1-1Copyright__2017_Pearson_Education_IncWelcome_to_this

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Welcome to this Organizational Behavior course that uses the 17th edition of the textbook, Organizational Behavior by Robbins and Judge. This is considered among the most widely used OB textbooks in the world. Robbins and Judge are recognized as definitive aggregators of OB concepts, applications, and practices. The course and this book will provide you with a resource that will benefit you throughout your degree program and your professional life.

What Is

Organizational

Behavior?

Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behavior?

Learning Objectives

Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.

Define organizational behavior (OB).

Show the value to OB of systematic study.

Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB.

Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.

Identify managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.

Compare the three levels of analysis in this text’s OB model.

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The first chapter entitled “What is Organizational Behavior,” begins by defining seven learning objectives for the chapter. These lay a foundational understanding for the origins of OB and its applications in management and organizational existence. You should focus on this chapter to ground yourself, and as a starting place for the more complex and significant concepts throughout the book. We will elaborate on each of these objectives to ensure that you acquire a base knowledge of the core OB competencies.

Demonstrate the Importance of Interpersonal Skills in the Workplace

Interpersonal skills are important because…

‘Good places to work’ have better financial performance.

Better interpersonal skills result in lower turnover of quality employees and higher quality applications for recruitment.

There is a strong association between the quality of workplace relationships and job satisfaction, stress, and turnover.

It fosters social responsibility awareness.

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LO 1

Managers need a cadre of skills to create a productive workplace, including technical and quantitative skills. However, leadership and communication skills are critical to organizational success. When managers have solid interpersonal skills, there are positive work outcomes for the organization. These outcomes include lower turnover of strong employees, improved recruitment pools for filling employment positions, and a better bottom line.

Manager: Someone who gets things done through other people in organizations.

Organization: A consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Mintzberg concluded that managers perform ten different, highly interrelated roles or sets of behaviors attributable to their jobs.

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Describe the Manager’s Functions, Roles, And Skills

LO 2

A manager is someone in the organization who gets things done through the efforts of other people. It is important to keep in mind that an organization is defined as a social entity comprised of two or more people and can be found at any level within the organization.

The work of managers revolves around four functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. When thinking about these functions, one realization comes forward: that they all involve the interpersonal skills of communication for their effective implementation.

Henry Mintzberg looked at management differently when he defined the 10 roles of managers. As shown on the next slide, you will see that they again involve implementation through the interpersonal skills of communication.

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Describe the Manager’s Functions, Roles, and Skills

LO 2

In fact, if you look at the three categories of roles suggested by Mintzberg – interpersonal, informational, and decisional – you will note the distribution of communication and interpersonal skills such as tact, diplomacy, and the like, focusing on both internal and external audiences in the role’s activities. For this reason, developing the interpersonal skills introduced in this course are essential to the professional development of young professionals and are essential to managerial success.

Describe the Manager’s Functions, Roles, and Skills

Management Skills

Technical Skills – the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.

Human Skills – the ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in groups.

Conceptual Skills – the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.

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LO 2

What skills do managers need to effectively achieve their goals? Researchers have identified several skills that set successful managers apart from their less effective counterparts. These include technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills.

Effective Versus Successful Managerial Activities

Luthans and his associates found that all managers engage in four managerial activities:

Traditional management

Communication

Human resource management

Networking

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LO 2

Luthans and his research associates found that all managers engage in four managerial activities.

Traditional management is decision making, planning, and controlling. The average manager spent 32 percent of his or her time performing this activity.

Communication involves exchanging routine information and processing paperwork. The average manager spent 29 percent of his or her time performing this activity.

Human resource management includes motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training. The average manager spent 20 percent of his or her time performing this activity.

Networking is socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders. The average manager spent 19 percent of his or her time performing this activity.

Effective Versus Successful Managerial Activities

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LO 2

Managers who were high performing in these activities were found to be fast-tracked through organizational promotion.

Define Organizational Behavior

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LO 2

Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness. More specifically, OB explores motivation; leader behavior and power; interpersonal communication; group structure and processes; attitude development and perception; change processes; conflict and negotiation; and work design.

Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study .

Systematic Study of Behavior

Behavior generally is predictable if we know how the person perceived the situation and what is important to him or her.

Evidence-Based Management (EBM)

Complements systematic study.

Argues for managers to make decisions based on evidence.

Intuition

Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut feelings” about “why I do what I do” and “what makes others tick.”

If we make all decisions with intuition or gut instinct, we’re likely working with incomplete information.

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LO 3

Many people say that the ideas and concepts of OB are common sense. However, the systematic study of OB has come closer to finding ways to predict the behavior of individuals and groups through an understanding of the situation and composition of the people. Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence.

“Intuition” is a decision-making approach advocated by numerous managers and pundits. However, if we make all decisions with intuition or gut instinct, we’re likely working with incomplete information. EBM and the systematic study of behavior enhance the understanding of these internal contributors to organization behavior.

Big Data

Background:

The use of Big Data for managerial practices is a relatively new area, but one that holds convincing promise.

Current Usage:

The reasons for data analytics include predicting any event, detecting how much risk is incurred at any time, and preventing catastrophes.

New Trends:

The use of Big Data for understanding, helping, and managing people is relatively new but holds promise.

Limitations:

Use evidence as much as possible to inform your intuition and experience.

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LO 3

The recent availability of “big data” shows promise for the field of OB, potentially providing evidence that can be used to support intuition and experience.

Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science that is built upon contributions from a number of behavioral disciplines:

Psychology

Social psychology

Sociology

Anthropology

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Identify the Major Behavioral Science Disciplines That Contribute to OB

LO 4

OB is a behavioral social science that merges concepts from a number of different social sciences to apply specifically to the organizational setting at both the individual (or micro) and group (or macro) levels. The most significant social sciences are psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Look at each for a moment.

