The Central Role of People in Organizations: Because Learning Changes Everything

Because learning changes everything.
Chapter 2
The Central Role of
People in Organizations
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
FIRST EDITION
Baldwin, Bommer, Rubin
Copyright 2021 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.
Learning Objectives
LO2.1: Describe the value of people in organizational

success.
LO2.2: Explain why people are so critical to competitive
advantage.
LO2.3: Describe the most important outcomes in
organizational behavior.
LO2.4: Identify the factors that lead to healthy, engaged
workplaces.
LO2.5: Identify the people-related factors that reduce
organizational effectiveness.
Copyright 2021 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC. 2
High-performance Work Practices
Examples include using incentives, selectivity in hiring,

extensive training, and decentralized decision making.
These practices improve organizational performance by:

• Providing employees critical KSAs.
• Increasing motivation to get the job done.
• Improving the social dynamics in organizations.
High-performance Work Practices-Empirical Research
These practices can increase growth, productivity, and

retention by upwards of 15%.
Human resource planning alone can increase a firm’s

financial performance by 20%.
The effects are strongest for firm-specific human capital.
Companies should therefore retain experienced managers

and employees to reap in these benefits.
Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm
Organizations differ in the types and uses of resources

available to them.
Firms compete for human capital when it is rare, hard to

imitate, and substitutes for it do not readily exist.
People practices drive a significant portion of an

organization’s competitive advantage.
OB Outcomes that Matter Most
Three, person-related outcome factors matter most in OB:
• Performance
• Engagement
• Healthy Workplaces
• These are dependent variables. Research factors that
affect them are independent variables.
Figure 2.1 Linking Organizational Behavior to
Organizational Effectiveness
Access the text alternative for slide images.
Individual Job Performance
Two components:
• Task Performance: effectively completing the essential
functions of the job.
• Contextual Performance: employee behaviors that
increase organizational effectiveness but are not part of
the employee’s core tasks.
• Also known as Organizational Citizenship Behaviors.
Task Performance
“The bottom line”
Distinguish between
Effectiveness: The results an employee achieves, versus.
Efficiency: The amount of resources dedicated to attain the

result.
Organizational Citizenship Behaviors
Going above and beyond tasks and duties listed in the job
description:
• Volunteering
• Helping a coworker
• Following organizational rules and procedures
OCBs are strongly related to individual task performance,

department performance, and organizational productivity and
profitability.
Components of Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Altruism – helping a specific other person in the organization.

Civic Virtue – responsible participation in the organization’s
political life.
Conscientiousness – behavior well beyond what is expected.
Courtesy – touching base with parties whose work my
decisions affect.
Sportsmanship – being a good sport.
Table 2.1 Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Altruism. Behaviors that have the effect of helping a specific other person with an
organizationally relevant task or problem.
Civic virtue. Behaviors regarding responsible participation in the political life of the
organization. Civic virtue implies a sense of involvement in what policies are adopted and which
candidates are supported. Behaviorally, civic virtue takes such mundane forms as attending
meetings, reading mail, discussing issues on personal time, voting, and “speaking up.”
Conscientiousness. Employee behavior that goes well beyond the organization’s role
requirements, in the areas of attendance, taking breaks, and obeying organizational policies.
Courtesy. Actions such as touching base with those parties whose work would be affected by
one’s decisions or commitments. Providing advance notice, reminders, and passing along
information are all examples of courtesy.
Sportsmanship. Behavior indicating an individual’s willingness to tolerate less-than-ideal
situations by not filing petty grievances or complaining about minor issues. An employee who
exhibits sportsmanship behavior can be described as being a good sport.
Sources: Organ, D. W. Organizational Citizenship Behavior: The Good Soldier Syndrome. Lexington,
MA: D. C. Heath & Co., 1988; Podsakoff, P. M., S. B. MacKenzie, J. B. Paine, and D. G. Bachrach.
“Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: A Critical Review of the Theoretical and Empirical Literature and
Suggestions for Future Research.” Journal of Management 26, no. 3 (2000): 513–63.
Five Key Processes Critical to Team Success
Confidence: Belief we can perform successfully.

