Study Guide
Week 1 Study Guide: Evaluating Self and Others
Readings and Key Terms
• Ch. 5 of Organizational Behavior
o Personality
o Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
o Big Five Personality Model
o Values
o Person–job fit
o Person–organization fit
o International values
• Ch. 8 of Organizational Behavior
o Motivation
o Job characteristics model
o Redesigning jobs
o Alternative work arrangements
o Employee involvement
o Pay structure
o Benefits
o Intrinsic rewards
• Ch. 3 of Leadership in Organizations
o Types of leadership behavior
o Methods of studying leadership behavior
o Effects of task and relations behavior
o Planning work activities
o Clarifying roles and objectives
o Monitoring operations and performance
o Supportive leadership
o Developing subordinate skills
o Recognizing subordinates
Content Overview
• Personality
o Personality can be defined as the sum total of ways in which a person acts and interacts with others
o Myers-Briggs – is used as a personality assessment instrument throughout the world
o The Big Five Personality Model – predicts how people react in a variety of situations
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Conscientiousness
• Emotional stability
• Openness to experience
o Other relevant personality traits
• Core self-evaluation
• Machiavellianism
• Narcissism
• Self-monitoring
• Risk taking
• Proactive personality
• Other-orientation
• Values
• Values – individual’s ideas about what is right, good, or desirable. These are mostly permanent and many stem from early years from parents, teachers, and so forth. Values can vary by generation—Babyboomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and so forth.
o Terminal values – what one wants to have accomplished in his or her lifetime
o Instrumental values – how one wants to have accomplished what he or she does in a lifetime
• Person–job fit – a theory that revolves around six personality traits and is said to indicate how satisfied a person will be with his or her job and how likely her or she is to stay in it.
• Person–organization fit – involves matching people’s values with the organization’s culture
• Values vary around the world depending on culture. Hofstede’s five value dimensions of national culture describe ways they differ:
o Power distance – to what extent people accept that power is distributed unequally in organizations
o Individualism – belief in individual rights, preference to act as an individual versus as a group
o Collectivism – expects the group to which you belong to look after you
o Masculinity versus femininity – separate roles for men and women with men dominating versus men and women equal in all roles
o Uncertainty avoidance – accepting of ambiguity versus preference laws or regulations to avoid it
o Long-term versus short-term orientation – devoted to traditional values versus a focus on the here and now
• Motivation
o Job characteristics model
• Five core job dimensions
o Skill variety – how much variety of activities does the job have?
o Task identity – does the job result in a finished product or project or just a part of a product or project?
o Task significance – how much does the job affect others?
o Autonomy – how much freedom or say does the worker have in the way the job is completed?
o Feedback – does the job itself let you know how you are performing it?
o Job redesign and alternative work arrangements can lower instances of routinization or burnout
• Job rotation – can reduce boredom, increase flexibility and avoid layoffs, increase training costs, and reduce productivity during adjustment
• Job enrichment – the worker is more involved in planning, executing, and feedback; job enrichment can work best when compensates for poor feedback and reward systems
• Flextime
• Job sharing
• Telecommuting
o Employee involvement can increase job satisfaction and productivity
• Participative management – managers and subordinates share decision-making power
• Representative participation – small group of employees participates in organizational decision making
o Pay
• Often highest operating cost for organization.
• Higher pay usually results in attracting workers who are better trained, highly motivated, and more loyal to the company.
• Variable pay is more popular now (piece rate, merit based, bonuses, profit sharing, employee stock ownership), but that means pay fluctuates; however, it has been shown to increase productivity and profits.
• Benefits: Flexible benefits have replaced the one-size-fits-all benefits packages of yesteryear due to the changing characteristics and needs of employees and their families
• Leadership behavior
o Studying leadership behavior
• No absolute correct set of behavior categories can be established.
• Each method has bias.
• Each method has somewhat different results.
o Types of leadership behavior
• Leaders who exhibit task-oriented behavior have a concern for relationships (consideration for subordinates) and their main interests are fostering trust, cooperation, job satisfaction, and identifying with the team or organization.