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Identify the Major Behavioral Science Disciplines That Contribute to OB

LO 4

This exhibit shows the contributions made by other disciplines to the development of organizational behavior. Notice the predominant areas of psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Each of the disciplines has contributed specific concepts and theories to the study of OB and its increasing applications.

Identify the Major Behavioral Science Disciplines That Contribute to OB

Psychology

seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.

Social psychology

blends the concepts of psychology and sociology.

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LO 4

Psychology focuses on the individual level by seeking to measure, explain, and sometimes change behaviors in individuals. This area of study offers insights into such areas as learning, training, decision making, and employee selection.

Social psychology moves beyond individual analysis to look at group behavior and how individuals can influence one another. It blends together sociology and psychology and looks primarily at change, communication, and group interactions.

Sociology

studies people in relation to their social environment or culture.

Anthropology

is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.

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Identify the Major Behavioral Science Disciplines That Contribute to OB

LO 4

Sociology looks at the relationship between people and their environment. Sociologists’ main contribution to OB has been a better understanding of group behavior, particularly in formal and complex organizations. Another key area that sociologists contribute to in OB is organizational culture, a key factor in OB studies.

Anthropologists study societies to learn about human beings and their activities. They help us understand the differences between different groups in terms of their values, attitudes, and behaviors.

Demonstrate Why Few Absolutes Apply to OB

There are few, if any, simple and universal principles that explain organizational behavior.

Contingency variables

situational factors are variables that moderate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

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LO 5

There are few absolutes in organizational behavior. When making decisions, you must always take into account the situational factors that can change the relationship between two variables. Every situation has the potential to have unseen factors or even known factors that can change rapidly. Opening your minds to detecting these changes and unseen factors, and to being ready with optional responses, is essential to effective management.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

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LO 6

Today’s economic uncertainty has created new challenges in the workplace. This exhibit shows some of the types of options individuals may have or would like to have.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Responding to economic pressure

In tough economic times, effective management is an asset.

In good times, understanding how to reward, satisfy, and retain employees is at a premium.

In bad times, issues like stress, decision making, and coping come to the forefront.

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LO 6

During economic difficulties, the need for effective management is heightened. Anyone can manage during good times; it is much tougher to manage effectively through economic struggles.

In bad economic times, resource constraints may force managers to make tough decisions, such as whether to lay off employees. It can also be difficult to motivate employees when resources are limited. Moreover, managers must be able to deal with employees who are stressed about their futures.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Responding to globalization

Increased foreign assignments.

Working with people from different cultures.

Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-cost labor.

Adapting to differing cultural and regulatory norms.

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LO 6

Globalization means that organizations now exist in an environment with no national borders. As a result, the manager’s job has changed. Managers today need to have a broader perspective when making decisions.

As foreign assignments increase, you will need to be able to manage a workforce that is different than what you may be used to, and which may bring different needs, aspirations, and attitudes to the workplace.

You will also have individuals who come from different cultures coming to work in your own country. You will need to find ways to accommodate their needs and help them assimilate to your workplace culture.

As more jobs move to countries with low-cost labor, managers will need to balance the needs of their organizations with the needs of the countries in which they operate.

In the new global village, managers need to understand the implications of differing cultural and legal practices on their operations. Violating local regulations and practices could have serious consequences for the organization.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

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LO 6

As students of OB, we can investigate what factors lead employees to make various choices and how their experiences affect their perceptions of their workplaces. In turn, this can help us predict organizational outcomes. As shown in the OB Poll for example, the days when women stayed home because it was expected are just a memory in some cultures, while in others, women still face significant barriers to entry into the workplace.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Managing workforce diversity

Workforce diversity – organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and inclusion of other diverse groups.

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LO 6

As the borders are disappearing, we are seeing more and more heterogeneity in the workplace. Managers today need to embrace diversity and find ways to manage it effectively. The changing demographics have shifted management philosophy in a way that recognizes and utilizes differences to create productivity, profitability, and welcoming workplace cultures.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Improving customer service

Service employees have substantial interaction with customers.

Employee attitudes and behavior are associated with customer satisfaction.

Need a customer-responsive culture.

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LO 6

Many jobs today involve substantial interaction with customers. Managers can increase the chance that these interactions will be successful by focusing on employee attitudes and behavior. Companies need to develop customer-responsive cultures wherein employees are friendly and courteous, accessible, knowledgeable, prompt with their responses, and willing to do what is necessary to ensure that customers are satisfied.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Improving people skills

People skills are essential to managerial effectiveness.

OB provides the concepts and theories that allow managers to predict employee behavior in given situations.

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LO 6

Because organizations are comprised of people, organizations cannot achieve desired outcomes without them. Therefore, the skills to manage people successfully are essential to the effectiveness of anyone in a managerial or leadership role. OB provides the concepts and theories that help predict behavior to create a more effective organization, accomplishing desired goals.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Working in networked organizations

Networked organizations are becoming more pronounced.

A manager’s job is fundamentally different in networked organizations.

Challenges of motivating and leading “online” require different techniques.

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LO 6

Networked organizations are proliferating. These are organizations that are spread over geographic, time, or other boundaries and that are connected by technology. Managing and leading people who never see each other but who work together requires a different set of management and leadership skills.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Using social media at work

Policies on accessing social media at work.

When, where, and for what purpose.

Impact of social media on employee well-being.

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LO 6

Social media is a difficult issue for today’s manager, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for OB.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Enhancing employee well-being at work

The creation of the global workforce means work no longer sleeps.

Communication technology has provided a vehicle for working at any time or any place.

Employees are working longer hours per week.

