Consider this report from the Wall Street Journal: “On the way to bankruptcy court, Lear Corporation, a car-parts supplier, closed 28 factories, cut more than 20,000 jobs, and wiped out shareholders. Still, Lear sought $20.6 million in bonuses for key executives and other employees, including an eventual payout of more than $5.4 million for then-chief executive Robert Rossiter.” Does this seem appropriate from a justice or expectancy theory perspective? The U.S. Justice Department objected to these bonuses, arguing that they violated a federal law established in 2005. The goal of the law was to restrict companies from paying bonuses to executives before and during a bankruptcy process. However, a judge ruled that the bonuses were legal because they were tied to the individuals meeting specific earning milestones. A company spokesperson further commented that the bonuses were “customary” and “fully market competitive.” Lear has subsequently rebounded, adding 23,000 jobs since completing the bankruptcy process. The practice of giving bonuses to senior executives who navigate a company through bankruptcy is quite common. A Wall Street Journal study of 12 of the 100 biggest corporate bankruptcies revealed that CEOs from these firms were paid more than $350 million in various forms of compensation. “Over the past few years, fights have erupted during a handful of Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases,” the newspaper reported. “The central argument has been over whether companies are adhering to federal laws when giving their executives the extra pay.” While judicial decisions regarding this issue have been mixed, consider the ethics of paying executives large bonuses when laying off workers, closing plants, and eliminating health care and retirement benefits to retirees. Does this seem fair or just? 1. Navigating a company through bankruptcy is hard work and requires hard decisions. Executives at Lear, for example, earned those bonuses by staying with the company to shepherd it through tough times, helping to turn it around. 2. If all employees receive some sort of bonus for staying through a bankruptcy process. In other words, executives should be paid the same as other surviving employees. If everyone took a 10 percent pay cut or gets a 10 percent bonus, so should executives. What’s fair for one is fair for all. 3. It just is not right to close plants, displace employees, and eliminate retirement benefits while simultaneously giving executives hefty bonuses.
> In each of the following scenarios, an organization receives a contribution in kind. Prepare journal entries, as necessary, to give them accounting recognition. For each, tell why you made an entry or why you did not. 1. A local not-for-profit art museum
> Upon meeting with the executive director of the Crime Victims Advocacy Group, the president of a private foundation agreed to contribute in the following year $100,000 in support of the group’s proposed program to provide legal assistance to victims of v
> Select the best answer. 1. A local chapter of the Society for Protection of the Environment benefited from the voluntary services of two attorneys. One served as a member of the Society’s board of directors, performing tasks comparable to other director
> What are the four main types of reports required of a single audit?
> In what significant way do financial audits in government and not‐for‐profit organizations differ from those carried on in businesses?
> Zappos is an online footwear and apparel company. It is stated that, over time, Zappos has grown from a company that simply fulfills a customer need to one that provides superior customer service. In 2010, Amazon bought Zappos, which was seen as a positi
> Role: Poor Performer You sell shoes full time for a national chain of shoe stores. During the last month you have been absent three times without giving your manager a reason. The quality of your work has been slipping. You have a lot of creative excuses
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider how they can use influence tactics to achieve their goals. 1. Determine if you need this person’s compliance or commitment. 2. Then, using whichever tactic in Self-Assessment 12.2 is your highes
> This Problem-Solving Application profiles the necessary collaboration between competing hospitals and nursing homes in order to fight Clostridium difficile, an antibiotic-resistant bacteria that people can get infected with upon admission to one of these
> This Problem-Solving Application encourages students to consider the extent to which people can change their leadership styles. What leadership concepts or theories helped Bill Marriott to make a decision about his successor?
> This OB in Action profiles Deloitte’s new approach to performance management. The steps of setting goals and objectives, monitoring and measuring performance, reviewing performance and providing feedback, and rewarding performance are detailed based on w
> This Take-Away Application guides students on how to use the STATE technique. 1. Use STATE to guide your planning. 2. Schedule and have the crucial conversation. Then review how it went using STATE to see how well you did and the benefits.
