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College of Criminal Justice and
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Organizational Behavior and
Management
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Course Revision History
Revision Date
Revision Details
October, 2009
Version 1
January, 2010
Version 2
December, 2013
Modified objectives, readings, and assessments. Added Listen to
Me First podcasts. Updated editions of texts.
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Week One
Organizational Behavior and Environment
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Explain the dynamics of social, political, and organizational behavior that influence change in criminal
justice agencies.
Describe the relationship between organizational behavior and organizational systems.
Analyze techniques for managing the perceptions of organizational stakeholders.
Describe observable aspects of the organizational culture of criminal justice agencies.
Analyze change management strategies as they apply to criminal justice agencies and the criminal
justice system.
Administrative Notes
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Adapt the grading guide templates, located on the faculty website, as needed.
Distribute the course syllabus. Discuss policies, procedures, expectations, and assignments.
Provide directions for locating the program handbook on the student website.
Preview the learning objectives and content for this week.
Preview the major assignments for the course, week by week. Include suggested times to start
preparation for these assignments.
Discuss the role of Learning Teams in the course, highlighting the specific demands for each
modality.
Facilitate the formation of Learning Teams.
Ensure that you have received all assignments that are due.
Content Outline
1. Organizational behavior and environment
a. Explain the dynamics of social, political, and organizational behavior that influence change in
criminal justice agencies.
1) Defining an organization
a) Boundaries, roles, objectives, behaviors, customs, culture, and values
b) Flexible or rigid, modeled after a machine or a living entity
c) Encompassing the collective efforts of individuals, groups, material resources, and
organizational processes
d) Operating as a relatively open or closed system, responding to the environment to
varying degrees
2) Types of criminal justice organizations
a) Law enforcement, courts, and corrections
b) Federal, state, local, special districts, private, and so forth
3) The changing organization
a) Social forces
b) Political forces
c) Laws
d) The media
e) Workforce changes
f) Stakeholder expectations
g) Technology
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Faculty Notes
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h) Budgets and resources
i) External and internal organizations and systems
j) Individuals
b. Describe the relationship between organizational behavior and organizational systems: defining
organizational behavior
1) Study of individuals in organizations
2) Study of groups in organizations
c. Analyze techniques for managing the perceptions of organizational stakeholders: perception
versus reality
1) Selective perception and attribution theory
2) Stereotypes, halo effect, projection, and perceptual distortion
3) Attribution management
4) Managing reactions instead of events
5) Managing discrimination instead of individuals’ prejudices
6) Learning from others’ reactions
7) Self-reflection
d. Describe observable aspects of the organizational culture of criminal justice agencies.
e. Analyze change management strategies as they apply to criminal justice agencies and the
criminal justice system.
1) Change
a) Planned
(1) Proactive
(2) Structured
(3) Intentional
(4) Specific efforts to address performance gaps
(5) Occurring in conjunction with the strategic plan
b) Unplanned
(1) Reactive
(2) Spontaneous
(3) Occurring without an intended plan
c) Resistance to change
(1) Individual resistance
(2) Organizational resistance
(3) Overcoming resistance
(4) Politics of change
d) Strategies for dealing with resistance to change
(1) Education and communication
(2) Participation
(3) Facilitation and support
(4) Negotiation
(5) Manipulation and cooptation
(6) Coercion
2) Change agents
a) Internal
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(1) Employee expectations
(2) Managerial expectations
(3) Organizational restructuring
(4) Downsizing or rightsizing
(5) Outsourcing or privatization
(6) Civilization
(7) Volunteers
b) External
(1) Community relations and outreach
(2) Legislation and regulation
(3) Professional organizations
(4) Sociopolitical influences
c) Lewin’s force field analysis
(1) Unfreezing
(2) Transitions
(3) Freezing
Alternative Learning Activities
BS/CJA Handbook
Related Course Objective

Explain the dynamics of social, political, and organizational behavior that influence change in criminal
justice agencies.
Online Instructions
Many students have not reviewed the handbook since the beginning of the program. Students are often
still undecided about what criminal justice field they want to pursue as a career. This is a good place to
recommend that they explore specific fields in criminal justice as outlined in the handbook and web links.
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Start an online discussion asking students to identify what they expect from the course and what
criminal justice field interests them.
Refer students to the BS/CJA handbook and web links for additional research.
Ask students to share what they learned through their research and if it helped to narrow the focus of
their chosen field.
Ground Instructions
Many students have not reviewed the handbook since the beginning of the program. Students are often
still undecided about what criminal justice field they want to pursue as a career. This is a good place to
recommend that they explore specific fields in criminal justice as outlined in the handbook and web links.



Start a group discussion asking students to identify what they expect from the course and what
criminal justice field interests them.
Refer students to the BS/CJA handbook and web links for additional research. Allow time for students
to research individually or in small groups.
Ask students to share what they learned through their research and if it helped to narrow the focus of
their chosen field.
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Learn by Doing, Ch. 2, Question 3, Justice Administration
Related Course Objective
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

Explain the dynamics of social, political, and organizational behavior that influence change in criminal
justice agencies.
Analyze techniques for managing the perceptions of organizational stakeholders.
Describe observable aspects of the organizational culture of criminal justice agencies.
Online Instructions

Discuss the following scenario in small groups or as an individual discussion in the classroom:
Your prison duty shift’s middle manager, a lieutenant, comes to you saying he has personally
observed a number of problems concerning the manner in which communication is occurring from
one shift to another. These problems appear to primarily involve inaccurate information being
disseminated; a grapevine that seems bent on carrying inaccurate, malicious information; and a
diverse group of employees with language and cultural barriers. You are assigned to look at the
problem and recommend means by which communications could be improved. How would you
proceed? What kinds of ideas might you put forth?

