PART 1:

REVIEW QUESTIONS SECTION:

 What is organizational behavior (OB)? 
 What do managers do in terms of functions, roles, and skills? What are the challenges
and opportunities for managers in using OB concepts? 
 What are the major job attitudes? In what ways are these attitudes alike? What is unique
about each?
 What causes job dissatisfaction? For most people, is pay or the work itself more
important?
 What outcomes does job satisfaction influence? What implications does this have for
management?
 What is the difference between emotions and moods? What are the types of basic
emotions and moods? 
 Are emotions rational? What functions do they serve? 
 What is affective events theory (AIT)? What are its applications? 
 What is emotional intelligence? Is it useful at workplace?  

Contd. For Part 2:

PART 2:
 CASE INCIDENT 1: Is It Okay to Cry at Work?
As this chapter has shown, emotions are an inevitable part of people’s behavior at work. At the
same time, it’s not entirely clear that we’ve reached a point where people feel comfortable
expressing all emotions at work. The reason might be that business culture and etiquette remain
poorly suited to handling overt emotional displays. The question is, can organizations become
more intelligent about emotional management? Is it ever appropriate to yell, laugh, or cry at
work? Some people are skeptical about the virtues of more emotional displays at the workplace.
As the chapter notes, emotions are automatic physiological responses to the environment, and as
such, they can be difficult to control appropriately. One 22-year-old customer service
representative named Laura who was the subject of a case study noted that fear and anger were
routinely used as methods to control employees, and employees deeply resented this use of
emotions to manipulate them. In another case, the chairman of a major television network made
a practice of screaming at employees whenever anything went wrong, leading to badly hurt
feelings and a lack of loyalty to the organization. Like Laura, workers at this organization were
hesitant to show their true reactions to these emotional outbursts for fear of being branded as
“weak” or “ineffectual.” It might seem like these individuals worked in heavily emotional
workplaces, but in fact, only a narrow range of emotions was deemed acceptable. Anger appears
to be more acceptable than sadness in many organizations, and anger can have serious
maladaptive consequences. Others believe organizations that recognize and work with emotions
effectively are more creative, satisfying, and productive. For example, Laura noted that if she
could express her hurt feelings without fear, she would be much more satisfied with her work. In
other words, the problem with Laura’s organization is not that emotions are displayed, but that
emotional displays are handled poorly. Others note that use of emotional knowledge, like being
able to read and understand the reactions of others, is crucial for workers ranging from
salespeople and customer service agents all the way to managers and executives. One survey
even found that 88 percent of workers feel being sensitive to the emotions of others is an asset.
Management consultant Erika Anderson notes, “Crying at work is transformative and can open
the door to change.” The question then is, can organizations take specific steps to become better
at allowing emotional displays without opening a Pandora’s Box of outbursts? 
Questions 
1. What factors do you think make some organizations ineffective at managing emotions? 
2. Do you think the strategic use and display of emotions serve to protect employees, or does
covering your true emotions at work lead to more problems than it solves? 
3. Have you ever worked where emotions were used as part of a management style? Describe the
advantages and disadvantages of this approach in your experience. 
 CASE INCIDENT 2: Long Hours, Hundreds of E-Mails, and No Sleep: Does This Sound
Like a Satisfying Job?
In the 1970s, futurists were predicting that increases in technology would dramatically shorten
the workweek for most people. But in the wired work world of today, where employees can
reach “the office” from wherever they are, many managers are finding it extremely difficult to
get away from their jobs. In fact, one employment firm estimated that 30 percent of professionals
take less than their allotted vacation time, and 42 percent said they have to cancel vacation plans
regularly. Consider a few examples: 
● Gian Paolo Lombardo might work for a firm that manufactures luggage for luxury travel, but
he’s had precious little time for vacationing himself. During his last “faux-cation” 3 years ago,
he spent most of the time in his hotel room in the resort town of Carmel, California, with his
BlackBerry, while his wife Ellen chatted with other guests, hoping he’d finally finish with work.
Ellen notes that no meal or movie goes by without her husband being hunched over his
smartphone. She says, “I think he needs to go into rehab.” He agrees. 
● Irene Tse heads the government bond-trading division at Goldman Sachs. For 10 years, she has
seen the stock market go from all-time highs to recession levels. Such fluctuations can mean
millions of dollars in either profits or losses. “There are days when you can make a lot, and other
days where you lose so much you’re just stunned by what you’ve done,” says Tse. She says she
hasn’t slept through the night in years and often wakes up several times to check the global
market status. Her average workweek? Eighty hours. “I’ve done this for 10 years, and I can
count on the fingers of one hand the number of days in my career when I didn’t want to come to
work. Every day I wake up and I can’t wait to get here.” 
● Tony Kurz is a managing director at Capital Alliance Partners, and he raises funds for real
estate investments. However, these are not your average properties. Kurz often flies to exotic
locations such as Costa Rica and Hawaii to woo prospective clients. He travels more than
300,000 miles per year, often sleeping on planes and coping with jet lag. Kurz is not the only one
he knows with such a hectic work schedule. His girlfriend, Avery Baker, logs around 400,000
miles a year as the senior vice president of marketing for Tommy Hilfiger. “It’s not easy to
maintain a relationship like this,” says Kurz. But do Kurz and Baker like their jobs? You bet. 
● David Clark is the vice president of global marketing for MTV. His job often consists of
traveling around the globe to promote the channel as well as to keep up with the global music
scene. If he is not traveling (Clark typically logs 200,000 miles a year), a typical day consists of
waking at 6:30 a.m. and immediately responding to numerous messages that have accumulated
over the course of the night. He then goes to Case Incident 2 91 his office, where throughout the
day he responds to another 500 or so messages from clients around the world. If he’s lucky, he
gets to spend an hour a day with his son, but then it’s back to work until he finally goes to bed
around midnight. Says Clark, “There are plenty of people who would love to have this job.
They’re knocking on the door all the time. So that’s motivating.” Many individuals would balk at
the prospect of a 60-hour or more workweek with constant traveling and little time for anything
else. Some individuals are exhilarated by it. But the demands of such jobs are clearly not for
everyone. Many quit, with turnover levels at 55 percent for consultants and 30 percent for
investment bankers, according to Vault.com . However, clearly such jobs, while time-consuming
and often stressful, can be satisfying to some individuals.
 Questions 
1. Do you think only certain individuals are attracted to these types of jobs, or is it the
characteristics of the jobs themselves that are satisfying? 
2. What characteristics of these jobs might contribute to increased levels of job satisfaction? 
3. Given that the four individuals we just read about tend to be satisfied with their jobs, how
might this satisfaction relate to their job performance, citizenship behavior, and turnover? 
4. Recall David Clark’s statement that “There are plenty of people who would love to have this
job. They’re knocking on the door all the time.” How might Clark’s perceptions that he has a job
many others desire contributes to his job satisfaction?