling (enacting) a vision for the organization or work unit, and inspiring employees to creatively strive for that vision. This self-assessment estimates the student‘s level on four dimensions of transformational leadership as well as the total composite score.

The following table applies to each of the four transformational leadership subscales.

Score

Interpretation

11–15

High

7–10

Moderate

3–6

Low

Leadership Vision This dimension indicates the extent to which you lead with an appealing vision of a desirable future state.

People with high scores believe they have a sense of visionary direction for the work unit.

Leadership Communication This dimension indicates the extent to which you communicate the team‘s goals in a way that is positive and motivating to others.

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

Leadership Enactment This transformational leadership dimension indicates the extent to which you act as a role model and engage in behavior that is consistent with your vision for the work unit (i.e., you walk the talk).

Leadership Intellectual Stimulation This dimension indicates the extent to which you encourage staff to think about better ways of doing things through creativity, questioning assumptions, and thinking from different perspectives about how to solve problems.

Transformational Leadership Total The total transformational leadership score sums the results of each transformational leadership dimension.

There is some debate about whether transformational leadership has other dimensions, but the four dimensions assessed here represent most or all of the transformational leader construct in various models.

Transformational Leadership Total Score

Interpretation

43–60

High overall transformational leadership

15–24

Low overall transformational leadership

25–42

Moderate overall transformational leadership

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SA

SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.2: WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP STYLE?

OVERVIEW AND INSTRUCTIONS Managerial leadership refers to behaviors that improve employee performance and well-being in the current situation. These objectives require a variety of managerial leadership styles in different situations.

This self-assessment estimates the person‘s tendency to engage in some of these managerial leadership styles.

Students read the 12 statements and indicate how accurately each statement describes them most of the time.

These statements refer to leadership in organizational settings. However, students may think about these statements in terms of how they lead others in project teams and other social settings. Also, remember that people engage in leadership even when they do not hold formal leadership positions.

FEEDBACK FOR THE MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP SELFASSESSMENT Managerial leadership refers to behaviors that help employees to become more proficient and satisfied in the current situation. Path–goal theory and most other contingency leadership theories refer to managerial leadership because they focus on leader behaviors that improve employee performance and well-being. This self-assessment specifically measures three managerial leadership styles: task-oriented, people-oriented, and achievement-oriented leadership.

The following table applies to each of the three managerial leadership subscales. Effective managerial leadership involves selective use of these and other styles contingent on the situation. Therefore, these subscale scores do not combine to form an overall managerial leadership score.

Score

Interpretation

15–20

High

9–14

Moderate

4–8

Low

Task-Oriented Leadership This leadership style (also called directive leadership) consists of behaviors that clarify performance goals, the means to reach those goals, and the standards against which performance will be judged. It also includes judicious use of rewards and disciplinary actions.

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

People-Oriented Leadership In this managerial leadership style (also known as supportive leadership), the leader‘s behaviors provide psychological support for subordinates. The leader is friendly and approachable, makes the work more pleasant, and shows concern for employee needs.

Achievement-Oriented Leadership This leadership style emphasizes behaviors that encourage employees to reach their peak performance. The leader sets challenging goals, expects employees to perform at their highest level, continuously seeks improvement in employee performance, and shows a high degree of confidence that employees will assume responsibility and accomplish challenging goals.

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

12.3: DO LEADERS MAKE A SA SELF-ASSESSMENT DIFFERENCE?

Overview and Instructions People have different views about the extent to which leaders influence the organization‘s success. Those with a high romance of leadership attribute the causes of organizational events much more to its leaders and much less to the economy, competition, and other factors beyond the leader‘s short-term control.

Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and check the box that best indicates their personal belief about that statement. After completing this assessment, the class can discuss the relevance and level of implicit leadership theory.

Feedback for the Romance of Leadership Self-Assessment Romance of leadership is a phenomenon in which followers (and possibly other stakeholders) want to believe that leaders make a difference in the organization‘s success. People with a high romance of leadership score attribute the causes of organizational events much more to its leaders and much less to the economy, competition, and other factors beyond the leader‘s short-term control.

Romance of Leadership Scale Norms The romance of leadership scale ranges from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating that the person has a higher belief that leaders make a difference in the organization‘s success. The following norms are derived from a large sample of European employees with an average age in the mid-30s and work experience averaging about 15 years. However, these norms should be viewed with caution because the romance of leadership scale is a recent development and norms for any instrument can vary from one group to the next.

Romance of Leadership Score

Interpretation

38–50

Above-average romance of leadership

27–37

Average romance of leadership

10–26

Below-average romance of leadership

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow Page 13-549 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

13

Designing Organizational Structures

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Describe three types of coordination in organizational structures.

Discuss the role and effects of span of control, centralization, and formalization, and relate these elements to organic and mechanistic organizational structures.

Identify and evaluate six types of departmentalization.

Explain how the external environment, organizational size, technology, and strategy are relevant when designing an organizational structure.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY centralization—the degree to which formal decision-making authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy divisional structure—an organizational structure in which employees are organized around geographic areas, outputs (products or services), or clients formalization—the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms

mechanistic structure—an organizational structure with a narrow span of control and a high degree of formalization and centralization network structure—an alliance of several organizations for the purpose of creating a product or serving a client organic structure—an organizational structure with a wide span of control, low formalization, and decentralized decision making

functional structure—an organizational structure in which employees are organized around specific knowledge or other resources

organizational strategy—the way the organization positions itself in its setting in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization‘s resources, capabilities, and mission

matrix structure—an organizational structure that overlays two structures (such as a geographic divisional and a functional structure) in order to leverage the benefits of both

organizational structure—the division of labor as well as the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that direct organizational activities

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Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures

span of control—the number of people directly reporting to the next level in the hierarchy

team-based organizational structure—an organizational structure built around self-directed teams that complete an entire piece of work

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 41. Describe three types of coordination in organizational structures.

Organizational structure is the division of labor as well as the patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that direct organizational activities. All organizational structures divide labor into distinct tasks and coordinate that labor to accomplish common goals. The primary means of coordination are informal communication, formal hierarchy, and standardization.

42. Discuss the role and effects of span of control, centralization, and formalization, and relate these elements to organic and mechanistic organizational structures.

The four basic elements of organizational structure are span of control, centralization, formalization, and departmentalization. The optimal span of control—the number of people directly reporting to the next level in the hierarchy—depends on what coordinating mechanisms are present other than formal hierarchy, whether employees perform routine tasks, and how much interdependence there is among employees within the department.

Centralization occurs when formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, typically senior executives.

Many companies decentralize as they become larger and more complex, but some sections of the company may remain centralized while other sections decentralize. Formalization is the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms. Companies become more formalized as they get older and larger. Formalization tends to reduce organizational flexibility, organizational learning, creativity, and job satisfaction.

Span of control, centralization, and formalization cluster into mechanistic and organic structures. Mechanistic structures are characterized by a narrow span of control and a high degree of formalization and centralization.

Companies with an organic structure have the opposite characteristics.

43. Identify and evaluate six types of departmentalization.

Departmentalization specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together. It establishes the chain of command, focuses people around common mental models, and encourages coordination through informal communication among people and subunits. A simple structure employs few people, has minimal hierarchy, and typically offers one distinct product or service. A functional structure organizes employees around specific knowledge or other resources. This structure fosters greater specialization and improves direct supervision, but it weakens the focus on serving clients or developing products.

A divisional structure groups employees around geographic areas, clients, or outputs. This structure accommodates growth and focuses employee attention on products or customers rather than tasks. However, this structure also duplicates resources and creates silos of knowledge. Team-based structures are very flat, with low formalization, and organize self-directed teams around work processes rather than functional specialties. The matrix structure combines two structures to leverage the benefits of both types. However, this approach requires more coordination than functional or pure divisional structures, may dilute accountability, and increases conflict. A network structure is an alliance of several organizations for the purpose of creating a product or serving a client.

44. Explain how the external environment, organizational size, technology, and strategy are relevant when designing an organizational structure.

The best organizational structure depends on whether the environment is dynamic or stable, complex or simple, diverse or integrated, and hostile or munificent. Another contingency is the organization’s size. Larger organizations need to become more decentralized and more formalized. The work unit’s technology—including

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

variability of work and analyzability of problems—influences whether it should adopt an organic or mechanistic structure. These contingencies influence but do not necessarily determine structure. Instead, corporate leaders formulate and implement strategies that shape both the characteristics of these contingencies and the organization’s resulting structure.

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Designing Organizational Structures Slide 2: Learning Objectives Describe three types of coordination in organizational structures.

Discuss the role and effects of span of control, centralization, and formalization, and relate these elements to organic and mechanistic organizational structures.

Identify and evaluate six types of departmentalization.

Explain how the external environment, organizational size, technology, and strategy are relevant when designing an organizational structure.

Slide 3: Twitter’s Evolving Organizational Structure Twitter created a purely functional structure, then replaced it with a product-based divisional structure to generate better innovation, growth, and efficient cross-functional collaboration • Twitter‘s structure in early years included product, client, and functional units—highly interdependent, requiring considerable coordination • Twitter then adopted a purely functional structure (finance, customers, design, engineering, etc.)

• Next CEO immediately adopted a product divisional structure (Bluebird, Goldbird, Core Tech divisions) plus five functional support departments (finance, legal, etc.)

• Problems with the earlier functional structure: • Lack of focus on product development and innovation • Required too much coordination across departments NOTE: At the time of this writing, the ―new‖ CEO Parag Agrawal has left Twitter. However, there is no indication that the new owner (Elon Musk) is changing the structure

Slide 4: Organizational Structure Defined Division of labor and patterns of coordination, communication, workflow, and formal power that direct organizational activities • More than just an organizational chart • Relates to job design, team dynamics, power relationships, and so on

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Slide 5: Division of Labor and Coordination Division of labor results in job specialization • Work subdivided into separate jobs, assigned to different people • Improves work efficiency—master tasks faster, less changeover lost time, lower training costs, better person–job matching Coordination of work • Division of labor limited to ability to coordinate that work • Coordinating work can be costly, which also limits work division Every organization uses one or more of three coordinating mechanisms • Informal communication • Formal hierarchy • Standardization

Slide 6: Coordination: Informal Communication All organizations use informal communication to coordinate work • Sharing information, forming shared and complementary mental models • Vital in nonroutine and ambiguous situations—media rich channels Easiest in small firms, but increasingly possible in large firms due to information technology Larger organizations also apply special forms of informal communication coordination: • Integrator roles • Responsible for coordinating a work process by encouraging others to share information—for example, brand managers • Liaison roles • Transmit information between two work units that seldom communicate or coordinate directly with each other—less common now than in the past • Temporary teams • Cross-disciplinary project teams (e.g., concurrent engineering teams)

• Enables immediate feedback to each other, avoids ―over the wall‖ or ―waterfall effect‖

Slide 7: Coordination: Formal Hierarchy and Standardization Formal hierarchy • Direct supervision—the chain of command • Assigns formal (legitimate) power to people who direct work processes and allocate resources • Necessary in larger firms, but has problems: (a) Reduces firm‘s agility in complex/novel situations

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

(b) Creates costly bureaucracy (c) Conflicts with employee autonomy and involvement Standardization • Creating routine patterns of behavior or output • Three forms of standardization 1. Standardized processes—job descriptions and procedures 2. Standardized outputs—clear goals and outputs (e.g., sales targets) 3. Standardized skills—extensive training for precise role behaviors

Slide 8: Elements of Organizational Structure Four basic elements of organizational structure

1. Span of control—the number of people directly reporting to the next level 2. Centralization—the degree to which formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, typically those at the top of the organizational hierarchy (centralization) or is dispersed throughout the organization (decentralization) 3. Formalization—the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms 4. Departmentalization—specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together (organizational chart)

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Slide 9: Samsung Flattens Its Hierarchy Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea‘s largest business conglomerate, is flattening its organizational structure to become more innovative and nimble Previous structure • Tall, rigid hierarchy, centralized power • Seven well-defined status titles below executive level • Hierarchy reinforced by staff calling others by their hierarchical position Emerging structure • Nonexecutive levels initially reduced to four levels (from seven) and now to two levels • No job titles, just naming as ―pro‖ (for ―professional‖) • Can‘t search for coworker‘s status (ID numbers not public) • Executive levels flattened by two levels (removed ―divisional head‖ and merged senior with executive VP)

Slide 10: Span of Control The number of people directly reporting to the next level above in the hierarchy Few people (narrow span) or many people (wide span) report directly to the manager Wider span of control is possible when: 1. Other coordinating mechanisms are present • For example, self-directed teams coordinate through informal communication and specialized knowledge (standardization) 2. Tasks are routine (vs. novel and complex) • Require less direction/advice from supervisors 3. Low interdependence among employees

• Less interpersonal conflict and more evident individual work performance, so less supervisor intervention and coaching needed

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Slide 11: Tall versus Flat Structures Span of control is interconnected with organizational size (number of employees) and number of layers in the hierarchy As companies grow, they: (a) build a taller hierarchy and/or (b) widen the span of control Problems with tall hierarchies • Executives receive lower-quality, less timely information—filtered and distorted information from sources further down the hierarchy • Higher overhead costs—more managers per employee • Undermines employee empowerment—hierarchies draw power away from frontline jobs Problems with very flat hierarchies • Managers with more direct reports have less time for coaching, resolve conflicts, and make operational decisions • More difficult to develop managerial skills—fewer positions/steps to develop managers • Management promotions riskier in flatter hierarchies—bigger steps in responsibility • Less time for managers to translate corporate strategy into coherent daily operations

Slide 12: Centralization and Decentralization Centralization/decentralization • The degree to which formal decision authority is held by a small group of people, usually at the top of the hierarchy (centralization) or is dispersed throughout the firm (decentralization) • Firms decentralize as they get larger and older Centralization/decentralization varies in different parts of the organization • For example, marketing decentralized and IT centralized

Slide 13: Formalization The degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms

• Rely more on various forms of standardization as a coordinating mechanism

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Formalization increases with organization‘s: • Age—activities become more routinized, so easier to standardize • Size—require standardization to supplement other forms of coordination • Regulations—external requirements for standardization Problems with formalization • Less organizational flexibility—employees follow prescribed behaviors even when the situation calls for a customized response • Less work efficiency—work rules become convoluted • Undermines creativity—discourages from deviating from workflow or rules • Increases job dissatisfaction and work stress • Rules/procedures become the focus of attention rather than stakeholder needs

Slide 14: Mechanistic versus Organic Structures Mechanistic structure • Narrow span of control—more supervision of staff • High centralization—limited decision making at lower levels • High formalization—many rules and procedures, rigidly defined jobs Organic structure • Wide span of control—less supervision, more employees per manager • Decentralized decision making—more employee autonomy • Low formalization—few rules/procedures (i.e., less coordination through standardized processes) Mechanistic structures are better: • Stable environments help establish routine behaviors • When the company depends on efficiency to compete Organic structures are better: • In rapidly changing (dynamic) environments—more flexible and responsive to these changes • For contemporary workplaces—support employee empowerment

• Works better when employees have well-developed roles and expertise (i.e., standardization through skills)

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Slide 15: Departmentalization and Simple Structure Specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together—reflected in organizational chart Three functions of departmentalization: 4. Establishes chain of command (supervision structure) 5. Creates common mental models, measures of performance 6. Encourages staff to coordinate through informal communication—members typically work near each other Simple structure • Employ only a few people and typically offer only one distinct product or service • Minimal hierarchy—employees usually report to the owners • Roles are broadly defined—insufficient economies of scale for specialized jobs • Coordination through informal communication—no ―walls‖ between employees • Centralized structure—owners provide direct supervision to coordinate tasks

Slide 16: Airbnb Reverts to a Functional Structure Airbnb switched from a functional to a divisional structure as the online lodging marketplace company grew.

It eventually ballooned to almost a dozen divisions. When the pandemic shut down most of its business, Airbnb reverted to a functional structure, which its CEO says has improved company unity, decision-making, and quality

Slide 17: Functional Structure Organizes employees around specific knowledge or resources (marketing, production) • Typically centralized—to coordinate diverse activities • Most firms have functional structure at some level of the hierarchy or at some time in their history

Slide 18: Evaluating the Functional Structure Benefits • Economies of scale—specialized pools of talent • Supports employee identity with the specialization or profession • Direct supervision is easier—employees have common issues

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Limitations • Emphasizes skills/professional needs more than company‘s product, service, client needs • Employees less likely to develop a broad understanding of the business • Higher dysfunctional conflict across units • Poorer coordination—requires more controls and coordinating mechanisms

Slide 19: Divisional Structure Organizes employees around geographic areas, outputs (products or services), or clients Different forms of divisional structure • Geographic—organizes employees around distinct regions • Product—organizes employees around distinct outputs • Client—organizes employees around distinct customer groups Best type of divisional structure depends on main environmental diversity or uncertainty • For example, product structure if company sells several types of products • For example, geographic structure if clients‘ needs vary across regions Geographic divisional structures becoming less common because: • Less need for local representation—clients can purchase online and communicate with businesses from anywhere • Reduced geographic variation—consumer preferences are converging around the world • More global clients who demand one global point of purchase

Slide 20: Evaluating Divisional Structures Benefits • Building block structure—accommodates growth • Outcome focused—focuses employee attention on products/customers, not own skills Limitations • Duplication, inefficient use of resources—not pooled • Creates silos of knowledge—expertise isolated across divisions • Complex environments make it difficult to identify best type of divisional structure, so some firms change structures frequently (e.g., from region to product)—results in shifting executive power, which produces departures and frustration

Slide 21: Team-Based Structure Built around self-directed work teams, organized around work processes Typically an organic structure

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

• Wide span of control—teams operate with minimal supervision • Decentralized—team makes day-to-day decisions • Low formalization—teams use more informal communication, less standardization Usually found within divisionalized structure, but some firms are completely team-based structures (e.g., Valve, W.L. Gore & Associates, Morningstar Company, and Semco SA)

Slide 22: Evaluating the Team-Based Structure Benefits • Flexible and responsive in turbulent environments • Lower administrative costs—less formal hierarchy • Better communication and cooperation across traditional organizational boundaries—results in quicker and more informed decision making Limitations • Costly interpersonal skill training • Takes longer to coordinate during team development (compared to coordinating work through formal hierarchy) • Role ambiguity increases employee stress • Team leader issues—less power, ambiguous roles and careers • Duplication of resources across teams, potential competition

Slide 23: Shiseido’s Matrix Structure This diagram is a simplified adaptation of Shiseido‘s most recent matrix structure intersecting geographic regions with products (brands). This diagram shows a pure matrix structure, in which both product leaders and regional leaders have equal power, whereas Shiseido‘s regional brand director likely reports to the regional CEO and the global brand executive has only advisory authority over the regional brand director Matrix structure overlays two structures to leverage the benefits of both

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Large organization matrix structures • Typically one dimension geographic and product, client, or function on other dimension • Example: Shiseido‘s matrix structure intersects four product groups with six regions • Example: H&M Group‘s matrix structure intersects product (brand) with functions • Managers at only one level report to two bosses—for example, only head of products in region X reports to two bosses (VP product and VP Region X) Project-based matrix structures • Most employees assigned permanently to a functional unit (engineering, design, marketing) but located temporarily in a specific project unit (Game #1, Game #2, etc.)

Slide 24: Evaluating Matrix Structures Benefits of all matrix structures • Focuses employees on serving clients or creating products • Supports knowledge sharing within specialty across groups • Solution when two divisions deserve equal importance Additional benefits of project-functional matrix structures • Uses resources/expertise effectively—good for fluctuating workloads • Potentially better communication, project flexibility, innovation Limitations • More conflict among managers who share power—different priorities • Ambiguous accountability with two bosses—may increase unethical conduct • Employees experience more dysfunctional conflict and stress

Slide 25: Network Structure Alliance of firms creating a product/service • Focus on core competencies—outsource non-core tasks to firms with core competency • Network structures best when technology changes quickly, work processes complex Evaluating Network Structures Benefits • Highly flexible (organism-like)—easy to change alliances • Not saddled with nonessential facilities and resources • Potentially more efficient—able to shop globally for best people and technologies Limitations • Exposed to market forces—risk of higher costs

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

• Less control over subcontractors than in-house

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Slide 26: External Environment and Structure (1 of 2) Preferred structure depends on external environment contingencies 1. Dynamic versus stable environments • Dynamic environment • High rate of change, novel situations, lack of identifiable patterns • Use organic structures (e.g., team-based) with experienced employees • Stable environment • Regular cycles of activity, steady environmental changes (i.e., predictable change) • Use mechanistic structures—more efficient/profitable in predictable environments 2. Complex versus simple environments • Complex environment—many elements (stakeholders, etc.) to monitor/manage • Simple environment—few things to monitor/manage • Decentralize in complex environments—better decisions

Slide 27: External Environment and Structure (2 of 2) 3. Diverse versus integrated environments • Diverse environment—variety of products/services, clients, and/or regions • Integrated environment—only one client, product, and geographic area • Diverse environments call for: • A divisional structure aligned with that diversity • More decentralization—more adaptable, responsive 4. Hostile versus munificent environments • Hostile environment—resource scarcity, more competition, and dynamic environment • Munificent environment—plenty of resources, less competition, and stable environment • Hostile environments better with organic structures—more adaptable to change, complexity • Executives tend to centralize power in extremely hostile environments for faster decisions and comfort being in control—but centralization could lead to worse decisions because executives lack sufficient information

Slide 28: Organizational Size and Structure As organizations grow (more employees), they: 7. Increase division of labor (job specialization) 8. Increase coordination through standardization (especially work processes/outcomes) 9. Increase decentralization—larger firms have too many decisions and lack of information for top management team Technology allows large firms to use informal communication to coordinate to some extent

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Slide 29: Technology and Structure Technology: mechanisms and processes a firm uses to produce products or services Two contingencies: (see job design in Chapter 6) • Task variability—how predictable the job duties are from one day to the next • Low variability when work is highly routine and predictable • Task analyzability—how much job can be performed using known procedures and rules • High task analyzability when employees have well-defined work process guidelines Use organic structure when tasks have high variability and low analyzability • For example, research setting—unique situations with little opportunity for repetition Use mechanistic structure when tasks have low variability and high analyzability • For example, assembly work—tasks are routine, highly predictable, and well-established procedures

Slide 30: Organizational Strategy Strategy: the way the organization positions itself in its environment in relation to its stakeholders, given the organization‘s resources, capabilities, and mission Structure follows strategy • Strategy points to the environments in which the organization will operate • Leaders decide which structure to apply—results from conscious human decisions Innovation strategy • Use organic structure—supports creativity and knowledge sharing Low-cost strategy • Use mechanistic structure—maximizes production and service efficiency

Slide 31: Project-Based Matrix Structure This is a bonus slide.