Ask students to respond to the scenario and to each other’s messages to brainstorm ideas of how to
resolve the problems. Answer the following questions:
o
o
How are the dynamics of social, political, and organizational behaviors related to the scenario?
What consideration should be given to social, political, and organizational behaviors while
analyzing and solving the problems?
Ground Instructions

Assign the students to small groups. Ask each group to read and discuss the following scenario:
Your prison duty shift’s middle manager, a lieutenant, comes to you saying he has personally
observed a number of problems concerning the manner in which communication is occurring from
one shift to another. These problems appear to primarily involve inaccurate information being
disseminated; a grapevine that seems bent on carrying inaccurate, malicious information; and a
diverse group of employees with language and cultural barriers. You are assigned to look at the
problem and recommend means by which communications could be improved. How would you
proceed? What kinds of ideas might you put forth?

Allow time for each small group to discuss the scenario order to brainstorm ideas of how to resolve
the problems. Answer the following questions:
o
o

How are the dynamics of social, political, and organizational behaviors related to the scenario?
What consideration should be given to social, political, and organizational behaviors while
analyzing and solving the problems?
Bring the class together to share the observations and ideas from each group.
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Week Two
Group Behavior and Processes
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Describe the attributes of groups and high-performance teams.
Outline a typical decision-making process in a criminal justice agency.
Identify the factors that influence decision making in criminal justice agencies.
Describe the value of diversity in serving diverse communities.
Administrative Notes
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Answer any content or logistical questions resulting from the previous week.
Discuss and approve the Learning Team Charter.
Check on the progress of Learning Team projects.
Preview the learning objectives and content for this week.
At the end of the week, review key content points and preview the content of the next week.
Ensure that you have received all assignments that are due.
Content Outline
1. Group behavior and processes
a. Describe the attributes of groups and high-performance teams.
1) The nature of groups and teams
a) Defining a group
b) Foundations of group effectiveness
(1) Organizational settings
(2) Nature of the group task
(3) General membership characteristics
(4) Group size
(5) Definition of a team
(6) Teams versus groups
(7) Creating effective teams
(8) Managing teams
(a) Quality management
(b) Workforce diversity
2) Stages of group and team development
a) Forming
b) Storming
c) Norming
d) Performing
e) Adjourning
3) Organizational culture
a) Definition
b) External adaptation
c) Internal integration
d) Observable aspects of organizational culture
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b. Outline a typical decision-making process in a criminal justice agency.
1) Assets and liabilities of group decision making
2) Decision making
a) Theory
b) Characteristics of decision-makers
c) Characteristics of information
d) Discretion
e) Prediction
3) The rational decision-making model
a) Defining the problem
b) Identifying the criteria
c) Allocating weights to the criteria
d) Developing alternatives
e) Evaluating alternatives
f) Selecting the best solution
c. Identify the factors that influence decision making in criminal justice agencies: perception and
decision making
1) Programmed and nonprogrammed decisions
2) Classical theory and behavioral theory
3) Optimum solution versus satisfactory solution
d. Describe the value of diversity in serving diverse communities.
1) This chapter looked at diversity from many perspectives paying attention to three variables:
biographical characteristics, ability, and diversity programs.
2) We can readily observe biographical characteristics, but that does not mean we should
explicitly use them in management decisions.
a) Most research shows fairly minimal effects of biographical characteristics on job
performance.
b) We also need to be aware of implicit biases we or other managers may have.
3) An effective selection process will improve the fit between employees and job requirements.
a) A job analysis will provide information about jobs currently being done and the abilities
individuals need to perform the jobs adequately.
b) Applicants can be tested, interviewed, and evaluated on the degree to which they
possess the necessary abilities.
c) Promotion and transfer decisions affecting individuals already in the organization’s
employ should reflect candidates’ abilities.
d) As with new employees, care should be taken to assess the critical abilities incumbents
will need in the job and match those with the organization’s human resources.
e) To accommodate employees with disabilities, managers can improve the fit by fine-tuning
the job to better match an incumbent’s abilities.
f) Often, modifications with no significant effect on the job’s basic activities, such as
changing equipment or reorganizing tasks within a group, can better adapt work to the
specific talents of a given employee.
4) Diversity management must be an ongoing commitment that crosses all levels of the
organization.
a) Group management, recruiting, hiring, retention, and development practices can be
designed to leverage diversity for the organization’s competitive advantage.
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Faculty Notes
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b) Policies to improve the climate for diversity can be effective, so long as they are designed
to acknowledge all employees’ perspectives.
c) One-shot diversity training sessions are less likely to be effective than comprehensive
programs that address the climate for diversity at multiple levels.
Alternative Learning Activities
Decision making in criminal justice agencies
Related Course Objective
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
Outline a typical decision-making process in a criminal justice agency.
Identify the factors that influence decision making in criminal justice agencies.
Online Instructions
Review Ch. 6 of Managing Criminal Justice Organizations and Ch. 6 of Organizational Behavior for
various decision-making and planning models. Ch. 2 of Justice Administration and Ch. 1 of Managing
Criminal Justice Organizations also include information on criminal justice managerial planning, which
reinforces the previous week’s material on using POSDCORB and Lodestar.

