Exploring OB Topics on the World Wide Web
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A.
Now you have arrived at
www.geocities.com/jwasia2001. Explore the site and by next week you should
have time to evaluate the site and write out a one page paper of 1. what you
like about the site and 2 your constructive comments as to how to improve the
site. Next, please follow the directions below:
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Using the World Wide Web (WWW) to locate information can be a useful tool to
the student (or manager) interested in exploring topics in OB. Search
Engines are our navigational tool to explore the WWW. Some commonly used
search engines are:
www.excite.com www.google.com
www.yahoo.com
www.lycos.com
www.hotbot.com
www.looksmart.com
For
this first exercise, go to
www.searchenginewatch.com to learn more about what Search Engines and
Metacrawlers do and how they differ. Once you are on the searchenginewatch home
page, click on Search Engine Listings then on Major Search
Engines. This page presents an overview of the major engines and how best
to use them. Do not forget to look at other topics on this web site that are
interesting to you.
Now perform a search on
“Organizational Behavior” using three different search engines. Do the results
differ or are they the same? If they differ, why do you think they are
different? Write a paragraph or two answering these questions based on what you
learned from researching Search Engines. Also, include another paragraph
providing examples and/or reasons of when you would use choose one Search Engine
over another.
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The text tells us that OB replaces intuition with systematic study. Where
do scholars prepare for a career researching OB topics? Additionally, what
if you decide at some point to pursue graduate study in OB. Where would you
go? Perform a search to identify two-to-three graduate programs in OB and
print out the home page with the descriptions of these programs and bring
them to class. Note that different schools have programs in different
departments and disciplines which shows the diversity thinking about OB in
these programs. If you need ideas as where to start, try:
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Harvard—http://www-hugsas.harvard.edu/webfiles/admis/socsci/orgbeh.htm
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Official web site of the Organizational Behavior Division of the Academy of
Management—http://www.buec.udel.edu/OBWeb/
If time allows, we will discuss as a class the
information you found on the general areas of study and the types of courses
required in graduate work in OB.
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The field of OB is closely linked to practice of Human Resource Management
(HRM). Go to the Society for Human Resource Management web page:
www.shrm.org and answer the following questions:
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As
you read the SHRM homepage, identify OB topics and list on a separate paper.
Try to find as many as possible. Compare your list with a classmate and note
the ones you missed.
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Choose one of the topics and on a separate paper write three questions you have
on the topic. Click on the topics or web links on the SHRM homepage and try to
find the answers. If you find what you are looking for, write the answers next
to your original questions. If you are unsuccessful in finding the answers,
write a short paragraph describing what your strategy would be to find the
answers you want.
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We read about Great Plains Software’s effort to put “People First.” Many
organizations look for ways to promote diversity through family-friendly
policies. Look for three companies who are
incorporating family friendly policies into their
HRM strategy. On a separate paper answer the following questions:
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Who
are the companies? (Be sure to list their web address too.)
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What
are their policies?
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How
do these policies attract and keep people?
·
Do
these policies interest you? Why?
·
How
might they make their policies more attractive to workers?
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If
they make the changes you suggest, what results would you expect? (Is there
evidence to back up your opinion? If it is just your opinion, say so, but later
we will look for studies that back up or refute your opinion today.)
If you are
having difficulty finding sites for this exercise, try some of the ones below:
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http://www.inc.com/incmagazine/archives/16990601.html
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http://www.workforceonline.com/archive/article/000/06/74.xci (Note:
Workforce Online requires you to fill out a free registration.)
·
http://www.inc.com/301/ideas/0283.html
·
http://www.inc.com/incmagazine/archives/07930561.html
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http://www.smartbiz.com/sbs/arts/ctm5.htm
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Find an organization that directly addresses the cost of absenteeism or
turnover on its Web site. What, if anything, is that organization doing to
reduce those costs? What did your search tell you in terms of the importance
or unimportance of these costs to organizations? In class we will meet in
small groups to discuss the strategies organizations are using. Once you
have found an organization, check with me to make certain that we do not
have too many in the class researching the same company. Be prepared to
talk about your organization’s strategy to the group and possibly the
class. Below are some web sites to get you started, but do not hesitate to
perform your own search:
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www.shrm.org
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http://www.healthworkplace.com
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http://eafinc.org/jobsrvy.htm
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Try some advanced searching. Go to
www.google.com and click on advanced search. In the “exact
phrase” box, key in “organizational behavior,” and in the “at least one of
these words” box, key in “globalization. On the drop down menu for Language
choose English. Scroll through the pages to determine if there is a pattern
to the types of web pages returned. Go back to the advanced search page
(use your back button or retype the URL). This time in the “exact phrase”
box, key in “globalization,” and in the “at least one of these words” box,
key in “employ*” (the * is a wildcard symbol which will bring up any word
which begins with employ such as employee). What types of pages were
returned this time? Which would be more useful to a scholar researching OB
and globalization? Why? Now, repeat the above process choosing an OB topic
of your choice instead of “globalization.” Did you find similar patterns of
web page returns with your first and second try? Prepare a paragraph or two
telling what you learned about researching OB topics on the WWW.
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Visit the companion web site for our textbook to see what resources are
available to you. At this web site you find study guides with practice
tests, recent news articles, and Web sites. Go to:
www.prenhall.com/pubguide/. Key in “Robbins” in the search box and hit
the search button. Scroll down and select the textbook. You will need to
register to enter the site. (Keep track of your password!) Take the
true/false practice test for the first chapter and print your results. Go
to Jeffrey M. Wachtel, Ph. D.’s Pearson Companion Site: http://myphlip.pearsoncmg.com/faculty/indexstudent.cfm