Chapter 14 Understanding Individual Behavior

1) Organizational behavior is concerned only with group interactions.

1. False

2) Organizational citizenship behavior is discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements.

2.True

3) The cognitive component of an attitude refers to the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held by a person.

3. True

4) Research indicates that satisfied employees have lower levels of turnover while dissatisfied
employees have higher levels of turnover.

4. True

5) Employees with a high level of job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they do.

5. True

6) Perceived organizational support is the degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals.

6. False

7) Low levels of perceived organizational support lead to lower turnover.

7. False

8) Cognitive dissonance is any incompatibility or inconsistency between attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.

8. True

9) There is enough evidence to support the validity of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a measure of personality.

9. False

10) Extraversion is the degree to which someone is sociable, talkative, assertive, and comfortable in relationships with others

10. True

11) In the Big Five Model, emotional security was found to be positively related to job performance.

11. False

12) A person who rates as being high in Machiavellianism would accomplish a task regardless of what it takes.

12. True

13) Individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external influence than are people with high self-esteem.

13. True

14) High self-monitors can’t adjust their behavior and there’s high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.

14. False

15) Consensus refers to whether an individual displays different behaviors in different situations.

15. False

16) When we make judgments about the behavior of other people, we tend to underestimate the influence of external factors and to overestimate the influence of internal factors. This tendency is called the self-serving bias.

16. False

17) If a manager thinks that all attractive employees are also productive employees, the manager is committing an error based on a halo effect.

17. True

18) Operant behavior is reflexive or unlearned behavior.

18. False

19) The influence that models have on an individual is partially determined by attentional processes.

19. True

20) Both positive and negative reinforcement result in learning.

20. True

21) Individual behavior in organizations inlcudes ________.
A) strategies, norms, and roles
B) attitudes, learning, and motivation
C) structure, culture, and team building
D) policies and procedures

21. B

22) Which of the following is associated with the study of individuals?
A) norms
B) roles
C) team building
D) perception

22. D

23) The study of group behavior includes the study of ________.
A) perception, motivation, and learning
B) attitudes and personality
C) norms, roles, and leadership
D) organization structure, and culture

23. C

24) Which of the following is true for organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)?
A) OCB is a performance measure of efficiency.
B) The requirements of OCB are spelled out in employee job profiles.
C) OCB studies the behavior leading to permanent withdrawal from an organization.
D) OCB is discretionary behavior which promotes the effective functioning of the organization.

24. D

25) ________ is a performance measure of both the efficiency and effectiveness of employees.
A) Employee productivity
B) Organizational citizenship behavior
C) Job satisfaction
D) Turnover

25. A

26) ________ is defined as the failure to report to work.
A) Turnover
B) Tardiness
C) Absenteeism
D) Negligence

26. C

27) The three components that make up an attitude are ________ components.
A) cognitive, affective, and behavioral
B) active, behavioral, and adjustable
C) emotional, creative, and environmental
D) intentional, reactive, and adjustable

27. A

28) The component of attitude that includes beliefs and opinions is the ________ component.
A) cognitive
B) behavioral
C) affective
D) practical

28. A

29) Which component of attitude is reflected in the sentence "This is the best way to reach the place"?
A) cognitive
B) behavioral
C) emotive
D) affective

29. A

30) The ________ component of attitude is based on emotions.
A) cognitive
B) behavioral
C) affective
D) practical

30. C

31) In the statement, "The highway is very busy at 5 P.M., and is scary to drive on, so I’ll wait until 7 P.M. to go home," the word "scary" represents which component of an attitude?
A) cognitive
B) behavioral
C) practical
D) affective

31. D

32) When someone chooses to act in a certain way, she is demonstrating the ________ component of her attitude.
A) cognitive
B) behavioral
C) affective
D) practices

32. B

33) In the statement, "The highway is very busy at 5 P.M. and is scary to drive on, so I’ll wait until 7 P.M. to go home," the phrase, "so I’ll wait until 7 P.M. to go home," represents which component of an attitude?
A) cognitive
B) behavioral
C) emotive
D) affective

