Chapter 13 Reading

Angelo Kinicki

Behavior Organizational

A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

3e

Angelo Kinicki Arizona State University

Kent State University

Organizational Behavior

A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

Third Edition

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR: A PRACTICAL, PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH, THIRD EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2021 by McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2018 and 2016. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

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ISBN 978-1-260-07507-6 (bound edition) MHID 1-260-07507-9 (bound edition) ISBN 978-1-260-51625-8 (loose-leaf edition) MHID 1-260-51625-3 (loose-leaf edition)

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DEDICATION To the thousands of students I encountered during my career. Thank you for making me a better teacher and writer.

— Angelo

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o r nizational performance. Angelo has published over 95 articles in a variety of academic journals

and proceedings and is co-author of eight text- books (32 including revisions) that are used by hundreds of universities around the world. Several of his books have been translated into multiple languages, and two of his books were awarded revisions of the year by McGraw-Hill. Angelo also was identified as being among the top 100 most influential (top .6%) Organizational Behavior authors in 2018 out of a total of 16,289 academics.

Angelo is a busy international consultant and is a principal at Kinicki and Associates, Inc., a management consulting firm that works with top management teams to create organizational change aimed at increasing organizational effec- tiveness and profitability. He has worked with many Fortune 500 firms as well as numerous entrepreneurial organizations in diverse indus- tries. His expertise includes facilitating strategic/ operational planning sessions, diagnosing the causes of organizational and work-unit problems, conducting organizational culture interventions, implementing performance management sys- tems, designing and implementing performance appraisal systems, developing and administering surveys to assess employee attitudes, and lead- ing management/executive education programs. He developed a 3600 leadership feedback instrument called the Performance Management Leadership Survey (PMLS) that is used by com- panies throughout the world.

Angelo and his wife of 37 years, Joyce, have enjoyed living in the beautiful Arizona desert for 36 years. They are both natives of Cleveland, Ohio. They enjoy traveling, hiking, and spending time in the White Mountains with Gracie, their adorable golden retriever. Angelo also has a pas- sion for golfing.

Angelo Kinicki is an emeritus professor of management and held the Weatherup/Overby Chair in Leadership from 2005 to 2015 at the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. He joined the faculty in 1982, the year he received his doctorate in business administration from Kent State University. He was inducted into the W.P. Carey Faculty Hall of Fame in 2016. Angelo currently is the Dean’s Scholar in Residence at Kent State University. He is teaching in the MBA program and serves on the Dean’s National Advisory Board.

Angelo is the recipient of six teaching awards from Arizona State University, where he taught in its nationally ranked MBA and PhD programs. He also received several research awards and was selected to serve on the editorial review boards for four scholarly journals. His current research interests focus on the dynamic relationships among leadership; organizational culture; organi- zational change; and individual, group, and orga-

Courtesy of Angelo Kinicki

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nwe have included a variety of new exercises to our already robust Connect offering:• Problem-Solving Application Case Analyses: All problem-solving application mini-cases and end-of-chapter cases are now assignable as case analyses in Connect. These exercises give students the opportunity to analyze a situation and to apply the 3-Step Problem- Solving Approach. Student knowledge and proficiency are assessed using high-level multiple-choice questions that focus on both the problem-solving approach and on the key topics of each chapter.

• Application-Based Activities: Students can gain valuable practice using problem- solving skills to apply their knowledge to realistic scenarios. Included in this edition are two types of Application-Based Activities: Role-Playing mini-simulations that allow students to make decisions and see, in real time, the impact of those decisions; and Self-Assessments, which are research-based surveys that students can take to gain fur- ther introspection into how organizational behavioral concepts apply to them.

• Cumulative Case: This capstone activity provides students the opportunity to apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach on an actual situation affecting a specific firm (Tesla). Because the case examines issues at the individual, group, and organizational levels of analysis at Tesla, it can be used in parts or as a comprehensive assignment or exam. All told, this activity presents stu- dents with a rich and practical example to apply their OB knowledge and problem- solving skills.

• iSeeIt Videos: Brief, contemporary intro- ductions to key course concepts that often perplex students, this series will enhance your student-centered instruction by offer- ing your students dynamic illustrations that guide them through the basics of core OB concepts such as motivation, leadership, socialization, and more.

• Manager’s Hot Seat Videos: These vignettes allow students to assume the role of a man- ager as they immerse themselves in real-life situations. Students see how managers deal with employees and complex issues, and use critical-thinking skills in defining their approach and course of action--while learning from the manager’s mistakes.

We are pleased to share these exciting updates and new additions to the third edition of Organizational Behavior!

Features In this new edition, we have better integrated the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach through- out, and clarified its relationship to the Orga- nizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. In addition:

• Winning at Work boxes at the beginning of every chapter offer career-readiness guid- ance for students on a variety of timely, pertinent topics.

• OB in Action boxes illustrate OB concepts or theories in action in the real world, featuring well-known companies and individuals.

• Applying OB boxes offer students “how-to” guidance on applying OB knowledge in their lives. The importance of career readiness is stressed in many of these boxes throughout the book, indicated with a “Career Readiness” label.

• Problem-Solving Application boxes provide a minicase for students to analyze, using the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach.

• Takeaways for Me and Takeaways for Managers conclude each chapter, explaining in direct terms practical appli- cations of the chapter content from the student’s perspective as an employee and a manager.

• Problem-Solving Application Cases at the end of each chapter provide a complex and current case with one or more problems that pertain to concepts discussed in the chapter.

• Legal/Ethical Challenges provide a conclud- ing exercise in each chapter and ask stu- dents to choose from several courses of action or invent their own to resolve a business situation involving ethics at work.

Connect In our continuing efforts to help students move from comprehension to application, and to ensure they see the personal relevance of OB,

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Chapters In each chapter we have refreshed examples, research, figures, tables, statistics, and photos, as well as streamlined design to ease navigation and improve readability. We have also largely replaced the topics in such popular features as Winning at Work, Legal/Ethical Challenges, Problem-Solving Application mini cases, and Problem-Solving Application Cases. New in this edition, each chapter concludes with a sec- tion entitled “Making Connections,” in which we provide a list of specific applications of chapter content for students and managers. Beyond these valuable changes, the following outlines some of the more notable changes by chapter.

CHAPTER 1 • New content on the implications of OB for

students’ jobs and careers.

• Expanded and enhanced section on ethics, including expanded treatment on the preva- lence of cheating and other forms of unethi- cal conduct at school and work; revised and further developed section on ethical dilem- mas and whistleblowers; revised and enhanced content on the importance of soft versus hard skills; expanded explanation of the importance of self-awareness for personal development and job and career success.

• Updated survey results outlining skills most sought by employers.

• New Winning at Work feature provides insight and guidance on how to deal with challenges in the hiring process, including the growing role of artificial intelligence and how to effectively get past these virtual gatekeepers.

• New Applying OB feature on how self- awareness can help one build a fulfilling career.

• Updated and refined the 3-Step Approach to Solving Problems Using OB.

CHAPTER 2 • New content on the factors that shape the

values of Generation Z; increasing employee commitment, with best practices used by Hilton, Salesforce, and Cisco.

• New examples clarify content about Schwartz’s value theory and explain cognitive dissonance.

• Updated statistics on employee engagement around the world; new data on employee

satisfaction in the U.S.; new statistics on telecommuting; new research on accounting/ financial performance and customer service/satisfaction as outcomes of job satisfaction.

• New Winning at Work feature on creating your own sense of employee engagement.

• New Problem-Solving Application features on McDonald’s workers protesting sexual harassment at work; Netflix’s approach to sexual harassment in the workplace.

• New OB in Action feature on how compa- nies foster employee engagement.

• New Applying OB features on ways to implement telecommuting for employees; using job satisfaction to reduce employee turnover.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on Walmart’s values under scrutiny.

CHAPTER 3 • New section on the dark side of personal-

ity, the dark triad: narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism; new coverage of emotional intelligence, including the most recent research and ways in which to develop one’s EI; new content on the potential and actual success of introverts in the workplace; new content on how to manage emotions during the job search process.

• Expanded section on brain training, using current research findings and applications; streamlined treatment of multiple intelli- gences with new, compelling examples; updated and streamlined material related to core self-evaluations.

• Updated research and practical implications of intelligences, linking Big 5 personality dimensions to performance.

• New Winning at Work feature illustrating the career implications of OB, with guidance on which interview questions students should be prepared to answer and ask.

• New Applying OB features on what to look for in a manager; managing emotions during the job search.

• New OB in Action features on intelligence testing; one of the richest self-made women in America (who also epitomizes self- efficacy).

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research and examples on job design, job crafting, and i-deals.

• New Winning at Work feature on how to negotiate for a pay raise at work.

• New Problem-Solving Applications about employee benefits at Walmart; symphony orchestra members going on strike.

• New OB in Action feature about job swap- ping and job rotation opportunities.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Appli- cation Case on why Amazon workers are not feeling motivated.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge about whether Sears executives should receive bonuses while taking the company through bankruptcy.

CHAPTER 6 • New content on the primary outputs and

functions of performance management; applied goalsetting to jobs and careers; the major reasons performance manage- ment is criticized; the growing role of technology in performance management; contemporary performance management, highlighting that it is now continual and includes more coaching and ongoing feedback; how to improve performance monitoring.

• Revised Winning at Work feature on best practices for productivity.

• New Applying OB features on goal-setting; responding to negative feedback; effective coaching.

• New OB in Action features on ID checks; monitoring for performance; com- pensation.

• New Problem-Solving Application on incen- tivizing teachers in one underperforming school district.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on the consequences resulting from Wells Fargo’s use of incentives.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on the practice of employers’ asking about current salary.

CHAPTER 7 • New content on positive and negative

deviance; how students can increase their

• New Problem-Solving Application on Uber’s former CEO, Travis Kalanick.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on the fall of John Schnatter, founder of Papa John’s Pizza.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on drug testing with the recent legalization of marijuana in some states.

CHAPTER 4 • New, expanded discussion and illustration

of the four stages of social perception; new content on diversity, including new discussion of assumptions about diversity and new examples about the use of quotas when it comes to hiring practices; new example to elaborate on the self-serving bias.

• New research on how a person’s appear- ance affects our perception and their ability to get hired; updated research on stereo- types; new results of gender research; updated trends and statistics related to diversity, including the topic of pay equity for men and women and research on unwel- coming workplace environments.

• New Applying OB features on developing cultural awareness to enhance perception; the best companies for Millennial workers.

• New OB in Action features on the use of vir- tual technologies for job interviews and recruit- ment; how U.S. companies are using product design to reach a diverse customer base.

• New Problem-Solving Application about firefighters suing for age discrimination.

• Updated end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on the diversity profile of technology companies.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge about patient requests versus employees’ civil rights.

CHAPTER 5 • New content on equity sensitivity.

• New illustrations of extrinsic and intrinsic motivation; new examples to illustrate key theories including Maslow’s theory, self- determination theory, and equity/justice theory; new examples to illustrate the concept of goal setting and the application of the job characteristics model.

• New research on employees’ opinions about performance feedback and pay; updated

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• Expanded and refined content on team effectiveness, including new material on the characteristics of high performing teams and how to use conflict to improve teamwork.

• Revised and expanded research and appli- cation related to social-loafing (how to prevent and overcome it); updated research and content on team adaptive capacity.

• New Applying OB features on cultivating cohesiveness to improve the function of groups and teams; the benefits of microinternships for both employers and students.

• New OB in Action features on how T-Mobile has changed their customer service approach by working in teams; how conflict and tension can be the key to better teams.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on the predicaments that Boeing faces with its 737 Max airliner.

CHAPTER 9 • New content on media richness; social

listening; generational differences regarding the role of digital devices and communica- tion expectations and norms; social media and OB.

• New subsection on phubbing (phone snubbing) and FOMO (fear of losing out); new discussion on nondefensive communi- cation.

• New research on media richness, managers’ use of empathy; tips on managing e-mail; statistics on social media and OB.

• New OB in Action features on communica- tion transparency at a skin-care company; how empathy is good for business; crowd- sourcing success stories at Lego and Frito- Lay.

• New Applying OB feature on how to ace a video job interview.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case about United Airlines’ turbulent communications strategy.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on whether social media posts impact the cost of life insurance premiums.

flourishing at school; turning rejection in the job search process into positive motivation.

• Updated and expanded section on doing well and doing good, including three quali- fying criteria and further development of how this occurs across levels of OB ( individual, group, and organizational); expanded material on how to insert more positivity in one’s work; organizational cli- mate; revised material on the history and current role of positivity in OB; prosocial behaviors.

• Refined, updated, and expanded research, applications, and benefits of mindfulness at work; updated research and applications of resilience, optimism, and signature strengths at work.

• New Winning at Work feature on boosting performance with productivity.

• New Applying OB features on how managing internal responses can improve performance; boosting positivity with a fun work environ- ment; fostering positive candidate experi- ences during job interviews.

• New OB in Action features on socially- responsible investing; mindfulness at major healthcare, biotech, and industrial compa- nies; employee wellness via resistance training at a major health system; how one fast-casual health food business fosters posi- tive culture

• New Problem-Solving Application on Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods and reckoning of the two companies’ values.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on how aggressive mar- keting created an opioid epidemic.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on hiring those with criminal pasts.

CHAPTER 8 • New section differentiating groups

and teams using three characteristics: dependence, accountability, and time.

• Revised and updated content on formal and informal groups and their respective func- tions; group and team norms; types of teams, especially related to virtual team challenges and solutions; updated and expanded content on trust: what it is, why it is important, and how to repair it when damaged.

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new research on the importance of creativity and curiosity within organizations.

• New Winning at Work feature about how to practice critical thinking skills for decision making.

• New OB in Action features on improving an airport terminal under bounded rationality; how big data helps advance the health care industry; how shaking up your routine may spark creativity.

• New Problem-Solving Application on how cognitive bias was partly to blame for California’s devastating wildfires.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on Airbus’s decision to cease production of its A380 airliner.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on whether college students should be expelled if their parents cheated to get them into school.

CHAPTER 12 • Revised content on common influence

tactics, including current and compelling examples of students, #MeToo, and employ- ees; political tactics, highlighting the increasing activism by employees, students, and other groups; political behavior, uncer- tainty, performance, and change; the tactic of blame and levels of political action; apologies—when and how to use them effectively.

• Updated and expanded research on the five bases of power, with a focus on negative legitimate and referent power.

• New Applying OB features on social media influencers; etiquette in the hiring process; body art in the workplace.

• New OB in Action features on giving tax breaks and other incentives to billion-dollar companies; employee activism; the effects of student activism on companies and corporations.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on Nike and the MeToo Movement.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on companies who impose their leaders’ values on employees.

CHAPTER 10 • New section on harassment—what it is and

how to prevent it at work.

• New content on functional versus dysfunc- tional conflict: causes and outcomes; intergroup conflict material; creating the climate for psychological safety; framing negotiation as a skill, task, or even a game— with the goal of improving your attitude related to negotiation and thus improving the outcomes.

• Revised and updated content related to conflict avoidance, including reasons why people avoid conflict, how to avoid avoiding conflict, and the desired outcomes of conflict management.

• Expanded and updated sections related to work-life conflict, with a new focus on har- mony or integration of life’s; modern con- flict at work; civility at work, including its forms, prevalence, and costs; programming functional conflict and conflict handling styles; ethics and negotiations.

• New Applying OB features on how to explain your departure from one job while interviewing for another; psychological safety at Google; how to ask for a larger s alary or a raise.

• New OB in Action features on dealing with conflict; the battle between two unions involved in the creation of shows and movies.

• New Problem-Solving Application on the Fair Food Program.

• New Problem-Solving Application Case on Facebook’s struggles with protection of data and privacy.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on arbitration versus litigation.

CHAPTER 11 • New section on artificial intelligence and its

increasing use in decision making.

• Expanded discussion of Kahneman’s two ways of thinking; updated information on data analytic jobs and majors; new exam- ples for the four types of decision-making styles; new examples of bounded rationality, intuition, big data, analytical decision mak- ing, and creativity.

• New data on use of heuristics by physi- cians; new statistics about use of big data;

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• New Applying OB feature about key strate- gies for cultivating a network and mentor- ing relationship.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case about the culture clashes at Ford Motor Company.

CHAPTER 15 • New introductory section and illustration

that provide an overview of how organiza- tional structure and innovation impact organizational effectiveness.

• Shifted discussion of assessing organiza- tional effectiveness to the end of the chapter to provide a clearer link between implementing organizational design and evaluating its effectiveness using various metrics, including the Balanced Scorecard.

• Updated examples on learning organiza- tions; the seven types of organizational structure; innovation in organizations.

• New research on the effects of open-office design on individual, group, and organiza- tional outcomes; updated research related to learning organizations and innovation in organizations.

• New Problem-Solving Applications about gig workers’ growing influence in the labor market; AMD and its struggles to innovate.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case about one major book- seller and the challenges it faces to stay in business.

• Updated Legal/Ethical Challenge about universities’ tax-exempt status and the response from their local communities.

CHAPTER 16 • New section on confronting and effectively

overcoming failures at work.

• New material contrasting fatigue versus tiredness and consequences at work; the role and characteristics of change agents; tips on overcoming resistance to change.

• Revised and expanded content on forces for change; updated material on using missions to motivate change; revised content on resistance to change—its causes and how to overcome it; revised content on stress at work, including statistics, causes, and costs.

CHAPTER 13 • New section on abusive supervision and

what strategies organizations can imple- ment to eliminate such behavior.

• New content on the leadership model devel- oped by Kouzes and Posner; the four ways of creating psychological empowerment; the four behaviors demonstrated by trans- formational leaders.

• New statistics on why leadership is so important in today’s organizations; new research on leadership traits and task and relational leadership; new research about leader- member exchange model of leadership.

• New OB in Action features on how one university used task leadership to help reclaim the national college football championship; abusive leadership at a local pharmacy.

• New Problem-Solving Application on Barnes & Noble’s search for a new CEO.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on Elon Musk and his leadership behavior.

• New Legal/Ethical Challenge on whether store managers should force employees to pierce childrens’ ears against their wishes.

CHAPTER 14 • Expanded discussion of sustainability as a

key driver of organizational success.

• New examples for the three levels of organi- zational culture; the four cultural types in the competing values framework; the 12 mechanisms to change organizational culture; the three stages of socialization; the career and psychosocial functions of mentoring; how human and social capital enhance the benefits of mentoring.

• Updated research for the three stages of socialization; new illustrations on the importance of organizational culture; new examples of the career and psychosocial functions of mentoring.

• New OB in Action feature about compa- nies that demonstrate sustainability leadership.

• New Problem-Solving Application about Sprouts Farmers Market and its organiza- tional culture.

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• Streamlined and updated research and examples related to common models of change; forces for change; managing stress.

• New Winning at Work feature on relocating.

• New OB in Action features on turnover among CEOs; improving lives with shoes.

• New Applying OB features on answering behavioral interview questions; how to rant productively.

• New Problem-Solving Application on the AT&T/Time Warner merger.

• New end-of-chapter Problem-Solving Application Case on the reinvention of Toys R Us.

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“My students have embraced the problem-solving approach . . . and are excelling as a result. They tell me in their feedback that they ‘get it.’ To me, that proves success and that learning has taken place.”

David D. Mull —Columbia College of Missouri

• “I want a good job, one that I like and is fulfilling. How do I know which job and company are a good fit for me?”

• “I know that this job and company provide good opportunities for me, but what can I do to be sure I actually realize these opportunities?”

• “I can’t stand my job, but I need the money. Should I talk to my boss or just quit?”

• “I am taking a class with 50 percent of the grade due to teamwork. My team has four members and two of us are doing all the work. I’ve been talking to the team, but the two members still aren’t doing their share. I am at a loss for what to do.”

• “How do I negotiate a salary and benefits for my new job, or a raise for the one I have?”

Each of these scenarios presents a problem. We all are faced with problems every day, and our ability to solve problems can set us apart from others in our jobs and careers. In fact, surveys consistently show that problem solving is one of the skills most valued by employers. For this rea- son, we designed Organizational Behavior, 3e, to help students become more effective problem solvers. Students who are effective problem solvers today become valued leaders tomorrow.

The third edition of Organizational Behavior relies on three key strategies to help students use OB knowledge to solve problems:

• Consistent 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach. • Applied, practical features. • User-centric design.

3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Given problem solving is one of the skills most sought by employers, we help students develop instead of hone this skill. We teach them to use a 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach—(1) define the problem, (2) identify the causes, and (3) recom- mend a solution. This approach is introduced in Chapter One and used multiple times in each subsequent chapter. To complement the 3-Step Approach, we also developed the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. This framework is used in two ways. First, it pro- vides students a means for organizing OB con- cepts into three categories (inputs, processes, and outcomes) as they learn them. This facili- tates student learning and shows how concepts relate to each other. Second, it is an important

and complementary tool for problem solving. Problems are often defined in terms of out- comes in the Organizing Framework, and the causes are commonly found in the inputs and processes elements. Students use this framework in every chapter to solve problems confronted by real organizations and employees.

We provide many opportunities for students to practice using the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach. Problem-Solving Application mini cases are inserted throughout each chapter. These provide numerous opportunities for students to apply their OB knowledge and practice their prob- lem solving skills to real companies and people. The longer Problem-Solving Application Case at the end of each chapter presents more complex and current business cases containing one or more problems that illustrate OB concepts included in a particular chapter. A version of the Organizing Framework is presented in each chap- ter and is populated with relevant concepts from that chapter, which students use to define and solve problems presented in the various features. This capstone Cumulative Case activity provides students the opportunity to apply the 3-Step Prob- lem-Solving Approach on an actual situation affecting a specific firm (Tesla) in Connect.

We carry the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach into Connect, McGraw-Hill’s market-leading digital platform, and provide students with numerous opportunities to observe how different decisions can lead to dif- ferent outcomes. We also offer new critical- thinking application exercises tied to the Problem-Solving Application boxes and Problem-Solving Application Cases, giving stu- dents additional practice with applying the 3-Step Approach. These activities are a

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We also present content in digestible chunks of text, with frequent opportunities to engage with or reflect on the material. The Winning at Work feature opens each chapter with a list of practical tips related to a highly relevant topic for work and/or school, such as negotiating a sal- ary for a new job or a pay raise, or how to man- age meetings more effectively. Self-Assessments in Connect allow students to evaluate personal characteristics related to OB concepts, as well as to reflect on their own characteristics and behav- ior. What Did I Learn provides students with a review of the chapter’s key concepts, an invita- tion to answer important questions relating to chapter content, and a summary of the Organiz- ing Framework for a given chapter.

Connect gives instructors the foundations for creating a course that fits their individual teach- ing needs. The Teaching Resource Manual offers a playbook for creating and delivering a discus- sion-based learning environment in which stu- dents practice and apply concepts in a more active manner. The extensively revised Test Bank offers greater opportunity to assess students on OB concepts at a higher level, with essay and scenario-based questions to engage students’ problem-solving skills. Finally, a comprehensive set of PowerPoint slides provide guidance in addressing key concepts.

Developing Effective Problem Solvers Today, Valued Leaders Tomorrow Organizational Behavior, 3e, explicitly addresses OB implications for students’ jobs and careers, showing how OB provides them with the higher- level soft skills employers seek, such as problem solving, critical thinking, leadership, and deci- sion making. We strongly believe that applying OB theories and concepts provides tremendous value to students’ lives today and throughout their careers. The understanding and application of OB enhances student effectiveness at school and work, both today and tomorrow.

com bination of case analyses, video cases, and click-and-drag exercises.

Applied, Practical Approach The third edition repeatedly demonstrates the practical value of OB concepts in solving real- world problems in students’ professional and personal lives. OB in Action boxes illustrate OB concepts or theories in action in the real world, featuring well-known companies. Applying OB boxes offer students “how-to” guidance on applying their knowledge in both their profes- sional and personal lives. Appearing at the end of each chapter are new Takeaway features that explain to students the practical value of OB concepts—one for their personal use now (Take- aways for Me) and the other for managers (Takeaways for Managers).

Legal/Ethical Challenges ask students to choose from several proposed courses of action or invent their own to resolve a business situa- tion that falls into a gray area of ethics at work.

Connect provides a multitude of opportuni- ties for active practice and application of con- cepts learned during class or while completing assigned reading. SmartBook is another key component. This adaptive and data-driven read- ing experience gives students ample opportu- nity to develop mastery of key learning objectives tied to core OB concepts, while also providing instructors real-time snapshots of stu- dent comprehension.

User-Centric Approach It is important for us to offer users, whether stu- dents or instructors, a tool that is easy to navi- gate, easy to digest, and exceptionally practical. We therefore have taken great care to create con- tent, craft our writing, and include features that focus on the needs and interests of the user. To that end, Learning Objectives and “The Bigger Picture” feature open the main sections of each chapter and immediately place students in a practical learning mode.

PREFACE

“(This) is a text with a practical approach . . . Theory is there, but explained in a hands-on manner, which fits well into the way I present the course.”

Dr. Floyd Ormsbee —Clarkson University

“Practical, student centered, highly relevant to both students and employers needs. (It) hits all of the most critical topics of OB in an engaging and visually appealing way, and includes a critical thinking approach that is easy to learn and use.”

Jody Tolan —University of Southern California Marshall School of Business

Make it simple, make it affordable. Connect makes it easy with seamless integration using any of the major Learning Management Systems— Blackboard®, Canvas, and D2L, among others—to let you organize your course in one convenient location. Give your students access to digital materials at a discount with our inclusive access program. Ask your McGraw-Hill representative for more information.

Solutions for your challenges. A product isn’t a solution. Real solutions are affordable, reliable, and come with training and ongoing support when you need it and how you want it. Our Customer Experience Group can also help you troubleshoot tech problems— although Connect’s 99% uptime means you might not need to call them. See for yourself at status. mheducation.com

65% Less Time Grading

FOR INSTRUCTORS

®

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Laptop: McGraw-Hill; Woman/dog: George Doyle/Getty Images

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xvi PREFACE

Dr. Bill Carnes, Metropolitan State University of Denver—College of Business

Ileene Chernoff, University of Phoenix

Donna Chlopak, Montclair State University

Amanda L. Christensen, University of Cincinnati

Dean Cleavenger, University of Central Florida

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Ken Dunegan, Cleveland State University

Steven M. Elias, New Mexico State University

Aimee Ellis, Ithaca College

W. Randy Evans, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Michelle H. Feller, Weber State University

Martin L. Fogelman, SUNY Albany

Charla S. Fraley, Columbus State Community College

John D. Fuehrer, Baldwin Wallace University

Allison S. Gabriel, University of Arizona

Jane Whitney Gibson, Nova Southeastern University

Cynthia Gilliand, University of Arizona

Acknowledgments We could not have completed this product without the help and support of a great number of people. It all began with the vision of our director, Michael Ablassmier. He assembled a fantastic team to help create a truly unique product and pushed us to cre- ate new and applied features valued by the market. Among our first-rate team at McGraw-Hill, we want to acknowledge key contributors: Senior Product Developer Anne Ehrenworth’s assistance was instrumental in structuring the editorial pro- cess; Cate Rzasa, content developer, Debbie Clare, Senior Marketing Manager, helped us implement our vision for creative and proactive marketing; Harvey Yep lead content project manager, and Keri Johnson, senior content project manager, led the core and Connect components through the production process; Matt Diamond, designer, and Debra Kubiak, design manager, worked with us to streamline the design and come up with a creative new cover concept; and Allison Marker, editorial coordinator, provided tremendous support behind the scenes.

We also want to thank Patrick Soleymani, George Mason University, for his work on the Teaching Resource Manual. Patrick also con- tributed in many other ways to help us achieve our vision. We are also grateful to Lara Hobson for her work on the Test Bank, and to Jake Heller for his work on the PowerPoints. Deep gratitude goes to Ravi Shanmugam for his work on Connect, and Ken Carson, Grove City College, for all his work on researching and developing the Self-Assessment feedback.

We would like to acknowledge the following instructors for providing feedback to shape this product. Special thanks goes to:

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Mark Burdsall, University of Pittsburgh

E. Holly Buttner, PhD., University of North Carolina at Greensboro—Bryan School of Business & Economics

xviiPREFACE

Katie Liljequist, Brigham Young University

Gregory P. Lucht, University of Phoenix

Douglas Mahony, Lehigh University

Jennifer Malarski, Metropolitan State University

Laura Martin, Midwestern State University

J. J. Massey, The University of Texas at Tyler

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Michael Kosicek, Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Christine L Krull, IUPUI

Mika Tatum Kusar, Fort Lewis College

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Fengru Li, University of Montana Business School

xviii PREFACE

Patrick Soleymani, George Mason University

Dan Spencer, University of Kansas

Dr. Atul Teckchandani, California State University—Fullerton

Mussie T. Tessema, Winona State University

Linda Thiede Thomas, Bellevue University

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Finally, I hope you enjoy this textbook. Best wishes for happiness, health, and success!

Angelo Kinicki

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Gordon Schmidt, Indiana Purdue University—Fort Wayne

Dr. Marina Sebastijanovic, University of Houston

Holly Schroth, University of California

Ravi Shanmugam, University of Kansas

Richard G. Sims, University of Phoenix

Kenneth Solano, Northeastern University

xix

PART ONE Individual Behavior 1

1 Making OB Work for Me 2

2 Values and Attitudes 42

3 Individual Differences and Emotions 76

4 Social Perception and Managing Diversity 120

5 Foundations of Employee Motivation 160

6 Performance Management 198

7 Positive Organizational Behavior 250

PART TWO Groups 295 8 Groups and Teams 296

9 Communication in The Digital Age 336

10 Managing Conflict and Negotiations 378

11 Decision Making and Creativity 422

12 Power, Influence, and Politics 464

13 Leadership Effectiveness 506

PART THREE Organizational Processes 547 14 Organizational Culture,

Socialization, and Mentoring 548

15 Organizational Design, Effectiveness, and Innovation 592

16 Managing Change and Stress 636

b ri

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co n

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ts

xx CONTENTS

co n

te n

ts 1 MAKING OB WORK FOR ME

WINNING AT WORK 3 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 3

1.1 Use Knowledge of OB to Enhance Your Performance and Career 4 How OB Fits into My Curriculum and Influences

My Success 4 APPLYING OB: Self-Awareness Can Help You Build

a Fulfilling Career 6 SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.1: How Strong Is

My Motivation to Manage? 6 Employers Want Both Hard and Soft Skills 7 How OB Fits into My Career 8 APPLYING OB: How to Ace Your Next Interview 9

1.2 Right vs. Wrong—Ethics and My Performance 11 Cheating 11 Ethical Lapses—Legality, Frequency, Causes, and

Solutions 13 OB IN ACTION: Wrong? Absolutely! Illegal?

Seemingly Not. 14 OB IN ACTION: The Whistle-Blower’s Dilemma 16 SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.2: Assessing My

Perspective on Ethics 20

1.3 OB and Problem Solving 21 A 3-Step Approach 21 Tools to Reinforce My Problem-Solving Skills 23 SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.3: Assessing Your

Problem-Solving Potential 23

1.4 Structure and Rigor in Solving Problems 24 The Person–Situation Distinction 24 Three Levels of OB 26 Applying OB Concepts to Problem Solving 26

1.5 The Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB 27 A Basic Version of the Organizing Framework 27 APPLYING OB: Mars: The World We Want

Tomorrow 28 Using the Organizing Framework for Problem

Solving 29 Applied Approaches to Selecting a Solution 29 Basic Elements for Selecting an Effective Solution 30

1.6 Preview and Application of What You Will Learn 31 The 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach 31 The Organizing Framework 31 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Technology:

A Situation Factor That Affects Your Performance 33

Hypothetical Problem-Solving Scenario 34

1.7 Making the Connection: What Is OB and Why Is It Important? 36 Our Wishes for You 36

What Did I Learn? 37 Problem-Solving Application Case: Blood, Brilliance, Blind Ambition, and Fraud 39 Legal/Ethical Challenge: What Would You Do? 41

PART ONE Individual Behavior 1

2 VALUES AND ATTITUDES

WINNING AT WORK 43 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 43

2.1 Personal Values 44 Schwartz’s Value Theory 44 SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.1: What Are My

Core Values? 47 The Dynamics of Values 47

2.2 Personal Attitudes and Their Impact on Behavior and Outcomes 48 OB IN ACTION: Hospitality Industry Uses Attitude

Surveys to Target Causes of Turnover 49 Personal Attitudes: They Represent Your Consistent

Beliefs and Feelings about Specific Things 49

Attitudes Affect Behavior via Intentions 51 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: McDonald’s

Workers Protest Sexual Harassment: What Should Management Do? 52

2.3 Key Workplace Attitudes 54 Organizational Commitment 54 Employee Engagement 56 SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.2: To What Extent Are You

Engaged in Your Studies? 58 OB IN ACTION: Companies Foster Employee

Engagement in Different Ways 58 Perceived Organizational Support 59

xxiCONTENTS

3 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND EMOTIONS

WINNING AT WORK 78 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 78

3.1 The Differences Matter 79 APPLYING OB: Does Your Potential Boss Get the Job? 80

3.2 Intelligences: There Is More to the Story Than IQ 82 Intelligence Matters . . . And You Have More Than You

Might Think 82 Practical Implications 85 OB IN ACTION: Smarts and Performance in Sports 86

3.3 Personality, OB, and My Effectiveness 87 There Is More to Personality Than Liking and Fit 87 The Big Five Personality Dimensions 88 SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.1: What Is My Big Five

Personality Profile? 88 Hail the Introverts 89 Proactive Personality 89 APPLYING OB: How to Thrive as an Introvert 90 SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.2: How Proactive Am I? 90 The Dark Side of Personality 92 Personality and Performance 93 Personality Testing at Work 93 APPLYING OB: Acing Employment Tests 94 There Is No “Ideal Employee” Personality 95

3.4 Core Self-Evaluations: How My Efficacy, Esteem, Locus, and Stability Affect My Performance 96 Self-Efficacy—“I Can Do That” 97 OB IN ACTION: You Can Go to the Moon and Beyond,

If You Believe in Yourself 98 Self-Esteem—“Look in the Mirror” 99

Locus of Control: Who’s Responsible—Me or External Factors? 100 Emotional Stability 101 Three Practical Considerations for Core Self-Evaluations 102 SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.3: How Positively Do I See Myself? 103

3.5 The Value of Being Emotionally Intelligent 104 What Is Emotional Intelligence? 104 SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.4: What Is Your Level of Emotional

Intelligence? 105 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Darkness in the C-Suite

at Uber 106 Benefits of EI 107

3.6 Understand Emotions to Influence Performance 109 Emotions—We All Have Them, but What Are They? 109 Emotions as Positive or Negative Reactions to Goal

Achievement 110 APPLYING OB: Do You Procrastinate? Blame Your

Emotions! 110 Besides Positive and Negative, There’s Past vs. Future 111 How Can I Manage My Negative Emotions at Work? 111 OB IN ACTION: The Good and Bad of Anger at Work 111 APPLYING OB: Managing Emotions During Job Search 113

3.7 Making the Connection: How Do Individual Differences and Emotions Affect My Performance? 114

What Did I Learn? 115 Problem-Solving Application Case: Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Worst Spokesperson. 117 Legal/Ethical Challenge: To Test or Not to Test, That Is a Problem 119

2.4 The Causes of Job Satisfaction 60 SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.3: How Satisfied Are You with Your

Present Job? 60 At a Glance: Five Predominant Models of Job Satisfaction 61 Brief Preview: Five Predominant Models of Job Satisfaction 61 A Shorter Walk to Work 62 APPLYING OB: Best Practices for Implementing

Telecommuting 63

2.5 Major Correlates and Consequences of Job Satisfaction 64 Attitudinal Outcomes of Job Satisfaction 64 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: What to Do, or Not to Do,

about Sexual Harassment 65

Behavioral Outcomes of Job Satisfaction 66 APPLYING OB: Using Job Satisfaction to Reduce Employee

Turnover 69 Organizational-Level Outcomes of Job Satisfaction 69

2.6 Making the Connection: How Do Values and Attitudes Affect Work-Related Outcomes? 70

What Did I Learn? 71 Problem-Solving Application Case: Walmart’s Values Come under Scrutiny 73 Legal/Ethical Challenge: What Should Management Do About an Abusive Supervisor? 75

4 SOCIAL PERCEPTION AND MANAGING DIVERSITY

WINNING AT WORK 122 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 122

4.1 The Perception Process 123 Stages of Social Perception 123 A Model of Person Perception 125 APPLYING OB: Developing Cultural Awareness to Enhance

Perception 127

Managerial Implications of Person Perception 128 OB IN ACTION: Virtual Interviews Can Improve the Accuracy

of Job Interviews and Reduce Costs 129

4.2 Stereotypes 130 Stereotype Formation and Maintenance 130 Managerial Challenges and Recommendations 131

xxii CONTENTS

4.7 Organizational Practices Used to Effectively Manage Diversity 148 Framework of Options 148 How Companies Are Responding to the Challenges of

Diversity 150 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Firefighters, 46 and 54,

Sue for Age Discrimination 151 SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.3: How Does My Diversity Profile Affect

My Relationships with Other People? 152

4.8 Making the Connection: Why Is Understanding Perception and Diversity Essential to Your Success? 153

What Did I Learn? 154 Problem-Solving Application Case: White, Male, and Asian: The Diversity Profile of Technology Companies 157 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Should Patient Requests Trump Health Care Employees’ Civil Rights? 159

4.3 Causal Attributions 132 Kelley’s Model of Attribution 132 Attributional Tendencies 134 Managerial Applications and Implications 134

4.4 Defining and Managing Diversity 135 Layers of Diversity 135 Affirmative Action vs. Diversity Management 137

4.5 Building the Business Case for Managing Diversity 139 Business Rationale 139 OB IN ACTION: Using Product Design to Reach a Diverse

Market 139 Trends in Workforce Diversity 140 SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.1: What Are Your Attitudes Toward

Working with Older Employees 144

4.6 Barriers and Challenges to Managing Diversity 145 APPLYING OB: Best Companies for Millennials 146 SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.2: Assessing an Organization’s Diversity

Climate 147

5 FOUNDATIONS OF EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION

WINNING AT WORK 161 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 161

5.1 The What and Why of Motivation 162 Motivation: What Is It? 162 The Two Fundamental Perspectives on Motivation:

An Overview 163

5.2 Content Theories of Motivation 164 McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y 164 Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Five Levels of Needs 164 Acquired Needs Theory: Achievement, Affiliation, and

Power 165 SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.1: Assessing Your Acquired Needs 166 OB IN ACTION: Cameron Mitchell, Founder and CEO of

Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Exemplifies Acquired Needs 167

Self-Determination Theory: Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness 168

Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory: Two Ways to Improve Satisfaction 169

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Walmart Adds Sick-Leave Pay. Problem Solved? 171

5.3 Process Theories of Motivation 173 Equity/Justice Theory: Am I Being Treated Fairly? 173 SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.2: Measuring Perceived Interpersonal

Treatment 176 Expectancy Theory: Does My Effort Lead to Desired

Outcomes? 178

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Symphony Orchestras on Strike 180

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: A High School Principal Uses Principles of Expectancy Theory to Motivate Students 182

Goal-Setting Theory: How Can I Harness the Power of Goal Setting? 182

5.4 Motivating Employees through Job Design 185 Top-Down Approaches—Management Designs Your Job 186 OB IN ACTION: Job Swapping and Job Rotation Opportunities

Abound 187 Bottom-Up Approaches—You Design Your Own Job 189 SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.3: To What Extent Have I Used Job

Crafting? 191 Idiosyncratic Deals (I-Deals)—You Negotiate the Design of Your

Job 191 SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.4: Creating an I-Deal 191

5.5 Making the Connection: How Can I Apply Motivation Theories? 192

What Did I Learn? 193 Problem-Solving Application Case: Workers at Amazon Are Not Feeling Motivated 195 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Should Senior Executives Receive Bonuses for Navigating a Company through Bankruptcy 197

6 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

WINNING AT WORK 200 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 200

6.1 Performance Management Processes 201 Effective Performance Management 201 Common Uses of Performance Management 202

APPLYING OB: Apply Goal Setting to Your Job and Career 203

What Goes Wrong with Performance Management 203 APPLYING OB: The Deloitte Way: “Snapshots”

and “Check-ins” 205 Contemporary PM Is Continual 206

xxiiiCONTENTS

Types of Rewards 226 SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.2: What Rewards Do I

Value Most? 227 Distribution Criteria 228 Desired Outcomes of the Reward System 228 APPLYING OB: Put the “I” In Team with Appropriate

Incentives 229 Be Sure You Get the Outcomes You Desire 229 Total and Alternative Rewards 230 OB IN ACTION: A Car, $100,000, and There’s More Where

That Came From at Hilcorp 231 Why Rewards Often Fail and How to Boost Their

Effectiveness 231 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Incentives, Performance,

and Schools 232 Pay for Performance 233 Making Pay for Performance Work 235

6.6 Reinforcement and Consequences 236 The Law of Effect—Linking Consequences

and Behaviors 236 Using Reinforcement to Condition Behavior 236 Contingent Consequences 237 Positive Reinforcement Schedules 239 Organizations Typically Rely on the Weakest

Schedule 241

6.7 Making the Connection: How Can I Use Goals, Feedback, Rewards, and Positive Reinforcement to Boost Effectiveness? 243

What Did I Learn? 245 Problem-Solving Application Case: Incentives Gone Wrong, Then Wrong Again, and Wrong Again 247 Legal/Ethical Challenge: What Is Your Current Salary? 249

6.2 Define Performance—Expectations and Goals 207 Do You Want to Perform or Learn? 207 Managing the Goal-Setting Process 208 OB IN ACTION: I Need to See Some ID 210 Contingency Approach to Defining Performance and Setting

Goals 211

6.3 Performance Monitoring and Evaluations 212 Monitoring Performance—Measure Goals Appropriately and

Accurately 212 OB IN ACTION: Monitoring for Performance Becomes More

Sophisticated and Pervasive 213 Evaluating Performance 214

6.4 Performance Review, Feedback, and Coaching 217 What Effective Feedback Is . . . and Is Not 217 If Feedback Is So Helpful, Why Don’t We Get and Give More? 218 Two Functions of Feedback 218 Important Sources of Feedback—Including Those Often

Overlooked 219 OB IN ACTION: How Do You Spell Feedback and

Self-Improvement? Z-A-P-P-O-S! 220 Your Perceptions Matter 221 SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.1: What Is My Desire for Performance

Feedback? 221 APPLYING OB: Making Lemonade from Lemons—How to

Respond to Negative Feedback 222 Today’s Trends in Feedback 224 Coaching—Turning Feedback into Change 224 APPLYING OB: An “F” In Coaching Signals Success 225

6.5 Providing Rewards and Other Consequences 226 Key Factors in Organizational Rewards 226

7 POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

WINNING AT WORK 252 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 252

7.1 The Value of Positivity 253 Two Scenarios—Which Do You Prefer? 253 A Framework for Positivity 254 The Benefits of Positive OB Extend beyond Good

Performance 255 APPLYING OB: How to Build Positivity and Your Success 256 OB IN ACTION: How Do You Spell Green? ESG. 259 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Whole Foods vs. Whole

Amazon 260

7.2 The Power of Positive Emotions 261 Beyond Happy vs. Sad 261 Positive Emotions Are Contagious 262 How Much Positivity Is Enough? 264 APPLYING OB: Boost Positivity with Fun 265 SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.1: Learn Your Positivity Ratio 267

7.3 Fostering Mindfulness 268 Big Business 269 OB IN ACTION: Biotech, Insurance, and Industrials . . .

They’re All Mindful. What About You? 269

Benefits of Mindfulness 270 SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.2: What Is My Level of Mindfulness? 271 Practicing Mindfulness 271

7.4 Psychological Capital and Signature Strengths 273 Hope = Willpower + Waypower 273 Efficacy 274 Resilience 274 Optimism 274 OB IN ACTION: Resilience Is Organizational

at Kaiser 275 How I Can Develop My PsyCap 276 SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.3: What Is My Level of PsyCap? 276 Signature Strengths 277 SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.4: What Are My Signature

Strengths? 278

7.5 Positive Organizational Climates 279 OB IN ACTION: Sweetgreen . . . Sweet Indeed 279 Organizational Values 280 Organizational Practices 281 Virtuous Leadership 282

xxiv CONTENTS

7.7 Making the Connection: How Can I Flourish at School, Work, and Home? 288

What Did I Learn? 290 Problem-Solving Application Case: Opioids: Pain Relief, Grief, and Purdue 292 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Is Hiring Candidates with Criminal Records Wise or Risky? 294

7.6 Flourishing: The Destination of POB 283 Positive Emotions 283 APPLYING OB: Converting Rejection into Business, or Not 284 Engagement 285 Relationships 285 Meaningfulness 286 Achievement 287

8 GROUPS AND TEAMS

WINNING AT WORK 298 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 298

8.1 Group Characteristics 299 Formal and Informal Groups 300 Roles and Norms: The Social Building Blocks for Group and

Organizational Behavior 300 SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.1: Group and Team Role Preference

Scale 302 OB IN ACTION: Improve Team Norms to Improve Surgical

Outcomes 304

8.2 The Group Development Process 305 Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model of Group Development 306 APPLYING OB: How to Cultivate Cohesiveness and

Success 307 Punctuated Equilibrium 307

8.3 Teams and the Power of Common Purpose 309 SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.2: Is This a Mature Work Group or a

Team? 309 Team Players versus Free-Riders 309 OB IN ACTION: At T-Mobile Groups Lose,

But Teams Thrive! 310 SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.3: Evaluate Your Team Member

Effectiveness 311 Types of Teams 313

Virtual Teams 314 Team Interdependence 315

8.4 Trust Building and Repair—Essential Tools for Success 317 Three Forms of Trust and How to Build Them 318 SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.4: How Much Do You Trust Another? 319 APPLYING OB: Microinternships Can Produce Major Benefits 319 Repairing Trust 320

8.5 Keys to Team Effectiveness 321 Characteristics of High-Performing Teams 321 The 3 Cs of Effective Teams 321 OB IN ACTION: Want Better Teamwork? Expect and Ensure

Conflict 322 Collaboration and Team Rewards 324 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Hospitals and Nursing

Homes Collaborate to Combat Common Foes 325 OB IN ACTION: Space Travel Requires Teams of Teams 326

8.6 Making the Connection: How Can Working with Others Increase My Performance? 328

What Did I Learn? 330 Problem-Solving Application Case: Money, Design, and Disaster 332 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Whose Accountable? 334

PART TWO Groups 295

9 COMMUNICATION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

WINNING AT WORK 338 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 338

9.1 Basic Dimensions of the Communication Process 339 Defining Communication 339 How the Communication Process Works 340 OB IN ACTION: Transparency Is the Message at Skinfix 341 Selecting the Right Medium 342

9.2 Communication Competence 344 SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.1: Assessing Your Communication

Competence 344 Sources of Nonverbal Communication 344 Listening 346 SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.2: Assessing Your Listening Style 347 Nondefensive Communication 348

Connecting with Others via Empathy 348 OB IN ACTION: Empathy Is Good for Business 349

9.3 Gender, Generations, and Communication 350 Communication Patterns between Women and Men 350 Generational Differences in Communication 351 Improving Communications between the Sexes and

Generations 352

9.4 Social Media and OB 353 Social Media and Increased Productivity 354 APPLYING OB: How to Optimize LinkedIn 355 OB IN ACTION: Expanding Organizational Boundaries with

Crowdsourcing at Lego, Frito-Lay 356 Costs of Social Media 356 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: A Very Expensive

Fantasy 357

xxvCONTENTS

9.6 Making the Connection: How Can I Become a More Effective Communicator? 370

What Did I Learn? 372 Problem-Solving Application Case: United’s Turbulent Communications Strategy 375 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Should Social Media Posts Impact Life Insurance Premiums? 377

Make E-mail Your Friend, Not Your Foe 358 Social Media Concerns and Remedies—What Companies and

You Can Do 358 SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.3: Assessing Social Media

Readiness 360 OB IN ACTION: Coca-Cola’s Online Social Media Principles 361 APPLYING OB: Acing a Skype Interview 363

9.5 Communication Skills to Boost your Effectiveness 364 Presenting—Do You Give Reports or Do You Tell Stories? 364 APPLYING OB: How to Dazzle the Crowd—Tips on Public

Speaking 366 Crucial Conversations 367 Managing Up 368

10 MANAGING CONFLICT AND NEGOTIATIONS

WINNING AT WORK 380 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 380

10.1 A Contemporary View of Conflict 381 SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.1: Interpersonal Conflict

Tendencies 381 Conflict Is Everywhere and It Matters 381 A Modern View of Conflict 381 A Conflict Continuum 382 Functional vs. Dysfunctional Conflict 382 Common Causes of Conflict 383 Escalation of Conflict 383 APPLYING OB: You’ve Decided to Leave Your Job . . . How Do

You Explain It During an Interview? 384 Conflict Avoidance 385 Desired Outcomes of Conflict Management 386

10.2 Conventional Forms of Conflict 387 Personality Conflicts 387 Intergroup Conflict 387 How to Handle Intergroup Conflict 388 SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.2: Psychological Safety Climate 390 APPLYING OB: Psychological Safety Is Oxygen at Google 390

10.3 Forms of Conflict Intensified by Technology 391 Work–Life Conflict 391 SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.3: School–Non-School Conflict 392 Incivility—Treating Others Poorly Has Real Costs 395 SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.4: Bullying Scale—Target and

Perpetrator 399

10.4 Effectively Managing Conflict 400 Programming Functional Conflict 400 Conflict-Handling Styles 401 SELF-ASSESSMENT 10.5: Preferred Conflict-

Handling Style 402 OB IN ACTION: Maybe It’s a Difference in Style, and

Maybe It’s Yours 404 Third-Party Interventions: Alternative Dispute

Resolution (ADRs) 405 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Food Fight on

Campus 406

10.5 Negotiation 408 Two Basic Types of Negotiation 408 OB IN ACTION: Who Is Going to Eat More Pie, Writers or

Agents? 410 Emotions and Negotiations 411 APPLYING OB: How to Ask for More Money 412 Ethics and Negotiations 413

10.6 Making the Connection: How Can Managing Conflict and Negotiating Give Me an Advantage? 415

What Did I Learn? 417 Problem-Solving Application Case: With Trouble Comes Conflict, and with Conflict Comes Trouble 419 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Arbitrate or Litigate? Employees Now Have a Choice 421

11 DECISION MAKING AND CREATIVITY

WINNING AT WORK 424 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 424

11.1 Rational and Nonrational Models of Decision Making 425 Two Ways of Thinking 425 Rational Decision Making: Managers Make Logical and Optimal

Decisions 426 Nonrational Models of Decision Making: Decision Making Does

Not Follow an Orderly Process 428 OB IN ACTION: Improving an Airport Terminal under Bounded

Rationality 429 APPLYING OB: Tips for Improving Your Intuition 432 SELF-ASSESSMENT 11.1: Assessing Your Intuition 432

11.2 Decision-Making Biases: Rules of Thumb or “Heuristics” 433 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Overconfidence

Bias Partly to Blame for California Wildfire 434

11.3 Evidence-Based Decision Making 437 Using Evidence to Make Decisions 438 Big Data: The Next Frontier in Evidence-Based

Decision Making 439 OB IN ACTION: Big Data Helps Advance the Health Care

Industry 440 Artificial Intelligence: Teaching Machines to

Make Decisions 440

xxvi CONTENTS

Practical Contingency Recommendations for Group Decision Making 450

Reaching Consensus: The Goal of Group Problem-Solving Techniques 450

Practical Problem-Solving Techniques 450

11.7 Creativity 452 A Model of Creativity 452 SELF-ASSESSMENT 11.4: Assessing Climate for Creativity 454 Practical Recommendations for Increasing Creativity 455 APPLYING OB: Tips for Sparking Creativity 455

11.8 Making the Connection: How Can I Master Decision-Making and Creativity Skills? 456

What Did I Learn? 457 Problem-Solving Application Case: Airbus Decides to Permanently Land the A380 460 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Should Colleges Expel Students Whose Parents Cheated to Get Them In? 462

11.4 Four Decision-Making Styles 442 Value Orientation and Tolerance for Ambiguity 442 The Directive Style: Action-Oriented Decision Makers Who

Focus on Facts 442 The Analytical Style: Careful and Slow Decision Makers Who

Like Lots of Information 443 The Conceptual Style: Intuitive Decision Makers Who Involve

Others in Long-Term Thinking 444 The Behavioral Style: Highly People-Oriented Decision

Makers 444 Which Style Are You? 444 SELF-ASSESSMENT 11.2: What Is My Decision-Making

Style? 444

11.5 A Road Map to Ethical Decision Making 445 11.6 Group Decision Making 447

Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Decision Making 448 Groupthink 448 SELF-ASSESSMENT 11.3: Assessing Participation in Group

Decision Making 450

12 POWER, INFLUENCE, AND POLITICS

WINNING AT WORK 466 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 466

12.1 Power and Its Basic Forms 467 Five Bases of Power 467 APPLYING OB: Follow Me—All the Way to the Bank 469 SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.1: What Kind of Power Do I Prefer? 470 Position vs. Personal Power 470 APPLYING OB: From Teammate to Manager: Taking Charge 471 Power, but for What Purpose? 472

12.2 Power Sharing and Empowerment 475 Structural Empowerment 475 Psychological Empowerment 477 How to Empower Individuals, Teams, and Organizations 478 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Empowering a Team of

Your Peers 479

12.3 Effectively Influencing Others 480 Common Influence Tactics 480 SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.2: Which Influence Tactics Do I Use? 482 OB IN ACTION: Hard Sell . . . Amazon Style 482 Match Tactics to Desired Outcomes 483 Influence in Virtual Teams 483 Cialdini’s Six Principles of Persuasion 484 Apply Your Knowledge 485

12.4 Political Tactics and How to Use Them 486 SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.3: How Political Am I? 486 Organizational Politics—The Good and the Bad 486

OB IN ACTION: Turning Politics Upside Down . . . Employees Rule! 487

Uncertainty and Political Behavior 487 Frequently Used Political Tactics 488 Blame and Politics 489 Three Levels of Political Action 490 OB IN ACTION: Fed Up, Rise Up, Affect Change . . . Students

Take Action 491 Using Politics to Your Advantage 492

12.5 Impression Management 493 What Is Impression Management? 493 Good Impressions 493 APPLYING OB: Etiquette Gets You Hired 494 SELF-ASSESSMENT 12.4: Your Impression Management—How

and Who 495 Impression Management and Job Interviews 496 OB IN ACTION: Is Your Ink an Asset, a Liability, or Just

Colorful? 496 Ethics and Impression Management  497 Apologies 498

12.6 Making the Connection: How Can I Apply Power, Influence, and Politics to Increase My Effectiveness? 500

What Did I Learn? 501 Problem-Solving Application Case: #MeToo—Just Do It! 503 Legal/Ethical Challenge: If You Work Here, You Can’t Eat Meat! 504

13 LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS

WINNING AT WORK 508 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 508

13.1 Making Sense of Leadership Theories 509 An Integrated Model of Leadership 509 What Is the Difference between Leading and Managing? 511 SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.1: Assessing Your Readiness to

Assume a Leadership Role 511

13.2 Trait Theories: Do Leaders Possess Unique Traits and Personal Characteristics? 512 What Core Traits Do Leaders Possess? 512 What Role Does Emotional Intelligence Play in Leadership

Effectiveness? 513 Do Women and Men Display the Same Leadership

Traits? 514

xxviiCONTENTS

13.5 Transformational Leadership: How Do Leaders Transform Employees’ Motives? 530 A Model of Transformational Leadership 530 How Does Transformational Leadership Work? 532 SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.4: Assessing Your Boss’s Transforma-

tional Leadership? 532

13.6 Additional Perspectives on Leadership 534 The Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Model of Leadership 534 SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.5: Assessing Your Leader-Member

Exchange 536 APPLYING OB: Tips for Improving the Quality of a

Leader–Member Exchange 536 The Power of Humility 537 The Role of Followers in the Leadership Process 537

13.7 Making the Connection: What Does It Take to Be an Effective Leader? 539

What Did I Learn? 540 Problem-Solving Application Case: Leadership Matters! 543 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Should Store Managers Force Employees to Pierce Kids’ Ears Against Their Wishes? 545

How Important Are Knowledge and Skills? 514 Do Perceptions Matter? 514 What Are the Take-Aways from Trait Theory? 515

13.3 Behavioral Theories: Which Leader Behaviors Drive Effectiveness? 516 Task-Oriented Leader Behavior 516 OB IN ACTION: Dabo Swinney Uses Task-Oriented Leadership

to Reclaim the Championship for Clemson 517 Relationship-Oriented Leader Behavior 518 SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.2: Assessing Your Task- and Relationship-

Oriented Leader Behavior 518 SELF-ASSESSMENT 13.3: Assessing Your Servant

Orientation 521 Abusive Supervision 521 OB IN ACTION: Abusive Leadership at a Pharmacy 522 What Are the Take-Aways from Behavioral Theory? 522

13.4 Contingency Theories: Does the Effectiveness of Leadership Depend on the Situation? 523 Fiedler’s Contingency Model 523 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Barnes & Noble Seeks a

Leader 525 House’s Path-Goal Theory 526 Applying Contingency Theories 529

14 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, SOCIALIZATION, AND MENTORING

WINNING AT WORK 550 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 550

14.1 The Foundation of Organizational Culture: Understanding Its Drivers and Functions 551 Defining Culture and Exploring Its Impact 551 The Three Levels of Organizational Culture 552 OB IN ACTION: Being vs. Becoming Sustainable 554 The Four Functions of Organizational Culture 555

14.2 The Impact of Organizational Culture Types on Outcomes 558 Identifying Culture Types with the Competing Values

Framework 558 OB IN ACTION: Activision Blizzard Integrates Clan and

Adhocracy Cultures 562 SELF-ASSESSMENT 14.1: What Is the Organizational Culture

at My Current Employer? 563 Outcomes Associated with Organizational Culture 564 Subcultures Matter 565

14.3 Mechanisms or Levers for Culture Change 566 12 Mechanisms or Levers for Creating Culture Change 567 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Sprouts Farmers Market:

The Best Culture or the Worst? 572 SELF-ASSESSMENT 14.2: What Type of Organizational Culture

Do I Prefer? 573

14.4 Embedding Organizational Culture Through the Socialization Process 574 A Three-Phase Model of Organizational Socialization 574 OB IN ACTION: Companies Use Different Approaches to

Onboard Employees 576 SELF-ASSESSMENT 14.3: Have You Been Adequately

Socialized? 577 Practical Applications of Socialization Research 577 APPLYING OB: Key Skills Needed for Success in a New

Job 579

14.5 Embedding Organizational Culture Through Mentoring 580 Functions of Mentoring 580 Human and Social Capital Enhance the Benefits of

Mentoring 582 APPLYING OB: Key Strategies for Cultivating a Network and a

Mentoring Relationship 583 SELF-ASSESSMENT 14.4: Assessing My Level

of Mentoring 584

14.6 Making the Connection: How Can I Use These Concepts to Fit, Develop, and Perform? 585

What Did I Learn? 586 Problem-Solving Application Case: Cultures Clash at Ford 589 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Should the Citadel Change Its Socialization Practices? 591

PART THREE Organizational Processes 547

xxviii CONTENTS

15 ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN, EFFECTIVENESS, AND INNOVATION

WINNING AT WORK 594 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 594

15.1 Understanding Organizational Behavior 595 15.2 The Foundation of an Organization 597

What Is an Organization? 597 Organization Charts 598 An Open-System Perspective of Organizations 599 Learning Organizations 600 SELF-ASSESSMENT 15.1: Are You Working for a Learning

Organization? 603 APPLYING OB: Learning from Failure 603

15.3 Organizational Design 604 Three Categories 604 Seven Types of Organizational Structures 606 OB IN ACTION: W.L. Gore & Associates Operates with a

Horizontal Design 607 SELF-ASSESSMENT 15.2: What Is Your Preference for

Telecommuting? 608 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Gig Workers Are a

Growing Force in the Labor Market 609

15.4 Contingency Design and Internal Alignment 613 Contingency Factors 613 Internal Alignment 614 What Does This Mean to Me? 615

15.5 Organizational Innovation 616 Approaches toward Innovation 616 An Innovation System: The Supporting Forces for

Innovation 618 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: Can AMD Innovate

without Risk? 620 SELF-ASSESSMENT 15.3: How Innovative Is the Organizational

Climate? 621 OB IN ACTION: Design Thinking Your Way to Innovative

Solutions 621 Office Design 623

15.6 Assessing Organizational Effectiveness 625 The Balanced Scorecard: A Dashboard-Based Approach to

Measuring Organizational Effectiveness 625 SELF-ASSESSMENT 15.4: Assessing the Learning and Growth

Perspective of the Balanced Scorecard 627 Strategy Mapping: Visual Representation of the Path to

Organizational Effectiveness 627

15.7 Making the Connection: How Can Understanding Organizational Design, Effectiveness, and Innovation Help Me Succeed? 629

What Did I Learn? 630 Problem-Solving Application Case: Barnes & Noble Faces Its Last Chapter 633 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Does Tax-Exempt Status for Universities Make Them Good Organizational Citizens? 634

16 MANAGING CHANGE AND STRESS

WINNING AT WORK 638 WHAT’S AHEAD IN THIS CHAPTER 638

16.1 Forces for Change 639 SELF-ASSESSMENT 16.1: Assessing Your Attitudes toward

Change at Work 639 External Forces 639 Internal Forces 643 OB IN ACTION: The C-Suite Revolving Door 644

16.2 Types and Models of Change 646 Three General Types of Change 646 Lewin’s Change Model 647 A Systems Model of Change 648 APPLYING OB: How to Formulate a Meaningful Mission

Statement 649 OB IN ACTION: Changing the World with Shoes and Much

More 650 SELF-ASSESSMENT 16.2: What Is Your Readiness for

Change? 651 Kotter’s Eight-Step Organizational Change Process 652 Creating Change through Organization Development (OD) 652

16.3 Understanding Resistance to Change 655 SELF-ASSESSMENT 16.3: Assessing Your Resistance to

Change 655 A Dynamic View of Resistance 655 Causes of Resistance to Change 656

16.4 The Good and the Bad of Stress 658 Stress—Good and Bad 658 A Model of Job Stress 659

Confronting and Overcoming Failures 663 APPLYING OB: “Tell me about a time . . .” 664

16.5 Effective Change and Stress Management 665 Applying the Systems Model of Change—Strategic Planning

and Diagnosis 665 PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION: HBO + TNT + TBS +

CNN + ETC = NEW AT&T 665 How to Overcome Resistance to Change 666 How to Manage Stress 669 APPLYING OB: How Do You Spell Stress Relief? R-A-N-T! 670 Pulling It All Together—Change Management Tips for

Managers 670 APPLYING OB: Five Tips for Effective Change 671

16.6 Making the Connection: How Can I Apply OB and Show What I’ve Learned? 672

What Did I Learn? 674 Problem-Solving Application Case: Toys R Amazon, Walmart, and Others, but Not Us 676 Legal/Ethical Challenge: Can Employers Ethically Force You to Change and Be Healthy? 678

ENDNOTES CN1 GLOSSARY/SUBJECT INDEX I-1 NAMES INDEX I-21 COMPANY INDEX I-25

Organizational Behavior

A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

Individual Behavior PART ONE

Caia Image/Image Source

LO 1-1 Describe the value of OB to your job and career.

LO 1-2 Identify factors that influence unethical conduct and how it affects performance.

LO 1-3 Utilize OB to solve problems and increase your effectiveness.

LO 1-4 Explain the practical relevance and power of OB to help solve problems.

LO 1-5 Utilize the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB.

LO 1-6 Apply the Organizing Framework to the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach.

LO 1-7 Describe the implications of OB knowledge and tools for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

In this chapter you’ll learn that the study and practice of OB often organizes the workplace into three levels—the individual, the group or team, and the organization. We therefore structured this book the same way—Part One is devoted to individual-level phenomena (job satisfaction), Part Two to groups and teams (team cohesiveness), and Part Three to the organizational level (innovation). Make sure you read the final section of Chapter 1 for a preview of the many con- cepts you’ll learn in the book. You’ll also find a summary and application of the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB and the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach. These are fundamental tools we created not only to help you learn more effectively, but also to help you apply and realize the true value of OB for you personally.

1 Making OB Work for Me

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Winning at Work Your Future

projects, practice, sports, or clubs) and/or work (intern- ships, full-time jobs, or volunteer work). Problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, teamwork, collaboration, com- munication, active listening, self-awareness, attention to detail, strategic thinking.

5. Your Commitment to Development. Be sure to Include train- ing or workshops (outside of school) you’ve done, as it will show you are aware of the importance of these skills and are committed to developing them.

6. Position Matters. Like real estate, location matters so be thoughtful as to where you put key words. Education-related information is obvious enough, in the education section, but others depend on the resume format you choose. For instance, skills-based resumes are now more popular com- pared to old-school chronological resumes, especially if you don’t have much experience yet or are changing careers.

7. Don’t Overlook the Cover Letter. This is an opportunity to include and highlight the most Important key skills, if you’ve identified them as suggested in #1 above.

8. What’s in a Name? A lot! Just as you expect to be addressed by your name in an interview, assume the ATS and humans who ultimately get involved in the hiring pro- cess also value names. Specifically, be sure to include the company name and job title. Don’t be generic, such as: “I want to join a company that ____,” or “I want to contribute to a valuable company . . .”4

Bottom line: Whether your major or job experience is accounting, finance, marketing, IT/IS, or something else, the fact is that jobs increasingly require OB knowledge and skills. “Everyone has to work across silos,” says Becky Frankiewicz, president of Man- power Group North America. And since OB skills “are not usually taught in business schools or undergraduate programs, they are qualities that you have to burnish on your own, preferably in the early stages of your career.”5

Your future starts with your next job, whether it is your very first or your tenth. Once you’ve identified a desirable job to apply for, the challenge becomes—how do you get that job? Part of the answer is to give employers what they want, and as you’ll learn employers want employees who possess and effectively use OB knowledge and tools.

Employers Want OB This is supported by the findings of countless surveys, such as one by ManpowerGroup with thousands of employers, which found 61 percent rate people (OB) skills as the most important trait in new hires.1 Research by the National Association of Col- leges and Employers (NACE) routinely shows the three skills most valued by employers are critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork.2 Building your skills in these areas and others is the overarching goal of this book. The Applying OB box later in this chapter differentiates and describes hard and soft skills in greater detail, but what we cover here Is how to emphasize these on your resume.

Talking to Robots As you likely know, many companies use applicant tracking soft- ware (ATS) that not only organizes the hundreds or even thousands of applications received, but also makes them searchable. ATS scans for key words inserted by humans, scores them accordingly, and then pares the applications based on these scores. This means you need to put points on the board with the robot. Even if you are indeed the best candidate, if you’re not seen—no interview, no offer, no job. And for the human eyes that ultimately review your resume, some estimates suggest a recruiter spends approximately 6 seconds reviewing your resume.3 So, what can you do?

First, it is your responsibility to communicate to the prospective employer (both their ATS robots and humans) what you can do for them. Tell them in direct and specific terms what they want to know and what you can do for them.

Use Their Language and Tell Them What You Can Offer 1. Use the Same Language. You are well served to use the

same words a prospective employer uses in their job ads. To ensure your spellings match theirs consider writing things in multiple forms. Your degree, for instance, “I have a bache- lor’s in management (BS in management),” includes two dif- ferent versions and increases likelihood of being “picked.”

2. Identify Key Skills for the Job. If the most Important skills are not listed or evident in the job posting, then what do you do? Ask! Whomever you can communicate with simply ask, “I know the posting notes a number of important skills, but what are the two or three that are most important?”

3. Don’t Overlook Other Key Words. Your skills of course matter, but also do your research and include key words for Important customers, how they are served, as well as key products and services.

4. Don’t Just List or Tell—Illustrate! Better than simply listing are descriptions of how you’ve used these at school (team

What’s Ahead in This Chapter You’ll learn how OB can drive your job and career success. You’ll grasp the difference between hard and soft skills and the value of developing both, as well as the importance of self-awareness. We’ll show how ethics are integral to long- term individual and organizational success, and we’ll intro- duce a problem-solving approach you can use in a wide variety of situations at school, at work, and in life. What really powers this book is our Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB, which we introduce mid- chapter. This framework will help you organize and apply OB concepts and tools as you learn them. To show you the power of the Organizing Framework, we conclude the chapter with a preview of the many concepts, theories, and tools you will learn. We then show you how to apply this knowledge using our 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach. We think you’ll be intrigued by this glimpse into all you will learn in this book and course. Let’s get started!

4 PART 1 Individual Behavior

1.1 USE KNOWLEDGE OF OB TO ENHANCE YOUR PERFORMANCE AND CAREER

The term  organizational behavior (OB)  describes an interdisciplinary field dedi- cated to understanding and managing people at work. To achieve this goal, OB draws on research and practice from many disciplines, including:

• Anthropology • Political science • Economics • Psychology • Ethics • Sociology • Management • Neuroscience • Organizational theory • Vocational counseling

From this list you can see that OB is very much an applied and broad discipline that draws from many sources. Throughout this book we will help you see the relevance and value of OB for your own job and career.

Let’s begin by looking at how OB compares to your other courses, explaining the contingency perspective, which is the premise of contemporary OB, and exploring the importance of both hard and soft skills.

How OB Fits into My Curriculum and Influences My Success Organizational behavior is an academic discipline focused on understanding and managing people at work. This includes managing yourself and others both inside and outside the organization, but unlike jobs associated with functional disci- plines, such as accounting, marketing, and finance, you will not get a job in OB.

What then is the benefit of learning about OB? The answer is that the effective application of OB is critical to your success in all disciplines of work and all job levels. As you’ll learn, technical knowledge associated with any given job is important, but your ability to influence, get along with, man- age, and get things done through others is what makes the difference. Put more simply—people skills!

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Are you uncertain about the value of organizational behavior (OB) and how it fits into your

school curriculum or your professional life? This section will explain how OB can be valuable

to you. You’ll see how OB knowledge and tools go far beyond common sense and can

enhance your personal job performance and career success. For instance, you will learn what

it takes to get hired versus what it takes to get promoted, the importance of both hard and

soft skills, and the role of self-awareness in your success.

Describe the value of OB to your job and career.

LO 1-1

Our professional lives are extremely busy and challenging and effectiveness will require a host of both hard and soft skills. Your understanding and application of OB concepts and tools will help you meet the many challenges, perform better, and create more attractive opportunities throughout your career. Somos Images LLC/Alamy Stock Photo

5Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

Applying OB knowledge and tools gives you opportunities, sets you apart from your peers and competition, and contributes to your success. An important part of your success is ability to know which tools to use and under what circumstances. This is described as a contingency approach to managing people and is the foundation of con- temporary OB.

A Contingency Perspective—The Contemporary Foundation of OB A contingency approach calls for using the OB concepts and tools that best suit the situation, instead of trying to rely on “one best way.” This means there is no single best way to manage people, teams, or organizations. A particular management practice that worked today may not work tomorrow. What worked with one employee may not work with another. The best or most effective course of action instead depends on the situation.

Harvard’s Clayton Christensen put it this way: “Many of the widely accepted princi- ples of good management are only situationally appropriate.”6 Put differently, don’t use a hammer unless the job involves nails. You’ll learn in Chapter 13, for instance, no single leadership style is best and works in all situations. This makes OB very different from many of your other courses in that answers here are rarely black and white, right or wrong, but instead the best answer—the most appropriate behavior—depends on the situation. Directly considering situational factors is fundamental to OB and is emphasized through- out this book.

Therefore, to be effective you need to understand and do what is appropriate given the situation, rather than adhering to hard-and-fast rules or defaulting to personal preferences or organizational norms. Organizational behavior specialists, and many effective manag- ers, embrace the contingency approach because it helps them consider the many factors that influence the behavior and performance of individuals, groups, and organizations. Taking a broader, contingent perspective like this is a fundamental key to your success in the short and the long term.

Effectively applying the contingency approach requires self-awareness, which means knowing your own skills, abilities, values, weaknesses, strengths, preferences, and fit with the environment. It also includes knowing how others see you in terms of these same fac- tors. Not surprisingly, self-awareness is key to your success in both the short and long term.7 The following Applying OB box explains in some detail what self-awareness is and how to build It.

To help increase your self-awareness we include multiple Self-Assessments in every chapter. These are an excellent way to learn about yourself and see how you can apply OB at school, at work, and in your personal life. Go to Connect, complete the assess- ments, then answer the questions included in each of the Self-Assessment boxes.

Let’s start with your motivation to manage others. Many employees never manage others. Some choose not to and some don’t get the chance, but what about you? How motivated are you to manage others? Go to conect.mheducation.com and Self-Assessment 1.1 to learn about your motivation for managing others. What you learn might surprise you. Sur- prised or not, more precisely understand- ing your motivation to manage others can guide your course selection in college and your job choices in the marketplace.

A central feature of almost any successful development program is self- awareness. Knowing who you are and knowing your preferences are impor- tant considerations in personal development. Lana Isabella/Moment/Getty Images

6 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Applying OB

Employers Care—So Should You. The Stanford Graduate School of Business asked the members of its Advisory Council which skills are most important for their MBA students to learn. The most frequent answer was self- awareness.8 Self-awareness has been identified as one of the key attributes of successful leaders, as they tend to get along better with others and their compa- nies are more profitable.9

Key to Your Development. Larry Bossidy (former CEO of Honeywell) and Ram Charan (world-renowned man- agement expert) said it best in their book Execution: “When you know yourself, you are comfortable with your strengths and not crippled by your shortcomings. Self-awareness gives you the capacity to learn from your mistakes as well as your successes. It enables you to keep growing.”10

Influencing Others. They also argue that you need to know yourself in order to be authentic—real and not fake, the same on the outside as the inside. Authentic- ity is essential to influencing others, which we discuss in detail in Chapter 12. People don’t trust fakes, and it is difficult to influence or manage others if they don’t trust you (trust is covered in Chapter 8). The implica- tion is that to have a successful career you need to know who you are, what you want, and how others perceive you.

Experience + Power (does not equal) Self-Awareness. Unfortunately, some people’s experience and success lead them to be overconfident about their abilities and become less self-aware. Making matters worse, the same research revealed the more senior the leadership

position the greater the overconfidence, and only 10 to 15 percent of employees actually meet the criteria of self-awareness, despite nearly all believing they are!11

Building Your Self-Awareness. Research and practice provide excellent practical guidance:

1. Practice mindfulness daily. We’ll explore mindful- ness in detail in Chapter 7, but for our purposes here mindfulness involves purposefully focusing your attention on the here and now, yourself, the environment, and those around you in the present moment.

2. Take timeouts. Even if it is just a minute or two, stop what you are doing and do nothing. Don’t check your phone, e-mails, or go talk to a coworker. Self-awareness requires time and space, and when you’re working under (time) pressure you are most likely to go with your habits and usual ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. This is why true timeouts can foster self-awareness.

3. Keep a diary of strengths and weaknesses. Make and periodically revise a list of your strengths and weaknesses.

4. Take self-assessments. Many tests exist, for example the Myers-Briggs, that measure various personal characteristics and help you learn about yourself. Better still, there are multiple self-assessments in every chapter of this book.

5. Keep ears open, mouth shut. In other words, listen! Self-awareness requires insight and some of the best insights come from others. Seek feedback, listen, and learn.12

Self-Awareness Can Help You Build a Fulfilling Career

How Strong Is My Motivation to Manage? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 1.1 in Connect.

1. Does this instrument accurately assess your potential as a manager? Explain. 2. Which of the seven dimensions do you think is likely the best predictor of

managerial success? Which is the least? Explain. 3. The instrument emphasizes competition with others in a win-lose mentality.

Describe the pros and cons of this approach to management.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.1 CAREER READINESS

CAREER READINESS

7Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

“OB Is Just Common Sense” As professors and consultants we often hear, “OB is just common sense.” We can easily refute this inaccurate claim, but instead we simply say— “Even if it is common sense it certainly isn’t common practice!” If common sense were all that mattered, managers would always treat employees fairly, businesses would never make “stupid” decisions, and you and other employees would make very few mistakes. Everyone would perform better and be happier.

Moreover, common sense is largely based on experience or logic, both of which have limits, and it suffers three major weaknesses you need to be aware of and avoid:

• Overreliance on hindsight. Common sense works best in well-known or stable situa- tions with predictable outcomes—what worked before should work again. But mod- ern business situations are complex and uncertain and require adapting to change, which are exactly the conditions under which common sense is likely to fail. And because it focuses on the past, common sense lacks vision for the future.

• Lack of rigor. People comfortable with common-sense responses may not apply the effort required to appropriately analyze and solve problems. If you lack rigor, and aren’t especially thorough or precise, then you are unlikely to define the problem accurately, identify the true causes, or recommend the right courses of action.

• Lack of objectivity. Common sense can be overly subjective and lack a basis in sci- ence. In such cases we are not always able to explain or justify our reasoning to oth- ers, which is a sign that common sense lacks objectivity.

OB is a scientific means for overcoming the limits and weaknesses of common sense. The contingency approach in OB means you don’t settle for options based simply on expe- rience or common practice if another solution may be more effective. The goals of OB are to give you more than common sense, enhance your understanding of situations at work, and guide your behaviors. This in turn will make you more attractive to potential employ- ers and more effective once hired. Let’s explore this idea in greater detail, beginning with the importance of possessing and developing both hard and soft skills.

Employers Want Both Hard and Soft Skills Most of us know the difference between hard and soft skills.

• Hard skills  are the technical expertise and knowledge required to do a par- ticular task or job function, such as financial analysis, accounting, or operations.

• Soft skills  relate to human interactions and include both interpersonal skills and personal attributes.

Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer for iCIMS, an HR software provider described them this way: “Hard skills are what you do, and soft skills are how you do it.”13 Research has long showed people may excel based on hard skills but they often fail because of soft skills.14 Maybe that’s why firms tend to weigh soft skills so heavily when hiring. The Future of Jobs report by the World Economic Forum provides compelling supporting evidence. They found the most sought-after skills for graduates in 2020 are problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and people management.15

What do you notice about these four skills? Which are hard skills? None! Instead, all are soft skills, the skills you need to interact with, influence, and perform effectively when working with others.

This is a good news/bad news story. The good news—all of these skills are key topics in this book and can be developed. The bad news is 33 percent of recruiting professionals feel candidates’ skills in these areas have declined in the past five years.16 “Many claim that college grads are lacking in people skills and have trouble solving problems and thinking creatively. . . . Having a college degree and technical skills isn’t enough to land their first job.”17

8 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Table 1.1 shows four sought-after skills, along with a brief explanation of how we directly address them in this book.

One key aspect of soft skills is that they are not job specific. Instead they are  portable skills , more or less relevant in every job, at every level, and throughout your career.19 All of these and many more soft skills are represented by OB topics covered in this book, whether as personal attributes or interpersonal skills:

Personal attributes Interpersonal skills (with which you build goodwill and (with which you foster respectful trust and demonstrate integrity) interactions)

• Attitudes (Chapter 2) • Active listening (Chapters 12 and 13) • Personality (Chapter 3) • Positive attitudes (Chapters 2 and 7) • Teamwork (Chapter 8) • Effective communication (Chapter 9) • Leadership (Chapter 13)

The takeaway for you? Good interpersonal skills can make a candidate with a less-market- able degree an appealing hire, while a lack of people skills may doom a college grad to unemployment, low pay, or otherwise undesirable and limited opportunities.20

How OB Fits into My Career Hard skills are of course important. Accountants, for instance, need to understand debits and credits, financial analysts must calculate net present value, and both need to under- stand cash flows. However, to be competitive and give employers what they want, you must develop soft skills too. Some soft skills will even increase in importance over your career and help set you apart from the competition. To highlight this point, think about the crite- ria used for hiring workers versus promoting them.

TABLE 1.1 Four Skills Most Desired by Employers for Workforce 202018

SKILL DESCRIPTION THIS BOOK

1. Problem solving Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options then implement solutions.

Our problem-solving approach is used throughout the book. We repeatedly ask you to apply your knowledge to solve problems at school, at work, and in life.

2. Critical thinking Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternate solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Critical thinking is fundamental to this book and woven throughout. We designed features and exercises to help you think critically and apply your OB knowledge and tools.

3. Creativity Applying new ideas, processes, and technology to improve products, services, and other outcomes.

Creativity is a function of person and situation factors and can result In new processes and outcomes. All of these are fundamental elements of OB and described in more detail later In this chapter and throughout the book.

4. People management Motivating, developing, and influenc- ing others to meet individual, group, and organizational goals.

OB is people management which means every chapter provides knowl- edge and tools to make you a more effective people manager.

9Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

What It Takes to Get Hired Regardless of where you are in your career today, ask yourself: What criteria were used to hire you for your first job? What factors did your hir- ing manager consider? (If your first job is still ahead of you, what factors do you think will be most important?) You and most of your peers will identify things like college major, GPA, and internship or other experience. In short, for most jobs you are selected for your technical skills, your ability to do the given job. Whatever the selection criteria, you need to perform during the interview process in order to receive the offer. The Applying OB box provides some useful insights on how to ace interviews.

What It Takes to Get Promoted Now ask yourself what criteria are used for promotions? Of course, performance in your current job is often a primary consideration. However, you and many other employees may fail to realize that your per- ceived ability to get things done through others and to manage people will be another important deciding factor. If you and three of your coworkers are all vying for an open management position, then it’s likely all four of you perform at a high level. This means performance isn’t the only

Applying OB

Everyone knows that jobs are won or lost during interviews. Here are a few simple tips to help you finish on top.

1. Create an elevator pitch. Imagine you’re in the elevator with the interviewer and have only 60 seconds to sell yourself. Select your three best- selling points (strengths) and concisely explain how each would benefit the company. Stay focused—keep your pitch short and meaningful.

2. Finish strong. At the end of the interview state and show your enthusiasm for the opportunity. Also restate your one or two best-selling points and how they will benefit the company.

3. Prepare for situational questions. Anticipate questions like, “Why do you want this job?” and, “Tell me about a time when you had a conflict at work and what you did about it.” Be prepared to answer them by describing the situation, your behavior, and the resulting impact. Also consider describing what you learned in that situation.

4. Make your research social. Reach out to your net- work privately (you don’t want everyone to know you’re looking) and learn whether anyone has worked for or interviewed with your target com- pany. Learn about the person you’re interviewing with on LinkedIn—education, past jobs, positions within the target company. Glassdoor.com and other sites can be a wealth of information on employee experiences and compensation.

5. Don’t trip up on the money. It’s generally best to wait until you have a formal offer in hand before discussing pay. If asked about your salary require- ment during the interview, respond by saying, “Are you making me an offer?” The answer will likely be, “No, not yet.” But if the interviewer persists, say, “I would prefer to have all the details in hand in order to determine what would be most appro- priate and fair. Once I have those, I will happily dis- cuss compensation.”21

How to Ace Your Next Interview

An understanding of OB can provide extremely valuable knowledge and tools to help “sell” yourself during job interviews. Chris Ryan/OJO Images/age fotostock

CAREER READINESS

10 PART 1 Individual Behavior

deciding factor—all of you are top performers. Instead, it may be your perceived ability to directly or indirectly manage others!

Roxanne Hori, an associate dean at New York University’s Stern School of Business, echoes this argument: “Yes, your knowledge of the functional area you’re pursuing is important. But to succeed longer term . . . having strong team skills and knowing how to build and manage relationships were seen as just as important.” One executive she inter- viewed suggested that students should “take as much organizational behavior coursework as possible . . . because as you move into leadership roles, the key skills that will determine your success will be around your ability to interact with others in a highly effective fash- ion.”22 As authors of this book, we agree, but more Importantly we hope after learning the power of OB you’ll agree too.

Some career experts, such as Chrissy Scivicque, the CEO of a career coaching and training firm and writer for Forbes and The Wall Street Journal, go so far as to say that most people have the technical skills to succeed at higher-level jobs. And even if some new tech- nical knowledge is needed it generally is easy to learn. However, as you rise through the hierarchy your job generally will require a more developed set of soft skills, such as com- munication, emotional intelligence, ethics, and stress management.23

We make this point visually in Figure 1.1. It illustrates how technical or job-specific skills decline in importance as you move to levels of higher responsibility, while personal skills increase.

Performance Gives Me Credibility Performance matters because it gives you cred- ibility with your peers and those you may manage. Be aware that early in your career your bosses will be looking for more than your job performance. They also will evaluate your management potential, and their opinion will affect your future opportunities. So even in a non-management position you need to know how to:

• Apply different motivational tools (Chapter 5). • Provide constructive feedback (Chapter 6). • Develop and lead productive teams (Chapters 8 and 13). • Understand and manage organizational culture and change (Chapters 14 and 16).

Knowledge of OB, therefore, is critical to your individual performance, your ability to work with and manage others, and your career success (promotions, pay raises, increased opportunities). As you may already know, ethics can similarly make or break you at every step of your career, which is why we cover it next.

FIGURE 1.1 Relative Importance of Different Skills Based on Job Level

High

Low Job Level

Importance Personal Skills

Technical Skills

ExecutiveManagementFront-line

SOURCE: Lombardo, Michael, and Robert Eichinger. Preventing Derailment: What To Do Before It’s Too Late. North California: Center for Creative Leadership, 1989.

Ethics guides our behavior by identifying right, wrong, and the many shades of gray in between. We will weave discussions of ethics throughout the book for three key reasons.

1. Employees are confronted with ethical challenges at all levels of organizations and throughout their careers.

2. Unethical behavior damages relationships, erodes trust, and thus makes it difficult to influence others and conduct business.

3. Unethical behavior reduces cooperation, loyalty, and contribution, which hurts the performance of individuals, teams, and organizations.

Ethics also gets priority because many OB topics have a direct and substantial influ- ence on the conduct of individuals and organizations. Notably, reward systems (Chapter 6), decision making (Chapter 11), leader behavior (Chapter 13), and organizational culture (Chapter 14) all can powerfully challenge our ethical standards at work. Let’s begin by describing cheating, a common form of unethical conduct at school and work.

Cheating Cheating is a persistent part of reality in sports, school, and business. For instance, with some regularity it seems a marathon runner either enters a race somewhere after the start line or cuts the course (Rory O’Connor in London 2018), a ball is doctored to provide unfair advantage (Cameron Bancroft of the Australia National cricket team), or an individual athlete throws games or shaves points. An investigation of professional tennis revealed a “tsunami” of fixed matches (hundreds) in the 2000s.24 Then there was the systematic use and cover-up of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) rampant in major league baseball in the early 2000s, Lance Armstrong and his seven Tour de France victories, and more recently the Russian Olympic team.25 PEDs are even used by card players! The world champion bridge player Geir Helgemo tested positive for banned substances and was suspended for one year and required to forfeit his title, awards, and points.26

Student Cheating If cheating is common in sports, it is rampant in high school and college. Fifty-one percent of high school students participating in a national survey reported cheating on exams. And besides typical school cheating, such as looking on another student’s paper, using a cheat sheet, or plagiarism, countless examples exist of students sharing answers via social media, text messages, Bluetooth technology, and vari- ous devices.28 Sixty-two percent of U.S. college students reported knowledge of another student using a connected device to cheat on an assignment, exam, or project.29

11Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

THE BIGGER PICTURE

If you were asked, “Do you know right from wrong? Are you secure in your ethics?” of course

you would answer yes to both questions. What’s interesting is that most people who suffer

ethical lapses also answer yes. OB can teach you about the drivers of unethical behavior, and

in the process improve your awareness while enabling you to reduce your risk. You’ll learn

that even though most unethical behavior is not illegal, it still causes tremendous damage to

people, their jobs and careers, and their employers. Fortunately, the OB concepts and tools

you learn through this course will help you recognize and navigate ethical challenges.

1.2 RIGHT VS. WRONG–ETHICS AND MY PERFORMANCE

Identify factors that influence unethical conduct and how it affects performance.

LO 1-2

12 PART 1 Individual Behavior

And then there is contract cheating, paying someone else to do your work. Countless websites advertise these services, and this type of cheating is at epidemic proportions according to some.30 A survey of students worldwide found 16 percent paid for at least one assignment during their college studies.31 Well-intentioned or not, some services can get students in trouble, such as twelve Texas Christian University students who were sus- pended for using the Quizlet app to cheat on exams.32 These are just a few examples and statistics of a very long list or cheating in grade school and college, increasingly assisted by technology. What percentage of students at your school do you think cheat on homework assignments? Exams? Take-home finals?

Administrators, Teachers, and Parents Too Cheating isn’t limited to students. T.M. Landry, a college prep school in rural Louisiana, which received incredible recogni- tion for sending underprivileged students to elite universities, was caught falsifying tran- scripts and college application materials.33 This is just another example of systematic and illegal efforts by schools and school systems to falsely elevate performance.34 Temple University’s business school dean was dismissed for submitting inaccurate data (e.g., GPA, admissions, and GMAT scores) to improve the school’s rankings.35

We now know some number of parents, college admissions consultants, counselors, coaches, and many others also engage in cheating, as revealed by the college admissions scan- dal unveiled in early 2019. William Singer, the college consultant at the center of the scandal, facilitated admissions for scores of students to numerous universities, such as the University of Southern California, Stanford, and Yale. Parents paid him nearly $25 million for his ser- vices, which included bribes to administrators, counselors, and coaches; faking student pro- files, sometimes as elite athletes for sports they didn’t even play; and having other people take SAT and ACT exams. Dozens of people have been charged with a host of crimes—money laundering, fraud, racketeering, and obstruction of justice—with many pleading guilty.36

If winning a game or receiving good grades are strong temptations, then of course people cheat to get ahead at work too, and sometimes misconduct seems contagious and infects an industry. A notable example is the emissions and fuel economy cheating perpe- trated by numerous automakers—VW (including Audi and Porsche), Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and Subaru. These companies engaged in widespread systematic falsification of measures of fuel economy to meet and beat various environmental standards.37

These examples highlight the frequency and destructiveness of cheating. Now, let’s explore other forms of unethical conduct and their legality, frequency, causes, and solutions.

Some describe cheating in marathons as rampant. Large races, like the Boston Marathon, can have nearly forty thousand competitors. And in some marathons hundreds have been accused of cheating in some fashion, from falsifying qualifying times to riding a bicycle twice during one race!27

Marty Schwalm/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald/Getty Images

13Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

Ethical Lapses—Legality, Frequency, Causes, and Solutions The vast majority of founders, leaders, and managers mean to run ethical organizations, yet corporate corruption is widespread. Some of the executives whose unethical behavior bank- rupted the organizations they led, destroyed the lives of many employees, and caused enor- mous financial losses for employees, investors, and customers in the last few decades are:

Michael Milken (Drexel Burnham Lambert, 1990)

Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling (Enron, 2001)

Bernie Ebbers (WorldCom, 2002)

Bernie Madoff (Madoff Investment Securities LLC, 2009)

Hisao Tanaka (Toshiba, 2015)

Sepp Blatter (FIFA, 2015)

Shigehisa Takada (Takada, 2017)

Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos, 2018)

Indictments and verdicts are a matter for the courts, and our point is that each of these disgraced executives led companies or organizations that in most cases employed thousands of other people. Surely these organizations did not advertise for and hire the criminally minded to assist the leaders in their unethical endeavors. Most employees prob- ably knew little or nothing about any unethical or illegal activities, while others were deeply involved. How does the work environment produce unethical conduct, sometimes on an extreme scale, from people who are otherwise good, well-intentioned, and on the right side of the law? Knowledge of OB helps you answer this question.

Unethical Does Not Mean Illegal While extreme examples of unethical and illegal conduct make headlines, they are the exception. The truth is that very few unethical acts are illegal, most are not punished in any way, and even if illegal, few are prosecuted.

This means you should not rely on the legal system to manage or assure ethical conduct at work. For instance, conflicts of interest are very common across industries and most are not illegal. The New York Times reported that Dr. Jose Baselga, a top cancer researcher, didn’t disclose millions of dollars in compensation received from pharmaceuti- cal companies for whom he conducted and published research related to their drugs. Dr. Baselga also served on the boards of these same companies, was an editor for one that published this work, and promoted the benefits of these drugs at conferences. Worse still,

Students aren’t the only ones who cheat in high school and college, Tracey and Michael Landry, founders of T.M. Landry College Prep in Louisiana, were accused of orchestrating a very intricate scheme to get the school’s students into some of the most elite universities. William Singer, a college consultant, implemented his own elaborate and far-reaching practices to ensure his clients’ (parents) children admission to colleges of their choice. (Left) Brian Snyder/Reuters/Newscom; (right) Steven Senne/AP Images

14 PART 1 Individual Behavior

some of this occurred while he was president of the Association of Cancer Research which made policies regarding researcher conflicts, and he was the chief med- ical officer at Sloan Kettering where some of the research was conducted.38

Southwest Airlines mechanics provided another example in 2019 when they created widespread slow- downs in flights to pressure the company in negotiations with their union. The mechanics slowed their work and grounded planes in the name of safety concerns, causing the cancellation of approximately 100 flights per day for several weeks.39 Such actions are not uncommon and rarely judged illegal, but they do raise ethical concerns given the costs and inconveniences to customers. The nearby OB in Action box provides another notable instance of how widespread unethical behavior has resulted in virtually no legal consequences.

Why Ethics Matters to Me and My Employer Criminal or not, unethical behavior harms not only the offending employee but also his or her coworkers and employer. Uneth- ical behavior by your coworkers, including company executives, can make you look bad and tarnish your career.

Dr. Jose Baselga was accused of numerous conflicts of interest related to his research. Eligio Paoni/Contrasto/Redux Pictures

Zero. That is the number of senior Wall Street Execu- tives that went to jail because of the 2008–2009 finan- cial crisis. This is baffling to many, as Wall Street firms were central to the creation, packaging, and sales of faulty financial products that cost millions of people their homes, jobs, and savings. It is estimated that $30 trillion of the world’s wealth was destroyed during the crisis, in large part due to the behaviors of financial institutions overseen by executives. Put simply, the crisis would not have happened without the firms and their leaders. Many of the biggest firms were saved by the govern- ment in what became known as “too big to fail.”40

Although over 300 people were convicted in relation to the crisis, most of these were community bankers, mortgage lenders, and real estate brokers and developers. The lack of consequences for the Wall Street executives is perhaps even more astounding when over $150 billion In fines were lev- ied and paid by their firms. Put differently, their firms were fined enormous sums of money, which means the firms were held accountable but the executives who led them were not. This contrasts with other countries, notably Iceland, which is far smaller than the U.S., but prosecuted the CEOs of three large banks and 23 other bankers.41

Two central figures in the U.S. during the crisis had telling and damning comments. Eric Holder, the U.S. attorney general at the time, said the conduct that led to the crisis was “unethical and irresponsi- ble.” And “some of this behavior—while morally rep- rehensible—may not necessarily have been criminal.”*42 Ben Bernanke, the chair of the Federal Reserve Bank during the financial crisis, said, “. . . more corporate executives should have gone to jail for their misdeeds . . . since everything that went wrong or was illegal was done by some individual, not by an abstract firm.”43

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. If you think executives (and perhaps other

employees) of financial institutions should be punished for their roles in the crisis, describe what punishment you think is appropriate.

2. If you think they should not be punished, explain why.

3. Is it appropriate for the firms to pay fines, but for the executives to avoid consequences? Justify your answer.

Wrong? Absolutely! Illegal? Seemingly Not.

OB in Action

15Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

SAC Capital Advisors, for example, was one of the most successful hedge funds in the 2000s. But the fund and its founder, Steven A. Cohen, were dogged throughout 2012–2016 by suspicions of insider trading, and many traders with ties to SAC were convicted. Before any formal charges were made against the firm itself or its founder, clients withdrew nearly $2 billion in assets.44 SAC investors ultimately withdrew even more money, nearly $2 billion in fines were levied, and the fund was ordered to close.

That didn’t stop Cohen, however, who reopened the company as a “family office,” named Point72, and traded only his personal fortune. He ultimately settled charges brought against him personally, without admitting guilt, which resulted in his paying no personal fines and being banned only from trading other people’s money for two years.45 In early 2018 his ban completed, Cohen opened a new fund and began to raise and invest other people’s money again.46

“Point72” and Steven A. Cohen are infamous. The financial returns of his former firm SAC Capital were legendary. Many of the most senior people in the firm were convicted or pled guilty to financial crimes. How about others in the firm who were perhaps uninvolved or even unaware of the insider trading?

To make this more real for you, imagine you are interviewing for a job. How would you explain your past employment history if it included jobs at SAC, Enron, Countrywide, MF Global, Madoff Investment Securities, Takada, or Theranos? It certainly is possible and even likely that you did nothing wrong. However, it is likely you would always be concerned about what others thought or suspected about your involvement. Would suspicions remain in the back of your future colleagues’ minds? Sometimes ethical choices are clear—right or wrong—but sometimes they are more complicated and pose dilemmas.

Ethical Dilemmas Ethical dilemmas are situations with two choices, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable manner. Such situations surround us at work and school and highlight that choosing among available options is not always a choice between right and wrong. Since such dilemmas are so frequent and potentially conse- quential, we include an Ethical/Legal Challenge feature at the end of each chapter that asks you to consider what you might do if confronted with difficult ethical choices at work.

An excellent example is the #MeToo movement. The women who have and will come forward are confronted with a true dilemma—speak out about the inappropriate, unaccept- able, and in some instances illegal behavior they have experienced, or say nothing and take a chance the behavior will continue with themselves and/or others. The first choice can be

Steven A. Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors eventually shut down after numerous employees pled guilty and/or were convicted of misconduct. But this didn’t stop Cohen, and he simply opened another firm (Point72 Asset Management) and continued trading. (Left) Seth Wenig/AP Images; (right) Suzanne DeChillo/Redux Pictures

16 PART 1 Individual Behavior

devastating to their jobs, careers, and reputations, and the second allows the bad behavior to continue.47 The stories in the headlines have seemingly wrecked the careers of the many famous and often wealthy men implicated,48 but what we don’t yet know and maybe never will is what will happen to the opportunities and careers of the accusers and victims? What costs will be borne by them? Similar considerations are highlighted in the OB in Action box related to whistleblowers.

An eternal dilemma confronts pharmaceutical companies. On the one hand they need to make a profit to reward shareholders and invest in research and development; however, in many instances how much profit is “enough”? What about denying life-saving medicines to those who cannot afford them? What about charging widely different prices for the same product to different patients based on their insurance or country? The difficulty with such dilemmas at least in part has contributed to some of the very public scandals related to drug pricing in recent years.49

Martin Shkreli earned a dubious reputation for purchasing existing pharmaceuticals with little competition, and then hiking the prices hundreds or even thousands of percent. Even while in prison on fraud and other charges, he is rumored to be attempting to run a pharmaceutical company, Illegally.50

(Left) Craig Ruttle/AP Images; (right) Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press/AP Images

Whistle-blowing often creates a particularly chal- lenging type of ethical dilemma. People do wrong, unethical, and even illegal things at work, and you and other employees know about the misconduct and may have even witnessed it firsthand. The dilemma is what to do about it—should you keep quiet or do you notify management or the authori- ties? Sharing your knowledge may indeed seem like the “right thing to do,” and depending on the situa- tion you may even profit, but it might cost you dearly.

Whistle-blowers can have many motives. Some are inspired by their personal sense of fairness or morality, while others may act out of greed or revenge. The Government Accountability Project (GAP) is a whistle-blower protection organization, whose director, Tom Devine, makes recommenda- tions for those inclined to speak out.

1. Think of Yourself. What are the potential benefits and costs to you personally?

2. Test Internally. Raise the Issue within the orga- nization before going to the authorities or media. Most organizations have mechanisms in place (such as hotlines) and chains of com- mand. Use them, even if you don’t expect them to work.

3. Recognize That It Will Be Personal. Many organizations will attack you and your charac- ter, regardless of what they do about the issue. Retaliation often occurs, and not just by the accused and offending indivi- dual(s),  but by others too.51 HR and legal departments are there to “protect” the organi- zation, not you.

The Whistle-Blower’s Dilemma

OB in Action

17Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

What Causes Unethical Behavior? Harvard professor Max Bazerman and Ann Tenbrunsel of the University of Notre Dame have studied ethical and unethical conduct extensively. They concluded that while criminally minded people exist in the workplace, most employees are good people with good intentions. Bazerman and Tenbrunsel contend that instead of ill intent, cognitive biases and organizational practices “blind managers to unethical behavior, whether it is their own or that of others.”56 Table 1.2 summarizes their findings and outlines causes of unethical behavior as well as what we can do to address that behavior as employees and managers.

Many possible reasons for unethical behavior at work exist, beyond those listed in Table 1.2, such as:

1. Personal motivation to perform (“I must be No. 1”).

2. Pressure from a supervisor to reach unrealistic performance goals along with threats for underperforming.

3. Reward systems that honor unethical behavior.

4. Employees’ perception of little or no consequences for crossing an ethical line.57

What about Unethical Behavior in College and When Applying for Jobs? A study of graduate students in the United States and Canada, including MBAs, found that

Whistle-Blowing for Profit The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 and some regulatory agencies provide incen- tives for whistle-blowers who report financial fraud which is both illegal and unethical. Some can receive up to 30 percent of any settlement if regulators col- lect more than $1 million due to the infraction.52 The largest awards to date were paid in 2018 when $83 million were paid to three whistle-blowers from Merrill Lynch who reported the misuse of funds.53

The Costs Although whistle-blower protection laws exist, they often do not sufficiently protect employ- ees. For instance, a vice president at Chase Bank, Linda Almonte, was asked to review more than 20,000 past-due credit card accounts before they were sold to another company. Almonte’s team reported back to her that nearly 60 percent con- tained some sort of major error, including discrepan- cies about the amount or whether the court had indeed ruled for the bank. Concerned, Almonte went up the chain of command, flagging the errors and encouraging management to halt the sale. Instead, the bank fired Almonte and completed the deal.54 Nobody would hire her, which ruined her profession- ally and financially. She and her family ultimately moved to another state, where they lived in a hotel while she continued to look for work.

Ultimately, Chase was ordered to pay $200 mil- lion in fines and restitution. The company also set- tled a suit for an undisclosed amount with Almonte.55

What’s the Lesson? Doing the right thing is just that, doing the right thing. While it is noble, doing the

right thing can also be very costly. Losing your job or suffering other forms of retaliation are unfortunately common, and there isn’t much recourse. Suing your employer, even if legitimate, rarely results in future job offers for the whistle-blower.

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What can employers do to encourage whistle-

blowers? 2. How can organizations ensure that whistle-

blowers are protected, other than simply making it a policy (just words)?

3. What can you do as an individual employee when you witness or become aware of unethical conduct?

Protesters calling for the protection of whistleblowers. Christophe Forestier/Alamy Stock Photo

18 PART 1 Individual Behavior

peer behavior was by far the strongest predictor of student cheating, followed by severity of penalties and certainty of being reported.58 Students are more likely to cheat if their class- mates cheat, and/or they think the probability of being caught is small, and if caught the penalties will not be severe.

However, don’t be too quick to blame this bad behavior on your lying, cheating classmates. The same researchers acknowledge that there are many other potential rea- sons for cheating, such as perceived unfairness in grading. It also is possible that stu- dents see different degrees of cheating—for instance, in homework assignments versus on exams.

As for job hunting, an analysis of 2.6 million job applicant background checks by ADP Screening and Selection Services revealed that “44 percent of applicants lied about their work histories, 41 percent lied about their education, and 23 percent falsified creden- tials or licenses.”59 Sadly, it’s seemingly getting worse. More recent data shows 85 percent of employers caught false information on resumes or applications, up from 66 percent five years earlier.60

Figure 1.2 highlights some of the most common and most outrageous lies told on resumes. Can you imagine being a recruiter? If you believe these numbers, more than half the people you interview could be lying to you about something!

TABLE 1.2 Causes of Unethical Behavior at Work and What to Do About It

ILL-CONCEIVED GOALS

MOTIVATED BLINDNESS

INDIRECT BLINDNESS

THE SLIPPERY SLOPE

OVERVALUING OUTCOMES

Description: We set goals and incentives to pro- mote a desired behavior, but they encourage a nega- tive one.

We overlook the unethical behavior of another when it’s in our interest to remain ignorant.

We hold others less accountable for unethical behavior when it’s carried out through third parties.

We are less able to see others’ unethical behavior when it develops gradually.

We give a pass to unethical behavior if the outcome is good.

Example: The pressure to maximize billable hours in accounting, consulting, and law firms leads to unconscious padding.

Baseball officials failed to notice they’d created conditions that encouraged steroid use.

A drug company deflects attention from a price increase by selling rights to another company, which imposes the increases.

Auditors may be more likely to accept a client firm’s questionable financial state- ments if infractions have accrued over time.

A researcher whose fraudulent clinical trial saves lives is considered more ethical than one whose fraudu- lent trial leads to deaths.

Remedy: Brainstorm unintended consequences when devising goals and incentives. Consider alternative goals that may be more important to reward.

Root out conflicts of interest. Simply being aware of them doesn’t necessarily reduce their negative effect on decision making.

When handing off or outsourcing work, ask whether the assignment might invite unethical behavior and take ownership of the implications.

Be alert for even trivial ethical infractions and address them immediately. Investigate whether a change in behavior has occurred.

Examine both “good” and “bad” decisions for their ethical implications. Reward solid decision processes, not just good outcomes.

SOURCE: Bazerman, Max H., and Ann E. Tenbrunsel. “Ethical Breakdowns: Good People often Let Bad Things Happen. Why?” Harvard Business Review 89, no. 4 (April 2011). https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=39125.

19Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

Employers are getting more sophisticated and thus are more likely to catch you by uti- lizing skills assessments as part of the hiring process for some jobs. Also coding or design skills can be assessed using simple behavioral questions during an interview. If dates and facts on your social media sites don’t align with your resume and other communications, this may also raise a red flag. Background checks are another way “alternative facts” are revealed, including not just contacting the references you provided, but perhaps even col- leagues from past employers too. Finally, keep in mind you’re never off the hook for the false information provided during the hiring process.61 Many news stories describe high- level individuals who have been called out and terminated.

Whether at work or school, some people don’t see their actions as unethical. Despite being convicted, the top two executives at Enron proclaim their innocence to this day, Jeff Skilling as well as Ken Lay until he died. Nevertheless, it will be helpful for you to learn more specifically about your own ethical tendencies. Some people view ethics in ideal terms, which means that ethical principles or standards apply universally across situations and time. Others, however, take a relativistic view and believe that what is ethical depends on the situation. Take Self-Assessment 1.2 to learn about your own views.

Most Creative Liars The best lies came from those who claimed to …

Liar, Liar, Résumé on Fire

More than half of hiring and HR managers have caught a lie on a résumé. Here are some results from a survey of more than 2,500 hiring professionals.

28%

31%

62%

54%

39%

Most Common Lies

200

Academic degrees

Job titles

Employment dates

Responsibilities

Skill sets

10060 8040

Be a Nobel Prize winner.

Be a former CEO of the company to which the person was applying.

Have worked in a jail (when the person really was serving time there).

Have attended a college that didn’t exist.

Be employed at three di�erent companies in three di�erent cities simultaneously.

Be HVAC-certified and later asked the hiring manager what “HVAC” meant.

