Chapter 1 - What is OB - Summary Organizational Behaviour PDF

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Summary of Chapter 1, Organizational Behavior...

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Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior? The Importance of Interpersonal skills LO 1: Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace  Until the late 1980s, business school emphasized the technical aspects(economics, accounting, finance …)  realize the significant role understanding human behavior plays in determining a manager’s effectiveness  attract and keep high-performing employees: the social relationships among co-workers and supervisors were strongly related to overall job satisfaction / lower stress at work / lower intentions to quit  create a pleasant workplace  make good economic sense  growing awareness of the need for understanding the means and outcomes of corporate social responsibility What managers do LO 2: Describe the manager’s functions, roles, and skills  Definition of manager  Manager : an individual who achieves goals through other people. He or she makes decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals / who oversees the activities of others and is responsible for attaining goals in the org.  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. Ex) service firms, schools, hospitals, churches, military units, retail stores  Management functions  Planning : defining an organization’s goals, establishing an overall strategy, and developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. From lower-level to mid-level  Organizing : designing an organization’s structure, 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 : direct and coordinate those people, motivate, direct their activities, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts  Controlling : monitor the performance and compare it with previously set goals.  Management roles  Interpersonal  Figurehead : symbolic head, performs routine duties of a legal or social nature  Leader : motivation and direction  Liaison : network of outside contacts  Informational  Monitor : receives information (nerve center of internal/external info)  Disseminator : transmits information from outsiders or from other employees to others  Spokesperson : transmits information to outsiders (expert on org’s industry)  Decisional  Entrepreneur : searches for opportunities and initiates projects  Disturbance handler : corrective action  Resource allocator : makes or approves decisions  Negotiator : responsible for representing the organization at major negotiations  Management skills  Technical skills : the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.  Human skills : the ability to understand, communicate with, motivate, and support other people (individually + in groups)

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Conceptual skills : the ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations

(ex) decision making – organize a plan and execute (integrate new ideas with existing processes and innovate on the job)  Effective versus successful managerial activities 

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4 Managerial Activities (TCHN)  Traditional Management: decision making, planning, controlling  Communication: exchanging routine information and processing paperwork  Human Resource Management: motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, training  Networking: socializing, politicking, interacting with outsiders Difference in time allocation among average vs. successful vs. effective managers:  Average managers: T>C>H>N  Successful managers: N>C>T>H  Effective managers: C>>H>T>N  Challenges assume that promotions are based on performance  Illustrates the importance of networking and political skills for promotion

Enter Organizational Behavior LO 3: Define organizational behavior  Organizational Behavior  Definition : 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 organization’s effectiveness

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= what people do in an organization, how their behavior affects the organization’s performance (specifically with employment-related situations) Three determinants of behavior : individuals, groups, and structure To make organizations work more effectively Motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, attitude development and perception, change processes, conflict and negotiation, work design.

Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study LO 4: Show the value to OB of systematic study  Systematic approach : looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence  On data gathered under controlled conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner  behavior is not random. We can identify fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals and modify them to reflect individual differences.  Evidence-based management(EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence  systematic study and EBM add to intuition (without a systematic approach, we tend to overestimate the accuracy)  Big Data : the extensive use of statistical compilation and analysis ex) online retailer / bookselling industry(Amazon) / Savvy business  use evidence as much as possible to inform your intuition and experience Disciplines that Contribute to the OB Field LO 5 : Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB  OB : applied behavioral science based on psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology  Psychology : measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. Learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision-making processes, performance, appraisals, attitude measurement, employee-selection techniques, work design, and job stress  Social Psychology : psychology + sociology  peoples’ influence on one another. “Change” measuring, understanding, and changing attitudes ; identifying communication patterns; building trust  group behavior, power and

