OBHR101 Management of People at Work

G10
Prof Ma Kheng Min
 OBHR101 MPW
Learning Objectives

Overview of the field of Organization Behaviour (OB) to

help you understand, predict, and influence behaviour in
organizational settings.

Learn new ways of thinking about yourself as

individuals, as members of small teams and members of
large organizations.
 OBHR101 Management of People at Work

Recommended Textbook

Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge. Global Reality.

9th Edition. 2021. International Student edition for use outside the
U.S. (ISBN: 978-1-260-57065-6) by Steven L. McShane & Mary Ann
Von Glinow.
 Topics
Introduction to the field of Organizational Behaviour (Ch 1)
Designing Organizational Structure (Ch 13)
Organizational Culture (Ch 14)
Leadership in Organizational Settings (Ch 12)
Organizational Change (Ch 15)
Decision Making & Creativity (Ch 7)
Emotions, Attitudes & Stress (Ch 4)
Applied Performance Practices (Ch 6)
Communications in Teams and Organizations (Ch 9)
Power and Influence in the Workplace (Ch 10)
Conflict and Negotiation in the Workplace(Ch 11)
Learner-Centred Approach
• Read about and understand main OB concepts and principles.
• Apply OB concepts and principles to ‘real world’ problems and issues
to facilitate understanding.

Come to class prepared. Chapters assigned must be

read in advance, guided by learning/reading objectives.

StudentLed Presentation Group Discussion

Reflection Journal
Case study
Mini-Lectures
Pop Quiz: Polls / MCQ / Matching / Word
Cloud via Kahoot!, Wooclap, Slido
 OBHR101 Management of People at Work

Recommended Textbook

Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge. Global Reality.

9th Edition. 2021. International Student edition for use outside the
U.S. (ISBN: 978-1-260-57065-6) by Steven L. McShane & Mary Ann
Von Glinow.
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction to the Field of
Organizational Behavior
 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and organizations.

2. Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for
organizations.

3. Discuss the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

4. Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace,

work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment
relationships.

5. Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and
performance.

6. Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

 Organizational Behavior and Organizations
Organizational behavior (OB):
• Studies what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations.

• Emerged as a distinct field around early 1940s, but topic has been
studied for more than 2,500 years.

Organizations
• Are groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose.

• Are collective entities.

• Have collective sense of purpose.
 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and organizations.

2. Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and

for organizations.

3. Discuss the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

4. Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace,

work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment
relationships.

5. Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and
performance.

6. Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

 How much do you know about OB?
• We are all able to give ‘sensible’ reasons why the same statement
is either true or false.

• Common sense develops through unsystematic and incomplete

experiences with organizational behaviour.

• Management practice should be based on informed opinion and

systematic study! Evidenced based management involves
translating principles based on the best scientific evidence into
organizational practices. Making decisions based on the best
available scientific evidence from social science and organizational
research, rather than personal preference and unsystematic
experience.
Importance of OB for You
OB is important for everyone.

Employers say OB skills are most important.

OB helps students adopt better personal theories to:

• Understand workplace events.

• Predict workplace events.

• Get things done by influencing and coordinating with others.

Importance of OB for Organizations

• Has a good fit with its external environment (open system).

• Effectively transforms inputs to outputs (human capital).
• Satisfies the needs of key stakeholders.
Organizations as Open Systems
Human Capital as Competitive Advantage
Knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued
resources that employees bring to the organization.

Human capital is:

• Essential for survival/success.
• Difficult to find or copy.
• Difficult to replace employees with technology.

Human capital improves organizational effectiveness.

• Directly improves individual behavior and performance.
• Performing diverse tasks in unfamiliar situations.
• Company’s investment in employees motivates them.
 Organizations and their Stakeholders
ü Any entity who affects or is affected by the firm’s
objectives and actions.
ü Organizations need to understand, manage, and satisfy
stakeholders.
ü Challenge: Conflicting interests and limited resources.

Values are relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide

preferences, courses of action.
 Stakeholders and CSR
Corporate social responsibility (CSR): activities intended
to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm’s
immediate financial interests or legal obligations.

Triple-bottom-line philosophy:
• Economic.
• Society.
• Environment.
Integrative Model of OB
Integrative Model of OB
 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and organizations.

2. Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for
organizations.

3. Discuss the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is

based.

4. Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace,

work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment
relationships.

5. Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and
performance.

6. Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

 Organizational Behavior Anchors
Systematic research anchor:
• OB knowledge is built on systematic research.
• Companies should use evidence-based management.
• Factors limiting evidence-based management.
• Ways to create a more evidence-based organization.

Practical orientation anchor:

• OB theories need to be useful in practice.
• OB theory application is its true “impact.”
 Organizational Behavior Anchors
Multidisciplinary anchor:
• Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines.
• OB develops its own theories but scans other fields.
• Risks of being not developing own field’s theories.
Contingency anchor:
• A particular action may have different consequences in different
situations.
• Need to diagnose the situation to choose best action.
Multiple levels of analysis anchor:
• Individual, team, organizational level of analysis.
• OB topics usually relevant at all three levels of analysis.
 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and organizations.

2. Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for
organizations.

3. Discuss the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

4. Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace,

work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment
relationships.

5. Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and
performance.

6. Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

Emerging Workplace: Inclusive Workplace
Inclusive workplace:
• Values people of all identities.
• Diversity viewed as a valued resource.
• Evidence at individual and collective level.
Surface-level diversity:
• Observable demographic or physiological differences.
Deep-level diversity
• Psychological differences.
Generational diversity:
• Deep-level diversity exists, but subtle.
• Differences due more to life stage than cohort.
 Workplace Diversity: Benefits and Challenges
Benefits of diversity:
• Better decisions, employee attitudes, team performance.
• More team creativity, better decisions in complex situations.
• Better representation of community needs.
• Moral/legal imperative.
• Inclusive workplace develops a culture of respect.

Challenges of diversity:
• Team take longer to perform effectively together.
• Higher dysfunctional conflict, lower info sharing and morale.
 Emerging Workplace: Work-Life Integration
v Effectively engaged in work and nonwork roles with low
role conflict.
• Satisfying demands, experiencing positive emotions of roles.
• Life roles are inherently integrated.
v Depleting personal resources in one role starves other roles,
which is a problem.
v Practicing work-life integration.
• Literally integrate two or more roles.
• Flexible work scheduling.
• Align work and nonwork roles with personal characteristics.
• Boundary management.
 Emerging Workplace: Remote Work
• Performing the job away from the organization’s physical
work site.

• Usually working from home or other non-client site.

• Remote employees are connected through information

technology.

• Some companies are completely remote (distributed).

Remote Work: Benefits and Risks
Remote work: Benefits
• Better work-life integration.
• Valued benefit, less turnover.
• Higher productivity.
• Better for environment.
• Lower corporate costs.

Remote work: Disadvantages:

• More social isolation.
• Less informal communication.
• Lower team cohesion.
• Weaker organizational culture.
 Remote Work: Contingencies
ü Employee characteristics:
• High self-motivation.
• High self-organization.
• High need for autonomy.
• Good information technology skills.
• Fulfill social needs outside work.

ü Job characteristics:
• Tasks don’t require office resources.
• Low task interdependence.
• Task performance is measurable.

üOrganizational characteristics:
• Reward performance, not presence.
• Maintaining team cohesion and psychological connectedness.
Emerging Workplace: Employment Relationships
Three main employment relationships:
1. Direct employment:
• Employee working directly with employer.
2. Indirect employment:
• Outsourced or agency work.
3. Contract employment:
• Worker is one firm serving a client.

Consequences of emerging employment relationships:

• Direct employment: Higher work quality, innovation, and agility.
• Direct employment: Lower satisfaction or commitment when working
with indirect workers.
• Indirect employment: lower job satisfaction than others.
• Teams with direct and indirect workers: Weaker social networks, less
information sharing.
• Ambiguous manager roles, less discretion over indirect workers.
 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and organizations.

2. Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for
organizations.

3. Discuss the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

4. Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace,

work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment
relationships.

5. Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and
performance.

6. Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

 MARS Model of Individual Behavior

Situational factors
Personality.
Values. Motivation
Self-concept. Individual
Perceptions. Ability behavior and
Emotions and results.
attitudes. Role perceptions
Stress.
 MARS Model: Motivation
Internal forces that affect a person’s effort for voluntary
behavior:
S

• Direction M

• Intensity
• Persistence A
BAR
(Beh and
Results)
R
 MARS Model: Ability
Aptitudes and learned capabilities required to
successfully complete a task.
S

M
Person–job matching.
• Selecting. A BAR
• Developing.
• Redesigning. R
 MARS Model: Role Perceptions
Understand the job duties expected of us.
Role perceptions are clearer when we understand:
• Our tasks or accountable consequences.
S
• Task and performance priorities.
• Preferred behaviors and procedures. M

Benefits of clear role perceptions.

A BAR
• More proficient job performance.
• Better coordination with others. R
• Higher motivation.
 MARS Model: Situational Factors

Any context beyond person’s immediate control.

Two influences of situation on behavior:
• Constraint or facilitator.

• Cues. S

A BAR

R
 Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and organizations.

2. Explain why organizational behavior knowledge is important for you and for
organizations.

3. Discuss the anchors on which organizational behavior knowledge is based.

4. Summarize the workplace trends of diversity and the inclusive workplace,

work–life integration, remote work, and emerging employment
relationships.

5. Describe the four factors that directly influence individual behavior and
performance.

6. Summarize the five types of individual behavior in organizations.

 Types of Individual Behavior
Task performance:
• Voluntary goal-directed behaviors.
• Three types of performance:
1. Proficient.
2. Adaptive.
3. Proactive.

Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs):

• Cooperation with or helpfulness, supports work context.
• OCBs are directed toward individuals and organization.
• Some OCBs are discretionary, others implicit job requirement.
• OCBs have potential negative consequences.
 Types of Individual Behavior
Counterproductive work behaviors.
• Voluntary behaviors that may harm the organization.

Joining and staying with the organization.

• Problems with skills shortages and high turnover.

Maintaining work attendance.

• Absences due mainly to situation and motivation.
• Presenteeism: attending scheduled work during significantly
reduced capacity (illness, injury).
Assessment Methods

q Leadership Quiz (Individual) 10% (In-class on Sat, 28 Jan 2023)

q Class Participation 20% (includes 3% Research Participation)

q Reflection (Individual) 10%
q StudentLed Presentaion (Group) 20%
q Final Exam (Closed Book) 40% (24th April 2023, 1pm – 3pm)
Assessment Methods

q Leadership Quiz (Individual) 10% (In-class on Sat, 28 Jan 2023)

q Class Participation 20% (includes 3% Research Participation)

q Reflection (Individual) 10%
q StudentLed Presentaion (Group) 20%
q Final Exam (Closed Book) 40% (24 Apr 2023, 1pm – 3pm)

Class Participation 17%

Participation in class discussion, and Q&A during StudLed Presentations.

TA will chart your participation. Prof grades based on TA’s chart.

Research Participation 3%
Refer to course outline and RP handout, RP sign up procedure (eLearn)
 Research Participation (3%)
As one of your requirements for this course, you are expected to participate in research studies being conducted by the
Organizational Behaviour faculty at SMU. Each student is expected to complete three units of research participation during
the term; each unit typically involves one hour of participation. (Therefore, your total requirement is three hours for the
term). Each unit of participation is worth 1 percentage point (or 3% for all three units) out of a possible 100% total in this
course. Please note that there are penalties for no-shows.

Information regarding, and opportunity to sign up for, research studies is on the Business School’s SPS website at
https://sps.intranet.smu.edu.sg/index.aspx. The subject pool will begin on Monday of Week 3 (23 Jan 2023) and end on
Sunday of Week 14 (16 Apr 2023).

For any queries regarding subject pool, please contact Prof Nina Sirola at [email protected].
Besides contributing to the specific research project and ensuring that you receive your full participation credit points for
MPW, there are several other benefits of participating in research studies. First, note that all the knowledge you will
encounter in MPW is derived from research. By participating in research, you are able to contribute back to, and further
build, that knowledge base. Second, by participating in research you gain insights into the nature of scientific investigation
and the research process, which constitutes a valuable way of learning to improve organizational practices. And third, note
that SMU aspires to excellence in teaching and research. For most of you, participating in research is one of the few
opportunities you will have to contribute to the research mission of the university.

