Organizational Behaviour: Improving Performance And Commitment In The Workplace, Second Canadian Edition Solution Manual

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-1Chapter 1What Is Organizational Behaviour?CHAPTER OVERVIEWOrganizational behaviour is a field of study devoted to understanding andexplaining the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups inorganizations. The two primary outcomes of organizational behaviour are jobperformance and organizational commitment. This chapter explores the factorsthat affect these outcomes, and shows how scientific studies provide evidencethat good organizational behaviour policies are linked to employee productivity,firm profitability, and even firm survival. This chapter also shows how we “knowwhat we know” about organizational behaviour by describing the scientificresearch process.LEARNING OUTCOMESAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:1.1What is the definition of “organizational behaviour” (OB)?1.2What are the two primary outcomes in studies of organizationalbehaviour?1.3What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?1.4Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?1.5What is the role of theory in the scientific method?1.6How are correlations interpreted?CHAPTER OUTLINEI.What Is Organizational Behaviour?Try This!:Open the very first class by asking them to picture their worstcoworker ever and to list the things that person did to earn “worst coworker”status. Then have them do the same with the best coworker ever, listing thethings that person did to earn “best coworker” status. Both of these listsshould be written on the board, a process that will result in a table similar toTable 1-1. Then get them to understand the importance of explaining why thetwo people act so differently. That process of explanation is what OB is allabout.

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-2A.Organizational Behaviour DefinedOrganizational behaviour is a field of study devoted to understanding,explaining, and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviours ofindividuals and groups in organizationsB.Role of Management TheoryOrganizational behaviour is a field of study that has an important historicalcontext, and has evolved from several historical movements and landmarkstudies – including Scientific Management and the Human RelationsmovementII.An Integrative Model of Organizational BehaviourA. Provides a roadmap for the field of organizational behaviour, and showshow different chapters in the text are relatedB. Individual Outcomes – These are the two primary goals of organizationalbehaviour1.Job performance (Chapter 2) – how well employees do on the job2.Organizational commitment (Chapter 3) – how likely employees are toremain with an organization. Employee retention is a huge issue formany Canadian firms.C. Individual Mechanisms - These directly affect job performance andorganizational commitment1.Job satisfaction (Chapter 4) – what employees feel about their work2.Stress (Chapter 5) – psychological responses to job demands that taxor exceed an employee’s capabilities3.Motivation (Chapter 6) – energetic forces that drive an employee’swork4.Trust, justice, and ethics (Chapter 7) – degree to which employees feelthat their company does business with fairness, honesty, and integrity5.Learning and decision making (Chapter 8) – how employees gain jobknowledge and use that knowledge to make decisionsD. Individual Characteristics and Group Mechanisms – These affectindividual mechanisms mentioned above1.Personality, cultural values, and abilities (Chapter 9) – describe variousindividual traits and characteristics that say what we are like and whatwe can do.

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-32.Teams, diversity, and communication (Chapter 10) – the qualities thatteams possess, including norms, roles, and the way team membersdepend on each other. Also how teams behave with regard tocommunication, cooperation, and conflict.3.Power, influence, and negotiation (Chapter 11) – the process by whichindividuals gain authority over other individuals4.Leader styles and behaviours (Chapter 12) – describes the specificactions leaders take to influence others at workE. Organizational Mechanisms – Also affect individual mechanisms, becausethey influence the environment in which work is done1.Organizational structure (Chapter 13) – shows how various units withinan organization communicate2.Organization culture and change (Chapter 14) – describes the sharedrules, norms, and values that shape behaviour for organizationalemployees, and how to change or manage cultures.OB Internationally.This feature is a valuable tool to help studentsunderstand how the relationships among OB concepts, and theirapplications, varies across cultures. A good way to begin discussinginternational issues in Chapter 1 is to ask students to describe theirinternational experiences. How many students are internationalstudents? How many were born or raised in another country prior tomoving to Canada? How many have lived or worked abroad? Howmany have gone abroad on study trips or vacations? Once you’vegotten a feel for the experience levels of the class, ask students if theybelieve that the importance of the concepts in the integrative model ofOB will vary across cultures, or whether their importance will beuniversal. If they believe the importance varies, should multinationalcorporations design their OB policies to function differently at differentbranches? What are the pluses and minuses of such a strategy?III. Does Organizational Behaviour Matter?A. Building a Conceptual Argument1.Resource-based view of organizations – looks at what makesresources capable of creating long-term profits for a firm2.Resources are considered to be more valuable when they are:a.Rare – “good people are hard to find”b.Inimitable – people are difficult to imitate for three reasons:i.History – people have a collective pool of experience, wisdom,and knowledge that benefits the organization