The lifestyles of families have changed —creating conflict.

Balancing work and life demands now surpasses job security as an employee priority.

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LO 6

Because of the expansion of networked business to global competition, time is no longer a definable boundary of organizational activity and personnel responsibility. Managers and leaders of organizations are challenged to help employees find ways to balance work and life roles to ensure they remain effective and viable members of the team. Employees who feel as though they don’t get a break and who believe they must work twenty-four hours a day can be less effective, suffering from burnout and dissatisfaction.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Creating a positive work environment

Positive organizational scholarship is concerned with how organizations develop human strength, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential.

This field of study focuses on employees’ strengths versus their limitations, as employees share situations in which they performed at their personal best.

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LO 6

Creating a positive work environment has been found to be a basis for employee satisfaction, increased productivity, and longevity of skilled personnel. Responsibility for positive work environments is not a part of traditional management practice, but as the work environment has changed in terms of characteristics and behaviors of younger generations, the focus on making work a good place to be has become more important for success. Positive organizational scholarship studies what is “good” about organizations.

Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of OB Concepts

Improving ethical behavior

Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices are situations in which an individual is required to define right and wrong conduct.

Good ethical behavior is not so easily defined.

Organizations distribute codes of ethics to guide employees through ethical dilemmas.

Managers need to create an ethically healthy climate.

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LO 6

Increased scrutiny by society and governmental entities has increased business concerns with ethical behavior. Lapses in ethical behavior have resulted in everything ranging from public sanctions against businesses to legal penalties against a firm and its managers.

Ethical dilemmas require managers to make decisions involving right and wrong conduct. Managers and leaders must clearly define what constitutes appropriate, ethical behavior by the organization and its people, and they must lead by example.

Three Levels of Analysis in This Text’s OB Model

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LO 7

This book proposes three types of variables—inputs, processes, and outcomes—at three levels of analysis: individual, group, and organizational.

The basic OB model here proceeds from left to right, with inputs leading to processes and processes leading to outcomes. Notice that the model also shows that outcomes can influence inputs in the future.

Three Levels of Analysis in This Book’s OB Model

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Inputs

Variables like personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to processes.

Group structure, roles, and team responsibilities are typically assigned immediately before or after a group is formed.

Organizational structure and culture change over time.

LO 7

Inputs are factors that exist in advance of the employment relationships. For example, individual diversity characteristics, personality, and values are shaped by a combination of an individual’s genetic inheritance and childhood environment.

Group structure, roles, and team responsibilities are typically assigned immediately before or after a group is formed.

Finally, organizational structure and culture are usually the result of years of development and change as the organization adapts to its environment and builds up customs and norms.

Three Levels of Analysis in This Book’s OB Model

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Processes

If inputs are like the nouns in organizational behavior, processes are like verbs.

Defined as actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs, and that lead to certain outcomes.

LO 7

Processes are actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs, and that lead to certain outcomes.

At the individual level, processes include emotions and moods, motivation, perception, and decision making.

At the group level, they include communication, leadership, power and politics, and conflict and negotiation.

Finally, at the organizational level, processes include human resource management and change practices.

Three Levels of Analysis in This Book’s OB Model

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Outcomes

Key variables that you want to explain or predict, and that are affected by some other variables.

LO 7

Scholars have emphasized individual-level outcomes like attitudes and satisfaction, task performance, citizenship behavior, and withdrawal behavior.

At the group level, cohesion and functioning are the dependent variables.

Finally, at the organizational level, we look at overall profitability and survival.

Because these outcomes will be covered in all of the chapters, we’ll briefly discuss each of them on the following slides, so you can understand what the “goal” of OB will be.

Outcome Variables

Attitudes and stress

Employee attitudes are the evaluations employees make, ranging from positive to negative, about objects, people, or events.

Stress is an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures.

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LO 7

The belief that satisfied employees are more productive than dissatisfied employees has been a basic tenet among managers for years, though only now has research begun to support it. Some people might think that influencing employee attitudes and stress is purely soft stuff, and not the business of serious managers, but as we will show, attitudes often have behavioral consequences that relate directly to organizational effectiveness.

Outcome Variables

Task performance

The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing your core job tasks is a reflection of your level of task performance.

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LO 7

Task performance is the most important human output contributing to organizational effectiveness, so in every chapter we devote considerable time to discussing how task performance is affected by specific topics.

Outcome Variables

Organizational citizenship behavior

The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace, is called organizational citizenship behavior.

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LO 7

In today’s dynamic workplace, where tasks are increasingly performed by teams and flexibility is critical, employees who engage in good citizenship behaviors help others on their team by volunteering for extra work, avoiding unnecessary conflicts, respecting the spirit as well as the letter of rules and regulations, and gracefully tolerating occasional work-related impositions and nuisances.

Outcome Variables

Withdrawal behavior

Withdrawal behavior is the set of actions that employees take to separate themselves from the organization.

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LO 7

Employee withdrawal can have a very negative effect on an organization. The cost of employee turnover alone has been estimated to run into the thousands of dollars, even for entry-level positions. Absenteeism also costs organizations significant amounts of money and time every year. For instance, a recent survey found the average direct cost to U.S. employers of unscheduled absences is 8.7 percent of payroll.

Outcome Variables

Group cohesion

Group cohesion is the extent to which members of a group support and validate one another at work.

Group functioning

Group functioning refers to the quantity and quality of a group’s work output.

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LO 7

When employees trust one another, seek common goals, and work together to achieve these common goals, the group is cohesive. Conversely, when employees are divided among themselves in terms of what they want to achieve and have little loyalty to one another, the group is not cohesive. And the greater the group’s cohesion, the greater the affect of group functioning that leads to effective outcomes and satisfying impacts on group members.

