Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Introduction tothe Field ofOrganizational Behavior

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Organizational Behavior and Organizations

Organizational behavior• The study of what people

think, feel, and do in and around organizations

Organizations• Groups of people who work

interdependently toward some purpose

• Collective entities• Collective sense of purpose

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Why Study OB?

Satisfy the need to understand and predict

Helps us to test personal theories

Influence behavior – get things done

OB improves an organization’s financial health

OB is for everyone

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Organizational Effectiveness

The ultimate dependent variable in OB

Old approach -- define effectiveness as achievement of stated goals

Problem with goal approach• Could set easy goals• Some goals too abstract to

evaluate• Company might achieve

wrong goals

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Open Systems Perspective

Organizations are complex systems that “live” within (and depend upon) the external environment

Effective organizations• Maintain a close “fit” with changing conditions• Transform inputs to outputs efficiently and flexibly

Open systems perspective lays the foundation for the other three perspectives of organizational effectiveness

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Organizational Learning Processes

Knowledge AcquisitionKnowledge Acquisition

Knowledge Sharing

Knowledge Sharing

KnowledgeUse

KnowledgeUse

Knowledge Storage

Knowledge Storage

• Learning

• Scanning

• Grafting

• Experimenting

• Learning

• Scanning

• Grafting

• Experimenting

• Communication

• Training

• Info systems

• Observation

• Communication

• Training

• Info systems

• Observation

• Awareness

• Sensemaking

• Autonomy

• Empowerment

• Awareness

• Sensemaking

• Autonomy

• Empowerment

• Human memory

• Documentation

• Practices/habits

• Databases

• Human memory

• Documentation

• Practices/habits

• Databases

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Intellectual Capital

Relationship Relationship CapitalCapital

Value derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

Structural CapitalStructural CapitalKnowledge captured in systems and structures

HumanHumanCapitalCapital

Knowledge that people possess and generate

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High Performance Work Practices (HPWPs)

Workplace practices the leverage the potential of human capital

Human capital – employee knowledge, skills, and abilities – is competitive advantage• Help realize opportunities and minimize threats in

the external environment• Not easily available nor duplicated• Can’t be replaced by technology

Companies apply these practices to leverage human capital

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Stakeholder Perspective

Stakeholders: any entity who affects or is affected by the firm’s objectives and actions

Personalizes the open systems perspective

Challenges with stakeholder perspective:• Stakeholders have conflicting interests• Firms have limited resources

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Types of Individual Behavior

Organizational Organizational CitizenshipCitizenship

Cooperation and helpfulness beyond required job duties

Task PerformanceTask PerformanceGoal-directed behaviors under person’s control

Maintaining Work Maintaining Work AttendanceAttendance

Attending work at required times

Joining/staying with Joining/staying with the Organizationthe Organization

Agreeing to employment relationship; remaining in that relationship

Counterproductive Counterproductive Work BehaviorsWork Behaviors

Voluntary behaviors that potentially harm the organization

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Globalization

Economic, social, and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world

Effects of globalization on organizations• New structures• Increasing diversity• Increasing competitive pressures, intensification

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Increasing Workforce Diversity

Surface-level vs deep-level diversity

Implications• Leveraging the diversity

advantage• Manage challenges of

diversity (e.g. teams, conflict)• Ethical imperative of diversity

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Emerging Employment Relationships

Work/life balance • Minimizing conflict between work and nonwork

demands number one indicator of career success

Virtual work• Using information technology to perform one’s job

away from the traditional physical workplace• Telecommuting – issues of replacing face time,

clarifying employment expectations

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Organizational Behavior Anchors

Multidisciplinary anchor• Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines

Systematic research anchor• OB knowledge is built on systematic research –

evidence-based management

Contingency anchor• A particular action may have different

consequences in different situations

Multiple levels of analysis anchor• Individual, team, organizational level of analysis