Threaded Discussion How Can You Effectively Communicate with an E

Threaded Discussion: How Can You Effectively Communicate
with an Employee When He/She is Nasty, Has a Bad Attitude,
and Always Negative?
Cedric Wright
No unread replies.No replies.
Your initial response should be posted by Wednesday,
November 10th at 11:59 PM. However, you have until Monday,
November 15th at 11:59 PM to complete your other
requirements for this assignment: respond to at least two of
your classmates and/or Professor Wright. Please make sure you
read the rubric to understand how you will be graded. Lastly,
please make sure your post sentences that are grammatical
correct and don't merely say yes or no. If you have any
questions or concerns, PLEASE do not hesitate to contact me.
Reading Assignment-7
Chapter 11: Communication
Chapter 12: Leadership
Initial response should be at least 150 words for the discussion
post and no less than 100 words for the classmate’s response.
INITIAL RESPONSE IS DUE WEDNESDAY BEFORE
MIDNIGHT AND CLASSMATES POST IS DUE MONDAY.
FIRST CLASSMATE POST: Lillie Leach
YesterdayNov 10 at 9:43am
Manage Discussion Entry
There are five good ways to deal with this type of
person. (Links to an external site.)
1. First empathize, try understanding what they are going
through. Try to find out what's causing them to act that way.
2. Talk to them but don't try to help, give them a chance to blow
off some steam. Listen and try to understand his or her
frustrations, but never get involved it them.

3. Find out what makes them happy, talk about the things that
makes them smile. Maybe it's a child or a spouse, a hobby or
sports that gives them joy and remind them of that.
4. Listen to what they are not saying, pay attention to how they
really feel, things they say between the lines. You can hear it
the dark humor they may use to deal with their hurt.
5. Have fun, sometimes a good laugh is all that is needed to
change a bad attitude. Just allowing a little fun may change a
negative into a positive behavior.
cite works
http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/5-ways-to-deal-with-the-
really-negative-person-in-your-life.html
SECOND CLASSMATE POST: Raymond bellamy
YesterdayNov 10 at 9:31pm
Raymond L. Bellamy Jr.
There are many ways to deal with a rude customer that has a
nasty attitude with one of your workers as a manager. The three
effective ways that come to my mind when dealing with a rude
customer is being caring, actively listening, and staying calm no
matter the situation. In my opinion, the easiest way to calm an
angry customer is being empathetic; show them that you care.
Know the reason why they are mad makes this skill easier.
Listening and doing it actively can play a big role when it
comes to diffusing an angry customer. If you are listening to the
words of the angry customer, you can easily figure out how to
fix the problem. In my opinion, staying calm no matter what, is
the most effective skill to use when dealing with an angry
customer. It is very important to remember you cannot get
emotionally tied into the conversation because the comments
that are being made by the angry customer may be towards you
or coworker, but they are speaking out of anger and most of the

time they don’t mean anything they are saying to you at the
moment.
SOCW 6351: Social Policy, Welfare, and Change Week 11
Discussion 1: Policy Analysis and Application
According to the NASW Code of Ethics section 6.04 (NASW,
2021), social workers are ethically bound to work for policies
that support the healthy development of individuals, guarantee
equal access to services, and promote social and economic
justice.
For this Discussion, review this week’s resources, including
Working with Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case
of Rita and “The Johnson Family”. Consider what change you
might make to the policies that affect the client in the case you
chose. Finally, think about how you might evaluate the success
of the policy changes.
By Day 11/09/21
Post an explanation of one change you might make to the
policies that affect the client in the case. Be sure to reference
the case you selected in your post. Finally, explain how you
might evaluate the success of the policy changes.
Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be
sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
Discussion 2: The Social Work Advocate in Politics
Social workers often have commitments to specific policies,
laws, or funding of programs that are vital to the population
they serve or an issue that they strongly support. Such
commitments often lead social workers to become involved in

political issues and the campaigns of specific candidates. Being
a social worker, such campaign experiences, the outcomes of
your efforts, and how effective you felt you were may affect
your view of the political process and the likelihood of
becoming involved in similar campaigns in the future.
For this Discussion, reflect on your experiences if you have
ever participated in a political campaign. What was the outcome
of your participation? If you have not participated in a
campaign, choose a campaign topic you support or oppose and
consider the ways you might like to participate in that
campaign. Likewise, think about your experiences if you have
ever lobbied on a topic. If you have not, choose a topic for
which you might like to lobby in favor or against. Finally,
consider how you think social workers might have a powerful
and positive effect as elected officials.
By Day 11/10/21
Post an explanation of the role of lobbying and campaigning in
social work practice. Then, explain how you think social
workers might have a powerful and positive effect as elected
officials. Finally, explain of the impact, if any, the experiences
and opinions of your colleagues have had on your own
experiences and opinions.
Support your post with specific references to the resources. Be
sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
Follow Rubric
Responsiveness to Directions
27 (27%) - 30 (30%) posting fully addresses all instruction
prompts, including responding to the required number of peer
posts.
Discussion Posting Content

27 (27%) - 30 (30%) Discussion posting demonstrates an
excellent understanding of all of the concepts and key points
presented in the text(s) and Learning Resources. Posting
provides significant detail including multiple relevant examples,
evidence from the readings and other scholarly sources, and
discerning ideas.
Peer Feedback and Interaction
22.5 (22.5%) - 25 (25%) The feedback postings and responses to
questions are excellent and fully contribute to the quality of
interaction by offering constructive critique, suggestions, in-
depth questions, additional resources, and stimulating thoughts
and/or probes.
Writing
13.5 (13.5%) - 15 (15%)
Postings are well organized, use scholarly tone, contain original
writing and proper paraphrasing, follow APA style, contain very
few or no writing and/or spelling errors, and are fully consistent
with graduate level writing style.
Required Readings
Plummer, S.-B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. M. (Eds.). (2014).
Social work case studies: Foundation year. Baltimore: MD:
Laureate International Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-
reader].
· “Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The
Case of Rita” (pp. 81–83)
Working With Survivors of Sexual Abuse and Trauma: The Case
of Rita
Rita is a 22-year-old, heterosexual, Latina female working in
the hospitality industry at a resort. She is the youngest of five

children and lives at home with her parents. Rita has dated in
the past but never developed a serious relationship. She is close
to her immediate and extended family as well as to her female
friends in the Latino community. Although her parents and three
of her siblings were born in the Dominican Republic, Rita was
born in the United States.
A year ago, Rita was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance of a
male coworker. Rita and a female coworker met Juan and Bob
after work at a local bar for a light meal and a few drinks.
Because Rita had to get up early to work her shift the next day,
Bob offered to drive her home. Instead of taking Rita directly
home, however, he drove to a desolate spot nearby and assaulted
her. Afterward, Bob threatened to harm her family if she did not
remain silent and proceeded to drive her home. Although Rita
did not tell her family what happened, she did call our agency
hotline the next day to discuss her options. Because Rita’s
assault occurred within the 5-day window for forensic evidence
collection of this kind, Rita consented to activation of the
county’s sexual assault response team (SART). Although she
agreed to have an advocate and the sexual assault nurse
examiner (SANE) meet her at the hospital, Rita tearfully stated
that she did not want to file a police report at that time because
she did not want to upset her family. The nurse examiner
interviewed Rita, collected evidence, recorded any injuries,
administered antibiotics for possible sexually transmitted
infections, and gave Rita emergency contraception in case of
pregnancy. The advocate stayed with Rita during the procedure,
supporting her and validating her experience, and gave her a
referral for individual crisis counseling at our agency.
My treatment goals for Rita included alleviation of rape trauma
syndrome symptoms that included shame and self-blame,
validation of self-worth and empowerment, and processing how
it would feel to disclose to others when the time felt right. In
addition, Rita would receive important information regarding
state policy and procedure for victims of sexual assault that
would assist her in deciding when and how to report the crime if

she chose to do so.
My treatment involved crisis intervention and stabilization
along with emotional support and validation surrounding her
experience. Managing her trauma and acute stress symptoms
were key to her recovery. Those symptoms included guilt,
shame, emotional shock, powerlessness, anxiety, fear, anger,
and doubting her judgment. We processed Rita’s emotional
dysregulation and sense of outrage over what happened. Over
the weeks that followed, we also explored Rita’s relationship to
her immediate and extended family and how they had high
expectations for her and her future. Rita’s shame over the
assault prevented her from telling her family for fear they
would also be shamed and judge her for accepting a ride from
someone she did not know well. We discussed the policy for
reporting a sexual assault to the police in our state and how Rita
only had a 90-day window to report the crime after her forensic
evidence was obtained. After 90 days, the forensic kit would be
destroyed.
The problem with the current 90-day hold policy in our state for
victims like Rita is that a person in crisis experiences strong
and conflicting emotions and is faced with an acute sense of
disequilibrium and disorientation. This, in turn, affects her or
his ability to retain information and make decisions. The
person, therefore, has barely enough time to make sense of what
happened to her or him, let alone decide what to do about it.
The 90-day hold policy may not afford a traumatized victim of
sexual assault enough time to make a decision to report to law
enforcement.
I utilized a strengths-based model in my treatment with Rita to
help her address the decision to report the crime. A strengths -
based framework is client-led with a focus on future outcomes
and strengths that the client brings to a problem or crisis. It is
an effective helping strategy that builds on a person’s resiliency
and ego strength. An integrative strengths-based intervention
can contribute to the development of a positive outcome for
clients in crisis.

I counseled Rita for 6 months. After 5 months, Rita felt strong
enough to disclose to her family and file a report with the
police. However, because the 90-day window had closed by the
time she was stabilized and emotionally ready to file, her
forensic evidence was unavailable.
Plummer, S. -B., Makris, S., & Brocksen, S. (Eds.). (2014).
Sessions: Case histories. Baltimore: MD: Laureate International
Universities Publishing. [Vital Source e-reader].
· Part 1, "The Johnson Family" (pp. 11–13)
The Johnson Family
Talia is a 19-year-old heterosexual Caucasian female, who is a
junior majoring in psychology and minoring in English. She has
a GPA of 3.89 and has been on the dean’s list several times over
the last 3 years. She has written a couple of short articles for
the university’s newspaper on current events around campus and
is active in her sorority, Kappa Delta. She works part time (10–
15 hours a week) at an accessory store. Talia recently moved off
campus to an apartment with two close friends from her
sorority. She is physically active and runs approximately three
miles a day. She also goes to the university’s gym a couple of
days a week for strength training. Talia does not use drugs,
although she has smoked marijuana a few times in her life. She
drinks a few times a week, often going out with friends one day
during the week and then again on Friday and Saturday nights.
When she is out with friends, Talia usually has about four to six
drinks. She prefers to drink beer over hard liquor or wine, but
will occasionally have a mixed drink.
Talia has no criminal history. She reports a history of anxiety in
her family (on her mother’s side), and on a few occasions has
experienced heart palpitations, which her mother told her was
due to nervousness. This happened only a handful of times in
the past and usually when Talia was “very stressed out,” so
Talia had never felt the need to go to the doctor or talk to

someone about it until now. Talia is currently not dating
anyone. She was in a relationship for years, but it ended a few
months ago. She had since been “hooking up” with a guy in one
of her English classes, but does not feel it will turn into
anything serious and has not seen him in several weeks.
Talia’s parents, Erin (40) and Dave (43), and her siblings, Lila
(16) and Nathan (14), live 2 hours away from the university.
Erin works at a salon as a hairdresser, and Dave is retired
military and works for a home security company. Erin is on a
low-dose antidepressant for anxiety, something she has been
treated for all of her life.
Talia came to see me at the Rape Counseling Center (RCC) on
campus for services after she was sexually assaulted at a
fraternity party 3 weeks prior. She told me she had thought she
could handle her feelings after the assault, but she had since
experienced a number of emotions and behaviors she could no
longer ignore. She was not sleeping, she felt sad most days, she
had stopped going out with friends, and she had been unable to
concentrate on schoolwork. Talia stated that the most
significant issues she had faced since the assault had been
recurrent anxiety attacks.
Talia learned about the RCC when she went to the hospital after
the sexual assault. She went to the hospital to request that a
rape kit be completed and also requested the morning-after pill
and the HIV prevention protocol (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, or
PEP). At that time, a nurse contacted me through the Sexual
Assault Response Team (SART) to provide Talia with support
and resources. I spent several hours with Talia at the hospital
while she went through the examination process. Talia shared
bits and pieces of the evening with me, although she said most
of the night was a blur. She said a good-looking guy named Eric
was flirting with her all night and bringing her drinks. She did
not want to seem ungrateful and enjoyed his company, so she
drank. She also mentioned that the drinks were made with hard
liquor, something that tends to make her drunk faster than beer.
She said that at one point she blacked out and has no idea what

happened. She woke up naked in a room alone the next morning,
and she went straight to the hospital. Once Talia was done at the
hospital, I gave her the contact information for RCC. I
encouraged her to call if she had any questions or needed to talk
with someone.
During our first meeting at the RCC, I provided basic
information about our services. I let her know that everything
was confidential and that I wanted to help create a safe space
for her to talk. I told her that we would move along at a pace
that was comfortable for her and that this was her time and we
could use it as she felt best. We talked briefly about her
experience at the hospital, which she described as cold and
demeaning. She told me several times how thankful she was that
I had been there. She said one of the reasons she call ed the RCC
was because she felt I supported and believed her. I used the
opportunity to validate her feelings and remind her that I did, in
fact, believe her and that the assault was not her fault.
We talked briefly about how Talia had been feeling over the last
3 weeks. She was very concerned about her classes because she
had missed a couple of assignment deadlines and was fearful of
failing. She told me several times this was not like her and she
was normally a very good student. I told her I could contact the
professors and advocate for extensions without disclosing the
specific reason Talia was receiving counseling services and
would need additional time to complete her assignments. Talia
thanked me and agreed that would be best. I introduced the
topic of safety and explained that she might possibly see Eric on
campus, something that might cause her emotional distress. We
talked about strategies she could use to protect herself, and she
agreed to walk with a friend while on campus for the time
being. She also agreed she would avoid the gym where she had
seen Eric before.
The Johnson Family
Erin Johnson: mother, 40
Dave Johnson: father, 43

Talia Johnson: daughter, 19
Lila Johnson: daughter, 16
Nathan Johnson: son, 14
During our second meeting, Talia seemed very anxious. We
talked about how she had been feeling over the last week, and
she indicated she was still not sleeping well at night and that
she was taking long naps during the day. She had missed days at
work, something she had never done before, and was in
jeopardy of losing her job. Talia reported experiencing several
anxiety attacks as well. She described the attack symptoms as
feeling unable to breathe, accompanied by a swelling in her
chest, and an overwhelming feeling that she was going to die.
She said that this was happening several times a day, although
mostly at night. I provided some education about trauma
responses to sexual assault and the signs and symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). We went over a workbook on
trauma reactions to sexual assault and reviewed the signs and
symptoms checklist, identifying several that she was
experiencing. We practiced breathing exercises to use when she
felt anxious, and she reported feeling better. I told her it was
important to identify the triggers to her anxiety so that we could
find out what exactly was causing her to be anxious in a given
moment. I explained that while the assault itself had brought the
attacks on, it would be helpful to see what specific things (such
as memories, certain times of the day, particular smells, etc.)
caused her to have anxiety attacks. I gave Talia an empty
journal and asked her to record the times of the episodes over
the next week as well as what happened right before them. She
agreed.
We met over several sessions and continued to address Talia’s
anxiety symptoms and feelings of sadness. She told me she was
unable to talk about what happened on the night of the rape
because she felt ashamed. She said that it was too difficult for
her to verbalize what happened and that the words coming out
of her mouth would hurt too much. I reassured her that we

would go at her pace and that she could talk about what
happened when she felt comfortable. We practiced breathing
and reviewed her journal log each week.
It had become clear that the evenings seemed to be the peak
time for her anxiety, which I told her made sense as her assault
had occurred at night. I described how sleep is often difficult
for survivors of sexual assault because they fear having
nightmares about what happened. She looked surprised and said
she had not mentioned it, but she kept having dreams about Eric
in which he was talking to her at the party. The dreams ended
with him holding her hand and walking her away. She said she
also thought about this during the day and could actually see it
happening in her mind. We talked about the intrusive thoughts
that often occur after trauma, and I tried to normalize her
experience. I told her that often people try to avoid these
intrusions, and I wondered if she felt she was doing anything to
avoid them. She told me she had started taking a sleep aid at
night. When I asked about her exercise habits, she said that
right after the assault she had stopped running and going to the
gym. We set a goal that she would run one to two times a week
to help her with anxiety and sleeping. I also suggested that now
would be a good time to start writing her feelings down because
journaling is a very useful way to express feelings when it is
difficult to verbalize them. Talia mentioned that she had
decided not to go to the police about the sexual assault because
she did not want to go through the process. I informed her that
if she wanted to, she could address the assault in another way,
by bringing it to the campus judicial system. She said she would
think about this option.
During another session weeks later, Talia came in distraught.
She said she had been feeling better overall since working on
her breathing and doing the journaling, but that a few things had
happened that were making her more and more anxious and that
her attacks were increasing again. Talia said her parents were
pushing her to drop out of school and to come home. She said
they had been calling and texting her often, something she

found annoying but understandable. They were very upset about
what had happened, although they were more upset with her that
she had waited for weeks to tell them about “it.” Her father
threatened to come and beat the guy up, and her mother cried.
She avoided talking with them, but they had become relentless
with the calls. Her mother had shown up with her sister
unannounced the previous weekend and had treated Talia like
she had a cold—making chicken soup and rubbing Talia’s feet.
The pressure from her parents was weighing on her and
upsetting her. Talia was also distressed by a friend who kept
pushing her to talk about what happened. When Talia finally
relented, her friend asked her why she had gone upstairs with
him. Talia said this made her feel terrible, and she started to
cry. This friend also told her that Eric had heard she had gone
to the hospital and was telling people that she had wanted to
have sex. Eric had been telling people she was “all over him”
and that she had taken her own pants off. This made Talia very
angry and upset.
Key to Acronyms
HIV: Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection
PEP: Post-Exposure Prophylaxis
PTSD: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
RCC: Rape Counseling Center
SART: Sexual Assault Response Team
We talked about how there are certain myths in society around
sexual assault and that the victim is often blamed. We also
talked about how the perpetrator often blames his or her victim
to make himself or herself feel better. Talia said she has felt
some sense of blame for what happened and that she should not
have drunk so much. She started to cry. I gently reminded her
that she was not at fault for Eric’s actions, and her drinking was
not an invitation to have sex. I reminded her that he should have
seen how incapacitated she was and that she could not have
consented to sex. Talia continued to cry. She clearly had a

number of emotions she wanted to express but was having
difficulty sharing them, so I offered her some clay and asked
her to use it to mold representations of different areas in her life
and how she felt about them. We spent the rest of the session
talking about the shapes she made and how she felt. Toward the
end of the session she told me she had decided to put in a
complaint with the campus judicial system about the assault.
She worried that Eric would assault another woman and she
would feel responsible if she did not alert the university. I
offered my support and told her I would be there for her through
the process.
Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2019). The policy-based
profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for
social workers (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Education.
· Chapter 13, “Taking Action: Policy Practice for Social
Workers” (pp. 285-306)
· Chapter 13, “Conclusion” (pp. 307-312)
Conclusion
Lessons From Policy Analysis
When in graduate school, one of the authors had a favorite
economics professor who was fond of saying that the key to
understanding economics is the realization that everything is
related to everything else—in at least two ways. This is also a
useful observation for social welfare policy. All parts of policy
are infinitely complex and interrelated in a seemingly endless
variety of ways. This same professor also used to say that if you
took all the economists in the world and laid them end to end,
they would never reach a conclusion. Although a cynic might
also say this about social welfare policy analysts, we do not
want to end this book on such a note. We think several broad,

general conclusions can be drawn from the analyses we have
presented, and we will identify these in the following sections.
Thoughts for Social Work Practice
Social workers are often asked to address groups of influential
citizens, such as Rotary Clubs, on issues of social welfare
policy. Realizing that policies such as financial assistance to the
poor are not popular, how might a social worker -giving an
address to a civic group use the concept of partisan policy
analysis to present financial assistance policy in a manner that
might result in increased support?
The Bottom Line Is the Bottom Line
The primary issue in practically every area of social welfare
policy is cost. Put another way, social welfare policy is always
subservient to economic policy. Every policy reform we have
discussed has as its driving goal the reduction of expenditures,
or else a fear that costs will get out of control. The 1996
welfare reform legislation has as its centerpiece requirements
that recipients become employed, with time limits for this to
happen. The argument is that we are spending too much and that
work requirements will reduce costs. The main argument for
family preservation is that by intervening in a family quickly
and intensively, we can avoid foster care and thus reduce total
long-range cost. Most proposals for reform of Social Security
are based on assumptions that the system will go broke at some
future date unless costs are reined in. The current debate about
reform of the Affordable Care Act is largely about cost. Issues
of humanitarianism, quality of life, promoting a good soci ety,
and mutual responsibility are all secondary to doing it cheaper.
As social workers, we have often been pulled into the cost game
and we have sold policies we wished to pursue based on
promised cost reductions. Lindblom’s notion of partisan policy
analysis is why we do this. (If you will remember from Chapter
3, -Lindblom is the political scientist who argues that people

perform policy analyses directed toward the goals of those they
wish to influence.) Realizing that policymakers are greatly
concerned with cost, social workers try to sell policies based on
cost reduction. Social workers did this in 1962 when we
convinced Congress that providing social services to welfare
recipients would help them solve the problems leading to their
dependency, get them off welfare, and thus save costs. We did
this again in 1993 with arguments advocating for the Family
Preservation and Support Program. Legislators quickly soured
on the 1962 Social Service Amendments when they did not
produce the expected cost savings. Now that family preservation
is firmly in place and foster care placement rates—hence
costs—are continuing to rise, it is highly likely that Congress
will also sour on this, even if it can be demonstrated that by
other criteria the concept is a success.
Compassion and Protection: Dual Motivations for Social
Welfare Policy
Our review of current social welfare policies has confirmed
Ralph Pumphrey’s (1959) historical review of social welfare in
the United States. He argued that all social welfare is driven by
two more or less compatible motives. On the one side is the
desire of people to make the lives of others better. “This aspect
of philanthropy may be designated as compassion: the effort to
alleviate present suffering, deprivation, or other undesirable
conditions to which a segment of the population, but not the
benefactor, is exposed.” On the other side are aspects of
policies that are designed for the benefit of their promoters and
of the community at large. Pumphrey (1959) called this
motivation protection and stated, “It may result either from fear
of change or from fear of what may happen if existing
conditions are not changed.” Pumphrey (1959) concludes by
offering the hypothesis that social welfare policies that have
proved effective have been characterized by a balance between
compassion and protection.

A policy that seeks to keep mental patients on their
medications, but only results in extending their compliance time
by a few weeks will be judged by many people to be a failure.
However, perhaps an average of few weeks of extra compliance
is actually a very significant accomplishment.
val lawless/Shutterstock
Aspects of compassion and protection have been evident in all
the policies we have analyzed. Public welfare policy is
concerned with helping poor people (actually the children of
poor people) but is also concerned with protecting society
against the threat of dependent adults; family preservation
policy seeks to help keep families together but also seeks to
protect society from the excessive costs of an escalating foster
care population; Social Security is designed to assure that the
elderly are afforded a reasonably comfortable retirement, but it
also protects families from having to assume responsibility for
the care and support of aging relatives.
Ideology Drives Out Data in Social Welfare Policymaking
Social welfare policies are influenced much more by social
values than they are by data from empirical research. It causes
policy analysts no end of frustration to see situations such as
the welfare reform debate. Even though masses of data have
been presented to Congress demonstrating that many poor
people can’t work and that there are not jobs for a majority of
those who can, Congress continues to pass reform packages that
feature time limits on assistance (“Testimony of Sheldon
Danziger,” 1996). These time limits are based on the work ethic
and confidence that America is the land of opportunity, which
often results in the belief that work can be found by anyone who
tries hard enough. As empiricists and social scientists, we
express outrage, sometimes amusement, at what we view as
antiscientific, anti--intellectual behavior.
Is this tendency to promote values over data really so difficult

to understand? We don’t think that it is. Even social workers
and allied social scientists find it hard to accept data that
contradict deeply held values. For example, we are finding the
research that casts doubt on the effectiveness of family
preservation programs difficult to deal with because these
programs are embodiments of some of our most cherished
values. When Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray (1996)
published The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in
American Life, social workers immediately rejected the book’s
main theses, in most cases never having bothered to read the
book. We have read the book and found ample grounds on
which to reject Herrnstein and Murray’s assertions empirically.
However, and this is our point, many of our colleagues rejected
it without objectively assessing the arguments because these
were so out of line with social work values.
Although we understand the tendency for ideology to drive out
data in policy-making, we do not excuse it. One of the ongoing
challenges to policymakers will always be to make the process
more rational and data based. This is the only way we will ever
bring about meaningful social change and a more just society.
Policymakers Are Generally More Sophisticated Than They
AppearOur Expectations
Political scientists Theodore Marmor, Jerry Mashaw, and Philip
Harvey (1990) argue that the central feature of social welfare
policy is misinformation. They say,
A quite remarkable proportion of what is written and spoken
about social welfare policy in the United States is, to put it
charitably, mistaken. These mistakes are repeated by popular
media addicted to the current and the quotable. Misconceptions
thus insinuate themselves into the national consciousness; they
can easily become the conventional wisdom.
However, policymakers themselves generally know better. With
the legion of consultants, expert staff members, and social
scientists providing testimony before committees and all of the

data and expertise available from government bureaus and
private think tanks, all at the beck and call of legislators, they
usually have a pretty good grasp on the reality of social welfare
problems. Also, some policymakers, for example, the late
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, were experts in social welfare-related
areas before they were elected to office. Others specialize in
one or two areas of policy after election and quickly become
quite expert.
With popular misconceptions about social welfare so strongly
entrenched, how can legislators make policy in this area and
hope to remain in office? Marmor, Mashaw, and Harvey present
three options. They can try to correct the conventional wisdom,
they can act as if the conventional wisdom is true, “or they can
speak in terms that reflect popular understanding but attempt to
govern on the basis of their quite different conception of the
facts.” The first option is a sure road to political death; the
second is generally too cynical even for career politicians. So
most see “dissembling as the only path available to policy
reform combined with political success” (Marmor, Mashaw, &
Harvey, 1990). Marmor, Mashaw, and Harvey were writing in
1990, perhaps a more reasonable time. We fear that, in 2017,
acting as if the conventional wisdom is true (for example, the
belief that the coal industry can be revived in West Virginia) is
no longer too cynical for many career politicians.
These observations explain why reforms of social welfare policy
have such a high failure rate. If reforms are marketed in terms
of dominant misconceptions, they are destined to fail. As we
saw in the chapter on welfare reform, nearly every politician is
currently on the bandwagon supporting the five-year time limit
on welfare benefits. However, all except for perhaps the most
dense have seen the data that, having now passed five years,
there are large numbers of welfare recipients for whom there
simply is no work, or who, for various reasons, are unable to
work. They further realize that taking the steps necessary to
guarantee work will result in a more, rather than a less,
expensive welfare program. Thus, because social welfare

policies are designed and marketed in a way that virtually
assures eventual failure, reform will always be a key feature,
perhaps even focus, of the system.
Our Expectations for Social Welfare Policy Are Unrealistic
The common denominator of all the policies we have analyzed,
with perhaps the exception of Social Security, is that, for some
of the reasons already mentioned, they have had disappointing
outcomes. In an interesting analytical twist, the prominent
sociologist Amitai Etzioni (1994) argues that the problem may
well be not that the policies are failures, but rather that people
expect too much from them. He argues that human behavior is
extremely difficult to change and that the very act of attempting
to do so is a tremendous challenge. He says, “We all know how
difficult changing human behavior is, but this knowledge has
not changed our basic optimistic predisposition. Once we truly
accept that human behavior is surprisingly resistant to
improvement, however, some rather positive, constructive
lessons follow.” These lessons are summarized below.
Lower Your Expectations—Expect Change to Cost Much More
than Predicted
Because behavior change is so difficult to accomplish, we
should be happy with any positive results at all. Viewed from
this perspective, we should celebrate the fact that family
preservation programs are successful in reaching and helping a
few families, that a welfare-to-work program places 10 or 15
percent of participants in jobs, that boot camps for young
offenders have a 50 percent graduation rate. Regarding this last
example, Etzioni (1994) observes, “We must acknowledge that
hoping to assimilate people raised for twenty years in one
subculture (say, the inner city, as a gang member) into a
different subculture (of work and social responsibility) in only a
few months is laughably ambitious” (p. 16).
Creaming Is Okay

Social programs are often criticized for concentrating on the
part of the target population with the fewest problems. For
example, welfare-to-work programs often admit recipients with
a comparatively high level of education, few problems, and
recent work experience because they are easy to place in jobs
and make the program look effective. As we saw in the review
of family preservation, that policy is currently under criticism
because the clients selected for services are not the most serious
cases. Researchers have concluded that most of family
preservation’s clients were never in danger of having the
children removed in the first place. Critics say that the practice
of creaming is undesirable because it directs services to people
who may not even need them and it avoids dealing with the
really tough problems. Etzioni disagrees, arguing that we never
have enough money to help everyone and so it only makes sense
to concentrate our efforts on those most likely to benefit. “The
resources saved this way can then be applied to some of the
more difficult cases. Policymakers should, though, recognize
the fact that the going will get tougher and tougher” (Etzioni,
1994, p. 16).
Don’t Expect to Scrape the Bottom of the Barrel
We must recognize that even with concentrated and persistent
effort, no social welfare policy will ever be able to reach
everyone and every social problem. In a situation analogous to a
medical patient with an illness too severe to cure, there are
some people who will never be adequate parents, some welfare
recipients who will never be able to get a job, some criminals
who will never be “rehabilitated,” and some social problems,
such as poverty, that will never be completely eradicated.
Thoughts for Social Work Practice
The sociologist Amitai Etzioni argues that we should consider
the practice of creaming to be okay. Do you think that you, as a
professional social worker, can do this within the strictures of
the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of

Ethics?
Don’t Allow the Best to Defeat the Good
We generally tend to evaluate social welfare policies relative to
the original promises of their sponsors rather than to some
reasonable level of achievement. Because of the nature of the
political process, policies are almost always oversold initially
in order to get enough support to be enacted. Because, as we
have noted again and again, social welfare policies rarely
exhibit spectacular success, they should be measured against
other policies rather than against some ideal standard. For
example, a welfare-to-work program that increases the level of
paid employment by nine hours a month will be considered a
failure if measured against the standard that all participants
should find full-time jobs. However, if compared with other
programs that increased work by only five hours per month, this
program could look very good. “As long as the social goal at
hand must be served, we must settle for the comparative best
(which is often not so hot), rather than chase elusive perfection”
(Etzioni, 1994, p. 16).
Be Multifaceted but Not Holistic
In social work school, we teach students to utilize a systems
approach. This approach illustrates how the various aspects of a
person’s life and problems are related and that anything
affecting one aspect of a system will reverberate throughout the
whole system. This approach also illustrates that policies must
address a number of facets of a person’s life to be truly
effective. Probably the best example in this book is child
welfare policy. It is now quite fashionable to point out that it is
impossible to address child abuse and neglect effectively
without at the same time addressing poverty. Etzioni accepts
this but argues that a holistic approach would cost so much and

be so complex that it would never be practical for the large
number of people who need help. We must search for policies
that recognize the systems aspect of problems but are less
exacting than a holistic approach. Thus, while we recognize that
poverty is the major factor leading to child neglect, we can still
provide therapeutic day care programs that address only a few
targeted aspects of the neglect and by doing so make some
children’s lives better. As Etzioni (1994) concludes,
It’s no use pretending that poverty or welfare will be abolished,
AIDS or cancer cured in this century, drug abuse or teen
pregnancy sharply reduced. Let’s instead dedicate our efforts to
effective but clearly delineated projects in each of these areas.
This humbler approach is likely to have a very attractive side
effect: it may enhance public willingness to pay for such
projects and may also restore public trust in our leaders and
institutions. (p. 16)
There are slight indications that Etzioni’s advice about lowering
expectations is beginning to sink in, for program evaluators at
least. In their meta-analysis of scientifically adequate
evaluations of family support programs, Dagenais, Begin,
Bouchard, and -Fortin (2004) found evidence of only very slight
effects by the twenty-seven programs evaluated. After
discussing the disappointing data, they surprisingly conclude,
“Investigators would, therefore be wise to give up on obtaining
spectacular results and content themselves with more modest
program gains. Not even a small change in a family should be
taken lightly, however.”
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare The Journal of
Sociology & Social Welfare
Volume 37
Issue 3 September Article 7

2010
Social Work and Civic Engagement: The Political Participation
of Social Work and Civic Engagement: The Political
Participation of
Professional Social Workers Professional Social Workers
Sunny Harris Rome
George Mason University
Susan Hoechstetter
Alliance for Justice
Follow this and additional works at:
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw
Part of the Civic and Community Engagement Commons,
Politics and Social Change Commons, and
the Social Work Commons
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation
Rome, Sunny Harris and Hoechstetter, Susan (2010) "Social
Work and Civic Engagement: The Political
Participation of Professional Social Workers," The Journal of
Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 37 : Iss. 3 ,
Article 7.
Available at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol37/iss3/7
This Article is brought to you by the Western Michigan
University School of Social Work. For more information,
please contact [email protected]

Social Work and Civic Engagement:
The Political Participation of
Professional Social Workers
SUNNY HARRIS ROME
George Mason University
Department of Social Work
SUSAN HOECHSTETTER
Alliance for Justice
This article examines the involvement of practicing social
workers
in one type of civic engagement: the use of political processes
to
promote the public good. Based on a survey of 1,274 randomly
se-
lected members of NASW, this is the largest study to date
examin-
ing the involvement of social workers in political action and
policy
advocacy. Findings suggest that approximately half of social
work-
ers demonstrate high levels of participation in the policy
process.
The authors analyze the frequency with which respondents
engage
in specific political and policy-related activities, and compare
these
results to those of other studies. They also examine
respondents'at-
titudes toward political participation and share
recommendations

for increasing this aspect of civic engagement within the
profession.
Key words: Policy, advocacy, civic engagement
Despite its great promise, the new millennium has wit-
nessed the continued erosion of benefits and services for pop-
ulations at risk (Parrott, Cox, Tristi, & Rice, 2008). In addition
we face war and alienation abroad, an economic crisis and
new hazards for immigrants at home, and profound threats to
our civil liberties. In the face of these challenges, scholars and
Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare, September 2010,
Volume XXXVII, Number 3
107
Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
activists have decried America's low levels of civic engage-
ment. Distrust of government runs high, with turnout at
the polls hovering around 45% for non-Presidential federal
elections (Day & Holder, 2004) and topping off at 60-64% in
Presidential races (Holder, 2006). The 9/11 tragedy boosted
trust in government temporarily (Putnam, 2002), but the gains
were short-lived. Even at their height, positive attitudes failed
to generate concomitant changes in behavior. The tide may be
turning, however. The Presidential elections of 2004 and 2008
generated larger voter turnouts than at any time in the previ-
ous forty years (Wolf, 2008), with voters in 2008 representing
unprecedented racial and ethnic diversity (Lopez & Taylor,
2008).
As social workers who value social justice and human

rights, we have an ethical responsibility to participate in civic
life by advocating for compassionate leaders and constructive
social policies. This obligation appears explicitly in the NASW
Code of Ethics:
Social workers should engage in social and political
action that seeks to ensure that all people have equal
access to the resources, employment, services, and
opportunities they require to meet their basic human
needs and to develop fully. Social workers should be
aware of the impact of the political arena on practice and
should advocate for changes in policy and legislation to
improve social conditions in order to meet basic human
needs and promote social justice. (1999, Sec. 6.04)
The Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards of
the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE, 2008) and the
International Federation of Social Workers' mission statement
(IFSW, 2005) similarly testify to the importance of political
action. This emphasis is a natural outgrowth of social work's
long history of involvement in championing important social
causes.
Commitment to social and political action has taken many
forms within the social work community. Some choose public
service. There are currently ten social workers who are members
of the U.S. Congress and sixty-eight who hold statewide office
(NASW, 2008). Social workers also serve as staff in national,
108
Social Work and Civic Engagement
state, and local legislative offices. Others work as advocates or

lobbyists. Meanwhile, policy practice has gained some curren-
cy in social work education with faculty teaching courses, re-
quiring assignments, and providing practicum experiences in
political and policy settings (Anderson & Harris, 2005; Hoefer,
1999; Sundet & Kelly, 2002; Wolk, Pray, Weismiller &
Dempsey,
1996).
Review of the Literature
Most research examining the political participation of social
workers has sought to identify whether or not social workers
are politically active, what characteristics distinguish those
who are highly active from those who are not, and how social
workers express their political involvement. Several studies
have concluded that social workers, as a group, are more polit-
ically active than the general population (Parker & Sherraden,
1991; Ritter, 2007; Wolk, 1981). A number have categorized
respondents into those who are inactive, active, and highly
active. Replicating an earlier study by Wolk (1981), Ezell
(1993)
found that the proportion of politically active social workers
had increased by nearly 20% over the course of a decade, from
66% to 85.7%. In a more recent study using a different mea-
surement scale, Ritter (2007) found only 46% of her national
sample of social workers to be active or very active in political
affairs.
The relationship between various demographic character-
istics and level of political participation has been examined in
a number of studies. Those found to be more active include
African Americans (Ezell, 1993; Reeser & Epstein, 1990; Wolk,
1981), NASW members (Ezell, 1993; Hamilton & Fauri, 2001),
macro practitioners (Ezell, 1993; Reeser & Epstein, 1990;
Wolk,
1981), those with higher levels of education (Ezell, 1993;

Parker
& Sherraden, 1991; Wolk, 1981), those who are older (Wolk,
1981), those with higher salaries (Wolk, 1981), those who own
their own homes (Parker & Sherraden, 1991), and those with
more years of professional experience (Ezell, 1993).
Finally, researchers have attempted to identify the specific
activities in which social workers are most likely to engage.
Because different researchers have employed different sub-
jects, scales, definitions, and time frames, readers should
109
exercise caution in comparing results across studies. Instead,
the findings are useful in painting a picture of what seem to
be common trends. Studies that have asked about "voting"
(Hamilton & Fauri, 2001; Parker & Sherraden, 1991; Ritter,
2007)
found it to be the single most common activity, even compared
to other forms of electoral participation. "Contacting legisla-
tors" and "belonging to organizations that take a stand on po-
litical issues" were also among the most common (Ezell, 1993;
Hamilton & Fauri, 2001; Ritter, 2007; Wolk, 1981). At the other
end of the scale were "campaigning" and "testifying," which
consistently ranked last (Ezell, 1993; Hamilton & Fauri, 2001;
Parker & Sherraden, 1991; Ritter, 2007; Wolk, 1981).
Despite its importance, there remains little scholarly lit-
erature on the topic of civic engagement among social work
professionals. Increasing our understanding of whether, how,
and why social workers use political processes to promote the
public good is critical to identifying strategies for increasing

social work's influence in important policy debates affecting
vulnerable client groups. The descriptive study presented in
this article adds to the growing body of literature on this topic
in several ways. First, it is one of the few to use a national
sample. Most have relied upon subgroups of social workers:
members of a single NASW chapter, licensed social workers
within a single state, NASW chapter directors, etc. Second, this
study features the largest sample size to date. With the excep-
tion of Reeser (1986), sample sizes have fallen in the 200-400
range, averaging about 350 respondents. This study is based
on 1,274 valid responses. Third, the activity scale used here is
more detailed than those used in other studies, addressing a
larger number of activities and permitting finer distinctions in
terms of frequency. Finally, this study includes a set of ques -
tions about social workers' attitudes toward political participa-
tion that adds a new dimension to previous research findings.
Method
A self-administered, self-report questionnaire was devel-
oped by the authors in 2000, and pre-tested with social work
colleagues and students. Final revisions were made, and the
instrument-together with a cover letter and business-reply
110
Social Work and Civic Engagement 111
envelope-was subsequently sent by first-class mail to a com-
puter-generated list of 3,000 randomly-selected "regular"
members of NASW. Four weeks later a follow-up mailing,
including cover letter, duplicate survey instrument, and reply
envelope, was sent to those who had failed to respond to the
initial mailing. Surveys returned by the post office as "unde-

liverable" were excluded, as were surveys completed by re-
spondents indicating they were not currently practicing social
workers. A total of 1,274 valid responses were obtained, for a
return rate of 43%.
The instrument is divided into three sections. The first con-
tains a series of 20 statements representing various types of
political activity. The activities were derived from two sources:
some were based on those used in other studies; others were
suggested by the direct experience of the researchers, both of
whom are former registered lobbyists. Respondents were asked
to signal how often they engage in each activity listed, using
a Likert scale of "never," "rarely," "sometimes," "often," and
"always." The second section contains a list of 22 statements
expressing attitudes or beliefs regarding political participation
and social work. Respondents were asked to indicate their level
of agreement with each statement by marking "strongly dis-
agree," "disagree," "no opinion," "agree," or "strongly agree."
The final section asks for demographic information concerning
educational background, practice background, age, sex, and
political party affiliation. There is also an open-ended question
soliciting additional thoughts regarding political participation
and social work practice.
Frequencies and cross-tabulations were computed using
SPSS, allowing for percentage comparisons. A content analysis
was performed on the responses to the open-ended question
using open-source coding and categorization to identify recur-
rent themes.
Characteristics of Respondents
The vast majority of respondents (93.8%) hold an MSW
degree. The modal length of time in social work practice is 11-
20 years. Approximately 78% identify as female and 22% as
male. The largest age concentration (40.8%) is in the 46-55 year

112 Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare
old category. Slightly more than 70% of respondents identify
themselves as Democrats. Independents (12.4%) outnumber
Republicans (7.9%). Those reporting no political party affili -
ation represent 6.4%. In addition, several respondents identi-
fied themselves as having run for, having held, or currently
holding elective office.
The largest cohort of respondents indicates working in
nonprofit agencies (33.4%), followed in descending order by
public agencies (25.9%), private clinical practice (23.8%), and
for-profit settings (12.5%). Most (86.2%) work in urban or
suburban areas. Nearly half (45.7%) are employed in health
or mental health settings, including private/group practice,
mental health facilities, and hospitals. Only 7% work for advo-
cacy or membership organizations. Of the entire sample, 61.8%
identify themselves as direct service providers. The clients
served are largely lower and middle income (84.5%), with very
few respondents primarily serving upper income clients.
Results
An overall rating of political participation was devised,
based on the list of identified behaviors. Scores were divided
into "high" and "low," reflecting the frequency with which
respondents engaged in each political activity. Slightly fewer
than half (46.6%) of respondents fell in the "high" range, while
slightly more than half (53.4%) fell in the "low" range.
Comparing rates of overall participation to various re-
spondent characteristics yielded few significant differences.
There was no discernable difference in level of activity related

to issues of personal interest versus issues of professional in-
terest. Respondents with a BSW degree were equally divided
between the high and low categories, as were respondents with
an MSW degree. Only doctoral level preparation showed a dif-
ference, with 75% of those with doctoral degrees falling in the
"high" category compared with 25% in the "low" category.
Age and years of social work practice experience both were
positively correlated with civic engagement. The older the re-
spondent, the more likely to be highly involved in political
activity; similarly, the more years of social work practice ex-
perience, the more likely to be highly involved. Respondents
employed in the public sector showed the highest percentages
of political activity (equally divided between the "high" and
"low" categories), followed in order by those in nonprofit agen-
cies, those in private clinical practice, and those i n for-profit
agencies (one-third of whom were in the "high" category and
two-thirds of whom were in the "low" category). In terms of
employment setting, those with the strongest showing in the
"high" category work in universities (86.3%) and advocacy/
membership organizations (85.7%). Those with the lowest
overall participation rates work in nursing homes (25% in the
"high" category), correctional facilities (22.2%), and substance
abuse programs (17.6%).
In addition to overall participation, frequencies were cal-
culated for each individual behavior in order to get a clearer
picture of how social workers participate in civic life (See
Table
1). The most common activities, defined as those engaged
in "often" or "always" by more than half the respondents,

include: voting (95.0%), keeping up with the news (89.2%),
knowing who represents them in state and national govern-
ment (79.4% and 85.3% respectively), encouraging friends,
neighbors, or colleagues to vote (67.0%), monitoring legisla-
tion of interest (58.0%), sharing political opinions with others
(54.6%), and discussing current policy issues with others
(53.6%). The least common activities include: participating in
(7.8%), helping to organize (3.4%), or encouraging others to
attend (9.5%) rallies, marches, or demonstrations; voicing opin-
ions through the media (7.1%); attending or testifying at hear -
ings (11.5% and 4.3% respectively); actively campaigning for
a candidate (13.4%); contacting legislators (17.9%); participat-
ing in community groups that seek to influence policy (18.2%);
and keeping track of how legislators vote (26.7%). Particularly
noteworthy is that more than 40% of respondents report never
having attended a rally, march, or demonstration; nearly half
(48.2%) have never contacted the media; and more than two-
thirds (68.3%) have never testified at a public hearing.
Respondents were also asked about their attitudes and
opinions regarding participation in the political process. For
ease of reporting, responses have been organized into three
thematic categories: Professional Role, Perceived Influence,
and Educational Preparation. In a few cases where statements
113
Table 1. Frequency of Participation in Specific Activities
10 11 43 264 941
I vote on election day 1269 (0.8) (0.9) (3.4) (21.0) (74.0)

I encourage others to vote on 45 100 267 385 471
election day (4.0) (8.0) (21.0) (30.0) (37.0)
I share my political opinions with 126 25 86 463 463 227
others (2.0) (7.0) (36.6) (36.6) (18.0)
I actively campaign for candidates 1266 384 411 302 105 64
of my choice (30.3) (32.5) (23.9) (8.3) (5.1)
9 23 105 348 786
I read, listen to, or watch the news 1271 (0.7) (1.8) (8.3) (27.4)
(61.8)
I know who represents me in the 1266 14 50 197 364 641
state capital (1.1) (3.9) (15.6) (28.8) (50.6)
I know who represents me in 1265 10 42 134 318 761
Congress (0.8) (3.3) (10.6) (25.1) (60.2)
I follow the progress of legislation 1265 31 120 381 460 273
that interests me (2.5) (9.5) (30.1) (36.4) (21.6)
I discuss current policy issues with 1269 35 114 440 489 191
others (2.8) (9.0) (34.7) (38.5) (15.1)
I attend public hearings on issues 1269 402 418 304 105 40
that interest me (31.7) (32.9) (24.0) (8.3) (3.2)
I contact my legislators to share my 1266 209 397 434 177 49
opinion on policy issues (16.5) (31.4) (34.3) (14.0) (3.9)
I keep track of how my legislators 1269 170 327 434 256 82
vote on issues that interest me (13.4) (25.8) (34.2) (20.2) (6.5)
I participate in political rallies, 1264 513 396 257 64 34
marches, etc. (40.6) (31.3) (20.3) (5.1) (2.7)

I encourage others to participate in 1265 513 379 254 78 41
political rallies, marches, etc. (40.6) (30.0) (20.1) (6.2) (3.2)
I help organize political rallies, 1266 906 235 83 21 21
marches, etc. (71.6) (18.6) (6.6) (1.7) (1.7)
I testify at federal, state, or local 1263 863 220 125 42 13
hearings (68.3) (17.4) (9.9) (3.3) (1.0)
I participate in community groups 1265 355 342 338 166 64
that seek to influence policy (28.1) (27.0) (26.7) (13.1) (5.1)
I voice my opinions on policy 1261 608 331 233 69 20
issues to media outlets (48.2) (26.2) (18.5) (5.5) (1.6)
I take an active role in relation to 1242 137 314 455 267 69
issues that affect my clients (11.0) (25.3) (36.6) (21.5) (5.6)
I take an active role in relation to 1261 129 291 506 255 80
issues that affect me personally (10.2) (23.1) (40.1) (20.2) (6.3)
114
were phrased in the negative (to avoid acquiescent response
set), they are re-phrased in the positive to allow for compara-
tive analysis. The items comprising Professional Role are dis -
played in Table 2. A full 87.5% disagreed or strongly disagreed
with the contention that it is unethical for social workers to be
involved in politics, demonstrating that the vast majority find it
ethically acceptable. Of the seven remaining statements, more
than half the respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the

first five, affirming the relevance of political action to their
jobs
and recognizing their professional obligation to stay informed,
educate others, and advocate for constructive policies. The re -
maining two statements apparently were more problematic.
Table 2. Professional Role and Political Participation
N
(Valid SD D N A SA
Responses)
It is unethical for social
workers to be involved in
politics
I consider it my professional
obligation to stay informed
about changes in social
policy
Every social worker has an
obligation to promote poli-
cies that benefit their clients
I wish I had enough time to
advocate for policy changes
affecting my practice or my
clients
Increasing the general
public's understanding of
social policy is an integral
part of the social work role
I consider political action

relevant to my job
It is part of my mission to
empower my clients politi-
cally as well as personally
I wish my agency would
let me be more involved in
politics
1238 651 432 115 29 11
(52.6) (34.9) (9.3) (2.3) (0.9)
1264 11 35 106 692 420
(0.9) (2.8) (8.4) (54.8) (33.2)
36 140 255 564 2451240 (2.9) (11.3) (20.6) (45.5) (19.8)
1232 47 144 267 564 210
(3.8) (11.7) (21.7) (45.8) (17.0)
1232 45 177 328 532 150
(3.7) (14.4) (26.6) (43.2) (12.2)
1228 62 161 179 498 328
(5.0) (13.1) (14.6) (40.6) (26.7)
92 290 330 375 1411228 (7.5) (23.6) (26.9) (30.5) (11.5)
145 276 512 131 571121 (12.9) (24.6) (45.7) (11.7) (5.1)
SD= Strongly Disagree; D= Disagree; N= No Opinion; A=
Agree; SA= Strongly Agree
115

The statement on politically empowering clients generated the
most ambivalence, with approximately 42% agreeing that it
is part of their mission, 31% disagreeing, and 27% expressing
no opinion. Finally, the statement "I wish my agency would
let me be more involved in politics" elicited stronger levels of
disagreement (27.5%) than agreement (26.8%), with 45.7% ex-
pressing no opinion.
The second theme represented by the attitude/opinion
questions concerns Perceived Influence. Responses are sum-
marized in Table 3. These statements were designed to measure
the degree to which social workers believe they have the power
to influence policy outcomes. The vast majority of respondents
(93.4%) agreed or strongly agreed that voting is important.
Nearly 85% disagreed or strongly disagreed that influenc-
ing policy should be left to professional lobbyists, suggesting
that they potentially see a role for social work practitioners in
shaping policy outcomes. More than 65% indicated that they
believe they could influence social policy if they tried.
Table 3. Perceived Influence on Public Policy
N (Valid SD D N A SA
Responses)
Voting is an important tool 1243 16 23 42 490 671
for influencing social policy (1.3) (1.9) (3.5) (39.4) (54)
Influencing policy should be 1249 422 637 126 52 12
left to professional lobbyists (33.8) (51.0) (10.1) (4.2) (1.0)
It is unlikely that I would 254 579 215 165 32

have much influence, even if 1245 (20.4) (46.5) (17.3) (13.3)
(2.6)
I tried to affect social policy
Finally, several statements sought respondents' opinions
about the adequacy of their Educational Preparation for civic
engagement. These appear in Table 4. The strongest level of
agreement (78.1%) concerned the link between social work
practice and social action. This compares favorably to the
36.2%
who felt they'd had adequate guidance on integrating political
action into their professional roles. A total of 41.7% said they
wished they were more knowledgeable about how to impact
the political process, and 47.5% expressed being satisfied with
their level of political involvement.
116
Table 4. Educational Preparation for Political Participation
N (Valid
Repose) SD D N A SAResponses)
My social work education
emphasized the link between 1251 25 121 129 665 311
social work practice and social (2.0) (9.7) (10.3) (53.2) (24.9)
action
I wish I were more knowledge- 75 332 318 437 81able about

how to effectively 1243 (6.0) (26.7) (25.6) (35.2) (6.5)
impact the political process
I believe I've had adequate
guidance on how to integrate 1243 102 431 259 346 103
political action into my profes- (8.2) (34.7) (20.9) (27.9) (8.3)
sional role
I am satisfied with my level of 1251 52 419 186 505 89
political involvement (4.2) (33.5) (14.9) (40.4) (7.1)
Discussion
The nearly equal division of respondents between high
and low overall levels of political participation is not surpris -
ing, given the breadth and diversity within the profession. It
echoes the profession's historical dual emphasis on casework
and social action. The fact that nearly half of NASW members,
nationally, are highly politically active is a positive sign, espe -
cially since some view NASW as a mainstream organization
in which social work activists may be underrepresented. The
levels of participation here are lower than those found (using
a different index) by Wolk (1981) and Ezell (1993), but very
similar to those found by Ritter (2007).
The effects of educational preparation (PhD), age, and
number of years in social work practice are consistent with
other findings. The fact that those with BSW and MSW degrees
are equally active might be considered at odds with previous
findings in which higher levels of education correlated w ith
higher levels of civic engagement. The finding here may be a
positive one, reflecting the attention paid to policy practice in
BSW curricula, as required by the CSWE curriculum policy

statement. Alternatively, it could be interpreted as negative,
reflecting the sometimes narrower "clinical" focus of many
117
MSW social workers. It is not surprising that public sector and
nonprofit agency employees show higher levels of involve-
ment than those in private clinical practice or for-profit agen-
cies. Nor is it surprising that those employed by universities
and advocacy/membership organizations show the highest
levels of participation. Of some concern, however, are the
overall low levels of participation by social w orkers in nursing
homes, correctional facilities, and substance abuse programs -
settings beset by systemic problems and often in need of policy
interventions.
Looking at the various ways in which social workers mani-
fest their involvement in the political process, a clear pattern
emerges. With the exception of voting, the activities engaged
in most often are those that require the least amount of effort;
they could be described as passive rather than active. These
include: keeping up with the news, identifying one's legislative
representatives, following the progress of legislation, sharing
political opinions with others, and discussing policy issues
with friends and colleagues. At least half of the respondents
indicated engaging in these activities "often" or "always." By
contrast, those activities requiring greater commitment scored
lower. These include contacting legislators, actively campaign-
ing for candidates, testifying at hearings, attending marches or
rallies, contacting the media, and joining community groups
that advocate for policy change. A similar preference for activi -
ties requiring lower, rather than higher, levels of commitment

was identified by Parker and Sherraden (1991) in their study of
electoral politics and social work participation.
Of the behaviors identified in the survey, perhaps the most
widely studied is voting. The fact that 95% of respondents in-
dicated they vote often or always is impressive. Even account-
ing for possible social desirability bias, this far outstrips the
voting rate in the general population. It is, in fact, consistent
with other studies all of which show more than 90% of social
work respondents indicating they vote.
Findings on several other items were more surprising. Only
18.2% indicated that they "participate in community groups
that seek to influence local, state, or federal policy." First, this
is at odds with the findings of previous studies that iden-
tify organizational membership as one of the more common
118
ways of expressing political involvement. Second, everyone in
the sample is a member of NASW, an organization that has
an active lobbying presence at both the national and chapter
levels. The outcome here may be a function of how the item
is worded: Perhaps most NASW members don't view their
membership as "participation"-or perhaps they don't con-
sider NASW to be a "community group." Another possibility
is that members are unaware of NASW's role in political ad-
vocacy. This suggests that more aggressive outreach to NASW
members around the Association's policy efforts could be an
important strategy for increasing overall levels of political par -
ticipation within the profession.

The other finding that seems inconsistent with previous
research is the small proportion of respondents who report
contacting their legislators. The difference might be due to the
ways in which the variable is measured across studies. For
example, 60% of social workers may have contacted a legislator
at least once during the past year (Hamilton & Fauri, 2001), but
they might not characterize this in the present study as doing
so "often" or "always." This interpretation of the data is sup-
ported by the fact that 34.3% say they contact their legislators
"sometimes" and an additional 31.4% do so "rarely." Perhaps
the findings are less inconsistent than they first appear.
Also rated surprisingly low was "participating in marches,
rallies, or demonstrations." Reeser and Epstein (1990) charac -
terize this as one of a set of "non-institutionalized" social action
behaviors. One of their key findings is that, between the 1960s
and the 1980s, social workers increased their use of "institu-
tionalized" methods of political participation and decreased
their engagement in "non-institutionalized" behaviors. This
finding is consistent with that pattern, yet it remains counter -
intuitive. With so many causes sponsoring walks and runs and
rallies (AIDS, breast cancer, genocide, suicide prevention, gun
control, gay rights, etc.), one would expect more social workers
to participate. Perhaps respondents weren't thinking of the po-
litical agendas underlying these events, but only of their social
or fundraising goals.
Consistent with other research findings, involvement in
electoral campaigns ("I actively campaign for the candidates
of my choice") scored low. This may reflect the profession's
119

lagging attention to the importance of electoral politics. Unlike
policy advocacy, electoral politics does not appear in the NASW
Code of Ethics, nor is it mentioned in the CSWE curriculum
policy statement. Some social workers remain uncomfortable
with partisan politics, believing it is unethical or "dirty"-or
mistakenly viewing it as an incursion into others' self-deter-
mination. (Haynes & Mickelson, 2010) Others may be wary of
publicly affiliating themselves with a specific party or candi -
date, lest they jeopardize government or foundation support
for their agencies. Social workers and social work students
should clarify their legal rights to engage in partisan politics.
Where appropriate, they can then begin with small expressions
of their own electoral convictions: by putting up a yard sign,
making a monetary contribution, sporting a bumper sticker,
etc. Though looked on as relatively minor, these behaviors are
a vital part of campaigning and may lead to more ambitious
activities.
Also consistent with previous research is the low ranking
attributed to attending or testifying at public hearings. What
is curious about this finding is that testifying is among the
policy practice exercises most often incorporated into policy
courses in schools of social work. The low numbers are likely
due to lack of opportunity to attend hearings or to testify in the
context of one's job. The work force might benefit from train-
ing that focuses on increasing social workers' comfort level
with the art of testifying. Issues of great importance to human
service agencies often are considered by state and local gov-
erning bodies. Increasing the visibility and input of profession-
al social workers would be an invaluable asset in influencing
budget and policy outcomes that can determine the survival of
key programs and services.
Using the media is another low-scoring activity, and one
that has rarely been studied. Its importance, however, is un-

deniable. Political scientists have long observed that public
call-in shows on radio and television skew conservative; social
work voices are rarely heard. Fortunately, several policy text-
books now incorporate material on working with the media;
hopefully the next generation of practitioners will be more
comfortable with that role and will voice their opinions on im-
portant policy issues through strategic use of broadcast, print,
120
and electronic media.
Finally, although more than half of respondents indicated
they often or always discuss current policy issues with friends,
neighbors, or colleagues, this is a number that can and should
be increased. This kind of discussion is critical to shaping
public opinion, and public opinion is an important determinant
of policy change. Amidei (2002) extols the virtues of talking
about the issues in public: on the subway, in the elevator, etc.
Social workers often are reticent about expressing their views.
This will require a cultural shift that should begin with social
work education. We have an obligation to be knowledgeable
and to share that knowledge (and resulting convictions) with
policy-makers and with the public.
Many social workers continue to harbor ambivalent feel-
ings toward participation in the political process. Haynes
and Mickelson attribute this reluctance to a "perceived con-
flict between political ideology and professional impartiality"
(2010, p. 23). Students often express the mistaken belief that it
is unethical for social workers to be involved in politics. The
survey findings suggest, however, that among a strong major-

ity of NASW members (87.5%), political participation is not
viewed as ethically suspect. This comfort with political action
on ethical grounds is essential; until we reach 100% agreement,
we must continue to stress the integral relationship between
political action, social work practice, and the quest for social
and economic justice.
Respondents were asked to express their views regarding
what functions are relevant to their jobs, what obligations they
hold as social work professionals, and how they perceive the
parameters of the social work role. The responses were impres -
sive: 88% said they consider it their professional obligation to
stay informed about changes in social policy, approximately
67% said they consider political action relevant to their job,
and approximately 65% agreed that every social worker has an
obligation to promote policies that benefit his or her clients. In
regard to relevance, however, many of the clinical practitioners
expressed a different opinion in response to the open-ended
question. A typical comment was: "In my opinion, community
action is far removed from clinical practice." Another mental
health professional wrote, "Politics is not much relevant to the
121
day-to-day issues in my practice."
Comparing beliefs to action reveals some disparities; despite
positive attitudes, fewer than half of the respondents demon-
strated high overall levels of political participation. It is likely
that lack of time is one explanation: 62.8% said they wished
they had enough time to advocate for policy changes affecting
their practice or their clients. Lack of time also emerged as a

theme in the analysis of the responses to the open-ended ques-
tion. The responsibilities of parenthood emerged as another.
As one respondent wrote, "Since the birth of my baby, my time
and energy are devoted to the politics at home! It feels impos-
sible to march in D.C. like I did when I was in grad school. I
suppose this is an area I will return to when my life changes
again." The effect of agency rules and expectations is less clear.
While only 6.8% indicated that they wish their agency would
let them be more involved in politics, this could reflect one of
two things: either their agencies already do permit their po-
litical involvement, or they lack interest in becoming more
politically involved. Greater levels of concern about agency
constraints surfaced in response to the open-ended question,
largely among public employees. In some cases the agency's
position seems to depend on the particular issues involved.
For example:
I believe my state agency (public health) is quite
paranoid about lawsuits and doesn't encourage
political action. An exception was when there was a
threat to privatize all home health in the state. With
agency leadership, we individual workers contacted
fellows in other agencies and clients to write, call and
testify at the state Congressional level.
Perhaps the most interesting responses were to the state-
ment: "It is part of my mission to empower my clients politi -
cally as well as personally." While 42% agreed, more than 30%
disagreed and more than one-fourth expressed no opinion. The
role of social workers in encouraging clients to be politically
active-as distinct from advocating on their behalf-is an area
that deserves further investigation. Although our profession
subscribes to client empowerment as a fundamental practice
goal, how we operationalize it remains unclear. This is an area
122

of enormous promise that could help give our clients a voice
while promoting the public good and facilitating broad-based
civic engagement (Rome, Hoechstetter, & Wolf-Branigin, In
press).
Scholars have long taken an interest in identifying what
factors might predict greater engagement in the political
process. Political scientists, in particular, have defined a series
of variables that comprise a measure of what they call "psy-
chological engagement" (Verba, Schlozman & Brady, 1995).
Among them is something similar to what social workers call
"agency"-that is, the belief that one has the ability to affect
outcomes. Hamilton and Fauri (2001) and Ritter (2007) have
tested this notion with a social work audience. They found
that those who believe they have the power to influence out-
comes are indeed more likely to engage in the political process.
Against this backdrop, the findings in the current study are en-
couraging: a strong majority of respondents believe that voting
matters and disagree that influencing policy should be left to
professional lobbyists. More than two-thirds believe that, if
they tried, they would be likely to have some influence over
social policy. One respondent wrote: "It continually amazes me
how one or two or three people-plain citizens-can get leg-
islation passed or killed, if they have a good case that doesn't
gore anyone's ox, and they are persistent in their efforts." On
the other hand, a few responses suggest skepticism about the
political process: "As someone who was very politically active
in the 60s and 70s, I have become totally disillusioned with
the political system and increasingly cynical about the political
change process."

Finally, respondents were asked about the adequacy of
their preparation for policy practice. It appears that most re -
spondents got the message about the interdependence of
policy and practice, but many are having difficulty applying
this conviction on the job. This suggests a need for continu-
ing education that helps administrators, supervisors, and
workers identify opportunities to incorporate political action
into the work place as seamlessly as possible. Consider this
comment: "Political involvement is an 'extra' when you have
too few resources, too little time, and are generally doing more
with less." The goal is for policy and practice to exist as an
123
integrated whole, rather than as two separate pursuits.
According to a few respondents, political participation can ac -
tually help relieve some of the stresses of the workplace: "I feel
very strongly that it is our duty to become active in the political
arena. Public policy impacts on our families in dramatic ways.
I also feel it will help us to fight bum-out. I first became active
as an advocate for child welfare when I was a CPS worker.
When things felt hopeless I'd get involved in shaping policy."
The study further suggests that another topic for continu-
ing education should be skill development in policy practice.
Over 40% of respondents said "I wish I were more knowledge-
able about how to effectively impact the political process."
While not a majority, this constitutes a sizeable number of
social workers who might well become more active with the
confidence and comfort that stem from proper training.
Limitations

As mentioned previously, this study adds to a limited body
of research on the topic of social workers' political participa-
tion. Yet caution should be exercised in drawing direct com-
parisons across studies. Each has asked somewhat different
questions, employed somewhat different samples, used some-
what different instruments, and applied somewhat different
interpretations to the results. Taken together, however, they
begin to create a picture of the status of the profession in rela -
tion to the political process.
Although this study draws on a large, national, random
sample of social workers, all are members of NASW. Although
NASW is the largest association of professional social workers
in the world, NASW represents only a fraction of those practic-
ing social work. Since the responses were self-reported, there is
also a risk of social desirability bias. Answers may be inflated
in an effort to "look good" to the researchers. This study mea-
sured engagement in specific activities using a Likert scale of
"never," "rarely," "sometimes," "often," and "always." These
categories are imprecise, calling on respondents to interpret
the labels and make judgments about the frequency of their
various behaviors. Readers should consider this a relative,
rather than an absolute, measure of participation. Finally, the
124
response rate of 43%, though respectable for a mailed ques -
tionnaire, suggests that findings should be generalized with
caution. There is no way of knowing how those who didn't
respond might have answered the questions. It is possible that
non-respondents, as a group, have less interest in political

action than those who took the time to complete and return
the survey instrument.
Conclusion
This study surveyed a randomly-selected national sample
of 1,274 practicing social workers, seeking to describe their
attitudes toward, and engagement in, political action. The
results show that slightly fewer than half of the respondents
are "highly" politically active, with doctorally-prepared
social workers, older social workers, and social workers with
more years of practice experience demonstrating greater
involvement.
With the exception of voting, behaviors requiring lower
levels of commitment were far more common than those re-
quiring higher levels of commitment. Consistent with previ -
ous findings, testifyi ng at hearings and campaigning for candi-
dates were among those activities engaged in least frequently.
Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the social workers sur -
veyed express little ethical ambivalence about engaging in
political action. Most expressed the belief that political action
is relevant to their jobs, and that they have an obligation to
stay informed about policy changes and to promote policies
that benefit their clients. Lack of time may inhibit some social
workers from acting on these beliefs. Their comfort with en-
couraging political activity on the part of their clients is less
clear. Respondents were divided about whether they have a
role in empowering their clients politically. This is an issue de -
serving of further discussion and investigation. On the other
hand, strong majorities expressed confidence in social workers'
ability to influence policy outcomes. Other studies have found
this "psychological engagement" to be a predictor of political
involvement.
Most respondents indicated that their social work edu-

cation stressed the relationship between policy and practice.
125
Many, however, expressed a desire to learn more about how
to impact the political process and felt they needed guidance
on integrating political action into their professional roles.
Overall, the findings paint a positive picture of the status of
social workers in relation to political action. There is certainly
room, nonetheless, to strengthen the profession's hand. It is
critical that we persevere in delivering the message that politi -
cal behavior matters, and that our engagement in the process
benefits our clients. Social work education must continue in-
creasing its emphasis on policy practice, incorporating it into
courses, assignments, exercises, and field practica. This content
should be required of all students, not just those in macro con-
centrations. Given that social workers in private clinical prac -
tice were found to have comparatively low levels of political
participation, this exposure may be especially critical for stu-
dents in clinical concentrations. For all students, early train-
ing in policy practice skills could help lay the foundation for
greater comfort in integrating political action into the profes -
sional role. Meanwhile, the definition of policy practice should
be broadened beyond policy advocacy to include electoral
politics. CSWE and NASW, respectively, should entertain in-
cluding references to electoral politics in the Education Policy
Statement and the Code of Ethics.
With practicing social workers, we can start by encourag-
ing those who are inactive to take small steps: share their ideas
and opinions with friends and neighbors; become active in
NASW's efforts or affiliate with other communi ty groups that

engage in advocacy; attend a march or rally; donate to a politi -
cal action committee, a political campaign, or a cause of their
choice; or sport a bumper sticker, button, or yard sign at elec-
tion time. For many social workers (as for the general public),
writing to a legislator, making a lobbying visit, contacting the
media, or testifying at a hearing can be very intimidating. As
in all social work practice, we should start where the client is.
Meanwhile there are plenty of social workers, as evidenced by
this study, who do want to know more and do more. Some
just need occasional reminders, as demonstrated by the fol -
lowing comment: "This survey makes me feel guilty as hell.
I'll be writing Congress tonight!" Others could benefit from
continuing education that provides opportunities for social
126
work practitioners (including those in private practice and for -
profit agencies) to become more knowledgeable about how to
influence policy outcomes, how to present testimony at a
hearing, how to work with the media, and how to integrate
political action into their professional role. In order ensure that
the workplace provides the necessary climate to support politi -
cal activity, administrators and supervisors should be targeted
as well, and helped to identify strategies for promoting politi -
cal engagement without jeopardizing ongoing organizational
activities.
Research should continue to examine social workers' po-
litical participation and its impact, identifying how we can
maximize the effectiveness of that participation in positively
influencing policy outcomes. Social workers should become
leaders in the current national movement for increased civic

engagement. After all, our Code of Ethics exhorts us not only to
engage in social and political action ourselves, but to facilitate
the political action of the broader society. This article addresses
one type of civic engagement: the use of political processes to
promote the public good. We must continue to expand our role
as visible, credible, and effective agents of social change.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface 1
1 Management and Organizational Behavior 7
1.1 The Nature of Work 8
1.2 The Changing Workplace 11
1.3 The Nature of Management 21
1.4 A Model of Organizational Behavior and Management 26
2 Individual and Cultural Differences 35
2.1 Individual and Cultural Factors in Employee Performance
36
2.2 Employee Abilities and Skills 37
2.3 Personality: An Introduction 40
2.4 Personality and Work Behavior 41
2.5 Personality and Organization: A Basic Conflict? 45
2.6 Personal Values and Ethics 48
2.7 Cultural Differences 52
3 Perception and Job Attitudes 63
3.1 The Perceptual Process 64
3.2 Barriers to Accurate Social Perception 73
3.3 Attributions: Interpreting the Causes of Behavior 76
3.4 Attitudes and Behavior 81
3.5 Work-Related Attitudes 84
4 Learning and Reinforcement 95
4.1 Basic Models of Learning 96
4.2 Reinforcement and Behavioral Change 104
4.3 Behavior Modification in Organizations 112
4.4 Behavioral Self-Management 116

5 Diversity in Organizations 125
5.1 An Introduction to Workplace Diversity 126
5.2 Diversity and the Workforce 127
5.3 Diversity and Its Impact on Companies 138
5.4 Challenges of Diversity 143
5.5 Key Diversity Theories 148
5.6 Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity 151
5.7 Recommendations for Managing Diversity 153
6 Perception and Managerial Decision Making 165
6.1 Overview of Managerial Decision-Making 167
6.2 How the Brain Processes Information to Make Decisions:
Reflective and Reactive
Systems 170
6.3 Programmed and Nonprogrammed Decisions 172
6.4 Barriers to Effective Decision-Making 175
6.5 Improving the Quality of Decision-Making 179
6.6 Group Decision-Making 189
7 Work Motivation for Performance 199
7.1 Motivation: Direction and Intensity 201
7.2 Content Theories of Motivation 204
7.3 Process Theories of Motivation 219
7.4 Recent Research on Motivation Theories 236
8 Performance Appraisal and Rewards 247
8.1 Performance Appraisal Systems 248
8.2 Techniques of Performance Appraisal 252

8.3 Feedback 264
8.4 Reward Systems in Organizations 265
8.5 Individual and Group Incentive Plans 271
9 Group and Intergroup Relations 285
9.1 Work Groups: Basic Considerations 286
9.2 Work Group Structure 290
9.3 Managing Effective Work Groups 301
9.4 Intergroup Behavior and Performance 304
10 Understanding and Managing Work Teams 321
10.1 Teamwork in the Workplace 322
10.2 Team Development Over Time 324
10.3 Things to Consider When Managing Teams 328
10.4 Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building 332
10.5 Team Diversity 334
10.6 Multicultural Teams 336
11 Communication 347
11.1 The Process of Managerial Communication 348
11.2 Types of Communications in Organizations 350
11.3 Factors Affecting Communications and the Roles of
Managers 354
This OpenStax book is available for free at
http://cnx.org/content/col29124/1.5
11.4 Managerial Communication and Corporate Reputation 357
11.5 The Major Channels of Management Communication Are
Talking, Listening, Reading, and

Writing 358
12 Leadership 373
12.1 The Nature of Leadership 374
12.2 The Leadership Process 376
12.3 Leader Emergence 381
12.4 The Trait Approach to Leadership 387
12.5 Behavioral Approaches to Leadership 390
12.6 Situational (Contingency) Approaches to Leadership 394
12.7 Substitutes for and Neutralizers of Leadership 399
12.8 Transformational, Visionary, and Charismatic Leadership
402
12.9 Leadership Needs in the 21st Century 406
13 Organizational Power and Politics 415
13.1 Power in Interpersonal Relations 417
13.2 Uses of Power 423
13.3 Political Behavior in Organizations 427
13.4 Limiting the Influence of Political Behavior 436
14 Conflict and Negotiations 445
14.1 Conflict in Organizations: Basic Considerations 446
14.2 Causes of Conflict in Organizations 450
14.3 Resolving Conflict in Organizations 455
14.4 Negotiation Behavior 459
15 External and Internal Organizational Environments and
Corporate Culture
477
15.1 The Organization's External Environment 480
15.2 External Environments and Industries 484

15.3 Organizational Designs and Structures 487
15.4 The Internal Organization and External Environments 499
15.5 Corporate Cultures 505
15.6 Organizing for Change in the 21st Century 507
16 Organizational Structure and Change 515
16.1 Organizational Structures and Design 516
16.2 Organizational Change 523
16.3 Managing Change 528
17 Human Resource Management 549
17.1 An Introduction to Human Resource Management 550
17.2 Human Resource Management and Compliance 553
17.3 Performance Management 555
17.4 Influencing Employee Performance and Motivation 559
17.5 Building an Organization for the Future 564
17.6 Talent Development and Succession Planning 566
18 Stress and Well Being 579
18.1 Problems of Work Adjustment 580
18.2 Organizational Influences on Stress 583
18.3 Buffering Effects of Work related Stress 594
18.4 Coping with Work related Stress 601
19 Entrepreneurship 613
19.1 Overview of Entrepreneurship 615
19.2 Characteristics of Successful Entrepreneurs 618
19.3 Business Model Canvas 621
19.4 New Venture Financing 627
19.5 Design Thinking 630

19.6 Optimal Support for Entrepreneurship 633
A Scientific Method in Organizational Research 643
B Scoring Keys for Self-Assessment Exercises 651
Index 689
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Preface
Preface 1
About Organizational Behavior
The field of management and organizational behavior exists
today in a constant state of evolution and change.
Casual readers of publications like the New York Times, The
Economist and the Wall Street Journal will learn
about the dynamic nature of organizations in today’s ever-
changing business environment. Organizational
Behavior is designed to meet the scope and sequence
requirements of the introductory course on
Organizational Behavior. This is a traditional approach to
organizational behavior. The table of contents of this
book was designed to address two main themes. What are the
variables that affect how, when, where, and
why managers perform their jobs? What theories and techniques
are used by successful managers at a variety
of organizational levels to achieve and exceed objectives
effectively and efficiently throughout their careers?
Management is a broad business discipline, and the
Organizational Behavior course covers many areas such

as individual and group behavior at work, as well as
organizational processes such as communication in the
workplace and managing conflict and negotiation. No one
individual can be an expert in all areas of
management, so an additional benefit of this text is that
specialists in a variety of areas have authored
individual chapters. Finally, we all made an effort to present a
balanced approach to gender and diversity
throughout the text in the examples used, the photographs
selected, and the use of both male and female in
alternating chapters when referring to generic managers or
employees.
Pedagogical Foundation
We have taken a structured approach in the writing of the
chapters that reduces inconsistencies throughout
and makes selecting topics to match the course syllabus easier
for faculty.
Exploring Managerial Careers. Each chapter starts with a profile
that describes a manager and illustrates
how the content of the chapter is vital for a successful
managerial career.
Consistent, integrated learning. Targeted learning outcomes are
listed at the beginning of each chapter and
then repeated throughout the chapter. The learning outcomes
connect to the text and the additional
resources that accompany Organizational Behavior. After
reading each section, students can test their retention
by answering the questions in the Concept Checks. Every
learning goal is further reinforced by a summary at
the end of the chapter.
Hundreds of business examples to bring concepts to life. This
book is designed to speak to the typical

student. We have done a lot of research about student needs,
abilities, experiences, and interests, and then we
have shaped the text around them. We have used experiences
both inside and outside the classroom to create
a book that is both readable and enjoyable. We believe that the
real applications found throughout every
chapter set the standard for readability and understanding of key
concepts.
Learning business terminology, made easy. As students begin to
study management, they will explore new
words and concepts. To help them learn this language, we
define each new term in the chapter, display the
terms in bold, and offer a complete glossary at the end of the
book.
Applied Features
Rather than provide a dry recitation of facts, we illustrate
concepts with contemporary examples. In addition to
the in-text examples, we have several boxed features that
provide more extensive examples in areas of
importance in today’s business environment. Each of the boxed
features described below includes a series of
critical thinking questions to prompt the student to consider the
implications of each business strategy.
Ethics in Practice. Ethics in Practice features demonstrate how
businesses are responsible not only to the
bottom line, but to providing goods and services in a
responsible manner.
2 Preface

Managing Change. The turbulent business climate requires
companies to adapt their business strategies in
response to a variety of economic, social, competitive, and
technological forces. The Managing Change feature
highlights how businesses have altered their business strategies
in response to these forces.
Catching the Entrepreneurial Spirit. This feature highligh ts the
challenges and opportunities available in small
businesses and other entrepreneurial ventures.
Managerial Leadership. It is generally agreed that in a turbulent
business climate leadership is an important
function of management that helps to maximi ze efficiency and
to achieve organizational goals. Leaders initiate
action, motivate organizations, provide guidance, build morale,
and create a sense of confidence within the
organization and to outside stakeholders.
Sustainability and Responsible Manage ment. This feature
highlights the knowledge, skills, tools, and self-
awareness that are needed to become responsible managers.
While the area of corporate social responsibility
and sustainability has gained wide general support and
commentary, these featured boxed items should
provide the reader with insights of how managers can embed
responsible practices in their careers.
Activities and Cases That Put Knowledge to Work
Organizational Behavior helps students develop a solid
grounding in the skills that they can apply throughout
their managerial careers. These skill-building activities and
resources help build and polish competencies that
future employers will value.

Chapter Review Questions. These questions provide a broad set
of challenging questions that students can
use to assure themselves that they have mastered the chapter
concepts.
Management Skills Application Exercises. These activities at
the end of each chapter present real-world
challenges and provide assignment material for students to hone
their business skills.
Managerial Decision Exercises. These activities provide
assignment material that challenge students’
decision-making processes. There are a variety of exercises for
individual or team assignments.
Critical Thinking Case. The Critical Thinking case in each
chapter invites students to explore business
strategies of various companies, analyze business decisions, and
prepare comments.
Additional Resources
Student and Instructor Resources
We’ve compiled additional resources for both students and
instructors, including Getting Started Guides.
Instructor resources require a verified instructor account, which
you can apply for when you log in or create
your account on openstax.org.
Instructor and student resources are typically available within a
few months after the book’s initial publication.
Take advantage of these resources to supplement your OpenStax
book.
Comprehensive instructor’s manual. Each component of the

instructor’s manual is designed to provide
maximum guidance for delivering the content in an interesting
and dynamic manner. The instructor’s manual
includes an in-depth lecture outline, which is interspersed with
lecture “tidbits” that allow instructors to add
timely and interesting enhancements to their lectures.
Test bank. With nearly 1,000 true/false, multiple-choice, fill-in-
the-blank, and short-answer questions in our
test bank, instructors can customize tests to support a variety of
course objectives. The test bank is available in
Word format.
Preface 3
PowerPoint lecture slides. The PowerPoint slides provide
images and descriptions as a starting place for
instructors to build their lectures.
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Contributing Authors
J. Stewart Black, INSEAD
David S. Bright, Wright State University
Donald G. Gardner, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs
Eva Hartmann, University of Richmond
Jason Lambert, Texas Woman’s University
Laura M. Leduc, James Madison University
Joy Leopold, Webster University
James S. O’Rourke, University of Notre Dame
Jon L. Pierce, University of Minnesota-Duluth
Richard M. Steers, University of Oregon
Siri Terjesen, American University
Joseph Weiss, Bentley University
Reviewers
Susan Adams, Bentley University
Shane Bowyer, Minnesota State University
Kim S. Cameron, University of Michigan
Stephen J. Carroll, University of Maryland
Daniel R. Cillis, Molloy College
Linda Davenport, Klamath Community College
Diana L. Deadrick, Old Dominion University
James J. Freiburger, Southern New Hampshire University
Robert A. Giacalone, John Carroll University

Gregory O. Ginn, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
John Goldberg, University of California-Davis
4 Preface
Brian Graham-Moore, University of Texas
Regina Greenwood, Nova University
William F. Grossnickle, East Carolina University
Nell Tabor Hartley, Robert Morris University
Nai H. Lamb, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Kristie J. Loescher, University of Texas
Marcia Marriott, Monroe Community College
Therese Madden, Notre Dame de Namur University
Eleonor Moore, Kirtland Community College
Bonnie L. McNeely, Murray State University
Robert McNulty, Bentley University
Jeffrey Muldoon, Emporia State University
Karli Peterson, Colorado State University
Raymond Pfang, Tarrant Community College
Jodell Raymond, Monroe Community College
Richard Savior, SUNY Empire State
Amit Shah, Frostburg State University
Paul L. Starkey, Pennsylvania College of Technology
Carolyn Stevenson, Kaplan University
Dianna L. Stone, University of New Mexico
Maria Vitale, Chaffey College
Valerie Wallingford, Bemidji State University
Preface 5

Preface
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these
questions:
What is the meaning of work in a societal context?
How do recognize and meet the challenges facing managers in
the new millennium?
What is expected of a manager?
What is the role of the behavioral sciences in management and
organizations?
Exhibit 1.1 (leyla.a/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY
2.0))
The Management Challenge at Apple and Google
When Apple was developing iOS 10, a group of 600 engineers
was able to debug, develop, and deploy
the new programming within two years. Contrarily, Microsoft
engineers were able to develop and
execute the programming on Vista, but it took considerably
longer and was a bigger undertaking, with
almost 6,000 engineers at hand. What was the difference?
According to the study conducted by leadership consulting firm

Bain & Company, companies like Apple,
Google, and Netflix are 40 percent more productive than the
average company. Some may think that this
is a product of the hiring pool; big companies generally attract a
more talented group of recruits. With
unique benefits and prowess in the industry, this must be the
case. Wrong. Google and Apple have
found a way to answer the most fundamental question in
management: How do you balance
productivity while maintaining employee satisfaction and
commitment?
E X P L O R I N G M A N A G E R I A L C A R E E R S
1.
2.
3.
4.
1
Management and Organizational Behavior
1.1 The Nature of Work
1. What is the meaning of work in a societal context?
Companies such as Google have approximately the same
percentage of “star players” as other
companies, but instead of spreading out the talent, they group
them dynamically to achieve more
throughout the day. This grouping focuses on grouping key
players in the most business-critical roles,
and is the key to success for the overall company. You’ve heard

the saying “You’re only as strong as your
weakest link,” and in the case of Apple, there were no weak
links, making their productivity extremely
high overall. To make matters more complicated, the fast-paced
workplace and technology changes,
including the diversity of employees and the global
marketplace, takes a considerable toll on employee
expectations, as do the overall stresses of the business
performance. Apple is just one example of a
company that figured out one of the pieces to this puzzle, but it
is illustrative of what is happening in the
workplace all around the globe.
Contemporary managers are witnessing changes in technologies,
markets, competition, workforce
demographics, employee expectations, and ethical standards. At
the heart of these changes is the issue
of how to manage people effectively. To attain corporate
objectives, each manager must discover how to
develop and maintain a workforce that can meet today’s needs
while getting ready for tomorrow’s
challenges. As a result, managers are asking questions such as:
How can we meet the international competition?
How can we make this organization more effective?
How can we better utilize our human resources?
How can we create a more satisfying and rewarding work
environment for all employees?
How can we improve the quality of our products?
How can we improve communication and decision-making
processes at work?
How should we evaluate and reward performance?
How can we develop the company leaders of tomorrow?
Questions such as these point to the issue of effective
management. That is, what can managers do to

improve both organizational and employee performance?
Effective management requires an in-depth
knowledge of financial management, marketing research and
consumer behavior, accounting and
control practices, manufacturing and production techniques, and
quantitative methods. In addition,
however, effective management requires “people skills.” That
is, a good manager must be able to
motivate his employees, to lead skillfully, to make appropriate
and timely decisions, to communicate
effectively, to organize work, to deal with organizational
politics, and to work to develop both employees
and the organization as a whole. These issues constitute the
subject of this course. We shall examine
principles of the behavioral sciences that can help managers
improve both their own skills and abilities
and those of their subordinates in order to enhance
organizational performance and effectiveness.
As a prelude to this analysis, we begin with a brief look at the
natures of work and of management.
Contemporary challenges are discussed. Next, we consider a
model of organizational behavior that will
serve as a guide throughout the study of management and
organizational behavior. We begin with an
examination of work.
8 Chapter 1 Management and Organizational Behavior
The Meaning of Work
What is work, and how do people feel about the work they do?

These questions may be answered from several
perspectives. Perhaps one of the best ways to understand how
people feel about their jobs is simply to ask
them. A number of years ago Chicago writer Studs Terkel did
exactly that. How did the people he interviewed
feel about their jobs? Here are some excerpts from his book
Working.1
I’m a dying breed. . . . A laborer. Strictly muscle work . . . pick
it up, put it down, pick it up, put it
down . . . you can’t take pride any more. You remember when a
guy could point to a house he built,
how many logs he stacked. He built it and he was proud of it.
—Steelworker [p. 1]
I changed my opinion of receptionists because now I’m one. It
wasn’t the dumb broad at the front
desk who took telephone messages. She had to be something
else because I thought I was
something else. I was fine until there was a press party. We
were having a fairly intelligent
conversation. Then they asked me what I did. When I told them,
they turned around to find other
people with name tags. I wasn’t worth bothering with. I wasn’t
being rejected because of what I
said or the way I talked, but simply because of my function.
—Receptionist [p. 57]
People ask me what I do, I say, “I drive a garbage truck for the
city.” . . . I have nothing to be
ashamed of. I put in my eight hours. We make a pretty good
salary. I feel I earn my money. . . . My
wife’s happy; this is the big thing. She doesn’t look down at
me. I think that’s more important than

the white-collar guy looking down at me.
—Sanitation Truck Driver [p. 149]
I’m human. I make mistakes like everybody else. If you want a
robot, build machines. If you want
human beings, that’s what I am.
—Policeman [p. 186]
I usually say I’m an accountant. Most people think it’s
somebody who sits there with a green
eyeshade and his sleeves rolled up with a garter, poring over
books, adding things—with glasses. I
suppose a certified public accountant has status. It doesn’t mean
much to me. Do I like the job or
don’t I? That’s important.
—Accountant [p. 351]
The boss . . . lost his secretary. She got promoted. So they told
this old timekeeper she’s to be his
secretary-assistant. Oh, she’s in her glory. No more money or
anything and she’s doing two jobs all
day long. She’s rushin’ and runnin’ all the time, all day. She’s a
nervous wreck. And when she asked
him to write her up for an award, he refused. That’s her reward
for being so faithful, obedient.
—Process Clerk [p. 461]
Examples such as these—and there are many, many more—show
how some employees view their jobs and
the work they perform. Obviously, some jobs are more
meaningful than others, and some individuals are more
easily satisfied than others. Some people live to work, while

others simply work to live. In any case, people
clearly have strong feelings about what they do on the job and
about the people with whom they work. In our
Chapter 1 Management and Organizational Behavior 9
study of behavior in organizations, we shall examine what
people do, what causes them to do it, and how they
feel about what they do. As a prelude to this analysis, however,
we should first consider the basic unit of
analysis in this study: work itself. What is work, and what
functions does it serve in today’s society?
Work has a variety of meanings in contemporary society. Often
we think of work as paid employment—the
exchange of services for money. Although this definition may
suffice in a technical sense, it does not
adequately describe why work is necessary. Perhaps work could
be more meaningfully defined as an activity
that produces something of value for other people. This
definition broadens the scope of work and
emphasizes the social context in which the wage-effort bargain
transpires. It clearly recognizes that work has
purpose—it is productive. Of course, this is not to say that w ork
is necessarily interesting or rewarding or
satisfying. On the contrary, we know that many jobs are dull,
repetitive, and stressful. Even so, the activities
performed do have utility for society at large. One of the
challenges of management is to discover ways of
transforming necessary yet distasteful jobs into more
meaningful situations that are more satisfying and
rewarding for individuals and that still contribute to
organizational productivity and effectiveness.