• Leaders who exhibit relations behavior show concern for task objectives (initiating structure) and their main interest is completing tasks efficiently. Subordinates are usually more satisfied with this type of leadership.
• Leaders who exhibit change-oriented behavior are concerned about understanding the environment and adapting to it by changing strategies, products, or process.
• Participative leadership (also called empowering or democratic leadership) involves giving subordinates power to make decisions that will affect the team or organization.
• Transformational leadership (also called visionary or inspirational leadership) has some components of change and relationship-oriented leadership.
o Planning work activities
• Planning work activities involves what to do, how to do it, who will do it, and when it will be done.
• Planning often involves mostly thinking (cognitive), but can be seen in written agendas, budgets, and schedules.
o Clarifying roles and objectives
• Clarifying roles and objectives involves deciding who will do what, then sets goals for them, and assigns the specific duties.
• Effective leaders clearly explain what must be done with clear instructions that include information on priorities of the task and goals or deadlines that need to be met. They also explain why the task is being done and ensures the subordinate understands the instructions and information provided.
o Monitoring operations and performance of subordinates
• Measuring outcomes
• Checking against budgets and plans
• Progressive reviews, asking questions
• Observing operations
• Encouraging reporting of mistakes or problems
• Taking what is gleaned to provide further guidance
o Supportive leadership
• Leaders who are considerate of other’s needs and feelings earn people’s trust, loyalty, and even friendship.
• Studies indicate supportive leaders usually have more satisfied subordinates who have fewer issues with absenteeism, turnover, or alcoholism or drug abuse.
• Subordinate stress levels can be reduced and self-confidence can rise under a supportive leader.
o Developing subordinates can be achieved by helping them to find ways to improve. Providing job- related and career coaching or pairing them with a peer or a mentor and encouraging training can be helpful. Show patience and concern for their development. Provide opportunities for visibility in the organization.
o Praise and recognition of employees for a variety of reasons can boost morale and loyalty. Praise or recognition should be specific, timely, appropriate, not overused, and not limited to a few or those who are most visible.
• Recognizing – praise, awards, recognition ceremonies
• Praise is the easiest and most underused by many managers – involves oral comments, expressions, or gestures acknowledging accomplishments and is often given in private
• Awards – certificates, letter of recommendations, plaques, trophies, medals
Week 2 Study Guide: Theories of Leadership
Readings and Key Terms
• Ch. 1 of Leadership in Organizations
o Leader versus manager
o Measure leader effectiveness
o Approaches to leadership
• Ch. 7 of Leadership in Organizations
o Contingency theories and adaptive leadership
o Situational variables
o Adaptive leadership
o Managing immediate crises
• Ch. 12 of Leadership in Organizations
o Charismatic and transformational leadership
o Charismatic leadership definition
o Charismatic leader traits and behaviors
o Positives associated with charisma
o Negatives associated with charisma
o Transformational leadership
• Ch. 12 of Organizational Behavior as a supplemental reading
o Difference between leadership and management
o Big Five personality framework
o Difference between trait and behavioral theories
o Trust and ethics in effective leadership
o Tests and interviews to identify people with leadership qualities.
o Leadership training
o Mentoring
Content Overview
• Types of leadership
o Leadership involves influencing others to collaborate and agree on how to complete tasks or projects.
• Specialized role – involves having one leader and more followers
• Shared influence consists of many leaders in charge of different processes that affect the group
o Leader versus manager
• A person can lead without being a manager; a manager can manage without being a leader.
• Managers often value stability, order, efficiency, are impersonal, risk averse, and are focused on the short term.
• Leaders often value flexibility, innovation and adaption, care about people and the economic outcomes, have a long-term focus, motivate, and create favorable work conditions.
• Leader effectiveness is often measured by how goals such as sales and net profits are met. Followers view leaders as satisfying their needs and usually respect, admire, and trust leaders.