AC

FIGURE 1.2 Examples and Prevalence of Lies on Resumes

SOURCE: Gurchiek, Kathy. “Liar, Liar, Resume on Fire.” SHRM, September 2, 2015. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/ hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/lying-exaggerating-padding-resume.aspx.

20 PART 1 Individual Behavior

What Can You Do about It? You have or likely will witness questionable or even blatantly unethical conduct at work and you may be tempted to think, This is common practice, the incident is minor, it’s not my responsibility to confront such issues, or loyal workers don’t confront each other. While such rationalizations for not confronting unethical conduct are common, they have consequences for individuals, groups, and organizations. What can you do instead? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Recognize that it’s business and treat it that way. Ethical issues are business issues, just like costs, revenues, and employee development. Collect data and present a convinc- ing case against the unethical conduct just as you would to develop a new product or strategy.

2. Accept that confronting ethical concerns is part of your job. Whether it is explicit in your job description or not, ethics is everyone’s job. If you think something is ques- tionable, act.

3. Challenge the rationale. Lapses occur despite policies against them. If this is the case, then ask, “If what you did is common practice or OK, then why do we have a policy forbidding it?” Alternatively, and no matter the rationale, you can ask, “Would you be willing to explain what you did and why in a meeting with our superiors, customers, or during an interview on the evening news?”

4. Use your lack of seniority or status as an asset. While many employees rely on their junior status to avoid confronting ethical issues, being junior can instead be an advan- tage. It enables you to raise issues by saying, “Because I’m new, I may have misunder- stood something, but it seems that what you’ve done may be out of bounds or could cause problems.”

5. Consider and explain long-term consequences. Many ethical issues are driven by temp- tations and benefits that play out in the short term. Frame and explain your views in terms of long-term consequences.

6. Suggest solutions—not just complaints. When confronting an issue, you will likely be perceived as more helpful and be taken more seriously if you provide an alternate course or solution. Doing so will also make it more difficult for the offender to disre- gard your complaint.62

Now that you have a good understanding of the importance of ethics at school and work, we’ll turn our attention to using OB to solve problems. The ability to apply OB to solve problems is a major part of what makes this knowledge so valuable.

Assessing My Perspective on Ethics Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 1.2 in Connect.

1. Are your views more idealistic or more relativistic? 2. What do you think about students cheating on homework assignments in

school? What about cheating on exams? 3. Are your answers consistent with your score? Explain. 4. Suppose you’re a manager. What does your score imply about the way you

would handle the unethical behavior of someone you manage? What about your boss’s unethical behavior?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.2 CAREER READINESS

21Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

A problem is a difference or gap between an actual and a desired state or outcome, and problem solving is a systematic process for closing such gaps.

Problem-solving skills are increasingly needed in today’s complex world. Loren Gary, former associate director at Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, supports this asser- tion: “The ability to identify the most important problems and devising imaginative responses to them is crucial to superior performance in the modern workplace, where workers at all levels of the organization are called upon to think critically, take ownership of problems, and make real-time decisions.”63

For example, Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon, has long downplayed the importance of meeting quarterly numbers to please Wall Street investors. He instead defines his problem as delivering superior service to customers, today, tomorrow, and for- ever. His problem-solving efforts are thus more likely to focus on innovative products and delivery times than on profit margins and earnings per share.

To help increase your personal performance and well-being at school, work, and home, we created an informal approach to apply OB tools and concepts to solving problems. It’s simple, practical, and ready to use now!

A 3-Step Approach There are many approaches to problem solving, and knowing this, it was important for us as professors and authors to pro- vide an approach that is both practical and effective across a variety of situations. The 3-Step Approach presented in this book is the result of our combined consulting experience of applying our knowledge of OB to help real-world employees and organizations solve problems. Our intent is to help you apply your OB knowledge and tools to boost your own effec- tiveness in school, at work, and in life.

Basics of the 3-Step Approach Here are the three steps in our applied approach to problem solving.

Step 1: Define the problem. Most people identify prob- lems reactively—after they happen—which causes them to make snap judgments or assumptions. These are often plagued by a reliance on common sense and result in defining the problem incorrectly, which in turn leads to identifying inaccurate causes and

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Now that you know that OB is not just common sense, the challenge is to find a way to orga-

nize and apply its many concepts and theories. In this section, we explain how you can apply

OB to effectively solve problems at work, at school, and in your life. We use a 3-Step Problem-

Solving Approach.

1.3 OB AND PROBLEM SOLVING

Utilize OB to solve problems and increase your effectiveness.

LO 1-3

Few CEOs have faced more scrutiny in the recent past than Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg. He has been challenged over concerns about privacy, sharing and selling access and data, and allowing the platform to influence election outcomes. Saul Loeb/Getty Images

22 PART 1 Individual Behavior

ineffective solutions. All of us could benefit from Albert Einstein’s comment, “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.” Let’s take Professor Einstein’s advice and learn how to improve our ability to define problems throughout this course and in your professional life. • Define problems in terms of desired outcomes, then test each one by asking, “Why is

this a problem?” First think of what you want, what is the desired outcome or state, then compare it to what you have or the current situation. It is important to resist snap judgements and quickly conclude you “know” the problem and underlying causes. You are better served to start with available facts and details. Then ask your- self, “Why is this gap a problem?” For example, suppose you are disengaged from your work. How do you know this? What is the evidence? Perhaps you no longer go out of your way to help your coworkers and stop responding to e-mails after work hours. You’ve defined your problem using evidence (or data). Now ask, “Why is this a problem?” Because when you are engaged, your coworkers benefit from you shar- ing your knowledge and experience. Coworkers and customers benefit from your responsiveness and willingness to respond to e-mails on their timeline, even when it isn’t necessarily convenient for you (after hours). We find that asking “why” multiple times helps refine and focus your definition of the problem.

Step 2: Identify potential causes using OB concepts and theories. Essential to effective problem solving is identifying the appropriate underlying causes. So far you have OB concepts like the contingency perspective and ethics—and many more are coming— to use as potential causes. The more knowledge you have to choose from, the more likely you will identify the appropriate cause(s) and recommendation(s). To improve your ability to accurately identify potential causes, we provide the following tip for Step 2. • Test your causes by asking, “Why or how does this cause the problem?” Once you

have confidently defined the problem in Step 1—disengagement—you need to identify potential causes (Step 2). Ask, “Why am I disengaged?” One common reason, backed by science, is that you perceive you were evaluated unfairly in your recent performance review. “Why or how did this cause disengagement?” If you feel unappreciated for what you’ve done, then you are unmotivated to go the extra mile to help your coworkers or customers. Asking “why” multiple times and fol- lowing the line of reasoning will lead you to define and identify problems and causes more accurately.

Step 3: Make recommendations and (if appropriate) take action. Whether planning and/or implementing recommendations, it is important to map or link recom- mendations to the causes and problems. The following is a simple and helpful suggestion. • Map recommendations onto causes. Be certain to link recommendations to causes

which are linked to the problem. The rationale is good recommendations address the causes, and when causes are removed or improved the underlying problem is solved or at least mitigated. Returning to our engagement example, the perceived fairness of performance reviews can be improved if managers use multiple raters, such as peers and the employee him- or herself (you’ll learn about multiple raters in Chapter 6). Now, map or link this recommendation to the cause (an unfair performance review) to ensure it is appropriate and will effectively address the cause identified in Step 2 and the problem defined in Step 1. Fixing the cause eliminates the problem.

How This Problem-Solving Approach Develops Throughout the Book As you learn more OB concepts and tools, the 3-Step Approach will become richer and more useful. Later, in Chapter 11, you’ll learn this approach to problem solving is an abbreviated version of the rational approach to decision making.

23Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

Tools to Reinforce My Problem-Solving Skills Because of our strong belief in the value of problem solving at school, work, and life more generally, we created numerous opportunities throughout the book to help you master this skill by applying OB. Each chapter, for instance, includes the following features:

• Problem-Solving Application Mini-Cases—These mini-cases present a problem or challenge for you to solve. You are asked to apply the 3-Step Approach to each.

• Self-Assessments—Validated instruments allow you to immediately assess your per- sonal characteristics related to OB concepts, frequently with a personal problem- solving focus (see below).

• End-of-Chapter Problem-Solving Application Cases—The full-length cases require you to apply the OB knowledge gained in a particular chapter to define the problem, determine the causes, and make recommendations.

• Ethical/Legal Challenge—Mini-cases present provocative ethical dilemmas in today’s workplace. You are asked to consider, choose, then justify different courses of action.

How good are your problem-solving skills? For a preliminary idea complete Self- Assessment 1.3 which measures your problem-solving skills and will help you understand:

• What types of things you consider when solving problems. • How you think about alternate solutions to problems. • Which approach you prefer when solving problems.

Tip: Take this assessment again at the end of the course to see whether your skills have improved.

Assessing Your Problem-Solving Potential Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 1.3 in Connect.

1. What do items 1–3 tell you about your ability to define problems? 2. Do your scores on items 4–6 match your perceptions of your ability to generate

effective solutions? 3. Using the individual items, describe the pros and cons of your tendencies

toward implementing solutions.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 1.3 CAREER READINESS

24 PART 1 Individual Behavior

1.4 STRUCTURE AND RIGOR IN SOLVING PROBLEMS

It’s easier to understand and apply OB if you categorize or organize your knowledge as you learn it. The first and most fundamental distinction is between elements that are related to you and those related to the situation.

The Person–Situation Distinction OB concepts and theories can be classified into two broad categories—person factors and situation factors. The person–situation distinction is foundational to OB.64

• Person factors are the infinite characteristics that give individuals their unique identities. These characteristics combine to influence every aspect of your life. In your job and career, they affect your goals and aspirations, the plans you make to achieve them, the way you execute such plans, and your ultimate level of achievement. Part One of this book is devoted to person factors.

This is simple and makes perfect sense, but as we all know reality is seldom simple. Things get in the way, and these “things” often are situation factors.

• Situation factors are all the elements outside us that influence what we do, the way we do it, and the ultimate results of our actions. A potentially infinite number of situation factors can either help or hinder your efforts and outcomes, such as job satisfaction, performance, and turnover.65 This is why situation factors are fundamental to OB and critically important to your performance. Parts Two and Three of this book are devoted to situation factors.

Which Influences Behavior and Performance More—Person or Situation Factors? Researchers and managers have debated for decades whether person or situ- ation factors are more influential. They ask, for instance, about the relative impact of “nature versus nurture” and whether leaders are “born or made.” We address these debates in Chapters 3 and 13, respectively.

Many believe that some people are by their nature better suited than others to perform well at work (“born winners”). In contrast, others believe some people are clearly better in a given job or situation. No particular person could outperform every other person in every possible job! No one is the best at everything.

This second view is supported by research in psychology and OB. The interactional perspective states that behavior is a function of interdependent person and situa- tion factors.66 The following quotation captures this reality: “Different people may per- ceive similar situations in different ways and similar people may perceive different situations in the same way.”67

THE BIGGER PICTURE

When struggling to solve a problem, have you ever felt the solution was beyond your reach?

Sometimes the solution is a matter of organizing or structuring the problem and its ele-

ments. OB can help. We’ll show you useful tools to assist in organizing and applying your OB

knowledge as it grows. You can use these same tools to solve problems more rigorously and

more effectively.

Explain the practical relevance and power of OB to help solve problems.

LO 1-4

25Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

People and Situations Are Dynamic People change, situations change, and the two change each other. To illustrate:

• People bring their abilities, goals, and experiences to each and every situation, which often changes the situation.

• Conversely, because situations have unique characteristics, such as opportunities, rewards, and coworkers, they change people. What you value in a job will likely dif- fer between now and the time you are trying to make a move to senior management.

• It is also true the current job market and employer expectations differ from those at the height of the technology bubble in the late 1990s or those in of the Great Recession of 2007–2009. In the first scenario employees changed, and in the sec- ond the situation changed.

• Finally, your manager—a situation factor—can change what you do, how you do it, and your effectiveness. You too can exert influence on your manager. In fact, many of the concepts and tools in this book can be applied to manage up (influence your manager and other superiors).

What is the bottom-line for your personal effectiveness? You need to understand both person and situation factors and the interplay between the two. Knowledge and consideration of one without the other is insufficient.

How Does the Person–Situation Distinction Help Me Apply OB Knowledge? Categorizing your knowledge in terms of person and situation factors is immensely helpful when applying OB knowledge to solve problems. Consider downsizing.

Many companies restructure indiscriminately and cut a large percentage from their employee ranks, such as a 20 percent across the board reduction. Assume you and five coworkers, all of whom do the same job, are downsized. Each of you experience the same event, but your reactions will vary. You might not feel too bad if you didn’t like the job and were considering going to graduate school anyway. Two of your coworkers, however, may be devastated and depressed.

Aside from the cyclical nature of its industry, U.S. automakers have felt intense competitive pressures for decades, resulting in persistent waves of layoffs—often tens of thousands per year. These industry and economic characteristics are important situation factors for these employees. (Left) Jim West/Alamy Stock Photo; (right) Darren McCollester/Getty Images

26 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Nevertheless, because the downsizing event was the same for all of you (the situation factors were identical), we can assume that the differences in everyone’s reactions were due to things about you as individuals (person factors), such as other job opportunities, how much each of you liked the job you just lost, your financial situation, and whether you have kids, mortgages, or a working partner. The person–situation distinction, therefore, provides a means for classifying OB concepts and theories into causes of behavior and problems.

The Three Levels of OB We explained above that OB distinguishes among three levels at work: individual, group/ team, and organizational. Let’s think about the varied reasons people quit their jobs as an Illustration of how considering levels helps in solving real-world problems.

• Some people quit because their job doesn’t fulfill what they value at work, for exam- ple, providing a challenging and stimulating work (an individual-level input).

• Others quit because of conflict with their boss or because they have nothing in com- mon with their coworkers (a group/team-level process).

• A common reason people quit is a faulty reward system which unfairly distributes raises, bonuses, recognition, and promotion opportunities (an organizational-level process).

Understanding and considering levels increases your problem-solving effectiveness and performance. This is highlighted in the problem-solving example in Section 1.6.

Applying OB Concepts to Problem Solving Nothing causes more harm than solving the wrong problem. Assume, for instance, that several people in your department have quit in the past year. What could be the reason? The person–situation distinction allows you to consider unique individual factors as well as situ- ation factors that might be the source of the problem. Considering the levels of individual, group, and organization will allow you to look at each for possible causes. For example:

• Person factors. Do your departing coworkers have something in common? Is there anything about their personalities that makes working in your department unfulfill- ing, for example, a preference to work collaboratively rather than independently? What about their ages? Gender? Skills?

• Situation factors. Has the job market improved and now offers more attractive opportunities at better wages elsewhere?

• Individual level. Has the job itself become boring and less meaningful or rewarding to the employees who quit?

• Group/team level. Did a new manager take over your department, one who micro- manages and is less interested in developing you and your coworkers? How does turnover in your department compare to that in other departments in the organiza- tion? Depending on the answers, the new manager or other factors may explain these differences?

• Organizational level. Has the organization changed or restructured such that the most desirable positions are now at the headquarters in another state?

By following this approach and asking these questions, you widen your focus and review a larger number of possible causes, increasing the likelihood you will identify the right problem. If you don’t quite follow this example, then have no fear because we’ll ana- lyze a turnover scenario in the last section of this chapter and provide a more detailed application. Stay tuned!

We now move on to the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. This tool is not only helpful for learning OB, but it is incredibly valuable when using OB to solve problems.

27Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

Given your knowledge of the person–situation distinction and levels (individual, group/ team, and organizational), you are now ready to learn about the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. We created this framework (see Figure 1.3) for two rea- sons. The first is to help you organize OB concepts and theories into three causally related categories--Inputs, Processes, and Outcomes. Students often ask, “How do these concepts fit together?” The Organizing Framework helps answer this question. The second reason for creating the Organizing Framework is its value in helping to solve problems. It enhances your problem-solving skills and marketability to employers. Now let’s explore this valuable tool in more detail.

A Basic Version of the Organizing Framework The foundation of the Organizing Framework is a systems model wherein inputs influ- ence outcomes through processes. The person and situation factors are inputs, and pro- cesses and outcomes are divided into the three levels of OB—individual, group/team, and organizational.

This framework implies that person and situation factors are the initial drivers of all outcomes, such that inputs affect processes and processes affect outcomes. This is a dynamic process which means many outcomes will in turn affect inputs and processes. See Figure 1.3. The relationships between outcomes at one point in time and inputs and pro- cesses at another are shown as feedback loops in the Organizing Framework (the black arrows at the bottom of the figure).

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You’re about to learn about the single best tool for understanding and applying OB’s many

concepts and tools—the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. The

framework will help tremendously in improving your problem-solving abilities at school, work,

and in your larger life space. In the final section, we give you practical and effective guidance

on how to choose among alternate solutions to problems.

1.5 THE ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING OB

Utilize the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB.

LO 1-5

FIGURE 1.3 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Personal Factors Situation Factors

Individual Level Group/Team Level Organizational Level

Individual Level Group/Team Level Organizational Level

28 PART 1 Individual Behavior

As you work through this book notice that each chapter begins with a version of the Organizing Framework that helps introduce the concepts discussed in that particular chap- ter. Each chapter repeats the same version of the framework at the end as part of the chap- ter review. If you add up the content of all the chapters, you’ll end up with something that looks like the fully populated or complete Organizing Framework shown in the next sec- tion of this chapter. The fully populated framework is a useful preview of all you will learn, a powerful tool for solving problems throughout the course, and an effective review tool for preparing for a comprehensive final exam.

By definition, frameworks (and models) are simplifications of reality and necessarily exclude information. This means the complete Organizing Framework will not show every OB concept that might affect employee behavior, performance, and other outcomes. How- ever, the basic elements of the framework will help you understand, organize, and apply any OB topic you encounter. The following OB in Action box illustrates the value of the Organizing Framework and its components—inputs, processes, and outcomes. Be sure to answer the “Your Thoughts?” questions, as they will show you how to apply your new OB knowledge and tools.

Applying OB

family interested in cats, dogs, and candy. At one facil- ity more than 200 employees bring their dogs to work each day. (Leash rules apply.)71

This family environment flows from the founding Mars family, which still tightly controls the company according to the “Five Principles of Mars”: quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency, and freedom. Employees can recite these principles and live them.72

You likely associate Mars Company with its candy products (Snickers, M&Ms, Lifesavers), for which it’s been known for more than 100 years. But what you likely don’t know is that today about half of the com- pany’s $35 billion in revenues and more than half of its 115,000 member workforce is dedicated to pet foods, such as Pedigree and Whiskas, and pet care, Banfield Pet Hospitals and Veterinary Centers of America (VCA), to name but a few. Mars is not only in the business of catering to your sweet tooth and your sweet dog or cat, but it also puts a high priority on catering to its employees.68 The company made the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For again in 2019 (#98),69 and the Organizing Framework of Understanding and Applying OB can help us understand how they do It.

Inputs The environment at Mars lacks the perks touted by many tech companies—no Foosball tables, no free gourmet lunches, and no premier health clubs. More than this, some work practices are downright old school. For instance, all employees, including the pres- ident, have to punch a time clock each day and are docked 10 percent of their pay for the day if late.70

But what Mars may seem to lack in style it makes up for with its culture. Former President Paul S. Michaels explains how the company aligns its values and practices by asking: “Does it add value for the consumer to pay for marble floors and Picassos?” If it doesn’t, then the company doesn’t provide it. Employ- ees seem to love the place and have very positive rela- tionships at work; many families have three generations working at Mars. The culture seems to be one big

Mars: The World We Want Tomorrow

James R. Martin/Shutterstock

29Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

Let’s now consider the details of the Organizing Framework and apply it to the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach.

Using the Organizing Framework for Problem Solving You can use the Organizing Framework at all three steps of the problem-solving process to add rigor, intelligently apply your OB knowledge, and in turn improve your performance.

Step 1: Define the problem. Problems can be defined in terms of gaps in outcomes at three levels in the Organizing Framework.

Step 2: Identify causes. Causes are often best thought of in terms of inputs (person or situation) or processes at various levels (individual, group/team, organizational).

Step 3: Generate recommendations. Consider the most appropriate recommendations using your OB knowledge and tools, then map these onto the causes (inputs or processes).

The ultimate effectiveness of your problem-solving efforts will be determined by the impact of your recommendations on the underlying causes and problem. Let’s discuss this next.

Selecting a Recommendation and Taking Action (if appropriate) Selecting recommendations (solutions) is both art and science. In fact, this is the decision-making part of the problem-solving process and is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 11. Choos- ing the appropriate course of action is critically Important as research shows nearly 50 percent of decisions fail.78 Part of the explanation is some managers rely largely on intuition (also discussed in Chapter 11) and experience. While these approaches can work, others use more analytical or systematic methods to select a solution.

Don’t Forget to Consider Constraints As a matter of practicality, most people lack the time, knowledge, or access to data to routinely follow such a rigorous procedure. Therefore, your selection most often requires you to consider various constraints—on time, money, your own authority, and information—that can occur at different levels. Let’s now consider a few practical pointers on how to select the best solution.

Applied Approaches to Selecting a Solution You can save time and hassle with the following practical advice from renowned problem- solving expert and professor Russell Ackoff. Ackoff recommends first deciding how

The company believes in and fosters sustainable practices across its businesses, including its suppliers and product development. For Instance, Mars created a product to address malnutrition in collaboration with the Tata Group In India.75

Outcomes Mars posts a very low turnover rate (5 percent),76 a sign that employees are highly satis- fied with their jobs. And the fact that the company has managed to grow consistently for decades and remain private is compelling evidence of its strong financial performance. Moreover, the CEO has plans to double revenues in the next 10 years and to do so sustainably.77

The focus on values reflects the purpose-driven nature of Mars and its leadership. Current CEO, Grant Reid, put It succinctly: “The way we do business today cre- ates the world we want tomorrow.”73

Processes While some practices may seem frugal, the company reportedly awards bonuses of 10 to 100 percent of employees’ salaries. The company also invests heavily in the community via its Mars Volun- teers and Ambassador Programs. For instance, associ- ates at their Banfield facilities impacted more than 144,000 people and pets In 2018, and other associ- ates assisted those affected by earthquakes and hur- ricanes in Mexico and Puerto Rico, respectively.74

30 PART 1 Individual Behavior

complete a response you are looking for. Do you want the problem to be resolved, solved, or dissolved?

• Resolving problems is arguably the most common action managers take and simply means choosing a satisfactory solution, one that works but is less than ideal. Putting a “doughnut” or temporary spare tire fixes a flat, but it is certainly not ideal and is unlikely to last.

• Solving problems is the optimal or ideal response. For instance, you could buy a new, high-quality, full-size spare to keep in your trunk (not the typical doughnut or the “run-flats” that manufacturers frequently provide).

• Dissolving problems requires changing or eliminating the situation in which the problem occurs. Keeping with our example, the city you live in could build and uti- lize effective public transportation and remove the necessity of having cars (and tires) altogether.79

Making this decision first helps guide your choice among alternatives. In addition, it helps you decide what you need, whether it is realistic, and what level of effort and resources to use.

Basic Elements for Selecting an Effective Solution After deciding whether to resolve, solve, or dissolve the identified problem, you need to select the most effective solution. A problem-solving expert says: “The essence of success- ful problem solving is to be willing to consider real alternatives.”80 To help you choose among alternatives identified in Step 2, we distilled three common elements that will help you qualify the best solution:

1. Selection criteria. Identify the criteria for the decision you must make, such as its effect on: • Bottom-line profits. • You and your classmates or coworkers. • Your organization’s reputation with customers or the community. • Your values. • Ethical implications.

2. Consequences. Consider the consequences of each alternative, especially trade-offs between the pros and the cons, such as: • Who wins and who loses. • Ideal vs. practical options. • Perfection vs. excellence. • Superior vs. satisfactory results.

3. Choice process. Decide who will participate in choosing the solution. (If more than one person, agree on the method. Will you vote? Will the vote be public or secret? Unanimous or simple majority?): • You • Third party • Team

In every case, consider the necessary resources, including which people will be key sources of support for (and resistance to) your ultimate selection. Consider who can help and who can hurt your efforts—what’s in it for them?

Putting it all together, the OB knowledge and tools you’ll learn in this book will help tremendously in selecting and implementing the best solution given the situation you face. The final section of this chapter provides a preview of what you will learn in this book, along with an example application of the Organizing Framework and the 3-Step Problem- Solving Approach.

31Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

We wrote this preview to serve three primary functions: (1) It is a sneak peek and fore- shadows all you will learn in this book; (2) it illustrates how to use the Organizing Frame- work when solving problems with the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach; and (3) it serves as a review for a comprehensive final exam for this course.

We begin this section by briefly reviewing the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach and the components of the Organizing Framework. We will apply these tools to an example problem-solving scenario. The purpose is to be a tutorial of how you are expected to apply your knowledge and these tools throughout the rest of the book.

The 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach This chapter began by demonstrating that common sense often is not common practice. We instead showed you how to think critically and add rigor and structure to your problem solving by using three steps, recapped as follows:

Step 1: Define the problem. To be an effective problem solver, you must define the problem accurately. It all starts here.

Step 2: Identify potential causes using OB concepts and theories. The many OB theo- ries and concepts you will learn are extremely useful in helping identify the underly- ing causes of the problem you defined in Step 1.

Step 3: Make recommendations and (if appropriate) take action. Once you have identi- fied the problem and its causes, you can plan and implement recommendations, applying your OB knowledge and tools.

Improving your problem-solving abilities will lead to better performance for you, your team, and your organization. This is important given that problem solving is one of the most sought after skills of employers across jobs and industries.

The Organizing Framework Figure 1.4 illustrates a summary version of the Organizing Framework. It shows the OB concepts and theories you will learn and includes chapter references for finding details about them. The framework further illustrates how the various concepts are related to each other: Inputs affect processes, which in turn influence outcomes. Remember, problems are generally identified by looking for gaps in desired versus actual outcomes, and causes can be found in inputs and processes.

Here are a few important insights from Figure 1.4. • There are more person factors that affect processes than situation factors. Pay par-

ticular attention to person factors when looking for causes of problems. • Solving problems requires you to think across levels. Notice the many different con-

cepts listed under individual, group/team, and organizational processes and outcomes. • OB concepts are both inputs and processes. Leadership is a good example. This

reinforces the dynamic nature of organizational behavior and underscores the con- sideration of connections between inputs and processes when solving problems.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

This section provides a high-level overview of what you will learn in this book, and it shows a

summary Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. A thorough application of

the 3-Step Problem Solving Approach is also provided to illustrate its power and applicability.

1.6 PREVIEW AND APPLICATION OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

Apply the Organizing Framework to the 3-Step Problem- Solving Approach.

LO 1-6

32 PART 1 Individual Behavior

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Personal Factors (associated chapters) Hard and soft skills: 1 • Ethical behavior: 1 • Values: 2 • Attitudes: 2 • Intelligence: 3 • Cognitive abilities: 3 • Personality: 3 • Core self-evaluations: 3 • Emotional intelligence: 3 • Stereotypes: 4 • Diversity: 4 • Motivation: 5, 6, 7 • Positive OB: 7 • Emotions: 3, 7 • Mindfulness: 7 • Psychological capital: 7 • Communication: 9 • Social media: 9 • Decision making: 11 • Creativity: 11 • Resistance to change: 16 Situation Factors • Ethical behavior of others:

1, 10, 12 • Leadership: 1, 8, 13 • Job design: 5 • Competition, regulators, and

leadership: 6 • Human resource policies,

practices, and procedures: 6, 9, 14

• Relationship quality: 8 • Decision making: 11 • Organization culture and

climate: 7, 10, 13, 14, 15 • Mentoring: 14 • Organizational design: 15 • Forces for change: 16 • Resistance to change

(coworker and organizational): 16

• Organizational mission and vision: 16

Individual Level (associated chapters) • Emotions: 3, 7 • Perceptions: 4, 6 • Attributions: 4 • Motivation: 5, 6, 7 • Job design: 5 • Performance management

practices: 6 • Communication: 7, 8, 9 • Trust: 8 • Decision making: 11, 15 • Creativity: 11 • Leadership: 1, 8, 13 • Mentoring: 14 Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics:

3, 4, 8, 11, 14, 16 • Communication: 7, 8, 9 • Group roles and norms: 8 • Group development: 8 • Trust: 8 • Team effectiveness: 8 • Conflict and negotiation: 10 • Decision making: 11 • Creativity: 11 • Power, influence, and

politics: 12 • Structural and psychological

empowerment: 12 • Impression management: 12 • Organizational culture and

climate: 7, 10, 13, 14, 15 • Organizational socialization: 14 • Mentoring: 14 • Organizational design: 15 Organizational Level • Managing diversity: 4 • Human resource policies,

practices, and procedures: 6, 8, 14

• Communication: 7, 8, 9 • Organizational culture and

climate: 7, 10, 13, 14, 15 • Decision making: 11 • Creativity: 11 • Leadership: 1, 6, 8, 13 • Organizational socialization: 14 • Organizational design: 15 • Leading and managing

change and stress: 16

Individual Level (associated chapters) • Task performance: all but 15 • Work attitudes: all but 11, 15 • Turnover: all but 11, 15 • Career outcomes:

1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 • Well-being/flourishing:

2, 3, 4, 7, 13, 16 • Citizenship behavior/

counterproductive behavior: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 16

• Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: 5

• Creativity: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15 • Physical health: 7 • Stress (physical and

emotional): 12, 15, 16 • Resistance to change: 15, 16 • Accidents: 16 • (Un)Ethical behavior: all but

3, 7, 15 Group/Team Level • Group/team performance: all

but 1, 2 • Group satisfaction:

3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16 • Group/team cohesion and

conflict: 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 • Group/team collaboration:

13, 15 • Innovation: 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16 • Resistance to change: 16 • (Un)Ethical behavior: all but

3, 7, 15 Organizational Level • Accounting/financial

performance: 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

• Customer service/satisfaction: 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16

• Survival: 3, 6, 16 • Reputation: 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, 16 • Employer of choice: 4, 6 • Innovation: 6, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16 • Organizational effectiveness:

7, 15, 16 • Legal liability: 9, 11, 12 • Product/service quality: 14 • Operational efficiency: 14, 15 • (Un)Ethical behavior: all but

3, 7, 15

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

FIGURE 1.4 Summary of Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

Technology: A Situation Factor That Affects Your Performance

Since the Blackberry Quark in 2003, the iPhone 2007, and the first Android in 2008, smartphones have become extensions of our hands, which means they go with us and are used everywhere.81 Approximately 31 percent of adults with smartphones report being online nearly constantly as do 39 percent of those 18–29 years old.82 Many employers allow employees to bring-their-own-devices (BYOD) and access work e-mail and other resources via their personal phones. Walmart, for instance, adopted such a policy and now allows employees to check inventory, prices, review sales data, and sign in and out for their shifts from their own devices. This is a reversal of previous policies that banned the use of personal devices at work.83

Benefits. Walmart obviously expects to save money and boost performance, and they like other employers are promoting the benefits to employ- ees. Employers claim smartphone use at work, and connectivity more generally, provides employees greater flexibility in terms of where they work, how, and when.84 Flexible work arrangements, such as telecommuting, have ballooned in the past decade

as a result and are now benefits highly valued by employees. On the surface this scenario appears to be a win-win, but the benefits are not without costs.

Costs. Besides privacy and security concerns, which are very real, always being connected has real costs. The statistics are overwhelming and troubling. For instance, more than half of Americans don’t take all of their allotted vacation time. This happens for

Martin Novak/Shutterstock

Problem-Solving Application

33Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

• Knowledge about OB is important. Simply look at the outcomes box! Over two dozen different outcomes are affected by OB-related inputs and processes. The framework further shows the frequency with which various outcomes are important to managers. Notice the number of chapters where individual task performance, work attitudes, turnover, group/team performance, innovation, accounting/financial performance, and customer service/satisfaction are discussed. And more personally, observe that career outcomes (an individual-level outcome) are related to concepts included in nearly every chapter.

Using the Framework for Learning When you first read or learn about a new concept we recommend you attempt to categorize it in terms of whether it is a person factor, such as values and work attitudes (Chapter 2), personality and emotions (Chapter 3), perceptions and diversity (Chapter 4); or a situation factor like human resource policies, practices, and proce- dures (Chapter 6), leader behavior (Chapter 13), and organizational culture (Chapter 14). Doing this will improve your understanding and help you learn how they are related to each other.

We also encourage you to consider the issue of levels as you progress in learning about OB. Not only do many OB concepts exist at particular levels, such as personality at the individual level, but some concepts like performance management and conflict are pro- cesses that can affect outcomes across all levels.

Breadth and Power of OB You should conclude from this that OB matters in busi- ness. More importantly it matters to you—your job and your career. And anyone (other textbooks, classmates, coworkers, bosses) who says OB is simply common sense, or that it only affects employee commitment, satisfaction, and performance, clearly does not under- stand the full and true power and value of OB. At the conclusion of this course you’ll know better and won’t make such mistakes!

34 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Hypothetical Problem-Solving Scenario Observation and practice are two excellent ways to learn. Let’s do both. We will work through a problem-solving scenario and show you how to use the Organizing Framework and the 3-Step Approach.

The scenario involves the problem of employee turnover, an individual-level outcome we used earlier in the chapter. For this application assume you are a valued junior employee who is thinking of quitting, and many other talented junior employees have quit your department in the past couple of years.

Step 1: Define the Problem To reiterate, a problem is a gap between a current situation and a desired situation or outcome. First review the outcomes box in the Organizing Framework, because many problems are gaps between one or more current and desired outcomes. For instance, in this hypothetical scenario your organization has a turnover problem. Why is this a problem? Because the company wants to have the appropriate number of talented people in its most crucial jobs. Note that defining the problem this way is different from saying more people quit your company this year than last year, or that your employer has higher turnover than its competitors. (Note: If your worst performers quit instead of your best, then you could argue your organization is better off due to the reduction in “dead wood” rather than having a problem.) It isn’t necessarily a problem to lose people, espe- cially underperformers or those with obsolete skills, but if your organization’s most valu- able and high-performing people (like you) quit, then a problem exists. This sort of reasoning highlights the importance of defining the problem accurately.

Now that we’ve confidently completed the first step and defined the problem accurately—turnover of talented, high-performing, junior employees—let’s continue the process and identify the potential causes of this turnover problem.

Step 2: Use OB to Highlight the Causes While people quit for a variety of reasons, a good place to start is to consider both person and situation inputs, then various processes

many reasons, but the most common are concerns (1) work will pile up while away, (2) only they can do their jobs, and (3) they could be replaced while away.85

Employees who don’t unplug are far more likely to report lower commitment (Chapter 2), lower engagement (Chapter 2), feel less valued (multiple chapters), and experience higher levels of stress (Chapter 16), anxiety (Chapters 3 and 16) and work- life conflicts (Chapter 10). Moreover, laws govern what constitutes work, overtime, and compensation, and our always connected society puts more and more companies at legal risk.86

Causes. Organizational cultures are part of the cause (Chapter 13). Company values, policies, and

practices are more or less supportive of unplugging. Besides the culture, your direct supervisor’s expec- tations and behavior (role modeling) determine to a large degree the extent to which employees suffer the pitfalls of always being plugged-in. One study found only 14 percent of managers unplug when they take time off and just 7 percent of senior level managers. This does not bode well for most of us.

More troubling still is that it seems the mere expectation you’ll check e-mail after hours causes anxiety, stress, and decreased well-being, even if you don’t actually check It! This suggests you don’t even have to actually work after hours to experi- ence negative effects.87

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem(s) described in this example. Remember, problems are gaps between

what exists and what is desired. Consider outcomes that are undesirable and for whom.

Step 2: Identify potential causes to the problem(s) defined In Step 1. Be sure to link the causes to the problem you identified.

Step 3: Make a recommendation aimed at each cause you feel will improve or remove the problem. Be sure your recommendations link to the causes identified in Step 2.

35Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

as potential causes of your organization’s turnover problem. Look at the summary Organizing Framework for guidance (see Figure 1.4).

• Potential Cause 1—Person factors often represent key causes of turnover. Possibly the junior employees are quitting because their jobs don’t fulfill their personal val- ues (see Chapter 2). Low job satisfaction (Chapter 2) and demotivating job charac- teristics (see Chapter 5) also might cause turnover.

• Potential Cause 2—Situation factors frequently are causes of turnover. For example, people may be quitting because they have poor relationships with their bosses (see Chapter 13) or are working in a culture (see Chapter 14) characterized by damaging political behavior (see Chapter 12).

• Potential Cause 3—Individual, group/team, and organizational processes can also cause turnover. Conflict (with your boss), a team-level process (see Chapter 10), may constitute a cause of turnover. Another is a faulty performance management system (an organizational-level process—Chapter 6), one that unfairly distributes raises, bonuses, and recognition. As you will learn in Chapter 5, perceived injustice can be a powerful driver of employee turnover.

Notice the potential causes are located in different components (inputs and processes) and different levels within the Organizing Framework. Using the Organizing Frame- work to identify potential causes increases the likelihood that you’ll identify the appro- priate ones, essential to creating and implementing the best solution in Step 3.

Step 3: Generate Effective Recommendations Using OB Now it’s time to review the poten- tial causes and identify the most likely and significant ones for the problem you defined in Step 1. Returning to our scenario, we list brief recommendations for each of the potential causes outlined above. We’ll address all three to highlight how much you will learn and the practical value of that knowledge.

• Response to Cause 1: Recommendations for Improving Person Factors. OB provides a host of ideas for solving problems. The needs of your most valuable employees could be better satisfied if they were allowed to work on projects that satisfy their values of self-direction or achievement (Chapters 2 and 5). Job satisfaction might be increased through rewards that equitably meet employees’ needs. Finally, motivation can be enhanced if people are allowed to assume more responsibility for projects (job enrichment) and the ability to decide how and when to do their work (autonomy).

• Response to Cause 2: Recommendations for Improving Situation Factors. Manager– employee relationships can suffer for many reasons, but let’s assume some key and more junior employees in your department feel they are in the “out group,” instead of the “in group,” consisting of older and more senior employees who have known and worked with your manager for many years. This cause sounds like poor leader– member exchange (LMX in Chapter 13), which can be remedied if managers are trained to be more inclusive and implement formal mentoring and development programs. Managers can improve the political behavior driving a negative culture by acknowledg- ing its existence and discontinuing the practice of rewarding people who are too politi- cal. Finally, team building (see Chapter 8) can reduce conflict among employees.

• Response to Cause 3: Recommendations for Improving Processes. Along with the knowl- edge you will gain related to justice and goal setting, Chapter 6 provides a host of ideas for improving performance management practices. A good place to start is to use Table 6.1 and clearly define and communicate performance goals and expectations. If these goals are SMART, then they are more likely to be achieved. Finally, rewards are more effective if the links between particular levels of performance and rewards are made clear. Rewards and their consequences should be fair and based on accurate performance evaluations.

Are you surprised by the many causes and potential solutions for this problem? As we just illustrated, the 3-Step Approach, combined with the Organizing Framework, can help you to more effectively solve problems. This, in turn, will contribute to your professional (and personal) effectiveness and potentially increase your opportunities.

36 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Takeaways for Me 1. Be sure you develop and apply both hard and soft skills. Effective employees can no

longer solely rely on technical expertise to get a job and advance once you do.

2. Consider the skills most sought after by employers (like critical thinking, problem solv- ing, decision making, active listening) and decide which are your strengths and weak- nesses. Use this knowledge along with the self-assessments in this book to improve your self-awareness and guide your development.

3. Give your employers what they want! Be sure to highlight the valued skills you possess during interviews and explore and seize opportunities to develop the others.

4. Identify the most common forms of unethical conduct in your job, determine possible causes using Table 1.2, and confront and/or avoid them. Unethical conduct can be so damaging to you and your career. Most unethical conduct is not illegal, which means legal action is rarely a viable solution. Also, be aware of the possible consequences of whistle-blowing—doing the “right thing” can be costly. Finally, applying rigor and structure to problem solving can help you avoid the pitfalls of common sense and make you more successful at work, at school, and in life.

Takeaways for Managers 1. Identify the key skills needed to be top performers in the jobs you manage. You may con-

sider an existing or past top performer, but we also suggest determining to what extent your current employees possess soft skills and the other skills noted as determined by the most current research. Select and develop employees focusing on these skills.

2. Determine the most common forms of unethical conduct for managers like you, as well as for those you manage. Identify the likely causes (see Table 1.2) and explain clearly what you expect from your employees when they are confronted with such situations.

3. Realize that performance and all other employee behavior is a function of both the per- son and the situation. Don’t be too quick to attribute bad (or good) behavior to the employee as situation factors may also be at play.

4. Improve your effectiveness and that of those you manage by applying the 3-Step Problem- Solving Approach. Be sure to define problems accurately and look for causes at multi- ple levels—individual, group/team, and organizational. Organizations and people are complex and managing them requires you to consider this complexity and deal with it effectively. Models like the Organizing Framework can help.

Our Wishes for You Knowledge by itself is not an advantage; to get ahead you must apply your knowledge. This is why we wrote this book with a primary emphasis on application and provide numerous opportunities for practice in every chapter. We encourage you to continually apply your new OB knowledge as you learn it. Applying knowledge is the key to achieving a more successful and fulfilling career, which is our ultimate wish for you and our goal for writing this book. Enjoy the rest of your journey!

Describe the implications of OB knowledge and tools for you and managers.

LO 1-7

1.7 MAKING THE CONNECTION: WHAT IS OB AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? THE BIGGER PICTURE

To reflect on and apply your new knowledge, we provide a few notable examples of how you

can benefit as both an employee and a manager.

37Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

You learned OB is a multidisciplinary field of study focused on behavior at three levels—individuals, groups/teams, and organizations. Understanding and applying OB knowledge and tools are valu- able means for Increasing your performance at school and work, as well as advancing your career. Like most every OB concept, (un)ethical behavior is determined by both person and situa- tion factors. More generally, OB knowledge is a powerful problem-solving tool and can make you more satisfied and effective in many arenas of your life—school, work, and home.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 1 You learned the following key points.

1.1 THE VALUE OF OB TO YOUR JOB AND CAREER

• OB is an applied discipline focused on man- aging the behaviors of individuals, groups/ teams, and organizations.

• The contingency approach says the best or most effective approach depends on the situation.

• Self-awareness is critically important to your short and long-term success.

• Employers want employees who possess both hard and soft skills.

1.2 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE UNETHICAL CONDUCT AND HOW IT AFFECTS PERFORMANCE

• Ethics is concerned with behavior—right, wrong, and the many shades of gray in between.

• The vast majority of unethical conduct at work is not illegal.

• Unethical conduct negatively affects the indi- vidual targets, the perpetrators, coworkers, and entire organizations.

• Ethical dilemmas are situations in which none of the potential solutions are ethically acceptable.

1.3 USING OB TO SOLVE PROBLEMS AND INCREASE YOUR EFFECTIVENESS

• A problem is a difference or gap between a current and a desired outcome or state.

• Problem solving is a systematic means for closing such differences or gaps.

• The 3-Step Problem Solving Approach includes defining the problem, identifying the causes using OB concepts, and making rec- ommendations and action plans.

1.4 THE PRACTICAL RELEVANCE AND POWER OF OB TO HELP SOLVE PROBLEMS

• The person–situation distinction is a funda- mental way to organize, understand, and apply OB concepts.

• Person factors are the many characteristics that give individuals their unique identities.

• Situation factors consist of all the elements outside us that influence what we do.

1.5 THE ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING OB

• The Organizing Framework is a tool that helps you organize, understand, and apply your OB knowledge and tool.

• The systems approach—inputs, processes, outcomes—is the basis of the Organizing Framework.

• The Organizing Framework is extremely valu- able when applied to the 3-Step Problem- Solving Approach.

What Did I Learn?

38 PART 1 Individual Behavior

1.6 APPLYING THE ORGANIZING FRAMEWORK TO THE 3-STEP PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH

• The Organizing Framework is a powerful tool to use with the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach.

• The fully populated Organizing Framework is an excellent preview of the breadth, depth, and practical knowledge you will gain during this course.

1.7 WHAT IS OB AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

• OB knowledge and tools are powerful means for enhancing your job performance and career opportunities.

• Understanding and applying OB concepts are critical for manager success.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 1 In this chapter we introduced our first application of the Organizing Framework, demonstrating the basic structure of inputs, processes, and outcomes (see Figure 1.5). The basic framework shown here will help you organize new concepts, theories, and tools as they are introduced, as well as help you retain and apply them. We’ll use the Organizing Framework at the end of each chapter as an aid to review and apply what you’ve just learned. We hope you are impressed by all that you will learn, as illustrated in the Summary Organizing Framework (Figure 1.4). The same framework can help you understand and manage behavior and solve problems in many different organizational contexts (clubs, sports teams, and other social groups).

FIGURE 1.5 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Personal Factors Situation Factors

Individual Level Group/Team Level Organizational Level

Individual Level Group/Team Level Organizational Level

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

39Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

How can you change the world of medicine, or at least medical testing, monitoring, and diagnosis? One potential way is to invent a device that performs more than 240 tests with just a couple of drops of blood, faster, more effectively, and with less pain than existing approaches.88 Coming up with the idea is one thing, but raising the funds and assembling the necessary talent is another. It’s not enough to have an idea, you need to bring it to life. If you were to do this it would help to be extremely intelligent, even more driven, and be willing to do anything it takes. Anything. This describes Elizabeth Holmes and the company she founded, Theranos, which aimed to revolutionize medicine with a new blood testing technology.

FORECLOSURE OF A DREAM Unfortunately, the technology didn’t work. But that didn’t stop Holmes from telling investors, customers, employees, the press, and everyone else it did. Her ambition transformed to fraud and resulted in the death of Theranos. The testing that supposedly certified the efficacy of the company’s product has since been dis- credited, and it is now known that some of the demon- strations of prototypes of the company’s products were rigged.

The billions of dollars in estimated value of Ther- anos are gone, along with It the accolades once show- ered on Holmes as being the youngest self-made billionaire at age 30. At one point $9 billion but now $0. Also gone is the $700 million of investors’ actual money, and the jobs of many very talented employees who were either fired or quit during the company’s existence. These employees, along with the unfortu- nate few who stayed to the end, may have tarnished reputations for years to come as a result of their asso- ciation with Holmes and her company. Holmes is now faced with the fallout and is confronted with criminal charges related to defrauding investors, customers, employees, and most anyone else connected to the company. Her ex-boyfriend, and Theranos’s president and COO, Ramesh Balwani is also facing many of the same charges. He acted as confidant, advisor, and as many insiders eventually learned, was seemingly the

only other person within the company besides Holmes how knew the truth.89

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? She went from Stanford undergraduate engineering stu- dent and celebrated female entrepreneur, to the founder and leader of one of the most astounding frauds in science and business in the recent past. Theranos was the company she founded with the hopes and claims that its technology would revolutionize blood testing and in the process medicine. Holmes always wanted to make an impact, and at 19 saw this as her path. She spent the next several years assembling the necessary talent, money, influence, and notoriety to realize her vision. But as we now know it was a sham.

Holmes was single-minded and unwavering in pur- suit of her vision. She ruled the company like a dictator, making all critical decisions herself, sharing informa- tion on a need to know basis, and expressing enthusi- asm and positivity even in instances of flat out failures, such as demonstrations and presentations to investors and potential customers. She quickly soured on, then avoided, and even retaliated against those who ques- tioned her or her ways. Absolute loyalty, which meant agreement and obedience, was demanded by Holmes. Individuals and groups who spoke out or otherwise fell out of favor were quickly dismissed, as was any feed- back that was inconsistent with Holmes’s desired mes- sage or outcome,90

Although it was Holmes’s company, and she hoarded authority, other factors supported her ulti- mately disastrous approach. Her vision, charisma, con- viction, and delivery persuaded many wealthy and otherwise powerful people and organizations to sup- port her cause. For Instance, two of the largest Inves- tors were Betsy DeVos, now education secretary and part of the founding family of Amway, as well as Rupert Murdoch (the media mogul who owns Fox among many others). The board was stacked with celebrities from government (Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, both former secretaries of state). Along with others with impressive track records from Apple and other tech companies, these prominent Individuals gave Holmes and Theranos credibility.91

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

Blood, Brilliance, Blind Ambition, and Fraud

40 PART 1 Individual Behavior

WHAT ABOUT THE BOARD? The company also had a board of directors, which, as in other companies public or private, was charged with ultimate oversight and responsibility. Members of the Theranos board had impressive resumes and should have been up to the task, such as Avie Tevanian, who was Steve Jobs’s righthand man at Apple and head of software engineering, and Don Lucas (chair of the board) a long-time and successful venture capitalist. However, they were relatively silent or when they did speak up, as Tevanian did, they were dismissed. Apparently, Holmes grew tired of his increasingly con- frontational insistence she “open the books” and jus- tify her seemingly wildly and overly optimistic revenue projections.92

But the real truth is coming to light from books, doc- umentaries, and legal proceedings. Walgreens, one of Theranos’s marquee customers, is suing for $140 mil- lion, the SEC has charged Holmes and Balwani with fraud, and other investors are sure to follow. This raises the question: how could this have been avoided? How can this be prevented in the future?

Assume you are the chair of the Theranos board of directors back in 2003 at the founding of the company. Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to pre- venting the debacle.

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB

STEP 1: Define the problem. A. Look first at the Outcomes box of the Organizing

Framework to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a prob- lem is a gap between a desired and current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accom- plished, decide which one is most important and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have key players, and problems are generally viewed from a particular player’s perspective. You need to determine from whose perspective—employee, manager, team, or the organization—you’re defining the problem. In this case you’re asked to assume the role of chair of the board of directors at Theranos.

C. Use details in the case to determine the key problem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems not included in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current

chapter, because we generally select cases illus- trating concepts specifically located within the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes. Using material from this chapter and summarized in the Organizing Framework, identify the causes of the problem you identified in Step 1? Remember, causes tend to appear in either the Inputs or Processes boxes.

A. Start by looking at the Organizing Framework (Figure 1.4) and decide which person factors, if any, are most likely causes of the defined prob- lem. For each cause, explain why this is a cause of the problem. Asking why multiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem. For example, do executive characteristics help explain the problem you defined in Step 1?

B. Follow the same process for the situation fac- tors. For each ask yourself, why is this a cause? By asking why multiple times you are likely to arrive at a complete and more accurate list of causes. Again, look to the Organizing Frame- work for this chapter for guidance. Did particular policies or practices play a role?

C. Now consider the Processes box in the Organizing Framework. Are any processes at the individual, group/team, or organizational level potential causes of your defined problem? For any pro- cess you consider, ask yourself, why is this a cause? Again, do this for several iterations to arrive at the root causes.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem and confirm the link or cause and effect connection.

STEP 3: Recommend solutions. Make your recommendations for solving the problem. Consider whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recommendation is desirable and feasible? A. Given the causes you identified in Step 2, what

are your best recommendations? Use material in the current chapter that best suits the cause. Consider the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes, because these contain insights into what others have done.

B. Be sure to consider the Organizing Framework— both person and situation factors—as well as processes at different levels.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your rec- ommendations and be sure your recommenda- tions map onto the causes and resolve the problem.

41Making OB Work for Me CHAPTER 1

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

What Would You Do?

Assume you are a nursing director for a nursing home. You’ve been working at the facility for a few short months when you learn the company that owns the home has been improperly overbilling Medicare for the care and services provided to the residents. You bring this to the attention of the company’s managers, but they do nothing. You then notify the appropriate authorities (becoming a whistle-blower) and, dismayed by the fraud and other problems, you quit.

Several months later you interview for a new posi- tion as nursing director at another facility. The inter- view is with a panel of 10 decision makers, including the CEO, medical director, and other administrators, who will decide whether or not you get the job.

One other important detail: This facility is just two miles from the one you reported to the authorities before quitting. Nursing, like some other industries, tends to be a closed circle of people who often cross paths repeatedly in different jobs over time. This means one or more of the interviewers may know about you and the other facility before the interview, or one or more of them will likely learn after if they don’t know already.

What would you do about divulging information regarding the allegations made against your previous employer? Choose your answer from the options below. Be sure to explain and justify your choice.

Your Response 1. Do not divulge the whistle-blowing. Justify. 2. Wait until you learn the outcome of the inter-

view; if you don’t get the offer, don’t share the information. Justify.

3. Wait until you learn the outcome of the panel interview; if you get a job offer, then tell the per- son who makes you the offer about the allega- tions. Explain your reasoning.

4. Tell all members of the panel during your inter- view. Explain your reasoning, Including anticipat- ing their potential reaction and what you might do as a result.

5. Create and explain another course of action.

LO 2-1 Describe the role values play in influencing your behavior.

LO 2-2 Explain how personal attitudes affect workplace behavior and work-related outcomes.

LO 2-3 Discuss the importance of four key workplace attitudes.

LO 2-4 Discuss the five causes of job satisfaction.

LO 2-5 Describe work-related outcomes associated with job satisfaction.

LO 2-6 Describe the implications of values and attitudes for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

The Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB shown in Figure 2.1 summa- rizes what you will learn in this chapter. Chapter 2 begins your study of the way values, personal attitudes, and intentions serve as inputs to a host of individual- and organizational-level out- comes. Remember, we generally define problems as gaps between the current and the desired state of one or more outcomes. In this chapter, pay attention to the way values and personal attitudes might become causes of problematic outcomes, such as low task performance, poor workplace attitudes, low well-being/flourishing, low citizenship behavior/counterproductive behavior, and high turnover. These inputs also might contribute to explaining the organizational- level outcomes of poor firm performance and low customer service or satisfaction.

2 Values and Attitudes

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Values • Personal Attitudes • Intentions

Situation Factors

Individual Level Group/Team Level Organizational Level

Individual Level • Task performance • Workplace attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Citizenship behavior/counter-

productive behavior • Turnover

Group/Team Level Organizational Level • Accounting/financial performance • Customer service/satisfaction

FIGURE 2.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

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Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

43

Creating Your Own Sense of Engagement If you’re still struggling to feel engaged, try these additional steps:

• Revisit the big picture. Refresh your understanding of your organization’s larger mission and how your work contributes to achieving it. What’s the larger picture, and what role does your work play? How can you close any gap that might exist between the two?

• Challenge yourself. If you’re just coasting along at work, look for a task that needs doing or a committee or work team to which you can contribute, and ask your manager to let you tackle this new opportunity. Emphasize your desire to learn and grow, and be ready to demonstrate that you’ll continue doing your current work to the highest standards.

• Take a break. If you haven’t taken any time off in a while, consider a short break or even a vacation to replenish your emotional resources. Try to physically and mentally disconnect from work as much as possible while away, and use the time to regain your focus and enthusiasm.

• Do something for yourself. Add a meaningful spark to your life outside work by volunteering in your community, learning a new skill unrelated to work, going to a profes- sional networking event, or simply making more time for socializing with family and friends.

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report says that only 15  percent of employees around the world are engaged at work, which could be costing U.S. employers alone as much as $550 billion in lost productivity every year.2 Rather than interpreting this data to mean you don’t stand a chance of maintaining your connection to work, realize that you actually have a unique oppor- tunity to stand out from the crowd. Fully engaged employees are widely acknowledged to be a company’s most valuable asset. That asset can be you.

We’ll see in this chapter that employee engagement is a work- place attitude that motivates people to identify with and immerse themselves in their work, actively applying a sense of urgency, focus, intensity, and enthusiasm. That sounds like a positive and rewarding approach to bring to the job every day, doesn’t it?

Managers have a number of tools at their disposal to help fos- ter engagement at work, like maintaining supportive relationships with employees and reducing factors that can create stress and frustration. The good news for those starting out in their careers, however, is that whether your manager uses these tools or not, you can foster your own sense of engagement no matter what kind of work you do.

Here are some ways to be sure you are bringing your best and most deeply engaged self to the job each day:1

• Know your job and what is expected of you. Ask well- informed questions, seek out training you may need, vol- unteer for extra assignments, and look for new roles you can play in your organization to increase your sense of competence and skill. These all contribute to engage- ment at work and increase your visibility as well.

• Speak up when you have appropriate opportunities. Those who are heard are usually more emotionally com- mitted to the organization and are more likely to feel they are valued. Offer positive suggestions or constructive feedback in team or committee meetings, for example.

• Ask for frequent feedback. Make it a habit to ask your boss, your coworkers, and your peers in other depart- ments how well you’re performing, so you know what you’re doing well and what to improve on. Recognition and praise build engagement, as does constructive criticism.

• Work on developing mindfulness. Mindfulness is a strat- egy that allows you to readily focus on the task at hand. Some immediate steps you can take are limiting your time online, checking your e-mail only once or twice a day and at specific times, and avoiding your cellphone during the work day except for emergencies. Don’t try to multitask. Instead, work on your ability to focus so you can enjoy the satisfaction of completing each task.

• Avoid coworkers who are actively disengaged. Disengaged workers can sometimes be influential people in the organization and are often vocal about their feel- ings, but their negative attitudes about the workplace are contagious and can spread dissatisfaction even among those who are otherwise ready to be fully engaged.

• Take charge of your health. To be sure you are working at your best performance level, eat healthy foods, drink plenty of water, exercise, get enough sleep, and spend a little time each day recharging through a quiet activity like yoga or meditation.

Winning at Work

What’s Ahead in This Chapter Now that you have new tools to make OB work for you— tools like the Organizing Framework and the 3-Step Prob- lem Solving Approach—you’re ready to put them to work. With this chapter we begin exploring how individual-level factors influence a host of important outcomes. Specifi- cally, we look at the way individual-level factors such as values affect workplace attitudes and behavior. We help you explore how your personal values affect your own workplace attitudes and behavior. We’ll outfit you with OB concepts to understand key work-related attitudes—orga- nizational commitment, employee engagement, and per- ceived organizational support—which lead to important outcomes at the individual and organizational levels. Before you’re done, you will understand the causes and consequences of job satisfaction, an important outcome for both employees and managers.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

44 PART 1 Individual Behavior

2.1 PERSONAL VALUES

 Values  are abstract ideals that guide our thinking and behavior across all situations. They stem from our parents’ values, our experiences in childhood and throughout life, and our religious or spiritual beliefs. Values are relatively stable and can influence our behavior without our being aware of it.

Understanding the way values affect our behavior matters for two reasons. First, val- ues guide our actions across all situations. Knowing this helps you to self-manage, such as by choosing a major or career for which you are well suited. Second, you will be more effective at influencing others’ attitudes and behaviors when you are armed with an under- standing of values and their effects.

Renowned researcher Shalom Schwartz created a theory of personal values that many managers and OB professionals find useful for understanding the motivational impact of our values. Let’s look at this theory.

Schwartz’s Value Theory Schwartz proposed that broad values motivate our behavior across any context. He catego- rized these values into two opposing or bipolar dimensions, as outlined in Table 2.1. The first dimension ranges from concern for the welfare of others (which Schwartz calls self- transcendence) to pursuit of one’s own interests (self-enhancement). The second dimen- sion ranges from self-directed independence (which Schwartz calls openness to change) to

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You may already have a good understanding of your personal values and the role they play in

your life. In an organization, personal values contribute to workplace attitudes and behavior.

So it’s important to understand how the full range of potential human values affects our atti-

tudes and behavior at work. Then you can use this knowledge to influence outcomes in the

Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB.

Describe the role values play in influencing your behavior.

LO 2-1

TABLE 2.1 Bipolar Dimensions in Schwartz’s Model

FIRST BIPOLAR DIMENSION

Self-Transcendence Self-Enhancement

Concern for the welfare and interests of others (universalism, benevolence).

Pursuit of one’s own interests and relative success and dominance over others (power, achievement).

SECOND BIPOLAR DIMENSION

Openness to Change Conservation

Independence of thought, action, and feelings and readiness for change (stimulation, self-direction).

Order, self-restriction, preservation of the past, and resistance to change (conformity, tradition, security).

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

45Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

conformity (conservation). Schwartz stressed that it is the relative importance we give to these two dimensions of opposing values that drives our behavior.3 For example, if you value achievement (self-enhancement) over universalism (self-transcendence), you will spend your evening studying hard to get an A in this class rather than attending a meeting about fighting climate change. Our values help us to make these types of choices.

Schwartz categorized 10 broad values within these two opposing dimensions. Figure 2.2 shows those 10 values as the slices of a pie, with the underlying opposing dimension shown outside the circle. Schwartz placed the 10 values in a circular-motivation structure to illustrate their compatibility. In general, adjacent values (like self-direction and universal- ism) are more compatible. That is, these values share a common focus that promotes their acceptance within an individual. Values that are farther apart (like self-direction and power) are less compatible or in conflict. Opposing values (such as self-direction and con- formity) are less likely to be held by the same individual. Schwartz noted that one set of values is in opposition to the other set, as suggested by the use of color in Figure 2.2. Notice the unique treatment of several values: Tradition and conformity share a single wedge, supporting the same broad motivational goal. Confor- mity is toward the center because it does not conflict with the opposing value quite as much as does tradition, which is toward the outside. Also notice that hedonism shares elements of both openness to change and self-enhancement.

Protesting is often driven by values-based issues such as ending gun violence. These protesters might be expressing the self-transcendence value of universalism and the self-direction value associated with openness to change. In contrast, completing a college degree might reflect values associated with achievement, power, and stimulation. (Left): Rena Schild/Shutterstock; (right): Digital Vision/SuperStock

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

46 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Workplace Applications of Schwartz’s Theory You can feel comfortable apply- ing this theory because research supports its basic structure and its prediction of behavior. For example, suppose you and several classmates are working together on a sustainability project for an earth sciences course. You volunteer to assign specific tasks to the three other classmates on the project. Paul, one of the team members, tells you he’s not con- vinced that climate change is a real issue, so it may not be a good idea to ask him to come up with ideas to protect the earth’s natural resources, because he may not value the impor- tance of protecting the environment (universalism). Instead, he might be better suited to prepare the project’s final report because he’s motivated to get an A for the assignment because success is important to him (achievement). In the workplace, managers can better supervise workers by using Schwartz’s model to understand their values and motivation. For example, if a manager knows that an employee values universalism and benevolence, then it would be wise to assign this employee to proj- ects or tasks that have social value. Managers can also use Figure 2.2 to reduce the chances of employees’ experiencing conflict between their values and their work assignments, when options are available. An employee who values tradition and conformity over achievement, for example, will not be happy about being asked to work on a holiday or to miss a child’s school play for work.

Excitement, novelty, and challenge in life (daring, a varied life, an exciting life)

Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself (pleasure, enjoying life)

Independent thought and action, choosing, creating, exploring (creativity, freedom, independent, curious, choosing own goals)

Understanding, appreciation, tolerance and protection of the welfare of all people and of nature (broad-minded, wisdom, social justice, equality, a world at peace, a world of beauty, unity with nature, protecting the environment)

Preservation and enhancement of the welfare of people with whom one is in frequent personal contact (helpful, honest, forgiving, loyal, responsible)

Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms (politeness, obedient, self- discipline, honoring parents and elders)

Personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards (successful, capable, ambitious, influential)

Social status and prestige, control or dominance over people and resources (social power, authority, wealth)

Safety, harmony, and stability of society, of relationships, and of self (family security, national security, social order, cleanliness, reciprocation of favors)

Self-Direction Universalism

Benevolence

Conformity

Security Power

Achievement

Stimulation

Hedonism Tradition

Respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs and ideas that traditional culture or religion provides the self (humble, accepting my portion in life, devout, respect for tradition, moderate)

O pe

nn es

s t o C

ha nge

S elf-Enhancement

Co

ns er

va ti

on

Self-Transcendence

FIGURE 2.2 Values and Motives in Schwartz’s Theory

SOURCE: Schwartz, Shalom H. “An Overview of the Schwartz Theory of Basic Values.” Online Readings in Psychology and Culture 2, no.1 (2012): 9. https://doi. org/10.9707/2307-0919.1116. Bardi, Anat, and Shalom H. Schwartz. “Values and Behavior: Strength and Structure of Relations.” Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin 29, no. 10 (October 2003): 1207–220. https://doi:10.1177/0146167203254602.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

47Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Research also confirms the theory’s relevance cross-culturally for both children and adults. As you might expect, the priorities given to Schwartz’s values do vary across countries.4

Personal Application of Schwartz’s Theory Schwartz’s model can help you deter- mine whether your values are consistent with your goals and whether you are spending your time in a meaningful way. Complete the Self-Assessment that measures the worth to you of Schwartz’s 10 values, and whether your goals align with these values.

What Are My Core Values? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 2.1 in Connect.

1. Rank your scores for the values from high to low. Do you agree with this rank order?

2. What are your top five values? Which do you think has the greatest impact on your personal goals?

3. Do you think you may want to focus more on any of the five lowest-rated values as you graduate from school and pursue a career? Explain.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.1 CAREER READINESS

The Dynamics of Values In general, our values are relatively stable across time and situations. This means that positive employee attitudes and motivation are greatest when the work environment is consistent with employee values. For example, Airbnb, the global lodging website, tries to attract and motivate employees by offering them an annual travel and experiences credit of $2,000 to visit anywhere around the world where the company offers accommodations. The company does this because it believes Airbnb employees are driven to “embrace the adventure” and experience personal growth through traveling to different countries and communities.5

Values tend to vary across generations because they are inf luenced by events in childhood and youth. For example, the author’s parents lived through the Depression, which lasted through the 1930s and part of the 1940s. This experience led them to value security and to be conservative with their money. They did not like debt, and they opposed the use of credit cards. Do you know anyone with values like these? In contrast, the values held by baby boomers, people born between 1946 and 1964, are inf luenced by events like the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam War, and the shooting deaths of student protesters at Kent State University in Ohio. In contrast, Millennials, people born between 1980 and 2001, have been inf luenced by events like September 11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the founding of Google, and the rise of social media. What shapes the values of Generation Z? Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Zers have been inf luenced by growing up during a recession (focus on saving money); making connections on their mobile devices more than 10 hours a day; and fighting for racial equality and inclusion.6 We discuss generational differences thoroughly in Chapter 4.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

48 PART 1 Individual Behavior

2.2 PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND THEIR IMPACT ON BEHAVIOR AND OUTCOMES

In this section, we discuss the components of personal attitudes and examine the connec- tion between personal attitudes and behavior.

Personal attitudes affect behavior at a different level than do values. While values rep- resent global beliefs that influence behavior across all situations, personal attitudes relate only to behavior directed toward specific objects, persons, or situations. We summarize the differences between the two in Table 2.2.

 Attitudes  represent our feelings or opinions about people, places, and objects and range from positive to negative. They are important because they influence our behavior. For example, you are more likely to select chocolate ice cream over vanilla if you are more positively disposed toward chocolate. In contrast,  workplace attitudes  are an outcome of various OB-related processes, including leadership. In this chapter we reserve the term workplace attitudes for attitudes that have resulted from the interaction of various individual, group, and organizational processes. We examine the effects of work- place attitudes later in Section 2.3.

As predictors of likely behavior, attitudes attract serious attention. Hardly a day goes by without the popular media reporting the results of another effort to take the pulse of public opinion (attitudes). Political consultants use poll results, for instance, to draft mes- sages meant to nudge the public’s attitudes toward desired results. In the workplace, man- agers conduct attitude surveys to monitor workplace attitudes like job satisfaction and employee engagement, and to identify the causes of employee turnover.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Closely related to values are personal attitudes, which also operate as an input in the Orga-

nizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. (In contrast, workplace attitudes are

defined as outcomes in the framework.) Personal attitudes have three components—affective,

cognitive, and behavioral. Knowing these components helps us understand how and when

personal attitudes affect behavior. Have you ever been stopped short by something that

didn’t seem to make sense? When personal attitudes collide with reality, the result is cogni-

tive dissonance. From an OB perspective, your personal attitudes affect your behavior via

your intentions.

Explain how personal attitudes affect workplace behavior and work-related outcomes.

LO 2-2

TABLE 2.2 Differences between Values and Personal Attitudes

CONCEPT

SCOPE

INFLUENCE

AFFECTS BEHAVIOR

Personal Values Global Broad: All situations Variously

Personal Attitudes Specific Targeted: Specifically Via intentions

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49Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Personal Attitudes: They Represent Your Consistent Beliefs and Feelings about Specific Things Consider a work example. If you have a positive attitude about your job (specifically, you like what you are doing), you should be more willing to extend yourself by working longer and harder. This example illustrates that attitudes propel us to act in a specific way in a specific context.

Values and attitudes are generally in harmony, but not always. A manager who strongly values helpful behavior may have a negative attitude toward helping an unethical coworker.

The hospitality industry is using attitude surveys to identify the causes of employee dissatisfaction and turnover—and perhaps discover why there is a shortage of good cooks. A recent survey con- ducted by Culinary Agents revealed that career development opportunities were very important to kitchen and dining room employees. Managers use results from surveys like this to make organi- zational changes. One restaurant, for instance, implemented a Sous Chef Supper Series, in which under-chefs can introduce original dishes to the public. Others are making it easier for their cooks to stay healthy. Chef Tony Maws of Craigie on Main in Cambridge, Massachusetts, offers

company-sponsored yoga classes for employees. At SPQR in San Francisco, executive chef Matthew Accarrino has led his kitchen staff on bike rides to the Napa Valley to visit the restaurant’s partnering farm.7 Blue Apron, the meal kit delivery service, uses customized software to regularly survey employees with quick polls.8

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What are the pros and cons of using results from

attitude surveys to create organizational changes?

2. Do you think the changes described above will reduce employee turnover for cooks? Explain.

Hospitality Industry Uses Attitude Surveys to Target Causes of Turnover

OB in Action

This pastry chef seems to be enjoying her job. Not only does this attitude posi- tively impact her performance, but it is contagious to others in the kitchen. Do you think we have a choice in our work attitudes? Echo/Image Source

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

50 PART 1 Individual Behavior

The Three Components of Attitudes: Affective, Cognitive, and Behavioral Our overall attitudes toward someone or something are a function of the combined influ- ence of three components of attitudes:

1. The affective component—“I feel.” The  affective component  of an attitude contains our feelings or emotions about a given object or situation. For example, how do you feel about people who talk on their cell phones in restau- rants? If you feel annoyed with such people, you are experiencing a negative affect toward them.

2. The cognitive component—“I believe.” The  cognitive component  of an attitude reflects our beliefs or ideas about an object or situation. What do you think about people who talk on cell phones in restaurants? Your idea that such behavior is rude (or not) represents the cognitive component of your attitude.

3. The behavioral component—“I intend.” The  behavioral component  refers to the way we intend or expect to act toward someone or something. For example, how would you intend to respond to someone talking on a cell phone during dinner at a restaurant if this individual were sitting near you and your guest?

All three components influence behavior. You are unlikely to say anything to someone using a cell phone in a restaurant if you are not irritated by this behavior (affective), if you believe cell phone use helps people manage their lives (cognitive), and if you have no intention of confronting the individual (behavioral).

When Attitudes and Reality Collide: Consistency and Cognitive Disso- nance Have you ever been accused of being a hypocrite—saying one thing and then behaving differently? Like most people, you probably want to maintain consistency between your attitudes and your behavior.

But sometimes attitudes conf lict with reality. Suppose Megan has a positive atti- tude about helping others. One day in class, Megan’s instructor announces there will be a contest to come up with the best social media campaign to increase enrollment at the school. The prize for winning the contest is $500, which would go a long way to helping Megan purchase a new laptop. The rub is that Rob, one of her classmates, has come to her seeking help on his contest entry, agreeing to split the cash prize with her if they win. Although Megan would like to help Rob, she feels it would take time away from completing her own entry. Should she make time to help her classmate or focus solely

We are more likely to purchase a car when we have positive atti- tudes toward it. These attitudes might pertain to make, model, color, price, and quality. Which component of attitudes would most strongly affect your overall attitude toward buying a sleek new convertible? John Lund/Marc Romanelli/Blend Images LLC

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51Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

on finishing her own contest entry? According to social psychologist Leon Festinger, Megan’s situation is creating cognitive dissonance.

 Cognitive dissonance  represents the psychological discomfort a person experi- ences when simultaneously holding two or more conflicting cognitions (ideas, beliefs, values, or emotions).9 Festinger was fascinated by the way people are motivated to maintain consistency (and avoid dissonance) among their attitudes and beliefs, and the way they resolve inconsistencies that drive cognitive dissonance. From observation, he theorized that we can reduce cognitive dissonance in three ways:

1. Change your attitude or behavior or both. Megan could either (a) tell herself that she can’t help Rob because she wants to win the contest and the much-needed prize money or (b) schedule a little extra time to help her classmate and split the prize money.

2. Belittle the importance of the inconsistent behavior. Megan could belittle (in the sense of “make small”) the belief that she needs to help her classmates every time they ask for assistance.

3. Find consonant elements that outweigh dissonant ones. Megan could tell herself that she can’t help because she could really use the prize money to buy a new laptop.

Attitudes Affect Behavior via Intentions Psychologists I. Ajzen and M. Fishbein further explored the reasons our attitudes and behav- ior can be misaligned. Based on this work, Ajzen developed and refined a model focusing on intentions as the key link between attitudes and planned behavior. See Figure 2.3.

Determinants of Intention Figure 2.3 suggests that three key general motives (in the three gold circles) predict or at least influence intention and behavior.

1. Attitude toward the behavior: the degree to which a person has a favorable or unfavor- able evaluation of the behavior in question.

Subjective norm

Intention Behavior

Attitude toward the behavior

Perceived behavioral

control

FIGURE 2.3 Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior

SOURCE: Ajzen, Icek. “The Theory of Planned Behaviour.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 50, no. 2 (December 1991): 179–211.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

McDonald’s Workers Protest Sexual Harassment: What Should Management Do?

Problem-Solving Application

Hundreds of McDonald’s employees in 10 U.S. cit- ies recently staged a series of strikes to call atten- tion to the prevalence of sexual harassment at work and to urge the company to take more active steps to prevent it. “This is more important than work,” said one Kansas City employee who experienced harassment and skipped her shift to participate in that city’s rally. “We have the strength to protect one another and demand the justice we deserve,” she told the crowd.11

With historically low wages and a large share of the workforce, one that consists predominantly of women and young adults, the restaurant industry and the fast-food industry in particular employ many peo- ple typically vulnerable to rights violations. Four in 10 female employees in these sectors report having received unwanted sexual advances, and nearly 3 in 10 report various forms of harassment. The majority, including 90 percent of immigrant workers, keep quiet about such offenses, and many are unaware that they are legally entitled to protection and recourse.

The recent protests, organized by a labor rights group called Fight for $15, were intended to draw public attention to employees’ dissatisfaction

with McDonald’s response to complaints. “What McDonald’s does on this issue, how they choose to treat it, how they act on it proactively, will have influence on other stores,” said a lawyer for the workers.12 Among workers’ demands are better training, more effective ways to file complaints, and an employee committee specifically empowered to look into sexual misconduct issues at the compa- ny’s 14,000 stores.

Ten McDonald’s workers have already filed sex- ual harassment and retaliation complaints against male supervisors with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Nearly 30 other employees claim they have been harassed at work. Two enforcement problems specific to the restau- rant industry are that employees often depend on tips, making it difficult for them to challenge poor customer behavior, and the franchise structure of the fast-food sector, which large companies may feel absolves them from any responsibility for employee relations at individual stores. Workers want McDonald’s to take a bigger role in setting human resource policies at the franchise level, believing this will extend needed protections to

52 PART 1 Individual Behavior

2. Subjective norm: a social factor representing the perceived social pressure for or against the behavior.

3. Perceived behavioral control: the perceived ease or difficulty of performing the behavior, assumed to reflect past experience and anticipated obstacles.10

Consider the intention of donating blood. You would have a positive intention if you thought donating was valuable for society (attitude toward the behavior), if your friends were going to join you (subjective norm), and if you had the time to participate (perceived control).

Putting the Theory into Practice We provide a case regarding McDonald’s as a context for applying this theory. Once you identify the problem in the case, Ajzen’s theory can be used to explain why the McDonald’s employees went on strike. You do this by considering whether or not the three determinants of intentions are inf luencing the employees’ behavior of walking off their shifts. If you conclude that one or more of these determinants is a cause for the strike, then propose what management can do to change the situation. For example, if you believe that the McDonald’s workers have a positive attitude about going on strike, then what should management do to change these attitudes?

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53Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Research and Practical Applications According to the Ajzen model, someone’s intention to engage in a given behavior is a strong predictor of that behavior. For example, if you want a quick way to determine whether a worker will quit his or her job, have an objective third party ask the worker what he or she intends. The answer is likely to be accu- rate. Research supports this conclusion15 and the prediction that intentions are influenced by the three general motives in Ajzen’s model.16

So if we want to change behavior, we should look at intentions and ways we might modify them by working on the three general motives shown in Figure 2.3. Managers may be able to influence behavioral change by doing or saying things that affect the three deter- minants of employees’ intentions to exhibit a specific behavior: attitude toward the behav- ior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. In your own life, if you want to exercise more, you should start by changing your intentions about exercising and your associated beliefs about it.

Let’s consider another practical illustration. Have you ever wanted a classmate to increase the quality of his or her work on a team project? If so, Ajzen’s model can help you. Start by trying to create a positive attitude toward contributing high-quality work. You might do this by telling the person that getting a good grade on the project will increase everyone’s chances of getting higher grades for the course and ultimately a better job upon graduation. Next, model the desired behavior by producing good work yourself and recog- nizing others who do the same. This should strengthen the subjective norm about doing high-quality work. Finally, talk to the individual about any obstacles getting in the way of high-quality work and discuss solutions for overcoming them. This should increase the person’s perceived behavioral control.

employees of franchise businesses that may not have a human resource department or a safe pro- cess for handling complaints about workplace harassment. As the lawyer quoted above observed, McDonald’s is a huge company and easily capable of doing this effectively if it chooses to.

McDonald’s statement said, “We have strong policies, procedures and training in place specifically designed to prevent sexual harassment. To ensure we are doing all that can be done, we have engaged experts in the areas of prevention and response.”13 Employees, however, say nothing is being done.14

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Action 1: What is the problem in this case?

Action 2: Identify the causes of the problem.

Action 3: Make a recommendation to correct the situation.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

54 PART 1 Individual Behavior

2.3 KEY WORKPLACE ATTITUDES

Savvy managers will track four key workplace attitudes:

1. Organizational commitment

2. Employee engagement

3. Perceived organizational support

4. Job satisfaction

These attitudinal measures serve a dual purpose. First, they represent important out- comes that managers may be working to enhance directly. Second, they link to other sig- nificant outcomes that managers will want to improve where possible. For example, low job satisfaction and low employee engagement imply lower task performance and higher employee turnover.17 This is why managers should track key workplace attitudes and under- stand their causes and consequences.

EXAMPLE Facebook sends out employee surveys on a regular basis to gauge work attitudes and employee engagement. The company discovered these surveys not only give employees the chance to be heard but also provide management with important information when it comes to how long people intend to stay at the social networking giant. For example, according to Facebook’s head of people analytics, individuals who don’t fill out employee surveys are 2.6 times more likely to leave the company over the next six months.18

This section specifically examines the first three of the four attitudes: organizational commitment, employee engagement, and perceived organizational support. Job satisfac- tion, the most studied workplace attitude, will be covered in a later section.

Organizational Commitment OB researchers define commitment as “a force that binds an individual to a course of action of relevance to one or more targets.”19 This definition highlights the way OB researchers link commitment to behavior and the way workers can commit to multiple targets or entities. For example, an individual can be committed to his or her job, family, girl- or boyfriend, faith, friends, career, organization, and/or a variety of profes- sional associations. Let us now consider the application of commitment to a work organization.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Of the many workplace attitudes we might see as outcomes in the Organizing Framework

for Understanding and Applying OB, researchers have identified a small number that

are  especially potent. These key attitudes allow you to track a limited number of work-

place attitudes to gauge how the organization is doing. When you try to make sense of the

workplace on either side of a manager’s desk, these are the important attitudes to follow.

Discuss the importance of four key workplace attitudes.

LO 2-3

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

55Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

 Organizational commitment  reflects the extent to which an individual identi- fies with an organization and commits to its goals. Committed individuals tend to display two outcomes:

• Likely continuation of their employment with the organization. • Greater motivation toward pursuing organizational goals and decisions.

What Drives Organizational Commitment? Many factors inspire organizational commitment, but let’s start with a basic one. Organizational commitment exists to the degree that your personal values match the values that pervade your company’s organiza- tional culture. For example, if you value achievement and your employer rewards people for accomplishing goals, you are more likely to be committed to the company. This consis- tency between personal and company values is called person–culture fit and is discussed in Chapter 14.

Throughout this book we will cover other drivers of organizational commitment, including:20

• Personality. • Meaningfulness of the work being performed. • Organizational climate. • Leader behavior. • Organizational culture.

Finally, commitment depends on the quality of an employee’s psychological con- tracts.  Psychological contracts  represent an individual’s perception about the reciprocal exchange between him- or herself and another party. In a work environ- ment, the psychological contract represents an employee’s beliefs about what he or she is entitled to receive in return for what he or she provides to the organization. Research shows that an employer breach of the psychological contract is associated with lower organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and performance and with greater intentions to quit.21

How Can Managers Increase Employees’ Commitment? To highlight how managers can increase employees’ commitment, we review three general best practices and then discuss approaches used by Hilton, Salesforce, and Cisco.

General Best Practices

• Hire people whose personal values align with the organization’s. • Make sure that management does not breach its psychological contracts. • Treat employees fairly and foster trust between managers and employees.

Example Company: Hilton

• Fortune listed it as the No. 1 best company to work for in 2019. • Launched new team member benefits including parental leave and adoption assis-

tance. • Implemented a companywide immersion program requiring every executive leader

to spend one week on the front lines working alongside cooks, housekeepers, and front desk personnel.

• Invested heavily in redesigning employee spaces with better lighting, more comfort- able furnishings, and an updated cafeteria.

• Worked with Under Armour to introduce lighter, more comfortable work wear for service employees.

• Increased expenditures for continuous learning and career development programs through its Hilton University program.22

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56 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Example Company: Salesforce

• Fortune listed it as No. 2 best company to work for in 2019. • Spent nearly $9 million over three years to address differences in pay across gender

and race for its more than 21,000 employees. • Built company culture around Ohana—the Hawaiian concept of family, with

10 employee resource groups to encourage employees to be their “full authentic self ” at work.

• Asks new employees to spend part of their first day doing service work in the local community.

• Gives employees seven paid days of volunteer time off annually to make the world a better place in addition to a generous amount of paid time off and sick leave.

• Established the role of Chief Philanthropy Officer to oversee the millions of dollars in grants the company provides to support education in underserved neighbor- hoods, homelessness organizations, and other local community initiatives.23

Example Company: Cisco

• Fortune listed it as the sixth best company to work for in 2019. • Outlines company and employee expectations and benefits in “Our People Deal,” a

manifesto detailing what Cisco can do for its employees and what the company expects in return.

• Flextime helps employees achieve work–life balance. Flextime is a policy of giving employees flexible work hours so they can come and go at different times, as long as they work a set number of hours.

• Employees get 40 hours of paid time off to volunteer, and the company matches this time with financial contributions to the volunteers’ programs.

• To encourage new ideas, launched global pitch contest to its 37,000-plus employees to come up with innovative solutions to technology problems with a $50,000 prize.

• Employees get 36 days of holiday and vacation time following one year of employment.24

Employee Engagement Observing workers at a summer camp and an architecture firm in 1990, William Kahn defined  employee engagement  as “the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves

This employee looks highly engaged in her work. Note the attention and focus she uses to uncover this fossil. Would you find this type of work meaningful? Arpad Benedek/Getty Images

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57Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performance.”25 The essence of this definition is the idea that engaged employees “give their all” at work. Further study identified its components as four feelings:

• Urgency • Intensity • Focus • Enthusiasm26

Have you ever felt at work or school that time seems to fly by? If yes, then you under- stand why academics, consultants, and managers want to understand how they can harness the power of employee engagement.

How Much of the U.S. Workforce Is Actively Engaged? The U.S. workforce appears to be achieving close to the global average. Consulting firm Aon has traced data on employee engagement around the globe for more than 15 years, studying millions of employees. Recent figures for North America (of which the United States is the largest component) and other global regions are shown in Table 2.3.27 Although the U.S. work- force leads Europe, it is outpaced by Latin America, Africa-Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

What Contributes to Employee Engagement? Let’s use the Organizing Frame- work for Understanding and Applying OB to identify key drivers of employee engagement.

Person Factors

• Personality. • Positive psychological capital. • Human and social capital.28

Situation Factors

• Job characteristics. People are engaged when their work contains variety and when they receive timely feedback about performance.

• Leadership. People are more engaged when their manager is supportive and main- tains a positive, trusting relationship with them.29

• Organizational climate can range from positive and inspiring to negative and deplet- ing. Positive climates obviously foster engagement.

• Stressors.  Stressors  are environmental characteristics that cause stress. Engagement is higher when employees are not confronted with a lot of stressors.30

What Outcomes Are Associated with Employee Engagement? Consulting firms such as Gallup, Hewitt Associates, and Blessing White have been in the forefront of collecting proprietary data supporting the practical value of employee engagement. For example, Gallup estimates that an organization whose employees are highly engaged can

LOCATION OF EMPLOYEES

PERCENT OF HIGHLY OR MODERATELY ENGAGED EMPLOYEES

1. The World 65%

2. North America 64

3. Europe 60

4. Asia Pacific 65

5. Latin America 75

6. Africa-Middle East 66

TABLE 2.3 Employee Engagement Around the World

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

58 PART 1 Individual Behavior

achieve 10 percent higher customer loyalty/engagement; 20 percent more productivity; and 21 percent greater profitability.31 Other recent academic studies similarly showed a positive relationship between employee engagement, performance, and physical and psy- chological well-being and corporate-level financial performance and customer satisfaction.32

Now that you know engagement is correlated with performance at work, try the fol- lowing Self-Assessment to measure your level of engagement with your studies. Can you improve your performance in the classroom?

To What Extent Are You Engaged in Your Studies? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 2.2 in Connect.

1. Is your level of engagement what you expected? 2. How might you increase it? 3. To what extent do your professors influence your level of engagement? How

might they foster more engagement from you?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.2 CAREER READINESS

How Can Managers Increase Engagement? As a manager you will have many opportunities to improve employee engagement, even if you can’t offer the lavish perks of the richest corporations. One way is to make sure inputs in the Organizing Framework are positively oriented. Organizations do this by measuring, tracking, and responding to sur- veys of employee engagement.

EXAMPLE The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain significantly lowered employee turnover (to 28 percent vs. an industry average of more than 55 percent) and increased both customer satisfaction and customer spending by assessing potential candidates against the company’s 12 employee values related to its gold standards for cus- tomer service.33

Other ideas include creating career and developmental opportunities for employees, recognizing people for good work, effectively communicating and listening, allowing peo- ple to exercise during the workday, creating a physically attractive and stimulating work environment, giving employees meaningful work to do, and empowering them.

• Freese and Nichols This Texas engineering firm fosters engagement with generous development opportunities. When engineer Kim Patak wanted the company to adopt greener water engineering, her bosses gave her $10,000 and time off for a training pro- gram on environmentally sound infrastructure practices. “It felt like I was getting a gradu- ate degree,” says Patak of her experience. “It felt amazing to have that support of the

company, to have the trust in me.” Since then, the company’s expertise and leader- ship in sustainable water practices have grown rapidly.34

• T-Mobile In hiring Ivan Beltran to manage its flagship New York City store, T-Mobile gam- bled on a candidate with “passion and love for the brand” but no experience as a direc- tor. Beltran explains why that paid off. “What

Companies Foster Employee Engagement in Different Ways

OB in Action

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59Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Perceived Organizational Support  Perceived organizational support  (POS) reflects the extent to which employees believe their organization values their contributions and genuinely cares about their well-being. Your POS would be negative if you worked for a bad boss or a company that did not provide good health benefits or career opportunities. It would more likely be positive if you worked for outdoor gear retailer REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) in one of its more than 150 stores across the country. REI fully funds the company profit-sharing plan (without employees needing to contribute their own pay); awards annual incentive pay based on reaching individual, department, and company goals; subsidizes the majority of employees’ medical plan costs; offers a referral bonus of $100 to $2,000; and gives gen- erous discounts (30 to 50 percent) on REI gear and apparel.37

How Does POS Affect Employees? People are willing to work hard and commit to their organizations when they believe the company truly cares about their best interests. Quite simply, we are motivated by the norm of reciprocity to return the favor when someone treats us well. This is why we are more likely to reciprocate with hard work and dedication when our employer treats us favorably. But the favorable treatment must be voluntary, not imposed by external constraints such as government or union rules. Voluntary actions dem- onstrate that the giver genuinely values and respects us.

Benefits of POS Managers cannot go wrong in providing organizational support. Research shows that it is positively associated with employee engagement, organizational commitment, job satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, greater trust, innovation, and lower tendency to quit.38

How can managers foster positive POS? They can treat employees fairly, avoid political behavior, provide job security, empower

employees, reduce stressors in the work environment, eliminate abusive supervision, and fulfill the psychological contract.39

it means to me is I work for a company that truly values their employees, a company will- ing to take risks.” Ranked among the best workplaces in the nation’s largest city, T-Mobile continues to embrace employees’ individuality. Says Jon Frier, executive vice

president of retail channels, “We tell people, ‘We want you to be you.’ We think people do their best work when they can be them- selves.”35

• Levi Strauss “If we can identify much earlier people who are at risk of developing cancer, then go into hyper care for them to make sure that, if they do get the disease, you catch it at stage zero or stage 1—where the cost of care is much, much less . . . it’s much better for everyone.” That’s not a doctor talking. It’s Chip Bergh, CEO of jeans maker Levi Strauss, which recently offered employees an optional free DNA test. Says Bergh, “The more we can do to keep our employees engaged and give them benefits that are meaningful for them, the better it is for us.”36

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What do you think about these approaches to

engagement? 2. Which company approach would be most effec-

tive for you as an employee? Explain.

Chip Bergh, Levi Strauss CEO Richard Drew/AP Images

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60 PART 1 Individual Behavior

2.4 THE CAUSES OF JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction essentially reflects the extent to which an individual likes his or her job. Formally defined, job satisfaction  is an affective or emotional response toward vari- ous facets of your job. Notice that job satisfaction is not a monolithic concept. Rather, a person can be relatively satisfied with one aspect of her or his job and dissatisfied with one or more others.

Managers and organizations measure job satisfaction in one of two ways. The simplest is to use a single overall rating, such as, “How satisfied are you with your job?” People respond on a rating scale that might run from (1) very dissatisfied to (5) very satisfied. Have you ever completed a survey like this? The second method assess satisfaction along a series of facets. For example, researchers at Cornell University developed the Job Descrip- tive Index (JDI) to assess satisfaction with the following: work, pay, promotions, cowork- ers, and supervision.40 This type of assessment provides more detailed and actionable information about job satisfaction. If desired, managers or researchers can add the ratings across facets to arrive at a total score.

We use a facet measure of job satisfaction in the following Self-Assessment. Complet- ing it will inform you about your level of satisfaction for a current or past job and make the rest of the chapter more practical for you. Are you curious about where you stand?

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Job satisfaction is the most frequently studied outcome in the Organizing Framework. To help

you understand it better, this section provides you with the five major models of job satisfac-

tion. These models can help you manage others and yourself, leading to an increased sense

of satisfaction at work or school for you and others.

Discuss the five causes of job satisfaction.

LO 2-4

How Satisfied Are You with Your Present Job? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 2.3 in Connect.

1. What are your relative levels of satisfaction with recognition, compensation, and supervision?

2. Which of these three aspects of satisfaction is most important to you? Explain. 3. What can you do to increase your level of job satisfaction?

Source: Adapted from D.J. Weiss, R.V. Dawis, G.W. England and L.H. Lofquist, Manual for the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Minneapolis: Industrial Relations Center, University of Minnesota, 1967). Used with permission.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 2.3 CAREER READINESS

Do you think job satisfaction across the United States has been going up or down over the past few years? A national survey conducted by the Conference Board attempted to answer this question by asking 1,500 employed individuals to rank their job satisfaction based on 23 components. Results revealed 51 percent were satisfied with their jobs in

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61Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

2018, the seventh straight year that overall job satisfaction had increased among U.S. work- ers.41 The significance of this finding will become more apparent after you read the final section of this chapter.

At a Glance: Five Predominant Models of Job Satisfaction If you want insight into the drivers of your own job satisfaction or that of others, consider five models of these causes, summarized as follows. We look at each in more detail in Table 2.4.

TABLE 2.4 Five Models of Job Satisfaction

MODEL HOW MANAGEMENT CAN BOOST JOB SATISFACTION

Need fulfillment Understand and meet employees’ needs.

Met expectations Meet employees’ expectations about what they will receive from the job.

Value attainment Structure the job and its rewards to match employee values.

Equity Monitor employees’ perceptions of fairness and interact with them so they feel fairly treated.

Dispositional/genetic components

Hire employees with an appropriate disposition. (See qualifications below.)

Brief Review: Five Predominant Models of Job Satisfaction Let’s take a closer look at these models. It will increase your understanding if you personal- ize each model to your own past experiences.

Need Fulfillment Need fulfillment models propose that satisfaction is determined by the extent to which the characteristics of a job allow an individual to fulfill her or his needs. Needs  are physiological or psychological deficiencies that arouse behavior. All of us have different needs, which means that managers need to learn about employees’ needs if they want to increase employees’ job satisfaction.

EXAMPLE A recent annual survey of 600 individuals by the Society for Human Resource Management asked employees to choose the aspects of their jobs that were very important to their job satisfaction. For the third year in a row, the top choice was respectful treatment of employees at all levels of the organization. Other impor- tant contributors to job satisfaction included compensation/pay; trust between employees and senior management; job security; and opportunities to use skills and abilities.42 Are any of these aspects important to you?

Research generally supports the conclusion that need fulfillment is correlated with job satisfaction.43

Met Expectations Met expectations  represent the difference between what an individual expects to receive from a job, such as good pay and promotional oppor- tunities, and what she or he actually receives. When expectations are greater than what is received, a person will be dissatisfied. On the other hand, he or she will be satisfied when outcomes are above and beyond expectations. Research strongly supports the con- clusion that met expectations are significantly related to job satisfaction.44

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62 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Value Attainment The idea underlying value attainment  is that satisfaction results from the perception that a job allows for fulfillment of an individual’s important values. Research consistently supports this perspective. Managers can enhance employee satisfaction by providing work assignments and rewards that reinforce employees’ values.

Equity Equity theory builds on the notion that satisfaction rests on how “fairly” an indi- vidual is treated at work. If we perceive that our work outcomes, relative to our inputs, compare favorably with someone else’s outcomes and inputs, we will be satisfied. Research has strongly supported the theory behind this model.45 Managers thus are encouraged to monitor employees’ fairness perceptions and to interact with employees in such a way that they feel equitably treated. Chapter 5 explores how this can be accomplished.

Dispositional/Genetic Components Ever notice that some coworkers or friends remain satisfied in situations where others always seem dissatisfied? The dispositional/ genetic model posits that job satisfaction is a function of both personal traits and genetic factors. Indeed, the model implies that stable individual differences are at least as powerful as characteristics of the work environment in their impact on satisfaction.

Few studies have tested these propositions in depth, but they do show that disposi- tional factors are significantly associated with only selected aspects of job satisfaction. Dispositions had stronger relationships with intrinsic aspects of a job (such as having autonomy) than with extrinsic aspects (such as the receipt of rewards).46 Genetic factors also were found to significantly predict life satisfaction, well-being, and general job satisfac- tion.47 Overall, researchers estimate that 30 percent of an individual’s job satisfaction is associated with dispositional and genetic components.48

EXAMPLE Recent gene-editing experiments conducted in China may have an impact on personal traits and genetic factors in the future. A Chinese scientist recently announced he and his team had used a powerful gene-editing tech- nique called Crispr to alter the genes of human embryos that were implanted in female volunteers. One of the volunteers gave birth to twin girls and another volunteer is now pregnant. In addition to the ethical issues raised by such experiments, the worldwide scientific community is questioning the long-term effects

of such alterations, which if successful, would be inherited by future generations and likely change individuals’ genetic makeup and personal traits.49

A Shorter Walk to Work Now that we have looked at the predominant models of job satisfaction, let’s highlight one element that allows people to balance their work and family lives: the opportunity to tele- commute. Telecommuting  allows employees to do all or some of their work from home, using advanced telecommunications technology and Internet tools to send work electronically from home to the office, and vice versa.

• About half of the U.S. workforce telecommutes for at least part of the time spent working.

As technology continues to advance, it’s likely scientists will be able to edit the genes of human embryos to alter genetic makeup including personal traits. Is this a good thing? Gregor Fischer/Getty Images

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63Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Applying OB

1. Assess the readiness of both people and jobs for telecommuting. Not all employees or all jobs are ready for this step.

2. Ensure employees have the proper technology and support, and that the communications net- work is secure.

3. Establish clear expectations about the goals of the program and how it will work. For example, encour- age telecommuters to keep regular work hours and to set up a dedicated office space.

4. Make it a priority to establish trust on both sides. Communicate regularly, give credit when due, and avoid micromanaging.

5. Evaluate the program’s effectiveness with regular and fair assessments of employee performance.52

Best Practices for Implementing Telecommuting

More and more employees are telecommuting from their homes on a regular basis. Managers need to encourage regular communications, ensure employees keep regular work hours, and insist on workers setting up a dedicated office space. Jupiterimages/Getty Images

• The number of people telecommuting has grown 140 percent between 2005 and 2016. Experts estimate that 50 percent of the U.S. workforce has a job compatible with teleworking.

• The need for flexibility is a key reason people like telecommuting.50

• Studies confirm telecommuting enhances productivity and retention and decreases absenteeism.51

These positive statistics imply that the opportunity to telecommute could improve job satisfaction. To make such programs successful, consider the recommendations in the Applying OB box below.

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64 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Thousands of studies have examined the relationship between job satisfaction and other organizational variables. We consider a subset of the most important variables from the standpoint of managerial relevance. Ten key outcomes correlate to job satisfaction—four attitudinal and four behavioral, and two organizational-level outcomes. Job satisfaction has significant correlations with:

Attitudes

• Motivation • Job involvement • Withdrawal cognitions • Perceived stress

Behavior

• Job performance • Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) • Counterproductive work behavior (CWB) • Turnover

Organizational Level

• Accounting/financial performance • Customer service/satisfaction

Attitudinal Outcomes of Job Satisfaction We examine four attitudinal outcomes of job satisfaction that are important to OB researchers and managers: motivation, job involvement, withdrawal cognitions, and perceived stress.

Motivation Employee motivation represents a psychological process that arouses our interest in doing something, and it directs and guides our behavior. As you might expect, employee motivation positively correlates to job satisfaction. Managers can enhance employees’ motivation with a host of techniques and recommendations discussed through- out this book.

Describe work-related outcomes associated with job satisfaction.

LO 2-5

2.5 MAJOR CORRELATES AND CONSEQUENCES OF JOB SATISFACTION THE BIGGER PICTURE

The documented relationship between job satisfaction and other positive organizational out-

comes is good news. It means that employers have economic reasons for fostering job satis-

faction to improve results. You’re about to learn four key attitudinal and behavioral outcomes

and two organizational-level outcomes associated with this relationship.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

What to Do, or Not to Do, about Sexual Harassment

When actor Kevin Spacey was accused of sexual misconduct, Netflix was among the companies that responded unequivocally, removing him as execu- tive producer and star of its acclaimed series “House of Cards” and then abandoning another deal with him, despite losing $39 million in the process. When it came to setting an internal sexual harassment

policy for its own employees, however, Netflix drew a more confused reaction.

The new policy reportedly forbids employees to ask each other for their phone numbers without prior permission, to flirt, or to ask a colleague for a date again if he or she has already said no. It encourages employees to shout, “Stop! Don’t do that again,” if a

Problem-Solving Application

65Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Job Involvement  Job involvement  represents the extent to which an indi- vidual is personally engaged in his or her work role. Many years of research have demonstrated that job involvement is mod- erately related to job satisfaction.53 Manag- ers can foster satisfying work environments to fuel employees’ job involvement.

Withdrawal Cognitions Although some people quit their jobs impulsively or in a fit of anger, most first go through a pro- cess of thinking about whether they should quit.  Withdrawal cognitions  capture this thought process by representing an indi- vidual’s overall thoughts and feelings about quitting. Low job satisfaction is believed to be one of the most significant contributors to thoughts of quitting.

EXAMPLE A recent survey of more than 1,000 employed U.S. workers con- ducted by Bamboo HR revealed that 31 percent of respondents left a job within the first six months of being hired because they thought their new boss was a jerk; the job was different from what they expected in the interview; or they felt alone and not engaged with coworkers. Results suggest managers can help increase job satisfaction by ensuring that new employees understand their new job tasks and feel connected to others in the organization.54

Perceived Stress Stress has negative effects on many different OB-related out- comes. For instance, it is positively related to absenteeism, turnover, coronary heart disease, and viral infections. As you would expect, it also has a strong negative relation- ship to job satisfaction and employee engagement. Managers should attempt to reduce the negative effects of stress by improving job satisfaction and by encouraging employees to detach from work during off-job time (stop thinking about work and don’t “take it home with you”).55

Have you ever felt like this when studying for exams? Unfortunately, too much stress impairs our ability to perform at school or at work. Kdonmuang/Shutterstock

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66 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Behavioral Outcomes of Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction has a positive association with two constructive individual-level behavioral outcomes—job performance and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). It also has a negative relationship with two potentially negative behaviors—counterproductive work behavior (CWB) and turnover. The following discussion is more practical when you con- sider that these individual-level outcomes in the Organizing Framework are driven by pro- cesses at the group and organizational level, which, further upstream, are influenced by environmental characteristics.

Job Performance One of the biggest controversies within OB research centers on the relationship between job satisfaction and job performance. This is more complicated than it might first appear; OB experts have identified at least eight ways in which these variables are related. Here is what we know from research.58

A team of researchers analyzed data involving nearly 7,000 individuals over a three- year period.59 They made two key findings:

• Job satisfaction and performance are moderately related. This supports the belief that employee job satisfaction is a key workplace attitude managers should consider when attempting to increase employees’ job performance.

• The relationship between them is complex. Researchers now believe both variables indirectly influence each other through a host of person factors and environmental characteristics contained in the Organizing Framework.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)  is defined as “individual behavior that is discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system, and that in the aggregate

colleague behaves inappropriately. But rumors about a rule that said employees should not stare at each other for more than five seconds at a time drew particular mockery in the media, and among Netflix employees as well. They reportedly began deliberately staring at each other, counting to five, and looking away.

Critics also wondered how employees could network with each other for business purposes without sharing phone numbers and questioned why Netflix seemed to presume that every such request was made for the purpose of dating or in pursuit of sex.

Netflix responded by issuing this statement: “We’re proud of the anti-harassment training we offer to our productions. We want every Netflix production to be a safe and respectful working environment. We believe the resources we offer empower people on our sets to speak up, and shouldn’t be trivialized.”56

Some, however, felt the policies themselves triv- ialized the very real problems of sexual harassment at work, which have been in especially sharp focus since the rise of the #MeToo movement. A later statement from Netflix said the five-second “rule” was not a rule but rather a suggestion raised in a training session about the new policy.57

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem in this case.

Step 2: Identify the OB concepts or theories that help explain the situation Netflix faced and its reaction.

Step 3: State what you would do if you were a human resource officer at Netflix responsible for set- ting harassment policies.

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67Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

promotes the effective functioning of the organization.”60 This definition high- lights two key points:

• OCBs are voluntary. • OCBs help work groups and the organization to effectively achieve goals.

Examples of organizational citizenship behavior include such gestures as:

• Constructive statements about the department. • Expression of personal interest in the work of others. • Suggestions for improvement. • The training of new people. • Respect for the spirit as well as the letter of housekeeping rules. • Care for organizational property. • Punctuality and attendance well beyond standard or enforceable levels.61

Managers certainly would like employees to exhibit these behaviors, and research clearly supports their value. OCBs have a moderately positive correlation with job satisfac- tion.62 Moreover, they are significantly related to both individual-level consequences (per- formance appraisal ratings, intentions to quit, absenteeism, and negative job attitudes) and organizational-level outcomes (productivity, efficiency, lower costs, customer satisfaction, and unit-level satisfaction and turnover).63

These results are important for two reasons. First, exhibiting OCBs is likely to create positive impressions about you among your colleagues and manager. In turn, these impressions affect your ability to work with others, your manager’s evaluation of your performance, and ultimately your promotability. Second, the aggregate amount of employees’ OCBs affects important organizational outcomes. It is thus important for managers to foster an environment that promotes organizational citizenship behaviors.

Volunteerism is a form of discretionary citizenship behavior that promotes a positive organizational image. What personal values lead someone to volunteer to tend to a local community garden? John Lund/Marc Romanelli/Blend Images LLC

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68 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Counterproductive Work Behavior You already know from personal experience and OB research that the absence of satisfaction may be associated with some types of undesir- able behavior, such as low employee engagement and performance. In contrast to the helping nature of OCBs,  counterproductive work behavior (CWB)  harms other employees, the organization as a whole, and/or organizational stakeholders such as customers and shareholders. CWBs represent a particularly negative work-related outcome. Examples include bullying, theft, gossiping, backstabbing, drug and alcohol abuse, destruction of orga- nizational property, violence, deliberately poor or incorrect work, Internet surfing for per- sonal reasons, excessive socializing, tardiness, sabotage, and sexual harassment.64

EXAMPLE Mastering the company’s mail order system, an IKEA worker issued him- self nearly $400,000 in refunds for purchases made by customers.

EXAMPLE A former manager at a lab testing company created fake invoices and expense reports to get reimbursed for more than $1.2 million.

EXAMPLE A U.S. postal worker in Washington, DC, bilked the Postal Service out of nearly $40,000 in unearned wages by claiming he was serving jury duty on a lengthy federal trial. The worker fabricated court paperwork to support his reimbursement claims.65

CWB has a strong negative relationship with job satisfaction, so managers should find ways to reduce it. Here are three key ways.

1. Hire individuals who are less prone to engage in counterproductive behavior. Cogni- tive ability is associated with many measures of success, so it is a logical quality to screen for in hiring decisions. Personality tests also may be relevant.

2. Design jobs that promote satisfaction, and root out and eliminate managers who treat others in an abusive manner.66

3. Respond quickly and appropriately if an employee does engage in CWBs, defining the specific behaviors that are unacceptable and the requirements for acceptable behavior.

Turnover Turnover can be a good thing when a low-performing person like George Costanza from Seinfeld quits or is fired. This result enables managers to replace the Georges of the world with better or more diverse individuals or to realign the budget. In losing a good employee, however, the organization loses valuable knowledge and experi- ence and it can be costly. Experts estimate that the cost of turnover for an hourly employee is roughly 20 percent of his or her annual salary, higher for professional employ- ees with specialized skills.67

Job satisfaction has a moderately strong negative relationship with turnover. Man- agers are well served by enhancing employees’ job satisfaction, especially in today’s competitive labor market.68 For example, global HR consulting firm Mercer surveyed more than 160 large employers recently and found that voluntary turnover was at more than 15 percent.69

All these considerations suggest several practical steps employers can take to tackle a turnover problem. See the Applying OB box.

