OBHR 101

Management of People at Work

Session 1 INTRODUCTION
Dr. Low Chin Heng
LKCSB Adjunct Faculty
[email protected]

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Agenda
 Organizational Effectiveness
 Operating Context
 Organizational Behavior Knowledge
 Administrative Matters

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 Let’s define ‘organization’

Image Source: Free photo from Canva.com

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Definition of Organization
• Groups of people who work interdependently toward some
purpose

Source: McShane, S. L. and Von Glinow, M.A. Organizational Behavior: Emerging

knowledge. Global reality. 10th Edition. © 2024

• A consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more

people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve
a common goal or set of goals

Source: Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2017). Organizational behavior Global Edition
(17th ed.). Essex: Pearson

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Check-In Question

What causes organizational

effectiveness?

Image Source: Free photo from Canva.com

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Organizational Effectiveness
Organizational Effectiveness: Organizational Performance, Success,
Goodness, Health, Competitiveness, Excellence

Three Elemental Perspectives to Organizational Effectiveness

1. Goodness of “fit” (Organizations as Open Systems)
2. Human capital optimization (Human Capital as Competitive Advantage)
3. Satisfaction of stakeholders (Organizations and Their Stakeholders)

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1. Organizations as Open Systems
Effective organizations:
• Maintain a close “fit” with changing conditions (i.e. inputs, processes, and outputs are
aligned with the resources available and needs of the external environment)
• Transform inputs to outputs efficiently (coordination among internal subsystems is vital)

Symbiotic Relationship
between Organization and
External Environment

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Organization-Environment Fit
Economic
E.g. Changes in
global economy,
Core inflation,
High interest rates Social
Political E.g. Gen Y, Rise
E.g. International of Gen Z,
Conflicts, Ageing
International Population,
Relations Role of women
in leadership
ORGANIZATION
Adapt?
Influence?

Environmental Innovate? Technological

E.g. Sustainability E.g. Use of A.I.,
Concerns Influence of
Legal Social Media

E.g. Personal
Data Protection
Act, Industrial
Relations,
Litigious
Perspective

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2. Human Capital as Competitive Advantage
Employees bring knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued resources
into the organization

Workplace Practices that Organizational Effectiveness

Enhance Human Capital
Examples: Market
Develop Employee Employee Productivity
Skills & Knowledge Examples
of
Financial
outcomes
Offer Job Autonomy

Provide Appropriate
Rewards
Corporate

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3. Stakeholder Perspective
Organizations endeavor to understand, manage, satisfy stakeholder needs and
expectations
However, there are challenges:
• Conflicting interests (e.g. profit motive and ethical/sustainability/social
responsibility concerns)
• Organization’s limited resources vis-à-vis competing stakeholder needs

Internal ORGANIZATION External

• Directors Triple Bottom Line • Customers
• Managers • Distributors
• Employees • Suppliers
Owners • Regulatory authorities
• Media
Values, Ethical Practices • Local communities
• Individuals • General public
• Institutions • Special interest groups
• Investors • Trade unions

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Just curious…

So… if managers apply people management theories

through the three perspectives, their employees will deliver
organizational effectiveness?

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Debrief

Job of a Manager…
Manager: Someone who gets things done through other people in
organizations. To be effective, he/ she has to manage the attitude
and behavior of other people.

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 Not for MPW Exam; just for your personal wisdom…
Cynefin Framework (Welsh word pronounced as “kin-ev-in”)
COMPLEX (UNKNOWN) COMPLICATED (KNOWABLE)
• Cause-and-effect relationships only • Cause-and-effect separated over
coherent in retrospect and do not repeat time and space
• Try recognizing and managing patterns • Resolve issues with the help of
• Probe-Sense-Respond experts and good practices
• Sense-Analyze-Respond

DISORDER

CHAOS SIMPLE (KNOWN)

• No cause-and-effect relationships • Cause-and-effect relations repeatable,
perceivable perceivable and predictable
• Manage crisis and try restoring some • Apply standard operating procedures and
stability best practices
• Act-Sense-Respond • Sense-Categorize-Respond

In which quadrant(s) would people management reside?

Source: Mark, A., Ramanujam, Ranga, & Rousseau, Denise M. (2006). Notes from a small Island: Researching organisational behaviour in healthcare
from a UK perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27(7), 851-867.