33. B

34) Which of the following is true for satisfied employees with high organizational commitment?
A) lower rates of turnover and absenteeism
B) higher rates of voluntary turnover
C) higher rates of cognitive dissonance
D) significantly higher pay levels

34. A

35) The degree to which an employee identifies with his or her job or actively participates in it refers to the employee’s ________.
A) job involvement
B) organizational commitment
C) global commitment
D) job satisfaction

35. A

36) The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization is the employee’s ________.
A) job involvement
B) organizational commitment
C) global commitment
D) organizational citizenship

36. B

37) ________ is employees’ general belief that their organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being.
A) Job involvement
B) Organizational commitment
C) Perceived organizational support
D) Cognitive dissonance

37. C

38) The cognitive dissonance theory proposes that the intensity of the desire to reduce dissonance is determined by ________.
A) importance, influence, and rewards
B) economics, politics, and organizational structure
C) stability, position, and power
D) awareness, status, and punishments

38. A

39) Jonathan is standing for election as the mayor of Willsburgh. Various pressure groups in the town are beginning to voice their concerns to him, in the hope that he can address them. The most vociferous among these groups is the environmentalists. They are campaigning to shut down a factory that is causing the extinction of a rare breed of spotted owls. Which of the following, if true, is most likely to create cognitive dissonance of Jonathan?
A) The decrease in the spotted owl population is a nation-wide phenomena, not a localized threat.
B) His main concern is to prevent the town’s youngsters from migrating to the city, and he will do whatever it takes to prevent this.
C) Jonathan would like to preserve the wildlife of the area, but the factory employs one-fourth of the town’s population.
D) Jonathan is a dedicated environmentalist with a history of voting for pro-green causes.

39. C

40) The regular use of ________ can alert managers to potential problems and employees’ intentions early enough to do something about them.
A) dissonance reduction
B) performance incentives
C) employee benefit plans
D) attitude surveys

40. D

41) In the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), "sensing" personality types are those who ________.
A) like solving new problems and dislike doing the same thing over and over again
B) use reason and logic to handle problems
C) have a high need for closure and show patience with routine details
D) are outgoing, social, and assertive

41. C

42) As a manager, if you prefer to have a harmonious work environment and dislike reprimanding your subordinates, you would probably score high on the ________ aspect of the MBTI®.
A) perception
B) thinking
C) intuition
D) feeling

42. D

43) Which of the following is true according to the MBTI®?
A) Introverted types are practical and prefer routine and order.
B) Feeling types use reason and logic to handle problems.
C) Perceiving types are rigid and structured.
D) Judging types want control and prefer their world to be ordered.

43. D

44) If your boss could be described as flexible, adaptable, and tolerant, he or she would probably score high on which of the following aspects of the MBTI®?
A) extraversion
B) sensing
C) feeling
D) perceiving

44. D

45) If you are a good planner and purposeful, you would probably score high on the ________ trait of MBTI®.
A) extraversion
B) perceiving
C) introversion
D) judging

45. D

46) The Big Five Model of personality includes ________.
A) intuition
B) judgment
C) perception
D) extraversion

46. D

47) In the Big Five Model of personality, ________ refers to the degree to which someone is good-natured, cooperative, and trusting.
A) extraversion
B) agreeableness
C) conscientiousness
D) emotional stability

47. B

48) In the Big Five Model of personality, conscientiousness refers to ________.
A) the degree to which someone is calm, enthusiastic, and secure (positive) or tense, nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative)
B) the degree to which someone is sociable, talkative, assertive, and comfortable in relationships with others.
C) the degree to which someone is reliable, responsible, dependable, persistent, and achievement oriented
D) the degree of influence the individual believes he or she has over certain factors

