Chapter # 1

Organizational BehaviorImportance of interpersonal skills:

Pre-1980:The business schools emphasized technical education like:

Economics, Accounting, Finance, And Quantitative techniques

Post 1980

• The business faculty was convinced that without realizing human behavior it is not possible to develop effective management practices and retaining of employees with the organization.

• Not doubt technical skill are necessary but they are not enough to succeed in management.

What managers do?

• Manager defined- the person gets things done through other people.

• Organization defined- Consciously coordinated social unit composed of two or more people to achieve some specific goal or set of goals.

1. What functions a manager performs in the organization?

2. What roles he plays in the organization?3. What Skills he needs to do the above two?4. What activities he execute?

Functions of the Management

Planning: 1. defining goals 2. establish strategy to achieve goals3. integrate and coordinate activitiesOrganizing:4. What tasks to be done5. Who will to do them6. How they are to be grouped7. Who report to whom and8. Where decisions are to be made

Functions of management continue

Leading:1. Motivate employees2. Direct activities of others3. Resolving conflicts among membersControlling:4. Monitoring the organization’s performance5. Comparing the actual performance and set goals6. Identifying the deviations 7. Making corrections

Roles of the Management

• Interpersonal Roles:1. Figurehead- routine duties of social and legal

nature.2. Leader- responsible for motivation and

direction of employees.3. Liaison- Maintaining network of outside

contacts who provide favors and information.

Management roles continue

Informational Roles:1. Monitor-nerve center of int-ext. info.2. Disseminator-transmits info, to members of org.3. Spokesman-to outsiders for plans, policies, actions and

results

Decisional Roles:4. Entrepreneur-searches opportunities & initiate change 5. Disturbance Handler-corrective actions to handle crisis6. Resource Allocator-approves org- significant decisions7. Negotiator-responsible to represent in major negotiations

Managerial Activities

1. Traditional:-decision making, planning and controlling.

2. Communication:-exchanging routine information and processing paperwork.

3. HRM:-motivating, disciplining, managing conflicts,

staffing, and training.4. Networking:

-socializing, politicking and interacting with outsiders

Management skills

There are three skills needed for a manager to be an effective manager:1. Technical skills- ability to apply specialized

knowledge or expertise2. Human skills-ability to work with, understand,

motivate both individuals and groups3. Conceptual skills-mental ability to analyze and

diagnose complex situations.

Definition of Organizational Behavior

• A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.

A Systematic Study

Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence.

EBM – Evidence-based management.Basing managerial decisions on the best available.Intuition- a gut feeling not necessarily supported by research i.e. “why I do what I do”The trick, of course, is to know when to go with your gut (Jack Welch).

Disciplines that Contribute to OB

1. Psychology: the science that seeks t measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.

2. Social Psychology: an area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology, and that focuses on the influence of people on one another

Disciplines that Contribute to OB continued

3. Sociology: the study of people in relation to their social environment or culture.

4. Anthropology: the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.

Challenges & Opportunities of OB

• Responding to Globalization: the organizations are working across boundaries of different nations, Japanese are in US, Americans are working in China, Indians are working Japan and Chinese are working in a large number of countries.The different challenges were emerged with the advent of multinationalization like:

Challenges & Opportunities of OB

1. Increased Foreign Investment- international appointments and back home syndrome.

2. Working with People from Different CulturesChange in life style, values, geography and religion

shape them.3. Coping with Anti-capitalism.4. Low cost of labor in less developed countries.5. Managing People during time of terror

Managing Diversity

1. Gender2. Race3. National Origin4. Age5. Disability6. Domestic Partner7. Religion8. Changing U.S. Demographics9. Implications- Human beings are not alike you have to

treat who they are

Challenges & Opportunities of OB

1. Improving Quality and Productivity2. Improving Customer Service3. Improving People Skills4. Stimulating Innovation and Change5. Coping with “Temporariness” 6. Working in Networking 7. Working in Networked Organizations8. Helping Employees Balance their work-life Conflicts9. Creating a Positive Work Environment.

Dependent Variables in OB

The dependent variable is an outcome as the effect some (independent varialbes) other factors. The scholars historically tended to emphasize some dependent variables.

In OB primary variables are: productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction.

Two more variables are added to OB recently: deviant workplace behavior and organizational citizenship behavior

Dependent Variables in OB (continued)

1. Productivity: A performance measure that includes effectiveness and efficiency.

2. Absenteeism: A failure to report to the work.3. Turnover: Voluntary and involuntary

permanent withdrawal from organization.4. Deviant Workplace Behavior: Voluntary

behavior that violates significant organizational norms and , in so doing, threatens the well-being of the organization or its members.

Dependent Variables in OB (continued)

5. Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB): Discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s formal job requirements but that nevertheless promotes the

effective functioning of the organization.6. Job Satisfaction: A positive feeling about one’s

job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics.

Independent Variables

The presumed cause of some change in a dependent variable. Independent variables are of three types:1. Individual-Level Variables: individual entering in the organizations are like used cars—low mileage, or well worn due to driven on rough roads- having different biographical features: like age, gender, marital status; Personality traits: like inherent emotional framework, values and attitudes; and basic ability levels.

Group-Level Variables

It is more than sum of the individual behaviors. The behavior of the group is different from the behavior when they are alone.For example:a). Acceptable standards of behavior.b). The degree to which group members are attracted to each other.

Organization System-Level Variables

System-level variables more than the sum of the behavior of members of the organization.1. Design of the Formal Organization2. Internal culture of the organization3. HRM policies and practices, that is, staffing, training

and development programs, performance evaluation methods.

All have impact on the dependent variables or outcomes of employees, teams and the structure.