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-4ii.Numerous Small Decisions – big decisions are easy to copy – itis the small decisions that people make day-in and day-out thatare significant for an organizationTry This!Ask students to think of all the times when onecompany copied a big decision made by another. For example,consider the recent move by Microsoft to open retail stores inCanada that mimic the look and feel of Apple Stores. What aresome examples of times where that copying has provensuccessful? What are some examples of times when thatcopying seem to be successful? What explains thosedifferences in copying success?iii. Socially Complex Resources – resources like culture, teamwork,trust and reputation come from the social dynamics of a givenfirm in a given timeB. Research Evidence1.Study 1a.Survey of executives from 968 publicly held firms with 100 or moreemployeesb.High performance work practices were related to decreasedturnover, increased sales, increased market value, and increasedprofitability2.Study 2a.The prospectuses of 136 companies undergoing IPOs in 1988 wereexamined for evidence that the company valued OB issuesb.Firms which valued OB had a 19% higher survival rate than thosethat did not3.Study 3a.“Best Companies to Work For” lists (e.g., Top 100 employers).Many of these companies demonstrate exceptional OB practices,and are very profitable – even in difficult economic times.Try This!If the students have on-line access, have them work insmall groups and look up some of the Canadian companies thathave made the “Best Companies” or “Top Employers” lists (goingbeyond the companies listed in Table 1-3). Ask them to considerhow these lists could be used to scientifically test whether being

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-5good at OB improves profitability. Usually students can guess manyof the details of the study described in the book.C. So What’s So Hard?1.Many organizations do a bad job of managing OB issues because theydon’t view OB issues in a comprehensive fashiona.No single OB practice can increase profitability by itselfb.Rule of One-Eighthi.Half the organizations don’t believe there is a connectionbetween people and profitsii.Half of those who see the connection try to make a singlechange, rather than attempting to make comprehensivechangesiii. Half of the firms that make comprehensive changes persist longenough for those changes to make a differenceiv.½ x ½ x ½ = ⅛OB on Screen:Office Space.If you have access to thismovie, please play it for your students during class. This scenedepictsPeter Gibbons, a computer programmer at Initech, ashe struggles to get through his work day. Eventually he seeksthe advice of a therapist, which inadvertently causes him toembrace the role of an “office slacker.” The scenes provide acase study of an employee with low job performance and loworganizational commitment. Ask the students why Peter seemsto be struggling. What concepts from Figure 1-1 seem mostrelevant? Students who have seen the entire movie will be ableto point to a number of different concepts that explain Peter’scurrent ineffectiveness.Try This!Use the Office Space clip for a different chapter. Theclip provides a good demonstration of counterproductivebehaviour from Chapter 2 on Job Performance. Ask thestudents which specific types of counterproductive behaviourPeter has engaged in. It also provides a good demonstration ofwithdrawal behaviour from Chapter 3 on OrganizationalCommitment. Again, ask the students which specificbehaviours are evident in the clip.IV. How Do We “Know” What We Know About Organizational Behaviour?A. According to philosophers, there are four ways of knowing things:

