Business Question

Assignment – RequirementAssignment Content
This assignment is to be completed using your own words. Your only sources should be the
slides, other course material provided and prescribed textbook as needed.
Instructions
Include answers in brief, concise text along with Powerpoint presentation as indicated below..
Overview
In this assignment, you’ll explore how to predict possible reactions to introducing technological
and other changes in a legal office. Specifically, you will use the MARS model (Motivation,
Ability, Role Perceptions, and Situational Factors) as a framework to anticipate potential
resistance, assess the likelihood of adoption and make recommendations to the HR and
leadership team about how to proceed to be set up for success.
Also – you will provide your insights (gleaned from course information and your own
interpretation of the situation at hand) on the ‘value of values’ in an organization.
Scenario
You have been recently hired as a People and Culture advisor to help advise the HR director for
the legal firm of “Trusted and Savvy LLP” on some ‘people challenges’ she is facing.
The firm has been in business over 25 years and has 50 lawyers, about half of whom have been
with the firm for over a decade; the remainder have been hired over the past 10 years and are a
bit more up to date on technology and its uses.
On the other hand, those hired in the past 3 – 5 years are still learning through a strong – but
traditional – mentorship system the firm has set up with seniors guiding and mentoring junior
lawyers. Typically the junior lawyers have learned to be quite deferential to the senior lawyers
given the latter’s expertise and status in the professions.
The ownership and leadership structure of Trusted & Savvy LLP is a team of senior lawyers who
are Partners in the law firm. Generally most of the Partners have been with the firm for 25
years or more, and have a traditional approach to leadership – hierarchical and directive, as well
as hard driving. However, there are some younger, new partners who are very bright and
successful; this group has been encouraged by a few partners to bring forward new ideas and
ways of thinking to keep the firm current and attract graduate lawyers.
The support staff – including researchers, administrative assistants, and legal clerks –
increasingly include people from various backgrounds and cultures. This is intentional on the
part for HR team and the senior partners who want to realize the benefits of – and develop
opportunities in the profession for – diverse workforces.
The firm hasn’t invested heavily in technology up to now. Traditionally, administrative and legal
assistants handled scheduling, billing, and research. Now, the office is transitioning to electronic
billing and wants lawyers to enter their own appointments, billable hours and notes into the
system which will speed up the billing process.
Additionally, they plan to implement a Generative AI platform for legal case research and for
lawyers to dictate and summarize notes before having the legal assistants provide a final draft.
This means the firm may need fewer administrative assistants, and those who remain may have
to learn new skills. Support staff willrs will also use the new platforms. There is of course some
risk to consider in using this platform since we know that Generative AI does not always tell the
truth which is critical in a legal environment.
The senior team is looking for advice on how to successfully manage this change with limited
disruption to the business and particularly to client service.
NOTE: this is not a full change management project, but relates to determining factors to
consider in terms of people’s likely reactions, as part of the plan for change.
2
parts to submission: text submission where indicated below and summary
recorded PowerPoint presentation, related slides with speakers’ notes
Question1:
With your team’s understanding of the MARS model and considering knowledge of the pros,
cons, implications of changes such as technology implementations, in multigenerational and
possibly multicultural workplaces, develop a plan as follows:
Deliverable 1: (summarize in max 2 pages text)
Highlight to your leadership team what you might envisage to be the resistance or opposition
from employees with regards to implementing these process and technology changes.
15 marks
Deliverable 2: (summarize in max 2 pages text)
Outline your brief recommendations (i.e. strategies, programs or good practice, etc.) to help the
leadership team address/overcome any fear or resistance to achieve positive outcomes? Take
into consideration some KEY areas of resistance including various interests among team
members. NOTE: this question requires your consideration of the actual situation in this
company, not simply a checklist of the elements of the MARS model and generic solutions.
Deliverable 3:
Prepare and deliver an 8-minute presentation (with 6 – 8 PowerPoint Slides; plus 2 additional see below – for Question 2) covering the salient contents discussed in Deliverables 1 and 2. All
members in the group are required to present and participate actively in this recorded
presentation
Question 2:
The technology change above – along with an interest in retaining the younger lawyers – has got
the HR director and Senior Partner thinking that this may be an opportunity to also develop
some new Values for the organization which better reflect progressive and innovative thinking;
They still want to maintain the “TRUSTED” part of its reputation and ethics, while capitalizing on
the ‘SAVVY” side as well.
The HR director is looking for thoughts on how to go about developing 3 – 4 key Values and
brief
STATEMENTS, that can capture both the Traditional/”TRUSTED” aspect of the firm as well as its
aspiration to embrace nimble and progressive “SAVVY” thinking within the firm. These Values
and statements should explain how TRUSTED & SAVVY wants to be known to the public, and to
prospective employees.
Provide 1 – 2 slides with speaking notes – include:
1)
Describe briefly your approach to determining what values will ‘ring true with
employees, and customers, why values can be useful guides in this organization
2)
Show “For Consideration Values and Value statements”, why and how these will help
with instilling behaviours to support the firm direction.
Include these points and slides in the presentation outlined in Question 1 – i.e. total
presentation maximum 10 slides.
Rubric
Assignment Content
Length of Paper: Question 1 (total 4 pages text; 6 – 8 powerpoint slides for presentation)
Deliverable 2 (4 pages)
Font size 12, single spacing (for Word documents)
Deliverable 3: 8-minute presentation, with 6 Power-Point Slides (excluding cover)
Format: With sub-heading for each separate point discussed
HRM782ZVV – Rubric
Deliverable 1
Pushbacks
Clear evidence of
sound and
comprehensive
understanding of the
potential pushback.
Very Well explained
and most insightful.
Recommendations
outlined were
Deliverable 2
practical, creative,
Recommendations well-articulated,
highly insightful and
leading edge.
All or a combination
of most of the
following:
Exceptional
presentation –
impressive, very
professionally
delivered.
Deliverable 3
Presentation
Excellent team
synergy.
Flow and transition
were very smooth
and swift.
All members were
present, very
engaging and
delivered their part
with high energy.
Concisely and clearly
worded, creative
approach; considers
various stakeholder
input.
Question 2
15 points
Combines both
subject expertise in
explaining ‘why
values’; and practical
insight into the firm’s
situation and
stakeholders.
Contents
Preface xiv
Global Connections 1.4: The Doctor Is Ill. . .But Will See You
Now 24
PART ONE
Chapter Summary 25
Key Terms 26
Critical Thinking Questions
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to the Field of Organizational
Behaviour 1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1
Welcome to the Field of Organizational Behaviour! 2
What is Organizational Behaviour?
2
Historical Foundations of Organizational Behaviour 3
Why Organizational Behaviour Is Important
Why OB is Important for You
4
Why OB is Important for Organizations
5
Anchors of Organizational Behaviour Knowledge 9
9
Debating Point: Is There Enough Evidence to Support
Evidence-Based Management? 10
The Practical Orientation Anchor
11
The Multidisciplinary Anchor 11
12
14
17
MARS Model of Individual Behaviour and Performance 18
18
20
Situational Factors
20
Types of Individual Behaviour
Task Performance
21
Five-Factor Model of Personality 33
Caveats When Applying the Five-Factor Model
36
Other Personality Concepts: The Dark Triad and MBTI Types 37
The Dark Triad 37
Global Connections 2.1: Is Your CEO Narcissistic? Count the
Tweets 38
41
42
42
Values Congruence 44
Global Connections 2.2: “Your Values Are More Important
Than Your CV” at IKEA 44
Ethical Values and Behaviour 45
Four Ethical Principles
45
Supporting Ethical Behaviour
21
47
Values Across Cultures 48
Organizational Citizenship Behaviours
Counterproductive Work Behaviours
23
24
Individualism and Collectivism
Power Distance
48
49
Uncertainty Avoidance 49
23
Joining and Staying with the Organization
Maintaining Work Attendance
32
What Causes Personality: Nature Versus Nurture 32
Global Connections 2.3: Alcoa Executive Sets Ethical
Standard in Russia 44
Global Connections 1.3: Adaptive Performance in Daimler’s
Swarm Teams 22
vi
Personality and the Five-Factor Model in Organizations
Moral Intensity, Moral Sensitivity, and Situational
Influences 45
19
Role Perceptions
31
Values and Individual Behaviour
Global Connections 1.2: Emsisoft Thrives as a Fully Remote
Organization 16
Ability
CHAPTER 2
Types of Values
15
Employee Motivation
Individual Behaviour
and Processes
Values in the Workplace
Diversity and the Inclusive Workplace 13
Employment Relationships
PART TWO
30
30
Debating Point: Should Companies Use Personality Tests to
Select Job Applicants? 40
The Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor 12
Work–Life Integration
Self-Assessments for Chapter 1
Jungian Personality Theory and the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator 39
The Contingency Anchor 11
The Emerging Workplace Landscape
Class Exercise IT All Makes Sense?