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69Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Applying OB

1. Hire people who fit the organization’s culture. Person–culture fit is discussed in Chapter 14.

2. Spend time fostering employee engagement. Engaged employees are less likely to quit.

3. Hire selectively. Human resource data analytics uses large data sets to answer questions like, “Why are people quitting?” and “What skills are needed to do the job?” But even small busi- nesses can answer these questions. At Dash Design, an interior design company with fewer than 30 employees, owner David Ashen tackled high turnover by asking employees where they wanted to be in six months or three years, help- ing them to reach those goals, offering flexible

schedules, and even allowing pet dogs in the office.70

4. Provide effective onboarding.  Onboarding pro- grams  help employees to integrate, assimilate, and transition to new jobs by making them famil- iar with corporate policies, procedures, culture, and politics and clarifying work-role expectations and responsibilities.71

5. Recognize and reward high performers, because they are more likely to quit than average perform- ers.72 In recognition of good performance, North 6th Agency, a public relations firm, awards employ- ees points they can redeem for commuter passes, groceries, and even cash or time off.73

Using Job Satisfaction to Reduce Employee Turnover

Organizational-Level Outcomes of Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is positively associated with the organizational-level outcomes of accounting/financial performance and customer service/satisfaction.

Accounting/Financial Performance Earlier we noted that job satisfaction was moderately associated with an individual’s performance. It thus makes sense to hypoth- esize that the aggregate level of employee job satisfaction should be positively associated with a company’s accounting/financial performance. A study of 448 small- to medium- sized business units supported this prediction. However, the association between job satisfaction and this outcome is lower than between job satisfaction and productivity.74 This makes sense because many other factors besides job satisfaction impact accounting/ financial performance.

Customer Service/Satisfaction Why do we expect satisfied employees to provide higher-quality service to customers? The answer is the spillover effect. Spillover occurs when attitudes in one part of our lives spill over to another. Employees’ positive work attitudes might spill over to improve their behaviors toward customers. In support of this idea, research supports a positive association between job satisfaction and customer satisfaction.75

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70 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Takeaways for Me Here are five additional things you can do to turn this chapter’s lessons into positive change in your personal and professional life.

1. Identify your core values: This can help you make decisions about careers, companies to work for, relationships, and ways to manage others.

2. Realize the power of your beliefs and intentions: Your intentions will drive your behav- ior, but it is beliefs that create your intentions. If you want to change a behavior, such as losing weight or studying more, the first step is to analyze and change your beliefs about the behavior.

3. Engagement is partly a choice on your part, and it all starts with doing meaningful work: Identify what types of work you find meaningful.

4. If your manager or organization is not providing support, consider moving on: There are many great companies that understand the value of organizational support.

5. Before quitting a job, consider doing a cost–benefit analysis: Write down the costs of staying and compare them to the perceived benefits of leaving. Making an emotional decision might feel good in the short run, but it is less likely to lead to positive results.

Takeaways for Managers There are five key implications for managers.

1. Hire people whose values match the values that underlie the organization’s culture: Such employees are more likely to be productive and to stay.

2. Influence employees’ behavior by reinforcing appropriate beliefs: For example, if you want to improve employee retention, underscore the value of staying at the company.

3. Employee commitment is strongly associated with emotional connections at work:76 Cre- ate positive team spirit and engage in social activities that promote friendships among employees.

4. Employees won’t be engaged if you display negative emotions: Stay positive and model engagement.

5. There is a trend for employees to quit less than one year on the job: Discuss their expec- tations when you hire and socialize new employees effectively. Socialization is dis- cussed in Chapter 14.

Personal values, attitudes, and intentions play a significant role in affecting individual and

organizational outcomes at work. Here are some key points to consider.

2.6 MAKING THE CONNECTION: HOW DO VALUES AND ATTITUDES AFFECT WORK-RELATED OUTCOMES?

Describe the implications of values and attitudes for you and managers.

LO 2-6

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

71Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

You learned that employee engagement is a work- place attitude that motivates people to identify with and immerse themselves in their work. Values and attitudes directly affect a variety of organizational outcomes, and companies pay attention to them to achieve improved performance. Companies track the work attitude of job satisfaction because it posi- tively correlates with other positive workplace atti- tudes (motivation, job involvement, reduced stress) and behavior (job performance, OCB, customer sat- isfaction, reduced CWB and turnover). Reinforce your learning with the chapter’s Key Points below. Next, consolidate your learning using the Organiz- ing Framework, shown in Figure 2.4. Then, chal- lenge your mastery of the material by answering the chapter’s Major Questions in your own words.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 2 You learned the following key points.

2.1 PERSONAL VALUES • Values are abstract ideals that guide your

thinking and behavior across all situations. • Schwartz proposed that 10 core values

guide behavior across contexts and time (see Figure 2.2).

• The 10 core values each relate to one of four themes: self-transcendence, conservation, self-enhancement, and openness to change (see Figure 2.2).

• Managers can use the Schwartz model to moti- vate employees and to reduce the chances of employees’ experiencing conflict between their values and their work assignments.

2.2 PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND THEIR IMPACT ON BEHAVIOR AND OUTCOMES

• Attitudes represent your feelings or opinions about people, places, and objects and range from positive to negative. Workplace attitudes

are outcomes in the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB.

• The three components of attitudes are affec- tive, cognitive, and behavioral.

• Cognitive dissonance represents the psycho- logical discomfort an individual experiences when his or her attitudes or beliefs are incom- patible with his or her behavior.

• Intentions are the key link between attitudes and behavior in Ajzen’s model. Three determi- nants of the strength of an intention are atti- tude toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control (Figure 2.3).

2.3 KEY WORKPLACE ATTITUDES • Organizational commitment reflects how

strongly a person identifies with an organization and is committed to its goals. It is influenced by a host of factors in the Organizing Framework, including personality, leader behavior, organiza- tional culture, meaningfulness, organizational climate, and psychological contracts.

• Employee engagement occurs when employ- ees give it their all at work. It includes feelings of urgency, focus, intensity, and enthusiasm.

• Employee engagement is influenced by per- sonal factors and environmental characteris- tics contained in the Organizing Framework.

• Perceived organizational support reflects how much employees believe their organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. Employees are happier and work harder when they feel supported.

2.4 THE CAUSES OF JOB SATISFACTION

• Job satisfaction is an affective or emotional response toward various facets of the job. It is a key OB outcome.

• The five major causes of job satisfaction are need fulfillment, met expectations, value attainment, equity, and dispositional/genetic components.

What Did I Learn?

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

72 PART 1 Individual Behavior

• Telecommuting allows people to balance their work and family lives. It uses telecommunica- tion technology and Internet tools to send and receive work between home and office.

2.5 MAJOR CORRELATES AND CONSEQUENCES OF JOB SATISFACTION

• Job satisfaction is significantly associated with the following attitudinal variables: moti- vation, job involvement, withdrawal cogni- tions, and perceived stress.

• Job satisfaction is significantly related to five key behavioral outcomes: job performance, organizational citizenship behavior, counter- productive work behavior, turnover, and customer satisfaction.

2.6 HOW DO VALUES AND ATTITUDES AFFECT WORK- RELATED OUTCOMES?

• Identifying your core values will help you make smart decisions about career moves and relationships in both your personal and professional life.

• Recognizing the power of your beliefs and how they influence behavior will help you zero in on the type of work you find meaningful.

• Hiring people whose values and attitudes align with an organization’s culture encourages employee motivation, productivity, and retention.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 2 As shown in Figure 2.4, values, personal atti- tudes, and intentions serve as inputs that lead to a host of outcomes. Although this chapter focused on workplace attitudes as an outcome, future chapters will look at other outcomes in more detail.

Challenge: Major Questions for Chapter 2 You should now be able to answer the following major questions. If you can’t, have you really processed and internalized the lessons in the chapter? Refer to the Key Points, Figure 2.4, the chapter itself, and your notes to revisit and answer the following major questions:

1. What role do play in influencing my behavior? 2. How do personal attitudes affect workplace

behavior and work-related outcomes? 3. Why should management pay attention to

workplace attitudes? 4. How can changes in the workplace improve

job satisfaction? 5. What work-related outcomes are associated

with job satisfaction?

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Values • Personal Attitudes • Intentions

Situation Factors

Individual Level Group/Team Level Organizational Level

Individual Level • Task performance • Workplace attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Citizenship behavior/counter-

productive behavior • Turnover

Group/Team Level Organizational Level • Accounting/financial performance • Customer service/satisfaction

FIGURE 2.4 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

73Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

Sam Walton founded Walmart in Rogers, Arkansas, and the company grew from that single store in 1962 to more than 11,300 locations spanning 27 countries by 2019. Today, the multinational retailer is the world’s largest company by revenue—generating over $500 billion in 2018—and the largest private employer with more than 2.2 million employees. The retailer also owns Sam’s Club, a chain of warehouse clubs that sell groceries and general merchandise in bulk.77

Walmart is known for its “everyday low prices,” but critics say prices are not all that’s low at the retailer. Individual employees, advocacy groups, and govern- ment agencies have brought numerous labor-related lawsuits against the company, scrutinizing its internal values. Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on at the massive retailer.

A SERIES OF WORKPLACE ABUSES Walmart prides itself on its values. The retailer states that, “We define culture as our values in action. It’s how we deliver superior customer service, create a great front- line work environment and improve performance . . .” Moreover, Walmart’s stated values are centered on being “guided by good,” which includes “respect for the individual” and “acting with integrity.”78 Allegations against the company suggest a different story.

Consider a report by a workers’ advocacy group that says Walmart “routinely refuses to accept doctors’ notes, penalizes workers who need to take care of a sick family member and otherwise punishes employees for lawful absences.” The report is based on a survey of more than 1,000 Walmart employees and accuses Walmart of vio- lating the American with Disabilities Act and Family Med- ical Leave Act, among other labor laws.79

Katie Orzehowski was a cashier at the Walmart in North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, and completed the employee survey. She suffered a miscarriage in 2016 and provided doctors’ notes and hospitalization records to excuse her missed shifts, but the company refused to excuse her absences. She was so worried that another absence would get her fired that she returned to work, while still in recovery. “I still had a lot of bleeding going on, and that’s embarrassing,” Orzehowski told The New York Times.80

Walmart’s focus on the bottom line over its employees’ welfare didn’t end with those who suffered from an illness. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against the retailer in September 2018 alleging it unlawfully discriminated

against pregnant workers in Wisconsin. The complaint was filed on behalf of Alyssa Gilliam, who became pregnant in 2015. Gilliam requested light duty or trans- fer to a less physically demanding job in which she would avoid heavy lifting due to her pregnancy. The company declined to accommodate her in any way, including providing her with a chair, shorter work days, or additional breaks. The EEOC alleges that Walmart retaliated by cutting Gilliam’s benefits, reducing her work hours, and eventually forcing her to take unpaid leave. Interestingly, Walmart had a robust light duty program that allowed workers with lifting restrictions to be accommodated, “But Walmart deprived pregnant workers of the opportunity to participate in [this] pro- gram. This amounted to pregnancy discrimination, which violates federal law,” said the EEOC.81

Gilliam wasn’t the only employee denied a chair. Adam Catlin, who suffers from cerebral palsy, has been a Walmart greeter in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, for almost ten years. Catlin was told in 2019 that due to a change in corporate policy, he would need to stand for his entire eight-hour shift and lift up to 25 pounds or be fired. Cait- lin’s mother urged Walmart customers on Facebook to support her son. “I know corporate decisions are corpo- rate decisions, if [that’s] where this originated from, but does anyone ever make any decisions anymore by put- ting any heart or care into it?” she wrote.82

WALMART’S ALLEGED BAIT AND SWITCH Walmart CEO Doug McMillon’s compensation for fiscal 2018 was $22.8 million, which is 1,188 times the annual compensation of its median employee. In con- trast, CEO pay at S&P firms averaged 361 times more than the average employee in 2018.83 Overall, the company “has been the defendant in scores of cases, including class actions, or group suits, accusing the company of wage-law violations,” according to Jona- than Tasini, president of the Economic Future Group.84

Walmart decided to raise its minimum wage from $10 to $11 in 2018. With much fanfare, CEO McMillon stated, “Today, we are building on investments we’ve been making in associates, in their wages and skills development . . . It’s our people who make the differ- ence and we appreciate how they work hard to make every day easier for busy families.”85 Now consider that Walmart closed dozens of its Sam’s Club ware- houses on the same day it announced the pay increases.86 This brings into question whether the

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

Walmart’s Values Come under Scrutiny

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

74 PART 1 Individual Behavior

B. Cases have protagonists (key players), and prob- lems are generally viewed from a particular pro- tagonist’s perspective. You need to determine from whose perspective—employee, manager, team, or the organization—you’re defining the problem.

C. Use details in the case to identify the key prob- lem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems that are not included in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, Why is this a problem? Answering this question helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current chapter, because we generally select cases that illustrate concepts in the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes of the problem by using material from this chapter, which has been summarized in the Organizing Framework shown in Figure 2.4. Causes will tend to appear in either the Inputs box or the Processes box.

A. Start by looking at Figure 2.4 to decide which person factors, if any, are most likely causes of the defined problem. For each cause, ask your- self, Why is this a cause of the problem? For example, if you think personal attitudes—an input in the Organizing Framework—are a cause, ask yourself why. This might lead you to the con- clusion that Mayer’s attitudes about telecommut- ing are related to her prior work experience. This may have led her to make decisions that are adversely affecting employees. Asking why several times will lead you to a more complete list of causes.

B. Follow the same process for the situation factors. C. Because no processes were specifically dis-

cussed in this chapter, you can skip an analysis of this component of the Organizing Framework.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem.

STEP 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. Consider whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recommendation is desirable and feasible?

• Given the causes identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use the material in Chapter 2 (or in Chapter 1) to propose a solution.

• Find potential solutions in the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes within the chapter. These fea- tures provide insights into what other individuals or companies are doing regarding the topic at hand.

• Create an action plan for implementing your recommendations.

retailer had positive intentions in raising employee pay. The United Food and Commercial Workers Inter- national Union, for example, called the wage increase a “public relations stunt” meant to distract from the closing of 63 stores.87 The closures resulted in approx- imately 10,000 workers losing their jobs.88 The timing of the announcement wasn’t the only issue as many Sam’s Club employees had no idea their stores would be closed until the day of the announcement. Accord- ing to The Times, some workers showed up for work only to be informed that their stores were closed.89

POOR JOB SATISFACTION IMPACTS CUSTOMER SERVICE Walmart’s minimum wage hikes may raise the pay of some of its workers, but they may not be enough to solve the retailer’s continued customer service prob- lem, according to Forbes.90 Walmart’s American Cus- tomer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) score dropped between 2016 and 2017. The ASCI measures the quality of products and services American consumers receive by major department and discount retailers. The drop placed Walmart at the bottom of a list of department and discount retailers (even below a bankrupt Sears).

Making Change at Walmart (MCAW), an organiza- tion dedicated to transforming the lives of Walmart employees, believes the company’s poor customer service ratings are related to the way it treats its work- ers. “Walmart lacks the ability to improve its customer experience when it refuses to focus on what we all know to be true—quality jobs create quality experi- ences for both shoppers and workers,” says MCAW director Randy Parraz.91 Walmart needs to do more for its employees if it wants to improve their attitudes with customers. For example, wages and benefits are so poor at Walmart that thousands of its employees qual- ify for food stamps, Medicaid, and other government assistance programs, according to MCAW.92

Walmart says it has a “common purpose of saving people money so they can live better.”93 It seems its employees will need to live better as well if the com- pany wants to continue its success.

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB

STEP 1: Define the problem.

A. Look first at the Outcome box of the Organizing Framework in Figure 2.4 to identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a prob- lem is a gap between a desired and a current state. State your problem as a gap, and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accom- plished, decide which one is most important and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

75Values and Attitudes CHAPTER 2

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

What Should Management Do About an Abusive Supervisor?

This challenge involves the behavior of Bernadine Pearce. Pearce was the supervisor of Michelle Ruppert, a clerk in the Office of the Tax Collector in the Borough of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Pearce worked at the local government for about 40 years.

Ruppert filed a lawsuit claiming that her boss and the office allowed a hostile work environment to exist. She had worked at the office for about three years at the time of the suit.

The hostility allegedly began on Ruppert’s first day at work. Upon arriving, Pearce showed her the “Wall of Shame.” Placed conspicuously in the main office, it contained a funeral urn with the “ashes of problem employees.” Ruppert noted that it resembled “the way Adolf Hitler treated the disabled and the Jews during the Holocaust,” with “various nameplates of the employees who were ‘exterminated’” or fired by Pearce.

The lawsuit alleges that Pearce stated “that all per- sonnel of her office should be ‘perfect humans,’ as she believed she was.”94

Media reports about the situation allege that “Pearce threw papers at Ruppert and called her a ‘waste of a human being,’ encouraged Pearce’s daugh- ter and coworker to give Ruppert the middle finger, and referred to Ruppert as a ‘mess up’ who should just ‘quit her job.’”95

Ruppert ultimately experienced stress and anxiety and took sick leave for medical and psychiatric treat- ment. When she returned to work, Ruppert alleges that Pearce relocated her desk so that she had to look at the Wall of Shame, which now contained her name along with the others.96

Addressing the Challenge What would you do if you were the manager responsi- ble for the entire office? 1. Settle the lawsuit and allow Bernadine Pearce to

retire. While Pearce’s behavior is bad, she did give the city 40 years of her life.

2. According to what we learned about counterpro- ductive behavior, you would settle the lawsuit and fire Pearce. Assuming the allegations are accurate, Pearce’s behavior deserves to be punished.

3. Settle the lawsuit and then retire because you allowed this abusive situation to exist.

4. Fight the lawsuit. If nothing else, this may help you reduce the payment that will be awarded to Ruppert.

5. Invent other options.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 3-1 Distinguish individual differences based on their relative stability.

LO 3-2 Explain how multiple intelligences affect your performance.

LO 3-3 Illustrate ways in which personality can affect your performance at school and work.

LO 3-4 Describe the impact of core self-evaluations on performance.

LO 3-5 Realize the benefits of emotional intelligence.

LO 3-6 Explain how understanding emotions makes people more effective.

LO 3-7 Describe the implications of individual differences and emotions for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

The Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB shown in Figure 3.1 summarizes the key concepts in Chapter 3. This chapter builds on Chapters 1 and 2 and explores numerous additional person factors, such as intelligence, personality, proactive personality, self-efficacy, self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional intelligence. We add to this an important individual- level process—emotions. Personality and the other person factors are related not only to emotions, but to a host of other processes and outcomes across levels in the Organizing Framework. While reading this chapter pay attention to the way these person-factor inputs influence individual-level outcomes, such as task performance, workplace attitudes ( job satisfaction), well-being/flourishing, citizenship behaviors/counterproductive behaviors, turnover, and career outcomes. These inputs might contribute to explaining group/team conflict and performance, as well as organizational-level outcomes such as poor firm performance and low customer satisfaction.

3 Individual Differences and Emotions

C ai

a Im

ag e/

Im ag

e S

ou rc

e

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

77Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

FIGURE 3.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

© 2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Intelligences • Personality • Proactive personality • Core self-evaluations • Self-efficacy • Locus of control • Self-esteem • Emotional intelligence

Situation Factors

Individual Level • Emotions

Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics

Organizational Level

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Turnover • Career outcomes

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction

Organizational Level • Financial performance • Survival • Reputation

A seemingly infinite number of characteristics make us who we are as individuals. It therefore is helpful to organize these individual differences so we can better understand and use them to manage people at work. One method is to categorize characteristics in terms of their malleability. These photos illustrate this method. For instance, just by looking we can deter- mine the gender of these two people. We also can approximate their ages. Your height and age are fixed traits, characteris- tics we cannot change. These photos also show very different emotions. The woman appears to be surprised and the man angry. Unlike height and age, our emotions can and do change easily and often. Managers can use that knowledge in mul- tiple ways, such as selecting and hiring people on relatively fixed traits (intelligence), and training them on the appropriate or most effective emotions to display with customers. (left): Ingram Publishing; (right): Gulfimages/Alamy Stock Photo

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

Winning at Work Interview Questions I Should Prepare to Answer and ASK

What to Consider Asking You of course will think of many questions of your own. However, you are well served to consider including these to gain important insights that will help you decide should you receive an offer, and help you understand what to expect if you accept. The questions you ask also provide the interviewer with valuable insights about you.

1. “Why are you hiring for this job?” Is it a new position due to growth, which could bode well for you, the organization, and future opportunities? Or, are they trying to fill an existing position due to a promotion or turnover? It could be valuable to learn which— promotions are good (you’ll likely want one yourself) and if turnover is because the boss is a nightmare you may want to reconsider, especially if it is a pattern.

2. “What is the career path?” Essentially you want to know where do employees go after this role, what is the next step? It’s likely you prefer to see opportunities beyond this job, and asking this question can help you learn whether that is the norm within the organization.

3. “What are the performance expectations and how are they measured?” Clarity and specifics are preferred, and wish-washy, unclear answers may be cause for concern. You don’t want surprises when it comes time for your performance review, as money, promotions, and opportunities may be at stake.

4. “What do you like and dislike about working here?” Just like the interviewer wants to know your strengths and weaknesses, you want to know theirs. Do their strengths align with or conflict with your interests, such as development, teamwork, and collegiality?2

You’ve likely heard that interviews are a two-way street— the prospective employer interviews you and vice versa. And although the list of potential interview questions is lim- itless, a combination of research, practice, and experience from experts can help narrow the list and help you deter- mine what to ask and how to prepare your resume.

What to Consider When Answering the Following Questions Many questions you can anticipate, some you can’t, but either way the following should help. First, we provide the questions or requests from the interviewer, followed by what she or he presumably wants to know and how you might respond.

1. “What are your strengths?” Identify two or three key skills noted in the job description and provide exam- ples. Also use your OB knowledge and consider shar- ing some individual differences (Chapter 3) along with a brief Illustration, such as: “I am an extrovert and thrive in groups and teams.” Or, “I am a motivated and skilled problem solver.” This book will definitely help.

2. “What are your weaknesses?” Don’t dare say, “My strengths are my weaknesses,” “I work too hard,” or “I’m a perfectionist.” Interviewers want to check you’re honest, humble, and ensure you are motivated to work on your weaknesses. Be honest without torpedoing your opportunity. Whatever you choose, be sure to ex- plain how you became aware of it and what you are doing to address it.

3. “Describe yourself.” Two approaches to consider. One, describe the professional path leading to where you are now. What piqued your interests and how did your studies or (work) experiences influence your path? Or, you might pick 2 or 3 key attributes you possess and explain how they will benefit the organization if hired.

4. “Tell me how you dealt with a challenge.” Interviewer wants to learn how you deal with pressure and conflict. Think of and describe a situation, task, action, and re- sult (STAR method). Example situations to consider: (a) difficult team member for a school project, sports team, or at work; (b) pressure situation where you performed well; or (c) met a tight and consequential deadline.

5. “Describe your dream job.” The prospective employer is trying to determine fit, that is, do your interests align with the job and organization for which you are inter- viewing. Accordingly, be sure whatever you choose is relevant to and emphasizes both what you would re- ceive from the “dream job” and what you would pro- vide. Put differently, the dream job is not all about you. Also explain what the employer would get in return.1

What’s Ahead in This Chapter In this chapter you’ll explore individual differences (IDs), which are the many attributes that distinguish all of us from one another. Recognizing and under- standing IDs is critical to effectively applying OB knowledge and tools. For managers, it is fundamen- tal to attracting, motivating, retaining, and improving the performance of others.

Your exploration of IDs begins with an explana- tion of the relative stability of these differences. Next, you’ll delve into a subset of individual differences researchers have found to be particularly important in the work context: (1) intelligence, (2) cognitive abilities, (3) personality, (4) core self-evaluations, (5) attitudes (also covered in Chapter 2), and (6) emotions (including emotional intelligence).

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79Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You undoubtedly notice that your friends behave differently in different situations, whether in

class, watching a sporting event, cramming for an exam, or coping with a new job. However,

what you probably don’t pay much attention to are the characteristics and behaviors that

don’t change. To help you understand and use this knowledge, we’ll arrange the individual

attributes on a continuum based on their relative stability. At one end are relatively fixed or

stable traits (like intelligence), and at the other end are more flexible states (like emotions),

with various trait-like and state-like characteristics in between.

3.1 THE DIFFERENCES MATTER

 Individual differences (IDs)  are the many attributes, such as traits and behaviors, that describe each of us as a person. IDs are a big part of what gives each of us our unique identities, and are fundamental to the understanding and application of OB. So, what is it that makes us different? Is it our genetics or our environment? The answer is both.3 And while the way you are raised, along with your experiences and opportunities, helps shape who you are, a large volume of research on twins suggests genetics matters more. But what is more important at work is recognizing the many attributes that make us unique individuals, regardless of whether they are due to nature or nurture.

To help you understand and apply the knowledge you will gain about IDs, we organize and discuss them according to Figure 3.2.

On the left-hand side of Figure 3.2 we arrange individual differences on a contin- uum. At the top of the continuum are intelligence and cognitive abilities, which are relatively fixed. This means they are stable over time and across situations and are dif- ficult to change. At the bottom are attitudes (which we discussed in Chapter 2) and emotions, which are relatively f lexible. Emotions change over time and from situation to situation, and thus can be altered more easily. To elaborate, you aren’t more or less intelligent at school than you are at work or home, although your emotions commonly change within and between all these places. Both your intelligence and emotions, as well as many other individual characteristics inf luence the many outcomes included in the right side of Figure 3.2.

The distinction between relatively fixed and flexible individual differences has great practical value. Wise managers know they have little or no impact on fixed IDs. You can’t change an employee’s level of intelligence or remake an employee’s personality.4 But you can help employees manage their attitudes and emotions. For instance, many effective managers (and their employers) select employees based on positive, job-relevant, but rela- tively stable IDs. This hiring strategy enables managers to capitalize on the personal strengths someone brings to a job because these stable strengths affect behavior and performance in almost every work situation.5 Intelligence and analytical abilities, for example, are beneficial in front of customers, in teams with coworkers, and when working alone on a project.

In contrast, managers can have greater influence on the relationships between relatively flexible IDs and individual-level work outcomes, like performance and job satisfaction. They can do this by implementing policies that raise employees’ core self-evaluations, attitudes, and emotions. For example, as a manager you’ll likely see better results from

Distinguish individual differences based on their relative stability.

LO 3-1

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80 PART 1 Individual Behavior

assigning work with new products and new markets to employees who are open to experi- ence than to employees with low levels of this attribute. Similarly, you could help build new employees’ confidence about selling to tough customers if you role-model how to do this effectively, give them experience presenting to easy customers first, and provide verbal encouragement before and constructive feedback after.

Managers are wise to pay attention to the effect of employee attitudes and emotions on turnover. Low job satisfaction and high negative emotions can predict which employees are likely to quit. Thankfully, however, attitudes and emotions can be changed more easily than other IDs. You can apply the same knowledge in reverse during job interviews, to help determine whether you’d like to work for that person. Read the following Applying OB box and find out how.

Environment/External Context

Organizational/Internal Context

Important Individual Di�erences at Work • Intelligence • Cognitive abilities • Personality • Core self-evaluations > Self-efficacy > Self-esteem > Locus of control > Emotional stability • Attitudes • Emotions

Individual-Level Work Outcomes • Job performance • Job satisfaction • Turnover • Organizational citizenship behaviors • Counterproductive work behaviors

Relatively Fixed

Relatively Flexible

FIGURE 3.2 Relative Stability of Individual Differences

Applying OB

And if it is you should be concerned that they have (bad) manager issues.

We encourage you to look out for potential “bad” bosses, and to help in that endeavor we describe four common types:

• Marionette managers are puppets to their own bosses or to the organization. They don’t challenge

You may have heard “People quit managers, not their jobs or companies.” Of course, employees quit for a host of reasons, but managers are a major one for most. A Gallup poll of more than 1 million employees who quit revealed 75% did so because of their bosses, not the job itself.6 This means you should do your best to determine if turnover is an issue at any prospective employer, especially in the area in which you will work.

Does Your Potential Boss Get the Job?

CAREER READINESS

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81Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3 81Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

Next, let’s discuss an individual difference which has historically received consider- able attention at school and less at work—intelligence.

Don’t wear rose-colored glasses and overlook red flags, but don’t be overly harsh either. Finding a boss willing to be a real advocate and champion for you and your career is invaluable. Make a list of your prospective boss’s pros and cons and review it honestly.

3. Learn what is expected of you. Learning what the job entails seems obvious but is often overlooked. Ask, “What are your key expectations of me?” And, “If I’m a top performer, which I expect to be, what should my track record look like in 30, 60, or 90 days?” Ask, “How do people get ahead here? How do they fall behind?”

4. Ask where others have gone. Assuming your manager has been in the position for a while, he or she has likely managed other employees in the position for which you are interviewing. Ask: “Where have others you’ve managed gone?” You want to know whether they have been promoted or quit the organization. The first is encouraging, the second a potential red flag. It may be a sign of a miserable boss, or at least one who is not especially developmental.

5. Meet people like you. Do what you can to meet and learn from other employees—those doing the same job today or in the recent past. Sometimes you can find information online, and other times the compa- ny’s interview process may provide opportunities to meet and interact with these employees. Learn what was good, bad, ugly. Ask, “If you were me, what would you want to know?” And, “If I’m going to be successful, then what do I need to do and not do with this person as my manager?” You may not get much detail, but it is worth trying to learn this infor- mation. Your own future may depend on it.

any policies or practices and won’t stand up for you. They are loyal to themselves, not you, and follow orders and expect you to do the same.

• King Kong managers feel superior to you and other subordinates; they have reached the top and expect you to bow down.

• Keeping with the superiority theme, Superman bosses believe the world and everyone in it (you) revolves around them. They are the best and thus most qualified to make decisions. And making matters worse, they not only feel entitled to recog- nition and credit, they will steal it if possible.

• Then, there are Taskmasters who micromanage and often suffocate and kill employee creativity. They are consumed with bottom line results and will grind you up to achieve them.7

Now that we’ve described several versions of night- mare bosses, we offer the following tips and questions to help you learn whether the interviewer is worthy of being your manager.

1. Determine what you want. If you simply want a job or aren’t sure what you want in a job and where you want it to lead, you are obviously more likely to accept a position with a bad boss. To gain more clarity about your boss, ask yourself what kind of relationship you want with him or her. Do you want someone hands-on, nurturing, and developmental? Or do you want a boss who is hands-off and will let you do your own thing? Asking these questions is a critical first step in evaluating your potential new boss.

2. Look for good and bad. While signing on with a bad boss can make you miserable, missing the opportunity to work with a good boss is costly too.

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3.2 INTELLIGENCES: THERE IS MORE TO THE STORY THAN IQ

Although experts do not agree on a specific definition, many say  intelligence  represents an individual’s capacity for constructive thinking, reasoning, and problem solving. Most people think of intelligence in terms of intelligence quotient or IQ, the famous score on tests we often take as children. Many people view intelligence and IQ as one big attri- bute of brainpower. However, intelligence, intelligence testing (for IQ), and related research are more complex.

The concept of intelligence has expanded over the years and is now thought of and discussed in terms of general mental abilities. People are different in terms of such abilities, but this isn’t what is important at work. What is important is to understand intelligence or mental abilities in order to manage people more effectively. Put another way, the reason we highlight intelligence and mental abilities is they are related to performance at work.8 This section provides a brief overview of intelligence and mental abilities and highlights practical implications.

Intelligence Matters . . . and You Have More Than You Might Think Historically, intelligence was believed to be purely genetic—passed from one genera- tion to another—you were either born “smart” or not. Do you agree with this belief? What are the implications of believing intelligence is a gift of birth? Regardless of your personal views, research has shown intelligence, like personality, can be altered or modified in several ways.9 Think about it. No matter who you are or where your starting point in education or experience is, if you engage in more constructive thinking, reasoning, and problem solving, you will get better at these skills. You’ll be more intelligent. If you buy this argument, then after reading this book and studying OB you’ll be more intelligent due to the practice in critical thinking and problem solving you’ll gain.

Am I More Intelligent than My Parents? If you answer yes to this question, research may support your claim. A steady and significant rise in average intelligence among those in developed countries has been observed over the last 70 years. Why? Experts at an American Psychological Association conference concluded, “Some combi- nation of better schooling, improved socioeconomic status, healthier nutrition, and a more technologically complex society might account for the gains in IQ scores.”10 If you think you’re smarter than your parents and your teachers, despite them saying you don’t know important facts they do, you’re probably right!

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You may be smarter than you think. You may already know your IQ, and your grades may

reflect intellectual intelligence. But you can be intelligent in other ways too. We explain vari-

ous forms of intelligence because all are inputs to the Organizing Framework, and all affect

your performance.

Explain how multiple intelligences affect your performance.

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Multiple Intelligences (MI) While many people think of intelligence in general terms, such as IQ, it is more common and more practical to think in terms of multiple intelligences, or an intelligence for something specific. Howard Gardner, a professor at Harvard’s Gradu- ate School of Education, investigated the nature of intelligence for years and summarized his

findings in his 1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.12 The eight intelligences he identi- fied, listed in Table 3.1, include not only mental abilities but social and physical abilities and skills as well.

EXAMPLE Named one of the Top 50 Women in Tech before turning 30, Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon is the cofounder and CEO of Stemettes which helps girls develop and realize their potential in science, technology, engineering, and math—STEM, Ste- mettes, get it? Clever. To help inspire and guide teenaged girls, she and her company have devel- oped apps and created mentoring programs and collaborations with large multi-national tech and media companies, such as Salesforce and BBC. Imafidon’s intelligence in notable, as she is the youngest girl ever to pass A-level computing (age 11) and one of the youngest to earn a computer science masters from Oxford University.15 But this belies her introversion. In an interview she said, “My dream in life is to be a hermit. Clubbing, festivals, and travelling are too much. . . . If I’m there it’s for other people, not me. I’d rather spend a quiet night in front of the TV.”16

Many believe the concept of multiple intelligences has important implications for employee selection, training, and performance. For example, one-size-fits-all

Mayim Bialik not only plays a neuroscientist on the blockbuster TV show The Big Bang Theory, but she actually has a PhD from UCLA (she also was accepted to Harvard and Yale). Reports put her IQ between 150 and 163. Matt Damon has a similarly impressive IQ of 160. It would seem the brainpower of his character in Good Will Hunting didn’t require much “acting.”11 (left): Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images; (right): Michel Euler/AP Images

Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon was names one of the Top 50 Women in Tech before turning 30. Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images

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training programs often fall short when diversity of intelligences is taken into consider- ation. When clinical training for undergraduate nursing students was designed to draw upon and apply their eight intelligences, for example, they acquired greater proficiency in clinical skills. This type of training also enabled them to utilize and develop interpersonal intelligence, extremely important for effective patient care.17

Near the end of this chapter, you will encounter the concept of emotional intelligence, which managers can apply for employee selection and other purposes. Future break- throughs in the area of multiple intelligences will attract more OB researchers and practic- ing managers.

Practical Intelligence We can draw practical benefits from Gardner’s notion of mul- tiple intelligences. For instance, Cornell University’s Robert J. Sternberg applied Gard- ner’s “naturalist intelligence” to the domain of leadership under the heading practical intelligence. He explains: “ Practical intelligence  is the ability to solve everyday prob- lems by utilizing knowledge gained from experience in order to purposefully adapt to, shape, and select environments. It involves changing oneself to suit the environment (adaptation), changing the environment to suit oneself (shaping), or finding a new

TABLE 3.1 Gardner’s Eight Intelligences

TYPE OF INTELLIGENCE EXAMPLE

Linguistic intelligence: potential to learn and use spoken and written languages.

Madeline Johnson, CEO of marketing and PR firm Market Council, speaks Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, along with her native English. She consults for multinational companies, and linguistic intelligence enables her to develop richer and more productive relationships quicker.13

Logical-mathematical intelligence: poten- tial for deductive reasoning, problem analysis, and mathematical calculation.

Did this intelligence help or hurt you on your college entrance exam?

Musical intelligence: potential to appre- ciate, compose, and perform music.

Do you play the drums? Have you heard Marco Minnemann? He is widely considered a virtuoso drummer, one of the best on the planet. If you were to measure this form of intelligence, Minneman’s musical intelligence score would likely be very high.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence: potential to use mind and body to coordinate physical movement.

Serena Williams, tennis player extraordinaire, says her mind helps her realize her tremendous physical talent.

Spatial intelligence: potential to recognize and use patterns.

Fighter pilots are excellent examples of people gifted with spatial intelligence.

Interpersonal intelligence: potential to understand, connect with, and effec- tively work with others.

Compare Warren Buffett (CEO of Berkshire Hathaway) to Larry Ellison (former CEO of Oracle). Critics see the first as approach- able and friendly, the second as arrogant.

Intrapersonal intelligence: potential to understand and regulate yourself.

As the only woman assistant general manager of an NBA team, Kelly Krauskopf must have enormous self-awareness and control to endure the constant criticism and conflict in the job and for being a woman in that job.

Naturalist intelligence: potential to live in harmony with your environment.

Rose Marcario, the CEO of clothing and outdoor sports retailer Patagonia, supports the company’s famous ad—“don’t buy this jacket.” The company has a long tradition of environmental responsibility in which it encourages customers not to buy more than they need to limit the strain on Earth’s resources.14

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environment within which to work (selection). One uses these skills to (a) manage oneself, (b) manage others, and (c) manage tasks.”18

EXAMPLE Attorney Elizabeth Cabraser has led some of the largest class-action lawsuits of our time, such as against big tobacco, makers of silicone breast implants, BP (for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill), and Toyota, GM, Takata, and VW for safety violations. Cabraser is an introvert and soft-spoken in court and outside of work. Her acclaim and success undoubtedly reflect considerable practical intelligence. Her success in class- action suits highlights her linguistic as well as intra- and interpersonal intelligences. These skills help immensely both in and out of court with clients and other attorneys. She also appears to have considerable musical intelligence; in college she played drums and toured with bands. But now she plays and collects drums only in her spare time.19

Practical Implications Many educators and parents have embraced the idea of multiple intelligences because it helps explain how a child could score poorly on a standard IQ test yet be obviously gifted in other ways such as music, sports, or relationship building. It then follows we need to help each child develop in his or her own unique way and pace. Many people make the same arguments about college students and employees, but what is important as a matter of practice is to identify intelligences relevant to the job, and then to select, place, and develop individuals accordingly.

The Business of Brain Training The interest in improving intelligence goes far beyond children and school. A number of companies, including Lumosity, Cogfit, and Elevate are in the business of brain training, claiming that adult intelligence can be increased by playing the company’s games. Like other games, players improve their perfor- mance on these brain games over time, and some have also improved scores on IQ and other related tests.

Proof Is Lacking Researchers, however, recommend caution. More research refutes the improvement claims made by such companies than supports them.20 In fact, the Fed- eral Trade Commission fined Lumosity $2 million for falsely claiming its training could prevent memory loss, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.21 The links between IQ and performance in school and on the job are also inconclusive. Part of the criticism is because IQ tests measure things taught in school, like linguistics (language) and analytics (math). This means if you do well in school, you’re likely to do well on the test and vice versa (we’re testing what is taught and teaching what is tested).22

What We Know Improving intelligence through training is difficult, and you are well served to consider carefully before investing your time, money, or energy. But if you’re going to do it, experts say in order to be effective such training needs three characteristics:

1. Adaptive. In intellectual training, much like physical training, improvement occurs when you exert yourself just beyond your limits. Easy should be avoided; constant and increasing challenge is what you need.

2. Variety. Given you have multiple intelligences, you’ll need a variety of activities to improve. Memory, for instance, involves multiple areas of your brain which is why it is

Class action attorney Elizabeth Cabraser epitomizes the concept of multiple intelligences. Jeff Chiu/AP Images

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best to include a host of stimuli (e.g., sights and sounds) to improve it. Training only your mathematical skills will improve just your mathematical skills, not your linguistic intelligence or more general IQ.

3. Generalizability. Most games and intelligence tests do not involve what you actually do in your job or everyday life. Therein lies the problem—you improve on a game or a test, but it has no relevance or impact on your performance at work. This is part of the reason why in 2014 more than 70 scientists “signed a statement warning consumers about commercial ‘brain training’ programs.” Because you improve on the games doesn’t mean you’re smarter or will be a better performer at school or work.23

Regardless of your personal view on the practical value of intelligence at school or work, the following OB in Action box offers an interesting illustration of how intelligence testing is used in professional sports.

Intelligence in its various forms is important because of its link to performance. Research and experience do not always support this link—the smartest are not necessarily the best performers in any arena. How- ever, most believe it influences performance enough to test and select candidates based on IQ and other measures of intelligence. Perhaps you should con- sider it too.

Intelligence Testing in Football Not only does the National Football League have an intelligence test for players, but it has been using it since the 1970s! The Dallas Cowboys began the practice with the popular Wonderlic test (50 questions with a 12-minute time limit). The test is administered at the Combine where new recruits are “interviewed” to assess physical and intellectual capabilities. Player scores are one factor considered by teams in the draft.

Only one player has had a perfect score so far—wide receiver Pat McInally of the Cincinnati Bengals from 1976 to 1985. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick seemingly has “smarts” no matter how you measure it. He scored 48 on the Wonderlic (the third-best score of all time), completed the test in the shortest time ever and also scored 1580 out of 1600 on his SAT.24

Smarts aren’t limited to QBs. Sam Acho, a line- backer in the NFL, speaks three languages and was

awarded the Campbell Trophy for college football’s top scholar-athlete when he attended the University of Texas.25 Christian Wilkins, while a defensive line- man at Clemson also won this award, and he finished his bachelor’s degree in only two and half years— and completed a masters too!26

New Test and Other Sports Multiple NFL, NBA, and MLB teams have recently trialed a new test—the Athletic Intelligence Quotient (AIQ). This test assesses how fast a player can acquire, process, and apply information. The idea or hope is these charac- teristics are better predictors of performance in sports, compared to a more general aptitude test such as the Wonderlic.27 Baker Mayfield was reported to have the second highest score of the 63 college quarterbacks who have now taken the AIQ.28

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. If you were a coach of a professional sports

team would you favor intelligence testing? Why or why not?

2. Assume your employer uses such tests, and you are a hiring manager, how much weight would you give intellectual intelligence? Explain.

3. If you owned your own company justify both why you would and why would not use intelligence tests in the hiring process.

Smarts and Performance in Sports

OB in Action

Let’s now explore the ever-popular way that distinguishes people at work and in life— personality.

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 Personality  is the combination of relatively stable physical, behavioral, and mental characteristics that gives individuals their unique identities. These characteristics or traits—including the way we look, think, act, and feel—are the product of interacting genetic and environmental influences and are stable over time and across situations and cultures.29 Personality is a person input in the Organizing Framework.

Karen Sparck Jones was a highly regarded scientist whose work in the 1960s and 70s laid the foundation for search engines decades later. She was a self-taught programmer who combined statistics and linguistics to help computers interpret words. Jones was an advocate for women in science, fond of sailing, and wore a similar “uniform” most days— jeans, sweater, and a blouse.

There Is More to Personality Than Liking and Fit Like most people, you may often think of personality in terms of whether you like or dislike someone. For instance, if you’re asked to describe your professor for this class you might say: “She’s great. I love her personality.” Or if asked to describe your boss you might say: “He’s a difficult individual, he’s unethical, many of his colleagues won’t associate with him, and he is widely disrespected and should be fired.” If you are recruiting someone for a job (or your fraternity or sorority) you might say: “I really like his/her personality . . . I think he/she will fit in great with the rest of us.”

What Can I Do with “Like”? While “liking” and “fit” matter (recall our discussion of fit from Chapter 2), these general and evaluative types of descriptions aren’t very useful from a management standpoint. If you think of personality only in these terms, then what type of guidance would you give your recruiters for hiring new employees? “Go find people you like and be sure they fit” won’t take you very far. And because you like someone doesn’t mean you should hire that person, he or she will perform well, or he or she will be a good addition to your organization.

Be Precise to Be Effective To be effective at managing people you need to be more precise and scientific about personality. This challenge has motivated a tremen- dous amount of research about personality in psychology and in OB and provides

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You probably feel you know yourself better than anyone else, but you’re about to learn some

tools that will help you see how others perceive you. One such tool is the Big Five personality

profile, which summarizes hundreds of personality traits into five categories. Another useful

approach centers on proactivity. These tools will help you understand the managerial impli-

cations of other people’s views of you. We explore these topics because personality is a fun-

damental driver of your behavior and performance at work, and an important input in the

Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB.

3.3 PERSONALITY, OB, AND MY EFFECTIVENESS

Illustrate ways in which personality can affect your performance at school and work.

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specific definitions of what personality is, provides tools to measure it, and data as to the effect it has on important processes and outcomes across all levels of the Organiz- ing Framework.

The Big Five Personality Dimensions Defining something as complex as personality is a challenge. Fortunately, psychologists and researchers have simplified this work into the Big Five Personality Dimensions:  extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and open- ness to experience.30 Table 3.2 details the five personality dimensions. For example, someone scoring high on extroversion will be an extrovert—outgoing, talkative, sociable, and assertive. Someone scoring low on emotional stability will likely be nervous, tense, angry, and worried.

A person’s scores on the Big Five reveal a personality profile as unique as their finger- prints. To discover your own Big Five profile, complete Self-Assessment 3.1 and you’ll learn there is more to personality than being likable or fitting in. This Self-Assessment will increase your self-awareness and illustrate some of the concepts described. Many compa- nies use personality profiles for hiring and promotions, so your profile should provide practical insights.

TABLE 3.2 Characteristics of Persons Scoring High on the Five Dimensions

THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTIC

1. Extroversion Outgoing, talkative, sociable, assertive

2. Agreeableness Trusting, good-natured, cooperative, softhearted

3. Conscientiousness Dependable, responsible, achievement-oriented, persistent

4. Emotional stability Relaxed, secure, unworried

5. Openness to experience Intellectual, imaginative, curious, broad-minded

SOURCE: Barrick, Murray R., and Michael K. Mount. “Autonomy as a Moderator of the Relationships between the Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job Performance.” Journal of Applied Psychology 78, no. 1 (February 1993): 111–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.78.1.111.

What Is My Big Five Personality Profile? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 3.1 in Connect.

1. What are your reactions? Do you agree with the scores on your Big Five profile? 2. Which dimension(s) is (are) your highest? In which situations would they be most

beneficial? 3. Which one or two dimensions do you think are likely the best predictors of man-

agerial success? Which is the least? Explain. 4. What are the implications of your Big Five profile for working in teams at school

or work?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.1 CAREER READINESS

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One important question lingers: Are personality models unique to the culture in which they were developed? Cross-cultural research on the Big Five suggests the answer is no. Specifically, the Big Five personality structure held up very well in a study of women and men from Russia, Canada, Hong Kong, Poland, Germany, and Finland.31 As a comprehen- sive analysis of Big Five studies revealed, “To date, there is no compelling evidence that culture affects personality structure.”32

Hail the Introverts Personality is not monolithic. Every person is a combination of the various dimensions— no one is 100 percent of one and zero of the others. This means, for instance, you and everyone else has some amount of introversion. Unfortunately, however, introverts get a bad rap in terms of performance and often are stereotyped and seen as less effective than extroverts or those who are conscientious. (You’ll learn much more about stereotyping and perceptions more generally in Chapter 4.)

If this is your own view, you have more to learn. Founders of some of the most iconic tech companies of all time—Bill Gates, Larry Page, and Mark Zuckerberg—are perceived as introverts, and yet their accomplishments are legendary. Regardless of your own level of introversion, the nearby Applying OB box provides guidance on how to thrive as an introvert.

You could be on the Supreme Court! Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a self-described introvert, and given what we know about her work and what those who know her personally have shared, it is safe to assume she is highly conscientious, intelligent, and open to experience. These seemingly would be very beneficial traits in a Supreme Court justice. Her impact on gender equality and the legal history of America cannot be overstated, as are her many accomplishments. She was one of the first nine women admitted to Harvard Law School, made the Law Review in her first year, but despite these accom- plishments had difficulties getting a job.33 She obviously overcame these challenges and eventually made it to the highest court in the land, and since then has overcome multiple bouts of cancer.34 It cer- tainly seems like introversion didn’t get in her way.

Proactive Personality A  proactive personality  is an attribute of someone “relatively unconstrained by situational forces and who effects environmental change. Proactive people identify opportunities and act on them, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.”35 In short, people with proactive personalities are hard-wired to change the status quo. It is no surprise this particular individual difference has received growing attention from both researchers and managers. Think about it. Companies, and their managers, routinely say they want employees who take initiative and are adaptable, as today’s hypercompetitive and fast-changing workplace requires such characteristics.

Research shows those with proactive personalities positively influence many of the work outcomes shown in Figure 3.2 (and later in Figure 3.5). For example, proactivity is related to increased performance, satisfaction, affective organizational commitment (genu- ine desire to remain a member of an organization), and social networking.36 Particularly interesting is the finding that those with proactive personalities tend to increase the sup- portiveness of their supervisors (a true benefit), and they also modify their work situations so they have more control. You likely are not thinking of retirement yet, but if you have a proactive personality then you will be more likely to be satisfied in your retirement, regard- less of whether you were satisfied with your career or not.37

The iconic Supreme Court member’s life has been chronicled on TV and in movies, providing vivid insight into her personality. TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy Stock Photo

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Proactive Managers What about your manager? An interesting study showed the ideal scenario is for both you and your manager to be proactive. This results in a better fit and better relationship between the two of you, and it also increases your level of job per- formance, job satisfaction, and affective commitment.39 The same study also showed that the worst scenario in terms of performance was low proactivity for both you and your manager, followed by a highly proactive manager and a low proactivity follower. Employers are well-served to value and seek out employees and managers with high levels of proactive personality.

Given these insights, how proactive do you believe you are? How might you increase your proactivity? To help answer these questions, learn about your own proactivity, and explore the potential benefits for you by completing Self-Assessment 3.2.

Applying OB

language, and interactions are maxed out, realize that if you were an extrovert, you’d probably be playing at only 7 instead of 10. Your perception of intense and loud is lower than what others will perceive. (Soliciting feedback, which is discussed in Chapter 6, is a good way of calibrating your intensity.)

3. Play to your strengths. Because engaging others is typically quite draining for introverts, it is a good idea to talk about and stick to topics you know and care about. This will enable you to naturally feel more energized and comfortable.

4. Get team practice. Join a team. Whether you join a recreational sports team or a club of some sort, being a member will help you practice and become comfortable with interacting with others. If it is a non-work team, the pressure and stress of work won’t be part of the experience, making it easier to engage. This will help build your skills for when they really count—at work!38

Having an introverted personality is an individual dif- ference that you, Larry Page, J. K. Rowling, Rosa Parks, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and many other success- ful people share. Regardless of your own level of suc- cess, you can benefit from the advice of Russ Fujioka, entrepreneur and former president of the Americas for cloud accounting company Xero. Fujioka is a self- proclaimed and successful introvert. 1. Be self-aware. Be aware that introverts can be

perceived as disinterested or aloof when they seem less engaged in conversations and social interactions. They may or may not be disinter- ested, of course, but are more likely to show it if they are. And in business situations, they must make the effort necessary to appear interested and force themselves to be engaged.

2. Calibrate your intensity. When engaging others, especially groups of people or teams at work, try to push your personal intensity level to 10 on a 10-point scale. If you feel your volume, body

How to Thrive as an Introvert

How Proactive Am I? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 3.2 in Connect.

1. Do you see a pattern among the questions on which you scored the highest? The lowest?

2. What are the implications of your highest-scoring answers for your success in school? In other words, how can these aspects of your proactivity help you?

3. How can knowledge of your proactive personality score help you when you look for a job? Be specific.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.2 CAREER READINESS

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Proactivity and Entrepreneurs Besides leading to increases in job performance, job satisfaction, and affective commitment (as discussed in Chapter 2), proactive personality is also linked to intentions to be entrepreneurial. This really should not be surprising, but it is helpful to know that scientific OB research substantiates this belief. Building on this, we can say employees with proactive personalities are more likely to be engaged (again, see Chapter 2) and creative at work.40

Successful entrepreneurs often exemplify proactive personality. Consider Dan Goldie, former professional tennis player and successful financial adviser. Goldie’s youthful passion was tennis and his talent led him to junior championship titles, a scholarship at Stanford, and a ranking of 27th on the pro tour. Now he considers himself more successful at manag- ing money than he ever was at tennis. Impressive to be sure.

Perhaps the more interesting aspect of Goldie’s story is that proactivity has been a hall- mark of his entire journey. He knew he wanted to attend college and the only way to pay for it was with a scholarship. He trained, competed, and earned it. He dreamed of playing profession- ally, so he looked at colleges with top tennis programs (like Stanford). He valued money and turned professional as soon as possible. Realizing he would not be a top player and tennis would not last for- ever, he completed an MBA while on tour. He utilized his standing to associate with and learn about finance from top professionals in that industry. Later he lever- aged his tennis relationships to land some of his first and most significant clients as a money manager.41

Another entrepreneurial example is Sal Khan’s Khan Academy. Now world famous, this organization provides Internet-based learning for nearly every scho- lastic subject under the sun. Here’s how it started. Khan, who has three graduate degrees, offered to help his cousin with one of her classes via the Internet. She learned, the word spread, and a company was born. Khan Academy now has 18 million monthly users, more than 150 employees, and its courses are trans- lated into 36 languages.42

Fascinating statistics, shown in Table 3.3, highlight other notable individual differences of entrepreneurs. How do you match up?

TABLE 3.3 Taking the Measure of Entrepreneurs

40 Average and median age

95.1% Have bachelor’s degrees

47% Have advanced degrees

71.5% Come from middle-class backgrounds

< 1% Come from extremely rich or extremely poor backgrounds

70% Used own savings as major source of funding

42.5% Were firstborn

3.1 Average number of siblings

51.9% First in family to start a business

69.9% Married when they launched first business

59.7% Had at least one child

73% Think luck is an important factor in the success of their venture

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal. “By the Numbers: Taking the Measure of Entrepreneurs.” November 12, 2012.

Sal Khan’s influence in online learning is epic. It is likely that a number of his individual differences (e.g., intelligence and proactivity) contribute to his entrepreneurial success. Larry Busacca/Getty Images

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Table 3.3 contains only averages. Even if you don’t possess these qualities, you can still succeed as an entrepreneur. To help make this point, let’s explore the link between person- ality and performance.

The Dark Side of Personality Most of the individual differences covered in this book are positive or desirable, and Chapter 7 is devoted entirely to Positive Organizational Behavior. However, there are three individual differences that are universally considered undesirable, as they nega- tively affect outcomes across individual, group, and organizational levels: narcis- sism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism. These are referred to as the Dark Triad ,43 but before saying any more, it is important to note at least the first two are considered clinically as personality disorders, which is not our interest here, but instead it is the prevalence and consequences at work that is our concern. That said, you may have already encountered people with one or more of these traits, and when this happens in the form of a manager, colleague, partner, advisor, or mentor the effects can be devastating. Let’s explore in a bit of detail and learn how to identify if not also avoid them.

 Narcissists  are characterized as (1) having a grandiose sense of self-importance; (2) requiring or even demanding excessive admiration; (3) having a sense of entitle- ment; (4) lacking empathy; and (5) tending to be exploitative, manipulative, and arrogant.44 Although most OB research investigates this trait in leaders (Chapter 14), narcissists inhabit every arena of our lives and at all levels and positions at work. Part of the problem with narcissists is they can be charismatic or even charming to many, reach high levels of status in organizations, especially in the short term, but once something is at stake for them, they can turn and throw you to the curb.

How do you identify a narcissist? For one, pay attention to your emotions—how do they make you feel? These people can prop you up with praise to win you over (manipula- tion), but then they make you feel stupid or inadequate. Narcissists are good at making you feel that all problems or bad outcomes are your fault, and their contributions are the most significant or valuable. Second, pay attention to what they do more than what they say. They can say good things about you then throw you under the bus. Remember, they are skilled at making themselves look good and viewed in a favorable light, so they may not show their true colors in a group setting. Third, someone else is always the target of blame. You will rarely hear a narcissist say, “I was wrong, it was my fault,” especially if the out- comes are consequential and may make them look bad.45

 Psychopaths  can be aggressive and lack concern for others, guilt, or remorse when their own actions do others harm. The key here is when they harm others. Research shows psychopaths are likely to engage in and cause counterproduc- tive work behaviors (CWBs from Chapter 2) and damage morale of those with whom they work.46 One way to identify such people, for example, a prospective boss or busi- ness partner, is to learn about their relationships over time. Does he or she have any or many true long-term friends? What about people they’ve managed or led in some meaningful way over time, are these relationships still intact, do these people speak fondly of this person? Like narcissism, you need to beware, as this trait can be difficult to detect. Psychopaths may use words that suggest empathy and concern, but they are a false front.

 Machiavellians  believe the ends justify the means, often maintain emotional distance, and are manipulative. These individuals may climb the corporate ladder quite quickly, but they rarely make or keep friends along the way. Like the other traits, they show little regard for you or others beyond your benefit or value to achieving their goals. They also are prone to more CWBs and rarely succeed over time.

Employees with one or more of these characteristics tend to leave destroyed relation- ships in their wake over time. You are best served to identify and avoid any one of the three, especially if they are in positions of power and may exert influence over your job, career, and well-being.

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Personality and Performance Instead of simply assuming personality affects performance, let’s see what research has to say and how this knowledge can make you more effective. First, and most generally, your personality characteristics are likely to have the greatest influence and effect on perfor- mance when you are working in situations that are unstructured and with few rules.47 This makes sense. You’re more likely to show your true colors (your personality) when the situation is open and lacks constraints.

As for the Big Five, knowledge of these stable personality dimensions can assist in selecting the right people and assigning responsibilities to them that will set them up to win.

• Conscientiousness has the strongest and most positive effects on performance across jobs, industries, and levels. Individuals who exhibit traits associated with a strong sense of purpose, obligation, and persistence generally perform better than those who do not. They also tend to have higher job satisfaction.48 This trait has consistently been shown to be the most influential when it comes to performance at work.49

• Extroversion, not surprisingly, is beneficial if the job involves interpersonal interac- tion. It is also a stronger predictor of job performance than agreeableness, across all professions.

• Agreeable employees are likely to fit and excel in jobs requiring interpersonal inter- action, such as customer service. These same employees are more likely to stay with their jobs, be kind and get along with others, and thus have positive relationships and experiences at work.50

• Openness is linked with higher levels of creativity compared with other traits, but open employees may be more likely to quit. Such people are curious and may seek and find new opportunities, even when they are satisfied with their current jobs.51 This characteristic seems like a double-edged sword for employers. On the one hand they want open and f lexible employees, but these are also the same employees who are likely to quit. How might you deal with this as a manager or the owner of a business?

• Emotional stability is associated with higher job satisfaction and well-being. Those low in emotional stability (high on neuroticism) have opposite experiences, includ- ing higher levels of burnout. It is difficult to find a downside to emotional stability in the workplace. If you are a hiring manager, perhaps you’d consider including this trait in your recruiting and selecting efforts.

Finally, if employee engagement is the desired outcome, then proactive personality was found to be the strongest predictor, followed by conscientiousness and extraversion. Agree- ableness and openness were the weakest.52

Personality Testing at Work Personality testing is a commonly used tool for making decisions about hiring, training, and promotion. Roughly 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies use some form of pre-employment testing, including personality tests.53 A few of the major reasons organiza- tions use such tests are:

1. Reduce time and cost of recruiting and hiring.

2. Reduce biases in the interview process.

3. Increase the pool of candidates (because such tests can be administered electronically and remotely).

4. Complement candidate information found in resumes and interviews.54

Personality tests, in particular, are more widely used at the management level than at the entry level. However, despite this widespread use, many experts argue that the typical

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personality test is not a valid predictor of job performance.55 One reason might be that many test takers don’t describe themselves accurately but instead try to guess what answers the employer is looking for.56 With this in mind, consider the recommendations of the fol- lowing Applying OB box the next time you take such a test.

Another reason for inaccurate results is that personality tests are typically bought off the shelf and often given indiscriminately by people who aren’t trained or qualified. And while rigorous research shows personality is related to performance, the effects are small. Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, personality tests are designed to measure per- sonality, not to identify the individual differences needed to perform at a high level in a particular job. This means managers need different and better ways to measure personality if they want to select employees based on performance-conducive personality traits.

An excellent example is the very popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). Although helpful for self-awareness purposes, or discussing preferences related to commu- nicating and making decisions with colleagues, rigorous science largely shows it is a poor predictor of job performance. To be fair, the test is not designed or intended to be a predic- tor of performance, but rather offer insights for you and colleagues. Keith McNulty, People Science Leader at McKinsey, says: “There is no place for the MBTI in organizations. The issue is using it and other measures in ways in which they were not intended and for which science doesn’t support.”57

To help overcome these shortcomings, researchers have used technology and advances in brain science to create a new breed of tests. Companies such as Pymetrics and Knack use games to help assess cognitive abilities, thought processes, and other characteristics.

Applying OB

drink. Don’t overdo the caffeine, unless that is what you’ve done for every test you’ve ever taken.

3. Be yourself . . . sort of. Don’t lie. Well-designed tests can often detect inaccuracies, and most skilled interviewers unveil inconsistencies with ease. But also, beware of being too extreme. Ambition is generally good, but extreme ambition can be dysfunctional. A strong work ethic is pre- ferred, but too high a level is a red flag. In a word— moderation. Don’t be too much of even good things. And when interviewing, take the lead from what others have said about you. If someone has recommended or endorsed you, learn what they said and emphasize those same attributes. Sell yourself the way your endorsers are selling you. You want the interviewer’s data points to align.

SOURCE: D. Meinert, “Heads Up: Personality Assessments Are Being Used More Often in the Hiring Process. But What Do They Really Tell You?” HR Magazine, June 2015, 88–98.

Employment tests can be far more consequential than those you take in school, since getting hired or promoted may depend on It. This may tempt you to provide answers you think the employer wants, but faking is ill- advised. Many tests are intended to assess fit, and if you don’t answer honestly, you might get a job but perhaps it will be one you hate! Instead consider the following tips:

1. Practice. Yes, like other tests (GMAT, SAT, MCAT, LSAT) you can practice for employment tests, and practicing can help increase scores by 20 percent. Practicing works because you become more com- fortable taking such tests, you develop effective test-taking strategies, and you learn what you’re being tested on. This is why so many students take GRE practice exams, as doing so helps sharpen reasoning, numerical, and verbal skills.

2. Play to your own rhythms. If you are sharpest in the afternoon try to avoid taking employment tests in the morning. Also, beware of what you eat and

Acing Employment Tests

CAREER READINESS

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TABLE 3.4 Advice and Words of Caution about Personality Testing in the Workplace

Researchers, test developers, and organizations that administer personality assessments offer the following suggestions for getting started with testing or for evaluating whether tests already in use are appropriate for forecasting job performance:

• Determine what you hope to accomplish. If you are looking to find the best fit between job and applicant, analyze the aspects of the position that are most critical for it.

• Look for outside help to determine if a test exists or can be developed to screen applicants for the traits that best fit the position. Industrial psychologists, professional organizations, and several Internet sites provide resources.

• Insist any test recommended by a consultant or vendor be validated scientifically for the specific purpose you have defined. Vendors should be able to cite independent, credible research supporting a test’s correlation with job performance.

• Ask the test provider to document the legal basis for any assessment: Is it fair? Is it job-related? Is it biased against any racial or ethnic group? Does it violate an appli- cant’s right to privacy under state or federal laws? Get legal advice to assure that a test does not adversely affect any protected class.

• Make sure every staff member administering tests or analyzing results is educated about how to do so properly and will keep results confidential. Use the scores on personality tests with other factors you believe are important to the job—such as skills and experience—to create a comprehensive evaluation of the merits of each candidate and apply those criteria identically to each applicant.

SOURCE: Bates, Steve. “Personality Counts.” SHRM, February 1, 2002. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/ pages/0202covstory.aspx.

The intended advantage is that prospective employees will be assessed on how they play or what they actually do, rather than on their answers to multiple-choice questions or a self- report instrument.

Wise managers learn about personality and the tools used to measure it before invest- ing in and/or utilizing the data they yield. Table 3.4 provides some insights.

There Is No “Ideal Employee” Personality Given the complexity of today’s work environments, the diversity of today’s workforce, and recent research evidence, the quest for an ideal employee personality profile is sheer folly. Just as one shoe does not fit all people, one personality profile does not fit all job situa- tions. Good managers take the time to get to know each employee’s unique combination of personality traits, abilities, and potential and to create a productive and satisfying person– job fit. In other words, a contingency approach to managing people is best (recall the discussion of contingency in Chapter 1).

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When studying individuals, we either consider narrow or broad concepts. Narrow con- cepts tend to be better for describing individuals because they are more precise, for instance, when identifying musical intelligence, whereas broad concepts (the Big 5) are better for predicting behavior and outcomes included in Figure 3.2 and the Organizing Framework. The rationale is that broad concepts are more likely to include the complexity in both individuals and situations than those that are narrow. With this in mind we, explore core self-evaluations (CSEs), which is an especially broad personality trait.

 Core self-evaluations (CSEs)  represent four narrow and positive individual traits: (1) generalized self-efficacy, (2) self-esteem, (3) locus of control, and (4) emotional stability. (See Figure 3.3.) People with high core self-evaluations see them- selves as capable, competent, and valuable. This section discusses the component traits and highlights research and managerial implications for each.

Why should you care about CSEs? CSEs have desirable effects on many outcomes in the Organizing Framework, such as increased job performance, job and life satisfac- tion, motivation, organizational citizenship behaviors, and better adjustment to interna- tional assignments. CEOs with high core self-evaluations positively inf luence their organization’s drive to take risks, innovate, and seek new opportunities, especially strong in dynamic business environments.58 Better still, CSEs can be developed and improved.59

Now let’s learn about the component dimensions.

3.4 CORE SELF-EVALUATIONS: HOW MY EFFICACY, ESTEEM, LOCUS, AND STABILITY AFFECT MY PERFORMANCE THE BIGGER PICTURE

You can significantly improve your self-awareness by understanding your core self- evaluations

(CSEs). These self-evaluations provide broad and useful ways to describe personality in terms

of four important individual differences: self-efficacy, self-esteem, locus of control, and emo-

tional stability. CSEs and their component dimensions are more flexible than IQ but more

stable than emotions. Your knowledge of CSEs can improve your performance at work, in

your career, and in your life.

Describe the impact of core self-evaluations on performance.

LO 3-4

FIGURE 3.3 The Core Self-Evaluation and Its Components

1. Generalized Self-E�cacy

2. Self-Esteem

Core Self-Evaluation

3. Locus of Control

4. Emotional Stability

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97Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

Self-Efficacy—“I Can Do That” Have you noticed that those who are confident about their ability tend to succeed, while those who are preoccupied with failing tend to fail? At the heart of such performance differences is self-efficacy.  Self-efficacy  is a person’s belief about his or her chances of successfully accomplishing a specific task.

Self-Efficacy Can Be Developed Helpful nudges in the right direction from par- ents, role models, and mentors are central to the development of high self-efficacy. For example, a study of medical residents showed guidance and social support from their mentors improved the residents’ clinical self-efficacy.60

Mechanisms of Self-Efficacy A detailed model of self-efficacy is shown in Figure 3.4. To apply this model, imagine you have been told to prepare and deliver a 10-minute talk to an OB class of 50 students on how to build self-efficacy. How confident are you that you can complete this task? Part of your self-efficacy calculation is to evaluate the interplay between person and situation factors described in the Organizing Framework.

SOURCE: Bandura, Albert. “Perceived Self-Efficacy in Cognitive Development and Functioning.” Developmental Psychology 25, no. 5 (1993): 117–148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.25.5.729; and Wood, Robert, and Albert Bandura. “Social Cognitive Theory of Organizational Management.” The Academy of Management Review 14, no. 3 (July 1989): 361–384. https://DOI: 10.5465/AMR.1989.4279067.

FIGURE 3.4 Self-Efficacy Paves the Way for Success or Failure

Prior Experience

Sources of self-e�cacy beliefs

Feedback

Behavioral patterns Results

Behavior Models

Persuasion from Others

Assessment of Physical/ Emotional

State

High “I know I can do this job.”

Success

Self-E�cacy Beliefs

Low “I don’t think I can get the job done.”

Failure

• Be active—select best opportunities. • Manage the situation— avoid or neutralize obstacles. • Set goals—establish standards. • Plan, prepare, practice. • Try hard; persevere. • Creatively solve problems. • Learn from setbacks. • Visualize success. • Limit stress.

• Be passive. • Avoid di cult tasks. • Develop weak aspirations and low commitment. • Focus on personal deficiencies. • Don’t even try—make a weak e�ort. • Quit or become discouraged because of setbacks. • Blame setbacks on lack of ability or bad luck. • Worry, experience stress, become depressed. • Think of excuses for failing.

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98 PART 1 Individual Behavior

On the left-hand side of Figure 3.4, among the sources of self-efficacy beliefs, prior experience takes first position as the most potent of the four sources. This is why it con- nects to self-efficacy beliefs with a solid line. Past success in public speaking would boost your self-efficacy, and poor experiences would diminish it. Other sources of your beliefs about yourself—behavior models, persuasion from others, and physical and emotional factors—might also affect your self-confidence. As weaker sources, they connect to beliefs with dashed lines in the figure.

Your evaluation of the situation yields your self-efficacy level—ranging from high to low expectations for success. High expectations are not mere bravado; but instead are deep convictions supported by experience. Your self-efficacy beliefs affect your behavioral pat- terns (right-hand portion of Figure 3.4). If you have high self-efficacy about giving a 10-minute speech, you will work harder, longer, and more creatively when preparing for your talk than would a low-self-efficacy classmate. Better performance will follow.

People program themselves for success or failure by enacting their self-efficacy beliefs. Positive or negative results subsequently act as feedback and become the basis of personal experience and future levels of self-efficacy. The OB in Action box provides an excellent illustration.

Eren Ozmen is #19 on Forbes’ list of richest self- made women in America and epitomizes self- efficacy. She and her husband’s company (she is the majority owner), Sierra Nevada (not the beer), are competing to create and operate reusable spacecraft. Their first craft, the Dream Chaser, crashed upon landing and the company lost the NASA contract to SpaceX. However, that setback did not stop her. The com- pany is now part of a $14 billion effort to shuttle cargo between Earth and the International Space Station. The company is the biggest female-owned government contractor in the country.

Her Own Journey Began Far Away She came to the U.S. from Turkey for graduate school in the

1980s and later bought Sierra Nevada, her employer at the time. They have now turned their original investment of $5 million into a company with $1.6 billion in sales and 4,000 employees in 33 loca- tions. The story is one of an underdog and tremen- dous personal risk for Ozmen, as the company has never been in space exploration. But it nevertheless acquired other companies and developed its way into the industry.

It Was Not a Clear or Straight Path This parallels her own journey. A journalism and public relations major, she knew nothing about technology, and moved through numerous jobs in America after graduating. She and her husband worked at Sierra

You Can Go to the Moon and Beyond, If You Believe in Yourself

OB in Action

(left): NASA/Ken Ulbrich.; (right): Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post/Getty Images

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99Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

Managerial Implications Self-efficacy has been extensively studied in the workplace. The data supports several recommendations. As a rule, managers are encouraged to nur- ture self-efficacy in themselves and others because it is related to improved job perfor- mance and job satisfaction (both are important individual-level outcomes). Table 3.5 provides a few specific means for building self-efficacy. Nearly all are explained in detail in other chapters of this book.

Self-Esteem—“Look in the Mirror”  Self-esteem  is your general belief about your self-worth. Personal achievements and praise bolster self-esteem, while prolonged unemployment and destructive feedback erode it. Researchers measure self-esteem by having people indicate their agreement with posi- tive and negative statements about themselves. An example of a positive statement is,

TABLE 3.5 Ways to Apply Knowledge of Self-Efficacy at Work

APPLICATION EXPLANATION

1. Job Design Complex, challenging, and autonomous jobs tend to enhance perceived high self-efficacy. Boring, tedious jobs generally do the opposite.

2. Training and Development

Managers can improve employees’ self-efficacy expecta- tions for key tasks through guided experiences, mentoring, and role modeling.

3. Self-Management Training linked to goal setting, action planning, and self- motivation enhance self-efficacy expectations.

4. Goal Setting and Quality Improvement

Goal difficulty needs to match the individual’s perceived self-efficacy.62 As self-efficacy and performance improve, goals and quality standards can be made more challenging.

5. Creativity Supportive managerial actions—encouraging risk taking and providing “blue sky time”—can augment the strong link between self-efficacy beliefs and workplace creativity.63

6. Coaching Those with low self-efficacy and employees hampered by learned helplessness need lots of constructive pointers and positive feedback.64

7. Leadership Leadership talent surfaces when top management gives high self-efficacy managers a chance to prove themselves under pressure.

Nevada for several years, which nearly went bank- rupt, before taking it over and transforming it into what it is today—a major competitor in the race to space.61

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. How do you think Ms. Ozmen’s self-efficacy

influenced her decisions along the way?

2. Although by most any measure she seems to be successful now, how do you think her challenges along the way shaped her self-efficacy?

3. What can you learn from her story and apply to building your own self-efficacy?

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100 PART 1 Individual Behavior

“I feel I am a person of worth, the equal of other people.” An example of a negative state- ment is, “I feel I do not have much to be proud of.” Those who agree with the positive statements and disagree with the negative statements have high self-esteem. They see them- selves as worthwhile, capable, and accepted. People with low self-esteem view themselves in negative terms. They do not feel good about themselves and are hampered by self- doubts.65

Although research suggests self-esteem is relatively consistent within cultures, over time, and among men and women, we can still ask: Can it be improved?

Can Self-Esteem Be Improved? The short answer is yes. If your self-esteem is lower than you’d like now, don’t despair. It has been shown, for example, that support- ive clinical mentors improved medical residents’ self-esteem.66 But not everyone is convinced.

Researchers have found one method especially effective for improving self-esteem. Low self-esteem can be raised more by having the person think of desirable characteristics possessed rather than of undesirable characteristics from which he or she is free.67

Some researchers believe performing at a high level boosts your self-esteem, not the other way around. Thus, they reason it’s a mistake to focus on self-esteem. We all know people who “talk big” but “deliver small” and thus seem to suffer from delusions of competency.

Our Recommendation: Apply yourself to things important to you. If getting an A in your OB course affects your sense of self-worth, then you will be motivated to work harder and presumably perform better.

Locus of Control: Who’s Responsible— Me or External Factors?  Locus of control  is a relatively stable personality characteristic that describes how much personal responsibility we take for our behavior and its consequences. We tend to attribute the causes of our behavior primarily to either ourselves or environmental

Many individual differences influence performance. Of those discussed so far in this chapter, which do you think are most important for surgeons? Would you rather have a surgeon with high self-efficacy or high self-esteem? Michael N. Paras/Pixtal/age fotostock

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101Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

factors. (Recall our discussion of the person—situation distinction in Chapter 1.) Locus of control thus has two forms—internal and external.

Internal Locus of Control People who believe they control the events and con- sequences that affect their lives are said to possess an  internal locus of control.  Such people, called internals, tend to attribute positive outcomes to their own abilities and negative outcomes to their personal shortcomings. Many entrepreneurs eventually succeed because their internal locus of control helps them overcome setbacks and disappoint- ments. They see themselves as masters of their own fate and not as simply “lucky.”

Those who willingly take high-stakes jobs in the face of adversity (such as pulling a company back from scandal or bankruptcy) likely have a high internal locus of control. Dara Khosrowshahi, for instance, took over at Uber after a slew of scandals and bad press damaged the company’s reputation and resulted in the ouster of then CEO, Travis Kalanick.68

External Locus of Control In contrast, those who believe their performance is the product of circumstances beyond their immediate control possess an  external locus of control  and tend to attribute outcomes to environmental causes, such as luck or fate. An “external” would attribute a passing grade on an exam to something external like an easy test and attribute a failing grade to an unfair test or distractions at work.

Locus in the Workplace The outcomes of internals and externals differ widely at work.

Internals

• Display greater work motivation. • Have stronger expectations that effort leads to performance. • Exhibit higher performance on tasks that require learning or problem solving, when

performance leads to valued rewards. • Derive more job satisfaction from performance.

Externals

• Demonstrate less motivation for performance when offered valued rewards. • Earn lower salaries and smaller salary increases. • Tend to be more anxious.69

Don’t mistakenly assume, however, that internal locus is always good and external is always bad. High internals can implode, burn out, or otherwise underperform in situations offering them little or no control, such as during organizational changes in which they have no input or influence. An external locus would be more helpful here. Encouragingly, research shows managers can increase the degree of one’s internal locus of control over time by providing more job autonomy (something you’ll learn about in Chapter 5).70

Emotional Stability As described in our discussion of the Big Five and in Table 3.2, individuals with high levels of  emotional stability  tend to be relaxed, secure, unworried, and less likely to experience negative emotions under pressure. In contrast, if you have low levels of emotional stability, you are prone to anxiety and tend to view the world negatively. How is this knowledge useful at work?

Employees with high levels of emotional stability have been found to have higher job performance and to perform more organizational citizenship behaviors. Emotionally stable employees also exhibit fewer counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs), actions that undermine their own or others’ work. Both OCBs and CWBs were discussed in Chapter 2 and are individual-level outcomes illustrated in Figure 3.2 and the Organizing Framework.

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Three Practical Considerations for Core Self-Evaluations Before leaving core self-evaluations let’s briefly touch on three areas of interest:

• Is having more of a CSE component always better? • Is the whole of the CSE components greater than its parts? • How can managers use CSEs?

Is More Always Better? Like having more self-esteem, having greater emotional sta- bility is not always better. Researchers found curvilinear, or inverted-U, relationships between emotional stability and outcomes. This suggests that as your emotional stability increases, so too will your job performance and organizational citizenship behaviors, but only to a point.

It seems as emotional stability continues to increase, OCBs decline, likely because you focus your attention on the task at hand and not on your coworkers. Typically, that’s a good thing, but at a certain level emotional stability becomes problematic if you begin obsessing over details and lose sight of the larger objectives and those with whom you work.

Emotional stability can also protect against stressors at work, such as trouble with supervisors, unfair policies, and too much work. It also reduces the likelihood employ- ees will act out by committing CWBs. But there may come a tipping point when the stress becomes too much and emotional stability cannot prevent counterproductive behaviors.71

What is the lesson for you? Emotional stability is an asset for many types of jobs, but it will take you only so far.

The USA women’s national soccer team has won four Women’s World Cup titles, most recently in 2019. And although Megan Rapinoe was awarded the FIFA Best Player Award, neither she nor any of her team- mates could have won a single game alone. Can you think of non-sports examples where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts?

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103Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

Is the Whole of CSE Greater than Its Parts? To clarify the value of CSE as a whole, versus that of its component traits, think of basketball as a metaphor. Clearly a team outperforms any individual playing alone. Even the greatest player would have no chance against an entire team. And the five greatest players ever, playing individually, still have no chance against an entire team. The sum of their solo efforts would be zero.

However, if you assembled a team of the five greatest players, then those individuals playing as a team would be able to do things and perform in ways they couldn’t otherwise do on their own (more on teams in Chapter 8). CSE and its component traits are much the same. Core self-evaluation is the team and the traits are the individual players—the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

How Can I Use CSEs? Especially in a managerial role, you can use your knowledge of CSEs in many practical ways, such as:

• Employee selection. It is more efficient to select employees using CSEs as one broad personality characteristic rather than using its four component traits. Employers can determine the link between one characteristic (CSE) and performance in a particular job, rather than having to determine the relationships between each of the four components’ parts and performance. This is one relationship versus four. Doing so enables managers and employers to take advantage of the various benefi- cial outcomes described above.

• Training. The training potential of CSEs is limited because most of its components are trait-like or relatively fixed (self-esteem, locus of control, and emotional stabil- ity). That said, self-efficacy is more flexible than the other three components and can be enhanced as explained above. (Figure 3.4 is an excellent “how to” guide.)

Before moving on, we encourage you to assess your own core self-evaluations in Self- Assessment 3.3. Knowledge of your CSEs helps you understand other components of your personality beyond the Big Five discussed and assessed earlier. Awareness of your self- esteem, self-efficacy, locus, and emotional stability can help guide many aspects of your work life, such as what types of jobs to look for and what types of development opportunities may be most useful for you.

How Positively Do I See Myself? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 3.3 in Connect.

1. What is your CSE score? A score greater than 48 is high, between 36 and 48 moderate, and less than 36 low.

2. What are the implications for your performance in school? Work? 3. Now consider this scenario: You’re on a three-member team for a project in this

class that requires research, a paper, and a presentation. Your CSE score is high, one team member’s is moderate, and the other’s is low. Describe the potential implications for the three of you working together and your ultimate perfor- mance on the paper and presentation.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.3 CAREER READINESS

Let’s continue our discussion of individual differences and learn about emotional intelligence (EI) next. EI is a popular OB concept and relatively more flexible than CSEs and the others discussed thus far.

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3.5 THE VALUE OF BEING EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT

As we know, people deal with their emotions in a variety of ways, which is one reason we are discussing emotions in the chapter on individual differences. For a long time many people considered skill in managing emotions as simply a matter of maturity. However, since the mid-1990s researchers, consultants, and managers have increas- ingly described emotional maturity by using the phrase emotional intelligence (EI). Today, EI is big business. Hundreds of consulting companies provide EI products and services, and estimates suggest approximately 75 percent of Fortune 500 companies use them.72

What Is Emotional Intelligence?  Emotional intelligence  is the ability to monitor your own emotions and those of others, to discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide your thinking and actions. Referred to by some as EI (used in this book) and by others as EQ, emotional intelligence is a mixture of personality and emotions and has four key compe- tencies (see also Table 3.6):

1. Self-awareness

2. Self-management

3. Social awareness

4. Relationship management73

The first two dimensions constitute personal competence and the second two feed into social competence. Recall the discussion earlier in the chapter of inter- and intra-personal intelligences described by Howard Gardner. EI builds on this work.

Before learning more about emotional intelligence, complete Self-Assessment 3.4. Self-awareness is fundamental to EI and having this knowledge in hand is helpful in exploring the benefits of EI and learning how to develop it.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You likely already know that intelligence doesn’t tell us everything we need to know about

performance. The smartest student doesn’t always get the best grades, and the smartest

candidate for a job is not necessarily the best choice. While you almost certainly agree with

both of these statements, what is even more certain is that people perform better if they have

emotional intelligence—smart or not. When you understand the concept of emotional intelli-

gence from an OB perspective, you’ll understand why it is an important person-factor input in

the Organizing Framework.

Realize the benefits of emotional intelligence.

LO 3-5

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105Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

TABLE 3.6 Developing Emotional Intelligence

Personal Competence

HOW WE MANAGE OURSELVES

Capability Description

Self-Awareness Emotional self-awareness

Reading one’s own emotions and recognizing their impact; using “gut sense” to guide decisions

Accurate self-assessment Knowing one’s strengths and limits

Self-confidence A sound sense of one’s self-worth and capabilities

Self-Management Emotional self-control Keeping disruptive emotions and impulses under control Transparency Displaying honesty and integrity; trustworthiness

Adaptability Flexibility in adapting to changing situations or overcom- ing obstacles

Achievement The drive to improve performance to meet inner standards of excellence

Initiative Readiness to act and seize opportunities

Optimism Seeing the upside in events

Social Competence

HOW WE MANAGE RELATIONSHIPS

Capability Description

Social Awareness Empathy Sensing others’ emotions, understanding their perspec- tive, and taking active interest in their concerns

Organizational awareness Reading the currents, decision networks, and politics at the organizational level

Service Recognizing and meeting follower, client, or customer needs

Relationship Management

Inspirational leadership Guiding and motivating with a compelling vision

Influence Wielding a range of tactics for persuasion

Developing others Bolstering others’ abilities through feedback and guidance

Change catalyst Initiating, managing, and leading in a new direction

Conflict management Resolving disagreements

Building bonds Cultivating and maintaining a web of relationships

Teamwork and collaboration Cooperation and team building

SOURCE: Goleman, Daniel, Richard E. Boyatzis, and Annie McKee. Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002.

What Is Your Level of Emotional Intelligence? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 3.4 in Connect.

1. Which of the four competencies is highest for you? What are the implications for you at school and/or work?

2. Which competency is the lowest? What are the implications for you at school and/or work?

3. Do you have greater personal or social competence? What are the implications for you at school and/or work?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 3.4 CAREER READINESS

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You can gain considerable Insights regarding EI by observing those who seem to pos- sess and lack this valuable ID. Uber’s former CEO provides an excellent example of the latter. See the Problem-Solving Application.

Darkness in the C-Suite at Uber

Do you remember Travis Kalanick, the founder and former CEO of Uber? Ample evidence from an employee survey, testimonials from other execu- tives (both inside and outside of Uber), and busi- ness partners provide compelling evidence for a number of troubling traits exhibited by Uber’s founder and former CEO.

When public opinion of the company took major hits due to numerous scandals—sexual harassment at corporate, allegations of rape and other illegal behavior by drivers, and a perception of greed and exploitation when it implemented surge pricing during a taxi strike at JFK airport— Kalanick claimed Uber had a public relations prob- lem, instead of acknowledging the company he founded and created had a serious culture prob- lem. This was further exacerbated by his seeming disregard, If not outright encouragement, for ram- pant sexual harassment.

In addition, there is the infamous video of him arguing with an Uber driver during a ride he took. You may recall the driver expressed his concerns about the company and the challenges faced by drivers. Instead of taking these concerns as feed- back, Kalanick showed a blatant lack of empathy and a great deal of arrogance by blaming the driver, and people like him, by stating they didn’t take enough personal responsibility for their own lives. And later, when convinced by others to meet with

the driver and apologize, he doubled down and argued the same points again! Another employee who witnessed the meeting described his own reac- tion as deeply troubling. The lack of willingness to accept responsibility for negative behaviors and events (e.g., sexual harassment) was exacerbated further still by bullying and retaliation against those who complained to HR.74

Kalanick has also been described as unrelent- ingly combative. In meetings he routinely switched between praising and tearing down individuals. Jeff Jones, Uber’s former president, quit after only a few months and was so eager to leave he didn’t even negotiate an exit package, leaving millions of dol- lars behind. Adding insult to injury, Uber employees were asked to rank specific business leaders, both inside and outside the company, for a survey and Kalanick ranked last in tech company CEOs!75

Using a quick checklist:

Grandiose self-importance. Check. Lack of empathy. Check. Arrogant. Check. Sense of entitlement. Check. Demand excessive admiration. Perhaps.

Although Travis Kalanick has already stepped down as CEO, assume he hasn’t, and apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach below.

Problem-Solving Application

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem in the confronting Uber’s board of directors.

Step 2: Identify the OB concepts and theories that may point to the cause(s) of the problem. What role did emotional intelligence play in the problem you defined? Which personality attributes are evident, and how might they have contributed?

Step 3: Assume Kalanick was still the CEO and make a recommendation to correct the situation. Think both short-term and long-term.

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107Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

Now that you have some knowledge of your EI you might wonder, why another type of intelligence, and how is EI different from IQ? Those who developed the concept of EI argue that traditional models of IQ are too narrow, failing to consider interpersonal competence. They also argue from a practi- cal perspective that EI is more flexible than IQ and can be developed throughout your working life. This is consistent with Figure 3.2 and the practical benefits of relatively flexible IDs. Let’s explore the benefits of EI and how to develop yours.

Benefits of EI What Research Tells Us EI has been linked to better social relationships, well- being, and satisfaction across all ages and contexts, including work.76 For instance, store managers’ EI was shown to foster greater team cohesiveness (covered in Chapter 8) among sales associates, and this in turn boosted sales.77 EI has also been linked with creativity, helping employees manage their emotions amid the challenges of the creative process to stay on task and remain in the cre- ative space. EI further enables individuals to apply positive emotions to their work, improv- ing their creative outcomes.78

EI also seems to have a dark side. In a study with undergraduates, researchers found those with higher EI were more effective at faking pre-employment personality tests. Participants were better able to change their answers to align with the characteristics listed in the job description.79 And sadly, some people use their EI skills to manipulate others, faking empathy or supporting another only to make yourself look good, rather than authentically caring and helping.80 He says, “People want to be led, but you’ve got to know how to lead different people. . . . I treat everybody differently . . . and if you do that in busi- ness, you’re going to be successful.”81

Figure 3.5 summarizes the relationships between EI and several individual differences we’ve covered as well as several outcomes. EI does not contain any strong relationships with other inputs or outcomes contained in the Organizing Framework. In fact, there are an equal number of weak and moderate relationships. Most importantly, EI was not found to be the big driver of performance as suggested by some consultants and academics.

How to Develop Your EI? Dan Goleman, the person whose book helped take EI mainstream, highlights the importance of self-awareness—both how you see yourself and how others see you (recall our discussion from Chapter 1). He and his colleague, Michelle Nevarez, recommend using the following three questions to build your EI. We think you’ll notice, what they recommend sounds much like the problem-solving approach used in this book.

1. What are the differences between how you see yourself and others see you? This means you need to do a self-assessment on the competencies in Table 3.6, as well

Tillman Fertitta is a self-made billionaire and now owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets, Golden Nugget Casinos, and the Landry’s Restaurant Group. He learned to cook in his father’s restaurant in Galveston, dropped out of the University of Houston, and is now the president of its Board of Regents.82 Donna Ward/Getty Images

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108 PART 1 Individual Behavior

as get feedback on how others see you in terms of the same competencies. Feed- back can come from friends, coworkers, customers, classmates, your boss, or a personal coach.

2. What matters to you? Once the information from #1 is in hand, sift through and decide what is important to you. Put differently, ascertain your goals and use the infor- mation to help determine which aspects of your EI need development.

3. What changes will you make to achieve these goals?83 This is the planning part; you have a goal, information to help, now you need a plan. Make a plan, implement, review, and revise. (You’ll learn much more about goal setting and how to make your EI development efforts more successful in Chapter 6.)

Practical Takeaways EI certainly makes common sense and is appealing on the sur- face. However, despite its popularity and the millions of dollars spent on EI programs every year, the research results are mixed. Proceed with caution.84 Beware of individuals and companies claiming EI is the silver bullet of performance. It is but another individual difference, and no single attribute explains all behavior. Nevertheless, you should identify and develop your own EI to realize the clear interpersonal benefits. Table 3.6 can serve as a guide.

Now that you’ve learned about emotional intelligence, let’s explore emotions themselves.

FIGURE 3.5 Relationships between Emotional Intelligence and Individual Differences and Outcomes

V ar

ia b

le s

Extroversion

Conscientiousness

Emotional Stability

Cognitive Ability

Self-efficacy

Supervisor-rated Job Performance

Self-rated Job Performance

Subjective Well-being

Mental Health

Physical Health

Strength of Relationship Not significant Weak Moderate Strong

SOURCE: Sánchez-Álvarez, Nicolás, Natalio Extremera, and Pablo Fernández-Berrocal. “The Relation between Emotional Intelligence and Subjective Well-Being: A Meta-Analytic Investigation.” The Journal of Positive Psychology 11, no. 3 (August 2015): 276–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1058968; Joseph, Dana L., Jing Jin, and Daniel A. Newman. “Why Does Self-Reported Emotional Intelligence Predict Job Performance? A Meta-Analytic Investigation of Mixed EI.” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 2 (2015): 298–342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037681; and Martins, Alexandra, Nelson Ramalho, and Estelle Morin. “A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Emotional Intelligence and Health.” Personality and Individual Differences 49, no. 6 (October 2010): 554–64. https:doi:10.1016/j.paid.2010.05.029.

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3.6 UNDERSTAND EMOTIONS TO INFLUENCE PERFORMANCE

Many people believe employees should check their emotions at the door when they come to work. This is unrealistic and simply impossible. Like personality and the other IDs dis- cussed thus far, emotions are an integral part of who we are as people, a fundamental part of the human experience, and greatly influence our performance. Given this reality, you will want to understand emotions so you can manage them as a process to benefit you, your team, and your employer. This will help make emotions a practical tool to use, rather than something to avoid, ignore, or suppress.

Emotions—We All Have Them, but What Are They?  Emotions  are complex, relatively brief responses aimed at a particular target, such as a person, information, experience, or event. They also change psycho- logical and/or physiological states.85 Researchers distinguish between felt and dis- played emotions. For example, if your boss informs you that you’ve been passed over for a promotion, you might feel disappointed and/or angry (felt emotion). You might keep your feelings to yourself or you might begin to cry. Both reactions are instances of dis- played emotions. It’s just that in the first case you are choosing not to show emotion, which means your display is “no emotion.” Your display can affect the outcomes, in this case your manager’s reactions. Taxi drivers, waiters, and hairdressers all received higher tips when they were trained to manage what they felt and the way they displayed these feelings.86

Emotions may also motivate your behavior and are an important means for commu- nicating with others.87 A smile on your face signals you are happy or pleased, while a scowl and a loud, forceful tone of voice may reflect anger. We also know our emotions can and often do change moment to moment and thus are more flexible than the other IDs discussed so far. For these reasons, emotions have important implications for you at school, at work, and in every other social arena of your life. They can even be the root cause of why you procrastinate. Read the Applying OB box and learn how to combat your tendencies.

Explain how understanding emotions makes people more effective.

LO 3-6

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The human experience is awash in emotions, and you won’t be surprised to learn emotions

are important both at work and as an individual-level process in the Organizing Framework.

We’ll explore the difference between felt versus displayed emotions and how emotions

serve as an important means of communication with ourselves and others. Most of your

experiences elicit a mix of positive and negative emotions, and these emotions are tightly

related to your goals.

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Emotions as Positive or Negative Reactions to Goal Achievement You’ll notice from the definition you can think of emotions, whether positive, negative, or mixed, in terms of your goals.89

• Positive. If your goal is to do well in school and you graduate on time and with hon- ors, you are likely to experience positive emotions, such as joy, gratitude, pride, satis- faction, contentment, and relief. These emotions are positive because they are congruent (or consistent) with your goal.

• Negative. Negative emotions are triggered by frustration and failure to meet goals. They are said to be goal incongruent. Common negative emotions are anger, fright, anxiety, guilt, shame, sadness, envy, jealousy, and disgust. Which of these are you likely to experience if you fail the final exam in a required course? Failing would be incongruent with your goal of graduating on time with a good GPA. Typically, the more important the goal, the more intense the emotion.

• Mixed. Meeting or failing to meet our goals can also generate mixed emotions. Let’s say you receive a well-earned promotion that brings with it positives—increased responsibility and higher pay—but only if you relocate to another state, which you don’t want to do.

Applying OB

Most people procrastinate at least occasionally, which means we irrationally delay an action despite expect- ing to be worse off. We often attribute procrastination to poor time management or even laziness, but it seems research has revealed a true cause— emotions.88 Researchers say procrastination is a way to deal with stress. That’s right. Putting off studying for your next exam is one way of dealing with the stress of preparing for it. The rationale is many things you do while procras- tinating are often things that make you feel good or you enjoy, such as shopping, going out with friends, watching TV, or playing video games. They help ease the anxiety associated with the task you need to do (study for an exam). Compounding this further, it seems that people who are more impulsive tend to be more anxious, and the more anxiety they experience, the more likely they are to procrastinate to make themselves feel better. With this in mind, what can occasional and chronic procrastinators do to help themselves?

1. Set subgoals. Whatever the needed or dreaded task is, break it into smaller parts or subgoals and specify a start and end time for each. Doing this will help the task seem less daunting, which will reduce your associated anxiety and the

temptation to do something else more enjoyable (procrastinate).

2. Just do it. We’re not talking about going for a run or playing sports, which while healthy may be another form of procrastination. Instead, we’re saying to get started and do part of the task. Once you’ve begun, completing it will seem less difficult.

3. Envision the benefits and feelings. How will you feel when you’re finished? What will you be able to do? This seems obvious enough, but research has shown that people rarely think of such benefits when they are procrastinating.

4. Reward yourself. Building on No. 3, reward your- self for achieving the subgoals, as well as the over- all goal or task.

Blaming your emotions won’t get your term paper done or help you prepare sufficiently for the upcoming client presentation. Understanding the role emotions play may help you recognize and overcome your ten- dencies. With this advice in mind, get to work!

Adapted from S. Wang, “To Stop Procrastinating, Start by Understanding the Emotions Involved,” The Wall Street Journal, August 31, 2015, http://www.wsj. com/articles/to-stop-procrastinating-start-by-understanding-whats-really- going-on-1441043167.

Do You Procrastinate? Blame Your Emotions!

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Besides Positive and Negative, There’s Past vs. Future The negative–positive distinction matters—you’re happy, you’re sad. However, another characteristic of emotions can be especially useful for managers. Assume you’re a manager in a company that just downsized 15 percent of its employees. This is stressful for all those who lost their jobs, but let’s focus on two fictitious employees who survived the cuts— Shelby and Jennifer. Both feel negatively about the job cuts, but in different ways.

Shelby: Her dominant emotion is anger. People are typically angry about things that happened (or didn’t happen) in the past. Anger is a backward-looking or retrospec- tive emotion.

Jennifer: Her dominant emotion is fear. People are typically fearful of things that might happen in the future. Fear is a forward-looking or prospective emotion.

Practical implications for managers: Knowing these emotions tells you that Shelby is likely most concerned with something that happened in the past, perhaps the way decisions were made about whom to terminate. She may think the process was unfair and caused three of her favorite colleagues to be let go. As for Jennifer, knowing she is dominated by fear tells you that uncertainty about the future—perhaps her job might be cut next—concerns her most. As their manager, you can use knowledge of Shelby’s and Jennifer’s emotions to guide your own actions.

How Can I Manage My Negative Emotions at Work? Theoretically, to manage your emotions at work you could simply translate felt emotions into displayed emotions—unfiltered. Besides being unrealistic this would be disastrous. To help, we explore emotion display norms, how to handle a host of negative emotions, and the emotions related to a job search.

Organizations have emotion display norms or expectations regarding the types of emo- tions that are appropriate for employees to show in different situations.90 For instance, to always act happy and positive in front of customers or your boss, remain calm in meetings, and don’t show anger. What about crying? Many people think this is taboo and a reputa- tion killer, but not as many people feel this way as you might think. For instance, 38 per- cent of participants in a recent study reported crying is okay occasionally, but if it is frequent then your career could suffer. This compares to 31 percent who said crying had no effect. However, 32 percent thought it is never okay and if you do cry, then people will perceive you as weak or immature.91

But what can you do when you feel negative emotions at work? The OB in Action box describes the costs and benefits of displaying anger at work.

Andrew Cornell, CEO of Cornell Iron Works, under- stands the days of the screaming boss are, or at least should be, a thing of the past. He deals with anger toward his employees by holding frequent and brief meetings, “rather than ‘waiting until the end, throwing a nuclear bomb and leaving blood all over the wall.’”92

Screaming takes other forms too. At work you might receive a hostile e-mail berating you, which was copied to your coworkers in ALL CAPS. Science supports the many people who believe yelling, whether by e-mail or face-to-face, is inappropriate and counterproductive. You may have been in a group meeting when someone was so angry he or

The Good and Bad of Anger at Work

OB in Action

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112 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Anger isn’t the only negative emotion. Table 3.7 provides guidance on a variety of oth- ers and how to deal with them. As you study the table, think of your own experiences and reactions and how the recommendations could have helped you handle them.

she began to scream and bully another person. Both are unprofessional and uncalled for, and they dam- age the reputation of the perpetrator.

Costs of Negative Emotions Growing research evidence confirms the suspected undesirable out- comes of negative emotions. For instance, managers need to be careful about generating feelings of shame and/or anger when giving feedback to employees because these particular emotions have been linked to counterproductive work behaviors such as abuse of others and theft.93

Unhappy Customers May Suffer Twice Custom- ers’ negative emotional displays, such as verbal aggression, have been shown to negatively affect employee job performance. Specifically, receivers of the aggression made more mistakes recalling and processing the customers’ complaints.94 You may want to think twice before venting on a customer service representative.

What About the Benefits of Anger? Expressing your anger sometimes can actually help solve the problem. Your message is communicated, though forcefully, which can lead to better understanding. Displays of anger are more likely to be beneficial if they are directed at organizational issues and prob- lems instead of at individuals. Being angry at the problem rather than the person is likely to be per- ceived more constructively and less defensively.95

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What advice would you give to managers on

how to handle their own anger and other nega- tive emotions at work?

2. What advice would you give to managers on how to handle the anger and negative emotions felt (and expressed) by their direct reports?

3. What has been the most productive way for you to deal with your negative emotions?

TABLE 3.7 Common Negative Emotions and How to Handle Them

IF YOU’RE FEELING . . . THEN YOU MIGHT WANT TO . . .

Fearful Step back and try to see the situation objectively. Ask yourself: “Is my business or career truly at risk?” If not, you may be feeling nervous and excited rather than fearful.

Rejected Do you respect the opinion of the person rejecting you? If the comment came from someone you don’t respect, rejection may instead be a backhanded compliment. If you do respect the person, you may want to clarify by asking: “The other day you said ________ and I felt hurt. Can you explain what happened?”

Angry Get some distance from the situation to avoid blowing your top in the heat of the moment. Once you calm down, pinpoint the reason you are angry. Most often the reason is someone violated a rule or standard that is deeply important to you. Find a way to communicate the importance of the rule or standard to the person so it doesn’t happen again.

Frustrated We all get frustrated at work when results don’t meet our expectations, given the amount of time and energy we’ve applied. The goal often is achievable, but progress is slow. First, reas- sess your plan and behavior. Do they need modification? If not, perhaps you simply need to be patient.

Inadequate Even those with the highest self-esteem feel they don’t measure up at times. Our discussion of self-efficacy and how to build it in Table 3.5 can guide your solution to this emotion.

Stressed Time constraints are a major source of stress. Too many commitments, too little time. You need to prioritize! Do what is important rather than what is urgent. For example, most e-mail is urgent but not important.

SOURCE: James, Geoffrey. “Feeling Negative? How to Overcome It.” Inc., November 26, 2012. https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-handle-negative- emotions-at-work.html.

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Finally, searching for a job can be an emotional experience, the proverbial rollercoaster— up and down and up and down again. The mixture of positive and negative emotions can be daunting, so what can you do? The following advice may help, but before we get to the emotions it is important to do two things first. Become organized and be disciplined. A job search can be overwhelming, time consuming, and often happens over a long period of time. It therefore is important to create a system to keep track of your efforts, establish a routine, and stick to both!96 Now let’s address some of the common emotions in the Applying OB box.

Applying OB

You cannot see the future, but you can anticipate potential scenarios or outcomes in your job search. Include in your planning, “If X happens, then I’ll do Y.” This may help reduce the uncertainty of the negative emotions that go along with it.

Fear. Yes, once again fear rears its head. Although often justified it is rarely helpful. There is no single or best way to deal with it, but knowing that fear is future- oriented can help create different scenarios for inter- views and outcomes. Doing so will reduce the uncertainty and hopefully your fear too.

Frustration. Some job descriptions read like autobiog- raphies, and the only thing missing is your picture. Yet, you don’t get an interview. Or, you feel you nailed the interview but don’t get the job offer. Besides disap- pointment, this can be frustrating. The best advice here is the cliché that “you must be in it to win it.” Don’t

take the process personally. The employer may have made the wrong decision, or they may have had an internal candidate already picked out and are just going through the motions with you. Whatever the rea- son, pick yourself up and try again. Look at these occurrences not as setbacks, but as learning opportu- nities to further hone your resume, and communica- tions and interviewing skills.

Excitement. Yes, the job search has positive emotions too, and you must also manage them. Envision passing the screening call, nailing the first interview, and feel- ing even better about the second. Wonderful! But don’t become complacent and stop your search. Continue to work the process. This opportunity may stall or fall through, or you may even find a more appealing opportunity.

Managing Emotions During Job Search

We’ll conclude the chapter by distilling some specific applications of what you just learned.

CAREER READINESS

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Takeaways for Me Use your new knowledge of personality, intelligences, CSEs, emotions, and EI, along with the self-assessments and concepts learned in Chapter 3 to:

1. Enhance your self-awareness. 2. Identify the pros and cons of particular IDs for you at school and work. 3. Create profiles of the managers and leaders where you work (or where you want to work if

you’re not currently employed). Profiling the “important people” in this way will not only illustrate the concepts you’ve learned, but serve as a template or prototype of what is valued by a particular employer. In other words, create a profile of what successful people look like in terms of individual differences and use this knowledge to highlight the same qualities you possess during job interviews and to guide your own development.

4. Use your knowledge of emotional intelligence, because despite mixed research results, it can make or break an individual in any given job and have implications for the larger career.

Takeaways for Managers IDs have great practical significance for managers.

1. Explicitly include the individual differences that matter most in job descriptions. This means you are well served to list job responsibilities and the employee characteristics you think are most important to be successful in a specific job.

2. Use your knowledge of the continuum when selecting and training employees. Realize you often will want to hire and test for relatively fixed traits (intelligence and personality), because these are not easy to change, and consider training or coaching the others.

3. Assess your own emotional intelligence, paying explicit attention to both personal and social competence. Don’t simply make a summary judgment— “I have high EI,” or “My EI is pretty good.” Given the potential consequences of low EI, you are wise to put in the effort to learn about and improve both aspects of yours (if needed). After doing this, you will be better prepared to assess the emotional intelligence of those you man- age and those you consider hiring. These actions will benefit you, them, other cowork- ers, and the larger organization.

Individual differences are fundamental to who you are as an employee and as a per- son. Understanding the many concepts presented here will assist you in better understand- ing yourself and others, and perhaps enhance your problem-solving skills too. Recall the person-situation inputs in the Organizing Framework? You have learned a great deal about person inputs and yourself in the process!

3.7 MAKING THE CONNECTION: HOW DO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND EMOTIONS AFFECT MY PERFORMANCE? THE BIGGER PICTURE

We conclude this chapter with practical applications of knowledge and tools related to

individual differences, intended to improve your effectiveness as both an employee and

manager.

Describe the implications of individual differences and emotions for you and managers.

LO 3-7

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115Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

You learned that who you are affects performance because individual differences (IDs) play an important and often fundamental role in the way you perform at school, at work, and in other con- texts. Reinforce and consolidate your learning with the Key Points and Organizing Framework. Then challenge your mastery of the material by completing the Problem-Solving Application Case and Legal/Ethical Challenge.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 3 You learned the following key points.

3.1 DISTINGUISHING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES BASED ON THEIR RELATIVE STABILITY

• Individual differences (IDs) is a broad category used to describe the vast number of attributes (traits and behaviors) that describe a person.

• It is helpful to think of IDs in terms of their rel- ative stability.

3.2 HOW MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES AFFECT MY PERFORMANCE

• Intelligence Is more than IQ and represents an individual’s capacity for constructive think- ing, reasoning, and problem solving.

• Multiple intelligences are linguistic, logical, musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist.

• Identifying the intelligences relevant to par- ticular jobs can be used to select, place, and develop individuals accordingly.

3.3 WAYS IN WHICH PERSONALITY CAN AFFECT MY PERFORMANCE AT SCHOOL AND WORK

• Personality is the combination of stable physi- cal, behavioral, and mental characteristics that give individuals their unique identities.

• The Big Five personality dimensions are extroversion, agreeableness, conscientious- ness, emotional stability, and openness to experience.

