Introduction to
Organizational Behavior
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The stellar universe is not
so difficult of
comprehension as the real
actions of other people. —
Marcel Proust
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LO11
LO
Demonstrate the Importance of
Interpersonal Skills in the Workplace
Interpersonal skills are important because…
Understanding OB helps determine manager
effectiveness
Leadership and communication skills are critical as a
person progresses in his or her career
Better interpersonal skills result in lower turnover of
quality employees and higher quality applications for
recruitment
‘Good places to work’ have better financial
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performance
LO 2
Describe the Manager’s
Functions, Roles, And Skills
Manager: Someone who gets things done through
other people in organizations.
Organization: A consciously coordinated social unit
composed of two or more people that functions on a
relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal
or set of goals.
Management functions
Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. 1-5
LO 2
Describe the Manager’s
Functions, Roles, And Skills
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LO 2
Describe the Manager’s
Functions, Roles, And Skills
Management Skills
Technical Skills – the ability to apply specialized
knowledge or expertise. All jobs require some
specialized expertise, and many people develop
their technical skills on the job.
Human Skills – the ability to work with,
understand, and motivate other people, both
individually and in groups.
Conceptual Skills – the mental ability to analyze 1-7
and diagnose complex situations.
LO 2 Effective Versus Successful
Managerial Activities
Luthans and his associates found that all
managers engage in four managerial activities:
Traditional management
Communication
Human resource management
Networking
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LO 2 Effective Versus Successful
Managerial Activities
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LO 3 Define
“Organizational Behavior” (OB)
Organizational behavior (OB) is 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.
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LO 4
Value of Systematic Study
.
Systematic Study of Behavior
Behavior generally is predictable if we know how the
person perceived the situation and what is important to
him or her.
Evidence-Based Management (EBM)
Complements systematic study.
Argues for managers to make decisions based on
evidence.
Intuition
Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut
feelings” about “why I do what I do” and “what makes
others tick.” 1-11
If we make all decisions with intuition or gut instinct, we’re
likely working with incomplete information.
LO 5
Identify the Major Behavioral Science
Disciplines That Contribute to OB
Organizational behavior is an applied
behavioral science that is built upon
contributions from a number of behavioral
disciplines:
Psychology
Social psychology
Sociology
Anthropology 1-12
LO 5
Identify the Major Behavioral Science
Disciplines That Contribute to OB
Psychology
Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and
sometimes change the behavior of humans and
other animals.
Social Psychology
Social psychology blends the concepts of
psychology and sociology.
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LO 5
Identify the Major Behavioral Science
Disciplines That Contribute to OB
Sociology
Sociology studies people in relation to their social
environment or culture.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of societies to learn
about human beings and their activities.
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LO 5
Identify the Major Behavioral Science
Disciplines That Contribute to OB
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LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Responding to economic pressure
In tough economic times, effective
management is an asset.
In good times, understanding how to reward,
satisfy, and retain employees is at a premium.
In bad times, issues like stress, decision
making, and coping come to the forefront.
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LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Responding to globalization
Increased foreign assignments.
Working with people from different cultures.
Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with
low-cost labor.
Adapting to differing cultural and regulatory
norms.
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LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Managing workforce diversity
Workforce diversity – organizations are
becoming more heterogeneous in terms of
gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation,
and inclusion of other diverse groups.
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LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Improving customer service
Service employees have substantial interaction
with customers.
Employee attitudes and behavior are associated
with customer satisfaction.
Need a customer-responsive culture.
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LO 7
Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Improving people skills
People skills are essential to managerial
effectiveness.
OB provides the concepts and theories that
allow managers to predict employee behavior
in given situations.
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LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Working in networked organizations
Networked organizations are becoming more
pronounced.
A manager’s job is fundamentally different in
networked organizations.
Challenges of motivating and leading “online”
require different techniques.
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LO 7
Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Enhancing employee well-being at work
The creation of the global workforce means
work no longer sleeps.
Communication technology has provided a
vehicle for working at any time or any place.
Employees are working longer hours per week.
The lifestyles of families have changed —
creating conflict.
Balancing work and life demands now surpasses 1-22
job security as an employee priority.
LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Creating a positive work environment
Creating a positive work environment can be a
competitive advantage.
Positive organizational scholarship is concerned
with how organizations develop human strength,
foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential.
This field of study focuses on employees’
strengths versus their limitations, as employees
share situations in which they performed at their 1-23
personal best.
LO 7 Identify the Challenges and
Opportunities of OB Concepts
Improving ethical behavior
Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices are
situations in which an individual is required to
define right and wrong conduct.
Good ethical behavior is not so easily defined.
Organizations distribute codes of ethics to guide
employees through ethical dilemmas.
Managers need to create an ethically healthy
climate. 1-24
Implications for Managers
Resist the inclination to rely on generalizations; some
provide valid insights into human behavior, but many
are erroneous.
Use metrics and situational variables rather than
“hunches” to explain cause-and-effect relationships.
Work on your interpersonal skills to increase your
leadership potential.
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Implications for Managers
Improve your technical skills and conceptual skills
through training and staying current with
organizational behavior trends like “big data”.
Organizational behavior can improve your
employees’ work quality and productivity by showing
you how to empower your employees, design and
implement change programs, improve customer
service, and help your employees balance work-life
conflicts.
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