BUS603: Managing People

As teachers we have heard this question many times. The answer, as you might have guessed, is no ­– OB is not just common sense. As we noted earlier, OB is the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work. Systematic is an important word in this definition. It is easy to think we understand something if it makes sense, but research on decision making shows that this can easily lead to faulty conclusions because our memories fail us. We tend to notice certain things and ignore others, and the specific manner in which information is framed can affect the choices we make. Therefore, it is important to rule out alternative explanations one by one rather than to assume we know about human behavior just because we are humans! Go ahead and take the following quiz and see how many of the 10 questions you get right. If you miss a few, you will see that OB isn't just common sense. If you get them all right, you are way ahead of the game!

Putting Common Sense to the Test

Please answer the following 10 questions by noting whether you believe the sentence is true or false.

1. Brainstorming in a group is more effective than brainstorming alone. 
2. The first 5 minutes of a negotiation are just a warm-up to the actual negotiation and don't matter much. 
3. The best way to help someone reach their goals is to tell them to do their best. 
4. If you pay someone to do a task they routinely enjoy, they'll do it even more often in the future. 
5. Pay is a major determinant of how hard someone will work. 
6. If a person fails the first time, they try harder the next time. 
7. People perform better if goals are easier. 
8. Most people within organizations make effective decisions.
9. Positive people are more likely to withdraw from their jobs when they are dissatisfied. 
10. Teams with one smart person outperform teams in which everyone is average in intelligence.