Chapter 1
Introduction to
Organizational Behavior
Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 8/e Stephen P. Robbins
© 2005 Prentice-Hall
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After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
1) Define Organizational Behavior (OB)
2) Identify the primary behavioral disciplines contributing to OB
3) Describe the three goals of OB
4) List the major challenges and opportunities for managers to use OB concepts
5) Describe how OB concepts can help make organizations more productive
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
6) Discuss why workforce diversity has
become an important issue in management 7) Explain how managers and organizations
are responding to the problem of employee ethical dilemmas
8) Discuss how a knowledge of OB can help managers stimulate organizational
innovation and change
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• Organizational Behavior - systematic study of the actions
and attitudes that people exhibit within organizations
The field of OB seeks to replace intuitive explanations with
systematic study
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Systematic study - the use of
scientific evidence gathered under controlled conditions and measured and interpreted in a reasonably
rigorous manner to attribute cause
and effect
Determinants of Employee Performance
• Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Turnover
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Organizational citizenship
• Discretionary behavior
• Not part of an employee's formal job requirements
• Promotes the effective functioning of the organization
Examples of Organizational Citizenship
• Helping others on one's work team
• Volunteering for extra job activities
• Avoiding unnecessary conflicts
• Making constructive statements about one's work group and the overall
organization
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Job Satisfaction
• There’s a link between satisfaction and productivity.
• Satisfaction appears to be negatively related to absenteeism and turnover.
• Managers have a humanistic
responsibility to provide their employees with jobs that are challenging,
intrinsically rewarding, and satisfying.
Organization
• Consciously coordinated social unit• Composed of two or more people
• Functions on a continuous basis to achieve a common goal
• Characterized by formal roles
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Psychology seeks to measure,explain,
and change behavior
Sociology studies
people in relation to their fellow human beings
Social psychology focuses on the influence of people
on one another
Anthropology is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities
Political science is the study of the
behavior of individuals and groups within a political environment
Contributing Disciplines
Goals of Organizational Behavior
• Explain, predict, and control
human behavior
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Challenges and Opportunities for OB
• Typical employee is getting older
• More women and minorities in the workplace
• Global competition is requiring employees to become more flexible
• Historical loyalty-bonds that held many employees to their employers are being severed
Responding to Globalization
• Increased Foreign Assignments
• Working with People from Different Cultures
• Coping with Anti-Capitalism Backlash
• Overseeing Movement of Jobs to Countries with Low-cost Labor
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Managing Diversity
Workforce diversity - organizations are
becoming a more heterogeneous mix of
people in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, and sexual
orientation
Diversity Implications
• Managers have to shift their philosophy from treating everyone alike to
recognizing differences and responding to those differences in ways that ensure employee retention and greater
productivity.
© 2005 Prentice-Hall
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Improving Quality and Productivity
• Quality management
• Process reengineering
Quality Management
1) Intense focus on the customer
2) Concern for continual improvement
3) Improvement in the quality of everything the organization does
4) Accurate measurement
5) Empowerment of employees
© 2005 Prentice-Hall
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Process Reengineering
• Evaluating process in terms of
contribution to goals
• Inefficient processes thrown out and new systems introduced
• Redefines jobs and requires most
employees to undergo training
OB Insights
• Improving People Skills
• Improving Customer Service
• Empowering People
• Working in Networked Organizations
• Stimulating Innovation and Change
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OB Insights
• Coping with “Temporariness”
• Helping Employees Balance Work/Life Conflicts
• Declining Employee Loyalty
• Improving Ethical Behavior
Levels of OB Analysis
Individual Level
Group Level
© 2005 Prentice-Hall
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Summary
1) Defined Organizational Behavior (OB)
2) Identified the primary behavioral disciplines contributing to OB
3) Described the three goals of OB 4) Listed the major challenges and
opportunities for managers to use OB concepts
5) Described how OB concepts can help make organizations more productive
Summary
6) Discussed why workforce diversity has
become an important issue in management 7) Explained how managers and organizations
are responding to the problem of employee ethical dilemmas
8) Discussed how a knowledge of OB can help managers stimulate organizational
