BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 1 Discussion
The Importance of Organizational Behavior
You are working for an organization that supports continuous professional development for employees and you are being partially reimbursed for your tuition expenses. However, your organization is experiencing some operational strain as a result of budget constraints caused by recent changes in the external environment.
You mention to your supervisor that you have enrolled in an organizational behavior course this term since you need your supervisor's permission to get approved for reimbursement. Your boss would like some more explanation on why you should use company funds to enroll in this course, especially given some of the budget constraints that the organization has been experiencing. She had no issues with your previous enrollment in courses such as finance, data analytics, and writing since she sees these courses as enhancing your technical skills, but she wonders if organizational behavior is mostly common sense. Your supervisor is also not sure why you have to read about research methods in this course and especially in your introductory chapter.
Initial Post:
Create a discussion post that responds to the following issues:
What is organizational behavior?
Why is it important to study organizational behavior?
How will learning about organizational behavior research methods (section 1.4 of your main reading) help you better understand organizational behavior concepts?
In responding, we encourage you to:
Provide examples that relate to the actual organization you work for but please do not specifically identify your organization. If you are not currently in the workplace, this can be from previous work experience or any other organization that you have information on.
Glance through the list of module titles that we will be covering in this course and use that as part of your response. [Note: We realize that at this stage you have not dived into all the topics but the titles provide a quick snapshot of the issues that will be covered. For example, you can use the titles to connect your discussion to a challenge your organization might be facing.]
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 2 Discussion
Understanding the Impact of Culture on Organizational Performance and Decision Making
This course is focused on using organizational behavior concepts to enable better decision making in organizations. The key objective of this discussion question is to enable you to apply concepts from the learning material on organizational culture to a scenario within the organization that you work for. You will wear two hats, an employee and a hiring consultant, to provide business advice that facilitates better decision making. If you are not currently working, you can choose to refer to a former organization that you worked for or any other company that you are able to get sufficient information to frame your discussion posting.
Scenario
As part of your weekly one to one meeting with your supervisor at work, you are asked to briefly discuss some of the topics you are learning in your organizational behavior class. This week, you focus on issues related to organizational culture. This catches your supervisor’s attention because she is the head of a search committee within your organization, tasked with hiring a new vice president for operations. There is a debate among the committee members about whether to focus on recruiting from within the organization or whether to provide opportunities for external candidates to apply for the position.
After listening to your discussion of organizational culture, including hiring practices at Les Schwab Tires (Section 1.2 in your reading) and Google (Section 1.7 in your reading), your supervisor asks you to share some insights to the committee on the topic that is being debated. She would like you to wear two hats. First, that of an employee describing their organization and second as a hiring consultant providing a recommendation.
Scenario Questions
The following questions provide you with a framework to structure your response to the scenario. No doubt there are many variables that will influence this decision, but your task is to primarily focus on using the cultural context of your organization and the external environment in which it operates to frame a brief response to the two questions as part of your initial response post. Also, make sure to read what is expected in the ‘reply’ post so that you are aware that your peers will be using the information you provide to post a response.
Initial Post: From the point of view of an employee, offer the following response to your supervisor’s request.
Provide a very brief overview of your organization. To respect your supervisor’s time and maintain her attention, offer a profile that is 100 words max. Also, to maintain the confidentiality of your own organization. Please do not provide information that would specifically identify it.
Consider the following points:
What does your organization do?
Approximately how many employees work for your organization?
How old is your organization?
What is the approximate yearly budget of your organization?
Explain which cultural profile category your organization (or your department) would fall under based on the various Dimensions of Cultural Profiles (DCP’s) discussed in sections 1.9-1.11 of your reading. If you feel that none of the categories match your organization then you can create a cultural profile that you feel would categorize your organization. You should also provide a brief description of the external environment in which your company operates. (Use about 300 words to explain this to your supervisor.)
Reply Post: From the point of view of a hiring consultant, provide the following advice to two of your peers.
Based on the background provided for their organizations, their cultural profiles, and the external environment in which it operates, discuss whether you would recommend hiring from within the organization or hiring externally.
To ensure the utility of your recommendations, the guidance you offer should be limited to 300 – 400 words maximum.
A well-crafted recommendation would incorporate references to the details provided in the profiles with direct linkages to your advice.To strengthen the credibility of your recommendations, cite evidence to support it.
