Behavioral sience in managment

Organizational Behavior UPDATED EIGHTEENTH EDITION

Stephen P. Robbins • Timothy A. Judge

GLOBAL EDITION

Stephen P. Robbins —San Diego State University

Timothy A. Judge —The Ohio State University

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Harlow, England • London • New York • Boston • San Francisco • Toronto • Sydney • Dubai • Singapore • Hong Kong Tokyo • Seoul • Taipei • New Delhi • Cape Town • Sao Paulo • Mexico City • Madrid • Amsterdam • Munich • Paris • Milan

UPDATED 18TH EDITION GLOBAL EDITION

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Brief Contents

Preface 23

1 Introduction 1 What Is Organizational Behavior? 34

2 The Individual 2 Diversity in Organizations 74 3 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 106 4 Personality and Values 134 5 Perception and Individual Decision Making 170 6 Emotions and Moods 208 7 Motivation Concepts 246 8 Motivation: From Concepts to Applications 284

3 The Group 9 Foundations of Group Behavior 318 10 Understanding Work Teams 354 11 Power and Politics 388 12 Communication 424 13 Leadership 462 14 Foundations of Organization Structure 504

4 The Organization System 15 Organizational Culture 540 16 Human Resources Policies and Practices 580 17 Organizational Change and Stress Management 622 18 Conflict and Negotiation 668 Appendix Research in Organizational Behavior 705 Comprehensive Cases 712

Glossary 726

Name Index 736

Organization Index 760

Subject Index 763

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1 What Is Organizational Behavior? 34 The Importance of Interpersonal Skills 37

Management and Organizational Behavior 38 Management Roles 39 • Management Skills 40 • Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities 40

Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study 43 Big Data 43

Myth or Science? Management by Walking around Is the Most Effective Management 44

Disciplines That Contribute to OB 47 Psychology 47 • Social Psychology 48 • Sociology 48 • Anthropology 48

There Are Few Absolutes in OB 48

Challenges and Opportunities 49 Economic Pressures 50 • Continuing Globalization 50 • Workforce Demographics 52

Personal Inventory Assessments Multicultural Awareness Scale 52 Workforce Diversity 53 • Customer Service 53 • People Skills 53 • Networked Organizations 54 • Social Media 54 • Employee Well-Being at Work 54 • Positive Work Environment 55 • Ethical Behavior 56

An Ethical Choice Vacation: All I Ever Wanted 57

Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model 58 An Overview 58 • Inputs 58 • Processes 59 • Outcomes 59

Career OBjectives What do I say about my termination? 61

Employability Skills 64 Employability Skills That Apply across Majors 65

Summary 66

Contents

Preface 23

1 Introduction

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Implications for Managers 66

Point/Counterpoint The Battle of the Texts 67

Questions for Review 68 Experiential Exercise I’m a Team Leader; I Don’t Need Any Help 68 Ethical Dilemma There’s a Drone in Your Soup 69 Case Incident 1 L’Oréal around the Globe 69 Case Incident 2 So, How Engaged Are Employees? The Data Says It All 70

2 The Individual 2 Diversity in Organizations 74

Diversity 77 Demographic Characteristics 77 • Levels of Diversity 78

An Ethical Choice Global Diversity: Affirmative Action 79

Discrimination 79

Stereotype Threat 80

Personal Inventory Assessments Intercultural Sensitivity Scale 81 Discrimination in the Workplace 81

Biographical Characteristics 82 Age 82

Myth or Science? Bald Is Better 83 Sex 84 • Race and Ethnicity 85 • Disabilities 86 • Hidden Disabilities 87

Other Differentiating Characteristics 88 Tenure 88 • Religion 88 • Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity 89

Career OBjectives Should I come out at work? 90 Cultural Identity 91

Ability 92 Intellectual Abilities 92 • Physical Abilities 93

Implementing Diversity Management Strategies 94 Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining Diverse Employees 94 • Diversity in Groups 95 • Expatriate Adjustment 95 • Effective Diversity Programs 96

Summary 97

Implications for Managers 97

Point/Counterpoint Affirmative Action Programs Have Outlived Their Usefulness 98

Questions for Review 99 Experiential Exercise Helping Each Other and Finding Out We Aren’t That Different 99 Ethical Dilemma Voiding the “License to Discriminate” 100 Case Incident 1 Encouraging Female Engineers 100 Case Incident 2 The Encore Career 101

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3 Attitudes and Job Satisfaction 106 Attitudes 109

Attitudes and Behavior 110

Job Attitudes 111 Job Satisfaction and Job Involvement 111

An Ethical Choice Office Talk 112 Organizational Commitment 112 • Perceived Organizational Support 113 • Employee Engagement 113 • Are These Job Attitudes All That Distinct? 114

Job Satisfaction 115 Measuring Job Satisfaction 115 • How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs? 116

What Causes Job Satisfaction? 117 Job Conditions 118 • Personality 118

Personal Inventory Assessments Core Self-Evaluation (CSE) Scale 118 Pay 119 • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 119

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction 120 Job Performance 120 • Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) 120 • Customer Satisfaction 121 • Life Satisfaction 121

Career OBjectives How can I make my job better? 122

The Impact of Job Dissatisfaction 122 Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) 123

Myth or Science? Happy Workers Means Happy Profits 125 Managers Often “Don’t Get It” 125

Summary 126

Implications for Managers 126

Point/Counterpoint Employer–Employee Loyalty Is an Outdated Concept 127

Questions for Review 128 Experiential Exercise Job Attitudes Situational Interview 128 Ethical Dilemma Tell-All Websites 129 Case Incident 1 Jobs, Money, and Satisfaction 129 Case Incident 2 Job Crafting 130

4 Personality and Values 134 Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace 137 Person–Job Fit 137 • Person–Organization Fit 137 • Other Dimensions of Fit 138

Personality 139 What Is Personality? 139

Career OBjectives How do I ace the personality test? 140

Personal Inventory Assessments Core Five Personality Dimensions 141

Personality Frameworks 141

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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator 142 • The Big Five Personality Model 142 • The Dark Triad 146

Other Personality Attributes Relevant to OB 148 Core Self-Evaluations (CSEs) 148 • Self-Monitoring 149

Myth or Science? We Can Accurately Judge Individuals’ Personalities a Few Seconds after Meeting Them 150

Proactive Personality 150

Personality, Job Search, and Unemployment 151

Personality and Situations 152 Situation Strength Theory 152 • Trait Activation Theory 153

Values 154 The Importance and Organization of Values 155 • Terminal versus Instrumental Values 155 • Generational Values 155

An Ethical Choice Do You Have a Cheating Personality? 156

Cultural Values 157 Hofstede’s Framework 157 • The GLOBE Framework 158 • Comparison of Hofstede’s Framework and the GLOBE Framework 159

Summary 160

Implications for Managers 160

Point/Counterpoint Millennials Are More Narcissistic Than Their Parents 161

Questions for Review 162 Experiential Exercise Your Best Self 162 Ethical Dilemma Personal Values and Ethics in the Workplace 163 Case Incident 1 On the Costs of Being Nice 164 Case Incident 2 Personality Matters! 164

5 Perception and Individual Decision Making 170 What Is Perception? 173 Factors That Influence Perception 173

Person Perception: Making Judgments about Others 175 Attribution Theory 175

Career OBjectives So what if I’m a few minutes late to work? 177 Common Shortcuts in Judging Others 178 • Specific Applications of Shortcuts in Organizations 179

Myth or Science? All Stereotypes Are Negative 180

The Link between Perception and Individual Decision Making 181

Decision Making in Organizations 181 The Rational Model, Bounded Rationality, and Intuition 181 • Common Biases and Errors in Decision Making 183

Influences on Decision Making: Individual Differences and Organizational Constraints 187 Individual Differences 187 • Organizational Constraints 189 Decision Making in Times of Crisis 190

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What about Ethics in Decision Making? 190 Three Ethical Decision Criteria 190 • Lying 192

An Ethical Choice Choosing to Lie 193

Creativity, Creative Decision Making, and Innovation in Organizations 193 Creative Behavior 194 • Causes of Creative Behavior 195

Personal Inventory Assessments Creativity Scale 196 Creative Outcomes (Innovation) 197

Summary 198

Implications for Managers 198

Point/Counterpoint Implicit Assessment 199

Questions for Review 200 Experiential Exercise Fake News? 200 Ethical Dilemma Max’s Burgers: The Dollar Value of Ethics 201 Case Incident 1 Warning: Collaboration Overload 202 Case Incident 2 How Do Employees Justify Cyberloafing? 202

6 Emotions and Moods 208 What Are Emotions and Moods? 211 The Basic Emotions 212

Myth or Science? Smile, and the Work World Smiles with You 212 Moral Emotions 213 • The Basic Moods: Positive and Negative Affect 213 • Experiencing Moods and Emotions 214 • The Function of Emotions 216

Sources of Emotions and Moods 217 Personality 217 • Time of Day 217 • Day of the Week 219 • Weather 219 Stress 219 • Social Activities 219 • Sleep 221 • Exercise 221 • Age 221 • Gender 221

Emotional Labor 222

Affective Events Theory 224

Emotional Intelligence 225

An Ethical Choice Should Managers Use Emotional Intelligence (EI) Tests? 226

Personal Inventory Assessments Emotional Intelligence Assessment 227

Emotion Regulation 227 Emotion Regulation Influences and Outcomes 227 • Emotion Regulation Techniques 228 • Ethics of Emotion Regulation 229

OB Applications of Emotions and Moods 230 The Selection Process 230 • Decision Making 230 • Creativity 231 • Motivation 231 • Leadership 231 • Negotiation 232 • Customer Service 232 • Work-Life Satisfaction 232

Career OBjectives How do I turn down the volume on my screaming boss? 233 Deviant Workplace Behaviors 233 • Safety and Injury at Work 234

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Summary 234

Implications for Managers 234

Point/Counterpoint Sometimes Yelling Is for Everyone’s Good 235

Questions for Review 236 Experiential Exercise Mindfulness at Work 236 Ethical Dilemma Data Mining Emotions 237 Case Incident 1 Hiring an Emotionally Intelligent Employee 238 Case Incident 2 Anger: A Dangerous Emotion at Work 239

7 Motivation Concepts 246 Motivation Defined 249

Early Theories of Motivation 250 Hierarchy of Needs Theory 250 • Two-Factor Theory 251 • McClelland’s Theory of Needs 252

Career OBjectives Why won’t he take my advice? 254

Contemporary Theories of Motivation 255 Self-Determination Theory 255

Myth or Science? Helping Others and Being a Good Citizen Is Good for Your Career 256

Goal-Setting Theory 256

Other Contemporary Theories of Motivation 260 Self-Efficacy Theory 260 • Reinforcement Theory 262

An Ethical Choice Motivated by Big Brother 263 Expectancy Theory 264

Personal Inventory Assessments Work Motivation Indicator 266

Equity Theory/Organizational Justice 266 Distributive Justice 267 • Procedural Justice 268 • Interactional Justice 269 • Justice Outcomes 270 • Promoting Justice 271 • Culture and Justice 271

Job Engagement 272

Integrating Contemporary Theories of Motivation 272

Summary 274

Implications for Managers 274

Point/Counterpoint Goals Get You to Where You Want to Be 275

Questions for Review 276 Experiential Exercise Organizational Justice Task 276 Ethical Dilemma Follies of Reward 277 Case Incident 1 “Human and Authentic”: Motivation at Schoenen Torfs 277 Case Incident 2 Laziness Is Contagious 278

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8 Motivation: From Concepts to Applications 284 Motivating by Job Design: The Job Characteristics Model 287 The Job Characteristics Model 287

Job Redesign 289 Job Rotation and Job Enrichment 289

Myth or Science? Money Can’t Buy Happiness 290 Relational Job Design 291

Personal Inventory Assessments Diagnosing Poor Performance and Enhancing Motivation 292

Alternative Work Arrangements 292 Flextime 293 • Job Sharing 295 • Telecommuting 295

Career OBjectives How can I get flextime? 296

Employee Involvement 298 Examples of Employee Involvement Programs 298

Using Rewards to Motivate Employees 299 What to Pay: Establishing a Pay Structure 300 • How to Pay: Rewarding Individual Employees through Variable-Pay Programs 301

An Ethical Choice Workers’ Cooperatives 305

Using Benefits to Motivate Employees 306 Flexible Benefits: Developing a Benefits Package 307

Using Intrinsic Rewards to Motivate Employees 307 Employee Recognition Programs 307

Summary 309

Implications for Managers 309

Point/Counterpoint Gainsharing: Fair Shares? 310

Questions for Review 311 Experiential Exercise Developing a Motivation Plan for Your Museum Security Guards 311 Ethical Dilemma You Want Me to Do What? 312 Case Incident 1 We Talk, But They Don’t Listen 312 Case Incident 2 Will More Money Fill the Gap? 313

3 The Group 9 Foundations of Group Behavior 318

Defining and Classifying Groups 321 Social Identity 321 • Ingroups and Outgroups 323 • Social Identity Threat 323

Stages of Group Development 323

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Group Property 1: Roles 325 Role Perception 325 • Role Expectations 325 • Role Conflict 326 • Role Play and Assimilation 327

Myth or Science? Gossip and Exclusion Are Toxic for Groups 327

Group Property 2: Norms 328 Norms and Emotions 328 • Norms and Conformity 328 • Norms and Behavior 329

An Ethical Choice Using Peer Pressure as an Influence Tactic 330 Positive Norms and Group Outcomes 331 • Negative Norms and Group Outcomes 332 • Norms and Culture 333

Group Property 3: Status, and Group Property 4: Size and Dynamics 333 Group Property 3: Status 333 • Group Property 4: Size and Dynamics 335

Group Property 5: Cohesiveness, and Group Property 6: Diversity 337 Group Property 5: Cohesiveness 337 • Group Property 6: Diversity 338

Personal Inventory Assessments Communicating Supportively 338

Group Decision Making 339 Groups versus the Individual 339 • Groupthink and Groupshift 341

Career OBjectives Can I fudge the numbers and not take the blame? 341 Group Decision-Making Techniques 342

Summary 344

Implications for Managers 344

Point/Counterpoint Diverse Work Groups Are Smarter and More Innovative 345

Questions for Review 346 Experiential Exercise Surviving the Wild: Join a Group or Go It Alone? 346 Ethical Dilemma It’s Obvious, They’re Chinese 348 Case Incident 1 The Dangers of Groupthink 348 Case Incident 2 Intragroup Trust and Survival 349

10 Understanding Work Teams 354 Why Have Teams Become So Popular? 357

Differences between Groups and Teams 357

Types of Teams 359 Problem-Solving Teams 359 • Self-Managed Work Teams 359 • Cross- Functional Teams 360 • Virtual Teams 361 • Multiteam Systems 361

An Ethical Choice The Size of Your Meeting’s Carbon Footprint 362

Creating Effective Teams 363 Team Context: What Factors Determine Whether Teams Are Successful? 364 • Team Composition 366

Myth or Science? Team Members Who Are “Hot” Should Make the Play 367

Career OBjectives Is it wrong that I’d rather have guys on my team? 370 Team Processes 371

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Personal Inventory Assessments Team Development Behaviors 375

Turning Individuals into Team Players 375 Selecting: Hiring Team Players 376 • Training: Creating Team Players 376 • Rewarding: Providing Incentives to Be a Good Team Player 376

Beware! Teams Aren’t Always the Answer 377

Summary 378

Implications for Managers 378

Point/Counterpoint To Get the Most Out of Teams, Empower Them 379

Questions for Review 380 Experiential Exercise How to Resolve Social Loafing in Your Team? 380 Ethical Dilemma When Your Cycling Skills Matter! 381 Case Incident 1 Trusting Someone You Can’t See 381 Case Incident 2 Smart Teams and Dumb Teams 382

11 Power and Politics 388 Power and Leadership 391

Bases of Power 392 Formal Power 392 • Personal Power 393 • Which Bases of Power Are Most Effective? 394

Dependence: The Key to Power 394 The General Dependence Postulate 394 • What Creates Dependence? 394 • Social Network Analysis: A Tool for Assessing Resources 395

Power Tactics 397 Using Power Tactics 397 • Cultural Preferences for Power Tactics 398 • Applying Power Tactics 398

How Power Affects People 399 Power Variables 400 • Sexual Harassment: Unequal Power in the Workplace 400

Politics: Power in Action 402 Definition of Organizational Politics 402 • The Reality of Politics 402

The Causes and Consequences of Political Behavior 404 Factors Contributing to Political Behavior 404

Career OBjectives Should I become political? 406

Myth or Science? Powerful Leaders Keep Their (Fr)Enemies Close 407 How Do People Respond to Organizational Politics? 408 • Impression Management 410

An Ethical Choice How Much Should You Manage Interviewer Impressions? 412

The Ethics of Behaving Politically 413

Personal Inventory Assessments Gaining Power and Influence 413 Mapping Your Political Career 414

Summary 415

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Implications for Managers 415

Point/Counterpoint Everyone Wants Power 416

Questions for Review 417 Experiential Exercise The Dark Side of Power 417 Ethical Dilemma Sexual Harassment and Office Romances 418 Case Incident 1 Power and Gender Diversity 418 Case Incident 2 Where Flattery Will Get You 419

12 Communication 424 Functions of Communication 427

Direction of Communication 428 Downward Communication 429 • Upward Communication 429 • Lateral Communication 430 • Formal Small-Group Networks 430 • The Grapevine 431

Modes of Communication 432 Oral Communication 432

Career OBjectives Isn’t this disability too much to accommodate? 435 Written Communication 436

Myth or Science? Today, Writing Skills Are More Important Than Speaking Skills 439

Personal Inventory Assessments Communication Styles 441

Choice of Communication 441 Channel Richness 441 • Choosing Communication Methods 442 • Information Security 444

An Ethical Choice Using Employees in Organizational Social Media Strategy 445

Persuasive Communication 445 Automatic and Controlled Processing 445

Barriers to Effective Communication 447 Filtering 447 • Selective Perception 447 • Information Overload 448 • Emotions 448 • Language 448 • Silence 449 • Communication Apprehension 449 • Lying 450 • Communicating in Times of Crisis 450

Cultural Factors 451 Cultural Barriers 451 • Cultural Context 452 • A Cultural Guide 452

Summary 453

Implications for Managers 453

Point/Counterpoint We Should Use Employees’ Social Media Presence 454

Questions for Review 455 Experiential Exercise Choosing the Right Modes of Communication 455 Ethical Dilemma BYOD 456 Case Incident 1 Do Men and Women Speak the Same Language? 457 Case Incident 2 Shoulders Back, It’s Interview Time 458

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13 Leadership 462 Trait Theories 465

Behavioral Theories 466

Career OBjectives How can I get my boss to be a better leader? 467 Summary of Trait Theories and Behavioral Theories 468

Contingency Theories 468 The Fiedler Model 468 • Situational Leadership Theory 470 • Path–Goal Theory 470 • Leader–Participation Model 470

Contemporary Theories of Leadership 471 Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory 471 • Charismatic Leadership 473 • Transactional and Transformational Leadership 476

Myth or Science? Top Leaders Feel the Most Stress 478

Personal Inventory Assessments Ethical Leadership Assessment 480

Responsible Leadership 480 Authentic Leadership 480 • Ethical Leadership 481

An Ethical Choice Holding Leaders Ethically Accountable 483 Abusive Supervision 483 • Servant Leadership 484

Positive Leadership 485 Trust 485 • Mentoring 487 • Leading in Times of Crisis 488

Challenges to Our Understanding of Leadership 489 Leadership as an Attribution 489 • Neutralizers of and Substitutes for Leadership 490 • Selecting Leaders 491 • Training Leaders 492

Summary 492

Implications for Managers 492

Point/Counterpoint CEOs Start Early 493

Questions for Review 494 Experiential Exercise What’s in a Leader? 494 Ethical Dilemma Innocent, but What about Trust? 495 Case Incident 1 Sharing Is Performing 496 Case Incident 2 Andrea Illy: Leading a Family Company Responsibly 496

14 Foundations of Organization Structure 504 What Is Organizational Structure? 507 Work Specialization 507 • Departmentalization 508 • Chain of Command 510 • Span of Control 511 • Centralization and Decentralization 512 • Formalization 512 • Boundary Spanning 513

Common Organizational Frameworks and Structures 514 The Simple Structure 515 • The Bureaucracy 515 • The Matrix Structure 517

Alternate Design Options 518

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4 The Organization System 15 Organizational Culture 540

What Is Organizational Culture? 543 A Definition of Organizational Culture 543 • Culture Is a Descriptive Term 545 • Do Organizations Have Uniform Cultures? 545

Myth or Science? An Organization’s Culture Is Forever 546 Strong versus Weak Cultures 546

How Employees Learn Culture 547 Stories 547 • Rituals 547 • Symbols 547 Language 548

An Ethical Choice A Culture of Compassion 549

Creating and Sustaining Culture 549 How a Culture Begins 550 • Keeping a Culture Alive 550

What Do Cultures Do? 554 The Functions of Culture 554 • Culture Creates Climate 555 • The Ethical Dimension of Culture 557 • Culture and Sustainability 558 • Culture and Innovation 558 • Culture as an Asset 560 • Culture as a Liability 561

The Virtual Structure 518 • The Team Structure 519

Career OBjectives What structure should I choose? 520

An Ethical Choice Flexible Structures, Deskless Workplaces 521 The Circular Structure 521

Personal Inventory Assessments Organizational Structure Assessment 522

The Leaner Organization: Downsizing 522

Why Do Structures Differ? 524 Organizational Strategies 524 • Organization Size 526 • Technology 526 • Environment 526 • Institutions 527

Organizational Designs and Employee Behavior 528

Myth or Science? Employees Can Work Just as Well from Home 528

Summary 530

Implications for Managers 530

Point/Counterpoint Open-Air Offices Inspire Creativity and Enhance Productivity 531

Questions for Review 532 Experiential Exercise The Sandwich Shop 532 Ethical Dilemma Postmillennium Tensions in the Flexible Organization 533 Case Incident 1 Kuuki: Reading the Atmosphere 534 Case Incident 2 Turbulence on United Airlines 534

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Influencing an Organizational Culture 563 Developing an Ethical Culture 563 • Developing a Positive Culture 563 • A Spiritual Culture 565

Career OBjectives How do I learn to lead? 567

The Global Context 568

Summary 569

Implications for Managers 570

Personal Inventory Assessments Comfort with Change Scale 570

Point/Counterpoint Organizational Culture Can Be “Measured” 571

Questions for Review 572 Experiential Exercise Creating a Green Culture 572 Ethical Dilemma Culture of Deceit 573 Case Incident 1 Culture of Fear 574 Case Incident 2 Active Cultures 574

16 Human Resources Policies and Practices 580 Recruitment Practices 583

Selection Practices 583 How the Selection Process Works 583 • Initial Selection 584

Substantive and Contingent Selection 586 Written Tests 587 • Performance-Simulation Tests 588 • Interviews 589 • Contingent Selection Tests 591

Training and Development Programs 591 Types of Training 591 • Training Methods 594 • Evaluating Effectiveness 595

Performance Evaluation 595 What Is Performance? 595 • Purposes of Performance Evaluation 596 • What Do We Evaluate? 596 • Who Should Do the Evaluating? 597 • Methods of Performance Evaluation 598 • Improving Performance Evaluations 599 • Providing Performance Feedback 601

Career OBjectives How do I fire someone? 602 International Variations in Performance Appraisal 603

The Leadership Role of Human Resources (HR) 603 Communicating HR Practices 604 • Designing and Administering Benefits Programs 605 • Drafting and Enforcing Employment Policies 605

An Ethical Choice HIV/AIDS and the Multinational Organization 606 Managing Work–Life Conflicts 607

Myth or Science? The 24-Hour Workplace Is Harmful 607 Mediations, Terminations, and Layoffs 608

Summary 610

Implications for Managers 610

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Personal Inventory Assessments Positive Practices Survey 611

Point/Counterpoint Employers Should Check Applicants’ Criminal Backgrounds 612

Questions for Review 613 Experiential Exercise Responding to Employees’ Requests of Flexibility 613 Ethical Dilemma Should I Pay the Staff More and Reduce Company’s Profit? 614 Case Incident 1 Getting a Foot in the Door? 615 Case Incident 2 Indentured Doctors 615

17 Organizational Change and Stress Management 622 Change 625 Forces for Change 625 • Planned Change 626

Resistance to Change 627 Overcoming Resistance to Change 629 • The Politics of Change 631

Approaches to Managing Organizational Change 631 Lewin’s Three-Step Model of the Change Process 631 • Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan 632 • Action Research 633 • Organizational Development 633

Facilitating Change 636 Managing Paradox 637 • Stimulating Innovation 637 • Creating a Learning Organization 639 • Organizational Change and Stress 640

Stress at Work 641 What Is Stress? 641 • Potential Sources of Stress at Work 644

Career OBjectives How can I bring my team’s overall stress level down? 645 Individual Differences 646 • Cultural Differences 647

Consequences of Stress at Work 648

Myth or Science? When You’re Working Hard, Sleep Is Optional 649

Managing Stress 650 Individual Approaches 651 • Organizational Approaches 652

An Ethical Choice Manager and Employee Stress during Organizational Change 652

Summary 654

Implications for Managers 655

Personal Inventory Assessments Tolerance of Ambiguity Scale 655

Point/Counterpoint Companies Should Encourage Stress Reduction 656

Questions for Review 657 Experiential Exercise Making Employees Less Resistant to Change 657 Ethical Dilemma The Fear of Redundancy and Ceasing Operations 658 Case Incident 1 Sprucing Up Walmart 659 Case Incident 2 Sweat the Stress 660

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18 Conf lict and Negotiation 668 A Definition of Conflict 671 Types of Conflict 671 • Loci of Conflict 673

The Conflict Process 674 Stage I: Potential Opposition or Incompatibility 674 • Stage II: Cognition and Personalization 676 • Stage III: Intentions 677 • Stage IV: Behavior 677 • Stage V: Outcomes 679

Personal Inventory Assessments Strategies for Handling Conflict 682

Negotiation 682 Bargaining Strategies 682

Myth or Science? Teams Negotiate Better Than Individuals in Collectivistic Cultures 685

The Negotiation Process 686

Individual Differences in Negotiation Effectiveness 688

Career OBjectives How can I get a better job? 689

An Ethical Choice Using Empathy to Negotiate More Ethically 690

Negotiating in a Social Context 693 Reputation 693 • Relationships 694 • Third-Party Negotiations 694

Summary 695

Implications for Managers 695

Point/Counterpoint Nonunion Positions and the Gig Economy Are Bad for Workers 696

Questions for Review 697 Experiential Exercise A Negotiation Role Play 697 Ethical Dilemma The Case of the Overly Assertive Employee 698 Case Incident 1 Disorderly Conduct 699 Case Incident 2 Start-up Stress 699

Appendix Research in Organizational Behavior 705 Comprehensive Cases 712

Glossary 726

Name Index 736

Organization Index 760

Subject Index 763

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About the Authors

Stephen P. Robbins Ph.D. University of Arizona

Stephen P. Robbins is Professor Emeritus of Management at San Diego State University and the world’s best-selling textbook author in the areas of both management and organizational behavior. His books are used at more than a thousand U.S. colleges and universities; have been translated into 19 languages; and have adapted editions for Canada, Australia, South Africa, and India. Dr. Robbins is also the author of the best-selling books The Truth about Manag- ing People, 2nd ed. (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2008) and Decide & Conquer (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2004).

In his “other life,” Dr. Robbins actively participates in masters’ track compe- titions. Since turning 50 in 1993, he’s won 18 national championships and 12 world titles, and set numerous U.S. and world age-group records at 60, 100, 200, and 400 meters. In 2005, Dr. Robbins was elected into the USA Masters’ Track & Field Hall of Fame.

Timothy A. Judge Ph.D. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Timothy A. Judge is currently the Joseph A. Alutto Chair in Leadership Effec- tiveness at the Department of Management and Human Resources, Fisher Col- lege of Business, The Ohio State University. He has held academic positions at the University of Notre Dame, University of Florida, University of Iowa, Cornell University, Charles University in the Czech Republic, Comenius University in Slovakia, and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Judge’s primary research interests are in (1) personality, moods, and emotions; (2) job attitudes; (3) leadership and influence behaviors; and (4) careers (person–organization fit, career success). Dr. Judge has published more than 154 articles in these and other major topics in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal and the Journal of Applied Psychology. He is a fellow of several organizations, includ- ing the American Psychological Association and the Academy of Management. Among the many professional acknowledgments of his work, most recently Dr. Judge was awarded the Academy of Management Human Resources Divi- sion’s Scholarly Achievement Award for 2014. Dr. Judge is a co-author of Essen- tials of Organizational Behavior, 14th ed., with Stephen P. Robbins, and Staffing Organizations, 8th ed., with Herbert G. Heneman III. He is married and has three children—a daughter who is a health care social worker, a daughter who is studying for a master’s degree, and a son in middle school.

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23

Preface

Employability A new Employability Skills Matrix at the beginning of each chapter provides students with a visual guide to features that support the development of skills employers are looking for in today’s busi- ness graduates, helping students to see from the start of class the relevance of the course to their career goals.

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

This matrix identi�es which features and end-of-chapter material will help you develop speci�c skills employers are looking for in job candidates.

The World’s Most Successful Organizational Behavior Text Is Better Than Ever

(Employability Skills Matrix for Chapter 2)

Develop Self-Awareness and an Awareness of Others The authors have recommended a Personal Inventory Assessment for each chapter, which is assignable in MyLab Management. These assessments help develop professionalism and awareness of oneself and others, skills necessary for future career success.

(Personal Inventory Assessment in MyLab Management for Chapter 6)

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24 Preface

Additional Application Practice in End-of-Chapter Experiential Activities, Ethical Dilemmas, and two Cases are included at the end of each chapter. Also, five Comprehensive Cases at the end of the textbook provide more practice than any other text available.

ETHICAL DILEMMA BYOD “What’s your cell phone number? Good, I’ll call you about the meeting.” If you’re like many people in the world who have used a smartphone for years, or one of the 1.3 billion people who bought one recently, chances are you’ve used it for work. In fact, your employer may have even invited— or asked—you to use your smartphone, tablet, or laptop in your job. Such is the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, which started out of friendly convenience but now carries major ethical issues. For instance:

Applied Learning Opportunities Throughout Multiple opportunities to apply course concepts are found throughout the text and in MyLab Management. Each chapter references MyLab Management exercises such as branching and Watch It Videos about real com- panies. Global examples embedded throughout show how culture and diversity have an impact on the applica- tion of OB concepts.

CASE INCIDENT 1 Warning: Collaboration Overload “Regardless of what you’re giving us, we’re dying by e-mail,” an executive told Jamie McLellan, a CTO at an advertis- ing agency. McLellan invested in many di�erent collabo- ration tools with the goal of helping the employees work more e­ciently. Many organizations have taken this same approach through open-plan o­ces, such as those in many knowledge-intensive companies like Facebook, which has a notorious 430,000-square-foot open o­ce space. Among these tools, employees can use them to create internal team websites, chat, and share documents. However, almost

spent collaborating with one’s work) translates to d

Collaboration overload decision making within o number of collaboration ing communication com involved in decision m requiring more meetings Although there is much need to tone down the ric

(Page 456)

(Page 202)

(Watch It Video in MyLab Management for Chapter 2)

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Choosing the Right Modes of Communication Pair up with someone you never worked with before. In this exercise, you will pretend to be Gerard, the head of the accounting department in the company. During an intense week, you receive the following email from the human resources director.

Subject: A di�cult situation with an employee

Dear Gerard,

We believe that your department would environment for this employee to feel mor on the job. Two colleagues from HR will ass the employee in the transition process, whic to begin next month. All the people involved demonstrated great collaboration with us, a sure you will do the same. Sorry for the short we are facing strict deadlines this month.

(Page 455)

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Preface 25

The OB Poll in each chapter high- lights statistics that challenge common assumptions.

Percentage of Men and Women Working

Sources: Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Women in the Labor Force: A Datebook,” 2014, www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/women-in-the-labor-force-a-

databook-2014.pdf; and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Economic News Release,” 2013, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t02.htm.

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

1970

64.4% 67.6%

2022 (Projected)

56.0%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

40.8%

53.2%

76.2% Men

Women

OB POLL

The Point/Counterpoint feature presents opposing positions on hot topics in Organizational Behavior to help students learn to think critically.

Nonunion Positions and the Gig Economy Are Bad for Workers

POINT

W hat do Uber, Etsy, and Amazon Turk all have in common? All of these platforms are fuel for short-term freelance work, and a re�ection of what economists have dubbed

the gig economy. Fifty years ago, employers expected workers to stay with a company for 30 years. In exchange for their loyalty, employees were given more opportunities and a pension. Unlike the labor market of today, companies promoted from within. As this practice fell by the wayside, employers hired employees for shorter and shorter periods. Now, many new jobs are not long-term or even short-term positions: They’re gigs. Employees work as indepen- dent contractors, using third-party platforms to connect to clients. Because these employees do not have a traditional employment contract, they have complete �exibility: They can work as much or

COUNTERPOINT

W hile the gig economy has its drawbacks, these platforms exist for a reason. Employers and employees alike are fed up with traditional employment. Yes, some people who work

through freelance apps use it as a primary source of income. But there are just as many, if not more, who just want a �exible second job to get a little extra cash. If these positions were like the services they are replacing (e.g., cab companies), then gig employees would have to agree to speci�c policies regarding sick days and work a set schedule.

I’m also skeptical of this idea that freelancers are replacing tra- ditional employment. Yes, some city-level data shows that gig-based jobs increased while payroll jobs decreased. But there are also more data from 2010 to 2014 that suggest that contractor and payroll jobs have increased in most sectors that support freelance platforms. For

The recently added Career OBjectives provide advice, in question-and-answer format, to help students think through how OB concepts can help them address issues they may face in today’s workforce.

Career OBjectives Is it wrong that I’d rather have guys on my team?

Please don’t call me sexist; women are great colleagues and equally effective managers, but I’d rather have men on my team. It’s more relaxing for me, and for the other guys I think, because we naturally understand each other and can talk freely. The teams with all men that I’ve been in have all been very productive.

—Jorge Dear Jorge, With all the talk currently focused on gender diversity in organizations, your

of team diversity’s potential for higher morale, trust, and satisfaction. Notice that these are values as opposed to the reported reality from the paragraph above. Ellison concluded that there is a “mismatch between the kind of work- place people think they would like and the actual workplace that would make them happier.”

Don’t think this is your ticket to male-only teams, though. Happiness aside, this study found that diverse teams realized signi�cantly greater rev-

You would be better off putting your efforts into creating an egalitarian atmo- sphere and choosing your teammates based on what they can contribute to your team.

Sources: Based on C. Diaz-Garcia, A. Gonzalez- Moreno, and F. Jose Saez-Martinez, “Gen- der Diversity within R&D Teams: Its Impact on Radicalness of Innovation,” Innovation- Management Policy & Practice 15, no. 2 (2013):

M. van Praag, “The Impact of Gender Diver- sity on the Performance of Business Teams: Evidence from a Field Experiment,” Manage-

The transformational leadership of Net�ix CEO Reed Hastings has helped the company grow from a small DVD rental service to an Internet streaming service with 93 million customers in more than 190 countries. Hastings encourages employees to take risks, empowers them to make decisions, and gives them the freedom and responsibility to create innovative ideas and products. Source: Bernd Van Jutrczenka/DPA Picture Alliance/

Alamy Stock Photo

Real and Relevant Examples Every chapter is filled with examples to make OB more meaningful and help students recognize course concepts in action. Profiles of real com- pany leaders throughout illus- trate how course concepts have helped their success.

(Page 479)

(Page 52)

(Page 696)

(Page 370)

Bernd Van Jutrczenka/DPA Picture Alliance/Alamy Stock Photo

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26 Preface

Key Changes to the Eighteenth Edition ●● NEW Employability matrix at the beginning of every chapter provides stu-

dents with a visual guide to features that support the development of skills employers are looking for in today’s business graduates, helping students to see from the start of class the relevance of the course to their career goals.

●● NEW Application and Employability section in every chapter summarizes the relevance of each chapter for students’ employability, the skills learned from chapter features, and the skills to be learned in the end-of-chapter material.

●● NEW Personal Inventory Assessments (PIAs) in Chapter 4, “Personality and Values,” and Chapter 8, “Motivation: From Concepts to Applications,” reflect the most empirically sound Organizational Behavior research.

●● NEW AND UPDATED Opening Vignettes in every chapter bring current busi- ness trends and events to the forefront.

●● NEW AND UPDATED content in every chapter reflects the most current developments in OB research. This new content includes the following topics:

●● Expatriate Readjustment ●● Deviance and Counterproductive

Work Behaviors ●● Customer Satisfaction ●● Emotional Labor ●● Mindfulness ●● Unemployment/Job Search ●● Behavioral Ethics ●● Deonance Theory ●● Third-Party Observations of

Injustice

●● Job Enrichment ●● Voice ●● Abusive Supervision ●● Executive Board Composition ●● Espoused and Enacted Climates ●● High-Performance Work Systems ●● Human Capital Resources ●● Sleep Deprivation ●● Recovery Experiences ●● Job Demands

●● NEW photos and captions in over 75 percent of chapters link the chapter content to contemporary, real-life worldwide situations to enhance students’ understanding of hands-on application of concepts.

●● NEW Point/Counterpoint features reflect ongoing tensions between per- spectives in OB, focusing students’ attention on new topics in 5 of 18 chapters.

●● The following end-of-chapter material is either completely new or substan- tially revised and updated for each chapter (along with assisted-graded writing questions), bringing the most contemporary thinking to the attention of students:

●● Experiential Exercise (9 of 18 total) ●● Ethical Dilemma (9 of 18 total) ●● Case Incidents (25 of 36 total)

●● Updated References throughout every chapter.

Chapter-by-Chapter Changes Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behavior?

●● Revised Learning Objectives ●● New Opening Vignette (Road Warriors) ●● New research in The Importance of Interpersonal Skills and Big Data ●● New major section: Employability Skills ●● New Case Incident 1 (L’Oréal around the Globe) ●● New Case Incident 2 (So, How Engaged Are Employees? The Data Says It All)

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Preface 27

Chapter 2: Diversity in Organizations ●● New Opening Vignette (A Lack of Diversity in the Tech Industry) ●● New section on Expatriate Adjustment ●● Revised/updated sections: Demographic Characteristics, Tenure, Sexual

Orientation and Gender Identity, and Ability ●● New research in Stereotype Threat; Discrimination in the Workplace; Age,

Sex, Race, and Ethnicity; Hidden Disabilities; Religion; Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity; and Intellectual Abilities

●● Updated OB Poll (Gender Pay Gap: Narrowing but Still There) ●● Revised Implications for Managers ●● Updated An Ethical Choice (Global Diversity: Affirmative Action) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (Voiding the “License to Discriminate”) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Encouraging Female Engineers)

Chapter 3: Attitudes and Job Satisfaction ●● New Opening Vignette (In the Legoland Wonderland) ●● Revised/updated sections: Attitudes, Organizational Commitment, Perceived

Organizational Support, Employee Engagement, and Organizational Citi- zenship Behavior (OCB)

●● New research in Job Satisfaction and Involvement, Employee Engagement, Personality, Customer Satisfaction, and Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB)

●● New international research in Attitudes, Job Conditions, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

●● Updated Exhibit 3-2 (Worst Jobs of 2016 for Job Satisfaction) ●● New Experiential Exercise ( Job Attitudes Situational Interview) ●● New Case Incident 1 ( Jobs, Money, and Satisfaction)

Chapter 4: Personality and Values ●● Revised Learning Objectives ●● New Opening Vignette (Leading the “Quiet Revolution”) ●● New major section on Personality, Job Search, and Unemployment ●● Revised/updated section: The Big Five Personality Model ●● New research in Conscientiousness at Work, Emotional Stability at Work,

Extraversion at Work, Openness at Work, Agreeableness at Work, and Proac- tive Personality

●● New Feature! Personal Inventory Assessment (Core Five Personality Dimensions) ●● Updated Myth or Science? (We Can Accurately Judge Individuals’ Personali-

ties a Few Seconds after Meeting Them) ●● New Exhibit 4-6 (Comparison of Hofstede’s Framework and the GLOBE

Framework) ●● Revised Implications for Managers ●● Revised Summary ●● Revised Questions for Review ●● New Case Incident 2 (Personality Matters!)

Chapter 5: Perception and Individual Decision Making ●● New Opening Vignette (Individual Intuition Igniting Innovation) ●● Revised section on Halo and Horns Effects ●● Revised/updated sections: Context, Attribution Theory, Selective Percep-

tion, Confirmation Bias, and Three Ethical Decision Criteria ●● New research in Context, Bounded Rationality, Intuition, Escalation of

Commitment, Risk Aversion, Personality, Gender, and Three Ethical Deci- sion Criteria

●● New international research in Contrast Effects

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28 Preface

●● New section on Decision Making in Times of Crisis ●● New Point/Counterpoint (Implicit Assessment) ●● New Experiential Exercise (Fake News?) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Warning: Collaboration Overload) ●● New Case Incident 2 (How Do Employees Justify Cyberloafing?)

Chapter 6: Emotions and Moods ●● New Opening Vignette (Objections Sustained) ●● Revised/updated sections: What Are Emotions and Moods?, The Basic Emo-

tions, Moral Emotions, Do Emotions Make Us Ethical?, and Emotion Regu- lation Techniques

●● New research in The Function of Emotions, Do Emotions Make Us Ethical?, Stress, Age, Sex, Emotional Labor, Affective Events Theory, Emotional Intel- ligence, and Emotion Regulation Techniques

●● New international research in The Basic Emotions, Experiencing Moods and Emotions, Emotional Labor, Emotional Intelligence, and Emotion Reg- ulation Techniques

●● Updated OB Poll (Emotional States) ●● Updated Experiential Exercise (Mindfulness at Work) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Hiring an Emotionally Intelligent Employee) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Anger: A Dangerous Emotion at Work)

Chapter 7: Motivation Concepts ●● Revised Learning Objectives ●● New Opening Vignette (When Goals Go out of Control) ●● New sections on Equity Theory/Organizational Justice and Others’ Reac-

tions to Injustice ●● Revised/updated sections: Hierarchy of Needs Theory, Two-Factor Theory,

McClelland’s Theory of Needs, Other Contemporary Theories of Motiva- tion, and Expectancy Theory

●● New research in McClelland’s Theory of Needs, Self-Determination The- ory, Goal-Setting Theory, Goal Commitment, Task Characteristics, Imple- menting Goal Setting, Equity Theory/Organizational Justice, and Job Engagement

●● New international research in McClelland’s Theory of Needs, Self-Determi- nation Theory, and Equity Theory/Organizational Justice

●● Revised Summary ●● Revised Implications for Managers ●● Revised Questions for Review ●● New Ethical Dilemma (Follies of Reward) ●● New Case Incident 1 (“Human and Authentic”: Motivation at Schoenen

Torfs) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Laziness Is Contagious)

Chapter 8: Motivation: From Concepts to Applications ●● New Opening Vignette (Employees Trading Places) ●● New section on Job Enrichment ●● Revised/updated sections: Relational Job Design, Flextime, Job Sharing,

Telecommuting, and How to Pay: Rewarding Individual Employees through Variable-Pay Programs

●● New research in The Job Characteristics Model, Flextime, Telecommuting, Participative Management, Using Rewards to Motivate Employees, How to Pay: Rewarding Individual Employees through Variable-Pay Programs, Bonus, and Employee Stock Ownership Plan

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Preface 29

●● New international research in The Job Characteristics Model, Flextime, How to Pay: Rewarding Individual Employees through Variable-Pay Pro- grams, and Flexible Benefits: Developing a Benefits Package

●● New Feature! Personal Inventory Assessment (Diagnosing Poor Performance and Enhancing Motivation)

●● New Point/Counterpoint (Gainsharing: Fair Shares?) ●● Updated OB Poll (Who Works from Home?) ●● Updated An Ethical Choice (Workers’ Cooperatives) ●● New Experiential Exercise (Developing a Motivation Plan for Your Museum

Security Guards) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (You Want Me to Do What?) ●● New Case Incident 1 (We Talk, But They Don’t Listen) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Will More Money Fill the Gap?)

Chapter 9: Foundations of Group Behavior ●● New Opening Vignette (The Rolling Stones: A Supergroup) ●● New research in Social Identity, Group Development, Role Expectations,

Negative Norms and Group Outcomes, Status and Stigmatization, and Group Property 6: Diversity

●● New international research in Group Property 4: Size and Dynamics and Group Property 6: Diversity

●● New Point/Counterpoint (Diverse Work Groups Are Smarter and More Innovative)

●● New Ethical Dilemma (It’s Obvious, They’re Chinese) ●● New Case Incident 1 (The Dangers of Groupthink)

Chapter 10: Understanding Work Teams ●● New Opening Vignette (A Solution to Growing Pains) ●● Revised/updated section: Diversity of Members ●● New research in Multiteam Systems, Adequate Resources, Leadership

and Structure, Team Composition, Common Plan and Purpose, Team Identity, Team Cohesion, Conflict Levels, and Training: Creating Team Players

●● New international research in Conflict Levels ●● New section on Crises and Extreme Contexts ●● New section on Team Trust ●● New Experiential Exercise (How to Resolve Social Loafing in Your Team?) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (When Your Cycling Skills Matter!) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Trusting Someone You Can’t See)

Chapter 11: Power and Politics ●● New Opening Vignette (A Tale of Presidential Corruption) ●● New research in Coercive Power, Social Network Analysis: A Tool for Assess-

ing Resources, Applying Power Tactics, and Interviews and IM ●● New international research in Performance Evaluations and IM ●● New Ethical Dilemma (Sexual Harassment and Office Romances) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Power and Gender Diversity) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Where Flattery Will Get You)

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30 Preface

Chapter 12: Communication ●● New Opening Vignette (Workplace Communication: Too Much of a Good

Thing?) ●● Revised/updated section: Social Media Websites ●● New research in Upward Communication, The Grapevine, Meetings, E-Mail,

Information Overload, Language, and Silence ●● New international research in Cultural Barriers ●● New section on Communicating in Times of Crisis ●● New Experiential Exercise (Choosing the Right Modes of Communication) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Do Men and Women Speak the Same Language?) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Shoulders Back, It’s Interview Time)

Chapter 13: Leadership ●● New Opening Vignette (From Wacky Vision to Total Hotel Industry Disruption) ●● New section on Abusive Supervision ●● Revised/updated sections: Trait Theories, Behavioral Theories, Leader–

Member Exchange (LMX) Theory, How Charismatic Leaders Influence Followers, How Transformational Leadership Works, Evaluation of Trans- formational Leadership, Responsible Leadership, Authentic Leadership, and Ethical Leadership

●● New research in Trait Theories, Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory, What Is Charismatic Leadership?, Are Charismatic Leaders Born or Made?, How Charismatic Leaders Influence Followers, Does Effective Charismatic Leadership Depend on the Situation?, Transactional and Transformational Leadership, How Transformational Leadership Works, Evaluation of Trans- formational Leadership, Transformational versus Transactional Leadership, Authentic Leadership, Ethical Leadership, Servant Leadership, The Role of Time, and Training Leaders

●● New international research in Leader–Member Exchange (LMX) Theory, Are Charismatic Leaders Born or Made?, How Transformational Leadership Works, Evaluation of Transformational Leadership, Authentic Leadership, Ethical Leadership, and Servant Leadership

●● New section on Leading in Times of Crisis ●● Revised Implications for Managers ●● New Experiential Exercise (What’s in a Leader?) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (Innocent, but What about Trust?) ●● New Case Incident 1 (Sharing Is Performing) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Andrea Illy: Leading a Family Company Responsibly)

Chapter 14: Foundations of Organization Structure ●● Revised Learning Objectives ●● New Opening Vignette (Samsung: Transforming a Hierarchy) ●● Revised/updated sections: Departmentalization, The Simple Structure, The

Virtual Structure, and The Leaner Organization: Downsizing ●● New research in Work Specialization, Centralization, Boundary Spanning,

The Bureaucracy, The Divisional Structure, The Virtual Structure, The Leaner Organization: Downsizing, Technology, and Organizational Designs and Employee Behavior

●● New international research in Boundary Spanning ●● New Point/Counterpoint (Open-Air Offices Inspire Creativity and Enhance

Productivity) ●● Revised Questions for Review ●● New Case Incident 2 (Turbulence on United Airlines)

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Preface 31

Chapter 15: Organizational Culture ●● New Opening Vignette (“Uniform” Culture) ●● Updated/revised sections: A Definition of Organizational Culture, Culture

Creates Climate, Barriers to Acquisitions and Mergers, and Top Management ●● New Exhibit 15-2 (The Effect of Culture on Organizational Outcomes) ●● New research in A Definition of Organizational Culture, Do Organizations

Have Uniform Cultures?, Strong versus Weak Cultures, The Functions of Culture, Culture Creates Climate, The Ethical Dimension of Culture, Cul- ture as an Asset, Barriers to Diversity, Toxicity and Dysfunctions, Symbols, and Developing an Ethical Culture

●● New international research in Culture Creates Climate, Culture and Innova- tion, and Barriers to Acquisitions and Mergers

●● Updated Myth or Science? (An Organization’s Culture Is Forever) ●● Updated An Ethical Choice (A Culture of Compassion) ●● Revised Implications for Managers ●● New Point/Counterpoint (Organizational Culture Can Be “Measured”) ●● New Experiential Exercise (Creating a Green Culture) ●● Updated Case Incident 1 (Culture of Fear)

Chapter 16: Human Resources Policies and Practices ●● New Opening Vignette (An Unusual Perk) ●● Updated/revised sections: Types of Training, Improving Performance Eval-

uations, and The Leadership Role of HR ●● New research in Recruitment Practices, Selection Practices, Application

Forms, Background Checks, Assessment Centers, Interviews, Interpersonal Skills, Evaluating Effectiveness, and The Leadership Role of HR

●● New international research in Who Should Do the Evaluating? ●● Updated An Ethical Choice (HIV/AIDS and the Multinational Organization) ●● New Experiential Exercise (Responding to Employees’ Requests of Flexibility) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (Should I Pay the Staff More and Reduce Company’s

Profit?)

Chapter 17: Organizational Change and Stress Management ●● New Opening Vignette (Stress and Well-Being) ●● Revised/updated sections: Change, Forces for Change, Process Consultation,

Stimulating Innovation, Stressors, and Physiological Symptoms ●● Updated Exhibit 17-7 (Work Is One of the Top Sources of Stress) ●● New research in Implementing Changes Fairly; Selecting People Who

Accept Change; Sources of Innovation; Context and Innovation; Stressors; Personal Factors; Perception; Physiological Symptoms; Managing Stress; Individual Approaches; Selection and Placement, and Training; Goal Setting; Redesigning Jobs; Employee Sabbaticals; and Wellness Programs

●● New international research in Implementing Changes Fairly, Demands and Resources, Cultural Differences, Physiological Symptoms, and Psychological Symptoms

●● New Experiential Exercise (Making Employees Less Resistant to Change) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (The Fear of Redundancy and Ceasing Operations) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Sweat the Stress)

Chapter 18: Conflict and Negotiation ●● New Opening Vignette (Bargaining Chips) ●● Revised/updated sections: Stage III: Intentions, Stage V: Outcomes, and Manag-

ing Functional Conflict ●● New research in Types of Conflict, Stage IV: Behavior, Integrative Bargain-

ing, Personality Traits in Negotiations, Moods and Emotions in Negotia- tions, and Gender Differences in Negotiations

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32 Preface

●● New international research in Loci of Conflict and Culture in Negotiations ●● New Exhibit 18-7 (Integration of Two Bargaining Strategies within One

Negotiation Episode) ●● New Point/Counterpoint (Nonunion Positions and the Gig Economy Are Bad

for Workers) ●● New Ethical Dilemma (The Case of the Overly Assertive Employee) ●● New Case Incident 2 (Start-up Stress)

MyLab Management Reach Every Student by Pairing This Text with MyLab Management MyLab is the teaching and learning platform that empowers you to reach every student. By combining trusted author content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. Learn more about MyLab Management at www.pearson .com/mylab/management.

Deliver Trusted Content You deserve teaching materials that meet your own high standards for your course. That’s why we partner with highly respected authors to develop inter- active content and course-specific resources that you can trust—and that keep your students engaged.

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Improve Student Results When you teach with MyLab, student performance improves. That’s why instructors have chosen MyLab for over 20 years, touching the lives of over 50 million students.

Instructor Resource Center At www.pearsonglobaleditions.com/robbins, instructors can easily register to gain access to a variety of instructor resources available with this text in downloadable format. If assistance is needed, our dedicated technical sup- port team is ready to help with the media supplements that accompany this text. Visit https://support.pearson.com/getsupport for answers to fre- quently asked questions and toll-free user support phone numbers.

