dear all

1. TOPIC 1
Introduction to
Organizational
Behavior
 What is OB?
 How can OB help
managers?
 4 goals of OB
 4 key forces affecting OB
 Contributing disciplines to
the field Of OB
 4 approaches to OB
 E- business implication for OB
 Challenges and opportunities
for OB
ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR

2. What is Organization Behavior (OB)
• Behavior is what people do and say.
• An organization is a group of people working
together to achieve objective(s).
• The 3 levels of behavior includes: group,
individual and organizational.
• OB needs to focus on the above 3 distinct level
of analysis:
1. Group processes – e.g. communication
2. Individual processes – e.g. work attitude
3. Organizational processes – e.g. structure
• Stephen (2003), OB is a field of study that
investigates the impact that individuals, groups,
structure have on behavior within organizations,
for the purpose of applying such knowledge
toward improving an organization’s
effectiveness.
• OB is therefore concerned with the study of
what people do in an organization and how that
behavior affects the performance of the
organization.

3. managers?
• Helps managers to look at the behavior
of individuals within an organization.
• Helps managers to understand the
complexities involved in interpersonal
relations when 2 people (2 co-workers
or a superior-subordinate pair) interact
with each other.
• Helps managers to examine the
dynamics of relationships within small
groups, both formal teams and informal
groups.
• Helps managers to understand that
organizations can be viewed, and
managed, as whole systems that have
inter-organizational relationships.
.

4. What are the 4 main goals of OB?
• To describe, systematically, how people behave
under a variety of conditions. Achieving these goals
allows manager to communicate about human
behavior at work.
• To understand why people behave as they do.
Managers cannot just only talk about the behaviors
of their employees, but not understand the reasons
behind those actions.
• To predict future behavior. This will allow a
manager to have the capacity to predict which
employees might be dedicated and productive or
which ones might be absent, tardy, or disruptive, so
that they could preventive actions.
• To control (at least partially) and develop human
activity at work. Managers must be able to make an
impact on employee behavior, skill development,
team effort, and productivity. They need to be able
to improve results through the actions they and
their employees take.

5. What are the four forces affecting OB?
PEOPLE – people make up the internal social
system of the organization. People affects the
organization’s productivity, profitability,
performance, competitiveness, and adaptability.
STRUCTURE – structure defines the formal
relationship and use of people in organizations. Different
jobs are required to accomplish all of an organization’s
activities.
TECHNOLOGY – technology provides the resources
with which people work and this affects the tasks they
perform. The technology used has a significant
influence on working relationship.
ENVIRONMENT – all organizations operate within an
internal and an external environment. A single
organization does not exist alone. It is part of a larger
system that contains many elements such as government,
family and organizations.

6. What are the contributing disciplines to the field of OB? OB is an applied
behavior science that is built upon contributions from a number of behavior
disciplines:
ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOR
PSYCHOLOGY – the science that seek to measure,
explain, & sometimes change the behavior of humans
& other animals. Psychologists have contributed to OB,
in terms of understanding human motivation, learning,
personality, perception, job satisfaction, attitudes, leadership.
SOCIOLOGY – the study of
people in relation to their fellow
beings. Understanding group
dynamics, work teams, power,
conflict, communication, inter-
group behavior, organizational
technology, change, culture.
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY – an area within
Psychology that blends concepts from psychology &
Sociology that focuses on the influence of people on
One another. It helps us to understand behavioral
Change, attitude change, communication, group
Processes, and group decision making.
ANTHROPOLOGY – the study
of societies to learn about human
beings and their activities. It helps
us to understand fundamental
values, attitudes, and behavior
among people in different countries
and within different organizations.
also helps us to understand
organizational culture & environment
of different societies & nations.
POLITICAL SCIENCE – the study of
behavior, individuals and group within a
political environment. Helps us to understand
conflict, power, and intra-organizational politics.

7. What are the 4 approaches to OB?
OB seeks to integrate the 4 elements of people, structure, technology, and
environment. It rests on an inter-disciplinary foundation of fundamental
concepts about the nature of people and organizations.
1. Human resources (supportive approach). HR approach is developmental. It
is concerned with the growth and development of people toward higher
levels of competence, creativity, and fulfillment, because people are the
central resources in any organization and in any society.
It is also supportive in the sense that it helps employees become better, more
responsible people, and then it tries to create a climate in which they may
contribute to the limits of their improved abilities.
It assumes that expanded capabilities and opportunities for people will lead
directly to improvement in operating effectiveness.
Work satisfaction also will be a direct result when employees make fuller
use of their abilities.
Essentially, the human resources approach means that better people
achieve better results for the organization.

