P4 Behavior and communication
in organizations
Literature: Kreitner, R., & Kincki, A. (2013). Organizati onal Behavior (10 t h ed.). New
York, NY: McGraw Hill.
2021
,Lecture 1 – Introduction Behavior and Communication in
organizations
Literature
Kreitner & Kinicki (2013): Part one: The world of organizational behavior
Chapter 1: Organizational behavior: the quest for people-centered organizations
and ethical conduct
Learning objectives
LO.1 Organizational behavior: an interdisciplinary field
[Key term] Organizational behavior: Interdisciplinary field dedicated to better understanding and
managing people at work. It is both research and application oriented.
[Key term] McGregor’s theory X: Outdated assumptions about people at work. Pessimistic, negative,
and typical of how managers traditionally perceived employees.
[Key term] McGregor’s theory Y: Modern assumptions about people at work. To help managers
break with this negative tradition, McGregor formulated theory Y. Modern and positive set of
assumptions about people. Managers can accomplish more through others by viewing them as
selfenergized, committed, responsible, and creative beings.
(Compare) McGregor’s theory X versus Y: Theory X assumes people dislike work and avoid it when
they can. Theory Y recognizes work as a natural activity, like play or rest. X thinks most people must
be coerced and threatened with punishment before they will work and require close direction,
whereas Y sees that people are capable of self-direction and self-control if they are committed to
objectives (like Follet described, a meaning to the orders). Theory X describes that most people
prefer to be directed, avoid responsibility and exhibit little ambition and are only interested in
security. Theory Y described people as becoming generally committed to organizational objectives if
they are being rewarded. The typical employee can learn to accept and seek responsibility, and lastly,
the typical member of the general population has imagination, ingenuity and creativity.
To conclude the contrast between theory X and theory Y, theory X assumes people are lazy, dislike
work, require close supervision and are primarily interested in security. Theory Y recognizes that
employees are capable of self-direction, of seeking responsibility, and of being creative.
LO.2 Principles of total quality management (TQM)
[Key term] TQM: an organizational culture dedicated to training, continuous improvement, and
customer satisfaction.
Principles of TQM:
1. Do it right the first time to eliminate costly rework
2. Listen to and learn from costumers and employees
3. Make continuous improvement an everyday matter
4. Build teamwork, trust, and mutual respect
LO.3 The internet and social media revolution
[Key term] e-business: running the entire business via the internet and managing virtual teams
[Key term] The Net Generation: the 81 million Americans born between January 1977 and
December 1997 have a unique worldview shaped by the internet: they value (1) freedom, (2)
,customization, (3) integrity, learn to be (4) sceptical and (5) scrutinize everything, are great (6)
collaborators, thrive on (7) speed and love to (8) innovate.
LO.4 The need to build human and social capital
[Key term] Human capital: the productive potential of one’s knowledge and actions
[Key term] Social capital: the productive potential of strong, trusting, and cooperative relations
(Compare) Human vs social capital: Human capital focuses on the individual, social on social units.
The human capital describes the potential of individuals, for example investing in education with the
possibility of them working in particular fields. Social capital describes the quality of the relationships
at work; with the boss, other colleagues. Qualitative relationships are appreciated and can expand
the possibilities of businesses.
LO.5 The managerial context: getting things done with and through others
[Key term] Management: process of working with and through others to achieve organizational
objectives, efficiently and ethically, amid constant change
The eleven managerial skills in Wilson’s profile of effective managers:
1. Clarifies goals and objectives for everyone involved
2. Encourages participation, upward communication, and suggestions
3. Plans and organizes for an orderly work flow
4. Has technical and administrative expertise to answer organizational-related questions
5. Facilitates work through team-building, training, coaching, and support
6. Provides feedback honestly and constructively
7. Keeps things moving by relying on schedules, deadlines, and helpful reminders
8. Controls details without being overbearing
9. Applies reasonable pressure for goal accomplishment
10. Empowers and delegates key duties to others while maintaining goal clarity and commitment
11. Recognizes good performance with rewards and positive reinforcement
Four useful lessons that the Wilson managerial skills research yields:
1. Dealing effectively with people is what management is all about. A goal
creation/commitment/feedback/reward/accomplishment cycle with human interaction at
every turn.