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Connecting the Dots: An Integrative Model of
Organizational Behaviour 8
The Systematic Research Anchor
Class Exercise World Café on the Emerging Workplace 29
Individual Differences: Personality and Values 31
4
Global Connections 1.1: 21 Days of Y’ello Care 7
Remote Work
27
Case Study Promoting Safe Behaviour at Mother Parkers 27
23
Achievement-Nurturing Orientation 50
Caveats about Cross-Cultural Knowledge 50
Cultural Diversity within Canada 50
Contents
Global Connections 2.4: Cross-Cultural Hiccups at
Beam Suntory 50
Chapter Summary 52
Key Terms 53
Critical Thinking Questions
Self-Assessments for Chapter 3
84
CHAPTER 4
Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress
53
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Case Study SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. 54
Team Exercise Ethics Dilemma Vignettes 55
Class Exercise Personal Values Exercise 56
Self-Assessments for Chapter 2
vii
85
85
Emotions in the Workplace 86
Types of Emotions
57
86
Emotions, Attitudes, and Behaviour 88
CHAPTER 3
How Emotions Influence Attitudes and Behaviour 89
Generating Positive Emotions at Work
Perceiving Ourselves and Others in
Organizations 58
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Cognitive Dissonance
58
Emotions and Personality
Self-Concept Complexity, Consistency, and Clarity 59
Global Connections 3.1: Career Alignment Through
Self-Concept Clarity 61
62
63
The Social Self
63
92
93
94
Emotional Intelligence Outcomes and Development
Global Connections 3.2: Starbucks Nurtures Employees’
Social Identity in China 65
Perceiving the World around Us
65
Perceptual Organization and Interpretation 66
Specific Perceptual Processes and Problems
Stereotyping in Organizations
68
68
Global Connections 3.3: You People! Exposing Stereotyping
in South Africa 69
71
Other Perceptual Effects
Awareness of Perceptual Biases
75
75
Debating Point: Do Diversity Programs Reduce
Perceptual Biases? 76
Meaningful Interaction
78
Global Mindset: Developing Perceptions across Borders 79
Global Connections 3.4: EY Cultivates a Global Mindset
Through International Secondments 79
Developing A Global Mindset 80
Chapter Summary 80
Key Terms 81
Critical-Thinking Questions
Job Satisfaction and Work Behaviour 97
Job Satisfaction and Performance 98
Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction 98
Job Satisfaction and Business Ethics
Organizational Commitment
100
100
Consequences of Affective and Continuance
Commitment 100
101
General Adaptation Syndrome 102
75
Improving Self-Awareness
Job Satisfaction 96
Work-Related Stress and Its Management 101
74
Consequences of Distress 103
Stressors: The Causes of Stress 103
Individual Differences in Stress 105
Managing Work-Related Stress
105
Global Connections 4.3: Reducing Stress By
Rewarding Longer Sleeps 106
Chapter Summary 107
Key Terms 108
Critical Thinking Questions
108
Case Study Diana’s Disappointment: The Promotion
Stumbling Block 109
81
Case Study HY Dairies Ltd. 82
Team Exercise Personal and Organizational Strategies for
Developing a Global Mindset 83
95
Global Connections 4.2: Developing Emotional Intelligence
at Indian Railways 96
Building Affective Commitment
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy 72
Improving Perceptions
Emotional Display Norms Across Cultures
Global Connections 4.1: Smiling in Russia: More Emotional
Labour than in Canada 93
Emotional Intelligence
Self-Concept and Organizational Behaviour 64
Attribution Theory
92
Managing Emotions at Work 92
Strategies for Displaying Expected Emotions
Self-Verification 62
Self-Evaluation
91
Debating Point: Is Having Fun at Work Really a Good Idea? 91
Self-Concept: How We Perceive Ourselves 59
Self-Enhancement
90
Case Study Rough Seas on The Link650 110
Team Exercise Ranking Jobs on Their Emotional
Labour 112
Self-Assessments for Chapter 4
113
viii
Contents
CHAPTER 5
Improving Reward Effectiveness 151
Foundations of Employee Motivation
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
114
114
Employee Motivation, Drives, and Needs
115
Employee Drives and Needs 116
Four-Drive Theory
118
Maslow’s Needs Hierarchy Theory 119
Global Connections 5.1: Petronas Balances Fulfilment of
Employees’ Drives 119
153
Job Design and Work Efficiency 153
Global Connections 6.3: Job Specialization at the Arsenal of
Venice 154
Scientific Management
154
155
Job Design and Work Motivation 155
Expectancy Theory of Motivation
123
Expectancy Theory in Practice
124
Organizational Behaviour Modification and Social Cognitive
Theory 125
Organizational Behaviour Modification
126
Social Cognitive Theory 127
Global Connections 5.2: KPMG Motivates Employee
Learning with Gamification 128
Goal Setting and Feedback 129
Characteristics of Effective Feedback 130
Global Connections 5.3: Strengths-Based Coaching
at Stryker 131
Sources of Feedback 132
Evaluating Goal Setting and Feedback
132
133
Distributive Justice and Equity Theory 133
Debating Point: Does Equity Motivate More Than Equality? 134
Procedural and Interactional Justice
Chapter Summary 138
Key Terms 139
Critical Thinking Questions
Ensure That Rewards Are Valued 152
Problems with Job Specialization
121
Learned Needs Theory 122
Organizational Justice
Use Team Rewards for Interdependent Jobs 152
Job Design Practices
118
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
Ensure That Rewards Are Relevant 151
Global Connections 6.2: When Rewards Go Wrong 152
Watch Out for Unintended Consequences 153
Individual Differences in Needs 117
Drive-Based Motivation Theories
Link Rewards to Performance 151
137
139
Job Characteristics Model 155
Global Connections 6.4: Thriving on Enriched Jobs at
Softcom Nigeria 156
Social and Information Processing Job Characteristics 157
Job Design Practices That Motivate 158
Debating Point: Job Rotation Has Costs, Not Just Benefits 159
Psychological Empowerment Practices
161
Supporting Psychological Empowerment 161
Self-Leadership Practices
161
Personal Goal Setting 162
Constructive Thought Patterns 162
Global Connections 6.5: Overcoming Negative Self-Talk 163
Designing Natural Rewards 163
Self-Monitoring 163
Self-Reinforcement 164
Effectiveness of Self-Leadership 164
Personal and Situational Predictors of Self-Leadership 164
Chapter Summary 165
Key Terms 166
Critical Thinking Questions
166
Case Study Predicting Harry’s Work Effort 140
Case Study Yakkatech Ltd. 166
Case Study Barrie Super Subs 141
Team Exercise Is Student Work Enriched? 167
Class Exercise Needs Priority Exercise
Self-Assessments for Chapter 5
142
143
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
144
CHAPTER 7
Decision Making and Creativity
144
The Meaning of Money in the Workplace
169
PART THREE Team Processes
CHAPTER 6
Applied Performance Practices
Self-Assessments for Chapter 6
145
Membership- and Seniority-Based Rewards 146
Job Status–Based Rewards 147
Competency-Based Rewards 147
Performance-Based Rewards 147
Global Connections 6.1: Skill-Based Pay at Wonderful
Company 148
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
170
170
Rational Choice Decision Making
171
Rational Choice Decision Process
172
Problems with Rational Choice Decision Making
Identifying Problems and Opportunities 173
Problems with Problem Identification 173
173
Contents
Global Connections 7.1: Choosing the Best Decision
Process at Bosch Packaging Technology 174
Identifying Problems and Opportunities More Effectively 175
Searching for, Evaluating, and Choosing Alternatives 175
Problems with Goals 175
Global Connections 7.2: Mental Model Myopia Almost
Rejected Seinfeld 176
Problems with Information Processing
Problems with Maximization
Evaluating Opportunities
176
178
178
Emotions and Intuition in Decision Making 179
Intuition and Making Choices 180
212
Team Roles
213
216
217
218
218
Remote (Virtual) Teams
185
Activities That Encourage Creativity
219
Success Factors for Remote Teams 220
220
Constraints on Team Decision Making
Organizational Conditions Supporting Creativity 186
Global Connections 7.3: Supporting Creativity for Everyone
at Estée Lauder 187
187
220
Debating Point: Are Remote Teams More Trouble Than
They’re Worth? 221
Global Connections 8.4: Meetups Strengthen Automattic’s
Remote Teams 222
Improving Decision Making and Creativity in
Teams 224
Employee Involvement in Decision Making 189
Debating Point: Should Organizations Practise
Democracy? 190
Chapter Summary 225
Key Terms 227
Critical Thinking Questions
Benefits of Employee Involvement 191
Contingencies of Employee Involvement 192
227
Case Study Arbrecorp Ltée 228
Team Exercise Team Tower Power 229
Team Exercise Survival on the Moon 229
194
Self-Assessments for Chapter 8
Case Study Dogged By the Wrong Problem 195
Class Exercise Employee Involvement Incidents
Class Exercise Creativity Brainbusters
Self-Assessments for Chapter 7
196
197
198
CHAPTER 8
231
CHAPTER 9
Communicating in Teams and Organizations 232
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
232
The Importance of Communication 233
199
A Model of Communication 234
Influences on Effective Encoding and Decoding 235
Global Connections 9.1: Encoding–Decoding Challenges
Across Generations 236
199
Teams and Informal Groups 200
Informal Groups
Team Norms
Team Decision Making
184
Characteristics of Creative People
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Team Development 210
Global Connections 8.2: Diverse Teams Reorganize
Rijksmuseum 211
Success Factors for Self-Directed Teams 219
182
183
Team Dynamics
208
210
Self-Directed Teams
Evaluating Decision Outcomes More Effectively 183
Chapter Summary 193
Key Terms 193
Critical Thinking Questions
Team Composition
Team Processes
Improving Team Processes Through Team Building
182
Evaluating Decisions 182
The Creative Process
208
Team Mental Models
Implementing and Evaluating Decisions 182
Creativity
206
Team Size
Team Trust
Making Choices More Effectively 181
Escalation of Commitment
206
Task Characteristics
Team Cohesion 214
Global Connections 8.3: Communal Meals Build Team
Cohesion 215
Emotions and Making Choices 179
Implementing Decisions
Team Design Elements
201
Communication Channels
Benefits and Limitations of Teams
202
The Challenges of Teams 202
A Model of Team Effectiveness
ix
204
Organizational and Team Environment 205
Global Connections 8.1: European Firms Support Teamwork
with Obeya Rooms 206
236
Digital Written Communication
237
Social Media Communication in the Workplace 239
Global Connections 9.2: Bosch Employees Improve
Collaboration Through Social Media 240
Nonverbal Communication 240
Choosing the Best Communication Channel
242
x
Contents
Synchronicity
242
Contingencies of Power 266
Social Presence 242
Nonsubstitutability
Social Acceptance
Centrality
267
Media Richness 243
Visibility
267
Communication Channels and Persuasion 245
Discretion 267
243
The Power of Social Networks 267
Communication Barriers (Noise) 246