Outcome Variables

Productivity

An organization is productive if it achieves its goals by transforming inputs into outputs at the lowest cost. This requires both effectiveness and efficiency.

Survival

The final outcome is organizational survival, which is simply evidence that the organization is able to exist and grow over the long term.

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LO 7

Popular measures of organizational efficiency include return on investment, profit per dollar of sales, and output per hour of labor. Service organizations must include customer needs and requirements in assessing their effectiveness. These measures of productivity are affected by the behaviors of managers, employees, and supervisors. Increased productivity leads to the ultimate goal of most organizations, which is the survival of the firm.

The Plan of the Text

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LO 7

As you can see in this exhibit, we will deal with inputs, processes, and outcomes at all three levels of analysis, but we group the chapters as shown here to correspond with the typical ways that research has been done in these areas.

Implications for Managers

Resist the inclination to rely on generalizations; some provide valid insights into human behavior, but many are erroneous.

Use metrics and situational variables rather than “hunches” to explain cause-and-effect relationships.

Work on your interpersonal skills to increase your leadership potential.

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This first chapter has provided a firm foundation that will be the basis for the study and application of concepts and practices that make the young professional more successful in productivity, job satisfaction, and career development. The systematic study of OB can improve predictability of behavior and, while it’s not perfect, it provides excellent roadmaps to guide managers and leaders. These studies help to ensure that contingencies are in place to better understand people’s behaviors and how to influence them for the success of the employee and the organization.

Implications for Managers

Improve your technical skills and conceptual skills through training and staying current with OB trends like “big data”.

OB can improve your employees’ work quality and productivity by showing you how to empower your employees, design and implement change programs, improve customer service, and help your employees balance work-life conflicts.

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It is important for managers to develop their interpersonal “people skills” to be effective. Understanding OB makes their organizations work more effectively by improving productivity, reducing absenteeism, turnover, and deviant workplace behavior, and increasing organizational citizenship behavior and job satisfaction.

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4 POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2018

T he 2017 General Election result was described as a ‘youthquake’ – a shock result founded on an unexpected surge in youth turnout

and the overwhelming support of younger voters for Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. Ipsos MORI data released after the election, ‘How Britain Voted in 2017’, revealed some dramatic

‘Youthquake’: How and Why Young People Reshaped the Political Landscape in 2017 The shock 2017 General Election result was widely characterised as

a ‘youthquake’, with a dramatic surge in support for Labour among

younger voters. James Sloam, Rakib Ehsan and Matt Henn investigate

the new trend that could have profound implications for British politics.

changes amongst younger voters. Ipsos MORI and the Essex Continuous Monitoring Survey (Whiteley and Clarke 2017) both estimated an increase in youth turnout of around 20 percentage points. The gap in support for the two main parties amongst this cohort – 35 percentage points – was unprecedented in size.

The excitement generated by the election was such that the Oxford English Dictionary

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APRIL 2018 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 5

named ‘youthquake’ the 2017 ‘word of the year’. This decision created much controversy amongst political commentators who decried the hype around the choice of word (after all, the Labour party had not won the election!).

More interestingly, academics have – on the basis of new British Election Study data – described the youthquake as a ‘myth’ or a mere ‘tremor’ (Prosser et al. 2018). In this article we challenge this argument and emphasise

the importance of youth engagement in the 2017 General Election for several reasons.

First of all, to dismiss the so-called youthquake as a myth is to take a very narrow view about what constitutes political

Figure 1: Party Support amongst 18-24 Year Olds and General Population (Source Ipsos MORI: How Britain Voted Since October 1974)

1974 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017

Support for Conservative Party and Labour Party amongst 18 to 24 Year Olds and General Population

— Conservatives (all ages)

— LibDems (all ages)

— Labour (all ages)

— Conservatives (18-24

— LibDems (18-24)

— Labour (18-24) )

Figure 2: % Party support among Young People' (IpsosMori: How Britain Voted in the 2017 General Election)

(YouGov: How Britain Voted at the 2017 General Election [this is the source for the student vote])

10 18

All Adults Young High Social Grade (AB, 18-34)

Young Men (18-24)

All 18-24 year olds

Full-Time Students (18-24)

Young Low Social Grade (DE, 18-34)

Young Women (18-24)

● Conservative ● Labour ● Liberal Democrat

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6 POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2018

engagement and political change. Even if we presume – as some have – that turnout amongst 18-24 year olds did not increase, several other changes have reshaped the political landscape, including, the unprecedented rate of youth support for the Labour party, high levels of youth activism in the campaign (Pickard 2018), and the distinctive cosmopolitan values of young Labour supporters.

These changes mark both a long-term generational effect, as well as a more short- term period effect, on the values and political habits of Young Millennials growing up in the aftermath of the financial crisis, and through their experiences of the 2016 EU referendum (Sloam and Henn 2018). When one looks into the intragenerational dimensions of the youth vote, the changes in 2017 were remarkable. As we show (left), the cosmopolitan-left attitudes and orientations of young people are particularly marked amongst young students and young women. These attitudes and orientations reflect broader societal changes that, as Norris and Inglehart (2016)

have argued, increase the relevance of cultural cleavages within contemporary democratic politics.

A youthquake equates to much more than voter turnout, and should be seen as a multi-faceted phenomenon involving fundamental social, political and cultural shifts. It is worth noting that the OED itself defines a youthquake as ‘a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people’.

Finally, the narrative effects of the youthquake should not be dismissed out of hand. The widespread acceptance that a youthquake has happened has had a tangible impact. Corbyn’s deliberate targeting of the youth vote, Labour’s unusually high dependency upon young activists, and the unexpectedly strong performance of Labour in the election, have already encouraged the Conservative Government to rethink its approach to younger voters, leading to a review of – amongst other things – policy on tuition fees.