• People with proactive personalities identify opportunities and act on them, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.

• Employers use personality tests to select and place employees, but no “ideal personality” exists and tests are often misused.

3.4 THE IMPACT OF CORE SELF-EVALUATIONS ON PERFORMANCE

• Managers can realize the practical value of CSEs by selecting employees based on them and then training them to enhance elements of their CSEs.

• Self-efficacy is a person’s belief about his or her chances of successfully accomplishing a specific task.

• Self-efficacy beliefs can be improved via experience, behavior models, persuasion from others, and emotional state.

3.5 THE BENEFITS OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

• Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to monitor your own and others’ feelings and emotions and use this information to guide your thinking and actions.

• EI is associated with higher sales and improved retention, as well as leadership effectiveness.

• EI can be developed by building personal and social competence.

3.6 HOW UNDERSTANDING EMOTIONS MAKES PEOPLE MORE EFFECTIVE

• Emotions are complex, relatively brief res- ponses aimed at a specific target.

What Did I Learn?

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116 PART 1 Individual Behavior

• IDs are insightful for understanding, motivat- ing, and otherwise managing employees.

• Awareness and management of your and oth- ers’ emotions can enhance performance.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 3 As shown in Figure 3.6, you learned how individ- ual differences can present themselves through the process of emotions (both felt and expressed) at the individual level, affecting many workplace outcomes across individual, group/team, and organizational levels.

• Most experiences are a mixture of positive and negative emotions, rather than purely one or the other.

• Emotions can be distinguished in terms of a future or a past orientation.

• Emotion display norms dictate which types of emotions are expected and appropriate in particular organizational situations.

3.7 HOW DO INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND EMOTIONS AFFECT MY PERFORMANCE?

• Knowledge of IDs is abundant and a useful way for leveraging your strengths and devel- oping your weaknesses.

FIGURE 3.6 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

© 2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Intelligences • Personality • Proactive personality • Core self-evaluations • Self-efficacy • Locus of control • Self-esteem • Emotional intelligence

Situation Factors

Individual Level • Emotions

Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics

Organizational Level

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Turnover • Career outcomes

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction

Organizational Level • Financial performance • Survival • Reputation

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117Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

John Schnatter founded Papa John’s Pizza in a broom closet in his father’s tavern in 1984. The restaurant is now the fourth largest pizza delivery chain in the United States with more than 5,300 corporate and franchisee owned establishments worldwide.97 Papa John’s revenues exceeded $1.5 billion in 2018 but were down for the first time in almost ten years.98 The company is also down a spokesperson. Schnatter, bet- ter known as “Papa John,” was ousted by the organiza- tion after a series of controversial statements.99

Let’s take a closer look at the issues facing Papa John’s and its founder.

PROBLEMATIC STATEMENTS Schnatter told college students in 2013 that he “has a real problem with the English language” while dis- cussing his poor score on the verbal portion of the SAT. Those who know him seem to agree with that sentiment, but don’t believe grammar is the under- lying problem. For example, Steve Coomes, a restaurant industry journalist who has interviewed Schnatter a dozen times, wrote a blog post in 2018 titled “A tale of a man who couldn’t tame his tongue” in which he profiled a CEO he claims “has always said too much.”100

One of Schnatter’s first controversial statements was in 2012 when he discussed the passage of Presi- dent Obama’s Affordable Care Act. What caught the public’s attention was not his political opposition to the law, but the fact that he complained to shareholders that it would increase the cost of a large pizza by 14 cents. Papa John’s social media was soon inun- dated with outraged customers claiming they would pay a couple extra cents so Papa John’s employees had health insurance. Others said they would take their business to a restaurant that has empathy and “. . . doesn’t begrudge their employees the ability to seek a doctor when they’re ill.”101

Schnatter found a new target in 2017, the National Football League (NFL). Papa John’s was a significant sponsor of the league at the time that many players were kneeling during the national anthem to raise awareness of police brutality and social injustice. Again, Schnatter caused controversy because he could not keep his emotions and impulses under con- trol. According to the Washington Post he said that the NFL’s “poor leadership” and inability to stop the pro- tests hurt the league’s TV ratings, which in turn hurt

sales of his pizza because it is advertised heavily during games. To make matters worse, a white suprem- acist group embraced the remarks and dubbed Papa John’s as the official pizza of the alt-right. Papa John’s condemned the group and distanced itself from the endorsement, but the damage was already done and the company had to apologize for Schnatter’s “divisive” remarks.102 The NFL also broke ties with the company, according to the New York Times.103

Schnatter was forced to resign as the company’s CEO after making the controversial comments about the NFL, but that did not stop him from continuing to cause public outrage with his statements. In May 2018 Schnatter, who was still serving as Papa John’s chairman at the time, used the n-word on a confer- ence call with executives and a marketing agency when referring to African Americans. The marketing agency terminated its contract with Papa John’s and Schnatter was forced to resign as the company’s chairman.104

PAPA JOHN BATTLES PAPA JOHN’S Schnatter’s comments gravely injured the restaurant chain he founded. Sales at North American stores fell more than 7% in 2018 and the organization’s stock lost a third of its value.105 Papa John’s tried to distance itself from Schnatter to stop the bleeding. The board of directors evicted Schnatter from the company’s Louisville, Kentucky, headquarters, took him off pizza boxes and commercial materials, and directed him to cease all communications with internal and external stakeholders.106

Papa John would not go quietly though. He hurled multiple lawsuits at his former company and took out a full-page newspaper ad directing Papa John’s 120,000 employees to a website he set up. The website includes press releases, news articles, and public fil- ings in support of Schnatter.107

Papa John’s and Schnatter reached an agreement in 2019 to resolve many of their points of contention. As a result of the agreement, Schnatter will resign from the Papa John’s board of directors and cease litigation against his former company. However, the matter is far from closed. Schnatter’s spokesperson says he still “retains his ability to assert new legal claims” in the future related to his ouster.108 Moreover, the founder is still the company’s largest individual shareholder, own- ing a 19% stake.109

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Worst Spokesperson.

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118 PART 1 Individual Behavior

problem. For each cause explain why or how it causes the problem. Asking why multiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem. For example, do particular individual differences John Schnatter possesses help explain the problem you defined in Step 1?

B. Follow the same process for situation factors. For each ask yourself, why is this a cause? By following the process of asking why multiple times, you are likely to arrive at a more complete and accurate list of causes. Again, look to the Organizing Framework for guidance.

C. Now consider the Processes box in the Organiz- ing Framework. Are any processes at the indi- vidual, group/team, or organizational level potential causes of your defined problem? It cer- tainly seems Schnatter’s emotions are notable aspects of his experience and predicament. Do they help explain the problem defined in Step 1? What about the board and their governance of Papa John’s? What about the fact that Schnatter is still a significant shareholder in the company? For any process you consider, ask yourself, why is this a cause? Again, do this for several itera- tions to arrive at the root causes.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem and confirm the link or cause and effect connection.

STEP 3: Recommend solutions. Make recommendations for solving the problem, considering whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it. Which recommendation is desirable and feasible?

A. Given the causes identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use material in the current chapter that best suits the cause. Remember to consider the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes, because these contain insights into what others have done. Details of this case, for instance, describe how Papa John’s board is concerned and has legitimate authority to make changes at the organization and repair its reputation. What might they do?

B. Be sure to consider the Organizing Framework— both person and situation factors, as well as pro- cesses at different levels.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your recommendations and be sure your recommen- dations map onto the causes and resolve the problem.

THE COMPANY’S CONTINUED STRUGGLES Papa John’s continues to reel under negative public- ity even after Schnatter’s exile. The company has closed over 100 locations in the past year while competitors such as Dominos and Pizza Hut have opened new ones.110 It has also been forced to assist suffering franchisees by providing royalty relief and other types of subsidies, further deteriorating the company’s bottom line.111

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB Use the Organizing Framework in Figure 3.6 and the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to help identify inputs, processes, and outcomes relative to this case.

STEP 1: Define the problem. A. Look first at the Outcome box of the Organizing

Framework in Figure 3.6 to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember, a problem is a gap between a desired and current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accom- plished, decide which one is most important and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have key players, and problems are gen- erally viewed from a player’s perspective. You need to determine from whose perspective— employee, manager, team, or the organization— you’re defining the problem. As in other cases, whether you choose the individual or organiza- tional level in this case can make a difference.

C. Use details in the case to determine the key problem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems that are not explicitly included in the case itself. Only use what is provided in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus thinking. Focus on topics in the current chapter, because we generally select cases that illustrate concepts in the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes. Using material from this chapter and summarized in the Organizing Framework, identify what are the causes of the problem you identified in Step 1. Remem- ber, causes tend to appear in either the Inputs or Pro- cesses boxes.

A. Start by looking at the Organizing Framework (Figure 3.6) and determine which person factors, if any, are most likely causes of the defined

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119Individual Differences and Emotions CHAPTER 3

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

To Test or Not to Test, That Is a Problem

Companies across industries have tested for drugs for many years, and depending on the job and the drug, few would argue against such practices. For instance, no one wants pilots, air traffic controllers, or surgeons to be altered in any way while performing their duties. In the past when there was ambiguity about drugs and jobs the law made it easier—if the drug is illegal for recreational use then it is reasonable to include it in testing, pre- and post-employment. This is why few people today or in the past would support the use of heroin or cocaine at work, and thus testing for these Is still widely accepted.

But Now There Is Recreational Pot (Not Medicinal) Although still illegal at the federal level, marijuana is legal for medicinal uses in 39 states and for recre- ational use in 10 (as of early 2019), and a Gallup poll showed 64 percent of Americans favor its legaliza- tion.112 These changing attitudes and legal complexi- ties are forcing owners, managers, and employees to reconsider their positions and policies related to drugs and drug testing in the workplace.

Some argue testing is obsolete while others claim the current situation requires even greater diligence.113 The state of Maine, as an example, has outlawed pre- employment testing and dismissal for a first positive test for pot use at work, which has led companies there and elsewhere to eliminate or at least reduce testing. Vermont also legalized recreational use but does not require employers to tolerate possession or use at work, nor does it forbid them from testing for it.114

On the other hand, many argue employers have a responsibility to provide a safe and productive work- place, and to the extent policies and practices related to marijuana (or any other substance) undermine these responsibilities, then such policies are difficult to defend. The failure to establish and enforce such

policies erodes employee morale and potentially increases legal liability for employers. Additionally, since opioids and other prescription drug misuse is epidemic, many think drug policies and practices need to be tougher at work, not more relaxed. Further sup- port for this position is that 4.2 percent of urine tests done on employees in 2016 were positive, the highest level in more than a decade.115

What About Unreliable Tests? As before and still, those who test positive almost always claim their exposure was indirect, a situation factor, and it was the secondhand smoke of a partner, friend, person sitting next to them at a concert or in a car. Experts and processes today reduce the likelihood of false positives to nearly zero, and many processes automatically use a second and more stringent testing method when the initial test comes back positive. Fur- thermore, testing today allows for a threshold level for all drugs, and the thresholds are now high enough to require being stuck in a closet with four friends smok- ing pot heavily for hours in order for a bystander to register positive.116

This poses quite a dilemma for owners, managers, and employees. Let’s explore your own views and rec- ommended actions with the following questions.

1. What is your position on drug testing at work, both pre- and post-employment? Explain.

2. Assume you are a manager of employees across multiple states, some with recreational drug legalization and others not, what would you do?

3. Employees in most companies are allowed to take smoke breaks, historically for cigarettes, but what if now they want to include pot-breaks in those states where marijuana is legal? Assume you own the company, does that change your views?

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 4-1 Describe how you form perceptions of others.

LO 4-2 Discuss how awareness of stereotypes helps you make better decisions.

LO 4-3 Explain how causal attributions help managers interpret employee performance.

LO 4-4 Describe the four layers of diversity and how they help organizations manage diversity effectively.

LO 4-5 Discuss the business rationale for managing diversity.

LO 4-6 Discuss the most common barriers to implementing successful diversity programs.

LO 4-7 Explain what organizations are doing to manage diversity effectively.

LO 4-8 Describe the implications of social perception and managing diversity for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

The Organizing Framework shown in Figure 4.1 summarizes the key concepts discussed in Chapter 4. We discuss the impact of three important person factors—diversity, demographics, and stereotypes, and the situation factor of diversity climate on a host of processes at the individual, group/team, and organizational levels. These person and situation factors affect the individual level processes pertaining to perception, attributions, and psychological safety. They also influ- ence processes at the group/team and organizational levels. One of the biggest takeaways from this chapter is the fact that the combination of inputs and processes shown in Figure 4.1 have a broad effect on individual, group/team, and organizational level outcomes. Try to observe how the inputs and processes affect individual level outcomes such as task performance, work attitudes, well-being, flourishing, turnover, and career outcomes such as promotions. At the same time, you should learn that concepts discussed in this chapter also affect group/team level outcomes of performance and satisfaction as well as organizational outcomes like being an employer of choice, customer satisfaction, and reputation.

4 Social Perception and Managing Diversity

C ai

a Im

ag e/

Im ag

e S

ou rc

e

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121Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

FIGURE 4.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Diversity • Demographics • Stereotypes

Situation Factors • Diversity climate

Individual Level • Perceptions • Attributions • Psychological safety

Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics

Organizational Level • Options to manage diversity

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Turnover • Career outcomes

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction

Organizational Level • Employer of choice • Customer satisfaction • Reputation

This team of professionals is focused on finalizing plans for a new office space. Success in this effort requires coordination among a diverse set of people, and this is not always an easy task. Research and anecdotal evidence reveals that diversity can promote greater performance once people learn to work effectively with people different from themselves. stockbroker/123RF

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

122

Winning at Work Perception Plays a Key Role in Getting a Job

Do’s • Be aware of each platform’s

policies and procedures because they tend to vary.

• Focus on the quality of your posts rather than the quantity.

• Use Twitter and LinkedIn to play up your professional inter- ests (like sharing relevant news articles).

• Cross-check your résumé and LinkedIn profile to make sure there are no discrepancies.

• Share information about your volunteer activities and work with professional associations.

• Make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors in your materials.

• Remember to continuously update your profiles.

Don’ts • Don’t bad-mouth a current or former employer, col-

league, or company.

• Avoid foul language and negative remarks.

• Don’t post when you are impaired, or even when you are overly tired or emotional.

• Don’t post anything that might be perceived as rac- ist, biased, sexually oriented, or illegal.5

More recruiters than ever are using social media to find good employees. A recent U.S. survey of 800 recruiters by Jobvite revealed that 25 percent of hir- ing companies overall are developing recruiting methods that rely on Insta- gram; the rate is 63 percent among technology companies. Results also showed that nearly half the companies surveyed (43 percent) have used texting to communicate with job applicants, and they report a high approval rating for those communications.1

Another survey reveals that nearly 3 in 4 Millennial job seekers (aged 18 to 34) found their most recent job through social media. That’s not too surprising if you con- sider that 82 percent of hiring organizations report using social media to recruit “passive” candidates; that is, those who are not actively looking for a job.2

Perceptions Start with Social Media Posts A national CareerBuilder survey of more than 1,000 hiring and HR managers found that 7 in 10 research job candi- dates online, using their social network profiles to assess their potential fit with the company. Nearly half said if they couldn’t find a candidate online, they would hesitate to get in touch for an interview. Although the Internet is a gold mine of information for recruiters, a poorly managed online image can hurt your chances of finding a job. Forty percent of employers in the CareerBuilder survey report forming a negative impression of candidates who posted “provoca- tive or inappropriate” photos; 36 percent disliked online revelations of alcohol or drug use; and 31 percent were turned off by expressions of race, gender, or religious bias.3

Consider the experience of Pete Maulik, chief strategy officer at Fahrenheit 212. Maulik was ready to make an offer to an applicant, but after checking out the man’s LinkedIn profile he decided the applicant was not a team player. “He took credit for everything short of splitting the atom,” Maulik said. “Everything was ‘I did this.’ He seemed like a lone wolf. He did everything himself.”

Maulik recalls another seemingly good applicant who used his Twitter account “to disparage just about every new innovation in the marketplace.” Maulik concluded the appli- cant “was much more comfortable as the critic than the col- laborative creator.”4 This candidate was not hired either.

Recommended Tips The following suggestions can help you manage the impression you are projecting based on the information you post on social media.

What’s Ahead in This Chapter We want to help you enhance your understanding of the perceptual process so you won’t fall victim to common perceptual errors—yours or other people’s. This chapter will show you, for instance, how per- ception influences the way managers manage diversity. Diversity should matter to you because the way a business deals with diversity affects the way you are perceived as an individual. Diversity matters to your organization too, because it allows you to take advantage of the fullest range of human skill and talent. We also discuss barriers and challenges to managing diversity, and the practices organiza- tions use to overcome them.

Panther Media GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo

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123

Imagine you are driving on a winding mountain road at dusk and suddenly see something in the road. Is it an animal, a rock, or a person? Should you stop or just maneuver around it? Suppose you’re in a team meeting and one of your teammates makes a negative state- ment about your work. Is the person being political or just having a bad day? Your mind is trying to quickly answer these questions before you respond.

Perception is key to resolving the above questions.  Perception  is a cognitive pro- cess that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings. Recognition of objects is one of this process’s major functions. But because organizational behavior’s (OB’s) principal focus is on people, our discussion will emphasize social perception rather than object perception.

Perception is important to OB because it affects our actions and decisions. It is based on our perception of reality, not on reality itself. Our exploration of this important process begins with a discussion of social perception and the four stages of processing informa- tion. We then consider a model of person perception, which provides a practical frame- work for understanding how we form perceptions of others. Finally we consider the managerial implications of person perception.

Stages of Social Perception You can learn to avoid making perceptual errors by understanding the process that guides perception. As shown in Figure 4.2, there are four stages of social perception:

• Stage 1: Selective attention/comprehension • Stage 2: Encoding and simplification • Stage 3: Storage and retention • Stage 4: Retrieval and response

Describe how you form perceptions of others.

LO 4-1

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Understanding how you process information will help you see how perception affects a vari-

ety of important processes and outcomes within the Organizing Framework for Understand-

ing and Applying OB. It can also assist in managing the perceptions people form about you.

4.1 THE PERCEPTION PROCESS

FIGURE 4.2 Social Perception: A Social Information Processing Model

McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC

C Judgments and decisions

Interpretation and categorization• People

• Events • Objects

Memory

A

B

C

D

E

F

A C F

Stage 2 Encoding and Simplification

Stage 3 Storage and

Retention

Stage 1 Selective Attention/

Comprehension

Stage 4 Retrieval and

Response

Competing environmental

stimuli

Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

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124 PART 1 Individual Behavior

The first three stages describe how specific social information is observed and stored in memory. The fourth and final stage, retrieval and response, involves turning mental repre- sentations into real-world judgments and decisions.

Let’s look at the four stages of social perception by following a simple example. Suppose you were thinking of taking a personal finance course. Three professors teach the same course, using different types of instruction and testing procedures. Through personal experience, you now prefer good professors who rely on the case method of instruction and essay tests. According to social perception theory, you would likely arrive at a decision regarding which course to take based on the instructor, following the steps outlined in the following sections.

Stage 1: Selective Attention/Comprehension People are constantly bombarded by physical and social stimuli. To avoid being overwhelmed, they selectively perceive sub- sets of environmental stimuli. This is where attention plays a role. Attention is the process of becoming consciously aware of someone or something. Research has shown that people tend to pay attention to salient stimuli—that is, something that stands out from its context. For example, a 250-pound man would certainly be salient in a women’s aerobics class but not at a meeting of NFL players.

One’s needs and goals often dictate which stimuli are salient. In our personal finance example, you would begin your search for the “right” professor by asking friends who have taken classes from the three available professors. You might also interview the professors who teach the course to gather additional information. In Figure 4.2, all the information you obtain shows as competing environmental stimuli labeled A through F. You interpret and categorize your notes.

Stage 2: Encoding and Simplification Our memory does not store observed informa- tion in its original form; encoding is required. Our brains interpret or translate raw informa- tion into mental representations. To accomplish this, individuals assign pieces of information to cognitive categories,  groups of objects that are considered equivalent. For example, categories are generally designated by names—for example, dog, animal.6

In social information processing theory, a particular category builds on a schema. A schema  represents a person’s mental picture or summary of a particular event or type of stimulus. For example, picture a sports car. Does the picture show a small vehicle with two doors? Is it red? If you answered yes, you would tend to classify all small, two-door, red vehicles as sports cars because this type of car possesses characteristics consistent with your sports car schema. We interpret and evaluate people, events, and objects by comparing their characteristics with information contained in schemata (the plural form of schema).

Relying on encoding helps us to simplify what might be a bewildering range of inputs. Encoding and schemata make the world more manageable. In our personal finance exam- ple, let’s say you simplify by focusing on categories most salient to you: the method of instruction, testing procedures, and past grade distributions. Figure 4.2 shows these three salient pieces of information as lines A, C, and F.

Having collected relevant information about the three professors and their approaches, you compare this information with other details contained in schemata. This comparison leads you to form an impression of what each professor’s course might be like. In turn, the relevant information (lines A, C, and F in Figure 4.2) are passed along to the third stage of the process.

Stage 3: Storage and Retention Long-term memory is like an apartment complex consisting of separate units connected to common areas. Sometimes different people in each apartment will interact. Long-term memory similarly consists of separate but related compartments (or wings), one each for events, semantic materials, and people.7

• Event memory: This compartment includes categories with information about both specific events (relying on unique details) and general events (relying on schemata). These memories describe sequences of events in familiar situations: going to a res- taurant, going on a job interview, going to a movie, etc.

• Semantic memory: This refers to general knowledge about the world, as a kind of mental dictionary of concepts. Each concept includes a definition (e.g., a good leader) and associated traits (outgoing), emotional states (happy), physical characteristics

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125Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

(short), and behaviors (works hard). These concepts are stored as schemata and are often subject to cultural differences.

• Person memory: Categories within this compartment supply information about a sin- gle individual (your professor) or groups of people (professors). You are more likely to remember information about a person, event, or advertisement if it contains charac- teristics that are similar to something stored in the compartments of memory.

As time draws near for you to decide which personal finance professor to choose, your schemata of them are stored in the three categories of long-term memory and are available for immediate retrieval and comparison.

Stage 4: Retrieval and Response People retrieve information from memory when they make judgments and decisions, and these ultimately come about in one of two ways: (1) we draw on, interpret, and integrate categorial information stored in long-term memory or (2) we retrieve a summary judgment that has already been made.

On course registration day, you have to choose which professor to take for personal finance. After retrieving your schemata-based impressions from memory, you select a good professor who uses the case method and gives essay tests (line C in Figure 4.2). In con- trast, you may choose your preferred professor by simply recalling the decision you made two weeks ago.

A Model of Person Perception Figure 4.1 showed that perception is an important process in the Organizing Frame- work for Understanding and Applying OB because it affects our actions and decisions. Consider dieting. Recently Weight Watchers International stopped using the word diet in its advertising because of the word’s negative perception. In fact, the company slimmed down its own name to WW and is adding the word wellness to its brand. Company presi- dent and CEO Mindy Grossman noted that “We are becoming the world’s partner in well- ness.”8 Weight Watchers clearly is trying to use the perception process to increase sales.

Perception is inf luenced by three key components: the characteristics of the per- ceiver, of the target—the person or group being observed—and of the situation (see Figure 4.3).9 Let’s take a closer look at how these components work.

Characteristics of the Perceiver Figure 4.3 shows six key perceiver characteristics that affect our perceptions of others.10 As you read, consider how they might have influ- enced your perceptions in the past.

• Direction of gaze. Gaze is the first step in the perception process because it focuses your attention and tells the brain what you think is important in the immediate environ- ment. When scanning people, we also tend to pay attention to others who are gazing at us. We usually remember people when we make direct eye contact with them.

• Needs and goals. We are more likely to perceive whatever is related to our goals and needs. For example, we perceive examples of food if we are hungry. If we are looking for a friend at a party, we scan the room for familiar faces and fail to perceive strangers.

• Experience with target. Our perception of a target is influenced by our past experience with him or her. You might perceive someone’s firm handshake negatively, for instance, if you know this person has attempted to exert power and control over you in the past. The same handshake is positive if you remember the target as a friendly, caring person.

Music artist DJ Khaled is one of many celebrities who endorse Weight Watchers and its wellness approach to a healthy lifestyle. Do you think more people will join WW’s programs because of celebrity endorsements? Lu Chau/AP Images

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126 PART 1 Individual Behavior

• Category-based knowledge. Category-based knowledge consists of perceptions, including stereotypes, that we have stored in memory about various categories of people (professors, singers, artists, police, politicians, and so on). We use this infor- mation to interpret what we see and hear. For instance, if you believe professors in general are intelligent, you are more likely to perceive that those teaching your cur- rent courses are intelligent. If your memory tells you that people who lie cannot be trusted, you are likely to perceive a politician as untrustworthy who is caught in a lie. We discuss stereotypes in the next section.

• Gender and emotional status. Women recognize emotions more accurately than men, and both men and women are more likely to recognize a target’s emotions when they are consistent with their own. Experiencing negative emotions such as anger and frustration is likely to make your perceptions more negative. The opposite is true for positive emotions such as optimism and love.

• Cognitive load. Cognitive load represents the amount of activity going on in your brain. If you are tired and distracted after working a long day, your perceptions are more likely to be distorted and susceptible to stereotypical judgments.

Characteristics of the Target Figure 4.3 identifies five important characteristics of the target that affect our person perception.11 The characteristics are:

• Direction of gaze. We form different perceptions of people based on whether they are looking at us while conversing. Direct eye contact suggests interest, whereas eyes darting across a room suggests the opposite.

• Facial features and body shape. We often use faces as markers for gender, race, and age, but face and body characteristics can lead us to fall back on cultural stereotypes.

Characteristics of the perceiver • Direction of gaze • Needs and goals • Experience with target • Category based knowledge • Gender and emotional status • Cognitive load

Characteristics of the target • Direction of gaze • Facial and body shape characteristics • Nonverbal cues • Appearance or dress • Physical attractiveness

Characteristics of the situation • Context of interaction • Culture and race consistency between perceiver and target

Interactions between perceivers

and targets.

Person Perception

FIGURE 4.3 A Model of Person Perception

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127Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

For example, height has been associated with perceptions of prosperity—high income—and occupational success. Excess weight can be stereotypically associated with negative traits such as laziness, incompetence, and lack of discipline.

• Nonverbal cues. Communication experts tell us that nonverbal actions are highly influential in perception. Gestures, touching, facial expressions, eye contact, and body movements like slouching all convey messages. You might perceive that some- one is defensive if you observe folded arms, a facial scowl, or crossed legs. In many cultures appropriate touching conveys an impression of warmth and caring.

• Appearance or dress. We all are susceptible to being influenced by appearance. We may conclude someone who shows up for work with tattoos or other body art may not be serious about doing a good job or may wonder how the person even got hired. However, research doesn’t support this perception. In a recent survey of more than 2,000 individuals, those with tattoos were no less likely to be employed than their uninked counterparts and average earnings were the same for both groups.12

• Physical attractiveness. While attractiveness is culturally determined, the beauty-is-good stereotype leads us to perceive attractive people positively. High attractiveness has been associated with better job opportunities, higher performance ratings, and the potential for increased earnings. One team of researchers concluded, “The effects of facial attrac- tiveness are robust and . . . attractiveness is a significant advantage for both children and adults in almost every domain of judgment, treatment, and behavior.”13

Characteristics of the Situation Figure 4.3 shows two key situational characteris- tics that affect perception: the context of the interaction, and the culture and race consis- tency between perceivers and targets.

• Context of interaction. Perceptions are affected by the social context in which the inter- action occurs. For example, your parent will likely perceive your eating food from the kitchen when you visit home differently than will a coworker whose food you take from the office refrigerator. Texting someone while eating dinner with friends is perceived differently than texting during a business meeting. Context matters!

• Culture and race consistency. We more accurately recognize emotions displayed by people from our own culture or from other familiar cultures. We also better under- stand and remember facial expressions displayed by people from our own race. For instance, both authors do consulting around the world, and we find it harder to accu- rately perceive group dynamics in foreign than in U.S. companies. Angelo recalls telling a joke to a group of Finnish managers. No one laughed or made any facial expressions, and he thought the joke had bombed until someone told him at a break that he was really funny. What a perceptual surprise! The Applying OB box provides some tips on how to develop your own cultural awareness.

Applying OB

Our cultural backgrounds and expectations are just some of many factors that affect our own perceptions of a person or situation. For example, “Americans see an apology as an admission of wrongdoing, whereas Japanese see it as an expression of eagerness to repair a damaged relationship, with no culpability nec- essarily implied.”14 To build your own cultural aware- ness and enable you to form more accurate

perceptions of unfamiliar people and situations, con- sider the following:15

1. Know what you don’t know. Begin by acknowl- edging that you may not have good or sufficient information about another person’s culture, and that there are probably gaps in your knowledge that you can fill.

Developing Cultural Awareness to Enhance Perception

CAREER READINESS

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128 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Managerial Implications of Person Perception Person perception is the window through which we all observe, interpret, and prepare our responses to people and events. It affects a wide variety of managerial activities, organiza- tional processes, and quality-of-life issues. We’ll touch on hiring, performance appraisal, and leadership.

Hiring Interviewers make hiring decisions based on their impression of how an applicant fits the perceived requirements of a job. Unfortunately, many of these decisions are

made on the basis of implicit cognition. Implicit cognition  represents any thoughts or beliefs that are automati- cally activated from memory without our conscious awareness. The existence of implicit cognition, or implicit bias, leads people to make biased decisions without realizing they are doing so.16 A recent study of letters of recommenda- tion for academic job positions, for instance, demonstrated that people recommend female versus male candidates in different ways, probably based on gender role stereotypes. The letters described female applicants as caring, friendly, and nice, while male applicants were strong, decisive, and outstanding.17

Experts recommend three solutions for reducing the biasing effect of implicit cognition. First, managers can be trained to understand and recognize this type of hidden bias. Second, they can use structured rather than unstructured interviews. Inter- viewers ask the same sequence of questions to all applicants in a structured interview, which leads to more reliable evaluations. Finally, managers can rely on evaluations from multiple inter- viewers rather than just one or two people. More companies now are using virtual interviews as a tool for reducing problems asso- ciated with implicit cognition (see the OB in Action box).

Performance Appraisal Faulty perceptions about perfor- mance can lead to inaccurate performance appraisals, which can erode morale and thwart some women from seeking for- mal leadership roles in an organization. Consider the results of a recent study of how former CEOs influence the success of their female successors.

2. Try not to judge prematurely. Once you’ve recog- nized that you may have some cultural biases, withhold judgment of others whose motivations, words, or actions you may not immediately under- stand, and of situations that are new to you.

3. Do some homework. Even if your organization doesn’t provide formal diversity training, there are almost unlimited resources in libraries and online for finding information about other cultures on your own. Do some research and consider using your company’s suggestion box or other feedback framework to propose diversity training if there isn’t any.

4. Rely on good manners. Always err on the side of cordiality and respect and give others the benefit

of the doubt whenever appropriate. Use informal- ity with care; it is not valued equally in all cultures, particularly in business relationships.

5. Reach out to others as a way to learn. Get to know coworkers from other cultures than your own. Invite them to share coffee or a meal, listen carefully, and be ready to share information about what you have in common as well as how you may differ. Give these new relationships time to develop.

6. Build diverse teams. Include different kinds of people on any team you are asked to build and make an active effort to work with them on teams to which you are assigned.

Do you think these diners have any implicit cognitions when it comes to choosing their menu selections? Do you think their choice of rosé wine activates a preference for a certain type of entrée? Image Source

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129Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

The research looked at all of the CEO successions involving female successors over a 20-year period across the largest companies in the United States. Findings suggest that women CEOs were successful when their mostly male predecessors promoted gender- neutral work environments and functioned as “gatekeepers,” meaning the male CEOs were closely involved in hiring, selecting, and socializing the women within the company’s orga- nizational culture, and providing them with ongoing feedback about their performance— both formally and informally.18

Perceptual biases in performance appraisals can be reduced by the use of more objective measures of performance. While this is a good idea, it is hard to implement for jobs that require interdependent work, mental work, or work that does not produce objective outcomes.

Companies can also reduce bias by providing managers a mechanism for accurately recall- ing employee behavior, such as a performance diary. Finally, it would be useful to train manag- ers about perceptual biases and about how they can avoid them in performance evaluations.19

What do Doctors Without Borders, Yelp, Trivago, ExxonMobil, Porsche Consulting, and ClubMed have in common? According to WebEmployed.com, these organizations and others use Skype to conduct vir- tual interviews with qualified job candidates around the world.20 Among the benefits are speed and cost savings, since the time and expense to get candi- date and interviewer to the same place are elimi- nated. Not only can hiring companies interview more candidates; multiple interviewers can participate, yielding more and better information for selecting a new hire. Job candidates benefit, too. They don’t need to take time off for travel to be considered for a job, and they can widen the pool of organizations to which they apply.

In a variation on virtual interviewing that demon- strates another of its advantages, Matt Mullenweg, CEO of Automattic (the parent company of Word- Press), tries to eliminate hidden bias by using text- only Skype and messaging for the final stage of interviewing. “I don’t know the gender or ethnicity of anyone I interview,” he says. “I see only the words on the screen. It’s as close to a double-blind process as

you can get. I’m looking mainly for passion and cul- tural fit. Of the people who make it to the final inter- view, 95 percent get a job offer—a testament to the effectiveness of our approach.”21

Even before the interview, some companies are using virtual technologies in recruiting. Jet.com, the New Jersey-based shopping site owned by Walmart, has created a virtual reality simulation to let potential job candidates try out its workplace culture wher- ever they happen to be. They can observe a meeting with the CEO, sample the company’s happy hour, and even play games. The company hopes this opportunity will allow it to attract the best candidates to compete against its main rival, Amazon.com.22

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. The above discussion focuses on the positive

aspects of virtual interviews. Are there negative aspects of this strategy? If so, what are they?

2. How would you prepare for a virtual interview? 3. If you were relying on virtual interviews to select

job candidates, what would you look for?

Virtual Interviews Can Improve the Accuracy of Job Interviews and Reduce Costs

OB in Action

Leadership Research demonstrates that employees’ evaluations of leader effectiveness are influenced strongly by their categorical knowledge of what constitutes good and poor leaders. For example, a team of researchers found that the following behaviors are repre- sentative of effective leadership:

1. Assigning specific tasks to group members.

2. Telling others they have done well.

3. Setting specific goals for the group.

4. Letting other group members make decisions.

5. Trying to get the group to work as a team.

6. Maintaining definite standards of performance.23

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130 PART 1 Individual Behavior

4.2 STEREOTYPES

“A stereotype  is an individual’s set of beliefs about the characteristics or attributes of a group.”24 We need to recognize how stereotypes affect our perception because we use them without intending to or even being consciously aware that we are.25

Stereotypes are not always negative. For example, the belief that engineers are good at math is certainly part of a stereotype and is positive. Stereotypes also may or may not be accurate. Engineers may in fact be better at math than the general population.

Unfortunately, stereotypes can lead to poor decisions. Consider people diagnosed with cancer, about 38 percent of men and women living in the United States.26 A recent study showed that managers continue to make discriminatory decisions about employees who are cancer patients.27 All told, stereotypes can create barriers for women, older individuals, people of color, and people with disabilities, all while undermining loyalty and job satisfac- tion. Let’s look at examples.

Gender. A summary of research revealed that:

• Men were preferred for male-dominated jobs (e.g., firefighters), but there was no preference for either gender in female-dominated jobs (e.g., nurse).

• Female entrepreneurs looking for funding for their start-ups have a more difficult time than their male counterparts in obtaining venture capital due to gender bias on the part of investors.

• Women are more likely than men to hire other women. • Women of color are more negatively affected by sex-role stereotypes than white

women or men in general.28

Race. Studies of race-based stereotypes demonstrated that people of color experienced more perceived discrimination and less psychological support than whites.29 Perceived racial discrimination was also associated with more negative work attitudes, physical health, psychological health, and organizational citizenship behavior.30

Age. Another example of an inaccurate stereotype is the belief that older workers are less motivated, more resistant to change, less trusting, less healthy, and more likely to have problems with work–life balance. A recent study refuted all these negative beliefs about age.31

Stereotype Formation and Maintenance We build stereotypes through a four-step process:

1. Categorization. We categorize people into groups according to criteria (such as gen- der, age, race, and occupation).

2. Inferences. Next, we infer that all people within a particular category possess the same traits or characteristics: women are nurturing, older people have more job- related acci- dents, African Americans are good athletes.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Don’t say you don’t use stereotypes; they help us process information faster and thus are part

of the way we humans think. But stereotypes can also lead to bad decisions and undermine

personal relationships. Being aware of them can save you from such pitfalls.

Discuss how awareness of stereotypes helps you make better decisions.

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131Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

3. Expectations. We form expectations of others and interpret their behavior according to our stereotypes.

4. Maintenance. We maintain stereotypes by: • Overestimating the frequency of stereotypic behaviors exhibited by others. • Incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors. • Differentiating minority individuals from ourselves.

Research shows that it takes accurate information and motivation to reduce the use of stereotypes.32

Managerial Challenges and Recommendations The key managerial challenge is to reduce the extent to which stereotypes influence deci- sion making and interpersonal processes throughout the organization. We suggest three ways that this can be achieved.

1. Managers should educate people about stereotypes and how they can influence our behavior and decision making. Many people may not understand how stereotypes unconsciously affect their perception. For example, in a recent LinkedIn report on gender insights, data revealed that when recruiters are searching for job candidates and they see a list of men and women, they tend to open the men’s LinkedIn profiles more frequently than the women’s profiles. To combat the initial selection bias, more companies are implementing anonymous hiring and removing key identifiers (for example, names and photos) from candidates’ applications.33

2. Managers should create opportunities for diverse employees to meet and work together in cooperative groups of equal status. Social scientists believe positive interpersonal contact among mixed groups is the best way to reduce stereotypes because it provides people with more accurate data about the characteristics of others.

3. Managers should encourage all employees to increase their awareness of stereotypes. Awareness helps reduce the application of stereotypes when making decisions and interacting with others.

What do you notice in this photo? The woman working from a wheelchair? Do you think some people have negative stereotypes about those with disabilities? Research shows that many people do. Pixtal/age fotostock

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132 PART 1 Individual Behavior

4.3 CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS

Attribution theory is based on a simple premise: Rightly or wrongly, people infer causes for their own and others’ behavior. Formally defined, causal attributions  are sus- pected or inferred causes of behavior. Managers need to understand how people formulate these attributions because they profoundly affect organizational behavior. Consider Table 4.1, in which the manager’s understanding of observed behavior leads to very different actions.

Kelley’s Model of Attribution Current models of attribution build on the pioneering work of the late Fritz Heider. Heider, the founder of attribution theory, proposed that behavior can be attrib- uted either to internal factors  within a person   (such as ability) or to external factors within the environment (such as a difficult task). Following Heider’s work, Harold Kelley attempted to pinpoint some specific antecedents of internal and external attributions. Kelley hypothesized that people make causal attributions by observing three dimensions of behavior: consensus, distinctiveness, and consis- tency.34 These dimensions vary independently, forming various combinations and leading to differing attributions.

• Consensus  compares an individual’s behavior with that of his or her peers. There is high consensus when someone acts like the rest of the group and low con- sensus when he or she acts differently.

• Distinctiveness  compares a person’s behavior on one task with his or her behavior on other tasks. High distinctiveness means the individual has performed the task in a significantly different manner than he or she has performed other tasks.

• Consistency  judges whether the individual’s performance on a given task is consistent over time. Low consistency is undesirable for obvious reasons and implies that a person is unable to perform a certain task at some standard level. High consistency implies that a person performs a certain task the same way, with little or no variation over time.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Consciously or unconsciously, you use causal attributions when you seek to explain the

causes of behavior. So do most managers. You can avoid the fundamental attribution bias

and self-serving bias if you learn how they distort our interpretation of observed behavior.

Explain how causal attributions help managers interpret employee performance.

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TABLE 4.1 The Link between Attributions and Managerial Actions

OBSERVED BEHAVIOR

MANAGER’S ATTRIBUTION

MANAGERIAL ACTION

Employee fails to meet minimum standards Lack of effort Reprimand

Employee fails to meet minimum standards Lack of ability Training

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133Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

Figure 4.4 provides sample charts of these dimensions in both low and high incidence.

How do these three dimensions of behavior lead to specific attributions? Kelley theo- rized that people attribute behavior to either internal causes (personal factors) or external causes (environmental factors) depending on the way they rank consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency as shown in Table 4.2:

EXAMPLE You would make an internal attribution to Mary if she displayed extraor- dinary performance relative to her peers and this level of performance was typical for Mary over the past year. In contrast, you would arrive at an external attribution if Mary’s performance was similar to her peers, but the performance on the task you observed was lower than usual for Mary over the past year.

While other combinations are possible, the two options shown below have been most frequently studied.35 Note: For another view of Kelley’s theory, return to Figure 4.4. In the figure, we provided charts that, taken together, indicate internal attributions on the left- hand side and external attributions on the right-hand side.

FIGURE 4.4 Sample Charts of Consensus, Distinctiveness, and Consistency in Performance

SOURCE: Brown, Karen A. “Explaining Group Poor Performance: An Attributional Analysis.” Academy of Management Review 9, no. 1 (January 1984): 54–63. https://DOI: 10.2307/258232.

In the Low Consensus chart, Person C is not in consensus. In the High Consensus chart, all persons are in consensus.

In the Low Distinctiveness chart, all tasks are similar. In the High Distinctiveness chart, Task 4 is especially distinct.

For reasons we’ll share soon, we switched order of high and low. The High Consistency chart shows no change over time. The Low Consistency chart shows lack of consistency.

Cons ensu

s

(amo ng pe

ople)

Distin ctive

ness

(acro ss tas

ks)

Cons isten

cy

(over time

)

Low

A EB C D A EB C D

1 52 3 4 1 52 3 4

High

Low High

High Low

TABLE 4.2 Formation of Internal and External Attributions

ATTRIBUTION

CONSENSUS (PEOPLE)

DISTINCTIVENESS (TASKS)

CONSISTENCY (TIME)

Internal Low Low High

External High High Low

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134 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Attributional Tendencies Researchers have uncovered two attributional tendencies that distort our interpretation of observed behavior—fundamental attribution bias and self-serving bias.

Fundamental Attribution Bias The fundamental attribution bias  reflects our tendency to attribute another person’s behavior to his or her personal characteris- tics, rather than to situation factors. This bias causes perceivers to ignore important environmental factors (again refer to the Organizing Framework), which often signifi- cantly affect behavior. Such bias leads to inaccurate assessments of performance, which in turn fosters inappropriate responses to poor performance.

Self-Serving Bias The self-serving bias  represents our tendency to take more personal responsibility for success than for failure. The self-serving bias suggests indi- viduals will attribute their success to controllable internal factors (high ability or hard work) and their failures to uncontrollable external factors (bad luck or lack of sleep). For example, let’s say you ace a test in your most difficult course. The self-serving bias suggests your success occurred because you studied hard for the exam (internal factor). On the other hand, let’s say you failed the test. You might believe you did poorly on the exam because the teacher didn’t explain the subject correctly or you had to work your shift at the local sub shop the night before the test.36

Managerial Applications and Implications Attribution models can explain how managers handle poorly performing employees. One study revealed that managers gave employees more immediate, frequent, and negative feed- back when they attributed their performance to low effort. Another indicates that manag- ers tended to transfer employees whose poor performance they attributed to a lack of ability. These same managers also decided to take no immediate action when poor perfor- mance was attributed to external factors beyond an individual’s control.37

These observations offer useful lessons for all of us:

• We tend to disproportionately attribute behavior to internal causes. This bias can result in inaccurate evaluations of performance, leading to reduced employee moti- vation. The Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB offers a simple solution for overcoming this tendency. You must remind yourself that behav- ior and performance are functions of both person and situation factors.

• Other attributional biases may lead managers to take inappropriate actions. Such actions could include promotions, transfers, layoffs, and so forth. Inappropriate responses can dampen motivation and performance.

• An employee’s attributions for his or her own performance have dramatic effects on motivation, performance, and personal attitudes such as self-esteem. For instance, people tend to give up, lower their expectations of future success, and experience decreased self-esteem when they attribute failure to lack of ability. Employees are more likely to display high performance and job satisfaction when they attribute success to internal factors such as ability and effort.38

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135Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

Do you have any preconceived notions about diversity that are worth considering? Let’s take a reality check:

• Assumption: Gender diversity on boards of directors does not affect firm perfor- mance. Wrong, says a team of researchers who aggregated results from 140 research studies. Findings showed that firms were more profitable when women were mem- bers of the board of directors. As of 2018, there were only 12 Fortune 500 compa- nies with zero women on their boards, and 11 of the 12 firms performed poorly over the past five years when compared to other Fortune 500 companies (the other firm is privately held).39

• Assumption: Organizations are losing Baby Boomers to retirement—can Millenni- als fill the gap? Yes, in terms of sheer numbers, but no, in terms of skills. Accord- ing to Pew Research data, of the 75 million strong Baby Boom generation, 44 million are still working, with the youngest in their early 50s. Millennials con- tribute nearly 53 million workers to the labor force but because of their ages, they don’t necessarily have the job experience or skills yet to fill the roles of the retiring Boomers.40

• Assumption: Whites will constitute the majority among U.S. racial groups through 2060. No, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Today whites represent 61 percent of the population, but that will drop below 45 percent by 2060.41

The United States is becoming more diverse in its gender, racial, educational, and age makeup. For example, there are now more working parents, more nonwhites, and more older people, and the consequences are not always what you might expect. Demographics  are the statistical measurements of populations and their quali- ties (such as age, race, gender, or income) over time. The study of demographics helps us better appreciate diversity and helps managers develop human resource policies and practices that attract, retain, and develop qualified employees. In the remainder of this chapter we will further your understanding of diversity and its mana- gerial challenges.

Layers of Diversity Diversity  represents the multitude of individual differences and similarities that exist among people, making it an input in the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. As you will learn, however, managing diversity also affects a variety of processes and outcomes within the Organizing Framework.

Moreover, diversity pertains to everybody. It is not just an issue of age, race, or gender; of being heterosexual, gay, or lesbian; or of being Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, or Muslim. Diversity pertains to the host of individual differences that make each of us unique and different from all others.

Describe the four layers of diversity and how they help organizations manage diversity effectively.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Like seashells on a beach, people come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. All of us need

to be aware of the different layers of diversity and to know the difference between affirmative

action and diversity management.

4.4 DEFINING AND MANAGING DIVERSITY

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136 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Lee Gardenswartz and Anita Rowe, a team of diversity experts, identified four layers of diversity to help distinguish the important ways in which people differ (see Figure 4.5). Taken together, these layers define our personal identities and influence the way each of us sees the world.

Figure 4.5 shows that personality is at the center of the diversity wheel because it rep- resents a stable set of characteristics responsible for a person’s identity. These are the dimensions of personality discussed in Chapter 3. The next layer of diversity is composed of internal dimensions, also referred to as surface-level dimensions of diversity. “Surface-level characteristics  are those that are quickly apparent to interactants, such as race, gender, and age.”42 Because we view these characteristics of others as unchangeable, they strongly influence our attitudes, expectations, and assumptions about them, which, in turn, influence our behavior. Take the experience of an African American middle manager sitting by the pool while vacationing at a resort. As she recalls, “A large 50-ish white male approached me and demanded that I get him extra towels. I said, ‘Excuse me?’ He then said, ‘Oh, you don’t work here,’ with no shred of embarrassment or apology in his voice.”43 Stereotypes regarding one or more of the internal dimensions of diversity most likely influenced this man’s behavior.

FIGURE 4.5 The Four Layers of Diversity

SOURCE: Gardenswartz, Lee, and Anita Rowe. Diverse Teams at Work: Capitalizing on the Power of Diversity. Virginia: Society For Human Resource Management, 2003.

Inte rnal dimensions

Exter nal dimensions

Functional level/ classification

Orga nizational dimensions

Geographic location

Personality

Race

Marital status

Manage- ment status

Union a�liation

Work location

Seniority

Division/ department/

unit/ group

Work content/

field

Parental status

Appear- ance

Work experience

Gender

Income

Personal habits

Sexual orientation

Religion

Recreation- al habits

Ethnicity

Physical ability

Educational background

Age

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137Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

Figure 4.5 shows that the next layer of diversity consists of external influences. These are individual differences over which we have more control, such as where we live, our religious affiliation, our marital and parental status, and our work experience. These dimensions also exert a significant inf luence on our perceptions, behavior, and attitudes.

The final layer of diversity is organizational dimensions such as seniority, job title and function, and work location. Integrating these last two layers yields deep-level characteris- tics of diversity. “Deep-level characteristics  are those that take time to emerge in interactions, such as attitudes, opinions, and values.”44 These characteristics are defi- nitely under our control.

Affirmative Action vs. Diversity Management Affirmative action and diversity management are driven by very different values and goals. This section highlights these differences.

Affirmative Action Affirmative action is not a law in and of itself. It is an out- growth of equal employment opportunity (EEO) legislation. The goal of this legisla- tion is to outlaw discrimination and to encourage organizations to proactively prevent discrimination. Discrimination  occurs when employment decisions about an individual are based on reasons not associated with performance or related to the job. For example, organizations cannot legally discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, physical and mental disabilities, and preg- nancy. Affirmative action  is an intervention aimed at giving management a chance to correct an imbalance, injustice, mistake, or outright discrimination that occurred in the past.

Does the number of white males stand out in this picture of the U.S. Congress? Criticized for its lack of diversity, the U.S. Congress recently added over 120 women to its ranks. Saul Loeb/Getty Images

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138 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Affirmative action

• Can refer to both voluntary and mandatory programs. • Does not legitimize quotas. Quotas are illegal and can be imposed only by judges

who conclude that a company has engaged in discriminatory practices. • Does not require companies to hire unqualified people. • Has created tremendous opportunities for women and minorities. • Does not foster the type of thinking needed to manage diversity effectively.

Is the last point surprising? Research uncovered the following tendencies of affirmative action plans. They are

1. Perceived more negatively by white males than by women and minorities, because white males see the plans as working against their interests.

2. Viewed more positively by people who are liberals and Democrats than by conservatives and Repub- licans.

3. Not supported by people who hold racist or sexist attitudes.45

4. Found to negatively affect the women and minori- ties expected to benefit from them. Supposedly hired on the basis of affirmative action, these groups feel negatively stigmatized as unqualified or incompetent.46

Recently California became the first state in the nation to legally require women on boards for companies based in the state. Although seen as a conscious effort to even out the gender inequity in corporate boardrooms, some female leaders say they worry the new regulation could result in women being named to boards to comply with the regulation rather than to bring new skills and business experience to company boards. According to Bonnie Gwin, co-managing partner of executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, “We’ve got to fix it [the gender imbalance], but I’m personally not a huge fan of quotas.”47

Managing Diversity Managing diversity  enables people to perform to their maximum potential. Diversity management focuses on changing an organization’s cul- ture and infrastructure such that people work to the highest productivity possible. Ann Morrison, a diversity expert, attempted to identify the types of initiatives 16 companies used to successfully manage diversity. Her results found three key strategies at work: educa- tion, enforcement, and exposure. She describes them as follows:

• The educational component. Education “has two thrusts: one is to prepare nontradi- tional managers for increasingly responsible posts, and the other is to help tradi- tional managers overcome their prejudice in thinking about and interacting with people who are of a different sex or ethnicity.”

• The enforcement component. Enforcement “puts teeth in diversity goals and encour- ages behavior change.”

• The exposure component. Exposing people to others with different backgrounds and characteristics “adds a more personal approach to diversity by helping managers get to know and respect others who are different.”48

In summary, both consultants and academics believe organizations should strive to manage diversity rather than being forced to use affirmative action.

In an effort to encourage diversity and combat gender inequity, former California governor Jerry Brown signed legislation in 2018 to require companies based in the state to add women to their board of directors. Jae C. Hong/AP Images

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139Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

The growing diversity in the United States is not a business initiative; it is a reality. Businesses can consciously choose to manage diversity or get caught short by the demo- graphic changes facing the country.

Business Rationale The rationale for managing diversity is more than the fact that it’s legally, socially, or mor- ally desirable. Quite simply, it’s good business. The OB in Action box illustrates how com- panies can gain competitive advantage by using product design to reach a diverse market.

Discuss the business rationale for managing diversity.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

After reviewing the business case for managing diversity, we also look at demographic

changes in the U.S. workforce that make the need to manage diversity all the more urgent.

These demographic changes have major implications for OB.

4.5 BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY

Can building diversity into your organization’s pur- pose be good for business? More companies today believe it is. Product designers and marketers are looking for ways to make products and services “inclusive” so they can serve a broader market, or “universal” so they can reach just about everyone, rather than limiting their use to a narrower market such as the able-bodied. For example, voice- activated computer technology such as Google Voice makes social media more accessible to peo- ple with limited dexterity for typing, and those with limited or no vision. Alzheimer’s patients might someday rely on a device such as Amazon’s artifi- cial intelligence–assisted DeepLens camera, cur- rently in development, to recognize and interact with family and friends they no longer remember. Because this “smart camera” relies on universal design principles, however, anyone else can use it as well. People who communicate via sign lan- guage can confidently rely on the superior screen resolution of Apple’s Facetime video chat feature, as other sighted users do too.49

The idea behind inclusive design is to begin with outliers, such as people with disabilities or other limi- tations, and design for them first, ideally resulting in a product or service that is ultimately better for every- one. As Kat Holmes, a former Microsoft staffer who heads her own product design company, recently told Fast Company, the process matters as much as the result. The right question to ask, she says, is, “Did you involve someone in your design process who was previously unable to participate? How you get there is what makes it inclusive, not that it’s targeted at an underrepresented or underserved community.”50

Inclusive marketing took hold at Hyatt Hotels when Hyatt recognized that half of all business trav- elers are women. Acknowledging women’s prefer- ences and concerns, the hotel chain remedied issues it had not seen as problems before, such as male employees making late-night room-service deliveries, mirrors and bathrobes designed for larger and taller male guests, and dark parking lots that made women feel less safe. All the chain’s guests benefited from the changes, not just women.51

Using Product Design to Reach a Diverse Market

OB in Action

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140 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Managing diversity also gives an organization the ability to grow and maintain its business in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Here’s what Alex Gorsky, current Chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said:

Our people are one of a kind–the way they think, feel, speak, and work; what they’ve experienced, and where they’re from. Harnessing these unique perspectives and experiences gives us great problem-solving potential—the ideas, solutions, and strat- egies that, when mobilized, brings health to billions of people.53

Research supports the logic of this strategy. For example, a recent study of 739 retail stores found reinforcement for the access-and-legitimacy perspective, defined in the following manner:

An access-and-legitimacy perspective  on diversity is based in recognition that the organization’s markets and constituencies are culturally diverse. It therefore behooves the organization to match the diversity in parts of its own workforce as a way of gaining access to and legitimacy with those markets and constituent groups.54

This particular study discovered that customer satisfaction and employee productivity were higher when the racial-ethnic com- position of store employees matched that of customers.55

These favorable results were taken one step further by another team of researchers, who wanted to know whether customers would spend more money in stores when they perceived themselves as similar to the sales representatives. Results from 212 stores supported the idea that customer– employee similarity leads to more spending.56 Clearly it pays to manage diversity, but organizations cannot use diversity as a strategic advantage if employees fail to con- tribute their full talents, abilities, motivation, and commit- ment. Thus organizations must create an environment or culture that allows all employees to feel included and valu- able. Managing diversity is a critical component of creating this environment.

Trends in Workforce Diversity For managers, the study of demographics suggests unique ways of managing diverse employees. For organizations, it helps signal whether human resource policies and proce- dures are appropriate to the characteristics of a diverse employee population. Let’s exam- ine five categories on the internal dimension of the diversity wheel in Figure 4.5—gender, race, sexual orientation, physical/mental abilities, and age—and one category on the exter- nal dimension, educational level.

Women Break the Glass Ceiling—but Navigate a Labyrinth Coined in 1986, the term glass ceiling  identifies an invisible but absolute barrier that prevents women

Advertisers, too, are beginning to value the diversity of the marketplace. Look carefully at TV ads and you’ll see mixed-race and same-sex couples promoting familiar products such as Campbell’s soup and Allstate insurance, and popular retailers such as Kohl’s and David’s Bridal. A Mattel’s commercial recently featured a young boy raving about Mattel’s iconic Barbie doll.52

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What do you think is the benefit of starting the

design process by considering the needs of out- lier user groups?

2. Do you see any drawbacks to considering diver- sity in the product design process? Discuss.

Companies increasingly recognize the value of having a workforce that matches the race of their customers. Why would customers prefer to be helped by someone like them? Steve Hix/Getty Images

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141Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

from advancing to higher-level positions. Various statistics support the existence of the glass ceiling. Take the pay gap between men and women, for example. In 2018, the median weekly income in full-time management, professional, and related occupations was $1,468 for men but $1,078 for women. Even among female and male MBA graduates who made about the same upon graduation over the past 15 years, by 2017 a 28 percent pay gap had opened with women earning an average of $59,000 less per year than their male counterparts.57

Some people think these pay differences come about because women leave the work- force to raise children, or because men perform better on the job. Although women are more likely than men to take time off to raise children, recent research continues to dem- onstrate that pay differences and productivity gaps were not due to performance evalua- tions, particularly in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields.58 Other unknown causes are behind the gender pay gap.

Alice Eagly and Linda Carli conducted a thorough investigation into the organiza- tional life of women and in 2007 published their conclusions that women had finally bro- ken through the glass ceiling.59 We’ve updated the data reported in Eagly and Carli’s book that led them to their conclusion. In late 2018 there were more female CEOs (24 within the Fortune 500) and more women in managerial, professional, and related occupations than in the 1990s and 2000s.60 Statistics further showed that women had made strides along several measures.

1. Educational attainment: Women earned the majority of bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 2018.

2. Seats on boards of directors of Fortune 500 firms: Women held 9.6 percent of seats in 1995 and 21.2 percent in 2018.

3. Leadership positions in educational institutions and Congress: In 2017 women repre- sented 30 percent of college presidents, and in 2019, 131 women served in Congress— the largest number ever.

4. Federal court appointments: In 2019, more than 36 percent of federal courts of appeals judges were female.61

You can interpret the above statistics in one of two ways.

• No Change. On the one hand, you might see proof that women remain underpaid and underrepresented in leadership positions, victims of discriminatory organizational practices.

• Positive Change. Or you can agree with Eagly and Carli’s conclusion that “men still have more authority and higher wages, but women have been catching up. Because some women have moved into the most elite leadership roles, absolute barriers are a thing of the past.”62

Eagly and Carli propose that a woman’s career follows a pattern more characteristic of a path through a labyrinth. They believe a woman’s path to success is neither direct nor simple but rather contains twists, turns, and obstruc- tions, particularly for married women with children.

Racial Groups Face Their Own Glass Ceiling and Perceived Discrimination The U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly diverse. Between 2016 and 2060, the Census Bureau predicts the following changes in ethnic representation:

• Growth: The Asian population will grow from 5.7 percent to 9.1 percent of the total. • Growth: The Hispanic population will grow from 17.8 percent to 27.5 percent. • Mild Growth: The African American population will rise from 13.3 percent to

15.0 percent. • Decline: Non-Hispanic whites will drop from 61.3 percent to 44.3 percent.63

Sometimes a woman’s career is thought to resemble a labyrinth like this—with twists and turns needed to get through the maze. Have you experienced such twists and turns in your career? Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock

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In 2060 so-called minority groups will constitute approximately 57 percent of the work- force, according to the Census Bureau.64 And yet three additional trends suggest that current-day minority groups are stalled at their own glass ceilings:

Smaller percentage in the professional class. Hispanics, or Latinas/os, and African Americans have a smaller relative hold on managerial and professional jobs compared with whites. Women of color generally do better than men of color.

More discrimination cases. The number of race-based charges of discrimination that were deemed to show reasonable cause by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission increased from 294 in 1995 to 723 in 2017. Companies paid a total of $355.6 million to resolve these claims without litigation in 2017.65

Lower earnings. Minorities also tend to earn less personal income than whites. In 2018, median weekly earnings for workers 16 years and older were $916, $694, $1,095, and $680 for whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics, respectively. Asians had the highest median income.66

Sexual Orientation: LGBTQ People Become More Visible The term LGBT  is a widely recognized acronym to represent lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. However a fifth letter has been gaining acceptance—Q—which according to the Human Rights Campaign can mean either “questioning” or “queer.”

Q for “questioning” refers to someone in the process of exploring his or her sexual iden- tity. “People use the term queer because it’s not specific to sexual orientation or to gender identify but is more of an umbrella term that can encompass a lot of people.” You may want to avoid using the term queer because it is offensive to some in the LGBT community.67

We are discussing sexual orientation because organizations cannot afford to allow between 3.9 and 5.1 percent of the workforce to feel disenfranchised. This represents the estimated number of people who identify as LGBT.68

Because LGBTQ employees often experience a lack of inclusion, their engagement, performance, and retention can be affected. A recent study by the Human Rights Cam- paign Foundation, for instance, revealed that unwelcoming environments can lead to close to half of LGBT workers remaining closeted at work (meaning they don’t acknowledge their sexual orientation); 31 percent feeling unhappy at work; 20 percent searching for a different job; and 10 percent leaving a job because the work environment was not very accepting of LGBT people.69 The good news is that over 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer workplace protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In contrast, 21 states do not offer such protections.70

Physical and Mental Abilities: People with Disabilities Face Challenges Approximately 20 percent of Americans have a physical or cognitive disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The Americans with Disabilities Act  prohibits discrimina- tion against those with disabilities and requires organizations to reasonably accom- modate an individual’s disabilities.71

Not surprisingly, some people with disabilities have difficulty finding work. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 8.0 percent were unemployed in 2018, more than twice the rate of those with no disability (3.7 percent).72 Contrary to negative stereotypes about hiring the disabled, such as that making reasonable accommodation is expensive, many organizations are finding this group of people to be a valuable source of talent. Micro- soft, for example, has two programs that encourage inclusion for disabled workers: the autism hiring program and the supported employment program, as well as local partners who share information on Microsoft’s inclusive hiring practices with the community.73

Generational Differences in an Aging Workforce The U.S. population and work- force are getting older, and the workforce includes greater generational differences than ever before. In a recent poll by Frank N. Magid Associates, more than half of the respon- dents said they were least likely to get along with someone from another generation

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143Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

compared to 30 percent with a different racial background and 19 percent with the oppo- site sex. According to the company’s executive director, “Generational understanding is the new diversity training.”74 We already see four generations of employees working together, soon to be joined by a fifth (see Table 4.3). Managers need to deal effectively with generational differences in values, attitudes, and behaviors. Many companies, includ- ing IBM, Lockheed Martin, Ernst & Young LLP, and Aetna, address this issue by provid- ing training workshops on generational diversity.

Table 4.3 summarizes generational differences using common labels: traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen Xers, Millennials/Gen Ys, and Gen Zers. We use such labels (and resulting generalizations) for sake of discussion. There are always exceptions to the charac- terizations shown in Table 4.3.75

Millennials account for the largest block of employees in the workforce, followed by baby boomers. Thus Millennials are often managed by boomers, who possess very different values and personal traits. Conflicting values and traits are likely to create friction between people.

TRADITIONALISTS

BABY BOOMERS

GEN XERS

MILLENNIALS (GEN Y)

GEN ZERS

Birth Time Span

1928–1945 1946–1964 1965–1980 1981–1996 1997–

Current Population

25.7 million 73 million 65 million 71 million 86 million

Key Historical Events

Great Depression, World War II, Korean War, Cold War era, rise of suburbs

Vietnam War; Watergate; assas- sinations of John and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.; women’s movement; Kent State killings; first man on the moon

MTV, AIDS epi- demic, Gulf War, fall of Berlin Wall, Oklahoma City bombing, 1987 stock market crash, Bill Clinton–Monica Lewinsky scandal

September 11 terrorist attack, Google, Columbine High School shoot- ings, Enron and other corporate scandals, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina, financial crisis of 2008 and high unemployment

Social media, election of Barack Obama, financial crisis of 2008 and high unemployment

Broad Traits

Patriotic, loyal, disci- plined, conformist, possessed of a high work ethic and respect for authority

Workaholic, idealistic, competi- tive, materialistic, possessed of a high work ethic, in search of personal fulfillment

Self-reliant, adaptable, cyni- cal, independent, technologically savvy, distrustful of authority, in search of work– life balance

Entitled, civic minded, close parental involve- ment, cyberliteracy, appreciate diversity, multitasking, in search of work–life balance, technologically savvy

Multitasking, digital natives, independent learners, cyberliteracy, communicate fast and online

Defining Invention

Fax machine Personal computer Mobile phone Google and Facebook

Social media and iPhone apps

SOURCES: Parker, Kim, Nikki Graf, and Ruth Igielnik. “Generation Z Looks a Lot Like Millennials on Key Social and Political Issues.” Pew Research Center, January 17, 2019. https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/01/17/generation-z-looks-a-lot-like-millennials-on-key-social-and-political-issues/; Massot, Dolors. “15 Ways Generation Z Could Change the World.” Aleteia SAS, May 09, 2018. https://aleteia.org/2018/05/09/15-ways-generation-z-could-change-the-world/; “Resident population in the United States in 2017, by generation.” Statista; Meister, Jeanne C, and Karie Willyerd. The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow’s Employees Today. Harper Business, 2010; and Alsop, Ron. The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation is Shaking Up the Workplace. Jossey-Bass, 2008.

TABLE 4.3 Generational Differences

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144 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Millennials also tend to change jobs more frequently than other categories of workers. For example, the median job tenure of people between 20 and 24 is less than 16 months. This puts pressure on companies to find ways to retain this talented segment of the workforce.76

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is addressing the issue head on. According to The Wall Street Journal the firm is “rethinking the way it structures bankers’ early years at the firm. The bank is dangling carrots, including promises to speed the path to promotions and eliminating some of the grunt work that often falls to younger employees.” In addition to lightening workloads, the company started having “town-hall-style meetings to address griev- ances to keep young people on board.” And just in case some workers jump ship and need to be replaced, Goldman is advertising on Spotify to attract more Millennial and Gen Z employees both in the United States and the UK.77 Will other groups of employees view these changes as unfair? Time will tell.

Have age-related differences at school or work caused any conflicts for you? The fol- lowing Self-Assessment was created to assess your attitudes toward older employees. Because the term older is relative, define older employees in your own terms when complet- ing the assessment.

What Are Your Attitudes Toward Working with Older Employees? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 4.1 in Connect.

1. What is your attitude about working with older employees? Are you surprised by the results?

2. What is your level of satisfaction when working with older employees? 3. Based on your results, what can you do to improve your satisfaction when work-

ing with older employees?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.1 CAREER READINESS

Educational Levels: Mismatch between Education and Organizational Needs There are three potential education–work mismatches:

• College graduates may be in jobs for which they are overqualified. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 22 percent of the U.S. workforce has at least a college degree.78 Unfortunately, even with a strong economy, nearly 300,000 college gradu- ates are working minimum-wage jobs—148,000 with bachelor’s degrees and 146,000 with associate’s degrees.79 These graduates are underemployed, working at jobs that require less education than they have such as waiting tables, tending bar, painting, and other work that someone with less education could perform. Under- employment is associated with poorer work attitudes, job performance, job satisfac- tion, motivation, and psychological well-being.80

• College graduates may not have the skills desired by employers. Recent studies show that college graduates, while technically and functionally competent, lack teamwork skills, critical-thinking ability, oral communication skills, and analytic reasoning.81 There is also a shortage of college graduates in technical fields related to science, math, technology, and engineering.

• High-school dropouts and others may not have the literacy skills needed for many jobs. A recent study revealed that 6.1 percent of all U.S. students between 16 and 24 dropped out of high school in 2016.82 The dropout rate is higher for males. This statistic, along with the fact that 32 million U.S. adults read below a basic level, is a real problem for employers, because about 50 percent of on-the-job reading materials are written at or above a ninth-grade level.83

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145Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

The following is a list of the most common barriers to implementing successful diversity programs:84

 1. Inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice. Mistaken perceptions manifest themselves in the belief that differences are weaknesses and that diversity hiring means sacrificing compe- tence and quality. As a reporter for The Wall Street Journal noted, “Studies show that negative stereotypes about aging—for example, that older people inevitably grow less productive and more depressed—are as pervasive as they are inaccurate.”85 Inaccurate stereotypes like this limit the promotability and job satisfaction of older workers.

 2. Ethnocentrism. The ethnocentrism barrier is based on the feeling that our cultural rules and norms are superior to or more appropriate than the rules and norms of another culture.

 3. Poor career planning. Lack of opportunities for diverse employees to get work assignments that qualify them for senior management positions can stunt careers.

Discuss the most common barriers to implementing successful diversity programs.

LO 4-6

4.6 BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES TO MANAGING DIVERSITY THE BIGGER PICTURE

Wouldn’t you rather know what obstacles lay ahead, instead of discovering them too late? We

share 11 common challenges to effectively managing diversity.

There are more than 11 different types of lightning. This type is called an anvil crawler, because it travels horizontally and generally at high altitudes. A lightning storm like this can be dangerous, and we must be careful to avoid being struck. The same is true for an organization’s diversity climate—which signals the extent to which the organization’s “internal climate” supports diversity initiatives. Bad organizational climates, like bad lightning storms, result in people taking cover by withholding effort and skills. Menno van der Haven/Shutterstock

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146 PART 1 Individual Behavior

 4. A negative diversity climate. We define organizational climate in Chapter 7 as employee perceptions about an organization’s formal and informal policies, practices, and pro- cedures. Diversity climate  is a subcomponent of an organization’s overall cli- mate and is defined as the employees’ aggregate “perceptions about the organization’s diversity-related formal structure characteristics and informal values.”86 Diversity climate is positive when employees view the organization as being fair to all types of employees, which promotes employee loyalty and overall firm per- formance.87 It also enhances psychological safety. Psychological safety  reflects the extent to which people feel free to express their ideas and beliefs without fear of negative consequences. As you might expect, psychological safety is positively associated with outcomes in the Organizing Framework like innovation.88

 5. A hostile working environment for diverse employees. Hostile work environments are characterized by sexual, racial, and age harassment and can be in violation of Equal Employment Opportunity law, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.89 Whether perpetrated against women, men, older individuals, or LGBTQ people, hostile envi- ronments are demeaning, unethical, and appropriately called “work environment pol- lution.” You certainly won’t get employees’ best work if they believe the work environment is hostile toward them. The Applying OB box highlights the companies recognized for creating a work environment supportive of Millennials.

Applying OB

mothers, work–life balance, compensation, and giving back.”91 The top 10 companies were Northrop Grum- man, Discover Financial Services, Kaiser Permanente, Delta, Southwest Airlines, Apple, Pfizer Inc., Capital One, EY (one of the big four global accounting firms), and Dow Chemical. Among the highlights: Kaiser Permanente makes leadership training and mentoring programs available; Delta and Southwest both offer profit sharing and free travel to all their destinations; Discover hosts on-site fitness centers and mother’s rooms; and Apple pro- vides generous parental leave plans. Most of the top ten companies offer adoption assistance and some form of tuition assistance. At Discover, that means full payment for an online bachelor’s degree.92

Indeed.com, the popular job posting site, has released its list of the U.S. employers that Millennials rate as the best to work for. Now in their twenties and thirties and open to job changes, Millennials make up about a third of the U.S. workforce, and they place “opportunity to learn and grow” at the top of their wish-list for employ- ers. Many are disillusioned about the business commu- nity, finding that companies could act more ethically and do more to help make the world a better place. Millenni- als want flexibility in where and when they work, and they want to prioritize their health and their families. Parental leave and tuition assistance are also prized.90

An analysis of the list by Forbes found that the top companies recommended by Millennials had a few things in common: “a focus on education, working

Best Companies for Millennials

 6. Diverse employees’ lack of political savvy. Diverse employees may not get promoted because they do not know how to “play the game” of getting along and getting ahead in an organization. Research reveals that women and people of color are excluded from organizational networks that could help them rise.93 Some organizations attempt to overcome this barrier by creating employee resource groups that encourage indi- viduals with similar backgrounds to share common experiences and success strategies. American Express has 16 network groups and Cisco has 13.94

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147Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

 7. Difficulty balancing career and family issues. Women still assume most of the respon- sibilities associated with raising children. This makes it harder for them to work eve- nings and weekends or to travel. Even without children in the picture, household chores take more of a woman’s time than a man’s.

 8. Fear of reverse discrimination. Some employees believe diversity management is a smoke screen for reverse discrimination. This belief leads to very strong resistance because it makes people feel one person’s gain is another’s loss.

 9. Lack of organizational priority for diversity. Low priority for diversity leads to subtle resistance in the form of complaints and negative attitudes. Employees may complain about the time, energy, and resources devoted to diversity that could have been spent doing “real work.”

10. A poor performance appraisal and reward system. Performance appraisals and reward systems must reinforce the need to effectively manage diversity. Success must thus be based on a new set of criteria. For example, AT&T evaluates the extent to which its managers are inclusive of employees with different backgrounds. These evaluations are used in salary and promotion decisions.95

11. Resistance to change. Effectively managing diversity entails significant organiza- tional and personal change. Sometimes this resistance is a function of cross- cultural values. In Japan, for example, women have a difficult time being promoted to senior management positions because of the practice of lifetime employment and age-based promotions. This tradition still holds at both large and small companies.96

Are you curious about the diversity climate in a current or former employer? If yes, take the Self-Assessment below. It measures the components of an organization’s diversity climate and will enable you to determine whether your employer has or had a favorable one.

Assessing an Organization’s Diversity Climate Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 4.2 in Connect.

1. What were the three highest- and lowest-rated survey items? What does this tell you about your employer?

2. Based on these scores, what advice would you give the human resources officer at the company you evaluated?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.2

In summary, managing diversity is a critical component of organizational success. It is a challenge, but it is necessary if you want to create an environment that engages employ- ees and motivates them to do their best.

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148 PART 1 Individual Behavior

What are organizations doing to effectively manage diversity? We can answer this question by first providing a framework for categorizing organizational initiatives.

Framework of Options One especially relevant framework was developed by R. Roosevelt Thomas Jr., a diversity expert. Thomas identified eight generic action options that organizations can use to address any type of diversity issue. After describing each option, we discuss relationships among them.97

Option 1: Include/Exclude Include/exclude is an outgrowth of affirmative action programs. Its primary goal is to either increase or decrease the number of diverse people at all levels of the organization. Big 5 Corporation is a sporting goods retailer that oper- ates 435 stores in 11 western states. Recently it was fined $165,000 to settle a racial dis- crimination and retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC. According to the lawsuit, Big 5’s store manager and assistant managers in a store on Whidbey Island, Washington, sub- jected an African American management trainee to ongoing racial harassment and death threats. The trainee was forced to go on several leaves due to stress from ongoing racial harassments and threats, as well as retaliatory work assignments and discipline. Ulti- mately Big 5 terminated the trainee. In addition to the fine, Big 5 agreed to review and revise its current policies regarding discrimination and to provide training to its employ- ees, supervisors, managers, and investigators on how to keep the workplace free of harass- ment, discrimination, and retaliation.98

Option 2: Deny People may deny differences exist, saying that all decisions are color-, gender-, and age-blind and that success is determined solely by merit and per- formance. Seasons 52, a national restaurant chain, agreed to settle a $2.85 million federal lawsuit that alleged age discrimination when it came to hiring employees. In the suit filed with the EEOC, the agency said managers at the restaurant chain tried to portray a young and hip image by hiring younger servers and hosts. The initial com- plaint alleged that the company wouldn’t hire two men in their mid-40s and early 50s because of their age. After contacting thousands of people over 40 who had applied for positions with Seasons 52, EEOC determined that more than 250 additional peo- ple claimed they were treated with bias during the interview process. Seasons 52 admits no liability and continues to deny the allegations but will be required to hold new training for all hiring managers regarding “non-discriminatory recruiting, inter- viewing, and hiring.”99

4.7 ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES USED TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE DIVERSITY THE BIGGER PICTURE

Whether you manage a diverse work group or find yourself managed within a diverse work

group, you’ll do better by understanding the various ways in which organizations attempt to

manage diversity. You’ll be able to review eight options in the following section. Hint: We rec-

ommend mutual adaptation.

Explain what organizations are doing to manage diversity effectively.

LO 4-7

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149Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

Option 3: Assimilate The idea behind assimilation is that, given time and reinforce- ment, all diverse people will learn to fit in or become like the dominant group. Organiza- tions initially assimilate employees through their recruitment practices and through orientation programs that describe their preferred values and standard operating proce- dures. Employees then are encouraged to refer to policies and procedures when confused about what to do in a specific situation. These practices create behavioral homogeneity among employees.

Option 4: Suppress Differences are squelched or discouraged when suppression is the diversity strategy. Managers and peers tell employees to quit whining and complaining about issues. Saying, “You’ve got to pay your dues” is another way to s uppress differences and promote the status quo.

Option 5: Isolate Isolation maintains the sta- tus quo by setting the diverse person off to the side. Then he or she is unable to influence organiza- tional change. Managers can isolate people and entire teams and departments by putting them on special projects, creating functionally independent entities often referred to as silos.

Option 6: Tolerate Toleration entails acknowl- edging differences but not valuing or accepting them. This live-and-let-live approach allows organi- zations to give lip service to the issue of managing diversity. It differs from isolation in that it allows for the inclusion of diverse people, but differences are still not truly valued or accepted.

Option 7: Build Relationships Relationship building is based on the premise that good relationships can overcome differences. It addresses diversity by fostering high- quality relationships—characterized by acceptance and understanding—among diverse groups. For example, financial services firm Baird has paired a group of senior leaders with junior Millennial employees so they can capitalize on their strengths and differences when it comes to developing competitive business strategies and building relationships with each other and their client base.100

Option 8: Foster Mutual Adaptation Mutual adaptation allows people to change their views for the sake of creating positive relationships with others. Employees and man- agers alike must be willing to accept differences and, most important, agree that everyone and everything is open for change. Diversity training is one way to kick-start mutual adap- tation. Research shows that such training can positively enhance people’s attitudes and feelings about working with diverse employees.101

Conclusions about Action Options Although the action options can be used alone or in combination, some are clearly more effective than others. Exclusion, denial, assimila- tion, suppression, isolation, and toleration are the least preferred options. Inclusion, build- ing relationships, and mutual adaptation are preferred. That said, Thomas reminds us that mutual adaptation is the only approach that unquestionably endorses the philosophy behind managing diversity.

Choosing how to best manage diversity is a dynamic process and is influenced by the context. For instance, some organizations are not ready for mutual adaptation. The best they might be able to achieve is the inclusion of diverse people.

These volleyball players illustrate the idea of assimilation. Note the common uniforms and the structured approach toward acknowledg- ing their opponents. Assimilation techniques used by some organi- zations create levels of homogeneity and behavioral expectations, which can be reinforced by corporate policies and procedures. Christopher Futcher/Getty Images

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150 PART 1 Individual Behavior

How Companies Are Responding to the Challenges of Diversity We close this chapter by sharing some examples and models that demonstrate how compa- nies are responding to the emerging challenges of managing diversity. Compare these to Thomas’s framework and you’ll find the greatest activity around Options 7 and 8, building relationships and fostering mutual adaptation.

Response: Paying Attention to Sexual Orientation The Transgender Law Cen- ter estimates that about 2 percent of the population is transgender. The term transgender  applies to anyone whose gender identity or gender expression is different from sex at birth. Although 83 percent of Fortune 500 firms forbid discrimination based on gender identity, transgender people are protected against discrimination in only 18 states and the District of Columbia.102 More companies recognize that they don’t want to alienate this segment of the population, however, and are implementing programs to help them transi- tion. The Coca-Cola Company, for example, began offering transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage nearly a decade ago and also assists with the costs of taxes imposed on eligible U.S. employees whose same-sex spouse or partner was enrolled in health benefits in states that do not recognize same-sex marriage. Other companies, including PayPal, Hyatt, Microsoft, and IKEA, address the needs of transgender employees by trying to cre- ate an inclusive culture—where individuals can be their authentic selves.103

Unfortunately, the U.S. military does not appear to be trying to maintain an inclusive culture for transgender service personnel. In early 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed President Trump’s ban on transgender persons in the military to proceed, which means most transgender persons—for now—are disqualified from military service.104

Response: Addressing Changing Customer Demographics Recognizing that its core demographic is changing, Target recently launched a campaign called #SinTraduc- ción (“without translation”) targeting Spanish-speaking customers, which used words with no English equivalent. For example, words such as “sobremesa,” a period of time after a meal conversing among family and friends, and “estrenar,” the act of using or wearing something for the first time, were used in the social media campaign to strike up conversa- tions between Target and its Hispanic customers. The marketing approach underscored Target’s acknowledgment that the Spanish language plays an important role in today’s American culture, particularly among its many Hispanic customers.105

Response: Helping Women Navigate the Career Labyrinth Organizations can make career navigation easier by providing flexible work schedules and the developmental assignments that prepare women for promotional opportunities. According to a business writer, the Boston Consulting Group “focuses heavily on recruiting and retaining women, offering part-time options, mentoring and professional-development programs.” On-ramping  programs encourage people to reenter the workforce after a temporary career break. Companies such as Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs Group offer these to women in particular. Goldman, for example, instituted “returnship” programs that offer short-term job assignments to former employees.106

Response: Helping Hispanics Succeed Medical device maker Arthrex and Shaw Industries Inc. hope to raise employee productivity, satisfaction, and motivation by devel- oping customized training programs to improve the communication skills of their Spanish- speaking employees. Research reveals that retention and career progression of minorities can be significantly enhanced through effective mentoring.107

Response: Providing Community and Corporate Training to Reduce the Mismatch between Education and Job Requirements To combat education gaps on a more global level, JPMorgan Chase started The Fellowship Initiative (TFI) in

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

Firefighters, 46 and 54, Sue for Age Discrimination

Firefighters John Guido and Dennis Rankin were only 46 and 54, respectively, when they were fired by the Mount Lemmon fire district, a department of the state of Arizona. Each had put in nine years of employment. The fire district claimed the two were fired for budget reasons, and because they had not volunteered for wildland duty. But one of the people chosen to replace them had also not served on any wildland fire- fighting assignments for the last two years.

Guido and Rankin then filed an age discrimina- tion suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), charging they had been let go simply because they were the two oldest full- time members of the department. The EEOC agreed there was “reasonable cause” for their claim that in dismissing them Mount Lemmon had violated the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).

Problem-Solving Application

151Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

New York in 2010 and expanded it to Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas. The goal is to provide intensive academic and leadership training to young men of color. Jamie Dimon, chair and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is committed to the program. “These young men need access to high quality education and positive role models in and outside the classroom,” he said. Michael Bloomberg, then New York City’s mayor, applauded JPMorgan’s effort by concluding, “We need more civic-minded companies and organizations to step up and join this work, and I congratulate JPMorgan Chase for being a leader in this effort and for mak- ing a real difference in the lives of young men of color in our city.”108

At the individual corporate level, companies, including Wheeler Machinery Co. in Salt Lake City, have instituted specialized training programs that enable less-qualified peo- ple to perform more technically oriented jobs. Lockheed Martin and Agilent Technologies also offer paid apprenticeships or internships to attract high-school students interested in the sciences.109

Response: Retaining and Valuing Skills and Expertise in an Aging Workforce Here are seven initiatives that can help organizations to motivate and retain an aging workforce:

1. Provide challenging work assignments that make a difference to the firm and employees.

2. Give employees considerable autonomy and latitude in completing a task.

3. Provide equal access to training and learning opportunities when it comes to new technology and job processes.

4. Provide frequent recognition for skills, experience, and wisdom gained over the years.

5. Offer mentoring opportunities whereby older workers can pass on accumulated knowl- edge to younger employees.

6. Offer short sabbaticals to help the workforce stay fresh and current.

7. Design a work environment that is both stimulating and fun.110

You’ll see a number of these tactics being used by BAE, a multinational defense and aerospace company, according to a writer for Bloomberg Businessweek. “When BAE learns that an employee with deep institutional knowledge plans to retire, whether in a few months or a couple of years, a knowledge-transfer group of about a half-dozen people of varying ages working in the same area is formed. The teams meet regularly over months to talk and exchange advice. Younger workers elicit tips, and in some cases older ones gradu- ally hand off tasks to junior employees.”111

Some organizations, such as fire departments, have encountered problems managing older employees; see the Problem-Solving Application box.

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Response: Resolving Generational Differences Traditional and boomer manag- ers are encouraged to consider their approach toward managing the technologically savvy Gen Xers and Millennials. Gen Xers and Millennials, for instance, are more likely to visit social networking sites during the workday, often perceiving this activity as a “virtual cof- fee break.” In contrast, traditional and boomer managers are more likely to view this activ- ity as wasted time, leading them to adopt policies that attempt to prevent it. Experts suggest that restricting access to social media will not work in the long run if an employer wants to motivate younger employees.

Would you like to improve your working relationships with diverse people? If yes, Self-Assessment 4.3 can help. It asks you to compare yourself with a group of other people you interact with and then to examine the quality of the relationships between yourself and these individuals. This enables you to gain a better understanding of how similarities and differences among people inf luence your attitudes and behavior.

A federal trial judge sided with the fire district’s attorneys, who argued that federal anti-discrimination law applied only to private organizations with at least 20 employees. Appealing the ruling, Guido and Rankin, who had meanwhile found other employment, watched as their case finally made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court several years later. In its 8-0 ruling in late 2018 (newly appointed Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not participate), the Supreme Court decided in favor of the two firefighters.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s opinion in the case said Mount Lemmon’s reading of the law was

inconsistent with precedent and with EEOC rulings and that, while the ADEA does not in fact apply to private companies with fewer than 20 employees, it sets no size limit on public employers, including local government entities like the Mount Lemmon fire department. Thus these entities are required to obey the Age Discrimination Act regardless of size. With that ruling, Guido and Rankin were enti- tled to sue their former employer for damages. While the law does not guarantee they will win their case, they plan to ask for their lost past and future wages.112

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Identify the problem in this case.

Step 2: Identify the OB concepts or theories that may be causing the problem. For example, are stereotypes, diversity climate, or frameworks for managing diversity causes of the problem?

Step 3: Recommend what you would do to correct the situation. Think both short term and long term.

How Does My Diversity Profile Affect My Relationships with Other People? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 4.3 in Connect.

1. Which diversity dimensions have the greatest influence on the quality of your interpersonal relationships?

2. Consider the person with whom you have the most difficulty working. Which dimensions of diversity may contribute to this relationship? What can you do to improve it?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 4.3 CAREER READINESS

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153Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

Takeaways for Me Here are four additional things you can do to turn this chapter’s lessons into positive change in your personal and professional life.

1. Remember your personal and professional success depends on others’ perceptions of you: Because perceptions can override your good work, it is important to gather feed- back on what others think of you.

2. It is normal to be affected by stereotypes: It would be helpful to reflect on your stereo- types and try to avoid letting them bias your decisions and perceptions of others.

3. Consider how you will respond when you hear negative or disparaging things about diverse people: It’s going to happen, and your response can make the difference in stopping such comments.

4. Celebrate your uniqueness, but remember some people are uncomfortable with individ- ual differences among people: We encourage you to just be yourself.

Takeaways for Managers There are three key implications for managers.

1. Because managers make many types of judgments about people, it is important to try and make these judgments without being biased or using stereotypes: This can be diffi- cult because such cognitive errors are a natural and normal part of how we process information.

2. The fundamental attribution bias can lead to inaccurate interpretations of someone’s suitability for a job or a performance evaluation: Be aware of this attributional error and try to consider both personal and situational factors when evaluating others.

3. Managing diversity is good for individual employees, managers, and organizations as a whole: Whether local or global, organizations will compete more effectively when all employees feel included, supported, and valued. We all should try our best to be understanding and supportive of people who are different from the majority.

Describe the implications of social perception and managing diversity for you and managers.

LO 4-8

4.8 MAKING THE CONNECTION: WHY IS UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTION AND DIVERSITY ESSENTIAL TO MY SUCCESS? THE BIGGER PICTURE

Understanding the concepts of perception and diversity will play a significant role in being

successful at work. Here are some key points to consider.

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154 PART 1 Individual Behavior

You learned that perception and managing diversity are essential for success. Why? Because social and person perception help you better understand the perception process, improve the way you are perceived, and adjust your own perception to avoid common percep- tual errors. Managing diversity (represented by both diversity and demographics in our Organiz- ing Framework) lets you better optimize diversi- ty’s effect on individual and group/team outcomes. Reinforce your learning with the Key Points below. Then consolidate your learning using the Organizing Framework. Finally, challenge your mastery of the material by answering the Major Questions in your own words.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 4 You learned the following key points.

4.1 THE PERCEPTION PROCESS • Perception is a mental and cognitive process

that enables us to interpret and understand our surroundings.

• Social perception is a four-stage process. The four stages are selective attention/compre- hension, encoding and simplification, storage and retention, and retrieval and response (see Figure 4.2).

• Person perception is influenced by three components: characteristics of the perceiver, characteristics of the target, and characteris- tics of the situation.

• Person perception affects a wide variety of organizational activities including hiring decisions, performance appraisals, and leadership.

4.2 STEREOTYPES • Stereotypes represent generalized beliefs

about the characteristics of a group. • Stereotypes are not always negative, and

they are not always inaccurate. • Common stereotypes exist about gender,

race, and age. • Stereotyping is a four-step process that con-

sists of categorization, inference, expectation formation, and maintenance.

• We maintain stereotypes by (a) overestimat- ing the frequency of stereotypic behaviors exhibited by others, (b) incorrectly explaining expected and unexpected behaviors, and (c) differentiating minority individuals from ourselves.

4.3 CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS • Causal attributions are suspected or inferred

causes of behavior. • According to Kelley’s model of causal attribu-

tion, we make external attributions when con- sensus and distinctiveness are high and consistency is low. We make internal (personal responsibility) attributions when consensus and distinctiveness are low and consistency is high.

• The fundamental attribution bias emphasizes personal factors more than situation factors while we are formulating attributions. In the self-serving bias we personalize the causes of our success and externalize the causes of our failures.

4.4 DEFINING AND MANAGING DIVERSITY

• Diversity represents the individual differences that make people unique from and similar to each other.

What Did I Learn?

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155Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

performance appraisal and reward systems, and (k) resistance to change.

4.7 ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES USED TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE DIVERSITY

• Organizations have eight options for addressing diversity issues: (a) include/exclude the number of diverse people at all levels of the organiza- tion, (b) deny that differences exist, (c) assimilate diverse people into the dominant group, (d) sup- press differences, (e) isolate diverse members from the larger group, (f) tolerate differences among employees, (g) build relationships among diverse employees, and (h) foster mutual adap- tation to create positive relationships.

4.8 WHY IS UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTION AND DIVERSITY ESSENTIAL TO YOUR SUCCESS?

• Your overall success depends on other peo- ple’s perceptions of you—gathering feedback from them will help you grow and mature.

• Your ability to recognize and avoid stereo- types will help you make unbiased decisions.

• Managing diversity at all levels of an organi- zation will ensure that employees feel included, supported, and valued.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 4 As shown in Figure 4.6, you learned that diversity, demographics, and stereotypes serve as key per- son factors, while diversity climate is an important situation factor. You also know there are relevant processes across the individual level (perception, attributions, and psychological safety), the group/ team level (group/team dynamics), and the organi- zational level (options to manage diversity). These inputs and processes have critical outcomes.

• Diversity varies along surface-level character- istics like race, gender, and age and along deep-level characteristics such as attitudes, opinions, and values.

• Affirmative action is an outgrowth of equal employment opportunity legislation and is an intervention aimed at giving management a chance to correct past discrimination.

• Managing diversity entails enacting a host of organizational changes that enable all people to perform to their maximum potential.

4.5 BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE FOR MANAGING DIVERSITY

• Managing diversity is predicted to be good business because it aims to engage employ- ees and satisfy customers’ unique needs.

• There are six key demographic trends: (a) women are navigating a labyrinth after break- ing the glass ceiling, (b) racial groups are encountering a glass ceiling and perceived discrimination, (c) recognition of sexual orien- tation is growing in importance, (d) people with disabilities face challenges, (e) genera- tional differences are growing in an aging workforce, and (f) a mismatch exists between workers’ educational attainment and organi- zational needs.

4.6 BARRIERS AND CHALLENGES TO MANAGING DIVERSITY

• There are 11 barriers to successfully imple- menting diversity initiatives: (a) inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice, (b) ethnocentrism, (c) poor career planning, (d) a negative diver- sity climate, (e) a hostile working environment for diverse employees, (f) diverse employees’ lack of political savvy, (g) difficulty balancing career and family issues, (h) fears of reverse discrimination, (i) lack of organizational prior- ity, (j) the need to revamp the organization’s

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156 PART 1 Individual Behavior

4. How does awareness about the layers of diversity help organizations effectively man- age diversity?

5. What is the business rationale for managing diversity?

6. What are the most common barriers to imple- menting successful diversity programs?

7. What are organizations doing to effectively manage diversity, and what works best?

Challenge: Major Questions for Chapter 4 1. How do I form perceptions of others? 2. How can I use awareness of stereotypes to

make better decisions and manage more effectively?

3. How do I tend to interpret employee performance?

FIGURE 4.6 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Diversity • Demographics • Stereotypes

Situation Factors • Diversity climate

Individual Level • Perceptions • Attributions • Psychological safety

Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics

Organizational Level • Options to manage diversity

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Turnover • Career outcomes

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction

Organizational Level • Employer of choice • Customer satisfaction • Reputation

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157Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

Managing diversity is a hot topic among technology companies, some of which have started to display transparency by publishing their diversity profiles.

Google’s diversity report reveals its workforce is 69.1 percent male and 30.9 percent female. Ethnicity data for Google’s U.S. workforce indicates 53.1 percent white, 36.3 percent Asian, 4.2 percent of two or more races, 3.6 percent Latinx, and 2.5 percent black.113 This pattern is similar to Apple (32 percent female and 54 percent white, and U.S. ethnicity data showing 21 percent Asian, 13 percent Hispanic, 9 percent black, 3 percent of two or more races, and 1 percent other)114 and Facebook (36 percent female, and U.S. ethnicity data of 46.6 percent white, 41.4 percent Asian, 4.9 percent Hispanic, and 3.5 percent black).115

Executives within the technology industry have started to implement a variety of programs and poli- cies to change the demographic profiles of their com- panies. For example, Pinterest established a 2018 goal to have 25 percent of new hires in engineering roles be female and 8 percent from underrepresented ethnic groups.116 Intel established a hiring goal of full representation of underrepresented minorities and women in its U.S. workforce by 2020.117

Is setting diversity hiring goals fair? While companies that set them note the hiring goals are not meant to be quotas, some managers may perceive them that way. This would likely create feelings of reverse discrimina- tion, fueling resistance to hiring diverse employees.

What has led to the skewed demographics at tech- nology companies? Some experts believe the root cause goes back to patterns and norms in elementary and high school, where girls are not encouraged to focus on the STEM subjects (science, technology, engi- neering, and math). If this is true, female high-school students are not developing the proficiency that would help them major in STEM subjects in college. Further, a writer for Forbes concluded that an unconscious bias exists “that science and math are typically ‘male’ fields while humanities are primarily ‘female’ fields, and these stereotypes further inhibit girls’ likelihood of cul- tivating an interest in math and science.”118

A related issue is the “information gap.” High-school students simply do not know which jobs are in high demand. For example, research shows that 24 percent of high-school seniors “have no idea of what career they want to pursue. Of high school seniors who have

pinpointed a desired profession, 23 percent said they made their career choice based on something they saw on TV or in a movie.”119 This is a problem because TV shows often depict technology-oriented people as geeky males. Who wants to be a geek?

Others claim the tech industry has a pipeline prob- lem. In other words, not enough females and minorities are majoring in STEM subjects in college. Statistics conflict on this subject. Some data indicate that females earn fewer than 20 percent of college degrees in computer science and engineering, even though they achieve the majority of bachelor’s degrees in the United States.120 In contrast, other studies suggest there is not a pipeline issue. According to EdSource writer Carolyn Jones, about half of the students in high-school science and math courses are female.121

Data from the National Science Foundation indicate that women earn approximately 50 percent of science and engineering bachelor’s degrees.122 A USA Today study further showed that “top universities graduate black and Hispanic computer science and computer engineering students at twice the rate that leading technology companies hire them.”123 There must be some reason these students are not being hired.

If the above data are accurate, then it is possible that companies have a systemic problem based on hiring managers’ beliefs, stereotypes, or unconscious biases. This occurred at Pinterest, for example, when it tried to increase the number of women and minorities being hired. Although recruiters found qualified applicants “from nontraditional backgrounds, managers often continued to prioritize people from places like Stanford and MIT, which have less broad student bodies. And while Adam Ward, Pinterest’s head of recruiting, and Abby Maldonado, its diversity-programs specialist, had encouraged colleagues to pass along résumés from a range of candidates, most of the referrals were still white or Asian,” according to Fast Company.124 Pinterest founder Evan Sharp believes technology companies may not be giving diversity the same type of attention they give to product development initiatives.

There may also be more overt causes of the under- representation of female and minority tech employees. Consider results from a survey of 1,000 women who had held technology positions. These women explained why they believe females leave the tech field at a rate 45 percent higher than males. A perceived lack of

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

White, Male, and Asian: The Diversity Profile of Technology Companies

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158 PART 1 Individual Behavior

chapter, because we generally select cases that illustrate concepts in the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes of the problem by using material from this chapter, which has been summa- rized in the Organizing Framework shown in Figure 4.6. Causes will appear in either the Inputs box or the Processes box.

A. Start by looking at Figure 4.6 to identify which person factors, if any, are most likely causes of the defined problem. For each cause, explain why this is a cause of the problem. Asking why multiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem. For example, if you think demographics—an input in the Organizing Framework—is a cause, ask yourself why. This might lead to the conclusion that there are not enough females and minorities who are taking STEM majors in college. In turn, this might lead to the conclusion that a poor pipeline is a root cause of demographics at technology compa- nies. Then ask yourself why this is happening. The cause might go all the way back to elemen- tary and high school. By following this process of asking why multiple times, you will be more likely to arrive at a more complete list of causes.

B. Now consider the Processes box shown in Figure 4.6. Consider whether perception, attributions, psychological safety, group/team dynamics, or options to manage diversity are causes of the problem. For any concept that might be a cause, ask yourself, Why is this a cause? Again, do this for several iterations to arrive at root causes.

C. Follow the same process for the situation factors.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem.

STEP 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. Consider whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recom- mendation is desirable and feasible?

A. Given the causes identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use the content in Chapter 4 or one of the earlier chapters to pro- pose a solution.

B. Potential solutions may be found in the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes within the chapter. These features provide insights about how other individuals or companies are handling the topic at hand.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your recommendation.

career growth/trajectory was the most common factor in females’ decisions to leave tech. Further, almost 50 percent of the women interviewed believed they had been paid less than their male counterparts. Other top reasons, particularly among women in tech aged 25–34, were difficulties breaking into management and leadership roles, perceived bias and discrimina- tion, and a lack of female leadership representation in the company.125

Could something as subtle as gender-based com- munication contribute to the problem? The answer is yes, according to a recent report presented in Fortune. A study of 1,100 technology resumes from 512 men and 588 women uncovered gender-related differ- ences that may affect a recruiter’s perceptions. For example, “women’s résumés are longer, but shorter on details. . . . Yet when it comes to providing details about previous jobs, the men present far more specific content than the women do,” according to the Fortune report. Women were also found to “lead with their cre- dentials and include more personal background. On average, the women’s résumés cite seven personal distinctions apiece, while the men’s cite four.” Overall, women tend to use more narrative while men are more precise about their experiences.126

Assume you are a senior leader at a technology company. What does the information in this case tell you about managing diversity?

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB

STEP 1: Define the problem.

A. Look first at the Outcome box of the Organizing Framework in Figure 4.6 to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a problem is a gap between a desired and current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accomplished, decide which one is most impor- tant and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have protagonists (key players), and prob- lems are generally viewed from a particular pro- tagonist’s perspective. You need to identify the perspective—employee, manager, team, or the organization—from which you’re defining the problem.

C. Use details in the case to identify the key prob- lem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems that are not included in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, Why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current

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159Social Perception and Managing Diversity CHAPTER 4

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

Should Patient Requests Trump Health Care Employees’ Civil Rights?

This case describes an incident that occurred at Beaumont Hospital in Dearborn, Michigan, and resulted in a lawsuit.

Teoka Williams, a 10-year veteran black nurse at Beaumont, overheard her patient comment in a racially charged manner that she did not want to be cared for by a black nurse. Williams reported the incident to the hospital’s clinical manager who proceeded to bar the nurse from treating both the patient and the other patients sharing her room.127

Williams filed a complaint with the hospital’s human resources department and was told that “patient requests are honored all the time and the next time it happens she would simply be taken off the assign- ment altogether.” She felt “humiliated, embarrassed, and disappointed” by the experience. Her attorney Julie Gafkey said that health care facilities should not consent to patient requests at the expense of their employees’ civil rights. Williams sued the hospital for federal and state civil rights violations.128

The American Medical Association’s ethics code expressly prevents physicians from discriminating against patients based on race, gender, sexual orien- tation, gender identity, or other clinically irrelevant characteristics.129 Official policies and guidelines for dealing with patient discrimination against health care providers, however, are virtually nonexistent.130 Further, a survey of “emergency physicians found patients often make such requests, and they are rou- tinely accommodated. A third of doctors who responded said they felt patients perceive better care from providers of shared demographics, with

racial matches considered more important than gen- der or religion.”131

Some hospitals are beginning to address this issue. For example, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has developed policies and procedures to protect its staff from patient discrimination. The policies allow staff members to deny discriminatory patient requests, extend guidance for handling such requests, and out- line official reporting mechanisms.132

Your Views What would you have done if you were a medical administrator at the time the request was made?

1. I would not have honored the patient’s request. I would have explained why Teoka Williams and other African American nurses are best suited to take care of the patient.

2. I would have done exactly what the hospital did. The patient has a right to be taken care of by someone with a preferred race or gender.

What would you do about the lawsuit?

1. Fight it. It’s ridiculous that someone would feel emotional stress and humiliation from simply being reassigned.

2. Settle it and create a policy that prohibits honoring future requests like this.

3. Settle it but hold a hospitalwide meeting explain- ing the rationale for continuing to accommodate such requests.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 5-1 Define motivation and how it affects your behavior.

LO 5-2 Compare and contrast the content theories of motivation.

LO 5-3 Compare and contrast the process theories of motivation.

LO 5-4 Describe three approaches to motivating employees through job design.

LO 5-5 Describe the implications of employee motivation for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

The Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB shown in Figure 5.1 summa- rizes what you will learn in this chapter. Although Chapter 5 focuses on motivation, an individual- level process, a host of person and situation factors influence it. There are more situation than person factors in the figure. This reinforces the simple fact that managers significantly affect our motivation because they have more control over situation than person factors. Figure 5.1 further shows that processes across the individual, group/team, and organizational level influence a variety of important outcomes.

FIGURE 5.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Personality • Personal attitudes • Values—Theory X/Y • Needs

Situation Factors • Hygiene factors • Motivating factors • Job characteristics • Job design • Leadership • Organizational climate

Individual Level • Equity/justice • Expectancy processes • Goal setting processes • Voice

Group/Team Level • Climate for justice

Organizational Level • Climate for justice

Individual Level • Intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation • Task performance • Work attitudes • Citizenship behavior/

counterproductive behavior • Turnover

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance

Organizational Level • Customer satisfaction

Foundations of Employee Motivation5

C ai

a Im

ag e/

Im ag

e S

ou rc

e

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161

Negotiating for a Raise offered successful new ideas or

initiatives; brought new clients in; or increased revenue? Get in the habit of regularly documenting your tangible achievements to clearly demonstrate what you’re worth to your firm.

5. Consider your options. If a raise isn’t possible just now, consider accepting another form of compensation instead, such as added vacation time, a one-time bonus, or work-life

options like flextime or occasional telecommuting privileges. This is the “want” part of “Wish, want, walk.” “Think of things [the company] may have the ability to give you instead of money,” advises Allison Hutton, chief talent officer at Allavanti Group. “Coming up with alternatives is usually viewed as positive.”4

6. Be patient. It’s unlikely you’ll get an answer right away, so don’t expect one. Your boss will need to consider the department’s budget, the organization’s overall performance, the case you’ve presented, and your compensation relative to that of comparable others in the group or company. Keep your case factual, don’t oversell it, and choose your moment carefully to be sure of finding a receptive audience. If just-released quarterly results reflect poorly on your manager, for in- stance, hold your fire for a couple of weeks.

7. Stay positive, and don’t give up! At the very least, you can walk away with a plan you and your manager agree will eventually bring you the increase you want.5 Above all, if you’ve done a good job and can demonstrate just how good, don’t be afraid to make your case. Good luck!

Among the many things you’ll dis- cover about motivation in this chapter is that money is not the only incentive leading to high performance. How- ever, there’s no question that equita- ble salaries and well-deserved bonuses are motivating, and that, conversely, inequities in pay can hurt job satisfaction and performance.

What can you do if you feel your performance merits a bump in your compensation? What is the most effective way to ask for a raise? Here are a few suggestions from the experts.

1. Know what you want. One writer who has researched the special frustrations that Millennial women in par- ticular feel about compensation offers this three-word mantra: “Wish, want, walk.” That is, know what your ul- timate wish is, know what you would want if you couldn’t get your wish, and know what offer you would reject or walk away from.1

2. Know what you’re worth. Do your homework, on sites like Glassdoor.com and Salary.com, to find out what people with your level of experience are earning to do similar work in the same or related industries. Your chances of succeeding in a salary negotiation are much higher if your demands are realistic for your cir- cumstances, including any factors particular to your firm that you should take into account.2

3. Enlist support if possible. If a mentor or sponsor will champion your request for a raise (and if you can seek his or her advice as well), all the better. If you are a gig worker looking to raise your rates, this person could be a supportive client or clients. However, a word of caution: Transparency about pay has some advan- tages, but it is not the universal standard. Avoid refer- ring to what your colleagues make, even if you know it, as a reason you should make more. The conversation you want to have is about you, not about others.3

4. Build your story. Be prepared to offer concrete evi- dence of accomplishments and contributions that prove your worth. Document results above expecta- tions, successful projects, or responsibilities outside the normal scope of your job, and praise and commen- dations from your manager, customers, colleagues, and other influential voices. These will bolster your argu- ment that you deserve a pay increase. Have you saved your organization time, money, or other resources;

Winning at Work

What’s Ahead in This Chapter There are far too many dysfunctional organizations where managers don’t seem to have a clue about how to motivate workers. OB supplies proven meth- ods of how to motivate employees. These aren’t just abstract theories. All spring from observation and study of the workplace, and they have been vali- dated in real-life testing. Business professionals treasure them as tools for making work better and more productive. We’ll show you how these meth- ods operate and give practical tips and suggestions for implementing them.

Ahlapot/iStockphoto/Getty Images

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162 PART 1 Individual Behavior

5.1 THE WHAT AND WHY OF MOTIVATION

Motivation theories help us understand our own behaviors in organizational settings and provide us tools for motivating others.

