Chapter 1What Is Organizational Behaviour?

Chapter 1 OutlineDefining Organizational BehaviourOB: Making Sense of Behaviour in OrganizationsHow Will Knowing OB Make a Difference?Todays Challenges in the Canadian Workplace

What Is Organizational Behaviour?What is organizational behaviour?Isnt organizational behaviour common sense? Or just like psychology?How does knowing about organizational behaviour make work and life more understandable?What challenges do managers and employees face in the workplace of the twenty-first century?

Organizational BehaviourA field of study that investigates the impact of individuals, groups, and structure on behaviour within organizations; the aim is to apply such knowledge toward improving organizational effectiveness.

Why Do We Study OB?To learn about yourself and othersTo understand how the many organizations you encounter work.To become familiar with team workTo help you think about the people issues faced by managers and entrepreneurs

What Is an Organization?A consciously coordinated social unit:composed of a group of peoplefunctioning on a relatively continuous basisto achieve a common goal or set of goals.

The Building Blocks of OBPsychologySociologySocial PsychologyAnthropologyPolitical Science

Exhibit 1-1 Toward an OB Discipline

The Rigour of OBOB Looks at ConsistenciesWhat is common about behaviour, and helps predictability?OB Looks Beyond Common SenseSystematic study, based on scientific evidenceOB Has Few AbsolutesOB Takes a Contingency ApproachConsiders behaviour in context

Exhibit 1-2 Research Methods in OBSource: J. R. Schermerhorn, J.G. Hunt, and R. N. Osborn, Organizational Behaviour, 9th Edition, 2005, p. 4. Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

How Will Knowing OB Make a Difference?For ManagersKnowing 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.

How Will Knowing OB Make a Difference?For IndividualsWhat 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.

Bottom Line: OB Is For EveryoneOrganizational 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.

Exhibit 1-4Basic OB Model

Todays Challenges in the Canadian WorkplaceChallenges at the Individual LevelIndividual DifferencesJob SatisfactionMotivationEmpowermentBehaving Ethically

Todays Challenges in the Canadian WorkplaceChallenges at the Group LevelWorking With OthersWorkforce Diversity

Todays Challenges in the Canadian WorkplaceChallenges at the Organizational LevelProductivityDeveloping Effective EmployeesPutting People FirstGlobal CompetitionManaging and Working in a Multicultural World

Todays Challenges in the Canadian WorkplaceChallenges at the Organizational LevelProductivityA performance measure including effectiveness and efficiency.EffectivenessThe achievement of goals.EfficiencyThe ratio of effective work output to the input required to produce the work.

Developing Effective EmployeesOrganizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB)Discretionary behaviour that is not part of an employees formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organization.

Putting People FirstPutting people first generates a committed workforce and positively affects the bottom line. People will work harder when they feel they have more control and say in their work.

How to Put People FirstProvide employment security. Hire well.Create self-managed teams.Pay well.Provide extensive training.Reduce status differences.Share information about organizational performance.

Global CompetitionIn recent years, Canadian businesses have faced tough competition from the United States, Europe, Japan, and even China, as well as from other companies within our borders. To survive, they have had to reduce costs, increase productivity, and improve quality.

Managing and Working in a Multicultural WorldManagers and employees must become capable of working with people from different cultures: Multinational corporations are developing operations worldwide.Companies are developing joint ventures with foreign partners.Workers are pursuing job opportunities across national borders.

Summary and Implications1.What is organizational behaviour?OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within an organization.2.Isnt organizational behaviour common sense? Or just like psychology?OB is built on contributions from a number of behavioural disciplines, including psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. It goes beyond common sense.

Summary and ImplicationsHow does knowing about organizational behaviour make work and life more understandable?OB helps people manage well, and managing well can lead to greater organizational commitment by employees.4.What challenges do managers and employees face in todays workplace?Each level of analysisthe individual, the group, and the organizationpresents challenges.

OB at Work

For ReviewDefine organizational behaviour.What is an organization? Is the family unit an organization? Explain.Behaviour is generally predictable, so there is no need to formally study OB. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?What does it mean to say that OB takes a contingency approach in its analysis of behaviour?What are the three levels of analysis in our OB model? Are they related? If so, how?What are some of the challenges and opportunities that managers face in todays workplace?Why is job satisfaction an important consideration for OB?What are effectiveness and efficiency, and how are they related to OB?

For Critical ThinkingOB is for everyone. Build an argument to support this statement.Why do you think the subject of OB might be criticized as being only common sense, when we would rarely hear such a criticism of a course in physics or statistics? Do you think this criticism of OB is fair?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?Can empowerment lead to greater job satisfaction?

Learning About Yourself Exercise1. Taking initiative2.Goal setting3.Delegating effectively4.Personal productivity and motivation5.Motivating others6.Time and stress management7.Planning8.Organizing9.Controlling10.Receiving and organizing information11.Evaluating routine information12.Responding to routine information13.Understanding yourself and others14.Interpersonal communication15.Developing subordinates16.Team building17. Participative decision making18. Conflict management19. Living with change20. Creative thinking21. Managing change22. Building and maintaining a power base23. Negotiating agreement and commitment24. Negotiating and selling ideas

Learning About YourselfScoring Key

Director: 1, 2, 3Mentor: 13, 14, 15Producer: 4, 5, 6Facilitator: 16, 17, 18Coordinator: 7, 8, 9Innovator: 19, 20, 21Monitor: 10, 11, 12Broker: 22, 23, 24Source: Created based on material from R. E. Quinn, S. R. Faerman, M. P. Thompson, and M. R. McGrath, Becoming A Master Manager: A Competency Framework (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1990), Chapter 1.

Breakout Group ExercisesForm small groups to discuss the following topics: 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, that is, 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 OB.

Working With Others ExerciseThis 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 least-needed skills identified in Steps 1 and 2.4. Using Exhibit 1-6, determine whether your ideal managers would have trouble managing in some dimensions of organizational demands.

Exhibit 1-5Competing Values FrameworkSource: Adapted from K. Cameron and R. E. Quinn, Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework (Reading, MA: Addison Wesley Longman, 1999).

Competing Values FrameworkInternal-External DimensionInwardly, toward employee needs and concerns and/or production processes and internal systemsorOutwardly, toward such factors as the marketplace, government regulations, and the changing social, environmental, and technological conditions of the futureFlexibility-Control DimensionFlexible and dynamic, allowing more teamwork and participation; seeking new opportunities for products and servicesorControlling or stable, maintaining the status quo and exhibiting less change

Exhibit 1-6 Skills for Mastery in the New WorkplaceSource: R.E. Quinn. Beyond Rational Management. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc., 1988, p. 86.

Supplemental MaterialSlides for activities I do in my own classroom

ExerciseIn groups of 6Introduce yourselves.Pick an interviewer.Decide on questions or topics you want interviewer to ask me.The interviewIntroduce interviewer to me and the class.Ask one question from your list (we will go around the groups with one question at a time).