48. C

49) According to the Big Five Model of personality, a person who has a wide range of interests and is imaginative, fascinated with novelty, artistically sensitive, and intellectual is described as ________.
A) conscientious
B) extraverted
C) emotionally stable
D) open to experience

49. D

50) If you believe that you control your own destiny, which of the following personality traits are you likely to possess?
A) external locus of control
B) risk aversion
C) high self-esteem
D) internal locus of control

50. D

51) According to research, employees who have a high internal locus of control ________.
A) exhibit more satisfaction with their jobs than externals
B) are more alienated from their work setting than externals
C) are less involved in their jobs as compared to externals
D) blame their bosses for poor performance more often than externals

51. A

52) A person who believes that what happens to him is due to luck or chance is said to have a(n) ________.
A) internal locus of control
B) Machiavellian personality
C) external locus of control
D) self-monitoring personality

52. C

53) Anna has recently been promoted to the managerial ranks which has increased her interaction with the senior managers at her company. She realizes that Peter, her assistant manager, exhibits a distinct lack of emotional involvement with his colleagues and subordinates. His entire focus is on achieving the goals he sets, no matter what the course he has to take to get there. These traits lead Anna to conclude that Peter ________.
A) is high on Machiavellianism
B) has low self-esteem
C) is high on self-monitoring
D) has high cognitive dissonance

53. A

54) Though clearly capable, Mary does not seem very confident of herself. She is always unsure of whether she can handle assignments that are difficult and as a result ends up choosing jobs that are fairly straight forward and involve routine work. She is also susceptible to evaluations from other people. Mary seems to have ________.
A) high cognitive dissonance
B) a high Machiavellianism score
C) low self-monitoring
D) low self-esteem

54. D

55) Sarah, the floor supervisor, seems to be a different person depending on whom she is with and what the situation demands. She has the ability to adjust her behavior as and when required. This indicates that she ________.
A) has low self-esteem
B) is low on Machiavellianism
C) has a high risk appetite
D) is high in self-monitoring

55. D

56) Kevin is a whirlwind as research and development supervisor. His colleagues are surprised that even though he makes decisions very quickly and always with less information than others, his decisions are as good as anybody else’s. This information implies that Kevin has ________.
A) an external locus of control
B) low Machiavellianism
C) high risk-taking ability
D) low cognitive dissonance

56. C

57) An individual who is high in ________ is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means.
A) self-esteem
B) Machiavellianism
C) self-monitoring
D) risk taking

57. B

58) Which of the following is true of a person who believes that "the ends justify the means"?
A) He is likely to be low on self-confidence.
B) He is likely to be high in Machiavellianism.
C) He is likely to have an external locus of control.
D) He is likely to be risk averse.

58. B

59) If you like yourself, then your personality would be described as having ________.
A) an internal locus of control
B) a low Machiavellianism score
C) high self-esteem
D) an external locus of control

59. C

60) People with high self-esteem ________.
A) are more prone to conform to the beliefs of those they respect
B) are more likely to seek approval from others
C) are more likely to take unpopular stands
D) are more susceptible to external influence

60. C

61) ________ is a personality trait that measures an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior according to external situational factors.
A) Machiavellianism
B) Self-esteem
C) Self-monitoring
D) Locus of control

61. C

62) A person who can adapt and adjust behavior to external factors has ________.
A) low self-esteem
B) an internal locus of control
C) high self-monitoring
D) high risk-taking ability

62. C

63) A manager makes decisions very quickly and requires little information for making the decisions. Which of the following is a likely reason for this?
A) The manager has low self-esteem.
B) The manager has an external locus of control.
C) The manager is high in emotional stability.
D) The manager is high in risk-taking.

