Organizational Behavior Ch 1 Essay

Assignment Print View 149. Marketing specialists at Napanee Beer Co. developed a new advertising campaign for summer sales. The ads were particularly aimed at sports events where Napanee Beer sold kegs of beer on tap. The marketing group worked for months with a top advertising firm on the campaign. Their effort was successful in terms of significantly higher demand for Napanee Beer's keg beer at sports stadiums. However, the production department had not been notified of the marketing campaign and was not prepared for the increased demand. The company was forced to buy empty kegs at a premium price. It also had to brew some of the lower-priced keg beer in vats that would have been used for higher-priced specialty beer. The result was that Napanee Beer sold more of the lower-priced keg beer and less of the higher-priced products that summer. Moreover, the company could not initially fill consumer demand for the keg beer, resulting in customer dissatisfaction. Use open system perspective to explain what has occurred at Napanee Beer Co. This incident mainly relates to the open systems perspective that organizations consist of many interdependent parts. In larger organizations, subsystem interdependence is so complex that an event in one department may ripple through the organization and affect other subsystems In this case, the marketing group's advertising campaign had unintended implications for the production group. Marketing's campaign increased demand for keg beer, which forced production to brew more of the lower-priced product rather than the higher-priced specialty beer. It was also necessary to keep up with demand by paying premium prices for empty kegs. Students may argue that marketing employees did not notify the production group about its plans. This may be a valid argument in this incident. However, we must keep in mind that employees engage in many activities that have repercussions for others that we would never expect. Moreover, it is possible that production employees could not predict all of the implications of marketing's campaign even if the production group was notified in advance. 150. Senior officers in a national military organization decided that operations in supplies requisition were inefficient and costly. They brought in consultants who recommended that the entire requisition process be 'reengineered'. This involved throwing out the old practices and developing an entirely new set of work activities around workflow. However, contrary to expectations, this intervention resulted in lower productivity, higher employee turnover and other adverse outcomes. Discuss likely problems with the intervention in terms of open systems perspective. There are two possible ways that open systems perspective explains these problems. The first and more likely of these is the fact that open systems have interdependent parts. In this situation, reengineering the supplies requisition process may have disrupted other parts of the organization, which, in turn, undermined the supplies' group's ability to complete their work. The point here is that open systems consist of interdependent parts and that it is always useful to ensure that changes in one part of the organization have minimal adverse effects on other parts of the organization. The second possible (but less likely) problem is in terms of inputs, transformation, outputs and feedback. The reengineering process may have thrown out a functioning transformation process. Possibly the change resulted in less feedback from the environment regarding how well the organization is interacting with the environment. Perhaps the change resulted in a disruption of inputs or side effects in the outputs. 38 of 44 Assignment Print View 151. An aircraft manufacturing company developed a computer simulation representing the very complex processes and subgroups that create an airplane. Teams of production employees would participate in a game where trainers gave them the challenge of reducing costs or minimizing space using the simulation. As the trainers predicted, the team's actions would almost always result in unexpected consequences. Explain how this simulation relates to the open systems perspective of organizational behaviour. The production simulation teaches teams that organizations are complex systems with many interdependent parts. As such, complex systems tend to produce unintended consequences when one part of the system is altered. The lesson here is to recognize the repercussions of subsystem actions on other parts of the organization. 152. WindTunnel Ltd, a manufacturer of commercial vacuum cleaner systems, has heard about new computer-based technologies that help vacuum cleaner systems to work more efficiently and provide additional features to users. So far, only one British vacuum cleaner company has apparently moved to integrate this technology into its products, but more firms will soon follow. Senior executives at WindTunnel are also aware of a small engineering firm that has applied similar computer technology to military suction-like products. No one at WindTunnel has much experience or knowledge with this computer technology, yet the company needs such expertise quickly. Explain which knowledge acquisition strategy would best help WindTunnel to gain the necessary intellectual capital. Students should begin by defining knowledge acquisition as the organization's ability to extract information and ideas from its environment as well as through insight. The scenario described in this question strongly suggests that WindTunnel needs to apply the knowledge acquisition practice of hiring individuals or acquiring companies. In this situation, WindTunnel should consider either merging with the small engineering firm, creating a joint venture with it or luring some of its engineers to work at WindTunnel. Hiring individuals or acquiring companies is most appropriate in this case for a few reasons. First, no one at WindTunnel has the required knowledge and the knowledge does not seem to be something that can be acquired quickly through individual learning or experimentation. Moreover, WindTunnel needs the knowledge quickly to remain competitive, because one competitor has already begun to integrate the new technology. These activities provide quick knowledge acquisition compared to the other strategies. 