Motivation: What Is It? Motivation explains why we do the things we do. It explains why you are dressed the way you are right now, and it can account for what you plan to do this evening.

How Does It Work? The term motivation derives from the Latin word movere, mean- ing “to move.” In the present context, motivation  describes the psychological pro- cesses “that underlie the direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior or thought.”6 “Direction pertains to what an individual is attending to at a given time, inten- sity represents the amount of effort being invested in the activity, and persistence repre- sents for how long that activity is the focus of one’s attention.”7

There are two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic.

• Extrinsic motivation  results from the potential or actual receipt of external rewards. Extrinsic rewards such as recognition, money, or a promotion repre- sent a payoff we receive from others for performing a particular task. For exam- ple, in 2018 Southwest Airlines paid its employees $544 million in profit-sharing bonuses, increasing every employee’s annual compensation by nearly 10.8 per- cent. This is the 45th consecutive year that the airline has paid out profit-sharing bonuses to employees. According to Southwest CEO Gary Kelly, “Our people are our greatest asset and they deserve all the credit for our continued success.” Such recognition from management is certainly a motivating factor for Southwest workers.8

• Intrinsic motivation  occurs when an individual is inspired by “the positive internal feelings that are generated by doing well, rather than being depen- dent on external factors (such as incentive pay or compliments from the boss) for the motivation to work effectively.”9 We create our own intrinsic motivation by giving ourselves intrinsic rewards such as positive emotions, satisfaction, and self- praise. Consider the intrinsic motivation of Millennials Kory and Mallory Stevens, who started the Taft shoe company out of their apartment several years ago. They were recently named to Forbes 30-under-30 list of people to watch in the coming years for their passion, motivation, and entrepreneurship. Per the company web- site, “As Taft continues to grow, our vision for the brand remains the same—we believe in making beautiful shoes at beautiful prices and offering the best service

Define motivation and how it affects your behavior.

LO 5-1

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Motivation is a key process within the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Apply-

ing OB. Understanding the principles of motivation can help you both achieve personal goals

and manage others in the pursuit of organizational goals. 

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163Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

and value possible.” With NBA ballers James Harden and Dwayne Wade, as well as action star Dwayne Johnson as super fans, this dynamic couple has turned athletes and celebrities into shoe ambassadors via social media and are motivated to continue their success.10

The Two Fundamental Perspectives on Motivation: An Overview Researchers have proposed two general categories of motivation theories: content theories and process theories. Content theories identify internal factors such as needs and satisfac- tion that energize employee motivation. Process theories explain the process by which internal factors and situational factors influence employee motivation.11 It’s important to understand both motivational perspectives because they offer different solutions for han- dling motivational problems. The following two sections discuss several theories for each theoretical perspective.

Intrinsic motivation helps Taft founders Kory and Mallory Stevens fulfill their vision of making beautiful shoes at competitive prices and offering the best possible service to their customers. Courtesy of Taft Clothing

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5.2 CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Most content theories of motivation  are based on the idea that an employee’s needs influence his or her motivation. Content theorists ask, “What are the different needs that activate motivation’s direction, intensity, and persistence?” Needs  are defined as physiological or psychological deficiencies that arouse behavior. They can be strong or weak and are influenced by environmental factors. This tells you that human needs vary over time and place.

Content theories include:

• McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. • Maslow’s need hierarchy theory. • Acquired needs theory. • Self-determination theory. • Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Douglas McGregor outlined his theory in his book The Human Side of Enterprise.12 Draw- ing on his experience as a management consultant, McGregor formulated two sharply contrasting sets of assumptions about human nature. Theory X  is a pessimistic view of employees: They dislike work, must be monitored, and can be motivated only with rewards and punishment (“carrots and sticks”). McGregor felt this was the typical perspective held by managers. To help them break with this negative tradition, McGregor formulated his own Theory Y. Theory Y  is a modern and positive set of assumptions about people at work: They are self-engaged, committed, responsible, and creative.

Consider the value of adopting a Theory Y approach toward people. One recent study demonstrated that employees and teams had higher performance when their managers displayed Theory Y behaviors. A second study uncovered higher levels of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship when managers engaged in Theory Y behaviors.13

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory: Five Levels of Needs In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow published his now-famous need hierarchy theory of motivation. Although the theory was based on his clinical observation of a few neurotic individuals, it has subsequently been used to explain the entire spectrum of human behavior. The need hierarchy theory  states that motivation is a function of five basic needs: physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization. See Figure 5.2 for an explanation.

Compare and contrast the content theories of motivation.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Five OB theories deal with the internal factors that motivate individuals. Several come from

other disciplines. So you may have already encountered Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and

related content theories such as McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y, acquired needs theory,

self-determination theory, and Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory.

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The Five Levels Maslow proposed that the five needs are met sequentially and relate to each other in a “prepotent” hierarchy (see Figure 5.2). Prepotent means the current most-pressing need will be met before the next need becomes the most powerful or potent. In other words, Maslow believed human needs generally emerge in a predictable stair-step fashion. Thus when physiological needs have been met, safety needs emerge, and so on up the need hierarchy, one step at a time. Once a need has been satisfied, it activates the next higher need in the hierarchy. This process continues until the need for self-actualization has been activated.14

Using Maslow’s Theory to Motivate Employees Although research does not clearly support its details, Maslow’s theory does offer practical lessons. It reminds us, for instance, that employees have needs beyond earning a paycheck. In addition to offering health care benefits, which fills a physiological need, Wisconsin–based consumer products company SC Johnson has an on-site employee concierge service to help employees with some of life’s chores. Concierges send packages and flowers, pick up groceries, shop for the best deals on car insurance, take employees’ cars in for service, and even stand in line for concert tickets.15

This theory tells us that a “one style fits all” approach to motivation is unlikely to work. Studies show that different motivators are needed for employees working at small firms, whose owners may not have the money to spend on extensive benefits and perks. There are several strategies that will help keep employees motived at start-up or small businesses:

• Offer flexibility when it comes to work hours; • Recognize and reward good performance; and • Involve employees in decision making.16

A final lesson of Maslow’s theory is that satisfied needs lose their motivational potential. Therefore, managers are advised to motivate employees by devising programs or practices aimed at satisfying emerging or unmet needs.

Acquired Needs Theory: Achievement, Affiliation, and Power David McClelland, a well-known psychologist, began studying the relationship between needs and behavior in the late 1940s. He proposed the acquired needs theory,  which states that three needs—for achievement, affiliation, and power—are the key driv- ers of employee behavior.17 McClelland used the term “acquired needs” because he believes we are not born with our needs; rather we learn or acquire them as we go about living our lives.

FIGURE 5.2 Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

Most basic need. Entails having enough food, air, and water to survive.

Desire for self-fulfillment—to become the best one is capable of becoming.

The desire to be loved and to love. Includes the needs for a�ection and belonging.

Consists of the need to be safe from physical and psychological harm.

Need for reputation, prestige, and recognition from others. Also includes need for self-confidence and strength.

Esteem

Love

Safety

Physiological

Self- Actualization

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The Three Acquired Needs McClelland’s theory directs managers to drive employee motivation by appealing to three basic needs:

• Need for achievement,  the desire to excel, overcome obstacles, solve prob- lems, and rival and surpass others.

• Need for affiliation,  the desire to maintain social relationships, be liked, and join groups.

• Need for power,  the desire to influence, coach, teach, or encourage others to achieve.

People vary in the extent to which they possess these needs, and often one need dominates the other two (see Figure 5.3).

McClelland identified a positive and negative form of the power need. The positive side is called the need for institutional power. It manifests in the desire to organize people in the pursuit of organizational goals and help people obtain the feeling of competence. The negative face of power is called the need for personal power. People with this need want to control others, and they often manipulate people for their own gratification.

You can use this theory to motivate yourself, assuming you are aware of your need states. Can you guess which of the three needs is most dominant? Would you like to know which is helping or hindering the achievement of your personal goals? Check your percep- tions by taking the acquired needs Self-Assessment.

Assessing Your Acquired Needs Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 5.1 in Connect.

1. Which of the three needs is dominant for you? Are you surprised by this result? 2. Which is/are helping you to achieve your goals? 3. Are any of the needs affecting your level of well-being? Should you make any

changes in your need states?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.1 CAREER READINESS

Using Acquired Needs Theory to Motivate Others The following OB in Action box illustrates how Cameron Mitchell’s acquired needs affected the way he ran his success- ful restaurant business.

You can apply acquired needs theory by appealing to the preferences associated with each need when you (1) set goals, (2) provide feedback, (3) assign tasks, and (4) design the job.18 Let’s consider how the theory applies to Cameron Mitchell.

• Need for achievement. People motivated by the need for achievement, like Cam- eron Mitchell, prefer working on challenging, but not impossible, tasks or projects. They like situations in which good performance relies on effort and ability rather

FIGURE 5.3 McClelland’s Three Needs

Ach. A�.

Power

Ach. A�.

Power

Ach. A�.

Power Ach. A�.

Power

Balanced Needs Achievement Orientation A�liation Orientation Power Orientation

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Cameron Mitchell has achieved his childhood dream of running a successful restaurant business. He currently runs 32 upscale themed restaurants, such as Hudson 29 and Ocean Prime, in 12 states. His business earns about $300 million in annual revenue.19

Mitchell’s primary goal was “to create an extraor- dinary restaurant company known for great people delivering genuine hospitality.” He says, “In order to achieve this goal, I could not do it on my own! In fact, our past, present, and future success is directly attributed to our associates.”20

You might not have foreseen Mitchell’s success based on his difficult childhood. His parents divorced when he was 9, and he began drinking alcohol and trying drugs in middle school. When he started dealing drugs in high school, his mom threat- ened to call child protective services. Mitchell decided to run away.

He moved into a one-room apartment with other teens and sometimes went days without food. He decided to return home at 16 when he found him- self thinking about suicide. He went back to high school and took a job as a dishwasher at a local steak house. He loved the job and concluded, “The restaurant business was where I wanted to be the rest of my life.”

When Mitchell’s application to the Culinary Insti- tute of America was rejected due to his poor grades, he became more driven. He started working double shifts so he could pay for community college. He eventually graduated from culinary school and began working as a sous chef. Mitchell opened his first restaurant in 1993 in Columbus, Ohio. It was a success!21

Mitchell’s business puts people first. “Our associates are the core and foundation of our com- pany,” he says, “and they are my number one prior- ity. If they aren’t happy at work, it will show in the food they produce, the way they treat our guests and the way they treat each other. . . . We treat them great and, in turn, they take great care of the company.”22

The company’s commitment to its employees shows in the wide array of benefits it offers, which

exceed industry standards. It also rewards restau- rant managers who support and develop their teams. Mitchell believes associates should have trusting, caring relationships with each other. He encourages managers’ autonomy by allowing them to provide input on menu and wine selection deci- sions. The company further reinforces the value of autonomy and effective decision making with lead- ership training programs. Managers are taught “how to think (rather than ‘how to do’). The goal is to encourage creative, appropriate problem-solving and idea generation,” according to the company’s website.”23

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Which of the three acquired needs is most pro-

nounced in this example? 2. Would you like to work for someone like

Cameron Mitchell? Why?

Cameron Mitchell Courtesy of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants

Cameron Mitchell, Founder and CEO of Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Exemplifies Acquired Needs

OB in Action

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168 PART 1 Individual Behavior

than luck, and they like to be rewarded for their efforts. High achievers also want to receive a fair and balanced amount of positive and negative feedback. This enables them to improve their performance.

• Need for affiliation. People motivated by the need for affiliation like to work in teams and in organizational climates characterized as cooperative and collegial.24 You clearly see this theme at work in Cameron Mitchell’s restaurants.

• Need for power. People with a high need for power like to be in charge. They enjoy coaching and helping others develop. Cameron Mitchell seems to exemplify this need.

Self-Determination Theory: Competence, Autonomy, and Relatedness Self-determination theory was developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. In contrast to McClelland’s belief that needs are learned over time, this theory identifies innate needs that must be satisfied for us to f lourish. Self-determination theory  assumes that three innate needs influence our behavior and well-being—the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.25

Self-Determination Theory Focuses on Intrinsic Motivation Self-determination theory focuses on the needs that drive intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation is longer lasting and has a more positive impact on task performance than extrinsic motivation.26 The theory proposes that our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness produce intrinsic motivation, which in turn enhances our task performance. Research supports this proposition.27

The Three Innate Needs An innate need is a need we are born with. The three innate needs are:

1. Competence—“I need to feel efficacious.” This is the desire to feel qualified, knowledge- able, and capable to complete an act, task, or goal.

2. Autonomy—“I need to feel independent to influence my environment.” This is the desire to have freedom and discretion in determining what you want to do and how you want to do it.

3. Relatedness—“I want to be connected with others.” This is the desire to feel part of a group, to belong, and to be connected with others.

Although the above needs are assumed to be innate, according to Deci and Ryan their relative value can change over our lives and vary across cultures.

Using Self-Determination Theory to Motivate Employees Managers can apply self-determination theory by trying to create work environments that support and encour- age the opportunity to experience competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Here are some specific suggestions:

• Competence. Managers can provide tangible resources, time, contacts, and coach- ing to improve employee competence. They can make sure employees have the knowledge and information they need to perform their jobs. For example, e-commerce giant Amazon offers new hires an intensive, month-long training and leadership program before they begin their job, and its “virtual contact center” trains employees to work from home. According to the company’s corporate communi- cations manager, “We want our employees to be owners from day one, so we train them to take ownership over products and services that impact millions of customers.”28

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• Autonomy. Managers can empower employees and delegate meaningful assign- ments and tasks to enhance feelings of autonomy. This in turn suggests they should support decisions their employees make. A recent study confirmed this conclusion. Employees’ intrinsic motivation was higher when they perceived that their manager supported them.29 Schneider Electric is a global company specializing in energy management and automation and it offers dedicated courses for leadership, customer education, energy solutions, sales excellence, and functional skills to its more than 160,000 employees worldwide. Company executives believe providing high-potential, early-career opportunities for its workforce encourages autonomy and paves the way for strong and future leaders of the organization.30

• Relatedness. Many companies use fun and camaraderie to foster relatedness. In addi- tion, a positive and inspiring corporate vision can create a feeling of commitment to a common purpose. At 23andMe, a consumer genetic testing company, founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki believes in using her influence to further the position of women in the biotech industry, which has long been a male-dominated field. The company has a policy of hiring equal numbers of men and women, maintains a bal- ance of men and women at the leadership level, and fosters a workplace culture that supports liberal parental leave policies, a robust employee onboarding process, and a strong sense of belonging and relatedness.31

Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory: Two Ways to Improve Satisfaction Frederick Herzberg’s theory is based on a landmark study in which he interviewed 203 accountants and engineers.32 These interviews, meant to determine the factors respon- sible for job satisfaction and dissatisfaction, uncovered separate and distinct clusters of factors associated with each. This pattern led to the motivator-hygiene theory,  which proposes that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction arise from two different sets of

At Amazon, managers apply the self-determination theory by trying to create a work environment that supports and encourages the opportunity to experience compe- tence, autonomy, and relatedness. New hires undergo an intensive, month-long train- ing and leadership program before they start their new job, which helps them take ownership of the products and services delivered to millions of customers every day. Jeramey Lende/Shutterstock

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170 PART 1 Individual Behavior

factors—satisfaction comes from motivating factors and dissatisfaction from hygiene factors.

• Hygiene factors—What makes employees dissatisfied? Job dissatisfaction was associ- ated primarily with factors in the work context or environment. Herzberg hypothe- sized that such hygiene factors—including company policy and administration, technical supervision, salary, interpersonal relationships with  supervisors, and working conditions—cause a person to move from a state of no dissatis- faction to dissatisfaction. He did not believe their removal created an immediate impact on satisfaction or motivation (for that, see motivating factors following). At best, Herzberg proposed that individuals will experience the absence of job dissatis- faction when they have no grievances about hygiene factors.

• Motivating factors—What makes employees satisfied? Job satisfaction was more frequently associated with factors in the work content of the task being performed. Herzberg labeled these motivating factors or motivators because each was associ- ated with strong effort and good performance. He hypothesized that such motivating factors, or motivators—including achievement, recognition, characteristics of the work, responsibility, and advancement—cause a person to move from a state of no satisfaction to satisfaction. Therefore, Herzberg’s theory predicts managers can motivate individuals by incorporating motivators into an individual’s job.

For Herzberg, the groups of hygiene and motivating factors did not interact. “The opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction, but rather no job satisfaction; and similarly, the opposite of job dissatisfaction is not job satisfaction, but no dissatisfaction.”33 Herzberg conceptualizes dissatisfaction and satisfaction as two parallel continuums. The starting point is a null state in which both dissatisfaction and satisfaction are absent. Theo- retically an organization member could have good supervision, pay, and working condi- tions (no dissatisfaction) but a tedious and unchallenging task with little chance of advancement (no satisfaction), as illustrated in Figure 5.4.

Managerial View of Job Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction Insights from Herzberg’s theory allow managers to consider the dimensions of both job content and job context so they can manage for greater overall job satisfaction. There is one aspect of this theory we think is wrong, however. We believe you can satisfy and motivate people by providing good hygiene factors. REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.), regularly rated one of the top companies to work for by Fortune, is a good example. The company routinely pays both part- and full-time employees significantly more than regulatory minimums and

FIGURE 5.4 Role of Job Content and Job Context in Job Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction

No Satisfaction

Jobs that do not o�er achievement, recognition, stimulating work, responsibility, and advancement.

Jobs o�ering achievement, recognition, stimulating work, responsibility, and advancement.

Jobs with good company policies and administration, technical supervision, salary, interpersonal relationships with supervisors, and working conditions.

Jobs with poor company policies and administration, technical supervision, salary, interpersonal relationships with supervisors, and working conditions.

Satisfaction Motivators

No Dissatisfaction Dissatisfaction Hygiene Factors

Job Content Job Context

SOURCE: Whitsett, David A., and Erik K. Winslow. “An Analysis of Studies Critical of The Motivator-Hygiene Theory.” Personnel Psychology, Winter (1997): 391–415.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

provides benefits to part-timers who work 20 hours a week (industry threshold for benefits is typically 30 hours a week). In addition, company contributions to the employee retire- ment plan are considered very generous compared to other retailers—employees may receive up to an additional 15 percent of their pay contributed by the company. And its employee turnover rate is almost half that of other retailers.34

Other companies seem to agree with our conclusion, because they have been offering a host of hygiene factors in an attempt to attract and retain Millennials. A recent survey of 5,000 Millennials revealed they are looking for better workplace benefits, including flexible work arrangements, generous matches to their 401(k) plans, pet insurance, and help with paying down their student loan debt. In this tight labor market, many compa- nies are taking a closer look at their benefits packages to attract and maintain a competi- tive workforce.35

Using Herzberg’s Theory to Motivate Employees Although research does not support the two-factor aspect of Herzberg’s theory or the proposition that hygiene factors are unrelated to job satisfaction, three practical applications of the theory help explain why it remains important in the study of OB.

1. Hygiene first. There are practical reasons to eliminate dissatisfaction before trying to use motivators to increase motivation and performance. You will have a harder time motivating someone who is experiencing pay dissatisfaction or otherwise struggling with Herzberg’s hygiene factors.

2. Motivation next. Once you remove dissatisfaction, you can hardly go wrong by build- ing motivators into someone’s job. This suggestion represents the core idea behind the technique of job design that is discussed in the final section of this chapter.

3. A few well-chosen words. Finally, don’t underestimate the power of verbal recognition to reinforce good performance. Savvy managers supplement Herzberg’s motivators with communication. Positive recognition can fuel intrinsic motivation, particularly for people who are engaged in their work.

Walmart Adds Sick-Leave Pay. Problem Solved?

Early in 2019, the giant retailer Walmart instituted a sweeping revision of some core human resource policies affecting its 1.1 million hourly workers in the United States. The move was undertaken in response to the fact that an increasing number of states and cities now require employers to offer paid sick leave. As of February 2019, Walmart’s store and warehouse workers can earn one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours total. The time can be used for any pur- pose without infringing on vacation time. Since the new policy consolidates and unifies a number of earlier rules, the company expects it will simplify administration and compliance, as well as reduce absenteeism. Management also hopes the policy change will help continue a decline in turnover that

started the year before, when, it says, an improved wage scale, relaxed dress codes, and more gener- ous parental leave helped reduce turnover by more than 10 percent.36

At the same time, however, the company has tightened up some of its other employment poli- cies. For instance, workers can now be fired for accumulating only five attendance violations within six months, whereas the limit was nine in the past. Short of firing, attendance has new financial conse- quences too. Although workers with perfect atten- dance can earn higher quarterly bonuses, they currently make up fewer than a third of Walmart’s hourly employees. Those who miss more than a handful of shifts will now see their bonuses cut by as much as half. Before the policy revamp,

Problem-Solving Application

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172 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem in this case.

Step 2: Identify the key causes of this problem.

Step 3: Make your top two recommendations for fixing the problem at Walmart.

employee bonuses were based solely on store performance.37

“Walmart is responding to our call for change with a new policy. But what they are giving with one hand, they are taking with the other,” said Shashauna Phillips, a Walmart employee in South Carolina and a leader in OUR Walmart, a worker group. Phillips also worries that one result of offering a financial incentive for perfect attendance is that employees will come to work sick.38

Others share her concern that Walmart has a way to go before it can claim to be doing every- thing possible to support and retain its workers. Vermont’s Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, issued a statement saying that Walmart’s new sick- leave policy was “a small step forward but not enough,” noting that “Walmart . . . is not a poor company” and urging it to raise its starting pay to $15 an hour (as a public outcry and legislation

introduced by Sanders recently forced Amazon to do). Walmart currently starts its hourly workers at $11 an hour, up from only $9 as recently as 2017.39 Writing in The Hill, Congressional representative Ro Khanna of California and Marc Perrone, Interna- tional President of the United Food and Commer- cial Workers Union, also urged Walmart to increase its basic wage, saying that Congress should take action again to compel Walmart and other large employers to pay their workers enough to feed their families and avoid forcing the “taxpayer- funded safety net” to make up the difference. Amazon faced a choice between raising wages and paying the government for the social safety net benefits its workers claimed. It opted to raise wages; Khanna and Perrone feel Walmart should make the same decision.40

Walmart’s sales are growing steadily and are expected to near $530 billion for fiscal 2019.41

Figure 5.5 illustrates the overlap among the need and satisfaction theories discussed in this section. As you can see, the acquired needs and self-determination theories do not include lower-level needs. Remember, higher-level need satisfaction is more likely to foster well-being and flourishing.

FIGURE 5.5 A Comparison of Need and Satisfaction Theories

Maslow

Higher-level needs

Lower-level needs

Achievement

Power

A�liation

Motivating factors

Hygiene factors

Competence

Autonomy

Relatedness

Self-actualization

Esteem

Love

Safety

Physiological

Acquired Needs Self-Determination Herzberg

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Process theories of motivation  describe how various person factors and situation factors in the Organizing Framework affect motivation. They go beyond content theo- ries by helping you understand why people with different needs and levels of satisfaction behave the way they do at work.

In this section we discuss three process theories of motivation:

• Equity/justice theory • Expectancy theory • Goal-setting theory

Equity/Justice Theory: Am I Being Treated Fairly? Defined generally, equity theory  is a model of motivation that explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social exchanges or give-and-take relation- ships. According to this theory, people are motivated to maintain consistency between their beliefs and their behavior. Perceived inconsis tencies create cognitive dissonance (or psychological discomfort), which in turn motivates corrective action. When we feel victim- ized by unfair social exchanges, the resulting cognitive dissonance prompts us to correct the situation. This can result in a change of attitude or behavior.

Consider what happened when workers at several U.S. poultry processing plants were forced to wear adult diapers during their work shifts as a result of being denied bathroom breaks by supervisors. A report by Oxfam America revealed supervisors repeatedly mocked workers and ignored their requests and threatened punishment or firing in an effort to keep the process- ing line running to meet production quotas. In the U.S. poultry industry, less than a third of all plants are unionized, which leaves most workers without crucial safety protections.42 In addition, another investigation found that the more than half a million men and women who work in meat-processing plants have some of the most dangerous factory jobs in America.43

As a result of pressure from worker advocate groups and unions, as well as growing consumer aware- ness about the hazards experienced by poultry work- ers, Tyson Foods announced it would provide regularly scheduled bathroom breaks, give more attention to the line speeds at its processing plants, offer training on workers’ rights, and establish safety councils that would include employees.44

Compare and contrast the process theories of motivation.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Process theories examine the way personal factors and situation factors influence employee

motivation. You’ll be considering three major process theories: equity/justice theory, expectancy

theory, and goal-setting theory. Each offers unique ideas for motivating yourself or employees.

5.3 PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Working the processing line at a U.S. poultry plant is a dangerous and challenging job, fraught with near-impossible work goals. Intense pressure from worker advocate groups, labor unions, and even consumers has resulted in companies improving conditions for their workers. USDA photo by Preston Keres.

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Psychologist J. Stacy Adams pioneered the use of equity theory in the workplace. Let us begin by discussing his ideas and their current application. We then discuss the exten- sion of equity theory into justice theory and conclude by discussing how to motivate employees with both these tools.

The Elements of Equity Theory: Comparing My Outputs and Inputs with Those of Others The key elements of equity theory are outputs, inputs, and a com- parison of the ratio of outputs to inputs (see Figure 5.6).

• Outputs—“What do I perceive that I’m getting out of my job?” Organizations provide a variety of outcomes for our work, including pay/bonuses, medical benefits, chal- lenging assignments, job security, promotions, status symbols, recognition, and par- ticipation in important decisions. Outcomes vary widely, depending on the organization and our rank in it.

• Inputs—“What do I perceive that I’m putting into my job?” An employee’s inputs, for which he or she expects a just return, include education/training, skills, creativity, seniority, age, personality traits, effort expended, experience, and personal appearance.

FIGURE 5.6 Elements of Equity Theory Equity theory compares how well you are doing to how well others are doing in similar jobs. Instead of focusing just on what you get out of the job (outputs) or what you put into the job (inputs), equity theory compares your ratio of outputs to inputs to those of others.

Outp uts

Pay, b enefi

ts,

assig nmen

ts, et c.

Input s

Time , skill

s,

educ ation

, etc.

Resu lts

What am I getting out of

my job?

My Ratio

My Perceptions

What are others getting out of

their jobs?

What am I putting into my

job?

What are others putting into their

jobs?

Equity I’m satisfied.

I see myself as faring comparably

with others.

Negative Inequity I’m dissatisfied. I see myself as

faring worse than others.

Positive Inequity Am I satisfied? I see myself as

faring better than others.

(See note.)

Others’ Ratio

vs.

Note: Does positive inequity result in satisfaction? Some of us may feel so. But J. Stacy Adams recognized that employees often feel guilty about positive inequity, just as they might become angry about negative inequity. Your positive inequity is others’ neg- ative inequity. If your coworkers saw you as being favored unfairly in a major way, wouldn’t they be outraged? How effective could you be in your job then?

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• Comparison—“How does my ratio of outputs to inputs compare with those of relevant others?” Your feelings of equity come from your evaluation of whether you are receiving adequate rewards to compensate for your collective inputs. In practice people perform these evaluations by comparing the perceived fairness of their out- put-to-input ratio to that of relevant others (see Figure 5.6). They divide outputs by inputs, and the larger the ratio, the greater the expected benefit. This comparative process was found to generalize across personalities and countries.45

People tend to compare themselves to other individuals with whom they have close interpersonal ties, such as friends, and to whom they are similar, such as people perform- ing the same job or individuals of the same gender or educational level, rather than to dis- similar others. For example, we work for universities, so we consider our pay relative to that of other business professors, not the head football coach.

The Outcomes of an Equity Comparison Figure 5.6 shows the three different equity relationships resulting from an equity comparison: equity, negative inequity, and positive inequity. Because equity is based on comparing ratios of outcomes to inputs, we will not necessarily perceive inequity just because someone else receives greater rewards. If the other person’s additional outcomes are due to his or her greater inputs, a sense of equity may still exist. However, if the comparison person enjoys greater outcomes for simi- lar inputs, negative inequity will be perceived. On the other hand, a person will experience positive inequity when his or her outcome-to-input ratio is greater than that of a relevant comparison person.

People tend to have misconceptions about how their pay compares to that of their colleagues. These misconceptions can create problems for employers. Consider the implications of results from a recent PayScale study of more than 500,000 employees. Close to 90 percent of those who were paid above the market—positive inequity—believed they were underpaid, while only 10 percent correctly perceived they were overpaid. In addition, 11 percent of the people paid at the market rate—equity—believed they were underpaid. When it comes to employee satisfaction, study results revealed that how employees feel about the pay process is more than five times more impactful on how satisfied they are than how they are paid relative to the market.46 In both these cases, significant numbers of equitably treated people perceived a state of inequity. If manage- ment fails to correct these perceptions, it should expect lower job satisfaction, commit- ment, and performance.

The Elements of Justice Theory: Distributive, Procedural, and Interactional Justice Beginning in the later 1970s, researchers began to expand the role of equity theory in explaining employee attitudes and behavior. This led to a domain of research called organizational justice. Organizational justice reflects the extent to which people per- ceive they are treated fairly at work. This, in turn, led to the identification of three different components of organizational justice: distributive, procedural, and interactional.47

• Distributive justice  reflects the perceived fairness of the way resources and rewards are distributed or allocated. Do you think fairness matters when it comes to the size of people’s offices? Robert W. Baird & Co., a financial services firm ranked as Fortune’s 16th best place to work in 2019, did. The company decided to make everyone’s office the same size in its newly renovated corporate headquarters.48

• Procedural justice  is the perceived fairness of the process and procedures used to make allocation decisions.

• Interactional justice  describes the “quality of the interpersonal treatment people receive when procedures are implemented.”49 Interactional justice does not pertain to the outcomes or procedures associated with decision making. Instead it focuses on whether people believe they are treated fairly when decisions are being implemented.

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Tools exist to help us improve our ability to gauge the level of fairness or justice that exists in a current or past job. Try Self-Assessment 5.2. It contains part of a survey devel- oped to measure employees’ perceptions of fair interpersonal treatment. If you perceive your work organization as interpersonally unfair, you are probably dissatisfied and have contemplated quitting. In contrast, your organizational loyalty and attachment are likely greater if you believe you are treated fairly at work.

Measuring Perceived Interpersonal Treatment Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 5.2 in Connect.

1. Does the level of fairness you perceive correlate to your work attitudes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment?

2. What is causing your lowest level of perceived fairness? Can you do anything to change these feelings?

3. What do these results suggest about the type of company you would like to work for after graduation?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.2

The Outcomes Associated with Justice Doesn’t it make sense that your percep- tions of justice are related to outcomes in the Organizing Framework? Of course! This realization has generated much research into organizational justice over the last 25 years. We created Figure 5.7 to summarize these research findings. The figure shows the strength of relationships between nine individual-level outcomes and the three components of orga- nizational justice. By and large, distributive and procedural justice have consistently stron- ger relationships with outcomes. This suggests that managers would be better off paying attention to these two forms of justice. In contrast, interactional justice is not a leading indicator in any instance.

You can also see that certain outcomes, such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment, have stronger relationships with justice. All told, however, the majority of relationships between justice and important OB outcomes are weak. This reinforces the conclusion that motivating people via justice works for some outcomes but not for others.

Equity Sensitivity In the study of equity theory, researchers have put forth the notion that not all individuals prefer an equal ratio of inputs to outcomes. This concept is known as equity sensitivity.50 For example, individuals who are high in equity sensitivity place more importance on inputs (what they can give in a specific situation) versus those who place more importance on outcomes (what rewards they can get in a certain situation).51 Recent research supports this concept, suggesting that equity sensitivity can help predict certain workplace outcomes, including organizational citizenship behaviors and inappropriate workplace behaviors.52

Using Equity and Justice Theories to Motivate Employees Figure 5.7 notwith- standing, managers can’t go wrong by paying attention to employees’ perceptions of equity and justice at work. Here are five practical lessons to help you apply equity and justice theories.

1. Employee perceptions count. No matter how fair management thinks the organization’s policies, procedures, and reward system are, each employee’s perception of the equity of those factors is what counts. For example, male employees were found to be more sensitive toward pay inequity and procedural justice than female employees.53 Further, justice perceptions can change over time.54 This implies that it is important for managers to regularly assess employees’ justice beliefs. Companies tend to do this by using employee work attitude surveys.

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2. Employees want a voice in decisions that affect them. Employees’ perceptions of justice are enhanced when they have a voice in the decision-making process. Voice  is “the discre- tionary or formal expression of ideas, opinions, suggestions, or alternative approaches directed to a specific target inside or outside of the organization with the intent to change an objectionable state of affairs and to improve the current functioning of the organization.”55 Managers are encouraged to seek employee input on organizational issues that are important to employees, even though many employees

FIGURE 5.7 Outcomes Associated with Justice Components The three components of organizational justice have varying effects on workplace outcomes, listed here in rough order from strongest to weakest. Note that job satisfaction and organizational commitment lead the list and most strongly align with justice components.

Not Significant

Distributive Justice

Procedural Justice

Interactional Justice

Significant correlation to all outcomes and is mostly coequal with procedural justice in e�ect. It is the main leading indicator as to mental health. Only in performance is it a lagging indicator.

Significant correlation to all outcomes and is mostly coequal with distributive justice in e�ect. It is the main leading indicator as to performance. Only in mental health is it a lagging indicator.

Weakest correlation to all outcomes, as it is lagging behind or at best coequal to other indicators. For two outcomes (turnover and performance) it is not even significant. However, interactional justice remains of moderate significance in performance, and for some employees it could be significant across all categories.

Organizational Citizenship

Behavior

Absenteeism

Stress

Health Problems

Performance

Mental Health

Turnover

Organizational Commitment

Job Satisfaction

StrongModerateWeak

O u

tc o

m e

s

SOURCES: Pan, Xiaofu, Mengyan Chen, Zhichao Hao, and Wenfen Bi. “The Effects of Organizational Justice on Positive Organi- zational Behavior: Evidence from a Large-Sample Survey and a Situational Experiment.” Frontiers in Psychology 8 (January 2018). https://doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02315; Robbins, Jordan M., Michael T. Ford, and Lois E. Tetrick. “Perceived Unfairness and Employee Health: A Meta-Analytic Integration.” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 2 (March 2012): 235–72. https://DOI: 10.1037/a0025408; Fassina, Neil E., David A. Jones, and Krista L. Uggerslev. “Meta-Analytic Tests of Relationships between Organizational Justice and Citizenship Behavior: Testing Agent-System and Shared-Variance Models.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 29, no. 6 (August 2008): 805–28. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/job.494; Cohen-Charash, Yochi, and Paul E. Spector. “The Role of Justice in Organizations: A Meta-Analysis.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 86, no. 2 (November 2001): 278–321. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2001.2958; and Colquitt, Jason A., Donald E. Conlon, Michael J. Wesson, Christopher O. L. H. Porter, and K. Yee Ng. “Justice at the Millennium: A Meta-Analytic Review of 25 Years of Organizational Justice Research.” Journal of Applied Psychology 86, no. 3 (2001): 421–45. https://DOI: 10.1037//0021- 9010.86.3.425.

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are reluctant to use their “voice.” Consider how Saleforce’s CEO Marc Benioff addressed the issue of employees wanting their voices heard on an important topic. Faced with employee objections to the company’s recent work with the U.S. Border Patrol (which has been separating children of illegal immigrants from their parents), Benioff created Silicon Valley’s first-ever Office of Ethical and Humane Use of Technology. With advisers from Georgetown, Harvard, Amnesty International, and other organizations, this initiative pro- vides Salesforce and its employees with a solid framework for discussing the thorny ethical issues that technological advances can raise. “We may not all agree,” Benioff said, “but we can have that discussion and figure out how to move forward together.”56 Managers can overcome issues such as these by creating a voice climate. A voice climate  is one in which employees are encouraged to freely express their opinions and feelings.57

3. Employees should have an appeals process. Employees should be given the opportunity to appeal decisions that affect their welfare. This opportunity fosters perceptions of distributive and procedural justice.

4. Leader behavior matters. Employees’ perceptions of justice are strongly influenced by their managers’ leadership behavior and the justice-related implications of their deci- sions, actions, and public communications.58 For example, Kenneth Frazier, CEO of pharmaceutical giant Merck, took a stand against extremism when he resigned from President Trump’s advisory business council after the president refused to criticize a group of white nationalist protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. The grandson of a man born into slavery, Frazier said he resigned from the council because the presi- dent’s response, “was one that I felt was not in concordance with my views or the views we claim to hold as a country.”59

5. A climate for justice makes a difference. Team per- formance was found to be higher in companies that possessed a climate for justice.60 Do you think it’s OK for customers to yell at retail or service employees or treat them rudely? We don’t! A climate for justice incorporates relationships between employees and customers. Employees are more likely to provide poor customer service when managers allow customers to treat employees rudely or disrespectfully.61

And as for you? You can work to improve equity ratios through your behavior or your perceptions. For example, you could work to resolve negative inequity by asking for a raise or a promotion (raising your outputs) or by working fewer hours or exerting less effort (reduc- ing your inputs). You could also resolve the inequity cog- nitively, by adjusting your perceptions of the value of your salary or other benefits (outcomes) or the value of the actual work you and your coworkers do (inputs).

Expectancy Theory: Does My Effort Lead to Desired Outcomes? Expectancy theory  holds that people are motivated to behave in ways that produce desired combina- tions of expected outcomes. Generally, expectancy theory can predict behavior in any situation in which a choice between two or more alternatives must be made. For instance, it can predict whether we should quit or stay at a job, exert substantial or minimal effort at a task, and major in management, computer science, account- ing, marketing, psychology, or communication.

Shaquem Griffin, a linebacker with the Seattle Seahawks, has all the motivation he needs to become a successful player in the NFL. A congenital birth defect resulted in his left hand being amputated when he was 4 years old, but Griffin sees that life-changing event as the reason he continues to work so hard to succeed. Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

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The most widely used version of expectancy theory was proposed by Yale professor Victor Vroom. We now consider the theory’s key elements and recommendations for its application.

The Elements of Vroom’s Expectancy Theory: Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence Motivation, according to Vroom, boils down to deciding how much effort to exert in a specific task situation. This choice is based on a two-stage sequence of expectations—moving from effort to performance and then from performance to outcome. Figure 5.8 shows the major components of this theory.

Let us consider the three key elements of Vroom’s theory.

1. Expectancy—“Can I achieve my desired level of performance?” An expectancy rep- resents an individual’s belief that a particular degree of effort will be followed by a particular level of performance. Expectancies take the form of subjective probabili- ties. As you may recall from a course in statistics, probabilities range from zero to one. An expectancy of zero indicates that effort has no anticipated impact on performance, while an expectancy of one suggests performance is totally dependent on effort.

EXAMPLE Suppose you do not know how to use Excel. No matter how much effort you exert, your perceived probability of creating complex spreadsheets that com- pute correlations will be zero. If you decide to take an Excel training course and practice using the program a couple of hours a day for a few weeks (high effort), the probability that you will be able to create spreadsheets that compute correlations will rise close to one.

Research reveals that employees’ expectancies are affected by a host of factors. Some of the more important ones include self-efficacy, time pressures, task difficulty, ability and knowledge, resources, support from peers, leader behavior, and organiza- tional climate.62

2. Instrumentality—“What intrinsic and extrinsic rewards will I receive if I achieve my desired level of performance?” Instrumentality  is the perceived relationship between performance and outcomes. It reflects a person’s belief that a particular outcome is contingent on accomplishing a specific level of performance. Passing exams, for instance, is instrumental in graduating from college, or put another way, graduation is contingent on passing exams. In this tight labor market, even the U.S. military is offering bonuses to entice individuals to join. For example, the U.S. Navy offers enlistment bonuses (including money for college degrees) from $5,000 to more

FIGURE 5.8 Major Elements of Expectancy Theory

ValenceInstrumentality

“What are the chances of reaching

my performance goal?”

“What are the chances of receiving various outcomes if

I achieve my performance

goals?”

“How much do I value the outcomes

I will receive by achieving my performance

goals?”

Expectancy

E�ort Performance

Goal Outcomes

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than $25,000, depending on prior experience.63 The Problem-Solving Application box illustrates what happens when classical musicians find instrumentality out of balance.

3. Valence—“How much do I value the rewards I receive?” Valence  describes the positive or negative value people place on outcomes. Valence mirrors our personal prefer- ences. For example, most employees have a positive valence for receiving additional money or recognition. In contrast, being laid off or being ridiculed for making a sugges- tion would likely be negative valence for most individuals. In Vroom’s expectancy model, outcomes are consequences that are contingent on performance, such as pay, promotions, recognition, or celebratory events. For example, Aflac hosted a six-day appreciation week for employees that included theme park visits, movie screenings, and daily gifts.64 Would you value these rewards? Your answer will depend on your individual needs.

Symphony Orchestras on Strike

The rarified world of classical music is often per- ceived as calm, even staid, and above the hassles of the workaday world. But with the cost of produc- ing performances rising and ticket sales and donor support slumping in many markets, this picture is far from the truth. In recent years musicians of more than one symphony orchestra have gone on strike for better pay and other benefits. Among the latest are the players of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the top (and best-paid) U.S. clas- sical ensembles. The musicians’ union had been negotiating a new contract for almost a year when players recently began picketing Orchestra Hall in Chicago in an attempt to hang on to disputed employment benefits, including their prized defined-benefit pension plan.

The orchestra’s management says the cost of maintaining this retirement benefit has skyrocketed, making it unsustainable for the group’s future, and proposes substituting a less expensive defined- contribution plan. This would follow the example of organizations in many other industries, which have

switched to defined-contribution plans for their employees and thus shifted the investment risk to workers as well. But Chicago’s defined-benefit plan “has been the hallmark of the orchestra’s benefits package (and those of other leading orchestras) for over 50 years,” says a member of the musicians’ negotiating committee, and members want to keep it that way.65

While defined-benefit plans, in which benefits are essentially guaranteed, are still common in major U.S. orchestras, many such plans are under- funded, putting benefits for both current and future retirees in jeopardy. Management says its current offer will “put the musicians in as good if not a better state upon their retirements,” but Chicago’s players counter that attracting and retaining world-class musicians will grow ever more difficult “if our bene- fits continue to fall.”66 Meanwhile, the orchestra’s famed director Ricardo Muti urged management to consider the welfare of the musicians, even visiting the picket line, though some performances had to be canceled while talks continued.67

Problem-Solving Application

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem in this case.

Step 2: Identify the cause of the problem. Do the parties featured in this case use the principles of expectancy theory?

Step 3: Make a recommendation to the orchestra’s management. Should the musicians be allowed to keep their defined-benefit pension plan?

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According to expectancy theory, your motivation will be high when all three elements in the model are high. If any element is near zero, your motivation will be low. Whether you apply this theory to yourself or managers apply it to their employees, the point is to simultaneously consider the status of all three elements.

Using Expectancy Theory to Motivate Employees There is widespread agreement that attitudes and behavior are inf luenced when organizations link rewards to targeted behaviors. For example, in this era of #MeToo and other social initiatives, many companies, including Microsoft, Intel, and Facebook, have begun to link bonuses to how well senior leaders champion the firm’s anti-discrimination objectives and diversity efforts.68

Expectancy theory has important practical implications for individual managers and organizations as a whole (see Table 5.1). Three additional recommendations are often overlooked. First, establish the right goal. Our consulting experience reveals that people fail at this task more often than you might imagine. Second, remember that you can better keep behavior and performance on track by creating more opportunities to link performance and pay. Recent research supports this point. A survey of more than 2,500 HR and office professionals suggests there is a growing divide between manage- ment and employees when it comes to performance feedback and pay. While 94 per- cent of the executives surveyed are confident employees are satisfied with their company’s performance review process, more than two-thirds of employees believe the process is outdated, happens too infrequently, and is often incomplete. In addition, to help link performance with pay, some organizations have implemented variable pay plans with individual incentive bonuses being the most common type of incentive awarded.69 Finally, monetary rewards must be large enough to generate motivation, and this may not be the case for annual merit raises in the U.S. The average merit raise has been around 3 percent over the past five years, although recent studies suggest employees are anticipating larger increases based on strong company performances over the past year. To overcome this limitation, organizations are starting to eliminate merit raises and replace them with discretionary bonuses for special projects or one- time achievements.70

The following Problem-Solving Application illustrates expectancy theory in action at Westwood High School in Mesa, Arizona.

TABLE 5.1 Managerial and Organizational Implications of Expectancy Theory

FOR MANAGERS FOR ORGANIZATIONS

• Determine the outcomes employees value. • Reward people for desired performance, and do not keep pay decisions secret.

• Identify good performance so appropriate behaviors can be rewarded.

• Design challenging jobs.

• Make sure employees can achieve targeted performance levels.

• Tie some rewards to group accomplishments to build teamwork and encourage cooperation.

• Link desired outcomes to targeted levels of performance.

• Reward managers for creating, monitoring, and maintaining expectancies, instrumentalities, and outcomes that lead to high effort and goal attainment.

• Make sure changes in outcomes are large enough to motivate high effort.

• Monitor employee motivation through interviews or anonymous questionnaires.

• Monitor the reward system for inequities. • Accommodate individual differences by building flexibility into the motivation program.

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Goal-Setting Theory: How Can I Harness the Power of Goal Setting? Regardless of the nature of their specific achievements, successful people tend to have one thing in common: Their lives are goal-oriented. This is as true for politicians seek- ing votes as it is for world-class athletes like Simone Biles. Research also supports this conclusion. The results of more than 1,000 studies from a wide range of countries clearly show that goal setting helps individuals, teams, and organizations to achieve success.72

Next we review goal setting within a work context and then explain the mechanisms that make goal setting so effective. We will discuss the practical applications of goal setting in Chapter 6.

A High School Principal Uses Principles of Expectancy Theory to Motivate Students

Tim Richard, principal at Westwood High School, decided to use a motivational program he called “Celebration” to improve the grades of 1,200 stu- dents who were failing one or more courses. The school has a total of 3,000 students.

How Does the Program Work? “Students are allowed to go outside and have fun with their friends for 28 minutes on four mornings a week,” the principal explained to the local newspaper. “But those who have even one F must stay inside for ‘remediation’—28 minutes of extra study, help from peer tutors, or meetings with teachers.” Richard, who successfully implemented the program at a smaller high school, believes the key to motivating students is to link a highly valued reward—socializing with friends outside—with grades. Socializing includes playing organized games, dancing and lis- tening to music, eating snacks, and just plain hanging out. Results suggest the program is working.

Positive results were found within two to three months of the motivation program’s start. The num- ber of students with failing grades dropped to 900. The principal’s goal is to achieve zero failing grades by the end of the year.

What Is the Student Reaction? Students like the program. Ivana Baltazar, a 17-year-old senior, said, “You really appreciate Celebration after you have been in remediation.” She raised an F in economics to a B after receiving help. Good aca- demic students like Joseph Leung also like the program. Leung is a tutor to students with failing grades. He believes that “the tricky part is getting people out of the mind-set that they can’t suc- ceed. . . . A lot of times they just haven’t done their homework. I try to help them understand that the difference between a person passing and failing is their work ethic.”71

Problem-Solving Application

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem Tim Richard is trying to address.

Step 2: Identify the causes. What OB concepts or theories are consistent with Richard’s motivational program?

Step 3: Make recommendations for fixing the problem. Do you agree with Richard’s approach to improving student performance? Why or why not?

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Edwin Locke and Gary Latham’s Theory of Goal Setting After studying four decades of research on goal setting, two OB experts, Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, pro- posed a straightforward theory of goal setting. Here is how it works.73

• Goals that are specific and difficult lead to higher performance than general goals like “Do your best” or “Improve performance.” This is why it is essential to set specific, challenging goals. Goal specificity  means whether a goal has been quantified. For example, a goal of increasing the score on your next OB test by 10 percent is more specific than the goal of trying to improve your grade on the next test.

• Certain conditions are necessary for goal setting to work. People must have the abil- ity and resources needed to achieve the goal, and they need to be committed to the goal. If these conditions are not met, goal setting does not lead to higher perfor- mance. Be sure these conditions are in place as you pursue your goals.

• Performance feedback and participation in deciding how to achieve goals are neces- sary but not sufficient for goal setting to work. Feedback and participation enhance performance only when they lead employees to set and commit to a specific, diffi- cult goal, even when that goal is to delegate other activities to colleagues. For exam- ple, managing partners, clients, and colleagues vie for time with Julia Lamm, a director at PwC in New York. With the help of her boss, Lamm has learned to pri- oritize her projects; reimagine routine status meetings with managers to focus on problem solving; and forgo nonessential meetings by delegating them to associ- ates.74 Goals lead to higher performance when you use feedback and participation to stay focused and committed to a specific goal.

• Goal achievement leads to job satisfaction, which in turn motivates employees to set and commit to even higher levels of performance. Goal setting puts in motion a posi- tive cycle of upward performance.

In sum, it takes more than setting specific, difficult goals to motivate yourself or others. You also want to fight the urge to set impossible goals. They typically lead to poor performance or unethical behavior, as they did at Volkswagen. The company admitted installing software on more than 11 million cars that manipulated emission test results.75 Company engineers claimed they tampered with the software because targets set by the CEO at the time, Martin Winterkorn, were too difficult to achieve. To date, the emissions scandal has cost the company more than $35 billion.76 Set challenging but attainable goals for yourself and others.

U.S. gymnast Simone Biles won a medal in every event she entered in the 2019 world championships competition. Biles has now set her sites on winning gold in multiple events at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Francois Nel/Getty Images

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What Are the Mechanisms Behind the Power of Goal Setting? Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, the same OB scholars who developed the motivational theory of goal setting just discussed, also identified the underlying mechanisms that explain how goals affect performance. There are four.

1. Goals direct attention. Goals direct our attention and effort toward goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities. If, for example, you have a term project due in a few days, your thoughts and actions tend to revolve around completing that project. In reality, however, we often work on multiple goals at once. Prioritize your goals so you can effectively allocate your efforts over time.77 For example, fast- food giant KFC recently announced plans to ensure that all plastic-based, consumer packaging across its global businesses will be recoverable or reusable by 2025. In addi- tion, the chain said the goal of having 100 percent of chicken within its U.S. supply chain raised without antibiotics important to human medicine has been met—two years after announcing its pledge.78

2. Goals regulate effort. Goals have an energizing function in that they motivate us to act. As you might expect, harder goals foster greater effort than easy ones. Deadlines also factor into the motivational equation. We expend greater effort on projects and tasks when time is running out. For example, an instructor’s deadline for turning in your term project would prompt you to complete it instead of going out with friends, watching television, or studying for another course.

3. Goals increase persistence. Within the context of goal setting, persistence repre- sents the effort expended on a task over an extended period of time. It takes effort to run 100 meters; it takes persistence to run a 26-mile marathon. One of your textbook authors—Angelo Kinicki—knows this because he ran a marathon. What an experience! His goal was to finish in 3 hours 30 minutes. A difficult goal like this served as a reminder to keep training hard over a three-month period. Whenever he wanted to stop training or run slow sprints, his desire to achieve the goal motivated him. Although he missed his goal by 11 minutes, it still is one of his proudest accomplishments. This type of persistence happens when the goal is personally important.

4. Goals foster the development and application of task strategies and action plans. Goals prompt us to figure out how we can accomplish them. This begins a cogni- tive process in which we develop a plan outlining the steps, tasks, or activities we must undertake. For example, the city of Memphis, Tennessee, recently announced a five-year plan called the 800 Initiative with the goal of growing the revenue of 800 minority-owned businesses by $50 million and helping them add paid employees to scale their operations. Funded partly by the city and commitments by other organi- zations including FedEx, the program offers business coaching, technical assis- tance, education, and access to loans and grants to help businesses grow.79 Setting and using action plans also reduces procrastination. If this is sometimes a problem for you, break your goals into smaller and more specific subgoals.80 That will get you going.

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“Ten hours [a day] is a long time just doing this. . . . I’ve had three years in here and I’m like, I’m going to get the hell out. . . . It’s just the most boring work you can do.”

—Ford autoworker

“I love my job. . . . I’ve learned so much. . . . I can talk with biochemists, software engineers, all these interesting people. . . . I love being independent, relying on myself.”

—Corporate headhunter

“We see about a hundred injuries a year and I’m amazed there aren’t more. The main causes are inexperience and repetition. . . . People work the same job all the time and they stop thinking.”

—Slaughterhouse human resources director

These quotations reflect the different outcomes that can result from job design.81 Job design,  also referred to as job redesign or work design, refers to any set of activi- ties that alter jobs to improve the quality of employee experience and level of pro- ductivity. As you can see from this definition, job design focuses on motivating employees by considering the situation factors within the Organizing Framework.

Figure 5.9 summarizes the approaches to job design that have developed over time.82

• Top-down. Managers changed employees’ tasks with the intent of increasing motiva- tion and productivity. In other words, job design was management led.

• Bottom-up. In the last 10 years, the top-down perspective gave way to bottom-up processes, based on the idea that employees can change or redesign their own jobs and boost their own motivation and engagement. Job design is then driven by employees rather than managers.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Job design focuses on motivating employees by considering the situation factors within the

Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. Objectively, the goal of job

design is to structure jobs and the tasks needed to complete them in a way that creates intrin-

sic motivation. We’ll look at how potential motivation varies depending on who designs the

job: management, you, or you in negotiation with management.

5.4 MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH JOB DESIGN

Describe three approaches to motivating employees through job design.

LO 5-4

FIGURE 5.9 Historical Models of Job Design

Employee or Work Teams Design Job

Employee and Management Design Job

Idiosyncratic Deals (I-Deals) Approach

Bottom-Up Approach

Management Designs Job

Top-Down Approach

Historical Recent Emerging

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• I-deals. The latest approach to job design, idiosyncratic deals, attempts to merge the two historical perspectives. It envisions job design as a process in which employees and individual managers jointly negotiate the types of tasks employees complete at work.

This section provides an overview of these three conceptually different approaches to job design.83 We give more coverage to top-down techniques and models because they have been used for longer periods of time and more research is available to evaluate their effectiveness.

Top-Down Approaches— Management Designs Your Job In top-down approaches, management creates efficient and meaningful combinations of work tasks for employees. If it is done correctly, in theory, employees will display higher performance, job satisfaction, and engagement, and lower absenteeism and turnover. The five principal top-down approaches are scientific management, job enlargement, job rota- tion, job enrichment, and the job characteristics model.

Scientific Management Scientific management draws from research in industrial engineering and is most heavily influenced by the work of Frederick Taylor (1856–1915). Taylor, a mechanical engineer, developed the principles of scientific management based on research and experimentation to determine the most efficient way to perform jobs. Scientific management  is “that kind of management which conducts a business or affairs by standards established by facts or truths gained through systematic obser- vation, experiment, or reasoning.”84

Designing jobs according to the principles of scientific management has both positive and nega- tive consequences. Positively, employee efficiency and productivity are increased. On the other hand, research reveals that simplified, repetitive jobs also lead to job dissatisfaction, poor mental health, higher levels of stress, and a low sense of accomplishment and personal growth.85 Recogni- tion of these negative consequences paved the way for the next four top-down approaches.

Job Enlargement Companies first used job enlargement in the late 1940s in response to complaints about tedious and overspecialized jobs created from the principles of scientific management. Job enlargement  puts more vari- ety into a worker’s job by combining special- ized tasks of comparable difficulty. Some call this strategy horizontally loading the job.

Researchers recommend using job enlargement as part of a broader approach that uses multiple motivational methods, because by itself job enlargement does not have a sig- nificant and lasting positive effect on job performance.86

Job Rotation Like job enlargement, job rotation gives employees greater variety in their work. Job rotation  calls for moving employees from one specialized job to another. Rather than performing only one job, workers are trained and given the opportunity to perform two or more separate jobs on a rotating basis. Proposed benefits of job rotation include the following:87

• Increased engagement and motivation because employees have a broader perspec- tive on the organization.

This automotive assembly line, which is using robotics, is a great example of scientific management. The principles of scientific management have aided auto manufacturers to produce cars more efficiently and with higher quality. Glow Images

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187Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

• Increased worker flexibility and easier scheduling because employees are cross- trained to perform different jobs.

• Increased employee knowledge and abilities, which improves employees’ promot- ability and builds a pipeline of internal talent.

More companies are now hiring new college graduates into “rotational programs,” which allow them to work in different functional areas for short periods and learn many different parts of the business along the way. Finally, the technique of job rotation has evolved into job swapping, with increased opportunities both here and abroad. (See the OB in Action box.)

How would you like to work all over the country without the hassle of changing jobs? At Abbott, the health care company, new graduates with appropri- ate majors from partner universities who are selected for the two- to three-year corporate devel- opment program are asked to rotate among differ- ent jobs at company offices around the country. The focus areas are finance, information technology, manufacturing, quality assurance, engineering, and environmental health.

Similarly, the Global Fellows Program at Edelman, a global communications marketing company, chooses strong employees with high potential to work at international locations like Shanghai, Moscow, and Abu Dhabi for as long as 18 months. HSBC Holdings, one of the world’s largest banking companies, has comparable opportunities that range from 10 weeks to 2 years and places interns and entry-level employees in locations as wide- ranging as Argentina, the UK, Singapore, and France. There they work in relationship manage- ment, global trade, and receivables finance in the Commercial Banking Global Graduate Program, and in retail banking and wealth management in the Digital Global Graduate Program.

Emerson, a global technology and engineering company, runs an Engineers in Leadership Program that rotates as many as 18 candidates every year through a two-year program exposing them to one domestic and one international assignment. Benefits for the chosen employees include training, mentor- ship, and network building. Even the NFL runs a Junior Rotational Program that cycles employees through 6- to 12-month projects at different depart- ments including Events, Communications and Public

Affairs, Football Operations and Officiating, and International.88

Job swapping, in which employees actually switch with one another for a time, can take place internally or externally. One good example of exter- nal swapping was forged by Travis York, CEO of a marketing firm called GYK Antler, who decided he could better understand how to work with his client, technology firm Dyn Industries, if he took CEO Jeremy Hitchcock’s place for a typical day. “We thought it would be good to be in each other’s shoes so we could understand each other better and gain a deeper perspective,” York says. The experiment was so rewarding that York has repeated it three times with other clients, including the CEO of an art school, the founder of a men’s fashion company, and a professional basketball player. Everything is “fair game” during the swap day except raises, hires, and firings. Several weeks later, York will follow up with the CEO and then make it a point to check in with the person on a regular basis thereafter.89

Common features of many successful job swaps and rotations are planning, goal setting, the possibility of benefit for participants on both sides, mentors to offer direction and answers, and written (or posted) documentation about the job to lower the learning curve.90

YOUR THOUGHTS 1. What are the pros and cons of job swaps and

rotations? 2. What would be your ideal job swap or rotation? 3. If you managed a business, would you offer this

option to your employees? Why or why not?

Job Swapping and Job Rotation Opportunities Abound

OB in Action

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188 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Job Enrichment Job enrichment is the practical application of Frederick Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory of job satisfaction, discussed earlier in this chapter. Specifically, job enrichment  modifies a job such that an employee has the opportunity to experi- ence achievement, recognition, stimulating work, responsibility, and advancement. These characteristics are incorporated into a job through vertical loading. Rather than giv- ing employees additional tasks of similar difficulty (horizontal loading), vertical loading gives them more autonomy and responsibility. For example, “Final Friday” is a big hit with employees at Hot Dog Marketing, a branding and digital marketing agency in the Austin, Texas area. According to CEO Jessica Scanlon, six times a year, employees are encouraged to use the last Friday of the month as a free day to work on personal projects or to pursue skills to further their professional development.91

The Job Characteristics Model Two OB researchers, J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham, played a central role in developing the job characteristics approach. They proposed that intrinsic motivation was determined by three psychological states. In turn, these psycho- logical states were fostered by the presence of five core job characteristics (see Figure 5.10).

The goal of the job characteristics model  is to promote high intrinsic motivation by designing jobs that possess the five core job characteristics. The five characteris- tics are as follows:

• Skill variety. The extent to which the job requires an individual to perform a variety of tasks that require him or her to use different skills and abilities.

• Task identity. The extent to which the job requires an individual to perform a whole or completely identifiable piece of work. Task identity is high when a person works on a product or project from beginning to end and sees a tangible result.

FIGURE 5.10 The Job Characteristics Model

• Experienced meaningfulness of the work • Experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work • Gained knowledge of the actual results of the work activities

• High intrinsic work motivation • High growth satisfaction • High general job satisfaction • High work e�ectiveness

Outcomes

• Skill variety • Task identity • Task significance

• Autonomy

• Feedback from job

Core job characteristics

Critical psychological

states

Moderators Not everyone wants a job

covering all five characteristics. Job design is

moderated by:

These moderators will a�ect or moderate both the critical psychological states and the

outcomes.

1. Knowledge and skill 2. Growth need strength 3. Context satisfactions

SOURCE: Hackman, J. Richard, and Greg R. Oldham. Work Redesign. Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1980.

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189Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

• Task significance. The extent to which the job affects the lives of other people within or outside the organization.

• Autonomy. The extent to which the job enables an individual to experience freedom, independence, and discretion in both scheduling and determining the procedures used in completing the job.

• Feedback. The extent to which an individual receives direct and clear information about how effectively he or she is performing the job.92

Moderators. A moderator is a variable that changes the relationship between two other variables. Hackman and Oldham proposed that there are moderators that affect the success of job design, and they are shown in the moderator box of Figure 5.10.

• Knowledge and skill (representing whether or not the person has the knowledge and skills to perform the enriched job).

• Growth need strength (representing the desire to grow and develop as an individual). • Context satisfactions (representing the extent to which employees are satisfied with

various aspects of their job, such as pay, coworkers, and supervision).

The takeaway is that job design is more likely to work when people have the required knowledge and skills, when they want to develop, and when they are satisfied with their jobs. Job design is not for everyone.

In Practice. Research identifies three practical implications of applying the job char- acteristics model.

1. Managers can increase employee job satisfaction.93

2. Managers can enhance employees’ intrinsic motivation and performance, while reducing absenteeism and stress.94

EXAMPLE File-sharing company Dropbox increases employee autonomy and motivation by its unlimited vaca- tion policy, explaining “we provide generous time off poli- cies for everything life throws your way.” Adobe’s frequent “check-in” conversations, which take the place of annual performance reviews, enable managers and employees to discuss performance and opportunities on an informal basis and provide real-time feedback to promote growth and development.95

3. Managers can find noticeable increases in the quality of per- formance after a job redesign program. Results from 21 exper- imental studies revealed that job redesign resulted in a median increase of 28 percent in the quality of performance.96

Bottom-Up Approaches—You Design Your Own Job As its name suggests, bottom-up job design is driven by employ- ees rather than managers; it is also referred to as job crafting. Job crafting  represents employees’ attempts to proactively shape their work characteristics.97 The concept is largely based on the theories of empowerment and intrinsic motivation, and its goal is to help employees experience a sense of meaning in their jobs. A recent survey of more than 2,200 professionals revealed that 90 percent of them would be willing to earn less money (roughly 23 percent of future earnings) for more meaning- ful work.98

This employee of Swiss-based computer device producer Logitech is working on a computer mouse. He looks very focused on the task at hand. It may be that job crafting is partly behind his engagement. The company is using job crafting to increase employee engagement and job satisfac- tion. As part of this effort the company created a 90-minute workshop to help employees learn how to align their strengths and interests with tasks contained in their jobs. Gaetan Bally/Keystone/AP Images

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190 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Forms of Job Crafting Employees are viewed as “job crafters” according to the bottom- up model because they are expected to define and create their own job boundaries. Table 5.2 illustrates three forms of job crafting. The first changes the job’s task boundaries. You can do this by taking on more or fewer tasks or by altering their scope or nature. The second form changes the relational nature of the job. Specifically, you can alter the quantity or quality of interactions you have with others at work, or you can establish new relationships. The third method is cognitive crafting. In this strategy you perceive or think differently about the exist- ing tasks and relationships associated with your job.

Outcomes of Job Crafting The right-hand column in Table 5.2 outlines the potential impact of job crafting on employee motivation and performance. You can see that job crafting is expected to change the way employees perceive their jobs. It should also result in more positive attitudes about the job, which is expected to increase employee motivation, engagement, and performance. Preliminary research supports this proposition.99

Computer accessories maker Logitech Inc. successfully implemented a job crafting pilot program. Jessica Amortegui, senior director of learning and development, said, “The company hopes helping employees find more intrinsic motivation in their work will be a powerful hiring draw. Logitech plans to begin using the [program] with all 3,000 of its workers.”100

Given that job crafting can lead to higher levels of engagement and satisfaction, you may be interested in understanding how you can apply the technique to a former, current, or future job. The Self-Assessment 5.3 explores the extent to which you are applying job crafting to reduce job demands, seek resources, or seek challenges.

TABLE 5.2 Forms of Job Crafting

CHANGES IN APPROACH EXAMPLE CHANGES IN RESULTS

Task boundaries: Number, scope, and type of job tasks.

Design engineers engage in relational activities that move a project to completion.

Engineers are now guardians or movers of projects; they complete work in a more timely fashion.

Relational nature: Quality and/or amount of interaction with others encountered in a job.

Hospital cleaners actively care for patients and families and integrate themselves into the workflow of their floor units.

Cleaners are now helpers of the sick; they see the work of the floor unit as a vital part of an integrated whole.

Cognitive crafting: Perception of or thinking about tasks and relationships in your job.

Nurses take responsibility for all information and “insignificant” tasks so they can care more appropriately for a patient.

Nurses are now patient advocates; they provide high- quality, technical care.

SOURCE: Wrzesniewski, Amy, and J. E. Dutton. “Crafting a Job: Revisioning Employees as Active Crafters of Their Work.” Academy of Management Review 26, no. 2 (2001): 179–201. https://DOI: 10.2307/259118.

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191Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

Idiosyncratic Deals (I-Deals)— You Negotiate the Design of Your Job The last approach to job design, idiosyncratic deals, represents a middle ground between top-down and bottom-up methods and attempts to overcome their limitations. For example, top-down approaches are constrained by the fact that managers cannot always create changes in task characteristics that are optimal for everyone. Similarly, job crafting is limited by the amount of latitude people have to change their own jobs. Idiosyncratic deals (i-deals)  represent “employment terms individuals negotiate for themselves, taking myriad forms from flexible schedules to career develop- ment.”101 Although “star performers” have long negotiated special employment con- tracts or deals, demographic trends and the changing nature of work have created increased opportunities for more employees to negotiate i-deals.

I-deals tend to affect task and work responsibilities, schedule flexibility, location flex- ibility, and compensation.102 The goal of such deals is to increase employee intrinsic moti- vation and productivity by allowing employees the flexibility to negotiate employment relationships that meet their own specific needs and values. RSM promotes and encour- ages the creation of i-deals among its more than 9,600 employees. The focus of its program is to create innovative and flexible ways of working.103

This relatively new approach to job design has begun to generate much research. Results confirm that i-deals are associated with higher perceived organizational support, job satisfac- tion, and perceived voice. Employees also are less likely to quit when they negotiate i-deals.104 Future study is needed to determine the generalizability of these encouraging results.

Consider how you might one day create an i-deal for yourself. Self-Assessment 5.4 will help you think through the process.

Creating an I-Deal Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 5.4 in Connect.

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses in terms of creating an i-deal? 2. Assume you are applying for a job after graduation and you want to create an

i-deal. What do your results suggest that you should discuss with your potential employer?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.4

To What Extent Have I Used Job Crafting? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 5.3 in Connect.

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses in terms of job crafting? 2. Were you happy in the job under consideration? 3. Do you think the average employee can affect all the suggestions measured in

the survey? Explain.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 5.3

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192 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Takeaways for Me Here are five things you can do to turn this chapter’s lessons into positive change in your personal and professional life.

1. Identify the needs that are important to you today, recognizing they may change over time: This can help you identify the type of work you would like to do before and after graduation.

2. If your current job is low on hygiene or motivating factors, reflect on what you can do to change this situation: You may be able to create change by talking to your boss, asking for new work assignments, or getting a different job.

3. Festering feelings of inequity are not good for you or those you interact with on a regular basis: Make a plan to correct any feelings of inequity that exist in your life.

4. Set specific, measurable goals for things you want to accomplish in your life: Develop an action plan that outlines the path to success, then be sure to reward yourself for accomplishing the goals.

5. If your current job is unfulfilling, try to find ways to incorporate job crafting or i-deals into your work: If this doesn’t work, you might consider changing jobs.

Takeaways for Managers There are seven key implications for managers.

1. Recognize that intrinsic motivation can have longer-lasting effects than extrinsic motiva- tion: Try to build Herzberg’s motivators into employees’ work experiences.

2. Acknowledge that needs drive employee motivation: Find a way to determine employee needs, such as employee surveys or one-on-one meetings.

3. Because some needs are innate, consider people’s needs when they are first hired: Vali- dated tests exist that will identify these needs.

4. Uncover employees’ perceptions about equity and justice: Then correct any deficiencies by administering employee surveys or exit interviews.

5. Incorporate the principles of expectancy theory: By ensuring employees believe they can accomplish their goals and linking performance to rewards that individual employees value.

6. Work with employees to set challenging yet attainable goals and then establish action plans: Be sure employees have the resources they need to achieve these goals.

7. Consider different ways to design jobs: Doing so will ensure that jobs foster intrinsic motivation and meaningfulness.

Describe the implications of employee motivation for you and managers.

LO 5-5

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Motivation explains why we do the things we do and is an important process that affects

behavior in both our personal and professional lives. Here are some key points to consider.

5.5 MAKING THE CONNECTION: HOW CAN I APPLY MOTIVATION THEORIES?

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193Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

You learned that motivation, a key individual-level process, is influenced by inputs such as needs, perceptions of justice, expectancies and instru- mentalities, goals, and job design. You learned how various theories and models of motivation can be applied by managers to improve multiple outcomes. Reinforce your learning with the Key Points below. Consolidate your learning using the Organizing Framework. Then challenge your mas- tery of the material by answering the Major Ques- tions in your own words.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 5 You learned the following key points.

5.1 THE WHAT AND WHY OF MOTIVATION

• There are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.

• Extrinsic motivation results from the potential or actual receipt of external rewards.

• Intrinsic motivation is driven by positive inter- nal feelings generated by doing well.

5.2 CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

• Content theories are based on the idea that an employee’s needs influence motivation. There are five key content theories.

• Douglas McGregor proposed a theory of motivation based on two opposing views of employees. Theory X people believe employ- ees dislike work and are motivated by rewards and punishment. Theory Y people believe employees are self-engaged, commit- ted, and responsible.

• Abraham Maslow proposed that motivation is a function of five basic needs—physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization— arranged in a prepotent hierarchy.

• David McClelland’s acquired needs theory is based on the idea that motivation is a function

of three basic needs: achievement, affiliation, and power.

• Self-determination theory assumes that three innate needs influence motivation: compe- tence, autonomy, and relatedness.

• Frederick Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene the- ory is based on the premise that job satisfac- tion comes from motivating factors and dissatisfaction from hygiene factors.

5.3 PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

• Process theories attempt to describe how various person factors and situation factors affect motivation.

• Equity theory explains how people strive for fairness and justice in social exchanges. Fair- ness or equity is determined by comparing our outputs and inputs with those of others.

• Three key types of justice are distributive, procedural, and interactive.

• Expectancy theory assumes that motivation is determined by our perceived chances of achieving valued outcomes. The three key elements of this theory are expectancies, instrumentalities, and valence of outcomes.

• Goal-setting theory proposes that goals affect performance because they (1) direct our attention, (2) regulate effort, (3) increase per- sistence, and (4) encourage the development of action plans.

5.4 MOTIVATING EMPLOYEES THROUGH JOB DESIGN

• Job design theories are based on the idea that motivation is primarily influenced by the tasks people perform and the characteristics of the immediate work environment.

• Three broad approaches to job design are top-down, bottom-up, and emerging.

• The premise of top-down approaches is that management is responsible for creating effi- cient and meaningful combinations of work tasks for employees. Top-down approaches

What Did I Learn?

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194 PART 1 Individual Behavior

You can also see that there are more situational than personal factors influencing motivation. This underscores the importance of leadership and cre- ating a work environment that reinforces voice and justice. Figure 5.11 further illustrates that motiva- tional processes affect outcomes across the indi- vidual, group/team, and organizational levels.

Challenge: Major Questions for Chapter 5 You should now be able to answer the following questions. Unless you can, have you really pro- cessed and internalized the lessons in the chapter? Review relevant portions of the text and your notes to answer the following major questions. With Figure 5.11 as your guide, look for inputs, processes, and outputs specific to each:

1. What is motivation and how does it affect my behavior?

2. How would I compare and contrast the con- tent theories of motivation?

3. How would I compare and contrast the pro- cess theories of motivation?

4. How are top-down approaches, bottom-up approaches, and “idiosyncratic deals” similar and different?

include scientific management, job enlarge- ment, job rotation, job enrichment, and the job characteristics model.

• Bottom-up approaches, also referred to as job crafting, are driven by employees rather than managers. Employees create their own job boundaries.

• Emerging approaches include idiosyncratic deals (i-deals). This approach views job design as a process in which employees and managers jointly negotiate the types of tasks employees complete at work.

5.5 HOW CAN I APPLY MOTIVATION THEORIES?

• Identifying needs important to you helps pinpoint the type of work you might find meaningful.

• Talking with your boss about possible changes in work activities may increase your motivation to perform at a higher level.

• Setting specific, measurable goals in your personal life and career help keep you focused and moving forward.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 5 As shown in Figure 5.11, both person and situa- tion factors influence the process of motivation.

FIGURE 5.11 Integrative Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Personality • Personal attitudes • Values—Theory X/Y • Needs

Situation Factors • Hygiene factors • Motivating factors • Job characteristics • Job design • Leadership • Organizational climate

Individual Level • Equity/justice • Expectancy processes • Goal-setting processes • Voice

Group/Team Level • Climate for justice

Organizational Level • Climate for justice

Individual Level • Intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation • Task performance • Work attitudes • Citizenship behavior/counter-

productive behavior • Turnover

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance

Organizational Level • Customer satisfaction

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195Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

Across the globe at over 175 fulfillment centers, more than 125,000 workers frantically “pick, pack, and ship millions of Amazon.com customer orders to the tune of millions of items per year.”105 Amazon’s innovations, like free 2-day shipping for Prime members, dash but- tons, and in-home delivery, have made the retail giant a standout in customer service. The company has con- sistently received award-winning customer satisfaction ratings.106 Amazon became the most valuable public company and second largest e-commerce company in the world in 2019 by being hyper-focused on customer experiences.107

But many of Amazon’s fulfillment center workers are unhappy with what they are required to do to assure these esteemed customer experiences.108 The result has been public outcry, boycotts, poor attitudes and health, and extremely high turnover rates among work- ers. What’s making employees so miserable inside Amazon fulfillment centers?

WORKING AT AN AMAZON FULFILLMENT CENTER Amazon designs its fulfillment center jobs for effi- ciency, with managers constantly monitoring and track- ing employees in three primary areas. First, workers are monitored for productivity as they race to fill as many orders as possible to meet or exceed daily quo- tas. Those who don’t meet their quotas are written up, and excessive write-ups can lead to termination.109 A recent undercover investigation revealed that some employees are so fearful of missing their quotas that they forego taking necessary bathroom breaks and instead urinate in bottles and trash cans inside the warehouses.110 The company is so dedicated to its productivity goals that workers reportedly don’t speak to one another during their shifts, saying that manag- ers strongly discourage any kind of camaraderie.111

Second, management monitors fulfillment center workers for security purposes. One employee described the environment as resembling a prison, noting time-consuming scans for contraband (e.g., sun- glasses, phones, hoodies) and stolen items at the beginning and end of shifts.112 There’s also a custom of publicly shaming employees who steal from the company on flat-screen TVs and bulletin boards around the warehouses.113

Third, fulfillment center managers track employee attendance. Workers can be fired for excessive missed

work days, or, as Amazon calls it, going into negative unpaid time off (UPT). Employees have reported being so terrified of missing work that they show up even when they are too sick or injured to work safely, in spite of the extremely physically demanding nature of the job.114

HOW DOES AMAZON ATTRACT FULFILLMENT CENTER WORKERS? How is it that news of a new Amazon fulfillment center is still seen as cause for celebration, given what has been reported about working conditions? Employment opportunities are one key explanation. The company tends to locate fulfillment centers on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas, often in regions that have yet to recover from the recent economic recession and are desperate for increased jobs.115 In other words, if Amazon opens a fulfillment center in your town, chances are your employment prospects will be better than those you’ve got right now.

Even so, many Amazon fulfillment center employees feel the compensation they receive is not commensu- rate with the extreme working conditions and job demands. Worker retention thus seems to be a function of a lack of viable alternatives rather than positive employee attitudes toward the company. As one worker stated, “that’s what makes people not want to quit—the pay” . . . “you can treat me any type of way, since this is the best money we can get out here . . . ”116

Amazon does provide some additional incentives to increase productivity at its fulfillment centers. For example, managers often hold competitions that reward employees with “swag bucks”—tokens to spend inside the warehouse on things like t-shirts, water bottles, or cafeteria meals.117 Other rewards reportedly include small gift cards and even cookies. Said one employee, “I don’t want a cookie or a gift card. I’ll take it, but I’d rather a living wage. Or not being timed when you’re sitting on the toilet.”118

Another worker found these incentives insulting, saying that “around this time of year the managers, if their targets are met or exceeded, they get a bonus.”119

Amazon implemented a policy guaranteeing a mini- mum wage of $15 per hour after receiving such nega- tive attention in the press. This resulted in raises as small as 25 cents per hour, which many viewed as “damage control.”120 For some tenured workers, the

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE 

Workers at Amazon Are Not Feeling Motivated

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

196 PART 1 Individual Behavior

protagonist’s perspective. Identify the perspec- tive from which you’re defining the problem—is it the perspective of Amazon or its workers?

C. Use details in the case to identify the key prob- lem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems that are not included in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, Why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current chapter, because we generally select cases that illustrate concepts in the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes of the problem by using material from this chapter, summarized in the Organiz- ing Framework shown in Figure 5.11. Causes will appear in either the Inputs box or the Processes box.

A. Start by looking at Figure 5.11 to identify which person factors, if any, are most likely causes to the defined problem. For each cause, ask, Why is this a cause of the problem? Asking why mul- tiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem.

B. Follow the same process for the situation factors. C. Now consider the Processes box in Figure 5.11.

Consider concepts listed at all three levels. For any concept that might be a cause, ask yourself, Why is this a cause? Again, do this for several iterations to arrive at root causes.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem.

STEP 3: Make recommendations for solving the problem. Consider whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recom- mendation is desirable and feasible?

A. Given the causes identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use the content in Chapter 5 or one of the earlier chapters to propose a solution.

B. You may find potential solutions in the OB in Action boxes and Applying OB boxes within this chapter. These features provide insights into what other individuals or companies are doing in relationship to the topic at hand.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your recommendations.

new policy meant their wages became compressed and they lost important benefits they previously received, such as stock options and bonus opportunities.121

WHAT’S NEXT? Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self- Reliance, said, “There’s this way in which Amazon’s warehouses are perceived to be a good thing for a community, but that’s only because the context in which they are being proposed and built is so devoid of better opportunities.” Said a current employee, “They’re walk- ing a fine line in the community—everybody knows someone who’s worked there, and no one says it’s a good place to work.”122

Some Amazon workers have attempted to generate interest in union representation but have been unable to gain the momentum necessary for an organizing campaign. This is likely due to two main causes. First, the fact that Amazon has one of the highest turnover rates in the United States means that employees aren’t around long enough for a movement to take shape. Second, workers have expressed they are afraid to speak up and participate in organizing campaigns for fear of retaliation from the company.123

It’s unlikely we’ll see any sweeping changes to the way Amazon manages its fulfillment center workers in the near future. This is because Amazon already loses money on e-commerce and subsidizes the losses with other segments of its business. Any changes to the current state of affairs could mean a loss of our cov- eted cheap wares and free two-day shipping.124

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB

STEP 1: Define the problem.

A. Look first at the Outcome box of the Organizing Framework in Figure 5.11 to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a problem is a gap between a desired and a current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accomplished, decide which one is most impor- tant and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have protagonists (key players), and problems are generally viewed from a particular

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197Foundations of Employee Motivation CHAPTER 5

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

Should Senior Executives Receive Bonuses for Navigating a Company through Bankruptcy?

Consider the case of Sears Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2018. The company closed several hundred stores in recent years and cut over 50,000 jobs between January 2017 and March 2018.125 Still, Sears sought and received approval to pay up to $25.3 million in bonuses for key executives and other employees.126 Does this seem appropriate from a justice or expectancy theory perspective?

A federal law was established in 2005 to restrict companies from paying bonuses to executives before and during a bankruptcy process. The law does allow for companies to dole out executive bonuses while simultaneously seeking bankruptcy protection, but only in cases where companies are seeking to rebound and could thus be irreparably harmed by the loss of key executives.127 In the case of Sears, a judge ruled that the bonuses were legal because they were tied to the company meeting specific financial milestones.128

U.S. bankruptcy trustee William Harrington formally objected to the bonus proposal saying that “the bonuses do not feel like an effort to retain top talent through a difficult period, but a final extraction of cash before the ship sinks.”129

The practice of giving bonuses to senior executives who navigate a company through bankruptcy is quite common. A Wall Street Journal study of 12 of the 100 biggest corporate bankruptcies revealed that CEOs from these firms were paid more than $350 million in various forms of compensation. “Over the past few years, fights have erupted during a handful of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases,” the newspaper reported. “The central argument has been over

whether companies are adhering to federal laws when giving their executives the extra pay.” While judicial decisions regarding this issue have been mixed, con- sider the ethics of paying executives large bonuses when laying off workers, closing plants, and eliminat- ing health care and retirement benefits to retirees.130 Does this seem fair or just?

Finding Answers to Solve the Challenge Is it ethical to pay these bonuses? Respond to each of the following options. 1. Yes. Navigating a company through bankruptcy

is hard work and requires hard decisions. Execu- tives at Sears, for example, are expected to earn those bonuses by staying with the company to shepherd it through tough times, helping to turn it around.

2. Yes, if all employees receive some sort of bonus for staying through a bankruptcy process. In other words, executives should be paid the same as other surviving employees. If everyone took a 10 percent pay cut or gets a 10 percent bonus, so should executives. What’s fair for one is fair for all.

3. Absolutely not. It just is not right to close stores, displace employees, and eliminate retirement benefits while simultaneously giving executives hefty bonuses.

What is your ideal resolution to the challenge?

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 6-1 Summarize the elements of effective performance management.

LO 6-2 Explain how and why goal setting gives you an advantage.

LO 6-3 Describe how monitoring and evaluation can improve your performance and ability to manage others.

LO 6-4 Apply knowledge of feedback and coaching to review and improve performance.

LO 6-5 Implement rewards to generate desired outcomes.

LO 6-6 Use reinforcement and consequences to improve performance.

LO 6-7 Describe the implications of performance management for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

Performance Management6

C ai

a Im

ag e/

Im ag

e S

ou rc

e

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199Performance Management CHAPTER 6

FIGURE 6.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors Situation Factors • Competition, Regulators,

and Leadership

Individual Level • Performance management

practices

Group/Team Level Organizational Level • Leadership

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Citizenship behavior/

counterproductive behavior • Turnover • Career outcomes • Creativity

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction • Group cohesion and

conflict

Organizational Level • Survival • Accounting/financial

performance • Customer satisfaction • Reputation

Figure 6.1 summarizes what you will learn in this chapter. The main focus is perfor- mance management, which we position as an individual process in the Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB. It could easily be considered a group- or organizational-level process, but we put it at the individual level because it is the performance of individuals that determines the performance of groups and organiza- tions. Performance management is an umbrella phrase that includes a number of important OB concepts, such as goal setting, performance measurement and apprais- als, feedback, and rewards. Performance management therefore is an especially important topic in OB.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

Winning at Work Busy vs. Productive—Productive Wins

and boost productivity during the time you’re on task. Some research suggests that 90-minute intervals of work are best. This means you should set a plan for what you’ll accomplish in 90 minutes, then take a break. A se- ries of intense, focused, and energized intervals is more productive than long stretches of uninterrupted work.3

5. Eat the frog. This phrase was famously used by a re- nowned sales trainer, Brian Tracy, which means do the most undesirable item on your to-do list first, at the be- ginning of the day. Thus it doesn’t get postponed, your least desirable task is finished, making the rest of your day that much better.4

6. Not always yes. Busy people arguably say “yes” too often, but productive people say “yes” more judi- ciously. When approached or invited to participate in something that is voluntary, instead of deciding say: “Thank you for the opportunity, but do you mind if I consider it overnight and get back in touch?” Most will see this as acceptable, and then you have the opportunity to consider your other commitments, determine the fit of your skills to the task, and of course consider the impact you can make before deciding and giving your answer.5

Many people are busy but far fewer are productive. Given that everyone has the same number of hours in a day, one way to beat the competition is to spend your time more productively than others. We assembled the following col- lection of best practices to help make you more productive, which should in turn Improve your job performance and career opportunities.

1. Learn how you spend your time. Create a time log by tracking your time and the way you spend it for two or three days to capture the things you commonly do. Ideally, you’ll pause every hour or two and record how much time you’ve spent on particular tasks. If this isn’t feasible, then be sure you record your time twice in the morning, twice in the afternoon, and once in the evening.1 (Note: You cannot accurately document the entire day at the end. This doesn’t work so don’t even try.) When you have two or three days recorded, add up the time you spent on various tasks. Identify the three activities that consume the greatest amounts of your time. It is especially useful to determine how much time you spend on social media, e-mailing, tex- ting, playing games, and surfing the web, then, deter- mine how much of this effort is really related to school and/or work. You’ll likely be shocked, and if so this will hopefully motivate you to use your time more wisely.

2. Never touch things twice. This means you should never put tasks in a holding pattern.2 If you open an e-mail, for instance, and then decide to respond later, you will have to look at it at least one more time. This advice also applies to phone calls and other items on your to-do list. You need to decide the first time you touch it—take action now, delegate it, or delete it. At first you may think this isn’t possible. But being deci- sive is key to increasing productivity. You may have to do some less desirable or even undesirable tasks im- mediately instead of putting them off. Or you’ll have to figure out how to do certain things, like texting, only at certain times of the day.

3. Schedule e-mail, text, and phone time. Turn off notifications—all of them. Then set specific times in the day when you’ll check and tend to other distracting tasks. For instance, you are wise to always look at and respond to e-mail in the same space of time, such as at 11:00 each morning and 4:00 each afternoon. When the phone rings, you don’t have to answer it. If it’s important the caller will leave a message, which you can listen to during the time you’ve allocated. Set times for particular tasks and stick to them.

4. Take regular breaks. Recharging with a walk, music, or a brief chat has been shown to improve your concentration

What’s Ahead in This Chapter Performance management encompasses many of the topics and tools you’ve learned thus far. In many ways this chapter serves as a summary. And in other ways it serves as a rationale for taking the course. If you want to know why OB is important, and why its theories, models, and tools matter, the answer comes down to improving performance at all three levels of OB—individual, team, and organizational. The discussion in this chapter focuses on several of the critical components of effective performance management: goal setting, feedback, rewards, and reinforcement. To effectively manage performance, managers and organizations need to identify and communicate clear expectations or goals, monitor and provide feedback regarding progress toward these goals, and then link and deliver appropriate consequences (rewards) for goal achievement. We highlight how performance management serves as a powerful tool for motivating, developing, and retaining talent. We hope you will appreciate why effective performance management policies and practices often dramatically affect many aspects of your work life.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Performance management occurs in many arenas of your life, notably school and work.

Because it is a process that generates grades at school and pay and promotions at work, it is

important to understand how it works. You’ll learn why performance management is one of

the most critical and far-reaching processes in the Organizing Framework. You’ll see why

opinions about the usefulness and effectiveness of performance management practices are

often negative. However, you’ll also learn how performance management practices can be

beneficial, such as by helping signal and reinforce desired behaviors and outcomes across all

levels of OB.

6.1 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES

This chapter focuses on improving individual job performance, notably yours, as well as on your ability to improve the performance of others. To do this, you need to draw on and apply many of the concepts and tools you’ve learned thus far, such as hard and soft skills, personality, perceptions, and of course, motivation. The integration and application of this knowledge for the purposes of improved outcomes is called performance management.

 Performance management  (PM) is a set of processes and managerial behaviors that include defining, monitoring, measuring, evaluating, and providing conse- quences for performance expectations.6 Defined in this way, PM is far more than per- formance appraisal. Appraisals typically consist only of the actual performance review, an event. Effective PM, in contrast, is a continual process and a critically important individ- ual-level process of which appraisals are a subset.7 Performance management typically operates through an organization’s managers and human resources policies and practices. You will learn how it affects outcomes across all levels in the Organizing Framework, such as individual (job satisfaction, OCBs, and turnover), team (cohesiveness, conflict, and performance), and organizational (reputation, performance, survival, innovation, and employer of choice).

But before we dive in, it is helpful to frame exactly what is in store with a quote from Elaine Pulakos, a renowned PM expert and CEO of PDRI, a leading human resource development consulting company, and her colleagues who described it this way: “No other talent management system has been the subject of such great debate, change, and emotion as PM.”8 This means you’ll learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly of this important individual-level process.

Effective Performance Management As illustrated in Figure 6.2, effective PM has four components:

1. Defining performance.

2. Monitoring and evaluating performance.

3. Reviewing performance.

4. Providing consequences.

Please note the double-headed arrows. They signify the systems part of PM, which means the various components affect each other. How performance is defined

Summarize the elements of effective performance management.

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(Component 1) obviously impacts how it is measured (Component 2), at least it should, but how it is measured helps refine the performance expectations themselves.

Successfully managing performance is a powerful means for improving individual, group/team, and organizational effectiveness. Effective performance management influ- ences important outcomes such as greater employee engagement and better organizational performance.9 Managers who practice effective performance management generate excep- tional results compared to those who don’t:

• 48% higher profitability. • 22% higher productivity. • 30% higher employee engagement scores. • 17% higher customer engagement scores. • 19% lower turnover.10

Common Uses of Performance Management Most performance management systems have six primary outputs and functions.

1. Performance ratings. High, low, better, or worse than before or others.

2. Feedback. Generating the content and delivering it.

3. Development and performance improvement plans. Underperformers need to improve or be moved out.

4. Career planning. Linking expectation and performance to increased responsibilities.

5. Recommendations for employee-related decisions. Rewards, promotions, training, or termination.

6. Documentation for legal purposes. Sound decisions need appropriate supporting data.11

Component 1: Define Performance

Set goals and communicate performance expectations.

Component 3: Review Performance

Deliver feedback and coaching.

Component 2: Monitor & Evaluate Performance

Measure and evaluate progress and outcomes.

Component 4: Provide Consequences

Administer valued rewards and appropriate punishment.

FIGURE 6.2 Effective Performance Management System

SOURCE: Kinicki, Angelo J., Kathryn J. L. Jacobson, Suzanne J. Peterson, and Gregory E. Prussia. “Development and Validation of the Performance Management Behavior Questionnaire.” Personnel Psychology 66, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 1–45. https://doi.org/ 10.1111/peps.12013.

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The extent to which organizations effectively practice performance management can have enormous impact on outcomes across all levels. This greatly impacts your personal oppor- tunities, job satisfaction, engagement, and turnover among other aspects of your career. That said, only 3 percent of PM studies since the early 2000s investigated career planning.12 What does this mean for you? It means researchers likely aren’t the ones offering the best insights for your career planning and this is why we draw on insights from career coaches, counselors, and other professionals. See the following Applying OB box for an example.

Applying OB

Note: You’ll be far more likely to achieve each of the goals above if you apply the SMART and other goal setting tools explained later in this chapter.

3. Action plans for each goal. Most good plans con- tain who, what, where, when, and how. Be sure you at least consider all of these elements for each goal in #2.

4. Implement. If you do the previous steps correctly and thoroughly this should be clear. It is of course helpful if you practice, consult a coach, or at least get advice from appropriate others. Informational interviews or shadowing someone for a day can be immensely helpful.

5. Review, revise, and re-engage. Like effective per- formance management, you need to review your progress and outcomes. Don’t focus only on the outcomes but monitor your progress as well. Did you implement the plan you created, did you do it on time, and what did you learn along the way? Use this information to revise your plan and get back to it!

Although most people have desires, wishes, and pref- erences for their jobs and careers, and most also set a goal or two from time to time, such as to get a raise or a promotion, relatively few people make career plans. The four components of performance management can serve as a useful guide to career planning, and this begins with goal setting.

1. Set long-term goals. It is good to start far into the future, at least as far as you can reasonably think, such as 10 years, when you’re 30, or some other marker.

I want to get: _____ by (date) _____. I will need these skills: a, b, and c. Which require the following experiences:

2. Break these into shorter-term goals. Think of these as steps along the way to the long-term goal noted above. Take each skill, for instance, and determine the necessary sub-goals and steps to achieve them.13

Apply Goal Setting to Your Job and Career

What Goes Wrong with Performance Management Volumes of research and employee surveys report that the majority of managers and orga- nizations do a poor job of managing employee performance. According to extensive research done by Gallup:

• 20% of employees feel their performance is managed in a way that motivates them.

• 29% perceive their employers’ PM system as fair.

• 26% agree they are accurate.14

• Less than 40% of employees say their systems do not provide clear goals or generate honest feedback.15

• 66% of employees say it actually interferes with their productivity. • 58% of 576 HR executives surveyed graded their company’s performance manage-

ment systems as a C or worse.16

CAREER READINESS

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These unfortunate perceptions raise the question: Why do companies often do so poorly with performance management? The most common reasons employees feel performance management doesn’t measure up are:

Feedback is rare. You will learn much more about feedback later in the chapter, but the most fundamental problem is that feedback is in frequent. If your performance is reviewed only once a year, as is still common, there’s little chance that feedback shared will in any way be linked to the behaviors that produce the performance. Moreover, unless the person providing the feedback has a photographic memory its accuracy may be questionable.

Lack of clarity on how to improve. The various scores and rankings provide little detail or guidance on how to actually improve. For example, if you rated on a 1 to 5 scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree, how do you really translate that into actionable performance improvement? This highlights that everyone is rated using the same scale, yet we know not all jobs and employees are the same.

Manager bias. As you learned in Chapter 4, biases are very real and can be especially problematic in the context of PM. Nothing undermines the effectiveness of a PM system faster than a lack of perceived fairness. Making matters worse, many manag- ers do not really understand the responsibilities of the jobs they are reviewing, which makes the process difficult and the outcomes suspect.

Negative reactions. Due to the above and other reasons, employees often react very negatively. This is no surprise. Such reactions can undermine motivation and if the review occurs only once a year, then it can take a long time for you to recover.

Too much focus on pay and incentives. The performance evaluation component of PM is often linked to rewards (consequences), which means any issues you may have with the process are likely to impact these important individual level outcomes. Moreover, the hyper-focus on pay can blind you to the developmental aspects of an otherwise fair and constructive review.17

The meeting in this photo is typical of many performance reviews: Once a year a manager and a subordinate sit on opposite sides of a table, the manager does most of the talking, both are uncomfortable, and each walks away less than happy with the results. This chapter will help you understand how and why you and your managers can do better. Chris Ryan/OJO Images/age fotostock

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Pervasive poor views of performance management practices have led many notable companies including Accenture, Netflix, Microsoft, GE, and Eli Lilly to scrap their old practices.18 The following OB in Action box illustrates how Deloitte has tackled the chal- lenges of performance management.

As part of a renewed commitment to developing its high-caliber workforce, Deloitte made a $100 million investment in The Leadership Center (called Deloitte University). In the process it reviewed the role played by its performance management practices.

The internal review and research revealed two things. First, performance, retention, and client satis- faction were all better when employees felt they were playing to their strengths in their jobs.19 Sec- ond, current PM practices were interfering. The com- pany then embarked on a dramatic transformation of its practices, and its new approach is as interesting for what it excludes as for what it includes. Gone are once-a-year performance reviews, 360-degree feed- back tools, and cascading goals.20 Included are the four components of effective performance manage- ment outlined above and described below.

Key Elements of Deloitte’s Approach 1. Setting Goals and Objectives. Like its many

clients, Deloitte has objectives, financial and otherwise, it must achieve. All are important and consequential for employees. However, instead of being set centrally by senior man- agement and cascading down through the organization, goals are now set per client, per team, per employee. This means that goal setting and expectations are much more local and are handled by team leaders, rather than global and done by senior executives at headquarters.

2. Monitoring and Measuring Performance. The company still tracks and measures performance, but now it does so in the form of Snapshots. These are questions each team leader answers for each team member, whether quarterly, monthly, at the end of a project, or at any other meaningful point. Instead of ranking the team member, leaders indicate to what extent they agree with statements like, “Given what I know of this person’s performance, I would always want him or her on my team,” “This person is at risk for low performance,” and “If it were my

money, I would award this person the highest possible compensation increase in bonus.”21

3. Reviewing Performance and Providing Feedback. Performance reviews and feed- back happen not once or twice a year but at regular check-ins. Check-ins are one-on-one, real-time discussions between team leaders and their team members. Their purpose is to discuss progress, expectations, feedback, and any other relevant details related to current or near-term work. The rationale is that perfor- mance is driven through conversations, and check-ins give frequent opportunities for man- agers and employees to meet and talk. Check- ins are not mandated or tracked. Deloitte simply prompts all employees via periodic e-mails that ask, “Did you have a check-in conversation with your team leader this week? Yes or No.”22 Snap- shot responses are aggregated every quarter, and HR reviews and discusses the results with business leaders. Along with other metrics, such as revenue per employee, Snapshots give lead- ers a more holistic and timely view of individual and unit performance.

4. Rewarding Performance. Snapshots provide regular and ongoing opportunities to recognize and correct performance, and the quarterly reviews provide yet another opportunity. All of this culminates in annual compensation decisions, which are now based on a wealth of information consistently captured throughout the year.

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. From an employee’s perspective, what do you

think are some of the pros and cons of Deloitte’s PM system? Explain.

2. Assuming you are a team leader at Deloitte, describe one benefit and one challenge of the PM system for you.

3. What do you think are the major challenges in implementing Deloitte’s new PM practices?

The Deloitte Way: “Snapshots” and “Check-ins”

OB in Action

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Given the still largely negative views of PM practices and outcomes, what are enlight- ened and successful individuals and organizations doing to improve PM?

Contemporary PM Is Continual The starting point and the fundamental problem to overcome is that most organizations and their managers treat PM as a bureaucratic chore, a box to be checked, rather than treating it as a critically important and continuing development process.23 For instance, Gallup recommends reframing the entire system as progress improvement and highlights three qualities that make PM more effective:

• Establish expectations that are clear, collaborative, and aligned. Of course, clarity is important, but as you’ll learn later in the chapter there are benefits to you being involved in setting goals, including performance goals. And it is nothing new to say it is important to align employees’ goals with those of the organization, but research underscores the importance of doing so. Companies with effective PM ensure this alignment happens.

• Continually coach. Annual or quarterly reviews fall far short of continual. You’ll learn more about feedback later, but even the best feedback is of little value only once a year. You accomplish tasks every day at work, encounter challenges regularly, which means you’d likely benefit from more frequent feedback and coaching.

• Create accountability. Besides being critical to performance, accountability is what gives value to goals and coaching. You’ll learn many different ways to hold people accountable throughout this course, and whatever you choose it is important to ensure the means are achievement-oriented, fair and accurate, and developmental.24

Johnson and Johnson (J&J), the behemoth consumer products company, tried a more contemporary program in which employees, peers, and bosses used an app to provide real- time feedback. The initial uptake was slow, but when the company offered training to show managers the benefits of effective feedback nearly 50 percent of managers participated and approximately 3,000 pieces of feedback were shared.25 The new approach was real-time and linked behaviors, outcomes, and feedback, as well as providing numerous and timely opportunities for coaching.

Now that you have a general understanding of the performance management process and its importance, let’s take a closer look at how to define performance expectations and goals.

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It makes sense that improving goal setting is a way to boost both your own perfor- mance and your ability to manage the performance of others. But once again, com- mon sense is not common practice. Let’s make this personal. Do you set goals? Do you write them down? Do you revisit and revise them periodically? If you answered yes to all three then you are truly exceptional! But the fact is that even those that consider themselves goal- setters rarely do a good job of it, and the same can be said for organizations.

According to Gallup’s “State of the American Manager” report, only 12 percent of employees strongly agreed that their manager helps them set performance goals.26 To improve your own goal setting, let’s begin by differentiating two general types of goals— performance and learning.

Do You Want to Perform or Learn? One way to organize or differentiate your many goals is to categorize them as perfor- mance or learning. A  performance goal  targets a specific end result, and a  learn- ing goal  promotes enhancing your knowledge or skill. Managers typically overemphasize the former and ignore the latter as they try to motivate greater effort and achieve results.

If you lack necessary skills, experience, or direction from your manager, then performance goals can be more frustrat- ing than motivating. A performance goal can deflect atten- tion from the discovery of task-relevant capabilities (learning goals); as such it often is helpful to set learning goals first and then set performance goals once you’ve developed some level of proficiency. Let’s illustrate using a tennis analogy.

If a novice tennis player focuses on getting 100 percent of her first serves in (a performance goal), this may prevent her from concentrating on the fundamental elements of an effective serve (learning goals). Both goals are ultimately important, but the novice player must learn how to play the game before becoming concerned about reaching challenging performance outcomes, such as a high first serve percentage and aces.

This insight may also have implications for college graduation rates. The U.S. Department of Education reports that 59 percent and 66 percent of students graduate from public and private institutions, respectively.27 Of

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Not all goals are the same, and you’re about to learn the difference between performance

goals and learning goals. More importantly, you’ll pick up tips on how to manage the goal-

setting process. You’ll also benefit from practical guidance on what types of goals to use in

particular circumstances.

6.2 DEFINE PERFORMANCE— EXPECTATIONS AND GOALS

Explain how and why goal setting gives you an advantage.

LO 6-2

Learning about and applying goal setting has been shown to improve one’s academic achievement. Edwin Remsberg/Alamy Stock Photo

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course, many factors can contribute to these outcomes, but one person factor that could help are students’ goal-setting skills. A study of students who were struggling academi- cally demonstrated the power of teaching people how to skillfully set and integrate both learning and performance goals. The students participated in an intensive online tutorial on how to write and achieve personal goals, which led to significant improvement in academic achievement four months later.28

What about at work? A study of nearly 900 managers across industries showed those with learning goals performed better at their jobs and were more adaptive to change.29 You should assume your employer would like you to do both—perform and adapt—and now you know your goals can make the difference.

The lesson? Learn about and apply goal setting to improve your grades at school and your performance at work.

Managing the Goal-Setting Process There are four general steps to follow when implementing a goal-setting program (for yourself or others). Deficiencies in one step cannot be made up for with strength in the others, which means you need to diligently execute all four steps.

Step A: Set goals.

Step B: Promote goal commitment.

Step C: Provide support and feedback.

Step D: Create action plans.

Specific State goals in precise rather than vague terms. For example, I will par- ticipate in 20 hours of training this quarter, versus I will do more train- ing this year. Quantify your goals whenever possible.

Measurable You need to track progress and verify whether a goal has been achieved or not. This requires some form of measurement or veri fication—quantity, quality, completed (yes or no), and other relevant details. If, for instance, the goal is to assess the characteristics of your company’s top-performing sales teams, then you likely will need to include both quantitative (sales) and qualitative (methods for building customer relationships) measures. Also be sure to consider the interplay between quantity and quality of output–trade-offs matter.

Attainable Goals should be realistic, challenging, and attainable. Impossible goals reduce motivation because people do not like to fail. It helps to remem- ber people have different levels of ability and skill, and what is easy and second nature for one person may be very difficult for another.

Results oriented

To focus on desired end results, goals should start with the word to followed by verbs such as complete, acquire, produce, increase, and decrease. Corporate goals should focus on desired end results that support the organization’s strategy. In turn, an individual’s goals should directly support the accomplishment of corporate goals. Activities that support the achievement of goals are outlined in action plans.

Time bound Specify target dates for goal completion. Getting a job is an outcome, but there are several sub-goals you must accomplish first. You’re more likely to achieve them and get the job if you put dates on the calendar.

TABLE 6.1 Guidelines for Writing Smart Goals

SOURCE: Schroedera, Juliana, and Ayelet Fishbachb. “How to Motivate Yourself and Others? Intended and Unintended Conse- quences.” Research in Organizational Behavior 35 (2015): 123–41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2015.09.001.

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Step A: Set Goals Whether your manager sets your goals for you, or you set them together, the goals should be “SMART.”  SMART  applied to goals is an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and time bound. Goals with these qualities are clearer and more actionable than those that aren’t. And when SMART goals are set from the top to the bottom of an organization, it is easier to link employee goals to those at higher levels—the department and organization. This could help you and your colleagues understand how your work and performance affects others, including the strategy of the company.30 Table 6.1 lists practical guidelines for writing SMART goals.

Step B: Promote Goal Commitment Goal commitment boosts motivation to achieve any particular goal, and commitment can be increased by ensuring goals are per- sonally relevant, obtainable, and fair. Table 6.2 provides additional practical advice for increasing your goal commitment, while at the same time improving the quality of your goals and boosting your likelihood of success.

Step C: Provide Support and Feedback This step is about helping employees achieve their goals. (More detail related to feedback is provided later in this chapter.) Prac- tical suggestions include:

• Make sure each employee has the necessary skills and information to reach his or her goals. Provide training if necessary, because it can boost people’s expectancy (recall expectancy theory from Chapter 5).

Write Your Goals Down You’ve heard it before, but writing your goals down makes a real difference. The process of writing them helps refine and imprint them in your mind, and it pro- vides a record that you can go back to and revise as you make progress. It is more efficient since you don’t have to keep the goals and details in your head.

Identify Key Obstacles and Sources of Support

Be proactive and try to identify who or what might get in your way. Conversely, think of who or what might be able to help you reach your goal.

Ask What’s in It for YOU?

List the benefits of achieving the goal, and keeping your eyes on the prize will help you stay motivated over time.

Break It Down Some goals are big and/or take considerable effort and time to achieve. It is helpful to break them down into smaller, sub- or intermediate goals.

Visualize If you haven’t tried this—it works! Imagine not only how you will benefit by achieving your goal, but also how you will feel. Adding the positive emotional component can boost your motivation.

Organize Preparation is key. It gives you clarity, makes you more efficient, and helps you avoid wasting energy and time.

Reward Yourself Reward yourself both for making progress while pursu- ing your goal and for attaining the ultimate outcome. It is important to reinforce your efforts. Building in small wins and rewards along the way can help motivate you and keep you on track.31

TABLE 6.2 Tips for Increasing Goal Commitment and Success

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• Similarly, pay attention to employees’ expectations about their perceived relation- ship between effort and performance (Chapter 5), their perceived self-efficacy, and their reward preferences, and adjust accordingly.

• Give employees timely and task-specific feedback (knowledge of results from job characteristics in Chapter 5) about what they are doing right and wrong.

• Provide monetary and nonmonetary incentives and be sure to reward meaningful progress—not just goal accomplishment.

