Management
Organizational
Behavior
An Integrated Perspective
CHAPTER 8
Behavior in
Organizations
Jon L. Pierce &
Donald G. Gardner
with Randall B. Dunham
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
PowerPoint Presentation
by Charlie Cook
8–1
Learning Objectives
1. Define and describe the importance of individual
employee performance.
2. Distinguish objective and subjective performance
appraisal techniques.
3. Describe a performance improvement plan and identify
when it is appropriate to use.
4. Discuss when and how to terminate an employee.
5. Evaluate the belief that satisfaction causes performance.
6. Distinguish physical and psychological withdrawal.
7. Identify major costs associated with absenteeism and
turnover, and how to prevent them.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–2
Learning Objectives (cont’d)
8.
Define organizational citizenship behaviors, and
describe why organizations depend on them.
9. Describe four types of employee deviance behaviors.
10. Relate deviance behavior categories to workplace
violence and aggression, and substance abuse.
11. Describe the manager’s role in preventing workplace
violence and substance abuse.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–3
Individual Performance
• Performance
 The behaviors of organizational members that help meet
organizational objectives.
 The degree to which employees meet the expectations
of the organization—meet the objectives—as they
execute the required duties of their jobs.
• Effort
 The human energy directed toward achieving an
organizational objective.
 A necessary component of performance (no effort, no
performance), although effort is not performance.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–4
Individual Performance (cont’d)
• Job duties
 The concrete and abstract activities, tasks, and
behaviors expected of anyone performing a particular
job.
• Job description
 A written document that identifies the job duties for a
particular job in an organization.
• Job performance
 How well (or poorly) employees perform their job duties
compared to expectations for the job.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–5
Individual Performance (cont’d)
• Performance requires:
 Effort (applied skills)
 Clearly defined job duties (accurate role perceptions)
 Proper tools (supplies, materials, support systems)
Behavior = F [(Person)(Situation)]
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–6
Sample Performance Improvement Comparison
Tom and Cindy work on identical
punch press machines at ACME
Tool and Die Works. They both
know how to operate their
presses, but their skill levels
differ. Tom puts a reasonable
amount of effort into his work,
but his performance is low
compared to the other workers
(100 punches per hour). Cindy
exerts considerably more effort
than Tom; she is also more
skilled—her punch rate is 150 per
hour. On June 27, new punch
press machines are installed.
Tom's rate on the new machines
is 170 punches per hour and
Cindy's is 300.
300
250
Tom
Cindy
200
150
100
0
Old Press
New Press
FIGURE 8–1
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–7
Performance Appraisal
• Performance appraisal
 The process of evaluating how effectively members are
fulfilling their job responsibilities and contributing to
organizational goals.
• Fair and accurate appraisals require that
managers must:
 Know the organization’s expectations for a job.
 Monitor employees’ behaviors and results.
 Compare performance outcomes against expectations.
 Provide feedback to the employees on their
performance.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–8
Performance Appraisal
• The importance of performance appraisals to
organizations
 Validate the effectiveness of hiring standards.
 Show where training, development, and motivation
programs are needed and later gauge the effectiveness
of those programs.
 Demonstrate the effects of organization policies and
practices on individual and organizational performance.
 Serve as the basis for making performance-related
compensation, promotion, and dismissal decisions.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–9
Performance Appraisal
Traditional organization
Single-rater approach
High-involvement organization
Multi-rater approach
(360º feedback)
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–10
Appraisal Techniques
• Objective methods
 Performance is assessed using verifiable physical/
quantitative objects (e.g., units produced) or events
(e.g., sales calls to customers).
• Subjective methods
 Performance is assessed by methods that require one
person rating another on intangible or qualitativelybased measures.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–11
Subjective Appraisal Methods
• Graphic rating scale
 A method of performance appraisal that requires the
rater to judge the performance of the ratee on
dimension (criteria) using scaled standards (poor,
excellent, etc.).
• Essay method
 The rater is required to write a narrative about the
employee’s performance strengths and weaknesses, as
well as ways the employee can improve job
performance.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–12
Graphic Rating Scale
Sloan Tool & Die, Inc.