In this article, we move beyond the debate

about youth turnout in the 2017 General Election, to examine youth participation from a broader perspective. We investigate the dramatic changes in youth voter choice in 2017 and over time, the policy preferences of younger citizens (highlighting the differences with older voters), and the important role of online activism.

Turning left One of the most prominent features of the 2017 General Election, was the importance of age in predicting which party an individual voted for. The Ipsos MORI data reveals some dramatic changes (Figure 1). A remarkable 62 per cent of 18-24 year olds voted for the Labour party, contrasting with 27 per cent for the Conservative party – an unprecedented youth gap of 35 percentage points. It is common to assume that the Labour party is always more popular amongst younger voters, but this is not the case. In 2015, 18-24 year olds only supported Labour over Conservative by a margin of 42 per cent to 28 per cent. In 2010, the two large parties were locked

27 17

Figure 3: % Most Important Issue during 2017 Election Campaign (Source Lord Ashcroft Polling 2017)

10 1

8 8

7 5 5

3 2

3 1

2 6

NHS/Hospitals

Brexit/Making sure we get the best deal

Austerity, Cuts and Inequalities

Education

Economy/ Jobs Terrorism

and Security Bene�ts and Tax Credits

Environment

Immigration and Asylum● 18-24 year olds ● All adults ● Over 65s

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APRIL 2018 • POLITICAL INSIGHT 7

together (in this age group) with the Liberal Democrats on approximately 30 per cent.

Another feature of the 2017 General Election, was the Labour party’s capture of third party support – particularly from the Liberal Democrats and the Greens. The Liberal Democrats failed to improve on their disastrous performance amongst younger voters in 2015 (collapsing from 30 per cent in 2010 to 4 per cent in 2015). Although the Liberal Democrats managed not to lose further support amongst 18-24 year olds in 2017, tactical voting and a further weakening of student support led to damaging defeats for Liberal Democrat incumbents in the university constituencies of Sheffield Hallam (Nick Clegg) and Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland). Labour also gained significantly from the Green party, whose share of the youth vote fell from 8 per cent in 2015 to just 2 per cent two years later.

Youth support for parties by class and gender The Labour party’s emphatic lead amongst 18-24 year olds varied across different groups of young people (Figure 2). Labour gained greatest support from young women (73 per cent), and young people of a low social

grade (70 per cent). Whilst we might expect, from previous elections, that social grade and student status have a large impact on party support, the scale of the Labour party’s appeal amongst young women was surprising. These results might be attributed to the effect of both Brexit and Corbyn (young women were very likely to vote Remain, and to sympathise with the Labour leader’s views on economic inequality and international relations). Interestingly, the large differences in party allegiance by gender and class were not present within the population as a whole (adults of all ages).

The influence of socio-economic status on voting intention has become more complex. In 2017, young people of a high social grade were more likely to support Labour than the Conservatives (by 52 per cent to 31 per cent), but to a smaller degree than the average 18- 24 year old. However, full-time students were considerably more likely to vote Labour (by 62 per cent to 22 per cent).

Young Millennials – the new cosmopolitan-left Figure 3 shows the policy preferences of young people (18-24 year olds) compared to the average UK citizen, and the over 65s. For

the youngest cohort of voters, healthcare was considered to be the most important issue (27 per cent). This would naturally place Labour at an advantage over the Conservatives, with the former traditionally holding ownership of issues surrounding the NHS. The Labour manifesto promised extra funding for the health service. The second most important issue for young people was Brexit (15 per cent of younger citizens prioritised this policy area) – another issue where younger voters were more closely aligned to the official Labour position than the official Conservative position – and education (10 per cent). The next priorities for 18-24 year olds was that of austerity, poverty and economic inequalities (13 per cent). In our Populus poll of 1,351 18-30 year olds, we also found that, ‘housing’ emerged as a key theme for young people. Whilst many of these issues may be long- term problems that have persisted for several decades, the polls suggest that young people associated austerity, economic inequalities and the increasingly unaffordable costs of housing, with seven years of Conservative- led government. Conversely, the Labour Manifesto included concrete pledges on greater investment in social housing, and the abolition of university tuition fees.

Political Insight April 2018.indd 7 19/02/2018 11:18

8 POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2018

The perception of the ‘most important political issue’ clearly varies across generations. The differences between young and old were largest in the areas of Brexit (minus 23 percentage points), the NHS (plus 14 points), education (plus 9 points), austerity, cuts and inequalities (plus 7 points), and immigration and asylum (minus 5 points).

The cosmopolitan-left attitudes and sentiments of Young Millennials diverged remarkably from those of the over 65s. This relates not just to their policy priorities, but also to the positions adopted on the issues. This is particularly the case with regard to the political-cultural issues of Brexit and immigration. Our previous study of young people in the run-up to the 2016 EU referendum, found these two issues were underpinned by diametrically opposed attitudes towards cultural diversity amongst young and older citizens.

Online mobilisation There is growing evidence to suggest that social media is increasingly trusted and consumed by young people, when it comes to accessing political information. We investigated the official accounts of the Labour party, Conservative party, Jeremy Corbyn and Prime Minister Theresa May across three platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Labour party was more effective at communicating its messages amongst younger voters (Fletcher 2017). Boosted by his celebrity endorsements and the emergence of left-leaning, online news platforms (such as The Canary), Jeremy Corbyn achieved about three times as many Facebook likes (1.4 million) and Twitter followers (1.42 million) as Theresa May. And unlike May, Corbyn was more popular than his own party in these social media (by 400,000 Facebook likes and almost a million Twitter followers). The Labour social media communications strategy – pioneered during Corbyn’s party leadership bid by the grass-roots campaigning group, Momentum – provided an effective means of reaching out to younger voters through attractive, interactive content.