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 3 Discussion
Understanding Global Cultural Diversity in Organizations
Why is it important to understand the culture of a country? In this case, why China?
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, total U.S. trade with China in 2018 was $737.1 billion. Exports to China were $557.9 billion. China is currently the largest trading partner of two-way goods with the U.S. and is the largest supplier of U.S. imports as of 2018. American business connection to China is critically strong. The U.S. in many ways is dependent on Chinese business and production. Thousands of American businesses rely on sound Chinese/American relations that support American business endeavors abroad. Doing business in China requires U.S. businessmen and women to understand cultural nuances that are ingrained in Chinese ways of life and conducting business.
Review: ?Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions. (Links to an external site.)?(You can use this link to compare cultural aspects of both the United States and China.)
Scenario
Your company’s training manager has read your earlier suggestions (based on work in Module 2) and is impressed with the quality of your research. He is about to start some training for employees relocating to China as expatriates for three years and he has reached out to you for some guidance in terms of cultural differences. You realize that it is an important assignment and China’s culture is different from American culture. The training manager wants to ensure that he is sending the right people and wants to make sure that this team is adequately prepared for both the task and acclimating respectfully to the culture. Create a discussion post that responds to the following two sections.
Scenario Questions
Work with your classmates to produce high-quality analysis and recommendations.
Initial Post: Create a discussion post that addresses the following:
Section 1:
In this section reflect on the case scenario presented and respond to the following two questions:
Using the Big 5 Personality Traits Theory, what personality traits should the candidates being assigned to China have? Think specifically about Chinese culture as it compares to American culture.
What information would you provide in pre-departure training?
Section 2:
In this section, reflect on the organization you work for (or an organization that you have worked for previously).
What practices and training exist in your organization that promote global cultural awareness and appreciation?
Note: Please continue to maintain the anonymity of your organization by not disclosing information identifying it. It is ok to share organizational purpose and departmental composition. If you are not currently in the workplace, you may provide answers based on previous employment experiences.
Reply Post: After reading the proposed cultural preparation plans and reflections posted by your peers, review?Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions (Links to an external site.) once again. Consider their insights and recommendations regarding cultural comparison and best cultural acclimation practices. Post at least two reflections for your peers that map their insights and observations to your experiences in your own organization. Answer the following questions:
What are the similarities and differences between your organizations in terms of recognizing different cultures?
How is this manifested?
What training ideas could benefit your organization and theirs?
To ensure the utility of your recommendations, the guidance you offer should be limited to 300 – 400 words maximum.
Your well-crafted recommendation would incorporate references to the details provided in the profiles with direct linkages to your advice.
To strengthen the credibility of your recommendations, cite evidence to support it.
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 4 Discussion
Decision Making in Organizations
It is often assumed that only leaders can and should make decisions within organizations. In truth, decisions are made regularly by people at all levels of the organization. Even though strategic decisions are often made by leaders, the voices and input of people throughout the organization are critical in making these decisions. In addition, many leadership models acknowledge the importance of empowering the voices of managers and front-line employees to enhance employee engagement and receive the most accurate information to make informed, rational decisions, rather than making intuitive decisions with less information.
There are many variables in decision making in organizations. Use the identified questions as a framework to structure your post for this discussion. Your task is to analyze decision-making structures in your organization by answering four key questions. To be fully prepared, make sure to read what is expected in the ‘reply’ post so that you are aware of how your peers will use the information you provide to respond to you.?
Scenario
During your weekly meeting, your supervisor discusses some recent operational decisions as well as the strategic and tactical rationales behind them. She is puzzled about the weak reception by front-line employees that she believes has resulted in outcomes that are far less impactful than predicted. Because of the updates you provide about all that you are learning in this course, she asks you to provide a profile of decision-making processes in your organization.
Scenario Questions
The following questions provide you with a framework to structure your response to the scenario. No doubt there are many variables that will influence this decision, but your task is to primarily focus on using the cultural context of your organization and the external environment in which it operates to frame a brief response to the following question as part of your initial response post. Also, make sure to read what is expected in the ‘reply’ post so that you are aware that your peers will be using the information you provide to post a response.
Initial Post: Strategic, tactical, and operational decisions are addressed on page 3.3 of your webtext. From the point of view of an employee, offer the following response to your supervisor’s request.
How are strategic, tactical, and operational decisions made in your organization? Make sure to address all three facets while responding to the following questions:
Who is involved in the process?