Post a message with the following scenario:
Your agency has developed a long-range planning cycle for the next 2 years. You have received new
communications system equipment that must be implemented within the next 6 months. What
planning factors would you consider? What course of action would you recommend?

Students should discuss the questions in the scenario and respond to each other’s messages.
Ground Instructions
Review Ch. 6 of Managing Criminal Justice Organizations and Ch. 6 of Organizational Behavior for
various decision-making and planning models. Ch. 2 of Justice Administration and Ch. 1 of Managing
Criminal Justice Organizations also include information on criminal justice managerial planning, which
reinforces the previous week’s material on using POSDCORB and Lodestar.

Divide the class into small groups. Ask each group to consider the following scenario and answer the
questions:
Your agency has developed a long-range planning cycle for the next 2 years. You have received new
communications system equipment that must be implemented within the next 6 months. What
planning factors would you consider? What course of action would you recommend?

Bring the class together. Ask each small group to summarize their discussions for the class, including
the recommendations they would make.
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Week Three
Individual Behavior and Processes
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Compare motivation theories.
Apply motivation theory to a criminal justice scenario.
Identify organizational approaches and strategies for managing stress.
Describe approaches to internal and external conflict management.
Administrative Notes
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
Answer any content or logistical questions resulting from the previous week.
Check on the progress of Learning Team projects.
Preview the learning objectives and content for this week.
At the end of the week, review key content points and preview the content of the next week.
Ensure that you have received all assignments that are due.
Content Outline
1. Individual behavior and processes
a. Compare motivation theories.
1) Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory
a) Physiological needs
b) Safety needs
c) Social needs
d) Esteem needs
e) Self-actualization needs
2) Alderfer’s theory
a) Collapsing Maslow’s needs into existence, relatedness, and growth
b) Allowing for more than one need to be activated at a time
3) McClelland’s three needs theory
a) Need for achievement
b) Need for affiliation
c) Need for power
4) Two-factor theory: Herzberg
a) Hygiene factors
(1) Work environment
(2) Satisfying lower-level needs, as identified by Maslow
b) Motivators
(1) Intrinsic to work
(2) Associated with the employee as a person
(3) Fulfilling higher-level needs
(4) Jobs with opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, and
advancement
(5) Improving job satisfaction and work motivation
5) Equity theory
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Faculty Notes
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6) Expectancy theory
a) Expectancy: performance relationships
b) Instrumentality: outcome relationships
c) Valence: desirability of work outcomes
b. Apply motivation theory to a criminal justice scenario.
1) Motivation: Exhibit 7–9 on p. 227 of Organizational Behavior integrates much of what we
know about motivation. Its basic foundation is the expectancy model.
2) Expectancy theory predicts that an employee will exert a high level of effort if he or she
perceives that there is a strong relationship between effort and performance, performance
and rewards, and rewards and satisfaction of personal goals.
a) The final link in expectancy theory is the rewards-goals relationship.
b) The model considers the achievement, need, reinforcement, and equity/organizational
justice theories.
3) Reinforcement theory recognizes that the organization’s rewards reinforce the individual’s
performance.
4) The following is a summary and implications for management:
a) Review the most established motivation theories to determine:
(1) Their relevance in explaining turnover, productivity, and other outcomes
(2) Assessing the predictive power of each
b) Need theories
(1) Maslow’s hierarchy, McClelland’s needs, and the two-factor theory focus on needs.
(2) None has found widespread support, although McClelland’s is the strongest,
particularly regarding the relationship between achievement and productivity. In
general, need theories are not valid explanations of motivation.
c) Self-determination theory and cognitive evaluation theory
(1) As research on the motivational effects of rewards has accumulated, it increasingly
appears extrinsic rewards can undermine motivation if they are seen as coercive.
(2) They can increase motivation if they provide information about competence and
relatedness.
d) Goal setting theory
(1) Clear and difficult goals lead to higher levels of employee productivity, supporting the
theory’s explanation of this dependent variable.
(2) The theory does not address absenteeism, turnover, or satisfaction, however.
e) Reinforcement theory
(1) This theory has an impressive record for predicting the quality and quantity of work,
persistence of effort, absenteeism, tardiness, and accident rates.
(2) It does not offer much insight into employee satisfaction or the decision to quit.
f) Equity/organizational justice theory
(1) Equity theory deals with productivity, satisfaction, absence, and turnover variables.
(2) However, its strongest legacy is that it provided the spark for research on
organizational justice, which has more support in the literature.
g) Expectancy theory
(1) Expectancy theory offers a powerful explanation of performance variables, such as
employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover.
(2) But it assumes employees have few constraints on decision-making, such as bias or
incomplete information, and this limits its applicability.
(3) Expectancy theory has some validity, because, for many behaviors, people consider
expected outcomes.
c. Identify organizational approaches and strategies for managing stress.
1) Understanding stress and its consequences
a) Environmental factors
b) Organizational factors
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
c)
d)
e)
f)
Individual factors
The addiction of stressors
Individual differences
Consequences of stress
(1) Physiological symptoms
(2) Psychological symptoms
(3) Behavioral symptoms
2) Managing stress
a) Individual approaches
b) Organizational approaches
3) Eustress
d. Describe approaches to internal and external conflict management.
1) Conflict
a) Conflict management
b) Functional versus dysfunctional conflict
c) Types of conflict
(1) Task
(2) Relationship
(3) Process
2) Indirect conflict management approaches
a) Reduced interdependence
b) Appeals to common goals
c) Hierarchical referral
d) Altering scripts and myths
3) Direct conflict management approaches
a) Accommodating
b) Avoiding
c) Competing
d) Collaborating
e) Compromising
a) Time management
(1) Prioritizing responsibilities and tasks
(2) Assertiveness and realistic limits
(3) Peak and valley performance times
(4) Allowing for personal learning curve
Alternative Learning Activities
An Ethical Choice: Motivated to Behave Unethically
Related Course Objective

