Summary of Organizational Behaviour, Langton

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review
Final Exam Review: Chapters 1-14

Chapter 1
Defining Organizational Behaviour
Organizational behaviour: field of study that looks at the impact that individual groups, and
structure have on behaviour within an organization
o Behaviour: what people do in an organization and how they perform
OB most often is applied to business but can go beyond the traditional work place
What Do We Mean by Organization?
Organization: a coordinated social unit that functions to continuously achieve a common
goals
o Manufacturing firms, schools, hospitals, churches, military, retail stores, the police
etc.
Business that supply 10 people or less make up 75% of the Canadian marketplace
o Small to midsized business make up 45% of Canada's GDP (up 25% in 20 years)
There are different types/sizes of organizations, but most theories are applicable to all
OB is for Everyone:
Employees are now being asked to play a more proactive role in the workplace
o The roles of managers and employees are beginning to become blurred
o Managers rely more on employees to make decisions rather than follow orders
OB is also for entrepreneurs and self-employed as they interact with others in the
marketplace
OB is relevant anywhere people come together to share/work on goals or to solve problems
The Importance of Interpersonal Skills:
Until the 1980's business schools only focused on the technical aspects of business
o Business schools have shifted to teach human behaviour and organizational
effectiveness
Quality of the employee's job and support in the work place are more important than
money
Technical skills are sufficient but not enough to strive and succeed in the workplace
o In an increasingly competitive workplace employees need intrapersonal skills
Today's Challenges in the Canadian Workplace
Organizations are made up of individual groups and the entire organizational structure
o Each level has a unique role that must be fulfilled at the workplace
o Each level is constructed/dependent on the previous level
o Each level has challenges that may affect how the levels above/below operate
Basic OB model: 1. individual level, 2. group level, 3. organization system level
Challenges at the Individual Level:
Managers and employees need to learn how to deal with others (different from themselves)

o
Dimensions such as personality, perception, values, and attitudes

Individuals have different levels of job satisfaction/motivation
o This affects the how managers manage employees
The greatest issues is how to behave ethically when facing competition
Individual Differences:
People enter organizations with a unique behaviour, perception, values, and attitude
o It is difficult for an organization to change these characteristics of an employee
Job Satisfaction:
Employees are demanding satisfaction out of their jobs
o Higher satisfied employees leads to higher productivity (basic assumption)
Researchers believe employees want challenges and intrinsic rewards from their work
Job satisfaction is negatively related to absenteeism and turnover
o This costs organizations considerable amounts of money annually
Motivation:
Only 24% of Canadian employees were recognized to a great extent for work well done
Empowerment:
In many organizations employees have become associates and teammates
o Employees are becoming more a part of the business and managers and facilitating
this process
o Employees' roles within many organizations have grown
Self-managed teams instead of employees and managers have become a new trend
o Teamwork and employee responsibility are essential
Empowerment: giving employees responsibility for what they do
o Managers are beginning to learn how to give up power
o Employees are learning to take responsibility for their work and make appropriate
decisions
Behaving Ethically:
Organizations with cutbacks, expectations of increasing worker productivity suffer
consequences
o Employees cut corners, break rules, engage in questionable practices etc.
Ethics: the study of moral values and principles that guide behaviour and inform us
whether actions are right or wrong
o Ethical principles help/guide us to do the right thing
Individuals that have ethical values, and organizations that encourage them will do the right
think
Challenging at the Group Level:
People's behaviour differs when they are in a group to when they are alone
o Behaviour of a group is more than the sum total of individuals acting on their own
Organizations with more teamwork develop employees with greater intrapersonal skills

o
Learning to work with people from different backgrounds also have become
important
Working with Others:

A foundation for high-quality work force includes communications, problem solving,
critical thinking, learning continuously, and the ability to work with others
o A positive attitude/behaviour and taking responsibility for actions are also key
o Team building and priority management are essential for small to mid-sized
businesses
Workforce Diversity:
Adapting to different people is a broad based challenge facing organizations
Workforce diversity: the mix of people in organizations (gender, race, age, education etc.)
o More organizations are moving towards workforce diversity
Different generations working side by side bring together different values and experiences
Workforce diversity has spread in different countries through different ways
o The increase in women in the workforce has changed the workforce diversity
o The European Union has opened up borders and allowed for more diverse
organizations
Employees don't set aside cultural values and lifestyle preferences when at work
o It is challenging for organizations to accommodate these diverse needs and lifestyles
Different employees have different preferences and organizations must find the happy
medium
Managers need to shift their philosophy to treat each employee uniquely
o They must respond to differences to ensure employee retention and productivity
o Includes diversity training and revising benefit programs (family friendly etc.)
Diversity can increase creativity and innovation in organizations
o Improves decision making by providing different perspectives on problems
o Diversity that is not well managed can lead to higher turnover and conflicts
Challenges at the Organizational Level:
The design of an organization has an impact on how effective an organization is
o Change may be in order if an organization's design in not effective
Canadian businesses now face greater competition from the global economy
o The structure of the workplace is becoming more and more challenging
The Use of Temporary (Contingent) Employees:
Part time or temporary employees are a growing part of the overall workforce
o Full-time/permanent jobs have been downsized by millions over the years
Some contingent employees prefer part-time/temporary to do other things (school, children
etc.)
Contingent employees don't identify with the organization or display commitment
o Temporary workers lack benefits and are also paid less
Organizations are challenged with motivating temporary employees to feel more connected
Improving Quality and Productivity:
Increased competition forces managers to reduce costs and increase the quality and
productivity
Organizations are productive if goals are achieved and costs are minimized
Productivity: a concern for both effectiveness and efficiency
o Effectiveness: the achievement of goals
o Efficiency: the ratio of effective work output to input required to produce the work
Developing Effective Employees:

Organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB): behaviour that is not part of an employee's
job requirements, but that promotes the effective functioning of an organization
o Employees that are striving and providing performance beyond expectations
o Making constructive comments, being flexible, volunteering extra time etc.
Organizations want and need employees who will work beyond their job description
o Organizations that obtain these types of employees outperform other organizations
Putting People First:
Managers should spend more time recognizing the value of their employees
o Putting people first generates a committed workforce and a better bottom line
When organizations strive to develop employees, they are more successful
The people first strategy leads to lower turnover, greater sales, market value and profits
o Workers are more responsible when they are given more responsibilities
o Workers are smarter when encouraged to build skills and competence
Helping Employees with Work-Life Balance:
Employees complain it is difficult to differentiate between work and personal time
o Work places allow workers to create and structure their own work roles
o Global organizations have offices world-wide and work never sleeps
o Communication technology has take work home, in the car or on holidays
o Organizations are asking employees to put in more hours
More employees want flexible jobs in order to better manage their personal lives
o Organizations without time for personal life have difficulty hiring employees
Creating a Positive Work Environment:
Organizations are starting to create a competitive advantage by encouraging a positive
work environment
Positive organizational scholarship: how organizations develop human strengths, create
vitality and resilience, and unlock potential
o Researchers believe we should study what is good rather than bad about an
organization
o Asking employees to determine when they are at their personal best in order to
exploit strengths
o Challenges organizations to exploit strengths rather than dwell on limitations
Global Competition:
Canadian business have growing competition domestic and internationally

o
To compete they must lower cost, increase productivity or merge with other
businesses
Businesses must often outsource jobs internationally in order to stay competitive
o Employees and managers are thus in a constant stat of flux
o Employees must increase knowledge and skills in order to meet job requirements
Employees, managers and organizations must become flexible to changing conditions
o Must learn how to shift demand, technology and stay on top of the economy
Managing and Working in a Multicultural World:

Trade agreements and unions have reduces tariffs and barrier to trade
o The internet has allowed organizations to become more internationally connected
Increases opportunities and consumer base
Managers and employees must become capable of working with people from different
cultures
o Managing interpersonal dynamics are not just important for Canadian organizations
When workers travel to other countries practices may be different and workers must adapt
o Business in Asia is done respectfully and at a slower pace compared to the Western
world
Organizations in foreign nations must adapt cultures and traditions
OB: Making Sense of Behaviour in Organizations
The Building Blocks of OB:
OB emerged as a distinct field in the 1940's in the U.S.A.
o Built upon contributions from a number of behavioural disciplines
o Psychology, social psychology, sociology and anthropology
o Psychology has contributed on a micro level, while the others on a macro level
Psychology:
The science to measure/explain and change the behaviour of humans and other animals
o Psychologists study and attempt to understand individual behaviour
o Theorists, organizational psychologist and other have contributed to OB
Industrial/organization psychologists study how fatigue, working conditions etc. are linked
to performance
o Expanded to learning, perception, personality, job satisfaction and others
Social Psychology:
Generally blends concepts from psychology and sociology (considered a branch of
psychology)
o Focus on people's influences on one another
A main study is change, and how to implement it, and reduce barriers to its acceptance
Measure understanding and changing attitudes, communication pattern and building trust
o Made important contributions studying group behaviour, power and conflict
Sociology:
Study the system in which individuals fill their roles

o People in relation to their social environment or culture
Greatest contribution to OB was their study of group behaviour in organizations
o Particularly formal and complex organizations
o Group dynamics, design or work teams, organizational culture, power, conflict etc.
Anthropology:
The study of societies to learn about human being and their activities
o They work on cultures and environments (fundamental values, attitudes etc.)
Contributed to the understanding of organizational culture/environment and cultural
differences
The Rigour of OB:
OB provides a systematic approach to the study of behaviour in organizations
o We believe/assume that behaviour in organizations is not random
Individuals believe rightly, or wrongly in his or her best interest
Can Finance Learn Anything from OB?
Marketing has the closer overlap with OB
o Predicting consumer behaviour is not much different from predicting employee
behaviour
o Both require an understanding of the dynamics and underlying causes of human
behaviour
Behavioural finance, accounting and economics have all grown in importance recently
o Researches from these professions have found it useful to draw from OB concepts
Investors tend to rely more on private info rather than more accurate public info
o Researchers study how feedback affects auditors' behaviour and future work
OB Looks at Consistencies:
All people are different but there are consistencies underlying behaviour of most people
o These consistencies allow us to make predictions
There are rules (written or unwritten) in almost all settings
o Common habits and general actions that are alike across genders, cultures etc.
The systematic study of behaviour is a means to make reasonably accurate predictions
OB Looks Beyond Common Sense:
We as humans watch others and often predict what they will do under certain conditions
o Often these predictions will be inaccurate but can be enhanced with a more
systematic approach
This means believing behaviour is not random and can be accurately predicted
There are certain fundamental consistencies that can reflect individual differences
Systematic study: looking at relationships, attempting to attribute cause and effects, and
draw conclusions based on scientific evidence
o Data gathered under controlled conditions are measures and interpreted in a rigorous
manner
Evidence-based management (EBM): basking managerial decisions on the best scientific

evidence
o Management decisions must be made with an evidence backing not on the fly
Intuition: a gut feeling not necessarily supported by research
o Making decisions just on intuition is the same as making a decision with half the info
o Most managers overestimate the accuracy of what they know
o Research must always be done, even if one decides to go with intuition instead
OB Has Few Absolutes:

There are few, if any, simple and universal principles that explain OB
o Other subjects such as science have laws that definitively explain things
As humans are all unique it is difficult to make simple, accurate, sweeping generalizations
OB Takes a Contingency Approach:
Even though people are different we can still make predictions about human behaviour
Contingency approach: an approach taken by OB that considers behaviour within a certain
context
o OB does not always have to consider the context (depends on the situation)
The Fundamentals of OB:
OB considers the multiple levels in an organization: individual, group and organizational
OB is built from the wisdom and research of multiple disciplines
o Including psychology, sociology, social psychology, and anthropology
OB takes a systematic approach to the study of organizational phenomena (research based)
OB takes a contingency approach to the consideration of organizational phenomena
o Recommendations depend on the situation
Chapter 2
Perception Defined
Perception: process by which individuals organize/interpret their impressions in different
environments
o Perception can be much different from the objective reality
People's behaviour is based on perception of reality, not on reality itself
o The world that is perceived is the world that is behaviourally important
Factors Influencing Perception
A number of factors affect perception and the factors can reside in the perceiver or target
o Also in the context of the situation in which the perception is made
The Perceiver:
Perceiver: an individual that looks at a target and attempts to interpret what he/she sees
o The interpretation is heavily influenced by the perceiver's personal characteristics
o Characteristics include attitude, personality, motives, interests, experiences etc.
All shape the way we perceive an event
The Target:
A target's characteristics also affect what is perceived by the target
o Novelty, motions, sounds, size and other characteristics of a target shape how they are
seen
o The relationship of a target to its background also influences perception
The Situation:
The context (time, location, light etc.) we see objects or events is also important
o The situation may change and therefore the perception
Neither the perceiver nor the target have changed
Perceptual Errors
Techniques have been developed to better manage perceiving and interpreting other's
actions
o Allow us to make accurate perceptions rapidly and provide valid data for making
predictions
o There are errors that distort the perception process
Attribution Theory:
Attribution theory: how we judge people differently depending on the meaning given to
behaviour
o Basically we observe what seems like atypical behaviour by an individual and make
sense of it
o Cause is internal: whether the individual is responsible for the behaviour
Behaviour is believed to be
o Cause is external: whether something outside the individual caused the behaviour
Behaviour is believed to result from outside causes
Distinctiveness:
Distinctiveness: whether an individual acts similarly across a variety of situations
o External attribution: behaviour is unusual
o Internally caused: behaviour is not unusual
Consensus:
Consensus: how an individual's behaviour compares with others in the same situation
o If an individual responds like everyone else, their behaviour shows consensus
If consensus is high, the wrong doing or odd would be attributed externally
Consistency:
Consistency: a behavioural rule that considers whether the individual has been acting in the
same way over time
How Attributions Get Distorted:
There are usually errors or biases that distort attributions
Fundamental attribution error: when we judge the behaviour of others, we tend to

