OT&BH-4

BUS 3451, Organizational Theory and Behavior 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit IV Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Elaborate on the rational choice paradigm. 2. Explain why people differ from the rational choice paradigm when identifying

problems/opportunities, evaluating/choosing alternatives, and evaluating decision outcomes.

3. Discuss the roles of emotions and intuition in decision making. 4. Determine employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific

activities that support creativity. 5. Identify the benefits of employee involvement and the four contingencies that

affect the optimal level of employee involvement. 6. Explain the benefits and limitations of teams and why employees join informal

groups. 7. Discuss team competencies (teamwork, cohesion, and virtual teams).

Unit Lesson Decision Making, Creativity, and Team Dynamics When we have to identify a problem, it is difficult but highly effective to view the problem as an opportunity. More and more organizations are doing exactly this as they develop training programs and examine issues that arise. In this unit, we will learn about the rational choice paradigm, which is helpful to decision making. Managing people is an art as well as a science, and when a manager can explain why people differ in opinions as they evaluate opportunities, issues, and outcomes, they will find that subordinates come to trust their open- mindedness. Simply listening is a major influence on people, but gaining their knowledge is what empowers a person in a leadership position to best identify the problem. Also, important to decision-making are the roles of creativity and control of one’s emotions. Imagine a situation where a manager did not support creativity. Where would Apple or Facebook be without the creative involvement of its organization? As we discuss aspects of successful, self-directed teams and virtual teams, we will uncover the value of many areas of the organization such as individual employee characteristics, workplace conditions, and specific activities that support creativity. Look at the case studies at the end of Chapter 7 to view many aspects of employee involvement and creative outcomes in real-life situations. As we identify the benefits of employee involvement, we will examine many contingencies that affect the optimal level of employee involvement such as those outlined in the textbook. Have you ever worked in a company where the boss did not control over his/her team simply because he/she did not lead? This occurs often, and silent or servant leaders arise. These leaders might not be the manager or director,

Reading Assignment Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity Chapter 8: Team Dynamics

Suggested Reading See information below.

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) See information below.

Key Terms 1. Creativity 2. Decision making 3. Divergent thinking 4. Employee

involvement 5. Escalation of

commitment 6. Implicit favorite 7. Intuition 8. Prospect theory effect 9. Rational choice

paradigm

UNIT IV STUDY GUIDE

Decision Making, Creativity, & Team

Dynamics

BUS 3451, Organizational Theory and Behavior 2

but they are the ones who decide to take action. Think of a bakery where the supplies run out every week because the baker is not disciplined enough to keep up with the amount of supplies used and fails to order new ones. Here, a cashier might take the initiative to place weekly orders. In this case, the functionality is cooperative to the end goal. In another scenario, a school principal who does not take action regarding a teacher’s excess tardiness might affect the level of morale and timeliness overall. There are also personalities that sometimes take over; we have all seen them. They are the charismatic or gregarious people who take the soapbox and say insubordinate things about the leadership or the management. Those who take on such unacknowledged lead roles (such as judging and other personality factors) blatantly discourage others in the workplace. The effect is clear, but the solution sometimes is not. Teams Have you worked with a team before that you could categorize as effective or ineffective? Chances are you have, and you can reflect upon each person’s contributions individually. Their characteristics or behaviors may be something you can categorize using the five C’s model of effective team members depicted in Exhibit 8.4 on page 234 of the textbook.

Virtual Teams Teams that are connected via technology in order to achieve organizational tasks can be effective and particularly cohesive. Time management tends to be strong, and because of this and other benefits, virtual teams are becoming very popular in every industry. Some people believe that as the business, education, and political worlds become more global, virtual teams become more necessary. Do you agree?

Reference

McShane, S. L., & Von Glinow, M. A. (2013). Organizational behavior (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Suggested Reading Click here for the Chapter 7 Presentation in PowerPoint form. Click here to access a PDF version of the presentation. Click here for the Chapter 8 Presentation in PowerPoint form. Click here to access a PDF version of the presentation. Using the Waldorf Online Library, locate and read the following article. Look for this article using the Academic OneFile Database: Shin, S.-Y., Park, W.-W., & Lim, H. S. (2013). What makes small- and medium-sized

enterprises promote organizational creativity: The contingency perspective. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 41(1), 71+.

Learning Activities (Non-Graded) Intuition is both an emotional experience and a non-conscious analytic process. One problem, however, is that not all emotions signaling that there is a problem or opportunity represent intuition.

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Review Chapter 7 of McShane and Von Glinow (2013). Citing knowledge from the textbook, explain how we would know if our gut feelings are intuition or not, and if not intuition, suggest what might be causing them. Share a personal or professional story that relates to these concepts. Your review should be written as standard essay form with a minimum of 300 words in APA format. Non-graded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.