102. What were the early influences on the study of organizational behavior.

Answer - One of the first influences was scientific management. The earliest work came from efficiency experts seeking to improve worker productivity. Frederick W. Taylor, who worked primarily in steel mills, developed the scientific method. The objective of management is “to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity of each employee.” Frank and Lillian Gilbreth built on Taylor’s ideas and developed time-and-motion studies which classified and streamlined work. The human relations movement built on the work of Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Studies. Scientific management made people feel like cogs in a machine. This new emphasis respecting the individual emerged and at its forefront was Elton Mayo. Human relations rejected the economic perspective of work and focused on social factors. The Hawthorne studies began in 1927 at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works near Chicago. A third school, classical organizational theory grew up emphasizing efficient overall structure. Henri Fayol developed a number of management principles.   Max Weber developed the idea of the ideal bureaucracy, where consistency and fairness were the key factors.

103. Discuss organizational behavior’s development in the modern era, noting key current trends.

Answer - OB emerged as a field in the 1940s with the first doctorate awarded in 1941. OB was established as a field of study by the late 1950s, early 1960s. Gordon and Howell reported on business education in 1959 and recommended, among other things, increased attention to the social sciences. OB has grown rapidly, borrowing from other business disciplines.  Specifically, three prominent trends: 1) the rise of global businesses with culturally diverse workforces, 2)rapid advances in technology, and 3) the rising expectations of people in general.

106. What is the underlying philosophy of work and people to scientific management?

Answer - The basic philosophy is there is one best way to do something. The objective of management is “to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity of each employee.” Taylor’s scientific management focused on employees as individuals through careful selection and training and increasing wages to motivate workers.

107. Why were researchers confused over their initial findings in the Hawthorne Studies? What conclusions did they ultimately come to?

Answer - The Hawthorne studies began in 1927 at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works near Chicago. Starting with scientific management, they tried to discover ways to improve employee performance. Puzzling results caused them to call in Elton Mayo to repeat the studies. Mayo discovered the concept of social systems and argued that social factors, not physical factors, are most important in improving productivity. While the studies weren’t perfect, they opened the door to considering the importance of human needs, attitudes, and motives in regards to worker motivation and productivity.

108. What are the major characteristics of classical organizational theory as proposed by Fayol?

Answer - Henri Fayol developed a number of management principles, including; division of labor, managerial authority over workers, scalar chain of authority, unity of command, and subordinate initiative.

97. Identify and explain the sources of work-related stress.

Answer - Work settings often are highly stressful envi­ronments. 1) Occupational demands--some jobs, such as firefighters, senior executive, surgeon, expose workers to high levels of stress. 2) Conflict between work and nonwork--competing demands--the constant juggling of work and family responsibilities, which in turn exposes those involved to another widely recognized cause of stress: role conflict, or the incompatibility between the expectations of parties or the aspects of a single role. 3) Role ambiguity--occurs when individuals experience uncertainty about what actions they should take to meet the requirements of a job. 4) Overload and underload--overload, can take two different forms. Quantitative overload occurs when individuals are asked to do more work than they can complete in a specific period of time. In contrast, qualitative overload refers to employees' beliefs that they lack the required skills or abilities to per­form a given job. Being asked to do too little can be stressful. Here again, there are two types of underload. Quantitative underload refers to the boredom that results from having too little to do. Qualitative underload refers to the lack of mental stimulation that accompanies many routine, repetitive jobs. 5) Lack of social support--managers often feel alone, especially when making undesirable decisions. 6) Sexual harassment--is far from rare in today's workplace. Indeed, in one recent poll, fully 31 percent of employed women indicated they had encountered such harassment at least once. In contrast, only 7 percent of male respondents to the same survey indicated they had been the victim of such actions. 7) Responsibility for others-- people who are responsible for others--people who must motivate them, reward or punish them, and communi­cate with them--experience higher levels of stress and the physical symptoms ac­companying it (e.g., hypertension) than those who handle other organizational areas.