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-61.Method of experience – believing something because it is consistentwith your experience2.Method of intuition – believing something because it seems obvious orself-evident3.Method of authority – believing something because a respected sourcehas said it is so4.Method of science – believing something because scientific studieshave replicated that result using a series of samples, settings, andmethodsTry This!Ask students how they know the factors that improve health.What kinds of dietary philosophies do they know to be healthy? Whatkinds of exercise practices do they know to be healthy? Once the“knowledge in the room” has been summarized, explore where thatknowledge came from. How much of it was just experience or intuition?How much of it comes from authorities (e.g., doctors, trainers, books).How much of it comes from science, either directly (news reports,magazine reports) or indirectly (through relevant authorities). Does anyof the “knowledge in the room” conflict with each other (for example,some students think a low fat diet is more critical; others think a lowcarbohydrate diet is more critical)? Which method of knowing would bemost valuable for reconciling such conflict?B. Scientific Method1.Theory – collection of assertions that specify how and why variablesare related2.Hypotheses – written predictions that specify relationships amongvariables3.Data – collection and observation of behaviours and outcomes relatedto the hypotheses4.Verification – use of statistical methods to determine whether or not ahypothesis can be disconfirmeda.Example of verification process is correlationTry This!Ask ten students to volunteer their height in inches andtheir weight in pounds. Ask them to write the numbers down on asheet of scrap paper. Then input them into an Excel spreadsheet,placing them in columns A and B. Ask students to eyeball the twocolumns of numbers and guess the correlation. Then calculate itusing this formula: =correl(a1:a10,b1:b10). Did the resultingcorrelation differ from the population value (.44, as given in Table 1-4). Ask the students why the class number might differ from thepopulation value, using that to explain why multiple studies (andhigh sample sizes) are needed when performing OB research.

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-7Then ask the students whether the correlation between jobsatisfaction and job performance should be higher or lower than thecorrelation between height and weight. Use that frame of referenceto get them to understand that correlations of .30 are actuallymoderate in size, and correlations of .50 are actually strong in size.b.Correlations are not enough to prove causation. Making causalinferences requires ruling out alternative explanations.Experimental methods are often used for that purpose, as they areable to control external factors that could create misleadingcorrelations.c.A meta-analysis takes all of the correlations found in a set ofstudies and calculates a weighted average of those correlations tohelp understand the overall relationships between variables. Meta-analyses can also be a helpful guide for evidence-basedmanagement, where management education and practice relies onscientific findings (as in medicine).V. Summary: Moving Forward in this BookOB Assessments:Introspection.This brief survey can be used to givestudents a feel for the types of data that are often collected in organizationalbehaviour studies. Introspection, specifically, is relevant in an OB coursebecause introspective students can use the content in the chapters to betterunderstand their current and past work experiences, and their strengths andtalents as employees. Use a show of hands to see how many students fellabove and below the average level, and see if students will volunteer anyextremely high or low scores. Challenge students who score low on theassessment to actively try to apply course content to their own experiencesand characteristics.DISCUSSION QUESTIONS1.1Can you think of other service businesses that, such as those listed inTable 1-3, seem to do an effective job with customer service? Whichorganizational behaviour topics would be most important to maintainingthat high level of service?The business examples will vary, as will the list of topics most relevant toOB. The point that should emerge is that all of these topics potentiallylead to desired outcomes. A big part of successful customer-focusedorganizations, such as RBC and WestJet, is the hiring of people who arecommitted to the organization, and then making sure that they staymotivated under stressful conditions. Leadership is important, but