39 of 44 Assignment Print View 153. Comment on the accuracy of the following statement: 'Without employees, an organization has no organizational memory.' This statement is generally FALSE: An organization's memory may be embedded in systems and structures, not just the brain cells of employees. Certainly, a considerable amount of memory would be lost if employees suddenly disappeared, but some knowledge remains through structural capital. For example, knowledge is embedded in the company's physical layout, its documentation, the design of its products and so forth. Of course, it is necessary to have employees transform their human capital into structural capital. But once it is embedded in structural capital, some knowledge exists without employees. 154. A courier service laid off a large percentage of its production staff during last year's recession. These low-skilled employees performed routine tasks filling orders. The company now wants to rehire them. However, most of the unskilled employees have since found employment in other companies and industries. Do you think the courier company lost much organizational memory in this situation? Explain your answer. Organizational memory refers to the storage and preservation of intellectual capitalÑin other words, the knowledge that the organization possesses. The courier company has lost some organizational memory, but probably not a great deal. The amount of organizational memory lost may be fairly small in this situation. These are unskilled employees, some of whom have moved to other industries. This suggests that they might have been fairly replaceable and do not have much unique knowledge for the organization. Similarly, the tasks are fairly routine, suggesting that most knowledge is established within the task routines and thereby documented in procedures manuals. However, some organizational memory loss has occurred because every employee possesses some unique knowledge that is of value to the organization. For instance, the laid off employees may have had undocumented knowledge about the preferences of certain customers or the operation of certain equipment. When employees leave the firm, they take this knowledge with them unless it is clearly documented or retained in other ways within the organization. 40 of 44 Assignment Print View 155. Comment on the accuracy of the following statement: 'An important objective in knowledge management is to ensure that intellectual capital is stored and preserved.' This statement is mostly, but not completely, TRUE: In support of this statement, students should indicate that an organization's knowledgeÑits intellectual capitalÑis the main source of competitive advantage for most companies. One part of this process is knowledge management (acquiring, sharing and using knowledge); the other is maintaining an organizational memory. Organizational memory involves storing and preserving knowledge. For example, effective organizations ensure that knowledgeable employees do not leave. They also document knowledge for future use. Without organizational memory organizations could not compete in the external environment. Students should also indicate the circumstances where this statement is false. Specifically, students should state that successful companies also unlearn knowledge that is no longer useful or appropriate. In fact, organizational unlearningÑexpelling some intellectual capitalÑis necessary so that organizational change may occur more effectively. This means that companies should cast off the routines and patterns of behaviour that are no longer appropriate. 156. The high performance work practices (HPWP) perspective holds that effective organizations incorporate several workplace practices to harness the potential of human capital. What common activities do high performance organizations practice? Employee involvement and job autonomy. Typically such organizations put a lot of thought into providing more employee involvement and job autonomy. Both of these seem to improve employee motivation to perform, and improve decision-making, organizational responsiveness and commitment to change. Employee competence. This is an important variable affecting the organization's effectiveness. High performance organizations devote resources (invest) in employee skill and knowledge development. The strong skills and performance potential of job applicants are weighed carefully during the selection process. Link performance and development to rewards. The performance and skill development of employees is linked to various financial and nonfinancial rewards that are actually valued by the employees. This has the effect of encouraging desired behaviour. 