• Approaches to leadership
o Trait – pertains to personality, motives, values, and skills
o Behavior – pertains to what managers actually do on the job
o Power-influence – pertains to the influence processes used by managers
o Situational – pertains to outside factors that influence leadership processes (nature of the work, type of organization, and so forth)
o Integrative – involves more than one approach
o Leadership theory comparison
• Intra-individual – involves examining roles, behaviors, and decision styles
• Dyadic – examines relationship between leader and subordinate
• Group processes – focuses on leaders’ influence on team performance
• Organizational processes – focuses on how a leader adapts to the environment and acquires resources necessary to complete tasks
• Multilevel – involves application of more than one theory
• Leader-centered versus follower-centered – extent to which a theory is focused either on a leader or a follower
• Descriptive – explains leadership processes, describes the typical activities of leaders, and explains why certain behaviors occur in particular situations
• Prescriptive – specifies what leaders must do to become effective and identifies any necessary conditions for using a particular type of behavior effectively
• Universal or contingency – describes some aspect of leadership that applies to all types of situations
• Contingency theories and adaptive leadership – different situations and different subordinate characteristics can influence leadership effectiveness.
o Adaptive leadership is necessary when leaders must be more flexible and adaptive to their situation.
o Managing immediate crises—managers should anticipate problems, recognize early warning signs, and have a prepared plan of action for dealing with them.
• Charismatic leaders
o Charismatic leaders are rare and are often found in new organizations or those in need of change where previous authority has failed, especially in dealing with a severe crisis.
o Followers perceive them as extraordinary, identify with them on a personal level, and are extremely loyal. Charismatic leaders may be targets of extreme measures such as assassination in order to remove them from their positions.
• Some positives associated with charismatic leaders are that organizations under their leadership perform at a high level, communication is open, and followers are empowered.
• Some negatives of charismatic leaders are that followers may lose sight of important factors due to their awe of the leader and may deny problems or failures and overlook the need for a successor.
• Transformational leadership involves inspiring, developing, and empowering followers.
• Transformational leaders often empower followers and encourage independence by delegating authority to individuals or teams. Transformational leaders use a rewards or incentive system to motivate followers and punish those who deviate from performance standards.
• Guidelines for inspirational/transformational leadership
o Articulate a clear and appealing vision.
o Explain how the vision can be attained.
o Act confident and optimistic.
o Express confidence in followers.
o Use dramatic, symbolic actions to emphasize key values.
o Lead by example” (Yukl, 2013, p. 332).
o Research on transformational and inspirational leadership – surveys such as the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, laboratory and field experiments, analyses of leader descriptions such as biographical studies and intensive case studies
Week 3 Study Guide: Communication and Group Behavior
Readings and Key Terms
• Ch. 9 of Organizational Behavior
o Definition of group
o Five stages of group development
o Role requirements
o Group norms
o Group status
o Group size effect
o Diversity of groups
o Group decision making
o Group decision-making techniques
• Ch. 10 of Organizational Behavior
o Work teams
o Differences between groups and teams
o Types of teams
o Successful teams
o Hiring teams
o Training teams
o Rewarding teams
o Individual versus team efforts
• Ch. 11 of Organizational Behavior
o Communication
o Function of communication
o Communication process
o Formal and informal communication
o Downward, upward, lateral communication
o Communication challenges
o Electronic communication
o Managing information
• Ch. 14 of Organizational Behavior
o Conflict
o Conflict process
o Negotiation
o Bargaining
o Negotiation process
o Personality and gender effects
o Third-party negotiations
• Ch. 10 of Leadership in Organizations
o Team leadership behavior
o Leading functional teams
o Leading cross-functional teams
o Leading self-managed teams
o Team-building activities
o Leading effective teams
Content Overview
• Group behavior
o Groups are two or more people working together formally, informally, or socially to achieve a goal or complete a project.
o Groups typically go through five stages in their life -- forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning—The Five-Stage Model).
o Groups are formed because people identify with each other on a social level or perceive themselves and others who are like-minded as superior to others.