2. Managers with high skills mastery tend to have better submit performance and employee
morale than managers with low skills mastery
3. Effective female and male managers do not have significantly different skill profiles, contrary
to claims in the popular business press in recent years
4. At all career stages, derailed managers tended to be the ones who overestimated their skill
mastery. ‘’When selecting individuals for promotion to managerial positions, those who are
arrogant, aloof, insensitive and defensive should be avoided.’’
LO.6 Characteristics of 21st-century managers
[Key term] Contingency approach: using management tools and techniques in a situationally
appropriate manner; avoiding the one-best-way mentality
Characteristics of 21st century-managers:
Primary role: facilitator, team member, teacher, advocate, sponsor and coach
Learning and knowledge: continuous life-long learning, generalist with multiple specialties
,Compensation criteria: skills, result
Cultural orientation: multicultural, multilingual
Primary source: knowledge
View of people: primary resource; human capital
Primary communication pattern: multidirectional
Decision-making style: broad-based input for joint decisions
Ethical considerations: forethought
Nature of interpersonal relationships: cooperative (win-win)
Handling of power and key information: share and broaden access for greater transparency
Approach to change: facilitate
LO.7 Carrol’s global corporate social responsibility pyramid and the problem of
moral erosion
[Key term] Ethics: study of moral issues and choices
[Key term] Corporate social responsibility: corporations are expected to go above and beyond
following the law and making profit
Caroll’s global CSR pyramid, from the bottom up, advises organizations in the global economy to:
[Economic] Make a profit consistent with the expectations for international businesses
[Legal] Obey the law of host countries as well as international law
[Ethical] Be ethical in its practices, taking host-country and global standards into
consideration
[Philanthropic] Be a good corporate citizen, especially as defined by the host country’s
expectations
The causes of the problem of moral erosion:
o Local norms and conduct: national culture; people think differently on ethical issues;
America has developed a ‘’cheating culture’’
o Ethical lapses in the workplace: observing unethical behavior at the workplace
o Intense pressure for results starts early
LO.8 General moral principles
The magnificent seven: general moral principles for managers:
1. Dignity of human life
Humans have dignity, value and a right to live.
2. Autonomy
All persons are intrinsically valuable and have the right to self-determination.
3. Honesty
The truth should be told to those who have right to know it.
4. Loyalty
Promises, contracts and commitments should be honoured.
5. Fairness
People should be treated justly.
6. Humaneness
(a) our actions ought to accomplish good
(b) we should avoid doing evil
7. The common good
Actions should accomplish the ‘’greatest good for the greatest number’’
,How to improve organization’s ethical climate:
Behave ethically yourself (being a good role model)
Screen potential employees
Develop a meaningful code of ethics. Four criteria:
- They are distributed to every employee
- They are firmly supported by top management
- They refer to specific practices and ethical dilemmas likely to be encountered by
target employees
- They are evenly enforced
Provide ethics training
Reinforce ethical behavior
Create positions, units and other structural mechanisms to deal with ethics
Create a climate in which whistle-blowing (reporting unethical/illegal acts to outside parties)
becomes unnecessary
[Key term] Morally attentive: faithfully considering the ethical implications of one’s actions
LO.9 The sources of organizational behavior research evidence
Worthwhile evidence was obtained by drawing on the following priority of research
methodology:
1. Meta-analyses: pools the results of many studies through statistical procedure
2. Field study: examination of variables in real-life settings
3. Laboratory study: manipulation and measurement of variables in contrived situations
4. Sample surveys: questionnaire responses from a sample of people
5. Case study: in-depth study of a single person, group, or organization
,Chapter 2: Managing diversity: releasing every employees potential
[Key term] Sexual harassment: unwanted sexual attention that creates an adverse or hostile work
environment
LO.1 Defining diversity
[Key term] Diversity: the host of individual differences that make people different from and similar
to each other
Four layers of diversity: (from center to outer layer)
1. Personality
It represents a stable set of characteristics that is responsible for a person’s identity
2. Surface-level dimensions of diversity
For the most part not in our control, but strongly influence attitudes and expectations and
assumptions about others, which, in turn, influence our attitudes and behavior.