Describe approaches to internal and external conflict management.
Complete the Motivated to Behave Unethically activity in Ch. 7 of Organizational Behavior.
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Online Instructions

Start a discussion by posting a link to the following article:
Marshall, G. W. (1996). The folly of rewarding A while hoping for B. Marketing News, 30(23), 6-6.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216330398?accountid=35812

Ask students to read and discuss the article, including identifying times they may have encountered
the phenomenon in their work or at school.
Ground Instructions
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
Divide the class into groups of three to five students each.
Ask groups to read the following article:
Marshall, G. W. (1996). The folly of rewarding A while hoping for B. Marketing News, 30(23), 6-6.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216330398?accountid=35812


Ask students to read and discuss the article, including identifying times they may have encountered
the phenomenon in their work or at school.
Have a representative from each group present the group’s findings to the class.
Case Incident: Bonuses Can Backfire
Related Course Objective
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Apply motivation theory to a criminal justice scenario.
Online Instructions
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Post a message referring students to read the Bonuses Can Backfire activity in Ch. 8 of
Organizational Behavior.
Also, post the Questions. Remove the Answer information before posting in the classroom.
Ask students to respond to the questions and to each other’s responses.
Questions
1. Do you think that, as a manager, you would use bonuses regularly? Why or why not?
Answer: The answer will vary by student, but will likely reference the motivational effects variablepay programs have on performance. Depending on the type of work and at what level, the additional
value of bonuses could provide additional motivation for employees.
2. Can you think of a time in your own life when being evaluated and rewarded on a specific goal lead
you to engage in negative or unproductive behavior?
Answer: This answer asks for the student’s opinion from his or her experience and will vary.
3. Do you think providing group bonuses instead of individual bonuses would be more effective or less
effective? Why or why not?
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Answer: The answer will vary depending on the student’s beliefs about money as an incentive. The
student should respond with a reference to studies that have found group incentives to be effective
motivators if the criteria of the incentive is communicated clearly and its award is perceived to be fair.
4. How would you design a bonus/reward program to avoid the problems mentioned in this case?
Answer: A bonus/reward program must be targeted at appropriate measures of performance.
Otherwise, it could lead to outcomes that are not desired. Instead of measuring outcomes, the target
could be related to specific goals. The goals would be defined based on significant criteria for desired
outcomes, including mission contribution, measured production output, and quality of output. Care
would be taken to ensure that the criteria are communicated to employees to reduce any ambiguity
about the program. The judgment of performance would be transparent and open to observation to
ensure perceived fairness in application.
Ground Instructions
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

Divide the class into small groups and have them read the Bonuses Can Backfire activity in Ch. 8 of
Organizational Behavior.
Provide a copy of the Questions to each group. Remove the Answer information. Ask the groups to
discuss the questions.
Bring the groups together. Ask each team to summarize their discussion for the class.
Questions
1. Do you think that, as a manager, you would use bonuses regularly? Why or why not?
Answer: The answer will vary by student, but will likely refer to the motivational effects variablepay programs have on performance. Depending on the type of work and at what level, the
additional value of bonuses could provide additional motivation for employees.
2. Can you think of a time in your own life when being evaluated and rewarded on a specific goal led
you to engage in negative or unproductive behavior?
Answer: This answer asks for the student’s opinion from his or her experience and will vary.
3. Do you think providing group bonuses instead of individual bonuses would be more effective or
less effective? Why or why not?
Answer: The answer will vary depending on the student’s beliefs about money as an incentive.
The student should respond with a reference to studies that have found group incentives to be
effective motivators if the criteria of the incentive is communicated clearly and its award is
perceived to be fair.
4. How would you design a bonus/reward program to avoid the problems mentioned in this case?
Answer: A bonus/reward program must be targeted at appropriate measures of performance.
Otherwise, it could lead to outcomes that are not desired. Instead of measuring outcomes, the
target could be related to specific goals. The goals would be defined based on significant criteria
for desired outcomes including mission contribution, measured production output, and quality of
output. Care would be taken to ensure that the criteria are communicated to employees to reduce
any ambiguity about the program. The judgment of performance would be transparent and open
to observation to ensure perceived fairness in application.
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Faculty Notes
CJA/444 Version 4
Week Four
Organizational Communication
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Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the communication process of a criminal justice
organization.
Describe the communication process as it applies to a criminal justice setting.
List informal and formal channels of communications.
Identify how leadership power sources apply in a criminal justice setting.
Describe ethical issues related to uses of power in criminal justice agencies.
Administrative Notes