overestimate the influence of external factors and overestimate the influence of internal, or
personal factors
Self-serving bias: attribute one's own success to internal factors and failure to external
o Individuals tend to overestimate their own good behaviour and underestimate others
Selective Perception:
Any characteristic that makes a person/object stand out will increases that it will be
perceived
o More likely to notice objects that you own or that look familiar
Selective perception: selective interpretation of what is seen based on backgrounds etc.
o Allows us to speed-read others, but has risks of inaccurate conclusions
Halo Effect:
Halo effect: when we draw general impressions of people based on one characteristic
o Based on intelligence, likeability, appearance and others
A single trait influences the overall impression of the person being judged
Contrast Effect:
Contrast effect: reaction of one person is influenced by other people recently encountered
o Most often we do not evaluate a person in isolation
o Job candidates can be distorted by a result of their place in the schedule
Projection:
Projection: attributing one's own characteristics to other people
o Judging others based on the fact that they are similar to us
o Tend to judge people as being similar to themselves
When people observes others similar to themselves, their perception is naturally corrected
o People not like themselves, perceptions are not as accurate
Stereotyping:
Judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which they belong
o Generalizations allow us to simplify decisions
o Heuristics: judgment shortcuts in decision making
Stereotypes may only provide a little bit of truth when applied to an individual
o Can lead to negative reactions, such as prejudice
Prejudice:
Prejudice: an unfounded dislike of a person/group based on their belonging to a group
o Dislike based on religion, state, ethnicity etc.
o Can lead to negative consequences in the workplace, such as discrimination
Why Do Perception and Judgment Matter?
People in organizations are always judging each other (interviews, workplace etc.)
o Interviews make perceptual judgments during the interview
o Negative info that arises in interviews is heavily weighted than if it arises later
An employee's future is closely tied to appraisal (promotions, pay raises, stability etc.)
Evaluator's perception of good/bad has a large impact on organizational decision making
o Often employees that are promoted are similar to managers that make the decision
Performance appraisals also takes place between employees and team members
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:
People will attempt to validate their perceptions, even when perceptions are faulty
o Important when we consider performance expectations on the job
Self-fulfilling prophecy: concept that proposes a person will behave in ways consistent
with how he or she is perceived by others
Personality
What is Personality?
Dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person's psychological
system
o Looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts
Personality: the stable patterns of behaviour and consistent internal states that determine
how an individual reacts and interacts with others
Measuring Personality:
Researchers have found personality tests are useful in hiring decisions
o Scores on personality help managers forecast the best candidates
o Also used to better understand and more effectively manage people
Commonly measured through self-report surveys in which people rate themselves
o The respondents might lie or practise impression management
o Difficult to determine the accuracy of these reports (several variations)
o Research suggests that observer ratings are better predictions of success on the job
Personality Determinants:
Personality is a result of both nature (hereditary) and nurture (environment)
o Situation also in incorporated into the development of personality
An adults personality is made up of hereditary and environmental factors with additions
from situations
Heredity:
Heredity: factors that were determined at conception (birth)
o Physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament etc.
Your parent' biological, physiological and inherent psychological makeup
Traits such as shyness, fear and distress are likely caused by genetic characteristics
o May be built into the same genetic code that affects height, hair colour etc.
Genetics can explain up to 50% of the personality differences, 30% of occupational/leisure
interests
o Personalities do change over time (conscientiousness tends to increase with age)
Personality Traits:
Personality traits: enduring characteristics that describe an individual's behaviour

o More consistent the characteristic the more frequently it occurs in diverse situations
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Big Five Personality Model are used to identify/clarify
traits
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator:

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI): personality test that taps four characteristics and
classifies people into 1 of 16 personality types
E/I measures where we direct our energy when dealing with people and things
o Extraverted: outgoing, sociable and assertive
o Introverted: quite and shy
S/N dimensions looks at how we process information
o Sensing: practical and prefer routine and order
o Intuitive: rely on unconscious process and look at the big picture
o Thinking: reason and logic to handle problems
o Feeling: rely on their personal values and emotions
o Judging: want control and prefer their world to be ordered and structured
o Perceiving: flexible and spontaneous
INTJs are visionaries that have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and
purposes
ESTJs are organizers that are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive and are business naturals
ENTPs are conceptualisers that are innovative, individualistic, versatile, entrepreneurial
Forces people into one category or the other, may not be very accurate, more of a guidance
Big Five Personality Model:
Five basic personality dimensions underlie all others and encompass human variation
Extraversion: person's comfort level with relationships (sociable, talkative, and assertive)
Agreeable: person's propensity to defer to others (good-natured, cooperative and trusting)
Conscientiousness: measure of reliability (responsible, dependable, persistent and goal
oriented)
Emotional stability: person's ability to withstand stress (calm, self-confident, and secure)
Openness to experience: person's range of interests and fascination (imagination,
intellectual)
Research Findings: The Big Five
Employees with some or all of the big five have higher job performance in most
occupations
o People with higher conscientiousness have greater job knowledge
o Emotionally stable people have less stress, job and life satisfaction
o Extroverts are happier, have more friends, more social, stronger leaders
o Openness to experience people are more creative, better and more effective leaders
o Agreeableness are happier, first choice for others, better liked, more compliant
Concerned more with pleasing others, bad negotiators
o Conscientious people live longer, less risky, organized, adaptable
Major Personality Attributes Influencing OB:
Specific personality traits have been found to be power predictors of behaviour in

organizations
o Machiavellianism, narcissism, self-monitoring, propensity, Type A/B and proactive
Core Self- Evaluation:

Core self-evaluation: degree to which an individual like/dislikes themselves, the person
sees themselves as capable/effective, and the person feels in control or powerless in their
environment
o Positive: effective, capable and in control of their environments
o Negative: dislike themselves, question their capabilities and view themselves as
powerless
Must be confident in our abilities, if we don't believe we can do it, we wont accomplish
anything
Machiavellianism:
The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, believes in
the process
o High: manipulate more, win more, persuaded less, and persuade others more
Better when acting face to face, and likes minimum rules/regulations
(improvising)
Better at jobs with negotiations or commission sales jobs
Narcissism:
Tendency to be arrogant, excessive sense of self-importance/admiration and entitlement
o Combination of extraversion and agreeable (disagreeable extraverts)
o Tend to over rate their power than in actuality, talk down to others below them
o Less effective on the job when it come to helping other people
Self-Monitoring:
Personality trait measuring the ability to adjust behaviour to external situational factors
o Able to change behaviour based on different situations
o High: capable of presenting contradictions between public and private behaviours
More attention paid to others, and more capable of conforming
Tend to be more mobile and receive more promotions than low self-monitors
o Low: cannot disguise themselves in the same way (true personality all the time)
Risk-Taking:
Tendency to assume/avoid risk can have an impact on managers decision making times
o High risk takers made more rapid decisions and use less info than lower risk-takers
o Large organizations tend to be more risk adverse than growth oriented entrepreneurs
Type A and B Personalities:
Type A: aggress involvement in a struggle to achieve more and more in less time
o More rapidly moving, impatient, multitasks, lack of leisure time and obsesses with
numbers

o
Impatient, hurriedness , competitiveness and hostility (more stress, quantity over

quality)
o Working long hours, but making poor decisions as they make them too fast
o Easier to predict, less creative (more focused on productivity)
Type B: an easy going, relaxed and patient
o No urgency, no need to discuss accomplishments, play for fun/relaxation, relax with
no guilt
Type A's tend to be better at sales jobs, but Type B's are more likely to be executives
o Type A's trade for quality, and Type B's are more tactful in their approaches
o Type A's have higher stress and other health issues (higher early death rate)
Proactive Personality:
Person who identifies opportunities, shows initiative, takes action and perseveres until
change occurs
o Creative positive change in their environment, regardless of constraints or obstacles
o More likely to be leaders and change agents within the organization
o More likely to leave organizations to start their own business
o Seek out info, develop strong contacts, engage in career planning and demonstrate
persistence
Emotions
Strong emotions, particularly anger, interfere with an employee's ability to effectively work
o Either constructive or a simulative to performance-enhancing behaviours
o Employees bring an emotional component with themselves to work
What are Emotions?
Intense feelings that are directed at someone or something
o Reactions to an object (anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise)
o Can turn into moods when you stop focusing on the contextual object
Moods: feeling that are less intense than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus
o Are not directed at an object, not your normal self
Choosing Emotions: Emotional Labour
Emotional labour: when an employee expresses organizationally desired emotions during
interactions
Emotional dissonance: inconsistencies between the emotions people feel and they show
o Can take a toll on employees (bottles up feelings)
Felt emotions: an individual's actual emotions
Displayed emotions: emotions that are organizationally required and considered
appropriate
Surface acting: hiding one's inner feelings to display what is expected
Deep acting: trying to modify one's true inner feelings to match what is expected
Why Should We Care About Emotions in the Workplace?
People who know their emotions and are good at reading other are more effective in their
jobs
The entire workplace can be affected by positive/negative emotions
Emotional Intelligence (EI):

Person's ability to be self-aware, detect emotions in others, and manage emotional cues and
info
o People who know their own emotions, and others are more likely to be effective
o Particularly important for leaders (communication, political skill, vision etc.)
The Case for EI:
Good to possess street smarts and social intelligence (handle social situations better)
People who can detect other's emotions have better control over their own emotions
EI predicts criteria that matter (correlation between high EI and strong performance)
Predicting emotions helps with peer ratings and picking/grooming employees
People with damage to the prefrontal cortex have much lower EI scored (biologically
based)
EI is neurologically based that is unrelated to standard measures of intelligence
The Case Against EI:
It is unclear what EI is, whether it is a form of intelligence or not
Difficult to definitively define EI as many researchers define it in different ways
As EI measures intelligence the tests must have right or wrong answers, not a variety
Measures of EI are diverse and researchers have not subjected them to rigorous studies
EI is so closely related to intelligence and personality, EI has nothing unique to offer
Not enough research on whether EI adds insight on personality and intelligence in job
performance
Negative Workplace Emotions:
Voluntary actions that violate norms and threaten the organization and members
o Leaving early, laziness, stealing/sabotage, gossiping/blame, harassment etc.
Negative emotions can lead to malicious deviant behaviour in the workplace
o Can negatively affect one's own accomplishments and other employees
o Members of groups/organizations tend to adopt emotions of others
Affective Events Theory (AET):
Theory that employees react emotionally to things that happen to them at work and that this
emotional reaction influences their job performance and satisfaction
o Emotions are a response to an event in the work environment
o Hassles: not carrying share of work, conflicts in direction, excessive time pressures
o Uplifts: meeting goals, getting support from a colleague, receiving recognition
Emotions influence a number of job performance variables (OCB, and organizational
commitment)
An emotional episode is actually a series of emotional experiences precipitated by a single
event
Job satisfaction is influenced by current emotions at any given time along with the history
of emotions
Moods and emotions fluctuate over time, and their effect on performance also fluctuates
Emotion driven behaviours are typically short in duration and of high variability
Emotions tend to be incompatible with behaviours, they can influence negatively on job
performance
Emotions in the Workplace in a Global Context:

Degree to which people experience emotions across cultures
People's interpretations of emotions vary across cultures
Does the Degree to Which People Experience Emotions Vary Across Cultures?
In China people experience fewer positive/negative emotions than people in other cultures
People in most cultures tend to experience certain positive and negative emotions
o The frequency of their experience and their intensity varies to some degree
Do People's Interpretations of Emotions Vary Across Cultures?
In generally people all over the world interpret negative/positive emotions the same
o Some cultures value certain emotions more than others
Pride is seen as a positive emotion in Western cultures, but are undesirable in China and
Japan
Do the Norms of the Expression of Emotions Differ Across Cultures?
Yes they do, and in collective countries, people are more likely to believe that the
emotional display of another have something to do with their own relationship with the
person
Easier for people to recognize emotions of those of their own culture
Some cultures lack words from emotions that we are accustomed too
Managers need to know the emotional norms in each culture they do business in
o If they don't they might send unintended signals or misread the reaction of others
Chapter 3
Values
Basic convictions that a specific model or conduct or end-state of existence is personally or
socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence
o A judgmental element that separates an individual's ideas of what is right, good, or
desirable
o Most values are formed by parents, friends, teachers, media etc.
Rokeach's Value Survey:
The survey classifies the values that people hold in two sets (each containing 18 value
items)
o Terminal values (desirable end-state): goals individuals would like to achieve during
their lifetime
o Instrumental values: preferable ways of behaving
People in the same occupation/category tend to have similar values
o Differences in groups makes it difficult to communicate and negotiate
Hodgson's General Moral Principles:

Ethics: study of moral values/principles that guide our behaviour (what is right or wrong)
Seven general principles should be followed to be principled, appropriate and defensible
o Respect people, people are intrinsically valued and have the right to selfdetermination, tell the truth, promises/contracts should be honours, people should be
treated justly, actions should accomplish good, and the greatest good for the greatest
number
Accessing Cultural Values:
Hofstede's Framework for Assessing Cultures:
Power distance: degree to which people in a country accept the unequal distribution of
power
o High: large inequalities of power and wealth, and are tolerated (class or caste system)
Individualism: degree to which people act as individuals rather than part of a group
o Collectivism: tight social framework, people look after and protect each other
Masculinity: degree to which culture favours traditional masculine roles (power, control
etc.)
o Femininity: cultures see little difference between male and female roles (equals)
Uncertainty avoidance: degree to which people prefer structure to unstructured situations
o High: increased anxiety, ambiguity, fewer laws and controls to reduce uncertainty
Long-term orientation: a national culture that focuses on the future, thrift and persistence
Short-term orientation: a national culture with emphasis on the past and present
The Globe Framework for Assessing Cultures:
Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness (GLOBE)
o Cross-cultural investigation of leadership and national culture
Assertiveness: extent to which a society encourages people to be tough
Future orientation: extent to which society encourages and rewards planning, investing etc.
Gender differentiation: extent to which society maximizes gender role differences
Uncertainty avoidance: society's reliance on social norms and procedures for future
predictions
In-group collectivism: extend to which society takes pride in membership in small groups
Performance orientation: extent to which society encourages group members for
improvement
Humane orientation: extend to which society encourages individuals for being fair,
generous etc.
The GLOBE study confirmed the findings of Hofstede's study
Values in the Canadian Workplace
When individual values align with organizational values, it is positive
o Lead to positive work attitudes, lower turnover, greater productivity
Generational Differences:
Elders, Baby Boomers, Generation X represent 12 distinct value tribes

o
o
Broad generalizations, there are individual differences

Most of the generation has the same values and mindset
The Elders:
Play by the rules, and there core values are in order (authority, discipline etc.)
o 80% represent traditional values
Baby Boomers:
Influenced by civil rights movement, women's movement, Vietnam war, Beatles
o Rebellious, anxious communitarians, connected enthusiast and disengaged Darwinists
o Rejection of authority, concern for environment, equality
Generation X:
Shaped globalization, two-career parents, MTV, AIDS and computers
o Value flexibility, life options and job satisfaction, skeptical, particularly of authority
o Thrill seeking, aimless dependants, social hedonists, Aquarians and post-materialists
The Ne(x)t Generation:
prosperous times, high expectations and seek meaning in work, life goals (wealth oriented)
Technologically advanced, socially conscious, and entrepreneurial
The Generations Meet in the Workplace:
By using generational differences we can predict social values and behaviour
Managers must be flexible to manage different generations in the same workplace
Cultural Differences:
Even though we have a multicultural society there are tensions among people of different
races
o Canadian's define themselves as not American (different values)
Generally country's/society's values change based on major events or changes/shifts (9/11,
Obama)
Francophone and Anglophone Values:
Francophones are more collective, group-oriented, need for greater achievement, intrinsic
values
o Committed to organizations, reducing ambiguity and uncertainty at work
o Introverted, sensing, thinking and judging
Anglophones are more individualistic, I-centred, take more risks
o Intuitive, feeling and perceiving
Aboriginal Values:
Increasing entrepreneurship by aboriginals and other business partnerships
o Believe in traditional culture, value and languages, self-sustaining economies
o More likely to reflect goals that advance the community
Asian Values:
Chinese and South Asian are the largest visible minorities in Canada
o Tend to exhibit greater power distance and greater collectivism
Gaunxi: connection between two independent individuals to enable a bilateral flow of
personal or social transactions
Western firms must understand Gaunxi in order to conduct business with Asian firms
Attitudes
Evaluative statements (positive/negative) about people, objects or events (responses to
situations)
Employees may be negatively affected by the attitudes of their co-workers or clients
Job Satisfaction:
An individuals general attitude toward his or her job
Most people in Canada/USA would not recommend their work and are not satisfied
What Causes Job Satisfaction:
Most people prefer challenging and stimulating work over predictability and routine
After a comfortable living ($40,000) money satisfaction changes (less important)
Core self-evaluation: people who believe in their inner worth and basic competence
Job Satisfaction and Productivity:
The correlation between job satisfaction and job performance is moderately strong
Job satisfaction and productivity both effect each other positively
o Higher productivity will bring in a larger salary and better working conditions
Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour:
OCB can help an organization function more efficiently and effectively
o Job satisfaction is a major determinant of an employee's OCB
o If the workplace is not fair, job satisfaction and OCB are likely to be effected
Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction:
Employee satisfactions is related to positive customer outcomes (customer service etc.)
o Familiar and happy employees increases customer appreciation
o Employees that encounter customer dissatisfaction will not satisfied
How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction:
Employees can complain, steal property, be slow or not perform their duties (deviant
behaviour)
Exit: dissatisfaction expressed actively attempting to leave the organization
Voice: dissatisfaction expressed by actively and constructively attempting to improve
conditions
Loyalty: dissatisfaction expressed by passively waiting for conditions to improve
Neglect: dissatisfaction expressed by passively allowing conditions to worsen
Exit/neglect represent lowered productivity, absentees, and turnover
Managers Often Don't Get It:
Some managers are unconcerned or overestimate job satisfaction