63. D

64) People who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere until meaningful change occurs are said to have _______ personalities.
A) proactive
B) self-aware
C) resilient
D) agreeable

64. A

65) Emotional intelligence has been shown to be ________.
A) negatively related to job performance at all levels
B) negatively related to job performance in middle management only
C) positively related to job performance only in government agencies
D) positively related to job performance at all levels

65. D

66) The ability to sense how others are feeling is known as ________.
A) emotional stability
B) empathy
C) resilience
D) self-awareness

66. B

67) Holland’s theory proposes that satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest when ________.
A) the locus of control is external
B) an employee is social and realistic
C) personality and occupation are compatible
D) an employee can adjust behavior to external factors

67. C

68) What is a key point of Holland’s theory?
A) There are no intrinsic differences in personality among individuals.
B) All jobs are relatively the same, it is personality types that differ.
C) People in job environments compatible with their personality types should be more satisfied.
D) Employee turnover is highest when personality and occupation are compatible.

68. C

69) A test that Jake took at a career counseling session indicated that he preferred coordinated physical activity. He also turned out to be stable and conforming to expected standards. Which of the following occupations is likely to be a good match for Jake?
A) counselor
B) farmer
C) biologist
D) economist

69. B

70) When Darrin went to a career counselor, Joanna, he took a test that would allow the counselor to gain an insight into his personality. After speaking to Darrin and analyzing his answers in the test, Joanna realized that he is curious by nature. He preferred activities that involved understanding and organizing, and that he is basically analytical. Which of the following occupations is a potentially good match for him?
A) painter
B) farmer
C) social worker
D) news reporter

70. D

71) Bridget prefers rule-regulated, orderly, and unambiguous activities. She doesn’t have a lot of imagination but could be described as conforming and efficient. Which of the following describes Bridget’s personality?
A) social
B) artistic
C) enterprising
D) conventional

71. D

72) Andrew is social, friendly, and understanding, and prefers activities that involve helping and developing others. Which of the following occupations is a potentially good match for him?
A) accountant
B) teacher
C) artist
D) news reporter

72. B

73) ________ is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory impressions to give meaning to the environment.
A) Attribution
B) Selection
C) Learning
D) Perception

73. D

74) ________ theory explains how we judge people differently depending on what meaning we ascribe to a given behavior.
A) Perception
B) Behavior
C) Attribution
D) Social contrast

74. C

75) If everyone who’s faced with a similar situation responds in the same way, we can say the behavior shows ________.
A) reliability
B) distinctiveness
C) consensus
D) internal attribution

75. C

76) Underestimating the influence of external factors and overestimating the influence of internal factors when making judgments about others is known as the ________.
A) fundamental attribution error
B) self-serving bias
C) assumption of similarity
D) halo effect

76. A

77) ________ is the tendency for individuals to attribute their own successes to internal factors such as ability or effort while putting the blame for personal failure on external factors such as luck.
A) Assumed similarity
B) Stereotyping
C) Fundamental attribution error
D) Self-serving bias

77. D

78) In ________, the observer’s perception of others is influenced more by the observer’s own characteristics than by those of the person observed.
A) stereotyping
B) self-serving bias
C) assumed similarity
D) the halo effect

78. C

79) When people judge someone on the basis of the perception of a group they are a part of, they are using the shortcut called ________.
A) stereotyping
B) self-serving bias
C) assumed similarity
D) the halo effect

79. A

80) By using ________, we form a general impression about a person based on only a single characteristic, such as intelligence or appearance.
A) stereotyping
B) selectivity
C) the halo effect
D) assumed similarity

80. C

81) ________ behavior is voluntary or learned behavior.
A) Reflexive
B) Dissonant
C) Operant
D) Reactive

81. C

82) The influence of models depends on how well an individual remembers the model’s behavior. This refers to the individual’s ________.
A) retention process
B) motor reproduction process
C) attentional process
D) reinforcement process

82. A

83) After watching a behavior in a social learning situation, a person can learn by performing the behavior. This is known as learning by ________.
A) retention
B) motor reproduction
C) attention
D) reinforcement

83. B

84) When a manager molds an individual’s behavior by guiding his or her learning in graduated steps, he is using ________.
A) retention processes
B) motor reproduction processes
C) attentional processes
D) shaping processes

