THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Agenda
 What is Organizational Behavior (OB)?
 Introductions
 Syllabus Review
 Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in Organizations

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 What is
Organizational Behavior?

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

What is Organizational Behavior?
• “OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure
have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge
toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.” (Robbins & Judge, 2024)

• My interpretation:
• OB is the study of people in the workplace, their interactions and impacts on each other
and on their organizations.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Why We Should Study OB?
“The business of business is people.”
(Herb Kelleher, Founder of Southwest Airlines)

 “The people make the place.”

 “Good places to work” have better financial performance.
 Better interpersonal skills result in lower turnover of quality employees and
higher quality applications for recruitment.
 There is a strong association between the quality of workplace relationships and
job satisfaction, stress, and turnover.
 A study of managers who failed at AT&T revealed that more than 95% of the
failures were due to poor people skills.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Why We Should Study OB:
Managerial activities of managers

Source: Based on F. Luthans, R. M. Hodgetts, and S. A. Rosenkrantz, Real Managers

(Cambridge, MA: Ballinger, 1988).

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Why We Should Study OB: Employability skills

 Critical thinking and creativity

 Communication
 Collaboration
 Self-management
 Leadership
 Career management

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Major
Behavioral
Science
Disciplines That
Contribute to OB

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

What We Will Study in This Course

The Plan of the Text

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Syllabus Review: Key Course Policies
 Class attendance is required. You are only allowed to miss a maximum of 20% of class
hours.
 No electronic devices (i.e., computer, tablet, or phone) are allowed in class, even for
taking notes. I will post slides on Canvas, usually after class, to facilitate notetaking
and to avoid having you write down what is on the slides.
 Students are expected to have completed the assigned readings thoroughly before the
class on the day indicated in the schedule at the end of the syllabus. Lectures will
supplement, rather than repeat, information from the textbook and other readings.
 Students are expected to know the key points from all the course materials for class
assignments and exams.
 You must cite the source every time you incorporate research, words, ideas, data, or
information that is not your own.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Syllabus Review: Graded Activities

Individual Work
Class Participation 15
Case Memos 15
Teamwork Analysis 5
Mid-Term Exam 25
Final Exam 25
Teamwork
Team Presentation 15

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Graded Activities: Class Participation (15 pts)
You’ll get points for doing these You’ll lose points if you don’t do these

 Be prepared  Be engaged
 Be brave  Be here on time
 Be courteous

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Graded Activities: Class Participation (15 pts)
 You cannot participate if you don’t come to class, so your attendance is
associated with your participation grade.
 You will have two (2) “no-questions-asked” grace days during which your
absences will not affect your participation grade.
 Beyond these 2 grace absences, you will lose 1 point from your participation
grade for each additional absence.
 Since you already have two grace days to use in case of emergencies, each time
you arrive late or leave early, it counts as an absence.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Graded Activities: Case Memos (15 pts)

 Make sure that you submit your memo by the beginning of the class on the day the
case will be discussed.
 The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to generate answers for case memos is strictly
prohibited and considered cheating.
 You may use AI for language-related purposes—such as enhancing your
understanding of the text or checking grammar, but you must disclose its use in
your submission.
 Submit an Acknowledgement Statement and Honor Code for AI Use along with
your assignment.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Graded Activities: Exams (50 pts)

These exams will cover information from course lectures, class activities, assigned
readings, and case studies. They are 'closed-book' and 'closed-everything.'

Day 8 April 8 (10:30am – 12:00pm): Team presentation check-in

(April 8
& 12) April 12 (10:30am – 12:00pm): MIDTERM

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Graded Activities: Team Presentation (15 pts)
 Each team will provide consultation to an organization that is experiencing a
problem with organizational behavior. Your team's objective is to design
effective solutions to the company's problems using OB concepts.
 Four to five member teams will be determined by self-selection.
 Each team will conduct a 15–20-minute presentation during one of the last two
classes of the course.
 Submit an Acknowledgement Statement and Honor Code for AI Use along with
your assignment.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Graded Activities: Teamwork Analysis
(5 pts)

 This assignment aims to help you reflect on the process of your team project,
regardless of its outcome. It also allows you to practice providing feedback to
yourself and others.
 Be constructive and civil when providing feedback.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Acknowledgement
Statement and Honor
Code for AI Use

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Diversity in Organizations

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 What is diversity?

