What Is Organizational Behavior?

sizing courses in economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative techniques. Course work in human behavior and people skills received minimal attention relative to the technical aspects of management. Over the past decade, however, business faculty have come to realize the importance that an understanding of human behavior plays in determining a manager's effectiveness, and required courses on people skills have been widely added to the curriculum.

,;----------------------AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO

ecognition of the importance of developing managers' interpersonal skills is closely tied to the need for organizations to get and keep high-performing employees. This becomes particularly crucial in a tight labor market.2 Companies with reputations as a good place to worksuch as HewlettPackard, Lincoln Electric, Southwest Airlines, and Starbucks have a big advantage. A recent national study of the U.S. workforce found that wages and fringe benefits aren't the reason people like their jobs or stay with an employer. Far more important is the quality of the employees' jobs and the supportiveness of their work environments. 3 So having managers with good interpersonal skills is likely to make the workplace more pleasant, which, in turn, makes it easier to hire and keep qualified people. According to the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina, about 40 percent of new management hires fail within their first 18 months. 4 When the center looked into why these new hires failed, it found that "failure to build good relationships with peers and subordinates" was the culprit an overwhelming 82 percent of the time. 5 Consistent with these findings are surveys that have sought to determine what skills

1. Define organizational behavior (OB) 2. Describe what managers do 3. Explain the value of the systematic study of OB 4. List the major challenges and opportunities for managers to use OB concepts 5. Identify the contributions made by major behavioral science disciplines to OB 6. Describe why managers require a knowledge of OB 7. Explain the need for a contingency approach to the study of OB 8. Identify the three levels of analysis in this book's OB model

managers
Individuals who achieve goals through other people.

organization
A consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

college recruiters consider most important for job effectiveness of M.B.A. graduates.6 These surveys consistently identify interpersonal skills as most important. We have come to understand that technical skills are necessary but insufficient for succeeding in management. In today's increasingly competitive and demanding workplace, managers can't succeed on their technical skills alone. They also have to have good people skills. This book has been written to help both managers and potential managers develop those people skills.

WHAT MANAGERS DO
Let's begin by briefly defining the terms manager and the place where managers workthe organization. Then let's look at the manager's job; specifically, what do managers do? Managers get things done through other people. They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals. Managers do their work in an organization. This is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. On the basis of this definition, manufacturing and service firms are organizations and so are schools, hospitals, churches, military units, retail stores, police departments, and local, state, and federal government agencies. The people who oversee the activities of others and who are responsible for attaining goals in these organizations are managers (although they're sometimes called administrators, especially in not-for-profit organizations). MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS In the early part of the twentieth century, a French industrialist by the name of Henri Fayol wrote that all managers perform five management functions: They plan, organize, command, coordinate, and control.7 Today, we have condensed those down to four: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Since organizations exist to achieve goals, someone has to define those goals and the means by which they can be achieved. Management is that someone. The planning function encompasses defining an organization's goals, establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing a comprehensive hierarchy of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Managers are also responsible for designing an organization's structure. We call this function organizing. It includes the deSargent's job, termination of what tasks are to be done, San Diego. Bewho is to do them, how the tasks are to be employees who grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made. Every organization contains people, and it is management's job to direct and coordinate those people. This is the leading function. When managers motivate employees,

planning
Includes defining goals, establishing strategy, and developing plans to coordinate activities.

organizing
Determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

Leading her employees is an important part of Ke Sargent (right) owns a Cookies by Design franchi: cause her business gets hectic at times, Sargent n< are willing to put in what she calls "a horrendous Good interpersonal skills help Sargent motivate h employees to satisfy customer demand. Her strc help her find and keep qualified employees in a tij have people who have been with me for four yea

Part One

Introduction

direct the activities of others, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts among members, they are engaging in leading. The final function managers perform is controlling. To ensure that things are going as they should, management must monitor the organization's performance. Actual performance must be compared with the previously set goals. If there are any significant deviations, it's management's job to get the organization back on track. This monitoring, comparing, and potential correcting is what is meant by the controlling function. So, using the functional approach, the answer to the question, What do managers do? is that they plan, organize, lead, and control. MANAGEMENT ROLES In the late 1960s, a graduate student at MIT, Henry Mintzberg, undertook a careful study of five executives to determine what these managers did on their jobs. On the basis of his observations of these managers, Mintzberg concluded that managers perform 10 different, highly interrelated roles, or sets of behaviors attributable to their jobs.8 As shown in Exhibit 1-1, these 10 roles can be grouped as being primarily concerned with interpersonal relationships, the transfer of information, and decision making. Interpersonal Roles All managers are required to perform duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. When the president of a college hands out diplomas at commencement or a factory supervisor gives a group of high school students a tour of the plant, he or she is acting in a figureheadjcoie. All managers also have a leadership role. This role includes hiring, training, motivating, and disciplining employees. The third role within the interpersonal grouping is the liaison role. Mintzberg ^escribed this activity as contacting others who provide the manager with information. These may be individuals or groups inside or outside the organization. The sales manager who obtains information from the personnel manager in his or her own company has an internal liaison relationship. When that sales manager has contacts with.other sales executives through a marketing trade association, he or she has an outside liaison relationship. Information Roles All managers, to some degree, collect information from organizations and institutions outside their own. Typically, they get information by reading magazines and talking with other people to learn of changes in the public's tastes, what competitors may be planning, and the like. Mintzberg called this the monitor role. Managers also act as a conduit to transmit information to organizational members. This is the disseminator role. Managers additionally perform a spokesperson role when they represent the organization to outsiders. Decisional Roles Finally, Mintzberg identified four roles that revolve around the making of choices. In the entrepreneur role, managers initiate and oversee new projects that will improve their organization's performance. As disturbance handlers, managers take corrective action in response to unforeseen problems. As resource allocators, managers are responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary resources. Last, managers perform a negotiator role, in which they discuss issues and bargain with other units to gain advantages for their own unit.
Chapter I

leading
Includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts.

controlling
Monitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations.

