Organizational Behavior MBA 606

Organizational Behavior (OB) MBA 606Week 1: IntroductionInstructor: Dr. Bing1Using Blackboard for Online LearningDid everyone access their Blackboard account?Any problems? We will be using Blackboard for posting readings, announcements, lectures, etc.We will be using Blackboard for discussion forums.This type of discussion forum use gets you engaged in at least some of the readings, and thinking about them to help you encode and understand the material.2OB Discussion Forum EnvironmentThere should be disagreement in forum discussions, but respectful disagreement.The rules for discussion forum initiation and continuation are in the Syllabus, but will be explained here briefly.Initiators (there are 2 initiators each week) post their own question, or respond to one of the Weeks Discussion Questions in the Syllabus. Initiators must post on the 1st or 2nd day of the Week. Responders (the rest of the class) have to wait until both initiators have posted before responding. Once one thread is responded to, the other thread must then be responded to before the first can be responded to again. Responders only have to generate 1 response per week.Initiators must then address at least one response to their initial respective thread posting. Thats it, and heres an example.

3OB Discussion Forum EnvironmentArrange last names of class members in alphabetical order (e.g., Adams, Buchanan, Davidson, Foley, Waters, Zayas).On Week 2, the first two class members in the list (i.e., Adams and Buchanan) would be obligated to initiate Discussion Forums in Blackboard on either the 1st or 2nd day of Week 2 by eitherAnswering one of the questions posed by the instructor in the "Discussion Questions" block of the "Course Reading Materials" section of the Syllabus for Week 2 or byPosting their own original question. For Week 2, after an initiator (e.g., Adams) posts a thread in the discussion forum, responders must wait until the second initiator (i.e., Buchanan) generates his/her initial post. At that point, any responder (e.g., Davidson) could respond to either initial post.If, for example, Davidson responds to Adams' initial post, then the remaining responders would be obligated to respond to the other initiator's posting (i.e., to Buchanan's posting) until it too has at least one response. At this point, let's assume that Foley has responded to Buchanan's initial post. Therefore, both initial posts from Adams and Buchanan have been responded to by Davidson and Foley, respectively, and Waters and Zayas can now respond to any initial posting of their choosing. This rule is in place to make sure that each initial posting receives at least one response.4OB Discussion Forum EnvironmentRecall that we arranged last names of class members in alphabetical order (e.g., Adams, Buchanan, Davidson, Foley, Waters, Zayas).For Week 3, Davidson and Foley now become the initiators, and Waters, Zayas, Adams, and Buchanan now become the responders. For Week 4, Waters and Zayas become the initiators, and Adams, Buchanan, Davidson, and Foley become the responders, etc., etc.Thus, initiators of a forum must make at least two postings during a weekAn initial post and a response to one of the responding posts that addressed their initial postResponders must make at least one post each week. This would be the minimum amount of postings, and if of a high quality then perhaps one initiator post (per initiator), one responding post (per responder), and one response to a responding post per initiator would suffice to generate a quality discussion forum within one week. 5Tour of Blackboard Website and SyllabusView and study the website, its organization, the Syllabus, etc.6Team ProjectsThere will be a team project in which youIdentify a workplace or industry problem that is behaviorally (or attitudinally) based, and Generate a proposal to solve that problem with a prototype of your solution (e.g., a new selection test, a manual for the administration of a merit-based pay system with measurement details, etc.)Team PresentationsTeam ReportsTeam Peer Evaluations7Team Member AssignmentsI will assign students to teams.Team #1Members??? Team #2Members???

Team #3Members???