Answer any content or logistical questions resulting from the previous week.
Check on the progress of Learning Team projects.
Preview the learning objectives and content for this week.
At the end of the week, review key content points and preview the content of the next week.
Ensure that you have received all assignments that are due.
Content Outline
1. Organizational communication
a. Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the communication process of a criminal justice
organization.
1) Elements of the communication process
a) Source
b) Channel
c) Receiver
d) Feedback
e) Barriers to effective communication: noise
2) Information richness of communication channels
a) Routine versus nonroutine
b) Determining the degree of richness in communication
(1) Can it handle multiple clues simultaneously?
(2) How rapid is the feedback?
(3) How personal is it?
c) Understanding interpersonal relations
3) Barriers to effective communication
a) Filtering
b) Selective participation
c) Information overload
d) Emotions
e) Language
f) Communication apprehension
4) Nonverbal communication
a) Body movement
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Faculty Notes
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b) Intonations
c) Facial expressions
d) Physical distance
5) Communication flows and directions
a) Downward
b) Upward
c) Lateral
6) Organizational structure
a) Work specialization
b) Departmentalization
c) Chain of command
d) Span of control
e) Centralization and decentralization
f) Formalization
7) Effect of organizational structure on communication process
8) New organizational design options
a) Team structure
b) Virtual organization
c) Boundaryless organization
b. Describe the communication process as it applies to a criminal justice setting.
1) The criminal justice system in its environment
a) Definition
b) The political environment
c) Elements specific to the criminal justice system
d) Environmental states
e) Organizational response
f) Managing environmental forces
g) Implications for administrators
2) Structure of criminal justice organizations
a) Mission, policies, and procedures
b) Policies and procedures
c) Informal structures
d) Organizational frames
c. List informal and formal channels of communications.
1) Formal channels
2) Informal channels
a) Ignoring the organization’s hierarchy of authority
b) Coexisting with formal channels but frequently diverging from them
c) Grapevine
d. Identify how leadership power sources apply in a criminal justice setting.
1) Power and politics: types of power
a) Reward
b) Coercive
c) Legitimate
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Faculty Notes
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d) Expert
e) Referent
f) Information
g) Charismatic
2) Positive and negative aspects of power related to politics
3) Ethical use of power and politics
e. Describe ethical issues related to uses of power in criminal justice agencies.
1) Although there are no clear ways to differentiate ethical from unethical politicking, there are
some questions you should consider. For example, what is the utility of engaging in
politicking?
a) Sometimes, we engage in political behavior for little good reason. Baseball player Al
Martin claimed he played football at USC when, in fact, he never did. As a baseball
player, he had little to gain by pretending to have played football.
b) Outright lies may be a rather extreme example of impression management, but many of
us have distorted information to make a favorable impression.
2) One thing to keep in mind is whether it’s worth the risk. Another question to ask is whether
the utility of engaging in the political behavior balances out any harm it may do to others.
3) Finally, does the political activity conform to standards of equity and justice? Sometimes, it is
difficult to weigh the costs and benefits of a political action, but its ethicality is clear.
a) The department head who inflates the performance evaluation of a favored employee
and deflates the evaluation of a disfavored employee—and uses these evaluations to
justify giving the former a big raise and nothing to the latter—has treated the disfavored
employee unfairly.
b) Unfortunately, powerful people can become good at explaining self-serving behaviors in
terms of the organization’s best interests.
4) When faced with an ethical dilemma regarding organizational politics, consider whether
playing politics is worth the risk and whether others might be harmed in the process.
5) If you have a strong power base, recognize the ability of power to corrupt.
Alternative Learning Activities
Role-play organizational communication
Related Course Objectives



Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the communication process of a criminal justice
organization.
Describe the communication process as it applies to a criminal justice setting.
List informal and formal channels of communications.
Online Instructions


Divide the class into three groups: police, courts, and corrections.
Instruct each group to assign a hierarchy amongst themselves. For example:
o
o
o

The police group should have one or two patrol officers, a sergeant, captain, and a police chief.
The court group should have a presiding judge, two trial judges, Clerk of the Court, two courtroom
clerks, and a bailiff.
The corrections group should have two correctional officers, supervisors, operations managers
and warden, probation or parole officers, and probation or parole supervisors.
Each group should assign a student for specialized positions, such as Internal Affairs or Human
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
Resources, as suggested in the role-plays.
Facilitate a discussion based on the communication issues in the scenarios, and have students
address the following topics:
o
o
Identify whether the chain, wheel, or all channel communication methods would be utilized
(Organizational Behavior, p. 343).
Identify and address some or all of the following barriers to effective communication in each
scenario:








