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organizational behavior
Questions and Answers of
Organizational Behavior
1. Form groups and nominate a spokesperson. Read the description Your organization. 2. Read each of the Five environmental change scenarios in order. For each one, decide: (a) Which environment
How can someone low in the organizational hierarchy obtain more power?
Read the literature on the difference between rational and political decision-making. Interview three managers from the same or different organizations, ideally at junior, middle, and senior manager
1. Individually, using the worksheet, rank each of the eleven organizational decisions (a to k) in terms of the extent to which you think politics play a part. Rank the most political decision as
Given what you know about structural sources of power, can you explain why accountants tend to be more powerful and influential than human resource managers?
Discuss the costs and benefits to an organization of its employees engaging in political behaviour.
While each of these power bases can be useful in influencing others to do what you want them to do, they can have other consequences as well. For example, if your manager uses coercive power to get
‘Power is most potent when it appears to be absent.’ What does this statement mean? Do you agree with it? Give reasons and examples to support your view.
Consider your next organizational behaviour assignment. Have you been given a specified maximum word limit, a submission date, and a warning about plagiarism? How do those instructions influence your
Why are some departments, units, or groups in organizations more powerful than others?
Does the pursuit of power interfere with or contribute to an organization’s performance? Explain your answer.
How is bio-power influencing your behaviour? Which goals do you accept as your own, but which have actually been ‘given’ to you by your university and/or its staff? In your work, current or past,
How are disciplinary practices affecting your behaviour? Identify examples of practices to which you have been subjected, either in your educational institution or at work, which have shaped your
Think of a situation, at home, school, university, or work, when someone tried to influence you. Give examples of where your response was acceptance, compliance, and resistance.
Suggest reasons to account for the popularity of the rationalist view of organizations, among managers, management consultants, management academics, and politicians.
Suggest reasons that might account for the relative unpopularity of the political model of organization among managers, management consultants, management academics, and politicians. From your own
‘One of the main problems with political behaviour in organizations is that most people lack the necessary skills to engage effectively.’ Do you agree or disagree, and why?
Identify examples of the ways in which advertisements creatively use stimulus factors to attract our attention in newspapers and magazines and on billboards and television.
What is the difference between selective attention and perceptual organization? What factors influence the latter process?
What are the factors influencing selective attention? How can a knowledge of these factors be exploited in commercial settings?
Here is a story from the computer company IBM (Carroll, 1994). How would an understanding of the concept of perceptual world have helped the manager Reiswig? The IBM programmers still found things
It seems that we are ‘fed’ information in language which reinforces the management definition of reality and justifies decisions in order to make employees compliant. Find examples of managers or
Explore your own stereotypes by completing each of the following sentences with three terms that you think describe most or all members of the category concerned: University lecturers are . .
Most textbooks ignore needs 2 to 5 in Maslow’s framework, and concentrate instead on the other five needs. One explanation is that freedom of inquiry, transcendence, aesthetics, and the need to
What is an extreme job? Why would anyone want to live and work like this? What are the benefits and costs of holding an extreme job?
Linn Products is mentioned in this chapter as a company that uses job enrichment successfully in the manufacture of its hi-fi products. Their website is www.LinnProducts.net. Linn also has its own
Chris Clements and Pat Palmer are both computer programmers. One day, they find out that Chris earns £31,750 a year while Pat earns £40,100. Chris is surprised and says ‘I can’t think of any
To measure the MPS for a given job, researchers developed the Job Diagnostic Survey (JDS). For this exercise, we will use a short version of the JDS, which allows job design problems to be diagnosed,
What actions would you take if you were earning just a little more than Annika in our example from the Stockholm restaurant? What actions would you take if you were earning very much more than
What are the causes and implications of boreout? What steps can management take to reduce or prevent boreout among office staff?
Measure the force (F) of your motivation to get a high grade in organizational behaviour:What are your V values? Identify the range of outcomes from working hard for this subject. Rate the value of
Explain the distinction between content and process theories of motivation. Give an example of a content theory of motivation and describe the implications for organizational practice. What are the
Think about the job that is ideal for you, in your ideal organization. Apart from pay, what other benefits and rewards do you want that job and that organization to give you? Realistically, what does
How does equity theory explain motivation and behaviour, and how can equity theory be used to diagnose and improve employee motivation?
You are employed on a job in which you repeat the same simple task every fifteen seconds, perhaps wiring plugs for lamps, 9.00 a.m. until 5.30 p.m., every day (with a lunch break), five days a week.