41 of 44 Assignment Print View 157. There is an increased interest by organizations about the importance of values in the workplace. Explain the difference between values, ethics and corporate social responsibilities. Values are relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations. Values help us to know what is right or wrong, or good or bad, in the world. Values are an important part of our self-concept and, as such, motivate our actions. Ethics refers to the study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad. We rely on our ethical values to determine "the right thing to do." Ethical behaviour is driven by the moral principles we use to make decisions. These moral principles represent fundamental values. Corporate social responsibility consists of organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm's immediate financial interests or legal obligations. 158. Many organizations are placing increasing importance on values and ethics in the workplace. Discuss two reasons why workplace values have become more important in recent years. Your answer should briefly define values, and ethics. Values are defined as relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations. Ethics refer to moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad. The textbook offers reasons for the increased interest in workplace values and ethics. Students need to describe any two of these. Some students might also identify other reasons through logical argument. These logical arguments should receive consideration when grading this answer. Increasing globalization. As organizations expand across cultures, differences in values become more pronounced. This leads to both personal and organizational challenges. At the individual level, employees may find that their personal values conflict with organizational and cross-cultural values. At the organizational level, leaders are looking for ways to integrate (or, at least, coordinate) people with diverse personal and cultural value systems. Replacing direct supervision. The old 'command-and-control' system of direct supervision is expensive and incompatible with today's more independently minded workforce. Organizational values represent a subtle, yet potentially effective, alternative. Increasing pressure for ethical organizations and corporate social responsibility. Many societies are putting more pressure on organizations to engage in ethical practices. Ethics refers to the study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad. We rely on our ethical values to determine 'the right thing to do'. 42 of 44 Assignment Print View 159. The changing workforce is one of the emerging trends in organizational behaviour. Describe how the workforce is changing and briefly identify two consequences of these changes for organizations. There are numerous workforce changes that students might correctly identify. However, the textbook specifically refers to the following: (a) more ethnic diversity; (b) visible minorities represent a large percentage of the workforce and are entering occupations previously held mostly by men; and (c) younger people (Generation-X and Generation-Y) are bringing somewhat different values and needs to the workforce. There are several consequences of these workforce changes. Chapter 1 of the textbook briefly identifies the following: (a) potentially better decision making, (b) potentially better customer service; and (c) underrepresentation of women and ethnic minorities in senior positions (i.e. discrimination). 160. Virtual work has been identified as an important trend in organizational behaviour. Discuss three organizational behaviour topics that are influenced by virtual work. (Note: Students may identify the relevance of various OB topics through creative and logical thinking.) Chapter 1 briefly identifies the following topics: Stress management--Virtual work (particularly telework) tends to offer better work/life balance Performance--Virtual work seems to improve job performance stress in many situations. Self-leadership--Virtual workers need to manage themselves rather than rely on supervisors for continuous guidance. Organizational influence and politics--Virtual workers have to adjust to the lack of networking, and learn to overcome the limitations of limited face time in demonstrating their value. 43 of 44 Assignment Print View 161. Two organizational behaviour students are debating the idea that many OB theories are contingency-oriented. One student believes that every OB theory should be contingency-oriented. The other student disagrees, saying that most theories should try to be universal. Evaluate both positions and provide your opinion on this issue. Both students have taken extreme views of the contingency anchor. Both are partly correct and partly incorrect. The first student is saying that every OB theory should abide by the contingency anchor. This means that the theory should incorporate factors that help us to determine the best action in a particular situation. The benefit of the contingency anchor is that it provides a more accurate understanding of organizational events and allows us to influence those events more precisely. The problem, however, is that the contingency anchor can make some theories very complex with relatively little advantage over universal theories. In this respect, the second student is partly correct. We should try to see whether OB theories can be universal rather than contingency-oriented. This is consistent with the view that all theories should be parsimonious. If the theory can explain well without contingency factors, then it is best left as a universal theory. The difficulty is that most OB events are sufficiently complex that contingencies are required for the theories to effectively explain those events. When answering this question, students should state their preference in terms of the degree of universality or contingency orientation. Some might argue that theories are already too complex for practical use, whereas others might say that we need more contingencies to gain more precision in understanding organizational behaviour. 44 of 44