Mismatch between what managers think, and about how employees feel
Organizational Commitment:
An employee identifies with an organization and its goals, yet stays with their own
organization
Affective commitment: emotional attachment/identification/involvement with an
organization
Normative commitment: the obligation an individual feels to staying with the organization
Continuance commitment: calculation to stay with an organization base on cost of leaving
Commitment and performance is better for newer employees than experienced
Employees with high organizational commitment are likely to engage in OCB
Employee Engagement:
An individual's involvement/satisfaction/enthusiasm for the work he/she does
o Higher engaged employees leads to higher productivity, profits and customer
satisfaction
Managing Diversity in the Workplace
Companies that design and publicize diversity are producing value statements
o Companies hope to change/influence the behaviour of employees, but it is difficult
Responses to Diversity Initiatives:
Generation X embraces egalitarian and pluralistic values
o As they move through the workplace, diversity tensions will lessen (fewer initiatives
needed)
Employees may exhibit negative reactions to diversity even if the organization supports it
Cultural Intelligence (CQ):
Ability to understand someone's unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures in the same way as
would people from that person's culture
o Determine if a person's behaviour is representative of a group or just that person
Research Findings: Cultural Intelligence
People who have CQ look for clues to help identify a culture's shared understanding
o Looking for consistencies across a variety of people from the same group
Provincial: work best with people of similar backgrounds, difficulties working with others
Analyst: analyze a foreign culture's rules/expectations to determine how they interact
Natural: use intuition to understand those from other cultural backgrounds
Ambassador: communicate convincingly that they fit in, even if they don't know much
Mimic: control actions/behaviours to match others
Chameleon: have high levels of CQ components, mistaken as from another culture
Chapter 4
What is Motivation?
Motivation: the intensity, direction and persistence of effort a person shows in reaching a
goal
Intensity: how hard a person tries
o High intensity is unlikely to be beneficial unless it is channeled correctly
Effort requires persistence (measure of how long a person can maintain his/her effort)
Theory X: suggests that employees dislike work, will attempt to avoid it, and must be
coerced, controlled, or threatened with punishment to achieve goals
o Suggests that people are extrinsically motivated
Theory Y: suggests that employees like work, are creative, seek responsibility, and will
exercise self-direction and self-control if they are committed to the objectives
o Suggests that people are intrinsically motivated
Motivation is the result of the interaction of the individual and the situation
o The level of motivation differs both among individuals and within individual at
different times
Intrinsic motivators: a person's internal desire to do something, due to such things as
interest, challenge, and personal satisfaction
Extrinsic motivators: motivation that comes from outside the person and includes such
things as pay, bonuses and other tangible rewards
Punishment by Rewards: suggests that if the right environment is provided, people will be
motivated
Needs Theories of Motivation
Needs theories: describes the types of needs that must be met to motivate individuals
Process theories: help us understand the actual ways in which we and other can be
motivated
Needs theories have been criticized for not holding up to scientific review
o The theories represent a foundation from which contemporary theories have grown
o Managers still use these theories and terminology in explaining employee motivation
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory:
A hierarchy of five needs - psychological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualization - in
which as soon as each need is substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant
o Physiological: includes hunger, thirst, shelter, sex and other bodily needs
o Safety: includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm
o Social: includes affection, belongingness, acceptance and friendship
o Esteem: self-respect, autonomy, achievement, status, recognition and attention
o Self-actualization: growth, achieving one's potential, and self-fulfillment
No need is ever fully met, but substantially satisfies allows for advancement
o To satisfy someone, you must determine what level of the hierarchy the are currently
present
Higher order needs are satisfied internally, while lower order externally
ERG Theory:
Version of Maslow's hierarchy that includes three core needs: existence, relatedness and
growth
Believed that an individual could be focused on all three levels at once
Motivation-Hygiene Theory:
Relates intrinsic factors to job satisfaction and associates extrinsic factors with
dissatisfaction
Achievements, recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth are related to job
satisfaction
o People that felt good about work, attributed these characteristics to themselves
Extrinsic factors like policies, administration, supervision etc. are related to dissatisfaction
o People that are dissatisfied, they attribute the extrinsic factors
Herzberg proposed satisfaction/no satisfaction and dissatisfaction/no dissatisfaction
Factors of job satisfaction (motivators) are different factors of dissatisfaction (hygiene
factors)
o Hygiene factors: policy, salary, admin, supervision, interpersonal relations etc.
When these factors are satisfied, people will not be dissatisfied
Motivation is emphasized through achievement, recognition, responsibility and growth
The procedures used in the theory are limited, as it attends to blaming/attributing certain
characteristics
The reliability of the theory is questionable as there may have been tainted results
No theory was actually created, and no measure of satisfaction was used
The theory ignores previous research such as situational variables
McClelland's Theory of Needs:
Achievement, power and affiliation are three important needs that help explain motivation
Achievement: drive to excel, to achieve in relation to a set of standards, to strive to succeed
o People striving to do things better, seeking more responsibility, challenging tasks
o High probability tasks, that are not too easy, or too hard, but that can be accomplished
o More focused on individual performance rather than the firm or organization
Power: need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise
o Desire to impact others and have control over situations and others
o Tend to be more competitive and focused on status/prestige rather than effective
performance
Affiliation: desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships
o Strive for friendly relationships rather than competitive/high understanding
relationships
The best managers tend to have a high need for power and low need for affiliation
Summarizing Needs Theories:
Individuals have needs that, when unsatisfied, will result in motivation
There are different needs that must be met before other needs can be considered
Process Theories of Motivation:
Expectancy Theory:
Individuals act depending upon their evaluation of whether their effort will lead to good
performance, whether good performance will be followed by a given outcome, and whether
that outcome is attractive
Effort-Performance Relationship:
Expectancy: the belief that effort is related to performance
Individual perception of how probably it is that a given effort will lead to good
performance
Employee expectancy is influenced by self-esteem, previous success, help from
supervisors, information and proper materials/equipment
Performance-Rewards Relationship:
Instrumentality: the belief that performance is related to rewards
o Negative instrumentality indicated that high performance reduces the chances of a
desired outcome
o 0 instrumentality indicates no relationship between performance and receiving the
desired outcome
Individual perception of whether performing at a given level will lead to a desired outcome
o Whether the performance will be acknowledge by those who allocate rewards
Rewards-Personal Goals Relationship:
Valence: the value or importance an individual places on rewards
o Ranges from -1(very undesirable reward) to +1(very desirable reward)
Degree to which organizational rewards satisfy goals/needs and attractiveness of potential
rewards
Managers often do not have the resources to reward, or reward the wrong things for
accomplishments
Expectancy Theory in the Workplace:
Research of the theory, even in cross-cultural settings have supported the expectancy
theory
Goal-Setting Theory:
Intentions of working toward a goal are a major source of work motivation
o Goals tell employees what needs to be done and with how much effort
Some firms leave goal setting up to managers, although goals may then not be set
Management by objective (MBO): managers and employees jointly set performance goals
that are tangible, verifiable and measurable
o Progress on goals is often reviewed and rewards are allocated on the basis of the
progress
How Does Goal Setting Motivate?
Goals indicate where individuals should direct their efforts when prioritizing
Goals suggest how much effort an individual should put into a given task
Goals create persistence so effort will be spent on a task over time
Goals will help people develop plans for achieving specific goals
All effective goals must include the acronym SMART

o Specific: individuals know exactly what is to be achieved
o Measurable: the goals proposed can be tracked and reviewed
o Attainable: goals, even if difficult, are reasonable and achievable
o Results-Oriented: goals should support the vision of the organization
o Time-Bound: goals are to be achieved within a stated time
Research Findings: The Effect of Goal Setting

Specific goals increase performance, under certain conditions
o Specific goals can be linked to poorer performance in complex tasks (not focused on
alternatives)
Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher performance than do easy goals
o This does not work when employees believe the goals are unattainable
Feedback leads to higher performance
o Lets people know how they are doing, and if necessary how to adjust effort, direction
etc.
Goals are equally effective whether anticipatively set, assigned, or self-set
o Employees are more likely to accept goals if they are anticipatively set
Goal commitment and financial incentive affect whether goals are achieved
o Financial incentives can lower commitment to difficult goals (leads to problems)
The implication of goal setting is that achievement will result in intrinsic satisfaction
Self-Efficacy Theory:
Refers to an individual's belief that he/she is capable of performing a task
o Higher self-efficacy means the more confidence in the ability to succeed in a task
Respond to negative feedback with increased effort and motivation
Setting difficult goals for people communicates confidence in that person
o Creates confidence in yourself and you set higher personal goals which creates better
performance
Self-efficacy is increased through enactive mastery, vicarious modelling, verbal persuasion
and arousal
o Enactive mastery: gaining relevant experience with the task or job (increased
confidence)
o Vicarious modelling: becoming more confident because you see someone else doing
the task
o Verbal persuasion: becoming more confident because someone convinces you that
you have the skills necessary to be successful
o Arousal: leads to an energized state, which drives a person to complete a task
Training programs work because it increases self-efficacy
Pygmalion effect: form of self-fulfilling prophecy in which believing something is true can
make it true
o Self-efficacy is increased to a higher individual that the person is of high ability
Galatea effect: when high performance expectations are communicated directly to an
employee
Intelligence and personality, conscientiousness and emotional stability, can increase selfefficacy
Self-efficacy may only be present in smart, confident people (may be

superfluous/unnecessary)
Responses to the Reward System

Equity theory suggests that individuals evaluate and interpret rewards
Employees are sensitive to fairness issues that extend beyond the reward system and effect
motivation
Equity Theory:
Individuals compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others, and then respond
as to eliminate any inequities
o If the situation is fair, then the relationship is in a state of equity
To Whom Do We Compare Ourselves?
There are four referent comparisons that an employee can use:
o Self-inside: employee's experiences in a different position inside their current
organization
o Self-outside: employee's experiences in a situation/position outside their current
organization
o Other-inside: another individual/group of individuals inside the employee's
organization
o Other-outside: another individual/group of individuals outside the employee's
organization
Four moderating variables that effect comparisons:
o Gender: women and men compare each other (pay, expectancy, equality)
o Length of tenure: short tenure will mean little info about their current organization
Rely more on persona experiences, rather than in-organization comparisons
o Level in the organization: higher ranked employees tend to have more info about their
organization
What Happens When We Feel Treated Inequitably:
When employees perceive an inequality, they can be predicted to make one of six choices:
o Change their inputs (ex. Exerting less effort)
o Change their outcome (ex. Work harder to show that he/she deserves something)
o Adjust perceptions of self (ex. Maybe I am not comparable to others similar to me)
o Choose a different referent (ex. Consider other individuals with similarities)
o Leave the field (ex. Change job, or organization)
Research Findings: Inequitable Pay
When paid by time worked, over rewarded employees will produce more than will
equitable paid employees
When paid by time worked, under rewarded employees will produce less or poorer quality
output
When paid by number of units produces, over rewarded employees will produce fewer, but
higher-quality, units than will equitable paid employees
When paid by number of units produces, under rewarded employees will produce a large
number of low quality units in comparison with equitably paid employees
Those who are over rewarded do not seem to change their behaviour
Some people simply do not worry about how their rewards compare with those of others
For most employees, motivation depends on relative rewards
Fair Process and Treatment:

Distributive justice: perceived fairness of the amount of allocation of rewards among
individuals
Organizational justice: an overall perception of what is fair in the workplace, composed of
distributive, procedural, and interactional justice
Procedural justice: perceived fairness of the process used to determine the distribution of
rewards
o Includes having a voice in a decision and feeling the outcome is adequate
Interactional justice: quality of interpersonal treatment received from a manager
When employees are treated in an unjust manner, they respond by retaliating
Perceptions of injustice are more closely related to one's supervisor
Distributive justice is strongly related to satisfaction with outcome and organizational
commitment
Procedural justice relates to job satisfaction, employee trust, withdrawal from the
organization, job performance and organizational citizenship behaviour
Employees are sensitive to unfairness in procedures when bad news is communicated
When addressing perceived injustices, managers need to focus their actions on the source
of the problem
Cognitive Evaluation Theory:
Introduction of extrinsic rewards for an effort that was previously intrinsic will decrease
productivity
o Tend to decrease the overall level of a person's motivation
People in a way punished by rewards, and do inferior work when they are enticed by
money, grades etc.
Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Rewards
Theory suggest that has extrinsic rewards are given intrinsic rewards are reduced
When an individuals experiences a loss of control over their behaviour when it is being
rewarded by external sources
Show have pay non-contingent on performance in order to avoid decreasing intrinsic
motivation
o Instead pay fairly and allow individual's intrinsic motivation to guide performance
Research of Findings: Cognitive Evaluation Theory
Extrinsic rewards that are verbal can have different effects on an individuals' intrinsic
motivators
o Verbal rewards increase intrinsic motivation, while tangible decrease it
Self-concordance: degree to which a person's reasons for pursuing a goal is consistent with
the person's interests and core values
People who pursue goals for intrinsic reasons are more satisfied with their jobs
o Feel like they fit into their organization better, and may perform better
Increasing Intrinsic Motivation:

