32 CHAPTER 1 What is Organizational Behavior Discussion Exercise A DAY IN THE LIFE OF HUSSAM Huscam is the general and marketing manager of a small subsidiary of the German company Electro, in Dubai. which was founded two years ago, Hassam is the first Arab manager in the company, an achievement that he attri- butes to the fact that he graduated from Germany's best engineering university and is proficient in English, Arabic, and German. Today, Hussam arrives at the office early to review his schedule for the day 9.00: Meeting with all employees to communicate the revised business goals for 2010. Hussam has scheduled 30 minutes to revise his presentation this subsidiary has 45 employees from 15 different cultures, and misunder standings occur frequently. The company is experiencing financial difficulties, and Hussam needs to be an inspira tional leader 10.30: Meeting with the IT and sales managers. These two managers have been in constant conflict for the past the months. Hussam has already met with them individually Today, he will try to get them to resolve their differences The conflict is related to the implementation of a new IT system for the sales department. 11.50 Call the two best advertising agencies in the country. Hussam has to decide which agency to work with for next season's campaign. One agency has a better reputation, but Hussam is developing a friendship with the manager of the other one. Hussam has to make sure he makes the right choice for the company 2.30: Meeting with Petra, his personal assistant. Huscam has noticed that her performance has declined recently and that on some occasions she did not treat irritated clients properly. Hussam wants to understand what is happening with her to clarify her job objectives, and to remotivate her. He wants every employee to respect the key organizational values: Clients are kings and 'Excellence in everything we do 4.00: Call Holger, the international human resources manager in Berlin, to discuss the German expat problem. of the German expatriates sent to Dubai, 20 percent returned to Germany before the end of their assignment. Moreover, the expatriates that stayed in Dubai never performed up to their supervisors expectations. Hussam needs some advice from Holger Discuss the relationship of the above to organizational behavior and what we studied in this chapter. Ethical Considerations employer on the grounds that it should have disclosed this information to him. Duff and Phelps countered that it had never lied to Jordan. The Court of Appeals argued that in such situations, one party cannot take 'opportunistic advantage of the other. In the eyes of the law, sometimes omitting relevant facts can be as bad as lying, Do you think it's ever okay to lie? If you were negotiating for the release of hostages, most people would probably agree that if lying would lead to the hostages' safety, it's okay. What about in business, where the stakes are rarely life or death? Business executives such as Martha Stewart have gone to jail for lying (submitting a false statement to federal investigators). Is misrepresentation or omitting factors okay as long as there is no outright lie? Consider the negotiation process. A good negotiator never shows all his cards, right? And so omitting certain information is just part of the process. Well, it may surprise you to learn that the law will hold you liable for omitting information if partial disclosure is misleading or if one side has superior information not accessible to the other In one case foran u Duff and Phelps), a company (Duff and Phelps) withheld information from an employee-Jordan-about the impending sale of the com- pany. The problem: Jordan was leaving the organization and therefore sold his shares in the company. Ten days later, when the sale of the company became public, those shares became worth much more. Jordan sued his former Questions 1. In a business context, is it ever okay to lie? If yes, what are those situations? Why is it okay to lie in there situations? 2. A recent survey revealed that 24 percent of managers said they have fired someone for lying. Do you think it's fair to fire an employee who lies, no matter what the nature of the lie? Explain. 3. In business, is withholding information for your own advantage the same as lying? Why or why not? 4. In a business context, if someone has something to gain by lying, what percentage of people do you think, would lie? Source Based on "Lying at Work Could Get You Fired, UPY. March 5, 2006 "Brain Scans Detect More Activity in Those Who Lie." Reuters, November 29, 2001; www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6609019; and P. Ekman and E. L. Rosenberg. What the Fact Revale Base and Applied Studies of Spontanes Exposition Using the Facial Action Coding System (CAPS) 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001)