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Learning Objectives

Define The term organizational behavior. ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR (OB)            The field of study that draws on theory, methods, and principles from various disciplines to learn about individuals’ perceptions, values, learning capacities and actions while working in groups and within the organization and to analyze the external environment’s effect on the organization and its human resources, missions, objectives, and strategies.

Explain The contingency approach to managing individuals' behavior within an organizational setting. CONTINGENCY APPROACH             Approach to management that believes there’s no one best way to manage in every situation and managers must find different ways that fit different situations.             In applying for contingency approach, manager diagnoses the characteristics of the individuals and groups involved in the organizational structure and his own leadership style.

Identify Why managing workplace behavior in the Philippines is likely to be different from managing workplace behavior in another country, such as Germany.      The managing workplace in the Philippines is different from managing workplace in any other countries  because they have different cultures and traditions that is different from other countries.  The cultures and traditions vary from place to place that affect the behavior of employees in their workplace.

Compare The goal, systems, and multiple-constituency approaches to effectiveness. THREE WAYS TO THINK ABOUT EFFECTIVENESS Goal Approach to Effectiveness           Perspective on effectiveness that emphasizes the central role of goal achievement as a criterion for assessing effectiveness. Systems Theory Approach to Effectiveness              Each system consists of elements or characteristics that interact.  A  grouping of elements that interact with their environment both as individuals and as a collective.  Systems theorists propose that system can be categorized three ways: (1) conceptual systems (language), (2) concrete systems (machines), and (3) abstract systems (culture of an organization).      Systems theory enables us to describe organization’s internal and external behavior. Multiple-constituency Approach               Recognizes that organizations exists to satisfy the demands of many different individuals and institutions.

Describe The type of environmental forces that make it necessary for organizations to initiate changes.      As changes occur in the workforce, technology, the economy, competition, social trends, and world politics, it is inevitable that leaders will have to initiate organizational development interventions.  Because competition is becoming stronger each day, organizations have no choice-they must change.  In all industries, a standard of continuous improvement and learning is becoming the norm around the world.

Define The terms organizational culture and socialization. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE      Is what the employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values and expectations. SOCIALIZATION      The process by which organizations bring new employees into the culture.  In terms of culture, socialization involves a transmittal of values, assumptions and attitudes from older to newer employees.

Explain The difference in how some employees talk about a positive culture and others describe a negative culture.      It is the values of the employees that varies when we talk about culture.  Because their personal values guide their behavior on and off the job that determines their perspective about positive and negative culture.

Describe The impact of an organization's culture on individual and team behavior.      Because organizational culture involves shared expectations, values and attitudes, it exerts influence on individuals, groups and organizational processes.  And there is a big possibility that an individual is expected to adapt the kind of culture that is within his organization.

Explain Why spirituality is considered to have some positive benefits in the workplace.      Because encouragement and support of spirituality in the work setting can contribute to creativity, honesty, trust, commitment, personal need satisfaction, and improve organizational effectiveness.           The spirituality benefits in addition to improved effectiveness include attaining a broader worldview; concern with working with integrity; acquiring a strong sense of community; and a willingness to work to make a positive difference by making contributions to colleagues, stakeholders and society.  In addition to these benefits there is also the individual benefit of creating a more reasonable work/life balance, attitude and set of behaviors.

Identify Specific practices and programs used by organizations to facilitate socialization. CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE SOCIALIZATION Effective Anticipatory Socialization      The organizations primary activities during the first stage of socialization are recruitment and selection and placement programs.  If these programs are effective, new recruits in an organization should experience the feeling of realism and congruence. Effective Accomodation Socialization      Effective accommodation socialization comprises five different activities: (1) designing orientation programs, (2) structuring training programs, (3) providing performance evaluation information, (4) assigning challenging work, and (5) assigning demanding bosses.      -Orientation programs                Organizations should design orientation programs that enable new employees to meet the rest of the employees as soon as possible.  Moreover, specific individuals should be assigned the task of orientation.  These individuals should be selected for their social skills and be given time off from their own work to spend with the new people.      -Training programs           Training programs are necessary to instruct new employees in proper techniques to help them develop requisite skills.      -Performance evaluation          Performance evaluation, in the context of socialization, provides important feedback about how well the individual is getting along in the organization.  Performance evaluation sessions take place in face-to-face meetings between the individual and manager and that in the context of the job performance criteria must be as objective as possible.      -Assigning challenging work to employees           Is a principal feature of effective socialization programs.      -Assigning demanding bosses           Is a practice that seems to have considerable promise for increasing the retention rate of new employees. Effective Role Management Socialization      Organizations that effectively deal with the conflicts associated with the role management stage recognize the impact of such conflicts on job satisfaction and turnover.

Define What is meant by globalization. GLOBALIZATION      The interdependency of transportation, distribution, communication and economic networks across international borders.

Understand Why the study of cross-cultural management is important.      Cross-cultural management is important because it involves the study of the behavior of individuals in organizations around the world.  And it also describes organizational behavior within countries and cultures; compares organizational behavior across countries and cultures; and attempts to understand and improve the interaction and behavior of co-workers, clients, suppliers and alliance partners from different countries and cultures.  Cross-cultural management attempts to extend the study of domestic management to encompass global and multicultural considerations.      It also helps the global manager to be aware of and understands the major cultural differences from country to country.  This awareness and understanding is acquired by observation, learning, participation, and involvement with people from many different countries.

