INSTRUCTOR’S RESOURCE MANUAL
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: UNDERSTANDING AND
MANAGING LIFE AT WORK
12TH EDITION
CHAPTER NO. 01: 1. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND
MANAGEMENT
SAMPLE ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Consider absence from work as an example of organizational behaviour. What are
some of the factors that might predict who is likely to be absent from work? How
might you explain absence from work? What are some techniques that organizations
use to manage absence? Now do the same for turnover as an example of
organizational behaviour.
Both reactions to the job, such as job satisfaction, and personal factors, such as age,
gender, or family commitments, might predict absence from work and turnover. For
example, less satisfied workers and younger workers are absent more frequently than
those who are more satisfied or older. Explaining such relationships is more complicated.
Some dissatisfied workers may be absent to look for another job, while others may stay
home to recuperate from job-related stress. Similarly, younger workers may be absent
because they occupy less rewarding, lower status roles, or because they encounter more
non-work attractions than older workers. To manage absence, organizations use a variety
of strategies including (1) not paying for absent days; (2) giving prizes to those with good
attendance records; or (3) using sanctioning programs with visits from company nurses.
Such strategies should be effective to the extent that they correspond to the reasons for
the absence. Some of the reasons for turnover are discussed in Chapter 4 such as job
satisfaction and organizational commitment. You might inform students that the
relationship between job satisfaction and turnover is far from perfect and ask them to
explain why and what this means in terms of techniques to reduce turnover. You might
also ask students to explain why satisfied people sometimes quit their jobs or dissatisfied
people do not quit. These issues are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4. Besides
increasing job satisfaction and organizational commitment, organizations can also use
realistic job previews (see Chapter 8) to reduce turnover.
2. To demonstrate that you grasp the idea of contingencies in organizational behaviour,
consider how closely managers should supervise the work of their employees. What
are some factors on which closeness of supervision might be contingent?
,Closeness of supervision should be contingent on factors such as employee experience,
trustworthiness, need for independence, and the importance of the project in question.
Close supervision is indicated for employees with little experience, those who have not
proven their trustworthiness, and those who are dependent. Looser supervision is
indicated for those who are experienced, trustworthy, and independent. As project
importance increases, some increase in supervision might be provided to preclude costly
errors, but this itself is contingent on the other factors mentioned.
3. Use the contingency approach to describe a task or an organizational department
where a more classical management style might be effective. Then do the same for a
task or department where the human relations style would be effective.
The contingency approach theorizes that different conditions and situations require the
application of different management techniques. Advocates of this approach say that
there are no universal truths, concepts, or principles that can be applied under all
conditions. A more classical style of management may be more appropriate for a
professional football coach, where discipline, execution, and technical precision are of
paramount importance. A human relations style may be more appropriate for the coach of
a figure skater, where expression and artistry may be more important.
4. Describe how management practices and organizational behaviour can help
organizations deal with the contemporary management concerns discussed in the
chapter. In other words, what are some of the things that organizations can do to
(a) manage local and global diversity, (b) improve employee health and well-being,
(c) facilitate the management of talent and employee engagement, (d) implement fair
work arrangements and equitable employment opportunities, and (e) promote
corporate social responsibility.
Organizational behaviour offers many possible solutions to address each of the
contemporary management concerns. For example, an awareness of cultural differences
and stereotypes can improve the management of local and global diversity. Diversity
training programs can be especially effective. Understanding how the effectiveness of
leadership styles and motivational practices might vary across cultures is also important.
Organizations can create a more positive work environment and improve employee
health and well-being by creating a psychologically healthy workplace that includes
employee involvement, health and safety, employee growth and development, work-life
balance, employee recognition, and communication. Employee health and well-being can
also be improved by creating a more spiritual and caring workplace that provides
employees with interesting work that gives them meaning and a feeling of purpose,
providing them with opportunities for growth and development, and being responsive to
employees’ needs, interests, concerns, and well-being. Organizations can also develop
programs based on positive organizational behaviour that develop employees’ PsyCap
through the use of PsyCap interventions (PCI) that focus on enhancing each of the
components of PsyCap. Some of the practices from organizational behaviour that can
improve talent management and employee engagement can be found in Exhibit 1.1,
which lists some of the management practices of the best companies to work for in
Canada, such as flexible work schedules, incentive compensation, extensive training and
development programs, and employee recognition and reward programs to mention just a
,few. Organizations should also ensure that all workers have equitable employment
opportunities, a fair living wage, and are not exposed to dangerous and unsafe working
conditions, discrimination, job insecurity, and a lack of rights and protections. Employees
should be protected from the dangers of precarious work, and this means improving
working conditions and minimizing the harmful consequences of precarious work.