Most employees assigned permanently to a functional unit (engineering, design, and marketing) but located temporarily in a specific project unit (Game #1, Game #2, etc.)

In this example (similar to BioWare‘s matrix structure): • Organized around functions (art, audio, programming) and team-based game development projects

• Employees are assigned to a cross-functional team responsible for a specific game project, yet also belong to a permanent functional unit from which they are reassigned

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

23. Twitter, Inc.’s organizational structure was described at the beginning of this chapter. What coordinating mechanism is likely most common in this organization? Describe the extent and form in which the other two types of coordination might be apparent at Twitter.

The question offers a great opportunity for discussion, not so much about which coordinating mechanisms exist at Twitter (because the company uses all of them to some extent), but the relative emphasis or importance of each mechanism.

Standardization through skills is likely the most important coordinating mechanism at Twitter. The company hires employees with technical skills in a wide variety of fields. The opening case doesn’t mention standardization through work processes, but this coordinating mechanism is likely widely used because Twitter is a large firm and many of its activities are repetitive enough to have workflows and standard procedures (processes for software coding, handling customer complaints, reviewing tweets that violate company policies, etc.). There is no information about standardization through outputs, yet it would almost certainly be applied to some segments, such as sales.

Informal communication is an important coordinating mechanism as Twitter, as indicated in the reasons why the company has switched from a potpourri of departments to a functional structure and more recently to a product structure. In both reorganizations, the CEOs explained that they wanted more creativity and innovation, and these practices work best with more fluid informal communications. The recently introduced product-based structure, in particular, occurs to encourage ―cross-functional collaboration‖ with faster execution. In other words, the new structure should enable people across traditional skills specializations to work together with greater informal communication as coordination, rather than have an ―over the wall‖ process for product development.

At first glance, there seems to be little information about formal hierarchy in the opening case study. However, both reorganizations refer to clearer and more accountable decision making, which highlights the importance of hierarchy through formal leadership decision making. For example, in justifying the recent change to a product structure, the CEO stated: ―We’re moving to a General Manager model and having one person lead work that supports one of our key company objectives.‖ This statement clearly emphasizes that formal hierarchy has a central role in Twitter’s organizational structure.

24. Think about the business school or other organizational unit whose classes you are currently attending. What is the dominant coordinating mechanism used to guide or control the instructor?

Why is this coordinating mechanism used the most here?

This question is sure to elicit a wide range of answers from students. For many students, colleges and universities are viewed as rules-based organizations with formal hierarchies. While this may be the case for students, this is less so for instructors.

Undoubtedly, instructors are controlled to some degree. For example, they are compelled to provide and abide by their course outlines, which in some cases must be approved by department heads. They may also be limited in the weightings of their exams, and their institutions’ timetables and deadlines. In this sense, it could be argued the dominant coordinating mechanism is standardization. There are standardized processes, in terms of timetables, deadlines, course outlines, rules for dealing with plagiarism, and so on. In some cases, there are standardized outputs, in the form of applying grading curves, and failure rates. To some degree there is reliance on standardized skills when delivering lectures and presenting information to students.

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25. Administrative theorists concluded many decades ago that the most effective organizations have a narrow span of control. Yet today’s top-performing manufacturing firms have a wide span of control. Why is this possible? Under what circumstances, if any, should manufacturing firms have a narrow span of control?

There are at least two reasons why many organizations are moving toward flatter organizational structures with a wider span of control. First, flatter structures require less overhead—there are fewer middle managers and more people directly involved in the production of goods and/or services. Second, flatter structures are consistent with the trend toward greater autonomy and employee involvement. Managers necessarily have a wide span of control in flatter structures, and they are unable to engage in close supervision. Instead, employees (and work teams) are given more freedom to make decisions without management review.

A narrow span or control would be most appropriate with a workforce that is low skilled and made up of workers with a high power distance. In such cases, the close supervision and control would be less likely to be viewed as a lack of trust among workers.

26. Leaders of large organizations struggle to identify the best level and types of centralization and decentralization. What should companies consider when determining the degree of decentralization?

As organizations grow they tend to diversify. Moreover, as the environments within which they operate become more complex, it is necessary for organizations to decentralize. The complexity is such that the burden on senior executives who must process all the accompanying decisions becomes overwhelming. The best way to deal with this is by dispersing decision-making authority (decentralize).

The contingencies that organizations should consider when deciding the extent of decentralization are: External environment. Decentralized structures are better suited for complex rather than simple environments. On the other hand, it is best to temporarily centralize when operating in a hostile environment.

Organizational size. When the organization grows larger, with more specialized jobs, more elaborate coordinating mechanisms, and greater formalization, it is better to decentralize its structure.

Technology. In cases where the technology used requires many exceptions to standard procedures (high variety), and it is difficult to standardize the transformation of inputs to outputs (low analyzability), it is recommended that organizations should rely on decentralized decision making.

Organizational strategy. All of the above contingencies and their relationship to one another are mediated by the organization’s overall strategy. For example, Johnson & Johnson’s decentralized divisional structure was selected because it fits the company’s strategic approach to developing and delivering a diverse array of health-related products around the world.

27. Mechanistic and organic structures are two organizational forms. How do the three types of coordination mechanisms operate through these forms?

Three coordination mechanisms are (1) informal communication, (2) formal hierarchy, and (3) standardization.

Mechanistic structures have high degree of formalization and centralization, limited decision making at lower levels, tasks are rigidly defined, therefore, formal hierarchy and standardization are the coordination mechanisms used here. Organic structures operate with a wide span of control, decentralized decision making, and little formalization, and hence make more use of informal communication.

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

28. While preparing for a final examination in organizational behavior, you and a student in another class review the important information regarding organizational structure and design. During the conversation, the other student suggests that just about everything you need to know about organizational structure can be based on knowing the different types of departmentalization. In other words, all of the key features of organizational structure, including a structure’s fundamental requirements and elements are found in descriptions of the several forms of departmentalization. Based on your knowledge of organizational structure, discuss the accuracy of this statement.

Students should answer this question by first describing departmentalization, stating what it clearly does, and then explaining how departmentalization does (or, for the most part, does not) address the other three elements of organization design.

Departmentalization specifies how employees and their activities are grouped together. It establishes the system of common supervision among positions and units within the organization (chain of command) as well as interdependencies among employees and subunits (e.g., indicates who must share resources and objectives).

Departmentalization focuses people around common mental models or ways of thinking (e.g., focus around common skills or around producing a specific product). Furthermore, it encourages specific people and work units to coordinate through informal communication.

Span of control. Departmentalization indirectly affects the span of control—the number of people directly reporting to the next level above in the hierarchy. It does so by organizing groups in a way that may force a narrower or wider span of control, at least for the leaders of some work units (e.g., creating a department that would almost always have few employees necessarily creates a narrow span of control). But organizational charts do not indicate the exact number of people within a department, just the existence of that department. For instance, Twitter’s organizational chart will identify a ―compliance‖ group, but that unit may have one employee or dozens of people with one or several team leaders. Therefore, span of control provides considerably more information that is not present in departmentalization element of organization design.

De/centralization. Departmentalization assigns power and decision making to some extent, but not as completely as does the centralization/decentralization element of organizational design. Specifically, departmentalization indicates which leaders receive more power (and therefore, more decision-making authority) than other leaders.

For example, it determines that decision-making power may be centered around product leaders more than around regional leaders in a product divisional structure. However, departmentalization does not provide specific control over (or evidence of) the degree of centralization in the organization or variations of centralization in specific divisions or functions. For example, sales teams may be highly decentralized (e.g., they control allocation of budgets for their sales area), but this aspect of organizational design is not captured or controlled in the organizational chart. Similarly, the organizational chart neither illustrates nor dictates variations in de/centralization across departments (e.g., IT may be centralized whereas much production is decentralized around self-directed teams). So, overall, decentralization provides additional information that is not present in departmentalization aspect of organization design.

Formalization. This aspect of organization design addresses the degree to which organizations standardize behavior through rules, procedures, formal training, and related mechanisms. It is difficult to imagine any way that departmentalization illustrates or dictates this element of organization design. The organization of people into groups generally is unrelated to whether the specific jobs are guided by work flows or other types of procedural controls.

Finally, some students might note that departmentalization doesn’t not show some forms of organization, particularly temporary cross-functional teams. Cisco Systems noted this when they analyzed teams in that organization (described in the opening case study of Chapter 8). These invisible features of an organization’s structure might not be evident from the other three elements of organization design, but it lends further evidence AGAINST the position that all of the key features of organizational structure are found in descriptions of the several forms of departmentalization.

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29. From an employee perspective, what are the advantages and disadvantages of working in a matrix structure?

Advantages. From an employee perspective, matrix structures provide opportunities, when properly managed, to enhance communication efficiencies, acquire flexibility to balance workload with other project team members and lend further evidence against the argument that all of the key features of organizational structure, including a structure’s fundamental requirements and elements are found in descriptions of the several forms of departmentalization to interact and coordinate with others who have similar technical specialties. Matrix structures also require employees to have enhanced communication and interpersonal skills. As a result, employees working in matrix structures may enjoy enhanced training and development opportunities.

Disadvantages. From an employee’s perspective, matrix organizations may result in increased stress, conflict, and organizational politics due to having two bosses that may have divergent expectations. In addition, some employees may experience difficulty adapting to the relatively fluid nature of a matrix structure versus working in a more structured bureaucracy.

30. Suppose you have been hired as a consultant to diagnose the environmental characteristics of your college or university. Referring to the four external environment contingency dimensions described in the final section of this chapter, is the school’s existing structure appropriate for its external environment?

This discussion question should raise some interesting ideas about the college’s environment. Students should carefully consider the four environmental elements, then assess whether the environment calls for more of a mechanistic or organic structure.

Many people discover that different parts of an organization face different environments. For example, an online learning center would face a dynamic and hostile environment because of the rapid pace of technology and number of competitors. Here are some details about the four environments.

Dynamic environments have a high rate of change, leading to novel situations, so organic structures tend to be best because employees are more flexible. For example, network and cluster structures seem to be most effective in dynamic environments. In contrast, a more mechanistic structure (high use of standardization) is best in stable environments in order to achieve efficiency.

Complex environments have more elements to consider, such as more stakeholders. Decentralized structures are therefore better suited to complex environments because they allow people closest to the environmental information to make the main decisions.

Diverse environments have greater variety of products or services, clients, and/or jurisdictions. A divisionalized form aligned with the diversity is the best structure for diverse environments. For example, companies with many distinct products in a single area would be best with a product-based divisional form.

Hostile environments have a scarcity of inputs and competition in the distribution of outputs. They are usually dynamic environments because access to resources and demand for outputs are less predictable. Organic structures are most appropriate in hostile environments in order to maintain flexibility. In extremely hostile environments, the organization may need to temporarily centralize. This is because crisis situations call for quick decisions, and direct supervision is the fastest form of coordination.

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CS

CASE STUDY: SLOAN & WU, INC.

Case Synopsis Sloan & Wu is a large chain of department stores that acquired three major regional department store businesses. Sales volumes slipped as each of these organizations was converted to the Sloan & Wu brand and the company standardized stores and centralized merchandising and marketing. In response, the retailer has reorganized around a new organizational structure that gives more autonomy to local districts and stores to personalize merchandise and marketing for customers in that area. The new structure has more districts (45 compared to 30 previously) but the number of regions has been reduced (from five to three). District managers will be responsible for fewer stores (10 vs. 15 on average). The new structure shifts merchandising and operations decision making down to districts (previously mostly at the regional level) with many layoffs in the regional units. Sloan & Wu also removes one layer of management (assistant regional managers).

District staff (e.g., merchandizing and planning) will now liaise with central buyers and central planning office.

Suggested Answers to Discussion Questions Describe the proposed changes at Sloan & Wu in terms of the four elements of organizational structure.

Span of Control Sloan & Wu is now introducing a narrower span of control at the district level, but a much wider span of control at the regional level. District managers and their staff will be responsible for an average of 10 stores rather than 15 stores in the previous structure, which means that each district manager manages fewer store managers. The reasoning is that with fewer direct reports, district managers will be able to work more closely and effectively with each store. The change in span of control likely extends beyond line managers to specialist work units. Many of the company’s merchandising and operations decision makers have been moved from the regional office to the district offices.

Meanwhile, the new structure creates a significantly wider span of control at the regional manager level. The previous structure had five regions with 30 districts, so each region managed, on average, six districts. However, the company’s previous structure also had assistant regional managers as one management level, so these assistant regional managers may have further narrowed the regional span of control. For example, there may have been two assistant regional managers per region, so they would have had a span of control of three (3) district managers.

Alternatively, there may have been one assistant regional manager per region, so they would have had six direct reports, but the regional director might have had just one direct report (the assistant regional manager).

The new structure consolidates the organization into three regions and removes one layer of management—the assistant regional manager. However, the new structure also expands the number of districts from 30 to 45.

Therefore, on average, each regional manager will now be responsible for 15 district managers.

Centralization/decentralization When the three regional retailers were acquired, Sloan & Wu centralized many activities, particularly merchandising and marketing. This centralization was identified as a key reason why the company shipped some products to regions that did not have much demand for those products (e.g., winter coats in Florida and Southern California).

Sloan & Wu’s new organizational structure clearly decentralizes power in several functions of the organization.

Most important, the new structure decentralizes merchandise and marketing to district managers and store managers (―gives more autonomy to local districts and stores to personalize merchandise and marketing for

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customers in that area‖). Previously, these functions were more centralized in regional offices and to some extent head office. Sloan & Wu’s CEO explicitly refers to decentralization when she says that it is a ―devolved‖ structure.

Formalization Formalization in the acquired regional department store chains increased when Sloan & Wu acquired them. The case states that Sloan & Wu standardized store designs, merchandising, and marketing across all of the acquired stores.

The new structure reduces formalization to some degree because district and store managers have autonomy (i.e., less systems control over them) to understand what the locals want and then acting quickly to deliver on those expectations. In other words, the ―localization‖ of decision making would reduce formalization to some degree. The case also mentions that district and store managers will have more flexible processes for working with vendors. At the same time, Sloan & Wu may be increasing formalization through technology that will keep track of which products are actually in stock at each store and document which items, brands, garment sizes, and colors are preferred by customers who shop at those specific locations. This suggests that district and store managers may need to abide by this increased systems feedback, which is a type of formalization.

Departmentalization Sloan & Wu made changes in departmentalization, mostly in the number of units at each level. It previously had 30 districts spread across five regions of the United States. The new structure consists of 45 districts in three regions (East, South, and West). Otherwise, most aspects of the reorganization would NOT be evident in the organizational chart, such as the decentralized power as well as the shift of merchandizing, marketing, and some planning staff from regions and headquarters to the districts.

31. What contingencies suggest that Sloan & Wu’s new organizational structure is appropriate or inappropriate?

Dynamics versus stable environment The case indicates that customers have varied needs and expectations across regions and districts, and that customer preferences change relatively quickly (which is why merchandizing and marketing have been decentralized to the district and store levels). At the same time, the company has a relatively stable environment in many respects. Customer behavior (visiting stores, buying online, returning merchandise, etc.) is predictable over the medium term, as are the processes for buying from suppliers/vendors. Overall, Sloan & Wu requires a structure that is somewhere between organic and mechanistic. This is occurring through decentralization and somewhat less formalization at the district and store levels where the more dynamic aspects of environment are experienced.

Complex versus simple environment Department store chains operate in moderately complex environments because they have different types of products and associated diversity of customers. Sloan & Wu’s large size and location across the country contributes to that complexity. We don’t have many details about the product mix, but department store chains might offer a wide variety of products and services (from clothing to white goods to restaurants), which further adds to their complexity. The more complex the environment, the more decentralized the organization should be, which is what Slaon & Wu are doing in this new structure.

Diverse versus integrated environment Organizations located in diverse environments have a greater variety of products or services, clients, and regions.

Sloan & Wu is diverse because it has diverse geography and customers with diverse needs and expectations. The main diversity is likely geographic, whereas customer variations (age cohorts, type of products purchased) might be less distinct from one another (e.g., customers who buy clothes also buy kitchen appliances). As such, it makes sense to decentralize to accommodate variations in diversity around specific areas of the country. It is less clear whether Sloan & Wu should organize into separate divisions (or distinct store brands) around different products or customer groups. Students will note that the more diversified the environment, the more the firm needs to use a divisional structure aligned with that diversity. However, a geographic divisional structure probably isn’t required here for a couple of reasons. First, the customer variations are at the district and local store level, not regional, but

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having 45 divisions (one for each district) would be chaotic and inefficient. Second, customers are probably not ―diverse‖ across districts in every way. They would vary in clothing preferences due to climate and some regional style preferences, but customers are probably similar across their country in purchasing some Sloan & Wu merchandise (e.g., kitchen appliances). Thus, decentralization is probably sufficient to address the diverse environment without the need for a divisional structure.

Hostile versus munificent environment There is no evidence that Sloan & Wu face extreme resource scarcity or competition. It has lost market share due to overly standardized buying decisions but seems to remain competitive as a business. As such, this contingency is probably not important. In any event, Sloan & Wu is decentralizing due to other contingencies (described elsewhere in this question), which addresses an appropriate response to any degree of hostile environment that may exist.

Organizational size Sloan & Wu is a relatively large organization, so not surprisingly it makes use of standardization as a coordinating mechanism, such as work process systems (e.g., inventory management). It also has an elaborate, formal authority coordinating, which is indicated in the new structure’s emphasis on district managers. These are generally appropriate organizational structure characteristics for Sloan & Wu’s size, although they also present opposing challenges (described in the next question).

Technology Task variability and task analyzability depend to some degree across employees and at different levels of the organization at Sloan & Wu. However, most employees likely perform tasks with fairly low variability and mediumhigh task analyzability. Customer behavior (visiting stores, buying online, returning merchandise, etc.) is predictable over the medium term, as are the processes for buying from suppliers/vendors. Store and district staff may have some task variability in changing fashion and other consumer trends for some products, but not for others. Even so, those changing trends do not dramatically alter the predictability of buying, stocking, and selling those products. With moderately low task variability and medium-high task analyzability, Sloan & Wu operates best with a structure that is somewhat more mechanistic than organic. That is similar to the new structure.

Organizational strategy Sloan & Wu’s CEO suggests a strategy that shifts toward creativity and innovation rather than highly efficient and low cost. This calls for a structure closer to organic than to mechanistic. Whether the new structure is sufficiently organic is unclear but is moving in the direction recommended by the contingency.

32. What problems do you think Sloan & Wu might experience with the new organizational structure? Explain why these problems might occur.

Students should easily identify a couple of potential problems because they are stated by the two retail analysts.

One warns that the new organizational structure may inflate costs. This is due to the fact that Sloan & Wu’s new structure has 50 percent more districts than previously, and that merchandising and marketing activities now occur more at the district level, which likely requires more people overall than were located in the regional offices.

Also, district managers have a narrower span of control (10 vs. 115 direct reports, on average), which also suggests that payroll costs will be higher. The other analyst points to the company’s emphasis on formal authority as a coordinating mechanism. (―It seems that centralized control is just being replaced with district manager control over the store managers and their staff.‖) In other words, rather than empowering district and store managers, the new structure just creates more close supervision of store managers.

Another potential problem is that decentralized decision making can result in too much variability across the organization. Also, localization is valuable for some products, it probably isn’t helpful for all or even most products sold by Sloan & Wu. Customers who visit the retailer’s store in another region may be less receptive to any significant variations in the store format, marketing, and merchandising. A related problem is that localized decision making increases the risk of making bad decisions and potentially unethical decisions. Other than oversight by district managers, it isn’t clear hope Sloan & Wu will help district and store managers to make informed decisions and ensure that their decisions are legal. For instance, district managers will be working more Page 14-572 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

directly with vendors, which can potentially lead to inappropriate arrangements. Another issue is that districts might end up competing with each other for merchandise from suppliers. And we can only assume that headquarters’ staff do the major buying; otherwise, Sloan & Wu may be paying higher prices.

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TE

TEAM EXERCISE: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE SCENARIOS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students to understand and diagnose the best organizational structure in specific situations.

Materials Teams should have a method of summarizing their analysis for other teams to view. This might be flip chart paper for face-to-face classes or a dedicated virtual whiteboard or presentation slide for each team in remote classes.

Instructions (Small or Large Classes) This exercise may be completed either individually or in teams. It is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may be appropriate in moderately large classes. When the individuals (or teams) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Step 1: Students are organized into teams (typically five to seven people per team). Students read each scenario below. The instructor might assign any or all of these scenarios for discussion.

