Chapter 1

What is Organizational Behaviour?

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

What is Organizational Behaviour?

Questions for Consideration
1. 2. What is organizational behaviour? What challenges do managers and employees face in the workplace of the 21st century? 3. How does knowing about organizational behaviour make work and life more understandable? 4. Isnt organizational behaviour common sense? Or just psychology? 5. What are the building blocks to understanding organizational behaviour?
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Organizational Behaviour
. . . a field of study that investigates how individuals, groups and structure affect and are affected by behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organizations effectiveness.

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Why Do We Study OB?

To learn about yourself and how to deal with others You are part of an organization now, and will continue to be a part of various organizations Organizations are increasingly expecting individuals to be able to work in teams, at least some of the time Some of you may want to be managers or entrepreneurs
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 1-1 Challenges Facing the Workplace

Organizational Level
Productivity Developing effective employees Global competition Managing in the global village

Group Level
Working with others Workforce diversity

Workplace

Individual Level
Job satisfaction Empowerment Behaving ethically

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Todays Challenges in the Canadian Workplace

Challenges at the Individual Level
Job Satisfaction Empowerment Behaving Ethically

Challenges at the Group Level

Working With Others Workforce Diversity
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Todays Challenges in the Canadian Workplace

Challenges at the Organizational Level
Productivity Developing Effective Employees
Absenteeism Turnover Organizational Citizenship

Competition From the Global Environment Managing and Working in a Global Village
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Productivity
Productivity
A performance measure including effectiveness and efficiency

Effectiveness
Achievement of goals

Efficiency
The ratio of effective work output to the input required to produce the work
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Effective Employees
Absenteeism
Failure to report to work

Turnover
Voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal from the organization

Organizational citizenship behaviour

Discretionary behaviour that is not part of an employees formal job requirements, but is helpful to the organization
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 1-2 Companies Respected for their HR Management

Location 1. RBC Financial Group
2. Dofasco Inc. 3. Magna Inter national Inc. 4. IBM Canada Ltd. 5. BMO Financial Group 6. WestJet Airlines Ltd. 7. BCE Inc. 8. Scotiabank Group 9. Bombar dier Inc. Industry Financial services Steelmaker Automotive Computers Rank on Financial Performance 1 10 3 n/a Rank on Investment Value 1 9 5 n/a

Toronto
Hamilton, ON Aurora, ON Markham, ON Montreal Calgary Montreal Toronto Montreal

Financial services
Air transportation T elecommunications Financial services T ransportation

9
n/a 7 4 n/a n/a

n/a
n/a 4 8 2 n/a

10. General Electric Canada Inc.Mississauga, ON Electr onic controls/instruments

Sour ce: Adapted from R. Bloom, RBC Reclaims Top Spot in Survey, The Globe and Mail , January 20, 2003, pp. B1, B5.

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

How Will Knowing OB Make a Difference?

For Managers
Knowing organizational behaviour can help you manage well and makes for better corporations. Managing people well leads to greater organizational commitment. Finally, managing well may improve organizational citizenship.
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

How Will Knowing OB Make a Difference?

For Individuals
What if Im not going to work in a large organization?
The theories generally apply to organizations of any size.

What if I dont want to be a manager?

To some extent, the roles of managers and employees are becoming blurred in many organizations. While self-employed individuals often do not act as managers, they certainly interact with other individuals and organizations as part of their work.

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Bottom Line: OB Is For Everyone

Organizational behaviour is not just for managers.
The roles of managers and employees are becoming blurred in many organizations. Managers are increasingly asking employees to share in their decision-making processes rather than simply follow orders.

OB applies equally well to all situations in which you interact with others: on the basketball court, at the grocery store, in school, or in church.
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

Psychology Sociology Social Psychology Anthropology Political Science

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 1-3 Toward an OB Discipline

Behavioural science

Contribution
Learning Motivation Perception Training Leadership effectiveness Job satisfaction Individual decision making Performance appraisal Attitude measurement Employee selection Work design Work stress Group dynamics Work teams Communication Power Conflict Intergroup behaviour Formal organization theory Organizational technology Organizational change Organizational culture Behavioural change Attitude change Communication Group processes Group decision making Comparative values Comparative attitudes Cross-cultural analysis

Unit of analysis

Output

Psychology

Individual

Sociology

Group

Study of Organizational Behaviour

Social psychology

Organization system

Anthropology Organizational culture Organizational environment Political science Conflict Intraorganizational politics Power

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

The Rigour of OB
OB looks at consistencies
What is common about behaviour, and helps predictability?

OB is more than common sense

Systematic study, based on scientific evidence

OB has few absolutes OB takes a contingency approach

Considers behaviour in context

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Beyond Common Sense

Systematic Study
Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence
This means data are gathered under controlled conditions, and measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous mannerrather than relying on common sense.