Organizations can use OB practices to communicate to employees the importance of CSR
and to recognize and reward employees for socially responsible behaviours such as
volunteer work in the community and initiatives that make the organization more
environmentally friendly. Management practices and organizational behaviour are key to
creating an organization that ranks high on CSR.
5. What are the meaning of and differences between human capital, social capital, and
psychological capital, and what do they have to do with organizational behaviour?
Describe how human capital, social capital, and each of the components of
psychological capital can help you in your studies and in your career.
Human capital refers to the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) embodied in an
organization’s employees and includes employees’ education, training, and experience.
Social capital refers to the social resources that individuals obtain from participation in a
social structure. Psychological capital refers to an individual’s positive psychological
state of development that is characterized by self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and
resilience. Self-efficacy refers to one’s confidence to take on and put in the necessary
effort to succeed at challenging tasks; optimism involves explaining positive events in
terms of personal and permanent causes and negative events in terms of external and
situation-specific causes; hope refers to persevering toward one’s goals, and when
necessary making changes and using multiple pathways to achieve one’s goals; and
resilience refers to one’s ability to bounce back or rebound from adversity and setbacks to
attain success. Human and social capital are important because they influence an
individual’s job performance. PsyCap is important because it is related to various aspects
of organizational behaviour including more positive employee attitudes, behaviours, and
job performance as well as employee well-being and lower anxiety, stress, and turnover
intentions. Remind students that each of the components of PsyCap are states or positive
work-related psychological resources that can be changed, modified, and developed and
they are not fixed, stable, or static personality traits and that both human and social
capital can be developed and improved over time. Students should describe and
understand that if they and employees have higher human and social capital, self-
efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience they will do better in their studies and jobs and
very likely will get higher grades, have better job performance, and more successful
careers. Thus, it is worth the effort to learn about human and social capital and each
component of psychological capital and how they can be developed and improved.
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What are your goals in studying organizational behaviour? What practical
advantages might this study have for you?
, Students might report a diverse set of goals, ranging from completing a required course,
to understanding others, to being more effective managers. They are less likely to cite
being a more effective consumer or employee, and these possibilities can be called to
their attention. Practical advantages can almost always be grouped into the three
categories of improved prediction, explanation, or management of behaviour. When the
practical advantage of managing behaviour is mentioned, the importance of prediction
and understanding should also be underlined.
2. Describe the assumptions about organizational behaviour that are reflected in
television shows, such as situation comedies and police dramas. How accurate are
these portrayals? Do they influence our thinking about what occurs in organizations?
It is fairly safe to say that TV portrayals of work and behaviour in organizations are
biased and/or often inaccurate. For one thing, many shows consciously downplay the
working life of their characters. This means that the impact of work on individuals is also
deemphasized. Secondly, the broad range of jobs in our society is not portrayed on TV.
One finds few blue-collar workers, but many detectives, doctors, lawyers, and police
officers. These jobs are not typical in the demands they make on workers nor in the
rewards they provide to their incumbents. Finally, TV emphasizes the personality of job
holders and discounts the tremendous influence of the occupational role itself. Often, the
job is just a convenient setting for an interesting character. Television may contribute
substantially to inaccurate occupational stereotypes and to the expectations young people
develop about certain kinds of jobs.
3. Management is the art of getting things accomplished in organizations through
others. Given this definition, what are some factors that make management a difficult,
or at least a challenging, occupation?
Challenges come about as a result of changes in the domestic and international world.
Specific challenges include increased global competition, the emergence of new
technologies, the added challenge of diversity, changing employee expectations, and
societal pressures regarding ethical behaviour. Organizational success requires effective
management.
4. What is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and what does it have to do with
organizational behaviour? Explain how an understanding of organizational behaviour
can help organizations become more socially responsible.
Corporate social responsibility refers to an organization taking responsibility for the
impact of its decisions and actions on its stakeholders and an organization’s overall
impact on society at large. CSR has a great deal to do with organizational behaviour
including how an organization treats its employees, the management of diversity, work-
family balance, employment equity, issues of fairness, and employee well-being.
