Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed

Chapter 9: Basic Elements of Individual Behavior in Organizations

2 8 1

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future revenues are to be gained from new products. This clearly communicates that

creativity and innovation are valued. Best Buy recently picked four groups of salespeople

in their twenties and early thirties and asked them to spend ten weeks living together in a

Los Angeles apartment complex (with expenses paid by the company and still earning

their normal pay). Their job was to sit around and brainstorm new business ideas that

could be rolled out quickly and cheaply.

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Another important part of enhancing creativity is to reward creative successes, while

being careful not to punish creative failures. Many ideas that seem worthwhile on paper

fail to pan out in reality. If the first person to come up with an idea that fails is fired or

otherwise punished, others in the organization will become more cautious in their own

work. And, as a result, fewer creative ideas will emerge.

TYPES OF WORKPLACE BEHAVIOR

Now that we have looked closely at how individual differences can influence behavior

in organizations, let’s turn our attention to what we mean by workplace behavior.