Undergraduate Organizational Behavior Research Articles

Haus Liebe brothel: ethical decision-making in a foreign culture

Theoretical basis The authors believe the theoretical foundations for this case study lie in the following two disciplines, primarily, but could be expanded to religion and organizational culture:i. Ethical decision-makingii. Cross-cultural competenceiii. Leadership Research methodology This is an actual case, and the fact pattern and timeline occurred as depicted. The first author is the protagonist, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Shawn Browning. The names of case characters have been disguised. The second and third authors are colleagues of the first author. This case was tested in three undergraduate organizational behavior and leadership classes at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Case overview/synopsis This disguised case follows US Army Officer LTC Shawn Browning, leader of a prominent US Army base located in Germany. As the commander of US Army Garrison Schweinfurt, LTC Browning was responsible for the health and welfare of 10,000 residents, including soldiers, family members and civilian employees. A community member lodged a complaint against a brothel named Haus One (a legal establishment under German law) located adjacent to the base and near family housing and the base elementary school. LTC Browning had the authority to render the brothel off-limits to US personnel, and he took the necessary steps prior to rendering a decision, including the appointment of a review board to investigate the situation and provide a recommendation. The board recommended not placing Haus One off-limits. The case focuses on LTC Browning’s values and his desire to ensure the welfare of his community while adhering to local legal and cultural norms. Cross-cultural and ethical issues surface throughout the case, which concludes with LTC Browning’s pondering of how to make a final decision. Complexity academic level The authors believe this is targeted at undergraduate students with some background in ethical decision-making, organizational culture and cross-cultural competence.

Reconciling COVID-19 pandemic budget deficits through furloughs and salary reductions

Theoretical basis The primary topics, in this case, align well with social processes relative to communication and decision-making, and with individual processes relative to fairness in the workplace. Research methodology The case was developed from secondary sources. The secondary sources included news reports, and university sources (i.e. e-mails, announcements, reports, town hall meetings). This descriptive case has been classroom tested in an undergraduate organizational behavior course. Case overview/synopsis On September 10, 2020, the president of Bowie State University, Dr Aminta H. Breaux, announced that the university needed to “take a number of steps, including a temporary salary reduction plan, to close the FY21 funding gap and position the university for continued budget challenges” (Exhibit 1) triggered by the economic impact of COVID-19 on the state of Maryland. Some of the faculty members’ reactions to this announcement included shock and disappointment. Reflecting on what led to the state appropriation reductions, why would faculty members be shocked by President Breaux’s announcement of temporary salary reductions? Did President Breaux make the right decision, and was it communicated appropriately? Complexity academic level This descriptive case is most appropriate for undergraduate level organizational behavior courses.

Can You Hear Me Now? The Communication Challenge

Undergraduate students, particularly those with limited experience in business, struggle to appreciate the complexity of organizational communication dynamics. Communication complexities such as role conflict, position power, and individual perception—and their influence on effective communication—are particularly challenging for this population. This article describes a classroom exercise based on the children’s game “Telephone” that connects organizational communication with considerations of role conflict, power and influence tactics, and individual perceptions as they influence engagement with communication involving a new initiative. During the full class reflection and debrief, students identify the connections between their role in the activity and how individual organizational elements and experiences may inform effective communication. Designed for an undergraduate organizational behavior course, the exercise is adaptable to other management topics or levels where communication is a consideration.

Acadly: An Online Platform for Engaged Learning

Faculty and students alike can benefit from the use of educational technology, yet keeping up with the latest developments can pose a challenge for busy faculty. This article reviews one tool that could be used to facilitate teaching and learning in face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses. Acadly is an online platform and mobile application providing capabilities such as automated attendance, in-page discussion threads, and participation tracking. Acadly functions similarly to learning management systems yet differs in ways that some faculty and students may find appealing. The article discusses the strengths and limitations of the tool based on usage in five sections of an undergraduate organizational behavior course. Acadly appears to be useful in helping students organize their work and in facilitating greater student engagement. A notable limitation is that it currently lacks advanced grading capabilities.

Books and Posters: Creating Conversations That Result in Learning

Pairing poster conversations with individual reading selections for students in MBA and undergraduate organizational behavior and leadership courses is a rewarding method for students to share their learning. Presenters share their posters with peers in a gallery walk format. This grants students an opportunity to convey their learning experiences in an unscripted way, which allows for organic and immediate conversation among class participants. Combining reading selections with poster conversations generates more engagement between students than perhaps simply requiring term papers alone. The activity is an interesting approach that encourages interaction and rich dialogue.

Using Implicit Followership Theories to Illustrate Cognitive Schemas: An Experiential Exercise

In this article, we outline an experiential exercise designed to teach students about cognitive schemas (what they are, how they are developed, and how they may influence us). Drawing on the literature related to implicit followership theories, the exercise encourages students to explore their perceptions related to the role of followers, thus providing a concrete example via which they can explore the concept of schemas. The exercise was designed in the context of an undergraduate organizational behavior course and has been used on four occasions with success. We describe the learning objectives of the exercise and the steps to run it, provide detailed instructor notes, and offer some supplementary materials (i.e., sample content for class slides). We conclude the article by proposing potential variations of the exercise.

