2. Agenda
• Introduction to MGT 5314
• Introduction to Organizational Behavior (OB)
• Based on chapter 1 of textbook
• Getting to know each other
• On ruled side of index card:
• Name (including what you prefer to be called)
• Current job: employer and job title/description
• Undergraduate major
• Anything else you want to include
• Starting to think about OB
• On blank side of index card:
• Groups: how might we form them for this class?
• Note: PowerPoint at Canvas: Discussion: Today
3. MGT 5413: The Course
• Dynamics of Organizational Behavior
• Dynamics, hence about change
• What is Organizational Behavior (OB) about?
• Human behavior in formal organizations
• Applying social science
• Much of OB is psychology as it can be applied in organizations
• Other disciplines, including economics and sociology, also contribute
• We will apply OB to cases, to own experience,…
4. OB In the Context of the Program
• OB is a “softer” course than, for example, Finance
• OB and these other courses complement each other
• OB is vital to Strategic Management
• I say this as one who has taught Strategy more than any other subject
• This OB course includes some content on the behavior of
organizations themselves
• There is no “Organizational Theory” course in this MBA program
• This OB course includes some Human Resource Management
(HRM)
• There is no HRM course
5. Understanding and Managing OB
• That’s the title of the textbook
• The textbook tells us (p. 5) that OB is the study of factors that
affect how:
• Individuals and groups act in organizations
• Organizations respond to their environments
• It draws a distinction (in Exhibit 1.1) between
• Understanding: the descriptive side of OB
• Managing: the prescriptive side of OB
6. Other Materials
• We have a second book: Influence
• Cases and a simulation, in Harvard Coursepack
• Link from Canvas
• We’ll probably use yet more materials
• I may assign articles, providing hardcopy handout or link from Canvas
7. Course Site, Syllabus, and Structure
• We’ll be using Canvas
• Rather than Scholar or Blackboard or…
• So syllabus is on Canvas
• Structure of Course
• Reflects levels of analysis identified in Ch. 1 of text
8. Levels of Analysis in OB
• Individual
• Group
• Organizational
• But often there are organizations within organizations
• I used to work for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC)
• UK Subsidiary
• European Technical Center
• Database Systems
9. OB and Management
• Managers: people who supervise others
• That’s a good definition to challenge!
• Management can be viewed in terms of four functions:
• Planning
• Organizing
• Leading
• Controlling
10. Managerial Roles and Skills
• Role: set of behaviors or tasks associated with a position
• Prominent in Mintzberg’s research on what managers actually do
• Skill: ability to perform well in a role
• Conceptual
• Human
• Technical
11. Challenges For OB
• Changing social environment
• Globalization
• Changes in Information Technology (IT)
• Shifting work relationships
• The above are four challenges identified in the book
• We can see them as challenges facing organizations and people
• Can OB help?
• Can this course help?
• I think that it will help many of us, but we’ll see…
12. History of OB: Appendix to Ch. 1
• Division of labor: pre-OB
• Scientific Management
• Taylor’s application of division of labor
• Managers: how should work be done?
• Workers: do it that way
• c.f. Follett
• Hawthorne studies
• Worker productivity affected by relationships with managers,…
• Theory X and Theory Y
• McGregor identified sets of assumptions about employees
• X: they will try to do as little as possible
• Y: they can be motivated toward organizational goals
13. History of OB: More Recent
• “Bounded rationality”
• Herbert Simon
• Thinking, Fast and Slow
• Book by Daniel Kahneman
• Best known for his work with Amos Tversky
• Both Simon and Kahneman:
• Won the Nobel Prize for Economics
• Challenged the axiom that human beings are consistent and rational
14. Before We Meet Again
• Skim ch. 1
• Including its Appendix
• Prepare for next meeting
• Schedule table in syllabus tells us:
• Skim ch. 2
• Newcastle Personality Assessor
• Prepare for discussion of Shanghai Tang case
• Canvas Discussion tells us more
• I’ll attach PowerPoints before the meeting
15. Standard Closing
• Preparation for next meeting: see Canvas Discussion
• Anything else I should say to the whole class?
• Rest of evening
• Safe home
• Enjoy
• Anything you’d like to discuss with me?
• As individual or group