Duluth, Minnesota
Employee Rating Scale
Employee:
Javier Alva
Department:
Accounting
Rated by:
Irene Muharsky
Date:
3/17/01
Behavior:
Unsatisfactory
Questionable
Satisfactory
Outstanding
A.
Quantity of work
1
2
3
4
B.
Quality of work
1
2
3
4
C.
Work initiative
1
2
3
4
D.
Efficiency
1
2
3
4
E.
Overall
1
2
3
4
FIGURE 8–2
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–13
Subjective Appraisal Methods
• Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS)
 An improved graphic rating scale that uses a scale for
each relevant dimension of performance, but each scale
has explicit behavioral anchors.
• Comparative method
 The rater compares the performance of each worker to
the performance of all co-workers.
 Straight
ranking
 Forced distribution
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–14
Sample of a Behaviorally
Anchored Rating Scale
Organizational skills:
A good constructional order of
material; slides smoothly from one
topic to another; design of course
optimizes interests; students can
easily follow organizational strategy;
course outline followed.
10
9
8
This instructor could be expected to assimilate
the previous lecture into the present one before
beginning the lecture.
7
6
Prepares a course syllabus but only follows it
occasionally; presents lecture in no particular
order, although does tie them together.
Follows a course syllabus; presents lectures in
a logical order; ties each lecture into the
previous one.
This instructor could be expected to announce
at the end of each lecture the material that will
be covered during the next class period.
5
4
3
Makes no use of a course syllabus; lectures on
topics randomly with no logical order.
Source: Adapted from H. J. Bernardin. 1977. Behavioral
expectation scales versus summated scales: A fairer
comparison. Journal of Applied Psychology 62:422–477.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
2
This instructor could be expected to be
sidetracked at least once a week in lecture and
not cover the intended material.
This instructor could be expected to lecture a
good deal of the time about subjects other than
those in the syllabus.
1
FIGURE 8–3
8–15
Rater Errors
• Rater error
 An error by a rater which causes an employee’s
performance rating to not reflect their performance.
 Halo/horn—a rater gives a person similar scores on all
scales when there is an actual variation in performance
for some scales.
 Cluster errors—a rater gives all individuals in a group
the same rating regardless of their actual performance.
 Central
tendency—rating all employees about average
 Leniency—rating all employees high
 Severity—rating all employees low
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–16
Rater Errors (continued
• Rater errors (cont’d)
 Politics and prejudice—raters may intentionally bias
their ratings to help an employee or to get rid of
employee; if the bias is unrelated to work it is illegal.
• Managing appraisal problems
 Train performance appraisers to avoid rater errors.
 Improve rating instruments and train performance
appraisers in their use.
 Standardize rating procedures and their conduct.
 Assess how well managers conduct performance
appraisals and reward those who do it effectively.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–17
Improving Performance
• Performance improvement plan
 A formal agreement between a manager and an
employee that covers:
 The
employee’s performance problem.
 Why the performance is deficient.
 What the employee must do
and by when to eliminate
the performance problem.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–18
Termination
• Termination
 The unilateral canceling of an employment contract by
an organization, whether the contract is written or not.
 Reasons to fire problem employees:

Their poor performance is costing the company
money.
 They are setting a bad
example for other
employees that could
lead to morale problems.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–19
Termination (cont’d)
• Termination guidelines
1. Never summarily discharge an employee. Suspend
employee; investigate and consider alternatives.
2. Get all the facts and document them.
3. Conduct discussions with the employee with care and
deliberation.
4. Don’t delay. Ignoring a problem creates more problems.
5. Use an impartial third party (“final filter”) to check the
termination decision.
6. Make clear the specific cause of the discharge.
7. Inform the employee personally that they are being
terminated.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–20
The Satisfaction-Performance Relationship
• “Happy worker thesis”
 The Human Relations Movement believed that satisfied
workers would be motivated to perform better.
 The correlation between
job satisfaction and any
measure of job performance
is weak or nonexistent.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–21
The Satisfaction-Performance Relationship
• Why no “happy worker” effect?