o
Filtering
Selective perception
Information overload
Emotions
Language
Silence
Communication apprehension
Lying
Describe whether written or oral communications would be most effective. How can the grapevine
assist in the scenario or is it a barrier to effective communication?
Adapted from Ch. 11 of Organizational Behavior.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Scenarios
POLICE
1. A patrol officer wants to suggest that computers be installed in the patrol cars so officers can prepare
their police reports from the field.
2. A manager needs an officer to cover an injured officer’s shift. Whoever covers the shift will end up
working 16 hours straight.
3. Internal Affairs is investigating a complaint of excessive force by an officer.
4. A sergeant requests reassignment to another division because of personality differences with officers
in his or her current assignment.
5. The department has decided that patrol officers work in pairs only. Previously, officers usually worked
solo. The decision must be announced to the officers.
COURTS
1. The trial judge complains to the presiding judge that he is only being sent misdemeanor trials and
wants felonies.
2. The courtroom clerk requests reassignment because of personality differences with the bailiff.
3. A female bailiff complains that a male trial judge is touching her inappropriately and making sexual
comments that make her uncomfortable.
4. A trial judge doesn’t want spectators in the courtroom who talk loudly during the proceedings, read
newspapers, chew gum, or attempt to communicate with the criminal defendant. This must be
conveyed to spectators who enter the courtroom.
5. A complaint by several attorneys about the professionalism of a trial judge is being investigated.
CORRECTIONS
1. A correctional officer (CO) wants to delegate some of his or her more menial responsibilities to inmate
trustees instead, but needs permission.
2. A CO wants some inmates transferred to another cell block due to personality differences between
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Faculty Notes
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the CO and inmates.
3. A supervisor is investigating complaints from inmates that a particular guard has sexually assaulted
them.
4. A parole officer needs the permission of his or her supervisor to enroll the defendant in an anger
management course instead of revoking his parole for a road rage incident.
5. A group of probation officers are disgruntled because of the number of cases they are supervising.
They want managers to supervise some of the individuals, or to hire additional probation officers to
enable more meaningful supervision overall.
Ground Instructions


Divide the class into three groups: police, courts, and corrections.
Instruct each group to assign a hierarchy amongst themselves. For example:
o
o
o


The police group should have one or two patrol officers, a sergeant, captain, and a police chief.
The court group should have a presiding judge, two trial judges, Clerk of the Court, two courtroom
clerks, and a bailiff.
The corrections group should have two correctional officers, supervisors, operations managers
and warden, probation or parole officers, and probation or parole supervisors.
Each group should assign a student for specialized positions, such as Internal Affairs or Human
Resources, as suggested in the role-plays.
Facilitate a discussion based on the communication issues in the scenarios, and have students
address the following topics:
o
o
Identify whether the chain, wheel, or all channel communication methods would be utilized
(Organizational Behavior, p. 343).
Identify and address some or all of the following barriers to effective communication in each
scenario:








o
Filtering
Selective perception
Information overload
Emotions
Language
Silence
Communication apprehension
Lying
Describe whether written or oral communications would be most effective. How can the grapevine
assist in the scenario or is it a barrier to effective communication?
Adapted from Ch. 11 of Organizational Behavior.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved.
Scenarios
POLICE
1. A patrol officer wants to suggest that computers be installed in the patrol cars so officers can prepare
their police reports from the field.
2. A manager needs an officer to cover an injured officer’s shift. Whoever covers the shift will end up
working 16 hours straight.
3. Internal Affairs is investigating a complaint of excessive force by an officer.
4. A sergeant requests reassignment to another division because of personality differences with officers
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Faculty Notes
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in his or her current assignment.
5. The department has decided that patrol officers work in pairs only. Previously, officers usually worked
solo. The decision must be announced to the officers.
COURTS
1. The trial judge complains to the presiding judge that he is only being sent misdemeanor trials and
wants felonies.
2. The courtroom clerk requests reassignment because of personality differences with the bailiff.
3. A female bailiff complains that a male trial judge is touching her inappropriately and making sexual
comments that make her uncomfortable.
4. A trial judge doesn’t want any spectators in the courtroom who talk loudly during the proceedings,
read newspapers, chew gum, or attempt to communicate with the defendant. This must be conveyed
to spectators who enter the courtroom.
5. A complaint by several attorneys about the professionalism of a trial judge is being investigated.
CORRECTIONS
1. A correctional officer (CO) wants to delegate some of his or her more menial responsibilities to inmate
trustees instead, but needs permission.
2. A CO wants some inmates transferred to another cell block due to personality differences between
the CO and inmates.
3. A supervisor is investigating complaints from inmates that a particular guard has sexually assaulted
them.
4. A parole officer needs the permission of his or her supervisor to enroll the defendant in an anger
management course instead of revoking his parole for a road rage incident.
5. A group of probation officers are disgruntled because of the number of cases they are supervising.
They want managers to supervise some of the individuals, or to hire additional probation officers to
enable more meaningful supervision overall.
The Persuasion Imperative
Related Course Objective