o Groups tend to have established rules or standards and status inequities.
o The impact of group size on a group’s performance depends on the type of task; for example, larger groups are often less satisfying due to less opportunity for participation and higher possibility of conflict.
o Diversity can help group performance or hurt it depending on the situation
o Group decision making
• Pluses – members’ different ideas and experiences result in more complete information to work with
• Minuses – pressures to conform (groupthink), domination by one or a few members, unclear accountability or responsibility, and so forth
o Group decision-making techniques
• Interacting, usually face-to-face
• Brainstorming – throwing out any idea is ok and all are entertained before determining the best few or best one
• Nominal – members meet face-to-face to pool their judgments
• Electronic – members interact on computers; member votes and comments are more anonymous
• Work teams
o Teams have become so popular in the last several decades because of the following:
• Can be more flexible in response to change
• Can better use employee talents
• Can be motivating
• Can lead to a more democratic workplace
o Difference between groups and teams
• Work group – shares information to help each member perform better in their area
• Work team – final result or output is better than any one individual would have produced
o Types of teams
• Problem-solving teams
• Self-managed work teams
• Cross-functional teams
• Virtual teams
o The following makes teams successful from the organization standpoint:
• Adequate resources
• Leadership and structure
• Climate of trust
• Performance evaluation and reward systems
o The following makes teams successful from a member standpoint:
• Abilities of members
• Personality of members
• Allocation of roles
• Diversity of members
o Size of teams in team success: small is better – less than 10 (5–9 members is best range).
o Team processes: Effective and successful teams have a common purpose, specific team goals, are able to manage conflict effectively from within, and experience minimal social loafing—no coasting.
Hiring successful team members: Managers should not focus solely on hiring those with technical expertise, but on those who also exhibit an ability to work with others and see different points of views.
Training successful team members by the following:
• Training and workshops can help employees learn good team skills.
• Managers must learn skills that focus on team building in addition to their independent responsibilities in the organization.
o Rewarding teams
• Rewards for those who exhibit cooperation rather than competition
• Promotions, pay raises, and other forms of recognition of effective team members
o Individual versus team efforts: Must be able to recognize when teams are not the answer in an organization.
• Benefits must exceed the costs.
• Individuals are best at simple tasks that do not require diverse input or ideas.
• Teams are best for the following reasons:
• Has a common purpose or goals for the people in the group
• Is more than just a compilation of unrelated separate parts from each individual member
• Communication – method to transfer and convey information and share meaning
o Communication in organizations controls behavior, clarifies information or directions, expresses emotion, and facilitates decision making by providing information.
o Communication process—message is sent to a receiver who decodes it and then provides feedback as to how well or how accurately the information was received.
o Noise can cause distortion of the message or information and could result in inaccuracies. Noise could include cultural differences, word choice, information overload, and so forth.
o Formal channels of communication are more rule based and follows the chain of command in the organization.
o Informal channels of communication are more spontaneous and often more personal.
o Downward communication involves information flowing from upper levels of an organization to lower levels such as an e-mail from upper management to all employees to explain policies.
o Upward communication is the opposite of downward communication and involves lower level employees sending communication to upper level ones such as progress reports and so forth.
o Lateral communication is between employees or managers at the same level usually to save time and coordinate activities.
o Types of communication:
• Oral such as presentations
• Written such as manuals, memos, and so forth
• Nonverbal such as body language or gestures
o Formal small-group networks
• Chain
• Wheel
• All-channel
o Electronic communication
• E-mail
• Text messaging or instant messaging (IM)
• Social networking such as Facebook, LinkedIn
• Blogs (web logs) and Twitter (considered a microblog or hybrid blog/social networking tool)
• Video conferencing
o Communication management involves dealing with information overload, security and automatic or controlled processing, and so forth. Review from the “Managing Information” section to “A Cultural Guide” section in Ch. 11 of Organizational Behavior. Common barriers to effective communication:
• Filtering
• Selective perception
• Information overload
• Emotions
• Language
• Silence
• Communication apprehension
• Lying
o Conflict – “a process that begins when one party perceives another party has, or is about to negatively affect, something the first party cares about” (Robbins & Judge, 2013, p. 447).