If for any reason you do not wish to participate in research studies, you can write 3 short research papers instead. Each
paper (each of which reviews one research article) completed is worth one unit. This involves obtaining scientific articles
related to organizational behaviour and that are not related to your other projects in this course. These articles should not
be completely opinion or discussion, but rather must be articles that describe scientific studies. After you obtain the
articles, answer the following questions: What was the purpose of each study? What were the hypotheses? What was
manipulated and/or measured? What were the results of this study? What are the implications of this study’s findings? The
research paper(s) should be submitted to your instructor, Prof Ma Kheng Min ([email protected]) no later than
5pm on 21 April 2023 (Friday).
Assessment Methods
q Leadership MCQ 20% (Due 5pm on Monday, 17 October 2022)

q Class Participation 20% (includes 3% Research Participation)

q Reflection (Individual) 10%

q StudentLed Presentaion (Group) 20%

q Final Exam (Closed Book) 40% (24 Apr 2023, 1pm – 3pm)
Reflection (10%)
At the end of class, Prof will ask students to either (1) Discuss two takeaways (ie. what you learned) about
the topic; or (2) Submit your answers to case questions.

You can either

(1) type directly into the system as ‘text submission’; or
(2) type in ‘Word/.docx’, then copy-paste it as ‘text’ in the Journal if you want to have a copy of your
reflection essay.

Journal (eLearn) submission deadline: 11.30pm on “Class date + 1” eg. submission deadline is 11.30pm on
10 Jan 2023 (Tuesday) if class is on 9 Jan 2023 (Monday),

This is solely to reinforce self-learning as you reflect on the material we covered in class.
Submissions will count towards 10%, but not graded for quality. Submission for class you missed will NOT be
counted.

If there are common areas of concern, Prof will address first thing in class the following week.
 #Reflection@9 Jan 2023
******************************************************************
Discuss two takeaways (ie. what you learned) about Organisational
Behaviour we discussed in class on 9 Jan 2023.
*******************************************************************

You can either:

(1) type directly into the system as ‘text submission’;
or
(2) type in ‘Word/.docx’, then copy-paste it as ‘text’ in the Journal if you want to have a copy
of your reflection essay.

Journal (eLearn) submission deadline: 11.30pm on 10 Jan 2023 (Tuesday).

This is solely to reinforce self-learning as you reflect on the material we covered in class.
Submissions will count towards 10%, but not graded for quality. Submission for class you missed
will NOT be counted.
Preparation for Session 2 (Monday, 16th January 2023)

After reading Chapter 13 Designing Organisational Structures, you should be

able to:

• Describe the three types of coordination in organizational structures.

• Discuss the role and effects of span of control, centralization, and formalization,
and relate these elements to organic and mechanistic organizational structures.

• Identify and evaluate six types of departmentalization.

• Explain how the external environment, organizational size, technology, and

strategy are relevant when designing an organizational structure.
 Group Presentation (Monday, 30th January 2023)
Do an online research on any ONE organization operating in the selected industry for relevant
information about its Organizational Culture.

Answer the following three (3) questions in relation to the organization you have selected:

1. Describe its organizational culture.

2. Describe the values that dominate the organization’s culture? Share with the class any
artifacts/symbols/stories/rituals showing that the organization practices what it preaches or
espouse as its organizational culture.

3. Evaluate whether the organization has a strong or weak culture.

Group 1: Transport
Group 2: Hospitality
Group 3: Fast Food
Group 4: Banking & Finance
Group 5: E-commerce
Group 6: Oil and Gas
Group 7: Entertainment

Presentation (10 mins max) on 30th January 2023 (Monday)

Note: Not everyone need to present on 30th Jan 2023, but all team members should contribute to the
preparation of the presentation. NOT graded, this project is for students to understand the group
dynamics, a dry run for the ‘StudentLed case presentation’ assignment (20%).
Consultation

Consultation by appointment (email: [email protected])

Online (Zoom) Consultation (any time, individual or group)

Face-to-Face Consultation (subject to social distancing restrictions, no more than 2
students per session at my office)

TA: Lui Enqi (email: [email protected]