Perceptions
Language
Jargon
266
Debating Point: How Much Power Do CEOs Really Possess? 268
246
Social Capital and Sources of Power 269
246
Gaining Power Through Social Networks 269
246
Filtering 246
Consequences of Power 272
Information Overload 247
Influencing Others 272
Types of Influence Tactics 272
Global Connections 10.1: Ontario Firm Systemically
Supports the “Old Boys’” Network 273
Global Connections 10.2: Deadly Consequences of
Workplace Bullying 275
Cross-Cultural and Gender Communication 247
Nonverbal Differences Across Cultures 249
Gender Differences In Communication 249
Improving Interpersonal Communication
250
Getting Your Message Across 250
Active Listening
Consequences and Contingencies of Influence Tactics 277
250
Improving Communication Throughout the Hierarchy
Workspace Design
251
251
Digitally Based Organizational Communication
252
Direct Communication with Top Management
252
253
Grapevine Benefits and Limitations
253
Team Exercise Cross-Cultural Communication Game
Team Exercise Practising Active Listening
259
259
Team Exercise Deciphering The (Social) Network 285
Team Exercise Managing Your Boss 285
286
258
Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
287
287
The Meaning and Consequences of Conflict 288
Is Conflict Good or Bad? 289
CHAPTER 10
The Emerging View: Task and Relationship Conflict
Power and Influence in the Workplace
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The Meaning of Power
260
Legitimate Power 262
Reward Power 264
290
290
Relationship Conflict
290
262
Debating Point: Can People Avoid Relationship Conflict
During Disagreements? 292
Conflict Process Model 293
Structural Sources of Conflict in Organizations 293
Incompatible Goals 293
Global Connections 11.1: Uber Conflict with Incompatible
Goals and Differentiation 294
264
264
Referent Power 264
Deference To Power
260
Task Conflict
Minimizing Relationship Conflict During Task Conflict 290
261
Sources of Power in Organizations
Expert Power
Case Study JP Morgan’s Whale 284
CHAPTER 11
256
Self-Assessments for Chapter 9
280
282
Self-Assessments for Chapter 10
Case Study Difficult Connections 257
Coercive Power
Chapter Summary 281
Key Terms 282
Critical Thinking Questions
Case Study Resonus Corporation 283
Debating Point: Should Management Use the Grapevine to
Communicate to Employees? 254
Chapter Summary 255
Key Terms 256
Critical Thinking Questions
278
Individual Differences in Organizational Politics 279
Global Connections 10.3: Playing Politics with the Vacation
Schedule 280
Minimizing Organizational Politics
Communicating Through the Grapevine 252
Global Connections 9.3: Advice to CEOs: Listen—Act—
Repeat 253
Grapevine Characteristics
Organizational Politics
Differentiation 294
265
Interdependence 294
Contents
Global Connections 11.2: Open Office, Hidden Conflict 295
Scarce Resources
296
Ambiguous Rules 296
Transformational Leadership and Charisma 321
Global Connections 12.2: Did Charismatic Leadership
Cause Steinhoff’s Downfall? 322
Evaluating the Transformational Leadership Perspective 323
Communication Problems 296
Managerial Leadership Perspective
Interpersonal Conflict-Handling Styles 296
Cultural and Gender Differences in Conflict-Handling
Styles 299
Structural Approaches to Conflict Management
323
Interdependence of Managerial and Transformational
Leadership 323
Choosing The Best Conflict-Handling Style 298
Task-Oriented and People-Oriented Leadership 324
Servant Leadership 324
299
Emphasize Superordinate Goals 299
Global Connections 11.3: Improving Mutual Understanding
Through Lunch Roulettes 300
Reduce Differentiation
xi
Path–Goal and Leadership Substitutes Theories 326
Path–Goal Leadership Theory 326
Leadership Substitutes Theory 328
Implicit Leadership Perspective
300
Improve Communication and Mutual Understanding 301
329
Prototypes of Effective Leaders 329
The Romance of Leadership 329
Reduce Interdependence 301
Increase Resources 301
Personal Attributes Perspective of Leadership 330
Clarify Rules and Procedures 302
Eight Important Leadership Attributes 331
Global Connections 12.3: Transformational Leader Carolyn
McCall Identifies Important Leadership Attributes 332
Third-Party Conflict Resolution
302
Choosing the Best Third-Party Intervention Strategy
Resolving Conflict Through Negotiation
302
304
Distributive Versus Integrative Approaches to
Negotiation 304
Preparing to Negotiate
306
The Negotiation Setting 308
Global Connections 11.4: Reducing The Gender Wage Gap
Through Negotiation Skills 309
Gender And Negotiation
309
Chapter Summary 310
Key Terms 311
Critical Thinking Questions
Cross-Cultural and Gender Issues in Leadership
335
Gender and Leadership 335
Chapter Summary 336
Key Terms 337
Critical Thinking Questions
337
Case Study A Window on Life 337
Team Exercise Leadership Diagnostic Analysis
311
Self-Assessments for Chapter 12
Case Study Discord Investments 312
Case Study Conflict-Handling Incidents 313
Team Exercise Kumquat Conflict Role Play
Self-Assessments for Chapter 11
315
315
CHAPTER 12
339
339
PART FOUR Organizational
Processes
CHAPTER 13
Leadership in Organizational Settings
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
316
316
340
Division of Labour and Coordination 341
Shared Leadership 317
Division of Labour
Transformational Leadership Perspective 318
Develop and Communicate a Strategic Vision 319
Global Connections 12.1: Art Phillips’ Vision of a Livable
Vancouver 320
321
Encourage Experimentation
Designing Organizational Structures 340
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
What is Leadership? 317
Model the Vision
333
Personal Attributes Perspective Limitations and Practical
Implications 335
305
The Negotiation Process
Authentic Leadership
Debating Point: Should Leaders Really Be Authentic All the
Time? 334
341
Coordinating Work Activities 342
Global Connections 13.1: ESA Coordinates Satellite Design
Through Concurrent Engineering 343
Elements of Organizational Structure 345
Span of Control 345
321
Build Commitment Toward the Vision
Centralization and Decentralization
321
Formalization
348
348
xii
Contents
Mechanistic Versus Organic Structures 349
Forms of Departmentalization
Simple Structure
Organizational Culture and Business Ethics
350
Merging Organizational Cultures
351
Functional Structure
Bicultural Audit
351
Matrix Structure
Changing and Strengthening Organizational Culture
Align Artifacts with the Desired Culture 383
Debating Point: DO Organizations Really Need to Adopt a
Matrix Structure? 358
359
Contingencies of Organizational Design 360
External Environment 360
Global Connections 13.4: The Risk of Centralizing Authority
During Pandemics 361
Organizational Size
Technology
361
362
Organizational Strategy
Introduce Culturally Consistent Rewards and
Recognition 383
Support Workforce Stability and Communication 384
Use Attraction, Selection, and Socialization for
Cultural Fit 384
Organizational Socialization
385
Learning and Adjustment Process 385
Global Connections 14.4: Junior Investment Analysts
Experience Psychological Contract Violations 386
Psychological Contracts
362
Chapter Summary 363
Key Terms 363
Critical Thinking Questions
382
Model Desired Culture Through Actions of Founders and
Leaders 382
355
356
Network Structure
379
Strategies for Merging Different Organizational
Cultures 380
Global Connections 14.3: Alaska Air’s Acquisition of Virgin
America: From Separation to Integration 381
Divisional Structure 352
Global Connections 13.2: Toyota’s Evolving Divisional
Structure 354
Global Connections 13.3: Bosch Powers Ahead with a
Team-Based Organizational Structure 355
Team-Based Structure
379
379
386
Stages of Organizational Socialization
Improving the Socialization Process
Chapter Summary 390
Key Terms 391
Critical Thinking Questions
364
Case Study Merritt’s Bakery 364
Team Exercise The Club ED Exercise 365
Self-Assessments for Chapter 13 366
367
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
367
Elements of Organizational Culture
Organizational Change 395
368
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
372
Physical Structures and Symbols
396
Understanding Resistance to Change 398
Why Employees Resist Change 399
372
Organizational Stories and Legends 372
373
395
Lewin’s Force Field Analysis Model
Organizational Subcultures 371
Deciphering Organizational Culture Through Artifacts
Rituals and Ceremonies
393
CHAPTER 15
Content of Organizational Culture 369
Global Connections 14.1: Takata’s Espoused Versus
Enacted Organizational Values 370
Organizational Language
391
Case Study Hillton’s Transformation 392
Team Exercise Organizational Culture Metaphors
Self-Assessments for Chapter 14 394
CHAPTER 14
Organizational Culture
387
389
374
Is Organizational Culture Important? 374
The Meaning and Potential Benefits of a Strong
Culture 375
Contingencies of Organizational Culture and
Effectiveness 376
Debating Point: Is Corporate Culture an Overused
Phrase? 377
Global Connections 14.2: Uber Shifts Gears Toward a More
Ethical Culture 378
Unfreezing, Changing, and Refreezing 401
Creating an Urgency for Change 401
Reducing the Restraining Forces 402
Global Connections 15.1: Supporting Change Through
Communication at EE 404
Refreezing the Desired Conditions 405
Global Connections 15.2: New Systems and Structures
Reinforce Change at Superior Cabinets 405
Leadership, Coalitions, and Pilot Projects 406
Transformational Leadership and Change 406
Coalitions, Social Networks, and Change 406
Pilot Projects and Diffusion of Change 406
Global Connections 15.3: Trailblazing Viral Change at RSA
Insurance 407
Contents
Four Approaches to Organizational Change
Action Research Approach
Team Exercise Strategic Change Incidents
408
Self-Assessments for Chapter 15
408
Debating Point: What’s the Best Speed for Organizational
Change? 409
Appreciative Inquiry Approach
410
Large Group Intervention Approach
Additional Cases CA-1
Theory Building and Systematic Research Methods AP-1
Cross-Cultural and Ethical Issues in Organizational Change 413
Sources SO-1
Organizational Behaviour: The Journey Continues
Glossary GL-1
Key Terms
414
Critical Thinking Questions
414
Endnotes EN-1
415
415
Case Study Transact Insurance Corporation 416
418
418
Appendix
412
Parallel Learning Structure Approach 412
Chapter Summary
xiii
Index IN-1
Preface
culture of teamwork; how Canadian financial services giant
Manulife strives to be an inclusive workplace through nonconscious bias training; how Galvanize CEO Laurie Schultz
has applied leadership practices to transform the Vancouverheadquartered organization into the global leader in cloudbased governance, risk management, and compliance
software; how Canada Post generated feelings of inequity
due to its different pay practices for urban versus rural/suburban mail carriers; and how Atlantic Lottery Corporation
has become an award-winning hive of creativity by applying
design thinking practices.
