Organizational Behaviour And Work A Critical Introduction 5th Edition Fiona M. Wilson - Solutions

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After class members have formed groups of approximately four members each, each group should consider the following scenario. You will assume the role of a special committee of district managers at a large pharmaceutical company. Your committee will be meeting to discuss some problems. The process
It is 2020, and drones are everywhere. Alibaba quadcopters have been delivering special ginger tea to customers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou for years; Amazon’s octocopters finally deliver packages in most major cities within 30 minutes without knocking down pedestrians; and college
It wasn’t long ago that products from Apple, perhaps the most recognizable name in electronics manufacturing around the world, were made entirely in the United States. This is not the case anymore. Now, almost all of the approximately 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads, and 59 million other
How are the key biographical characteristics relevant to OB?
The instructor randomly assigns the class into groups of four. It is important that group membership is truly randomly decided, not done by seating, friendships, or preferences. Without discussion, each group member first answers the following question on paper: 1. How diverse is your group, on a
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Robinson was an excellent all-around player and eventually was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; but as the first black person on an MLB team, Robinson had
Over the past century, the average age of the workforce has increased as medical science has continued to enhance longevity and vitality. As we discussed in this chapter, many individuals will work past the previously established ages of retirement, and the fastest-growing segment of the workforce
1. Read the case below. 2. Divide into groups of 3–5, and nominate a spokesperson for each group to report its conclusions to the whole class. 3. As a group, use the coordination-conflict model and conflict resolution approaches discussed in this chapter to (a) identify the causes of the
This assessment (based on Marcic, 1992) is designed to help you assess your preferred leadership style. Complete this questionnaire honestly, in relation to your behaviour and preferences, with respect to your leadership behaviour, or in relation to how you think you would like to behave in a
How would you respond to these ‘true or false’ questions?People have a natural resistance to change. True or false?People get bored with routine and seek out new experiences. True or false?Older people are more resistant to change. True or false?Did you answer ‘true’ to all three
Read the case study Saab Training Systems, and answer the following questions: 1. Why did the functional structure not suit the company’s strategy? 2. How did the team-based structure help? 3. What problems could the team-based approach create?In the 1990s Saab Training Systems was a high-tech
1. Form groups. 2. Read the information about the University of Grantchester Business School (UGBS) below. 3. Draw alternative organizational charts for the UGBS depicting organizational structures based on the five criteria shown below. Duplicate the provision of products/ services as
1. Form into groups. 2. Analyse the Factory paint shop case below using Homans’s model: environment of group (physical, technological, social); external system (required activities, required interactions, required sentiments): internal system (emergent activities, emergent interactions,
1. Individually,(a) Make a list of all the different groups to which you belong at the present time. (b) Distinguish work groups from non-work groups, and formal from informal groups. 2. Form groups.(a) Share the number of groups that you each belong to. What does this tell you about yourself and
You are about to go for a job interview, but first you will be kept waiting in the interviewer’s office. During that time, you can observe clues about your interviewer and perhaps about the organization. What clues do you think are significant and revealing? What personal experiences in your own
What evidence can you find that robotics increase or decrease the number of jobs available?
Can technology present two faces at the same time? Can you see how this might be the case?
To its advocates, total quality management is unequivocally good; to some management researchers, it produces some bad outcomes. What are the realities?
How would you feel about working for a Japanese company?
What methods have you witnessed for trying to bring about change in an organization or group in which you have been involved? Was group participation used? If not, why not?
Manning (2013) argues that machines and software programs have replaced employees in many routine jobs in the middle of the income distribution leading to a ‘job polarization’ of ‘lovely’ jobs (high wage occupations) and ‘lousy’ jobs (those in low wage occupations) while the middle jobs
At one university at which the author was previously employed staff were requested, if they were making private calls, to prefix the number that they dialled with ‘77’. They were subsequently issued with an itemized personal bill that they were required to pay. The bill listed the numbers
We touched on the limits to the absorption of organizational culture in Chapter 11, but much more might be said. Van Maanen (1991) shows the limits to which overt company propaganda in the Disney organization can be effective. Satirical banter, mischievous winking, and playful exaggeration are to
Sewell (1998) says that discipline can be maintained through teamwork and peer group scrutiny. Surveillance and teamwork are an unexpected combination. How are surveillance and teamwork combined?
Good quality customer service was thought by managers at Flightpath to be produced by ‘empowered’ and ‘autonomous’ workers, rather than through managerial prescription (Taylor and Tyler, 2000).Empowered telephone sales agents would deliver quality customer service ‘spontaneously’ and
What research might help you to argue that the panopticon is as diverse in its use as the contexts in which it occurs? (See Ball and Wilson, 1997.)
