INTRODUCTION TO OB: COURSE AND FIELD Dynamics of Organizational Behavior Virginia Tech MBA Andrew Watson

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

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,…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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