Functions of Work
We know why work activities are important from an
organization’s viewpoint. Without work there is no
product or service to provide. But why is work important to
individuals? What functions does it serve?
First, work serves a rather obvious economic function. In
exchange for labor, individuals receive necessary
income with which to support themselves and their families. But
people work for many reasons beyond simple
economic necessity.
Second, work also serves several social functions. The
workplace provides opportunities for meeting new
people and developing friendships. Many people spend more
time at work with their co-workers than they
spend at home with their own families.
Third, work also provides a source of social status in the
community. One’s occupation is a clue to how one is
regarded on the basis of standards of importance prescribed by
the community. For instance, in the United
States a corporate president is generally accorded greater status
than a janitor in the same corporation. In
China, on the other hand, great status is ascribed to peasants
and people from the working class, whereas
managers are not so significantly differentiated from those they
manage. In Japan, status is first a function of
the company you work for and how well-known it is, and then
the position you hold. It is important to note
here that the status associated with the work we perform often
transcends the boundaries of our
organization. A corporate president or a university president
may have a great deal of status in the community
at large because of his position in the organization. Hence, the
work we do can simultaneously represent a

source of social differentiation and a source of social
integration.
Fourth, work can be an important source of identity and self-
esteem and, for some, a means for self-
actualization. It provides a sense of purpose for individuals and
clarifies their value or contribution to society.
As Freud noted long ago, “Work has a greater effect than any
other technique of living in binding the
individual more closely to reality; in his work he is at least
securely attached to a part of reality, the human
community.”2 Work contributes to self-esteem in at least two
ways. First, it provides individuals with an
opportunity to demonstrate competence or mastery over
themselves and their environment. Individuals
discover that they can actually do something. Second, work
reassures individuals that they are carrying out
activities that produce something of value to others—that they
have something significant to offer. Without
this, the individual feels that he has little to contribute and is
thus of little value to society.
We clearly can see that work serves several useful purposes
from an individual’s standpoint. It provides a
degree of economic self-sufficiency, social interchange, social
status, self-esteem, and identity. Without this,
individuals often experience sensations of powerlessness,
meaninglessness, and normlessness—a condition

called alienation. In work, individuals have the possibility of
finding some meaning in their day-to-day
activities—if, of course, their work is sufficiently challenging.
When employees are not involved in their jobs
because the work is not challenging enough, they usually see no
reason to apply themselves, which, of course,
jeopardizes productivity and organizational effectiveness. This
self-evident truth has given rise to a general
concern among managers about declining productivity and work
values. In fact, concern about this situation
has caused many managers to take a renewed interest in how the
behavioral sciences can help them solve
many of the problems of people at work.
1.2 The Changing Workplace
2. How do recognize and meet the challenges facing managers
in the new millennium?
It has often been said that the only constant in life is change,
and nowhere is this truer than in the workplace.
As one recent study concluded, “The United States is a
competitive location to the extent that firms operating
in the U.S. are able to compete successfully in the global
economy while supporting high and rising living
standards for the average American. Although the U.S. retains
profound competitive strengths—for instance,
in higher education and entrepreneurship —those strengths are
increasingly threatened by weaknesses in
areas such as the tax code, basic education, macroeconomic
policies, and regulation.”3 Companies face a
variety of changes and challenges that will have a profound
impact on organizational dynamics and
performance. In fact, in many ways these changes and
challenges will determine who will survive and prosper
into the next century and who will not. Among these challenges

are the following:
The Challenge of International Competition
Until the 1980s, many American firms had little in the way of
serious international competition. As a result,
there was little incentive to innovate and remain efficient and
competitive. Many companies became lazy and
lost touch with their customers. This situation changed abruptly
as companies in Asia and Western Europe
developed more sophisticated products and marketing systems
and gained significant market shares in home
electronics, automobiles, medical equipment,
telecommunications, and shipbuilding, to name a few areas. As
a
result, American companies lost considerable clout—and
profitability. In the 1990s and into the new
millennium, the lowering of trade barriers and acceptance of
trade agreements like NAFTA led corporations to
seek less expensive labor overseas. This led to lower costs and
the ability to offer products at more
competitive prices, but also led to a drop in manufacturing in
industries like steel production, a drop in
manufacturing of products like iPhones, and the relocation of
call centers from the U.S. to India.
If we examine corporate behavior during the early decades of
the new millennium, it is not difficult to see
C O N C E P T C H E C K
1. Define work.
2. What functions does work serve in modern society?

some of the reasons for the demise. In short, many North
American firms lost their industrial
competitiveness; that is, they lost their capacity to compete
effectively in global markets, or they chose to
locate in foreign countries as a way to broaden their reach and
become more competitive. Consider the
following examples:4
During the last year reported, India experienced a 7.5 percent
annual growth rate in real GDP while China
recorded an increase of 6.7 percent. This is a measure of how
economies are progressing. Great Britain,
France, and Italy all had close to 2 percent increases. At the
same time, however, the United States recorded a
3.8 percent annual increase (and Canada had a 3 percent
increase), a larger increase after a lethargic recovery
from the 2009 financial crisis.
While traditional jobs have shifted to developing countries,
countries like the United States and Canada have
transformed their economies by incorporating more technology
and automation as well as having a greater
proportion of the workforce in the service sectors. It is
anticipated that the coming decades will continue to
bring disruption to traditional workplace skills that will result
in challenging workers to continually evolve their
skills.
Finally, the number of products that were invented in the United
States but are now primarily manufactured
overseas has increased dramatically—advances in technology
are helping the United States regain the top spot
in world manufacturing. There had been a significant decline in
our manufacturing sector as less expensive
labor in markets like India and China led companies to locate

factories there. Since 2010, however, the United
States has risen from fourth place to second and is expected to
claim the spot as the leading nation by 2020.
The major reasons for this are: advanced manufacturing
capabilities require fewer “line workers,” and having
products produced near their major markets reduces transport
and time to market.
Considering several indicators of the relative competitiveness of
economies using seven metrics, the U.S.
performs quite well. The seven metrics are institutions,
infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health
and primary education, higher education and training, goods
market efficiency, and labor market efficiency.
When taking all of these factors into consideration (see Table
1.1), the United States ranks very well and has
an environment of stable growth. One challenge is that workers
will need to be nimble and evolve as new skills
arise and will need to embrace continuous education and
training as a way of managing their careers.
Global Competitive Index
Rank Country/Economy Score Distance from Best
1 Switzerland 5.9 0.00% from best
2 United States 5.9 0.09% from best
3 Singapore 5.7 2.60% from best
4 Netherlands 5.7 3.34% from best
5 Germany 5.7 3.46% from best
6 Hong Kong SAR 5.5 5.56% from best

Table 1.1 (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Global Competitive Index
Rank Country/Economy Score Distance from Best
7 Sweden 5.5 5.78% from best
8 United Kingdom 5.5 5.99% from best
9 Japan 5.5 6.19% from best
10 Finland 5.5 6.29% from best
Source: Adapted from World Economic Forum, “Global
Competitiveness Index,”
http://reports.weforum.org/global-competitiveness-index-2017-
2018/competitiveness-
rankings/#series=GCI, accessed July 19, 2018.
In terms of organizational survival, herein lies what is perhaps
management’s biggest challenge: how to
become more competitive. Greater competitiveness requires an
understanding of individuals, groups, and

entire organizational systems. Throughout this course, we shall
see numerous examples of how companies
from around the world are meeting the challenges of global
competition. Particular emphasis will be placed on
management practices in other countries as a point of
comparison.
The Challenge of New Technologies
Although it is common to think of “high tech” as applying only
to the aerospace and telecommunications
industries, advanced technologies can be found throughout most
industries. For example, most of us are
familiar with the explosive growth in computing. Both hardware
and software change so rapidly that it is
difficult for many companies to keep up. Personal computers are
being replaced by cell phones that are now
faster and more powerful than their predecessors. Cloud
computing and access to big data and applications
transform data into useful information that is increasingly
complex and increasingly user friendly. In
November of 1971 Intel launched the first microchip. Today, a
modern Intel Skylake processor contains around
1.75 billion transistors—half a million of them would fit on a
single transistor from the 4004—and collectively
they deliver about 400,000 times as much computing muscle.5
More and more companies are using computer-
based systems and equipment—such as e-mail, real-time
messaging and file sharing, PDAs, and cell
phones—for communications. As a result, the way in which
employees and managers communicate and make
decisions is changing dramatically, and the importance of
educated and knowledgeable workers is increasing
rapidly.
Technological changes also can be seen in the increased use of
robotics, expert systems, and computer-

integrated manufacturing systems, which have changed the way
many products are manufactured today.
Such changes affect not only production efficiency and product
quality but also the nature of jobs. In many
industries, the first-line supervisors are disappearing and being
replaced by self-managing work teams who
assume responsibility for production scheduling, quality
control, and even performance appraisals. All of these
technological changes require managers who are capable of
effectively implementing technological change in
the workplace—managers who can adapt to the technological
imperative while still maintaining and
developing the organization’s human resources. We will
examine the role of technology as it relates to
organization structure, job design, communication, decision-
making, and work-related stress. We will see how
some companies successfully adapted to technological change in
a way that benefited all parties concerned.
The Challenge of Increased Quality
The challenge of industrial competitiveness incorporates several
interrelated factors, including an appropriate
product mix, manufacturing efficiency, effective cost controls,
investment in research and development, and
so forth. Not to be ignored in this pursuit is the quest for
increased quality control of the products and services
offered in the marketplace. Total Quality Management (TQM) is
a term often used to describe comprehensive
M A N A G I N G C H A N G E

Siri Struggles to Keep Up with the Competition
Many executives struggle in the ongoing competitive landscape
of technology. With fast-paced changes,
staying one step ahead as well as being able to pivot quickly to
respond to action are two critical
elements to successful leadership.
Apple Inc. has made its third change in the past year to the
leadership of the artificial intelligence voice-
assistance system Siri. Due to many factors, including being
outperformed by the competition such as
Google Assistant and Amazon Inc.’s Alexa, the company
decided to pivot and make the change.
These two systems have seen incredible growth in 2018, with
the Amazon Echo and Google Home
claiming each 34 percent of the market. Now John Giannandrea,
formerly Google’s head of search and
AI, has joined the Apple team and is tasked with getting on the
rival’s level from which he came (Verge
2018).
He will be challenged not only by having a new culture and
company to fit into, but also by finding a
good balance on how to innovate in his new role, as well as
taking the best practices that he has from his
previous role and applying it to boost the success of the Apple
artificial intelligence. Keys to his success
will be how quickly he can adapt to the new role, learning,
adapting, and making changes along the way
to bring Apple back to the playing field of artificial
intelligence.
Question 1: What other challenges would a new executive have
coming from a competing company?

Question 2: How much change is too much? What cautions
should Apple be concerned about with all of
the turnover for this position?
Sources: Nick Statt, “Apple’s New AI Chief Now Oversees Siri,
Core ML, and Machine Learning Teams,”
The Verge, July 10, 2018,
https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/10/17555652/apple-siri-ai-
john-giannandrea-
machine-learning-core-ml-teams; Stephen Nellis, “Apple Shifts
Responsibility For Siri to Operating
System Chief,” Reuters, September 1, 2017,
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-siri/apple-shifts-
responsibility-for-siri-to-operating-system-chief-
idUSKCN1BC65B; Tripp Mickle, Apple Hands Siri
Responsibility to Executive Poached from Google,” The Wall
Street Journal, July 10, 2018,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-hands-siri-responsibilities-
to-executive-poached-from-
google-1531261759.
efforts to monitor and improve all aspects of quality within a
firm. BMW established and continues to maintain
its reputation in part because customers have come to respect its
high level of quality. Quality is also a major
reason for the success of many Japanese products in North
America. Simply put, if companies are going to
compete, renewed efforts must be devoted to enhanced quality

assurance. This, too, is a management
challenge. How can managers get employees to care about the
products they produce or the services they
offer? In this book, we will consider both the issue of quality
control (what is it?) and mechanisms of ensuring
improved product quality (how do we get it?).
Moreover, quality control includes several organizational
issues. For instance, how can managers get parties
who are traditionally independently associated with a product to
work together to build a better product? That
is, how can they get the design staff, manufacturing engineers,
workers, suppliers—and potential
customers—to come together and cooperate in developing and
manufacturing a superior product? Later in
the book we will examine several instances in which such
teamwork played a major role in quality
improvement.
The Challenge of Employee Motivation and Commitment
A major hurdle in the pursuit of industrial competitiveness is
the traditional adversarial relationship between
management and workers. Whether a company is unionized or
not, we see situations in which the average
employee simply sees no reason to increase output or to
improve the quality of existing outputs. Frequently,
the company’s reward system restricts, rather than increases,
performance. At other times, rewards
encourage employees to increase quantity at the expense of
quality. Furthermore, North American companies
often view their workforce as a variable expense (in contrast to
Japan, where the workforce is viewed as a fixed
expense) and lay workers off when they are not needed for
short-run activities. As a result, returning the favor,
employees see little reason to be committed or loyal to their
employers. Turnover and absenteeism rates are

often unreasonably high, further eroding performance efficiency
and effectiveness.
If companies are to succeed in an increasingly turbulent
environment, managers must discover better ways to
develop and motivate employees. A company’s human resources
often represent its biggest single asset, and
failing to properly nurture this asset leads to suboptimal return
on an organization’s resources. Part of solving
this problem involves knowing and understanding today’s
employees. Exhibit 1.2 illustrates the various
characteristics employees consider important in their employers.
Overall, employees seem to have a fairly
positive outlook on their employers. As illustrated in Exhibit
1.3, however, many millennials do not see their
tenure lasting for a long period and expect to have another job
soon.
Exhibit 1.2 How Employees View Their Employers Source:
Adapted from Deloitte, “2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey,”
accessed July 18, 2018,
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Docume
nts/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-
summary.pdf. (Attribution:
Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
Exhibit 1.3 Millennials and the Workplace Source: Adapted
from Deloitte, “2016 Deloitte Millennial Survey,” accessed July
18, 2018,
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Docume
nts/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-

summary.pdf. (Attribution:
license)
This problem is made all the more difficult by the changing
nature of occupations. As shown in Table 1.2, we
are seeing a sharp increase in the number of technicians, service
workers, and sales workers. Growth also can
be expected in engineering and managerial positions. These
changes require a new look at how such
employees are motivated. For example, do we motive an
engineer the same way we motivate a sales
representative? How do we motivate senior executives as
opposed to junior managers? In this book, we shall
touch on these issues when we examine approaches to employee
motivation. Managers have at their disposal
several ways in which to increase employee motivation and
performance, and an effective manager learns
how and when to use each approach.
The Fastest-Growing Occupations
Occupation Growth Rate 2016–2026 2017 Median Pay
Solar photovoltaic installers 105% $39,490
Wind turbine service technicians 96% $53,580

Home health aides 47% $23,210
Personal care aids 39% $23,110
Physician assistants 37% $104,860
Nurse practitioner 36% $103,880
Statistician 34% $84,060
Physical therapist assistant 31% $57,440
Software developers, applications 31% $101,790
Mathematicians 30% $103,010
Physical therapist aides 29% $25,730
Bicycle repairs 29% $28,390
Medical assistants 29% $32,480
Source: “Fastest Growing Occupations,” Occupational Outlook
Handbook, Bureau of Labor Statistics,
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/fastest-growing.htm, accessed July 18,
2018.
The Challenge of Managing a Diverse Workforce
Historically, the American economy has been dominated by
white males. They have filled the vast majority of
managerial positions and many of the more important blue-
collar jobs, becoming skilled craftsmen.
Traditionally, women filled lower-paying clerical positions and

often left the workforce to raise their families.
Minorities of both genders found considerable barrier s to
entering the labor market at the higher (and higher-
paying) levels. Now, things are changing, and the pace of this
change is accelerating. Among other changes,
the twenty-first century will also bring major changes in terms
of workforce demographics. We will see
changes in gender, race, and age.
Exhibit 1.4 Kaisee Permanente The winner of the E Pluribus
Unum Corporate Leadership Award, Kaiser Permanente focuses
on the
elimination of racial and ethnic health care disparities and has
been in the vanguard of efforts to create innovative, scalable
approaches that
address the cultural and linguistic needs of patients, and thereby
improve overall health care quality and outcomes. Its industry-
leading
training, testing, and certification process for multilingual staff
who serve as health care interpreters, as well as for the
physicians who speak
with patients in languages other than English, helps to improve
the quality of patient care while also capitalizing on the
organization’s diverse
workforce. (Credit: Ted Eytan/ flickr/ Attribution-ShareAlike
2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0))
For example, we are seeing a drop in the percentage of white
American-born male workers in the workplace.
Only 15 percent of new entrants into the workforce will be
white males.6 The percentages for nonwhites and
immigrants of both genders will increase (see Exhibit 1.5). In

general, there are more women in positions of
responsibility in both the public and private sectors and more
opportunities for minorities. Some predict that
the coming labor shortage will cause many companies to try to
retain older workers for longer periods of time,
beyond the traditional retirement age. Additionally, the belief
that mentally or physically challenged
individuals can play productive roles at work is increasing.
Such changes bring opportunities for companies
but also potential problems of adjustment if not managed
intelligently. We will examine several of these issues
when we discuss careers and employee development.
Exhibit 1.5 Employed People by Race and Latino or Hispanic
Ethnicity, 2016 Note: People whose ethnicity is identified as
Hispanic or
Latino may be of any race. Data may not sum to 100 percent
because of rounding. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Current Population
Survey (CPS). (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
The Challenge of Ethical Behavior
Finally, the future will bring a renewed concern with
maintaining high standards of ethical behavior in
business transactions and in the workplace. Many executives
and social scientists see unethical behavior as a
cancer working on the fabric of society both in business and
beyond. Many are concerned that we face a crisis

of ethics in the West that is undermining our competitive
strength. This crisis involves business, government,
customers, and employees. Especially worrisome is unethical
behavior among employees at all levels of the
organization. For example, recent reports found that employees
and vendors accounted for a higher
percentage of thefts than did retail customers.7
E T H I C S I N P R A C T I C E
Papa John’s Founder under Fire
As a manager, and leader, the words and actions you take are
incredibly important. John Schnatter,
founder and chairman of Papa John’s Pizza, found this out the
hard way. During a media training
conference call, Schnatter used derogatory comments and racial
slurs. This call, although intended to be
a role-playing exercise, quickly turned into a bad dream for
Schnatter. In response to this action, and
having admitted the fault, Schnatter was forced to resign as
chairman after the local NAACP branch
called for his resignation. In addition, the board of directors
decided that he would be removed from all
marketing, publicity, and pizza boxes, and they took the stance
that “Papa John’s is not an individual.
In addition, we hear about illegal and unethical behavior on
Wall Street—pension scandals in which
disreputable executives gamble on risky business ventures with
employee retirement funds, companies that
expose their workers to hazardous working conditions, and

blatant favoritism in hiring and promotion
practices. Although such practices occur throughout the world,
their presence nonetheless serves to remind
us of the challenges we face.
This challenge is especially difficult because standards for what
constitutes ethical behavior lie in a “gray zone”
where clear-cut right-or-wrong answers may not always exist.
For example, if you were a sales representative
for an American company abroad and your foreign competitors
used bribes to get business, what would you
do? In the United States such behavior is illegal, yet it is
perfectly acceptable in other countries. What is ethical
here? Similarly, in many countries women are systematically
discriminated against in the workplace; it is felt
that their place is in the home. In the United States, again, this
practice is illegal. If you ran an American
company in one of these countries, would you hire women in
important positions? If you did, your company
might be isolated in the larger business community, and you
might lose business. If you did not, you might be
violating what most Americans believe to be fair business
practices.
Effective managers must know how to deal with ethical issues
in their everyday work lives; therefore, we will
devote parts of this course to the role of ethics in decision-
making, the exercise of power, performance
appraisals and reward systems, and so forth.
Papa John’s is a pizza company with 120,000 corporate and
franchise team members around the world”
(Forbes 2018). Shares of stock for Papa John’s soared after the
announcement of his resignation, adding
$50 million to Schnatter’s total net worth (CNN Money 2018).
The values of the company prevailed

through the actions of Schnatter, showcasing that despite
making a mistake, the commitment to
maintaining an ethical standard is still an important value to
Schnatter as well as the company overall.
Question 1: Do you think the actions of the board of directors
were enough to uphold Papa John’s
reputation?
Question 2: What other actions or types of training should Papa
John’s take with their employees in light
of the current state of ethical defamation of the company and
founder?
Sources: Julie Jargon, “Papa John’s Stock Soars After
Chairman’s resignation,” The Wall Street Journal, July
12, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/papa-johns-directors-
accept-chairmans-resignation-1531404524;
Megan Friedman, “John Schnatter Will No longer Be the Face
of Papa John’s,” Delish, July 16, 2018,
https://www.delish.com/food-news/a22162275/papa-johns-john-
schnatter-removed-marketing/; Noah
Kirsch, “Papa John’s Founder Resigns, Gains $50 Million in a
Day,” Forbes, July 13, 2018,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2018/07/13/papa-
johns-founder-john-schnatter-resigns-net-
worth-rises-50-million-in-a-day/#6aaf997f7123; Jordan
Valinsky, “Papa John’s Founder John Schnatter
Kicked Out of His Office,” CNN Money, July 16, 2018,
https://money.cnn.com/2018/07/16/news/
companies/papa-johns-office/index.html
1. Describe the extent and nature of the challenges facing the
workplace in the next decade.

1.3 The Nature of Management
3. What is expected of a manager?
If organizations are to be successful in meeting these
challenges, management must lead the way. With
effective management, contemporary companies can accomplish
a great deal toward becoming more
competitive in the global environment. On the other hand,
ineffective management dooms the organization to
mediocrity and sometimes outright failure. Because of this, we
turn now to a look at the nature of
management. However, we want to point out that even though
our focus is on managers, what we discuss is
also relevant to the actions of nonmanagers. On the basis of this
examination, we should be ready to begin
our analysis of what managers can learn from the behavioral
sciences to improve their effectiveness in a
competitive environment.
What Is Management?
Many years ago, Mary Parker Follett defined management as
“the art of getting things done through people.”
A manager coordinates and oversees the work of others to
accomplish ends he could not attain alone. Today
this definition has been broadened. Management is generally
defined as the process of planning, organizing,
directing, and controlling the activities of employees in

combination with other resources to accomplish
organizational objectives. In a broad sense, then, the task of
management is to facilitate the organization’s
effectiveness and long-term goal attainment by coordinating and
efficiently utilizing available resources.
Based on this definition, it is clear that the topics of effectively
managing individuals, groups, or organizational
systems is relevant to anyone who must work with others to
accomplish organizational objectives.
Management exists in virtually all goal-seeking organizations,
whether they are public or private, large or
small, profit-making or not-for-profit, socialist or capitalist. For
many, the mark of an excellent company or
organization is the quality of its managers.
Managerial Responsibilities
An important question often raised about managers is: What
responsibilities do managers have in
organizations? According to our definition, managers are
involved in planning, organizing, directing, and
controlling. Managers have described their responsibilities that
can be aggregated into nine major types of
activities. These include:
1. Long-range planning. Managers occupying executive
positions are frequently involved in strategic
planning and development.
2. Controlling. Managers evaluate and take corrective action
concerning the allocation and use of human,
financial, and material resources.
3. Environmental scanning. Managers must continually watch
for changes in the business environment and
monitor business indicators such as returns on equity or

investment, economic indicators, business
cycles, and so forth.
4. Supervision. Managers continually oversee the work of their
subordinates.
5. Coordinating. Managers often must coordinate the work of
others both inside the work unit and out.
2. What can be done about these challenges?
6. Customer relations and marketing. Certain managers are
involved in direct contact with customers and
potential customers.
7. Community relations. Contact must be maintained and
nurtured with representatives from various
constituencies outside the company, including state and federal
agencies, local civic groups, and
suppliers.
8. Internal consulting. Some managers make use of their
technical expertise to solve internal problems,
acting as inside consultants for organizational change and
development.
9. Monitoring products and services. Managers get involved in
planning, scheduling, and monitoring the
design, development, production, and delivery of the
organization’s products and services.
As we shall see, not every manager engages in all of these
activities. Rather, different managers serve different

roles and carry different responsibilities, depending upon where
they are in the organizational hierarchy. We
will begin by looking at several of the variations in managerial
work.
Variations in Managerial Work
Although each manager may have a diverse set of
responsibilities, including those mentioned above, the
amount of time spent on each activity and the importance of that
activity will vary considerably. The two most
salient perceptions of a manager are (1) the manager’s level in
the organizational hierarchy and (2) the type of
department or function for which he is responsible. Let us
briefly consider each of these.
Management by Level. We can distinguish three general levels
of management: executives, middle
management, and first-line management (see Exhibit 1.6).
Executive managers are at the top of the
hierarchy and are responsible for the entire organization,
especially its strategic direction. Middle managers,
who are at the middle of the hierarchy, are responsible for
major departments and may supervise other lower-
level managers. Finally, first-line managers supervise rank-and-
file employees and carry out day-to-day
activities within departments.
Exhibit 1.6 Levels in the Management Hierarchy (Attribution:

license)
Exhibit 1.7 shows differences in managerial activities by
hierarchical level. Senior executives will devote more
of their time to conceptual issues, while first-line managers will
concentrate their efforts on technical issues.
For example, top managers rate high on such activities as long-
range planning, monitoring business
indicators, coordinating, and internal consulting. Lower-level
managers, by contrast, rate high on supervising
because their responsibility is to accomplish tasks through rank-
and-file employees. Middle managers rate
near the middle for all activities. We can distinguish three types
of managerial skills:8
1. Technical skills. Managers must have the ability to use the
tools, procedures, and techniques of their
special areas. An accountant must have expertise in accounting
principles, whereas a production
manager must know operations management. These skills are
the mechanics of the job.
2. Human relations skills. Human relations skills involve the
ability to work with people and understand
employee motivation and group processes. These skills allow
the manager to become involved with and
lead his or her group.
3. Conceptual skills. These skills represent a manager’s ability
to organize and analyze information in order to
improve organizational performance. They include the abil ity to
see the organization as a whole and to
understand how various parts fit together to work as an
integrated unit. These skills are required to
coordinate the departments and divisions successfully so that
the entire organization can pull together.

As shown in Exhibit 1.7, different levels of these skills are
required at different stages of the managerial
hierarchy. That is, success in executive positions requires far
more conceptual skill and less use of technical
skills in most (but not all) situations, whereas first-line
managers generally require more technical skills and
fewer conceptual skills. Note, however, that human or people
skills remain important for success at all three
levels in the hierarchy.
Exhibit 1.7 Difference in Skills Required for Successful
Management According to Level in the Hierarchy (Attribution:
Copyright Rice
University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Management by Department or Function. In addition to level in
the hierarchy, managerial responsibilities
also differ with respect to the type of department or function.
There are differences found for quality
assurance, manufacturing, marketing, accounting and finance,
and human resource management
departments. For instance, manufacturing department managers
will concentrate their efforts on products
and services, controlling, and supervising. Marketing managers,
in comparison, focus less on planning,
coordinating, and consulting but more on customer relations and
external contact. Managers in both
accounting and human resource management departments rate
high on long-range planning, but will spend
less time on the organization’s products and service offerings.
Managers in accounting and finance are also

concerned with controlling and with monitoring performance
indicators, while human resource managers
provide consulting expertise, coordination, and external
contacts. The emphasis on and intensity of
managerial activities varies considerably by the department the
manager is assigned to.
At a personal level, knowing that the mix of conceptual, human,
and technical skills changes over time and that
different functional areas require different levels of specific
management activities can serve at least two
important functions. First, if you choose to become a manager,
knowing that the mix of skills changes over
time can help you avoid a common complaint that often young
employees want to think and act like a CEO
before they have mastered being a first-line supervisor. Second,
knowing the different mix of management
activities by functional area can facilitate your selection of an
area or areas that best match your skills and
interests.
In many firms, managers are rotated through departments as
they move up in the hierarchy. In this way they
obtain a well-rounded perspective on the responsibilities of the
various departments. In their day-to-day tasks
they must emphasize the right activities for their departments
and their managerial levels. Knowing what
types of activity to emphasize is the core of the manager’s job.
In any event, we shall return to this issue when

we address the nature of individual differences in the next
chapter.
The Twenty-First Century Manager
We discussed above many of the changes and challenges facing
organizations in the twenty-first century.
Because of changes such as these, the managers and executives
of tomorrow will have to change their
approaches to their jobs if they are to succeed in meeting the
new challenges. In fact, their profiles may even
look somewhat different than they often do today. Consider the
five skills that Fast Company predicts that
successful future managers, compared to the senior manager in
the year 2000, will need. The five skills are:
the ability to think of new solutions, being comfortable with
chaos, an understanding of technology, high
emotional intelligence, and the ability to work with people and
technology together.
For the past several decades, executive profiles have typically
looked like this: He started out in finance with an
undergraduate degree in accounting. He methodically worked
his way up through the company from the
controller’s office in a division, to running that division, to the
top job. His military background shows. He is
used to giving orders—and to having them obeyed. As head of
the philanthropic efforts, he is a big man in his
community. However, the first time he traveled overseas on
business was as chief executive. Computers, which
became ubiquitous during his career, make him nervous.9
Now compare this with predictions about what a twenty-first-
century executive will look like:
Her [or his] undergraduate degree might be in French literature,
but she also has a joint MBA/engineering

degree. She started in research and was quickly picked out as a
potential CEO. She is able to think creatively
and thrives in a chaotic environment. She zigzagged from
research to marketing to finance. She is comfortable
with technology and people, with a high degree of emotional
intelligence. She proved valuable in Brazil by
turning around a failing joint venture. She speaks multiple
languages and is on a first-name basis with
commerce ministers in half a dozen countries. Unlike her
predecessor’s predecessor, she isn’t a drill sergeant.
She is first among equals in a five-person office of the chief
executive.
Clearly, the future holds considerable excitement and promise
for future managers and executives who are
properly prepared to meet the challenges. How do we prepare
them? One study suggested that the manager
of the future must be able to fill at least the following four
roles:10
Global strategist. Executives of the future must understand
world markets and think internationally. They
must have a capacity to identify unique business opportunities
and then move quickly to exploit them.
Master of technology. Executives and managers of the future
must be able to get the most out of emerging
technologies, whether these technologies are in manufacturing,
communications, marketing, or other areas.
Leadership that embraces vulnerability. The successful
executive of the future will understand how to cut
through red tape to get a job done, how to build bridges with
key people from highly divergent backgrounds
and points of view, and how to make coalitions and joint
ventures work.

Follow-from-the-front motivator. Finally, the executive of
tomorrow must understand group dynamics and
how to counsel, coach, and command work teams and
individuals so they perform at their best. Future
organizations will place greater emphasis on teams and
coordinated efforts, requiring managers to
understand participative management techniques.
Great communicator. To this list of four, we would add that
managers of the future must be great
communicators. They must be able to communicate effectively
with an increasingly diverse set of employees
as well as customers, suppliers, and community and government
leaders.
Whether these predictions are completely accurate is difficult to
know. Suffice it to say that most futurists
agree that the organizational world of the twenty-first century
will likely resemble, to some extent, the portrait
described here. The task for future managers, then, is to attempt
to develop these requisite skills to the extent
possible so they will be ready for the challenges of the next
decade.
1.4 A Model of Organizational Behavior and Management
4. What is the role of the behavioral sciences in management
and organizations?
A major responsibility—perhaps the major responsibility—of
managers is to make organizations operate

effectively. Bringing about effective performance, however, is
no easy task. As Nadler and Tushman note:
Understanding one individual’s behavior is challenging in and
of itself; understanding a group that’s made up
of different individuals and comprehending the many
relationships among those individuals is even more
complex. Imagine, then, the mind-boggling complexity of a
large organization made up of thousands of
individuals and hundreds of groups with myriad relationships
among these individuals and groups.11
Despite this difficulty, however, organizations must be
managed. Nadler and Tushman continue:
Ultimately the organization’s work gets done through people,
individually or collectively, on their own or in
collaboration with technology. Therefore, the management of
organizational behavior is central to the
management task—a task that involves the capacity to
understand the behavior patterns of individuals,
groups, and organizations, to predict what behavioral responses
will be elicited by various managerial actions,
and finally to use this understanding and these predictions to
achieve control.12
The work of society is accomplished largely through
organizations, and the role of management is to see to it
that organizations perform this work. Without it, the wheels of
society would soon grind to a halt.
What Is Organizational Behavior?
The study of the behavior of people in organizations is typically
referred to as organizational behavior. Here,
the focus is on applying what we can learn from the social and
behavioral sciences so we can better

understand and predict human behavior at work. We examine
such behavior on three levels—the individual,
the group, and the organization as a whole. In all three cases,
we seek to learn more about what causes
people—individually or collectively—to behave as they do in
organizational settings. What motivates people?
What makes some employees leaders and others not? Why do
groups often work in opposition to their
1. Define management.
2. How does the nature of management change according to
one’s level and function in the
organization?
employer? How do organizations respond to changes in their
external environments? How do people
communicate and make decisions? Questions such as these
constitute the domain of organizational behavior
and are the focus of this course.
To a large extent, we can apply what has been learned from
psychology, sociology, and cultural anthropology.
In addition, we can learn from economics and political science.
All of these disciplines have something to say
about life in organizations. However, what sets organizational
behavior apart is its particular focus on the

organization (not the discipline) in organizational analysis (see
Exhibit 1.8). Thus, if we wish to examine a
problem of employee motivation, for example, we can draw
upon economic theories of wage structures in the
workplace. At the same time, we can also draw on the
psychological theories of motivation and incentives as
they relate to work. We can bring in sociological treatments of
social forces on behavior, and we can make use
of anthropological studies of cultural influences on individual
performance. It is this conceptual richness that
establishes organizational behavior as a unique applied
discipline. And throughout our analyses, we are
continually concerned with the implications of what we learn
for the quality of working life and organizational
performance. We always look for management implications so
the managers of the future can develop more
humane and more competitive organizations for the future.
Exhibit 1.8 Origins of Organizational Behavior (Attribution:
license)
For convenience, we often differentiate between micro- and
macro-organizational behavior. Micro-
organizational behavior is primarily concerned with the
behavior of individuals and groups, while macro-
organizational behavior (also referred to as organization theory)
is concerned with organization-wide
issues, such as organization design and the relations between an
organization and its environment. Although
there are times when this distinction is helpful, it is always
important to remember that in most instances we
learn the most when we take a comprehensive view of
organizational behavior and integrate these two
perspectives. That is, issues such as organization structure can
influence employee motivation. Hence, by

keeping these two realms separate we lose valuable information
that can help us better understand how to
manage organizations.
Exhibit 1.9 Invo new Hire Xinyu Liu was hired as the studio as
a designer at Invo, a Massachusetts-based firm. Prior to joining
Invo, she was
a user experience researcher at Samsung, where she investigated
how to apply future technologies in everyday living. Changing
behavior for
good was a key component of the R&D work, leveraging
invisible sensing tech, devising emotional effects, and crafting
just-in-time graphic
communication. Her wide-ranging skills, from analyzing social
behavior to 3D modeling to electronics to UI design, are well -
suited for the multi-
domain projects at Invo. As part of the employee selecti on
process, the hiring managers at Invo needed to recognize that
their employees come
from various backgrounds and have varying abilities and skills,
differing motivational levels, and different ambitions. Within
the organizational
context, they needed to consider how Xinyu would fit on the
team in the areas of communication, decision-making, and
leadership, and how
she would handle power and organizational politics as she
carried out her responsibilities. (Credit: Juhan Sonin/ flickr/
Attribution 2.0 Generic
(CC BY 2.0))
Building Blocks of Organizations
Understanding the behavior of people at work is fundamental to

the effective management of an
organization. Obviously, a number of factors come together to
determine this behavior and its organizational
consequences. In order to understand the origins and
characteristics of these factors, it is necessary to have a
model that organizes and simplifies the variables involved. We
offer such a model here in the hope that it will
bring some order to the study of this subject. The model can be
considered in two parts (see Exhibit 1.10).
Exhibit 1.10 A Model of Management and Organizational
Behavior (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA
4.0 license)
The first part of the model is the simple recognition of
organizational inputs and outcomes. That is,
organizations receive inputs from the external environment in
the form of capital, raw materials, labor,
community or government support, and so forth. In addition,
organizations experience or produce certain
outcomes, including (1) organizational goal attainment, (2)
group performance and effectiveness, and (3)
individual performance and effectiveness. Thus, organizations
and the people in them exist in a constant state
of flux, receiving and transforming inputs from the environment
and returning those transformed inputs in
the form of finished goods and services, return on stockholders’
equity, salaries that are paid to employees,

and so forth. It is, in short, a dynamic system.
The second aspect of the model is the organization itself and all
of its parts. One way to understand the
complexity of organizations is to think of them simply as a set
of building blocks, including:
Individuals and groups. Organizations are collectives of
individuals and groups working to pursue common
objectives. Their members come from various backgrounds and
have varying abilities and skills, differing
motivational levels, and different ambitions. Within the
organizational context, these people must
communicate, make decisions, show leadership, and handle
power and organizational politics as they carry
out their assigned activities.
Tasks and technology. In addition to variations among
individuals and groups, we must recognize variations
in the technology of the workplace. That is, how does the work
actually get done? Technology includes both
the actual design of jobs and the tools and techniques used in
manufacture (e.g., robotics and expert
systems).
Organization design. Putting together these factors—individuals
and groups and tasks—is the subject of
organization design. That is, how do we structure an
organization so it effectively coordinates and controls
employee behavior to facilitate performance?

Organizational processes. In addition to people, machines, and
structure, we must recognize a series of
organizational processes, such as leadership, communication,
decision-making, power and politics, and so
forth. The processes largely determine the nature and quality of
interpersonal and intergroup relations within
the workplace and, as such, influence ultimate organizati onal
performance.
Management. Finally, the glue that holds these building blocks
together is the character of management.
Throughout this text, we shall see numerous examples of how
the degree of managerial effectiveness and
prowess have determined the success or failure of a venture. We
shall take a managerial view throughout our
survey of organizational behavior.
There have been many attempts to provide a differentiation
between leadership and management over time.
While they are not the same thing, they are necessarily linked,
and complementary. Any effort to separate the
two is likely to cause more problems than it solves and as
business evolved the content of leadership and
management has changed. The emergence of the “knowledge
worker,” and the profound differences that this
causes the way business is organized. With the rise of the
knowledge worker, one does not ‘manage’ people,
and instead the task is to lead people and the goal is to make
productive the specific strengths and knowledge
of every individual.
These five variables, then, will constitute the primary
ingredients of this book. We shall proceed sequentially,
beginning with individual behavior and moving to group and
intergroup behavior and finally to organization
design and structure. On the basis of this, we will turn to a

consideration of several of the more important
organizational processes. Finally, we will look to the future and
examine ways that organizations can continue
to develop and improve their workforces and the organization as
a whole. Throughout, the roles of technology
and management will be considered. Also, throughout, we will
blend theory with research and practice.
1. Discuss the role of management in the larger societal context.
2. What do you think the managers of the future will be like?
3. Identify what you think are the critical issues facing
contemporary management. Explain.
Alienation
Ethics
Executive managers
First-line management
Industrial competitiveness
Long-range planning
Macro-organizational behavior
Management
Micro-organizational behavior

Middle management
Organization theory
Organizational behavior
Organizational design
Organizational processes
Technology
Theory
Work
Key Terms
The experience of being isolated from a group or an activity to
which one should belong, or in
which one should be involved.
Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the
conducting of an activity.
Generally, a team of individuals at the highest level of
management of an organization.
The level of management directly managing nonmanagerial
employees.
The ability to provide products and services more effectively
and efficiently than
competitors.
A process of setting goals that outlines the path for the
company's future.
Macro-organizational behavioral research steps back and looks
at an
organization as a whole.

The process of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling
the activities of employees in
combination with other resources to accomplish organizational
objectives.
Micro-organizational behavioral studies focus on individual and
group
dynamics within an organization.
The managers in an organization at a level just below that of
senior executives.
The study of organization designs and organization structures,
relationship of
organizations with their external environment, and the behavior
of managers and workers within
organizations.
The study of the actions and attitudes of individuals and groups
toward one
another and toward the organization as a whole.
A formal methodology that identifies dysfunctional aspects of
workflow, procedures,
structures and systems, and then realigns them to fit current
business goals and develops plans to
implement change.
The activities that establish the business goals of the
organization and develop
processes, product and resource assets that when used will help
to achieve business goals.
The application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
A set of principles on which the practice of an activity is based.

All activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to
achieve a purpose or result.
Summary of Learning Outcomes
1.1 The Nature of Work
1. What is the meaning of work in a societal context?
Work will almost inevitably be a large part of your life. An
understanding of organizational behavior will aid
you in making that part of life more productive and enjoyable
for yourself as well those you are in a position to
influence. In this course, our objective is to provide sound and
relevant insights concerning individuals,
groups, and overall organizational systems that will be helpful
to you not just as an executive or CEO but also
when you are starting your career as an individual contributor
or subordinate.
1.2 The Changing Workplace
2. How do recognize and meet the challenges facing managers
in the new millennium?
The fundamental challenge facing managers is how to achieve
performance goals while simultaneously
providing for employee welfare and satisfaction. Work may be
defined as an activity that produces something
of value for other people. Work serves several functions,
including economic, social, status, self-esteem, and
self-actualization. As managers in today’s environment, several

challenges arise, including international
competition, new technologies, the need for increased quality,
employee motivation and commitment, a
diverse workforce, and ethical behavior. These challenges must
be met by managers concerned about survival
and competitiveness in the future.
1.3 The Nature of Management
3. What is expected of a manager?
Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing,
and controlling the activities of employees in
combination with other resources to accomplish organizational
goals. Managerial responsibilities include long-
range planning, controlling, environmental scanning,
supervision, coordination, customer relations,
community relations, internal consulting, and monitoring of
products and services. These responsibilities
differ by level in the organizational hierarchy and by
department or function. The twenty-first-century
manager will differ from most current managers in four ways. In
essence, he or she will be a global strategist,
a master of technology, a good politician, and a premier leader -
motivator.
1.4 A Model of Organizational Behavior and Management
4. What is the role of the behavioral sciences in management
and organizations?
Organizational behavior is the study of people in organizations.
It can be studied on a micro level, which
focuses on individual or group behavior, or on a macro level,
which focuses on organization-wide actions and
events. A model of organizational behavior is presented,
consisting of five building blocks: individuals and
groups, tasks and technology, organization design,

organizational processes, and management.
Chapter Review Questions
1. Define work.
2. What functions does work serve in modern society?
3. Describe the extent and nature of the challenges facing the
workplace in the next decade.
4. What can be done about these challenges?
5. Define management.
6. How does the nature of management change according to
one’s level and function in the organization?
7. Discuss the role of management in the larger societal context.
What do you think the managers of the
future will be like?
8. Identify what you think are the critical issues facing
contemporary management. Explain.
Critical Thinking Case
New Management Challenges for the New Age
Today’s news is littered with scandals, new allegations of
sexual assault, and tragedy. Since 2017 and the
#metoo movement, stemming from the Harvey Weinstein
scandal, more and more public figures have been
put into the spotlight to defend themselves against allegations
from women around the globe.
Not only publicly, but privately in companies around the world,
there have been firings and investigations into
misconduct from coworkers, managers, and CEOs. It is a
relevant topic that is getting long-overdue publicity

and encouraging more men and women to come forward to
discuss openly rather than hide the events and
injustices of the past. Other events showcase the tumultuous and
on-edge society we are living in, such as the
Charlottesville, VA, attack that left one dead and 19 injured
when a person drove a car through a crowd of
protestors during a white nationalist gathering.
With unanticipated events on a daily business, it is important
for companies to take a stand against racial
hatred and harassment of any kind, and to have firm policies
when such events occur. Take Netflix, for
example, who in July 2018 fired their chief communications
officer for saying the “N-word” in full form. This
event occurred during an internal meeting in which the speaker
was not directing the slur at anyone specific,
but claimed it was being made as an emphatic point about
offensive words in comedy programming. The
“Netflix way,” the culture that is built around radical candor
and transparency, was put to the test during this
occurrence.
The offender, Jonathan Friedland, attempted to apologize for his
misdeed, hoping it would fade away and his
apology would be accepted. However, it didn’t work that way;
instead, the anger was palpable between
coworkers and eventually led to the firing of Friedland after a
few months of inaction.
Netflixers are given a high level of freedom and responsibility
within their “Netflix way” culture. Blunt
feedback is encouraged, and trust and discretion are the ultimate

gatekeeper, as employees have access to
sensitive information and are ultimatel y trusted for how they
expense items and take vacation time.
In the insanely fast-paced streaming-services industry, it is hard
to keep this culture at a premium, but it is
imperative for the success of the company overall. “As you
scale a company to become bigger and bigger, how
do you scale that kind of culture?” said Colin Estep, a former
senior engineer who left voluntarily in 2016. “I
don’t know that we ever had a good answer.”
In order to keep up, sometimes the company is seen as harsh in
their tactics to keep the best of the best. “I
think we’re transparent to a fault in our culture and that can
come across as cutthroat,” said Walta Nemariam,
an employee in talent acquisition at Netflix.
Netflix has stayed true to their cultural values despite the
pressures and sometimes negative connotations
associated with this “cutthroat” environment. Their ability to
remain agile, while displaying no tolerance for
societal injustices, puts them at the forefront of new -age
companies. It is a difficult pace to stay in line with,
but it seems that they are keeping in stride and remaining true
to who they are, for now.
Questions:
1. How has the current cultural environment of our country
shaped the way that companies are looking at
their own corporate cultural standards?
2. What are the potential downfalls and positive influences of
the “Netflix way”?
3. How does Netflix’s internal culture negatively or positively
affect their ability to stay competitive and

deliver cutting-edge content?
Sources: B. Stelter, “The Weinstein Effect: Harvey Weinstein
scandal sparks movements in Hollywood and
beyond,” CNN Business, October 20, 2017,
https://money.cnn.com/2017/10/20/media/weinstein-effect-
harvey-
weinstein/; L. Hertzler, “Talking #MeToo, one year after
bombshell Weinstein allegations,” Penn Today,
October 30, 2018, https://penntoday.upenn.edu/news/talking-
me-too-one-year-later; S. Ramachandaran and J.
Flint, “At Netflix, Radical Transparency and Blunt Firings
Unsettle the Ranks,” Wall Street Journal, October 25,
2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-netflix-radical-
transparency-and-blunt-firings-unsettle-the-
ranks-1540497174.
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:

How do managers and organizations appropriately select
individuals for particular jobs?
How do people with different abilities, skills, and personalities
build effective work teams?
How do managers and employees deal effectively with
individual differences in the workplace?
How can organizations foster a work environment that allows
employees an opportunity to develop and
grow?
How do managers know how to get the best from each
employee?
What is the role of ethical behavior in managerial actions?
How do you manage and do business with people from different
cultures?
Exhibit 2.1 (Credit: US Army Africa/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0
Generic (CC BY 2.0))
Building Back Trust on the Back End
One institution that has been around for generations is banking.
However, many individuals have lost
faith in the banking system, and who’s to blame them? Big
banks have let the general consumer down
with security breaches and countless stories of scandals. One
glaring example is Wells Fargo & Co., who
are still recovering their brand from their admission of creating
nearly two million accounts for
customers without their permission. But this problem is not
new. The approach to bolstering this trust
factor is, however, taking on a new perspective with some quick
adaptation and managerial foresight.
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
2
Individual and Cultural Differences
1. How do managers and organizations appropriately select
As we can see in the example of Cathie Mahon, our unique
personal characteristics can have a dramatic
influence on both individual behavior and the behavior of those
around us. To succeed in any managerial
position, it is necessary to have the appropriate skills and
abilities for the situation. Moreover, when selecting
subordinates, managers have similar concerns. In short,
individual differences can play a major role in how
well someone performs on the job. They can even influence
whether someone gets the job in the first place.
Because of this, we begin this section with a look at individual
differences in the workplace.
Several factors can be identified that influence employee
behavior and performance. One early model of job
performance argued simply that performance was largely a
function of ability and motivation.1 Using this

simple model as a guide, we can divide our discussion of
individual factors in performance into two categories:
those that influence our capacity to respond and those that
influence our will or desire to respond. The first
category includes such factors as mental and physical abilities,
personality traits, perceptual capabilities, and
stress-tolerance levels. The second category includes those
variables dealing with employee motivation. Both
of these sets of factors are discussed in this part of the book as
a prelude to more complex analyses of overall
organizational performance.
Specifically, we begin our analysis in this chapter with a look at
individual differences, including employee
abilities and skills, personality variables, and work values. We
will also examine the nature of culture and
cultural diversity as it affects behavior in organizations both at
home and abroad. Later we look at perception
and job attitudes, and we review basic learning and
reinforcement techniques. The basic theories of employee
motivation are then introduced, including the concept of
employee needs. More complex cognitive models of
motivation will be examined, and finally, we review
contemporary approaches to performance appraisals and
reward systems in organizations. All told, this coverage aims to
introduce the reader to the more salient
One CEO, Cathie Mahon, chief executive officer of the National
Federation of Community Development
Credit Unions, is not taking the disparities between credit
unions and big banks lying down. Credit
unions have always operated differently from big banks, and
one key factor is that they are nonprofit
while their big-bank counterparts are for-profit enterprises. This
also can mean that they offer higher
interest rates on deposits due to their size. Mahon has begun a

keen undertaking to educate and
empower low-income residents about financial resources. Her
most recent endeavor is to provide a
platform called CU Impact that keeps customers more informed
about their balances, creates more
trustworthy auto-pay features, more information delivered at
ATMs as well. The improvements to the
back-end reliability within the credit union system sustain the
small, community feel of the credit union,
while providing powerful, trustworthy systems that restore faith
in their business. Her willingness to
embrace technology and embrace differences of customers,
employees, and the company structure
overall made her the key to success for the future of their
business.
Sources: Cohen, Arianne, “The CEO Who’s Leveling the
Playing Field Between Credit Unions and Big
Banks,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 9, 2018,
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-09/
the-ceo-who-s-leveling-the-playing-field-between-credit-
unions-and-big-banks; Koren, James Rufus, “It’s
been a year since the Wells Fargo scandal broke—and new
problems are still surfacing,” Los Angeles
Times, September 8, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-
fi-wells-fargo-one-
year-20170908-story.html.
36 Chapter 2 Individual and Cultural Differences
aspects of individual behavior as they relate to organizational

behavior and effectiveness.
2.2 Employee Abilities and Skills
2. How do people with different abilities, skills, and
personalities build effective work teams?
We begin with a look at employee abilities and skills. Abilities
and skills generally represent those physical and
intellectual characteristics that are relatively stable over time
and that help determine an employee’s capability
to respond. Recognizing them is important in understanding
organizational behavior, because they often
bound an employee’s ability to do the job. For example, if a
clerk-typist simply does not have the manual
dexterity to master the fundamentals of typing or keyboard
entry, her performance will likely suffer. Similarly,
a sales representative who has a hard time with simple
numerical calculations will probably not do well on the
job.
Mental Abilities
It is possible to divide our discussion of abilities and skills into
two sections: mental abilities and physical
abilities. Mental abilities are an individual’s intellectual
capabilities and are closely linked to how a person
makes decisions and processes information. Included here are
such factors as verbal comprehension,
inductive reasoning, and memory. A summary is shown in Table
2.1.
Dimensions of Mental Abilities
• Verbal comprehension. The ability to understand the meanings
of words and their relations to each
other.

• Word fluency. The ability to name objects or use words to
form sentences that express an idea.
• Number aptitude. The ability to make numerical calculations
speedily and accurately.
• Inductive reasoning. The ability to discover a rule or principle
and apply it to the solution of a problem.
• Memory. The ability to remember lists of words and numbers
and other associations.
• Spatial aptitude. The ability to perceive fixed geometric
figures and their relations with other geometric
figures.
• Perceptual speed. The ability to perceive visual details quickly
and accurately.
From a managerial standpoint, a key aspect of mental ability is
cognitive complexity. Cognitive complexity
represents a person’s capacity to acquire and sort through
various pieces of information from the
1. What are the various abilities and skills that should be
considered when hiring employees?
2. How should the personality differences and work values be
taken into account when selecting
employees?
3. What is the role of cultural diversity in selecting employees?
Chapter 2 Individual and Cultural Differences 37

environment and organize them in such a way that they make
sense. People with high cognitive complexity
tend to use more information—and to see the relationships
between aspects of this information—than people
with low cognitive complexity. For example, if a manager was
assigned a particular problem, would she have
the capacity to break the problem down into its various facets
and understand how these various facets relate
to one another? A manager with low cognitive complexity
would tend to see only one or two salient aspects of
the problem, whereas a manager with higher cognitive
complexity would understand more of the nuances
and subtleties of the problem as they relate to each other and to
other problems.
People with low cognitive complexity typically exhibit the
following characteristics:2
They tend to be categorical and stereotypical. Cognitive
structures that depend upon simple fixed rules of
integration tend to reduce the possibility of thinking in terms of
degrees.
Internal conflict appears to be minimized with simple
structures. Since few alternative relationships are
generated, closure is quick.
Behavior is apparently anchored in external conditions. There is
less personal contribution in simple
structures.
Fewer rules cover a wider range of phenomena. There is less
distinction between separate situations.

On the other hand, people with high levels of cognitive
complexity are typically characterized by the following:3
Their cognitive system is less deterministic. Numerous
alternative relationships are generated and considered.
The environment is tracked in numerous ways. There is less
compartmentalization of the environment.
The individual utilizes more internal processes. The self as an
individual operates on the process.
Research on cognitive complexity has focused on two important
areas from a managerial standpoint:
leadership style and decision-making. In the area of leadership,
it has been found that managers rated high on
cognitive complexity are better able to handle complex
situations, such as rapid changes in the external
environment. Moreover, such managers also tend to use more
resources and information when solving a
problem and tend to be somewhat more considerate and
consultative in their approach to managing their
subordinates.4 In the area of decision-making, fairly consistent
findings show that individuals with high
cognitive complexity (1) seek out more information for a
decision, (2) actually process or use more
information, (3) are better able to integrate discrepant
information, (4) consider a greater number of possible
solutions to the problem, and (5) employ more complex decision
strategies than individuals with low cognitive
complexity.5
Physical Abilities
The second set of variables relates to someone’s physical
abilities. Included here are both basic physical
abilities (for example, strength) and psychomotor abilities (such

as manual dexterity, eye-hand coordination,
and manipulation skills). These factors are summarized in Table
2.2.6 Considering both mental and physical
abilities helps one understand the behavior of people at work
and how they can be better managed. The
recognition of such abilities—and the recognition that people
have different abilities—has clear implications
for employee recruitment and selection decisions; it brings into
focus the importance of matching people to
jobs. For example, Florida Power has a 16-hour selection
process that involves 12 performance tests. Over the
test period of a couple of years, 640 individuals applied for
“lineperson” jobs. Of these, 259 were hired. As a
consequence of the new performance tests and selection
process, turnover went from 43 percent to 4.5
percent, and the program saved net $1 million.7 In addition to
selection, knowledge of job requirements and
individual differences is also useful in evaluating training and
development needs. Because human resources
are important to management, it is imperative that managers
become more familiar with the basic
characteristics of their people.
Dimensions of Physical Abilities
Physical Abilities
• Dynamic strength. The ability to exert muscular force

repeatedly or continuously for a period of time.
• Trunk strength. The ability to exert muscular strength using
the back and abdominal muscles.
• Static strength. The amount of continuous force one is capable
of exerting against an external object.
• Explosive strength. The amount of force one is capable of
exerting in one or a series of explosive acts.
• Extent flexibility. The ability to move the trunk and back
muscles as far as possible.
• Dynamic flexibility. The ability to make rapid and repeated
flexing movements.
• Gross body coordination. The ability to coordinate the
simultaneous actions of different parts of the
body.
• Equilibrium. The ability to maintain balance and equilibrium
in spite of disruptive external forces.
• Stamina. The ability to continue maximum effort requiring
prolonged effort over time; the degree of
cardiovascular conditioning.
Psychomotor Abilities
• Control precision. The ability to make fine, highly controlled
muscular movements needed to adjust a
control mechanism.
• Multilimb coordination. The ability to coordinate the
simultaneous movement of hands and feet.
• Response orientation. The ability to make an appropriate
response to a visual signal indicating a
direction.
• Rate control. The ability to make continuous anticipatory
motor adjustments in speed and direction to

follow a continuously moving target.
• Manual dexterity. The ability to make skillful and well-
directed arm-hand movements in manipulating
large objects quickly.
• Finger dexterity. The ability to make skillful and controlled
manipulations of small objects.
• Arm-hand steadiness. The ability to make precise arm-hand
movements where steadiness is extremely
important, and speed and strength are relatively unimportant.
• Reaction time. How quickly a person can respond to a single
stimulus with a simple response.
• Aiming. The ability to make highly accurate, restricted hand
movements requiring precise eye-hand
coordination.
1. Why should abilities and skills be taken into account when
selecting employees?
2.3 Personality: An Introduction
3. How do managers and employees deal effectively with

The second individual difference variable deals with the
concept of personality. We often hear people use and
misuse the term personality. For example, we hear that someone
has a “nice” personality. For our purposes,
we will examine the term from a psychological standpoint as it
relates to behavior and performance in the
workplace. To do this, let us start with a more precise definition
of the concept.
Definition of Personality
Personality can be defined in many ways. Perhaps one of the
more useful definitions for purposes of
organizational analysis is offered by Salvatore Maddi, who
defines personality as follows:
“. . . a stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine
those communalities and differences in the
psychological behavior (thoughts, feelings, and actions) of
people that have continuity in time and that may
not be easily understood as the sole result of the social and
biological pressures of the moment.”8
Several aspects of this definition should be noted. First,
personality is best understood as a constellation of
interacting characteristics; it is necessary to look at the whole
person when attempting to understand the
phenomenon and its effects on subsequent behavior. Second,
various dimensions of personality are relatively
stable across time. Although changes—especially evolutionary
ones—can occur, seldom do we see major
changes in the personality of a normal individual. And third, the
study of personality emphasizes both
similarities and differences across people. This is important for
managers to recognize as they attempt to
formulate actions designed to enhance performance and
employee well-being.

Influences on Personality Development
Early research on personality development focused on the issue
of whether heredity or environment
determined an individual’s personality. Although a few
researchers are still concerned with this issue, most
contemporary psychologists now feel this debate is fruitless. As
noted long ago by Kluckhohn and Murray:
“The two sets of determinants can rarely be completely
disentangled once the environment has begun to
operate. The pertinent questions are: (1) which of the various
genetic potentialities will be actualized as a
consequence of a particular series of life-events in a given
physical, social, and cultural environment? and (2)
what limits to the development of this personality are set by
genetic constitution?”9
In other words, if the individual is viewed from the whole-
person perspective, the search for the determinants
of personal traits focuses on both heredity and environment as
well as the interaction between the two over
time. In this regard, five major categories of determinants of
personal traits may be identified: physiological,
cultural, family and social group, role, and situational
determinants.
Physiological Determinants. Physiological determinants include
factors such as stature, health, and sex that
often act as constraints on personal growth and development.
For instance, tall people often tend to become
2. Describe the components of mental abilities, cognitive
complexity, physical ability, and psychomotor
abilities.

more domineering and self-confident than shorter people.
Traditional sex-role stereotyping has served to
channel males and females into different developmental
patterns. For example, males have been trained to be
more assertive and females more passive.
Cultural Determinants. Because of the central role of culture in
the survival of a society, there is great
emphasis on instilling cultural norms and values in children
growing up. For instance, in capitalist societies,
where individual responsibility is highly prized, emphasis is
placed on developing achievement-oriented,
independent, self-reliant people, whereas in socialistic
societies, emphasis is placed on developing
cooperative, group-oriented individuals who place the welfare
of the whole society ahead of individual needs.
Cultural determinants affect personal traits. As Mussen notes,
“The child’s cultural group defines the range of
experiments and situations he is likely to encounter and the
values and personality characteristics that will be
reinforced and hence learned.”10 Consider, for example, how
Japanese society develops its world-renowned
work ethic.
Family and Social Group Determinants. Perhaps the most
important influences on personal development
are family and social group determinants. For instance, it has
been found that children who grow up in
democratic homes tend to be more stable, less argumentative,

more socially successful, and more sensitive to
praise or blame than those who grow up in authoritarian
homes.11 One’s immediate family and peers
contribute significantly to the socialization process, influencing
how individuals think and behave through an
intricate system of rewards and penalties.
Role Determinants. People are assigned various roles very early
in life because of factors such as sex,
socioeconomic background, and race. As one grows older, other
factors, such as age and occupation, influence
the roles we are expected to play. Such role determinants often
limit our personal growth and development as
individuals and significantly control acceptable behavior
patterns.
Situational Determinants. Finally, personal development can be
influenced by situational determinants.
These are factors that are often unpredictable, such as a divorce
or death in the family. For instance, James
Abegglen studied 20 successful male executives who had risen
from lower-class childhoods and discovered
that in three-fourths of the cases these executives had
experienced some form of severe separation trauma
from their fathers. Their fathers (and role models) had either
died, been seriously ill, or had serious financial
setbacks. Abegglen hypothesized that the sons’ negative
identification with their fathers’ plights represented
a major motivational force for achievement and success.12
2.4 Personality and Work Behavior
4. How can organizations foster a work environment that allows
grow?

Personality theories that utilize the trait approach have proven
popular among investigators of employee
behavior in organizations. There are several reasons for this. To
begin with, trait theories focus largely on the
normal, healthy adult, in contrast to psychoanalytic and other
personality theories that focus largely on
1. What is the role of personality and personality development
in the workplace?
abnormal behavior. Trait theories identify several
characteristics that describe people. Allport insisted that our
understanding of individual behavior could progress only by
breaking behavior patterns down into a series of
elements (traits).13 “The only thing you can do about a total
personality is to send flowers to it,” he once said.
Hence, in the study of people at work, we may discuss an
employee’s dependability, emotional stability, or
cognitive complexity. These traits, when taken together, form a
large mosaic that provides insight into
individuals. A third reason for the popularity of trait theories in
the study of organizational behavior is that the
traits that are identified are measurable and tend to remain
relatively stable over time. It is much easier to
make comparisons among employees using these tangible
qualities rather than the somewhat mystical
psychoanalytic theories or the highly abstract and volatile self
theories.
The number of traits people are believed to exhibit var ies

according to which theory we employ. In an
exhaustive search, over 17,000 can be identified. Obviously,
this number is so large as to make any reasonable
analysis of the effects of personality in the workplace
impossible. In order for us to make any sense out of this,
it is necessary for us to concentrate on a small number of
personality variables that have a direct impact on
work behavior. If we do this, we can identify six traits that
seem to be relatively important for our purposes
here. It will be noted that some of these traits (for example,
self-esteem or locus of control) have to do with
how we see ourselves, whereas other traits (for example,
introversion-extroversion or dependability) have to
do with how we interact with others. Moreover, these traits are
largely influenced by one’s personality
development and, in turn, influence actual attitudes and
behaviors at work, as shown in Exhibit 2.2.
Exhibit 2.2 Relation of Personality to Attitudes and Behavior
(Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC
BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
Self-Esteem
One trait that has emerged recently as a key variable in
determining work behavior and effectiveness is an
employee’s self-esteem. Self-esteem can be defined as one’s
opinion or belief about one’s self and self-worth.
It is how we see ourselves as individuals. Do we have
confidence in ourselves? Do we think we are successful?
Attractive? Worthy of others’ respect or friendship?
Research has shown that high self-esteem in school-age children
enhances assertiveness, independence, and
creativity. People with high self-esteem often find it easier to
give and receive affection, set higher goals for

personal achievement, and exert energy to try to attain goals set
for them. Moreover, individuals with high
self-esteem will be more likely to seek higher-status
occupations and will take more risks in the job search. For
example, one study found that students possessing higher self-
esteem were more highly rated by college
recruiters, received more job offers, and were more satisfied
with their job search than students with low self-
esteem.14 Hence, personality traits such as this one can affect
your job and career even before you begin
work!
Locus of Control
Locus of control refers to the tendency among individuals to
attribute the events affecting their lives either to
their own actions or to external forces; it is a measure of how
much you think you control your own destiny.
Two types of individual are identified. People with an internal
locus of control tend to attribute their
successes—and failures—to their own abilities and efforts.
Hence, a student would give herself credit for
passing an examination; likewise, she would accept blame for
failing.
In contrast, people with an external locus of control tend to
attribute things that happen to them as being
caused by someone or something else. They give themselves
neither credit nor blame. Hence, passing an

exam may be dismissed by saying it was “too easy,” whereas
failing may be excused by convincing one’s self
that the exam was “unfair.”
If you want to determine your own locus of control, fill out the
self-assessment in the end-of-chapter
assignments. This is an abbreviated and adapted version of the
scale originally developed by Rotter. When you
have finished, refer to that reference for scoring procedures.
Recent research on locus of control suggests that people with an
internal locus of control (1) exhibit greater
work motivation, (2) have stronger expectations that effort will
lead to actual high job performance, (3)
perform better on tasks requiring learning or problem-solving,
(4) typically receive higher salaries and salary
increases, and (5) exhibit less job-related anxiety than
externals.15 Locus of control has numerous implications
for management. For example, consider what would happen if
you placed an “internal” under tight
supervision or an “external” under loose supervision. The
results probably would not be very positive. Or what
would happen if you placed both internals and externals on a
merit-based compensation plan? Who would
likely perform better? Who might perform better under a piece-
rate system?
Introversion-Extroversion
The third personality dimension we should consider focuses on
the extent to which people tend to be shy and
retiring or socially gregarious. Introverts (introversion) tend to
focus their energies inwardly and have a
greater sensitivity to abstract feelings, whereas extroverts
(extroversion) direct more of their attention to
other people, objects, and events. Research evidence suggests
that both types of people have a role to play in

organizations.16 Extroverts more often succeed in first-line
management roles, where only superficial “people
skills” are required; they also do better in field assignments —
for example, as sales representatives. Introverts,
on the other hand, tend to succeed in positions requiring more
reflection, analysis, and sensitivity to people’s
inner feelings and qualities. Such positions are included in a
variety of departments within organizations, such
as accounting, personnel, and computer operations. In view of
the complex nature of modern organizations,
both types of individual are clearly needed.
Authoritarianism and Dogmatism
Authoritarianism refers to an individual’s orientation toward
authority. More specifically, an authoritarian
orientation is generally characterized by an overriding
conviction that it is right and proper for there to be
clear status and power differences among people.17 According
to T. W. Adorno, a high authoritarian is typically
(1) demanding, directive, and controlling of her subordinates;
(2) submissive and deferential toward superiors;
(3) intellectually rigid; (4) fearful of social change; (5) highly
judgmental and categorical in reactions to others;
(6) distrustful; and (7) hostile in response to restraint.
Nonauthoritarians, on the other hand, generally believe
that power and status differences should be minimized, that
social change can be constructive, and that
people should be more accepting and less judgmental of others.
In the workplace, the consequences of these differences can be
tremendous. Research has shown, for

example, that employees who are high in authoritarianism often
perform better under rigid supervisory
control, whereas those rated lower on this characteristic perform
better under more participative
supervision.18 Can you think of other consequences that might
result from these differences?
Related to this authoritarianism is the trait of dogmatism.
Dogmatism refers to a particular cognitive style
that is characterized by closed-mindedness and inflexibility.19
This dimension has particularly profound
implications for managerial decision-making; it is found that
dogmatic managers tend to make decisions
quickly, based on only limited information and with a high
degree of confidence in the correctness of their
decisions.20 Do you know managers (or professors) who tend to
be dogmatic? How does this behavior affect
those around them?
Dependability
Finally, people can be differentiated with respect to their
behavioral consistency, or dependability. Individuals
who are seen as self-reliant, responsible, consistent, and
dependable are typically considered to be desirable
colleagues or group members who will cooperate and work
steadfastly toward group goals.21 Personnel
managers often seek a wide array of information concerning
dependability before hiring job applicants. Even
so, contemporary managers often complain that many of today’s
workers simply lack the feeling of personal
responsibility necessary for efficient operations. Whether this is
a result of the personal failings of the
individuals or a lack of proper motivation by superiors remains
to be determined.
Obviously, personality factors such as those discussed here can

play a major role in determining work
behavior both on the shop floor and in the executive suite. A
good example of this can be seen in the events
leading up to the demise of one of America’s largest and oldest
architectural firms. Observe the role of
personality in the events that follow.
Personality Clash: Design vs. Default
Philip Johnson, at age 86, was considered the dean of American
architecture and was known for such
landmarks as the AT&T building in New York and the Pennzoil
Center in Houston, but he was also forced
out of the firm that he built, only to watch it fall into default
and bankruptcy.
In 1969, Johnson invited John Burgee, who was just 35, to
become his sole partner to handle the
management side of the business and thereby allow him to focus
on the creative side. “I picked John
Burgee as my righthand man. Every design architect needs a
Burgee. The more leadership he took, the
happier I was,” Johnson said. Burgee’s personality was
perfectly suited to the nuts-and-bolts tasks of
managing the firm and overseeing the projects through
construction.
For all his management effort, Burgee felt that only Johnson’s
name ever appeared in the press. “It was

2.5 Personality and Organization: A Basic Conflict?
5. How do managers know how to get the best from each
employee?
Most theories of personality stress that an individual’s
personality becomes complete only when the individual
interacts with other people; growth and development do not
occur in a vacuum. Human personalities are the
individual expressions of our culture, and our culture and social
order are the group expressions of individual
personalities. This being the case, it is important to understand
how work organizations influence the growth
and development of the adult employee.
A model of person-organization relationships has been proposed
by Chris Argyris.22 This model, called the
basic incongruity thesis, consists of three parts: what
individuals want from organizations, what
organizations want from individuals, and how these two
potentially conflicting sets of desires are harmonized.
Argyris begins by examining how healthy individuals change as
they mature. On the basis of previous work,
Argyris suggests that as people grow to maturity, seven basic
changes in needs and interests occur:
1. People develop from a state of passivity as infants to a state
of increasing activity as adults.
2. People develop from a state of dependence upon others to a
state of relative independence.
3. People develop from having only a few ways of behaving to
having many diverse ways of behaving.

4. People develop from having shallow, casual, and erratic
interests to having fewer, but deeper, interests.
5. People develop from having a short time perspective (i.e.,
behavior is determined by present events) to
having a longer time perspective (behavior is determined by a
combination of past, present, and future
always difficult for me, being a younger man and less
flamboyant,” commented Burgee. Eventually,
Burgee was able to get Johnson to change the name of the firm,
first to Philip Johnson & John Burgee
Architects, then to Johnson/Burgee Architects, and finally to
John Burgee Architects, with Philip Johnson.
Although Burgee wanted to be involved in all aspects of the
business, Johnson was unwilling to
relinquish control over design to Burgee.
In 1988, Burgee sent a four-page memo to Johnson in which he
listed each of the firm’s 24 projects and
outlined the ones for which Johnson could initiate designs,
initiate contact with clients, or work on
independently at home. Burgee also instructed Johnson not to
involve himself with the younger
architects or advise them on their drawings.
The clash of the creative personality of Johnson and the
controlling personality of Burgee came to a
climax when Burgee asked Johnson to leave the firm.
Unfortunately, Burgee underestimated the reaction
of clients and lost many key contracts. Eventually, Burgee had
to file for bankruptcy, and Johnson
continued working on his own, including a project for Estée
Lauder.
Source: Michelle Pacelle, “Design Flaw.” Wall Street Journal,

September 2, 1992, p. A1, A5.
1. What are the things that managers can do to foster an
environment where employees can gain
personal development and grow?
events).
6. People develop from subordinate to superordinate positions
(from child to parent or from trainee to
manager).
7. People develop from a low understanding or awareness of
themselves to a greater understanding of and
control over themselves as adults.
Although Argyris acknowledges that these developments may
differ among individuals, the general
tendencies from childhood to adulthood are believed to be fairly
common.
Next, Argyris turns his attention to the defining characteristics
of traditional work organizations. In particular,
he argues that in the pursuit of efficiency and effectiveness,
organizations create work situations aimed more
at getting the job done than at satisfying employees’ personal
goals. Examples include increased task
specialization, unity of command, a rules orientation, and other
things aimed at turning out a standardized
product with standardized people. In the pursuit of this

standardization, Argyris argues, organizations often
create work situations with the following characteristics:
1. Employees are allowed minimal control over their work;
control is often shifted to machines.
2. They are expected to be passive, dependent, and subordinate.
3. They are allowed only a short-term horizon in their work.
4. They are placed on repetitive jobs that require only minimal
skills and abilities.
5. On the basis of the first four items, people are expected to
produce under conditions leading to
psychological failure.
Hence, Argyris argues persuasively that many jobs in our
technological society are structured in such a way
that they conflict with the basic growth needs of a healthy
personality. This conflict is represented in Exhibit
2.3. The magnitude of this conflict between personality and
organization is a function of several factors. The
strongest conflict can be expected under conditions where
employees are very mature, organization are highly
structured and rules and procedures are formalized, and jobs are
fragmented and mechanized. Hence, we
would expect the strongest conflict to be at the lower levels of
the organization, among blue-collar and clerical
workers. Managers tend to have jobs that are less mechanized
and tend to be less subject to formalized rules
and procedures.
Exhibit 2.3 Basic Conflict Between Employees and
Organizations (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)

Where strong conflicts between personalities and organizations
exist, or, more precisely, where strong
conflicts exist between what employees and organizations want
from each other, employees are faced with
difficult choices. They may choose to leave the organization or
to work hard to climb the ladder into the upper
echelons of management. They may defend their self-concepts
and adapt through the use of defense
mechanisms. Disassociating themselves psychologically from
the organization (e.g., losing interest in their
work, lowering their work standards, etc.) and concentrating
instead on the material rewards available from
the organization is another possible response. Or they may find
allies in their fellow workers and, in concert,
may further adapt as a group by such activities as quota
restrictions, unionizing efforts, strikes, and sabotage.
Unfortunately, although such activities may help employees feel
that they are getting back at the organization,
they do not alleviate the basic situation that is causing the
problem. To do this, one has to examine the nature
of the job and the work climate. Personality represents a
powerful force in the determination of work behavior
and must be recognized before meaningful change can be
implemented by managers to improve the
effectiveness of their organizations.
Integrating Employee and Organizational Goals at Kayak

In many ways the above scenario paints a bleak portrait of the
relationship of many workers to their
employers. However, it should be noted that many companies
are trying to change this relationship and
create a partnership between employees and company in which
the goals of both are realized. In doing
so, however, these companies are careful to select and hire only
those employees who have the potential
to fit in with the company’s unique culture. A case in point is
Kayak, an Internet-based travel company in
Stamford, Connecticut. The company strives to create customer
satisfaction, starting with their own
culture and employees within the walls of their building.
Cofounder and former CTO Paul English’s goal
was to bring a constant stream of “new-new ideas” and surround
himself with “childlike creative people”
to liven up the space and be able to promote inspiration.
Kayak doesn’t hire based on technical skills; their philosophy is
to hire an employee on the basis of being
the smartest person that somebody knows. Employees are
constantly pushed to put their ideas to the
test, and the company emphasizes a work-life balance that puts
their employees first, which in turn
makes for a productive work environment.
Kayak’s ability to make fast-paced decisions comes from the
empowerment of their employees to try out
their ideas. Current CTO Giorgos Zacharia takes pride in the
way they are able to keep order and drive
deadlines. “Anyone on any team can come up with the idea,
prototype it, and then we see what the user
thinks about it. If it works, great! But there’s no grand design;
it’s very organic and we see that as a
strength,” says Zacharia.

By encouraging and rewarding risk-taking, Kayak is able to
make fast decisions, fail fast, and then turn
around and come up with something more innovative that will
be better than the last idea. Overall, the
company hopes to offer its employees a work environment that
allows for considerable personal growth
and need-satisfaction. In short, the company aims to reduce the
possibility of a basic incongruity
developing between employee and organizational goals.
Sources: Hawkes, Jocelyn, “KAYAK on Creating a Culture of
Innovation,” Fast Company, April 4, 2012.
(https://www.fastcompany.com/1827003/kayak-creating-culture-
innovation); Hickey, Matt, “How KAYAK
Personality and Employee Selection
Recent years have seen an increased interest in the use of
preemployment screening tests. Several key
assumptions underlie the use of personality tests as one method
of selecting potential employees: (1)
individuals have different personalities and traits, (2) these
differences affect their behavior and performance,
and (3) different job have different requirements. Consequently,
tests can be used to select individuals who
match the overall company as well as match particular types of
people to specific jobs. However, managers
must be careful in their use of these selection instruments.
Legally all selection tests must meet the guidelines
for nondiscrimination set forth in the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission’s Uniform Guidelines on
Employee Selection Procedures. Specifically, in 1971 the

Supreme Court ruled (Griggs v. Duke Power Company)
that “good intent or the absence of discriminatory intent does
not redeem . . . testing mechanisms that
operate as built-in ‘head-winds’ for minority groups and are
unrelated to measuring job capability.” This ruling
led to two important cases in which discrimination might apply
to selection practices. First, “disparate
treatment” involves the intentional discrimination against an
individual based on race, color, gender, religion,
or national origin. Second, “disparate impact” involves the
adverse effect of selection practices (as well as
other practices) on minorities regardless of whether these
practices were intended to have an adverse impact
or not. Consequently, although personality tests can be an
important means of selecting potential employees
as well as matching them to appropriate jobs, care must be
taken to demonstrate that the characteristics
measured actually predict job performance.
2.6 Personal Values and Ethics
6. What is the role of ethical behavior in managerial actions?
A factor that has surprised many business leaders is the
alarming rise in accusations of unethical or
disreputable behavior in today’s companies. We hear with
increasing regularity of stock market manipulations,
disregard of environmental hazards, bribes, and kickbacks. To
understand these behaviors, we must examine
the role of values and personal ethics in the workplace. We
begin with the concept of values.
A value may be defined as “an enduring belief that a specific
mode of conduct or end-state of existence is
personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse
mode of conduct or end-state of existence.”23 In

other words, a value represents a judgment by an individual that
certain things are “good” or “bad,”
“important” or “unimportant,” and so forth. As such, values
serve a useful function in providing guidelines or
standards for choosing one’s own behavior and for evaluating
the behavior of others.
Converts Employee Well-Being Into Customer satisfaction,”
Forbes, October 4, 2015.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthickey/2015/10/07/how -
kayak-converts-employee-well-being-into-
customer-satisfaction/#6c97f519b7a4.
1. What are some things that managers can do to foster
organizational harmony where they get the
best results from all employees?
Characteristics of Values
The values people have tend to be relatively stable over time.
The reason for this lies in the manner in which
values are acquired in the first place. That is, when we first
learn a value (usually at a young age), we are
taught that such-and-such behavior is always good or always
bad. For instance, we may be taught that lying or
stealing is always unacceptable. Few people are taught that such
behavior is acceptable in some
circumstances but not in others. Hence, this definitive quality of

learned values tends to secure them firmly in
our belief systems. This is not to say that values do not change
over time. As we grow, we are increasingly
confronted with new and often conflicting situations. Often, it
is necessary for us to weigh the relative merits
of each and choose a course of action. Consider, for example,
the worker who has a strong belief in hard work
but who is pressured by her colleagues not to outperform the
group. What would you do in this situation?
Rokeach has identified two fundamental types of values:
instrumental and terminal.24 Instrumental values
represent those values concerning the way we approach end-
states. That is, do we believe in ambition,
cleanliness, honesty, or obedience? What factors guide your
everyday behavior? Terminal values, on the
other hand, are those end-state goals that we prize. Included
here are such things as a comfortable life, a
sense of accomplishment, equality among all people, and so
forth. Both sets of values have significant
influence on everyday behavior at work.
You can assess your own instrumental and terminal values by
completing the self-assessment in the end-of-
chapter assignments. Simply rank-order the two lists of values,
and then refer to the reference for scoring
procedures.
Role of Values and Ethics in Organizations
Personal values represent an important force in organizational
behavior for several reasons. In fact, at least
three purposes are served by the existence of personal values in
organizations: (1) values serve as standards
of behavior for determining a correct course of action; (2)
values serve as guidelines for decision-making and
conflict resolution; and (3) values serve as an influence on

employee motivation. Let us consider each of these
functions.
Standards of Behavior. First, values help us determine
appropriate standards of behavior. They place limits
on our behavior both inside and outside the organization. In
such situations, we are referring to what is called
ethical behavior, or ethics. Employees at all levels of the
organization have to make decisions concerning what
to them is right or wrong, proper or improper. For example,
would you conceal information about a hazardous
product made by your company, or would you feel obliged to
tell someone? How would you respond to petty
theft on the part of a supervisor or coworker in the office? To
some extent, ethical behavior is influenced by
societal values. Societal norms tell us it is wrong to engage in
certain behaviors. In addition, however,
individuals must often determine for themselves what is proper
and what is not. This is particularly true when
people find themselves in “gray zones”—situations where
ethical standards are ambiguous or unclear. In
many situations, a particular act may not be illegal. Moreover,
one’s colleagues and friends may disagree
about what is proper. In such circumstances, people have to
determine their own standards of behavior.
Guidelines for Decision-Making and Conflict Resolution. In
addition, values serve as guidelines for making
decisions and for attempting to resolve conflicts. Managers who
value personal integrity are less likely to make
decisions they know to be injurious to someone else. Relatedly,
values can influence how someone approaches

a conflict. For example, if your boss asks your opinion about a
report she wrote that you don’t like, do you
express your opinion candidly or be polite and flatter her?
An interesting development in the area of values and decision-
making involves integrity or honesty tests.
These tests are designed to measure an individual’s level of
integrity or honesty based on the notion that
honest or dishonest behavior and decisions flow from a person’s
underlying values. Today over 5,000 firms
use these tests, some of which use direct questions and some of
which use camouflaged questions. Although
the reliability of the most common tests seem good, their
validity (i.e., the extent to which they can accurately
predict dishonest behavior) is more open to question.25
Nevertheless, because they do not cost much and are
less intrusive than drug or polygraph testing, integrity tests are
increasingly used to screen potential
employees.
E X P A N D I N G A R O U N D T H E G L O B E
Two Cultures’ Perspectives of Straight Talk
Yukiko Tanabe, a foreign exchange student from Tokyo, Japan,
was both eager and anxious about
making new friends during her one-year study abroad in the
United States. After a month-long intensive
course in English over the summer, she began her studies at the
University of California. Yukiko was in
the same psychology class as Jane McWilliams. Despite
Yukiko’s somewhat shy personality, it did not take
long before she and Jane were talking before and after class and
studying together.
Part of the way through the term, the professor asked for

volunteers to be part of an experiment on
personalities and problem-solving. The professor also offered
extra credit for participation in the
experiment and asked interested students to stay after class to
discuss the project in more detail.
When class was over, Jane asked Yukiko if she wanted to stay
after and learn more about the project and
the extra credit. Yukiko hesitated and then said that she was not
sure. Jane replied that it would only take
a few minutes to listen to the explanation, and so the two young
women went up to the front of the class,
along with about 20 other students, to hear the details.
The project would simply involve completing a personality
questionnaire and then attempting to solve
three short case problems. In total, it would take about one hour
of time and would be worth 5 percent
extra credit. Jane though it was a great idea and asked Yukiko if
she wanted to participate. Yukiko replied
that she was not sure. Jane responded that they could go
together, that it would be fun, and that 5
percent extra credit was a nice bonus. To this Yukiko made no
reply, so Jane signed both of them up for
the project and suggested that they meet at the quad about 10
minutes before the scheduled beginning
of the experiment.
On the day of the experiment, however, Yukiko did not show
up. Jane found out later from Yukiko that
she did not want to participate in the experiment. “Then why
didn’t you just say so?” asked Jane.
“Because I did not want to embarrass you in front of all your
other friends by saying no,” explained
Yukiko.

Source: Personal communication by the author. Names have
been disguised.
Influence on Motivation. Values affect employee motivation by
determining what rewards or outcomes are
sought. Employees are often offered overtime work and the
opportunity to make more money at the expense
of free time and time with their families. Which would you
choose? Would you work harder to get a promotion
to a perhaps more stressful job or “lay back” and accept a
slower and possibly less rewarding career path?
Value questions such as these confront employees and managers
every day.
Prominent among work-related values is the concept of the work
ethic. Simply put, the work ethic refers to
the strength of one’s commitment and dedication to hard work,
both as an end in itself and as a means to
future rewards. Much has been written lately concerning the
relative state of the work ethic in North America.
It has been repeatedly pointed out that one reason for our
trouble in international competition lies in our
rather mediocre work ethic. This is not to say that many
Americans do not work hard; rather, it is to say that
others (most notably those in East Asia) simply work harder.
There are many ways to assess these differences, but perhaps
the simplest way is to look at actual hours
worked on average in different countries both in Asia and

Western Europe. Looking at Table 2.3, you may be
surprised to discover that although the average American works
1,789 hours (and takes an average of 19.5
vacation days) per year, the average South Korean works 2,070
hours per year (and takes only 4.5 days of
vacation)!26 The typical Japanese worker works 1,742 hours per
year and takes 9.6 days of vacation.
Meanwhile, Western Europeans work fewer hours and take more
vacation days. Thus, although Americans
may work longer hours than many Europeans, they fall far
behind many in East Asia.
Average Hours Worked and Vacation Taken per Worker
Country Average Hours Worked per Year Vacation Days
Actually Taken
South Korea 2,070 4.5
United States 1,789 19.5
OECD Average 1,763
Japan 1,742 9.6
United Kingdom 1,676 22.5
Germany 1,288 30.2
France 1,472 25.0
Source: Adapted from OECD.Stat, “Average annual hours
actually worked per worker,” accessed July 20,
2018, https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS;
and Richard M. Steers, Yoo Keun Shin, and
Gerardo R. Ungson, The Chaebol: Korea’s New Industrial Might

(Philadelphia: Ballinger, 1989).
Example: A Country Tries to Reduce Its Workweek
What does a country do when its people are overmotivated?
Consider the case of Japan. On the basis of
Japan’s newfound affluence and success in the international
marketplace, many companies—and the
government—are beginning to be concerned that perhaps
Japanese employees work too hard and should
slow down. They may be too motivated for their own good. As a
result, the Japanese Department of Labor has
initiated a drive to shorten the workweek and encourage more
Japanese employees to take longer holidays.
The effort is focusing on middle-aged and older employees,
because their physical stamina may be less than
that of their more junior colleagues. Many companies are
following this lead and are beginning to reduce the
workweek. This is no easy task in a land where such behavior
may be seen by employees as showing disloyalty
toward the company. It requires a fundamental change in
employee attitudes.
At the same time, among younger employees, cracks are
beginning to appear in the fabled Japanese work
ethic. Younger workers are beginning to express increased
frustration with dull jobs and routine assignments,
and job satisfaction appears to be at an all-time low. Young
Japanese are beginning to take longer lunch

periods and look forward to Friday and the coming weekend.
Whether this is attributable to increasing
affluence in a changing society or simply the emergence of a
new generation, things are changing—however
slowly—in the East.27
2.7 Cultural Differences
7. How do you manage and do business with people from
different cultures?
The final topic we will discuss in this chapter is the role of
culture and cultural diversity in organizational
behavior. Cultural diversity can be analyzed in many ways. For
instance, we can compare cultural diversity
within one country or company, or we can compare cultures
across units. That is, we can look inside a
particular North American firm and see employees who are
Asian, black, Latino, American Indian, white, and
so forth. Clearly, these individuals have different cultural
backgrounds, frames of reference, traditions, and so
forth. Or we can look more globally and compare a typical
American firm with a typical Mexican, Italian, or
Chinese firm and again see significant differences in culture.
We can also analyze cultural diversity by looking at different
patterns of behavior. For instance, Americans
often wonder why Japanese or Korean businesspeople always
bow when they meet; this seems strange to
some. Likewise, many Asians wonder why Americans always
shake hands, a similarly strange behavior.
Americans often complain that Japanese executives say “yes”
when they actually mean something else, while
Japanese executives claim many Americans promise things they
know they cannot deliver. Many of these
differences result from a lack of understanding concerning the

various cultures and how they affect behavior
both inside and outside the workplace. As the marketplace and
economies of the world merge ever closer, it is
increasingly important that we come to understand more about
cultural variations as they affect our world.
What Is Culture?
Simply put, culture may be defined as “the collective
programming of the mind which distinguishes the
members of one human group from another; the interactive
aggregate of common characteristics that
influences a human group’s response to its environment.”28
More to the point, culture is the “collective mental
1. What role do managers undertake to ensure an environment
where ethics and values are followed?
programming of a people.”29 It is the unique characteristics of
a people. As such, culture is:
• Something that is shared by all or most of the members of a
society
• Something that older members of a society attempt to pass
along to younger members
• Something that shapes our view of the world
The concept of culture represents an easy way to understand a

people, albeit on a superficial level. Thus, we
refer to the Chinese culture or the American culture. This is not
to say that every member within a culture
behaves in exactly the same way. On the contrary, every culture
has diversity, but members of a certain culture
tend to exhibit similar behavioral patterns that reflect where and
how they grew up. A knowledge of a culture’s
patterns should help us deal with its members.
Culture affects the workplace because it affects what we do and
how we behave. As shown in Exhibit 2.4,
cultural variations influence our values, which in turn affect
attitudes and, ultimately, behaviors. For instance, a
culture that is characterized by hard work (e.g., the Korean
culture discussed above) would exhibit a value or
ethic of hard work. This work ethic would be reflected in
positive attitudes toward work and the workplace;
people would feel that hard work is satisfying and beneficial —
they might feel committed to their employer
and they might feel shame if they do not work long hours. This,
in turn, would lead to actual high levels of
work. This behavior, then, would serve to reinforce the culture
and its value, and so on.
Exhibit 2.4 Relationship of Culture to Values, Attitudes, and
Behavior (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-
SA 4.0 license)
To see how this works, consider the results of a survey of
managerial behavior by French researcher Andre
Laurent.30 He asked managers how important it was for
managers to have precise answers when asked a
question by subordinates. The results, shown in Exhibit 2.5,
clearly show how culture can influence very
specific managerial behavior. In some countries, it is imperative

for the manager to “know” the answer (even
when she really doesn’t), whereas in other countries it made
little difference. Thus, if we want to understand
why someone does something in the workplace, at least part of
the behavior may be influenced by her cultural
background.
Exhibit 2.5 Appropriate Managerial Behavior in Different
Countries (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA
4.0 license)
Dimensions of Culture
There are several ways to distinguish different cultures from
one another. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck have
identified six dimensions that are helpful in understanding such
differences.31 These are as follows:
1. How people view humanity. Are people basically good, or are
they evil? Can most people be trusted or not?
Are most people honest? What is the true nature of humankind?
2. How people see nature. What is the proper relationship
between people and the environment? Should
people be in harmony with nature, or should they attempt to
control or harness nature?
3. How people approach interpersonal relationships. Should one
stress individualism or membership in a
group? Is the person more or less important than the group?
What is the “pecking order” in a society? Is
it based on seniority or on wealth and power?

4. How people view activity and achievement. Which is a more
worthy goal: activity (getting somewhere) or
simply being (staying where one is)?
5. How people view time. Should one focus on the past, the
present, or the future? Some cultures are said to
be living in the past, whereas others are looking to the future.
6. How people view space. How should physical space be used
in our lives? Should we live communally or
separately? Should important people be physically separated
from others? Should important meetings be
held privately or in public?
To see how this works, examine Exhibit 2.7, which
differentiates four countries (Mexico, Germany, Japan, and
the United States) along these six dimensions. Although the
actual place of each country on these scales may
be argued, the exhibit does serve to highlight several trends that
managers should be aware of as they
approach their work. For example, although managers in all four
countries may share similar views on the
nature of people (good versus bad), significant differ ences are
noted on such dimensions as people’s relation
to nature and interpersonal relations. This, in turn, can affect
how managers in these countries approach
contract negotiations, the acquisition of new technologies, and
the management of employees.

Exhibit 2.6 Japanese train station Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck
identified six dimensions that are helpful in understanding such
differences.
Japan is a populous country that requires workers to take public
transportation to and from work. How does the Japanese
geography affect
Japanese culture? (Credit: elminium/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0
Dimensions such as these help us frame any discussion about
how people differ. We can say, for example, that
most Americans are individualistic, activity-oriented, and
present/future-oriented. We can further say that they
value privacy and want to control their environment. In another
culture, perhaps the mode is past-oriented,
reflective, group-oriented, and unconcerned with achievement.
In Japan we hear that “the nail that sticks out
gets hammered down”—a comment reflecting a belief in
homogeneity within the culture and the importance
of the group. In the United States, by contrast, we hear “Look
out for Number One” and “A man’s home is his
castle”—comments reflecting a belief in the supremacy of the
individual over the group. Neither culture is
“right” or “better.” Instead, each culture must be recognized as
a force within individuals that motivates their
behaviors within the workplace. However, even within the U.S.
workforce, we must keep in mind that there are
subcultures that can influence behavior. For example, recent
work has shown that the Hispanic culture within
the United States places a high value on groups compared to
individuals and as a consequence takes a more
collective approach to decision-making.32 As we progress
through this discussion, we shall continually build
upon these differences as we attempt to understand behavior in
the workplace.

Exhibit 2.7 Cultural Differences among Managers in Four
Countries (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA
4.0 license)
1. What role do managers play to ensure that the culture of
individuals are valued and appreciated and
contribute to a successful work environment?
Authoritarianism
Basic incongruity thesis
Cognitive complexity
Culture
Dependability
Dogmatism
Ethics
Extroversion

Instrumental values
Introversion
Locus of control
Mental abilities
Personal values
Personality
Physical abilities
Psychomotor abilities
Self-esteem
Terminal values
Work ethic
Key Terms
Refers to an individual’s orientation toward authority.
Consists of three parts: what individuals want from
organizations, what
organizations want from individuals, and how these two
potentially conflicting sets of desires are
harmonized.
Represents a person’s capacity to acquire and sort through
various pieces of
information from the environment and organize them in such a
way that they make sense.
The collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the
members of one human group from
another; the interactive aggregate of common characteristics

that influences a human group’s response
to its environment.
Individuals who are seen as self-reliant, responsible, and
consistent, are viewed as
dependable.
Refers to a particular cognitive style that is characterized by
closed-mindedness and inflexibility.
Values that help us determine appropriate standards of behavior
and place limits on our behavior
both inside and outside the organization.
Refers to people who direct more of their attention to other
people, objects, and events.
Represent those values concerning the way we approach end-
states and whether
individuals believe in ambition, cleanliness, honesty, or
obedience.
Refers to people who focus their energies inwardly and have a
greater sensitivity to abstract
feelings.
Refers to the tendency among individuals to attribute the events
affecting their lives either
to their own actions or to external forces; it is a measure of how
much you think you control your own
destiny.
An individual’s intellectual capabilities and are closely linked
to how a person makes
decisions and processes information. Included here are such
factors as verbal comprehension, inductive
reasoning, and memory.

Represent an important force in organizational behavior for
several reasons.
A stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine
those communalities and
differences in the psychological behavior (thoughts, feelings,
and actions) of people that have continuity
in time and that may not be easily understood as the sole result
of the social and biological pressures of
the moment.
Basic functional abilities such as strength, and psychomotor
abilities such as manual
dexterity, eye-hand coordination, and manipulation skills.
Examples are manual dexterity, eye-hand coordination, and
manipulation skills.
One’s opinion or belief about one’s self and self-worth.
End-state goals that we prize.
Refers to the strength of one’s commitment and dedication to
hard work, both as an end in itself
and as a means to future rewards.
1. How do managers and organizations appropriately select
Because people enter organizations with preset dispositions, it
is important to be able to analyze important

individual characteristics, effectively select individuals, and
appropriately match them to their jobs. However,
this must be done carefully in light of both ethical and legal
issues that face managers today.
2.2 Employee Abilities and Skills
2. How do people with different abilities, skills, and
personalities build effective work teams?
Ability refers to one’s capacity to respond, whereas motivation
refers to one’s desire to respond. Abilities can
be divided into mental abilities and physical abilities.
Personality represents a stable set of characteristics and
tendencies that determines the psychological behavior of
people.
Personality development is influenced by several factors,
including physiological, cultural, family and group,
role, and situational determinants.
2.3 Personality: An Introduction
3. How do managers and employees deal effectively with
Self-esteem represents opinions and beliefs concerning one’s
self and one’s self-worth.
Locus of control is a tendency for people to attribute the events
affecting their lives either to their own actions
(referred to as internal locus of control) or to external forces
(referred to as external locus of control).
2.4 Personality and Work Behavior

4. How can organizations foster a work environment that allows
grow?
Authoritarianism represents an individual’s orientation toward
authority and is characterized by an overriding
conviction that it is appropriate for there to be clear status and
power differences between people.
2.5 Personality and Organization: A Basic Conflict?
5. How do managers know how to get the best from each
employee?
Dogmatism refers to a cognitive style characterized by closed-
mindedness and inflexibility.
The basic incongruity thesis asserts that individuals and
organizations exist in a constant state of conflict
because each has different goals and expectations from the
other. Employees want organizations to provide
more autonomy and meaningful work, while organizations want
employees to be more predictable, stable,
and dependable.
2.6 Personal Values and Ethics
6. What is the role of ethical behavior in managerial actions?
A value is an enduring belief that one specific mode of conduct
or end-state is preferable to others.
Instrumental values are beliefs concerning the most appropriate
ways to pursue end-states, whereas terminal
values are beliefs concerning the most desirable end-states
themselves.
Ethics are important to individuals because they serve as (1)

standards of behavior for determining a correct
course of action, (2) guidelines for decision-making and conflict
resolution, and (3) influences on employee
motivation. The work ethic refers to someone’s belief that hard
work and commitment to a task are both ends
in themselves and means to future rewards.
2.7 Cultural Differences
7. How do you manage and do business with people from
different cultures?
Culture refers to the collective mental programming of a group
or people that distinguishes them from others.
Culture (1) is shared by the members of the group, (2) is passed
on from older members to younger members,
and (3) shapes our view of the world. Six dimensions of culture
can be identified: (1) how people see
themselves, (2) how people see nature, (3) how people approach
interpersonal relationships, (4) how people
view activity and achievement, (5) how people view time, and
(6) how people view space.
1. Why is it important for managers to understand individual
differences at work?
2. Which employee abilities seem to be most important in
determining job performance? Explain.
3. Define personality. Which personality traits are most relevant

to understanding organizational behavior?
Why?
4. Explain how the concept of locus of control works. Provide
an example.
5. Describe the basic incongruity thesis. Do you agree with this
thesis? Under what circumstances might the
thesis be most likely to be true? Least likely to be true?
Explain.
6. Why is it important for managers to understand ethical
standards in the workplace? How do ethics affect
our behavior at work?
7. How should managers handle the “gray zones” that are
common to ethical dilemmas in organizations?
Explain.
8. Define culture. How do culture and cultural variations affect
work behavior and job performance? Provide
examples to show why a knowledge of such differences is
important for managers.
Management Skills Application Exercises
1. What Is Your Locus of Control?
Instructions: This instrument lists several pairs of statements
concerning the possible causes of behavior. For
each pair, select the letter (A or B) that better describes your
own beliefs. Remember: there are no right or
wrong answers. To view the scoring key, go to Appendix B.
1. A. In the long run, the bad things that happen to us are
balanced by the good ones.
B. Most misfortunes are the result of lack of ability, ignorance,

laziness, or all three.
2. A. I have often found that what is going to happen will
happen.
B. Trusting to fate has never turned out as well for me as
making a decision to take a definite course of
action.
3. A. Many of the unhappy things in people’s lives are partly
due to bad luck.
B. People’s misfortunes result from the mistakes they make.
4. A. Without the right breaks, one cannot be an effective
leader.
B. Capable people who fail to become leaders have not taken
advantage of their opportunities.
5. A. Many times, I feel I have little influence over the things
that happen to me.
B. It is impossible for me to believe that chance or luck plays
an important role in my life.
6. A. Most people don’t realize the extent to which their lives
are controlled by accidental happenings.
B. There really is no such thing as “luck.”
7. A. Unfortunately, an individual’s worth often passes
unrecognized no matter how hard she tries.
B. In the long run, people get the respect they deserve.
Source: Adapted from Julian B. Rotter, “Generalized
Expectancies for Internal Versus External Control of
Reinforcement.” Psychological Monographs, 80 (Whole No.
609, 1966), pp. 11–12.

