Fahrenheit 451

1. Fahrenheit 451 By: Matt Brown, Jarrod Murray, Shavonta Robinson

2. Censorship in the Past • During the Red Scare, our country was immersed in the irrational fear of even knowing someone who sympathized with Communists would send one’s career down the drain. • Also known as “McCarthyism”. • In many Latin-American countries, mostly Chile, Venezuela, and the Dominican Republic, censorship was the only mode of ruling over a population. • Books deemed “too informative” were eliminated and the artist was forced to either live in exile or be tortured. • Germany was known for burning books and precious art during WWII. • China has imposed censorship on certain songs from major pop artists because they were deemed inappropriate.

3. We’re Living in Censorship • So much surveillance is imposed on us. • Where we go (physically or on the internets). • What television or movies we see. • What music we listen to. • Our purchases and bank transactions. • Our private conversations. • The Government decides, via cute commercials, what prescription drugs, whether stimulating or suppressing, we can use. • The MPAA deems what ratings movies receive and can deny giving movie ratings for an asinine reason such as saying one too many curse words. • The FCC controls what can and cannot be said on television and radio. • Individuals can be fined extensively for slipping out a curse word on live television. • News outlets deem what should be reported and, in many cases, will falsify information to pander to their viewing demographic.

4. Organizational Misbehavior • OMB is any intentional action by members of organizations that defies and violates: • Shared organizational norms and expectations. • Core societal values and standards of proper conduct.

5. Basic Types of OMB • Type S: • Misbehaviors that are intended to benefit the self. • Mostly internal to the organization and usually victimize the employing organization or members. • 3 categories of internal targets: • The work itself. • The organization’s property, resources, symbols or regulations. • Other members. • Ex. Distorting data, stealing and selling manufacturing secrets, or harassing peers.

6. Basic Types of OMB • Type O: • Misbehaviors that primarily intend to benefit the member’s employing organization as a whole. • Mostly external in nature, usually directed toward outside victims such as other organizations, social institutions or customers. • Ex. Falsifying records in order to improve chances of obtaining a contract for the organization.

7. Basic Types of OMB • Type D: • Misbehaviors that intend to inflict damage and be destructive. • Can be either internal or external. • Whereas the intention behind Type S and Type O is to benefit an organization, Type D is to hurt others or the organization. • May be perpetuated by members either on their own initiative or on behalf of “significant others”. • Ex. Sabotaging company equipment or revenge is a response to perceived or actual mistreatment.

8. Core Antecedents of OMB • Individual Factors: • Individuals differ in their propensity to engage in the forms of misbehavior in terms of values, attitude, and personality traits. • Organizational Factors: • Organizations differ in terms of the contextual conditions, at both the task and organization levels. • This also affects the propensity of a member to engage in work related misbehavior.

9. OMB Model

10. Individual Factors • Personality: • Degree of sociopathic predisposition. • Disregard for social norms and obligations without the inhibiting experience of guilt. • Level of moral development of an organization member. • How does this affect managers engaging either in ethical or unethical behaviors? • Both normative and instrumental component of the model.

11. Individual Factors • Person-Organization Value Congruence: • The degree to which personal values held by the individual are consistent with core organizational norms and values. • The higher the congruence, the more likely a member is to identify with a referent social unit and be guided by its values and norms. • Normative component of the model.

12. Individual Factors • Generalized Value of Loyalty and Duty: • A personal value acquired in the process of primary socialization. • Represents a generalized sense of duty and obligation. • Belief by individuals that they have a moral obligation to exhibit loyalty in all significant social situations in which they are involved. • Normative component of the model.

13. Individual Factors • Personal Circumstances: • If an individual faces a compelling need or deprivation, he might be more inclined to engage in misbehavior that my help them resolve such needs. • Instrumental beliefs about the value of the ensuing consequence helps to guide the misbehavior. • Partially determine one’s tendencies to engage in OMB. • Normative and instrumental

14. Individual Factors • Dissatisfaction of Personal Needs by the Organization: • When individuals perceive being mistreated by their employing organizations, the valence of self-benefitting misbehavior may increase. • Affects the instrumental component but can indirectly contribute to normative forces.

15. Organizational Factors • Built-in Opportunity: • Certain jobs involve operations for which control is inherently difficult for monitoring transactions or inventory. • Can lead to misusing or taking advantage of organizational resources. • Instrumental component of the model.

16. Organizational Factors • Control Systems: • Appraisals, reward and disciplinary systems, or special monitoring arrangements are more effective at controlling behavior than others. • Both oppressive and lax controls may contribute to OMB. • May have a direct impact on members’ instrumental considerations.