8OB (MBA606) SyllabusRead it very thoroughly ASAP to familiarize yourself with theCourse structureAmount of reading requiredTeam assignmentDefinition of quality forum discussion contributions, etc.9Free Association with the Word WorkFun?Money?Necessity?Productivity?Politics?Competition?Fulfillment? [Work vs. Family Conflict; Work Centrality]# of Positive, Neutral, and Negative Words. . .10Any Dark Side to Work or Organizations?Competition?Aggression?Hypercompetitiveness?Exploitation?Why should people cooperate at work to reach organizational goals, rather than compete with each other for the limited promotions and raises available?11What is the study of Organizational Behavior (OB)?The study of OB is the study of why people do what they do at work.OB emphasizes a scientific perspective, meaning there is an emphasis on understanding the underlying causes of workplace behavior. Event X(Goal Setting)Outcome Y(TaskAccomplishment)12Scientific Perspective in OBWhy emphasize a scientific perspective in the study of OB? Because if we understand the antecedents or causes of workplace behaviors, then we can alter human resource programs and motivational interventions and other workplace factors to increase productive workplace behaviors, and to decrease counterproductive workplace behaviors.Therefore, this scientific perspective has applicable and pragmatic value.13The Applied Value of OB Science for Workplace ProductivityManagers and business leaders have to understand why people behave the way they do at work, and under what conditions productive (and unproductive) workplace behaviors are obtained. They need to know this information in order to motivate employees to behave in productive ways that help to meet organizational goals.Organizations all have certain elements. . .Common goalDivision of laborHierarchy of authorityCoordinated effort How do managers get employees to cooperate to reach common organizational goals?14Goals of OB ScienceDescribe workplace behaviorCategorize workplace behaviorsExplain the causes of workplace behaviorsNeed to use theoretical causal models, Measures of causal factors and workplace outcomes (e.g., turnover and performance)Statistical analyses of the data to confirm (or disconfirm) the theoryPredict workplace behaviorsUltimately control and influence workplace behaviorsPromote productive behaviorsDecrease and eliminate counterproductive behaviors15Why are so many jokes about the workplace really funny?

16Why are so many jokes about the workplace really funny?

17Why are so many jokes about the workplace really funny?

18Why are so many jokes about the workplace really funny?Because they ring true Too many workplaces have policies, structures, and work designs that are really laughable because they are so counter to productive and enjoyable work.19Possible Break TimeTake a 20 to 25 minute break to read (or reread) the Whetten (1989) article20Whetten (1989) Article: Describes the Building Blocks of OB TheoriesWhat concepts, constructs or variables are involved in explaining the organizational outcome of interest?Theoretical ConstructsGoal SettingJob PerformanceVariables provide measures of constructsHR Training Program of Do Your Best vs. Challenging and Specific GoalsSupervisory Ratings of Job PerformanceHow are the constructs or concepts related?As we go from do your best to setting challenging and specific goals, there is a corresponding increase in employee job performance, as rated by supervisors (i.e., there is a significant mean shift upward in performance from do your best to challenging and specific goal setting programs).21Whetten (1989) Article: Describes the Building Blocks of OB TheoriesWhy are the constructs or variables related?Because setting challenging and specific goals activates self-regulatory mechanisms and creates cognitive dissonance in which employees mentally measure and compare their current state of performance to the desired future goal state, and they self-regulate their work to shrink that discrepancy (or dissonance).Who? Where? When?These factors constrain and potentially change the relationship between goal setting and job performance under certain changing conditions: different jobs and individuals, different organizational settings, and different points in time. In a highly dynamic and changing market, might setting specific and challenging goals decrease performance? Why might this happen?22The What and the How

Pattern of data suggested by theoryGoal Setting and Job PerformanceGoal SettingJob PerformanceAvg. Level of Employee PerformanceGoals No Goals23The What and the How and the WhenGoal Setting and Job PerformanceGoal SettingJob PerformanceAvg. Level of Employee PerformanceChallenging & Specific Do Your Best vs. No Goals Type of Goal Type of Goal24The What and the How and the Who (Where or When)Job Enrichment and MotivationJob EnrichmentMotivationGrowth Need StrengthAvg. Level of Employee MotivationJob Enrichment No Job Enrichment GNS HighGNS Low25Job Enrichment and MotivationJob EnrichmentMotivationGrowth Need Strength