Who makes the final decision?
How are these decisions connected to or evidence of the organization’s culture?
What has been the result of these decision-making structures within your organization?
Note: Please continue to maintain the anonymity of your organization by not disclosing information identifying it. It is ok to share organizational purpose and departmental composition. If you are not currently in the workplace, you may provide answers based on previous employment experiences.
Reply Post: From the point of view of a hiring consultant, provide advice to two of your peers.
Your supervisor forwarded your report to organizational leadership. The team is interested in attempting to strengthen and improve the decision-making process and outcomes for the change they intended. They hire you as an implementation consultant. Your job is to review the analyses provided by your peers in their initial posts and craft alternative approaches. Provide additional insight and facts that will help improve the decision-making processes in their organizations. It is critical that you structure an alternative architecture for the decision-making processes intended to ignite impactful change.
To ensure the utility of your recommendations, the guidance you offer should be limited to 300 – 400 words maximum.
A well-crafted recommendation would incorporate references to the details provided in the profiles with direct linkages to your advice.
To strengthen the credibility of your recommendations, cite evidence to support it.
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 5 Discussion
Management, Teams Building, and Group Dynamics
Did you know that team management and member selection can directly impact an organization’s financial bottom-line? Even simply considering personalities before putting together a team could make or break important projects. According to Gino (2015) from the Harvard Business Review, studies show that teams led by extroverts have been found to be high performing, but only if the employees on the team are more passive. Teams led by introverts have been shown to be more effective when members of the team are more proactive and extroverted. There are many factors to be considered when forming effective teams. Please refer to Chapter 4 Management (4.0-4.18) for your responses.
Scenario
Your weekly conversation with your supervisor involves a new manager within your organization. He has been tasked with the formation and leadership of a team assigned to work on a critical project. Project success represents potential revenues in excess of five million dollars. The upfront investment in this project is significant and the stakes are high, but if it works, the return on investment is worth the initial cost.
Leadership wants to ensure that the right people are working on this high-profile project as many departments throughout the organization will be impacted by it. They have asked your supervisor to support the new manager as he builds the project team. Leadership is anticipating justification for team selection before proceeding.
Scenario Questions
Your supervisor has asked you to use what you are learning about management to draft guidelines to assist the project manager as he formulates the team.
Initial Post: Post your recommendations using the following framework:
There are many factors to consider when putting together a successful team. In your recommendation, supply your perspective as to the three most important factors to consider when building this team. Strengthen your assertion with supporting material from the module readings and from external resources that you find.
In your opinion, what factors need to be considered when determining the effectiveness of this team?
Thinking about your experience with teams, whether as a leader or member, what were the ingredients for team success?
Reply Post: From the point of view of a hiring consultant, provide advice to two of your peers.
Wearing the hat of the new manager tasked with forming this team, reflect on the recommendations of your peers. Outline additional insights you have gained about team building and group dynamics from their posts.
In what ways does their rationale make sense?
Recommend other factors that would strengthen their plan. Include your rationale.
How would you integrate their plan with yours to build a strong team?
To manage your reply, use the following parameters:
Ensure the utility of your recommendations by offering a reply limited to 300 – 400 words maximum.
Incorporate references connecting their details to your reply.
Strengthen the credibility of your recommendations by citing supporting evidence.
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 6 Discussion
Communications and Conflict Resolution
Why do we still make the wrong decisions for our organizations despite having teams and organizations full of professional, experienced, and talented people? How is possible that senior leaders become so disconnected from the people they lead, or so out of touch with what is happening in the organization, that monumentally poor and costly decisions even occur? Surely if others in the organization have the answers, their problems would be solved? Engaging employees in critical upward communication becomes more challenging the further removed leaders become from their people and processes for several reasons.
Your organization has decided to invest in new technology to improve processes and streamline communication. The technology company said that its new software could do all that the company needed and more. But you and other employees who use the current systems and understand them also know that they did not provide enough information about the new system to make the investment. Employees at various levels disagree with the investment. Some even created other options for review by the leadership team but were dismissed. Desperate to fix the problems that the organization is having, little consideration was paid to the concerns of the employees about the system and the four-million-dollar investment. The leadership is accusing people of standing in the way out of fear of change and trepidations about job loss. Some leadership team members are even referring to these people as, “the resistance.” ?
Employees have stopped sharing critical upward feedback because they do not want to be at odds with leadership. They are designed to go with the flow and comply, regardless of the issues they know exist.
