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TOPIC 1 - What Is Organizational Behavior

This document provides an overview of organizational behavior. It discusses [1] the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace such as manager effectiveness, career progression, employee retention and financial performance. It also [2] defines management functions, roles and skills, and compares effective versus successful managers. Finally, it [3] defines organizational behavior as investigating how individuals, groups and structure impact workplace behavior to improve organizational effectiveness.

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Mail Jeff
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43 views

TOPIC 1 - What Is Organizational Behavior

This document provides an overview of organizational behavior. It discusses [1] the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace such as manager effectiveness, career progression, employee retention and financial performance. It also [2] defines management functions, roles and skills, and compares effective versus successful managers. Finally, it [3] defines organizational behavior as investigating how individuals, groups and structure impact workplace behavior to improve organizational effectiveness.

Uploaded by

Mail Jeff
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TOPIC 1: WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

LO 1: DEMONSTRATE THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS IN THE WORKPLACE


a) Understanding OB helps to determine manager’s effectiveness.
 The better we understand human behaviour, the better we are able to determine how effective
a manager is.

b) Leadership and communication skills that are critical as a person progresses in a career.
 Managers with good leadership and communication skills generally move up faster on the
corporate ladder.

c) Lower turnover of quality employees.


 Positive social relationships were associated with lower stress at work and lower intentions to
quit; happy employees sticks around.

d) Higher quality applications for recruitment.


 Developing manager’s interpersonal skills helps to attract and keep high-performing
employees. Companies with good image attracts better pool of job applicants.

e) Better financial performance.


 Companies with reputations as good places to work (such as Forbes 100 best companies to
work for in America) have been found to generate superior financial performance.

LO 2: DESCRIBE THE MANAGER’S FUNCTIONS, ROLES AND SKILLS


Definition for An individual who get things done through other people / achieves goals through
Manager other people.

Management  PLANNING - The planning function encompasses defining an organization’s goals,


Functions establishing an overall strategy for achieving those goals, and developing a
comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities

(Henri Fayol)  ORGANIZING - Managers are also responsible for designing an organization’s
structure. Organizing includes determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do
them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions
are to be made.

 LEADING - When managers motivate employees, direct their activities, select the
most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts among members,
they’re engaging in leading.

 CONTROLLING - To ensure things are going as they should, management must


monitor the organization’s performance and compare it with previously set goals. If
there are any significant deviations, it is management’s job to get the organization
back on track. This monitoring, comparing, and potential correcting is the controlling
function.
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Management
Roles

(Henry
Mintzberg)

Management TECHNICAL SKILLS


Skills Ability to utilize job specific knowledge of tools, techniques and procedures which are
specific to a particular field to perform a task
HUMAN SKILL
(Robert Katz)
Ability to work effectively with one’s own work group as well as others in an
organization
CONCEPTUAL SKILL
Ability to analyse and diagnose a situation to determine cause and effect. This skill is
also defined as an ability to process information from both internal and external
environments of an organization and determine related implications

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EFFECTIVE VERSUS SUCCESSFUL MANAGERS:
Luthans and his associates studied more than 450 managers.
All engaged in four managerial activities:
1. Traditional management - Decision making, planning, and controlling.
2. Communication - Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork.
3. Human resource management - Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and training.
4. Networking - Socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders.

LO 3: DEFINE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR


Organizational Behavior (often abbreviated OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of applying
such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.

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LO 4: IDENTIFY THE MAJOE BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO
OB

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a) PSYCHOLOGY
 Is the scientific study of the human mind and its function. Seeks to measure, explain and
sometimes change the behavior of humans.

b) SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
 Is a branch of psychology that deals with social interaction and its effect. It blends the concepts
from both psychology and sociology to focus on people’s influence on one another.

c) SOCIOLOGY
 The study of structure, development and functioning of human society. While psychology
focuses on individual, sociology studies people in relation to their social environment and
culture.

d) ANTHROPOLOGY
 The study of humankind through time and space; to learn about human beings and their
activities.

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LO 5: COMPARE THE THREE LEVELS OF ANALYSIS IN THIS BOOK’S OB MODEL

LEVEL 1 - INPUTS

Inputs are the variables like personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to
processes. These variables set the stage for what will occur in an organization later. Many are determined
in advance of the employment relationship.

 For example, individual diversity characteristics, personality, and values are shaped by a
combination of an individual’s genetic inheritance and childhood environment.

 Group structure, roles, and team responsibilities are typically assigned immediately before or after
a group is formed.

 Finally, organizational structure and culture are usually the result of years of development and
change as the organization adapts to its environment and builds up customs and norms.

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LEVEL 2 - PROCESSES
Processes are actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that
lead to certain outcomes.
 At the individual level, processes include emotions and moods, motivation, perception, and
decision making.

 At the group level, they include communication, leadership, power and politics, and conflict and
negotiation.

 Finally, at the organizational level, processes include human resource management and change
practices.

LEVEL 3 - OUTCOMES
Outcomes are the key variables that you want to explain or predict, and that are affected by some other
variables. What are the primary outcomes in OB?
 Scholars have emphasized individual-level outcomes like attitudes and satisfaction, task
performance, citizenship behavior, and withdrawal behavior.

 At the group level, cohesion and functioning are the dependent variables.

 Finally, at the organizational level we look at overall profitability and survival. Because these
outcomes will be covered in all the chapters, we’ll briefly discuss each here so you can understand
what the “goal” of OB will be.

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8 VARIABLES (OUTCOMES) OF INTEREST IN OB:
1. Attitudes and stress
- Employee attitudes are the evaluations employee make (positive to negative) about objects, people
or situation.
- Stress (or distress) is the unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to
environmental pressures. (Note: positive stress (eustress) is a driving factor towards achieving
goals)

2. Task performance
- The combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing your core job tasks is a reflection of your
level of task performance.

3. Citizenship behavior
- The discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements; that
contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace.

4. Withdrawal behavior
- The negative set of actions that employees take to separate themselves from the organization.

5. Group cohesion
- The extent to which members of a group support and validate one another at work.

6. Group functioning
- Group functioning refers to the quantity and quality of a group’s work output.

7. Productivity
- An organization is productive if it achieves its goals by transforming inputs into outputs at the
lowest cost; this requires both efficiency and effectiveness.

8. Survival
- Organizational survival is simply evidence that the organization is able to exist and grow over the long
term.

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