Organizational

2
Behavior

Chapter Robbins and Judge

Diversity in Organizations

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-1

 Chapter 2 Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
 Identify the key biographical characteristics and describe how they are relevant
to OB

 Recognize stereotypes and understand how they function in organizational

settings

 Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB

 Contrast intellectual from physical ability

 Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively

 Describe learning & the theories of learning

 Recognize how to shape behavior

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-2
 Biographical Characteristics
LO 1
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

 Age
 Belief is widespread that job
performance declines with increasing
age.
 The workforce is aging.
 U.S. legislation that, for all intents and
purposes, outlaws mandatory
retirement.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-3

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

 Sex
 Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and
unsupported opinions than whether women perform as well on
jobs as men do.
 Few, if any, important differences between men and women
affect job performance.
 Psychological studies have found women are more agreeable
and willing to conform to authority, whereas men are more
aggressive and more likely to have expectations of success, but
those differences are minor.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-4

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

 Race and Ethnicity
 Employees tend to favor colleagues for their own race in
performance evaluations, promotion decisions, pay raises.
 Different attitudes on affirmative action with African-
Americans preferring such programs than do whites.
 African-Americans generally do worse than whites in
employment decisions.
 No statistical difference between Whites and African-
Americans in observed absence rates, applied social skills at
work, or accident rates.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-5

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

 Disability
 A person is disabled who has any physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more major life
activities.
 The “reasonable accommodation” is problematic for
employers.
 Strong biases exist against those with mental
impairment.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-6

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

 Tenure
 The issue of the impact of job seniority on job
performance has been subject to
misconceptions and speculations.
 Religion
 Although employees are protected by U.S.
federal law regarding their religion, it is still an
issue in the workplace.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-7

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those not readily available in a personnel

file…
 Sexual orientation
 Federal law does not protect employees against
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
 Gender identity
 Often referred to as transgender employees.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-8

 Define Intellectual Abilityand
LO 3
Demonstrate Its Relevance to OB

Ability is an individual’s current capacity

to perform various tasks in a job

 Two types
 Intellectual abilities
 Physical abilities

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-9

 Define Intellectual Abilityand
LO 4
Demonstrate Its Relevance to OB

 Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform

mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and problem
solving.
 Most societies place a high value on intelligence,
and for good reason.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-10

 Define Intellectual Abilityand
LO 4
Demonstrate Its Relevance to OB

Number
Aptitude
Verbal
Memory Comprehension

Intellectual
Spatial Ability Perceptual
Visualization Speed

Deductive Inductive
Reasoning Reasoning
Exhibit 2.2

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-11

 Contrast Intellectual
LO 4
from Physical Ability

 Physical Abilities
 The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina,
dexterity, strength, and similar characteristics.

 The three main categories of physical ability

are…
 Strength
 Flexibility
 And Other characteristics

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-12

 Contrast Intellectual
LO 4
from Physical Ability

Insert Exhibit 2.3

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-13

 Contrast Intellectual
LO 4
from Physical Ability

 Importance of ability at work increases difficulty in

formulating workplace policies that recognize
disabilities.
 Recognizing that individuals have different abilities
that can be taken into account when making hiring
decisions is not problematic.
 It is also possible to make accommodations for
disabilities.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-14

 Describe How Organizations
LO 5
Manage Diversity Effectively

Attracting, Selecting,
Developing, and Retaining
Diverse Employees

Diversity in Groups Effective Diversity

Programs

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-15

 Describe How Organizations
LO 5
Manage Diversity Effectively

Effective Diversity
Programs
Teach Legal
Framework

Teach the
Market
Foster the Skills Advantages
and Abilities of
All Workers
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-16
 LO 6 Learning

 Any relatively permanent change in behavior that

occurs as a result of experience
Learning components:
 Involves Change
 Is Relatively Permanent
 Is Acquired Through Experience

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 1-17

 LO 7 Theories of Learning
 Classical Conditioning
 A type of conditioning in which an individual
responds to some stimulus that would not ordinarily
produce such a response.

 Operant Conditioning
 A type of conditioning in which desired voluntary
behavior leads to a reward or prevents a punishment.

 Social-Learning Theory
 People can learn through observation and direct
experience.
2-
18 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
 Classical Conditioning
 Pavlov’s Dog Drool

 Key Concepts:
 Unconditioned stimulus
 A naturally occurring phenomenon.
 Unconditioned response
 The naturally occurring response to a natural
stimulus.
 Conditioned stimulus
 An artificial stimulus introduced into the situation.
 Conditioned response

2-
 The response to the artificial stimulus
19 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
 Operant Conditioning
 B. F. Skinner’s concept of Behaviorism: behavior follows
stimuli in a relatively unthinking manner.
 Key Concepts:
 Conditioned behavior: voluntary behavior that is learned,
not reflexive.
 Reinforcement: the consequences of behavior which can
increase or decrease the likelihood of behavior repetition.
 Pleasing consequences increase likelihood of repetition.
 Rewards are most effective immediately after performance.
 Unrewarded/punished behavior is unlikely to be repeated.

2-
20 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
 Social-Learning Theory
 Based on the idea that people can also learn indirectly: by
observation, reading, or just hearing about someone else’s –
a model’s – experiences.
 Key Concepts:
 Attentional processes
Must recognize and pay attention to critical features to learn.
 Retention processes
 Model’s actions must be remembered to be learned.
 Motor reproduction processes
 Watching the model’s behavior must be converted to doing.
 Reinforcement processes
 Positive incentives motivate learners.
2-
21 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
 Shaping: A Managerial Tool
Systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves an individual
closer to the desired response.

 Four Methods of Shaping Behavior:

 Positive reinforcement
 Providing a reward for a desired behavior (learning)
 Negative reinforcement
 Removing an unpleasant consequence when the desired behavior
occurs (learning)
 Punishment
 Applying an undesirable condition to eliminate an undesirable behavior
(“unlearning”)
 Extinction
 Withholding reinforcement of a behavior to cause its cessation
2- (“unlearning”)
22 Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
 Managerial Implications and Summary

This chapter looked at diversity from many

perspectives paying particular attention to
three variables—
biographical characteristics,
ability, and
diversity programs.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-23

 Managerial Implications and Summary

Diversity programs
Selection
An effective selection process will improve the fit
between employees and job requirements.
Diversity Management
Diversity management must be an ongoing
commitment that crosses all levels of the
organization.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-24