Organizational Behavior:
An Introduction to
Your Life in Organizations
Chapter 19
OB is for Life
©2007 Prentice Hall

• Beyond this book, how can you continue to learn about OB?
• What more do you need to know about the scientific approach to human behavior?
• How do you read a scientific journal article?
• What are some current controversies that may affect the study and practice of OB in the future?
• What resources can you use to learn even more about human behavior in organizations?
©2007 Prentice Hall

Beyond this book, how can you continue to learn about OB?
• Hone your interpersonal and organizational understanding and skills.
• Gain experience. Look for feedback on your strengths and weaknesses. Identify your unique challenges and work on them.
• Launch your career successfully, building the necessary expertise, reputation, and networks to create a power base to advance yourself, or perhaps run your own company
• Refer back to what you have studied
©2007 Prentice Hall

What more do you need to know about the scientific approach to human behavior?
• Researchers can give a broader picture that allows you to weigh alternatives
• Researchers pursue answers to questions in a systematic way
• Think of them as hypotheses to be further tested in the real world situation you are facing
©2007 Prentice Hall

How do social scientists test hypotheses?
• Field studies: interact with their subjects in their real life organizations
• Questionnaire studies: ask participants to fill out a survey
• Laboratory experiments: research is done in settings that allow the researcher to rigorously control the conditions
• Examining secondary-source materials
©2007 Prentice Hall

• Qualitative methods are based on an individual’s or individuals’ observations and interpretations
• Quantitative methods use statistical analysis to summarize and analyze measurable data points to yield results
©2007 Prentice Hall

What are some key ethical issues in social science research?
• Researchers performing studies on human subjects must take precautions that protect their subjects from physical and psychological harm
• The possibility of manipulating data to get desired results
• Suppressing data that might not be desirable to a funding authority
• The fact that many published studies are not replicated
• The possibility of manipulating the peer review process
©2007 Prentice Hall

• The first part is the abstract, which tells you the purpose of the study and its major findings
• The first part of the body of the article is the introduction
• This section is followed by a discussion of the theoretical background of the research
• Next is a methodology section covering which research method was used for collecting data
• Next you will come to the results section, which presents the conclusions
• This is followed by a discussion section that includes implications of the study
©2007 Prentice Hall

How do articles integrate practical applications?
• Level 1: Your goal is to learn the implications of this research for practitioners
• Level 2: Your goal is to understand exactly how useful this research is as a guide to practical applications
• Level 3: Your goal is to understand the research methodology and findings in every detail in order to build on them for future research
©2007 Prentice Hall

What are some basic types of statistical analyses?
• Multiple regression is used when a researcher wants to explain the relationship between multiple independent variables and a dependent variable
• Correlation shows the relationship between two variables
• Factor analysis finds relationships between and among variables and then organizes similar variables into factors
• Meta-analysis is a way to synthesize the results of many previous studies
©2007 Prentice Hall

What are the different roles of academic and practitioner journals?
• Academic journals are those journals in which research and the research process are the primary focus.
• The vast majority of academic journals are blind peer reviewed
• Practitioner journals focus less on the process of research and more on the findings
©2007 Prentice Hall

What are some current controversies that may affect the study and practice of OB in the future?
• Who should organizations serve? Stockholders or the greater public good?
• Critical theorists would like to see OB take a more challenging approach toward business organizations
• What should OB professors study and teach?
What has been learned through social science or what has been learned through managerial experience?
• What you see is what you have learned to look for. But is it the truth? Views of modernism and postmodernism
©2007 Prentice Hall

What resources can you use to learn even more about human behavior in organizations?
• Further education – courses or degrees
• Further reading – books (classics and new), magazines, journals
• Use the human resource management
(HRM) department in your company
• Current Techniques and Fads – consider the validity and fit for your organization
©2007 Prentice Hall

• Advice from the Pro’s
• Gain Experience
©2007 Prentice Hall

Summary – Beyond this book, how can you continue to learn about OB?
• Deepen your knowledge of OB history, the latest research, and current controversies
• Understand current research more completely by understanding its context in history
• In the companies for which you work or will work, use organizational resources to help you
©2007 Prentice Hall

Summary – What more do you need to know about the scientific approach to human behavior?
• How researchers test hypotheses
• What types of statistical analysis are common
• Understand ethical issues in the treatment of human subjects
©2007 Prentice Hall

Summary – How do you read a scientific journal article?
• Understand the parts of a journal article: the abstract, introduction, theoretical background, methodology, results and discussion
• Learn to read scientific studies for their practical implications
• Grasp at least the basics of statistical analysis, including multiple regression, correlation, factor analysis, and meta-analysis
• Understand the difference between a scholarly journal and a practitioner journal
©2007 Prentice Hall

Summary – What are some current controversies that may affect the study and practice of OB in the future?
• Who should organizations serve?
• What should OB professors study and teach?
• What different perspectives should be included in organizational research?
©2007 Prentice Hall

Summary – What resources can you use to learn even more about human behavior in organizations?
• Look to your human resources management group for expertise
• Read the history and current science
• Observe on your own
• Staying up on the current fads can build your reputation as an effective manager
©2007 Prentice Hall