Step D: Create Action Plans What use is a goal without a plan for realizing it? For instance, planning the amount of time you intend to devote to training, rather than sim- ply attending a session or doing it when you can, greatly improves the effectiveness of your learning. The same applies to studying—plan your study time and what you will study during that time, and research says you are more likely to stick with it and increase your learning.32

The first three steps all help tremendously in formulating your actions plans. Table 6.2 offers additional useful tips. We also encourage you to look to your experience—what’s worked in the past when pursuing a similar goal? If you can’t rely on your own experi- ence, then learn what others have done and follow their plan. No need to reinvent the wheel. See the nearby OB in Action box to learn how the goal-setting plan worked in a restaurant.

The owner of two restaurants wanted to help guard against credit card theft as it costs both customers and the business. A simple way of doing this is to ensure cashiers compare IDs with names and and signatures on the credit cards presented by custom- ers. The owner did an experiment and set a compli- ance goal and an intervention at one restaurant but not the other. Before the experiment began, the baseline ID check rate at both restaurants was about 3 percent. At the target restaurant the manager met with employees, set a 50 percent ID check goal, posted signs next to the registers, and provided a verbal reminder at the beginning of each shift, “let’s meet our goal of 50 percent.”

The results were remarkable! ID checks rose to nearly 40 percent at the target restaurant and even remained above 30 percent many weeks after the prompts were stopped. The other restaurant without the goal and prompt saw no change in ID checks.

This goal-setting strategy is simple and effective. Put this knowledge to use.

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What is a way you could apply this simple goal-

setting and prompt intervention to improve your performance at school?

2. Why do you think this worked at the restaurant? Why do you think it would work for the personal example you provided in #1?

3. At your current job, or one you had in the past, describe how you or the manager could apply a similar intervention. Be sure to describe desired behavior and both the goal and the prompt or reminder.

I Need to See Some ID33

OB in Action

Simply setting goals and offering reminders can have a dramatic impact on behaviors, as happened in the restaurants described in this box. Chuck Savage/Corbis/Getty Images

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Next, visualize what achieving the goal looks like and work backward. This is another instance when the characteristics of SMART goals are extremely valuable. Being specific, results oriented, and time bound are fundamental characteristics of solid action plans. Finally, if you run into difficulties we’ve already provided you with an excellent tool—the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach. This can help you identify and remedy roadblocks in your goal setting and action plans.

Applying a contingency approach to goal setting is another way to be more effective and boost performance. Let’s explore this next.

Contingency Approach to Defining Performance and Setting Goals Recall the discussion in Chapter 1 about how effective employees and managers (you!) should use a contingency approach. Do what the situation requires rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, relying on personal preferences, or doing something “the way it’s always been done.” Fit the behavior, policy, or practice to the situation. You can apply this same wisdom to goal setting.

Learning and performance goals have their place, and SMART goals can give you a significant advantage over your competitors. However, another way to define goals is in terms of behavioral, objective, and task/project (see Table 6.3). Defining goals in this manner helps you ensure your goals match the situation. For instance, not all performance can or should be defined and measured in dollars and cents.

Once you’ve clarified expectations and set effective goals, it is necessary to monitor and evaluate your progress and ultimate level of achievement. This is the focus of the next section.

BEHAVIORAL GOALS OBJECTIVE GOALS TASK OR PROJECT GOALS

Can be used in most jobs.

Best for jobs with clear and readily measured outcomes.

Best for jobs that are dynamic, but in which nearer- term activities and milestones can be defined.

Most relevant for knowledge work.

Measure what matters, not just what can be measured.

Similar to SMART goals.

Example: Treat others with professionalism and respect; communi- cate clearly.

Examples: sales quotas, production rates, error rates.

Example: Complete your portion of the team project by Tuesday.

TABLE 6.3 Contingency Approach to Defining Performance

SOURCE: Adapted from M. Schrage, “Reward Your Best Teams, Not Just Star Players,” Harvard Business Review, June 30, 2015, https://hbr.org/2015/06/reward-your-best-teams-not-just-star-players.

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6.3 PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATIONS

Once you have defined and communicated performance expectations (goals), you are ready to monitor and evaluate progress and ultimate performance. We emphasize the need to monitor and evaluate both progress toward the goal and ultimate level of goal achieve- ment. Doing both instead of simply focusing on the final outcome boosts both motivation and performance.

For instance, at school you prefer to learn how you’re performing sometime before your final grade report, such as a midterm exam and/or homework assignments. If the only score you receive and the only time you learn this is on the final, then you have no opportunity to take corrective action and improve the outcome. Moreover, your final exam may not appropriately capture all that you’ve done throughout the course. Despite this common-sense argument, many, many organizations and entire industries focus only on

one final outcome, such as sales target (pharmaceuti- cals), wins (sports), and rankings (business schools).

This is why accurately and appropriately monitor- ing and evaluating both progress and outcomes are criti- cal components of effective performance management and your personal effectiveness.

Monitoring Performance— Measure Goals Appropriately and Accurately  Monitoring performance  means measuring, tracking, or otherwise verifying progress and ultimate outcomes. You use the information gath- ered through monitoring to identify problems and successes and to find opportunities for enhancing per- formance during the pursuit of a goal. To be effective, you need to use or even create accurate and appropri- ate measures. Table 6.3 showed that many goals can be categorized as behavioral, objective, or task- oriented, and the way you measure these goals should match their character.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

To ensure success, you’ll need to accurately measure and evaluate both your progress and

the ultimate completion of the goals you set in component 1—defining expectations. In this

section you’ll learn numerous practical tips to help with monitoring and evaluating perfor-

mance. This includes learning how perceptual errors can influence your evaluation of perfor-

mance, and why 360-degree feedback is commonly used to help overcome shortcomings in

the measurement and evaluation of performance.

Describe how monitoring and evaluation can improve your performance and ability to manage others.

LO 6-3

Grades are the dominant if not sole way performance Is monitored and evalu- ated at school. Mid-term exams and homework grades are a means for moni- toring your progress toward your overall or final grade. rjp85/E+/Getty Images

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Monitoring Your measurement and monitoring can improve further still if you con- sider the following (you’ll notice some overlap with Table 6.3):

Timeliness. Was the work completed on time? Many customer service roles require representatives to answer calls within a certain number of rings, or to respond to customer requests in a certain number of hours or days.

Quality. How well was the work done? A behavioral goal that could fit here is greeting customers warmly, personally, and with a smile. Measurement consists of observing and/or reporting that these actually occurred.

Quantity. How much? Sales goals are common examples here, such as dollars or number of units sold.

Financial metrics. What are the profits, returns, or other relevant accounting/finan- cial outcomes? For instance, some law firms measure the performance of attorneys and the larger firm by calculating profits in dollars per partner.34

Like many other elements of our lives, technology is revolutionizing performance management. Employers can and often do track computer and phone usage, install cam- eras in most places, and review social media activity. Now, however, employers are cap- turing employee facial expressions, tone of voice, emotions, location, interactions, and bio/health data, and the list is growing.35  Electronic performance monitoring  (EPM) uses technology to gather, store, analyze, and report employee behavior.36 The OB in Action box illustrates some interesting applications and the associated pros and cons.

There was a time when some employers used tape measures to plot the distance and paths nurses fol- lowed on their patient rounds in hospitals.37 Today, such monitoring is done with hardware and software that provides real-time location and activity logs for employees. Patty Jo Toor, the chief nursing officer at Florida Hospital Celebration Health, uses electronic badges to monitor how often nurses and other care providers visit patient rooms.38 One result was the hospital found it could increase time with patients by stocking more medication on the floors during the night shift, cutting the time nurses had to spend ordering it. In a similar way, United Parcel Service (UPS) has used GPS to make drivers’ routes more efficient, saving time, gas, emissions, and money (millions of dollars every year).39

Benefits to the Employer Supporters outline a number of benefits, such as reducing theft, improv- ing safety and productivity, and limiting liability. If you’re being watched you’re less likely to take extra- long or unsanctioned breaks, spend work time shop- ping online, or tending to your fantasy sports standings. Basically, monitoring ensures you’re

doing what you’re expected to do, and do the expected things better.40

Some companies equip their vehicles with video cameras in case of theft or accidents. Shuttle Express Inc., for example, used dashboard camera video to show that its driver was not at fault in an accident. It saved the company an estimated $100,000.41

Most employees would not fault employer moni- toring that guards against improper sharing of trade secrets or other proprietary information, but as mon- itoring becomes more capable and more pervasive we might ask: Just because employers can monitor, should they, and what are the boundaries?

Costs and Cautions for Employers Dissenters argue such monitoring is demoralizing, unfair, vio- lates privacy, and decreases job satisfaction. And some studies show links between electronic perfor- mance monitoring (EPM) and decreased job perfor- mance and increased counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs).42 Still others reveal it increases stress, fatigue, and negative emotions.43

Employers also are tracking the time lost to non- work activities. College basketball’s March Madness

Monitoring for Performance Becomes More Sophisticated and Pervasive

OB in Action

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Companies have considerable legal discretion to monitor employees, including for performance, but along with the benefits come challenges. Here are helpful tips to con- sider when utilizing monitoring for performance at work.

• Be Transparent. Explain the what, where, how, and why. Tell employees what is monitored, where, how, and especially why. Justify! The primary motive should be performance improvement. But if guarding against theft is another goal, say so. Employees may raise potential pitfalls you didn’t consider. Many negative reactions happen because employees are unaware of the motives and practices.

• Monitor Only Work. Make work and nonwork boundaries clear and the ensure both parties abide by them. For instance, do not track employees’ locations during non- work hours.

• Focus on Development, Not Punishment or Deterrence. Avoid blocking everything and instead collect, analyze, share, and act on information that contributes to performance. If you’re simply monitoring to catch employees doing the wrong things, then you are undermining employee trust and will spur an eternal game of cat and mouse.

• Make it Fit and Fair. Be sure monitoring fits particular jobs and situations to the extent necessary and feasible. If some employees’ and their jobs require more flexi- bility and access, then consider this. However, be sure that all employees across levels are expected to comply with policy.46

After you’ve defined your performance goals and monitored them using accurate and appropriate measures, it is time to evaluate the level and/or quality of performance.

Evaluating Performance Your measures of performance should be both relevant and accurate. There is nothing more discouraging than being measured on criteria that don’t matter or not being measured on those that do.  Evaluating performance  is the process of comparing performance at some point in time to a previously established expectation or goal. To do this, you obviously need something to compare, which is why measurement or verification is needed in some form.

is estimated to cost employers approximately $4 billion In lost productivity,44 which is due to the nearly 51 million employees who participate in and thus fill out pools, watch, and talk about the games. Consider also Cyber Monday, when nearly half of U.S. workers say they shop online while at work. Great news for the retailers; not so much for other businesses and their managers who suffer the lost productivity.

Individual opinions will vary about each of these, but such constant monitoring has the potential to cause stress, undermine employee morale and trust, and even be the grounds for lawsuits.

One of the early challenges to tracking employ- ees using GPS technology involved Intermex Wire Transfer. Employees were required to download an app to their phones and keep them on 24/7. An employee asked her manager about nonwork hours

tracking, and he told her, “yes,” the employer would track her both on and off duty. She “likened it to wearing a house arrest bracelet,” protested, unin- stalled the app, and was fired. She and the company ultimately settled out of court.45

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Assuming you own your company, make the

case for monitoring your employees. 2. If you are working (or have worked), does your

employer monitor employees? If yes, describe the costs and benefits to that employer.

3. If your employer does not monitor employees, what type of monitoring might be beneficial from the employer’s perspective?

4. Whether you are working or not, describe a type of monitoring that would be useful for your school.

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Your midterm grade, for instance, helps you monitor your performance so far, but it isn’t the end of the story. You then evaluate it—did you perform as you expected? Why or why not? How will your midterm performance affect your grade for the course? The answers to these questions are important and are often influenced by your perceptual processes.

As you learned in Chapter 4, your attributions and perceptions can greatly inf lu- ence the way you evaluate the information you gathered via monitoring. Table 6.4 lists common perceptual errors in monitoring employee performance and recommended solutions.

The best-laid goals can be completely undermined if performance toward them is not measured appropriately, or if performance is evaluated with bias. Many organizations and their managers have tried to overcome such problems using 360-degree feedback.

In  360-degree feedback,  individuals compare perceptions of their own perfor- mance with behaviorally specific (and usually anonymous) performance information

PERCEPTUAL ERROR

TENDENCY

EXAMPLE

RECOMMENDED SOLUTION: KEEP PERFORMANCE NOTES

Halo effect To form an overall impression about a person or object and then use that impres- sion to bias ratings about same.

Rating an employee pos- itively across all dimen- sions of performance because the employee is so likable.

Record examples of positive and negative employee performance throughout the year. Remember employee behavior tends to vary across different dimensions of performance.

Leniency To consistently evalu- ate other people or objects in an extremely positive fashion.

Rating an employee high on all dimensions of per- formance regardless of actual performance.

Provide specific examples of both good and poor behavior so you can help the employee improve. Remember it does not help employees when they are given positive but inaccurate feedback. Be fair and realistic in evaluations.

Central tendency

To avoid all extreme judgments and rate people and objects as average or neutral.

Rating an employee as average on all dimen- sions regardless of actual performance.

Define an accurate profile, with high and low points, so you can help the employee improve. Remember it is normal to provide feedback that contains both posi- tive and negative information.

Recency effect To over-rely on the most recent information. If it is negative, the person or object is evaluated negatively.

Rating an employee based only on the last portion of the review period.

Accumulate examples of perfor- mance over the entire rating period. Remember to look for trends but accept some variance as normal.

Contrast effect To evaluate people or objects by comparing them with characteris- tics of recently observed people or objects.

Rating an employee as average, from a comparison of the employee’s performance with the exceptional performance of a few top performers.

Evaluate employees against a standard, rather than against the performance of your highest- performing employees. Remember that each employee deserves the objectivity in evaluation that a standard can provide.

TABLE 6.4 Common Perceptual Errors Related to Performance Evaluation

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from their manager, subordinates, and peers. Such multi-rater feedback can also come from outsiders, such as customers or suppliers. These participants can help overcome posi- tive or negative biases due to perceptions or manager-employee relationships.47

HCL Technologies, one of India’s three largest IT services companies, implements a 360-degree feedback program for the CEO and 3,800 managers. The CEO’s reviews are transparent, posted on the company’s internal website for all 50,000 employees to see. The managers’ results are posted too. Vineet Nayar, the former CEO who created the system, described the system as “reverse accountability,” wherein managers are accountable to employees, the opposite of the business norm.48

Collecting performance information from multiple sources helps the person being evaluated get a broad view of his or her per- formance, and it also highlights any biases and perceptual errors that might be occur- ring. Finally, using multiple raters also makes it much more difficult for managers to unfairly favor or punish particular employees (recall our discussion of equity and fairness in Chapter 5).

A study of 360-degree feedback for 69,000 managers and 750,000 employees revealed fascinating results. Managers dra- matically overrated their own capabilities— perhaps this is not a surprise. But those who underrated their prowess were viewed by employees as the most effective leaders. The underraters also had the most engaged employees (an important individual-level outcome).49

Research on 360-degree feedback, com- bined with your author’s consulting experi- ence, leads us to favor anonymity and also to discourage use of 360-degree feedback for pay and promotion decisions. When it is used for pay and promotions managers often resist and/or try to manipulate the process. However, multi-source feedback can be extremely helpful for training and development purposes.

Now that you have a sense of the impor- tance of monitoring and evaluating perfor- mance, as well as tips for doing this accurately, let’s move on to the next compo- nent and review performance. This includes the critically important and dramatically underutilized skill: feedback.

Vineet Nayar, former CEO of HCL Technologies and world-renowned management expert, believes in realizing employees’ full potential. He energetically advocates that organizations put employees first and invest in their development. Stephane Audras/REA/Redux Pictures

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Most people agree that feedback has the potential to boost performance. However, most people also admit that they neither receive nor provide feedback as often or as well as they would like. Forty-seven percent of employees surveyed by Gallup indicated they receive feedback a few times or less per year from their managers, while 19 percent reported receiving it zero times or once (likely in an annual review). This contrasts with the 7 percent who said they receive feedback daily.50 We’ll help you understand some reasons this hap- pens and what you can do about it. It is safe to say your feedback skills are some of the most valuable tools you can develop and use throughout your career. Now let’s convince you that this bold statement is true.

What Effective Feedback Is . . . and Is Not Many if not most students and employees alike appreciate feedback. Both want to know how they’re doing and how their performance compares to that of their peers. Feedback is an important, but not always present, cousin of goal setting. It enables you to learn how your performance compares to the goal, which you can then use to modify your behaviors and efforts. We therefore define  feedback  as information about individual or collec- tive performance shared with those in a position to improve the situation.

Effective feedback is only information—it is not an evaluation. Subjective assessments such as “You’re lazy” or “You have a bad attitude” do not qualify as effective feedback. They are simply opinions and often have little value. But hard data such as units sold, days absent, dollars saved, projects completed, customers satisfied, and quality rejects are all examples of effective feedback. Christopher Lee, author of Performance Conversations: An Alternative to Appraisals, clarifies the concept of feedback by contrasting it with perfor- mance appraisals:

Feedback is the exchange of information about the status and quality of work prod- ucts. It provides a road map to success. It is used to motivate, support, direct, correct, and regulate work efforts and outcomes. Feedback ensures that the manager and employees are in sync and agree on the standards and expectations of the work to be performed. Traditional appraisals, on the other hand, discourage two-way com- munication and treat employee involvement as a bad thing. Employees are discour- aged from participating in a performance review, and when they do, their responses are often considered “rebuttals.”51

Mike Duke, former president and CEO of Walmart, is a strong advocate of linking goal setting and feedback.

Leadership is about . . . listening and getting feedback from a broad array of constituents. . . . It’s about setting aggressive goals and not being afraid to go after very

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You’re about to learn how different forms of feedback influence performance and how to

deliver feedback more effectively. You’ll also see how combining feedback with coaching is a

powerful means for managing and improving your performance and that of others.

6.4 PERFORMANCE REVIEW, FEEDBACK, AND COACHING

Apply knowledge of feedback and coaching to review and improve performance.

LO 6-4

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218 PART 1 Individual Behavior

aggressive goals and targets. I think it’s even better for a leader to set an aggressive goal and come up a little short than it would be to set a soft goal and to exceed it. . . . Hard feedback is in some environments viewed in a very threatening way, and people don’t want to hear feedback. In our environment, I think there is a desire to hear candid feedback. When we leave a meeting, before we’ll even drive away, I’ll ask, “Well, give me feedback.” I think a leader asking for feedback sets a good tone.52

Clearly, feedback can affect outcomes across levels of the Organizing Framework.

If Feedback Is So Helpful, Why Don’t We Get and Give More? This obvious question is worth answering. After surveying thousands of students and employees, researchers offer the most common responses:

1. Potential strain on relationships. It is easy for most people to deliver good news: “Susan, great job on the project. The customer was very pleased, and you made the team look good.” However, very few people like to deliver negative feedback (or bad news in general): “Susan, you were ill-prepared and really hurt our chances with that customer.” We worry about making the person feel bad and wonder how that person will act in the future because of it. After all, we often make friends at work, we genu- inely like many of our coworkers, and we don’t want to make them feel bad, make ourselves and others uncomfortable, or harm our relationships.

2. Too little time. We’re all busy. Even true believers in the value of feedback often let it slide: “This week I plan to talk to Mark about how impressed I am with his fast start at the company.” But the week passes and you still haven’t done it. Next week. But then that passes too, and so on, and so on.53

3. Lack of confidence. Very few people are trained to give effective feedback and so lack confidence in their abilities. This problem is compounded if the feedback is going to include negative content and/or will be tied to a performance evaluation. After read- ing this chapter and book, you won’t have such an excuse. You’ll be equipped with both knowledge and tools to boost your confidence.

4. No consequences. As you’ll learn or may already be aware, the trend is toward giving more frequent and considerably different forms of feedback than in the past. However, if managers are not evaluated on whether they provide feedback—effective or not—they are less likely to give it.

With these common obstacles in mind, let’s learn how to overcome them and do bet- ter, beginning with the two primary functions of feedback—to instruct and to motivate.

Two Functions of Feedback Experts say feedback serves two functions for those who receive it: one is instructional and the other motivational. Feedback instructs when it clarifies roles or teaches new behavior. For example, an assistant accountant might be advised to handle a certain entry as a capi- tal item rather than as an expense item. Feedback motivates when it serves as a reward, such as recognition for a job well done, or promises a reward (remember the discussion in Chapter 5). Hearing the boss say, “You’ve completed the project ahead of schedule; take the rest of the day off,” is a pleasant reward for hard work. More generally, however, many employees appreciate the attention and interest expressed by the very act of providing feedback, regardless of content.

Assume you’re one of the students learning CPR in the photo. Which type of feedback do you think would be more helpful and you would appreciate more—instructional or moti- vational? Regardless of your preference, you certainly would agree that both forms would be more effective than the instructor simply saying you did it wrong and that she is

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unhappy with your performance. Keep this in mind when you provide feedback to others. Keep it instructional or motivational and you’ll keep it appreciated and effective!

We also think you’ll find this example especially interesting. A study showed that undergraduate students who used peer-to-peer feedback on writing assignments improved the quality and performance of their work. This likely isn’t a surprise, but what is notable is that either giving or receiving both resulted in similar improvements. This suggests simply giving feedback can boost your performance.54

Important Sources of Feedback—Including Those Often Overlooked The three common sources of feedback are

1. Others

2. Task

3. Self

It almost goes without saying that you receive feedback from others (peers, supervisors, lower-level employees, and customers). Perhaps less obvious is the fact that the task itself is a common source of objective feedback. For instance, many tasks—writing code, landing a plane, or driving a golf ball—provide a steady stream of feedback about how well or poorly you are doing. A third source of feedback is you, but self-serving bias and other perceptual problems can contaminate this source (recall Chapter 4).

NO SURPRISES! Whoever conducts a performance review should ensure there are no surprises—good or bad! As a general rule, if you are surprised by something shared during your review, your manager is doing a poor job of managing your performance. It also is a

Assume you’re one of the students learning CPR in the photo. Which type of feedback do you think would be more helpful and you would appreciate more—instructional or motivational? Regardless of your preference, you certainly would agree that both forms would be more effective than the instructor simply saying you did it wrong and that she is unhappy with your performance. Keep this in mind when you provide feedback to oth- ers. Keep it instructional or motivational and you’ll keep it appreciated and effective! Hero Images/Getty Images

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220 PART 1 Individual Behavior

sure sign that he or she is not giving you the appropriate quantity and quality of feedback. Most often such surprises occur in performance management systems structured around an annual review. This means that regardless of how frequently performance information is collected, it is communicated and discussed only once a year.

To avoid surprises in your own reviews, check in with your manager periodically and informally ask, “Is there anything I should be aware of? I know we’ll have my review later this year, and I want to be sure there are no surprises . . . even positive ones.” If you punctuate your question with a smile it is likely your manager will clearly understand your intent.

The OB in Action box describes the progressive and effective approach to employee feedback at Zappos.

One of the key elements that enables Zappos to have rock star status with its customers and employ- ees is the company’s approach to performance man- agement. The company has led rather than followed trends in PM and puts a premium on feedback, which it sees as fundamental to continuous improvement.

Form of Feedback For starters, the company is largely organized in teams and each with a coach rather than manager. And much like coaches of sports teams, Zappos coaches focus on the devel- opment and performance of team members. They rely heavily on instructional feedback, such as how long customers had to wait on hold and what per- centage indicated their problem was resolved during a call, rather than evaluative or punitive judgements. Zappos team member Lori Johnson, who has been at Zappos since 2017 and in customer service roles for more than 30 years, described the sessions with coaches as 1-on-1 conversations and 2-way, rather than the conventional manager-subordinate perfor- mance meeting. Metrics are used, but not exclu- sively, and conversations tend to include specific examples of particular behaviors witnessed versus simple numeric ratings.55

Linked to Values The nature of the coach-team member conversations, and thus the feedback, are directly linked to the company’s 10 core values: deliver WOW through service, embrace and drive change, create fun and a little weirdness, be cre- ative and open-minded, pursue growth and learn- ing, build open and honest relationships with communication, build a positive team and family spirit, do more with less, be passionate and deter- mined, be humble. The company’s performance

management and associated feedback are all driven by and based on these values.56

Use and Frequency of Feedback The company long ago abandoned the traditional once-a-year review. Team members, like Ms. Johnson, commonly meet with their coach every couple of weeks to dis- cuss job-related issues in real-time. They also meet once a month more formally to review the trailing three months of performance. She described these as formal only in the sense metrics are pulled and reviewed, but the actual conversation is informal, free-flowing, and a casual back-and-forth. These fre- quent interactions provide numerous opportunities for feedback and enable desirable behaviors to be recognized and reinforced, as well as take corrective action, as it happens.57

How Do You Spell Feedback and Self-Improvement? Z-A-P-P-O-S!

OB in Action

Zappos employees are not only allowed but encouraged to person- alize their workspaces. This aligns with the company’s values— create fun and a little weirdness—and is believed to foster excellent customer service. Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Your Perceptions Matter Another reason people don’t give or get more feedback is that they don’t want it. What are your attitudes toward feedback? Do you seek it out? Do you want to hear it only if it is positive? To answer these questions and better understand your desire for feedback, com- plete Self-Assessment 6.1 and read the following section.

Not Meeting Expectations? If someone’s perfor- mance is not up to standards, the company provides numerous free, on-site courses aimed at skill build- ing and improvement.58

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What are the advantages to the Zappos

approach to feedback?

2. What disadvantages are possible? 3. Explain why you would or would not want to be

an employee with such a PM system. 4. Assume you are a manager at a company using

a similar approach. What may be the pros and cons of this system for you?

What Is My Desire for Performance Feedback? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 6.1 in Connect.

1. Think of a recent instance when you were given feedback. 2. How does your score help explain your reaction to that feedback? 3. Describe a specific way your desire for feedback (your score) helps or hurts you

in college and at work. 4. Given your score, think of ways you can improve your receptiveness for feedback.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.1 CAREER READINESS

Factors that Affect Your Perceptions of Feedback Many factors influence the way we perceive feedback. For instance, all managers and employees are susceptible to the fundamental attribution bias (your manager attributes your poor performance entirely to you and things you control) and the self-serving bias (you are likely to take credit for positive performance outcomes and attribute poor performance to extrinsic factors). The following also can influence your perceptions of feedback:

1. Accuracy. A common criticism of PM systems is that they measure the wrong things or measure the right things the wrong way. Either way, the feedback is inaccurate.

2. Credibility of the sources. If a member of your project team points out shortcomings in your work, you are likely to put more weight on the feedback if he or she is an “A” student or top performer. Trust is critical here too. If you don’t trust the person deliv- ering the feedback, you will likely be suspicious of his or her intentions and discount its value.

3. Fairness of the system. If you perceive the process or outcomes as unfair—recall equity theory from Chapter 5—you are likely not only to discount the feedback but also to be outraged, withdraw, commit counterproductive work behaviors, and/or quit. Perfor- mance appraisals are one of the aspects of organizational life that most commonly reveal issues of fairness.

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4. Performance-reward expectancies. Effective performance management, particularly ongoing and open feedback between you and your supervisors, is an important means of managing such expectancies.

5. Reasonableness of the goals or standards. When it comes to goals, challenging is good, unattainable bad. If your manager says, “You can earn a bonus of up to 50 percent of your salary,” ask whether anyone has actually ever earned that much. If not, you may be the first, but more likely the goal is unreasonable.

Any feedback that fails to clear one or more of these cognitive hurdles will be rejected or discounted by the employee.

Negative Feedback Remember, feedback itself is simply information. It becomes positive or negative only when you compare it to a goal or expectation. Such comparisons are the basis for improvement. (Note: Negative feedback is not negative reinforcement. You’ll learn the important difference later in this chapter.)

People tend to perceive and recall positive feedback more accurately than they do negative feedback. But negative feedback, such as being told your performance is below average, can have a positive motivational effect. One study showed that those who were told they were below average on a creativity test subsequently outperformed those who were led to believe their results were above average. The subjects apparently took the negative feed- back as a challenge and set and pursued higher goals. Those receiving positive feedback were less motivated to do better.59

However, as you likely know, negative feedback needs to be used with discretion because it is perceived and processed differently. For instance, a study of employees in a company with a transparent peer-review process—each employee knew both the ratings and the associated raters—showed that after receiving negative feedback employees tended to distance themselves from the sources of that feedback, and then “shopped around” for and associated with colleagues who provided positive feedback. As you might expect, some employees had to work with those providing negative feedback, and over time they devel- oped more and richer relationships with members outside of their group. So how do you balance the benefits and costs? The same Harvard researchers suggested the key is in ensuring employees feel valued and they also make positive contributions.60

It thus seems research is mixed on negative feedback, but you will undoubtedly receive it throughout your working life. It therefore is a good idea to learn how to deal with it effec- tively, which is the purpose of the nearby Applying OB box.

Applying OB

Although research is mixed, all of us receive negative feedback, and in most Instances the person providing the feedback has genuinely positive intentions. The goal of course in most instances is to improve your performance, which means your challenge is how to avoid getting defensive or having your self-esteem or self-efficacy crushed. The following tips can help.

1. Hit the Brakes. Oftentimes our first reaction is quick and defensive. A better approach is to pause, listen, and then take time to process. When processing it helps to frame it as “what can I learn from this? How was this intended to help me?” It

also can help to then think of a positive way you contribute in the same task or relationship.

2. Confirm. Don’t immediately discount or accept the feedback, but instead seek other unbiased sources. Even if done informally they can help con- firm or refute the negative feedback. This is one reason why multi-rater or 360 feedback is so valuable—you can compare. But from whom? It is a good idea to identify a small group of people you trust both to share such information with and hear the truth in return. One executive referred to such people as “loving critics.”

Making Lemonade from Lemons—How to Respond to Negative Feedback

CAREER READINESS

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3. Approach and Cultivate, Don’t Avoid. As you learned above, and likely understand, people tend to avoid those who delivered the bad news. But if you’re serious about improving your self-aware- ness and effectiveness, then you need to cultivate relationships with people who will give it to you straight. Try thanking those who provide such Information and ask whether they would mind your following up periodically.

4. Assess and Own? In addition to and as a result of the above advice, you may learn some of the

negative feedback pertains to individual differ- ences, some of which might be relatively more fixed than others (recall from Chapter 3). In such instances you may communicate to those who provided the feedback, such as that you are not especially likeable, and tell them that their feed- back helped raise your awareness. And even though you seem kind of stand-offish, you genu- inely like to interact with people. Then, ask for their understanding and help as you work on breaking down and resetting their perceptions.61

Nonetheless, feedback with a negative message or threatening content needs to be administered carefully to avoid creating insecurity and defensiveness. Both negative and positive feedback need to provide clear guidance to improve performance. Feed- back is most likely to be perceived accurately, and thus more likely to be acted on, when it is instructional and helps achieve an important or valued outcome.

Table 6.5 lists important and fundamental do’s and don’ts for giving feedback. In addi- tion to these, the following tips further improve your feedback skills and provide pointers on how to deliver it:

1. Reflect. Before giving feedback you are well served to identify what change you want to see, what is the context or experiences of the target person (person or situation fac- tors influencing his or her performance), and whose needs you are meeting by giving the feedback. Answering these three questions helps clarify your motives and intended outcomes.

2. Cultivate Trust. By reflecting on and sharing the information in #1, you will help the receiver understand your intentions are for her or his development. You might say, for instance, “I know you want to be the number one performer and get promoted, and I would like to offer some feedback that might help.”

3. Be Action-Oriented. Sharing information isn’t the end. Feedback is more effective if it is accompanied by suggested actions.62 When done in this way, providing feedback is a form of problem-solving—what is the problem, likely causes, accompanied by recom- mended actions.

Negative feedback of course has its place at work. Sometimes it is necessary, but be very careful when using it to avoid doing more harm than good. Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

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Today’s Trends in Feedback Like PM more generally, feedback is becoming more informal, continual, and inclusive. It also is increasingly taking place between other employees and not just between managers and subordinates. These new developments hold the promise of making feedback truly

more developmental and effective. It is worth noting, however, that another trend is

for direct if not also critical feedback. Netflix, for instance, is practicing what is called “radical transpar- ency” in feedback and other elements of its opera- tions. Most generally, says CEO Reed Hastings, the intent is to get employee input and feedback in every aspect of the company. Performance evaluations are one example and are visible to all employees, and sal- ary information for all employees is available to approximately 500 employees at the director level and above. But that’s not all. Constant and even blunt feedback is encouraged—employees should always be looking for and offering ways to improve. The “keeper test” is one especially interesting example of direct feedback. Managers are expected to ask themselves when evaluating employees: Would I keep this per- son? Would I fight to have them on my team?65

Just as feedback practices are evolving in PM, so too are those related to coaching.66

Coaching—Turning Feedback into Change  Coaching  is a customized process between two or more people with the intent of enhancing learning and motivating change. Coaching can occur at any component in the PM process, but it most often follows the review and consequences of performance.

One way to look at coaching is that it is an indi- vidualized and customized form of PM. It is different from training, which typically consists only of skill

Donna Morris, Chief Human Resource Officer & Executive Vice President of Employee Experience at Adobe Systems, spearheaded a dramatic transformation in the way her company manages performance. Regular “check-ins” and “snapshots” are mini and continual opportunities to provide and receive feedback. ©2019 Adobe Inc. All rights reserved. Adobe is either a registered trademark or a trademark of Adobe in the United States and/or other countries.

TABLE 6.5 Feedback Do’s and Don’ts

DON’T63 DO64

Don’t use feedback to punish, embarrass, or put someone down.

Keep feedback relevant by relating it to existing goals.

Don’t provide feedback that is irrelevant to the person’s work.

Deliver feedback as close as possible to the time the behavior was performed.

Don’t provide feedback too late to do any good.

Provide specific and descriptive feed- back.

Don’t provide feedback about something beyond the individual’s control

Focus the feedback on things employees can control.

Don’t provide feedback that is overly complex or difficult to understand.

Be honest, developmental, and constructive.

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building with the same content delivered to a group of people. It differs from mentoring, which typically has a career rather than a performance focus and most often flows from more senior to more junior employees. All these processes differ from counseling, which usually aims to over- come a problem, conflict, or dysfunctional behavior.67

With these differences in mind, effective coaching is developmen- tal, has specific performance goals, and typically includes considerable self-reflection, self-assessment, and feedback. In fact, “research from Gallup, McKinsey, and Harvard recommends that giving feedback should be the most used tool in a coach’s toolbox.”68 Research shows employees who received continual development conversations with their managers were nearly three times more likely to be engaged at work! This reinforces volumes of studies which show goal setting to be more effective when it is accompanied by continue coaching related to progress monitoring and feedback.69

Some venture capitalists see the benefits of coaching. Felicis Ventures, a VC firm founded by a former Google employee, is chang- ing venture capital by investing 1 percent of the money invested into the coaching and mental health of the founders of the firms in which they invest. The firm realizes the founders and other leaders of start- ups are both underskilled and overstressed, and by helping in both areas they are increasing the chances for their investments to per- form.70 You too can be a more effective coach by applying the advice in the nearby Applying OB box.

Felicis Ventures is changing venture capital by investing in the coaching and mental health of the founders of the firms in which they invest. Peter DaSilva/The New York Tim es/ Redux Pictures

Applying OB

We’re not talking grades, but instead some fundamen- tal elements to practice when coaching others: fre- quency, focus, and future orientation.71

Frequent. Consistent with trends in PM, the most effec- tive coaches engage others regularly, whether it be face-to-face, e-mail, phone, text, video conferences, etc. The point isn’t so much the channel but the frequency. Although the appropriate frequency is contingent on many person and situation factors, research by Gallup suggests that at least once a week is a good goal. And remember, feedback does not need to be formal. Check-ins can work: “How are you doing today?” “What worked well in the presentation or meeting?” Simple encouragement or recognition works too.

Focused. Frequency can allow communications to wander, so be sure to stay on point. It thus helps to

identify and assign specific tasks and priorities. Outlining purposes and outcomes is a good place to start; however, coaching is most effective when it is a two-way street. Try not to tell and prescribe, but to discuss, identify, and recommend—problem solve col- laboratively.

Future-Oriented. At the heart of coaching is develop- ment, and development is all about improving for the future. Therefore, beware of focusing too much on past performance and instead spend most of your efforts on what to do going forward. Think of coaches in sports. They of course use past games and matches for learning, but most of the attention is on improving skills and performance for the next competition. Be sure your coaching does the same.

An “F” in Coaching Signals Success

The Self-Assessments throughout this book can serve as important elements for your own coaching, helping you identify your development opportunities.72 When coaching is approached in this way, it is not only an important aspect of effective performance manage- ment, but it is also consistent with positive organizational behavior (Chapter 7). Consider this: If coaching is done in the way described, who wouldn’t appreciate or benefit from it?

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6.5 PROVIDING REWARDS AND OTHER CONSEQUENCES

Rewards are a critical component of performance management, and just as particular motivational approaches affect people differently, so do rewards. Some employees see their job as the source of a paycheck and little else. Others derive great pleasure from their job and association with coworkers. Even volunteers who donate their time to charitable organizations, such as Habitat for Humanity, walk away with rewards in the form of social recognition and having done something meaningful for themselves and impactful to oth- ers. Hence, the subject of organizational rewards includes but goes far beyond monetary compensation. We begin by outlining key factors of organizational reward systems.

Key Factors in Organizational Rewards Despite the fact that reward systems vary widely, they do share some common compo- nents. The model in Figure 6.3 diagrams the relationship of three components:

1. Types of rewards

2. Distribution criteria

3. Desired outcomes

Let us examine these components and then discuss pay for performance.

Types of Rewards Financial, material, and social rewards qualify as  extrinsic rewards  because they come from the environment. Psychic rewards, however, are  intrinsic rewards  because they are self-granted. If you work primarily to obtain rewards such as money or status, you are extrinsically motivated. If you derive your primary reward from the task itself, or the feeling that your work is meaningful and gives you a sense of responsibility, then you are motivated by intrinsic rewards (recall extrinsic and intrinsic moti- vation from Chapter 5).

Responders to the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County, California, certainly had a difficult job to do. For firefight- ers, police, medical, and other emergency personnel, such work is their occupation, which means they have formal responsibilities and are paid. However, it was clear that many of them were moti- vated by and received intrinsic rewards far beyond pay. They were saving their own homes and communities, and like the many volun- teers, they were saving lives.

The relative importance of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards is a matter of culture and personal preferences, so it is critically

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You of course like being rewarded, but some rewards are more effective than others. Next,

you’ll learn common types of rewards and the potential outcomes of specific reward systems.

You’ll see how organizations use various criteria, such as results and behaviors, to distribute

rewards, as well as why rewards can fail to motivate as intended.

Implement rewards to generate desired outcomes.

LO 6-5

Thankfully for all of us, many people perform their jobs for reasons other than money and other extrinsic rewards. Some of the best examples are first responders to disasters who do more than simply “punch the clock.” Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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important to know what types of rewards you and others value most. This knowledge can make the difference in your getting what you want personally, as well as in your ability to effectively manage others. It can also assist you in identifying employers with whom you fit.73

For example, if you’re hard-charging, a high income is very important to you, and you like to be rewarded based on your own efforts, then it would be advisable to look for companies whose reward systems align with these preferences. You also can use your self-knowledge to “manage up.” The author of this book routinely told his managers shortly after he was hired which of the rewards available for that particular job he valued most. This helped his managers choose and provide rewards that would have the most positive impact.

Kaiser Permanente, an integrated health care system in California, is opening its own medical school in 2020. To attract high caliber students and encourage them not to avoid relatively low-paying specialties (family medicine and pediatrics), it is not charging tuition for students in the first five years. These motives and actions are similar to those of New York University and Columbia’s medical schools, which also are eliminating tuition for their students. These are extremely valuable, as the median debt for medical school gradu- ates in 2017 was just under $200,000. And it seems to be working. NYU reported overall med school applications increased 47 percent, and those from applicants who identified as black increased 142 percent!74

Self-Assessment 6.2 will help you identify the rewards you value most and show you what a survey of employees revealed they valued most.

FIGURE 6.3 Key Factors in Organizational Reward Systems

Distribution Criteria Results Behaviors and actions Nonperformance factors

Desired Outcomes Attract Motivate Retain Develop Engage

Types of Rewards Extrinsic—financial and nonfinancial Intrinsic—meaningfulness and achievement

What Rewards Do I Value Most? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 6.2 in Connect.

1. Were your perceptions accurate? Why or why not? 2. What would Vroom’s expectancy theory (covered in Chapter 5) suggest you

should do? 3. Would you generalize the actual survey results to all nonmanagerial employees?

Why or why not?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.2 CAREER READINESS

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Distribution Criteria Organizations use three general criteria for distributing rewards:

• Results. Tangible results include quantity produced, quality, and individual, group, or organizational performance. These are often accounting-type measures—sales, profit, or error rate. Employers increasingly include customer satisfaction.

• Behavior and actions. Examples are teamwork, cooperation, risk taking, and creativity.

• Nonperformance considerations. Examples are abundant, such as rewards linked to seniority or job title. Associate attorneys’ salaries are commonly linked to the number of years out of law school—first-year associates get paid a set salary, which differs from second-year associates, and so on. Night or weekend shifts often pay differently. Perks provided to executives, like use of a company plane or member- ship to a golf club, are nonperformance rewards. They get them just because they hold the job not because of what they do.

Industries, companies, and jobs all differ, and so too should their performance and reward-distribution criteria. Many Internet companies, for example, track number of page views, registered users, and app downloads as performance criteria. These may or may not be relevant to individual employee, team, or organizational performance. Netscape founder, and now legendary tech investor, Marc Andreessen is leading a charge to do away with what he calls “vanity” or “bull#$!% metrics.” He argues that many common metrics are meaningless and don’t capture performance. “Download counts can easily be inflated if an app developer is willing to pay.”75

Digital and social media companies therefore have struggled to develop and utilize effective PM metrics, which are necessary to gauge performance and allocate rewards. Some examples for marketing via digital and social media are:

• Reach and Impressions. Reach is the number of different people who view your post, while impressions are the number of times a given person views it. Think of it as breadth and depth.

• Platform Engagement. This can be likes, retweets, shares, comments, etc.

• Conversions. Of those that click or view how many actually take action, such as buy your product. This is an obvious way for many to measure return on investment (ROI) for investments in online advertising.

• Relevancy Score. This is used to compare or test the relative interest of one poten- tial customer to others. You essentially present the same ad content to multiple customer groups, perhaps via different channels, and then focus your future resources on the one that showed the greatest interest.76

In sum, effective PM includes measures, rewards, and distribution criteria that are linked.77

Desired Outcomes of the Reward System As Figure 6.3 showed, a good reward system should not only attract and motivate talented people, but it should also foster development and keep talented people from leaving. A prime example is Tulsa-based QuikTrip, a gas station and convenience store chain. Good employee wages and benefits, training, and a friendly and supportive culture result in an annual turnover rate of just 13 percent. The industry average is 59 percent! An employee was quoted as saying, “We actually have to open new markets to create movement to give our employees an opportunity to advance because no one leaves.”78

The Applying OB box addresses the important topic of rewards and teams.

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Be Sure You Get the Outcomes You Desire Rewards come in many forms, both financial and nonfinancial. But most fundamen- tally rewards are exchanges—you are given this for doing that. At work you may be paid a cash bonus or your commission rate may increase for performing above and beyond your sales quota. While you are at school professors sometimes give you extra credit for doing well in an assignment or course. But whatever the case, whoever provides the reward should get what is desired or intended in exchange. There are three potential outcomes from rewards:

1. Desired outcome. You get more of what you intended and for which you are rewarding people.

2. Nothing. The reward can have no effect.

3. Undesired side effects. Rewards reinforce or motivate the wrong behaviors.

For example, doctors and hospitals in the U.S. health care system have historically been compensated for the services they provide. This means providers make more money when they run more tests and provide more treatments—postoperative infections and procedure- related strokes are on average twice as profitable as cases that go smoothly. A study by Harvard Medical School, Bain Consulting Group, and Texas Health Systems found:

Private-insurance and Medicare payments soared when surgeries went awry, outpacing extra treatment costs. In one example, a complication during an intestinal surgery . . . could lead to an intensive care stay, boosting payments five-fold. . . . On average, procedures with complications netted $15,700 versus $7,600 for procedures that went well.79

People should get paid for their expertise and work. But performance management is part of both the cause and the solution to this enormous challenge. This example illus- trates how the distribution of rewards can be both an input and a process in the Organizing Framework.

The takeaway: Be sure your performance management system and associated rewards produce the desired outcomes and be mindful of undesirable side effects.

Applying OB

money is allocated too, be sure teams and individ- uals get the same.

2. Acknowledge assistance. Don’t take team mem- bers’ help for granted. The supporting cast needs to be explicitly recognized.

3. Show enthusiasm and fanfare. Be sure energy and attention for team incentives matches that for individuals.

4. Measure both! If teams are indeed valuable, create and utilize effective means for measuring team performance, just as you do for individuals.

Many companies and leaders trumpet the impor- tance of teamwork—we win or lose together. Yet most of these same companies reward individuals and not teams. Such inconsistencies undermine teamwork and the effectiveness of PM. If teamwork is truly important, then the following recommenda- tions can ensure that PM practices send consistent signals.

1. Split 50-50. Awards, bonuses, and recognition should be split evenly. If there is an employee of the year, then be sure to have a team of the year. If

Put the “I” in Team with Appropriate Incentives

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230 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Total and Alternative Rewards Historically, rewards programs were simply a matter of combining compensation with some mix of health insurance and vacation time. These of course still matter, but today leading organizations are offering far more complex and personalized packages.80 Besides the usual paycheck, the variety and magnitude of organizational rewards have evolved into a mind-boggling array, such as fertility services, child adoption assistance, college tuition reimbursement, college loan repayment, stock grants and options, and pet insurance. All these are extrinsic rewards, and it is common for nonwage benefits to be 50 percent or more of total compensation.

The current and broader perspective on compensation is referred to as “total rewards.”  Total rewards  encompass not only compensation and benefits, but also personal and professional growth opportunities and a motivating work environ- ment that includes recognition, job design, and work–life balance. Table 6.6 lists and describes the key components of a total rewards perspective.

This broader view of rewards has grown partly in reaction to stiffer competition and challenging economic conditions, which have made it difficult for cost-conscious organiza- tions to offer higher wages and more benefits each year. Employers have had to find alter- native forms of rewards that cost less but still motivate employees to excel.

Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work list provides a treasure trove of some of the most generous and interesting awards currently offered. Biotech giant Genentech was number one in the salary category in 2019 at $205,000 per year (up from $180,000 in 2018). This is far ahead of number two in the salary category, Atlassian, a software developer, and the most valuable tech firm in Australia, which pays an average of $167,000. Although that kind of money is certainly appealing, enterprise software company Work- Day (#4 in 2019) is quite creative with alternative rewards. They provide unlimited time off and onsite manicures, bike repairs, and car washes. And Wegman’s Food Markets, a grocery store chain and #3 on Fortune’s list of Best Places to Work, spent $50 million on employee development, $5 million on scholarships, and filled half of its open jobs inter- nally. Baptist Health South Florida also was a clear believer in employee development opportunities, as they filled 75 percent of their leadership positions with internal candidates.82 See the OB in Action box for an especially generous and long-term performance-oriented plan at Hilcorp.

COMPONENT DESCRIPTION

Compensation Base pay, merit pay, incentives, promotions, and pay increases

Benefits Health and wellness care, savings and retirement planning, and paid time off

Work–life effectiveness Policies and practices to help employees thrive at work and home

Recognition Formal and informal programs that acknowledge employee efforts and behaviors that support the organization’s strategies and objectives

Talent development Training, career development, and other support nec- essary to improve performance and advance careers

TABLE 6.6 Components of a Total Rewards Perspective81

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Bottom line: The most effective reward programs tend to align with employee preferences. But we know that rewards often don’t work as intended—let’s explore why and what to do about it.

Why Rewards Often Fail and How to Boost Their Effectiveness Here are some of the reasons rewards often fail to motivate.

1. Too much emphasis on monetary rewards.

2. Sense in recipient that extensive benefits are entitlements.

3. Fostering of counterproductive behavior (as discussed in Chapter 2).

4. Long delay between performance and reward.

5. One-size-fits-all rewards.

6. Use of one-shot rewards with short-lived motivational impact.

7. Continued use of demotivating practices such as layoffs, across-the-board raises and cuts, and excessive executive compensation.86

Hilcorp is the largest independent energy explora- tion and production company in the U.S. One of the company’s core values is alignment. “When Hilcorp wins, we all win” is how they state it on their web- site.84 The company certainly seems to walk the talk when it comes to compensation. CEO Greg Lalicker describes it this way, “We want it to be in every- body’s best interest that Hilcorp succeeds and, when we do succeed, that everybody shares the rewards equitably.”85 Sounds like he took this OB course.

Goal Alignment The company sets goals over periods of five years, and oil exploration and production proj- ects typically occur over the course of years. And if the company meets those targets everybody is compen- sated very generously. For instance, from 2006 to 2011, the goal was to double production from 40,000 barrels per day to 80,000, reserves from 125 million to 250 million, and double the value of the business from $1 billion to $2 billion. Hilcorp met all of these targets!

Perhaps the only thing more impressive than dou- bling these key performance metrics were the associ- ated rewards. Every employee received $50,000 to spend on a car. When the company met the goals for 2011 to 2015 each employee received $100,000 cash to spend how they wish. The rewards are pro- rated for employees not at Hilcorp the entire period.

And That’s Not All Besides production goals, Hil- corp rewards employees with annual bonuses up to 60 percent of an employee’s salary which are linked to overall company performance, measured with production rate, midstream income, operating costs, and reserves.

Since safety is so fundamentally important In many industries, especially oil and gas production, you’d think the company would provide incentives or bonuses linked to this. Nope. When asked about this Mr. Lalicker said, “Safety is a requirement, not an upside. If people aren’t working hard to operate safely, then they are fired.”

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Describe three benefits of the reward practices

at Hilcorp. Explain not only the benefit but how or why it works.

2. What are the downsides or potential challenges with this program’s emphasis on organization- level rewards?

3. Assume you are a founder and CEO of Hilcorp, what you would you do when individual employ- ees don’t perform in this system? Describe and justify your actions.

A Car, $100,000, and There’s More Where That Came from at Hilcorp83

OB in Action

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232 PART 1 Individual Behavior

One way to use these findings is as a checklist and determine to what extent your employer’s, or another company’s, practices suffer from these shortcomings. Then apply your new knowledge and help ensure that managers and employers get more for their reward bucks!

How to Boost the Effectiveness of Rewards One means for improving the effec- tiveness of almost any reward system is to involve employees in devising the system. Recall the discussion of motivation and procedural justice in Chapter 5. Including employees in the design, selection, and assessment of rewards programs increases the chance employees will perceive the rewards as fair and valuable. (Valuable rewards are the valence outcomes in expectancy theory from Chapter 5.) Involvement also fosters employee engagement— discussed in Chapter 2—because it makes them feel valued.

A major and common problem with rewards is they don’t always work as intended. The Problem-Solving Application provides an excellent example and opportunity to apply your knowledge and build your skill.

Incentives, Performance, and Schools

Like organizations in other industries, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) believed it could direct, motivate, and improve performance with monetary rewards. The goal was to improve the skills and test scores of students at 40 underper- forming schools.

Officials thought the underlying reasons for the underperformance were low performing teachers, as those at the target schools were twice as likely to be rated “ineffective” or “needs improvement” than in well-performing schools. Worse still, teachers at these same schools were half as likely to be rated “highly effective.” School district leaders reasoned that offering money—$5000 signing bonuses— would attract better teachers to the poor performing schools.

Officials spent nearly $7 million to incentivize highly rated teachers to move to the target schools

in the 2017–18 school year, and they planned to spend a similar amount in 2018–2019. But there was a problem—it didn’t work. The 40 schools expe- rienced tremendous turnover—40–60 percent of teachers at worst schools quit—but the teachers who replaced them had nearly identical (poor) rat- ings when they arrived.

This left officials scratching their heads. The dis- mal results might have been due to the fact they had no performance criteria for teachers to qualify for the bonus and move to one of the 40 schools. Moving to the worst performing schools could be perceived as very risky, as highly rated teachers’ performance could drop in a more challenging, underperforming school. Adding to the risk, some teachers would presumably be giving up a position at a “better” school. Of course, it also was possible $5000 just wasn’t enough for many.87

Problem-Solving Application

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem HISD officials wanted to fix.

Step 2: Identify the potential causes of this problem. (Consider also the common reasons rewards fail to motivate.)

Step 3: Make your recommendations.

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Pay for Performance  Pay for performance  comprises merit and/or bonus pay based on individual-, group-, or organization-level measures and involving individual, group, or organiza- tion rewards.88 Therefore, it is compensation above and beyond basic wages and salary, and its use is consistent with the expectancy theory of motivation.89

Most often pay for performance is referred to as variable pay because it most depends or varies based on some behavior or outcome, and variable pay has grown as a percentage of total compensation for decades. PayScale’s Compensation Best Practices Report of 2018 revealed 71 percent of companies surveyed used some form of variable pay, and 79 percent of companies considered top-performing did.90 This means that over the course of your career an increasing portion of your pay will be variable.

Pay for performance is used to align employees’ interests and behaviors with those of the department and organization, as it links your behaviors and outcomes to objectives or goals at some level.91 Figure 6.4 outlines the most commonly used types today, along with the frequency of use according to size and type of company, and Figure 6.5 displays the most common variable pay by job type.

FIGURE 6.4 Different Types of Variable Pay and Percentage and Size of Company That Uses Each92

Types of Variable Pay by Organizational Size

0% 10% 2% 2%

2% 1%

17% 23% 24%

21% 26%

24% 26%

20% 32% 33%

31% 29%

50% 37%

21% 11%

52% 50%

39% 31%

54% 52%

50% 23%

67% 56%

38% 14%

71% 71%

70% 62%

4%

4% 3%

6%

20% 30% 40% 50% % of Respondents

B o

n u

s T

yp e

60% 70% 80%

Individual Incentive Bonuses

Hiring Bonuses

Employee Referral Bonus

Spot Bonuses or Other

Retention Bonuses

Discretionary Bonus Programs Company-wide Bonus

Team Incentive Bonuses

Profit Sharing

Market Premium Bonus

Other

Individual incentive bonuses are most

prevalent for all org sizes

Small Mid Large Enterprise

SOURCE: PayScale, Inc. “Variable Pay Trends into 2018: Who Gets It, What Types and Why?” Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.payscale.com/compensation-today/2018/04/variable-pay-trends.

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234 PART 1 Individual Behavior

You’ll notice the most used types of variable pay are targeted at individual perfor- mance, but as you climb in the organization and manage others variable pay increasingly becomes linked to team and organization-level performance. Eighty-two percent of executives’ variable pay is based on organizational performance, versus 43 percent for nonmanagers. It also is more common for certain types of roles. Sales and management roles are more likely to have outcomes appropriate for variable pay than are engineers or accountants.93

A useful way to differentiate between types of pay for performance is whether they reward past or future performance. Bonuses are most often given for past performance and incentives are intended to motivate future performance. The most basic form of bonus pay is the traditional piece-rate plan, wherein an employee is paid a specified amount of money for each unit of work. Many online jobs are paid this way, such as the amount of data entered, recordings transcribed, or customer service calls taken.94 Freelancer, for instance, promotes itself as the “world’s largest online platform for finding jobs.” Users post the details of work they want done and others bid on the work. This is a classic but contempo- rary form of piece-rate work.95

Girl Scout cookies are another example. Approximately one million Girl Scouts sell roughly 200 million boxes and generate $776 million. This is a lot of dough (we couldn’t resist). Thin mint cookies are the perennial top seller, and the money stays where it is earned. If the Scouts in your area sell more, their council keeps more for their own activi- ties and projects.96

Sales commissions are one of the most popular incentives, wherein a specified per- centage or amount of money is paid for particular or groups of transactions.

Jen Tadin, National Sales Director for Small Business at Gallagher, an insurance and risk management company, uses a 60-40 plan. Sixty percent of sales rep’s compensation is guaranteed in the form of salary, and 40 percent is available in commissions on sales. She takes it a step further and links commission payouts to company goals, as well as client retention, client count, and total revenue. Microsoft similarly aligns sales commissions with company goals, specifically cloud computing and new customers.97

A word of caution regarding sales incentives is offered by Jason Jordan, of Vantage Point Performance (sales consulting and coaching). Effective incentives should do two

FIGURE 6.5 Variable Pay by Type and Organizational Level

0%

Sales Employees

Non-Exempt Employees

Professional, Technical and Administrative Exempt Employees

Directors and Managers

Executives

20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Percent Using Variable Pay

Variable Pay by Organizational Level % of Orgs That Pay Out Variable Pay on an Annual Basis

Bonus Incentive Commissions None

SOURCE: PayScale, Inc. “Variable Pay Trends into 2018: Who Gets It, What Types and Why?” Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.payscale.com/compensation-today/2018/04/variable-pay-trends.

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things: motivate the right behaviors and reward successful outcomes. Too often leader- ship designs incentive plans to do a third thing: discourage bad behaviors. Sales incen- tives cannot take the place of sales management, so don’t try to use them as ‘managers in absentia.’”98

Making Pay for Performance Work As we’ve done throughout the book, we use research and practice to guide your learning. Research shows mixed results for pay for performance—sometimes it increases perfor- mance as intended, other times not, and like other rewards sometimes it creates undesir- able outcomes. For instance, executives and the organizations they lead are increasingly expected to deliver not only financial performance but also corporate social perfor- mance. The little research that exists shows that simply setting social goals for executives is not enough to improve the organization’s social performance outcomes. However, if the targets are quantifiable (target percentage, amount, or other clear measures) and linked to compensation, then social performance tends to improve.99 Although the researchers did not examine this directly, it seems that making these goals SMART makes a difference.

Companies with the best pay-for-performance results tend to:

• Pay top performers substantially more than their other employees. • Reduce “gaming” of the system by increasing transparency. • Utilize multiple measures of performance. • Calibrate performance measures to ensure accuracy and consistency.100

Most experts agree it is critically important to ensure pay for performance practices fit the situation and align with the organization’s strategy and culture.101

Now let’s learn the mechanisms by which rewards change our behavior, along with how and when they are administered can make a difference.

Selling Girl Scout cookies is a famous form of piece-rate work. Each year Girl Scouts sell approximately 200 million boxes and take in $776 million. Andy Matsko/AP Images

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6.6 REINFORCEMENT AND CONSEQUENCES

Providing consequences is the last component of the performance management process, and the way rewards and consequences more generally are administered can make or break performance management efforts. Effective use of these OB tools is particularly important given that pay raises and promotions are often powerful career outcomes in the Organizing Framework. They often influence perceptions of fairness, intentions of quit- ting, emotions, and a range of behaviors at work. For instance, have you ever worked your butt off and gotten results, yet neither your effort nor performance were acknowledged? Have you ever witnessed a colleague, teammate, or friend be rewarded handsomely when you think they didn’t deserve it? The answer to both questions is undoubtedly “yes,” and as you thus know the resulting impact on your motivation and future performance can be significant and negative.

To help you understand and use consequences effectively, we begin with behavior modification and reinforcement techniques.

The Law of Effect—Linking Consequences and Behaviors In the early 1900s psychologist Edward L. Thorndike observed in his lab that a cat would behave randomly when placed in a small box with a secret trip lever that opened a door. However, once the cat had accidentally tripped the lever and escaped, it would go straight to the lever when placed back in the box. This observation led to Thorndike’s now famous  law of effect,  which says behavior with favorable consequences tends to be repeated, and behavior with unfavorable consequences tends to disappear.102 This was a dramatic departure from previous notions that behavior was the product of instincts.

Using Reinforcement to Condition Behavior B. F. Skinner refined Thorndike’s work and developed what came to be known as behavior- ism as he dealt strictly with observable behavior. He believed it was pointless to explain behavior in terms of unobservable inner states, such as needs, drives, attitudes, or thought processes. He instead drew an important distinction between two types of behavior: respondent and operant behavior.103

 Respondent behavior  describes automatic reactions to stimuli, or stimulus- response (S-R), like when you are startled by an unexpected loud noise or yank your hand from a hot surface. These behaviors are obviously important, but not nearly as common and consequential as  operant behavior,  behaviors that are learned and occur when we “operate on” the environment to produce desired consequences. It can be help- ful to think of this as response–stimulus (R–S) model or operant conditioning, as it describes things we do to generate desired behaviors and are the essence of much of OB.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

In this section, you’ll learn about three especially effective and practical means for influenc-

ing your behavior and that of others: (1) the law of effect and the way it relates to respondent

and operant conditioning; (2) common types of reinforcement; and (3) the way managers can

increase the effectiveness of reinforcement using a variety of reinforcement schedules.

Use reinforcement and consequences to improve performance.

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Contingent Consequences According to Skinner’s operant theory, contin- gent consequences control behavior in one of four ways:

1. Positive reinforcement.

2. Negative reinforcement.

3. Punishment.

4. Extinction.

Of critical importance is the term contin- gent, which means there is a purposeful if- then link between the target behavior and the consequence. You therefore should first think of the target behavior and whether you want to increase or decrease it, and then choose the appropriate consequence (see Figure 6.6). We next look more closely at the four types of consequences.

Increase Desired Behaviors  Positive reinforcement  is the process of strengthen- ing a behavior by contingently presenting something appealing. A behavior is strengthened when it increases in frequency and weakened when it decreases in frequency. An excellent example comes from BP in the years immediately following the horrific Deep Water Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Newly appointed CEO Bob Dudley based 100 percent of employees’ variable pay (bonuses) on safety for the fourth quarter of 2010.104 This was a reward or reinforcer for safe behaviors—better safety, more money.

 Negative reinforcement  also strengthens a desired behavior by contingently withdrawing something displeasing. Many probationary periods for new hires are applications of negative reinforcement. During probation periods, often your first 30, 60, or 90 days on a new job, you need to have weekly meetings with your boss or have somebody sign off on your work. Once you’ve demonstrated your skill these require- ments are removed.

B. F. Skinner taught pigeons how to pace figure eights and how to bowl by reinforcing the underweight (and thus hungry) birds with food when- ever they more closely approximated target behaviors. Bettmann/Getty Images

FIGURE 6.6 Contingent Consequences in Operant Conditioning

Nature of Consequence

Positive or Pleasing Negative or Displeasing

B e

h a

vi o

r– C

o n

se q

u e

n ce

R e

la ti

o n

sh ip

Contingent Presentation

Contingent Withdrawal

Positive Reinforcement Behavioral outcome:

Target behavior occurs more often

Punishment Behavioral outcome:

Target behavior occurs less often

Punishment (response cost) Behavioral outcome:

Target behavior occurs less often

Negative Reinforcement Behavioral outcome:

Target behavior occurs more often

(no contingent consequence) Extinction

Behavioral outcome: Target behavior occurs less often

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238 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Unfortunately, most people confuse negative reinforcement with negative feedback, which is a form of punishment. Negative reinforcement, as the word reinforcement indicates, strengthens a desirable behavior because it provides relief from something undesirable (paperwork, meetings, or yelling).

Decrease Undesired Behaviors  Punishment  is the process of weakening behavior through either the contingent presentation of something displeasing or the contingent withdrawal of something positive. The U.S. Department of Transporta- tion now fines airlines up to $27,500 per passenger for planes left on the tarmac for more than three hours. This policy reduced reported cases from 535 to 12 in the first year it was implemented.105 Similarly, Allegiant Airlines was fined $225,000 for not keeping their planes cool enough during tarmac delays.106

However, remember the possibility of unintended consequences mentioned earlier. A study of the tarmac delay rule found it resulted in more cancelled f lights, as airlines tried to avoid fines. This of course requires passengers to find another f light costing even more time.107

Approximately 51 percent of employers providing health insurance use money to motivate employees to participate in wellness programs and health screening. For instance, a form of negative reinforcement commonly used is the reduction of insurance premiums for employees who participate. You’d rather not pay insurance premiums, which means reducing premiums when you participate (get healthy) is contingently removing or limit- ing those undesirable payments.108 Figure 6.7 shows the percentage of employers that offer various types of incentives for health exams.

Be sure to remember punishment needs to be used sparingly and wisely. Perceptual errors and biases you’ve learned about in previous chapters also apply to punishment. Specifically:

1. Negative events are far more impactful on people than positive events. People typically exert more energy to avoid losses and negative events than they do to receive positive outcomes.

FIGURE 6.7

Among Large Firms O�ering Workers an Incentive to Complete a Biometric Screening, Percentage of Firms with

Various Types of Incentives, by Firm Size, 2018

0%

Other

Additional Paid Time O

Eligibility for Other Wellness Rewards

Cash, HRA/HSA Contributions, or Avoid a Payroll Deduction

Gift Cards, Merchandise, or Ra�e Entries

Lower Premium Contributions or Cost Sharing

10%

52%

46%

39%

36%

4%

4%

20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation. “2018 Employer Health Benefits Survey.” Accessed June 14, 2019. https://www.kff.org/ report-section/2018-employer-health-benefits-survey-summary-of-findings/.

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239Performance Management CHAPTER 6

2. Negative events stick with us much longer than positive events. This means you are likely to remember and be affected by punishment (demotion) or negative feedback (poor performance review) much longer than a promotion or positive review.

3. Punishment is more likely to be informal, unless of course you are put on a perfor- mance improvement plan or fired, and thus at the discretion of your manager. To elaborate, organizations most often have established policies and practices for allocat- ing rewards, but they rarely devote as much attention and formality to punishments. One important implication is the use of punishments will be far more variable.109

Weakening a behavior by ignoring it or making sure it is not reinforced is referred to as  extinction.  Not returning calls, unfriending, or otherwise not responding are extinction tactics. A good analogy for extinction is the fate of your houseplants if you stopped watering them. Like a plant without water, a behavior without occasional rein- forcement eventually dies. Although they are very different processes, both punishment and extinction have the same weakening effect on behavior.

The bottom line: Knowing the difference between these various forms of contingent consequences provides you with numerous powerful tools with which to manage yourself and others. Put another way, you just learned four tools for influencing behavior. Most people think of and use only two—positive reinforcement and punishment (negative feed- back). Apply your knowledge and get ahead!

Positive Reinforcement Schedules You can supercharge or at least enhance the effectiveness of positive reinforcement (rewards) by managing the timing or schedule of reinforcement. Continuous and intermit- tent reinforcement schedules are two common means for timing the administration of reinforcers.

Continuous Reinforcement If every instance of a target behavior is reinforced, then a   continuous reinforcement  (CRF) schedule is in effect. Just as you train your dog to do a new trick by providing a reward each time he or she does it successfully, CRF

Like dogs, humans respond to reinforcement. To make this work for you, identify a behavior you want somebody to perform, and when they do be sure to shower them with praise, recognition, or some other form of reward they value and tell them it is because of what they did. The behavior will likely happen again. Darkcloud/iStock/Getty Images

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schedules are especially useful when employees learn a new task or skill. Assume, for instance, you are asked to conduct an analysis of the individual purchasing patterns of your employer’s largest customers. Your manager could help you develop this skill by giving you feedback as you complete the analysis for each customer. This feedback and recognition reinforce your performance on this new task. However, you can see that while this reinforcement is especially helpful and appreciated for the first few customer analyses, it likely loses its effect after the 10th, 20th, and 30th customer. Enough already! This scenario shows how CRF is susceptible to perceptions of entitlement and rapid extinction if the link is broken.

One way to help guard against the fading benefit of reinforcers is to use intermittent schedules.  Intermittent reinforcement  consists of reinforcement of some but not all instances of a target behavior. Table 6.7 shows four subcategories of intermittent schedules along with examples.

EXAMPLE Of the many reasons people don’t save enough money, one is motivation. One way banks can motivate people to save is to utilize variable schedules in the same way slot machines and lotteries do—provide an opportunity to win big. To illustrate, assume your savings account balance averages $1,000 per month, and you earn 5 percent interest. One way to get you to maintain this balance and save even more is to offer you an opportunity to win prizes of $50, $500, or $5,000 if you do. The trade- off, however, is you only earn 3 percent guaranteed. Like the gambling games, people are motivated to behave in ways with the potential to earn more. Of course, the devil is in the details, but when managed appropriately by the bank, people are not gambling away their money, but instead are maintaining higher average savings balances and earning approximately the same guaranteed return (in this example, 5 percent). Researchers at the University of Maryland have run experiments with similar results.110

TABLE 6.7 Reinforcement Schedules, Examples, Advantages, and Disadvantages

REINFORCEMENT SCHEDULE

EXAMPLES

ADVANTAGES

DISADVANTAGES

Fixed ratio Piece-rate pay; bonuses tied to the sale of a fixed number of units

Clear and predictable link between the behavior and the reinforcer

Costly to monitor perfor- mance and administer reinforcers (like money); reinforcers lose effect over time

Variable ratio Slot machines that pay after a variable number of pulls; lotteries that pay after a variable number of tickets sold

Strong motivation to continue until reinforcer is received; less costly than fixed ratio

Some desired behaviors will not be rewarded; potentially long periods between reinforcers (such as payouts)

Fixed interval Paychecks (every two weeks or once a month); annual bonuses; proba- tionary periods

Clear and predictable link between the behavior and reinforcer; less costly than fixed ratio

Inconsistent effort and performance over the interval (majority of effort/ performance occurs near reinforcer)

Variable interval Random supervisor “pats on the back”; spot rewards; random audits (financial); random drug tests of athletes and employees; pop quizzes

Consistent and strong moti- vation to perform over time; least costly schedule due to relatively little monitoring and administration

Some desired behaviors will not be reinforced; potentially long periods between reinforcers (payouts)

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Applying knowledge of biases and reinforcement you’ve learned in this course has tremendous potential, as the Federal Reserve Bank reported 24 percent of Americans don’t have access to $400, and not all of these people are poor.111

Organizations Typically Rely on the Weakest Schedule Variable ratio and variable interval schedules of reinforcement generally produce the strongest behaviors and are most resistant to extinction. As gamblers will attest, vari- able schedules hold the promise of reinforcement after the next roll of the dice, spin of the wheel, or pull of the lever. Continuous and fixed schedules, in contrast, are the least likely to elicit the desired response over time. Nevertheless, the majority of work orga- nizations rely on fixed intervals of reinforcement, such as hourly wages and annual reviews and raises.

Reinforcement Schedules and Performance Figure 6.8 illustrates the relative effect of the schedules on performance over time. Consider three professors who teach different sections of the same OB course. Assume their students are essentially equal in age, experience, and GPAs across the three sections. This is the scenario:

• Professor Blue bases student grades solely on short quizzes given at the beginning of every class (continuous reinforcement).

• Professor Black bases grades on a midterm and final exams of equal weight (fixed interval).

• Professor Red uses a number of unannounced or pop quizzes (variable interval).

We expect the level of preparation for each class and overall academic performance (preparation and learning) to follow the patterns in Figure 6.8. Professor Blue’s students will start fast and prepare diligently for each class. However, they will then settle into a routine and a common level of preparation. Over time they will figure out what is required and do less. Some may even quit preparing once they have a clear sense of what their overall grade will be.

The pattern for Professor Black’s students is all too common. They start slowly, know- ing there is plenty of time before the midterm. When it grows near the intensity of their preparation increases and some begin cramming. Once the midterm passes they discon- nect for a while until they ramp up again for the final.

In contrast, Professor Red’s students will likely maintain a higher average level of preparation throughout the course, because there is a chance they will have a pop quiz and be graded in every session.

The bottom line: Students generally don’t like unannounced or pop quizzes. However, if the professor’s goal is increased student preparation and learning, then variable-interval grading is one means for generating a higher average level of student performance.

These same patterns and results apply in business settings too. For instance, many sales and professional service jobs such as accounting and law have monthly numbers to meet, like sales or billable hours. This often means employees get far more work done in the last few days of the month than in the beginning (see Figure 6.8).

Practical Implications for Using the Strongest Schedule In general, any type of consequence—whether reward or punishment—is more effective when administered near the time of the behavior. Effectiveness wears off as time passes. You are unlikely to change your professor’s grading format or the timing of your employer’s pay and bonus schedules; however, there are many ways you can put your knowledge of positive reinforcement sched- ules to use within the confines of existing practices.

Spot Rewards. Spot rewards are highly effective. If your coworker has worked hard to make your project a success, recognize her efforts via an e-mail to the

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242 PART 1 Individual Behavior

entire team including your manager. Your manager, in turn, may decide to give Friday off to those who complete their current work satisfactorily and ahead of schedule.

Variable Rewards/Bonuses. Entrepreneurs can especially benefit from applying knowledge of reinforcement schedules. Assume you started your own business and, like many new business owners, you are short on cash. You would like to provide regular bonuses and pay raises, but you can afford monetary rewards only when your company secures a new customer or a big order. The variable nature of these rewards not only recognizes employees’ efforts and success, but also motivates them to work hard in the future because they know that such efforts are recognized and reinforced.

Celebrations. When it comes to school, we advocate celebrating and thus reinforc- ing “victories,” such as completing a paper, achieving a good score on an exam, and ending a semester in which you worked hard and performed well. Scattering these reinforcers throughout the semester can help reenergize you to work hard in the future, especially if you make these rewards contingent on good behavior and outcomes.

All three of these examples apply to variable schedules, and we encourage you to think of your own examples and consider their effectiveness. Reinforcement schedules, like the larger process of performance management, are often limited only by your creativity and willingness to apply your knowledge.

FIGURE 6.8 Reinforcement Schedules and Performance

Midterm Exam 30 Days

Time:

P e

rf o

rm a

n ce

Final Exam 60 Days

Variable Avg PerformanceVariable

Fixed

Avg PerformanceFixed

Continuous

Avg PerformanceContinuous

SOURCE: ©2014 Mel Fugate

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Applying knowledge and best practices related to PM is a way to get ahead throughout your career, and to help you, we’ve distilled some pointed applications.

Takeaways for Me There are five notable ways to excel as an employee.

1. Look for companies and managers with PM practices that align with your personal val- ues, preferences, and aspirations: If you like continual feedback and large differentials between top and low performers, find opportunities that match.

2. Compare what managers and organizations say they value and what they reward: Many will say they value and reward performance, but they give everyone the same 3 percent raise or promote people based on tenure rather than performance.

3. Use Table 6.2 to build your own goal commitment: This alone can set you apart from the competition.

4. Ask for regular feedback if you’re not already given it: This step will help you avoid surprises during your reviews and boost your performance in between.

5. Using Self-Assessment 6.2, identify the rewards you value most, then tell your managers which available rewards you value most: Be sure to think broadly about rewards, and don’t think only about the money. If you value time (vacation), autonomy (flexibility to work from home), or development (tuition benefits), making these part of your total rewards can enhance the value of your compensation.

Takeaways for Managers There are seven takeaways that will prove useful as a manager.

1. Immediately increase your management effectiveness: Ensure that you set clear expecta- tions and provide regular and effective feedback for those you manage.

2. Make explicit and clear links between the rewards you provide and the behaviors and/or outcomes the rewards are intended to signal.

3. Practice the recommendations in Table 6.2 to boost goal commitment: This, along with ensuring your people set SMART goals, will help set them up to win.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

We conclude this chapter with a number of practical applications of PM knowledge and tools

to improve your effectiveness as both an employee and manager.

6.7 MAKING THE CONNECTION: HOW CAN I USE GOALS, FEEDBACK, REWARDS, AND POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TO BOOST EFFECTIVENESS?

Describe the implications of performance management for you and managers.

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244 PART 1 Individual Behavior

4. Guard against common perceptual errors when evaluating performance: Be sure you effectively measure the appropriate elements of performance (both quantitative and qualitative) for a particular job and individual.

5. Provide more feedback: Apply what you learned here to make it more effective (see Table 6.5) and focus on development more than evaluation. Feedback is a skill; practice it and you’ll get better.

6. Be certain your rewards are delivering the intended outcomes: Clearly linking them to expectations helps.

7. If teamwork is important and truly valued, then be certain your PM practices send such signals.

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In our coverage of performance management, you learned how you can use goals, feedback, rewards, and reinforcement to boost effective- ness. Reinforce and consolidate your learning with the Key Points and Organizing Framework. Then challenge your mastery of the material by completing the Problem-Solving Application Case and Legal Challenge/Ethical.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 6 You learned the following key points.

6.1 THE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

• Effective performance management (PM) is a process of defining, monitoring, reviewing, and providing consequences.

• PM is often used for employee-related deci- sions and development.

• Employee perceptions of the value and effec- tiveness of PM are often very low.

6.2 HOW AND WHY GOAL SETTING GIVES YOU AN ADVANTAGE

• Goal setting is critical to effective PM. • Both learning and performance goals can be

used. • SMART goals are more likely to be achieved. • Goal commitment, support and feedback, and

action plans foster goal achievement. • PM can be improved using behavioral, objec-

tive, and task/project goals.

6.3 HOW MONITORING AND EVALUATION CAN IMPROVE YOUR PERFORMANCE AND ABILITY TO MANAGE OTHERS

• Monitoring performance requires making effective measurements of progress and outcomes.

• Evaluation requires comparing performance measures to expectations or goals.

• Performance evaluation is often hampered by perceptual errors.

• Multi-rater or 360-degree feedback can make performance evaluation more accurate.

6.4 APPLYING KNOWLEDGE OF FEEDBACK AND COACHING TO REVIEW AND IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

• Two basic functions of feedback are to instruct and motivate.

• Sources of feedback include others, the task, and yourself.

• The effectiveness of positive and negative feedback is greatly influenced by the receiv- er’s perceptions.

• Coaching helps translate feedback into desired change.

6.5 IMPLEMENTING REWARDS TO GENERATE DESIRED OUTCOMES

• Rewards can be extrinsic or intrinsic. • Rewards are commonly distributed based on

results, behavior, and nonperformance con- siderations.

• Total and alternative rewards are increasingly common practices.

6.6 USING REINFORCEMENT AND CONSEQUENCES TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

• Providing contingent consequences is funda- mental to effective reinforcement.

• Both positive and negative reinforcement increase desired behaviors.

• Punishment and extinction both decrease undesirable behaviors.

• The schedule on which reinforcers are administered can increase their effectiveness.

What Did I Learn?

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246 PART 1 Individual Behavior

outcome across the three levels of OB. At the indi- vidual level these outcomes are task performance, work attitudes, well-being/flourishing, citizenship and counterproductive behaviors, turnover, career outcomes, and creativity. Group and team-level performance, along with group satisfaction, cohe- sion, and conflict, are similarly related. As for the organizational level, performance management practices link to accounting/financial performance, customer satisfaction, reputation, and even an organization’s overall survival. Please observe the roles of regulators, competition, and leadership as inputs and processes affecting PM and its associated outcomes.

6.7 HOW CAN I USE GOALS, FEEDBACK, REWARDS, AND POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TO BOOST EFFECTIVENESS?

• Knowledge and application for PM can guide your efforts and set you apart from others.

• PM tools are invaluable for managers who seek to realize the performance potential for their employees and themselves.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 6 As shown in Figure 6.9, performance manage- ment practices are associated with nearly every

FIGURE 6.9 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors Situation Factors • Competition, Regulators,

and Leadership

Individual Level • Performance management

practices

Group/Team Level Organizational Level • Leadership

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Well-being/flourishing • Citizenship behavior/

counterproductive behavior • Turnover • Career outcomes • Creativity

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction • Group cohesion and

conflict

Organizational Level • Survival • Accounting/financial

performance • Customer satisfaction • Reputation

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Money is an important tool for both attracting and moti- vating talent. If you owned a company or were its CEO, you would likely agree and choose performance man- agement practices to deliver such outcomes. It also is possible you’d use incentives to help align your employees’ interests, behaviors, and performance with those of the company. After all, countless companies have used incentives very successfully, but not all. The incentives used by Wells Fargo had disastrous consequences for employees, customers, and the company itself.

THE SCENARIO AND BEHAVIORS A client enters a bank branch and opens a checking account. The performance expectations of the banker that helped open the account were to open eight accounts for each customer, which meant he or she needed to persuade that customer to open seven additional accounts! This resulted in the banker then attempting to open a savings account and maybe a credit card account, simple enough. But the problem happened when the customer left without opening additional accounts and many bankers went ahead and did so anyway without the customer’s consent. Customers who had mortgages with the bank some- times had insurance policies opened without their knowledge. The bank also financed automobiles for many customers, and insurance was also often added unknowingly to these. Small business customers were frequently overcharged for credit cards and other ser- vices. More generally, customers for one product were cross-sold other products, and along with many of these additional accounts there were fees. The increased number of accounts helped employees meet their numbers, and the fees provided still more income for the bank.112

Even after all of these efforts, many bankers still fell short of their goals and opened accounts in family mem- bers’ names. One branch manager opened 24 accounts in her teenage daughter’s name and 21 In her hus- band’s. Other reports include Wells Fargo bankers can- vassing employees at stores in which they shopped.113 Pet insurance was added in some instances!114

Some sham accounts were closed once the employee received credit, but many remained open, charging fees and affecting customers’ credit.

THE DAMAGE TO CUSTOMERS AND EMPLOYEES Wells employees created approximately 3.5 million fake accounts; even now precise numbers are difficult to obtain. But it seems as if 1.5 million deposit and 500,000 credit card accounts were opened without customer consent, and it erroneously foreclosed on over 400 mortgages and repossessed thousands of cars. Over 800,000 customers with auto loans were charged for auto insurance.115 The list goes on.

The negative consequences within Wells Fargo also have been enormous. CEO John Stumpf was ousted along with former head of community banking, Carrie Tolstedt. Seventy-five million dollars in compensation was clawed back from these two executives, as it was considered ill-gotten and due to illegal or at least unprofessional behaviors. The same executives lost additional millions in compensation, and approximately 5,300 employees were fired. Numerous regulatory agencies fined Wells Fargo for nearly $200 million, the company’s stock underperformed its competitors’, and it is difficult to estimate the cost of damage to the com- pany’s reputation and the resulting lost business.116 Above all, there are the incalculable costs to custom- ers in money, frustration, ruined credit, lost vehicles, and lost homes.

THE CULPRITS Much of this carnage has now been attributed to per- verse incentives and poor leadership. Investigations revealed that both Stumpf and Tolstedt were well aware of these unethical behaviors, but they turned a blind eye or even encouraged these behaviors. It was reported that Tolstedt repeatedly denied and resisted complaints about goals being unachievable and prob- lematic.117 But what about the thousands of employees that actually opened the accounts? When writing about the Wells Fargo scandal, Professor Elizabeth Tippett noted, “Research suggests that ethical behavior is not about who you are or the values you hold. Behavior is often a function of the situation in which you make the decision, even factors you barely notice.”118

Another interesting detail regarding performance expectations is that the eight-account expectation for every customer was only three 10 years earlier. It also is important to note that this sort of cross-selling

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

Incentives Gone Wrong, Then Wrong Again, and Wrong Again

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248 PART 1 Individual Behavior

C. Use details in the case to determine the key problem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems that are not explicitly included in the case itself.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current chapter, because we generally select cases that illustrate concepts in the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes. Using material from this chapter and summarized in the Organizing Framework, identify what are the causes of the problem you identified in Step 1? Remember, causes tend to appear in either the Inputs or Processes boxes.

A. Start by looking at the Organizing Framework (Figure 6.9) and determine which person factors, if any, are most likely causes to the defined problem. For each cause, explain why this is a cause of the problem. Asking why multiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem. There may be few or no person factors but be sure to consider them. For example, did attributes of the leaders or other employees contribute to the problems defined in Step 1?

B. Follow the same process for the situation fac- tors. For each ask yourself, Why is this a cause? For example, leadership at the executive and other levels might have some effect on the prob- lem you defined. Aside from performance man- agement, did other HR practices contribute to the problem? If you agree, which specific prac- tices and why? By following the process of ask- ing why multiple times you are likely to arrive at a more complete and accurate set of causes. Again, look to the Organizing Framework for this chapter for guidance.

C. Now consider the Processes box in the Organiz- ing Framework. Performance management pro- cesses are clearly part of the story, but are any other processes at the individual, group/team, or organizational level that caused your defined problem? For any process you consider, ask yourself, why is this a cause? Again, do this for several iterations to arrive at the root causes.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem and confirm the link or cause and effect connection.

STEP 3: Recommend solutions. Make your recommendations for solving the problem, considering whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recommendation is desirable and feasible?

(multiple products to the same customer) was some- thing Wells was known for and contributed to its past success. It’s been reported that the reason for eight instead of another number was that CEO Stumpf said it rhymed with “great.”

ACTIONS To be fair, numerous examples exist of Wells Fargo management explicitly instructing employees not to engage in such activities, including ethics training and the deployment of risk professionals to identify and correct inappropriate conduct. But this obviously wasn’t enough, and even though employees were expected to report any misdeeds, they didn’t. Incen- tives stayed in place and employees continued to be pressured and even fired if they did not make their sales quotas. Some involved in the scandal argued it isn’t the employees’ fault, they needed a paycheck and this is what their employer required.119 Tim Sloan, who worked at Wells for decades, was inserted as the new CEO and charged with cleaning up the mess, restoring the bank’s reputation, and warding off a potential new $1 billion fine.120

Sloan worked in the role for two years before step- ping down in 2019, presumably for not being able to turn things around.121 Whoever replaces him has the same challenges. Assume you are the new CEO, what would you do?

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB Use the Organizing Framework in Figure 6.9 and the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to help identify inputs, processes, and outcomes relative to this case.

STEP 1: Define the problem.

A. Look first to the Outcome box of the Organizing Framework in Figure 6.9 to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a problem is a gap between a desired and current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accomplished, decide which one is most impor- tant and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have key players, and problems are generally viewed from a particular player’s perspective. You need to determine from whose perspective—employee, manager, team, or the organization—you’re defining the problem. As in other cases, whether you choose the individual or organizational level in this case can make a difference. In this case you’re asked to assume the role of the new CEO.

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249Performance Management CHAPTER 6

B. Be sure to consider the Organizing Framework— both person and situation factors, as well as processes at different levels.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your recom- mendations, and be sure your recommendations map onto the causes and resolve the problem.

A. Given the causes identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use material in the current chapter that best suits the cause. Remember to consider the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes, because these contain insights into what others have done.

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

What Is Your Current Salary?

For eons it’s been standard operating procedure to ask job candidates: “What is your current salary?” The motives for this question are obvious. If your current salary is beyond that budgeted for the job you’re inter- viewing for, then employers often and quickly exclude you from the candidate pool, while those with lower current salaries are assumed to be more likely to accept an offer.

This Practice Is Damaging This is changing, however, as legislators in multiple states have outlawed companies from asking about job candidates’ salary histories. Policymakers’ motives are to help eliminate one factor contributing to persistent gen- der and minority compensation disparities. In support, Susie Clark, director of undergraduate studies at the Uni- versity of Indiana’s Kelley School of Business, says: “Gender pay inequality will go on forever if we don’t do something.” Eliminating the question about salary is expected to focus employers’ attention on job qualifica- tions, such as skills, abilities, and experience, and to use market data to set pay. Put differently, the argument by some is employers should not be making offer decisions based on a candidate’s current or past pay.

Such Changes Would Be Ineffective Many HR experts and executives disagree and argue banning the box will not have the desired effect of reduc- ing unwarranted pay disparities. They further argue it is

reasonable and necessary for employers to learn during the interviewing process if they can reasonably expect to meet a candidate’s pay expectations.

Alternatives Already Exist Some companies and HR managers have already devised and implemented alternatives, particularly in instances when considerable and accurate market data exists. This information enables them to confi- dently “price” jobs. Still other employers determine and implement pay ranges which allow for some adjustment based on an individual’s qualifications.122 But neither of these provide insights into candidate expectations.

What Would You Do? Assume you are the person responsible for setting the practices at your company, what would you recommend?

1. Would you eliminate such questions from your hiring process? Defend your choice.

2. Describe how you would implement this prac- tice, and explain your rationale.

3. Given your response to #1, assume the law changed in your state and requires you do the opposite. Describe how you would effectively implement that practice.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 7-1 Explain the benefits of positive organizational behavior.

LO 7-2 Apply knowledge of positive emotions to enhance your effectiveness.

LO 7-3 Understand how to foster mindfulness.

LO 7-4 Describe how psychological capital and signature strengths can improve outcomes at work.

LO 7-5 Develop a climate that promotes positive organizational behavior.

LO 7-6 Create the conditions for flourishing in your job and career.

LO 7-7 Describe the implications of positive organizational behavior for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

Figure 7.1 summarizes what you will learn in this chapter. The focus is on positive organizational behavior and how positive inputs and processes influence a host of outcomes across levels of OB. The Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB illustrates how person fac- tors such as mindfulness, psychological capital, and signature strengths form the basis for posi- tive functioning at work. A variety of situation factors also affect the positivity of an organization’s processes. They include organizational culture, organizational climate, organizational values, virtuous leadership, and organizational practices. In turn the inputs and processes shown in the Organizing Framework influence a host of outcomes at the individual, group/team, and organi- zational level. Most importantly, you will learn about a valuable new individual-level outcome labeled flourishing. Flourishing is a contemporary way of describing success or positive func- tioning at work.

7 Positive Organizational Behavior

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251Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Emotions • Mindfulness • Psychological capital • Signature strengths

Situation Factors • Organizational culture • Organizational climate • Organizational values • Virtuous leadership • Organizational practices

Individual Level • Communication • Decision making discretion • Interpersonal conflict

Group/Team Level • Communication • Civility • Group Dynamics

Organizational Level • Communication

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Flourishing • Physical health • Citizenship behavior/

counterproductive behavior • Turnover • Creativity

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group/team cohesion and

conflict

Organizational Level • Accounting/financial

performance • Organizational performance • Customer satisfaction

FIGURE 7.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

SOURCE: ©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

Flourishing is at the core of positive organizational behavior. We flourish when our lives contain positive emotions, engagement in our work, positive relationships with others, meaningfulness, and a sense of achievement. It is safe to assume that many people work- ing for and with NASA were flourishing when the Insight Lander successfully landed on Mars in late 2018. The flight was 300 million miles over six months, but the journey was much longer. Numerous employees have been working on this project for decades, includ- ing one member of the NASA team who helped conceive of this project 40 years ago!1

Source: NASA/Bill Ingalls.

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252

Winning at Work Boosting Your Performance with Positivity2

What’s Ahead in This Chapter We’re concluding Part One of the book and our dis- cussion of the individual level by introducing you to one of the most exciting and fastest-growing areas of OB, positive organizational behavior (POB). Research suggests you can enhance your life and job satisfaction by following some of the ideas pre- sented in this chapter. We explore the value of posi- tive organizational behavior and expand on several elements to help you foster personal positivity. Posi- tive emotions are one such element (an individual- level process), as are mindfulness (a person input), positive psychological capital (a person input), and organizational climate (a situation factor). Com- bined, these elements create a positive workplace environment and enable people, teams, and organi- zations to flourish. Flourishing is the ultimate individ- ual-level outcome of POB and consists of positive emotions, engagement, constructive relationships, meaningfulness, and achievement.

Your performance at work and throughout your career is dependent in large part on influencing others (a primary focus of Chapter 12), and people are attracted to positivity. It is energizing to you, your work, and to others. Be an energizing force and improve your own performance and ability to influence others.

Engagement is a key driver of performance at all levels— you, your team, and your organization. Key drivers of engagement are relationships, and positivity is an excellent way to cultivate productive relationships, so you are well served to learn how to use positivity. The rationale behind this approach is best explained in Shawn Anchor’s TED Talk, wherein he describes how happiness leads to success, rather than the other way around. Further, as you have already learned, he explains how emotions are contagious and people like positivity. So, how do you use positivity to improve relationships, engagement, and performance?

1. Smile. It’s that simple and the best place to start. An- chor illustrates how the 10 & 5 tool is used widely within the hotel industry to foster positive interactions with guests. In short, if a guest is within 10 feet make eye contact and smile. If a guest is within five feet make eye contact, smile, and say hello or, how are you? Research in the hospital setting showed doctors and nurses who practice the 10 & 5 rule boosted em- ployee and patient satisfaction.

2. Have Purpose. “Happiness Is working hard at work worth doing.” Influence yourself and others by ensur- ing you have a clear and compelling reason for doing what you’re doing. As you learned in Chapter 5, mean- ingfulness and impact on others are two ways to boost intrinsic motivation. If you don’t know how or why your own work makes an impact, then work with your su- pervisor to better understand. When asking someone else to help or to assist with something, be sure to communicate the purpose and potential impact they and their work will have.

3. Encourage and Praise. Feedback is one form, recogni- tion is another, but what is important is to observe and acknowledge the efforts and outcomes of others.

4. Say Thank You. It is that simple. Be polite and say thank you.

5. Celebrate. Celebrate wins big and small, as well as progress and accomplishments. It is important to ac- knowledge and celebrate progress and accomplish- ments. As you learned about goal setting In Chapter 6, don’t wait until the final outcome is known, but instead congratulate people for their efforts along the way. These small celebrations can help motivate you and others to stay the course and perform better.

LWA/Larry Williams/Blend Images

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253Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You can benefit at school and at work by understanding positive organizational behavior

(positive OB or POB), a purposefully positive approach to managing the behavior of individu-

als, groups, and organizations. You’ll see some of these potential benefits when you explore

three ways in which positive OB affects a broad set of outcomes contained in the Organizing

Framework of OB.

7.1 THE VALUE OF POSITIVITY

Positive OB focuses on positive human characteristics that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement.3 It Is an off- shoot of positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship, and like these, focuses on building positive qualities in and positive outcomes for individuals, groups, and organizations. Positive OB contrasts with the historical concentration in these disciplines on sickness and dysfunction in people and organizations.4 The differences are highlighted in the following hypothetical scenarios.

Two Scenarios—Which Do You Prefer? Let’s set the stage by describing two scenarios included in an early presentation of positive organizational behavior (POB).

First Scenario “Imagine a world in which almost all organizations are typified by greed, selfishness, manipulation, secrecy, and a single-minded focus on winning.”5 Wealth is the ultimate measure of success, feelings of distrust, anxiety, self-absorp- tion, fear, burnout, and abuse are common. Members often experience conflict, treat each other disrespectfully, and break agreements with each other. Employees in this context focus on problem solving, managing uncertainty, overcoming resis- tance, achieving profitability, and figuring out how to beat the competition.

Second Scenario Now imagine a world in which appreciation, collaboration, virtu- ousness, vitality, and meaningfulness are the rule. Well-being and thriving are the markers for success among individuals, groups, and organizations alike. Trustwor- thiness, resilience, wisdom, humility, and positive energy are common features. Relationships and interactions are described as compassionate, loyal, honest, respectful, and forgiving. Employees emphasize excellence, positive deviance, extraordinary performance, and positive spirals of flourishing.

A Matter of Emphasis Rather than Rejection of Business Realities Many pro- fessionals who first encounter positive organizational behavior assume it simply rejects the realities in the first scenario: the need to solve problems, manage uncertainty, overcome resistance, achieve profitability, and compete successfully. But something else is happening.

Positive organizational behavior “does not reject the value and significance of the phenomena in the first worldview. Rather, it emphasizes the phenomena represented in the second.”6 We will show you how identifying and applying the many positive attributes of individuals, groups, and organizations is yet another powerful way of increasing your effec- tiveness professionally and personally.

Explain the benefits of positive organizational behavior.

LO 7-1

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254 PART 1 Individual Behavior

A Framework for Positivity We created Figure 7.2 to help organize, understand, and apply your knowledge of POB. As you recall from the Organizing Framework of OB, person and situation factor inputs influ- ence processes and outcomes across levels. Similarly, in Figure 7.2, positive emotions, mindfulness, psychological capital, and signature strengths are the inputs that help create positivity from person factors, and organizational climate is an input that helps create positivity from situation factors. Positivity from these two sources contribute to positive outcomes across levels of OB.

Taking this a step further, positive outcomes are generated through three pro- cesses: the amplifying effect, the buffering effect, and the positivity effect. Let’s discuss each.

Amplifying Effect In the amplifying effect, positive practices from one individual result in additional positive practices by others, which spur positivity in others, which generate other positive outcomes. The amplifying effect is often conveyed via positive emotions and social capital (your relationships and network). The idea is positiv- ity fuels more positivity, such that both the receiver and witnesses of kind acts are likely to perform kind acts of their own. This results in reinforcing cycles or upward spirals of positiv- ity. Such behaviors can then transform organizations into more compassionate and harmo- nious places, while improving interpersonal interactions, collaboration, information sharing, and efficiency.7

This perspective on positive emotions is called the broaden-and-build theory, which proposes positive emotions broaden our attention and make us more open to experience.

Positive Emotions

Mindfulness Positivity from Person Factors

Positivity from Situation Factors

Psychological Capital and Signature Strengths

Positive Outcomes across

Levels of OB

Organizational Culture and

Climate

FIGURE 7.2 A Framework of Positive OB

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255Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

These are self-reinforcing—more creates more—resulting in upward spirals of additional positive emotions and actions. For instance, employees who supported and trusted their coworkers received support and trust in return. This may not surprise you; we all hope to reap what we sow. However, the positive spiral is notable. Support and trust resulted in even more support and trust in return.8 One implication for you is if you want some- thing, then give something. If you want more, give more. Do your own experiment and find out.

People are more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors when positive OB is taking place in their work environments. Prosocial behaviors are positive acts performed without the expectation of anything in return.9 A striking and heart-warming exam- ple was provided by Laura Mazur and Jessica Robertson in the 2019 Pittsburgh Mara- thon. The two women who did not know each other were the last runners on the course when they joined hands at about mile 25. They supported each other to the finish line in an exhi- bition of prosocial behavior that went viral. Another racer who finished already and watched Mazur and Robertson said, “it isn’t about finishing first, it’s about helping each and every person change their lives for the better.”10

Buffering Effect To buffer means to reduce or counteract the effects of a negative force. In the buffering effect, positive practices and resources reduce the impact of negative events and stress- ors. When we are confronted with stressors or other- wise undesirable experiences, we utilize various social and personal resources to buffer or cope with them.11 At work, we use social support from helpful coworkers to cope, and/or we may use personal resources such as psychological capital described later in this chapter.

Positivity Effect The positivity effect “is the attraction of all living systems toward positive energy and away from negative energy, or toward that which is life giving and away from that which is life depleting.”12 Organizations using positive practices are more likely to create an atmosphere of positive energy, which in turn fuels performance,13 such as financial, work climate (more on this later in the chapter), turnover, patient satisfaction, employee participation, and managerial support.14

The Benefits of Positive OB Extend Beyond Good Performance Positive OB is more than seeing the good side of people, sharing examples of good performance, or treating employees well. Positive OB focuses on creating exceptionally positive inputs, processes, and outcomes at all levels in the Organizing Framework. Exceptionally positive means above and beyond expectations, more than making the grade. This level of achievement is referred to as positive deviance. Gretchen Spreitzer and Kim Cameron from the University of Michigan describe positive deviance

Laura Mazur and Jessica Robertson, two strangers, finished the final mile of the Pittsburgh Marathon holding hands. They were the last runners on the course and bonded together to help each other com- plete the race. Helping others, especially when you expect nothing in return, has been shown both to make you feel better and motivate those people to help others. Courtesy of Daniel Heckert

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256 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Applying OB

Because behavior is a product of our emotions, thoughts, beliefs, and experiences, it makes sense that managing these internal responses can improve our performance. Try these suggestions:

• Set intentions. Intentions are the end point or goal you want to achieve. They drive your behav- ior.16 If you want to accomplish a specific result on a given day, start your day with a positive intention to do so. Set your intentions around tasks and people that matter to you.

• Express gratitude to someone. We are healthier both physically and mentally when we express gratitude. People receiving gratitude report these same positive outcomes.17 Your expression of thanks might be a small gesture, like thanking someone for holding a door open while you pass, or it can also be bigger like starting a college scholarship to assist others in financial need. You can keep a gratitude journal at your bedside and write down one or two things each day that went

well or write a thank-you note to someone. The point is to look for positive actions by others and acknowledge them.

• Do something helpful or positive for other peo- ple. You do not have to give a tangible gift, but instead offer someone a kind or positive gesture as a smile, a compliment, or words of encourage- ment. Volumes of research show helping others is one of the most fulfilling things you can do. The more you give, the more you’ll get.18

• Become more hopeful. “Hope is believing the future will be better than the present and you have some power to make it happen.”19 The fol- lowing process was found to increase hopefulness for college students: Identify an important goal, identify different ways to achieve the goal, identify obstacles to each pathway and develop a plan for overcoming these roadblocks, and work the plan.20 Taking these steps should give you a sense of hope and control.

How to Build Positivity and Your Success

The Applying OB box describes ways you can insert positivity into your life, generally, and at work.

as  “successful performance that dramatically exceeds the norm in a positive direction.”15 The relative effects of deviance at the individual and organizational levels are illustrated in Figure 7.3.

SOURCE: M. Meyer, “The Evolution and Challenges of the Concept of Organizational Virtuousness in Positive Organizational Scholarship,” Journal of Business Ethics, 153, 2018, 245–264. IN Cameron and Caza (2002, p. 35)

FIGURE 7.3 A Continuum Illustrating Positive Deviance

Negative Deviance

Individual: Physiological Psychological

Organizational: E�ectiveness E�ciency Quality Ethics Relationships Adaptation

Ine�ective Ine cient Error-prone Unethical Harmful Threat-rigidity

E�ective E cient Reliable Ethical Helpful Coping

Excellent Extraordinary Perfect Benevolent Honoring Flourishing

Illness Illness

Health Health

Olympic Fitness Flow

Positive DevianceNormal

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TABLE 7.1 Positive OB Practices That Foster Employee Positivity

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICE DESCRIPTION AND BENEFIT

Provide decision- making discretion

Allowing employees to make decisions gives them a sense of control and greater opportunities for learning.

Share information Information helps employees see the impact of their work and how it fits into the big picture, like the vision and goals of the organization.

Minimize incivility Poor treatment, for example bullying and rude behavior, has dramatic negative effects on outcomes in the Organizing Framework and often leads to uncivil behavior by the victims. Organizations need to select employees based on civility and take swift and appropriate action when incivility occurs.

Provide feedback Feedback can be motivational and instructional.

SOURCE: Spreitzer, Gretchen, and Christine Porath. “Creating Sustainable Performance.” Harvard Business Review, January 2012. https://hbr.org/2012/01/creating-sustainable-performance.

Positively Deviant Employees Aren’t Just Happy and Satisfied—They Are Much, Much More Job satisfaction is an important outcome in the Organizing Framework. However, you have also learned job satisfaction is not the strongest or best predictor of job performance. Positive OB provides you with additional useful insights beyond job satisfaction and other attitudes that predict performance. For instance, a study published in the Harvard Business Review showed employees who flourish (a key positive outcome of positive OB shown in Figure 7.2 and discussed later) reported:

• 16 percent higher overall performance. • 125 percent less burnout. • 32 percent more commitment to their employers. • 46 percent more job satisfaction. • Fewer sick days.22

These outcomes are compelling. Organizations can foster positive deviance in employees in a number of ways, such as those described in Table 7.1.23

Doing Well and Doing Good Positive businesses do well, and they do good. They do well by being profitable and performing at a high level, but they also do good by making the well-being of their employees and other stakeholders (suppliers, customers, and communities) a priority.

• Focus on the positive side of life. Negative thoughts and worry are prime enemies of staying focused in the present moment. We often worry about things we can’t control, including events in the past. Don’t worry about the past or what you can’t control, instead try to stay focused on what is happening in the present moment.

• Be aware of negative thoughts and beliefs. The brain has a built-in negativity bias. This allows

negative events to have more impact on us than positive ones, and we often think bad infor- mation about someone is more important than positive information.21 If you find yourself focus- ing on negativity, try to reframe your thoughts in a positive direction. For example, rather than worrying about your level of performance on an exam, tell yourself you are prepared and will do just fine.

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258 PART 1 Individual Behavior

This positive approach to business is now mainstream. For example, Fortune magazine has published a list of companies that are not altruistic—doing good for goodness’s sake— but that are nevertheless solving major problems profitably. These meet three criteria:

1. Measurable Social Impact. Fortune assessed the magnitude and lasting nature of the company’s impact on a notable societal problem.

2. Business Results. How does the company benefit? Shareholder return factors heavily. It isn’t enough to receive good PR and reputational benefits.

3. Degree of Innovation. It isn’t enough to do good and do so profitably, it also is impor- tant to do so creatively, differently from others.24

Good to Employees = Good to Shareholders Positive organizations empower, support, and develop employees not just because leaders believe doing so is valuable in and of itself, but because it helps meet shareholder expectations. Kip Tindell, founder of the Container Store, reflects this belief in his philosophy about the value of employees:

One great employee is equal to three good ones. If you really believe that, a lot of things happen. We try to pay 50 to 100 percent above industry average. That’s good for the employee, that’s good for the customer, but it’s good for the company too, because you get three times the productivity at only two times the labor cost.25

Doing good can enhance well-being, even in the absence of a monetary reward, and it can happen at all levels in the Organizing Framework.

• Individual Level Joe Ryan started his own company, and rather than the common label of CEO he instead chose CFE—chief fun engineer. He thought this label aligned better with the nature of the company—party-games—and his actual respon- sibilities. It also is a great conversation tool, enabling him to explain and promote his business to others.26

• Team/Unit Level CSAA Insurance Group from California has a unique proposi- tion for employees. If you work for us you’ll spend multiple weekends per year vol- unteering in some of the nation’s best national parks. Hundreds of the company’s employees travel in teams to help with beautification and cleanup projects. For this they get Friday as a paid day off and spend the weekend camping and helping. This aligns with the company mantra—“taking care of business means taking care of each other.” Volunteering is included in leaders’ performance expectations, and in 2018 the goal was 80 percent employee participation in volunteering. They achieved 99 percent!27

• Organizational Level Walmart has made reducing waste a major focus, so much so it has diverted approximately 78 percent of the waste it produces away from land- fills.28 It has done this via recycling, packaging design and materials, and food dis- posal, and is influencing its suppliers to do the same. The company’s philosophy is that any waste is bad, and it is trying to close the loop by making products circular, meaning the energy, packaging, and products themselves are captured and put back into the system.29

Give in Order to Get Giving financially doesn’t necessarily detract from outcomes. Researchers studied the links between the amount of discounted care and the quality of all care provided by a number of hospitals in Southern California. Discounted care is given to those who cannot pay or can pay only a reduced rate; sometimes it amounts to a financial loss for the hospital. The researchers found hospitals that provided more discounted care also reported lower incidences of pneumonia and heart failure, as well as better surgical outcomes and fewer readmissions.30 This seems to suggest altruism and high performance are not mutually exclusive.

Notions of positivity are catching on with Wall Street too, as illustrated in the OB in Action box.

