3. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 3
Chapter 1
Organizational Behavior Today
Study questions.
– What is organizational behavior and why is it
important?
– How do we learn about organizational
behavior?
– What are organizations like as work settings?
– What is the nature of managerial work?
– How do ethics influence human behavior in
organizations?
4. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 4
What is organizational behavior
and why is it important?
Organizational behavior.
– Study of individuals and groups in
organizations.
– Emphasizes high performance organizations.
– Occurs in a global context.
– Dimensions of individual and group behavior.
– Nature of organizations.
– Core processes.
5. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 5
What is organizational behavior
and why is it important?
Shifting paradigms of organizational
behavior.
– Demise of “command-and-control.”
– Emergence of new workplace expectations.
– Critical role of information technologies.
– Belief in empowerment.
– Emphasis on teamwork.
– Concern for work-life balance.
6. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 6
What is organizational behavior
and why is it important?
Organizational behavior and diversity.
– Workforce diversity is the presence of
differences based on:
• Gender.
• Race and ethnicity.
• Age.
• Abel-bodiedness.
• Sexual orientation.
7. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 7
What is organizational behavior
and why is it important?
Organizational behavior and diversity —
cont.
– Valuing diversity is a core OB theme.
• Interpersonal and cultural sensitivity.
– Glass ceiling effect.
• Women and minorities as managers and executives.
• Earnings of women and minorities.
8. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 8
How do we learn about
organizational behavior?
Organizational behavior and the learning
imperative.
– Organizational learning is the process of
acquiring knowledge and utilizing information
to adapt successfully to changing
circumstances.
– Necessity of life-long learning.
9. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 9
How do we learn about
organizational behavior?
Scientific foundations of organizational
behavior.
– Interdisciplinary body of knowledge.
– Use of scientific methods.
– Focus on application.
– Contingency thinking.
10. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 10
What are organizations
like as work settings?
An organization is a collection of people
working together in a division of labor to
achieve a common purpose.
Applies to:
– A wide variety of clubs, institutions, agencies,
businesses, and other organized entities.
11. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 11
What are organizations
like as work settings?
Purpose, mission, and strategies.
– Core purpose of an organization.
– Mission and vision.
– Mission statements.
12. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 12
What are organizations
like as work settings?
People and work systems.
– Intellectual capital
• The sum total of knowledge, expertise, and
dedication of an organization’s workforce.
– Human resources.
– Material resources.
13. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 13
What are organizations
like as work settings?
Organizations as open systems.
– Organizations obtain resource inputs from the
environment.
– Organizations transform resource inputs.
– Organizations return transformed inputs to the
environment as outputs in the form of goods
and services.
14. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 14
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managers:
– Perform jobs that involve directly supporting
the work efforts of others.
– Help other people get important things done in
timely, high-quality, and satisfying ways.
– Assume roles such as coordinator, coach, or
team leader.
15. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 15
What is the nature of managerial work?
The nature of managerial work.
– Managers work long hours.
– Managers are busy people.
– Managers are often interrupted.
– Managers work mostly with other people.
– Managers are communicators.
16. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 16
What is the nature of managerial work?
The management process.
– An effective manager is one whose
organizational unit, group, or team
consistently achieves its goals while its
members remain capable, committed, and
enthusiastic.
– Key results of effective management:
• Task performance.
• Job satisfaction.
17. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 17
What is the nature of managerial work?
Functions of management.
– Planning.
• Defining goals, setting specific performance
objectives, and identifying the actions needed to
achieve them.
– Organizing.
• Creating work structures and systems, and
arranging resources to accomplish goals and
objectives.
18. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 18
What is the nature of managerial work?
Functions of management — cont.
– Leading.
• Instilling enthusiasm by communicating with
others, motivating them to work hard, and
maintaining good interpersonal relations.
– Controlling.
• Ensuring that things go well by monitoring
performance and taking corrective action as
necessary.
19. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 19
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial roles.
– Interpersonal roles.
• Figurehead.
• Leader.
• Liaison.
– Informational roles.
• Monitor.
• Disseminator.
• Spokesperson.
20. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 20
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial roles — cont.
– Decisional roles.
• Entrepreneur.
• Disturbance handler.
• Resource allocator.
• Negotiator.
21. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 21
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial networks.
– Task networks.
• Specific job-related contacts.
– Career networks.
• Career guidance and opportunity resources.
– Social networks.
• Trustworthy friends and peers.
22. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 22
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial skills and competencies.
– A skill is an ability to translate knowledge into
action that results in a desired performance.
– Categories of skills:
• Technical.
• Human.
• Conceptual.
23. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 23
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial skills and competencies —
cont.
– Technical skills are relatively more important
at entry levels.
– Human skills are consistently important across
all managerial levels.
– Conceptual skills are relatively more
important at top management levels.
24. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 24
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial skills and competencies—
cont.
– Technical skills.
• An ability to perform specialized tasks.
• Derives from knowledge of expertise gained from
education or experience.
• Proficiency at using select methods, processes, and
procedures to accomplish tasks.
25. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 25
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial skills and competencies —
cont.
– Human skills.
• An ability to work well with other people.
• Emerges as a spirit of trust, enthusiasm, and
genuine involvement in interpersonal relationships.
• Self-awareness.
• Capacity for understanding and empathizing.
• Engages in persuasive communication.
• Deals successfully with conflicts.
26. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 26
What is the nature of managerial work?
Managerial skills and competencies —
cont.
– Conceptual skills.
• An ability to see and understand how the system
works, and how the parts are interrelated.
• Used to:
– Identify problems and opportunities.
– Gather and interpret relevant information.
– Make good problem-solving decisions.
27. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 27
How do ethics influence human
behavior in organizations?
Ethical behavior.
– “Good” and “right” as opposed to “bad” or
“wrong” in a particular setting.
– Ways of thinking about ethical behavior.
• Utilitarian view.
• Individualism view.
• Moral rights view.
• Justice view.
28. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 28
How do ethics influence human
behavior in organizations?
Ethical dilemmas in the workplace.
– Nature of an ethical dilemma.
– Ethical dilemmas occur in relationships with:
• Superiors.
• Subordinates.
• Customers.
• Competitors.
• Suppliers.
• Regulators.
29. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 29
How do ethics influence human
behavior in organizations?
Ethical dilemmas in the workplace — cont.
– Rationalizations for unethical behavior:
• Pretending the behavior is not really unethical or
illegal.
• Saying the behavior is really in the organization’s
or person’s best interest.
• Assuming the behavior is acceptable if others don’t
find out about it.
• Presuming that superiors will support and protect
you.
30. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 30
How do ethics influence human
behavior in organizations?
Organizational social responsibility.
– The obligation of organizations to behave in
ethical and moral ways as institutions of the
broader society.
– Managers should commit organizations to:
• Pursuit of high productivity.
• Corporate social responsibility.
31. Organizational Behavior: Chapter 1 31
How do ethics influence human
behavior in organizations?
Work and the quality of life.
– Quality of work life (QWL).
• The overall quality of human experience in the
workplace.
– QWL commitment reflects an endorsement of
Theory Y assumptions.
– Work-life balance.
• Job demands should fit personal life and nonwork
responsibilities.