Harrison, D. A., & Klein, K. J. (2007). What's the

difference? Diversity constructs as separation,
variety, or disparity in organizations. Academy
of management review, 32(4), 1199-1228.
THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
Levels of Diversity
Surface-level diversity
 Gender
 Age
 Race
 Ethnicity

Deep-level diversity
 Values
 Personality
 Work preferences

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Diverse Teams are Smarter?

• They focus more on facts.

• They process those facts more carefully.
• They tend to be more innovative.

https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-
smarter?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=LinkedIn&tpcc=orgsocial_edit

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Does more diversity lead to higher
firm profitability?

MIXED FINDINGS!

Adding diversity will not automatically increase profitability.

Reaping the benefits of a diverse group takes forethought & effort.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Different backgrounds and opinions lead to
better decisions, but getting there isn’t easy.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979)

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Identity
 Identity is a subjective claim about
oneself
 Identities are the answer to the
question, “Who am I?”
 People can define themselves based
on a number of different social roles
and categories, and work-related
roles and groups
 Social Identity: Groups are based
on the physical, social, and mental
characteristics of individuals.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
 Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979)

Social categorization Social identification Social comparison

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Social Identity Theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1979)
In-Group and Out-Group Biases

Examples of in-group and out-group biases

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_MqKZxQjMI&list=LL&index=4&ab_chan
nel=PracticalPsychology
In-group bias in babies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=851_21Euh6c&list=LL&index=3&ab_chann
el=ProfessorRoss

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Social Identity & Discrimination

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

• NY Times Headline:
“There Are Fewer Women in Leadership Positions Than
There Are Men Named John.”

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

• Bloomberg Headline:
“Work Shift: Women CEOs (Finally) Outnumber Those
Named John.”

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

• Bloomberg Headline:
“Work Shift: Women CEOs (Finally) Outnumber Those
Named John.”

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Social Identity & Discrimination

How many women are often

included on an S&P 1500
corporate board?

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Social Identity & Discrimination

Tokenism
“The practice of doing something
(such as hiring a person who
belongs to a minority group) only
to prevent criticism and give the
appearance that people are being
treated fairly.”
-Merriam Webster

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Social Identity & Discrimination

TWOKENISM
Top U.S. firms’ boards tend to have
exactly two women.

Chang, E. H., Milkman, K. L., Chugh, D., & Akinola, M. (2019). Diversity thresholds: How social norms, visibility, and
scrutiny relate to group composition. Academy of Management Journal, 62(1), 144-171.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Social Identity & Discrimination

Have you ever heard of the

“Queen Bee Syndrome”?

Duguid, M. (2011). Female tokens in high-prestige work groups: Catalysts or inhibitors of group
diversification?. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 116(1), 104-115.
THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
 Social Identity & Discrimination
Asian Americans make up 6% of the US population and
account for 12% of professional workers. Yet only 4.4% of
directors at Fortune 1000 companies are Asian.

Asian Americans are the most likely racial group to be hired

for tech jobs, yet they’re least likely to be promoted into
Bamboo Ceiling
management and executive roles in Silicon Valley.
Effect
Similarly, 11% of associates at American law firms are Asian,
yet only 3% of partners identify as Asian.

Why are Asian Americans the least likely racial

group to be promoted from lower-level professional
roles into management positions?
THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
 Social Identity & Discrimination

Which of the following people do

you think is the most creative?

• Zhang Wei
• John Wei
• John Webb

Lee, W. “The Creativity Ceiling: Stereotypes and the Underrepresentation of East Asian Americans in Corporate Leadership.”