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-8perhaps more important are personality, ability, team processes andorganizational culture.1.2Think again about the worst coworker you’ve ever had—the one who didsome of the things listed in Table 1-1. Think about what that coworker’sboss did (or didn’t do) to try to improve his or her behaviour. What did theboss do well or poorly? What would you have done differently, and whichorganizational behaviour topics would have been most relevant?One boss, when faced with a “bad” employee, got more and moreauthoritarian – finding fault with everything the employee did andpenalizing the employee for every fault. As a result, the employee wasmore and more demotivated. An alternative approach would be to discussthe employee’s strengths and weaknesses with him, determining thecause of the poor performance, and seeking more helpful solutions fordealing with it. For example, discussing the employee’s individualcharacteristics might yield knowledge about how to place that person formaximum effectiveness and job satisfaction. An analysis of groupmechanisms could help to determine whether or not the employee had theproper support to do his work. And an analysis of organizationalmechanisms might provide information on changes that need to be madeto the environment for the employee to improve.1.3Which of the Individual Mechanisms in Figure 1-1 (job satisfaction, stress,motivation, trust, justice, and ethics, learning and decision-making) seemsto drive your performance and commitment the most? Do you think you’reunique in that regard or do you think most people would answer that way?Answers to this question will vary, but the important point to make whendiscussing the question is that everyone is different, and that when tryingto motivate employees, those differences must be taken into account.1.4Think of something that you “know” to be true based on the Method ofExperience, the Method of Intuition, or the Method of Authority. Could youtest your knowledge using the Method of Science? How would you do it?It is often fun to work with adages (i.e., short but memorable sayingswhich are considered true by many people). Examples might be “too manycooks spoil the soup”, “when it rains, it pours,” “don’t judge a book by itscover”, or “two heads are better than one.” Students will come up withothers. Have students think of ways these could be test, scientifically.Answers will vary.

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-9CASE: LEADING THE WAY (PART 2)Questions:1.1 Most of would agree that it is easy to get along and work with people whoshare similar values, interests, perspectives, and experiences. Is it possibleto be different yet feel similar? Explain.The case illustrates what one “admired” organization is doing to promote adiverse workforce. This question was designed to help students discover apotential dilemma with this strategy. On the one hand diversity (i.e., havinggroup members who are different with respect to ethnicity, expertise,personality, abilities, interests and values) provides for a larger pool ofresources and perspectives from which the group, team or organization candraw upon to carry out its work. On the other hand, and as implied in thequestion, people who are fundamentally different may encounter more troublecommunicating and coordinating their respective activities. So does diversityhelp or harm a group, team or organization? To make sense of this, studentsshould recognize that diversity occurs on different levels (see Chapter 10):surface-level diversity (observable differences, such as physicalcharacteristics, style of dress, or language).versus deep-level diversity(differences in values, interests and attitudes that are inferred frombehaviour). Yes, it is possible to be different on the surface, yet similar inattitudes and core values which, in turn, should enhance communicationwithin the team. Diversity becomes a problem when surface-level differencesextend to deep-level attributes that are important for job performance.1.2 In the case we heard reactions from two participants in RBC’s reciprocalmentoring program. Why do you think that they call is reciprocal? Whateffects, if any, do you think participation has on the mentors? Explain.The notion of reciprocal mentoring is when people who are being mentoredagree to mentor others. It’s a very powerful way to establish supportiveinternal social networks, and facilitates the communication and exchange oftacit knowledge (see Chapter 8) so critical for one’s career advancement. Inthe case, establishing internal mentoring relations is one of the initiatives thatRBC uses to promote diversity conversations and dialogue – andunderstanding! The effect of this program is twofold. Mentors benefitbecause they have a chance to hear, first hand, what some of the challengesand issues are when it comes to diversity. These concerns can then informsubsequent strategy and implementation decisions. Of course, menteesbenefit because they feel their concerns are being heard and that theorganization cares about and supports them. As we will see in Chapter 3,these feelings are important for fostering both affective and normativecommitment, which pay-off in terms of staying and higher performance.