2. Which Values Are Most Important to You?
Instructions: People are influenced by a wide variety of
personal values. In fact, it has been argued that values
represent a major influence on how we process information,
how we feel about issues, and how we behave. In
this exercise, you are given an opportunity to consider your own
personal values. Below are listed two sets of
statements. The first list presents several instrumental values,
while the second list presents several terminal
values. For each list you are asked to rank the statements
according to how important each is to you
personally. In the list of instrumental values, place a “1” next to
the value that is most important to you, a “2”
next to the second most important, and so forth. Clearly, you
will have to make some difficult decisions
concerning your priorities. When you have completed the list
for instrumental values, follow the same
procedure for the terminal values. Please remember that this is
not a test—there are no right or wrong
answers—so be completely honest with yourself. To view the
scoring key, go to Appendix B.
Instrumental Values
_____ Assertiveness; standing up for yourself
_____ Being helpful or caring toward others
_____ Dependability; being counted upon by others
_____ Education and intellectual pursuits
_____ Hard work and achievement
_____ Obedience; following the wishes of others
_____ Open-mindedness; receptivity to new ideas

_____ Self-sufficiency; independence
_____ Truthfulness; honesty
_____ Being well-mannered and courteous toward others
Terminal Values
_____ Happiness; satisfaction in life
_____ Knowledge and wisdom
_____ Peace and harmony in the world
_____ Pride in accomplishment
_____ Prosperity; wealth
_____ Lasting friendships
_____ Recognition from peers
_____ Salvation; finding eternal life
_____ Security; freedom from threat
_____ Self-esteem; self-respect
Managerial Decision Exercises
1. You work for a large multinational corporation with offices
around the globe. One of your colleagues has
been offered an assignment overseas to either the Japanese,
South Korean, or German offices for a long-
term assignment (three to seven years). She has asked your
advice on the opportunity because she is
concerned about the failure some others have encountered.
Often, they want to return home before their
assignment is complete, or they decide to quit. She is also
concerned about building relationships as a
manager with the local employees. Your friend is very skilled
technically and you know that she could be
successful in the positions being offered. You wonder whether
her apprehension has to do with her
personality, and whether that might have an impact on her
success for this role.

a. Identify the personality traits you think might be relevant to
being successful in a global assignment
in either Japan, South Korea, or Germany.
b. Develop a personality test aimed at measuring these
dimensions.
c. Do you think that your friend will fill out this questionnaire
honestly? If not, how would you ensure
that the results you get would be honest and truly reflect her
personality?
d. How would you validate such a test? Describe the steps you
would take.
2. It’s your final semester in college and you’re going through
several interviews with recruiters on campus.
Among the opportunities that you are interviewing for is an
entry-level position as a data analyst with a
large accounting firm. You have been told during the initial
interview that the firm uses a personality
assessment as part of their selection process. You feel that this
job requires someone who is very high in
introversion since it involves a lot of individual work involving
analysis of data on the one hand, but that in
potential future roles on an audit team, one would need a high
level of extroversion dealing with
colleagues on the team and with clients. You have a high level
of technical ability and can concentrate on
tasks for long periods and also feel that you are sociable, but

perhaps not as much as some other
students in other disciplines. The opportunity is terrific, it is a
great stepping-stone to career
advancement, and your faculty adviser is very supportive. Refer
to the personality test in the Managerial
Skills Application Exercises question 2 as an example of the
personality test that will be given. How are
you going to respond when completing the personality test? Are
you going to answer the questions
truthfully?
a. What are the advantages and disadvantages of completing the
questions honestly?
b. What are the advantages and disadvantages of completing the
questions in a way you think the
company is looking for?
Making a Diverse Workplace the Top Priority
Johnson & Johnson is a leader in multinational medical devices
as well as pharmaceutical and consumer
packaged goods. Founded in 1886, the company has been
through generations of cultural differences and is
consistently listed among the Fortune 500. Johnson & Johnson
is a household name for millions with many of
their products lining the shelves of medicine cabinets around
the globe. In 2017, Johnson & Johnson took the
number two spot on the Thomson Reuters Diversity & Inclusion
Index.
At such a multinational company, with over 130,000 employees
worldwide, the forefront of the focus on their
internal workforce is diversity. At the forefront of their mission
statement, this is clearly stated: “Make diversity
and inclusion how we work every day.” Having a mission

statement is wonderful, but how does Johnson &
Johnson live up to these standards day in and day out?
Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Wanda Bryant Hope works
tirelessly to inject the company with the very
founding principles that built the company 130 years ago. She is
one of 46 percent of employees worldwide
that are women, and is delivering solutions that serve all of the
patients and companies that work with
Johnson & Johnson.
One initiative that sets Johnson & Johnson apart in the diversity
category is their programs and initiatives such
as the Scientist Mentoring and Diversity Program (SMDP),
which is a yearlong mentorship program pairing
ethnically diverse students with industry leaders.
Additionally, the company commits to alignment with Human
Rights Campaign Equality Index benchmarks, as
well as supporting the armed forces and wounded soldiers.
These benefits include transgender-inclusive
health insurance coverage and paid time off after military leave
for soldiers to acclimate back to life at home.
These commitments make Johnson & Johnson one of the best
cases for a company that is making great strides
in a tough cultural climate to bridge the gaps and make all of
their employees, customers, and clients feel
included and a part of the bigger whole.
Questions:

1. What diversity challenges do you think Johnson & Johnson
management and employees face due to their
presence as worldwide organization?
2. What other considerations should the company take in order
to increase their impact of diversity and
inclusion in the workplace?
3. Johnson & Johnson prides themselves on bridging the gender
equality gap. What are some challenges or
concerns to consider in the future with their hiring practices?
Sources: Johnson & Johnson website accessed August 1, 2018,
https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/diversity;
Johnson & Johnson website accessed August 1, 2018,
http://www.careers.jnj.com/careers/what-makes-
johnson-johnson-a-global-leader-in-diversity-inclusion.
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
How do differences in perception affect employee behavior and
performance?
How can managers and organizations minimize the negative

impact of stereotypes and other barriers to
accurate social perception in interpersonal relations?
How do people attribute credit and blame for organizational
events?
How can a work environment characterized by positive work
attitudes be created and maintained?
How can managers and organizations develop a committed
workforce?
Exhibit 3.1 (Credit: Quinn Dombroski/ flickr/ Attribution-
ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Personal Perceptions Affect Workplace Harmony
Conflict was a feeling that James and Chaz were familiar with
in their workplace. It was just a matter of
time before their differences bubbled up to form a real hardship
on themselves as well as their
management teams.
Chaz is anxious to get ahead, really focused on how fast he can
accelerate his career. In order to
showcase his tenacity, he stays extra hours and often takes on
extra assignments from upper
management and doesn’t seem to mind. James, on the other
hand, is content in his position and
believes that if he does his regular job, he will be seen a stable
part of the team and will be rewarded for
his everyday efforts. James views Chaz’s behavior as “kissing
up” and resents Chaz for his extra efforts
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.
3
Perception and Job Attitudes
3.1 The Perceptual Process
1. How do differences in perception affect employee behavior
and performance?
By perception, we mean the process by which one screens,
selects, organizes, and interprets stimuli to give
them meaning.1 It is a process of making sense out of the
environment in order to make an appropriate
behavioral response. Perception does not necessarily lead to an
accurate portrait of the environment, but
rather to a unique portrait, influenced by the needs, desires,
values, and disposition of the perceiver. As
described by Kretch and associates,2 an individual’s perception
of a given situation is not a photographic
representation of the physical world; it is a partial, personal
construction in which certain objects, selected by
the individual for a major role, are perceived in an individual
manner. Every perceiver is, as it were, to some
degree a nonrepresentational artist, painting a picture of the
world that expresses an individual view of reality.
The multitude of objects that vie for attention are first selected
or screened by individuals. This process is
called perceptual selectivity. Certain of these objects catch our
attention, while others do not. Once

individuals notice a particular object, they then attempt to make
sense out of it by organizing or categorizing it
according to their unique frame of reference and their needs.
This second process is termed perceptual
organization. When meaning has been attached to an object,
individuals are in a position to determine an
appropriate response or reaction to it. Hence, if we clearly
recognize and understand we are in danger from a
falling rock or a car, we can quickly move out of the way.
Because of the importance of perceptual selectivity for
understanding the perception of work situations, we
will examine this concept in some detail before considering the
topic of social perception.
because it may make his own work look bad. James doesn’t give
a thought to the personal reasons why
Chaz may be acting that way, and instead ends up treating Chaz
poorly, with a short temper every time
they have to work together.
Chaz talks to his manager, Jerry, about the way that he is being
treated by James. He explains that he has
been having some personal troubles at home, his wife is
expecting, and they are trying to save for the
new addition to their family. Chaz is feeling pressure to work
hard and showcase his talents in order to
get a raise. He also expresses his feelings against James, mainly
that he shouldn’t be scrutinized for
going above and beyond when his colleagues may just decide to
do the minimum requirements. Jerry
understands, and he appreciates Chaz coming to him with his
concerns. They talk about ways to
measure Chaz’s extra efforts and plan a conversation during
their annual review period to discuss his
raise again. Jerry also suggests that Chaz talk with James to

alleviate some of the negative behavior he is
experiencing. He feels that if James understood the reasons
behind Chaz’s actions, he may be less
jealous and feel less threatened by him.
Questions:
1. How can an individual’s perceptions be a challenge in the
workplace?
2. What can James do in the future to address Chaz in a
different manner and better understand his
actions?
3. What do you think Jerry could have done differently to help
his employees overcome their
differences and work more efficiently together?
64 Chapter 3 Perception and Job Attitudes
Perceptual Selectivity: Seeing What We See
As noted above, perceptual selectivity refers to the process by
which individuals select objects in the
environment for attention. Without this ability to focus on one
or a few stimuli instead of the hundreds
constantly surrounding us, we would be unable to process all
the information necessary to initiate behavior. In
essence, perceptual selectivity works as follows (see Exhibit
3.2). The individual is first exposed to an object or
stimulus—a loud noise, a new car, a tall building, another
person, and so on. Next, the individual focuses
attention on this one object or stimulus, as opposed to others,

and concentrates his efforts on understanding
or comprehending the stimulus. For example, while conducting
a factory tour, two managers came across a
piece of machinery. One manager’s attention focused on the
stopped machine; the other manager focused on
the worker who was trying to fix it. Both managers
simultaneously asked the worker a question. The first
manager asked why the machine was stopped, and the second
manager asked if the employee thought that
he could fix it. Both managers were presented with the same
situation, but they noticed different aspects. This
example illustrates that once attention has been directed,
individuals are more likely to retain an image of the
object or stimulus in their memory and to select an appropriate
response to the stimulus. These various
influences on selective attention can be divided into external
influences and internal (personal) influences (see
Exhibit 3.3).
Exhibit 3.2 The Process of Perceptual Selectivity (Attribution:
license)
Exhibit 3.3 Major Influences on Selective Attention
BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
External Influences on Selective Attention
External influences consist of the characteristics of the
observed object or person that activate the senses.
Most external influences affect selective attention because of
either their physical properties or their dynamic
Chapter 3 Perception and Job Attitudes 65

properties.
Physical Properties. The physical properties of the objects
themselves often affect which objects receive
attention by the perceiver. Emphasis here is on the unique,
different, and out of the ordinary. A particularly
important physical property is size. Generally, larger objects
receive more attention than smaller ones.
Advertising companies use the largest signs and billboards
allowed to capture the perceiver’s attention.
However, when most of the surrounding objects are large, a
small object against a field of large objects may
receive more attention. In either case, size represents an
important variable in perception. Moreover, brighter,
louder, and more colorful objects tend to attract more attention
than objects of less intensity. For example,
when a factory foreman yells an order at his subordinates, it
will probably receive more notice (although it
may not receive the desired response) from workers. It must be
remembered here, however, that intensity
heightens attention only when compared to other comparable
stimuli. If the foreman always yells, employees
may stop paying much attention to the yelling. Objects that
contrast strongly with the background against
which they are observed tend to receive more attention than
less-contrasting objects. An example of the
contrast principle can be seen in the use of plant and highway
safety signs. A terse message such as “Danger”
is lettered in black against a yellow or orange background. A
final physical characteristic that can heighten
perceptual awareness is the novelty or unfamiliarity of the
object. Specifically, the unique or unexpected seen in
a familiar setting (an executive of a conservative company who
comes to work in Bermuda shorts) or the
familiar seen in an incongruous setting (someone in church

holding a can of beer) will receive attention.
Dynamic Properties. The second set of external influences on
selective attention are those that either change
over time or derive their uniqueness from the order in which
they are presented. The most obvious dynamic
property is motion. We tend to pay attention to objects that
move against a relatively static background. This
principle has long been recognized by advertisers, who often
use signs with moving lights or moving objects
to attract attention. In an organizational setting, a clear example
is a rate-buster, who shows up his colleagues
by working substantially faster, attracting more attention.
Another principle basic to advertising is repetition of a message
or image. Work instructions that are repeated
tend to be received better, particularly when they concern a dull
or boring task on which it is difficult to
concentrate. This process is particularly effective in the area of
plant safety. Most industrial accidents occur
because of careless mistakes during monotonous activities.
Repeating safety rules and procedures can often
help keep workers alert to the possibilities of accidents.
Personal Influences on Selective Attention
In addition to a variety of external factors, several important
personal factors are also capable of influencing
the extent to which an individual pays attention to a particular
stimulus or object in the environment. The two
most important personal influences on perceptual readiness are
response salience and response
disposition.
Response Salience. This is a tendency to focus on objects that
relate to our immediate needs or wants.
Response salience in the work environment is easily identified.

A worker who is tired from many hours of work
may be acutely sensitive to the number of hours or minutes until
quitting time. Employees negotiating a new
contract may know to the penny the hourly wage of workers
doing similar jobs across town. Managers with a
high need to achieve may be sensitive to opportunities for work
achievement, success, and promotion. Finally,
female managers may be more sensitive than many male
managers to condescending male attitudes toward
women. Response salience, in turn, can distort our view of our
surroundings. For example, as Ruch notes:
“Time spent on monotonous work is usually overestimated.
Time spent in interesting work is usually
underestimated. . . . Judgment of time is related to feelings of
success or failure. Subjects who are
experiencing failure judge a given interval as longer than do
subjects who are experiencing success. A given
interval of time is also estimated as longer by subjects trying to
get through a task in order to reach a desired
goal than by subjects working without such motivation.”3
Response Disposition. Whereas response salience deals with
immediate needs and concerns, response
disposition is the tendency to recognize familiar objects more
quickly than unfamiliar ones. The notion of
response disposition carries with it a clear recognition of the
importance of past learning on what we perceive

in the present. For instance, in one study, a group of individuals
was presented with a set of playing cards with
the colors and symbols reversed—that is, hearts and diamonds
were printed in black, and spades and clubs in
red. Surprisingly, when subjects were presented with these
cards for brief time periods, individuals
consistently described the cards as they expected them to be
(red hearts and diamonds, black spades and
clubs) instead of as they really were. They were predisposed to
see things as they always had been in the
past.4
Thus, the basic perceptual process is in reality a fairly
complicated one. Several factors, including our own
personal makeup and the environment, influence how we
interpret and respond to the events we focus on.
Although the process itself may seem somewhat complicated, it
in fact represents a shorthand to guide us in
our everyday behavior. That is, without perceptual selectivity
we would be immobilized by the millions of
stimuli competing for our attention and action. The perceptual
process allows us to focus our attention on the
more salient events or objects and, in addition, allows us to
categorize such events or objects so that they fit
into our own conceptual map of the environment.
Which Car Would You Buy?
When General Motors teamed up with Toyota to form
California-based New United Motor Manufacturing
Inc. (NUMMI), they had a great idea. NUMMI would
manufacture not only the popular Toyota Corolla but
would also make a GM car called the Geo Prizm. Both cars
would be essentially identical except for minor

styling differences. Economies of scale and high quality would
benefit the sales of both cars.
Unfortunately, General Motors forgot one thing. The North
American consumer holds a higher opinion
of Japanese-built cars than American-made ones. As a result,
from the start of the joint venture, Corollas
have sold rapidly, while sales of Geo Prizms have languished.
With hindsight, it is easy to explain what happened in terms of
perceptual differences. That is, the typical
consumer simply perceived the Corolla to be of higher quality
(and perhaps higher status) and bought
accordingly. Not only was the Prizm seen more skeptically by
consumers, but General Motors’ insistence
on a whole new name for the product left many buyers
unfamiliar with just what they were buying.
Perception was that main reason for lagging sales; however, the
paint job on the Prizm was viewed as
being among the worst ever. As a result, General Motors lost
$80 million on the Prizm in its first year of
sales. Meanwhile, demand for the Corolla exceeded supply.
The final irony here is that no two cars could be any more alike
than the Prizm and the Corolla. They are
built on the same assembly line by the same workers to the same
design specifications. They are, in fact,
the same car. The only difference is in how the consumers
perceive the two cars—and these perceptions
Social Perception in Organizations
Up to this point, we have focused on an examination of basic
perceptual processes—how we see objects or

attend to stimuli. Based on this discussion, we are now ready to
examine a special case of the perceptual
process—social perception as it relates to the workplace. Social
perception consists of those processes by
which we perceive other people.5 Particular emphasis in the
study of social perception is placed on how we
interpret other people, how we categorize them, and how we
form impressions of them.
Clearly, social perception is far more complex than the
perception of inanimate objects such as tables, chairs,
signs, and buildings. This is true for at least two reasons. First,
people are obviously far more complex and
dynamic than tables and chairs. More-careful attention must be
paid in perceiving them so as not to miss
important details. Second, an accurate perception of others is
usually far more important to us personally than
are our perceptions of inanimate objects. The consequences of
misperceiving people are great. Failure to
accurately perceive the location of a desk in a large room may
mean we bump into it by mistake. Failure to
perceive accurately the hierarchical status of someone and how
the person cares about this status difference
might lead you to inappropriately address the person by their
first name or use slang in their presence and
thereby significantly hurt your chances for promotion if that
person is involved in such decisions.
Consequently, social perception in the work situation deserves
special attention.
We will concentrate now on the three major influences on social
perception: the characteristics of (1) the
person being perceived, (2) the particular situation, and (3) the
perceiver. When taken together, these
influences are the dimensions of the environment in which we
view other people. It is important for students

of management to understand the way in which they interact
(see Exhibit 3.4).
obviously are radically different.
Over time, however, perceptions did change. While there was
nothing unique about the Prizm, the
vehicle managed to sell pretty well for the automaker and
carried on well into the 2000s. The Prizm was
also the base for the Pontiac Vibe, which was based on the
Corolla platform as well, and this is one of the
few collaborations that worked really well.
Sources: C. Eitreim, “10 Odd Automotive Brand Collaborations
(And 15 That Worked),” Car Culture,
January 19, 2019; R. Hof, “This Team-Up Has It All—Except
Sales,” Business Week, August 14, 1989, p. 35; C.
Eitreim, “15 GM Cars With The Worst Factory Paint Jobs (And
5 That'll Last Forever),” Motor Hub,
November 8, 2018.
Exhibit 3.4 Major Influences on Social Perception in
Organizations (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA
4.0 license)
The way in which we are evaluated in social situations is
greatly influenced by our own unique sets of personal
characteristics. That is, our dress, talk, and gestures determine

the kind of impressions people form of us. In
particular, four categories of personal characteristics can be
identified: (1) physical appearance, (2) verbal
communication, (3) nonverbal communication, and (4) ascribed
attributes.
Physical Appearance. A variety of physical attributes influence
our overall image. These include many of the
obvious demographic characteristics such as age, sex, race,
height, and weight. A study by Mason found that
most people agree on the physical attributes of a leader (i.e.,
what leaders should look like), even though these
attributes were not found to be consistently held by actual
leaders. However, when we see a person who
appears to be assertive, goal-oriented, confident, and articulate,
we infer that this person is a natural leader.6
Another example of the powerful influence of physical
appearance on perception is clothing. People dressed in
business suits are generally thought to be professionals, wher eas
people dressed in work clothes are assumed
to be lower-level employees.
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication. What we say to others—
as well as how we say it—can influence the
impressions others form of us. Several aspects of verbal
communication can be noted. First, the precision with
which one uses language can influence impressions about
cultural sophistication or education. An accent
provides clues about a person’s geographic and social
background. The tone of voice used provides clues
about a speaker’s state of mind. Finally, the topics people
choose to converse about provide clues about them.
Impressions are also influenced by nonverbal communication—
how people behave. For instance, facial

expressions often serve as clues in forming impressions of
others. People who consistently smile are often
thought to have positive attitudes.7 A whole field of study that
has recently emerged is body language, the
way in which people express their inner feelings subconsciously
through physical actions: sitting up straight
versus being relaxed, looking people straight in the eye versus
looking away from people. These forms of
expressive behavior provide information to the perceiver
concerning how approachable others are, how self-
confident they are, or how sociable they are.
Ascribed Attributes. Finally, we often ascribe certain attributes
to a person before or at the beginning of an
encounter; these attributes can influence how we perceive that
person. Three ascribed attributes are status,
occupation, and personal characteristics. We ascribe status to
someone when we are told that he or she is an
executive, holds the greatest sales record, or has in some way
achieved unusual fame or wealth. Research has
consistently shown that people attribute different motives to
people they believe to be high or low in status,
even when these people behave in an identical fashion.8 For
instance, high-status people are seen as having
greater control over their behavior and as being more self-
confident and competent; they are given greater
influence in group decisions than low-status people. Moreover,
high-status people are generally better liked
than low-status people. Occupations also play an important part
in how we perceive people. Describing people
as salespersons, accountants, teamsters, or research scientists

conjures up distinct pictures of these various
people before any firsthand encounters. In fact, these pictures
may even determine whether there can be an
encounter.
Characteristics of the Situation
The second major influence on how we perceive others is the
situation in which the perceptual process occurs.
Two situational influences can be identified: (1) the
organization and the employee’s place in it, and (2) the
location of the event.
Organizational Role. An employee’s place in the organizational
hierarchy can also influence his perceptions. A
classic study of managers by Dearborn and Simon emphasizes
this point. In this study, executives from various
departments (accounting, sales, production) were asked to read
a detailed and factual case about a steel
company.9 Next, each executive was asked to identify the major
problem a new president of the company
should address. The findings showed clearly that the executives’
perceptions of the most important problems
in the company were influenced by the departments in which
they worked. Sales executives saw sales as the
biggest problem, whereas production executives cited
production issues. Industrial relations and public
relations executives identified human relations as the primary
problem in need of attention.
In addition to perceptual differences emerging horizontally
across departments, such differences can also be
found when we move vertically up or down the hierarchy. The
most obvious difference here is seen between
managers and unions, where the former see profits, production,
and sales as vital areas of concern for the
company whereas the latter place much greater emphasis on

wages, working conditions, and job security.
Indeed, our views of managers and workers are clearly
influenced by the group to which we belong. The
positions we occupy in organizations can easily color how we
view our work world and those in it. Consider the
results of a classic study of perceptual differences between
superiors and subordinates.10 Both groups were
asked how often the supervisor gave various forms of feedback
to the employees. The results, shown in Table
3.1, demonstrate striking differences based on one’s location in
the organizational hierarchy.
Differences in Perception between Supervisors and Subordinates
Frequency with Which Supervisors Give Various Types of
Recognition for
Good Performance
Types of Recognition As Seen by Supervisors As Seen by
Subordinates
Gives privileges 52% 14%
Gives more responsibility 48 10
Gives a pat on the back 82 13
Gives sincere and thorough
praise

80 14
Trains for better jobs 64 9
Gives more interesting
work
51 5
Source: Adapted from R. Likert, New Patterns in Management
(New York: McGraw Hill, 1961), p. 91.
Location of Event. Finally, how we interpret events is also
influenced by where the event occurs. Behaviors
that may be appropriate at home, such as taking off one’s shoes,
may be inappropriate in the office.
Acceptable customs vary from country to country. For instance,
assertiveness may be a desirable trait for a
sales representative in the United States, but it may be seen as
being brash or coarse in Japan or China. Hence,
the context in which the perceptual activity takes place is
important.
Characteristics of the Perceiver
The third major influence on social perception is the personality
and viewpoint of the perceiver. Several
characteristics unique to our personalities can affect how we see
others. These include (1) self-concept, (2)
cognitive structure, (3) response salience, and (4) previous
experience with the individual.11
Self-Concept. Our self-concept represents a major influence on

how we perceive others. This influence is
manifested in several ways. First, when we understand ourselves
(i.e., can accurately describe our own
personal characteristics), we are better able to perceive others
accurately. Second, when we accept ourselves
(i.e., have a positive self-image), we are more likely to see
favorable characteristics in others. Studies have
shown that if we accept ourselves as we are, we broaden our
view of others and are more likely to view people
uncritically. Conversely, less secure people often find faults in
others. Third, our own personal characteristics
influence the characteristics we notice in others. For instance,
people with authoritarian tendencies tend to
view others in terms of power, whereas secure people tend to
see others as warm rather than cold.12 From a
management standpoint, these findings emphasize how
important it is for administrators to understa nd
themselves; they also provide justification for the human
relations training programs that are popular in many
organizations today.
Cognitive Structure. Our cognitive structures also influence
how we view people. People describe each other
differently. Some use physical characteristics such as tall or
short, whereas others use central descriptions
such as deceitful, forceful, or meek. Still others have more
complex cognitive structures and use multiple traits
in their descriptions of others; hence, a person may be described
as being aggressive, honest, friendly, and
hardworking. (See the discussion in Individual and Cultural
Differences on cognitive complexity.) Ostensibly,

the greater our cognitive complexity—our ability to
differentiate between people using multiple criteria—the
more accurate our perception of others. People who tend to
make more complex assessments of others also
tend to be more positive in their appraisals.13 Research in this
area highlights the importance of selecting
managers who exhibit high degrees of cognitive complexity.
These individuals should form more accurate
perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of their
subordinates and should be able to capitalize on their
strengths while ignoring or working to overcome their
weaknesses.
Response Salience. This refers to our sensitivity to objects in
the environment as influenced by our particular
needs or desires. Response salience can play an important role
in social perception because we tend to see
what we want to see. A company personnel manager who has a
bias against women, minorities, or
handicapped persons would tend to be adversely sensitive to
them during an employment interview. This
focus may cause the manager to look for other potentially
negative traits in the candidate to confirm his
biases. The influence of positive arbitrary biases is called the
halo effect, whereas the influence of negative
biases is often called the horn effect. Another personnel
manager without these biases would be much less
inclined to be influenced by these characteristics when viewing
prospective job candidates.
Previous Experience with the Individual. Our previous
experiences with others often will influence the way
in which we view their current behavior. When an employee has
consistently received poor performance
evaluations, a marked improvement in performance may go
unnoticed because the supervisor continues to

think of the individual as a poor performer. Similarly,
employees who begin their careers with several
successes develop a reputation as fast-track individuals and may
continue to rise in the organization long after
their performance has leveled off or even declined. The impact
of previous experience on present perceptions
should be respected and studied by students of management. For
instance, when a previously poor performer
earnestly tries to perform better, it is important for this
improvement to be recognized early and properly
rewarded. Otherwise, employees may give up, feeling that
nothing they do will make any difference.
Together, these factors determine the impressions we form of
others (see Exhibit 3.4). With these
impressions, we make conscious and unconscious decisions
about how we intend to behave toward people.
Our behavior toward others, in turn, influences the way they
regard us. Consequently, the importance of
understanding the perceptual process, as well as factors that
contribute to it, is apparent for managers. A
better understanding of ourselves and careful attention to others
leads to more accurate perceptions and
more appropriate actions.
1. How can you understand what makes up an individual’s
personality?
2. How does the content of the situation affect the perception of
the perceiver?
3. What are the characteristics that the perceiver can have on
interpreting personality?

3.2 Barriers to Accurate Social Perception
2. How can managers and organizations minimize the negative
In the perceptual process, several barriers can be identified that
inhibit the accuracy of our perception. These
barriers are (1) stereotyping, (2) selective perception, and (3)
perceptual defense. Each of these will be briefly
considered as it relates to social perception in work situations
(see Table 3.2).
Barriers to Accurate Perception of Others
Barrier Definition
Stereotyping A tendency to assign attributes to people solely on
the basis of their class or category
Selective
perception
A process by which we systematically screen out or discredit
information we don’t wish to
hear and focus instead on more salient information
Perceptual
defense
A tendency to distort or ignore information that is either

personally threatening or
culturally unacceptable
Stereotyping
One of the most common barriers in perceiving others at work is
stereotyping. A stereotype is a widely held
generalization about a group of people. Stereotyping is a
process in which attributes are assigned to people
solely on the basis of their class or category. It is particularly
likely to occur when one meets new people, since
very little is known about them at that time. On the basis of a
few prominent characteristics such as sex, race,
or age, we tend to place people into a few general categories.
We ascribe a series of traits to them based upon
the attributes of the category in which we have put them. We
assume that older people are old-fashioned,
conservative, obstinate, and perhaps senile. We view professors
as absentminded, impractical, idealistic, or
eccentric.
One explanation for the existence of stereotypes has been
suggested by Jain, Triandis, and Weick.14 They
argue that stereotypes may be to some extent based upon fact.
People tend to compare other groups with
their own group, accentuating minor differences between groups
to form a stereotype. For example, older
people as a group may indeed be more conservative or more
old-fashioned. These traits then become
emphasized and attributed to particular older individuals.
At least three types of stereotype can be found in organizations:
those dealing with age, race, and gender. Age
stereotypes can be found throughout organizations. A recent

study by15 found that there are still clear
stereotypes of older employees. They are thought to be (1) more
resistant to organizational change, (2) less
creative, (3) less likely to take calculated risks, (4) lower in
physical capacity, (5) less interested in learning new
techniques, and (6) less capable of learning new techniques.
When asked to make personnel decisions
concerning older people, the business students generally
followed several trends. First, they gave older people
lower consideration in promotion decisions. Older people also
received less attention and fewer resources for
training and development. Finally, older people tended to be
transferred to other departments instead of
confronted by their superiors when a problem with their
performance emerged.
Similar problems arise for people from different racial or
cultural backgrounds and for gender. A particular
problem in many companies today is that of attitudes toward
women as managers or executives. Although
succeeding in a managerial position is always difficult, the job
is all the harder if your coworkers, superiors, or
subordinates are not supportive.
To See Ourselves as Others See Us
In considering stereotyping in organizations, it may be
interesting to examine how people in different
countries and cultures see others around the world. Specifically,
we should note that “foreigners” often

hold certain stereotypes of what a “typical” American looks and
acts like. Look, for example, at Table 3.3.
This table shows how people in seven countries around the
globe view the typical American. Note the
sizable differences in perceptions.
Foreign Observations of Americans
The following are quotations from foreign visitors to the United
States:
India: “Americans seem to be in a perpetual hurry. Just watch
the way they walk down the street.
They never allow themselves the leisure to enjoy life; there are
too many things to do.”
Kenya: “Americans appear to us rather distant. They are not
really as close to other people—even
fellow Americans—as Americans overseas tend to portray. It’s
almost as if an American says, ‘I won’t
let you get too close to me.’ It’s like building a wall.”
Turkey: “Once we were out in a rural area in the middle of
nowhere and saw an American come to a
stop sign. Though he could see in both directions for miles and
no traffic was coming, he still
stopped!”
Colombia: “The tendency in the United States to think that life
is only work hits you in the face. Work
seems to be the one type of motivation.”
Indonesia: “In the United States everything has to be talked
about and analyzed. Even the littlest
thing has to be ‘Why, Why, Why?’ I get a headache from such
persistent questions.”

Ethiopia: “The American is very explicit; he wants a ‘yes’ or
‘no.’ If someone tries to speak
figuratively, the American is confused.”
Iran: “The first time . . . my [American] professor told me, ‘I
don’t know the answer, I will have to look
it up,’ I was shocked. I asked myself, ‘Why is he teaching me?’
In my country a professor would give
the wrong answer rather than admit ignorance.”
Selective Perception
Selective perception is the process by which we systematically
screen out information we don’t wish to hear,
focusing instead on more salient information. Saliency here is
obviously a function of our own experiences,
needs, and orientations. The example of the Dearborn and
Simon16 study of managers described earlier
provides an excellent glimpse of selective perception.
Production managers focused on production problems
to the exclusion of other problems. Accountants, personnel
specialists, and sales managers were similarly
exclusive. Everyone saw his own specialty as more important in
the company than other specialties.
Another example of selective perception in groups and

organizations is provided by Miner.17 Miner
summarizes a series of experiments dealing with groups
competing on problem-solving exercises.
Consistently, the groups tended to evaluate their own solutions
as better than the solutions proposed by
others. Such findings resemble a syndrome found in many
research organizations. There is a frequent
tendency for scientists to view ideas or products originating
outside their organization or department as
inferior and to judge other researchers as less competent and
creative than themselves. This is often referred
to as the “Not-Invented-Here” syndrome. Similar patterns of
behavior can be found among managers, service
workers, and secretaries.
Perceptual Defense
A final barrier to social perception is perceptual defense.18
Perceptual defense is founded on three related
principles:
1. Emotionally disturbing or threatening stimuli have a higher
recognition threshold than neutral stimuli.
2. Such stimuli are likely to elicit substitute perceptions that are
radically altered so as to prevent recognition
of the presented stimuli.
3. These critical stimuli arouse emotional reactions even though
the stimuli are not recognized.
In other words, through perceptual defense we tend to distort or
ignore information that is either personally
threatening or culturally unacceptable. Because emotionall y
disturbing stimuli have a higher recognition
Foreign Observations of Americans

Source: J. Feig and G. Blair, There Is a Difference, 2nd ed.
(Washington: Meridian House International).
Meridian House International is an organization that conducts
intercultural training for visitors to the
United States and for Americans going abroad.
When examining these comments, consider the extent to which
you think these perceptions and
stereotypes are accurate or inaccurate. Why do people in
different countries form such divergent
opinions of our country? How do their perceptions color the
behavior and effectiveness of American
managers working abroad? On the basis of this assessment, you
might want to reassess your own
stereotypes of people in different countries. How accurate do
you think your own stereotypes have
been?
threshold, people are less likely to fully confront or
acknowledge the threat. Instead, they may see entirely
different or even erroneous stimuli that are safer. Even so, the
presence of the critical stimulus often leads to
heightened emotions despite the lack of recognition. For
instance, suppose that during a contract negotiation
for an assembly plant, word leaked out that because of declining
profits, the plant might have to close down
permanently. Anxious workers might ignore this message and
instead choose to believe the company
management is only starting false rumors to increase their

leverage during wage negotiations. Even if the
leverage claim is accepted by the workers as truth, strong
emotional reactions against the company can be
expected.
One effect of perceptual defense is to save us from squarely
facing events that we either do not wish to handle
or may be incapable of handling. We dissipate our emotions by
directing our attention to other (substitute)
objects and hope the original event that distressed us will
eventually disappear.
Perceptual defense is especially pronounced when people are
presented with a situation that contradicts their
long-held beliefs and attitudes. In a classic study of perceptual
defense among college students, Haire and
Grunes presented the students with descriptions of factory
workers. Included in these descriptions was the
word intelligent. Because the word was contrary to the students’
beliefs concerning factory workers, they
chose to reject the description by using perceptual defenses.19
Four such defense mechanisms can be
identified:20
1. Denial. A few of the subjects denied the existence of
intelligence in factory workers.
2. Modification and distortion. This was one of the most
frequent forms of defense. The pattern was to
explain away the perceptual conflict by joining intelligence
with some other characteristics—for instance,
“He is intelligent but doesn’t possess initiative to rise above his
group.”
3. Change in perception. Many students changed their
perception of the worker because of the intelligence

characteristic. Most of the change, however, was very subtle—
for example, “cracks jokes” became “witty.”
4. Recognition, but refusal to change. A very few students
explicitly recognized the conflict between their
perception of the worker and the characteristic that was
confronting them. For example, one subject
stated, “The trait seems to be conflicting . . . most factory
workers I have heard about aren’t too
intelligent.”
Perceptual defense makes any situation in which conflict is
likely to be present more difficult. It creates blind
spots, causing us to fail to hear and see events as they really
are. The challenge for managers is to reduce or
minimize the perception of threat in a situation so these
defenses are not immediately called into play. This
can be accomplished by reassuring people that things that are
important to them will not be tampered with,
or by accentuating the positive.
3.3 Attributions: Interpreting the Causes of Behavior
3. How do people attribute credit and blame for organizational
events?
1. What are the barriers that can inhibit the accuracy of our
perception?
2. What are the cultural factors that can influence perception?
3. What is perceptual defense, and what are examples of the
mechanisms that can be identified?

A major influence on how people behave is the way they
interpret the events around them. People who feel
they have control over what happens to them are more likely to
accept responsibility for their actions than
those who feel control of events is out of their hands. The
cognitive process by which people interpret the
reasons or causes for their behavior is described by attributio n
theory.21 Specifically, “attribution theory
concerns the process by which an individual interprets events as
being caused by a particular part of a
relatively stable environment.”22
Attribution theory is based largely on the work of Fritz Heider.
Heider argues that behavior is determined by a
combination of internal forces (e.g., abilities or effort) and
external forces (e.g., task difficulty or luck).
Following the cognitive approach of Lewin and Tolman, he
emphasizes that it is perceived determinants, rather
than actual ones, that influence behavior. Hence, if employees
perceive that their success is a function of their
own abilities and efforts, they can be expected to behave
differently than they would if they believed job
success was due to chance.
The Attribution Process
The underlying assumption of attribution theory is that people
are motivated to understand their environment
and the causes of particular events. If individuals can
understand these causes, they will then be in a better
position to influence or control the sequence of future events.
This process is diagrammed in Exhibit 3.5.

Specifically, attribution theory suggests that particular
behavioral events (e.g., the receipt of a promotion) are
analyzed by individuals to determine their causes. This process
may lead to the conclusion that the promotion
resulted from the individual’s own effort or, alternatively, from
some other cause, such as luck. Based on such
cognitive interpretations of events, individuals revise their
cognitive structures and rethink their assumptions
about causal relationships. For instance, an individual may infer
that performance does indeed lead to
promotion. Based on this new structure, the individual makes
choices about future behavior. In some cases,
the individual may decide to continue exerting high levels of
effort in the hope that it will lead to further
promotions. On the other hand, if an individual concludes that
the promotion resulted primarily from chance
and was largely unrelated to performance, a different cognitive
structure might be created, and there might
be little reason to continue exerting high levels of effort. In
other words, the way in which we perceive and
interpret events around us significantly affects our future
behaviors.
Exhibit 3.5 The General Attribution Process (Attribution:
license)
Internal and External Causes of Behavior
Building upon the work of Heider, Harold Kelley attempted to
identify the major antecedents of internal and
external attributions.23 He examined how people determine—
or, rather, how they actually perceive—whether

the behavior of another person results from internal or external
causes. Internal causes include ability and
effort, whereas external causes include luck and task ease or
difficulty.24 Kelley’s conclusion, illustrated in
Exhibit 3.6, is that people actually focus on three factors when
making causal attributions:
Exhibit 3.6 Causes of Internal and External Attributions
Adapted from Nyla Branscombe and Robert A. Baron. Social
Psychology.
Fourteenth Edition, 2016, Pearson. (Attribution: Copyright Rice
1. Consensus. The extent to which you believe that the person
being observed is behaving in a manner that
is consistent with the behavior of his or her peers. High
consensus exists when the person’s actions
reflect or are similar to the actions of the group; low consensus
exists when the person’s actions do not.
2. Consistency. The extent to which you believe that the person
being observed behaves consistently—in a
similar fashion—when confronted on other occasions with the
same or similar situations. High
consistency exists when the person repeatedly acts in the same
way when faced with similar stimuli.
3. Distinctiveness. The extent to which you believe that the
person being observed would behave consistently

when faced with different situations. Low distinctiveness exists
when the person acts in a similar manner
in response to different stimuli; high distinctiveness exists when
the person varies his or her response to
different situations.
How do these three factors interact to influence whether one’s
attributions are internal or external? According
to the exhibit, under conditions of high consensus, high
consistency, and high distinctiveness, we would
expect the observer to make external attributions about the
causes of behavior. That is, the person would
attribute the behavior of the observed (say, winning a golf
tournament) to good fortune or some other
external event. On the other hand, when consensus is low,
consistency is high, and distinctiveness is low, we
would expect the observer to attribute the observed behavior
(winning the golf tournament) to internal
causes (the winner’s skill).
In other words, we tend to attribute the reasons behind the
success or failure of others to either internal or
external causes according to how we interpret the underlying
forces associated with the others’ behavior.
Consider the example of the first female sales manager in a firm
to be promoted to an executive rank. How do
you explain her promotion—luck and connections or ability and
performance? To find out, follow the model. If
she, as a sales representative, had sold more than her (male)
counterparts (low consensus in behavior),
consistently sold the primary product line in different sales

territories (high consistency), and was also able to
sell different product lines (low distinctiveness), we would
more than likely attribute her promotion to her own
abilities. On the other hand, if her male counterparts were also
good sales representatives (high consensus)
and her sales record on secondary products was inconsistent
(high distinctiveness), people would probably
attribute her promotion to luck or connections, regardless of her
sales performance on the primary product
line (high consistency).
Exhibit 3.7 Golf What internal and external attributions can you
make about this golfer who is celebrating a hole in one? (Notice
the untied
shoe.) (Credit: John Fink/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC
BY 2.0))
Attributional Bias
One final point should be made with respect to the attributional
process. In making attributions concerning
the causes of behavior, people tend to make certain errors of
interpretation. Two such errors, or attribution
biases, should be noted here. The first is called the fundamental
attribution error. This error is a tendency to
underestimate the effects of external or situational causes of
behavior and to overestimate the effects of
internal or personal causes. Hence, when a major probl em
occurs within a certain department, we tend to
blame people rather than events or situations.

The second error in attribution processes is generally called the
self-serving bias. There is a tendency, not
surprisingly, for individuals to attribute success on an event or
project to their own actions while attributing
failure to others. Hence, we often hear sales representatives
saying, “I made the sale,” but “They stole the sale
from me” rather than “I lost it.” These two biases in interpreting
how we see the events around us help us
understand why employees looking at the same event often see
substantially different things.
3.4 Attitudes and Behavior
4. How can a work environment characterized by positive work
Closely related to the topic of perception and attribution—
indeed, largely influenced by it—is the issue of
attitudes. An attitude can be defined as a predisposition to
respond in a favorable or unfavorable way to
objects or persons in one’s environment.25 When we like or
dislike something, we are, in effect, expressing our
attitude toward the person or object.
Three important aspects of this definition should be noted.
First, an attitude is a hypothetical construct; that is,
although its consequences can be observed, the attitude itself
cannot. Second, an attitude is a unidimensional
concept: An attitude toward a particular person or obj ect ranges
on a continuum from very favorable to very
unfavorable. We like something or we dislike something (or we
are neutral). Something is pleasurable or
unpleasurable. In all cases, the attitude can be evaluated along a
single evaluative continuum. And third,
attitudes are believed to be related to subsequent behavior. We

will return to this point later in the discussion.
An attitude can be thought of as composed of three highly
interrelated components: (1) a cognitive
component, dealing with the beliefs and ideas a person has
about a person or object; (2) an affective
component (affect), dealing with a person’s feelings toward the
person or object; and (3) an intentional
component, dealing with the behavioral intentions a person has
with respect to the person or object.26
Now that we know what an attitude is, let us consider how
attitudes are formed and how they influence
behavior. A general model of the relationship between attitudes
and behavior is shown in Exhibit 3.8. As can
be seen, attitudes lead to behavioral intentions, which, in turn,
lead to actual behavior. Following behavior, we
can often identify efforts by the individual to justify his
behavior. Let us examine each of these components of
the model separately, beginning with the process of attitude
formation.
1. What is attribution theory? Describe the attribution process.
2. What are the internal and external causes of attribution?
Exhibit 3.8 Relationship between Attitudes and Behavior
How Are Attitudes Formed?

There is considerable disagreement about this question. One
view offered by psychologist Barry Staw and
others is the dispositional approach,27 which argues that
attitudes represent relatively stable predispositions
to respond to people or situations around them. That is,
attitudes are viewed almost as personality traits.
Thus, some people would have a tendency—a predisposition—to
be happy on the job, almost regardless of the
nature of the work itself. Others may have an internal tendency
to be unhappy, again almost regardless of the
actual nature of the work. Evidence in support of this approach
can be found in a series of studies that found
that attitudes change very little among people before and after
they make a job change. To the extent that
these findings are correct, managers may have little influence
over improving job attitudes short of trying to
select and hire only those with appropriate dispositions.
A second approach to attitude formation is called the situational
approach. This approach argues that
attitudes emerge as a result of the uniqueness of a given
situation. They are situationally determined and can
vary in response to changing work conditions. Thus, as a result
of experiences at work (a boring or
unrewarding job, a bad supervisor, etc.), people react by
developing appropriate attitudes. Several variations
on this approach can be identified. Some researchers suggest
that attitudes result largely from the nature of
the job experience itself. That is, an employee might reason: “I
don’t get along well with my supervisor;
therefore, I become dissatisfied with my job.” To the extent that
this accurately describes how attitudes are
formed, it also implies that attitudes can be changed relatively
easily. For example, if employees are
dissatisfied with their job because of conflicts with supervisors,
either changing supervisors or changing the

supervisors’ behavior may be viable means of improving
employee job attitudes. In other words, if attitudes
are largely a function of the situation, then attitudes can be
changed by altering the situation.
Other advocates of the situational approach suggest a somewhat
more complicated process of attitude
formation—namely, the social-information-processing approach.
This view, developed by Pfeffer and
Salancik, asserts that attitudes result from “socially constructed
realities” as perceived by the individual (see
Exhibit 3.9).28 That is, the social context in which the
individual is placed shapes his perceptions of the
situation and hence his attitudes.
Exhibit 3.9 A Social-Information-Processing View of Attitudes
BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
Here is how it works. Suppose a new employee joins a work
group consisting of people who have worked
together for some time. The existing group already has opinions
and feelings about the fairness of the
supervisor, the quality of the workplace, the adequacy of the
compensation, and so forth. Upon arriving, the
new worker is fed socially acceptable cues from co-workers
about acceptable attitudes toward various aspects
of the work and company. Thus, due in part to social forces, the

new employee begins to form attitudes based
on externally provided bits of information from the group
instead of objective attributes of the workplace. If
the social-information-processing perspective is correct,
changing the attitudes of one person will be difficult
unless the individual is moved to a different group of coworkers
or unless the attitudes of the current
coworkers are changed.
Which approach is correct? In point of fact, research indicates
that both the dispositional and the social-
information-processing views have merit, and it is probably
wise to recognize that socially constructed realities
and dispositions interact to form the basis for an individual’s
attitudes at work. The implication of this
combined perspective for changing attitudes is that efforts
should not assume that minor alterations in the
situation will have significant impacts on individual attitudes,
but that systematic efforts focusing on groups
and interconnected social systems are likely required for
successful changes in attitudes.
Behavioral Intentions and Actual Behavior
Regardless of how the attitudes are formed (either through the
dispositional or social-information-processing
approach), the next problem we face is understanding how
resulting behavioral intentions guide actual
behavior (return to Exhibit 3.8). Clearly, this relationship is not
a perfect one. Despite one’s intentions, various
internal and external constraints often serve to modify an
intended course of action. Hence, even though you
decide to join the union, you may be prevented from doing so
for a variety of reasons. Similarly, a person may
have every intention of coming to work but may get the flu.
Regardless of intent, other factors that also
determine actual behavior often enter the picture.

Behavioral Justification
Finally, people often feel a need for behavioral justification to
ensure that their behaviors are consistent with
their attitudes toward the event (see Exhibit 3.8). This tendency
is called cognitive consistency.29 When
people find themselves acting in a fashion that is inconsistent
with their attitudes—when they experience
cognitive dissonance—they experience tension and attempt to
reduce this tension and return to a state of
cognitive consistency.
For example, a manager may hate his job but be required to
work long hours. Hence, he is faced with a clear
discrepancy between an attitude (dislike of the job) and a
behavior (working long hours) and will probably
experience cognitive dissonance. In order to become cognitively
consistent, he can do one of two things. First,
he can change his behavior and work fewer hours. However, this
may not be feasible. Alternatively, he can
change his attitude toward the job to a more positive one. He
may, for example, convince himself that the job
is really not that bad and that working long hours may lead to
rapid promotion. In doing so, he achieves a
state of cognitive consistency. Failure to do so will more than
likely lead to increased stress and withdrawal
from the job situation.
3.5 Work-Related Attitudes
5. How can managers and organizations develop a committed
workforce?

When we apply the concept of attitudes to work settings, we
have to specify which attitude we are concerned
with. Although a variety of work-related attitudes can be
identified, the one receiving the most attention is job
satisfaction. As this is one of the most widely studied concepts
in organizational behavior, we will examine it
here in some detail.
Job Involvement and Organizational Commitment
First, however, we should introduce two job attitudes that
should also be recognized: job involvement and
organizational commitment. Job involvement refers to the extent
to which a person is interested in and
committed to assigned tasks. This is not to say that the person is
“happy” (or satisfied) with the job, only that
he feels a certain responsibility toward ensuring that the job
itself is done correctly and with a high standard of
competence. Here the focus of the attitude is the job itself.30
Organizational commitment, on the other hand, represents the
relative strength of an individual’s
identification with and involvement in an organization.31
Commitment can be characterized by three factors:
(1) a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals
and values, (2) a willingness to exert
considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and (3) a
strong desire to maintain membership in the
organization. When viewed this way, commitment represents
something beyond mere passive loyalty to the
company. Instead, it involves an active relationship with the
organization in which individuals are willing to
1. What is attitude, and how does it impact the work

environment?
2. What is behavioral justification?
give something of themselves in order to help the company
succeed and prosper. A careful reading of the
research on keys to the success of many Japanese firms will
highlight the importance played by a committed
work force. Now we turn to the third work attitude of job
satisfaction.
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction may be defined as “a pleasurable or positive
emotional state resulting from the appraisal of
one’s job or job experience.”32 It results from the perception
that an employee’s job actually provides what he
values in the work situation.
Several characteristics of the concept of job satisfaction follow
from this definition. First, satisfaction is an
emotional response to a job situation. It can be fully understood
only by introspection. As with any attitude, we
cannot observe satisfaction; we must infer its existence and
quality either from an employee’s behavior or
verbal statements.
Second, job satisfaction is perhaps best understood in terms of
discrepancy. Several writers have pointed to
the concept of job satisfaction as being a result of how much a
person wants or expects from the job

compared to how much he actually receives.33 People come to
work with varying levels of job expectations.
These expectations may vary not only in quality (different
people may value different things in a job), but also
in intensity. On the basis of work experiences, people receive
outcomes (rewards) from the job. These include
not only extrinsic rewards, such as pay and promotion, but also
a variety of intrinsic rewards, such as satisfying
coworker relations and meaningful work. To the extent that the
outcomes received by an employee meet or
exceed expectations, we would expect the employee to be
satisfied with the job and wish to remain. On those
occasions when outcomes actually surpass expectations, we
would expect employees to reevaluate their
expectations and probably raise them to meet available
outcomes. However, when outcomes do not meet
expectations, employees are dissatisfied and may prefer to seek
alternative sources of satisfaction, either by
changing jobs or by placing greater value on other life
activities, such as outside recreation.
Dimensions of Job Satisfaction. It has been argued that job
satisfaction actually represents several related
attitudes. So, when we speak of satisfaction, we must specify
“satisfaction with what?” Research has
suggested that five job dimensions represent the most salient
characteristics of a job about which people have
affective responses. These five are:
1. Work itself. The extent to which tasks performed by
employees are interesting and provide opportunities
for learning and for accepting responsibility.
2. Pay. The amount of pay received, the perceived equity of the
pay, and the method of payment.
3. Promotional opportunities. The availability of realistic

opportunities for advancement.
4. Supervision. The technical and managerial abilities of
supervisors; the extent to which supervisors
demonstrate consideration for and interest in employees.
5. Coworkers. The extent to which coworkers are friendly,
technically competent, and supportive.
Although other dimensions of job satisfaction have been
identified, these five dimensions are used most often
when assessing various aspects of job attitudes in organizations.
Measurement of Job Satisfaction. Probably the most common
attitude surveys in organizations today focus
on job satisfaction. Satisfaction is considered by many
managers to be an important indicator of
organizational effectiveness, and therefore it is regularly
monitored to assess employee feelings toward the
organization. By far the most common means of assessing
satisfaction is the rating scale. Rating scales
represent direct verbal self-reports concerning employee
feelings; they have been widely used in companies
since the 1930s. Several job satisfaction scales exist. One of the
most popular is the Minnesota Satisfaction
Questionnaire (MSQ). This instrument uses a Likert-response
format to generate satisfaction scores on 26
scales, including satisfaction with compensation, promotion
opportunities, coworkers, recognition, and so
forth. You can assess your scoring on a short version of this
instrument in the assessment section of this
chapter.

The MSQ and similar rating scales have several advantages for
evaluating levels of job satisfaction. First, they
are relatively short and simple and can be completed by large
numbers of employees quickly. Second, because
of the generalized wording of the various terms, the instruments
can be administered to a wide range of
employees in various jobs. It is not necessary to alter the
questionnaire for each job classification. Finally,
extensive normative data (or norms) are available. These norms
include summaries of the scores of thousands
of people who have completed the instruments. Hence, it is
possible for employers in other organizations to
determine relative standings.
However, although rating scales have many virtues compared to
other techniques, at least two drawbacks
must be recognized. First, as with any self-report inventory, it
is assumed that respondents are both willing
and able to describe their feelings accurately. As noted by
several researchers,34 people often consciously or
unconsciously distort information that they feel is damaging and
enhance information that they feel is
beneficial. For example, it is possible that employees who think
their supervisors may see the results of their
questionnaire may report overly favorable job attitudes.
A second problem with rating scales is the underlying
assumption that questionnaire items mean the same
thing to all people. There may, in fact, not be a common
interpretation across individuals. Even so, rating
scales have proved to be helpful in assessing satisfaction in
various aspects of the job situation. Managers can
use the results to identify potential problem areas and to
generate discussions and action plans of how to
correct aspects of jobs or the organization that are causing

unacceptable levels of dissatisfaction.
C U S T O M E R S A T I S F A C T I O N A N D Q U A L I
T Y
How Satisfied Are Employees?
If you’ve ever flown on Southwest Airlines, you can tell
something is different just from the first
interaction with their employees. From the flight attendants, to
the pilot’s announcements, and even to
their customer service representatives, they have a cheerful
disposition, and contrary to popular belief,
this isn’t an act.
In 2017, Southwest Airlines announced that it would be sharing
their $586 million in profits with its 54,000
employees, given them a bonus of approximately 13.2 percent
on average. This doesn’t account for the
extra $351 million that they contributed to the employee’s
401(k) plans either. This is just one of the
many ways that Southwest has given back to their employees in
a day and age when minimum wage for
even qualified candidates seems like a fight.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly reflects that “Our people-first
approach, which has guided our company since
it was founded, means our company does well, our people do
really, really well. Our people work
incredibly hard and deserve to share in Southwest’s success.”
With this attitude, it is no wonder the
employees on and off your flight are showing their satisfaction
in their everyday attitudes. The year 2017
was the 43rd year that Southwest shared its profits with their
people. While compensation ranks among

one of the most attributed traits of a company to help with
employee satisfaction, it goes much deeper
than that to keep motivation high.
At Southwest, they rank employees first and customers second.
They create a culture of fun and inclusive
core values that help to give their employees a sense of
community and belonging. When their
employees are motivated and take pride in what they do, they
are able to give their best to their
customers every day, which accounts for their highly ranked
customer satisfaction results on surveys
each year.
Sources: Dahl, Darren, “Why do Southwest Employees Always
Seem so Happy,” Forbes, July, 28, 2017,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/darrendahl/2017/07/28/why-do-
southwest-airlines-employees-always-
seem-so-happy/#3cba8dbc59b0; Martin, Emmie, “A major
airline says there's something it values more
than its customers, and there's a good reason why,” Business
Insider, July 29, 2015,
https://www.businessinsider.com/southwest-airlines-puts-
employees-first-2015-7; Ramdas, Shreesha,
“The Southwest Way to Employee Satisfaction: Flying High
Like the High Flier,” Customer Think, May 12,
2018, (http://customerthink.com/the-southwest-way-to-
employee-satisfaction-flying-high-like-the-high-
flier/.

Questions:
1. Oftentimes it is hard to stay at the top. What considerations
should Southwest take to maintain their
employee satisfaction and keep improving?
2. Not all companies can share profits. What would you suggest
to a new company that is just starting
off to help gain high employee satisfaction?
1. How can organizations foster positive job involvement and
instill positive attitudes in their
employees?
2. What are the dimensions of job satisfaction?
Affect
Attitude
Attribution biases
Attribution theory
Behavioral justification
Body language
Cognitive consistency
Cognitive dissonance

Dispositional approach
Fundamental attribution error
Halo effect
Job involvement
Job satisfaction
Organizational commitment
Perception
Perceptual defense
Perceptual organization
Perceptual selectivity
Response disposition
Response salience
Selective perception
Self-serving bias
Situational approach
Key Terms
Dealing with a person’s feelings toward the person or object.
A predisposition to respond in a favorable or unfavorable way
to objects or persons in one’s
environment.
Covers both the fundamental attribution error and the self-
serving bias.

Concerns the process by which an individual interprets events
as being caused by a
particular part of a relatively stable environment.
The need to ensure that one’s behaviors are consistent with their
attitudes toward
the event.
The manner in which people express their inner feelings
subconsciously through physical
actions such as sitting up straight versus being relaxed or
looking people straight in the eye versus
looking away from people.
The need for behavioral justification to ensure that a person’s
behaviors are
consistent with their attitudes toward an event.
Finding one’s self acting in a fashion that is inconsistent with
their attitudes and
experiencing tension and attempting to reduce this tension and
return to a state of cognitive consistency.
Argues that attitudes represent relatively stable predispositions
to respond to
people or situations around them.
The tendency to underestimate the effects of external or
situational causes
of behavior and to overestimate the effects of internal or
personal causes.
The influence of positive arbitrary biases.
Refers to the extent to which a person is interested in and
committed to assigned tasks.

A pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the
appraisal of one’s job or job
experience.
Represents the relative strength of an individual’s identification
with and
involvement in an organization.
The process by which one screens, selects, organizes, and
interprets stimuli to give them
meaning.
A defense that perceives emotionally disturbing or threatening
stimuli as having a
higher recognition threshold than neutral stimuli. Such stimuli
are likely to elicit substitute perceptions
that are radically altered so as to prevent recognition of the
presented stimuli that arouse emotional
reactions even though the stimuli are not recognized.
When meaning has been attached to an object, individuals are in
a position to
determine an appropriate response or reaction to it.
Refers to the process by which individuals select objects in the
environment for
attention.
The tendency to recognize familiar objects more quickly than
unfamiliar ones.
The tendency to focus on objects that relate to our immediate
needs or wants.
The process by which we systematically screen out information
we don’t wish to hear,

focusing instead on more salient information.
The tendency for individuals to attribute success on an event or
project to their own
actions while attributing failure to others.
This approach argues that attitudes emerge as a result of the
uniqueness of a given
situation.
Social perception
Social-information-processing approach
Stereotyping
Consists of those processes by which we perceive other people.
Asserts that attitudes result from “socially constructed realities”
as perceived by the individual.
A tendency to assign attributes to people solely on the basis of
their class or category.
3.1 The Perceptual Process
1. How do differences in perception affect employee behavior
and performance?
One of the key determinants of people’s behavior in

organizations is how they see and interpret situations and
people around them. It is vital for anyone (manager or
subordinate) who desires to be more effective to
understand the critical aspects of context, object, and perceiver
that influence perceptions and interpretations
and the relationship between these and subsequent attitudes,
intentions, and behaviors. This understanding
will not only facilitate the ability to correctly understand and
anticipate behaviors, but it will also enhance the
ability to change or influence that behavior. Perception is the
process by which individuals screen, select,
organize, and interpret stimuli in order to give them meaning.
Perceptual selectivity is the process by which
individuals select certain stimuli for attention instead of others.
Selective attention is influenced by both
external factors (e.g., physical or dynamic properties of the
object) and personal factors (e.g., response
salience). Social perception is the process by which we percei ve
other people. It is influenced by the
characteristics of the person perceived, the perceiver, and the
situation.
3.2 Barriers to Accurate Social Perception
2. How can managers and organizations minimize the negative
Stereotyping is a tendency to assign attributes to people solely
on the basis of their class or category. Selective
perception is a process by which we systematically screen or
discredit information we don’t wish to hear and
instead focus on more salient information. Perceptual defense is
a tendency to distort or ignore information
that is either personally threatening or culturally unacceptable.

3.3 Attributions: Interpreting the Causes of Behavior
3. How do people attribute credit and blame for organizational
events?
Attribution theory concerns the process by which individuals
attempt to make sense of the cause-effect
relationships in their life space. Events are seen as being either
internally caused (that is, by the individual) or
externally caused (that is, by other factors in the environment).
In making causal attributions, people tend to
focus on three factors: consensus, consistency, and
distinctiveness. The fundamental attribution error is a
tendency to underestimate the effects of external or situational
causes of behavior and overestimate the
effects of personal causes.
The self-serving bias is a tendency for people to attribute
success on a project to themselves while attributing
failure to others.
3.4 Attitudes and Behavior
4. How can a work environment characterized by positive work
An attitude can be defined as a predisposition to respond in a
favorable or unfavorable way to objects or
persons in one’s environment. There are two theories
concerning the manner in which attitudes are formed.
The first, called the dispositional approach, asserts that
attitudes are fairly stable tendencies to respond to
events in certain ways, much like personality traits. Thus, some
people may be happy on almost any job

regardless of the nature of the job. The second, called the
situational approach, asserts that attitudes result
largely from the particular situation in which the individual
finds himself. Thus, some jobs may lead to more
favorable attitudes than others. The social-information-
processing approach to attitudes is a situational model
that suggests that attitudes are strongly influenced by the
opinions and assessments of coworkers. Cognitive
consistency is a tendency to think and act in a predictable
manner. Cognitive dissonance occurs when our
actions and our attitudes are in conflict. This dissonance will
motivate us to attempt to return to a state of
cognitive consistency, where attitudes and behaviors are
congruent.
3.5 Work-Related Attitudes
5. How can managers and organizations develop a committed
workforce?
Job involvement refers to the extent to which an individual is
interested in his or her assigned tasks.
Organizational commitment refers to the relative strength of an
individual’s identification with and
involvement in a particular organization. Job satisfaction is a
pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting
from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience.
1. Describe how the basic perceptual process works. Why
should managers understand this process?
2. How can variations in social perception affect everyday work
behavior? Provide an example to illustrate.
3. What can managers do to reduce the incidences of
stereotyping in the workplace?
4. How does the attributional process work? Provide an example

to show why this process is so important in
understanding organizational behavior.
5. How do attributional biases work? What can managers do to
reduce such biases?
6. What are the differences between job involvement,
organizational commitment, and job satisfaction? Are
all three influenced by the same factors?
7. What are the major reasons for job satisfaction? What are the
primary consequences of dissatisfaction?
Explain.
1. In order to understand how response salience works, you may
want to complete this self-assessment.
Read the passage, and rate it on its comprehensibili ty. Does it
make sense to you? Next, look at the
appropriate frame of reference given in Appendix B. Now read
the passage again, and rate it for its
comprehensibility. Does it make more sense now that you have
a specific frame of reference?
Can You Understand This Passage?
Instructions: The procedure is actually quite simple. First you
arrange things into different groups. Of
course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there
is to do. If you have to go somewhere
else due to lack of facilities that is the next step, otherwise you
are pretty well set. It is important not to
overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once
than too many. In the short run this may
not seem important, but complications can easily arise. A
mistake can be expensive as well. At first the
whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will

become just another facet of life. It is
difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the
immediate future, but then one never can
tell. After the procedure is completed one arranges the materials
into different groups again. Then they
can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be
used once more and the whole cycle will
then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.
Comprehensive Scale
Very incomprehensive Neutral Very comprehensive
1 2 3 4 5
Adapted from “Contextual Prerequisites for Understanding:
Some Investigations of Comprehension
and Recall” by John D. Bransford and Marcia K. Johnson, in
Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal
Behavior, December 1972, p. 722.
2. How Do You Feel About Women Executives?
Instructions: This instrument focuses on your attitudes toward
women in executive positions. For each
item, circle the number that best represents your feelings
concerning women executives in organizations.
Be completely honest with yourself in responding. For a scoring
key, refer to Appendix B.

Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
1. It is high time we had more women in executive positions. 1
2 3 4 5
2. Women make just as good managers as men. 1 2 3 4 5
3. Women often fail to have the same level of technical
competence
as men.
1 2 3 4 5
4. Women executives should receive the same respect and trust
as
their male counterparts.
1 2 3 4 5
5. Men tend to be better suited for managerial positions than
women. 1 2 3 4 5
6. Women are too emotional to succeed in top-level
management. 1 2 3 4 5
7. Women have a hard time supervising the work of male
subordinates.
1 2 3 4 5
8. I would prefer not to work for a female manager. 1 2 3 4 5

9. Success as an executive has nothing to do with one’s gender.
1 2 3 4 5
10. Many women executives get to the top either because of
affirmative action pressure or connections.
1 2 3 4 5
3. Examples of the MSQ for two scales (compensation and
recognition) can be seen in this self-assessment.
If you wish to complete this sample questionnaire, simply refer
to a (paid or unpaid) job that you have
had and answer the questionnaire. To score the instrument, refer
to Appendix B.
Are You Satisfied with Your Job?
Instructions: Answer each of the ten questions by circling the
numbers that best describe how satisfied or
dissatisfied you are with the particular item. Then sum your
results for questions 1–5 and 6–10 separately.
Very
Dissatisfied
Very
Satisfied
1. The way I am noticed when I do a good job 1 2 3 4 5
2. The way I get full credit for the work I do 1 2 3 4 5

3. The recognition I get for the work I do 1 2 3 4 5
4. The way they usually tell me when I do my job well 1 2 3 4 5
5. The praise I get for doing a good job 1 2 3 4 5
6. The amount of pay for the work I do 1 2 3 4 5
7. The chance to make as much money as my friends 1 2 3 4 5
8. How my pay compares with that for similar jobs in other
companies 1 2 3 4 5
9. My pay and the amount of work I do 1 2 3 4 5
10. How my pay compares with that of other workers 1 2 3 4 5
Adapted from David J. Weiss, Rene V. Dawis, George W.
England, and Lloyd H. Lofquist, Manual for the
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (Minneapolis: Industrial
Relations Center, University of Minnesota).
1. You remember from your Organizational Behavior class that
several assessments to increase one’s self-
awareness, like the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality
Inventory that you read about in this chapter and is
profiled in the Managerial Skill Application Exercises of this
chapter, were very beneficial for you as an
understanding of your emotional intelligence, values, cognitive
style, and ability to cope with change. You
have been assigned to a team that will interview both internal
and external candidates for a new sales
manager position for the California region, which is a position

at the same level organizationally as your
present position. During the initial orientation meeting, one of
the team members—the manager of a
distribution center for the organizatio n—says, “I like to use the
results of the Myers-Briggs Types
Indicator assessment to screen applicants for this position, and
since sales managers should be
extroverts and should possess sensing, thinking, and judging
skills, we should only consider ESTJ types.”
Your boss, the national sales manager, asks you to write a
report on whether the selection process should
only consider ESTJ types and to provide it to the team for
discussion. Write a report and share it for
discussion with a team of students in this class who will assume
the role of the hiring interview team.
2. Recall a meeting that you recently had, such as a team
presentation of a case analysis. What were your
impressions of what happened in the planning of the
presentation and how things like the assignment of
roles and timetables for subsequent meetings and deliverables
unfolded. What were the behaviors of the
others at the meeting, and why do you think they acted as they
did? Finally, how do you think that others
perceived your behavior at the meeting? After you have
recorded these recollections, meet with another
attendee of that meeting. Ask them these questions, and record
what they say happened at that meeting

and what they thought of the behavior of the participants,
including you. Let them know that this is for
your class and you want them to be as honest as possible. As
they are answering, record their
recollections and do not interrupt or offer possible corrections.
Finally, compare your recollections and
notes with those of the interviewee and use the knowledge from
this chapter to assess the differences
and similarities in perception and attribution.
3. As a way to measure job satisfaction, ask someone at a local
business the following questions:
a. What is your job title, and what do you do in your own
words? How do these match up to tasks,
duties, and responsibilities in your job description?
b. Are you satisfied with the work that you do?
c. How satisfied are you with the training and supervision that
you receive?
d. How satisfied are you with the people that you work with?
e. Are you happy with your salary?
f. Are you happy with the benefits that are offered as part of the
job?
g. Do you see any possibilities for advancement in the
organization?
h. What are your general feelings about your employer?
i. Do you have any additional comments regarding how you feel
about your job?
Write an assessment of this individual’s job satisfaction and
what a supervisor and organization could do
to improve the lever of job satisfaction for their employees.
Stereotypes at Pitney Bowes

Many times, we think of stereotypes or discrimination only
being an issue when it comes to things like gender,
race, or religion. However, at Pitney Bowes Inc., the toughest
stereotype to overcome is age.
Brigitte Van Den Houte starts her day in the normal way;
however, she has taken a keen focus on persuading
employees in their 20s that they have a future at Pitney Bowes.
For almost 100 years, Pitney Bowes, founded in 1920, has been
all about commerce. But as the world turned to
technology, the definition of what that meant for the traditional
postage-meter equipment company had to
change as well.
One of the biggest challenges of this ever-changing
technological world is how the generations of employees
can step aside from their stereotypes and understand one
another to better work effectively.
At Pitney Bowes, their proactive approach puts younger
colleagues with older colleagues in a mentoring
situation. This is not the typical older mentor to younger mentor
setup, however. Every few months, Houte
arranges for the younger employees to spend the day with a
seasoned executive with the plan of sharing
experiences and ideas and offering advice. Houte states, “the
old way of working no longer works,” and she’s
right.
With over one-third of the workforce aging to 50 or older and
millennials (young people aged 22–37) being the
largest workforce group, it is imperative to put stereotypes
aside and learn to work together. One big mistake
for a manager would be to focus on the age difference rather

than on what skills each person individually can
bring to the table.
Stereotypes such as “older individuals don’t know about
technology” or “millennials are constantly job
hopping and feel entitled” are put aside at Pitney Bowes in
order to get the job done. With a more proactive
approach, the range of variables within each generation can be
utilized in the most effective way possible for
an organization.
Sources: Hymowitz, Carol, “The Tricky Task of Managing the
New, Multigenerational Workplace,” The Wall
Street Journal, August 12, 2018,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-tricky-task-of-managing-the-
new-
multigenerational-workplace-
1534126021?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=9; Ault, Nicole,
“ Don’t Trust
Anyone Over 21,” The Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2018,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-trust-anyone-
over-21-1534977740?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1.
Questions:
1. What are other ways that a company can utilize a
multigenerational team to their advantage?
2. What challenges does a multigenerational team pose for
management?
3. What should the company and management team consider
when attracting new employees of all

generations?
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
How do organizations offer appropriate rewards in a timely
fashion?
What are the best practices that organizations utilize to train
employees in new job skills?
How do managers and organizations reduce undesirable
employee behavior while reinforcing desirable
behavior?
How can employees be trained to assume more responsibility
for self-improvement and job
performance with the goal of creating a work environment
characterized by continual self-learning and
employee development?
Exhibit 4.1 (JD Kirk/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY
2.0))
The Google Way to a Culture of Continued Learning
Google is great at many things—attracting top talent,
maintaining employee satisfaction, and

encouraging creativity, to name a few.
According to the Association of Training and Development
(ATD), companies that offer comprehensive
training programs have 218 percent higher income per employee
than companies without formalized
training. Not only that, but companies that have required
programs for their employees see a much
higher profit margin than those that don’t. Investing in people
and promoting a self-learning
environment is the right plan for companies that are looking to
keep employees’ behavior in check, train
1.
2.
3.
4.
4
Learning and Reinforcement
4.1 Basic Models of Learning
1. How do organizations offer appropriate rewards in a timely
fashion?
Learning may be defined, for our purposes, as a relatively
permanent change in behavior that occurs as a
result of experience. That is, a person is said to have learned
something when she consistently exhibits a new

behavior over time. Several aspects of this definition are
noteworthy.1 First, learning involves a change in an
attitude or behavior. This change does not necessarily have to
be an improvement, however, and can include
such things as learning bad habits or forming prejudices. In
order for learning to occur, the change that takes
for new skills, and increase employee development.
Spending millions of dollars is not necessary to create a culture
that promotes learning.
Google follows the simple principles that gives their employees
purpose and a career path. They provide
information that is relevant and important to their employees.
They know that in order to get this
information to stick, it must be pertinent and presented at the
right time, and in the right format. They
also archive important information, which empowers employees
to access this information at any and all
times. Instead of providing gateways that impede learning, they
open the doors.
Secondly, they share “dumb questions.” This may seem like a
silly tactic, but encouraging employees to
share their questions and opinions allows for sharing of
information and learning on all levels. Google
also employs the values of celebrated failure, which allows for
the teams to learn from their mistakes
and their failures. Then they can move on to the next project
with newly found valuable information to
get better each time.
Lastly, formalized plans for continued learning are employed
for “informal and continuous learning” to
occur. Examples of these events can be allowing employees to

pursue their own interests, utilizing
coaching and support tools, and then training being requested at
various times. With these tactics, the
cultivation of learning can be expressed throughout the
company. Google is at the forefront of this
pursuit, but other companies can learn from their methods to get
ahead and get their employees on
track as well.
Sources: Ault, Nicole, “Don’t Trust Anyone Over 21,” The Wall
Street Journal, August 22, 2018,
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-trust-anyone-
over-21-1534977740?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1; and
Gutierrez, Karla, “Mind-blowing Statistics
that Prove the Value of Employee Training and Development,
Shift, August 22, 2017,
https://www.shiftelearning.com/blog/statistics-value-of-
employee-training-and-development.
Questions:
1. What considerations should Google take into account when
creating formalized training for their
employees?
2. Name three reasons why training and continued learning can
be important for a company’s
success.
3. Why is encouraging and celebrating failure an important
thing for a company to promote?
A major responsibility of managers is to evaluate and reward
their subordinates. If managers are to
maximize the impact of available (and often limited) rewards, a
thorough knowledge of reinforcement
techniques is essential. We shall devote this chapter to

developing a detailed understanding of learning
processes in organizations. We begin by looking at basic models
of learning.
96 Chapter 4 Learning and Reinforcement
place must be relatively permanent. So changes in behavior that
result from fatigue or temporary adaptation
to a unique situation would not be considered examples of
learning. Next, learning typically involves some
form of practice or experience. For example, the change that
results from physical maturation, as when a baby
develops the physical strength to walk, is in itself not
considered learning. Third, this practice or experience
must be reinforced over time for learning to take place. Where
reinforcement does not follow practice or
experience, the behavior will eventually diminish and disappear
(“extinction”). Finally, learning is an inferred
process; we cannot observe learning directly. Instead, we must
infer the existence of learning from observing
changes in overt behavior.
We can best understand the learning process by looking at four
stages in the development of research on
learning (see Exhibit 4.2). Scientific interest in learning dates
from the early experiments of Pavlov and others
around the turn of the century. The focus of this research was
on stimulus-response relationships and the
environmental determinants of observable behaviors. This was
followed by the discovery of the law of effect,
experiments in operant conditioning, and, finally, the

formulation of social learning theory.
Exhibit 4.2 The Development of Modern Behavioral Learning
Theory (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA
4.0 license)
Classical Conditioning
Classical conditioning is the process whereby a stimulus-
response (S-R) bond is developed between a
conditioned stimulus and a conditioned response through the
repeated linking of a conditioned stimulus
Chapter 4 Learning and Reinforcement 97
with an unconditioned stimulus. This process is shown in
Exhibit 4.3. The classic example of Pavlov’s
experiments illustrates the process. Pavlov was initially
interested in the digestive processes of dogs but
noticed that the dogs started to salivate at the first signal of
approaching food. On the basis of this discovery,
he shifted his attention to the question of whether animals could
be trained to draw a causal relationship
between previously unconnected factors. Specifically, using the
dogs as subjects, he examined the extent to
which the dogs could learn to associate the ringing of a bell
with the act of salivation. The experiment began
with unlearned, or unconditioned, stimulus-response
relationships. When a dog was presented with meat
(unconditioned stimulus), the dog salivated (unconditioned
response). No learning was necessary here, as this
relationship represented a natural physiological process.
Exhibit 4.3 Classical versus Operant Conditioning (Attribution:

license)
Next, Pavlov paired the unconditioned stimulus (meat) with a
neutral one (the ringing of a bell). Normally, the
ringing of the bell by itself would not be expected to elicit
salivation. However, over time, a learned linkage
developed for the dog between the bell and meat, ultimately
resulting in an S-R bond between the conditioned
stimulus (the bell) and the response (salivation) without the
presence of the unconditioned stimulus (the
meat). Evidence emerged that learning had occurred and that
this learning resulted from conditioning the
dogs to associate two normally unrelated objects, the bell and
the meat.
Although Pavlov’s experiments are widely cited as evidence of
the existence of classical conditioning, it is
necessary from the perspective of organizational behavior to ask
how this process relates to people at work.
Ivancevich, Szilagyi, and Wallace provide one such work-
related example of classical conditioning:
An illustration of classical conditioning in a work setting would
be an airplane pilot learning how to use a newly
installed warning system. In this case the behavior to be learned
is to respond to a warning light that indicates
that the plane has dropped below a critical altitude on an
assigned glide path. The proper response is to
increase the plane’s altitude. The pilot already knows how to
appropriately respond to the trainer’s warning to
increase altitude (in this case we would say the trainer’s
warning is an unconditioned stimulus and the
corrective action of increasing altitude is an unconditioned
response). The training session consists of the

trainer warning the pilot to increase altitude every time the
warning light goes on. Through repeated pairings
of the warning light with the trainer’s warning, the pilot
eventually learns to adjust the plane’s altitude in
response to the warning light even though the trainer is not
present. Again, the unit of learning is a new S-R
connection, or habit.2
Although classical conditioning clearly has applications to work
situations, particularly in the area of training
and development, it has been criticized as explaining only a
limited part of total human learning. Psychologist
B. F. Skinner argues that classical conditioning focuses on
respondent, or reflexive, behaviors; that is, it
concentrates on explaining largely involuntary responses that
result from stimuli.3 More complex learning
cannot be explained solely by classical conditioning. As an
alternative explanation, Skinner and others have
proposed the operant conditioning model of learning.
Operant Conditioning
The major focus of operant conditioning is on the effects of
reinforcements, or rewards, on desired
behaviors. One of the first psychologists to examine such
processes was J. B. Watson, a contemporary of
Pavlov, who argued that behavior is largely influenced by the
rewards one receives as a result of actions.4 This
notion is best summarized in Thorndike’s law of effect. This
law states that of several responses made to the

same situation, those that are accompanied or closely followed
by satisfaction (reinforcement) will be more
likely to occur; those that are accompanied or closely followed
by discomfort (punishment) will be less likely to
occur.5
In other words, it posits that behavior that leads to positive or
pleasurable outcomes tends to be repeated,
whereas behavior that leads to negative outcomes or punishment
tends to be avoided. In this manner,
individuals learn appropriate, acceptable responses to their
environment. If we repeatedly dock the pay of an
employee who is habitually tardy, we would expect that
employee to learn to arrive early enough to receive a
full day’s pay.
A basic operant model of learning is presented in Exhibit 4.2.
There are three important concepts of this
model:
Drive. A drive is an internal state of disequilibrium; it is a felt
need. It is generally believed that drive increases
with the strength of deprivation. A drive, or desire, to learn
must be present for learning to take place. For
example, not currently being able to afford the house you want
is likely to lead to a drive for more money to
buy your desired house. Living in a run-down shack is likely to
increase this drive compared to living in a nice
apartment.
Habit. A habit is the experienced bond or connection between
stimulus and response. For example, if a
person learns over time that eating satisfies hunger, a strong
stimulus-response (hunger-eating) bond will
develop. Habits thus determine the behaviors, or courses of
action, we choose.

Reinforcement or reward. This represents the feedback
individuals receive as a result of action. For example,
if as a salesperson you are given a bonus for greater sales and
plan to use the money to buy the house you
have always wanted, this will reinforce the behaviors that you
believed led to greater sales, such as smiling at
customers, repeating their name during the presentation, and so
on.
A stimulus activates an individual’s motivation through its
impact on drive and habit. The stronger the drive
and habit (S-R bond), the stronger the motivation to behave in a
certain way. As a result of this behavior, two
things happen. First, the individual receives feedback that
reduces the original drive. Second, the individual
strengthens his or her belief in the veracity of the S-R bond to
the extent that it proved successful. That is, if
one’s response to the stimulus satisfied one’s drive or need, the
individual would come to believe more
strongly in the appropriateness of the particular S-R connection
and would respond in the same way under
similar circumstances.
An example will clarify this point. Several recent attempts to
train chronically unemployed workers have used a
daily pay system instead of weekly or monthly systems. The
primary reason for this is that the workers, who do
not have a history of working, can more quickly see the
relationship between coming to work and receiving
pay. An S-R bond develops more quickly because of the

frequency of the reinforcement, or reward.
Operant versus Classical Conditioning
Operant conditioning can be distinguished from classical
conditioning in at least two ways.6 First, the two
approaches differ in what is believed to cause changes in
behavior. In classical conditioning, changes in
behavior are thought to arise through changes in stimuli—that
is, a transfer from an unconditioned stimulus
to a conditioned stimulus. In operant conditioning, on the other
hand, changes in behavior are thought to
result from the consequences of previous behavior. When
behavior has not been rewarded or has been
punished, we would not expect it to be repeated.
Second, the two approaches differ in the role and frequency of
rewards. In classical conditioning, the
unconditioned stimulus, acting as a sort of reward, is
administered during every trial. In contrast, in operant
conditioning the reward results only when individuals choose
the correct response. That is, in operant
conditioning, individuals must correctly operate on their
environment before a reward is received. The
response is instrumental in obtaining the desired reward.
Social Learning Theory
The last model of learning we should examine is noted
psychologist Albert Bandura’s social learning theory.
Social learning theory is defined as the process of molding
behavior through the reciprocal interaction of a
person’s cognitions, behavior, and environment.7 This is done
through a process that Bandura calls reciprocal
determinism. This concept implies that people control their own
environment (for example, by quitting one’s
job) as much as the environment controls people (for example,
being laid off). Thus, learning is seen as a more

active, interactive process in which the learner has at least some
control.
Social learning theory shares many of the same roots as operant
conditioning. Like Skinner, Bandura argues
that behavior is at least in part controlled by environmental cues
and consequences, and Bandura uses
observable behavior (as opposed to attitudes, feelings, etc.) as
the primary unit of analysis. However, unlike
operant conditioning, social learning theory posits that
cognitive or mental processes affect our response to
the environmental cues.
Social learning theory has four central elements: attention,
retention, reproduction, and incentives. Before
someone can learn something, they must notice or pay attention
to the thing that is to be learned. For
example, you probably would not learn much as a student in any
class unless you paid attention to
information conveyed by the text or instructor. Retention is the
process by which what you have noticed is
encoded into your memory. Reproduction involves the
translation of what was recorded in your mind into
overt actions or behaviors. Obviously, the higher the level of
attention and the greater the retention, the better
the reproduction of what was learned. Finally, incentives can
influence all three processes. For example, if you
are rewarded (say, praised) for paying attention, you will pay
more attention. If you are rewarded for
remembering what you studied (say, good grades), you will
retain more. If you are rewarded for reproducing

what you learned (say, a promotion for effectively motivating
your subordinates), you will produce that
behavior more.
Central to this theory is the concept of vicarious learning.
Vicarious learning is learning that takes place
through the imitation of other role models. That is, we observe
and analyze what another person does and the
resulting consequences. As a result, we learn without having to
experience the phenomenon firsthand. Thus, if
we see a fellow employee being disciplined or fired for being
disruptive in the workplace, we might learn not
to be disruptive ourselves. If we see that gifts are usually given
with the right hand in the Middle East, we
might give gifts in that manner ourselves.
A model of social learning processes is shown in Exhibit 4.4.
As can be seen, three factors—the person, the
environment, and the behavior—interact through such processes
as vicarious learning, symbolic
representations, and self-control to cause actual learned
behaviors.
Exhibit 4.4 A Basic Model of Social Learning Source: Adapted
from “A Social Learning Approach to Behavioral Management:
Radical
Behaviorists ‘Mellowing Out,’ ” by Robert Kreitner et al.
Organizational Dynamics. (Attribution: Copyright Rice
University, OpenStax, under CC BY-
NC-SA 4.0 license)
Major Influences on Learning. On the basis of this work, it is
possible by way of summary to identify several

general factors that can enhance our learning processes. An
individual’s desire to learn, background
knowledge of a subject, and the length of the learning period
are some of the components of a learning
environment. Filley, House, and Kerr identify five major
influences on learning effectiveness.8
Drawn largely from behavioral science and psychology
literature, substantial research indicates that learning
effectiveness is increased considerably when individuals have
high motivation to learn. We sometimes
encounter students who work day and night to complete a term
paper that is of interest to them, whereas
writing an uninteresting term paper may be postponed until the
last possible minute. Maximum transfer of
knowledge is achieved when a student or employee is motivated
to learn by a high need to know.
Considerable evidence also demonstrates that we can facilitate
learning by providing individuals with feedback
on their performance. A knowledge of results serves a
gyroscopic function, showing individuals where they are
correct or incorrect and furnishing them with the perspective to
improve. Feedback also serves as an
important positive reinforcer that can enhance an individual’s
willingness or desire to learn. Students who are
told by their professor how they performed on an exam and
what they could do to improve next time are likely
to study harder.
In many cases, prior learning can increase the ability to learn

new materials or tasks by providing needed
background or foundation materials. In math, multiplication is
easier to learn if addition has been mastered.
These beneficial effects of prior learning on present learning
tend to be greatest when the prior tasks and the
present tasks exhibit similar stimulus-response connections. For
instance, most of the astronauts selected for
the space program have had years of previous experience flying
airplanes. It is assumed that their prior
experience and developed skill will facilitate learning to fly the
highly technical, though somewhat similar,
vehicles.
Another influence on learning concerns whether the materials to
be learned are presented in their entirety or
in parts—whole versus part learning.9 Available evidence
suggests that when a task consists of several distinct
and unrelated duties, part learning is more effective. Each task
should be learned separately. However, when a
task consists of several integrated and related parts (such as
learning the components of a small machine),
whole learning is more appropriate, because it ensures that
major relationship among parts, as well as proper
sequencing of parts, is not overlooked or underemphasized.
Exhibit 4.5 Stop sign in Quebec Would your prior learning lead
you to come to a full stop while driving in Quebec, just north of
New York
State? (Credit: Joe Schlabotnik/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic
(CC BY 2.0))
The final major influence on learning highlights the advantages
and disadvantages of concentrated as

opposed to distributed training sessions. Research suggests that
distribution of practice—short learning
periods at set intervals—is more effective for learning motor
skills than for learning verbal or cognitive skills.10
Distributed practice also seems to facilitate learning of very
difficult, voluminous, or tedious material. It should
be noted, however, that concentrated practice appears to work
well where insight is required for task
completion. Apparently, concentrated effort over short
durations provides a move synergistic approach to
problem-solving.
Although there is general agreement that these influences are
important (and are under the control of
management in many cases), they cannot substitute for the lack
of an adequate reinforcement system. In fact,
reinforcement is widely recognized as the key to effective
learning. If managers are concerned with eliciting
desired behaviors from their subordinates, a knowledge of
reinforcement techniques is essential.
Learning to Be Effective Overseas
General Motors has learned by experience that it pays not to
have managers learn only by experience
how to function effectively while working in foreign countries.
Managing expatriate assignments in
difficult locations was brought to life by the experiences of

Richard Pennington, General Motors’ head of
global mobility for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and
Africa) region. He knows from experience some of
the things that tend to go well, as well as some of those that
don’t, and has learned lessons from moving
employees to places like Uzbekistan. This became important
when the company took on a new engine
manufacturing operation in the capital, Tashkent, as well as an
existing manufacturing plant in Andijan.
The objectives were the same as for most global mobility
projects: to get the right people to the right
place at the right time for the right cost. The general approach
was Action—Plan—Do—Check.
Pennington urged potential relocation candidates not to be
overreliant on the Internet and, if possible, to
go and see for themselves. “Nothing beats going to a location—
particularly a harsh location—yourself,”
he says. Pennington also emphasizes the importance of selecting
suppliers on the ground carefully, even
if you already have a network of existing suppliers. Strong
relationships in the host location are of
paramount importance. In difficult locations, it is particularly
important that the local HR, finance, and
legal staff work with you proactively, as making payments at
the right time can be critical. Equally,
cultural training and language providers are essential.
These training programs involve a wide variety of teaching
methods. Factual information may be
conveyed through lectures or printed material. More subtle
information is learned through role plays,
case studies, and simulations.
The research on cross-cultural training suggests that the more
involved participants are in the training,
the more they learn, and that the more they practice or simulate

new behaviors that they need to master
in the foreign environment, the more effective they will be in
actual situations.
The results for GM have been impressive. Most companies that
do not provide cross-cultural training for
their employees sent on international assignments experience
failure rates of about 25 percent, and
each failure or early return costs the company on average
$150,000. GM has a failure rate of less than 1
percent. Also, in GM’s case, the training has been extended to
the manager’s family and has helped
reluctant spouses and children more readily accept, if not
embrace, the foreign assignment.
4.2 Reinforcement and Behavioral Change
2. What are the best practices that organizations utilize to train
A central feature of most approaches to learning is the concept
of reinforcement. This concept dates from
Thorndike’s law of effect, which, as mentioned earlier, states
that behavior that is positively reinforced tends
to be repeated, whereas behavior that is not reinforced will tend
not to be repeated. Hence, reinforcement
can be defined as anything that causes a certain behavior to be
repeated or inhibited.
Reinforcement versus Motivation
It is important to differentiate reinforcement from the concept
of employee motivation. Motivation, as

described in the next chapter, represents a primary
psychological process that is largely cognitive in nature.
Thus, motivation is largely internal—it is experienced by the
employee, and we can see only subsequent
manifestations of it in actual behavior. Reinforcement, on the
other hand, is typically observable and most
often externally administered. A supervisor may reinforce what
he or she considers desirable behavior without
knowing anything about the underlying motives that prompted
it. For example, a supervisor who has a habit
of saying “That’s interesting” whenever she is presented with a
new idea may be reinforcing innovation on the
part of the subordinates without the supervisor really knowing
why this result is achieved. The distinction
between theories of motivation and reinforcement should be
kept in mind when we examine behavior
modification and behavioral self-management later in this
chapter.
Strategies for Behavioral Change
From a managerial standpoint, several strategies for behavioral
change are available to facilitate learning in
organizational settings. At least four different types should be
noted: (1) positive reinforcement; (2) avoidance
learning, or negative reinforcement; (3) extinction; and (4)
punishment. Each type plays a different role in both
the manner in which and extent to which learning occurs. Each
will be considered separately here.
Positive Reinforcement. Positive reinforcement consists of
presenting someone with an attractive outcome
following a desired behavior. As noted by Skinner, “A positive
reinforcer is a stimulus which, when added to a
Sources: F. Furnie, “International assignments: Managing
change and complexity,” Relocate Global,

September 23, 2015,
https://www.relocatemagazine.com/articles/4697international-
assignments-
managing-change-and-complexity; J. Lublin. “Companies Use
Cross-Cultural Training to Help Their
Employees Adjust Abroad.” Wall Street Journal, August 4, 2004
p. B1.
1. How can learning theory be used to change behaviors?
2. Define classical conditioning, and differentiate it from
operant conditioning.
3. What is social learning theory?
situation, strengthens the probability of an operant response.”11
A simple example of positive reinforcement is
supervisory praise for subordinates when they perform well in a
certain situation. That is, a supervisor may
praise an employee for being on time consistently (see Exhibit
4.6). This behavior-praise pattern may
encourage the subordinate to be on time in the future in the
hope of receiving additional praise.
Exhibit 4.6 Strategies for Behavioral Change (Attribution:
license)
In order for a positive reinforcement to be effective in

facilitating the repetition of desired behavior, several
conditions must be met. First, the reinforcer itself (praise) must
be valued by the employee. It would prove
ineffective in shaping behavior if employees were indifferent to
it. Second, the reinforcer must be strongly tied
to the desired behavior. Receipt of the reinforcer by the
employee must be directly contingent upon
performing the desired behavior. “Rewards must result from
performance, and the greater the degree of
performance by an employee, the greater should be his
reward.”12 It is important to keep in mind here that
“desired behavior” represents behavior defined by the
supervisor, not the employee. Thus, for praise to be a
reinforcer, not only must it be valued by the employee, but it
must directly follow the desired behavior and
should be more intense as the behavior is closer to the ideal the
supervisor has in mind. Praise thrown out at
random is unlikely to reinforce the desired behavior. Third,
there must be ample occasion for the reinforcer to
be administered following desired behavior. If the reinforcer is
tied to certain behavior that seldom occurs,
then individuals will seldom be reinforced and will probably not
associate this behavior with a reward. For
example, if praise is only provided for truly exceptional
performance, then it is unlikely to have a powerful
impact on the desired behavior. It is important that the
performance-reward contingencies be structured so
that they are easily attainable.
Avoidance Learning. A second method of reinforcement is
avoidance learning, or negative reinforcement.
Avoidance learning refers to seeking to avoid an unpleasant
condition or outcome by following a desired
behavior. Employees learn to avoid unpleasant situations by
behaving in certain ways. If an employee correctly
performs a task or is continually prompt in coming to work (see

Exhibit 4.6), the supervisor may refrain from
harassing, reprimanding, or otherwise embarrassing the
employee. Presumably, the employee learns over
time that engaging in correct behavior diminishes admonition
from the supervisor. In order to maintain this
condition, the employee continues to behave as desired.
Extinction. The principle of extinction suggests that undesired
behavior will decline as a result of a lack of
positive reinforcement. If the perpetually tardy employee in the
example in Exhibit 4.6 consistently fails to
receive supervisory praise and is not recommended for a pay
raise, we would expect this nonreinforcement to
lead to an “extinction” of the tardiness. The employee may
realize, albeit subtly, that being late is not leading
to desired outcomes, and she may try coming to work on time.
Punishment. Finally, a fourth strategy for behavior change used
by managers and supervisors is punishment.
Punishment is the administration of unpleasant or adverse
outcomes as a result of undesired behavior. An
example of the application of punishment is for a supervisor to
publicly reprimand or fine an employee who is
habitually tardy (see Exhibit 4.6). Presumably, the employee
would refrain from being tardy in the future in
order to avoid such an undesirable outcome. The most
frequently used punishments (along with the most
frequently used rewards) are shown in Table 4.1.
Frequently Used Rewards and Punishments

Rewards Punishments
Pay raise Oral reprimands
Bonus Written reprimands
Promotion Ostracism
Praise and recognition Criticism from superiors
Awards Suspension
Self-recognition Demotion
Sense of accomplishment Reduced authority
Increased responsibility Undesired transfer
Time off Termination
The use of punishment is indeed one of the most controversial
issues of behavior change strategies. Although
punishment can have positive work outcomes—especially if it is
administered in an impersonal way and as
soon as possible after the transgression—negative repercussions
can also result when employees either
resent the action or feel they are being treated unfairly. These
negative outcomes from punishment are shown
in Exhibit 4.7. Thus, although punishment represents a potent
force in corrective learning, its use must be
carefully considered and implemented. In general, for
punishment to be effective the punishment should “fit
the crime” in severity, should be given in private, and should be

explained to the employee.
Exhibit 4.7 Potential Negative Consequences of Punishment
BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
Detracting a Workplace Bully
Studies showcase that nearly 50 percent of employees in the
U.S. workforce face bullying at one point in
time. All types of bullying, not just discrimination or
harassment, are important to consider.
Angela Anderson was working for a law school administration
council and experienced bullying
firsthand. Often her manager would yell at her in front of other
coworkers, and it was clear to Angela
that she was not well-liked. Unfortunately it was not just
Angela who felt the wrath of this manager, who
often handled interactions with other employees the same way.
Many of the employees, including
Angela, attempted to appease their bullying manager, but
nothing would help. One day Angela was
threatened by her manager, and before Angela could reach the
HR department, she was fired. This
example is an extreme case, but being able to take recourse

against unwanted and disruptive employee
behavior is an important action for any workplace manager.
Questions:
1. What steps can you take to ensure that your company can
detract from employees’ bullying
behavior?
2. What actions should an employee take if they are
experiencing unwanted behaviors from another
employee or manager?
3. What other departments should be involved when developing
a plan and policies for how to handle
unacceptable workplace behavior?
Sources: Acceptable and Unacceptable Behaviours, University
of Cambridge website, accessed January 15,
2019, https://www.hr.admin.cam.ac.uk/policie s-
procedures/dignity-work-policy/guidance-managers-
and-staff/guidance-managers/acceptable-and; Hedges, Kristi,
How to Change Your Employee’s
Behavior,” Forbes, March, 4, 2015,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-
progress/2015/03/04/how-to-
change-your-employees-behavior/#c32ad4b6732a; and Kane,
Sally, Workplace Bullying: True Stories,
Statistics and Tips, The Balance Careers, January 29, 2019,
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/bullying-
In summary, positive reinforcement and avoidance learning

focus on bringing about the desired response
from the employee. With positive reinforcement the employee
behaves in a certain way in order to gain
desired rewards, whereas with avoidance learning the employee
behaves in order to avoid certain unpleasant
outcomes. In both cases, however, the behavior desired by the
supervisor is enhanced. In contrast, extinction
and punishment focus on supervisory attempts to reduce the
incidence of undesired behavior. That is,
extinction and punishment are typically used to get someone to
stop doing something the supervisor doesn’t
like. It does not necessarily follow that the individual will begin
acting in the most desired, or correct, manner.
Often students have difficulty seeing the distinction between
avoidance and extinction or in understanding
how either could have a significant impact on behavior. Two
factors are important to keep in mind. The first we
will simply call the “history effect.” Not being harassed could
reinforce an employee’s prompt arrival at work if
in the past the employee had been harassed for being late.
Arriving on time and thereby avoiding the past
harassment would reinforce arriving on time. This same
dynamic would hold true for extinction. If the
employee had been praised in the past for arriving on time, then
arrived late and was not praised, this would
serve to weaken the tendency to arrive late. The second factor
we will call the “social effect.” For example, if
you see others harassed when they arrive late and then you are
not harassed when you arrive on time, this
could reinforce your arriving at work on time. Again, this same
dynamic would hold true for extinction. If you
had observed others being praised for arriving on time, then not
receiving praise when you arrived late would
serve to weaken the tendency to arrive late.

