Index Number: wawasan Open UNIVERSITY the people's university Supplementary Examination August 2012 BMG 302/05 Organisational Behaviour Time: 3 Hours Instructions to candidates: 4. Please check that this examination paper consists of Ten (10) pages of printed material before you begin the examination. 2. This paper consists of 3 parts: PartA: Answer all questions in the MCQ Answer Sheet provided. PartB: Answer any TWO (2) questions in the Answer Booklet, PartC: Answer all questions in the Answer Booklet. 3. You are not allowed to remove this question paper from the examination venue. Copyright © 2012 WOU2 BMG 302/05 Part A (20 marks) Answer all questions in this section. 1. Organisational is the study of the many factors that have an impact ‘on how people and groups act, think, feel, and respond to work and organisations, and how organisations respond to their environments. A. behaviour B. effectiveness C. management D. analysis Personality within an individual typically evolves A. over approximately 25 years B. relatively quickly C. when an individual changes jobs D. ato point during a lifetime The workplace behaviour of an individual working on an assembly line with strict rules and regulations is MOST LIKELY influenced by A. the organisational situation B. his or her personality Cc. the role of nature D. the role of nurture Khalid is a well-liked boss, He has a suggestion box outside his door and has implemented many of the suggestions, even some of the more reckless ideas, such as putting a ping pong table in the meeting room. Although the organisation has many strict procedures, Khalid does not follow them nor does he expect this of his employees. In which trait does Khalid MOST LIKELY rank the lowest? agreeableness extraversion conscientiousness openness to experience pom>3 BMG 302/05 Neuroticism is a trait that A. B. C. D. is only found in neurotic individuals is possessed by all normal, psychologically healthy individuals to a certain degree reflects people's tendency to experience positive emotional states is also referred to as positive affectivity , Which allows people to organise and interpret information about a given target of perception, determines the way a target is perceived, pom> pomp Processing Perception targeting Schema Collective unconsciousness is/are not dependent on accurate perceptions. Motivation and performance Faimess and equity Ethical action Individual behaviour People who believe in objective reality believe that their own perceptions A B. Cc. D. are inaccurate depictions of that reality are accurate depictions of that reality are not connected to reality are limitedly connected to reality According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, once the shipwrecked Robinson Crusoe had made sure he was safe from attack and had secured food, water, and a place to stay out of the weather, the next need he needed to address was ; pom> physiological belonging esteem self-actualisation10. "1 12. 13. 14, 4 BMG 302/05 ERG theory asserts that an individual who is frustrated in satisfying a higher- level need will A. stay at the current need level B. increase the level of persistence until he or she satisfies the need C. skip to the next higher level of need D. experience increased motivation to satisfy lower-level needs Alderfer and Maslow would disagree over which of the following situations? ‘A. If Bee Ling isn't able to develop her abilities further at her job, she will increase the amount of effort she puts into relationships with co- workers B. If Muthuramy is able to live comfortably, he will attempt to fill higher needs such as needs to have good relationships with others. C. Julie Chong, a wealthy widow, goes to work to satisfy her needs to develop her own abilities. D. Aziz is most concerned with satisfying his needs to make friends and have social connections, The primary focus of the job characteristics model is identifying which job characteristics contribute to i A. work that is extrinsically motivating B. intrinsically motivating work C. skill variety of workers D. _growth-need strength of workers ‘According to the social information processing model, workers’ past behaviours will MOST LIKELY affect fs A. how they view their current jobs and work outcomes B. how they currently view past experiences C. their extrinsic motivation D. their future earnings potential What BEST describes the relationship between stress and job performance? ‘A. There is no relationship between stress and job performance. Stress always leads to a lower level of job performance, B. C. Stress always leads to an increased level of job performance. D. Stress can lead to a lower level or increased level of job performance. .5I~15, 16. 47. 18. 19. 5 BMG 302/05 One way to view personal stressors is by categorising them as A. sources of positive or negative affectivity B. major or minor work-life linkages C. overload or under-load factors D. major or minor life events Managers attempt to create and sustain in highly effective work groups by doing all of the following EXCEPT A. limiting actual performance B. raising potential performance C. creating process gains D. eliminating process losses Which of the following BEST describes the relationship between group size and social loafing? As the size of the group increases, the tendency for group members to put forth less effort decreases. As the size of the group increases, the tendency for group members to put forth less effort increases. As the size of the group decreases, the tendency for group members to put forth less effort increases. As the size of the group decreases, the tendency for group members to put forth less effort is unchanged. 99 2 > Equity and fairness are important when attempting to balance ‘A. reward and legitimate power B. legitimate and information power €. coercive and information power D. reward and coercive power Decision making in response to occurs when members of an organisation make choices or act in ways that result in benefits or gains. A. problems B. opportunities. C. contingencies D. consequences 6 -20. 