For example: age, race, gender
3. External level dimensions
Individual differences that we have a greater ability to influence or control. Exerts a significant
influence on our perceptions, behavior, and attitudes.
For example: geographic location, income, marital status, personal habits
4. Organizational dimensions
For example: seniority, job title and function, and work location
LO.2 Affirmative action and managing diversity
[Key term] Discrimination: occurs when employment decisions are based on factors that are not job
related.
[Key term] Affermative action: focuses on achieving equality of opportunity in an organization.
- No quotas or the hiring of unqualified people!
[Key term] Managing diversity: creating organizational changes that enable all people to perform up
to their maximum potential.
- Changing an organization’s culture and infrastructure such that people provide the highest
productivity possible
- Three key strategies for success: education, enforcement, and exposure
The difference between affirmative action and managing diversity :
Affirmative action is an outgrowth of equal employment opportunity legislation and is an artificial
intervention aimed at giving management a chance to correct past discrimination. Managing
diversity entails creating a host of organizational changes that enable all people to perform up to
their maximum potential.
[Key term] Workforce demographics: statistical profiles of adult workers
LO.3 Women navigate a labyrinth after breaking the glass ceiling
[Key term] Glass ceiling: Invisible barrier blocking women and minorities from top management
positions
Navigating a labyrinth:
Labyrinth: an intricate structure of interconnecting passages through which it is difficult to find one’s
way.
,Eagly and Carli believe that women were barred from achieving high-level managerial positions in the
past, but that women now have busted through these barriers. Eagly and Carli propose that women
have made these strides by successfully navigating a labyrinth of twists, turns, and obstacles.
LO.4 Racial groups are encountering a glass ceiling and perceived discrimination
The demographic trends pertaining to racial groups, educational mismatches and an aging
workforce:
Demographic trends pertaining to racial groups:
1. Minorities in general are advancing less in the managerial and professional ranks than
whites.
2. The number of race-based charges of discrimination that were deemed to show reasonable
cause by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission increased from 294 in 1995 to
1,061 in 2008.
3. Minorities tend to earn less personal income than whites.
Trends that suggest a mismatch between educational attainment and the knowledge and skills
needed by employers:
1. College graduates, while technically and functionally competent, are lacking in terms of
teamwork skills, critical thinking, and an analytic reasoning.
2. There is a shortage of college graduates in technical fields related to science, math and
engineering.
3. Organizations are finding that high-school graduates working in entry-level positions do not
possess the basic skills needed to perform effectively.
Lastly, an aging population in the US underscores a potential skill gap in the future.
LO.5 Managerial implications of demographic diversity
The managerial implications of increasing diversity in the workplace:
1. To attract the best workers, companies need to adopt policies and programs that meet the
needs of all employees
2. Companies can help women and people of color enhance their promotability by helping
them find mentors and sponsors
3. Companies should educate employees about negative stereotyping, particularly when it
comes to selecting and promoting leaders
4. Companies should consider using progressive methods to recruit, retain and integrate
Hispanic workers into organizations
5. There will be a shortage of qualified people in technical fields and on-the-job remedial skills
and literacy training will be needed to help the number of high-school dropouts and
illiterates cope with job demands
6. Organizations will need to provide tangible support to school systems if the US is to remain
globally competitive
7. There are three abroad recommendations for managing an aging workforce:
a) Educate employees about working with diverse employees
b) Consider the approach toward managing technologically savy Gen Xers and Gen Ys
c) Recruit millennials
LO.6 The positive and negative effects of diverse work environments
[Key term] Social categorization theory: similarity leads to liking and attraction
,[Key term] Information/decision making theory: diversity leads to better task-relevant processes
and decision making
The positive effects of diverse work environments:
The information/decision making theory proposes that diverse work groups should outperform
homogenous groups because diverse groups are more likely to possess a broader range of task-
relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities that are distinct and nonredundant and to have different
opinions and perspectives on the task at hand. This not only gives diverse groups a larger pool of
resources, but may also have other beneficial effects.
a) Diverse groups are expected to do a better job in earlier phases of problem solving because
they are more likely to use their diverse backgrounds to generate a more comprehensive
view of a problem
b) The existence of diverse perspectives can help groups to brainstorm or uncover more novel
alternatives during problem-solving activities
c) Diversity can enhance the number of contacts a group or work units has at its disposal
The negative effects of diverse work environments:
According to the social categorization theory, the more homogenous a work group, the higher the
member commitment and group cohesion, and the lower amount of interpersonal conflicts.
