Define the term organizational behavior, and contrast McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y assumptions about employees. Organizational behavior (OB) is an interdisciplinary field dedicated to better understanding and managing people at work. It is both research and application oriented. Theory X employees, according to traditional thinking, dislike work, require close supervision, and are primarily interested in security. According to the modern Theory Y view, employees are capable of self-direction, of seeking responsibility, and of being creative.
Identify the four principles of total quality management (TQM). (a) Do it right the first time to eliminate costly rework. (b) Listen to and learn from customers and employees. (c) Make continuous improvement an everyday matter. (d) Build teamwork, trust, and mutual respect.
Define the term e-business, and specify at least three OB-related issues raised by e-leadership. E-business involves using the Internet to more effectively and efficiently manage every aspect of a business. Six OB-related issues raised by the advent of e-leadership are (a) greater access to information for everyone, (b) leadership is migrating to lower levels and outside the organization, (c) development of nontraditional leadership networks, (d) followers have more information earlier in the decision-making process, (e) greater influence for unethical leaders with limited resources, and (f) more contact between senior leaders and their followers.
Contrast human and social capital, and explain why we need to build both. The first involves individual characteristics, the second involves social relationships. Human capital is the productive potential of an individual's knowledge and actions. Dimensions include such things as intelligence, visions, skills, self-esteem, creativity, motivation, ethics, and emotional maturity. Social capital is productive potential resulting from strong relationships, goodwill, trust, and cooperative effort. Dimensions include such things as shared visions and goals, trust, mutual respect, friendships, empowerment, teamwork, win-win negotiations, and volunteering. Social capital is necessary to tap individual human capital for the good of the organization through knowledge sharing and networking.
Define the term management, and identify at least five of the eleven managerial skills in Wilson's profile of effective managers. Management is the process of working with and through others to achieve organizational objectives in an efficient and ethical manner. According to the Wilson skills profile, an effective manager (a) clarifies goals and objectives, (b) encourages participation, (c) plans and organizes, (d) has technical and administrative expertise, (e) facilitates work through team building and coaching, (f) provides feedback, (g) keeps things moving, (h) controls details, (i) applies reasonable pressure for goals accomplishment, (j) empowers and delegates, and (k) recognizes and rewards good performance.
Characterize 21st-century managers. They will be team players who will get things done cooperatively by relying on joint decision making, their knowledge instead of formal authority, and their multicultural skills. They will engage in life-long learning and be compensated on the basis of their skills and results. They will facilitate rather than resist change, share rather than hoard power and key information, and be multidirectional communicators. Ethics will be a forethought instead of an afterthought. They will be generalists with multiple specialties.
Describe Carroll's global corporate social responsibility pyramid, and give an overview of the model of individual ethical behavior . From bottom to top, the four levels of corporate responsibility in Carroll's pyramid are: economic (make a profit); legal (obey the law); ethical (be ethical in its practices); and philanthropic (be a good corporate citizen). Progress needs to be made on all levels. An Individual's ethical behavior is the product of interaction among the individual (personality, values, moral principles, history of reinforcement, and possibly gender), his or her role expectations as shaped by internal influences (e.g., ethical codes and organizational culture and strategy) and external influences (e.g., laws and national culture), and neutralizing/enhancing factors (e.g., age, length of service, military service, and diversity among the top management team).
Identify four of the seven general ethical principles, and explain how to improve an organization's ethical climate. The "magnificent seven" moral principles are (a) dignity of human life, (b) autonomy, (c) honesty, (d) loyalty, (e) fairness, (f) humaneness (by doing good and avoiding evil), and (g) the common good (accomplishing the greatest good for the greatest number of people). An organization's ethical climate can be improved by managers being good role models, carefully screening job applicants, creating and firmly enforcing a code of ethics mentioning specific practices, providing ethics training, rewarding ethical behavior, creating ethics-related positions and structures, and reducing the need for whistle-blowing (reporting unethical conduct to outside third parties) through open and honest debate.
Describe the sources of organizational behavior research evidence. Five sources of OB research evidence are meta-analyses (statistically pooled evidence from several studies), field studies (evidence from real-life situations), laboratory studies (evidence from contrived situations), sample surveys (questionnaire data), and case studies (observation of a single person, group, or organization).