Welcome to the exciting world of organizational behaviour! Knowledge is replacing infrastructure. Social media
and remote teams are transforming the way employees
work together. Employees are guided more by values and
self-leadership than by command-and-control management.
Companies are looking for employees with emotional intelligence and effective teamwork skills, not just technical smarts.
Canadian Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh Edition, is
written in the context of these emerging workplace realities.
This edition explains how work–life integration is becoming
an essential employee practice in the workplace; how social
networks generate power and shape communication patterns;
how emotions influence employee motivation, attitudes, and
decisions; how self-concept is a significant determinant of
individual behaviour, team cohesion, and leadership; and
how adopting a global mindset has become an important
employee characteristic in this increasingly interconnected
world. This book also adopts the view that organizational
behaviour is not just for managers; it is relevant and valuable
to anyone who works in and around organizations.
Canadian and Global Focus
Canadian Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh Edition,
is written by Canadians for Canadians. It includes several
Canadian cases, is anchored by Canadian and global scholarship, and is filled with Canadian examples of organizational behaviour in practice. For example, you will read
about how Verafin in St. John’s, Newfoundland, thrives on a
xiv
©SFIO CRACHO/Shutterstock
Employees at Halifax-based Bluedrop Training and Simulation engage in divergent thinking to design and develop stateof-the-art training and simulation products. Tushar Sehgal descr bes one such incident. The Bluedrop technical project
manager and a co-worker were shopping at Home Depot when they saw a black pipe coupling product. They soon
realized that it could become the hand tracking mechanism they needed for Bluedrop’s prototype of the world’s first
virtual-reality helicopter crew trainer. “It was one of those ‘aha’ moments,” says Sehgal. “We put that around our wrists as
a joke and then realized, wa t, this is going to work.” The employees bought two of them, drilled holes, attached markers,
and found out that the item worked nicely. “There [are] many stories like that inspiration coming from random parts and
random shopping trips,” Sehgal observes.*
*Based on nformation in: T Ayres “Hel cop er Simulator Accompanies CH 148 Cyclones ” Halifax Chronic e Herald February 24 2018 B1
Along with its Canadian focus, this book has been written from the view that globalization has a profound influence
on the workplace. We continue this global focus by discussing several international and cross-cultural issues throughout
the book. Furthermore, every chapter includes truly global
examples, not just how companies from North America
operate in other parts of the world.
For example, we describe how smiling at customers tends
to create more emotional labour in people from Russia than
from Canada; how the witty “You People!” commercial
produced by South African restaurant chain Nando’s pokes
fun at our tendency to stereotype others; how ING Bank
and other European firms have introduced Obeya rooms to
encourage more team-oriented decision making; how communication has been a key ingredient for successful organizational change at EE, the United Kingdom’s largest mobile
network; and how Emsisoft and Automattic succeed as
distributed organizations with staff who work completely
remotely around the world.
Preface xv
Global Connections 3.3
YOU PEOPLE! EXPOSING STEREOTYPING IN SOUTH AFRICA*
South African restaurant chain Nando’s recently
launched a witty advertisement that pokes fun at our
tendency to stereotype people who are different from
us. The “You People” video has several brief scenes
where viewers easily misperceive the actors’ role in
the scene (upscale customer versus employee) or the
meaning of their actions (running for exercise versus
running away from police). It also shows that those
who stereotype “you people” fail to recognize similar
behaviour in themselves.
“‘You people’ is a phrase often used by South
Africans when describing people who are different to
them,” says Doug Place, Nando’s chief marketing officer
in Johannesburg. “It’s a phrase that goes hand in hand
with an unconscious bias.”
Place explains that Nando’s created the ad to
encourage discussion about stereotyping and to promote
©Aaron Amat/Shutterstock
greater harmony in society. “If you’re watching our ad
and say ‘I’ve done that’ (hopefully with a guilty smile),
then we’ve been successful at starting a crucial conversation—hopefully one that starts with ‘us people’.”
* J Richardson “Nando’s Takes on Stereotypes w th Their H lar ous New Ad #YouPeople [V deo] ” The South African November 26 2018 J Tennant
“#NewCampaign All You People This Ad s for You ” Advertis ng News November 26 2018
Linking Theory with Reality
econd Pass
Every chapter of Canadian Organizational Behaviour,
Eleventh Edition, is filled with examples to make OB knowledge more meaningful and to illuminate the relevance and
excitement of this field. These stories about real people and
organizations
academic theories into useful knowlanizationa translate
Settings
edge and real-life applications. For example, we describe
how
Canada’s Jeremy Gutsche has built his expert power
S
and
personal
brand
ter yo s o ld be
abl as
t one of the world’s leading trend spotters; how Uber executives are replacing the transportation
p
network firm’s dysfunctional culture with one that is more
productive
ational
change and ethical; how medical devices firm Stryker
leadersh p w th
transformat motivation
nal eadersh p, and
cribe the
improves
employee
andd performance
through
ted p opl riented, nd servan
de sh .
strengths-based coaching; how a new organizational strucp h g
h ry
der p s b
oy
ture helped Sobeys (Canada’s second-largest food retailer)
f
recover
and ultimately
prosperd following
a disastrous acquil
h f
d
rib
sition; and how IKEA focuses on personal values when hiring
gender
s milarities and
di fere the
ces nworld.
leade This
ip
job applicants
around
edition also relates the
COVID-19 pandemic to several OB concepts and practices.
examples about work life. Lengthier stories appear in Global
Connections, which “connect” OB concepts with real organizational incidents and situations around the world. Case studies in each chapter as well as video case studies associated
with this book connect OB concepts to emerging workplace
realities. These anecdotes and detailed descriptions discuss
large and small organizations in a wide range of industries
across Canada and globally.
Contemporary Theory Foundation
Vivid real-world examples and practices are valuable only if
they are connected to good theory. Canadian Organizational
Behaviour has developed a reputation for its solid foundation of contemporary and classic research and writing. This
evidence-based foundation is apparent from the amount and
quality of literature cited in each chapter, including dozens
of articles, books, and other sources. This results in what we
believe is the most up-to-date organizational behaviour textbook available. These references also reveal that we reach out
to marketing, information management, human resource management, and other business disciplines for new ideas. This
book is rigorously focused on information that readers value,
namely OB knowledge and practices. Consequently, with
a
Se nd
few classic exceptions, we avoid writing a “who’s-who” book;
most scholars are named in the references, not in the main text.
EXHIBIT 1.7 MARS Model of Individual Behaviour and Results
Individual
characteristics
Personality
Values
Self-concept
Perceptions
Emotions and
attitudes
Stress
Galvanize CEO Laurie Schultz is recognized as one of
Canada’s best business leaders due to her vision, role
modelling, transparent communication, and personalized
support for employees at the Vancouver-based GRC
software company.
Photo by Good Side Photo and provided by the Greater Vancouver Board
of Trade
These case studies and anecdotes appear in many forms.
Every chapter of Canadian Organizational Behaviour,
Eleventh Edition, is filled with captioned photos and in-text
MARS Model
Motivation
Ability
Situational
factors
Behaviour
and results
Ө Task performance
Ө Organizational
citizenship
Ө Counterproductive
work behaviours
Ө Joining/staying with
Role
perceptions
the organization
Ө Maintaining
attendance
One of the driving forces for writing Canadian
Organizational Behaviour was to provide a more responsive conduit for emerging OB knowledge to reach students,
practitioners, and fellow scholars. To its credit, Canadian
Organizational Behaviour is apparently the first major
OB book to discuss the full self-concept model (not just
core self-evaluation), workplace emotions, social identity theory, global mindset, four-drive theory, predictors
of moral intensity, specific elements of social networks,
appreciative inquiry, affective events theory (but without
the jargon), somatic marker hypothesis (also without the
jargon), remote teams, Schwartz’s values model, employee
xvi
Preface
engagement, learning orientation, social and information processing characteristics of job design, and several
other groundbreaking topics. This edition continues this
leadership by introducing the latest knowledge on design
thinking, the shifting trends in digital communication in
organizations, five strategies for regulating emotions, key
cultural values of Indigenous Canadians, several caveats
when applying the five-factor personality model, the ethic
of care, psychological safety in team decision making and
conflict management, four criteria for selecting the preferred communication channel, and reducing dysfunctional
conflict through intergroup mirroring.
Organizational Behaviour
Knowledge for Everyone
Another distinctive feature of Canadian Organizational
Behaviour, Eleventh Edition is that it is written for everyone
in organizations, not just managers. The philosophy of this
book is that everyone who works in and around organizations needs to understand and make use of organizational
behaviour knowledge. People throughout the organization—
systems analysts, production employees, accounting professionals, and others—are taking on more responsibilities as
292
a T ee
am ro esses
companies
remove
layers of management and give the rest
upp rt psy holog al safety Psycho og l saf ty efe s
with co-workers opi
of us
more
autonomy
and
accountability
for our
sy hol work
c safety outt
d b li f t i i fe t
e
te
l
i n
d
sit
r k a g (see Cha te 8) I ot er o ds m loye s are
i nti s ow d on
to e g ge nterper onal
comes
make
confid n This
th t pres book
ing nusua helps
ideas o st everyone
ctiv ly
a to
the Sh
wing pos sense of organizafical y
g ee g w
m j y,
p m
g
n w
t
se n n ual eas con
s tools
ctively dis to
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tional
the
work behaviour,
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n za othe
al no ms
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be
more
effectively
workplace.
2
Debating Point: CAN PEOPLE AVOID RELATIONSHIP
CONFLICT DURING DISAGREEMENTS?