The following supplements are available with this text: ●● Instructor’s Resource Manual ●● Test Bank ●● TestGen® Computerized Test Bank ●● PowerPoint Presentation

This title is available as an eBook and can be purchased at most eBook retailers.

A01_ROBB3069_18_GE_FM.indd 32 18/05/21 3:02 PM

33

Acknowledgments

Getting this book into your hands was a team effort. It took faculty reviewers and a talented group of designers and production specialists, editorial person- nel, and marketing and sales staff.

The eighteenth edition was peer reviewed by many experts in the field. Their comments, compliments, and suggestions have significantly improved the final prod- uct. The authors would also like to extend their sincerest thanks to these instructors.

The authors wish to thank David Richard Glerum and Bridget Christine McHugh of the Ohio State University for help with several key aspects of this revision.

We owe a debt of gratitude to all those at Pearson who have supported this text over the past 30 years and who have worked so hard on the development of this latest edition. We want to thank Kris Ellis-Levy, Senior Portfolio Manager; Claudia Fernandes, Senior Content Producer; and Andrea Archer and Angela Urquhart, Project Managers, Thistle Hill Publishing Services. We would also like to thank Becky Brown, Senior Product Marketer; Nicole Price, Field Mar- keting Manager; and their sales staff, who have been selling this text over its many editions. Thank you for the attention you’ve given to this text.

Global Edition Acknowledgments Pearson would like to thank the following people for their work on the Global Edition:

Contributors Iva Bimpli, University of Leeds Timothy Campbell, Stafford

Global Hussein Ismail, Lebanese American

University Michele Kehoe, National College of

Ireland John Opute, London South Bank

University

Stephanie Pougnet, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO)

Andrew Richardson, University of Leeds

Jon and Diane Sutherland Randall Zindler, Lancaster University

Management School

Reviewers Maria Adamson, Queen Mary

University of London Charbel N. Aoun, Lebanese American

University Nishat Babu, Aston University Pawan Budhwar, Aston University Robin Cheng, Taylor’s University Roberta Fida, University of East Anglia Renate Grau, University of Applied

Sciences and Arts, Northwestern Switzerland

Elham Hasham, Notre Dame University–Louaize

Stephanie K. Jones, Maastricht School of Management

Michele Kehoe, National College of Ireland

Yong Wooi Keong, Sunway University Wen-Dong Li, The Chinese University

of Hong Kong Neelofer Mashood, Middlesex

University Dubai Catherine Ng, Hong Kong Baptist

University John Opute, London South Bank

University Riani Rachmawati, University of

Indonesia Sununta Siengthai, Asian Institute

of Technology

A01_ROBB3069_18_GE_FM.indd 33 18/05/21 3:02 PM

34

What Is Organizational Behavior?1

1-1 Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.

1-2 Define organizational behavior (OB).

1-3 Show the value of OB to systematic study.

1-4 Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB.

1-5 Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.

1-6 Identify managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.

1-7 Compare the three levels of analysis in this text’s OB model.

1-8 Describe the key employability skills gained from studying OB that are applicable to other majors or future careers.

LEARNING OBJECTIV ES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

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M01_ROBB3069_18_GE_C01.indd 34 31/03/21 6:00 AM

What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 35

ROAD WARRIORS

Logan Green was very frustrated with how difficult it was to get around Southern California. Deciding to leave his car at home while heading off to college, he relied on a mix of public transportation and rideshares

arranged through Craigslist and often found himself waiting long periods for

rides and occasionally stranded. After years of being vexed by these prob-

lems, inspiration struck during a postgraduation trip to Zimbabwe: “There

was this crowdsourced transportation network where anyone could be a

driver and they could set their own routes.” It was perplexing to Logan how

a country like Zimbabwe with very little resources could have a better trans-

portation network than Southern California. Drawing from this experience,

Logan created Zimride, a platform from which people can find and manage

carpools.

Later, Zimride caught the attention of John Zimmer, a Cornell gradu-

ate who was living in New York City and working as an analyst at Lehman

Brothers. After completing Lehman’s two-year analyst program, John “did

not feel a connection” to what he was doing, and decided to leave Lehman

in order to pursue a partnership in Zimride, much to the dismay of his col-

leagues on Wall Street. Since his formative years at Cornell, John was

captivated by the idea of sustainable transportation, a concept that he

was introduced to during his coursework. The problem to John was that

current transportation systems are not sustainable: “Seventy percent of

car seats are unused. Seventy percent of our highway infrastructure is

inefficient.”

Together, John and Logan envisioned a transportation revolution:

They wanted to completely change the way people get from one place to

another. Under the banner of their shared vision, the two started Lyft, an

app-based ridesharing platform that operates in hundreds of U.S. cities and

is valued today at $5.5 billion, more than double its 2015 valuation. John

and Logan are very different from one another—Logan, an introvert, came

from an alternative background, with his parents sending him to a high

school in which students took class trips to sweat lodges for self-discovery.

John, on the other hand, is very extroverted and assertive, and was raised

in a middle-class suburb in Connecticut. Despite their personality differ-

ences, they worked extremely well together to foster the exponential growth

of Zimride and Lyft.

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

M01_ROBB3069_18_GE_C01.indd 35 31/03/21 6:00 AM

36 PART 1 Introduction

In spite of the lightning fast growth rate of Lyft, John and Logan have not

forgotten the drivers and employees that are the foundation of Lyft: They

strive to foster a culture and climate of employee appreciation and recogni-

tion. As Logan notes, “The more employees a company has, the less likely

anyone gets noticed. And when employees don’t feel individually respon-

sible for the company’s success, things slow down.” To help employees feel

appreciated, Lyft makes sure to celebrate both employee and work-group

accomplishments, giving awards that are customized to each group. Lyft

also makes sure that drivers feel welcome, too, recognizing them in news-

letters and blogs, and flying them to headquarters to get their feedback

and input.

John and Logan also wanted to emphasize that the Lyft experience is all

about community, fun, and positivity. They decided that a pink mustache, or

a so-called carstache, was the way to go. A customer looking up toward an

approaching Lyft car may see an (often glowing) pink mustache attached to

the front of the car, and the Lyft driver will also often fist-bump the passen-

ger when he or she gets in, emphasizing how customers should feel relaxed

and happy about their ride experience.

Although Lyft grew quickly, employees at Zimride were left uncertain

about the future and wondering if they would get a chance to contribute

to Lyft. Zimride had over 150 paying clients, and John and Logan had to

approach the situation delicately. They made the decision to restructure,

and they re-employed 90 percent of its employees to work at Lyft. Eventu-

ally, however, they sold Zimride to Enterprise’s vanpooling business. To this

day, Lyft has been a strong player in the new ridesharing industry and has

faced its share of challenges, setbacks, and successes.

Sources: Based on L. Buchanan, “Lyft’s CEO on Creating a Great Company Culture,” Inc., June 2015, http://www.inc.com/magazine/201506/leigh-buchanan/logan-green-on- employee-recognition.html; D. L. Cohen, “Former Lehman’s Banker Drives Startup Zimride,” Reuters, September 15, 2010, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-column-cohen-zimride- idUSTRE68E3KN20100915; K. Kokalitcheva, “Lyft Raises $1 Billion, Adds GM as Investor and Partner for Driverless Cars,” Fortune, January 4, 2016, http://fortune .com/2016/01/04/lyft-funding-gm/; R. Lawler, “Lyft-Off: Zimride’s Long Road to Overnight Success,” TechCrunch, August 29, 2014, https://techcrunch.com/2014/08/29/6000- words-about-a-pink-mustache/.

The details of Logan and John’s experiences with Lyft reflect the increasing complexity, and speed, of organizational life. They also highlight several issues of interest to those of us seeking to understand organizational behavior, including motivation, justice, ethics, turnover, emotions, personality, and cul- ture. Throughout this text, you’ll learn how organizational challenges often cut across areas like these, which is exactly why the systematic approach pursued in this text and in your course is important.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 37

The Importance of Interpersonal Skills Until the late 1980s, business school curricula emphasized the technical aspects of management, focusing on economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative techniques. Coursework in human behavior and people skills received relatively less attention. Since then, however, business schools have realized the signifi- cant role that interpersonal skills play in determining a manager’s effectiveness. In fact, a survey of over 2,100 CFOs across 20 industries indicated that a lack of interpersonal skills is the top reason why some employees fail to advance.1

Incorporating OB principles into the workplace can yield many impor- tant organizational outcomes. For one, companies known as good places to work—such as Adobe, LinkedIn, Fast Enterprises, World Wide Technology, Bain & Company, Google, the Boston Consulting Group, and Facebook2—have been found to generate superior financial performance.3 Second, develop- ing managers’ interpersonal skills helps organizations attract and keep high- performing employees, which is important because outstanding employees are always in short supply and costly to replace. Third, strong associations exist between the quality of workplace relationships and employee job satisfaction, stress, and turnover. One very large study of hundreds of workplaces and more than 200,000 respondents showed that social relationships among coworkers and supervisors were strongly related to overall job satisfaction. Positive social relationships were also associated with lower stress at work and lower inten- tions to quit.4 Additional research suggests that positive work relationships help employees to flourish, leading to improvements in job and life satisfaction, pos- itive emotions at work, and perceptions that one’s work has meaning.5 Fourth, increasing the OB element in organizations can foster social responsibility awareness. Accordingly, universities have begun to incorporate social entrepre- neurship education into their curriculum in order to train future leaders in addressing social issues within their organizations.6 This is especially important because there is a growing need for understanding the means and outcomes of corporate social responsibility (CSR).7

1-1 Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.

IBM Chief Executive Virginia Rometty has the interpersonal skills required to succeed in management. Commu- nication and leadership skills distin- guish managers such as Rometty, who is shown here at a panel discussion in Washington, D.C. Rometty is an inno- vative leader capable of driving IBM’s entrepreneurial culture, and her skills have helped her rise to the top of her profession. Source: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo

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38 PART 1 Introduction

We understand that in today’s competitive and demanding workplace, man- agers can’t succeed on their technical skills alone. They also have to exhibit good people skills. This text has been written to help both managers and potential managers develop people skills and to acquire the knowledge that understanding human behavior provides.

Management and Organizational Behavior Let’s begin by briefly defining the terms manager and organization. First, the most notable characteristic of managers is that they get things done through other people. They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activi- ties of others to attain goals. Managers are sometimes called administrators, especially in nonprofit organizations. They do their work in an organization, which is a consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a com- mon goal or set of goals. By this definition, manufacturing and service firms are organizations, and so are schools; hospitals; churches; military units; nonprofits; police departments; and local, state, and federal government agencies.

More than ever, new hires and other employees are placed into manage- ment positions without sufficient management training or informed expe- rience. According to a large-scale survey, more than 58 percent of managers reported that they had not received any training, and 25 percent admitted that they were not ready to lead others when they were given the role.8 Added to that challenge, the demands of the job have increased: The average manager has seven direct reports (five was once the norm), and less time than before to spend directly supervising them.9 Considering that a Gallup poll found orga- nizations chose the wrong candidate for management positions 82 percent of the time,10 we conclude that the more you can learn about people and how to manage them, the better prepared you will be to be the right management candidate. OB will help you get there. Let’s start by identifying a manager’s primary activities.

The work of managers can be categorized into four different activi- ties: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. The planning function encompasses defining an organization’s goals, establishing an overall strat- egy for achieving those goals, and developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Evidence indicates the need for plan- ning increases the most as managers move from lower-level to midlevel management.11

When managers engage in designing their work unit’s structure, they are organizing. The organizing function includes determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

Every organization contains people, and it is management’s job to direct and coordinate those people, which is the leading function. When managers moti- vate employees, direct their activities, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts, they’re engaging in leading.

To ensure that the activities are going as they should, management must monitor the organization’s performance and compare it with previously set goals. If there are any significant deviations, it is management’s job to get the organization back on track. This monitoring, comparing, and potential correct- ing is the controlling function.

1-2 Define organizational behavior (OB).

manager An individual who achieves goals through other people.

organization A consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

planning A process that includes defining goals, establishing strategy, and developing plans to coordinate activities.

organizing Determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

leading A function that includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts.

controlling Monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 39

Management Roles Henry Mintzberg, now a prominent management scholar, undertook a careful study of executives early in his career to determine what they did on their jobs. On the basis of his observations, Mintzberg concluded that managers perform 10 different, highly interrelated roles or sets of behaviors, thus serving a critical function in organizations.12 As shown in Exhibit 1-1, these 10 roles are primar- ily (1) interpersonal, (2) informational, or (3) decisional. Although much has changed in the world of work since Mintzberg developed this model, research indicates the roles have changed very little.13

Interpersonal Roles All managers are required to perform duties that are cer- emonial and symbolic in nature. For instance, when the president of a college hands out diplomas at commencement or a factory supervisor gives a group of high school students a tour of the plant, they are acting in a figurehead role. Another key interpersonal role all managers have is a leadership role. This role includes hiring, training, motivating, and disciplining employees. The third role within the interpersonal grouping is the liaison role, or contacting and fos- tering relationships with others who provide valuable information. The sales manager who obtains information from the quality-control manager in his own company has an internal liaison relationship. When that sales manager has contact with other sales executives through a marketing trade association, he has external liaison relationships.

Minztberg’s Managerial RolesExhibit 1-1

Role Description

Interpersonal

Figurehead Symbolic head; required to perform a number of routine duties of a legal or social nature

Leader Responsible for the motivation and direction of employees Liaiso Maintains a network of outside contacts who provide favorsn

and information

Informational

Monitor Receives a wide variety of information; serves as nerve center of internal and external information of the organization

Disseminator Transmits information received from outsiders or from other employees to members of the organization

Spokesperson Transmits information to outsiders on organization’s plans, policies, actions, and results; serves as expert on organization’s industry

Decisional

Entrepreneur Searches organization and its environment for opportunities and initiates projects to bring about change

Disturbance handler Responsible for corrective action when organization faces important, unexpected disturbances

Resource allocator Makes or approves significant organizational decisions Negotiator Responsible for representing the organization at major

negotiations

Source: H. Mintzberg, The Nature of Managerial Work, 1st ed., © 1973, pp. 92–93. Reprinted and electronically reproduced by permission

of Pearson Education, Inc., New York, NY.

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40 PART 1 Introduction

Informational Roles To some degree, all managers collect information from outside organizations and institutions, typically by scanning the news media and talking with other people to learn of changes in the public’s tastes and what competitors may be planning. Mintzberg called this the monitor role. Man- agers also act as a conduit to transmit information to organizational members. This is the disseminator role. In addition, managers perform a spokesperson role when they represent the organization to outsiders.

Decisional Roles Mintzberg identified four roles that require making choices. In the entrepreneur role, managers initiate and oversee new projects that will improve their organization’s performance. As disturbance handlers, managers take corrective action in response to unforeseen problems. As resource alloca- tors, managers are responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary resources. Finally, managers perform a negotiator role, in which they discuss issues and bargain with other units (internal or external) to gain advantages for their own unit.

Management Skills Another way to consider what managers do is to look at the skills or competen- cies they need to achieve their goals. Researchers have identified a number of skills that differentiate effective from ineffective managers.14 Each of these skills is important, and all are needed to become a well-rounded and effective manager.

Technical Skills Technical skills encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. When you think of the skills of professionals such as civil engineers or oral surgeons, you typically focus on the technical skills they have learned through extensive formal education. Of course, professionals don’t have a monopoly on technical skills, and not all technical skills have to be learned in schools or other formal training programs. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.

Human Skills The ability to understand, communicate with, motivate, and sup- port other people, both individually and in groups, defines human skills. Many people may be technically proficient but poor listeners, unable to understand the needs of others, or weak at managing conflicts. Managers must have good human skills because they need to get things done through other people.

Conceptual Skills Managers must have the mental ability to analyze and diag- nose complex situations. These tasks require conceptual skills. Decision mak- ing, for instance, requires managers to identify problems, develop alternative solutions to correct those problems, evaluate those alternative solutions, and select the best one. After they have selected a course of action, managers must be able to organize a plan of action and then execute it. The abilities to inte- grate new ideas with existing processes and to innovate on the job are also crucial conceptual skills for today’s managers.

Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities Fred Luthans and his associates looked at what managers do from a somewhat different perspective.15 They asked, “Do managers who move up most quickly in an organization do the same activities and with the same emphasis as man- agers who do the best job?” You might think the answer is yes, but that’s not always the case.

technical skills The ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.

human skills The ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in groups.

conceptual skills The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 41

Luthans and his associates studied more than 450 managers, all engaged in four managerial activities:

1. Traditional management. Decision making, planning, and controlling. 2. Communication. Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork. 3. Human resources management. Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict,

staffing, and training. 4. Networking. Socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders.

The “average” manager spent 32 percent of his or her time in traditional management activities, 29 percent communicating, 20 percent in human resources management activities, and 19 percent networking. However, the time and effort that different individual managers spent on those activities var- ied a great deal. As shown in Exhibit 1-2, among managers who were successful (defined in terms of speed of promotion within their organization), network- ing made the largest relative contribution to success, and human resources management activities made the least relative contribution. Among effective managers (defined in terms of quantity and quality of their performance and the satisfaction and commitment of employees), communication made the largest relative contribution and networking the least. Other studies in Australia, Israel, Italy, Japan, and the United States confirm the link between networking, social relationships, and success within an organization.16 The connection between communication and effective managers is also clear. Managers who explain their decisions and seek information from colleagues and employees—even if the information turns out to be negative—are the most effective.17

This research offers important insights. Successful (in terms of promotion) managers give almost the opposite emphases to traditional management, com- munication, human resources management, and networking as do effective managers. This finding challenges the historical assumption that promotions are based on performance, and it illustrates the importance of networking and political skills in getting ahead in organizations.

Now that we’ve established what managers do, we need to study how best to do these things. Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study that inves- tigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior

When you see this icon, Global OB issues and research are being discussed in the paragraph.

organizational behavior (OB) A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.

Allocation of Activities by TimeExhibit 1-2

Source: Based on F. Luthans, R. M. Hodgetts, and S. A. Rosenkrantz, Real Managers (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1988).

Average managers

Effective managers

Successful managers

19% 19%

48%

11%

11%

28%

13%

26%

44%

20%

29%

32%

Traditional management Communication

Human resource management Networking

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42 PART 1 Introduction

within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness. That’s a mouthful, so let’s break it down.

OB is a field of study, meaning that it is a distinct area of expertise with a common body of knowledge. It focuses on three determinants of behavior in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively.

To sum up our definition, OB is the study of what people do in an orga- nization and the way their behavior affects the organization’s performance. Because OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations, it examines behavior in the context of job satisfaction, absenteeism, employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management. Although debate exists about the relative importance of each, OB includes these core topics:

• Motivation • Leader behavior and power • Interpersonal communication • Group structure and processes • Attitude development and perception • Change processes • Conflict and negotiation • Work design18

Manufacturer and retailer Lush Cos- metics incorporates standard benefits, training, and a good working environ- ment with the chance to learn differ- ent skills and be fully engaged in the product creation process. Lush retail outlets are encouraged to be fun and quirky, employees included. Source: Stephen Barnes/Business/Alamy Stock Photo

MyLab Management Watch It If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

M01_ROBB3069_18_GE_C01.indd 42 31/03/21 6:00 AM

What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 43

Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study Whether you’ve explicitly thought about it before or not, you’ve been “read- ing” people almost all your life by watching their actions and interpreting what you see, or by trying to predict what people might do under different condi- tions. This casual approach to reading others can often lead to erroneous pre- dictions, but using a systematic approach can improve your accuracy.

Underlying the systematic approach in this text is the belief that behavior is not random. Rather, we can identify fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals and modify them to reflect individual differences.

These fundamental consistencies are very important. Why? Because they allow predictability. Behavior is generally predictable, and the systematic study of behavior is a way to make reasonably accurate predictions. When we use the term systematic study, we mean looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and basing our conclusions on scientific evidence—that is, on data gathered under controlled conditions and measured and interpreted in a rigorous manner.

Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence. For example, we want doctors to make decisions about patient care based on the latest available evidence, and EBM argues that managers should do the same, thinking more scientifically about management problems. A manager might pose a question, search for the best available evidence, and apply the relevant information to the question or case at hand. You might wonder what manager would not base decisions on evidence, but the vast majority of management decisions are still made “on the fly,” with little to no systematic study of avail- able evidence.19

Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut feelings” about what makes others (and ourselves) “tick.” Of course, the things you have come to believe in an unsystematic way are not necessarily incorrect. Jack Welch (for- mer CEO of General Electric) noted, “The trick, of course, is to know when to go with your gut.” But if we make all decisions with intuition or gut instinct, we’re likely working with incomplete information—like making an investment decision with only half the data about the potential for risk and reward.

Relying on intuition is made worse because we tend to overestimate the accuracy of what we think we know. Surveys of human resources managers have also shown that many managers hold so-called commonsense opinions regard- ing effective management that have been flatly refuted by empirical evidence.

We find a similar problem in chasing the business and popular media for management wisdom. The business press tends to be dominated by fads. As a writer for The New Yorker put it, “Every few years, new companies succeed, and they are scrutinized for the underlying truths they might reveal. But often there is no underlying truth; the companies just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”20 Although we try to avoid it, we might also fall into this trap. It’s not that the business press stories are all wrong; it’s that without a systematic approach, it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Big Data Data has been used to evaluate behavior since at least 1749, when the word sta- tistic was coined to mean a “description of the state.”21 Statistics back then were used for purposes of governance, but since the data collection methods were

1-3 Show the value of OB to systematic study.

systematic study Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence.

evidence-based management (EBM) Basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence.

intuition An instinctive feeling not necessarily supported by research.

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44 PART 1 Introduction

clumsy and simplistic, so were the conclusions. Big data—the extensive use of statistical compilation and analysis—didn’t become possible until computers were sophisticated enough to store and manipulate large amounts of informa- tion. Let’s look at the roots of the application of big data for business, which originated in the marketing department of online retailers.

Background It’s difficult to believe now, but not long ago companies treated online shopping as a virtual point-of-sale experience: Shoppers browsed websites anonymously, and sellers tracked sales data only on what customers bought. Gradually, though, online retailers began to track and act on informa- tion about customer preferences that was uniquely available through the Inter- net shopping experience, information that was far superior to data gathered

Myth or Science? Management by Walking around Is the Most Effective Management

T his is mostly a myth, but with a caveat. Management by walking around (MBWA) is an organiza-

tional principle made famous with the 1982 publication of In Search of Excel- lence and based on a 1970s initiative by Hewlett-Packard—in other words, it’s a dinosaur. Years of research indi- cate that effective management prac- tices are not built around MBWA. But the idea of requiring managers at all levels of the organization to wander around their departments to observe, converse, and hear from employees continues as a common business practice.

Many companies expecting man- agers and executives to do regular “floor time” have claimed benefits from increased employee engagement to deeper management understand- ing of company issues. A recent three-year study also suggested that a modified form of MBWA may signifi- cantly improve safety in organizations because employees become more mindful of following regulatory proce- dures when supervisors observe and monitor them frequently.

While MBWA sounds helpful, its limitations suggest that modern prac- tices focused on building trust and relationships are more effective for

management. Limitations include avail- able hours, focus, and application.

1. Available hours. Managers are charged with planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling; yet even CEOs—the managers who should be the most in control of their time—report spending 53 percent of their average 55-hour workweek in time-wasting meetings.

2. Focus. MBWA turns management’s focus toward the concerns of employees. This is good, but only to a degree. As noted by Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, “Part of the key to time management is carving out time to think, as opposed to con- stantly reacting. And during that thinking time, you’re not only thinking strategically, thinking proactively, thinking longer-term, but you’re lit- erally thinking about what is urgent versus important.” Weiner and other CEOs argue that meetings distract them from their purpose.

3. Application. The principle behind MBWA is that the more managers know their employees, the more effective those managers will be. This is not always (or even often) true. As we’ll learn in Chapter 5, knowing something (or thinking we

know it) should not always lead us to act on only that information because our internal decision mak- ing is subjective. We need objective data to make the most effective management decisions.

Based on the need for managers to dedicate their efforts to administering and growing businesses, and given the proven effectiveness of objective per- formance measures, it seems the time for MBWA is gone. Yet there is that one caveat: Managers should know their employees well. As Rick Russell, CEO of Greer Laboratories, says, “Foster- ing close ties with your lieutenants is the stuff that gets results. You have to rally the troops. You can’t do it from a memo.” Management should therefore not substitute walking around for true management.

Sources: Based on G. Luria and I. Morag, “Safety Management by Walking Around (SMBWA): A Safety Intervention Program Based on Both Peer and Manager Par- ticipation,” Accident Analysis and Pre- vention (March 2012): 248–57; J. S. Lublin, “Managers Need to Make Time for Face Time,” The Wall Street Journal, March 17, 2015, http://www.wsj.com/articles/ managers-need-to-make-time-for-face-time- 1426624214; and R. E. Silverman, “Where’s the Boss? Trapped in a Meeting,” The Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2012, B1, B9.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 45

in simple store transactions. This enabled them to create more targeted mar- keting strategies than ever before. The bookselling industry is a case in point: Before online selling, brick-and-mortar bookstores could collect data about book sales only to create projections about consumer interests and trends. With the advent of Amazon, suddenly a vast array of information about consumer preferences—what customers bought, what they looked at, how they navigated the site, and what they were influenced by (such as promotions, reviews, and page presentation)—became available for tracking. The challenge for Amazon then was to identify which statistics were persistent, giving relatively constant out- comes over time, and which were predictive, showing steady causality between certain inputs and outcomes. The company used these statistics to develop algorithms to forecast which books customers would like to read next. Amazon could then base its wholesale purchase decisions on the feedback customers provided, both through these passive collection methods and through solicited recommendations for upcoming titles.

Current Usage No matter how many terabytes of data firms can collect or from how many sources, the reasons for data analytics include predicting any event, from a book purchase to a spacesuit malfunction; detecting how much risk is incurred at any time, from the risk of a fire to that of a loan default; and preventing catastrophes large and small, from a plane crash to an over- stock of product.22 With big data, U.S. defense contractor BAE Systems protects itself from cyberattacks; San Francisco’s Bank of the West uses customer data to create tiered pricing systems; and London’s Graze.com analyzes customers’ preferences to select snack samples to send with their orders.23

Naturally, big data has been used by technology companies like Google and Facebook, who rely on advertising dollars for revenue and thus need to predict user behavior. Companies like Netflix and Uber similarly use big data to predict where and when customers may want to use their services, although their rev- enue comes from subscribers to their services. Insurance firms predict behavior to assess risks, such as the chance of traffic accidents, in order to set customer premiums. Even museums like the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts analyze data from transmitters, kiosks, and surveys to cater to their paying guests.24

Online retailers like eBay and Amazon that market tangible products through online platforms also rely on big data to predict what will sell. For organizations like Nielson Holdings, which tracks television and radio watch- ing, the results of data analyses are the product they sell. Still other organiza- tions collect big data but do not use it directly. These are often organizations whose primary business is not online. Kroger, a U.S. grocery store chain, col- lects electronic information from 55 million customers who have loyalty cards and sells the data to vendors who stock Kroger’s shelves.25 Sometimes technol- ogy companies simply sell their data; Twitter sells 500 million tweets a day to four data assimilation companies.26

New Trends While accessibility to data increases organizations’ ability to pre- dict human behavioral trends, the use of big data for understanding, helping, and managing people is relatively new but holds promise. In fact, research on 10,000 workers in China, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States indicated that employees expect the next transformation in the way peo- ple work will rely more on technological advancements than on any other fac- tor, such as demographic changes.27 Organizations are also beginning to focus more on fast data, emphasizing a consistent influx of actionable data that can be used to guide business decisions in real time.28

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46 PART 1 Introduction

It is good news for the future of business that researchers, the media, and company leaders have identified the potential of data-driven management and decision making. A manager who uses data to define objectives, develop theo- ries of causality, and test those theories can determine which employee activ- ities are relevant to the objectives.29 Big data has implications for correcting management assumptions and increasing positive performance outcomes. It is applied increasingly toward making effective decisions (Chapter 5) and manag- ing human resources (HR; Chapter 16). It is quite possible that the best use of big data in managing people will come from organizational behavior and psychology research, where it might even help employees with mental illnesses monitor and change their behavior.30

Limitations As technological capabilities for handling big data have increased, so have issues of privacy. This is particularly true when data collection includes surveillance instruments. For instance, an experiment in Brooklyn, New York, has been designed to improve the quality of life for residents, but the research- ers will collect intensive data from infrared cameras, sensors, and smartphone Wi-Fi signals.31 Through similar methods of surveillance monitoring, a bank call center and a pharmaceutical company found that employees were more productive with more social interaction, so they changed their break-time poli- cies so more people took breaks together. They then saw sales increase and turnover decrease. Bread Winners Café in Dallas, Texas, constantly monitors all employees in the restaurant through surveillance and uses the data to promote or discipline its servers.32

These big data tactics and others might yield results—and research indicates that, in fact, electronic performance monitoring does increase task performance and citizenship behavior (helping behaviors toward others), at least in the short term.33 But critics point out that after Frederick Taylor introduced surveillance analytics in 1911 to increase productivity through monitoring and feedback controls, his management control techniques were surpassed by Alfred Sloan’s greater success with management outcomes, achieved by providing meaningful work to employees.34 This brings up a larger concern: What do people think about big data when they are the source of the data? Organizations using big data run the risk of offending the very people they are trying to influence: employees and customers. As Alderman Bob Fioretti said about the 65 sensors installed on Chicago’s streets, “This type of invasion is a very slippery slope.”35

We must keep in mind that big data will always be limited in predicting behavior, curtailing risk, and preventing catastrophes. In contrast to the repli- cable results we can obtain in the sciences through big data analytics, human behavior is often capricious and predicated on innumerable variables. Other- wise, our decision making would have been taken over by artificial intelligence by now! But that will never be a worthy goal.36 Management is more than the sum of data.

Therefore, we are not advising you to throw intuition out the window. In dealing with people, leaders often rely on hunches, and sometimes the out- comes are excellent. At other times, human tendencies get in the way. Alex Pentland, a celebrated MIT data scientist, proposes a new science termed social physics, which is based on improving the way ideas and behaviors travel. Stud- ies on social physics would lead to subtler forms of data collection and analysis than some of the more intrusive surveillance methods mentioned previously, while still informing managers on how to help employees focus their ener- gies.37 The prudent use of big data, along with an understanding of human behavioral tendencies, can contribute to sound decision making and ease natu- ral biases. What we are advising is to use evidence as much as possible to inform your intuition and experience. That is the promise of OB.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 47

Disciplines That Contribute to OB OB is an applied behavioral science built on contributions from a number of behavioral disciplines, mainly psychology and social psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Psychology’s contributions have been principally at the individ- ual or micro level of analysis, while the other disciplines have contributed to our understanding of macro concepts such as group processes and organiza- tion. Exhibit 1-3 is an overview of the major contributions to the study of orga- nizational behavior.

Psychology Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. Contributors to the knowledge of OB are learning theorists; personality theorists; counseling psychologists; and, most important, industrial and organizational psychologists.

1-4 Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB.

psychology The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.

Toward an OB DisciplineExhibit 1-3

Sociology

Social psychology

Anthropology

Psychology

Behavioral science

OutputUnit of analysis

Contribution

Learning Motivation Personality Emotions Perception Training Leadership effectiveness Job satisfaction Individual decision making Performance appraisal Attitude measurement Employee selection Work design Work stress

Behavioral change Attitude change Communication Group processes Group decision making

Formal organization theory Organizational technology Organizational change Organizational culture

Comparative values Comparative attitudes Cross-cultural analysis

Organizational culture Organizational environment Power

Communication Power Conflict Intergroup behavior

Study of organizational

behavior

Organization system

Individual

Group

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48 PART 1 Introduction

Early industrial/organizational psychologists studied the problems of fatigue, boredom, and other working conditions that could impede efficient work per- formance. More recently, their contributions have expanded to include learn- ing, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, perfor- mance appraisal, attitude measurement, employee-selection techniques, work design, and job stress.

Social Psychology Social psychology, generally considered a branch of psychology, blends con- cepts from both psychology and sociology to focus on people’s influence on one another. One major study area is change —how to implement it and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance. Social psychologists also contribute to mea- suring, understanding, and changing attitudes; identifying communication pat- terns; and building trust. They have made important contributions to our study of group behavior, power, and conflict.

Sociology While psychology focuses on the individual, sociology studies people in rela- tion to their social environment or culture. Sociologists have contributed to OB through their study of group behaviors in organizations, particularly formal and complex organizations. Perhaps most important, sociologists have studied organizational culture, formal organization theory and structure, organiza- tional technology, communications, power, and conflict.

Anthropology Anthropology is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities. Anthropologists’ work on cultures and environments has helped us understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior among people in different countries and within different organizations. Much of our current understanding of organizational culture, organizational climate, and differences among national cultures is a result of the work of anthropologists or those using their methods.

There Are Few Absolutes in OB Laws in the physical sciences—chemistry, astronomy, physics—are consistent and apply in a wide range of situations. They allow scientists to generalize about the pull of gravity or to be confident about sending astronauts into space to repair satellites. Human beings are complex, and few, if any, simple and uni- versal principles explain organizational behavior. Because we are not alike, our ability to make simple, accurate, and sweeping generalizations about ourselves is limited. Two people often act very differently in the same situation, and the same person’s behavior changes in different situations. For example, not every- one is motivated by money, and people may behave differently at a religious service than they do at a party.

That doesn’t mean, of course, that we can’t offer reasonably accurate explanations of human behavior or make valid predictions. It does mean that OB concepts must reflect situational, or contingency, conditions. We can say x leads to y, but only under conditions specified in z—the contingency variables.

social psychology An area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology to focus on the influence of people on one another.

sociology The study of people in relation to their social environment or culture.

anthropology The study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.

1-5 Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.

contingency variables Situational factors or variables that moderate the relationship between two or more variables.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 49

The science of OB was developed by applying general concepts to a particu- lar situation, person, or group. For example, OB scholars would avoid stating that everyone likes complex and challenging work (a general concept). Why? Because not everyone wants a challenging job. Some people prefer routine over varied work or simple over complex tasks. A job attractive to one person may not be to another; its appeal is contingent on the person who holds it. Often, we’ll find both general effects (money does have some ability to moti- vate most of us) and contingencies (some of us are more motivated by money than others, and some situations are more about money than others). We’ll best understand OB when we realize how both (general effects, and the contin- gencies that affect them) often guide behavior.

Challenges and Opportunities Understanding organizational behavior has never been more important for managers. Take a quick look at the dramatic changes in organizations. The typ- ical employee is getting older, the workforce is becoming increasingly diverse, and global competition requires employees to become more flexible and cope with rapid change.

As a result of these changes and others, employment options have adapted to include new opportunities for workers. Exhibit 1-4 details some of the types of options individuals may find offered to them by organizations or for which they would like to negotiate. Under each heading in the exhibit, you will find

1-6 Identify managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.

Employment OptionsExhibit 1-4

Employed

Underemployed/ underutilized

Re-employed

Unemployed/jobless

Entrepreneur

Retired

Furloughed

Laid off

Categories of Employment

Job seeking

Places of Employment

Anchored (office/cubicle)

Floating (shared space)

Virtual

Flexible

Work from home

Compensation for Employment

Salary

Hourly

Overtime

Bonus

Contract

Time off

Benefits

Conditions of Employment

Local

Expatriate

Flexpatriate

International business traveler

Visa employee

Short-term assignee

Union/nonunion employee

Types of Employment

Job share

Contingent

Independent contractor

Temporary

Intern

Full-time

Part-time

Flextime

Reduced hours

Sources: Based on J. R. Anderson, E. Binney, N. M. Davis, G. Kraft, S. Miller, T. Minton-Eversole, . . . and A. Wright, “Action Items: 42 Trends Affecting Benefits, Compensation, Training, Staffing and

Technology,” HR Magazine (January 2013): 33; M. Dewhurst, B. Hancock, and D. Ellsworth, “Redesigning Knowledge Work,” Harvard Business Review (January–February 2013): 58–64; E. Frauenheim,

“ Creating a New Contingent Culture,” Workforce Management (August 2012): 34–39; N. Koeppen, “State Job Aid Takes Pressure off Germany,” The Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2013, A8; and M. A. Shaf-

fer, M. L. Kraimer, Y.-P. Chen, and M. C. Bolino, “Choices, Challenges, and Career Consequences of Global Work Experiences: A Review and Future Agenda,” Journal of Management (July 2012): 1282–1327.

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50 PART 1 Introduction

a grouping of options from which to choose—or combine. For instance, at one point in your career, you may find yourself employed full-time in an office in a localized, nonunion setting with a salary and bonus compensation package, while at another point you may wish to negotiate for a flextime, virtual position and choose to work from overseas for a combination of salary and extra paid time off.

In short, today’s challenges bring opportunities for managers to use OB concepts. In this section, we review some of the most critical issues confronting managers for which OB offers solutions—or at least meaningful insights toward solutions.

Economic Pressures When the U.S. economy plunged into a deep and prolonged recession in 2008, virtually all other large economies around the world followed suit. Layoffs and job losses were widespread, and those who survived the ax were often asked to accept pay cuts. When times are bad, as they were during the recession, manag- ers are on the frontlines with employees who are asked to make do with less, who worry about their futures, and who sometimes must be fired. The differ- ence between good and bad management can be the difference between profit and loss or ultimately between business survival and failure.

Managing employees well when times are tough is just as hard as when times are good, if not harder. In good times, understanding how to reward, satisfy, and retain employees is at a premium. In bad times, issues like stress, decision making, and coping come to the forefront.

Continuing Globalization Organizations are no longer constrained by national borders. Samsung, the largest South Korean business conglomerate, sells most of its products to orga- nizations in other countries, Burger King is owned by a Brazilian firm, and McDonald’s sells hamburgers in more than 118 countries on six continents. Even what is arguably the U.S. company with the strongest U.S. identity— Apple—employs twice as many workers outside the United States as it does inside the country. And all major automobile makers now manufac- ture cars outside their borders; Honda builds cars in Ohio, Ford in Brazil, Volkswagen in Mexico, and both Mercedes and BMW in the United States and South Africa.

The world has become a global village. In the process, the manager’s job has changed. Effective managers anticipate and adapt their approaches to the global issues we discuss next.

Increased Foreign Assignments You are increasingly likely to find yourself in a foreign assignment—transferred to your employer’s operating division or sub- sidiary in another country. Once there, you’ll have to manage a workforce with very different needs, aspirations, and attitudes than those you are used to back home. To be effective, you will need to understand everything you can about your new location’s culture and workforce—and demonstrate your cultural sensitivity—before introducing alternate practices.

Working with People from Different Cultures Even in your own country, you’ll find yourself working with bosses, peers, and other employees born and raised in different cultures. What motivates you may not motivate them. Or your communication style may be straightforward and open, which others may find

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 51

uncomfortable and threatening. To work effectively with people from differ- ent cultures, you need to understand how their culture and background have shaped them and how to adapt your management style to fit any differences.

Overseeing Movement of Jobs to Countries with Low-Cost Labor It is increasingly difficult for managers in advanced nations, where the minimum wage can be as high as $16.88 an hour, to compete against firms that rely on workers from developing nations where labor is available for as little as $0.03 an hour.38 In a global economy, jobs tend to be created where lower costs give busi- nesses a comparative advantage, although labor groups, politicians, and local community leaders see the exporting of jobs as undermining the job market at home. Managers face the difficult task of balancing the interests of their organizations with their responsibilities to the communities in which they operate.

Adapting to Differing Cultural and Regulatory Norms To be effective, managers need to know the cultural norms of the workforce in each country where they do business. For instance, a large percentage of the workforce enjoys long holi- days in some countries. There will be country and local regulations to consider, too. Managers of subsidiaries abroad need to be aware of the unique financial and legal regulations applying to guest companies or else risk violating them. Violations can have implications for operations in that country and also for political relations between countries. Managers also need to be cognizant of differences in regulations for competitors in that country; understanding the laws can often lead to success rather than failure. For example, knowing local banking laws allowed one multinational firm—the Bank of China—to seize con- trol of a storied (and very valuable) London building, Grosvenor House, from under the nose of the owner, the Indian hotel group Sahara. Management at Sahara contends that the loan default that led to the seizure was a misunder- standing regarding one of their other properties in New York.39 Globalization can get complicated.

Guy Woolaert, senior vice president and chief technical and innovation officer of The Coca-Cola Company, has worked effectively with people from many cultures. He learned from his 20 years of assignments abroad in Europe, the Pacific, and other geographic regions how to adapt his management style to reflect the values of different countries. Source: Robin Nelson/ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy

Stock Photo

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52 PART 1 Introduction

Workforce Demographics The workforce has always adapted to variations in economies, longevity and birth rates, socioeconomic conditions, and other changes that have widespread impact. People adapt to survive, and OB studies the way those adaptations affect individuals’ behavior. For instance, even though the 2008 global reces- sion ended years ago, some trends from those years are continuing: Some people who had long been unemployed left the workforce altogether,40 while others have cobbled together several part-time jobs41 or settled for on-demand work.42 Additional options that have been particularly popular for younger educated workers have included obtaining specialized industry training after college,43 accepting full-time jobs that are lower-level,44 and starting their own companies.45 As students of OB, we can investigate what factors lead employ- ees to make various choices and how their experiences affect their perceptions of their workplaces. This understanding can help us predict organizational outcomes.

Longevity and birth rates have also changed the dynamics in organiza- tions. Global longevity rates have increased six years in a very short time (since 1990),46 while birth rates are decreasing for many developed countries, trends that together indicate a lasting shift toward an older workforce. OB research can help explain what this means for attitudes, organizational culture, leader- ship, structure, and communication. Socioeconomic shifts have a profound effect on workforce demographics. Equal access to work and education, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation, has been deemed a human rights issue by the United Nations.47 OB researchers study how people from diverse backgrounds fare in the workplace, the unique challenges and benefits they experience, as well as how their conditions can be improved. This is just one illustration of how cultural and socioeconomic changes affect the work- place, and it is one of many. We will discuss how OB can provide understand- ing and insight on workforce issues throughout this text.

Percentage of Men and Women Working

Sources: Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Women in the Labor Force: A Datebook,” 2014, www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/women-in-the-labor-force-a-

databook-2014.pdf; and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Economic News Release,” 2013, http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.t02.htm.

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

1970

64.4% 67.6%

2022 (Projected)

56.0%

1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025

40.8%

53.2%

76.2% Men

Women

OB POLL

MyLab Management Personal Inventory Assessments Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 53

Workforce Diversity One of the most important challenges for organizations is workforce diversity, a trend by which organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of employees’ gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other char- acteristics. Managing this diversity is a global concern. Though we have more to say about diversity in Chapter 2, we start here by saying that diversity pres- ents great opportunities and poses challenging questions for managers and employees. How can we leverage differences within groups for competitive advantage? Should we treat all employees alike? Should we recognize individ- ual and cultural differences? What are the legal requirements in each country? Does increasing diversity even matter?

Customer Service Service employees include technical support representatives, fast-food workers, salesclerks, nurses, automobile repair technicians, consultants, financial plan- ners, and flight attendants. The shared characteristic of their jobs is substantial interaction with an organization’s customers. OB can help managers increase the success of these customer interactions by showing how employee attitudes and behavior influence customer satisfaction.

Many organizations have failed because their employees failed to please cus- tomers. Management needs to create a customer-responsive culture. OB can provide considerable guidance in helping managers create such cultures—in which employees establish rapport with customers, put customers at ease, show genuine interest, and are sensitive to a customer’s individual situation.48

People Skills As you proceed through the chapters of this text, we’ll present relevant con- cepts and theories that can help you explain and predict the behavior of peo- ple at work. You’ll also gain insights into specific people skills you can use on the job. For instance, you’ll learn ways to design motivating jobs, techniques for improving your management skills, and how to create more effective teams.

workforce diversity The concept that organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.

Global food and drinks giant Danone has focused on customer-led corpo- rate culture and behavior. It maintains a high visibility through sponsorship, advertising, and other promotional activities. Its customer-responsive cul- ture aims to appeal to all age groups, and it includes participants and audi- ences for their annual Danone Nations Cup, won in 2016 by Germany. Source: CrowdSpark/Alamy Stock Photo

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Networked Organizations Networked organizations allow people to communicate and work together even though they may be thousands of miles apart. Independent contractors can telecommute via computer and change employers as the demand for their services changes. Software programmers, graphic designers, systems analysts, technical writers, photo researchers, book and media editors, and medical tran- scribers are just a few examples of people who can work from home or other nonoffice locations.

The manager’s job is different in a networked organization. Motivating and leading people and making collaborative decisions online require different techniques than when individuals are physically present in a single location. As more employees do their jobs by linking to others through networks, managers must develop new skills. OB can provide valuable insights to help hone those skills.

Social Media As we will discuss in Chapter 12, social media in the business world is here to stay. Despite its pervasiveness, many organizations continue to struggle with employees’ use of social media in the workplace. In February 2015, a Texas pizzeria fired an employee before she showed up for her first day of work after she tweeted unflattering comments about her future job. In Decem- ber 2014, Nordstrom fired an Oregon employee who had posted a personal Facebook comment seeming to advocate violence against white police officers.49 These examples show that social media is a difficult issue for today’s managers, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for OB. For instance, how much should HR look into a candidate’s social media presence? Should a hiring manager read the candidate’s Twitter feeds or do a quick perusal of her Facebook profile? We will discuss this issue later in the text.

Once employees are on the job, many organizations have policies about accessing social media at work—when, where, and for what purposes. But what about the impact of social media on employee well-being? One recent study found that subjects who woke up in a positive mood and then accessed Facebook frequently found their mood decreased during the day. Sub- jects who checked Facebook frequently over a two-week period reported a decreased level of satisfaction with their lives.50 Managers—and the field of OB—are trying to increase employee satisfaction and therefore improve and enhance positive organizational outcomes. We will discuss these issues further in Chapters 3 and 4.

Employee Well-Being at Work The typical employee in the 1960s and 1970s showed up at a specified work- place Monday through Friday and worked for clearly defined 8- or 9-hour chunks of time. That’s no longer true for a large segment of today’s workforce because the definition of the workplace has expanded to include anywhere a laptop or smartphone can go. Even if employees work flexible hours at home or from half a continent away, managers still need to consider their well-being at work.

One of the biggest challenges to maintaining employee well-being is the new reality that many workers never get away from the virtual workplace. While communication technology allows many technical and professional employees to do their work at home or on the beach in Tahiti, it also means that many feel like they’re not part of a team. “The sense of belonging is very

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 55

challenging for virtual workers, who seem to be all alone out in cyberland,” said Ellen Raineri of Kaplan University.51 Another challenge is that organiza- tions are asking employees to put in longer hours. According to one study, one in four employees shows signs of burnout, and two in three report high stress levels and fatigue.52 This may actually be an underestimate because workers report maintaining “always on” access for their managers through e-mail and texting. Employee well-being is challenged by heavy outside commitments. Millions of single-parent employees and employees with dependent parents face significant challenges in balancing work and family responsibilities, for instance.

As a result of their increased responsibilities in and out of the workplace, employees want jobs that give them flexibility in their work schedules so they can better manage work–life conflicts.53 In fact, 56 percent of men and women in a recent study reported that work–life balance, more than money, recognition, and autonomy, was their definition of career success.54 Most col- lege and university students say attaining balance between personal life and work is a primary career goal; they want a life as well as a job. Organiza- tions that don’t help their employees achieve work–life balance will find it increasingly difficult to attract and retain the most capable and motivated individuals.

As you’ll see in later chapters, the field of OB offers a number of suggestions to guide managers in designing workplaces and jobs that can help employees deal with work–life conflicts.

Positive Work Environment A real growth area in OB research is positive organizational scholarship (also called positive organizational behavior), which studies how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock poten- tial. Researchers in this area say too much of OB research and management practice has been targeted toward identifying what’s wrong with organizations and their employees. In response, they try to study what’s good about them.55

positive organizational scholarship An area of OB research that studies how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential.

Twitter employees rave about their company’s culture, which creates a positive work environment where smart and friendly colleagues learn; share values, ideas, and information; and work together to help the com- pany grow and succeed. At Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters, employ- ees like Jenna Sampson, community relations manager, enjoy free meals, yoga classes, and a rooftop garden. Source: Noah Berger/Reuters

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Some key topics in positive OB research are engagement, hope, optimism, and resilience in the face of strain. Researchers hope to help practitioners create positive work environments for employees.

Positive organizational scholars have studied a concept called reflected best-self by asking employees to think about when they were at their per- sonal best in order to understand how to exploit their strengths. The idea is that we all have things at which we are unusually good, yet we focus too often on addressing our limitations and rarely think about how to exploit our strengths.56

Although positive organizational scholarship does not deny the value of the negative (such as critical feedback), it does challenge researchers to look at OB through a new lens and pushes organizations to exploit employees’ strengths rather than dwell on their limitations. One aspect of a positive work environment is the organization’s culture, the topic of Chapter 15. Organi- zational culture influences employee behavior so strongly that organizations have begun to employ a culture officer to shape and preserve the company’s personality.57

Ethical Behavior In an organizational world characterized by cutbacks, expectations of increas- ing productivity, and tough competition, it’s not surprising many employees feel pressured to cut corners, break rules, and engage in other questionable practices. They increasingly face ethical dilemmas and ethical choices, in which they are required to identify right and wrong conduct. Should they blow the whistle if they uncover illegal activities in their company? Do they follow orders with which they don’t personally agree? Do they play politics to advance their careers?

What constitutes good ethical behavior has never been clearly defined and, in recent years, the line differentiating right from wrong has blurred. We see people all around us engaging in unethical practices: Elected officials pad expense accounts or take bribes; corporate executives inflate profits to cash in lucrative stock options; and university administrators look the other way when winning coaches encourage scholarship athletes to take easy courses or even, in the case of the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, sham courses with fake grades.58 When caught, people give excuses such as “everyone does it” or “you have to seize every advantage.”

Determining the ethically correct way to behave is especially difficult for both managers and employees in a global economy because different cultures have different perspectives on certain ethical issues.59 The definition of fair treatment of employees in an economic downturn varies considerably across cultures, for instance. As we’ll see in Chapter 2, perceptions of religious, eth- nic, and gender diversity also differ across countries.

Today’s manager must create an ethically healthy climate for employees in which they can do their work productively with minimal ambiguity about right and wrong behaviors. Companies that promote a strong ethical mission, encourage employees to behave with integrity, and provide strong leadership can influence employees to behave ethically.60 Classroom training sessions in ethics have also proven helpful in maintaining a higher level of awareness of the implications of employee choices as long as the training sessions are given on an ongoing basis.61 In upcoming chapters, we’ll discuss the actions managers can take to create an ethically healthy climate and help employees sort through ambiguous situations.

ethical dilemmas and ethical choices Situations in which individuals are required to define right and wrong conduct.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 57

An Ethical Choice Vacation: All I Ever Wanted

D o you work to live, or live to work? Those of us who think it’s a choice might be wrong. Almost

one-third of 1,000 respondents in a study by Kelton Research cited work- load as a reason for not using allot- ted vacation days. Consider Ken Waltz, a director for Alexian Brothers Health System. He has 500 hours (approxi- mately 3 months) in banked time off and no plans to spend it. “You’re on call 24/7 and these days, you’d better step up or step out,” he says, referring to today’s leaner workforce. “It’s not just me—it’s upper management. . . . It’s everybody.”

Many people feel pressure, spo- ken or unspoken, to work through their vacation days. Employers expect workers to do more with less, putting pressure on workers to use all avail- able resources—chiefly their time— to meet manager expectations. In today’s economy, there is always a ready line of replacement workers, and many employees will do every- thing possible to stay in their manag- er’s good graces.

The issue of vacation time is an ethical choice for the employer and for the employee. Many organiza- tions have “use it or lose it” policies whereby employees forfeit the paid time off they have accrued for the year if they haven’t used it. When employ- ees forfeit vacation, the risk of burnout increases. Skipping vacation time can wear you down emotionally, leading to exhaustion, negative feelings about your work, and a reduced feeling of

accomplishment. You may find you are absent more often, contemplate leaving your job, and grow less likely to want to help anyone (including your managers). Even though these are negative conse- quences for your employer as well as for you personally, the employee must often take charge of the situation. Here are some ways you can maintain your well-being and productivity:

1. Recognize your feelings. We solve few problems without first recog- nizing them. According to a recent study by ComPsych involving 2,000 employees, two in three identified high levels of stress, out-of-control feelings, and extreme fatigue.

