Chapter 1 The Field of Organizational Behavior TB Questions

101.   Discuss the fundamental assumptions of Organizational Behavior as a field.
Answer - Organizational behavior is characterized by two assumptions. First, is the recognition of the dynamic nature of organizations. OB pays attention to both behavior and the organizations within which the behavior takes place. Second, OB assumes there is no "one best" approach. OB emphasizes a contingency approach--a recognition that behavior is the result of a complex of interacting forces and must be dealt with accordingly.
Pages 10-12

102.   What were the early influences on the study of organizational behavior.
Answer - One of the first influences was scientific management. The earliest work came from efficiency experts seeking to improve worker productivity. Frederick W. Taylor, who worked primarily in steel mills, developed the scientific method. The objective of management is “to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity of each employee.” Frank and Lillian Gilbreth built on Taylor’s ideas and developed time-and-motion studies which classified and streamlined work. The human relations movement built on the work of Elton Mayo and the Hawthorne Studies. Scientific management made people feel like cogs in a machine. This new emphasis respecting the individual emerged and at its forefront was Elton Mayo. Human relations rejected the economic perspective of work and focused on social factors. The Hawthorne studies began in 1927 at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works near Chicago. A third school, classical organizational theory grew up emphasizing efficient overall structure. Henri Fayol developed a number of management principles.   Max Weber developed the idea of the ideal bureaucracy, where consistency and fairness were the key factors.
Pages 12-15

103.   Discuss organizational behavior’s development in the modern era, noting key current trends.
Answer - OB emerged as a field in the 1940s with the first doctorate awarded in 1941. OB was established as a field of study by the late 1950s, early 1960s. Gordon and Howell reported on business education in 1959 and recommended, among other things, increased attention to the social sciences. OB has grown rapidly, borrowing from other business disciplines.  Specifically, three prominent trends: 1) the rise of global businesses with culturally diverse workforces, 2)rapid advances in technology, and 3) the rising expectations of people in general.
Pages 15-16

104.   What are the benefits of employee support policies and what steps can companies take to facilitate employees work and meet their family obligations.
Answer - Flexible work arrangements is one way to accommodate the diversity of lifestyles. Flextime programs give employees some discretion over their working hours. These programs have been well received and tied to productivity improvements and decreases in absenteeism. Compressed workweeks permit employees to work fewer but longer days. Job sharing is one way to manage part-time work. Pairs of employees share one job. Voluntary reduced work time programs allow employees to reduce the amount of time they spend on the job, typically 10-20%, with a proportional reduction in pay. telecommuting policies allow employees to perform part of their work from home. 3) Support facilities and programs is a proactive way for companies to address the growing needs of employees. Examples would be, child-care facilities and elder-care facilities. Personal support policies are a wide variety of efforts from transportation to high school equivalency classes, etc. All these programs are expensive but companies are convinced they work, and in some cases, they actually save money. In one case, AT&T found it was much cheaper to grant unpaid parental leave than to replace the employee.
Pages 20-21

105.   Explain how future, leaner organizations will use technology and staffing policies to become more efficient.
Answer - The industrial revolution established the process of people performing tasks within a hierarchical arrangement called an organization. That era is closing as organizations change the way work is done and their structures for doing it. Technology helps fewer people do more work. Some processes like informating are happening so fast as to change the very nature of work.

Key terms:

•    Automation is the replacing of people with machines.
•    Informating is the process of workers’ manipulating products by placing data between themselves and the product.
•    Outsourcing is another restructuring tool. Companies hire outside companies to perform the work.
•    Core competency is what the firm does not outsource, because it is what the company does best. While these strategies sometimes create great trauma for workers, in other cases the changes are relatively transparent. Some of these techniques, particularly outsourcing, are criticized as hollowing out companies. Nevertheless, nearly 30% of American manufacturers outsource over half of their manufacturing.
Pages 23-24

Short Essay

106.   What is the underlying philosophy of work and people to scientific management?
Answer - The basic philosophy is there is one best way to do something. The objective of management is “to secure the maximum prosperity for the employer, coupled with the maximum prosperity of each employee.” Taylor’s scientific management focused on employees as individuals through careful selection and training and increasing wages to motivate workers.
Pages 12-13

107.   Why were researchers confused over their initial findings in the Hawthorne Studies? What conclusions did they ultimately come to?
Answer - The Hawthorne studies began in 1927 at Western Electric’s Hawthorne Works near Chicago. Starting with scientific management, they tried to discover ways to improve employee performance. Puzzling results caused them to call in Elton Mayo to repeat the studies. Mayo discovered the concept of social systems and argued that social factors, not physical factors, are most important in improving productivity. While the studies weren’t perfect, they opened the door to considering the importance of human needs, attitudes, and motives in regards to worker motivation and productivity.
Page 13

108.   What are the  major characteristics of classical organizational theory as proposed by Fayol?
Answer - Henri Fayol developed a number of management principles, including; division of labor, managerial authority over workers, scalar chain of authority, unity of command, and subordinate initiative.
Page 14

109.   What is culture shock, who does it affect, and how might it be lessened for expatriates?
Answer - Culture shock and adjustment. People are often unconsciously affected by culture. Individuals faced with new cultures may become confused and disoriented. Also, when they return to their own culture, or are repatriated, they may experience culture shock again. The adjustment process follows a U-curve, moving from High Acceptance to Low Acceptance, back to High Acceptance over time. Culture shock comes from having a narrow view of the world.
Page 17

110.   What is telecommuting and how will it affect workers in the future?
Answer - Some call telecommuting the demise of the office. It is one way to cut down on environmental pollution and wasted time commuting. Telecommuting is the use of communications technology to enable work to be performed from remote locations, such as home. It is an essential element of flexible work policies. There are 25 million telecommuters and 78% of Fortune 500 companies perform significant amounts of their work off-site. Telecommuting has pluses and minuses. IBM’s Chicago office has gone mobile saving 55% of its real estate space, with 85% of employees saying they don’t want to go back to a traditional office.
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