Questions and Answers of Organizational Behavior Science

In the mid-1990s, the CEO of Apple Computer invited the late Steve Jobs (who was not associated with the company at the time) to serve as a special adviser and raise morale among Apple employees and
Consider a situation in which there is only one female member on a team of six people, and she is generally excluded from informal gatherings of the team. What kind of influence tactics can she use
Identify the organizational conditions and personal characteristics associated with organizational politics, as well as ways to minimize organizational politics.
Describe eight types of influence tactics, three consequences of influencing others, and three contingencies to consider when choosing an influence tactic.
Explain how people and work units gain power through social networks.
Describe the dependence model of power and the five sources of power in organizations.
Summarize effective communication strategies in organizational hierarchies, and review the role and relevance of the organizational grapevine.
Explain how to get your message across more effectively, and summarize the elements of active listening.
Discuss various barriers (noise) to effective communication, including cross-cultural and gender-based differences in communication.
Discuss the relevance of synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness when choosing the preferred communication channel.
Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of digital written communication channels, other verbal communication channels, and nonverbal communication.
Explain why communication is important in organizations, and discuss four influences on effective communication encoding and decoding.
Was your team composed mostly of people you have worked with previously in teams? If so, do you think the discussion was more effective or less effective than when making decisions with people who
While the team was determining the collective ranking of items, did specific team members take on specific roles, such as leading the discussion, encouraging opinions from quieter members, managing
What symptom(s) in this case suggest(s) that something has gone wrong?
The chief marketing officer of Sawgrass Widgets wants marketing and sales staff to identify new uses for its products. Which of the four team structures for creative decision making would you
You are responsible for convening a major event in which senior officials from several state governments will try to come to an agreement on environmental issues. It is well known that some officials
Suppose you are put in charge of a remote team whose members are located in different cities around the world. What tactics could you use to build and maintain team trust and performance, as well as
You have been assigned to a class project with five other students, none of whom you have met before, and some of whom come from different countries. To what extent would team cohesion improve your
A software engineer in the United States needs to coordinate with four team members in geographically dispersed areas of the world. What team challenges might the team experience, and how will they
You have just been transferred from the Kansas office to the Denver office of your company, a national sales organization of electrical products for developers and contractors. In Kansas, team
You have been put in charge of a cross-functional task force that will develop enhanced Internet banking services for retail customers. The team includes representatives from marketing, information
Identify four constraints on team decision making and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of four structures aimed at improving team decision making.
Discuss the characteristics and factors required for the success of selfdirected teams and remote teams.
Discuss how the four team processes—team development, norms, cohesion, and trust—influence team effectiveness.
Outline the team effectiveness model and discuss how task characteristics, team size, and team composition influence team effectiveness.
Discuss the benefits and limitations of teams, and explain why employees join informal groups.
What stage of decision making is mainly discussed in this case about dog surrenders? To what extent and in what ways did the change in that stage of decision making affect later stages of decision
Employee involvement applies just as well to the classroom as to the office or factory floor. Explain how student involvement in classroom decisions typically made by the instructor alone might
Two characteristics of creative people are that they have relevant experience and are persistent in their quest. Does this mean that people with the most experience and the highest need for
Think of a time when you experienced the creative process. Maybe you woke up with a brilliant (but usually sketchy and incomplete) idea, or you solved a baffling problem while doing something else.
A recent graduate is offered a job by an employer she admires even before she can start her job search. The student thinks it is an opportunity and jumps to it. Do you think there is an effect of
Ancient Book Company has a problem with new book projects. Even when others are aware that a book is far behind schedule and may engender little public interest, sponsoring editors are reluctant to
A developer received financial backing for a new business financial center along a derelict section of the waterfront, a few miles from the current downtown area of a large European city. The idea
Intuition is both an emotional experience and a nonconscious analytic process. One problem, however, is that not all emotions signaling that there is a problem or opportunity represent intuition.
You have been asked to personally recommend a new travel agency to handle all airfare, accommodation, and related travel needs for your organization of 500 staff. One of your colleagues, who is
A management consultant is hired by a manufacturing firm to determine the best site for its next production facility. The consultant has had several meetings with the company’s senior executives
Describe the benefits of employee involvement and identify four contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement
Describe employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity.
Discuss the roles of emotions and intuition in decision making.
Explain why people differ from rational choice decision making when identifying problems/opportunities, evaluating/choosing alternatives, and evaluating decision outcomes.
Describe the elements of rational choice decision making.
What symptom(s) in this case suggest(s) that something has gone wrong?
The city manager of a large city government wants to reduce supervisory costs by encouraging employees to motivate and manage themselves much of the time. The manager has heard of self-leadership,
Most of us have watched pizzas being made while waiting in a pizzeria. What level of job specialization do you usually notice in these operations? Why does this high or low level of specialization
Waco Tire Corporation redesigned its production facilities around a team-based system.However, the company president believes that employees will not be motivated unless they receive incentives based
As a consultant, you have been asked to recommend either a gainsharing plan or a profit-sharing plan for employees who work in the four regional distribution and warehousing facilities of a large
Describe the five elements of self-leadership and identify specific personal and work environment influences on self-leadership.
