Chapter 1

Organizational BehaviorAn Overview

OBJECTIVES
LEARNING

After studying this chapter, you should

be able to:
1. Describe what managers do
2. Define organizational behavior (OB)
3. Explain the value of the systematic study of OB
4. Identify the contributions made by major
behavioral science disciplines to OB
5. List the major challenges and opportunities for
managers to use OB concepts

Effective
Effective Versus
Versus Successful
Successful Managerial
Managerial
Activities
Activities (Luthans)
(Luthans)
1.
1. Traditional
TraditionalManagement
Management
Decision
Decisionmaking,
making,planning,
planning,and
andcontrolling
controlling

2.
2. Communication
Communication
Exchanging
Exchangingroutine
routineinformation
informationand
andprocessing
processing
paperwork
paperwork

3.
3. Human
HumanResource
ResourceManagement
Management
Motivating,
Motivating,disciplining,
disciplining,managing
managingconflict,
conflict,staffing,
staffing,
and
andtraining
training

4.
4. Networking
Networking
Socializing,
Socializing,politicking,
politicking,and
andinteracting
interactingwith
withothers
others

Allocation
Allocation of
of Activities
Activities by
by Time
Time

Enter
Enter Organizational
Organizational Behavior
Behavior

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
organizations effectiveness

A Systematic study and

careful knowledge about
people- as individual or
as group- act within
organization.

What is OB:

Complementing
Complementing Intuition
Intuition with
with Systematic
Systematic Study
Study
Intuition
feelings which are not necessarily supported by research
or facts.

Systematic Study
Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes
and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific
evidence. (Event Based Management)

Provides a means to predict behaviors

Nature
Nature of
of People
People (Fundamentals
(Fundamentals of
of OB)
OB)
Individual Differences
Perception
Whole Person
Motivated Behavior
Desire to involve
Value of person
(Extracted from Organizational Behavior- Behavior at workplace by John Newstrom)

Goals of Organizational Behavior

Describe
Understand
Predict
Control
(Extracted from Organizational Behavior- Behavior at workplace by John Newstrom)

Forces Affecting OB

(Extracted from Organizational Behavior- Behavior at workplace by John

Newstrom)

Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunities
Opportunities for
for OB
OB
Responding to Globalization
Increased foreign assignments
Working with people from different cultures
Overseeing movement of jobs to countries
with low-cost labor
Managing Workforce Diversity
Embracing diversity
Changing demographic pattern
Implications for managers
Recognizing and responding to differences

Major
Major Workforce
Workforce Diversity
Diversity Categories
Categories
Gender
Gender

National
National
Origin
Origin

Disability
Disability
Age
Age
Race
Race

Religion
Religion

E X H I B I T 14
E X H I B I T 14

Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunities
Opportunities for
for OB
OB (contd)
(contd)

Improving Quality and Productivity

Quality management (QM)
Process reengineering

Responding to the Labor Shortage

Changing work force demographics
Fewer skilled laborers
Early retirements and older workers

Improving Customer Service

Increased expectation of service quality
Customer-responsive cultures

What
What Is
Is Quality
Quality Management?
Management?

Intense focus on the customer satisfaction

Concern for continuous improvement

Improvement in the quality of everything the

organization does

Accurate measurement

Empowerment of employees

E X H I B I T 16
E X H I B I T 16

Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunity
Opportunity for
for OB
OB (contd)
(contd)
Improving people skills
Empowering people
Stimulating innovation and change
Coping with temporariness
Working in networked organizations
Helping employees balance work/life conflicts
Improving ethical behavior
Managing people during the war on terrorism

Basic
Basic OB
OB Model,
Model, Stage
Stage II
Model
An abstraction of reality
A simplified representation of
some real-world phenomenon

E X H I B I T 1-6
E X H I B I T 1-6

The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables
Dependent Variable
A response that is affected by an independent variable (what
organizational behavior researchers try to understand)

The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (contd)
(contd)
Productivity
A performance measure that
includes effectiveness and efficiency

Effectiveness
Achievement of goals

Efficiency
Meeting goals at a low cost

The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (contd)
(contd)
Absenteeism
The failure to report to work

Turnover
The voluntary and
involuntary permanent
withdrawal from an
organization

The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (contd)
(contd)
Deviant Workplace Behavior
Voluntary behavior that violates
significant organizational norms and
thereby threatens the well-being of the
organization and/or any of its members

The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (contd)
(contd)
Organizational Citizenship Behavior
(OCB)
Discretionary behavior that is not
part of an employees formal job
requirements, but that nevertheless
promotes the effective functioning of
the organization

The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (contd)
(contd)
Job Satisfaction
A general attitude (not a behavior) toward ones job; a
positive feeling of one's job resulting from an evaluation of
its characteristics

The
The Independent
Independent Variables
Variables
Independent Variable
The presumed cause of some change in the dependent
variable; major determinants of a dependent variable

Independent
Independent
Variables
VariablesCan
CanBe
Be

Individual-Level
Individual-Level
Variables
Variables

Group-Level
Group-Level
Variables
Variables

Organization
Organization
System-Level
System-Level
Variables
Variables

Basic OB
Model, Stage
II

E X H I B I T 1-7
E X H I B I T 1-7