Step 2: The team will analyze each scenario by completing the following: 1. Identify the preferred form of departmentalization for the organization, given the information provided, and draw a simplified organizational chart that depicts the preferred structure. Justify your decision to apply this form of departmentalization.

2. Assess the current structure of this organization with reference to any one of the other three organizational structure elements (span of control, centralization, and formalization). Should the organization change that element of structure? If so, explain why.

3. What problems—conflict, power dynamics, morale, and so on.—might result from the changes your team recommends?

Scenario 1: SuperBrands Identify the preferred form of departmentalization for the organization, given the information provided, and draw a simplified organizational chart that depicts the preferred structure. Justify your decision to apply this form of departmentalization.

It is useful to begin by identifying distinct facts determining which functions should be localized (regional) versus globalized. This will test whether the company should retain a geographic structure, replace it with another structure (e.g., product division and functional structure), or have a matrix structure where two groups are equally important. Also keep in mind that a hybrid structure (where one or more functions are centralized) is an option.

The scenario indicates that R&D, manufacturing, and possibly marketing (not sales) can or should be centralized globally (not under regional control). Some of these activities (e.g., manufacturing) might remain localized, but not necessarily under the regional VP’s control. Regions have their own R&D centers, yet R&D work seems to relevant globally, not locally, and there is lack of R&D information sharing across regions. Regional control of Page 14-574 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

manufacturing is also doubtful. Local production provides some responsiveness and minimizes logistics disruptions, but costs tend to be higher and product quality is uneven. Little wonder that the CEO is already pointing to more centralized manufacturing for some products. One would think that sales and marketing are critical at the regional level, but the brands are global yet varied regional pricing practices threaten price-points for some premium products elsewhere. Overall, it is doubtful that SuperBrands’ structure should have regions at the top or jointly (matrix) with any grouping.

We don’t have enough information in this scenario to recommend a product (or client) divisional structure.

Typically, consumer product companies are organized around product divisions, but we can’t make that assumption here and there is no mention of significant product differentiation. Products vary but there is no evidence one product group is significantly distinct from other products to the degree that it should be a division with control over several functions. The people who buy SuperBrands’ shower gel are probably the same as those who buy the company’s skin care products (each would have its own brand name). Manufacturing might vary with products, but there is no mention of this diversity (and it is unlikely—a plant that makes toothpaste might also make dish detergent).

A functional structure is possible because several functional groups seem to have global orientation. R&D is global because even though regions have developed some unique products ―almost all R&D work in each region is relevant to the entire organization.‖ The CEO has already signaled that some manufacturing will be moved globally to reduce costs and improve quality/consistency. The only reason for local manufacturing for the other products is to enable production response to demand and protect against logistic shortages, but neither argument requires regional management control over those manufacturing facilities. Marketing varies across regions, but the global head of marketing ―is concerned that localization is causing some brand confusion.‖ Presumably some marketing (e.g., advertising) would need to adapt to regional preferences, but other marketing decisions should be centralized at the global level.

So, which form of departmentalization is best? The short answer is that no pure form of departmentalization is ideal for SuperBrands. However, a functional structure may be most appropriate, but with sales and possibly some marketing activities localized in the regions—that is, the company has a functional head (VP sales), but control over most sales and advertising is decided mainly by the regional VPs. Some functions not mentioned in this scenario— such as human resources and legal—would also be regional decentralized due to regulatory differences across regions. R&D would be centralized under a functional structure, although the company could continue to have R&D centers could remain. Manufacturing could be effective under a functional structure with some/most manufacturing moved globally, but with direct reports in regions to manage any local production.

Many students recommend a pure geographic-function matrix organizational structure, but the discussion above indicates that form of departmentalization likely gives regions more power than is ideal for this organization.

Students are likely influenced by the current design which has regional VPs effectively as CEO of a semiautonomous regional company, and by the general complexity of information provided in this scenario. If a geographic-function matrix structure is recommended, it would need to separate out R&D and manufacturing as centralized functions outside the matrix and would need to limit some marketing control by the regions (e.g., product pricing).

33. Assess the current structure of this organization with reference to any one of the other three organizational structure elements (span of control, centralization, and formalization). Should the organization change that element of structure? If so, explain why.

Centralization/decentralization is clearly the other organization design element that figures in this analysis. As mentioned, some functional activities (R&D and manufacturing) should be centralized, whereas sales should remain decentralized. It will be necessary to change these degrees of centralization to achieve the best results for efficiency, information sharing, and global brand integrity.

34. What problems—conflict, power dynamics, morale, and so on.—might result from the changes your team recommends?

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

A functional structure and even a geographic-functional matrix structure would significantly degrade the power of regional VPs. Some may leave due to this change, and the company should branch for some regional resistance to change (e.g., showing evidence of regional insensitivity). The division of power on marketing decisions is also an area of concern. Clearly, brand integrity is at risk under regional control (manufacturing quality and brand price point), yet it may be difficult to cleave out this control from regions who still need to lead the sales and some marketing activity. In other words, the market VP may have ongoing conflict and power plays by the regions regarding these marketing decisions.

Scenario 2: MetSat Identify the preferred form of departmentalization for the organization, given the information provided, and draw a simplified organizational chart that depicts the preferred structure. Justify your decision to apply this form of departmentalization.

The recommended form of departmentalization for MetSat is a project-functional matrix structure. The problems with a functional structure in project-based organizations are well documented. The company on which this case is based championed the project-functional matrix structure and was very successful in its project effectiveness as a result. The project-functional matrix structure exists when employees work for both a functional head (e.g., design engineering VP) as well as the head of a project to which the employee is assigned for a period of time. The functional leader is responsible for keeping employees in that functional department fully employed, but moving them to other projects when needed. The project head leads the project team and works with the functional head on performance issues with specific employees.

The scenario identifies well-known problems with projects in which participating employees remain in their functional departments. The scenario describes the classic ―over the wall‖ (or ―waterfall effect‖ as it is called in agile/software projects), in which the work of the design engineering department is thrown ―over the wall‖ to other engineering departments and the procurement unit so they can begin their work on the project. The lack of close proximity team-based arrangement leads to slow responses, overlooked ideas, and generally increased problems.

35. Assess the current structure of this organization with reference to any one of the other three organizational structure elements (span of control, centralization, and formalization). Should the organization change that element of structure? If so, explain why.

Any one of the three remaining elements might be discussed, but formalization should likely be the most important element for this scenario. The reason is that changing from a functional structure to a project-functional matrix structure effectively increases reliance on a team-based structure because projects essentially become teams. These teams have less formalization than in functional structures because team members rely on more informal communication as a coordinating mechanism and less system-based procedures at the micro-level of work.

(Systems procedures still remain and are important at the overall project level.)

There isn’t enough information to say much about centralization. In functional structures, the head of the functional unit would hold considerable power, whereas in a project-functional matrix structure both the functional head and project leader would share power. As for span of control, we know that the projects involve up to four dozen employees, although not all work in the project at the same time (i.e., actual teams are smaller in any given week). This suggests that project leaders have a wide span of control in a project-functional matrix structure, whereas we have no information about how many employees report to functional leaders in a purely functional structure.

36. What problems—conflict, power dynamics, morale, and so on.—might result from the changes your team recommends?

The problems with matrix structures are well described in this chapter, and project-based matrix structures are no exception. There is more conflict among managers (functional and project leaders) who share power because they have different priorities. Employees experience more dysfunctional conflict and stress as they try to navigate having two bosses. There might also be ambiguous accountability with two bosses, although this tends to be less of a problem in project-functional matrix structures because they operate in smaller organizations.

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Scenario 3: UusiHealth Identify the preferred form of departmentalization for the organization, given the information provided, and draw a simplified organizational chart that depicts the preferred structure. Justify your decision to apply this form of departmentalization.

The recommended form of departmentalization for UusiHealth is a product divisional structure. Students need to explain why a divisional structure is superior to a functional structure, then explain why a product divisional structure is superior to a geographic or client divisional structure.

A divisional structure is superior to a functional structure for a few reasons. First, companies tend to switch from a functional to divisional structure as they get larger, which is occurring at UusiHealth. Larger firms need to divide into manageable groupings, which a divisional structure accommodates when the company has distinct diversities (geography, products, and clients). In fact, the divisional organizational structure is known as a building-block structure—it allows for growth. Second, a divisional structure is outcome focused. It directs employees toward products, regions, or client groups rather than their own technical specializations. Third, a functional structure usually produces more dysfunctional conflict and poorer coordination in serving clients or developing products. A divisional structure, on the other hand, organizes people with common objectives together, which improves coordination and cooperation, even when employees have different functional specialties.

Why a product divisional structure? The answer is that the best divisional structure depends on the primary source of environmental diversity or uncertainty. UusiHealth has grown and evolved into three quite distinct product groups: ―Human vaccines, animal medicine, and nonprescription products have significantly different end users, marketing practices, and regulatory requirements from one another.‖ There are also distinct regulations for human vaccines and animal medicine products, but these are mainly around packaging and dosages, so are not so unique as to call for a geographic structure (or a geographic-product matrix structure).

37. Assess the current structure of this organization with reference to any one of the other three organizational structure elements (span of control, centralization, and formalization). Should the organization change that element of structure? If so, explain why.

Decentralization is likely the other main element of organization design to consider for this scenario. A functional structure tends to be quite centralized at the top, particularly for companies that are growing, whereas a divisional structure decentralizes power to the division leaders.

Span of control would be difficult to discuss because we don’t have details about this element of the structure, and because span of control is more relevant to parts of the organization. Formalization is also difficult to discuss for this scenario. Students might mention that regulatory requirements for human vaccines and animal medicine products will require more formalization (which is true; regulations increase systems and procedures to abide by this regulations). However, this exists whether the company changes its structure or not.

38. What problems—conflict, power dynamics, morale, and so on.—might result from the changes your team recommends?

Changing from a functional structure to a divisional structure will alter power and decision making among executives. Several functional executives will be effectively demoted, or at least feel like that has occurred, because each division will now be responsible for many functional roles such as marketing, distribution, and possibly R&D and manufacturing. Conflict might increase to the extent that the divisions need to cooperate with each other regarding shared services, such as shared manufacturing facilities.

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

TE TEAM EXERCISE: CLUB ED EXERCISE These scenarios have been written and tested in several classes by Steven L. McShane, who also prepared these notes. The exercise is based on earlier writing by Cheryl Harvey and Kim Morouney at Wilfred Laurier University.

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand the issues to consider when designing organizations at various stages of growth.

Instructions Students are placed in teams (typically four or five people). After reading Scenario #1 (presented in the textbook and below), each team will design an organizational chart (departmentalization) that is most appropriate for this situation. Students should be able to describe the type of structure drawn and explain why it is most appropriate for the situation. The structure should be displayed in such a way that the entire class can see it during later class discussion. Flip chart paper—one page per scenario—works well for this purpose, but electronic slides or whiteboards are also useful. The instructor will set a fixed time (e.g., 15 minutes) to complete the task for Scenario #1.

At the end of the set time, the instructor will inform students about Scenario #2 and each team will be asked to draw another organizational chart to suit that situation. Again, students should be able to describe the type of structure drawn and explain why it is appropriate. This process is repeated for Scenario #3 and, if time is available, Scenario #4.

Only Scenario #1 is presented in the textbook. The other scenarios will be communicated to students at set times (usually 10 to 15 minutes apart) throughout the exercise. If all students are in the same room, each scenario may be described verbally by the instructor and/or displayed on an electronic slide. Alternatively, and particularly where teams are spread around several rooms, the instructor should make copies of each scenario and, at the appropriate time, distribute the strip of paper with the scenario to each team. An electronic variation would be to send all students or team representatives an electronic message with the next scenario.

For example, after students have worked on Scenario #1 for 15 minutes, the instructor advises each team that their time for Scenario #1 is over and gives the team one or more slips of paper describing Scenario #2. The instructor might say: ―Your time is up for Scenario #1. Time has passed quickly! Here is a description of your organization five years later (which is Scenario #2). Please draw an organizational chart that would best serve this organization, and be prepared to justify it to the class. You have 12 minutes before we move on to Scenario #3.‖

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

CLUB ED EXERCISE SCENARIOS Instructors: Please communicate (by displaying, verbally stating, or distributing printed or electronic copies of) each scenario below to teams only when teams begin working on that scenario (i.e., teams usually learn about each scenario every 10 to 15 minutes apart).

Scenario #1 (In Textbook) Determined to never suffer another cold winter, you secured venture capital funding for a new resort business called Club Ed on a small Caribbean island. The resort is under construction and is scheduled to open in less than one year. The resort will employ approximately 75 staff (most employed full-time). Draw an organizational chart that best suits the organization when it opens, and justify your decision.

Scenario #2 It is now five years later. Your resort has been wildly successful. Through profits and investment from private equity partners, Club Ed recently expanded to five resorts and plans to add 12 more within the next year. These resorts are equally spread around the Caribbean, Central America, and South Pacific. Draw an organizational chart that would best serve this organization, and be prepared to justify it to the class.

Scenario #3 Ten years after opening the first resort, your organization now has 30 resorts. Furthermore, your firm is about to launch a charter airline from four major cities in your home country to the destinations where its resorts are located. The airline will transport guests to your own resorts but will also serve as a charter airline for other resorts and tour operators in those regions. Draw an organizational chart that would best serve this organization, and be prepared to justify it to the class.

Scenario #4 Fifteen years after opening its first resort, Club Ed has 75 successful resorts throughout the Caribbean, Central America, South Pacific, and Asia. Its charter airline now has regular flights from several major cities in your country to almost a dozen destinations nearest those resorts (and serves other resorts and tour operators in those areas). This year, Club Ed acquired a rapidly growing adventure travel agency, which specializes in small-group socially responsible guided excursions to remote locations around the world. Club Ed plans to market these adventure travel excursions to travelers from other parts of the world. Draw an organizational chart that would best serve Club Ed in this situation, and be prepared to justify it to the class.

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Comments to Instructors

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

At last! A team exercise on organizational structure that students thoroughly enjoy. I have used this exercise (and this recent revision) for dozens of courses over many years. In every class, students were completely involved and challenged by the activity. These students ranged from mid-20s graduate students to 30s and 40s managers to military officers. They all enjoy it, as far as I could tell from the class activity. From my many years with undergraduate students, I would suggest that this exercise is just as much fun for them.

Scenario #1: Students usually develop a functional structure in the first scenario. A couple of teams might suggest a simple structure, assuming that the resort is very small, but the scenarios states 75 employees, which makes a simple structure difficult. Occasionally, a team might recommend a team-based structure where everyone is multiskilled. This is possible, but the contingencies of structure suggest more of a mechanistic than organic form works better here.

Scenario #2: Most teams form a geographic divisional structure. A divisional structure necessarily adds a layer of management, usually three people who lead each region. This may be logical and reasonable with 17 properties (approximately five per region), but it is useful to question whether this regional layer is required at all. Why can‘t the 17 resort owners report directly to the CEO or chief operating officer? In fact, the Club Ed exercise is derived from the ―Club Med‖ organization, which at one time had 50 resort managers reporting directly to the CEO or COO. Similarly, until recently, the structure of Nucor (America‘s largest steel company) had 50 mill managers report directly to Nucor‘s CEO. If a divisional structure is justified, students should explain why it should be geographical. Possibly these resorts differ more by clientele—some are more ―party‖ oriented, others are more relaxed, and others cater mainly to families. Generally, students should debate at what stage (size, complexity) an organization should form a divisional structure.

Scenario #3: By this stage (30 resorts), students clearly prefer a divisionalized structure around geography.

This generally makes sense. However, students still need to justify why all 30 resorts couldn‘t report directly to the CEO. The discussion is mostly about span of control and presence of coordinating mechanisms other than direct supervision to facilitate such a wide span. As in Scenario #2, when recommending a geographic divisional structure teams should justify why Club Ed should be organized by geography rather than customer or function. For instance, why not have a vice president responsible for all food services in all resorts? The charter airline creates complexity that students need to incorporate into the structure. The airline might stand alone as a division because it requires minimal integration with the resorts. It carries resort guests, but also nonguests. Some teams recommend a structure that more closely integrates the airline with the resorts. Other teams recommend a matrix structure (for the resorts, not airline) organized by geography and function (food services, housekeeping, etc.). The instructor might ask for discussion about the risks of a matrix structure and whether function and geography are equally important.

Scenario #4: Many teams now reorganize Club Ed into a product-based divisional structure with three products: resorts, airline, and adventure travel. They tend to have a geographic divisional structure within the resorts division and retain a functional structure for the other two businesses. The instructor might ask whether the structure should support organizational integration, such as how to leverage the strengths of the resorts with the adventure travel and airline. Alternatively, the class might consider whether the three ―divisions‖ should be mostly independent businesses with limited interdependence (i.e., Club Ed becomes a holding company). The answers to these issues depend on whether each business needs to be interdependent with each other and, if so, how Club Ed can build synergies across these divisions.

Further Suggestions

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

The scenarios have been revised a few times over the years from the original exercise to create better discussion about several organizational structure debating points. However, instructors may want to experiment with their own scenarios, perhaps adding cruise ships or expanding product lines into fitness centers. The possibilities are endless!

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.1: WHAT ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE DO YOU PREFER?

Overview and Instructions Personal values influence how comfortable we are working in different organizational structures. Some people prefer an organization with clearly defined rules or no rules at all. Others prefer a firm where almost any employee can make important decisions, or where important decisions are screened by senior executives.

This self-assessment is designed to help students estimate the type of organizational structure in which they would prefer to work based on their personal needs and values.

Students are asked to read each statement in this self-assessment and indicate how well the statement reflects the type of organization in which they would prefer to work. This instrument has 15 statements.

Feedback for the Preferred Organizational Structure Instrument This self-assessment estimates the extent to which students prefer a mechanistic or organic structure, as well as the three dimensions of a mechanistic structure: tall hierarchy, formalization, and centralization. The tables reflect norms based on a sample of more than 200 MBA students. Cultural, occupational, and age differences might make the norms less relevant to students in some classes.

Tall hierarchy People with high scores on this dimension prefer to work in organizations with several levels of hierarchy and a narrow span of control (few employees per supervisor). Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 15. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 7.8.

Score 11–15 6–10 0–5

Interpretation Strong preference for tall hierarchy Average preference for tall hierarchy Low preference for tall hierarchy

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Formalization People with high scores on this dimension prefer to work in organizations where jobs are clearly defined with limited discretion. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 15. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 9.4.

Score 12–15 9–11 0–8

Interpretation Strong preference for formalization Average preference for formalization Low preference for formalization

Centralization People with high scores on this dimension prefer to work in organizations where decision making occurs mainly among top management rather than spread out to lower-level staff. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 15. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 7.7.

Score 10–15 7–9 0–6

Interpretation Strong preference for centralization Average preference for centralization Low preference for centralization

Mechanistic Structure Preference (Total Score) People with high scores on this overall score prefer to work in mechanistic organizations, whereas those with low scores prefer to work in organic organizational structures. Mechanistic structures are characterized by a narrow span of control and high degree of formalization and centralization. Organic structures have a wide span of control, little formalization, and decentralized decision making. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 45. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 24.9.

Score 30–45 22–29

Interpretation Strong preference for mechanistic structure Average preference for mechanistic structure

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

0–21

Low preference for mechanistic structure

S A

SELFASSESSMENT 13.2: DOES YOUR JOB REQUIRE AN ORGANIC OR MECHANISTI C STRUCTURE?

Overview and Instructions Different jobs require different types of organizational structures. For some jobs, employees work better in an organic structure. In other jobs, a mechanistic structure helps incumbents perform their work better. This self-assessment helps students to estimate the preferred organizational structure for the job in which they currently or have recently worked. Students without recent work experience can think about these statements in terms of their ―job‖ as a student. Students are asked to indicate the extent to which their job has the characteristic described in each statement.

Feedback for the Task Variability and Task Analyzability Self-Assessment One of the contingencies of organizational design is ―technology,‖ which refers to the mechanisms or processes by which an organization turns out its product or service. These mechanisms or processes relate to two types of task characteristics, namely task analyzability and task variability. Your scores for both scales are shown below. Students locate both scores on the diagram (next page and online) to estimate the preferred organizational structure. There is no ―total‖ score because task analyzability and task variability are separate concepts. Both scales range from 5 (low) to 25 (high). The midpoint is 15.

Task Analyzability Task analyzability refers to how much the job allows incumbents to apply existing procedures or computational algorithms to resolve issues that arise. Jobs with high task analyzability have more established information cues that reveal cause–effect relationships among variables in that work environment. They have a ready-made procedures or guidelines for most decisions and actions. In contrast, low task analyzability exists in jobs where the work does not lend itself to systematic calculation or procedural determination of the best course of action. Consequently, these jobs require job incumbents with expertise and sufficient discretion to address the work challenges.

Task Variability This job characteristic refers to the number of exceptions to standard procedure that tend to occur. In work processes with low variability, jobs are routine and repetitive. Employees perform similar tasks using similar skills in the same way every day. In contrast, task variability is high where job duties are unpredictable from one day to the next. Job incumbents frequently confront unfamiliar and unexpected issues, and that variety requires more diverse work activities and correspondingly multiple skills (i.e., skill variety).

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Using Task Variability and Task Analyzability to Determine the Preferred Organizational Structure The diagram on the next page determines which organizational structure is better for the type of work the student performs. Both scales range from 5 (low) to 25 (high). The midpoint is 15.

If the job has high task analyzability and low task variability, then a mechanistic organizational structure would be more appropriate. In other words, the job operates better where there is a narrow span of control (closer supervision), centralized decision making (less discretion), and high formalization (plenty of rules and procedures). If the job has low task analyzability and high task variability, then an organic organizational structure would be better. This structure includes a wide span of control (minimal supervision), decentralized decision making (more discretion), and low formalization (few rules and procedures).