From a managerial perspective, questions arise about which
strategy of behavioral change is most effective.
Advocates of behavioral change strategies, such as Skinner,
answer that positive reinforcement combined with
extinction is the most suitable way to bring about desired
behavior. There are several reasons for this focus on
the positive approach to reinforcement. First, although
punishment can inhibit or eliminate undesired
behavior, it often does not provide information to the individual
about how or in which direction to change.
Also, the application of punishment may cause the individual to
become alienated from the work situation,
thereby reducing the chances that useful change can be effected.
Similarly, avoidance learning tends to
emphasize the negative; that is, people are taught to stay clear
of certain behaviors, such as tardiness, for fear
of repercussions. In contrast, it is felt that combining positive
reinforcement with the use of extinction has the
fewest undesirable side effects and allows individuals to receive
the rewards they desire. A positive approach
to reinforcement is believed by some to be the most effective
tool management has to bring about favorable
changes in organizations.
Schedules of Reinforcement
Having examined four distinct strategies for behavioral change,
we now turn to an examination of the various
ways, or schedules, of administering these techniques. As noted
by Costello and Zalkind, “The speed with which
learning takes place and also how lasting its effects will be is
determined by the timing of reinforcement.”13
Thus, a knowledge of the types of schedules of reinforcement is
essential to managers if they are to know how
to choose rewards that will have maximum impact on employee
performance. Although there are a variety of

ways in which rewards can be administered, most approaches
can be categorized into two groups: continuous
and partial (or intermittent) reinforcement schedules. A
continuous reinforcement schedule rewards desired
behavior every time it occurs. For example, a manager could
praise (or pay) employees every time they
perform properly. With the time and resource constraints most
managers work under, this is often difficult, if
stories-2164317.
not impossible. So, most managerial reward strategies operate
on a partial schedule. A partial reinforcement
schedule rewards desired behavior at specific intervals, not
every time desired behavior is exhibited.
Compared to continuous schedules, partial reinforcement
schedules lead to slower learning but stronger
retention. Thus, learning is generally more permanent. Four
kinds of partial reinforcement schedules can be
identified: (1) fixed interval, (2) fixed ratio, (3) variable
interval, and (4) variable ratio (see Table 4.2).
Schedules of Partial Reinforcement
Schedule of
Reinforcement
Nature of
Reinforcement

Effects on
Behavior When
Applied
Effects on
Behavior
When
Terminated
Example
Fixed interval Reward on fixed time
basis
Leads to
average and
irregular
performance
Quick
extinction
of behavior
Weekly paycheck
Fixed ratio Reward consistently
tied to output
Leads quickly to
very high and
stable
performance

Quick
extinction
of behavior
Piece-rate pay system
Variable
interval
Reward given at
variable intervals
around some average
time
Leads to
moderately
high and stable
performance
Slow
extinction
of behavior
Monthly performance
appraisal and reward at
random times each month
Variable ratio Reward given at
variable output levels
around some average
output
Leads to very
high
performance

Slow
extinction
of behavior
Sales bonus tied to selling X
accounts, but X constantly
changes around some
mean
Fixed-Interval Schedule. A fixed-interval reinforcement
schedule rewards individuals at specified intervals for
their performance, as with a biweekly paycheck. If employees
perform even minimally, they are paid. This
technique generally does not result in high or sustained levels
of performance because employees know that
marginal performance usually leads to the same level of reward
as high performance. Thus, there is little
incentive for high effort and performance. Also, when rewards
are withheld or suspended, extinction of
desired behavior occurs quickly. Many of the recent job
redesign efforts in organizations were prompted by
recognition of the need for alternate strategies of motivation
rather than paying people on fixed-interval
schedules.
Fixed-Ratio Schedule. The second fixed schedule is the fixed-
ratio schedule. Here the reward is administered
only upon the completion of a given number of desired
responses. In other words, rewards are tied to
performance in a ratio of rewards to results. A common example
of the fixed-ratio schedule is a piece-rate pay

system, whereby employees are paid for each unit of output they
produce. Under this system, performance
rapidly reaches high levels. In fact, according to Hamner, “The
response level here is significantly higher than
that obtained under any of the interval (time-based)
schedules.”14 On the negative side, however,
performance declines sharply when the rewards are withheld, as
with fixed-interval schedules.
Variable-Interval Schedule. Using variable reinforcement
schedules, both variable-interval and variable-ratio
reinforcements are administered at random times that cannot be
predicted by the employee. The employee is
generally not aware of when the next evaluation and reward
period will be. Under a variable-interval schedule,
rewards are administered at intervals of time that are based on
an average. For example, an employee may
know that on the average her performance is evaluated and
rewarded about once a month, but she does not
know when this event will occur. She does know, however, that
it will occur sometime during the interval of a
month. Under this schedule, effort and performance will
generally be high and fairly stable over time because
employees never know when the evaluation will take place.
Variable-Ratio Schedule. Finally, a variable-ratio schedule is
one in which rewards are administered only after
an employee has performed the desired behavior a number of
times, with the number changing from the
administration of one reward to the next but averaging over
time to a certain ratio of number of performances
to rewards. For example, a manager may determine that a
salesperson will receive a bonus for every 15th new

account sold. However, instead of administering the bonus
every 15th sale (as in a fixed-interval schedule), the
manager may vary the number of sales that is necessary for the
bonus, from perhaps 10 sales for the first
bonus to 20 for the second. On the average, however, the 15:1
ratio prevails. If the employee understands the
parameters, then the “safe” level of sales, or the level of sales
most likely to result in a bonus, is in excess of
15. Consequently, the variable-ratio schedule typically leads to
high and stable performance. Moreover,
extinction of desired behavior is slow.
Which of these four schedules of reinforcement is superior? In a
review of several studies comparing the
various techniques, Hamner concludes:
The necessity for arranging appropriate reinforcement
contingencies is dramatically illustrated by several
studies in which rewards were shifted from a response-
contingent (ratio) to a time-contingent (interval) basis.
During the period in which rewards were made conditional upon
occurrence of the desired behavior, the
appropriate response patterns were exhibited at a consistently
high level. When the same rewards were given
based on time and independent of the worker’s behavior, there
was a marked drop in the desired behavior.
The reinstatements of the performance-contingent reward
schedule promptly restored the high level of
responsiveness.
In other words, the performance-contingent (or ratio) reward
schedules generally lead to better performance
than the time-contingent (or interval) schedules, regardless of
whether such schedules are fixed or variable.
We will return to this point in a subsequent chapter on
performance appraisal and reward systems.

Two additional approaches to learning are found in the work of
David Kolb and Mel Silberman. Kolb's
experiential learning style theory is typically represented by a
four-stage learning cycle in which the learner
'touches all the bases’. The Four stages are achieved when a
person progresses through a cycle of four stages:
of (1) having a concrete experience followed by (2) observation
of and reflection on that experience which
leads to (3) the formation of abstract concepts (analysis) and
generalizations (conclusions) which are then (4)
used to test hypothesis in future situations, resulting in new
experiences. Silberman in his book Active Training,
identified eight qualities of an effective and active learning
experience. The eight qualities are: a moderate
level of content; a balance between affective, behavioral, and
cognitive learning, a variety of learning
approaches, opportunities for group participation, encouraging
participants to share their expertise, recycling
concepts and skills learned earlier, advocating real -life problem
solving, and allowing time for re-entry.15
M A N A G E R I A L L E A D E R S H I P
Shaping a Salesperson’s Behavior
Sharon Johnson worked for a publishing company based in
Nashville, Tennessee, that sold a line of

children’s books directly to the public through a door-to-door
sales force. Sharon had been a very
successful salesperson and was promoted first to district and
then to regional sales manager after just
four years with the company. Sales bonuses were fixed, and a
fixed-dollar bonus was tied to every $1,000
in sales over a specific minimum quota. However, there was a
wide variety of rewards, from praise to gift
certificates, that were left to Sharon’s discretion.
Sharon knew from her organizational behavior class that giving
out praise to those who liked it and gifts
to those who preferred them was an important means of
reinforcing desired behavior, and she had been
quite successful in implementing this principle. She also knew
that if you reinforced a behavior that was
“on the right track” to the ideal behavior you wanted out of a
salesperson, eventually you could shape
their behavior, almost without their realizing it.
Sharon had one particular salesperson, Lyle, that she thought
had great potential, yet his weekly sales
were somewhat inconsistent and often lower than she thought
possible. When Lyle was questioned
about his performance, he indicated that sometimes he felt that
the families he approached could not
afford the books he was selling and so he did not think it was
right to push the sale too hard. Although
Sharon argued that it was not Lyle’s place to decide for others
what they could or could not afford, Lyle
still felt uncomfortable about utilizing his normal sales
approach with these families.
Sharon believed that through subtle reinforcement of certain
behaviors she could shape Lyle’s behavior
and that over time he would increasingly use his typical sales

approach with the families he thought
could not afford the books. For example, she knew that in the
cases of families Lyle thought could not
afford the books, he spent only 3.5 minutes in the house
compared to 12.7 minutes in homes of families
he judged able to afford the books. Sharon believed that if she
praised Lyle when the average time he
spent in each family’s home was quite similar that Lyle would
increase the time he spent in the homes of
families he judged unable to afford the books. She believed that
the longer he spent in these homes, the
more likely Lyle was to utilize his typical sales approach. This
was just one of several ways Sharon
thought she could shape Lyle’s behavior without trying to
change his mind about pushing books onto
people he thought could not afford them.
Sharon saw no ethical issues in this case until she told a friend
about it and the friend questioned
whether it was ethical to utilize learning and reinforcement
techniques to change people’s behavior
“against their will” even if they did not realize that this was
happening.
Source: This ethical challenge is based on a true but disguised
case observed by author J. Stewart Black.
4.3 Behavior Modification in Organizations
3. How do managers and organizations reduce undesirable
behavior?

When the above principles and techniques are applied to the
workplace, we generally see one of two
approaches: behavior modification or behavioral self-
management. Both approaches rest firmly on the
principles of learning described above. Because both of these
techniques have wide followings in
corporations, we shall review them here. First, we look at the
positive and negative sides of behavior
modification.
Behavior modification is the use of operant conditioning
principles to shape human behavior to conform to
desired standards defined by superiors. In recent years, behavior
modification has been applied in a wide
variety of organizations. In most cases, positive results are
claimed. There is interest in the technique as a
management tool to improve performance and reduce costs.
Because of its emphasis on shaping behavior, it is more
appropriate to think of behavior modification as a
technique for motivating employees rather than as a theory of
work motivation. It does not attempt to provide
a comprehensive model of the various personal and job-related
variables that contribute to motivation.
Instead, its managerial thrust is how to motivate, and it is
probably this emphasis that has led to its current
popularity among some managers. Even so, we should be
cautioned against the unquestioned acceptance of
any technique until we understand the assumptions underlying
the model. If the underlying assumptions of a
model appear to be uncertain or inappropriate in a particular
situation or organization, its use is clearly
questionable.

1. What is reinforcement, and how can it be applied to
motivation?
2. What are the four strategies to use for behavioral change?
3. What is the significance of schedules in changing behavior?
In Japan’s Hell Camp
There is a saying in Japan that “the nail that sticks up gets
hammered down.” This means that in
corporate Japan employees are supposed to act together and
move in unison. Individuality is not
encouraged. Although Japanese companies use many techniques
to train their employees to work hard
and overcome adversity as a group, one rather notable approach
that is used by many companies is
known as Hell Camp.
The purpose of Hell Camp is to develop employees so they can
“concentrate under difficulty.”
Assumptions of Behavior Modification
The foundation of behavior modification as a technique of
management rests on three ideas.16 First,
advocates of behavior modification believe that individuals a re
basically passive and reactive (instead of
proactive). They tend to respond to stimuli in their environment

rather than assuming personal responsibility
in initiating behavior. This assertion is in direct contrast to
cognitive theories of motivation (such as
expectancy/valence theory), which hold that individuals make
conscious decisions about their present and
future behaviors and take an active role in shaping their
environment.
Second, advocates of behavior modification focus on observable
and measurable behavior instead of on
unobservable needs, attitudes, goals, or motivational levels. In
contrast, cognitive theories focus on both
observable and unobservable factors as they relate to
motivation. Social learning theory, in particular, argues
that individuals can change their behavior simply by observing
others and noticing the punishments or
rewards that the observed behaviors produce.
Third, behavior modification stresses that permanent changes
can be brought about only as a result of
reinforcement. Behaviors that are positively reinforced will be
repeated (that is, learned), whereas behaviors
not so reinforced will diminish (according to the law of effect,
discussed earlier).
Representing something of a blend of Outward Bound and
assertiveness training, Hell Camp is designed
to toughen employees by putting them through numerous
humiliating exercises (e.g., making them
shout their company song outside the local train station). If they
pass each exercise (for example, if they
shout loud enough and with sufficient emotion), they are
allowed to remove one of several “badges of
shame.” Criteria for removing a badge are left vague, so, in
essence, the program uses a variable-ratio
reinforcement system. The employee never quite knows when

the trainer will say she has succeeded;
therefore, the most likely level of performance that will result
in the removal of shame badges is that at
the higher end of the spectrum of performance. If the employee
succeeds during the week-long
program in removing all of the badges and shows her sincerity
and commitment, she graduates. If not,
she must repeat the program.
Far from the trust-building exercises and fun runs of modern
corporate retreats, Japan’s executive Hell
Camps were run with the discipline and intensity of military
basic training. The goal was to whip into
shape underperforming middle-management types, as well as
give them the assertiveness the Japanese
felt they lacked in dealing with Western competitors.
It is estimated that over 50,000 Japanese managers have gone
through the program. Companies like it
because they see it as a way to keep managers from getting soft.
As one executive notes, “Companies
have been getting very soft, very weak in their way of
demanding excellence.” It is thought that the
harassment received during Hell Camp and the reinforcement
following satisfactory task
accomplishment instill character, and Japanese companies show
no sign of losing interest in the
program.
Sources: Richarz, Allan, “ The Intense Corporate ‘Hell Camps’
of 1980s Japan,” Atlas Obscura, May 30,
2017, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hell-camp-japan-
80s; Phallon, R., “Hell Camp,” Forbes, June
18, 1984; Neill, Michael and Lustig, David, “ A 13-Day
Japanese Boot Camp Shows U.S. Executives How to
Succeed in Business Through Suffering,” People, May 30, 1988,

https://people.com/archive/a-13-day-
japanese-boot-camp-shows-u-s-executives-how-to-succeed-in-
business-through-suffering-vol-29-no-21/.
Designing a Behavior Modification Program
If behavior modification techniques are to work, their
application must be well-designed and systematically
applied. Systematic attempts to implement these programs
typically go through five phases (see Exhibit 4.8).
Exhibit 4.8 Steps in Implementing a Behavior Modification
Program (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-NC-SA
4.0 license)
Establishing Clear Behavioral Criteria. First, management
attempts to define and clearly specify the
behavioral aspects of acceptable performance. Management
must be able to designate what constitutes
acceptable behavior in terms that employees can understand,
and this specification must be in objective,
measurable terms. Examples of behavioral criteria include good
attendance, promptness in arriving for work,
and completing tasks on schedule. Sometimes it is difficult to
determine suitable objective indicators of
successful performance. For instance, as a training director of a
major airline asked, “How do you quantify
what a flight attendant does?” Even so, there are many
situations and work behaviors that do lend themselves
to clear specification.
Conducting a Performance Audit. Once acceptable behavioral

criteria have been specified, a performance
audit can be done. Because management is concerned about the
extent to which employees are successfully
meeting the behavioral criteria, the audit is aimed at pinpointing
trouble spots where desired behaviors are
not being carried out. For instance, a review of attendance
records of various department may reveal a
department in which absenteeism or tardiness is unusually high.
Action can then be taken to focus on the
problem area. In short, the performance audit aims to identify
discrepancies between what management sees
as desired or acceptable behavior and actual behavior.
Setting Specific Behavioral Goals. Third, specific behavioral
goals must be set for each employee. Failure to
specify concrete behavioral goals is a primary reason for the
failure of many behavior modification programs.
Examples of such goals are decreasing absenteeism or tardiness,
reducing product defects on an assembly
line, and meeting production schedules. The goals should be
both realistic (that is, reasonably achievable by
the employees) and acceptable to the employee. Otherwise, the
goals lack relevance, and resulting effort will
diminish.
Evaluating Results. Next, employees and supervisors keep track
of the employee’s performance record as
compared to the preset behavioral criteria and goals.
Discrepancies are noted and discussed. For example, the
record could provide employees with continuous feedback
concerning the extent to which they are on target
in meeting their defect reduction goals.
Administering Feedback and Rewards. Finally, on the basis of
the assessment of the employee’s
performance record, the supervisor administers feedback and,

where warranted, praise. For example, praise
could strengthen the employees’ efforts to reduce defects
(positive reinforcement). The withholding of praise
for defect levels deemed less than adequate or below established
goals could cause employees to stop
behavior that was contributing to defects or work harder to
reduce defects (extinction).
Central to this phase of the process is the notion of shaping.
Shaping is the process of improving performance
incrementally, step by step. Suppose that an employee is absent
30 percent of the time during one month. To
improve attendance, we would set a goal of being absent only 5
percent of the time. After implementing the
above procedure, we find that absenteeism falls to 20 percent in
the second month. Although this is not at
goal level, it is clearly an improveme nt and, as such, is
rewarded. The next month, absenteeism falls to 15
percent, and, again, we reward the incremental improvement.
Hence, by this incremental approach, the
employee gets ever closer to the desired level of behavior. In
other words, we have “shaped” her behavior.
Behavior Modification in Practice
There are many ways to see how the principles of behavior
modification can be applied in organizational
settings. Perhaps one of the best examples can be found in a
classic study carried out by Lutha ns and

Kreitner.17 These researchers carried out a field experiment in
a medium-sized light manufacturing plant. Two
separate groups of supervisors were used in the study. In one
group (the experimental group—see Appendix
A), the supervisors were trained in the techniques of behavior
modification. This program was called
“behavioral contingency management,” or BCM. Included here
were ten 90-minute lectures conducted over 10
weeks on behavioral change strategies. The second group of
supervisors (the control group) received no such
training. Following this, the trained supervisors were asked to
implement what they had learned among their
groups; obviously, the control group supervisors were given no
such instructions.
After 10 weeks, group performance was examined for all
groups. Two types of data were collected. First, the
researchers were interested in any possible behavioral changes
among the various workers in the
experimental groups (compared to the control groups) as a
result of the behavior modification efforts.
Significantly, the following changes were noted for these
groups in areas that were targeted for change: (1)
the frequency of complaints among group members declined, (2)
the scrap rates declined, (3) group quality
indicators increased, and (4) the frequency of individual
performance problems declined. No such changes
were recorded for the control groups not exposed to behavior
modification. The second measure taken
focused on the overall performance rates for the various groups.
This was calculated as a measure of direct
labor effectiveness for each group. Again, overall group
performance—that is, labor effectiveness
ratings—improved significantly in the experimental groups but
remained unchanged in the control groups.
This can be seen in Exhibit 4.9. The researchers concluded that

the introduction of the behavioral modification
program led to substantive improvements in factory
performance.
Exhibit 4.9 Intergroup Comparison of Performance using BCM
BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
4.4 Behavioral Self-Management
4. How can employees be trained to assume more responsibility
for self-improvement and job performance
with the goal of creating a work environme nt characterized by
continual self-learning and employee
development?
The second managerial technique for shaping learned behavior
in the workplace is behavioral self-management
(or BSM). Behavioral self-management is the process of
modifying one’s own behavior by systematically
managing cues, cognitive processes, and contingent
consequences.18 BSM is an approach to learning and
behavioral change that relies on the individual to take the
initiative in controlling the change process. The
emphasis here is on “behavior” (because our focus is on
changing behaviors), not attitudes, values, or
personality. Although similar to behavior modification, BSM
differs in one important respect: there is a heavy
emphasis on cognitive processes, reflecting the influence of
Bandura’s social learning theory.

1. What is behavior modification?
2. What is a performance audit, and what are the components?
The Self-Regulation Process
Underlying BSM is a firm belief that individuals are capable of
self-control; if they want to change their
behavior (whether it is to come to work on time, quit smoking,
lose weight, etc.), it is possible through a
process called self-regulation, as depicted in Exhibit 4.10.19
According to the model, people tend to go about
their day’s activities fairly routinely until something unusual or
unexpected occurs. At this point, the individual
initiates the self-regulation process by entering into self-
monitoring (Stage 1). In this stage, the individual
tries to identify the problem. For example, if your supervisor
told you that your choice of clothing was
unsuitable for the office, you would more than likely focus your
attention on your clothes.
Exhibit 4.10 Kanfer’s Model of Self-Regulation (Attribution:
license)
Next, in Stage 2, or self-evaluation, you would consider what
you should be wearing. Here, you would compare
what you have on to acceptable standards that you learned from
colleagues, other relevant role models, and

advertising, for example. Finally, after evaluating the situation
and taking corrective action if necessary, you
would assure yourself that the disruptive influence had passed
and everything was now fine. This phase (Stage
3) is called self-reinforcement. You are now able to return to
your normal routine. This self-regulation process
forms the foundation for BSM.
Self-Management in Practice
When we combine the above self-regulation model with social
learning theory (discussed earlier), we can see
how the self-management process works. As shown in Exhibit
4.11, four interactive factors must be
considered. These are situational cues, the person, behaviors,
and consequences.20 (Note that the arrows in this
diagram go in both directions to reflect the two-way process
among these four factors.)
Exhibit 4.11 A Social Learning Theory Model of Self-
Management (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
Situational Cues. In attempting to change any behavior, people
respond to the cues surrounding them. One
reason it is so hard for some people to give up smoking is the
constant barrage of advertisements on
billboards, in magazines, and so forth. There are too many cues
reminding people to smoke. However,
situational cues can be turned to our advantage when using
BSM. That is, through the use of six kinds of cue

(shown in Exhibit 4.11, column 1), people can set forth a series
of positive reminders and goals concerning the
desired behaviors. These reminders serve to focus our attention
on what we are trying to accomplish. Hence, a
person who is trying to quit smoking would (1) avoid any
contact with smokers or smoking ads, (2) seek
information on the hazards of smoking, (3) set a personal goal
of quitting, and (4) keep track of cigarette
consumption. These activities are aimed at providing the right
situational cues to guide behavior.
Cognitive Supports. Next, the person makes use of three types
of cognitive support to assist with the self-
management process. Cognitive supports represent
psychological (as opposed to environmental) cues. Three
such supports can be identified:
1. Symbolic Coding. First, people may use symbolic coding,
whereby they try to associate verbal or visual
stimuli with the problem. For example, we may create a picture
in our mind of a smoker who is coughing
and obviously sick. Thus, every time we think of cigarettes, we
would associate it with illness.
2. Rehearsal. Second, people may mentally rehearse the solution
to the problem. For example, we may
imagine how we would behave in a social situation without
cigarettes. By doing so, we develop a self-
image of how it would be under the desired condition.
3. Self-Talk. Finally, people can give themselves “pep talks” to
continue their positive behavior. We know
from behavioral research that people who take a negative view
of things (“I can’t do this”) tend to fail
more than people who take a more positive view (“Yes, I can do
this”). Thus, through self-talk, we can

help convince ourselves that the desired outcome is indeed
possible.
Behavioral Dilemmas. Obviously, self-management is used
almost exclusively to get people to do things that
may be unappealing; we need little incentive to do things that
are fun. Hence, we use self-management to get
individuals to stop procrastinating on a job, attend to a job that
may lack challenge, assert themselves, and so
forth. These are the “behavioral dilemmas” referred to in the
model (Exhibit 4.11). In short, the challenge is
to get people to substitute what have been called low -
probability behaviors (e.g., adhering to a schedule or
forgoing the immediate gratification from one cigarette) for
high-probability behaviors (e.g., procrastinating
or contracting lung cancer). In the long run, it is better for the
individual—and her career—to shift behaviors,
because failure to do so may lead to punishment or worse. As a
result, people often use self-management to
change their short-term dysfunctional behaviors into long-range
beneficial ones. This short-term versus long-
term conflict is referred to as a behavioral dilemma.
Self-Reinforcement. Finally, the individual can provide self-
reinforcement. People can, in effect, pat
themselves on the back and recognize that they accomplished
what they set out to do. According to Bandura,
self-reinforcement requires three conditions if it is to be
effective: (1) clear performance standards must be set
to establish both the quantity and quality of the targeted
behavior, (2) the person must have control over the
desired reinforcers, and (3) the reinforcers must be administered
only on a conditional basis—that is, failure to
meet the performance standard must lead to denial of the
reward.21 Thus, through a process of working to
change one’s environment and taking charge of one’s own

behavior, self-management techniques allow
individuals to improve their behavior in a way that can help
them and those around them.
Reducing Absenteeism through Self-Management
In a recent study, efforts were made to reduce employee
absenteeism using some of the techniques found in
behavioral self-management. The employees were unionized
state government workers with a history of
absenteeism. Self-management training was given to these
workers. Training was carried out over eight one-
hour sessions for each group, along with eight 30-minute one-
on-one sessions with each participant.
Included in these sessions were efforts to (1) teach the
participants how to describe problem behaviors (e.g.,
disagreements with coworkers) that led to absences, (2) identify
the causes creating and maintaining the
behaviors, and (3) develop coping strategies. Participants set
both short-term and long-term goals with
respect to modifying their behaviors. In addition, they were
shown how to record their own absences in
reports including their frequency and the reasons for and
consequences of them. Finally, participants
identified potential reinforcers and punishments that could be
self-administered contingent upon goal
attainment or failure.

When, after nine months, the study was concluded, results
showed that the self-management approach had
led to a significant reduction in absences (compared to a control
group). The researchers concluded that such
an approach has important applications to a wide array of
behavioral problems in the workplace.22
1. Understand Kanfer’s behavioral self-management process.
2. What are things you can do to instill self-management
techniques for yourself?
3. What behavioral self-management techniques can you use as
a manager?
Avoidance learning
Behavior modification
Behavioral criteria
Behavioral dilemmas
Behavioral self-management
Classical conditioning
Conditioned response
Continuous reinforcement
Drive

Extinction
Habit
Law of effect
Operant conditioning
Partial reinforcement
Performance audit
Positive reinforcement
Punishment
Reciprocal determinism
Reinforcement
Self-regulation
Self-reinforcement
Self-talk
Shaping
Social learning theory
Key Terms
Refers to seeking to avoid an unpleasant condition or outcome
by following a desired
behavior.
The use of operant conditioning principles to shape human
behavior to conform to
desired standards defined by superiors.
Defining what constitutes acceptable behavior in terms that
employees can understand
in objective, measurable terms.

The process of getting people to substitute what have been
called low-probability
behaviors for high-probability behaviors.
The use of operant conditioning principles to shape your own
behavior to
conform to desired standards defined by superiors.
The process whereby a stimulus-response bond is developed
between a conditioned
stimulus and a conditioned response through the repeated
linking of a conditioned stimulus with an
unconditioned stimulus.
The process of conditioning through the repeated linking of a
conditioned stimulus
with an unconditioned stimulus.
Rewards desired behavior every time it occurs.
An internal state of disequilibrium; it is a felt need. It is
generally believed that drive increases with the
strength of deprivation.
The principle that suggests that undesired behavior will decline
as a result of a lack of positive
reinforcement.
The experienced bond or connection between stimulus and
response.
States that of several responses made to the same situation,
those that are accompanied or
closely followed by satisfaction (reinforcement) will be more
likely to occur; those that are accompanied
or closely followed by discomfort (punishment) will be less

likely to occur.
Measures the effects of reinforcements, or rewards, on desired
behaviors.
Rewards desired behavior at specific intervals, not every time
desired behavior is
exhibited.
Aims to identify discrepancies between what management sees
as desired or acceptable
behavior and actual behavior.
Consists of presenting someone with an attractive outcome
following a desired
behavior.
The administration of unpleasant or adverse outcomes as a
result of undesired behavior.
This concept implies that people control their own environment
as much as the
environment controls people.
Anything that causes a certain behavior to be repeated or
inhibited.
The belief that individuals are capable of self-control if they
want to change their behavior.
The stage in Kanfer’s model where, by evaluating the situation
and taking corrective
action if necessary, one would assure themselves that the
disruptive influence had passed and everything
was now fine.
The process of convincing ourselves that the desired outcome is
indeed possible.

The process of improving performance incrementally, step by
step.
The process of molding behavior through the reciprocal
interaction of a person’s
cognitions, behavior, and environment.
Symbolic coding
Unconditioned response
Vicarious learning
When people try to associate verbal or visual stimuli with the
problem.
From classical conditioning, a response to an unconditioned
stimulus that is
naturally evoked by that stimulus.
Learning that takes place through the imitation of other role
models.
4.1 Basic Models of Learning
1. How do organizations offer appropriate rewards in a timely
fashion?
People learn through both direct experience and vicarious
experience. What is retained and produced as

behavior is a function of the positive and negative consequences
either directly experience by individuals or
observed as the result of the actions of others. Often, managers
and trainers underestimate the power of
vicarious learning. Also, keep in mind that reinforcement that
has some variability in its application (variable
ratio or interval) has the strongest and longest-lasting impact on
desired learned behaviors.
Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that
occurs as a result of experience.
Thorndike’s law of effect notes that behavior that is rewarded is
likely to be repeated, whereas behavior that is
punished is unlikely to be repeated. Operant conditioning can be
distinguished from classical conditioning in
two ways: (1) it asserts that changes in behavior result from the
consequences of previous behaviors instead
of changes in stimuli, and (2) it asserts that desired behaviors
result only when rewards are tied to correct
responses instead of when unconditioned stimuli are
administered after every trial.
Social learning is the process of altering behavior through the
reciprocal interaction of a person’s cognitions,
previous behavior, and environment. This is done through a
process of reciprocal determinism.
Vicarious learning is learning that takes place through
observation and imitation of others.
Learning is influenced by (1) a motivation to learn, (2)
knowledge of results, (3) prior learning, (4) the extent to
which the task to be learned is presented as a whole or in parts,
and (5) distribution of practice.

4.2 Reinforcement and Behavioral Change
2. What are the best practices that organizations utilize to train
Reinforcement causes a certain behavior to be repeated or
inhibited. Positive reinforcement is the practice of
presenting someone with an attractive outcome following a
desired behavior.
Avoidance learning occurs when someone attempts to avoid an
unpleasant condition or outcome by behaving
in a way desired by others.
Punishment is the administration of an unpleasant or adverse
outcome following an undesired behavior.
Reinforcement schedules may be continuous or partial. Among
the partial reinforcement schedules are (1)
fixed interval, (2) fixed ratio, (3) variable interval, and (4)
variable ratio.
4.3 Behavior Modification in Organizations
3. How do managers and organizations reduce undesirable
behavior?
Behavior modification is the use of operant principles to shape
human behavior to conform to desired
standards as defined by superiors. A behavior modification
program follows five steps: (1) establish clear
objectives, (2) conduct a performance audit, (3) set specific
goals and remove obstacles, (4) evaluate results
against preset criteria, and (5) administer feedback and praise
where warranted.

4.4 Behavioral Self-Management
4. How can employees be trained to assume more responsibility
for self-improvement and job performance
with the goal of creating a work environment characterized by
continual self-learning and employee
development?
Behavioral self-management is the process of modifyi ng one’s
own behavior by systematically managing cues,
cognitions, and contingent consequences. BSM makes use of the
self-regulation process.
1. Define learning. Why is an understanding of learning
important for managers?
2. Compare and contrast operant conditioning with classical
conditioning. Provide examples of each.
3. What is social learning theory? Describe how this process
works.
4. What implications of social learning theory for management
can you identify?
5. Identify four strategies for reinforcement, and provide an
example of each.
6. Describe the four different schedules of reinforcement, and
show how their use by managers can vary.
7. How might you design a simple behavior modification
program for a group of employees? Explain.
8. What are some problems in trying to implement a behavioral
self-management program? How can
managers attempt to overcome these problems?

1. In order to better understand how behavioral self-
management programs operate, you might want to
complete this self-assessment and design your own self-
management program. This exercise allows you
to see firsthand how these programs can be applied to a wide
array of problems. It also highlights the
advantages and drawbacks of such programs. Refer to Appendix
B when you are finished in order to
evaluate your results.
Designing Your Own Behavioral Self-Management Program
Instructions: Think of a personal problem that you would like to
overcome. This problem could be to stop
smoking, improve your grades, stop a certain habit, and so
forth. With this problem in mind, design your own
behavioral self-management program using the procedures and
principles previously outlined in this chapter.
After you have designed and started the program, monitor your
performance over time and see how effective
you are both in following the program and in meeting your
objectives. In light of your experience, how do you
feel about the potential of behavioral self-management
programs in the industrial setting? (See Appendix B.)
1. You manage the human resources department for a mid-sized
retailer. Part of the operations consists of a
call center with 100 employees spread over three shifts
operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
There is a main group with 20 people reporting to a shift
supervisor on the main daytime shift from 8 a.m.
to 4 p.m. There are regularly scheduled times for breaks and

lunch. Recently senior management
reported to you that they were concerned regarding tardiness of
some employees. While the customer
relationship management reports signal that there are no servi ce
issues, senior managers are concerned
that they are overstaffed. You feel that the daytime shift is the
most experienced group, and you do not
want to lose some of the best employees through termination.
You also do not have any budget money to
use for incentive payments aimed at reducing tardiness. What
ideas from operant conditioning, behavior
modification, and social learning theory would you use to
reduce the problems of tardiness?
2. Organizations are facing changes in their business
environment because of globalization of markets and
competition, growth of immediate digital information and
communications, growth of the service-based
economy, and changes in rules affecting corporate governance
and trade relationships. Assume the role
of a CEO who needs to change their corporate culture and their
standards of operation. The
organizational structures in your industry have trended from
tall, hierarchical bureaucracies to flat,
decentralized operations that encourage innovation. Changes
like this do not happen automatically. What
theories and techniques would you use to change your
organization’s culture?

Walt Disney World
When it comes to presenting world-class customer experiences,
Walt Disney World is at the top of the list. It’s
literally called the Most Magical Place on Earth. However, it
isn’t just their customers who are receiving
rewards for visiting—their cast members and crew are getting
rewarded big-time as well.
Incentives go above and beyond a 401(k) program, and they can
go a long way in retaining employees and
increasing employee satisfaction as well. Disney has over 180
employee recognition programs to give their
employees a sense of accomplishment, recognition, and
appreciation.
There are over 70,000 cast members at Walt Disney World, each
of whom receive extensive training to make
sure that they make the customer experience a world-class
enjoyment. According to Mike Fox, author of
Hidden Secrets & Stories of Walt Disney World, “it always
impresses me, especially at the cast member level, the
training that goes into helping these folks to provide a superior
experience and to see it on stage and see it
executed.”
Walt Disney exemplifies many ways of recognition, lots of them
being physical in-park recognitions. These
include names in windows on Main Street tributes, featuring
Disney’s best “imagineers” that helped create
some of the park’s greatest rides and innovations. One of the
most unique is the Lifetime Fred award, which
recognizes employees who exhibit the core company values of
friendliness and dependability. It is these

varying types of recognition that make Walt Disney’s rewards
program so robust and versatile and keep
employees engaged and willing to work hard to achieve more.
Questions:
1. What key factors are important to consider when creating a
rewards program?
2. Why is timing a key component to a rewards program?
3. What can be problematic about the wrong type of reward or
the wrong frequency of the reward for
employees?
Sources: Rhatigan, Chris, “These 4 Companies Totally Get
Employee Recognition,” TINY pulse, July 21, 2015,
https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/these-4-companies-totally-get-
employee-recognition; “Rewarding Your
Employees: 15 Examples of Successful Incentives in The
Corporate World,” Robinson Resource Group, June 30,
2013, http://www.rrgexec.com/rewarding-your-employees-15-
examples-of-successful-incentives-in-the-
corporate-world/; Kober, Jeff, “Reward & Recognition at Walt
Disney World,” World Class Benchmarking,
October 17, 2016, http://worldclassbenchmarking.com/reward-
recognition-at-the-walt-disney-world-resort/;
Cain, Áine, “15 insider facts about working at Walt Disney
World only cast members know,” Business Insider,
May 1, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/walt-disney-
world-cast-member-secrets-2018-2#if-the-guests-
can-see-you-youre-technically-onstage-5.

Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
What is diversity?
How diverse is the workforce?
How does diversity impact companies and the workforce?
What is workplace discrimination, and how does it affect
different social identity groups?
What key theories help managers understand the benefits and
challenges of managing the diverse
workforce?
How can managers reap benefits from diversity and mitigate its
challenges?
What can organizations do to ensure applicants, employees, and
customers from all backgrounds are
valued?
Exhibit 5.1 (Credit: rawpixel/ Pixabay/ (CC BY 0))
Dr. Tamara A. Johnson, Assistant Chancellor for Equity,
Diversity, and Inclusion at University of
Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Dr. Tamara Johnson’s role as assistant chancellor for equity,
diversity, and inclusion at the University of

Wisconsin-Eau Claire involves supervising and collaborating
with various campus entities to ensure their
operations continue to support the university’s initiati ves to
foster diversity and equity within the
university community. Dr. Johnson oversees the Affirmative
Action, Blugold Beginnings (pre-college
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
5
Diversity in Organizations
5.1 An Introduction to Workplace Diversity
1. What is diversity?
Diversity refers to identity-based differences among and
between two or more people1 that affect their lives
as applicants, employees, and customers. These identity-based
differences include such things as race and
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and age. Groups in society
based on these individual differences are
referred to as identity groups. These differences are related to
discrimination and disparities between groups

in areas such as education, housing, healthcare, and
employment. The term managing diversity is commonly
used to refer to ways in which organizations seek to ensure that
members of diverse groups are valued and
treated fairly within organizations2 in all areas including hiring,
compensation, performance evaluation, and
customer service activities. The term valuing diversity is often
used to reflect ways in which organizations show
appreciation for diversity among job applicants, employees, and
customers.3 Inclusion, which represents the
degree to which employees are accepted and treated fairly by
their organization,4 is one way in which
companies demonstrate how they value diversity. In the context
of today’s rapidly changing organizational
environment, it is more important than ever to understand
diversity in organizational contexts and make
progressive strides toward a more inclusive, equitable, and
representative workforce.
Three kinds of diversity exist in the workplace (see Table 5.1).
Surface-level diversity represents an
individual’s visible characteristics, including, but not limited
to, age, body size, visible disabilities, race, or sex.5
A collective of individuals who share these characteristics is
known as an identity group. Deep-level diversity
includes traits that are nonobservable such as attitudes, values,
and beliefs.6 Hidden diversity includes traits
that are deep-level but may be concealed or revealed at the
discretion of individuals who possess them.7
program), Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, Office of
Multicultural Affairs, Ronald E. McNair
Program, Services for Students with Disabilities, Student
Support Services, University Police, and Upward
Bound units and leads campus-wide initiatives to educate and

train faculty, students, and staff about
cultural awareness, diversity, and institutional equity.
Dr. Johnson’s journey to her current role began more than 20
years ago when she worked as a counselor
for the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs at the University
of Illinois. Her role in this office launched
her on a path through university service—Dr. Johnson went on
to work as the associate director for
University Career Services at Illinois State University, the
director for multicultural student affairs at
Northwestern University, and the director for faculty diversity
initiatives at the University of Chicago. As
faculty at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology,
Argosy University, and Northwestern
University, Dr. Johnson taught counseling courses at the
undergraduate, master’s, and doctorate levels.
Dr. Johnson’s work at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
involves developing a program and
protocols to ensure all faculty and staff across the institution
receive baseline diversity training. In
addition, one of her goals is to include criteria related to
diversity factors in the evaluations of all faculty/
staff. A primary issue that she seeks to address is to increase
the awareness of the challenges
experienced by underrepresented students. This includes
individuals who may come from backgrounds
of low income, students of color, first-generation students, and
other marginalized groups such as
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students. Dr. Johnson
understands the importance of creating
initiatives to support individuals in those groups so their
specific concerns may be addressed in multiple
ways. As you will learn in this chapter, when leaders
proactively create an inclusive and supportive

climate that values diversity, benefits are produced that result in
in positive outcomes for organizations.
126 Chapter 5 Diversity in Organizations
These hidden traits are called invisible social identities8 and
may include sexual orientation, a hidden
disability (such as a mental illness or chronic disease), mixed
racial heritage,9 or socioeconomic status.
Researchers investigate these different types of diversity in
order to understand how diversity may benefit or
hinder organizational outcomes.
Diversity presents challenges that may include managing
dysfunctional conflict that can arise from
inappropriate interactions between individuals from different
groups. Diversity also presents advantages such
as broader perspectives and viewpoints. Knowledge about how
to manage diversity helps managers mitigate
some of its challenges and reap some of its benefits.
Types of Diversity
Surface-
level
diversity
Diversity in the form of characteristics of individuals that are
readily visible including, but
not limited to, age, body size, visible disabilities, race or sex.

Deep-level
diversity
Diversity in characteristics that are nonobservable such as
attitudes, values, and beliefs,
such as religion.
Hidden
diversity
Diversity in characteristics that are deep-level but may be
concealed or revealed at
discretion by individuals who possess them, such as sexual
orientation.
under CC-BY 4.0 license)
5.2 Diversity and the Workforce
2. How diverse is the workforce?
In 1997, researchers estimated that by the year 2020, 14% of the
workforce would be Latino, 11% Black, and 6%
Asian.10 Because of an increase in the number of racial
minorities entering the workforce over the past 20
years, most of those projections have been surpassed as of 2016,
with a workforce composition of 17%
Hispanic or Latino of any race, followed by 12% Black and 6%
Asian (see Exhibit 5.2). American Indians, Alaska
Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders together
made up a little over 1% of the labor force,
while people of two or more races made up about 2% of the
labor force.11 Women constitute approximately
47% of the workforce compared to approximately 53% for
men,12 and the average age of individuals

participating in the labor force has also increased because more
employees retire at a later age.13 Although
Whites still predominantly make up the workforce with a 78%
share,14 the U.S. workforce is becoming
increasingly more diverse, a trend that presents both
opportunities and challenges. These demographic shifts
in the labor market affect the workforce in a number of ways
due to an increasing variety of workers who
differ by sex, race, age, sexual orientation, disability status, and
immigrant status.
2. What are the three types of diversity encountered in the
workplace?
Chapter 5 Diversity in Organizations 127
Exhibit 5.2 Percentage distribution of the labor force by race
(Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-
BY 4.0 license)
Gender
Increasingly more women are entering the workforce.15
Compared to 59% in 1977, the labor force
participation rate for men is now approximately 53% and is
expected to decrease through 2024 to 52%.16 As
the labor force participation rate decreases for men, the labor
force growth rate for women will be faster.
Their percentage of the workforce has steadily risen, as can be
seen in Exhibit 5.3, which compares the
percentage of the workforce by gender in 1977 to 2017.17

Although more women are entering the labor force and earning
bachelor’s degrees at a higher rate than
men,18 women still face a number of challenges at work. The
lack of advancement opportunities awarded to
qualified women is an example of a major challenge that w omen
face called the glass ceiling,19 which is an
invisible barrier based on the prejudicial beliefs that underlie
organizational decisions that prevent women
from moving beyond certain levels within a company.
Additionally, in organizations in which the upper-level
managers and decision makers are predominantly men, women
are less likely to find mentors, which are
instrumental for networking and learning about career
opportunities. Organizations can mitigate this
challenge by providing mentors for all new employees. Such a
policy would help create a more equal playing
field for all employees as they learn to orient themselves and
navigate within the organization.
Exhibit 5.3 Percentage Distribution of the Labor Force by Sex
BY 4.0 license)
One factor that greatly affects women in organizations is sexual
harassment. Sexual harassment is illegal,
and workers are protected from it by federal legislation.20 Two
forms of sexual harassment that can occur at
work are quid pro quo and hostile environment.21 Quid pro quo
harassment refers to the exchange of rewards

for sexual favors or punishments for refusal to grant sexual
favors. Harassment that creates a hostile
environment refers to behaviors that create an abusive work
climate. If employees are penalized (for example
by being demoted or transferred to another department) for
refusing to respond to repeated sexual advances,
quid pro quo sexual harassment has taken place. The telling of
lewd jokes, the posting of pornographic
material at work, or making offensive comments about women
in general are examples of actions that are
considered to create a hostile work environment. According to
the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, sexual harassment is defined as the “unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors,
and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature.
Harassment can also include offensive remarks
about a person’s sex.”22 Although both men and women can be
sexually harassed, women are sexually
harassed at work more often.23 In addition, Black and other
minority women are especially likely to be
subjected to sexual discrimination and harassment.24
Exhibit 5.4 Tamara Johnson The treatment of women in
business has become a hot topic in corporate boardrooms,
human resources
departments, and investment committees. Tamara Johnson, who
is profiled in the opening feature to this chapter, moves beyond
simply
acknowledging widespread discrimination to focusing on
solutions. Also on the agenda: the need to improve diversity and
inclusion across the
board and breaking through the glass ceiling. (Credit: Tamara

Johnson/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
It is in the organization’s best interest to prevent sexual
harassment from occurring. Ways to do this include
companies providing ongoing (e.g., annual) training so that
employees are able to recognize sexual
harassment. Employees should know what constitutes
acceptable and unacceptable behavior and what
channels and protocols are in place for reporting unacceptable
behaviors. Managers should understand their
role and responsibilities regarding harassment prevention, and a
clear and understandable policy should be
communicated throughout the organization.
Just as gender-based discrimination is illegal and inappropriate,
so is discrimination or mistreatment based on
pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions. While
organizations may have different policies regarding
maternity and paternity leave, they must comply with both the
Pregnancy Discrimination Act and the Family
Medical Leave Act.
Race
Another important demographic shift in workforce diversity is
the distribution of race. (Note that we are using
categories defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. It uses the term
“Black (African American)” to categorize U.S.
residents. In this chapter, we use the term “Black.”)
While the White non-Hispanic share of the workforce continues
to shrink, the share of racial and ethnic
minority groups will continue to grow.25 Specifically,
Hispanics and Asians will grow at a faster rate than other
racial minorities, and Hispanics are projected to make up almost
one-fifth of the labor force by 2024.26 The
projected changes in labor force composition between 2014 and

2024 are as follows:
White non-Hispanic participation in the labor force will decline
by 3%. Other groups’ share of the labor force is
expected to increase: Black (10.1%), Hispanic/Latino (28%),
Asian (23.2%), and Other groups (i.e., multiracial,
American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Other
Pacific Islanders) labor force share is expected to
increase by 22.2%.27 With the workforce changing, managers
will need to be mindful of issues employees
encounter that are uniquely tied to their experiences based on
race and ethnicity, including harassment,
discrimination, stereotyping, and differential treatment by
coworkers and decision makers in organizations.
Discrimination Against Black Employees
Race is one of the most frequent grounds for discrimination.28
Although Blacks do not make up the largest
share of the workforce for racial minorities, research studies
show they face discrimination more often than
other racial minorities. As a matter of fact, some experts believe
that hiring discrimination against Blacks has
not declined over the past 25 years while workplace
discrimination against other racial minority groups has
declined.29

Discrimination in the Sharing Economy—#AirbnbWhileBlack
Airbnb, a popular home-sharing website founded in San
Francisco in 2008, offers millions of homes for
short-term rental in more than 190 countries. This company has
revolutionized the sharing economy in
the same way that ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft
have, and according to the company, the
site’s drive to connect hosts and potential renters has been able
to contribute to the quality of life of
both homeowners and travelers. According to Airbnb’s press
releases and information campaigns, their
services can reduce housing costs for travelers on a budget and
can provide unique experiences for
adventurous travelers who wish to have the flexibility to
experience a city like a local. The organization
also claims that most of its users are homeowners looking to
supplement their incomes by renting out
rooms in their homes or by occasionally renting out their whole
homes. According to a statement, most
of the listings on the site are rented out fewer than 50 nights per
year.
Despite the carefully crafted messages Airbnb has presented to
the public, in 2016 the company came
under intense scrutiny when independent analyses by
researchers and journalists revealed something
startling: While some Airbnb hosts did in fact use the services
only occasionally, a significant number of
hosts were using the services as though they were hotels. These
hosts purchased a large number of
properties and continuously rented them, a practice that affected
the availability of affordable housing in
cities and, because these hosts were not officially registered as
hoteliers, made it possible for Airbnb

hosts to avoid paying the taxes and abiding by the laws that
hotels are subject to.
Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mandates that hotels and
other public accommodations must not
discriminate based on race, national origin, sex, or religion, and
Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968
(also known as the Fair Housing Act [FHA]) prohibits
discrimination specifically in housing. However,
Airbnb’s unique structure allows it to circumvent those l aws.
The company also claims that while it
encourages hosts to comply with local and federal laws, it is
absolved from responsibility if any of its
hosts break these laws. In 2017, researcher Ben Edelman
conducted a field experiment and found that
Airbnb users looking to rent homes were 16% less likely to have
their requests to book accepted if they
had traditionally African American sounding names like
Tamika, Darnell, and Rasheed.
These findings, coupled with a viral social media campaign,
#AirbnbWhileBlack, in which users claimed
Currently, White men have higher participation rates in the
workforce than do Black men,31 and Black women
have slightly higher participation rates than White women.32
Despite growth and gains in both Black education
and Black employment, a Black person is considerably more
likely to be unemployed than a White person,
even when the White person has a lower level of education33 or
a criminal record.34

Blacks frequently experience discrimination in the workplace in
spite of extensive legislation in place to
prohibit such discrimination. Research has shown that
stereotypes and prejudices about Blacks can cause
them to be denied the opportunity for employment when
compared to equally qualified Whites.35 It is
estimated that about 25% of businesses have no minority
workers and another 25% have less than 10%
minority workers.36 In terms of employed Blacks, research has
shown that, regardless of managers’ race,
managers tended to give significantly higher performance
ratings to employees who were racially similar to
them. Because Whites are much more likely to be managers than
Blacks, this similarity effect tends to
advantage White employees over Black employees.37 Blacks
are also significantly more likely to be hired in
positions that require low skills, offer little to no room for
growth, and pay less. These negative employment
experiences affect both the mental and physical health of Black
employees.38
Hispanic/Latino
Hispanics are the second-fastest-growing minority group in the
United States behind Asians,39 and they make
up 17% of the labor force.40 Despite this and the fact that
Hispanics have the highest labor participation rate of
all the minority groups, they still face discrimination and
harassment in similar ways to other minority groups.
(Note that we are again using the categories as defined by the
U.S. Census Bureau, which predominantly uses
the term "Hispanic" to refer to people of Cuban, Mexican,
Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other
Spanish culture or origin.)
they were denied housing requests based on their race, prompted

the state of California’s Department
of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) to file a complaint
against the company. In an effort to resolve
the complaint, Airbnb reported banning any hosts who were
found to have engaged in discriminatory
practices, and they hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric
Holder and former ACLU official Laura
Murphy to investigate any claims of discrimination within the
company.30 In 2016, Airbnb released a
statement outlining changes to company practices and policies
to combat discrimination, and while they
initially resisted demands by the DFEH to conduct an audit of
their practices, the company eventually
agreed to an audit of roughly 6,000 of the hosts in California
who have the highest volume of properties
listed on the site.
Sources: AirBnB Press Room, accessed December 24, 2018,
https://press.atairbnb.com/about-us/;
“Airbnb's data shows that Airbnb helps the middle class. But
does it?”, The Guardian, accessed December
23, 2018,
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/27/airbnb-
panel-democratic-national-
convention-survey ; and Quittner, Jeremy, “Airbnb and
Discrimination: Why It’s All So Confusing”,
Fortune, June 23, 2016, http://fortune.com/2016/06/23/airbnb-
discrimination-laws/.
Discussion Questions
1. What are some efforts companies in the sharing economy can
take before problems of
discrimination threaten to disrupt operations?
2. Should Airbnb be held responsible for discriminatory actions
of its hosts?

Hispanics can be of any race.41 As a matter of fact,
increasingly more Hispanics are identifying racially as
White. In 2004 almost half of Hispanics identified themselves
racially as White, while just under half identified
themselves as “some other race.”42 More than 10 years later,
approximately 66% of Hispanics now identify
themselves racially as White while only 26% identify
themselves as “some other race.”43 The remaining
Hispanic population, totaling approximately 7%, identify as
either Black, American Indian, Asian, Alaskan
Native, Pacific Islander, or Native Hawaiian.44
Why would a minority identity group identify racially as White?
A Pew study found that the longer Hispanic
families lived in the United States, the more likely they were to
claim White as their race even if they had not
done so in the past.45 This suggests that upward mobility in
America may be perceived by some Hispanics to
be equated with “Whiteness.”46 Consequently, Hispanics who
self-identify racially as White experience higher
rates of education and salary, and lower rates of
unemployment.47 Additionally, only 29% of Hispanics polled
by the Pew Hispanic Center believe they share a common
culture.48 According to the Pew Research Center, this
finding may be due to the fact that the Hispanic ethnic group in
the United States is made up of at least 14
Hispanic origin groups (such as Puerto Rican, Cuban, Spanish,
Mexican, Dominican, and Guatemalan, among

many others).49 Each of these groups has its own culture with
different customs, values, and norms.
These cultural differences among the various Hispanic groups,
combined with different self-perceptions of
race, may also affect attitudes toward their workplace
environment. For example, one study found that the
absenteeism rate among Blacks was related to the level of
diversity policies and activities visible in the
organization, while the absenteeism rate among Hispanics was
similar to that of Whites and not related to
those diversity cues.50 Results from this study suggest that
managers need to be aware of how diversity
impacts their workplace, namely addressing the relationship
between Hispanic job seekers or workers and
organizational outcomes concerning diversity policies as it may
differ from that of other racial minorities.
Asian and Asian American
Asians are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United
States, growing 72% between 2000 and 2015.51
Compared to the rest of the U.S. population overall, households
headed by Asian Americans earn more money
and are more likely to have household members who hold a
bachelor’s degree.52 However, there is a wide
range of income levels among the Asian population that differs
between the more than 19 groups of Asian
origin in the United States.53
Similar to other racial and ethnic minority groups, Asians are
stereotyped and face discrimination at work.
Society through media often stereotypes Asian men as having
limited English-speaking skills and as being
highly educated, affluent, analytical, and good at math and

science.54 Asian women are often portrayed as
weak and docile.55 For Asian women, and other minority
women as well, social stereotypes depicting them as
exotic contribute to reports of sexual harassment from women
minority groups.56
The model minority myth57 is a reflection of perceptions
targeting Asians and Asian Americans that contrast
the stereotypes of “conformity” and “success” of Asian men
with stereotypes of “rebelliousness” and
“laziness” of other minority men. It also contrasts the
stereotyped “exotic” and “obedient” nature of Asian
women against the stereotypical beliefs that White women are
“independent” and “pure.”58 These
perceptions are used not only to invalidate injustice that occurs
among other racial minorities, but also to
create barriers for Asian and Asian Americans seeking
leadership opportunities as they are steered toward
“behind the scenes” positions that require less engagement with
others. These stereotypes also relegate
Asian women into submissive roles in organizations, making it
challenging for Asian men and women to
advance in rank at the same rate as White male employees.59
Multiracial
Although the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that approximately
2% of the U.S. population describes themselves
as belonging to more than one race, the Pew Research Center
estimates that number should be higher, with
around 7% of the U.S. population considered multiracial.60
This is due to the fact that some individuals may

claim one race for themselves even though they have parents
from different racial backgrounds. To complicate
matters even more, when collecting data from multiracial group
members, racial identity for individuals in this
group may change over time because race is a social construct
that is not necessarily based on a shared
culture or country of origin in the same way as ethnicity. As a
result, multiracial individuals (and Hispanics)
have admitted to changing their racial identity over the course
of their life and even based on the situation.
Approximately 30% of multiracial individuals polled by the Pew
Research Center say that they have varied
between viewing themselves as belonging to one race or
belonging to multiple races. Within the group polled,
the order in which they first racially identified as belonging to
one racial group versus belonging to more than
one group varied.61
Despite the fact that multiracial births have risen tenfold
between 1970 and 2013,62 their participation in the
labor force is only around 2%.63 Additionally, multiracial
individuals with a White racial background are still
considered a racial minority unless they identify themselves
solely as White, and approximately 56% of them
on average say they have been subjected to racial jokes and
slurs.64 Discrimination also varies when
multiracial groups are broken down further, with Black–
American Indians having the highest percentage of
individuals reporting discrimination and White–Asians having
the lowest percentage.65
At work, multiracial employees are sometimes mistaken for
races other than their own. If their racial minority
background is visible to others, they may experience negative
differential treatment. Sometimes they are not
identified as having a racial or ethnic minority background and

are privy to disparaging comments from
unsuspecting coworkers about their own race, which can be
demoralizing and can lead to lower organizational
attachment and emotional strain related to concealing their
identity.66
Other Groups
Approximately 1% of the labor force identifies as American
Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific
Islander, or some other race.67
Age
The age distribution of an organization’s workforce is an
important dimension of workplace diversity as the
working population gets older. Some primary factors
contributing to an older population include the aging of
the large Baby Boomer generation (people born between 1946
and 1964), lower birth rates, and longer life
expectancies68 due to advances in medical technology and
access to health care. As a result, many individuals
work past the traditional age of retirement (65 years old) and
work more years than previous generations in
order to maintain their cost of living.
Exhibit 5.5 compares the percentage of the population over the
age of 65 to those under the age of 18
between 2010 and 2016. The number of older individuals has
increased and is projected to reach 20.6% by the
year 2030 while the number of younger individuals has steadily
decreased within that time period. These
numbers imply that organizations will increasingly have
employees across a wide range of ages, and cross-
generational interaction can be difficult manage. Although older
workers are viewed as agreeable and
comfortable to work with, they are also stereotyped by some

employees as incompetent69 and less interested
in learning new tasks at work compared to younger workers.70
Studies have found support for the proposition
that age negatively relates to cognitive functioning.71 However,
if managers offer less opportunity to older
workers solely because of declining cognitive functioning, it
can be detrimental to organizational performance
because older workers outperform younger workers on a number
of other job performance measures.
Compared to younger workers, older workers are more likely to
perform above their job expectations and
follow safety protocols. They are also less likely to be tardy,
absent, or abuse drugs or alcohol at work
compared to their younger counterparts.
Exhibit 5.5 Change in U.S. population by age (Attribution:
Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license)
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Sexual orientation diversity is increasing in the workforce.72
However, only 21 states and Washington D.C.
prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.73 Without
federal protection, individuals who do not live in
these states could be overlooked for employment or fired for
their sexual orientation unless their employer
has policies to protect them.74 Many employers are beginning
to understand that being perceived as inclusive
will make them more attractive to a larger pool of job

applicants.75 So although the Civil Rights Act does not
explicitly provide federal protection to lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ)
employees, more than half of the Fortune 500 companies have
corporate policies that protect sexual
minorities from discrimination at work and offer domestic-
partner benefits.76
Unfortunately, the percentage of hate crimes relating to sexual
orientation discrimination has increased.77
Indeed, LGBTQ employees are stigmatized so much that in a
recent study, researchers found that straight-
identifying participants were more attracted to employers with
no job security to offer them compared to gay-
friendly employers.78 In other words, individuals would waive
job security to avoid working with sexual
minorities. Also, compared to heterosexuals, sexual minorities
have higher education levels79 but still face
hiring and treatment discrimination frequently.80
LGBTQ employees are often faced with the decision of whether
or not to be truthful about their sexual
orientation at work for fear of being stigmatized and treated
unfairly. The decision to not disclose is
sometimes called passing, and for some it involves a great risk
of emotional strain that can affect
performance.81 Individuals who pass may distance themselves
from coworkers or clients to avoid disclosure
about their personal life. This behavior can also result in
decreased networking and mentoring opportunities,

which over time can limit advancement opportunities. The
decision to be transparent about sexual orientation
is sometimes called revealing.82 Just like passing, revealing has
its own set of risks including being ostracized,
stigmatized, and subjected to other forms of discrimination at
work. However, compared to passing, the
benefits of building relationships at work and using their
identity as a catalyst for tolerance and progressive
organizational change may outweigh the risks when LGBTQ
employees decide to reveal. The decision to "come
out" should be made exclusively by the individual; "outing"
someone else as any sexual orientation or gender
identity is considered highly inappropriate and hurtful, and may
have employment-related consequences.
Research shows that when local or state laws are passed to
prevent sexual orientation discrimination,
incidents of workplace discrimination decrease.83 This same
effect occurs when firms adopt policies that
protect the rights of sexual minority employees.84 By creating a
safe and inclusive work environment for
LGBTQ employees, companies can create a culture of tolerance
for all employees regardless of their sexual
orientation or gender identity.
Blind Recruiting
An increasing number of companies are testing a new and
innovative way of recruiting. Blind recruiting is
a process by which firms remove any identifying information
about applicants during the recruitment
process. An example of this may include anonymous
applications that omit fields requesting information
such as an applicant’s name or age. Using computer application

technology, some companies like
Google administer surveys to their anonymous applicants that
measure the abilities required for the job
before they are considered in the next step of the recruitment
process. Alternatively, companies may
request that applicants remove identifying information such as
names and address from their resumes
before applying for positions. As resumes are received, hiring
managers can assign a temporary
identification number.
Although more companies are using this method of recruiting,
the idea is not new for symphony
orchestras, many of which have been using blind auditioning
since the 1970s. In some instances
musicians audition behind screens so they are evaluated only by
their music. This process removes bias
associated with race and gender because the performer cannot
be seen and only heard. A study
investigating this practice examined 11 symphony orchestras
that varied on the use of blind auditions.
Researchers found that blind auditions increased the likelihood
that a woman would be hired by
between 25 and 46%. A recruitment process like this can help
organizations attract more candidates, hire
the best talent, increase their workplace diversity, and avoid
discrimination liability.
Sources: Grothaus, M. (Mar 14 2016). How “blind” recruitment
works and why you should consider it.
Fast Company. Retrieved from
https://www.fastcompany.com/3057631/how-blind-recruitment-
works-
and-why-you-should-consider; and MIller, C.C. (Feb 25 2016).
Is blind hiring the best hiring? The New
York Times Magazine. Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/magazine/is-blind-hiring-
the-best-hiring.html.
1. Should all companies use blind recruiting in place of
traditional recruiting, or are there exceptions
that must be considered?
Immigrant Workers
Every year a new record is set for the time it takes to reach the
U.S. cap of H-1B visas granted to employers.85
H- 1B visas are a type of work visa, a temporary documented
status that authorizes individuals to
permanently or temporarily live and work in the United
States.86 As a result of the demand for work visas by
employers, the number of immigrant workers in the U.S.
workforce has steadily grown within the last decade
from 15% in 2005 to 17% in 2016.87 Compared to those born in
the United States, the immigrant population in
America is growing significantly faster.88 This is partly
because of the U.S. demand for workers who are
proficient in math and science89 and wish to work in America.
Although a huge demand for immigrant labor exists in the
United States, immigrant labor exploitation occurs,
with immigrant employees receiving lower wages and working
longer hours compared to American workers.90

Foreign-born job seekers are attracted to companies that
emphasize work visa sponsorship for international
employees, yet they are still mindful of their vulnerability to
unethical employers who may try to exploit them.
For example, Lambert and colleagues found that some of the
job-seeking MBA students from the Philippines
in their study believed that companies perceived to value
international diversity and sponsor H-1B visas
signaled a company wishing to exploit workers.91 Others
believed that those types of companies might yield
diminishing returns to each Filipino in the company because
their token value becomes limited. In news
stories, companies have been accused of drastically
shortchanging foreign student interns on their weekly
wages.92 In another case, Infosys, a technology consulting
company, paid $34 million to settle allegations of
visa fraud due to suspicion of underpaying foreign workers to
increase profits.93
Other Forms of Diversity at Work
Workers with disabilities are projected to experience a 10%
increase in job growth through the year 2022.94
This means that more public and corporate policies will be
revised to allow greater access to training for
workers with disabilities and employers.95 Also, more
companies will use technology and emphasize educating
employees about physical and mental disabilities as workplace
accommodations are used more often.
In the past, the United States has traditionally been a country
with citizens who predominantly practice the
Christian faith. However, over the past almost 30 years the
percentage of Americans who identify as Christian
has significantly decreased—by approximately 12%. Over that

same time period, affiliation with other religions
overall increased by approximately 25%.96 The increase in
immigrant workers from Asian and Middle Eastern
countries means that employers must be prepared to
accommodate religious beliefs other than Christianity.
Although federal legislation protects employees from
discrimination on the basis of race, religion, and
disability status, many employers have put in place polici es of
their own to deal with the variety of diversity
that is increasingly entering the workforce.
2. If blind recruiting helps eliminate bias during the recruitment
process, then what does that say
about social media platforms such as Linked In that are
commonly used for recruiting applicants?
Will using those platforms expose companies to greater liability
compared to using more traditional
means of recruiting?
3. How does blind recruiting help organizations? How may it
hinder organizations?
5.3 Diversity and Its Impact on Companies
3. How does diversity impact companies and the workforce?
Due to trends in globalization and increasing ethnic and gender
diversity, it is imperative that employers learn
how to manage cultural differences and individual work
attitudes. As the labor force becomes more diverse
there are both opportunities and challenges to managing
employees in a diverse work climate. Opportunities

include gaining a competitive edge by embracing change in the
marketplace and the labor force. Challenges
include effectively managing employees with different attitudes,
values, and beliefs, in addition to avoiding
liability when leadership handles various work situations
improperly.
Reaping the Advantages of Diversity
The business case for diversity introduced by Taylor Cox and
Stacy Blake outlines how companies may obtain a
competitive advantage by embracing workplace diversity.97 Six
opportunities that companies may receive
when pursuing a strategy that values diversity include cost
advantages, improved resource acquisition, greater
marketing ability, system flexibility, and enhanced creativity
and better problem solving (see Exhibit 5.6).
1. How is diversity defined in relation to the workplace?
2. What are the components that make up a diverse workplace
and workforce?
Exhibit 5.6 Managing Cultural Diversity (Attribution: Copyright
Rice University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license)
Cost Advantages
Traits such as race, gender, age, and religion are protected by

federal legislation against various forms of
discrimination (covered later in this chapter). Organizations that
have policies and procedures in place that
encourage tolerance for a work climate of diversity and protect
female and minority employees and applicants
from discrimination may reduce their likelihood of being sued
due to workplace discrimination. Cox and Blake
identify this decreased liability as an opportunity for
organizations to reduce potential expenses in lawsuit
damages compared to other organizations that do not have such
policies in place.
Additionally, organizations with a more visible climate of
diversity experience lower turnover among women
and minorities compared to companies that are perceived to not
value diversity.98 Turnover costs can be
substantial for companies over time, and diverse companies may
ameliorate turnover by retaining their
female and minority employees. Although there is also research
showing that organizations that value
diversity experience a higher turnover of White employees and
male employees compared to companies that
are less diverse,99 some experts believe this is due to a lack of
understanding of how to effectively manage
diversity. Also, some research shows that Whites with a strong
ethnic identity are attracted to diverse
organizations similarly to non-Whites.100
Resource Acquisition
Human capital is an important resource of organizations, and it
is acquired through the knowledge, skills, and
abilities of employees. Organizations perceived to value
diversity attract more women and minority job
applicants to hire as employees. Studies show that w omen and
minorities have greater job-pursuit intentions

and higher attraction toward organizations that promote
workplace diversity in their recruitment materials
compared to organizations that do not.101 When employers
attract minority applicants, their labor pool
increases in size compared to organizations that are not
attractive to them. As organizations attract more job
candidates, the chances of hiring quality employees increases,
especially for jobs that demand highly skilled
labor. In summary, organizations gain a competitive advantage
by enlarging their labor pool by attracting
women and minorities.
Marketing
When organizations employ individuals from different
backgrounds, they gain broad perspectives regarding
consumer preferences of different cultures. Organizations can
gain insightful knowledge and feedback from
demographic markets about the products and services they
provide. Additionally, organizations that value
diversity enhance their reputation with the market they serve,
thereby attracting new customers.
System Flexibility
When employees are placed in a culturally diverse work
environment, they learn to interact effectively with
individuals who possess different attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Cox and Blake contend that the ability to
effectively interact with individuals who differ from oneself
builds cognitive flexibility, the ability to think about

things differently and adapt one’s perspective. When employees
possess cognitive flexibility, system flexibility
develops at the organizational level. Employees learn from each
other how to tolerate differences in opinions
and ideas, which allows communication to flow more freely and
group interaction to be more effective.
Creativity and Problem Solving
Teams from diverse backgrounds produce multiple points of
view, which can lead to innovative ideas. Different
perspectives lead to a greater number of choices to select from
when addressing a problem or issue.
Life experience varies from person to person, sometimes based
on race, age, or sex. Creativity has the
opportunity to flourish when those experiences are shared.
Diverse teams not only produce more alternatives,
but generate a broader range of perspectives to address tasks
and problems. One way in which diverse teams
enhance problem-solving ability is by preventing
groupthink,102 a dysfunction in decision-making that occurs
in homogeneous groups as a result of group pressures and group
members’ desire for conformity and
consensus. Diverse group membership prevents groupthink
because individuals from varied backgrounds
with different values, attitudes, and beliefs can test the
assumptions and reasoning of group members’ ideas.
Aligning Diversity Programs with an Organization’s Mission
and Strategic Goals
Diversity helps organizations perform best when it is aligned
with a specific business strategy. For example,
when companies use heterogeneous management teams that are
directed by an entrepreneurial strategy
focusing on innovation, the companies’ productivity increases.

When an entrepreneurial strategy is not present, however, team
diversity has little effect on productivity.103 An
entrepreneurial strategy includes innovation that reflects a
company’s commitment to being creative,
supporting new ideas, and supporting experimentation as a way
to gain a competitive advantage. In other
words, managers may properly utilize the multiple perspectives
that emerge from heterogeneous teams by
integrating them as a resource for pursuing the overall strategy
of the organization.
Using Human Resources Tools Strategically
To effectively align diversity with an organization’s strategy,
the human resources function must be able to
engage employees at dynamic levels. Using a strategic human
resources management approach to an
organization can successfully integrate diversity with the
organization’s goals and objectives.104 Strategic
human resources management (SHRM) is a system of activities
arranged to engage employees in a manner
that assists the organization in achieving a sustainable
competitive advantage. SHRM practices vertically
integrate with the mission and strategy of the organization while
horizontally integrating human resources
activities across its functional areas. By doing so, a unique set
of resources can be made available to specific to
the needs of the organization. Furthermore, when human
resources becomes a part of the strategic planning

process instead of just providing ancillary services, improved
communication, knowledge sharing, and greater
synergy between decision makers can occur within the
organization to improve organizational functioning.
The resource-based view of the firm has been used to support
the argument for diversity because it
demonstrates how a diverse workforce can create a sustainable
competitive advantage for organizations.
Based on the resource-based view of the firm, when companies
possess resources that are rare, valuable,
difficult to imitate, and non-substitutable, a sustained
competitive advantage can be attained.105 The SHRM
approach assumes that human capital—the current and potential
knowledge, skills, and abilities of
employees—is instrumental to every organization’s success and
sustainability and longevity.
If a diverse composition of employees within organizations is
rare, employing minorities in positions of
leadership is even rarer. One exception is Northern Trust, an
investment management firm that was recently
listed on Forbes magazine’s 2018 Best Employers for Diversity
list.106 Thirty-eight percent of Northern Trust’s
top executives are women, which is impressive because it
matches the average percentage of women in full-
time one-year MBA programs over the past five years.107 The
average for S&P 500 companies is just 27%. In
addition, African Americans make up 23% of Northern Trust’s
board, which also demonstrates the
commitment Northern Trust has to diversity. This rare degree of
diversity helps Northern Trust become an
employer of choice for minorities and women. In turn, attracting
minority applicants increases the labor pool
available to Northern Trust and increases its ability to find good
talent.

Exhibit 5.7 Bank staff watching presentation The Disability
Awareness Players present to the staff at Northern Trust.
(Credit: JJ’s List/ flickr/
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
Diverse companies may capitalize on the multiple perspectives
that employees from different backgrounds
contribute to problem solving and idea generation. In group
settings, members from collectivist cultures from
Asia and South America, for example, engage with others on
tasks differently than members from North
America. Similarly, Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics usually act
more collectively and engage more
interdependently than Whites, who are generally more
individualistic. More harmonious working interactions
benefit group cohesion and team performance,108 and
employees can grasp better ways of doing things when
there is a diverse population to learn from.
For a company to attain a sustained competitive advantage, its
human resource practices must be difficult to
copy or imitate. As we will see later in the chapter, companies
may hold one of three perspectives on
workplace diversity. The integration and learning perspective
results in the best outcomes for employees and
the organization. However, it is not easy to become an employer
that can effectively manage diversity and
avoid the challenges we learned about earlier in this chapter.
Historical conditions and often-complex
interplay between various organizational units over time can
contribute to a company’s ability to perform

effectively as a diverse organization. Best practices for
targeting diverse applicants or resolving conflicts based
on cultural differences between employees may occur
organically and later become codified into the
organizational culture. Sometimes, however, the origin of
diversity practices is unknown because they arose
from cooperation among different functional areas (e.g.,
marketing and human resources working
strategically with leadership to develop recruitment ideas) that
occurred so long ago that not even the
company itself, let alone other companies, could replicate the
process.
Diversity and Organizational Performance
Research indicates that having diversity in an organization
produces mixed results for its success. Some
studies show a positive relationship, some show a negative
relationship, and others show no relationship
between diversity and performance. Some researchers believe
that although findings regarding a direct
relationship between diversity and success in the marketplace
may be inconsistent, the relationship may be
due to other variables not taken into account.
Taking the resource-based view perspective, Richard and
colleagues demonstrated that racially diverse
banking institutions focused on innovation experienced greater
performance than did racially diverse banks

with a low focus on innovation.109 These findings suggest that
for the potential of racial diversity to be fully
realized, companies should properly manage the system
flexibility, creativity, and problem-solving abilities
used in an innovative strategy. Other studies show that when top
management includes female leadership,
firm performance improves when organizations are innovation
driven.110
5.4 Challenges of Diversity
4. What is workplace discrimination, and how does it affect
Although diversity has it benefits, there are also challenges that
managers must face that can only be
addressed with proper leadership. Some of the most common
challenges observed in organizations and
studied in research include lower organizational attachment and
misunderstanding work diversity initiatives
and programs.
Lower Organizational Attachment
Although diversity programs attract and retain women and
minorities, they may have the opposite effect on
other, nonminority employees. When diversity is not managed
effectively, White and male employees can feel
alienated from or targeted by the organization as diversity
programs are put in place. A study that examined
151 work groups across three large organizations investigated
whether the proportion of group membership
based on race or sex affected the group members’ absentee
rates, psychological attachment to their work
group, and turnover intentions,111 three factors that play
significant roles in an employee’s attachment to their
organization. Results showed a positive relationship between

group heterogeneity and lower organizational
attachment, higher turnover intentions, and greater frequency of
absences for men and for White group
members. In other words, as work group diversity increased,
White employees and male employees felt less
1. What are the challenges and opportunities that diversity
provides to companies?
2. What are the responsibilities of human resources regarding
diversity?
3. Can diversity be a strategic advantage to organizations?
attached to the organization and were more likely to quit.
Because heterogeneous groups improve creativity
and judgement, managers should not avoid using them because
they may be challenging to manage. Instead,
employers need to make sure they understand the
communication structure and decision-making styles of
their work groups and seek feedback from employees to learn
how dominant group members may adjust to
diversity.
Legal Challenges and Diversity
The legal system is used to combat discrimination. Among the
ways that we will cover here are reverse
discrimination, workplace discrimination, harassment, age
discrimination, disability discrimination, national
origin discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, race/color
discrimination, religious discrimination, sex-based
discrimination and other forms of discrimination.

Reverse Discrimination
As research shows, workplace discrimination against women
and racial or ethnic minorities is common.
Reverse discrimination is a term that has been used to describe
a situation in which dominant group
members perceive that they are experiencing discrimination
based on their race or sex. This type of
discrimination is uncommon, but is usually claimed when the
dominant group perceives that members of a
protected (diverse) class of citizens are given preference in
workplace or educational opportunities based not
on their merit or talents, but on a prescribed preferential
treatment awarded only on the basis of race or sex.
Research conducted in the 1990s shows that only six federal
cases of reverse discrimination were upheld over
a four-year period (1990–1994), and only 100 of the 3,000 cases
for discrimination over that same four-year
period were claims of reverse discrimination.112 Interestingly,
a recent poll administered by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of
Public Health found that a little more than half of
White Americans believe that White people face discrimination
overall, and 19% believe they have experienced
hiring discrimination due to the color of their skin.113 This
misperception stems in part from the recalibration
of the labor force as it become more balanced due to increased
equal employment opportunities for everyone.
Members of dominant identity groups, Whites and men,
perceive fewer opportunities for themselves when
they observe the workforce becoming more diverse. In reality,
the workforce of a majority of companies is still
predominantly White and male employees. The only difference
is that legislation protecting employees from

discrimination and improvements in equal access to education
have created opportunities for minority group
members when before there were none.
Workplace Discrimination
Workplace discrimination occurs when an employee or an
applicant is treated unfairly at work or in the job-
hiring process due to an identity group, condition, or personal
characteristic such as the ones mentioned
above. Discrimination can occur through marital status, for
example when a person experiences workplace
discrimination because of the characteristics of a person to
whom they are married. Discrimination can also
occur when the offender is of the same protected status of the
victim, for example when someone
discriminates against someone based on a national origin that
they both share.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was
created by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964 with the primary goal of making it illegal to discriminate
against someone in the workplace due to their
race, national origin, sex, disability, religion, or pregnancy
status.114 The EEOC enforces laws and issues
guidelines for employment-related treatment. It also has the
authority to investigate charges of workplace
discrimination, attempt to settle the charges, and, if necessary,

file lawsuits when the law has been broken.
All types of workplace discrimination are prohibited under
different laws enacted and enforced by the EEOC,
which also considers workplace harassment and sexual
harassment forms of workplace discrimination and
mandates that men and women must be given the same pay for
equal work.115
The provision for equal pay is covered under the Equal Pay Act
of 1963, which was an amendment to the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938. Virtually all employers are
subject to the provisions of the act, which was an
attempt to address pay inequities between men and women.
More than 50 years later, however, women still
earn about 80 cents to every dollar that men earn, even while
performing the same or similar jobs.116
Harassment
Harassment is any unwelcome conduct that is based on
characteristics such as age, race, national origin,
disability, sex, or pregnancy status. Harassment is a form of
workplace discrimination that violates Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967, and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990.117
Sexual harassment specifically refers to harassment based on a
person’s sex, and it can (but does not have
to) include unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, or physical and verbal acts of a sexual
nature. Though members of any sex can be the victim of sexual
harassment, women are the primary targets of
this type of harassment.118

Age Discrimination
Age discrimination consists of treating an employee or
applicant less favorably due to their age. The Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids
discrimination against individuals who are age 40 and
above. The act prohibits harassment because of age, which can
include offensive or derogatory remarks that
create a hostile work environment.119
Disability Discrimination
A person with a disability is a person who has a physical or
mental impairment that limits one or more of the
person’s life actions. Disability discrimination occurs when an
employee or applicant who is covered by the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is treated unfavorably
due to their physical or mental disability. The
ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in
employment, public services, public accommodations,
and telecommunications against people with disabilities.120 To
be covered under the ADA, individuals must be
able to perform the essential functions of their job with or
without reasonable accommodations. Research has
shown that reasonable accommodations are typically of no or
low cost (less than $100) to employers.121
National Origin Discrimination
National origin discrimination involves treating someone
unfavorably because of their country of origin,
accent, ethnicity, or appearance. EEOC regulations make it
illegal to implement an employment practice or
policy that applies to everyone if it has a negative impact on
people of a certain national origin. For example,
employers cannot institute an “English-only” language policy

unless speaking English at all times is essential
to ensure the safe and efficient operation of the business.
Employers also cannot mandate employees be
fluent in English unless fluency in English is essential to
satisfactory job performance. The EEOC also prohibits
businesses from hiring only U.S. citizens or lawful residents
unless the business is required by law to do so.122
Pregnancy Discrimination
Pregnancy discrimination involves treating an employee or
applicant unfairly because of pregnancy status,
childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or
childbirth. The Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
prohibits any discrimination as it relates to pregnancy in any of
the following areas: hiring, firing,
compensation, training, job assignment, insurance, or any other
employment conditions. Further, certain
conditions that result from pregnancy may be protected under
the ADA, which means employers may need to
make reasonable accommodations for any employee with
disabilities related to pregnancy.
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), new parents,
including adoptive and foster parents, may be
eligible for 12 weeks of unpaid leave (or paid leave only if
earned by the employee) to care for the new child.
Also, nursing mothers have the right to express milk on
workplace premises.123
Race/Color Discrimination

Race/color discrimination involves treating employees or
applicants unfairly because of their race or because
of physical characteristics typically associated with race such as
skin color, hair color, hair texture, or certain
facial features.
As with national origin discrimination, certain workplace
policies that apply to all employees may be unlawful if
they unfairly disadvantage employees of a certain race. Policies
that specify that certain hairstyles must or
must not be worn, for example, may unfairly impact African
American employees, and such policies are
prohibited unless their enforcement is necessary to the
operations of the business.124
Religious Discrimination
Religious discrimination occurs when employees or applicants
are treated unfairly because of their religious
beliefs. The laws protect those who belong to traditional
organized religions and those who do not belong to
organized religions but hold strong religious, ethical, or moral
beliefs of some kind. Employers must make
reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious beliefs,
which may include flexible scheduling or
modifications to workplace practices. Employees are also
permitted accommodation when it comes to
religious dress and grooming practices, unless such
accommodations will place an undue burden on the
employer. Employees are also protected from having to
participate (or not participate) in certain religious
practices as terms of their employment.125
Sex-Based Discrimination
Sex-based discrimination occurs when employees or applicants

are treated unfairly because of their sex. This
form of discrimination includes unfair treatment due to gender,
transgender status, and sexual orientation.
Harassment and policies that unfairly impact certain groups
protected under sex discrimination laws are
prohibited under EEOC legislation.126
The key diversity-related federal laws are summarized in Table
5.2.
Key Diversity Related Legislation
Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act
of 1964
Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with
the primary role of
making it illegal to discriminate against someone in the
workplace due to their race,
national origin, sex, disability, religion, or pregnancy status.
Equal Pay Act
of 1963
Mandates that men and women must be given the same pay for
equal work
Age

Discrimination
in Employment
Act (ADEA)
Forbids discrimination against individuals who are age 40 and
above.
Americans with
Disabilities Act
(ADA)
Prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in
employment, public
services, public accommodations, and in telecommunications
Pregnancy
Discrimination
Act (PDA)
Prohibits any discrimination as it relates to pregnancy,
including hiring, firing,
employment
conditions.
Family and
Medical Leave
Act (FMLA)
Grants new parents up to 12 weeks of paid or unpaid leave to
care for the new child,
and gives nursing mothers the right to express milk on
workplace premises.

Other Types of Discrimination
Beyond the key types of discrimination outlined by the EEOC,
diversity and management scholars have
identified other types of discrimination that frequently impact
certain identity groups more than others.
Access discrimination is a catchall term that describes when
people are denied employment opportunities
because of their identity group or personal characteristics such
as sex, race, age, or other factors. Treatment
discrimination describes a situation in which people are
employed but are treated differently while employed,
mainly by receiving different and unequal job-related
opportunities or rewards.127 Scholars have also
identified a form of discrimination called interpersonal or
covert discrimination that involves discrimination
that manifests itself in ways that are not visible or readily
identifiable, yet is serious because it can impact
interpersonal interactions between employees, employees and
customers, and other important workplace
relationships.
This type of discrimination poses unique challenges because it
is difficult to identify. For example, one study
examining customer service and discrimination found that obese
customers were more likely to experience
interpersonal discrimination than average-weight customers.
Salespersons spent less time interacting with
obese customers than average-weight customers, and average-
weight customers reported more positive
interactions with salespeople when asked about standard
customer service metrics such as being smiled at,
receiving eye contact, and perceived friendliness.128

5.5 Key Diversity Theories
5. What key theories help managers understand the benefits and
workforce?
Many theories relevant to managing the diverse workforce
center on an individual’s reactions (such as
categorization and assessment of the characteristics of others)
to people who are different from the individual.
Competing viewpoints attempt to explain how diversity is either
harmful or beneficial to organizational
outcomes.
• The cognitive diversity hypothesis suggests that multiple
perspectives stemming from the cultural
differences between group or organizational members result in
creative problem solving and innovation.
• The similarity-attraction paradigm and social identity theory
hold that individuals’ preferences for
interacting with others like themselves can result in diversity
having a negative effect on group and
organizational outcomes.
• The justification-suppression model explains under what
conditions individuals act on their prejudices.
Cognitive Diversity Hypothesis
Some research shows that diversity has no relationship to group
performance, and some shows that there is a
relationship. Of the latter research, some shows a negative
relationship (greater diversity means poorer group

performance, less diversity means better group performance)
and some shows a positive relationship.
These various findings may be due to the difference in how
diversity can affect group members. Cognitive
diversity refers to differences between team members in
characteristics such as expertise, experiences, and
perspectives.129 Many researchers contend that physical
diversity characteristics such as race, age, or sex (also
known as bio-demographic diversity) positively influence
performance because team members contribute
unique cognitive attributes based on their experiences stemming
from their demographic background.130
There is research that supports the relationship between group
performance and task-related diversity as
reflected in characteristics not readily detectable such as
ability, occupational expertise, or education.
However, the relationship between bio-demographic diversity
and group performance has produced mixed
results.131 For example, Watson and colleagues studied the
comparison of group performance between
culturally homogeneous and culturally heterogeneous groups.
Groups were assigned business cases to
analyze, and their group performance was measured over time
based on four factors: the range of
perspectives generated, the number of problems identified in the
case, the number of alternatives produced,
and the quality of the solution. Overall performance was also
calculated as the average of all the factors. The
factors were measured at four intervals: Interval 1 (at 5 weeks),
Interval 2 (at 9 weeks), Interval 3 (at 13 weeks),
and Interval 4 (at 17 weeks).
For Intervals 1 and 2, the overall performance of homogeneous
groups was higher than heterogeneous

1. What is the role of the EEOC?
2. What are the types of discrimination encountered in the
workplace?
groups. However, by Intervals 3 and 4, there were no significant
differences in overall performance between
the groups, but the heterogeneous group outperformed the
homogeneous group in generating a greater
range of perspectives and producing a greater number of
alternatives.
This research suggests that although homogeneous groups may
initially outperform culturally diverse groups,
over time diverse groups benefit from a wider range of ideas to
choose from when solving a problem. Based
on the cognitive diversity hypothesis, these benefits stem from
the multiple perspectives generated by the
cultural diversity of group members. On the other hand, it takes
time for members of diverse groups to work
together effectively due to their unfamiliarity with one another,
which explains why homogeneous groups
outperform heterogeneous groups in the early stages of group
functioning. (This is related to the similarity-
attraction paradigm, discussed in the next section.) Other
studies have shown that ethnically diverse groups
cooperate better than homogeneous groups at tasks that require

decision-making and are more creative and
innovative. While homogeneous groups may be more efficient,
heterogeneous groups sacrifice efficiency for
effectiveness in other areas.
Similarity-Attraction Paradigm
The cognitive diversity hypothesis explains how diversity
benefits organizational outcomes. The similarity-
attraction paradigm explains how diversity can have negative
outcomes for an organization.
Some research has shown that members who belong to diverse
work units may become less attached, are
absent from work more often, and are more likely to quit.132
There is also evidence that diversity may produce
conflict and higher employee turnover. Similarity-attraction
theory is one of the foundational theories that
attempts to explain why this occurs; it posits that individuals
are attracted to others with whom they share
attitude similarity.133
Attitudes and beliefs are common antecedents to interpersonal
attraction. However, other traits such as race,
age, sex, and socioeconomic status can serve as signals to
reveal deep-level traits about ourselves. For
example, numerous studies investigating job-seeker behaviors
have shown that individuals are more attracted
to companies whose recruitment literature includes statements
and images that reflect their own identity
group. One study showed that companies perceived to value
diversity based on their recruitment literature are
more attractive to racial minorities and women compared to
Whites.134 Another study showed that when
organizations use recruitment materials that target sexual
minorities, the attraction of study participants
weakened among heterosexuals.135 Even foreign-born potential

job candidates are more attracted to
organizations that depict international employees in their job
ads.136
Social Cognitive Theory
Social cognitive theory is another theory that seeks to explain
how diversity can result in negative outcomes
in a group or organization. Social cognitive theory suggests that
people use categorization to simplify and
cope with large amounts of information. These categories allow
us to quickly and easily compartmentalize
data, and people are often categorized by their visible
characteristics, such as race, sex, and age. Thus, when
someone sees a person of a particular race, automatic
processing occurs and beliefs about this particular race
are activated. Even when the person is not visible, he or she can
be subject to this automatic categorization.
For example, when sorting through resumes a hiring manager
might engage in sex categorization because
the person’s name provides information about the person’s sex
or racial categorization because the person’s
name provides information about their race.137 Stereotypes are
related to this categorization, and refer to the
overgeneralization of characteristics about large groups.
Stereotypes are the basis for prejudice and
discrimination. In a job-related context, using categorization
and stereotyping in employment decision-making
is often illegal. Whether illegal or not, this approach is
inconsistent with a valuing-diversity approach.
Social Identity Theory

Social identity theory is another explanation of why diversity
may have a negative outcome. Social identity
theory suggests that when we first come into contact with
others, we categorize them as belonging to an in-
group (i.e., the same group as us) or an out-group (not
belonging to our group).138 We tend to see members
of our in-group as heterogeneous but out-group members as
homogeneous. That is, we perceive out-group
members as having similar attitudes, behaviors, and
characteristics (i.e., fitting stereotypes).
Researchers posit that this perspective may occur because of the
breadth of interactions we have with people
from our in-group as opposed to out-groups. There is often
strong in-group favoritism and, sometimes,
derogation of out-group members. In some cases, however,
minority group members do not favor members
of their own group.139 This may happen because of being
continually exposed to widespread beliefs about the
positive attributes of Whites or men and to common negative
beliefs about some minorities and women.
When in-group favoritism does occur, majority-group members
will be hired, promoted, and rewarded at the
expense of minority-group members, often in violation of
various laws.
Schema Theory
Schema theory explains how individuals encode information
about others based on their demographic
characteristics.140 Units of information and knowledge
experienced by individuals are stored as having
patterns and interrelationships, thus creating schemas that can
be used to evaluate one’s self or others. As a
result of the prior perceived knowledge or beliefs embodied in
such schemas, individuals categorize people,
events, and objects. They then use these categories to evaluate

newly encountered people and make decisions
regarding their interaction with them.
Based on schema theory, employees develop schemas about
coworkers based on race, gender, and other
diversity traits. They also form schemas about organizational
policies, leadership, and work climates. Schemas
formed can be positive or negative and will affect the attitudes
and behaviors employees have toward one
another.
Justification-Suppression Model
The justification-suppression model explains the circumstances
in which prejudiced people might act on
their prejudices. The process by which people experience their
prejudice is characterized as a “two-step”
process in which people are prejudiced against a certain group
or individual but experience conflicting
emotions in regard to that prejudice and are motivated to
suppress their prejudice rather than act upon it.141
Theory about prejudice suggests that all people have prejudices
of some sort, that they learn their prejudices
from an early age, and that they have a hard time departing from
them as they grow older. Prejudices are
often reinforced by intimate others, and individuals use
different methods to justify those prejudices.
Most people will attempt to suppress any outward
manifestations of their prejudices. This suppression can
come from internal factors like empathy, compassion, or
personal beliefs regarding proper treatment of
others. Suppression can also come from societal pressures; overt
displays of prejudice are no longer socially
acceptable, and in some cases are illegal.