Many concepts used in organizational analysis, such as power, domination, control, and authority can be used as euphemisms for violence, most obviously in the police, military, and prisons’ (Hearn, 1994). Discuss.
Do you believe that appropriating company property (for example, stealing paper) can sometimes be justified, or is it always simply theft?
The following is an example of how cheating occurs in one setting. Worker solidarity in the casino industry in the USA is induced by the industry’s shared tip structure, in which individual dealers’ tips are pooled together and split evenly among all workers (Sallaz, 2002).Tipping constitutes
Compare and contrast two of the cases of organizational misdemeanour described by Punch (1996).
Would you lie when applying for a job? Some people lie on their CVs: for example, claiming that they have degrees that they do not. But beware: Digging for ‘digital dirt’ is now becoming more common.Recruiters can gather information about job applicants that can be gleaned online from MySpace,
Even when people are trained, paid, and told to be nice, it is hard for them to do so all of the time. Why?
The gossip in one company was that the managing director, who was rumoured to be in personal debt, was said to ‘dress down’ when she met tax inspectors in an attempt to conceal her spending and engender their sympathy (Myers, 2002). Is this an example of deceit or of ‘impression management’?
‘Sabotage is bound up with the private ownership of the means of production and will disappear only when that does’ (Dubois, 1979: 213). Discuss.
France, Spain, and Italy have seen a rise in the strength of the cooperative movement. There are at least 25,000 cooperatives in Italy, about 17,000 in Spain, and about 2,600 in France (Perotin, 2016).Government legislative and financial support for cooperatives has continued in both France and
Organizations can encourage staff to get involved in voluntary work and recognize that they may want to do good for their communities. Staff who undertake voluntary work appear to be better, more rounded, and more capable individuals, and so better employees. Employees also like to think that they
The impetus and motivation for cooperatives comes from a number of different sources, according to the research. What motivation for the establishment of alternative organizations can you find in your reading?
What are the pros and cons of an organization such as Mondragón for you? Does it have any appeal to you as an organization?For a fuller discussion of Mondragón, see, for example, Benello (1996), or some of the web-based discussion of this cooperative endeavor.
There are examples from all over the world of people taking control of their own economic destiny. The Rochdale pioneers are one such example; another is the Antigonish Movement in Nova Scotia (Coady, 1967; Gherardi et al., 1989). What were the advantages for these people of being involved in
Imagine, when being asked by your boss to do a particular job, being able to say: ‘No, I prefer to do something else.’ This is how a worker in Warhurst’s (1998) case study explained his relationship with his line manager. The manager can only ask you to do something; he cannot tell you to do
Credit unions help to provide financial support to people in their local communities and are regulated by the Financial Services Authority in England and Wales. What advantages and disadvantages (apart from the obvious financial ones) do they offer to their members?
Do you think that technology (such as email and mobile phones) can increase stress? Research has noted how office workers are currently reporting the highest level of stress in history and the increase in workload is attributable to email as one of the factors ( Johnson et al., 2005; Jerejian et
Companies have an interest in trying to reduce or minimize stress. At What If! a London-based inventing consultancy, stress in the workplace is minimized by creating a fun and supportive working environment that emphasizes the idea of staff bringing their ‘whole self’ to work. Each employee has
According to some, women cope better with stress in demanding jobs than men. What evidence can you find to support or refute this statement?
Have you noticed that, if you are under stress, you have more vivid dreams? Work stress is thought to contribute to nightmares about killing the boss. Stress at work is contributing to a regular nightmare for one in two adults (Womack, 2003). Research in the UK found that 51 per cent of respondents
Customer abuse is perpetuated by a range of cost-rational and profit-centred policies’ (Boyd, 2002). Discuss.
Nicola Horlick hit the headlines by losing a top City job. She had a very large salary, a high-pressured job, and five children, but gave up her job after being falsely accused by a colleague.The costs of holding highly paid, but high-pressured, jobs can be high: for example, an increasing number
‘Some 700,000 people phone in sick on a Monday morning. One in three are faking it’ (Channel 5, 2002, UK Undercover, ‘Throwing a sickie’). These bare facts raise more questions:for example, what kinds of people ‘throw a sickie’? Is it mainly those who are in stressful, repetitive,
John Lennon is quoted as saying ‘Work is life, you know, and without it, there’s nothing but fear and insecurity’ (Solt and Egan, 1988: 75).Do you agree? What would be your reaction to facing unemployment?