If scores are high–high or low–low, then an organic structure is preferred, but the structure should have more formalization and centralization than in a purely organic structure. If one or both scores are toward the middle of the range, then students need to infer the structure from the two quadrants. For instance, a moderate level of task analyzability and low level of task variability would call for something closer to a mechanistic than organic structure.

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

USING TASK VARIABILITY AND TASK ANALYZABILITY TO DETERMINE THE PREFERRED ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

Chapter 14: Organizational Culture Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

14

Organizational Culture

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: 8-9 Describe the elements of organizational culture and discuss the importance of organizational subcultures.

8-10 Describe four categories of artifacts through which corporate culture is deciphered.

8-11 Discuss the importance of organizational culture and the conditions under which organizational culture strength improves organizational performance.

8-12 Compare and contrast five strategies for merging organizational cultures.

8-13 Describe five strategies for changing and strengthening an organization‘s culture, including the application of attraction–selection–attrition theory.

8-14 Describe the organizational socialization process and identify strategies to improve that process.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY adaptive culture—an organizational culture in which employees are receptive to change, including the ongoing alignment of the organization to its environment and continuous improvement of internal processes artifacts—the observable symbols and signs of an organization‘s culture attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) theory—a theory stating that organizations have a natural tendency to attract, select, and retain people with values and personality characteristics consistent with the organization‘s character, resulting in a more homogeneous organization and a stronger culture

bicultural audit—a process of diagnosing cultural relations between the companies and determining the extent to which cultural clashes will likely occur ceremonies—planned displays of organizational culture, conducted specifically for the benefit of an audience learning orientation—a set of beliefs and norms in which people are encouraged to question past practices, learn new ideas, experiment putting ideas into practice, and view mistakes as part of the learning process organizational culture—the values, norms, and assumptions shared among organizational members

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Chapter 14: Organizational Culture

organizational socialization—the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization

realistic job preview (RJP)—a method of improving organizational socialization in which job applicants are given a balance of positive and negative information about the job and work context

psychological contract—the individual‘s beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party (typically the employer)

reality shock—the stress that results when employees perceive discrepancies between their preemployment expectations and on-the-job reality rituals—the programmed routines of daily organizational life that dramatize the organization‘s culture

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 14-1 Describe the elements of organizational culture and discuss the importance of organizational subcultures.

Organizational culture consists of the values, norms, and assumptions shared within an organization.

Values are stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations. Organizational culture norms are informal rules and shared expectations of employee behavior. Shared assumptions are nonconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions or beliefs that have worked so well in the past that they are considered the correct way to think and act toward problems and opportunities.

Organizations differ in their cultural content, that is, the relative ordering of values. There are several classifications of organizational culture, but they tend to oversimplify the wide variety of cultures and completely ignore the underlying assumptions of culture. Organizations have subcultures as well as the dominant culture. Subcultures maintain the organization‘s standards of performance and ethical behavior.

They are also the source of emerging values that replace misaligned core values.

14-2 Describe four categories of artifacts through which corporate culture is deciphered.

Artifacts are the observable symbols and signs of an organization‘s culture. Four broad categories of artifacts include organizational stories and legends, rituals and ceremonies, language, and physical structures and symbols. Understanding an organization‘s culture requires the assessment of many artifacts because they are subtle and often ambiguous.

14-3 Discuss the importance of organizational culture and the conditions under which organizational culture strength improves organizational performance.

Organizational culture has three main functions: as a form of social control, as the ―social glue‖ that bonds people together, and as a way to help employees make sense of the workplace. Companies with strong cultures generally perform better than those with weak cultures, but only when the cultural content is appropriate for the organization‘s environment. Also, the culture should not be so strong that it drives out dissenting values, which may form emerging values for the future. Organizations should have adaptive cultures in which employees support ongoing change in the organization and their own roles.

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14-4 Compare and contrast five strategies for merging organizational cultures.

Organizational culture clashes are common in mergers and acquisitions. This problem can be minimized by performing a bicultural audit to diagnose the compatibility of the organizational cultures. The four main strategies for merging different corporate cultures are assimilation, deculturation, integration, and separation.

14-5 Describe five strategies for changing and strengthening an organization’s culture, including the application of attraction–selection–attrition theory.

An organization‘s culture begins with its founders and leaders, because they use personal values to transform the organization. The founder‘s activities are later retold as organizational stories. Companies also introduce artifacts as mechanisms to maintain or change the culture. A related strategy is to introduce rewards and recognition practices that are consistent with the desired cultural values. A fourth method to change and strengthen an organization‘s culture is to support workforce stability and communication.

Stability is necessary because culture exists in employees. Communication activities improve sharing of the culture. Finally, companies strengthen and change their culture by attracting and selecting applicants with personal values that are compatible with the company‘s culture, by encouraging those with misaligned values to leave the company, and by engaging in organizational socialization—the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization.

14-6 Describe the organizational socialization process and identify strategies to improve that process.

Organizational socialization is the process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization. It is a process of both learning and adjustment. During this process, job applicants and newcomers develop and test their psychological contract—personal beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party (the employer).

Employees typically pass through three socialization stages: preemployment, encounter, and role management. To manage the socialization process, organizations should introduce realistic job previews (RJPs) and recognize the value of socialization agents in the process. These RJPs give job applicants a realistic balance of positive and negative information about the job and work context. Socialization agents provide information and social support during the socialization process.

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LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Organizational Culture Slide 2: Learning Objectives 14-1

Describe the elements of organizational culture and discuss the importance of organizational subcultures.

8-8

14-2 Describe four categories of artifacts through which corporate culture is deciphered.

14-3

Discuss the importance of organizational culture and the conditions under which organizational culture strength improves organizational performance.

14-4

Compare and contrast five strategies for merging organizational cultures.

14-5

Describe five strategies for changing and strengthening an organization‘s culture, including the application of attraction–selection–attrition theory.

14-6

Describe the organizational socialization process and identify strategies to improve that process.

Slide 3: Workday’s Organizational Culture Workday Inc.‘s founders actively developed and continue to guide a strong people-first organizational culture, resulting in a highly effective and happy global workforce • Workday‘s founders personally interviewed and hired the first 500 employees to ensure that their beliefs and behaviors were aligned with the desired culture • Workday‘s culture also attracts job applicants, which further reinforces its culture • At one time when the company grew quickly, Workday‘s culture weakened and moved away from the founders‘ ideals. Workday‘s culture was reinvigorated when it held a large summit to discuss the company‘s values and beliefs

Slide 4: Organizational Culture Defined The values, norms, and assumptions that are shared among organizational members: • Define what is important and unimportant and direct everyone in the organization toward the ―right way‖ of doing things • Company‘s DNA—invisible to the eye, yet a powerful template that guides employee behavior in the workplace

Slide 5: Elements of Organizational Culture Shared values • Values are stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations • Shared values are values that people have in common

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• Company‘s values are near the top of the employee‘s values hierarchy Espoused versus enacted values • Espoused values—values the company wants others to believe guide its decisions and actions, or hope will eventually guide employee behavior • Usually socially desirable—present a positive public image • Employees‘ personal values are diverse, so might conflict with firm‘s espoused values • Enacted values—values put into practice—they actually guide and influence employee decisions and behavior • Organizational culture is defined by enacted (not espoused) values Organizational culture norms • Informal rules and shared expectations of employee behavior • Organizational culture values translated into more specific behavioral guidelines Shared assumptions • Nonconscious, taken-for-granted perceptions, and ideal prototypes of behavior • Only apparent by observing employees and analyzing their decisions • Some say shared assumptions are the essence of organizational culture

Slide 6: Content of Organizational Culture Cultural content is the relative ordering of shared values, norms, and assumptions Problems with organizational culture models and surveys: 1. Oversimplify the many and diverse cultural values—models and surveys are not representative of the full set of possible cultures 2. Shared assumptions are ignored—part of culture but more difficult to measure 3. Incorrectly assumes company cultures are clear and unified (therefore easy to decipher) An organization‘s culture is blurry (ambiguous) and fragmented: • Organization‘s culture has noticeable variability because every employee has a somewhat distinct hierarchy of values • Organizations consist of clusters of employees across the organization, and these employees prioritize different values than the company‘s culture • Consists of diverse subcultures (fragmentation)

Slide 7: In Praise of Organizational Subcultures René Lacerte actively created Bill.com‘s organizational culture when he founded the cloud-based digital business payments company. However, Lacerte also views subcultures as potentially good for the company. ―I embrace these subcultures and encourage guiding them so they can individually grow and help the larger team thrive by virtue of their differences.‖

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 8: Organizational Subcultures Dominant culture • Values, norms, and assumptions shared most consistently and widely by the organization‘s members Subcultures • Located throughout the organization • May support, oppose, or not affect the dominant culture • Countercultures—subcultures that oppose aspects of the dominant culture • Some firms have subcultures without a dominant culture Two functions of countercultures: 1. Surveillance and critical review of dominant culture, maintain ethical standards 2. Source of emerging values that may eventually become dominant

Slide 9: Organizational Culture Artifacts Observable symbols and signs of the organization‘s culture • Artifacts represent the organization‘s culture (evidence of specific culture content) • Artifacts also reinforce the organization‘s culture (helps maintain the culture) • Four broad categories of artifacts: organizational stories/legends, rituals/ceremonies, organizational language, physical structures/symbols Organization‘s culture is ambiguous and fragmented, so we need to sample information from many and varied artifacts to accurately decipher a company‘s culture

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Slide 10: Artifacts: Stories and Legends Social prescriptions of desired (or dysfunctional) behavior • Add human realism to corporate expectations and performance standards Stories and legends are most effective when they: • Describe real people • Are assumed to be true • Are known by employees throughout the organization • Are prescriptive—advise people what to do or not to do

Slide 11: Artifacts: Language, Rituals, and Ceremonies Language • Verbal symbols of the company‘s shared values, norms, and assumptions • How employees talk to coworkers/outsiders, express emotions, describe stakeholders, and so on • May occur naturally/habitually (e.g., ―teammates,‖ not workers) or deliberately (e.g., leaders use language to anchor or change culture) Rituals • Programmed routines of daily organizational life—how meetings are conducted, how visitors are greeted, and time employees take for lunch Ceremonies (more formal than rituals) • Planned activities conducted for an audience—awards ceremony and product launches

Slide 12: Artifacts: Physical Structures and Symbols Building structure—may shape and reflect culture Office fixtures and features—convey cultural meaning (e.g., furniture, office size, and wall hangings) Example: physical space design • Collaborative and creative cultures—space design is informal and enables spontaneous group discussion (culture values teamwork and flexibility) • Controlling and competitive cultures—more structural office arrangements and more space for individual work than teamwork (culture values individualism, efficiency)

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Slide 13: Organizational Culture Strength Culture strength—how widely and deeply employees hold the company‘s dominant values, norms, and assumptions In strong corporate cultures: • Most employees understand and embrace the culture • Values, norms, and assumptions are institutionalized through well-established artifacts—entrenches culture • Culture is long lasting—often traced back to founder Three functions of strong cultures to improve effectiveness: 3. Control system—automatic pilot or compass—nonconsciously guiding employees so their behavior is consistent with organizational expectations 4. Social glue—bonds people together (fulfills need for social identity) 5. Sense making—helps employees to (a) understand why things happen in the company and (b) understand what is expected of them Organizational culture influences the ethical conduct of its employees

Slide 14: Organizational Culture and Effectiveness Modestly positive effect of culture strength on organizational effectiveness Reason: effect of culture strength on effectiveness depends on specific conditions (i.e., three contingencies of culture strength relationship with firm effectiveness): • Environment fit • Moderate culture strength • Adaptive culture

Slide 15: Contingencies of Culture Strength 6. Culture content is aligned with the external environment • Ensuring the organization‘s culture content (dominant values, norms, and assumptions) fits the external environment • A misaligned strong culture guides employees to wrong decisions and behaviors with stakeholders

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7. Culture strength is not the level of a cult • Very strong cultures (corporate ―cults‖) less effective than moderately strong cultures • Two problems with corporate cults • Lock people into mental models—can blind them to new opportunities, unique problems • Suppress dissenting values of subcultures • Goal: create a strong culture that allows subcultural diversity—supports benefits of subcultures (see earlier slide) 8. Culture is an adaptive culture • Employees are receptive to change, including the ongoing alignment of the organization to its environment and continuous improvement of internal processes • Employees adopt an open system view—take responsibility for the organization‘s performance and alignment with the external environment • Support continuous improvement of internal work processes—role flexibility (vs. ―not my job‖ mindset) • Company‘s culture values a learning orientation—a set of beliefs and norms in which people are encouraged to question past practices, learn new ideas, experiment putting ideas into practice, and view mistakes as part of the learning process

Slide 16: Merging Organizational Cultures Mergers and acquisitions often fail financially when the merging organizations have incompatible cultures Need to conduct a bicultural audit and then apply most appropriate merger strategy Bicultural audit A process of diagnosing cultural relations between companies and determining the extent to which cultural clashes will likely occur • Part of due diligence in merger • Minimizes risk of cultural collision by diagnosing companies before merger Three steps in bicultural audit: 9. Identify cultural differences between the merging companies 10. Analyze bicultural audit data to determine which differences will result in conflict and which cultural values provide common ground 11. Identify strategies and prepare action plans to bridge the two organization‘s cultures

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Slide 17: Strategies for Merging Corporate Cultures 12. Assimilation (rare) • Acquired company employees willingly embrace acquiring firm‘s culture • Occurs when acquired company‘s culture is weak or dysfunctional and acquiring company‘s culture is strong and successful • Culture clash is rare because acquired firm employees welcome the other‘s culture 13. Deculturation • Acquiring firm imposes its culture and business practices • Acquiring firm strips away acquired firm‘s artifacts that support its old culture • Necessary when acquired firm‘s culture doesn‘t work • Employees in acquired firm tend to resist the cultural change 14. Integration • Combine both cultures into a new composite culture, preserves best of both cultures • Slow and potentially risky—many forces preserving the existing cultures • Best when firms have relatively weak cultures, cultural values overlap, or employees are motivated to adopt a new set of dominant values 15. Separation • Merged firms keep their own corporate cultures and practices—remain distinct entities • Best when merging firms are in unrelated industries or different countries

Slide 18: Changing Microsoft’s Organizational Culture After just a few years as CEO, Satya Nadella successfully transformed Microsoft‘s culture to one of teamoriented cooperation, continuous learning, and far-reaching innovation • Microsoft‘s former culture—encouraged acrimonious internal competition, office politics, and aloofness to innovation with external partners • Nadella says guiding the company‘s culture is a critical part of his job as a leader

Slide 19: Changing, Strengthening Organizational Culture (1 of 3) Changing an organization‘s culture is a considerable challenge Five strategies for changing/strengthening org cultures: • Actions of founders and leaders model desired behavior • Align artifacts with desired culture • Introduce culturally consistent rewards • Support workforce stability and communication • Use attraction, selection, and socialization

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Slide 20: Changing, Strengthening Organizational Culture (2 of 3) 16. Model culture through actions of founders and leaders • Founder‘s personality, values, habits, and critical events often establish firm‘s culture • Founder is often an inspiring visionary—role model for culture • Stories/legends about the founder later reinforce the culture • Subsequent leaders actively guide, reinforce, and sometimes alter firm‘s culture • Transformational leaders can reshape culture using organizational change practices • Associated with both transformational leadership and authentic leadership 17. Align artifacts • Artifacts keep the culture in place or help shift the culture • Artifacts include systems and structures—important for organizational change

Slide 21: Changing, Strengthening Organizational Culture (3 of 3) 18. Introduce culturally consistent rewards (formal and informal rewards/recognition) • Powerful artifacts that strengthen or reshape an organization‘s culture 19. Support workforce stability and communication • Need a stable workforce (low turnover) for a strong organizational culture because: • Culture exists mostly in employee minds, not documented • It takes time for culture to be understood and translated into behavior • Firm‘s culture can disintegrate with high turnover, precipitous downsizing • Strong culture depends on frequent, open communication • Ongoing discussions between executives and employees about how the firm‘s culture is manifested in decisions and behavior • Encourage casual conversations—employees regularly interact, which develops shared language, stories, and other artifacts 20. Attracting, selecting, and socialization of employees • ASA theory—firms attract (A) and select (S) people who already embrace the cultural values, and attrition (A) occurs with people who don‘t fit the culture • Includes organizational socialization

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 22: Attraction–Selection–Attrition Theory Organizations have a natural tendency to attract, select, and retain people with values and personality characteristics consistent with the organization‘s character • Results in a more homogeneous organization and a stronger culture ASA increases culture strength through: • Attraction—applicants self-select—don‘t seek jobs at firms with incompatible values • Selection—firms select applicants whose values fit the company‘s culture • Attrition—employees quit or are forced out when their values oppose company values

Slide 23: Culture Fit versus Culture Add Criticisms of culture ―fit‖ • Culture fit encourages ―mirror approach‖ to hiring—selecting people who look and act the same as current employees (unfair discrimination hiring practices) • Culture fit undermines workforce inclusion/diversity and its benefits Culture ―add‖ focuses on adding value through diverse new hires • What candidates can add to the organization • Employees complement each other, not copies of each other • New hires contribute what is missing from the existing culture Three issues in the culture ―fit‖ versus culture ―add‖ debate: 21. Culture fit hires ―congruent‖ applicants, not perfectly aligned applicants • Culture fit: ―congruency between an individual‘s values and those of an organization‖ • Congruence (harmony, compatibility) recognizes that employees have diverse values hierarchies, yet agree with and work effectively in the company‘s culture • Hiring perfectly aligned employees creates a corporate cult, which is contrary to effective strong cultures—stifles subcultures, constructive debate, creativity, and adaptability 22. Mirror approach is an ineffective way to hire for values congruence • Applicants with backgrounds different from current employees often have personal values congruent with the company‘s culture • Mirror approach is discriminatory hiring—creates demographically homogeneous firm • Difficult measuring personal values in job applicants, likely more accurate to screen out applicants with significantly incongruent values 23. Culture ―add‖ advocates still implicitly seek culture ―fit‖ • Culture ―add‖ advocates say they attract and hire applicants whose personal values are similar to— rather than opposed to—the company‘s values (i.e., culture fit)

Slide 24: Organizational Socialization The process by which individuals learn the values, expected behaviors, and social knowledge necessary to assume their roles in the organization

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• Organizational socialization process maintains a strong organizational culture Learning Process • Effective socialization increases newcomers‘ organizational comprehension—developing a cognitive map of the social, strategic, and cultural dynamics of the organization • Learn performance expectations, power dynamics, corporate culture, history, and jargon • Forming successful and satisfying relationships with coworkers to ―learn the ropes‖ Adjustment Process • Newcomers need to adapt to their new work environment • Adopt new team norms, practice new behaviors, and develop new work roles • Newcomers with diverse work experience adjust better

Slide 25: Psychological Contracts Individual‘s beliefs about the terms and conditions of a reciprocal exchange agreement between that person and another party (typically the employer) • Perception formed from preemployment onward about what the employee is entitled to receive and is obliged to offer the employer in return Range from transactional to relational psychological contracts • Transactional: primarily short-term economic exchanges; well-defined responsibilities • Relational: long-term attachments that include a broad range of mutual obligations

Slide 26: Stages of Organizational Socialization Stage 1: Preemployment Socialization • All learning and adjustment before first day of work • Applicants and employers receive imperfect information due to conflicts: • Conflict 1: Employer‘s motivation to attract many high-quality job applicants conflicts with applicant‘s need for complete and accurate information to choose best job offer • Conflict 2: Job applicant‘s motivation to attract job offers conflicts with employer‘s need for complete and accurate information to choose best job applicants • Conflict 3: Employers are motivated to attract many high-quality job applicants, which conflicts with their need to receive complete and accurate information to choose best applicants • Conflict 4: Job applicants are motivated to attract job offers, which conflicts with their need to receive complete and accurate information to choose best job offer Stage 2: Encounter • Begins with first day in new work environment • Newcomers test how preemployment expectations fit reality • Reality shock—stress from perceived discrepancies between preemployment expectations and on-the-job reality • Unmet expectations versus unrealistic expectations

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• Both produce reality shock, but ―unmet‖ attributes fault to employer, ―unrealistic‖ expectations attributes fault to applicant (self) Stage 3: Role Management • Most active as employees transition from newcomers to insiders • Strengthen relationships with coworkers and supervisors • New role behaviors, attitudes, and values consistent with new position and organization • Resolve conflicts between work and nonwork activities

Slide 27: Improving Organizational Socialization Realistic job preview (RJP) • Balance of positive/negative information about job and work context • Helps applicants estimate their compatibility with the job and organization • Scares away some applicants, but reduces turnover, improves job performance, and minimizes reality shock Socialization agents • Socialization agents play a central role in organizational socialization • Supervisors—provide technical information, performance feedback, buffering them from excessive demands, and help them form social ties with coworkers • Coworkers—easily accessible, answer questions, serve as role models, being flexible, and tolerant with new hires

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?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

1. Superb Consultants has submitted a proposal to analyze your organization’s culture. The proposal states that Superb has developed a revolutionary new survey to tap the company’s true culture. The survey takes just 10 minutes to complete, and the consultants say results can be based on a small sample of employees. Discuss the merits and limitations of this proposal.

Understanding an organization‘s culture requires painstaking assessment of many artifacts because they are subtle and often ambiguous. Consequently, we should be skeptical about claims that a consultant can assess an organization‘s culture quickly through a survey. Moreover, a survey is more likely to determine an organization‘s espoused values—the values people say they believe in—rather than its enacted values—the values that actually guide individual decisions and behavior in the workplace. To effectively analyze an organization‘s culture, consultants need to investigate subtle artifacts, ranging from daily rituals to the physical workspace.