At times, however, prejudiced individuals will look for reasons
to justify acting on their prejudiced beliefs.
Research has shown people are more likely to act in prejudiced
ways when they are physically or emotionally
tired, when they can do so and remain anonymous, or when
social norms are weak enough that their
prejudiced behavior will not be received negatively.
5.6 Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity
6. How can managers reap benefits from diversity and mitigate
its challenges?
Much theoretical work has espoused the benefits of workplace
diversity, but empirical studies have often had
conflicting results, which have shown researchers that certain
conditions can affect how successful initiatives
to increase and enhance workplace diversity are. Managers can
work to make sure that the efforts and
initiatives they enact to increase diversity in the workplace
come from a perspective that ensures and strives
for equity and fairness, and not simply from the perspective of
only benefitting the company’s bottom line. By
approaching diversity and diversity issues in a thoughtful,
purposeful way, managers can mitigate the
challenges posed by a diverse workforce and enhance the
benefits a diverse workforce can offer.
Three Perspectives on Workplace Diversity

Ely and Thomas’s work on cultural diversity was designed to
theoretically and empirically support some of the
hypothesized relationships between diversity and workplace
outcomes. Their research yielded a paradigm that
identifies three perspectives regarding workplace diversity:142
integration and learning, access and legitimacy,
and discrimination and fairness.
The Integration-and-Learning Perspective
The integration-and-learning perspective posits that the
different life experiences, skills, and perspectives
that members of diverse cultural identity groups possess can be
a valuable resource in the context of work
groups. Under this perspective, the members of a culturally
diverse workgroup can use their collective
differences to think critically about work issues, strategies,
products, and practices in a way that will allow the
group to be successful in its business operations. The
assumption under this perspective is that members of
different cultural identity groups can learn from each other and
work together to best achieve shared goals.
This perspective values cultural identity and strongly links
diversity of the group to the success of the firm.
Downfalls of the integration-and-learning perspective can be
that White members of the work group can feel
marginalized when they are not asked to join in on diversity-
related projects or discussions. Similarly,
workforce members of color might experience burnout if they
are always expected to work on those projects
and discussions that specifically deal with diversity issues.
1. What are the theories that can help managers understand

diversity?
The Access-and-Legitimacy Perspective
The access-and-legitimacy perspective focuses on the benefit
that a diverse workforce can bring to a
business that wishes to operate within a diverse set of markets
or with culturally diverse clients. Work groups
that operate under this perspective are doing so in order to gain
access to diverse markets and because their
diversity affords them some level of legitimacy when attempting
to gain access to diverse markets. This type of
workplace diversity is more of a functional type of diversity
that does not attempt to integrate or value
diversity at the business’s core. The danger of this diversity
perspective is that it can limit the roles of certain
minority groups by valuing members of these groups only
because they can increase the access to diverse
markets and clients and not because they can make other
potentially valuable contributions.143
The Discrimination-and-Fairness Perspective
The discrimination-and-fairness perspective stems from a belief
that a culturally diverse workforce is a
moral duty that must be maintained in order to create a just and
fair society. This perspective is characterized
by a commitment to equal opportunities in hiring and
promotions, and does not directly link a work group’s
productivity or success with diversity. Many times firms
operating under this perspective will have a spoken or
unspoken assumption that assimilation into the dominant

(White) culture should take place by the members
of other cultural identity groups. One drawback of this
perspective is that because it measures progress by the
recruitment and retention of diverse people, employees of
traditionally underrepresented groups can feel
devalued. Often, assimilation is pushed on diverse employees
under the guise of reducing conflict or in an
effort to demonstrate that differences between cultural identity
groups are unimportant.144
Exhibit 5.8 shows the degrees of effectiveness and benefits for
each perspective.
Exhibit 5.8 Cultural Diversity Perspectives at Work Source:
Adapted from Ely, Robin J., and David A. Thomas. “Cultural
diversity at work:
The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes
and outcomes.” Administrative science quarterly. 46.2 (2001):
229-273.
5.7 Recommendations for Managing Diversity
7. What can organizations do to ensure applicants, employees,
and customers from all backgrounds are
valued?
Organizations that are committed to equality and inclusion must
take steps to combat the examples of
discrimination and harassment that have been covered in this

chapter. And they must take steps to make
1. How can managers reap the benefits of diversity?
2. How can managers mitigate the challenges of diversity?
3. What is the access-and-legitimacy perspective? Differentiate
it from the discrimination-and-fairness
perspective.
diversity a goal in the pre-employment stages as well as in the
post-employment stages. Anyone with
managerial or supervisory responsibilities should pay careful
attention to hiring and performance-rewarding
practices, and make sure to rely on relevant information for
making decisions and ignore race-based
stereotypes. The following are examples of what leaders and
organizations can do make sure employees feel
valued.
Interview Selection Process
To ensure fairness for all applicants, organizations should use
highly structured interviews during the
selection process to avoid bias based on race or gender.145
Highly structured interviews consists of the
following 15 characteristics: “(1) job analysis, (2) same
questions, (3) limited prompting, (4) better questions,
(5) longer interviews, (6) control of ancillary information, (7)
limited questions from candidates, (8) multiple
rating scales, (9) anchored rating scales, (10) detailed notes,
(11) multiple interviewers, (12) consistent

interviewers, (13) no discussion between interviews, (14)
training, and (15) statistical prediction.”146 Similarity
bias can occur when interviewers prefer interviewees with
whom they share similar traits. Organizations can
mitigate this challenge if all 15 characteristics of a structured
interview are used consistently with each job
applicant.
Diversified Mentoring Relationships
Thanks to the rapid growth of international travel and
globalization, managers are often called upon to
manage a workforce that is increasingly diverse. Research has
shown that racially and ethnically diverse firms
have better financial performance than more homogeneous
firms, because, as mentioned, employees from
different backgrounds and with different experiences can give
the firm a competitive advantage in various
ways. It is necessary, however, that managers and those in
positions of power are adequately equipped to
manage diverse workforces in ways that are beneficial to all.
Diversified mentoring relationships are
relationships in which the mentor and the mentee differ in terms
of their status within the company and
within larger society. The differences could be in terms of race,
gender, class, disability, sexual orientation, or
other status. Research has found that these types of
relationships are mutually beneficial and that the mentor
and the mentee both have positive outcomes in terms of
knowledge, empathy, and skills related to
interactions with people from different power groups.147
Diversity Training Programs
As the workforce becomes increasingly more diverse, managers

will face a major challenge in
understanding how to manage diversity. One of many decisions
to be made is whether an organization
should offer diversity training and, if so, what topics and issues
should be addressed based on the
organizational goals.
There has been a debate over the effectiveness of corporate
diversity training since the Civil Rights Act of
1964 helped prompt corporate diversity training with the
organizational goal of simply being compliant
with the law. Prior research shows that it can be effective,
ineffective, or even detrimental for employees,
but as diversity training has evolved through the years, it has
become an important factor in helping
employers manage diversity.
In the 1980s through the late 1990s, diversity training evolved
from focusing solely on compliance to
addressing the needs of women and minorities as they entered
the workforce at a faster rate.
Unfortunately, this type of training was perceived by Whites
and men as singling them out as the
problem; sometimes such training was even formatted as
“confession” sessions for White employees to
express their complicity in institutional racism. Not
unexpectedly, this type of training would often
backfire and would further separate employees from each other,

the exact opposite of its intention.
Recently, diversity training has evolved to focus on (1) building
cultural competencies regarding fellow
employees, (2) valuing differences, and (3) learning how
diversity helps make better business decisions.
This perspective toward diversity training is more effective than
simply focusing on causes of a lack of
diversity and the historical roots of discrimination.
Understanding how to comply with the law is still
important, but training has a greater effect when the other
factors are also included.
A recent study investigated various diversity-training methods,
including having participants engage in
activities on perspective taking and goal setting. For
perspective-taking activities, participants were asked
to write a few sentences about the challenges they believed
minority group members might experience.
Goal-setting activities involved writing specific and measurable
goals related to workplace diversity such
as crafting future policies or engaging in future behaviors.
Researchers found that when these activities
were used as a diversity-training method, pro-diversity attitudes
and behavioral intentions persisted
months later.
Issues regarding employee sexual orientation have also been
introduced into corporate diversity training
in recent years. Because employees’ religious beliefs are
protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act,
employers should be sensitive to balancing the rights of lesbian,
gay, and bisexual employees and
employees’ religious rights. Attempting to protect the rights of
one group and not be perceived to
disrespect another is a difficult situation for managers. In order

to mitigate any backlash from some
employees, employers should seek feedback from all groups to
learn the best ways to accommodate
them, and should assess the organizational climate.
Additionally, managers should explain how diversity
based on sexual orientation aligns with the company’s strategic
objectives and explain the company’s
legal position with supportive reasoning. Lastly, based on their
organizational climate and how it
reshapes itself over time, some companies may wish to address
diversity training on sexual orientation in
a voluntary training separate from other diversity issues.
Sources: Young, Cheri A., Badiah Haffejee, and David L.
Corsun. "Developing Cultural Intelligence and
Empathy Through Diversified Mentoring Relationships."
Journal of Management Education (2017):
1052562917710687; Bezrukova, K., Jehn, K.A., & Spell, C.S.
(2012). Reviewing diversity training: Where we
have been and where we should go. Academy of Management
Learning & Education, 11 (2): 207-227;
Anand, R., & Winters, M. (2008). A retrospective view of
corporate diversity training from 1964 to the
present. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 7 (3):
356-372; Lindsey, A., King, E., Membere, A., &
Cheung, H.K. (July 28, 2017). Two types of diversity training
that really work. Harvard Business Review.
1. Why do you believe diversity training is resisted by some
employees?
2. Do you believe there will always be a need for workplace
diversity training?
3. How would you determine what types of diversity training
are needed at your company?

Visible Leadership
Another key to ensure that employees are treated fairly is
utilizing appropriate leadership strategies.148
Leadership must sincerely value variety of opinions, and
organizational culture must encourage openness and
make workers feel valued. Organizations must also have a well -
articulated and widely understood mission and
a relatively egalitarian, nonbureaucratic structure. Having such
a work environment will ensure that the
attitudes and values of employees are aligned with those of the
organization. In this way culture serves as a
control mechanism for shaping behaviors.
Strategies for Employees
Individuals can increase positive employment outcomes by
obtaining high levels of education, because for all
groups education is a predictor of employment and increased
earnings. Individuals can also seek employment
in larger firms, which are more likely to have formal hiring
programs and specific diversity provisions in place.
Individuals of any race or ethnic background can also take steps
to eliminate discrimination by being aware of
their own personal stereotypes or biases and taking steps to
challenge and address them.
1. How can managers ensure fairness in the interviewing and
selection process regarding diversity?
2. What is the role of leadership regarding diversity?

access discrimination
access-and-legitimacy perspective
age discrimination
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
cognitive diversity
cognitive diversity hypothesis
covert discrimination (interpersonal)
deep-level diversity
disability discrimination
discrimination-and-fairness perspective
diversified mentoring relationships
diversity
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Equal Pay Act of 1963
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

glass ceiling
groupthink
harassment
hidden diversity
highly structured interviews
identity group
Key Terms
A catchall term that describes when people are denied
employment opportunities
because of their identity group or personal characteristics such
as sex, race, or age.
Focuses on the benefits that a diverse workforce can bring to a
business that wishes to operate within a diverse set of markets
or with culturally diverse clients.
Treating an employee or applicant less favorably due to their
age.
Forbids discrimination against individuals who are age 40
and above, including offensive or derogatory remarks that
create a hostile work environment.
Prohibits discrimination in employment, public services, public
accommodations, and telecommunications against people with
disabilities.
Differences between team members regarding characteristics
such as expertise,

experiences, and perspectives.
Multiple perspectives stemming from the cultural differences
between
group or organizational members result in creative problem-
solving and innovation.
An interpersonal form of discrimination that manifests in ways
that
are not visible or readily identifiable.
Diversity in characteristics that are nonobservable such as
attitudes, values, and beliefs,
such as religion.
Occurs when an employee or applicant is treated unfavorably
due to their physical
or mental disability.
A culturally diverse workforce is a moral duty that must be
maintained in order to create a just and fair society.
Relationships in which the mentor and the mentee differ in
terms of
their status within the company and within larger society.
Identity-based differences among and between people that affect
their lives as applicants,
employees, and customers.
An organization that enforces laws and issues guidelines for
employment-related treatment according to Title VII of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
An amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Provides new parents, including adoptive and foster parents,
with 12
weeks of unpaid leave (or paid leave only if earned by the
employee) to care for the new child and
requires that nursing mothers have the right to express milk on
workplace premises.
An invisible barrier based on the prejudicial beliefs of
organizational decision makers that
prevents women from moving beyond certain levels within a
company.
A dysfunction in decision-making that is common in
homogeneous groups due to group
pressures and group members’ desire for conformity and
consensus.
Any unwelcome conduct that is based on characteristics such as
age, race, national origin,
disability, sex, or pregnancy status.
Differences in traits that are deep-level and may be concealed
or revealed at discretion by
individuals who possess them.
Interviews that are be structured objectively to remove bias
from the selection
process.
A collective of individuals who share the same demographic
characteristics such as race, sex,
or age.

inclusion
integration-and-learning perspective
invisible social identities
justification-suppression model
justification-suppression model
managing diversity
model minority myth
national origin discrimination
passing
pregnancy discrimination
Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA)
race/color discrimination
religious discrimination
resource-based view
revealing
reverse discrimination
schema theory
sex-based discrimination
sexual harassment
sexual harassment

similarity-attraction paradigm
social identity theory
stereotypes
strategic human resources management (SHRM)
surface-level diversity
The degree to which employees are accepted and treated fairly
by their organization.
Posits that the different life experiences, skills, and
perspectives that
members of diverse cultural identity groups possess can be a
valuable resource in the context of work
groups.
Membership in an identity group based on hidden diversity
traits such as sexual
orientation or a nonobservable disability that may be concealed
or revealed.
Explains the circumstances in which prejudiced people might
act on their
prejudices.
Explains under what conditions individuals act on their
prejudices.
Ways in which organizations seek to ensure that members of
diverse groups are valued
and treated fairly within organizations.
A stereotype that portrays Asian men and women as obedient
and successful and is

often used to justify socioeconomic disparities between other
racial minority groups.
Treating someone unfavorably because of their country of
origin, accent,
ethnicity, or appearance.
The decision to not disclose one’s invisible social identity.
Treating an employee or applicant unfairly because of
pregnancy status,
childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or
childbirth.
Prohibits any discrimination as it relates to pregnancy in hiring,
firing,
employment conditions.
Treating employees or applicants unfairly because of their race
or because of
physical characteristics typically associated with race such as
skin color, hair color, hair texture, or certain
facial features.
When employees or applicants are treated unfairly because of
their religious
beliefs.
Demonstrates how a diverse workforce can create a sustainable
competitive
advantage for organizations.
The decision to disclose one’s invisible social identity.
Describes a situation in which dominant group members
perceive that they are

experiencing discrimination based on their race or sex.
Explains how individuals encode information about others based
on their demographic
characteristics.
When employees or applicants are treated unfairly because of
their sex, including
unfair treatment due to gender, transgender status, or sexual
orientation.
Harassment based on a person’s sex, and can (but does not have
to) include unwanted
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or physical and
verbal acts of a sexual nature.
Harassment based on a person’s sex; it can (but does not have
to) include unwanted
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or physical and
verbal acts of a sexual nature.
Individuals’ preferences for interacting with others like
themselves can
result in diversity having a negative effect on group and
organizational outcomes.
Self-concept based on an individual’s physical, social, and
mental characteristics.
Overgeneralization of characteristics about groups that ar e the
basis for prejudice and
discrimination.
System of activities arranged to engage employees in a
manner that assists the organization in achieving a sustainable
competitive advantage.

Diversity in the form of characteristics of individuals that are
readily visible,
including, but not limited to, age, body size, visible disabilities,
race, or sex.
treatment discrimination
work visa
workplace discrimination
A situation in which people are employed but are treated
differently while
employed, mainly by receiving different and unequal job-related
opportunities or rewards.
A temporary documented status that authorizes individuals from
other countries to permanently
or temporarily live and work in the United States.
Unfair treatment in the job hiring process or at work that is
based on the identity
group, physical or mental condition, or personal characteristic
of an applicant or employee.
5.1 An Introduction to Workplace Diversity

Diversity refers to identity-based differences among and
between people that affect their lives as applicants,
employees, and customers. Surface-level diversity represents
characteristics of individuals that are readily
visible, including, but not limited to, age, body size, visible
disabilities, race, or sex. Deep-level diversity
includes traits that are nonobservable such as attitudes, values,
and beliefs. Finally, hidden diversity includes
traits that are deep-level but may be concealed or revealed at
the discretion of individuals who possess them.
5.2 Diversity and the Workforce
2. How diverse is the workforce?
In analyzing the diversity of the workforce, several measures
can be used. Demographic measures such as
gender and race can be used to measure group sizes. Measures
of such things as discrimination toward
specific groups can be analyzed to gauge the diversity of the
workforce. Other measures of diversity in the
workforce can include examination of differences in age and
sexual orientation.
5.3 Diversity and Its Impact on Companies
3. How does diversity impact companies and the workforce?
The demography of the labor force is changing in many ways as
it becomes racially diverse and older and
includes more women and individuals with disabilities.
Diversity affects how organizations understand that
employing people who hold multiple perspectives increases the
need to mitigate conflict between workers
from different identity groups, enhances creativity and problem
solving in teams, and serves as a resource to

create a competitive advantage for the organization.
5.4 Challenges of Diversity
4. What is workplace discrimination, and how does it affect
Workplace discrimination occurs when an employee or an
applicant is treated unfairly at work or in the job-
hiring process due to an identity group, condition, or personal
characteristic such as age, race, national origin,
sex, disability, religion, or pregnancy status. The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission enforces laws
and legislation related to individuals with those protected
statuses.
Harassment is any unwelcome conduct that is based on the
protected characteristics listed above. Sexual
harassment refers specifically to harassment based on a person’s
sex, and it can (but does not have to) include
unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or
physical and verbal acts of a sexual nature.
5.5 Key Diversity Theories
5. What key theories help managers understand the benefits and
workforce?
The cognitive-diversity hypothesis suggests that multiple
perspectives stemming from the cultural differences
between groups or organizational members result in creative

problem solving and innovation. The similarity-
attraction paradigm and social identity theory explain how,
because individuals prefer to interact with others
like themselves, diversity may have a negative effect on group
and organizational outcomes. The justification-
suppression model explains under what conditions individuals
act on their prejudice.
5.6 Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity
6. How can managers reap benefits from diversity and mitigate
its challenges?
By approaching diversity and diversity issues in a thoughtful,
purposeful way, managers can mitigate the
challenges posed by a diverse workforce and enhance the
benefits a diverse workforce can offer.
Managers can work to make sure that the efforts and initiatives
they enact to increase diversity in the
workplace come from a perspective that ensures and strives for
equity and fairness, not simply one that will
benefit the company’s bottom line.
Using an integration-and-learning perspective strongly links
diversity to the work and success of the firm by
viewing cultural identity, different life experiences, skills, and
perspectives from members of diverse cultural
identity groups as a valuable resource.
5.7 Recommendations for Managing Diversity
7. What can organizations do to ensure applicants, employees,
and customers from all backgrounds are
valued?
Organizations should use objective and fair recruitment and

selection tools and policies.
Leadership should make employees feel valued, be open to
varied perspectives, and encourage a culture of
open dialogue. Women and racial minorities can increase
positive employment outcomes by pursuing higher
levels of education and seeking employment in larger
organizations. All individuals should be willing to listen,
empathize with others, and seek to better understand sensitive
issues that affect different identity groups.
1. Define the three types of diversity and compare them using
examples for each type.
2. How are demographics of the workforce changing?
3. What are some major challenges that women face in
organizations?
4. What is the model minority myth? How does it compare to
how Blacks and Hispanics are stereotyped?
5. What are some benefits of hiring older workers?
6. Why would an employee “pass” or “reveal” at work? What
are the positive and negative consequences of
doing so?
7. Explain the six benefits of workplace diversity described by
Cox and Blake’s business case for diversity.
8. Compare how the cognitive diversity hypothesis and the
similarity-attraction paradigm relate to diversity
outcomes.
9. Based on the justification-suppression model, explain why
individuals act on their prejudicial beliefs.
10. Describe challenges that managers must face when
managing diversity.
11. How can employees ensure they are compliant with the laws

and legislation enforced by the EEOC?
12. What are some recommendations for managing diversity?
1. Do you agree that diversity can be a source of greater benefit
than harm to organizations? Why or why
not?
2. Have you ever worked in a diverse team setting before? If so,
did you encounter any attitudes or
behaviors that could potentially cause conflict? If not, how
would you manage conflict stemming from
diversity?
3. List three organizational goals you would implement to
create an organizational culture of diversity and
inclusion.
4. Have you or has someone you know experienced
discrimination? How did that affect you or that person
emotionally, physically, or financially?
5. Pick an identity group (e.g., gay, Black, or woman) other
than your own. Imagine and list the negative
experiences and interactions you believe you might encounter at
work. What policies or strategies could
an organization implement to prevent those negative
experiences from occurring?

6. Provide a concrete example of how different perspectives
stemming from diversity can positively impact
an organization or work group. You may use a real-life personal
example or make one up.
1. As a manager for a hospital, you oversee a staff of marketing
associates. Their job is to find doctors and
persuade them to refer their patients to your hospital.
Associates have a very flexible work schedule and
manage their own time. They report to you weekly concerning
their activities in the field. Trusting them is
very important, and it is impossible to track and confirm all of
their activities. Your assistant, Nancy,
manages the support staff for the associates, works very closely
with them, and often serves as your eyes
and ears to keep you informed as to how well they are
performing.
One day, Nancy comes into your office crying and tells you that
your top-performing associate, Susan, has
for the past few weeks repeatedly asked her out to dinner and
she has repeatedly refused. Susan is a
lesbian and Nancy is not. Today, when she refused, Susan
patted her on the bottom and said, “I know,
you are just playing hard to get.”
After Nancy calms down, you tell her that you will fill out the
paperwork to report a sexual harassment
case. Nancy says that she does not want to report it because it
would be too embarrassing if word of the
incident got out. To impress upon you how strongly she feels,
she tells you that she will consider
resigning if you report the incident. Nancy is essential to the
effective operation of your group, and you
dread how difficult it would be to get things done without her

assisting you.
What do you do? Do you report the case, lose Nancy’s trust, and
jeopardize losing a high-performing
employee? Or do you not report it, thereby protecting what
Nancy believes to be her right to privacy?
2. Recently your company has begun to promote its diversity
efforts, including same-sex (and heterosexual)
partner benefits and a nonharassment policy that includes sexual
orientation, among other things. Your
department now has new posters on the walls with photos of
employees who represent different aspects
of diversity (e.g., Black, Hispanic, gay). One of your employees
is upset about the diversity initiative and
has begun posting religious scriptures condemning
homosexuality on his cubicle in large type for
everyone to see. When asked to remove them, your employee
tells you that the posters promoting
diversity offend Christian and Muslim employees. What should
you do?
3. You are a recently hired supervisor at a paper mill factory.
During your second week on the job, you learn
about a White employee who has been using a racial slur during
lunch breaks when discussing some of
her Black coworkers with others. You ask the person who
reported it to you about the woman and learn
that she is an older woman, around 67 years old, and has worked
at the factory for more than 40 years.
You talk to your boss about it, and he tells you that she means
no harm by it, she is just from another era

and that is just her personality. What would you do in this
situation?
4. You are a nurse manager who oversees the triage for the
emergency room, and today is a slow day with
very few patients. During the downtime, one of your
subordinates is talking with another coworker about
her new boyfriend. You observe her showing her coworkers
explicit images of him that he emailed her on
her phone. Everyone is joking and laughing about the ordeal.
Even though it appears no one is offended,
should you address it? What would you say?
5. You work for a company that has primarily Black and
Hispanic customers. Although you employ many
racial minorities and women, you notice that all of your leaders
are White men. This does not necessarily
mean that your organization engages in discriminatory
practices, but how would you know if your
organization was managing diversity well? What information
would you need to determine this, and how
would you collect it?
6. Your company’s founder believes that younger workers are
more energetic and serve better in sales
positions. Before posting a new job ad for your sales division,
he recommends that you list an age
requirement of the position for applicants between ages 18 and
25. Is his recommendation a good one?
Why or why not?
7. You work for a real estate broker who recently hired two gay
realtors, Steven and Shauna, to be a part of
the team. During a staff meeting, your boss mentions an article
she read about gay clients feeling
ostracized in the real estate market. She tells the new employees

she hired them to help facilitate the
home-buying process for gay buyers and sellers. She
specifically instructs them to focus on recruiting gay
clients, even telling them that they should pass along any
straight customers to one of the straight
realtors on the team. A few weeks later, Shauna reports that she
has made her first sale to a straight
couple that is expecting a baby. During the next staff meeting,
your boss congratulates Shauna on her
sale, but again reiterates that Shauna and Steven should pass
along straight clients to another realtor so
they can focus on recruiting gay clients. After the meeting,
Shauna tells you that she thinks it is unfair that
she should have to focus on gay clients and that she is thinkin g
of filing a discrimination complaint with
HR. Do you think that Shauna is correct in her assessment of
the situation? Is there merit to your boss’s
desire to have the gay realtors focus on recruiting gay clients?
What might be a better solution to help
gay clients feel more comfortable in the home-buying and -
selling process?
Uber Pays the Price
Nine years ago, Uber revolutionized the taxi industry and the
way people commute. With the simple mission
“to bring transportation—for everyone, everywhere,” today
Uber has reached a valuation of around $70 billion
and claimed a market share high of almost 90% in 2015.
However, in June 2017 Uber experienced a series of
bad press regarding an alleged culture of sexual harassment,
which is what most experts believe caused their
market share to fall to 75%.
In February of 2017 a former software engineer, Susan Fowler,

wrote a lengthy post on her website regarding
her experience of being harassed by a manager who was not
disciplined by human resources for his behavior.
In her post, Fowler wrote that Uber’s HR department and
members of upper management told her that
because it was the man’s first offense, they would only give him
a warning. During her meeting with HR about
the incident, Fowler was also advised that she should transfer to
another department within the organization.
According to Fowler, she was ultimately left no choice but to
transfer to another department, despite having
specific expertise in the department in which she had originally
been working.
As her time at the company went on, she began meeting other
women who worked for the company who
relayed their own stories of harassment. To her surprise, many
of the women reported being harassed by the
same person who had harassed her. As she noted in her blog, “It
became obvious that both HR and
management had been lying about this being his 'first offense.'”
Fowler also reported a number of other
instances that she identified as sexist and inappropriate within
the organization and claims that she was
disciplined severely for continuing to speak out. Fowler
eventually left Uber after about two years of working
for the company, noting that during her time at Uber the
percentage of women working there had dropped to

6% of the workforce, down from 25% when she first started.
Following the fallout from Fowler’s lengthy description of the
workplace on her website, Uber’s chief executive
Travis Kalanick publicly condemned the behavior described by
Fowler, calling it “abhorrent and against
everything Uber stands for and believes in.” But later in March,
Uber board member Arianna Huffington
claimed that she believed “sexual harassment was not a
systemic problem at the company.” Amid pressure
from bad media attention and the company’s falling market
share, Uber made some changes after an
independent investigation resulted in 215 complaints. As a
result, 20 employees were fired for reasons ranging
from sexual harassment to bullying to retaliation to
discrimination, and Kalanick announced that he would hire
a chief operating officer to help manage the company. In an
effort to provide the leadership team with more
diversity, two senior female executives were hired to fill the
positions of chief brand officer and senior vice
president for leadership and strategy.
Critical Thinking Questions
1. Based on Cox’s business case for diversity, what are some
positive outcomes that may result in changes
to Uber’s leadership team?
2. Under what form of federal legislation was Fowler protected?
3. What strategies should have been put in place to help prevent
sexual harassment incidents like this from
happening in the first place?
Sources: Uber corporate Website,
https://www.uber.com/newsroom/company-info/ (February,
2017); Marco

della Cava, “Uber has lost market share to Lyft during crisis,”
USA Today, June 13, 2017,
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2017/06/13/uber -
market-share-customer-image-hit-string-
scandals/102795024/; Tracey Lien, “Uber fires 20 workers after
harassment investigation,” Los Angeles Times,
Jun 6, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-uber-
sexual-harassment-20170606-story.html; Susan
Fowler, “Reflecting On One Very, Very Strange Year At Uber,”
February 19, 2017,
https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-
one-very-strange-year-at-uber.
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
What are the basic characteristics of managerial decision-
making?
What are the two systems of decision-making in the brain?
What is the difference between programmed and
nonprogrammed decisions?

What barriers exist that make effective decision-making
difficult?
How can a manager improve the quality of her individual
decision-making?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-
making, and how can a manager improve
the quality of group decision-making?
Exhibit 6.1 (i_yudai/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY
2.0))
Up, Up, and Away: How Stephanie Korey and Jen Rubio
founded their luggage company
Jen Rubio and Stephanie Korey faced a number of important
decisions in starting their luggage
company, Away—beginning with the decision to start a
business! That decision came about after Rubio’s
luggage broke on a trip. She found it frustrating that all the
luggage options were either inexpensive
($100 or less) but low quality, or high quality but incredibly
expensive ($400 and above). There was no
midrange option. So in 2015 Rubio and her friend Stephanie
Korey began researching the luggage
industry. They found that much of the reason for the high prices
on quality luggage was because of how
it was distributed and sold, through specialty retail shops and
department stores. If they opted instead
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.
6
Perception and Managerial Decision Making
for a model in which they sold directly to consumers, they could
provide high-quality luggage at more of
a midrange ($200-$300) price. After considerable research, the
two were convinced that they had an idea
worth pursuing. Rubio and Korey settled on the company name
“Away,” which is intended to invoke the
pleasure that comes from travelling.
Both of the founders had prior experience working for a start-up
in the e-commerce space (Warby
Parker), which helped them with making sound choices. Rubio’s
background was more in branding and
marketing, while Korey’s was in operations and supply chain
management—so each was able to bring
great expertise to various aspects of the business. They raised
money initially from friends and family,
but within a few months they sought venture capital funding to
ensure that they had enough money to
get off to a successful start.
A big decision that Rubio and Korey had to make fairly earl y in
the process of establishing their business
was to settle on an initial design for the product. This decision
required extensive marketing and
consumer research to understand customer needs and wants.
They asked hundreds of people what they
liked about their existing luggage, and what they found most
irritating about their existing luggage.

They also contracted with a two-person design team to help
create the first prototype. This research and
development ultimately led to the design of an attractive hard
case that is surprisingly lightweight. It
also boasts extremely high-quality wheels (four of them, not
two) and high-quality zippers. As a bonus,
the carry-on includes a built-in battery for charging phones and
other devices.
The two founders also had to choose a partner to manufacture
their product. Because their product had
a hard, polycarbonate shell, Rubio and Korey discovered that
manufacturing in the United States was not
a viable option—the vast majority of luggage manufacturers
using a polycarbonate shell were based in
Asia. They researched a number of possible business partners
and asked lots of questions. In addition,
they eventually visited all of the factories on their list of
options to see what they were actually like. This
was an important piece of research, because the companies that
looked best on paper didn’t always turn
out to be the best when they visited in person. Rubio and Korey
ended up working with a manufacturing
partner in China that also produces luggage for many high-end
brands, and they have been extremely
pleased with the partnership. They continue to devote time to
building and maintaining that
relationship, which helps to avoid issues and problems that
might otherwise come up.
By the end of 2015, Rubio and Korey had developed their first
product. Because the luggage was not
going to be available in time for the holiday shopping season,
they decided to allow customers to
preorder the luggage. To drum up interest, the duo engaged in a
unique storytelling effort. They

interviewed 40 well-respected members of the creative
community about their travel experiences and
created a hardcover book of travel memoirs called The Places
We Return To. Not only was the book
interesting and engaging, it also made lots of people in the
creative community aware of Away luggage.
Starting in November 2015, the travel memoir book was
available for free with the purchase of a gift card
that could be redeemed in February 2016 for luggage. The book
project generated tremendous advance
interest in the product, and the 1,200 printed copies sold out.
Away generated $12 million in first-year
sales.
Stephanie Corey and Jen Rubio faced many important and novel
decisions in initially developing and
building their business. They have been successful in part
because they made those decisions wisely—by
relying on shared knowledge, expertise, and lots of research
before reaching a decision. They will
continue to face many decisions, big and small. They have
expanded their product line from one piece of
luggage to four, with more luggage—and other travel
accessories—in the works for the future. Their
company, which is based in New York, has grown to over 60
employees in the first two years. These
166 Chapter 6 Perception and Managerial Decision Making
Managers and business owners—like Jen Rubio and Stephanie
Korey—make decisions on a daily basis. Some

are big, like the decision to start a new business, but most are
smaller decisions that go into the regular
running of the company and are crucial to its long-term success.
Some decisions are predictable, and some are
unexpected. In this chapter we look at important information
about decision-making that can help you make
better decisions and, ultimately, be a better manager.
6.1 Overview of Managerial Decision-Making
1. What are the basic characteristics of managerial decision-
making?
Decision-making is the action or process of thinking through
possible options and selecting one.
It is important to recognize that managers are continually
making decisions, and that the quality of their
decision-making has an impact—sometimes quite significant—
on the effectiveness of the organization and its
stakeholders. Stakeholders are all the individuals or groups that
are affected by an organization (such as
customers, employees, shareholders, etc.).
Members of the top management team regularly make decisions
that affect the future of the organization and
all its stakeholders, such as deciding whether to pursue a new
technology or product line. A good decision can
enable the organization to thrive and survive long-term, while a
poor decision can lead a business into
bankruptcy. Managers at lower levels of the organization
generally have a smaller impact on the
organization’s survival, but can still have a tremendous impact
on their department and its workers. Consider,
for example, a first-line supervisor who is charged with
scheduling workers and ordering raw materials for her

department. Poor decision-making by lower-level managers is
unlikely to drive the entire firm out of existence,
but it can lead to many adverse outcomes such as:
• reduced productivity if there are too few workers or
insufficient supplies,
• increased expenses if there are too many workers or too many
supplies, particularly if the supplies have a
limited shelf life or are costly to store, and
• frustration among employees, reduced morale, and increased
turnover (which can be costly for the
organization) if the decisions involve managing and training
workers.
employees include the two design-team members who were
contracted to help create their first
prototype; Rubio and Korey appreciated working with them so
much, they offered them full-time
positions with Away. Each new hire represents new decisions—
decisions about what additional work
needs to be done and who they should hire to do it. Each new
product also brings additional
decisions—but it seems Rubio and Korey have positioned
themselves (and their business) well for future
successes.
Sources: Kendall Baker, “An Interview With the Co-Founder of
Away,” The Hustle, December 5, 2016,
https://thehustle.co/episodes; Bond Street Blog, “Up and
Away,” Bond Street, https://bondstreet.com/
blog/jen-rubio-interview/; Josh Constine, “Away nears 100k
stylish suitcases sold as it raises $20M,”
TechCrunch, May 19, 2017, https://techcrunch.com/; Adeline
Duff, “ The T&L Carry-On: Away Travel Co-

Founders Jen Rubio and Stephanie Korey,” Travel & Leisure,
March 9, 2017,
http://www.travelandleisure.com/; Burt Helm, “How This
Company Launched With Zero Products –and
Hit $12 Million in First-Year Sales,” Inc.com, July/August
2017, https://www.inc.com/; Veronique Hyland,
“The Duo Trying to Make Travel More Glamorous,” The Cut,
December 22, 2015,
https://www.thecut.com/.
Chapter 6 Perception and Managerial Decision Making 167
Deciding When to Decide
While some decisions are simple, a manager’s decisions are
often complex ones that involve a range of
options and uncertain outcomes. When deciding among various
options and uncertain outcomes, managers
need to gather information, which leads them to another
necessary decision: how much information is needed
to make a good decision? Managers frequently make decisions
without complete information; indeed, one of
the hallmarks of an effective leader is the ability to determine
when to hold off on a decision and gather more
information, and when to make a decision with the information
at hand. Waiting too long to make a decision
can be as harmful for the organization as reaching a decision
too quickly. Failing to react quickly enough can
lead to missed opportunities, yet acting too quickly can lead to
organizational resources being poorly allocated
to projects with no chance of success. Effective managers must
decide when they have gathered enough
information and must be prepared to change course if additional
information becomes available that makes it
clear that the original decision was a poor one. For individuals

with fragile egos, changing course can be
challenging because admitting to a mistake can be harder than
forging ahead with a bad plan. Effective
managers recognize that given the complexity of many tasks,
some failures are inevitable. They also realize
that it’s better to minimize a bad decision’s impact on the
organization and its stakeholders by recognizing it
quickly and correcting it.
What’s the Right (Correct) Answer?
It’s also worth noting that making decisions as a manager is not
at all like taking a multiple-choice test: with a
multiple-choice test there is always one right answer. This is
rarely the case with management decisions.
Sometimes a manager is choosing between multiple good
options, and it’s not clear which will be the best.
Other times there are multiple bad options, and the task is to
minimize harm. Often there are individuals in the
organization with competing interests, and the manager must
make decisions knowing that someone will be
upset no matter what decision is reached.
What’s the Right (Ethical) Answer?
Sometimes managers are asked to make decisions that go
beyond just upsetting someone—they may be
asked to make decisions in which harm could be caused to
others. These decisions have ethical or moral
implications. Ethics and morals refer to our beliefs about what
is right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, virtuous vs.
corrupt. Implicitly, ethics and morals relate to our interactions
with and impact on others—if we never had to
interact with another creature, we would not have to think about
how our behaviors affected other individuals
or groups. All managers, however, make decisions that impact
others. It is therefore important to be mindful
about whether our decisions have a positive or a negative

impact. “Maximizing shareholder wealth” is often
used as a rationalization for placing the importance of short-
term profits over the needs of others who will be
affected by a decision—such as employees, customers, or local
citizens (who might be affected, for example,
by environmental decisions). Maximizing shareholder wealth is
often a short-sighted decision, however,
because it can harm the organization’s financial viability in the
future.1 Bad publicity, customers boycotting the
organization, and government fines are all possible long-term
outcomes when managers make choices that
cause harm in order to maximize shareholder wealth. More
importantly, increasing the wealth of shareholders
is not an acceptable reason for causing harm to others.
As you can see from these brief examples, management is not
for the faint of heart! It can, however, be
incredibly rewarding to be in a position to make decisions that
have a positive impact on an organization and
its stakeholders. We see a great example of this in the
Sustainability and Responsible Management box.
S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y A N D R E S P O N S I B L E M
A N A G E M E N T
Brewing Sustainable Success
The focus of a manager or a business owner is often primarily
on doing well (making a profit).

Sometimes, though, organizational leaders choose to pursue two
big goals at once: doing well, and
simultaneously doing good (benefiting society in some way).
Why? Generally because they think it’s an
important thing to do. The business provides an opportunity to
pursue another goal that the founders,
owners, or managers are also passionate about. In the case of
New Belgium Brewing, the company’s
cofounders, Jeff Lebesch and Kim Jordan, were passionate
about two things: making great beer and
environmental stewardship. So it should come as no surprise
that their brewery is dedicated to reducing
its environmental footprint. The brewery has created a culture
that fosters sustainability in a wide range
of ways, such as by giving employees a bicycle on their one-
year anniversary as a way to encourage them
to ride bicycles to work. The organization is also active in
advocacy efforts, such as the “Save the
Colorado” (river) campaign, and it works hard to promote
responsible decision-making when it comes to
environmental issues. In fact, in 1999, following an employee
vote, the brewery began to purchase all of
its electricity from wind power, even though it was more
expensive than electricity from coal-burning
power plants (which meant reduced profitability and less money
for employee bonuses).
While the brewery still relies primarily on wind power, it also
now generates a portion of its electricity
onsite—some from rooftop solar panels, and even more from
biogas, the methane gas byproduct that is
created by microbes in the brewery’s water treatment plant. The
company cleans the wastewater
generated from beer production, and in doing so it generates the
biogas, which is captured and used for
energy to help run the brewery.

Brewing is water intensive, so New Belgium works hard to
reduce water consumption and to recycle the
water that it does use. The company also reduces other types of
waste by selling used grain, hops, and
yeast to local ranchers for cattle feed. The company, which has
been employee owned since 2013, also
works with the local utility through a Smart Meter program to
reduce their energy consumption at peak
times.
All of these efforts at doing good must come at a cost, right?
Actually, research shows that companies
that are committed to sustainability have superior financial
performance, on average, relative to those
that are not. In coming up with creative ways to reduce, reuse,
and recycle, employees often also find
ways to save money (like using biogas). In addition,
organizations that strive to do good are often
considered attractive and desirable places to work (especially
by people who have similar values) and are
also valued by the surrounding communities. As a result,
employees in those organizations tend to be
extremely committed to them, with high levels of engagement,
motivation, and productivity. Indeed, it
seems clear that the employees at the New Belgium Brewery are
passionate about where they work and
what they do. This passion generates value for the organization
and proves that it is, in fact, possible to
do well while having also made the decision to do good. And in
the case of New Belgium Brewery, that
means working to protect the environment while also making
delicious beer.
1. What challenges does New Belgium Brewery face in pursuing

environmental goals?
2. Can you think of any other examples of companies that try to
“do good” while also doing well?
3. Would you like to work for an organization that is committed
to something more than just
Reflective and
Reactive Systems
2. What are the two systems of decision-making in the brain?
The human brain processes information for decision-making
using one of two routes: a reflective system and a
reactive (or reflexive) system.2,3 The reflective system is
logical, analytical, deliberate, and methodical, while
the reactive system is quick, impulsive, and intuitive, relying on
emotions or habits to provide cues for what
to do next. Research in neuropsychology suggests that the brain
can only use one system at a time for
processing information [Darlow & Sloman] and that the two
systems are directed by different parts of the
brain. The prefrontal cortex is more involved in the reflective
system, and the basal ganglia and amygdala
(more primitive parts of the brain, from an evolutionary
perspective) are more involved in the reactive
system.4
Reactive Decision-Making
We tend to assume that the logical, analytical route leads to
superior decisions, but whether this is accurate

depends on the situation. The quick, intuitive route can be
lifesaving; when we suddenly feel intense fear, a
fight-or-flight response kicks in that leads to immediate action
without methodically weighing all possible
options and their consequences. Additionally, experienced
managers can often make decisions very quickly
because experience or expertise has taught them what to do in a
given situation. These managers might not
be able to explain the logic behind their decision, and will
instead say they just went with their “gut,” or did
what “felt” right. Because the manager has faced a similar
situation in the past and has figured out how to
profitability, even if it meant your salary or bonus would be
smaller?
Sources: Karen Crofton, “How New Belgium Brewery leads
Colorado’s craft brewers in energy,” GreenBiz,
August 1, 2014, https://www.greenbiz.com/. Darren Dahl, “How
New Belgium Brewing Has Found
Sustainable Success,” Forbes, February 8, 2016,
https://www.forbes.com/. Jenny Foust, “New Belgium
Brewing Once Again Named Platinum-Level Bicycle Friendly
Business by the League of American
Bicyclists,” Craft Beer.com, February 18, 2016. Robert G.
Eccles, Ioannis Ioannou, & George Serafeim,
“The Impact of Corporate Sustainability on Organizational
Processes and Performance,” Management
Science, 60, 2014, https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1984.
New Belgium Brewery Sustainability web
page, http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability, accessed
September 18, 2017.
1. What are some positive outcomes of decision-making for an

organization? What are some possible
negative outcomes?
2. How is managerial decision-making different from a
multiple-choice test?
3. In addition to the owners of a business, who are some of the
other stakeholders that managers
should consider when making decisions?
deal with it, the brain shifts immediately to the quick, intuitive
decision-making system.5
Reflective Decision-Making
The quick route is not always the best decision-making path to
take, however. When faced with novel and
complex situations, it is better to process available information
logically, analytically, and methodically. As a
manager, you need to think about whether a situation requires
not a fast, “gut” reaction, but some serious
thought prior to making a decision. It is especially important to
pay attention to your emotions, because
strong emotions can make it difficult to process information
rationally. Successful managers recognize the
effects of emotions and know to wait and address a volatile
situation after their emotions have calmed down.
Intense emotions—whether positive or negative—tend to pull us
toward the quick, reactive route of decision-
making. Have you ever made a large “impulse” purchase that

you were excited about, only to regret it later?
This speaks to the power our emotions exert on our decision-
making. Big decisions should generally not be
made impulsively, but reflectively.
The Role of Emotions
Being aware of the role emotions play in decision-making does
not mean that we should ignore them.
Emotions can serve as powerful signals about what we should
do, especially in situations with ethical
implications. You can read more about this particular type of
decision-making in the Ethics in Practice box later
in this chapter. Thinking through how we feel about the possible
options, and why we feel that way, can
greatly enhance our decision-making.6 Effective decision-
making, then, relies on both logic and emotions. For
this reason, the concept of emotional intelligence has become
popular as a characteristic of effective
managers. Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize,
understand, pay attention to, and manage one’s
own emotions and the emotions of others. It involves self-
awareness and self-regulation—essentially, this is a
toggling back and forth between emotions and logic so that we
analyze and understand our own emotions
and then exert the necessary control to manage them as
appropriate for the situation. Emotional intelligence
also involves empathy—the ability to understand other peoples’
emotions (and an interest in doing so).
Finally, emotional intelligence involves social skills to manage
the emotional aspects of relationships with
others. Managers who are aware of their own emotions can
think through what their emotions mean in a
given situation and use that information to guide their decision-
making. Managers who are aware of the
emotions of others can also utilize that information to help

groups function more effectively and engage in
better group decision-making. While emotional intelligence
seems to come easily to some people, it is
something that we can develop and improve on with practice. A
model of emotional intelligence is presented
in Exhibit 6.2.
Exhibit 6.2 Emotional Intelligence (Attribution: Copyright Rice
University, OpenStax, under CC-BY 4.0 license)
6.3 Programmed and Nonprogrammed Decisions
3. What is the difference between programmed and
Because managers have limited time and must use that time
wisely to be effective, it is important for them to
distinguish between decisions that can have structure and
routine applied to them (called programmed
decisions) and decisions that are novel and require thought and
attention (nonprogrammed decisions).
Programmed Decisions
Programmed decisions are those that are repeated over time and
for which an existing set of rules can be
developed to guide the process. These decisions might simple,
or they could be fairly complex, but the criteria
that go into making the decision are all known or can at least be
estimated with a reasonable degree of
accuracy. For example, deciding how many raw materials to
order should be a programmed decision based on
anticipated production, existing stock, and anticipated length of

time for the delivery of the final product. As
another example, consider a retail store manager developing the
weekly work schedule for part-time
employees. The manager must consider how busy the store is
likely to be, taking into account seasonal
fluctuations in business. Then, she must consider the
availability of the workers by taking into account
1. Explain the two systems used by the brain in decision-
making.
2. What is emotional intelligence, and why is it important for
decision-making?
requests for vacation and for other obligations that employees
might have (such as school). Establishing the
schedule might be complex, but it is still a programmed
decision: it is made on a regular basis based on well -
understood criteria, so structure can be applied to the process.
For programmed decisions, managers often
develop heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to help reach a decision.
For example, the retail store manager may
not know how busy the store will be the week of a big sale, but
might routinely increase staff by 30% every
time there is a big sale (because this has been fairly effective in
the past). Heuristics are efficient—they save
time for the decision maker by generating an adequate solution
quickly. Heuristics don’t necessarily yield the

optimal solution—deeper cognitive processing may be required
for that. However, they generally yield a good
solution. Heuristics are often used for programmed decisions,
because experience in making the decision over
and over helps the decision maker know what to expect and how
to react. Programmed decision-making can
also be taught fairly easily to another person. The rules and
criteria, and how they relate to outcomes, can be
clearly laid out so that a good decision can be reached by the
new decision maker. Programmed decisions are
also sometimes referred to as routine or low-involvement
decisions because they don’t require in-depth mental
processing to reach a decision. High- and low-involvement
decisions are illustrated in Exhibit 6.3.
Exhibit 6.3 High-Involvement and Low-Involvement Decisions.
BY 4.0 license)
Nonprogrammed Decisions
In contrast, nonprogrammed decisions are novel, unstructured
decisions that are generally based on criteria
that are not well-defined. With nonprogrammed decisions,
information is more likely to be ambiguous or
incomplete, and the decision maker may need to exercise some
thoughtful judgment and creative thinking to
reach a good solution. These are also sometimes referred to as
nonroutine decisions or as high-involvement
decisions because they require greater involvement and thought
on the part of the decision maker. For
example, consider a manager trying to decide whether or not to
adopt a new technology. There will always be
unknowns in situations of this nature. Will the new technology
really be better than the existing technology?
Will it become widely accepted over time, or will some other
technology become the standard? The best the

manager can do in this situation is to gather as much relevant
information as possible and make an educated
guess as to whether the new technology will be worthwhile.
Clearly, nonprogrammed decisions present the
greater challenge.
The Decision-Making Process
While decisions makers can use mental shortcuts with
programmed decisions, they should use a systematic
process with nonprogrammed decisions. The decision-making
process is illustrated in Exhibit 6.4 and can be
broken down into a series of six steps, as follows:
1. Recognize that a decision needs to be made.
2. Generate multiple alternatives.
3. Analyze the alternatives.
4. Select an alternative.
5. Implement the selected alternative.
6. Evaluate its effectiveness.
While these steps may seem straightforward, individuals often
skip steps or spend too little time on some
steps. In fact, sometimes people will refuse to acknowledge a
problem (Step 1) because they aren’t sure how
to address it. We’ll discuss the steps more later in the chapter,
when we review ways to improve the quality of
decision-making.
Exhibit 6.4 The Decision-Making Process. (Attribution:
You may notice similarities between the two systems of

decision-making in our brains and the two types of
decisions (programmed and nonprogrammed). Nonprogrammed
decisions will generally need to be
processed via the reflective system in our brains in order for us
to reach a good decision. But with
programmed decisions, heuristics can allow decision makers to
switch to the quick, reactive system and then
move along quickly to other issues.
6.4 Barriers to Effective Decision-Making
4. What barriers exist that make effective decision-making
difficult?
There are a number of barriers to effective decision-making.
Effective managers are aware of these potential
barriers and try to overcome them as much as possible.
Bounded Rationality
While we might like to think that we can make completely
rational decisions, this is often unrealistic given the
complex issues faced by managers. Nonrational decision-
making is common, especially with nonprogrammed
decisions. Since we haven’t faced a particular situation
previously, we don’t always know what questions to ask
or what information to gather. Even when we have gathered all
the possible information, we may not be able
to make rational sense of all of it, or to accurately forecast or
predict the outcomes of our choice. Bounded

rationality is the idea that for complex issues we cannot be
completely rational because we cannot fully grasp
all the possible alternatives, nor can we understand all the
implications of every possible alternative. Our
brains have limitations in terms of the amount of information
they can process. Similarly, as was alluded to
earlier in the chapter, even when managers have the cognitive
ability to process all the relevant information,
they often must make decisions without first having time to
collect all the relevant data—their information is
incomplete.
Escalation of Commitment
Given the lack of complete information, managers don’t always
make the right decision initially, and it may not
be clear that a decision was a bad one until after some time has
passed. For example, consider a manager who
had to choose between two competing software packages that
her organization will use on a daily basis to
enhance efficiency. She initially chooses the product that was
developed by the larger, more well-established
company, reasoning that they will have greater financial
resources to invest in ensuring that the technology is
good. However, after some time it becomes clear that the
competing software package is going to be far
superior. While the smaller company’s product could be
integrated into the organization’s existing systems at
little additional expense, the larger company’s product will
require a much greater initial investment, as well as
substantial ongoing costs for maintaining it. At this point,
however, let’s assume that the manager has already
paid for the larger company’s (inferior) software. Will she
abandon the path that she’s on, accept the loss on
the money that’s been invested so far, and switch to the better
software? Or will she continue to invest time
and money into trying to make the first product work?

Escalation of commitment is the tendency of decision
1. Give an example of a programmed decision that a manager
might face.
2. Give an example of a nonprogrammed decision.
3. What are heuristics, and when are they helpful?
4. How are programmed and nonprogrammed decisions
connected to the reflective and reactive
systems in the brain?
makers to remain committed to poor decision, even when doing
so leads to increasingly negative outcomes.
Once we commit to a decision, we may find it difficult to
reevaluate that decision rationally. It can seem easier
to “stay the course” than to admit (or to recognize) that a
decision was poor. It’s important to acknowledge
that not all decisions are going to be good ones, in spite of our
best efforts. Effective managers recognize that
progress down the wrong path isn’t really progress, and they are
willing to reevaluate decisions and change
direction when appropriate.
Time Constraints
Managers often face time constraints that can make effective
decision-making a challenge. When there is little
time available to collect information and to rationally process
it, we are much less likely to make a good
nonprogrammed decision. Time pressures can cause us to rely
on heuristics rather than engage in deep

processing. While heuristics save time, however, they don’t
necessarily lead to the best possible solution. The
best managers are constantly assessing the risks associated with
acting too quickly against those associated
with not acting quickly enough.
Uncertainty
In addition, managers frequently make decisions under
conditions of uncertainty—they cannot know the
outcome of each alternative until they’ve actually chosen that
alternative. Consider, for example, a manager
who is trying to decide between one of two possible marketing
campaigns. The first is more conservative but
is consistent with what the organization has done in the past.
The second is more modern and edgier, and
might bring much better results . . . or it might be a spectacular
failure. The manager making the decision will
ultimately have to choose one campaign and see what happens,
without ever knowing what the results would
have been with the alternate campaign. That uncertainty can
make it difficult for some managers to make
decisions, because committing to one option means forgoing
other options.
Personal Biases
Our decision-making is also limited by our own biases. We tend
to be more comfortable with ideas, concepts,
things, and people that are familiar to us or similar to us. We
tend to be less comfortable with that which is
unfamiliar, new, and different. One of the most common biases
that we have, as humans, is the tendency to
like other people who we think are similar to us (because we
like ourselves).7 While these similarities can be
observable (based on demographic characteristics such as race,
gender, and age), they can also be a result of
shared experiences (such as attending the same university) or

shared interests (such as being in a book club
together). This “similar to me” bias and preference for the
familiar can lead to a variety of problems for
managers: hiring less-qualified applicants because they are
similar to the manager in some way, paying more
attention to some employees’ opinions and ignoring or
discounting others, choosing a familiar technology
over a new one that is superior, sticking with a supplier that is
known over one that has better quality, and so
on.
It can be incredibly difficult to overcome our biases because of
the way our brains work. The brain excels at
organizing information into categories, and it doesn’t like to
expend the effort to re-arrange once the
categories are established. As a result, we tend to pay more
attention to information that confirms our existing
beliefs and less attention to information that is contrary to our
beliefs, a shortcoming that is referred to as
confirmation bias.8
In fact, we don’t like our existing beliefs to be challenged. Such
challenges feel like a threat, which tends to
push our brains towards the reactive system and prevent us from
being able to logically process the new
information via the reflective system. It is hard to change
people’s minds about something if they are already
confident in their convictions. So, for example, when a manager
hires a new employee who she really likes and

is convinced is going to be excellent, she will tend to pay
attention to examples of excellent performance and
ignore examples of poor performance (or attribute those events
to things outside the employee’s control). The
manager will also tend to trust that employee and therefore
accept their explanations for poor performance
without verifying the truth or accuracy of those statements. The
opposite is also true; if we dislike someone,
we will pay attention to their negatives and ignore or discount
their positives. We are less likely to trust them
or believe what they say at face value. This is why politics tend
to become very polarized and antagonistic
within a two-party system. It can be very difficult to have
accurate perceptions of those we like and those we
dislike. The effective manager will try to evaluate situations
from multiple perspectives and gather multiple
opinions to offset this bias when making decisions.
Conflict
Finally, effective decision-making can be difficult because of
conflict. Most individuals dislike conflict and will
avoid it when possible. However, the best decision might be one
that is going to involve some conflict.
Consider a manager who has a subordinate who is often late to
work, causing others to have to step away
from their responsibilities in order to cover for the late
employee. The manager needs to have a conversation
with that employee to correct the behavior, but the employee is
not going to like the conversation and may
react in a negative way. Both of them are going to be
uncomfortable. The situation is likely to involve conflict,
which most people find stressful. Yet, the correct decision is
still to have the conversation even if (or especially
if) the employee otherwise is an asset to the department.
Exhibit 6.5 Dante Disparte Dante Disparte is the founder and

CEO of Risk Cooperative and also coauthor of Global Risk
Agility and Decision
Making. He suggests that unforeseen and unanticipated risks are
becoming more frequent and less predictable and are having a
greater impact
on more people at one time. Credit (New America/ flickr/
Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
If the bad behavior is not corrected, it will continue, which is
going to cause more problems in the workplace in
the long run. Other employees may recognize that this behavior
is allowed, and they may also start coming to
work late or engaging in other negative behaviors. Eventually,
some employees may become sufficiently
frustrated that they look for another place to work. It’s worth
noting that in this situation, the best employees
will find new jobs the most quickly. It’s important for managers
to recognize that while conflict can be
uncomfortable (especially in the short-term), there are times
when it is necessary for the group, department,
or organization to function effectively in the long run.
It is also helpful to think about conflict in terms of process
conflict or relationship conflict.9 Process conflict,
conflict about the best way to do something, can actually lead to
improved performance, as individuals explore
various options together in order to identify superior solutions.
Relationship conflict is conflict between
individuals that is more personal and involves attacks on a
person rather than an idea. This kind of conflict is
generally harmful and should be quelled when possible. The

harm from relationship conflict arises at least in
part because feeling personally attacked will cause an
individual to revert to the reactive system of the brain.
Effective managers should be particularly aware of the
possibility of relationship conflict when giving feedback
and should keep feedback focused on behaviors and activities
(how things are done) rather than on the
individual. Being aware of and dealing with relationship
conflict points to why emotional intelligence and
empathy are beneficial in organizational leaders. Such leaders
are more likely to be attentive to the harmful
consequences of relationship conflict. The “Managerial
Leadership” segment shows how one CEO encourages
empathetic collaboration and how that effort is proving
beneficial.
Satya Nadella’s Transformation of Microsoft
When Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he
set in motion a major transformation of the
organization’s culture. He wanted it to shift from a culture that
valued “know-it-alls” to one that values
“learn-it-all.” Instead of employees feeling the need to prove
that they were the smartest person in the
room, he wanted them to become curious and effective listeners,
learners, and communicators. Only
through continual learning and collaboration with one another,
and with customers, would Microsoft
remain able to develop and provide great technology solutions.
One of Nadella’s first mandates as CEO was to ask all the
members of the top management team to read
the book Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg.

The primary focus of the book is on
empathetic communication—a kinder, gentler approach than
Microsoft employees were accustomed to.
Nadella believes that developing empathy leads to a heightened
understanding of consumer needs and
wants and an enhanced ability to develop better products and
services through collaboration.
Nadella has also embraced diversity and inclusion initiatives,
though he readily acknowledges that there
is more to be done. This is, in part, an extension of his focus on
empathy. However, it’s also good
business, because increasing the diversity of perspectives can
help to drive innovation.
This cultural shift is reflected in Microsoft’s new mission
statement: “To empower every person and every
organization on the planet to achieve more.” Empowering every
person includes Microsoft’s own
employees. Achieving diversity is particularly a challenge in an
industry that is male dominated, and
Nadella admits that he has made mistakes based on his own
biases. At a Women in Computing
conference early in his tenure as CEO, Nadella suggested that
women did not need to ask for raises
6.5 Improving the Quality of Decision-Making
5. How can a manager improve the quality of her individual

decision-making?
Managers can use a variety of techniques to improve their
decision-making by making better-quality decisions
or making decisions more quickly. Table 6.1 summarizes some
of these tactics.
when they deserved them; the system, he said, would work it
out. He later admitted that he was wrong
and used the mistake as a platform for making greater strides in
this arena.
Senior management team meetings at Microsoft have apparently
changed dramatically as a result of the
culture change driven by Nadella. Previously, members felt the
need to constantly prove that they knew
all the right answers at team meetings. Nadella has established
different norms; he seeks out honest
opinions from team members and gives positive feedback on a
regular basis. By moving the focus away
from always being right and toward a focus of continual
learning, the culture at Microsoft has become
more collaborative, and employees are more willing to take
risks to create something amazing. The
culture shift seems to be paying off: Microsoft’s products are
being described as “cool” and “exciting,”
its cloud-computing platform is outperforming the competition,
and its financial performance has
improved dramatically. Transforming the culture of an
organization is a massive undertaking, but
Nadella’s leadership of Microsoft clearly shows that it’s a
decision that can pay off.
1. Do you think a culture focused on learning makes sense for
Microsoft? Why or why not?

2. What are the advantages of a culture that emphasizes
empathetic communication? Can you think of
any disadvantages?
3. The job of CEO means making big decisions that impact the
entire organization—like deciding to
change the culture. How do you think you prepare for that job?
Sources: Kendall Baker, “Confirmed: Microsoft is a legit threat
to Apple,” The Hustle, March 16, 2017. Bob
Evans, “10 Powerful examples of Microsoft CEO Satya
Nadella’s Transformative Vision,” Forbes, July 26,
2017. Harry McCraken, “Satya Nadella Rewrites Microsoft’s
Code,” Fast Company, September 18, 2017,
https://www.fastcompany.com/40457458/satya-nadella-rewrites-
microsofts-code. Annie Palmer,
“Microsoft has been reborn under CEO Satya Nadella,” The
Street, September 20, 2017.
1. Explain the concept of confirmation bias.
2. List and describe at least three barriers to effective decision-
making.
3. When is conflict beneficial, and when is it harmful? Why?
Summary of Techniques That May Improve Individual Decision-
Making
Type of Decision Technique Benefit

Programmed
decisions
Heuristics (mental shortcuts) Saves time
Satisficing (choosing first acceptable solution) Saves time
Nonprogrammed
decisions
Systematically go through the six steps of the
decision-making process.
Improves quality
Talk to other people. Improves quality: generates more
options, reduces bias
Be creative. Improves quality: generates more
options
Conduct research; engage in evidence-based
decision-making.
Improves quality
Engage in critical thinking. Improves quality
Think about the long-term implications. Improves quality
Consider the ethical implications. Improves quality
The Importance of Experience

An often overlooked factor in effective decision-making is
experience. Managers with more experience have
generally learned more and developed greater expertise that
they can draw on when making decisions.
Experience helps managers develop methods and heuristics to
quickly deal with programmed decisions and
helps them know what additional information to seek out before
making a nonprogrammed decision.
Techniques for Making Better Programmed Decisions
In addition, experience enables managers to recognize when to
minimize the time spent making decisions on
issues that are not particularly important but must still be
addressed. As discussed previously, heuristics are
mental shortcuts that managers take when making programmed
(routine, low-involvement) decisions.
Another technique that managers use with these types of
decisions is satisficing. When satisficing, a decision
maker selects the first acceptable solution without engaging in
additional effort to identify the best solution.
We all engage in satisficing every day. For example, suppose
you are shopping for groceries and you don’t
want to overspend. If you have plenty of time, you might
compare prices and figure out the price by weight (or
volume) to ensure that every item you select is the cheapest
option. But if you are in a hurry, you might just
select generic products, knowing that they are cheap enough.
This allows you to finish the task quickly at a
reasonably low cost.

Techniques for Making Better Nonprogrammed Decisions
For situations in which the quality of the decision is more
critical than the time spent on the decision, decision
makers can use several tactics. As stated previously,
nonprogrammed decisions should be addressed using a
systematic process. We therefore discuss these tactics within the
context of the decision-making steps. To
review, the steps include the following:
1. Recognize that a decision needs to be made.
2. Generate multiple alternatives.
3. Analyze the alternatives.
4. Select an alternative.
5. Implement the selected alternative.
6. Evaluate its effectiveness.
Step 1: Recognizing That a Decision Needs to Be Made
Ineffective managers will sometimes ignore problems because
they aren’t sure how to address them.
However, this tends to lead to more and bigger problems over
time. Effective managers will be attentive to
problems and to opportunities and will not shy away from
making decisions that could make their team,
department, or organization more effective and more successful.
Step 2: Generating Multiple Alternatives
Often a manager only spends enough time on Step 2 to generate
two alternatives and then quickly moves to
Step 3 in order to make a quick decision. A better solution may
have been available, but it wasn’t even
considered. It’s important to remember that for nonprogrammed
decisions, you don’t want to rush the
process. Generating many possible options will increase the

likelihood of reaching a good decision. Some
tactics to help with generating more options include talking to
other people (to get their ideas) and thinking
creatively about the problem.
Talk to other people
Managers can often improve the quality of their decision-
making by involving others in the process, especially
when generating alternatives. Other people tend to view
problems from different perspectives because they
have had different life experiences. This can help generate
alternatives that you might not otherwise have
considered. Talking through big decisions with a mentor can
also be beneficial, especially for new managers
who are still learning and developing their expertise; someone
with more experience will often be able to
suggest more options.
Be creative
We don’t always associate management with creativity, but
creativity can be quite beneficial in some
situations. In decision-making, creativity can be particularly
helpful when generating alternatives. Creativity is
the generation of new or original ideas; it requires the use of
imagination and the ability to step back from
traditional ways of doing things and seeing the world. While
some people seem to be naturally creative, it is a
skill that you can develop. Being creative requires letting your
mind wander and combining existing
knowledge from past experiences in novel ways. Creative
inspiration may come when we least expect it (in the
shower, for example) because we aren’t intensely focused on the
problem—we’ve allowed our minds to
wander. Managers who strive to be creative will take the time to

view a problem from multiple perspectives,
try to combine information in news ways, search for
overarching patterns, and use their imaginations to
generate new solutions to existing problems. We’ll review
creativity in more detail in Improving the Quality
of Decision-Making.
Step 3: Analyzing Alternatives
When implementing Step 3, it is important to take many factors
into consideration. Some alternatives might be
more expensive than others, for example, and that information
is often essential when analyzing options.
Effective managers will ensure that they have collected
sufficient information to assess the quality of the
various options. They will also utilize the tactics described
below: engaging in evidence-based decision-
making, thinking critically, talking to other people, and
considering long-term and ethical implications.
Do you have the best-quality data and evidence?
Evidence-based decision-making is an approach to decision-
making that states that managers should
systematically collect the best evidence available to help them
make effective decisions. The evidence that is
collected might include the decision maker’s own expertise, but
it is also likely to include external evidence,
such as a consideration of other stakeholders, contextual factors
relevant to the organization, potential costs
and benefits, and other relevant information. With evidence-

based decision-making, managers are
encouraged to rely on data and information rather than their
intuition. This can be particularly beneficial for
new managers or for experienced managers who are starting
something new. (Consider all the research that
Rubio and Korey conducted while starting Away).
As mentioned previously, it can be worthwhile to get help from
others when generating options. Another good
time to talk to other people is while analyzing those options;
other individuals in the organization may help
you assess the quality of your choices. Seeking out the opinions
and preferences of others is also a great way
to maintain perspective, so getting others involved can help you
to be less biased in your decision-making
(provided you talk to people whose biases are different from
your own).
Are you thinking critically about the options?
Our skill at assessing alternatives can also be improved by a
focus on critical thinking. Critical thinking is a
disciplined process of evaluating the quality of information,
especially data collected from other sources and
arguments made by other people, to determine whether the
source should be trusted or whether the
argument is valid.
An important factor in critical thinking is the recognition that a
person’s analysis of the available information
may be flawed by a number of logical fallacies that they may
use when they are arguing their point or
defending their perspective. Learning what those fallacies are
and being able to recognize them when they

occur can help improve decision-making quality. See Table 6.2
for several examples of common logical
fallacies.
Common Logical Fallacies
Name Description Examples Ways to Combat This Logical
Fallacy
Non
sequitur
(does not
follow)
The conclusion
that is presented
isn’t a logical
conclusion or isn’t
the only logical
conclusion based
on the
argument(s).
Our biggest competitor
is spending more on
marketing than we are.
They have a larger share
of the market. Therefore,
we should spend more

on marketing.
The unspoken assumption:
They have a larger share
of the market BECAUSE
they spend more on
marketing.
• Examine all the arguments. Are they
reasonable?
• Look for any assumptions that are
being made in the argument
sequence. Are they reasonable?
• Try to gather evidence that
supports or refutes the arguments
and/or assumptions.
In this example, you should ask: Are there
any other reasons, besides their
spending on marketing, why our
competitor has a larger share of the
market?
False cause Assuming that
because two
things are related,
one caused the
other
“Our employees get sick
more when we close for
holidays. So we should
stop closing for
holidays.”

This is similar to non sequitur; it makes
an assumption in the argument
sequence.
• Ask yourself whether the first thing
really causes the second, or if
something else may be the cause.
In this case, most holidays for which
businesses close are in the late fall and
winter (Thanksgiving, Christmas), and
there are more illnesses at this time of
year because of the weather, not
because of the business being closed.
Fallacy
Ad
hominem
(attack the
man)
Redirects from
the argument
itself to attack the

person making
the argument
“You aren’t really going
to take John seriously,
are you? I heard his
biggest client just
dropped him for another
vendor because he’s all
talk and no substance.”
The goal: if you stop
trusting the person,
you’ll discount their
argument.
• Does the second person have
something to gain, a hidden
agenda, in trying to make you
distrust the first person?
• If the first person’s argument came
from someone else, would it be
persuasive?
Genetic
fallacy
You can’t trust
something
because of its
origins.
“This was made in China,
so it must be low
quality.”

“He is a lawyer, so you
can’t trust anything he
says.”
This fallacy is based on stereotypes.
Stereotypes are generalizations; some
are grossly inaccurate, and even those
that are accurate in SOME cases are
never accurate in ALL cases. Recognize
this for what it is—an attempt to prey on
existing biases.
Appeal to
tradition
If we have always
done it one
particular way,
that must be the
right or best way.
“We’ve always done it
this way.”
“We shouldn’t change
this; it works fine the
way it is.”
• Consider whether the situation has
changed, calling for a change in the
way things are being done.
• Consider whether new information
suggests that the traditional
viewpoint is incorrect. Remember,

we used to think that the earth was
flat.
Fallacy
Bandwagon
approach
If the majority of
people are doing
it, it must be
good.
“Everybody does it.”
“Our customers don’t
want to be served by
people like that.”
• Remember that the majority is
sometimes wrong, and what is
popular isn’t always what is right.

• Ask yourself whether “following the
pack” is going to get you where you
want to be.
• Remember that organizations are
usually successful by being better
than their competitors at
something . . . so following the
crowd might not be the best
approach to success.
Appeal to
emotion
Redirects the
argument from
logic to emotion
“We should do it for
[recently deceased]
Steve; it’s what he would
have wanted.”
• Develop your awareness of your
own emotions, and recognize when
someone is trying to use them.
• Ask yourself whether the argument
stands on its own without the
appeal to your emotions.
Have you considered the long-term implications?

A focus on immediate, short-term outcomes—with little
consideration for the future—can cause problems. For
example, imagine that a manager must decide whether to issue
dividends to investors or put that money into
research and development to maintain a pipeline of innovative
products. It’s tempting to just focus on the
short-term: providing dividends to investors tends to be good
for stock prices. But failing to invest in research
and development might mean that in five years the company is
unable to compete effectively in the
marketplace, and as a result the business closes. Paying
attention to the possible long-term outcomes is a
crucial part of analyzing alternatives.
Are there ethical implications?
It’s important to think about whether the various alternatives
available to you are better or worse from an
ethical perspective, as well. Sometimes managers make
unethical choices because they haven’t considered the
ethical implications of their actions. In the 1970s, Ford
manufactured the Pinto, which had an unfortunate flaw:
the car would easily burst into flames when rear-ended. The
company did not initially recall the vehicle
because they viewed the problem from a financial perspective,
without considering the ethical implications.10
People died as a result of the company’s inaction.
Unfortunately, these unethical decisions continue to
occur—and cause harm—on a regular basis in our society.
Effective managers strive to avoid these situations
by thinking through the possible ethical implications of their
decisions. The decision tree in Exhibit 6.6 is a

great example of a way to make managerial decisions while also
taking ethical issues into account.
Exhibit 6.6 Ethical Decision Tree (Attribution: Copyright Rice
Thinking through the steps of ethical decision-making may also
be helpful as you strive to make good
decisions. James Rest’s ethical decision-making model11
identifies four components to ethical decision-
making:
1. Moral sensitivity—recognizing that the issue has a moral
component;
2. Moral judgment—determining which actions are right vs.
wrong;
3. Moral motivation/intention—deciding to do the right thing;
and
4. Moral character/action—actually doing what is right.
Note that a failure at any point in the chain can lead to
unethical actions! Taking the time to identify possible
ethical implications will help you develop moral sensitivity,
which is a critical first step to ensuring that you are
making ethical decisions.
Once you have determined that a decision has ethical
implications, you must consider whether your various
alternatives are right or wrong—whether or not they will cause
harm, and if so, how much and to whom. This
is the moral judgment component. If you aren’t sure about
whether something is right or wrong, think about
how you would feel if that decision ended up on the front page
of a major newspaper. If you would feel guilty

or ashamed, don’t do it! Pay attention to those emotional cues—
they are providing important information
about the option that you are contemplating.
The third step in the ethical decision-making model involves
making a decision to do what is right, and the
fourth step involves following through on that decision. These
may sound, but consider a situation in which
your boss tells you to do something that you know to be wrong.
When you push back, your boss makes it clear
that you will lose your job if you don’t do what you’ve been
told to do. Now, consider that you have family at
home who rely on your income. Making the decision to do what
you know is right could come at a substantial
cost to you personally. In these situations, your best course of
action is to find a way to persuade your boss
that the unethical action will cause greater harm to the
organization in the long-term.
Step 4: Selecting an Alternative
Once alternative options have been generated and analyzed, the
decision maker must select one of the
options. Sometimes this is easy—one option is clearly superior
to the others. Often, however, this is a
challenge because there is not a clear “winner” in terms of the
best alternative. As mentioned earlier in the
chapter, there may be multiple good options, and which one will
be best is unclear even after gathering all

available evidence. There may not be a single option that
doesn’t upset some stakeholder group, so you will
make someone unhappy no matter what you choose. A weak
decision maker may become paralyzed in this
situation, unable to select among the various alternatives for
lack of a clearly “best” option. They may decide
to keep gathering additional information in hopes of making
their decision easier. As a manager, it’s
important to think about whether the benefit of gathering
additional information will outweigh the cost of
waiting. If there are time pressures, waiting may not be
possible.
Recognize that perfection is unattainable
Effective managers recognize that they will not always make
optimal (best possible) decisions because they
don’t have complete information and/or don’t have the time or
resources to gather and process all the
possible information. They accept that their decision-making
will not be perfect and strive to make good
decisions overall. Recognizing that perfection is impossible will
also help managers to adjust and change if
they realize later on that the selected alternative was not the
best option.
This is another point in the process at which talking to others
can be helpful. Selecting one of the alternatives
will ultimately be your responsibility, but when faced with a
difficult decision, talking through your choice with
someone else may help you clarify that you are indeed making
the best possible decision from among the
available options. Sharing information verbally also causes our
brains to process that information differently,

which can provide new insights and bring greater clarity to our
decision-making.
Step 5: Implementing the Selected Alternative
After selecting an alternative, you must implement it. This may
seem too obvious to even mention, but
implementation can sometimes be a challenge, particularly if
the decision is going to create conflict or
dissatisfaction among some stakeholders. Sometimes we know
what we need to do but still try to avoid
actually doing it because we know others in the organization
will be upset—even if it’s the best solution.
Follow-through is a necessity, however, to be effective as a
manager. If you are not willing to implement a
decision, it’s a good idea to engage in some self-reflection to
understand why. If you know that the decision is
going to create conflict, try to think about how you’ll address
that conflict in a productive way. It’s also
possible that we feel that there is no good alternative, or we are
feeling pressured to make a decision that we
know deep down is not right from an ethical perspective. These
can be among the most difficult of decisions.
You should always strive to make decisions that you feel good
about—which means doing the right thing, even
in the face of pressures to do wrong.
Step 6: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Your Decision
Managers sometimes skip the last step in the decision-making
process because evaluating the effectiveness of
a decision takes time, and managers, who are generally busy,
may have already moved on to other projects.
Yet evaluating effectiveness is important. When we fail to
evaluate our own performance and the outcomes of
our decisions, we cannot learn from the experience in a way that

enables us to improve the quality of our
future decisions.
Attending fully to each step in the decision-making process
improves the quality of decision-making and, as
we’ve seen, managers can engage in a number of tactics to help
them make good decisions. Take a look at the
Ethics in Practice box to see an example of how one particular
manager puts these techniques into practice to
make good decisions.
Rob Ault, Project Manager, Bayside Community Church
Bradenton, Florida
When it comes to decision-making, ethical dilemmas require
particular care. Because managers make
many decisions, it should not be surprising that some of those
decisions will have ethical implications.
With multiple stakeholders to consider, sometimes what is best
for one group of stakeholders is not what
is best for others. I talked to Rob Ault about his experiences
with ethical dilemmas over the course of his
career. Rob has been in managerial roles for over 25 years,
since he was 19 years old. He told me that he
had experienced a number of ethical dilemmas in that time.
Rob has spent most of his career working for for-profit
organizations, and for about half of that time he
has worked in a union environment. What he has found most

frustrating, regardless of environment, was
when it was clear to him what was right, but what was right
conflicted with what his boss was telling him
to do. This included a situation in which he felt an employee
should be fired for misbehavior (but wasn’t),
as well as situation in which he was asked to fire someone
undeservedly. What we mostly talked about,
though, was his process. How did he go about making decisions
in these challenging situations?
Rob clearly stated that his approach to these situations has
changed with experience. What he did early
in his career is not necessarily what he would do now. He said
that it takes experience and some maturity
to recognize that, as a leader, the decisions you make affect
other people’s lives. He also explained that a
starting point for the decision-making process is always a
recognition of the fact that you have been
hired to generate a benefit for your company. So a manager’s
decisions need to come from the
perspective of what is going to be in the best long-term interest
of the organization (in addition to what
is morally right). This isn’t always easy, because short-term
consequences are much easier to observe
and predict.
I asked Rob who he talked to prior to making decisions in
situations with an ethical component. Rob told
me that he felt one of the most important things you should do
as a leader is to intentionally create and
build relationships with people you trust in the organization.
That way you have people you know you
can talk to when difficult situations come up. He was very clear
that you should always talk to your boss,
who will tend to have a broader understanding of what is going
on in the context of the larger

organization. He also told me that he liked to talk to his father,
who happened to work in human
resource management for a large Fortune 500 organization. His
father was always helpful in providing
the perspective of how things were likely to play out long-term
if one person was allowed to bend the
rules. Rob realized eventually that the long-term consequences
of this were almost always negative: once
one person is allowed to misbehave, others find out about it and
realize that they can do the same thing
6.6 Group Decision-Making
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of group
decision-making, and how can a manager improve
Involving more people in the decision-making process can
greatly improve the quality of a manager's
decisions and outcomes. However, involving more people can
also increase conflict and generate other
challenges. We turn now to the advantages and disadvantages of
group decision-making.
Advantages of Group Decisions
An advantage to involving groups in decision-making is that
you can incorporate different perspectives and
ideas. For this advantage to be realized, however, you need a
diverse group. In a diverse group, the different

group members will each tend to have different preferences,
opinions, biases, and stereotypes. Because a
variety of viewpoints must be negotiated and worked through,
group decision-making creates additional work
for a manager, but (provided the group members reflect
different perspectives) it also tends to reduce the
effects of bias on the outcome. For example, a hiring committee
made up of all men might end up hiring a
larger proportion of male applicants (simply because they tend
to prefer people who are more similar to
without repercussions. Rob also seeks out the opinions of other
individuals in the organization before
reaching decisions with an ethical component; he told me that
when he worked in a union environment,
he tried to make sure he had a good relationship with the union
steward, because it was helpful to get
the perspective of someone who was committed to the side of
the employee.
The biggest ethical dilemma Rob faced was one that he actually
couldn’t talk to me about. He disagreed
with what he was being asked to do, and when it was clear that
he had no other choice in the matter, he
quit his job rather than do something he felt wasn’t right. He
accepted a severance package in exchange
for signing a nondisclosure agreement, which is why he can’t
share any details . . . but it was clear from
our conversation that he feels he made the right choice. That
particular ethical dilemma makes it clear
how challenging managerial decision-making can sometimes be.
1. If you were faced with an ethical dilemma, from whom would
you seek advice?
2. Describe some decisions that might be good for an

organization’s profitability in the short-term, but
bad for the organization in the long-term.
3. What factors would you take into consideration if you were
thinking about leaving your job rather
than do something unethical?
1. Explain what satisficing is and when it may be a good
strategy.
2. What are the six steps in the decision-making process?
3. What are the four steps involved in ethical decision-making?
themselves). But with a hiring committee made up of an equal
number of men and women, the bias should be
cancelled out, resulting in more applicants being hired based on
their qualifications rather than their physical
attributes.
Having more people involved in decision-making is also
beneficial because each individual brings unique
information or knowledge to the group, as well as different
perspectives on the problem. Additionally, having
the participation of multiple people will often lead to more
options being generated and to greater intellectual
stimulation as group members discuss the available options.
Brainstorming is a process of generating as
many solutions or options as possible and is a popular technique
associated with group decision-making.

All of these factors can lead to superior outcomes when groups
are involved in decision-making. Furthermore,
involving people who will be affected by a decision in the
decision-making process will allow those individuals
to have a greater understanding of the issues or problems and a
greater commitment to the solutions.
Disadvantages of Group Decisions
Group decision-making is not without challenges. Some groups
get bogged down by conflict, while others go
to the opposite extreme and push for agreement at the expense
of quality discussions. Groupthink occurs
when group members choose not to voice their concerns or
objections because they would rather keep the
peace and not annoy or antagonize others. Sometimes
groupthink occurs because the group has a positive
team spirit and camaraderie, and individual group members
don’t want that to change by introducing conflict.
It can also occur because past successes have made the team
complacent.
Often, one individual in the group has more power or exerts
more influence than others and discourages
those with differing opinions from speaking up (suppression of
dissent) to ensure that only their own ideas
are implemented. If members of the group are not really
contributing their ideas and perspectives, however,
then the group is not getting the benefits of group decision-
making.
How to Form a Quality Group
Effective managers will try to ensure quality group decision-
making by forming groups with diverse members
so that a variety of perspectives will contribute to the process.
They will also encourage everyone to speak up
and voice their opinions and thoughts prior to the group

reaching a decision. Sometimes groups will also
assign a member to play the devil’s advocate in order to reduce
groupthink. The devil’s advocate
intentionally takes on the role of critic. Their job is to point out
flawed logic, to challenge the group’s
evaluations of various alternatives, and to identify weaknesses
in proposed solutions. This pushes the other
group members to think more deeply about the advantages and
disadvantages of proposed solutions before
reaching a decision and implementing it.
Exhibit 6.7 The Devils Advocate At a meeting of McDonald’s
franchise owners, attorney Brian Schnell was placed in the
audience as a devil’s
advocate and often would strongly disagree with franchisee
attorney Bob Zarco that the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB)’s joint-
employer ruling on McDonald’s is a boon for franchisees. He
would raise his hand often and vehemently, which Zarco had
asked him to do
before the meeting. In that way, the franchisors’ articulate
arguments could be heard by all franchisee leaders in
attendance, and rebutted.
Credit (Mr. Blue MauMau/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC
BY 2.0))
The methods we’ve just described can all help ensure that
groups reach good decisions, but what can a
manager do when there is too much conflict within a group? In

this situation, managers need to help group
members reduce conflict by finding some common ground—
areas in which they can agree, such as common
interests, values, beliefs, experiences, or goals. Keeping a group
focused on a common goal can be a very
worthwhile tactic to keep group members working with rather
than against one another. Table 6.3
summarizes the techniques to improve group decision-making.
Summary of Techniques That May Improve Group Decision-
Making
Type of
Decision
Technique Benefit
Group
decisions
Have diverse members in the
group.
Improves quality: generates more options, reduces
bias
Assign a devil’s advocate. Improves quality: reduces groupthink
Summary of Techniques That May Improve Group Decision-

Making
Type of
Decision
Technique Benefit
Encourage everyone to speak up
and contribute.
Improves quality: generates more options, prevents
suppression of dissent
Help group members find
common ground.
Improves quality: reduces personality conflict
Conclusion
Decision-making is a crucial daily activity for managers.
Decisions range from small and simple, with
straightforward answers, to big and complex, with little clarity
about what the best choice will be. Being an
effective manager requires learning how to successfully
navigate all kinds of decisions. Expertise, which
develops gradually through learning and experience, generally
improves managerial decision-making, but
managers rarely rely solely on their own expertise. They also
conduct research and collect information from
others; they pay attention to their own biases and to ethical
implications; and they think critically about the
information that they have received to make decisions that will
benefit the organization and its stakeholders.

1. Explain why group decision-making can be more effective
than individual decision-making.
2. What are some things that can prevent groups from making
good decisions?
3. As a manager, what can you do to enhance the quality of
group decision-making?
Bounded rationality
Brainstorming
Confirmation bias
Creativity
Critical thinking
Decision-making
Devil’s advocate
Emotional intelligence
Escalation of commitment
Evidence-based decision-making
Groupthink
Heuristics

Nonprogrammed decisions
Process conflict
Programmed decisions
Reactive system
Reflective system
Relationship conflict
Satisficing
Stakeholders
Suppression of dissent
Key Terms
The concept that when we make decisions, we cannot be fully
rational because we
don’t have all the possible information or the cognitive
processing ability to make fully informed,
completely rational decisions.
A process of generating as many ideas or alternatives as
possible, often in groups.
The tendency to pay attention to information that confirms our
existing beliefs and to
ignore or discount information that conflicts with our existing
beliefs.
The generation of new or original ideas.
A disciplined process of evaluating the quality of information,
especially by identifying
logical fallacies in arguments.
The action or process of thinking through possible options and

selecting one.
A group member who intentionally takes on the role of being
critical of the group’s ideas in
order to discourage groupthink and encourage deep thought and
discussion about issues prior to making
decisions.
The ability to understand and manage emotions in oneself and in
others.
The tendency of decision makers to remain committed to poor
decision, even
when doing so leads to increasingly negative outcomes.
A process of collecting the best available evidence prior to
making a
decision.
The tendency of a group to reach agreement very quickly and
without substantive discussion.
Mental shortcuts that allow a decision maker to reach a good
decision quickly. They are strategies
that develop based on prior experience.
Decisions that are novel and not based on well-defined or
known criteria.
Conflict about the best way to do something; conflict that is
task-oriented and constructive,
and not focused on the individuals involved.
Decisions that are repeated over time and for which an existi ng
set of rules can be
developed.
System of decision-making in the brain that is quick and

intuitive.
System of decision-making in the brain that is logical,
analytical, and methodical.
Conflict between individuals that is based on personal (or
personality) differences; this
type of conflict tends to be destructive rather than constructive.
Choosing the first acceptable solution to minimize time spent on
a decision.
Individuals or groups who are impacted by the organization.
These include owners,
employees, customers, suppliers, and members of the
community in which the organization is located.
When a group member exerts his or her power to prevent others
from voicing their
thoughts or opinions.
6.1 Overview of Managerial Decision-Making
1. What are the basic characteristics of managerial decision-
making?
Managers are constantly making decisions, and those decisions
often have significant impacts and
implications for both the organization and its stakeholders.
Managerial decision-making is often characterized
by complexity, incomplete information, and time constraints,
and there is rarely one right answer. Sometimes

there are multiple good options (or multiple bad options), and
the manager must try to decide which will
generate the most positive outcomes (or the fewest negative
outcomes). Managers must weigh the possible
consequences of each decision and recognize that there are
often multiple stakeholders with conflicting needs
and preferences so that it often will be impossible to satisfy
everyone. Finally, managerial decision-making can
sometimes have ethical implications, and these should be
contemplated before reaching a final decision.
Reflective and Reactive Systems
2. What are the two systems of decision-making in the brain?
The brain processes information to make decisions using one of
two systems: either the logical, rational
(reflective) system or the quick, reactive system. The reflective
system is better for significant and important
decisions; these generally should not be rushed. However, the
reactive system can be lifesaving when time is
of the essence, and it can be much more efficient when based on
developed experience and expertise.
6.3 Programmed and Nonprogrammed Decisions
3. What is the difference between programmed and
Programmed decisions are those that are based on criteria that
are well understood, while nonprogrammed
decisions are novel and lack clear guidelines for reaching a
solution. Managers can establish rules and
guidelines for programmed decisions based on known fact,
which enables them to reach decisions quickly.
Nonprogrammed decisions require more time to resolve; the

decision maker may need to conduct research,
collect additional information, gather opinions and ideas from
other people, and so on.
6.4 Barriers to Effective Decision-Making
4. What barriers exist that make effective decision-making
difficult?
There are numerous barriers to effective decision-making.
Managers are limited in their ability to collect
comprehensive information, and they are limited in their ability
to cognitively process all the information that
is available. Managers cannot always know all the possible
outcomes of all the possible options, and they often
face time constraints that limit their ability to collect all the
information that they would like to have. In
addition, managers, like all humans, have biases that influence
their decision-making, and that can make it
difficult for them to make good decisions. One of the most
common biases that can confound decision-making
is confirmation bias, the tendency for a person to pay attention
to information that confirms her existing
beliefs and ignore information that conflicts with these existing
beliefs. Finally, conflict between individuals in
organizations can make it challenging to reach a good decision.
6.5 Improving the Quality of Decision-Making
5. How can a manager improve the quality of her individual
decision-making?
Managers tend to get better at decision-making with time and
experience, which helps them build expertise.
Heuristics and satisficing can also be useful techniques for
making programmed decisions quickly. For
nonprogrammed decisions, a manager can improve the quality of
her decision-making by utilizing a variety of

other techniques. Managers should also be careful to not skip
steps in the decision-making process, to involve
others in the process at various points, and to be creative in
generating alternatives. They should also engage
in evidence-based decision-making: doing research and
collecting data and information on which to base the
decision. Effective managers also think critically about the
quality of the evidence that they collect, and they
carefully consider long-term outcomes and ethical implications
prior to making a decision.
6.6 Group Decision-Making
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of group
decision-making, and how can a manager improve
Groups can make better decisions than individuals because
group members can contribute more knowledge
and a diversity of perspectives. Groups will tend to generate
more options as well, which can lead to better
solutions. Also, having people involved in making decisions
that will affect them can improve their attitudes
about the decision that is made. However, groups sometimes fail
to generate added value in the decision-
making process as a result of groupthink, conflict, or
suppression of dissent.
Managers can improve the quality of group decision-making in

a number of ways. First, when forming the
group, the manager should ensure that the individual group
members are diverse in terms of knowledge and
perspectives. The manager may also want to assign a devil’s
advocate to discourage groupthink. Managers
should also encourage all group members to contribute their
ideas and opinions, and they should not allow a
single voice to dominate. Finally, they should not allow
personality conflicts to derail group processes.
1. What are some of the factors that enabled to Jen Rubio and
Stephanie Korey to make good decisions
when they established their luggage company, Away?
2. What are the two systems that the brain uses in decision-
making? How are they related to programmed
and nonprogrammed decisions?
3. What is a heuristic, and when would it be appropriate to use a
heuristic for decision-making?
4. What is confirmation bias? Explain how it can be a barrier to
effective decision-making.
5. What is a logical fallacy?
6. What are the two types of conflict? Which one is
constructive, and which is destructive?
7. What are the steps in the decision-making process? Which
ones do people tend to skip or spend
insufficient time on?
8. What can individuals do to improve the quality of their
decision-making?
9. What can groups or group leaders do to improve the quality
of group decision-making?
10. What are the benefits of decision-making in a group, instead

of individually?
1. If you wanted to buy a new car, what research would you do
first to increase the likelihood of making a
good decision? As a manager, do you think you would engage in
more research or less research than that
prior to making big decisions for the organization?
2. Think about a big decision that you have made. What impact
did your emotions have on that decision?
Did they help or hinder your decision-making? Would you make
the same decision again?
3. If you were faced with an ethical dilemma at work, who
would you want to talk to for advice prior to
reaching a decision?
4. Which would be better to involve a group with, a
programmed or a nonprogrammed decision? Why?
5. If you were manager of a group with a lot of personality
conflict, what would you do?
1. Imagine that you are a manager and that two of your
employees are blaming one another for a recent
project not going well. What factors would you consider in
deciding whom to believe? Who else would you
talk to before making a decision? What would you do to try to

reduce the likelihood of this happening
again?
2. You have been asked whether your organization should
expand from selling its products only in North
America to selling its products in Europe as well. What
information would you want to collect? Who would
you want to discuss the idea with before making a decision?
3. You have a colleague who decided the organization should
pursue a new technology. Nine months into
the project of transitioning to the new technology, based on new
information you are convinced that the
new technology is not going to work out as anticipated. In fact,
you expect it to be a colossal failure.
However, when you try to talk to your colleague about the
issue, she won’t listen to your arguments. She
is adamant that this new technology is the correct direction for
your organization. Why do you think she is
so resistant to seeing reason? Given what you learned in this
chapter, what could you do to persuade
her?
4. Your manager has asked you to take the lead on a new and
creative project. She has encouraged you to
create your own team (from existing employees) to work with
you on the project. What factors would you
want to consider in deciding who should join your project team?
What would you want to do as the team
leader to increase the likelihood that the group will be
successful?
5. Identify the logical flaw(s) in this argument:
◦ We want to have effective leaders in this organization.
◦ Taller individuals tend to be perceived as more leader-like.
◦ Men are usually taller than women.