26The What, How, Why, and the Who, Where, and WhenGoal Setting and Job PerformanceGoal SettingJobPerformanceType of Goal: Challenging & SpecificCognitive Dissonance&Self-Regulatory ProcessesAffective Response: Emotional Caring about the Dissonance, or Discrepancy between Current State of Performance and Goal StateRelatively Stable Market Environment27Frames for Organizing OB Information and Knowledge in this MBA606 CourseThink of OB Science as a TriumvirateResearch Design Dictates the question a manager is asking. Measurement Gives us empirical data to quantify the concepts that are specified in the question. Statistics Used to analyze the empirical data that were gathered to answer the question that was asked in the research design. 28Frames for Organizing OB Information and Knowledge in this MBA606 CourseThink of OB Science as a TriumvirateResearch Design Dictates the question a manager is asking.Two groups of employeesOne given do your best goals in a HR training program,Other given challenging and specific goalsJob performance is measured 6-months later for both groupsThe Organizationally Relevant Question: Will goals that are both challenging and specific lead to higher levels of job performance than do your best goals? 29Frames for Organizing OB Information and Knowledge in this MBA606 CourseThink of OB Science as a TriumvirateMeasurement Gives us empirical data to quantify the concepts that are specified in the question.In a personnel database we indicate which training program the employee went through, Do Your Best vs. Challenging and Specific goal-setting.In that same personnel database we input the in-house performance appraisal ratings of those employees, provided by their supervisors, which provide a measurement (or quantification) of the concept of job performance.30Frames for Organizing OB Information and Knowledge in this MBA606 CourseThink of OB Science as a TriumvirateStatistics Used to analyze the empirical data that were gathered to answer the question that was asked.We use an independent-samples t-test to determine if the average level of job performance in the challenging and specific group is (statistically significantly) higher than the average level in the do your best group.In the current design we would not want supervisors providing the ratings of job performance to know which training program the employee had been in, do your best vs. challenging and specific goals. Why?31Theoretical Propositions vs. Empirical DataTheoretical RealmEmpirical RealmIntelligenceJob PerformanceIQ TestSupervisory Ratingsoperational definitionsinternal validity or criterion-related validityexternal validityReal World or Other Organizations or Other Jobs32Quick Guidance for Virtual TeamworkBegin your teamwork earlyIve summarized the key points and practical guidance for virtual teamwork found in the Furst et al. (2004) article, Managing the life cycle of virtual teams on several subsequent slides in this lecture.Virtual teamwork guidanceDont procrastinateStay in close phone and email contact with each otherEmail is easily misinterpreted Use polite writing styles, or call each other on the phone to make sure unnecessary email conflicts are avoided.Figure out who your senior sponsor is at your particular organization. The person fostering your continuing education at your workplace. That sponsor could help you with conflicting educational and work demands in the very near future.33Prior to Discussing Team Project with Other Team Members--Perform This TaskWrite down on a sheet of paper at least 5 OB-relevant problems or OB-relevant issues that you are interested in (e.g., turnover, employee commitment) pursuing and studying.Try to write down a few industry-wide problems that might be OB-related.Try to write down an organization to which you may have access as well.Do this independently of your team and teammates, which helps to prevent groupthink and increases idea diversity.34Question Business Trends, Fads, and AssumptionsExample The article in Organizational Dynamics by Morris, Cascio, and Young (1999), Downsizing after all these years: Questions and answers about who did it, how many did it, and who benefited from it.This is important work because it questions assumptions of employee downsizing on subsequent firm performance and profitability.This investigation looked at this issue empirically by analyzing the effects of asset and workforce stability, upsizing, and downsizing on subsequent firm financial performance (e.g., ROA, Stock Performance).35Morris, Cascio, & Young (1999)All companies from 1981 to 1992 included in S&P 500Return-on-Assets and Stock Performance as Criteria5,479 observationsData from S&Ps Compustat PC Plus databaseCategorized firms byEmployment Downsizer (>5% workforce reduction)Asset Downsizer (>5% reduction in plants and equipment)Stable Employer ( < 5%)Employment Upsizer (>5% workforce increase)Asset Upsizer (>5% increase in plants and equipment)36

Morris, Cascio, & Young (1999)3737Morris, Cascio, & Young (1999)Major Conclusion: Asset downsizers did increase performance. Perhaps asset downsizing is indicative of a focus on a companys core competencies, and focus in mission, and thus an increase in strategic thinking and subsequent performance and profitability?The success of asset downsizers should remind us of Welchs work at GE, and how he redefined the company. If you are not #1 or #2 in the industry in an area, either become #1 or #2 or get rid of that division in your company.Another Major Conclusion: Reduction in workforce does not increase performance (loss of required slack and flexibility from reduction).38Causal ModelGenerate a causal model help to clarify proposed relations.