1. There may be a lack of accuracy in measuring
2.
3.
4.
5.
employee performance.
Employees may lack the resources necessary for
increased performance.
Some jobs are not amenable to high (variable)
performance.
Employees draw job satisfaction from job factors not
related to job performance.
Under Total Quality Management (TQM), system
factors, over which the employee has no control,
determine or impede job performance.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–22
Withdrawal
• Withdrawal
 The physical and/or psychological avoidance by
employees of their workplace.
• Physical withdrawal
 The act of physically removing oneself
from the work environment through
such behaviors as tardiness, absence,
and turnover.
• Psychological withdrawal
 A mental state in which an employee is disengaged
from the work environment.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–23
Physical Withdrawal: Absence
• Absenteeism
 Occurs when an employee does not report to work
when scheduled.
• Excused absences
 Absences in which employees notify their employer in
advance that they will not be in on a given day and the
employer approves of the absence.
• Unexcused absences
 Absences in which an employee, with no advance
approval, simply fails to show up for work when
scheduled.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–24
Physical Withdrawal: Absence (cont’d)
• Voluntary absenteeism
 Occurs when an employee chooses not to work when
they could have (they are not ill) and should have (they
are expected).
• Involuntary absenteeism
 Occurs when an employee is
absent because of illness or
other factors out of the
employee’s direct control.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–25
Causes of Absenteeism
•Long-term causes
 Depression
• Intermediate-term
causes
 Smoking
 Job dissatisfaction
 Alcohol and drug abuse
 Low job involvement
 Lack of exercise
 Low organizational
•Short-term causes
 Lack of attendance
incentives
 Unhealthy employees
 Lack of work group
pressure to attend
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
commitment
 Monotonous work
 Work group norms that
encourage absenteeism
 Inflexible work hours
8–26
Costs Associated with Employee Absenteeism
• Pay for time not worked (when absence is paid through
sick leave policies)
• Benefits payments (absent employee is still covered)
• Premium pay for temporary workers who substitute for the
absent worker
• Salaries and benefits for supervisors who have added
administrative tasks associated with the absence.
• Underutilized facilities (overhead is paid even when
employees are absent)
• Substandard quantity and quality of production (substitute
workers are rarely as productive as an experienced but
absent worker)
• Increased inspection and supervision costs
TABLE 8–1
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–27
Physical Withdrawal: Turnover
• Turnover
 Occurs when an employee or employer cancels the
employment relationship.
• Involuntary turnover
 Occurs when the organization, against an employee’s
preferences, discontinues their employment.
• Voluntary turnover
 Occurs when an employee chooses to leave an
organization.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–28
Physical Withdrawal: Turnover (cont’d)
• Avoidable voluntary turnover
 Occurs when a valuable employee elects to leave the
organization and the employer could have prevented it
by improving the employee’s work conditions.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–29
Costs Associated with Employee Turnover
• Lost productivity while the job is vacant
• Preparing for recruiting (writing new job
descriptions and position requirements)
• Recruiting costs (such as advertising fees)
• Screening costs (such as reviewing resumes and
responding to applicant inquires)
• Interviewing costs (time spent contacting
applicants, preparing for and conducting
interviews)
• Evaluation costs (time spent meeting to evaluate
multiple job candidates)
• Cost of making a job offer (time spent negotiating
with a candidate)
TABLE 8–3a
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–30
Costs Associated with Employee Turnover
(cont’d)
• Training costs (costs of training a new
employee, including orientation training)
• Cost of reduced efficiency and quality of
performance as new employee learns a new job
• Other costs (such as lost productivity of new
employee’s co-workers as they learn to work
with the new employee)
TABLE 8–3b
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–31
Physical Withdrawal: Turnover (cont’d)
• Predictors of turnover
 Personal characteristics—employees who are older,
long serving, and have family responsibilities are less
like to quit.
 Job-related factors—employees with jobs that are
satisfying and that meet the employee’s job context
expectations are less likely to quit.