What Is O r g a n i z a t i o n a l

Behavior?

Mintzberg's Managerial Roles mX Role Interpersonal Figurehead equired to j Descriptio n

Leader Liaison Informations Monitor

Disseminator

Spokesperson

Disturbance handler

Resource allocator

Negotiator

Source: Adapted from The Nature of Managerial Work by H. Mintzberg. Copyright 1973 by H. Mintzberg. Reprinted by permission of Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers, Inc.

technical skills
The ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.

MANAGEMENT SKILLS Still another way of considering what managers do is to look at the skills or competencies they need to successfully achieve their goals. Robert Katz has identified three essential management skills: technical, human, and conceptual. 9 Technical Skills Technical skills encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. When you think of the skills held by professionals such as civil engineers or oral surgeons, you typically focus on their technical skills.

Part One

Introduction

If

Through extensive formal education, they have learned the special knowledge and practices of their field. Of course, professionals don't have a monopoly on technical skills, and not all technical skills have to be learned in schools or formal training programs. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.

Many people are technically proficient but interpersonally incompetent

Human Skills The ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in groups, describes human skills. Many people are human skills technically proficient but interpersonally incompetent. They might be poor lis- The ability to work with, teners, unable to understand the needs of others, or have difficulty managing understand, and motivate conflicts. Since managers get things done through other people, they must have other people, both individually and in groups. good human skills to communicate, motivate, and delegate. Conceptual Skills Managers must have the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. These tasks require conceptual skills. Decision mak- conceptual skills ing, for instance, requires managers to spot problems, identify alternatives that The mental ability to analyze can correct them, evaluate those alternatives, and select the best one. Managers and diagnose complex can be technically and interpersonally competent yet still fail because of an in- situations. ability to rationally process and interpret information. EFFECTIVE VS. SUCCESSFUL MANAGERIAL ACTIVITIES Fred Luthans and his associates looked at the issue of what managers do from a somewhat different perspective. 10 They asked the question: Do managers who move up most quickly in an organization do the same activities and with the same emphasis as managers who do the best job? You would tend to think that the managers who were the most effective in their jobs would also be the ones who were promoted fastest. But that's not what appears to happen. Luthans and his associates studied more than 450 managers. What they found was that these managers all engaged in four managerial activities: 1. Traditional management. Decision making, planning, and controlling 2. Communication. Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork 3. Human resource management. Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training 4. Networking. Socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders The "average" manager in the study spent 32 percent of his or her time in traditional management activities, 29 percent communicating, 20 percent in human resource management activities, and 19 percent networking. However, the amount of time and effort that different managers spent on those four activities varied a great deal. Specifically, as shown in Exhibit 1-2, managers who were successful (defined in terms of the speed of promotion within their organization) had a very different emphasis than managers who were effective (defined in terms of the quantity and quality of their performance and the satisfaction and commitment of their employees). Among successful managers, networking made the largest relative contribution to success, and human resource management activities made the least relative contribution. Among effective managers, communication made the largest relative contribution and networking the least. This study adds important insights to our knowledge of what managers do. On average, managers spend approximately 20 to 30 percent of their time on each of the four activities: traditional management, communication, human reChapter I What Is O r g a n i z a t i o n a l B e h a v i o r ?

Allocation of Activities by Time Average managers X Successful' managers Effective managers

48?

19%

_L

Traditional management Human resource management

Communication i Networking

Source: Based on F. Luthans, R. M. Hodgetts and S. A. Rosenkrantz, Real Managers (Cambridge, MA: Baliinger, 15

source management, and networking. However, successful managers don't give the same emphasis to each of those activities as do effective managers. In fact, their emphases are almost the opposite. This finding challenges the historical assumption that promotions are based on performance, vividly illustrating the importance that social and political skills play in getting ahead in organizations. A REVIEW OF THE MANAGER'S JOB One common thread runs through the functions, roles, skills, and activities approaches to management: Each recognizes the paramount importance of managing people. Regardless of whether it's called "the leading function," "interpersonal roles," "human skills," or "human resource management, communication, and networking activities," it's clear that managers need to develop their people skills if they're going to be effective and successful.

ENTER ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

We've made the case for the importance of people skills. But neither this book nor the discipline upon which it's based is called People Skills. The term that is widely used to describe the discipline is Organizational Behavior. Organizational behavior (often abbreviated as OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization's effectiveness. That's a lot of words, so let's break it down. Organizational behavior is a field of study. That statement means that it is a distinct area of expertise with a common body of knowledge. What does it study? It studies three determinants of behavior in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. To sum up our definition, OB is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization. And because OB is specifically concerned with employment-related situa-

organizational behavior (OB)

A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization's effective*ess.