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider how their membership in a formal group fulfills individual and organizational functions, as described in Table 8.1. 1. Describe how being a member of that group fulfills at least three of the fi
> In November 2011, Ron Johnson was named CEO of JC Penney following the seven-year tenure of Mike Ullman. He was brought in with a mandate for change to bring new life and new customers to the brand. He had been successful with similar efforts at both Tar
> This OB in Action profiles how Cisco thrives on innovation. Since the 1990s, the company's growth and product mix have mirrored the evolution of the Internet, from routers to switches, to mobile, video, cloud computing, and application-centric computing,
> Joe McCormack discusses the importance of brevity in today’s business and military environments. Over the past decade, due to the enormity of information that folks are inundated with, attention spans have dropped from 12 to 8 seconds. This has led to an
> Some companies prefer to “pamper” their employees in order to attract and motivate them on the job, as well as to create a space that invites creative output. However, one study examined productivity during the recent recession and concluded that product
> Based on your answer, and your knowledge of judgmental heuristics, what could you have done differently to avoid the bad decision?
> This OB in Action profiles Facebook. In 2012, the organization was almost entirely focused on users accessing Facebook on desktop computers. The fact that it now has hundreds of engineers working on mobile is a strong signal that mobile apps are at the c
> What is motivation and how does it affect my behavior?
> How are top-down approaches, bottom-up approaches, and “idiosyncratic deals” similar and different?
> How would I compare and contrast the process theories of motivation?
> How would I compare and contrast the content theories of motivation?
> What is culture, and why is it helpful to understand its layers and functions?
> How can I use mentoring to foster personal and professional success?
> How can I integrate the findings of socialization research with the three phases of socialization?
> What mechanisms or levers can I use to implement culture change?
> How are different types of organizational culture related to outcomes?
> 1. What types of problems that occur during meetings are most difficult to handle? Explain. 2. Can any particular leader behaviors help solve multiple problems during meetings? Discuss your rationale.
> Many airlines have experienced financial troubles in recent years. When Japan Airlines had to buckle down and cut employee salaries several years ago, CEO Haruka Nishimatsu cut his own salary as well. Nishimatsu had a salary far less than most CEOs and t
> This OB in Action allows students to reflect on how companies help their employees to develop global mind-sets. 1. Which of the positive traits and interpersonal attributes are likely to be enhanced by developing a global mind-set? 2. What steps could y
> At the conclusion of a previous meeting between Syl Tang and two employees, Daniel Simmons and Bob Franklin, Daniel asked Syl about the same-sex partner benefits that he had requested earlier, incidentally informing Bob that he was homosexual. Bob expres
> Performance-based pay for teachers has been a hotly debated issue for a number of years. This video focuses on Sulphur Springs school in Tampa that has implemented pay-for-performance for its teachers. The school had previously received an “F” rating und
> This Problem-Solving Application profiles Black Butte Coal, where a warehouse supervisor and maintenance manager's conflict escalated to the point that their manager was going to fire both of them. Not only did they disagree and argue, but they also yell
> This OB in Action highlights the advantages and disadvantages of when someone “blows the whistle” on the illegal actions of his or her company. Some whistleblowers are rewarded financially for their actions, but others pay a heavy price in the form of re
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider why individuals on one of their teams may have engaged in social loafing and what can be done to prevent social loafing. 1. Think of a group or team situation in which one of the members was “lo
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider the forms of trust and the potential implications of trust violations. 1. Describe a person with whom you have a high level of contractual trust, then a person with whom you have a low level. Wh
> Melissa, Office Manager You are the manager of an auditing team for a major international accounting firm headquartered in New York. You and Larry, one of your auditors, have been sent to Bangkok, Thailand, to set up an auditing operation. Larry is about
> This OB in Action profiles law firm Baker Donelson. The firm values community service and has doubled its pro bono hours each year since 2008. They also have a pro bono shareholder and pro bono committee. 1. What do you think are the three greatest bene
> Susan Sheppard, Creative Design Manager at Word-of-Mouth Marketing Group, is consistently bullied by her colleague, Alexandra Woodward, the boss' sister. Alexandra has been working at the firm a little over a month, after quitting her job as a Rare Artif
> This OB in Action profiles Parnassus Investments, which manages $15 billion in six funds. The organization’s founder believes that companies should be ethical and in some way contribute to the greater good of society. Thus, his investments have "excluded
> Did your committee do a good job? Explain.