Discuss The global skills managers must learn, practice, and refine to deal with a changing world. GLOBAL STRATEGIC SKILLS Team-Building Skills      The increased complexity of global operations will require more use of work teams, including culturally diverse groups. Organization Skills           In addition to cultural diversity, managers must consider individual differences when organizing firms, units and jobs.  Minimum requirements for managers operating in a globally shifting world would include: Creativity and inventiveness in designing organizations and jobs. High tolerance for ambiguity and cultural differences. Ability to coordinate finance, marketing, operations management, and human resource interdependencies. Transfer of Communication Skills      The increased effectiveness throughout the world has placed a special emphasis on technological advances for product and services innovations.  This emphasis has increased the need to transfer knowledge.  Learning about a practice, technique, or approach in one country that can be transferred elsewhere is a skill that a managers can apply on a regular basis.

Compare How the characteristics of culture can influence the behavior and attitudes of employees. CULTURAL DIMENSIONS People’s Relationship to Nature      In some countries, people attempt to control their natural environment.  In terms of organizational practices, three perspective such as dominance, preordained, and harmony could result in significantly different responses to poor performance.  In a culture in which dominance is practiced, poor performance often results in sanctions or punishment.  In a preordained cultural setting, poor performance is expected from some people.  In a harmony-oriented culture, poor performance is likely to be met with recognition that it or the system in which it occurs must be improved. Individualism  versus Collectivism      In American culture, individualism may motivate personal accomplishment or striving for self-fulfillment.  On the other hand, Germany and Japan are today categorized as communitarian societies.  This term reflects a premise that the individual is an integral part of the whole and that the best chance of fulfillment is in the context of the nation’s goals. Time Orientation      In many countries, employees are not accustomed to specific scheduling of work on an hourly basis.  Time might be considered in terms of seasons rather than in hours or workdays.  These differences in cultural views of time help explain behavioral differences among people from different societies and the problems that may result when individuals with different orientations must interact. Activity Orientation      Accomplishing results and being recognized for achievements are considered important.  Managers in results-oriented cultures can motivate employees with promotions, merit-based raises, bonuses and public recognition.      Understanding a culture’s activity orientation can provide into how employees view work and leisure, what is rewarding, and how they make decisions regarding the job. Degree of Formality      This informality has caused problems in business dealings and negotiations with people from other cultures.      In many countries, being blunt and informal is impolite and unprofessional. Language      Languages present barriers to conducting global transactions.  Culture reflects what the society values in its language.      When communication in organizations involves translation from one language to another, the problems of menaing that arise become significant.  It is difficult to translate from one language to another. Religion      In many cultures, religion is a dominant factor.  It can have a significant effect on how and what business is conducted, work schedules, and attitudes about ethics.      In certain countries, religion may require its followers to dress in a particular manner that may conflict with organization’s norms of appearance.  These customs may have to be examined in terms of the individual, the religion, and the organization.

Identify Hofstede's original cultural dimensions. HOFSTEDE’S RESEARCH Uncertainty Avoidance           This dimension concerns the degree to which people are comfortable with ambiguous situations and with the inability to p0redict future events with accuracy. Masculinity-Femininity      Masculinity designates the degree to which a culture emphasizes assertiveness, dominance and independence. Femininity designates a culture’s tendency to favor such values as interdependence, compassion and emotional openness. Individualism-Collectivism      This dimension refers to the tendency of a culture’s norms and values to emphasized satisfying individual needs or group needs. Power Distance      This refers to the degree to which members of a society accept differences in power and status among themselves. Taking It to the Net Traditional versus New Economy Comparison 1. How much of each company's revenue and profit is generated outside its country of origin? 2. What does the code of ethics statement for each company say? Code of Conduct of Nokia      Our aspiration to be the world’s most loved and admired brand can only be achieved by considering not just what we do but how we do it. It requires us to strictly adhere to laws and regulations and to go beyond this, by setting our goals much higher. We want to be the leader in ethical business conduct. The Nokia Code of Conduct sets our approach to ethical and sustainable business practice and is based on the highest ethical standards. It outlines our commitment to respect and promote human rights and fair workplace practices, equal opportunities, environmentally sustainable business, and our zero-tolerance policy on bribery and corruption. The Nokia Code of Conduct, which was first introduced in 1997, had its latest renewal in 2009.      We apply the Code of Conduct globally in our own operations and require the same standards from our suppliers. All Nokia employees must understand and comply with the Code of Conduct. 3. What changes have they had to cope with in their people policies and product/service mix in the past decade? 4. How effective are the firms? (Describe what basis you use to determine effectiveness.) 5. Would you want to work for either of these firms? Why? Offshoring: What's It All About? What do these three firms do? What services do they offer? These three companies provide outsourcing services in India.  They are transforming businesses that eventually will help transform lives.  They provide services such as computer programming, telecommunications, engineering, management and consulting and other private services to the world market. 2. Which industries do they serve? 3. How do these Indian outsourcing companies save U.S. companies money?