Chapter 1: General introduction to organizational behavior Management and Organiztional Behavior Manager o An individual who achieves goals through other people o Sth called administrators Organization o A consciously coordinated social unit o Composed of 2 or more people, that function on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals The work of managers can be condensed to four activities: o Planning Include Defining goals Establish strategy Developing plans To coordinate activities o Organizing Determining Task to do Who to do task How task are grouped Repots to whom Where decisions are to be made o Leading Include Motivating employees Directing othes Selecting the most effectiv communiication channels Resolving conflicts o Controlling Monitoring to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations Management Roles Minzberg's Mangerial Roles (10 roles) Interpersonal Roles: All managers are required to perform duties that are ceremorial and symbolic in nature Informational Roles: collecting information from outside organization and institutions Decisional Roles: making choices Management Skills Technical Skills encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise Human Skills: the ability to work with, understand, motivate other people, both individual and in groups Conceptual Skills: The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations Effective vs Successful Managerial Activities Engaged in 4 managerial activities: Traditional management, communication, HRM, Networking Among manages who were successful (in promotion) o Networking made largest relative contribution o HRM made least relative contribution Among effective managers o Communication made largest relative contribution o Networking made least OB: a field of study that investigates the impact individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organiztional's effectiveness => OB is the study of what peple do in an organization and the way their behavior affects the organization's performance. Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study Systematic study: Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusion based on scientific evidence Evidence-based management (EBM) the basing of managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence. Big Data Disciplines That Contribute to the OB Field Psychology Psychology: The science hat seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals. Contributors of knowledge to OB: o Learning theorists o Personality theorists o Counseling psychologists o Industrial and organizational psychologists Social Psychology Social psychology: an area of psycholog that blends concepts from psychology and sociology to focus on the influence of people on one another One major study area is change - how to implement it and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance Sociology Sociology: the study of people in relation to their social environment or culture Anthropology Anthropology: the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities There are few absolutes in OB We can say x leads to y, but only under conditions specified in z Contingency variables: Situational factors: Variables that moderate the relationship between 2 or more variables. Challenges and Oppotunities for OB There are a variety of employment options available as dramatic changes occur in organizations Economic Pressures ● Layoffs, job losses, and pay cuts when times are tough can cause stress and worry among employees and their managers ● The difference between good and bad management can be the difference between profit and loss or business survival and failure People Skills ● Predicting behavior, motivating jobs, communication, improving management skills, and creating effective teams Networked Organizations ● Allow people to communicate and work together even though they may be thousands of miles apart Social Media ● This is a difficult issue for today’s manager. It presents a challenge and an opportunity for OB. ● Social media can affect an individual’s mood and life satisfaction Employee Well-Being at Work ● With technology, a worker is allowed a lot of freedom to perform the job at a variety of locations, but it also means they may feel like they’re not part of a team. ● Burnout, high stress levels, and fatigue are a huge issue Positive Work Environment ● Positive Organizational Scholarship (Positive organizational behavior)- studies how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential ● Pushes organizations to exploit employees’ strengths rather than dwell on their limitations Ethical Behavior ● Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices- situations in which individuals are required to define right and wrong conduct ● Good ethical behavior has never been clearly defined which can make it difficult for managers and employees to decide the best way to behave ● Companies that promote a strong ethical mission provide strong leadership and encourage integrity ● Classroom training in ethics have been proven to help maintain a higher level of awareness Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model An Overview ● Model- abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon ● OB model: inputs, processes, and outcomes within individuals, groups, and Organizations Inputs ● The variables in personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to processes Processes ● Actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes sOutcomes ● Key variables that you want to explain or predict, and that are affected by some other variables ● Attitudes and Stress: attitudes are the evaluations employees make ranging from positive to negative, about objects, people, or events ● Stress- an unpleasant psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures ● Task Performance: the combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing your core job task ● Can be measured by number, quality, level, and timeliness ● Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB): the discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements, and that contributes to the psychological and social environment of the workplace ● Withdrawal Behavior: the set of actions that employees take to separate themselves from the organization ● This includes showing up late, failing to attend meetings, to absenteeism and turnover Group Cohesion ● The extent to which members of a group support and validate one another at work ● Employees trust one another, seek common goals, and work together Group Functioning ● Refers to the quantity and quality of a group’s work output ● The “effectively functioning” characteristic is different for each organization and the job type Productivity ● The combination of effectiveness and efficiency Survival ● Organizational survival: evidence that the organization is able to exist and grow over the long term ● How productive the organization is as well as how it fits with its environment
