Many factors influence an individual’s behavior. In both personal and business settings understanding these factors improve an individuals or groups ability to function. Managers using this understanding of individual behavior have better results at influencing workplace behavior. Ethnicity Ethnicity refers to selected cultural and sometimes physical characteristics used to classify people into groups or categories considered to be significantly different from others (O’Neil, 2007). Individuals must understand how to differentiate between ethnicity and race.
Schermerhorn et al (2005), define organizational behavior (OB) as “the study of human behavior in organizations” (p. 3). OB uses scientific methods to test hypotheses. OB is also a multi-disciplinary study, taking knowledge from social and behavioral sciences and applying it to real-world situations. Why is organizational behavior important to study? If people are an organizations most important asset then understanding how humans behave in organizations will improve productivity. Understanding OB allows better worker relations, more realistic expectations and improves job satisfaction.
Teams have existed in some form for as long as humankind and many books and articles have been written about how teams work. Most people have been on teams with mixed results. Teams can have a tremendous impact on an organizations performance, yet many organizations do not exploit them fully. Understanding teams is a crucial skill for managers to fully exploit the use of teams in their organization. Why Build a Team?
Economics is a new science and according to Heilbroner (1999) the first economist was Adam Smith who lived in the late eighteenth century. Economics is also called the “dismal” science, a phrase coined by Thomas Carlyle in reaction to the pessimistic predictions of another economist, Malthus (Dixon, n.d.). The phrase is also appropriate due to most economists being absolute pragmatists and never promising anything except every advantage having an associated disadvantage.
Supply and demand are probably the most recognized economics related words. Even though they are commonly used, the true definition is probably a little different from what most people think. Demand should not be confused with want. People want many things, but if they are not willing to pay for them, no demand exists. Similarly, supply deals with salable or usable goods, and all other factors being equal, as demand increases, the price goes up.
Creative intelligence is simply how an individual perceives the world around them (Rowe, 2004). Rowe (2004) continues to point out that any act which is new and has a useful outcome can be considered as using creative intelligence . This opens the door for many different types of creativity and allows for all individuals to be creative. While certain individuals are more certainly more creative than others everyone has the potential for creativity, and no one falls into only one of the following four styles; all individuals have a somewhat unique combination of all four.
Case Study - XYZ Enterprises Many factors go into entity selection and XYZ Enterprises has a few unique issues related to its business type. The main value in XYZ Enterprises is its copyrights. Copyrights are protected, in the United States, for 70 years after the death of the last surviving author (United States Copyright Office, 2006). This applies to any works created after December 31, 1977. If XYZ bought rights to any material created before January 1, 1978, the period would be shorter but still long enough to outlive most authors.
Even though not always seen as fair, alternative dispute resolution can save litigants money. Because of the money saving potential Cheeseman notes, “approximately 90% of all lawsuits are settled prior to trial” (2004, p. 4). Another consideration when deciding whether or not to go to trial is the potential financial return from any litigation. Court costs may be higher than any monetary award, and may damage the good-will or reputation of the organization.
When entering a business negotiation you must be prepared. This is an introductory business negotiation case study that focuses on Juwan Howard and is based on publicly available information. This case study discusses the benefits, both tangible and intangible, and costs as they appear to relate to each party. As stated in the conclusion, some of this is speculation since I was not privy to anything but public information. Background Juwan Howard, a star forward for the Washington Capitals basketball team, was in the second year of an eleven year contract.
For many years politicians have been complaining about the perceived over-paying of management in public companies. Everyone has heard about the huge golden handshakes given departing executives upon leaving companies they have destroyed. John McCain has stated “all aspects of a CEO’s pay, including any severance arrangements must be approved by shareholders” (Mason, 2008). An article in The Economist (2008) argues though that although managers pay has gone up faster than workers pay, managers pay is by and large based on financial returns.