8. What are the 4 approaches to OB? - CONTINUE
2. Contingency approach. Traditional management relied on
principles to provide “one best way” of managing. There was
one correct way to delegate, and to divide work. The correct
way applied regardless of the type of organization or situation
involved. Management principles were considered universal.
The more accepted view now is that there are few across-the-
board concepts that apply in all instances. Situations are much
more complex than first perceived, and different variables may
require different behavioral approaches.
The result is the contingency approach to OB, which means
that different situations require different practices for
effectiveness. No longer is there is one best way. Each situation
must be analyzed carefully to determine the significant
variables in order to establish the kinds of practices that will
be most effective.

9. What are the 4 approaches to OB? - CONTINUE
3. Results-oriented approach. All organizations need to achieve
outcomes, or results.
A dominant goal is to be productive, so this results orientation
is a common thread woven through OB.
The role that OB plays in creating organizational results is
illustrated by a set of actors and the relationship between the
factors.
Equations showing the role of OB in work systems:
KNOWLEDGE X SKILLS = ABILITY
ATTITUDE X SITUATION = MOTIVATION
ABILITY X MOTIVATION = POTENTIAL HUMANPERFORMANCE
POTENTIAL PERFORMANCE X RESOURCES X OPPORTUNITY
= ORGANIZATIONAL RESULTS

10. What are the 4 approaches to OB? - CONTINUE
4. Systems approach. Treating organization as a system implies that there are
many variables in the organization that affects all the others in a complex
relationship.
An event that appears appears to affect one individual or one department
actually may have significant influences elsewhere in the organization.
Consequently, managers, in taking actions, must look beyond the
immediate situation in order to determine the effects on the larger system.
Thus, the systems approach compels managers to take a holistic view of the
subject.
Holistic OB interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the
whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. It
takes an across-the-board view of people in organizations in effort to
understand as many of the factors as possible that influence people’s
behavior. Issues are analyzed in terms of the total situation affecting them
rather than in terms of an isolated event or problem.

11. E-business Implications for OB
E-Management – Fast paced; Virtual teams, Networking skills
E-communication – Email use/abuse; Telecommuting promised
and drawbacks
Goal setting and feedback – Web-based goal-setting/evaluation;
Risk of over control?
Organizational structure – Virtual teams and organizations; Lack
of trust and loyalty in “faceless” organizations?
Job design – “Sticky” work settings; Unrealistic expectations?
E-business involves using the
Internet to facilitate every
aspect of running a business.

12. E-Business Implications (continued)
Decision making – Less time to make more decisions;
Information overload; Empowerment and participative decision
making
Knowledge management – E-training; E-learning; distance
learning: Asynchronous vs. synchronous
Speed, conflict, and stress – Does relentless speed equal
burnout?
Change and resistance to change – Stop the World, I want to
get off! Constant change equals conflict
Ethics – Net slaves (low pay with unrealistic promises of
riches); Electronic monitoring; Repetitive motion injuries;
Abuse of part-timers (no benefits, no job security); Privacy
issues
Others??

13. What are the challenges and opportunities facing OB?
OPPORTUNITIES:
OB offers both challenges and
opportunities for managers. It
recognizes differences and helps
mangers to see the value of the
workforce diversity and practices
that may need to be changed
when managing people in
different countries.
It can help improve quality and
employee productivity by
showing managers how to
empower their people as well as
how to design and implement
change programs.
It offers specific insights to
improve a manager’s people
skills.
CHALLENGES:
 Globalization
 changing work force
 ICT
 improving quality and
productivity
 improving people
skills
 empowering people
 managing knowledge
workers
 improving ethical
behavior
How do managers cope
with these challenges???

14. T1-CLASS EXERCISE:
Break up into a group of 6 consisting of 5 persons in a group and work on
answering the following questions:
1. How would the understanding of Organizational Behavior help you in
your work?
2. What differentiates good managers from poor ones?
3. Is the contingency approach the best way to mange people in the work
place?
4. Why is that there is no “one best approach to managing people in the
workplace”?
5. Can we predict behavior of an individual correctly?
6. What is the relationship between behavior and performance in the
workplace?
Please read Chapter 1, pages 3 to 28 to prepare your self for the class
exercise and discussion.