Your instructor offers to enrich your educational experience of studying organizational behaviour, with additional classes and tutorials, further reading, and extra feedback and revision sessions.
Some commentators argue that high performance work systems and empowerment are radical changes to organization design and management–employee relationships. Others argue that these are cosmetic,
Why have the results of the Hawthorne studies remained so important to this day? Of what value are they to those working in groups and those managing groups, today?
Select either a group featured in a television series or one which you know well (e.g. sports team; scout/guide group; social club).(a) Is this a formal or informal group?(b) What stage is this group
Suggest reasons why group working has become so popular in organizations. In what ways does it benefit individual employees? How does it improve organizational performance?
How do informal groups within an organization differ from formal ones? What function do informal groups perform and which members’ needs do they meet?
Why would only one of the following be considered to be a group? In what circumstances could one of the other aggregates become a group? (a) People riding on a bus(b) Blonde women between 20 and 30
Choose a group with which you are familiar, and analyse it using the four elements of Homans’ model of group formation.
The groups to which you belong provide you with shared goals and a sense of identity, and meet your social needs. However, they can also constrain your thinking, stifle your freedom of expression,
Under what circumstances should management form a group or a team to perform a task, and when should it arrange for individuals to work individually on their own?
Employees in the Bank Wiring Observation Room were subject to group-devised norms which its members policed and enforced. Think of a group that you have known, e.g. at school, work, college or
Do you agree or disagree with Henry Mintzberg’s view on rebuilding companies as communities? Are not heroic leaders like the late Steve Jobs more critical to company success than those followers
Task 1 – Rhyming words. Generate words that rhyme with the 15 words listed below.Task 2 – Word equations. Solve each of the word equations below by substituting the appropriate words for the
You have accepted a job and your new employer tells you that you will become ‘part of the team’, and a ‘member of one big happy family here’. • How do you feel about the organization as
Consider how your educational institution contributes to the satisfaction of your social needs while studying through your membership of social groups (class, tutorial groups, self-help and study
Identify a group to which you currently belong – sports club, drama society, tutorial group, project group, etc.• Identify which stage of development it has reached. • What advice would you
Management has just told you that you are not a ‘real team’ and that you are certainly not a ‘high performance team’. How do you feel about that, and what are you doing to do about it?
Select any two groups with which you are familiar. Contrast them in terms of any group structure dimensions that are relevant – e.g. power, communication, liking, roles, leadership. Suggest
Studies suggest that employees spend many hours each week in meetings. Get invited to a real meeting that takes place in an organization which is likely to last at least 30 minutes. Consult the box
Listed below are statements that describe behaviours that members use when they are participating in a team. As a student, you may demonstrate these behaviours at work, in team projects, in student
‘Companies want to hire applicants who are good team players.’ What does that mean to you in practice? Do you think that you are a good or poor team player?
Describe situations in which (a) A team role analysis and (b) A sociogram would be relevant to improve a group’s functioning. How would you apply these two techniques? How would you use the
1. Who gains from having stable power in a group, and why?2. Who loses, how, and why?3. Make the argument for having an unstable power structure in a group.
Critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of Belbin’s team role theory as a guide for the manager wishing to construct a team that will be effective.
Look at the sociogram in Figure 11.1. Identify a ‘star’, an ‘isolate’, a ‘neglectee’, a ‘rejectee’, a ‘mutual pair’, and a ‘mutual trio’.Data given in figure 11.1 10 Figure
Consider a group of which you are currently a member. What action could you take to change your status in this group and what impact would this have on your relationships and friendships?
Identify some of the problems of virtual teamworking for (a) The companies which establish them, and(b) The individuals who work in them. How might these problems be overcome?
Think of an organization with which you are familiar. Identify two individuals with whom you would not like to work in a group. List the reasons for your reluctance.
You have been assigned to a group and given a task to perform. You hate your job and the management, and intend to resign shortly. What steps would you take to sabotage the work of your new group,
Belbin argued that a successful team was one in which all nine of his roles were represented. What factors, inside or outside the organization, other than team role preferences, are likely to affect
Is social loafing an individual issue, varying according to an individual’s personality and values; is it an organizational culture issue depending on company norms about over-manning, non-jobs,
Choose an organization with which you are familiar, and interview some employees who work there. Ask each interviewee how their co-workers would react, if they 1. Were seen being rude or indifferent
Factory work can be boring and monotonous. Employees must work at the pace of the assembly line or machine, with output levels closely prescribed and monitored by management. It is not surprising
Are you a team player? What evidence would you provide an employer at a selection interview to demonstrate whether or not you are a ‘team player’? Use an example from school, university, social
Is conformity by the individual within organizations a bad thing that should be eliminated or a good thing that should be encouraged?