◦ So, we should only hire men to be managers in our
organization.
Vinyl Records Make a Comeback
The music industry has seen a series of innovations that have
improved audio quality—vinyl records sales
were eventually surpassed by compact discs in the 1980s, which
were then eclipsed by digital music in the
early 2000s. Both of the newer technologies boast superior
sound quality to vinyl records. Vinyl should be dead
. . . yet it’s not. Some say this is simply a result of nostalgia—
people love to harken back to older times.
However, some audiophiles say that vinyl records produce a
“warm” sound that can’t be reproduced in any
other format. In addition, a vinyl record is a tangible product
(you can feel it, touch it, and see it when you own
the physical record) and is more attractive, from an aesthetic
perspective, than a CD. It is also a format that
encourages listening to an entire album at once, rather than just
listening to individual tracks, which can
change the listening experience.
Whatever the reasons, vinyl is making an impressive comeback.
Sales growth has been in the double digits for
the last several years (over 50% in 2015 and again in 2016) and
is expected to exceed $5 billion in 2017. Sony,
which hasn’t produced a vinyl record since 1989, recently
announced that it is back in the vinyl business.
One of the biggest challenges to making vinyl records is that
most of the presses are 40+ years old. In the
record-making process, vinyl bits are heated to 170 degrees, and
then a specialized machine exerts 150 tons of
pressure to press the vinyl into the shape of the record. About a

dozen new vinyl record manufacturers have
sprung up in the last decade in the United States. Independent
Record Pressing, a company based in New
Jersey, began producing vinyl records in 2015 using old,
existing presses. Their goal upon starting up was to
produce over a million records a year. Even at that level of
production, though, demand far outstrips the
company’s capacity to produce because of the limited number of
presses available. They could run their
machines nonstop, 24 hours a day, and not catch up with
demand.
The big question is what the future holds for this industry. Will
this just be a passing fad? Will the vinyl record
industry remain a small niche market? Or is this the
renaissance, the rebirth of a product that can withstand
the test of time and alternative technologies? If it’s a rebirth,
then we should see demand continue to grow at
its recent rapid pace . . . and if demand remains strong, then
investing in new presses may well be worthwhile.
If this is just a short-lived nostalgic return to an outdated
media, however, then the large capital investment
required to purchase new presses will never be recouped. Even
with the recent growth, vinyl records still
accounted for only 7% of overall music industry sales in 2015.
That may be enough to get old presses running
again, but so far it hasn’t been enough to promote a lot of
investment in new machines. The cost of a new

press? Almost half a million dollars.
At least one manufacturer is optimistic about the future of
vinyl. GZ Media, based in Czechoslovakia, is
currently the world’s largest producer of vinyl records.
President and owner Zdenek Pelc kept his record
factory going during the lean years when vinyl sales bottomed
out. He admits that the decision was not wholly
logical; he continued in part because of an emotional attachment
to the media. After demand for vinyl records
practically disappeared, Pelc kept just a few of the presses
running to meet the demand that remained. His
intention was to be the last remaining manufacturer of vinyl
records. Pelc’s emotional attachment to vinyl
records seems to have served him well, and it’s a great example
of why basing decisions on pure logic doesn’t
always lead to the best results. Consumers make purchasing
decisions in part based on the emotional appeal
of the product, so it shouldn’t be surprising that consumers also
feel an emotional attachment to vinyl records,
as Pelc did.
When demand for vinyl records was low, Pelc stored the
company’s presses that were no longer in use so that
they could be cannibalized for parts as needed. When sales
began to grow again in 2005, he started pulling old
machines out of storage and even invested in a few new ones.
This has made GZ Media not only the largest
vinyl record producer in the world, but also one of the only ones
with new factory equipment. GZ Media
produces over 20 million vinyl records a year, and Pelc is
excited to continue that trend and to remain a major
manufacturer in what is currently still considered a niche
market.
Critical Thinking Questions

1. Why do you think vinyl records are appealing to customers?
2. Do you think the sales growth will continue to be strong for
vinyl sales? Why or why not?
3. What research would you want to conduct prior to making a
decision to invest in new presses?
Sources: Lee Barron, “Back on record – the reasons behind
vinyl’s unlikely comeback,” The Conversation, April
17, 2015, https://theconversation.com/back-on-record-the-
reasons-behind-vinyls-unlikely-comeback-39964.
Hannah Ellis-Peterson, “Record sales: vinyl hits 25-year high,”
The Guardian, January 3, 2017,
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/03/record-sales-
vinyl-hits-25-year-high-and-outstrips-
streaming. Allan Kozinn, “Weaned on CDs, They’re Reaching
for Vinyl,” The New York Times, June 9, 2013. Rick
Lyman, “Czech company, pressing hits for years on vinyl, finds
it has become one,” The New York Times,
August 6, 2015. Alec Macfarlane and Chie Kobayashi, “Vinyl
comeback: Sony to produce records again after
28-year break,” CNN Money, June 30, 2017,
http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/30/news/sony-music-brings-
back-
vinyl-records/index.html. Kate Rogers, “Why millennials are
buying more vinyl records,” CNBC.com, November
6, 2015. https://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/06/why-millennials-
are-buying-more-vinyl-records.html. Robert Tait,
“In the groove: Czech firm tops list of world’s vinyl record
producers,” The Guardian, August 18, 2016.

Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
Define motivation, and distinguish direction and intensity of
motivation.
Describe a content theory of motivation, and compare and
contrast the main content theories of
motivation: manifest needs theory, learned needs theory,
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG
theory, Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory, and self-
determination theory.
Describe the process theories of motivation, and compare and
contrast the main process theories of
motivation: operant conditioning theory, equity theory, goal
theory, and expectancy theory.
Describe the modern advancements in the study of human
motivation.
Exhibit 7.1 (Credit: mohamed_hassan/ Pixabay/ (CC BY 0))
Bridget Anderson
Bridget Anderson thought life would be perfect out in the “real
world.” After earning her degree in
computer science, she landed a well-paying job as a programmer
for a large nonprofit organization
whose mission she strongly believed in. And—initially—she

was happy with her job.
Lately however, Bridget gets a sick feeling in her stomach every
morning when her alarm goes off. Why
this feeling of misery? After all, she’s working in her chosen
field in an environment that matches her
values. What else could she want? She’s more puzzled than
anyone.
It’s the end of her second year with the organization, and
Bridget apprehensively schedules her annual
1.
2.
3.
4.
7
Work Motivation for Performance
performance evaluation. She knows she’s a competent
programmer, but she also knows that lately she’s
been motivated to do only the minimum required to get by. Her
heart is just not in her work with this
organization. Not exactly how she thought things would turn
out, that’s for sure.
Bridget’s manager Kyle Jacobs surprises her when he begins the
evaluation by inquiring about her

professional goals. She admits that she hasn’t thought much
about her future. Kyle asks if she’s content
in her current position and if she feels that anything is missing.
Suddenly, Bridget realizes that she does
want more professionally.
Question: Are Bridget’s motivational problems intrinsic or
extrinsic? Which of her needs are currently
not being met? What steps should she and her manager take to
improve her motivation and ultimately
her performance?
Outcome: Once Bridget admits that she’s unhappy with her
position as a computer programmer, she’s
ready to explore other possibilities. She and Kyle brainstorm for
tasks that will motivate her and bring
her greater job satisfaction. Bridget tells Kyle that while she
enjoys programming, she feels isolated and
misses interacting with other groups in the organization. She
also realizes that once she had mastered
the initial learning curve, she felt bored. Bridget is ready for a
challenge.
Kyle recommends that Bridget move to an information systems
team as their technical representative.
The team can use Bridget’s knowledge of programming, and
Bridget will be able to collaborate more
frequently with others in the organization.
Bridget and Kyle set specific goals to satisfy her needs to
achieve and to work collaboratively. One of
Bridget’s goals is to take graduate classes in management and
information systems. She hopes that this
will lead to an MBA and, eventually, to a position as a team
leader. Suddenly the prospect of going to
work doesn’t seem so grim—and lately, Bridget’s been beating

her alarm!
If you’ve ever worked with a group of people, and we all have,
you have no doubt noticed differences in
their performance. Researchers have pondered these differences
for many years. Indeed, John B.
Watson first studied this issue in the early 1900s. Performance
is, of course, an extremely important
issue to employers because organizations with high-performing
employees will almost always be more
effective.
To better understand why people perform at different levels,
researchers consider the major
determinants of performance: ability, effort (motivation),
accurate role perceptions, and environmental
factors (see Exhibit 7.2). Each performance determinant is
important, and a deficit in one can seriously
affect the others. People who don’t understand what is expected
of them will be constrained by their
own inaccurate role perceptions, even if they have strong
abilities and motivation and the necessary
resources to perform their job. None of the performance
determinants can compensate for a deficiency
in any of the other determinants. Thus, a manager cannot
compensate for an employee’s lack of skills
and ability by strengthening their motivation.
200 Chapter 7 Work Motivation for Performance
7.1 Motivation: Direction and Intensity

1. Define motivation and distinguish direction and intensity of
motivation.
Ability refers to the knowledge, skills, and receptiveness to
learning that a person brings to a task or job.
Knowledge is what a person knows. Skill is their capacity to
perform some particular activity (like welding or
accounting), including knowing what is expected of them
(called accurate role perceptions). Receptiveness to
learning is a function of how quickly a person acquires new
knowledge. Some people have more ability than
others, and high-ability people generally perform better than
low-ability people (although we will see that this
is not always the case).1
Accurate role perceptions refer to how well an individual
understands their organizational role. This includes
the goals (outcomes) the person is expected to achieve and the
process by which the goals will be achieved.
An employee who has accurate role perceptions knows both
their expected outcomes and how to go about
making those outcomes a reality. Incomplete or inaccurate role
perceptions limit employees’ capacity to meet
expectations, regardless of their abilities and motivation.
The performance environment refers to those factors that impact
employees’ performance but are
essentially out of their control. Many environmental factors
influence performance. Some factors facilitate
performance, while others constrain it. A word processor who
has to work with a defective personal computer
is certainly not going to perform at peak levels, regardless of
ability or desire. Students who are working full
time and carrying a full load of classes may not do as well on an
exam as they would if they could cut back on

their work hours, despite the fact that they have high ability and
high motivation.
Motivation is the fourth major factor that determines whether a
person will perform a task well. Motivation is
a force within or outside of the body that energizes, directs, and
sustains human behavior. Within the body,
examples might be needs, personal values, and goals, while an
incentive might be seen as a force outside of
the body. The word stems from its Latin root movere, which
means “to move.” Generally speaking, motivation
arises as a consequence of a person’s desire to (1) fulfill unmet
needs or (2) resolve conflicting thoughts that
produce anxiety (an unpleasant experience). There are many
ways in which we describe and categorize human
needs, as we will see later in this chapter. Certain needs are
fundamental to our existence, like the need for
food and water. When we are hungry, we are energized to
satisfy that need by securing and ingesting food.
Exhibit 7.2 Determinants of Performance (Attribution:
Chapter 7 Work Motivation for Performance 201
Our other needs operate in a similar manner. When a need is
unfulfilled, we are motivated to engage in
behaviors that will satisfy it. The same is true for situations in
which we experience conflicting thoughts. When
we find ourselves in situations inconsistent with our beliefs,
values, or expectations, we endeavor to eliminate
the inconsistency. We either change the situation, or we change
our perception of it. In both cases, motivation
arises out of our interaction with and perception of a particular

situation. We perceive the situation as
satisfying our needs, or not. Motivation is thus a result of our
interacting with situations to satisfy unmet
needs or to resolve cognitive dissonance.
Exhibit 7.3 Tom Brady At the University of Michigan, Tom
Brady was always a backup to high-potential quarterbacks and
was a sixth-round
draft pick after his college career. He commented, “A lot of
people don’t believe in you. It’s obvious by now, six other
quarterbacks taken and
198 other picks. And I always thought ‘you know what, once I
get my shot, I’m gonna be ready. I’m gonna really take
advantage of that.’”
Rather than give up, he hired a sports psychologist to help him
deal with constant frustrations. Brady would eventually become
an elite
quarterback and is now considered one of the greatest players
ever. “I guess in a sense I’ve always had a chip on my shoulder.
If you were the
199th pick, you were the 199th pick for a reason: because
someone didn’t think you were good enough.” His passion and
motivation helped
him achieve that status. (Credit: Brook Ward/ flickr/ Attribution
2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
Simply stated, work motivation is the amount of effort a person
exerts to achieve a certain level of job
performance. Some people try very hard to perform their jobs
well. They work long hours, even if it interferes
with their family life. Highly motivated people go the “extra
mile.” High scorers on an exam make sure they
know the examination material to the best of their ability, no
matter how much midnight oil they have to burn.
Other students who don’t do as well may just want to get by—
football games and parties are a lot more fun,

after all.
Motivation is of great interest to employers: All employers want
their people to perform to the best of their
abilities. They take great pains to screen applicants to make
sure they have the necessary abilities and
motivation to perform well. They endeavor to supply all the
necessary resources and a good work
environment. Yet motivation remains a difficult factor to
manage. As a result, it receives the most attention
from organizations and researchers alike, who ask the perennial
question “What motivates people to perform
well?”
In this chapter we look at current answers to this question. What
work conditions foster motivation? How can
theories of motivation help us understand the general principles
that guide organizational behavior? Rather
than analyze why a particular student studies hard for a test,
we’ll look at the underlying principles of our
general behavior in a variety of situations (including test
taking). We also discuss the major theories of
motivation, along with their implications for management and
organizational behavior. By the end of this
chapter you should have a better understanding of why some
people are more motivated than others.
Successful employees know what they want to achieve
(direction), and they persist until they achieve their
goals (intensity).

Our discussion thus far implies that motivation is a matter of
effort. This is only partially true. Motivation has
two major components: direction and intensity. Direction is
what a person wants to achieve, what they intend
to do. It implies a target that motivated people try to “hit.” That
target may be to do well on a test. Or it may
be to perform better than anyone else in a work group. Intensity
is how hard people try to achieve their
targets. Intensity is what we think of as effort. It represents the
energy we expend to accomplish something. If
our efforts are getting nowhere, will we try different strategies
to succeed? (High-intensity-motivated people
are persistent!)
It is important to distinguish the direction and intensity aspects
of motivation. If either is lacking, performance
will suffer. A person who knows what they want to accomplish
(direction) but doesn’t exert much effort
(intensity) will not succeed. (Scoring 100 percent on an exam—
your target—won’t happen unless you study!)
Conversely, people who don’t have a direction (what they want
to accomplish) probably won’t succeed either.
(At some point you have to decide on a major if you want to
graduate, even if you do have straight As.)
Employees’ targets don’t always match with what their
employers want. Absenteeism (some employees call
this “calling in well”) is a major example.2 Pursuing your
favorite hobby (your target) on a workday (your
employer’s target) is a conflict in direction; below, we’ll
examine some theories about why this conflict occurs.
There is another reason why employees’ targets are sometimes
contrary to their employers’—sometimes
employers do not ensure that employees understand what the

employer wants. Employees can have great
intensity but poor direction. It is management’s job to provide
direction: Should we stress quality as well as
quantity? Work independently or as a team? Meet deadlines at
the expense of costs? Employees flounder
without direction. Clarifying direction results in accurate role
perceptions, the behaviors employees think they
are expected to perform as members of an organization.
Employees with accurate role perceptions
understand their purpose in the organization and how the
performance of their job duties contributes to
organizational objectives. Some motivation theorists assume
that employees know the correct direction for
their jobs. Others do not. These differences are highlighted in
the discussion of motivation theories below.
At this point, as we begin our discussion of the various
motivation theories, it is reasonable to ask “Why isn’t
there just one motivation theory?” The answer is that the
different theories are driven by different
philosophies of motivation. Some theorists assume that humans
are propelled more by needs and instincts
than by reasoned actions. Their content motivation theories
focus on the content of what motivates people.
Other theorists focus on the process by which people are
motivated. Process motivation theories address
how people become motivated—that is, how people perceive
and think about a situation. Content and process
theories endeavor to predict motivation in a variety of
situations. However, none of these theories can predict
what will motivate an individual in a given situation 100

percent of the time. Given the complexity of human
behavior, a “grand theory” of motivation will probably never be
developed.
A second reasonable question at this point is “Which theory is
best?” If that question could be easily
answered, this chapter would be quite short. The simple answer
is that there is no “one best theory.” All have
been supported by organizational behavior research. All have
strengths and weaknesses. However,
understanding something about each theory is a major step
toward effective management practices.
7.2 Content Theories of Motivation
2. Describe a content theory of motivation.
The theories presented in this section focus on the importance
of human needs. A common thread through all
of them is that people have a variety of needs. A need is a
human condition that becomes “energized” when
people feel deficient in some respect. When we are hungry, for
example, our need for food has been
energized. Two features of needs are key to understanding
motivation. First, when a need has been energized,
we are motivated to satisfy it. We strive to make the need
disappear. Hedonism, one of the first motivation
theories, assumes that people are motivated to satisfy mainly
their own needs (seek pleasure, avoid pain).
Long since displaced by more refined theories, hedonism
clarifies the idea that needs provide direction for
motivation. Second, once we have satisfied a need, it ceases to
motivate us. When we’ve eaten to satiation, we
are no longer motivated to eat. Other needs take over and we
endeavor to satisfy them. A manifest need is
whatever need is motivating us at a given time. Manifest needs

dominate our other needs.
Instincts are our natural, fundamental needs, basic to our
survival. Our needs for food and water are
instinctive. Many needs are learned. We are not born with a
high (or low) need for achievement—we learn to
need success (or failure). The distinction between instinctive
and learned needs sometimes blurs; for example,
is our need to socialize with other people instinctive or learned?
Manifest Needs Theory
One major problem with the need approach to motivation is that
we can make up a need for every human
behavior. Do we “need” to talk or be silent? The possibilities
are endless. In fact, around the 1920s, some 6,000
human needs had been identified by behavioral scientists!
Henry A. Murray recognized this problem and condensed the
list into a few instinctive and learned needs.3
Instincts, which Murray called primary needs, include
physiological needs for food, water, sex (procreation),
urination, and so on. Learned needs, which Murray called
secondary needs, are learned throughout one’s life
and are basically psychological in nature. They include such
needs as the need for achievement, for love, and
for affiliation (see Table 7.1).4
1. Explain the two drivers of motivation: direction and
intensity.
2. What are the differences between content and process
theories of motivation?
3. Will there ever be a grand theory of motivation?

Sample Items from Murray’s List of Needs
Social Motive Brief Definition
Abasement To submit passively to external force. To accept
injury, blame, criticism, punishment. To
surrender.
Achievement To accomplish something difficult. To master,
manipulate, or organize physical objects,
human beings, or ideas.
Affiliation To draw near and enjoyably cooperate or reciprocate
with an allied other (an other who
resembles the subject or who likes the subject). To please and
win affection of a coveted
object. To adhere and remain loyal to a friend.
Aggression To overcome opposition forcefully. To fight. To
revenge an injury. To attack, injure, or kill
another. To oppose forcefully or punish another.
Autonomy To get free, shake off restraint, break out of
confinement.
Counteraction To master or make up for a failure by restriving.
Defendance To defend the self against assault, criticism, and
blame. To conceal or justify a misdeed,

failure, or humiliation. To vindicate the ego.
Deference To admire and support a superior. To praise, honor,
or eulogize.
Dominance To control one’s human environment. To influence
or direct the behavior of others by
suggestion, seduction, persuasion, or command.
Exhibition To make an impression. To be seen and heard. To
excite, amaze, fascinate, entertain,
shock, intrigue, amuse, or entice others.
Harm
avoidance
To avoid pain, physical injury, illness, and death. To escape
from a dangerous situation.
To take precautionary measures.
Infavoidance To avoid humiliation. To quit embarrassing
situations or to avoid conditions that may
lead to belittlement or the scorn or indifference of others.
Nurturance To give sympathy and gratify the needs of a helpless
object: an infant or any object that
is weak, disabled, tired, inexperienced, infirm, defeated,
humiliated, lonely, dejected,
sick, or mentally confused. To assist an object in danger. To
feed, help, support, console,
protect, comfort, nurse, heal.
Order To put things in order. To achieve cleanliness,
arrangement, organization, balance,
neatness, tidiness, and precision.

Table 7.1
Sample Items from Murray’s List of Needs
Social Motive Brief Definition
Play To act for “fun” without further purpose. To like to laugh
and make jokes. To seek
enjoyable relaxation from stress.
Rejection To separate oneself from a negatively valued object.
To exclude, abandon, expel, or
remain indifferent to an inferior object. To snub or jilt an
object.
Sentience To seek and enjoy sensuous impressions.
Sex To form and further an erotic relationship. To have sexual
intercourse.
Succorance To have one’s needs gratified by the sympathetic
aid of an allied object.
Understanding To ask or answer general questions. To be
interested in theory. To speculate, formulate,
analyze, and generalize.
Source: Adapted from C. S. Hall and G. Lindzey, Theories of
Personality. Sample items from Murray’s List of
Needs. Copyright 1957 by John Wiley & Sons, New York.
Table 7.1

Murray’s main premise was that people have a variety of needs,
but only a few are expressed at a given time.
When a person is behaving in a way that satisfies some need,
Murray called the need manifest. Manifest
needs theory assumes that human behavior is driven by the
desire to satisfy needs. Lucretia’s chattiness
probably indicates her need for affiliation. This is a manifest
need. But what if Lucretia also has a need to
dominate others? Could we detect that need from her current
behavior? If not, Murray calls this a latent need.
A latent need cannot be inferred from a person’s behavior at a
given time, yet the person may still possess
that need. The person may not have had the opportunity to
express the need. Or she may not be in the proper
environment to solicit behaviors to satisfy the need. Lucretia’s
need to dominate may not be motivating her
current behavior because she is with friends instead of
coworkers.
Manifest needs theory laid the groundwork for later theories,
most notably McClelland’s learned needs theory,
that have greatly influenced the study of organizational
behavior. The major implication for management is
that some employee needs are latent. Managers often assume
that employees do not have certain needs
because the employees never try to satisfy them at work. Such
needs may exist (latent needs); the work
environment is simply not conducive to their manifestation
(manifest needs). A reclusive accountant may not
have been given the opportunity to demonstrate his need for
achievement because he never received
challenging assignments.
Learned Needs Theory
David C. McClelland and his associates (especially John W.

Atkinson) built on the work of Murray for over 50
years. Murray studied many different needs, but very few in any
detail. McClelland’s research differs from
Murray’s in that McClelland studied three needs in depth: the
need for achievement, the need for affiliation,
and the need for power (often abbreviated, in turn, as nAch,
nAff, and nPow).5 McClelland believes that these
three needs are learned, primarily in childhood. But he also
believes that each need can be taught, especially
nAch. McClelland’s research is important because much of
current thinking about organizational behavior is
based on it.
Need for Achievement
The need for achievement (nAch) is how much people are
motivated to excel at the tasks they are
performing, especially tasks that are difficult. Of the three
needs studied by McClelland, nAch has the greatest
impact. The need for achievement varies in intensity across
individuals. This makes nAch a personality trait as
well as a statement about motivation. When nAch is being
expressed, making it a manifest need, people try
hard to succeed at whatever task they’re doing. We say these
people have a high achievement motive. A
motive is a source of motivation; it is the need that a person is
attempting to satisfy. Achievement needs
become manifest when individuals experience certain types of

situations.
To better understand the nAch motive, it’s helpful to describe
high-nAch people. You probably know a few of
them. They’re constantly trying to accomplish something. One
of your authors has a father-in-law who would
much rather spend his weekends digging holes (for various
home projects) than going fishing. Why? Because
when he digs a hole, he gets results. In contrast, he can exert a
lot of effort and still not catch a fish. A lot of
fishing, no fish, and no results equal failure!
McClelland describes three major characteristics of high-nAch
people:
1. They feel personally responsible for completing whatever
tasks they are assigned. They accept credit for
success and blame for failure.
2. They like situations where the probability of success is
moderate. High-nAch people are not motivated by
tasks that are too easy or extremely difficult. Instead, they
prefer situations where the outcome is
uncertain, but in which they believe they can succeed if they
exert enough effort. They avoid both simple
and impossible situations.
3. They have very strong desires for feedback about how well
they are doing. They actively seek out
performance feedback. It doesn’t matter whether the
information implies success or failure. They want to
know whether they have achieved or not. They constantly ask
how they are doing, sometimes to the point
of being a nuisance.
Why is nAch important to organizational behavior? The answer

is, the success of many organizations is
dependent on the nAch levels of their employees.6 This is
especially true for jobs that require self-motivation
and managing others. Employees who continuously have to be
told how to do their jobs require an overly
large management team, and too many layers of management
spell trouble in the current marketplace.
Today’s flexible, cost-conscious organizations have no room for
top-heavy structures; their high-nAch
employees perform their jobs well with minimal supervision.
Many organizations manage the achievement needs of their
employees poorly. A common perception about
people who perform unskilled jobs is that they are unmotivated
and content doing what they are doing. But, if
they have achievement needs, the job itself creates little
motivation to perform. It is too easy. There are not
enough workers who feel personal satisfaction for having the
cleanest floors in a building. Designing jobs that
are neither too challenging nor too boring is key to managing
motivation. Job enrichment is one effective
strategy; this frequently entails training and rotating employees
through different jobs, or adding new
challenges.
Exhibit 7.4 New York Metro workers carrying a sign The New
York City Metropolitan Transit Authority undertook a new
approach to how
they perform critical inspection and maintena nce of subway
components that are necessary to providing reliable service.
Rather than schedule
these inspections during regular hours, they consulted with the

maintenance workers, who suggested doing the inspections
while sections of
the subway were closed to trains for seven consecutive hours.
This process was adopted and provided a safer and more
efficient way to
maintain and clean New York City's sprawling subway. With no
trains running, MTA employees are able to inspect signals,
replace rails and
crossties, scrape track floors, clean stations, and paint areas that
are not reachable during normal train operation. Workers also
took the
opportunity to clean lighting fixtures, change bulbs, and repair
platform edges while performing high-intensity station cleaning.
(Credit: Patrick
Cashin/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
Need for Affiliation
This need is the second of McClelland’s learned needs. The
need for affiliation (nAff) reflects a desire to
establish and maintain warm and friendly relationships with
other people. As with nAch, nAff varies in intensity
across individuals. As you would expect, high-nAff people are
very sociable. They’re more likely to go bowling
with friends after work than to go home and watch television.
Other people have lower affiliation needs. This
doesn’t mean that they avoid other people, or that they dislike
others. They simply don’t exert as much effort
in this area as high-nAff people do.
The nAff has important implications for organizational
behavior. High-nAff people like to be around other
people, including other people at work. As a result, they
perform better in jobs that require teamwork.
Maintaining good relationships with their coworkers is
important to them, so they go to great lengths to make

the work group succeed because they fear rejection. So, high-
nAff employees will be especially motivated to
perform well if others depend on them. In contrast, if high-nAff
people perform jobs in isolation from other
people, they will be less motivated to perform well. Performing
well on this job won’t satisfy their need to be
around other people.
Effective managers carefully assess the degree to which people
have high or low nAff. Employees high in nAff
should be placed in jobs that require or allow interactions with
other employees. Jobs that are best performed
alone are more appropriate for low-nAff employees, who are
less likely to be frustrated.
Need for Power
The third of McClelland’s learned needs, the need for power
(nPow), is the need to control things, especially
other people. It reflects a motivation to influence and be
responsible for other people. An employee who is
often talkative, gives orders, and argues a lot is motivated by
the need for power over others.
Employees with high nPow can be beneficial to organizations.
High-nPow people do have effective employee
behaviors, but at times they’re disruptive. A high-nPow person
may try to convince others to do things that are
detrimental to the organization. So, when is this need good, and

when is it bad? Again, there are no easy
answers. McClelland calls this the “two faces of power.”7 A
personal power seeker endeavors to control others
mostly for the sake of dominating them. They want others to
respond to their wishes whether or not it is good
for the organization. They “build empires,” and they protect
them.
McClelland’s other power seeker is the social power seeker. A
high social power seeker satisfies needs for
power by influencing others, like the personal power seeker.
They differ in that they feel best when they have
influenced a work group to achieve the group’s goals, and not
some personal agenda. High social power
seekers are concerned with goals that a work group has set for
itself, and they are motivated to influence
others to achieve the goal. This need is oriented toward
fulfilling responsibilities to the employer, not to the
self.
McClelland has argued that the high need for social power is the
most important motivator for successful
managers. Successful managers tend to be high in this type of
nPow. High need for achievement can also be
important, but it sometimes results in too much concern for
personal success and not enough for the
employer’s success. The need for affiliation contributes to
managerial success only in those situations where
the maintenance of warm group relations is as important as
getting others to work toward group goals.
The implication of McClelland’s research is that organizations
should try to place people with high needs for
social power in managerial jobs. It is critical, however, that
those managerial jobs allow the employee to satisfy
the nPow through social power acquisition. Otherwise, a

manager high in nPow may satisfy this need through
acquisition of personal power, to the detriment of the
organization.
Corporate Social Responsibility as a Motivating Force
Whatever their perspective, most people have a cause that they
are passionate about. Bitcoin or net
neutrality, sea levels or factory farming—social causes bind us
to a larger context or assume a higher
purpose for living better.
So what motivates employees to give their all, work creatively,
and be fully engaged? According to CB
Bhattacharya, the Pietro Ferrero Chair in Sustainability at
ESMT European School of Management and
Technology in Berlin, Germany, employment engagement, or
how positive employees feel about their
current job, was at an all-time low globally in 2016: 13 percent.
But not all companies battle such low
engagement rates. Unilever employees more than 170,000
workers globally and has an employ
engagement level around 80 percent. How? Bhattacharya credits
the success of Unilever, and other
companies with similar engagement levels, to an emphasis on a
“sustainable business model.” He
outlines eight steps that companies take to move sustainability
and social responsibility from buzzwords
to a company mission capable of motivating employees

(Knowledge @ Wharton 2016).
According to Bhattacharya, a company needs to first define
what it does and its long-term purpose, and
then reconcile its sustainability goals with its economic goals.
With its purpose and goals defined, it can
then educate the workforce on sustainable methods to create
knowledge and competence. Champions
for the effort must be found throughout the organization, not
just at the top. Competition should be
encouraged among employees to find and embrace new goals.
Sustainability should be visible both
within and outside the company. Sustainability should be tied to
a higher purpose and foster a sense of
unity not simply among employees, but even with competition
at a societal level (Knowledge @ Wharton
2016).
Other companies have made social responsibility an everyday
part of what they do. Launched in 2013,
Bombas is the brain child of Randy Goldberg and David Heath.
Goldberg and Heath discovered that
socks are the most-requested clothing at homeless shelters. In
response, the two entrepreneurs
launched a line of socks that not only “reinvents” the sock (they
claim), but also helps those in need. For
each pair of socks purchased, the company donates a pair of
socks to someone in need (Mulvey 2017).
According to the company website, “Bombas exists to help
solve this problem, to support the homeless
community, and to bring awareness to an under-publicized
problem in the United States” (n.p.).
Although the New York–based company is still growing, as of
October 2017 Bombas had donated more
than four million pairs of socks (Bombas 2017).

In 2016, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) launched a pilot
program called Jump in which employees
participated in challenges on ways to save water and electricity,
as well as other sustainability issues. At
the end of the pilot, 95 percent of the employees reported that
they felt the program had contributed to
employee engagement, team building, and environmental
stability. Given the success of the program, in
2017 it was expanded to all RBS sites and a smartphone app was
added to help employees participate in
the challenges (Barton 2017).
Placing a company in a larger context and adding a second,
higher purpose than the established
company goals motivates employees to police the company
itself to be a better global citizen. Companies
benefit from reduced waste and increased employee
engagement. Many companies are successfully
motivating their staff, and working toward more sustainable
practices, while improving lives directly.
Sources:
Barton, Tynan. 2017. “RBS boosts employee motivation and
engagement through its CSR approach.”
employee benefits.
https://www.employeebenefits.co.uk/issues/april-2017/rbs-
boosts-employee-
motivation-engagement-csr-approach/
Bombas. 2017. “Giving Back.”
https://bombas.com/pages/giving-back
Knowledge @ Wharton. 2016. “How Companies Can Tap
Sustainability to Motivate Staff.”
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/how-companies-tap-

sustainability-to-motivate-staff/
Mulvey, Kelsey. 2017. “This company spent two years
perfecting gym socks, and it paid off.” Business
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Any discussion of needs that motivate performance would be
incomplete without considering Abraham
Maslow.8 Thousands of managers in the 1960s were exposed to
Maslow’s theory through the popular writings
of Douglas McGregor.9 Today, many of them still talk about
employee motivation in terms of Maslow’s theory.
Maslow was a psychologist who, based on his early research
with primates (monkeys), observations of
patients, and discussions with employees in organizations,
theorized that human needs are arranged
hierarchically. That is, before one type of need can manifest
itself, other needs must be satisfied. For example,
our need for water takes precedence over our need for social
interaction (this is also called prepotency). We will
always satisfy our need for water before we satisfy our social
needs; water needs have prepotency over social
needs. Maslow’s theory differs from others that preceded it
because of this hierarchical, prepotency concept.
Maslow went on to propose five basic types of human needs.
This is in contrast to the thousands of needs that
earlier researchers had identified, and also fewer than Murray

identified in his theory. Maslow condensed
human needs into a manageable set. Those five human needs, in
the order of prepotency in which they direct
human behavior, are:
1. Physiological and survival needs. These are the most basic of
human needs, and include the needs for
water, food, sex, sleep, activity, stimulation, and oxygen.
2. Safety and security needs. These needs invoke behaviors that
assure freedom from danger. This set of
needs involves meeting threats to our existence, including
extremes in environmental conditions (heat,
dust, and so on), assault from other humans, tyranny, and
murder. In other words, satisfaction of these
needs prevents fear and anxiety while adding stability and
predictability to life.
3. Social needs. These needs reflect human desires to be the
target of affection and love from others. They
are especially satisfied by the presence of spouses, children,
parents, friends, relatives, and others to
whom we feel close. Feelings of loneliness and rejection are
symptoms that this need has not been
satisfied.
4. Ego and esteem. Esteem needs go beyond social needs. They
reflect our need to be respected by others,
and to have esteem for ourselves. It is one thing to be liked by
others. It is another thing to be respected
for our talents and abilities. Ego and esteem needs have internal
(self) and external (others) focuses. An
internal focus includes desires for achievement, strength,
competence, confidence, and independence. An
external focus includes desires to have prestige, recognition,
appreciation, attention, and respect from

others. Satisfaction of external esteem needs can lead to
satisfaction of internal esteem needs.
5. Self-actualization. Self-actualization needs are the most
difficult to describe. Unlike the other needs, the
need for self-actualization is never completely satisfied. Self-
actualization involves a desire for self-
fulfillment, “to become more and more what one is, to become
everything that one is capable of
becoming.”10 Because people are so different in their strengths
and weaknesses, in capacities and
limitations, the meaning of self-actualization varies greatly.
Satisfying self-actualization needs means
developing all of our special abilities to their fullest degree.
Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/bombas-athletic-sock-
review-2017-1
1. Do you think social responsibility to promote sustainable
practices? Why or why not?
2. Do you think most companies’ CSR programs are essentially
PR gimmicks? Why or why not? Give
examples.
Exhibit 7.5 Seattle protester with sign (Credit: Adrenalin Tim
/flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
Exhibit 7.5 A protester at an anti-war demonstration in Seattle
held up this sign. Where would you place that
on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?

Exhibit 7.6 illustrates Maslow’s proposed hierarchy of needs.
According to his theory, people first direct their
attention to satisfying their lower-order needs. Those are the
needs at the bottom of the pyramid
(physiological, safety, and security). Once those needs have
been satisfied, the next level, social needs, become
energized. Once satisfied, we focus on our ego and esteem
needs. Maslow believed that most people become
fixated at this level. That is, most people spend much of their
lives developing self-esteem and the esteem of
others. But, once those esteem needs are satisfied, Maslow
predicted that self-actualization needs would
dominate. There are no higher levels in the pyramid, because
self-actualization needs can never be fully
satisfied. They represent a continuing process of self-
development and self-improvement that, once satisfied
on one dimension (painting), create motivation to continue on
other dimensions (sculpting). One wonders if
athletes like Tim Tebow are self-actualizing when they
participate in multiple sporting endeavors at the
professional level.
Exhibit 7.6 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Source: Based on A.
H. Maslow. 1943. A theory of human motivation. Psychological
Bulletin
50:370–396.
An overriding principle in this theory is that a person’s
attention (direction) and energy (intensity) will focus on

satisfying the lowest-level need that is not currently satisfied.
Needs can also be satisfied at some point but
become active (dissatisfied) again. Needs must be “maintained”
(we must continue to eat occasionally).
According to Maslow, when lower-level needs are reactivated,
we once again concentrate on that need. That is,
we lose interest in the higher-level needs when lower-order
needs are energized.
The implications of Maslow’s theory for organizational
behavior are as much conceptual as they are practical.
The theory posits that to maximize employee motivation,
employers must try to guide workers to the upper
parts of the hierarchy. That means that the employer should help
employees satisfy lower-order needs like
safety and security and social needs. Once satisfied, employees
will be motivated to build esteem and respect
through their work achievements. Exhibit 7.6 shows how
Maslow’s theory relates to factors that organizations
can influence. For example, by providing adequate pay, safe
working conditions, and cohesive work groups,
employers help employees satisfy their lower-order needs. Once
satisfied, challenging jobs, additional
responsibilities, and prestigious job titles can help employees
satisfy higher-order esteem needs.
Maslow’s theory is still popular among practicing managers.
Organizational behavior researchers, however,
are not as enamored with it because research results don’t
support Maslow’s hierarchical notion. Apparently,
people don’t go through the five levels in a fixed fashion. On
the other hand, there is some evidence that
people satisfy the lower-order needs before they attempt to
satisfy higher-order needs. Refinements of
Maslow’s theory in recent years reflect this more limited
hierarchy.11 The self-assessment below will allow you

to evaluate the strength of your five needs.
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Clayton Alderfer observed that very few attempts had been
made to test Maslow’s full theory. Further, the
evidence accumulated provided only partial support. During the
process of refining and extending Maslow’s
theory, Alderfer provided another need-based theory and a
somewhat more useful perspective on
motivation.12 Alderfer’s ERG theory compresses Maslow’s five
need categories into three: existence,
relatedness, and growth.13 In addition, ERG theory details the
dynamics of an individual’s movement between
the need categories in a somewhat more detailed fashion than
typically characterizes interpretations of
Maslow’s work.
As shown in Exhibit 7.7, the ERG model addresses the same
needs as those identified in Maslow’s work:
Exhibit 7.7 Alderfer’s ERG Theory (Attribution: Copyright Rice
• Existence needs include physiological and material safety
needs. These needs are satisfied by material
conditions and not through interpersonal relations or personal
involvement in the work setting.
• Relatedness needs include all of Maslow’s social needs, plus
social safety and social esteem needs. These
needs are satisfied through the exchange of thoughts and

feelings with other people.
• Growth needs include self-esteem and self-actualization needs.
These needs tend to be satisfied through
one’s full involvement in work and the work setting.
Exhibit 7.8 identifies a number of ways in which organizations
can help their members satisfy these three
needs.
Exhibit 7.8 Satisfying Existence, Relatedness, and Growth
Needs (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under
CC-BY 4.0
license)
Four components—satisfaction progression, frustration,
frustration regression, and aspiration—are key to
understanding Alderfer’s ERG theory. The first of these,
satisfaction progression, is in basic agreement with
Maslow’s process of moving through the needs. As we
increasingly satisfy our existence needs, we direct
energy toward relatedness needs. As these needs are satisfied,
our growth needs become more active. The
second component, frustration, occurs when we attempt but fail
to satisfy a particular need. The resulting
frustration may make satisfying the unme t need even more
important to us—unless we repeatedly fail to
satisfy that need. In this case, Alderfer’s third component,
frustration regression, can cause us to shift our

attention to a previously satisfied, more concrete, and verifiable
need. Lastly, the aspiration component of the
ERG model notes that, by its very nature, growth is intrinsically
satisfying. The more we grow, the more we
want to grow. Therefore, the more we satisfy our growth need,
the more important it becomes and the more
strongly we are motivated to satisfy it.
Exhibit 7.9 Jamie Dimon Jamie Dimon, CEO at JP Morgan
Chase, is reported to make $27 million dollars per year, and as
CEO has an
interesting and intrinsically rewarding job. Starting tellers at a
Chase Bank make a reported $36,100 per year and are in a
position that has
repeated tasks and may not be the most rewarding from a
motivational point of view. How does this pay structure relate
to self-determination
theory (SDT)? (Credit: Stefan Chow/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0
Alderfer’s model is potentially more useful than Maslow’s in
that it doesn’t create false motivational
categories. For example, it is difficult for researchers to
ascertain when interaction with others satisfies our
need for acceptance and when it satisfies our need for
recognition. ERG also focuses attention explicitly on
movement through the set of needs in both directions. Further,
evidence in support of the three need
categories and their order tends to be stronger than evidence for
Maslow’s five need categories and their
relative order.

Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Theory
Clearly one of the most influential motivation theories
throughout the 1950s and 1960s was Frederick
Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory.14 This theory is a further
refinement of Maslow’s theory. Herzberg
argued that there are two sets of needs, instead of the five sets
theorized by Maslow. He called the first set
“motivators” (or growth needs). Motivators, which relate to the
jobs we perform and our ability to feel a
sense of achievement as a result of performing them, are rooted
in our need to experience growth and self-
actualization. The second set of needs he termed “hygienes.”
Hygienes relate to the work environment and
are based in the basic human need to “avoid pain.” According to
Herzberg, growth needs motivate us to
perform well and, when these needs are met, lead to the
experience of satisfaction. Hygiene needs, on the
other hand, must be met to avoid dissatisfaction (but do not
necessarily provide satisfaction or motivation).15
Hygiene factors are not directly related to the work itself (job
content). Rather, hygienes refer to job context
factors (pay, working conditions, supervision, and security).
Herzberg also refers to these factors as
“dissatisfiers” because they are frequently associated with
dissatisfied employees. These factors are so
frequently associated with dissatisfaction that Herzberg claims
they never really provide satisfaction. When

they’re present in sufficient quantities, we avoid dissatisfaction,
but they do not contribute to satisfaction.
Furthermore, since meeting these needs does not provide
satisfaction, Herzberg concludes that they do not
motivate workers.
Motivator factors involve our long-term need to pursue
psychological growth (much like Maslow’s esteem and
self-actualization needs). Motivators relate to job content. Job
content is what we actually do when we perform
our job duties. Herzberg considered job duties that lead to
feelings of achievement and recognition to be
motivators. He refers to these factors as “satisfiers” to reflect
their ability to provide satisfying experiences.
When these needs are met, we experience satisfaction. Because
meeting these needs provides satisfaction,
they motivate workers. More specifically, Herzberg believes
these motivators lead to high performance
(achievement), and the high performance itself leads to
satisfaction.
The unique feature of Herzberg’s theory is that job conditions
that prevent dissatisfaction do not cause
satisfaction. Satisfaction and dissatisfaction are on different
“scales” in his view. Hygienes can cause
dissatisfaction if they are not present in sufficient levels. Thus,
an employee can be dissatisfied with low pay.
But paying him more will not cause long-term satisfaction
unless motivators are present. Good pay by itself will
only make the employee neutral toward work; to attain
satisfaction, employees need challenging job duties
that result in a sense of achievement. Employees can be
dissatisfied, neutral, or satisfied with their jobs,
depending on their levels of hygienes and motivators.
Herzberg’s theory even allows for the possibility that an
employee can be satisfied and dissatisfied at the same time—the

“I love my job but I hate the pay” situation!
Herzberg’s theory has made lasting contributions to
organizational research and managerial practice.
Researchers have used it to identify the wide range of factors
that influence worker reactions. Previously, most
organizations attended primarily to hygiene factors. Because of
Herzberg’s work, organizations today realize
the potential of motivators. Job enrichment programs are among
the many direct results of his research.
Herzberg’s work suggests a two-stage process for managing
employee motivation and satisfaction. First,
managers should address the hygiene factors. Intense forms of
dissatisfaction distract employees from
important work-related activities and tend to be demotivating.16
Thus, managers should make sure that such
basic needs as adequate pay, safe and clean working conditions,
and opportunities for social interaction are
met. They should then address the much more powerful
motivator needs, in which workers experience
recognition, responsibility, achievement, and growth. If
motivator needs are ignored, neither long-term
satisfaction nor high motivation is likely. When motivator needs
are met, however, employees feel satisfied
and are motivated to perform well.
Self-Determination Theory
One major implication of Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory
is the somewhat counterintuitive idea that
managers should focus more on motivators than on hygienes.
(After all, doesn’t everyone want to be paid
well? Organizations have held this out as a chief motivator for
decades!) Why might concentrating on
motivators give better results? To answer this question, we must
examine types of motivation. Organizational

behavior researchers often classify motivation in terms of what
stimulates it. In the case of extrinsic
motivation, we endeavor to acquire something that satisfies a
lower-order need. Jobs that pay well and that
are performed in safe, clean working conditions with adequate
supervision and resources directly or indirectly
satisfy these lower-order needs. These “outside the person”
factors are extrinsic rewards.
Factors “inside” the person that cause people to perform tasks,
intrinsic motivation, arise out of performing
a task in and of itself, because it is interesting or “fun” to do.
The task is enjoyable, so we continue to do it even
in the absence of extrinsic rewards. That is, we are motivated by
intrinsic rewards, rewards that we more or less
give ourselves. Intrinsic rewards satisfy higher-order needs like
relatedness and growth in ERG theory. When
we sense that we are valuable contributors, are achieving
something important, or are getting better at some
skill, we like this feeling and strive to maintain it.
Self-determination theory (SDT) seeks to explain not only what
causes motivation, but also how extrinsic
rewards affect intrinsic motivation.17 In SDT, extrinsic
motivation refers to the performance of an activity in
order to attain some valued outcome, while intrinsic motivation
refers to performing an activity for the
inherent satisfaction of the activity itself. SDT specifies when
an activity will be intrinsically motivating and
when it will not. Considerable numbers of studies have
demonstrated that tasks are intrinsically motivating
when they satisfy at least one of three higher-order needs:

competence, autonomy, and relatedness. These
precepts from SDT are entirely consistent with earlier
discussions of theories by McClelland, Maslow, Alderfer,
and Herzberg.
SDT takes the concepts of extrinsic rewards and intrinsic
motivation further than the other need theories. SDT
researchers have consistently found that as the level of extrinsic
rewards increases, the amount of intrinsic
motivation decreases. That is, SDT posits that extrinsic rewards
not only do not provide intrinsic motivation,
they diminish it. Think of this in terms of hobbies. Some people
like to knit, others like to carve wood. They do
it because it is intrinsically motivating; the hobby satisfies
needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness.
But what happens if these hobbyists start getting paid well for
their sweaters and carvings? Over time the
hobby becomes less fun and is done in order to receive extrinsic
rewards (money). Extrinsic motivation
increases as intrinsic motivation decreases! When extrinsic
rewards are present, people do not feel like what
they do builds competence, is self-determined, or enhances
relationships with others.
SDT theory has interesting implications for the management of
organizational behavior. Some jobs are by
their very nature uninteresting and unlikely to be made
interesting. Automation has eliminated many such
jobs, but they are still numerous. SDT would suggest that the
primary way to motivate high performance for
such jobs is to make performance contingent on extrinsic
rewards. Relatively high pay is necessary to sustain
performance on certain low-skill jobs. On the other hand, SDT
would suggest that to enhance intrinsic
motivation on jobs that are interesting, don’t focus only on
increasing extrinsic rewards (like large pay

bonuses). Instead, create even more opportunities for employees
to satisfy their needs for competence,
autonomy, and relatedness. That means giving them
opportunities to learn new skills, to perform their jobs
without interference, and to develop meaningful relationships
with other customers and employees in other
departments. Such actions enhance intrinsic rewards.
You may have noticed that content theories are somewhat quiet
about what determines the intensity of
motivation. For example, some people steal to satisfy their
lower-order needs (they have high intensity). But
most of us don’t steal. Why is this? Process theories of
motivation attempt to explain this aspect of motivation
by focusing on the intensity of motivation as well as its
direction. According to self-determination theory,
skilled workers who are given a chance to hone their skills and
the freedom to practice their craft will be
intrinsically motivated.
7.3 Process Theories of Motivation
3. Describe the process theories of motivation, and compare and
Process theories of motivation try to explain why behaviors are
initiated. These theories focus on the

mechanism by which we choose a target, and the effort that we
exert to “hit” the target. There are four major
process theories: (1) operant conditioning, (2) equity, (3) goal,
and (4) expectancy.
Operant Conditioning Theory
Operant conditioning theory is the simplest of the motivation
theories. It basically states that people will do
those things for which they are rewarded and will avoid doing
things for which they are punished. This
premise is sometimes called the “law of effect.” However, if
this were the sum total of conditioning theory, we
would not be discussing it here. Operant conditioning theory
does offer greater insights than “reward what
you want and punish what you don’t,” and knowledge of its
principles can lead to effective management
practices.
Operant conditioning focuses on the learning of voluntary
behaviors.18 The term operant conditioning
indicates that learning results from our “operating on” the
environment. After we “operate on the
environment” (that is, behave in a certain fashion),
consequences result. These consequences determine the
likelihood of similar behavior in the future. Learning occurs
because we do something to the environment. The
environment then reacts to our action, and our subsequent
behavior is influenced by this reaction.
The Basic Operant Model
According to operant conditioning theory, we learn to behave in
a particular fashion because of
consequences that resulted from our past behaviors.19 The
learning process involves three distinct steps (see
Table 7.2). The first step involves a stimulus (S). The stimulus

is any situation or event we perceive that we then
respond to. A homework assignment is a stimulus. The second
step involves a response (R), that is, any
behavior or action we take in reaction to the stimulus. Staying
up late to get your homework assignment in on
time is a response. (We use the words response and behavior
interchangeably here.) Finally, a consequence (C)
is any event that follows our response and that makes the
response more or less likely to occur in the future. If
Colleen Sullivan receives praise from her superior for working
hard, and if getting that praise is a pleasurable
event, then it is likely that Colleen will work hard again in the
future. If, on the other hand, the superior ignores
or criticizes Colleen’s response (working hard), this
consequence is likely to make Colleen avoid working hard
in the future. It is the experienced consequence (positive or
negative) that influences whether a response will
1. Understand the content theories of motivation.
2. Understand the contributions that Murray, McClelland,
Maslow, Alderfer, and Herzberg made
toward an understanding of human motivation.
be repeated the next time the stimulus is presented.
Process Theories of Motivation
General Operant Model: S → R → C

Ways to Strengthen the S → R Link
1. S → R → C+ (Positive Reinforcement)
2. S → R → C– (Negative Reinforcement)
3. S → R → (no C–) (Avoidance Learning)
Ways to Weaken the S → R Link
1. S → R → (no C) (Nonreinforcement)
2. S → R → C– (Punishment)
Reinforcement occurs when a consequence makes it more likely
the response/behavior will be repeated in
the future. In the previous example, praise from Colleen’s
superior is a reinforcer. Extinction occurs when a
consequence makes it less likely the response/behavior will be
repeated in the future. Criticism from Colleen’s
supervisor could cause her to stop working hard on any
assignment.
There are three ways to make a response more likely to recur:
positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement,
and avoidance learning. In addition, there are two ways to make
the response less likely to recur:
nonreinforcement and punishment.
Making a Response More Likely
According to reinforcement theorists, managers can encourage
employees to repeat a behavior if they provide

a desirable consequence, or reward, after the behavior is
performed. A positive reinforcement is a desirable
consequence that satisfies an active need or that removes a
barrier to need satisfaction. It can be as simple as
a kind word or as major as a promotion. Companies that provide
“dinners for two” as awards to those
employees who go the extra mile are utilizing positive
reinforcement. It is important to note that there are
wide variations in what people consider to be a positive
reinforcer. Praise from a supervisor may be a powerful
reinforcer for some workers (like high-nAch individuals) but
not others.
Another technique for making a desired response more likely to
be repeated is known as negative
reinforcement. When a behavior causes something undesirable
to be taken away, the behavior is more likely
to be repeated in the future. Managers use negative
reinforcement when they remove something unpleasant
from an employee’s work environment in the hope that this will
encourage the desired behavior. Ted doesn’t
like being continually reminded by Philip to work faster (Ted
thinks Philip is nagging him), so he works faster at
stocking shelves to avoid being criticized. Philip’s reminders
are a negative reinforcement for Ted.
Approach using negative reinforcement with extreme caution.
Negative reinforcement is often confused with

punishment. Punishment, unlike reinforcement (negative or
positive), is intended to make a particular
behavior go away (not be repeated). Negative reinforcement,
like positive reinforcement, is intended to make
a behavior more likely to be repeated in the future. In the
previous example, Philip’s reminders simultaneously
punished one behavior (slow stocking) and reinforced another
(faster stocking). The difference is often a fine
one, but it becomes clearer when we identify the behaviors we
are trying to encourage (reinforcement) or
discourage (punishment).
Exhibit 7.10 Workers stacking eggs A worker stacks eggs on the
shelves at a supermarket. Consider the interchange between Ted
and Philip
regarding speeding up the shelf restocking process. What could
go wrong? (Credit: Alex Barth/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic
(CC BY 2.0))
A third method of making a response more likely to occur
involves a process known as avoidance learning.
Avoidance learning occurs when we learn to behave in a certain
way to avoid encountering an undesired or
unpleasant consequence. We may learn to wake up a minute or
so before our alarm clock rings so we can turn
it off and not hear the irritating buzzer. Some workers learn to
get to work on time to avoid the harsh words or
punitive actions of their supervisors. Many organizational
discipline systems rely heavily on avoidance learning
by using the threat of negative consequences to encourage
desired behavior. When managers warn an
employee not to be late again, when they threaten to fire a
careless worker, or when they transfer someone to
an undesirable position, they are relying on the power of
avoidance learning.

Making a Response Less Likely
At times it is necessary to discourage a worker from repeating
an undesirable behavior. The techniques
managers use to make a behavior less likely to occur involve
doing something that frustrates the individual’s
need satisfaction or that removes a currently satisfying
circumstance. Punishment is an aversive consequence
that follows a behavior and makes it less likely to reoccur.
Note that managers have another alternative, known as
nonreinforcement, in which they provide no
consequence at all following a worker’s response.
Nonreinforcement eventually reduces the likelihood of that
response reoccurring, which means that managers who fail to
reinforce a worker’s desirable behavior are also
likely to see that desirable behavior less often. If Philip never
rewards Ted when he finishes stocking on time,
for instance, Ted will probably stop trying to beat the clock.
Nonreinforcement can also reduce the likelihood
that employees will repeat undesirable behaviors, although it
doesn’t produce results as quickly as
punishment does. Furthermore, if other reinforcing
consequences are present, nonreinforcement is unlikely to
be effective.
While punishment clearly works more quickly than does
nonreinforcement, it has some potentially undesirable
side effects. Although punishment effectively tells a person
what not to do and stops the undesired behavior, it
does not tell them what they should do. In addition, even when

punishment works as intended, the worker
being punished often develops negative feelings toward the
person who does the punishing. Although
sometimes it is very difficult for managers to avoid using
punishment, it works best when reinforcement is
also used. An experiment conducted by two researchers at the
University of Kansas found that using
nonmonetary reinforcement in addition to punitive disciplinary
measures was an effective way to decrease
absenteeism in an industrial setting.20
Schedules of Reinforcement
When a person is learning a new behavior, like how to perform
a new job, it is desirable to reinforce effective
behaviors every time they are demonstrated (this is called
shaping). But in organizations it is not usually
possible to reinforce desired behaviors every time they are
performed, for obvious reasons. Moreover,
research indicates that constantly reinforcing desired behaviors,
termed continuous reinforcement, can be
detrimental in the long run. Behaviors that are learned under
continuous reinforcement are quickly
extinguished (cease to be demonstrated). This is because people
will expect a reward (the reinforcement)
every time they display the behavior. When they don’t receive it
after just a few times, they quickly presume
that the behavior will no longer be rewarded, and they quit
doing it. Any employer can change employees’
behavior by simply not paying them!
If behaviors cannot (and should not) be reinforced every time
they are exhibited, how often should they be
reinforced? This is a question about schedules of reinforcement,
or the frequency at which effective
employee behaviors should be reinforced. Much of the early

research on operant conditioning focused on the
best way to maintain the performance of desired behaviors. That
is, it attempted to determine how frequently
behaviors need to be rewarded so that they are not extinguished.
Research zeroed in on four types of
reinforcement schedules:
Fixed Ratio. With this schedule, a fixed number of responses
(let’s say five) must be exhibited before any of
the responses are reinforced. If the desired response is coming
to work on time, then giving employees a $25
bonus for being punctual every day from Monday through
Friday would be a fixed ratio of reinforcement.
Variable Ratio. A variable-ratio schedule reinforces behaviors,
on average, a fixed number of times (again let’s
say five). Sometimes the tenth behavior is reinforced, other
times the first, but on average every fifth response
is reinforced. People who perform under such variable-ratio
schedules like this don’t know when they will be
rewarded, but they do know that they will be rewarded.
Fixed Interval. In a fixed-interval schedule, a certain amount of
time must pass before a behavior is reinforced.
With a one-hour fixed-interval schedule, for example, a
supervisor visits an employee’s workstation and
reinforces the first desired behavior she sees. She returns one
hour later and reinforces the next desirable
behavior. This schedule doesn’t imply that reinforcement will
be received automatically after the passage of
the time period. The time must pass and an appropriate response
must be made.

Variable Interval. The variable interval differs from fixed-
interval schedules in that the specified time interval
passes on average before another appropriate response is
reinforced. Sometimes the time period is shorter
than the average; sometimes it is longer.
Which type of reinforcement schedule is best? In general,
continuous reinforcement is best while employees
are learning their jobs or new duties. After that, variable-ratio
reinforcement schedules are superior. In most
situations the fixed-interval schedule produces the least
effective results, with fixed ratio and variable interval
falling in between the two extremes. But remember that
effective behaviors must be reinforced with some
type of schedule, or they may become extinguished.
Equity Theory
Suppose you have worked for a company for several years. Your
performance has been excellent, you have
received regular pay increases, and you get along with your
boss and coworkers. One day you come to work to
find that a new person has been hired to work at the same job
that you do. You are pleased to have the extra
help. Then, you find out the new person is making $100 more
per week than you, despite your longer service
and greater experience. How do you feel? If you’re like most of
us, you’re quite unhappy. Your satisfaction has
just evaporated. Nothing about your job has changed —you
receive the same pay, do the same job, and work
for the same supervisor. Yet, the addition of one new employee
has transformed you from a happy to an
unhappy employee. This feeling of unfairness is the basis for

equity theory.
Equity theory states that motivation is affected by the outcomes
we receive for our inputs compared to the
outcomes and inputs of other people.21 This theory is concerned
with the reactions people have to outcomes
they receive as part of a “social exchange.” According to equity
theory, our reactions to the outcomes we
receive from others (an employer) depend both on how we value
those outcomes in an absolute sense and on
the circumstances surrounding their receipt. Equity theory
suggests that our reactions will be influenced by
our perceptions of the “inputs” provided in order to receive
these outcomes (“Did I get as much out of this as I
put into it?”). Even more important is our comparison of our
inputs to what we believe others received for
their inputs (“Did I get as much for my inputs as my coworkers
got for theirs?”).
The Basic Equity Model
The fundamental premise of equity theory is that we
continuously monitor the degree to which our work
environment is “fair.” In determini ng the degree of fairness, we
consider two sets of factors, inputs and
outcomes (see Exhibit 7.11). Inputs are any factors we
contribute to the organization that we feel have value
and are relevant to the organization. Note that the value
attached to an input is based on our perception of its
relevance and value. Whether or not anyone else agrees that the
input is relevant or valuable is unimportant
to us. Common inputs in organizations include time, effort,
performance level, education level, skill levels, and
bypassed opportunities. Since any factor we consider relevant is
included in our evaluation of equity, it is not
uncommon for factors to be included that the organization (or

even the law) might argue are inappropriate
(such as age, sex, ethnic background, or social status).
Exhibit 7.11 The Equity Theory Comparison (Attribution:
Outcomes are anything we perceive as getting back from the
organization in exchange for our inputs. Again,
the value attached to an outcome is based on our perceptions
and not necessarily on objective reality.
Common outcomes from organizations include pay, working
conditions, job status, feelings of achievement,
and friendship opportunities. Both positive and negative
outcomes influence our evaluation of equity. Stress,
headaches, and fatigue are also potential outcomes. Since any
outcome we consider relevant to the exchange
influences our equity perception, we frequently include
unintended factors (peer disapproval, family
reactions).
Equity theory predicts that we will compare our outcomes to our
inputs in the form of a ratio. On the basis of
this ratio we make an initial determination of whether or not the
situation is equitable. If we perceive that the
outcomes we receive are commensurate with our inputs, we are
satisfied. If we believe that the outcomes are
not commensurate with our inputs, we are dissatisfied. This
dissatisfaction can lead to ineffective behaviors for
the organization if they continue. The key feature of equity
theory is that it predicts that we will compare our
ratios to the ratios of other people. It is this comparison of the
two ratios that has the strongest effect on our

equity perceptions. These other people are called referent others
because we “refer to” them when we judge
equity. Usually, referent others are people we work with who
perform work of a similar nature. That is,
referent others perform jobs that are similar in difficulty and
complexity to the employee making the equity
determination (see Exhibit 7.11).
Three conditions can result from this comparison. Our outcome-
to-input ratio could equal the referent other’s.
This is a state of equity. A second result could be that our ratio
is greater than the referent other’s. This is a
state of overreward inequity. The third result could be that we
perceive our ratio to be less than that of the
referent other. This is a state of underreward inequity.
Equity theory has a lot to say about basic human tendencies.
The motivation to compare our situation to that
of others is strong. For example, what is the first thing you do
when you get an exam back in class? Probably
look at your score and make an initial judgment as to its
fairness. For a lot of people, the very next thing they
do is look at the scores received by fellow students who sit
close to them. A 75 percent score doesn’t look so
bad if everyone else scored lower! This is equity theory in
action.
Most workers in the United States are at least partially
dissatisfied with their pay.22 Equity theory helps explain
this. Two human tendencies create feelings of inequity that are
not based in reality. One is that we tend to
overrate our performance levels. For example, one study
conducted by your authors asked more than 600
employees to anonymously rate their performance on a 7-point
scale (1 = poor, 7 = excellent). The average was
6.2, meaning the average employee rated his or her performance

as very good to excellent. This implies that the
average employee also expects excellent pay increases, a policy
most employers cannot afford if they are to
remain competitive. Another study found that the average
employee (one whose performance is better than
half of the other employees and worse than the other half) rated
her performance at the 80th percentile
(better than 80 percent of the other employees, worse than 20
percent).23 Again it would be impossible for
most organizations to reward the average employee at the 80th
percentile. In other words, most employees
inaccurately overrate the inputs they provide to an organization.
This leads to perceptions of inequity that are
not justified.
The second human tendency that leads to unwarranted
perceptions of inequity is our tendency to overrate the
outcomes of others.24 Many employers keep the pay levels of
employees a “secret.” Still other employers
actually forbid employees to talk about their pay. This means
that many employees don’t know for certain how
much their colleagues are paid. And, because most of us
overestimate the pay of others, we tend to think that
they’re paid more than they actually are, and the unjustified
perceptions of inequity are perpetuated.
The bottom line for employers is that they need to be sensitive
to employees’ need for equity. Employers need

to do everything they can to prevent feelings of inequity
because employees engage in effective behaviors
when they perceive equity and ineffective behaviors when they
perceive inequity.
Perceived Overreward Inequity
When we perceive that overreward inequity exists (that is, we
unfairly make more than others), it is rare that
we are so dissatisfied, guilty, or sufficiently motivated that we
make changes to produce a state of perceived
equity (or we leave the situation). Indeed, feelings of
overreward, when they occur, are quite transient. Very
few of us go to our employers and complain that we’re
overpaid! Most people are less sensitive to overreward
inequities than they are to underreward inequities.25 However
infrequently they are used for overreward, the
same types of actions are available for dealing with both types
of inequity.
Perceived Underreward Inequity
When we perceive that underreward inequity exists (that is,
others unfairly make more than we do), we will
likely be dissatisfied, angered, and motivated to change the
situation (or escape the situation) in order to
produce a state of perceived equity. As we discuss shortly,
people can take many actions to deal with
underreward inequity.
Reducing Underreward Inequity
A simple situation helps explain the consequences of inequity.
Two automobile workers in Detroit, John and
Mary, fasten lug nuts to wheels on cars as they come down the
assembly line, John on the left side and Mary

on the right. Their inputs are equal (both fasten the same
number of lug nuts at the same pace), but John
makes $500 per week and Mary makes $600. Their equity ratios
are thus:
$500 $600
John: <Mary:
10 lug nuts/car 10 lug nuts/car
As you can see, their ratios are not equal; that is, Mary receives
greater outcome for equal input. Who is
experiencing inequity? According to equity theory, both John
and Mary—underreward inequity for John, and
overreward inequity for Mary. Mary’s inequity won’t last long
(in real organizations), but in our hypothetical
example, what might John do to resolve this?
Adams identified a number of things people do to reduce the
tension produced by a perceived state of
inequity. They change their own outcomes or inputs, or they
change those of the referent other. They distort
their own perceptions of the outcomes or inputs of either party
by using a different referent other, or they
leave the situation in which the inequity is occurring.
1. Alter inputs of the person. The perceived state of equity can
be altered by changing our own inputs, that
is, by decreasing the quantity or quality of our performance.
John can effect his own mini slowdown and
install only nine lug nuts on each car as it comes down the

production line. This, of course, might cause
him to lose his job, so he probably won’t choose this
alternative.
2. Alter outcomes of the person. We could attempt to increase
outcomes to achieve a state of equity, like ask
for a raise, a nicer office, a promotion, or other positively
valued outcomes. So John will likely ask for a
raise. Unfortunately, many people enhance their outcomes by
stealing from their employers.
3. Alter inputs of the referent other. When underrewarded, we
may try to achieve a state of perceived equity
by encouraging the referent other to increase their inputs. We
may demand, for example, that the
referent other “start pulling their weight,” or perhaps help the
referent other to become a better
performer. It doesn’t matter that the referent other is already
pulling their weight—remember, this is all
about perception. In our example, John could ask Mary to put
on two of his ten lug nuts as each car
comes down the assembly line. This would not likely happen,
however, so John would be motivated to try
another alternative to reduce his inequity.
4. Alter outcomes of the referent other. We can “correct” a state
of underreward by directly or indirectly
reducing the value of the other’s outcomes. In our example,
John could try to get Mary’s pay lowered to
reduce his inequity. This too would probably not occur in the
situation described.
5. Distort perceptions of inputs or outcomes. It is possible to
reduce a perceived state of inequity without
changing input or outcome. We simply distort our own
perceptions of our inputs or outcomes, or we

distort our perception of those of the referent other. Thus, John
may tell himself that “Mary does better
work than I thought” or “she enjoys her work much less than I
do” or “she gets paid less than I realized.”
6. Choose a different referent other. We can also deal with both
over- and underreward inequities by
changing the referent other (“my situation is really more like
Ahmed’s”). This is the simplest and most
powerful way to deal with perceived inequity: it requires neither
actual nor perceptual changes in
anybody’s input or outcome, and it causes us to look around and
assess our situation more carefully. For
example, John might choose as a referent other Bill, who
installs dashboards but makes less money than
John.
7. Leave the situation. A final technique for dealing with a
perceived state of inequity involves removing
ourselves from the situation. We can choose to accomplish this
through absenteeism, transfer, or
termination. This approach is usually not selected unless the
perceived inequity is quite high or other
attempts at achieving equity are not readily available. Most
automobile workers are paid quite well for
their work. John is unlikely to find an equivalent job, so it is
also unlikely that he will choose this option.
Implications of Equity Theory
Equity theory is widely used, and its implications are clear. In
the vast majority of cases, employees experience
(or perceive) underreward inequity rather than overreward. As
discussed above, few of the behaviors that
result from underreward inequity are good for employers. Thus,
employers try to prevent unnecessary

perceptions of inequity. They do this in a number of ways. They
try to be as fair as possible in allocating pay.
That is, they measure performance levels as accurately as
possible, then give the highest performers the
highest pay increases. Second, most employers are no longer
secretive about their pay schedules. People are
naturally curious about how much they are paid relative to
others in the organization. This doesn’t mean that
employers don’t practice discretion—they usually don’t reveal
specific employees’ exact pay. But they do tell
employees the minimum and maximum pay levels for their jobs
and the pay scales for the jobs of others in the
organization. Such practices give employees a factual basis for
judging equity.
Supervisors play a key role in creating perceptions of equity.
“Playing favorites” ensures perceptions of
inequity. Employees want to be rewarded on their merits, not
the whims of their supervisors. In addition,
supervisors need to recognize differences in employees in their
reactions to inequity. Some employees are
highly sensitive to inequity, and a supervisor needs to be
especially cautious around them.26 Everyone is
sensitive to reward allocation.27 But “equity sensitives” are
even more sensitive. A major principle for
supervisors, then, is simply to implement fairness. Never base
punishment or reward on whether or not you
like an employee. Reward behaviors that contribute to the

organization, and discipline those that do not. Make
sure employees understand what is expected of them, and praise
them when they do it. These practices make
everyone happier and your job easier.
Goal Theory
No theory is perfect. If it was, it wouldn’t be a theory. It would
be a set of facts. Theories are sets of
propositions that are right more often than they are wrong, but
they are not infallible. However, the basic
propositions of goal theory* come close to being infallible.
Indeed, it is one of the strongest theories in
organizational behavior.
The Basic Goal-Setting Model
Goal theory states that people will perform better if they have
difficult, specific, accepted performance goals
or objectives.28,29 The first and most basic premise of goal
theory is that people will attempt to achieve those
goals that they intend to achieve. Thus, if we intend to do
something (like get an A on an exam), we will exert
effort to accomplish it. Without such goals, our effort at the
task (studying) required to achieve the goal is less.
Students whose goals are to get As study harder than students
who don’t have this goal—we all know this.
This doesn’t mean that people without goals are unmotivated. It
simply means that people with goals are
more motivated. The intensity of their motivation is greater, and
they are more directed.
The second basic premise is that difficult goals result in better
performance than easy goals. This does not
mean that difficult goals are always achieved, but our
performance will usually be better when we intend to
achieve harder goals. Your goal of an A in Classical Mechanics

at Cal Tech may not get you your A, but it may
earn you a B+, which you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.
Difficult goals cause us to exert more effort, and
this almost always results in better performance.
Another premise of goal theory is that specific goals are better
than vague goals. We often wonder what we
need to do to be successful. Have you ever asked a professor
“What do I need to do to get an A in this
course?” If she responded “Do well on the exams,” you weren’t
much better off for having asked. This is a
vague response. Goal theory says that we perform better when
we have specific goals. Had your professor
told you the key thrust of the course, to turn in all the problem
sets, to pay close attention to the essay
questions on exams, and to aim for scores in the 90s, you would
have something concrete on which to build a
strategy.
A key premise of goal theory is that people must accept the
goal. Usually we set our own goals. But sometimes
others set goals for us. Your professor telling you your goal is
to “score at least a 90 percent on your exams”
doesn’t mean that you’ll accept this goal. Maybe you don’t feel
you can achieve scores in the 90s. Or, you’ve
heard that 90 isn’t good enough for an A in this class. This
happens in work organizations quite often.
Supervisors give orders that something must be done by a
certain time. The employees may fully understand
what is wanted, yet if they feel the order is unreasonable or
impossible, they may not exert much effort to

accomplish it. Thus, it is important for people to accept the
goal. They need to feel that it is also their goal. If
they do not, goal theory predicts that they won’t try as hard to
achieve it.
Goal theory also states that people need to commit to a goal in
addition to accepting it. Goal commitment is
the degree to which we dedicate ourselves to achieving a goal.
Goal commitment is about setting priorities.
We can accept many goals (go to all classes, stay awake during
classes, take lecture notes), but we often end
up doing only some of them. In other words, some goals are
more important than others. And we exert more
effort for certain goals. This also happens frequently at work. A
software analyst’s major goal may be to write
a new program. Her minor goal may be to maintain previously
written programs. It is minor because
maintaining old programs is boring, while writing new ones is
fun. Goal theory predicts that her commitment,
and thus her intensity, to the major goal will be greater.
Allowing people to participate in the goal-setting process often
results in higher goal commitment. This has to
do with ownership. And when people participate in the process,
they tend to incorporate factors they think will
make the goal more interesting, challenging, and attainable.
Thus, it is advisable to allow people some input
into the goal-setting process. Imposing goals on them from the
outside usually results in less commitment
(and acceptance).
The basic goal-setting model is shown in Exhibit 7.12. The
process starts with our values. Values are our
beliefs about how the world should be or act, and often include
words like “should” or “ought.” We compare
our present conditions against these values. For example, Randi

holds the value that everyone should be a
hard worker. After measuring her current work against this
value, Randi concludes that she doesn’t measure
up to her own value. Following this, her goal-setting process
begins. Randi will set a goal that affirms her
status as a hard worker. Exhibit 7.12 lists the four types of
goals. Some goals are self-set. (Randi decides to
word process at least 70 pages per day.) Participative goals are
jointly set. (Randi goes to her supervisor, and
together they set some appropriate goals for her.) In still other
cases, goals are assigned. (Her boss tells her
that she must word process at least 60 pages per day.) The
fourth type of goal, which can be self-set, jointly
determined, or assigned, is a “do your best” goal. But note this
goal is vague, so it usually doesn’t result in the
best performance.
Exhibit 7.12 The Goal-Setting Process (Attribution: Copyright
Depending on the characteristics of Randi’s goals, she may or
may not exert a lot of effort. For maximum
effort to result, her goals should be difficult, specific, accepted,
and committed to. Then, if she has sufficient
ability and lack of constraints, maximum performance should
occur. Examples of constraints could be that her
old computer frequently breaks down or her supervisor
constantly interferes.

The consequence of endeavoring to reach her goal will be that
Randi will be satisfied with herself. Her
behavior is consistent with her values. She’ll be even more
satisfied if her supervisor praises her performance
and gives her a pay increase!
In Randi’s case, her goal achievement resulted in several
benefits. However, this doesn’t always happen. If
goals are not achieved, people may be unhappy with themselves,
and their employer may be dissatisfied as
well. Such an experience can make a person reluctant to accept
goals in the future. Thus, setting difficult yet
attainable goals cannot be stressed enough.
Goal theory can be a tremendous motivational tool. In fact,
many organizations practice effective
management by using a technique called “management by
objectives” (MBO). MBO is based on goal theory
and is quite effective when implemented consistently with goal
theory’s basic premises.
Despite its many strengths, several cautions about goal theory
are appropriate. Locke has identified most of
them.30 First, setting goals in one area can lead people to
neglect other areas. (Randi may word process 70
pages per day, but neglect her proofreading responsibilities.) It
is important that goals be set for most major
duties. Second, goal setting sometimes has unintended
consequences. For example, employees set easy goals
so that they look good when they achieve them. Or it causes
unhealthy competition between employees. Or an
employee sabotages the work of others so that only she has goal
achievement.
Some managers use goal setting in unethical ways. They may

manipulate employees by setting impossible
goals. This enables them to criticize employees even when the
employees are doing superior work and, of
course, causes much stress. Goal setting should never be
abused. Perhaps the key caution about goal setting
is that it often results in too much focus on quantified measures
of performance. Qualitative aspects of a job
or task may be neglected because they aren’t easily measured.
Managers must keep employees focused on
the qualitative aspects of their jobs as well as the quantitative
ones. Finally, setting individual goals in a
teamwork environment can be counterproductive.31 Where
possible, it is preferable to have group goals in
situations where employees depend on one another in the
performance of their jobs.
The cautions noted here are not intended to deter you from
using goal theory. We note them so that you can
avoid the pitfalls. Remember, employees have a right to
reasonable performance expectations and the
rewards that result from performance, and organizations have a
right to expect high performance levels from
employees. Goal theory should be used to optimize the
employment relationship. Goal theory holds that
people will exert effort to accomplish goals if those goals are
difficult to achieve, accepted by the individual,
and specific in nature.
Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory posits that we will exert much effort to
perform at high levels so that we can obtain valued
outcomes. It is the motivation theory that many organizational
behavior researchers find most intriguing, in
no small part because it is currently also the most
comprehensive theory. Expectancy theory ties together
many of the concepts and hypotheses from the theories

discussed earlier in this chapter. In addition, it points
to factors that other theories miss. Expectancy theory has much
to offer the student of management and
organizational behavior.
Expectancy theory is sufficientl y general that it is useful in a
wide variety of situations. Choices between job
offers, between working hard or not so hard, between going to
work or not—virtually any set of possibilities
can be addressed by expectancy theory. Basically, the theory
focuses on two related issues:
1. When faced with two or more alternatives, which will we
select?
2. Once an alternative is chosen, how motivated will we be to
pursue that choice?
Expectancy theory thus focuses on the two major aspects of
motivation, direction (which alternative?) and
intensity (how much effort to implement the alternative?). The
attractiveness of an alternative is determined by
our “expectations” of what is likely to happen if we choose it.
The more we believe that the alternative chosen
will lead to positively valued outcomes, the greater its
attractiveness to us.
Expectancy theory states that, when faced with two or more
alternatives, we will select the most attractive one.
And, the greater the attractiveness of the chosen alternative, the
more motivated we will be to pursue it. Our
natural hedonism, discussed earlier in this chapter, plays a role
in this process. We are motivated to maximize

desirable outcomes (a pay raise) and minimize undesirable ones
(discipline). Expectancy theory goes on to
state that we are also logical in our decisions about alternatives.
It considers people to be rational. People
evaluate alternatives in terms of their “pros and cons,” and then
choose the one with the most “pros” and
fewest “cons.”
The Basic Expectancy Model
The three major components of expectancy theory reflect its
assumptions of hedonism and rationality: effort-
performance expectancy, performance-outcome expectancy, and
valences.
The effort-performance expectancy, abbreviated E1, is the
perceived probability that effort will lead to
performance (or E ➨P). Performance here means anything from
doing well on an exam to assembling 100
toasters a day at work. Sometimes people believe that no matter
how much effort they exert, they won’t
perform at a high level. They have weak E1s. Other people have
strong E1s and believe the opposite—that is,
that they can perform at a high level if they exert high effort.
You all know students with different E1s—those
who believe that if they study hard they’ll do well, and those
who believe that no matter how much they study
they’ll do poorly. People develop these perceptions from prior
experiences with the task at hand, and from
self-perceptions of their abilities. The core of the E1 concept is
that people don’t always perceive a direct
relationship between effort level and performance level.
The performance-outcome expectancy, E2, is the perceived
relationship between performance and
outcomes (or P ➨O).[1] Many things in life happen as a

function of how well we perform various tasks. E2
addresses the question “What will happen if I perform well?”
Let’s say you get an A in your Classical
Mechanics course at Cal Tech. You’ll be elated, your classmates
may envy you, and you are now assured of that
plum job at NASA. But let’s say you got a D. Whoops, that was
the last straw for the dean. Now you’ve flunked
out, and you’re reduced to going home to live with your parents
(perish the thought!). Likewise, E2
perceptions develop in organizations, although hopefully not as
drastically as your beleaguered career at Cal
Tech. People with strong E2s believe that if they perform their
jobs well, they’ll receive desirable
outcomes—good pay increases, praise from their supervisor,
and a feeling that they’re really contributing. In
the same situation, people with weak E2s will have the opposite
perceptions—that high performance levels
don’t result in desirable outcomes and that it doesn’t really
matter how well they perform their jobs as long as
they don’t get fired.
1 Sometimes E2s are called instrumentalities, because they are
the perception that performance is instrumental in getting some
desired
outcome.
Valences are the easiest of the expectancy theory concepts to
describe. Valences are simply the degree to
which we perceive an outcome as desirable, neutral, or

undesirable. Highly desirable outcomes (a 25 percent
pay increase) are positively valent. Undesirable outcomes
(being disciplined) are negatively valent. Outcomes
that we’re indifferent to (where you must park your car) have
neutral valences. Positively and negatively valent
outcomes abound in the workplace—pay increases and freezes,
praise and criticism, recognition and rejection,
promotions and demotions. And as you would expect, people
differ dramatically in how they value these
outcomes. Our needs, values, goals, and life situations affect
what valence we give an outcome. Equity is
another consideration we use in assigning valences. We may
consider a 10 percent pay increase desirable until
we find out that it was the lowest raise given in our work group.
Exhibit 7.13 summarizes the three core concepts of expectancy
theory. The theory states that our perceptions
about our surroundings are essentially predictions about “what
leads to what.” We perceive that certain effort
levels result in certain performance levels. We perceive that
certain performance levels result in certain
outcomes. Outcomes can be extrinsic, in that others (our
supervisor) determine whether we receive them, or
intrinsic, in that we determine if they are received (our sense of
achievement). Each outcome has an
associated valence (outcome A’s valence is Va ). Expectancy
theory predicts that we will exert effort that
results in the maximum amount of positive-valence
outcomes.[2] If our E1 or E2 is weak, or if the outcomes are
not sufficiently desirable, our motivation to exert effort will be
low. Stated differently, an individual will be
motivated to try to achieve the level of performance that results
in the most rewards.
2

It can also be expressed as an equation:
Force to
Choose = E1×∑ ⎛⎝E2o×Vo⎞⎠
A level of Effort
Where Vo is the valence of a given outcome (o), and E2o is the
perceived probability that a certain level of performance (e.g.,
Excellent,
average, poor) will result in that outcome. So, for multiple
outcomes, and different performance levels, the valence of the
outcome and its
associated performance➔outcome expectancy (E2) are
multiplied and added to the analogous value for the other
outcomes. Combined with
the E1 (the amount of effort required to produce a level of
performance), the effort level with the greatest force associated
with it will be chosen
by the individual.
Exhibit 7.13 The Expectancy Theory of Motivation (Attribution:
Vo is the valence of the outcome. The effort level with the
greatest force associated with it will be chosen by
the individual.
Implications of Expectancy Theory
Expectancy theory has major implications for the workplace.
Basically, expectancy theory predicts that
employees will be motivated to perform well on their jobs under
two conditions. The first is when employees

believe that a reasonable amount of effort will result in good
performance. The second is when good
performance is associated with positive outcomes and low
performance is associated with negative outcomes.
If neither of these conditions exists in the perceptions of
employees, their motivation to perform will be low.
Why might an employee perceive that positive outcomes are not
associated with high performance? Or that
negative outcomes are not associated with low performance?
That is, why would employees develop weak
E2s? This happens for a number of reasons. The main one is
that many organizations subscribe too strongly to
a principle of equality (not to be confused with equity). They
give all of their employees equal salaries for equal
work, equal pay increases every year (these are known as
across-the-board pay raises), and equal treatment
wherever possible. Equality-focused organizations reason that
some employees “getting more” than others
leads to disruptive competition and feelings of inequity.
In time employees in equality-focused organizations develop
weak E2s because no distinctions are made for
differential outcomes. If the best and the worst salespeople are
paid the same, in time they will both decide
that it isn’t worth the extra effort to be a high performer.
Needless to say, this is not the goal of competitive
organizations and can cause the demise of the organization as it
competes with other firms in today’s global
marketplace.

Expectancy theory states that to maximize motivation,
organizations must make outcomes contingent on
performance. This is the main contribution of expectancy
theory: it makes us think about how organizations
should distribute outcomes. If an organization, or a supervisor,
believes that treating everyone “the same” will
result in satisfied and motivated employees, they will be wrong
more times than not. From equity theory we
know that some employees, usually the better-performing ones,
will experience underreward inequity. From
expectancy theory we know that employees will see no
difference in outcomes for good and poor
performance, so they will not have as much incentive to be good
performers. Effective organizations need to
actively encourage the perception that good performance leads
to positive outcomes (bonuses, promotions)
and that poor performance leads to negative ones (discipline,
termination). Remember, there is a big
difference between treating employees equally and treating
them equitably.
What if an organization ties positive outcomes to high
performance and negative outcomes to low
performance? Employees will develop strong E2s. But wi ll this
result in highly motivated employees? The
answer is maybe. We have yet to address employees’ E1s. If
employees have weak E1s, they will perceive that
high (or low) effort does not result in high performance and
thus will not exert much effort. It is important for
managers to understand that this can happen despite rewards for
high performance.
Task-related abilities are probably the single biggest reason
why some employees have weak E1s. Self-efficacy

is our belief about whether we can successfully execute some
future action or task, or achieve some result.
High self-efficacy employees believe that they are likely to
succeed at most or all of their job duties and
responsibilities. And as you would expect, low self-efficacy
employees believe the opposite. Specific self-
efficacy reflects our belief in our capability to perform a
specific task at a specific level of performance. If we
believe that the probability of our selling $30,000 of jackrabbit
slippers in one month is .90, our self-efficacy for
this task is high. Specific self-efficacy is our judgment about
the likelihood of successful task performance
measured immediately before we expend effort on the task. As a
result, specific self-efficacy is much more
variable than more enduring notions of personality. Still, there
is little doubt that our state-based beliefs are
some of the most powerful motivators of behavior. Our efficacy
expectations at a given point in time
determine not only our initial decision to perform (or not) a
task, but also the amount of effort we will expend
and whether we will persist in the face of adversity.32 Self-
efficacy has a strong impact on the E1 factor. As a
result, self-efficacy is one of the strongest determinants of
performance in any particular task situation.33
Employees develop weak E1s for two reasons. First, they don’t
have sufficient resources to perform their jobs.
Resources can be internal or external. Internal resources include
what employees bring to the job (such as
prior training, work experience, education, ability, and aptitude)
and their understanding of what they need to
do to be considered good performers. The second resource is
called role perceptions—how employees believe
their jobs are done and how they fit into the broader
organization. If employees don’t know how to become
good performers, they will have weak E1s. External resources

include the tools, equipment, and labor
necessary to perform a job. The lack of good external resources
can also cause E1s to be weak.
The second reason for weak E1s is an organization’s failure to
measure performance accurately. That is,
performance ratings don’t correlate well with actual
performance levels. How does this happen? Have you ever
gotten a grade that you felt didn’t reflect how much you
learned? This also happens in organizations. Why are
ratings sometimes inaccurate? Supervisors, who typically give
out ratings, well, they’re human. Perhaps
they’re operating under the mistaken notion that similar ratings
for everyone will keep the team happy.
Perhaps they’re unconsciously playing favorites. Perhaps they
don’t know what good and poor performance
levels are. Perhaps the measurements they’re expected to use
don’t fit their product/team/people. Choose
one or all of these. Rating people is rarely easy.
Whatever the cause of rating errors, some employees may come
to believe that no matter what they do they
will never receive a high performance rating. They may in fact
believe that they are excellent performers but
that the performance rating system is flawed. Expectancy theory
differs from most motivation theories
because it highlights the need for accurate performance
measurement. Organizations cannot motivate
employees to perform at a high level if they cannot identify
high performers.
Organizations exert tremendous influence over employee

choices in their performance levels and how much
effort to exert on their jobs. That is, organizations can have a
major impact on the direction and intensity of
employees’ motivation levels. Practical applications of
expectancy theory include:
1. Strengthening the effort ➨performance expectancy by
selecting employees who have the necessary
abilities, providing proper training, providing experiences of
success, clarifying job responsibilities, etc.
2. Strengthening the performance ➨outcome expectancy with
policies that specify that desirable behavior
leads to desirable outcomes and undesirable behavior leads to
neutral or undesirable outcomes.
Consistent enforcement of these policies is key—workers must
believe in the contingencies.
3. Systematically evaluating which outcomes employees value.
The greater the valence of outcomes offered
for a behavior, the more likely employees will commit to that
alternative. By recognizing that different
employees have different values and that values change over
time, organizations can provide the most
highly valued outcomes.
4. Ensuring that effort actually translates into performance by
clarifying what actions lead to performance
and by appropriate training.
5. Ensuring appropriate worker outcomes for performance
through reward schedules (extrinsic outcomes)
and appropriate job design (so the work experience itself
provides intrinsic outcomes).
6. Examining the level of outcomes provided to workers. Are

they equitable, given the worker’s inputs? Are
they equitable in comparison to the way other workers are
treated?
7. Measuring performance levels as accurately as possible,
making sure that workers are capable of being
high performers.
Differences in Motivation across Cultures
The disgruntled employee is hardly a culturally isolated feature
of business, and quitting before leaving
takes the same forms, regardless of country. Cross-cultural
signaling, social norms, and simple language
barriers can make the task of motivation for the global manager
confusing and counterintuitive.
Communicating a passion for a common vision, coaching
employees to see themselves as accountable
and as owning their work, or attempting to create a
“motivational ecosystem” can all fall flat with simple
missed cues, bad translations, or tone-deaf approaches to a
thousand-year-old culture.
Keeping employees motivated by making them feel valued and
appreciated is not just a “Western” idea.
The Ghanaian blog site Starrfmonline emphasizes that employee
motivation and associated work quality
improve when employees feel “valued, trusted, challenged, and
supported in their work.” Conversely,
when employees feel like a tool rather than a person, or feel
unengaged with their work, then
productivity suffers. A vicious cycle can then begin when the
manager treats an employee as
unmotivated and incapable, which then demotivates the

employee and elicits the predicted response.
The blogger cites an example from Eastern Europe where a
manager sidelined an employee as inefficient
and incompetent. After management coaching, the manager
revisited his assessment and began
working with the employee. As he worked to facilitate the
employee’s efficiency and motivation, the
employee went from being the lowest performer to a valuable
team player. In the end, the blog says,
“The very phrase ‘human resources’ frames employees as
material to be deployed for organizational
objectives. While the essential nature of employment contracts
involves trading labour for remuneration,
if we fail to see and appreciate our employees as whole people ,
efforts to motivate them will meet with
limited success” (Starrfmonline 2017 n.p.)
Pavel Vosk, a business and management consultant based in
Puyallup, Washington, says that too often,
overachieving employees turn into unmotivated ones. In looking
for the answer, he found that the most
common source was a lack of recognition for the employee’s
effort or exceptional performance. In fact,
Vosk found that most employees go the extra mile only three
times before they give up. Vosk’s advice is
to show gratitude for employees’ effort, especially when it goes
above and beyond. He says the
recognition doesn’t have to be over the top, just anything that

the employees will perceive as gratitude,
from a catered lunch for a team working extra hours to fulfill a
deadline to a simple face-to-face thank
you (Huhman 2017).
Richard Frazao, president of Quaketek, based in Montreal,
Quebec, stresses talking to the employees and
making certain they are engaged in their jobs, citing boredom
with one’s job as a major demotivati ng
factor (Huhman 2017).
But motivating employees is not “one size fits all” globally.
Rewarding and recognizing individuals and
their achievements works fine in Western cultures but is
undesirable in Asian cultures, which value
teamwork and the collective over the individual. Whether to
reward effort with a pay raise or with a job
title or larger office is influenced by culture. Demoting an
employee for poor performance is an effective
motivator in Asian countries but is likely to result in losing an
employee altogether in Western cultures.
According to Matthew MacLachlan at Communicaid, “Making
the assumption that your international
workforce will be motivated by the same incentives can be
dangerous and have a real impact on talent
retention” (2016 n.p.).
Huhman, Heather R. 2017. “Employee Motivation Has to Be
More Than 'a Pat on the Back.’” Entrepreneur.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/287770
MacLachlan, Matthew. 2016. “Management Tips: How To
Motivate Your International Workforce.”
Communicaid. https://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-
training/blog/motivating-international-
workforce/

Starrfmonline. 2017. “HR Today: Motivating People Starts With
Right Attitude.”
http://starrfmonline.com/2017/03/30/hr-today-motivating-
people-starts-with-right-attitude/#
1. As a Western manager working in the Middle East or sub-
Saharan Africa, what motivational issues
might you face?
2. What problems would you expect a manager from a
Confucian culture to encounter managing
employees in America? In Europe?
3. What regional, cultural, or ethnic issues do you think
managers have to navigate within the United
States?
Expectancy Theory: An Integrative Theory of Motivation
More so than any other motivation theory, expectancy theory
can be tied into most concepts of what and how
people become motivated. Consider the following examples.
1. Need theories state that we are motivated to satisfy our
needs. We positively value outcomes that satisfy
unmet needs, negatively value outcomes that thwart the
satisfaction of unmet needs, and assign neutral
values to outcomes that do neither. In effect, the need theories
explain how valences are formed.