Four key rewards that increase an individual's intrinsic motivation:
o Sense of choice: opportunity to select what one will do and perform the way one
thinks best
o Sense of competence: feeling of accomplishment for doing a good job
o Sense of meaningfulness: opportunity to pursue worthwhile tasks
o Sense of progress: feeling of accomplishment that one is making progress on a task
Four sets of behaviours managers can use to build intrinsic rewards for their employees:
o Leading for choice: empowering employees and delegating tasks
o Leading with competence: support and coaching employees
o Leading for meaningfulness: inspiring employees and modelling desired behaviours
o Leading for progress: monitoring and rewarding employees
Motivating Employees Through Reinforcement:
People learn how to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don't
want
Operant conditioning: behaviour is influenced by reinforcement or lack of reinforcement
brought about by the consequences of the behaviour
People are likely to engage in desired behaviours if they are positively reinforced for doing
so
o Rewards are most effective when directly followed by the desired behaviour
If a behaviour fails to be positively reinforced, the probability that the behaviour will be
repeated declines
Methods of Shaping Behaviour:
Positive reinforcement: following a response with something pleasant
Negative reinforcement: following a response by the termination or withdrawal of
something pleasant
Punishment: causing an unpleasant condition in an attempt to eliminate an undesirable
behaviour
Extinction: eliminating any reinforcement that is maintaining a behaviour
Schedules of Reinforcement:
Continuous reinforcement: desired behaviour is reinforced each and every time it is
demonstrated
Intermittent reinforcement: desired behaviour is reinforced often enough to make the
behaviour worth repeating, bot not every time it is demonstrated
Fixed interval: the reward is given at fixed time intervals
Variable-interval: reward is given at variable time intervals
Fixed-ratio: reward is given at fixed amounts of output
Variable-ratio schedule: reward is given at variable amounts of output
Motivation for Whom?
These theories may just be a way for managers to get what they want from employees
o Does not necessarily mean an increase in employee productivity
Putting It All Together:

Recognize individual differences: employees have different needs and should not be treated
alike
o Managers should understand what is important to each employee and align
goals/rewards
Use goals and feedback: employees should have challenging, specific goals and feedback
Allow employees to participate in decisions that affect them
o Employees can set goals, solve productivity, quality problems, job satisfactions etc.
When giving rewards, be sure that they reward desired performance
o Rewards should be linked to the type of performance expected
Check the system for equity: employees should be able to perceive rewards as equating
with the input they bring to the job
Chapter 5
From Theory to Practice: The Role of Money
There are personality traits and demographic factors that correlate with and individuals
attitude toward money
People who value money highly score higher on competitiveness, materialism and control
o Score higher on self-esteem, need for achievement and Type A personality measures
Organizations need to understand individuals' needs when rewarding
Creating Effective Reward Systems
What to Pay: Establishing a Pay Structure
The worth of the job in the organization and relative to the market determines job pay
structure
Paying more may attract better qualified and more motivated employees
Firms that pay below market level may have high turnover or not be able to afford higher
salaries
How to Pay: Rewarding Individuals through Variable-Pay Programs
Variable-pay programs: a portion of an employee's pay is based on some individual and/or
organizational measure of performance
Costs for organizations decline as productivity declines as pay is variable
Individual-Based Incentives:
Piece-rate pay: employees are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed
o Many firms modify this plan and add a base salary to the variable pay plan
Merit-based pay: based on performance appraisal ratings
o Individuals perceive a strong relationship between performance and rewards

o
Separation between the most productive and blow average producers (lower pay
increases)
Bonuses: rewards employees for recent performance rather than historical performance
o Focus on the recent past, and rewards employees for high productivity or better work
ethic
o Rewarding individuals based on bonuses can cause problems (financial crisis 2008)
Skill-based pay: sets pay based on how many skills employees have/how many jobs they
can do
o Employees may top out and not be able to have any more pay increases
o Employees may be paid for skills they may not need immediately or ever
o Pay is not based on the level of performance which may vary
Group-Based Incentives:
Gainsharing: improvements in group productivity determine the total amount of money to
be shared
o Focuses on productivity gains rather than profits
o Rewards specific behaviours that are less influenced by external factors
Organizational-Based Incentives:
Profit-sharing: employer shares profits with employees based on a predetermined formula
o Employees may ignore customer service and employee development
o Companies in cyclical industries would see varied results, thus varied profit-sharing
o Best in organizations with more teamwork, and managerial philosophy encouraging
participation
Stock options and employee stock ownership plans (ESOP): company-established benefit
plan in which employees acquire stock as part of their benefits
o Employees will think more about their actions if they have ownership in the
organization
Teamwork: incentive pay to individuals can lead to problems in group productivity and
cohesiveness
o Organizations focused of teamwork must focus incentives on the team not individuals
Unions: employees are usually paid based on seniority and job categories, with little
movement
o Against variable pay as it may lead to competition and increased work stress
Public Sector Employees: difficult to link productivity as most of these jobs are service
based
o The goal setting theory is better applied to these types of employees
Research Findings: ESOPs
Have the potential to increase job satisfaction and work motivation
Takes ownership and participative style to achieve improvements in the firm's performance
Research Findings: Variable-Pay Programs
Variable-pay programs increase motivation and productivity
o Does not mean this is true for all organizations or employees
Teamwork, unions, public sectors, and ethics are problems to the pay-for-performance
program
Flexible Benefits: Developing a Benefits Package

Different employees have different needs and ideas about their benefits
Flexible benefits: employees put together a benefits package individually tailored to their
own needs
Modular plans: predesigned packages of benefits that fit a specific group of employees
Core-plus plans: consist of a core benefits package with other added options available
Flexible spending accounts: given money to purchase of package of benefits
Intrinsic Rewards: Employee Recognition Programs
Recognition given to employees may not be enough in some jobs, organizations
Linked Employee Recognition Programs and Reinforcement Theory:
Recognition is the best motivator in the workplace according to employees
Team celebrations can enhance group cohesiveness and motivation
Employee Recognition in Practice:
Recognition programs are attractive to organizations as they are cost effective
Recognition may reduce turnover, particularly in good employees
Caveat Emptor: Apply Motivation Theories Wisely
Motivation Theories are Culture-Bound:
Being a member of a successful team with shared goals and values, rather than financial
rewards, drives Japanese sales representatives to succeed
Countries with high uncertainty prefer pay based objective, because it is guaranteed
Countries with high value on individualism place emphasis on individual responsibility to
perform
Countries with high humane orientation offer social benefits and programs to employees
and families
Evaluating Motivation Theories Cross-Culturally:
Other cultures focus on motivating a group of employees rather than individuals
Different cultures/countries place different benefits and needs above others
Employees expect that outputs will be greater than their inputs
It is important to determine the internal norms of a country when developing an incentive
plan
Provide Performance Feedback:
Employees need to be given performance feedback to determine if rewards are equitable
Managers are often uncomfortable discussing weakness with employees
Many employees become defensive when their weaknesses are pointed out
Organizations must train managers to provide and give employee feedback

Beware the Signals that are Sent by Rewards:
Individuals are unable to break out of old ways of thinking about reward and recognition
practices
Organizations often don't look at the big picture of their performance system
o Units often end up competing against each other, instead of working together
Both management and shareholders often focus on short-term results
o They don't reward employees for longer-range planning
This all happens when organizations hope for one thing but then reward for something else
Can We Just Eliminate Rewards:
Employee commitment benefits organizations as they work harder, and have more
devotion, rather than waiting to be rewarded for each action or success
Creating a Motivating Work Environment:
Must determine if employees have the adequate tools, equipment, materials, and supplies
o Working conditions, helpful co-workers, supportive work rules and procedures,
sufficient information and adequate time are also very important
Abolish incentive pay: paying employees generously allows them to focus on the goals of
the organization rather than pay
Re-evaluate Evaluation: change the evaluation system structure to reflect a two-way
conversation between the employees and management/ownership
Create the conditions for authentic motivation: help employees rather than survey them,
provide lots of feedback so they now how to improve and be the best they can be
Encourage collaboration: people are more likely to perform better in well-functioning
groups
o Allows team members to provide feedback for each other
Enhance content: people are generally more motivated when their jobs require them to
learn new skills, partake in a variety of tasks, and enable them to demonstrate competence
o Can make a job role more important or enhance the level, or toughness of work
Provide choice: more likely to like their jobs if employees are given the ability to free make
decisions and carry out tasks
o Can lead to a different workplace and create incentives better than extrinsic
motivators
o This process does not take immediate affect, but rather effects will be seen in the
long-term
Job Redesign:
Job design: how tasks are assigned to form a job
o The way the elements in a job are organized can increase/decrease effort
Job Rotation:
The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another
When an activity is no longer challenging, an employee is rotated to another job at the
same level
o The job will have similar skill requirements as the last one
Used to ensure new employees learn different tasks and the skills that are associated

o
o
Helps if there are absentees, more employees are able to cover a variety of jobs
Decreases the frequency of repetitive stress injuries
Reduces boredom and increases motivation by diversifying employee activities
o Helps organizations develop better employees with more flexibility
Job Enlargement:
The horizontal expansion of jobs
o Increasing the number and variety of tasks that an individual performs
Results in jobs with greater diversity
Employees learn to complete the tasks in different units and levels of the organization
o Reduces the need for meetings, reduces the cost of office equipment and allows for
job continuity during holidays or sick days
Job Enrichment and the Job Characteristics Model:
Job characteristics model (JCM): identifies five core job dimensions and their relationship
to personal and work outcomes
o Focuses on the content of jobs rather than the context of jobs
o Cab be used to motivate employees by increasing job satisfaction
Job enrichment: the vertical expansion of jobs
o Increases the degree to which workers control the planning, execution, and evaluation
in their work
o Enriched jobs organizes tasks so that employee does a complete activity
o Expands freedom and independence, increases responsibility, and provides feedback
Core Job Dimensions:
Skill variety: degree to which the job requires a variety of different activities so the
employee can use a number of different skills and talents
Task identity: degree to which the job require completion of a whole and identifiable piece
of work
Task significance: degree to which the job has a substantial impact on the lives/work of
other people
Autonomy: degree to which the job provides substantial freedom, independence, and
desecration to the individual in scheduling the work and determining the procedures to be
used in carrying it out
Feedback: degree to which carrying out the work activities required by the job results in the
individual obtaining direct and clear information about the effectiveness of his/her
performance
Critical Psychological States:
Experienced meaningfulness: if an employee's task is meaningful, the employee will view
the job as important, valuable and worthwhile
Experienced responsibility for outcome: employees feel a sense of personal responsibility
for results when their jobs given them greater autonomy
Knowledge of the actual results: feedback helps employees know whether they are
performing effectively
The more employees experience meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge, the

greater motivation, performance and satisfaction
o Less likely employees will be absent, and reduces turnover
Motivating Potential Score:

JCM can be viewed as increasing employee motivation by creating better jobs
Motivating potential score (MPS): a predictive index suggesting the motivation potential in
a job
o Jobs with high motivation potential must be high on one or more of skill variety, task
identity or task significance
Predicts high motivation leads to higher satisfaction
Research Findings: JCM
It is argued that there are better ways of deriving motivation that the JCM
o Could also add employee perception of their workload compared to others
o Moderate the link between the core job dimensions and personal/work outcomes
It is inconclusive whether job enrichment actually affects job productivity
Job Redesign in the Canadian Context: The Role of Unions
Job redesign often results in job loss, and labour unions have tried to prevent this
In the 1990's some unions decided to partake in negotiations for job redesign for union
members
Management must gain employees' acceptance whether they are in a union or not
Creating More Flexible Workplaces
Flexible workplaces allow for employees to ease the stress of juggling family needs
alongside work
Compressed Workweek:
A four-day week, with employees working 10 hours a day; or nine days of work over two
weeks
o Gives employees more leisure and shopping time
o Allows for travel to and from work outside rush hours
Can increase enthusiasm, morale, and commitment to the organization
o Also can make it easier to recruit employees to the organization
Flextime:
Employees work during a common core period each day, but can form their total workday
from a flexible set of hours outside the core
o Gives employees discretion about when they go and leave work
o Extra hours can be accumulated and made up to be the equivalent of a free day
Improves productivity and satisfaction while reducing absenteeism and turnover
Job Sharing:
The practice of having two or more people split a 40-hour-a-week job
Allows organizations to acquire skilled workers who might not be available on a full-time
basis
Telecommuting:
Employees do their work at home on a computer that is linked to their offices
o Could be at least two days a week on a computer linked to their office
o Can increase productivity and decrease stress while providing better service to clients
Employees may miss out on in-workplace activities such as meetings and events
o Telecommuting can decrease the commitment to the organization as there is increased
distance
Chapter 6
Teams vs. Groups: What's the Difference?
Group: two or more people with a common relationship (do not necessarily engage in
collective work)
Team: small number of people that work closely together toward a common objective
(accountable)
o Share leadership, individually accountable, purpose or mission, problem solving and
effective
Why Have Teams Become So Popular?
Teams have greater flexibility compared to traditional departments/structures
Teams have the potential to be more productive, but must have the key characteristics
o More motivation, quickly assembly, deploy, refocus and disband
Types of Teams
Problem-Solving Teams:
5-12 employees from the same department who meet a once a few hours a week
o Discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency and the work environment
o Also be planning teams, task forces or committees organized to get tasks done
Employees share ideas or suggestions, but do not get to implement suggested actions
Self-Managed Teams:
10-12 employees who take on many responsibilities of their former managers
o Includes planning/scheduling of work, assigning tasks, taking action etc.
Fully self-managed have their own members/leader and evaluate each other
Self-managed teams often perform better than teams with formally appointed leaders
Effectiveness of the team depends on the makeup, tasks being done and reward structure
Cross-Functional Teams:
Group of employees from about the same level of different areas that work to accomplish
tasks

o
o
o
Task force: a temporary cross-functional team

Committee: group composed of members from different departments
Allows employees to exchange info, develop new ideas, solve problems and
coordinate
Skunkworks:
Cross-functional teams that develop to create new products or work on complex problems
o Gives teams the ability to work on projects without being watched by the
organization
Virtual Teams:
Uses computers to tie together physically dispersed members in order to achieve a goal
o Most teams today are virtual by sharing links, documents, video conferencing etc.
Virtual teams do not have physical interaction and are less satisfied
o Difficult to build trust, when team members have not met in person
o Virtual teams build trust through the tone or attitude of the conversations
From Individual to Team Member
Roles:
A set of expected behaviours of a person in a given position in a social unit
Role Conflict:
Role expectations: how others believe a person should act in a given situation
Role conflict: one role requirement may make it more difficult to comply with another role
o Creates internal tension, frustration
Role Ambiguity:
When a person is unclear about the expectations of his or her role
o Leads to confusion, stress, bad feelings
Role overload/underload: too much or too little is expected of someone
Norms:
Acceptable standards of behaviour within a group that are shared by the group's members
o Act as a means of influencing the behaviour of the group
Common social norms: performance, appearance, social arrangement, and allocation of
resources
The How and Why of Norms:
Norms develop gradually as group members become acquainted and determine
functionality
o Explicit statements: instructions from the group's powerful member establishes norms
o Critical events: things that have happened in the past that have change the group's
dynamic
o Primacy: first behaviour pattern that emerges in a group often sets team expectations

o
Carry-over behaviour: expectations brought with members from other group

situations
Norms facilitate the group's survival, increases predictability of group members' behaviour,
reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems for group members and creates
individual/group identity
Conformity:
Adjusting one's behaviour with the norms of the group
o Can impact members by forcing them to act/behave that is consistent with other
members
Conformity explains why some work groups are more prone to anti-social behaviour than
others
o Anti-social groups may lead to individuals being anti-social on their own time
Stages of Group and Team Development
The Five-Stage Model:
Shows how individuals move from being independent to working interpedently with group
members
Stage 1 Forming: first stage in a group development, characterized by much uncertainty
o Testing the behaviour of the group and starting to become a team
Stage 2 Storming: group development, characterized by intragroup conflict
o Conflict of ideas, leadership, and planning
Stage 3 Norming: development characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness
o Conflict resolution, developing relationships, and solidified structure
Stage 4 Performing: development when the group is fully functional
o Team comes together and starts task progress (understanding tasks at hand)
Stage 5 Adjourning: when temporary groups' attention is directed to wrapping up activities
The Punctuated-Equilibrium Model:
Temporary groups often do not follow the five-stage model and have different actions
Phase 1:
First meeting creates a framework of behaviour and assumptions for the team
During inertia teams tend to stand still or become locked into a fix course of action (phase
1)
o Usually team members do not complete assigned tasks or work relatively slow
Phase 2:
Moves out of the inertia stage and recognizes that work needs to be completed
o Most often happens at the halfway point of the teams timeline (halfway to the
deadline)
o Transition from phase 1 to 2, drops old patterns and the group adopts new ones
The teams productivity bursts and there is often a last chance burst to finish all work at the
end