2. Identify your tendency for burnout. Research on 2,089 employees found that burnout is especially acute for newcomers and job chang- ers. Burnout symptoms should level off after 2 years, but each individual experiences stress differently.

3. Talk about your stressors. Thomas Donohoe, a researcher on work–life balance, recommends talking with trusted friends or family. On the job, discussing your stress factors in an appropriate manner can help you reduce job overload.

4. Build in high physical activity. Research found an increase in job burnout (and depression) was highest for employees who did not engage in regular physical activ- ity, while it was almost negligible for employees who did engage in regular physical activity.

5. Take brief breaks throughout your day. For office employees, the cur- rent suggestion from experts is to spend at least 1 to 2 minutes of every hour standing up to combat the effects of all-day sitting. Dono- hoe also suggests snack breaks, walks, or short naps to recharge.

6. Take your vacation! Studies suggest that recovery from stress can hap- pen only if employees are (1) physi- cally away from work and (2) not occupied by work-related duties. That means telling your manager that you will log off your e-mail accounts and shut off your phone for the duration of the vacation.

It is not always easy to look beyond the next deadline. But to maximize your long-term productivity and avoid stress, burnout, and illness—all of which are ultimately harmful to employer aims and employee careers alike—you should not succumb to vacation deficit disorder. Educate your managers. Your employer should thank you for it.

Sources: Based on B. B. Dunford, A. J. Shipp, R. W. Boss, I. Angermeier, and A. D. Boss, “Is Burnout Static or Dynamic? A Career Transition Perspective of Employee Burnout Trajectories,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 3 (2012): 637–50; E. J. Hirst, “Burnout on the Rise,” Chicago Tribune, October 29, 2012, 3-1, 3-4; B. M. Rubin, “Rough Economy Means No Vaca- tion,” Chicago Tribune, September 3, 2012, 4; and S. Toker and M. Biron, “Job Burnout and Depression: Unraveling Their Temporal Relationship and Considering the Role of Physical Activity,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy 97, no. 3 (2012): 699–710.

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58 PART 1 Introduction

Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model We conclude this chapter by presenting a general model that defines the field of OB and stakes out its parameters, concepts, and relationships. By studying the model, you will have a good picture of how the topics in this text can inform your approach to management issues and opportunities.

An Overview A model is an abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real- world phenomenon. Exhibit 1-5 presents the skeleton of our OB model. It pro- poses three types of variables (inputs, processes, and outcomes) at three levels of analysis (individual, group, and organizational). In the chapters to follow, we will proceed from the individual level (Chapters 2 through 8), to group behavior (Chapters 9 through 14), to the organizational system (Chapters 15 through 18). The model illustrates that inputs lead to processes, which lead to outcomes; we will discuss these interrelationships at each level of analysis. Notice that the model also shows that outcomes can influence inputs in the future, which highlights the broad-reaching effect that OB initiatives can have on an organization’s future.

Inputs Inputs are variables like personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to processes. These variables set the stage for what will occur in an organization later. Many are determined in advance of the employment rela- tionship. For example, individual diversity characteristics, personality, and val- ues are shaped by a combination of an individual’s genetic inheritance and childhood environment. Group structure, roles, and team responsibilities are

1-7 Compare the three levels of analysis in this text’s OB model.

model An abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon.

inputs Variables that lead to processes.

A Basic OB ModelExhibit 1-5

Processes

Individual Level • Emotions and moods • Motivation • Perception • Decision making

Group Level • Communication • Leadership • Power and politics • Conflict and negotiation

Organizational Level • Human resource management • Change practices

Outcomes

Individual Level • Attitudes and stress • Task performance • Citizenship behavior • Withdrawal behavior

Group Level • Group cohesion • Group functioning

Organizational Level • Productivity • Survival

Inputs

Individual Level • Diversity • Personality • Values

Group Level • Group structure • Group roles • Team responsibilities

Organizational Level • Structure • Culture

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 59

typically assigned immediately before or after a group is formed. Organizational structure and culture are usually the result of years of development and change as the organization adapts to its environment and builds up customs and norms.

Processes If inputs are like the nouns in OB, processes are like the verbs. Processes are actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes. At the individual level, processes include emotions and moods, motivation, perception, and decision making. At the group level, they include communication, leadership, power and poli- tics, and conflict and negotiation. At the organizational level, processes include human resources management and change practices.

Outcomes Outcomes are the key variables that you want to explain or predict and that are affected by other variables. What are the primary outcomes in OB? Schol- ars have emphasized individual-level outcomes, such as attitudes and stress, task performance, citizenship behavior, and withdrawal behavior. At the group level, cohesion and functioning are the dependent variables. At the organi- zational level, we look at overall productivity and survival. Because these out- comes will be covered in all the chapters, we’ll briefly discuss each here so you can understand the goal of OB.

Attitudes and Stress Employee attitudes are the evaluations that employees make, ranging from positive to negative, about objects, people, or events. For example, the statement “I really think my job is great” is a positive job attitude, and “My job is boring and tedious” is a negative job attitude. Stress is a psycho- logical process that occurs in response to environmental pressures.

Some people might think influencing employee attitudes and stress is purely soft stuff and not the business of serious managers, but as we will show, attitudes often have behavioral consequences that relate directly to organiza- tional effectiveness. The belief that satisfied employees are more productive than dissatisfied employees has been a basic tenet among managers for years, though only now has research begun to support it. Ample evidence shows that employees who are more satisfied and treated fairly are more willing to engage in the above-and-beyond citizenship behavior so vital in the contemporary busi- ness environment.

Task Performance The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing your core job tasks is a reflection of your level of task performance. If we think about the job of a factory worker, task performance could be measured by the number and quality of products produced in an hour. The task performance of a teacher would be the level of education that students obtain. The task perfor- mance of consultants might be the timeliness and quality of the presentations they offer to the client. All these types of performance relate to the core duties and responsibilities of a job and are often directly related to the functions listed on a formal job description.

Obviously task performance is the most important human output contribut- ing to organizational effectiveness, so in every chapter we devote considerable time to detailing how task performance is affected by the topic in question.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace, is called organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), or simply citizenship behavior.

processes Actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes.

outcomes Key factors that are affected by other variables.

stress A psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures.

task performance The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing core job tasks.

organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) Discretionary behavior that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace.

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60 PART 1 Introduction

Successful organizations have employees who do more than their usual job duties—who provide performance beyond expectations. In today’s dynamic workplace, where tasks are increasingly performed by teams and where flexibil- ity is critical, employees who engage in good citizenship behaviors help others on their team, volunteer for extra work, avoid unnecessary conflicts, respect the spirit as well as the letter of rules and regulations, and gracefully tolerate occasional work-related impositions and nuisances.

Organizations want and need employees who will do things that aren’t in any job description. Evidence indicates organizations that have such employees outperform those that don’t. As a result, OB is concerned with citizenship behavior as an outcome variable.

Withdrawal Behavior We’ve already mentioned behavior that goes above and beyond task requirements, but what about behavior that in some way is below task requirements? Withdrawal behavior is the set of actions that employees take to separate themselves from the organization. There are many forms of withdrawal, ranging from showing up late or failing to attend meetings to absenteeism and turnover.

Employee withdrawal can have a very negative effect on an organization. The cost of employee turnover alone has been estimated to run into the thou- sands of dollars, even for entry-level positions. Absenteeism also costs orga- nizations significant amounts of money and time every year. For instance, a recent survey found the average direct cost to U.S. employers of unscheduled absences is 8.7 percent of payroll.62 And in Sweden, an average of 10 percent of the country’s workforce is on sick leave at any given time.63

It’s obviously difficult for an organization to operate smoothly and attain its objectives if employees fail to report to their jobs. The workflow is disrupted, and important decisions may be delayed. In organizations that rely heavily on assembly-line production, absenteeism can be considerably more than a disruption; it can drastically reduce the quality of output or even shut down the facility. Levels of absenteeism beyond the normal range have a direct impact on any organization’s effectiveness and efficiency. A high rate of turnover can also disrupt the efficient running of an organization when knowledgeable and

withdrawal behavior The set of actions employees take to separate themselves from the organization.

These employees of W. L. Gore & Associates engage in good citizenship behavior, one of the primary individual- level outcomes in organizational behavior. Working in teams, these employees perform beyond expecta- tions in helping each other, recognizing their peers, and doing more than their usual job responsibilities. Source: W. L. Gore/PR Newswire/AP Images

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 61

experienced personnel leave and replacements must be found to assume posi- tions of responsibility. Research indicates that, in general, turnover is signifi- cantly harmful for organizational performance.64

All organizations have some turnover, of course. Turnover rates vary greatly by country and in part reflect the economy of that country. The U.S. national turnover rate in 2014 averaged about 40 percent; often the average is around 3 percent per month.65 Is this good or bad? To answer that question, we need to know why there is turnover. Turnover includes voluntary terminations by the employee (quitting); involuntary terminations by the employer without cause (layoffs and discharges); and other separations, including involuntary terminations with cause (firing). The yearly average for quitting in 2014 was about 20 percent, layoffs and discharges averaged about 14 percent, and other separations averaged about 4 percent for the year. Therefore, about half the

Career OBjectives What do I say about my termination?

I got fired! When prospective employ- ers find out, they’ll never hire me. Is there anything I can say to turn this around?

— Matt Dear Matt: Under this dark cloud, there are some silver linings: (1) Firing, or involuntary termination, happens to just about everyone at least once in a career, and (2) there is a worldwide job shortage of skilled workers. You might be amazed to know that, historically, individu- als from age 18 to 44 have changed jobs an average of 11 times over their early careers. In fact, you can probably expect to stay in a job for less than three years, which means you’ll have a lot of jobs in your lifetime.

Therefore, you shouldn’t feel hope- less; you are likely to find your next job soon. ManpowerGroup’s recent survey of over 37,000 employers in 42 coun- tries found that 36 percent of orga- nizations have talent shortages, the highest percentage in 7 years.

Still, we know you are worried about how to present the facts of your involuntary termination to prospec- tive employers. If you give a truth- ful, brief account of the reason for your termination, you can position

yourself well. Here are some addi- tional suggestions:

• Remember your soft skills count; in fact, they top the lists of employer requirements for all industries. According to Chuck Knebl, a com- munications manager for the job placement company WorkOne, use your résumé and cover letter, inter- views, and thank-you notes to show- case your communication skills. Employers report they are also look- ing for a teamwork attitude, posi- tivity, personal responsibility, and punctuality, so use every opportu- nity to demonstrate these traits.

• Although your soft skills count, don’t forget your technical skills; employ- ers agree they are equally impor- tant. Knebl advises you to use your résumé to list your technical abilities and be prepared to elaborate upon request. Need some more skills? Job training has been shown to be helpful and can sometimes be free through colleges and unemployment offices.

• Emphasize your ongoing training and education, especially as they relate to new technology; top performers are known to be continuous learners. Also, if you’ve kept up with recent

trends in social media, show it, but don’t go on about your friend’s tweet to Rihanna. Best wishes for your success!

Sources: Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor, Employ- ment Projections, http://www.bls.gov/ emp/ep_chart_001.htm; G. Jones, “How the Best Get Better and Better,” Harvard Business Review (June 2008): 123–27; ManpowerGroup, “The Talent Shortage Continues/2014,” http://www.manpower group.com/wps/wcm/connect/0b882c15- 38bf-41f3-8882-44c33d 0e2952/2014_ Ta l e n t _ S h o r t a g e _ W P _ U S 2 . p d f ? M O D = AJPERES; J. Meister, “Job Hopping Is the ‘New Normal’ for Millennials: Three Ways to Prevent a Human Resource Nightmare,” Forbes (August 14, 2012), http://www .forbes.com/sites/jeannemeister/2012/ 08/14/job-hopping-is-the-new-normal-for- millennials-three-ways-to-prevent-a-human- resource-nightmare/; and N. Schulz, “Hard Unemployment Truths about ‘Soft’ Skills,” The Wall Street Journal, September 19, 2012, A15.

The opinions provided here are of the manag- ers and authors only and do not necessar- ily reflect those of their organizations. The authors or managers are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. In no event will the authors or managers, or their related partnerships or corporations thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions provided here.

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62 PART 1 Introduction

turnover was due to employees quitting their jobs; about 35 percent was due to layoffs and discharges; and the remainder was for other reasons, including firings.

While high turnover often impairs an organization’s ability to achieve its goals, quitting is not all bad. In fact, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen has discussed the positive aspect of turnover for the economy: People quit because they are optimistic about their outside prospects.66 If the “right” people are leaving—the poorer performers—quits can actually be positive for an organization. They can create opportunities to replace underperforming individuals with others who have higher skills or motivation, open up increased opportunities for promotions, and bring new and fresh ideas to the organiza- tion. In today’s changing world of work, reasonable levels of employee-initiated turnover improve organizational flexibility and employee independence, and they can lessen the need for management-initiated layoffs. While it is reason- able to conclude that high turnover often indicates high employee withdrawal (and thus has a negative effect on organizational performance), zero turnover is not necessarily the goal. It’s also important for organizations to assess which employees are leaving, and why.

So why do employees withdraw from work through counterproductive behaviors or quitting? As we will show later in the text, reasons include negative job attitudes, emotions, moods, and negative interactions with coworkers and supervisors.

Group Cohesion Although many outcomes in our model can be conceptual- ized as individual-level phenomena, some relate to the way groups operate. Group cohesion is the extent to which members of a group support and vali- date one another at work. In other words, a cohesive group is one that sticks together. When employees trust one another, seek common goals, and work together to achieve these common ends, the group is cohesive; when employ- ees are divided among themselves in terms of what they want to achieve and have little loyalty to one another, the group is not cohesive.

There is ample evidence showing that cohesive groups are more effective.67 These results are found both for groups studied in highly controlled laboratory settings and for work teams observed in field settings. This fits with our intuitive sense that people tend to work harder in groups that have a common purpose. Companies attempt to increase cohesion in a variety of ways, ranging from brief icebreaker sessions to social events like picnics, parties, and outdoor adventure- team retreats. Throughout the text, we assess whether these specific efforts are likely to result in increases in group cohesiveness. We’ll also consider ways that picking the right people to be on the team in the first place might be an effec- tive way to enhance cohesion.

Group Functioning In the same way that positive job attitudes can be associated with higher levels of task performance, group cohesion should lead to positive group functioning. Group functioning refers to the quantity and quality of a group’s work output. Similar to how the performance of a sports team is more than the sum of individual players’ performance, group functioning in work organizations is more than the sum of individual task performances.

What does it mean to say that a group is functioning effectively? In some organizations, an effective group is one that stays focused on a core task and achieves its ends as specified. Other organizations look for teams that are able to work together collaboratively to provide excellent customer service. Still oth- ers put more of a premium on group creativity and the flexibility to adapt to changing situations. In each case, different types of activities will be required to get the most from the team.

group cohesion The extent to which members of a group support and validate one another while at work.

group functioning The quantity and quality of a group’s work output.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 63

Productivity The highest level of analysis in OB is the organization as a whole. An organization is productive if it achieves its goals by transforming inputs into outputs at the lowest cost. Thus, productivity requires both effectiveness and efficiency.

A hospital is effective when it meets the needs of its clientele successfully. It is efficient when it can do so at a low cost. If a hospital manages to achieve higher output from its present staff by reducing the average number of days a patient is confined to a bed or increasing the number of staff–patient contacts per day, we say the hospital has gained productive efficiency. A business firm is effective when it attains its sales or market share goals, but its productivity also depends on achiev- ing those goals efficiently. Popular measures of organizational efficiency include return on investment, profit per dollar of sales, and output per hour of labor.

Service organizations must include customer needs and requirements in assessing their effectiveness. Why? Because a clear chain of cause and effect runs from employee attitudes and behavior to customer attitudes and profit- ability. For example, a recent study of six hotels in China indicated that nega- tive employee attitudes decreased customer satisfaction and ultimately harmed the organization’s profitability.68

Survival The final outcome we will consider is organizational survival, which is simply evidence that the organization is able to exist and grow over the long term. The survival of an organization depends not just on how productive the organization is but also on how well it fits with its environment. A company that is very productive in making goods and services of little value to the market is unlikely to survive for long, so survival also relies on perceiving the market suc- cessfully, making good decisions about how and when to pursue opportunities, and successfully managing change to adapt to new business conditions.

Having reviewed the input, process, and outcome model, we’re going to change the figure up a little bit by grouping topics together based on whether we study them at the individual, group, or organizational level. As you can see in Exhibit 1-6, we deal with inputs, processes, and outcomes at all three levels

productivity The combination of the effec- tiveness and efficiency of an organization.

effectiveness The degree to which an organization meets the needs of its clientele or customers.

efficiency The degree to which an organiza- tion can achieve its ends at a low cost.

organizational survival The degree to which an organization is able to exist and grow over the long term.

The Plan of the TextExhibit 1-6

The Group

Inputs • Group structure (Ch. 9 & 10) • Group roles (Ch. 9 & 10) • Team responsibilities (Ch. 9 & 10)

Processes • Communication (Ch. 11) • Leadership (Ch. 12) • Power and politics (Ch. 13) • Conflict and negotiation (Ch. 14)

Outcomes • Group cohesion (Ch. 9 & 10) • Group functioning (Ch. 9 & 10)

The Organization

Inputs • Structure (Ch. 15) • Culture (Ch. 16)

Processes • Human resource management (Ch. 17) • Change practices (Ch. 18)

Outcomes • Productivity (all) • Survival (all)

The Individual

Inputs • Diversity in organizations (Ch. 2) • Personality and values (Ch. 5)

Processes • Emotions and moods (Ch. 4) • Motivation (Ch. 7 and 8) • Perception and decision making (Ch. 6)

Outcomes • Attitudes (Ch. 3) and stress (Ch. 18) • Task performance (all) • Citizenship behavior (all) • Withdrawal behavior (all)

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64 PART 1 Introduction

of analysis, but we group the chapters as shown here to correspond with the typical ways research has been done in these areas. For example, it is easier to understand one unified presentation about how personality leads to moti- vation, which leads to performance, than to jump around levels of analysis. Each level builds on the one that precedes it, so after going through them in sequence, you will have a good idea of how the human side of organizations functions.

Employability Skills Challenges relevant to OB can be found in just about every function of busi- ness, from finance and accounting to management and marketing. Without a doubt, at some point in your career, you will come across an issue that hinges to a large degree on the behavior of people in organizations. A review of the great challenges that most businesses face reveals that OB is an essential piece of the puzzle in solving many problems that involve managing integrity/social respon- sibility, resource management, competition among businesses, bolstering cus- tomer and employee loyalty, reducing uncertainty, complying with government regulation, managing risks, and finding the right staff—all while growing rev- enue and increasing profit.69

But OB is not relevant to business majors only; it is important for all students, no matter what their majors are. At first glance, for example, it might not seem as if a university student with a microbiology degree would have any need to take an OB class. But what happens after that student graduates? Wouldn’t knowledge of OB principles and concepts help him or her apply to and be successful at a job as a biology technician with Battelle? What about a graduate with a nursing degree working at the Mayo Clinic? A computer science graduate who is about to begin work with Cisco? OB prin- ciples matter for students of all majors and can help increase employability as well as interpersonal skills in the workplace. These skills can even help you to become successful in your classes as you interact with other students and your professors! Clearly, the knowledge of OB concepts such as stress management, change, attitudes, emotions, and motivation, among others, can help you navigate your interactions with your classmates as you con- tinue to learn.

People, along with their behaviors, differences, attitudes, emotions, moods, personalities, values, intentions, thoughts, and motivations, are inex- tricably linked to life in the workplace. As Benjamin Schneider notes, “The people make the place.”70 These employees interact and communicate with one another within and across work groups, departments, teams, and orga- nizations to help accomplish the organization’s goals. Leaders within these organizations (along with the employees themselves) seek to effect change, establish an organizational culture, and set policies and procedures: pro- cesses that inevitably involve leadership, politicking, conflict, and negotiation. Given the pervasiveness of OB in organizational life, entry-level employees and working professionals would therefore benefit from having solid foun- dational skills in OB, such as communication, collaboration, critical think- ing, problem solving, social responsibility, and knowledge application and analysis.

In this section, we explore the career employability skills that a course in OB can help expand for those who select any major—from English, to engineering, to political science.

1-8 Describe the key employabil-ity skills gained from study- ing OB that are applicable to other majors or future careers.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 65

Employability Skills That Apply across Majors Throughout this text, you’ll learn and practice many skills that hiring managers identify as important to success in a variety of business settings, including small and large firms, nonprofit organizations, and public service. These skills will also be useful if you plan to start your own business, for example:

• Critical thinking involves purposeful and goal-directed thinking used to define and solve problems and to make decisions or form judgments related to a particular situation or set of circumstances. It involves cogni- tive, metacognitive, and dispositional components that may be applied differently in specific contexts.

• Communication is defined as effective use of oral, written, and nonverbal communication skills for multiple purposes (e.g., to inform, instruct, motivate, persuade, and share ideas); effective listening; using technol- ogy to communicate; and being able to evaluate the effectiveness of com- munication efforts—all within diverse contexts.

• Collaboration is a skill in which individuals can actively work together on a task, constructing meaning and knowledge as a group through dialogue and negotiation that results in a final product reflective of their joint, interdependent actions.

• Knowledge application and analysis is defined as the ability to learn a con- cept and then apply that knowledge appropriately in another setting to achieve a higher level of understanding.

• Social responsibility includes skills related to both business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Business ethics includes sets of guiding principles that influence the way individuals and organizations behave within the society that they operate. Corporate social responsibility is a form of ethical behavior that requires that organizations understand, identify, and eliminate unethical economic, environmental, and social behaviors.

Each of the chapters in the text start with what we refer to as the employ- ability skills matrix (ESM). As you can see on the next page, this matrix links the five employability skills that were just defined with special features in each chapter, including Myth or Science?, Career OBjectives, An Ethical Choice, Point/Counterpoint, Experiential Exercise, Ethical Dilemma, and Case Inci- dent. Within these sections, you will be primed to think critically and apply your knowledge to consider special cases and concepts. You will also learn how to improve your collaboration and communication skills by learning what you might do or say in these given situations to navigate the work world positively and effectively. You will be confronted with ethical dilemmas in which you will consider the ethics of particular behaviors in the workplace. We recommend that you review and consider the ESM in advance of reading the chapter so that you have a better idea of the skills you will be developing from each section. All five of these skills are critical to success in careers that are relevant to OB and other majors alike. In the chapters to come, you will engage in a variety of activities and become exposed to several cases in which you will be developing these skills.

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66 PART 1 Introduction

Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

Summary Managers need to develop their interpersonal, or people, skills to be effective in their jobs. Organizational behavior (OB) investigates the impact that indi- viduals, groups, and structure have on behavior within an organization, and it applies that knowledge to make organizations work more effectively.

Implications for Managers ●● Resist the inclination to rely on generalizations; some provide valid

insights into human behavior, but many are erroneous. Get to know the person, and understand the context.

●● Use metrics rather than hunches to explain cause-and-effect relationships. ●● Work on your interpersonal skills to increase your leadership potential. ●● Improve your technical skills and conceptual skills through training and

staying current with OB trends like big data and fast data. ●● OB can improve your employees’ work quality and productivity by show-

ing you how to empower your employees, design and implement change programs, improve customer service, and help your employees balance work–life conflicts.

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 67

The Battle of the Texts POINT

W alk into your nearest major bookstore and you’ll see shelves of management books whose titles tell us the topics we apparently need to know about:

●● The Secret (Blanchard & Miller, 2014) ●● Turn the Ship Around! (Marquet, 2013) ●● The Way You Do Anything Is the Way You Do Everything

(Evans, 2014) ●● Leadership Safari (Iannucci, 2014) ●● Business Is a Baby (Noh, 2014) ●● Think Like a Freak (Dubner & Levitt, 2014) ●● Spiraling Upward (Wallbridge, 2015) ●● Refire! Don’t Retire (Blanchard & Shaevitz, 2015) ●● Top Dog (Bronson & Merryman, 2015)

Popular books on organizational behavior often have cute titles and are fun to read, but they make the job of managing people seem like it’s just a matter of having a good slogan and five easy steps. If you dig into the texts, you’ll find that most are based on the author’s opinions rather than substantive research. Most become popular in part because people largely agree with the opinions they are read- ing and enjoy the author’s writing style. Often, the writers are presen- tation speakers or consultants whose real business is in delivering ideas to you. When the author is a veteran from the business world, it is doubtful that one person’s experience translates into an effec- tive management practice for everyone. Even when the authors are numbers-oriented, as are the Think Like a Freak authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, their conclusions for management are not man- agement research based. So why do we base our own management philosophies on these books when, with a little effort, we can access knowledge produced by thousands of scientific studies on human behavior in organizations?

Organizational behavior is a complex subject. Few if any simple statements about human behavior are generalizable to all people in all situations. Would you try to apply leadership insights you got from a book about Star Wars or Breaking Bad to managing software engi- neers in the twenty-first century? Surely not. Neither should we try to apply leadership insights that aren’t based on research about the type of workplaces in which we function.

COUNTERPOINT

P eople want to know about management—the good, the bad, and the ugly. People who have experience or high interest write about the topics that interest readers, and publishers put

out the best of these texts. When books become popular, we know people are learning from them and finding good results by applying the author’s management ideas. Texts like these can provide people with the secrets to management that others have worked out through experience. Isn’t it better to learn about management from people in the trenches instead of the latest obscure references from academia? Many of the most important insights we gain in life aren’t necessarily the product of careful empirical research studies.

Unhelpful management guides sometimes do get published, and once in a while they become popular. But do they outnumber the esoteric research studies published in scholarly journal articles every year? Far from it; sometimes it seems that for every popular busi- ness text, there are thousands of scholarly journal articles. Many of these articles can hardly be read by individuals in the workplace— they are buried in academic libraries, riddled with strange acronyms and insider terms, and light on practical application. Often they apply to specific management scenarios, so they are even less generaliz- able. For example, a few recent management and OB studies were published in 2015 with the following titles:

●● “Transferring Management Practices to China: A Bourdieusian Critique of Ethnocentricity” (Siebers, Kamoche, & Li, 2015)

●● “Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Clan Control in Korean Multi- national Companies: A Conceptual Investigation of Employ- ees’ Fairness Monitoring Based on Cultural Values” (Yang, 2015)

●● “The Resistible Rise of Bayesian Thinking in Management: Historical Lessons from Decision Analysis” (Cabantous & Gond, 2015)

●● “A Model of Rhetorical Legitimation: The Structure of Com- munication and Cognition Underlying Institutional Mainte- nance and Change” (Harmon, Green, & Goodnight, 2016)

We don’t mean to poke fun at these studies, but our point is that all ways of creating knowledge can be criticized. If business books are sometimes light reading, academic articles can be esoteric and even less relevant. Popular books can add to our understanding of how people work and how to manage them best. We shouldn’t assume they are not of value. And while there is no one right way to learn the science and art of managing people in organizations, the most enlightened managers gather insights from multiple sources: their own experience; research findings; observations of others; and, yes, the popular business press. Authors and academics have an impor- tant role to play, and it isn’t fair to condemn business books with catchy titles.

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68 PART 1 Introduction

CHAPTER REVIEW

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

1-1 What is the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace?

1-2 What is the definition of organizational behavior (OB)?

1-3 How does systematic study contribute to our understanding of OB?

1-4 What are the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB?

1-5 Why are there so few absolutes in OB? 1-6 What are the challenges and opportunities for managers in using OB concepts?

1-7 What are the three levels of analysis in our OB model?

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE I’m a Team Leader; I Don’t Need Any Help. Students will create teams of approximately four or five members and consider the following scenario. One of the team members is the CEO of a startup that creates robots for technology-assisted surgery, and the others are members of the board of directors. One of your teams, headed by Mark, a team leader with a PhD in robotics from a prestigious university, is experiencing problems in the development of a new robot prototype for heart sur- gery. The board decided to participate in some of their meetings to understand more.

Here the notes that you wrote down in one of their meetings:

• The meeting starts with Mark communicating general infor- mation about the company’s current projects. He then reviews the team’s progress and members start to discuss a major prob- lem they are facing that is preventing the robot from working as required.

• Caroline and Nicolas say that they have reviewed all the steps of robot development to understand where the problem was but were not able to discover anything unusual.

• Lara and Matthaeus describe the different attempts they have been making in the previous weeks, which resulted in no sig- nificant improvements in the robot functioning.

• All of them propose to Mark that he consult with technical specialists outside the team and ask for help. Mark disagrees; he has some notion of how to fix the problem.

• The team members say that an external eye on the project would still be helpful. Mark seems to not hear their requests and quickly terminates the meeting, promising to have a solution in ten days on his own.

Your team should discuss what recommendations you can offer Mark based on your notes. The following ques- tions can serve as the basis for class discussion.

Questions 1-8. What do you think explains Mark’s attitude and

why he is reluctant to ask for external help? 1-9. Should the board intervene in managing this situ-

ation? What help can be given to Mark to improve his work attitude?

1-10. Let us suppose that the board decides to introduce to the team headed by Mark another team member who has experienced similar problems in the past. How do you think the rest of the team and Mark will react to this change? What can be done to favor a smooth integration of this new component of the team?

MyLab Management Discussion Questions Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon .

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ETHICAL DILEMMA There’s a Drone in Your Soup It is 2020, and drones are everywhere. Alibaba quadcop- ters have been delivering special ginger tea to customers in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou for years; Amazon’s octocopters finally deliver packages in most major cit- ies within 30 minutes without knocking down pedestri- ans; and college students everywhere welcome late-night nachos from Taco Bell Tacocopters. Indoor drones are still in the pioneering phase—backyard enthusiasts are building tiny versions, but no large-scale commercial efforts have been made to address indoor utility drones. That’s all about to change.

You work for a multinational technology corporation on a sprawling, 25-acre headquarters campus, with offices in 2 million square feet of interior space in one large build- ing and four additional smaller (but still large) buildings. The official Head of Interior Spaces is your boss; you’re the leader of the Consideration of New Things team. In a meeting with your team, your boss says, “I’ve just heard from my friend at Right To Drones Too (R2D2) that his group has perfected their inside drone. It’s small and light but can carry up to 10 pounds. It includes a camera, a speaker, and a recorder.”

Your team expresses surprise; no one even knew an inside utility drone was under development, and govern- ments worldwide are still haggling over regulations for drones. Your boss goes on enthusiastically, “I’ve seen the little drones, and I think you’ll be impressed—not only can they scoot across the quad, but they can fetch things off tables, grab me a latté, attend meetings for me, check over your shoulders to see what you’re working on . . . anything!

They’re really accurate, agile, and super quiet, so you’ll barely even know they’re around. My friend wants us to have the first 100 drones here for free, and he’s willing to send them over tomorrow. I figure we can hand them out randomly, although of course we’ll each have one.”

Your boss sits back, smiling and expecting applause. You glance at your team members and are relieved to see doubt and hesitation on their faces.

“Sounds, uh, great,” you reply. “But how about the team takes the afternoon to set the ground rules?”

Questions 1-11. How might the R2D2 drones influence employee

behavior? Do you think they will cause people to act more or less ethically? Why?

1-12. Who should get the drones initially? How can you justify your decision ethically? What restrictions for use should these people be given, and how do you think employees, both those who get drones and those who don’t, will react to this change?

1-13. How will your organization deal with sabotage or misuse of the drones? The value of an R2D2 drone is $2,500.

1-14. Many organizations already use electronic monitor- ing of employees, including sifting through website visits and e-mail correspondence, often without the employees’ direct knowledge. In what ways might drone monitoring be better or worse for employees than covert electronic monitoring of Web or e-mail activity?

CASE INCIDENT 1 L’Oréal around the Globe With more than 88,000 employees and a massive pres- ence spread across 150 countries on five continents of the globe, L’Oréal is the world’s largest beauty company. The company has had a successful global expansion strategy since its inception, growing from a local pro- ducer of a hair dye for French hairdressers in 1909 to a global giant today. Around the globe, the company has a mix of different operations, ranging from corporate offices, to manufacturing sites, to distribution centers, to retail stores. In line with its expansion strategy, the company has acquired numerous popular beauty com- panies and brands over the years, including European, American, and Asian brands. According to L’Oréal, this aspect of its expansion strategy is especially important for bolstering its brand portfolio and ensuring future organic growth.

However, global expansion has its own challenges, among which is successfully managing employees across cultures and regions, all separated by different norms,

languages, and traditions. There are many examples of companies that have failed in foreign markets due to their inability to manage the cultural differences among their global units and establish effective communica- tion between its international subsidiaries. According to Geert Hofstede, a Dutch social psychologist known for his pioneering research on cross-cultural groups (see Chapter 4), there are cultural differences between dif- ferent countries and regions, especially between West- ern and Eastern cultures. Similarly, Jeanne M. Brett, a professor at the Kellogg School of Management, notes that communication styles vary from one culture to another, which can increase the possibilities of con- flict and misunderstanding between employees from different cultures. In fact, a recent study by L’Oréal in the United Kingdom found that cultural differences across international markets are the biggest reason why employers are unable to provide ample foreign assign- ments to their employees.

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70 PART 1 Introduction

Global companies need to create effective strate- gies that can increase harmony and unity among their workers across the globe. They can build cultural sensi- tivity—being aware and sensitive to the cultural differ- ences between different groups of people—by ensuring that employees learn about each other’s norms and cultures. L’Oréal has invested heavily in workforce ini- tiatives that aim to build stronger connections between its people around the globe. L’Oréal tries to base itself on “global careers” by promoting and encouraging its staff to rotate among the company’s locations around the world. The result is stronger collaboration and part- nerships between different international workgroups that contributes to organizational effectiveness in global settings. At its foundation is a strong dedication to employee diversity, underpinned by L’Oréal’s long

history of building diverse, multicultural teams, rais- ing cultural awareness, and improving unity between its people, something that its competitors have found much more challenging.

Questions 1-15. What are the challenges for L’Oréal as it expands

to international locations? Name some challenges not listed in the case.

1-16. What do you think of the L’Oréal’ study men- tioned in the case? What did you find most inter- esting in the study? Should L’Oréal continue to conduct such studies?

1-17. What is your opinion on using international careers to overcome cultural challenges. What alternative means can you think of?

Sources: Hofstede Insights, “Country Comparison,” www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/, accessed June 2, 2020; H. Hae-Jung and Y. Doz, “L’Oréal Masters Multiculturalism,” Harvard Business Review, 91 ( June 2013): 114–19; R. Knight, “How to Run a Meeting of People from Different Cul- tures,”  Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (2015): 2–7; L’Oréal Group, “Promoting Diversity & Inclusion,” www.loreal.com/group/diversity-and-inclusion, accessed April 8, 2020; L’Oréal UK and Ireland, “Freedom to Go Beyond, That’s the Beauty of L’Oréal,” www.loreal.co.uk/sites/default/ files/cms/loreal_uk_global_careers_report.pdf, accessed April 8, 2020.

CASE INCIDENT 2 So, How Engaged Are Employees? The Data Says It All Given the prime role it plays in organizational success, employee engagement has of late been the focus of many research studies and reports. An engaged worker is one who feels passionate and enthusiastic about their job and their workplace. Studies show that engagement can have a significant impact on organizational outcomes. For exam- ple, research conducted across the retail giant Marks & Spencer over a four-year period showed that an improved employee engagement led to an increase of £62 million in sales every year compared to stores with low employee engagement. A similar study at Sainsbury’s, one of the big- gest grocery stores in the United Kingdom, demonstrated that employee engagement led to a 15 percent increase in a store’s year-on-year growth.

However, despite its obvious importance, employee engagement is still a challenge in many companies around the world. A global study by Qualtrics in 2020 showed that employee engagement scores are below the employee engagement average of 53 percent in many countries. For example, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, and Japan scored 50 percent, 47 percent, 41 percent, 40 percent, and 35 percent respectively on employee engagement.

Low levels of engagement at work could spell trouble in the long run; employees who are disengaged at work are often demotivated and less productive, all of which can slow down business performance and reduce a company’s

competitiveness in the market. Many experts say that busi- nesses should consider employee engagement as a top priority and develop strategies to foster it in the work- place. However, this outcome is heavily dependent on understanding and measuring the drivers of employee engagement at work, which leads us to a vital issue—data collection. To this end, businesses need to employ the right data measurement tools for assessing and managing employee engagement levels at work.

Employee and engagement surveys are a prime exam- ple of data measurement tools. Focusing on the assessment of employee attitudes about various aspects of the business environment, these surveys can take the form of advanced online surveys, which are administered frequently to employees and promise to offer frequent, real-time data, or they can be the more traditional yearly surveys, which run the risk of slowing down the management’s response time in improving engagement at work. A recent article by Eric O’Rourke, Scott Judd, and Adam Grant in the Har- vard Business Review lists a number of benefits of employee surveys, foremost among them being that they are excel- lent predictors of employee behavior with a high degree of accuracy. Based on what surveys say about how their employees may act in the future, companies can use this information to make better decisions at work.

Despite the strategic importance of data collection, studies show that many companies have yet to leverage

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What Is Organizational Behavior? CHAPTER 1 71

the power of data in decision making across companies. Employers often fail to act on the data filled by employ- ees in the surveys, and in many cases employees may not be surveyed at all. It has been argued that improving employee engagement requires a fundamental change to a corporate culture that recognizes the value of generat- ing data for making better-informed decisions. It follows that generating data about employee engagement repre- sents one of the best practices for improved performance, and companies who discover the power of employee data too late may find themselves at a disadvantage in the marketplace.

Questions 1-18. In your opinion, how does measuring employee

engagement through a survey provide manag- ers with insights in improving staff performance? What other types of tools can you use to gather data on employee engagement?

1-19. In which instances would collecting data about employees lead to infringement of employee privacy?

1-20. The case mentions that many companies do not do any type of assessment of their employees’ attitudes at work. What are the dangers of failing to gather such feedback?

Sources: Richard Barrett, The Values-Driven Organization: Cultural Health and Employee Well-Being as a Pathway to Sustainable Performance (UK: Routledge, 2017); T. Davenport and N. Mittal, “How CEOs Can Lead a Data-Driven Culture,” Harvard Business Review (March 23, 2020), hbr.org/2020/03/how- ceos-can-lead-a-data-driven-culture, accessed April 10, 2020; Scott Judd, Eric O’Rourke, and Adam Grant, “Employee Surveys Are Still One of the Best Ways to Measure Engagement,” Harvard Business Review (March 14, 2018), hbr.org/2018/03/employee-surveys-are-still-one-of-the-best-ways-to-measure- engagement, accessed April 10, 2020; H. Ismail, A. Iqbal, and L. Nasr, “Employee Engagement and Job Performance in Lebanon: The Mediating Role of Creativity,” International Journal of Productivity and Perfor- mance Management 68(3)(2019): 506–23; Qualtrics, “2020 Employee Experience Trends,” Singapore, www. qualtrics.com/m/assets/au/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/FINAL_SG_EX_Trends_Report_Ebook.pdf, accessed October 7, 2020.

ENDNOTES 1 “Survey: Few CFOs Plan to Invest in Interper- sonal Skills Development for Their Teams,” Accountemps press release, June 19, 2013, http://accountemps.rhi.mediaroom .com/2013-06-19-Survey-Few-CFOs-Plan-to- Invest-in-Interpersonal-Skills-Development- for-Their-Teams. 2 J. Kauflin, “The Best Places to Work in 2017,” Forbes, December 7, 2016, http://www.forbes .com/sites/jeffkauflin/2016/12/07/the-best- places-to-work-in-2017/#4a3abb3673e3. 3 I. S. Fulmer, B. Gerhart, and K. S. Scott, “Are the 100 Best Better? An Empirical Investiga- tion of the Relationship between Being a ‘Great Place to Work’ and Firm Performance,” Personnel Psychology 56, no. 4 (2003): 965–93. 4 S. E. Humphrey, J. D. Nahrgang, and F. P. Morgeson, “Integrating Motivational, Social, and Contextual Work Design Features: A Meta- Analytic Summary and Theoretical Extension of the Work Design Literature,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 5 (2007): 1332–56. 5 A. E. Colbert, J. E. Bono, and R. K. Purva- nova, “Flourishing via Workplace Relation- ships: Moving beyond Instrumental Support,” Academy of Management Journal 59, no. 4 (2016): 1199–223. 6 T. L. Miller, C. L. Wesley II, and D. E. Williams, “Educating the Minds of Caring Hearts: Comparing the Views of Practitioners and Educators on the Importance of Social Entre- preneurship Competencies,” Academy of Man- agement Learning & Education 2, no. 3 (2012): 349–70.

7 H. Aguinis and A. Glavas, “What We Don’t Know about Corporate Social Responsibility: A Review and Research Agenda,” Journal of Management 38, no. 4 (2012): 932–68. 8 D. Meinert, “Background on Bosses,” HR Magazine, August 2014, 29. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid. 11 A. I. Kraut, P. R. Pedigo, D. D. McKenna, and M. D. Dunnette, “The Role of the Manager: What’s Really Important in Differ- ent Management Jobs,” Academy of Management Executive 19, no. 4 (2005): 122–29. 12 C. Matheson, “Understanding the Policy Process: The Work of Henry Mintzberg,” Public Administration Review 69, no. 6 (2009): 1148–61; S. Segal, “A Heideggerian Perspective on the Relationship between Mintzberg’s Distinc- tion between Engaged and Disconnected Management: The Role of Uncertainty in Man- agement,” Journal of Business Ethics 103, no. 3 (2011): 469–83; H. Mintzberg, “Productivity Is Killing American Enterprise,” Harvard Business Review ( July–August 2007): 25; and H. Mintz- berg, “Rebuilding Companies as Communities,” Harvard Business Review ( July–August 2009): 140–43. 13 Ibid. 14 D. Bartram, “The Great Eight Competencies: A Criterion-Centric Approach to Validation,” Journal of Applied Psychology 90, no. 6 (2005): 1185–203; and S. E. Scullen, M. K. Mount, and T. A. Judge, “Evidence of the Con- struct Validity of Developmental Ratings of

Managerial Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 88, no. 1 (2003): 50–66. 15 For the original study, see F. Luthans, “Suc- cessful vs. Effective Real Managers,” Academy of Management Executive 2, no. 2 (1988): 127–32. A great deal of research by Fred Luthans and others has used this study as a basis. See, for example, F. Shipper and J. Davy, “A Model and Investigation of Managerial Skills, Employees’ Attitudes, and Managerial Perfor- mance,” Leadership Quarterly 13, no. 2 (2002): 95–120. 16 P. Wu, M. Foo, and D. B. Turban, “The Role of Personality in Relationship Closeness, Developer Assistance, and Career Success,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 73, no. 3 (2008): 440–48; and A. M. Konrad, R. Kashlak, I. Yoshioka, R. Waryszak, and N. Toren, “What Do Managers Like to Do? A Five-Country Study,” Group & Organization Management 26, no. 4 (2001): 401–33. 17 L. Dragoni, H. Park, J. Soltis, and S. Forte- Trammell, “Show and Tell: How Supervisors Facilitate Leader Development among Transi- tioning Leaders,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 1 (2014): 66–86. 18 For a review of what one researcher believes should be included in organizational behavior based on survey data, see J. B. Miner, “The Rated Importance, Scientific Validity, and Practical Usefulness of Organizational Behav- ior Theories: A Quantitative Review,” Academy of Management Learning & Education 2, no. 3 (2003): 250–68.

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Diversity in Organizations2

2-1 Describe the two major forms of workplace diversity.

2-2 Demonstrate how workplace discrimi- nation undermines organizational effectiveness.

2-3 Describe how the key biographical characteristics are relevant to Organizational Behavior (OB).

2-4 Explain how other differentiating characteristics factor into OB.

2-5 Demonstrate the relevance of intellectual and physical abilities to OB.

2-6 Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.

LEARNING OBJECTIV ES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

S o u rc

e : D

e si

gn P

ic s/

A la

m y

S to

ck P

h o to

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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2 75

A LACK OF DIVERSIT Y IN THE TECH INDUSTRY

The tech industry has been notorious for failing on the diversity and inclusion front. Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft may be the big- gest technology companies across the world, yet the diversity reports they

have posted for the past five years consistently present the same picture,

an industry dominated by white and Asian men.

There has been some progress since 2014. Facebook, for instance, says

the percentage of its female employees globally has increased from 15

to 23 percent. However, ethnic diversity remains low. Over the same time

period, the proportion of U.S. technical employees at Google and Microsoft

who are African American or Latinx (of Latin American descent) rose by only

about 1 percent. The share of African American technical workers at Apple

is 6 percent, less than half the 13 percent proportion of African Americans

in the U.S. population. Ageism also continues to be a challenge; when tech

workers hit 45, their job offers drop and salaries start to fall.

In the United Kingdom too, data on diversity in the tech industry is

disappointing, lagging far behind the Financial Times Stock Exchange

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

This matrix identifies which features and end-of-chapter material will help you develop specific skills employers are looking for in job candidates.

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

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76 PART 2 The Individual

100 Index (FTSE 100). About 8.5 percent of senior executives in tech-

nology are from a minority background, while women make up just 12.6

percent of board members in the sector, compared with the 30 percent

female representation achieved by FTSE 100 businesses. The picture is

similar across Europe. According to the 2019 State of European Tech

Report, there was a record investment of about €30 billion in the indus-

try across the continent, yet 92 percent of the investment went to all-

male founding teams, and funding to all-female teams actually dropped.

Of the hundreds of founders that responded to the survey, 84 percent

self-identify as white, and just 0.9 percent are of African descent. And

82 percent of founders are university educated, as compared to the 35

percent of people across Europe.

The status quo is particularly troubling because of how technology now

affects every sector, from transport, to finance, to government, to health-

care. If only today’s tech-literate workers can access these growing employ-

ment opportunities, swaths of the general population will be left behind. The

products and services they make will be skewed too. The lack of inclusion

affects the design of the goods and services that the industry creates. For

instance, voice recognition initially did not respond to women because the

designers who tested the products were male. Facial recognition is notori-

ously poor at recognizing darker and female faces, again partly because of

biased training data. A more diverse workforce will lead to better products

that can address a wider range of customers, who may include people from

different ethnic and socio economic backgrounds as well as the elderly and

the disabled.

Sources: M. Murgia, “How to Increase Diversity in the Tech Sector,” Financial Times, Novem- ber 13, 2019; and C. Warner, “Why Is European Tech Still Failing on Diversity and Inclu- sion,” Forbes, November 25, 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/checkwarner/2019/11/25/ why-is-european-tech-still-failing-on-diversity-and-inclusion/?sh=681dac4c17cb.

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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2 77

The barriers and hardships facing women such as those in the tech indus-try are substantial, and they are examples of why diversity is so important for organizations. In this chapter, we look at how organizations should work to maximize the potential contributions of a diverse workforce. Because each of us is different from others in myriad ways, we consider diversity in many differ- ent forms. We also show how individual differences in abilities affect employee behavior and effectiveness in organizations.

Diversity We are, each of us, unique. This is obvious enough, but managers some- times forget they need to recognize the individual differences in their employees in order to capitalize on their unique strengths. In this chap- ter, we’ll learn how individual characteristics like age, gender, race, ethnic- ity, and abilities can influence employee performance. We’ll also see how managers can develop awareness about these characteristics and manage their diverse workforces effectively. But first, let’s consider an overview of the changing workforce.

Demographic Characteristics The predominantly white, male managerial workforce of the past has given way  to a gender-balanced, multiethnic workforce. For instance, in 1950, only 29.6 percent of the U.S. workforce was female,1 but by 2016, women comprised 46.8 percent.2 Both in the United States and internationally, women today are much more likely than before to be employed full time, have an advanced edu- cation, and earn wages comparable to those of men (see the OB Poll).3 In addi- tion, the earnings gap between whites and other racial and ethnic groups in

2-1 Describe the two major forms of workplace diversity.

Gender Pay Gap: Narrowing but Still There

Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2015 (Report No. 1604, November 2016): https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/

womens-earnings/2015/pdf/home.pdf.

OB POLL

Women Men

Approximate median weekly pay per occupation

$2,251

$1,603

$1,817

$1,732

$1,495

$1,836

$1,258

$1,563

$1,130

$1,274

$0 $500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 $2,500

Chief executives

Marketing and sales managers

Computer and information systems managers

Financial managers

Human resource managers

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78 PART 2 The Individual

the United States has decreased significantly, partially due to the rising num- ber of minorities in the workforce. Hispanics will increase from 13 percent of the workforce in 2014 to 25.1 percent in 2044, blacks will increase from 12 to 12.7 percent, and Asians from 5 to 7.9 percent.4 Workers over the age of 55 are an increasingly large portion of the workforce as well, both in the United States and globally. In the United States, the 55-and-older age group will increase from 19.5 percent of the labor force in 2010 to 25.2 percent by 2020.5 In some other parts of the world (like Europe), the discussion has shifted to the wage gap between women and men rather than race or other contextual issues. For example, in the United Kingdom, the Office of National Statistics has indicated that the pay gap between women and men could be because of lower female representation at senior levels and the types of jobs that have traditionally been dominated by either gender. It is also argued that a gender pay gap is not the same as an equal pay gap. Different pay for people performing the same job has been illegal in the United Kingdom since 1970. It appears that the gender pay difference demonstrates a demographic pay gap, and the solutions to the two issues seem to be rather different.6

Levels of Diversity Although much has been said about diversity in age, race, gender, ethnicity, reli- gion, and disability status, experts now recognize that these demographic char- acteristics are just the tip of the iceberg.7 These characteristics mostly reflect surface-level diversity, not thoughts and feelings, and can lead employees to make stereotypes and assumptions about others from certain demographic backgrounds. However, evidence has shown that people are less concerned about demographic differences if they see themselves as sharing more impor- tant characteristics, such as personality and values, that represent deep-level diversity.8

Managing diversity involves everyone and benefits everyone. Consider the following example. Philip and Sharon are managers who do not seem to have much in common. Philip is a recently hired young man with a marketing degree from an Eastern European–dominant neighborhood in London. Sharon is an older woman from rural Manchester who started as a secretary after college and worked her way up the hierarchy. At first, these coworkers may notice their surface- level differences in education, ethnicity, regional background, and gen- der. However, as they get to understand one another, they may find they are both deeply committed to their families, share a common way of thinking about work problems, like to work collaboratively, and are interested in international assignments. These deep-level similarities can overshadow the more superfi- cial differences between them, and research suggests they will work together. Additionally, increasing support for equal opportunities and diversity should be viewed as mutually supportive and the combination as important. Diversification with culturally related countries might lead to greater homogeneity of percep- tion, particularly if it concentrates on individuals rather than groups and includes improvement of opportunities for all individuals. In effect, managing diversity involves everyone and benefits everyone as separate groups are not singled out.

Throughout this text, we will encounter differences between deep- and surface-level diversity in various contexts. Diversity is an important concept in OB because individual differences shape preferences for rewards, communi- cation styles, reactions to leaders, negotiation styles, and many other aspects of behavior in organizations. Unfortunately, increased diversity may also mean increases in discriminatory practices, which we will discuss next.

surface-level diversity Differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that may activate certain stereotypes.

deep-level diversity Differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better.

discrimination Noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair dis- crimination, which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their demographic group.

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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2 79

Discrimination Although diversity presents many opportunities for organizations, diversity management includes working to eliminate unfair discrimination. To discrimi- nate is to note a difference between things, which in itself isn’t necessarily bad. Noticing one employee is more qualified is necessary for making hiring deci- sions; noticing another is taking on leadership responsibilities exceptionally well is necessary for making promotion decisions. Usually when we talk about discrimination, though, we mean allowing our behavior to be influenced by stereotypes about groups of people. Stereotyping is judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person belongs. To use a

2-2 Demonstrate how workplacediscrimination undermines organizational effectiveness.

An Ethical Choice Global Diversity: Affirmative Action

A cross the globe, support for affirmative action is aimed at bridging inequalities in sev-

eral facets of life, including bridging inequalities in employment pay, promot- ing diversity, favoring members of a dis- advantaged group who suffer or have suffered from discrimination within a culture—it varies from region to region. In a historic move in the United States, Wal-Mart (a retailing giant) vowed to hire any returning U.S. veteran who applied for work. As a result, the com- pany hired more than 42,000 veterans by mid-2014 with an expectation that the total number will climb to 100,000 by 2018. Other businesses have launched similar initiatives. A coalition of these companies, which originally included 11 members, now consists of 230 companies from several busi- nesses. Sometimes, affirmative action is required to give an unfairly disadvan- taged workforce segment an opportu- nity to succeed, whether it is achieved through percentages or by hiring pro- spective employees from the desired group.

