Organizational Behavior

1. Identify seven people-centered practices that are strongly associated with higher profits and lower employee turnover and explain the affect of each when properly implemented. 

They are job security, careful hiring, power to the people, generous pay for performance, less emphasis on status, less emphasis on status, trust building. Job security entails creating a fear free culture where employees do not fear being laid off. Careful hiring entails instilling vigilance in the human resource department such that they hire people who are qualified both professionally and academically to certain job positions. Power to the people involves bestowing freedom by ensuring that the woes of the employees are addressed. Generous pay for performance is remunerating employees on the basis of their performance. Training entails having the human resource department engage in extensive efforts to develop their employees’ skills using seminars, workshops, internal and external experts. Less emphasis on status entails building a ‘we feeling’ in the company such that all the employees identify with each other by virtue of their loyalty to the company and each other. Trust building is sharing of critical information within the company to boost confidence in each other and the company.

2. What is the difference between e-commerce and e-business? Describe the E-business implications for organizational behavior. 

            E-commerce is buying and selling of goods over the internet is the use of internet to facilitate the use of every aspect of a business with the inclusion of management of viral teams. The transition of e-commerce to e-business happened in the period between 2002 and 2010. Use of internet for e-commerce evolved to facilitating business through the mobile internet revolution an aspect that became clear by 2010.

3. Define human capital. Describe the qualities and characteristics of individual human capital. 

 Human potential is the productive potential of a person’s knowledge and deeds. The word ‘potential’ is used imperatively. An employee that is equipped with skills and knowledge holds human capital that can potentially give competitive advantage to a company. The importance of companies understanding about human is that most companies do not understand how to obtain or optimize the human potential the already have in place. It remains the most critical challenge for many companies in this decade. Intel is an example of a company bent on optimizing human capital. Having invested $100 million in engineering schools around the United States, the company hopes to build a human capital of engineers. Employees’ individual characteristics of human capital are talents, knowledge, skills, experience, abilities, training, intelligence, wisdom and judgment, possessed.  

4. Identify and explain actions that can be taken to improve on-the-job ethics and an organization’s ethical climate. 

Firstly, screening potential employees ensures they have a sense of moral code. Next is encouraging personal ethical behavior amongst the employees in the organization.  Then the organization develops a meaningful code of conduct for employees. Then ethical behaviours are instilled in the employees to ensure that they adhere to laid down ethical policies. The organization may then adopt the environment that encourages whistle blowing among all the internal stake holders. Also, the organization can come up with units, positions as and other methods that uphold ethics motivation and perception. 

5. Describe some initiatives that can help to keep older workers engaged and committed to working. 

            They can do this by giving them challenging work assignments to stretch their creativity and keep them alert. The older workers may also be given considerable sovereignty and autonomy in completing assignments.  They can be provided equal access to training and new technological learning opportunities. Also they can be recognized for the experience they have acquired over the years. The company can provide the older with opportunities to mentor the younger employees periodically say annually. Also, the organization may mobilize units that ensure that the older workers are kept abreast with sensitive information that is of high quality. Finally, to keep the older workers highly motivated the company may design a work a work environment that is both stimulating and fun.   

6. Briefly describe the common barriers to implementing successful diversity programs.

Firstly, inaccurate prejudices and stereotypes that manifest where differences are perceived as weaknesses.  Secondly there is ethnocentrism which manifests itself in some employees feeling that their cultures and norms are superior than those of employees belonging to other cultures. Thirdly, having a poor career planning which is observed when the employees from certain cultures have severe lack of opportunities. Fourthly, is negative diversity climate whereby the employees generally perception about the organization is that it is unfair to employees from certain cultures.  Positive diversity climate encourages positive diversity in organizations. Next, is unsupportive or diversity hostile environment characterized by any form of harassment toward a certain culture or clique. Finally, diverse employees may lack political savvy such that they do not get ahead in organizations.