84. D

85) If an employee does not exhibit a desired behavior, a manager might use ________.
A) negative reinforcement to increase the recurrence of the behavior
B) shaping to guide the employee to learn the desired behavior
C) positive reinforcement by reducing the threat of a punishment
D) reflexive behavior to encourage positive results

85. B

86) Eliminating any reinforcement that’s maintaining an undesirable behavior is called ________.
A) penalizing
B) extinction
C) punishment
D) extraction

86. B

87) Which of the following is true for Gen Y workers?
A) They are accepting of the prevailing order and style of working and easily fit into it.
B) They have a deep-seated need for boundaries and structure and dislike multitasking.
C) They are dedicated workers and follow office rules and dress codes strictly.
D) They are knowledgeable and willing workers, but do not compromise on their personal lives.

87. D

88) Which of the following managerial styles will Gen Y workers approve of and respond to?
A) authoritarian
B) paternal
C) flexible
D) dictatorial

88. C

Mary is not happy with her current job. She dislikes having to convince prospective customers to buy products that she believes are inferior to others in the market. In her opinion, t.he lower quality products are overpriced. However, she has sales targets for all products, superior or otherwise, that she must meet in order to receive her commission.
89) Although Mary tries to meet the target sales for all products, she is torn between her beliefs and the actions she must take. This inconsistency or incompatibility is known as ________.
A) negative feedback
B) difficult objectives
C) cognitive dissonance
D) management by objectives

90) Which of the following will minimize Mary’s discomfort about selling the products even though she believes they are overpriced?
A) Comparable products from competitors are priced much lower than the products Mary sells.
B) Consumers never buy goods that do not add value.
C) A consumer survey indicates that people are dissatisfied with companies who bundle their low-quality products with the high-quality ones.
D) Her colleagues in the sales department agree that the inferior products are over-priced.

89. C 90. B

Doug has recently been promoted and is now the manager of a team of researchers. All of his subordinates are well educated and have been with the company for a minimum of three years. In an attempt to learn more about the employees and to better assign them to jobs that they will enjoy, he has administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)®.
91) Doug noted that Sandy is very good at precise work. He does not tire of repetitive work as easily as some of the others. However, when faced with a new problem that requires an innovative solution, his performance is not satisfactory. Sandy’s personality is likely to be classified as a(n) ________ type.
A) sensing
B) feeling
C) introvert
D) intuitive

92) Doug realizes that Alan’s temperament is not well-suited to being a researcher. He tends to dislike doing the same thing twice and has no patience to sort out information step-by-step. As a result, he often jumps to conclusions. Alan is most likely a(n) ________ type of personality.
A) sensing
B) feeling
C) introversion
D) intuition

93) George, one of Doug’s researchers, gets along well with most people in the team. He is good at his job but needs to be reassured once in a while. Another trait Doug notices is that George is always trying to keep everyone happy. George can be described as a(n) ________ personality.
A) sensing
B) feeling
C) introverted
D) intuitive

94) Doug himself is purposeful and an excellent planner. One thing that his team admires him for is his ability to sift through a whole lot of information to extract precisely what is needed for a job at hand. He is also a quick decision maker. Which of the following personality types does Doug fit into?
A) sensing
B) perceptive
C) extraverted
D) judging

91. A 92. D 93. B 94. D

95) James is a very hardworking person and has just been promoted to the managerial ranks. His managerial style is to be flexible and understanding and not boss over his employees too much. He believes that people who are hardworking will always make sure that the work gets done on time. Even when he is out of office, he supposes that his subordinates are working diligently because he works diligently most of the time. James’s perceptions of his employees are based on ________.
A) stereotyping
B) selectivity
C) halo effect
D) assumed similarity

95. D

96) Bill, a manager at a consulting firm, has been keenly analyzing the performance of a new recruit who turns out to be extremely intelligent. He concludes that she will be a good manager in the future even though her interpersonal skills are not half as impressive. This conclusion on Bill’s part seems to be the result of ________.
A) stereotyping
B) selectivity
C) the halo effect
D) assumed similarity