• Conflict can result from problems in interpersonal relationships and differing opinions related to work processes or goals, and it can hinder workplace productivity.
• Transitions in conflict thought – the traditional view of conflict, the interactionist view of conflict, and resolution-focused view of conflict.
• The five stages of conflict include incompatibility, personalization, intentions, behavior, and outcomes—review “The Conflict Process” section in Ch. 14 of Organizational Behavior.
• Conflict management techniques include problem solving, avoiding, smoothing, and so forth. Review Exhibit 14-4: Conflict Management Techniques in Ch. 14 of Organizational Behavior.
o Negotiation – “a process that occurs when two or more parties decide how to allocate scarce resources” (Robbins & Judge, 2013, p. 458).
o Types of negotiation include various kinds of bargaining
o Five steps of negotiation:
• Preparation and planning
• Definition of ground rules
• Clarification and justification
• Bargaining and problem solving
• Closure and implementation
o Personality traits, moods, emotions, gender, and culture affect negotiations.
o Objective third parties such as mediators, arbitrators, and conciliators can help parties negotiate and reach an agreement.
• Leadership in teams requires specific types of leadership behavior and processes:
o Building commitment for shared objectives
o Identifying effective performance strategies and organizing team activities
o Enhancing member skills and role clarity
o Building mutual trust and cooperation
o Identifying and procuring needed resources
o Maintaining confidence and optimism
o Facilitating external coordination
o Functional and cross-functional teams usually require a strong and powerful leader
o Self-managed teams have no formal leader and all members share leadership
o Virtual teams communicate via technology and members work remotely from different locations
o Team-building activities often focus on commonalities, cooperation or group identification, such as the following:
• Ceremonies and rituals
• Using symbols to develop group identification
• Facilitating social interaction among members
• Sharing group activities and achievements
• Process analysis sessions
o To have effective groups, it is important that group leaders do the following:
• Have a sense of proper timing
• Are not too passive or too domineering
• Are unbiased when presenting issues or problems to be solved
• Encourage alternative viewpoints
• Allow for brainstorming
• Have a clear and formal system for evaluating ideas and solutions
Week 4 Study Guide: Motivation and Satisfaction
Readings and Key Terms
• Ch. 3 of Organizational Behavior
o Attitudes
o Behavior
o Job attitudes
o Job satisfaction
• Ch. 4 of Organizational Behavior
o Emotions
o Moods
o Emotional labor
o Emotional intelligence
o Emotion regulation
o Application
• Ch. 7 of Organizational Behavior
o Motivation
o Key elements
o Theories
• Ch. 5 of Organizational Behavior.
o Measuring and determining personality
o Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
o Big Five personality traits
o Values
• Ch. 8 of Organizational Behavior
o Job characteristics model
o Redesigning jobs
o Alternative work arrangements
o Employee involvement programs
o Variable pay
o Flexible benefits
o Intrinsic rewards
Content Overview
• Attitudes
o How one perceives others, things, and situations
o Comprised of thoughts and emotions or feelings
o Effects how you act
o Sometimes you rationalize or adjust either your behavior or your attitudes to fit the situation or because there is pressure to
• Job attitudes
o Job satisfaction – you feel either positively or negatively about your jobs – often measured via questionnaires or surveys
o Job involvement – you feel you play an important role in the company and your job matters
o Organizational commitment – a belief in what the organization stands for, its mission and values, which leads to an attachment
o Perceived organizational support – the organization cares about you and supports you
o Employee engagement – a connection or enthusiasm for the work
• Managers should be interested in employee job satisfaction because of the following:
o Unsatisfied workers will either look for a new job, try to make things better, wait for things to get better or let things get worse, and then miss work or perform poorly because of worsening conditions.
o Satisfied workers will do better quality work, which results in a more effective organization, will not be absent as much, and are less likely to quit or exhibit deviant behavior, such as stealing.
o Workers who perceive the organization and their coworkers as helpful, will in return, be helpful and provide quality customer service, which results in increased customer satisfaction.