2. Operant conditioning theories state that we will probably
repeat a response (behavior) in the future that
was reinforced in the past (that is, followed by a positively
valued consequence or the removal of a
negatively valued consequence). This is the basic process
involved in forming performance ➨outcome
expectancies. Both operant theories and expectancy theory
argue that our interactions with our
environment influence our future behavior. The primary
difference is that expectancy theory explains this
process in cognitive (rational) terms.
3. Equity theories state that our satisfaction with a set of
outcomes depends not only on how we value them
but also on the circumstances surrounding their receipt. Equity
theory, therefore, explains part of the
process shown in Exhibit 7.11. If we don’t feel that the
outcomes we receive are equitable compared to a
referent other, we will associate a lower or even negative
valence with those outcomes.
4. Goal theory can be integrated with the expanded expectancy
model in several ways. Locke has noted that
expectancy theory explains how we go about choosing a
particular goal.34 A reexamination of Exhibit 7.11
reveals other similarities between goal theory and expectancy
theory. Locke’s use of the term “goal
acceptance” to identify the personal adoption of a goal is
similar to the “choice of an alternative” in the
expectancy model. Locke’s “goal commitment,” the degree to
which we commit to reaching our accepted
(chosen) goal, is very much like the expectancy description of
choice of effort level. Locke argues that the
difficulty and specificity of a goal are major determinants of the
level of performance attempted (goal-
directed effort), and expectancy theory appears to be consistent

with this argument (even though
expectancy theory is not as explicit on this point). We can
reasonably conclude that the major underlying
processes explored by the two models are very similar and will
seldom lead to inconsistent
recommendations.
7.4 Recent Research on Motivation Theories
4. Describe the modern advancements in the study of human
motivation.
Employee motivation continues to be a major focus in
organizational behavior.35 We briefly summarize current
motivation research here.
1. Understand the process theories of motivation: operant
conditioning, equity, goal, and expectancy
theories.
2. Describe the managerial factors managers must consider
when applying motivational approaches.
Content Theories
There is some interest in testing content theories (including
Herzberg’s two-factor theory), especially in
international research. Need theories are still generally

supported, with most people identifying such
workplace factors as recognition, advancement, and
opportunities to learn as the chief motivators for them.
This is consistent with need satisfaction theories. However,
most of this research does not include actual
measures of employee performance. Thus, questions remain
about whether the factors that employees say
motivate them to perform actually do.
Operant Conditioning Theory
There is considerable interest in operant conditioning theory,
especially within the context of what has been
called organizational behavior modification. Oddly enough,
there has not been much research using operant
conditioning theory in designing reward systems, even though
there are obvious applications. Instead, much
of the recent research on operant conditioning focuses on
punishment and extinction. These studies seek to
determine how to use punishment appropriately. Recent results
still confirm that punishment should be used
sparingly, should be used only after extinction does not work,
and should not be excessive or destructive.
Equity Theory
Equity theory continues to receive strong research support. The
major criticism of equity theory, that the
inputs and outcomes people use to evaluate equity are ill -
defined, still holds. Because each person defines
inputs and outcomes, researchers are not in a position to know
them all. Nevertheless, for the major inputs
(performance) and outcomes (pay), the theory is a strong one.
Major applications of equity theory in recent
years incorporate and extend the theory into the area called
organizational justice. When employees receive
rewards (or punishments), they evaluate them in terms of their
fairness (as discussed earlier). This is

distributive justice. Employees also assess rewards in terms of
how fair the processes used to distribute them
are. This is procedural justice. Thus during organizational
downsizing, when employees lose their jobs, people
ask whether the loss of work is fair (distributive justice). But
they also assess the fairness of the process used
to decide who is laid off (procedural justice). For example,
layoffs based on seniority may be perceived as more
fair than layoffs based on supervisors’ opinions.
Goal Theory
It remains true that difficult, specific goals result in better
performance than easy and vague goals, assuming
they are accepted. Recent research highlights the positive
effects of performance feedback and goal
commitment in the goal-setting process. Monetary incentives
enhance motivation when they are tied to goal
achievement, by increasing the level of goal commitment. There
are negative sides to goal theory as well. If
goals conflict, employees may sacrifice performance on
important job duties. For example, if both quantitative
and qualitative goals are set for performance, employees may
emphasize quantity because this goal
achievement is more visible.
Expectancy Theory
The original formulation of expectancy theory specifies that the
motivational force for choosing a level of
effort is a function of the multiplication of expectancies and
valences. Recent research demonstrates that the
individual components predict performance just as well, without

being multiplied. This does not diminish the
value of expectancy theory. Recent research also suggests that
high performance results not only when the
valence is high, but also when employees set difficult goals for
themselves.
One last comment on motivation: As the world of work changes,
so will the methods organizations use to
motivate employees. New rewards—time off instead of bonuses;
stock options; on-site gyms, cleaners, and
dental services; opportunities to telecommute; and others—will
need to be created in order to motivate
employees in the future. One useful path that modern
researchers can undertake is to analyze the previous
studies and aggregate the findings into more conclusive
understanding of the topic through meta-analysis
studies.36
C A T C H I N G T H E E N T R E P R E N E U R I A L S P I
R I T
Entrepreneurs and Motivation
Motivation can be difficult to elicit in employees. So what
drives entrepreneurs, who by definition have to
motivate themselves as well as others? While everyone from
Greek philosophers to football coaches
warn about undirected passion, a lack of passion will likely kill
any start-up. An argument could be made
that motivation is simply part of the discipline, or the outcome
of remaining fixed on a purpose to
mentally remind yourself of why you get up in the morning.
Working from her home in Egypt, at age 30 Yasmine El-
Mehairy launched Supermama.me, a start-up
aimed at providing information to mothers throughout the Arab

world. When the company began, El-
Mehairy worked full time at her day job and 60 hours a week
after that getting the site established. She
left her full-time job to manage the site full time in January
2011, and the site went live that October. El-
Mehairy is motivated to keep moving forward, saying that if she
stops, she might not get going again
(Knowledge @ Wharton 2012).
For El-Mehairy, the motivation didn’t come from a desire to
work for a big company or travel the world
and secure a master’s degree from abroad. She had already done
that. Rather, she said she was
motivated to “do something that is useful and I want to do
something on my own” (Knowledge @
Wharton 2012 n.p.).
Lauren Lipcon, who founded a company called Injury Funds
Now, attributes her ability to stay motivated
to three factors: purpose, giving back, and having fun outside of
work. Lipcon believes that most
entrepreneurs are not motivated by money, but by a sense of
purpose. Personally, she left a job with
Arthur Andersen to begin her own firm out of a desire to help
people. She also thinks it is important for
people to give back to their communities because the change the
entrepreneur sees in the community
loops back, increasing motivation and making the business more
successful. Lipcon believes that having
a life outside of work helps keep the entrepreneur motivated.
She particularly advocates for physical
activity, which not only helps the body physically, but also
helps keep the mind sharp and able to focus
(Rashid 2017).
But do all entrepreneurs agree on what motivates them? A July

17, 2017 survey on the hearpreneur blog
site asked 23 different entrepreneurs what motivated them.
Seven of the 23 referred to some sense of
purpose in what they were doing as a motivating factor, with
one response stressing the importance of
discovering one’s “personal why.” Of the remaining
entrepreneurs, answers varied from keeping a
positive attitude (three responses) and finding external sources
(three responses) to meditation and
prayer (two responses). One entrepreneur said his greatest
motivator was fear: the fear of being in the
same place financially one year in the future “causes me to take
action and also alleviates my fear of risk”
(Hear from Entrepreneurs 2017 n.p.). Only one of the 23
actually cited money and material success as a
motivating factor to keep working.
However it is described, entrepreneurs seem to agree that
passion and determination are key factors
that carry them through the grind of the day-to-day.
Sources:
Hear from Entrepreneurs. 2017. “23 Entrepreneurs Explain
Their Motivation or if ‘Motivation is
Garbage.’” https://hear.ceoblognation.com/2017/07/17/23-
entrepreneurs-explain-motivation-
motivation-garbage/

Knowledge @ Wharton. 2012. “The Super-motivated
Entrepreneur Behind Egypt’s SuperMama.”
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-super-
motivated-entrepreneur-behind-egypts-
supermama/
Rashid, Brian. 2017. “How This Entrepreneur Sustains High
Levels of Energy and Motivation.” Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianrashid/2017/05/26/how -this-
entrepreneur-sustains-high-levels-of-
energy-and-motivation/2/#2a8ec5591111
Questions:
1. In the article from Hear from Entrepreneurs, one respondent
called motivation “garbage”? Would
you agree or disagree, and why?
2. How is staying motivated as an entrepreneur similar to being
motivated to pursue a college degree?
Do you think the two are related? How?
3. How would you expect motivation to vary across
cultures?[/BOX]
1. Understand the modern approaches to motivation theory.
ability
avoidance learning

content motivation theories
direction
effort-performance expectancy
equity theory
ERG theory
expectancy theory
extinction
extrinsic motivation
extrinsic outcomes
goal commitment
goal theory
hedonism
hygienes
input
instincts
intensity
intrinsic motivation
intrinsic outcomes
latent needs
manifest needs
manifest needs theory
motivation
motivators
motive
need
need for achievement (nAch)

need for affiliation (nAff)
need for power (nPow)
Key Terms
The knowledge, skills, and receptiveness to learning that an
individual brings to a task or job.
Occurs when people learn to behave in a certain way to avoid
encountering an
undesired or unpleasant consequence.
Theories that focus on what motivates people.
What a person is motivated to achieve.
E1, the perceived probability that effort will lead to
performance (or E ➨P).
States that human motivation is affected by the outcomes people
receive for their inputs,
compared to the outcomes and inputs of other people.
Compresses Maslow’s five need categories into three: existence,
relatedness, and growth.
Posits that people will exert high effort levels to perform at
high levels so that they can
obtain valued outcomes.
Occurs when a consequence or lack of a consequence makes it
less likely that a behavior will be
repeated in the future.
Occurs when a person performs a given behavior to acquire
something that will satisfy
a lower-order need.

Are awarded or given by other people (like a supervisor).
The degree to which people dedicate themselves to achieving a
goal.
States that people will perform better if they have difficult,
specific, accepted performance goals
or objectives.
Assumes that people are motivated to satisfy mainly their own
needs (seek pleasure, avoid pain).
Factors in the work environment that are based on the basic
human need to “avoid pain.”
Any personal qualities that a person views as having value and
that are relevant to the organization.
Our natural, fundamental needs, basic to our survival.
(1) The degree to which people try to achieve their targets; (2)
the forcefulness that enhances the
likelihood that a stimulus will be selected for perceptual
processing.
Arises out of performing a behavior in and of itself, because it
is interesting or “fun” to
do.
Are awarded or given by people to themselves (such as a sense
of achievement).
Cannot be inferred from a person’s behavior at a given time, yet
the person may still possess
those needs.
Are needs motivating a person at a given time.
Assumes that human behavior is driven by the desire to satisfy
needs.

A force within or outside of the body that energizes, directs,
and sustains human behavior.
Within the body, examples might be needs, personal values, and
goals, while an incentive might be seen
as a force outside of the body. The word stems from its Latin
root movere, which means “to move.”
Relate to the jobs that people perform and people’s ability to
feel a sense of achievement as a
result of performing them.
A source of motivation; the need that a person is attempting to
satisfy.
A human condition that becomes energized when people feel
deficient in some respect.
The need to excel at tasks, especially tasks that are difficult.
The need to establish and maintain warm and friendly
relationships with other
people.
The need to control things, especially other people; reflects a
motivation to
negative reinforcement
nonreinforcement
operant conditioning

operant conditioning theory
outcome
overreward inequity
performance environment
performance-outcome expectancy
positive reinforcement
primary needs
process motivation theories
punishment
referent others
reinforcement
role perceptions
schedules of reinforcement
secondary needs
self-determination theory (SDT)
self-efficacy
state of equity
underreward inequity
valences
work motivation
influence and be responsible for other people.

Occurs when a behavior causes something undesirable to be
removed, increasing
the likelihood of the behavior reoccurring.
Occurs when no consequence follows a worker’s behavior.
A learning process based on the results produced by a person
“operating on” the
environment.
Posits that people learn to behave in a particular fashion as a
result of the
consequences that followed their past behaviors.
Anything a person perceives as getting back from an
organization in exchange for the person’s
inputs.
Occurs when people perceive their outcome/input ratio to be
greater than that of their
referent other.
Refers to those factors that impact employees’ performance but
are essentially
out of their control.
E2, the perceived relationship between performance and
outcomes (or
P ➨O).
Occurs when a desirable consequence that satisfies an active
need or removes a
barrier to need satisfaction increases the likelihood of a
behavior reoccurring.
Are instinctual in nature and include physiological needs for

food, water, and sex
(procreation).
Theories that focus on the how and why of motivation.
An aversive consequence that follows a behavior and makes it
less likely to reoccur.
Workers that a person uses to compare inputs and outcomes, and
who perform jobs similar
in difficulty and complexity to the employee making an equity
determination.
Occurs when a consequence makes it more likely a behavior
will be repeated in the future.
The set of behaviors employees think they are expected to
perform as members of an
organization.
The frequency at which effective employee behaviors are
reinforced.
Are learned throughout one’s life span and are psychological in
nature.
Seeks to explain not only what causes motivation, but also the
effects of
extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation.
A belief about the probability that one can successfully execute
some future action or task, or
achieve some result.
equal to that of their referent
other.

less than that of their
referent other.
The degree to which a person perceives an outcome as being
desirable, neutral, or undesirable.
The amount of effort a person exerts to achieve a level of job
performance
7.1 Motivation: Direction and Intensity
1. Define motivation, and distinguish direction and intensity of
motivation.
This chapter has covered the major motivation theories in
organizational behavior. Motivation theories
endeavor to explain how people become motivated. Motivation
has two major components: direction and
intensity. Direction is what a person is trying to achieve.
Intensity is the degree of effort a person expends to
achieve the target. All motivation theories address the ways in
which people develop direction and intensity.
7.2 Content Theories of Motivation
2. Describe a content theory of motivation, and compare and
contrast the main content theories of
motivation: manifest needs theory, learned needs theory,
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG
theory, Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory, and self-

determination theory.
Motivation theories are classified as either content or process
theories. Content theories focus on what
motivates behavior. The basic premise of content theories is
that humans have needs. When these needs are
not satisfied, humans are motivated to satisfy the need. The
need provides direction for motivation. Murray’s
manifest needs theory, McClelland’s learned needs theory,
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and Herzberg’s
motivator-hygiene theory are all content theories. Each has
something to say about the needs that motivate
humans in the workplace.
7.3 Process Theories of Motivation
3. Describe the process theories of motivation, and compare and
Process theories focus on how people become motivated.
Operant conditioning theory states that people will
be motivated to engage in behaviors for which they have been
reinforced (rewarded). It also states that
people will avoid behaviors that are punished. The rate at which
behaviors are rewarded also affects how often
they will be displayed. Equity theory’s main premise is that
people compare their situations to those of other
people. If a person feels that they are being treated unfairly
relative to a referent other, the person may
engage in behaviors that are counterproductive for the
organization. Employers should try to develop feelings
of fairness in employees. Goal theory is a strong theory. It
states that difficult, specific goals will result in high
performance if employees accept the goals and are committed to

achieving them.
7.4 Recent Research on Motivation Theories
4. Describe the modern advancements in the study of human
motivation.
Expectancy theory is a process theory. It also is the broadest of
the motivation theories. Expectancy theory
predicts that employees will be motivated to be high performers
if they perceive that high performance leads
to valued outcomes. Employees will be motivated to avoid being
low performers if they perceive that it leads to
negative outcomes. Employees must perceive that they are
capable of achieving high performance, and they
must have the appropriate abilities and high self-efficacy.
Organizations need to provide adequate resources
and to measure performance accurately. Inaccurate performance
ratings discourage high performance.
Overall, expectancy theory draws attention to how organizations
structure the work environment and
distribute rewards.
1. Discuss the benefits that accrue when an organization has a
good understanding of employee needs.
2. How might Maslow explain why organizational rewards that
motivate workers today may not motivate the
same workers in 5 or 10 years?
3. Describe the process by which needs motivate workers.
4. Discuss the importance of Herzberg’s motivators and
hygienes.
5. Describe a work situation in which it would be appropriate to
use a continuous reinforcement schedule.

6. Discuss the potential effectiveness and limitations of
punishment in organizations.
7. How can equity theory explain why a person who receives a
high salary might be dissatisfied with their
pay?
8. Equity theory specifies a number of possible alternatives for
reducing perceived inequity. How could an
organization influence which of these alternatives a person will
pursue?
9. What goals would be most likely to improve your learning
and performance in an organizational behavior
class?
10. Identify two reasons why a formal goal-setting program
might be dysfunctional for an organization.
11. What steps can an organization take to increase the
motivational force for high levels of performance?
12. Discuss how supervisors sometimes unintentionally weaken
employees E ➨P and P ➨O expectancies.
13. How can an employee attach high valence to high levels of
performance, yet not be motivated to be a
high performer?
14. Is there “one best” motivation theory? Explain your answer.
1. Many companies strive to design jobs that are intrinsically
motivating. Visit several small and large

company websites and search their career section. What job
features related to motivation are
highlighted? What type of employees do you think the
companies will attract with these jobs?
2. You will be paired with another student in this class. Each of
you will take one side of the issue and
debate:
a. Student A: All members of the organization should be given
the same specific, difficult-to-achieve
goals.
b. Student B: Specific, difficult-to-achieve goals should only be
given to certain members of the
organization.
3. Assume the role of sales manager, and write a memo to two
of your reports that have the following
situations and job performance.
a. Employee 1: Shawn is a onetime stellar performer. They were
twice the top performing salesperson
in the company in the past decade. In the past year, Shawn has
missed goal by 4 percent. Shawn
recently became the parent to twins and says that the reason for
missing goal this year was due to
the territory being saturated with product from previous years.
b. Employee 2: Soo Kim is an energetic salesperson who is
putting in long hours and producing detailed
sales reports, but their performance on the sales side has not
met expectations. When you examine
the customer feedback page on your website, you notice that
they have five times as many positive

reviews and glowing comments about Soo Kim.
1. You are a manager and it’s performance appraisal time,
which is a yearly exercise to provide feedback to
your direct reports that is often stressful for both the employee
and the manager. You feel that the
feedback process should be more of an ongoing process than the
yearly formal process. What are the
benefits of this yearly process, and what, if any, are the
drawbacks of providing both positive and
remediation feedback to your direct reports?
2. You have been told by a worker on another team that one of
your direct reports made an inappropriate
comment to a coworker. What do you do to investigate the
matter, and what actions would you take with
your report, the person that the comment was directed to, and
other people in the organization?
3. You learn that an employee who doesn’t report to you has
made an inappropriate comment to one of
your direct reports. What do you do to investigate the matter,
and what actions would you take with your
report, the person that made the comment, their manager, and
other people in the organization?
4. Your company is considering implementing a 360° appraisal
system where up to 10 people in the
organization provide feedback on every employee as part of the

annual performance appraisal process.
This feedback will come from subordinates, peers, and senior
managers as well as individuals in other
departments. You have been asked to prepare a memo to the
director of human resources about the
positive and negative effects this could have on the motivation
of employees. Note that not all of the
employees are on a bonus plan that will be impacted by this
feedback.
Motivating Employees at JCPenney, Walmart, and Amazon in
the Age of Online Shopping
In the 1980s, Walmart had killed (or was killing) the mom-and-
pop store. “Buy local” signs were seen, urging
consumers to buy from their local retailers rather than from the
low-cost behemoth. Markets have continued
to shift and the “buy local” signs are still around, but now the
battleground has shifted with the disruptive
growth of e-commerce. Even mighty Walmart is feeling some
growing pains.
Census Bureau data for 2017 shows that e-commerce, or online
shopping, accounted for 8.9 percent of all
retail sales in the United States, accounting for $111.5 billion
(U.S. Census Bureau 2017). Feeling the pinch,
many malls across the country are closing their doors, and their
empty retail spaces are being repurposed.
Credit Suisse predicts that due to competition from online
shopping, 20 to 25 percent of American malls will
close within the next five years (Dying Malls Make Room for
New Condos Apartment 2017). Furthermore,
according to a 2017 study, 23 percent of Americans already
purchase their groceries online (Embrace the
Internet, Skip the Checkout 2017).

Whether face-to-face with customers or filling orders in a
warehouse, motivated employees are essential to
business success. And company culture helps drive that
motivation. As a 2015 Harvard Business Review article
put it, “Why we work determines how well we work”
(McGregor & Doshi 2015). Adapting earlier research for
the modern workplace, the study found six reasons that people
work: play, purpose, potential, emotional
pressure, economic pressure, and inertia. The first three are
positive motives while that later three are
negative. The researchers found that role design, more than any
other factor, had the highest impact on
employee motivation.
Anecdotally, using role design to motivate employees can be
seen across industries. Toyota allows factory
workers to innovate new processes on the factory floor.
Southwest Airlines encourages a sense of "play"
among crewmembers who interact directly with passengers
(which has resulted in some humorous viral
videos). A sense of the organization’s identity (and a desire to
be part of it) and how the career ladder within
the company is perceived are second and third in their impact
on employee motivation. Unhealthy competition
for advancement can do more harm than good to employee
motivation, and as a result many large companies
are restructuring their performance review and advancement
systems (McGregor & Doshi 2015). Conversely,
costs from unmotivated employees can be high. In August 2017,
retailer JCPenney had an employee arrested
who had allegedly cost the company more than $10,000 in
stolen cash and under-rung merchandise at a mall
store. Another employee had stolen more than $1,000 of clothes
from the store less than a month earlier.

Brick-and-mortar retail outlets from Macy’s to Walmart have
come under pressure by increased online
shopping, particularly at Amazon.com. Walmart has responded
by both trying to improve the shopping
experience in its stores and creating an online presence of its
own. A recent study funded by Walmart found
that 60 percent of retails workers lack proficiency in reading
and 70 percent have difficulty with math (Class is
in session at Walmart Academy 2017). Increasing math and
team skills for the employees would increase
efficiency and certainly help improve employee self-image and
motivation. With this in mind, Walmart has
created one of the largest employer training programs in the
country, Walmart Academy (McGregor & Doshi
2015). The company expects to graduate more than 225,000 of
its supervisors and managers from a program
that covers topics such as merchandising and employee
motivation. In another program, Pathways, Walmart
has created a course that covers topics such as merchandising,
communication, and retail math (Walmart 2016
Global Responsibility Report 2016). The Pathways program was
expected to see 500,000 entry-level workers
take part in 2016 (Walmart 2016). All employees who complete
the course receive a dollar an hour pay
increase. Educating employees pays off by recognizing that the
effort put in pays off with better-motivated
and better-educated employees. In the case of Walmart,
“upskilling” has become a priority.

Walmart has gone beyond education to motivate or empower
employees. In 2016, pay raises for 1.2 million
employees took effect as part of a new minimum-wage policy,
and it streamlined its paid time off program
that same year (Schmid 2017). In its 2016 Global Responsibility
Report, Walmart points out that over the course
of two years, the company has invested $2.7 billion in wages,
benefits, and training in the United States (Staley
2017).
Sources:
Ciubotariu, Nick. 2015. “An Amazonian's response to "Inside
Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising
Workplace." LinkedIn.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ama zonians-response-inside-
amazon-wrestling-big-
ideas-nick-ciubotariu/?redirectFromSplash=true
Class is in session at Walmart Academy. 2017. Bend Bulletin.
http://www.bendbulletin.com/home/
5507742-151/class-is-in-session-at-walmart-academy
Cook, John. 2015. “Full memo: Jeff Bezos responds to brutal
NYT story, says it doesn’t represent the Amazon he
leads.” GeekWire. https://www.geekwire.com/2015/full-memo-
jeff-bezos-responds-to-cutting-nyt-expose-says-
tolerance-for-lack-of-empathy-needs-to-be-zero/
“Dying Malls Make Room for New Condos Apartment.” 2017.
Bend Bulletin. http://www.bendbulletin.com/
business/5654908-151/dying-malls-make-room-for-new-condos-
apartments
“Embrace the Internet, Skip the Checkout.” 2017. Bend
Bulletin. http://www.bendbulletin.com/business/

5635713-151/embrace-the-internet-skip-the-checkout
McGregor, Lindsay and Doshi, Neel. 2015. “How Company
Culture Shapes Employee Motivation.” Boston, MA:
Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2015/11/how -
company-culture-shapes-employee-motivation
Schmid, Emily. 2017. “Work That Matters: Looking Back on 2
Years of Investing in People.” Walmart Today.
Bentonville, AR: Walmart Digital Communications.
https://blog.walmart.com/opportunity/20170223/work-that-
matters-looking-back-on-2-years-of-investing-in-people
Staley, Oliver. 2017. “ Walmart—yes, Walmart—is making
changes that could help solve America’s wealth
inequality problem.” Yahoo! Finance.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-yes-walmart-making-
changes-100102778.html
U.S. Census Bureau. 2017. Quarterly Retail E-Commerce Sales,
2nd Quarter 2017. Washington, DC: U.S.
Department of Commerce.
https://www.census.gov/retail/mrts/www/data/pdf/ec_current.pd
f
WalMart 2016 Global Responsibility Report. 2016. Bentonville,
AR: Walmart. https://corporate.walmart.com/
2016grr
Walmart. 2016. “Pathways program infographic. Bentonville,
AR: Walmart. https://corporate.walmart.com/
photos/pathways-program-infographic

Questions:
1. A 2015 New York Times article described Amazon as “a
soulless, dystopian workplace where no fun is had
and no laughter heard” (Cook 2015 n.p.). Employees themselves
came to the company’s defense
(Ciubotariu 2015). Does this reputation continue to haunt
Amazon, or has it been addressed?
2. How do employees differ between a Walmart retail location
and an Amazon order fulfillment center? How
many white-collar or skilled jobs does Amazon have compared
to Walmart?
3. With Amazon moving into the retail market with the purchase
of Whole Foods, and with Walmart
expanding its e-commerce, how are employee motivation
challenges going to shift?
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
How do organizations effectively use performance appraisals to
improve individual job performance,

and what are the limitations inherent in the use of various
appraisal systems?
What practices are used in the performance appraisal process?
How do managers give effective feedback to subordinates?
How do organizations choose the best appraisal system for their
organization?
How do managers and organizations use incentives and rewards
effectively to secure the best possible
performance from employees?
Exhibit 8.1 (Credit: home thods/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic
(CC BY 2.0))
Two Performance Appraisal Interviews
“Janet, thanks for coming in. As you know, it’s that time of year
again. I’ve been going over this
performance appraisal form and have written in my evaluation.
I’d like you to look it over and then sign
it.”
Janet looked over her ratings, which were nearly all in the
“satisfactory” range. Even the category of
dependability was marked “satisfactory”; yet, it was Janet who
came in on three different occasions to
cover for workers in her group who were absent for one reason
or another. Janet mentioned this issue
to her boss, Ken.
1.
2.
3.
4.

5.
8
Performance Appraisal and Rewards
8.1 Performance Appraisal Systems
1. How do organizations effectively use performance appraisals
to improve individual job performance, and
what are the limitations inherent in the use of various appraisal
systems?
Performance appraisals are one of the most important and often
one of the most mishandled aspects of
management. Typically, we think of performance appraisals as
involving a boss evaluating a subordinate.
However, performance appraisals increasingly involve
subordinates appraising bosses through a feedback
process known as 360 feedback,1 customers appraising
providers, and peers evaluating coworkers.
Whether appraisals are done by subordinates, peers, customers,
or superiors, the process itself is vital to the
lifeblood of the organization. Performance appraisal systems
provide a means of systematically evaluating
employees across various performance dimensions to ensure
that organizations are getting what they pay for.
They provide valuable feedback to employees and managers,
and they assist in identifying promotable people
as well as problems. However, such appraisals are meaningless
unless they are accompanied by an effective
feedback system that ensures that the employee gets the right
messages concerning performance.

Reward systems represent a powerful motivational force in
organizations, but this is true only when the
system is fair and tied to performance. Because a variety of
approaches to appraising performance exists,
managers should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages
of each. In turn, an understanding of reward
systems will help managers select the system best suited to the
needs and goals of the organization.
Performance appraisal systems serve a variety of functions of
central importance to employees. Appraisal
techniques practiced today are not without problems, though.
Managers should keep abreast of recent
“Well, Janet, you’re right and that’s exactly what I expect of my
employees. You know this is your first
year here and you can’t expect to reach the top in one jump. But
I like your style and if you keep it up,
who knows how far you’ll go.”
Twenty-four minutes after the interview began, Janet left,
bewildered and disappointed. She had worked
hard during her first year; in fact, she had gone the extra mile
on a few occasions, and now she was
more confused than ever about what was expected of her and
what constituted good performance.
“Maybe it just doesn’t pay to work hard.”
Two weeks before their scheduled interview, Mary asked Ron to
review his goals and accomplishments
for the last six months and to note any major changes in his job
that had taken place during that period.
In the meantime, Mary pulled out the file in which she had
periodically recorded both positive and
negative specific incidents over the last six months concerning

Ron’s performance. She also reviewed
the goals they had jointly set at the end of the last review and
thought carefully about not only the
possible goals for the next six months but longer-term
development needs and goals that might be
appropriate for Ron.
On the day of the interview, both Mary and Ron came well
prepared to review the past six months as
well as to think about and plan for the next performance period
and beyond. The interview took nearly
two hours. After candidly discussing Ron’s past performance
and the extent to which both sides felt he
had or had not accomplished the goals for that period, they
began to focus on what should be
accomplished in the future. The discussion caused both sides to
make changes in their original
evaluations and ideas about targets for the future. When it was
over, Ron left more motivated than
before and confident that even though he had areas in which he
could improve, he had a bright future
ahead of him if he continued to be motivated and work hard.
248 Chapter 8 Performance Appraisal and Rewards
developments in compensation and reward systems so they can
modify existing systems when more
appropriate alternatives become available.
A key management responsibility has always been to oversee
and develop subordinates. In fact, it has been

said that every manager is a human resource manager. Nowhere
is this truer than with regard to evaluating
and rewarding subordinates. Managers are consistently involved
with employee training and development,
monitoring employee performance, providing job-related
feedback, and administering rewards.
In this chapter, we examine three interrelated aspects of the
performance appraisal and reward process. As
Exhibit 8.2 shows, this process moves from evaluating
employee performance to providing adequate and
constructive feedback to determining discretionary rewards.
Where effort and performance are properly
evaluated and rewarded, we would expect to see more stable and
consistent job performance. On the other
hand, where such performance is only evaluated intermittently
or where the appraisal and review process is
poorly done, we would generally see less consistent
performance. We begin our discussion with a look at the
nature of appraisals.
We begin by examining three aspects of performance appraisal
systems: (1) the uses of performance
appraisals, (2) problems found in performance appraisals, and
(3) methods for reducing errors in the appraisal
system. This overview will provide a foundation for studying
specific techniques of performance appraisal.
Those interested in more detailed information on performance
appraisal systems may wish to consult books
on personnel administration or compensation.
Exhibit 8.2 The Performance Appraisal and Reward Process
BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)

Uses of Performance Appraisals
In most work organizations, performance appraisals are used for
a variety of reasons. These reasons range
from improving employee productivity to developing the
employees themselves. This diversity of uses is well
documented in a study of why companies use performance
appraisals.2 Traditionally, compensation and
performance feedback have been the most prominent reasons
organizations use performance appraisals.
Feedback to employees. Performance appraisals provide
feedback to employees about quantity and quality
of job performance. Without this information, employees have
little knowledge of how well they are doing
their jobs and how they might improve their work.
Self-development. Performance appraisals can also serve as an
aid to employee self-development. Individuals
learn about their strengths and weaknesses as seen by others and
can initiate self-improvement programs
(see discussion on behavioral self-management programs).
Chapter 8 Performance Appraisal and Rewards 249
Reward systems. In addition, appraisals may form the bases of
organizational reward systems—particularly
merit-based compensation plans.
Personnel decisions. Performance appraisals serve personnel -
related functions as well. In making personnel
decisions, such as those relating to promotions, transfers, and
terminations, they can be quite useful.
Employers can make choices on the basis of information about
individual talents and shortcomings. In

addition, appraisal systems help management evaluate the
effectiveness of its selection and placement
functions. If newly hired employees generally perform poorly,
managers should consider whether the right
kind of people are being hired in the first place.
Training and development. Finally, appraisals can help
managers identify areas in which employees lack
critical skills for either immediate or future performance. In
these situations, new or revised training programs
can be established to further develop the company’s human
resources.
It is apparent that performance appraisal systems serve a variety
of functions in organizations. In light of the
importance of these functions, it is imperative that the accuracy
and fairness of the appraisal be paramount
considerations in the evaluation of a system. Many performance
appraisal systems exist. It is the manager’s
job to select the technique or combination of techniques that
best serves the particular needs (and
constraints) of the organization. Before considering these
various techniques, let us look at some of the more
prominent problems and sources of error that are common to
several of them.
Problems with Performance Appraisals
A number of problems can be identified that pose a threat to the
value of appraisal techniques. Most of these
problems deal with the related issues of the validity and
reliability of the instruments or techniques
themselves. Validity is the extent to which an instrument
actually measures what it intends to measure,
whereas reliability is the extent to which the instrument
consistently yields the same results each time it is
used. Ideally, a good performance appraisal system will exhibit

high levels of both validity and reliability. If not,
serious questions must be raised concerning the utility (and
possibly the legality) of the system.
It is possible to identify several common sources of error in
performance appraisal systems. These include: (1)
central tendency error, (2) strictness or leniency error, (3) halo
effect, (4) recency error, and (5) personal
biases.
Central Tendency Error. It has often been found that supervisors
rate most of their employees within a
narrow range. Regardless of how people actually perform, the
rater fails to distinguish significant differences
among group members and lumps everyone together in an
“average” category. This is called central
tendency error and is shown in Exhibit 8.3. In short, the central
tendency error is the failure to recognize
either very good or very poor performers.
Exhibit 8.3 Examples of Strictness, Central Tendency, and
Leniency Errors (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
OpenStax, under CC BY-
NC-SA 4.0 license)
Strictness or Leniency Error. A related rating problem exists
when a supervisor is overly strict or overly
lenient in evaluations (see Exhibit 8.3). In college classrooms,
we hear of professors who are “tough graders”

or, conversely, “easy A’s.” Similar situations exist in the
workplace, where some supervisors see most
subordinates as not measuring up to their high standards,
whereas other supervisors see most subordinates
as deserving of a high rating. As with central tendency error,
strictness error and leniency error fail to
distinguish adequately between good and bad performers and
instead relegate almost everyone to the same
or related categories.
Halo Effect. The halo effect exists where a supervisor assigns
the same rating to each factor being evaluated
for an individual. For example, an employee rated above
average on quantity of performance may also be
rated above average on quality of performance, interpersonal
competence, attendance, and promotion
readiness. In other words, the supervisor cannot effectively
differentiate between relatively discrete categories
and instead gives a global rating.
These types of bias are based on our perceptions of others. The
halo effect occurs when managers have an
overly positive view of a particular employee. This can impact
the objectivity of reviews, with managers
consistently giving an employee high ratings and failing to
recognize areas for improvement.
Whether positive or negative, we also have a natural tendency
to confirm our preconceived beliefs about
people in the way we interpret or recall performance, which is
known as confirmatory bias.
For example, a manager may have a preconception that her male
report is more assertive. This could cause
her to recall instances more easily in which her report asserted
his position during a meeting. On the other

hand, she may perceive her female report to be less assertive,
predisposing her to forget when the report
suggested an effective strategy or was successful in a tough
negotiation.
The halo effect is often a consequence of people having a
similarity bias for certain types of people. We
naturally tend to favor and trust people who are similar to us.
Whether it’s people who also have a penchant
for golf or people who remind us of a younger version of
ourselves, favoritism that results from a similarity
bias can give certain employees an unfair advantage over
others. This can impact a team to the point that
those employees may receive more coaching, better reviews
and, as a result, more opportunities for
advancement.3
Recency Error. Oftentimes evaluators focus on an employee’s
most recent behavior in the evaluation process.
This is known as the recency error. That is, in an annual
evaluation, a supervisor may give undue emphasis to
performance during the past months —or even weeks—and
ignore performance levels prior to this. This
practice, if known to employees, leads to a situation where
employees may “float” for the initial months of the
evaluation period and then overexert themselves in the last few
months or weeks prior to evaluation. This
practice leads to uneven performance and contributes to the
attitude of “playing the game.”
Personal Biases. Finally, it is not uncommon to find situations

in which supervisors allow their own personal
biases to influence their appraisals. Such biases include like or
dislike for someone, as well as racial and sexual
biases. Personal biases can interfere with the fairness and
accuracy of an evaluation and are illegal in many
situations.
Reducing Errors in Performance Appraisals
A number of suggestions have been advanced recently to
minimize the effects of various biases and errors on
the performance appraisal process.4 When errors are reduced,
more accurate information is available for
personnel decisions and personal development. These methods
for reducing error include
• ensuring that each dimension or factor on a performance
appraisal form represents a single job activity
instead of a group of job activities.
• avoiding terms such as average, because different evaluators
define the term differently.
• ensuring that raters observe subordinates on a regular basis
throughout the evaluation period. It is even
helpful if the rater takes notes for future reference.
• keeping the number of persons evaluated by one rater to a
reasonable number. When one person must
evaluate many subordinates, it becomes difficult to
discriminate. Rating fatigue increases with the
number of ratees.
• ensuring that the dimensions used are clearly stated,
meaningful, and relevant to good job performance.
• training raters so they can recognize various sources of error
and understand the rationale underlying the

evaluation process.
Using mechanisms like these, better employee ratings that can
have greater meaning both for the individual
employee and the organization will result.
8.2 Techniques of Performance Appraisal
2. What practices are used in the performance appraisal
process?
Organizations use numerous methods to evaluate personnel. We
will summarize several popular techniques.
1. What are performance appraisals, and how are they used in
organizations?
2. How are performance appraisals used as a reward system, and
what problems can they cause?
Although countless variations on these themes can be found, the
basic methods presented provide a good
summary of the commonly available techniques. Following this
review, we will consider the various strengths
and weaknesses of each technique. Six techniques are reviewed
here: (1) graphic rating scales, (2) critical
incident technique, (3) behaviorally anchored rating scales, (4)

behavioral observation scales, (5) management
by objectives, and (6) assessment centers.
Graphic Rating Scales
Certainly, the most popular method of evaluation used in
organizations today is the graphic rating scale. One
study found that 57 percent of the organizations surveyed used
rating scales, and another study found the
figure to be 65 percent.5 Although this method appears in many
formats, the supervisor or rater is typically
presented with a printed or online form that contains both the
employee’s name and several evaluation
dimensions (quantity of work, quality of work, knowledge of
job, attendance). The rater is then asked to rate
the employee by assigning a number or rating on each of the
dimensions. An example of a graphic rating scale
is shown in Table 8.1.
A Sample of a Typical Graphic Rating Scale
Name ________________Dept. ______________Date
_______________
Quantity of work Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair
Unsatisfactory
Volume of acceptable work under
normal conditions
Comments:
Quality of work Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair
Unsatisfactory
Thoroughness, neatness, and
accuracy of work

Comments:
Knowledge of job Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair
Unsatisfactory
Clear understanding of the facts or
factors pertinent to the job
Comments:
Personal qualities Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair
Unsatisfactory
Personality, appearance, sociability,
leadership, integrity
Comments:
A Sample of a Typical Graphic Rating Scale
Name ________________Dept. ______________Date
_______________
Cooperation Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair Unsatisfactory
Ability and willingness to work with
associates, supervisors, and
subordinates toward common goal

Comments:
Dependability Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair
Unsatisfactory
Conscientious, thorough, accurate,
reliable with respect to attendance,
lunch periods, reliefs, etc.
Comments:
Initiative Outstanding Good Satisfactory Fair Unsatisfactory
Earnestness in seeking increased
responsibilities Self-starting, unafraid
to proceed alone
Comments:
By using this method, if we assume that evaluator biases can be
minimized, it is possible to compare
employees objectively. It is also possible to examine the
relative strengths and weaknesses of a single
employee by comparing scores on the various dimensions.
However, one of the most serious drawbacks of this technique is
its openness to central tendency, strictness,
and leniency errors. It is possible to rate almost everyone in the
middle of the scale or, conversely, at one end
of the scale. In order to control for this, some companies have
assigned required percentage distributions to
the various scale points. Supervisors may be allowed to rate

only 10 percent of their people outstanding and
are required to rate 10 percent unsatisfactory, perhaps assigning
20 percent, 40 percent, and 20 percent to the
remaining middle categories. By doing this, a distribution is
forced within each department. However, this
procedure may penalize a group of truly outstanding performers
or reward a group of poor ones.
Critical Incident Technique
With the critical incident technique of performance appraisal,
supervisors record incidents, or examples, of
each subordinate’s behavior that led to either unusual success or
unusual failure on some aspect of the job.
These incidents are recorded in a daily or weekly log under
predesignated categories (planning, decision-
making, interpersonal relations, report writing). The final
performance rating consists of a series of descriptive
paragraphs or notes about various aspects of an employee’s
performance (see Table 8.2).
An Example of Critical Incident Evaluation
The following performance areas are designed to assist you in
preparing this appraisal and in discussing

an individual’s performance with her. It is suggested that areas
of performance that you feel are
significantly good or poor be documented below with specific
examples or actions. The points listed are
suggested as typical and are by no means all-inclusive.
Examples related to these points may be viewed
from either a positive or negative standpoint.
1. Performance on Technology of the Job
A. Safety Effectiveness—possible considerations:
1. sets an excellent safety example for others in the department
by words and action
2. trains people well in safety areas
3. gains the cooperation and participation of people in safety
4. insists that safety be designed into procedure and processes
5. is instrumental in initiating departmental safety program
6. accepts safety as a fundamental job responsibility
Item Related Examples
B. Job Knowledge—Technical and/or Specialized—possible
considerations:
1. shows exceptional knowledge in methods, materials, and
techniques; applies in a
resourceful and practical manner
2. stays abreast of development(s) in field and applies to job
3. “keeps up” on latest material in her special field
4. participates in professional or technical organizations
pertinent to her activities
2. Performance on Human Relations
A. Ability to Communicate—possible considerations:

An Example of Critical Incident Evaluation
1. gives logical, clear-cut, understandable instructions on
complex problems
2. uses clear and direct language in written and oral reporting
3. organizes presentations in logical order and in order of
importance
4. provides supervisor and subordinates with pertinent and
adequate information
5. tailors communications approach to group or individual
6. keeps informed on how subordinates think and feel about
things
B. Results Achieved through Others—possible considerations:
1. develops enthusiasm in others that gets the job done
2. has respect and confidence of others
3. recognizes and credits skills of others
4. coordinates well with other involved groups to get the job
done
Source: Adapted from R. Daft and R. Steers, Organizations: A

Micro/Macro Approach (Glenview, III.: Scott,
Foresman and Company, 1986), p. 129.
The critical incident method provides useful information for
appraisal interviews, and managers and
subordinates can discuss specific incidents. Good qualitative
information is generated. However, because little
quantitative data emerge, it is difficult to use this technique for
promotion or salary decisions. The qualitative
output here has led some companies to combine the critical
incident technique with one of the quantitative
techniques, such as the rating scale, to provide different kinds
of feedback to the employees.
Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales
An appraisal system that has received increasing attention in
recent years is the behaviorally anchored
rating scale (BARS). This system requires considerable work
prior to evaluation but, if the work is carefully
done, can lead to highly accurate ratings with high inter-rater
reliability. Specifically, the BARS technique
begins by selecting a job that can be described in observable
behaviors. Managers and personnel specialists
then identify these behaviors as they relate to superior or
inferior performance.
An example of this is shown in Exhibit 8.4, where the BARS
technique has been applied to the job of college
professor. As shown, as one moves from extremely poor

performance to extremely good performance, the
performance descriptions, or behavioral anchors, increase.
Oftentimes, six to ten scales are used to describe
performance on the job. Exhibit 8.4 evaluates the professor’ s
organizational skills. Other scales could relate to
the professor’s teaching effectiveness, knowledge of the
material, availability to students, and fairness in
grading. Once these scales are determined, the evaluator has
only to check the category that describes what
she observes on the job, and the employee’s rating is
simultaneously determined. The BARS technique has
several purported advantages. In particular, many of the sources
of error discussed earlier (central tendency,
leniency, halo) should be significantly reduced because raters
are considering verbal descriptions of specific
behaviors instead of general categories of behaviors, such as
those used in graphic rating scales. In addition,
the technique focuses on job-related behaviors and ignores less
relevant issues such as the subordinate’s
personality, race, or gender. This technique should also lead to
employees being less defensive during
performance appraisals, because the focus of the discussion
would be actual measured behaviors, not the
person. Finally, BARS can aid in employee training and
development by identifying those domains needing
most attention.
Exhibit 8.4 A Behaviorally Anchored Scale for Rating College
Professors Source: Reprinted by permission of H. John

Bernardin.
On the negative side, as noted above, considerable time and
effort in designing the forms are required before
the actual rating. Because a separate BARS is required for each
distinct job, it is only cost-efficient for common
jobs. Finally, because the technique relies on observable
behaviors, it may have little applicability for such jobs
in such areas as research science (and sometimes management),
where much of the work is mental and
relevant observable behaviors are difficult to obtain.
Behavioral Observation Scales
The behavioral observation scale (BOS) is similar to BARS in
that both focus on identifying observable
behaviors as they relate to performance. It is, however, less
demanding of the evaluator. Typically, the
evaluator is asked to rate each behavior on a scale from 1 to 5
to indicate the frequency with which the
employee exhibits the behavior. Evaluation of an employee’s
performance on a particular dimension is derived
by summing the frequency ratings for the behaviors in each
dimension.
For example, in Table 8.3 we can see an example of a form to
evaluate a manager’s ability to overcome
resistance to change. The rater simply has to circle the
appropriate numbers describing observed behaviors
and get a summary rating by adding the results. The BOS
technique is easier to construct than the BARS and
makes the evaluator’s job somewhat simpler. Even so, this is a
relatively new technique that is only now
receiving some support in industry.

Example of a Behavioral Observation Scale for Managers:
Overcoming Resistance to Change
Almost
Never
Almost
Always
1. Describes the details of the
change to subordinates
1 2 3 4 5
2. Explains why the change is
necessary
1 2 3 4 5
3. Discusses how the change
will affect the employee
1 2 3 4 5
4. Listens to the employee’s
concerns
1 2 3 4 5
5. Asks the employee for help
in making the change work

1 2 3 4 5
6. If necessary, specifies the
date for a follow-up meeting
to respond to employee’s
concerns
1 2 3 4 5
Total: 6–10 11–15 16–20 21–25 26–30
Below
adequate
Adequate Full Excellent Superior
Source: Adapted from K. Wexley and G. Latham, Increasing
Productivity Through Performance Appraisal, 3rd
ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2001.
Management by Objectives
A popular technique for evaluating employees who are involved
in jobs that have clear quantitative output is
management by objectives (MBO). Although the concept of
MBO encompasses much more than just the
appraisal process (incorporating an organization-wide
motivation, performance, and control system), we will
focus here on its narrower application to evaluating employee
performance. MBO is closely related to the
goal-setting theory of motivation.
Under MBO, individual employees work with their supervisor to
establish goals and objectives for which they

will be responsible during the coming year. These goals are
stated in clear language and relate to tasks that
are within the domain of the employee. An example of these
goals for a sales representative is shown in Table
8.4. Following a specified period of time, the employee’s
performance is compared to the preset goals to
determine the extent to which the goals have been met or
exceeded.
MBO Evaluation Report for Sales Representative
Goals Categories Goal Actual Performance Variance
1. Number of sales calls 40 38 95%
2. Number of new customers contacted 10 10 100%
3. Number of customer complaints 5 10 50%
4. Sales of product #1 10,000 units 11,000 units 110%
Several advantages of MBO have been observed. These include

the ability to do better planning; improved
motivation, because of knowledge of results; fairer evaluations,
done on the basis of results rather than
personality; improved commitment through participation; and
improved supervisory skills in such areas as
listening, counseling, and evaluating. On the negative side,
however, MBO has been criticized because it
emphasizes quantitative goals at the expense of qualitative
goals and often creates too much paperwork. It is
difficult to compare performance levels among employees
because most are responsible for different goals.
Sometimes the implementation of MBO goals are autocratic and
therefore ineffective or even
counterproductive. As discussed in the study of motivation,
goals must be accepted to be effective. Finally, in
order to be successful, MBO implementation must have constant
attention and support from top
management; MBO does not run itself. In the absence of this
support, the technique loses legitimacy and
often falls into disrepair.
Assessment Centers
A relatively new method of evaluation is the assessment center.
Assessment centers are unique among
appraisal techniques in that they focus more on evaluating an
employee’s long-range potential to an
organization than on her performance over the past year. They
are also unique in that they are used almost
exclusively among managerial personnel.
An assessment center consists of a series of standardized
evaluations of behavior based on multiple inputs.
Over a two- or three-day period (away from the job), trained
observers make judgments on managers’
behavior in response to specially developed exercises. These
exercises may consist of in-basket exercises, role-

playing, and case analyses, as well as personal interviews and
psychological tests. An example of an
assessment center program is shown in Table 8.5.
Example of Two-Day Assessment Center Schedule
Day #1 Day #2
8:00–9:00 A.M. Orientation session 8:00–10:30 A.M. In-basket
exercise
9:00 –10:30
A.M.
Psychological testing 10:30–10:45
A.M.
Coffee break
10:30–10:45
A.M.
Coffee break 10:45–12:30
P.M.
Role-playing exercise
10:45–12:30
P.M.
Management simulation game 12:30–1:30 P.M. Lunch

12:30–1:30 P.M. Lunch 1:30–3:15 P.M. Group problem-solving
exercise
1:30–3:15 P.M. Individual decision-making
exercise
3:15–3:30 P.M. Coffee break
3:15–3:30 P.M. Coffee break 3:30–4:30 P.M. Debriefing by
raters
3:30–4:30 P.M. Interview with raters
On the basis of these exercises, the trained observers make
judgments on employees’ potential for future
managerial assignments in the organization. More specifically,
information is obtained concerning employees’
interpersonal skills, communication ability, creativity, problem-
solving skills, tolerance for stress and
ambiguity, and planning ability. This technique has been used
successfully by some of the largest corporations
in the United States, including AT&T, IBM, and General
Electric.
Results from a series of assessment center programs appear
promising, and the technique is growing in
popularity as a means of identifying future managerial potential.
For example, Coca-Cola USA experimented
with using assessment centers to select its managerial
personnel. After a detailed study, the company found
that those selected in this way were only one-third as likely to
leave the company or be fired than those
selected in the traditional way. Although the assessment center

approach added about 6 percent to the cost of
hiring, the lower turnover rate led to large overall savings.6
Some problems with the technique have been noted. In
particular, because of the highly stressful environment
created in assessment centers, many otherwise good managers
may simply not perform to their potential.
Moreover, the results of a poor evaluation in an assessment
center may be far-reaching; individuals may
receive a “loser” image that will follow them for a long time.
And, finally, there is some question concerning
exactly how valid and reliable assessment centers really are in
predicting future managerial success.7 Despite
these problems, assessment centers remain a popular vehicle in
some companies for developing and
appraising managerial potential.
Comparison of Appraisal Techniques
It is important to consider which appraisal technique or set of
techniques may be most appropriate for a given
situation. Although there is no simple answer to this question,
we can consider the various strengths and
weaknesses of each technique. This is done in Table 8.6. It is
important to keep in mind that the
appropriateness of a particular appraisal technique is in part a
function of the purpose for the appraisal. For
example, if the purpose of the appraisal is to identify high
potential executives, then assessment centers are
more appropriate than rating scales.

Tesla’s Performance Review
At Tesla, the automotive giant, the standards are set extremely
high for their employees. In 2017, Tesla
conducted its annual performance reviews as it does each year.
Due to the review process, the company
sees both voluntary and involuntary departures. During the
review process, the managers discuss
“results that were achieved, as well as how those results were
achieved” with their employees.* Tesla
also has a performance recognition and compensation program
that includes equity rewards as well as
promotions in some cases, along with the constructive feedback.
The departure of employees during the review period is not
unique to Tesla; however, in 2017 there was
a large exodus of approximately 700 employees following their
employee reviews. Elon Musk, who
recently has stepped down from the role of chairman and has
been under scrutiny for his behavior,* saw
the media coverage of this news as “ridiculous.”
“You have two boxes of equal ability, and one’s much smaller,
the big guy’s going to crush the little guy,
obviously,” states Musk. “So, the little guy better have a heck
of a lot more skill or he’s going to get
clobbered. So that is why our standards are high . . . if they’re
not high, we will die.”
Overall, approximately 17 percent of their employees were
promoted, almost half in manufacturing. As
Tesla continues to grow and develop new vehicles, it is
consistently pushing the boundaries and pushing

its employees to new limits. Performance reviews are of the
highest importance for Tesla’s business to
succeed; the company needs the best people with the best skills.
It is constantly growing and attempting
to “suck the labor pool dry” to fill positions at many of its
locations and factories.
Questions:
1. What factors do you feel could have changed in Tesla’s
approach to its performance reviews?
2. How can a high-pressure environment affect an employee’s
performance? What factors should be
considered to combat these issues?
Sources: K. Korosec. “Tesla Fires Hundreds of Workers After
Their Annual Performance Review.” Fortune,
October 14, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/10/13/tesla-fires-
employees/; D. Muoio. “Tesla fired 700
employees after performance reviews in the third quarter.”
Business Insider, November 1, 2017,
https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-fired-700-employees-
performance-reviews-2017-11; J. Wattles.
“Elon Musk agrees to pay $20 million and quit as Tesla
chairman in deal with SEC.” Money, September 30,
2018,
https://money.cnn.com/2018/09/29/technology/business/elon-
musk-tesla-sec-settlement/
index.html.
Major Strengths and Weaknesses of Appraisal Techniques

Rating
Scales
Critical
Incidents
BARS BOS MBO Assessment
Centers
Meaningful dimensions Sometimes Sometimes Usually Usually
Usually Usually
Amount of time required Low Medium High Medium High High
Development costs Low Low High Medium Medium High
Potential for rating errors High Medium Low Low Low Low
Acceptability to
subordinates
Low Medium High High High High
Acceptability to superiors Low Medium High High High High
Usefulness for allocating
rewards
Poor Fair Good Good Good Fair
Usefulness for employee
counseling
Poor Fair Good Good Good Good
Usefulness for identifying

promotion potential
Poor Fair Fair Fair Fair Good
As would be expected, the easiest and least expensive
techniques are also the least accurate. They are also the
least useful for purposes of personnel decisions and employee
development. Once again, it appears that
managers and organizations get what they pay for. If
performance appraisals represent an important aspect
of organizational life, clearly the more sophisticated —and more
time-consuming—techniques are preferable.
If, on the other hand, it is necessary to evaluate employees
quickly and with few resources, techniques such as
the graphic rating scale may be more appropriate. Managers
must make cost-benefit decisions about the price
(in time and money) they are willing to pay for a quality
performance appraisal system.
8.3 Feedback
3. How do managers give effective feedback to subordinates?
1. What are the techniques and scales used in performance
appraisals?
2. What are MBOs, and how do they relate to performance
appraisals?
3. What are assessment centers?

As previously noted, feedback represents a critical variable in
determining the success or failure of the goal-
setting process. The same applies to the performance appraisal
process. Without effective knowledge of
results, the motivational impact of the appraisal process is lost.
To better understand how feedback in work
settings affects employee behavior, consider the model shown in
Exhibit 8.5.8
Exhibit 8.5 Effects of Feedback on Job Performance
Feedback comes from many sources, including the task at hand,
the supervisor, coworkers, and oneself. This
input is then cognitively evaluated by the employee, who
considers such factors as the perceived accuracy of
the feedback (e.g., does the employee consider the information
to be correct?); the credibility of the source of
the feedback (e.g., does the employee trust the supervisor’s
opinion?); the employee’s opinion concerning the
fairness of the evaluation-process; the extent to which the
feedback met the employee’s expectations (e.g.,
does the employee think she could have done better?); and the
reasonableness of the performance standards.
If one or more of these evaluations prove negative (for example,
the employee believes she is being unfairly
evaluated), the credibility of the feedback is dismissed, and the
employee may increase her resistance to task
effort. On the other hand, where the feedback is accepted, it

reinforces the employee’s direction, effort on the
task, and persistence on the task. Thus, although feedback is
essential, it is the nature and quality of the
feedback that ultimately determines employee response.
8.4 Reward Systems in Organizations
4. How do organizations choose the best appraisal system for
their organization?
After a company has designed and implemented a systematic
performance appraisal system and provided
adequate feedback to employees, the next step is to consider
how to tie available corporate rewards to the
outcomes of the appraisal. Behavioral research consistently
demonstrates that performance levels are highest
when rewards are contingent upon performance. Thus, in this
section, we will examine five aspects of reward
systems in organizations: (1) functions served by reward
systems, (2) bases for reward distribution, (3) intrinsic
versus extrinsic rewards, (4) the relationship between money
and motivation and, finally, (5) pay secrecy.
1. What types of feedback do performance appraisals provide to
all organization members?
Functions of Reward Systems
Reward systems in organizations are used for a variety of
reasons. It is generally agreed that reward systems
influence the following:

• Job effort and performance. Following expectancy theory,
employees’ effort and performance would be
expected to increase when they felt that rewards were
contingent upon good performance. Hence,
reward systems serve a very basic motivational function.
• Attendance and retention. Reward systems have also been
shown to influence an employee’s decision to
come to work or to remain with the organization. This was
discussed in the previous chapter.
• Employee commitment to the organization. It has been found
that reward systems in no small way influence
employee commitment to the organization, primarily through
the exchange process.9 That is, employees
develop ties with organizations when they perceive that the
organization is interested in their welfare and
willing to protect their interests. This exchange process is
shown in Exhibit 8.6. To the extent that
employee needs and goals are met by the company, we would
expect commitment to increase.
• Job satisfaction. Job satisfaction has also been shown to be
related to rewards, as discussed in the previous
chapter. Edward E. Lawler, a well-known researcher on
employee compensation, has identified four
conclusions concerning the relationship between rewards and
satisfaction: (1) satisfaction with a reward
is a function of both how much is received and how much the
individual feels should have been received;
(2) satisfaction is influenced by comparisons with what happens
to others, especially one’s coworkers; (3)
people differ with respect to the rewards they value; and (4)
some rewards are satisfying because they
lead to other rewards.10

• Occupational and organizational choice. Finally, the selection
of an occupation by an individual, as well as
the decision to join a particular organization within that
occupation, are influenced by the rewards that
are thought to be available in the occupation or organization. To
prove this, simply look at the classified
section of your local newspaper and notice how many jobs
highlight beginning salaries.
Exhibit 8.6 The Exchange Process Between Employee and
Organization (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
OpenStax, under CC BY-
NC-SA 4.0 license)
Reward systems in organizations have far-reaching
consequences for both individual satisfaction and
organizational effectiveness. Unfortunately, cases can easily be
cited where reward systems have been
distorted to punish good performance or inhibit creativity.
Consider, for example, the Greyhound Bus
Company driver who was suspended for 10 days without pay for
breaking a company rule against using a CB
radio on his bus. The bus driver had used the radio to alert
police that his bus, with 32 passengers on board,
was being hijacked by an armed man. The police arrested the
hijacker, and the bus driver was suspended for
breaking company rules.11 Such incidents hardly encourage
employees to focus their efforts on responsible

performance.
Bases for Reward Distribution
A common reality in many contemporary work organizations is
the inequity that exists in the distribution of
available rewards. One often sees little correlation between
those who perform well and those who receive the
greatest rewards. At the extreme, it is hard to understand how a
company could pay its president $10 to $20
million per year (as many large corporations do) while it pays
its secretaries and clerks less than $15,000. Each
works approximately 40 hours per week, and both are important
for organizational performance. Is it really
possible that the president is 1,000 times more important than
the secretary, as the salary differential
suggests?
How do organizations decide on the distribution of available
rewards? At least four mechanisms can be
identified. In more cases than we choose to admit, rewards go to
those with the greatest power (either market
power or personal power). In many of the corporations whose
presidents earn eight-figure incomes, we find
that these same people are either major shareholders in the
company or have certain abilities, connections, or
status that the company wants. Indeed, a threat of resignation
from an important or high-performing
executive often leads to increased rewards.
A second possible basis for reward distribution is equality.
Here, all individuals within one job classification

would receive the same, or at least similar, rewards. The most
common example here can be found among
unionized workers, where pay rates are established and
standardized with little or no reference to actual
performance level. Instead of ability or performance, these
systems usually recognize seniority as the key
factor in pay raises or promotions.
Exhibit 8.7 Team Based Rewards Performance appraisals,
whether team or individual, provide feedback to workers or
organizational teams.
Traditionally, performance evaluations provide information to
help improve individual performance, increase efficiency and
define
management's expectations. Performance appraisals compare
work performed against measurable objectives that the
employee and
supervisor agreed to at the beginning of the appraisal period. As
work has become more team oriented, performance appraisals
now measure
how a team of workers perform rather than just how an
individual performs his job. (Attribution; Deb Nystrom/ flickr/
(CC BY 2.0))
The basis for the social welfare reward system in this country is
need. In large part, the greater the need, the
greater the level of support. It is not uncommon to see
situations in business firms where need is taken into

account in layoff situations—where an employee is not laid off
because she is the sole support of a family.
A fourth mechanism used by organizations in allocating rew ards
is distributive justice. Under this approach,
employees receive (at least a portion of) their rewards as a
function of their level of contribution to the
organization. The greater the contribution (such as
performance), the greater the reward. This mechanism is
most prominent in merit-based incentive programs, where pay
and bonuses are determined by performance
levels.
Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards
The variety of rewards that employees can receive in exchange
for their contributions of time and effort can be
classified as either extrinsic or intrinsic rewards. Extrinsic
rewards are external to the work itself. They are
administered externally—that is, by someone else (usually
management). Examples of extrinsic rewards
include wages and salary, fringe benefits, promotions, and
recognition and praise from others.
On the other hand, intrinsic rewards represent those rewards
that are related directly to performing the job.
In this sense, they are often described as “self-administered”
rewards, because engaging in the task itself
leads to their receipt. Examples of intrinsic rewards include
feelings of task accomplishment, autonomy, and
personal growth and development that come from the job.
In the literature on employee motivation, there is considerable
controversy concerning the possible
interrelationship of these two kinds of reward. It has been
argued (with some research support) that extrinsic

rewards tend to drive out the positive effects of some intrinsic
rewards and can lead to unethical behavior.12
Consider, for example, the child next door who begs you to let
her help you wash your car. For a young child,
this task can carry considerable excitement (and intrinsic
motivation). Now, consider what happens on a
Saturday afternoon when you need your car washed but the
child has other options. What do you do? You
offer to pay her this time to help wash your car. What do you
think will happen the next time you ask the
neighbor to help you wash the car for free? In other words,
when extrinsic rewards such as pay are tied closely
to performance (called performance-reward contingency),
intrinsic motivation—the desire to do a task
because you enjoy it—can decrease.
Also, it is important to keep in mind that because extrinsic
rewards are administered by sources external to the
individual, their effectiveness rests on accurate and fair
monitoring, evaluating, and administration.
Implementation can be expensive, and the timing of
performance and rewards may not always be close. For
example, you may perform well on a task, but unless there is a
way for that to be noticed, evaluated, recorded,
and rewarded within a reasonable time frame, an extrinsic
reward may not have a significant impact. Intrinsic
rewards are a function of self-monitoring, evaluation, and
administration; consequently, these rewards often
are less costly and more effectively administered. For example,
even if no one else notices or rewards you for
superior performance on a task, you can still reward yourself
with a mental pat on the back for a job well done
or a sense of satisfaction for overcoming a challenge. The
implications of this finding will become apparent
when exploring efforts to enrich employees’ jobs.

Money and Motivation: A Closer Look
A recurring debate among managers focuses on the issue of
whether money is a primary motivator. Some
argue that most behavior in organizational settings is motivated
by money (or at least monetary factors),
whereas others argue that money is only one of many factors
that motivate performance. Whichever group is
correct, we must recognize that money can have important
motivational consequences for many people in
many situations. In fact, money serves several important
functions in work settings.13 These include serving as
(1) a goal or incentive, (2) a source of satisfaction, (3) an
instrument for gaining other desired outcomes, (4) a
standard of comparison for determining relative standing or
worth, and (5) a conditional reinforcer where its
receipt is contingent upon a certain level of performance. Even
so, experience tells us that the effectiveness of
pay as a motivator varies considerably. Sometimes there seems
to be an almost direct relationship between
pay and effort, whereas at other times no such relationship is
found. Why? Lawler suggests that certain
conditions must be present in order for pay to act as a strong
motivator:14
• Trust levels between managers and subordinates must be high.
• Individual performance must be able to be accurately
measured.
• Pay rewards to high performers must be substantially higher
than those to poor performers.
• Few, if any, negative consequences for good performance must

be perceived.
Under these conditions, a climate or culture is created in which
employees have reason to believe that
significant performance-reward contingencies truly exist. Given
this perception (and assuming the reward is
valued), we would expect performance to be increased.15
Pay Secrecy
Secrecy about pay rates seems to be a widely accepted pr actice
in work organizations, particularly among
managerial personnel. It is argued that salary is a personal
matter and we should not invade another’s
privacy. Available evidence, however, suggests that pay secrecy
may have several negative side effects. To
begin, it has been consistently found that in the absence of
actual knowledge, people have a tendency to
overestimate the pay of coworkers and those above them in the
hierarchy. As a result, much of the
motivational potential of a differential reward system is lost.16
Even if an employee receives a relatively sizable
salary increase, she may still perceive an inequity compared to
what others are receiving. This problem is
highlighted in the results of a study by Lawler. In considering
the effects of pay secrecy on motivation, Lawler
noted:
Almost regardless of how well the individual manager was
performing, he felt he was getting less than the
average raise. This problem was particularly severe among high
performers, since they believed that they were
doing well yet received minimal reward. They did not believe
that pay was in fact based upon merit. This was
ironic, since their pay did reflect performance. . . . Thus, even
though pay was tied to performance, these
managers were not motivated because they could not see the

connection.17
Pay secrecy also affects motivation via feedback. Several
studies have shown the value of feedback in
motivating performance (see previous discussion). The problem
is that for managers, money represents one
of the most meaningful forms of feedback. Pay secrecy
eliminates the feedback.
When salary information is open (or at least when the range of
percentage increases within a job classification
are made known to the people in that group), employees are
generally provided with more recognition for
satisfactory performance and are often more motivated to
perform on subsequent tasks. It is easier to
establish feelings of pay equity and trust in the salary
administration system. On the other hand, publicizing
pay rates and pay raises can cause jealousy among employees
and create pressures on managers to reduce
perceived inequities in the system. There is no correct position
concerning whether pay rates should be secret
or open. The point is that managers should not assume a prior i
that pay secrecy—or pay openness—is a good
thing. Instead, careful consideration should be given to the
possible consequences of either approach in view
of the particular situation in the organization at the time.
8.5 Individual and Group Incentive Plans

5. How do managers and organizations use incentives and
rewards effectively to secure the best possible
We now turn to an examination of various employee incentive
programs used by organizations. First, we
consider the relative merits of individuals versus group
incentive programs. Next, we focus on several
relatively new approaches to motivation and compensation.
Finally, we suggest several guidelines for effective
incentive systems.
Individual versus Group Incentives
Companies usually have choices among various compensation
plans and must make decisions about which is
most effective for its situation. Incentive systems in
organizations are usually divided into two categories on
the basis of whether the unit of analysis—and the recipient of
the reward—is the individual or a group. Among
individual incentive plans, several approaches can be identi fied,
including merit-based compensation
(commonly known as merit compensation), piece-rate incentive
programs (where people are paid according to
the quantity of output), bonus systems of various sorts, and
commissions. In each case, rewards are tied fairly
directly to the performance level of the individual.
Although individual incentive systems often lead to improved
performance, some reservations have been
noted. In particular, these programs may at times lead to
employees competing with one another, with
undesirable results. For instance, department store salespeople
on commission may fight over customers,
thereby chasing the customers away. After all, customers don’t
care who they deal with, only that the service is
good. Second, these plans typically are resisted by unions,

which prefer compensation to be based on seniority
or job classification. Third, where quality control systems are
lax, individual incentives such as piece rates may
lead employees to maximize units of output while sacrificing
quality. And, finally, in order for these programs
to be successful, an atmosphere of trust and cooperation is
necessary.
In order to overcome some of these shortcomings, many
companies have turned to group or organizational
incentive plans. Group incentive programs base at least some of
an employee’s rewards on group or
organization performance. Hence, employees are encouraged to
cooperate with one another and with the
corporation so that all employees can benefit. Programs such as
profit-sharing or gain-sharing plans
(discussed below) are designed to tie the employees’ future
rewards and prosperity to that of the company
and reduce the age-old antagonism between the two. The results
are often dramatic.
Creative Pay Practices
Recently, we have seen several innovations in the way
corporations approach reward systems. These efforts
1. What is the best appraisal system for organizations to adopt?
2. How are rewards tied to performance appraisals?
are designed to facilitate the integration of employee and
company interests in a way that maximizes both

productivity and quality of working life. Five such creative pay
practices should be noted: (1) gain-sharing
plans, (2) skills-based incentives, (3) lump-sum pay increases,
(4) participative pay decisions, and (5) flexible
benefits programs. These approaches, along with their major
advantages and drawbacks, are summarized in
Table 8.7.
Advantages and Disadvantages of New Pay Practices
Pay Practice Advantages Disadvantages
Gain
sharing
Ties pay to performance;
encourages group cooperation
Plans that focus exclusively on productivity may lead
employees to ignore other important objectives, such
as quality.
Skills-based
incentives
More flexible and skilled
workforce; increased
satisfaction
Higher training and salary costs
Lump-sum
increase
Greater visibility of pay
increases; increased pay

satisfaction
Cost of administration
Participative
pay
decisions
Increased trust in a satisfaction
with pay decisions; better pay
decisions
Time-consuming
Flexible
benefits
Increased satisfaction with pay
and benefits
Cost of administration
Gain-Sharing Plans. Giving executives and senior managers
bonuses to reflect their contributions to
organizational effectiveness is commonplace. In fact, in some
companies executive bonuses are often larger
than salaries. Recently, companies have increasingly applied
this same principle to all employees in the form of
gain-sharing (profit-sharing) plans. Here, employees are given a
chance to share in corporate productivity
gains through increased earnings. The greater the productivity
gains, the greater the earnings. Several
variations on this theme can be found, including the Scanlon

Plan, IMPROSHARE, the Ruker Plan, and the
Lincoln Electric Plan. Regardless of the title, the basic plan is
similar.
For example, under the Scanlon Plan (probably the oldest such
program), three operating guidelines are used:
(1) each department or division is treated as a business unit for
purposes of performance measurement, (2)
specific cost measures associated with the production process
are identified and agreed to by all parties, and
(3) bonuses are paid to all employees according to a
predetermined formula tying the amount of the bonus to
the actual cost savings realized during the time period. Under
such a plan, it is clearly in the employees’ best
interest to contribute to cost savings, thereby increasing their
own incomes.
Skills-Based Incentives. Typical compensation programs are
tied to job evaluations. In these, jobs are
analyzed to assess their characteristics, and then salary levels
are assigned to each job on the basis of factors
such as job difficulty and labor market scarcity. In other words,
pay levels are set on the basis of the job, not
the individual. This approach fails to encourage employees to
improve their skills on the job, because there is
no reward for the improvement. This thinking also keeps all
employees in their places and minimizes the
possibility of inter-job transfers.

Providing Feedback in Different Countries
Global workplaces are increasing within the world businesses,
and it has become a trend to have
managers from one country, most likely the country in which
the headquarters arise, manage employees
abroad. An important consideration when managing globally is
how cultural differences can have a
profound effect on performance evaluations, negotiations, and
criticisms.
For example, oftentimes in the United States, a method of
critical feedback in the “hamburger method”
(Step 1: Identify tasks. As a group, identify technical steps that
would be involved in implementing. Step
2: Identify options for tasks. Split the team into several small
groups. Step 3: Combine results.) is
acceptable, while other countries give their feedback with just
the meal alone. This strategy in the
Netherlands and Germany can be off-putting to other cultures,
and when you read into another culture’s
technique with your own lens of reference, it can feel wrong.
Managing globally means that you need to do your research on
which approach for feedback is best
received for the employee’s cultural differences. For example,
being direct is key when communicating
with a Dutch person. In contrast, in England or the United
States, criticism is not delivered directly, but
with positive pieces wrapped around the negative. In Asian
countries, feedback is often avoided or the
message is blurred in order to “save face.” With all of these
complications and considerations , it is ever
more important to acutely understand the culture, the cultural

understandings of employees who are
direct reports, and also the lens through which feedback is being
viewed as well.
Questions:
1. How can a new manager that is working with international
employees ensure she is providing
reviews in an appropriate manner?
2. What methods can a manager employ in her preparation for
the review to be successful when
providing feedback to employees of different cultures?
Sources: C. Solbach. “Feedback through cultural looking glass.”
Krauthammer, September 16, 2015,
https://www.krauthammer.com/en/publications/personal-
development/2017/04/12/12/07/feedback-
through-cultural-looking-glass; M. Abadi. “The exact same
sentence from your boss can mean 'yes,' 'no,'
or 'maybe' depending on the country where you work.” Business
Insider, December 7, 2017,
https://www.businessinsider.com/direct-feedback-work-
depends-on-culture-2017-12; J. Windust. “An
International Approach to 360-Degree Feedback.” Cognology,
July 26, 2016,
https://www.cognology.com.au/international-approach-360-
degree-feedback/; “Giving Employee
Feedback To A Culturally Diverse Workforce.” Impraise Blog,
accessed January 26, 2019,
https://blog.impraise.com/360-feedback/how-to-handle-cultural-
differences-between-
branchescountries-in-feedback-behavior-performance-review.

Under the skills-based incentive program, employees are paid
according to their skills level (that is, the
number of jobs they can perform), regardless of the actual tasks
they are allowed to perform. This approach
has proved successful in organizations such as Procter &
Gamble and General Foods. Employees are
encouraged to learn additional skills and are appropriately
rewarded. The organization is provided with a
more highly trained and more flexible workforce. However,
training and compensation costs are necessarily
increased, so the program is appropriate only in some situations.
The technique is most often seen as part of a
larger quality-of-working-life program, where it is associated
with job redesign efforts.
Lump-Sum Pay Increases. Another technique that has received
some attention is to allow employees to
decide how (that is, in what amounts) they wish to receive their
pay raises for the coming year. Under the
traditional program, pay raises are paid in equal amounts in
each paycheck over the year. Under the alternate
plan, employees can elect to receive equal amounts during the
year, or they can choose to take the entire raise
in one lump-sum pay increase. This plan allows employees
greater discretion over their own financial
matters. If an employee wants to use the entire pay raise for a
vacation, it can be paid in a lump sum in June.
Then, if the employee quits before the end of the year, the
unearned part of the pay raise is subtracted from
the final paycheck. This plan increases the visibility of the
reward to the employee. The employee receives, for
example, a $600 pay raise (a rather sizable amount) instead of
twelve $50 monthly pay raises. As with the
flexible rewards system discussed below, however, the

administration costs of the lump-sum plan are greater
than those of the traditional method.
Participative Pay Decisions. In addition, of concern to many
managers is the extent to which employees
should be involved in decisions over pay raises. This is the
issue of participative pay decisions. Recently,
several organizations have been experimenting with involving
employees in pay raise decisions, and the
results seem to be quite positive. By allowing employees to
participate either in the design of the reward
system or in actual pay raise decisions (perhaps through a
committee), it is argued that decisions of higher
quality are made on the basis of greater information. Also,
employees then have greater reason to place
confidence in the fairness of the decisions. On the negative
side, this approach requires considerably more
time for both the manager and the participating subordinates.
Costs must be weighed against benefits to
determine which approach is most suitable for the particular
organization and its goals.
Flexible Benefits Systems. A typical fringe benefit package
provides the same benefits—and the same
number of benefits—to all employees. As a result, individual
differences or preferences are largely ignored.
Studies by Lawler indicate variations in benefit preferences.18
For instance, young unmarried men prefer more
vacation time, whereas young married men prefer to give up
vacation time for higher pay. Older employees
want more retirement benefits, whereas younger employees
prefer greater income. Through a flexible
benefits program (also called a “cafeteria benefits program”),
employees are allowed some discretion in the
determination of their own packages and can make trade-offs,
within certain limits. Organizations such as

PepsiCo, TRW, and the Educational Testing Service already use
such programs. Although certain problems of
administration exist with the programs, efforts in this direction
can lead to increased need satisfaction among
employees.
We have seen a number of different creative solutions to the
compensation dilemma. Which approaches are
most effective in motivating employees? This is obviously a
difficult question to answer. However, one way to
get relevant information on this question is to see what
corporations actually use. One such study asked major
employers which of a variety of approaches had been used with
a high success level. The results are shown in
Table 8.8. As can be seen, skills-based compensation, earned
time off, and gain sharing all received high
marks from personnel executives, although other programs are
also widely supported. It would appear from
these results that many approaches can be useful; the choice of
which one to use would depend upon the
circumstances and goals of a particular organization.
Guidelines for Effective Incentive Programs
Whatever incentive plan is selected, care must be taken to
ensure that the plan is appropriate for the
particular organization and workforce. In fact, a simple test of
the effectiveness of an incentive plan would be
as follows:19

• Does the plan capture attention? Do employees discuss the
plan and take pride in their early successes?
• Do employees understand the plan? Can employees explain
how the plan works, and do they understand
what they must do to earn the incentive?
• Does the plan improve communication? As a result of the
plan, do employees understand more about
corporate mission, goals, and objectives?
• Does the plan pay out when it should? Are incentives being
paid for desired results, and are they withheld
for undesirable results?
• Is the company performing better as a result of the plan? Are
profits or market share up or down? Have any
gains resulted in part from the incentive plan?
Companies Successfully Using Creative Incentive Plans
Type of Incentive Percent of Companies Reporting Success
Skills-based compensation 89%
Earned time off 85
Gain-sharing plans 81
Small-group incentives 75
Individual incentives 73
All-salaried workforce 67

Lump-sum bonus 66
Source: Data adapted from J. Horn, Psychology Today, July
1987, pp. 54–57.
If a new (or existing) pay plan can meet these tests, it is
probably fairly effective in motivating employee
performance and should be retained by the organization. If not,
perhaps some other approach should be
tried. On the basis of such a test, several specific guidelines can
be identified to increase the effectiveness of
the programs. These include the following:20
• Any reward system or incentive plan should be as closely tied
to actual job performance as possible. This
point was discussed earlier in this chapter.
• If possible, incentive programs should allow for individual
differences. They should recognize that different
people want different outcomes from a job. Flexible benefits
programs such as the ones discussed here
make an effort to accomplish this.
• Incentive programs should reflect the type of work that is
done and the structure of the organization. This
simply means that the program should be tailored to the
particular needs, goals, and structures of a given
organization. Individual incentive programs, for example, would
probably be less successful among

unionized personnel than would group programs such as the
Scanlon plan. This point has been clearly
demonstrated in research by Lawler, which points out that
organizations with traditional management
and those with more participative management might approach
reward systems quite differently in order
to be effective.21 As shown in Table 8.9, both types of company
can be effective as long as their reward
systems are congruent with their overall approach to
management.
• The incentive program should be consistent with the culture
and constraints of the organization. Where
trust levels are low, for example, it may take considerable effort
to get any program to work. In an
industry already characterized by high levels of efficiency,
basing an incentive system on increasing
efficiency even further may have little effect, because
employees may see the task as nearly impossible.
• Finally, incentive programs should be carefully monitored
over time to ensure that they are being fairly
administered and that they accurately reflect current
technological and organizational conditions. For
instance, it may be appropriate to offer sales clerks in a
department store an incentive to sell outdated
merchandise because current fashion items sell themselves.
Responsibility falls on managers not to select
the incentive program that is in vogue or used “next door,” but
rather to consider the unique situations
and needs of their own organizations. Then, with this
understanding, a program can be developed and
implemented that will facilitate goal-oriented performance.
Matching Reward Systems to Management Style

Reward System Traditional Participative
Fringe benefits Vary according to organizational level
Cafeteria—same for all levels
Promotion All decisions made by top management Open posting
for all jobs; peer group
involvement in decision process
Status symbols A great many, carefully allocated on the
basis of job position
Few present, low emphasis on organization
level
Pay type Hourly and salary All salary
Base rate Based on job performed; high enough
to attract job applicants
Based on skills; high enough to provide
security and attract applicants
Incentive plan Piece rate Group and organization-wide bonus,
lump-
sum increase
Communication
policy
Very restricted distribution of
information
Individual rates, salary survey data, all other
information made public

Decision-
making locus
Top management Close to location of person whose pay is
being set
Source: Adapted from E. E. Lawler, The Design of Effective
Reward Systems, Technical Report (Los Angeles:
Matching Reward Systems to Management Style
Reward System Traditional Participative
University of Southern California, 1983), p. 52.
1. What are the differences between individual and group
incentives?
2. What is the variety of reward incentives available to
organizations?

Assessment center
Behavioral observation scale
Behaviorally anchored rating scale
Central tendency error
Critical incident technique
Distributive justice
Extrinsic rewards
Flexible benefits system
Gain sharing
Graphic rating scale
Halo effect
Intrinsic motivation
Intrinsic rewards
Leniency error
Lump-sum pay increase
Management by objectives
Participative pay decisions
Performance appraisals
Recency error
Reliability
Skills-based incentives

Strictness error
Validity
Key Terms
Consists of a series of standardized evaluations of behavior
based on multiple inputs.
Identifies observable behaviors as they relate to performance
and is less
demanding of the evaluator.
A system that requires considerable work prior to evaluation
but, if the
work is carefully done, can lead to highly accurate ratings with
high inter-rater reliability.
The failure to recognize either very good or very poor
performers.
A technique where supervisors record incidents, or examples, of
each
subordinate’s behavior that led to either unusual success or
unusual failure on some aspect of the job.
Where employees receive (at least a portion of) their rewards as
a function of their level
of contribution to the organization.
Rewards that are external to the work itself.
A rewards program where employees are allowed some
discretion in the
determination of their own packages and can make trade-offs,
within certain limits.

An incentive plan in which employees or customers receive
benefits directly as a result of cost-
saving measures that they initiate or participate in.
A performance appraisal technique where the supervisor or rater
is typically presented
with a printed or online form that contains both the employee’s
name and several evaluation dimensions
(quantity of work, quality of work, knowledge of job,
attendance). The rater is then asked to rate the
employee by assigning a number or rating on each of the
dimensions.
Results in a supervisor assigning the same rating to each factor
being evaluated for an
individual.
The desire to do a task because you enjoy it.
Rewards that are external to the work itself.
Fails to distinguish adequately between good and bad
performers and instead relegates
almost everyone to the same or related categories.
A technique that allows employees to decide how (that is, in
what amounts) they
wish to receive their pay raises for the coming year.
Closely related to the goal-setting theory of motivation.
Involving employees in pay raise decisions.
A system that provides a means of systematically evaluating
employees across
various performance dimensions to ensure that organizations are
getting what they pay for.

Occurs when, in an evaluation, a supervisor may give undue
emphasis to performance during
the past months—or even weeks—and ignore performance levels
prior to this.
The extent to which the instrument consistently yields the same
results each time it is used.
Rewards employees on the basis of the skills they possess and
not just the skills they
are allowed to use at work.
Fails to distinguish adequately between good and bad
performers and instead relegates
almost everyone to the same or related categories.
The extent to which an instrument actually measures what it
intends to measure.
8.1 Performance Appraisal Systems
1. How do organizations effectively use performance appraisals
to improve individual job performance, and
what are the limitations inherent in the use of various appraisal
systems?
If performance is to be changed or improved, it must be

rewarded. To be rewarded, it must be measured.
However, great care must be taken to (1) measure important
behaviors and outcomes (individual, group, or
organizational) and not just those that are easy to measure, (2)
measure them with the appropriate
technique(s), and (3) tie appropriate rewards to the desired
behaviors and outcomes.
Organizations use performance appraisals for several reasons:
(1) to provide feedback to employees, (2) to
allow for employee self-development, (3) to allocate rewards,
(4) to gather information for personnel
decisions, and (5) to guide them in developing training and
development efforts.
8.2 Techniques of Performance Appraisal
2. What practices are used in the performance appraisal
process?
Performance appraisals are subject to several problems,
including central tendency error, strictness or
leniency error, halo effect, recency error, and personal biases.
8.3 Feedback
3. How do managers give effective feedback to subordinates?
Among the most common appraisal systems are graphic rating
scales, critical incident technique, behaviorally
anchored rating scales, behavioral observation scales,
management by objectives, and assessment centers.
Assessment centers represent a special case of evaluations in
that they focus on assessing an employee’s
long-term potential to an organization.
8.4 Reward Systems in Organizations
4. How do organizations choose the best appraisal system for

their organization?
Rewards serve several functions, including (1) stimulating job
effort and performance, (2) reducing
absenteeism and turnover, (3) enhancing employee commitment,
(4) facilitating job satisfaction, and (5)
facilitating occupational and organizational choice.
Rewards may be distributed on the basis of power, equality,
need, or distributive justice. Distributive justice
rests on the principle of allocating rewards in proportion to
employee contribution. Intrinsic rewards represent
those outcomes that are administered by the employee (e.g., a
sense of task accomplishment), whereas
extrinsic rewards are administered by others (e.g., wages).
Gain-sharing incentive plans base some of the employees’ pay
on corporate profits or productivity. As a result,
employees are generally more interested in facilitating
corporate performance. Skills-based incentives
reward employees on the basis of the skills they possess, not the
skills they are allowed to use at work. As a
result, employees are encouraged to continually upgrade their
skill levels.
A lump-sum salary increase simply provides employees with
their pay raises at one time (possibly shortly
before summer vacation or a major holiday).
Participative pay decisions allow employees some input in
determining their pay raises.
8.5 Individual and Group Incentive Plans
5. How do managers and organizations use incentives and
rewards effectively to secure the best possible

Flexible benefits allow employees to choose the fringe benefits
that best suit their needs.
A good reward system (1) is closely tied to performance, (2)
allows for individual differences, (3) reflects the
type of work that is being done, (4) is consistent with the
corporate culture, and (5) is carefully monitored over
time.
1. Identify the various functions of performance appraisals.
How are appraisals used in most work
organizations?
2. What are some problems associated with performance
appraisals?
3. Define validity and reliability. Why are these two concepts
important from a managerial standpoint?
4. How can errors in appraisals be reduced?
5. Critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of the
various techniques of performance appraisal.
6. Discuss the role of feedback in employee performance.
7. What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic
rewards?
8. Identify the major bases of reward distribution.
9. How does money influence employee motivation?
10. Discuss the relative merits of individual and group incentive
programs.

11. Describe the benefits and drawbacks of several of the new
approaches to reward systems. Which ones do
you feel would be most effective in work organizations?
How Would You Rate Your Supervisor?
Instructions: Think of your current supervisor or one for any job
you have held, and evaluate her on the
following dimensions. Give a “1” for very poor, a “3” for
average, a “5” for outstanding, etc.
Very
Poor
Average Outstanding
1. Your boss’s knowledge of the job 1 2 3 4 5
2. Your boss’s leadership skills 1 2 3 4 5
3. Your boss’s communication skills 1 2 3 4 5
4. Your boss’s ability to motivate subordinates 1 2 3 4 5
5. Your boss’s attendance and promptness 1 2 3 4 5
6. Your boss’s commitment to the organization 1 2 3 4 5
7. Your boss’s long-term potential for promotion 1 2 3 4 5
8. What is your overall assessment of your supervisor? 1 2 3 4 5
Think of a current or previous job, and evaluate the source and
quality of the feedback you received from your

supervisor. When you are through, refer to Appendix B for
scoring procedures.
How Much Feedback Are You Getting from Your Job?
Instructions: Think of a current or previous job. With this in
mind, answer the following questions as accurately
as possible.
1. My boss lets me know when I make a mistake.
Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
2. My coworkers help me improve on the job.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
3. I receive formal evaluations from the company on my job.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4. My boss always tells me when I do a good job.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
5. This company really appreciates good performance.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6. When I do something especially well, I receive a “thanks”
from my boss.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7. My coworkers are very appreciative when I do a good job.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8. My coworkers compliment me on the quality of my work.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
9. My coworkers are very supportive of my efforts.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
10. I know when I have done a good job.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
11. My job provides me with solid feedback on my performance.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
12. I can see the results when I learn to do something better.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. You are the general manager of a floral supplies distributor
that provides independent florists with things
that they need for their business, such as vases, ribbons, and
balloons. You have read that many
organizations use incentive pay plans that reward employees

when the organization does well. You have 6
drivers, 12 warehouse workers, 3 inside salespeople, and an
assistant that reports to you. What types of
incentive plan would you propose for an organization like
yours?
2. You are the HR manager at a midsized auto parts
manufacturer. What are the pros and cons of
establishing a 360-degree performance appraisal system in your
organizations? Write a memo to the CEO
outlining what you think should be done.
HubSpot Focus on Flexible Benefits
What would your manager say to you if you came up with the
idea of traveling with Justin Timberlake on tour
for an entire year? This would not just be a work from home
agreement but an actual out of office plan for one
full-year sabbatical. That is exactly what happened at HubSpot
when Rosalia Cefalu had a crazy idea that
actually got approved.
HubSpot, a global inbound marketing company, has
approximately 19,000 customers in over 90 countries and
1,960 employees, stretching from Cambridge, MA, to Sydney,
Australia.
“We don’t think that culture is about free beer and ping-pong
and dogs in the office, it’s about what you
believe, why you do what you do, and who you choose to work
with,” states CTO and cofounder Dharmesh
Shah. Although HubSpot has plenty of free snacks on hand for
their employees to enjoy, other flexible benefits
HubSpotters enjoy are unlimited vacation time, tuition
reimbursement, flexible hours, and an overall

environment that balances freedom with accountability.
At HubSpot it goes deeper than just the perks. The focus from
the top down instills pride and passion within its
employees, which then translates into happy customers.
Although flexible benefits are a big perk of working at the
third-best tech company to work for, according to
Glassdoor’s annual Employee Choice awards, the culture isn’t
for everyone. The company practices a sense of
understanding, knowing that employees will move on and do not
need to stay to be loyal and that sometimes
someone is no longer needed—either because of performance, or
changes in the company’s needs. This isn’t
taken personally, and HubSpot is able to grow and continue to
grow because it objectively sees the
performance of its employees and what is best for the company
and employee.
Questions:
1. How does HubSpot’s focus on culture affect employee
performance?
2. What concerns would you have regarding giving employees
countless flexible benefits such as HubSpot
does; for example, a yearly sabbatical?
Sources: S. Leibowitz. “What it's like to work at HubSpot, one
of the best workplaces of 2018.” Business Insider,
January 21, 2018, https://www.businessinsider.com/hubspot-
best-workplaces-united-states-2018-1; K. M.
Newman. “Inside the Company Culture of Hubspot.” Tech.co,

April 5, 2013, https://tech.co/company-culture-of-
hubspot-2013-04; InHerSight. “Company Profile: Hubspot.” The
Motley Fool, October 5, 2016,
https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/10/05/company-spotlight-
hubspot.aspx.
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
How do you manage group and intergroup processes
effectively?
How do group norms, roles, and status systems affect employee
behavior and performance?
How do managers develop group cohesiveness, which facilitates
organizational goal attainment?
What are barriers to intergroup cooperation, and how do you
take action to minimize such impediments
and understand how to get the most out of the collective actions
of groups in organizations in order to
enhance industrial competitiveness?
Exhibit 9.1 (Credit: Neil McIntosh/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0
EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc.

In the modern workplace, it is more common that an employee
is not assigned to just one team in their
role. More currently, individuals are being tasked with multiple
roles that allow them to work within
many teams on many projects. Research done estimates that 81
to 95 percent of employees around the
world serve on multiple teams simultaneously. In some cases,
this alone can have a negative effect on
the way that employees are able to focus on the impact on their
stress levels. Leadership plays a big role
in combating the negative effects of multiple team
memberships, or MTM.
EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc. employees the
MTM structure on a daily basis, with its
employees working on up to six different projects concurrently.
The environmental consulting company
1.
2.
3.
4.
9
Group and Intergroup Relations
9.1 Work Groups: Basic Considerations
1. How do you manage group and intergroup processes
effectively?