> In this Take-Away Application, students reflect on common forms of unethical behavior at their school or workplace. 1. Identify the three most common forms of unethical behavior at school or where you work. Be specific. 2. Using Table 1.2, determine wha
> Of course there are at least two sides to the question of whether employers should monitor employees' social media use. Employees have a right to the privacy of what they say, to whom, when, and through which channels (face-to-face, phone, or social medi
> This video focuses on the dynamics and importance of teams in a corporate environment. The video uses Zappos.com, an online shoe retailer formed in 1999, that is known for its quirky and fun, clan-based work environment, as one example of how teams work
> 1. When interviewing financial advisors, would you compare IQs? If you were the coach, GM, or owner of a professional sports team, would you use intelligence testing? In each case, why or why not? 2. If you were a hiring manager for your company, how muc
> 1. What advice would you give to managers on how to handle their own anger and other negative emotions at work? 2. What advice would you give to managers on how to handle the anger and negative emotions felt (and expressed) by their direct reports? 3. Wh
> This Problem-Solving Application describes the incidents leading up to the termination of a 64-year-old Staples employee who ended up suing the organization for wrongful termination and age discrimination. The employee had positive performance evaluation
> This OB in Action profiles how organizations are moving past laundry being a woman’s chore and are referring to “him and her” laundry products, as well as researching male and female behavior and habits when it comes to laundry. 1. Are you surprised tha
> This Problem-Solving Application encourages students to consider how one company used experimentation to test the viability of ideas. What OB theories or concepts help explain the causes of the problem?
> This Problem-Solving Application profiles an employee who was promoted to a supervisor of her former peers. Her peers were not delivering high-quality work and seemed to lack a sense of accountability, knowing that if their work wasn’t up to speed the bo
> The Citadel--The Military College of South Carolina--was founded in 1842. It has a student body of about 2,300 undergraduates (2,121 males and 171 females) and about 1,000 graduate students. The college's vision is "achieving excellence in the education
> Jamie Dimon is the CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase. He has held both roles since 2005--that is, before, during, and after the financial crisis. Few executives on Wall Street are as respected and recognized, or as well compensated—for instance, in 2013
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider how the process model of communication can explain miscommunications. 1. Based on the process model of communication shown in Figure 9.2, what went wrong? 2. Based on what has been presented so
> The Executive Director of Operations has assigned Joe Tanney the role of Team Leader for a high priority project. The task is to generate a proposal for streamlining the antiquated blueprint generation process. Each office is at different stages of compu
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider how they could implement job crafting, based on their results of Self-Assessment 5.3. 1. Use results from your assessment to identify three job crafting ideas you might use to increase your intr
> 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such high levels of emotional stability at school and work? 2. Do you think such a personality characteristic is necessary to be a successful executive on Wall Street? How do your answers change (if they do
> This OB in Action describes how some companies use standardized virtual interviews, which can result in greater consistency of the information gathered from each applicant, foster collaboration for those involved in the hiring decision, and save time and
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to apply Kelley’s Model of Attribution for either a work-related or personal example. 1. Use Kelley’s model to identify whether the unexpected behavior was due to internal or external causes. 2. Based on th
> How can I use reinforcement and consequences to improve performance?
> How can I use consequences to generate desired outcomes?
> How can I use feedback and coaching to review and improve performance?
> How can performance monitoring and evaluation improve my performance and my ability to manage the performance of others?
> How can improving my goal setting give me an advantage?
> What are the elements of effective performance management, and how can this knowledge benefit me?