Applying the Punctuated-Equilibrium Model:
Characterizes deadline-oriented teams in which there are stages of low and high
productivity
Combined forming and norming, then lower performing, storming, high performing then
adjourning
Creating Effective Teams
Effective team characteristics: resources, team composition, work design and team process
Model of team effectiveness is a generalization and cannot be applied to all teams
o Assumes that teamwork is preferable or individual work in a give circumstance
Context:
Teams need to manage support, and organize structure that supports teamwork
Adequate resources, effective leadership, climate of trust of performance evaluation are key
Adequate resources:
Teams rely on resources from outside the team to complete tasks and meet goals
o Teams rely on support from the organization (technology, encouragement, info etc.)
o Critical for teams to receive necessary support from organizations to achieve their
goals
Leadership and Structure:
Leaders must help groups set a direction, bond, work effectively, receive support and
provide coaching
Help team members find rolls and integrate individual skills into the overall team plans
Managers are still important in self-managed teams as they manage the outside
circumstances
Multi-team system: different teams in the same system that work towards a common
goal/outcome
o Managers act as coordinators between the different teams (increased efficiency)
Climate of Trust:
Trust reduces the need to monitor behaviour, and help members believe in the group
Trusting groups will allow for members to take more risks and expose vulnerabilities
Performance Evaluation and Rewards:
Group appraisals, profit sharing, gain sharing, group incentives and others will reinforce
team effort
When there are large salary variations in a group, collaboration is lowered
Composition:
How a team is staffed depends on many variable that will affect the dynamic/efficiency of
the team
Skills:
Teams need people with technical expertise
Problem solving and decision making skills help generate alternatives and identify
problems
Interpersonal skills such as feedback, conflict resolution and listening are favourable for
teams
Group members may take on learning or enhancing one of these three types of skills
Teamwork Skills:
Orienting teams to problem-solving situations: provides an understanding or direction
Organize/mange team performance: establish team goals, monitors, evaluates, and provides
feedback
Positive team environment: creating norms, helps supports other team members, model
behaviour
Facilitates/manages task conflict: recognizes conflict and resolves/manages conflicts
Promotes perspective: argues for different points, knowledge based arguments
Personality:
Teams with higher levels of conscientiousness, and openness to experience perform better
o Teams with more than one disagreeable members tend to be worse off
Team performance is often better when members are relatively on the same level
o High conscientious members must compensate for low conscientious people
Roles:
Task-oriented roles: roles performed by group members to ensure that tasks are
accomplished
o Initiators, information seekers, information providers, elaborators, summarizers etc.
Maintenance roles: roles performed by members to maintain good relations within the
group
o Harmonizers, compromisers, gatekeepers, and encouragers
Selecting members that are more flexible prevents the group from being reliant on one
member
Individual roles: roles performed members that are not productive for keeping on the group
on task
Roles Required for Effective Team Functioning:
Roles that build task accomplishment: initiating, seeking information and opinions,
providing information and opinions, clarifying, elaborating, summarizing and consensus
testing
Roles that build and maintain a team: harmonizing, compromising, gatekeeping and
encouraging
Diversity:
The presence of a heterogeneous mix of individuals within a group
o Different characteristics (jobs, positions, experience) and demographic/cultural (age,
race, sex)
Diversity can generate different types of conflict such as interpersonal conflict

Team Diversity Research:
Diversity may create more opinions but it will be more difficult to unify the group
members
Teams with friends are more concerned with maintaining a relationship than productivity
Diverse teams often spend time discussing issues which allows for better decision making
o Diverse teams have difficult working together but is often resolved after time
Diverse groups provide extra value once team members become more familiar with each
other
Research shows individuals respond to visual differences when interacting with diverse
groups
Size:
Smaller team sizes will be more effective (4-10 people)

o Uneven team numbers will help break ties and resolve conflicts
Larger groups have lower cohesiveness and mutual accountability, increased social loafing
o Large groups can be more efficient if they are split into sub-sections or groups
Social loafing: tendency for individuals to put in less effort when working in a group
o Increases in team size are inversely related to individual performance
o There will be a reduction in efficiency if members believe their productivity wont be
measured
Members' Flexibility:
Flexible team members are able to complete a wide range and variety of different tasks
o Improves a teams adaptability and makes it less reliant on one group member
o People who value flexibility are better than a cross trained person
Members' Preference for Teamwork:
When selecting teams, individual preference, abilities, personality and skills should all be
considered
o High-performance teams are likely to be composed of people who like team/team
work
Work Design:
Effective teams need to work together and take collective responsibility to complete tasks
o Includes freedom, autonomy, utilizing different skills, participation and other
characteristics
These enhance member motivation and increases team effectiveness
Motivates teams by increasing responsibility and ownership over the work
Process:
Process variable make up the final component of team effectiveness
Common Purpose:
Common and meaningful purpose provides direction, momentum and commitment for
members
Teams that don't have good planning skills will not succeed
Reflexivity: team characteristic of reflecting on and adjusting the master plan when
necessary
A team must have a good plan and be able to adapt when conditions change or call for it
Specific Goals:
Specific goals facilitate clear communication between group members (maintains focus)
o Difficult goals have been found to raise team performance on the criteria that is set
Teams should be encouraged to develop milestones to focus on working toward their goal
Team Efficacy:
Effective teams that have confidence, and know that they can succeed
o Teams that have been successful raise their believe about the future, increases
motivation
Cohesiveness: degree to which team members are attracted to each other and are motivated
as a team
o If performance norms are high, a cohesive group will be more productive
o High cohesiveness and low performance norms will return low productivity
o High norms and low cohesiveness will return moderate productivity
Instrumental cohesiveness: members don't believe they can complete a goal without the rest
of the group
Small successes build team confidence and creates a stronger performance record
Mental Models:
Knowledge and beliefs (psychological map) about how it gets done
o Effective teams have accurate and common mental models
If members have wrong or different mental models, performance will suffer
Managed Level of Conflict:
Teams that have no or avoid conflict do not create alternatives and are less effective
o Effective teams have an appropriate level of conflict
Reducing Team Conflict:
Group members should try to focus on the issues rather than on personalities (achieve
fairness)
More information creates debates and provides helpful alternatives and arguments
Developing commonly agree upon goals, using humour, and balanced power reduces
conflict
Accountability:
Successful teams make members individually and jointly accountable for the team's
purpose/goals
o Clearly define what they are individually responsible for and jointly responsible for
Beware! Teams Aren't Always the Answer
Teamwork takes more time and often uses more resources than individual work
o Teams have increased communication demand, conflicts and meetings

o
Not all settings are suitable for teamwork (may decrease efficiency and turnover)
Team fits the situation: Determine if the work can be done by one person, will the team
provide for productivity than an individual, and are members of the group interdependent
Teams more useful: speed is more important, organization mirrors a complex, changing
market environments, innovation and learning have priority and online integration of
interdependent performers
Chapter 7
The Communication Process
Transfer and understanding of a message between two or more people
The sender establishes the message, encodes the message and chooses the channel in which
to send it
The receiver decodes the message and provides feedback to the sender
o Communication problems happened when there is a disruption during these processes
o The process is affected by the sender's perception of the receiver and visa-versa
Encoding and Decoding:
Encoded: converting a message to a symbolic form
Decoded: interpreting a sender's message
Skill, attitudes, knowledge and socio-cultural system affect message encoding and
decoding
Communicative success includes speaking, listening, and reasoning skills
o Interactions with others are affected by our attitudes, values and beliefs
Messages sent/received by people of equal rank are interpreted different than if received by
someone else
The Message:
What is communicated, the actual physical product from the source after it is encoded
o Affected by the code, or group of symbols, we use to transfer meaning, the message
itself, and the decision that we make in selecting and arranging both codes and
content
Messages may not always encapsulate what one or both parties intended/feel
The Channel:
The medium through which a message travels
o Selected by the source who must determine which channel is formal and which is
informal
o Formal channels are established by organizations and transmit messages relating to
the job
o Informal channels are forms such as personal/social messages
Communication apprehension: undue tension and anxiety about oral communication,
written communication or both
Some channels are rich in the ability to handle multiple cues simultaneously, facilitate
rapid feedback and be very personal
Channel richness: amount of info that can be transmitted during a communication episode
The frequency of the messages also determines the channel in which messages are sent
o Non-routine messages are more effective through rich channels
Managers find it easier to deliver bad news through emails, and these messages are
delivered more accurately through this channel
The Feedback Loop:

The final link in the communication process; it puts the message back into the system as a
check against misunderstandings
o The receiver needs to give feedback and the sender needs to check it
If the sender or receiver fails to provide feedback the communication becomes one-way
o Two-way communication involves both talking and listening
The Context:
All communication takes place within a context
o The context prevents different expectations (ex. The workplace, or the bus stop)
Informal communication can look informal and therefore unprofessional (viewed
negatively)
o Formal communication can make others feel uncomfortable
It is important to consider the context in both encoding the message and choosing the
channel
Barriers to Effective Communication
Filtering:
A sender's manipulation of information so that it will be seen more favourable by the
receiver
o As information is passed on it needs to be synthesized, and filter out irrelevant
information
o Personal interest affects what is filtered, how things are synthesized, what is
important
The size and levels of an organization affect how information is filtered
Selective Perception:
Receivers process selectively what they see/hear based on their needs, motivation,
experience, background and other personal characteristics
o Also project their interests and expectations into communications as they decode
them
Defensiveness:
When people feel they are being threatened they tend to react in ways to reduce their ability
to achieve mutual understanding
o Engage is behaviours such as verbally attacking others, making sarcastic remarks,
being overly judgmental and questioning others' motives
Information Overload:
State of having more information than one can process

o Employees suffer from having too much information (ex. Email, IM, faxes, phone
calls, etc.)
Language:
Age, education and cultural backgrounds influence the language we use and definitions of
words
o Different departments develop their own jargon, or technical language
Senders often assume the language they use means the same to the receiver as it does to
them
Communicating Under Stress:
While under stress, it is often the most difficult time to communicate
o Speak clearly: be direct about what you want to say and avoid hiding behind words
o Be aware of the nonverbal part of communicating: tone, facial expression, body
language
o Think carefully about how you state things: better to be restrained that to offend the
receiver
Organizational Communication
Direction of Communication:
Communication can flow downward, upward and laterally in organizations
Downward: communication flows from one level of an organization to a lower one
o Managers communicating with employees, giving orders and creating rules/regulation
o Managers must explain why decisions are made
Upward: communication flows to a higher level in the organization
o Used to provide feedback to managers/executives, inform them on progress, relay
problems, etc.
Lateral: communication occurs with the same work group, among members, the same level
o Also know an horizontal communication, saves time, used for coordination
Small-Group Networks:
Communication networks: channels by which information flows
Formal networks: task-related communications that follow the authority chain
o Chain, wheel and all-channel are the three most common formal small-groups
o Chain: follows the formal chain of command
o Wheel: rely on leaders to act as the central conduit for all the group's communication
o All-channel: permits all group members to communicate actively with each other
Grapevine:
Informal networks: communications that flow along social and relational lines
o Communication is free to movie in any direction, skips authority, etc.
Grapevine: the organization's most common informal network
o 75% of employees hear about matters first through rumours on the grapevine

o
Used to structure and reduce anxiety, make sense of limited/fragmented info, serve as
a vehicle to organize group members into coalitions, signal a sender's status of power
Rumours start as a response to situations that are important to us
o Where there is ambiguity, and under conditions that arouse anxiety
Grapevine Patterns:
Single strand: each person tells information to just one other person
Gossip pattern: one person tells everyone the information
o These people are commonly called gossips (about 10% of organizational member
Probability pattern: individuals are randomly told info, with no apparent pattern
Cluster pattern: individuals selectively choose individuals to whom they tell relay
information
o Individuals may strategically choose who they pass information onto
Liaison individuals: friendly, outgoing people who are in position to cross departmental
lines
Grapevine is not managed, it is perceived as being more believable and reliable than formal
information and it is largely used to serve the self-interest of the people within it
Electronic Communications:
Make it possible to work, even if employees are not at their workstation/workplace
Organizational boundaries have become less relevant as more electronic communications
become integrated into the workplace
Email:
The high volumes of email create longer/continuous work days for employees
Misinterpreting the message: misinterpret the message, intent, or tone of the email
Communicating negative messages: emails are always the best way to communicate this
type of info
Overuse of email: receive or have to send too many emails
Email emotions: emails sometimes allow senders to say things they wouldnt have in
person
Privacy concerns: emails may be monitored, cannot always trust the senders of emails
Instant Messaging and Text Messaging:
IM and texts are meant more for short messages
o These types of messages are informal than email, and not as rich
Other Issues in Communication
Nonverbal Communication:
Messages conveyed through body movements, facial expressions and physical distance
between the sender and receiver
Kinesics: study of body motions (gestures, facial configurations and other body
movements)
Body language conveys the extent to which an individual likes another and is interested is
their views, and the relative perceived status between a sender and receiver
Proxemics: study of physical space in interpersonal relationships
Silence as Communication:
Silence represents inaction or non-behaviour
o Silence can mean someone is thinking or contemplating a response to a question
o Silence can mean a person is fearful of speaking
o Silence can signal agreement, dissent, frustration or anger
Communication Barriers between Women and Men:
Men typically use talk to emphasize status, while women use it to create connection
o For men conversations are a means to preserve independence and maintain status
o For women conversations are negotiations for closeness, seek conformation and
support
Women will provide evidence for discrepancies, men will just point them out
Cross-Cultural Communication:
Effective communication is affected by cross-cultural factors that create the potential for
communication problems
Cultural Barriers:
Words often are difficult to translate between different languages, interpreted differently
Words imply different things in different languages, direct translation but different
meaning
Tone differences are interpreted differently depending on specific cultures
Barriers are caused by differences among perceptions (different cultures, backgrounds, etc.)
Cultural Context:
High-context cultures: rely heavily on nonverbal and subtle situational cues in
communication
o Status, place in society, and reputation are considered in communications
o Must desire to build a relationship and build the trust of both parties
Low-context cultures: rely heavily on words to convey meaning in communication
o Body language and written words are
Overcoming Cross-Cultural Difficulties:
Assume differences until similarity is proven
Emphasize description rather than interpretation or evaluation
Be empathetic, understand others' values, experiences and frames of reference, etc.
Treat your interpretations as a working hypothesis
Chapter 8
A Definition of Power
Power: capacity that A has to influence the behaviour of B, so that B acts in accordance to
A's wishes