One of the core ideas in conflict theory is that people can
disagree with each other regarding an issue (task conflict)
without experiencing negative emotions toward each other
(relationship conflict) The most popular book on negotia
tion makes this point by stating that the parties need to
“separate the people from the problem ”* It advises that the
participants need to view themselves as “working side by
side attacking the problem not each other”
Scholars do recognize that separating task from relation
ship conflict isn’t easy but they claim it is possible ** People
with we l developed emotional intel igence can control nega
tive emotional reactions (anger frustration hurt etc ) and can
reframe the conflict as a constructive event rather than as a
personal attack Research also suggests that relationship con
flict is less likely to occur when the parties understand each
other’s views such as in high performing teams Psychological
safety norms have also been identified as a way to avoid rela
tionship conflict while engaging in task conflict
The abi ity to avoid relationship conflict during task con
flict sounds promising in theory yet in practice it may be
a bridge too far Instead some degree of relationship con
flict may be inevitable One of the most basic problems is
that employees immediately and automatically experience
negative emotions when they become aware that co work
ers or supervisors disagree with their ideas or behaviour ***
Negative emotions aren’t just attributed to information
in the opposing message; they are also attributed to the
source of that message This occurs because we naturally
try to make sense of disruptive conditions and this includes
forming adverse interpretations about why a co worker has
disagreed with our proposal or behaviour Consequently
relationship conflict seems to form as soon as we become
aware that our ideas or actions are being challenged
Relationship conflict may also be unavoidable because it
disrupts the current or expected pattern of behaviour which
produces negative emotions toward those who caused that
disruption People have a natural desire to maintain the sta
tus quo **** Even those who propose change want to see their
ideas flow predictably through to the future without opposi
tion This effect occurs because people want to believe they
control their situation whereas disagreement reduces per
ceived control and predictability in the work environment
Relationship conflict may also be inevitable in any disagree
ment because all communication has both a relational and
substantive function ***** This means that when people interact
with each other they not only transmit and receive informa
tion (substantive) but also reinforce or strain the fabric of their
relationship Communication is important for one’s related
ness needs so a message that challenges another viewpoint
(substantive) also seems to challenge the relationship
* R Fisher and W Ury Gett ng to Yes Negotiating an Agreement wi hout G v ng In (Random House 2012) Although few believe task and relat onship conflict can be
completely separated (F sher and Ury ncluded) several scholars have developed act v ties that emphas ze the possib lity of his separat on For example see L Boyd
M Gupta and F Kuzm ts “The Evaporating Cloud A Tool for Resolving Workplace Con lict ” Internat onal Journal of Con lict Management 22 (2011) 394 412 C A
Blair and D E Desplaces “Con lict Management hrough the Negotiations Canvas Gett ng Participants to Understand ” Confl ct Resolution Quarterly 36 (2018) 39 51
**For a summary of these v ews see T A O’Neill et al “The Structure and Funct on of Team Confl ct State Profiles ” Journal of Management 44 (2018) 811 36
*** M D Seery et al “Alone against the Group A Unanimously D sagreeing Group Leads to Conformity but Cardiovascular Threat Depends on One’s Goals ”
Psychophysiology 53 (2016) 1263 71 A Hageme ster and J Volmer “Do Social Conflicts at Work Affect Employees’ Job Satisfact on? The Moderating Role of
Emotion Regulation ” International Journal of Conflict Management 29 (2017) 213 35
**** W Samuelson and R Zeckhauser “Status Quo Bias in Decision Making ” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty 1 (1988) 7 59 D Proudfoot and A C Kay “System
Justif cation n Organizat onal Contexts How a Mot vated Preference for he Status Quo Can A fect Organ zational Attitudes and Behaviors ” Research n
Organizational Behavior 34 (2014) 173 87 D De Clercq and I Belausteguigoit a “Overcom ng the Dark S de of Task Conflict Buffering Roles of Transformational
Leadersh p Tenac ty and Passion for Work ” European Management Journal 35 (2017) 78 90
***** A C Mooney P J Holahan and A C Amason “Don’t Take t Personally Exploring Cogn tive Con lict as a Mediator of A fective Con lict ” Journal of Management
Stud es 44 (2007) 733 58 S J Beck and J Keyton “Perceiving Strateg c Meeting Interaction ” Sma l Group Research 40 (2009) 223 46 L R We ngart et al “The
Directness and Oppositional Intens ty of Conflict Express on ” Academy of Management Review 40 (2015) 235 62
Active Learning and Critical
Thinking Support
We teach organizational behaviour, so we understand how
important it is to use a textbook that offers deep support
for active learning and critical thinking. Business school
accreditation associations also emphasize the importance
of the learning experience, which further reinforces our
attention on classroom activities. Canadian Organizational
Behaviour, Eleventh Edition, includes more than two dozen
case studies in various forms and levels of complexity. It
offers four dozen self-assessments, most of which have been
empirically tested and validated.
Student critical thinking is further aided with a Debating
Point in each chapter. This feature demonstrates that seemingly obvious OB knowledge may be contested by contrary
evidence and logical counterarguments. Debating Point
boxes encourage students to continuously seek out divergent
viewpoints and evidence rather than unquestioningly accept
the validity of existing theories and practices.
Canadian Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh Edition, is
also a rich resource
for in-class activities, such as the Kumquat
Key Term
Conflict Role Play, Personal Values Exercise, Employee
an
u u
Involvement Cases,
organiz World
i nal social
artifa ts Deciphering the (Social) Network,
s ch g l c
i n
it
(
) eory
Café on the Emerging
stic job p eview
bicultural udit Workplace, Ethics Dilemmar Vignettes,
remo ie
and the Cross-Cultural
Communication Game.
i
i t t
Critical Thinking Questions
1. Superb Consultants has submitted a proposal to analyze
your organization’s culture. The proposal states that
Superb has developed a revolutionary new survey to
tap the company’s true culture. The survey takes just 10
minutes to complete, and the consultants say results can
be based on a small sample of employees. Discuss the
merits and limitations of this proposal.
2. All members of the executive team at Claybuild, a
national manufacturer of bricks and related building
materials, strongly believe that quality control and efficiency are the two cornerstones of the company’s future
success. Every Claybuild executive meeting begins by
discussing ways to improve product quality and operate
more efficiently in the manufacturing process, distribution system, and administrative processes. The company’s website proudly describes its dedication to quality
and efficiency. The CEO has given speeches to several
retail client events on Claybuild’s quality–efficiency culture. However, an industry expert suggests that quality
and efficiency represent Claybuild’s espoused culture,
but not so much its enacted culture. What does the industry expert mean by this, and what evidence might suggest
that their opinion is correct?
3. The CEO of a manufacturing firm wants everyone to
support the organization’s dominant culture of lean efficiency and hard work. The CEO has introduced a new
reward system to reinforce this culture and personally
interviews all professional and managerial applicants to
ensure that they bring similar values to the organization.
Some employees who criticized these values had their
careers sidelined until they left. Two midlevel managers
were fired for supporting contrary values, such as work–
life integration. Based on your knowledge of organizational subcultures, what are the potential problems the
CEO is creating?
Preface
Changes to the Eleventh Edition
Canadian Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh Edition,
has received more updating and revision than any previous
edition of this book. In fact, the word “renewal” comes to
mind when viewing the changes in some chapters. These
improvements have occurred thanks to reviews from organizational behaviour instructors across several countries, along
with our regular practice of scanning the diverse literature
for new evidence-based information. The most substantial
changes have occurred in Chapter 1 (Introduction to the
Field of Organizational Behaviour), Chapter 2 (Individual
Differences: Personality and Values), Chapter 5 (Foundations
of Employee Motivation), Chapter 8 (Team Dynamics),
Chapter 9 (Communicating in Teams and Organizations),
and Chapter 11 (Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace).
Together with dozens of conceptual improvements, this
edition replaces most examples with new real-world stories
that satisfy our criteria of being relevant, recent, and interesting. Fourteen of the fifteen chapter-opening case studies are
new. Most of the captioned photos and Global Connections
features are new or updated. We have also added new content on Indigenous Canadians regarding cultural values, nonconscious bias, communication styles, and other OB topics.
This edition has dozens of new in-text examples as well as
several new case studies and class activities to support the
active learning process. Most OB by the Numbers features
have also been updated or replaced.
Here are the main conceptual improvements in Canadian
Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh Edition:
Ө Chapter 1: Introduction to the Field of Organizational
Behaviour—Almost every section of this chapter has
been revised, updated, or replaced. This edition has a
new section on the emerging workplace landscape, which
includes new content on work–life integration, the
inclusive workplace, and employment relationships.
It also significantly updates the topic of remote work
(the narrower topic of telecommuting was covered in previous editions). The section on the importance of organizational behaviour now more fully explains why OB
is important for students. It also succinctly introduces
key organizational effectiveness concepts to explain why
OB is vital for organizations. The section on OB anchors
now includes a fifth anchor on OB’s practical orientation. This chapter also has a stronger micro-OB focus
by including the MARS Model of individual behaviour
and the five types of individual behaviour (previously in
Chapter 2).
xvii
Ө Chapter 2: Individual Differences: Personality and
Values—Along with its slightly revised title, this edition
brings a number of noticeable updates and changes to the
chapter. It now has a full discussion about the dark triad
(Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy) and its
relevance to organizational behaviour. This edition also
has a new separate discussion regarding four caveats when
applying the five-factor model of personality in organizations. Also included in this edition is a fourth ethical principle: the ethic of care. We have also moved the topics of
MARS Model and types of individual behaviour from this
chapter to Chapter 1.
Ө Chapter 3: Perceiving Ourselves and Others in
Organizations—This book pioneered the full model of
self-concept and its relevance to organizational behaviour. This edition further refines that discussion, particularly in explaining how people develop self-concept
clarity and how self-concept characteristics affect behaviour and performance. This chapter also updates writing
on perceptual organization and interpretation, intentional
discrimination, and improving self-awareness of perceptual biases.
Ө Chapter 4: Workplace Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress—
This was the first OB book to fully incorporate the
concept of emotions in organizational behaviour across
various topics (perceptions, attitudes, motivation, decisions, etc.). This edition further develops this topic by
revising the section on managing emotions and adding
recent knowledge about the five strategies that people
use to regulate their emotions. This edition also updates
the topic of organizational commitment, incorporates
normative commitment, and has minor rewriting on managing workplace stress.
Ө Chapter 5: Foundations of Employee Motivation—This
edition significantly revises and updates the topics of procedural and interactional justice, including a new exhibit
listing the specific rules of these two forms of organizational justice. The characteristics of effective feedback are
discussed more fully, including the addition of an exhibit
that defines and illustrates each characteristic. The section
on drive-based motivation theories has been reorganized
to place more emphasis on the recent four-drive theory.
This edition also revises the chapter’s opening topic on
the meaning of motivation and engagement.