> This OB in Action describes the meaning of an apology in the United States versus in Japan. The Japanese see an apology as an expression of eagerness to repair a damaged relationship with no culpability necessarily implied, while Americans see an apology
> In 1978 John Mackey and Rene Lawson Hardy opened a health food store called “SaferWay” in Austin, Texas. Two years later, SaferWay began the first of a series of mergers and acquisitions and opened the original Whole Foods Market. From there, Whole Foods
> In this Problem-Solving Application, students apply the 3-Step Problem-Solving Approach to a situation of workplace bullying. 1. What is the problem in this case? 2. What OB concepts or theories help explain Stuart’s situation and reaction? 3. What woul
> This OB in Action describes the unique approach for performance management used at the online retailer Zappos. 1. What are the advantages to Zappos’s approach to feedback? 2. What disadvantages are possible? 3. Explain why you would or would not want to
> How can a contemporary perspective on conflict make me more effective at school, work, and home?
> What are some best practices for effective negotiation?
> What can I do to prevent, reduce, or even overcome conflict?
> What can I do to manage work–family conflict and incivility to make me more effective at school, work, and home?
> What are some types of conflict, and how can I manage them to my benefit?
> How does understanding Positive OB benefit me?
> What can I do to flourish?
> How can managers create an organizational climate that fosters Positive OB?
> How can my inner HERO and signature strengths benefit me at work and in my career?
> How can mindfulness contribute to my effectiveness?
> How can positive emotions make me more effective at school, at work, and in other arenas of life?
> This Problem-Solving Application describes the efforts of Mel Watt, the government regulator who oversees Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, to provide the CEOs of those organizations with substantial raises. These proposed raises were met with strong oppositio
> This OB in Action allows students to consider how to make self-managed teams successful. 1. These organizations make self-managed teams look simple. If this is true, then why do you think more organizations don’t use them? 2. Assume you’re a founder and
> How can knowledge of groups and their key characteristics make me more successful?
> What are the keys to effective teams, and how can I apply this knowledge to give me an advantage?
> How can I build and repair trust in ways that make me more effective at school, work, and home?
> What are the characteristics of effective team players, team types, and interdependence, and how can these improve my performance in teams?
> How can understanding the group development process make me more effective at school and work?
> At the conclusion of a previous meeting between Syl Tang and two employees, Daniel Simmons and Bob Franklin, Daniel asked Syl about the same-sex partner benefits that he had requested earlier, incidentally informing Bob that he was homosexual. Bob expres
> This Take-Away Application encourages students to consider what they want from future job opportunities and what would they do if their needs were not being met. 1. What are the three most important things you want from a job and its associated working
> How can knowledge about an organization’s foundation help me in my career?
> How can I support my employer’s attempts to innovate?
> What does its choice of ways to measure its effectiveness tell me about an organization?
> How can I use knowledge about contingent organization design and internal alignment to improve my satisfaction and performance?
> What are the seven basic ways in which organizations are structured, and how do these structures relate to the organization’s purpose?
> The video focuses on the problems that plagues the Sprint Telecommunication Wireless division in 2007. When Bob Johnson, chief service and information officer, took over the position in 2007, Sprint was dead last in customer service amongst the major cel
> 1. What are two specific things you could do to alleviate Shelby’s anger? 2. What are two specific things you could do to reduce Jennifer’s fear? 3. What other things could you do to increase their positive emotions related to the changes?
> PART 1 (do this alone) Step 1: Focusing on the valence component of expectancy theory, describe two ways you can identify the outcomes employees doing this job would find valuable. What would you say or do? Step 2: Focusing on instrumentality, explain tw
> This Problem-Solving Application encourages students to consider the implications of using expectancy theory when determining CEO compensation. 1. How would you describe the problem in this case? 2. Did the companies featured in this case use the princi
> Despite the need for support for both soldiers overseas and their families, calling family and loved ones can be logistically challenging, as well as expensive, for soldiers who are stationed in remote parts of the world. Realizing this need, Robbie and
> Pike Place Fish Market is a Seattle-based fish market whose employees decided they wanted to become “world” famous. Along with the support of the owner, John Yokoyama, the employees ostensibly made this vision happen through sheer commitment to their sta
