INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Chapter outline  Organizational Behavior: Meaning, scope and Foundations  Systematic study of behavior  Scope of OB  Fundamental concepts of OB  Importance of OB  Model of OB

Organizational Behavior: Meaning, scope and Foundations 1-3 Organizational Behavior studies the influence that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations.  Organizational behavior (often abbreviated as OB) is a field of study that investigates how individuals, groups, and structure affect and are affected by behavior within organizations.  Behavior refers to what people do in the organization, how they perform, and what their attitudes are.  This study is done so that we can use the knowledge to improve organizational outcomes and thereby its effectiveness.

Organizational Behavior: Meaning, scope and Foundations … 1-4  Main Points from the definition:  Organizational behavior is a field of study, meaning that it is a distinct area of expertise with a common body of knowledge.  It studies three determinants in organizations: individuals, groups and structure.  OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively.  To sum up our definition, OB is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance.

SYSTEMATIC STUDY: Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study 1-5  Often our intuition leads us in the decision making process.  Intuition: your “gut feeling” explanation of behavior.  Our intuition relies on gut feelings, individual observation and commonsense.  It does not give us the complete picture.  Systematic study improves ability to accurately predict behavior.  Assumes behavior is not random.  Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior.  These can be identified and modified to reflect individual differences.

Systematic Study… 1-6  Examines relationships.  Attempts to attribute causes and effects.  Bases conclusions on scientific evidence:  On data gathered under controlled conditions.  Data is measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous manner.  By doing so we can better determine cause and effect and then by applying scientific evidence to our conclusions we are better able to predict behavior.

Scope of OB  Organizational Behaviour is concerned with the understanding, prediction and control of human behaviour in organizations.  It focuses on the individuals, the groups and the organization and also on their interactional relationships.  It is the study and application of knowledge about how people act with organizations.  It applies broadly to the behaviour of people in all types of organizations. Wherever organizations are, there is a need to understand organizational behaviour.

Scope of OB…  The scope of OB involves three levels of behaviour in organizations: individuals, groups and structure.  Individual Behaviour  Personality  Perception  Values and Attitudes  Learning  Motivation

Scope of OB….  Group Behaviour  Work groups and group dynamics  Communication  Leadership  Organization: Structure, Process and Application  Organizational Climate  Organizational Culture  Organizational Change  Organizational Effectiveness  Organizational Development

Fundamental Concepts of OB  Organizational behaviour starts with a set of six fundamental concepts revolving around the nature of people and organizations. They are as follows:  The Nature of people:  Individual differences  A whole person  Motivated behaviour  Value of the person (human dignity)  The Nature of organizations:  Social systems  Mutual Interest  Result:  Holistic organizational behaviour

 1. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:  People have much in common, but each person in the world is also individually different. Each one is different from all others. This is a fact supported by science.  Individual differences mean that management can get the greatest motivation among employees by making manager’s approach to employees individual, not statistical.  This belief that each person is different from all others is typically called the LAW OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

 2. A WHOLE PERSON:  Organizations actually employ a whole person, rather than certain characteristics or skill.  Human life is not totally separable from work life and emotional conditions are not separate from physical conditions.  People function as total human beings. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

 3. MOTIVATED BEHAVIOUR :  From psychology we learn that normal behaviour has certain causes.  In the case of needs, people are motivated not by what we think they ought to have but by what they themselves want.  This act leaves management with two basic ways to motivate people.  It can show them how certain actions will increase their need fulfillment, or  it can threaten decreased need fulfillment if they follow an undesirable course of action. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

 4. VALUE OF THE PERSON (HUMAN DIGNITY):  This concept asserts that people are to be treated differently from other factors of production because they are of a higher order in the universe.  It recognizes that because people are of a higher order they want to be treated with respect and dignity – and should be treated this way.  The concept of human dignity rejects the old idea of using employees as economic tools. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

 5. SOCIAL SYSTEMS:  From sociology we learn that organizations are social systems; consequently activities there-in are governed by social laws as well as psychological laws.  Their behaviour is influenced by their group as well as by their individual drives.  The existence of a social system implies that the organizational environment is one of dynamic change rather than a static set of relations.  All parts of the system are interdependent and subject to influence by any other part. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

 6. MUTUAL INTEREST:  Mutual interest is represented by the statement “organizations need people, and people also need organizations”.  People see organizations as a means to help them reach their goals, while organizations need people to help reach organizational objectives.  Mutual interest provides a super-ordinate goal that integrates the efforts of individuals and groups. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