96. C

97) Donna has just moved to the city from a small town and gets a job as an assistant in a law firm. Not being very familiar with the way things work in the corporate world, she watches her colleagues closely and tries to learn from their mistakes and achievements. This can be described as ________.
A) stereotyping
B) selectivity
C) reflexive learning
D) social learning

97. D

98) Sara’s class of seventeen-year-olds has a very relaxed attitude toward deadlines. Assignments are frequently submitted weeks after the submission date. Sara wants to change this pattern of behavior, but repeated reprimands haven’t worked. She tells her students that those who submit their assignments on time will be eligible for grace marks. This method worked for more than half the class. Which of the following situations is the most similar to this?
A) An airline allows frequent flyers, who have accumulated miles above a certain cut-off, to fly their next trip for free.
B) A restaurant offers a free dessert to its first three customers of the evening, in order to increase footfalls.
C) Clariant Inc. introduces attendance and punctuality as a criteria in annual appraisals in order to encourage employees to come to work on time.
D) An eye-bank provides a certificate of appreciation to all those who pledge to donate their eyes.

98. C

99) What is organizational behavior? How can the study of organizational behavior help managers?

Answer: Organizational behavior is a field of study that is concerned specifically with the actions of people at work. It focuses primarily on two areas, individual behavior and group behavior. Individual behavior includes topics such as attitudes, personality, perception, learning, and motivation. Group behavior includes norms, roles, team building, leadership, and conflict. The goals of organizational behavior are to explain, predict, and influence behavior. Finally, OB also looks at organizational aspects including structure, culture, and human resource policies and practices. Managers need to be able to explain why employees engage in some behaviors rather than others, predict how employees will respond to various actions the manager might take, and influence how employees behave

100) Define attitudes. List and discuss the three components of attitudes and include an example of a statement that describes each component to support your answer.

Answer: Attitudes are evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable concerning objects, people, or events. They reflect how an individual feels about something. When a person says, "I like my job," he or she is expressing an attitude about work. The three components that make up attitudes are a)cognition The cognitive component of an attitude is made up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or information held by a person. The belief that "discrimination is wrong" illustrates cognition. b)affect The affective component of an attitude is the emotional or feeling part of an attitude. This component would be reflected by the statement, "I don’t like Jon because he discriminates against minorities." Finally, affect can lead to behavioral outcomes. c)behavior The behavioral component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something. For instance, "I might choose to avoid Jon because of my feelings about him" is an example of the behavioral component of an attitude.

101) Explain cognitive dissonance theory in brief.

Answer: BEHAVIOR AND ATITTIDES The theory argued that inconsistency is uncomfortable and that individuals will try to reduce the discomfort and thus, the dissonance. The theory proposed that how hard we’ll try to reduce dissonWance is determined by three things: (1) the importance of the factors creating the dissonance (2) the degree of influence the (3) the rewards that may be involved in dissonance. If the factors creating the dissonance are relatively unimportant, the pressure to correct the inconsistency will be low. How much influence individuals believe they have over the factors also affects their reaction to the dissonance. If they perceive the dissonance is something about which they have no choice, they won’t be receptive to attitude change or feel a need to do so. If, for example, the dissonance-producing behavior was required as a result of a manager’s order, the pressure to reduce dissonance would be less than if the behavior had been performed voluntarily. Finally, rewards also influence the degree to which individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance. Coupling high dissonance with high rewards tends to reduce the discomfort by motivating the individual to believe that there is consistency.

102) Describe the Big Five Model. List and discuss the five personality traits that are based on the Big Five Model of personality.

