DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What do you think are the most important things a manager does? Is how a manager does these
things also important? Why or why not?
The ability to understand what people think and feel, knowing how to persuade and motivate others,
2. Some people have suggested that understanding human behavior at work is the single most
important requirement for managerial success. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Why?
To some degree, students’ responses may depend on their major field of study, especially if it is not
management. However, students should recognize that the behavior of people in organizations affects
3. The chapter identifies four basic managerial functions. Based on your own experiences and
observations, provide an example of each function.
4. Why will learning about OB help you to get a better job and a better career, and be a better
manager?
OB provides a foundation for the effective management of people in organizations. Because
5. Some people believe that individuals working in an organization have basic human rights to
satisfaction with their work and to the opportunity to grow and develop. How would you
defend this position? How would you argue against it?
In defense of this position, it may be argued that organizations have a responsibility to society to
provide an environment that enables individuals to grow and develop. In other words, because
6. Think of something that you believe leads to employee productivity based on intuition that may
not prove to be true if tested systematically. Now apply the scientific method and describe how
you might test your theory.
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Paying for increased production seems intuitively to lead to increased productivity. In fact, workers
who produced more than their peers were considered “rate busters” and shunned by their coworkers.
GROUP EXERCISE – Managing a Successful Restaurant
Learning Objective: Applying concepts learned in this chapter such as employee engagement,
organizational citizenship, dysfunctional behaviors and managing for effectiveness.
Task: Form groups of 3 – 5 students.
Imagine that you are all managers in a local restaurant. There are many restaurants in town,
making it a competitive business. You recognize that providing high quality, friendly service and
having actively engaged employees is going to make the difference between your restaurant’s
success and failure.
Your management team decides to first address organizational citizenship and employee
engagement as drivers of high quality customer service.
First, think independently about what your restaurant can do to enhance the engagement and
citizenship behaviors of your employees. Then share your ideas with the group and identify your
top three suggestions for the restaurant. Be ready to share your ideas with the class.
Your management team next decides that it will be important to minimize dysfunctional
employee behaviors if the restaurant is to succeed. First, think independently about what your
restaurant can do to minimize the occurrence of these destructive behaviors. Then share your
ideas with the group and identify your top three suggestions for the restaurant. Be ready to share
them with the class.
VIDEO EXERCISES
Managing at Camp Bow Wow
Summary: Sue Ryan left the corporate world to open her own business, Camp Bow Wow, to enjoy—and
pass on—the better managerial practices that she’d encountered in her career. Her strategy for managing
her business is to mentor and develop other managers to help her.
1. How does Sue Ryan perform the three basic managerial roles—interpersonal, informational,
and decision making—in her role at Camp Bow Wow?
In the interpersonal category, Sue assumes the leader role and encourages workers to increase
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a
license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password‐protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.
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2. How do Candace Stathis and Sue Ryan apply the four critical managerial skills—technical,
interpersonal, conceptual, and diagnostic—in their roles at the company? Which of these skills
do you think is most important skill for a manager at Camp Bow Wow and why?
Ryan and Stahis need technical skills associated with operations such as handling the dogs. They need
3. How do Ryan and Stathis balance the three levels of business outcomes—individual, group and
team, and organizational? How would each manager rank the importance of the three
outcomes? Why are their rankings likely to be the same or different?
Sue Ryan would rank organizational outcomes first because she is a manager who realizes the effect
of good customer service on business performance. She would rank group and team outcomes next
Now What?
Imagine being a new manager at Happy Time Toys, a company that designs and manufactures novelty
toys. While attending a group meeting with your boss and two coworkers, your boss asks for ways of
better using the organization’s talent to create a competitive advantage. What do you say or do? Go to this
chapter’s “Now What?” video, watch the challenge video, and choose the best response. Be sure to also
view the outcomes of the two responses you didn’t choose.
OB Concepts Applied: the managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling; the
role of OB in managing effectively.
Discussion Questions
1. Which aspects of management and organizational behavior discussed in this chapter are
illustrated in these videos? Explain your answer.
Organizational behavior explains how people interpret events and behave in organizations and
Happy Time Toys correctly assumed that people work best when they’re rewarded properly.
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a
license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password‐protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.
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OB explains that workers are more motivated when they believe their organization is open,
Organizational culture is a system of shared values, norms, and assumptions that guide members’
attitudes and behaviors in an organization. To create a strong culture, leaders clearly communicate
The video also illustrated the managerial functions of planning, organizing, directing and controlling
2. How could a company’s talent strategy undermine its ability to create a competitive advantage?
A competitive advantage offers quality, service, and an acceptable price, and an organization’s talent
When Happy Time Toys tied its talent strategy a low-cost business strategy (incorrect response #1),
3. How else might you answer the question of how Happy Time Toys can create a competitive
advantage through its talent?
Another approach for Happy Time Toys could be a specialization strategy which focuses on a narrow
market segment or niche. The company could develop a competitive advantage based on customer
© 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a
license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password‐protected website or school-approved learning management system for classroom use.