 7.HOLISTIC ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR:  When the six fundamental concepts of organizational behaviour are considered together, they provide a holistic concept of the subject.  Holistic organizational behaviour interprets people- organisation relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organisation, and whole social system.  Issues are analyzed in terms of the total situation affecting them rather than in terms of an isolated event or problem. Fundamental Concepts of OB……

Few Absolutes in OB There are few absolutes in organizational behavior.  When making decisions you must always take into account situational factors that can change the relationship between two variables.  For example, as seen in the following chart one message from a boss in an Ethiopian/American culture can mean a completely different thing in an another culture. It is always important to take context into account.

Few Absolutes in OB… 1-19  Impossible to make simple and accurate generalizations  Human beings are complex and diverse  OB concepts must reflect situational conditions: contingency variables Contingency Variable (Z) Independen t Variable (X) Dependent Variable (Y) In Ethiopian/Am erican Culture Boss Gives “Thumbs Up” Sign Understood as Complimenting In Iranian or Australian Cultures Boss Gives “Thumb s Up” Sign Understood as Insulting - “Up Yours!”

Importance: Challenges and Opportunities for OB 1-20  Understanding OB has never been more important for managers as organizations are changing at a much more rapid pace than historically seen.  In the workplace today there are many challenges and opportunities in the area of Organizational Behavior.  Responding to Economic Pressures  Responding to Globalization  Managing Workplace Diversity  Improving Customer Service  Improving People Skills  Stimulating Innovation and Change  Coping with “Temporariness”  Working in Networked Organizations  Helping Employees with Work-Life Conflicts

Responding to Economic Pressures 1-21  Effective management is especially important during tough economic times.  Employees look to their managers to provide security during the instability of a recession.  Often when there are economic pressures managers are forced to make decisions based on resource constraints.  These situations may include laying off employees, motivating employees when there are limited resources and encouraging employees when they are stressed about their futures.

Responding to Globalization 1-22  Increased foreign assignments  Differing needs and aspirations in workforce  Working with people from different cultures  Domestic motivational techniques and managerial styles may not work  Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-cost labor  Adapting to different cultural and regulatory norms Thus managers require to respond to globalization Challenges and Opportunities

Managing Workforce Diversity Workforce diversity:  organizations are becoming a more heterogeneous mix of people in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation  Managers must recognizes these differences and ways to utilizes those differences to improve organizations

Diversity Implications 1-24 “Managers have to shift their philosophy from treating everyone alike to recognizing differences and responding to those differences in ways that ensure employee retention and greater productivity while, at the same time, not discriminating.”

Improving Customer Service and People Skills  The majority of employees in developed nations work in service jobs  They must know how to please their customers  People skills are essential to success in today’s organizations

Stimulating Innovation and Change  Organizations must be innovative and able to change in order to succeed in the marketplace today  This includes a commitment to  Flexibility  Quality Improvement  Staying Competitive.

Coping with Temporariness  Jobs are constantly changing  Skills need to be updated for workers to stay on target  Workers need to be able to deal with change  Employees need to be able to cope with flexibility, spontaneity and unpredictability

Working in Networked Organizations  Managers must adapt their skills and communication styles to succeed in an online environment  As technology continues to become an integral part of organizational effectiveness workers will find that their communication styles and needs will change as well.  Managers must stay on top of what is needed to motivate workers in this environment.

Helping Employees Handle Work- Life Conflict  The line between work and non work has blurred and managers are increasingly dealing with conflicts that arise between work and life away from work  Managers must face the reality that people bring their life at home with them to the office, and they must find ways to help workers deal with the conflict that arises

Model of OB  In Organizational Behavior (OB) we utilize the representation of the world as broken down into three levels.  The first level of analysis we will look at is the Individual level. At this level we look at individuals’ behavior.  Next, recognizing that individuals make up groups, we analyze how group behavior occurs.  Finally, organizations are made up of groups of individuals, so we analyze the organization at a systems level.

Model of OB: Three Levels of OB Analysis

A BASIC OB Model

Keep in Mind… 1-33  OB’s goal is to understand and predict human behavior in organizations.  Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior.  It is more important than ever to learn OB concepts.

Summary Defined Organizational Behavior (OB). 2. Show the value to OB of systematic study. 3. Demonstrated how few absolutes apply in OB. 4. Identified the major challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB concepts. 5. Identified the three levels of analysis in OB.