2. All members of the executive team at Claybuild, a national manufacturer of bricks and related building materials, strongly believe that quality control and efficiency are the two cornerstones of the company’s future success. Every Claybuild executive meeting begins by discussing ways to improve product quality and operate more efficiently in the manufacturing process, distribution system, and administrative processes. The company’s website proudly describes its dedication to quality and efficiency. The CEO has given speeches to several retail client events on Claybuild’s quality–efficiency culture. However, an industry expert suggests that quality and efficiency represent Claybuild’s espoused culture, but not so much its enacted culture. What does the industry expert mean by this, and what evidence might suggest that the industry expert’s opinion is correct?

Espoused values are values that corporate leaders hope will eventually become the organization‘s culture, or at least the values they want others to believe guide the organization‘s decisions and actions. In this incident, Claybuild‘s leaders and the company‘s website claim that the company‘s actual culture emphasizes quality and efficiency, but the industry expert suggests that these values are not enacted values. Values are enacted when they actually guide and influence decisions and behavior. They are values put into practice. In other words, the industry expert suggests that employee behavior is not actually guided by the values (or assumptions) of quality and efficiency.

It is possible that Claybuild‘s leaders have embraced the values of quality and efficiency. The ritual of beginning each executive meeting with ways to improve quality and efficiency may be an artifact of the executive subculture.

The industry executive may have come to their conclusions in several ways. First, the actual behavior of employees might imply a lack of emphasis on quality and/or efficiency. For example, the expert might have noticed inefficient work activities that are not as apparent in competitor organizations. Second, the expert may have observed artifacts that contradict these values. For instance, the language employees use might reveal their disdain for quality or efficiency, or some of their daily rituals and routines may symbolize inefficiency or a poor orientation to quality. The expert may have formed conclusions from

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casually interviewing employees across the organization. For instance, the expert may have witnessed employee cynicism regarding the executive emphasis on quality and efficiency.

3. The CEO of a manufacturing firm wants everyone to support the organization’s dominant culture of lean efficiency and hard work. The CEO has introduced a new reward system to reinforce this culture and personally interviews all professional and managerial applicants to ensure that they bring similar values to the organization. Some employees who criticized these values had their careers sidelined until they left. Two midlevel managers were fired for supporting contrary values, such as work–life integration. Based on your knowledge of organizational subcultures, what potential problems is the CEO creating?

This incident describes how an organization subdues organizational subcultures, particularly countercultures. The textbook explains that organizational subcultures serve two important functions.

First, they maintain the organization‘s standards of performance and ethical behavior. Employees who hold countercultural values are an important source of surveillance and critique over the dominant order.

This monitoring role is lost if subcultures are suppressed.

Second, subcultures are the spawning grounds for emerging values that keep the firm aligned with the needs of customers, suppliers, society, and other stakeholders. Companies eventually need to replace their dominant values with ones that are more appropriate for the changing environment. If subcultures are suppressed, the organization may take longer to discover and adopt values aligned with the emerging environment.

4. ―Organizations are more likely to succeed when they have an adaptive culture.‖ What can an organization do to foster an adaptive culture?

An adaptive culture exists when employees focus on the changing needs of customers and other stakeholders and support initiatives to keep pace with these changes. Organizations are more likely to succeed when they have an adaptive culture. Based on the textbook‘s description of an adaptive culture, here are ways to foster such a culture: Encourage an external focus. Organizations foster an adaptive culture by adopting an external focus— creating a common mental model that the organization‘s success depends on monitoring and supporting external stakeholders and by continuously adapting to their changing needs and expectations.

Create a sense of ownership. Encourage employees to assume responsibility for achieving organizational goals and performance expectations. They take responsibility for the organization‘s performance and alignment with the external environment. This might occur by giving employees more autonomy, responsibility, and accountability.

Pay attention to organizational processes. Help employees to be continuously mindful of the need for continuous improvement of internal processes (e.g., productivity and customer service) to serve external stakeholders.

Support a learning orientation culture. Support employees‘ efforts to engage in action-oriented discovery. Welcome learning opportunities and view reasonable mistakes as part of the learning process.

5. Senior officers of a city government have assigned you the project of identifying ways to reinforce a new culture of teamwork and collaboration. The senior executives clearly support these values, but

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they want everyone in the organization to embrace them. Identify five ways of activities that would strengthen these cultural values.

The textbook identifies five ways to strengthen organizational culture: Actions of founders and leaders. Transformational leaders strengthen organizational culture by communicating and enacting their vision of the future. Cultural values are particularly reinforced when leaders behave in ways that are consistent with the vision.

Aligning artifacts. Ceremonies, language, routine behaviors, stories, and physical workspace not only symbolize the organization‘s culture, they also reinforce and maintain that culture. To support a culture of teamwork and collaboration, for example, the city might refer to employees as ―team members,‖ engage in events that emphasize teamwork and cooperation, and rearrange the workplace in a way that encourages teamwork.

Introducing culturally consistent rewards. Reward systems strengthen corporate culture when they are consistent with cultural values. A team-oriented city might introduce more team-based rewards, for example.

Supporting workforce stability and communication. Two types of activity would strengthen the company‘s culture. The quicker action would be to increase means of enabling employees to communicate with each other across work units and regions. Communication indirectly and directly transfers knowledge and meaning about the company‘s culture, such as by sharing stories, learning the language used by other employees, and creating a sense of commonality. If the company is growing rapidly, the company might establish groups of ―culture carriers‖ who deliberately communicate the core values and examples of them in action. The other type of activity is to maintain a stable workforce. This occurs by reducing employee turnover and other forms of turbulence (e.g., layoffs and transfers).

Selecting and socializing employees. The city should consider hiring people whose values are consistent with teamwork and collaboration. Then, new staff should receive a formal socialization process to reinforce these values.

6. Suppose you are considering joining one of three accounting firms as your first full-time job in this career. One firm is located only within one large city but has a large portion of the small-business tax and audit business in that city. The second is a national firm with offices across the country, including the city where you intend to work. The third is one of the top three global accounting and professional services firms and has offices in the city where you intend to work. Only the global firm has a detailed ―careers‖ web page that describes the job expectations, culture, and career development opportunities. The other two firms have minimal information on their websites. All three firms have a standard interview process, including a brief tour of the local offices. All the firms will have booths at a career fair event that you will attend. As a job applicant, what methods and information would you seek out and apply to assess how well the organizational cultures at each of these three accounting firms are compatible with your personal values?

This is an open-ended discussion question for students regarding the practical application of assessing cultural fit with a potential employer. The question relates to four topics: (a) espoused versus enacted values, (b) artifacts as symbols of the organization‘s (enacted) culture, (c) preemployment socialization, and (d) the ―selection‖ aspect of ASA theory.

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The espoused versus enacted values topic is relevant here because the available information may be heavily weighted toward espoused values—description of an organizational culture that the organization wants to become or wants others to believe exists but doesn‘t exist.

The topic of artifacts as symbols of the organization‘s (enacted) culture is central to the applied ideas that students will present. Essentially, the job applicant is trying to find out each company‘s enacted culture.

Here are some suggestions based on the information provided in the question: Careers web page: The careers website may be describing the organization‘s espoused, but not actual, culture. This has some usefulness, however, to the extent that it might describe the company‘s enacted values, or at least describe the espoused culture that its leaders want to create in future. Specific examples provided on the careers website might offer more solid evidence of the enacted culture compared to general statements about the culture.

Standard interview: The job applicant might have an opportunity to ask questions about the company‘s culture during the interview. There are two limitations here, however. First, many interviews are dominated by the employer‘s desire to find out about the applicant, which leaves the applicant limited opportunity to collect information, particularly about something as abstract as the company‘s culture.

Second, as this chapter describes, the open and honest exchange of information between the employer and applicant is limited by conflicts in each party‘s attraction and selection objectives. Specifically, the applicant may be reluctant to ask pointed questions about the company‘s culture because the applicant believes these questions will reduce their ―attractiveness‖ to the employer, and the employer may be reluctant to provide accurate answers to these questions for fear that the information will reduce the employer‘s ―attractiveness‖ to the applicant. However, even in a one-way standard interview, the applicant might pick up some artifactual evidence, such as the language used by interviewer(s). The applicant might notice the formality of their description about senior management, implying a hierarchical culture, the casualness of their dress code and language, and even the role of those involved in the interview (e.g., potential coworkers at the firm vs. only managers and formal human resources staff).

Tour of local offices: Depending on the speed and fullness of the tour, this may provide a good opportunity for the applicant to observe artifacts that represent or contradict to the organization‘s stated cultural values and assumptions. For instance, the company might claim to have an egalitarian culture, yet the executive offices are located away from professional staff and/or executive offices have formalized labels of the executive names. A firm that claims to have an environmentally focused culture would have numerous artifacts reflecting this, such as evidence of waste reduction and building technology that uses low energy. A firm that claims to be safety conscious would have signs of safety throughout, and employees would engage in subtle behaviors that demonstrate a safety culture.

Career fair booths: These sources of information may be helpful, depending on who operates those booths. If staff in the applicant‘s position are present, the applicant might draw out some details about what it‘s really like to work there. Thus, you might ask these employees culture-related questions, such as ―Your company prides itself as having an entrepreneurial culture. What has happened recently in your work unit where its entrepreneurial culture was quite evident?‖ Beyond the questions, the applicant might pay attention to the language these company representatives use, such as how they address each other and visitors, how they refer to company changes or innovations, and how they describe clients.

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Other sources: When discussing this incident, student can identify other sources of information not explicitly stated in the question. Students might mention that some evidence of the company‘s culture might be found out by searching through online newspapers articles about the company, particularly the national and global firms that would receive more public attention. Another source of information would be friends, acquaintances, and former students at your school who work for the firm or indirectly know others who work there.

7. After three months on the job, you feel that the company has violated the psychological contract.

The job is not as exciting as you originally expected, and your current boss is no better than the supervisor in your previous job. The people who interviewed you are concerned about your feelings, but say that they didn’t misrepresent either the job or the fact that some supervisors are not as good as others here. Explain how your perceived psychological contract may have been distorted during preemployment socialization.

In general, employees experience a psychological contract violation either through the company‘s misrepresentation or the job applicant‘s perceptual distortion of the actual situation. The first is a case of unmet expectations. The second is a case of unrealistic expectations. In this question, the employee believes that the job should be more exciting and that the supervisor should be better skilled in that role.

The company interviewers say they did not misrepresent the actual situation, which may be true or not. In any event, psychological contracts are often violated because of the distorted information exchange that occurs between employer and job applicant. The following two ―conflicts‖ during preemployment likely explain why you feel that the company has violated the psychological contract.

Conflict 1: The employer‘s motivation to attract many high-quality job applicants conflicts with the applicant‘s need to receive complete and accurate information for choosing the best job offer. Although the company says it did not misrepresent the job or the quality of supervision, there is either a conscious or nonconscious tendency of employers to present only positive aspects of the job and company. The company might not have claimed that all of its supervisors are a delight to work with, but neither did they acknowledge that some supervisors aren‘t very good at their jobs.

Conflict 4: Job applicants are motivated to attract job offers, which conflicts with their need to receive complete and accurate information for choosing the best job offer. It is unlikely that this applicant asked the company for details about the job, particularly aspects that would make the work exciting. Sounding ―picky‖ about job duties could give a less favorable impression to employers, so applicants remain silent on these matters.

8. Socialization is most intense when people pass through organizational boundaries. One example is your entry into the college or university that you are now attending. What learning and adjustment occurred as you moved from outsider to newcomer to insider as a student here?

This discussion question will generate a number of interesting stories, many of them negative, about initial experiences at school. The concept of ―reality shock‖ will likely emerge from the discussion, such as how people were overwhelmed with the number of buildings, rules, task requirements, and other forms of learning and adjustment. Some students will likely note how attending school required adjustment to their nonschool life, such as the amount and form of social and family activity. Finally, this discussion should bring out the sense that students experience being an ―insider,‖ that is, an experienced student who knows their way around the system and can lead others as they adjust as newcomers.

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CASE STUDY: COMMSONE BANK

Case Synopsis CommsOne Bank is one of Asia‘s largest financial institutions acquire TaurusBank, a much smaller financial institution that had aggressively developed investment funds, online banking, and digital transaction initiatives in the region. CommsOne expected that Taurus employees would learn to value detailed analysis and cautious decision making. This was quite different from TaurusBank‘s aggressive and entrepreneurial culture with edgy marketing, innovative products, and tendency to involve employees to generate creative ideas. One year after the merger, one-third of Taurus fund managers had been lured away by competitors.

Two years later, CommsOne‘s CEO admitted that the acquisition of TaurusBank did not gain the opportunities that they had originally hoped.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions 1. Based on your understanding of mergers and organizational culture, discuss the problems that occurred in this case.

The main problem in this case is that the two banks either did not conduct a bicultural audit, or they did a very poor job of it. This was manifested in the resistance from TaurusBank employees, the mass exit of valuable talent, and the ultimate failure of CommsOne Bank to benefit from the merger.

Students should describe the strategy used to merge these two cultures, then explain why this strategy was inappropriate in this case. The strategy applied was clearly deculturation because CommsOne Bank imposed its culture and business practices on the acquired organization (TaurusBank). This strategy is appropriate when the acquired firm‘s culture doesn‘t work, but employees aren‘t convinced of this.

However, deculturation is less effective than other strategies because it increases the risk of socioemotional conflict.

Deculturation was inappropriate in this situation because the case suggests that TaurusBank was very effective before its acquisition by CommsOne bank. CommsOne wanted the benefits of Taurus Bank‘s investment funds expertise, online banking business, and digital transaction initiatives, but apparently failed to see that TaurusBank‘s distinctive culture aided its success in those businesses.

As part of this answer, students should briefly compare the culture of CommsOne Bank (cautious, hierarchical, and status oriented) with the culture of TaurusBank (aggressive, responsive, and entrepreneurial). Students should also explain how deculturation causes problems even when it‘s the best strategy because it tends to produce low morale, higher turnover, and more conflict. These outcomes, in turn, undermine the firm‘s effectiveness.

2. What strategies would you recommend to CommsOne’s executives to avoid these corporate culture clashes in future mergers and acquisitions?

Students should carefully review the steps in a bicultural audit as part of the answer to this question. The bicultural audit process begins with interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and observation to identify cultural differences between the merging companies. Next, the bicultural audit data are analyzed to determine which differences between the two firms will result in conflict and which cultural values provide common ground on which to build a cultural foundation in the merged organization. The final Page 15-608 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

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stage of the bicultural audit involves identifying strategies and preparing action plans to bridge the two organizations‘ cultures.

Students should also identify a likely preferred corporate culture merger strategy given the information provided. A separation strategy may be the best option if both banks were previously successful in their respective businesses. However, this strategy usually doesn‘t last long because executives want to take control of the overall business.

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TEAM EXERCISE: CORPORATE CULTURE DILEMMA VIGNETTES

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students apply organizational culture knowledge by diagnosing and evaluating situations in which business leaders try to change or strengthen the organization‘s culture.

Materials Teams should have a method of summarizing their analysis for other teams to view. This might be flip chart paper for face-to-face classes or a dedicated virtual whiteboard or presentation slide for each team in remote classes.

Instructions (Small or Large Class) This exercise may be completed either individually or in teams. It is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may be appropriate in moderately large classes. When the teams (or individuals) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Team members begin by reading the two vignettes. They then use organizational culture knowledge to answer the assigned questions for each vignette. The class will debrief the exercise by having teams share their analysis of each vignette.

Vignette 1: Goebroak Investments ASSIGNMENT: Diagnose and evaluate this situation at Goebroak based on organizational culture concepts. Describe three different types of activities that may help this organization to more effectively align employee behavior with the company‘s espoused values.

ANALYSIS (NOTES FOR INSTRUCTORS): Students should point out that the set of values developed by Goebroak‘s executive team represents the company espoused values—the values that the executives hope will eventually become the organization‘s culture. However, it is enacted values that actually influence employee behavior, including ethical conduct.

Students should also mention that enacted (not espoused) values do have an influence on the ethical conduct of employees when the culture is sufficiently strong and when its values are clearly related to business ethics.

Therefore, under the right conditions, Goebroak employees will engage in more ethical conduct if Goebroak employees embrace the values and the company develops a strong culture. There are a few ways that students should analyze this vignette. The main issue here is how well the company has strengthened its enacted culture through the strategies described in this chapter. A second issue may be the limits of values influencing individual behavior.

Strategies for a Strong Culture

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Students should analyze Goebroak‘s current practices against the strategies discussed in this chapter to strengthen organizational culture. These strategies also provide guidance on how the company can further strengthen its culture.

Modeling the Culture. Goebroak‘s executive team tries to model the company‘s values so employees will understand and support them. We don‘t have details about how they model the culture, or how well they signal that their actions are consistent with the culture. It is possible that some/most employees don‘t recognize the connection between some executive behaviors and the espoused values.

Workforce Stability and Communication. Goebroak‘s executive team says it regularly communicates the company‘s values. We don‘t have details about how well they do this, however. For example, they might merely recite the values, whereas a better strategy would be to discuss each value in terms of specific situations and behaviors that are compatible with the espoused values. Workforce stability does not seem to be an issue here (the company doesn‘t seem to be growing or laying off many employees).

Align Artifacts with Desired Culture. We do not know if the many and varied artifacts at Goebroak are compatible with the company‘s espoused values. For example, the company might have a reward system that encourages deceptive services to clients rather than acting ethically.

Attraction, Selection, Socialization. Goebroak‘s executive team introduced the set of values within the past year. Therefore, it is likely that few employees have been recruited or hired with careful assessment of their compatibility with the espoused values. It is very likely that some Goebroak employees do not actually agree with or embrace the company‘s values. Most employees have been working at Goebroak for several years, and some may have settled into a set of values and norms that oppose the company‘s espoused values. Yet, there is no indication that employees whose actions are contrary to the stated values are encouraged to leave the organization.

Limits of Values Influencing Behavior Some students might note that individual behavior sometimes varies from an individual‘s personal values.

This was discussed in Chapter 2 (values congruence). To some extent, these contingencies are covered in the five strategies for a stronger culture but are worth noting separately. Specifically, many work behaviors are routine or habitual, so employees do not scrutinize those behaviors for values congruence. Also, employees need to be reminded of the company‘s values so they remain salient. A third issue is that the situation may prevent or discourage values-consistent behavior.

Activities to Align Employee Behavior to Espoused Values The above analysis highlights several distinct ways to more effectively align employee behavior with the company‘s espoused values. Here are a few of them: • Diagnose Goebroak‘s various artifacts for alignment with the espoused culture. Ideally, an expert consultant should examine the company‘s various artifacts, such as daily language, physical layout and furnishings, stories and legends, and rituals and ceremonies. Quite likely, several artifacts may be discouraging employees from abiding by the company‘s values.

• Goebroak should look for any systems or processes that might motivate employees to act contrary to the espoused values. In particular, reward systems, information systems, and promotion systems may have this dysfunctional effect.

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• Rather than just ―communicate‖ the espoused values in general language, Goebroak‘s executive team and other managers should regularly illustrate to employees how specific behaviors relate to the company‘s values or are contrary to those values.

• More carefully monitor employee behavior to identify those whose values are highly incompatible with the company‘s espoused culture. This would represent the ―attrition‖ aspect of the ASA model. Keep in mind that most employees will abide by the company‘s values when they are given clear examples of behavior compatible and incompatible with the culture. But a few employees may be deeply entrenched in contrary values and associated behavior.

• When modeling the company‘s espoused values, executives and other managers should spell out to employees that the behaviors are, indeed, illustrating espoused values.

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Vignette 2: Weldug Corp.

ASSIGNMENT: Use organizational culture concepts to diagnose and evaluate the consultant‘s activities and claims. In addition, briefly describe one activity not mentioned by the consultants that might change the organization‘s culture as much as or more than the actions recommended by the consultant.

ANALYSIS (NOTES FOR INSTRUCTORS): This vignette describes a few recommendations and actions taken by the consultant, each of which should be carefully evaluated by students in their answer.

50-Item Survey to Measure the Organization’s Culture. The consultant recommended using its own 50-item survey, which identifies the organization‘s culture from among six different culture types measured by the instrument. This survey would be repeated every six months to monitor cultural change. Students should point out a few problems here. First, an organization‘s culture is not accurately identified through surveys and, at best, would roughly identify only one or two levels of culture (values and norms), not its assumptions.

Instead, organizational culture is more accurately understood by examining various artifacts. Second, there are dozens of company values, so a survey that measures six different culture types would likely overlook the company‘s culture or provide a very blunt categorization of its culture.

Applying the Survey Results to a Stronger Culture. The vignette states that the consultant proposed a communication program that would give employees a clearer understanding of and commitment to the values identified in the survey. Yet, the vignette says the company wants to CHANGE its culture to one that emphasizes lean efficiency and safety. In fact, some employees currently exhibit behaviors that are riskoriented, which is contrary to the CEO‘s espoused values. Thus, there is no inherent reason why the company should try to strengthen the culture identified in the consultant‘s survey. If the survey is accurate, it would include values supporting risk, whereas the CEO wants the opposite. If the consultant‘s survey identifies values that are inaccurate, the company will be moving in an unknown and misguided direction. Overall, the only function of the consultant‘s survey—and only if it was reasonably accurate—would be to understand the current cultural landscape so the executive team would have a grasp of which enacted values need to change and how well the espoused values (safety and efficiency) are already embedded in the culture.