Cooperation: High quality information exchange among team
members.
Coordination: Integration of effort toward team goals.
Cohesion: Shared commitment toward the team.
Conflict: Friction among team members.
Work Engagement
Making sense of how people engage or disengage depends

on understanding work attitudes.
An attitude is an evaluation of one’s job - expressing one’s

feelings toward, beliefs about, and attachment to one’s job.
Job characteristics, how people are led, and the relationships

people form at work all influence work attitudes.
Healthy Workplaces
The challenge is for organizations to help employees

maintain healthy lifestyles.
90% of organizations with 50 or more employees have at

least one program geared toward promoting health
outcomes.
More than the Bottom Line
Firms that are socially and environmentally responsible

outperform other firms financially.
Firms are using balanced scorecards that more clearly reflect

the contributions of people to the bottom line.
See Figure 2.2 (next slide) for a balanced scorecard used by

Southwest Airlines.
Figure 2.2 Major Types of Counterproductive Work Behaviors
Source: Adapted from Robinson, S. L., and R. J. Bennett. “A Typology of Deviant

Workplace Behaviors: A Multidimensional Scaling Study.” Academy of Management Journal
38, no. 2 (1995): 555–72.
Access the text alternative for slide images.
The “Dark Side”
Sometimes, people can hold negative views, engage in

dysfunctional behavior, and undermine organizational
success.
Firms must mitigate this by trying to find out how and why
things go wrong.
Organizational Withdrawal
Withdrawal Behaviors: Actions whereby employees are more

likely to avoid (psychological withdrawal) or leave (physical
withdrawal) the work situation.
Turnover: Voluntary (the employee chooses to leave) versus

Involuntary (the organization initiates the separation)
• Turnover damages organizational performance.
• A significant increase in turnover can lower a firm’s
financial performance by up to 26%.
How to Retain High Performers
Recognize pay level matters a lot less than pay equity.
Promote strong boss-employee relationships.
Engage high performers with new challenges and skill

development.
Realistic Job Previews
Present an accurate / realistic description of the job to

applicants.
Mention both the positive and negative aspects of the work.
Research shows that using RJPs leads to higher job

acceptance rates and lower turnover.
RJPs also help improve applicants’ decisions about fit with

the job.
The Unfolding Model of Turnover
Recognizes there is no one single explanation for why

people quit.
Instead, organizational “shocks” are experienced which

unfold over time and cause employees to rethink their job
situations.
Shocks can be so powerful that they induce an impulsive

response whereby people quit without a next job lined up.
Cyber Loafing
Employees’ use of the internet to avoid work or disguise

engaging in actual work.
90% of employees admit to non-work emailing, or visiting

news sites.
70% admit to shopping online at work.
40% even report job hunting while on their current job!
Counterproductive Work Behaviors (CWB)
Intentional behavior on the part of an employee that is

viewed by the organization as contrary to its legitimate
interests.
Example: serious crimes, sexual harassment, theft, fraud,

lying, bullying, spreading rumors.
Types of Counterproductive Work Behaviors
Production Oriented: The purposeful failure to perform job

tasks.
Politically Oriented: Acts that undermine others’ success in

the organization.
Property Oriented: Destroying or stealing organizational

property.
Personally Oriented: Acts geared toward directly impacting

others at work.
Workplace Incivility
A form of CWB where behaviors are low in intensity and

ambiguous in their intent to harm.
Examples include rudeness, teasing, shaming others.
Research estimates incivility costs firms $14,000 per