Let me tell you about my team member from hell. Someone with no desire to succeed is the worst kind of person to have as a member in your student project group because it is nearly impossible to
Which group memberships do you cite when you introduce yourself to others? From the ‘us-and-them’ perspective, who are ‘us’ and who are ‘them’ for you? Has this helped your own group
Critically evaluate the empirical research on individual conformity to group pressure.
What challenges have you found when working in tutorial or project groups at university with fellow students coming from different parts of the world? In your view, does their ethnic or national
Suggest how an individual might go about persuading a majority.
Think of a time when you put a lot of effort into a group of which you were a part – work group, sports team or social group. Was the performance or well being of that group important to you? Did
Have you had experience of social loafing or free riding in your educational or work context? What advice would you give to your instructor or manager to remove it?
It is important to feel that you fit in with your peers (others in your group, school, or neighbourhood). However, sometimes you may find yourself doing something because others are doing it, and
Consider a group of which you are a member, and its norms and sanctions. Reflect on a situation in which a member (perhaps yourself) broke a norm and received a sanction. Assess the positive and
Think of an occasion when you have given an opinion or supported a decision contrary to your own feelings and judgement, but consistent with those around you at the time. How can you live with
What deindividuating tendencies can you identify in the organizations with which you are familiar? Are these being created consciously or unconsciously? What effect are they having on organizational
Is conformity by the individual within organizations a bad thing that should be eliminated; or is it a good thing that should be encouraged?
1. Read the case study below. 2. Working individually or in teams, provide a written recommendation for or against introducing teamworking at the Edinburgh office. 3. Group spokespersons should be
Self-managing or autonomous work teams are heavily promoted in the literature. What are the costs and benefits of these to(a) The management that establishes them and (b) The individuals who are
If you are a member of a team (work, sports, musical, religious, social), what level of decision input do you and your fellow team members have on which tasks, in relation to your supervisor, coach,
Using your library and the internet, locate any relevant research and management literature on effective teamworking and devise a list of best practice ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’, and use it to
What impact can technology have on the behaviour and performance of teams. Discuss positive and negative effects, illustrating your answer with examples.
You are a middle manager at Nissan who has been a member of one of their nine cross-functional teams. Do you feel pleased to have been given the responsibility to participate in setting the
‘Autonomous team is a relative term’. Discuss the concept of team autonomy explaining why similarly labelled teams may, in practice, operate very differently, and consider why management might
Highlight briefly the main differences between West European and Japanese-style teamworking. Then, using references to the literature, consider the positive and negative aspects of both systems for
You have travelled back through time and are able to meet Taylor. What three things would you congratulate him for, and what three things would you criticize him for?
Taylorism has been much criticized. What are the criticisms? Which criticisms do you feel are valid and which are not? Give reasons for your assessment.
1. Form groups. Read the case Bacon processing line. 2. Which principles and practices of Taylorist and Fordist forms of work organization can you identify in the current work arrangements? 3.
Visit a local fast food restaurant that uses a Taylorist/Fordist form of work organization. Observe and make notes on the behaviour of its employees (‘crew members’), both those at the counter
Toyota Motor Company’s advertisement in The Economist magazine is entitled ‘Your Toyota is My Toyota’. It shows a photograph of a female production team member on the assembly line at the
1. Individually consider (a) What is meant by the term control within an organizational context? (b) In what different ways does the company that you work for control your behaviour on the job? 2.
Go up to the bar and order a pint of beer.Start position: standing at barMovement 1: Hand to glass (2 seconds) Movement 2: Grip glass (0.5 seconds) Movement 3: Lift to horizontal (1
To what extent are performance-based pay, just-in-time inventory (stock) control, and business process re-engineering just modern-day applications of Frederick Taylor’s scientific management?
Anthony Gould’s research (see box) revealed that many McDonald’s workers were satisfied with their jobs. Do you find this surprising?The significance of this development is that much of the
Identify non-food examples of the McDonaldization process. Analyse them in terms of Ritzer’s four key elements.
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