SOAL-SOAL PSIKOLOGI INDUSTRI DAN ORGANISASI
Pertemuan 14 & 15:
Psikologi Organisasi
1. Why was the development of the bureaucratic organizational style considered to be such
a revolutionary and humanistic change to the workplace?
a. Bureaucracy is a formal, orderly, and rational approach to organizing business
enterprises.
b. It was designed to correct the inequities, favoritism, and cruelty during the era of
the industrial revolution.
c.
2. Describe the problems and weaknesses of bureaucracies for both the individual and the
organization.
a. Human needs and values are often ignored. Human motivations tend not to be
recognized. Employees have no identity; the ideal employee is docile, passive,
and childlike.
b. Decision-making is centralized, workers are isolated from management, and new
developments are viewed as threats.
3. According to McGregor’s Theory Y, what are workers like? How does this differ from
the Theory X view of workers?
a. Theory Y assumes employees are motivated to seek and accept responsibility for
their work. People have a high level of creativity, commitment, and need for
personal growth.
b. Theory X views workers in a way compatible with a bureaucracy. Workers need
strict supervision because they are incapable of acting on their own initiative.
4. If your company employed two managers and 50 workers to produce mountain bikes,
how would you convert the operation to a high-involvement management system?
a. Use a participative approach in order to better take advantage of employee
potential. The organization should be flexible enough to allow the workers to help
determine how best to perform their tasks. Jobs can be enriched to increase
challenge and responsibility, and leaders should adopt a less autocratic and more
responsive style. Decision-making should be participative at all levels.
b. This type of organization is based on three assumptions:
i. human relations - Theory Y approach
ii. human resources - participation and development must be emphasized
iii. high involvement - involve employees in important decisions
5. What are the requirements and advantages of TQM programs? Why do some of them
fail?
a. TQM refers to participative management programs, characterized by involvement,
responsibility, and participation in enriched jobs. They have been implemented to
change the approach from Theory X to Theory Y. Teams must be empowered to
enlarge jobs, redesign facilities, and revise organizational structure. Advantages
include increases in employee motivation, job satisfaction, job involvement, and
commitment.
b. Some programs fail when: employees don’t understand the demands of the
redesigned jobs, some workers don’t desire to participate in decision-making and
may need more rather than less supervision, some managers are not comfortable
releasing control, top management and unions do not both embrace the program,
and diversity and contingent workers present challenges for inclusion.
6. If self-managing work groups are designed to function autonomously, why are external
team leaders necessary, and what do they do?
a. The external leader serves as a mediator, liaison, and buffer between the work
group and the organization.
b. Successful team leaders display two kinds of behaviors: organization-focused and
team-focused.
7. How can self-managing work groups function when group members work in different
locations instead of together in one facility?
a. Virtual self-managing work groups meet by electronic means to perform a
specific task, using email and DVCS.
b. Virtual work groups have the potential to increase productivity, job satisfaction,
job involvement, and commitment. Attendance must be mandatory so all can
participate.
8. What factors influence the ways in which employees accept major organizational
change?
a. Employees accept major change based on external factors and personal factors.
b. External factors include management explanations, the amount of information
received; those high in commitment and trust are more likely to believe
management’s explanations.
c. Personal factors include risk tolerance and self-concept.
9. Describe the procedures involved in OD. What is the role of change agents?
a. OD is the study and implementation of planned total organizational change.
b. Techniques include sensitivity training, role playing, group discussion, survey
feedback, team building, and job enrichment.
c. Change agents diagnose problems, devise strategies, and implement interventions.
10. In what ways can an organization facilitate the socialization of its new employees? What
are the results of the poor socialization of the new employee?
a. Socialization is the adjustment process by which new employees learn their role
in the organizational hierarchy, the company’s values, and the behaviors
considered acceptable by the work group.
b. A socialization program should involve: a challenging job, appropriate training
and feedback, considerate supervisor, co-workers with high morale and
commitment, and a suitable orientation program.
c. Poor socialization can foster frustration, anxiety, dissatisfaction, low job
involvement, low commitment, low motivation and productivity, and dismissal or
quitting.
11. Define role ambiguity and role conflict. How do they relate to socialization?
a. Role ambiguity - when the employee’s work role is poorly structured or defined
b. Role conflict - when there is disparity between job demands and the employee’s
personal standards
c. There is an inverse relationship with job satisfaction, satisfaction with supervisor,
organizational commitment, and turnover
12. What is organizational culture? Give an example of how organizational culture can affect
job satisfaction and performance.
a. Organizational culture - a general pattern of beliefs, expectations, and values
(conscious and unconscious) that are expected to guide all members of the
organization
b. Companies with a culture of high involvement and high participation consistently
outperform companies that do not favor employee participation and involvement
13. In what ways can the labor union grievance process benefit workers and employers.
a. The grievance process establishes a formal mechanism for worker complaints.
b. Grievances serve as an indication of dissatisfaction and can help pinpoint
problems and issues.
c. The procedure provides employees with a means of upward communication to
management and an approved way of venting frustrations that might otherwise be
expressed as work slowdowns, stoppages, or sabotage.
14. What organizational conditions are likely to lead to social loafing? Does social loafing
occur when people work alone rather than in groups?
a. Social loafing is the idea that people do not work as hard in a group as they do
when working alone.
b. It is more likely to occur when individual outputs cannot be evaluated, tasks are
not meaningful, the workers are strangers to each other, co-workers are expected
to perform well on the task, and the work group is less cohesive.
15. Describe three components of group cohesiveness. Is there likely to be greater group
cohesiveness in larger groups or smaller groups? Offer an explanation for your answer.
a. Group cohesiveness is the degree of closeness within the group.
b. Three components of group cohesiveness include interpersonal attraction, task
commitment, and group pride.
c. There is likely to be greater cohesiveness in small groups because of increased
likelihood for frequent contact. Larger groups tend to splinter.
16. How has computer technology affected work procedures, the conduct of meetings, and
the brainstorming process?
a. Computer technology creates the need for greater coordination and integration of
units, with the development of new reporting hierarchies. It requires greater
formalization of work procedures. It also changes the source of the decisionmaking authority. It may result in centralization of decision-making, and may
shift some power to the computer operator.
b. Virtual meetings are shorter and less stressful.
c. Electronic brainstorming eliminates production blocking and evaluation
apprehension. Software allows anytime entry of ideas without interruption. Such
groups generate more ideas than traditional sessions.
17. How extensive is electronic monitoring in the workplace? Give some examples of how it
is carried out.
a. About 78 percent of companies report they routinely monitor their employees’
behavior.
b. Examples include monitoring phone calls, email, voice messages, Internet
connections, and computer files.
18. What would be your reaction if you learned that your employer was monitoring your
computer use? Would it change your behavior? How so?
a. Those told in advance view the process as fair; those not told of the process in
advance believed it was unfair and they felt devalued by their employer.
b. There is mixed evidence as to how employees feel and react. Some are depressed
and anxious; some are not bothered and continue to behave as they otherwise
would.