Organizational Performance

Return-on-AssetsStock PerformancePercent of Workforce Change (Up or Down)Human Capital Category

Core Human CapitalUnique and strategicNon-core Human CapitalUnique and not strategicStrategic and not uniqueNeitherWe could ask additional andmore refined questions, suchas the impact of the typeof employee downsizedon firm profitabilityThis is the simplemodel for theMorris et al.(1999) paper39Question Business Trends, Fads, and AssumptionsDownsizing after all these years: Questions and answers about who did it, how many did it, and who benefited from it.We can use this study to ask other questions about business and government work. For exampleCan we quantify the CIAs reduction (or increase) in performance since the loss of various senior members with very unique institutional knowledge (i.e., the Brain Drain) back in 2004? This was a unique type of downsizing, and what were the repercussions of this downsizing on the organizations performance? What were the repercussions for the performance of the Executive Branch (i.e., White House) in terms of Foreign Affairs/Relations/Conflicts/Etc.?40One End Goal of This Class

According to Plato, knowledge is a subset of that which is both true and believed."The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who have not got it." George Bernard Shaw "It ain't so much the things you don't know that get you in trouble. It's the things you know that just ain't so." Artimus Ward "Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional." Samurai proverb "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it." Super-Chicken41Additional Slides42Clearly this article has a lot of relevant information for managing virtual teams in the business world.Some of the information in this article is very applicable to the virtual teamwork you will do in this particular class, but some of it clearly is not applicable as these virtual teams are for your schoolwork, not for your employment necessarily.Furst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams43Virtual Teams are becoming more popular for a variety of reasonsGlobalization of economyCompany mergers and acquisitions across diverse geographic locationsTechnological advancesWhat are some of the advantages of Virtual Teams?Assemble teams very quickly w/ little cost considering existing technologyNumber of possible members increases dramaticallyPool diverse talents w/ wide range of expertise (given # of possible members) into the team in spite ofTime and Space BarriersFurst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams44So in theory, Virtual Teams can overcome time and distance barriers to accomplish critical tasks quickly and effectively.However, there are unique obstacles to productivity for Virtual Teams What are they?Conflict, Miscommunications,Confusion, Misattributions,Lack of work norms and rulesLack of team identityInability to interpret others actions in the teamStereotypic misinterpretation takes overetc., etc.Furst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams45Lets start w/ Attribution TheoryA central assumption of attribution theory, which sets it apart from pleasure-pain theories of motivation, is that the search for understanding is the (or a) basic spring of action.Seeking to understand why something happened isNormativeManifest in spite of conflicting pleasure principles, andStands w/ hedonism among the primary sources of motivation

Furst et al. (2004): Managingvirtual teams and Weiners (1979) work on Attribution Theory46Causes of Success and Failure of Team Members to Respond to Virtual Emails: Classified According to Locus, Stability, and ControllabilityFurst et al. (2004): Managingvirtual teams and Weiners (1979) work on Attribution TheoryInternalExternalStableUnstableStableUnstableControllabilityUncontrollableIntelligenceMood Task Difficulty Luck w/ Other Project--Free TimeControllableTypical Immediate Computer IT or EmailEffortEffort Maintenance CrashSo a virtual teammate does not respond to one of your emails Whats the reason?W/out the benefit of the co-located context, misattribution takes over, along w/ misinterpretation, stereotype bias etc., etc.47There are unique problems w/ virtual teamsMiscommunications and amount thereofIgnoring virtual emails due to local duties or bad luck (e.g., sudden fire to put out on local project, computer crash, etc.)Misattribution occurs quickly (e.g., that team member is lazy, unconscientious, etc.) b/c we do not have the benefit of what?Co-location and context to know the real cause of why something happened

The Point All of this causes excessive team conflict in virtual teams and subsequent avoidance of virtual duties.

Clearly, virtual teams have a unique set of problems to overcome that co-located teams do not have to overcome.Furst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams48Practical GuidanceTeams need to start work earlydont procrastinateRealistic work previewthere will be conflict to overcome in forming rules/norms/etc. counteracts unrealistic optimism at startStart clarifying mission and goals immediatelyStart clarifying roles and responsibilities quickly ( Role Ambiguity)Set a proximal goal for a quick team success ( Potency)Norms and rules of working need to be establishedSharing of informationTimeline for responding to emails (24 hrs.; two days max?)Frequency of email contactWhat else do successful Virtual Teams initiate very early on in their development? Boundary management; contacting senior sponsor for his/her involvement and organizational supportFurst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams49Leadership support is criticalWithout leadership support, team members assume what w/ respect to local duties vs. virtual duties?That virtual duties come second, if at all.Leadership (senior sponsor of virtual team) helps w/ Mission Clarity Clarity on roles and responsibilities Acquisition of org. resources and supportand if neededthe senior sponsor negotiates. ?With local supervisors to local duties, which frees up time for teammates to work on virtual duties.Some reward for virtual work is also needed (e.g., recognition), and some shared fate of this reward (i.e., Outcome Interdependence).