By looking at unemployment, we can understand more about what employment might mean to people. What can be learned about what work means by looking at research on unemployment? And what are the personal and social consequences of unemployment? Are the consequences different for different groups of
As Adam Smith, moral philosopher and political economist, pointed out in 1776, if company directors manage other people’s money rather than their own, ‘it cannot well be expected that they will watch over it with the same anxious vigilance’ (Smith, 1776: 233). In the early eighteenth century,
Should the work that you do as a student be classed as work? If not, why not? Where does ‘student work’ fit in? What category would you need to add to the four types described earlier, given that student work is not paid work, reproductive, maintenance, or simply unpaid work?Look at the
Cary Cooper is head of occupational psychology at Lancaster University’s Management School, and is concerned about the effect of greater frustration and anger in the workplace.‘I expect to see more revenge’, he says. ‘The number of potential sources are enormous. The problem is that people
If you were a practising manager, what would you want to know about people, work, and organization?
In the chapters on leadership and personality, we encountered Jack Welch, chief executive officer of General Electric. The following describes how he brought about change.General Electric’s transformational change has been described as ‘one of the most far-reaching programs of innovation in
The following are some quotes that indicate the emotions associated with change process at one company (Clarke, 1994). ‘I don’t think the company realizes how frightened people are.’ ‘We feel very battered.’ ‘In the past, we worked hard and played hard, and people laughed. They don’t
Review the evidence for and against emotional intelligence and draw your own conclusions. (See, in particular, Cartwright and Pappas, 2008.)
Claudio Ranieri is the manager at the now world famous Leicester City football club. Under his leadership Leicester won the English Premier League in May 2016, despite facing near certain demotion from the Premiership table only two years before. It was a huge, and very surprising, turnaround for
This case study focuses on an unusual organization that has been set up for a specific purpose: to organize against injustices such as the following.Those who stay in expensive hotel rooms and leave a disgusting mess behind can spend £500 a night; those who clean it up can work six days a week and
Some such as Roberts (2003) argue that CSR is little more than just talk and does little to change behaviour. What do you think?
How accessible and affordable is childcare for working parents? The Daycare Trust, a charity, found that in 2017 the cost of full-time childcare in Britain was, on average, £124.23 per week.This was a 4 per cent rise from 2016 (Daycare Trust, 2017). Childcare costs have risen steadily in recent
The chief executive of the largest catering firm, employing almost 430,000 staff including an army of school dinner ladies, was recently paid £4.4 million, including a £1.3 million cash bonus. The average pay of his staff is £12,480. His pay deal is then worth 350 times that of an average
Should chief executives and managers of charities be paid wages that match those found in other organizations? Would those who give to charity be ‘put off ’ doing so if they were to know how much goes towards manager’s salaries?
Guy Standing (2011) has warned that there is a new dangerous class in the making. He calls it the ‘precariat’: a growing number of people, a class, or people from across the world living and working precariously, in and out of short-term jobs. They have no occupational identity, they do not
It is clear from the research evidence presented in this chapter that the world of work is a very unequal one for many groups, e.g. the disabled and the poor. As a manager, would you be motivated to ‘make a difference’, to do something to help make the workplace fairer and more equal? What
A study of Oxford graduates finds that men from an Oxford college earn an average of £45,500 six months after graduating, while for women the figure is £25,900 (Times Higher Education, 2012).Another study found that within four years of graduation, nearly twice as many men had earnings over
To examine this question students were presented with the following case: Howard Roizen is a venture capitalist, former entrepreneur, and astute networker, is a power player in Silicon Valley, and has been good friends with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Students are asked to evaluate Howard’s
Men in the UK now have the right to two weeks of paid paternity leave, can request flexible hours, and are eligible for up to 13 weeks of parental leave for children under six or disabled children under the age of 18. Less than 10 per cent exceed the statutory two weeks; in Sweden men take an
Bunting (2004), in Willing Slaves, argues that instead of hard work bringing wealth and satisfaction, it brings worry, illness, poverty, and debt. She argues that we are enslaved by work when we are overworked and stressed. Further, we are coerced by ‘brand’. Companies such as Microsoft, Asda,
What further scene-setting issues would you need to consider? This chapter has looked at the contexts in which work is organized; the next chapters will begin looking at the realities of work and non-work, the work that managers do, the rationale behind how jobs are designed, and how people are
One innovation company—What If!—claims to celebrate the ideal of ‘meaningful work’. It says that it works with clients who want to innovate and grow, and that it helps clients to ‘release the creative potential of their people, products and brands’. The business claims to be built on
In the film Billy Elliot (2000, dir. S. Daldry), a miner’s son wants to be a ballet dancer, but his dream is met with scepticism and disapproval—especially from his own family.Why do you think it is seen as a problem that a miner’s son wants to become a ballet dancer? What connection can you
Hakim (1991) argues that women—particularly homeworkers—who willingly marry and accept the authority of husbands who have traditional views of women should take the blame for their poor situation in the labour market. According to Hakim, some women gratefully accept slave status. Phizacklea and
It might be argued that all work activity in an organizational context tends to have a basically instrumental component. To what extent is this true?