Communicating the Company’s Culture. The consultant also proposed a communication initiative which includes distributing an ―our values‖ brochure to employees, giving them little culture-statement cards they keep on their person, and having the CEO send emails emphasizing the importance of having a strong culture. Students should immediately note that none of these ―communication‖ activities provides sufficient detail about what the values look like in decisions and behavior. Values are abstract constructs, so any communication needs to include ways of linking each abstract value to specific ways of enacting that value.

On a positive note, keeping values cards on the person and having the CEO regularly reminded employees of these values will make the values more salient to employees in their everyday work activities.

Activities to Align Employee Behavior to Espoused Values The above analysis mainly identifies weaknesses with the consultant‘s proposal. Students should look closely at strategies described in this chapter to strengthen organizational cultures.

Modeling the Culture. Weldug‘s CEO and executive team need to model the company‘s values so employees will understand and support them. When modeling the company‘s espoused values, executives and other managers should spell out to employees that the behaviors are, indeed, illustrating espoused values.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Align Artifacts with Desired Culture. Diagnose Weldug‘s various artifacts for alignment with the espoused culture of safety and efficiency. Ideally, an expert consultant should examine the company‘s various artifacts, such as daily language, physical layout and furnishings, stories and legends, and rituals and ceremonies.

Quite likely, several artifacts may be discouraging employees from abiding by the company‘s values. For example, the vignette states that Weldug managers are keen to maintain their productivity bonus, which may undermine the safety cultural value.

Workforce Stability and Communication. The consultant proposes a few ways to communicate the company‘s values. These have some benefits, but not many because they are too vague. Rather than just ―communicate‖ the espoused values in general language, Weldug‘s executive team and other managers should regularly illustrate to employees how specific behaviors relate to the company‘s values or are contrary to those values.

Attraction, Selection, Socialization. Weldug‘s CEO is trying to change the culture, and it appears that some espoused values are not deeply held by employees at present (safety and possibly efficiency). Therefore, it is very likely that some Weldug employees do not actually agree with or embrace the company‘s values.

Therefore, another recommendation is for the company to monitor employee behavior to identify those whose values are highly incompatible with the company‘s espoused culture. This would represent the ―attrition‖ aspect of the ASA model. Keep in mind that most employees will abide by the company‘s values when they are given clear examples of behavior compatible and incompatible with the culture. But a few employees may be deeply entrenched in contrary values and associated behavior. Meanwhile, the company should initiate recruitment practices that attract applicants who values safety, efficiency, and other values espoused by the company. They should also consider ways to screen out applicants whose personal values are clearly contrary to the company‘s espoused values (not identical to the company‘s values, just not substantial opposed to those values).

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

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TEAM EXERCISE: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE GIF MEMES

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students understand, assess, and interpret organizational culture using animated GIFs as humorous metaphor or analogy memes.

Materials This exercise requires the following resources: 1. Student access to one or more free animated GIF websites.

2. A virtual space, digital presentation slides, or other place where teams can display several animated GIFs. 3. A list of companies (created by the instructor or class) that are known to most students.

Instructions (Small to Medium Class, Face-to-Face or Remote) This exercise is best suited for teams in small- to medium-sized classes. It can be conducted effectively with in-person classes or with remote classes.

Organizational cultures tend to be abstract, so they are best described through metaphors, analogies, and other abstract symbols and signs. These communications often take the form of memes, which are ideas, behaviors, styles, or usages that spread from person to person within a culture. Animated GIFs are popular memes in contemporary society. They are typically humorous and mostly nonverbal forms of communication that depict meaning as metaphors and analogies. In this exercise, teams will select an animated GIF that best depicts the culture of each well-known organization on a list.

Step 1: Students are organized into teams (typically five to seven people).

Step 2: A list of organizations will be created (before class) and distributed. These organizations must be known to many or most students, who also have a perception of the corporate cultures of those organizations.

The list might be created by the instructor, or students might suggest company names to the instructor before the day of the class. If in doubt, when the list is distributed, the instructor might ask for a show of hands to confirm that many or most students are aware of each company and have a perception of its culture. At least one or two students on each team should be aware of each organization.

Step 3: Each team will reach consensus on a written phrase that best labels the dominant culture of each organization listed (e.g., company X has a strong competitive culture). Although corporate cultures have multiple values, the team will identify only the most prominent cultural value.

Step 4: Team members will search animated GIF sites and select items that they believe best depict the dominant cultural value for each organization. The team will reach consensus in selecting one (1) animated GIF for each organization listed that matches the agreed culture of that organization. Animated GIFs must be brief (less than 15 seconds), without sound and, of course, be appropriate to display to the class. GIFs may include text captions, but all GIFs should be mainly animations of people, animals, places, or objects (not mainly words).

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Step 5: The class will reconvene and teams will show their GIF for each company. Ideally, all teams will show their GIFs for the first company, then all teams show their GIFs for the second company, and so forth.

This format depends on the technology available to display the GIFs to the entire class.

Step 6: After all GIF memes for a specific company have been shown—and preferably before GIFs for the other organizations are shown—the class will compare the different GIF memes for that company‘s culture and will discuss how they are useful metaphors or analogies for conveying that culture.

Comments for Instructors This is a contemporary team activity that students can identify with because many or most use GIF memes in their digital communication. However, this activity takes them into a different sphere. Rather than typical GIFs showing everyday emotions, this activity requires specific GIFs around a dominant organizational value. There are several GIF websites that allow free (noncommercial) use of items, yet students may be challenged to search for GIFs that capture a company‘s culture. But the search can be valuable for understanding how values are manifested (enacted). And the results of this exercise can be entertaining and fun.

To make this activity work well, instructors need to be sure of the following: 1. Create a list of companies that at least some students in each team will be aware of from an organizational culture perspective. As mentioned in the instructions, have students help to identify potential companies on this list. This help should ideally occur in the previous class. The instructions don‘t mention the length of the list, but probably five or fewer companies should be listed, depending on the amount of time for the activity and the expected difficulty students will have agreeing on the dominant value and the ability to find a suitable GIF. 2. Be sure that team members have ways to access GIF websites. Have a list of GIF websites to help students. The best known is giphy, but there are several others (tenor, gfycat, reactiongifs). Be sure at least one student on each team knows how to download the selected GIF and upload it to wherever it will be displayed to the class.

3. Remind teams that this activity is more than just finding GIFs. It begins by having the team write a phrase that best labels the dominant culture of each organization and by reaching consensus in selecting one (1) animated GIF for each organization listed that matches the agreed culture of that organization.

4. Have an easy way for teams to display their GIFs. As the instructions suggest, it is best to debrief by company (not by team), so arrange to have all GIFs for a specific company shown at the same time or sequentially through the teams. For example, set up separate digital spaces for each company, with each team having access to upload their GIF for that company. (The team can identify themselves with the GIF when the company‘s GIF is shown to the class.)

Happy giffing!

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

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TEAM EXERCISE: SOCIALIZATION DIAGNOSTICS EXERCISE

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand the socialization strategies that organizations should use for new employees and to learn about the impediments to forming an accurate psychological contract.

Instructions The instructor will form small teams (four or five students). Each student will describe one particularly memorable positive or negative experience that they had when entering an organization. Students without employment experience can describe their entry into a school, volunteer group, or other organization.

Alternatively, they can describe an experience of someone they know (e.g., friend, another family member, etc.) For example, the student might describe how they were greeted during the first day of work, how the company kept them informed before the first day of work, how the company did (or didn‘t) tell the person about negative aspects of the work or job context.

Based on these experiences, the team will develop a list of practices that companies should use to improve the socialization process. Some experiences will reflect effective management of the socialization process.

Other experiences will indicate what companies have done ineffectively, so the team must identify practices that avoid or minimize those problems.

The class will debrief by having a round-robin process in which each team describes one (1) socialization practice and briefly summarizes the student‘s experience regarding that practice. The next team then presents one practice with its example. This process is repeated until the most significant anecdotes and their implications have been presented. The class will discuss common elements among experiences presented (e.g., realistic job previews, problems adjusting to new values, and violations of the psychological contract) and practices companies should follow to make the socialization process more effective.

Comments for Instructors This exercise is a potentially valuable and entertaining activity for learning about organizational socialization and the importance of organizational activities to assist the socialization process. The exercise requires students to translate experiences into action. In other words, after listening to someone‘s experience, they must be able to pinpoint specific activities that would ensure that this experience is (or is not) repeated with other newcomers to the organization.

Example: ―I showed up for work on the first day, but nobody knew who I was because my boss was on vacation and didn‘t tell anyone that I was hired.‖ Implications: Keep everyone posted about new recruits. Involve employees in the selection process and give them responsibility for preparing new employees in the job.

Unless your students have no work experience, this exercise can provide some very humorous moments.

Students can recall experiences that left them stranded in the socialization process. They can describe supervisors that represent a new hire‘s worst nightmare. Some will describe coworkers who easily explain why newcomers have such high turnover.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

In the event that students have few work experiences, they might have informative stories about starting their education at this or another college. As the instructor, you might also provide examples to make this exercise more interesting.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 14.1: WHICH CORPORATE CULTURE DO YOU PREFER?

Overview and Instructions An organization‘s culture may be very appealing to some people and much less so to others. After all, each of us has a hierarchy of personal values, and that hierarchy may be compatible or incompatible with the company‘s shared values.

This corporate culture preferences scale estimates the extent to which students prefer each of four corporate cultures. These corporate cultures may be found in many organizations, but they represent only four of many possible organizational cultures. Students should also keep in mind none of these subscales is inherently good or bad. Each is effective in different situations.

Students are asked to read each pair of the statements in the Corporate Culture Preference Scale and circle the statement that describes the organization they would prefer to work in. Class discussion will focus on the importance of matching job applicants to the organization‘s dominant values.

Feedback for the Corporate Culture Preference Scale This self-assessment estimates the extent to which students prefer each of four corporate cultures. Each subscale has a potential score ranging from 0 to 6 points. Higher scores indicate that students have a stronger preference for organizations with that type of culture. The tables provide norms based on a sample of more than 200 MBA students.

Control Culture This culture values the role of senior executives to lead the organization. Its goal is to keep everyone aligned and under control. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 6. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 1.1.

Score

Interpretation

3–6

Strong preference

.6–2

Average preference

0–.5

Low preference

Performance Culture This culture values individual and organizational performance and strives for effectiveness and efficiency.

Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 6. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 2.9.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Score

Interpretation

5–6

Strong preference

3–4

Average preference

0–2

Low preference

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Relationship Culture This culture values nurturing and well-being. It considers open communication, fairness, teamwork, and sharing a vital part of organizational life. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 6. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 3.9.

Score

Interpretation

5–6

Strong preference

3.6–4.9 0–3.5

Average preference Low preference

Responsive Culture This culture values its ability to keep in tune with the external environment, including being competitive and realizing new opportunities. Scores on this subscale range from 0 to 6. The average score among a sample of MBA students was 4.1.

Score

Interpretation

5–6

Strong preference

3.6–4.9

Average preference

0–3.5

Low preference

Instructor’s Manual to Accompany

Organizational Behavior 10/e

by Steven L. McShane and Mary Ann Von Glinow

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Chapter 15: Organizational Change Prepared by Steven L. McShane Interconnected Knowledge

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

15

Organizational Change

LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, students should be able to: Describe the elements of Lewin’s force field analysis model.

Discuss the reasons why people resist organizational change and how change agents should view this resistance.

Outline six strategies for minimizing resistance to change, and debate ways to effectively create an urgency to change.

Discuss how leadership, coalitions, social networks, and pilot projects assist organizational change.

Describe and compare action research, appreciative inquiry, large group interventions, and parallel learning structures as formal approaches to organizational change.

Discuss two cross-cultural and three ethical issues in organizational change.

CHAPTER GLOSSARY action research—a problem-focused change process that combines action orientation (changing attitudes and behavior) and research orientation (testing theory through data collection and analysis)

positive organizational behavior—a perspective of organizational behavior that focuses on building positive qualities and traits within individuals or institutions as opposed to focusing on what is wrong with them

appreciative inquiry—an organizational change strategy that directs the group’s attention away from its own problems and focuses participants on the group’s potential and positive elements

refreezing—the latter part of the change process in which systems and structures are introduced that reinforce and maintain the desired behaviors

force field analysis—Kurt Lewin’s model of systemwide change that helps change agents diagnose the forces that drive and restrain proposed organizational change

unfreezing—the first part of the change process, in which the change agent produces disequilibrium between the driving and restraining forces

parallel learning structure—a highly participative arrangement composed of people from most levels of the organization who follow the action research model to produce meaningful organizational change

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

CHAPTER SUMMARY BY LEARNING OBJECTIVE 45. Describe the elements of Lewin’s force field analysis model.

Lewin’s force field analysis model states that all systems have driving and restraining forces. Change occurs through the process of unfreezing, changing, and refreezing. Unfreezing produces disequilibrium between the driving and restraining forces. Refreezing realigns the organization’s systems and structures with the desired behaviors.

46. Discuss the reasons why people resist organizational change and how change agents should view this resistance.

Restraining forces are manifested as employee resistance to change. The main reasons people resist change are the negative valence of change, fear of the unknown, not-invented-here-syndrome, breaking routines, incongruent team dynamics, and incongruent organizational systems. Resistance to change should be viewed as a resource, not an inherent obstacle to change. Change agents need to view resistance as task conflict rather than relationship conflict. Resistance is a signal that the change agent has not sufficiently strengthened employee readiness for change. It is also a form of voice, so discussion potentially improves procedural justice.

47. Outline six strategies for minimizing resistance to change, and debate ways to effectively create an urgency to change.

Organizational change requires employees to have an urgency for change. This typically occurs by informing them about driving forces in the external environment. Urgency to change also develops by putting employees in direct contact with customers. Leaders often need to create an urgency to change before the external pressures are felt, and this can occur through a vision of a more appealing future.

Resistance to change may be minimized by keeping employees informed about what to expect from the change effort (communicating), teaching employees valuable skills for the desired future (learning), involving them in the change process, helping employees cope with the stress of change, negotiating trade-offs with those who will clearly lose from the change effort, and using coercion (sparingly and as a last resort).

48. Discuss how leadership, coalitions, social networks, and pilot projects assist organizational change.

Every successful change requires transformational leaders with a clear, well-articulated vision of the desired future state. They also need the assistance of several people (a guiding coalition) who are located throughout the organization. In addition, change occurs more informally through social networks. Viral change operates through social networks using influencers.

Many organizational change initiatives begin with a pilot project. The success of the pilot project is then diffused to other parts of the organization. This occurs by motivating employees to adopt the pilot project’s methods, training people to know how to adopt these practices, helping clarify how the pilot can be applied to different areas, and providing time and resources to support this diffusion.

49. Describe and compare action research, appreciative inquiry, large group interventions, and parallel learning structures as formal approaches to organizational change.

Action research is a highly participative, open systems approach to change management that combines an action orientation (changing attitudes and behavior) with research orientation (testing theory). It is a data-based, problem-oriented process that diagnoses the need for change, introduces the intervention, and then evaluates and stabilizes the desired changes.

Appreciative inquiry embraces the positive organizational behavior principle by focusing participants on the positive and possible. This approach to change also applies the constructionist, simultaneity, poetic, and anticipatory principles. The four stages of appreciative inquiry include discovery, dreaming, designing, and delivering.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Large group interventions are highly participative events that view organizations as open systems (i.e., involve as many employees and other stakeholders as possible) and adopt a future and positive focus of change. Parallel learning structures rely on social structures developed alongside the formal hierarchy with the purpose of increasing the organization’s learning. They are highly participative arrangements, composed of people from most levels of the organization who follow the action research model to produce meaningful organizational change.

50. Discuss two cross-cultural and three ethical issues in organizational change.

One significant concern is that organizational change theories developed with a Western cultural orientation potentially conflict with cultural values in some other countries. Also, organizational change practices can raise one or more ethical concerns, including increasing management’s power over employees, threatening individual privacy rights, and undermining individual self-esteem.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

LECTURE OUTLINE Slide 1: Organizational Change Slide 2: Learning Objectives Describe the elements of Lewin‘s force field analysis model.

Discuss the reasons why people resist organizational change and how change agents should view this resistance.

Outline six strategies for minimizing resistance to change, and debate ways to effectively create an urgency to change.

Discuss how leadership, coalitions, social networks, and pilot projects assist organizational change.

Describe and compare action research, appreciative inquiry, large group interventions, and parallel learning structures as formal approaches to organizational change.

Discuss two cross-cultural and three ethical issues in organizational change.

Slide 3: Organizational Change at Levi Strauss Levi Strauss relied on communication, learning, involvement, pilot projects, and other organizational change strategies to transform itself from a declining business to an innovative digital leader in the clothing industry A decade ago, Levi Strauss & Co. suffered declining revenue, high debt, limited innovation

 Incoming CEO Chip Bergh discovered a lack of urgency for change among employees and a lack of motivation and capacity for change among executives  Most executives were replaced and employees made aware of firm‘s problems Now, Levi Strauss is in a massive companywide ―digital-first‖ transformation

 Minimized employee resistance and anxiety by communicating the vision and offering training programs (such as the machine learning bootcamp)  Bootcamp graduates became a guiding coalition to champion the change  Also minimized employee resistance through pilot projects—for example, agile methodologies began with teams motivated to use agile, then their success diffused to other teams

Slide 4: Driving and Restraining Forces Organizations operate as open systems

 Successful organizations monitor their environments and maintain a compatible fit  Employees in successful companies embrace these ongoing changes Force field analysis model Page 15-626 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 15: Organizational Change

 Kurt Lewin‘s model is a widely respected macro-level way of viewing the change process Driving forces

 Push organizations toward change  Includes external forces (e.g., new competitors and technologies)  Leader‘s vision inspires employees to strive for higher standards Restraining forces

 Resistance to change——employee behaviors block the change process  Try to maintain the status quo

Slide 5: Force Field Analysis Model Effective change occurs by unfreezing the current situation, moving to a desired condition, and then refreezing the system so it remains in the desired state Unfreezing

 Producing disequilibrium between the driving and restraining forces—driving forces stronger than restraining forces Stability

 When driving and restraining forces are roughly in equilibrium (i.e., approximately equal strength in opposite directions) Refreezing

 Introducing systems and conditions that reinforce and maintain the desired behaviors  Support and reinforce the new role patterns and prevent the organization from slipping back into the old ways

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 6: Resistance to Change at UTIL Industries Fernando Bertoni, CEO of Italian vehicle brake components manufacturer UTIL Industries sees an urgent need to evolve into a ―lean and fast technology solutions provider‖ as the industry shifts to electric vehicles. But some UTIL employees resist change. ―The mentalities that say, ‗We are really good at what we do already‘ or ‗we have always done it this way‘ are the more common manifestations of that resistance.‖

Slide 7: Understanding Resistance to Change Resistance to change is a common and natural human response Many forms of resistance

 Complaints, overt work stoppages, and passive noncompliance  Subtle resistance is much more common than overt resistance—more difficult to address because not as obvious Resistance to change perceived as task versus relationship conflict

 Change agents often view resistance as relationship conflict—problem viewed as personal flaws in those who resist change (unreasonable, dysfunctional, and irrational)  Effective change agents view resistance as task conflict and a form of voice View resistance as task conflict

 Resistance signals that: (a) employees are not ready for change or (b) the change strategy should be revised

 Need to consider whether employees: Lack urgency to change Lack acceptance of the specific change initiative Lack confidence to change Believe change will make them worse off Resistance as a form of voice

 Redirect resistance into constructive conversations  May improve procedural justice and serve as a motivational force  Encourages better decisions through employee involvement—may increase employee motivation and commitment to the change

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 8: Why People Resist Change (1 of 2) Some people inherently oppose change because of their personality and values, but most resistance due to lack of readiness for change (consider MARS model of behavior) 11-1 Negative valence of change

Resistance increases when employee believes post-change situation will have more negative than positive outcomes—imperfectly apply rational choice decision model Consider positive and negative outcomes: effort learning new skills, losing job status, losing job, more interesting work, better career opportunities, and so on Employees also consider organizational outcomes (e.g., planned changes will be disruptive and hurt company‘s success) 11-2 Fear of the unknown (status quo bias)—two negative effects

People assume the worst—more negative than positive outcomes expected Uncertainty viewed as lack of control (negative valence) 11-3 Not-invented-here-syndrome

Changes introduced by people outside the group is resisted, particularly by employees usually responsible for the knowledge or initiative Deliberately inflate problems to prove other group‘s initiative won‘t work Successful change initiated by others threatens employee self-esteem

Slide 9: Why People Resist Change (2 of 2) 11-4 Breaking routines

People are creatures of habit—they resist changes to routines and habits Requires time/effort to learn new routines and role patterns 11-5 Incongruent team dynamics

Existing team norms may be contrary to the desired change—norms are a countermotivational force against change 11-6 Incongruent organizational systems

Old systems/structures reinforce status quo—revert to past attitudes and behavior Include rewards, information systems, formal authority, career paths, hiring criteria

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 10: Unfreezing, Changing, and Refreezing Force field model—effective change occurs by unfreezing the current situation, moving to a desired condition, and then refreezing the system so it remains in this desired state Unfreezing

 Driving forces are stronger than restraining forces (disequilibrium) Three strategies for unfreezing 11-1 Increase driving forces

Examples: employees informed of external forces, management uses coercive power Strategy rarely works alone—employees respond with increase in restraining forces 11-2 Weaken/remove restraining forces

Strategy rarely works alone—facilitates change, but doesn‘t motivate change 11-3 Increase driving forces AND reduce/remove restraining forces (preferred strategy)

Increasing driving forces creates an urgency for change Reducing restraining forces reduces motivation to oppose the change and removes obstacles such as lack of ability and situational constraints