Behind closed doors: the DC-10 and the demise of McDonnell Douglas

Theoretical basis This case has three primary objectives. First, it allows students to think through a conceptual cost and benefit analysis associated with the decision-making process in line with basic economic thinking. Students will revisit core concepts of marginal benefit vs marginal cost, the notion of opportunity costs and the role of sunk costs in this type of analysis, while also highlighting the nature of market structure, oligopolies and competition across firms in an industry. The second goal of this case is to consider the role of business ethics in the DC-10 case: specifically, to consider the potential influence of moral awareness and moral disengagement in unethical decisions made by McDonnell Douglas. Students will develop an understanding of these concepts and solidify their learning by applying them to the case and engaging in active discussion. Finally, the third goal of the case allows students to explore organizational culture and specifically offer recommendations for organizations thinking about the link between decision-making, the role of ethics and culture. Research methodology The technical reports released by the National Transportation Safety Board along with secondary data such as available public data such as news reports were used to round out the synopsis of the case study. Case overview /synopsis This case explores the accidents of two McDonnell Douglas DC-10s in the early 1970s at the onset of the jumbo jet race between Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas. It explores the series of events during the “Windsor Incident” in 1972 and the subsequent accident over Paris in 1974. It explores the reasons why the cargo door on the DC-10 was faulty and subsequently why the door was not fixed. It examines the interplay of industry suppliers such as McDonnell Douglas and how they interact with oversight authorities such as the Federal Aviation Authority. The Teaching Note focuses on the economic thinking at McDonnell Douglas, behavioral ethics and organizational culture. Complexity academic level This case is best explored over a 90 min session but could be expanded to take up one 3 h session. The authors have used this case format in an undergraduate organizational behavior class, an MBA Leadership and Organizational Change class, and an MBA Economics of Managers class. It works particularly well in the MBA setting, as students with work experience can see the links between the mistakes made by McDonnell Douglas and their workplaces.

Incorporating Career Exploration Into an Introductory Organizational Behavior Course

Although undergraduate students value preparing themselves for careers that have personal meaning, relatively little curricular attention has been paid to facilitating this goal. In this article, we present a targeted review of the literature on career exploration as a basis for an approach to integrate it into the core undergraduate organizational behavior course offered at most business schools. The approach consists of four components, each consisting of activities that provide opportunities for career exploration. The goal of this approach is to develop a higher level of career adaptability in students, improving their ability to manage career changes and challenges.

Leading from the whole: values-based integrated leadership at EILEEN FISHER, Inc.

Synopsis The case is set in the Fall of 2008 as Susan Schor, Chief Culture Officer, at EILEEN FISHER Inc. is meeting with the other two members of the Facilitating Leader Team, Jim Gundell, Vice President of Retail and e-Commerce and Jonci Coukier, Vice President of Design and Merchandising Processes, as well as founder, Eileen Fisher. Faced with significant projected financial loss in 2009, Susan reflected on the evolution of the company as influenced by her perspective with her organizational behavior expertise and collaborative leadership that embraced a values-based culture. Stories, voices and structures are examined in this retrospective view as Dr Schor sets the stage for how this example of best practice leadership will tackle the challenge at hand. Research methodology The research for this case was conducted over an 18-month period with over 40 interviews, extensive observation of the various teams at EILEEN FISHER Inc., and review of corporate communications, publications and other secondary sources. This case focuses on stories and voices that explain the unique leadership of EILEEN FISHER. The use of extensive quotes allows for an authentic “hearing” of the experiences and values as well as allowing the students to better understand the nature of qualitative data. Some of the discussion questions are posed as experiential exercises as this method allows the students to better relate to understand and apply values concepts. Relevant courses and levels Graduate and undergraduate organizational behavior, leadership, retail management and ethics.

Evaluating Experiential Learning in Organizational Behavior: Taking Measure of Student Perception Regarding Group Experience

Problem statement: The purpose of this study was to determine undergraduate student perceptions in the areas of group experience within the context of an undergraduate organizational behavior business class community service assignment. College students, as part of an in-class service-learning project, were assigned to teach business related curriculum to at-risk high school students. Approach: Students, enrolled in the required senior level business course, were then assessed in the following areas: service learning experience and group experience. A multiple-choice questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students in an organizational and administrative behavior class and analyzed for correlations and relationships. The survey was administered in week eleven of a traditional semester and in the last week of the community service project. The survey was comprised of seven questions relating to group experience and one based on the impact of the community service project itself. Results: Significant findings revealed a positive correlation between the group experience and the feelings toward the project. In addition, multiple linear regressions suggested a positive and significant prediction. Conclusion: From the findings, implications for the development of experiential learning projects for use in the college classroom will be discussed. When paired with the results of previous research, the findings of this research can be very useful in developing group based service learning projects at the undergraduate level. Based upon the importance of service learning as an experiential teaching style, it is critical to understand how to better use this vehicle for discovery.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room—Using the Enron Film to Examine Student Attitudes towards Business Ethics

Publicity from recent scandals has generated increased discussion of the role of business schools in teaching students about ethical behavior. The business ethics literature reveals that business schools can be effective in changing student attitudes towards business ethics. The approach used i n this research integrates the teaching of business ethics into an undergraduate organizational behavior course. We outline the use of the film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room as an intervention to engage student discussion about their attitudes towards business ethics. We report an assessment of the effectiveness of the intervention, and provide suggestions for future research.