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259Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

Socially responsible investing is nothing new, it’s decades-old in fact. However, it’s finally lost its stigma and is now recognized as a viable and profit- able approach to investing. Financial instruments with a green and responsible focus are referred to as environmental, social, and governance (ESG). Ample evidence now exists showing that compa- nies can be very profitable by considering the envi- ronment, communities, and employees in their decisions.31

Bank of America and Merrill Lynch found that approximately 20% of all investors, and 50% of those with a longer time horizon, consider ESG issues in their decisions, demonstrating there is suf- ficient demand for such considerations. In support of this focus, McKinsey studied mid-large compa- nies between 2001 in 2014 who manage with a long-term approach, which means they consistently invest profits back into their business through peo- ple and R&D. They found these companies per- formed substantially better than their peer group: 47% greater revenue growth and 36% greater profit. As one investor put it, “investments chosen with social concerns in mind proved ‘more resilient and less risky.’ ”32

ESG investing is no longer just for do-gooders and tree huggers. Some titans of the investment world have gotten behind it, including billionaire investor Paul Tudor Jones II. In 2012 he started a foundation, Just Capital, to develop a series of cor- porate performance measures including things other

than dollars and cents, like how workers are treated and job creation.

In the beginning, Just Capital produced only a list, but then Goldman Sachs used these metrics to create a new exchange traded fund as part of its social impact efforts. The fund includes a selection of Russell 1000 companies and tracks the top per- formers in each industry based on Just Capitals’ measures, which now include metrics related to workers, customers, products, environment, jobs, communities, and management. In its first year the top performers were only tech companies: Intel, Texas Instruments, NVidia, Microsoft, and IBM.

Just Capital says the companies in the fund out- performed their peer group impressively and in socially conscious ways. They paid 71 percent less in fines for consumer complaints and violations, 94 percent less in equal employment opportunity commission fines, and produced 45 percent lower greenhouse gases. And to top it off, they created 20 percent more jobs in their peer group.33

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What are the pros and cons of ESG investing? 2. Assume you are a money manager, explain why

you would or would not consider ESG factors in your investing? Be sure to include at least two reasons for each argument.

3. Do you think this approach will continue to be effective over time? Explain.

How Do You Spell Green? ESG.

OB in Action

Balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders—employees, customers, communities, and investors—is a major challenge. Despite what particular leaders may say, most give clear priority to one, often at the expense of the others. But some truly attempt to satisfy all stakeholders. A glowing example is Salesforce, which ranked #2 on Fortune’s Best Places to Work list in 2019.34 This company continues to deliver impressive results for many of its stakeholders. For employees, it spent $3 million to help establish pay equity, and it provides unlimited vacation time and paid sabbaticals among many other attrac- tive benefits. It invests in communities by providing each employee seven days per year to devote to a cause they choose, and it matches up to $5,000 in charitable giving.35 Whether these practices have actually attracted investors isn’t exactly clear, but what is clear is it hasn’t scared them away. The company’s stock is a long-time favorite among tech investors.

However, positive approaches to doing business aren’t without difficulties. The follow- ing Problem-Solving Application describes challenges Whole Foods has had maintaining its doing well by doing good philosophy since being acquired by Amazon in 2017.

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260 PART 1 Individual Behavior

Whole Foods vs. Whole Amazon

Investigative journalist Michael Blanding put it best, “Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods . . . was the corporate equivalent of mixing tap water with organic extra virgin olive oil. You’d be hard-pressed to find two companies with more different value propositions.”36 Stories quickly emerged about Whole Foods customers unhappy about the changes at their favorite organic retailer, and they weren’t the only ones complaining. Similar negative stories emerged from employees regarding the new performance-driven expectations imposed by Amazon.

Immediate Impact After the acquisition, Amazon’s presence was immediately felt. In addition to plastering its logo everywhere In Whole Foods stores, it also used its strengths in data and data analysis to determine appropriate product mixes and bring efficiencies to many processes. After all, Amazon is known for its efficiencies, low costs, and low prices.

Clash This is a stark contrast to Whole Foods’ highly empowered approach to doing business, wherein individual stores and their employees had autonomy regarding decisions about product selection, inventory, and how best to serve customers. This employee-centric focus is what earned the company a spot-on Fortune’s Best

Places to Work list for 20 consecutive years, and the reason its customers enjoyed personalized intensive, hands-on service. Although this decentralized, high-touch approach had real benefits, it also had considerable inefficiencies that Amazon was keen to address.

Amazon and its employees utilized data, rigor- ous analysis and controls, and demanding perfor- mance management practices. In the eyes of Amazon, customers were faceless digital profiles of purchasing history and preferences. This environ- ment was a good fit for some employees but incred- ibly stressful and negative for others. Evidence for this was Whole Foods dropping from Fortune’s list in 2018 (it didn’t make the list in 2019 either).

Unrealized Potential? These differences have the potential to undermine the hopes and goals of the merger, which were to bring Amazon’s efficiencies and operating prowess to Whole Foods’ unique approach and loyal customers, enabling it to scale up and make an even larger impact in the market. Leaders at Amazon, and to a lesser extent at Whole Foods, now have decisions to make. Problems exist, and the success of the marriage depends on solving them.

Assume you’re a consultant, what would you recommend to Amazon’s leadership?

Problem-Solving Application

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem as described in the case.

Step 2: Identify the causes of the problem. Which inputs and processes from the Organizing Frame- work are evident?

Step 3: Make recommendations to Amazon’s leadership regarding how to realize the potential of the merger.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

OB recognizes emotions as an important and ever-present individual-level process. In the

section ahead you can see whether your positive emotional experience matches our list of

the 10 most common positive emotions. Positivity is more than feeling happiness and paint-

ing a smile on your face. You’ll also find tips on how to foster positive emotions and how to

apply them at school, work, and home.

7.2 THE POWER OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS

Referring to Figure 7.2, note that positive emotions help drive positivity from person fac- tors. Recall in Chapter 3 we introduced emotions as relatively brief psychological and physiological reactions having a particular target, such as a person (an unethical, bullying boss), a situation (a night out with your closest friends), or an event (scoring well on an exam). Our discussion then focused on negative emotions and how to manage their expression. We now turn to positive emotions.

Like their negative cousins, positive emotions are relatively f lexible individual differences and are important processes in the Organizing Framework. You may think of emotions in terms of positive or negative; however, there is much more to the story.

Beyond Happy vs. Sad Positive and negative emotions are not polar opposites. The world of emotions is not happy versus sad. Negative emotions spur you to act in quite narrow or specific ways. Fear may motivate you to flee and anger may motivate you to fight. Positive emotions, in con- trast, tend to broaden your mind-set and allow you to consider new, different, and possibly better alternatives when trying to solve a problem.

Positive Emotions as Resources If you think of emotions in this way, you can see negative emotions are limiting and positive emotions are resources that fuel individual, group, and organizational flourishing. (Flourishing is discussed in detail in the last section of this chapter.) Psychology professor Barbara Fredrickson explains positive emotions this way:

To get a feel for the ways positive emotions can build life resources, envision for a moment something that made you feel joyful, playful, or intensely alive—when you wanted to smile, cheer, or jump up and dance around. Maybe it was . . . sharing a meal with lots of laughter with a friend you haven’t seen in ages . . . maybe it was dancing with the group of friends as your favorite band played. Whatever comes to mind for you, take a moment to relive the experience in your mind, letting joy rekin- dle. Consider how you felt and what you felt like doing. What we’ve learned about

Apply knowledge of positive emotions to enhance your effectiveness.

LO 7-2

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joyful experiences like these is that the playful urges they carry build resources, and in times of trouble, these gains in resources can help you in important ways— strengthen relationships, boost performance at school and work, and improve your health.37

The bottom line is positive emotions help you build resources in the form of:

• Social relationships that are supportive, fulfilling, and lasting. • Psychological well-being that leads to personal growth, meaningful goals, and self-

acceptance.38

• Physical well-being in the form of lower stress and a healthy heart.

These resources support your efforts and effectiveness in all arenas of life—school, work, and family.

Benefits of Positive Emotions Positive emotions are processes influencing many outcomes in the Organizing Framework, and they have desirable effects on:

• Organizational commitment • Creativity • Decision making • Intentions to quit • Performance39

• Stress40

Table 7.2 lists the 10 most common positive emotions from the most to the least frequently experienced. Love is a special case, however. Despite being at the bottom of the list, it is the most frequently experienced positive emotion. After reading about each of the other positive emotions, you’ll understand why it was inserted last in the table.

Positive Emotions Are Contagious It has been shown time and again, if you help someone in a meaningful or even a small way, that person is more likely to help others. As Barbara Fredrickson says, “Beyond the dance of positivity between you and the person you helped, those who witness your good deed may well feel inspired, their hearts uplifted and elevated.”41

This means not only do you reap the benefits of helping somebody else, but that person also benefits, and so does the person he or she helps, and so on. This self- reinforcing and perpetuating aspect of positive emotions, and positivity more gener- ally, is what leads to upward spirals of positivity, in which your positive behaviors, feelings, and attitudes generate the same in others in a continually reinforcing process.

Positivity spirals may also work in the other direction. In diverse customer service jobs—such as financial consulting, medical care, retail banking, hair care, and grocery stores—customers who showed delight with the service generated positive emotions in the provider and a subsequent increase in that person’s organizational commitment and job satisfaction. We’re often pleased when we help somebody and they in turn show appreciation. However, better still, the benefits extend to future customers via improved service behaviors.42 This illustrates the lasting or enduring effects of positivity.

This contagion occurs in teams too. Positive emotions spread to create team-level emotions that help members new and old feel safe, welcome, and truly part of the team. These benefits lead to improved team performance.43

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TABLE 7.2 Description of the 10 Most Frequent Positive Emotions

POSITIVE EMOTION DESCRIPTION

Joy Visualize this: Your surroundings are safe and familiar. Things are going your way, even better than you expected. Choice requires little effort on your part. Colors are more vivid. There’s a spring in your step and your face lights up with a smile and an inner glow.

Gratitude Imagine you’ve realized someone has gone out of his or her way to do something different. Your mentor gently steers your career in the right direction, or your physician meets you at the office after hours or on the weekend. Gratitude opens your heart and generates an urge for you to give back, to do something good in return, either for the person who helped you or for someone else.

Serenity Like joy, serenity includes safe and familiar surroundings and requires little effort on your part. But unlike joy, serenity is low key. It comes when you go on a long, leisurely ride or walk, engage in fulfilling conversation, or get wrapped up in a good book while relaxing on vacation.

Interest Something novel or different draws your attention, filling you with a sense of possibility or mystery. Unlike the case for joy and serenity, the circumstances call for effort on your part. You’re pulled to immerse yourself in what you’re discovering.

Hope Hope is different from most other positive emotions you experience when you’re safe and/or satisfied. You are hopeful when something isn’t going your way, but you believe that it can.

Pride You know pride’s evil cousins—shame and guilt—and the painful feelings that overcome you when you are to blame for something. Pride is the opposite; you’re responsible for something good, something for which you can take credit or that made a positive difference to someone else. (However, unchecked pride is hubris.)

Amusement Sometimes something unexpected happens that makes you laugh. Amusement is social; it most often occurs in the company of and as a result of others. Heartfelt laughter often accompanies amusement.

Inspiration When you’re inspired you are moved to do something extraordinary, something you might otherwise feel is beyond your abilities. This same feeling rivets your attention, warms your heart, and draws you in. Inspiration doesn’t just feel good; it makes you want to act, to improve, or even to be the best you can be.

Awe Closely related to inspiration is awe which happens on a grand scale. You feel overwhelmed, small, and humble. Awe makes you stop in your tracks. Sometimes people are awed by the beauty of nature (Grand Canyon or Niagara Falls).

Love Love is not a single positive emotion but incorporates many of the others. When these good feelings stir our hearts within a safe, often close relationship, we call it love. Early stages of romantic relationships involve intense interest in everything and anything the person says. You share amusements and laughter together and as the relationship builds great joy, you begin to share your hopes and dreams for the future together. When the relationship becomes more solid, you experience serenity and can be proud of your partner’s achieve- ments, as if they are your own.

SOURCE: Fredrickson, Barbara L. Positivity. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2009.

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We often think of service encounters from the customer’s perspective, but research shows positive customers help generate positive feelings and behaviors in employees. These positive effects can “spiral” beyond a particular encounter to positively affect the employee’s other behaviors. Peathegee Inc/Blend Images

How Much Positivity Is Enough? Don’t overlook the valuable role of negative emotions—life is not all sunshine and roses. Negative emotions can motivate you to try harder and improve, and they can also protect you against harmful situations and communicate to others your need for help or support.44 Forcing yourself to feel or act as if everything is great all the time is absurd and would certainly undermine your effectiveness, health, and overall well-being. Even the most posi- tive person feels the intense emotional pain associated with experiences of loss and betrayal, and positive people get angry when they or others are treated unfairly. So how much positivity is enough?

Multiple Positives for Every Negative Some researchers have argued for specific optimal ratios of positive to negative which others have disputed. Yet, all agree that posi- tive and negative experiences are not equivalent. You cannot remedy a negative experience by simply adding a positive one—it’s not one for one.

Instead, to flourish and experience the benefits of positive OB discussed in this chap- ter, you must have three, five, or more positive experiences for every negative.45 You don’t need to focus on which positive emotions you feel at a particular time, but be sure you have multiple positives for every negative one.

Why? Because it has been well-established that our brains respond differently to posi- tive and negative experiences.

• Negative experiences activate a survival orientation and lead us to be more respon- sive to negative information. Our brains actually look harder for negative than for positive information during daily activities.46 This might help explain why managers tend to give more negative than positive feedback to employees.

• Positive experiences activate a supportive orientation and lead us to be more respon- sive to positive information. This is part of the reason managers, and people more generally, seem receptive to new ideas when in a good mood. The following Apply- ing OB box describes how to boost positivity by injecting some fun.

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Applying OB

Of course, everyone likes to have fun, including at work. Thanks to researchers in the 2000s we have sci- entific support for its benefits in the workplace. Fun in the workplace is defined as: “characteristics or features of the work environment of a social, playful, and humorous nature, which have the potential to trigger positive feelings of enjoyment, amusement, and lighthearted pleasure.”47

Situation Factor When viewed this way fun is a situation factor, which means it is an input in the Organizing Framework and is something you and your coworkers can control. Some companies are well known for cultivating fun as an important value or part of their culture. For instance, Marriott famously says, “work hard, yet keep it fun.” Google leaders have been known to espouse “fun comes from everywhere,”48 and Southwest Airlines Is well known for its “fun- LUVing” culture and encourages employees to be “creative and add a touch of levity and laughter whenever possible.”49

Benefits Fun for fun’s sake, is fine, but purposefully building a fun work environment has many benefits, such as helping coworkers make new connections

while learning something new because of the interactions. Employees also have been found to support one another, be more creative, resilient, and optimistic, all due to fun.50

How to Build It Several factors can help cultivate a fun work environment, including:

• Supportive Practices. Be a fun promoter, not a damper. Manager encouragement, participation, and other supportive behaviors help.

• Employee autonomy. Let them play! • Events. Activities, stimulating job responsibilities,

and socializing are ways of building fun. To help ensure your efforts have the desired results, consider the type of activity, those involved In the activity, and make it voluntary. You can’t force fun; you can only present the opportunity. Research has found employees generally appre- ciate mainstream activities aligning with their interests (celebrations for birthdays or achieve- ments) rather than something wacky or with narrow appeal.51

Boost Positivity with Fun

This discussion reveals why managers should focus on the good things employees are doing, and why all of us should focus on the positive qualities of coworkers, classmates, business partners, friends, and significant others. You’re likely thinking, “sounds good, but how?”

Strategies to Increase Your Positivity The following activities can help increase positive experiences and decrease your negative ones.52

Create high-quality connections. Any social interaction, whether with family, coworkers, classmates, or the person ahead of you in line, is a chance to create a high-quality connection. These connections are energizing and enhance your positivity. To trans- form ordinary interactions into high-quality connections, try the following tips:

1. Make someone the only person in the room. Engage the other person by being present, attentive, and affirming. Act as though he or she is the only person in the room.

2. Support. Encourage the person and help him or her achieve a goal or attain success.

3. Give trust. Believe you can depend on this person to meet your expectations, and let it show.

4. Goof off, play, have fun! Have no goals or intentions other than to goof off with others.

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Cultivate kindness. Set a goal of performing five new acts of kindness in a single day. Aim for actions that make a difference and come at no cost to you. Assess what those around you might need most and make a plan, but execute your plan so acts of kindness occur on the same day to further enhance the impact.

Develop distractions. One of the best ways to break from negativity is to distract your- self. Brainstorm and think of ways—old and new—to distract yourself from negative thoughts. Be sure to think of things you can do at school, at home, or at work. Make two lists: healthy distractions and unhealthy distractions. Healthy distractions can be going for a run, taking a bike ride, or playing your favorite sport. Unhealthy dis- tractions might be drinking, eating junk food, watching TV, or playing video games. For each unhealthy distraction, challenge yourself to add another healthy distrac- tion to your list. Negativity can creep in anywhere and at any time, so keep your lists of distractions handy and practical.

For example, Sam Kendricks may not be household name, but he is a renowned pole vault champion. He won bronze in the 2016 Olympics, five consecutive national titles, a world championship, and was undefeated in meets in 2017. Obviously, he is a world class talent but what is equally notable is his determination to spread posi- tivity by making friends with and helping support his fellow competitors. The pole vault is one of the loneliest of sports—just you, the pole, and bar—and you either win or lose. Yet during competitions Kendricks gives pointers, coaches, and cheers for his competitors. His positivity was captured in an interview: “They probably thought I seemed a little strange. I really pushed on these other guys that I wanted to be their friend and help them. . . . I had an undefeated season last year, but what good is vic- tory if you can’t share it?”53

Dispute negative self-talk and thoughts. Write on 3×5-inch cards your most frequent negative thoughts or emotions about yourself, a relationship, or a situation at school, work, or home. Then, in a private place where no one can hear you, read the cards aloud one at a time. After reading each, immediately dispute or counter it. Don’t stop to think but beat it down and disprove it with something positive about yourself,

Sam Kendricks treats the pole vault like a team sport. He helps and cheers on his competitors in the middle of meets. He believes friendship and positivity benefit his performance and that of his com- petitors, and that’s how he likes it. David Emm/Getty Images

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the situation, or the facts. Be sure to do this with enthusiasm, to build your convic- tion. Practice. Your goal is to learn to dispute negative thoughts as quickly as they enter your mind.

Platitudes = Fake = Bad Outcomes Uttering positive words or forcing a smile isn’t enough. Humans are excellent detectors of insincerity.54 If your positivity is not heart- felt and genuine, you will not reap any of the benefits of improved performance, relation- ships, and health we’ve discussed. Disingenuous attempts at positivity may even do harm, because your lack of authenticity may erode others’ trust in you and reduce your influence and credibility with them.

Your Level of Positivity To make this discussion come to life for you, find out the relative frequency of your positive to negative emotions. This knowledge can help you understand many things about yourself, such as how likely you are to reap the benefits of positive emotions and positive OB. Emotions are short-lived, and any measure of your emotions captures your feelings about a specific event, person, or dimension of your life at only a particular point in time. We encourage you to take Self-Assessment 7.1 for the past day of your life, which is intended to capture your positivity more generally. Then take it again, focusing on school or work as your target. Now calculate your ratio of positive to negative emotions for work or school, and compare it to your ratio for life more generally. This will provide knowledge of your positivity in various arenas of life and help you better understand this important personal resource.

Learn Your Positivity Ratio Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 7.1 in Connect.

1. What is your reaction to the results? 2. Considering the individual differences (IDs) we discussed in Chapter 3, which

ones do you think are contributing to your ratio? 3. Do others see you as more or less positive than your ratio suggests? Why? 4. If you conduct this self-assessment for two different dimensions of your life

(school and work), to what do you attribute the differences in the ratios if any? 5. Describe three things you can do to improve your positivity ratio for school.

SOURCE: Barbara Fredrickson, Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Posi- tive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive, Crown Publishers, 2009.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.1

Next, we’ll explore an approach to positivity and well-being that has received enor- mous attention, and practice, in the past several years.

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Mindfulness is “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.”55 We can be mindful of our inner world (our feelings and thoughts), and our outer world, including the feelings, thoughts, and interactions of others. Everyone has the ability to be mindful, but it takes effort. The default setting in our minds is to judge or evaluate our current internal and external situation,56 and it is this mental chatter that detracts from the inner quiet we need to stay focused on and aware of what is going on around us.

Understand how to foster mindfulness.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

You may be more aware of mindfulness by its absence, such as when you’re saying some-

thing you feel is important, yet the person you’re speaking to isn’t paying attention. In this

section, you’ll find you can improve your focus and attention through practice, and how doing

so can be tremendously beneficial to you, those around you, and your employer.

7.3 FOSTERING MINDFULNESS

Figure 7.2 shows mindfulness is another person factor that creates positivity in work environments, along with a growing number of desirable outcomes for individuals, teams, and organizations. This is why we study it in OB and explore some of the details next.

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Big Business The interest in mindfulness, and meditation more generally, at work has grown tremen- dously in recent years. Mindfulness is now mainstream and widely practiced by employees and in workplaces everywhere. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed a two- to three-fold increase in the number of people practicing some sort of mindfulness since 2012.57 A survey of 163 employers of different sizes and industries found that greater than 52 percent planned to provide mindfulness classes within the next year, and another 25 percent planned to do so within the next two years.58

Many companies now sponsor mindfulness training for employees (Google, Nike, Fidelity) and others have cashed in by providing apps and other forms of mindfulness training. Insight Timer, for instance, claims it is the world’s most used meditation app with over 6 million users59 and more than 50,000 hours of meditation per day. This is one small part of the more than $1 billion mindfulness industry.60 A competitor, Headspace, antici- pates doubling its corporate clients in just one year.61

Like many other things at work, it helps if senior leaders buy in and are believers in mindfulness. The following OB in Action box describes how the former CEO of Aetna brought mindfulness to his employees, along with the experiences of other companies.

CEO Is a Believer Mark Bertolini, the former CEO of Aetna Health (which merged with CVS), credits mindfulness with changing his life after a horrible skiing accident before becoming CEO. He used it to help manage the pain and recover from his injuries, and once becoming CEO, he was determined that employees should reap similar benefits. But it wasn’t easy. In an interview with The New York Times he recalls the CFO at the time saying, “ ‘We’re a profit- making entity. This isn’t about compassion and collaboration.’ I said, ‘Well, I actually think it is. And I’m in charge, so we’re going to do it.’ ”62

Bertolini also credits mindfulness with boosting the minimum wage at the company. The company’s yoga instructor heard numerous complaints regard- ing pay from employees during the training sessions; these were then shared with Bertolini. He was deeply troubled by the dire financial situations of many employees, which he then acted on by increas- ing the minimum wage at the company from $12 to $16 per hour.63 Although mindfulness did not directly cause the change, the classes provided the opportu- nity for him to learn about employees’ plight and open his mind to listen and thus sparked his com- passion to act.

Scientists Proved It to Themselves Scientists at biotech company Genentech felt happier and more content at both work and home after using a mindfulness app. Like true scientists, they conducted

experiments and used the data to convince HR to offer the Headspace app to all of the company’s 14,000 employees. It seems to work, as 2,500 of them now use the app at least four times per week.

Nancy Vitale, senior vice president of human resources at Genentech, said: “Headspace is giving us an opportunity to focus on the health and well- being of our employees. . . . Our mission is bringing breakthrough medicines to patients, and it’s critical to foster an environment where employees feel they can give their best.”

Biotech, Insurance, and Industrials . . . They’re All Mindful. What About You?

OB in Action

Mark Bertolini attributes much of his recovery from a severe skiing accident to mindfulness. He then promoted it throughout the company when CEO at Aetna Health. Cindy Ord/Getty Images

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Benefits of Mindfulness Although mindfulness was originally used as a means for guarding against negative work- related outcomes, such as stress and burnout, now it is promoted for improving a wide range of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physical outcomes.65

The American Psychological Association has compiled several scientifically sup- ported mindfulness benefits:

1. Less rumination. If you dwell on past or current challenges, you are likely ruminating. Mindfulness can help reduce this often destructive emotional vicious circle.

2. Reduced stress. Stress can have many undesirable effects, which will be explored in more detail in Chapter 16. But there are clear benefits for mindfulness.

3. Improved memory. Many forms of meditation have been shown to improve retention and working memory, beyond the benefits of reducing stress.

4. Better focus. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve focus and decision making.

5. Self-awareness. Mindfulness fosters self-observation and introspection.

6. Greater interpersonal effectiveness and satisfaction. It is likely the other benefits noted contribute to better relationships, but mindfulness helps reduce conflict and lessen the negative effects when it occurs.66

Industrial Well-Being Industrial giant GE also uses mindfulness training as a part of its employee health and well-being efforts. The company provides one month free and then 60 percent discounts for employees who want to continue. So far feedback has been very positive, according to Global Wellness Leader Adam Malinkoski, and more than 5,000 employees have tried it.64

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. If your employer provided mindfulness training

would you participate? Why or why not? 2. If you were CEO would you be willing to give

mindfulness training a try? Why or why not? 3. Have you meditated or done yoga? If yes, what

are the benefits you experienced? If you haven’t personally, what have others you know told you about their experience?

Each of these companies has created a climate that fosters positive OB. Do you agree that industry leaders have a larger responsibility to make the world a better place? Top Left: Michael Lucia/The Oakland Tribune/ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Stock Photo; Top Right: Kristoffer Tripplaar/ Alamy Stock Photo; Bottom Left: Bjorn Bakstad/Shutterstock; Bottom Right: Asif Islam/Shutterstock

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Practicing Mindfulness The goal of practicing mindfulness is to help you become more calm-and-collected in all circumstances. An influential book, The Leader’s Way, explains: “When the mind is dis- turbed by anger, jealousy, hate, impatience, fear, lack of self-confidence, or negative emo- tions about things that happened in the past, it is wasting valuable time that instead should be used for constructive thinking.”68 Practicing mindfulness helps you focus your mind on productive activities while constraining counterproductive thinking and mind wandering.

The good news is you can learn mindfulness by practicing a variety of simple medita- tion techniques on a regular basis. Although there are many good books, articles, and help- ful apps,69 we review two approaches that are easily learned: a breathing meditation and a walking meditation. Research shows practicing short meditative techniques reduces stress and negative emotions and increases emotional regulation, task performance, and memory.70 Give the techniques a try and note how you feel!

Breathing Meditation Breathing meditations are easy and can be done almost any- where. Focusing on breath reminds us of the here and now because it brings us back to a fundamental and vital function of life. This technique requires nothing more than tuning in to the physical sensations associated with breathing in and out. Two experts recommend the following simple approach for getting started:

• Place your hand on your stomach a couple of inches beneath the upside-down V at the center of your rib cage. Look down, breathe normally, and watch your hand. You’ll probably see it move only a little bit, and more-or-less up and down. Your abdomen should expand when you inhale and contract on the exhale.

• Leaving your hand in place, now breathe in such a way that your hand moves out and back, perpendicular to your chest. Try to breathe into your hand with real oomph, so that it travels back and forth half an inch or more with each breadth.71

What Is My Level of Mindfulness? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 7.2 in Connect.

1. What questions identified your greatest inhibitors? (Select the three items with the lowest scores.)

2. What is the cause of these inhibitors? 3. Examine the techniques listed in the next section and decide which one might

be best suited for your needs. Start using the technique on a daily basis.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.2

Evidence is accumulating as to the many benefits of mindfulness at work, especially in the areas of performance, interpersonal relationships, and overall well-being. Mindfulness interventions have been shown to increase job performance, organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs from Chapter 2), and safety behaviors. It’s also been shown to improve communications, leadership, and teamwork, while reducing conflict.67

It’s no wonder so many organizations have explored the benefits of mindfulness. But what about you? Would you like to improve your interpersonal interactions and experience less stress? If yes, then you’ll gain insight about your current level of mindfulness by com- pleting Self-Assessment 7.2. Then, in the next section we will walk you through a mindful- ness exercise with the hope you’ll get some sense of the benefits for your personally. But first, be sure to take the assessment and answer the questions.

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Start by trying these two steps for about 10 to 20 breaths. Once you are comfortable with this form of diaphragm breathing, you can take your practice to the next level with these additional instructions:

• Sit comfortably in a chair, feet firmly on the ground and your back relatively erect. Feel like you are a “proud mountain” of stability. Close your eyes and take a deep inhale that fills your belly and lungs. Now exhale, noticing how your belly contracts. Do this twice.

• Add counting to four or five as you both inhale and exhale, to ensure you are taking deep breaths. Try doing this for five minutes twice a day. You can extend the length of time you practice breathing meditations as you become more comfortable with the technique.

Your mind is likely to wander during these exercises. You will also notice sounds around you. That’s normal. Acknowledge the thoughts and sounds and return your focus to your breath. Don’t try to chase the thoughts away or give the sounds much attention. Just recognize them and let them pass. The thoughts will move away like a white cloud being blown by the wind in a blue sky.

Walking Meditation This can be done any time you are walking, and no one will know you are doing it. Start this technique by forming an intention or desired goal. Doing this sends a signal to the mind that guides its attentiveness and awareness during the meditative practice.72 A sample intention is, “I will focus on the act of walking while ignoring other sounds and thoughts.”

Begin walking and keep your intention in mind. Concentrate on placing one foot after the other. Feel the rhythmic nature of your steps. Focus on how it feels to lift and place your feet on the surface. Train your mind to be aware of your footsteps. Notice the speed at which you walk and the pressure being felt by your feet. Consider changing the length of your stride and notice how it feels. If your mind starts to wander or you begin thinking about something you have to do, just recognize the thought and then drop it. Return your attention and awareness to your inten- tion, which is the act of walking. You will be amazed at what you can observe.73 Try this for five minutes every day for three weeks and observe the effects.

A variation on this technique is to focus your intention on sound or smell. For example, “I will focus on all sounds during my walk,” and “I will

focus on all smells during my walk.” If you use an intention aimed at sound, begin walk- ing and concentrate on what you hear. Listen for all types of sounds like footsteps, bird- song, mechanical objects operating, wind, tree branches rustling, voices, clanging of objects, airplanes overhead, and so on. The key is to allow your mind to focus on anything that can be heard. Again, recognize stray or wandering thoughts, and let them passively go away by returning to your intention. Try this for five to 10 minutes.

Practice Makes Perfect Mindfulness can be learned via practice, and though it takes time and commitment, the benefits are substantial. The techniques above can get you started, and helpful apps can also guide you through meditative experiences.74 In addition, your local gym might offer classes. For example, 24 Hour Fitness is exploring the use of special meditative pods that use sound and light to help people meditate.75

Experiencing nature can be very meditative and has been found to improve our mood and general outlook. If you want to make a walk like this meditative, take breaks now and then to focus on what you are seeing, hearing, or smelling. Tananya pitiwatsombat/Shutterstock

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Positive psychological capital is part of the positive OB movement and is a key person input

in the Organizing Framework (Figure 7.2). You’ll often find it explained in terms of its compo-

nents: hope, efficacy, resiliency, and optimism (HERO). You’re about to learn how to develop

and benefit from your “inner HERO” or psychological capital. We also explore signature

strengths, which are another way to utilize individuals’ positive attributes instead of attempt-

ing to overcome weaknesses.

7.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

Individuals with high levels of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) possess con- siderable hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism (HERO). To elaborate:

H   Hope. Persevering toward goals and, when necessary, redirecting paths in order to succeed.

E   Efficacy. Having the confidence to take on challenging tasks and put in the effort necessary to succeed.

R   Resilience. When hampered by problems and adversity, sustaining and bounc- ing back and even beyond to attain success.

O   Optimism. Making a positive attribution about succeeding now and in the future.76

Besides being positive PsyCap can be developed.77 Recall from Chapter 3 when we dis- cussed the relative flexibility of individual differences, such as attitudes and emotional intelligence (Figure 3.2). Flexible individual differences are opportunities for you and man- agers to develop and improve. This means training and practice can increase your PsyCap.

Not only is your PsyCap flexible, but it also has been shown to improve many out- comes in the Organizing Framework, such as increasing job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and well-being, and decreasing intentions to quit, job stress, anxiety, and counterproductive work behaviors.78

PsyCap has also been shown to guard against negative experiences and events. One study found employees who were subjected to abusive supervisors, who also had high lev- els of PsyCap, still performed OCBs.79 Although these findings are interesting, we would likely advocate for improving or removing the abusive supervisor, instead of developing the PsyCap of employees so they can deal with it better. PsyCap also reduced the degree to which stockholders sold shares due to a negative earnings surprise.80 Not sure who benefits—the shareholders or the company?

Let’s learn how to develop your PsyCap and that of others by focusing on the HERO traits.

Hope = Willpower + Waypower You’re probably thinking, “Of course I know what hope is; what else is there to know?” You may even see yourself as more hopeful than the average person. If this is your view, you might be surprised to learn that hope actually has two components, and knowing this can help you understand why hope works, when it doesn’t, and how to build it.

Describe how psychological capital and signature strengths can improve outcomes at work.

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The two components of hope are willpower and waypower. This means to have hope you need to have a goal and the determination to achieve it—willpower. You also need to see one or more paths to achieve your goal, even when faced with adver- sity—waypower.81 Hope requires both a goal and a means for achieving that goal.

Ben Horowitz, the renowned technology entrepreneur and venture capitalist, puts a high premium on the willpower of entrepreneurs. Willpower, along with genius, are in his mind the two most crucial characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. “Building a com- pany is hard and lonely. It demands relentless focus. And no matter how well you do, you must be ready to be pummeled again and again.”82 It takes willpower to persist. Horowitz himself demonstrated enormous willpower when Loudcloud, an earlier venture with Marc Andreessen, nearly failed half a dozen times before ultimately being revived, strengthened, and sold to HP for $1.6 billion. Horowitz used “force of personality and willpower to make a business out of it,” said Herb Allen III, the CEO of Allen & Co.83

In a practical sense, hope supports adaptability and change.84 A series of studies showed hope led to increased adaptability for police officers and insurance sales agents, and in the case of the agents, it also led to increased sales commissions.85 You can build hope in yourself and others via effective goal setting (Chapter 6).86 The problem-solving approach can help too, because it can assist you in identifying potential obstacles, sources of support, and feasible alternate paths by which to reach your goal.

Efficacy We discussed efficacy in Chapter 3; remember efficacy also is a component of your core self-evaluations (CSEs) and represents your confidence in your ability to achieve. It there- fore influences the way you perceive the world around you and your ability to deal with challenges and opportunities. Figure 3.4 provides a guide for improving your self-efficacy. Applying your knowledge of self-efficacy will help you realize its important role in positive psychological capital—greater efficacy makes you more confident, more positive, and more effective.

Resilience If you’re resilient you have the capacity to consistently bounce back from adversity and to sustain yourself when confronted with challenges. Resilience helps you when things go your way and when they don’t—it is your built-in shield and recovery characteris- tic. Fred Luthans, the father of psychological capital, and his colleagues stated that resil- ience “is arguably the most important positive resource to navigating a turbulent and stressful workplace.”87

What gives resilience its power? Resilient people are open to new experiences, f lex- ible to changing demands, and emotionally stable when confronted with adversity.88 It is no wonder that resilience is a component of psychological capital and positive OB. Resilience can be improved with support, such as coaching or help from others during trying times or experiences. The work climate, discussed in the next section of this chapter, can make employees feel safe enough to take risks and to make mistakes, thus enhancing their resilience.89 The following OB in Action box illustrates how resilience is used at one of the nation’s largest health systems and how to build a resilience pro- gram at work.

Optimism Optimists are both realistic and f lexible. Think about it—if you aren’t realistic you are setting yourself up to fail. And if you fail too often, even the most optimistic of us loses our motivation and inspiration. True optimists are f lexible and willing to revise their views as situations change. (Recall the contingency approach to management discussed in Chapter 1.) However, optimists don’t see everything as positive; if so, they would be unrealistic or delusional.

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Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest health sys- tems in the United States, employing approximately 200,000 employees. Employee wellness is a primary focus for this organization and is led by Kathy Gerwig, VP of employee safety, health, and wellness. Ms. Gerwig is a member of the American Heart Association CEO Roundtable, which has studied the matter and pro- duces the Resilience in the Workplace Report.90

Ms. Gerwig and Kaiser address a broad range of issues confronted by workers today: relationships at work, emotional well-being, how we handle stress, and the increasingly dynamic and uncertain career landscape. Kaiser approaches these issues by focus- ing on six elements of employee well-being: physical health and safety, mental health and wellness, finan- cial well-being, career development, other relation- ships, and community involvement.91

VP Gerwig believes resilience threads through all of these elements, and as such she and Kaiser promote resilience at the individual, department, and organizational levels. For instance, Kaiser offers extensive resilience training not only for its employ- ees, but also for partners in the communities in which it operates, such as schools.

The Resilience in the Workplace Report showed nearly three-quarters of those who participated in resilience training found it beneficial, in part by reducing stress and improving sleep. The AHA report also made recommendations for implement- ing a workplace resilience program that includes five practices:92

1. Understand the problem. Much like our own 3-Step Approach, the AHA recommendation is to identify the problems, find causes, and deter- mine to what extent resilience can help.

2. Create a culture supporting resilience. Develop the appropriate training and other practices to support resilience and stress reduction (paid time off, breaks, wellness programs, and employee development). And very importantly, ensure leadership support and participation.

3. Assess resilience and outcomes at baseline. Measure resilience and other outcomes ( job satisfaction, job stress, and sick time used) before implementing interventions, so you have a baseline against which to compare progress.

4. Determine program design. What are the com- ponents, who will deliver, who will participate, when, and where?

5. Implement and continuously improve.93 Just as you learned about performance management in Chapter 6: set goals, measure and evaluate, review and improve, and provide consequences.

This course provides knowledge and tools of great value for each element. Now that you’ve learned what Kaiser does and the AHA recommends, what are your thoughts?

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What is the likelihood you would participate in

resilience training if offered by your employer? Why or why not? Explain.

2. Assume you are a manager and a believer in the benefits of resilience at work, what might you do to persuade your employees to participate in resilience training?

3. What are the potential downsides to employability resilience? Explain.

Resilience Is Organizational at Kaiser

OB in Action

Also recall from Chapter 4 that optimists perceive the causes of events in a particular way. Optimists often attribute successes to “personal, permanent, and pervasive causes, and negative events to external, temporary, and situation-specific ones.”94 Scientists argue humans actually have an optimism bias which, in part, alters our views of the likely outcomes in our lives and motivates us to act.95

Have you ever wondered why people are optimistic in the first place? What function does optimism serve? One school of thought claims it is self-inspiration, our mind’s way of motivating us to move forward even if the future is uncertain. The rationale is if humans didn’t think the future would be bright—an improvement over today—they might be crippled with fear and uncertainty, never take risks, and never try to better them- selves or their situation. After all, humans have the unique ability to think ahead and to

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realize they will die some day. If the mind didn’t have some way of combating this, then many people would be preoccupied with gloom and wouldn’t save money or invest in their children.

Therefore, a belief that things can or will be better in the future not only helps keep our minds at ease, but it reduces stress (discussed in Chapter 16) and helps us color our decisions in a positive, appealing light and keeps us moving forward.

How I Can Develop My PsyCap Like other more conventional forms of capital (cash, facilities, patents, equipment), PsyCap is a resource you invest in or develop with the expectation of future returns or benefits. It can help you flourish in your professional and personal life. Its components are mutually reinforcing—developing one often helps develop the others.96 Try putting the fol- lowing recommendations into practice and develop your PsyCap.

• Hope development. Generate a work-related goal important to you and attainable yet challenging. Then, create multiple plans for achieving this goal, share them with others—coworkers or classmates, and get their feedback and recommendations.

• Efficacy development. Besides recommendations from Chapter 3, break your larger goal into smaller sub-goals as discussed in Chapter 6. Create plans for achieving the sub-goals and share them with others to gain feedback and recommendations.

• Resilience development. Make a list of your personal talents, skills, and social con- nections. Specify how these can help you achieve your goal, identify potential obsta- cles, and decide how to avoid them or reduce their impact.97

• Optimism development. Hope development bolsters your optimism, but it may be helpful to identify obstacles and negative expectations. On your own, check to see whether the obstacles you identify are valid, and have others challenge your assumptions.

Complete Self-Assessment 7.3 to learn your personal PsyCap score, as it can help you understand and improve your ability to find a job, increase your creativity and innovative- ness, and reduce the stress in your life.98 Your score will also serve as the basis for develop- ing hope, efficacy, resiliency, and optimism, as described above.

Let’s conclude this section with an exploration of signature strengths.

What Is My Level of PsyCap? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 7.3 in Connect.

1. Which score is the highest? The lowest? Complete the PsyCap development steps and be sure to utilize your highest or strongest component. Pay extra attention to developing the lowest or weakest component.

2. In the Organizing Framework identify a process at all three levels—individual, group, and organizational—that PsyCap is likely to influence.

3. Describe one thing you can do to further develop each component of your PsyCap.

Adapted from F. Luthans, C. M. Youseff, and B. J. Avolio, Psychological Capital: Developing the Human Competitive Edge (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006).

SELF-ASSESSMENT 7.3 CAREER READINESS

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Signature Strengths Signature strengths “are positive human traits that influence thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and provide a sense of fulfillment and meaning.”99 Signature strengths are a subset, typically three to seven for most individuals, of a larger collection of 24 char- acter strengths (see Table 7.3). What helps differentiate signature strengths from the rest is that “a person owns, celebrates, and frequently exercises”100 them, and these strengths are “core to people’s identities, and feel authentic, exciting, and invigorating when used.”101 Signature strengths can be developed, too.102

TABLE 7.3 The 24 Character Strengths

Creativity Zest Modesty

Curiosity Love Prudence

Judgment Kindness Self-regulation

Love of learning Social intelligence Beauty

Perspective Teamwork Gratitude

Bravery Fairness Hope

Perseverance Leadership Humor

Honesty Forgiveness Religiousness

SOURCE: Harzer, Claudia, and Willibald Ruch. “The Application of Signature Character Strengths and Positive Experiences at Work.” Journal of Happiness Studies 14, no. 3 (June 2012): 965–83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9364-0.

A Departure from Past and Present The strengths movement represents a dra- matic departure from conventional management research and practice. As noted earlier, the vast majority of writing, research, and managing focuses on how to fix what is wrong and who is underperforming or otherwise not meeting expectations.

Many large and successful organizations have used a strengths approach, for example, VMware, Wayfair, and the Boston Consulting Group. The primary focus is now on employee successes and potential, rather than on missteps and deficiencies.103 Research by the Gallup organization on employee strengths shows some impressive findings. Employ- ees who report using their strengths every day at work are:

• Three times more likely to feel as though they have an excellent quality of life. • Six times more likely to be engaged at work. • 8 percent more productive. • 15 percent less likely to quit.104

Would you like to be more engaged with school, work, and leisure activities? If yes, your signature strengths are very likely the key. Self-Assessment 7.4 will help identify your signa- ture strengths. Use your scores to assess how you might build your strengths into daily activities at school, work, and life.

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Applying Strengths at Work Consultants who work for Gallup, a firm instrumental in the strengths movement, said: “Giving employees a chance to excel by doing what they do best every day seems like a no-brainer. In too many organizations, though, encouraging employees to know and use their strengths at work is limited to a guerrilla movement.”105 This quotation highlights that the fundamental obstacles to realizing the benefits associ- ated with signature strengths are situation factors, such as leaders, managers, performance management practices, and organizational culture. Put another way, of course it is neces- sary to be aware of your strengths, but it also is necessary to be in situations allowing you to use them.

Recent research should help persuade reluctant employees and leaders. Interventions, or activities and practices designed to identify and use peoples’ signature strengths, showed desirable results for a number of outcomes in the Organizing Framework for OB, such as increases in positive emotions, satisfaction, goal attainment, and academic performance, along with decreases in depression and counterproductive work behaviors.106

To help with this, we provide the following guidance on how organizations can create environments that foster and utilize employees’ strengths:

1. Look in the mirror. Like most work endeavors, a strengths approach requires leader support to succeed. Begin with leaders learning their own strengths and being open about them. Leaders, for instance, who show vulnerability and admit to their own mistakes and limitations can serve as powerful role models for the larger organization.

2. Build strengths into performance management. Strengths need to be supported by expectations, measurement, review, and rewards. It is an uphill battle to talk about, encourage, and celebrate strengths if performance management practices do not sup- port them.

3. Know your purpose. Leaders need to be clear on why they and the organization are focusing on strengths—what is the intended benefit? Is it greater collaboration, increased customer satisfaction, innovation, or reduced turnover? Employees need to understand why and how strengths are important to the organization and its objec- tives.

4. Coach and develop strengths-oriented managers. A strengths approach is not common, and implementing it effectively requires effort. Set your managers up to win by provid- ing appropriate coaching and support.107

Since you now have a sense of two f lexible and very important positive individual differences—psychological capital and signature strengths—we move to the group/team level in the next section and discuss organizational climate. You’ll learn how policies and practices can help foster and realize the positive attributes of employees.

What Are My Signature Strengths? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 7.4 in Connect.

1. What are your highest-scoring strengths? 2. What are your weaknesses (the components with the lowest scores)? 3. Which of your strengths do you use daily? 4. What can you do to incorporate your strengths into school, work, and leisure

activities?

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Sweetgreen is in the fast-casual health food busi- ness and focuses on what’s good for you and what’s good to you. It sells nourishment, natural and made to order, which is consistent with its mission to “build healthier communities by connecting people to real food.”112 Combine these elements (focus on employ- ees, quality product, and an enormous social media presence) and you have the recipe for success. But the most important ingredient of their success is the company’s positive culture. How they do this is quite remarkable.

Emergency Fund. Employees make voluntary dona- tions to an emergency fund used to support other employees in times of need, such as a being dis- placed by a house fire or for travel to care for a sick family member.

Gratitude. Positive comments from customers are collected and used for personal notes of gratitude from the owners. These are celebrated during Grati- tude Nights where employees get together to share and be recognized.

Sweetgreen . . . Sweet Indeed

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279Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Organizational climate describes the way you and your cohorts evaluate the school you attend

or the workplace you share. A positive climate is one component that makes positive organi-

zational behavior work, and you’re about to discover how organizations and managers can

foster such a climate.

7.5 POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATES

You may be the most positive person you know, but to flourish you need the right environ- ment. Figure 7.2 shows organizational culture and climate are the key situation factors that promote positive work environments, meaning they are critical to reaping the benefits of POB. We focus on organizational climate in this section (again in Chapter 10) and organi- zational culture in Chapter 14.

Organizational climate consists of employees’ shared perceptions of organiza- tional policies, practices, procedures, and routines.108 Simply put, organizational cli- mate ref lects employees’ beliefs about what they see going on at work and what is happening to them. These perceptions can range from positive and uplifting to negative and debilitating. Positive climates, such as one that supports safety, lead to positive out- comes like fewer accidents at work.109 Supportive climates—those in which employees believe the organization values their contributions, provides support, and cares about their well-being—can serve as a buffer against the demands and stressors in wide range of jobs.110 In contrast, negative climates that condone abusive supervision or fear are associ- ated with negative outcomes, like less cooperation, less citizenship behavior, and lower performance.111 What type of climate do you think is most likely to promote positivity from situation factors? The OB in Action box describes how fast-fresh restaurant Sweet- green does it.

Develop a climate that promotes positive organizational behavior.

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Figure 7.4 presents a model showing positive climates are a function of organizational values, organizational practices, and virtuous leadership. We’ll explore each of these situa- tion factors next.

Organizational Values We defined values in Chapter 2 as abstract ideals that guide our thinking and behavior across all situations. In the context of organizational climate, organizational values repre- sent ideals endorsed, shared, and supported by the organization as a whole. Three global values essential for promoting positive organizational behavior are described next (see Figure 7.4).115

1. Restorative justice reflects “a shared belief in the importance of resolving con- flict multilaterally through the inclusion of victims, offenders, and all other stakeholders.”116 Organizations subscribing to restorative justice tend to resolve con- flict by giving all parties a chance to express their thoughts and feelings. This in turn leads to healing when there has been hurt or offense, thereby producing solutions focusing on the greater good.

Community Impact. Employees are encouraged and given time to support local causes, and in some cases the efforts are in coordination with larger agencies like the LA Food Policy Council.113

Also notable is such positivity does not require vast resources, meaning it isn’t just for large, public multinationals companies. Sweetgreen was started by three Georgetown University graduates who started small, but after 11 years have 90 locations and have attracted piles of venture capital. But how did they get here?

What if you want to do something similar? The following advice may help.

• Job #1—Employee Wellness. A positive culture isn’t possible without tending to employee well-being at work and in their larger life space. Ensure employees have resources for professional development and health.

• Make It Mean Something. Like those at Sweetgreen, employees prefer to have a clear purpose in their work, they want to see  a meaningful impact. Mission and vision statements can help, but what matters most is how they are put into practice, beginning with the leaders at every level.

• Goals with Impact. Include employee devel- opment, community involvement, and custom- ers in your goals. The knowledge and skills learned in Chapter 6 can help.

• Be Positive. Positivity needs to be part of daily  practice, so express gratitude, smile, be  optimistic. Remember, emotions are contagious, make yours positive and infec- tious.114

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What is most compelling to you about the Sweet-

green approach? 2. What do you think are the 2 or 3 biggest chal-

lenges for managers of Sweetgreen restaurants? 3. Assume you started a business, what do you

think would be the challenges of implementing a similarly positive approach? How might you address such challenges?

Jeffrey MacMillan/The Washington Post/Getty Images

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281Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

2. Compassion is a shared value that drives people to help others who are suffer- ing. It is associated with behaviors related to sympathy, kindness, tenderness, warmth, and love.117

3. Temperance is a shared belief in showing restraint and control when faced with temptation and provocation. Temperance promotes self-control, humility, and pru- dence. It helps people avoid egocentric and heated emotional responses and practice patience and restraint.118

Organizational Practices Organizational practices are the procedures, policies, practices, routines, and rules that organizations use to get things done. Figure 7.4 shows training programs, support programs, and human resource practices and policies represent three key sets of practices that shape organizational climate.119 Employees have greater commitment, satisfaction, citizenship behavior, and performance—and lower absenteeism and inten- tions to quit—when they believe organizational practices support them professionally or personally.120

Marc Benioff, CEO and co-founder of Salesforce, has created a company climate that fosters positive OB. Many would consider him a virtuous leader. He exudes benevolence and often speaks of how leaders in all industries, but especially technology, have a larger responsibility to make the world a better place. Certainly not at the expense of profits, but while making them.

Salesforce’s organizational practices are clearly employee focused. It provides excep- tional benefits and rewards for its employees, such as bonuses for employee referrals. It paid out over $5 million for such referrals in 2017. It also uses its software to identify

FIGURE 7.4 Creating a Climate that Fosters Positive Organizational Behavior

Organizational Climate That

Fosters Positive Organizational

Behavior

• Restorative Justice • Compassion • Temperance

Organizational Values

• Training • Support Programs • Human Resource Practices, Programs, and Policies

Organizational Practices

• Greater Good • Trust • Integrity • Forgiveness

Virtuous Leadership

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employees who have not been promoted within the past year and a half and actively seeks new challenges and opportunities for them. All employees are given 56 hours of paid leave each year to volunteer in the community. No wonder it was number two on Fortune’s 2019 list of Best Places to Work.121

Benioff’s conduct and the company’s practices reflect underlying values of compas- sion, temperance, and restorative justice. For instance, Benioff is outspoken and addresses social issues often, including those related to LGBTQ rights, pay equity, and the down- sides of social media.122

Virtuous Leadership Virtuousness represents “what individuals and organizations aspire to be when they are at their very best.”123 The focus of virtuous leadership is to help individuals, groups, and organizations to elevate, enrich, and flourish. Although Chapter 12 provides a broad discussion of leadership, we consider it here as well due to its significant relation- ship with organizational climate.124

OB scholars have proposed a variety of traits and individual differences that underlie virtuous leadership. The four shown in Figure 7.4 were selected because they are most frequently discussed in OB research. Virtuous leaders are more focused on the greater good than on self-interest.

Virtuous leaders tend to promote trust by making sure their words match their actions, and by treating people with respect and dignity. Integrity, which comes from being guided by morals and honesty, fosters positive OB. For example, people who lied less over 10 weeks were found to have improved mental and physical health than people who lied more frequently.125

The final component of virtuous leadership, forgiveness, is “the capacity to foster collective abandonment of justified resentment, bitterness, and blame, and, instead, it is the adoption of positive, forward-looking approaches in response to harm or damage.”126 In addition to promoting positive outcomes, forgiveness can affect your health. Research shows that unforgiveness is associated with bitterness, anger, health problems, and premature death.127

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

If asked what you want out of life, you might reply you want to be happy. One early leader in

the positive psychology movement eventually went beyond that goal and proposed another:

Flourishing. You may find this broadened goal to include even more of your true aspirations.

Flourishing, a key individual-level outcome in the Organizing Framework, includes five ele-

ments: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement (PERMA).

7.6 FLOURISHING: THE DESTINATION OF POB

Martin Seligman, a renowned psychologist from the University of Pennsylvania, has stud- ied happiness and well-being for over 30 years. He is credited as the driver of today’s posi- tive psychology movement, which is the forerunner of POB.128 Seligman originally believed happiness was the most important outcome in our lives but has changed his mind over the years. He now believes people equate happiness with being cheerful, and you don’t have to be cheerful to be physically or psychologically healthy.

Seligman proposed that well-being was the combined impact of five elements— positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement (PERMA). Well-being comes from freely pursuing one or more of these five elements.129

Flourishing represents the extent to which our lives contain PERMA. PERMA is the most important outcome from the process of positivity shown in Figure 7.2 When we flourish, our lives are characterized by “goodness . . . growth, and resilience.”130 We should all strive to flourish because of its association with other positive outcomes like lower car- diovascular risk, lower levels of inflammation, longer life, greater REM sleep, and positive mental health.131 PERMA elements are also positively related to important outcomes in the Organizing Framework—task performance, career satisfaction, organizational commit- ment, and low turnover.132

An interesting study of first-year university students found the following experiences contributed most to their flourishing:

• Socializing with new and old friends. • Enjoying their academic subjects. • Having more free time. • Understanding and performing well in class.133

This demonstrates the importance of positive emotions, relationships, and achievement— PERMA—in college.

Flourishing is also profitable. Many investors now include social responsibility and a focus on the greater good when it comes to employees and communities as key criteria in their investment decisions.

Positive Emotions Although we thoroughly discussed positive emotions earlier in this chapter, one aspect of Barbara Fredrickson’s “broaden and build” theory bears repeating because it enhances your ability to experience the other components of PERMA. Positive emotions broaden

Create the conditions for flourishing in your job and career.

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your perspective as to how to overcome challenges in life. For example, the emotion of joy is more likely to lead you to envision creative ideas during a brainstorming session. Posi- tive emotions also build on themselves, resulting in a spreading of positive emotions within yourself and to those around you.

Some companies understand the power of positive emotions and the significant damage possible from negative emotions. The Applying OB box shows how this knowl- edge is applied in the context of recruiting—not to those that are hired but to those that are not.

Applying OB

The reality when interviewing for a job is only one person can get it. If it isn’t you, then you join the often hundreds of other applicants who were rejected. How you feel about this is in part a function of how you were treated by the prospective employer. Feeling disappointed about the outcome is one thing; how- ever, your feeling disrespected or even scorned can make an enormous difference to that company’s bottom line. Talent Board, a nonprofit devoted to improving job candidate experience, has a “candidate experiences resentment calculator” to help organizations estimate how much mistreated candidates can cost. They approach each candidate as though they were a potential or current customer for a given company’s products or services, with the potential to spend $100 per year. Let’s say this same company has 100 appli- cants for 10  jobs. This equates to 1,000 people to delight, or at the very least not disappoint. You can see how the numbers can get large, really large. Multiply those numbers year after year and you can clearly see the potential for both positive and negative impact. Tal- ent Board has also showed that nearly three-quarters of candidates would be inclined to do business with a company which treated them well in the interview pro- cess, and 46 percent said they would end the relation- ship if treated poorly.134

Kimberly-Clark understands this potential. The enormous consumer goods company (Huggies, Cot- tonelle, and Kleenex) sends coupons to candidates who are interviewed via phone, and also requires man- agers to send thank you notes to those who interview face-to-face. More importantly, they keep candidates informed of the process.135

Research shows candidates expect and appreci- ate interviews to be conducted as scheduled and for  hiring decisions to be made and communi- cated  as  intended. Not surprisingly, the top reason

candidates withdraw from the process is prospective employers not being respectful of their time. The classic and all too common example is: “We plan to hold interviews in two weeks and will get in touch,” but six weeks pass by and still no communication or action.136

So, how do you and your employer foster positive candidate experiences? The following advice can help you in evaluating the care and respect you have or have not bestowed on candidates (or you have experi- enced as a candidate).

1. Manage Expectations. This seems so obvious, yet is too often ignored. Organizations need to give thought to and communicate the details, and make good on them, such as content and length of resumes, what to expect during interviews (phone, Skype, or face-to-face), timing, and other details related to the process. If prospective employers don’t provide them, candidates will, thus increas- ing the chances of unmet expectations and unde- sirable outcomes.

2. Listen. In almost any search and hiring process candidates want to ask questions and to be heard. It is helpful to train those involved in the process to listen, ask if there are questions, and give candi- dates opportunities to make their case.

3. Be Accountable. The hiring organization needs to apply performance management techniques (see Chapter 6), to ensure the goals and expec- tations are clear, measured, evaluated, and rein- forced. A good hiring process requires more than filling the position; importantly, data needs to be collected on those not hired too. This infor- mation can provide valuable insights, such as identifying candidates for future jobs and revis- ing the recruiting messaging to attract better candidates.

Converting Rejection into Business, or Not

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4. Manage Decision Time and Communication. Most processes involve a series of cuts or rounds, and candidates should be informed promptly when they are no longer being considered. For candidates who make it far into the process, the courtesy of a phone call should be given and for others a promptly sent e-mail will do. Don’t wait weeks and months to do this. Communicate final decisions promptly as many candidates are not sitting around waiting. Her or his application to your company is unlikely to be the only one await- ing a decision.

5. Fairness. You’ve learned about fairness many times in this book already, and it is no surprise it can make or break a candidate’s experience and thus add to or subtract from the company’s bottom line. If candidates feel they did not get a fair

chance, or were not appropriately considered, there is a problem.

6. Be Sure to Include This Question. Regardless of the job or process, consider asking every candi- date, “Is there anything else you would like us to know?”137

Apply this knowledge if you’re ever in the position of hiring others because tending to these details can have a significant impact on you and your organiza- tion’s ability to make good hires in the short and long term, as well as impact the potential to gain or lose customers. Keep these factors in mind when interview- ing for positions, as the way in which prospective employers tend to these details may assist you in determining whether they are worthy of your talents and/or your business.

Engagement You recall from Chapter 2 that employee engagement ref lects the extent to which you are physically, cognitively, and emotionally engaged in an activity, task, or project. This state is sometimes called being “in the zone” or in a state of “flow.” Flow “is the state of being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.”138 Flow is a positive state because our well-being benefits from our deep attention to and engagement with an activity.

Engagement and positive emotions are not one and the same. When we are in flow, we are not necessarily thinking about anything; we are just doing! Our concentration is so high during flow that we use all the cognitive and emotional resources normally needed for thought and feelings.

How can you create engagement or flow for yourself? Seligman and others suggest this is a two-part sequence consisting of (1) identifying your signature strengths and (2) learn- ing to use them in daily personal and work activities.139 For us, working on this book, teaching, and playing golf are activities that put us into flow. Once you have identified your strengths, you can work with your manager to determine how to incorporate them into your job.

Relationships Think of the last time you had a belly-laugh, felt joyous, were inspired, or experienced awe. Were you with someone else at the time? We suspect so, because positive emotions are often associated with activities that include others.

Biologists explain that humans are creatures of the hive. After studying insects like wasps, termites, and ants, researchers concluded the group is a natural unit of selec- tion. In other words, both insects and people prefer to be in groups and to work collaboratively with others to get things done. For insects it is building a fortress or hive and for us it is completing tasks and projects, socializing, sharing memories, and traveling.

While others may on occasion annoy us, positive relationships are a strong contribu- tor to our well-being. They buffer us from stressors and provide resources enabling us to more effectively accomplish tasks. Positive relationships fuel the giving and receiving of

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social support. Social support is the amount of perceived helpfulness we derive from social relationships. There are four types.

• Esteem support: reassurance a person is accepted and respected despite any prob- lems or inadequacies.

• Informational support: help defining, understanding, and coping with problems. • Social companionship: time spent with others in leisure and recreational activities. • Instrumental support: financial aid, material resources, or needed services.140

You can enhance your level of f lourishing by seeking social support, but you will also f lourish by providing support to others, particularly in the form of kindness. Research shows us the exhibition of kindness produces significant increases in well-being.141 Con- duct a kindness exercise by doing a completely unexpected thing for someone else. It can be as simple as holding a door open for another to pass through or helping some- one with directions. Notice how you feel. You should experience one or more positive emotions.

Meaningfulness Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, was a strong proponent of using meaningfulness to promote well-being. His best-selling book Man’s Search for Meaning chronicled his experiences in concentration camps and summa- rized what he learned from these events. Frankl’s conclusion was “striving to find a mean- ing in one’s life is the primary motivational force” for people.142 In other words, it is the drive to find meaning in our lives that instills in us a sense of purpose and motivation to pursue goals.

First responders, and the many others that assist in the recovery of natural disasters, work for more than just a paycheck. It is safe to assume they find tremendous meaningfulness in their work. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

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Meaningfulness is the sense of “belonging to and serving something that you believe is bigger than the self.”143 In our case, for instance, we derive meaning from writ- ing this book because we believe it can enrich your life and help you manage others more effectively. We have three suggestions for building meaning into your life.

1. Identify activities you love doing. Try to do more of these activities or find ways to build them into your work role. Employees at Stryker, a medical devices company headquar- tered in Michigan, are encouraged to witness the impact of their work. They observe surgeries, interact with doctors and patients, and some have even performed proce- dures on cadavers to get a different perspective. Stryker is #11 on Fortune’s 2019 Best Places to Work.144

2. Find a way to build your natural strengths into your personal and work life. You assessed your signature strengths earlier in Self-Assessment 7.4. Kimley-Horn, a planning and design company (e.g., hospitals, resorts, and sports facilities) and #18 on Fortune’s list, asks and allows employees to set up their own “mini-practices” where they identify new locations for developing new projects for their diverse customers.145 The compa- ny’s website states: “Employees know our culture and approach to business are built on a desire to see our staff flourish, one and all.”146

3. Go out and help someone. Research shows people derive a sense of meaningfulness from helping others.147 Accounting and consulting firm Crowe-Horwath clearly believes in helping others; for instance, it provides its employees with 96 paid hours to volunteer annually. That’s 12 eight-hour work days for each employee totaling about 30,000 hours of community, pro-bono, and volunteer service!148 Helping others cre- ates the upward spiral of positivity we discussed earlier in this chapter.

Achievement The final component of PERMA, achievement, pertains to the extent to which you have a self-directed “achieving life.” In other words, we flourish when we pursue achievement for its own sake. Doing so fosters feelings of competence and mastery, which in turn enhances our self-esteem and self-efficacy. Companies help employees achieve by providing skills- based training and professional developmental activities. Training magazine created a list of the top 125 U.S. companies that invest in such training. The top five in 2018 were Lead- ing Real Estate Companies of the World, New York Community Bancorp, Sonic Automo- tive, BNSF Railway Company, and Dollar General Corporation.149

Let’s conclude this chapter with a few explicit applications of the knowledge and tools from this chapter.

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Takeaways for Me There are six ways you can apply the material in this chapter:

1. Share important information and provide effective feedback. Since positive practices amplify positive outcomes, you can improve your work environment by identifying and emphasizing such practices, like sharing important information and providing effective feedback.

2. If you are upset with your partner or coworker, try to think of at least three things you like or appreciate about him or her. Similarly, if someone is upset with you, realize you need several positive interactions or actions to compensate for each negative.

3. Develop a plan to be more mindful. Techniques like meditation and yoga can enhance your ability to focus and hold your attention. Many good books and apps can help in this pursuit.

4. Making your goals SMART and formulating effective action plans will help build your level of hope (goal + path = hope). Hope should boost your goal commitment and success.

5. You can contribute to a positive organizational climate by adhering to the values your employer endorses and by trying to be more virtuous.

6. Develop a plan to build PERMA into your life by focusing on those components over which you have more control. You can make a choice to be more positive, you can work on building more positive relationships in your life, and you can strive for achievement.

Takeaways for Managers There are seven key implications for managers:

1. Identify existing positive practices, such as appropriately and regularly recognizing per- formance, and emphasize them. Role-model these practices and watch your people flourish.

2. Realize your emotions are contagious. To build a positive environment for your people, be positive yourself. Random acts of kindness can go a long way (give someone a spot bonus or an afternoon off or throw an impromptu celebration in the office).

3. Model mindfulness by being focused on the present moment whenever you are talking or meeting with others. You can also establish a policy of not using web-based or mobile technologies during meetings.

4. Encourage your employer to train employees in mindfulness techniques.

Describe the implications of positive organizational behavior for you and managers.

LO 7-7

THE BIGGER PICTURE

We conclude this chapter with a number of practical applications of POB knowledge and

tools to improve your effectiveness as both an employee and manager.

7.7 MAKING THE CONNECTION: HOW CAN I FLOURISH AT SCHOOL, WORK, AND HOME?

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5. Learn about and utilize your strengths and those of the people you manage. Be sure to verbally acknowledge others’ strengths and create opportunities for them to be used.

6. Endorse and model your employer’s stated corporate values and engage in more virtuous leadership.

7. Support your employees’ level of PERMA by engaging in one or more of the following: (1) display positive emotions at work, (2) identify the tasks or responsibilities that engage your employees and find ways to design them into their jobs, (3) provide the four sources of social support when possible, (4) use I-deals, discussed in Chapter 5, to help employees find meaning in their work, and (5) encourage creative approaches to achieving goals.

We hope you now have a greater understanding of the tangible and far-reaching benefits of positivity and positive OB. Use this knowledge to improve not only your own well-being and performance, but that of your coworkers and friends.

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In this chapter, you learned positive OB focuses on creating work environments in which people flourish, and a number of techniques that can help increase your positivity at school and home. Reinforce and consolidate your learning with the Key Points and Organizing Framework. Then chal- lenge your mastery of the material by completing the Problem-Solving Application Case and Legal/ Ethical Challenge below.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 7 You learned the following key points.

7.1 THE VALUE OF POSITIVITY • Positive OB emphasizes positive inputs, pro-

cesses, and outcomes across all three levels of OB.

• Positive OB operates via amplifying, buffer- ing, and positivity.

• Positivity is more than positive thinking and improves health, relationships, performance, and many other aspects of your jobs and career.

7.2 THE POWER OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS

• Negative emotions cause you to narrow your focus, while positive emotions cause you to broaden your thinking.

• Positive emotions are contagious and can be actively increased.

• Research shows you need multiple positive experiences to overcome or compensate for each negative.

7.3 FOSTERING MINDFULNESS • Mindfulness is fostered by paying attention to

the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. • Mindfulness can be learned through a variety

of simple “meditative” techniques practiced on a regular basis.

7.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL CAPITAL AND SIGNATURE STRENGTHS

• Positive psychological capital (PsyCap) con- sists of hope, efficacy, resilience, and opti- mism (HERO).

• Hope includes not only a goal and determina- tion to achieve it, but also one or more clear paths for achieving it.

• Resilience is your ability to bounce back after adversity and sustain yourself.

• Optimism attributes positive events to per- sonal, permanent, and pervasive factors.

• Signature strengths are a handful of personal attributes influencing your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

7.5 POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATES

• Organizational climate represents employees’ perceptions of an organization’s policies, practices, procedures, and routines.

• Positive organizational climates are a function of organizational values, organizational prac- tices, and virtuous leadership.

• The key components of virtuous leadership are a focus on the greater good, trust, integ- rity, and forgiveness.

7.6 FLOURISHING: THE DESTINATION OF POB

• Flourishing reflects the extent to which our lives contain positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement (PERMA).

• Positive emotions are contagious. • You can increase engagement by using your

signature strengths in everyday activities. • Four key types of social support are esteem

support, informational support, social com- panionship, and instrumental support.

What Did I Learn?

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291Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

across the three levels of OB. You can also see there are processes at the individual, group/ team, and organizational level that affect out- comes. As for outcomes affected by the inputs and processes shown in Figure 7.5, individual- level ones include task performance, work atti- tudes, flourishing, physical health, citizenship behavior/counterproductive behavior, turnover, and creativity. At the group/team level, outcomes include group/team performance and group cohesion and conflict. Finally, at the organiza- tional level, outcomes include financial perfor- mance, overall organizational performance, and customer satisfaction.

7.7 HOW CAN I FLOURISH AT SCHOOL, WORK, AND HOME?

• Well-being Is comprised of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and achievement (PERMA).

• Flourishing reflects the extent to which our lives contain PERMA.

• Meaningfulness can be enhanced by doing things you love, utilizing your strengths, and helping others.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 7 Figure 7.5 shows four person factors and five situation factors contribute to positive outcomes

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Emotions • Mindfulness • Psychological capital • Signature strengths

Situation Factors • Organizational culture • Organizational climate • Organizational values • Virtuous leadership • Organizational practices

Individual Level • Communication • Decision making discretion • Interpersonal conflict

Group/Team Level • Communication • Civility • Group Dynamics

Organizational Level • Communication

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Flourishing • Physical health • Citizenship behavior/

counterproductive behavior • Turnover • Creativity

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group/team cohesion and

conflict

Organizational Level • Accounting/financial

performance • Organizational performance • Customer satisfaction

FIGURE 7.5 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

SOURCE: ©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

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HISTORY OF OPIOIDS AND MEDICAL USE The human experience contains both joy and pain, and physical forms of the latter have many causes, from dis- ease to trauma. Since the 1800s humans have been treating pain with opioids, a class of very powerful pain- killers extracted and created from the opium poppy, such as heroin, morphine, and codeine. To provide a sense of the long history and use of opioids, it is inter- esting to note the Bayer Company manufactured heroin for commercial sale in 1898. One of the major uses at the time was as a cough suppressant, and not just for pain relief. The addictive properties became well known by the 1920s and the sale of heroin was banned.150

World War II was a turning point in opioid use. The scale of the war resulted in enormous numbers of inju- ries and soldiers who suffered from both acute and chronic pain, but physicians then had a limited arsenal with which to treat such conditions. Oxycodone, manu- factured from a chemical in opium, was one of the drugs used in what was then the early days of what we now refer to as pain management. New drugs entered the market in the 1970s, like Percodan (oxycodone and aspirin) and Percocet (oxycodone and acetaminophen), but most physicians were taught to avoid prescribing such highly addictive medications to patients.151

CHANGING VIEWS The scenario began to change in the 1980s when an article printed in the New England Journal of Medicine pushed back against the perceived dangers of prescrib- ing opioids. The physician author claimed addictions were rare in patients with no history of addiction, and adverse effects were no greater than those of other drugs.152

People with chronic pain, such as those with termi- nal illnesses, became the new patients for opioids. In a few short years, physicians’ perceptions had changed, and the risks of abuse and addiction were seen as rel- atively low compared to the benefits for patients in otherwise dire circumstances.153

Although addiction and abuse were very real, by the 1990s medical opinions were shifting and prioritizing pain management as a primary motive and responsibil- ity for physicians everywhere.154 This resulted in a much greater use of opioids, which to this point had all been very fast-acting. This was problematic for millions of patients whose pain was more or less constant, such as those with cancer, since fast-acting pain relievers had to be taken about every four hours. Longer-acting and safer alternatives were desperately needed.155

ENTER PURDUE PHARMA AND OXYCONTIN Purdue Pharma is a private company founded by three Sackler brothers in 1952, and it has been run or at least controlled by Sacklers ever since. The family has amassed an enormous fortune, estimated at approxi- mately $13 billion by Forbes in 2016, and have donated generously to universities, medical schools, and muse- ums around the world:156 Tuft’s University, University of Nebraska, National Academy of Sciences, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Dia Art Foundation, Global Pov- erty Project, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Guggenheim, and the Brooklyn Museum.157

Purdue Pharma began testing OxyContin, an extended release version of oxycodone (in use since the early 1900s), in 1994 with the hopes of filling the need in the market: effective and extended pain relief with reduced addictive qualities. The drug was approved and brought to market in 1996 as a safe alternative to existing opioids. During the same space of time pain- killer prescriptions increased from 2 million to over 10 million per year.158 One current estimate puts total sales of OxyContin at $35 billion for Purdue.159

CONDUCT AND CONSEQUENCES Purdue’s marketing efforts were aggressive and effec- tive. For instance, a doctor in a promotional video stated: “These drugs, which I repeat, are our best, strongest pain medications, should be used much more than they are for patients in pain.” Only a year later painkiller prescriptions had jumped by 11 million, not to 11 million but an additional 11 million. Sales grew from $48 million in 1996 to nearly $1.1 billion in 2000, and this was spurred by dozens of pain man- agement and speaker training conferences across the U.S., attended by more than 5,000 physicians, pharma- cists, and nurses (all-expenses-paid). In 2001 alone, Purdue was said to have spent $200 million on pro- moting the use of opioids and OxyContin.160 The goal of course was to educate, and boost prescriptions.

After OxyContin’s launch in 1996, Purdue more than doubled its number of sales reps and provided extremely generous sales incentives. Average annual salaries for reps were $55,000 and annual bonuses averaged over $70,000 (ranging from $15,000 to more than $200,000). To spur sales further still, representatives provided cou- pons for physicians to offer to patients a free month’s supply.161 Purdue didn’t just incentivize sales, it pres- sured them too. Court documents show that a sales VP sent a message chastising the representatives in the

PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

Opioids: Pain Relief, Grief, and Purdue

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293Positive Organizational Behavior CHAPTER 7

Sackler family with exacerbating the opioid epidemic. The indictment accuses them of personally micromanag- ing a long-term deceptive marketing campaign to encour- age hundreds of employees and tens of thousands of physicians to inappropriately prescribe Oxycontin.

Citing the CDC, AG Healy claimed approximately 400,000 people died from opioid overdoses between 1999 and 2017, and the family’s role was central and thus they should be held accountable. Thirty-five other states are also suing Purdue Pharma for downplaying the risks and promoting Oxy as a less additive alterna- tive opioid.166

Assume you are the CEO and chair of the board of Purdue, but not a member of the Sackler family. What would you do?

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB

STEP 1: Define the problem. Use the Organizing Framework in Figure 7.5 and the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to help identify inputs, processes, and outcomes relative to this case.

A. Look first at the Outcomes box of the Organizing Framework to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a problem is a gap between a desired and current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accomplished, decide which one is most important and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have key players, and problems are generally viewed from a particular player’s per- spective. You need to determine from whose perspective—employee, manager, team, or the organization—you’re defining the problem. In this case, you’re asked to assume the role of CEO and chair of the board of directors for Purdue (but not a member of the Sackler family).

C. Use details in the case to determine the key problem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems not included in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current chapter, because we generally select cases illustrating con- cepts specifically located within the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes. Using material from this chapter and summarized in the Organizing Framework, identify the causes of the problem you identified in Step 1. Remember, causes tend to appear in either the Inputs or Processes boxes.

A. Start by looking at the Organizing Framework (Figure 7.5) and decide which person factors, if any, are most likely causes of the defined prob- lem. For each cause, explain why this is a cause

Boston sales district. He threatened that if sales of opioids didn’t increase then those representatives should be fired; he wanted to send a message. The sales manager allegedly agreed.162

By 2003 nearly half of all OxyContin prescriptions came from primary care physicians, rather than anes- thesiologists and other specialists who previously dominated pain management and treatment.

WHERE ARE THE LEADERS IN ALL OF THIS? Amid the growing evidence of abuse in the early 2000s, Richard Sackler, then chairman and president of Purdue, fought back, advising the company and its rep- resentatives to push the blame onto the addicts them- selves. He was quoted as saying, “We have to hammer on abusers in every way possible. . . . They are the cul- prits in the problem. They are reckless criminals.”163

These aggressive tactics ultimately cost the company over $600 million in fines, when in 2007 three execu- tives pled guilty for misrepresenting the dangers of Oxy- Contin. The Sacklers, however, were not accused and faced no personal repercussions. The Sacklers and Pur- due Pharma pressed on and explored selling the prod- uct in countries with no controls on such medications while at the same time expanding promotions in the U.S.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS At the turn of the millennium some regulatory changes accelerated the popularity of prescription painkillers. The Joint Commission, a major governing body that reviews and accredits hospitals and medical centers, began requiring all patients to be assessed for pain and failing to do so effectively would result in a sanc- tion. The Joint Commission printed a book in 2000 to be used by physicians in continuing education semi- nars, citing the evidence for opioid addiction was lim- ited and their use effective. (Note: The book was sponsored by Purdue Pharma, and the Joint Commis- sion removed this standard in 2009.)164

In 2010 Purdue Pharma released a new formulation of OxyContin, one which was reformulated to make it more difficult to crush and snort, as was commonly done by those that abused it. This was done in response to the growing evidence of abuse, but research and clinicians continued to question the efficacy of this reformulation.

WHERE ARE WE NOW? By 2016 the director of the Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Tom Frieden, wrote in the New England Journal of Medicine, “We know of no other medication routinely used for a nonfatal condition that kills patients so fre- quently.” He noted that data on long-term opioid use was still lacking, but what he did know at the time was that perhaps as many as 26 percent of patients using opioids for chronic noncancer pain become dependent on it.165

In early 2019, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy charged Purdue Pharma and eight members of the

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294 PART 1 Individual Behavior

problem and confirm the link or cause and effect connection.

STEP 3: Recommend solutions. Make your recommendations for solving the problem. Consider whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recommendation is desirable and feasible?

A. Given the causes you identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use material in the current chapter that best suits the cause. Consider the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes, because these contain insights into what others have done.

B. Be sure to consider the Organizing Framework— both person and situation factors—as well as processes at different levels.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your rec- ommendations and be sure your recommendations map onto the causes and resolve the problem.

of the problem. Asking why multiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem. For example, do executive characteristics help explain the problem you defined in Step 1?

B. Follow the same process for the situation fac- tors. For each ask yourself, why is this a cause? By asking why multiple times you are likely to arrive at a complete and more accurate list of causes. Again, look to the Organizing Frame- work for this chapter for guidance. Did particular policies or practices play a role?

C. Now consider the Processes box in the Organiz- ing Framework. Are any processes at the indi- vidual, group/team, or organizational level potential causes of your defined problem? For any process you consider, ask yourself, why is this a cause? Again, do this for several iterations to arrive at the root causes.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

Is Hiring Candidates with Criminal Records Wise or Risky? Let’s start with some perspective: 33 percent. That is the proportion of working-age Americans with a crimi- nal record.167 Each year approximately 650,000 peo- ple are released from prison,168 which is about the same as the population of Memphis, TN, or Portland, OR. All of their offenses are not equal of course, but before hastily deciding whether you would hire some- body with a record or not it helps to consider just how many people have this label.

Many hiring managers and companies have knee- jerk reactions to exclude such candidates, as reflected on many applications with the infamous box, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Yes or No.” When job markets are flush with candidates, excluding these can- didates may not be such a problem. However, when the job market is hot and labor is tight, many compa- nies across industries might think differently. And of course, some companies, industries, and geographies are confronted with seemingly eternal talent shortages regardless of the economy. This means such exclusion- ary policies may shrink an already small talent pool.

Putting the economy and labor market aside, indi- viduals and companies excluding those with records typically do so on the grounds of limiting their liability and/or ensuring employee and customer safety. On the other side of this argument are those who feel peo- ple should be given a second chance: they’ve paid their debt to society. Research done by the Society of Human Resource Management found the three top

reasons reported for hiring candidates with criminal records were: (1) desire to hire the best available can- didate, (2) give workers a second chance, and (3) improve the community.169

Many have argued it is unfair for criminals to be for- ever handicapped in the job market because of a past offense. This has led many states and cities to “ban the box” and require companies to wait until a hiring decision has been made before doing a criminal record check. On the other side of this argument is that waiting until late in the hiring process costs companies and individuals time and money, and therefore they should be allowed to gather and consider that information at the beginning.170

What Would You Do? What would you do regarding candidates with criminal records if you owned your company?

1. Would you use the “box” to identify and exclude candidates with records if the law allows it in your city and state? Justify your decision.

2. How would you justify the decision to not use criminal records in the hiring criteria. Justify your decision.

3. Would you take a middle-ground position and use criminal records in some way or to some extent? Explain how and why.

4. Invent other options.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

Groups PART TWO

Jan Havlicek/Johny87/123RF

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 8-1 Describe the key characteristics of groups and differentiate them from those of teams.

LO 8-2 Explain the group development process.

LO 8-3 Apply your knowledge of teams to increase your value as an employee and a team player.

LO 8-4 Build and repair trust.

LO 8-5 Illustrate your ability to foster team effectiveness.

LO 8-6 Describe the implications of groups and teams for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

Groups and Teams8

Figure 8.1 summarizes what you will learn in this chapter. The main focus is on groups and teams and the associated processes within the Organizing Framework. You’ll see that group and team dynamics affect outcomes across all levels of OB. For instance, groups and teams powerfully affect the individual-level outcomes of their members, for instance, task performance, work attitudes, turnover, flourishing, and creativity. Groups and teams similarly affect their own collective outcomes, such as group/team performance, group satisfaction, and group cohesion and conflict. Finally, because many organizations consist of teams, they also affect organization- level outcomes like financial performance, organizational performance, customer satisfaction, and innovation.

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297Groups and Teams CHAPTER 8

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors Situation Factors

Individual Level Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics

Organizational Level

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Turnover • Career outcomes • Creativity

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction • Group cohesion and

conflict

Organizational Level • Accounting/financial

performance • Customer satisfaction • Innovation

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

FIGURE 8.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

In addition to being responsible for important outcomes, like rescuing the injured or even saving their lives, military medical teams illustrate most, if not all, of the team concepts covered in this chapter. For instance, they serve both organizational and individual functions, complete complex tasks that individuals acting alone cannot, and confirm individual team members’ self-esteem and sense of identity. The members of military medical teams fulfill various task and maintenance roles essential to effective team dynamics and function- ing, such as information seeker and encourager. Fundamental to all of this are the teamwork competencies of the team members—possessing and applying their relevant knowledge and skills in constructive ways for the benefit of the soldiers they save and the overall team. Source: Sgt. Daniel Schroeder/U.S. Army

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298

Winning at Work How to Charter Your Way to Success in Teams

What’s Ahead in This Chapter We begin Part Two of this book with a discussion of groups and teams. Your performance at work and school improves when you understand the differences between formal and informal groups, because the two have different functions, roles, norms, and dynamics. Next, we describe the group and team development process, and we’ll differentiate groups from teams and explore important team concepts, such as different types of teams and the nature of their interdependence. A number of key team characteristics also are explored, including team competencies and teamwork. The value of trust is covered next, because trust is a critical ele- ment for group and team functioning. We close by exploring facilitators for team effectiveness—common purpose, composition, collaboration, and rewards.

task becomes even more useful if each member’s team-re- lated strengths and responsibilities are included as well.

4. Boundaries: Boundaries identify the values, such as timely and quality work, to which team members will commit. Many effective teams also describe the legitimate activities of the team, which are details about what the team will and will not do and what members will and will not do in the name of the team. It is also important to agree to and de- scribe the key stakeholders affected by the team’s activi- ties. This clarifies whom the team does and does not serve.

5. Operating guidelines: Describe the team structure and processes, including how leadership and other roles will function, how decisions will be made, how work will be allocated, and how members will communicate with each other and with those outside the team. It can be very helpful to describe how conflict will be managed, insofar as processes and consequences.

6. Performance norms and consequences: Team researchers have shown that effective teams often outline the perfor- mance expectations, including: how team and member per- formance will be assessed; how members are expected to interact with each other; how dysfunctional behaviors will be managed; how team members will be disciplined for not ad- hering to team norms; the process for terminating a member from the team; expectations for team meetings; expecta- tions for member contributions to team projects; conse- quences for work that is late or of poor quality; how tasks for team projects will be allocated to individual team members.5

7. Charter endorsement: Every team member should sign an endorsement signifying commitment to the elements of the charter.

When working in teams, most students and employees sim- ply dive in and tackle the task at hand. Although this works sometimes, many times it doesn’t. There are a variety of rea- sons teams underperform and you will learn about many in this chapter. Some of the most fundamental causes are a lack of alignment on what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and by whom. One way to help overcome these challenges is to create a team charter, which is a document detailing members’ mutual expectations about how the team will operate, allocate resources, resolve conflict, and meet its commitments.1 Creating the charter may include identifying member strengths, setting goals, agreeing on processes for communication and decision making, and deciding how to measure and use contributions from mem- bers. The process of creating a charter gives the team an opportunity to consider the capabilities of its members along with important contextual factors that can either help or hin- der the team’s efforts.2

Experts recommend including the following elements:3

1. Mission statement: Like organization mission statements (Chapter 16), team charter mission statements describe why a team exists—its overarching purpose. Be careful not to describe this mission in terms of a goal, for example, “get a good grade.” Missions focus on and articulate a higher purpose. For example, the American Humane Society’s is: “Celebrating animals, confronting cruelty.” This statement tells people why the organization exists, not how it achieves this mission.

2. Team vision: Vision statements are forward-looking and describe what the team looks like when functioning at its best. A vision has more detail than a mission statement and describes how its actions and deliverables (products and services) affect specific outcomes and stakeholders, like other team members, customers, professors, other students and coworkers, and suppliers. The Humane So- ciety’s team mission is “to promote the human-animal bond, protect street animals, advance farm animal wel- fare, stop wildlife abuse, curtail and eliminate painful ani- mal testing, respond to natural disasters and confront animal cruelty in all its forms.”4

3. Team identity: It helps to create a team name and perhaps a logo to help signify membership. These can serve as impor- tant ways for team members to connect to the team and to distinguish the team and its members from other individuals and teams. Think of the names and mascots of sports teams and the functions they serve. It can be helpful to use the same elements in your own teams at school and work. Team rosters including each member’s name, e-mail address, phone number, and schedule can assist in making commu- nication and planning teamwork much more efficient. This

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299Groups and Teams CHAPTER 8

Most fundamentally, we use groups and teams at work because the complexity and demands are simply too great to be managed by individuals.6 Although we’ll address teams separately later in the chapter, it is easiest and best if we define and differentiate groups and teams upfront. It will eliminate the suspense, head off some obvious questions, prevent you from looking ahead for the answer, and keep you focused on groups for the moment.

Groups and teams can be described using three characteristics:7

1. Dependence is the extent to which one member’s tasks and responsibilities are linked to those of other members.

2. Accountability involves who is responsible for the tasks and related outcomes. 3. Time is the duration members spend to together completing tasks and responsibilities.

Using these characteristics, groups and teams are differentiated in Table 8.1. Drawing on Table 8.1, we define groups as collections of two or more individuals with

low or no task dependency, who are not accountable to each other for their work, and who may or may not assemble for a specified period of time. Teams are collections of two or more individuals whose tasks and responsibilities depend on the other members, are col- lectively accountable for the performance and outcomes associated with their work, and work together for the time required for task completion.

To add more clarity, let’s use as an example an airplane’s passengers and crew.9 Pas- sengers are a group and the crew are a team. Despite being on the same flight, passengers have a variety of goals and reasons for flying. Your reasons are more often than not inde- pendent of my reasons. The crew of the plane, however, is a team as their tasks and

8.1 GROUP CHARACTERISTICS THE BIGGER PICTURE

Groups are different from teams, can be formal or informal, and serve multiple functions.

Group roles and norms are the means by which expectations are communicated to groups

and their members, and they are powerful forms of social control influencing group and mem-

ber behavior. They may also influence several important outcomes across the levels in the

Organizing Framework.

Describe the key characteristics of groups and differentiate them from those of teams.

LO 8-1

TABLE 8.1 Three Characteristics for Describing and Differentiating Groups and Teams.8

DIFFERENTIATING CHARACTERISTICS GROUPS TEAMS

Task Dependency Independent. Members’ tasks and responsibilities are independent from each other.

Interdependent. Members’ tasks and responsibilities are interdependent.

Accountability Individual. Performance and other outcomes are the responsibilities of individual members.

Shared. Performance and other outcomes are shared responsibilities among members.

Time Together Unspecified. May be unspecified as most often not linked to a specific task or goal.

Specific. Generally, for a specific amount of time required to complete a task or goal.

SOURCE: Nemeth, Bianka. “Group vs team: What’s the difference?” Session Lab, January 13, 2018. https://www.sessionlab.com/blog/working-with-groups-and-teams/.

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responsibilities are linked or interdependent. If a pilot or flight attendant doesn’t show up for a flight, then other members of the crew are affected and unable to do their jobs, either appropriately or at all.

Passengers are only accountable for their own actions. If you miss your flight, then it is only you who is accountable for your actions and must pay for the consequences. Crew members, in contrast, are accountable for each other as noted above. Pilots can’t do their jobs without the flight attendants and vice versa. If one attendant doesn’t meet his respon- sibilities, then another needs to pick up the slack (shared accountability).

Once the flight lands passengers may connect to other flights and continue their trav- els, or not. Either way it has nothing to do with the other passengers. As for the crew, they delivered the passengers from city A to city B, a common goal, and their job is done.

Groups are commonly further differentiated in terms of formal and informal, which you’ll learn about next.

Formal and Informal Groups Individuals join or are assigned to groups for various purposes. A formal group is assigned by an organization or its managers to accomplish specific goals. Such groups often have labels: work group, team, committee, or task force. An informal group exists when the members’ overriding purpose in getting together is friendship or a common interest.10 Formal and informal groups often overlap, for instance, when a team of analysts play tennis after work.

Functions of Informal Groups Informal groups often form around particular inter- ests or causes and typically do not have goals or objectives. This is not surprising as they operate without formal rules or authority, and members generally come and go as they please. Nearly all of your social media groups (people and causes you follow) are examples of informal groups. The 120 million-plus people who follow Cristiano Ronaldo on Insta- gram constitute an informal group, as do the 100 million that follow Dwayne Johnson and another 100 million for Beyoncé.11

A particularly valuable and increasingly common informal group is former employees, or what companies variously call comeback colleagues, boomerang employees, or simply alumni. When treated well former employees can be extremely valuable, providing quality job candidate referrals, partnering opportunities, and rehires. Some companies have truly seized such opportunities. Sedexo, the food service company, has 9,000 management-level former employees registered in its alumni network. And this group is the source of approx- imately 20 percent of the hires it makes each year!12

Deloitte, an early adopter who launched its alumni program in 2000, has hundreds of thousands of former employees in its alumni group, from which it made 2,800 hires in 2017. This makes perfect sense—former employees know the culture, know the work, and ramp up very quickly.13

Functions of Formal Groups Formal groups fulfill two basic functions: organiza- tional and individual (see Table 8.2). Complex combinations of these functions can be found in formal groups at any given time.

Next, let’s learn about roles and norms, two of the most powerful influences on indi- vidual behavior in groups.

Roles and Norms: The Social Building Blocks of Group and Organizational Behavior Groups transform individuals into functioning organizational members through subtle yet powerful social forces. These social forces, in effect, turn “I” into “we” and “me” into “us.” Group influence weaves individuals into the organization’s social fabric by communicating and enforcing both role expectations and norms. That is, group members positively

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reinforce those who adhere to roles and norms with friendship and acceptance. Noncon- formists, in contrast, experience criticism and even ostracism or rejection by group mem- bers. Anyone who has experienced the “silent treatment” from a group of friends knows what a potent social weapon ostracism can be. Let’s look at how roles and norms develop and why they are enforced.

What Are Roles and Why Do They Matter? A role is a set of expected behav- iors for a particular position, and a group role is a set of shared expected behaviors for members of the group as a whole. Each role you play is defined in part by the expec- tations of that role.14 In the role of student, you are expected to be motivated to learn, conscientious, participative, and attentive. Professors are expected to be knowledgeable, prepared, and genuinely interested in student learning. Sociologists view roles and their associated expectations as a fundamental basis of human interaction and experience.

Two types of roles are particularly important—task and maintenance. Effective groups ensure that both are being fulfilled (see Table 8.3). Task roles enable the work group to define, clarify, and pursue a common purpose; and maintenance roles foster sup- portive and constructive interpersonal relationships. Task roles keep the group on track, while maintenance roles keep the group together. Members can play more than one role at a time, or over time.

To illustrate, think of a team for one of your classes, perhaps a team case analysis. When the team meets and a member clarifies the deliverables for the assignment, that person is playing a task role (information seeker/giver in Table 8.3). If another member solicits input from all other members, to ensure their voices are heard, then this person is playing a maintenance role (gatekeeper in Table 8.3). The group’s leader or any of its mem- bers can play any of the task and maintenance roles in combination or in sequence.

The task and maintenance roles listed in Table 8.3 can serve as a handy checklist for managers and group leaders who wish to ensure group development (discussed in the next section of this chapter) and effectiveness (the last section of this chapter).

Learn about your own group role preferences by completing Self-Assessment 8.1. This knowledge can help you understand why you might have been more or less satisfied with a particular group or team of which you’ve been a member. Playing roles that don’t match your preferences is likely to be less satisfying. Furthermore, understanding your own pref- erences will enable you to set yourself up to be happy and productive in future groups, because you can volunteer for or position yourself to play the roles you prefer.

TABLE 8.2 Formal Groups Fulfill Organizational and Individual Functions

ORGANIZATIONAL FUNCTIONS INDIVIDUAL FUNCTIONS

1. Accomplish complex, interdependent tasks that are beyond the capabilities of individuals.

1. Satisfy the individual’s need for affiliation.

2. Generate new ideas and solutions. 2. Develop, enhance, and confirm the individual’s self-esteem and sense of identity.

3. Coordinate inter-departmental and inter- organizational efforts.

3. Give individuals an opportunity to test and share their perceptions of (social) reality.

4. Provide a problem-solving mechanism for complex problems requiring varied information and assessments.

4. Reduce the individual’s anxieties and feelings of insecurity and powerlessness.

5. Implement complex decisions. 5. Provide a problem-solving mechanism for personal and interpersonal problems.

6. Socialize and train newcomers.

SOURCE: Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Psychology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1988.

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TABLE 8.3 Task and Maintenance Roles15

TASK ROLES DESCRIPTION

Initiator Suggests new goals or ideas

Information seeker/giver Clarifies key issues

Opinion seeker/giver Clarifies pertinent values

Elaborator Promotes greater understanding through examples or exploration of implications

Coordinator Pulls together ideas and suggestions

Orienter Keeps group headed toward its stated goal(s)

Evaluator Tests group’s accomplishments with various criteria such as logic and practicality

Energizer Prods group to move along or to accomplish more

Procedural technician Performs routine duties (handing out materials or rearranging seats)

Recorder Performs a “group memory” function by documenting discussion and outcomes

MAINTENANCE ROLES DESCRIPTION

Encourager Fosters group solidarity by accepting and praising various points of view

Harmonizer Mediates conflict through reconciliation or humor

Compromiser Helps resolve conflict by meeting others halfway

Gatekeeper Encourages all group members to participate

Standard setter Evaluates the quality of group processes

Commentator Records and comments on group processes/dynamics

Follower Serves as a passive audience

Group and Team Role Preference Scale Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self- Assessment 8.1 in Connect.

1. Does your preferred role (the one with the highest score) match your percep- tions? Justify your answer using examples of your behavior.

2. Given your preferred role, how can you be most effective in group assignments? What challenges might playing your preferred role cause for you? For your group?

3. Describe how playing your least preferred role (the one with the lowest score) has been problematic for you and one of your teams. Explain two ways you could improve your performance and that of your team by working on this deficiency.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.1

SOURCE: Porteus, Ann. “Roles People Play in Groups.” Stanford University. Accessed April 4, 2019. https://web.stanford.edu/ group/resed/resed/staffresources/RM/training/grouproles.html

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What Are Norms and Why Do They Matter? Norms are shared attitudes, opin- ions, feelings, or behaviors that guide individual and group behavior. Norms are more encompassing than roles, which tend to be at the individual level in the Organizing Framework and pertain to a specific job or situation. Norms are shared and apply to the group, team, or organization. They help create order and allow groups to function more efficiently because they save groups from having to figure out how to do the same things each time they meet. Norms also help groups move through the development process you’ll learn about in the following section.

Although norms are typically unwritten and are seldom discussed openly, they have a powerful influence on group and organizational behavior. Like organizational culture, individual members and group behavior are guided in part by shared expectations and norms. For example, the 3M Co. has a norm whereby employees devote 15 percent of their time to thinking big, pursuing new ideas, or further developing something spawned from their other work. The “15 percent time” program, as it is called, was started in 1948 and supports the culture of innovation for which 3M is known. Terry Ceulemans, 3M’s Global Director for Automotive and Aerospace Solutions, views this practice as the company investing 15 percent of its labor costs into innovation, and the returns have been enor- mous. Products like Post-It Notes, reflective traffic lights, and Scotchguard might have never been invented otherwise.16

Although Google has abandoned its 20% practice, Gmail, AdSense, and Google Talk were all attributed to projects employees developed during this time.17 Twitter and others who do hack-a-thons provide other successful examples.

Researchers and others have utilized “blue sky” time with great success, such as Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who won the Nobel Prize in physics with experiments they did on Friday (on their “own time”). The idea is simply to be disciplined and be sure to allocate time to think freely, pursue pet projects, or explore other ideas.18

Norms serve many purposes and are thus reinforced by the group. Some of these rea- sons are listed in Table 8.4.

Norms can emerge on their own over time. For instance, think of the group of friends you socialized with on Friday night. What were some of the norms of behavior? Were these norms the result of discussion and explicit agreement? That’s highly unlikely. They just happened.

In contrast, norms can also be purposefully created, which is what we advocate. Why leave things to chance when you can directly influence them for the better? The World Health Organization (WHO) sets norms, as described in the OB In Action box related to the Safe Surgery Checklist. Although the 19 items are an actual written list, they typically are not formally required, which would make them rules.

TABLE 8.4 Why Norms Are Reinforced

NORM REASON EXAMPLE OF REINFORCEMENT

“Make our department look good in top management’s eyes.”

Group/organization survival A staff specialist vigorously defends the vital role of her department at a divisional meeting and is later complimented by her boss.

“Work hard and don’t make waves.”

Clarification of behavioral expectations

A senior manager takes a young associate aside and cautions him to be a bit more patient with coworkers who see things differently.

“Be a team player, not a star.”

Avoidance of embarrassment

A project team member is ridiculed by her peers for dominating the discussion during a progress report to top management.

“Make customer service our top priority.”

Clarification of central values

Two sales representatives are given a surprise Friday afternoon party for winning best-in-the- industry customer service awards from an industry association.

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Finally, another way to think about roles and norms is as peer pressure. Peer pressure is about expectations, and we all know how effective or problematic expectations can be. At its root, peer pressure is simply the influence of the group on the individual, and the expectations of associated roles and norms are the means of this influence.

The mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) is to improve health for people around the world, including improving surgical outcomes. This mission is reflected in the Safe Surgery Checklist which out- lines three stages of surgery and the important tasks associated with each. The aim is to reduce the most common and avoidable surgical risks. To do this, the checklist recommends that a surgery coordinator (a specific task role) be assigned to ensure that each task is complete before the surgical team moves to the next stage.19

Stage 1—(Sign In) Before Administering Anesthesia: Confirm patient identity, site, procedure, and consent; mark the site of the surgery; perform anesthesia safety check; turn pulse oximeter on.

Stage 2—(Time Out) Before Incision: Confirm all team members have introduced themselves by name and role; surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurse confirm patient, procedure, and site; surgeon reviews critical steps and potential challenges; anes- thesiologist checks for potential problems; nursing team reviews that all equipment and personnel are in place. Confirm appropriate medications have been administered.

Stage 3—(Sign Out) Before Patient Leaves Operat- ing Room: Nurse verbally confirms with the team— name of procedure has been recorded; instrument, sponge, and needle counts are correct; specimen is labeled and includes patient’s name; surgeon, anes- thesiologist, and nurse review post-op concerns, medications, and pain management.

The list was created by a broad interdisciplinary team of surgeons, gynecologists, anesthetists, nurses, infection control experts, public health per- sonnel, patient advocates, and biomedical engi- neers. Central to the Safe Surgery Checklist’s development and implementation is teamwork. The intention is to improve surgical outcomes by embed- ding norms related to communication and teamwork, regardless of the location of a clinic or available resources, such as technology and clinical training.20

Results have been impressive with studies reporting a 47 percent reduction in mortality and a 36 percent reduction in complications.21 However, other research has shown consistent and effective implementation varies dramatically, depending on individual, procedural, and contextual factors. Those that helped facilitate effective use were well- informed specialists, supporters for use of the list, along with teams who are genuinely focused on the intended benefits and content of the list.22

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Think of an effective team of which you are or

have been a member. What are some of the norms to which you would attribute the team’s effectiveness?

2. Now think of a team that is ineffective. What norms do you think contribute to its lower performance?

3. Now think of a team you belong to currently. What are two norms you feel would improve its effectiveness?

Improve Team Norms to Improve Surgical Outcomes

OB in Action

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305Groups and Teams CHAPTER 8

THE BIGGER PICTURE

You’ll find working in groups and teams much easier when you recognize that they often fol-

low a development process. One such process has five stages, and the other is called punctu-

ated equilibrium. We explore both and help you understand the problems and benefits

common to groups and teams as they evolve. Your application of this knowledge will enable

you to more effectively manage individual- and group-level outcomes in the Organizing

Framework and perform more successfully in work and school groups.

8.2 THE GROUP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

At work and school groups and teams go through a development process. Sometimes this development is like the life cycle of products in marketing or like human development in biology. That is, it consists of stages of a specific number, sequence, length, and nature. Other kinds of groups form, progress in a stable manner for a while, but then respond to an event by radically changing their approach.23 We discuss both development processes, beginning with the most popular—Tuckman’s five-stage model (see Figure 8.2).

Explain the group development process.

LO 8-2

FIGURE 8.2 Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model of Group Development

Te am

E �

ec ti

ve n

es s

Adjourning

Independence

Dependence/ Interdependence

Return to Independence

Performing

Norming

Storming

Forming

Individual issues

“How do I fit in?”

“What’s my role here?”

“What do the others expect

me to do?”

“How can I best perform

my role?”

“What’s next?”

Group Issues

“Why are we here?”

“Why are we fighting over

who is in charge and who does

what?”

“Can we agree on roles and

work as a team?”

“Can we do the job

properly?”

“Can we help members transition

out?”

Time

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306 PART 2 Groups

Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model of Group Development Tuckman’s five-stage model of group development—forming, storming, norming, perform- ing, adjourning—has great practical appeal because it is easy to remember and apply.24 Notice in the top part of Figure 8.2 how individuals give up an increasing amount of their independence as a group develops. The lower box in the figure also describes some of the issues faced by individual members and the larger group as it develops.

The five stages are not necessarily of the same duration or intensity. For instance, the storming stage may be practically nonexistent or painfully long, depending on the goal clarity, commitment, and maturity of the members.

Stage 1: Forming During the ice-breaking forming stage, group members tend to be uncertain and anxious about the unknowns such as their roles, the people in charge, and the group’s goals. Mutual trust is low, and there is a good deal of holding back to see who takes charge and how.

Some research shows that conflict among group members is actually beneficial during this stage. For instance, early conflict in product development teams can boost creativity.25 However, the results can also be quite different. For example, in the life-and-death situa- tions sometimes faced by surgical teams and airline cockpit crews, the uncertainty inher- ent in the early stages of development (forming and storming) can be dangerous.

Stage 2: Storming The storming stage is a time of testing. Individuals test the leader’s policies and assumptions as they try to decide how they fit into the power structure. Sub- groups may form and resist the current direction of a leader or another subgroup. In fact, some management experts say the reason many new CEOs don’t survive is they never get beyond the storming stage. Yet still other executive changes are made because the board feels things need to be stirred up, as was the case at Volkswagen in 2018 when it inserted Herbert Diess as the new CEO.

The infamous “defeat device” and emissions scandal continues to haunt VW, and as a result several executives have been ousted. Diess came to VW from BMW after the scandal

broke, thus he is not ensnared in the mess. This will make developing his teams both easier and more difficult.26 On the one hand, he needs to make sig- nificant changes, clean up the mess, and get the company back on track. Presum- ably the changes he’ll initiate will involve considerable storming to improve pro- cesses and products, as well as to ensure the company stays on a scandal-free path. On the other hand, because he is not a long-time insider, he doesn’t know the culture and how things work at VW. This could make norming and performing slower and more difficult.

Stage 3: Norming Groups that make it through Stage 2 generally do so because a respected member, other than the

leader, challenges the group to resolve its power struggles so work can be accomplished. Questions about authority and power are best resolved through unemotional, matter-of-fact group discussion, and soft influence tactics (Chapter 12). A feeling of team spirit is some- times experienced during this stage because members believe they have found their proper roles. Group cohesiveness, the degree to which members feel part of the collective or “we” of the group,27 is the principal by-product of Stage 3. The Applying OB box describes some practical tips for cultivating cohesiveness.

As CEO of VW, Herbert Diess has both the benefit and handicap of coming from outside the company. He benefits from not being entrenched in many of the norms and culture to which the emissions scandal is attributed, but he also lacks the knowledge of how to get things done effectively within the company. Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

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307Groups and Teams CHAPTER 8

Applying OB

3. Share and welcome. It’s one thing to offer your insights, talents, and experiences for the benefit of the team, but it is equally important, regardless of your role, to welcome, expect, and facilitate the same from others. You don’t have all the answers or the best Ideas, so be aware and don’t act as though you do.

4. Disagree respectfully. Disagreements are expected and can be functional and desirable, as you’ll learn In Chapter 10. However, few things undermine cohesiveness faster than disrespectful language and behaviors. Model it and don’t toler- ate it.

5. Eat, play, love. You don’t have to love each other to have a cohesive, high-performing group, but engaging in social activities together can break down barriers and loosen people up, enabling them to reveal more about themselves and be more vulnerable. This may lead to greater cohe- siveness within the group at work or school.

There are other ways to cultivate cohesiveness, but give some of these a try with a team from one of your classes and make note of the benefits.

Cohesiveness can greatly improve the functioning of groups and teams, and it thus is important to your success as a team member and team leader. Founda- tional to group cohesion are trust and cooperation, topics you’ll learn about in different places in this chapter. But here, several members of the Forbes Coaches Council shared advice from their own expe- riences to help you.

1. Clarify commitments. Individual and collective roles and responsibilities must be determined, communicated, measured, and reinforced. Accountability is key, as team members not follow- ing through or delivering as they are expected to build resentment and erode cohesiveness.

2. Give trust to get trust. Most team members understand the importance of trust, and leaders commonly emphasize this point. However, before expecting and lecturing others on trust you should assess how trusting you’ve been. Have you allowed others to take on important responsibilities and do their part without your oversight?

How to Cultivate Cohesiveness and Success28

Stage 4: Performing Activity during this vital stage is focused on solving task prob- lems, as contributors get their work done without hampering others. This stage is charac- terized by a climate of open communication, strong cooperation, and lots of helping behavior. Conflicts and job boundary disputes are handled constructively and efficiently. Cohesiveness and personal commitment to group goals help the group achieve more than could any one individual acting alone.