Slide 11: Creating an Urgency for Change Employees informed about the external forces for change (competitors, consumer trend changes, etc.) and their seriousness for the organization‘s future is explained

 Problem 1: Employees are not informed about problems—prevailing driving forces in the external environment are minimally felt by anyone below the top executive level Problem 2: Most difficult to change when organization is doing well (no external drivers) Customer-driven change

 Customers, other stakeholders describe their dissatisfaction with the company  Motivates employees to change because of the human element and stakeholder‘s importance for company‘s survival Create urgency for change without external drivers (e.g., company is successful)

 Future threats to company don‘t work well—employees cynical, view threats as manipulative  Motivate change from leader‘s vision of a more appealing future—makes current situation less appealing

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 12: Reducing the Restraining Forces (1 of 3) Six main strategies for minimizing resistance to change

 Communication, learning, employee involvement, and stress management are first priorities 11-4 Communication

Highest priority and first strategy for change Main benefits of communication 1. Generates an urgency to change 2. Reduces uncertainty (fear of unknown)

Problems—time-consuming and potentially costly 11-5 Learning

Main benefits: Provides new knowledge/skills to perform well in new situation • Strengthens change self-efficacy, more confident means more commitment to change •

Problems—time-consuming and potentially costly

Slide 13: Reducing the Restraining Forces (2 of 3) 11-6 Employee involvement

Employees participate in change process—some involvement often essential Main benefits: More personal responsibility/ownership—increases commitment to change • Minimizes not-invented-here-syndrome—participants in the change idea • Reduces fear of unknown • Better decisions about the change initiative •

Problems—time-consuming and potential conflict 11-7 Stress management

To help employees cope with change when communication, learning, and involvement are not enough to minimize stress Main benefits: Removes some negative valence of change • Less fear of unknown • Less wasted energy, so more motivation to support the change process •

Problems—time-consuming, expensive, doesn‘t help everyone

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 14: Reducing the Restraining Forces (3 of 3) 11-8 Negotiation

Promise of benefits in exchange for compliance with change May be necessary for those who clearly lose out from the change people (negative valence outcomes) and won‘t otherwise support change Problems—expensive; gains compliance, not commitment 11-9 Coercion

Necessary when all other strategies fail Assertive influence tactics—persistent reminders and frequent monitoring Executive dismissals—remove those with outdated mental models and routines Problems—reduces trust, increases politics to protect their own job security

Slide 15: Refreezing the Desired Conditions Systems and structures hold (refreeze) the desired changes—otherwise tend to revert to past behaviors Refreezing realigns systems, structures, and team dynamics to support the desired change

 Alter rewards to reinforce new behaviors  Information systems change coordination and social bonding  Revise feedback systems around desired objectives—―what gets measured, gets done‖

Slide 16: Transformational Leadership and Change Transformational leaders are change agents

 Champion vision of desired future  Communicate the vision meaningfully  Act consistently with the vision  Encourage employee experimentation Strategic vision and change

 Provides a sense of direction  Identifies critical success factors to evaluate change  Emotional foundation for change—links employee values to the change  Reduces employee fear of the unknown—provides an image of the future  Clarifies role perceptions—better understanding of what employees need to learn

Slide 17: Coalitions, Social Networks, and Viral Change Change agents need a guiding coalition

 Group with strong commitment to the change  Ideally a diagonal swath across the firm—representing various functions and levels Page 15-632 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 15: Organizational Change

 Informal influence leaders—highly respected by peers Social networks and viral change

 Social networks consist of people connected to each other through interdependence Guiding coalition is a social network, but other networks can also help change process

 Viral change through principles of word-of-mouth and viral marketing Relies on social networks—information seeded to a few people, then spread to others through friendship connections Information is trusted and more persuasive than through formal channels Enables behavior modeling—employees observe and adopt behavior of others

Slide 18: Pilot Projects and Diffusion of Change Pilot projects—apply change to one work unit or section of the organization, then diffuse successful change to other units Cautious approach to change because:

 Tests initial employee support for change in one group  Tests best strategy to introduce the change  Easier to select work units that are most ready for change—high chance of success Effective diffusion of pilot project applies the MARS model 11-10 Motivation

Employees see success of pilot project Reward people in the pilot project for changing their previous work practices Apply practices that minimize resistance to change 11-11 Ability

Other employees learn from pilot project teams Original pilot employees transferred to other work units as role models and knowledge sources Provide technical training to implement pilot project practices

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

11-12 Clear role perceptions

Communicate and teach employees how the pilot project practices are relevant for their own functional areas Pilot projects is described neither too generally nor specifically 11-13 Supportive situational factors

Provide resources and time to learn and implement the pilot project practices

Slide 19: Action Research Approach Meaningful change combines action orientation (changing attitudes/behavior) and research orientation (testing theory) Action orientation

 Diagnose current problems  Apply interventions that resolve those problems Research orientation

 Research study approach  Data-driven, problem-oriented process  Collect data to diagnose problems  Data help to systematically evaluate how well the intervention works Action research adopts an open systems view

 Organizations have many interdependent parts  Change agents need to anticipate intended and unintended consequences of interventions Action research is a highly participative process

 Change requires employee knowledge and commitment  Employees are coresearchers and participants

Slide 20: Action Research Process 11-14 Form client–consultant relationship

Assumes change agent originates outside the system Client readiness—client‘s motivation, open to meaningful change, possess abilities to complete change process

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

11-15 Diagnose need for change

Organizational diagnosis—gathering and analyzing data about an ongoing system (e.g., interviews and surveys) Includes employee involvement—agree on change methods, schedule, expected standards of successful change 11-16 Introduce intervention

Applies one or more actions (e.g., managing conflict, team building, and changing corporate culture) Incremental change versus rapid change—small steps or massive overhaul 11-17 Evaluate and stabilize change

Evaluating intervention effectiveness against the standards established in the diagnostic stage Problems—outcomes aren‘t apparent for a long time, or might be difficult to separate effects from other factors Refreeze conditions to stabilize change 11-18 Disengage consultant‘s services

Slide 21: Appreciative Inquiry Approach Organizational change strategy that directs the group‘s attention away from its own problems and focuses participants on the group‘s potential and positive elements

 Build on strengths rather than focus on problems  Improves dialogue, minimizes tension and negativity among organizational members  Framing a positive reality has constructive value for future development Appreciative Inquiry Principles 11-19 Positive principle—focus on positive events and potential 11-20 Constructionist principle—realities are ―constructed‖ from the questions asked and language used during the change process—for example, questions determine the information received 11-21 Simultaneity principle—inquiry and change are simultaneous, not sequential 11-22 Poetic principle—organizations are open books so we can choose how to perceive, frame, and describe them 11-23 Anticipatory principle—people are motivated by desirable visions of the future (i.e., use inspiring and engaging images)

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Slide 22: Four-D Model of Appreciative Inquiry 11-24 Discovery

Discovering the best of ―what is‖ elsewhere—positive elements of the observed event/organization (e.g., documenting positive customer experience in another company) 11-25 Dreaming

Envisioning ―what might be‖—ideal situation in a hypothetical organization Participants feel safer revealing their hopes and aspirations in a fictional ideal firm than discussing their own organization or predicament 11-26 Designing

Dialogue about ―what should be‖—participants listen to each other‘s models and assumptions to create a common image of the future 11-27 Delivering

Develop specific objectives about ―what will be‖ for their own organization based on their ―what should be‖ (designing stage) model Appreciative inquiry effectiveness

 Several successful change stories from this approach, but not always successful  Participants need to avoid problem-oriented mindset (blame game)  Not yet clear what conditions (contingencies) are best for appreciative inquiry

Slide 23: Large Group Interventions Highly participative events involving employees and other stakeholders—participants typically discuss their experiences, expectations, and ideas in numerous small groups within the large gathering Adopts a ―whole systems‖ view of change

 Views organizations as open systems with interdependent parts  View that change success depends on involvement of employees and other stakeholders  Some processes occur over two to three days Adopts a future-oriented positive focus

 Event‘s purpose is usually to create a shared vision—―meaning making‖ (shared mental model of the future) Limitations of large group interventions

 Participation limitations: (a) many people involved and (b) some people tend to dominate  Focus on common ground may hide differences that interfere with future progress  Generates high expectations about ideal future, difficult to satisfy in practice

Slide 24: Parallel Learning Structure Approach Highly participative social structure developed alongside the formal hierarchy and composed of people across organizational levels who apply the action research model to produce meaningful organizational change

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Parallel structure members representative across the formal hierarchy  Sufficiently free from firm‘s constraints—social structures developed alongside the formal hierarchy  Develop organizational change solutions, then applied to the larger organization

Slide 25: Cross-Cultural, Ethical Concerns with Change Cross-Cultural Concerns 11-28 Assumption that change occurs in a linear sequence—typical view in North America, whereas other cultures may have more of a cyclical mental model of change 11-29 Assumption that change is necessarily punctuated with tension and overt conflict—even task-oriented isn‘t consistent with some cultures Ethical Concerns 11-30 Privacy rights of individuals—may not want to share personal information and emotions required by action research 11-31 Management power—required (vs. voluntary) employee participation 11-32 Individuals‘ self-esteem may be undermined—unfreezing requires employees to disconfirm beliefs, task competence

Slide 26: Organizations Are about People ―Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors.

Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.‖ Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919)

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

?

SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS

Chances are that the school you are attending is currently undergoing some sort of change to adapt more closely to its environment. Discuss the external forces that are driving the change. What internal drivers for change also exist?

There are many possible changes that your college is currently experiencing. Some of the more common changes might be: (a) shift from quarter to semester schedule, (b) introduction of online learning, (c) changing library hours, (d) new courses and disciplines, (e) reassignment of physical space due to new construction or closure of old buildings.

There are just as many possible external forces for change to consider, including: (a) increased competition for students, (b) emerging technologies, (c) cost pressures (restricted budgets), (d) changing student expectations (e.g., new course content, and more flexible learning), and (e) college ratings.

Internal forces for change mainly come from such things as leadership, physical structures (e.g., aging buildings), and student and faculty coalitions. It is important to distinguish the changes from the forces for change. For example, the introduction of online learning might have resulted from both new technologies and increased competition for students.

Use Lewin’s force field analysis to describe the dynamics of organizational change at Levi Strauss. The case study at the beginning of this chapter provides some information, but think about other forces for and against change beyond the information provided.

This open-ended question will get students think about the dynamics of the external environment for Levi Strauss and other firms. Several forces for change are identified in the opening case study.

The case states that a decade ago Levi Strauss was suffering from declining revenue, high debt, and limited innovation. This implies several forces for change. Declining revenue suggests that the company faces increasing competition and/or its products have become misaligned with customer preferences. The limited innovation suggests that Levi Strauss has become less competitive than other firms in terms of transforming inputs to outputs and/or that the company has not introduced technological innovations that customers and suppliers increasing expect from clothing retailers. The high debt is likely a consequence of the other two problems, but is a force for change in terms of stockholders and firms that have lent finds to Levi Strauss (i.e., possibly getting close to violating debt covenants).

The case doesn’t explicitly mention the forces for Levi Strauss’s current ―digital transformation,‖ but students can imagine several because the case indicates how some of the digital technology will be applied. The chief financial officer states that the change is about transforming the ―workforce to think in an agile and digital-first mindset.‖ It is also about ―digitizing platforms and workstreams.‖ These comments suggest that the company needs to increase internal efficiencies and rapid adaptability to keep pace with stakeholder expectations. The change is also about applying technology to improve innovation, as indicated by the activities of one designer who used neural network technology to make Trucker jackets. Perhaps Levi Stress has not been as creative as competitors, which is another force for change.

By commenting on the force field analysis, this question also asks students to discuss the restraining forces at Levi Strauss. Students should mention that many Levi Stress employees were unaware of the forces for change and, consequently, lacked the urgency for change. The firm’s executives would have known about the external forces, yet many of them ―lacked the motivation or capacity to reinvigorate the company.‖ Few other restraining forces—the sources of resistance to change described in this chapter—are explicit in the opening case study. It does mention that technology employees faced ―some internal resistance‖ soon after they were hired. This suggests that team norms opposed the digital transformation, which is manifested in how employees acted toward the digitally savvy new recruits. Students can refer to other sources of resistance and adapt Page 15-638 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 15: Organizational Change

them to the situation at Levi Strauss. For example, they might explain that the digital transformation would cause resistance due to fear of the unknown because many employees would be concerned that they lack the capability to learn new digital tools. Many employees would also have a negative valence of change because they could imagine that digitally savvy employees (and new hires) would excel while those without digital skills would have less promotion opportunities and more job insecurity.

Employee resistance is a symptom, not a problem, in the change process. What are some of the real problems that may underlie employee resistance?

The textbook outlines six main reasons why employees resist change. The following reasons explain the real problems that employees experience and are concerned about with change processes.

Negative valence of change. Employees apply a cost–benefit analysis to determine if the change will make them better or worse off. Resistance to change is higher when employees believe that: (a) the change will have more negative than positive outcomes (e.g., lost status, lower pay, and poorer working conditions) and (b) the negative outcomes have a high probability of occurring and the positive outcomes have a low probability of occurring.

Fear of the unknown. People resist change because they are worried that they will not be able to adopt the new behaviors required.

Not-invented-here-syndrome. Some employees oppose change whose success threatens their self-esteem. This occurs when the change was within the individual’s job duties or mandate but was discovered or decided by others instead.

Breaking routines. People do not want to give up their comfort zones and daily routines that provide predictability.

Incongruent team dynamics. Team norms may conflict with the desired change and consequently reinforce conformity to the status quo.

Incongruent organizational systems. Organizational systems may actually be discouraging employees from adopting new ways. For example, the organization’s reward, selection, training, and other control systems may be causing employees to maintain the status quo.

Senior management of a large multinational corporation is planning to restructure the organization.

Currently, the organization is decentralized around geographic areas so that the executive responsible for each area has considerable autonomy over manufacturing and sales. The new structure will transfer power to the executives responsible for different product groups; the executives responsible for each geographic area will no longer be responsible for manufacturing in their area but will retain control over sales activities. Describe two types of resistance senior management might encounter from this organizational change.

The answer to this question should include direct costs as one type of resistance to change among the geographic executives. They will lose status, power, and responsibility from the change effort. The other type of resistance to change might be incongruent organizational systems, incongruent team dynamics, or breaking routines. Unless the company has taken specific steps to alter organizational systems, these systems might still support the decentralized organizational structure. For example, communication patterns and physical structures might still be configured around the geographic rather than product structure.

Regarding team dynamics, departmental norms might support the geographic executive. For example, employees might have developed a ―we–they‖ attitude toward product leaders in headquarters. Although the restructuring placed regional product groups under product executives, these antagonistic norms may continue.

Finally, some students might argue that resistance will occur because employees will be breaking routines. For instance, geographic executives and their employees may have formed habits regarding relations between sales and production units. Now that production units are no longer under the executives’ control, these habits must be altered and perhaps sales practices changed to fit the new reporting structure.

The director of the state government’s department of human services (DOHS) wants to make the agency more environmentally friendly by reducing waste in the workplace. Employees will be

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

expected to significantly reduce printing (paper usage), nonrecyclables, food waste, and other items that end up in the department’s office trash each day. Unfortunately, a survey indicates that although DOHS employees support environmental objectives, many do not know how to reduce waste and some are not keen to change their current (wasteful) behaviors and habits. You are responsible for this initiative in one of DOHS’s largest buildings, where 700 employees work for some or most days. Describe specific actions you would take to effectively bring about meaningful behavioral change toward this environmental goal among employees in this building.

This question—which is based on a famous real-world organizational change—should be discussed in two ways.

First, students should comment on each of the strategies for minimizing resistance to change. Second, as with most change activities, this is about altering employee behavior, so students should consider specific tactics for behavior change using the four elements in the MARS model. The MARS model overlaps with the strategies for minimizing resistance to change but highlights or clarifies one or two approaches to change.

Strategies for Minimizing Resistance to Change Communication: Communication is vital in any change so employees understand why change is needed (i.e., increase their urgency for change) and to help reduce feelings of uncertainty by clarifying the way forward.

Employees should attend information sessions whereby change agents explain why the change is necessary and valuable. Another recommendation is to have a task force of employee representatives that keeps everyone informed about how the initiative will begin and what progress is subsequently occurring. Waste garbage could be weighed twice each week and communicated in a chart to employees so they see how the change effort is progressing. The waste garbage might also be occasionally ―audited‖ for incorrect behaviors, such as throwing apple cores in the paper recycling bin, and employees would collectively receive feedback to remind them to if correct action.

Training: Employees need training, such as observing and practicing behaviors that reduce waste. In the cafeteria, for example, employees would learn to separate leftover food and deposit it into the appropriate compost bin. They would also learn how to minimize use of paper and how to reuse paper scraps for other work purposes (e.g., note paper).

Employee involvement: This building has 700 employees, so probably the best strategy is to form a task force of representatives for each department and/or floor of the building. One suggestion is to apply viral change principles by inviting the more popular employees in each department to serve on the task force. These employees would become champions as they take ownership of the program and spread their enthusiasm and commitment back to the departments where they work.

Stress: This can be minimized through the guidance of task force representatives in each department and/or floor of the building. The change program can also have a hotline where staff assist perplexed employees about specific behaviors.

Negotiation: It is difficult to imagine use of this change strategy because 700 employees are involved, whereas negotiation typically applies to a small number of people who lose out from the change. There might be a reward incentive for all employees if waste is sustainably reduced by a certain percentage or weight.

Coercion: Firing, threatening to dismiss, or otherwise being assertive is likely a dysfunctional and unnecessary approach to change in this situation. However, there are structural ways to create behavioral change that might be considered coercive in a nonassertive way. Specifically, the change program can require employees to reduce waste by creating barriers to wasteful behavior. Single-use cups can be replaced with reusable mugs at each employee’s desk. Garbage cans at each workstation can be replaced with small reusable bags to carry nonrecyclables to specially marked bins located elsewhere in the building. Attempts to print documents could produce a warning (―Do you really need to print this?‖) before the print button is shown on the computer or digital device.

Change Using the MARS Model Motivation: Motivating 700 employees to reduce waste might not be easy, but there are a few strategies that have been surprisingly effective. One is through continuous feedback. One feedback strategy is to post in the building entrance a chart showing the amount of waste garbage (what remains after resources have been recycled, reused, and reduced) sampled twice each week. Employees see how waste has been reduced throughout the program,

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which actually increases employee motivation to be part of that process. Feedback might also be provided for each floor level or department, where feasible, although preferably only where a large number of people are included in the work unit. A financial incentive might also increase motivation to reduce waste, but this could be expensive for 700 people and tends to have a short-term effect on the changed behavior.

Ability: This is similar to the ―training‖ strategy. Employees need to learn some waste-reducing behaviors, such as how to sort unused food for plates and ways to reduce use of some supplies.

Role perceptions: This strategy relates to making employees aware of ways they had not previously considered that would reduce waste. It could be as simple as learning to avoid purchase of food products with nonrecyclable packaging. Role perceptions is also about keeping waste reduction salient in employees’ minds. Employees need to be continuously aware of how their behaviors and habits affect the amount of waste. This salience can occur through banners at the building entrance, signs around the offices on each floor, and occasional email or text message reminders about specific practices.

Situational factors: Removing large waste baskets in offices is one of many ways to adapt the situation to reduce waste. At the same time, the situation can provide opportunities, such as providing drink mugs so there is no need to use one-time cups.

Web Circuits is a Malaysian-based custom manufacturer for high-technology companies. Senior management wants to introduce lean management practices to reduce production costs and remain competitive. A consultant has recommended that the company start with a pilot project in one department and, when successful, diffuse these practices to other areas of the organization.

Discuss the advantages of this recommendation, and identify three ways (other than the pilot project’s success) to make diffusion of the change effort more successful.

A pilot project is usually an effective change management strategy. It is more flexible and less risky than centralized organization-wide programs. There are several ways to make diffusion of the change effort more successful. Several strategies are described in the textbook around the four elements of the MARS model. Here is a summary of these recommendations: Motivation: Ensure that employees see that the pilot project is successful and that people in the pilot project receive recognition and rewards for changing their previous work practices. Supervisors need to actively support and reinforce the desired behaviors. They also need to remove sources of resistance that act as counter-motivators to diffusion of change.

Ability: Employees must have the ability—the required skills and knowledge—to adopt the practices introduced in the pilot project. Also, people adopt ideas more readily when they have an opportunity to interact and learn from others who have already applied the new practices.

Role perceptions: Employees need to understand how the practices in a pilot project apply to them even though in a completely different functional area. This requires guidance that is neither too specific, because it might not seem relevant to other areas of the organization, nor too abstract.

Situational factors: Employees require supportive situational factors, including the resources and time necessary to adopt the practices demonstrated in the pilot project.

What is the role of formal and informal networks in organizations interested in undergoing change?

Environmental forces push companies to change. However, change agents cannot lead the initiative alone. It requires assistance from several others equally committed to the change. A formal guiding coalition can be structured to serve this purpose, however, change also occurs informally through social networks. These informal social networks have an important role in communication and influence, both of which are key ingredients for organizational change.

Suppose that you are vice president of branch services at the Bank of East Lansing. You notice that several branches have consistently low customer service ratings, even though there are no apparent differences in resources or staff characteristics. Describe an appreciative inquiry process in one of these branches that might help overcome this problem.

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Appreciative inquiry reframes relationships around the positive and the possible. The bank branches should look at another branch that has been successful. This increases open dialogue by redirecting attention away from internal problems. If branch rivalries are a problem, then each branch might compare itself with a successful operation in another organization or industry.