17. Organizational Factors • Organizational Culture: • A construct denoting the extent to which members share core organizational values. • Normative influence. • Organizational Cohesiveness: • Pressure for cohesive social units to adhere to the norms of conduct are extremely high. • Normative influence. • Organizational Goals: • These goals are closely associated with organizational values and expectations. • Normative influence.

18. Montag’s Behavior • Is Montag’s behavior an example of a search for autonomy and personal growth? Or is it a classic case study of OMB? • Can the structure and hierarchy of Montag’s fire department make it impossible to achieve a true sense of autonomy without engaging in OMB? • How does Fabian’s behavior compare/contrast to Montag’s throughout the film?

19. Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory Motivation Factors: factors that deal with job content and lead to job satisfaction -Growth -Work Itself -Responsibility -Achievement -Advancement -Recognition

20. Motivation Factors Defined... • Growth includes actual learning of new skills, with greater possibility of advancement within the current occupational specialty as well as personal growth. • Work Itself includes the actual content of the job and its positive or negative effect upon the employee whether the job is characterized as interesting or boring, varied or routine, creative or stultifying, excessively easy or excessively difficult, challenging or non-demanding.

21. Motivation Factors Defined... • Responsibility includes both the responsibility and authority in relation to the job. Responsibility refers to the employee's control over his or her own job or being given the responsibility for the work of others. • Achievement includes the personal satisfaction of completing a job, solving problems, and seeing the results of one's efforts.

22. Motivation Factors Defined... • Advancement is the actual change in upward status in the company. • Recognition is the recognition by others for a job well done or personal accomplishment . 

23. Motivation Factors...So what? • When these factors are not present workers aren't dissatisfied, they are simply "not satisfied."  • Workers who are "not satisfied" do not restrict productivity, they just don't get involved in their job or put forth extra effort. • Workers who are "satisfied" put forth extra effort thus increasing productivity. 

24. Motivation Factors • Do you agree with the Motivational Factors aspect of the theory? Why or why not? • Montag was getting a promotion (advancement) and he seemed to be satisfied with that but the opposite happened. Why do you think that is?

25. Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory Hygiene Factors: factors that deal with job context and lead to job dissatisfaction -Company Policies & Administration -Supervision -Interpersonal Relations -Status -Working Conditions -Security -Salary

26. Hygiene Factors Defined... • Company Policies & Administration - the feelings about the adequacy or inadequacy of company organization and management. • Supervision - the competency or technical ability of the supervisor. This includes the supervisors willingness to teach or delegate authority, fairness, and job knowledge.

27. Hygiene Factors Defined... • Interpersonal Relations - the relationships between the worker and his or her superiors, subordinates, and peers. This includes both job related interactions and social interactions within the work environment. • Status - factors that involve some indication of status: private office, important sounding title, secretary, company car, and other "perks."

28. Hygiene Factors Defined... • Working Conditions- factors that involve the physical environment of the job: amount of work, facilities for performing work, light, tools, temperature, space, ventilation, and general appearance of the work place. • Job Security - The employee's job tenure and/or the company's stability or instability - objective signs of the presence or absence of job security, not the feelings of security. • Salary - includes all forms of compensation and focuses on wage or salary increases or unfulfilled expectation of increases

29. Hygiene Factors • When these factors are considered good, or acceptable, workers don't become "satisfied", they simply become "not dissatisfied."  • Productivity isn't restricted, it's just remains at an acceptable level. • When workers do become dissatisfied with any of these factors they restrict output. 

30. Montag • Was Montag challenged in his job? • Was there any form of recognition, if so when, and why didn’t it seem to work?

31. Montag • Did Montag receive peer approval? • Where did he receive approval? When?

32. Montag • Herzberg mentions that people need to feel like they are growing psychologically through new learning. Was this present in Montag?

33. Montag • What other principles of Herzberg’s theory were not achieved while Montag was a firefighter?

34. Opinion • The article mentioned that 10-15% of those that were exposed to job enrichment did not respond. Is this acceptable to you, in a corporate environment?

35. Discussion 1 • Who or what do you think was the primary motivator for Montag to change his outlook as a firefighter? What do you think was his "Aha!" moment?

36. Discussion 2 • What forms of symbolism did you see in the movie Fahrenheit 451? What was the significance of the symbolism?

37. Symbolisms • Montag’s first book. • David Copperfield • Chapter 1: “I am born.” • “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these page must show.” • People feeling their fur coats on the monorail or the dispatcher feeling hers while working. • Salamander on the firemen’s uniforms. • In ancient mythology, it was believed the salamander could pass through fire without being harmed. • The Captain taking the book away from the baby. • Removing books from society reduces humans to an infantile mind. • The Captain holding up Hitler’s autobiography, Mein Kampf, and saying, “We must burn all the books.”

38. Discussion 3 • How might Vardi and Weiner’s model of organizational misbehavior explain Montag’s motivational trajectory of decision making?