In the United Kingdom, the Equality Act 2010 promotes positive action with respect to employment. As an example,

Section 158 of the Equality Act 2010 builds on existing legislation or positive action and extends it to include other protected statuses, such as age and disability. In Australia, the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986 requires all pri- vate sector employers in Australia with more than 100 employees to report annually on programs they have devel- oped to improve women’s employment opportunities. In South Africa, the Employment Equity Act seeks to elimi- nate unfair discrimination in employ- ment and thereby achieve a diverse workforce where no one feels disadvan- taged. Also in place is the broad-based Black Economic Empowerment, a leg- islative framework to help reverse the legacy of apartheid.

Ordinarily, affirmative action is needed to give an unfairly disadvan- taged workforce segment or group an opportunity to succeed, but success will depend on the sincerity and con- sistency of purpose of governments and business organizations as well as the attitude of the individual or group concerned. However, it is evi- dent that resources are scarce and will continue to be so—there are only

so many jobs to go around. CEOs and HR managers must balance the ethics of affirmative action against the need to strengthen their workforce for the good of their organization and society at large.

Sources: Based on “100,000 Jobs Mission Hires over 200,000 Veterans,” Veteran Jobs Mission press release (February 9, 2015), https://www.veteranjobsmission.com/press- releases/750; D. C. Baldridge and M. L. Swift, “Withholding Requests for Disability Accommodation: The Role of Individual Dif- ferences and Disability Attributes,” Journal of Management (March 2013): 743–62; “Walmart Celebrates More Than 40,000 Hires in First Year of Veterans Commit- ment,” Walmart Foundation press release (May 21, 2014), http://news.walmart .com/news-archive/2014/05/21/walmart- celebrates-more-than-40-000-hires-in-first- year-of-veterans-commitment; B. Yerbak and C. V. Jackson, “Battling to Get More Vets in the Work Force,” Chicago Tribune (October 28, 2012), http://articles.chica- gotribune.com/2012-10-28/business/ct- biz-1028-vets-20121028_1_train-veterans- unemployment-rate-war-zone; “Veterans Unemployment Drops but Remains High,” HR Magazine, February 2013, 16; J. Sheri- dan Alison “Affirmative Action in Australia— Employment Statistics Can’t Tell the Whole Story,” Women in Management Review 10, no. 2 (1995): 26–34; T. Jarrett, The Equality Act 2010 and Positive Action, Library House of Commons, Business and Transport Sec- tion, last updated, 24 October 2013.

stereotyping Judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person belongs.

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80 PART 2 The Individual

machine metaphor, you might think of stereotypes as the fuel that powers the discrimination engine. Stereotypes can be insidious not only because they may affect the perpetrators of discrimination but also because they can affect how potential targets of discrimination see themselves.

Stereotype Threat Let’s say that you are sitting in a restaurant, waiting for the blind date your coworker arranged to find you in the crowded room. How do you think your coworker described you to this person? Now consider how you would describe yourself to this new person if you’d talked on the phone before the date. What identifiable groups would you mention as a shorthand way for your date to know a bit about you so he or she could recognize you in the restaurant?

Chances are good that you’d mention your race, something about how you express your gender (such as the way you dress), how old you are, and maybe what you do for a living. You might also mention how tall you are if you are remarkably tall or short, and—if you’re candid—you might mention something about your build (heavyset, petite, in between). Overall, you’d give cues to your blind date about characteristics that are distinctive, or that stand out, about you. What you tell someone about yourself says a lot about what you think about yourself. Just as we stereotype others, we also stereotype ourselves.

Stereotype threat describes the degree to which we agree internally with the generally negative stereotyped perceptions of our groups. Along with that comes a fear of being judged when we are identified with the negative connota- tions of that group. This can happen when we are a minority in a situation. For instance, an older worker applying for a job in a predominately millennial-age workforce may assume the interviewer thinks he is out of touch with current trends. What creates a stereotype threat is not whether the worker is or is not up to date with trends, but whether he agrees internally that older workers (the group he identifies with) are out of date (the stereotype). In Europe, there appears to be an aging workforce. The negative stereotypes about the older worker, extending to such beliefs among outgroups that they have lower dex- terity and physical ability, may increase their apprehension and thus lead older employees to take on more demanding jobs. In essence, they put in extra effort and time that would otherwise have been superfluous just to avoid a stereotype threat.

People become their own worst enemies when they feel stereotype threat. Ironically, they may unconsciously exaggerate the stereotype, like an older job applicant who talks about aging, rambles during the conversation, and discloses too much.9 Second, employees may engage in self-handicapping, in which they avoid effort so that they can attribute their potential failure to other sources, such as stress or “having a bad day.”10 Third, people may overcompensate for the stereotype threat they feel or work to avoid confirming the stereotype. A  Hispanic who tries to be as busy as possible at work and rushes conspicu- ously around the office may be attempting to overcome a stereotype threat of Hispanics as slower workers. This may happen even if the workplace has many ethnic minority employees because minorities perceive stereotypes about each other.11 Stereotype threat can serve as a “brain drain” for employees, causing them to deplete their working memories so that they do not perform as well on employment tests or training.12

Stereotype threat has serious implications for the workplace. Stereotype threat can occur during preemployment tests and assessments, performance evaluations, and everyday workplace exchanges. It can lead to underperfor- mance on tests, performance evaluations, training exercises, negotiations, and everyday interactions with others as well as to disengagement, poor job attitudes,

stereotype threat The degree to which we are concerned with being judged by or treated negatively based on a certain stereotype.

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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2 81

a reluctance to seek feedback, and poor performance in the employees expe- riencing the threat.13 Although the occurrence of stereotype threat is not inev- itable and occurs infrequently in testing environments, we should still put in efforts to combat it in the workplace by treating employees as individuals and not highlighting group differences. The following organizational changes can be successful in reducing stereotype threat: increasing awareness of how stereo- types may be perpetuated (especially when developing policies and practices), reducing differential and preferential treatment through objective assessments,

confronting microaggressions against minority groups, and adopting transpar- ent practices that signal the value of all employees.14

Discrimination in the Workplace To review, unfair discrimination assumes that everyone in a group is the same rather than looking at the characteristics of individuals within the group. This discrimination is often very harmful for employees, as we’ve just discussed, as well as for organizations.

Sources: Based on J. Levitz and P. Shishkin, “More Workers Cite Age Bias after Layoffs,” The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2009, D1–D2; W. M. Bulkeley, “A Data-Storage Titan Confronts Bias Claims,”

The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2007, A1, A16; D. Walker, “Incident with Noose Stirs Old Memories,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, June 29, 2008; D. Solis, “Racial Horror Stories Keep

EEOC Busy,” Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News, July 30, 2005, 1; H. Ibish and A. Stewart, Report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Arab Americans: The Post-September 11 Backlash, Sep-

tember 11, 2001–October 11, 2001 (Washington, DC: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 2003); A. Raghavan, “Wall Street’s Disappearing Women,” Forbes, March 16, 2009, 72–78; and L.

M. Cortina, “Unseen Injustice: Incivility as Modern Discrimination in Organizations,” Academy of Management Review 33, no. 1 (2008): 55–75.

Forms of DiscriminationExhibit 2-1

Type of Discrimination Definition Examples from Organizations

Discriminatory policies Actions taken by representatives of the Older workers may be targeted for layoffs or practices organization that deny equal opportunity because they are highly paid and have lucrative

to perform or unequal rewards for benefits. performance.

Sexual harassment Unwanted sexual advances and other Salespeople at one company went on company-paid verbal or physical conduct of a sexual visits to strip clubs, brought strippers into the office to nature that create a hostile or offensive celebrate promotions, and fostered pervasive sexual work environment. rumors.

Intimidation Overt threats or bullying directed at African-American employees at some companies have members of specific groups of employees. found nooses hanging over their work stations.

Mockery and insults Jokes or negative stereotypes; sometimes Arab-Americans have been asked at work whether the result of jokes taken too far. they were carrying bombs or were members of

terrorist organizations. Exclusion Exclusion of certain people from job Many women in finance claim they are assigned to

opportunities, social events, discussions, marginal job roles or are given light workloads that or informal mentoring; can occur don’t lead to promotion. unintentionally.

Incivility Disrespectful treatment, including Female lawyers note that male attorneys frequently behaving in an aggressive manner, cut them off or do not adequately address their interrupting the person, or ignoring comments. his or her opinions.

MyLab Management Personal Inventory Assessments Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.

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82 PART 2 The Individual

Exhibit 2-1 provides definitions and examples of some forms of discrimi- nation in organizations. Although many are prohibited by law and therefore are not part of organizations’ official policies, the practices persist. Tens of thousands of cases of employment discrimination are documented every year, and many more go unreported. Because discrimination has increasingly come under both legal scrutiny and social disapproval, most overt forms have faded, which may have resulted in an increase in more covert forms like incivility or exclusion, especially when leaders look the other way.15

As you can see, discrimination can occur in many ways, and its effects can vary depending on organizational context and the personal biases of employees. Some forms of discrimination, exclusion and incivility, for example, are especially hard to root out because they may occur simply because the actor isn’t aware of the effects of his or her actions. Like stereotype threat, actual discrimination can lead to increased negative consequences for employers, including reduced productiv- ity and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), more conflict, increased turn- over, and even increased risk-taking behavior.16 Unfair discrimination also leaves qualified job candidates out of initial hiring and promotions. Thus, even if an employment discrimination lawsuit is never filed, a strong business case can be made for aggressively working to eliminate unfair discrimination.

Whether it is overt or covert, intentional or unintentional, discrimination is one of the primary factors that prevent diversity. On the other hand, recogniz- ing diversity opportunities can lead to an effective diversity management pro- gram and ultimately to a better organization. Diversity is a broad term, and the phrase workplace diversity can refer to any characteristic that makes people dif- ferent from one another. The following section covers some important surface- level characteristics that differentiate members of the workforce.

Biographical Characteristics Biographical characteristics such as age, gender, race, and disability are some of the most obvious ways employees differ. Let’s begin by looking at factors that are easily definable and readily available—data that can be obtained, for the most part, from an employee’s human resources (HR) file. Variations in surface-level characteristics may be the basis for discrimination against classes of employees, so it is worth knowing how related they actually are to work out- comes. As a general rule, many biographical differences are not important to actual work outcomes, and far more variation occurs within groups sharing bio- graphical characteristics than between them.

Age Age in the workforce is likely to be an issue of increasing importance during the next decade for many reasons. For one, the workforce is aging worldwide in most developed countries;17 by 2014–2024 projections, the average annual growth rate of workers over age 54 in the labor force is expected to be 1.8 percent, which is over three times greater than that of the overall labor force.18 In the United States, the proportion of the workforce age 55 and older is 22 percent and increasing,19 and legislation has, for all intents and purposes, outlawed manda- tory retirement. The United States and Australia, among other countries, have laws directed against age discrimination.20 Most workers today no longer have to retire at age 70, and 62 percent of workers age 45 to 60 plan to delay retirement.21

The stereotypes of older workers as being behind the times, grumpy, and inflexible are changing. Managers often see a number of positive qualities that older workers bring to their jobs, such as experience, judgment, a strong work

2-3 Describe how the key biographical characteristics are relevant to Organiza- tional Behavior (OB).

biographical characteristics Personal characteristics—such as age, gender, race, and length of tenure—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records. These characteristics are representative of surface-level diversity.

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ethic, and commitment to quality. The Public Utilities Board, the water agency of Singapore, reports that 27 percent of its workforce is over age 55 because older workers bring workforce stability.22 And industries like health care, education, government, and nonprofits often welcome older workers.23 But older workers are still perceived as less adaptable and less motivated to learn new technology.24 When organizations seek individuals who are open to change and training, the perceived negatives associated with age clearly hinder the initial hiring of older workers and increase the likelihood they will be let go during cutbacks.

Now let’s look at the evidence. What effect does age actually have on turnover, absenteeism, productivity, and satisfaction? Regarding turnover, the older you are, the less likely you are to quit your job.25 As workers get older, they have fewer alter- nate job opportunities because their skills have become more specialized. Within organizations, older workers’ longer tenure tends to provide them with higher wages, longer paid vacations, and benefits that may bind them to their employers.

It may seem likely that age is positively correlated to absenteeism, but this isn’t true. Most studies show that older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence versus younger employees.26 Furthermore, older workers do not have more psycho- logical problems or day-to-day physical health problems than younger workers.27

The majority of studies have shown “virtually no relationship between age and job performance,” according to Director Harvey Sterns of the Institute for Life-Span Development and Gerontology.28 Indeed, some studies indicate that older adults perform better. In Munich, a 4-year study of 3,800 Mercedes-Benz workers found that “the older workers seemed to know better how to avoid severe

Myth or Science? Bald Is Better

S urprisingly, it appears true that bald is better for men in the work- place. A recent study showed that

observers believe a male’s shaved head indicates greater masculinity, dominance, and leadership potential than longer or thinning hair. Thinning hair was perceived as the least power- ful look, and other studies have agreed that male-pattern baldness (when some hair remains) is not considered advantageous. Why is this?

In some respects, the reported youthful advantage of a shaved head is counterintuitive. Because we have more hair when we are young, and contemporary culture considers youth- fulness a desirable characteristic in the workplace (if you doubt this, see the discussions on aging in this chap- ter), it would make more sense for a hairless head to be a distinct disad- vantage. Yet the media is loaded with images of powerful men with shaved

heads—military heroes, winning ath- letes, and action heroes. No wonder study participants declared that the men with shaved heads were an inch taller and 13 percent stronger than the same men with hair.

A bald head has become the hall- mark of some important business leaders, notably Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs, Marc Andreessen of Netscape, and “Shark Tank” investor Daymond John. Men who shave their heads report it can give them a business advantage, whether or not it makes them look younger (which is debatable). According to psychologist Caroline Keating, just as older silver-back gorillas are “typi- cally the powerful actors in their social groups,” so it is in the office, where baldness may “signal who is in charge and potentially dangerous.” Research professor Michael Cunningham agrees, adding that baldness “is nature’s way

of telling the rest of the world you are a survivor.” Men with shaved heads con- vey aggressiveness, competitiveness, and independence, he adds. Will you join the 13 percent of men who shave their heads? Though we don’t wish to advocate head shaving for this rea- son, it does demonstrate how biased we continue to be in judging people by superficial characteristics. Time will tell if this situation ever improves.

Sources: Based on D. Baer, “People Are Psychologically Biased to See Bald Men as Dominant Leaders,” Business Insider (February 13, 2015), http://www.business insider.com/bald-men-signals-dominance- 2015-2; J. Misener, “Men with Shaved Heads Appear More Dominant, Study Finds,” The Huffington Post (October 1, 2012), www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/ bald-men-dominant-shaved-heads-study_ n_1930489.html; A. E. Mannes, “Shorn Scalps and Perceptions of Male Dominance,” Social Psychological and Personality Science, (2012), doi: 10.1177/1948550612449490; and R. E. Silverman, “Bald Is Powerful,” The Wall Street Journal (October 3, 2012), B1, B6.

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errors,” said Matthias Weiss, the academic coordinator of the study.29 Related to performance, there is a conception that creativity lessens as people age. Researcher David Galenson, who studied the ages of peak creativity, found that people who create through experimentation do “their greatest work in their 40s, 50s, and 60s. These artists rely on wisdom, which increases with age.” There is evidence that age-diverse teams and organizations perform better than those with similar ages, primarily because both older and younger workers bring a complementary, diverse set of knowledge, skills, and abilities to their teams.30

What about age and satisfaction? Regarding life satisfaction, which we will discuss further in later chapters, there is a cultural assumption that older peo- ple are more prone to depression and loneliness. Actually, a study of adults ages  18 to 94 found that positive moods increased with age. “Contrary to the popular view that youth is the best time of life, the peak of emotional life may not occur until well into the seventh decade,” researcher Laura Carstensen said.31

Regarding job satisfaction, an important topic in Chapter 3, a review of more than 800 studies found that older workers tend to be more satisfied with their work, report better relationships with coworkers, and are more commit- ted to their organizations.32 Other studies, however, have found that job satis- faction increases up to middle age, at which point it begins to drop off. When we separate the results by job type, though, we find that satisfaction tends to increase continually among professionals as they age, whereas among nonpro- fessionals, it falls during middle age and then rises again in the later years.

In sum, we can see that the surface-level characteristic of an employee’s age is an unfounded basis for discrimination and that an age-diverse workforce is a benefit to an organization.

Sex Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and unsupported opinions than whether women perform as well on jobs as men.

The best place to begin to consider this topic is with the recognition that few, if any, differences between men and women affect job performance.33 Though men may have slightly higher math ability and women slightly higher verbal ability, the differences are fairly small, and there are no consistent male–female differences in problem-solving ability, analytical skills, or learning ability.34 One

At Tofutti, maker of dairy-free products, older employees are an integral part of the workforce. Tofutti’s CEO David Mintz values the experience, work ethic, maturity, enthusiasm, knowl- edge, and skills that older workers bring to their jobs. He says older employees have fewer absences, make fewer mistakes, are better at solving problems, and are willing to work more hours. Source: Julio Cortez/AP images

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meta-analysis of job performance studies found that women scored slightly higher than men on performance measures.35 A separate meta-analysis of 95 leadership studies indicated that women and men are rated equally effective as leaders.36

Yet biases and stereotypes persist. In the hiring realm, managers are influenced by gender bias when selecting candidates for certain positions.37 For instance, men are preferred in hiring decisions for male-dominated occupations, particu- larly when men are doing the hiring.38 Once on the job, men and women may be offered a similar number of developmental experiences, but females are less likely to be assigned challenging positions by men, assignments that could help them achieve higher organizational positions.39 Men are more likely to be chosen for leadership roles even though men and women are equally effective leaders, a phenomenon which has been referred to as the “glass ceiling” (and applies to any underrepresented group that faces obstacles to advancement).40 In fact, as of April 2020, women hold only 6 percent of CEO positions in S&P 500 companies.41 Furthermore, a study of 20 organizations in Spain, for example, suggested that women are generally selected for leadership roles that require handling organi- zational crises, positions in which they are usually set up to fail, a phenomenon commonly referred to as the glass cliff.42 According to Naomi Sutherland, senior partner in diversity at recruiter Korn Ferry, “Consciously or subconsciously, com- panies are still hesitant to take the risk on someone who looks different from their standard leadership profile.”43

These stereotypes counter the evidence which suggests that females are effec- tive leaders in organizations: not only does research from hundreds of studies suggest that women are rated as effective leaders in organizations, but that wom- en’s representation in leadership positions is actually predictive of financial per- formance in hundreds of thousands of organizations.44 Sex discrimination has a pervasive negative impact. Notably, women still earn less money than men for the same positions,45 even in traditionally female roles.46 Furthermore, the sex differences in promotions, bonuses, and salaries (across 97 different studies and nearly 400,000 people) are 14 times larger than their differences on performance evaluations.47 Working mothers also face “maternal wall bias,” meaning they are often not considered for new positions after they have children, and both men and women experience discrimination for their family caregiving roles.48 Women who receive fewer challenging assignments and development opportunities from biased managers tend to curtail their management aspirations.49 Women who are assertive in the workplace tend to be liked less and perceived as less hirable.50

We’ve seen that there are many misconceptions and contradictions about male and female workers. Thankfully, many countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, have laws against sex discrimination. Other countries, such as Belgium, France, Norway, and Spain, are seeking gen- der diversity through laws to increase the percentage of women on boards of directors.51 Gender biases and gender discrimination are still serious issues, but there are indications that the situation is improving.

Race and Ethnicity Race is a controversial issue in society and in organizations. We define race as the heritage people use to identify themselves; ethnicity is the additional set of cultural characteristics that often overlaps with race. Typically, we associate race with biol- ogy, and ethnicity with culture, but there is a history of self-identifying for both classifications. Laws against race and ethnic discrimination are in effect in many countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.52

Race and ethnicity have been studied as they relate to employment outcomes such as hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimi- nation. Individuals may slightly favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay raises, although such differences are not found consistently, especially when highly structured methods of decision

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making are employed.53 Also, some industries have remained less racially diverse than others. For instance, U.S. advertising and media organizations suffer from a lack of racial diversity in their management ranks even though their client base is increasingly ethnically diverse.54 In the United Kingdom, there have been demands that the Government stop auditing and start acting against racial dis- crimination. Research suggests that many BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic) professionals in UK organizations, including universities, are among the most qualified and experienced in their teams and functions, but they struggle to achieve the career progression they are qualified for. In the education sector, where the numbers of ethnic minority students are rising, figures published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency in 2017 showed there were no Black aca- demics in the manager, director, and senior official categories in 2015–16.55

Members of racial and ethnic minorities report higher levels of discrimina- tion in the workplace.56 Black people generally fare worse than white people in employment decisions (a finding that may not apply outside the United States). They receive lower ratings in employment interviews, lower job perfor- mance ratings, less pay, and fewer promotions.57 While this does not necessarily prove overt racial discrimination, black people are often discriminated against even in controlled experiments. For example, one study of low-wage jobs found that black applicants with no criminal history received fewer job offers than did white applicants with criminal records.58 Even applicants with black- sounding names were 50 percent less likely than those with white-sounding names to receive interview callbacks in one large randomized experiment.59

As we discussed before, discrimination—for any reason—leads to increased turn- over, which is detrimental to organizational performance. While better representa- tion of all racial groups in organizations remains a goal, an individual of minority status is much less likely to leave the organization if there is a feeling of inclusiveness, known as a positive diversity climate.60 A positive climate for diversity can also lead to increased sales, commitment, and retention, suggesting there are organizational performance gains associated with reducing racial and ethnic discrimination.61

How do we move beyond the destructiveness of discrimination? The answer is in understanding one another’s viewpoint. Evidence suggests that some people find interacting with other racial groups uncomfortable unless there are clear behav- ioral scripts to guide their behavior,62 so creating diverse work groups focused on mutual goals could be helpful, along with developing a positive diversity climate.

Disabilities Workplace policies, both official and circumstantial, regarding individuals with physical or mental disabilities vary from country to country. Countries such as Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan have specific laws to protect individuals with disabilities.63 These laws have resulted in greater acceptance and accommodation of people with physical or mental impair- ments. In the United States, for instance, the representation of individuals with disabilities in the workforce rapidly increased with the passage of the Ameri- cans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990).64 According to the ADA, employers are required to make reasonable accommodations so their workplaces will be accessible to individuals with physical or mental disabilities.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency responsible for enforcing employment discrimination laws, classifies a person as disabled who has any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. One of the most controversial aspects of the ADA is the provision that requires employers to make reasonable accommo- dations (e.g., comfort and assistance animals) for people with psychiatric disabili- ties.65 Examples of recognized disabilities include missing limbs, seizure disorder, Down syndrome, deafness, schizophrenia, alcoholism, diabetes, depression, and

positive diversity climate In an organiza- tion, an environment of inclusiveness and an acceptance of diversity.

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chronic back pain. These conditions share almost no common features, so there’s no specific definition about how each condition is related to employment.

Since it was first introduced in the United Kingdom some 20 years ago, discrimination law has defined disability using the following formulation: “A disabled person is someone who suffers from a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry our normal day to day activities.”

The final clause (“normal day-to-day activities”) has always been the subject of controversy, and the courts have always interpreted it as referring to ordi- nary, everyday tasks that the average man or woman in the street performs. An individual is not disabled for the purposes of the Equity Act (formerly the Disability Discrimination Act) because you cannot play football or because you cannot climb a mountain. The impairment must stop you from basic, common daily activities like getting dressed, making breakfast, and getting to work.

The controversy arises because this often means that someone is not classi- fied as disabled and hence has no case in law when their impairment prevents them from carrying out an aspect of their work that does not fall under the definition of normal day-to-day activities. In the United Kingdom, a number of cases involve dismissal because of an inability to lift heavy weights, which is not a “normal day-to-day activity” and hence is not the basis for successful disability discrimination claims. It is interesting to see how the case law further develops in this area from the perspective of the United States and the United Kingdom.

The impact of disabilities on employment outcomes has been explored from a variety of perspectives. On one hand, when disability status is randomly manip- ulated among hypothetical candidates, disabled individuals are rated as having superior personal qualities like dependability.66 Another review suggested that workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations. However, indi- viduals with disabilities tend to encounter lower performance expectations and are less likely to be hired.67 Mental disabilities may impair performance more than physical disabilities: Individuals with common mental health issues such as depression and anxiety are significantly more likely to be absent from work.68

The elimination of discrimination against the disabled workforce has long been problematic. In Europe, for instance, policies to motivate employers have failed to boost the workforce participation rate for workers with disabilities, and outright quota systems in Germany, France, and Poland have backfired.69 However, the recognition of the talents and abilities of individuals with disabilities has made a positive impact. In addition, technology and workplace advancements have greatly increased the scope of available jobs for those with all types of disabilities. Manag- ers need to be attuned to the true requirements of each job and match the skills of the individual to them, providing accommodations when needed. But what hap- pens when employees do not disclose their disabilities? Let’s discuss this next.

Hidden Disabilities As we mentioned earlier, disabilities include observable characteristics like miss- ing limbs, illnesses that require a person to use a wheelchair, and blindness. Other disabilities may not be obvious, at least at first. Unless an individual decides to disclose a disability that isn’t easily observable, it can remain hidden at the discre- tion of the employee. These are called hidden disabilities (or invisible disabilities). Hidden, or invisible, disabilities generally fall under the categories of sensory dis- abilities (for example, impaired hearing), autoimmune disorders (like rheuma- toid arthritis), chronic illness or pain (like carpal tunnel syndrome), cognitive or learning impairments (like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]), sleep disorders (like insomnia), and psychological challenges (like PTSD).70

As a result of recent changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act Amend- ments Act (ADAAA) of 2008, U.S. organizations must accommodate employ- ees with a very broad range of impairments. However, employees must disclose

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their conditions to their employers in order to be eligible for workplace accom- modations and employment protection. Many employees do not want to disclose their invisible disabilities, so they are prevented from getting the work- place accommodations they need in order to thrive in their jobs. Research indi- cates that individuals with hidden disabilities are afraid of being stigmatized or ostracized if they disclose their disabilities to others in the workplace, and they believe that their managers will think they are less capable of strong job per- formance.71 Add this to the challenge of receiving a diagnosis for a condition that one did not previously have and these fears are compounded even more so than if the diagnosis was made for employees when they were younger.72

In some ways, a hidden disability is not truly invisible. For example, a person with undisclosed autism will still exhibit the behaviors characteristic of the con- dition, such as difficulty with verbal communication and lack of adaptability.73 You may observe behaviors that lead you to suspect an individual has a hidden disability. Unfortunately, you may attribute the behavior to other causes—for instance, you may incorrectly ascribe the slow, slurred speech of a coworker to an alcohol problem rather than to the long-term effects of a stroke.

As for the employee, research suggests that disclosure helps all—the individ- ual, others, and organizations. Disclosure may increase the job satisfaction and well-being of the individual, help others understand and assist the individual to succeed in the workplace, and allow the organization to accommodate the situ- ation so that the employee and the organization achieve top performance.74

Other Dif ferentiating Characteristics The last set of characteristics we’ll look at includes tenure, religion, sexual ori- entation and gender identity, and cultural identity. These characteristics illus- trate deep-level differences that provide opportunities for workplace diversity as long as discrimination can be overcome.

Tenure Except for gender and racial differences, few issues are more subject to mis- conceptions and speculations than the impact of seniority and tenure, meaning time spent in a job, organization, or field.

Extensive reviews have been conducted of the seniority–productivity relation- ship.75 The evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between organizational tenure (i.e., how long an employee has been in his or her organization) and job performance. As such, organizational tenure appears to be a good predictor of employee performance, although there is some evidence that the relationship is not linear: Differences in organizational tenure are more important to job performance for relatively new or inexperienced employees than among those who have been on the job longer. To use a National Football League (NFL) analogy, a second-year quar- terback has more of an edge over a rookie than a tenth-year quarterback has over one in his ninth year. Job tenure, on the other hand (i.e., how long an employee has been in his or her job), demonstrates a weak, inconsistent effect on employee out- comes, indicating that employees may lose desire for further career advancement.

Religion Religious and nonreligious people question each other’s belief systems, and peo- ple of different religious faiths often conflict. There are few—if any—countries in which religion is a nonissue in the workplace. For this reason, employers are pro- hibited by law from discriminating against employees based on religion in many countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.76

2-4 Explain how other differen-tiating characteristics factor into OB.

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Islam is one of the most popular religions in the world, and it is the majority religion in many countries. However, in the United States, Muslims are a minority group that is growing. There are nearly 3 million Muslims in the United States, and the number is predicted to double by 2030, when they will represent 1.7 per- cent of the population, according to the Pew Research Center. At that point, there will be as many Muslims in the United States as there are Jews and Episcopalians.77 Despite these numbers, there is evidence that people are discriminated against for their Islamic faith even in the workplace. For instance, U.S. job applicants in Muslim-identified religious attire who applied for hypothetical retail jobs had shorter, more interpersonally negative interviews than applicants who did not wear Muslim-identified attire.78 One’s own religious commitment predicts whether or not an employee will intervene when observing religious discrimination.79

Faith can be an employment issue wherever religious beliefs prohibit or encourage certain behaviors. The behavioral expectations can be informal, such as employees leaving work early on Christmas Eve. Or they may be systemic, such as the Monday to Friday workweek, which accommodates a Christian tradition of not working on Sundays and a Jewish tradition of not working on Saturdays.

Religious discrimination has been a growing source of discrimination claims in the United States, partially because the issues are complex. Recently, Samantha Elauf, who was turned down for employment because she wears a hijab (a head scarf), sued for religious discrimination. “I learned I was not hired by Abercrombie because I wear a head scarf, which is a symbol of modesty in my Muslim faith,” she said. She was not aware of the organization’s rule against head coverings and did not mention her reason for the scarf. Should employers be required to deduce why applicants dress as they do and then protect them? Even the Supreme Court is not certain.80

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity While much has changed, the full acceptance and accommodation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) employees remains a work in prog- ress. In the United States, a Harvard University study sent fictitious but realistic résu- més to 1,700 actual entry-level job openings. The applications were identical with one exception: Half mentioned involvement in gay organizations during college, and the other half did not. The applications without the mention received 60 per- cent more callbacks than the ones with it.81 Another study suggests that the hirability perceptions of lesbian and gay candidates made by women are actually higher than those for heterosexuals, suggesting that the bias is complicated and nuanced.82

Perhaps as a result of perceived discrimination, many LGBTQ employees do not disclose their status. For example, John Browne, former CEO of British Petroleum (BP), hid his sexual orientation until he was 59, when the press threat- ened to disclose that he was gay. Fearing the story would result in turmoil for the company, he resigned. Browne wrote recently, “Since my outing in 2007, many societies around the world have done more to embrace people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. But the business world has a long way to go.”83

U.S. federal law does not prohibit discrimination against employees based on sexual orientation, although 29 states and more than 160 municipalities do. For states and municipalities that protect against discrimination based on sexual ori- entation, roughly as many claims are filed for sexual orientation discrimination as for sex and race discrimination.84 Some other countries are more progressive: For instance, Australia has laws against discriminating on the basis of sexual preference, and the United Kingdom has similar laws regarding sexual orientation.85 However, the distinctions in these laws may not be broad enough—researchers have acknowl- edged a new acronym, QUILTBAG, to describe individuals who are queer/ques- tioning, undecided, intersex, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, asexual, or gay.86

The rights and freedoms of LGBT citizens are significantly influenced by the prevailing cultural traditions and religions of people living in some regions

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of the world, such as the Middle East and some Asian countries. Several Middle Eastern countries have received strong international criticism for discriminat- ing against this group. The Human Rights Watch believes the main argument can be made by framing the situation of people in terms of their rights vio- lation and protection. Southern and East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia remain very conservative in this regard while Western Europe tends to be permissive and has prohibited discrimination at the workplace based on sexual orientation.87 As a first step in the United States, the federal government has prohibited discrimination against government employees based on sexual ori- entation. The EEOC recently held that sex-stereotyping against lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals represents gender discrimination enforceable under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.88 Even in the absence of federal legislation, many organizations have implemented policies and procedures that cover sexual ori- entation. IBM, once famous for requiring all employees to wear white shirts and ties, has changed its ultraconservative environment. Former vice president Ted Childs said, “IBM ensures that people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or

Career OBjectives Should I come out at work?

I’m gay, but no one at my workplace knows it. How much should I be will- ing to tell? I want to be sure to have a shot at the big positions in the firm.

— Ryan Dear Ryan: Unfortunately, you are right to be con- cerned. Here are some suggestions:

• Look for an inclusive company culture. Apple CEO Tim Cook said, “I’ve had the good fortune to work at a company that loves creativity and innovation and knows it can only flourish when you embrace peo- ple’s differences. Not everyone is so lucky.” Recent research has focused on discovering new methods to counteract a discrimination culture in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

• Choose your moral ground. Do you feel you have a responsibility to “come out” to help effect social change? Do you have a right to keep your private life private? The bal- ance is a private decision. A recent study by the U.S. Human Rights Campaign indicated that only half of LGBT employees nationwide dis- close their status.

• Consider your future in top manage- ment. Corporate-level leaders are

urged to be open with peers and employees. As Ernst & Young global vice chairperson Beth Brooke said about her decades of staying clos- eted, the pressure to be “authentic” adds stress if you are keeping your gay status a secret.

• Weigh your options. The word from people at the top who are gay (some who have come out and others who have not) is mixed. Brooke said, “Life really did get better” after she announced her status in a company- sponsored video. Mark Stephanz, a vice chairman at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, agreed, remarking that “most people still deal with you the same way they always do.” Yet Deena Fidas, deputy director for the largest LGBT civil rights group in the United States, reported that being gay in the workplace is still “far from being a ‘nonissue.’”

• Be aware of international and national laws. Sadly, some nations and states are intolerant. You will need to study the laws to be sure you will be safe from repercussions when you reveal your status.

So think about your decision from both an ethical and a self-interested point of view. Your timing depends not only on

what you think are your ethical respon- sibilities but also on your context— where you work, the culture of your organization, and the support of the people within it. Thankfully, globaliza- tion is ensuring that the world becomes increasingly accepting and fair.

Good luck in your career!

Sources: Based on M. D. Birtel, “‘Treating’ Prej- udice: An Exposure-Therapy Approach to Reduc- ing Negative Reactions Toward Stigmatized Groups,” Psychological Science (November 2012): 1379–86; L. Cooper and J. Raspanti, “The Cost of the Closet and the Rewards of Inclusion,” Human Rights Campaign report (May 2014), http://hrc-assets.s3-website- us-east-1.amazonaws.com//files/assets/ resources/Cost_of_the_Closet_May2014 .pdf; N. Rumens and J. Broomfield, “Gay Men in the Police: Identity Disclosure and Manage- ment Issues,” Human Resource Management Journal (July 2012): 283–98; and A. M. Ryan and J. L. Wessel, “Sexual Orientation Harass- ment in the Workplace: When Do Observers Intervene?” Journal of Organizational Behavior (May 2012): 488–509.

The opinions provided here are of the manag- ers and authors only and do not necessar- ily reflect those of their organizations. The authors or managers are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. In no event will the authors or managers, or their related partnerships or corporations thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions provided here.

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transgender feel safe, welcomed and valued within the global walls of our busi- ness. . . . The contributions that are made by [gay and transgender] IBMers accrue directly to our bottom line and ensure the success of our business.”89

IBM is not alone. Surveys indicate that more than 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have policies that cover sexual orientation. As for gender identity, companies are increasingly adopting policies to govern the way their organiza- tions treat transgender employees. In 2001, only eight companies in the For- tune 500 had policies on gender identity. That number is now more than 250.

Among the Fortune 1000, however, some noteworthy companies do not cur- rently have domestic-partner benefits or nondiscrimination clauses for LGBT employees, including Berkshire Hathaway, currently number 4 in the Fortune rankings of the largest U.S. companies.90 Some companies claim that they do not need to provide LGBT benefits for religious reasons. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed that Hobby Lobby, a retail arts and crafts chain, does not need to provide contraception insurance coverage due to the religious objections of its founding family, and many fear that this ruling will pave the way for overt LGBT discrimination by organizations.91 Some organizations that claim to be inclusive don’t live up to the claim. For example, a recent study of five social cooperatives in Italy indicated that these so-called inclusive organiza- tions actually expect individuals to remain quiet about their status.92

Thus, while times have certainly changed, sexual orientation and gender identity remain individual differences that organizations must address in elimi- nating discrimination and promoting diversity.

Cultural Identity We have seen that people sometimes define themselves in terms of race and eth- nicity. Many people carry a strong cultural identity as well, a link with the culture of family ancestry or youth that lasts a lifetime, no matter where the individual may live in the world. People choose their cultural identity, and they also choose how closely they observe the norms of that culture. Cultural norms influence the workplace, sometimes resulting in clashes. Organizations must adapt.

Workplace practices that coincided with the norms of a person’s cultural identity were commonplace years ago, when societies were less mobile. People looked for work near familial homes and organizations established holidays, observances, practices, and customs that suited the majority. Organizations were generally not expected to accommodate each individual’s preferences.

Thanks to global integration and changing labor markets, today’s organiza- tions do well to understand and respect the cultural identities of their employ- ees, both as groups and as individuals. For foreign managers interacting with subordinate employees in the United Arab Emirates, avoiding conflict and con- frontation is paramount. Managers rarely disappoint their subordinates with a simple “no,” believing that blunt truth sometimes destroys harmony. While Italian and French managers may be familiar with such indirectness, Americans and Australians may come across as brutally candid.93

An organization seeking to be sensitive to the cultural identities of its employees should look beyond accommodating its majority groups and instead create as much of an individualized approach to practices and norms as pos- sible. Often, managers can provide the bridge of workplace flexibility to meet both organizational goals and individual needs.

MyLab Management Watch It If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

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Ability Contrary to what we were taught in grade school, we weren’t all created equal in our abilities. For example, regardless of how motivated you are, you may not be able to act as well as Leonardo DiCaprio, play basketball as well as LeBron James, or write as well as J. K. Rowling. Of course, all of us have strengths and weaknesses that make us relatively superior or inferior to others in perform- ing certain tasks or activities. From management’s standpoint, the challenge is to understand the differences and thus increase the likelihood that a given employee will perform the job well.

What does ability mean? As we use the term, ability is an individual’s current capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. Overall abilities are essentially made up of two sets of factors: intellectual and physical.

Intellectual Abilities Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental activities—think- ing, reasoning, and problem solving. Most societies place a high value on intel- ligence, and for good reason. Smart people generally earn more money and attain higher levels of education. They are also more likely to emerge as leaders of groups. However, assessing and measuring intellectual ability are not always simple. IQ tests are designed to ascertain a person’s general intellectual abili- ties, but the origins, influence factors, and testing of intelligence quotient (IQ) are controversial.94 So, too, are popular college admission tests, such as the SAT and ACT, and graduate admission tests in business (GMAT), law (LSAT), and medicine (MCAT). The firms that produce these tests do not claim that they assess intelligence, but experts confirm that they do.95

The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abili- ties are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and memory.96 Exhibit 2-2 describes these dimensions.

2-5 Demonstrate the relevance of intellectual and physical abilities to OB.

ability An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.

intellectual abilities The capacity to do mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.

Dimensions of Intellectual AbilityExhibit 2-2

Dimension Description Job Example

Number aptitude Ability to do speedy and accurate Accountant: Computing the sales tax on a set of items arithmetic

Verbal comprehension Ability to understand what is read Plant manager: Following corporate policies on hiring or heard and the relationship of words to each other

Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual similarities Fire investigator: Identifying clues to support a charge of arson and differences quickly and accurately

Inductive reasoning Ability to identify a logical sequence Market researcher: Forecasting demand for a product in the in a problem and then solve the next time period problem

Deductive reasoning Ability to use logic and assess the Supervisor: Choosing between two different suggestions implications of an argument offered by employees

Spatial visualization Ability to imagine how an object Interior decorator: Redecorating an office would look if its position in space were changed

Memory Ability to retain and recall past Salesperson: Remembering the names of customers experiences

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Intelligence dimensions are positively correlated, so if you score high on verbal comprehension, for example, you are also more likely to score high on spatial visualization. The correlations aren’t perfect, meaning people do have specific abilities that predict important work-related outcomes when consid- ered individually. However, they are high enough that researchers also recog- nize a general factor of intelligence, general mental ability (GMA).97 Evidence supports the idea that the structures and measures of intellectual abilities gen- eralize across cultures. Someone in Venezuela or Sudan, for instance, does not have a different set of mental abilities than a U.S. or Czech individual. There is some evidence that IQ scores vary to some degree across cultures, but those differences become much smaller when we take into account educational and economic differences.98

Jobs differ in the demands they place on intellectual abilities. Research consistently indicates a correspondence between cognitive ability and task per- formance. Where employee tasks are highly routine and there are few or no opportunities to exercise discretion, a high IQ is not as important to perform- ing well. However, that does not mean people with high IQs cannot have an impact on traditionally less complex jobs.99

It might surprise you that the intelligence test most widely used in hiring decisions takes only 12 minutes to complete. It’s the Wonderlic Cognitive Abil- ity Test. There are different forms of the test, but each has 50 questions and the same general construct. Here are two questions to try:

• When rope is selling at $0.10 a foot, how many feet can you buy for $0.60?

• Assume the first two statements below are true. Is the final one true, false, or not certain? a. The boy plays baseball. b. All baseball players wear hats. c. The boy wears a hat.

The Wonderlic measures both speed (almost nobody has time to answer every question) and power (the questions get harder as you go along), so the average score is quite low—about 21 of 50. Because the Wonderlic is able to provide valid information cheaply (for $5 to $10 per applicant), many organi- zations use it in hiring decisions, including Publix supermarkets, Manpower staffing systems, BP, and Dish satellite systems.100 Most of these companies don’t give up other hiring tools, such as application forms or interviews. Rather, they add the Wonderlic for its ability to provide valid data on applicants’ intel- ligence levels.

While intelligence is a big help in performing a job well, it doesn’t make people happier or more satisfied with their jobs.101 In fact, research suggests that those with higher cognitive ability and who are high performers in the workplace might be victimized, bullied, and mistreated by their peers due to envy and social comparison.102

Physical Abilities Although the changing nature of work suggests intellectual abilities are increasingly important for many jobs, physical abilities have been and will remain valuable. Research on hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic abili- ties needed in the performance of physical tasks.103 These are described in Exhibit 2-3. High employee performance is likely to be achieved when the extent to which a job requires each of the nine abilities matches the abilities of employees in that job.

physical abilities The capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.

general mental ability (GMA) An overall factor of intelligence, as suggested by the positive correlations among specific intellec- tual ability dimensions.

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In sum, organizations are increasingly aware that an optimally productive workforce includes all types of people and does not automatically exclude any- one on the basis of personal characteristics. The potential benefits of diversity are enormous for forward-thinking managers. For example, a pilot program of software company SAP in Germany, India, and Ireland has found that employ- ees with autism achieve excellent performance in precision-oriented tasks like debugging software.104 Of course, integrating diverse people into an optimally productive workforce takes skill. We will discuss how to bring the talents of a diverse workforce together in the next section.

Implementing Diversity Management Strategies Having discussed a variety of ways in which people differ, we now look at how a manager can and should manage these differences. Diversity management makes everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.105 This definition highlights the fact that diversity programs include and are meant for everyone. Diversity is much more likely to be successful when we see it as everyone’s business than when we believe it helps only certain groups of employees.

Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining Diverse Employees One method of enhancing workforce diversity is to target recruitment mes- sages to specific demographic groups that are underrepresented in the work- force. This means placing advertisements in publications geared toward those groups; pairing with colleges, universities, and other institutions with significant

2-6 Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively. diversity management The process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.

Nine Basic Physical AbilitiesExhibit 2-3

Strength Factors

1. Dynamic strength Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time

2. Trunk strength Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly abdominal) muscles

3. Static strength Ability to exert force against external objects 4. Explosive strength Ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of

explosive acts

Flexibility Factors

5. Extent flexibility Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible 6. Dynamic flexibility Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements

Other Factors

7. Body coordination Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the body

8. Balance Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance

9. Stamina Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time

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numbers of underrepresented minorities, as Microsoft is doing to encourage women to undertake technology studies;106 and forming partnerships with associations like the Society of Women Engineers or the National Minority Sup- plier Development Council.

Research has shown that women and minorities have greater interest in employers that make special efforts to highlight a commitment to diver- sity in  their recruiting materials. Diversity advertisements that fail to show women and minorities in positions of organizational leadership send a nega- tive message about the diversity climate at an organization.107 Of course, to show the pictures, organizations must actually have diversity in their manage- ment ranks.

Some companies have been actively working toward recruiting less- represented groups. Etsy, an online retailer, hosts engineering classes and pro- vides grants for aspiring women coders and then hires the best.108 McKinsey & Co., Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, and Goldman Sachs have also actively recruited women who left the workforce to start families by offering phase-in programs and other benefits.109

Diversity in Groups Most contemporary workplaces require extensive work in group settings. When people work in groups, they need to establish a common way of looking at and accomplishing the major tasks, and they need to communicate with one another often. If they feel little sense of membership and cohesion in their groups, all group attributes are likely to suffer.

In some cases, diversity in traits can hurt team performance, whereas in oth- ers it can facilitate performance.110 Whether diverse or homogeneous teams are more effective depends on the characteristic of interest. Demographic diversity (in gender, race, and ethnicity) does not appear to either help or hurt team performance in general, although racial diversity in management groups may increase organizational performance in the right conditions.111

Teams of individuals who are highly intelligent, conscientious, and inter- ested in working in team settings are more effective. Thus, diversity on these variables is likely to be a bad thing—it makes little sense to try to form teams that mix in members who are lower in intelligence or conscientiousness, and who are uninterested in teamwork. In other cases, diversity can be a strength. Groups of individuals with different types of expertise and education are more effective than homogeneous groups. Similarly, a group made entirely of asser- tive people who want to be in charge or a group whose members all prefer to follow the lead of others will be less effective than a group that mixes leaders and followers.

Regardless of the composition of the group, differences can be leveraged to achieve superior performance. The most important factor is to emphasize the similarities among members.112

Expatriate Adjustment According to a 2013 survey by Mercer, a global consulting firm, 70 percent of multinational organizations were expecting to increase short-term interna- tional assignments and 55 percent were looking to increase their long-term assignments. These organizations note that they do so in order to provide technical and managerial skills not available locally, provide career and lead- ership development opportunities, ensure knowledge transfer, and fulfill spe- cific project needs.113 The experience of moving to a different country and adjusting to its new cultural, interactive, and work-related norms is a major

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undertaking for both the expatriate (i.e., the employee on international assign- ment) and the host country nationals. If it is not handled properly, poor adjust- ment can result in employee dissatisfaction, poor performance, prejudice, and misunderstanding.114

Several factors can be targeted to ensure that the adjustment process goes smoothly. For one, feelings of empowerment along with the motivation to interact with those of other cultures were found in one study to be related to ease of adjustment, increased satisfaction, and reduced intentions to leave pre- maturely.115 Although adjustment tends to increase over time in a curvilinear fashion for all expatriates, those with previous culture-specific work experience as well as higher self-esteem and self-efficacy tend to adjust and be promoted more quickly.116 A review of 66 studies on nearly 9,000 expatriates suggests that several other factors work in concert to affect different forms of adjustment, including language ability, relational skills, role clarity and autonomy, organi- zational support, and familial support.117 These studies suggest that organiza- tions should select employees for international assignments who are capable of adjusting quickly and then ensure they have the support they need for their assignment.

Effective Diversity Programs Organizations use a variety of diversity programs in recruiting and selection policies, as well as training and development practices. Effective, comprehen- sive workforce programs encouraging diversity have three distinct components. First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic characteristics. Second, they teach managers how a diverse work- force is better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients. Third, they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable way to improve performance for everyone.118

Most negative reactions to employment discrimination are based on the idea that discriminatory treatment is unfair. Regardless of race or gender, peo- ple are generally in favor of diversity-oriented programs, including affirmative action programs (AAPs), to increase the representation of minority groups and to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to show their skills and abilities.

Organizational leaders should examine their workforce to determine whether target groups have been underutilized. If groups of employees are not proportionally represented in top management, managers should look for any hidden barriers to advancement. Managers can often improve recruiting practices, make selection systems more transparent, and provide training for those employees who have not had adequate exposure to diversity material in the past. The organization should also clearly communicate its policies to employees so they can understand how and why certain practices are followed. Communications should focus as much as possible on qualifications and job performance; emphasizing certain groups as needing more assistance could backfire.

Research also indicates that a tailored approach will be needed for inter- national organizations. For instance, a case study of the multinational Finnish company TRANSCO found it was possible to develop a consistent global phi- losophy for diversity management. However, differences in legal and cultural factors across nations forced the company to develop unique policies to match the cultural and legal frameworks of each country in which it operated.119

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EasyJet has a hugely diverse work- force and employs people from 50 dif- ferent nationalities. These employees give valuable insights into the different markets and destinations in which the airline operates. Alex Segre/Alamy Stock Photo

Summary This chapter looked at diversity from many perspectives. We paid particular attention to three variables—biographical characteristics, abilities, and diversity programs. Diversity management must be an ongoing commitment that crosses all levels of the organization. Policies to improve the climate for diversity can be effective, and diversity management can be learned.

Implications for Managers ●● Increase awareness of stereotypes, how they are perpetuated, and how

covert discrimination can manifest in organizations. ●● Understand your organization’s antidiscrimination policies thoroughly

and share them with all employees. ●● Assess and challenge your own stereotype beliefs to increase your objectivity. ●● Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need

and then fine-tune a job to that person’s abilities. ●● Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteris-

tics of each individual; a fair but individualistic approach yields the best performance.

●● Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics and con- sider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions; remain open and encouraging for individuals to disclose any hidden disabilities.

●● Strive to promote diversity in recruitment and selection practices. ●● Develop a comprehensive diversity management program that weaves

diversity considerations into the organization’s operations.

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Sources: Based on D. Desilver, “Supreme Court Says States Can Ban Affirmative Action: 8 Already Have,” Pew Research Center Thinktank (April 22, 2014), http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/22/supreme-court-says-states-can- ban-affirmative-action-8-already-have/; B. Haynes, “Affirmative Action Helped Me,” Inside Higher Ed (March 12, 2013), www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/03/12/affirmative-action-helped-me-and-benefits-society-essay; D. Leonhardt, “Rethinking Affirmative Action,” The New York Times (October 13, 2012), www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/sunday-review/ rethinking-affirmative-action.html?pagewanted=all; L. M. Leslie, D. M. Mayer, and D. A. Kravitz, “The Stigma of Affirmative Action: A Stereotyping-Based Theory and Meta-Analytic Test of the Consequences for Performance,” Academy of Manage- ment Journal 57, no. 4 (2014): 964–89; and B. Zimmer, “Affirmative Action’s Hazy Definitions,” The Wall Street Journal (April 26–27, 2014), C4.

Affirmative Action Programs Have Outlived Their Usefulness POINT

U .S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is arguably the Court’s strongest supporter of affirmative action—in theory. In a recent case upholding the Michigan ban on affirmative

action for underrepresented races in state university admission prac- tices, Justice Sotomayor refused to use the term. “Affirmative action,” she said, has the connotation of “intentional preferential treatment based on race alone.” Yes, it does. Isn’t that the point?

Affirmative action programs (AAPs) were needed to get the pro- cess of workplace diversity started, but that was all a long time ago. The practice, now outlawed in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington, raises the percentage of minority individuals but does not create a positive diversity climate. Here’s why:

● Affirmative action lowers the standards for everyone by shifting the criteria for hiring from experience, education, and abilities to quotas based on race or other nonperformance attributes. Perfor- mance standards for the organization are then effectively lowered. Groups not helped by the initiative will be resentful, which can lead to workplace discrimination. Individuals “helped” into the organiza- tion also suffer from perceptions of low self-competence (“I don’t know if I would have made it here if not for AAP”) and stereotype threat (“I’m afraid others can’t see me as competent because I was let in by the AAP”).

● Research indicates that minorities are not helped by AAP in pur- suing higher education. In fact, a large-scale study showed that minority law students who attended schools best matched to their LSAT scores performed better than those who went to higher-ranked schools than their scores would warrant without affirmative action.

● Some of the world’s AAPs have resulted in strife. For example, Sri Lanka has suffered from civil wars partially caused by affirmative action that further polarized the Tamils and Shinalese. In Africa, the quota system to help blacks created a climate of race entitle- ment and marginalization of Indians. In fact, most countries have struggled with issues arising from affirmative action policies.

Affirmative action has outlived its usefulness in creating diver- sity, and it is time to create true equality by focusing on merit-based achievements.

COUNTERPOINT

A ffirmative action was enacted to ensure equality, and it’s still needed today. When the United States was considering the issue for black minorities back in 1965, President Lyndon B.