Part One

Introduction

tions, you should not be surprised to find that it emphasizes behavior as related to jobs, work, absenteeism, employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management. There is increasing agreement as to the components or topics that constitute the subject area of OB. Although there is still considerable debate as to the relative importance of each, there appears to be general agreement that OB includes the core topics of motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, learning, attitude development and perception, change processes, conflict, work design, and work stress. 11

REPLACING INTUITION SYSTEMATIC STUDY

WITH

Each of us is a student of behavior. Since our earliest years, we have watched the actions of others and have attempted to interpret what we see. Whether or not you have explicitly thought about it before, you have been "reading" people almost all your life. You watch what others do and try to explain to yourself why they have engaged in their behavior. In addition, you have attempted to predict what they might do under different sets of conditions. Unfortunately, your casual or commonsense approach to reading others can often lead to erroneous predictions. However, you can improve your predictive ability by replacing your intuitive opinions with a more systematic approach. The systematic approach used in this book will uncover important facts and relationships and will provide a base from which more accurate predictions of behavior can be made. Underlying this systematic approach is the belief that behavior is not random. It stems from and is directed toward some end that the individual believes, rightly or wrongly, is in his or her best interest. Behavior generally is predictable if we know how the person perceived the situation and what is important to him or her. While people's behavior may not appear to be rational to an outsider,
Chapter I

What is organizational behavior? It's a field of study that focuses on three levels of behavior in organizations. One level is the individual, such as the Wal-Mart greeter handing out smiley balloons. Another level is the group, such as the three employees of Praxair, a distributor of bottled industrial gases, who meet to discuss their work. The third level is structure, which is depicted here by employees working in cubicles at Bloomberg, a financial media company.

What Is O r g a n i z a t i o n a l

Behavior?

there is reason to believe it usually is intended to be rational and it is seen as rational by them. An observer often sees behavior as nonrational because the observer does not have access to the same information or does not perceive the environment in the same way. 12 Certainly there are differences between individuals. Placed in similar situations, all people don't act exactly alike. However, there are certain fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals that can be identified and then modified to reflect individual differences. These fundamental consistencies are very important. Why? Because they allow predictability. When you get into your car, you make some definite and usually There are certain fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals that can be identified and then modified to reflect individual highly accurate predictions about how other people will behave. In North differences. America, for instance, you would predict that other drivers will stop at stop signs and red lights, drive on the right side of the road, pass on your left, and not cross the solid double line on mountain roads. Notice that your predictions about the behavior of people behind the wheels of their cars are almost always correct. Obviously, the rules of driving make predictions about driving behavior fairly easy. What may be less obvious is that there are rules (written and unwritten) in almost every setting. Therefore, it can be argued that it's possible to predict behavior (undoubtedly, not always with 100 percent accuracy) in supermarkets, classrooms, doctors' offices, elevators, and in most structured situations. For instance, do you turn around and face the doors when you get into an elevator? Almost everyone does. But did you ever read that you're supposed to do this? Probably not! Just as I make predictions about automobile drivers (where there are definite rules of the road), I can make predictions about the behavior of people in elevators (where there are few written rules). In a class of 60 students, if you wanted to ask a question of the instructor, I predict that you would raise your hand. Why don't you clap, stand up, raise your leg, cough, or yell "Hey, systematic study over here!"? The reason is that you have learned that raising your hand is Looking at relationships, appropriate behavior, in school. These examples support a major contention in attempting to attribute causes this text: Behavior is generally predictable, and the systematic study of behavior and effects, and drawing is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions. conclusions based on When we use the phrase systematic study, we mean looking at relationscientific evidence. ships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and basing our conclusions on intuition scientific evidencethat is, on data gathered under controlled conditions and A feeling not necessarily measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner. (See Appendix B in, supported by research. the back of the book for a basic review of research methods used in studies of organizational behavior.) Systematic study replaces intuition, or those "gut feelings" about "why I do what I do" and "what makes others tick." Of course, a systematic approach does not mean that those things you have come to believe in an unsystematic way are necessarily incorrect. Some of the conclusions we make in this text, based on reasonably substantive research findings, will only support what you always knew was true. But you'll also be exposed to research evidence that runs counter to what you may have thought was common sense. One of the objectives of this text is to encourage you to move away from your intuitive views of behavior toward a systematic analysis, in the belief that such analysis will im prove your accuracy in explaining and predicting behavior.
Part One Introduction

as

OR

SCIE N CE
Preconceived Notions vs. Substantive Evidence
Assume you signed up to take an introductory college course in calculus. On the first day of class your instructor asks you to take out a piece of paper and answer the following question: "Why is the sign of the second derivative negative when the first derivative is set equal to zero, if the function is concave from below?" It's unlikely you'd be able to answer that question. Your reply to that instructor would probably be something like, "How am I supposed to know? That's why I'm taking this course!" Now, change the scenario. You're in an introductory course in organizational behavior. On the first day of class your instructor asks you to write the answer to the following question: "Why aren't employees as motivated at work today as they were 30 years ago?" You might feel a bit of reluctance, but I'd guess you'd begin writing. You'd have no problem coming up with an explanation to this motivation question. The previous scenarios were meant to demonstrate one of the challenges of teaching a course in OB. You enter an OB course with a lot of preconceived notions that you accept as facts. You already think you know a lot about human behavior. That's not typically true in calculus, physics, chemistry, or even accounting. So, in contrast to many other disciplines, OB not only introduces you to a comprehensive set of concepts and theories, it has to deal with a lot of commonly accepted "facts" about human behavior and organizations that you've acquired over the years. Some examples might include: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," "happy workers are productive workers," "two heads are better than one," and "it's not what you know, it's who you know." But these "facts" aren't necessarily true. So one of the objectives of a course in organizational behavior is to replace popularly held notions, often accepted without question, with science-based conclusions. As you'll see in this book, the field of OB is built on decades of research. This research provides a body of substantive evidence that is able to replace preconceived notions. Throughout this book, we've included boxes entitled "Myth or Science?"13 They call your attention to some of the more popular notions or myths about organizational behavior. We use the boxes to show how OB research has disproved them or, in some cases, shown them to be true. Hopefully you'll find these boxes interesting. But more importantly, they'll help remind you that the study of human behavior at work is a science and that you need to be vigilant to "seat of the pants" explanations of work-related behaviors.