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Social Identity & Implicit Bias

Implicit bias is an unconscious, unintentional bias.

Unlike explicit bias, which an individual is conscious and knowledgeable of,
implicit bias exists when an individual does not have direct control or
understanding of their perceptions and motivations.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Social Identity & Implicit Bias
A father and son were involved in a car accident in which the father was killed, and
the son was seriously injured. The father was pronounced dead at the scene of the
accident and his body was taken to a local morgue. The son was taken by
ambulance to a nearby hospital and was immediately wheeled into an emergency
operating room. A surgeon was called. Upon arrival and seeing the patient, the
attending surgeon exclaimed “Oh my God, it’s my son!”

Can you explain this?

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Did you know that…?
Less than 15% of American men are over six foot
(183 cm) tall, yet almost 60% of corporate CEOs are
over six foot (183 cm) tall.

Less than 4% of American men are over six foot, two

inches (188 cm) tall, yet more than 36% of corporate
CEOs are over six foot, two inches (188 cm) tall.

An inch (2.54 cm) of height can be worth approx.

$789 per year in salary.

Gladwell (2005). Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.

Judge & Cable (2004). Journal of Applied Psychology.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

“Having bias doesn’t make you a bad person—
it just makes you human.
The trick is to surface your biases so you can
confront them and counter them.”

Verna Myers—VP of Inclusion Strategy, Netflix

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

 Intersectionality

• https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectiona
lity?subtitle=en&trigger=30s

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

What is Intersectionality?

“Intersectionality is a metaphor for understanding the

ways that multiple forms of inequality or disadvantage
sometimes compound themselves and create obstacles
that often are not understood among conventional
ways of thinking.”

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

What is Intersectionality?

Multiple identities often intersect, yet this

is different from the concept of
intersectionality.
• Being a white woman = intersecting
identities, but does not equal
intersectionality because white =
privileged position.
• Being a white woman = one subordinate
identity.
• Being a middle-aged woman =
intersectionality.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Intersectionality
Violence against Asian women is a result of
intersectionality it doesn’t stem from them
being Asian and women, it stems from them
being Asian women.
Common biases:
 Exotic — being exoticized and objectified.
 Not a leader — incapable of being or becoming leaders.
 Submissive —submissive/passive/quiet, expected to be agreeable, not speak up or
stand up for themselves, controllable.
 Cute and small
 Invisible — ignored in some way, or lacked voice, agency or power.
 Service worker — Working at a low-level gendered job, such as being a maid or
working in a nail salon.
https://www.apa.org/pubs/highlights/spotlight/issue-119
THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
Intersectionality

https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/08/asian-american-women-face-a-glass-ceiling-and-a-bamboo-ceiling-at-work.html
THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
 AI Bias
• Time and again, we’ve seen AI not only reflect biases from the data it’s
built upon – but automate and magnify them.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

• Fact: Women accounted for less than a quarter of technical roles.
• Amazon’s automated recruitment system thought male applicants were consciously
preferred and penalized resumes from female applicants with a lower rating.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-jobs-automation-insight-idUSKCN1MK08G/

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

• Bloomberg used Stable Diffusion to generate thousands of images related to jobs.
• They prompted the text-to-image model to create representations of workers for 14 jobs —
300 images each for seven jobs that are typically considered “high-paying” in the US and
seven that are considered “low-paying”.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-generative-ai-bias/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=linkedin-
newsletter&utm_content=tech-ai

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2023-generative-ai-bias/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_campaign=linkedin-
newsletter&utm_content=tech-ai
THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.
The world according to Stable Diffusion is run by
White male CEOs. Women are rarely doctors,
lawyers or judges. Men with dark skin commit
crimes, while women with dark skin flip burgers.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.

Next Week:
Job Attitudes, Personality, & Individual Differences

Due:
• Textbook: Job attitudes (Chapter 3); Personality & individual differences (Chapter 4)
• Complete Big Five personality test: https://bigfive-test.com/
• Bring your Big Five scores to class.

THAO NGUYEN, PH.D.