There are four main stages to appreciative inquiry. The process begins with the discovery stage, whereby the participants identify the positive elements of the observed organization. As they discuss their findings, participants shift into the dreaming stage by considering what might be possible in an ideal organization.

The third stage of appreciative inquiry is known as designing, in which participants listen with selfless receptivity to each other’s models and assumptions, and eventually form a collective model for thinking within the team.

Throughout this stage, team members shift the focus back to their own organization and eventually enter the delivering stage. This is the phase in which participants begin discussing their own organization again. They establish specific objectives and direction for their own organization based on their model of what should be.

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CASE STUDY: DELTA PALM MILL

These case teaching notes are slightly revised from original notes prepared by the case authors, Arif Hassan and Thivagar Velayutham.

Case Synopsis The story is about a Palm oil mill (Delta Palm Mills) located in Malaysia. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of a British multinational firm. It was doing well until oversupply the world palm oil prices plunged dramatically, resulting in financial losses for the company. That prompted a change of leadership. The new mill manager (Mr. MacKenzie) sent from the HQ was a young man with an MBA degree and some experience of successfully managing turnaround of a detergent factory in Egypt. Mr. Chua Wen Zhuo—the senior production supervisor—joined the mill long ago as a laborer and rose through his present position due to his hard work and extraordinary work commitment.

He enjoyed enormous respect and power and was perceived by others as the real boss. Mr. MacKenzie announced several change initiatives. This included changes in technology, work processes and organizational structure, empowerment of employees, and culture. The initiatives resulted in immediate erosion of power for Mr. Chua. He continued his directive–supportive supervisory style, thereby keeping others dependent upon him. Mr. MacKenzie was not happy with Mr. Chua‘s role and decided to give him a low appraisal rating. Mr. MacKenzie decided to shift Mr. Chua from the line position to the staff position through a promotion. The news was revealed to Mr. Chua by the office clerk who congratulated him on his new position. Mr. Chua was very upset, resulting in a public confrontation with Mr. MacKenzie. Mr. Chua was fired for his gross insubordination. After the departure of Mr. Chua, the mill manager thought that employees‘ performance would improve. Instead, team performance began to deteriorate, and no amount of pep talks could improve it.

Suggested Answers to Case Questions What are the main symptoms indicating that there are problems with Mr. MacKenzie’s change initiative?

Mr. Chua enjoyed tremendous respect and power. He invested almost all his life to the company. Mr. MacKenzie completely ignored this fact and expected that the role relationship between Mr. Chua and other employees would change without any difficulty. Mr. Chua continued with his directive–supportive style with the newly created SMTs, consequently the teams could not grow and could not meet performance standard. When Mr. MacKenzie decided to give a lower mid-year appraisal with some direct negative feedback to Mr. Chua, he was seen completely withdrawn and frustrated. Mr. MacKenzie should have better understood Mr. Chua before treating him so ordinarily. Mr. MacKenzie also seems to be ignorant of the Malaysian culture of high power distance and could not recognize Mr. Chua’s place in the company in the cultural perspective.

What are the main causes of these symptoms?

The main cause of the problem was the change initiative undertaken by the CEO that was not handled properly. Mr. MacKenzie made a mistake in expecting that a supervisor like Mr. Chua would change his style quickly after the picnic meeting at the local beach. In any employee-empowerment exercise, the role of supervisors needs to be carefully examined. They experience erosion of power and, therefore, would not be happy with the change. Mr.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

MacKenzie also failed to recognize the cultural values of Malaysian where the respect for seniority is enormous. Mr. Chua was a valuable employee who had dedicated himself to the company. He had strong organizational commitment and was perceived by his coworkers as a father figure.

Has Mr. MacKenzie managed the change process adequately? Why or why not?

No. Mr. MacKenzie did not manage the change process adequately. He should have followed the Lewin’s model of organizational change with due care to the unfreezing, change, and refreezing processes. He failed in the first step itself by not doing enough to get the support of Mr. Chua who was the key figure in the plant.

Do you think the departure of Mr. Chua will benefit the company in the long run?

The sad departure of Mr. Chua had seriously affected the morale of employees. It led to sense of insecurity among employees. Their morale was greatly affected. It might take time before employees recover from this traumatic experience. However, the absence of Mr. Chua, in the long run, may assist the change initiative undertaken by the company.

What actions should the company take to improve the changes needed at Delta mill?

The first action is to train the mill manager (Mr. MacKenzie) in effective organizational change practices. He also needs to improve sensitivity to cultural differences in power, conflict, and leadership practices. Mr. MacKenzie needs to determine how much employees are aware of the need for change and then create ways to raise their awareness and motivation to change. He also needs to assess the potential sources of resistance to change, and then apply communication, learning, involvement, and other change management practices toward front employees as well as management staff. As with all change management initiatives, the mill manager needs to be reasonably clear about the problem (e.g., low mill efficiency and lack of innovation), what change interventions will improve the situation, and what indicators will point to progress (i.e., that the change program is working well).

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TEAM EXERCISE: ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE INCIDENTS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help students apply organizational change concepts by diagnosing and evaluating situations in which organizational change is occurring unsuccessfully.

Materials Teams should have a method of summarizing their analysis for other teams to view. This might be flip chart paper for face-to-face classes or a dedicated virtual whiteboard or presentation slide for each team in remote classes.

Instructions (Small or Large Class) This exercise works well in teams so all students actively discuss change strategies. However, it can also be completed individually. It is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may also be feasible in moderately large classes. When the teams (or individuals) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

Step 1: Read the incidents assigned by the instructor.

Step 2: For each incident, identify specific instances of resistance to change, including how that resistance relates to specific restraining forces in the force field model.

Step 3: Identify specific actions that the change agent should use to minimize the resistance to change identified in the previous step.

Step 4: The class will debrief the exercise by having teams share their analysis of each incident.

Incident 1: ManuSales Corp.

Summary: ManuSales Corp. lost a manufacturing client and reduced expenses for the year. Soon after, rumors of layoffs circulated, and two employees quit. The firm signed up another manufacturer six months later, and sales of this client‘s product were very good. However, ManuSales nearly lost the client a year later because sales staff didn‘t follow the client‘s sales process whereby ManuSales would only generate sales interest, then pass those leads to the manufacturer, which would prepare all customer quotes. For other manufacturing clients, ManuSales staff completed all sales work, including writing up all except the most complex engineering quotes. Employees reluctantly gave the manufacturer names of new customers but continued to prepare quotes for past customers.

Evidence of resistance to change The most obvious resistance to change is that ManuSales staff continued to write up most customer quotes for the new manufacturing client even though they knew that the manufacturer insisted on preparing all quotes for customer leads. The incident further states that ManuSales staff ―opposed giving up this part of their work,‖ which suggests that they also complained to management about this process.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

Reasons for resistance to change Negative valence of change is the main reason why ManuSales staff resisted the new manufacturer‘s demand. They felt that handing over names of interested customers was risky because it felt like handing over ManuSales‘ business to the manufacturer. Resistance also occurred due to a lack of urgency for change. The ManuSales staff didn‘t know why the ―manufacturer wanted or needed to write all of the quotes,‖ suggesting that the staff saw no valid reason for the manufacturer‘s requirement.

Students might suggest that refusing to hand over customer names is due to ―fear of the unknown.‖ This might be true to the extent that employees didn‘t have control over what the manufacturer might do with the customer names that were provided. But employees mainly felt that the risks were known—handing over customer names risks losing that customer if the manufacturer ceases to be a ManuSales client. Students might also suggest that resistance was due to incongruent organizational systems. This could be argued if the usual work process (i.e., staff prepared customer quotes) was reinforced by deeply established systems. That doesn‘t seem to be true because complex customer quotes were also completed by others manufacturers. The ―not-invented-here‖ argument isn‘t applicable because employees did not try to prove the manufacturer‘s process as unworkable. Breaking routines does not fit this incident because employees did not complain that handing over customer leads required new work practices—they already handed over customer leads to other manufacturing clients when the engineering quotes were complex. There is no mention of teams in the incident, so difficult to suggest that team dynamics played a role in resistance to change.

Minimizing resistance to change There are two parts to this answer. One part refers to increasing the urgency for change among ManuSales staff, that is, increase their motivation to follow the manufacturer‘s requirements. This urgency already exists because the manufacturer is threatening to leave for another sales agency, which could threaten income and employment among ManuSales staff. In addition, ManuSales and the manufacturer might communicate a logical rationale why the quotes should be completed by the manufacturer rather than by ManuSales staff.

The second part to this answer is about ways to reduce the restraining forces. Communication again may be relevant because ManuSales and the manufacturer might refer to contractual guarantees or penalties if the manufacturer leaves for another sales agency. Employee involvement might play a role here if the manufacturer is willing to meet with ManuSales staff to discuss this matter and discover ways to minimize their concerns. If ManuSales is strongly supportive of the manufacturer‘s practice, it might negotiate specific guarantees with ManuSales staff for following the manufacturer‘s process. Finally, ManuSales might threaten employees with termination if they fail to abide by the manufacturer‘s process. However, negotiation and coercion will produce compliance (not commitment) to the manufacturers process and could have negative side effects, such as less commitment as ManuSales employees.

Incident 2: The Consultant‘s Report Summary: The regional director of a large discount variety retail chain hired an outside consultant to analyze ―systems‖ at retail outlets after learning that delivered products were stacked and stored haphazardly and that merchandise was placed incorrectly in those stores. In a meeting to discuss the consultant‘s report and ―action items,‖ store managers expressed their disagreement with almost every recommendation in the report. Store managers claimed the recommended Page 15-646 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 15: Organizational Change

changes would make matters worse rather than better, and that the consultant‘s observations were not representative of actual events.

Evidence of resistance to change The most obvious form of resistance to change in this incident is that the store managers disagreed with almost every one of the consultant‘s ―action items‖ (recommendations). They claimed the ―recommended changes would make matters worse rather than better.‖ Furthermore, the store managers dismissed the accuracy of the consultant‘s observations, even though they included systematic data such as filming employee procedures and timing rest pauses and social interaction.

Reasons for resistance to change The main reason for resistance to change by the store managers is likely the ―not-invented-heresyndrome.‖ This reason is mainly inferred, not stated, but there is indirect evidence of it. The store managers are responsible for running an efficient operation, yet they clearly had no involvement in the consultant‘s recommendations. Consequently, the ―action items‖ came from the outside consultant, not from the people who are responsible for this situation. Also, the store managers claimed the recommendations would make matters worse rather than better, yet the regional director clearly approved of the consultant‘s ideas and was ―surprised‖ when store managers responded so negatively. The regional director would have sufficient knowledge of the stores‘ work processes, so the store managers‘ conclusions are not likely as accurate as they claim.

As mentioned above, this incident doesn‘t provide explicit evidence of the reason why store managers opposed the recommendations, so students might have some success at arguing for other sources of resistance. Some store managers might have opposed the recommendations because they believe the changes will make their work situation worse off (negative valence of change), such as by creating more bureaucratic work for them. Some might even believe that the ―action items‖ would, indeed, create more problems than solutions, although it is logical that the regional director would have been aware of some of these negative consequences. Breaking routines is another source of resistance that might apply to this incident. Students might argue that some store managers are set in their ways and resist anything that breaks their daily routines, habits, and established roles. Students might also suggest that some store managers have fear of the unknown to the extent that introducing new work processes bring unexpected outcomes that the managers would have to deal with and are ultimately responsible for resolving. In other words, the mere uncertainty of what happens if the action items are implemented is enough for some managers to claim they are unworkable. There is limited information to suggest that resistance is due to incongruent team dynamics or to incongruent organizational systems.

Minimizing resistance to change At this juncture, the regional director has a few options. First, the meeting implies that store managers lack an urgency for change; that is, they don‘t seem too concerned that delivered products are stacked and stored haphazardly and that merchandise is placed incorrectly in the stores. Therefore, the regional director needs to provide compelling information that these situations have costs to the company and to each store‘s financial success. Quantifying these problems and comparing them to the past or to competitors might create some urgency. Or the director might apply the loss from these actions to the store‘s success, which indirectly affects the store manager‘s record as a successful leader. At a more emotive-subjective level, the regional director might present evidence from customer complaints about products that aren‘t on shelves when the website claims the product is in stock in the store. Suppliers and delivery providers might Page 15-647 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 15: Organizational Change

also have made comments about the haphazard placement of delivered stock, particularly when compared to competitor inventory arrangements.

The consultant‘s report created a difficult situation for the regional director because it caused the store managers to entrench their opposition to these changes. Clearly, things would likely be different if the consultant had involved the store managers and ultimately given them much credit for any action items that resulted from the analysis and discussion. The regional director might still attempt some form of employee (store manager) involvement to bring about change. The director might focus store managers on the real problems that exist, namely that delivered products are stacked and stored haphazardly and that merchandise is placed incorrectly in the stores, and ask them to suggest ways of improving these conditions. Their ideas could then be tested and preferably measured against improvements in inventory and stocking. If store managers continue to be resistant, the regional director might form a task force of high-performing employees from several stores, who are asked to suggest ways to solve these two problems. They would review the consultant‘s report, including specific data collected in that study. The task force members could become champions of the change, particularly if they have management aspirations at this large discount variety retail chain or in the retail industry generally.

Incident 3: Electropnya Company Summary: The vice president of operations (VPOp) at Electropnya Company, the leading electronics retailer in a mid-sized European country, is concerned that employees and managers responsible for the online business are not doing enough to improve and innovate. The online store lacks some features found at competitors, many of the website developers continue to use older code, and online sales have much slower completion compared to competitors. Managers and employees at Electropnya‘s online business claim customers are happy with the site, some requested features aren‘t useful, and that many problems that occur are the customers‘ fault.

Evidence of resistance to change The main evidence of resistance to change is that employees and managers responsible for Electropnya‘s online business either deny there is a problem (―customers are generally happy with the online buying experience‖), that some problems are caused by customers, and that customer complaints are caused by actions or inaction of employees in other departments within Electropnya.

Reasons for resistance to change The most striking reason for resistance by the employees and managers responsible for Electropnya‘s online business is that they don‘t seem to feel any urgency for change. In other words, they actually believe that the company is doing well (which is true of the overall firm) and that their business unit is also performing quite well. Any criticism of the company‘s website is deflected to customer flaws or unnecessary needs. There is no sense that even website features that ―aren‘t really important‖ can influence the customer‘s perception of good service and an up-todate company.

Aside from the lack of urgency for change, we can reasonably infer other sources of resistance.

Many of Electropnya‘s website developers continue to use older code and are not taking advantage of recent web platform developments that make that code obsolete. This could be caused by a negative valence of change, such as ―the cognitive effort of learning new skills‖ as well as possibly the extra effort required to introduce new features on the website. There might be some fear of the unknown effect. For instance, introducing new website features could create unknown Page 15-648 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

Chapter 15: Organizational Change

unintended consequences that could threaten the website‘s integrity and the employees‘ reputation for having a website that works (even if not the most advanced). Incongruent organizational systems might have a role in this resistance, although there is minimal direct evidence. For example, acknowledged customer online experience problems degenerated into finger-pointing to other Electropnya departments, indicating that these work units are not coordinating well or, at least, are nor working together as a team. In other words, the information systems and possibly lines of authority may be enabling employees to blame others for a problem that belongs to them or to all departments collectively.

Minimizing resistance to change Students should begin this answer by focusing on ways to increase employees‘ (and managers‘) urgency for change. This includes awareness of the need to add features found at competitors, upgrade developer code to recent web platform developments, and speed up online sales completion to be comparable to or better than to competitors. One strategy is to have the online department staff listen to the experiences of several customers, such as from recorded interviews of their experience and their evaluation of Electropnya‘s website to the online purchase experience at competitor sites. The company might also show that, although currently the third largest, the ―global online company‖ is gaining market share and how that firm has overtaken local competitors (similar to Electropnya) in other parts of the world. Finally, the company might use coercion by setting a deadline when coders need to use only the newer web platform coding (i.e., they will not be allowed to use the old code). This harsh action would work only if the company can operate where some staff quit or those who fail to learn new code need to leave the company.

The negative valence of change effect might be minimized by having employees who use older code discover from others that the new web platform systems aren‘t so difficult to learn and may even make their work easier in the long run. The same approach can be used to minimize the fear of the unknown effect—the department can learn from companies in other industries that adding new features had few unexpected outcomes, or that those surprises were manageable. If incongruent organizational systems are a cause of employee resistance, then Electropnya might consider a reorganization or establishing coordinating mechanisms such as a liaison team consisting of members from each department responsible for the online customer order experience.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

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TEAM EXERCISE: APPLYING LEWIN’S FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS

Purpose This exercise is designed to help you to diagnose an organizational change situation using force field analysis and to identify strategies to facilitate organizational change.

Materials Teams should have a method of summarizing their analysis for other teams to view. This might be flip chart paper for face-to-face classes or a dedicated virtual whiteboard or presentation slide for each team in remote classes.

Instructions This exercise works well in teams to enable all students to actively discuss change strategies.

However, it can also be completed individually. The exercise is suitable for in-class and remote learning settings. It may be feasible in moderately large classes. When the teams (or individuals) have completed the exercise, the results will be discussed and compared with others in the class.

This exercise involves diagnosing the situation described below, identifying the forces for and against change, and recommending strategies to minimize resistance to change.

Step 1: Students will form teams of typically four to six people and everyone will read the situation below.

Step 2: Each team will identify the forces that seem to support the change. Team members should consider all possible sources of support, not just those explicitly stated in the description.

Step 3: Each team will identify potential restraining forces against the proposed changes.

Specifically, refer to types of resistance to change that may affect the willingness or ability of professors/instructors to support the proposed changes.

Step 4: For each type of resistance to change by professors/instructors, identify one or more strategies that would most effectively minimize that resistance. Those strategies should refer to specific concepts described in this chapter.

Step 5: The class will discuss each team‘s results.

Comments for Instructors This exercise is self-explanatory and is similar to the process used in Critical Thinking Question #2 for this chapter. I like to first get students into groups to discuss the forces for and opposing the change described in the incident. It is then interesting to see how different groups come to similar or different conclusions. You might ask students to rank order their highest to lowest forces for and against change to make comparisons across groups. Differences can then be debated.

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 15.1: ARE YOU READY FOR CHANGE?

Overview and Instructions People seldom accept change quickly or easily. They have good reasons for opposing change or don‘t understand the urgency for change, particularly where it requires them to alter their own behavior.

This self-assessment asks students to consider a specific change that they are currently experiencing. This change might be at work, at school, or in some other sphere of their life. With this specific change event in mind, students indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with each of the statements presented. This survey has 15 statements.

Feedback for the Change Readiness Self-Assessment Most of us experience some concerns and problems when faced with change. We might not see the value of the change. We might believe the change will make us personally worse off. Or the change might bring anxiety because we don‘t know its long-term consequences for us.

This self-assessment estimates readiness for change on six dimensions, each representing a different type of resistance or motivation to change. The table below provides generic norms for each subscale. A higher score means the student experiences more of the concept described. Note that higher scores on the first five dimensions indicate more resistance to change (less readiness for change), whereas a higher score on ―Urgency for Change‖ indicates less resistance to change (higher readiness for change). There is no overall score because each dimension represents a different type of resistance or motivation to change.

Score

Interpretation

14–18 8–13 3–7

High score Moderate score Low score

Direct Costs (Negative Valence of Change) This scale indicates the extent that you believe the change will personally bring you more costs than benefits. These costs might be financial or psychological (e.g., well-being).

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Chapter 15: Organizational Change

This scale estimates how much you resist the change due to fear of the unknown. All change includes some degree of uncertainty. This uncertainty increases the degree of risk, which is a cost to those affected by the change.

Breaking Routines This scale estimates how much you resist the change because it requires you to abandon routines and learn new behaviors. People typically resist initiatives that force them out of their comfort zones and require them to invest time and energy in learning new role patterns.

Incongruent Team Dynamics This scale estimates how much you resist the change because it is incongruent with team norms or expectations. A high score indicates that team member opposes the change or what it stands for.

Incongruent Organizational Systems This scale estimates how much you resist the change because it is incongruent with systems and structures that guide your work behavior. These structural impediments to change may include rewards, information, reporting arrangements, and power structures, among others.

Urgency for Change This scale estimates the extent that you believe the change is valuable, beneficial, and important for the organization. A low score indicates that you believe the change is dysfunctional or trivial for the company.

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SELF-ASSESSMENT 15.2: ARE YOU TOLERANT OF CHANGE?

Overview and Instructions Some people eagerly seek out novelty and new experiences. Others are keen to maintain the status quo and predictability. No matter how much communication, involvement, and other change management strategies are applied, people in the latter category continue to resist because they have little tolerance of change.

This self-assessment provides an estimate of how tolerant people are of change. Students are asked to read each of the statements and select the response that best fits their personal belief.

Class discussion should focus on the meaning of tolerance of change, how this scale might be applied in organizations, and the limitations of measuring tolerance of change in work settings.

Feedback for the Tolerance of Change Scale This measurement instrument is formally known as the ―tolerance of ambiguity‖ scale. The original scale, developed 50 years ago, has since been revised and adapted. The instrument presented here is an adaptation of these revised instruments. People with a high tolerance for ambiguity are comfortable with uncertainty and new situations. These are characteristics of the hyperfast changes occurring in many organizations today. This instrument ranges from 10 to 70, with higher scores indicating a higher tolerance for change (i.e., higher tolerance for ambiguity). The table below indicates the range of scores for high, medium, and low tolerance for change. These norms are estimates from recent studies using some or all of these items.

Tolerance for Change Score 50–70

Interpretation High tolerance for change

30–49

Moderate level of tolerance for change

10–29 Low tolerance for change (prefer stable work environments)

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