o
There is potential for power if someone is dependent on another

Power is a function of dependency, the more dependency on a person, the more power a
person holds
The IT group of larger organizations often have considerable power (from employees to the
CEO)
Bases of Power
Coercive Power:
Power that is based on fear
o One reacts to this power base out of fear of the negative results that might occur
without compliance
o Includes infliction of pain, restriction of movement, controlling by force, etc.
In organizations, coercive power includes firing people, or assigning employees to
unpleasant work
Reward Power:
power that achieves compliance based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view
as valuable
o In organizations this is money, performance appraisals, promotions, information, etc.
o Do not have to be a manager to exert reward power
Legitimate Power:
Power that a person receives as a result of their position in the hierarchy of an organization
o Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers
o Includes acceptance by members of an organization of the authority of a position
Expert Power:
Influence based on special skills or knowledge
o Relies on trust that all relevant information is given out honestly and completely
o The more information that is shared, the less expert power a person has
Referent Power:
Influence based on possession by an individual of desirable resources or personal traits
If people admire someone to the point of modelling their behaviour and attitudes, that
person possess referent power over people
Information Power:
Power that comes from access to an control over information
o Data/knowledge that others need can make others depend on them
Evaluating the Bases of Power:
Commitment: person is enthusiastic about the request, and shows initial and persistence in
carrying it out
o Associated with expert and referent power
Compliance: person goes along with the request grudgingly, puts in minimal effort and
takes little initiative carrying out the request
o Associated with reward and legitimate power
Resistance: person is opposed to the request and tries to avoid it with such tactics as
refusing, stalling or arguing about it
o Associated with coercive power
Dependency: The Key to Power

The General Dependency Postulate:
When you possess anything that others require but that you alone control, you make them
dependent on you, and therefore you gain power over them
o The person who has the most need is the one most dependent on the relationship
The more options you have, the less power you place in the hands of others
What Creates Dependency?
Dependency is increased when the resources you control is important, scarce, and cannot
be substituted
Importance:
To create dependency, the thing(s) that you control must be perceived as important
o What is important is situational
o Varies among organization and overtime within any given organization
Scarcity:
A resource must be perceived as scarce to create dependency
Possession of a scarce resource make those who don't have it dependent on those who do
Non-substitutability:
The fewer substitutes there are for a resource, the more power comes from control over the
resource
People are often able to ask for special rewards because they have skills that others do not
Influence Tactics
There are nine tactics managers and employees use to increase their power
1. Rational persuasion: using facts/data to make logical or rational presentation of ideas
2. Inspirational appeals: appealing to values, ideals, and goals when making a request
3. Consultation: getting others involved to support one's objectives
4. Ingratiation: using flattery, creating goodwill, and being friendly prior to making a request
5. Personal appeals: appealing to loyalty and friendship when asking for something
6. Exchange: offering favours or benefits in exchange for support
7. Coalitions: getting the support of other people to provide backing when making a request
8. Pressure: using demands, threats, and reminders to get someone to do something
9. Legitimacy: claiming the authority or right to make a request, or showing that it supports
organizational goals or policies
Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation tend to be the most effective
o Pressure often backfires and tends to be the least effective
Rational persuasion works across all levels of the organizational hierarchy
Better to begin with softer tactics and then rely on harder tactics
Political skill: the ability to influence others in such a way as to enhance one's objectives
The culture of the organization in which a person works will influence the best tactics to be
used
Empowerment: Giving Power to Employees

Movement towards sharing power with employees by putting them in teams and by making
them responsible for some of the decisions regarding their job
o Empowerment: increasing responsibility
Definition of Empowerment:
The freedom and the ability of employees to make decisions and commitments
o Delegating decision making within a set of clear boundaries
Empowerment can either start at the top or bottom of the organizational hierarchy
o Top: specific goals and tasks would be assigned, responsibility would be delegated,
and people would be held accountable for their results
o Bottom: considering employee needs, showing them what empowered behaviour
looks like, building teams, encouraging risk-taking, and demonstrating trust in
employees ability to perform
Employees must be able to access information and carry out decisions
o Must also understand how they fit into the organization
Degrees of Empowerment:
Job content: the tasks and procedures necessary for carrying out a particular job
Job context: the reason for doing the job; it reflects the organizational mission, objectives,
and setting
o Includes the organization's structure, culture, and rewards system
No discretion: the typical assembly-line job (highly routine and repetitive)
o Employees is assigned the task, given no discretion, and most likely monitored by a
supervisor
o Employees may be un-satisfied and do not show initiative
Participatory empowerment: represents the situation of autonomous work group that are
given some decision-making authority over both job content and job context
Self-management: employees who have total-decision making power for both job content
and job context
o Granting an employee greater power requires faith from management that the
employee will carry out the goals and mission of the organization
For employees to be empowered, and have ownership:
o There must be a clear definition of the values and mission of the company
o The company must help employees acquire the relevant skills
o Employees need to be supported in their decision making, and not criticized when
they try to do something extraordinary
o Employees need to be recognized for their efforts
Effects of Empowerment:
At an individual level and the team level, empowerment leads to greater productivity
o Some managers do not empower employees because this can take away some of their
power
o Some employees have little/no interest in being empowered and thus resist attempts
o Empowerment is not something that works well in every workplace throughout the
world
The Abuse of Power: Harassment in the Workplace
Managers control the resources that most employees consider important and scarce
Coworkers exercise power by withholding information, cooperation and support
Workplace Bullying:
Shaming people, embarrassing people, holding them up to ridicule, constantly being on
their case for no apparent reason, being unreasonable, etc.
Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment is more likely to occur in workplace environments that tolerate bullying,
intimidation, yelling, innuendo, and other forms of discourteous behaviour
Sexual harassment: unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature in the workplace that
negatively affects the workplace environment or leads to adverse job-related consequences
for the employee
o Undermines the victims' mental and physical health
Make sure there are policies in place that outline the rules, and consequences
o Investigate every complain and include the legal and human resource departments
o Make sure offenders are disciplined or terminated
o Raise employee awareness about the issues surrounding sexual harassment
Politics: Power in Action
Definition of Political Behaviour:
Those activities that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and
disadvantages within the organization
o Efforts to influence the goals, criteria, or process used for decision making
o Withholding information, spreading rumours, leaking confidential info, exchanging
favours with other organizations, lobbying, etc.
The Reality of Politics:
Organizations are made up of individuals and groups with different values, goals, and
interests
o Allows for the potential of conflict over resources
People disagree about the allocation of resources (budgets, space allocation,
responsibilities, etc.)
o Gains by one department/employee are often sees as loses for another
People will try to use whatever influence they have to spin the facts to support their
goals/interests
Organizations can be politics free if all the members hold the same goals and interest,
organizational resources are not scarce, and performance outcomes are completely clear
and objective
Types of Political Activity:

Attacking or blaming others: used when trying to avoid responsibility for failure
Using information: withholding or distorting information, particularly to hid negative
information
Managing impressions: bringing positive attention to oneself or taking credit for positive
accomplishments of others
Building support for ideas: making sure that others will support one's ideas before they are
present
Praising others: making important people feel good
Building coalitions: joining with other people to create a powerful group
Associating with influential people: building support networks
Creating obligations: doing favours for others so they will owe you favours later
Impression Management:
The process by which individuals attempt to control the impression others form of them
Being perceived positively by others should have benefits for people in organizations
o May help them bring more advantages their way
The impression manager must be cautious not to be perceives an insincere or manipulative
Making Office Politics:
Organizational politics is associated with less organizational commitment, lower job
satisfaction, and decreased job performance
Greater organizational politics are associated with higher levels of job anxiety, and are
more likely to leave the organization
Nobody wins unless everybody wins: successful proposals look for ways to acknowledge,
if not include, the interest of others.
o Building support for your ideas across the organization
o Packaged ideas to look like they are best for the organization as a whole and will help
other, are harder for others to counteract the proposal
Dont ask for opinions, change them: helpful to find out what people think, if necessary set
out to change their opinions so that they can see what you want to do
o Important to seek out the opinions of those you don't know well, or less likely to
agree with
Everyone expects to be paid back: building good relationships with colleagues, supporting
them in their endeavours, and showing appreciation for what they accomplish, helps build a
foundation of support for your own ideas
Success can create opposition: success can be viewed as a win-lose strategy
o Some people may feel that your success comes at their expense
Chapter 9
Conflict Demand
A process that begins when one part perceives that another party has negatively affected, or
is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about
o From incompatible goals, differences over interpretations, disagreements, etc.
Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict:
Functional conflict: conflict that supports the goals of the group and improves its
performance
Dysfunctional conflict: conflict that hinders group performance
Cognitive conflict: conflict that is task-oriented and related to differences in perspectives
and judgments
Affective conflict: conflict that is emotional and aimed at a person rather than an issue
Sources of Conflict:
There are a number of conditions that can give rise to conflict
o They don't have to be directly related to conflict
Communication:
Conflict through semantic difficulties, misunderstandings, and noise in communication
channels
Conflict increases with either too much or too little communication
Structure:
Conflict related to the requirements of the job or the workplace more than personality
Size, specialization, and composition of the group act as forces to stimulate conflict
The greater the ambiguity in precisely defining where responsibility for actions lies, the
greater the potential for conflict to emerge
Reward systems create conflict when one member's gain is at another's expense
Leadership style can create conflict if managers tightly control and oversee the work of
employees, allowing employees little discretion in how they carry out tasks
The diversity of goals among groups is a major source of conflict
If one group is dependent on another, or if interdependence allows one group to gain at
another's expense, opposing forces are stimulated
Personal Variables:
There may be personal variables that you are not in agreement with that creates conflict
o Includes the individual value system, and personality characteristics
Conflict Resolution
Conflict Management Strategies:
Forcing: imposing one's will on the other party
Problem solving: trying to reach an agreement that satisfies both one's own and the other
party's aspirations as much as possible
Avoiding: ignoring or minimizing the importance of the issues creating the conflict
Yielding: accepting and incorporating the will of the other party
Compromising: balancing concern for oneself with concern for the other part in order to
reach a solution
What Can Individuals Do to Manage Conflict?

Problem solving: request face-to-face meeting to identify the problem and resolve it
Developing overarching goals: creating a shared goal that requires both parties to work
together
Smoothing: play down differences while emphasizing common interest with the other party
Compromising: agreeing with the other part that each will give up something
Avoidance: withdrawing from or suppressing the conflict
Resolving Personality Conflicts:
A variety of factors lead to personality conflicts
o Misunderstanding based on age, race, or cultural differences
o Intolerance, prejudice, discrimination, or bigotry
o Perceived inequities
o Misunderstandings, rumours, or falsehoods about an individual or group
o Blaming for mistakes or mishaps (finger-pointing)
Third-Part Conflict Resolution:
Facilitation: generally acquainted with both parties, suggests that the two parties work
together to resolve the issue
o Informal solution that is aimed at getting both parties to talk directly with each other
Conciliation: trusted third party who provides an informal communication link between the
negotiator and the opponent
o Used in international, labour, family, and community disputes
Ombudsperson: an official role for a person to hear disputes between parties
Peer Review: panel of peers put together to hear both sides of the issue from parties
involved and to recommend a solution
Mediation: neutral third party who facilitates a negotiated solution by using reasoning,
persuasion, and suggestions for alternatives
Arbitration: third part to a negotiation who has the authority to dictate an agreement
Conflict Outcomes
Agreement: equitable and fair agreements are the best outcome
o If agreement means that one party feels exploited or defeated, this will likely lead to
further conflict
Stronger relationships: when conflict is resolved positively, this can lead to better
relationships and greater trust
o If the parties trust each other, they are more likely to keep the agreements they make
Learning: handling conflict successfully teaches one how to do it better next time
o It gives an opportunity to practise the skills one has learned about handing conflict
Negotiation:
Process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and try to agree on the
exchange rate for them
o Positions: the individual's stand on the issues
o Interests: the underlying concerns that are affected by the negotiation resolution
Bargaining Strategies:
Distributive bargaining: negotiation that seeks to divide up a fixed amount of resources
o A win-lose situation
Integrative bargaining: negotiation that seeks one or more settlements that can create a winwin solution
How to Negotiate:
Negotiation is made up of a five step process
1. Developing a strategy
2. Defining group rules
3. Clarification and justification
4. Bargaining and problem solving
5. Closure and implementation
BATNA: the best alternative to a negotiated agreement
o The outcome an individual faces if negotiations fail
Bargaining zone: the zone between each party's resistance point, assuming there is overlap
in this range
Contemporary Issues in Negotiation
Cultural Differences in Negotiating Style:
France: they like conflict and frequently gain recognition and develop reputations by
thinking and acting against each other
China: the Chinese draw out negotiations because they believe negotiations never end
Japan: the Japanese also negotiate to develop relationships and commitment to work
together
USA: Americans are known around the world for their impatience and their desire to be
liked
Chapter 10
What Is Organizational Culture?
Definition of Organizational Culture:
Patterns of shared values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to
think and act within an organization
o Culture is shared by the members of the organization
o Culture helps members solve and understand the thinks that it encounters (internally
and externally)
o Members believe the belief, expectations are valid and are taught to new members

o
Assumptions, beliefs, expectations influence how people perceive/feel within the