Organizations that rank high on CSR are good employers because of the way they treat
their employees and because their management practices promote the well-being of
employees. CSR has implications for an organization’s reputation and financial
performance and an increasing number of organizations are placing greater emphasis on
CSR initiatives. An understanding of OB can help organizations become more socially
responsible because it involves changing management practices as well as employees’
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: UNDERSTANDING AND
MANAGING LIFE AT WORK
12TH EDITION
CHAPTER NO. 01: 1. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND
MANAGEMENT
SAMPLE ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Consider absence from work as an example of organizational behaviour. What are
some of the factors that might predict who is likely to be absent from work? How
might you explain absence from work? What are some techniques that organizations
use to manage absence? Now do the same for turnover as an example of
organizational behaviour.
Both reactions to the job, such as job satisfaction, and personal factors, such as age,
gender, or family commitments, might predict absence from work and turnover. For
example, less satisfied workers and younger workers are absent more frequently than
those who are more satisfied or older. Explaining such relationships is more complicated.
Some dissatisfied workers may be absent to look for another job, while others may stay
home to recuperate from job-related stress. Similarly, younger workers may be absent
because they occupy less rewarding, lower status roles, or because they encounter more
non-work attractions than older workers. To manage absence, organizations use a variety
of strategies including (1) not paying for absent days; (2) giving prizes to those with good
attendance records; or (3) using sanctioning programs with visits from company nurses.
Such strategies should be effective to the extent that they correspond to the reasons for
the absence. Some of the reasons for turnover are discussed in Chapter 4 such as job
satisfaction and organizational commitment. You might inform students that the
relationship between job satisfaction and turnover is far from perfect and ask them to
explain why and what this means in terms of techniques to reduce turnover. You might
also ask students to explain why satisfied people sometimes quit their jobs or dissatisfied
people do not quit. These issues are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4. Besides
increasing job satisfaction and organizational commitment, organizations can also use
realistic job previews (see Chapter 8) to reduce turnover.
2. To demonstrate that you grasp the idea of contingencies in organizational behaviour,
consider how closely managers should supervise the work of their employees. What
are some factors on which closeness of supervision might be contingent?
,Closeness of supervision should be contingent on factors such as employee experience,
trustworthiness, need for independence, and the importance of the project in question.
Close supervision is indicated for employees with little experience, those who have not
proven their trustworthiness, and those who are dependent. Looser supervision is
indicated for those who are experienced, trustworthy, and independent. As project
importance increases, some increase in supervision might be provided to preclude costly
errors, but this itself is contingent on the other factors mentioned.
3. Use the contingency approach to describe a task or an organizational department
where a more classical management style might be effective. Then do the same for a
task or department where the human relations style would be effective.
The contingency approach theorizes that different conditions and situations require the
application of different management techniques. Advocates of this approach say that
there are no universal truths, concepts, or principles that can be applied under all
conditions. A more classical style of management may be more appropriate for a
professional football coach, where discipline, execution, and technical precision are of
paramount importance. A human relations style may be more appropriate for the coach of
a figure skater, where expression and artistry may be more important.
4. Describe how management practices and organizational behaviour can help
organizations deal with the contemporary management concerns discussed in the
chapter. In other words, what are some of the things that organizations can do to
(a) manage local and global diversity, (b) improve employee health and well-being,
(c) facilitate the management of talent and employee engagement, (d) implement fair
work arrangements and equitable employment opportunities, and (e) promote
corporate social responsibility.
Organizational behaviour offers many possible solutions to address each of the
contemporary management concerns. For example, an awareness of cultural differences
and stereotypes can improve the management of local and global diversity. Diversity
training programs can be especially effective. Understanding how the effectiveness of
leadership styles and motivational practices might vary across cultures is also important.
Organizations can create a more positive work environment and improve employee
health and well-being by creating a psychologically healthy workplace that includes
employee involvement, health and safety, employee growth and development, work-life
balance, employee recognition, and communication. Employee health and well-being can
also be improved by creating a more spiritual and caring workplace that provides
employees with interesting work that gives them meaning and a feeling of purpose,
providing them with opportunities for growth and development, and being responsive to
employees’ needs, interests, concerns, and well-being. Organizations can also develop
programs based on positive organizational behaviour that develop employees’ PsyCap
through the use of PsyCap interventions (PCI) that focus on enhancing each of the
components of PsyCap. Some of the practices from organizational behaviour that can
improve talent management and employee engagement can be found in Exhibit 1.1,
which lists some of the management practices of the best companies to work for in
Canada, such as flexible work schedules, incentive compensation, extensive training and
development programs, and employee recognition and reward programs to mention just a
,few. Organizations should also ensure that all workers have equitable employment
opportunities, a fair living wage, and are not exposed to dangerous and unsafe working
conditions, discrimination, job insecurity, and a lack of rights and protections. Employees
should be protected from the dangers of precarious work, and this means improving
working conditions and minimizing the harmful consequences of precarious work.