Johnson said, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others,’ and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. agreed that, in order to create equal opportunity, proac- tive measures are needed as long as some people remain at a disad- vantage. Therefore, what we should be asking is: Are minority groups faring as well as majority groups in the United States? No, they are not—not by any indicator.

South Africa has affirmative action for blacks through the Equal Employment Act; China has “preferential policies” that require that ethnic minorities and women be appointed to top government posi- tions; Israel has a class-based affirmative action policy to promote women, Arabs, blacks, and people with disabilities; India has a pol- icy of reservation, a form of affirmative action, for underrepresented castes; Sri Lanka has the “standardization” affirmative action policy to help those in areas with lower rates of education; Malaysia’s New Economic Policy (NEP) provides advantage for the majority group, the Malays, who have lower income; Brazil, Finland, France, New Zealand, and Romania have education AAPs; Germany’s Basic Law has AAPs for women and those with handicaps; Russia has quotas for women and ethnic minorities; and Canada’s Employment Equity Act provides affirmative action to women, the disabled, aboriginal people, and vis- ible minorities.

To be certain, fairness is in the eye of the beholder. Affirmative action provides opportunity, but then it is up to the individual to meet the expectations of schools or employers. As blogger Berneta Haynes wrote, “I’m not ashamed to admit that without affirmative action, I’m not certain I would be on the precipice of the law career that I’m at right now. As an African-American woman from a poor family, I have little doubt that affirmative action helped me get into college, earn a degree, and enroll in law school.”

If we change anything about affirmative action, we should expand the program until the achievements of underserved groups fully match those of long-overprivileged groups.

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CHAPTER REVIEW

MyLab Management Discussion Questions Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon .

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

2-1 What are the two major forms of workplace diversity?

2-2 How does workplace discrimination undermine organizational effectiveness?

2-3 How are the key biographical characteristics relevant to OB?

2-4 How do other differentiating characteristics factor into OB?

2-5 What are the relevant points of intellectual and physical abilities to organizational behavior?

2-6 How can organizations manage diversity effectively?

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Helping Each Other and Finding Out We Aren’t That Different

Break into teams of four or five while trying to maximize internal diversity. Student take turns sharing with the others a problem that they are currently facing in their lives. Any problem can be presented; the only requirement is that the problem should be meaningful and important for the pre- senter. It can be a problem that students are facing at school, at work, in their sports or leisure activities, or in their personal life. Sample problems are: How can I find an internship? How can I improve my language abilities? Where could I travel for the weekend? And so forth. After each request is shared, all the other team members are asked to use their intellect, experience, network, or skills to figure out if they can help resolve the problem. Each problem must be discussed for a maximum of 7 minutes, and the presenter is invited to write down the advice received. After all the students’ problems are discussed, team members are invited to discuss if and to what extent they are facing, or have faced in the past, problems

similar to those of their classmates, regardless of their country of origin or educational background. The following questions can help in the team discussion (remind them that all infor- mation discussed will remain in the room):

2-7. Do you think that sharing personal problems and helping one another can create a positive climate that favors inclusion and appreciation of each other? What does this exercise teach you about how to manage diversity at work?

2-8. How could this experience be replicated in the workplace for discussing organization-related prob- lems faced by people from different departments? Would you consider establishing a weekly meeting based on this exercise? Discuss the reasons for and reasons against establishing such a ritual.

APPLICATION AND EMPLOYABILIT Y Diversity, in a variety of forms, is important to the applica- tion of OB in the workplace. First, workplace discrimina- tion can undermine the effectiveness of an organization and can lead to many poor outcomes. Beyond biographi- cal characteristics, other factors such as intellectual and physical abilities are important to OB. Knowledge of diver- sity in OB can help you and your organization manage diversity effectively and can help you work effectively with coworkers who may be different than you in a variety of ways. In this chapter, you improved your critical thinking skills and learned various ways to approach issues of social

responsibility through encountering how even minor ele- ments of one’s appearance (e.g., baldness) can affect perceptions in the workplace, the considerations to make when deciding whether one should come out at work, and the usefulness and ethics surrounding affirmative action programs. In the following section, you will have more opportunities to develop these skills by recognizing the dif- ferences and similarities between you and your classmates, considering how moral licensing and tokenism operate in organizations, determining whether diversity training is effective, and examining the so-called encore career.

Source: Inspired by the reciprocity ring exercise described in A. Grant, Give and Take: Why Helping Oth- ers Drives Our Success (Orion Publishing Co., 2013).

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ETHICAL DILEMMA Voiding the “License to Discriminate” On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Robinson was an excellent all-around player and eventually was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; but as the first black person on an MLB team, Robinson had to navigate the chal- lenges of being permitted to join the white-dominated league and faced barriers toward “full participation” due to his race.

In the workplace, tokenism refers to minority members being hired into a position because they are different from other members and sometimes to serve as proof that the organization or group is nondiscriminatory. Once in their positions, tokens are given work that would be stereotypi- cally suitable for their demographic. For example, women may be given stereotypically female tasks instead of other tasks that they would be perfectly capable of performing. By engaging in tokenism, organizations may fall prey to

a moral licensing effect, where employers are more likely to engage in prejudicial or unethical behavior when they have initially behaved in a morally acceptable way (such as in believing that selecting or including one minority member is “proof” that the group is nondiscriminatory).

Questions 2-9. Can you think of other examples in which token-

ism might emerge in the workplace? What are they?

2-10. Organizations use a variety of diversity manage- ment strategies to make employees more aware of and sensitive to the needs of others. Do you think that these same practices may inadvertently (or intentionally) lead to tokenism or moral licensing? Why or why not?

2-11. What do you think can be done to limit tokenism in workgroups and organizations?

Sources: Based on I. Blanken, N. van de Ven, and M. Zeelenberg, “A Meta-Analytic Review of Moral Licensing,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 41, no. 4 (2015): 540–558; Z. Clay, “Tokenism and Black America,” Clutch: News & Opinion, April 2013, https://www.clutchmagonline .com/2013/04/dealing-with-tokenism-in-black-america/; R. Kanter, Men and Women of the Corporation (New York: Basic Books, 1977); and L. Zimmer, “Tokenism and Women in the Workplace: The Limits of Gender-Neutral Theory,” Social Problems 35, no. 1 (1988): 64–77.

CASE INCIDENT 1 Encouraging Female Engineers When Jess Stone tells people she is training to become an engineer, they often remark that she does not look like the kind of person who would “fix a boiler.” Accord- ing to the 23-year-old, who works for aerospace company Airbus, there’s “a bit of a misunderstanding around the term engineer. Oily overalls? These ideas are so outdated.”

While 47 percent of the UK workforce is female, the figure for those working in core engineering occupa- tions is just 12 percent. In engineering businesses, it is only 9 percent, according to EngineeringUK. “Times have changed. There has been progress but it’s still a male bastion,” says Margaret Craddock, who has spent 33 years in the sector. She recalls one eager salesman visiting her site office 30 years ago and asking her, when she was the co-owner of a machinery business, “Is there anybody important here?” More recently, she has also heard men ask women in the sector, “Are you a real engineer?”

In her current role as BatchLine Division lead with Dyer Engineering, a fabrication and machining business in County Durham, Craddock does come across women, but mostly in engineering purchasing departments. “But when you get to welding and machining, it’s a harsh envi- ronment. It’s noisy, it’s dangerous,” she says.

With a retiring workforce and technology creating new opportunities, engineering in Britain is suffering from severe skills shortages, and new blood is urgently needed. According to EngineeringUK’s 2018 report, the sector has an annual demand for 124,000 engineers and technicians with core engineering skills but faces a shortfall of up to 59,000 every year.

Engineering offers exciting prospects and fascinating work. “I really enjoy the technical challenges,” says Emilie Weaving, a mechanical development engineer working for construction equipment manufacturer JCB. Salaries are also good. According to EngineeringUK, graduates with an engineering and technology degree had an average

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Sources: Adapted from C. Tighe, “Female Engineers Flourish but Numbers Stay Stubbornly Low,” Financial Times, October 4, 2019; and J. Miller, “Diverse Recruitment Bottleneck Hinders German Engineering,” Financial Times, November 20, 2019.

starting salary of around €30,000, above the all-subject average of €24,500. Despite eager recruits like Ms. Weav- ing and Ms. Stone, the lack of diversity in UK engineering, which is also reflected in the low intake of people from black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, is a con- cern for the sector.

When it comes to international comparisons, the United Kingdom scores poorly. According to Hayaatun Sillem, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engi- neering, it “has the lowest proportion of female profes- sional engineers of any European country.” But that is not to say that this is only a British issue; proportions are low across the continent.

Recruitment isn’t the only issue; there’s also a reten- tion problem. A 2017 report from the Institution of

Mechanical Engineers said that within a few years of gaining an engineering degree, just under half of the United Kingdom’s female engineering graduates were leaving the profession, while two-thirds of male engi- neers remained. Clearly, this is a huge waste of women’s potential.

Questions 2-12. What factors may have caused the low participation

rate of females in engineering? 2-13. What could be done to attract more women and

other groups that are underrepresented in the profession?

2-14. Retention of women engineers is also an issue. How could this be improved?

CASE INCIDENT 2 The Encore Career Over the past century, the average age of the workforce has increased as medical science has continued to enhance longevity and vitality. As we discussed in this chapter, many individuals will work past the previously established ages of retirement, and the fastest-growing segment of the workforce is individuals over the age of 55.

Unfortunately, older workers face a variety of discrimi- natory attitudes in the workplace. Researchers scanned more than 100 publications on age discrimination to determine what types of age stereotypes were most preva- lent across studies. They found that stereotypes inferred that older workers are lower performers. Research indi- cates that they are not, however, and organizations are realizing the benefits of this needed employee group.

Dale Sweere, HR director for engineering firm Stan- ley Consultants, is one of the growing number of man- agement professionals actively recruiting older workers. Sweere says older workers “typically hit the ground run- ning much quicker and they fit into the organization well.” They bring to the job a higher skill level earned through years of experience, remember an industry’s his- tory, and know the aging customer base.

Tell that to the older worker who is unemployed. Older workers have long been sought by government

contractors, financial firms, and consultants, according to Cornelia Gamlem, president of consulting firm GEMS Group Ltd., and she actively recruits them. However, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the aver- age job search for an unemployed worker over age 55 is 56 weeks, versus 38 weeks for the rest of the unemployed population.

Enter the encore career, also known as unretirement. Increasingly, older workers who aren’t finding fulfill- ing positions are seeking to opt out of traditional roles. After long careers in the workforce, an increasing num- ber are embracing flexible, work-from-home options such as customer service positions. For instance, Olga Howard, 71, signed on as an independent contractor for 25–30 hours per week with Arise Virtual Solutions, han- dling questions for a financial software company after her long-term career ended. Others are starting up new businesses. Chris Farrell, author of Unretirement, said, “Older people are starting businesses more than any other age group.” Others funnel into nonprofit orga- nizations, where the pay may not equal the individual’s previous earning power, but the mission is strong. “They need the money and the meaning,” said Encore.org CEO Marc Freedman. Still others are gaining additional

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education, such as Japan’s “silver entrepreneurs,” who have benefited from the country’s tax credits for train- ing older workers.

Individuals who embark on a second-act career often report they are very fulfilled. However, the loss of workers from their long-standing careers may be undesirable. “In this knowledge economy, the retention of older workers gives employers a competitive edge by allowing them to continue to tap a generation of knowledge and skill,” said Mark Schmit, executive director of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Foundation. “New think- ing by HR professionals and employers will be required to

recruit and retain them. Otherwise, organizations’ great- est asset will walk out the door.”

Questions 2-15. What changes in employment relationships are

likely to occur as the population ages? 2-16. Do you think increasing age diversity will create

new challenges for managers? What types of chal- lenges do you expect will be most profound?

2-17. How can organizations cope with differences related to age discrimination in the workplace? How can older employees help?

Sources: Based on N. Eberstadt and M. W. Hodin, “America Needs to Rethink ‘Retirement’,” The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2014, A15; S. Giegerich, “Older Job-Seekers Must Take Charge, Adapt,” Chicago Tribune, September 10, 2012, 2–3; R. J. Grossman, “Encore!” HR Magazine, July 2014, 27–31; T. Lytle, “Benefits for Older Workers,” HR Magazine, March 2012, 53–58; G. Norman, “Sec- ond Acts after 65,” The Wall Street Journal, September 24, 2014, A13; D. Stipp, “The Anti-Aging Revolution,” Fortune, June 14, 2010, 124–30; R. A. Posthuma and M. A. Campion, “Age Stereotypes in the Workplace: Common Stereotypes, Moderators, and Future Research Directions,” Journal of Management 35 (2009): 158–88; and P. Sullivan, “Older, They Turn a Phone into a Job,” The New York Times, March 25, 2014, F3.

ENDNOTES 1 M. Toossi, “A Century of Change: The U.S. Labor Force, 1950–2050,” Bureau of Labor Sta- tistics, May 2002, www.bls.gov/opub/2002/05/ art2full.pdf. 2 U.S. Census Bureau, DataFerrett, Current Population Survey, December 2016; S. Ricker, “The Changing Face of U.S. Jobs,” Career- Builder, March 26, 2015, www.thehiringsite .careerbuilder.com/2015/03/26/9-findings- diversity-americas-workforce. 3 L. Colley, “Not Codgers in Cardigans! Female Workforce Participation and Aging Public Services,” Gender Work and Organization 20, no. 3 (2013): 327–48; and M. DiNatale and S. Boraas, “The Labor Force Experience of Women from Generation X,” Monthly Labor Review, March 2002, 1–15. 4 W. H. Frey, Diversity Explosion (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2014). 5 M. Toossi, “Labor Force Projections to 2020: A More Slowly Growing Workforce,” Monthly Labor Review, January 2012, 43–64. 6 J. Faragher, “Reporting Requirements Will Take Gender Pay Rows from the Red Carpet to the UK Shop Floor,” People Management, February 2017: 27–30. 7 A. H. Eagly and J. L. Chin, “Are Member- ships in Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Catego- ries Merely Surface Characteristics?” American Psychologist 65, no. 9 (2010): 934–35. 8 W. J. Casper, J. H. Wayne, and J. G. Mane- gold, “Who Will We Recruit? Targeting Deep- and Surface-Level Diversity with Human Resource Policy Advertising,” Human Resource Management 52, no. 3 (2013):

311–32; S. L. Gaertner and J. F. Dovidio, Reducing Intergroup Bias: The Common Ingroup Identity Model (Philadelphia: Psychology Press, 2000). 9 C. T. Kulik, “Spotlight on the Context: How a Stereotype Threat Framework Might Help Organizations to Attract and Retain Older Workers,” Industrial and Organizational Psychol- ogy 7, no. 3 (2014): 456–61. 10 S. J. Spencer, C. Logel, and P. G. Davies, “Stereotype Threat,” Annual Review of Psychol- ogy 67 (2016): 415–37. 11 E. J. Kenny and R. B. Briner, “Stereotype Threat and Minority Ethnic Employees: What Should Our Research Priorities Be?” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7, no. 3 (2014): 425–29; and Spencer, Logel, and Davies, “ Stereotype Threat.” 12 J. A. Grand, “Brain Drain? An Examination of Stereotype Threat Effects during Training on Knowledge Acquisition and Organizational Effectiveness,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 102, no. 2 (2017): 115–50; and Spencer, Logel, and Davies, “Stereotype Threat.” 13 G. M. Walton, M. C. Murphy, and A. M. Ryan, “Stereotype Threat in Organizations: Implications for Equity and Performance,” Annual Review of Organizational Psychol- ogy and Organizational Behavior 2 (2015): 523–50. 14 G. Czukor and M. Bayazit, “Casting a Wide Net? Performance Deficit, Priming, and Subjective Performance Evaluation in Organizational Stereotype Threat Research,” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7, no. 3 (2014): 409–12; K. S. Jones and N. C.

Carpenter, “Toward a Sociocultural Psycho- logical Approach to Examining Stereotype Threat in the Workplace,” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7, no. 3 (2014): 429–32; Kulik, “Spotlight on the Context”; C. T. Kulik, S. Perera, and C. Cregan, “Engage Me: The Mature-Age Worker and Stereotype Threat,” Academy of Management Journal 59, no. 6 (2016): 2132–56 ; and O. R. Shewach, P. R. Sackett, and S. Quint, “Stereotype Threat Effects in Settings with Features Likely versus Unlikely in Operational Test Settings: A Meta-analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology (in press). 15 L. M. Cortina, “Unseen Injustice: Incivility as Modern Discrimination in Organiza- tions,” Academy of Management Review 33, no. 1 (2008): 55–75; and C. M. Harold and B. C. Holtz, “The Effects of Passive Leadership on Workplace Incivility,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 36, no. 1 (2015): 16–38. 16 N. A. Bowling and T. A. Beehr, “Workplace Harassment from the Victim’s Perspective: A Theoretical Model and Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 5 (2006): 998–1012; and J. P. Jamieson, K. Koslov, M. K. Nock, and W. B. Mendes, “Experiencing Dis- crimination Increases Risk Taking,” Psychologi- cal Science 24, no. 2 (2012): 131–39. 17 C. T. Kulik, S. Ryan, S. Harper, and G. George, “Aging Populations and Manage- ment,” Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 4 (2014): 929–35. 18 M. Toossi, “Labor Force Projections to 2024: The Labor Force Is Growing, but Slowly,” Monthly Labor Review, December 2015,

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https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2015/article/ labor-force-projections-to-2024.htm. 19 A. Tergesen, “Why Everything You Know about Aging Is Probably Wrong,” The Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2014, B1–B2. 20 L. Turner and A. Suflas, “Global Diversity— One Program Won’t Fit All,” HR Magazine, May 2014, 59–61. 21 L. Weber, “Americans Rip Up Retirement Plans,” The Wall Street Journal, January 31, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127 887323926104578276241741448064.html. 22 M. Chand and R. L. Tung, “The Aging of the World’s Population and Its Effects on Global Business,” Academy of Management Per- spectives 28, no. 4 (2014): 409–29. 23 S. Shellenbarger, “Work & Family Mailbox,” The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2014, D2. 24 N. E. Wolfson, T. M. Cavanaugh, and K. Kraiger, “Older Adults and Technology-Based Instruction: Optimizing Learning Outcomes and Transfer,” Academy of Management Learning & Education 13, no. 1 (2014): 26–44. 25 T. W. H. Ng and D. C. Feldman, “Re-exam- ining the Relationship between Age and Vol- untary Turnover,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 74, no. 3 (2009): 283–94. 26 T. W. H. Ng and D. C. Feldman, “The Rela- tionship of Age to Ten Dimensions of Job Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 93, no. 2 (2008): 392–423. 27 T. W. H. Ng and D. C. Feldman, “Evaluat- ing Six Common Stereotypes about Older Workers with Meta-Analytical Data,” Personnel Psychology 65, no. 4 (2012): 821–58. 28 A. Tergesen, “Why Everything You Know about Aging Is Probably Wrong,” The Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2014, B1–B2. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid.; A. Burmeister, M. Wang, and A. Hirs- chi, “Understanding the Motivational Benefits of Knowledge Transfer for Older and Younger Workers in Age-Diverse Coworker Dyads: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology (in press); Y. Li, Y. Gong, A. Burmeister, M. Wang, V. Alterman, A. Alonso, and S. Robinson, “Leveraging Age Diversity for Organizational Performance: An Intellectual Capital Perspective,” Journal of Applied Psychology (in press). 31 A. Tergesen, “Why Everything You Know about Aging Is Probably Wrong.” 32 T. W. H. Ng and D. C. Feldman, “The Rela- tionship of Age with Job Attitudes: A Meta- Analysis,” Personnel Psychology 63, no. 3 (2010): 677–718. 33 E. Zell, Z. Krizan, and S. R. Teeter, “Evaluat- ing Gender Similarities and Differences Using Metasynthesis,” American Psychologist 70, no. 1 (2015): 10–20. 34 J. B. Allendorfer, C. J. Lindsell, M. Siegel, C. L. Banks, J. Vannest, S. K. Holland, and J. P. Szaflarski, “Females and Males Are Highly Similar in Language Performance and Corti- cal Activation Patterns during Verb Genera- tion,” Cortex 48, no. 9 (2012): 1218–33; and

A. Ardilla, M. Rosselli, E. Matute, and O. Inozemtseva, “Gender Differences in Cogni- tive Development,” Developmental Psychology 47, no. 4 (2011): 984–90. 35 P. L. Roth, K. L. Purvis, and P. Bobko, “A Meta-Analysis of Gender Group Differences for Measures of Job Performance in Field Studies,” Journal of Management 38, no. 2 (2012): 719–39. 36 S. C. Paustian-Underdahl, L. S. Walker, and D. J. Woehr, “Gender and Perceptions of Leadership Effectiveness: A Meta-Analysis of Contextual Moderators,” Journal of Applied Psy- chology 99, no. 6 (2014): 1129–45. 37 R. E. Silverman, “Study Suggests Fix for Gender Bias on the Job,” The Wall Street Jour- nal, January 9, 2013, D4. 38 A. J. Koch, S. D. D’Mello, and P. R. Sackett, “A Meta-Analysis of Gender Stereotypes and Bias in Experimental Simulations of Employ- ment Decision Making,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 1 (2015): 128–61. 39 E. B. King, W. Botsford, M. R. Hebl, S. Kazama, J. F. Dawson, and A. Perkins, “Benev- olent Sexism at Work: Gender Differences in the Distribution of Challenging Developmen- tal Experiences,” Journal of Management 38, no. 6 (2012): 1835–66. 40K. S. Lyness and D. E. Thompson, “Above the Glass Ceiling? A Comparison of Matched Samples of Female and Male Executives,” Journal of Applied Psychology 82 (1997): 359–75; C. Hymowitz and T. D. Schellhardt, “The Glass Ceiling,” The Wall Street Journal (March 24, 1986): D1, 4–5; B. Zimmer, “The Phrase ‘Glass Ceiling’ Stretches Back Decades,” The Wall Street Journal (April 3, 2015), https:// www.wsj.com/articles/the-phrase-glass-ceiling- stretches-back-decades-1428089010. 41Catalyst, List: Women CEOs of the S&P 500, accessed April 16, 2020, https://www.catalyst. org/research/women-ceos-of-the-sp-500/. 42L. Gartzia, M. K. Ryan, N. Balluerka, and A. Aritzeta, “Think Crisis—Think Female: Further Evidence,” European Journal of Work and Orga- nizational Psychology 21, no. 4 (2014): 603–28; M. K. Ryan and S. A. Haslam, “The Glass Cliff: Evidence That Women Are Over-represented in Precarious Leadership Positions,” British Journal of Management 16, no. 2 (2005): 81–90; M. K. Ryan and S. A. Haslam, “The Glass Cliff: Exploring the Dynamics Surrounding the Appointment of Women to Precarious Leader- ship Positions,” Academy of Management Review 32, no. 2 (2007): 549–72. 43P. Wechsler, “58 women CFOs in the Fortune 500: Is This progress?” Fortune, February 24, 2015, http://fortune.com/ 2015/02/24/58-women-cfos-in-the-fortune- 500-is-this-progress/. 44J. M. Hoobler, C. R. Masterson, S. M. Nkomo, and E. J. Michel, “The Business Case for Women Leaders: Meta-analysis, Research Critique, and Path Forward,” Journal of Management 44, no. 6 (2018): 2473–99; S. C. Paustian-Underdahl, L. Slattery Walker, and D. J. Woehr, “Gender and Perceptions

of Leadership Effectiveness: A Meta-analysis of Contextual Moderators,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 6 (2014): 1129–45. 45A. Damast, “She Works Hard for Less Money,” Bloomberg Businessweek, December 24, 2012–January 6, 2013, 31–32. 46B. Casselman, “Male Nurses Earn More,” The Wall Street Journal, February 26, 2013, A2. 47A. Joshi, J. Son, and H. Roh, “When Can Women Close the Gap? A Meta-Analytic Test of Sex Differences in Performance and Rewards,” Academy of Management Journal 58, no. 5 (2015): 1516–45. 48A. J. C. Cuddy, “Increasingly, Juries Are Tak- ing the Side of Women Who Face Workplace Discrimination,” Harvard Business Review, September 2012, 95–100. 49J. M. Hoobler, G. Lemmon, and S. J. Wayne, “Women’s Managerial Aspirations: An Organi- zational Development Perspective,” Journal of Management 40, no. 3 (2014): 703–30. 50M. J. Williams and L. Z. Tiedens, “The Sub- tle Suspension of Backlash: A Meta-Analysis of Penalties for Women’s Implicit and Explicit Dominance Behavior,” Psychological Bulletin, 142, no. 2 (2016): 165–97. 51Turner and Suflas, “Global Diversity—One Program Won’t Fit All.” 52Ibid. 53G. N. Powell and D. A. Butterfield, “Explor- ing the Influence of Decision Makers’ Race and Gender on Actual Promotions to Top Management,” Personnel Psychology 55, no. 2 (2002): 397–428. 54T. Vega, “With Diversity Still Lacking, Indus- try Focuses on Retention,” The New York Times, September 4, 2012, B3. 55D. Hack-Polay, “It’s Time to Stop Auditing and Start Acting on Racial Discrimination,” People Management, December 2017/January 2018: 20. 56D. R. Avery, P. F. McKay, and D. C. Wilson, “What Are the Odds? How Demographic Similarity Affects the Prevalence of Per- ceived Employment Discrimination,” Jour- nal of Applied Psychology 93, no. 2 (2008): 235–49. 57P. Bobko and P. L. Roth, “Reviewing, Catego- rizing, and Analyzing the Literature on Black- White Mean Differences for Predictors of Job Performance: Verifying Some Perceptions and Updating/Correcting Others,” Personnel Psychology 66, no. 1 (2013): 91–126; and P. F. McKay and M. A. McDaniel, “A Reexamina- tion of Black-White Mean Differences in Work Performance: More Data, More Moderators,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 3 (2006): 538–54. 58S. Mullainathan, “The Measuring Sticks of Racial Bias,” The New York Times, January 4, 2015, 6. 59M. Bertrand and S. Mullainathan, “Are Emily and Brendan More Employable Than Latoya and Tyrone? Evidence on Racial Dis- crimination in the Labor Market from a Large Randomized Experiment,” American Economic Review, 94 (2004): 991–1013.

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104 PART 2 The Individual

60B. R. Ragins, J. A. Gonzalez, K. Ehrhardt, and R. Singh, “Crossing the Threshold: The Spillover of Community Racial Diversity and Diversity Climate to the Workplace,” Personnel Psychology 65, no. 4 (2012): 755–87. 61P. F. McKay, D. R. Avery, and M. A. Morris, “Mean Racial-Ethnic Differences in Employee Sales Performance: The Moderating Role of Diversity Climate,” Personnel Psychology 61, no. 2 (2008): 349–74; and P. F. McKay, D. R. Avery, S. Tonidandel, M. A. Morris, M. Her- nanez, and M. R. Hebl, “Racial Differences in Employee Retention: Are Diversity Climate Perceptions the Key?” Personnel Psychology 60, no. 1 (2007): 35–62. 62D. R. Avery, J. A. Richeson, M R. Hebl, and N. Ambady, “It Does Not Have to Be Uncom- fortable: The Role of Behavioral Scripts in Black-White Interracial Interactions,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94, no. 6 (2009): 1382–93. 63Turner and Suflas, “Global Diversity—One Program Won’t Fit All.” 64Information on the Americans with Disabili- ties Act can be found on their website at www .ada.gov, accessed July 28, 2015. 65S. G. Goldberg, M. B. Killeen, and B. O’Day, “The Disclosure Conundrum: How People with Psychiatric Disabilities Navigate Employ- ment,” Psychology, Public Policy, and Law 11, no. 3 (2005): 463–500; M. L. Ellison, Z. Russi- nova, K. L. MacDonald-Wilson, and A. Lyass, “Patterns and Correlates of Workplace Disclo- sure among Professionals and Managers with Psychiatric Conditions,” Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation 18, no. 1 (2003): 3–13; and C. Hunter, M.-L. Verreynne, N. Pachana, and P. Harpur, “The Impact of Disability-Assistance Animals on the Psychological Health of Work- places: A Systematic Review,” Human Resource Management Review 29 (2019): 400–17. 66B. S. Bell and K. J. Klein, “Effect of Disabil- ity, Gender, and Job Level on Ratings of Job Applicants,” Rehabilitation Psychology 46, no. 3 (2001): 229–46; and E. Louvet, “Social Judg- ment toward Job Applicants with Disabilities: Perception of Personal Qualities and Com- petences,” Rehabilitation Psychology 52, no. 3 (2007): 297–303. 67J. E. Beatty, D. C. Baldridge, S. A. Boehm, M. Kukarni, and A. J. Colella, “On the Treatment of Persons with Disabilities in Organizations: A Review and Research Agenda,” Human Resource Management 58 (2019): 119–37; S. Bonaccio, C. E. Connelly, I. R. Gellatly, A. Jetha, and K. A. Martin Ginis, “The Participa- tion of People with Disabilities in the Work- place across the Employment Cycle: Employer Concerns and Research Evidence,” Journal of Business and Psychology 35 (2020): 135–58; and L. R. Ren, R. L. Paetzold, and A. Colella, “A Meta-Analysis of Experimental Studies on the Effects of Disability on Human Resource Judgments,” Human Resource Management Review 18, no. 3 (2008): 191–203. 68S. Almond and A. Healey, “Mental Health and Absence from Work: New Evidence from

the UK Quarterly Labour Force Survey,” Work, Employment, and Society 17, no. 4 (2003): 731–42. 69P. T. J. H. Nelissen, K. Vornholt, G. M. C. Van Ruitenbeek, U. R. Hulsheger, and S. Uitdewil- ligen, “Disclosure or Nondisclosure—Is This the Question?” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7, no. 2 (2014): 231–35. 70A. M. Santuzzi, P. R. Waltz, and L. M. Fin- kelstein, “Invisible Disabilities: Unique Chal- lenges for Employees and Organizations,” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7, no. 2 (2014): 204–19. 71Ibid. 72T. D. Johnson and A. Joshi, “Dark Clouds or Silver Linings? A Stigma Threat Perspective on the Implications of an Autism Diagnosis for Workplace Well-Being,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 3 (2015): 430–49. 73R. A. Schriber, R. W. Robins, and M. Solo- mon, “Personality and Self-Insight in Individu- als with Autism Spectrum Disorder,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 106, no. 1 (2014): 112–30. 74C. L. Nittrouer, R. C. E. Trump, K. R. O’Brien, and M. Hebl, “Stand Up and Be Counted: In the Long Run, Disclosing Helps All,” Industrial and Organizational Psychology 7, no. 2 (2014): 235–41. 75T. W. H. Ng and D. C. Feldman, “Organiza- tional Tenure and Job Performance,” Journal of Management 36, no. 5 (2010): 1220–50; T. W. H. Ng and D. C. Feldman, “Does Longer Job Tenure Help or Hinder Job Performance?” Journal of Vocational Behavior 83, no. 3 (2013): 305–14. 76Turner and Suflas, “Global Diversity—One Program Won’t Fit All.” 77T. Audi, “A New Mosque Rises in Anchor- age,” The Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2014, A5. 78E. B. King and A. S. Ahmad, “An Experimen- tal Field Study of Interpersonal Discrimina- tion toward Muslim Job Applicants,” Personnel Psychology 63, no. 4 (2010): 881–906. 79S. Ghumman, A. M. Ryan, and J. S. Park, “Religious Harassment in the Workplace: An Examination of Observer Intervention,” Jour- nal of Organizational Behavior 37, no. 2 (2016): 279–306. 80A. Liptak, “In a Case of Religious Dress, Justices Explore the Obligations of Employ- ers,” The New York Times (February 25, 2015), http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/26/us/ in-a-case-of-religious-dress-justices-explore- the-obligations-of-employers.html?ref= topics&_r=2. 81A. Tilcsik, “Pride and Prejudice: Employ- ment Discrimination against Openly Gay Men in the United States,” American Journal of Sociol- ogy 117, no. 2 (2011): 586–626. 82B. A. Everly, M. M. Unzueta, and M. J. Shih, “Can Being Gay Provide a Boost in the Hir- ing Process? Maybe if the Boss Is Female,” Journal of Business Psychology 31, no. 2 (2016): 293–306.

83J. Browne, “What One CEO Learned by Being Outed,” The Wall Street Journal, June 7–8, 2014, C3. 84U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Facts about Discrimination in Federal Government Employment Based on Marital Status, Political Affiliation, Status as a Parent, Sexual Orientation, or Transgender (Gender Identity) Status,” (Washington, DC: Author, 2013), www.eeoc.gov/federal/ otherprotections.cfm. 85Turner and Suflas, “Global Diversity—One Program Won’t Fit All.” 86V. Priola, D. Lasio, S. De Simone, and F. Serri, “The Sound of Silence: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Discrimina- tion in ‘Inclusive Organizations,’” British Journal of Management 25, no. 3 (2012): 488–502. 87P. Gerber and J. Gory, “The UB Human Rights Committee and LGBT Rights: What Is It Doing? What Could It Be Doing?”, Human Rights Law Review 14, no. 3 (2014): 403–39. 88U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Com- mission, “Sex-Based Discrimination,” (Wash- ington, DC: Author, 2013), www.eeoc.gov/ laws/types/sex.cfm. 89C. Burns, “The Costly Business of Discrimi- nation,” Center for American Progress, March 2012, www.scribd.com/doc/81214767/ The-Costly-Business-of-Discrimination. 90Human Rights Campaign Foundation, HRC Corporate Equality Index 2017: Rating Workplaces on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equal- ity (Washington, DC: Author, 2017), http:// assets.hrc.org//files/assets/resources/CEI- 2017-FinalReport.pdf. 91P. Levy, “Does the Hobby Lobby Decision Threaten Gay Rights?” Newsweek, July 9, 2014, http://www.newsweek.com/does-hobby-lobby- decision-threaten-gay-rights-258098. 92Priola, Lasio, De Simone, and Serri, “The Sound of Silence.” 93H. Deresky, International Management: Managing across Borders and Cultures (Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, 2014); Latham & Watkins LLP, Doing Business in the United Arab Emirates (Qatar: LW.com, 2014). 94R. E. Nisbett, J. Aronson, C. Blair, W. Dickens, J. Flynn, D. F. Halpern, and E. Tur- kheimer, “Intelligence: New Findings and Theoretical Developments,” American Psycholo- gist 67, no. 2 (2012): 130–59. 95L. S. Gottfredson, “The Challenge and Promise of Cognitive Career Assessment,” Journal of Career Assessment 11, no. 2 (2003): 115–35. 96M. D. Dunnette and E. A. Fleishman (eds.), Human Performance and Productivity: Human Capability Assessment (New York and London: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis Group, 2014). 97M. J. Ree and T. R. Carretta, “g2K,” Human Performance 15, nos. 1–2 (2002): 3–23; and W. J. Schneider and D. A. Newman, “Intelligence Is Multidimensional: Theoretical Review and

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Implications of Specific Cognitive Abilities,” Human Resource Management Review 25, no. 1 (2015): 12–27. 98N. Barber, “Educational and Ecological Cor- relates of IQ: A Cross-National Investigation,” Intelligence 33, no. 3 (2005): 273–84. 99N. Schmitt, “Personality and Cognitive Ability as Predictors of Effective Performance at Work,” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 1 (2014): 45–65. 100A. Hollis, “What Companies Will Make You Take a Wonderlic Test?” Beat the Wonderlic Blog, August 2, 2016, https://beatthewonderlic .com/blogs/news/what-companies-will-make- you-take-a-wonderlic-test. 101Y. Ganzach, “Intelligence and Job Satisfac- tion,” Academy of Management Journal 41, no. 5 (1998): 526–39; and Y. Ganzach, “ Intelligence, Education, and Facets of Job Satisfaction,” Work and Occupations 30, no. 1 (2003): 97–122. 102J. M. Jensen, P. C. Patel, and J. L. Raver, “Is it Better to Be Average? High and Low Perfor- mance as Predictors of Employee Victimiza- tion,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 99, no. 2 (2014): 296–309; E. Kim and T. M. Glomb, “Get Smarty Pants: Cognitive Ability, Personal- ity, and Victimization,” Journal of Applied Psy- chology 95, no. 5 (2010): 889–901; and E. Kim and T. M. Glomb, “Victimization of High Per- formers: The Roles of Envy and Work Group Identification,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 4 (2014): 619–34. 103J. J. Caughron, M. D. Mumford, and E. A. Fleishman, “The Fleishman Job Analysis Survey: Development, Validation, and Appli- cations,” in M. A. Wilson, W. Bennett Jr., S. G. Gibson, and G. M. Alliger (eds.), The Handbook of Work Analysis: Methods, Systems, Applications and Science of Work Measurement in Organizations (New York: Routledge/ Taylor & Francis Group, 2012); and P. D. Converse, F. L. Oswald, M. A. Gillespie, K. A. Field, and E. B. Bizot, “Matching Individu- als to Occupations Using Abilities and the O*Net: Issues and an Application in Career Guidance,” Personnel Psychology 57, no. 2 (2004): 451–87. 104S. S. Wang, “Companies Find Autism Can Be a Job Skill,” The Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2014, B1–B2.

105Q. M. Roberson, “Diversity in the Work- place: A Review, Synthesis, and Future Research Agenda,” Annual Review of Organiza- tional Psychology and Organizational Behavior 6 (2019): 69–88. 106N. Wingfield, “Microsoft Chief Backpedals on Women’s Pay,” The Wall Street Journal, Octo- ber 10, 2014, B1, B7. 107D. R. Avery, “Reactions to Diversity in Recruit- ment Advertising: Are the Differences Black and White?” Journal of Applied Psychology 88, no. 4 (2003): 672–79; P. F. McKay and D. R. Avery, “What Has Race Got to Do with It? Unravel- ing the Role of Racioethnicity in Job Seekers’ Reactions to Site Visits,” Personnel Psychology 59, no. 2 (2006): 395–429; and D. R. Avery and P. F. McKay, “Target Practice: An Organizational Impression Management Approach to Attract- ing Minority and Female Job Applicants,” Per- sonnel Psychology 59, no. 1 (2006): 157–87. 108A. Overholt, “More Women Coders,” Fortune, February 25, 2013, 14. 109L. Kwoh, “McKinsey Tries to Recruit Moth- ers Who Left the Fold,” The Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2013, B1, B7. 110S. T. Bell, “Deep-Level Composition Vari- ables as Predictors of Team Performance: A Meta–Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 92, no. 3 (2007): 595–615; S. K. Horwitz and I. B. Horwitz, “The Effects of Team Diversity on Team Outcomes: A Meta-Analytic Review of Team Demography,” Journal of Management 33, no. 6 (2007): 987–1015; G. L. Stewart, “A Meta-Analytic Review of Relationships between Team Design Features and Team Performance,” Journal of Management 32, no. 1 (2006): 29–54; and A. Joshi and H. Roh, “The Role of Context in Work Team Diversity Research: A Meta-Analytic Review,” Academy of Management Journal 52, no. 3 (2009): 599–627. 111G. Andrevski, O. C. Richard, J. D. Shaw, and W. J. Ferrier, “Racial Diversity and Firm Per- formance: The Mediating Role of Competitive Intensity,” Journal of Management 40, no. 3 (2014): 820–44. 112A. C. Homan, J. R. Hollenbeck, S. E. Humphrey, D. Van Knippenberg, D. R. Ilgen, and G. A. Van Kleef, “Facing Differences with an Open Mind: Openness to Experi- ence, Salience of Intragroup Differences,

and Performance of Diverse Work Groups,” Academy of Management Journal 51, no. 6 (2008): 1204–22. 113R. Maurer, “International Assignments Expected to Increase in 2013,” Society for Human Resource Management: Global HR, May 14, 2013, https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/ hr-topics/global-hr/Pages/ International- Assignments-Increase-2013.aspx. 114P. Bhaskar-Shrinivas, D. A. Harrison, M. A. Shaffer, and D. M. Luk, “Input-Based and Time-Based Models of International Adjust- ment: Meta-Analytic Evidence and Theoretical Extensions,” Academy of Management Journal 48, no. 2 (2005): 257–81; and J. Bonache, H. Langinier, and C. Zárraga-Oberty, “Ante- cedents and Effects of Host Country Nationals Negative Stereotyping of Corporate Expa- triates: A Social Identity Analysis,” Human Resource Management Review 26, no. 1 (2016): 59–68. 115B. M. Firth, G. Chen, B. L. Kirkman, and K. Kim, “Newcomers Abroad: Expatriate Adap- tation during Early Phases of International Assignments,” Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 1 (2014): 280–300. 116J. Zhu, C. R. Wanberg, D. A. Harrison, and E. W. Diehn, “Ups and Downs of the Expatri- ate Experience? Understanding Work Adjust- ment Trajectories and Career Outcomes,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 4 (2016): 549–68. 117Bhaskar-Shrinivas, Harrison, Shaffer, and Luk, “Input-Based and Time-Based Models of International Adjustment.” 118C. L. Holladay and M. A. Quiñones, “The Influence of Training Focus and Trainer Characteristics on Diversity Training Effec- tiveness,” Academy of Management Learning and Education 7, no. 3 (2008): 343–54; and R. Anand and M. Winters, “A Retrospective View of Corporate Diversity Training from 1964 to the Present,” Academy of Manage- ment Learning and Education 7, no. 3 (2008): 356–72. 119 A. Sippola and A. Smale, “The Global Integration of Diversity Management: A Lon- gitudinal Case Study,” International Journal of Human Resource Management 18, no. 11 (2007): 1895–1916.

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106

Attitudes and Job Satisfaction3

3-1 Contrast the three components of an attitude.

3-2 Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.

3-3 Compare the major job attitudes.

3-4 Define job satisfaction.

3-5 Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.

3-6 Identify three outcomes of job satisfaction.

3-7 Identify four employee responses to job dissatisfaction.

LEARNING OBJECTIV ES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

S o u rc

e : R

ic h a rd

M cD

o w

e ll/

A la

m y

S to

ck P

h o to

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 107

Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

IN THE LEGOLAND WONDERLAND

Imagine working in a workplace divided into flexible work zones with no specific seating arrangements and no offices for managers, where you can choose to work in different settings that can support the activities or

tasks you are performing, within an environment that can provide the ambi-

ence that helps you perform at your best. Imagine a workplace that has

a variety of spaces that support different types of individual work as well

as teamwork, a workplace that includes a library, quiet-zone booths (which

are do-not-disturb places), areas that are equipped with high partitions for

“head down” work, as well as small, closed rooms for complete privacy and

circular “study caves” carved out of a wall for individual contemplation or

rest. A workplace where technology enhances job satisfaction and innova-

tion plays a key role, and where creativity is constantly stimulated in vari-

ous ways. A workplace that, apart from the workspace, includes a wellness

center (containing gyms, massage rooms, a swimming pool, a multi-use

indoor sports pitch, and more), a rooftop garden split over multiple floors,

and cafes where you can grab healthy and reenergizing food and bever-

ages. This has been the vision, and ultimately the reality, for Lego’s work

environment set-up.

This matrix identifies which features and end-of-chapter material will help you develop specific skills employers are looking for in job candidates.

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

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108 PART 2 The Individual

Some will wonder, why go to such lengths to create such an office envi-

ronment? Lego shares a philosophy with Google, Microsoft, and Facebook

that their staff must be encouraged to be creative and to become, and they

seek to achieve this by providing exemplary working environments. They have

embedded in their organizational culture the belief that employees’ momen-

tum and wellbeing is key to improving job satisfaction. Sophie Patrikios,

Senior Director of Consumer Services at Lego, has stated that the leader-

ship at Lego is always supportive and driven by a clear vision; it is not fix-

ated on numbers but on the core values of the company deriving from its

vision. Conversely, behaviors that are not in line with the values and the

vision of the company have no place in it. The company seeks to instill its

values and vision by encouraging management to allow space for creativity

and initiative.

Many at Lego will aver that thinking and behaving like this is in the com-

pany’s DNA, linked to their famous bricks, an outlet for creativity of many

a child (and adult). Others would add that this company has an authentic

reverence for its employees, seeking not just to appeal to their minds in

motivating performance but also to their hearts. More prosaically, others

will see this as a way to re-engineer traditional HR to ensure a happy work-

force for an ultimately profitable workplace. But if all these play an impor-

tant role in employees’ overall job satisfaction—and of course they do

—how do these elements actually affect the way they formulate their atti-

tudes about the company’s human resource management philosophy and

approach?

Sources: “Best Places to Work 2020,” Glassdoor, https://www.glassdoor.com/Award/ Best-Places-to-Work-LST_KQ0,19.htm; Alex Hern, The Guardian, “Google Submits Plans for ‘Landscraper’ London Headquarters,” June 1, 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/ technology/2017/jun/01/google-submits-plans-million-sq-ft-london-hq-construction-kings- cross; The Long + Short, “Hot Desks: Inside LEGO’s Imaginative London Office,” July 11, 2016, https://thelongandshort.org/spaces/lego-creative-london-hq; Indeed, “Lego Group Com- pany Reviews by Employees, https://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/The-Lego-Group/reviews; Financial Times, “Happy Workplaces Help Companies Perform Better,” December 20, 2017, https://www.ft.com/content/6081b1fc-d0b2-11e5-92a1-c5e23ef99c77; Inside, “A Great Company Culture Example: LEGO,” December 20, 2017, https://inside.6q.io/ company-culture-example-lego/.

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 109

It’s a truism to say that a happy worker is a productive worker. As the chapter- opening vignette shows, however, what contributes to the development of job attitudes varies and may change over time. What factors besides organiza- tional culture, leadership, and infrastructure affect job attitudes?1 Does having a satisfying job really matter? Before we tackle these important questions, it’s important to define what we mean by attitudes generally and by job attitudes in particular.

Attitudes Attitudes are evaluative statements—either favorable or unfavorable—about objects, people, or events. They reflect how we feel about something. When you say, “I like my job,” you are expressing your attitude about your work.

Attitudes are complex. If you ask people about their attitude toward reli- gion, Lady Gaga, or an organization, you may get a simple response, but the underlying reasons are probably complicated. To fully understand attitudes, we must consider their fundamental properties or components.

Typically, researchers assume that attitudes have three components: cognition, affect, and behavior.2 The statement “My pay is low” is a cognitive component of an attitude—a description of or belief in the way things are. It sets the stage for the more critical part of an attitude—its affective component. Affect is the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude reflected in the statement, “I am angry over how little I’m paid.” Affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. The behavioral component of an attitude describes an intention to behave a certain way toward someone or something—as in, “I’m going to look for another job that pays better.”

Viewing attitudes as having three components—affect, behavior, and cogni- tion (e.g., the ABCs of attitudes)—helps understand their complexity and the potential relationship between attitudes and behavior. For example, imagine you ( just now) realized that someone treated you unfairly. Aren’t you likely to have almost instantaneous feelings occurring along with this realization? Thus, cognition and affect are intertwined.

Exhibit 3-1 illustrates how the three components of an attitude are related. In this example, an employee didn’t get a promotion he thought he deserved. His attitude toward his supervisor is illustrated as follows: The employee thought he deserved the promotion (cognition), he strongly dislikes his supervisor (affect), and he has complained and taken action (behavior).

In organizations, attitudes are important for their behavioral component. For example, if workers vary in how committed they are to their organizations and this commitment can lead to whether or not they stay or leave their jobs, we should try to understand how this commitment is formed and how it might be changed. Some research from the Netherlands suggests that, with organiza- tional commitment, prior cognition and behavior both cause affect, although these components are often difficult to separate.3

3-1 Contrast the three components of an attitude. attitudes Evaluative statements or judg- ments concerning objects, people, or events.

cognitive component The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.

affective component The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.

behavioral component An intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.

MyLab Management Watch It If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

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110 PART 2 The Individual

Attitudes and Behavior Early research on attitudes assumed that they were causally related to behavior— that is, the attitudes people hold determine what they do. However, one researcher—Leon Festinger—argued that attitudes follow behavior. Other research- ers have agreed that attitudes predict future behavior.4

Did you ever notice how people change what they say so it doesn’t contradict what they do? Perhaps a friend of yours consistently argued that her apartment complex was better than yours until another friend in your complex asked her to move in with him; once she moved to your complex, you noticed her atti- tude toward her former apartment became more critical. Cases of attitude fol- lowing behavior illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance,5 contradictions individuals might perceive between their attitudes and their behavior.

People seek a stable consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and their behavior.6 Any form of inconsistency is uncomfortable, and individuals therefore attempt to reduce or minimize it. When there is disso- nance, people alter either their attitudes or behavior to minimize the disso- nance, or they develop a rationalization for the discrepancy. Recent research found, for instance, that the attitudes of employees who had emotionally chal- lenging work events improved after they talked about their experiences with coworkers. Social sharing helped these workers adjust their attitudes to behav- ioral expectations.7

No individual can avoid dissonance. You know texting while walking is unsafe, but you do it anyway and convince yourself that nothing bad will hap- pen. Or you give someone advice you have trouble following yourself. The desire to reduce dissonance depends on three factors, including the importance of the elements creating dissonance and the degree of influence we believe we have over the elements. The third factor is the rewards of dissonance; high rewards accompanying high dissonance tend to reduce tension inherent in the dissonance (dissonance is less distressing if accompanied by something good,

3-2 Summarize the relationship between attitudes and behavior.

cognitive dissonance Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.

The Components of an AttitudeExhibit 3-1

Negative attitude toward

supervisor

Cognitive = evaluation My supervisor gave a promotion to a coworker who deserved it less than I did. My supervisor is unfair.

Affective = feeling I dislike my supervisor!

A ff

ec t,

b eh

a vi

o r,

a n d c

o g n it io

n a

re c

lo se

ly r

el a te

d .

Behavioral = action I’m looking for other work; I’ve complained about my supervisor to anyone who would listen.

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 111

such as a higher pay raise than expected). Individuals are more motivated to reduce dissonance when the attitudes are important or when they believe the dissonance is due to something they can control.

The most powerful moderators of the attitude–behavior relationship are the importance of the attitude, its correspondence to behavior, its accessibility, the presence of social pressures, and whether a person has direct experience with the attitude.8 Important attitudes reflect our fundamental values, self-interest, or identification with individuals or groups we value. These attitudes tend to show a strong relationship to our behavior. However, discrepancies between attitudes and behaviors tend to occur when social pressures to behave in cer- tain ways hold exceptional power, as in most organizations. You’re more likely to remember attitudes you frequently express, and attitudes that our memories can easily access are more likely to predict our behavior. The attitude–behavior relationship is also likely to be much stronger if an attitude refers to something with which we have direct personal experience.

Job Attitudes We have thousands of attitudes, but Organizational Behavior (OB) focuses on a very limited number that form positive or negative evaluations that employees hold about their work environments. Much of the research has looked at three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.9 Other important attitudes include perceived organizational support and employee engagement.

Job Satisfaction and Job Involvement When people speak of employee attitudes, they usually mean job satisfaction, a positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics. A person with high job satisfaction holds positive feelings about the work, while a person with low satisfaction holds negative feelings. Because OB researchers give job satisfaction high importance, we’ll review this attitude in detail later.

3-3 Compare the major job attitudes.

job satisfaction A positive feeling about one’s job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.

Westin Hotels strives for consistency between employee attitudes and behavior through a global wellness program to help employees improve their health. Shown here is Westin’s executive chef, Frank Tujague, whose cooking demonstrations give employ- ees direct experience with healthy ingredients and cooking techniques. Source: Diane Bondareff/AP Images

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112 PART 2 The Individual

Related to job satisfaction is job involvement, the degree to which people identify psychologically with their jobs and consider their perceived perfor- mance levels important to their self-worth.10 Employees with high job involve- ment strongly identify with and care about the kind of work they do. Another closely related concept is psychological empowerment, or employees’ beliefs in the degree to which they influence their work environment, their competen- cies, the meaningfulness of their job, and their autonomy.11

Research suggests that psychological empowerment strongly predicts job attitudes and strain, while it moderately predicts performance behaviors. A meta-analysis spanning 43 studies and over 15,000 employees found that empow- erment tended to be more predictive of these outcomes when considering all four beliefs (i.e., impact, competence, meaningfulness, and self-determination) together instead of each one separately, although some evidence suggests mean- ingfulness empowerment beliefs have a strong effect on attitudes and strain, even after taking the other factors into account.12

Organizational Commitment An employee with strong organizational commitment identifies with his or her organization and its goals and wishes to remain a member. Emotional attachment to an organization and belief in its values is the gold standard for employee commitment.13

job involvement The degree to which a person identifies with a job, actively participates in it, and considers performance important to self-worth.

psychological empowerment Employees’ belief in the degree to which they affect their work environment, their competence, the meaningfulness of their job, and their autonomy in their work.

organizational commitment The degree to which an employee identifies with a particu- lar organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

An Ethical Choice Office Talk

Y ou are working peacefully in your cubicle when your coworker invades your space, sitting on

your desk and nearly overturning your coffee. As she talks about the morning meeting, do you: (a) stop what you’re doing and listen, or (b) explain that you’re in the middle of a project and ask to talk some other time?

