Chapter 1
What is Organizational Behavior?
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
What is Organizational Behavior?

Organizational Behavior is the study
of human behavior in the workplace,
the interaction between people and
the organization with the intent to
understand and predict human
behavior.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Why Study
Organizational Behavior?


Understanding human behavior in
organizations is a critical skill for
leadership and success in
organizations.
To be a successful leader, one needs
to understand the behaviors of
people, organizations, and the
situation.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Is organizational behavior really
just common sense ?
Let’s do a short quiz. Answer True or False to each of the following:

When employees are happy workers are more productive .
(T/F)

Friendly, trusting, and approachable bosses can motivate their
workers. (T/F)

Leaders who exhibit a stable behavior, regardless of the
situations faced, make the best leaders. (T/F)

Experiences have shown us that interviews where the
interviewer leads with “tell me about yourself” are very effective
selection methods. (T/F)

A challenging job appeals to everyone. (T/F)
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Is organizational behavior really
just common sense ?





When people feel a little intimidated, they will work harder
and do their best. T/F
Nonspecific goals allowing individuals to work at their own
pace will motivate individuals to work harder. T/F
Money is a motivator for all employees. T/F
Most people are much more concerned about their own
salaries than they are about the salaries of others. T/F
Conflict has a negative effect on work group effectiveness.
T/F
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Roadmap to Understanding
Understanding Me
Understanding
Others
Understanding
Organizations
Putting It All Together
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Organizational Behavior

* In the study of organizational
behavior, we must replace common
sense and intuition in favor of
systematic study.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Intuition versus Common Sense
Common Sense Defined
The unreflective opinion of ordinary men and
women, unsophisticated judgment.
Intuition Defined
A feeling not necessarily supported by
research.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Systematic Study = Predictability

Systematic Study

Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute
causes and effects and drawing conclusions
based on scientific evidence.
 Behavior is generally predictable.
 Recognize there are differences between
individuals.
 ** Know there are fundamental consistencies.
 Realize there are rules (written & unwritten) in
almost every setting impacting behavior.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
What is an Organization?

Organizations are simply groups
with two or more people that share a
certain set of goals and meet at
regular times. * (All 40 year old adults in a
community is not an organization. AARP is an
organization)
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Looking at the Big Picture

** The number one reason for failure
among executives of Fortune 500
companies is poor interpersonal skills. In
short, they don’t have a command of the
needed human and organizational behavior
skills and, as a result, they come across as
not really caring about their people.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Why Study
Organizational Behavior?

What is changing that requires systematic
study?


Organizations and structure
Diversity – more women and minorities in the
labor force

Global competition – outsourcing of jobs

Technology’s influence on behavior

Society – social changes
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Looking at the Big Picture

With strong interpersonal skills
through a study in organizational
behavior, we can begin to predict
how others will behave in a given
situation - a valuable leadership
skill!
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Organizational Behavior



Human behavior depends on
contingencies.
Behavior can be predicted, but you
have to understand the circumstances.
Understanding circumstances and
predicting behavior requires systematic
study.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Developing an OB Model

Independent variables



Individual-level variables
Group-level variables
Organizational systems-level variables
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Developing an OB Model

Dependent variables




Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Productivity
Absenteeism
Turnover
Job Satisfaction
Example: What happens to
productivity if you get a raise?

How could you systematically study
this?
Give
Measure
Raises
productivity
Then
Independent
Variable

Dependent
variable
Which is cause and which is effect?
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Basic OB Model
CAUSES
(examples?)
(Independent Variables)
Organization decisions
Group Dynamics
PRODUCTIVITY
ABSENTEESIM
TURNOVER
Individual characteristics
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
JOB SATISFACTION
Do the self-assessment “Personality Trait and
Temperament Survey”
Go to Blackboard, then “Student Resources”
If you have MS Excel click on the Excel version
If you don’t have MS Excel then click on the paper
version and fill it out
Bring your results to the next lecture
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Summary


Organizational behavior is the study
of human behavior in the workplace,
the interaction between people and
the organization.
OB is an applied field of study of what
people do in organizations.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Summary


The goal of organizational behavior
is to understand and predict human
behavior.
OB is a function of the individual,
the environment, and/or situation.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed
Summary


Organizations come in many shapes
and sizes – we need to study these.
To study Organizational Behavior, one
needs to move from an intuition and
common sense approach to systematic
study.
Parts taken from Human Behavior 2ed