CONTRIBUTING OB F I E L D

D I S C I P L I N E S TO THE

Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science that is built upon contributions from a number of behavioral disciplines. The predominant areas are psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. As we shall learn, psychology's contributions have been mainly at the individual or micro level of analysis, while the other four disciplines have contributed to our understanding of macro concepts such as group processes and organization. Exhibit 1-3 overviews the major contributions to the study of organizational behavior. PSYCHOLOGY Psychology is the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. Psychologists concern themselves with studying and attempting to understand individual behavior. Those who have contributed and continue to add to the knowledge of OB are learning theorists, perChapter I

psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.

What Is O r g a n i z a t i o n a l B e h a v i o r ?

Toward an OB Discipline

mX

Behavioral science

Contribution

Unit of analysis

Output

03

Psychology

Personality Emotions Perception Training Leadership effectiveness job satisfaction Individual decision makir Performance appraise Employee selection Work stress

Motivation

oroup

Study of organizational behavior

Sociology
Social psychology

Organization

Comnarat Anthropology:: Cross-cultu _^_ Organizat

Political science,

sonality theorists, counseling psychologists, and, most important, industrial and organizational psychologists. Early industrial and organizational psychologists concerned themselves with problems of fatigue, boredom, and other factors relevant to working conditions that could impede efficient work performance. More recently, their contributions have been expanded to include learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee selection techniques, work design, and job stress.
Part One Introduction

"l'm a social scientist, Michael. That means I can 'I explain electricity or anything like that, but if you ever want to know about people I'm your man."
Drawing by Handelsman in The New Yorker, Copyright G Magazine. Reprinted by permission. 1986 by The New Yorker

SOCIOLOGY Whereas psychologists focus their attention on the individual, sociologists study the social system in which individuals fill their roles; that is, sociology studies people in relation to their fellow human beings. Specifically, sociologists have made their greatest contribution to OB through their study of group behavior in organizations, particularly formal and complex organizations. Some of the areas within OB that have received valuable input from sociologists are group dynamics, design of work teams, organizational culture, formal organization theory and structure, organizational technology, communications, power, and conflict. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Social psychology is an area within psychology, blending concepts from both psychology and sociology. It focuses on the influence of people on one another. One of the major areas receiving considerable investigation from social psychologists has been changehow to implement it and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance. Additionally, we find social psychologists making significant contributions in the areas of measuring, understanding, and changing attitudes; communication patterns; the ways in which group activities can satisfy individual needs; and group decision-making processes. ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities. Anthropologists' work on cultures and environments, for instance, has helped us understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior among people in different countries and within different organizations. Much of our current understanding of organizational culture, organizational environChapter I What Is O r g a n i z a t i o n a l

sociology
The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.

social psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology and that focuses on the influence of people on one another.

anthropology
The study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.

Behavior!

political science
The study of the behavior of individuals and groups within a political environment.

ments, and differences among national cultures is the result of the work of anthropologists or those using their methodologies. POLITICAL SCIENCE Although frequently overlooked, the contributions of political scientists are significant to the understanding of behavior in organizations. Political science studies the behavior of individuals and groups within a political environment. Specific topics of concern here include structuring of conflict, allocation of power, and how people manipulate power for individual self-interest. THERE ARE F E W ABSOLUTES IN OB

There are few, if any, simple and universal principles that explain organizational behavior. There are laws in the physical scienceschemistry, astronomy, physicsthat are consistent and apply in a wide range of situations. They allow scientists to generalize about the pull of gravity or to con fidently send astronauts into space to repair satellites. But as one noted behavioral researcher aptly concluded, "God gave all the easy problems to the physicists." Human beto the physicists. ingS are compiex. Because they are not alike, our ability to make simple, accurate, and sweeping generalizations is limited. Two people often act very differently in the same situation, and the same person's behavior changes in different situations. For instance, not everyone is motivated by money, and you behave differently at church on Sunday than you did at the beer party the night before. That doesn't mean, of course, that we can't offer reasonably accurate explacontingency variables
Situational factors; variables that moderate the relationship between two or more other variables and improve the correlation.

"God gave all the easy problems

nations of human behavior or make valid predictions. It does mean, however, that OB concepts must reflect situational, or contingency, conditions. We can say that x leads to y, but only under conditions specified in z (the contingency variables). The science of OB has developed by using general concepts and then altering their application to the particular situation. So, for example, OB scholars would avoid stating that effective leaders should always seek the ideas of their followers before making a decision. Rather, we shall find that in some situations a participative style is clearly superior, but, in other situations, an autocratic decision style is more effective. In other words, the effectiveness of a particular leadership style is contingent upon the situation in which it is used. As you proceed through this text, you'll encounter a wealth of researchbased theories about how people behave in organizations. But don't expect to find a lot of straightforward cause-and-effect relationships. There aren't many! Organizational behavior theories mirror the subject matter with which they deal. People are complex and complicated, and so too must be the theories developed to explain their actions. CHALLENGES AND O P P O R T U N I T I E S FOR OB

Understanding organizational behavior has never been more important for managers. A quick look at a few of the dramatic changes now taking place in organizations supports this claim. For instance, the typical employee is getting older; more and more women and nonwhites are in the workplace; corporate downsizing and the heavy use of temporary workers are severing the bonds of loyalty that historically tied many employees to their employers; and global competition
Part One Introduction

Foundations of Individual Behavior

Microsoft believes its greatest asset is the collective intellectual resources of its employees. And to achieve this status. Gates and his recruiters have consistently sought out and hired the smartest individuals they can find. This deliberate effort of seeking out and holding on to smart people has been described as the single most important aspect of Microsoft's success.

AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO

ntelligence is but one characteristic that people bring with them when they join an organization. In this chapter, we look at how biographical characteristics (such as gender and age) and ability (which includes intelligence) affect employee performance and satisfaction. Then we show how people learn behaviors and what management can do to shape those behaviors.

1. Define the key biographical characteristics 2. Identify two types of ability 3. Shape the behavior of others 4. Distinguish between the four schedules of reinforcement 5. Clarify the role of punishment in learning 6. Practice self-management 7. Exhibit effective discipline skills

BIOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS
As discussed in the previous chapter, this text is essentially concerned with finding and analyzing the variables that have an impact on employee productivity, absence, turnover, citizenship and satisfaction. The list of those variablesas shown in Exhibit 1-7 on page 24is long and contains some complicated concepts. Many of the conceptsmotivation, say, or power and politics or organizational cultureare hard to assess. It might be valuable, then, to begin by looking at factors that are easily definable and readily available; data that can be obtained, for the most part, simply from information available in an employee's personnel file. What factors would these be? Obvious characteristics would be an employee's age, gender,

33

biographical characteristics
Personal characteristics such as age, gender, and marital statusthat are objective and easily obtained from personnel records. Lee Liput (left) is proof that. does not affect productivity, sixties, she was hired by Jani< Grossman, who owns JanCo ment manufacturer, to perfo variety of jobs. Liput operate firm's computer, answers ph keeps the books, pays the bil deals with customers and su[ Grossman is more than satis' with Liput's computer skills, ethic, dependability, and flexi in handling many different ta

marital status, and length of service with an organization. Fortunately, there is a sizable amount of research that has specifically analyzed many of these biographical characteristics. AGE The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of increasing importance during the next decade. Why? There are at least three reasons. First, there is a widespread belief that job performance declines with increasing age. Regardless of whether it's true or not, a lot of people believe it and act on it. Second is the reality that the workforce is aging. For instance, workers 55 and older are the fastest-growing sector of the labor force; between 1994 and 2005, their ranks are expected to jump 36 percent. 2 The third reason is recent U.S. legislation that, for all intents and purposes, outlaws mandatory retirement. Most U.S. workers today no longer have to retire at the age of 70. What is the perception of older workers? Evidence indicates that employers hold mixed feelings.3 They see a number of positive qualities that older workers bring to their jobs: specifically, experience, judgment, a strong work ethic, and commitment to quality. But older workers are also perceived as lacking flexibility and as being resistant to new technology. And in a time when organizations strongly seek individuals who are adaptable and open to change, the negative perceptions associated with age clearly hinder the initial hiring of older workers and increase the likelihood that they will be let go during downsizing. Now let's take a look at the evidence. What effect does age actually have on turnover, absenteeism, productivity, and satisfaction? The older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job. That conclusion is based on studies of the age-turnover relationship. 4 Of course, it should not be too surprising. As workers get older, they have fewer alternative job opportunities. In addition, older workers are less likely to resign than are younger workers because their long tenure tends to provide them with higher wage rates, longer paid vacations, and more attractive pension benefits. It's tempting to assume that age is also inversely related to absenteeism. After all, if older workers are less likely to quit, won't they also demonstrate higher stability by coming to work more regularly? Not necessarily! Most studies do show an inverse relationship, but close examination finds that the age-absence relationship is partially a function of whether the absence is avoidable or unavoidable.5 In general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence than do younger employees. However, they have higher rates of unavoid----1 able absence, probably due to the poorer health associated with aging and the longer recovery period that older workers need when injured. How does age affect productivity? There is a widespread belief that er j productivity declines with age. It is often assumed that an individual's ir- skillsparticularly speed, agility, strength, and coordinationdecay i over time and that prolonged job boredom and lack of intellectual stimulation all contribute to reduced productivity. The evidence, however, contradicts that belief and those assumptions. For instance, during a three-year period, a large hardware chain staffed one of its stores solely with employees over 50 and compared its results with those of five stores with younger employees. The store staffed by the over-50 employees was significantly more productive (measured in terms of sales generated against labor costs) than two of the other stores and held its own with the other three.6 Other reviews of the research find

Part Two

The I n d i v i d u a l

that age and job performance are unrelated. 7 Moreover, this finding seems to be true for almost all types of jobs, professional and nonprofessional. The natural conclusion is that the demands of most jobs, even those with heavy manual labor requirements, are not extreme enough for any declines in physical skills due to age to have an impact on productivity; or, if there is some decay due to age, it is offset by gains due to experience.8 Our final concern is the relationship between age and job satisfaction. On this issue, the evidence is mixed. Most studies indicate a positive association between age and satisfaction, at least up to age 60. 9 Other studies, however, have found a U-shaped relationship.10 Several explanations could clear up these results, the most plausible being that these studies are intermixing professional and nonprofessional employees. When the two types are separated, satisfaction tends to continually increase among professionals as they age, whereas it falls among nonprofessionals during middle age and then rises again in the later years. GENDER Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and unsupported opinions than whether women perform as well on jobs as men do. In this section, we review the research on that issue. The evidence suggests that the best place to begin is with the recognition that there are few, if any, important differences between men and women that will affect their job performance. There are, for instance, no consistent male-female differences in problem-solving ability, analytical skills, competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning ability. 11 Psychological studies have found that women are more willing to conform to authority and that men are more aggressive and more likely than women to have expectations of success, but those differences are minor. Given the significant changes that have taken place in the last 25 years in terms of increasing female participation rates in the workforce and rethinking what constitutes male and female roles, you should operate on the assumption that there is no significant difference in job productivity between men and women. Similarly, there is no evidence indicating that an employee's gender affects job satisfaction.12 One issue that does seem to differ between genders, especially where the employee has preschool children, is preference for work schedules.13 Working mothers are more likely to prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, and telecommuting in order to accommodate their family responsibilities. But what about absence and turnover rates? Are women less stable employees than men? First, on the question of turnover, the evidence is mixed. 14 Some studies have found that women have higher turnover rates; others have found no difference. There doesn't appear to be enough information from which to draw meaningful conclusions. The research on absence, however, is a different story. The evidence consistently indicates that women have higher rates of absenteeism than men do.15 The most logical explanation for this finding is that the research was conducted in North America, and North American culture has historically placed home and family responsibilities on the woman. When a child is ill or someone needs to stay home to wait for the plumber, it has been the woman who has traditionally taken time off from work. However, this research is undoubtedly time-bound.16 The historical role of the woman in caring for children and as secondary breadwinner has definitely changed in the last generation, and a large proportion of men nowadays are as interested in day care and the problems associated with child care in general as are women.
Chapter 2 Foundations of I n d i v i d u a l Behavior

