Approaches to Organizational Behaviour Quiz

Answer: Frederick Taylor

Abraham Maslow and Carl Jung are both psychologists (Maslow contributed some valuable theories to a later stage of management studies), and Henry Mintzberg is a Canadian scholar of organization design. Frederick Taylor wrote the book "Principles of Scientific Management", and is considered the key player in the development of scientific management.

Answer: Adam Smith

Adam Smith had some valuable insights for scientific management enthusiasts in "The Wealth of Nations". In this book, Smith lays the foundations for job specialization, a key factor in efficient scientific management, which focuses on maximizing worker productivity. Smith uses the example of pin-making.

He explains that instead of each worker in a pin factory performing each assembly task himself (e.g. cutting the wire for the pin, shaping it, etc.), productivity can be increased if the tasks are divided up, with one worker cutting all the wire for all the pins, and the next worker shaping all the pins.

This was the foundation for the modern assembly line, and it dramatically improved productivity in most organizations when put into practice by scientific managers.

Answer: To group and structure organizations favorably

Max Weber developed a bureaucratic structure during this time that he believed would work for all types of organizations. Modern students of organizational behaviour understand that there is never one "best" way of doing things that will work in every single organization all over the world!

Answer: The Hawthorne Studies

The Hawthorne Studies, which took place in Chicago, helped management researchers to realize that wages or financial incentives were not necessarily the most important motivating factor for employees. An employee may be receiving a huge salary from a company, but still hate the job because he or she does not like the work, or has problems relating to the boss or coworkers.
These studies led to a complete turnaround in the focus of organizational behaviour research. Researchers began to focus on employee satisfaction, instead of just the success of the organization.

Answer: Abraham Maslow

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs is very famous. He identified five levels of needs that he believed people needed to have satisfied in order to be content and well-adjusted individuals. Once the first level of needs was met, the person would focus on having the next level of needs met. Maslow believed that this hierarchy of needs would enable employers to motivate their employees with more understanding.

Answer: Veterinary medicine

Studying politics enables managers to understand power and political behaviour that occurs in organizations. Anthropology, the study of cultures, assists managers who want to structure their organization effectively, as well as improve organizational culture. Psychology helps managers to understand employees' individual differences, characteristics, and needs. Veterinary medicine, however, does not focus on insights into the behaviour of people or organizations.

Answer: All of these

While organizations following contemporary organizational behaviour primarily focus on how the organization is structured and fits together harmoniously, competition and efficiency are also extremely important to organizations as well, making all aspects of the systems theory crucial.

Answer: Identifying a question or problem that needs to be solved

The first step in the scientific research process is identifying a problem or question that needs to be solved--otherwise, your research won't really have a focus. After doing a literature review to see what other researchers have written about your problem or question, you can develop a hypothesis.

Answer: All of these

A field survey usually takes the form of a questionnaire or survey that is distributed among a random sampling of the population. During a laboratory experiment, the researcher simulates a real-life situation that he or she wants to study, but has the advantage of being able to maniuplate most of the variables involved in the experiment.

A field experiment is similar to a laboratory experiment, except that it occurs in real-life, instead of just being simulated. The researcher has little to no control over the outcome and conduct of this type of experiment.

Answer: Around 1900

Although management in some form or another has been around as long as people have, people never felt the need to research management because they assumed business people already knew everything there was to know about it. However, the early 1900s, beginning with the scientific management era, was when researchers began to turn their attention to the practice of management.
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