Organizational Behavior
Definition: the study of actions OF
PEOPLE at work that affect performance
in the workplace.
Goal? To explain and predict behavior
Behaviors/Outcomes of concern?
Both cognitive and affective
I. Personality
Combination of traits that classifies
individuals. Stable?
Affects behavior, perceptions, and
attitudes.
Dimensions include locus, optimism, risk,
machiavellianism, Big 5, EI, MBTI, selfefficacy, self-esteem etc.
Use to establish a good match between
employee and job/organization.
I. a. Emotional Intelligence
1. Self-awareness: ability to recognize and
understand your moods, emotions, and
drives as well as their effect on others
(self-confidence, realistic self-assessment,
self-deprecating sense of humor)
2. Self-regulation: ability to control or
redirect disruptive impulses and moods;
think before acting (trustworthiness,
integrity, comfort with ambiguity, openness
I. a. Emotional Intelligence (cont’d.)
3. Motivation: passion to work for reasons
beyond money or status (strong drive to achieve,
optimism, commitment)
4. Empathy: ability to understand emotional
makeup of others, treat people according to their
emotional reaction (building and retaining talent,
cross-cultural sensitivity, service to clients)
5. Social skill: managing relationships and
networks, building rapport (effectiveness in
leading change, persuasiveness, leading teams)
II. Perception
Definition – Organizing and interpreting
information to make sense or meaning of
the environment. Perceptions are in part
based on judgments.
The perception process involves selecting,
organizing, and interpreting environmental
information.
II. a. Models of Attribution
Your book – Attribution is the process of
determining the reason for behavior.
Kelley’s model is useful for explaining
causes/reasons for other’s behavior or
performance.
Weiner’s model is useful for explaining
causes/reasons for our own behavior or
performance.
Kelley’s Attribution Model
Distinctiveness – is performance highly
distinctive relative to other tasks?
Consensus – is performance highly similar
(in consensus) to other people’s
performance?
Consistency – is performance highly
consistent over time?
The answers to these questions will lead
to an internal or an external performance
attribution.
Distinctiveness  high?  external attr.
Distinctiveness  low?  internal attr.
Consensus  high?  external attr.
Consensus  low?  internal attr.
Consistency  high?  internal attr.
Consistency  low?  external attr.
Weiner’s Attribution Model
Attributions can be considered on two
dimensions:
– Internal/external
– Stable/unstable
Four common attributions include
ability, luck, task difficulty, and effort
Why are attributions important?
The attributions you make have psychological
and behavioral consequences
Fundamental attribution error
Self-serving bias
Managers need to recognize that employees
react to perceptions, not necessarily to reality.
Need to manage perceptions (e.g. of fairness).
Perceptions are in part based on attributions.
II. b. Biases in Perception
Selectivity
Frame of Reference
Confirmatory bias
Stereotypes
Halo effect
II. c. Learning theory
Social Learning Theory – people learn by
observing others, e.g. modeling.
– Attentional process
– Retention process
– Motor reproduction process
– Reinforcement process
III. Attitudes
Definition – Positive or negative
evaluations of people, things, and
situations. Mainly affective
Why are they of interest? They predict
behavior
They are based on perceptions
Management affects attitudes (e.g.
Pygmalion).
Attitudes of interest: Job satisfaction,
organizational commitment
III. a. Cognitive Dissonance
Definition – Inconsistency between
attitudes and behavior. People are
motivated to reduce cognitive dissonance.
Can be corrected by altering behavior or
attitude.
IV. Power
7 bases of Power: Coercive, Connection,
Reward, Legitimate, Referent, Information,
Expert. These are derived from the
position as well as the person.
V. Politics
Networking
Reciprocity
Coalitions
Learning the organizational culture
VI. Conflict
Psychological contract – implicit expectations
Functional and dysfunctional conflict
Conflict management styles
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Avoiding
Accommodating
Forcing
Negotiating
Collaborating
Conflict Resolution and BCF statements