organization
Groups with high turnover or that face challenges may not develop cultures
Levels of Culture:
Artifacts: aspects of an organization's culture that you see, hear, and feel
Beliefs: understanding of how objects and ideas relate to each other
Values: stable, long-lasting beliefs about what is happening
Assumptions: taken-for-granted notions of how something should be
Characteristics of Culture:
There are seven primary characteristics that capture the essence of an organization's culture
Innovation and risk-taking: degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative
and risk-taking
Attention to detail: employees are expected to work with precision, analysis and attention
to detail
Outcome oriented: management focuses on results, or outcomes, rather that on techniques
and processes
People orientation: management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on
people within the organization
Team orientation: work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals
Aggressiveness: people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing and
supportive
Stability: organizational activities emphasize maintaining status quo is contrast to growth
Culture's Functions:
Culture has boundary-defining roles because it creates distinction between organizations
Culture conveys a sense of identity to organization members
Culture helps create commitment to something larger than an individual's interest
Culture enhances stability, holds the organization and it members together
Culture serves as a control to guide and shade attitudes and behaviours of employees
Culture lays out the rules, both explicit and implicit
Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures?
Employees from different backgrounds and levels should have the same organizational
culture
Dominant culture: system of shared meaning that expresses the core values shared by a
majority of the organization's members
Subcultures: mini-cultures within an organization, typically defined by department
designations and geographical separation
o Strong subcultures can make it hard for managers to implement organizational change
Core values: primary, or dominant, values that are accepted throughout the organization
Reading an Organization's Culture
Strong culture: culture in which the core values are intensely held and widely shared
o Weak cultures may not create attachment to the organization for employees
Strong culture demonstrates high agreement among employees and builds cohesiveness,
loyalty and organizational commitment
Stories:
Stories about organizations, their employees and managers tell about the organizations
legitimacy for current practices
Rituals:
Repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the key values of the
organization
o What goals are important, which people are important, and which ones are
expendable
Material Symbols:
Size of offices, elegance of furnishings, executive perks, dress code, uniform, etc.
o Corporate logos, signs, brochures, advertisements real aspects of the organization's
culture
Material symbols convey to employees, customers and clients who is important, and the
kinds of behaviour that are appropriate
Language:
Organization use language as a way to identify members of a culture or subculture
Organizations develop unique terms to describe equipment, offices, staff, suppliers,
customers, etc.
Creating and Sustaining an Organization's Culture
Culture is often derived from the philosophy of its founders
o This creates a selection criteria that top managers use to choose future employees
How a Culture Begins:
Founders only hire and keep employees who think and feel the way they do
Founders indoctrinate and socialize these employees of their way of thinking and feeling
Founders' behaviour acts as a role model, encouraging employees to identify with the
founders
o Internalize those beliefs, values and assumptions
o Founders' personality becomes embedded in the culture of the organization
Keeping a Culture Alive:
Human resource practices act to maintain a culture within an organization
o Selective process, performance evaluation criteria, training and development, etc.
o Ensure employees fit in with the culture, with rewards or penalties
Selection:
Identify and hire individuals who have the knowledge, skills and ability to perform the job
o How the candidate will fit into the organization will often be the main determinant
o Perspective employees may find a conflict with the culture or the other way around
Top Management:
Actions of tap management have a major impact on the organization's culture
o What they say, and how they behave establishes norms that filter through the
organization
o Establishes the level of risk, what is appropriate, etc.
Socialization:
Process that adapts new employees to an organization's culture
o Training programs that help new employees adapt and learn about an organization's
culture
Socialization can be conceptualizes as a process with three stages
Pre-arrival Stage: period of learning in the socialization process that occurs before a new
employee joins the organization
o Learn the values, attitudes, and expectations of the organization
Encounter stage: new employees see what the organization is really like and confronts the
possibility that expectations and reality may diverge
o Proper selection will reduce the chance of new employees not adapting to the culture
Metamorphosis stage: new employees adjust to the values and norms of the job, work
group, etc.
o The more formal the socialization process the better chance the culture will be
adopted
o New employee becomes comfortable with the organization and their job
o New employee has internalized the norms of the organization
o New employee feels accepted, trusted, valued and is self-confident
o New employee understands how they will be evaluated and the associated criteria that
is used
The Liabilities of Organizational Culture
Culture as a Barrier to Change:
Employees are less likely to share values if the work environment is dynamic
o Rapid change in organizations reduces the effect of an entrenched organizational
culture
Organizations with strong cultures may fail when those practices no longer match up well
with the needs of the environment or the market
Culture as a Barrier to Diversity:
Management wants new employees to accent the organization's core cultural values
o Openly acknowledge and support the differences employees bring to the organization
Strong cultures can be liabilities when they effectively eliminate the unique strengths of
individuals
o Institutional bias may become insensitive to people who are different
Culture as a Barrier to Mergers and Acquisitions:
Most often financial advantages or product synergy are looked at first

o
o
Cultural compatibility has most recently become the primary concern

The merger or acquisition needs to actually work for both parties involved
Strategies for Merging Cultures:

Assimilation: new organization takes on the culture of one of the merging organizations
o Works best when one firms is stronger than the other (rarely works)
Separation: organizations remain separate and keep their individual cultures
o Best when the organizations have little overlap in their operating industries
Integration: new culture is formed by merging parts of each of the organizations
o Strategy works best when aspects of each organization's culture need to be improved
Bicultural audit: examination of the differences between two potential merger partners
prior to a merger to determine whether the culture will be able to work together
o Defines a structure that is appropriate for both organizations (includes reorganization
plan)
o Identify and implement a management style that is appropriate for both organizations
o Reinforcing internal communication to make employees aware of the changes
o Getting agreement on what is considered in performance evaluations (criteria,
behaviour)
Changing Organizational Culture
Culture change is a lengthy process, and is often measured in years not months
Creating an Ethical Culture:
Content and strength of a culture influence an organization's ethical climate for employees
High ethical standards are associated with high risk tolerance and low-moderate
aggressiveness
Be a visible role model: managers are role models for employees (send a positive message)
Communicate ethical expectations: distribute organization's code of ethics
o Organization's primary values and ethical rules that are expected to be followed
Provide ethics training: seminars, workshops, and similar ethical training programs
Visibly reward ethical acts and punish unethical ones
Provide protective mechanisms: formal mechanisms so employees can discuss ethical
dilemmas and report unethical behaviour without fear or reprimand
Creating a Positive Organizational Culture:
Positive organizational culture: culture that emphasizes building on employee strengths,
rewards more than punishes and emphasizes individual vitality and growth
Building on Employee Strengths: knowing what individual employee strengths are
Rewarding more often than punishing: giving appropriate compliments, and punishing bad
habits/deeds
Emphasizing vitality and growth: emphasizing organizational effectiveness and individual
growth
Limits of positive culture: risks of having a culture that is too positive (lack of focus,
profitability)
Chapter 11
Are Manager and Leaders the Same?
Managers promote stability while leader press for change and only organizations that
embrace both sides of the contradiction can survive in turbulent times
Leadership as Supervision
There are three general types of theories that emerged
1. Trait theories: propose leaders have a particular set of traits that make them different from
non-leaders
2. Behavioural theories: propose that particular behaviours make for better leaders
3. Contingency theories: proposes the situation has an effect on leaders
Trait Theories: Are Leaders Different from Others:
Trait theories of leadership: theories that propose traits (personality, social, physical, or
intellectual) differentiate leaders from non-leaders
Recent studies have shown that emotional intelligence may also have an effect on
leadership
Behavioural Theories: Do Leaders Behave in Particular Ways?
Behavioural theories of leadership: theories that propose that specific behaviours
differentiate leaders from non-leaders
Ohio State Studies:
Initiating structure: extend to which a leader is likely to define and structure his/her role
and the roles of employees in order to attain goals
Consideration: extend to which a leader is likely to have job relationships characterized by
mutual trust, respect for employees' ideas, and regard for their feelings
The Michigan Studies:
Employee-oriented leaders: a leader who emphasizes interpersonal relations
Production oriented leaders: a leader who emphasizes the technical or task aspects of the
job
The Leadership Grid:
A two dimensional grid outlining 81 different leadership styles
Contingency Theories: Does the Situation Matter?
Situational or contingency theories: theories that propose leadership effectiveness is
dependent on the situation
Fiedler Contingency Model:
A leadership theory that proposes effective group performance depends on the proper
match between the leader's style of interacting with his/her followers and the degree to
which the situation gives the leader control and influence

o
o
o
Leader-member relations: degree of confidence, trust, and respect members have for
their leaders
Task structure: degree to which job assignments are procedurized
Structured or unstructured
Position power: degree of influence a leader has over power-based activities
Hiring, firing, discipline, promotions, and salary increases
Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory:

A leadership theory that focuses on the readiness of followers
o Based on follower readiness, and relationship behaviour
Able and willing Delegating
Able and unwilling/apprehensive Participating
Unable and willing Selling
Unable and unwilling/insecure Telling
Path-Goal Theory:
A leadership theory that says it's the leader's job to assist followers in attaining their goals
and to provide the necessary direction and/or support to ensure that their goals are
compatible with the overall objectives of the group or organization
o Determine the outcome subordinates want
o Reward individuals with their desired outcomes when they perform well
o Let individuals know what they need to do to receive rewards
The theory identifies four leadership behaviours
o Directive leader lets followers know what is expected of them
o Supportive leader is friendly and shows concern for the needs of followers
o Participative leader consults with followers and uses their suggestions before making
a decision
o Achievement-oriented leader sets challenging goals and expects followers to perform
at their highest level
Substitutes for Leadership:
If employees have proper experience, training, or professional orientation
o Or if employees are indifferent to organizational rewards, the effect of leadership can
be replaced or neutralized
Inspirational Leadership
Framing: a way of using language to manage meaning
Charismatic Leadership:
Charismatic leadership theory: a leadership theory that states that followers make
attributions of heroic or extraordinary leadership abilities when they observe certain
behaviours
Vision: a long-term strategy for attaining a goal or goals
Vision statement: formal articulation of an organization's vision or mission
Level 5 leaders: leaders who are fiercely ambitious and driven, but their ambition is
directed toward their company rather than themselves
Transformational Leadership:
Transactional leaders: leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of
establish goals by clarifying role and task requirement
Transformational leaders: leaders who inspire followers to transcend their own self-interest
and who are capable of having profound and extraordinary effect on followers
Mentoring:
A senior employee who sponsors and supports a less experienced employee
Self-Leadership (or Self-Management):
There are several approaches that can be used to help leaders create self-leaders
o Model self-leadership: practise self-observation, setting challenging goals, selfdirection, and self-reinforcement
o Encourage employees to create self-set goals
o Encourage the use of self-rewards to strengthen and increase desirable behaviours
o Create positive thought patterns
o Create a climate of self-leadership
o Encourage self-criticism
Team Leadership:
There are four specific roles that team leaders play
o Liaisons with external constituencies
o Troubleshoots
o Conflict managers
o Coaches
Online Leadership:
The structure of words in a digital communication has the power to motivate or demotivate
the receiver
Online leaders face the difficulty of developing and maintaining trust
o Online negotiations are affected because there is a lack of trust between parties
Leading Without Authority:
There are three benefits of leading without authority
o Latitude of creative deviance: easier to raise harder questions and look for less
traditional solutions
o Issue of focus: individuals can focus on a single issue, rather than several
o Front-line information: individual is closer to the detailed experiences of some of the
stakeholders
Contemporary Issues in Leadership
Authentic Leadership:
Leaders who know who they are, know what they believe in and value, and act on these
values and beliefs openly and candidly

o
Their followers could consider them to be ethical people
Moral Leadership:
Socialized charismatic leadership: a leadership concept that states that leaders convey
values that are other-centred vs. self-centred and who role model ethical conduct
o Truth telling
o Promise keeping
o Fairness
o Respect
Chapter 12
How Should Decisions Be Made?
Decision: the choice made from two or more alternatives
The Rational Decision-Making Process:
Rational: refers to choices that are consistent and value-maximizing within specific
constraints
Rational Decision Making Model: a six-step decision making model that describes how
individuals should behave in order to maximize some outcome
1. Define the problem
2. Identify the criteria
3. Allocate weights to the criteria
4. Develop alternatives
5. Evaluate the alternatives
6. Select the best alternative
Assumptions of the Model:
Problem clarity: the problem is clear and unambiguous
Known options: assumed the decision maker can identify all the relevant criteria and can
list alternatives
Clear preferences: rationality assumes the criteria and alternatives can be ranked and
weighted
Constant preferences: assumed that specific decision criteria are constant and the weights
are constant
No time or cost constraints: decision maker can obtain full info about criteria and
alternatives
Maximum payoff: decision maker will choose the alternative that yields the highest
perceived value
How Do Individuals Actually Make Decisions?
Bounded Rationality in Considering Alternatives:
Bounded rationality: limitations on a person's ability to interpret, process, an act on
information
Satisfice: to provide a solution that is both satisfactory and sufficient
Intuition:
Intuitive decision making: a subconscious process created out of a person's many
experiences
Judgment Shortcuts:
Overconfidence bias: error in judgment that arises from being far too optimistic about one's
own performance
Anchoring bias: a tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to
adequately adjust for subsequent information
Confirmation bias: tendency to seek out information that reaffirms past choices and to
discount information that contradicts past judgments
Availability bias: tendency for people to base their judgments on information that is readily
available to them rather than complete data
Escalation of commitment: an increased commitment to a previous decision despite
negative information
Randomness error: tendency of individuals to believe that they can predict the outcome of
random events
Winner's curse: tendency for the winning participants in an auction to pay too much for the
item won
Hindsight bias: tendency to believe falsely, after an outcome of an event is actually known
that one could have accurately predicted that outcome
Improving Decision Making Through Knowledge Management
Knowledge management: process of organizing and distributing an organization's
collective wisdom so that the right information gets to the right people at the right time
o Organization that can quickly and efficiently tap into their employees' collective
experience and wisdom are more likely to outsmart the competition
Group Decision Making
Groupthink and Groupshift:
Groupthink: phenomenon in which group pressures for conformity prevent the group from
critically appraising unusual, minority or unpopular views
Groupshift: phenomenon in which the initial positions of individual group members
became exaggerated because of the interactions of the group
Group Decision-Making Techniques:
Interacting groups: typical groups, where members interact with each other face to face
Brainstorming: an idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all
alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those alternatives
Nominal group technique: a group decision-making method in which individual members
meet face to face too pool their judgments in a systematic but independent fashion
Electronic meetings: a meeting where members interact on computers, allowing for
anonymity of comments and aggregation of votes

Creativity in Organizational Decision Making
Creativity: ability to produce novel and useful ideas
Three-Component Model of Creativity:
The proposition that individual creativity requires expertise, creative-thinking skills, and
intrinsic task motivation
Organizational Factors That Affect Creativity:
Expected evaluation: focusing on how your work is going to be evaluated
Surveillance: being watched while you are working
External motivators: focusing on external, tangible rewards
Competition: facing win-lose situations with peers
Constrained choice: being given limits on how you can do your work
What About Ethics in Decision Making?
Ethics: study of moral values or principles that guide our behaviour and inform us whether
actions are right or wrong
Four Ethical Decision Criteria:
Unitarianism: a decision focused on outcomes or consequences that emphasizes the greatest
good for the greatest number
Whistle-blowers: individuals who report unethical practices by their employer to outsiders
Justice: individuals to impose and enforce rules fairly and impartially so there is an
equitable distribution of benefits and costs
Care: the morally correct action is the one that expresses care in protecting the special
relationships that individuals have with each other
Factors That Individuals Ethical Decision-Making Behaviour:
Stages of moral development: the development stages that explain a person's capacity to
judge what is morally right
Locus of control: if a person believes their lives are controlled by outside forces (external)
or by themselves (internal)
Organizational environment: an employee's perception of organizational expectations
Making Ethical Decisions:
Is the decision motivated by self-serving interests?
Does the decision respect the rights of individuals affected?
Is the decision fair and equitable?
Chapter 13
What Is Organizational Structure?
How job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated
There are usually flat and pyramidal organizational structures

