Unit 1
What is Organizational
Behavior?
Learning Outcomes: What is
Organizational Behavior?
Define organizational behavior
Explain some of the differences in
organizations
Understand the need for systematic study of
organizational behavior
Describe an organization
Recognize Organizational Behavior (OB)
depends on contingencies
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 2
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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 3
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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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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)
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 5
Roadmap to Understanding
Understanding Me
Understanding Understanding
Others Organizations
Putting It All Together
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 6
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
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 7
Organizational Behavior
In the study of organizational
behavior, we must replace common
sense and intuition in favor of
systematic study.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 11
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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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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
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 13
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!
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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Developing an OB Model
Independent variables
Individual-level variables Group-level
variables Organizational systems-level
variables
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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Developing an OB Model
Dependent variables
Productivity
Absenteeism
Turnover
Job Satisfaction
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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Basic OB Model
Independent Variables Dependent Variables
Organizational Level PRODUCTIVITY
ABSENTEESIM
Group Level
TURNOVER
Individual Level
JOB SATISFACTION
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
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There Are Few Absolutes in OB
Contingency variables: “It Depends!”
Situational factors that make the main relationship
between two variables change—e.g., the
relationship may hold for one condition but not
another
In Country 1 x May be related to y
In Country 2 x May NOT be related to y
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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 20
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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 21
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.
Human Behavior in Organizations, 2nd Edition © 2010 Pearson Education, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458.
All Rights Reserved.
Rodney Vandeveer and Michael Menefee 22