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 1-4 The Layers of OB

The Organization
Change Organizational culture Decision making Leadership

The Group

Power and politics Negotiation Conflict Communication Groups and teams

The Individual

Motivating self and others Emotions Values and attitudes Perception Personality

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Summary and Implications

OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within an organization. OB focuses on improving productivity, reducing absenteeism and turnover, and increasing employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment. OB uses systematic study to improve predictions of behaviour.
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

OB at Work

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

For Review
1. Define organizational behaviour. 2. What is an organization? Is the family unit an organization? Explain. 3. Behaviour is generally predictable, so there is no need to formally study OB. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why? 4. What are some of the challenges and opportunities that managers face as we move into the 21st century? 5. What are the three levels of analysis in our OB model? Are they related? If so, how? 6. Why is job satisfaction an important consideration for OB? 7. What are effectiveness and efficiency, and how are they related to organizational behaviour? 8. What does it mean to say OB takes a contingency approach in its analysis of behaviour?
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

For Critical Thinking

1. The best way to view OB is through a contingency approach. Build an argument to support this statement. 2. OB is for everyone. Build an argument to support this statement. 3. Why do you think the subject of OB might be criticized as being only common sense, when one would rarely hear such a criticism of a course in physics or statistics? Do you think this criticism of OB is fair? 4. On a scale of 1 to 10 measuring the sophistication of a scientific discipline in predicting phenomena, mathematical physics would probably be a 10. Where do you think OB would fall on the scale? Why?
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Learning About Yourself

Scoring Key
Director: 1, 2, 3 Producer: 4, 5, 6 Coordinator: 7, 8, 9 Monitor: 10, 11, 12 Mentor: 13, 14, 15 Facilitator: 16, 17, 18 Innovator: 19, 20, 21 Broker: 22, 23, 24

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Learning About Yourself Exercise

1. 2. 3. 4. Taking initiative Goal setting Delegating effectively Personal productivity and motivation 5. Motivating others 6. Time and stress management 7. Planning 8. Organizing 9. Controlling 10. Receiving and organizing information 11. Evaluating routine information 12. Responding to routine information 13. Understanding yourself and others 14. Interpersonal communication 15. Developing subordinates 16. Team building 17. Participative decision making 18. Conflict management 19. Living with change 20. Creative thinking 21. Managing change 22. Building and maintaining a power base 23. Negotiating agreement and commitment 24. Negotiating and selling ideas

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Breakout Group Exercises

Form small groups to discuss the following topics:
1. Consider a group situation in which you have worked. To what extent did the group rely on the technical skills of the group members vs. their interpersonal skills? Which skills seemed most important in helping the group function well? 2. Identify some examples of worst jobs. What conditions of these jobs made them unpleasant? To what extent were these conditions related to behaviours of individuals? 3. Develop a list of organizational puzzles, i.e., behaviour youve observed in organizations that seemed to make little sense. As the term progresses, see if you can begin to explain these puzzles, using your knowledge of organizational behaviour.
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Working With Others Exercise

This exercise asks you to consider the skills outlined in the Competing Values Framework to develop an understanding of managerial expertise. Steps 14 can be completed in 1520 minutes. 1. Using the skills listed in Learning About Yourself, identify the 4 skills that you think all managers should have. 2. Identify the 4 skills that you think are least important for managers to have. 3. In groups of 57, reach a consensus on the most-needed and leastneeded skills identified in Steps 1 and 2. 4. Using Exhibit 1-4, determine whether your ideal managers would have trouble managing in some dimensions of organizational demands.

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

From Concepts to Skills

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 1-5 Competing Values Framework

Flexibility

Internal Focus

External Focus

Control
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Competing Values Framework

Internal-External Dimension
Inwardly toward employee needs and concerns and/or production processes and internal systems or Outwardly, toward such factors as the marketplace, government regulations, and the changing social, environmental, and technological conditions of the future

Flexibility-Control Dimension
Flexible and dynamic, allowing more teamwork and participation; seeking new opportunities for products and services or Controlling or stable, maintaining the status quo and exhibiting less change

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exhibit 1-6 Skills for Mastery in the New Workplace

Flexibility
1. Understanding yourself and others 2. Interpersonal communication 3. Developing subordinates 1. Team building 2. Participative decision making 3. Conflict management 1. Living with change 2. Creative thinking 3. Managing change

Mentor Innovator

Facilitator Monitor

Broker Producer

1. Building and maintaining a power base 2. Negotiating agreement and commitment 3. Negotiating and selling ideas

Internal
1. Receiving and organizing information 2. Evaluating routine information 3. Responding to routine information

External
1. Personal productivity and motivation 2. Motivating others 3. Time and stress management

Coordinator Director

1. Planning 2. Organizing 3. Controlling

1. Taking initiative 2. Goal setting 3. Delegating effectively

Control
Source: R.E. Quinn. Beyond Rational Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1988, p. 48.
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Supplemental Material
Slides for activities I do in my own classroom

Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Exercise
In groups of 6
Introduce yourselves Pick an interviewer Decide on questions or topics you want interviewer to ask me

The interview
Introduce interviewer to me and the class Ask one question from your list (we will go around the groups with one question at a time)
Chapter 1, Stephen P. Robbins and Nancy Langton, Fundamentals of Organizational Behaviour, Second Canadian Edition. Copyright 2004 Pearson Education Canada Inc.