CHAPTER 1: An Overview of Organizational Behavior What is Organizational Behavior?

Organizational behavior (OB) is the study of: o Human behavior in organizational settings o The interface between human behavior and the organization o The organization itself The Importance of Organizational Behavior Organizations can have a powerful influence on our lives: o Most people are born and educated in organizations o Most people acquire most of their material possessions from organizations o Most people die as members of organizations o Many of our activities are regulated by governmental organizations o Most people spend most of their lives in organizations Why Study OB? Studying organizational behavior can clarify factors that affect how managers manage by: o Describing the complex human context of organizations o Defining the associated opportunities, problems, challenges, and issues o Isolating important aspects of the managers job o Offering specific perspectives on the human side of management Studying OB helps managers understand: o The behaviors of others in the organization Personal needs, motives, behaviors, feelings and career dynamics Attitudinal processes, individual differences, group dynamics, inter group dynamics, organization culture, power, and political behavior o Interactions with people outside of the organization and other organizations o The environment, technology, and global issues Organizational Behavior and the Management Process Management Functions Resources Used by Managers Planning Human Organizing Financial Leading Physical Controlling Information

Functions of Management Planning Determining an organizations desired future position and the best means of getting there Designing jobs, grouping jobs into units, and establishing patterns of authority between jobs and units

Organizing

Leading

Getting organizational members to work together toward the organizations goals Monitoring and correcting the actions of the organization and its members to keep them directed toward their goals

Controlling

Organizational Behavior and the Managers Job Basic Managerial Roles o Interpersonal o Informational o Decision-Making Table 1.1 Important Managerial Roles

Critical Managerial Skills Skills necessary to accomplish specific tasks within the organization Skills used to communicate with, understand, and motivate individuals and groups Skills used in abstract thinking Skills to understand cause-effect relationships and to recognize optimal solutions to problems

Technical Interpersonal

Conceptual Diagnostic

Contemporary Organizational Behavior Characteristics of the Field o Interdisciplinary in focus Psychology individual differences and motivation Sociology organization as a social system Anthropology culture Political Science how and why people acquire power; political behavior, decision making, conflict, the behavior of interest groups, and coalition formation Economics labor market dynamics, productivity, HR planning and forecasting, cost-benefit analysis Engineering industrial engg; work measurement, productivity measurement, workflow analysis and design, job design, labor relations Medicine area of stress o Descriptive in nature Describe relationships between two or more behavioral variables Reasons: 1. Immaturity of the field 2. Complexities inherent in studying human behavior 3. Lack of valid, reliable, and accepted definitions and measures Basic Concepts of the Field o Individual processes o Interpersonal processes o Organizational processes/characteristics Contemporary Organizational Behavior The Systems Perspective o System - an interrelated set of elements that function as a wholeinputs are combined/transformed by managers into outputs from the system. Value of the Systems Perspective o Underscores the importance of an organizations environment o Conceptualizes the flow and interaction of various elements of the organization. The Situational Perspective o Recognizes that most organizational situations and outcomes are influenced by other variables o Managerial action or behavior in any situation depends on elements of that situation o Strong in motivation, job design, leadership, organization design o The Universal Model Presumes a direct cause-and-effect linkage between variables Complexities of human behavior and organizational settings make universal conclusions virtually impossible o Contingency the precise relationship between any two variables is likely to be situational, dependent on other variables Interactionalism: People and Situations o Interactionalist Perspective focuses on how individuals and situations interact continuously to determine individuals behavior

Attempts to explain how people select, interpret, and change various situations.

Managing for Effectiveness Managers work toward accomplishing the various goals (outcomes) that exist at specific levels in an organization: o Individual-level outcomes o Group-level outcomes o Organizational-level outcomes