Essay/Case Assignment #3
MGMT 403
Spring 2021
I. Chapter 9
a. Please read “An Ethics Question” on p235 and answer the question. (3
points). What would you recommend?
I would recommend that the manager treats everyone with fairness. By this I
mean that if there is a dissatisfied employee and they come to the manager and
voice their concern, then whatever the manager decides to do to increase the
satisfaction for that employee, he or she should also include the other employees
in that process so that no one feels “left out” or “ignored”. There may be other
employees who are dissatisfied for the same reason as the employee who made
the complaint and maybe they just do not want to speak up because they are afraid
of causing issues. So, by addressing the complaint and including everyone, those
employees who do not speak up also increase their satisfaction. This would be a
way to avoid dissatisfaction from spreading.
b. Briefly describe in one sentence each of the following: job satisfaction, job
involvement, organizational commitment, and work mood. Do you think
these constructs are always connected? Why or why not? Give at least one
‘real world’ example that provides evidence for your conclusions. (5 points)
Job satisfaction is the measure of how content employees are with their job and
can be measured in cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Job
involvement is a state of psychological identification with work, which is the key
to unlocking employee motivation and increasing productivity. Organizational
commitment is how committed an employee is to their job. Work mood is an
employee’s mood towards the organization and their job. I do think that these
constructs are always connected because chances are that if you are not satisfied
with your job, then your involvement, commitment, and your mood will reflect
that. The employee may show up late, call out of work a lot, have a negative
attitude towards others. Whereas if the situation is flipped and the employee is
satisfied with their job then they will more than likely be willing to come to work
with a positive attitude and will show up on time.
c. Contact two businesses (It can be your employer, your coffee shop, your
pharmacy, your doctor, etc.—keep it simple!) and ask them about their
employee absenteeism and turnover rates. What do they think is the most
likely cause for these types of issues? Have they done anything to try and
reduce the frequency of occurrence? (10 points)
Absenteeism for employees includes scheduled absences, like vacation days and
paid time off, and includes unscheduled absences like sick days or family medical
leave. There are also partial shift absences which is where employees are late for
work, or they must leave early. All absences can cost the organization. Turnover
is the annual precent of employees who quit their job who must be replaced. This
means that layoffs and being fired are not included in turnover rates. For example,
a 20% turnover rate means that one in five employees has left the company within
a year. High turnover often means there is high absenteeism. Turnover is usually
high in companies where the employees generally feel disrespected, undervalued,
and ignored. This can all be a big snowball effect. First, productivity drops when
companies are understaffed and so does the quality of goods and services.
Employee must now fill in for absent co-workers on top of fulfilling their own
duties. Overworked employees tend to be fatigued and get sick, which can
compound absenteeism. Customer also become dissatisfied when there are not
enough employees to meet the demand.
II. Chapter 10
a. Please read “An Ethics Question” on p266 and answer the questions. (3
points). During times of high unemployment rates and labor surpluses will
these companies once again change their practices and again tighten their
drug testing procedures? Should they do so?
If a company’s only employees are a bunch of hard drug users and/or addicts,
chances are that the company will not function properly. Yes, the company will
be able to essentially hire more people who was not eligible before, but those
employees will probably not be good employees that stay with the company. For
this reason, I believe that they will tighten their drug testing procedures.
Personally, I do think that drug testing for a job should be a normal thing, but to
an extent. With the rise of Marijuana becoming legal for medical and recreational
usage, I believe drug testing for marijuana or failure to get a job because the
person smokes marijuana should not be a thing. Other drugs like Cocaine, Meth,
Benzos, Opiates, and many others should be tested for in order to get a job. If
someone has a prescription for a medication then obviously, they should not be
declined a job, but people who use hardcore drugs should not be able to get a job.
Those people would not be trustworthy employees and I hope that people like that
can get the help that they need.
b. Please read the “Incident” on p283 and answer the questions. (5 points)
i. What issue are raised by these events?
Issues regarding employee theft and dishonesty were raised by these
events. Job satisfaction was also an issue in this case. If Janis were
satisfied with her job and had respect for the company, she would not have
been stealing money. Loyalty and commitment to the company was also
put into question by both Janis and Lopez. Janis was not committed or
loyal, and Lopez, even though not involved in the theft, does not seem
very loyal or committed either. Sometimes, minding your own business is
not the best choice to make, especially when it comes to ethical decisions.
The last issue the was raised is the poor organizational culture.
ii. What disciplinary action, either preventive or corrective, do you
recommend for each of the two women? Why?
Janis must be made to repay the amount stolen and she must be terminated
immediately. If action is not taken against Janis, other employees might
also resort to such actions. Terminating Janis would clearly send a
message that consequences would be very strict when anyone does such a
thing. Lopez was not involved in the theft, but she has a moral
responsibility to inform the owner about wrong doings that happen within
the organization. It is one of her duties to prevent these kinds of incidents.
Lopez should be given a warning about the incident and the owner should
encourage her to report such incidents in the future. The last thing that
needs to be done is the owner needs to revisit the recruitment process and
make modifications to ensure that honest employees are selected.
iii. Is Lopez’s failure to blow the whistle an issue?
Yes, I do believe that Lopez’s failure to blow the whistle was an issue. She
may have felt like she was doing the right thing by minding her business,
but when someone is stealing, lying, or hurting the company, then I do