Ө Chapter 6: Applied Performance Practices—Along with
replacing most examples and updating references, this
chapter has a number of subtle changes, notably on motivational job design practices, financial reward practices, and
xviii
Preface
psychological empowerment. It also has a new Debating
Point feature.
Ө Chapter 7: Decision Making and Creativity—This chapter has been substantially revised and updated in several
ways. It presents the emerging topic of design thinking as
a creative decision-making practice, including its associated principles and activities. Another area that has been
substantially rewritten is the topic of problems with information processing when choosing alternatives. This edition
has added a visual example illustrating how valences and
probabilities are applied in rational choice decision making.
Other noticeable revisions involve problems with maximization and evaluating decision outcomes more effectively.
Ө Chapter 8: Team Dynamics—We have revised, clarified,
updated, and generally improved several sections of this
chapter. The entire team effectiveness model has been
streamlined and most of the team processes section has
been reorganized and rewritten. That section now has a
more complete and updated discussion of team mental
models as well as updated content on team norms and
team roles. This edition also has more complete discussion than in previous editions on psychological safety as
a factor in effective team decision making. Other topics
that benefited from minor rewriting and updating include
how teams motivate employees, how to minimize social
loafing, characteristics of remote (virtual) teams, and the
three factors that distinguish types of teams.
Ө Chapter 9: Communicating in Teams and Organizations—
This edition has substantially rewritten the section on
choosing the best communication channel. This topic now
fully discusses four key factors (synchronicity, social presence, social acceptance, and media richness), along with
their associated contingencies to communication channel
selection. We have also substantially updated the topic
of digital communication, including a new exhibit on the
rapidly changing popularity of various digital communication channels, along with associated discussion about why
these changes are occurring. Social media communication
is also more fully defined and discussed.
Ө Chapter 10: Power and Influence in the Workplace—The
topic of nonsubstitutability as a contingency of power
has been rewritten, and the associated topic of personal
brand is discussed more fully. We more fully discuss the
troubling issue of deference to power in organizations.
The definition of organizational politics is explained in
more detail, particularly with reference to recent writing about “positive politics.” Other topics on organizational politics—individual differences and minimizing
politics—have been rewritten.
Ө Chapter 11: Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace—
This edition significantly revises most sections of this
chapter. The topic of task and relationship conflict has
been revised for greater clarity. That section also significantly updates strategies to minimize relationship conflict
during task conflict, including the role of psychological
safety. A new Debating Point feature has also been added
around that topic. The topic of conflict-handling contingencies has been revised, and now includes the factor
of maintaining harmony. You will also find noticeable
updates on structural ways to manage conflict, particularly
on reducing differentiation and on improving communication and mutual understanding. The section on negotiation has also been significantly revised and streamlined.
It now provides better clarity on the distributive versus
integrative approach to negotiations, the importance of
setting goals and understanding needs, and the process of
information gathering. The negotiation setting also now
includes information about settings and audiences as well
as recent knowledge about gender and negotiation.
Ө Chapter 12: Leadership in Organizational Settings—The
most significant change in this chapter is that it reorganizes
and revises the managerial leadership section, including
the removal of a couple of older topics. The discussion
about transformational leadership and charisma has
been rewritten. Other refinements and updates are found
on the strategic vision of transformational leadership,
servant leadership, and leadership substitutes theory
(including a new exhibit).
Ө Chapter 13: Designing Organizational Structures—This edition updates discussion on span of control. The mechanisticorganic structures exhibit has been revised for better
clarity and style. The types of divisional structure exhibit
has also been revised with new company examples.
This edition also includes a new Debating Point feature.
Ө Chapter 14: Organizational Culture—In this edition,
several aspects of the organizational socialization section
have been revised, such as discussion on the inherent
conflicts in pre-employment socialization and the issue
of whether socialization changes employee values or
mostly communicates values-consistent behaviour. This
chapter has minor revisions on the meaning of a strong
organizational culture, organizational culture and business ethics, and merging organizational cultures.
Ө Chapter 15: Organizational Change—This chapter has
relatively minor changes from the previous edition. It
updates and revises some writing on appreciative inquiry
and on the dynamics of unfreezing, changing, and
refreezing change.
Preface xix
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Team Exercise:
TEAM TOWER POWER
Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand
team roles, team development, and other issues in the development and maintenance of effective teams.
Materials The instructor will provide enough LEGO®
pieces or similar materials for each team to complete the
assigned task. All teams should have identical (or very similar) amounts and types of pieces. The instructor will need
a measuring tape and stopwatch. Students may use writing
materials during the design stage (see Instructions). The
instructor will distribute a “Team Objectives Sheet” and
“Tower Specifications Effectiveness Sheet” to all teams.
Instructions The instructor will divide the class into teams.
Depending on class size and space availability, teams may
have between four and seven members, but all should be
approximately equal size.
Each team has 20 minutes to design a tower that uses only
the materials provided, is freestanding, and provides an optimal return on investment. Team members may wish to draw
their tower on paper or a flip chart to facilitate the tower’s
design. Teams are free to practise building their tower during
this stage. Preferably, each team will have a secluded space so
CHAPTER CASES AND ADDITIONAL CASES
Every chapter includes at least one short case that challenges
students to diagnose issues and apply ideas from that chapter.
Eleven additional cases appear at the end of the book.
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISES
AND SELF-ASSESSMENTS
Experiential exercises and self-assessments represent an
important part of active learning. Canadian Organizational
Behaviour, Eleventh Edition, facilitates this important
learning process by offering one or more team or class
exercises in every chapter. Self-assessments personalize
the meaning of several organizational behaviour concepts,
and this edition features four dozen of them in Connect,
with automated scoring and detailed feedback. Small callout icons in every chapter help students locate text content
most relevant to each of these excellent resources. In addition, the last page of each chapter has a convenient table
that briefly describes the self-assessments in Connect associated with that chapter.
Case Study:
DOGGED BY THE WRONG PROBLEM
by Steven L. McShane, University of Newcastle (Australia)
More than 3 million dogs enter animal shelters each year in
the United States, and almost one-third of these have been
surrendered by their owners. Until recently, animal shelter
employees assumed that the owners didn’t want their pets
anymore, so they focused their resources on ways to get the
surrendered dogs re-adopted with new owners.
Now, animal shelters recognize that they were focused on
the wrong problem to some extent. Most owners of surrendered dogs love their pets but believe they are unable to keep
them due to financial or family difficulties. “Owner surrenders are not a people problem,” explains Lori Weise, founder
of Downtown Dog Rescue in Los Angeles. “By and large,
they are a poverty problem. These families love their dogs as
much as we do, but they are also exceptionally poor.” Even
when owners surrender their dog due to the pet’s behaviour,
animal shelter staff have learned that the problem is often the
owners’ lack of basic training to improve their pet’s behaviour.
These discoveries have been a wake-up call for animal
shelters. Along with finding new homes for surrendered
dogs, shelters now also focus on strategies that enable ownl
Inspired by the work of Downtown Dog Rescue in Los
Angeles, ACC now takes a dramatically different approach to dog
surrenders. Instead of answering a few questions asked by busy
front desk staff, owners who intend to surrender their dogs are
now greeted by trained ACC admission counsellors with impeccable people skills. In a private office, these counsellors listen to
the owner’s story about why they want or need to surrender their
dog. These counsellors are trained by licensed social workers to
maintain a nonjudgmental attitude toward the owners and to handle difficult situations. “Once that person (the pet owner) doesn’t
feel like they’re going to be judged in that moment, they might
open up and tell you the real situation,” says Simpson.
Based on the information from these conversations, ACC
counsellors direct some owners to support groups that can provide assistance, such as financial support or temporary lodging
for the dog. In other situations, the owners are invited to attend
brief training programs where they receive instruction on how
S
to improve the pet’s behaviour. The conversations also help
counsellors determine which pets are better off with new owners. As new situations arise, ACC staff have found increasingly
l
l
Additional Cases
CASE 1
CASE 2
CASE 3
CASE 4
CASE 5
CASE 6
CASE 7
CASE 8
CASE 9
CASE 10
CASE 11
ARCTIC MINING CONSULTANTS
BRIDGING THE TWO WORLDS: THE ORGANIZATIONAL DILEMMA
KEEPING SUZANNE CHALMERS
NORTHWEST CANADIAN FOREST PRODUCTS LIMITED (REVISED)
SIMMONS LABORATORIES
TAMARACK INDUSTRIES
THE OUTSTANDING FACULTY AWARD
THE REGENCY GRAND HOTEL
THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY ACCOUNTING TEAM
VERBERG KANSEN N.V.
VÊTEMENTS LTÉE
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Class Exercise:
EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT INCIDENTS
Purpose This exercise is designed to help you understand
the contingencies of employee involvement.
Instructions (Small or Large Class) Four scenarios are
presented in this exercise. Assume you are the manager or
person in charge. For each scenario, identify the preferred
level of employee involvement from one of the five levels
described below. For each scenario, identify and justify what
factors led you to choose this level of employee involvement
rather than the others. Also, be prepared to discuss what
problems might occur with less or more involvement in this
case (where possible).
1. Decide alone. Use your personal knowledge and insight
to complete the entire decision process without conferring with anyone else.
department employs about 300 people who are responsible
for constructing and maintaining water lines throughout the
city. Although you have an engineering background, the
work is complex and involves several professions and trades.
Even the TD group’s first line supervisors (one or two levels
below you in the hierarchy) are not fully knowledgeable of
all aspects of the business.
You believe that most employees support or at least accept
the city’s recent mandate to reduce costs (called the “productivity dividend initiative”). The city leaders have stated that
this initiative will not result in any layoffs this year. However,
the labour union representing most nonmanagement staff in
the water agency (including most of your employees) is concerned that the productivity dividend initiative will reduce
employment numbers over time and increase employee
xx Preface
Self-Assessments for Chapter 3
SELF ASSESSMENT NAME
DESCRIPTION
How much does work define
your self concept?
Work is part of our lives Some people view work as central to their identity as individuals, whereas
others consider work to be secondary to other life interests This self assessment estimates the extent
to which work is central to your self concept
How much general
self efficacy do you have?