Answer: The Big Five provide more than just a personality framework. Research has shown that important relationships exist between these personality dimensions and job performance. a. Extraversion: the degree to which someone is sociable, talkative, and assertive. b. Agreeableness: the degree to which someone is good-natured, cooperative, and trusting. c. Conscientiousness: the degree to which someone is responsible, dependable, persistent, and achievement oriented. d. Emotional stability: the degree to which someone is calm, enthusiastic, and secure (positive) or tense, nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative). e. Openness to experience: the degree to which someone is imaginative, artistically sensitive, and intellectual.

103) In a short essay, list and discuss five personality traits that have proven to be powerful in explaining individual behavior in organizations.

Answer: a. Locus of control. Some people believe that they control their own fate(internal). Others see themselves as pawns, believing that what happens to them in their lives is due to luck or chance(external). less job satisfaction. b. Machiavellianism An individual who is high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic(logical), maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means. In jobs that require bargaining skills or that have substantial rewards for winning, high Machs are productive. c. Self-esteem. People differ in the degree to which they like or dislike themselves. This trait is called self-esteem (SE). For example, self-esteem is directly related to expectations for success. d. Self-monitoring This refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors. Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior. They’re highly sensitive to external cues and can behave differently in different situations. e. Risk taking propensity to assume or avoid risk affect how long it takes managers to make a decision. high risk taking may create obstacle To maximize organizational effectiveness, managers should try to align employee risk-taking propensity with specific job demands. For instance, high risk-taking propensity may lead to effective performance for a commodities trader in a brokerage firm because this type of job demands rapid decision making.

104) In a short essay, list and discuss three shortcuts frequently used in judging others. Discuss the impact these shortcuts have on the management of employees.

1) assumed similarity 2) stereotyping 3)halo affect It’s easy to judge others if we assume that they’re similar to us. In assumed similarity, the observer’s perception of others is influenced more by the observer’s own characteristics than by those of the person observed. When we judge someone on the basis of our perception of a group he or she is part of, stereotyping is the shortcut being used. When individuals form a general impression about a person on the basis of a single characteristic, such as intelligence, sociability, or appearance, the halo effect is the influencing factor. **perceptual distortion Managers need to recognize that their employees react to perceptions, not to reality. Employees organize and interpret what they see, so there is always the potential for perceptual distortion.

105) Define learning and explain the two learning theories that are relevant to understanding how and why individual behavior occurs.

Answer: Learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience. The two learning theories relevant to understanding how and why individual behavior occurs are a)operant conditioning Operant conditioning argues that behavior is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave to get something they want or to avoid something they don’t want. The tendency to repeat learned behavior is influenced by the reinforcement or lack of reinforcement that happens as a result of the behavior. Reinforcement, therefore, strengthens a behavior and increases the likelihood that it will be repeated. and b)social learning The view that we can learn both through observation and direct experience is called social learning theory. The influence of others is central to the social learning viewpoint. The amount of influence that these models will have on an individual is determined by four processes: attentional processes, retention, processes, motor reproduction processes, and reinforcement processes.

106) Richard is the manager of the Sales department in his company. He notices that several of the salespeople reporting to him are taking it easy. Their focus is to just meet the sales target and take no extra initiative to improve sales or their individual performances. As a result, the department’s performance is declining. Explain how Richard can encourage his salespeople to improve their performances using the shaping techniques.

Answer: Student answers may vary. When a behavior isn’t reinforced, it gradually disappears. Positive and negative reinforcement strengthen a desired behavior and increase the probability that the desired behavior will be repeated Reinforcement strengthens a behavior and increases the likelihood that it will be repeated. Lack of reinforcement weakens a behavior and lessens the likelihood that it will be repeated. When a behavior is followed by something pleasant, it’s called positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement increases the likelihood that the desired behavior will be repeated. To negatively reinforce good performances, Richard can offer to do away with penalties for tardiness. The desired behavior (better performance) is being encouraged by the withdrawal of something unpleasant (penalties for tardiness). Punishment penalizes undesirable behavior and will eliminate it. To use punishment, Richard can penalize all salespeople who sell below a specified target each month.