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-101.3 According to a recent census by Statistics Canada, 51% of Canadians werewomen, 3.8% were aboriginal peoples, and 16.2% were visible minorities.There were no statistics for people with disabilities. According to StatisticsCanada, we also know that more and more people will be leaving the labourforce as members of the baby-boom generation approach retirement age.What are the implications of these external realities for RBC and its approachto diversity management? Explain.The information in the case states that RBC workforce demographics are asfollows: 69% are women, 1.6% aboriginal peoples, 3.7% are persons withdisabilities, and 27.3% are visible minorities. Students should see that whencompared with national statistics, females and visible minorities are over-represented whereas the proportion of aboriginal peoples is slightly under-represented. Is this a problem? Student opinions will vary. One of the majorimplications of mass baby-boom retirement is that many experienced andskilled individuals will be leaving organizations across the country. On theone hand, this should create promotion opportunities for incumbents whodesire a chance to develop their careers. On the other hand, the risk is thatdemand for skilled workers will increase in an ever-increasing competitivelabour market. One way to address the anticipated labour shortage is tomake the bank more attractive to under-represented groups – in this case,male applicants. Another way to address this issue would be to make thebank more attractive to older workers, who may have retired from their formalduties but are willing to come back part-time or on a contract basis. It isnoteworthy that some of the fastest growing segments in our population arethe aboriginal communities. Finding ways to tap into this labour pool wouldbe positive. The fact the bank has established (and successful) diversityprograms in place would make this organization attractive for aboriginalworkers.BONUS CASE: STARBUCKSWherever you are as you read this book, chances are good that a Starbucks isn’ttoo far away. By the start of 2006 there were about 10,000 Starbucks locationsworldwide, including a mall, campus, airport, or exit near you. Although somepeople may worry about the fate of their local, independent coffee shops or thehigh price of Starbucks coffee, consider the answers to these questions. Whenwas the last time your Starbucks was messy? When was the last time you weretreated rudely by the person across the counter? When was the last time yourorder of choice tasted wrong (or even just a bit different)?One reason for Starbucks’s success is that such occurrences are quite rare,especially in reference to other service, retail, or dining venues. Who receivesmuch of the credit for the consistency in Starbucks service? The rank and fileemployees who run the stores and interact directly with the customer. SomehowStarbucks has been able to find employees who are conscientious and

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-11intelligent, who seem motivated and satisfied with their jobs, who remaincommitted to their stores for a longer-than-normal period of time, and whoperform their job duties reliably and enthusiastically. Put simply, Starbucksseems to be doing a good job managing organizational behaviour.Some support for that claim comes fromFortunemagazine’s list of the100 BestCompanies to Work Forin 2007, where Starbucks placed 16th. Generousbenefits and health care coverage—even for part-time workers or for spousesand partners—seem to have instilled a sense of commitment, as Starbucks’svoluntary turnover rate is 120% lower than the average quick service restaurantbusiness. Guiding principles like “provide a great work environment” and “treateach other with respect and dignity” seem to have fostered a sense ofsatisfaction with the culture of the organization. Indeed, a recent survey showedthat 82% of employees were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with thecompany. In addition, the social activism of the company—Starbucks contributed$15 million to local nonprofits in 2004—seems to have built a sense of trust andethics among the rank and file. Taken together, such policies and practices areincreasing the likelihood that your next Starbucks visit will be a pleasant one.Sources: Gold, E. Commentary: With roughly 9000 stores, Starbucks serves it upby design.St. Louis Daily Record, May 13, 2005. Levering, R., & Moskowitz, M.In good company.Fortune, January 22, 2007. Weber, G. Preserving the counterculture.Workforce Management, February 1, 2005.Questions:1.1Do you believe that Starbucks’ corporate culture has given theorganization a competitive advantage in the industry? Explain.Starbucks has gained a competitive advantage in the industry simply bycreating a culture which encourages employees to stay with the company.Since turnover rates at fast food restaurants are 120% higher thanStarbuck’s turnover rates, Starbucks has an advantage not only becausethey have to find fewer employees than other companies in their industry,but also because of decreased training costs and improved customerservice.1.2What makes Starbucks more desirable to work for than other coffeeshops? Would you prefer to work at Starbucks? Why or why not?Working for Starbucks has a number of benefits, not the least of which istheir benefits package. In addition, the Starbucks practices of “providing agreat work environment” and “treating employees with respect and dignity”give people reason to choose Starbucks as an employer. Whendiscussing this question, you may want to find out if any of your students