Furst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams50Leadership support is criticalLeadership helps w/ the virtual teams boundary management, in which there are boundaries btw team duties and energy and local duties to increase.Team identityAccountability to the team, and theResources, time, and energy needed to fulfill virtual team obligationsFurst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams51How is this advice from Furst et al. (2004) related to Sethi et al. (2002; How to kill a teams creativity)?Managerial Oversight (but not too much!) is needed for organizational support, andSo the team knows that what it is doing is valued by the organizationIncreases Potency of the Team: Collective belief that they can succeed b/c their work is valued and they have supportFurst et al. (2004): Managing the life cycle of virtual teams52Sheet1InputJob Enrichment HighGNS HighUnstandardized CoefficientsX1 and X2 InformationJob Enrichment Avg.GNS AverageJob Enrichment LowGNS LowB1 =0.3X1 Mean =0X1 High =1X2 High =1B2 =0.45X1 SD =1X1 Average =0X2 Average =0B3 (interaction b-weight) =0.45X2 Mean =0X1 Low =-1X2 Low =-1A (intercept) =-0.1X2 SD =1X1 Highest =2.0000X2 Highest =2.0000X1 Lowest =-2.0000X2 Lowest =-2.0000OutputOutput - X2 as ModeratorOutput - X1 as ModeratorX2 HighX1 HighB-weight (for X1 & Y) =0.75B-weight (for X2 & Y) =0.9A (intercept) =0.35A (intercept) =0.2Y-predicted @ X1 avg. =0.35Y-predicted @ X2 avg. =0.2Y-predicted @ X1 Max =1.85Y-predicted @ X2 Max =2Y-predicted @ X1 Min =-1.15Y-predicted @ X2 Min =-1.6Y-predicted @ X1+1SD =1.1Y-predicted @ X2+1SD =1.1Y-predicted @ X1-1SD =-0.4Y-predicted @ X2-1SD =-0.7X2 AverageX1 AverageB-weight (for X1 & Y) =0.3B-weight (for X2 & Y) =0.45A (intercept) =-0.1A (intercept) =-0.1Y-predicted @ X1 avg. =-0.1Y-predicted @ X2 avg. =-0.1Y-predicted @ X1 Max =0.5Y-predicted @ X2 Max =0.8Y-predicted @ X1 Min =-0.7Y-predicted @ X2 Min =-1Y-predicted @ X1+1SD =0.2Y-predicted @ X2+1SD =0.35Y-predicted @ X1-1SD =-0.4Y-predicted @ X2-1SD =-0.55X2 LowX1 LowB-weight (for X1 & Y) =-0.15B-weight (for X2 & Y) =0A (intercept) =-0.55A (intercept) =-0.4Y-predicted @ X1 avg. =-0.55Y-predicted @ X2 avg. =-0.4Y-predicted @ X1 Max =-0.85Y-predicted @ X2 Max =-0.4Y-predicted @ X1 Min =-0.25Y-predicted @ X2 Min =-0.4Y-predicted @ X1+1SD =-0.7Y-predicted @ X2+1SD =-0.4Y-predicted @ X1-1SD =-0.4Y-predicted @ X2-1SD =-0.4Dependent Variable =Job PerformanceCopyright 1999 by Mark Nathaniel Bing

A Microsoft Excel Worksheet forGraphing Interactions Between Continuous (& Standardized) Quantitative VariablesWritten & Copyrighted by Mark N. Bing (1999). All Rights Reserved.

Chart10.90.25-0.4-0.4-0.45-0.5

GNS HighGNS AverageGNS LowEmployee MotivationJob PerformanceThe Relationship Between Employee Motivation and Job Performance Across Different Levels of Cognitive Ability

Chart31.55-0.35-1.05-0.55

GNS HighGNS LowSRJob PerformanceThe Relationship Between Self-Reported Aggression and Job Performance Ratings (Scenario 1) Moderated by Latent Aggression

Chart51.1-0.7-0.4-0.4

GNS HighGNS LowJob EnrichmentMotivationThe Relationship Between Increases in Job Enrichment and Employee Motivation Across Different Levels of Employee Growth Need Strength

Sheet2X1 (X2 high)GNS HighX1 (X2 avg.)GNS AverageX1 (X2 low)GNS Low