Organizational Behavior Chapter One

Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior-What is it?  OB Involves the study of process-how

people in social systems function with each other to get work done.  OT deals more with the structural elements of organizations. 

How to put the pieces together to facilitate the process

Process involves managers and managing  Managers, a structural component of

organizations, interacts (process component) with others to accomplish work. 

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Make decisions, allocate resources, direct activities. Accomplish organizational and personal goals

Process involves managers and managing – cont’d.  Managers work in organizations 

Combination of structural and process components.

Manager’s interpersonal skills are important. Why?

Manager’s interpersonal skills are important. Why?  Because the way that managers view

organizations is changing.

How do we frequently view Organizations and People in them? 

Classical Paradigm-a structural approach  

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Organizations are machines Machines consist of components e.g. equipment, people, buildings, cash, raw materials. Managers job is to fit the components of the machine together in the most efficient way

What’s New?  Human Relations/Systems Paradigm  

Organizations are social systems Systems consist of elements, a boundary and the relationship among the elements

 Social systems consist of the

relationships (process) among individuals within a given structure

What is a System?

Organizational Behavior 

OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness and efficiency.

Effectiveness vs. Efficiency  Open Systems vs. Closed Systems

Organizational Behavior 

OB is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization (social system) and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization (its effectiveness and efficiency).   

Individual Behavior Individual and group behavior Organizational structure

What do managers do?  Plan, organize, lead and control 

Process components

 Fill Certain Roles (sets of behaviors)   

Interpersonal Informational Decisional

What kind of skills do managers need?  Technical  Human  Conceptual

Activities managers perform that makes them “successful”  Depends on what success is.  Getting promoted 

Human Resources and networking

 Achieving Organizational Goals 

Decision making, planning, controlling, communicating

 These two sets of activities frequently work

against each other.

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

From where does OB draw its expertise?

Introduction 

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Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science that is built upon contributions from a number of behavioral disciplines. The predominant areas are psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science.  Exhibit 1-3 overviews the major contributions to the study of organizational behavior.

Psychology 

Psychology is the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. 

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Early industrial/organizational  fatigue, boredom, and other factors relevant to working conditions that could impede efficient work performance. More recently,  learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decisionmaking processes, performance appraisals, attitude measurement, employee selection techniques, work design, and job stress

Sociology  Sociologists study the social system in

which individuals fill their roles; that is, sociology studies people in relation to their fellow human beings. 

Their greatest contribution to OB is through their study of group behavior in organizations, particularly formal and complex organizations

Social Psychology  Social psychology blends the concepts

of psychology and sociology.  It focuses on the influence of people on one another. 

Major area—how to implement it and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance.

Anthropology  Anthropology is the study of societies to

learn about human beings and their activities.  Anthropologists work on cultures and environments; for instance, they have helped us understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior among people in different countries and within different organizations.

Political Science  Frequently overlooked  Political science studies the behavior of

individuals and groups within a political environment.

Why is the study of organization behavior important?

Why is the study of organization behavior important?  Viewing organizations as closed systems

is no longer valid  Components are no longer homogeneous – Work Place diversity  Globalization makes hierarchical communications too slow  Information Technology gives power and information to the one who can use it best.

Why is the study of organization behavior important?  The environment is changing rapidly

making adaptation and change crucial to survival- organizations as closed systems isn’t a valid model.  Improving Quality and Productivity  Improving ethical behavior

Now, do successful organizations put people first? A Debate

Pro side 

Yes they do because organizations are social systems and the care and feeding of people and their relationships is crucial to the organizations being able to be effective

Con side 

No, most organizations are social systems secondarily. Their first need is to be efficient and to make money. Managers need to be plugged into the outside environment but minimizing resources such as people is crucial to the success of the enterprise.

Foundations of Individual Behavior Biographical, Ability and Learning Variables

Chapter 2 looks at three individual variables that affect organizational behavior.

 Biographical Characteristics  Ability  Learning

Biographical characteristics  Age  Gender  Tenure  Marital Status

Ability  Intellectual  Physical  Ability-fit

Learning  Three theories 

Classical conditioning  Pavlov’s

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dogs

Operant conditioning  Reward/punishment

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Social learning  Observation

and perception  Use of models

Shaping  Molding learning in graduated steps  Reinforced at each step by   

Positive or negative reinforcement Punishment Extinction