Your answer may reflect your atti- tude toward office talk, but it should be guided by whether your participation is ethical. Sometimes, office conversa- tions can help employees to process information and find solutions to prob- lems. Other times, office talk can be damaging to everyone. Consider the scenario from two perspectives: over- sharing and venting.

More than 60 percent of 514 pro- fessional employees recently surveyed indicated they encounter individuals who frequently share too much about themselves. Some are self-centered, narcissistic, and “think you want to know all the details of their lives,” according to psychologist Alan Hilfer.

Despite the drawbacks, overshar- ers can be strong contributors. Billy Bauer, director of marketing for man- ufacturer Royce Leather, is an over- sharer who boasts about his latest sales—which may push other employ- ees to work harder. Employees can also contribute to teamwork when they share personal stories related to organizational goals.

Now let’s look at this the other way. According to Yale Professor Amy Wrz- esniewski, when it comes to office talk, some people are often “the first people to become offended” when they think the organization is making wrong decisions. They can become emotional, challenging, and outspoken about their views. If they are not heard, they can increase their venting or withdraw.

Yet these people can be top- performing employees: They are often highly engaged, inspiring, and strong team players who are more likely to work harder than others. Venting their frustrations helps restore a positive attitude to keep them high performing.

Research indicates that venting to coworkers can also build camaraderie.

Guidelines for acceptable office conversation are almost nonexistent in the contemporary age of openness, personalization, and transparency, so you must decide what kinds of office talk are ethical and productive. Know- ing who is approaching you for conver- sation, why they are approaching you, what they may talk about, and how you may keep the discussion produc- tive and ethical can help you choose whether to engage or excuse yourself.

Sources: Based on S. Shellenbarger, “Office Oversharers: Don’t Tell Us about Last Night,” The Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2014, D2; A. S. McCance, C. D. Nye, L. Wang, K. S. Jones, and C. Chiu, “Alleviating the Bur- den of Emotional Labor: The Role of Social Sharing,” Journal of Management (February 2013): 392–415; S. Shellenbarger, “When It Comes to Work, Can You Care Too Much?” The Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2014, D3; and F. Gino, “Teams Who Share Personal Stories are More Effective,” Harvard Busi- ness Review, April 25, 2016, https://hbr .org/2016/04/teams-who-share-personal- stories-are-more-effective.

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 113

Employees who are committed will be less likely to engage in work with- drawal even if they are dissatisfied because they feel that they should work hard out of a sense of loyalty or attachment. They do not have other options, or it would be difficult to leave.14 Even if employees are not currently happy with their work, they may decide to continue with the organization if they are com- mitted enough.

Perceived Organizational Support Perceived organizational support (POS) is the degree to which employees believe that the organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being. An excellent example is R&D engineer John Greene, whose POS is sky-high because CEO Marc Benioff and 350 fellow Salesforce.com employees covered all his medical expenses and stayed in touch with him throughout his recovery after he was diagnosed with leukemia. No doubt stories like this are part of the reason Salesforce.com was in the top 25 of Fortune’s 100 Best Com- panies to Work For in 2017.15

People perceive their organizations as supportive when rewards are deemed fair, employees have a voice in decisions, and they see their super- visors as supportive.16 POS is a predictor, but there are some cultural influ- ences. POS is important in countries where the power distance, the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organiza- tions is distributed unequally, is lower. In low power-distance countries like the United States, people are more likely to view work as an exchange than as a moral obligation, so employees look for reasons to feel supported by their organizations. In high power-distance countries like China, employee POS perceptions are not as deeply based on demonstrations of fairness, support, and encouragement.17

Employee Engagement Employee engagement is an employee’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for the work he or she does. To evaluate engagement, we might ask employees whether they have access to resources and opportunities to learn new skills, whether they feel their work is important and meaningful, and whether interactions with coworkers and supervisors are rewarding.18 Highly engaged employees have a passion for their work and feel a deep con- nection to their companies; disengaged employees have essentially checked out, putting time but not energy or attention into their work. Engagement becomes a real concern for most organizations because surveys indicate that few employees—between 17 percent and 29 percent—are highly engaged by their work.

Engagement levels determine many measurable outcomes. Reviews of the research on employee engagement suggest that employee engage- ment is moderately related to employee and organizational performance. A study of nearly 8,000 business units in 36 companies found that units whose employees reported high-average levels of engagement achieved higher levels of customer satisfaction, were more productive, brought in higher profits, and experienced lower levels of turnover and accidents than at other business units.19 Molson Coors, for example, found engaged employees were five times less likely to have safety incidents, and when an accident did occur, it was much less serious and less costly for an engaged employee than for a disengaged one ($63 per incident versus $392). Cat- erpillar set out to increase employee engagement and recorded a resulting 80 percent drop in grievances and a 34 percent increase in highly satisfied customers.20

perceived organizational support (POS) The degree to which employees believe an organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being.

power distance The degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally.

employee engagement The degree of enthusiasm an employee feels for the job.

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114 PART 2 The Individual

Such promising findings have earned employee engagement a following in many business organizations and management consulting firms. However, the concept generates active debate about its usefulness, partly because of the dif- ficulty of separating it from related constructs. For example, some note that employee engagement has been used to refer at different times to a variety of different organizational phenomena, including psychological states, personal- ity traits, and behaviors. They suggest, “The meaning of employee engagement is ambiguous among both academic researchers and among practitioners who use it in conversations with clients.” Another reviewer called engagement “an umbrella term for whatever one wants it to be.”21 Another study found that many of the survey questions used to measure employee engagement are simi- lar to those found in satisfaction, commitment, and involvement measures.22 Other meta-analytic research suggests that the relationship between employee engagement and job attitudes is extremely strong, leading one to question whether or not they are measuring distinct concepts.23 For the most part, research suggests that employee engagement predicts important outcomes. For the most part, however, the amassed work to date calls into question how distinct it is from other job attitudes. Thus, there is still work to be done.

Are These Job Attitudes All That Distinct? You might wonder whether job attitudes are, in fact, distinct. If people feel like their work is central to their being (high job involvement), isn’t it probable that they like it, too (high job satisfaction)? Won’t people who think their orga- nization is supportive (high perceived organizational support) also feel com- mitted to it (strong organizational commitment)? Evidence suggests these attitudes are highly related, perhaps to a confusing degree as mentioned in the prior section.

There is some distinctiveness among attitudes, but they overlap greatly for various reasons, including the employee’s personality. Generally, if you know someone’s level of job satisfaction, you know most of what you need to know about how that person sees the organization. Next, we will consider the impli- cations of job satisfaction and then job dissatisfaction.

Performers smiling at guests at Main Street U.S.A. in Disney’s Magic Kingdom are committed to the com- pany and its goal of giving visitors a magical and memorable experience. Through careful hiring and extensive training, Disney ensures that employ- ees identify with its priority of pleasing customers by creating an unforget- table experience for them. Source: Blaine Harrington/Age Fotostock/Alamy Stock

Photo

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 115

Job Satisfaction We have already discussed job satisfaction briefly. Now let’s dissect the concept more carefully. How do we measure job satisfaction? What causes an employee to have a high level of job satisfaction? How do satisfied employees affect an organization? Before you answer these questions, a look at the list of worst jobs for job satisfaction (Exhibit 3-2) may give you some indications. You may be surprised that they are not all low-paying jobs.

Measuring Job Satisfaction Our definition of job satisfaction—a positive feeling about a job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics—is broad. Yet that breadth is appropriate. A job is more than just shuffling papers, writing programming code, waiting on customers, or driving a truck. Jobs require interacting with coworkers and bosses, following organizational rules and policies, determining the power structure, meeting performance standards, living with less-than-ideal working conditions, adapting to new technology, and so forth. An employee’s assess- ment of satisfaction with the job is thus a complex summation of many discrete elements. How, then, do we measure it?

Two approaches are popular. The single global rating is a response to one question, such as “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?” Respondents circle a number between 1 and 5 on a scale from “highly satisfied” to “highly dissatisfied.” The second method, the summation of job facets, is more sophisticated. It identifies key elements in a job such as the type of work, skills needed, supervision, present pay, promotion opportuni- ties, culture, and relationships with coworkers. Respondents rate these on a standardized scale, and researchers add the ratings to create an overall job satisfaction score.

Is one of these approaches superior? Summing up responses to a num- ber of job factors seems, based on one’s intuition, likely to achieve a more accurate evaluation of job satisfaction. Research doesn’t entirely support this

3-4 Define job satisfaction.

Worst Jobs of 2016 for Job Satisfaction*Exhibit 3-2

Full-year income

$45,970

$47,890

$21,670

$23,210

$30,660

$27,936

$29,010

$35,160

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000

Taxi driver

Firefighter

Advertising salesperson

Retail salesperson

Pest control worker

Broadcaster

Disc jockey

Enlisted military

Logger

$37,200

$37,200

Newspaper reporter

*Based on physical demands, work environment, income, stress, and hiring outlook.

Source: Based on CareerCast.com (2016), http://www.careercast.com/jobs-rated/worst-jobs-2016.

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116 PART 2 The Individual

approach, however.24 This is one of those rare instances in which simplicity seems to work as well as complexity, making one method essentially as valid as the other. Both methods can be helpful. The single global rating method isn’t very time consuming, while the summation of job facets helps managers zero in on problems and deal with them faster and more accurately.

How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs? Are most people satisfied with their jobs? You may want to consider the OB Poll before you answer. Job satisfaction levels can remain quite consistent over time. For instance, U.S. average job satisfaction levels were consistently high from 1972 to 2006.25 However, economic conditions tend to influence job satisfac- tion rates. In late 2007, the economic contraction precipitated a drop-off in job satisfaction; the lowest point was in 2010, when 42.6 percent of U.S. work- ers reported satisfaction with their jobs.26 Approximately 47.7 percent of U.S. workers reported satisfaction with their jobs in 2014,27 but the rebound was still far off the 1987 level of 61.1 percent.28 Job satisfaction rates tend to vary in dif- ferent cultures worldwide, and, of course, there are always competing measure- ments that offer alternative viewpoints.

The facets of job satisfaction levels can vary widely. As shown in Exhibit 3-3, people have typically been more satisfied with their jobs overall, the work itself, and their supervisors and coworkers than they have been with their pay and promotion opportunities.

There are some cultural differences in job satisfaction. Exhibit 3-4 provides the results of a global study of job satisfaction levels of workers in 15 countries, with the highest levels in Mexico and Switzerland. Do employees in these cul- tures have better jobs? Or are they simply more positive (and less self-critical)? Conversely, the lowest score in the study was for South Korea. Autonomy is low in South Korean culture, and businesses tend to be rigidly hierarchical in struc- ture. Does this make for low job satisfaction?29 It is difficult to discern all the factors influencing the scores, but considering how businesses are responding to changes brought on by globalization may give us clues.

65%

60%

55%

50%

45%

40%

Worldwide average

Percentage of 168,000 employees who responded YES to “Are you happy in your job?”

Europe, Middle East, and Africa

All Americas

Asia Pacific

62%

53%

49%

54%

OB POLL Happy Places

Sources: Based on Statista (2013), http://www.statista.com/statistics/224508/employee-job-satisfaction-worldwide/; Kelly Services Group (2012),

http://www.kellyocg.com/uploadedFiles/Content/Knowledge/Kelly_Global_Workforce_Index_Content/Acquisition%20and%20Retention%20

in%20the%20War%20for%20Talent%20Report.pdf.

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 117

What Causes Job Satisfaction? Think about the best job you’ve ever had. What made it great? The reasons can differ greatly. Let’s discuss some characteristics that likely influence job satisfac- tion, starting with job conditions.

3-5 Summarize the main causes of job satisfaction.

Average Job Satisfaction Levels by FacetExhibit 3-3

0

20

10

40

30

60

50

80

70

100

90

Work Itself Pay

P er

ce n ta

g e

Promotion Supervision Coworkers Overall

Average Levels of Employee Job Satisfaction by CountryExhibit 3-4

5.72 5.63

5.51 5.45 5.44

5.30 5.27 5.24 5.22 5.18

4.89 4.76

4.20

M ex

ico

Sw itz

erl an

d

No rw

ay

De nm

ar k

Un ite

d Sta

tes Ja

pa n

Ge rm

an y

Sw ed

en

Gr ea

t B rita

in

Ca na

da Ru

ssi a

Au str

ali a

Cz ec

h R ep

ub lic

Fra nc

e

So uth

K or

ea

4.40

4.60

4.80

5.00

5.20

5.40

5.60

5.80

6.00 5.88

5.46

5.16

Source: Based on J. H. Westover, “The Impact of Comparative State-Directed Development on Working Conditions and Employee

Satisfaction,” Journal of Management & Organization 19, no. 4 (2013): 537–54.

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118 PART 2 The Individual

Job Conditions Generally, interesting jobs that provide training, variety, independence, and control satisfy most employees. Interdependence, feedback, social support, and positive interactions with coworkers and even customers are also strongly related to job satisfaction, even after accounting for characteristics of the work itself.30 As you may have guessed, managers also play a big role in employees’ job satis- faction. One review of nearly 70,000 employees from 23 countries found that the quality of exchange between the leaders and their employees is more strongly related to job satisfaction in more individualistic (e.g., Western) cultures than it is in more collectivistic (e.g., Asian) cultures.31 However, another meta-analysis demonstrated that leader emotional intelligence (see Chapter 6) is more strongly related to job satisfaction in more collectivistic cultures.32

Thus, job conditions—especially the intrinsic nature of the work itself, social interactions, and supervision—are important predictors of satisfaction and employee well-being.33 Although each is important, and although their relative value varies across employees, the intrinsic nature of the work is most important.34

Personality As important as job conditions are to job satisfaction, personality also plays an important role.35 People who have a positive core self-evaluation (CSE)—who believe in their inner worth and basic competence—are more satisfied with their jobs than people with negative CSEs. For those in collectivist cultures, those with high CSEs may realize particularly high job satisfaction.36

core self-evaluation (CSE) Believing in one’s inner worth and basic competence.

Employee engagement is high at Baptist Health of South Florida, where employees share a serious commit- ment to patient care and are passion- ate about the work they do. Looking at an electrocardiogram (EKG) read- out, hospital employees Yaima Millan and Marvin Rosete feel their work is meaningful and can make a difference in patients’ lives. Source: Wilfredo Lee/AP Images

MyLab Management Personal Inventory Assessments Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction CHAPTER 3 119

Pay You’ve probably noticed that pay comes up often when people discuss job satisfaction. Pay does correlate with job satisfaction and overall happiness for many people, but the effect can be smaller once an individual reaches a stan- dard level of comfortable living. Look at Exhibit 3-5. It shows the relationship between the average pay for a job and the average level of job satisfaction. As you can see, there isn’t much of a relationship there. Money does motivate peo- ple, as we will discover in Chapter 5. But what motivates us is not necessarily the same as what makes us happy.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Would you be as happy to work for an organization with a stated social wel- fare mission as one without? An organization’s commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR), or its self-regulated actions to benefit society or the envi- ronment beyond what is required by law, increasingly affects employee job sat- isfaction. Organizations practice CSR in several ways, including environmental sustainability initiatives, nonprofit work, and charitable giving.

CSR is good for the planet and good for people. Research suggests that American and Australian employees whose personal values fit with their orga- nization’s CSR mission are often more satisfied.37 In fact, of 59 large and small organizations surveyed, 86 percent reported they have happier employees because of their CSR programs.38

The relationship between CSR and job satisfaction is particularly strong for millennials. “The next generation of employees is seeking out employers that are focused on the triple bottom line: people, planet, and revenue,” said Susan Cooney, founder of philanthropy firm Givelocity.39 CSR allows workers to serve a higher purpose or contribute to a mission. According to researcher Amy Wrzesniewski, people who view their work as part of a higher purpose often realize higher job satisfaction.40 However, an organization’s CSR efforts must be

corporate social responsibility (CSR) An organization’s self-regulated actions to benefit society or the environment beyond what is required by law.

Relationship between Average Pay in Job and Job Satisfaction of Employees in That Job

Exhibit 3-5

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

$20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $100,000 $140,000 $160,000

P e rc

e n t

o f

Jo b S

a ti sf

a ct

io n S

ca le

M a x

im u m

Pay in US$—2009

$120,000$80,000

Source: Based on T. A. Judge, R. F. Piccolo, N. P. Podsakoff, J. C. Shaw, and B. L. Rich, “The Relationship between Pay and Job Satisfaction:

A Meta-Analysis of the Literature,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 77, no. 2 (2010): 157–67.

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120 PART 2 The Individual

well governed and its initiatives must be sustainable for long-term job satisfac- tion benefits.41

Although the link between CSR and job satisfaction is strengthening, not all employees find value in CSR.42 Therefore, organizations need to address a few issues to be most effective. First, not all projects are equally meaningful for every person’s job satisfaction, yet participation for all employees is sometimes expected. For instance, Lisa Dewey, a partner at one of the world’s largest law firms, said, “All DLA Piper attorneys and staff are encouraged to participate in the firm’s pro bono and volunteer projects.”43 Requiring these activities may decrease overall job satisfaction for those who do not wish to volunteer their time but are required to do so.

Second, some organizations require employees to contribute in a pre- scribed manner. For instance, consulting firm entreQuest’s CEO, Joe Mech- linksi, requires employees to participate in “Give Back Days” by serving in a soup kitchen, building a Habitat for Humanity house, or mentoring children. These choices may not fit every individual’s vision of CSR. Pressuring people to go “above and beyond” in ways that are not natural for them can burn them out for future CSR projects44 and lower their job satisfaction, particularly when CSR projects provide direct benefits to the organization (such as positive press coverage).45 People want CSR to be genuine and authentic.

Third, CSR measures can seem disconnected from the employee’s actual work,46 providing no increase in job satisfaction. After watching consulting firm KPMG’s “over the top” video that boasted of involvement in the election of Nel- son Mandela and the end of apartheid, the launch of the first space station by NASA, and the freedom of U.S. hostages in Iran, one anonymous employee ques- tioned his employment. “If I want to really make a change,” he said, “why would I sit here?”47

In sum, CSR is a needed, positive trend of accountability and serving. It can also contribute significantly to increased employee job satisfaction when man- aged well.

Outcomes of Job Satisfaction Having discussed some of the causes of job satisfaction, we now turn to some specific outcomes.

Job Performance As several studies have concluded, happy workers are more likely to be produc- tive workers. Some researchers used to believe the relationship between job sat- isfaction and job performance was a myth, but a review of 300 studies suggested the correlation is quite robust.48 Individuals with higher job satisfaction per- form better, and organizations with more satisfied employees tend to be more effective than those with fewer.

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) It seems logical that job satisfaction should be a major determinant of an employee’s organizational citizenship behavior (known as OCB or as citizen- ship behavior; see Chapter 1).49 OCBs include people talking positively about their organizations, helping others, and going beyond the normal expectations of their jobs. Evidence suggests job satisfaction is moderately correlated with OCB; people who are more satisfied with their jobs are more likely to engage in citizenship behavior.50

3-6 Identify three outcomes of job satisfaction.

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Why does job satisfaction lead to OCB? One reason is trust. Research in 18 countries suggests that managers reciprocate employees’ OCB with trusting behaviors of their own.51 Individuals who feel that their coworkers support them are also more likely to engage in helpful behaviors than those who have antagonistic coworker relationships.52 Personality matters, too. Individuals with certain personality traits (extraversion and conscientious- ness; see Chapter 5) are more satisfied with their work, which in turn leads them to engage in more OCB.53 Individuals who receive positive feedback on their OCB from their peers are more likely to continue their citizenship activities.54

Customer Satisfaction Because customer satisfaction is a key outcome in the service industry, it’s rea- sonable to ask whether employee satisfaction is related to positive customer outcomes. For employees with regular customer contact, the answer appears to be yes. Satisfied employees and managers appear to increase customer sat- isfaction and loyalty.55 Recent research suggests that employee and customer satisfaction are reciprocally related and that the inward effect of customer satis- faction on employee satisfaction might be stronger than the employee–customer relationship.56

A number of companies are acting on this evidence. Online shoe retailer Zappos is so committed to finding customer service employees who are satis- fied with the job that it offers a $2,000 bribe to quit the company after train- ing, figuring the least satisfied will take the cash and go.57 Zappos employees are empowered to “create fun and a little weirdness” to ensure that customers are satisfied, and it works: Of the company’s more than 24 million customers, 75 percent are repeat buyers. For Zappos, employee satisfaction has a direct effect on customer satisfaction.

Life Satisfaction Until now, we’ve treated job satisfaction as if it were separate from life satisfac- tion, but they may be more related than you think, with evidence suggesting that they mutually influence one another.58 Research in Europe indicated that

Luxury automotive companies like Lamborghini understand that giving customers the ability to customize the car is key to gaining their satisfac- tion and loyalty. The company thus launched the “Lamborghini Ad Perso- nam” program with a dedicated staff in charge of meeting any customer’s wish with a range of combinations from colors to materials to make each car unique. Source: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo

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job satisfaction is positively correlated with life satisfaction, and your attitudes and experiences in life spill over into your job approaches and experiences.59 Life satisfaction decreases when people become unemployed, according to research in Germany, and not just because of the loss of income.60 For most individuals, work is an important part of life, and therefore it makes sense that our overall happiness depends in no small part on our happiness in our work (our job satisfaction).

Career OBjectives How can I make my job better?

Honestly, I hate my job. But there are reasons I should stay: This is my first job out of college, it pays pretty well, and it will establish my career. Is there any hope, or am I doomed until I quit?

— Taylor Dear Taylor: You’re not doomed! You can work on your attitude to either improve your experience or find a positive perspec- tive. In other words, if you can turn “I hate my job” into “this is what I’m doing to make my situation better,” your job satisfaction is likely to improve. Try this:

• Write down everything you hate about your job, but wait until you have a few days off so you can get a more objective viewpoint. Be spe- cific. Keep asking yourself why, as in, “Why do I dislike my office mate?” Also, consider your history: Was the job always a problem? Or perhaps circumstances have changed?

• Now write down everything you like about the job. Again, be specific. Think about the environment, the people, and the work separately. Find something positive, even if it’s just the coffee in the break room.

• Compare your lists for clues about your attitude and job satisfaction. Look for mentions of the work or the people. Job satisfaction is generally more strongly related to how inter- esting your work is than it is to other factors. People, especially your supervisor, are important to your attitude toward work as well.

• Read your lists aloud to a few trusted friends (you don’t want to rant about your boss with your coworkers). Ask them to help process your griev- ances. Are there deal breakers like harassment?

• Decide whether you can talk with your manager about this. According to Roy L. Cohen, author of The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide, “consider whether how you’re being treated is unique to you or shared by your colleagues.” If everyone has the same problem, especially if the problem is the boss, you probably shouldn’t approach your manager. But changes can be made in most situations.

Based on the sources of your griev- ances and your ability to make changes

in the workplace, you may choose to address the issues, or develop skills for your next job. Meanwhile, don’t sab- otage yourself with sloppy performance and complaints. Instead, look for posi- tive reinforcement, join a professional organization, or volunteer. Happy employ- ees are healthier. You deserve to be one of them.

Sources: Based on “Employee Engage- ment,” Workforce Management (Febru- ary 2013): 19; A. Hurst, “Being ‘Good’ Isn’t the Only Way to Go,” The New York Times, April 20, 2014, 4; R. E. Silver- man, “Work as Labor or Love?” The Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2012, D3; H. J. Smith, T. F. Pettigrew, G. M. Pippin, and S. Bialosiewicz, “Relative Deprivation: A Theoretical and Meta-Analytic Review,” Personality and Social Psychology Review 16 (2012): 203–32; and A. Tugend, “Survival Skills for a Job You Detest,” The Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2012, B5.

The opinions provided here are of the manag- ers and authors only and do not necessar- ily reflect those of their organizations. The authors or managers are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. In no event will the authors or managers, or their related partnerships or corporations thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions provided here.

The Impact of Job Dissatisfaction What happens when employees dislike their jobs? One theoretical model—the exit–voice–loyalty–neglect framework—is helpful for understanding the conse- quences of dissatisfaction. Exhibit 3-6 illustrates employees’ four responses to

3-7 Identify four employee responses to job dissatisfaction.

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job dissatisfaction, which differ along two dimensions: constructive/destructive and active/passive. The responses are as follows:61

• Exit. The exit response directs behavior toward leaving the organization, including looking for a new position or resigning. To measure the effects of this response to dissatisfaction, researchers study individual termina- tions and collective turnover, the total loss to the organization of employee knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics.62

• Voice. The voice response includes actively and constructively attempting to improve conditions, including suggesting improvements, discussing problems with superiors, and undertaking union activity.

• Loyalty. The loyalty response means passively but optimistically waiting for conditions to improve, including speaking up for the organization in the face of external criticism and trusting the organization and its manage- ment to “do the right thing.”

• Neglect. The neglect response passively allows conditions to worsen and includes chronic absenteeism or lateness, reduced effort, and an increased error rate.

Exit and neglect behaviors are linked to performance variables such as productivity, absenteeism, and turnover. But this model expands employee responses to include voice and loyalty—constructive behaviors that allow indi- viduals to tolerate unpleasant situations or improve working conditions. The model helps us understand various situations. For instance, union members often express dissatisfaction through the grievance procedure or formal con- tract negotiations. These voice mechanisms allow them to continue in their jobs while acting to improve the situation.

As helpful as this framework is, it is quite general. We will next address counter productive work behavior, a behavioral response to job dissatisfaction.

Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) Substance abuse, stealing at work, undue socializing, gossiping, absenteeism, and tardiness are examples of behaviors that are destructive to organizations. They are indicators of a broader syndrome called counterproductive work behavior (CWB),

exit Dissatisfaction expressed through behavior directed toward leaving the organization.

voice Dissatisfaction expressed through active and constructive attempts to improve conditions.

loyalty Dissatisfaction expressed by passively waiting for conditions to improve.

neglect Dissatisfaction expressed through allowing conditions to worsen.

counterproductive work behavior (CWB) Actions that actively damage the organiza- tion, including stealing, behaving aggressively toward coworkers, or being late or absent.

Responses to DissatisfactionExhibit 3-6

Active

Constructive Destructive

Passive

VOICE EXIT

LOYALTY NEGLECT

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also termed deviant behavior in the workplace, or simply employee withdrawal (see Chapter 1).63 Like other behaviors we have discussed, CWB doesn’t just happen—the behaviors often follow negative and sometimes long-standing atti- tudes. Therefore, if we can identify the predictors of CWB, we may lessen the probability of its effects.

Generally, job dissatisfaction predicts CWB. People who are not satisfied with their work become frustrated, which lowers their performance64 and makes them more prone to CWB.65 However, some research also suggests that this relationship might be stronger for men than for women, given that men tend to exhibit more aggressiveness and less impulse control.66 Indi- vidual personality traits also matter. A study of Chinese knowledge workers revealed that CWB was prevalent and that personality variables, including agreeableness, neuroticism, conscientiousness, and locus of control, were a more important predictor than demographic and job characteristics.67 CWB can be a response to abusive supervision from managers, which then increases the abuse, thus starting a vicious cycle.68

One important point about CWB is that dissatisfied employees often choose one or more of these specific behaviors due to idiosyncratic factors. One worker might quit. Another might use work time to surf the Internet or take work supplies home for personal use. In short, workers who don’t like their jobs “get even” in various ways. Because those ways can be quite creative, con- trolling only one behavior with policies and punishments leaves the root cause untouched. Employers should seek to correct the source of the problem—the dissatisfaction—rather than try to control the different responses.

According to some research, sometimes CWB is an emotional reaction to perceived unfairness, a way to try to restore an employee’s sense of equity exchange.69 Therefore, CWB has complex ethical implications. For example, is someone who takes a box of markers home from the office for his children acting ethically? Some people consider this stealing. Others may want to look at moderating factors such as the employee’s contribution to the organization before they decide. Does the person generously give extra time and effort to the organization, with little thanks or compensation? If so, they might see CWB as part of an attempt to “even the score.”

As a manager, you can take steps to mitigate CWB. You can poll employee attitudes, for instance, identify areas for workplace improvement, and attempt to measure CWB. Several reviews suggest that self-reports of CWB can be just as effective as reports from coworkers or supervisors, partly because of differ- ences in observability of CWB.70 Creating strong teams, integrating supervisors within them, providing formalized team policies, and introducing team-based incentives may help lower the CWB “contagion” that lowers the standards of the group.71

Absenteeism We find a consistent negative relationship between satisfac- tion and absenteeism, but the relationship is moderate to weak.72 Generally, when numerous alternative jobs are available, dissatisfied employees have high absence rates, but when there are few alternatives, dissatisfied employees have the same (low) rate of absence as satisfied employees.73 Organizations that provide liberal sick leave benefits are encouraging all their employees— including those who are highly satisfied—to take days off. You can find work satisfying yet still want to enjoy a three-day weekend if those days come free with no penalties.

Turnover The relationship between job satisfaction and turnover is stronger than between satisfaction and absenteeism.74 Overall, a pattern of lowered job

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satisfaction is the best predictor of intent to leave. Turnover also has a work- place environment connection. If the climate within an employee’s immedi- ate workplace is one of low job satisfaction leading to turnover, there will be a contagion effect. This suggests that managers consider the job satisfaction (and turnover) patterns of coworkers when assigning workers to a new area.75

The satisfaction–turnover relationship is affected by alternative job pros- pects. If an employee accepts an unsolicited job offer, job dissatisfaction was less predictive of turnover because the employee more likely left in response to “pull” (the lure of the other job) than “push” (the unattractiveness of the cur- rent job). Similarly, job dissatisfaction is more likely to translate into turnover when other employment opportunities are plentiful. When employees have high “human capital” (high education, high ability), job dissatisfaction is more likely to translate into turnover because they have, or perceive, many available alternatives.76

Some factors help break the dissatisfaction–turnover relationship. Employ- ees’ embeddedness—connections to the people or groups they are involved with at work—can help lower the probability of turnover, particularly in col- lectivist (group-oriented) cultures.77 Embedded employees seem less likely to want to consider alternative job prospects.

Managers Often “Don’t Get It” Given the evidence we’ve just reviewed, it should come as no surprise that job satisfaction can affect the bottom line. One study by a management consulting firm separated large organizations into those with high morale

Myth or Science? Happy Workers Means Happy Profits

T here are exceptions, of course, but this statement is basically true. A glance at Fortune’s Best

Companies to Work For list, where com- panies are chosen by the happiness inducements they provide, reveals rec- ognizable profit leaders: Google, SAS, Edward Jones, and REI, to name a few. However, all happiness is not created equal.

An employee who is happy because her coworker did most of the work on her team’s project isn’t necessar- ily going to work harder, for instance. Some happiness-inducers also seem unrelated to profit increases, such as Google’s bowling alley and Irish pub, Facebook’s free chocolate lunches, and Salesforce.com’s off-the-charts parties. Traditional benefits programs also don’t necessarily yield higher job satisfac- tion, productivity, and profits. Research indicates employees highly value paid

time off, a retirement plan such as a 401(k), and lower health premiums. But many companies offer these ben- efits and are nowhere near the Fortune 500 organizations in profits.

It turns out that the value of keep- ing happiness in the profit equation may be felt in the level of employee engagement. As Julie Gebauer, a man- aging director for consulting firm Tow- ers Watson, said, “It’s not just about making them happy—that’s not a business issue. Engagement is.” Job engagement “represents employees’ commitment . . . and the level of dis- cretionary effort they are willing to put forth at work,” wrote Jack in the Box’s Executive VP Mark Blankenship. Happy employees with higher job engagement are willing to work hard, make custom- ers happy, and stay with the company— three factors that affect the bottom line in a big way. Conversely, a review

of 300 studies revealed that turnover rates resulting from poor attitudes or low engagement led to poorer organiza- tional performance.

So the moral of the story seems to be this: Treat others as we want to be treated in the workplace. It’s just good business.

Sources: Based on M. H. Blankenship, “Hap- pier Employees + Happier Customers = More Profit,” HR Magazine, July 2012, 36–38; A. Edmans, “The Link between Job Satisfac- tion and Firm Value, with Implications for Corporate Social Responsibility,” Academy of Management Perspectives (November 2012): 1–19; “Getting Them to Stay,” Workforce Management (February 2013): 19; J. K. Harter et al., “Causal Impact of Employee Work Perceptions on the Bottom Line of Organizations,” Perspectives on Psychologi- cal Science (July 2010): 378–89; T.-Y. Park and J. D. Shaw, “Turnover Rates and Orga- nizational Performance: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology (March 2013): 268–309; and J. Waggoner, “Do Happy Work- ers Mean Higher Profit?” USA Today, February 20, 2013, B1–B2.

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(more than 70 percent of employees expressed overall job satisfaction) and medium or low morale (fewer than 70 percent). The stock prices of compa- nies in the high-morale group grew 19.4 percent compared with 10 percent for the medium- or low-morale group. Despite these results, many manag- ers are unconcerned about employee job satisfaction. Others overestimate how satisfied employees are, so they don’t think there’s a problem when there is. In one study of 262 large employers, 86 percent of senior managers believed their organizations treated employees well, but only 55 percent of employees agreed. Another study found 55 percent of managers thought morale was good in their organization compared to only 38 percent of employees.78

Regular surveys can reduce gaps between what managers think employees feel and what they really feel. A gap in understanding can affect the bottom line in small franchise sites as well as in large companies. As manager of a KFC restaurant in Houston, Jonathan McDaniel surveyed his employees every three months. Some results led him to make changes, such as giving employees greater say about which workdays they had off. However, McDaniel believed the process itself was valuable. “They really love giving their opinions,” he said. “That’s the most important part of it—that they have a voice and that they’re heard.” Surveys are no panacea, but if job attitudes are as important as we believe, organizations need to use every reasonable method to find out how job attitudes can be improved.79

Summary Managers should be interested in their employees’ attitudes because atti- tudes influence behavior and indicate potential problems. Creating a satisfied workforce is hardly a guarantee of successful organizational per- formance, but evidence strongly suggests that managers’ efforts to improve employee attitudes will likely result in positive outcomes, including greater organizational effectiveness, higher customer satisfaction, and increased profits.

Implications for Managers ●● Of the major job attitudes—job satisfaction, job involvement, organi-

zational commitment, perceived organizational support (POS), and employee engagement—remember that an employee’s job satisfaction level is the best single predictor of behavior.

●● Pay attention to your employees’ job satisfaction levels as determi- nants of their performance, turnover, absenteeism, and withdrawal behaviors.

●● Measure employee job attitudes at regular intervals to determine how employees are reacting to their work.

●● To raise employee satisfaction, evaluate the fit between each employee’s work interests and the intrinsic parts of the job; then create work that is challenging and interesting to the individual.

●● Consider the fact that high pay alone is unlikely to create a satisfying work environment.

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Sources: Based on “If You Started a Job and You Didn’t Like It, How Long Would You Stay?” USA Today, June 11, 2012, 1B; O. Gough and S. Arkani, “The Impact of the Shifting Pensions Landscape on the Psychological Contract,” Personnel Review 40, no. 2 (2011): 173–84; “Loyalty Gap Widens,” USA Today, May 16, 2012, 1B; P. Korkki, “The Shifting Definition of Worker Loyalty,” The New York Times, April 24, 2011, BU8; I. Macsinga, C. Sulea, P. Sarbescu, and C. Dumitru, “Engaged, Commit- ted and Helpful Employees: The Role of Psychological Empowerment,” Journal of Psychology 149, no. 3 (2015): 263–76; M. Top, M. Akdere, and M. Tarcan, “Examining Transformational Leadership, Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Organizational Trust in Turkish Hospitals: Public Servants versus Private Sector Employees,” International Journal of Human Resource Management 26, no. 9 (2015): 1259–82; and “Is Workplace Loyalty an Outmoded Concept?” Financial Times, March 8, 2011, www.ft.com/, accessed July 29, 2015.

Employer–Employee Loyalty Is an Outdated Concept POINT

T he word loyalty is horribly outdated. Long gone are the days when an employer would keep an employee for life, as are the days when an employee would want to work for a single com-

pany for an entire career. Professor Linda Gratton says, “Loyalty is dead—killed off through

shortening contracts, outsourcing, automation, and multiple careers. Faced with what could be 50 years of work, who honestly wants to spend that much time with one company? Serial monogamy is the order of the day.” Many employers agree; only 59 percent of employ- ers report feeling loyal to their employees, while a mere 32 percent believe their employees are loyal to them.

The loyalty on each side of the equation is weak. For the most part, this is warranted—why retain employees who are subpar per- formers? It’s only a matter of the employer handling the loyalty of employees with respect. Admittedly, some breaches happen. For example, Renault ended the 31-year career of employee Michel Balthazard (and two others) on false charges of espionage. When the wrongness of the charges became public, Renault halfheartedly offered the employees their jobs back and a lame apology: “Renault thanks them for the quality of their work at the group and wishes them every success in the future.”

As for employees’ loyalty to their employers, that is worth little nowadays. One manager with Deloitte says the current employee atti- tude is, “I’m leaving, I had a great experience, and I’m taking that with me.” There just isn’t an expectation of loyalty. In fact, only 9 percent of recent college graduates would stay with an employer for more than a year if they didn’t like the job, research indicated. But there is nothing wrong with this. A “loyal” employee who stays with the organization but isn’t satisfied with the job can do a lot of damage. At best, this person will be less productive. At worst, he or she can engage in years’ worth of damaging CWB. For the worker, staying with an organization forever—no matter what—can limit career and income prospects.

The sooner we see the employment experience for what it is (mostly transactional, mostly short term to medium term), the better off we’ll be. The workplace is no place for fantasies of loyalty.

COUNTERPOINT

A greed: The word loyalty is outdated when it refers to employ- ers and employees. But the basic concept is valid in the work- place. We now just measure loyalty with finer measurements

such as organizational trust and organizational commitment. There certainly are employers and employees who show little loyalty to each other, but that isn’t the norm.

Says management guru Tom Peters, “Bottom line: loyalty matters. A lot. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.” University of Michigan’s Dave Ulrich says, “Leaders who encourage loyalty want employees who are not only committed to and engaged in their work but who also find mean- ing from it.” Commitment. Engagement. Trust. These are some of the building blocks of loyalty.

It is true that the employer–employee relationship has changed. For example, (largely) gone are the days when employers provided guaranteed payout pensions to which employees contributed nothing. But is that such a bad thing? Many employers have helped employees take charge of their own retirement plans.

It’s not that loyalty is dead but rather that employers are loyal to a different kind of employee. True, employers no longer refuse to fire a long-tenured but incompetent employee, which is a good thing. These employees can bring down everyone’s productivity and morale. In a globalized world where customer options are plentiful, organizations with “deadwood”—people who don’t contribute—will not be competi- tive enough to survive. Companies are instead loyal to employees who do their jobs well, and that is as it should be.

In short, employees become loyal—trusting, engaged, and committed—when organizations and their people act decently. Employers with superior managers who empower their employees obtain high levels of this kind of loyalty. A true reciprocal relation- ship is a stronger business model than employees staying with an organization for years in exchange for an organization’s caretaking. Bonds of trust and loyalty rest on the relationships of individuals. Workplace psychologist Binna Kandola observes, “Workplaces may have changed but loyalty is not dead—the bonds between people are too strong.”

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CHAPTER REVIEW

MyLab Management Discussion Questions Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon .

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

3-1 What are the three components of attitudes? 3-2 Does behavior always follow from attitudes? 3-3 What are the major job attitudes? 3-4 How do we measure job satisfaction?

3-5 What causes job satisfaction? 3-6 What are three outcomes of job satisfaction? 3-7 How do employees respond to job satisfaction?

APPLICATION AND EMPLOYABILIT Y As we saw in the chapter-opening discussion of baristas, your knowledge, skills, and abilities determine how well you do in the workplace—and your job attitudes matter, too. Job satisfaction, job involvement, employee engage- ment, organizational commitment, and perceived orga- nizational support all affect how you, your coworkers, and your boss behave and perform in the workplace. First, the job attitudes of your work unit also affect the bottom line—attitudes affect customer service and sales performance. Second, job attitudes and satisfaction can be assessed in a variety of ways to keep a “pulse” on the workforce of your organization. Third, knowledge of what causes job attitudes and the consequences/outcomes of job attitudes can help you set policies, practices, and procedures (when you are in a supervisory position) or

engage in behaviors (if you are an employee) that will help you improve attitudes in your workplace. In this chapter, you improved your critical thinking skills and considered various situations relevant to social responsi- bility in the workplace, including whether happy work- ers lead to improved profit margins, how you can move forward if you hate your job, the pitfalls and benefits of office gossip and venting, and whether employee loy- alty is a relic of the past. In the following section, you will continue to improve your critical thinking skills and apply your knowledge about job attitudes to reexamine attitudes you’ve held in a current or previous job, exam- ine the ethics of employee tell-all websites, and evaluate carefully the impact of self-service kiosks and job crafting on job attitudes.

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Job Attitudes Situational Interview Each class member is to think about an event in which she or he felt satisfied or dissatisfied (or committed or not com- mitted) in the workplace (students can imagine one even if they have never been employed). Each student writes this experience down in as much detail as possible on a small piece of paper. When finished, each student exchanges her or his paper with another student. These students take turns asking and recording the answers to the following questions (asking follow-up questions as needed):

1. What sorts of feelings were you experiencing at the time? What were you thinking when this was going on? Did you think about doing anything in that moment?

2. What targets were your feelings or thoughts directed toward? For example, were they directed toward your

organization? Toward the job? Coworkers? Pay and benefits?

3. What led you to your feelings of satisfaction and commitment in that moment?

4. What did you (actually) do in response to your experience? What was the outcome?

The students can then reassemble as a class to share their findings and discuss the following questions.

Questions 3-8. Do you think it is possible for the affective,

cognitive, or behavioral components of job attitudes to conflict with one another? Why or why not?

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3-9. Can job attitudes be directed toward different tar- gets? Why or why not? What implications does this have for the behavioral outcomes of satisfaction and commitment?

3-10. Do you believe that job attitudes can change over time? Or does each person have a typical level of job attitudes that she or he exhibits from one job to the next?

ETHICAL DILEMMA Tell-All Websites “Arrogant, condescending, mean-spirited, hateful . . . and those traits describe the nicest people at Netflix,” writes one anonymous employee. “Management is awful . . . good old boys club,” writes a Coca-Cola market development manager. And the reviews keep rolling in; Coca-Cola has 1,600 employee reviews, and some companies, like Google, have double that number on Glassdoor, one of the Inter- net sites that allows anyone to rate their employers.

Websites like Glassdoor are thriving; employees increas- ingly join the forums and seem to relish the chance to speak freely. The app Memo, which claimed 10,000 new members in about 3 months, allows users to post, com- ment, and share links. They will soon be able to upload photographs and documents, which will raise new security concerns for organizations.

Ryan Janssen, CEO of Memo’s parent company, Col- lectively, says apps like Memo, Yik Yak, and Whisper allow bosses access to candid feedback they cannot otherwise get. Janssen said, “The employee’s natural reaction [when managers ask for feedback directly] is to tell you what you want to hear.” There is certainly truth to this—studies indicate that employees “put on a happy face” for their bosses. When people know their posts aren’t anonymous, “People put on this weird, fake professional face,” he said.

Organizations are aware that people watch what they say when they can be identified, and many have used anonymous job attitude surveys for this reason. Still, evalu- ations from these surveys are often more glowing, and less detailed, than anonymous website feedback. Some orga- nizations have therefore altered the frequency and scope of surveys to obtain more depth. Others have their own intranet platforms to solicit concerns and complaints.

Beyond the personally unethical aspect of posting scathing denouncements about people or organizations online—sharing details with the world that you would not share in person—issues of organizational ethics come into play. While companies like Visa, Boeing, and Hewlett- Packard have tried to discourage employees from anon- ymously venting on websites and apps, such mandates may violate the employees’ right of free speech. And how anonymous are anonymous posts? Posts on Glassdoor and other forums eliminate a person’s name, but can’t bosses sometimes determine which subordinate posted the com- ments? Managers everywhere need to decide how much management sleuthing is ethical and what consequences, if any, can be forced on subordinates for anonymous posts.

Grant Vodori, cofounder of a digital marketing agency in Chicago, has been successful in obtaining candid answers from his employees through polls taken several times each week. “It’s sometimes a little bit scary,” he said, asking him- self, “Do I really want to know the answer to this?”

Questions 3-11. Do you think employees have a right to say what

they want to about their organizations online as opposed to in private?

3-12. How would you react if you learned one of your employees posted unflattering comments about you as a manager? Would your reaction be any different if the employee posted unflattering comments about you as a person?

3-13. Do you feel it is acceptable to post comments anonymously, or do you think people should include their names? Why or why not?

Sources: Based on L. Gilman, “Memo App Lets Workers Vent Anonymously about the Boss,” The Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2015, B7; Glassdoor.com; A. S. McCance, C. D. Nye, L. Wang, K. S. Jones, and C. Chiu, “Alleviating the Burden of Emotional Labor: The Role of Social Sharing,” Journal of Management (February 2013): 392–415; R. E. Silverman, “Are You Happy in Your Job? Bosses Push Weekly Surveys,” The Wall Street Journal, December 3, 2014, B1, B4; and R. E. Silverman, “Workers Really Do Put on a Happy Face for the Boss,” The Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2015, D4.

CASE INCIDENT 1 Jobs, Money, and Satisfaction When two caretaker jobs were advertised on the tiny island of Great Blasket, Ireland’s most westerly point, there was no shortage of interest; it drew responses from Alaska to South Africa. But this was no high-paying job on a luxury resort island. The position was described as intense and tough, with no electricity, Wi-Fi, or hot showers, and life

was described as “back to basics,” involving candles, stoves, wildlife, and nature. The posts included free accommoda- tion and food, but it is unlikely the applicants were par- ticularly interested in the pay or benefits. The previous post holders had left jobs in Dublin and a demanding work commute for what they considered their dream job.

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No doubt many of the applicants also saw it as a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity.

Of a like mind as those applicants for the caretaker jobs, Elsa was a high-flying executive who discovered that she had more important priorities in life than money. Having endured yet another late and stressful night working as an investment banker, she finally decided there was more to life. Elsa quit her job of 20 years, and six months later she was teaching in a primary school. “I feel refreshed,” she said. “I love teaching, genuinely enjoy my work, and have had more holidays in the last year than I managed in the previous ten.” As for money, Elsa earns less than one quarter of what she used to as an investment banker.

It’s not just in the pursuit of dream jobs where people are willing to forgo money. One study reported that 49 percent of the 2,000 employees it surveyed were prepared to take a reasonable pay cut for a more flexible work sched- ule. Fifty-six percent said they would take a pay cut for bet- ter health benefits. Another report collected data from German, French, UK, and U.S. employees and found that those who were happy with their jobs cited meaningful work—not compensation—as the most important factor.

It seems millennials may even sacrifice money simply to get a better job title. The CEO of an employment agency claimed she had seen millennial candidates forgo nearly €10,000 in salary for what they consider a more valuable title.

But Peter Weber, an industrial designer, makes an interesting point: “There is no way I could consider tak- ing a pay cut. I have a family to take care of and bills to pay. It’s only a choice for people who already have enough money.” Money may not be everything in life, but it is something.

Questions 3-14. If you could choose between a highly paid job that

you didn’t like or your dream job that paid com- paratively little, which would you choose, and why?

3-15. What other factors are important to you besides compensation?

3-16. Explore the possible causes of Elsa’s job dissatis- faction as an investment banker, why she is more satisfied as a teacher, and the likely outcomes of her newly found job satisfaction.

Sources: R. Carroll, “Dream Job? Hundreds Apply to Work on Remote Irish Island,” The Guardian, January 14, 2020; A. Mahdawi, “Would You Take a Pay Cut to Get a Better Job Title? It’s Not as Stupid as It Sounds,” The Guardian, March 1, 2019; Wrike, “Wrike Happiness Index, Compensation” cdn. wrike.com/ebook/2019_US_Happiness_Index_Compensation.pdf; and WorldatWork, “Survey Finds Half of Workers Would Take Pay Cut for More Flexible Schedule,” May 29, 2019, www.worldatwork. org/workspan/articles/survey-finds-half-of-workers-would-take-pay-cut-for-more-flexible-schedule, accessed January 28, 2020.

CASE INCIDENT 2 Job Crafting Consider for a moment a midlevel manager, Fatima, who seems to be doing well. She’s consistently making her required benchmarks and goals, she has built successful relationships with colleagues, and senior management has identified her as having “high potential.” But she isn’t satisfied in her job. She’d be interested in understanding how her organization can use social media in marketing efforts at all levels of the organization, for example, but her job doesn’t allow her to work on this idea. She wants to quit and find something that better suits her passions, but in her economic situation this may not be an option. So she has decided to proactively reconfigure her current job.

Fatima is part of a movement toward job crafting, which is the process of deliberately reorganizing your job so that it better fits your motives, strengths, and pas- sions. So how did Fatima craft her job? She first noticed

that she was spending too much of her time monitor- ing her team’s performance and answering questions, and not enough time working on the creative projects that inspire her. She then considered how to modify her relationship with the team so that her activities incor- porated her passion for social media strategies with the team’s activities more centered on developing new mar- keting. She also identified members of her team who might be able to help her implement her new strate- gies and directed her interactions with these individuals toward her new goals. As a result, her engagement in her work increased, and she developed new ideas that were recognized and advanced within the organization. In sum, she found that by actively and creatively examin- ing her work, she was able to shape her job into one that is truly satisfying.

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As you may have noted, Fatima exhibited a proactive personality—she was eager to develop her own options and find her own resources. Proactive individuals are often self- empowered and are therefore more likely to seek workable solutions when they are not satisfied. Research leads us to believe that Fatima will be successful in her customized job and that she will experience increased well-being. To the extent possible, all employees should feel encouraged to be proactive in creating their best work situations.

Questions 3-17. Should organizations work to create jobs that are

satisfying to individual employees? 3-18. Are the principles of job crafting described here

relevant to your job or studies? Why or why not? 3-19. Are there any potential drawbacks to the job-

crafting approach? If so, how can they be minimized?

Sources: Based on A. B. Bakker, M. Tims, and D. Derks, “Proactive Personality and Job Performance: The Role of Job Crafting and Work Engagement,” Human Relations (October 2012): 1359–78; A. Wrzesniewski, J. M. Berg, and J. E. Dutton, “Turn the Job You Have into the Job You Want,” Harvard Business Review ( June 2010): 114–17; A. Wrzesniewski and J. E. Dutton, “Crafting a Job: Revisioning Employees as Active Crafters of Their Work,” Academy of Management Review 26 (2010): 179–201; and G. R. Slemp and D. A. Vella-Brodrick, “Optimising Employee Mental Health: The Relationship between Intrinsic Need Satisfaction, Job Crafting, and Employee Well-Being,” Journal of Happiness Studies 15, no. 4 (2014): 957–77.

ENDNOTES 1 A. Gengler, “Chained to Your Desk No More,” CNNMoney, April 2014, 53. 2 S. J. Breckler, “Empirical Validation of Affect, Behavior, and Cognition as Distinct Compo- nents of Attitude,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 47 (1984): 1191–205; M. J. Rosenberg and C. I. Hovland, “Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Components of Attitude,” in M. J. Rosenberg, C. I. Hovland, W. J. McGuire, R. Abelson, and J. Brehm (eds.), Attitude Organization and Change (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1960). 3 O. N. Solinger, J. Hofmans, and W. van Olffen, “The Dynamic Microstructure of Organizational Commitment,” Journal of Occupational and Orga- nizational Psychology 88 (2015): 773–96. 4 See L. S. Glasman and D. Ablarracín, “Form- ing Attitudes That Predict Future Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of the Attitude-Behavior Relation,” Psychological Bulletin 132, no. 5 (2006): 778–822. 5 L. Festinger and J. M. Carlsmith, “Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance,” Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 58 (1959): 203–10. 6 See, for instance, L. R. Fabrigar, R. E. Petty, S. M. Smith, and S. L. Crites, “Understanding Knowledge Effects on Attitude-Behavior Con- sistency: The Role of Relevance, Complexity, and Amount of Knowledge,” Journal of Per- sonality and Social Psychology 90, no. 4 (2006): 556–77; and D. J. Schleicher, J. D. Watt, and G. J. Greguras, “Reexamining the Job Satisfaction–Performance Relationship: The Complexity of Attitudes,” Journal of Applied Psychology 89, no. 1 (2004): 165–77. 7 A. S. McCance, C. D. Nye, L. Wang, K. S. Jones, and C. Chiu, “Alleviating the Burden of Emotional Labor: The Role of Social Sharing,” Journal of Management, February 2013, 392–415.