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-12currently work at Starbucks, and if so, whether their experiences matchthe ones described in this case.EXERCISE: IS OB COMMON SENSE?Instructions:Many students complain that OB is “just common sense.” They typically say thisafter hearing some intuitive research finding such as “perceptions of task varietyare positively related to job satisfaction.” However, virtually anything seemsintuitive once you’ve heard it—the trick is to come up with the important conceptsyourself before being told about them. This exercise shows how difficult it can beto do that, thereby demonstrating that OB isn’t just common sense. This exerciseshould take around 15 minutes. Begin by going over the sample theory diagram(for movie box office receipts) so that they understand what a theory diagram is.Then put them into groups and have them pick from among the four potentialtopics (job satisfaction, strain, motivation, trust in supervisor). Have them createa diagram of their own using their chosen topic as a dependent variable.Sample Theories:Here’s an example of what students might come up with for Job Satisfaction.Their models will typically have some things that have been supported byacademic research, though usually they won’t use academic terms. For example,the “fun tasks” box reflects a concept similar to “satisfaction with the work itself.”However, the models will often include things that have not been as supported,such as the relationship between having good job skills and viewing job tasks asfun. Most often, however, the models will omit importance concepts. Have slidesready of Figure 4-7 on job satisfaction, Figure 5-3 on strain, Figure 6-6 onmotivation, and Figure 7-7 on trust in supervisor. Then compare the students’diagrams to those diagrams. For example, if the figure below is compared toFigure 4-7, a number of omissions are evident.

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Chapter 01 - What is Organizational Behaviour?1-13Questions:If OB was just common sense, students wouldn’t include variables in their modelthat don’t actually impact the outcome in question. Nor would they omit variablesfrom the model that do impact the outcome in question. Either kind of mistakeshows that students don’t automatically know what OB concepts are relevant tokey OB outcomes.

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Chapter 02 - Job Performance2-1Chapter 2Job PerformanceCHAPTER OVERVIEWJob performance is the set of employee behaviours that contribute toorganizational goal accomplishment. It has three components: 1) taskperformance, or the transformation of resources into goods and services; 2)citizenship behaviours, or voluntary employee actions that contribute to theorganization; and 3) counterproductive behaviours, or employee actions thathinder organizational accomplishments. This chapter discusses trends thataffect job performance in today’s organizations, as well as practices thatorganizations can use to manage job performance.LEARNING OUTCOMESAfter reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:2.1What is job performance?2.2What is task performance?2.3How do organizations identify the behaviours that underlie taskperformance?2.4What is citizenship behaviour?2.5What is counterproductive behaviour?2.6How can organizations use job performance information to manageemployee performance?CHAPTER OUTLINEI.Job PerformanceA. Defined as the value of the set of employee behaviours that contributeeither positively or negatively to organizational goal accomplishment1.Behaviours are within the control of employees, but results(performance outcomes) may not be2.Behaviours must be relevant to job performanceII.What Does It Mean To Be A “Good Performer”?A. Task Performance

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Chapter 02 - Job Performance2-21.Task performance involves employee behaviours that are directlyinvolved in the transformation of organizational resources into thegoods or services that the organization producesa.Routine task performance involves well-known responses topredictable demandsb.Adaptive task performance involves responses to novel or unusualtask demandsc.Creative task performance involves developing ideas or physicalproducts that are both novel and useful2.Job analysis can be used to define task performance for different jobsa.List the activities done on the jobb.Use “subject matter experts” to rate each activity on importanceand frequencyc.Select the activities that are rated highly on importance andfrequency and use them to describe the jobd.Job analysis results can be used to create the tools managers needto evaluate job performancee.NOC (National Occupational Classification) is an online databasethat provides job descriptions for most jobsi.Information from NOC needs to be supplemented to captureorganizational values and strategiesii.Another online database, O*NET, may be easier to use and willcontain relevant information for many of the same jobs coveredby the NOCTry This!To demonstrate the value of job information in a waythat really engages students, ask for an example of a job froma student in class, and then brainstorm to identify critical tasks.After you have a reasonable list, enter the job in NOC(http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/noc) or in O*NET(http://online.onetcenter.org) and then compare the resultingtasks with the list from the brainstorm. At that point, you candiscuss reasons why the lists may have differed. Although thebrainstorm list may be shorter and less detailed, it typicallyincludes extra tasks that reflect student assumptions regardingorganizational values and strategy.3.Task performance behaviours are not simply “performed” or “notperformed” – the best employees exceed performance expectations bygoing the extra mile on the job

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