How would you explain how working-class kids continue to get working-class jobs (see Willis, 1977; Bates, 1991; Mirza, 1992)? Why is it so inevitable? Can you find any research that demonstrates that this process is not inevitable?
Imagine that you have won a lottery or inherited a large sum of money and could live comfortably for the rest of your life without working: what would you do about work? Would you continue working or could you imagine stopping work altogether?
Reeves (2001) argues that work gets a bad press because it is constantly portrayed as an endurance task rather than one of enjoyment—but work has changed. Read Reeves (2001) and Toynbee (2003): is Reeves, right?
Anna Pollert (1981) asks: ‘Does it make any difference being a woman worker? Is work seen or felt differently from a man?’ How would you answer these questions?
Might the way in which people personalize objects at work— ‘my machine’, ‘my chair’—be to do with ownership and power— ‘my secretary’, ‘my office’—or the need for personal space?What examples of these kinds of practices have you seen at work? How might these behaviours be
As a manager, you will potentially have choices to make about what people earn. Will this research influence what you pay people?
This case study looks at some of the difficulties that managers face. Managers are always faced with dilemmas, such as those posed here by the need to standardize and customize, control and empower.For example, managers in luxury international hotels are required to deliver a highly standardized
Fayol believed that all managers plan, organize, motivate, control, and coordinate. Does this fit with your experience and view of reality? For example, are managers always motivating?
What are the differences between the findings of Stewart, Kotter, and Mintzberg on what managers do? How far do they help us to understand why managers do what they do?
In recent studies of managers (e.g. Holmberg and Tyrstrup, 2010; Alvesson and Sveningsson, 2003) there is a good deal of discussion about the mundane activities of managers—listening, chatting, joking. When managers talk about themselves doing these acts, they are ‘endowed with extraordinary
Representing management as a predominantly technical activity creates an illusion of neutrality’ (Alvesson and Wilmott, 1996: 12). Discuss.
A report in the New York Times (8 January 1928) described Henry Ford as the ‘Mussolini of Detroit’.From what you have read, is this a fair description of the man in your opinion? (For further information, see Corbett, 1994: Case 27.)
This case study looks at rationality and the response from the point of view of a university student working in a fast-food restaurant near the university campus and concerned about how the workers, including himself, were treated.The student observed that the workers would steal food, make obscene
What are the advantages of scientific management according to Taylor? What disadvantages in employing scientific principles have been shown to exist?
When marking essays, lecturers often notice that students talk about ‘Taylor’ and ‘Taylorism’ as if it is history—that is, a management idea that existed in the past, but which is now outdated and old fashioned.It is easy to see why: Taylor was writing and practicing management at the
You have seen here the ‘logic’ of job design. Clegg (1984) shows how the processes of work simplification can be reversed. If you were a manager, would you try to humanize work? Why or why not?
People should be able to choose the sex of their baby, argues Professor Lord Robert Winston (Ross, 2006). The story of the Masterton family was brought to the fore by the media as a result of their wish to ensure that their next child was female, having lost their only female child in a bonfire
What key performance indicators are used to measure the work of teachers, police, and other groups? What evidence can you find to describe the rationale of the approach and the inherent irrationality?
Another method that managers use to increase efficiency and productivity is performance indicators, which must appear rational. If managers want to improve performance, it must be monitored, and key performance indicators (KPIs) must be agreed upon and measured. But those subjected to this
The senior vice-president of global strategic marketing at Playboy Enterprises argues that her company’s business culture is ‘very progressive’ (Hunt, 2011). Images in Playboy are romantic, respectful, and healthy, and Playboy has been instrumental in defining acceptable boundaries of
In what ways can performing emotional labour be a stressful experience? (See Hochschild, 1983; Handy, 1995; Taylor and Tyler, 2000.)
It is not possible to be ‘genderless’ or ‘unmarked’ by your gender and sexuality at work. We are also perceived in terms of our ethnicity, age, and class.What experiences have you had that confirm or deny that it is not possible to be genderless or unmarked by your sexuality?
What are the personal consequences of work? (See Sennett, 1998.)
Can you think of other jobs in which behaviour and appearance is tightly prescribed and enforced? Does this only happen in jobs that women do?
The qualities of emotionality and rationality are dependent upon each other’ (Ashforth and Humphrey, 1995). Discuss.
All jobs have unwritten rules attached to them. For example, when working as a temporary hospital cleaner, the author found that temporary cleaners were given all of the worst jobs to do, including cleaning up sewage from a broken ceiling pipe. Temporary cleaners could only use the cleaning

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