Introduction to

Organizational Behavior 1
Chapter I

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Why OB?
 Recall,explain and apply theories and models relating to
the behaviour of individuals and groups in organisations.

 Reflecton skills, knowledge and learning experiences ,

and those of fellow team members

 Give sensitive feedback to others and reflect upon

feedback received to improve your own effectiveness
and the effectiveness of the group and organization

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 Understand the complexity of human behaviour and
demonstrate the flexibility required to work effectively
with others;
 Assess both your own and others’ strengths and
weaknesses in organisational behaviour and identify
development opportunities
 Analyse your learning and communication styles and
use this knowledge to further develop your skills in
lifelong learning
 Express ideas, concepts and arguments in a logical and
coherent written form and in conformity with relevant
standards of academic writing.

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The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
 Understanding OB helps determine manager
effectiveness
– Technical and quantitative skills are important
– But leadership and communication skills are CRITICAL

 Organizational benefits of skilled managers

– Lower turnover of quality employees
– Higher quality applications for recruitment
– Better financial performance

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What Managers Do
 They get things done through other people.

 Management Activities:
– Make decisions
– Allocate resources
– Direct activities of others to attain goals

 Work in an organization
– 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.

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Management roles

Control

Lea
Plan
d

Organize

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Plan
A process that includes defining goals,
establishing strategy, and developing
comprehensive plans to coordinate
activities.

As managers advance, they do this

function more often.
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Control
 Monitoring performance, comparing
actual performance with previously set
goals, and correcting any deviation.

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 A function that includes motivating
employees, directing others, selecting the
Lead most effective communication channels,
and resolving conflicts.
 It is about PEOPLE!

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 Determining what tasks are to be done,
Organize who is to do them, how the tasks are to be
grouped, who reports to whom, and where
decisions are to be made.

Don’t panic

Organize
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Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles

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Katz’s Essential Management Skills
 Technical Skills
◦ The ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
◦ Many develop it on the job

 Human Skills
◦ The ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people,
both individually and in groups
◦ Technically proficient but interpersonally incompetent
 Conceptual Skills
◦ The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations
◦ Decision making requires spotting problems, identify alternatives
evaluate and select the best out of them

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Luthans’ Study of Managerial Activities

Is there a difference in frequency of

managerial activity between effective and
successful managers?

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Four types of managerial activity:

1. Traditional management
• Decision making, planning, and controlling

2. Communications
• Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork

3. Human resource management

• Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and
training

4. Networking
• Socializing, politicking, and interacting with others

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Successful vs. Effective Allocation by Time

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Organization
A fieldof 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 organization’s effectiveness.

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Intuition and Systematic Study

Intuitio • Gut feelings

• Individual observation

n •Commonsense

Systemat •Looks at relationships

•Scientific evidence
ic Study •Predicts behaviors

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 An Outgrowth of Systematic Study…

Evidence-Based Management (EBM)

Basing managerial decisions on the best

available scientific evidence

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Must think like scientists:

Apply
relevant
Search for information
best to case
available
Pose a evidence
managerial
question

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Many behavioral sciences have contributed
to the development of Organizational
Behavior

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Psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and
sometimes change the behavior of humans and other
animals.

Unit of Analysis:
– Individual
Contributions to OB:
– Learning, motivation, personality, emotions, perception
– Training, leadership effectiveness, job satisfaction
– Individual decision making, performance appraisal attitude
measurement
– Employee selection, work design, and work stress
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Social Psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from
psychology and sociology and that focuses on the
influence of people on one another.

Unit of Analysis:
– Group
Contributions to OB:
– Behavioral change
– Attitude change
– Communication
– Group processes
– Group decision making
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 Sociology
 The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.
 Unit of Analysis:
◦ Organizational System
◦ Group
 Contributions to OB:
 Group
 Organizational System  Formal organization theory
 Group dynamics  Organizational technology
 Work teams  Organizational change
 Communication  Organizational culture
 Power
 Conflict
 Intergroup behavior
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Cont…

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Anthropology
The study of societies to learn about human beings and their
activities.

 Unit of Analysis:
◦ Organizational System
◦ Group

 Contributions to OB:
◦ Organizational culture
◦ Organizational environment
◦ Comparative values
◦ Comparative attitudes
◦ Cross-cultural analysis
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 Situational factors that make the main
relationship between two variables change
—e.g., the relationship may hold for one
condition but not another.

x Contingency
Variables y

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Challenges and Opportunities for OB

 Responding to Globalization
 Managing Workforce Diversity
 Improving Quality and Productivity
 Improving Customer Service
 Improving People Skills

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 Stimulating Innovation and Change
 Coping with “Temporariness”
 Working in Networked Organizations
 Helping Employees Balance Work-Life Conflicts
 Creating a Positive Work Environment
 Improving Ethical Behavior

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Developing an OB Model
A model is an abstraction of reality: a simplified
representation of some real-world phenomenon.

Our OB model has three levels of analysis

◦ Each level is constructed on the prior level

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Types of Study Variables
Independent variables (X):
◦ The presumed cause of the change in the dependent
variable (Y).
◦ This is the variable that OB researchers manipulate to
observe the changes in Y.
Dependent (Y)
◦ This is the response to X (the independent variable).
◦ It is what the OB researchers want to predict or
explain.
◦ The interesting variable!

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 Predictive
X Y
Ability

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Dependent Variables
 Productivity
◦ Transforming inputs to outputs at lowest cost. Includes the
concepts of effectiveness (achievement of goals) and
efficiency (meeting goals at a low cost).
 Absenteeism
◦ Failure to report to work – a huge cost to employers.
 Turnover
◦ Voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from an
organization.
 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.
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Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
◦ Discretionary behavior that is not part of an
employee’s formal job requirements, but that
nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the
organization.
Job Satisfaction
◦ A general attitude (not a behavior) toward one’s job; a
positive feeling of one's job resulting from an
evaluation of its characteristics.

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The Independent Variables
The independent variable (X) can be at any of these
three levels in this model:
Individual
◦ Biographical characteristics, personality and emotions,
values and attitudes, ability, perception, motivation,
individual learning and individual decision making.
Group
◦ Communication, group decision making, leadership and
trust, group structure, conflict, power and politics, and work
teams.
Organization System
◦ Organizational culture, human resource policies and
practices, and organizational structure and design.
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An understanding of …
Important personal characteristics:
◦ Abilities and skill
◦ Personalities
◦ Personal values
◦ Culture
Important personal processes:
◦ Perception
◦ Attribution

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Summary and Managerial Implications
 Managers need to develop their interpersonal skills to be effective.
 OB focuses on how to improve factors that make organizations more
effective.
 The best predictions of behavior are made from a combination of
systematic study and intuition.
 Situational variables moderate cause-and-effect relationships –
which is why OB theories are contingent.
 There are many OB challenges and opportunities for managers
today.
 The textbook is based on the contingent OB model.
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