MARITAL STATUS There are not enough studies to draw any conclusions about the effect of marital status on productivity. But research consistently indicates that married employees have fewer absences, undergo less turnover, and are more satisfied with their jobs than are their unmarried co-workers.17 Marriage imposes increased responsibilities that may make a steady job more valuable and important. But the question of causation is not clear. It may very well be that conscientious and satisfied employees are more likely to be married. Another offshoot of this issue is that research has not pursued other statuses besides single or married. Does being divorced or widowed have an impact on an employee's performance and satisfaction? What about couples who live together without being married? These are questions in need of investigation. TENURE The last biographical characteristic we'll look at is tenure. With the exception of the issue of male-female differences, probably no issue is more subject to misconceptions and speculations than the impact of seniority on job performance. Extensive reviews of the seniority-productivity relationship have been conducted.18 If we define seniority as time on a particular job, we can say that the most recent evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between seniority and job productivity. So tenure, expressed as work experience, appears to be a good predictor of employee productivity. The research relating tenure to absence is quite straightforward. Studies consistently demonstrate seniority to be negatively related to absenteeism. 19 In fact, in terms of both frequency of absence and total days lost at 20 "Tenure has consistently been found to work, tenure is the single most important explanatory variable.
be negatively related to turnover and has been suggested as one of the single i best predictors of turnover."

Tenure is also a potent variable in explaining turnover. "Tenure has consistently been found to be negatively related to turnover and has been suggested as one of the single best predictors of turnover." 21 Moreover, consistent with research that suggests that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior,22 evidence indicates that tenure on an employee's previous job is a powerful predictor of that employee's future turnover. 23 The evidence indicates that tenure and satisfaction are positively related. 24 In fact, when age and tenure are treated separately, tenure appears to be a more consistent and stable predictor of job satisfaction than is chronological age.

ABILITY
Contrary to what we are taught in grade school, we aren't all created equal. Most of us are to the left of the median on some normally distributed ability curve. Regardless of how motivated you are, it is unlikely that you can act as well as Meryl Streep, run as fast as Michael Johnson, write horror stories as well as Stephen King, or sing as well as Whitney Houston. Of course, just because we aren't all equal in abilities does not imply that some individuals are inherently inferior to others. What we are acknowledging is that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in terms of ability that make him or her relatively superior or inferior to others in performing certain tasks or activities. 25 From management's standpoint, the issue is not whether people differ in terms of their abilities. They do! The issue is knowing how people differ in abilities and using that knowledge to increase the likelihood that an employee will perform his or her job well.
Part Two The I n d i v i d u a l

What does ability mean? As we will use the term, ability refers to an individual's capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current assessment of what one can do. An individual's overall abilities are essentially made up of two sets of factors: intellectual and physical abilities. INTELLECTUAL ABILITIES Intellectual abilities are those needed to perform mental activities. Intelligence quotient (IQ) tests, for example, are designed to ascertain one's general intellectual abilities. So, too, are popular college admission tests such as the SAT and ACT and graduate admission tests in business (GMAT), law (LSAT), and medicine (MCAT). The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and memory. 26 Exhibit 2-1 describes those dimensions. Jobs differ in the demands they place on incumbents to use their intellectual abilities. Generally speaking, the more information-processing demands that exist in a job, the more general intelligence and verbal abilities will be necessary to perform the job successfully.27 Of course, a high IQ is not a prerequisite for all jobs. In fact, for many jobsin which employee behavior is highly routine and there are little or no opportunities to exercise discretiona high IQ may be unrelated to performance. On the other hand, a careful review of the evidence demonstrates that tests that assess verbal, numerical, spatial, and perceptual abilities are valid predictors of job proficiency at all levels of jobs. 28 Therefore, tests that measure specific dimensions of intelligence have been found to be strong predictors of future job performance. So Microsoft's practice of hiring on the

ability ^n individual's capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. intellectual ability
That required to do mental

activities.