Profound changes We believe that efforts to downplay the importance of youth participation in the 2017 General Election are too heavily focused on youth turnout. And, even on the subject

of turnout, it is still possible that there were significant increases in youth turnout as a whole, in certain geographic locations, and amongst various sub-groups of young people (eg students).

It is also important to think carefully about the what constitutes a young person. Andy Furlong (2016) and many others in the field of youth studies have shown that young people’s transitions from youth to adulthood have become delayed and staggered in modern societies. Although we have focused in this article on 18-24 year olds, it may actually be more helpful to think of younger rather than young citizens.

It is generally accepted that in 2017, age replaced class as the key predictor of party choice. We propose two possible explanations for the large differences in voting for parties across age cohorts. First, the redistribution of resources away from younger citizens and youth-oriented public policy over the past ten years, has attracted more young people to the ideas of state intervention and increased public spending. Second, cultural differences across generations have deepened. Young people are more approving of cultural diversity, welcoming of European integration, and less concerned about immigration than older cohorts. Thus, younger voters were attracted by Corbyn’s opposition to austerity, his internationalist outlook and his acceptance of immigration and cultural diversity (in contrast to the nationalist-authoritarian populism of Nigel Farage and Donald Trump).

In the 2017 General Election and the 2016 EU referendum, support for the Labour party and Remain was particularly strong amongst citizens who were young, highly educated, female and supportive of cultural diversity in Britain. Younger voters were politically energised by Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party. In an echo of the 1960s, they expressed themselves as left-of-centre cosmopolitans, reacting both to austerity politics and the cultural conservatism found in older generations, and embodied by the Leave campaign in the EU referendum. If voting and voter choice is habit-forming, the mobilisation of younger voters by the Labour party in 2017, means that all political parties, particularly the Conservative party, need to try harder to develop a package of policies that can appeal to young people if they want to avoid the

further ageing of their support base. The Labour party also managed to engage

many youth activists through its policy platform and the direct efforts of the party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, to interact with younger citizens. Labour certainly enjoyed a comfortable advantage over the Conservative party in the social media space where political information is relatively trusted and highly- consumed by Britain’s young people. This led to Conservatives, such as Robert Halfon, a former Minister for Education, to argue for a Tory-affiliated version of Momentum, to counter Labour’s domination in the digital space.

The 2017 General Election marked some profound changes in youth political participation. To suggest the youthquake was a myth, takes a reductionist approach to youth political participation. It also fuels a much more dangerous myth; that young people are apathetic and not interested in politics. This counter-narrative has the potential to undermine young people’s sense of political efficacy and undermine political support for youth-oriented public policy.

References Fletcher, R (2017) ‘Labour’s Social Media Campaign: more posts, more video, and more interaction’, UK Election Analysis, in Thorson, E, Jackson, D and Lilleker, D (Eds.) UK Election Analysis 2017, http://www.electionanalysis.uk/, pp. 92-93. Furlong, A (Ed.) (2016) Routledge Handbook of Youth and Young Adulthood. Taylor & Francis. Norris, P and Inglehart, R (2016) ‘Trump, Brexit, and the rise of populism: Economic have-nots and cultural backlash’, HKS Working Paper No. RWP16-026 https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/ papers.cfm?abstract_id=2818659. Pickard, S (2018) ‘Momentum and the Movementist ‘Corbyn- istas’: Young People Regenerating the Labour Party in Britain’. In Pickard, S and Bessant, J (Eds.) Young People Re-Generating Politics in Times of Crises, pp. 115-137). Palgrave. Prosser, C, Fieldhouse, E, Green, J, Mellon, J and Evan, G (2018) The Myth of the 2017 Youthquake Election, http://www. britishelectionstudy.com/bes-impact/the-myth-of-the-2017- youthquake-election/#.WnFpBUx2s2z. Sloam, J and Ehsan, R (2017a) Youth Quake: Young People and the 2017 General Election. London: Intergenerational Foundation. Sloam, J and Ehsan, R (2017b) ‘Against the Tide: Young People and the 2016 Brexit Referendum’, Paper presented to the 2017 APSA Annual Meeting, 2 September, San Francisco. Whiteley, P and Clarke, H (2017) ‘Understanding Labour’s Youthquake’. The Conversation, 3 July 2017, https://theconver- sation.com/understanding-labours-youthquake-80333?utm_ medium=ampemail&utm_source=email.

James Sloam is a Reader in Politics at Royal Holloway University. Rakib Ehsan is a Doctoral Researcher at Royal Holloway, University of London. Matt Henn is Chair of Social Research at Nottingham Trent University.

Political Insight April 2018.indd 8 19/02/2018 11:19

One way to identify changes in popular culture is to examine new terms and concepts that arise and quickly become prevalent in society. For example, you may be familiar with the new phrases that arose with the use of smartphones (LOL! OMG! YOLO!) and the new meanings for already familiar words such as text, data, refresh, application, etc. We use “Google” as a verb today, “Spam” used to be a canned meat product, and “Amazon” no longer first brings to mind a river in South America.

Oxford Dictionary ( https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/ ) takes on the challenge of the ever-changing English language by providing definitions for newly adopted and used words in the English language and even selects a “Word of the Year” – a word that takes on a certain significant meaning in the context of current events and culture. In 2015, it was notable that the “word” of the year wasn’t even a word at all, but instead an emoji! No one 10 years ago could have predicted this, and it demonstrates clearly the role that communication via technology has in today’s culture.