6 BMG 302/05 Which of the following is LEAST LIKELY a reason for an organisation to choose a matrix structure? Itneeds to minimise role conflict and ambiguity. Rapid product development is crucial to its survival. Innovation and creativity are critical to its continuing success. It must maximize communication and cooperation between team members. pomp Part B (40 marks) Answer any TWO (2) questions only. Question 1 (a) Why it is important to analyse the behaviour of individuals, groups, and the organisation as a whole in order to understand organisational behaviour in a workplace? (10 marks) (b) Explain the term “an open system’ in the context of organisational behaviour, Discuss the importance for an organisation to be open to its environment. (10 marks) Question 2 (a) _ Differentiate between Alderfer’s ERG theory and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Explain how Maslow’s theory can help managers to determine employees’ motivation. (10 marks) (b) Under what circumstances, organisational change can potentially motivate people? Will all people be equally motivated or de-motivated by organisational change? Justify your answer with appropriate example(s).. (10 marks) eet7 BMG 302/05 Question 3 (a) Compare the differences between Fielder’s Least Preferred Co-employee scale (also known as Contingency theory) and Path-Goal theories of leadership. Provide TWO (2) situations how a leader can motivate his/her subordinates as outlined in path-goal theories of leadership. (10 marks) (b) Identify an individual (e.g. political leader, technology expert, spiritual leader, or personal encounter) whom you think could be an example of a transformational leader. Describe instances of his/her successful or unsuccessful stories/events as transformational leader. (10 marks) Question 4 (a) Compare the differences between “organisational _ structure” and “organisational design’. Discuss THREE (3) factors that affect organisational design. (10 marks) (>) You are planning to start a new restaurant business in town. Discuss what kind of culture would help you to promote organisational effectiveness in your business. Explain how you would try to build such a culture. (10 marks)8 BMG 302/05 Part C (40 marks) Carefully read the following case scenario and then answer all the questions that follow. The Power and Politics of Privacy on Social Networking Sites Facebook, with an estimated 300 million users, and MySpace, with 115 million monthly visitors worldwide, are the two largest and most popular social networking sites in the United States. Both companies state that they do not distribute users’ information to third parties. However, advocacy groups concerned about online privacy rights and some users are increasingly wary about how these and other networking sites might be using and whether they are adequately protecting personal information. A common source of discomfort is whether users’ personal information will be used to generate targeted ads directed at them. A manifestation of this wariness occurred February 4, 2009, after Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, quietly changed the terms of use that govern how and for how long Facebook can use users’ information posted to the popular Web site. About two weeks later, the consumer-advocacy blog Consumerist.com highlighted that the change in user policy would allow Facebook to continue to use information posted by users for marketing, promotional, or other purposes even after users had deleted the information from their Facebook accounts. Consumerist.com stated that the change in policy would allow Facebook to do anything it wanted with posted content, for as long as it wanted (even after a user closed his or her Facebook account). Following this realisation, many users and consumer privacy advocacy groups railed against the change in terms of use at Facebook. Presumably as a result of the Public's reaction, Zuckerberg declared two weeks after the initial change that the company would return to its original terms of use while the feedback was analyzed, Zuckerberg announced that the company would work on a major revision of the terms and invited users to provide ideas on its Web site: "Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.” This wasn't the first time that Facebook experienced problems related to user privacy. In November2007, Facebook launched an advertising program, Beacon, that was developed to track the purchasing and other activities of Facebook users on 44 Web sites and then send notifications of these activities to the users' friends ‘on Facebook. For example, if a user made an online purchase of a book on one of the 44 Web sites, this would act as an indirect referral to his or her friends on Facebook, which might spur additional purchases of the book. The problem started when a senior research engineer from a Palo Alto-based antispyware company, CA Inc., discovered that Beacon was also “tracking the activities of both members and of9 BMG 302/05 non-members on Facebook and partner sites.” Moreover, the program was set up in increase users' privacy related to their activities on the partner sites. Zuckerberg is at the cutting edge of the intersection between technology and online privacy. In his blog post, he complained that his Facebook users can be inconsistent; on one hand, they want continually expanded services (e.g. more relevant ads and information about their friends), but on the other hand, they expect that their privacy will be protected and their information will not be shared with outside advertisers and third parties. The battle over online privacy does not stop with social networking Web sites in the United States. Social network users in the 27-nation European Union are protected by strict privacy laws. The regulations “require Web sites to warn users of privacy risks and limit the sites’ ability to target advertising based on members’ race, religion or other sensitive categories.” In the United Kingdom, privacy activists have recently reacted to Google's announcement that it would use "behavioral targeting" to generate display advertising when search results appear on users’ screens. The British government is considering monitoring Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo for signs of terrorist communications and activity, In sum, the debate over online privacy is not going away anytime soon. Several politically influential and powerful stakeholders with different priorities have a stake in the outcome: Users want their personal information protected; social networking companies want to use personal information to generate advertising revenue; advertising firms want to target their products/services to specific market segments; privacy advocacy groups want to limit the disclosure of users’ personal information; technology companies want to facilitate greater information sharing; and governments want to monitor networking Web sites for signs of malevolent activities, ‘Source: Ivancevich, JM, Konopaske,R, and Matteson, M. . (2041). Organisaional Behaviour and Management. 366 ~ 387, MeGraw-ti international ection Answer all questions: Question 1 What is your opinion regarding online privacy issues? To what extent are you concerned over the use of your personal information on Facebook, MySpace, and Google is used? Explain with reasons. (15 marks) wel OF =10 BMG 302/05 Question 2 Recall you have read on "power" in your course material. Which tactics did Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg use after he changed the original terms of use on February 4, 2009? Explain with reasons. (15 marks) Question 3 Of the stakeholders listed in the last paragraph of the case, which group do you think is most powerful to shape the future direction of online privacy issues? Justify with reasons, (10 marks) END OF QUESTION PAPER