Identify how leadership power sources apply in a criminal justice setting.
Online Instructions
Post a message referring students to read the The Persuasion Imperative activity in Ch. 13 of
Organizational Behavior. Include the following questions in the message. Facilitate a discussion in which
students answer the questions and discuss each other’s answers.
Questions
1. Are the precepts of the IBM training program consistent with the concepts in this chapter? Why
or why not?
Answer: Yes, the concepts are compatible with ideas in this chapter as well as the chapters on
motivation and leadership. These concepts indicate that a greater formalization of charismatic,
referent, and expert power is occurring to work with a changing work force.
2. Again based on the chapter, are there other keys to persuasion and influence that might be added to
the IBM program?
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Faculty Notes
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Answer: One of the most significant concepts in this chapter that could add to the success of a
manager is the Power Tactics section. These provide guidance to the most effective methods of
persuasion to secure the cooperation of target audiences.
3. If you had a manager who wanted you to do something against your initial inclination, which of
IBM’s elements would work best on you? Why?
Answer: Making trade-offs would likely be the best option. Here, you could offer an alternative that
would be to the manager’s self-interest to allow you to forgo the action you do not wish to take.
4. Drawing from Chapter 5, do you think generational values explain the changing nature of the
employer–employee relationship?
Answer: Generational values are probably detectable in the change of employer-employee
relationships, but the probable source is in the operational environment. In other words, two people
spanning generational divisions can embrace the new relationships because of changing personal
preferences rather than being secured by values developed early in psychological development.
Ground Instructions



Divide the class into small groups. Instruct them to read the The Persuasion Imperative activity in Ch.
13 of Organizational Behavior. Provide each group with a copy of the questions.
Ask each group to discuss the questions.
Bring the class back together to discuss the groups’ responses to the questions.
Questions
1. Are the precepts of the IBM training program consistent with the concepts in this chapter? Why
or why not?
Answer: Yes, the concepts are compatible with ideas presented in this chapter as well as the
chapters on motivation and leadership. These concepts indicate that a greater formalization of
charismatic, referent, and expert power is occurring to work with a changing work force.
2. Again based on the chapter, are there other keys to persuasion and influence that might be added to
the IBM program?
Answer: One of the most significant concepts in this chapter that could add to a manager’s success
is the Power Tactics section. These provide guidance to the most effective methods of persuasion to
secure the cooperation of target audiences.
3. If you had a manager who wanted you to do something against your initial inclination, which of
IBM’s elements would work best on you? Why?
Answer: Making trade-offs would likely be the best option. Here, you could offer an alternative that
would be to the manager’s self-interest to allow you to forgo the action you do not wish to take.
4. Drawing from Chapter 5, do you think generational values explain the changing nature of the
employer–employee relationship?
Answer: Generational values are probably detectable in the change of the employer-employee
relationships, but the probable source is in the operational environment. In other words, two people
spanning generational divisions can embrace the new relationships because of changing personal
preferences rather than being secured by values developed early in psychological development.
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Faculty Notes
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Faculty Notes
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Week Five
Organizational Trends




Describe the effect societal and organizational diversity has on criminal justice agencies.
Analyze the potential applications of the e-corporation, privatization, and competition in the criminal
justice system.
Explain the limitations of traditional organizational behavior theory in increasingly multicultural
criminal justice organizations.
Identify the elements of an organization’s structure in criminal justice organizations
Administrative Notes