8 Glasman and Albarracín, “Forming Attitudes That Predict Future Behavior”; K. B. Starzyk, L. R. Fabrigar, A. S. Soryal, and J. J. Fanning, “A Painful Reminder: The Role of Level and Salience of Attitude Importance in Cognitive Dissonance,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 35, no. 1 (2009): 126–37. 9 D. A. Harrison, D. A. Newman, and P. L. Roth, “How Important Are Job Attitudes? Meta-analytic Comparisons of Integrative Behavioral Outcomes and Time Sequences,” Academy of Management Journal 49 (2006): 305– 25; D. A. Newman, D. L. Joseph, and C. L. Hulin, “Job Attitudes and Employee Engage- ment: Considering the Attitude ‘A-Factor,’” in S. L. Albrecht (ed.), Handbook of Employee Engagement: Perspectives, Issues, Research and Practice (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2010): 43–61. 10 S. P. Brown, “A Meta-Analysis and Review of Organizational Research on Job Involve- ment,” Psychological Bulletin 120, no. 2 (1996): 235–55; T. M. Lodahl and M. Kejner, “The Definition and Measurement of Job Involve- ment,” Journal of Applied Psychology 49, no. 1 (1965): 24–33. 11 G. M. Spreitzer, “Psychological Empower- ment in the Workplace: Construct Definition, Measurement, and Validation,” Academy of Management Journal 38 (1995): 1442–65; G. M. Spreitzer, “Taking Stock: A Review of More Than Twenty Years of Research on Empower- ment at Work,” in J. Barling and C. L. Cooper (eds.), Handbook of Organizational Behavior (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2008): 54–72. 12 S. E. Seibert, G. Wang, and S. H. Cour- tright, “Antecedents and Consequences of Psychological and Team Empowerment in

Organizations: A Meta-Analytic Review,” Journal of Applied Psychology 96, no. 5 (2011): 981–1003. 13 Z. A. Mercurio, “Affective Commitment as a Core Essence of Organizational Com- mitment: An Integrative Literature Review,” Human Resource Development Review 14, no. 4 (2015): 389-414; O. N. Solinger, W. van Olffen, and R. A. Roe, “Beyond the Three- Component Model of Organizational Com- mitment,” Journal of Applied Psychology 93 (2008): 70–83. 14 A. Cooper-Hakim and C. Viswesvaran, “The Construct of Work Commitment: Testing an Integrative Framework,” Psychological Bul- letin 131, no. 2 (2005): 241–59; Solinger, van Olffen, and Roe, “Beyond the Three-Component Model of Organizational Commitment.” 15 “100 Best Companies to Work For,” Fortune, February 2017, www.fortune.com/best- companies/, accessed March 8, 2017. 16 L. Rhoades, R. Eisenberger, and S. Armeli, “Affective Commitment to the Organization: The Contribution of Perceived Organizational Support,” Journal of Applied Psychology 86, no. 5 (2001): 825–36. 17 J.-L. Farh, R. D. Hackett, and J. Liang, “Indi- vidual-Level Cultural Values as Moderators of Perceived Organizational Support–Employee Outcome Relationships in China: Comparing the Effects of Power Distance and Traditional- ity,” Academy of Management Journal 50, no. 3 (2007): 715–29; L. Zhong, S. J. Wayne, and R. C. Liden, “Job Engagement, Perceived Organi- zational Support, High-Performance Human Resource Practices, and Cultural Value Orienta- tions: A Cross-Level Investigation,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 37, no. 6 (2016): 823–44.

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52 D. S. Chiaburu and D. A. Harrison, “Do Peers Make the Place? Conceptual Synthesis and Meta- Analysis of Coworker Effect on Perceptions, Attitudes, OCBs, and Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 93, no. 5 (2008): 1082–103. 53 R. Ilies, I. S. Fulmer, M. Spitzmuller, and M. D. Johnson, “Personality and Citizenship Behavior: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfac- tion,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94 (2009): 945–59; T. A. Judge, D. Heller, and M. K. Mount, “Five-Factor Model of Personality and Job Satisfaction: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 87, no. 3 (2002): 530–41. 54 G. L. Lemoine, C. K. Parsons, and S. Kan- sara, “Above and Beyond, Again and Again: Self-Regulation in the Aftermath of Orga- nizational Citizenship Behaviors,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 1 (2015): 40–55. 55 R. G. Netemeyer, J. G. Maxham III, and D. R. Lichtenstein, “Store Manager Performance and Satisfaction: Effects on Store Employee Per- formance and Satisfaction, Store Customer Satis- faction, and Store Customer Spending Growth,” Journal of Applied Psychology 95, no. 3 (2010): 530–45; E. P. Piening, A. M. Baluch, and T. O. Salge, “The Relationship between Employees’ Perceptions of Human Resource Systems and Organizational Performance: Examining Medi- ating Mechanisms and Temporal Dynamics,” Journal of Applied Psychology 98, no. 6 (2013): 926– 47; M. Schulte, C. Ostroff, S. Shmulyian, and A. Kinicki, “Organizational Climate Configurations: Relationships to Collective Attitudes, Customer Satisfaction, and Financial Performance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94 (2009): 618–34. 56 A. R. Zablah, B. D. Carlson, D. T. Donavan, J. G. Maxham, and T. J. Brown, “A Cross- Lagged Test of the Association between Customer Satisfaction and Employee Job Satisfaction in a Relational Context,” Journal of Applied Psychology 101, no. 5 (2016): 743–55. 57 B. Taylor, “Why Amazon Is Copying Zappos and Paying Employees to Quit,” Harvard Business Review, April 14, 2014, https://hbr.org/ 2014/04/why-amazon-is-copying-zappos-and- paying-employees-to-quit/. 58 N. A. Bowling, K. J. Eschleman, and Q. Wang, “A Meta-Analytic Examination of the Relation- ship between Job Satisfaction and Subjective Well-Being,” Journal of Occupational and Organi- zational Psychology 83, no. 4 (2010): 915–34; B. Erdogan, T. N. Bauer, D. M. Truxillo, and L. R. Mansfield, “Whistle While You Work: A Review of the Life Satisfaction Literature,” Journal of Management 38, no. 4 (2012): 1038– 83; Steel et al., “The Effects of Personality on Job Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction.” 59 Y. Georgellis and T. Lange, “Traditional versus Secular Values and the Job-Life Satis- faction Relationship across Europe,” British Journal of Management 23 (2012): 437–54. 60 O. Stavrova, T. Schlosser, and A. Baumert, “Life Satisfaction and Job-Seeking Behavior of the Unemployed: The Effect of Individual Dif- ferences in Justice Sensitivity,” Applied Psychology: An International Review 64, no. 4 (2014): 643–70.

61 A. Davis-Blake, J. P. Broschak, and E. George, “Happy Together? How Using Nonstandard Workers Affects Exit, Voice, and Loyalty among Standard Employees,” Academy of Man- agement Journal 46, no. 4 (2003): 475–85; A. O. Hirschman, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (Cam- bridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1970); J. B. Olson-Buchanan and W. R. Boswell, “The Role of Employee Loyalty and Formality in Voicing Discontent,” Journal of Applied Psychol- ogy (December 2002): 1167–74; and J. Zhou and J. M. George, “When Job Dissatisfaction Leads to Creativity: Encouraging the Expres- sion of Voice,” Academy of Management Journal (August 2001): 682–96. 62 A. J. Nyberg and R. E. Ployhart, “Context- Emergent Turnover (CET) Theory: A Theory of Collective Turnover,” Academy of Manage- ment Review 38 (2013): 109–31. 63 L. K. Treviño, N. A. den Nieuwenboer, and J. J. Kish-Gephart, “(Un)Ethical Behavior in Organizations,” Annual Review of Psychology 65 (2014): 635–60; and P. E. Spector, S. Fox, L. M. Penney, K. Bruursema, A. Goh, and S. Kessler, “The Dimensionality of Coun- terproductivity: Are All Counterproductive Behaviors Created Equal?” Journal of Vocational Behavior 68, no. 3 (2006): 446–60. 64 P. A. O’Keefe, “Liking Work Really Does Mat- ter,” The New York Times, September 7, 2014, 12. 65 T. A. Judge, B. A. Scott, and R. Ilies, “Hostil- ity, Job Attitudes, and Workplace Deviance: Test of a Multilevel Model,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 1 (2006): 126–38. 66 N. A. Bowling and G. N. Burns, “Sex as a Mod- erator of the Relationships between Predictor Variables and Counterproductive Work Behavior,” Journal of Business Psychology 30 (2015): 193–205. 67 H. Peng, “Counterproductive Work Behavior among Chinese Knowledge Workers,” Interna- tional Journal of Selection and Assessment 20, no. 2 (2012): 119–38. 68 H. Lian, D. L. Ferris, R. Morrison, and D. J. Brown, “Blame It on the Supervisor or the Sub- ordinate? Reciprocal Relations between Abusive Supervision and Organizational Deviance,” Jour- nal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 4 (2014): 651–64. 69 R. Folger and D. P. Skarlicki, “Beyond Coun- terproductive Work Behavior: Moral Emotions and Deontic Retaliation versus Reconciliation,” in S. Fox and P. E. Spector (eds.), Counter- productive Work Behavior: Investigations of Actors and Targets (Washington, DC: American Psy- chological Association, 2005): 83–105. 70 C. M. Berry, N. C. Carpenter, and C. L. Bar- ratt, “Do Other-Reports of Counterproductive Work Behavior Provide an Incremental Con- tribution over Self-Reports? A Meta-Analytic Comparison,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97, no. 3 (2012): 613–36; and N. C. Carpenter, B. Rangel, G. Jeon, and J. Cottrell, “Are Supervi- sors and Coworkers Likely to Witness Employee Counterproductive Work Behavior? An Investi- gation of Observability and Self-Observer Con- vergence,” Personnel Psychology (in press).

71 Diestel, Wegge, and Schmidt, “The Impact of Social Context on the Relation- ship between Individual Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism.” 72 R. D. Hackett, “Work Attitudes and Employee Absenteeism: A Synthesis of the Literature,” Jour- nal of Occupational Psychology 62 (1989): 235–48; and J. F. Ybema, P. G. W. Smulders, and P. M. Bongers, “Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Absenteeism: A Longitudinal Perspec- tive on the Role of Job Satisfaction and Burn- out,” European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology 19 (2010): 102–24. 73 J. P. Hausknecht, N. J. Hiller, and R. J. Vance, “Work-Unit Absenteeism: Effects of Satisfaction, Commitment, Labor Market Con- ditions, and Time,” Academy of Management Journal 51, no. 6 (2008): 1123–245. 74 G. Chen, R. E. Ployhart, H. C. Thomas, N. Anderson, and P. D. Bliese, “The Power of Momentum: A New Model of Dynamic Relation- ships between Job Satisfaction Change and Turn- over Intentions,” Academy of Management Journal, February 2011, 159–81; and R. W. Griffeth, P. W. Hom, and S. Gaertner, “A Meta-Analysis of Antecedents and Correlates of Employee Turn- over: Update, Moderator Tests, and Research Implications for the Next Millennium,” Journal of Management 26, no. 3 (2000): 479. 75 W. Felps, T. R. Mitchell, D. R. Hekman, T. W. Lee, B. C. Holtom, and W. S. Harman, “Turnover Contagion: How Coworkers’ Job Embeddedness and Job Search Behaviors Influence Quitting,” Academy of Management Journal 52, no. 3 (2009): 545–61; and D. Liu, T. R. Mitchell, T. W. Lee, B. C. Holtom, and T. R. Hinkin, “When Employees Are Out of Step with Coworkers: How Job Satisfaction Trajec- tory and Dispersion Influence Individual- and Unit-Level Voluntary Turnover,” Academy of Management Journal 55, no. 6 (2012): 1360–80. 76 T. H. Lee, B. Gerhart, I. Weller, and C. O. Trevor, “Understanding Voluntary Turnover: Path-Specific Job Satisfaction Effects and the Importance of Unsolicited Job Offers,” Academy of Management Journal 51, no. 4 (2008): 651–71. 77 K. Jiang, D. Liu, P. F. McKay, T. W. Lee, and T. R. Mitchell, “When and How Is Job Embeddedness Predictive of Turnover? A Meta-Analytic Investigation,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97 (2012): 1077–96; and C. M. Porter, R. A. Posthuma, C. P. Maertz Jr., J. R. W. Joplin, J. Rigby, M. Gordon, and K. Graves, “On-the-job and Off-the-job Embeddedness Differentially Influence Relationships between Informal Job Search and Turnover,” Journal of Applied Psychology 104, no. 5 (2019): 678–89. 78 K. Holland, “Inside the Minds of Your Employees,” The New York Times, January 28, 2007, B1; “Study Sees Link between Morale and Stock Price,” Workforce Management, February 27, 2006, 15; and “The Workplace as a Solar System,” The New York Times, October 28, 2006, B5. 79 E. White, “How Surveying Workers Can Pay Off,” The Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2007, B3.

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4-1 Describe the differences between person–job fit and person– organization fit.

4-2 Describe personality, the way it is mea- sured, and the factors that shape it.

4-3 Describe the strengths and weak- nesses of the Myers-Briggs Type Indi- cator (MBTI) personality framework and the Big Five model.

4-4 Discuss how the concepts of core self-evaluation (CSE),

self-monitoring, and proactive per- sonality contribute to the under- standing of personality.

4-5 Describe how personality affects job search and unemployment.

4-6 Describe how the situation affects whether personality predicts behavior.

4-7 Contrast terminal and instrumental values.

4-8 Compare Hofstede’s five value dimen- sions and the GLOBE framework.

LEARNING OBJECTIV ES After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 135

Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)

Myth or Science?

Career OBjectives

An Ethical Choice

Point/ Counterpoint

Experiential Exercise

Ethical Dilemma

Case Incident 1

Case Incident 2

Critical Thinking ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Communication ✓ ✓ ✓ Collaboration ✓ ✓ ✓ Knowledge

Application and Analysis

✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

Social Responsibility ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓

LEADING THE “QUIET REVOLUTION”

As vice chair (business innovations), Beth Comstock (shown here), has been “lighting up GE.” She has been rated in 2016 as the forty- eighth most powerful woman in business and has held executive positions

at NBCUniversal as well as GE throughout her decades-spanning career.

Today, her position requires that she forecast future opportunities for GE

and gather the right teams to foster new business models. Not only is she in charge of business model innovation, but she also oversees many

aspects of GE’s sales, marketing, and communication functions.

To many, someone this successful must appear to need an extroverted

personality or be sociable, gregarious, and assertive. However, you may be surprised to hear that Beth considers herself to be an introvert: “I’m definitely

a more introverted leader, but I’ve worked hard during my career to make sure

I put myself out there because I [understand] that business is an extroverted

activity.” Comstock illustrates how even though traits such as extroversion

can greatly help an individual succeed in the business world, adapting to the

situation goes a long way. Furthermore, introversion itself has some unique

benefits, Beth notes, “There are also a lot of great things about being more

introverted—you observe things more, you aren’t always the first to speak.

I’ve come to learn that leadership is about understanding things are never

perfectly balanced and how to best use that tension moving forward.”

MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.

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136 PART 2 The Individual

Beth’s insights into leadership are quite telling and may be extended

beyond the study of leadership and personality. Life isn’t as perfectly bal-

anced or black and white as it may seem. Certain personality traits may be

useful in some contexts and useless in others. There has been a renewed

focus on the power of introversion in a world that idolizes extroversion. In

her 2012 book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop

Talking, Susan Cain delves into these ideas and has since sold 2 million

copies worldwide. In 2015, she met with 50 GE executives for a fireside

discussion of her book. Responding to a question an executive asked about

any advice that could be given to his introverted daughter who was en route

to college, Cain says “Take time to find your tribe . . . It’s a difficult world

when the social currency is how gregarious you are.” As an introvert, get-

ting out there and finding a group you can belong to is so important, as the

world seems to value extraversion.

Cain’s work has sparked a renewed interest in what it means to be

introverted or extroverted, navigating a world that on the whole values

extraverted behavior, and whether introverts make effective leaders.

Although extraverted traits can be helpful in some situations, the advice

for introverts to “be more extroverted” has perhaps been misguided. Psy-

chologists and Organizational Behavior (OB) experts alike are beginning

to realize that there are valuable skills unique to both introversion and

extraversion.

Beyond our personalities, which describe our behavioral tendencies, our

values and belief systems also matter in relation to what we do and how

we do it in the workplace. For example, Beth has a track record of investing

in women-led start-ups because she is a big believer in supporting female

entrepreneurs and founders. By investing in these organizations, she is act-

ing in support of her values. In fact, all her investments to date have been in

women-led companies.

Sources: Based on G. Colvin, “How Beth Comstock Is Lighting up GE,” Fortune, September 14, 2016, http://fortune.com/beth-comstock-general-electric-most-powerful-women/; L. M. Holson, “Instigating a ‘Quiet Revolution’ of Introverts,” The New York Times, July 26, 2015, Section ST, p. 10; D. Schawbel, “Beth Comstock: Being an Introverted Leader in an Extroverted Business World,” Forbes, October 20, 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/ 2016/10/20/beth-comstock-being-an-introverted-leader-in-an-extroverted-business-world/ 2/#3a47817a1c6f; and V. Zarya, “Why GE Vice Chair Beth Comstock Is Investing in These Women-Led Startups,” Fortune, May 18, 2016, http://fortune.com/2016/05/18/beth- comstock-women-led-startups/.

Personality is indeed a strong factor for many life and work outcomes. Personality plays a major role in success in the workplace, although the effects are not always direct; sometimes they are nuanced. We will explain extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, agreeableness, and neuroticism: the traits which comprise the Big Five, the most well-defined and supported personality framework to-date. We’ll also review frameworks that describe an individual’s personality and tendencies.

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 137

Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace Thirty years ago, organizations were concerned with personality, in part because they used it to match individuals to specific jobs. That concern has expanded to include how well the individual’s personality and values match the organization. Why? Because managers today are less interested in an applicant’s ability to perform a specific job than with his or her flexibility to meet changing situations and maintain commitment to the organization. Still, one of the first types of fit managers look for is person–job fit.

Person–Job Fit The effort to match job requirements with personality characteristics is described by John Holland’s personality–job fit theory, one of the more proven theories in use internationally.1 The Vocational Preference Inventory questionnaire con- tains 160 occupational titles. Respondents indicate which they like or dislike, and their answers form personality profiles. Holland presented six personality types and proposed that satisfaction and the propensity to leave a position depend on how well individuals match their personalities to a job. Exhibit 4-1 describes the six types, their personality characteristics, and examples of the congruent occu- pations for each.

There are cultural implications for person–job fit that speak to workers’ expectations that jobs will be tailored. In individualistic countries where workers expect to be heard and respected by management, increasing person–job fit by tailoring the job to the person increases the individual’s job satisfaction. How- ever, in collectivistic countries, person–job fit is a weaker predictor of job satisfac- tion because people do not expect to have a job tailored to them, so they value person–job fit efforts less. Therefore, managers in collectivistic cultures should not violate cultural norms by designing jobs for individuals; rather, they should seek people who will likely thrive in jobs that have already been structured.2

Person–Organization Fit We’ve noted that researchers have looked at matching people to organizations and jobs. If an organization has a dynamic and changing environment and

4-1 Describe the differences between person–job fit and person–organization fit.

personality–job fit theory A theory that identifies six personality types and pro- poses that the fit between personality type and occupational environment determines satisfaction and turnover.

Holland’s Typology of Personality and Congruent OccupationsExhibit 4-1

Type Personality Characteristics Congruent Occupations

Realistic: Prefers physical activities that Shy, genuine, persistent, stable, conforming, Mechanic, drill press operator, require skill, strength, and coordination practica ssembly-line worker, farmer

Investigative: Prefers activities that involve Analytical, original, curious, independent Biologist, economist, mathematician, thinking, organizing, and understanding news reporter

Social: Prefers activities that involve Sociable, friendly, cooperative, understanding Social worker, teacher, counselor, helping and developing others clinical psychologist

Conventional: Prefers rule-regulated, Conforming, efficient, practical, unimaginative, Accountant, corporate manager, bank orderly, and unambiguous activitie nflexibl

al

te eller, file clerk

Enterprising: Prefers verbal activities Self-confident, ambitious, energetic, Lawyer, real estate agent, public in which there are opportunities to domineering relations specialist, small business influence others and attain power manager

Artistic: Prefers ambiguous and Imaginative, disorderly, idealistic, emotional, Painter, musician, writer, interior unsystematic activities that allo

s i

w impractical decorator creative expression

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138 PART 2 The Individual

needs employees able to change tasks readily and move easily between teams, it’s more important that employees’ personalities fit with the overall organiza- tion’s culture than with the characteristics of any specific job.

Person–organization fit essentially means people are attracted to and are selected by organizations that match their values, and they leave organizations that are not compatible with their personalities.3 Using the Big Five terminology, for instance, we could expect that extraverts fit well with aggressive and team- oriented cultures, people high on agreeableness match better with a supportive organizational climate, and highly open people fit better in organizations that emphasize innovation rather than standardization.4 Following these guidelines when hiring should yield employees who fit better with the organization’s cul- ture, which should, in turn, result in higher employee satisfaction and reduced turnover. Research on person–organization fit also looked at whether people’s values match the organization’s culture. A match predicts high job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and task performance, as well as low turnover.5

It is more important than ever for organizations to manage their image online because job seekers view company websites as part of their pre-application process. Applicants want to see a user-friendly website that provides information about company philosophies and policies. For example, millennials in particu- lar may react positively when they perceive that an organization is committed to work-life balance. The website is so important to the development of perceived person–organization fit that improvements to its style (usability) and substance (policies) can lead to more applicants.6

Other Dimensions of Fit Although person–job fit and person–organization fit are considered the most salient dimensions for workplace outcomes, other avenues of fit are worth examining. These include person–group fit and person–supervisor fit.7 Person– group fit is important in team settings, where the dynamics of team interactions significantly affect work outcomes. Person–supervisor fit has become an impor- tant area of research because poor fit in this dimension can lead to lower job satisfaction and reduced performance.

All dimensions of fit are sometimes broadly referred to as person– environment fit. Each dimension can predict work attitudes, which are partially

person–organization fit A theory that people are attracted to and selected by orga- nizations that match their values, and leave when there is no compatibility.

Person–organization fit is important to Sheila Marcelo, founder and CEO of Care.com, an online sitter and care service. Marcelo seeks to hire employees who share the company’s culture of helping others and who are passionate about working on projects that achieve Care.com’s mission of improving the lives of families and caregivers. Source: Kelvin Ma/Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 139

based on culture. A recent meta-analysis of person–environment fit in East Asia, Europe, and North America suggested the dimensions of person–organization and person–job fit are the strongest predictors of positive work attitudes and performance in North America. These dimensions are important to a lesser degree in Europe, and they are the least important in East Asia.8

Personality Why are some people quiet and passive, while others are loud and aggressive? Are certain personality types better adapted than others for certain jobs? Before we can answer these questions, we need to address a more basic one: What is personality?

What Is Personality? When we speak of someone’s personality, we use many adjectives to describe how they act and seem to think; in fact, participants in a recent study used 624 distinct adjectives to describe people they knew.9 As organizational behavior- ists, however, we organize personality characteristics by overall traits, describing the growth and development of a person’s personality.

Defining Personality For our purposes, think of personality as the sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. We most often describe personality in terms of the measurable traits a person exhibits.

Measuring Personality Personality assessments have been increasingly used in diverse organizational settings. In fact, eight of the top 10 U.S. private compa- nies and 57 percent of all large U.S. companies use them,10 including Xerox, McDonald’s, and Lowe’s,11 and schools such as DePaul University have begun to use personality tests in their admissions process.12 Personality tests are useful in hiring decisions and help managers forecast who is best for a job.13

The most common means of measuring personality is through self-report sur- veys in which individuals evaluate themselves on a series of factors, such as “I worry a lot about the future.” In general, when people know their personality scores are going to be used for hiring decisions, they rate themselves as about half a standard deviation more conscientious and emotionally stable than if they are taking the test to learn more about themselves.14 Another problem is accuracy; a candidate who is in a bad mood when taking the survey may have inaccurate scores.15

Research indicates that culture influences the way we rate ourselves. People in individualistic countries trend toward self-enhancement, while people in collectivist countries like Taiwan, China, and South Korea trend toward self- diminishment. Self-enhancement does not appear to harm a person’s career in individualistic countries, but it does in collectivist countries, where humility is valued. Underrating (self-diminishment) may harm a person’s career in both collectivistic and individualistic communities.16

Observer-ratings surveys provide an independent assessment of personality. Here, a coworker or another observer does the rating. Though the results of self- reports and observer-ratings surveys are strongly correlated, research suggests that observer-ratings surveys predict job success more than self-ratings alone.17 How- ever, each can tell us something unique about an individual’s behavior, so a com- bination of self-reports and observer reports predicts performance better than any one type of information. The implication is clear: Use both observer ratings and self-report ratings of personality when making important employment decisions.

Personality Determinants An early debate centered on whether an individual’s personality is the result of heredity or environment. Personality appears to be a result of both; however, research tends to support the importance of heredity over environment.

4-2 Describe personality, the way it is measured, and the factors that shape it.

personality The sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

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140 PART 2 The Individual

Heredity refers to factors determined at conception. Physical stature, facial features, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are either completely or substantially influenced by parentage—by your biological parents’ biological, physiological, and inher- ent psychological makeup. The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes, which are located on the chromosomes. A review of 134 studies found that there is some truth to this approach, with about 40 percent of personal- ity being attributable to heredity and the other 60 percent attributable to the environment.18

This is not to suggest that personality never changes. People’s scores on dependability tend to increase over time, as when young adults start families and establish careers. However, strong individual differences in dependability remain; everyone tends to change by about the same amount, so their rank order stays roughly the same.19 Furthermore, personality is more changeable in adolescence and more stable among adults.20

heredity Factors determined at conception; one’s biological, physiological, and inherent psychological makeup.

Career OBjectives How do I ace the personality test?

I just landed a second-round interview with a great company, and I’m super excited. And super nervous because I’ve read a few articles about how more and more companies are using personality testing. Do you have tips for how I can put my best foot forward?

— Lauren

Dear Lauren: Congratulations! It’s natural for you to want to understand the tests your prospective employer uses. You’ve probably deduced that it’s possible to respond in a favorable manner. For example, if a statement says, “I am always prepared,” you know that employers are looking for an applicant who agrees with this statement. You might think responding in the most favorable way possible increases your chances of getting hired, and you might be right.

There are a few caveats, how- ever. First, some companies build in “lie scales” that flag individuals who respond to statements in an extremely favorable manner. It’s not always easy

to detect them, but clues usually appear across several items. If you respond in the most favorable way to a long list of items, then you might pop up on the lie scale.

Second, high scores on every trait are not desirable for every kind of job. Some employers might be more interested in low scores on a particular trait or pay more attention to a total profile that would be hard to “game.” For example, agreeableness is not a good predictor of job performance for jobs that are com- petitive in nature (sales, coach, trader).

Third, there is an ethical perspec- tive you should consider. How are you going to feel once you are in the orga- nization if you have not represented yourself correctly in the hiring pro- cess? What is your general attitude toward lying? How are you going to make sure your behavior fits the traits you tried to portray?

Finally, perhaps you should look at the assessment differently. The organization—and you—should be look- ing for a good match. If you are not a good match and are hired, you are likely to be unsuccessful, and miserable in

the process. However, if you have a good, honest match, you can arrive for your first day confident and ready for success.

In the end, you might increase your chances of getting hired by responding to a personality test in a favorable man- ner. However, we still think honesty is the best policy—for you and for your future employer!

Sources: Based on M. N. Bing, H. K. Davison, and J. Smothers, “Item-Level Frame-of- Reference Effects in Personality Testing: An Investigation of Incremental Validity in an Organizational Setting,” International Jour- nal of Selection and Assessment 22, no. 2 (2014): 165–78; P. R. Sackett and P. T. Walmsley, “Which Personality Attributes Are Most Important in the Workplace?” Per- spectives on Psychological Science 9, no. 5 (2014): 538–51; and L. Weber, “To Get a Job, New Hires Are Put to the Test,” The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2015, A1, A10.

The opinions provided here are of the authors only. The authors are not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. In no event will the authors or their related partner- ships or corporations thereof be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the opinions pro- vided here.

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Early work on personality tried to identify and label enduring characteris- tics that describe an individual’s behavior, including shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid. When someone frequently exhibits these char- acteristics and they are relatively enduring over time and across situations, we call them personality traits.21 The more consistent the characteristic over time and the more frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more important the trait is in describing the individual.

personality traits Enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior.

Energetic, charismatic, decisive, ambi- tious, adaptable, courageous, and industrious are personality traits used to describe Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group. These traits helped Branson, shown here promoting Virgin Trains, build one of the most recog- nized and respected global brands in travel, entertainment, and lifestyle. Source: Joe Pepler/REX/AP Images

Personality Frameworks Throughout history, people have sought to understand what makes individu- als behave in different ways. Many of our behaviors stem from our personali- ties, so understanding the components of personality helps us predict behavior. Important theoretical frameworks and assessment tools help us categorize and study the dimensions of personality.

The most widely used and best known personality frameworks are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Big Five Personality Model. Both describe a person’s total personality through exploration of the facets of per- sonality. Other frameworks, such as the Dark Triad, explain certain aspects, but not the total, of an individual’s personality. We discuss each below, but let’s begin with the dominant frameworks.

4-3 Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality framework and the Big Five model.

MyLab Management Personal Inventory Assessments Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.

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The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is one of the most widely used per- sonality assessment instruments in the world.22 It is a 100-question personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in situations. Respondents are classified as extraverted or introverted (E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or N), thinking or feeling (T or F), and judging or perceiving ( J or P):

• Extraverted (E) versus Introverted (I). Extraverted individuals are outgoing, sociable, and assertive. Introverts are quiet and shy.

• Sensing (S) versus Intuitive (N). Sensing types are practical and prefer rou- tine and order, and they focus on details. Intuitives rely on unconscious processes and look at the big picture.

• Thinking (T) versus Feeling (F). Thinking types use reason and logic to han- dle problems. Feeling types rely on their personal values and emotions.

• Judging (J) versus Perceiving (P). Judging types want control and prefer order and structure. Perceiving types are flexible and spontaneous.

The MBTI describes personality types by identifying one trait from each of the four pairs. For example, Introverted/Intuitive/Thinking/Judging people (INTJs) are visionaries with original minds and great drive. They are skepti- cal, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn. ENFJs are natural teachers and leaders. They are relational, motivational, intuitive, idealistic, ethical, and kind. ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, and decisive, perfect for business or mechanics. The ENTP type is innovative, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas. This person tends to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect rou- tine assignments.

According to the Myers & Briggs Foundation, introverts account for over 50 percent of the E/I responses in the U.S. population. Indeed, two of the three most common MBTI types are introverts: ISFJ and ISTJ. ISFJs are nurturing and responsible, and ISTJs are dutiful and logical. The least common types are INFJ (insightful and protective) and ENTJ (focused and decisive).23

The MBTI is used in a variety of organizational settings. It is taken by over 2.5 million people each year, and 89 of the Fortune 100 companies use it.24 Evi- dence is mixed about its validity as a measure of personality; however, most of the evidence is against it.25 As Professor Dan Ariely noted about MBTI results, “Next time, just look at the horoscope. It is just as valid and takes less time.”26

One problem with the MBTI is that the model forces a person into one type or another; that is, you’re either introverted or extraverted. There is no in-between. Another problem is with the reliability of the measure: When peo- ple retake the assessment, they often receive different results. An additional problem is in the difficulty of interpretation. There are levels of importance for each of the MBTI facets, and there are separate meanings for certain com- binations of facets, all of which require trained interpretation that can leave room for error. Finally, results from the MBTI tend to be unrelated to job per- formance. The MBTI can thus be a valuable tool for increasing self-awareness and providing career guidance, but because results tend to be unrelated to job performance, managers should consider using the Big Five Personality Model, discussed next, as the personality selection test for job candidates instead.

The Big Five Personality Model The MBTI may lack strong supporting evidence, but an impressive body of research supports the Big Five Model, which proposes that five basic dimen- sions underlie all others and encompass most of the significant variation in human personality.27 Test scores of these traits do a very good job of predicting

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) A personality test that taps four characteris- tics and classifies people into one of sixteen personality types.

Big Five Model A personality model that proposes five basic dimensions encompass most of the differences in human personality.

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how people behave in a variety of real-life situations28 and remain relatively stable for an individual over time, with some daily variations.29 These are the Big Five factors:

• Conscientiousness. The conscientiousness dimension is a measure of per- sonal consistency and reliability. A highly conscientious person is respon- sible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable.

• Emotional stability. The emotional stability dimension taps a person’s abil- ity to withstand stress. People with emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. High scorers are more likely to be positive and optimistic and to experience fewer negative emotions; they are generally happier than low scorers. Emotional stability is sometimes discussed as its converse, neuroticism. Low scorers (those with high neuroticism) are hypervigilant and vulnerable to the physical and psychological effects of stress. Those with high neuroticism tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure.

• Extraversion. The extraversion dimension captures our relational approach toward the social world. Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. They experience more positive emotions than do introverts, and they more freely express these feelings. On the other hand, intro- verts (low extraversion) tend to be more thoughtful, reserved, timid, and quiet.

• Openness to experience. The openness to experience dimension addresses the range of interests and fascination with novelty. Open people are cre- ative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the low end of the cat- egory are conventional and find comfort in the familiar.

• Agreeableness. The agreeableness dimension refers to an individual’s pro- pensity to defer to others. Agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and trusting. You might expect agreeable people to be happier than disagree- able people. They are, but only slightly. When people choose organiza- tional team members, agreeable individuals are usually their first choice. In contrast, people who score low on agreeableness are cold and antagonistic.

conscientiousness A personality dimension that describes someone who is responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.

emotional stability A personality dimen- sion that characterizes someone as calm, self-confident, and secure (positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative).

extraversion A personality dimension describing someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive.

openness to experience A personality dimension that characterizes someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity, and curiosity.

agreeableness A personality dimension that describes someone who is good natured, cooperative, and trusting.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra is unusual in that she appears to score high on all the Big Five personality dimensions. Her unique combination of traits has helped her become the first female CEO of a major global automaker. Source: Michael Buholzer/Photoshot/Newscom

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144 PART 2 The Individual

How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior at Work? There are many relation- ships between the Big Five personality dimensions and job performance,30 and we are learning more about them every day. Let’s explore one trait at a time, beginning with the strongest predictor of job performance—conscientiousness.

Conscientiousness at Work As researchers have stated, “Personal attributes related to conscientiousness . . . are important for success across many jobs, spanning across low to high levels of job complexity, training, and experi- ence.”31 Employees who score higher in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge, probably because highly conscientious people learn more (conscientiousness may be related to grade point average [GPA]),32 and these levels correspond with higher levels of job performance.33 Conscientious people are also more able to maintain their job performance even when faced with abusive supervision, according to a recent study in India.34 Prior reviews also suggest that conscientious people tend to be more likely to engage in more organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), less likely to engage in counter- productive work behaviors (CWBs) or think about leaving the organization, and can adapt to changing task demands and situations.35 Conscientious peo- ple also engage in less unsafe behavior and tend to have fewer accidents than those who are less conscientious.36

Conscientiousness is important to overall organizational success. As Exhibit 4-2 shows, a study of the personality scores of 313 Chief Executive Officer (CEO) candidates in private equity companies (of whom 225 were hired) found con- scientiousness—in the form of persistence, attention to detail, and setting high standards—was more important to success than other traits.37

Like any trait, conscientiousness has pitfalls. Extremely conscientious individuals can be too deliberate and perfectionistic, resulting in diminished happiness and performance, which includes task performance, safety perfor- mance, and OCB.38 They may also become too focused on their own work to help others in the organization.39 Finally, they are often less creative, especially artistically.40

Conscientiousness is the best predictor of job performance. However, the other Big Five traits are also related to aspects of performance and have other implications for work and for life, as Exhibit 4-3 summarizes.

Emotional Stability at Work Of the Big Five traits, emotional stability is most strongly related to life satisfaction, job satisfaction, and reduced burnout and intentions to quit.41 People with high emotional stability can adapt to unex- pected or changing demands in the workplace.42 At the other end of the spec- trum, neurotic individuals, who may be unable to cope with these demands,

Traits That Matter Most to Business Success at Buyout Companies

Exhibit 4-2

Most Important Less Important Persistence Strong oral communication Attention to detail Teamwork Efficiency Flexibility/adaptability Analytical skills Enthusiasm Setting high standards Listening skills

Source: Based on S. N. Kaplan, M. M. Klebanov, and M. Sorensen, “Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?” The Journal of

Finance 67, no. 3 (2012): 973–1007.

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may experience burnout.43 These people also tend to experience work–family conflict, which can affect work outcomes.44 Given these negative, straining effects, neurotic employees are more likely to engage in CWBs, less likely to engage in OCBs, and less likely to be motivated at work.45

Extraversion at Work People with extraverted personality traits tend to perform well in jobs that require interpersonal interaction. They are socially dominant, “take charge” people who are usually more assertive than introverts.46 Extra- version is a relatively strong predictor of leadership emergence and behaviors in groups.47 Extraverts also tend to have generally high job satisfaction and reduced burnout.48 Some negatives are that extraverts can appear to be self- aggrandizing, egoistic, or too dominating and that their social behavior can be disadvantageous for jobs that do not require frequent social interaction.49

Openness at Work Open people tend to be the most creative and innovative compared with the other traits.50 Open people are more likely to be effective leaders and more comfortable with ambiguity—they cope better with organiza- tional change and are more adaptable.51 While openness isn’t related to initial performance on a job, individuals higher in openness are less susceptible to a decline in performance over a longer time period.52 Open people also experi- ence less work–family conflict.53

Agreeableness at Work Agreeable individuals are better liked than disagree- able people; they should perform well in interpersonally oriented jobs such as customer service. They experience less work–family conflict and are less

Model of How Big Five Traits Influence OB CriteriaExhibit 4-3

• Less negative thinking and fewer negative emotions • Less hypervigilant

• Higher job and life satisfaction

• More adaptable to change • Lower stress levels

• Better interpersonal skills • Greater social dominance • More emotionally expressive

Extraversion • Higher performance • Enhanced leadership • Higher job and life satisfaction

• Increased learning • More creative • More flexible and autonomous

Openness • Enhanced Training Performance • Enhanced leadership

• Better liked • More compliant and conforming

Agreeableness • Higher performance • Lower levels of deviant behavior

• Greater effort and persistence • More drive and discipline • Better organized and planning

Conscientiousness • Higher performance • Enhanced leadership • Greater longevity

BIG FIVE TRAITS WHY IS IT RELEVANT? WHAT DOES IT AFFECT?

Emotional stability

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146 PART 2 The Individual

susceptible to turnover.54 They also contribute to organizational performance by engaging in OCB.55 Disagreeable people, on the other hand, are more likely to engage in CWBs, as are people low in conscientiousness.56 Agreeable- ness is associated with lower levels of career success, perhaps because highly agreeable people consider themselves less marketable and are less willing to assert themselves.57

In general, the Big Five personality factors appear in almost all cross-cultural studies,58 including studies in China, Israel, Germany, Japan, Spain, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, and the United States. However, a study of illiterate indige- nous people in Bolivia suggested that the Big Five framework may be less appli- cable when studying the personalities of small, remote groups.59

Research indicates that the Big Five traits have the most verifiable links to important organizational outcomes, but they are not the only traits a person exhibits, nor are they the only ones with OB implications. Let’s discuss some other traits, known collectively as the Dark Triad.

The Dark Triad Outside the Big Five framework, researchers have identified three other socially undesirable traits, which we all have in varying degrees, are also relevant to orga- nizational behavior: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy. Because of their negative nature, researchers have labeled these the Dark Triad—though they do not always occur together.60

The Dark Triad may sound sinister, but these traits are not clinical patholo- gies hindering everyday functioning. They might be expressed particularly strongly when an individual is under stress and unable to moderate any inap- propriate responses. Sustained high levels of dark personality traits can cause individuals to derail their careers and personal lives.61

Machiavellianism Hao is a young bank manager in Shanghai. He’s received three promotions in the past 4 years and makes no apologies for the aggressive tactics he’s used. “My name means clever, and that’s what I am—I do whatever I have to do to get ahead,” he says. Hao would be termed Machiavellian.

The personality characteristic of Machiavellianism (often abbreviated Mach) is named after Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote in the sixteenth century about how to gain and use power. An individual high in Machiavellianism is prag- matic, maintains emotional distance, and believes ends can justify means. “If it works, use it” is consistent with a high-Mach perspective. High Machs manip- ulate more, win more, and are persuaded less by others but persuade others more than do low Machs.62 They are more likely to act aggressively and engage in CWBs as well. Surprisingly, Machiavellianism does not positively predict over- all job performance.63 High-Mach employees, by manipulating others to their advantage, win in the short term at a job, but they lose those gains in the long term because they are not well liked.

Machiavellian tendencies may have ethical implications. One study showed that high-Mach job seekers were less positively affected by the knowledge that an organization engaged in a high level of corporate social responsibil- ity (CSR),64 suggesting that high-Mach people may care less about sustainabil- ity issues. Another study found that Machs’ ethical leadership behaviors were less likely to translate into followers’ work engagement because followers see through these behaviors and realize it is a case of surface acting.65

Narcissism Sabrina likes to be the center of attention. She often looks at her- self in the mirror, has extravagant dreams about her future, and considers her- self a person of many talents. Sabrina is a narcissist. The trait is named for the

Dark Triad A constellation of negative per- sonality traits consisting of Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.

Machiavellianism The degree to which an individual is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means.

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Greek myth about Narcissus, a youth so vain and proud he fell in love with his own image. In psychology, narcissism describes a person who has a grandiose sense of self-importance, requires excessive admiration, and is arrogant. Nar- cissists often have fantasies of grand success, a tendency to exploit situations and people, a sense of entitlement, and a lack of empathy.66 However, nar- cissists can be hypersensitive and fragile people.67 They may also experience more anger.68

While narcissism seems to be relatively unrelated to job effectiveness or OCB,69 it is one of the largest predictors of increased CWB in individualistic cultures—but not in collectivist cultures that discourage self-promotion.70 Nar- cissists commonly think they are overqualified for their positions.71 When they receive feedback about their performance, they often tune out information that conflicts with their positive self-perception, but they will work harder if rewards are offered.72

On the bright side, narcissists may be more charismatic than others.73 They also might be found in business more often than in other fields (see OB Poll). They are more likely to be chosen for leadership positions, and medium ratings of narcissism (neither extremely high nor extremely low) are positively corre- lated with leadership effectiveness.74 Some evidence suggests that narcissists are more adaptable and make better business decisions than others when the issue is complex.75 A study of Norwegian bank employees found those scoring high on narcissism enjoyed their work more.76

Special attention has been paid to narcissistic CEOs who make more acquisi- tions, pay higher premiums for those acquisitions, respond less clearly to objec- tive measures of performance, and respond to media praise by making even more acquisitions.77 Research using data compiled over 100 years has shown that narcissistic CEOs of baseball organizations generate higher levels of man- ager turnover, although members of external organizations see them as more influential.78

Narcissism and its effects are not confined to CEOs or celebrities. Like the effects of Machiavellianism, those of narcissism vary by context, but are evident in all areas of life.

narcissism The tendency to be arrogant, have a grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive admiration, and possess a sense of entitlement.

Does Business School Make You Narcissistic?

Source: Based on J. W. Westerman, J. Z. Bergman, S. M. Bergman, and J. P. Daly, “Are Universities Creating Millennial Narcissistic Employees? An Empirical

Examination of Narcissism in Business Students and Its Implications,” Journal of Management Education 36 (2012), 5–32.

20

19

18

17

16

15

14

Men

Average levels of narcissism by college major and gender

Women Business

Men Women Psychology

OB POLL

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148 PART 2 The Individual

Psychopathy Psychopathy is part of the Dark Triad, but in organizational behav- ior, it does not connote clinical mental illness. In the OB context, psychopathy is defined as a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when actions cause harm.79 Measures of psychopathy attempt to assess the motiva- tion to comply with social norms; impulsivity; willingness to use deceit to obtain desired ends; and disregard, that is, lack of empathic concern for others.

The literature is not consistent about whether psychopathy is important to work behavior. One review found little correlation between measures of psychop- athy and job performance or CWBs.80 Another found that antisocial personality, which is closely related to psychopathy, was positively related to advancement in the organization but unrelated to other aspects of career success and effective- ness.81 Still other research suggests psychopathy is related to the use of hard influence tactics (threats, manipulation) and bullying work behavior (physical or verbal threatening).82 The cunning displayed by people who score high on psychopathy may thus help them gain power in an organization but keep them from using it toward healthy ends for themselves or their organizations.

Other Traits The Dark Triad is a helpful framework for studying the three domi- nant dark-side traits in current personality research, and researchers are exploring other traits as well. One emerging framework incorporates five additional aberrant compound traits based on the Big Five.83 First, antisocial people are indifferent and callous toward others. They use their extraversion to charm people, but they may be prone to violent CWBs and risky decision making. Second, borderline people have low self-esteem and high uncertainty. They are unpredictable in their inter- actions at work, are inefficient, and may have low job satisfaction. Their low self- esteem can lead to clinical depression.84 Third, schizotypal individuals are eccentric and disorganized. In the workplace, they can be highly creative, although they are susceptible to work stress. Fourth, obsessive-compulsive people are perfectionists and can be stubborn, yet they attend to details, carry a strong work ethic, and may be motivated by achievement. Fifth, avoidant individuals feel inadequate and hate criticism. They can function only in environments requiring little interaction.

Personality traits have both positive and negative aspects. The degree of each trait—those in the Big Five, the Dark Triad, and others—in a person, and the combination of traits, matter a great deal to organizational outcomes. It would be easy to make quick management decisions based on our observations, but it is important to keep discussions on personality in perspective and to consider other theories.

Other Personality Attributes Relevant to OB As we’ve discussed, studies of traits have much to offer to the field of OB. Now we’ll look at other attributes that are powerful predictors of behavior in organi- zations: core self-evaluations, self-monitoring, and proactive personality.

Core Self-Evaluations (CSEs) Core self-evaluations (CSEs) are bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person. People who have positive CSEs like themselves and see themselves as effective and in control of their envi- ronment. Those with negative CSEs tend to dislike themselves, question their capabilities, and view themselves as powerless over their environment.85 As we dis- cussed in Chapter 3, CSEs relate to job satisfaction because people who are posi- tive on this trait see more challenge in their jobs and attain more complex jobs.

People with positive CSEs perform better than others because they set more ambitious goals, are more committed to their goals, and persist longer in attempt- ing to reach them.86 People who have high CSEs provide better customer service,

psychopathy The tendency for a lack of con- cern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when actions cause harm.

4-4 Discuss how the concepts of core self-evaluation (CSE), self-monitoring, and proac- tive personality contribute to the understanding of personality.

core self-evaluation (CSE) Bottom-line conclusions individuals have about their capabilities, competence, and worth as a person.

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are more popular coworkers, and may have careers that begin on a better footing and ascend more rapidly over time.87 They perform especially well if they feel their work provides meaning and is helpful to others.88 Therefore, people with high CSEs may thrive in organizations with high corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, it is possible for one’s CSE to be too high—research suggests when it is, one may begin to become less popular with coworkers.89

Self-Monitoring Zoe is always in trouble at work. Although she’s competent, hardworking, and productive, she receives average ratings in performance reviews and seems to have made a career out of irritating her bosses. Zoe’s problem is that she’s politically inept and unable to adjust her behavior to fit changing situations. As she said, “I’m true to myself. I don’t remake myself to please others.” Zoe is a low self-monitor.

Self-monitoring describes an individual’s ability to adjust behavior to exter- nal, situational factors.90 High self-monitors show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in varying situations, sometimes pre- senting striking contradictions between their public personae and their private selves. Low self-monitors like Zoe can’t disguise themselves in that way. They tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation; hence, there is high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.

Evidence indicates that high self-monitors pay closer attention to the behav- ior of others and are more capable of conforming than are low self-monitors.91 High self-monitor employees show less commitment to their organizations but receive better performance ratings and are more likely to emerge as leaders.92 High self-monitor managers tend to be more mobile in their careers, receive more promotions (both internal and cross-organizational), and are more likely to occupy central positions in organizations.93 However, self-monitoring can be considered a mixed blessing: despite the aforementioned positive benefits, self- monitors may be seen as inauthentic, self-serving, or unprincipled.94

self-monitoring A personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust their behavior to external, situational factors.

Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, is confident, capable, and effective. His high core self-evalua- tions enabled him to realize his dream of a company that uses profits to give shoes to children in need. Source: Donato Sardella/WireImage/Getty Images

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Proactive Personality Did you ever notice that some people take the initiative to improve their current circumstances or create new ones? These are proactive personalities.95 Those with a proactive personality identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs, unlike those who generally react to situations. Proactive individuals have many desirable behaviors that organiza- tions covet. They have higher levels of job performance96 and creativity,97 do not need much oversight, and are given more autonomy as a result.98 They tend to be satisfied with their jobs, committed to their organizations, and tend to engage in more networking behaviors.99 Proactive individuals often achieve career success, although they are also more likely to be envied by their coworkers (and prone to social undermining or the withholding of help from coworkers).100

A proactive personality may be important for work teams. One study of 95 Research and Development (R&D) teams in 33 Chinese companies revealed that teams with high-average levels of proactive personality were more innova- tive.101 Proactive individuals are also more likely to exchange information with

proactive personality People who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs.

Myth or Science? We Can Accurately Judge Individuals’ Personalities a Few Seconds after Meeting Them

S urprisingly, this statement appears to be true.

Research indicates that indi- viduals can accurately appraise oth- ers’ personalities only a few seconds after first meeting them, or sometimes even from a photo. This “zero acquain- tance” approach shows that, regard- less of the way in which people first meet someone, whether in person or online, their first judgments about the other’s personality have some validity. In one study, for example, individuals were asked to introduce themselves in, on average, 7.4 seconds. Observers’ ratings of those individuals’ extraver- sion were significantly correlated with the individuals’ self-reported extraver- sion. Other research suggests person- alities can be surmised from online profiles at zero acquaintance as well. One study even found that participants could determine the personality traits of individuals at the ends of the trait spectrum from viewing only photos.

Some traits, such as extraversion, are easier to perceive than others upon initial acquaintance, but less obvious traits like self-esteem are also often

judged accurately by others. Even being forced to make intuitive, quick judg- ments rather than deliberate evalua- tions does not seem to undermine the accuracy of the appraisals.

Situations make a difference in the accuracy of the judgments for some personality traits. For example, although neuroticism is perhaps the most difficult trait to detect accurately, a recent study found neuroticism could be judged much more accurately when the situation made the individual react nervously. This makes sense when you consider that some situations activate or draw out a trait much more readily than others. Almost everybody looks calm when they’re about to fall asleep!

The moderate accuracy of these “thin slices” (quick inferences from short experiences) helps to explain the mod- erate validity of employment interviews, which we discuss in Chapter 16. Specif- ically, research shows that interviewers make up their minds about candidates within 2 minutes of first meeting them. While this is hardly an ideal way to make important employment decisions, the research on personality shows

these judgments do have some level of validity. It is important to keep in mind, however, that though we can ascer- tain people’s personalities quickly, we should keep an open mind and sus- pend judgment. There is always more to people than first meets the eye.

Sources: Based on A. Beer, “Comparative Personality Judgments: Replication and Extension of Robust Findings in Personality Perception Using an Alternative Method,” Journal of Personality Assessment 96, no. 6 (2014): 610–18; M. Gladwell, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Boston, MA: Back Bay Books, 2007); S. Hirschmül- ler, B. Egloff, S. C. Schmukle, S. Nestler, and M. D. Back, “Accurate Judgments of Neuroticism at Zero Acquaintance: A Ques- tion of Relevance,” Journal of Personality 83, no. 2 (2015): 221–28; S. Hirschmüller, B. Egloff, S. Nestler, and D. Mitja, “The Dual Lens Model: A Comprehensive Framework for Understanding Self–Other Agreement of Personality Judgments at Zero Acquain- tance,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 104 (2013): 335–53; and J. M. Stopfer, B. Egloff, S. Nestler, and M. D. Back, “Personality Expression and Impres- sion Formation in Online Social Networks: An Integrative Approach to Understand- ing the Processes of Accuracy, Impression Management, and Meta-Accuracy,” Euro- pean Journal of Personality 28 (2014): 73–94.