Define psychological empowerment and identify strategies that support empowerment.
Diagram the job characteristics model and describe three ways to improve employee motivation through job design.
List the advantages and disadvantages of job specialization.
Discuss the meaning of money and identify several individual-, team-, and organizational-level performance-based rewards.
You are an external consultant hired by a large organization to investigate possible causes of employee perceptions of procedural and interactional injustice regarding various management decisions
The opening case study for this chapter describes how many companies have shifted from traditional annual performance appraisals to frequent, constructive, and futurefocused development reviews.
Everyone who works as an electronic game developer has extrinsic sources of motivation, and most also experience some degree of intrinsic motivation. Considering the dynamics of extrinsic and
Four-drive theory recommends that companies must keep fulfillment of the four drives in balance. What is this “balance” and why is it important? Give an example (real or hypothetical) of how a
Explain how equity theory, procedural justice, and interactional justice influence employee motivation.
Outline organizational behavior modification (OB Mod) and social cognitive theory, and explain their relevance to employee motivation.
Maslow’s needs hierarchy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and learned needs theory.
Discuss the employee motivation implications of four-drive theory,
Explain how drives and emotions influence employee motivation.
Define employee motivation and engagement.
Two college graduates recently joined the same major newspaper as journalists. Both work long hours and have tight deadlines for completing their stories. They are under constant pressure to scout
In this chapter, we highlighted work-related stressors, including organizational constraints (e.g., lack of resources), interpersonal conflict (including harassment), work overload, and low task
It has almost become a mandatory practice for companies to ensure that employees have fun at work. Many workplaces now have fully stocked lounges, games rooms, funky painted walls, and regular social
Identify five ways to manage workplace stress.
Describe the stress experience and review four major stressors.
Summarize the consequences of job dissatisfaction, as well as strategies to increase organizational (affective) commitment.
Discuss the dynamics of emotional labor and the role of emotional intelligence in the workplace.
Explain how emotions and cognition (conscious reasoning) influence attitudes and behavior.
Did any topics or themes in the statements stand out (sports activity, talents, etc.)? If these statements are an important part of each person’s self-concept, why do these particular themes stand
What can we do to improve the accuracy of our perceptions of others, particularly in work settings?
Were you surprised that the owners of any statements were quite different from your expectations? Do you think this difference was an anomaly, or do you have an inaccurate perception of people who
What information was used to match each statement to students on the other team? Did you rely on any stereotypes or other preconceptions?For example, did some statements have a gendered
Almost everyone in a college or university business program has developed some degree of a global mindset. What events or activities in your life have helped nurture the global mindset you have
Self-awareness is increasingly recognized as an important ingredient for effective leadership. Suppose that you are responsible for creating a leadership development program in a government
Several years ago, senior executives at energy company CanOil wanted to acquire an exploration company (HBOG) that was owned by another energy company, AmOil.Rather than face a hostile takeover and
A high-performance company has launched a “total focus” initiative that requires all employees to give complete attention and dedication to the company’s growth and success. In an email to all
You are the manager of a district that has just hired several recent university and college graduates. Most of these people are starting their first full-time job, though most of them have held
Outline the main features of a global mindset and justify its usefulness to employees and organizations.
Discuss three ways to improve perceptions, with specific application to organizational situations.
Discuss how stereotyping, attribution, self-fulfilling prophecy, halo, false consensus, primacy, and recency effects influence the perceptual process.
Outline the perceptual process and discuss the effects of categorical thinking and mental models in that process.
Describe the self-concept characteristics and processes, and explain how each affects an individual’s behavior and well-being.
The CEO and two other executives at an automotive parts manufacturer were recently fired after being charged with fixing prices on several key automotive parts sold to the auto industry. Executives
This chapter discussed values congruence mostly in the context of an employee’s personal values versus the organization’s values. But values congruence also relates to the juxtaposition of other
As head of product development for mobile telephones, you are about to hire someone to assist in the human interface features of product design. The nature of this work calls for a creative, “break
Describe five values commonly studied across cultures.
Describe four ethical principles and discuss three factors that influence ethical behavior.
Summarize Schwartz’s model of individual values and discuss the conditions where values influence behavior.
Describe the dark triad of personality and the MBTI types and discuss their implications for organizational behavior.
Define personality and discuss how the Big Five personality factors relate to workplace behavior and performance.
What personal characteristics of leaders (supervisors to executives)make them better (or worse) equipped to support and lead people in an inclusive workplace? Why are those attributes important?
How can leaders (supervisors to executives) support and maintain workplace diversity? Provide specific examples from your experience in an organization that emphasizes and leverages (or undermines)
What challenges do organizations and their employees experience on their journey toward an inclusive workplace? Provide specific examples.
Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.
Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and performance.
Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment relationships.
Describe the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.
Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for organizations.

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