Organizations can use OB practices to communicate to employees the importance of CSR
and to recognize and reward employees for socially responsible behaviours such as
volunteer work in the community and initiatives that make the organization more
environmentally friendly. Management practices and organizational behaviour are key to
creating an organization that ranks high on CSR.
5. What are the meaning of and differences between human capital, social capital, and
psychological capital, and what do they have to do with organizational behaviour?
Describe how human capital, social capital, and each of the components of
psychological capital can help you in your studies and in your career.
Human capital refers to the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) embodied in an
organization’s employees and includes employees’ education, training, and experience.
Social capital refers to the social resources that individuals obtain from participation in a
social structure. Psychological capital refers to an individual’s positive psychological
state of development that is characterized by self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and
resilience. Self-efficacy refers to one’s confidence to take on and put in the necessary
effort to succeed at challenging tasks; optimism involves explaining positive events in
terms of personal and permanent causes and negative events in terms of external and
situation-specific causes; hope refers to persevering toward one’s goals, and when
necessary making changes and using multiple pathways to achieve one’s goals; and
resilience refers to one’s ability to bounce back or rebound from adversity and setbacks to
attain success. Human and social capital are important because they influence an
individual’s job performance. PsyCap is important because it is related to various aspects
of organizational behaviour including more positive employee attitudes, behaviours, and
job performance as well as employee well-being and lower anxiety, stress, and turnover
intentions. Remind students that each of the components of PsyCap are states or positive
work-related psychological resources that can be changed, modified, and developed and
they are not fixed, stable, or static personality traits and that both human and social
capital can be developed and improved over time. Students should describe and
understand that if they and employees have higher human and social capital, self-
efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience they will do better in their studies and jobs and
very likely will get higher grades, have better job performance, and more successful
careers. Thus, it is worth the effort to learn about human and social capital and each
component of psychological capital and how they can be developed and improved.
ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
1. What are your goals in studying organizational behaviour? What practical
advantages might this study have for you?
, Students might report a diverse set of goals, ranging from completing a required course,
to understanding others, to being more effective managers. They are less likely to cite
being a more effective consumer or employee, and these possibilities can be called to
their attention. Practical advantages can almost always be grouped into the three
categories of improved prediction, explanation, or management of behaviour. When the
practical advantage of managing behaviour is mentioned, the importance of prediction
and understanding should also be underlined.
2. Describe the assumptions about organizational behaviour that are reflected in
television shows, such as situation comedies and police dramas. How accurate are
these portrayals? Do they influence our thinking about what occurs in organizations?
It is fairly safe to say that TV portrayals of work and behaviour in organizations are
biased and/or often inaccurate. For one thing, many shows consciously downplay the
working life of their characters. This means that the impact of work on individuals is also
deemphasized. Secondly, the broad range of jobs in our society is not portrayed on TV.
One finds few blue-collar workers, but many detectives, doctors, lawyers, and police
officers. These jobs are not typical in the demands they make on workers nor in the
rewards they provide to their incumbents. Finally, TV emphasizes the personality of job
holders and discounts the tremendous influence of the occupational role itself. Often, the
job is just a convenient setting for an interesting character. Television may contribute
substantially to inaccurate occupational stereotypes and to the expectations young people
develop about certain kinds of jobs.
3. Management is the art of getting things accomplished in organizations through
others. Given this definition, what are some factors that make management a difficult,
or at least a challenging, occupation?
Challenges come about as a result of changes in the domestic and international world.
Specific challenges include increased global competition, the emergence of new
technologies, the added challenge of diversity, changing employee expectations, and
societal pressures regarding ethical behaviour. Organizational success requires effective
management.
4. What is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and what does it have to do with
organizational behaviour? Explain how an understanding of organizational behaviour
can help organizations become more socially responsible.
Corporate social responsibility refers to an organization taking responsibility for the
impact of its decisions and actions on its stakeholders and an organization’s overall
impact on society at large. CSR has a great deal to do with organizational behaviour
including how an organization treats its employees, the management of diversity, work-
family balance, employment equity, issues of fairness, and employee well-being.
Organizations that rank high on CSR are good employers because of the way they treat
their employees and because their management practices promote the well-being of
employees. CSR has implications for an organization’s reputation and financial
performance and an increasing number of organizations are placing greater emphasis on
CSR initiatives. An understanding of OB can help organizations become more socially
responsible because it involves changing management practices as well as employees’