Teamxchange: A Team Project Experience Involving Virtual Teams and Fluid Team Membership

TeamXchange, an online team-based exercise, is described. TeamXchange is consistent with the collaborative model of learning and provides a means of fostering enhanced student learning and engagement through collaboration in virtual teams experiencing periodic membership changes. It was administered in an undergraduate Organizational Behavior course over two 4-week sessions using WebCT classroom support technology. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate some support for the exercise objectives. Specifically, learning of course material, learning about teamwork, and confidence for working in virtual teams were enhanced among those without prior experience working in virtual teams. Team cohesiveness and social loafing behavior were lower in fluid teams than in stable teams. Finally, introverted individuals perceived themselves as having more influence and their teams as more cohesive and communicative than did more extraverted individuals. These results suggest the potential value of TeamXchange, especially for those who have not previously been exposed to virtual teams or who are normally more reticent in face-to-face team or large-class settings. Exercise implications and lessons learned are discussed.

Must See TV: The Timelessness of Television as a Teaching Tool

Although television is a potentially rich source of examples of management and organizational behavior concepts, relatively few academics have advocated the use of this medium in the classroom. This article promotes the use of television as a tool for both teaching and testing in undergraduate organizational behavior courses by providing specific examples of how themes and characters from a variety of television shows can be used as the bases for creating both class exercises and examquestions. The arti cle concludes with a set of guidelines for instructors who want to incorporate television in their future teaching methods.

A Semester-Long Experiential Exercise to Develop Workplace Understanding: The Role Assignment Exercise

To understand diversity issues, students must have an experience with diversity that transcends the factual knowledge that is most often the focus of college classes. This article summarizes the use of a journal-writing project as a pedagogical tool for developing this understanding through the process of self-discovery. Multidimensional evidence, both qualitative and quantitative, is presented to support the efficacy of using this tool in the development of student learning about diversity issues. The article concludes with reflections based on the use of the journal in four introductory undergraduate organizational behavior classes and caveats for using the journal as a pedagogical tool.

Effects of Perceived Leadership Behaviors on Job Satisfaction and Productivity

This study investigated effects of perceived leadership behaviors on job satisfaction and productivity. Participants were 467 graduate and undergraduate organizational behavior students who formed 101 groups. Previous field studies have found no effect of leaders' behaviors on organizational productivity when productivity was represented by indirect, enterprise-wide financial measures such as profit and return on assets. In our study, we manipulated leaders' behaviors (consideration and initiating structure) and measured productivity in terms of units produced by each group. Analysis indicated strong effects of leaders' initiating structure and consideration on both job satisfaction and productivity of group members.

Management Education with Computer-Mediated Communication: Classroom Experiences, Organizational Lessons

This article reviews the literature on computer-mediated communication (CMC) in organizations and as a medium for postsecondary education, and describes a teaching- and-research design that linked Boston MBA students with undergraduate organizational behavior students in Nova Scotia. The results of this CMC project are reviewed. Suggested future research on the topic is proposed.

Enhancing the Student Listening Skills and Environment

This article reports the results of an investigation using an interactive approach to teaching listening skills that appears to be ideal for a business communication class. The authors describe their experiences with integrating listen ing activities into the content of an undergraduate organi zational behavior course. The conclusion is drawn that this can be done quite successfully.

Teaching a Class on Gender Issues in Introductory OB Courses: Exercises and Theory

Surveys such as that done by J. B. Rosener and C. L. Pearce have found that only half of business schools have courses that touch in some way on the topic of gender differences, partly due to the lack of resource material in the area. This article presents a single, integrated class module for introducing first-year undergraduate organizational behavior students to gender issues. The module relies on running two experiential exercises, which are then debriefed using cultural theories of gender differences. To achieve both adequate depth and breadth the focus is limited to two important gender issues: gender role expectations and gender stereotyping.

Introducing Race into the Undergraduate Organizational Behavior Course

The case is presented that many traditional undergraduate organizational behavior (OB) courses leave unaddressed race-related problems that are relevant to both minority students and Whites entering an increasingly diverse workplace. Accordingly, instructors of undergraduate OB courses may have concerns about the mechanics of introducing the topic of race into their courses. The following article outlines a four-faceted format as a possible way that race can be successfully introduced into the undergraduate OB course. Issues of what can be taught, in what manner, and what potential problems can be anticipated are addressed.

The Dilemma Counseling Approach: Application to Experiential Classroom Learning

This article describes the implementation of the dilemma counseling approach to an undergraduate organizational behavior classroom setting, a longitudinal "experiential exercise" of one year's dura tion. Dilemma counseling in the group setting is explained using The Life Cycle Theory of Leadership and Client-Centered Therapy parameters. Finally, an analysis of students' perceived degree of participation, learning, skill development, and overall satisfaction with the experimental format is presented.