Stage 5: Adjourning The group’s work is done; it is time to move on to other things. The return to independence can be eased by rituals such as parties or award ceremonies celebrating the end and new beginnings. During the adjourning stage, leaders must empha- size valuable lessons learned.

Punctuated Equilibrium In contrast to the discrete stages of Tuckman’s model, some groups follow a form of devel- opment called punctuated equilibrium, as groups establish periods of stable func- tioning until an event causes a dramatic change in norms, roles, and/or objectives; the group then establishes and maintains new norms of functioning, returning to equilibrium (see Figure 8.3). Extreme examples of punctuated equilibrium often occur because of disruptive technologies, like Apple’s introduction of iTunes. This innovation

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308 PART 2 Groups

Time

Abrupt change

C h

an g

e

Abrupt change

FIGURE 8.3 Punctuated Equilibrium

caused all players in the music industry to radically change their approaches from digital to streaming and from purchasing entire albums to buying individual songs and subscrip- tions. Something similar happened when Netflix started renting out DVDs through the mail, then streaming, and now they are the global streaming colossus.29

In such scenarios, companies and teams that adapt will realize tremendous new opportunities, but those that don’t often find themselves obsolete and go out of business. This phenomenon plays out at all levels of OB, such that punctuated equilibrium at the organizational level drives significant change, development, and opportunity at the group and individual levels too. Many careers have been extinguished and others ignited due to punctuated equilibrium. Apply your new knowledge of OB to be sure yours is one that benefits.

Although much of what you have learned thus far also applies to teams, they have important differences and unique characteristics that we’ll explore next.

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

When you better understand the difference between groups and teams, you’ll be well

equipped to perform better in both. You’ll find practical tips in our discussion of critical team-

work competencies, along with a description of various types of teams. This section con-

cludes with a discussion of team interdependence, a characteristic that is fundamental to the

functioning of teams.

8.3 TEAMS AND THE POWER OF COMMON PURPOSE

Apply your knowledge of teams to increase your value as an employee and team player.

LO 8-3As noted previously, teams are a collection of individuals whose tasks and responsibili- ties depend on the other members, are collectively accountable for the performance and outcomes associated with their work, and who work together for the time required for task completion or to fulfill their responsibilities. To further your understanding of the differences between groups and teams, Self-Assessment 8.2 guides you through a simple way of determining the maturity level of a past or present team of which you were or are a member.

Is This a Mature Work Group or a Team? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 8.2 in Connect.

1. Does your evaluation help explain why the group or team was successful or not? Explain.

2. Was (or is) there anything you could have done (or can do) to increase the maturity of this group? Explain.

3. How will this evaluation help you be a more effective group member or leader in the future?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.2

Besides being a central component of the Organizing Framework, teams are a corner- stone of work life. This means practically all employees need to develop skills related to being good team players and building effective teams. It also means that in today’s team- focused work environment, organizations need leaders who are adept at teamwork them- selves and can cultivate the level of trust necessary to foster constructive teamwork.30 To help you be more effective in the team context, let’s begin by exploring what it means to be a team player. But before doing this, read the OB in Action box which describes how switching to teamwork has been essential to T-Mobile’s success and competitiveness.

Team Players versus Free-Riders Teams collaborate and perform most effectively when companies develop and encour- age teamwork competencies. Five common teamwork competencies are outlined in

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310 PART 2 Groups

Common Scenario and Common Outcomes When many people think of call centers, they envision hordes of customer service representatives, slouch- ing in front of screens, headsets on, semi-frantically mowing through customer calls in attempts to meet “handle time” (time spent with each caller) expectations. Most of these same people have a much clearer and even more unappealing view of what it’s like to be a customer of one of these representatives. One writer described the customer experience this way: “They are forced to navigate computerized call trees and, should they get a live person, they’re often treated robotically and handed from one agent or department to another if their issue is outside a rep’s narrow repertoire.” Combined, it is no wonder turnover for such employees exceeds that of almost every type of job, and customers are frequently frustrated and reluctant to even bother calling.

The T-Mobile Scenario The above quite accurately described T-Mobile’s call centers with groups of reps toiling in less than inspiring conditions and delivering less than satisfying service. Then things changed. Reps are now organized into teams who gather in shared spaces (pods) and collaboratively solve cus- tomer issues as they see fit. More interesting still is the customers they serve are organized into pools for which particular teams are responsible.

Different Approach, Different Metrics Instead of being preoccupied with handle times per call, the teams are problem solvers and responsible for how

best to improve customer retention, loyalty, and share of wallet (how much of a customer’s total tele- com budget goes to T-Mobile). As for customers, they know how to communicate with their appropri- ate team and do not suffer through call trees.

Impressive Outcomes The results have been impressive. In just three years, the new team approach cut costs to serve customers 13 percent, boosted customer loyalty measures by 50 percent, and reduced customer churn to all-time lows for the company. Better still, employee satisfaction is up, and absenteeism and turnover are down.

Motives for the Changes Like many other Industries and services, T-Mobile customers and their needs have evolved. Billing, address changes, and plan mod- ifications can often be handled by customers them- selves (self-serve online). This means customers now call and need direct service for more complex issues, and more complex issues require a more sophisti- cated and cooperative approach to service.

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Differentiate T-Mobile’s previous group-based

to its new team-based approach to customer service.

2. How would you contrast management chal- lenges in the group- versus team-based approaches at T-Mobile?

3. What do you think are the key challenges for employees in the team approach?

At T-Mobile Groups Lose, But Teams Thrive!31

OB in Action

Table 8.5, along with examples of behaviors to assist in recognition and measurement. Notice that all these competencies are action-oriented, which means being a team player is more than a state of mind: It’s about doing!

Evaluating Teamwork Competencies There are at least two ways to use Table 8.5 and your knowledge of teamwork competencies. The first is as tools to enhance your self- awareness. Do you behave in these ways on your teams? The second is as a means to mea- sure your performance and that of other members of your team.

Many of your business courses require team assignments and some may also require peer evaluations. Complete Self-Assessment 8.3 to learn about your own teamwork compe- tencies and/or to evaluate the performance of the members of one of your teams at school (for a class, sport, club, or fraternity/sorority). Knowledge of your teamwork competencies can help determine which competencies are your strongest and those that are opportunities for improvement. You can choose to play to your strengths and/or develop your deficiencies.

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TABLE 8.5 Common Teamwork Competencies

COMPETENCY EXAMPLES OF MEMBER BEHAVIORS

1. Contributes to the team’s work • Completed work in a timely manner • Came to meetings prepared • Did complete and accurate work

2. Constructively interacts with team members

• Communicated effectively • Listened to teammates • Accepted feedback

3. Keeps team on track • Helped team plan and organize work • Stayed aware of team members’ progress • Provided constructive feedback

4. Expects high-quality work • Expected team to succeed • Cared that the team produced high-quality work

5. Possesses relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) for team’s responsibilities

• Possessed necessary KSAs to contribute meaningfully to the team

• Applied knowledge and skill to fill in as needed for other members’ roles

Evaluate Your Team Member Effectiveness Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 8.3 in Connect.

1. Which competencies are your strongest (have the highest average scores)? 2. Do these scores match your impressions of your teamwork competencies? 3. Which competency is your lowest? Describe two things you can do to further

develop and display this competency. 4. Which competency do you feel low performers most often lack in the teams of

which you’re a member? 5. Describe the pros and cons of using this tool to do peer evaluations for team

assignments in school.

Adapted from M. W. Ohland, M. L. Loughry, D. J. Woehr, L. G. Bullard, R. M. Felder, C. J. Finelli, R. A. Layton, H. R. Pomeranz, and D. G. Schmucker, “The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness: Development of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale for Self- and Peer Evaluation,” Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2012, 609–630.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.3

What Does It Mean to Be a Team Player? Understanding and exhibiting the com- petencies noted in Table 8.5 is an excellent start on becoming a team player. And while everyone has her or his own ideas of the characteristics that are most important, many people likely include the three Cs of team players:

Committed Collaborative Competent32

Think of it this way: The three Cs are the “cover charge” or the bare minimum to be considered a team player. Effective team players don’t just talk about or feel the three Cs—they

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Social loafing, or free-riding, is common in teams, but this can be effectively overcome by applying OB knowledge and tools. Cashiers who served separate lines of customers outperformed those who served customers who waited in groups for the next available cashier. (Left) Robert Daly/Caia Image/Glow Images; (right) MikeDotta/Shutterstock

display them. Think of someone on one of your teams who clearly displays the three Cs and someone who does not. How do the differences affect you? The team?

While there are many potential reasons some people are not team players, a particu- larly common and problematic one is social loafing.

What Is Social Loafing? Social loafing is the tendency for individual effort to decline as group size increases. To illustrate the point, consider a group or team in which you’re a member and ask yourself: “Is group performance less than, equal to, or greater than the sum of its parts?” Can three people working together, for example, accom- plish less than, the same as, or more than they would working separately?

All of these outcomes are possible, but the intention is for more and not less than the sum of the parts. Social loafing is a major reason for less, and this is problematic for many reasons. Social loafers produce low-quality work, which causes others to work harder to compensate, and they can also distract or disrupt the work of other team members. Such situations are made worse when loafers expect the same rewards as other members of the team, including those who picked up their slack.

As you already know, social loafing is common at school and work. One study observed checkout lines in a supermarket. One area was configured such that each cashier had a dedicated line of customers, and in another area, customers collected in a pool and went to a cashier when one became available. The results? Cashiers in the dedicated lines worked more than 10 percent faster, regardless of the length of their lines. The explanation is they couldn’t rely on (loaf on) other cashiers as in the pooled configuration. The researchers also suspect the dedicated scenario may have spurred a bit of competition too.33

Studies of loafing in college produce useful insights. To begin, researchers in one study assumed that students would loaf in team-based assignments, and they therefore were inter- ested in ways of reducing loafing and boosting performance. They generated project teams in three different ways. The first set of teams was created by matching students whose sched- ules were compatible, and who also indicated they were highly motivated to do the work. The second set of teams were comprised of students with compatible schedules but indi- cated they were not particularly motivated for the work. The final set of teams were allowed to self-select. The results were quite telling. The first set of teams performed the best, on both team and individual assignments, suggesting that pairing students who are motivated and available is the superior way of reducing loafing and increasing learning performance.34

Given that social loafing is so common and problematic, how can you guard against it?

1. Limit group size. Fewer people means fewer places to shift work or hide.

2. Accountability. Ensure members have clear roles and responsibilities, and that they need to deliver.

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3. Build in feedback. Create a way that team members receive feedback, ideally both dur- ing and at the end, of a project. This will help with accountability and discouraging loafing in the first place, and it will “call them out” if they slack off.

4. Cultivate cohesion. Teams whose members are emotionally bonded are far less likely to loaf.35

Now let’s discuss various types of teams. Understanding the differences can make you a more effective team member and leader.

Types of Teams As the world of work becomes more complex, so too do the types of teams. We can dif- ferentiate some common ones by particular characteristics, such as:

1. Purpose of the team.

2. Duration of the team’s existence.

3. Level of member commitment.

Work Teams Work teams have a well-defined and common purpose, are more or less permanent, and require complete commitment of their members. Professional sports teams’ top priority is to win games, which they hope will also lead to higher ticket sales and more television viewers. The same teams exist from season to season, and membership is a full-time, all-consuming job for each player. An audit team at work is the same: It is full of auditors who work full time auditing.

Project Teams Project teams are assembled to tackle a particular problem, task, or project. Depending on the purpose, their duration can vary from one meeting to many years. For instance, your employer may assemble a team to brainstorm ideas for generating more business with an existing customer. This project team may be limited to only one meeting, whether virtual or face-to-face. Or, the team may be responsible not only for creat- ing ideas for more business with that customer, but also for executing the ideas over the course of one or more years.

Members of project teams most often divide their time between the team and their primary jobs and responsibilities. They may be from the same department, product, cus- tomer, or service area in an organization, or possibly from different functional disciplines such as finance, operations, or marketing. As you may have already experienced, any given employee may be a member of multiple project teams at one time.

Cross-Functional Teams (CFTs) Cross-functional teams are created with mem- bers from different disciplines within an organization, such as finance, operations, and R&D. Cross-functional teams can be used for any purpose, they can be work or project teams, and they may have a short or indefinite duration. New-product development is an area in which many organizations utilize cross-functional teams. Such teams often contain members with expertise in design, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.

Self-Managed Teams (SMTs) Self-managed teams have collective autonomy and responsibility to plan, manage, and execute tasks interdependently to achieve their goals.36 Many of these elements are normally performed by managers, but in self- managed teams, members act as their own supervisors. Self-managed teams have a defined purpose and their duration can vary, along with the level of member commit- ment. Cross-functional, work, and project teams can all be self-managed. SMTs are very common—the vast majority of Fortune 1000 companies have used them for many years and they represent efforts by organizations to be more flexible and meet the demands of increased complexity.37 Instead of needing and waiting on approval from someone at headquarters, which may be in another state or country, SMT members decide and act

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more quickly. Leadership responsibilities often are shared and shift as the demands on and members of self-managed teams change. Outside managers and leaders maintain indi- rect accountability. This contrasts with the hierarchical or centralized types of manage- ment historically found in teams.

Self-managed does not mean workers are simply turned loose to do their own thing. Indeed, an organization embracing self-managed teams should be prepared to undergo revolutionary changes in its management philosophy, structure, staffing and training prac- tices, as well as its reward systems. Managers sometimes resist self-managed teams, due to the perceived threat to their authority and job security.

Now that you’ve learned about some common team types and their characteristics, we’ll turn our attention to virtual teams. Virtual teams are ever-more common and a criti- cally important type of team with unique characteristics.

Virtual Teams Virtual team members work across time, space, and organizational boundaries to achieve common goals. They are connected using various technologies, which enable them to utilize talent more efficiently than in a tradi- tional office setting where work and people are tied to places.38

Advocates say virtual teams are very flexi- ble and efficient because they are driven by information and skills, not by time and location. Nevertheless, virtual teams have pros and cons like every other type of team, which we will address next, along with guidance on how to use them most effectively.

Best Uses of Virtual Teams Virtual teams and distributed workers present many potential benefits. One notable benefit is reduced real estate costs (limited or no office space). IBM was an early adopter and calculated it saved over 58 million square feet of office space, amounting to approximately $2 billion in savings.39 Virtual teams enable organizations to leverage diverse knowledge, skills, and experience across geography and time; ability to share knowledge of diverse markets; and reduced commuting and travel expenses. The flex- ibility afforded by virtual teams also can reduce work–life conflicts for employees, which some employers contend makes it easier for them to attract and retain talent.40

Challenges and Recommendations for Virtual Teams Virtual teams have many challenges, too. Recent research identified the five most common, which are described in Table 8.6 along with suggestions on how to overcome them. The solutions included are derived from research done with companies in Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work over the period of four years.

Face Time Researchers and consultants agree about one aspect of virtual teams—there is no substitute for face-to-face contact. Meeting in person is especially beneficial early in virtual team development, and team leaders are encouraged to meet even more frequently with key members.42 Face-to-face interactions can be as simple as lunch, water-cooler con- versations, social events, or periodic meetings. Whatever the case, these interactions enable people to become familiar with each other and build credibility, trust, and under- standing. This reduces misunderstandings and makes subsequent virtual interactions more efficient and effective, and it also increases job performance and reduces conflict and intentions to quit.43

Technology not only allows people to communicate where, when, and with whom they wish, but it also allows people and organizations to work without offices. What are the advantages and disadvantages for you personally of telecommuting and virtual work? Image Source/Getty Images

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TABLE 8.6 Most Common Challenges for Virtual Teams and Recommended Solutions41

CHALLENGE DESCRIPTION RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS FROM FORTUNE’S 100 BEST COMPANIES

Relationships Lack of interpersonal and face-to-face interactions make building trusting relationships difficult.

Build trust by modeling candid and respectful communication. Create opportunities for members to meet face-to-face, including nonwork activities.

Communication Communicating via technology limits nonverbal and other information com- monly exchange. Feedback is limited and delayed.

Create norms of transparency and openness in all communications. Support telecommut- ing, and ensure all members receive the same/sufficient resources (training and technology and support).

Decision making Biases and perceived inequities can limit information shared and impair decision making.

Train employees on effective distributed decision making, ensure employee voice, and reward efforts and success.

Leadership Rich relationships are difficult to build at a distance. Also it’s difficult to monitor per- formance, coach, and share leadership.

Make extra efforts to meet, get to know, support team members. Be available, responsive, and role model the behaviors you want and expect.

Diversity Differences are difficult to appreciate or overcome, which may affect collabora- tion and understanding of team norms.

Initiate and support informal interventions, such as social networks and defense around shared interests. Formal interventions, diversity training and diverse hiring.

SOURCE: Eisenberg, Julia, and Aparna Krishnan. “Addressing Virtual Work Challenges: Learning From the Field.” Organization Management Journal 15, no.2 (May 2018): 78–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/15416518.2018.1471976.

Team Interdependence One of the most important aspects of teams is interdependence, or the extent to which mem- bers are dependent on each other to accomplish their own work.44 We discuss two common forms of interdependence—task and outcome. Task interdependence is the degree to which team members depend on each other for information, materials, and other resources to complete their job tasks. The degree of task interdependence is determined by the degree of interaction between members and the amount of coordination required among them. There are four basic types of task interdependence, ranked by how much team member interaction and coordination are required. The types are illustrated in Figure 8.4.

1. Pooled. Many pharmaceutical and other sales teams illustrate pooled interdependence. Each member sells a given drug to his or her customers, which requires little or no interaction or coordination with other representatives. At the end of the month all reps’ sales are added together to arrive at a team sales total.

2. Sequential. Manufacturing or assembly processes are typically sequential. PC manu- facturing teams, for example, require that motherboards and hard drives be installed before the box can be closed and fastened.

3. Reciprocal. Hiring processes sometimes use reciprocal interdependence. Candidates are interviewed by members of HR and then separately interviewed by the hiring man- ager or members of the department. The two communicate and decide to whom an offer should be made.

4. Comprehensive. Product development teams often utilize comprehensive interdepen- dence. Online games, for instance, require significant back and forth among those who create the idea, write the code, test, and market the game. It isn’t just a linear or sequential process.

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Outcome interdependence is “the degree to which the outcomes of task work are measured, rewarded, and communicated at the group level so as to emphasize col- lective outputs rather than individual contributions.”45 Outcome interdependence is determined by the extent to which team members’ objectives and rewards are aligned.

Practically speaking, the type or degree of interdependence should match what is required for the team to meet its objectives.

Now let’s learn about trust, which either facilitates or impedes interpersonal interac- tions and relationships, and thus the effectiveness of teams.

FIGURE 8.4 Types of Team Interdependence

Sales Team Total

Pooled Interdependence

Hiring Decision

Reciprocal Interdependence

Team Output

Comprehensive Interdependence

Team Product Output

Sequential Interdependence

Sales Rep 1

Sales Rep 2

Sales Rep 3

Dept Members

HR Dept

Manager

Game Programmer

Game Marketer

Game Story Writer

Assembly Worker 1

Assembly Worker 2

Assembly Worker 3

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

Trust sometimes seems like a rare commodity in the world of work and you’re about to see

why it’s so important at all levels of the Organizing Framework. Moreover, in the context of

teams, trust is essential because it facilitates all interactions within and between teams. With

this understanding you’ll be empowered to apply your knowledge to build trust and to repair

it when it has been damaged or diminished.

8.4 TRUST BUILDING AND REPAIR— ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

Build and repair trust.

LO 8-4Trust is the willingness to be vulnerable to another person, and the belief that the other person will consider the impact of how his or her intentions and behaviors will affect you.46 We can’t overstate the value of trust in organizational life. It is the lubricant of interpersonal relationships within and between all organizational levels in the Organizing Framework, and thus it also drives performance across levels. Put simply, trusting employees provide tremendous benefits to their employers (see Figure 8.5).

Two additional benefits of trust are faster communication and decision making. Shiona Watson, Senior Director of HR for Pepsico Australia and New Zealand, described how the trust she shares with CEO Robert Rietbroek enabled them to communicate more quickly and arrive at critical decisions more efficiently during the process of merging Smith’s Snackfood Company with Pepsi.48

FIGURE 8.5 Employer-Supportive Behaviors Enacted by Employees Based on High v. Low Trust47

Trust advantage: +39

Advocacy

78

39

74

36

Loyalty

71

38

Engagement

83

52

Commitment

Trust their employer Do not trust their employer

+38 +33 +31

SOURCE: Edelman, R. “2019 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global Report,” Edelman.com, https://www.edelman.com/sites/g/files/ aatuss191/files/2019-02/2019_Edelman_Trust_Barometer_Global_Report_2.pdf (accessed May 4, 2019)

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Trust can also help guard against job stress. Specifically, firefighters who trusted mem- bers of their team experienced less fatigue associated with the physical aspects of their jobs. The rationale is that trusting your coworkers boosts rather than depletes your energy— you don’t have to wonder if they have your back.49 Still other research suggests that trust in individual accounting auditors increased the likelihood that employees of the audited com- panies would report improper conduct (whistle-blow).50

Clearly, trust pays important dividends across industries, yet these have not been good times for trust in the business world. As Richard Edelman, whose company produces the famous Trust Barometer each year, said:

The past two decades have seen a progressive destruction of trust in societal institu- tions, a consequence of the Great Recession, fears about immigration and economic dislocation caused by globalization and automation. Traditional power elite figures, such as CEOs and heads-of-state, have been discredited. The growth of social media platforms fully shifted people’s trust from a top-down orientation to a horizontal one in favor of peers or experts.51

On the bright side, respondents in the trust survey reported their employers as the most trusted of institutions (government and media the lowest). Driving this, according to Edelman and his colleagues, is employees’ expectation their employers will engage larger societal issues and be agents of change.52 This in turn places much greater responsibility on organizations and their leaders than in the past, making trust even more important now and in the future. Let’s increase your understanding of and ability to build trust by outlin- ing three fundamental forms of trust.

Three Forms of Trust and How to Build Them For our purposes in OB, we discuss three particular forms of trust—contractual, communi- cation, and competence. The practical application for building trust is to act in ways that demonstrate each of the three types of trust:

1. Contractual trust. Trust of character. Do people do what they say they will do? Do managers and employees make clear what they expect of one another? Keep track of your commitments, be realistic (don’t overpromise), and be sure to deliver quality work on time.

2. Communication trust. Trust of disclosure. How well do people share information and tell the truth? Keep team members and employees informed by explaining policies and decisions and providing accurate feedback. Be candid about your challenges and limi- tations. And of course, tell the truth.

3. Competence trust. Trust of capability. How effectively do people meet or perform their responsibilities and acknowledge other people’s skills and abilities? Enhance your credibility by demonstrating good business sense, technical ability, and professionalism.53

Finally, if trust is a matter of give and take, it will be helpful to know how trusting you are of others. Self-Assessment 8.4 can help you learn about different aspects of your interper- sonal trust. Besides improving your self-awareness, knowledge of your interpersonal trust may provide guidance for how you can more effectively build trust with others—friends, classmates, coworkers, and bosses.

Before moving on to how to repair trust, we encourage you to review and consider the advice in the Applying OB box regarding microinternships. Building your experience and skills during microinternships is an effective way of enhancing the level of competence trust future employers will have in you.

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How Much Do You Trust Another? Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 8.4 in Connect.

1. Which particular items in this questionnaire are most central to your idea of trust? Why?

2. Does your score accurately depict the degree to which you trust (or distrust) the target person?

3. Why do you trust (or distrust) this individual? 4. If you trust this person to a high degree, how hard was it to build that trust?

Explain. 5. Given your inclination to trust others (your score on the assessment), describe

three implications for your work in group assignments and project teams at school.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 8.4 CAREER READINESS

Applying OB

Like more conventional internships, microinternships pay real money, and enable you to get a sense of whether you like the work and industry while you develop valuable skills and experience to add to your resume. They differ in that they are short term, outside of the typical summer internship format, and are often more flexible in terms of time and place (work can be done remotely). Microinternships are gigs more so than traditional jobs, but in some instances act like a mutual interview for future full- time employment.

Benefits to You In addition to the above benefits, microinternships can happen earlier and more fre- quently than traditional internships offered through career services at your university. The greater breadth, depth, and length of your experience can make you a more attractive candidate to potential employers.

Jeffrey Moss, the founder and CEO of Parker Dewey, a Chicago-based placement company and pio- neer in microinternships, describes them as projects that require 5 to 40 hours over the span of a few weeks. As with other gig arrangements, employers post the specs of the projects, along with compensa- tion, and students bid for the work.

What’s in It for Employers? Motivated, cheap, and hopefully able labor and if things work out perhaps even a valuable full-time employee. Using a firm like Parker Dewey means little fuss and effort on the part of the employer, as it is Parker Dewey that facilitates the connections and handles all the administrative details, including compensation. This means virtually no involvement by the employing company’s HR department.

Major Doesn’t Clearly Match Interests A reason Mr. Moss started the company, and another potential benefit for you, is that such gigs can help facilitate the college-to-work transition. You may be uncertain as to your major, which often disqualifies you from formal internships where students are selected based on major and year (juniors and seniors), or your major may not match your interests. Microinternships can provide alternatives and help you overcome these hurdles. They’re a low risk means of career exploration.

College Credit Too? At least in the case of Parker Dewey, which has an arrangement with more than 150 colleges and universities in the U.S., some colleges also allow credit to be earned for microinternships.

Microinternships Can Produce Major Benefits54

CAREER READINESS

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Acknowledge what caused trust to be compromised.

Forgive yourself and others.

Let go and move on.

Trust Restored

Distrust

Allow feelings and emotions to be discussed, constructively.

Get and give support to others in the process.

Reframe the experience and shift from being a victim to taking a look at options and choices.

Take responsibility. Ask, “What did I do or not do that caused this to happen?”

2.

1.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

FIGURE 8.6 Reina Seven-Step Model for Rebuilding Trust

SOURCE: Reina, Dennis S., and Michelle L. Reina. Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace: Seven Steps to Renew Confidence, Commitment, and Energy. Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010.

Repairing Trust Sometimes trust is fragile and can be violated in many ways, even unwittingly. Regardless of who is responsible for eroding or damaging trust, both parties need to be active in the repair of trust. Dennis and Michelle Reina studied thousands of instances of broken trust in business and developed seven steps for regaining it. Figure 8.6 illustrates their recom- mendations as an upward staircase, to show how individuals must work their way back from distrust, one step at a time, to finally regain what they have lost. This seven-step process can help whether you are the perpetrator or the victim.

We conclude this section with an observation about the importance of trust for lead- ers from Lars Dalgaard, long-time venture entrepreneur and venture capitalist:

The funny thing is that you’re actually a stronger leader and more trustworthy if you’re able to be vulnerable and you’re able to show your real personality. It’s a trust multiplier, and people really will want to work for you and be on a mission together with you.55

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THE BIGGER PICTURE

You will thrive in team settings when you better understand the characteristics of high-

performing teams. You can use these characteristics as facilitators to function more suc-

cessfully in group and team settings. You will also benefit from the practical suggestions,

supported by research and practice, with which we conclude the chapter, such as how to

foster and reward collaboration and teamwork.

8.5 KEYS TO TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

Illustrate your ability to foster team effectiveness.

LO 8-5Characteristics of High-Performing Teams As stated earlier, effective work teams enable employees to accomplish more than they could as individuals. They produce many desirable outcomes across levels of the Organizing Frame- work, such as innovation, safety, and saved lives, to name but a few.56 Current research and practice have identified the following eight attributes of high-performance teams:

1. Compelling team purpose and clear goals.

2. Clear goals and responsibilities.

3. Appropriate mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities.

4. Effective incentives and motivation.

5. Trust and communication.

6. Power and empowerment.

7. Early and effective conflict resolution.

8. Norms for collaboration.57

You’ve likely noticed that nearly all of these we’ve covered already in this chapter, but the difference here is that true high-performing teams do all of these things. That’s what makes them special and rare.

The 3 Cs of Effective Teams With the above characteristics in mind, you might ask: How do you build a high-performing team? The short answer is to use the three Cs. (Note: These three Cs are at the team level, in contrast to the three Cs of effective team players discussed earlier that focus on the individual or team member level.) The three Cs are:

Charters and strategies

Composition

Capacity

Charters and Strategies Both researchers and practitioners urge groups and teams to explicitly plan before tackling their tasks, early in the group development process (the storming stage). These plans should include team charters that describe how the team will operate, for instance, how members will share information, hold members accountable, deal with conflict, and make decisions.58 Team charters were discussed in the Winning at Work feature at the beginning of this chapter, and since charters help team members align, this is reason enough to give them a try.59 Teams should also create and implement team performance strategies, deliberate plans that outline what

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exactly the team is to do, such as goal setting and defining particular member roles, tasks, and responsibilities.60

Given that teamwork is a fact of life and one of the skills most sought by employers, nearly 79 percent in a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (just behind communication and problem-solving skills),61 you are strongly encouraged to build your understanding and skill using team charters and strategies, while you’re in col- lege. Hone your skills now so you’re ready to use them when they really count—at work. To help boost your motivation, research shows that medical students who implemented team charters reported better group dynamics and improved communication within the team. They also felt and exercised greater responsibility for their own learning, perfor- mance, development, and team performance. These outcomes are especially encouraging given that patient care, like many other services and industries, is a team-based job.62

Composition Team composition describes the collection of jobs, personalities, knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience levels of team members.63 When we think of it this way, it is no surprise that team composition can and does affect team per- formance. Team member characteristics should fit the responsibilities of the team if the team is to be effective. Fit facilitates effectiveness and misfit impedes it—you need the right people on your team.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, fostering functional conflict can actually enhance team effectiveness. The OB in Action box describes how.

The title of this box may seem ridiculous or at least counterintuitive but read on and learn otherwise. First, note you’ll learn much more about conflict In Chapter 10, but some experts believe a key to effec- tive teams is tension, not harmony. One such expert is Liane Davey a team effectiveness consultant and author of The Good Fight, You First.

Davey criticizes leaders and other employees who describe and strive for happy and harmonious teamwork, such as the rowing crew all synchronously pulling in one direction. She argues teams that func- tion this way are likely risk-adverse and composed of members who are overly concerned about offending other members or breaking from the status quo.

To clarify, Ms. Davey does not recommend chaos and war, but instead coaches teams to purposefully identify and benefit from tensions. Team members should expect and improve due to conflict. This is how she explains it.

1. Draw a circle and carve it up into the necessary number of wedges for each role on the team.

2. Describe the value to the team of each role, such as what does this role provide that none of the others do. It helps to consider how removing this role would negatively impact the

team. Perhaps the role is unnecessary or needs to change.

3. Which stakeholders, internal and/or external to the team, does each role serve, and how? How is the effectiveness of this role determined and by whom?

4. Then, what are the most common and important ways in which this role conflicts with or causes tensions with other roles?

Davey contends doing this for each role not only clarifies them for the role players, but it helps in determining who is best to play each role for a given project. As you can see, this approach makes con- flict explicit and expected, which she believes improves teamwork and outcomes. How?

The rationale is that team members will be more comfortable speaking up, calling out unsubstanti- ated positions, and collaborating.

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. What are the benefits to Liane Davey’s

approach? 2. Identify potential shortcomings. 3. Explain why you would or would not want to be

a member of a team using this approach.

Want Better Teamwork? Expect and Ensure Conflict

OB in Action

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Research shows that in the early stages of team development (forming and storm- ing), teams perform better when members have a high tolerance for uncertainty (a personality trait). This same finding applies to self-managed and virtual teams, due to their relative lack of imposed direction and face-to-face communication.64 Team research also shows that teams with members who possess high levels of extraversion and openness tended to provide better customer service than teams whose members were lower on these traits.65

Research on Tour de France cycling teams revealed that teams with greater diversity in tenure—with some new riders, some long-time riders, and some in between—had better team performance, measured as the number of riders finishing in Paris. What makes this finding intriguing is that diversity in terms of members’ skills, previous Tour stage wins, age, and experience had no effect on team performance!66

Finally, in the university context, top management teams (presidents, vice presi- dents, and chancellors) who were more diverse in terms of educational and disciplin- ar y backgrounds generated more funding for research and improved school reputations.67

The bottom line: Create teams with the composition to match the desired objectives. Knowledge of OB and the Organizing Framework, in particular, can be very helpful in this regard.

Capacity Team adaptive capacity (adaptability) is the ability to make needed changes in response to demands put on the team.68 Like individuals and organiza- tions, teams must adapt in order to thrive (and in some instances survive). It is fostered by team members who are both willing and able to adapt to achieve the team’s objectives.

Using the 3Cs will help you build a high-performing team. King Lawrence/Blend Images

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Described in this way, team adaptive capacity is a matter of team composition—the charac- teristics of individual team members. Team researchers explain how effective adaptation often includes recognition of the need to change, reframing team member’s skills and approach to the new demands, responding appropriately, and reflecting on the team’s adaptive processes and outcomes. Considered together, it is clear that capacity is another critical element of effective teams.69

Collaboration and Team Rewards Collaboration is the act of sharing information and coordinating efforts to achieve a collective outcome. It’s safe to assume that teams whose members collaborate are more effective than those whose members don’t. Collaboration is what enables teams to produce more than the sum of their parts. Many factors can influence collaboration, including how teams are rewarded. In this final section we’ll explore how to foster collabo- ration and the role rewards can play.

Collaboration—The Lifeblood of Teamwork As interdependence increases, so too does the need for and value of collaboration. Today’s business landscape, character- ized by globalization, outsourcing, strategic partnering, and virtual teams, makes collabo- ration ever more important.70 That said, many things can interfere with collaboration, thus it is important to:

1. Communicate expectations. Clarifying roles and responsibilities for each team member is essential. Identify and communicate both individual and team accountability.

2. Set team goals. SMART goals for teams are a good place to start, but review goals regularly as a team (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) and be sure individual roles and responsibilities align with team goals.

3. Encourage creativity. Create a safe environment where employees can take risks with- out fear of humiliation or career damage. Nurture a “can do” attitude within the team, and foster it by asking “why” or “why not” instead of saying yes or no.

4. Build work flow rhythm. Technology can be of great assistance. Project management software as well as other scheduling tools can help team members know exactly what they need to do and when. This may also assist in coordination efforts and help assure that interdependent needs of team members are met.

5. Leverage team member strengths. Set individuals up to win by identifying and utilizing their strengths. The key to realizing the benefits of the team is to appropriately utilize the strengths of its individual members.71

Reward Collaboration and Teamwork Rewards matter, and dissatisfaction with rewards is a common cause for suboptimal team performance. Despite the need to work collaboratively, many if not most professional service firms (law, accounting, and consult- ing practices) measure and reward individual contributions, such as billable hours, up- or-out promotion systems (either qualify for partner or find another job), and competition between team members.72

Organizations that foster the greatest collaboration and assemble the most effective teams typically use hybrid reward systems that recognize both individual and team perfor- mance. Table 8.7 provides guidance on how to reward performance in teams, based on the desired outcome (speed or accuracy) and the degree of interdependence (low, moderate, high). These guidelines can give you a tremendous head start in determining how best to reward and motivate team performance.73

Appropriate rewards for collaboration and teamwork motivate at both the individual and team levels, and also positively influence important outcomes across all levels in the

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TABLE 8.7 Recommendations for Improving the Coordination and Motivation of Teams and Team Members

LOW INTERDEPENDENCE

MODERATE INTERDEPENDENCE

HIGH INTERDEPENDENCE

Speed Relay Teams Road Cycling Teams Crew Teams

What to measure: Individual performance

What to measure: Individual performance

What to measure: Team performance

How to measure: Managerial assessment

How to measure: Managerial assessment

How to measure: Managerial and peer assessment

How to Reward: Competitive rewards

How to reward: Competitive rewards

How to reward: Cooperative rewards

Accuracy Gymnastics Teams Basketball Teams Synchronized Swimming Teams

What to measure: Individual performance

What to measure: Team performance

What to measure: Team performance

How to measure: Managerial assessment

How to measure: Managerial and peer assessment

How to measure: Managerial and peer assessment

How to reward: Competitive rewards

How to reward: Cooperative rewards

How to reward: Cooperative rewards

SOURCE: Gottfredson, Ryan K. “How to Get YOUR TEAMS to Work.” Industrial Management 57, no. 4 (July/August 2015): 25–30. https://www.questia.com/ read/1P3-3769151081/how-to-get-your-teams-to-work.

Organizing Framework. The following Problem-Solving Application illustrates how collaboration, teamwork, and performance management were applied in hospitals and nursing homes to improve patient and financial outcomes.

Hospitals and Nursing Homes Collaborate to Combat Common Foes

The Foes MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacte- riaceae) are two especially resistant and dangerous bacteria, and although you can catch these bugs any- where, the most common and problematic places are hospitals and nursing homes. When patients are infected in these facilities they are referred to as health care-associated infections (HCAIs). Some patients enter both types of facilities with these infections which need to be treated. But it also is increasingly common for patients to be infection free

when admitted and then catch one of the bugs while a patient. This major problem is made even worse when infected patients are then transferred from one facility to another along with their super bugs. This means health care facilities are not islands with inde- pendent challenges contained within, but instead they are interconnected and literally share their prob- lem bugs. And once the bugs are in a facility they spread, often rapidly and mercilessly.74

Costs and Responsibilities The Centers for Disease Control estimates approximately 15 percent

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of hospital patients and 65 percent of nursing home patients carry resistant bacteria (not all will develop infections), which result in more than 23,000 deaths.75 Medicare is increasingly rewarding or pun- ishing hospitals based on performance outcomes, like infection rates and readmissions. Hospitals and nursing homes therefore have both moral and finan- cial incentives to act.76

Causes and Solutions Besides rampant misuse and overuse of antibiotics, which is the fundamental cause for resistance in the first place, the transfer from facility to facility and patient to patient is largely attributed to insufficient hygiene—clinician handwash- ing, patient bathing, and facility cleanliness, all of which can be controlled by health care personnel, but obviously any effort needs coordination, collabora- tion, and commitment. One nurse may be

meticulously clean, but those efforts are undermined by the first/next one that isn’t so conscientious.

Many efforts and programs have been initiated to combat the spread of HCAIs, including some in Southern California and Illinois. In fact, fifty facilities (hospitals and nursing homes) are implementing a new protocol funded by the CDC in which patients are bathed with a particular antimicrobial soap, one proven to kill MRSA, CRE, and some of the other most resistant bugs.77

Such collaborations are unusual and difficult, as in many cases the facilities in a particular area com- pete daily for patients and health care dollars.

Put antibiotic prescribing practices aside, assume you are a chief nursing officer in a metro- politan hospital. Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to help mitigate the problem of HCAIs.

Apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach Step 1: Define the problem(s) confronting hospitals and nursing homes.

Step 2: Identify the major causes of the problem(s).

Step 3: Make your recommendations. Provide details.

We conclude this section with perhaps the most incredible and challenging application of teamwork—the International Space Station (ISS). ISS teamwork is literally out of this world!

The International Space Station (ISS) was assem- bled in space and has been continuously occupied since 2000. More than 230 Individuals from 18 countries have visited the station whose operations are handled by five agencies: NASA (US), Roscos- mos (Russia), European Space Agency, Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency. Control centers are located in each of these same places, which have the tremendous responsibilities and challenges of coordinating their efforts 24/7, 365, year after year, decade after decade, and through changes in political leaders and economic conditions.78

The individuals and teams involved in the ISS are confronted with some of the most challenging, and also fulfilling, experiences in team diversity of any workplace. Not only do the astronauts repre- sent different countries, languages, and cultures, but the countless people around the globe are similarly diverse. The coordination of people, pro- cesses, and outcomes is enormous, all of which is made more complicated by the inevitable turn- over. As with all other jobs and organizations, employees from the agencies noted above get promoted, rotate to different jobs, retire, and oth- erwise quit.79

Space Travel Requires Teams of Teams

OB in Action

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The teams of teams manage every detail nec- essary to keep the ISS functional and to support the 2–13 astronauts onboard at any given time (3–6 is most common). Making matters even more complex is the growing number of commercial (nongovernment) partners who contribute to the missions. For instance, as space programs are retired, such as America’s space shuttle, other means are needed to transport people and equip- ment. Russia’s Soyouz rockets assumed much of that work, but now Dragon (by SpaceX), and CST-100 (Boeing) help. Each of these rockets has different capabilities, which makes planning and execution even more complex. Reliance on com- mercial partners is increasing with Orbital ATK’s and Antares and Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser also expected to begin service.80

This makes us wonder: How do they do it? The coordination and collaboration occur almost seam- lessly, despite the complexity related to people, pro- cesses, and culture.

Dynamic Composition Safety is among the rea- sons astronauts’ time on the ISS is limited. Imagine the time and resources required to continually pre- pare new members to live on the space station. Technical, physical, and cultural training require- ments are immense, because all team members must effectively communicate and execute their responsibilities when on board.

Technology and Distance Communication is criti- cal and an ever-present challenge. Ground control must communicate with both the ISS and its various locations on the ground at all times. It’s not as sim- ple as making a cellular phone call or Skyping. Dis- tance is an obvious obstacle. NASA and its partners must overcome the “us” versus “them” dynamic between the flight crew and mission control too. In addition to language differences at both mission control and on the ISS, isolation is a problem.

Astronauts can be on board the station for up to a year at a time. The confined spaces and lack of communication with family and friends are incredi- bly stressful. Thankfully, new technology enables the flight crew to communicate more frequently and privately with others on the ground.

The Ultimate Telecommuters An interesting way to think of astronauts is to think of them as the most extreme telecommuters! Most if not all the chal- lenges discussed in this chapter are experienced by those involved in the ISS—both on the ground and in space.81

YOUR THOUGHTS? Imagine you’re a leader of the ISS flight crew. 1. What team challenges do you think would be

most enjoyable for you? 2. What team challenges do you think would be

most problematic for you? 3. What would you do to ensure the team aboard

the ISS works most effectively and safely?

One of the ISS teams gathered for a group photo. Source: NASA

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8.6 MAKING THE CONNECTION: HOW CAN WORKING WITH OTHERS INCREASE MY PERFORMANCE? THE BIGGER PICTURE

You will thrive as an employee and manager by applying your knowledge of groups, teams,

and trust.

Describe the implications of groups and teams for you and managers.

LO 8-6 As in previous chapters, we conclude this one with a number of explicit practical applica- tions for you and for managers.

Takeaways for Me There are five practical ways you can apply the material in this chapter:

1. Learn which individual functions of groups are most important to you. This knowledge can help you understand why you are more satisfied in some groups than others. Knowledge of organizational functions can help diagnose conflict and/or underper- formance in some of the groups in which you are a member.

2. Apply your knowledge of task and maintenance roles to identify ways you can make meaningful contributions to groups and teams. If a role is missing and important, use your knowledge to fulfill it.

3. Develop your teamwork competencies. Table 8.5 provides examples of how to do it. These competencies will serve you in any group or team and increase your value throughout your career.

4. Apply your knowledge to combat social loafing. Don’t let free riders add to or under- mine your hard work.

5. Pay attention to communication, support, respect, fairness, predictability, and compe- tence to boost your trustworthiness. Your trustworthiness will make or break you. When trust is diminished or violated, use Figure 8.6 to repair it.

Takeaways for Managers There are six practical implications that will benefit you as a manager:

1. Identify the important task and maintenance roles in the various teams you manage or belong to. Be sure these important roles are fulfilled effectively (not always by you).

2. Reduce frustrations when working in teams by understanding the group development process. Identify the particular stage of development the group is in and apply your knowledge to advance it to the next.

3. Evaluate those you manage in terms of the three Cs of a team player—committed, collaborative, competent. These can help you identify top performers and underper- formers.

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329Groups and Teams CHAPTER 8

4. Always be mindful of trust, how trusting you are of your people and how trusting they are of you. Managing people is infinitely more difficult when trust is an issue—never underestimate its importance. Apply the knowledge gained in this chapter to both build and repair trust (see Figure 8.6).

5. Use team charters to set up your various teams to win. Doing this work early can pay great dividends and avoid conflict throughout the team’s existence.

6. Ensure the tangible and intangible rewards you offer support collaboration and teamwork.

Your work life, and life more generally, is awash in teams. Apply the OB knowledge and tools gained in this chapter to be more successful and fulfilled when you work with others.

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330 PART 2 Groups

You learned that working with others can increase everyone’s performance because groups and teams can, and often do, accomplish more than individuals. You learned that roles and norms are the building blocks of group and team behavior. We explored group development processes, along with ways to differentiate groups and teams and the characteristics of effective team players. We saw the different types of teams and the value of interdependence. You learned how to boost personal effectiveness further still by understand- ing trust and knowing how to repair it. Finally, we addressed the elements that foster team effective- ness and collaboration. Reinforce and consolidate your learning with the Key Points and Organizing Framework. Then challenge your mastery of the material by completing the Problem-Solving Appli- cation Case and Legal/Ethical Challenge below.

Key Points for Understanding Chapter 8 You learned the following key points:

8.1 GROUP CHARACTERISTICS • Groups consist of two or more individuals

who have low/no task dependency, are not accountable to each other, and may (not) assemble for a specified period of time.

• Both formal and informal groups are useful. • Roles are expected behaviors for a particular

job or position, and group roles set expecta- tions for members of a group.

• Norms are shared attitudes, opinions, feelings, or actions that help govern the behaviors of groups and their members.

8.2 THE GROUP DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

• Groups often develop along five defined steps: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.

• Punctuated equilibrium is another form of group development.

8.3 TEAMS AND THE POWER OF COMMON PURPOSE

• Teams are collections of two or more individu- als whose tasks are interdependent, collec- tively accountable for outcomes, and work together for a specified time.

• Team players are committed, collaborative, and competent.

• Common forms of teams are work, project, cross-functional, self-managed, and virtual.

• Team interdependence describes the degree to dependence between members for task completion.

8.4 TRUST BUILDING AND REPAIR—ESSENTIAL TOOLS FOR SUCCESS

• Trust is a belief that another person will con- sider the way his or her intentions and behav- iors will affect you.

• Three common forms of trust are contractual, communication, and competence.

• Damaged trust can be repaired using a seven-step process.

8.5 KEYS TO TEAM EFFECTIVE- NESS

• High-performing teams are characterized by clarity, complementary skills, incentives and motivation, trust and communication, empow- erment, effective conflict resolution, and collaboration.

• Charters and strategies, composition, and capacity are the three Cs of effective teams.

• Rewards and collaboration are important means of fostering team effectiveness.

What Did I Learn?

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331Groups and Teams CHAPTER 8

8.6 HOW CAN WORKING WITH OTHERS INCREASE MY PERFORMANCE?

• Understanding groups, teams, and trust are keys to success as an employee.

• Understanding and applying your knowledge of groups, teams, and trust are keys to suc- cess as a manager.

The Organizing Framework for Chapter 8 As shown in Figure 8.7, the process of group/ team dynamics leads to a large number of outcomes at all three levels in the Organizing Framework.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors Situation Factors

Individual Level Group/Team Level • Group/team dynamics Organizational Level

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Turnover • Career outcomes • Creativity

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction • Group cohesion and

conflict

Organizational Level • Accounting/financial

performance • Customer satisfaction • Innovation

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

FIGURE 8.7 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

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PROBLEM-SOLVING APPLICATION CASE

Money, Design, and Disaster

Assume you’re the CEO of a company in which a sin- gle product accounts for nearly 80 percent of current sales (worth over $300 billion) and it is the fastest sell- ing in the long and proud history of your company. The product sells for approximately $100 million, and great care was taken in its design with the strategy of ensur- ing it easily fit with your company’s other products which have been purchased by companies around the world. However, this same product is responsible for the deaths of 346 people in just six months. The CEO is Dennis Muilenburg, the company is Boeing, and the product is the 737 Max plane. Every one of these planes sits on the ground across the globe.82

COSTS TO THE COMPANY The value of the lives lost is of course immeasurable but will require compensation. The quantifiable costs are varied and potentially enormous, such as a drop in the value of the stock, massive legal liabilities from the families of the passengers, and increased scrutiny from regulators. Boeing’s reputation is horribly tar- nished, to say the least. Confidence in the quality and safety of Boeing’s products has been deeply shaken for a range of important stakeholders, notably airline passengers who fly In Boeing’s products, investors who buy the company’s stock, airlines who purchase the planes, and the pilots and cabin crews who fly them.

Another stakeholder who thus far has been largely overlooked is Boeing’s employees. After all it is they who built, tested, and helped certify the safety of the planes. The crashes call into question their perfor- mance, the collaboration between departments, and importantly, management oversight. In addition to the blame cast upon them, they too are concerned and deeply saddened by the loss of life due to the product failures.

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Facts will no doubt continue to emerge for a long time, but now we know several relevant details. The Max was the latest model in the long line of 737s dating back to the 1960s.83 The Max is more fuel efficient and has longer range than its predecessors, making it more attractive to airlines around the world. These gains are due primarily to larger engines, but they in turn require

positioning farther forward and up than the previous models. The design modification causes the plane’s nose to tilt upward in some conditions which can cause the plane to stall. To combat this potentially cata- strophic event, Boeing created and installed software— Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS)—to adjust the nose down. It is now clear the MCAS and its accompanying sensors did not function properly and wrestled control away from pilots and caused the crashes.84

Adding to the problem, it appears Boeing cut cor- ners in the design and certification of the Max. Many experts have claimed the MCAS was a band-aid and insufficiently addressed the underlying design prob- lems. Also insufficient was that only one sensor trig- gered the software, whereas most critical systems on planes have redundancies to guard against a failure in one element. It has also come to light that the Fed- eral Aviation Association (FAA), the governmental agency responsible for certifying new planes, actu- ally had Boeing employees play a significant role in the certification process, raising concerns of conflict of interest. To elaborate, critics have accused the FAA of having a “cozy” relationship with Boeing and allowing the airline to exert undue influence in the certification and safety testing. These certification processes also in large part determined how much training would be required by airlines and their pilots to fly the new planes.85

TRAINING AND COMMUNICATION One of the key selling points of the Max was it could be easily integrated into existing fleets, in particular, minimal pilot training would be required. This would reduce costs and boost profits, making the plane more attractive to airlines. However, it appears Boeing did not appropriately train and inform pilots of the changes, new systems, and potential challenges associated with the Max, engine positioning, and MCAS.86

Some pilots have since commented that a lack of training and communication related to these types of changes are uncharacteristic of Boeing, meaning his- torically pilots could trust they would be appropriately informed and trained. Evidence for these deficiencies was revealed in black-box and flight data recordings and in subsequent simulations. These showed pilots of the doomed flights had less than a minute to respond,

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and when they did, were unable to regain control of the planes due to the MCAS.87

WHAT HAPPENED IN THE HANGARS, DESIGN ROOMS, AND IN COUNTLESS MEETINGS? From designers, to their managers, to safety engi- neers, and regulators, their decision-making criteria and processes failed. Senior leadership’s knowledge and involvement is yet to be revealed, but as with the emissions scandals in the auto industry in recent years, it is likely that numerous senior leaders had intimate involvement and knowledge. This could pose personal liability (legal and financial), along with the jobs and reputations of many executives. Some protestors are already calling for CEO Muilenburg to resign.

Moreover, additional information has come to light showing that Boeing engineers “believed” a key cock- pit warning light was a standard feature on all new 737 Max planes. It wasn’t. Only the 20 percent of airlines who had purchased the equivalent of a premium pack- age had the working warning light. The light signaled pilots when two key sensors register different readings about the angle of the plane, which suggests there may be a malfunction with the sensors that pilots should investigate. But without the functioning light, it seems pilots of the doomed flights were unaware the sensors malfunctioned, activating the MCAS which dramatically and inappropriately corrected the angle of the planes. This scenario played out in seconds, not minutes, and seems to be a major design flaw and fun- damental cause of the fatalities.88

This scenario was exacerbated by a lack of commu- nication by Boeing. After learning in 2017 the lights didn’t function on all planes, Boeing conducted inter- nal tests and concluded the planes were still safe and no action was necessary. Because of this the company did not notify airlines, pilots, or the FAA.89

Boeing’s troubles, however, are broader and deeper than the 737 Max. Production processes and practices for its 787 Dreamliner have been scrutinized for years. (Remember the battery fires that grounded those planes in 2013? The fixes were much more complex than software.)90 Company norms were strong and clear, such that criticisms of key products were dis- couraged and or ignored. Numerous reports exist of employees being intimidated and, in some instances, retaliated against for speaking up. Critics, some of whom are current and former employees, claim the company values production speed over quality, and similar concerns motivated Qatar airlines to stop accepting planes from a plant in South Carolina. Many now wonder if this reflects deeply embedded cultural problems throughout Boeing and its products.91

CURRENT PREDICAMENT For the Max to fly again, Boeing must develop and implement a software fix, and have this certified by the FAA, which will take several months. Many people both inside and outside the airline industry doubt that will be enough. Trust is gone. As stated by Ross Aimer, aviation consultant and former Boeing training captain: “Boeing in the past always told the pilots and airlines exactly what was on those airplanes. . . . I have been a Boeing pilot for over 50 years and have loved their products, but they have lost my trust.” He further said he feels Boeing was purely profit focused in these decisions. A survey showed that 53 percent of American adults would rather not fly in the 737 Max even when it is approved for service.92

Mr. Muilenburg realizes the magnitude of the situa- tion and began what is sure to be a long apology and trust re-building tour.93 But again, many experts ques- tion whether he or anyone else can do enough. Some argue Boeing will need to replace the 737 Max alto- gether; still, others say the flying public has short mem- ories and such drastic action will not be required. To elaborate, sadly planes do crash, and sometimes this is due to design errors which are then corrected, and the same model of planes returns back into service.

Assume you are the board of directors at Boeing, and apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to the predicament facing the company.

APPLY THE 3-STEP PROBLEM- SOLVING APPROACH TO OB Use the Organizing Framework in Figure 8.7 and the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to help identify inputs, processes, and outcomes relative to this case.

STEP 1: Define the problem.

A. Look first at the Outcomes box of the Organizing Framework to help identify the important problem(s) in this case. Remember that a prob- lem is a gap between a desired and current state. State your problem as a gap and be sure to consider problems at all three levels. If more than one desired outcome is not being accom- plished, decide which one is most important and focus on it for steps 2 and 3.

B. Cases have key players, and problems are generally viewed from a particular player’s perspective. You need to determine from whose perspective—employee, manager, team, or the organization—you’re defining the problem. In this case you’re asked to assume the role of the board of directors for Boeing (they have ultimate responsibility for the entire organization).

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C. Use details in the case to determine the key problem. Don’t assume, infer, or create problems not included in the case.

D. To refine your choice, ask yourself, why is this a problem? Explaining why helps refine and focus your thinking. Focus on topics in the current chapter, because we generally select cases illus- trating concepts specifically located within the current chapter.

STEP 2: Identify causes. Using material from this chapter and summarized in the Organizing Framework, identify the causes of the problem you identified in Step 1? Remember, causes tend to appear in either the Inputs or Processes boxes.

A. Start by looking at the Organizing Framework (Figure 8.7) and decide which person factors, if any, are most likely causes of the defined prob- lem. For each cause, explain why this is a cause of the problem. Asking why multiple times is more likely to lead you to root causes of the problem. For example, do executive characteris- tics help explain the problem you defined in Step 1?

B. Follow the same process for the situation fac- tors. For each ask yourself, why is this a cause? By asking why multiple times you are likely to arrive at a complete and more accurate list of causes. Again, look to the Organizing Frame- work for this chapter for guidance. Did particular policies or practices play a role?

C. Now consider the Processes box in the Organiz- ing Framework. Are any processes at the indi- vidual, group/team, or organizational level potential causes of your defined problem? For any process you consider, ask yourself, why is this a cause? Again, do this for several iterations to arrive at the root causes.

D. To check the accuracy or appropriateness of the causes, be sure to map them onto the defined problem and confirm the link or cause and effect connection.

STEP 3: Recommend solutions. Make your recommendations for solving the problem. Consider whether you want to resolve it, solve it, or dissolve it (see Section 1.5). Which recommendation is desirable and feasible?

A. Given the causes you identified in Step 2, what are your best recommendations? Use material in the current chapter that best suits the cause. Consider the OB in Action and Applying OB boxes, because these contain insights into what others have done.

B. Be sure to consider the Organizing Framework— both person and situation factors—as well as processes at different levels.

C. Create an action plan for implementing your rec- ommendations and be sure your recommenda- tions map onto the causes and resolve the problem.

LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE

Who’s Accountable?

Who is responsible for the performance and conduct of a team? At work it is typically the team members and the immediate manager, and to a lesser extent, the manager’s manager and so on. In sports, most would agree at the very least players and coaches. In colle- giate and professional sports many others are involved in creating, supporting, and contributing to the perfor- mance of the teams, such as assistant coaches, gen- eral managers and owners (in professional sports), and athletic directors, presidents, and trustees at the col- lege level. All of them, individually and collectively, share some measure of the glory of victory and the agony of defeat. But who, if anyone, shares the respon- sibility for conduct off the field, court, pool, or arena? If it’s misconduct, then who shares the responsibility is unclear, or at least uneven.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing body for college sports, routinely sanctions violations of rules related to recruiting, aca- demic eligibility, and illegal payments. Titles and wins are vacated, schools can be banned from playoff par- ticipation for a season, coaches and players are suspended for a given number of games. Nevertheless, misconduct is widespread, and at some schools and with some coaches, violations occur repeatedly, sug- gesting that current efforts to prevent unethical con- duct in college sports are ineffective.

The most egregious misconduct sometimes quali- fies as criminal, as was the horrific sex abuse case involving team physician Larry Nassar (Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics) and defensive coordi- nating coach Jerry Sandusky (Penn State University

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football). They received prison sentences of 40 to 175 years and 30 to 60 years, respectively.94 Some mis- conduct qualifies as bribery and fraud and also ends up in courts. The vast majority of misconduct in college sports Is wrong, but not illegal, and therefore is left up to the NCAA, universities, and respective university leaders at all levels to monitor, prevent, and punish.

With this as background, one can appropriately argue that everyone makes mistakes. Indeed, it is part of being human. It’s also reasonable to assert some mistakes should be forgiven (get a second chance); however, the larger issue in college sports is patterns of misconduct that exist. Patterns of misconduct occur in particular programs, universities, and with certain coaches. Nassar’s and Sandusky’s crimes continued for years, many people knew about it, and some of these have also suffered consequences. What about Rick Pitino? He had a prolific coaching career across college and professional teams: Hawaii, Boston Uni- versity, the Knicks, Providence, Kentucky, the Celtics, and finally Louisville. He was implicated in various and multiple types of misconduct in his first position, and yet later Kentucky hired him when they were already in the process of “paying for the sins” of their previous coach. Eventually, the scandal at Louisville seemingly ended his career.95

Then there is Larry Brown, who was hired to coach basketball at Southern Methodist University in 2012. Like Pitino, Brown had legendary success at both the college and professional levels. But his UCLA champi- onship team was stripped of its title because of NCAA violations, and when he later coached the University of Kansas it was banned from postseason play for a year and placed on probation for three years. If that wasn’t enough, while at SMU he and the team were hit with additional NCAA sanctions for violations.96

With the preceding as background, the point of this Legal/Ethical Challenge is determining who should bear the consequences of such misconduct. It seems that leaders at different levels of universities reap the benefits of wins and championships, but rarely suffer the consequences of the misconduct, even miscon- duct they (should) have known about. Moreover, these same university officials are routinely involved in the hiring and annual reviews of these troubled coaches, athletic directors, team physicians, etc.

If you agree this is a problem that needs to be addressed, despite its intentions and efforts, the NCAA is only part of the solution. Perhaps the ultimate solution lies in the quality of university-level leader- ship by boards of trustees, presidents, and athletic

directors.97 The NCAA gives college presidents wide latitude to govern sports programs. They have official authority, and typically report to boards of trustees who are in effect their bosses and thus should be responsible for their conduct. What if sanctions were extended to university leaders? For instance, what if the board of trustees at a given university said that if a player is suspended, so are the coach(es) and the ath- letic director, without pay. If the player is dismissed, so too are the coach(es) and athletic director, and per- haps even the college president. After all, business executives and managers are fired every day when their conduct, or that of their employees, jeopardizes far less money than is at stake in major college sports programs.

While this solution may seem extreme and even unrealistic, it would certainly motivate presidents, athletic directors, and trustees to take greater responsibility for and oversight of the ethical conduct of their sports teams and programs.98 These leaders bask in the rewards when their teams win champion- ships, but they are able to contain or even avoid the costs of their misconduct. If both the rewards and the punishments extended beyond individual players, however, that behavior would likely change. It is also more likely that leaders, such as university presi- dents and trustees, would be more proactive. For instance, they might think twice about hiring coaches who bring not mistakes, but patterns of misconduct, with them.99

In the current system, if anyone pays penalties in a meaningful way, it is the players who lose postseason opportunities and scholarships, compared to a token few game suspensions for coaches who are already wealthy. So what about the other leaders—athletic directors, presidents, trustees?100

What Should Be Done about the Unethical Conduct in College Sports? 1. Don’t change anything. The current means for

dealing with misconduct, including NCAA sanc- tions, are sufficient. Justify.

2. Modify the NCAA authority and sanctions but keep the system more or less as it is. Explain.

3. Hold university leadership accountable—some combination of coaches, their bosses (athletic directors), their bosses (university presidents), and their bosses (boards of trustees). Explain.

4. Brainstorm another alternative and explain.

Organizational Behavior: A Practical, Problem-Solving Approach

LO 9-1 Describe how the communication process works.

LO 9-2 Identify the key aspects of interpersonal communication.

LO 9-3 Explain how gender and age affect the communication process.

LO 9-4 Describe how using social media can increase your effectiveness at work.

LO 9-5 Explain how communication skills can increase your effectiveness.

LO 9-6 Describe the implications of communication in the digital age for you and managers.

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

The Organizing Framework shown in Figure 9.1 summarizes what you will learn in this chapter. You can see that communication is an important process at all three levels of OB—individual, group/team, and organizational. The quality and effectiveness of your communication is influ- enced greatly by person factors, such as your interpersonal, nonverbal communication, and lis- tening skills. Of course many situation factors also influence the outcomes of your communication efforts. Your choice of medium, spoken or written words, and of course social media are increas- ingly important in the workplace. Collectively, these inputs impact communication across levels and outcomes in the Organizing Framework.

Communication in the Digital Age9

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FIGURE 9.1 Organizing Framework for Understanding and Applying OB

©2021 Angelo Kinicki and Mel Fugate. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited without permission of the authors.

INPUTS PROCESSES OUTCOMES

Person Factors • Nonverbal communication • Active listening • Nondefensive communication • Empathy • Ethical behavior • Social media behaviors

(an individual employee) • Communication skills

Situation Factors • Choice of medium • HR policies (hiring and firing) • Social media practices

(managers and coworkers)

Individual Level • Communication

Group/Team Level • Communication

Organizational Level • Communication • HR policies (social media

policies)

Individual Level • Task performance • Work attitudes • Turnover

Group/Team Level • Group/team performance • Group satisfaction

Organizational Level • Accounting/financial

performance • Customer satisfaction • Innovation • Reputation • Legal liability

Your communication skills are important determinants of your opportunities and effectiveness throughout your working life. Many jobs require teamwork and communication technology, meaning you are well served to enhance your understanding of communication processes and improve the many type of communication skills used in your professional life. Hero Images Inc./Alamy Stock Photo

Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

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Winning at Work Communication Counts in Landing a Job As a job seeker, you are responsible for proving you’re the best candidate for the job. Performing well during a job interview depends on what you say and how you say it! Effective communication skills enable you both to sell your- self as the best candidate and to calm your own nerves.

What You Say in a Job Interview • Direct the conversation. Many people simply wait to be

asked questions, but you don’t need to. You can use small talk to get things started, but be brief. Also be  sure you know your key selling points and guide the conversation to these. You can even state them upfront, saying, “I’d like to cover A, B, and C.”

• Pick your selling points. Identify and focus on only your top two or three selling points. If you have little experi- ence, focus on personal qualities or skills. If you have experience, highlight significant achievements.

• Substantiate. Support and illustrate your selling points with numbers and/or stories. For instance, be explicit and say you were the number one in sales, increased efficiency by 20 percent, ranked top 10 in your class, or were member of a state champion team in a sport. Also consider using stories to describe achievements (school, work, or sports), how you dealt with a challenging situa- tion, or what you appreciated most about a particular job or experience.

• Describe what’s in it for them. Ask not what the job will do for you, but what you can do on the job. Explain why you’re a good match and why you can add value to the organization.

• Do your homework. Be sure to thoroughly research the company and people. Look online for information relevant to past, current, and future company events and initiatives. Use this knowledge when talking or asking questions about the company.

• Anticipate challenging questions. Know you will be asked, “What are your weaknesses?” The key here is to briefly identify a challenge, then discuss how you solved the problem and how it helped you grow.

How You Say It • Show them you’ll bring it.  Express your enthusiasm

and willingness to do anything, not just the most inter- esting stuff. Remember, enthusiasm and other positive emotions are both attractive to others and contagious.

Positivity sells . . . be positive in your words, nonverbals, attitude, and emotions!

• Smile. It’s one of the easiest ways to win people over. • Take your time. Nerves can make us speak more

quickly than usual. Slow yourself to a normal conversa- tional pace. If you need time to phrase your answer, say, “That’s a good question,” before you respond.

• Make eye contact. Don’t stare in the other person’s eyes, but don’t stare at the floor or out the window either.

• Dress the way they dress. Regardless of your own style or wardrobe, your choices need to match what is common at the company. The rule: Anything that dis- tracts, diminishes.

• Close with a handshake. End the interview with a “thank you” and a firm handshake (don’t crush bones).

• Follow up. At the end of the interview ask when the interviewer would like you to follow up. Then drop your interviewer a note of thanks.

Fighting Nerves • Prepare. • Breathe. • Pause before answering. • Never say you’re nervous. • Use positive self-talk and visualization.1

What’s Ahead in This Chapter We’re about to give you practical guidance on how to communicate effectively. Communication is a critically important process at all levels of OB—individual, group, and organizational—and in most arenas of your life. We’ll guide you through important elements at each level, beginning with how individuals process informa- tion. We’ll also highlight the characteristics of compe- tent communicators and show you how to more successfully communicate within and between genera- tions and genders. We’ll conclude with the most practi- cal tips of all: the do’s and don’ts of using social media in your professional life, ways to develop effective pre- sentation and conversational skills, and suggestions for managing up.

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339Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

9.1 BASIC DIMENSIONS OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw summed up a key issue with communication in stating “the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”2

The illusion that we have communicated when we have not can lead to catastrophic consequences, such as the 2014 sinking of the Sewol, a South Korean ferry. Investigators concluded that “crucial miscommunication between the crew and ship traffic controllers who could have expedited rescue” was a key cause of 293 deaths. Many of the dead were 16- and 17-year-olds on a school outing.3

Effective communication helps individuals, groups, and organizations to achieve their goals. Bridgewater Associates LP, the world’s largest hedge fund, is trying to enhance pro- ductivity and customer service by fostering open communication. Employees are asked to “tell it like it is,” according to The Wall Street Journal. They are “encouraged to air any gripes and concerns about the hedge fund in a digital ‘issue log’ that can be seen by anyone at Bridgewater. The comments usually are about bigger problems but also have included difficulties formatting e-mail.” To improve individual performance, the company also gath- ers and disseminates feedback collected on iPads on which workers use apps to rate each other on dozens of strengths and weaknesses.4

TEKsystems, an IT recruiting firm, has employed a different communication strategy. The company sent 18 senior leaders to visit more than 100 of its local offices over the course of one month. The goal of these meetings was to update employees in person about what was happening in the company and its plans.5

These examples illustrate why communication is a critical process at all three levels in the Organizing Framework. We hope this chapter helps you develop your communication skills.

Defining Communication Communication  is “the exchange of information between a sender and a receiver, and the inference (perception) of meaning between the individuals involved.”6 It is a circular and dynamic process in which people interpret and make sense of the information they exchange. And it’s a very important activity in both our personal and professional lives.7

A recent national survey of nearly 1,000 employers who recruit on business school campuses revealed that communication skills top the list of skills and abilities these employers will be looking for in new hires. One recruiter observed that candidates seem to have the technological skills employers are looking for. However, many recent grads seem to lack soft skills, such as communications and people skills, which tend to make the dif- ference in an effective hire.8

Describe how the communication process works.

LO 9-1

THE BIGGER PICTURE

By this point in your study of OB, you probably realize that communication is a critical

and dynamic  process  within the Organizing Framework. It includes a sender, a message,

and a receiver; encoding and decoding; a medium; feedback; and the need to deal with

“noise” or interference. You will also see why you should match the communication medium

to the situation.

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340 PART 2 Groups

How the Communication Process Works We all know communicating is neither simple nor clear-cut. Researchers have begun to examine it as a form of social information processing in which receivers interpret messages by cognitively processing information. This work has led to development of a perceptual model of communication that depicts it as a process in which receivers create meaning in their own minds.9 Let us consider the parts of this process and illustrate them with an example (see Figure 9.2).

Sender, Message, and Receiver The sender is the person or group wanting to com- municate information—the message. The receiver is the person, group, or organization for whom the message is intended.

These students are working on a class project. Note how some of them are actively involved while others appear a bit detached. Why do you think college students overestimate their communication skills? Jacob Lund/Shutterstock

FIGURE 9.2 Communication Process in Action

Noise (any interference)

Let’s meet at Starbucks to study.

2. Message is transmitted through a medium (e.g., text message).

Which Starbucks? We have two classes together; which one are you thinking about?

1. Sender encodes message, selects medium (e.g., cell phone).

4. Receiver sends feedback through a medium (e.g., text message).

3. Receiver decodes message and decides that feedback is needed.

(left): Wolf/Fuse/Getty Images; (right): paffy/Shutterstock

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341Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

Encoding Communication begins when a sender encodes an idea or thought. Encod- ing means translating thoughts into a form or language that can be understood by others. This language becomes the foundation of the message. For example, if a professor wants to communicate with you about an assignment, he or she must first think about what infor- mation to communicate. Once the professor has resolved this issue in his or her mind (encoding), the next step is to select a medium in which to communicate.

Selecting a Medium Managers can communicate through a variety of media. These include face-to-face conversations and meetings, telephone calls, charts and graphs, and the many digital messaging forms—e-mail, texting, voice mail, videoconferencing, Twitter, Facebook, Blackboard, and others. We discuss the best way to select a medium in the next section.

Decoding and Creating Meaning Decoding, the process of interpreting or making sense of a message, occurs when receivers receive a message. When a professor communicates with you about an assignment, for example, you decode the message when you receive it.

The perceptual model of communication assumes the receiver creates the meaning of a message in his or her mind. This means different people can interpret the same message differently.

Feedback The first round of feedback occurs when the original receiver expresses a reaction to the sender’s message. Once the initial sender has obtained this feedback, he or she is likely to decode it and send corresponding feedback. This process continues until sender and receiver believe they have effectively communicated.

Noise Noise  is anything that interferes with the transmission and understanding of a message. There are many other sources of noise: language differences, speech impair- ment, illegible handwriting, inaccurate statistics, poor hearing and eyesight, environmental noises, other people talking, faulty equipment, and physical distance between sender and receiver. Noise affects all the links in the communication process. Nonverbal communica- tion, discussed later in this chapter, also is a source of noise, as are cross-cultural differ- ences between senders and receivers, and the physical work environment.

If noise is anything that interferes with the transmis- sion and understanding of a message, what is the absence of noise? For Amy Risley, CEO of award- winning skin care company Skinfix, Inc., it’s a stan- dard of communication transparency high enough to make the company’s message crystal-clear—to employees, clients, suppliers, and the industry.10

How does Skinfix achieve that transparency? First, not only are its products tested and recom- mended by impartial dermatologists; the number and percentage of natural active ingredients are also ver- ified and listed on the packaging. “We respect our customers enough to be transparent with our formu- lations,” says Risley. That includes not overpromising.

The company takes pride in its customers’ loyalty and the high ratings its products earn as a result of rigor- ous testing procedures. “If it doesn’t fix skin, it doesn’t wear the Skinfix logo,” Risley says.

Transparency also extends to information shar- ing among employees. Working on the principle that “a fantastic product is not the work of one—it’s a col- laborative effort along the way,” employees absorb information from a wide variety of sources, including beauty, fashion, and dermatology, and use it to col- laborate. “We don’t silo teams,” Risley observes. “We work across functions because we all wear many hats in a small company. Collaboration is a necessity, and one that enriches the work environment.”

Transparency Is the Message at Skinfix

OB in Action

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Selecting the Right Medium One way in which we communicate effectively is by using the medium most appropriate for the situation. That is, we match media richness with the situation’s complexity. Let’s look at how.

Media Richness Media richness  measures the capacity of a given communica- tion medium to convey information and promote understanding.11 Media vary from rich to lean. As shown in Figure 9.3, there are three zones of communication effectiveness. Effective communication occurs when the richness of the medium is matched appropri- ately to the complexity of the problem or situation. The richer a medium, the better it is at conveying information.

Four factors affect communication richness:

1. Speed of feedback: Faster feedback offers more richness. 2. Channel: The visual and audio characteristics of a videoconference are richer than the

limited visual aspects of a written report.

The company also shares sensitive information with employees, including profit and loss, cost of goods sold, and profit margin. While some managers might be cautious with these data, Risley finds that choosing “transparency over fear” has worked to the company’s advantage. “We don’t make a habit of sharing detailed strategies with anyone and every- one,” she says, “but we do share information when it’s relevant and productive . . . when we share within the industry, they share back! We learn so much from our industry friends, mentors, and contacts. It often

helps us avoid pitfalls and mistakes that they have made along the way—some of which we were headed right for!”

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Which components of the communication process

are most likely to create noise among Skinfix employees? Between employees and customers?

2. What most impresses you about Skinfix’s approach to transparency? Explain.

FIGURE 9.3 Selecting the Right Medium for Effective Communication

Low Complexity of problem/situation

Overload zone (medium provides more information than necessary)

Oversimplification zone (medium does not provide necessary

information)

Face-to-face

Interactive media (telephone,

videoconference)

Personal media (memos, letters, personal e-mail, voice mail, texts,

social media)

Impersonal media (newsletter, bulletins,

reports, general e-mail)

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SOURCES: Daft, Richard L., and Robert H. Lengel. “The Selection of Communication Media as an Executive Skill.” Academy of Management Perspectives 2, no. 3 (August 1998): 225–32. https://doi.org/10.5465/ame.1988.4277259; and Daft, Richard L., and Robert H. Lengel. Information Richness: A New Approach to Managerial Behavior and Organization Design. Texas: Texas A & M University, 1983.

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343Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

3. Type: Personal media such as phone calls and interpersonal speech are richer than impersonal media such as memos and group e-mails.

4. Language source: The natural body language and speech in a face-to-face conversation provide a richer medium than the numbers in a financial report.

Complexity of the Situation Situations can range from low to high in complexity. Low-complexity situations are routine and predictable, such as a manager updating employ- ees on last month’s sales or calculating someone’s paycheck. Highly complex situations, such as a corporate reorganization or merger, are ambiguous, hard to analyze, and often emotionally charged.

Picking the Right Medium A two-way face-to-face conversation is the richest form of communication. It provides immediate feedback and allows participants to observe multi- ple cues such as body language and tone of voice. Use face-to-face in situations that are complex or that are highly important to receivers. In contrast, telephone conversations and videoconferencing are not as informative as face-to-face exchanges even though they are relatively high in richness. For example, webinars and WebEx presentations are well suited for disseminating information, but we can say from experience that they are not as good for ensuring the messaging has been understood. At the other end of the complexity scale, newsletters, reports, and general e-mail blasts are lean media and best for less com- plex situations. E-mail and social media messages vary in media richness: leaner if they impersonally blanket a large audience, and richer if they mix personal textual and video information that prompts quick conversational feedback.12

We conclude this section by noting that people have preferences for communicating in different media. Research on individual differences identified the following trends:

• Improving the level of media richness reduces the cost of information search and increases the number of options consumers consider when making choices.13

• Managers, not coworkers, can influence the media richness perception held by employees, particularly when it comes to e-mail messages.14

• Employees targeted by coworkers’ negative workplace gossip are less likely to dem- onstrate appropriate work behaviors.15

The photo on the right represents a less complex situation than the one on the left. Speaking to a group of employees in an open forum is more complicated because the speaker has no idea what people might ask or how they might respond to the message. How would you suggest managers prepare for an open forum meeting? (left): wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock; (right): LWA/Larry Williams/Getty Images

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9.2 COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

Although there is no universally accepted definition of communication competence,  it is a performance-based index of an individual’s abilities to effectively use commu- nication behaviors in a given context.16

Are you curious about your level of communication competence? Is it low, medium, or high? Find out by completing Self-Assessment 9.1. If your score is lower than you prefer, find ideas in the chapter for improving your interpersonal communication skills.

Identify the key aspects of interpersonal communication.

LO 9-2

Let’s consider four key communication skills that affect your communication competence:

• Nonverbal communication • Active listening • Nondefensive communication • Empathy

Sources of Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication  is communication without words. According to communi- cation experts “it includes observable behaviors such as facial expressions, eyes, touching, and tone of voice, as well as less obvious messages such as dress, posture, and spatial dis- tance between two or more people.”17

Nonverbal communication adds flavor to oral communication. That is, it helps you understand the attitudes and emotions of those with whom you are speaking, which in turn helps you more accurately interpret their message.18

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Communication competence is your ability to effectively communicate with others. Knowing

that recruiters look for communication skills in college graduates, you’ll be happy to learn

that you can improve these skills. You will learn how you can use nonverbal communication,

active listening, nondefensive communication, and empathy to enhance your communication

competence.

Assessing Your Communication Competence Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 9.1 in Connect. 

1. Are you happy with the results? 2. Based on your scores, what are your top three strengths and your three biggest

weaknesses? 3. How might you use your strengths more effectively in your role as a student? 4. How might you improve on your weaknesses?

SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.1 CAREER READINESS

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Let’s consider four key sources of nonverbal messages:

• Body movements and gestures. • Facial expressions. • Touch. • Eye contact.

Body Movements and Gestures Body movements, such as leaning forward or backward, and gestures provide nonverbal information that can either enhance or detract from the communication process. Open body positions, such as leaning backward or ges- turing with palms facing up, communicate immediacy, a term used to represent openness, warmth, closeness, and availability for communication. A recent study suggested that the use of gestures can help in the process of learning and comprehension in both adults and children.19 Defensiveness is communicated by gestures such as folding arms, crossing hands, crossing legs, or pointing at others.

Touch Touching is another powerful nonverbal cue. People tend to touch those they like. Research reveals that women do more touching during conversations than men.20 Touching conveys an impression of warmth and caring and can help create a personal bond between people. Be careful about using touch with people from diverse cultures, however, because norms for touching vary significantly around the world.

Facial Expressions Facial expressions convey a wealth of information. Smiling, for instance, typically represents warmth, happiness, or friendship, whereas frowning conveys dissatisfaction or anger. Are these interpretations universal? A summary of relevant research revealed that the association between facial expressions and emotions varies across cul- tures.21 A smile, for example, does not convey the same emotion in different countries. Be careful when interpreting facial expressions among diverse groups of employees.

Eye Contact Eye contact is a strong nonverbal cue that varies across cultures. Western- ers are taught at an early age to look at their parents when spoken to. In contrast, Asians are taught to avoid eye contact with a parent or superior in order to show obedience and subservience.22 Once again, you need to be sensitive to different orientations toward main- taining eye contact with diverse employees.

Practical Tips Here is our advice for improving your nonverbal communication skills. Body movements, gestures, and speech

• Lean forward to show the speaker you are interested. • Don’t display slumped shoulders, downward head, flat tones, or inaudible voice, all

of which convey indecisiveness or lack of confidence. • Don’t speak too fast or too slowly. Your tone of voice should match the tone of the

message. • Use paraphrasing as a mechanism to check on communication accuracy.

Paraphrasing  is restating what someone else has said or written.

Facial expressions like these can reveal the emotions behind a message, but they are easily misinterpreted. Which of these facial expres- sions suggest happiness, worry, and anger? (left to right): Jack Hollingsworth/Blend Images LLC; liza54500/Shutterstock; Aaron Amat/Shutterstock; SensorSpot/Getty Images

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Facial expressions • Nod your head to show you are listening

or that you agree. • Smile and show interest. • Don’t close your eyes or tense facial

muscles.

Eye contact • Maintain eye contact and don’t look away

from the speaker.

Listening Listening  is the process of actively decoding and interpreting verbal messages. It requires cognitive attention and information processing; simply hearing does not. There is general consen- sus that listening is a cornerstone skill of commu- nication competence.

In studies that support this conclusion, active listening made receivers feel more under- stood. It also led people to conclude that their conversations were more helpful, sensitive, and supportive.23 Clearly, active listening yields pos- itive outcomes.

Unfortunately, many of us think we are good listeners when evidence suggests just the opposite. For example, researchers estimate that typical listeners retain only 20 to 50 percent of what they hear.24

Why do you think we miss or lose so much of what we hear? One reason is that we have the cogni- tive capacity to process words at a much higher rate than people speak. This means our cognitive processes are being underutilized, leading to daydreaming and distractions. Noise is another reason. A third reason, and one you can control, is your motivation to listen and your listening style. It takes effort to actively listen. You won’t be a better listener unless you are motivated to become one.

What’s Your Listening Style—or Styles? You can improve your communication competence by understanding your typical listening style. There are four styles:25

1. Active—I’m fully invested. Active listeners are “all in.” That is, they are motivated to listen and give full attention when others are talking. They focus on what is being communicated and expend energy by participating in the discussion. They also use positive body language, such as leaning in or making direct eye contact, to convey their interest.

2. Involved—I’m partially invested. Involved listeners devote some, but not all, of their attention and energy to listening. They reflect on what is being said and halfheartedly participate in the discus- sion. Their use of nonverbal cues tends to be inconsistent or intermittent, and they can show non- verbal signs of interest and noninterest in the same conversation.

3. Passive—It’s not my responsibility to listen. Passive listeners are not equal partners in a speaking– listening exchange. They assume the speaker is responsible for the quality of the interaction and believe their role is to passively take in information. Passive listeners will display attentiveness, but they can fake it at times. Overall, they don’t expend much motivation or energy in receiving and decoding messages.

4. Detached—I’m uninterested. Detached listeners tend to withdraw from the interaction. They appear inattentive, bored, distracted, and uninterested. They may start using mobile devices during the speaking–listening exchange. Their body language will reflect lack of interest, such as slumping and avoiding direct eye contact.

Which of the four styles do you tend to use? Do you consistently use one or two styles, or does your style vary from one situation to the next? You can answer these questions by taking Self-Assessment 9.2.

As children, we all were instructed to listen. However, many adults seem to suffer from poor listening skills. Why is this? For one, it takes effort and motivation to be a good listener. To communicate and perform better, we would all benefit from investing more effort into listening more effectively. Luis Molinero/Shutterstock

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Assessing Your Listening Style Please be prepared to answer these questions if your instructor has assigned Self-Assessment 9.2 in Connect. 

1. Based on your results, how would you classify your style? 2. Are you surprised by the results? 3. Identify three things you can do to improve your listening skills.

SELF-ASSESSMENT 9.2 CAREER READINESS

Becoming a More Effective Listener Effective listening is a learned skill that requires effort and motivation. It comes down to paying attention to the content of the message. The suggestions in Table 9.1 can increase your listening skills at school, home, and work.

Researchers have now begun to study an emerging dimension of listening called social listening, which pertains to how we communicate and listen to others using social media and communication technologies that influence our personal engagement with others. The increase in constant interaction brought about by social media and mobile devices appears to be changing the way we react to stimuli (for example, social media posts, comments, and likes) and listen and respond to messages.26

TIP EXPLANATION

Show respect. Give everyone the opportunity to explain his/her ideas without interrupting. Actively try to help the sender convey his or her message.

Listen from the first sentence.

Turn off your internal thoughts and mentally put aside whatever you were thinking about prior to the interaction.

Be mindful. Stay in the moment and focus on the sender. Don’t try to figure out what the speaker is going to say.

Keep quiet. Use your ears more than your mouth, and try to follow the 80/20 rule. That is, your conversation partner should speak 80 percent of the time and you should speak 20 percent.

Ask questions. Asking questions helps you clarify what is being said, unlocks learning, and improves interpersonal bonding.

Paraphrase and summarize.

Paraphrasing repeats back to someone what you believe you just heard him or her say. Summarizing consolidates an entire conversation. Both these techniques enhance communication accuracy because they help to ensure messages are being understood correctly.

Remember what was said.

Either take notes or make an effort to log critical information into your mental computer.

Involve your body. Use nonverbal cues to demonstrate interest and involvement.

TABLE 9.1 Tips for Effective Listening

SOURCES: Brooks, Alison Wood, and Leslie K. John. “The Surprising Power of Questions.” Harvard Business Review, June 2018. https://hbr.org/2018/05/the-surprising-power-of-questions; Altman, Ian. “The Most Successful Entrepreneurs Possess This One Crucial Skill.” Forbes Media, LLC, April 18, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ianaltman/2017/04/18/the-most-successful- entrepreneurs-possess-this-one-crucial-skill/#61d4f4b25d67; and Keyser, John. “Active Listening Leads to Business Success.” Association for Talent Development. https://www.td.org/magazines/td-magazine/active-listening-leads-to-business-success.

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Nondefensive Communication Nondefensive communication occurs when you ask questions and make statements in an open and neutral manner. Using this approach helps the communicator gather accurate information and speak in an even- tempered tone without jumping to conclu- sions that may inf lame the situation. Nondefensive communication also helps individuals gain the respect of their col- leagues and others in an organization while strengthening personal and professional rela- tionships. For example, if one of your cowork- ers acts upset, you could simply state an observation by asking the person, “Are you angry about something?” This neutral ques- tion will allow the person to explain his or her emotions without getting more upset or blaming others for the situation.27

Defensiveness  occurs when people perceive they are being attacked or threatened. Our “first responder” to defen- siveness is the brain’s amygdala. A neurosci- ence expert noted the amygdala “accesses emotional memories that identify a given stimulus as potentially threatening and trig- gers the emotional fear response that sets the fight-or-f light biobehavioral response in

motion.”28 This reaction leads to defensive listening and destructive behaviors such as shutting down or being passive-aggressive, standing behind rules or policies, creating a diversion, or counterattacking.

Moreover, defensiveness from one person activates a similar response in the other party. All told, defensiveness from either party in an exchange fosters the exchange of inaccurate and inefficient communication.29

You may be surprised to learn that defensiveness is often triggered by nothing more than a poor choice of words or nonverbal posture during interactions. In the language of behavior modification, these triggers are antecedents of defensiveness. For example, using absolutes like “always” or “never” is very likely to create a defensive response. Try to avoid using absolutes because they are rarely true. Instead, you can increase your communica- tion competence by avoiding the defensive antecedents and employing the positive ante- cedents of nondefensive communication shown in Table 9.2.

Connecting with Others via Empathy We first mentioned empathy in Chapter 3 when discussing the components of emo- tional intelligence. Although researchers propose multiple types of empathy, the gen- eral consensus is that empathy  represents the ability to recognize and understand another person’s feelings and thoughts.30 It is a ref lective technique that fosters open communication.

Being empathetic requires two key actions. The first is mindfulness. Empathy neces- sitates that we place our attention on the feelings and emotions being displayed both ver- bally and nonverbally by others. The second action is to incorporate our understanding of another person’s feelings and thoughts into our communications. This will lead us to use language that fits the receiver’s perspective.

Have you ever been in an auto accident? If yes, then you likely have intimate knowledge of defensiveness. In situations like this, one person often tries to blame the other while both defend themselves. Which toward-defensive styles in Table 9.2 on the next page are likely to occur in such situations? Tom Merton/age fotostock

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TOWARD DEFENSIVENESS TOWARD NONDEFENSIVENESS

Style Example Style Example

Evaluative “Your work is sloppy.” Descriptive “Your work was two days late.”

Controlling “You need to . . .” Problem solving “What do you think are the causes of the missed deadline?”

Strategizing “I’d like you to agree with me during the meeting so that we can overcome any challenges.” 

Straightforward “Vote your conscience at the meeting. You can agree or disagree with my proposal.” 

Neutral “Don’t worry about missing the deadline. It’s no big deal.”

Empathetic “I sense disappointment about missing the deadline. Let’s figure out how we can get back on schedule.” 

Superior “Listen to me; I’ve worked here 20 years.” 

Equal “Let’s figure out the causes of the missed deadline together.”

Certain “We tried this idea in the past. It just doesn’t work.” 

Honest and open

Using I-messages: “I am angry about the way you spoke to the customer because our department looked unresponsive.”

TABLE 9.2 Antecedents of Defensive and Nondefensive Communication

SOURCES: Gibb, R. Jack. “Defensive Communication.” Journal of Communication 11, no. 3 (September 1961): 141–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1961. tb00344.x; and “Reach Out: Effective Communication.” Sunday Business Post, April 14, 2013.

Empathy leads to more effective communication and interaction because people feel heard. It also sends the message that we care about others. For example, a recent study of audiotaped performance appraisal interviews revealed that managers’ empathetic communication styles were positively related to employees’ intentions to change or improve their performance and to employees’ perceptions of their supervisors’ likeability.31 British entrepreneur Maurice Ostro offers some advice on the importance of empathy in the OB in Action feature.

British entrepreneur Maurice Ostro runs his family’s gem company, Ostro Minerals, and Entrepreneurial Giving, a network he founded for entrepreneurs who donate some of their profits to charity. Convinced that empathy is good for business, Ostro offers this advice:32

• Maintain a purpose beyond profit. Align it with your values and make it part of every day.

• Write that purpose down. Encourage employees to do likewise.

• To keep productive employees and loyal customers, “tell everyone . . . about what

you’re doing for those around you.” Says Ostro, “Research shows that employees at a purposeful company can be up to three times more productive.”

• Connect with like-minded people.

YOUR THOUGHTS? 1. Do you agree that empathy is good for busi-

ness? Why or why not? 2. Can you think of any other contexts in which

empathy could be useful? Discuss.

Empathy Is Good for Business

OB in Action

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9.3 GENDER, GENERATIONS, AND COMMUNICATION

Assume you are about to work with someone who made the following statement during a strategic planning meeting. “I’m not on board with the direction this decision is going. . . . No, I’m not finished. I won’t back down from this position, and I’m not going to commit my team and resources to this project until we have more conclusive evidence to work with. Period.” What is your impression of this person? Would it be different if the speaker’s name were Mary rather than Mark?

A team of researchers examined this question and found that women who disagreed in a forceful manner like this were evaluated more negatively than men.33 This result held for both male and female evaluators. Let’s consider two explanations.

The first is implicit cognition, or bias, which was discussed in Chapter 4. Implicit cog- nition consists of any thoughts or beliefs that are automatically activated from memory without our conscious awareness. It causes us to make biased decisions without realizing we are doing so.34 Lawyer and former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama commented about this bias by noting, “No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens.”35

The second explanation is linguistic styles. Deborah Tannen, a communication expert, defines linguistic style as follows:

Linguistic style  refers to a person’s characteristic speaking pattern. It includes such features as directness or indirectness, pacing and pausing, word choice, and the use of such elements as jokes, figures of speech, stories, questions, and apolo- gies. In other words, linguistic style is a set of culturally learned signals by which we not only communicate what we mean but also interpret others’ meaning and evalu- ate one another as people.36

You can see how linguistic style helps explain communication differences between women and men and across generations. This section will increase your understanding of interpersonal communication across age and gender barriers.

Communication Patterns between Women and Men There are two competing explanations about the origin of linguistic styles between men and women. Some researchers believe interpersonal differences between women and men are due to inherited biological differences between the sexes. This perspective, also called the evolutionary psychology or Darwinian perspective, attributes gender differences in communication to drives, needs, and conflicts associated with reproductive strategies used by women and men. The second perspective, social role theory, suggests that girls and boys are taught to communicate differently. Here is what these explanations suggest about male and female communication patterns.37

The Male Perspective Males are expected to communicate more aggressively, interrupt others more than women, and hide their emotions because they have an inherent desire to possess features attractive to females. Men also see conversations as negotiations in which people try to achieve and maintain the upper hand. Thus they feel it is important to protect

Explain how gender and age affect the communication process.

LO 9-3

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Women and men have communicated differently since the dawn of time. So do people from

varying generations. You can improve your communication competence by understanding

and accommodating communication differences among men and women and various genera-

tions. This section will help you in this pursuit.

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351Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

themselves from others’ attempts to put them down or push them around. This perspective increases a male’s need to maintain independence and avoid failure.38 Although males are certainly not competing for mate selection during a business meeting, evolutionary psycholo- gists propose that men cannot turn off the biologically based determinants of their behavior.39

The Female Perspective According to social role theory, females and males learn ways of speaking while growing up. Research shows that girls learn conversational skills and habits that focus on rapport and relationships, whereas boys learn skills and habits that focus on status and hierarchies. Accordingly, women come to view communication as a network of connections in which conversations are negotiations for closeness. This ori- entation leads women to seek and give confirmation and support more than men.40

What Does Research Reveal? Research demonstrates that women and men com- municate differently in a number of ways.41 Women are more likely to share credit for suc- cess, to ask questions for clarification, to tactfully give feedback by mitigating criticism with praise, and to indirectly tell others what to do. According to The Wall Street Journal, women also are “more likely to add qualifiers (‘I’m not sure, but . . .’) and apologies (‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but . . .’). When complimented on her work, a woman is more likely to downplay it, saying she was ‘lucky.’”42 These tendencies allow women to be interrupted more than men when communicating with others.43

In contrast, men are more likely to boast about themselves, to bluntly give feedback, to withhold compliments, to ask fewer questions, and to avoid admitting fault or weaknesses.

Generational Differences in Communication As discussed in Chapter 4, today’s workplace often includes people from four different generations—traditionalists, baby boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials—with Gen Zers also start- ing to make their mark. (Refer to Table 4.3 for additional details and characteristics.) Among the challenges in this scenario is the fact that different generations prefer different media, as discussed above, and they have different expectations and norms about communication.

The Role of Digital Devices When it comes to communication media, Millennials and Gen Xers are more likely to love their digital devices than boomers and traditionalists. Millennials were brought up with instant messaging and texting and prefer these media over phone calls, letters, and reports. Several professional sports teams, including the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals, acknowledge these trends and are making accommodations in managing their operations and players.

Women are more likely to be interrupted during this meeting attended by a group of global employees. What can women do to ensure that their voices are heard and not overrun by others during a meeting? oneinchpunch/Shutterstock

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To help his Millennial players get their “social media fix,” Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury recently announced he planned to allow cellphone breaks during team meet- ings. According to Kingsbury, the breaks will come every 20 minutes—or sooner—if he sees players starting to lose interest in the meetings. “They’re itching to get to those things,” Kingsbury said. “We’ll let them hop over there and then get back in the meeting and refocus.” The Cardinals are not the only team making changes to address the popu- larity of digital devices. Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays recently passed a team rule restrict- ing the amount of time players can play the popular video game “Fortnite,” which seems to be keeping some team members from getting enough rest.44

Communication Expectations and Norms Younger employees also are more likely to use the Internet and social media to accomplish their work tasks. However, advances in communication technology, along with scammers, have changed the approach businesspeople of all ages use to call prospective clients on the phone.

According to recent research, almost 50 percent of all phone calls are robo-called cold-calls from companies that are either real or fake. Thus, the act of cold-calling compa- nies to seek new business may no longer be a viable communications strategy. In fact, the invention of voice mail significantly reduced the effectiveness of trying to communicate with potential clients via phone because it is no longer easy to get through to a key deci- sion maker within any organization.45

Other more effective communication strategies regardless of whether you’re a Millennial, Gen Zer, or Boomer may include seeking recommendations or referrals from current customers about potential new clients and e-mailing the prospects directly; net- working with industry organizations and other professional groups; communicating through business or company accounts on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram; and redesigning company websites to focus on selling products and services and signing up potential clients through the use of online newsletters, podcasts, sales discounts, and other business opportunities.46

Improving Communications between the Sexes and Generations It’s unwise to generalize any trends, preferences, or perceptions to all men, all women, or all members of a particular generation. Some men, for instance, are less likely to boast about their achievements, while some women are less likely to share the credit. Some traditionalists embrace technology and new communication practices, while not all Millennials are techno- logical whizzes. There are always exceptions to the rule. In recognition of that fact, here are some suggestions that can enhance your communication competence:

• Clarify communication expectations and norms. If your manager fails to discuss these, bring the topic up. It’s better to understand expectations than to guess wrong. After all, you are the one who will lose if people form negative perceptions about your communication skills and patterns.

• Use a variety of communication tools. Regardless of your preferred mode of commu- nication (such as face-to-face or texting), employees from all generations should use a variety of media according to the circumstances. This avoids alienating any par- ticular generation.

• Be aware of implicit bias. Don’t assume, based on somebody’s gender or age, that he or she only likes one mode of communication. If you find males interrupting, gently call them out. If someone is quiet in a meeting, ask for his or her opinion.

• Make sure people get credit for their ideas and not their gender. Sometimes a woman will propose an idea in a meeting and it’s not acknowledged until a man offers the same suggestion later in the discussion. Researchers recently confirmed this sce- nario when study results revealed that a bump in status and leader recognition as a result of speaking up with ideas only happened for men, not women.47

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Social media  use web-based and mobile technologies to generate interactive dialogue with members of a network. Social media are now woven throughout the fabric of our lives. Their use affects many subjects covered in this book, highlighting the importance of communication as an OB topic. Social media are now used by a sig- nificant proportion of people across all age groups (see Figure 9.4 for utilization rates by age).48

These figures suggest that employers and managers are wise to utilize social media tools with employees of all generations. A communications expert put it this way:

A social media policy should apply to all platforms, and ultimately everything employees post on line. Some employees may believe that while they use LinkedIn and Twitter for business purposes, they use Facebook for personal use and can, therefore, post indiscriminately. However, they are still company representatives, and inappropriate posts may damage their employer’s brand, as well as their own.49

9.4 SOCIAL MEDIA AND OB

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Employers are continually challenged to reap the benefits of social media while controlling

the costs. Your own knowledge and behavior are part of the solution. In this section, you’ll

expand your understanding of how to use social media productively, the cost of social media,

the effective use of e-mail, and ways to manage issues related to social media policies,

privacy, and etiquette. 

Describe how using social media can increase your effectiveness at work.

LO 9-4

FIGURE 9.4 Age Distribution at the Top Social Networks

SOURCE: Marketing Charts. “Social Networking Platforms’ User Demographics Update 2018. Marketing Charts LLC.” Accessed June 19, 2019. https://www.marketingcharts.com/digital/social-media-82642.

18–24 25–29 30–49 50–64 64+

LinkedIn

WhatsApp

0 20 40 60 80 100

Pinterest

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

YouTube

Snapchat

U.S. Data, Users Aged 18 and Over, March 2018

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354 PART 2 Groups

The same applies to you and other employees. Everyone needs to realize the benefits and avoid the pitfalls of social media. To do this, let’s begin our discussion with what experts and researchers say about the effects of social media on productivity.

Social Media and Increased Productivity A driving force behind the use of all forms of technology at work, including social media, is to boost productivity. The key for employees, managers, and employers is to harness the potential and enhance performance at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The following quotation articulates this argument:

[W]ork is becoming a place to collaborate, exchange ideas, and communicate with colleagues and customers. Your value as an employee will be determined not only by how well you perform your job but also by how much you contribute your knowl- edge and ideas back to the organization. The ways in which companies develop this culture of collaboration will become a significant competitive factor in attracting and engaging top talent in the twenty-first century.50

Social media is clearly a tool that can help both you and your employers realize these pro- ductivity benefits.

Employee Productivity Evidence is mounting that social media provides a host of benefits for employees, such as

• Increased job satisfaction and better work–life balance.51

• Performance and retention.52

• More creativity and collaboration.53

Two studies of thousands of employees even showed that those who used five or more social networking sites had higher sales numbers than those who used only one to four.54 This implies that more is better for salespeople! While you should be careful about drawing broad conclusions from these findings, they are revealing.

Furthermore, if you think employees’ opinions matter, you’ll be interested in a study by Microsoft showing that 46 percent of employees across generations and industries felt social media tools would make them more productive at work.55

LinkedIn, for example, is far more than an online résumé-hosting site. It is cur- rently the key professional networking tool for job search. Recent surveys reveal that as many as 92 percent of recruiters use social media for hiring purposes, and, as Figure 9.5 shows, 77 percent use LinkedIn, 63 percent use Facebook, and 25 percent use Instagram, especially Millennial recruiters and those working at technology companies.56 This means that more than three-quarters of job recruiters are using LinkedIn, and you likely use it yourself. The following Applying OB box provides guidance on optimizing LinkedIn for you.

Another productivity benefit of social media is that they make digital information searchable. This capabil- ity can reduce the time employees spend trying to retrieve needed information by as much as 35 percent. What would you do with 35 percent more time in a day, month, or year?60 Finally, consider that many of social media’s benefits for employees translate into benefits for their employers.

Employer Productivity Companies of all sizes and industries believe in the benefits of social media. Domino’s, for example, gets more than 80 percent of

FIGURE 9.5 Percentage of Recruiters Who Use Various Social Media

25%

63%

77%

200

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

10060 8040

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355Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

its sales through digital channels. The company enjoys a strong reputation as a leader in making the customer experience seamless and launched its digital ordering tools more than a decade ago. In addition to real-time tracking of orders on any mobile device, the company uses Dom the Pizza bot to allow customers to order on Facebook Messenger, Amazon’s Alexa, Twitter, Apple Watches, Android Wear, and Samsung Smart TVs.61 If deployed effectively, social media enable businesses to realize the many benefits outlined in Table 9.3.

Crowdsourcing  occurs when companies invite nonemployees to contribute to achieving particular goals and manage the input process via the Internet. Integra Gold Corp, a mining company based in Canada, illustrates the benefits of utilizing tal- ent and resources outside the organization to meet goals. The company acquired a firm with mineral rights and six terabytes of geological surveys used to prospect for gold.

Applying OB

• Think in terms of quality, not quantity. It’s not a scoreboard. Make connections that are meaning- ful to you professionally. 

• Don’t invite people to your network blindly, and don’t accept invitations without first learning why they reached out and how the connection might be relevant.

• Connect beyond your current industry and pro- fessional sphere. Drawing on diverse views is a key way to expand your own knowledge and grow.

• Use the personal note option for inviting others to connect.

• When inviting others, focus only on making the connection. Other business can wait.

• Be a good connection for others. Respond to mes- sages and write recommendations for and endorse those whose skills you can confidently promote.59

Build a Reputation. You need to offer value to others, which in turn earns you trust and respect. This requires genuine thought and attention to what you post.

• Be a resource for others by liking (means “thanks”), commenting on (means you’re interested), or sharing (means you think others also will benefit) relevant information within your network.

• Always explain why you are sharing or liking content.

• Avoid controversy, criticism, and complaints. If you can’t resist doing this, then don’t use LinkedIn. It can torpedo your reputation.

To use LinkedIn effectively you need to:57

Build a Professional LinkedIn Profile. This is only the first step, but it is essential to your success.

• Focus all sections (summary and experience) to reflect your growth over time and your responsi- bilities in your current job. 

• Consider writing your summary and experience sections in the first person and telling a story instead of using bullet points. Describe what you’ve accomplished and what you can do for other employers. (Include the past but don’t dwell on it—include more about what you do today.)

• Learn and use the appropriate keywords. LinkedIn’s search function is effective and recruiters use it extensively. Learn what they are looking for and be sure to include these words in your profile, and in your headline as well.

• Spend the time necessary. Although obvious, think of what you want to achieve with your LinkedIn profile. Also, think of your profile as a living web page, something that evolves over time. Explain how your past experiences helped shape who you are today.58

Build a LinkedIn Network. Simply building a profile doesn’t mean recruiters (or anybody else) will view it. You need to actively and wisely build and engage your connections. Some helpful pointers and etiquette follow: 

How to Optimize LinkedIn

CAREER READINESS

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Integra crowdsourced the analyses of this data instead of hiring people and managing the work itself. It is offering a prize of $811,000 to whoever finds the next multimillion- ounce gold deposit.62

The OB in Action box describes how other well-known companies now use social media to innovate and solve problems using crowdsourcing.

TABLE 9.3 Social Media Benefits for Employers

BENEFIT DESCRIPTION

Connect in real time over distance

Employees, customers, communities, suppliers, prospective talent, and many others can communicate as needed and while work is being completed.

Collaborate within and outside the organization

Linking sources of knowledge is a means for realizing the potential of employee diversity and enhancing productivity. Social media is by definition a way of connecting people virtually, so its effective implementation benefits virtual teamwork.

Expand boundaries Social networks can become critical means for organizational innovation and effectiveness, allowing them to utilize knowledge, skills, and experience of people outside (not employed by) the organization.

SOURCE: McFarland, Lynn A., and Robert E. Ployhart. “Social Media: A Contextual Framework to Guide Research and Practice.” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 6 (2015): 1653–1677. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0039244.

Lego Ideas is an official Lego website where fans submit original ideas for new products, via written descriptions and photos or 3D renderings. Ideas must draw 100 supporters within 60 days and then 10,000 within the next two years. Winners are cho- sen three times a year; their designers earn 1 per- cent of the toy’s net revenue. Two recent winners are a Steamboat Willie replica and the Central Perk coffee shop from the TV series “Friends.”63

The fifth winner of Frito-Lay’s “Do Us a Flavor” crowdsourcing challenge, which let customers sub- mit ideas for new potato chip flavors for a $1 million prize, is Crispy Taco. The company will also produce

runners-up Fried Tomato and Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese. Frito-Lay hasn’t ruled out the possi- bility of a sixth round.64

YOUR THOUGHTS 1. Describe at least two ways you crowdsource,

including reading product recommendations on social media.

2. Identify a service you use or some element of your job that could benefit from crowdsourcing. Focus on how others can help you solve prob- lems, which requires more than just soliciting their opinions.

Expanding Organizational Boundaries with Crowdsourcing at Lego, Frito-Lay

OB in Action

Costs of Social Media Lost productivity due to cyberloafing—using the Internet at work for personal use—is a primary concern for employers in their adoption of social media. Some studies put the cost at $85 billion per year and report that employees spend 60 to 80 percent of their time at work pretending to do actual or legitimate work.65

How do employees waste time on social media?

• 50 percent are talking on a cell phone or texting. • 39 percent are surfing the Internet.

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357Communication in the Digital Age CHAPTER 9

• 38 percent are on social media. • 23 percent are sending personal e-mail.66

Perhaps the biggest problem with such productivity losses is that employees rarely think about them. Have you ever thought you were cheating your employer by check- ing Facebook, sending a tweet, or booking a trip during work hours? Did you ever think the message you sent a friend about work might be shared and give a competitor an advantage?

Then there is shopping online while at work. A recent survey by Careerbuilder found that on average 53 percent of workers planned to shop online while at work, with nearly 50 percent of them using their personal mobile devices. And it seems the greater access you have to technology at work, the more likely you are to use it to shop—68 percent of IT workers said they were likely to shop online while at work.67

The following Problem-Solving Application regarding fantasy football highlights the magnitude of the problem.

A Very Expensive Fantasy

Fantasy sports are a well-entrenched phenomenon. Tens of millions of people play, and many of them do so at work. Here are some statistics:68