Dimensions of Intellectual Ability Dimension

Number aotitudp

Description
Ahilitv to do SDeedv and ace

urate

Accountant: Computing the sales tax on

m X X

Verbal comprehension

Ability to understand what i:

1B1T 1

Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual simil differences quickly and accur Inductive reasoning Ability to identify a logical se

anties and

Fire investigator Identifying clues to

21

Deductive reasoning

Ability to use logic and asses

s the

Supervisor: Choosing between two

Spatial visualization

Ability to imagine how an ob

Memory

Ability to retain and recall p:

st of customers

Salesperson: Remembering the names

Chapter

Foundations

of I n d i v i d u a l

Behavior

physical ability
That required to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.

basis of general intelligence, described at the beginning of this chapter, may be a valid competitive strategy. The major dilemma faced by employers who use mental ability tests for selection, promotion, training, and similar personnel decisions is that they may have a negative impact on racial and ethnic groups. 29 The evidence indicates that some minority groups score, on the average, as much as one standard deviation lower than whites on verbal, numerical, and spatial ability tests. PHYSICAL ABILITIES To the same degree that intellectual abilities play a larger role in complex jobs with demanding information-processing requirements, specific physical abilities gain importance for successfully doing less skilled and more standardized jobs. For example, jobs in which success demands stamina, manual dexterity, leg strength, or similar talents require management to identify an employee's physical capabilities. Research on the requirements needed in hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic abilities involved in the performance of physical tasks. 30 These are described in Exhibit 2-2. Individuals differ in the extent to which they have each of these abilities. Not surprisingly, there is also little relationship between them: A high score on one is no assurance of a high score on others. High employee performance is likely to be achieved when management has ascertained the extent to which a job requires each of the nine abilities and then ensures that employees in that job have those abilities. THE ABILITY-JOB FIT Our concern is with explaining and predicting the behavior of people at work. In this section, we have demonstrated that jobs make differing demands on people and that people differ in the abilities they possess. Employee performance, therefore, is enhanced when there is a high ability-job fit.

Nine Basic Physical Abilities

:'

m X X
CD -i

1 Factors Dynamic strength 2. Trunk strength exibility Factors Ability to exert muse ular force repeatedly or continuously over tir ular strength using the trunk Ability to exert muse against external objects laximum of energy in one or a series

Other Factors

nk and back muscles as far as possible

effort over time

Source: Reprinted with permission of HRMagazine published by the Society for Human Resource Management, Alexandria, VA. Part Two The I n d i v i d u a l

The specific intellectual or physical abilities required for adequate job performance depend on the ability requirements of the job. So, for example, airline pilots need strong spatial-visualization abilities; beach lifeguards need both strong spatial-visualization abilities and body coordination; senior executives need verbal abilities; highrise construction workers need balance; and journalists with weak reasoning abilities would likely have difficulty meeting minimum job-performance standards. Directing attention at only the employee's abilities or only the ability requirements of the job ignores the fact that employee performance depends on the interaction of the two. What predictions can we make when A high the fit is poor? As alluded to previously, if employees lack the required abilities, they uct desi ne are likely to fail. If you are hired as a word S ' we as processor and you cannot meet the job's basic keyboard typing requirements, your , h hi performance is going to be poor irrespec- I ___________________________________________________________________ tive of your positive attitude or your high level of motivation. When the ability-job fit is out of sync because the employee has abilities that far exceed the requirements of the job, our predictions would be very different. Job performance is likely to be adequate, but there will be organizational inefficiencies and possible declines in employee satisfaction. Given that pay tends to reflect the highest skill level that employees possess, if an employee's abilities far exceed those necessary to do the job, management will be paying more than it needs to. Abilities significantly above those required can also reduce the employee's job satisfaction when the employee's desire to use his or her abilities is particularly strong and is frustrated by the limitations of the job. LEARNING All complex behavior is learned. If we want to explain and predict behavior, we need to understand how people learn. In this section, we define learning, present three popular learning theories, and describe how managers can facilitate employee learning. A DEFINITION OF LEARNING What is learning? A psychologist's definition is considerably broader than the layperson's view that "it's what we did when we went to school." In actuality, each of us is continuously going "to school." Learning occurs all of the time. A generally accepted definition of learning is, therefore, any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. 31 Ironically, we can say that changes in behavior indicate that learning has taken place and that learning is a change in behavior. Obviously, the foregoing definition suggests that we shall never see someone "learning." We can see changes taking place but not the learning itself. The concept is theoretical and, hence, not directly observable:
Chapter 2

:ali-

'cle gear and terrain.

learning
Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

F o u n d a t i o n s of I n d i v i d u a l B e h a v i o r

 rrieips

jcy- get through

ling, dirk. Seclit busi-| eaching iing out lerscore he final io-foot feet reinployIng the

Foundations of Group Behavior

DEFINING GROUPS AND CLASSIFYING
form a command group, as do the director of postal audits and his five inspectors. Task groups, also organizationally determined, represent those working together to complete a job task. However, a A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. Groups can be either formal or informal. By formal groups, we mean those denned by the organization's stmcture, with designated work assignments establishing tasks. In formal groups, the behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals. The six members making up an airline flight crew are an example of a formal group. In contrast, informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. These groups are natural formations in the work environment that appear in response to the need for social contact. Three employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch together are an example of an informal group. It's possible to subclassify groups as command, task, interest, or friendship groups.2 Command and task groups are dictated by the formal organization, whereas interest and friendship groups are informal alliances. A command group is determined by the organization chart. It is composed of the individuals who report directly to a given manager. An elementary school principal and her 12 teachers

AFTER READIN G THIS CHAPTE R, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO

1.Differentiate between formal and informal groups 2.Compare two models of group development 3.Explain how group interaction can be analyzed 4.Identify the key factors in explaining group behavior 5.Explain how role requirements change in different situations 6.Describe how norms exert influence on an individual's behavior 7.Define social loafing and its effect on group performance

8.Identify the benefits and disadvantages of cohesive groups 9.List the strengths and weaknesses of group decision making 10. Contrast the effectiveness of interacting, brainstorming, nominal, and electronic meeting groups

217

group
Two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.