• Emotions – no way to have an emotion-free organization
o Emotions such as anger, envy, fear, and so forth “are intense feelings directed at someone or something” (Robbins & Judge, 2013, p. 98) and have been shown to be a critical part of rational thinking and ethics.
o Moods such as sad, happy, and so forth can be affected by personality, time of day, weather, and so forth.
o Emotional labor is the game face you put on at work even if you do not feel good or are in a poor mood. This can lead to exhaustion and burn out from having to act all the time
o Emotional intelligence (EI) is an ability to read your own and other people’s emotions, understand what they mean, and the ability to adjust your own emotional state accordingly. Although it is difficult to measure, it is thought that people who have EI often make better decisions.
o Emotional regulation is the ability to adjust your emotions so they are more appropriate or acceptable in a particular situation. An example is cheering yourself up by taking part in a particular activity.
o Managers who consider EI, moods, emotions, and so forth when hiring and distributing work responsibilities, and who attempt to make a happy work environment have more satisfied workers. As a result, workers and the organization will experience increased productivity, effectiveness, and customer satisfaction.
• Motivation theories attempt to explain and predict employee behavior or actions such as turnover, absenteeism, and so forth.
o Early theories of motivation
• Hierarchy of Needs Theory – states that behavior is based on people’s needs:
o Physiological
o Safety
o Social
o Esteem
o Self-actualization
• Theory X and Theory Y
• Two-factor theory
o Self-determination theory and cognitive evaluation theory – based on rewards and indicates sometimes rewards can be demotivating if viewed as controlling
o Goal-setting theory – states challenging goals may increase employee productivity
o Self-efficacy theory – states an individual’s belief he or she can perform a task
o Reinforcement theory – states that rewards encourage good performance
o Equity theory/organizational justice – involves the employees’ perception of whether the organization treats them fairly or not
o Expectancy theory – considers that employees have expected outcomes
Week 5 Study Guide: Opportunities for Strategic Change
Readings and Key Terms
• Ch. 15 of Organizational Behavior
o Organization structure
o Bureaucracy
o Matrix
o Virtual
o Boundaryless
o Mechanistic
o Organic
o Behavioral implications
• Ch. 16 of Organizational Behavior
o Organizational culture
o Factors
o Transmission
o Ethical
o Positive
o Spiritual
o National
• Ch. 18 of Organizational Behavior
o Change
o Planned
o Unplanned
o Resistance
o Managing change
o Culture
o Stress
• Ch. 4 of Leadership in Organizations
o Change
o Stages
o Diagnosis
o Resistance
o Vision
o Implementation
• Ch. 3 of The Strategy Process
o Formulating strategy
o Choice
o Opportunities
o Evaluation
• Ch. 4 of The Strategy Process
o Strategy analysis
o Decisions
o SWOT
o Rules
o List
o Positioning
Content Overview
• Organizational structure – determines how the jobs are coordinated
o Refer to Exhibit 15-1 in Ch. 15 of Organizational Behavior:
• Work specialization
• Departmentalization
• Chain of command
• Span of control
• Centralization and decentralization
• Formalization
o Simple structure – flat organization with only very few levels in the hierarchy
o Bureaucracy – uses formal rules and regulations, jobs are grouped by specialties, and the control comes from the top from one person or just a few
o Matrix – employees report to more than one manager, one oversees their function, and one oversees their product
o Virtual – outsources most of the work by using freelancers, contract workers, and so forth
o Boundaryless – empowers teams instead of using traditional managers; employees from all levels of the company participate in decision making
o Mechanistic and organic approaches to organizational structure – Review Exhibit 15-8 in Ch. 15 of Organizational Behavior
o Difference in structures – organizational strategy, organizational size, technology, and environment
o Preferences vary when it comes to organizational structure. Some thrive in bureaucracies, for example, while others prefer a matrix or boundaryless organization. What works for one organization may not work for another.