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others in a team, which builds trust relationships.102 Like other traits, proac- tive personality is affected by the context. One study of bank branch teams in China found that if a team’s leader was not proactive, the benefits of the team’s proactivity became dormant or, worse, was suppressed by the leader.103 In terms of pitfalls, one study of 231 Flemish unemployed individuals found that proac- tive individuals abandoned their job searches sooner. It may be that proactivity includes stepping back in the face of failure.104

In short, these personality traits predict many important organizational outcomes. However, there has been a renewed interest in how personality is related to employability, job search, and unemployment. The next section is an integrative example that will demonstrate recent research on the relationship between personality, job search, and unemployment.

Personality, Job Search, and Unemployment As we have discussed, there are many ways in which various personality traits (from several different frameworks) affect on-the-job outcomes. But how does personality affect our behaviors when we are not working? How does personal- ity influence our job search outcomes and operate during our periods of unem- ployment? You can imagine that these periods may be more exciting for those who have a proactive personality, as introduced in the prior section.105 But the influence of personality is more nuanced than that.

A relevant question involves the behaviors of those who are unemployed and looking for a job: What personality characteristics predict job search behaviors (e.g., networking intensity) among the unemployed? Many studies of unemployed job seekers have found that conscientiousness and extraversion were predictive of networking intensity, general job search intensity, interview callbacks, and job offers, even after controlling for demographic characteris- tics and the time spent unemployed.106 Conscientiousness is such a powerful predictor that in one study of 4,000 British adolescents, the less conscientious of them were twice as likely to be unemployed than those with higher conscien- tiousness levels.107 Research in Finland suggests that time structure (i.e., ensur- ing that your time is structured and purposefully used) is also important for enabling the unemployed to cope effectively with unemployment, with consci- entiousness strongly predicting the creation of time structure even above and beyond contextual factors that might impede time structure (e.g., household demands, having children).108 Overall, one review suggests that conscientious- ness and extraversion are the two strongest predictors of job search behavior, although self-esteem and self-efficacy (parts of CSE) are also important.109

Additional work on unemployed university students suggests that positive affectivity is also important in getting interviews, job offers, and becoming employed—primarily because the positive affect enables the students to have a clearer and more open perspective toward the job search process, engage in more self-monitoring of their motivation, and reduce procrastination.110 Negative affectivity and hostility can have the reverse effect—in one sample of Finnish employees tracked over 15 years, unemployed individuals became more hostile and remained unemployed longer as a result of being hostile.111

It appears that extraversion, conscientiousness, and positive affectivity tend to have a substantial effect on becoming employed and coping with unemploy- ment (with negative affectivity and hostility having equivalent negative effects). If you find yourself in a situation where you are unemployed, can you expect your personality to change? Or can you change your behavior to act in a way that goes against your traits? First, it appears as if “approach” and “avoidance” traits

4-5 Describe how personality affects job search and unemployment.

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(e.g., traits that lead to approaching challenges head-on or avoiding them) have an effect on job search—for example, extraversion, conscientiousness, proactive personality, and positive affect have a positive effect, whereas negative affect, hostility, and low self-esteem and self-efficacy have a negative effect.112 As such, it might be worthwhile to try to adopt an “approach” orientation— take the challenge head on, try to stay positive and organized, and build your network! Second, some research in Germany suggests that your personality can change after unemployment—in a sample of nearly 7,000 unemployed adults who were tracked over 4 years, significant patterns of change in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness were uncovered.113 As we will discuss further in the next section, the situation and context matters as well. The experience of unemployment is not the same for everyone across the board—it can be dif- ferent for new entrants to the labor market (college graduates), those who have just lost their jobs, and those who are employed and seeking jobs.114 Can we expect the effect of personality to differ in each of these contexts?

Personality and Situations Earlier we discussed how research shows that heredity is more important than the environment in developing our personalities. The environment is not irrelevant, though. Some personality traits, such as the Big Five, can be effective in many environments or situations. For example, research indicates conscientiousness is helpful to the performance of most jobs, and extraversion is related to emergence as a leader in most situations. However, we are learning that the effect of particu- lar traits on organizational behavior may depend on the situation. Two theoretical frameworks, situation strength and trait activation, help explain how this works.

Situation Strength Theory Imagine you are in a meeting with your department. How likely are you to walk out, shout at someone, or turn your back on everyone? Probably highly unlikely. Now imagine working from home. You might work in your pajamas, listen to loud music, or take a catnap. From these examples, you can see that many situations vary in their “strength.”

Situation strength theory proposes that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation. By situation strength, we mean the degree to which norms, cues, or standards dictate appropriate behavior.115 Strong situations show us what the right behavior is, pressure us to exhibit it, and discourage the wrong behavior. In weak situations, conversely, “anything goes,” and thus we are freer to express our personality in behavior. Thus, per- sonality traits better predict behavior in weak situations than in strong ones.

Researchers have analyzed situation strength in organizations in terms of four elements:116

1. Clarity, or the degree to which cues about work duties and responsibili- ties are available and clear. Jobs high in clarity produce strong situations because individuals can readily determine what to do. For example, the job of janitor probably provides higher clarity about each task than the job of nanny.

2. Consistency, or the extent to which cues regarding work duties and respon- sibilities are compatible with one another. Jobs with high consistency rep- resent strong situations because all the cues point toward the same desired behavior. The job of acute care nurse, for example, probably has higher consistency than the job of manager.

4-6 Describe how the situation affects whether personality predicts behavior.

situation strength theory A theory indicat- ing that the way personality translates into behavior depends on the strength of the situation.

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 153

3. Constraints, or the extent to which individuals’ freedom to decide or act is lim- ited by forces outside their control. Jobs with many constraints represent strong situations because an individual has limited individual discretion. Bank exam- iner, for example, is probably a job with stronger constraints than forest ranger.

4. Consequences, or the degree to which decisions or actions have important implications for the organization or its members, clients, suppliers, and so on. Jobs with important consequences represent strong situations because the envi- ronment is probably heavily structured to guard against mistakes. A surgeon’s job, for example, has higher consequences than a foreign-language teacher’s.

Some researchers have speculated that organizations are strong situa- tions because they impose rules, norms, and standards that govern behavior. These constraints are usually appropriate. For example, we would not want an employee to feel free to engage in sexual harassment, follow questionable accounting procedures, or come to work only when the mood strikes.

Beyond the basics, though, it is not always desirable for organizations to cre- ate strong situations for their employees for several reasons. First, the elements of situation strength are often determined by organization rules and guidelines, which adds some objectivity to them. However, the perception of these rules influences how the person will respond to the situation’s strength. For instance, a person who is usually self-directed may view step-by-step instructions (high clarity) for a simple task as a lack of faith in his ability. Another person who is a rule-follower might appreciate the detailed instructions. Their responses (and work attitudes) will reflect their perception of and reaction to the situation.117

Second, jobs with myriad rules and tightly controlled processes can be dull or demotivating. Imagine that all work was executed with an assembly-line approach. Some people may prefer the routine, but many prefer having some variety and freedom. Third, strong situations might suppress the creativity, ini- tiative, and discretion prized by some organizational cultures. One study, for example, found that in weak organizational situations, employees were more likely to behave proactively in accordance with their values.118 Work is increas- ingly complex and interrelated globally. Creating strong rules to govern diverse systems might be not only difficult but also unwise. Fourth, situational strength is not an all-or-nothing characteristic—organizations can be strong in some areas and weak in others. For example, a workplace can have weak norms for how work should be done (low strength), but very strong norms against CWB (high strength).119 In sum, managers need to recognize the role of situation strength in the workplace and find the appropriate balance.

Trait Activation Theory Another important theoretical framework toward understanding person- ality and situations is trait activation theory (TAT). TAT predicts that some situations, events, or interventions “activate” a trait more than others. Using TAT, we can foresee which jobs suit certain personalities. For example, a commission-based compensation plan would likely activate individual differ- ences because extraverts are more reward-sensitive, than, say, open people. Conversely, in jobs that encourage creativity, differences in openness may bet- ter predict desired behavior than differences in extraversion. See Exhibit 4-4 for specific examples.

TAT also applies to personality tendencies. For example, a recent study found that people learning online responded differently when their behav- ior was being electronically monitored. Those who had a high fear of fail- ure had higher apprehension from the monitoring than others and learned significantly less. In this case, a feature of the environment (electronic monitor- ing) activated a trait (fear of failing), and the combination of the two meant

trait activation theory (TAT) A theory that predicts that some situations, events, or inter- ventions “activate” a trait more than others.

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lowered job performance.120 TAT can also work in a positive way. One study found that, in a supportive environment, everyone behaved prosocially, but in a harsh environment, only people with prosocial tendencies exhibited them.121

Together, situation strength and trait activation theories show that the debate over nature versus nurture might best be framed as nature and nur- ture. Not only does each affect behavior, but they interact with one another. Put another way, personality and the situation both affect work behavior, but when the situation is right, the power of personality to predict behavior is even higher.122

Having discussed personality traits, we now turn to values. Values are often very specific and describe belief systems rather than behavioral tendencies. Some beliefs or values reflect a person’s personality, but we don’t always act consistently with our values.

Values Is capital punishment right or wrong? Is a desire for power good or bad? The answers to these questions are value-laden.

Values represent basic convictions that “a specific mode of conduct or end- state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.”123 Values contain a judgmental element because they carry an individual’s ideas about what is right, good, or desirable. They have both content and intensity attributes. The content attri- bute says a mode of conduct or end-state of existence is important. The intensity attribute specifies how important it is. When we rank values in terms of intensity, we obtain that person’s value system. We all have a hierarchy of values accord- ing to the relative importance we assign to values such as freedom, pleasure, self-respect, honesty, obedience, and equality.

Values tend to be relatively stable and enduring.124 Many of the values we hold are established in our early years—by parents, teachers, friends, and others. If we question our values, they may change, but more often they are

4-7 Contrast terminal and instrumental values. values Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an oppo- site or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.

value system A hierarchy based on a rank- ing of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity.

Trait Activation Theory: Jobs in Which Certain Big Five Traits Are More RelevantExhibit 4-4

Detail Orientation Required

Social Skills Required

Competitive Work

Innovation Required

Dealing with Angry People

Time Pressure (Deadlines)

Jobs scoring high (the traits listed here should predict behavior in these jobs)

Air traffic controller

Accountant

Legal secretary

Clergy

Therapist

Concierge

Coach/scout

Financial manager

Sales representative

Actor

Systems analyst

Advertising writer

Correctional officer

Telemarketer

Flight attendant

Broadcast news analyst

Editor

Airline pilot

Jobs scoring low (the traits listed here should not predict behavior in these jobs)

Forester Software engineer Postal clerk Court reporter Composer Skincare specialist

Masseuse Pump operator Historian Archivist Biologist Mathematician

Model Broadcast technician

Nuclear reactor operator

Medical technician

Statistician Fitness trainer

Jobs that score high activate these traits (make them more relevant to predicting behavior)

Conscientiousness (+) Extraversion (+) Agreeableness (+)

Extraversion (+) Agreeableness (–)

Openness (+) Extraversion (+) Agreeableness (+) Neuroticism (–)

Conscientiousness (+) Neuroticism (–)

Note: A plus (+) sign means that individuals who score high on this trait should do better in this job. A minus (–) sign means that individuals who score low on this trait should do better in this job.

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 155

reinforced. There is also evidence linking personality to values, implying our values may be partly determined by genetically transmitted traits.125 Open peo- ple, for example, may be more politically liberal, whereas conscientious people may place a greater value on safe and ethical conduct. To explore the topic further, we will discuss the importance and organization of values first.

The Importance and Organization of Values Values lay the foundation for understanding attitudes and motivation, and they influence our perceptions. We enter an organization with preconceived notions of what “ought” and “ought not” to be. These notions contain our interpretations of right and wrong and our preferences for certain behaviors or outcomes. Regardless of whether they clarify or bias our judgment, our values influence our attitudes and behaviors at work.

While values can sometimes augment decision making, at times they can cloud objectivity and rationality.126 Suppose you enter an organization with the view that allocating pay based on performance is right, while allocating pay based on seniority is wrong. How will you react if you find the organization you’ve just joined rewards seniority and not performance? You’re likely to be disappointed—this can lead to job dissatisfaction and a decision not to exert a high level of effort because “It’s probably not going to lead to more money anyway.” Would your attitudes and behavior be different if your values aligned with the organization’s pay policies? Most likely.

Terminal versus Instrumental Values How can we organize values? One researcher—Milton Rokeach—argued that we can separate them into two categories.127 One set, called terminal values, refers to desirable end-states. These are the goals a person would like to achieve during a lifetime. The other set, called instrumental values, refers to prefer- able modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal values. Some exam- ples of terminal values are prosperity and economic success, freedom, health and well-being, world peace, and meaning in life. Examples of instrumental values are autonomy and self-reliance, personal discipline, kindness, and goal- orientation. Each of us places value on both the ends (terminal values) and the means (instrumental values). A balance between the two is important, as is an understanding of how to strike this balance.

Generational Values Researchers have integrated several analyses of work values into groups that attempt to capture the shared views of different cohorts or generations in the U.S. workforce.128 You will surely be familiar with the labels, some of which are used internationally. It is important to remember that, while categories are helpful, they represent trends, not the beliefs of individuals.

Exhibit 4-5 segments employees by the era during which they entered the workforce. Because most people start work between the ages of 18 and 23, the eras also correlate closely with employee age.

terminal values Desirable end-states of existence; the goals a person would like to achieve during their lifetime.

instrumental values Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values.

MyLab Management Watch It If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/ mylab/management to complete the video exercise.

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156 PART 2 The Individual

Though it is fascinating to think about generational values, remember these classifications lack solid research support. Early research was plagued by meth- odological problems that made it difficult to assess whether differences actu- ally exist. Reviews suggest many of the generalizations are either overblown or incorrect.129 Differences across generations often do not support popular con- ceptions of how generations differ. For example, the value placed on leisure has increased over generations from the baby boomers to the millennials and work centrality has declined, but research did not find that millennials had more altruistic work values.130 Generational classifications may help us understand our own and other generations better, but we must also appreciate their limits.

Dominant Work Values in Today’s WorkforceExhibit 4-5

Entered the Approximate Cohort Workforce Current Age Dominant Work Values

Boomers 1965–1985 50s to 70s Success, achievement, ambition, dislike of authority; loyalty to career

Xers 1985–2000 Mid-30s to 50s Work-life balance, team-oriented, dislike of rules; loyalty to relationships

Millennials 2000 to present To mid-30s Confident, financial success, self- reliant but team-oriented; loyalty to both self and relationships

An Ethical Choice Do You Have a Cheating Personality?

S tories of widespread cheating have been on the rise, leading many experts to conclude that the inci-

dence of cheating is increasing. In 2012, a major cheating scandal was uncovered at Harvard University, where more than 125 students were found to be involved in an organized cheating scheme.

Like most complex behaviors, cheat- ing in school, at work, and in life is a product of the person and the situation. As for the person, research reveals cer- tain traits are related to the tendency to cheat, including high levels of narcis- sism, low levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness, and high levels of competitiveness.

As for the situation, cheating increases when it is easier to cheat (such as on take-home exams), when there is greater pressure to cheat, and when clear standards are lacking or are not reinforced (such as when an

organization’s sexual harassment pol- icy is not communicated to employees).

How can this research help inform you as a student and employee?

1. Recognize situations that are more likely to provoke pressures to cheat. Being explicit and open with yourself about your response to pressure should keep you from succumbing to a moral blind spot, in which you engage in behavior without consider- ing its ethical undertones. Remem- ber that technological advancements in the detection of cheating increase the probability of getting caught.

2. If you score high on certain traits that predispose you to cheat, this does not mean you are destined to cheat. How- ever, you should realize that you may be more susceptible and therefore need to avoid certain environments, especially unethical ones.

Sources: Based on M. J. Cooper and C. Pullig, “I’m Number One! Does Narcissism Impair Ethical Judgment Even for the Highly Religious?” Journal of Business Ethics 112 (2013): 167–76; H. E. Hershfield, T. R. Cohen, and L. Thompson, “Short Horizons and Tempting Situations: Lack of Continuity to Our Future Selves Leads to Unethical Deci- sion Making and Behavior,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 117 (2012): 298–310; C. H. Hsiao, “Impact of Ethical and Affective Variables on Cheating: Comparison of Undergraduate Students with and without Jobs,” Higher Education 69, no. 1 (2015): 55–77; M. Carmichael, “Secret E-mail Searches on Harvard Cheating Scandal Broader Than Initially Described,” Boston Globe (April 2, 2013), www.boston .com/metrodesk/2013/04/02/secret-mail- searches-harvard-cheating-scandal-broader- than-initially-described/Mgz0mc8hSk3IgW GjxLwsJP/story.html; P. E. Mudrack, J. M. Bloodgood, and W. H. Turnley, “Some Ethical Implications of Individual Competitiveness,” Journal of Business Ethics 108 (2012): 347– 59; and R. Pérez-Peña, “Studies Find More Students Cheating, with High Achievers No Exception,” The New York Times, September 8, 2012, A13.

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 157

Cultural Values Unlike personality, which is largely genetically determined, values are learned. They are passed down through generations and vary by cultures. As research- ers have sought to understand cultural value differences, two important frame- works that have emerged are from Geert Hofstede and the GLOBE studies.

Hofstede’s Framework One of the most widely referenced approaches for analyzing variations among cul- tures was done in the late 1970s by Geert Hofstede.131 Hofstede surveyed more than 116,000 IBM employees in 40 countries about their work-related values and found that managers and employees varied on five value dimensions of national culture:

• Power distance. Power distance describes the degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. A high rating on power distance means large inequalities of power and wealth exist and are tolerated in the culture, as in a class or caste system that discourages upward mobility. A low power distance rating characterizes societies that stress equality and opportunity.

• Individualism versus collectivism. Individualism is the degree to which peo- ple prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups and believe in an individual’s rights above all else. Collectivism emphasizes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them.

• Masculinity versus femininity. Hofstede’s construct of masculinity is the degree to which the culture favors traditional masculine roles such as achievement, power, and control, as opposed to viewing men and women as equals. A high masculinity rating indicates the culture has separate roles for men and women, with men dominating the society. A high femininity rating means the culture sees little differentiation between male and female roles and treats women as the equals of men in all respects.

• Uncertainty avoidance. The degree to which people in a country pre- fer structured over unstructured situations defines their uncertainty avoidance. In cultures scoring high on uncertainty avoidance, people have increased anxiety about uncertainty and ambiguity and use laws and controls to reduce uncertainty. People in cultures low on uncertainty avoidance are more accepting of ambiguity, are less rule oriented, take more risks, and accept change more readily.

• Long-term versus short-term orientation. This typology measures a society’s devotion to traditional values. People in a culture with long-term orientation look to the future and value thrift, persistence, and tradition. In a short- term orientation, people value the here and now; they also accept change more readily and don’t see commitments as impediments to change.

In recent years, Hofstede has proposed an additional dimension, indulgence versus restraint, which refers to a national culture attribute that emphasizes enjoy- ing life and having fun vs. regulating conduct through strict social norms.132 Although fairly new as a dimension, some research supports its distinction from other values and shows that it is correlated with a society’s level of prosociality (behavior showing the intent to benefit others or society in general).133

How do different countries score on Hofstede’s dimensions? Power distance is higher in Malaysia than in any other country. The United States is very indi- vidualistic; in fact, it’s the most individualistic nation of all (closely followed by Australia and Great Britain). Guatemala is the most collectivistic nation. The country with the highest masculinity rank by far is Japan, and the country with

4-8 Compare Hofstede’s five value dimensions and the GLOBE framework.

power distance A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organi- zations is distributed unequally.

individualism A national culture attribute that describes the degree to which people prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups.

collectivism A national culture attribute that describes a tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of which they are a part to look after them and protect them.

masculinity A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which the culture favors traditional masculine work roles of achievement, power, and control. Societal values are characterized by assertiveness and materialism.

femininity A national culture attribute that indicates little differentiation between male and female roles; a high rating indicates that women are treated as the equals of men in all aspects of the society.

uncertainty avoidance A national culture attribute that describes the extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.

short-term orientation A national culture attribute that emphasizes the present and accepts change.

long-term orientation A national culture attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence.

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158 PART 2 The Individual

the highest femininity rank is Sweden. Greece scores the highest in uncertainty avoidance, while Singapore scores the lowest. Hong Kong has one of the lon- gest-term orientations; Pakistan has the shortest-term orientation.

Research across 598 studies with more than 200,000 respondents has investi- gated the relationship of Hofstede’s cultural values and a variety of organizational criteria at both the individual and national level of analysis.134 Overall, the five original culture dimensions were found to be equally strong predictors of relevant outcomes. The researchers also found measuring individual scores resulted in much better predictions of most outcomes than assigning all people in a country the same cultural values. In sum, this research suggests Hofstede’s framework may be a valuable way of thinking about differences among people, but we should be cautious about assuming all people from a country have the same values.

The GLOBE Framework Begun in 1993, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) research program is an ongoing cross-cultural investigation of leader- ship and national culture. Using data from 825 organizations in 62 countries, the GLOBE team identified nine dimensions on which national cultures differ.135 Some dimensions—such as power distance, individualism/collectivism, uncer- tainty avoidance, gender differentiation (like masculinity versus femininity), and future orientation (like long-term versus short-term orientation)—resemble the Hofstede dimensions. The main difference is that the GLOBE framework added dimensions, such as humane orientation (the degree to which a society rewards individuals for being altruistic, generous, and kind to others) and performance orientation (the degree to which a society encourages and rewards group mem- bers for performance improvement and excellence). In Exhibit 4-6, the linkages between dimensions from the GLOBE framework and Hofstede’s dimensions are outlined. As can be seen in the exhibit, the GLOBE framework also differ- entiated between these dimensions as they relate to practices (what is currently done) and values (what the society idealizes and aspires toward).

According to Hofstede’s framework, many Asian countries have a strong collectivist culture that fosters a team-based approach to work. These employees in a department store outlet in Busan, South Korea, are likely to consider the success of their team as more important than personal success on the job. Source: Yonhap News/YNA/Newscom

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Personality and Values CHAPTER 4 159

Comparison of Hofstede’s Framework and the GLOBE Framework Both frameworks have a great deal in common and often lead to similar conclu- sions. For example, a review of the organizational commitment literature shows both the Hofstede and GLOBE individualism/collectivism dimensions operated similarly. Specifically, both frameworks showed organizational commitment tends to be lower in individualistic countries.136 However, the GLOBE study (or frame- work) expands upon the Hofstede framework in a number of ways, methodologi- cally and theoretically. For example, as can be seen in Exhibit 4-6, various aspects of the values are disentangled into narrower dimensions.

Comparison of Hofstede’s Dimensions and the GLOBE FrameworkExhibit 4-6

Hofstede’s Dimensions GLOBE

Power Distance: Extent to which a society accepts an unequal distribution of power.

Power Distance: Extent to which a society accepts an unequal distribution of power.

Uncertainty Avoidance: Extent to which a society feels threatened by and avoids ambiguity.

Uncertainty Avoidance: Extent to which a society seeks orderliness, structure, and laws to avoid ambiguity.

Long-Term Orientation: Extent to which a society emphasizes the future and persis- tence (vs. the present and change).

Future Orientation: Extent to which a soci- ety believes their actions can influence the future.

Collectivism: Extent to which a society emphasizes acting as a tight-knit collective (vs. as independent individuals).

Institutional Collectivism: Extent to which a society supports collective action and resource distribution.

In-Group Collectivism: Extent to which a society values loyalty, pride, patriotism, and cohesion.

Masculinity: Extent to which a society favors traditional, masculine roles such as power and control (vs. little differentiation of gen- der roles).

Gender Egalitarianism: Extent to which a society de-emphasizes traditional gender roles.

Assertiveness: Extent to which a society emphasizes confidence and advocating for what one wants.

Humane Orientation: Extent to which a soci- ety values caring, friendliness, altruism, fair- ness, kindness, and generosity.

Performance Orientation: Extent to which a society values producing results, excellence, and productivity.

Adapted from R. Hadwick, “Should I Use GLOBE or Hofstede? Some Insights That Can Assist Cross-Cultural Scholars, and Others,

Choose the Right Study to Support Their Work,” paper presented at Australian & New Zealand Academy of Management, Wellington, NZ

(December 2011); R. J. House, P. J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. W. Dorfman, and V. Gupta, Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE

Study of 62 Societies (Thousand Oaks, CA, 2004); X. Shi and J. Wang, “Interpreting Hofstede Model and GLOBE Model: Which Way to Go

for Cross-Cultural Research?” International Journal of Business and Management 6, no. 5 (2011): 93–99.

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Summary Personality matters to organizational behavior. It does not explain all behavior, but it sets the stage. Emerging theory and research reveal how personality mat- ters more in some situations than others. The Big Five has been a particularly important advancement, though the Dark Triad and other traits matter as well. Every trait has advantages and disadvantages for work behavior, and there is no perfect constellation of traits that is ideal in every situation. Personality can help you to understand why people (including yourself!) act, think, and feel the way we do, and the astute manager can put that understanding to use by taking care to place employees in situations that best fit their personalities. An understanding of personality can also help you understand what strengths you may have (and should strive for) when searching for a job.

Values often underlie and explain attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. Values tend to vary internationally along dimensions that can predict organi- zational outcomes; however, an individual may or may not hold values that are consistent with the values of the national culture.

Implications for Managers ●● Consider applicants’ and employees’ fit to the job and organization in

employment decisions. Their personalities, values, and other characteris- tics may be useful to understanding whether they will flourish in particu- lar assignments, jobs, teams, or organizations.

●● Consider screening job candidates for conscientiousness—and the other Big Five traits—depending on the criteria your organization finds most important. Other aspects, such as core self-evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in certain situations.

●● Although the MBTI has faults, you can use it in training and develop- ment to help employees better understand each other, open communica- tion in work groups, and possibly reduce conflicts.

●● Emphasize the ideal personality and values of your organization in your recruitment materials and practices. This may help attract people whose values and personality types match your organization/or job vacancies.

●● Understand that situation strength and the context (e.g., trait activating features) can affect behavior. Take stock of the environmental features in your organization that may influence the behavior of applicants, custom- ers, employees, and even leaders.

●● An understanding of differences in cultural values can equip you to inter- act with others from cultures that are different from your own.

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Sources: Based on J. M. Twenge, W. K. Campbell, and E. C. Freeman, “Generational Differences in Young Adults’ Life Goals, Concern for Others, and Civic Orientation, 1966–2009,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (2012): 1045–62; M. Hartman, “Millennials at Work: Young and Callow, Like Their Parents,” The New York Times, March 25, 2014, F4; J. Jin and J. Rounds, “Stability and Change in Work Values: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 80 (2012): 326–39; C. Lourosa-Ricardo, “How America Gives,” The Wall Street Journal, December 15, 2014, R3; “Millen- nials Rule,” The New York Times Education Life, April 12, 2015, 4; G. Ruffenach, “A Generational Gap: Giving to Charity,” The Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2015, R4; and S. W. Lester, R. L. Standifer, N. J. Schultz, and J. M. Windsor, “Actual ver- sus Perceived Generational Differences at Work: An Empirical Examination,” Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies 19 (2012): 341–54.

Millennials Are More Narcissistic Than Their Parents POINT

M illennials have some great virtues: As a group, they are technologically savvy, socially tolerant, and engaged. They value their quality of life as equal to their career, seeking a

balance between home and work. In these ways, millennials surpass their baby boomer parents, who are less technologically adept, less tolerant, and more localized, and who have a history of striving to get ahead at all costs. However, millennials have a big Achilles’ heel—they are more narcissistic.

Several large-scale, longitudinal studies found that millennials are more likely than baby boomers to have seemingly inflated views of themselves, and psychologists have found narcissism has been grow- ing since the early 1980s. More millennials rate themselves as above average on attributes such as academic ability, leadership, public speaking ability, and writing ability. Millennials are also more likely to agree they would be “very good” spouses (56 percent, compared to 37 percent among 1980 graduates), parents (54 percent; 36 percent for 1980 graduates), and workers (65 percent; 49 percent for 1980 graduates).

Cliff Zukin, a senior faculty fellow at Rutgers University, believes the reason is in the childhood upbringing of millennials. “This is the most affirmed generation in history,” he said. “They were raised believ- ing they could do anything they wanted to, and that they have skills and talents to bring to a job setting.” Jean M. Twenge, author of Gen- eration Me, agrees. “People were not saying, ‘Believe in yourself’ and ‘You are special’ in the ‘60s.”

Narcissism is bad for society, and particularly bad for the work- place. “[Narcissists] tend to be very self-absorbed; they value fun in their personal and their work life,” one administrator said. “I can’t expect them to work on one project for any amount of time without getting bored.”

COUNTERPOINT

W asn’t “The Me Generation” generations ago? Honestly, every generation thinks they are better than the ones that come after! “You can find complaints [about the younger

generation] in Greek literature, in the Bible,” Professor Cappelli of the Wharton School observed. “There’s no evidence Millennials are differ- ent. They’re just younger.” While millennials are the twenty-somethings of today, what is universally true is that young people share certain characteristics . . . because they are young.

A recent study shows the similarity between how millennials and baby boomers thought about themselves at the same stage of life. As college freshmen, 71 percent of millennials thought they were above average academically, and 63 percent of baby boomers thought the same thing when they were college freshmen. Similarly, 77 percent of millennials believed they were above average in the drive to achieve, versus 68 percent for baby boomers. In other words, “Every genera- tion is Generation Me.”

In some ways, millennials may be less narcissistic than baby boomers today. As one manager observed, “[Millennials] don’t have that line between work and home that used to exist, so they’re doing Facebook for the company at night, on Saturday or Sunday. We get incredible productivity out of them.” Millennials also may be more altruistic. For example, 29 percent of millennials believe individuals have a responsibility to remain involved in issues and causes for the good of all, while only 24 percent of baby boomers feel the same level of responsibility.

Rather than comparing different generations, it is more accurate to compare people at one life stage with others at the same life stage. Research supports that people in their twenties tend to be more nar- cissistic than people in their fifties. Millennials are in their twenties, and many of their parents are in their fifties, and millennials are no more narcissistic than baby boomers were in their youth.

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CHAPTER REVIEW

QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW

4-1 What is personality? How do we typically measure it? What factors determine personality?

4-2 What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Big Five personality model?

4-3 How do the concepts of core self-evaluation (CSE), self-monitoring, and proactive personality help us to understand personality?

4-4 What are the strongest predictors of job search behavior?

4-5 How does the situation or environment affect the degree to which personality predicts behavior?

4-6 What is the difference between terminal and instrumental values?

4-7 What are the differences between person–job fit and person–organization fit?

4-8 How do Hofstede’s five value dimensions and the GLOBE framework differ?

APPLICATION AND EMPLOYABILIT Y An insight into your personality and values, along with how these are important in the workplace, can help you improve your employability skills. First, the workplace is a complex system filled with many interacting people. By understanding how these people have different values and behavioral tendencies, you will be better able to antic- ipate conflict and how to work among people with differ- ent personalities. Understanding that many organizations measure and assess personality is critical to knowing which elements of your personality to focus on developing to become more employable, depending on the position or work that you are interested in. Conversely, understand- ing how the situation either constrains or activates the expression of these behavioral traits or tendencies is also important for becoming more adaptable in the workplace. Understanding how people have values that vary in terms of their importance to organizations can help you make better decisions in deciding which companies you would like to work for and understanding how you fit with the

culture in an organization you would like to work for. Cultures around the globe vary on the values that are important to them. Being aware of these different cultural values and spending time abroad can help you improve your cultural intelligence and interact more effectively with those of different cultural backgrounds.

In this chapter, you developed your critical thinking and knowledge application and analysis skills by finding out how to do well on personality tests, finding out how personalities can be accurately judged within seconds after meeting someone, gaining insight into whether you have a cheating personality (and what you can do about it), and debating whether millennials are more narcissistic as a generation. In the next section, you will develop these skills by exploring what values are most important to you and your classmates, questioning whether political ideol- ogy should be used in hiring, examining the pitfalls of being nice, and determining how to adapt to personality clashes at work.

MyLab Management Discussion Questions Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon .

EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Your Best Self The object of this game is to end up with the labels that best represent each person’s values. The following rows represent 11 rounds of play. Break the class into groups

of four students (if the number of students is not divisible by four, then we suggest three). Play begins with the per- son in the group whose name comes first in alphabetical

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order. That student picks one of the values in round one that represents him- or herself, crosses it off this list, and writes it down on a piece of paper. Values can be used by only one person at a time. Moving clockwise, the next per- son does the same, and so forth, for round one until all the values have been taken.

For round two, the first player can either add a second value from the round two row, or take a value from one of

the other players by adding it to his or her list while the other player crosses off the value. The player whose value has been taken selects two new values from the one and two rows. Play proceeds clockwise.

The rest of the rounds continue the same way, with a new row available for each round. At the end of the rounds, students rank the importance of the values they have accumulated to themselves.

1. Freedom Integrity Spirituality Respect

2. Loyalty Achievement Fidelity Exploration

3. Affection Challenge Serenity Justice

4. Charity Discipline Security Mastery

5. Prudence Diversity Kindness Duty

6. Wisdom Inspiration Harmony Joy

7. Depth Compassion Excellence Tolerance

8. Honesty Success Growth Modesty

9. Courage Dedication Empathy Openness

10. Faith Service Playfulness Learning

11. Discovery Independence Humor Understanding

Questions 4-9. What are your top three values? How well do they

represent you? Did you feel pressure to choose values that might seem most socially acceptable?

4-10. Is there a value you would claim for yourself that is not on the list?

4-11. It is often argued that values are meaningful only when they conflict and we must choose between them. Do you think that was one of the objectives of this game? Do you agree with the premise of this argument for the game?

ETHICAL DILEMMA Personal Values and Ethics in the Workplace Sipho Dlamini was born in a small rural village in Swazi- land. He spent his childhood years looking after his fam- ily’s livestock. The community upheld high values, such as honesty and respect, but the people were desperately poor. He realized that he would have to go to South Africa and apply for a job at a gold mine.

As a young man, Sipho left his village in the mountains and took on the difficult job of getting to South Africa. He went in search of one of his distant family members, who was working for a gold mine near Johannesburg as a personnel assistant. He managed to find his relative, who managed to find him a job as a general mine worker and accommodation in one of the mine hostels. Sipho was ded- icated to his work, and time passed quickly. Every month, he forwarded most of his wages to his family in Swaziland.

One day Sipho’s family member called him into his office and informed him that he was due for promotion.

He also told Sipho that he would be required to pay him R500.00 (about $60) for his “efforts.” This arrangement seemed strange to Sipho as he knew that it was not in line with company procedures. When Sipho asked about this, the personnel assistant replied that he had the author- ity to do so and that Sipho would not be promoted if he did not pay the R500. Sipho returned to his room and wrestled with the options before him that night. He had grown up with strong personal values, which included honesty and hard work, but his family needed the extra income. What was he to do?

After a restless night, he returned the next day to the personnel assistant’s office and handed him the R500. He was immediately promoted, but he returned to his room with a troubled mind. A few weeks later, the per- sonnel assistant was reported and investigated for fraud- ulent behavior. He was suspended from work, and the

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164 PART 2 The Individual

investigation revealed all his corrupt activities. The record he had kept on all employees who paid bribes to him was also found. All employees on this list were called in and charged with fraud. Sipho’s name was on the list, and he was found guilty and dismissed from the service of the company along with all the others.

Questions 4-12. What should Sipho have done differently? 4-13. In what way could the mine management have pro-

vided support to him prior to his wrongful act? 4-14. How would you have acted had you been in a simi-

lar situation?

CASE INCIDENT 1 On the Costs of Being Nice Agreeable people tend to be kinder and more accommodat- ing in social situations, which you might think could add to their success in life. However, one downside of agreeableness is potentially lower earnings. Research has shown the answer to this and other puzzles; some of them may surprise you.

First, and perhaps most obvious, agreeable individu- als are less adept at a type of negotiation called distribu- tive bargaining. As we discuss in Chapter 18, distributive bargaining is less about creating win–win solutions and more about claiming as large a share of the pie as pos- sible. Because salary negotiations are generally distribu- tive, agreeable individuals often negotiate lower salaries for themselves than they might otherwise get.

Second, agreeable individuals may choose to work in industries or occupations that earn lower salaries, such as the “caring” industries of education and health care. Agreeable individuals are also attracted to jobs both in the public sector and in nonprofit organizations. Third, the earnings of agreeable individuals also may be reduced by their lower drive to emerge as leaders and by their ten- dency to engage in lower degrees of proactive task behav- iors, such as thinking of ways to increase organizational effectiveness.

While being agreeable certainly doesn’t appear to help your paycheck, it does provide other benefits. Agreeable individuals are better liked at work, more likely to help others at work, and generally happier at work and in life.

Nice guys and gals may finish last in terms of earnings, but wages do not define a happy life and, on that front, agreeable individuals have the advantage.

Questions 4-15. Do you think employers must choose between

agreeable employees and top performers? Why or why not?

4-16. The effects of personality often depend on the situation. Can you think of some job situations in which agreeableness is an important virtue and some in which it is harmful to job performance?

4-17. In some research we’ve conducted, the negative effect of agreeableness on earnings has been stron- ger for men than for women (that is, being agree- able hurt men’s earnings more than women’s). Why do you think this might be the case?

Sources: Based on T. A. Judge, B. A. Livingston, and C. Hurst, “Do Nice Guys—and Gals—Really Finish Last? The Joint Effects of Sex and Agreeableness on Income,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102 (2012): 390–407; J. B. Bernerth, S. G. Taylor, H. J. Walker, and D. S. Whitman, “An Empirical Inves- tigation of Dispositional Antecedents and Performance-Related Outcomes of Credit Scores,” Journal of Applied Psychology 97 (2012): 469–78; J. Carpenter, D. Doverspike, and R. F. Miguel, “Public Service Moti- vation as a Predictor of Attraction to the Public Sector,” Journal of Vocational Behavior 80 (2012): 509–23; and A. Neal, G. Yeo, A. Koy, and T. Xiao, “Predicting the Form and Direction of Work Role Performance from the Big 5 Model of Personality Traits,” Journal of Organizational Behavior 33 (2012): 175–92.

CASE INCIDENT 2 Personality Matters! Most employers rely heavily on screening resumes when shortlisting candidates for interviews. Employers look especially for a job fit based on the extent to which the experience, skills, and education featured in a resume match the requirements of an advertised job vacancy. A strong match greatly increases the chances that the can- didate in question will be called for a job interview. How- ever, for most top employers, technical skills are only one part of the hiring process; today, many companies want

to ensure that the candidate hired for the job not only matches the skills and education required but also pos- sesses the suitable personality for the job.

In an article titled “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill,” professional speaker and university lecturer Jackie Frei- berg says that highly successful companies are those that primarily focus on finding employees with the right per- sonality. Such companies have realized that skills can be trained and upgraded, but the personality of an employee

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is much more difficult to change; hence, top employ- ers need to be sure that they have found the candidate with the right personal characteristics before they make the decision to hire. There are a number of methods that recruiters can use to assess employees’ personality, from the more traditional one-on-one interview to more advanced methods such as personality tests. In one-on- one interviews, recruiters may ask questions about a can- didate’s previous job to develop an understanding of the job applicant’s character in relation to their confidence, optimism, independence, honesty, etc. In a behavioral interview, the interviewer asks employees about how they had acted or behaved in a specific job situation in a past job, such as the way they handled an angry customer. The answers may unintentionally reveal information about their attitudes and personality; anger, arrogance, and neg- ligence may all be put on display by the candidates in the course of their narratives.

Recognizing that interviews alone may not be enough to assess personality, many companies have been using formal personality tests in combination with interviews to improve their hiring decisions. In a global study involving 1,406 HR professionals from companies around the world, 62 percent of respondents confirmed the use of personal- ity assessments in hiring candidates. And there are numer- ous personality tests that recruiters can choose and buy off the market, such as the popular Caliper Profile test, used by the thousands of companies around the world.

Despite the popularity of personality tests in recruit- ment, experts say that they are not without problems.

According to research by Frank L. Schmidt, a manage- ment and organizations professor emeritus at the Uni- versity of Iowa, personality tests are actually poor at predicting job performance. His own findings have dem- onstrated that personality tests work best when combined with other types of selection tests, such as cognitive ability or integrity tests, which have better predictive validity. The main reason that the results of personality tests should be taken with a grain of salt is the simple fact that candidates can lie and fake their answers. Personality tests can also fail because the design of some of the tests may be too crude and simplistic to measure employees’ personality or may not have been even intended to be used in hiring to begin with. Experts therefore recommend that personality tests be used not to make a decision but only to inform decision-making.

Questions 4-18. Think of the last person that you closely worked

with, either at work or on a personal project. Would you describe that person as someone who typically displays extroverted or introverted behav- ior? What kind of jobs do you think fits them best, and why?

4-19. Based on what you have read in the chapter about the Myers and Briggs Indicator test, do you believe that companies should rely on it to hire employees?

4-20. Do you think that the personality of a job seeker affects job search outcomes? How so?

Sources: J. Freiberg, “Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill,” Executive Excellence, 15, no. 6 (1998): 7; Katie Jacobs, “Is Psychometric Testing Still Fit for Purpose?”, People Management, February 22, 2018, www. peoplemanagement.co.uk/long-reads/articles/psychometric-testing-fit-purpose, accessed June 1, 2020; W. Martin, “The Problem with Using Personality Tests for Hiring,”  Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (August 27, 2014): 2–5, hbr.org/2014/08/the-problem-with-using-personality- tests-for-hiring, accessed June 1, 2020; Dori Meinert, “What Do Personality Tests Really Reveal?,” SHRM, June 1, 2015, www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/0615-personality-tests.aspx, accessed June 1, 2020; W. Mondy, Human Resource Management, 11th edition (Boston: Pearson, 2010); Tracy M. Kantrowitz, PhD, “Global Assessment Trends 2014,” www.cebglobal.com/content/dam/ cebglobal/us/EN/regions/uk/tm/pdfs/Report/gatr-2014.pdf, accessed May 29, 2020.

ENDNOTES 1J. L. Holland, Making Vocational Choices: A Theory of Careers, 2nd ed. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1985); A. L. Kristof-Brown, R. D. Zimmerman, and E. C. Johnson, “Con- sequences of Individuals’ Fit at Work: A Meta- Analysis of Person-Job, Person-Organization, Person-Group, and Person-Supervisor Fit,” Personnel Psychology 58 (2005): 281–342; and C. Ostroff, “Person-Environment Fit in Orga- nizational Settings,” in S. W. J. Kozlowski (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Psychology, Vol. 1 (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2012): 373–408.

2M. Rokeach, The Nature of Human Values (New York: The Free Press, 1973). 3See, for example, N. R. Lockwood, F. R. Cepero, and S. Williams, The Multigenerational Workforce (Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management, 2009). 4E. Parry and P. Urwin, “Generational Differences in Work Values: A Review of Theory and Evidence,” International Journal of Management Reviews 13, no. 1 (2011): 79–96. 5J. M. Twenge, S. M. Campbell, B. J. Hoffman, and C. E. Lance, “Generational Differences in Work Values: Leisure and Extrinsic Values

Increasing, Social and Intrinsic Values Decreasing,” Journal of Management 36, no. 5 (2010): 1117–42. 6Y. Lee and J. Antonakis, “When Preference Is Not Satisfied but the Individual Is: How Power Distance Moderates Person-Job Fit,” Journal of Management 40, no. 3 (2014): 641–57. 7See W. Arthur Jr., S. T. Bell, A. J. Villado, and D. Doverspike, “The Use of Person-Organization Fit in Employment Decision-Making: An Assessment of Its Criterion-Related Validity,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 4 (2006): 786–801; and J. R. Edwards, D. M. Cable, I. O.

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Williamson, L. S. Lambert, and A. J. Shipp, “The Phenomenology of Fit: Linking the Per- son and Environment to the Subjective Expe- rience of Person–Environment Fit,” Journal of Applied Psychology 91, no. 4 (2006): 802–27. 8A. Leung and S. Chaturvedi, “Linking the Fits, Fitting the Links: Connecting Different Types of PO Fit to Attitudinal Outcomes,” Journal of Voca- tional Behavior, October 2011, 391–402. 9D. Leising, J. Scharloth, O. Lohse, and D. Wood, “What Types of Terms Do People Use When Describing an Individual’s Personality?” Psychological Science 25, no. 9 (2014): 1787–94. 10L. Weber, “To Get a Job, New Hires Are Put to the Test,” The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2015, A1, A10. 11L. Weber and E. Dwoskin, “As Personality Tests Multiply, Employers Are Split,” The Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2014, A1, A10. 12D. Belkin, “Colleges Put the Emphasis on Personality,” The Wall Street Journal, January 9, 2015, A3. 13M. R. Barrick, M. K. Mount, and T. A. Judge, “Personality and Performance at the Begin- ning of the New Millennium: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go Next?” Interna- tional Journal of Selection and Assessment 9, nos. 1–2 (2001): 9–30; and P. R. Sackett and P. T. Walmsley, “Which Personality Attributes Are Most Important in the Workplace?” Perspectives on Psychological Science 9, no. 5 (2014): 538–51. 14S. A. Birkeland, T. M. Manson, J. L. Kisamore, M. T. Brannick, and M. A. Smith, “A Meta- Analytic Investigation of Job Applicant Faking on Personality Measures,” International Journal of Selection and Assessment 14, no. 14 (2006): 317–35. 15S. A. Golder and M. W. Macy, “Diurnal and Seasonal Mood Vary with Work, Sleep, and Day Length across Diverse Cultures,” Science 333 (2011): 1878–81; and R. E. Wilson, R. J. Thomp- son, and S. Vazire, “Are Fluctuations in Person- ality States More Than Fluctuations in Affect?” Journal of Research in Personality (in press), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2016.06.006. 16K. L. Cullen, W. A. Gentry, and F. J. Yam- mamarino, “Biased Self-Perception Tenden- cies: Self-Enhancement/Self-Diminishment and Leader Derailment in Individualistic and Collectivistic Cultures,” Applied Psychol- ogy: An International Review 64, no. 1 (2015): 161–207. 17D. H. Kluemper, B. D. McLarty, and M. N. Bing, “Acquaintance Ratings of the Big Five Personality Traits: Incremental Validity beyond and Interactive Effects with Self-Reports in the Prediction of Workplace Deviance,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 1 (2015): 237–48; and I. Oh, G. Wang, and M. K. Mount, “Validity of Observer Ratings of the Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 96, no. 4 (2011): 762–73. 18T. Vukasović and D. Bratko, “Heritability of Personality: A Meta-Analysis of Behavior Genetic Studies,” Psychological Bulletin 141, no. 4 (2015): 769–85. 19S. Srivastava, O. P. John, and S. D. Gosling, “Development of Personality in Early and

Middle Adulthood: Set Like Plaster or Persis- tent Change?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 84, no. 5 (2003): 1041–53; and B. W. Roberts, K. E. Walton, and W. Viechtbauer, “Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits across the Life Course: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies,” Psychological Bulletin 132, no. 1 (2006): 1–25. 20S. E. Hampson and L. R. Goldberg, “A First Large Cohort Study of Personality Trait Stability over the 40 Years between Elementary School and Midlife,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91, no. 4 (2006): 763–79. 21L. R. James and M. D. Mazerolle, Personality in Work Organizations (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2002); and D. P. McAdams and B. D. Olson, “Personality Development: Continuity and Change Over the Life Course,” Annual Review of Psychology 61 (2010): 517–42. 22CPP, “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI),” https://www.cpp.com/products/mbti/index .aspx, accessed March 22, 2017. 23The Myers & Briggs Foundation, “How Fre- quent Is My Type?,” http://www.myersbriggs .org/my-mbti-personality-type/my-mbti-results /how-frequent-is-my-type.asp, accessed April 24, 2015. 24A. Grant, “Goodbye to MBTI, the Fad That Won’t Die,” Huffington Post, (September 17, 2013), http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ adam-grant/goodbye-to-mbti-the-fad-t_b_ 3947014.html. 25See, for instance, D. J. Pittenger, “Caution- ary Comments Regarding the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,” Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research 57, no. 3 (2005): 10–221; L. Bess and R. J. Harvey, “Bimodal Score Distributions and the Myers-Briggs Type Indi- cator: Fact or Artifact?” Journal of Personality Assessment 78, no. 1 (2002): 176–86; R. M. Capraro and M. M. Capraro, “Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Score Reliability across Stud- ies: A Meta-Analytic Reliability Generaliza- tion Study,” Educational & Psychological Measurement 62, no. 4 (2002): 590–602; and R. C. Arnau, B. A. Green, D. H. Rosen, D. H. Gleaves, and J. G. Melancon, “Are Jungian Preferences Really Categorical? An Empiri- cal Investigation Using Taxometric Analysis,” Personality & Individual Differences 34, no. 2 (2003): 233–51. 26D. Ariely, “When Lame Pick-Up Lines Actually Work,” The Wall Street Journal, July 19–20, 2014, C12. 27See, for example, O. P. John, L. P. Nau- mann, and C. J. Soto, “Paradigm Shift to the Integrative Big Five Trait Taxonomy: History, Measurement, and Conceptual Issues,” in O. P. John, R. W. Robins, and L. A. Pervin (eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, 3rd ed. (New York, NY: Guilford, 2008): 114–58; and M. R. Barrick and M. K. Mount, “Yes, Personality Matters: Moving On to More Important Matters,” Human Performance 18, no. 4 (2005): 359–72. 28W. Fleeson and P. Gallagher, “The Implica- tions of Big Five Standing for the Distribution

of Trait Manifestation in Behavior: Fifteen Experience-Sampling Studies and a Meta- Analysis,” Journal of Personality and Social Psy- chology 97, no. 6 (2009): 1097–114. 29T. A. Judge, L. S. Simon, C. Hurst, and K. Kelley, “What I Experienced Yesterday Is Who I Am Today: Relationship of Work Motivations and Behaviors to Within-Individual Varia- tion in the Five-Factor Model of Personality,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 2 (2014): 199–221; Roberts, Walton, and Viechtbauer, “Patterns of Mean-Level Change in Personality Traits across the Life Course.” 30See, for instance, Barrick, Mount, and Judge, “Personality and Performance at the Beginning of the new Millennium.” 31P. R. Sackett and P. T. Walmsley, “Which Per- sonality Attributes Are Most Important in the Workplace?,” Perspectives on Psychological Science 9, no. 5 (2014): 538–51. 32A. E. Poropat, “A Meta-Analysis of the Five- Factor Model of Personality and Academic Performance,” Psychological Bulletin 135, no. 2 (2009): 322–38. 33M. R. Barrick and M. K. Mount, “The Big Five Personality Dimensions and job Perfor- mance: A Meta-Analysis,” Personnel Psychology 44 (1991): 1–26. 34A. K. Nandkeolyar, J. A. Shaffer, A. Li, S. Ekkirala, and J. Bagger, “Surviving an Abusive Supervisor: The Joint Roles of Conscientious- ness and Coping Strategies,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 1 (2014): 138–50. 35D. S. Chiaburu, I.-S. Oh, C. M. Berry, N. Li, and R. G. Gardner, “The Five-Factor Model of Personality Traits and Organizational Citizen- ship Behaviors: A Meta-Analysis,” Journal of Applied Psychology 96, no. 6 (2011): 1140–66; J. L. Huang, K. L. Zabel, A. M. Ryan, and A. Palmer, “Personality and Adaptive Performance at Work: A Meta-Analytic Investigation,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 1 (2014): 162–79; Kluemper, McLarty, and Bing, “Acquaintance Ratings of the Big Five Personality Traits”; and R. D. Zim- merman, “Understanding the Impact of Person- ality Traits on Individuals’ Turnover Intentions: A Meta-Analytic Path Model,” Personnel Psychology 61 (2008): 309–48. 36J. M. Beus, L. Y. Dhanani, and M. A. McCord, “A Meta-Analysis of Personality and Workplace Safety: Addressing Unanswered Questions,” Journal of Applied Psychology 100, no. 2 (2015): 481–98. 37S. N. Kaplan, M. M. Klebanov, and M. Sorensen, “Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?” The Journal of Finance 67, no. 3 (2012): 973–1007. 38N. T. Carter, D. K. Dalal, A. S. Boyce, M. S. O’Connell, M.-C. Kung, and K. Delgado, “Uncovering Curvilinear Relationships between Conscientiousness and Job Per- formance: How Theoretically Appropriate Measurement Makes and Empirical Dif- ference,” Journal of Applied Psychology 99, no. 4 (2014): 564–86; and N. T. Carter, L. Guan, J. L. Maples, R. L. Williamson, and J. D. Miller, “The Downsides of Extreme

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