For this assignment, you will be creating a PowerPoint presentation about popular culture and this year’s Word of the Year. Look up Oxford Dictionaries’ most recent Word of the Year and consider the cultural influences and events that drove this word selection. What events are related to this word and what are their significance? How does this word present itself in your own thoughts, experiences, and beliefs? What is the connection between the “Word of the Year” and the concept of Popular Culture?

Specifications:

· Submission: A 10-12 slide PowerPoint presentation or Prezi to address the questions posed above. Include speaker notes, images, and videos where applicable. In your presentation:

· Clearly explain the meaning of the Word of the Year. (Youthquake)

· Provide 4-5 examples of cultural events that led up to or evolved from this word usage.

· Reflect on thoughts, experiences, and beliefs regarding this word’s usage in society and your own life.

· Provide speaker’s notes on the PowerPoint to accompany each slide. The total word count of your notes should be 750-1000 words. Include a title slide and include your references page in APA format on the last slide of the presentation.

Note: This assignment is submitted through SafeAssign. Please review the SafeAssign report. If the report is over the 20% threshold, please correct your document and re-submit by the due date. You will have two attempts for submission.

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Diversity

Organizations

Chapter 2: Diversity in Organizations

Learning Objectives

Describe the two major forms of workplace diversity.

Demonstrate how workplace discrimination undermines organizational effectiveness.

Describe how the key biographical characteristics are relevant to OB.

Explain how other differentiating characteristics factor into OB.

Demonstrate the relevance of intellectual and physical abilities to OB.

Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.

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After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

Describe the two major forms of workplace diversity.

Demonstrate how workplace discrimination undermines organizational effectiveness.

Describe how the key biographical characteristics are relevant to OB.

Explain how other differentiating characteristics factor into OB.

Demonstrate the relevance of intellectual and physical abilities to OB.

Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.

Workplace Diversity

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Surface-Level Diversity

Deep-Level Diversity

Diversity Management

LO 1

Everyone brings differences to the organizations where they work. These differences can create energy and excitement in the workplace, but they can also cause conflict. So it is important that we have an understanding of how diversity works in organizations.

When we look at the workplace, we recognize two levels of diversity. Surface-level diversity represents the characteristics that are easily observed such as race, gender, age, etc. Deep-level diversity represents the aspects that are more difficult to see at first glance such as values, personality, and work preferences.

Workplace Discrimination and Organizational Effectiveness

Discrimination is to note a difference between things.

Unfair discrimination assumes stereotypes about groups.

Refusal to recognize individual differences is harmful to organizations and employees.

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LO 2

Managing diversity effectively requires working to eliminate unfair discrimination. The act of discrimination means to note differences between things, which isn’t a bad thing. However, when we allow our behavior to be influenced by stereotypes about groups of people, unfair discrimination can be harmful to organizations and employees. Recognizing people for their abilities rather than assumptions of stereotypes is an important part of OB and its application to the work environment.

Workplace Discrimination and Organizational Effectiveness

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LO 2

This Exhibit lists definitions and examples of different types of discrimination. Increasing legal scrutiny and social disapproval have reduced most overt forms of discrimination, but less obvious discrimination, like incivility or exclusion, continue to exist. This type of discrimination can be difficult to eliminate because it’s less easily observed, and because it’s not always intentional. Even so, it can have serious negative implications for an organization including reduced productivity, increased turnover, and increased conflict among employees.

Biographical Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Biological characteristics are personal characteristics that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records.

Variations in these can be the basis for discrimination

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LO 3

Biographical characteristics typically include age, gender, and race, and represent many of the surface-level aspects of diversity. We can usually find out about these from personnel records. Because biological characteristics can be the basis for discrimination, it’s important to understand how they are related to work outcomes.

Biographical Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Age

The U.S. workforce is aging.

Does job performance decline with increasing age?

Studies show that turnover and absenteeism rates are lower among older workers, and age is not associated with lower productivity.

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LO 3

Age is an increasingly relevant characteristic as the workforce is aging. Older workers bring with them a wealth of knowledge and experience, but the misperception is that productivity often declines with age. Whether this is true or not, it is a perception people act upon and will affect the workplace.

Biographical Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Sex

There are no consistent male-female differences in problem-solving ability, analytical skills, competitive drive, motivation, sociability, or learning drive.

But women earn less than men for the same positions and have fewer professional opportunities.

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LO 3

Another biological characteristic is sex. In studying gender in the workplace, it has been found that there are very few differences between men and women that impact job performance. However, women still earn less money than men for the same positions and working mothers may face additional bias that limits their professional opportunities.

Biographical Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Race and Ethnicity

Employees tend to favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay raises.

African Americans and Hispanics perceive higher levels of discrimination in the workplace.

African Americans generally fare worse than Whites in employment decisions.

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LO 3

Race is a controversial issue and research shows members of racial and ethnic minorities perceive discrimination in the workplace. More specifically, studies indicate that people in the workplace do identify more with people like themselves; so in some cases, opportunities may be given to people based on the fact that they are like their supervisor, rather than on their merits. Keep in mind, though, that research has found no significant differences in race or ethnic backgrounds related to absence rates, applied social skills, or accident rates, and that discrimination can lead to higher turnover.

Biographical Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Disabilities

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission classifies a person as disabled who has any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations, but may have lower performance expectations.

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LO 3

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a person with a disability is one who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires employers to make “reasonable accommodation” for disabilities. Even so, individuals with disabilities continue to face bias in the workplace.

Biographical Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Hidden Disabilities

Sensory disabilities, chronic illness or pain, cognitive or learning impairments, sleep disorders, and psychological challenges.

U.S. organizations must accommodate employees with a very broad range of impairments.

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LO 3

As a result of recent changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008, U.S. organizations must accommodate employees with a very broad range of impairments such as sensory disabilities, chronic illness or pain, cognitive or learning impairments, sleep disorders, and psychological challenges. However, employees must disclose their conditions to their employers in order to be eligible for workplace accommodations and employment protection.