 Withdrawal behaviors—employees who have other job
offers, are searching for other work, have the intention
to quit, have a history of absenteeism, and/or are poor
performers are more likely to quit.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–32
Strategies for Preventing Absenteeism and
Turnover
• Employee surveys
• Incentives and special
compensation programs
• Wellness programs
• Accurate record keeping
• Job enrichment
• Safe and clean work
environment
• Exit interviews
• Career planning
• Open communication
• Work and nonwork
balance options
• Flexible work schedules
• Compelling
organizational culture
• High-involvement work
processes
TABLE 8–4
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–33
Organizational Citizenship
• Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB)
 Behaviors that employees exhibit on and off their jobs
that reflect sacrifices for, and commitment to, the
prosperity of the organization.
 Key OCB features:
 OCB
are voluntary, intentional, conscious and
spontaneous acts on the part of the employee
 OCB are intended to be positively valued by the
employee and the organization
 OCB primarily benefit the organization and not the
employees themselves
 OCB is not the same as high job performance.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–34
Organizational Citizenship (cont’d)
• Types of citizenship behaviors
 Altruism—helping others at work
 Compliance—surpassing enforceable work standards
 Sportsmanship—having a high tolerance for
annoyances on the job
 Courtesy—having consideration for how decisions will
affect others
 Civic virtue—being actively involved in companysponsored events and keeping up with organization
activities
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–35
Organizational Citizenship (cont’d)
• OCB redefined by Van Dyne
 Organizational obedience
 Organizational loyalty
 Organizational participation
 Social
participation
 Advocacy participation
 Functional participation
 Covenantal relationships
 Relationships
that exist between employees and
employers when there is a state of mutual commitment
and trust, and shared values
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–36
Determinants of Organizational Citizenship
Behaviors (Organ and Ryan)
•Attitudinal Factors
•Dispositional Factors
 Job satisfaction
 Conscientiousness
 Fairness
 Agreeableness
 Commitment
 Positive and negative
 Leader supportiveness
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
affectivity
8–37
Aggression, Violence, and Incivility
• Deviant behavior
 Voluntary behavior that violates significant
organizational norms and in doing so threatens the wellbeing of an organization, its members, or both.
• Classification of employee deviant behaviors
Target of Behavior
Organization
Minor
Production
Deviance
Serious
Property
Deviance
Individual
Political
Deviance
Severity
Source: S. L. Robinson and R. J. Bennett. 1995. A topology of deviant behaviors:
A multidimensional scaling study. Academy of Management Journal 38:555–572.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
Personal
Deviance
TABLE 8–4
8–38
Workplace Aggression
• Organizational characteristics that foster
workplace aggression by employees
 Modeling aggressive behavior
 Aversive treatment
 Incentive inducements
 Factors in the physical environment
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–39
Workplace Aggression (cont’d)
• Progressive stages of violence-prone employee
behaviors
 Passively aggressive in not cooperating with coworkers
and not complying with organizational rules; engaging
in disruptive behaviors.
 Statements of perceived mistreatment and of the overt
intention to become aggressive or resort to aggressive
acts.
 Acting out aggression by destruction of company
assets, attacking other employees and making threats
against specific employees.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–40
Actions That Prevent Workplace Violence
• Develop a zero tolerance employee violence
policy.
• Provide training and education for handling
reports and actual incidents of violence.
• Create a threat assessment team to monitor
the organization’s preparedness.
• Screen job applicants for aggressive behaviors.
• Provide stress management training for
disturbed employees.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–41
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
• Costs and prevalence of substance abuse
 11% of all employees use illegal drugs.
 71% of drug users are employed.
 Each drug abuser costs the employer $7,000 per year.
 Drug use costs employers $120 billion per year.
 6-to10% of the work force are alcoholics.
 500 million workdays are lost annually
to intoxication and hangovers.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–42
Preventing Substance Abuse
• Screen out job applicants who are abusers.
• Test current employees for impairment.
 Conduct random testing, “for cause” testing, and/or
post-accident/incident testing
 Refer impaired employees to an Employee Assistance
program (EAP) for rehabilitation.
• Train managers to identify and deal properly
with impaired employees.
Copyright © 2002 by South-Western
8–43