• Organizational culture – what sets apart one organization from another can involve the way innovation, risk taking, attention to detail, and so forth are handled. This manifests itself through rituals, symbols, and language used.
o Culture determines the norms for how people in the organization act, what they say and do, how they dress, and so forth.
o Managers can create an ethical culture by letting everyone know what the expectations are when it comes to ethics, providing training, by punishing those who act unethically, and by being a role model.
o Recognizing and encouraging employee strengths, praising, and fostering employee growth builds a positive organizational culture; however, positive culture is not as valued by other cultures as it is in the United States.
o Spirituality – Organizations must realize employees have an inner-self and values that bring them satisfaction as much as or more than their work does, and that work results in a connectedness between employees. Employees look for and expect a purpose to what they do and what their organization does.
o Organizations must be culturally sensitive when doing business with or expanding to other parts of the globe. What works culturally within one organization may not translate well in an organization in another country.
• Organizational change
o The economy, the world political situation, technology, competition, and so forth, all cause organizations to change to adapt to the environment.
o Some change is planned and other change just occurs naturally or accidentally without anyone planning ahead for it.
o Change consists of several stages that must not be hurried. These include freezing, unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.
• While there are many reasons people resist change within organizations, some reasons are they feel insecure or unsafe due to the unknowns, they are uncomfortable because old habits are easier than creating new ones, and they are afraid they may not have the ability or knowledge to do things differently.
• Managing change
o To solve a problem, a diagnosis is first necessary. Before implementing any change, leaders should systematically consider complex relationships, unintended consequences, how to overcome resistance, and so forth.
o Leaders should have a strong vision of what they would like the organization’s future to look like and be sure that the end justifies the means.
o For managers and organizations to successfully implement change, there must be a clear description and education about the change and it should be communicated clearly by trusted individuals.
o Leaders should consider several actions, including using teams and coalitions, monitoring progress, and celebrating successes along the way.
If possible, to create buy-in, workers should participate in the decisions related to change.
o Providing training, therapy, or leaves of absence can help workers adapt to change.
o Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model – see Exhibit 18-3 in Ch. 18 of Organizational Behavior.
Kotter’s Eight-Step Plan for Implementing Change – see Exhibit 18-5 in Organizational Behavior.
Leaders should find ways to ensure the organization is innovative and involves learning. This can be achieved in many ways such as through research and joint ventures.
Managers can create a culture in their organizations that will not fear change or be surprised by it, but will take it on willingly and with pleasure. Organizations can create this kind of culture by doing the following:
• Being flexible.
• Having long-term, trusted management share their expertise and experience.
• Being lean – up with unique ideas for using the resources available.
• Blurring the lines between departments—using cross-functional teams, committees, and so forth.
o Stress in the workplace
• Is inevitable
• Can be a positive if associated with work that is perceived as a positive challenge and can energize employees to work better
• Negative – too much stress causes productivity to decline
• Managers may consider how to help alleviate worker stress such as job redesign, corporate wellness programs, sabbaticals, and so forth.
• Strategy
o Strategy is how an organization plans to meet its business, social, economic, shareholder, customer, and employee needs or expectations and make its vision and mission come to fruition. In a nutshell, it is the decisions that drive an organization to do all it does.
o Strategy consists of a mix of decisions that connect to each other. Review Figure 1 in Ch. 3 of The Strategy Process.
o Strategy comes from leaders using the SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats), weighing opportunities and risks associated with the environment, technology, economics, political climate, and so forth.
o Once a choice is determined, leaders must consider the organization’s strengths and weaknesses to see if the organization is capable of carrying out the strategy.
o Strategy evaluation – general principles:
• Consistency
• Consonance
• Advantage
• Feasibility
o Matching opportunities to the organization’s competencies can help leaders evaluate which opportunities are viable and which are not, based on the money and people the organization has at its disposal.