Answer any content or logistical questions resulting from the previous week.
Check on the progress of Learning Team projects.
Preview the learning objectives and content for this week.
At the end of the week, review key content points and preview the content of the next week.
Ensure that you have received all assignments that are due.
Content Outline
1. Organizational trends
a. Describe the effect societal and organizational diversity has on criminal justice agencies:
challenges and opportunities in organizational behavior
1) Responding to globalization
2) Managing workforce diversity
3) Improving quality and productivity
4) Responding to the labor shortage
5) Improving customer service
6) Improving people skills
7) Empowering people
8) Coping with temporariness
9) Stimulating innovation and change
10) Helping employees balance work or life conflicts
11) Improving ethical behavior
b. Analyze the potential applications of the e-corporation, privatization, and competition in the
criminal justice system: organizational behavior in an electronic world
1) E-commerce
2) E-business
3) E-organization
a) Internet
b) Intranets
c) Extranets
4) Organizational culture changes
5) Technology and individual behavior
a) Motivation
b) Ethics
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6) Technology and group behavior
a) Decision making
b) Communication
c) Politics and networking
d) Organizational culture changes
c. Explain the limitations of traditional organizational behavior theory in increasingly multicultural
criminal justice organizations: leadership
1) Trust
a) Deterrence-based
b) Knowledge-based
c) Identification-based
2) Shaping meaning and framing issues
3) Charisma
4) Vision
5) Emotional intelligence
6) Leadership roles
a) Team leadership
b) Mentoring
c) Self-leadership
d) Moral leadership
7) Leadership as attribution
8) Substitutes and neutralizers to leadership
9) Finding and creating effective leaders
a) Selection
b) Training
d. Identify the elements of an organization’s structure in criminal justice organizations.
1) An organizational structure defines how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and
coordinated. There are six key elements:
a) Work specialization
b) Departmentalization
c) Chain of command
d) Span of control
e) Centralization and decentralization
f) Formalization
2) Work specialization
a) Henry Ford became rich by building automobiles on an assembly line, demonstrating that
work can be performed more efficiently by using a work specialization strategy.
b) By the late 1940s, most manufacturing jobs in industrialized countries were done this
way. Management saw this as a means to make efficient use of its employees’ skills.
c) Managers also looked for other efficiencies that could be achieved through work
specialization.
d) For much of the first half of this century, managers viewed work specialization as an
unending source of increased productivity. By the 1960s, there was increasing evidence
that a good thing can be carried too far.
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Faculty Notes
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e) The human diseconomies from specialization—boredom, fatigue, stress, low productivity,
poor quality, increased absenteeism, and high turnover—more than offset the economic
advantages. (Refer to Exhibit 15-2 in Ch. 15 of Organizational Behavior.)
f) Most managers today recognize the economic specialization in certain jobs and the
problems when it’s carried too far.
3) Departmentalization
a) This is grouping jobs together so common tasks can be coordinated.
b) One of the most popular ways to group activities is by functions performed.
c) Tasks can be departmentalized by the type of product or service the organization
produces.
d) Another way to departmentalize is based on geography or territory.
e) Process departmentalization can be used for processing customers as well as products.
f) A final category of departmentalization is by type of customer.
g) The assumption is that customers in each department have a common set of problems
and needs that can best be met by having specialists for each.
4) Chain of command
a) The chain of command was once a basic cornerstone in the design of organizations; it is
far less important today.
b) The chain of command is "an unbroken line of authority that extends from the top of the
organization to the lowest echelon and clarifies who reports to whom" (Robbins & Judge,
2013, p. 483).
c) Two complementary concepts: authority and unity of command
(1) Authority: the rights inherent to management to give orders and expect the orders to
be obeyed
(2) The unity-of-command principle helps preserve the concept of an unbroken line of
authority. It states that a person should have only one superior to whom he or she is
directly responsible.
d) Times change, and so do the basic tenets of organizational design. The chain of
command has less relevance today because of technology and the trend of empowering
employees.
e) A low-level employee today can access information in seconds that 30 years ago was
available only to managers.
f) Operating employees are empowered to make decisions previously reserved for
management.
g) Add the popularity of self-managed and cross-functional teams, and the creation of new
structural designs that include multiple bosses, and you can see why authority and unity
of command hold less relevance.
h) Many organizations still find they can be most productive by enforcing the chain of
command.
5) Span of control
a) How many employees a manager can efficiently and effectively direct is an important
question.
b) All things being equal, the wider the span, the more efficient the organization.
c) Exhibit 15-3 in Ch. 15 of Organizational Behavior illustrates that reducing the number of
managers leads to significant savings.
d) Wider spans are more efficient in terms of cost.
e) However, at some point, wider spans reduce effectiveness.
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Faculty Notes
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f)
Narrow or small spans have their advocates. By keeping the span of control to five or six
employees, a manager can maintain close control.
g) Narrow spans have three major drawbacks:
(1) First, as described, they are expensive because they add levels of management.
(2) Second, they make vertical communication in the organization more complex.
(3) Third, narrow spans of control encourage overly tight supervision and discourage
employee autonomy.
h) The trend in recent years has been toward wider spans of control.
6) Centralization and decentralization
a) Centralization refers to the degree to which decision-making is concentrated at a single
point in the organization.
b) Centralization includes only formal authority—that is, the rights inherent in a position.
c) An organization characterized by centralization is inherently different structurally from one
that’s decentralized.
d) Research investigating a large number of Finnish organizations demonstrates that
companies with decentralized research and development offices in multiple locations
were better at producing innovation than companies that centralized research and
development in a single office.
7) Formalization
a) Formalization refers to the degree to which jobs within the organization are standardized.
b) Low formalization: Job behaviors are relatively non-programmed, and employees have a
great deal of freedom to exercise discretion in their work.
c) The degree of formalization can vary widely between and within organizations.
Alternative Learning Activities
Explore Criminal Justice Organizational Structure Differences
Related Course Objective

Identify the elements of an organization’s structure in criminal justice organizations.
Online Instructions


Divide the class into small groups or instruct students to complete this activity as a Learning Team.
Post a message with the following message:
To understand how to improve an organizational structure, start with a clear understanding of how an
organization is currently structured. For this exercise, you will perform research on a criminal justice
organization or agency. Using the organization’s website, find out about different administrative units,
departments, and chain of command reporting lines. Pay attention to different noncore functions like
finance, information technology, and human resources.
What are your assessments of the features of the organization that seem bureaucratic in nature?
What common functions tend to be run in a bureaucratic manner? Try to identify standardized work
practices that enhance coordination and control. In particular, think of systems of rules, regulations,
departments, and offices with highly specific and specialized roles.

Direct students to research their criminal justice agency, a team member’s agency, or a local criminal
justice agency.
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Faculty Notes
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
After each group comes to a consensus for how to limit bureaucracy, lead a class discussion in which
each group describes its eventual approach to minimizing bureaucracy in its organization.
Ground Instructions
This activity should take 30-45 minutes.


Divide the class into small groups or instruct students to complete this activity as a Learning Team.
Provide a copy of the following instructions to each group:
To understand how to improve an organizational structure, start with a clear understanding of how an
organization is currently structured. For this exercise, you will perform research on a criminal justice
organization or agency. Using the organization’s website, find out about different administrative units,
departments, and chain of command reporting lines. Pay attention to different noncore functions like
finance, information technology, and human resources.
What are your assessments of the features of the organization that seem bureaucratic in nature?
What common functions tend to be run in a bureaucratic manner? Try to identify standardized work
practices that enhance coordination and control. In particular, think of systems of rules, regulations,
departments, and offices with highly specific and specialized roles.


Direct students to research their criminal justice agency, a team member’s agency, or a local criminal
justice agency.
After each group has come to a consensus for how to limit bureaucracy, lead a class discussion in
which each group describes its eventual approach to minimizing bureaucracy in its organization.
27