conflict  Sociology : group behavior in formal and complex organizations – culture, formal organization theory and structure -> technology, communications, power, and conflict  Anthropology : study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities. Understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior between people in different countries and within different organizations. There are Few Absolutes in OB LO 6: Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB  Human beings are complex, and few, if any, simple and universal principles explain organizational behavior.  We can say x leads to y, but under conditions specified in z – the contingency variables. Challenges and Opportunities for OB LO 7: Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB concepts  Responding to Economic Pressures : in good times, how to reward, satisfy, and retain employees / in bad times, stress, decision making, and coping  Responding to Globalization  Increased Foreign Assignments : manage a workforce very different in needs, aspirations, and attitudes  Working with people from different culture: how to motivate / communication style. Need to understand how their culture, geography, and religion have shaped them and how to adapt your management style to their differences.  Overseeing movement of Jobs to countries with low-cost labor : jobs tend to flow where lower costs give business a comparative advantage – balancing the interests of their organizations with their responsibilities to the communities  Adapting to Differing Cultural and Regulatory Norms : need to know the cultural practices of the workforce / be aware of the unique financial and legal regulations (economic and even political consequences)  Managing Workforce Diversity  Workforce diversity : heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and inclusion of other diverse group.  great opportunity and challenge  Improving Customer Service : substantial interaction with an organization’s customers / increase the success of these interactions by showing how employee attitudes and behavior influence customer satisfaction. Customer-responsive culture(employees are friendly and courteous)  Improving People Skills : relevant concepts and theories  insights into specific skills  Working in Networked Organizations : communicate and work together  Enhancing Employee Well-Being at Work  Challenge : many workers never get away from the virtual workplace / Longer hours of work  burnout / heavy outside commitment(balancing work-family)  Employees want more time off / flexibility in their work schedules  work-life conflicts  Creating a Positive Work Environment : linked with their work experience  Positive organizational scholarship(behavior) : studies how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential (engagement, hope, optimism, and resilience)  Reflected best-self : personal best – how to exploit their strengths. We all have strengths but we focus on addressing our limitations and don’t think about how to exploit our strengths.  Improving Ethical Behavior : identify right and wrong conduct. The line differentiating right from wrong has blurred. Determining the ethically correct way to behave is especially difficult in global economy(different perspectives on certain issues)  codes of ethics, seminars, workshops, and training programs.  Vacation deficit disorder : (downside) the risk of burnout

Coming Attractions : Developing an OB Model LO 8: Compare the three levels of analysis in this book’s OB Model  Model: an abstraction of reality. A simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon / at three levels of analysis (individual, group, and organizational)  Input: variables that lead to processes. Ex) personality, group structure, organizational culture  Process: actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes.  Individual level : emotions, moods, motivation, perception, and decision making  Group level : communication, leadership, power and politics, conflict and negotiation  Organizational level : human resource management, change practices  Outcomes: key variables + are affected by some other variables  Attitudes : evaluations employees make / stress : unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures.  Satisfied employees are more productive / more willing to engage in the above-and-beyond citizenship behavior  Task performance = effectiveness + efficiency  core duties and responsibilities of a job / functions listed on a formal job description  organizational effectiveness  Citizenship Behavior: discretionary behavior that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace / will provide performance beyond expectations.  Withdrawal behavior : set of actions that employees take to separate themselves from the organization / negative effect on an organization / absenteeism(costs money and time every year)  If the “right” people are leaving the organization, it can be positive  create an opportunity to replace an underperforming individual / improve organizational flexibility and employee independence  lessen the need for management-initiated layoffs.  Group cohesion: the extent to which members of a group support and validate one another while at work.  cohesive groups are more effective. People tend to work harder in groups that have a common purpose.  Group functioning: the quantity and quality of a group’s work output. Group cohesion should lead to positive group functioning.  Productivity = effectiveness + efficiency  Effectiveness : the degree to which an organization meets the needs of its clientele or customers  Efficiency: the degree to which an organization can achieve its end at a low cost  Employee attitudes and behavior  customer attitudes and behavior  service organizations’ productivity  Organizational Survival : the degree to which an organization is able to exist and grow over the long term...