Self efficacy refers to a person s belief that they have the ability, motivation, and resources to com
plete a task successfully Although self efficacy is often situation specific, people also develop a more
general self efficacy if they perform tasks in a variety of situations This self assessment estimates
your general self efficacy
What is your locus
of control?
Locus of control is one component of self evaluation, which is part of an individual s self concept
It is a person s general belief about the amount of control they have over life events This self assessment
estimates the extent to which you have an internal or external locus of control
How much perceptual struc
ture do you need?
Some people have a greater need than do others to quickly or completely make sense of things around
them This personal need for perceptual structure relates to selective attention as well as perceptual
organization and interpretation This self assessment estimates your personal need for perceptual
structure
How strong is your
perspective taking
(cognitive empathy)?
Empathy refers to a person s understanding of and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, and situation
of others The understanding part of empathy is called perspective taking or cognitive empathy
It refers to a rational understanding of another person s circumstances This self assessment estimates
how well you cognitively understand another person s situational and individual circumstances
How strong is your
emotional empathy?
Empathy refers to a person s understanding of and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts, and situation
of others The sensitivity part of empathy is called emotional empathy It refers to experiencing
the feelings of the other person This self assessment estimates how well you are able to experience the
emotions or feelings of another person
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
LO1 Define employee motivation and engagement.
LO2 Explain how drives and emotions influence employee motivation.
LO3 Discuss the employee motivation implications of four-drive theory, Maslow’s needs
hierarchy, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and learned needs theory.
LO4 Discuss the expectancy theory model, including its practical implications.
LO5 Outline organizational behaviour modification (OB Mod) and social cognitive theory,
and explain their relevance to employee motivation.
LO6 Describe the characteristics of effective goal setting and feedback.
LO7 Explain how equity theory, procedural justice, and interactional justice influence
employee motivation.
Teaching and Learning Tools
AWARD-WINNING TECHNOLOGY
m 2
5
ch
084
dd
®
McGraw Hill Connect® is an award-winning digital teaching
and learning solution that empowers students to achieve better
outcomes and enables instructors to improve efficiency with
course management. Within Connect, students have access to
SmartBook®, McGraw Hill’s adaptive learning and reading
resource. SmartBook prompts students with questions based
on the material they are studying. By assessing individual
answers, SmartBook learns what each student knows and
identifies which topics they need to practise, giving each student a personalized learning experience and path to success.
Connect’s key features include analytics and reporting,
simple assignment management, smart grading, the opportunity to post your own resources, and the Connect Instructor
Library, a repository for additional resources to improve student engagement in and out of the classroom.
Instructor resources for Canadian Organizational
Behaviour, Eleventh Edition:
Ө Instructor’s Manual
Ө Test Bank
Ө Video Cases
Ө Microsoft® PowerPoint® Presentations
Ө Manager’s Hot Seat Videos
INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES
McShane Connect is a one-stop shop for instructor resources,
including:
Instructor’s Manual: Written by the book’s authors, the
Instructor’s Manual supports instructors’ needs in many
ways. Each chapter includes the learning objectives, glossary
of key terms, a chapter synopsis, complete lecture outline,
and solutions to the end-of-chapter discussion questions. It
also includes teaching notes for the chapter case(s), team
and class exercises, and self-assessments. The Instructor’s
Manual also includes teaching notes for the end-of-text cases.
Computerized Test Bank: Updated by Michael Halinski of
Ryerson University, this flexible and easy-to-use electronic
testing program allows instructors to create tests from bookspecific items. The Test Bank contains a broad selection of
multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions and instructors may add their own questions as well. Multiple versions
of the test can be created and printed.
Video Cases: The accompanying video cases are available to
instructors through video streaming in Connect. Teaching notes
can be found in the Instructor’s Resource section in Connect.
PowerPoint® Presentations: Written by the text authors,
these robust presentations offer high-quality visuals to bring
key OB concepts to life.
Manager’s Hot Seat Videos: This resource allows students to
watch real managers apply their years of experience to management and organizational behaviour issues. Students assume the
role of the manager as they watch the video and then answer
multiple-choice questions following the segment. The Manager’s
Hot Seat Videos are ideal for group or classroom discussions.
Writing Assignments: The Writing Assignment tool delivers a learning experience to help students improve their written communication skills and conceptual understanding. As
an instructor you can assign, monitor, grade, and provide
feedback on writing more efficiently and effectively.
Test Builder
Available within Connect, Test Builder is a cloud-based tool
that enables instructors to format tests that can be printed or
administered within a Learning Management System. Test
Builder offers a modern, streamlined interface for easy content configuration that matches course needs, without requiring a download.
Test Builder allows you to:
Ө access all test bank content from a particular title
Ө easily pinpoint the most relevant content through robust
filtering options
Ө manipulate the order of questions or scramble questions
and/or answers
Preface xxi
Ө pin questions to a specific location within a test
Ө choose the layout and spacing
Ө add instructions and configure default settings
Test Builder provides a secure interface for better protection
of content and allows for just-in-time updates to flow directly
into assessments.
Remote Proctoring & Browser-Locking Capabilities
New remote proctoring and browser-locking capabilities,
hosted by Proctorio within Connect, provide control of the
assessment environment by enabling security options and
verifying the identity of the student.
Seamlessly integrated within Connect, these services
allow instructors to control students’ assessment experience
by restricting browser activity, recording students’ activity,
and verifying students are doing their own work.
Instant and detailed reporting gives instructors an at-aglance view of potential academic integrity concerns, thereby
avoiding personal bias and supporting evidence-based claims.
Acknowledgements
Organizational behaviour is a fascinating subject. It is also
incredibly relevant and valuable, which becomes apparent while developing a world-class book such as Canadian
Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh Edition. Throughout
this project, we witnessed the power of teamwork, the excitement of creative thinking, and the motivational force of the
vision that we collectively held as our aspiration. The tight
coordination and innovative synergy was evident throughout
this venture. Our teamwork is even more amazing when you
consider that most of us in this project are scattered throughout Canada, and the lead co-author (Steve) spends most of
his time on the other side of the planet!
Portfolio Manager Amy Clarke-Spencley led the development of Canadian Organizational Behaviour with unwavering enthusiasm and foresight. Content Developer Krisha
Escobar orchestrated the daily process with superhuman skill
and determination, which is particularly important given the
magnitude of this revision, the multiple authors, the pressing
deadlines, and the 24-hour time zones in which we operated.
Photo researcher and permissions editor Monika Schurmann
wowed us with her ability and persistence in tracking down the
images and rights that we sought out. Michelle Losier created
a refreshing book design that elegantly incorporated the writing, exhibits, examples, photos, and many other resources that
we pack into this volume. We also extend our thanks to Sarah
Fulton for superb copy editing, Supervising Editor, Jessica
Barnoski, for leading the production process like a precision
timepiece, and Emily Park, for her excellent marketing and
sales development work. Thanks to you all. This has been a
truly wonderful journey!
Several dozen instructors around the world reviewed
parts or all of Canadian Organizational Behaviour, Eleventh
Edition, or related editions in the United States, Asia Pacific
region, and elsewhere since the previous Canadian edition.
Their compliments were energizing, and their suggestions
significantly improved the final product.
Steve is forever grateful to his students over the years at
Simon Fraser University, University of Western Australia,
the IMBA program at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and
elsewhere for sharing their learning and work experiences
in his organizational behaviour classes. These interactions
have helped the development of this textbook in Canada,
the United States, and the Asia-Pacific region. Steve is
honoured to work with Kevin Tasa and Sandra Steen on
Canadian Organizational Behaviour, as well as with his
other co-authors, including Mary Ann von Glinow (Florida
International University) in the two editions in the United
States, and Mara Olekalns (University of Melbourne),
Alex Newman (Deakin University), and Angela Martin
(University of Tasmania) on the Asia-Pacific edition. He
also thanks the co-authors of other translations and adaptations. Most of all, Steve is forever indebted to his wife,
Donna McClement, and to their wonderful daughters,
Bryton and Madison. Their love and support give special
meaning to Steve’s life.
PART ONE
Introduction
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behaviour
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
LO1 Define organizational behaviour and organizations.
LO2 Explain why organizational behaviour knowledge is important for you and
for organizations.
LO3 Describe the anchors on which organizational behaviour knowledge is based.
LO4 Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–life
integration, remote work, and emerging employment relationships.
LO5 Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behaviour
and performance.
LO6 Summarize the five types of individual behaviour in organizations.
BlueCat Networks has developed a global reputation for its innovative, security-focused network
technology. It is recognized annually as one of the
best places to work in Canada and recently won
the Canadian HR award for having the best organizational culture.
With global headquarters nestled in a forested
North York setting, BlueCat provides subsidized
meals, town hall meetings with the executive team,
Toronto-based BlueCat Networks has become a highly
work-life integration initiatives (such as its awardsuccessful technology company by supporting teamwork
winning annual Wellness Week), ongoing training and
and collaboration, a strong organizational culture,
development, a relatively flat organizational struceffective decision making and creativity, and many other
ture, and a strong culture. “Treating our employees
organizational behaviour practices.
©BlueCat Networks
well has been core to our business philosophy,” says
CEO Michael Harris. “Providing a nurturing workplace dates back to the very beginning of BlueCat.”
BlueCat’s 400 employees participated in the process of identifying the tech firm’s five core values. “Our
winning culture is our secret sauce,” says Cheryl Kerrigan, BlueCat’s VP, People. “It differentiates us with our
customers, it guides who we hire, who we promote and how we lead.” She adds that these values are not
just words on a wall. “We really hold each other to account by making sure that we are living the five values.”
1
2 Part One
Introduction
Effective decision making is central to BlueCat ’s success. As one employee points out: “What we do
is solve problems in some of the most cutting-edge parts of our technology space.” Risk taking is an
important part of creativity, so BlueCat supports people who try out new ideas, even if they don’t always
work. “I think it’s important to recognize people for taking risks,” says Harris. “And the most obvious way
of doing that is not to punish people who take risks and make mistakes.”
BlueCat employees also speak proudly about the company’s emphasis on teamwork and interdepartmental collaboration. “There are very few silos at BlueCat,” says chief financial officer Stephen
Devito. “Everybody likes to work together, and I think together we’ re much stronger than we are as an
individual.” Harris echoes this view. “[BlueCat] people are working together and going out of their way to
work together,” he observes.1
Welcome to the Field of
Organizational Behaviour!