Now that the investment has been made and the change is being rolled out, it is apparent that the new technology is not suitable for meeting the organization’s needs. Time and money have been wasted.
Tourish (2005) explains two critical theories in the article Critical Upward Communication: Ten Commandments for Improving Strategy and Decision Making: The Automatic Vigilance Effect and the Ingratiation Effect.
Initial Post
The current status of this investment and the subsequent fall-out with employees is the main part of your conversation in your weekly meeting with your supervisor. You are eager to explain what went wrong by using the Automatic Vigilance Effect and Ingratiation Effect theories (Tourish, 2005).
In this discussion, you will contribute an analysis of the situation for your supervisor. For the purpose of this discussion, ‘your’ organization is the organization described in the discussion prompt.
Explain the Automatic Vigilance Effect and the Ingratiation Effect through the lens of how they have been manifested in your organization.
Identify reasons for the behaviors that are afflicting your organization.
Reply Post
To apply all that you have learned from your peers’ posts, Chapter 5 in your Soomo text, and the Tourish article, step in as the supervisor on the receiving end of the analyses that have been posted and improve them by drafting replies offering them the following:
Brief description of practices that can be put in place to ensure leaders do not resort to maladaptive communication failures in the future.
Map the behaviors and consequences described in your peers’ posts to your proposed solutions. Compare and contrast the outcomes that have disrupted the organization with the potential outcomes stemming from your interventions.
Ensure the utility of your replies by:
Limiting your replies to 300 – 400 words maximum.
Linking details provided by your peers directly to your advice.
Citing evidence to strengthen your recommendations.
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 7 Discussion
Performance Management and Employee Engagement
Several factors drive employee engagement. These influential factors include leadership, culture, communication, diversity, work-life balance, acknowledgment, to name a handful. Employee engagement drives the organizational performance that influences the bottom-line which ultimately determines organizational success or failure. Consequently, quality employee engagement and morale are leading factors in organizational success.
Scenario
For this discussion, consider a scenario wherein a company has hired you as a business development consultant. This large business needs help in terms of understanding why they continually maintain both low scores on their employee satisfaction surveys and high levels of turnover. As a consultant, you know that many factors contribute to employee satisfaction and employee engagement.
Initial Post
Supply a recommendation that addresses the following:
Discuss three key factors in employee engagement on which leadership should focus.
Highlight some practices that leadership can implement to improve the productive impact of each of the three factors that you have identified.
Make sure to provide a rationale for each of your recommendations that include cited evidence.
Reply Post
Consider the recommendations and evidence supplied by your classmates.
Thinking about your own experiences at work, share additional insights you have gained about employee engagement and employee satisfaction. Also, consider any limitations of the suggestions that have been provided-for instance are there ideas that work in theory but would be difficult to implement in practice.
Offer your perspective as to how their recommendations might influence your organization and work experience?
Keep in mind the following parameters while crafting your posts and replies:
Limit your posts and replies to 300 – 400 words maximum to ensure their utility.
Incorporate references to the details provided by your peers with direct linkages to your advice.
Strengthen the credibility of your recommendations by citing evidence to support them.
BUS311 ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Module 8 Discussion
Understanding the Importance of Organizational Behavior
How can understanding organizational behavior make a difference within an organization? Is it necessary for employees to know the principles within organizations and what might be the results if they do or do not have that understanding? As a student in organizational behavior, you now have the answer to those questions.
Initial Post:
In Module 1, you outlined how you justified taking this course as an employee of a struggling organization. Organizational behavior sounded far too vague and your boss was not instantly convinced that it was worth the company funds to pay for such a course. Now that the course is over, your boss would like a follow-up and a report on the following:
What are the 3-4 of the greatest take-aways from this course? (You will need to refer to specific topics covered in this course.)
What things have you learned that could be immediately applied to your organization at either the individual, group, or organizational level that would improve its current processes or behavior?
Is there a single most important factor in organizational behavior? Justify your answer with relevant examples.
Reply Post:
In your responses to classmates, share additional insights you have gained the importance of various elements of organizational behavior after reading their posts.
To ensure the utility of your recommendations, the guidance you offer should be limited to 300 – 400 words maximum.
A well-crafted recommendation would incorporate references to the details provided in the profiles with direct linkages to your advice.
To strengthen the credibility of your recommendations, cite evidence to support it.