102. Discuss Herzberg’s two-factor theory of job satisfaction.

Answer - Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory was built out of research using Critical Incident Technique. The two factors are hygiene and motivator factors. Hygiene (maintenance) factors are associated with job dissatisfaction: quality of supervision, pay, company, policies, physical working conditions, relations with others, job security. Motivators are associated with job satisfaction:  promotion opportunities, opportunities for personal growth, recognition, responsibility, achievement. It is important to see that most managers spend the majority of their time dealing with hygiene factors rather than motivators.

103. Name the three ways to measure job satisfaction and how each is used.

Answer - 1) Rating scales and questionnaires are the most common way. They are quick and efficient but the data is only as good as the questionnaires. The Job Description, Index, Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire are three of the most common. 2) Critical incident technique has individuals describe, orally or in writing, events relating to their job that were either especially satisfying or dissatisfying. 3) Interviews and confrontation meetings are actually two different techniques that the text groups. Interviews have the advantage of immediate follow-up and explanation of any questions that aren’t clear. Confrontation meetings permit the dealing with important and or sensitive issues directly.

105. What are the basic dimensions of organizational commitment?

Answer - Organizational commitment is the extent to which an individual identifies and is involved with his/her organization and/or is unwilling to leave it. Employees may be committed to their co-workers, subordinates, supervisors, customers, union, or top management. These commitments break into two groups: one’s immediate work group and supervisor and to top management and the organization as a whole. There are four commitment profiles to these groups. Uncommitted - low commitment to both groups. Committed - high commitment to both groups. Locally committed - high commitment to immediate work group and supervisor. Globally committed - high commitment to top management and/or the organization. There are two approaches to understanding the bases or motives for commitment. Side-bets orientation focuses on accumulated investments individuals will lose if they leave. Goal-congruence orientation focuses on the extent to which people identifying with an organization have personal goals that are in keeping with those of the organization. Recent research points to three bases of organizational commitment. 1) Continuance - related to side-bets. Refers to strength of people’s tendency to continue to work for an organization because they can’t afford not to.  2) Affective - related to goal-congruence. Refers to strength of people’s tendency to continue to work for an organization because they agree with it. 3) Normative - related to the obligations one feels, the pressures from others to stay.

107. What are the two main types of diversity training that a company can offer its employees?

Answer - Diversity management programs are efforts to celebrate diversity by creating supportive working environments. Diversity training programs are positive efforts to enhance the working environment. There are two main types of diversity training: awareness, designed to raise people’s awareness of diversity issues in the workplace and skills, designed to develop people’s skills with respect to managing diversity.

102. Explain Maslow’s needs hierarchy, identifying and explaining the needs in proper order, and offering a critique of his theory.

Answer - Maslow’s hierarchy has five sequential levels. Needs are met at the lowest level first, progressing to the highest level. The first three needs are deficiency needs, people need these things because they are lacking them. Physiological needs are the most basic needs--fundamental biological drives. Safety needs relate to the need for a secure environment, safe from threats of physical or psychological harm. Social needs are belonging, or affiliation needs, to have friends, be loved, etc. The last two needs are growth needs. People need or want these in order to develop more fully. Esteem needs relate to self-respect and the need for approval by others. Self-actualization needs are the highest level of need and refer to self-fulfillment, development to the fullest of one’s potential. Research support the two broad categories, deficiency and growth needs but little else. Higher order needs are often not satisfied on the job. Needs are necessarily sequential and the specific five needs are supported as research doesn’t show only five basic needs categories.

105. Discuss equity theory and how managers may use it to motivate employee performance.

Answer - This is an individual-based theory that adds a social component-- the social comparisons people make, comparing themselves to others. Adams' Equity Theory proposes that people focus on two variables, outcomes and inputs. Outcomes - what people get out of their jobs; pay, fringe benefits, prestige, etc. Inputs - the contributions that people make to their jobs; time worked, effort expended, units produced, and qualifications brought. Based on these variables, individuals compare themselves to others, checking for equity. They see one of three states; overpayment inequity, underpayment inequity, or equitable payment. Managers can try a number of techniques for using it to motivate employees. 1) Avoid underpayment. A classic example of this is the two-tier wage system. 2) Avoid overpayment. The benefits are temporary. People begin to think they deserve it. Other employees resent it. 3) Present information about outcomes and inputs thoroughly and with social sensitivity.