Work Specialization:
The degree to which tasks in the organization are subdivided into separate jobs (division of
labour)
o Jobs are broken down into steps and a person specializes in one of the steps
o Increases efficiency and productivity, and encourages special inventions/innovations
o Can lead to boredom, fatigue, stress, poor quality, high turnover
Individual Responses to Work Specialization:
Generally contributes to higher employee productivity but lower job satisfaction
There diminishing marginal returns that is associated with specializing for too long in one
task
Departmentalization:
Basis on which jobs are grouped together
o Departments protect their own and do not interact with other departments
o This can lead to a narrow vision with respect to organizational goals
Functional Departmentalization:
Activities are most often grouped by the types of functions that are performed
Increased efficiency from grouping people of the same common skills together into one
unit
Product Departmentalization:
Tasks can also be departmentalized by the type of product the organization produces
o Creates an increased accountability for product performance
o All activities are related to a specific product line are under the direction of one
manager
Geographic Departmentalization:
Departmentalization can also be bases on geographic location or territory
o Can be divided regionally (B.C., Ontario, Atlantic Canada, West, etc.)
o Best when customers are in one geographic location with similar needs or wants
Process Departmentalization:
Companies organize departments based on the processing that occurs
o Ex. Finishing, inspecting, packaging, shipping, etc.
o Can be used for processing customers, as well as products
Customer Departmentalization:
Departmentalization can be categorized on the basis of particular types of customers (target
markets)
o Specific departments can provide specialized services to different customers
Service retail, wholesale, customer service, technical support
o Customer needs can be best met through specialized departments
Organizational Variety in Departmentalization:
Large organizations change their departmentalization to reflect new needs or emphases

o Many organizations have a greater emphasis to customer departmentalization
o Rigid/functional departmentalization is being increasingly complemented by teams
that cross over traditional departmental lines
As tasks have become more complex and more diverse skills are needed to complete the
tasks, managers turn to cross-functional teams
o One step further is turning departments into separate divisions that are separate profit
centres
o Each division sets it own strategic goals and plans to accomplish them
Chain of Command:
The continuous line of authority that extends from upper organizational levels to the lowest
level and clarifies who reports to whom
o Tells employees who to go to if they have a problem and who they report to
Delegation: assignment of authority to another person to carry out specific duties, allowing
the employee to make some of the decisions
o Employees can become empowered to make decisions that were previously for
managers
Self-managed and cross-functional teams have decreased the relevance of chain-ofcommand
Span of Control:
The number of employees that report to a manager
Determined by the number of employees a manager can efficiently and effectively direct
o The wider of larger the span the more efficient the organization
At some point managers manage too many employees and it becomes less
efficient
Employee performance suffers as managers have limited time to support
individuals
Narrow spans are more expensive, they make communication complex, and are sometimes
overly tight for supervision and lack employee autonomy
Individual Responses to Span of Control:
There is no research to show that there is a best type of span of control
o Each employee is different and will prefer different things compared to the next
employee
Centralization and Decentralization:
Centralization: degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in the
organization
o Top managers or executives make decisions without input from lower-level
employees
Decentralization: degree to which decision making is distributed to lower-level employees
o Action can be taken more quickly to solve problems
o More people provide input for decisions, and are closer to the management levels

Individual Responses to Centralization:
Decision making is positively related to job satisfaction
o Decentralization is strongest with employees who have low self-esteem
Employees are not held solely responsible for decision outcomes
Formalization:
The degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized
o Highly formalized jobs have explicit job descriptions and lots of organization rules
o Clearly defined procedures covering work processes in the organization
Low formalization means employees have freedom to exercise discretion in their work
o The greater the standardization, the less input the employee has into their own work
o Standardization eliminates the possibility of employees engaging in alternative
behaviours
Mechanistic and Organic Organizations:
Mechanistic model: structure characterized by high specialization, rigid
departmentalization, a clear chain of command, narrow spans of control, a limited
information network, and centralization
o Includes little participation by lower-level members in decision making processes
o Adopted by government bureaucracies
Organic model: structure that is flat, uses cross-functional and cross-hierarchical teams,
possesses a comprehensive information network, has wide spans of control and low
formalization
o Involves high level of participation in decision making processes
o Adopted by high-tech firms, individuals collaborating with each other, dynamic
firms, etc.
Individual Responses to Organizational Structure:
Organization with high levels of bureaucratic orientation have heavy reliance on higher
authority
o Prefer formalized and specific rules, and formal relationships with others on the job
Organizations with a low degree of bureaucratic orientation fit better with organic models
Cultural differences along with individual differences need to be considered
o Included employee performance and satisfaction with each different model
Traditional Organizational Designs
Simple Structure:
Organizational design characterized by a low degree of departmentalization, wide spans of
control, authority centralized in a single person, and little formalization
o Flat organizational structure with usually only two or three vertical levels
o Best fit for small organizations, as the manager is often the owner and can handle
everything
The Family Business:
Represent 70% of Canadian employment and 30% of Canada's GDP

o
o
Governance can help family businesses manage conflicts that may arise
A sense of direction, values to work/live by and understood policies for employees
The Bureaucracy:
An organizational design with highly routine operating tasks achieved through
specialization, formalized rules and regulations, tasks that are grouped into functional
departments, centralized authority, narrow spans of control and decision making that
follows the chain of command
Strengths of Bureaucracy:
Ability to perform standardized activities in a highly efficient manner
o Put together similar specialities in functional departments results in economies of
scale, minimum duplication of staff/equipment and employees who talk with their
peers
An effective structure for ensuring consistent application of policies and practices and
accountability
Weaknesses of Bureaucracy:
Can create subunit conflict, as units begin to compete with each other instead of working
together
Can lead to power being concentrated in just the hands of a few people
The Matrix Structure:
An organizational design that combines functional and product departmentalization
o It has a dual chain of command
o Advertising agencies, research and development, construction, hospitals,
governments, etc.
Employees would have two bosses (function and product managers)
Matrix structures reduce the bureaucratic downfalls such as competition between
departments/divisions
Matrix structures may also create confusion and power struggles and place stress on
employees
o Unclear of who to report to, confusion, ambiguity, role conflict, unclear expectations,
etc.
New Design Options
The Team Structure:
The use of teams as the central device to coordinate work activities
o Breaks down departmental barriers and decentralizes decision making to the level of
the work team
Modular Organization:
A small core organization that outsources major business functions
o Outsources many functions and concentrates on what is does best
Managers in modular organizations spend some time coordinating and controlling external
relations
o Can respond more quickly to environmental changes
o Increased focus on customers and markets
o Devote their technical and managerial talents to their most critical activities
Management may lose partial control of the key parts of the business
o Organizations may be forced to rely on outsiders, this decreases operational control
The Virtual Organization:

A continually evolving network of independent companies linked together to share skills,
costs, and access to one another's markets
o Units of different firms join together in an alliance to pursue common strategic
objectives
o Give up some control and act more independently
Allow organizations to share costs and skills, provide access to global markets and increase
responses
The Boundaryless Organization:
An organization that seeks to eliminate the chain of command, have limitless span of
control, and replace departments with empowered teams
o Relies heavily on information technology (technology-based organization)
o Flatten the hierarchy, create cross-hierarchal teams and use participative decisionmaking
o Also breaks down barriers from external constituencies and geographical
displacement
What Major Forces Shape and Organization's Structure?
Strategy:
A means to help management achieve its objectives
o Structure of an organization should support the strategy
Innovation Strategy:
Strategy that emphasizes the introduction of major new products and services
o Meaningful and unique innovations
Cost-Minimization Strategy:
Strategy that emphasizes tight cost controls, avoidance of unnecessary innovation or
marketing expenses, and price cutting
Imitation Strategy
Strategy of moving into new products or new markets only after their viability has already
been proven
o Seek to minimize risk and maximize opportunity for profit
o Move into new products that have already been proven by innovators
Imitators use a mechanistic structure to maintain tight controls and low costs, and create
organic subunits to pursue new undertakings
Organizational Size:
Size of an organization greatly affects its structure
Large organizations tend to have more specialization, departmentalization, vertical levels
and rules
o Impact of size becomes less important as an organization expands
Technology:
The way in which an organization transfers its inputs into outputs
Organizational structures adapt to their technology
Variations in Technology:
Degree to routineness: technologies tend toward either routine or non-routine activities
o Routine: automated, standardized operations, assembly line, etc.
o Non-routine: customized, furniture restoring, custom shoe making, etc.
The Relationship Between Technology and Structure:
Routine tasks are associated with taller and more departmentalized structures
Routineness is associated with job descriptions and other formalized documentation
Technology centralization is moderated by the degree of formalization
o Formal/central decision making are control mechanisms
o Routine technology can lead to centralization, only if formalization is low
Environment:
Those institutions or forces outside the organization that potentially affect the
organization's performance
o Suppliers, customers, competitors, regulators, public groups, etc.
The uncertainty of the organizations environment will affects it's structure
Capacity:
Degree to which an organization can support growth
Growing environments can generate excess resources for times of relative scarcity
o Leaves room for an organization to make mistakes, while scare capacity does not
Volatility:
Degree of instability in an environment
o High degree of unpredictable change, and the environment is dynamic
o Difficult for managers to predict accurately the probabilities of decision alternatives
Complexity:
Degree of heterogeneity and concentration among environmental elements
o Organizations with high complexity usually operate with greater unpredictability
o Little room for error, a diverse set of elements in the environment to monitor
constantly
Chapter 14
What Causes Change?
The changing nature of the workforce
o Human resource policies and practices have to change to reflect the needs of an aging
labour force
Technology is changing jobs and organizations
Economic shocks have continued to impose changes on organizations
Competition is changing with globalization and better transportation
Social trends don't remain static, and continually change with time
Change Agents:
People who act as catalysts and assume the responsibility for managing change activities
Approaches to Managing Change
Lewin's Three-Step Model:
Unfreezing: change efforts to overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and
group conformity
Moving: efforts to get employees involved in change process
Refreezing: stabilizing a change intervention by balancing driving and restraining forces
Driving forces: forces that direct behaviour away from the status quo
Restraining forces: forces that hinder movement away from the status quo
Kotter's Eight-Step Plan for Implementing Change:
1. Establish a sense of urgency by creating a compelling reason for why change is needed
2. Form a coalition with enough power to lead the change
3. Create a new vision to direct the change and strategies for achieving the vision
4. Communicate the vision throughout the organization
5. Empower others to act on the vision by removing barriers to change and encouraging risktaking and creative problem-solving
6. Plan for, create, and reward short-term wins that move the organization toward the new
vision
7. Consolidate improvements, reassess changes, and make necessary adjustments in the new
programs
8. Reinforce the changes by demonstrating the relationship between new behaviours and
organizational success
Action Research:
A change process based on the systematic collection of data and then selection of a change
action based on what the analyzed data indicate
o Two step process, first diagnosis followed by analysis and feedback
Appreciative Inquiry:
An approach to change that seeks to identify the unique qualities and special strengths of an
organization, which can then be built on to improve performance

o
o
o
o
Discovery: to find out what people think are the strengths of the organization
Dreaming: information from the discovery phase is used to speculate on possible
futures for the organization
Design: participants focus on finding a common vision of how the organization will
look, and agree on its unique qualities
Destiny: participants discuss how the organization is going to fulfill its dream
Resistance to Change
Individual Resistance:
Self-interest: people worry that they will lose something of value if change happens
o People look after their own self-interest rather than those of the organization
Misunderstanding and lack of trust: people resist change when they dont understand the
nature of the change and fear that the cost of change will outweigh any potential gains for
them
Different assessments: people resist change when they see it differently than their managers
do and think the costs outweigh the benefits, even for the organization
Low tolerance for change: people resist change because they worry that they do not have
the skills and behaviour required of the new situation
o May feel they are being asked to do too much, too quickly
Cynicism:
Employees often feel cynical about the change process
o Feeling uninformed about what was happening
o Lack of communication and respect about one's manager
o Lack of communication and respect from one's union representative
o Lack of opportunity for meaningful participation in decision making
Organizational Resistance:
Structural inertia: organizations have built in mechanisms to produce stability
Limited focus of change organizations are made up of a number of independent subsystems
Group inertia: even if individuals want to change their behaviour, group norms may act as a
constraints
Threat to expertise: changes in organizational patterns may threaten the expertise of
specialized groups
Threat to establish resource allocation: groups in the organization that control sizable
resources often see change as a threat
Overcoming Resistance to Change
Education and communication
Participant and involvement
Building support and commitment
Implementing changes fairly
Manipulating and co-optation
Selecting people who accept change
Explicit and implicit coercion
The Politics of Change:

First-order change: change that is incremental and straightforward
Second-order change; change that is multidimensional, multilevel, discontinuous, and
radical
Contemporary Change Issues for Today's Managers
Stimulating Innovation:
Innovation: a new idea applied to initiating or improving a product, process, or service
Source of innovation
o Organic structures positively influence innovation
o Long tenure in management is associated with innovation
o Innovation is nurtured when there are slack resources
o Inter-unit communication is high in innovative organizations
Idea champions: individuals who actively and enthusiastically promote an idea, build
support for it, overcome resistance to it, and ensure that the idea is implemented
Creating a Learning Organization:
Learning organization: an organization that has developed the continuous capacity to adapt
to change
Single-loop learning: a process of correcting errors using past routines and past policies
Double-loop learning: a process of correcting errors by modifying the organization's
objectives, policies, and standard routines

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COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Final Exam Review: Chapters 1-14

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Dimensions such as personality, perception, values, and attitudes

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Working with Others:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Developing Effective Employees:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Managing and Working in a Multicultural World:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Study the system in which individuals fill their roles

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Evidence-based management (EBM): basking managerial decisions on the best scientific

OB Has Few Absolutes:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Fundamental attribution error: when we judge the behaviour of others, we tend to

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Personality traits: enduring characteristics that describe an individual's behaviour

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Specific personality traits have been found to be power predictors of behaviour in

Core Self- Evaluation:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Impatient, hurriedness , competitiveness and hostility (more stress, quantity over

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

The entire workplace can be affected by positive/negative emotions

Emotional Intelligence (EI):

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Emotions in the Workplace in a Global Context:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Hodgson's General Moral Principles:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Broad generalizations, there are individual differences

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Some managers are unconcerned or overestimate job satisfaction

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

All effective goals must include the acronym SMART

Research Findings: The Effect of Goal Setting

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Self-efficacy may only be present in smart, confident people (may be

Responses to the Reward System

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Fair Process and Treatment:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Increasing Intrinsic Motivation:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Putting It All Together:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

Flexible Benefits: Developing a Benefits Package

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

The more employees experience meaningfulness, responsibility, and knowledge, the

Motivating Potential Score:

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review

COMM 292: Organizational Behaviour - Final Exam Review