Teamwork and collaboration. Strong organizational culture.
Effective decision making and creativity. These are just a
few of the organizational behaviour topics and practices that
have made BlueCat Networks a successful organization in a
highly competitive and dynamic environment. In every sector of the economy, organizations need to employ skilled and
motivated people who can be creative, work in teams,
and maintain a healthy lifestyle. They need leaders with foresight and vision, who support innovative work practices, and
who make decisions that consider the interests of multiple
stakeholders. In other words, the best companies succeed
through applying the concepts and practices that we discuss
in this organizational behaviour book.
Our purpose is to help you understand what goes on in
organizations. We examine the factors that make companies
effective, improve employee well-being, and drive successful
collaboration among co-workers. We look at organizations
from numerous and diverse perspectives, from the deepest
foundations of employee thoughts and behaviour (personality, self-concept, attitudes, etc.) to the macro-level interplay
among the organization’s structure, culture, and the external
environment. Along this journey, we emphasize why things
happen and what you can do to predict and guide organizational events.
We begin this chapter by introducing you to the field of
organizational behaviour (OB) and its historical origins. This
is followed by details about why OB is important for your
career and why organizations depend on OB knowledge to
survive and thrive. An integrative model of organizational
behaviour is presented, which illustrates the interconnectedness of OB topics and serves as a road map to guide
you through this book. We then describe the philosophical anchors that guide the development of organizational
behaviour knowledge. This is followed by an overview
of four emerging features of the workplace environment:
diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment relationships.
The latter part of this chapter introduces the MARS model,
which outlines the four direct drivers of individual behaviour
and performance. The final section identifies the five main
types of individual behaviour.
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR?
LO1
Organizational behaviour (OB) is the study of what people
think, feel, and do in and around organizations. It looks at
employee behaviours, decisions, perceptions, and emoorganizational behaviour (OB)
The study of what people
tional responses. It examines
think, feel, and do in and
how individuals and teams in
around organizations.
organizations relate to each
other and to their counterparts in other organizations. OB also encompasses the study
of how organizations interact with their external environments, particularly in the context of employee behaviour and
decisions. OB researchers systematically study these topics
at multiple levels of analysis, namely, at the level of the individual, team (including interpersonal), and organization.2
The definition of organizational behaviour begs the question: What are organizations? Organizations are groups
of people who work interdependently toward some
organizations Groups
of people who work
purpose.3 Notice that orgainterdependently toward
nizations are not buildings
some purpose.
or government-registered
entities. In fact, many organizations exist with neither physical walls nor government
documentation to confer their legal status. Organizations
have existed for as long as people have worked together.
Massive temples dating back to 3500 BCE were constructed
through the organized actions of multitudes of people.
Chapter One
Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behaviour 3
©Kepler Communications
Kepler Communications illustrates the power of organizations. Within its first four years in business, the Toronto-based
start-up has designed and launched two bread-box sized satellites and secured venture capital to fund several more.
These nano-satellites can transfer data much more quickly, cheaply, and efficiently than traditional satellites. “You can
think of it like routers in space,” says Mina Mitry, Kepler’s co-founder and CEO (shown in this photo). Kepler is already
competing successfully against two global juggernauts: Elon Musk’s SpaceX and SoftBank’s OneWeb. “Putting together
the right team has made our company what it is today,” says Mitry. He adds: “Innovation can only exist with a clear vision
and a good underlying motivation—that is, to make a better version of the world.”*
*T. Soper, “Startup Spotlight: Kepler Is Building Communications Infrastructure for the ‘new Space Economy,” GeekWire, May 12, 2016; J. Cowgill, “Bringing
Connectivity to Space with Kepler Communications,” Medium, October 15, 2018; A. Saltzman, “Companies Look to Cash in on Out-of-This-World Profits in
New Space Economy,” CBC News, July 17, 2019; M. Harris, “SpaceX, OneWeb, Or Kepler Communications: Who Really Launched The First Ku Band Satellite?”
IEEE Spectrum, August 29, 2019; “Kepler Communications Inc.,” accessed October 3, 2019, https://www.keplercommunications.com/company/team.
Craftspeople and merchants in ancient Rome formed guilds
with elected managers. More than 1,000 years ago, Chinese
factories were producing 125,000 tons of iron each year.
Closer to home, the Hudson’s Bay Company holds the distinction of being North America’s oldest commercial enterprise. Founded in 1670, the company was granted exclusive
control over one-quarter of North America, including most
of western Canada, for almost 200 years.4
One key feature of organizations is that they are collective entities. They consist of human beings—typically, but
not necessarily, employees—who interact with each other in
an organized way. This organized relationship requires communication, coordination, and collaboration to achieve organizational objectives. As such, all organizational members
have degrees of interdependence; they accomplish goals by
sharing materials, information, or expertise with co-workers.
A second key feature of organizations is that their members
have a collective sense of purpose. This collective purpose
isn’t always well defined or agreed upon. Companies typically
have vision and mission statements, but these documents are
sometimes out of date or don’t describe what employees and
leaders actually try to achieve. Still, imagine an organization
without a collective sense of purpose. It would be an
assemblage of people without direction or unifying force.
So whether they are creating network technology at
BlueCat or designing transportation infrastructure at Hatch
Ltd., people working in organizations do have some sense
of collective purpose. As Steve Jobs, the late co-founder
of Apple Inc. and Pixar Animation Studios, once said:
“A company is one of humanity’s most amazing inventions.
It’s totally abstract. Sure, you have to build something
with bricks and mortar to put the people in, but basically a
company is this abstract construct we’ve invented, and it’s
incredibly powerful.”5
HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Organizational behaviour emerged as a distinct field sometime around the early 1940s.6 During that decade, a few
researchers began describing their research as organizational
(rather than sociological or psychological). And by the late
1940s, Harvard University had changed the name of its MBA
human relations course to “Organizational Behaviour.”
4 Part One
Introduction
Although the field of OB has relatively recent origins,
experts in other fields have been studying organizations for
many centuries. The Greek philosopher Plato (400 BCE)
wrote about the essence of leadership, and the Chinese philosopher Confucius (500 BCE) extolled the virtues of ethics
and leadership. Economist Adam Smith (1700s) discussed the
benefits of job specialization and division of labour. German
sociologist Max Weber (early 1900s) wrote about rational
organizations, the work ethic, and charismatic leadership.
Around the same time, industrial engineer Frederick Winslow
Taylor proposed systematic ways to organize work processes
and motivate employees through goal setting and rewards.7
Before becoming Canada’s longest serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King was a pioneering consultant who wrote about the need for more worker involvement
and organizational reward systems (1910s). Political scientist Mary Parker Follett (1920s) offered new ways of thinking about constructive conflict, team dynamics, power, and
leadership. Harvard professor Elton Mayo and his colleagues
(1930s and 1940s) established the “human relations” school
of management, which pioneered research on employee attitudes, formal team dynamics, informal groups, and supervisor leadership style. Telephone executive and Harvard
associate Chester Barnard (1930s) wrote insightful views
regarding organizational communication, coordination, leadership and authority, organizations as open systems, and
team dynamics.8 This brief historical tour demonstrates that
OB has been around for a long time; however, it wasn’t organized into a unified discipline until around World War II.
Why Organizational Behaviour
Is Important
LO2
In all likelihood, you are reading this book as part of a
required course in organizational behaviour. Apart from
degree or diploma requirements, why should you learn the
EXHIBIT 1.1
WHY OB IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU
Throughout our careers teaching undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs, we noticed that the more
work experience students have, the more they tend to consider organizational behaviour as one of their most valued
courses. Why? Because they have learned over time that
OB is important to them, whether as technical professionals or senior executives.9 This observation is supported by
numerous surveys that ask employers to identify the most
important skills and knowledge they look for in new hires.
Technical skills are important, of course, particularly for
highly specialized jobs and professions. But the skills and
knowledge that employers tend to rank above anything
else are the topics found in this and other organizational
behaviour books.
Exhibit 1.1 lists the most important skills for new
employees identified by employers in four recent major
surveys. Every list identifies problem solving (including
analytic thinking and strategic thinking), which you will
learn about along with creativity and employee involvement in Chapter 7. The ability to work effectively in teams
(also listed as collaboration, interpersonal skills, and people management) is another top-ranked skill that employers
look for in job applicants. The team dynamics theme is fully
discussed in Chapter 8, but it also relates to several others topics, such as understanding and managing emotions
(Chapter 4), influencing others (Chapter 10), and managing
conflict (Chapter 11).
Communication, which is featured in Chapter 9, is a third
skill that employers in all four surveys identify as important for new hires. Leadership appears in three lists (in the
Most Important Skills for New Employees
Business Council of Canada
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ideas and practices discussed in this book? After all, who
ever heard of a career path leading to a “vice-president of
OB” or a “chief OB officer”? Our answer to this question
comes in two parts: why OB is important for you personally
and why OB is important for organizations generally.
National Association of
Colleges and Employers
(United States)
Bloomberg Skills Report
(United States)
Australian Institute of
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Chapter One
Canadian survey, leadership is the second most important
for mid-level hires, but not among the top five for entrylevel hires). You will learn about the various perspectives
and ways of leading others in Chapter 12, but it is also associated with several other topics, such as motivating people (Chapters 5 and 6) and leading organizational change
(Chapter 15). Overall, these and other surveys suggest that
OB offers a core foundation of knowledge and skill development for your success in organizations.10
Better Personal Theories to Predict
and Influence
Along with providing the specific knowledge and skills identified in these surveys, this book serves a broader purpose:
to help you adopt better personal theories to understand,
predict, and influence organizational events. Every one of us
has an inherent drive to comprehend what is going on around
us.11 This need is particularly strong in organizations because
they are highly complex and ambiguous contexts that have
a profound effect on us. Throughout our lives, we develop
personal theories to make sense of what happens around us.
Our personal models are sometimes accurate, sometimes too
simplified to fit specific situations, and occasionally wrong.
Even some ideas that look like “common sense” may be
inaccurate or oversimplifie…