Organizational Justice, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility

CHAPTER 1 • THE FIELD OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 27
dispersed—they are less vulnerable to attacks by human threats (e.g., terrorist strikes,
arsonists) and natural disasters (e.g., floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes). Preparing accordingly,
of course, requires some effort. For some useful guidelines in this regard, see the
How to Do It section on page 28.
Despite these benefits, as you might imagine, telecommuting is not for everyone; it also
has its limitations. 67 It works best on jobs that require concentration, have well-defined beginning
and end points, are easily portable, call for minimal amounts of special equipment, and can
be done with little supervision. 68 Fortunately, at least some aspects of most sales and professional
jobs meet these standards. Even so, making telecommuting work requires careful adjustments in
the way work is done. Also, many people just don’t have the kind of self-discipline needed to get
work done without direct supervision. To see if you and your associates have what it takes to
succeed at telecommuting, see the Group Exercise at the end of this chapter.
OB Is Responsive to People’s Changing Expectations
OB scientists do not work in a vacuum. Instead, they are highly responsive to people’s
changing expectations with respect to various aspects of work. This is the case with respect
to three particular areas of concern to the field of OB: (1) employees’ and employers’
desire for engagement, (2) the flexibility employees expect from employers, and (3) the
pressure to produce high-quality goods and services. We now discuss each of these forces
and their impact on modern OB.
engagement
A mutual commitment between
employers and employees to do
things to help one another achieve
each other’s goals and aspirations.
Employees and Employers Desire Engagement
When referring to people who are preparing to wed, we say that they are “engaged.”
Typically, such individuals believe in each other, they want to share a bright future
together, they are respectful to each other, and they are willing to do what it takes to ensure
the other’s happiness and success. We also use the term engagement to refer to employers
and employees who share similar commitments to one another.
In the field of OB the term engagement refers to a mutual commitment between
employers and employees to do things to help one another achieve goals and aspirations. 69
Thus, engagement is a two-way process. Typically, it works like this: Organizations take
steps to engage their employees, and employees, in turn, respond by engaging their organizations.
This takes several forms, such as the following:
High levels of pride in the organization
Pride in the organizations’ products and services
Belief that the organization helps employees do their best
Willingness to help others on the job
Understanding “the big picture” and being willing to go beyond formal job requirements
when necessary
Because engagement begins with employers, it’s important to note what organizations
can do to get the ball rolling. Organizations can do several specific things to promote feelings
of engagement in their employees. Not surprisingly, these are practices that we will be
describing (and recommending) in various places throughout this book. The four key drivers
of engagement are as follows:
Involving employees in making decisions (see Chapter 10)
Giving employees opportunities to express their ideas and opinions (see Chapter 2)
Providing opportunities for employees to develop their jobs (see Chapter 5)
Showing concern for employees’ well-being as individuals (see Chapter 7)
Considering this, we may ask, are today’s employees are engaged in their jobs? An extensive
survey by the Gallup Organization revealed three groups of employees. 70 Only 31 percent
truly were engaged. These individuals worked with passion and felt deep connections to their
companies, helping move their companies forward. The majority, however, some 52 percent,
were classified as not engaged. These people “checked out” of their jobs and went through the