Available research on group dynamics demonstrates rather
conclusively that individual behavior is highly
influenced by coworkers in a work group. For instance, we see
many examples of individuals who, when
working in groups, intentionally set limits on their own incomes
so they earn no more than the other group
members. We see other situations where individuals choose to
remain in an undesirable job because of their
friends in the plant, even though preferable jobs are available
elsewhere. In summarizing much research on
the topic, Hackman and Morris concluded the following:
There is substantial agreement among researchers and observers
of small task groups that something
important happens in group interaction which can affect
performance outcomes. There is little agreement
about just what that “something” is—whether it is more likely
to enhance or depress group effectiveness, and
how it can be monitored, analyzed, and altered.1
In order to gain a clearer understanding of this “something,” we
must first consider in detail what we mean by
a group, how groups are formed, and how various groups differ.
What Is a Group?
The literature of group dynamics is a very rich field of study
and includes many definitions of work groups. For
based in Baltimore, MD, has to collaborate often and work in a
team-based environment to balance
stakeholder management and profits.
Juggling six different projects at one given time can be stressful
to any employee, but structuring the
work within different teams gives employees a sense of

autonomy so that they know specifically what
piece of the project to focus on and contribute their skills to the
overall group. Leaders naturally form
within groups and take ownership of different tasks, which also
is very helpful to both the overall success
of the team and individual satisfaction of the employee.
Research done with this group and others has
shown that when leaders showcase empowering qualities to their
employees, subsequently the
employees are more proactive. Despite the fact that these
individuals worked on many teams under a
variety of leaders, the individuals often carried over the
empowerment qualities of one leader to their
other team even when the other leader was less empowering.
Being a part of many teams can help employees with job
satisfaction and give them exposure to many
leadership types within your organization. It is important to
understand the basic dynamics such as
those showcased within EA Engineering, Science, and
Technology, Inc. to best approach tasks and, in this
case, multiple team memberships is a highly positive strategy to
help bring the best outcome to its
business.
Based on our earlier analysis of individual behavior, we are now
in a position to consider what happens
when individuals are placed in work units to perform their
tasks. We do this in the next four chapters.
The nature of groups and intergroup relations is discussed in
this chapter. The topics of job design and
organization design as well as effectiveness and productivity
may be discussed later in this course. Taken
together, these topics provide a solid understanding of
organizational structure—that is, how people and
work units are put together for purposes of task

accomplishment.
286 Chapter 9 Group and Intergroup Relations
example, we might conceive of a group in terms of perceptions;
that is, if individuals see themselves as a
group, then a group exists. Or, we can view a group in structural
terms. For instance, McDavid and Harari
define a group as “an organized system of two or more
individuals who are interrelated so that the system
performs some function, has a standard set of role relationships
among its members, and has a set of norms
that regulate the function of the group and each of its
members.”2 Groups can also be defined in motivational
terms as “a collection of individuals whose existence as a
collection is rewarding to the individuals.”3 Finally, a
group can be viewed with regard to interpersonal interactions —
the degree to which members communicate
and interact with one another over time.4
By integrating these various approaches to defining groups, w e
may conclude for our purpose here that a
group is a collection of individuals who share a common set of
norms, generally have differentiated roles
among themselves, and interact with one another toward the
joint pursuit of common goals. (The definitions
of roles and norms is provided later in this chapter.) This
definition assumes a dynamic perspective and leads
us to focus on two major aspects of groups: group structure and
group processes. Group structure is the topic
of this chapter, and group processes will be discussed in later

chapters.
Types of Groups
There are two primary types of groups: formal and informal.
Moreover, within these two types, groups can be
further differentiated on the basis of their relative degree of
permanence. The resulting four types are shown
in Table 9.1.
Types of Groups
Relatively Permanent Relatively Temporary
Formal Command group Task group
Informal Friendship group Interest group
Formal Groups. Formal groups are work units that are
prescribed by the organization. Examples of formal
groups include sections of departments (such as the accounts
receivable section of the accounting
department), committees, or special project task forces. These
groups are set up by management on either a
temporary or permanent basis to accomplish prescribed tasks.
When the group is permanent, it is usually
called a command group or functional group. An example would
be the sales department in a company. When
the group is less permanent, it is usually referred to as a task
group. An example here would be a corporate-
sponsored task force on improving affirmative action efforts. In
both cases, the groups are formal in that they
are both officially established by the company to carry out some
aspect of the business.

Informal Groups. In addition to formal groups, all organizations
have a myriad of informal groups. These
groups evolve naturally out of individual and collective self-
interest among the members of an organization
and are not the result of deliberate organizational design.
People join informal groups because of common
interests, social needs, or simply friendship. Informal groups
typically develop their own norms and roles and
establish unwritten rules for their members. Studies in social
psychology have clearly documented the
important role of these informal groups in facilitating (or
inhibiting) performance and organizational
Chapter 9 Group and Intergroup Relations 287
effectiveness. Again, on the basis of their relative degree of
permanence, informal groups can be divided into
friendship groups (people you like to be around) and interest
groups (e.g., a network of working women or
minority managers). Friendship groups tend to be long-lasting,
whereas interest groups often dissolve as
people’s interests change.
One of the more interesting aspects of group processes in
organizations is the interaction between informal
and formal groups. Both groups establish norms and roles and
goals and objectives, and both demand loyalty
from their members. When an individual is a member of many
groups—both formal and informal—a wide
array of potentially conflicting situations emerges that has an
impact upon behavior in organizations. We will
focus on this interplay throughout the next few chapters.

Reasons for Joining Groups
People join groups for many reasons. Often, joining a group
serves several purposes at once. In general, at
least six reasons can be identified for joining groups:
1. Security. Most people have a basic need for protection from
external threats, real or imagined. These
threats include the possibility of being fired or intimidated by
the boss, the possibility of being
embarrassed in a new situation, or simply the anxiety of being
alone. Groups can be a primary source of
security against such threats. We have often heard that there is
“safety in numbers.”
2. Social Needs. In addition, as discussed in previous chapters,
basic theories of personality and motivation
emphasize that most individuals have relatively strong social
needs. They need to interact with other
people and develop meaningful relationships. People are clearly
social creatures. Groups provide
structured environments in which individuals can pursue
friendships.
3. Self-Esteem. Similarly, membership in groups can assist
individuals in developing self-esteem. People often
take pride in being associated with prestigious groups; note
such examples as professors elected to
membership in the National Academy of Sciences or salespeople
who qualify for a million dollar club as a
reward for sales performance.
4. Economic Self-Interest. People often associate with groups to
pursue their own economic self-interest. Labor
unions are a prime example of this phenomenon, as are various
professional and accrediting agencies,
such as the American Bar Association. These organizations

often attempt to limit the supply of
tradespeople or professionals in order to maintain employment
and salaries.
5. Mutual Interest. Some groups are formed to pursue goals that
are of mutual interest to group members.
Included here are bridge clubs, company-sponsored baseball
teams, and literary clubs. By joining
together, individuals can pursue group goals that are typically
not feasible alone.
6. Physical Proximity. Finally, many groups form simply
because people are located in close physical proximity
to one another. In fact, office architecture and layout can have
considerable influence over the
development of social networks and groups. Consider, for
example, two floors in the same building. On
the first floor, all the managers have private offices arranged in
a long row, with their assistants arranged
in a similar row in front of them. This horizontal pattern of
offices does not allow for frequent interaction
between either the managers or the secretaries, and as a result
group formation may be slowed. On the
second floor, however, suppose all the managers’ offices are
arranged in a cluster surrounding a similar
cluster of assistants. The result would be more frequent social
interaction among employees. This is not
to say that one arrangement is superior to the other; rather, it is
simply to point out how variations in
office arrangements can have an impact on group formation.

Stages in Group Development
Before we begin a comprehensive examination of the structure
of groups, consider briefly the stages of group
development. How do groups grow and develop over time?
Tuckman has proposed one model of group
development that consists of four stages through which groups
generally proceed.5 These four stages are
referred to by the deceptively simple titles forming, storming,
norming, and performing (see Exhibit 9.2).
1. Forming. In the first stage of development, when group
members first come together, emphasis is usually
placed on making acquaintances, sharing information, testing
one another, and so forth. This stage is
referred to as forming. Group members attempt to discover
which interpersonal behaviors are acceptable
or unacceptable in the group. In this process of sensing out the
environment, a new member is heavily
dependent upon others for providing cues to acceptable
behavior.
2. Storming. In the second stage of group development, a high
degree of intergroup conflict (storming) can
usually be expected as group members attempt to develop a
place for themselves and to influence the
development of group norms and roles. Issues are discussed
more openly, and efforts are made to clarify
group goals.
3. Norming. Over time, the group begins to develop a sense of
oneness. Here, group norms emerge
(norming) to guide individual behavior. Group members come
to accept fellow members and develop a
unity of purpose that binds them.

4. Performing. Once group members agree on basic purposes,
they set about developing separate roles for
the various members. In this final stage, role differentiation
emerges to take advantage of task
specialization in order to facilitate goal attainment. The group
focuses its attention on the task
(performing). As we consider this simple model, it should be
emphasized that Tuckman does not claim
that all groups proceed through this sequence of stages. Rather,
this model provides a generalized
conceptual scheme to help us understand the processes by which
groups form and develop over time.
Exhibit 9.2 Stages in Group Development (Attribution:
license)
9.2 Work Group Structure
2. How do group norms, roles, and status systems affect
employee behavior and performance?
Work group structure can be characterized in many different
ways. We examine several characteristics that are
useful in describing and understanding what makes one group
different from another. This matrix of variables
will, when taken together, paint a portrait of work groups in
terms of relatively enduring group properties. The
aspects of group structure to be considered are (1) work roles,
(2) work group size, (3) work group norms, (4)
status relationships, and (5) work group cohesiveness. Each of

these factors has been shown to influence
group processes, as shown in Exhibit 9.3. Thus, the material
presented here will be important when we focus
on group processes later in the text.
Exhibit 9.3 Group Structure and Process (Attribution: Copyright
Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Work Roles
In order to accomplish its goals and maintain its norms, a group
must differentiate the work activities of its
members. One or more members assume leadership positions,
others carry out the major work of the group,
and still others serve in support roles. This specialization of
activities is commonly referred to as role
differentiation. More specifically, a work role is an expected
behavior pattern assigned or attributed to a
particular position in the organization. It defines individual
responsibilities on behalf of the group.
It has been suggested that within organizational settings, work
roles can be divided into three types on the
basis of the nature of the activities that encompass the role.6
These are:
1. Task-oriented roles. These roles focus on task-related
activities aimed at achieving group performance
goals.
2. Relations-oriented roles. These roles emphasize the further
development of the group, including building
group cohesiveness and consensus, preserving group harmony,
looking after group member welfare, and
so forth.
3. Self-oriented roles. These roles emphasize the specific needs

and goals of individual members, often at the
1. What are the reasons for joining a group?
2. What are the development stages groups often go through?
3. At the storming stage, what differences might you expect
between groups formed for economic
self-interest and groups formed for mutual self-interest?
expense of the group.
As we might expect, individual group members often perform
several of these roles simultaneously. A group
leader, for example, must focus group attention on task
performance while at the same time preserving group
harmony and cohesiveness. To see how this works, consider
your own experience. You may be able to
recognize the roles you have played in groups you have been a
member of. In your experience, have you
played multiple roles or single roles?
Perhaps the best way to understand the nature of work roles is
to examine a role episode. A role episode is an
attempt to explain how a particular role is learned and acted
upon. As can be seen in Exhibit 9.4, a role
episode begins with members’ expectations about what one
person should be doing in a particular position

(Stage 1). These expectations are then communicated to the
individual (Stage 2), causing the individual to
perceive the expectations about the expected role (Stage 3).
Finally, the individual decides to act upon the role
in terms of actual role-related behavior (Stage 4). In other
words, Stages 1 and 2 deal with the expected role,
whereas Stage 3 focuses on the perceived role and Stage 4
focuses on the enacted role.
Consider the following simple example. A group may determine
that its newest member is responsible for
getting coffee for group members during breaks (Stage 1). This
role is then explained to the incoming
member (Stage 2), who becomes aware of his or her expected
role (Stage 3). On the basis of these perceptions
(and probably reinforced by group norms), the individual then
would probably carry out the assigned behavior
(Stage 4).
Several aspects of this model of a role episode should be noted.
First, Stages 1 and 2 are initiated by the group
and directed at the individual. Stages 3 and 4, on the other
hand, represent thoughts and actions of the
individual receiving the stimuli. In addition, Stages 1 and 3
represent cognitive and perceptual evaluations,
whereas Stages 2 and 4 represent actual behaviors. The sum
total of all the roles assigned to one individual is
called the role set.
Exhibit 9.4 A Simplified Model of a Role Episode Source:
Adapted from D. G. Myers and J. M. Twenge, Social
Psychology 13th edition, (New
York: McGraw Hill), 2018. (Attribution: Copyright Rice
Although the role episode presented here seems straightforward,

in reality we know that it is far more
complicated. For instance, individuals typically receive multiple
and sometimes conflicting messages from
various groups, all attempting to assign them a particular role.
This can easily lead to role conflict. Messages
sent to an individual may sometimes be unclear, leading to role
ambiguity. Finally, individuals may simply
receive too many role-related messages, contributing to role
overload. Discussion of these topics is reserved
for later study, where examination of several important aspects
of psychological adjustment to work.
Work Group Size
Obviously, work groups can be found in various sizes. Early
management theorists spent considerable time
and effort to no avail attempting to identify the right size for
the various types of work groups. There is simply
no right number of people for most group activities. They did,
however, discover a great deal about what
happens as group size increases.7 A number of relevant size-
outcome relationships are summarized in Table
9.2.
Effects of Group Size on Group Dynamics
Factor Size of Group
Small Large
Group interaction Increased Decreased

Group cohesiveness Higher Lower
Job satisfaction Higher Lower
Absenteeism Lower Higher
Turnover Lower Higher
Social loafing Lower Higher
Productivity No clear relation No clear relation
Group Interaction Patterns. First, we will consider the effects of
variations in group size on group interaction
patterns. A series of classic studies by Bales and Borgatta
examined this issue using a technique known as
interaction process analysis.8 This technique records who says
what to whom; through using it, Bales and his
colleagues found that smaller groups (2–4 persons) typically
exhibited greater tension, agreement, and
opinion seeking, whereas larger groups (13–16 persons) showed
more tension release and giving of
suggestions and information. This suggests that harmony is
crucial in smaller groups and that people in them
have more time to develop their thoughts and opinions. On the
other hand, individuals in larger groups must
be more direct because of the increased competition for
attention.
Job Attitudes. Increases in work group size are fairly
consistently found to be inversely related to satisfaction,
although the relationship is not overly strong.9 That is, people
working in smaller work units or departments

report higher levels of satisfaction than those in larger units.
This finding is not surprising in view of the
greater attention one receives in smaller groups and the greater
importance group members typically
experience in such things as their role set.
Absenteeism and Turnover. Available research indicates that
increases in work group size and absenteeism
are moderately related among blue-collar workers, although no
such relationship exists for white-collar
workers.10 One explanation for these findings is that increased
work group size leads to lower group
cohesiveness, higher task specialization, and poorer
communication. As a result, it becomes more difficult to
satisfy higher-order needs on the job, and job attendance
becomes less appealing. This explanation may be
more relevant in the case of blue-collar workers, who typically
have little job autonomy and control. White-
collar workers typically have more avenues available to them
for need satisfaction. Similar findings exist for
employee turnover. Turnover rates are higher in larger
groups.11 It again can be hypothesized that because
larger groups make need satisfaction more difficult, there is less
reason for individuals to remain with the
organization.
Productivity. No clear relationship has been found between
group size and productivity.12 There is probably a

good reason for this. Unless we take into consideration the type
of task that is being performed, we really
cannot expect a clear or direct relationship. Mitchell explains it
as follows:
Think of a task where each new member adds a new independent
amount of productivity (certain piece-rate
jobs might fit here). If we add more people, we will add more
productivity. . . . On the other hand, there are
tasks where everyone works together and pools their resources.
With each new person the added increment
of new skills or knowledge decreases. After a while increases in
size will fail to add much to the group except
coordination and motivation problems. Large groups will
perform less well than small groups. The relationship
between group size and productivity will therefore depend on
the type of task that needs to be done.13
However, when we look at productivity and group size, it is
important to recognize the existence of a unique
factor called social loafing,14 a tendency for indivi dual group
members to reduce their effort on a group task.
This phenomenon occurs when (1) people see their task as being
unimportant or simple, (2) group members
think their individual output is not identifiable, and (3) group
members expect their fellow workers to loaf.
Social loafing is more prevalent in larger groups than in smaller
groups, presumably because the above three
factors are accentuated. From a managerial standpoint, this
problem can be reduced by providing workers
with greater responsibility for task accomplishment and more
challenging assignments. This issue is
addressed in the following chapter on job design.
Work Group Norms
The concept of work group norms represents a complex topic

with a history of social psychological research
dating back several decades. In this section, we will highlight
several of the essential aspects of norms and
how they relate to people at work. We will consider the
characteristics and functions of work group norms as
well as conformity with and deviance from them.
Characteristics of Work Group Norms. A work group norm may
be defined as a standard that is shared by
group members and regulates member behavior within an
organization. An example can be seen in a typical
classroom situation when students develop a norm against
speaking up in class too often. It is believed that
students who are highly visible improve their grades at the
expense of others. Hence, a norm is created that
attempts to govern acceptable classroom behavior. We see
similar examples in the workplace. There may be a
norm against producing too much or too little, against getting
too close to the supervisor, against being late
for work, and so forth.
Work group norms may be characterized by at least five
factors:15
1. Norms summarize and simplify group influence processes.
They denote the processes by which groups
regulate and regularize member behavior.
2. Norms apply only to behavior, not to private thoughts and
feelings. Although norms may be based on
thoughts and feelings, they cannot govern them. That is, private
acceptance of group norms is
unnecessary—only public compliance is needed.
3. Norms are generally developed only for behaviors that are
viewed as important by most group members.

4. Norms usually develop gradually, but the process can be
quickened if members wish. Norms usually are
developed by group members as the need arises, such as when a
situation occurs that requires new
ground rules for members in order to protect group integrity.
5. All norms do not apply to all members. Some norms, for
example, apply only to young initiates (such as
getting the coffee), whereas others are based on seniority, sex,
race, or economic class.
Functions of Work Group Norms. Most all groups have norms,
although some may be more extensive than
others. To see this, examine the norms that exist in the various
groups to which you belong. Which groups
have more fully developed norms? Why? What functions do
these norms serve? Several efforts have been
made to answer this question. In general, work group norms
serve four functions in organizational settings:16
1. Norms facilitate group survival. When a group is under
threat, norms provide a basis for ensuring goal-
directed behavior and rejecting deviant behavior that is not
purposeful to the group. This is essentially a
“circle the wagons” phenomenon.
2. Norms simplify expected behaviors. Norms tell group
members what is expected of them—what is
acceptable and unacceptable—and allow members to anticipate
the behaviors of their fellow group
members and to anticipate the positive or negative consequences

of their own behavior.
3. Norms help avoid embarrassing situations. By identifying
acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, norms
tell group members when a behavior or topic is damaging to
another member. For example, a norm
against swearing signals group members that such action would
be hurtful to someone in the group and
should be avoided.
4. Norms help identify the group and express its central values
to others. Norms concerning clothes, language,
mannerisms, and so forth help tell others who belongs to the
group and, in some cases, what the group
stands for. Norms often serve as rallying points for group
members.
Conformity and Deviance. Managers often wonder why
employees comply with the norms and dictates of
their work group even when they seemingly work against their
best interests. This concern is particularly
strong when workers intentionally withhold productivity that
could lead to higher incomes. The answer to this
question lies in the concept of conformity to group norms.
Situations arise when the individual is swept along
by the group and acts in ways that he would prefer not to.
To see how this works, consider the results of a classic study of
individual conformity to group pressures that
was carried out by Solomon Asch.17 Asch conducted a
laboratory experiment in which a native subject was
placed in a room with several confederates. Each person in the
room was asked to match the length of a given
line (X) with that of one of three unequal lines (A, B, and C).
This is shown in Exhibit 9.5. Confederates, who
spoke first, were all instructed prior to the experiment to

identify line C as the line most like X, even though A
was clearly the answer. The results were startling. In over one-
third of the trials in the experiment, the naive
subject denied the evidence of his own senses and agreed with
the answers given by the unknown
confederates. In other words, when confronted by a unanimous
answer from others in the group, a large
percentage of individuals chose to go along with the group
rather than express a conflicting opinion, even
though these individuals were confident their own answers were
correct.
What causes such conformity to group norms? And, under what
conditions will an individual deviate from
these norms? Conformity to group norms is believed to be
caused by at least three factors.18 First, personality
plays a major role. For instance, negative correlations have been
found between conformity and intelligence,
tolerance, and ego strength, whereas authoritarianism was found
to be positively related. Essentially, people
who have a strong self-identity are more likely to stick to their
own norms and deviate from those of the group
when a conflict between the two exists. Second, the initial
stimulus that evokes responses can influence
conformity. The more ambiguous the stimulus (e.g., a new and
confusing order from top management), the
greater the propensity to conform to group norms (“I’m not sur e
what the new order from management really
means, so I’ll just go along with what others think it means”).
In this sense, conformity provides a sense of
protection and security in a new and perhaps threatening
situation. Finally, group characteristics themselves
can influence conformity to group norms. Factors such as the
extent of pressure exerted on group members
to conform, the extent to which a member identifies with the
group, and the extent to which the group has

been successful in achieving previous goals can influence
conformity.
Exhibit 9.5 Asch’s Experiment in Group Pressure and Individual
Judgment (Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax,
under CC BY-
NC-SA 4.0 license)
What happens when someone deviates from group norms?
Research indicates that groups often respond by
increasing the amount of communication directed toward the
deviant member.19 This communication is aimed
at bringing the deviant into the acceptable bounds set by the
group. A good example of this process can be
seen in Janis’s classic study of the group processes leading up
to the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba.20 At
one meeting, Arthur Schlesinger, an adviser to President
Kennedy, expressed opposition to the plan even
though no one else expressed similar doubts. After listening to
his opposition for a while, Robert Kennedy took
Schlesinger aside and said, “You may be right or you may be
wrong, but the President has his mind made up.
Don’t push it any further. Now is the time for everyone to help
him all they can.” Janis elaborated on this
group decision-making process and termed it “groupthink.”
When a deviant member refuses to heed the message and
persists in breaking group norms, group members

often respond by rejecting or isolating the deviant. They tell the
deviant, in essence, that they will no longer
tolerate such behavior and prefer to reconstitute the group. If
the deviant is not expelled, the group must
continually confront behavior that conflicts with what it holds
to be true. Rather than question or reexamine its
beliefs, the group finds it simpler—and safer—to rid itself of
dangerous influences.
Status Systems
A fourth characteristic, or structural property, of work groups is
the status system. Status systems serve to
differentiate individuals on the basis of some criterion or set of
criteria. There are five general bases on which
status differentiations are made: birth, personal characteristics,
achievement, possessions, and formal
authority. All five bases can be seen as establishing status in
work groups. For example, an employee may
achieve high status because he is the boss’s son (birth), the
brightest or strongest member of the group
(personal characteristics), the best performer (achievement), the
richest or highest paid (possessions), or the
foreman or supervisor (formal authority).
Reasons for Status Systems. Status systems can be seen
throughout most organizations. We differentiate
between blue-collar and white-collar employees (and even pink
and gold collar), skilled tradespersons and
unskilled workers, senior and junior managers, high achievers
and low achievers, and popular and unpopular
employees. Why do we do this? In essence, status
differentiation in organizations (and their related status
symbols) serves four purposes:21

Motivation. We ascribe status to persons as rewards or
incentives for performance and achieveme nt. If high
achievement is recognized as positive behavior by an
organization, individuals are more willing to exert effort.
Identification. Status and status symbols provide useful cues to
acceptable behavior in new situations. In the
military, for example, badges of rank quickly tell members who
has authority and who is to be obeyed.
Similarly, in business, titles serve the same purpose.
Dignification. People are often ascribed status as a means of
signifying respect that is due them. A
clergyman’s attire, for instance, identifies a representative of
the church.
Stabilization. Finally, status systems and symbols facilitate
stabilization in an otherwise turbulent environment
by providing a force for continuity. Authority patterns, role
relationships, and interpersonal interactions are all
affected and, indeed, defined by the status system in effect. As
a result, much ambiguity in the work situation
is reduced.
Status can be conferred on an individual in many different
ways. One way common in organizations is through
the assignment and decoration of offices. John Dean, counsel to
former President Nixon, provides the
following account concerning status in the White House:
Everyone [on the White House Staff] jockeyed for a position
close to the President’s ear, and even an
unseasoned observer could sense minute changes in status.
Success and failure could be seen in the size,

decor, and location of offices. Anyone who moved into a
smaller office was on the way down. If a carpenter,
cabinetmaker, or wallpaper hanger was busy in someone’s
office, this was the sure sign he was on the rise.
Every day, workmen crawled over the White House complex
like ants. Movers busied themselves with the
continuous shuffling of furniture from one office to another as
people moved in, up, down, or out. We learned
to read office changes as an index of the internal bureaucratic
power struggles. The expense was irrelevant to
Haldeman. . . . He once retorted when we discussed whether we
should reveal such expense, “This place is a
national monument, and I can’t help it if the last three
Presidents let it go to hell.” Actually, the costs had less
to do with the fitness of the White House than with the need of
its occupants to see tangible evidence of their
prestige.22
Modern businesses looking to attract top talent do not have
office spaces that have a group of workers siloed
in their own walled-off offices with doors 20 years old.23
One Orlando business, for instance, spent about $330,000 on the
design and build-out of its space.
Status Incongruence. An interesting aspect of status systems in
organizations is the notion of status
incongruence. This situation exists when a person is high on
certain valued dimensions but low on others, or
when a person’s characteristics seem inappropriate for a
particular job. Examples of status incongruence
include the college student who takes a janitorial job during the
summer (usually referred to as the “college
kid” by the other janitors), the president’s son who works his
way up through the organizational hierarchy (at
an accelerated rate, needless to say), or the young fast-track

manager who is promoted to a level typically held
by older employees.
Status incongruence presents problems for everyone involved.
The individual may become the target of
hostility and jealousy from coworkers who feel the individual
has risen above his station. The coworkers, on
the other hand, may be forced to acknowledge their own lack of
success or achievement. One might ask, for
example, “Why has this youngster been promoted over me when
I have more seniority?” At least two
remedies for this conflict are available to managers. An
organization can (1) select or promote only those
individuals whose characteristics are congruent with the job and
work group, and (2) attempt to change the
values of the group. Neither of these possibilities seems
realistic or fair. Hence, dynamic organizations that
truly reward high achievement (instead of seniority) must
accept some level of conflict resulting from status
incongruence.
Status Systems in Japanese Business
In Japan, etiquette is not simply a prescription for appropriate
social responses, it is a complete guide to
conducting oneself in all social interactions. At the root of this

system of social interaction is one’s status
within the organization and society.
The effects of status in Japan can be seen in many ways. For
example, when two businesspeople meet for
the first time, they exchange business cards—before they even
say hello to each other. After carefully
reading the cards, each knows precisely the other’s rank (and
status) in the organizational hierarchy and,
thus, how to respond. The person with the lower status must
bow lower than the person with the higher
status.
Moreover, when four managers get into a car, status determines
where each will sit. This is shown in
Exhibit 9.6, where it can be seen that the most important
(highest-status) manager will sit in the back
seat, directly behind the driver. Similarly, when four managers
enter an elevator, the least senior stands
in front of the elevator controls, with the most senior behind. In
a meeting room or in a restaurant, the
most honored seat is farthest from the door, whereas the least
honored is nearest the door. Even within
the meeting room itself, a sofa is considered higher in rank than
armchairs.
Exhibit 9.6 The Place of Honor in Japan (Attribution: Copyright
Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Clearly, status plays an important role in Japanese (and several
other East Asian) societies. Status
recognizes age (an important cultural variable in these
societies) and tells everyone involved how to
behave. Though such prescriptive practices may seem strange to
many Westerners, it is quite natural in
Japan. In fact, many Japanese feel such guidelines are helpful

and convenient in defining social
relationships, avoiding awkward situations, and making
business transactions more comfortable and
productive. Whether or not this perception is accurate, status
systems are a fact of life that must be
Group Cohesiveness
A fifth characteristic of work groups is group cohesiveness. We
have all come in contact with groups whose
members feel a high degree of camaraderie, group spirit, and
unity. In these groups, individuals seem to be
concerned about the welfare of other group members as well as
that of the group as a whole. There is a
feeling of “us against them” that creates a closeness among
them. This phenomenon is called group
cohesiveness. More specifically, group cohesiveness may be
defined as the extent to which individual
members of a group are motivated to remain in the group.
According to Shaw, “Members of highly cohesive
groups are more energetic in group activities, they are less
likely to be absent from group meetings, they are
happy when the group succeeds and sad when it fails, etc.,
whereas members of less cohesive groups are less
concerned about the group’s activities.”24
We shall consider two primary aspects of work group
cohesiveness. First, we look at major causes of
cohesiveness. Following this, we examine its consequences.
Determinants of Group Cohesiveness. Why do some work
groups develop a high degree of group
cohesiveness while others do not? To answer this question, we

have to examine both the composition of the
group and several situational variables that play a role in
determining the extent of cohesiveness. The major
factors that influence group cohesiveness are shown in Exhibit
9.7.25 These include the following:
Exhibit 9.7 Determinants and Consequences of Group
Cohesiveness (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
4.0 license)
recognized by Western managers attempting to do business in
Asia. Failure to understand such social
patterns puts the Western manager at a distinct disadvantage.
Sources: Allison, “Useful Japanese Business Manners to
Impress a Client or Guest,” Fast Japan, October
21, 2016; M. Yazinuma and R. Kennedy, “Life Is So Simple
When You Know Your Place,” Intersect, May
1986, pp. 35–39.
• Group homogeneity. The more homogeneous the group—that
is, the more members share similar
characteristics and backgrounds—the greater the cohesiveness.
• Group maturity. Groups tend to become more cohesive simply
as a result of the passage of time.
Continued interaction over long periods of time helps members
develop a closeness born of shared

experiences.
• Group size. Smaller groups have an easier time developing
cohesiveness, possibly because of the less
complex interpersonal interaction patterns.
• Frequency of interaction. Groups that have greater
opportunities to interact on a regular or frequent basis
tend to become more cohesive than groups that meet less
frequently or whose members are more
isolated.
• Clear group goals. Groups that know exactly what they are
trying to accomplish develop greater
cohesiveness, in part because of a shared sense of mission and
the absence of conflict over mission.
• Competition or external threat. When groups sense external
threat or hostility, they tend to band together
more closely. There is, indeed, “safety in numbers.”
• Success. Group success on a previous task often facilitates
increased cohesiveness and a sense of “we did
it together.”
In other words, a wide variety of factors can influence work
group cohesiveness. The precise manner in which
these processes occur is not known. Even so, managers must
recognize the existence of certain forces of
group cohesiveness if they are to understand the nature of group
dynamics in organizations. The second
aspect of group cohesiveness that must be understood by
managers relates to their consequences.
Consequences of Group Cohesiveness. As shown in Exhibit 9.7,
several consequences of group cohesiveness

can also be identified. The first and most obvious consequence
is maintenance of membership. If the
attractiveness of the group is sufficiently stronger than the
attractiveness of alternative groups, then we would
expect the individual to remain in the group. Hence, turnover
rates should be low.
In addition, high group cohesiveness typically provides the
group with considerable power over group
members. The power of a group over members depends upon the
level of outcomes members expect to
receive from the group compared to what they could receive
through alternate means. When the group is
seen as being highly instrumental to achieving personal goals,
individuals will typically submit to the will of the
group.
Third, members of highly cohesive groups tend to exhibit
greater participation and loyalty. Several studies have
shown that as cohesiveness increases, there is more frequent
communication among members, a greater
degree of participation in group activities, and less absenteeism.
Moreover, members of highly cohesive
groups tend to be more cooperative and friendly and generally
behave in ways designed to promote
integration among members.
Fourth, members of highly cohesive groups generally report
high levels of satisfaction. In fact, the concept of
group cohesiveness almost demands all this be the case, because
it is unlikely that members will feel like
remaining with a group with which they are dissatisfied.
Finally, what is the effect of group cohesiveness on
productivity? No clear relationship exists here. Instead,
research shows that the extent to which cohesiveness and

productivity are related is moderated by the extent
to which group members accept organizational goals. This is
shown in Exhibit 9.8. Specifically, when
cohesiveness and acceptance of organizational goals are high,
performance will probably be high. When
acceptance is high but cohesiveness is low, group performance
will typically be moderate. Finally, performance
will generally be low when goal acceptance is low regardless of
the extent of group cohesiveness. In other
words, high performance is most likely to result when highly
cohesive teams accept the goals of the
organization. At this time, both forces for performance are
congruent.
Exhibit 9.8 Group Cohesiveness, Goal Agreement, and
Performance (Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
4.0 license)
Group Cohesiveness
In the fast-moving innovative car industry, it is always
important to be thinking about improving and
staying ahead of the competition. For Ford and Chevrolet
however, they have such popular vehicles—the
F-150 and the hybrid Volt, respectively—that finding ways to
improve them without taking away the
qualities that make them popular is key.

With the F-150, Ford had one of the best-selling vehicles for
more than 30 years, but improving upon
their most popular vehicle came with its challenges. In 2015,
the team wanted to introduce an
economically six-cylinder EcoBoost engine, and an all-
aluminum body. The team was worried about the
marketplace and hoped that the customers would accept the
change to their beloved truck.
The planning started 18 months before, working in parallel work
teams on various parts of the project.
Each team was responsible for a piece of the overall project,
and they frequently came together to make
sure that they were working cohesively to create a viable
vehicle. The most successful piece of the
dynamic for Ford was teams’ ability to share feedback. Pete
Reyes expresses the teamwork mentality:
“Everybody crosses boundaries, and they came back with all of
the feedback that shaped what we are
going to do.”
Having team cohesiveness was ultimately what brought Ford to
the finish line. With over 1,000 members
of the overall team, employees were able to accomplish a truly
viable vehicle that weighed 700 pounds
less, as well as countless other innovations that gave the truck
29 percent more fuel economy.
“We stuck to common goals . . . I don’t think I’ll ever work on
a team that tight again,” stated Reyes
about his team of developmental managers. As a result of their
close teamwork, Ford announced third-
quarter earnings of 1.9 billion, an increase of 1.1 billion from
2014.
Sources: J. Motivalli, “ 5 Inspiring Companies That Rely on

Teamwork to Be Successful,” Success, February
16, 2016, https://www.success.com/5-inspiring-companies-that-
rely-on-teamwork-to-be-successful/; “All-
9.3 Managing Effective Work Groups
3. How do managers develop group cohesiveness, which
facilitates organizational goal attainment?
We have examined in detail the nature and structure of work
groups, noting that work groups differ along
such dimensions as size, norms, and roles. Some groups are
more cohesive than others. In view of these
differences, it is interesting to ask how managers can facilitate
increased work group effectiveness. To answer
this question, we will make use of Hackman’s model of group
effectiveness.26 According to this model,
illustrated in Exhibit 9.9, the effectiveness of a work group is
influenced by environmental factors, design
factors, and task-related interpersonal processes. These three
factors combine to influence what are called
intermediate criteria, which, in turn, combine with the nature of
the work technology to determine ultimate
group effectiveness.
New 2015 F-150 Most Patented Truck in Ford History – New
Innovations Bolster Next-Generation Light-
Duty Pickup,” Ford Media Center, May 23, 2014,
https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/

news/2014/05/23/all-new-2015-f-150-most-patented-truck-in-
ford-history--new-inno.html; P. Friedman,
“Body of Work,” Ford Corporate Website, accessed, December
13, 2018, https://corporate.ford.com/
innovation/f-150-body-of-work.html.
Questions:
1. What challenges does a large project like Ford’s F-150
project have to take into account for success?
2. What kind of work teams did Ford employ throughout its
project to get the best results?
3. Can Ford’s successes be translated into other smaller teams?
How would you apply its best practices
to a work environment of your own?
1. Explain what work roles are.
2. What role does group size play in the interactions of group
members?
3. What are group norms and what role do they play toward
group cohesiveness?
Exhibit 9.9 Determination of Work Group Effectiveness
What Is Work Group Effectiveness?
The first question to raise concerning work group effectiveness
is what we mean by the concept itself.
According to Hackman’s model, effectiveness is defined in

terms of three criteria:
1. Productive output. The productive output of the group must
meet or exceed the quantitative and
qualitative standards defined by the organization.
2. Personal need satisfaction. Groups are effective if
membership facilitates employee need satisfaction.
3. Capacity for future cooperation. Effective groups employ
social processes that maintain or enhance the
capacity of their members to work together on subsequent tasks.
Destructive social processes are
avoided so members can develop long-term cohesiveness and
effectiveness.
Determinants of Work-Group Effectiveness
Group effectiveness is largely determined by three factors that
have been called intermediate criteria. These
factors are as follows:
1. Group effort. The amount of effort group members exert
toward task accomplishment.
2. Group knowledge and skill. The amount of knowledge and
skills possessed by group members that are
available for group effort and performance.
3. Task performance strategies. The extent to which the group’s
strategies for task performance (that is, how

it analyzes and attempts to solve problems) are appropriate.
Although the relative importance of each of these three
intermediate factors may vary, all three are important.
Without considerable group effort, appropriate skills and
knowledge, and a clear strategy for task completion,
groups are unlikely to be effective.
An important influence on the relative importance of these three
variables is the nature of work technology.
This includes the equipment and materials used in manufacture,
the prescribed work procedures, and the
physical layout of the work site. For example, if jobs are highly
routinized, individual skills and knowledge may
be somewhat less important than simple effort. On more
complex tasks, however, such as research and
development, effort alone will be of little help without
concomitant skills and knowledge. Hence, although the
relative importance of these three variables may vary with the
job technology, all should be considered in any
effort to understand determinants of work group effectiveness in
a particular situation.
Finally, it must be recognized that these determinants of
effectiveness are themselves influenced by three sets
of factors (shown at the left-hand side of Exhibit 9.9). First, we
must recognize a series of environmental context
factors, such as the company’s reward system, training
programs, job descriptions, and so forth. Second are
several design factors, including group structure, member
composition, and performance norms. Finally, the
role of interpersonal processes—such as efforts among group
members and management to reduce conflict,
foster commitment, and share knowledge—must be recognized.
These three sets of factors, then, are largely

responsible for determining the so-called intermediate criteria
that, in turn, combine with appropriate job
technologies to determine work group effectiveness.
Implications for Group Management
On the basis of this analysis of group processes in work
organizations, we can identify several actions
managers can take in order to help groups to be more effective.
Increased Managerial Awareness. To begin, managers can make
themselves more aware of the nature of
groups and the functions groups perform for individuals. By
learning why individuals join groups, for example,
managers should be able to better understand the motivational
implications of group dynamics. Is high group
cohesiveness in a particular group a result of high commitment
to the organization and its goals, or is it a
result of alienation from the organization?
Sensitivity to Group Norms. Managers can be sensitive to group
norms and the extent to which they
facilitate or inhibit group and organizational performance. The
potency of group norms has been clearly
established. It has also been shown that company actions can
increase or decrease the likelihood that norms
will work to the benefit of the organization. Much of the thrust
of current organizational development efforts
is to use process consultation techniques to develop group
norms that are compatible with company goals.
Understanding Pressures for Conformity. Much has been said i n
the research literature about the effects of
groups on individual conformity and deviance. Groups often
place significant pressures on individuals to
conform, and they punish deviants by such means as ostracism.
From a managerial standpoint, conformity can

represent a mixed blessing. On one hand, there are many work
situations in which managers typically want
workers to conform to standard operating procedures (this is
called dependable role performance). On the
other hand, employees must be sufficiently free to take
advantage of what they believe to be unique or
important opportunities on behalf of the organization
(innovative and spontaneous behavior). If pressures
toward conformity are too strong, this spontaneity may be lost,
along with unique opportunities for the
organization.
Harnessing Group Cohesiveness. Where it is desirable to
develop highly cohesive groups, managers can
show employees how group members can help one another by
working together. It is important to note,
however, that group cohesiveness by itself does not guarantee
increased group effectiveness. Instead,
managers must take the lead in showing group members why
they benefit from working toward
organizational goals. One way to accomplish this is through the
reward systems used by the organization.
In short, there are several lessons for managers here concerning
the effects of group dynamics on
performance and effectiveness. The lesson is clear: managers
must be sensitive to and deal with group
processes in the workplace. Without doing so, the manager and
the company are destined at best to achieve
mediocre results.
9.4 Intergroup Behavior and Performance

4. What are barriers to intergroup cooperation, and how do you
We are now ready to move on to an examination of intergroup
behavior. That is, what happens when one
group in an organization must interact with another? Clearly, in
any corporation, a high degree of intergroup
interaction is vital to organizational success. Even in small
companies, the production group must interact with
the sales group, and both must accommodate the finance and
accounting groups. Without smooth intergroup
relations, organizational effectiveness and industrial
competitiveness are virtually impossible.
Determinants of Intergroup Performance
To understand how groups interact with one another, it is
important to identify the primary variables that
characterize intergroup behavior.27 We can do this by
suggesting a model of intergroup performance. This
model is outlined in Exhibit 9.10. As shown, intergroup
behavior occurs when two groups intersect. Each
group has its own characteristics and uniqueness, but both
operate within the larger confines of
organizational policies, culture, reward systems, and so forth.
Within this context, performance is largely
influenced by three types of interaction requirements:
interdependence requirements, information flow
requirements, and integration requirements. The quality of
intergroup performance is affected by the extent
to which all parties to the interaction can meet these
requirements.

1. Why must managers be sensitive to and deal with group
processes in the workplace
Exhibit 9.10 A Model of Intergroup Behavior and Performance
BY-NC-SA 4.0
license)
Interdependence Requirements. Interdependence requirements
relate to the frequency and quality of
interactions among groups; high-quality interaction is required
for successful task accomplishment. To
successfully achieve corporate objectives, organizations must
achieve enough intergroup interaction to
coordinate resource allocation and utilization. The amount of
interaction required is determined by the extent
and nature of the groups’ interdependence. Group
interdependence takes three primary forms (see Exhibit
9.11):
Exhibit 9.11 Three Types of Group Interdependence

1. Pooled interdependence. Pooled interdependence occurs when
various groups are largely independent of
one another, even though each contributes to and is supported
by the larger organization. For example,
although the physics and music departments may not interact
frequently, both contribute to the larger
goals of the university, and both use university resources. In a
factory setting, pooled interdependence
can be seen in a company with two distinct manufacturing
divisions; e.g., one for consumer products and
one for industrial products. Although produced separately, both
kinds of products come together in the
shipping department, and both represent products of the same
company.
2. Sequential interdependence. Sequential interdependence
exists when the outputs of one unit or group
become the inputs for another. For example, the manufacturing
department in a company is clearly
dependent on the purchasing department for the success of its
own operation, whereas the purchasing
department is much less dependent on manufacturing.
3. Reciprocal interdependence. Reciprocal interdependence
occurs when two or more groups depend on
one another for inputs. For example, without product
engineering, the marketing department would have
nothing to sell. On the other hand, without consumer
information from marketing, product engineering
might not know what to manufacture. The two units are highly
dependent on each other, thereby
requiring a high degree of interaction.
In summary, the type of interdependence determines in large
part the degree of interrelationship that

develops among two or more groups. High interdependence
typically requires high intergroup interaction,
whereas low interdependence typically requires relatively low
intergroup interaction.
Information Flow Requirements. The second requirement for
successful intergroup performance is optimal
information flow. To be successful, groups need the appropriate
amount of information. Information flow is
influenced to a large degree by the extent of task uncertainty.
When groups are working on highly uncertain
tasks (e.g., a new product, an experiment, or an old product in a
new environment), the need for
communication increases. When task uncertainty is low, less
information is typically needed.
Task uncertainty, in turn, is influenced by two factors. The first,
task clarity, is the extent to which the
requirements and responsibilities of the group are clearly
understood. The use of standard operating
procedures in organizations is an example of a group
requirement. The other consideration is task
environment, those factors inside and outside the organization
that can affect the group’s performance. The
task environment has two aspects: the number of groups that
must be dealt with and the relative stability of
the environment. Obviously, the more groups that must interact
and the more dynamic the environment, the

greater the task uncertainty. In a dynamic environment, groups
tend to expand their information-gathering
efforts to detect and cope with environmental changes. Hence,
the greater the task uncertainty, the greater
the need for comprehensive information flow systems.
Integration Requirements. The final requirement for successful
intergroup performance is integration.
Integration requirements focus on the extent of collaboration,
cooperation, or structural relationships among
groups needed to ensure success. Typically, various departments
within an organization have different goals
and time orientations. A technical research department, for
example, often sees its goals in scientific terms
and has a long-term perspective. A marketing department in the
same company, focusing its goals on market
considerations on the other hand, would typically have a short-
term orientation. The production department,
concerned with technical goals, would probably attempt to
maintain a moderate time orientation in order to
take advantage of the economies of scale associated with longer
production runs.
A successful organization finds ways to integrate groups so that
they coordinate their efforts on behalf of
corporate objectives. The trick is to achieve some commonly
acceptable coordinating mechanism—not a state
in which all units have the same goals and time orientations. It
would prove disastrous, for example, if the
research unit looked for short-term results or the marketing
department ignored short-term shifts in the
marketplace. Through integration, various units can
accommodate one another’s needs while maintaining
their individuality. In this way, the strengths of all groups are
used in addressing organizational problems.

When we put these various requirements and their antecedents
together, we can see why achieving
intergroup coordination and performance is no easy task. Table
9.3 shows the defining characteristics of four
typical units of an organization: research, development, sales,
and manufacturing. The interdependence, task
uncertainty, and time and goal orientation of each unit are
shown. Consider the complexities managers face in
attempting to lead such an organization efficiently and
effectively. Indeed, business magazines are filled with
examples of corporate failures that can be traced to poor
coordination of such units. These examples point to
an endless array of potential sources of conflict that can reduce
the capacity of a company to compete
successfully in an ever-changing environment.
Intergroup Characteristics in Four Units of One Company
Group Interdependence Examples Task Uncertainty Time and
Goal Orientation
Research Reciprocal with development
Sequential with market
research
Pooled with shipping
High Time: Long term
Goal: Science

Development Reciprocal with market
research
Sequential with manufacturing
Pooled with shipping
Moderate to
high
Time: Long term
Goal: Science and
technoeconomic
Sales Reciprocal with market
research
Sequential with manufacturing
Pooled with personnel
Moderate Time: Moderate term
Goal: Market
Manufacturing Reciprocal with accounting
Sequential with shipping
Pooled with research
Low Time: Short term
Goal: Technoeconomic

Source: Adapted from A. Szilagyi and M. Wallace,
Organizational Behavior and Performance, 5th ed. (New
York: HarperCollins, 1991), p. 272.
Managing Intergroup Behavior and Performance
When we analyze the challenge of managing intergroup
behavior and performance, the key issue facing
managers is the issue of coordination. In most situations,
various units or departments in the organization all
have talent needed to ensure task accomplishment. Yet, each
unit has its own culture, goals, norms, and so
forth. Hence, the challenge for managers is harnessing and
coordinating this talent in such a way that group
harmony is maintained while organizational objectives are
achieved.
There are several techniques for managing intergroup relations
and performance. These techniques include
using rules and procedures, member exchange, linking roles,
task forces, and decoupling. Let us briefly
consider each as it relates to intergroup coordination and
performance.
Rules and Procedures. A common way to manage intergroup
relations is for senior management to establish
rules and procedures governing the interactions of two or more
departments or units. For example, if units

consistently fail to communicate with one another, which leads
to poor coordination, the company may
institute a new policy requiring all groups to post certain types
of information at regular time intervals or to
inform other department heads of proposed new activities or
changes. By simply increasing communication
flow, group coordination should increase.
Member Exchange. In some circumstances, it is desirable for
the organization to temporarily transfer a
member from one group to another. Such exchanges offer the
employee an opportunity to better understand
the problems and procedures of the other group. Upon returning
to his original group, the employee can
share information about the other group. In addition, the
transferred employee often develops better
interpersonal contacts with the other department, thereby
enhancing communication and coordination. An
example of this can be seen when a company transfers a
production engineer into the quality assurance
department. As a result, the employee sees firsthand the
problems of the quality control group and can take
the knowledge back to production engineering.
Linking Roles. A linking role is a position or unit within the
organization that is charged with overseeing and
coordinating the activities of two or more groups. A good
example is a product manager who is responsible
for coordinating manufacturing, sales, quality control, and
product research for a certain product line (see
Exhibit 9.12). In essence, these linking role positions are
designed to enhance communication among the
various functional units and ensure that the right products are
designed, manufactured, and marketed. We

will say more about the product manager’s role in
Understanding and Managing Work Teams.
Exhibit 9.12 The Product Manager as a Linking Role
Exhibit 9.13 Sales team The sales team at Dynamic Signal
meets for reviewing goals. What can you say about the diversity
of this team?
(Credit: Jim Larisson/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY
2.0))
Task Forces. A task force serves much the same purpose as a
linking role except that the role is temporary
instead of permanent. In a task force, individuals from several
units are brought together to solve a specific
problem, usually in a short period of time. It is felt that each
unit has expertise to contribute and that by
coordinating these efforts, a better solution can be achieved. A
typical task force arrangement can be seen in
Exhibit 9.14. For instance, a company facing a major financial
cutback may create a task force consisting of
members from across the company to identify ways to resolve
the crisis. Or a company may create a task force
to consider a joint venture offer from a foreign company. In
both cases, the problem is that immediate and
diverse skills are required to reach an optimal solution.

Exhibit 9.14 An Example of a Typical Task Force (Attribution:
license)
Decoupling. Finally, there are situations in which two or more
closely related groups simply don’t work
together effectively. In such cases, decoupling may be the
answer.28 Decoupling involves separating two
groups—physically or administratively—in such a way that the
required tasks of the organization are fulfilled
while the interaction between the two groups is minimized. For
instance, hardware and software engineers
ideally should work closely together on the design of a new
computing system. Yet sometimes these people
see problems and solutions quite differently, which may lead to
overt hostility and uncooperative behavior.
One solution would be to separate the two groups physically and
then have one group (e.g., the hardware
engineers) outline product specifications. Software engineers
then could work more on their own to design
software to meet these specifications. Obviously, some
coordination would be required. Even so, such an
approach could retain the services of two valued groups of
engineers who see problems quite differently— a
wise compromise strategy for the high-tech company.
In essence, several strategies are available to assist managers in
coordinating the diverse talents of
interdependent groups in ways that help achieve organizatio nal
goals. The choice of an appropriate technique
depends upon the unique situation facing the manager. One such
approach to managing intergroup

coordination was practiced at General Motors Company as it
approached the design and manufacture of the
Saturn.
Engagement on Global Work Teams: IBM
Since 2008, IBM has increased its focus on becoming a globally
integrated enterprise. Employing over
200,000 people from different countries and backgrounds, there
are major challenges that IBM faces
when managing its work teams on such a large global scale.
One of those main components is time zone management.
Instead of being highly rigorous in work
hours and causing employees to be available on teams at all
hours of the night or day, IBM decided they
would implement a results-oriented work environment (ROWE).
This strategy allows employees to work
where they live on virtual teams and base their hours on their
own schedules. ROWE allows employees to
work at the hours that they feel naturally most productive.
Another key component to managing a global work team is clear
communication. IBM structures its
leadership of the work teams with leaders that consist of four or
five senior executives from multiple
geographies. They must work side by side to understand one
another’s cultural differences, as well as
provide input on their overall team objectives that enable
business growth in that country. They are able

to accommodate local differences, learn from one another’s
differences, and come to common
objectives because of their remote location differences for a
better outcome. Additionally, these leaders
are better equipped to understand local nuances because of their
deeper understanding of the global
and cultural nuances of their team members.
IBM continues to focus on growing “global IBMers” by offering
opportunities for global leadership
experiences as well as offering opportunities to acquire new
skills. The company focuses on three key
actions:
1. Grow locally and globally via a consistent methodology.
Align business strategies with national
priorities and societal goals, build local expertise, and expand
market relevance.
2. Develop leadership. Provide more employees with
opportunities to enhance their skills, and offer
more varied global experiences early in careers.
3. Enable the global integrated enterprise (GIE) vision.
Accelerate enterprise-wide collaboration and an
organizational culture based on shared values.
These key actions are clearly communicated by IBM and are
demonstrated by leadership to help engage
employees behind the methods. Utilizing the best technology to
improve collaboration can garner the
most productivity and empower employees. If leadership is
engaged, employees will also engage with
their work and workplace, which helps drive team cohesiveness
overall.

Questions:
1. What challenges does IBM face due to the size and global
reach of its employee base?
2. Name at least three strategies that managers and leaders can
employ to help keep employees
engaged, even when working in remote work teams.
Sources: K. White, “Enabling Growth through Global
Enablement Teams,” IBM Thought Leadership,
https://ibm.com/services/us/gbs/ thoughtleadership/ibv-global-
leaders.html;
“Enabling Growth through Global Enablement teams,” IBM
Thought Leadership, accessed January 3, 2019,
https://ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/gbs-integrated-
enterprise-workforce.html; T. Neely, “Global
Teams that Work,” Harvard Business Review, October 2015,
https://hbr.org/2015/10/global-teams-that-
work; D. DeRosa, “3 Companies With High-Performing Teams,”
Onpoint Consulting, October 3, 2017,
https://www.onpointconsultingllc.com/blog/3-companies-with-
high-performing-virtual-teams.
1. Are well-functioning teams or groups in complex tasks more
productive and leave workers more

satisfied than in traditional arrangements?
2. What is the importance of the ability to effectively manage
both the task requirements and the
process or maintenance aspects of the group for them to
function well?
Command group
Decoupling
Formal group
Friendship group
Group
Group cohesiveness
Informal group
Information flow
Interaction process analysis
Interest group
Linking role
Norms
Pooled interdependence
Reciprocal interdependence
Role ambiguity
Role conflict
Role episode

Role overload
Role set
Sequential interdependence
Social loafing
Status incongruence
Status system
Task force
Task group
Task uncertainty
Work role
Work technology
Key Terms
A group that is permanent.
Involves separating two groups—physically or
administratively—in such a way that the required
tasks of the organization are fulfilled while the interaction
between the two groups is minimized.
Work units that are prescribed by the organization.
Friendship groups tend to be long lasting.
An organized system of two or more individuals who are
interrelated so that the system performs
some function, has a standard set of role relationships among its
members, and has a set of norms that
regulate the function of the group and each of its members.
The extent to which individual members of a group are
motivated to remain in the
group.

Groups that evolve naturally out of individual and collective
self-interest among the
members of an organization and are not the result of deliberate
organizational design.
To be successful, groups need the appropriate amount of
information.
A technique that records who says what to whom, and through
using it
illustrates that smaller groups typically exhibit greater tension,
agreement, and opinion seeking, whereas
larger groups show more tension release and giving of
suggestions and information.
A network that forms due to mutual interests such as working
women or minority managers.
A position or unit within the organization that is charged with
overseeing and coordinating the
activities of two or more groups.
These regulate the function of the group and each of its
members.
Occurs when various groups are largely independent of each
other, even though
each contributes to and is supported by the larger organization.
Occurs when two or more groups depend on one another for
inputs.
A condition that arises when messages sent to an individual may
be unclear.
A condition that can arise when individuals receive multiple and
sometimes conflicting

messages from various groups, all attempting to assign them a
particular role.
An attempt to explain how a particular role is learned and acted
upon.
A condition where individuals may simply receive too many
role-related messages.
The sum total of all the roles assigned to one individual.
Exists when the outputs of one unit or group become the inputs
for another.
A tendency for individual group members to reduce their effort
on a group task.
A situation that exists when a person is high on certain valued
dimensions but low on
others, or when a person’s characteristics seem inappropriate
for a particular job.
Serves to differentiate individuals on the basis of some criterion
or set of criteria.
Serves the same purpose as a linking role except that the role is
temporary instead of permanent.
Serves the same purpose as a command role except that the role
is temporary instead of
permanent.
When groups are working on highly uncertain tasks, the need
for communication
increases. When task uncertainty is low, less information is
typically needed.
An expected behavior pattern assigned or attributed to a
particular position in the organization.

Includes the equipment and materials used in manufacture, the
prescribed work
procedures, and the physical layout of the work site.
9.1 Work Groups: Basic Considerations
1. How do you manage group and intergroup processes
effectively?
A group is a collection of individuals who share a common set
of norms, who generally have differentiated
roles among themselves, and who interact with one another in
the joint pursuit of common goals. Groups may
be divided into permanent and temporary groups and formal and
informal groups. Formal groups include
command and task groups, whereas informal groups include
friendship and interest groups.
9.2 Work Group Structure
2. How do group norms, roles, and status systems affect
employee behavior and performance?
People join groups because they offer security, meet social
needs, enhance self-esteem, fulfill economic
interests, introduce them to people with mutual interests, and,
sometimes, because they are in close physical
proximity. Groups typically develop through several distinct
stages, including forming, storming, norming, and

performing. A role may be defined as an expected behavior
pattern assigned or attributed to a particular
position in the organization. Roles may be oriented toward the
task, social relations, or the self.
9.3 Managing Effective Work Groups
3. How do managers develop group cohesiveness, which
facilitates organizational goal attainment?
Social loafing is a tendency for individual members of a group
to reduce their task effort in the belief that
other members will cover for them. A norm is a standard that is
shared by group members and that regulates
member behavior within an organization. Norms facilitate group
survival, simplify expected behaviors, help
members avoid embarrassing situations, and help identify group
members. Asch’s experiment in group
pressure and individual judgment demonstrated that individuals
will discount their own perceptions of a
situation and follow the will of a group. Status systems serve to
differentiate individuals on the basis of some
criterion or set of criteria. Status incongruence occurs when one
individual holds a position in the status
hierarchy that is inconsistent with the conventional criteria for
that position. Group cohesiveness is the extent
to which individual members of a group are motivated to remain
in the group. Work group effectiveness is
defined by three criteria: group productivity, personal need
satisfaction of the members, and the group’s
capacity for future cooperation.
9.4 Intergroup Behavior and Performance
4. What are barriers to intergroup cooperation, and how do you

Intergroup performance is influenced by three interaction
requirements. These include the requirements for
interdependence, information, and integration. A linking role is
a position or unit within the organization that
is charged with overseeing and coordinating the activities of
two or more groups. A task force consists of
members from several departments or units who are brought
together on a temporary basis to solve a
specific and immediate problem. Decoupling refers to the
practice of physically or administratively separating
groups that are not able to work together effectively.
1. What are the various types of groups often found in w ork
situations?
2. Why do people join groups?
3. Describe the stages of group development.
4. How does work group size influence individual and group
behavior?
5. Discuss the role of work group norms in the work situation.
6. Consider how groups influence conformity and deviance in
work situations.
7. What is the major conclusion of Asch’s experiment on group
pressure and individual judgment?
8. Define a role episode.
9. Why is knowledge of role relationships important for
managers?

10. What purposes are served by status differentiations in work
organizations? What problems emerge from
these differentiations?
11. What determines group cohesiveness, and what impact does
it have on group behavior?
12. Discuss how managers can improve intergroup relations and
performance. Provide examples from your
own experience to defend your arguments.
1. To assist in your analysis, you may wish to complete this
self-assessment. Simply think of a group you
have belonged to, and answer each question as honestly as
possible. When you are through, refer to
Appendix B for interpretation.
How Do You Behave in a Group?
Instructions: Think of a typical group situation in which you
often find yourself (e.g., a club, study group, small
work group), and answer the following items as accurately as
possible.
Never Seldom Fairly
Often

Frequently
In a group, how often do you:
1. Keep the group focused on the task at hand? 1 2 3 4
2. Help the group clarify the issues? 1 2 3 4
3. Pull various ideas together? 1 2 3 4
4. Push the group to make a decision or complete a task? 1 2 3 4
5. Support and encourage other groups members? 1 2 3 4
6. Try to reduce interpersonal conflicts? 1 2 3 4
7. Help the group reach a compromise? 1 2 3 4
8. Assist in maintaining group harmony? 1 2 3 4
9. Seek personal recognition from other group members? 1 2 3 4
10. Try to dominate group activities? 1 2 3 4
11. Avoid unpleasant or undesirable group activities? 1 2 3 4
12. Express your impatience or hostility with the group? 1 2 3 4
2. To see how group effectiveness works, try this self-
assessment. Choose a work group (or groups) to which
you belong (or did belong in the past). Once you have selected a
group, simply answer the items on the
questionnaire by checking either “mostly yes” or “mostly no.”
When you have finished, refer to Appendix
B for scoring.

How Effective Is Your Work Group?
Instructions: Select a group to which you belong, and use this
group to answer the following questions. Check
“mostly yes” or “mostly no” to answer each question.
Mostly
Yes
Mostly
No
1. The atmosphere is relaxed and comfortable. _____ _____
2. Group discussion is frequent, and it is usually pertinent to the
task at hand. _____ _____
3. Group members understand what they are trying to
accomplish. _____ _____
4. People listen to each other’s suggestions and ideas. _____
_____
5. Disagreements are tolerated, and an attempt is made to
resolve them. _____ _____
6. There is general agreement on most courses of action taken.
_____ _____
7. The group welcomes frank criticism from inside and outside
sources. _____ _____

8. When the group takes action, clear assignments are made and
accepted. _____ _____
9. There is a well-established, relaxed working relationship
among the members. _____ _____
10. There is a high degree of trust and confidence among the
leader and
subordinates.
_____ _____
11. The group members strive hard to help the group achieve its
goal. _____ _____
12. Suggestions and criticisms are offered and received with a
helpful spirit. _____ _____
13. There is a cooperative rather than a competitive relationship
among group
members.
_____ _____
14. The group goals are set high but not so high as to create
anxieties or fear of
failure.
_____ _____
15. The leaders and members hold a high opinion of the group’s
capabilities. _____ _____
16. Creativity is stimulated within the group. _____ _____
17. There is ample communication within the group of topics

relevant to getting
the work accomplished.
_____ _____
18. Group members feel confident in making decisions. _____
_____
19. People are kept busy but not overloaded. _____ _____
20. The leader of the group is well suited for the job. _____
_____
Source: Adapted from A. J. DuBrin from The Human Side of
Enterprise (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960).
1. Assume that you are the CEO of a major producer of potato
chips. You have four plants and discover that
one of the plants is more productive than the other three;
specifically, the midnight to 8 a.m. shift is 22
percent more productive than every other shift. Since one of the
things that makes chips more appealing
to customers is freshness, increasing productivity and getting
the product on the shelves is of enormous
importance.
You decide to visit the plant based in San Antonio, Texas, and

observe the 4 p.m. to midnight shift and
then the midnight to 8 a.m. shift. During your visit, you are
impressed with the effectiveness of the first
shift and discuss the production process with the supervisor,
which involves boiling the chips in hot oil,
seasoning them in three varieties of salted seasoning, and
having the chips go through a tube to fill the
bags that are then placed in boxes for shipment to retailers.
Everything seems to have been done
efficiently, and you eagerly anticipate seeing what the midnight
shift is doing to produce extraordinary
results.
The new crew starts its shift by cleaning the production line and
begins production. For the first hour,
everything they do mirrors what the previous shift was doing.
Then the shift supervisor calls out that it is
time to clean the tubes, and for two minutes the team cleans the
tubes that feed the bags with chips to
remove the oil that has accumulated in the tubes. This process is
repeated seven times throughout the
night, with the final cleaning preparing the line for the morning
shift. At the end of the night, the
production report shows that this shift produced 23 percent
more chips than the previous shifts. When
you meet with the supervisor and workers, you ask them about
their practice of cleaning the tubes. They
report that they discovered that oil buildup in the tubes slowed
the flow of chips, which caused everything
before that step in the process to slow down. You thank them
and consider what to do next. You obviously
need to implement this practice across all shifts in the company
and are considering how to roll this out.
You also want to reward the shift supervisor, Manuel Santos,
and the workers on the shift for their
ingenuity. What are your next steps? Write the memo that you
would send to all shift supervisors, or

alternatively, write a memo to the general managers of the four
plants to implement this. What are the
benefits of each approach? Finally, decide on the rewards for
Manuel Santos and the midnight shift
workers, and write a letter that would be sent to them
commending them. How might this incident be
used to improve the performance of all work groups in the
organization?
OECollaboration
At OECollaboration, a technology company that develops
virtual collaboration software for new companies,
Mike Jones is a new manager. One of the biggest challenges he
has faced is that the team that he is managing
is well established and because he is an outsider, the team
members haven’t yet developed trust in him.
Two weeks into his new employment, Mike held a meeting and
discussed all of the changes to the remote
work agreements as well as implementing new meeting
requirements for each employee to have a biweekly
meeting scheduled with him to discuss their projects. The team
was outraged, they were not excited, and the
following days he wasn’t greeted in a friendly way; in addition,
his team seemed less engaged when asked to
participate in team functions.
Tracy James is also a new manager at OECollaboration who
started at the same time as Mike, in a similar
situation where she is a new manager of an existing team. Tracy
was able to hold a meeting the first day on
the job to listen to her team and get to know them. During this
meeting she also told the team about herself
and her past experiences. Additionally, she held one-on-one

meetings to listen to each of her team members
to discuss what they were working on and their career goals.
After observation and discussion with upper
management, she aligned her own team goals closely with the
skills and experiences of her new team. She
met with the whole team to make changes to a few policies,
explaining why they were being changed, and set
the strategy for the team moving forward.
Because she got her team involved and learned about them
before implementing her new strategy, this was
well received. Her team still had questions and concerns, but
they felt like they could trust her and that they
were included in the changes that were being made.
Questions:
1. What challenges can a new manager encounter when starting
to manage an existing team?
2. What strategies can a new manager implement to ensure that
his new team is engaged with him and
builds relationships to succeed in his new role?
Sources: J. Morris, “How Smart Manager’s Win over New teams
Without Bringing in Free Food,” The Muse,
https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-smart-managers-win-
over-new-teams-
without-bringing-in-free-food; B. Tulgan, “The Challenge of
Taking Over Leadership of an Existing Team,”
Association for Talent Development, January 5, 2015,

https://www.td.org/insights/the-challenge-of-taking-over-
leadership-of-an-existing-team;
Introduction
Learning Outcomes
questions:
What is the benefit of working in teams, and what makes teams
effective?
How do teams develop over time?
What are some key considerations in managing teams?
What are the benefits of conflict for a team?
How does team diversity enhance decision-making and problem-
solving?
What are some challenges and best practices for managing and
working with multicultural teams?
Exhibit 10.1 (Credit: MabelAmber/ Pixabay/ (CC BY 0))
Eva Hartmann, Trellis LLC
Eva Hartmann has nearly 20 years of experience as a strategic,
results-driven, innovative leader with
significant expertise in human resources strategy, talent and
leadership development, and
organizational effectiveness. She has worked in a variety of

industries, from manufacturing to Fortune
500 consulting. Eva is a transformational change agent who has
developed and led strategic human
capital programs and talent initiatives in multiple challenging
environments globally. Eva is passionate
about enhancing both individual and organizational
performance.
Eva began her career in one of the large “Big 6” management
consulting firms at the time, and she
happily returned several years ago to consulting. She is the
founder and president of Trellis LLC, a
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
10
Understanding and Managing Work Teams
Much of the work that is performed today in organizations
requires a focus on teamwork. The ability to work
successfully as a team member, as well as the ability to lead
teams, is an ultimate advantage within the
workforce. Teams themselves must be managed, in addition to
managing just the individuals, to be successful.
We’ve all heard the quote originally coined by Aristotle that
states that “the whole is greater than the sum of

its parts.” This captures the nature of the team perfectly—there
is such a synergy that comes from a team that
the individuals alone are not able to create. This chapter details
the importance of and benefits that you may
derive from working as a team, as well as some of the ways we
can make our teams more successful.
10.1 Teamwork in the Workplace
1. What is a team, and what makes a team effective?
Teamwork has never been more important in organizations than
it is today. Whether you work in a
manufacturing environment and utilize self-directed work
teams, or if you work in the “knowledge economy”
and derive benefits from collaboration within a team structure,
you are harnessing the power of a team.
A team, according to Katzenbach and Smith in their Harvard
Business Review (HBR) article “The Discipline of
Teams,” is defined as “people organized to function
cooperatively as a group”.1 The five elements that make
teams function are:
• Common commitment and purpose
• Specific performance goals
• Complementary skills
• Commitment to how the work gets done
• Mutual accountability
A team has a specific purpose that it delivers on, has shared
leadership roles, and has both individual and
mutual accountabilities. Teams discuss, make decisions, and
perform real work together, and they measure
their performance by assessing their collective work products.
Wisdom of Teams reference. This is very

different from the classic working group in an organization
(usually organized by functional area) in which
there is a focused leader, individual accountabilities and work
products, and a group purpose that is the same
as the broader organizational mission. Think of the finance
organization or a particular business unit in your
company—these are, in effect, larger working groups that take
on a piece of the broader organizational
human capital consulting and staffing firm in Richmond,
Virginia.
Prior to Trellis, Eva was the global human resources leader for
a large global manufacturer of plastic film
products and was responsible for the HR strategy and operations
of a $600 million global division. In this
role, Eva led a global team of HR managers in North and South
America, Europe, and Asia to support
global HR initiatives to drive business results and build human
capital and performance across the
division.
Eva has also held a variety of leadership and managerial roles in
both human resources and quality
functions at several nationally and globally recognized
companies, including Wachovia Securities,
Genworth Financial, Sun Microsystems, and Andersen
Consulting (now Accenture).
Eva holds an MBA from the College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, Virginia, and a BA in
anthropology from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville,
Virginia. She is also an adjunct faculty
member with the University of Richmond Robins School of
Business. Eva currently serves on the board of
the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) of

Richmond, Virginia.
322 Chapter 10 Understanding and Managing Work Teams
mission. They are organized under a leader, and their
effectiveness is measured by its influence on others
within the business (e.g., financial performance of the
business.)
Exhibit 10.2 Finance Working Group Smart managers
understand that not all of a company’s influential relationships
appear as part of the
organization chart. Consider a publishing company that might
have a lead finance head for each group, such as adult fiction,
nonfiction, young
adult, and children’s book divisions. A finance team working
group would help spread best practices and lead to more
cohesive operations for
the entire organization. (Credit: thetaxhaven /flickr / Attribution
2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
So, what makes a team truly effective? According to
Katzenbach and Smith’s “Discipline of Teams,” there are
several practices that the authors have observed in successful
teams. These practices include:
Establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and
direction. Teams work best when they have a
compelling reason for being, and it is thus more likely that the
teams will be successful and live up to
performance expectations. We’ve all seen the teams that are

brought together to address an “important
initiative” for the company, but without clear direction and a
truly compelling reason to exist, the team will
lose momentum and wither.
Select members for their skill and skill potential, not for their
personality. This is not always as easy as it
sounds for several reasons. First, most people would prefer to
have those with good personalities and positive
attitudes on their team in order to promote a pleasant work
environment. This is fine, but make sure that
those individuals have the skill sets needed (or the potential to
acquire/learn) for their piece of the project. The
second caveat here is that you don’t always know what skills
you need on a project until you really dig in and
see what’s going on. Spend some time up front thinking about
the purpose of the project and the anticipated
deliverables you will be producing, and think through the
specific types of skills you’ll need on the team.
Pay particular attention to first meetings and actions. This is
one way of saying that first impressions mean a
lot—and it is just as important for teams as for individuals.
Teams will interact with everyone from functional
subject-matter experts all the way to senior leadership, and the
team must look competent and be perceived
as competent. Keeping an eye on your team’s level of emotional
intelligence is very important and will
enhance your team’s reputation and ability to navigate
stakeholders within the organization.
Set some clear rules of behavior. I have been through many
meetings and team situations in which we have
rushed through “ground rules” because it felt like they were
obvious—and everyone always came up with the
same list. It is so critical that the team takes the time up front to

capture their own rules of the road in order to
keep the team in check. Rules that address areas such as
attendance, discussion, confidentiality, project
approach, and conflict are key to keeping team members aligned
and engaged appropriately.
Set and seize upon a few immediate performance-oriented tasks
and goals. What does this mean? Have some
quick wins that make the team feel that they’re really
accomplishing something and working together well.
This is very important to the team’s confidence, as well as just
getting into the practices of working as a team.
Success in the larger tasks will come soon enough, as the larger
tasks are really just a group of smaller tasks
that fit together to produce a larger deliverable.
Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information.
That is, continue to research and gather
Chapter 10 Understanding and Managing Work Teams 323
information to confirm or challenge what you know about your
project. Don’t assume that all the facts are
static and that you received them at the beginning of the
project. Often, you don’t know what you don’t know
until you dig in. I think that the pace of change is so great in the
world today that new information is always
presenting itself and must be considered in the overall context
of the project.
Spend lots of time together. Here’s an obvious one that is often
overlooked. People are so busy that they
forget that an important part of the team process is to spend
time together, think together, and bond. Time in

person, time on the phone, time in meetings—all of it counts
and helps to build camaraderie and trust.
Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward.
Positive reinforcement is a motivator that will
help the members of the team feel more comfortable
contributing. It will also reinforce the behaviors and
expectations that you’re driving within the team. Although there
are many extrinsic rewards that can serve as
motivators, a successful team begins to feel that its own success
and performance is the most rewarding.
Collaboration is another key concept and method by which
teams can work together very successfully.
Bringing together a team of experts from across the business
would seem to be a best practice in any
situation. However, Gratton and Erickson, in their article Eight
Ways to Build Collaborative Teams, found that
collaboration seems to decrease sharply when a team is working
on complex project initiatives. In their study,
they examined 55 larger teams and identified those with strong
collaboration skills, despite the level of
complexity. There were eight success factors for having strong
collaboration skills:
• “Signature” relationship practices
• Role models of collaboration among executives
• Establishment of “gift” culture, in which managers mentor
employees
• Training in relationship skills
• A sense of community
• Ambidextrous leaders—good at task and people leadership
• Good use of heritage relationships
• Role clarity and talk ambiguity2
As teams grow in size and complexity, the standard practices

that worked well with small teams don’t work
anymore. Organizations need to think about how to make
collaboration work, and they should leverage the
above best practices to build relationships and trust.
10.2 Team Development Over Time
2. How do teams develop over time?
If you have been a part of a team—as most of us have—then you
intuitively have felt that there are different
“stages” of team development. Teams and team members often
start from a position of friendliness and
excitement about a project or endeavor, but the mood can sour
and the team dynamics can go south very
quickly once the real work begins. In 1965, educational
psychologist Bruce Tuckman at Ohio State University
developed a four-stage model to explain the complexities that
he had witnessed in team development. The
1. What is the definition of a team?
2. Name some practices that can make a team more successful.
original model was called Tuckman’s Stages of Group
Development, and he added the fifth stage of
“Adjourning” in 1977 to explain the disbanding of a team at the
end of a project. The four stages of the

Tuckman model are:3
• Forming
• Storming
• Norming
• Performing
• Adjourning
Exhibit 10.3 Tuckman’s Model of Team Development
Attribution: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC
BY-NC-SA 4.0 license
The Forming stage begins with the introduction of team
members. This is known as the “polite stage” in
which the team is mainly focused on similarities and the group
looks to the leader for structure and direction.
The team members at this point are enthusiastic, and issues are
still being discussed on a global, ambiguous
level. This is when the informal pecking order begins to
develop, but the team is still friendly.
The Storming stage begins as team members begin vying for
leadership and testing the group processes.
This is known as the “win-lose” stage, as members clash for
control of the group and people begin to choose
sides. The attitude about the team and the project begins to shift
to negative, and there is frustration around
goals, tasks, and progress.
Exhibit 10.4 The Storming Stage In the storming stage,
protracted competition vying for leadership of the group can
hinder progress. You

are likely to encounter this in your coursework when a group
assignment requires forming a team. (Credit: Gerald R. Ford
School of Public
Policy/ flickr/ Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))
After what can be a very long and painful Storming process for
the team, slowly the Norming stage may start
to take root. During Norming, the team is starting to work well
together, and buy-in to group goals occurs. The
team is establishing and maintaining ground rules and
boundaries, and there is willingness to share
responsibility and control. At this point in the team formation,
members begin to value and respect each other
and their contributions.
Finally, as the team builds momentum and starts to get results,
it is entering the Performing stage. The team
is completely self-directed and requires little management
direction. The team has confidence, pride, and
enthusiasm, and there is a congruence of vision, team, and self.
As the team continues to perform, it may even
succeed in becoming a high-performing team. High-performing
teams have optimized both task and people
relationships—they are maximizing performance and team
effectiveness. Katzenberg and Smith, in their study
of teams, have created a “team performance curve” that graphs
the journey of a team from a working group
to a high-performing team. The team performance curve is
illustrated in Exhibit 10.5.

Exhibit 10.5 Team Performance Curve (Attribution: Copyright
The process of becoming a high-performance team is not a
linear process. Similarly, the four stages of team
development in the Tuckman model are not linear, and there are
also factors that may cause the team to
regress to an earlier stage of development. When a team
member is added to the group, this may change the
dynamic enough and be disruptive enough to cause a backwards
slide to an earlier stage. Similarly, if a new
project task is introduced that causes confusion or anxiety for
the group, then this may also cause a backwards
slide to an earlier stage of development. Think of your own
experiences with project teams and the backslide
that the group may have taken when another team member was
introduced. You may have personally found
the same to be true when a leader or project sponsor changes the
scope or adds a new project task. The team
has to re-group and will likely re-Storm and re-Form before
getting back to Performing as a team.
C A T C H I N G T H E E N T R E P R E N E U R I A L S P I
R I T
Starting the Startup Team
Nothing is more exciting than a startup business. The
enthusiasm is high, and people are excited about
the new venture and the prospects that await. Depending on the
situation, there may be funding that the
startup has received from investors, or the startup could be
growing and powering itself organically.
Either way, the startup faces many different questions in the
beginning, which will have a tremendous

impact on its growth potential and performance down the road.
One of the most critical questions that
faces a startup —or any business for that matter—is the
question of who should be on the team. Human
capital is the greatest asset that any company can have, and it is
an especially critical decision in a
startup environment when you have limited resources and those
resources will be responsible for
building the company from ground up.
In Noam Wasserman’s January 2012 HBSP article “Assembling
the Startup Team,” Wasserman asserts:
“Nothing can bedevil a high-potential startup more than its
people problems. In research on startup
performance, venture capitalists attributed 65% of portfolio
company failures to problems within the startup’s
10.3 Things to Consider When Managing Teams
3. What are some key considerations in managing teams?
management team. Another study asked investors to identify
problems that might occur at their portfolio
companies; 61% of the problems involved team issues. These
problems typically result from choices that
founders make as they add team members…”
These statistics are based on people problems in startups, and it
isn’t quite clear what percent of larger
company failures could be directly or indirectly attributed to
people and team issues. I would imagine

that the percentage is also significant. The impact of people
problems and team issues in a startup
organization that is just getting its footing and trying to make
the right connections and decisions can be
very significant. If you know anyone who has a company in
startup mode, you may have noticed that
some of the early team members who are selected to join the
team are trusted family members, friends,
or former colleagues. Once a startup company grows to a certain
level, then it may acquire an
experienced CEO to take the helm. In any case, the startup is
faced early on with important questions on
how to build the team in a way that will maximize the chance of
success.
In “Assembling the Startup Team,” the author refers to the three
Rs: relationships, roles, and rewards as
being key elements that must be managed effectively in order to
avoid problems in the long term.
Relationships refers to the actual team members that are chosen,
and there are several caveats to keep
in mind. Hiring relatives or close friends because they are
trusted may seem like the right idea in the
beginning, but the long-term hazards (per current research)
outweigh the benefits. Family and friends
may think too similarly, and the team misses the benefit of
other perspectives and connections. Roles are
important because you have to think about the division of labor
and skills, as well as who is in the right
roles for decision-making. The startup team needs to think
through the implications of assigning people
to specific roles, as that may dictate their decision power and
status. Finally, defining the rewards can be
difficult for the startup team because it essentially means that
they are splitting the pie—i.e., both short-
term and long-term compensation. For startup founders, this can

be a very difficult decision when they
have to weigh the balance of giving something away versus
gaining human capital that may ultimately
help the business to succeed. Thinking through the tradeoffs and
keeping alignment between the “three
Rs” is important because it challenges the startup team to think
of the long-term consequences of some
of their early decisions. It is easy to bring family and friends
into the startup equation due to trust
factors, but a careful analysis of the “three Rs” will help a
startup leadership team make decisions that
will pay off in the long term.
1. Why might it be a bad decision to hire someone for a key
startup role based only on the fact that the
person is close family or a friend? What are the potential
tradeoffs to the business?
2. What does it mean for the “three Rs” to be in alignment?
What is the potential risk of these not
being in alignment? What could go wrong?
1. What are the four stages of team development?
2. What can cause a team to regress in its development?

For those of us who have had the pleasure of managing or
leading a team, we know that it can feel like a
dubious distinction. Leading a team is fulfilling—especially if
the task or organizational mandate at hand is so
critical to the organization that people are happy to be a part of
the team that drives things forward. It can
also be an exercise in frustration, as the charge is to lead a
group composed of various individuals, which at
various times will act both like a group and like a bunch of
individuals. Managing teams is no small feat, and
the most experience managers truly understand that success
ultimately depends on their ability to build a
strong and well-functioning team. In J.J. Gabarro’s The
Dynamics of Taking Charge (HBS Press, 1987, pp. 85–87),
he quotes a manager who had successfully worked to turn
around a number of organizations:4
“People have to want to work together; they have to see how to
do it. There has to be an environment for it
and that takes time. It’s my highest priority right now but I
don’t write it down anywhere because it’s not like
other priorities. If I told corporate that building a team was my
prime goal they’d tell me, so what? They’d
expect that as part of making things better.”
I love this quotation because it’s so indicative of the state of
most organizations today. The focus is on
corporate goals and priorities—very task-driven and outcome-
driven—but it is the people dynamics and how
people work together in the company and in TEAMS that can
make a real difference to the goals and outcome.
Who Am I Managing?

Making the jump from individual contributor to manager is
never easy, and it doesn’t take long for a new
manager to realize that what got him there is much different
than what is needed to be successful in the
future. Individual contributors that have been recently promoted
would probably say that they have
strong technical skills in their area, and that they were very
good at doing what they were doing. In a
more savvy organization that recognizes leadership
competencies, individual contributors would
probably say that they have strong technical skills AND that
they showed some behaviors and potential
to lead others. When new managers enter their new roles, they
expect that they will be managing
people—that is, the people on their teams. Few new managers
fully realize that the challenge ahead is
not just in managing their people, but in managing all the other
stakeholders and constituencies that
want to and need to weigh in.
One of the key challenges that faces new managers is figuring
out to balance all of the multiple demands
from both the team and the stakeholders and constituencies
external to the team. Linda A. Hill, the
Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at
Harvard Business School, states that
“among all the challenges facing new managers, the need to
reconcile different constituencies’
expectations and interests is probably the most difficult.” She
asserts that the demands that the new
manager’s direct reports, his peers, his boss, and the company’s
customers place on the new manager
will cause conflict at times. Having teams of their own, new
managers may think that managing their
direct reports is the most important role to play, even at the
exclusion of managing other stakeholders.

This is incorrect. A new manager needs to “manage his other
consistencies just as carefully.” (“Helping
New Managers Succeed,” Lauren Keller Johnson, HBR 2008).
Whenever I started a new role, I always created a quick
stakeholder checklist for myself. This document is
essentially a list of all the stakeholders (beyond the team I am
managing) with whom I need to build a
relationship in order to be successful. I listed the names of my
boss, my boss’s boss, my peers, and any
other key influencers or internal customers from the business.
This is a quick checklist of the people that
In Linda A. Hill’s Harvard Business Review article “Managing
Your Team”5 (HBR 1995), she discusses that
managing a team means managing paradox. Paradox exists in
the fact that teams have both individual and
collective identities and goals. Each individual has goals and
ideas as to what he wants to accomplish—on the
project, in one’s career, and in life. The team itself, of course,
has goals and success metrics that it needs to
meet in order to be successful. Sometimes these can be in
conflict with each other. Competition may arise
among team members, and a win-loss attitude may take place
over a collaborative and problem-solving team
dynamic. The team manager may need to step in to help
integrate all of the individual differences to enable
them to productively pursue the team goal. Therein lies the
primary paradox—balancing individual differences
and goals AND the collective identity and goals. Other
paradoxes include:

• Fostering support AND confrontation among team members
• Focusing on performance AND learning and development
• Balancing managerial authority AND team member discretion
and autonomy
• Balancing the Triangle of Relationships—manager, team, and
individual
I need to immediately have a “meet and greet” with and then
possibly even set up a regular meeting
with at a certain cadence. I have learned over the years that
each of these stakeholders will have some
input and impact on my success, and the quicker and more
effectively I engage them in the work my
team is performing, the better the chance of my team’s success.
Some of the questions I will ask myself
when figuring out my stakeholder list include:
• Whose support will I need?
• Who needs my support? What do they need from me or my
team?
• Who can keep me and my team from being successful?
• What is my ongoing influencing strategy?
Some new managers will feel that these strategies for building
stakeholder support are too “political”
and they don’t feel right. Trust me when I tell you that this is a
necessary part of the new manager role,
because now the role and the work call for greater
interdependence and relation building in order to be
successful. It is no longer just about individual technical skills,
but more about building and managing
relationships with people who will support you and your team to
get your work done. So, if you are a new
manager asking “Who am I managing?” … the answer is
EVERYONE.

1. Do you agree with the statement that “what got you there
isn’t what will make you successful in the
future”? Why or why not?
2. Who would be on your stakeholder checklist? Which
stakeholders are you already engaging and
building relationships with?
Exhibit 10.6 The Triangle of Relationships (Attribution:
Managing a team also means managing its boundaries.
Managing the team’s boundaries—or space between
the team and its external forces, stakeholders, and pressures—is
a delicate balance of strategy, stakeholder
management, and organizational behavior. The team manager
must serve, in part, as a buffer to these
external factors so that they don’t derail or distract the team
from its goals. However, the manager must also
understand enough about the external environment and have
enough emotional intelligence to understand
which forces, players, or situations must be synthesized within
the team for its own benefit. Think about any
medium or large-scale change initiative that you have been a
part of in your career. Ideally, there is generally a
vision for change and a level of sponsorship at the senior levels
of the organization that is supposed to pave

the way for that change to take root. The project team is
officially “blessed” to kick off the team, create a
charter, and identify the needed actions to drive the initiative to
successful completion.
The dynamic that ensues after the kickoff is really what will
determine the success of the team. There are
numerous stakeholders in any organization, and many will be
pro–change initiative, but others may be against
the initiative—either due to lack of understanding or concerns
about losing power, territory, etc. The external
environment and business strategy may not be particularly well
suited for a change initiative to take place, and
so there may be the feeling of forces opposing the project team
efforts. A strong team manager needs
manage these “boundaries” with the organization to help the
team navigate through and with the
organizational complexities, goals, nuances, and egos that are a
part of any organization. In Linda A. Hill’s
Harvard Business Review article “Exercising Influence,” she
states that “managers also need to manage
relationships with those who are outside their team but inside
their organizations.6 To do so, they must
understand the power dynamics of the larger organization and
invest time and energy in building and
maintaining relationship with those on who the team is
dependent.” It is also, in her view, “the manager’s job,
at a minimum, to educate other about organizational structures,
systems, or politics that interfere with the
team’s performance.” With all of the potential external
influences on a team, managing a team’s boundaries
can truly mean the difference between success and failure.
The final element of managing a team is to manage the team
itself—both the people elements and the
process elements, or task at hand. The process-focused elements

include managing the work plan to reach the
overall goal, as well as the incremental meetings and milestones
that are a part of the team’s journey to reach
the longer-term goal. Keeping the team focused on its
objectives—beginning with setting agendas all the way
to managing project tasks and celebrating milestones—assures
that the team will stay on track. Projects and
initiatives vary in size, scope, and complexity, and so the
project management tools shouldn’t be prescribed in
a general sense. The important takeaway here is to choose an
approach and a tool that works for the culture
of the team and the organization, and that helps the team
understand where they are, where they need to go,
and what resources are a part of that process.
In managing the team members and interpersonal dynamics,
there is the important element of selecting the
right team members, shaping the team’s norms and culture (how
are decisions made, what are our rules, how
do we manage conflict, etc.), and coaching the team. Defining
the right skill sets, functions, perspectives, and
expertise of the members will ensure a solid foundation.
Helping the team to identify and formalize the
ground rules for team engagement will help manage in the face
of adversity or team conflict in the future.
Finally, playing a role as a supportive coach will help both the
individual team members and the group entity
think through issues and make progress towards goals. A coach
doesn’t solve the individual/team problem,
but helps the team think through a solution and move forward.
Teams may need guidance on how to work

things out within the team, and the manager must provide
feedback and hold team members accountable for
their behavior and contribution. Continuous improvement is the
name of the game. A team may not start out
as high performing, but they can certainly achieve that goal if
everyone is focused on incremental
improvements to communication, collaboration, and
performance.
10.4 Opportunities and Challenges to Team Building
4. What are the benefits of conflict for a team?
There are many sources of conflict for a team, whether it is due
to a communication breakdown, competing
views or goals, power struggles, or conflicts between different
personalities. The perception is that conflict is
generally bad for a team and that it will inevitably bring the
team down and cause them to spiral out of control
and off track. Conflict does have some potential costs. If
handled poorly, it can create distrust within a group, it
can be disruptive to group progress and moral, and it could be
detrimental to building lasting relationships. It
is generally seen as a negative, even though constructive
conflicts and constructive responses to conflicts can
be an important developmental milestone for a team. Some
potential benefits of conflict are that it
encourages a greater diversity of ideas and perspectives and
helps people to better understand opposing
points of view. It can also enhance a team’s problem-solving
capability and can highlight critical points of
discussion and contention that need to be given more thought.
Another key benefit or outcome of conflict is that a team that
trusts each other—its members and members’
intentions—will arise from conflict being a stronger and higher-

performing team. Patrick Lencioni, in his
bestselling book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team (2002, p.
188), writes:7
“The first dysfunction is an absence of trust among team
members. Essentially, this stems from their unwillingness to
be vulnerable within the group. Team members who are not
genuinely open with one another about their mistakes
and weaknesses make it impossible to build a foundation for
trust. This failure to build trust is damaging because it
sets the tone for the second dysfunction: fear of conflict. Teams
that lack trust are incapable of engaging in unfiltered
and passionate debate of ideas. Instead, they resort to veiled
discussions and guarded comments.”
Lencioni also asserts that if a team doesn’t work through its
conflict and air its opinions through debate, team
members will never really be able to buy in and commit to
decisions. (This lack of commitment is Lencioni’s
1. Discuss the paradox(es) of a team.
2. How can a leader manage team boundaries?
third dysfunction.) Teams often have a fear of conflict so as not
to hurt any team members’ feelings. The
downside of this avoidance is that conflicts still exist under the
surface and may resurface in more insidious

and back-channel ways that can derail a team. How can a team
overcome its fear of conflict and move the
team forward? Lencioni names a few strategies that teams can
use to make conflict more common and
productive. Mining is a technique that can be used in teams that
tend to avoid conflict. This technique
requires that one team member “assume the role of a ‘miner of
conflict’—someone who extracts buried
disagreements within the team and sheds the light of day on
them. They must have the courage and
confidence to call out sensitive issues and force team members
to work through them.” Real-time permission
is another technique to “recognize when the people engaged in
conflict are becoming uncomfortable with the
level of discord, and then interrupt to remind them that what
they are doing is necessary.” This technique can
help the group to focus on the points of conflict by coaching the
team not to sweep things under the rug.
The team leader plays a very important role in the team’s ability
to address and navigate successfully through
conflicts. Sometime a leader will have the attitude that conflict
is a derailer and will try to stymie it at any cost.
This ultimately leads to a team culture in which conflict is
avoided and the underlying feelings are allowed to
accumulate below the surface of the discussion. The leader
should, by contrast, model the appropriate
behavior by constructively addressing conflict and bringing
issues to the surface to be addressed and resolved
by the team. This is key to building a successful and effective
team.
There are a variety of individual responses to conflict that you
may see as a team member. Some people take
the constructive and thoughtful path when conflicts arise, while
others may jump immediately to destructive

behaviors. In Managing Conflict Dynamics: A Practical
Approach, Capobianco, Davis, and Kraus (2005) recognized
that there are both constructive and destructive responses to
conflict, as well as active and passive responses
that we need to recognize. In the event of team conflict, the
goal is to have a constructive response in order to
encourage dialogue, learning, and resolution.8 Responses such
as perspective taking, creating solutions,
expressing emotions, and reaching out are considered active and
constructive responses to conflict. Reflective
thinking, delay responding, and adapting are considered passive
and constructive responses to conflict. See
Exhibit 10.7 for a visual of the constructive responses, as well
as the destructive responses, to conflict.
Exhibit 10.7 Responses to Conflict (Attribution: Copyright Rice
In summary, conflict is never easy for an individual or a team to
navigate through, but it can and should be
done. Illuminating the team about areas of conflict and differing
perspectives can have a very positive impact
on the growth and future performance of the team, and it should
be managed constructively.
10.5 Team Diversity
5. How does team diversity enhance decision-making and
problem-solving?
Decision-making and problem-solving can be much more
dynamic and successful when performed in a

diverse team environment. The multiple diverse perspectives
can enhance both the understanding of the
problem and the quality of the solution. As I reflect on some of
the leadership development work that I have
done in my career, I can say from experience that the team
activities and projects that intentionally brought
diverse individuals together created the best environments for
problem-solving. Diverse leaders from a variety
of functions, from across the globe, at varying stages of their
careers and experiences with and outside of the
company had the most robust discussions and perspectives.
Diversity is a word that is very commonly used
today, but the importance of diversity and building diverse
teams can sometimes get lost in the normal
processes of doing business. Let’s discuss why we need to keep
these principles front of mind.
In the Harvard Business Review article “Why Diverse Teams
are Smarter” (Nov. 2016), David Rock and Heidi
Grant support the idea that increasing workplace diversity is a
good business decision.9 A 2015 McKinsey
report on 366 public companies found that those in the top
quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in
management were 35% more likely to have financial returns
above their industry mean, and those in the top
quartile for gender diversity were 15% more likely to have
returns above the industry mean. Similarly, in a
global analysis conducted by Credit Suisse, organizations with
at least one female board member yielded a
higher return on equity and higher net income growth than those
that did not have any women on the board.
1. What are some techniques to make conflict more productive?
2. What are some destructive responses to conflict?

Exhibit 10.8 The Benefits of Diversity for Teams Teams made
up of diverse members tend to perform better than teams of
similar
backgrounds. Here, the Women of Color in Technology work on
a project. The tech industry has been criticized for the lack of
diversity among
its ranks, and groups like the Women of Color in Technology
are looking to change that. (Credit: WOCin Tech Chat/ flickr/
(CC BY 2.0))
Additional research on diversity has shown that diverse teams
are better at decision-making and problem-
solving because they tend to focus more on facts, per the Rock
and Grant article.10 A study published in the
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that
people from diverse backgrounds “might actually alter
the behavior of a group’s social majority in ways that lead to
improved and more accurate group thinking.” It
turned out that in the study, the diverse panels raised more facts
related to the case than homogenous panels
and made fewer factual errors while discussing available
evidence. Another study noted in the article showed
that diverse teams are “more likely to constantly reexamine
facts and remain objective. They may also
encourage greater scrutiny of each member’s actions, keeping
their joint cognitive resources sharp and
vigilant. By breaking up workforce homogeneity, you can allow

your employees to become more aware of
their own potential biases—entrenched ways of thinking that
can otherwise blind them to key information and
even lead them to make errors in decision-making processes.” In
other words, when people are among
homogeneous and like-minded (nondiverse) teammates, the team
is susceptible to groupthink and may be
reticent to think about opposing viewpoints since all team
members are in alignment. In a more diverse team
with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, the opposing
viewpoints are more likely to come out and the
team members feel obligated to research and address the
questions that have been raised. Again, this enables
a richer discussion and a more in-depth fact-finding and
exploration of opposing ideas and viewpoints in order
to solve problems.
Diversity in teams also leads to greater innovation. A Boston
Consulting Group article entitled “The

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