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We’re seeing new complexities regularly…
Young people prioritise careers and financial security over getting married:
Study
SINGAPORE - Conducted by the National Youth Council (NYC) and the Institute of Policy
Studies (IPS) Social Lab, this is the first national longitudinal study on youth. Called the
Youth Study on Transitions and Evolving Pathways in Singapore (Youth Steps), it followed a
representative sample of more than 3,000 young people aged between 17 and 24, starting
from 2017 until 2022… contrary to the narrative that young people are “quiet quitting”, the
results show that they prioritise their career above other life goals… Chew Han Ei, principal
investigator of Youth Steps: “Young people want it all. They want to be successful in their
careers. They also want to have time to pursue their passions outside of work.”
~ The Straits Times, 7 August 2024

‘What is the point?’: Singapore has more quiet quitters than global average,
survey shows
SINGAPORE - Quiet quitting refers to opting out of tasks beyond one’s assigned duties and
becoming less psychologically invested in work… “Quiet quitting… usually a gradual process.
Employers should be mindful of employees, understand their expectations and address
them to prevent quiet quitting among them.” Noting that humans are complex, founder and
chief executive of ExecutiveCounselling.com Lisa Oake said the root cause of quiet quitting
could even be an issue that is not totally related to work.
~ The Straits Times, 20 July 2023

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Operating Context
Economic Social
Concerns Concerns

Political
Concerns

YOU
Technological
Concerns

Environmental Legal
Concerns Concerns

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Operating Context as Your Span of Influence Grows

YOU

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 Our Operating Context will get
less and less knowable; we will
see more and more complicated
and complex phenomena…
And YOU need to do well in such
an Operating Context!
Image Source: Free photo from Canva.com

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OB Knowledge Can Help…
Organizational Behavior (OB): Studies what people think, feel, and do in and
around organizations

Implications of OB to You
Better comprehend and predict
workplace events Contribute to your personal
Adopt more accurate personal success and your organization’s
theories at the workplace effectiveness more significantly
Influence organizational events

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Anchors of OB Knowledge
Systematic Research Anchor and Practical Orientation Anchor
• OB knowledge is built on systematic research
• OB theories inform practice through evidence-based management

ORGANIZATIONS
Groups of people
working
interdependently
toward some
common
purposes
Better predictions between cause Need to better predict colleagues’
(management decision/ action) and actions, decisions and outcomes
effect (outcome involving colleagues) for organizational effectiveness

A STRATEGIC
ORGANIZATIONAL
APPROACH
BEHAVIOR (OB)
Apply OB theories
Study of what
to inform
people think, feel
management
and do in
decisions and
organizations
actions Research
evidence

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Anchors of OB Knowledge
Multidisciplinary Anchor
• Many OB concepts adopted
from other disciplines
• OB develops its own theories,
but scans other fields

Source: Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2017). Organizational behavior Global Edition (17th ed.). Essex: Pearson

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Anchors of OB Knowledge
Contingency Anchor
• A particular action may have different consequences in different situations
• Need to diagnose the complicated situation to choose best action

Application of OB Theory

Inputs Processes Outcomes

People Organizational
People Performance
Management

Operating Context
External and Internal Influences

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Anchors of OB Knowledge
Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor
• Individual, team, organizational
level of analysis Organizational
• Organizational culture
• OB topics usually relevant at all • Organizational change
three levels of analysis Team • HR Policies and Practices
• Team dynamics
• Leadership
• Team performance

Individual
• Personality
• Values
• Perceptions
• Emotions
• Attitudes
• Motivation
• Decision-
making

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 Administrative Matters

Image Source: Free photo from Canva.com

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Recommended Textbook
Steven L. McShane & Mary Ann Von Glinow. Organizational Behavior: Emerging
Knowledge. Global Reality. International Student edition, 10/e. ©2024.

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MPW Coverage: The Individual & The Team &
Leadership Organization

Personality & Values Team Dynamics

[Ch 2] [Ch 8]

Perception, Attribution
We are here! & Decision Making Organizational Culture
[Ch 3 & 7 ] [Ch 14]
E-Learning Week

Introduction Emotions, Attitudes &

OB as a Science Stress
to OB Organizational Change
[Ch 1] [Ch 4]
[Ch 1] [Ch 15]

Leadership in
Organizational Contexts
[Ch 12] HR Policies &
Practices
Employee Motivation & [Contents beyond
Applied Performance recommended textbook
Practices will be provided]
[Ch 5 & 6]

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Preparations for MPW Next Week…
• Read: Chapter 1 of Recommended Textbook
- Always a good idea to read up on the relevant chapter(s) before the
actual lesson.

• Read:
- Thomke & Loveman, Act Like a Scientist, Harvard Business Review,
May-June 2022
- Pfeffer & Sutton, Evidence-Based Management, Harvard Business
Review, January 2006
- Find these articles from SMU Library’s e-journal database

• We’ll practice searching SMU e-Library for OB-related resources, so please

bring along your laptops/mobile devices for some hands-on activities.

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Subject Pool System Research Studies
• Worth up to 3 credits

• Pool would usually begin in week 3 and end in week 14

- A few studies will be posted soon
- Many more will be posted throughout the semester

• For more information, go to the Subject Pool System website

(https://sps.intranet.smu.edu.sg/index.aspx)

Reminders
> Sign up early
> Subscribe to alerts
> Participate well
> Keep your commitments and be on time
> Subject pool coordinator: Assistant Professor Nina Sirola, Department of OBHR

> By week 11, if you still cannot get a single SPS slot, let’s explore the alternative:
crafting of research review papers to be submitted to Prof Low by 17 November 2024

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