Organizational Behavior Essay Example for Free

Organizational Behavior Essay 1. Does this case prove economic downturns and company layoffs fail to lead to workplace malfeasance? Why or why not? This case proves economic downturns and company layoffs lead to workplace malfeasance. According to dictionary.com malfeasance is the performance by a public official of an act that is legally unjustified, harmful, or contrary to law. It is also defined as wrongdoing (used especially of an act in violation of a public trust. According to the case incident â€Å"These companies often produce press releases, which then work their way into the media and presumably generate potential clients for the organizations† (Robbins Judge, 2010, pg. 35). This statement has led me to believe that companies use press releases to make their situation seem worse than it actually is in order to gain clients for their organization. 2. Does the case prove we can learn nothing from the business press? The case proves that we can learn something from the business press however we should not believe everything we read. According to the case, â€Å"MSN Money, under the headline â€Å"Businesses See Rise in Employee Theft,† reported the poll results as follows: â€Å"When asked if they had noticed a recent rise in monetary theft among employees, such as fraudulent transactions or missing cash, 18% said yes, 41% were unsure and the rest said they hadn’t† (Robbins Judge, 2010, pg. 35). However, put a different way 18% agreed that theft was up and 82% either disagreed or weren’t sure. Based on MSN Money’s report it sounds like theft really has increased however if you look at it another way most companies said they haven’t seen an increase or they just haven’t noticed a rise in theft. 3. Does this chapter provide any clues for how you can be an informed consumer of business news on OB issues? In some way’s this chapter provides clues for how you can be an informed consumer of business news on OB issues because it explains how managers stay informed. According to the text, â€Å"All managers, to some degree, collect information from outside organizations and institutions, typically by scanning the news media (including the internet) and talking with other people to learn of changes in the public’s tastes, what competitors may be planning, and the like† (Robbins Judge, 2010, pg. 6). 4. Some companies install surveillance equipment (cameras, computer software) to monitor their employees. Valenti Management, which owns and runs 117 Wendy’s and 17 Chili’s restaurants, has installed fingerprint scanners on all its cash registers. Do you think these measures infringe too much on individual privacy? Can a company take prevention too far? How do you strike a balance between prevention and intrusion? When you become an employee of a company you have in essence agreed to the monitoring that is taking place. Although fingerprint scanners on all cash registers sounds like pretty extreme measure it is a way for the company to be sure that the employee that is supposed to be working the register is actually the one working the register. If the company uses a clock in number such as the four digits of an employee’s social security number another employee could use that number, take money from the register and then the blame would go on the wrong person. I do believe a company can take prevention to far however, I don’t believe Valenti Management has done so in this case. Striking a balance between prevention and intrusion can be very difficult however I do believe it is possible, before a company implements a new prevention measure it should determine whether the measure is absolutely necessary to prevent employee theft.