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Case Notes For Essentials of Organizational Behavior, Third Edition Scandura
Case Notes For Essentials of Organizational Behavior, Third Edition Scandura
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Student ResourceScandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Case Notes For
Essentials of Organizational Behavior,
Third Edition Scandura
Chapter 1-5
Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behavior?
Case 1.1: Evidence-Based Management: People Analytics at Google
Case Description
The obsession with data at Google resulted in the formation of a new team called People
Analytics. This team’s responsibility was to ensure that no people-oriented decisions, such as
promotions, demotions, hires, fires, etc. were not informed by intense and precise analytics. The
role of this team expanded dramatically as Google faced a new question surrounding the
importance of managerial hierarchies and thesis that managers were irrelevant. The People
Analytics team utilized a variety of evidence-based management methods to guide the process of
exploring these ideas. In doing so, they learned that good managers were not only unharmful to
their employees, but that they also added tremendous value in things like productivity and
employee satisfaction.
Learning Objectives:
1.1: Define the concept of organizational behavior (OB).
1.2: List and give examples of the four sources of information used in evidence-based
management (EBM).
1.3: Define critical thinking and explain the critical thinking skills leaders need.
1.4: Discuss five types of outcome variables studied in OB.
1.5: Compare the levels of analysis in OB research.
1.6: Develop plans for using OB research to improve employee job performance.
, Student Resource
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Question & Answers
1. How does Google use EBM? Describe the type(s) of evidence Google used in their
research for Project Oxygen.
Ans: Google used EBM in a multitude of different ways. The most evident was its use of
Organizational values and stakeholders’ concerns. It facilitated the research into the importance
of managers due to the feedback from Googlers who hypothesized that managers were
unimportant. In conducting the research, the People Analytics team’s use of surveys highlighted
its use of the best available organizational evidence.
2. Develop a plan for a people analytics approach to addressing the problem of how to
improve the coaching behavior of managers. Be sure to describe the type of data you would
collect, note how you would analyze it, and how you would tell the story.
Ans: I don’t think there is a way to use scientific evidence or experimental evidence in
addressing the problem of how to improve the coaching behavior of managers. Hence, I believe
that we must continue to utilize surveys (organizational values and stakeholders concerns) while
also introducing a qualitative scorecard that is build according the results of the surveys. I would
collect the short answer responses of employees to see which kinds of coaching behaviors they
desired to see then convert those into a Boolean style format and observe managers in meetings
and mark which behaviors they exhibited most often and least often.
3. Recently, Google had encountered issues with employees not trusting the transparency of
upper management, and many Googlers have left
(https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/31/google-veterans-the-company-has-become-
unrecognizable.html). Explain how the people analytics team might address this issue.
Ans: The People Analytics team might address this issue by running a survey to first understand
the differences between the current state and what longer tenured Googlers became used to in the
past. Organizational Values and Stakeholder Concerns seem to have shifted, so first uncovering
what caused the shift is key. This can be done through a variety of surveys, in addition to
attrition analytics to compare against the responses of those surveys
Note:
In this guide, some suggested answers are provided. Most of these questions are there to make
students think and interrelate concepts from the current and previous chapters and, hopefully, to
generate a more integrated understanding of organizational behavior. However, some responses
will be a matter of opinion or are used to assess critical and creative thinking, and one's ability to
, Student Resource
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
justify one's decision. Thus, the answers for the case questions are not the only right answer and
so at times we don't provide an in-depth sample answer.
Case Notes
Chapter 2: Personality and Person–Environment Fit
Case 2.1: Whom Would You Hire?
Case Description
A manufacturing company received intense scrutiny after it was investigated and fined for violations of
improper chemical storage and waste disposal. To prevent further issues in the future with EPA, OHSA,
and other regulatory agencies, the company has decided to add a compliance department. You are
looking to hire several new members of the compliance department including a compliance manager.
The questions get students thinking about how personality characteristics and other individual
differences can help in making hiring decisions.
Learning Objectives:
2.1: Define personality and discuss the role of heredity.
2.2: Discuss the benefits and limitations of using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in
organizations.
2.3: List and explain the five factors in the Big Five theory of personality.
2.4: Compare and contrast the Type A and Type B behavior patterns.
2.5: Develop an example of a job that would benefit from risk-taking.
2.6: Summarize the elements of psychological capital.
2.7: Compare and contrast person–organization fit and person–job fit.
Question & Answers
1. Identify each candidate’s personality characteristics using the Big Five and the Myers–Briggs
typology.
Ans: Assessment of each of the two candidates’ personalities using the evidence-based Big Five
Personality Factors would most likely show the following:
, Student Resource
Scandura, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 3e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Song: Low-to-Moderate Openness to Experience, High Conscientiousness, Moderate
Extraversion, Low Agreeableness, and Low Neuroticism
Simmonnee: High Openness to Experience, Moderate Conscientiousness, Low-to-Moderate
Extraversion, High Agreeableness, and Low Neuroticism
Although the Myers–Briggs type indicator (MBTI) has not been validated for personnel selection, the
profiles for the two candidates would most likely be:
Song: ISTJ (Introversion, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging)
Simmonnee: IIFP (Introversion, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving)
Note: Since we did not actually use the assessment instruments to obtain the personality dimensions in
the case above, it would be important to engage the students in their thinking as to how they arrived at
the dimensions selected for each of the candidates.
2. Based on personality, is there a candidate that you think would fit the position better?
Ans: From looking at personality, defined as those enduring characteristics of a person that affects
action, thinking, and feeling, Aarya Song would fit the position of compliance manager better. In
reviewing the Big Five factors, Aarya’s (a) low-to-moderate score on openness to experience, (b) high
score on conscientiousness, and (c) low score on agreeableness contrast greatly with Francis
Simmonne’s (a) high score on openness to experience, (b) moderate score on conscientiousness, and (c)
high score on agreeableness. Aarya would be less likely to be open to difference ways of doing things
and new ideas (openness to experience), more likely to follow through on a set course of action
(conscientiousness), and less likely to be swayed by others (agreeableness). These are important
personality traits for a person who is the compliance manager. Francis tends to be the opposite on the
above-noted factors. Francis’ high scores on both openness to experience and agreeableness may lead
to actions in the role of compliance manager to accept solutions harmful to the organization such as in
the case of using “defeat device” software by Volkswagen to meet EPA standards for diesel engine
emissions.
From looking at the two candidates MBTI profiles, Aarya’s ISTJ profile is consistent with the Big Five
factors, and similarly, Francis’s IIFP profile is consistent with his Big Five factors as well. Aarya would be
more practical (sensing), logical (thinking), and quick to act (judging), whereas Francis would be more an
“idea” person (intuitive), emotional (feeling), and flexible to new ideas (perceiving). Aarya’s MBTI profile
would be helpful in developing future training and support for Aarya in the position of Compliance
Manager in case there were issues about Aarya being too rigid for the organizational culture, although
Aarya’s idea for building inter-organizational teams to ensure companywide compliance shows a degree
of self-monitoring and flexibility important for this position to ensure a good person–job fit.
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