employee annually. (see next slide)
Table 2.3 Consequences of Workplace Incivility
Employees who experience repeated incivility in the workplace have been shown
to have the following.
Cognitive and Emotional Behavioral Organizational
Consequences Consequences Consequences
• Increased emotional • Increased motivation to reciprocate • Increased turnover and turnover
• exhaustion incivility costs
• Reduced optimism • Increased likelihood to engage in • Increased project delays
retaliatory behavior
• Lower levels of energy • Lower task performance and • Increased inventory theft
citizenship behavior
• Increased stress • Increased turnover intentions • Decreased consumer loyalty
• Lower task-related memory recall • Lower levels of creativity and

innovation
• Reduced levels of perceived
fairness
• Lower levels of physical health
• Increased levels of psychological

distress and anxiety
Source: Summarized from Schilpzand, P., I. E. De Pater, and A. Erez. “Workplace Incivility:
A Review of the Literature and Agenda for Future Research.” Journal of Organizational
Behavior 37 (2016): S57–S88.
Managing Workplace Incivility
Take an honest look in the mirror (are you also guilty of

incivility?).
Don’t escalate the incivility.
Understand the manager’s role, and educate when

necessary.
Give yourself some space for a bit.
Bolster your personal resources.
End of Main Content
Because learning changes everything. ®
www.mheducation.com
Copyright 2021 © McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.

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Because learning changes everything.

LO2.1: Describe the value of people in organizational

Examples include using incentives, selectivity in hiring,

These practices improve organizational performance by:

These practices can increase growth, productivity, and

Human resource planning alone can increase a firm’s

The effects are strongest for firm-specific human capital.

Companies should therefore retain experienced managers

Organizations differ in the types and uses of resources

Firms compete for human capital when it is rare, hard to

People practices drive a significant portion of an

Three, person-related outcome factors matter most in OB:

Access the text alternative for slide images.

“The bottom line”

Effectiveness: The results an employee achieves, versus.

Efficiency: The amount of resources dedicated to attain the

OCBs are strongly related to individual task performance,

Altruism – helping a specific other person in the organization.

Confidence: Belief we can perform successfully.

Making sense of how people engage or disengage depends

An attitude is an evaluation of one’s job - expressing one’s

Job characteristics, how people are led, and the relationships

The challenge is for organizations to help employees

90% of organizations with 50 or more employees have at

Firms that are socially and environmentally responsible

Firms are using balanced scorecards that more clearly reflect

See Figure 2.2 (next slide) for a balanced scorecard used by

Source: Adapted from Robinson, S. L., and R. J. Bennett. “A Typology of Deviant

Sometimes, people can hold negative views, engage in

Withdrawal Behaviors: Actions whereby employees are more

Turnover: Voluntary (the employee chooses to leave) versus

Recognize pay level matters a lot less than pay equity.

Promote strong boss-employee relationships.

Engage high performers with new challenges and skill

Present an accurate / realistic description of the job to

Mention both the positive and negative aspects of the work.

Research shows that using RJPs leads to higher job

RJPs also help improve applicants’ decisions about fit with

Recognizes there is no one single explanation for why

Instead, organizational “shocks” are experienced which

Shocks can be so powerful that they induce an impulsive

Employees’ use of the internet to avoid work or disguise

90% of employees admit to non-work emailing, or visiting

70% admit to shopping online at work.

40% even report job hunting while on their current job!

Intentional behavior on the part of an employee that is

Example: serious crimes, sexual harassment, theft, fraud,

Production Oriented: The purposeful failure to perform job

Politically Oriented: Acts that undermine others’ success in

Property Oriented: Destroying or stealing organizational

Personally Oriented: Acts geared toward directly impacting

A form of CWB where behaviors are low in intensity and

Examples include rudeness, teasing, shaming others.

Research estimates incivility costs firms $14,000 per

• Lower task-related memory recall • Lower levels of creativity and

• Increased levels of psychological

Take an honest look in the mirror (are you also guilty of

Don’t escalate the incivility.

Understand the manager’s role, and educate when

Give yourself some space for a bit.

Bolster your personal resources.

Because learning changes everything. ®

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