formal group
A designated work group defined by the organization's structure.

informal group
A group that is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; appears in response to the need for social contact.

command group
A manager and his or her immediate subordinates.

task group
Those working together to complete a job task.

interest group
Those working together to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned.

friendship group
Those brought together because they share one or more common characteristics.

task group's boundaries are not limited to its immediate hierarchical superior. It can cross command relationships. For instance, if a college student is accused of a campus crime, it may require communication and coordination among the dean of academic affairs, the dean of students, the registrar, the director of security, and the student's advisor. Such a formation would constitute a task group. It should be noted that all command groups are also task groups, but because task groups can cut across the organization, the reverse need not be true. People who may or may not be aligned into common command or task groups may affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned. This is an interest group. Employees who band together to have their vacation schedules altered, to support a peer who has been fired, or to seek improved working conditions represent the formation of a united body to further their common interest. Groups often develop because the individual members have one or more common characteristics. We call these formations friendship groups. Social all which frequently extend outside the work situation, can be based on similar age or ethnic heritage, support for Notre Dame football, or the holding of similar political views, to name just a few such characteristics. Informal groups provide a very important service by satisfying their members' social needs. Because of interactions that result from the close proximity of workstations or task interactions, we find workers playing golf together, commuting to work together, lunching together, and spending their breaks around the water cooler together. We must recognize that these types of interactions among individuals, even though informal, deeply affect their behavior and performance. There is no single reason why individuals join groups. Because most people belong to a number of groups, it's obvious that different groups provide different benefits to their members. Exhibit 8-1 summarizes the most popular reasons people have for joining groups.

Why Do People Join Groups?

m x

Security. By joining a group, individuals can reduce the insecurity of "standing alone." People feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and are more resistant to threats when they are part of a group. Status. Inclusion in a group that is viewed as important by others provides recognition and status for its members. Self-esteem. Groups can provide people with feelings of self-worth. That is, in addition to conveying status to those outside the group, membership can also give increased feelings of worth to the group members themselves. Affiliation. Groups can fulfill social needs. People enjoy the regular interaction that comes with group membership. For many people, these on-the-job interactions are their primary source for fulfilling their needs for affiliation. Power. What cannot be achieved individually often becomes possible through group action. There is power in numbers. Goal Achievement. There are times when it takes more than one person to accomplish a particular taskthere is a need to pool talents, knowledge, or power in order to complete a job. In such instances, management will rely on the use of

Hf

a formal group.

Part T h r e e

The G r o u p

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT

Groups generally pass through a standardized sequence in their evolution. We call this sequence the five-stage model of group development. Recent studies, however, indicate that temporary groups with task-specific deadlines follow a very different pattern. In this section, we describe the five-stage general model and an alternative model for temporary groups with deadlines. THE FIVE-STAGE MODEL As shown in Exhibit 8-2, the five-stage group-development model characterizes groups as proceeding through five distinct stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.3 The first stage, forming, is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group's purpose, structure, and leadership. Members are "testing the waters" to determine what types of behavior are acceptable. This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group. The storming stage is one of intragroup conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but there is resistance to the constraints that the group imposes on individuality. Furthermore, there is conflict over who will control the group. When this stage is complete, there will be a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership within the group. The third stage is one in which close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness. There is now a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. This norming stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines correct member behavior. The fourth stage is performing. The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing the task at hand. For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in their development. However, for temporary committees, teams, task forces, and similar groups that have a limited task to perform, there is an adjourning stage. In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment. High task performance is no longer the group's top priority. Instead, attention is directed toward wrapping up activities. Responses of group members vary in this stage. Some are upbeat, basking in the group's accomplishments. Others may be depressed over the loss of camaraderie and friendships gained during the work group's life. Many interpreters of the five-stage model have assumed that a group becomes more effective as it progresses through the first four stages. While this
Stage's of Group Development Prestage 1
*, . - 'Z\.s---

five-stage groupdevelopment model

Groups go through five distinct stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning.

forming
The first stage in group development, characterized by much uncertainty.

storming
The second stage in group development, characterized by intragroup conflict.

norming
The third stage in group development, characterized by close relationships and cohesiveness.

performing
The fourth stage in group development, when the group is fully functional.

adjourning
The final stage in group development for temporary groups, characterized by concern with wrapping up activities rather than task performance.

~ - i '" A' Performing Stage V Adjourning . m

Stage 1 Forming

Stage II Storming

Stage III Norming

Chapter

F o u n d a t i o n s of G r o u p B e h a v i o r

assumption may be generally true, what makes a group effective is more complex than this model acknowledges. Under some conditions, high levels of conflict are conducive to high group performance. So we might expect to find situations in which groups in Stage II outperform those in Stages III or IV. Similarly, groups do not always proceed clearly from one stage to the next. Sometimes, in fact, several stages go on simultaneously, as when groups are storming and performing at the same time. Groups even occasionally regress to previous stages. Therefore, even the strongest proponents of this model do not assume that all groups follow its five-stage process precisely or that Stage IV is always the most preferable. Another problem with the five-stage model, in terms of understanding workrelated behavior, is that it ignores organizational context. 4 For instance, a study of a cockpit crew in an airliner found that, within 10 minutes, three strangers assigned to fly together for the first time had become a high-performing group. What allowed for this speedy group development was the strong organizational context surrounding the tasks of the cockpit crew. This context provided the rules, task definitions, information, and resources needed for the group to perform. They didn't need to develop plans, assign roles, determine and allocate resources, resolve conflicts, and set norms the way the five-stage model predicts. AN ALTERNATIVE MODEL: FOR TEMPORARY GROUPS WITH DEADLINES