o Threats to strategies should be thoroughly evaluated before they are implemented and analysts must understand no two organizations are the same—focus can easily shift away from the goals and objectives, and conflict easily arises.
o Leaders should consider the objectives, policies, plans, and results before moving forward with a strategy.
o For a strategy to be considered sound, it must be consistent, adaptable to changes in the environment, should put the organization at a competitive advantage over competition, and be doable without causing undue financial or other hardship on the organization.
o Managers should look beyond the SWOT analysis at value (involves resources and capabilities to safely reach its goals), rareness (competitors already doing the same thing with the same resources), imitability (cheaper and easier for others to do the same thing without the same work and the outlay), organization (everything is in place to easily and successfully carry out the plan).
o Organizations should be cooperative with the competition. However, they should not forget to make it known what they are capable of or what might happen if the competition does not cooperate (idle threat that would not be carried out, but the competition is not sure of that).
o Rules for the strategist – review Reading 4.4 in Ch. 4 of The Strategy Process.
o Porter’s list of generic strategies – review Reading 4.5 in Ch. 4 of The Strategy Process.
o There is a long list of ways leaders can position strategies so they achieve the organization’s desired outcomes – review Reading 4.6 in Ch. 4 of The Strategy Process.
Week 6 Study Guide: Leading Organizational Change
Readings and Key Terms
• Ch. 13 of Organizational Behavior
o Power
o Sexual harassment
o Politics
o Behavior
• Ch. 6 of The Strategy Process
o Top-down change
o Bottom-up change
o Converging change
o Frame-breaking change
o Logical incremental process
Content Overview
• Power
o “Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so B acts in accordance with A’s wishes” (Robbins & Judge, 2013, p. 412).
• Formal power
• Personal power
o Causes of dependence: importance, scarcity, nonsubstitutability
• Power tactics
o Nine distinct influence tactics:
• Legitimacy
• Rational persuasion
• Inspirational appeals
• Consultation
• Exchange
• Personal appeals
• Ingratiation
• Pressure
• Coalitions
o Soft tactics – personal and inspirational appeals, as well as rational persuasion and consultation
o Hard tactics – exchange, coalitions, and pressure
• Political behavior
o Includes behaviors such as the following:
• “Withholding key information from decision makers
• Joining a coalition
• Whistleblowing
• Spreading rumors
• Leaking confidential information to the media
• Exchanging favors with others for mutual benefit
• Lobbying on behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternative” (Robbins & Judge, 2013, p. 424).
o Contributing factors: Review Exhibit 13-3 in Ch. 13 of Organizational Behavior.
• Conflict over the allocation of limited resources, such as departmental budgets, space, project responsibilities, and salary adjustments
• Individual – high self-monitors, internal locus of control, high Mach personality, and so forth
• Organizational – reallocation of resources, promotion opportunities, low trust, and so forth
• Politicking
• Comprehensive change
o Top-down change: Review Figure 2: Transformational Leadership: A Three-Act Drama described by Tichy and Sherman (1993 in Ch. 6 in The Strategy Process.
• Awakening
• Envisioning
• Rearchitecturing
o Bottom-up change: Review Box 1: “Six Steps to Effective Change” for managers at the business unit or plant level in Ch. 6 of The Strategy Process.
o Periods of convergence
• Converging change: fine-tuning
• Converging change: incremental adjustments to environment shifts
• Organizational momentum
o Organizational structures and employees work together over time and become comfortable – everyone knows how to do what must be accomplished and things work smoothly.
• Pros – develops organization history that explains this is how you do it and why you do it this way
• Cons – can become too comfortable, resistant to change, and not watch for external threats
• Frame-breaking change
o Leading forces
• Industry discontinuities
• Product life cycle shifts
• Internal company dynamics
o Scope
• Reformed mission and core values
• Altered power and status
• Reorganization
• Revised interaction patterns
• New executives
• Incremental process
o Integrating the strategy
• Concentrating on a few key thrusts
• Coalition management
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