[Key term] A demographic fault line: a hypothetical dividing line that splits groups into
demographically based subgroups.
- May split a group into subgroups based on one or more attributes
- Fault lines form when work-group members possess varying demographic characteristics and
negative interpersonal processes occur when people align themselves based on salient fault
lines or demographic charaacteristics
LO.7 Barriers and challenges to managing diversity
The barriers and challenges to managing diversity:
1. Inaccurate stereotypes and prejudice
Differences are viewed as weaknesses. This promotes the view that diversity hiring will mean
sacrificing competence and quality.
2. Ethnocentrism
The feeling that one’s cultural rules and norms are superior or more appropriate than the rules and
norms of another culture.
3. Poor career planning
The lack of opportunities for diverse employees to get the type of work assignments that qualify
them for senior management positions.
4. A negative diversity climate
Climate is generally viewed as employee perceptions about an organization’s formal and informal
policies, practices, and procedures. Diversity climate is a subcomponent of an organization’s overall
climate and is defined as the employees’ aggregate perceptions about an organization’s policies,
practices, and procedures pertaining to diversity. Diversity climate is positive when employees view
the organization as being fair to all types of employees. A positive diversity climate enhanced the
positive effects of diversity while a negative diversity climate reduced the positive aspects of
employee diversity.
5. An unsupportive and hostile working environment for diverse employees
6. Lack of political savvy on the part of diverse employees
Knowing ‘how to play the game’.
7. Difficulty in balancing career and family issues
8. Fears of reverse discrimination
,‘’One person’s gain is another’s loss’’
9. Diversity is not seen as an organizational priority
10. The need to revamp the organization’s performance appraisal and rewards system
11. Resistance to change
LO.8 Organizational practices used to effectively manage diversity
The organizational practices used to effectively manage diversity as identified by R Roosevelt
Thomas JR: eight basic responses for handling any diversity issue:
1. Include/exclude
A8n outgrowth of affirmative action programmes: either increase or decrease the number of diverse
people at all levels of the organization.
2. Deny
Denying that differences exist.
3. Assimilate
‘’All diverse people will learn to fit in or become like the dominant group.’’
4. Suppress
Differences are squelched or discouraged when using this approach.
5. Isolate
Setting the diverse person off to the side. In this way the individual is unable to influence
organizational change.
, Chapter 3: Organizational culture: socialization and mentoring
LO.1 Organizational culture: definition and context
[Key term] Organizational culture: set of shared, taken-for-granted implicit assumptions that a
group holds and determines how it perceives, thinks about, and reacts to its various environments.
- Passed on to new employees through the process of socialization
- Organizational culture influences our behavior at work
- Organizational culture operates at different levels
- Organizational culture is shaped by four key components: the founder’s values, the industry
and business environment, the national culture, and the senior leaders’ vision and behavior.
Three layers of organizational culture:
1. Observable facts
Physical manifestations
2. Espoused values
The stated values and norms that are preferred by an organization.
Values (enduring belief in a mode of conduct or end-state) possess five key components:
a) Are concepts or beliefs
b) Pertain to desirable end-states or behaviors
c) Transcend situations
d) Guide selection or evaluation of behavior and events
e) Are ordered by relative importance
3. Basic assumptions
Basic underlying assumptions are unobservable and represent the core of organizational culture.
Highly resistant to change, because they have become assumptions that guide organizational
behavior.
LO.2 Espoused values
(Compare) Espoused versus enacted values:
Espoused values represent the explicitly stated values and norms that are preferred by an
organization. Enacted values, in contrast, reflect the values and norms that actually are exhibited or
converted into employee behavior.
[Key term] PE fit: Extent to which personal characteristics match those from a work environment.
LO.3 Four functions of organizational culture
The four functions of organizational culture:
1. Give members an organizational identity
2. Facilitate collective commitment
3. Promote system stability
4. Shape behavior by helping members make sense of their surroundings
LO.4 Types of organizational culture
Three different frameworks to capture the various types of organizational culture:
The organizational culture inventory