Other Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Tenure

Tenure is a good predictor of employee productivity.

Tenure and job satisfaction are positively related.

Religion

U.S. law prohibits discrimination based on religion, but it is still an issue, especially for Muslims.

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LO 4

Tenure refers to the length of time people have been on the job. Tenure is often seen as a positive, as it signifies that people are happy with their employment because they have remained in their job for a long period of time. Therefore, employees with long tenure tend to be more productive, call in sick less frequently, and don’t leave the organization as readily.

Discrimination based on religion is prohibited in the United States; however, it continues to be an issue in the workplace. Muslims in particular may face discrimination, but bias against other religious beliefs exists as well. In fact, religious discrimination claims represent an increasing share of all discrimination claims in the United States.

Other Characteristics and Organizational Behavior

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Federal law does not protect employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation, but this may soon change.

Most Fortune 500 companies have policies covering sexual orientation and about half now have policies on gender identity.

Cultural Identity

Need to accommodate and respect individual cultural identities.

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LO 4

Sexual orientation and gender identity are not protected by federal law and as a result, they are handled differently by most employers. These characteristics are often dealt with as if they are federally-protected characteristics even though they are not, in order to discourage discriminatory behavior. For example, about 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies have policies on sexual orientation and roughly half have policies on gender identity. This is a big change from just a few years ago, and there are indications that legislation may soon be in place to protect gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees.

Finally, it is important for companies to respect and accommodate the cultural identities of their employees.

Intellectual and Physical Abilities and OB

Ability is an individual’s current capacity to perform various tasks in a job.

Two types

Intellectual abilities

Physical abilities

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LO 5

Ability is an individual’s capacity to perform job tasks. An individual’s overall abilities are comprised of intellectual abilities and physical abilities.

Intellectual and Physical Abilities and OB

Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental activities – thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.

Most societies place a high value on intelligence.

General mental ability is an overall factor of intelligence as suggested by the positive correlations among specific intellectual ability dimensions.

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LO 5

Intellectual abilities are those needed to perform mental activities. These would include abilities like critical thinking, reasoning, and problem solving. In most cultures, high value is placed on intelligence and it is easy to see why. Smart people tend to earn more money, attain higher levels of education, and be leaders.

Intellectual and Physical Abilities and OB

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LO 5

The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and memory.

Exhibit 2-2 describes these dimensions. If you score high on verbal comprehension, you’re more likely to also score high on spatial visualization. Evidence strongly supports the idea that the structures and measures of intellectual abilities generalize across cultures.

Intellectual and Physical Abilities and OB

Physical Abilities

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

Nine basic abilities related to strength, flexibility, and other factors are needed to perform physical tasks.

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LO 5

Physical abilities are needed when performance requires physical activity to complete a task. Research has identified nine basic abilities that are needed to perform physical tasks – they are shown in the following slide. Managers need to identify which of these abilities are necessary for specific jobs, and then ensure that people in those jobs have the necessary abilities to do their jobs successfully.

Intellectual and Physical Abilities and OB

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LO 5

Exhibit 2-3 shows the nine basic physical abilities needed to perform physical tasks. Strength factors include dynamic strength, trunk strength, static strength, and explosive strength. Flexibility factors include both components of extent flexibility and dynamic flexibility. Other factors include body coordination, balance, and stamina.

Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Diversity management is the process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.

Diversity is more successful when it is everyone’s business, not just for certain groups of employees.

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LO 6

Diversity management makes everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others. Diversity management programs are more successful when they are the norm for everyone, rather than just for certain groups of employees.

Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

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Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining Diverse Employees

Diversity in Groups

Effective Diversity Programs

LO 6

Managing diversity effectively begins by attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining employees who can operate and excel in a workplace with diverse individuals, viewpoints, and ideas. These efforts are then complemented by effectively managing diversity in groups and ensuring that strong diversity programs are in place.

Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining diverse employees

Target recruiting messages to specific demographic groups.

Ensure that hiring is bias free.

Create a positive diversity climate.

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LO 6

Attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining diverse employees are important to the process. Recruiting messages should be targeted to specific demographic groups that are underrepresented in the workforce. In addition, fairness and objectivity in the selection process will help ensure that one’s qualifications are emphasized, rather than demographic characteristics. Creating a positive diversity climate is essential for minimizing turnover and increasing commitment to the organization.

Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Diversity in groups

Most people in groups need a common way of looking at and accomplishing major tasks, and they need to communicate well with each other.

Emphasize higher-level similarities among people.

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LO 6

Working in group settings is common in most contemporary workplaces. To be effective members of a group, employees need a common way of looking at and accomplishing major tasks, as well as good communication skills. Emphasizing higher-level similarities can also increase the effectiveness of groups.

Describe How Organizations Manage Diversity Effectively

Effective diversity programs

Teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people.

Teach managers how a diverse workforce will be more effective at serving a diverse customer base.

Foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of everyone.

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LO 6

Effective diversity programs have three components. First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their demographic characteristics. Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce will be better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients. Finally, they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable way to improve performance for everyone.

Implications for Managers

Understand your organization's anti-discrimination policies thoroughly and share them with your employees.

Assess and challenge your own stereotype beliefs to increase your objectivity.

Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions.

Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need and then fine-tune a job to that person’s abilities.

Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteristics of your employees; a fair but individualistic approach yields the best performance.

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Understand your organization's anti-discrimination policies thoroughly and share them with your employees.

Assess and challenge your stereotype beliefs to increase your objectivity.

Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions.

Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need and then fine-tune a job to that person’s abilities.

Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteristics of your employees; a fair but individualistic approach yields the best performance.

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