CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
LEARNING OBJECTIVE

Demonstrate the Organizational Behavior Model

• Discuss levels of analysis in organizational behavior model:

• Input
• Process
• Outcomes

Challenges And Opportunities In Applying

Organizational Behavior Model
Developing an OB Model - An
Overview

A model is an abstraction of reality, a simplified

representation of some real world phenomenon.

Exhibit 1- 4 presents the skeleton on which we will

construct our OB model.

It proposes Three Types Of Variables (INPUTS,

PROCESSES and OUTCOMES) AT Three Levels Of
Analysis (INDIVIDUAL, GROUP and
ORGANIZATIONAL).
 A BASIC OB MODEL
INDIVIDUAL LEVEL INDIVIDUAL LEVEL INDIVIDUAL LEVEL
INPUT • Diversity PROCESS • Emotions and Moods OUTCOMES • Attitudes and Stress
• Personality • Motivation • Task Performance
• Values • Perception • Citizenship Behavior
• Decision making • Withdrawal Behavior

GROUP LEVEL GROUP LEVEL GROUP LEVEL

• Group Structure • Communication • Group Cohesion
• Group Roles • Leadership • Group Functioning
• Team responsibilities • Power and Politics
• Conflict and
Negotiation

ORGANIZATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL

LEVEL LEVEL LEVEL
• Structure • Human Resource • Productivity
• Culture Management • Survival
• Change Practices
OB Model - Inputs

These variables set the For example, individual

Inputs are the variables stage for what will
like personality, group occur in an
structure, and organization later.
organizational culture Many are determined
that lead to processes. in advance of the
employment
relationship.
diversity characteristics,
personality, and values
are shaped by a
combination of an
individual’s genetic
inheritance and
childhood environment.

Group structure, roles, Finally, organizational

and team structure and culture are
responsibilities are usually the result of years
typically assigned of development and
immediately before or change as the organization
after a group is adapts to its environment
formed. and builds up customs and
norms.
OB Model - Processes

Processes are actions that At the individual level,

individuals, groups, and processes include emotions
organizations engage in and moods, motivation,
as a result of inputs and perception, and decision
that lead to certain making.
outcomes.

Finally, at the At the group level, they

organizational level, include communication,
processes include human leadership, power and
resource management and politics, and conflict and
change practices. negotiation.
OB Model - Outcomes

Outcomes are the key variables that you want to

explain or predict, and that are affected by some
other variables.

What are the primary outcomes in OB? Scholars

have emphasized individual-level outcomes like
attitudes and satisfaction, task performance,
citizenship behavior, and withdrawal behavior.

At the group level, cohesion and functioning are

the dependent variables.

Finally, at the organizational level we look at

overall profitability and survival.
Challenges And Opportunities In Applying
Organizational Behavior Model

Responding to economic pressures

Responding to globalization

Managing workforce diversity

Improving customer service

Improving people skills

Stimulating simulation and changes

Challenges And Opportunities In Applying
Organizational Behavior Model

Coping with “temporariness”

Working in networked organizations

Helping employees balance work-life

conflicts

Creating a positive work environment

Improving ethical behavior

Responding to Economic Pressures

During difficult economic times, effective management is an asset.

Anybody can run a company when business is booming,

because the difference between good and bad management
reflects the difference between making a lot of money and
making a lot more money.

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 fore.
Responding to Globalization

Organizations are no longer constrained by

national borders.

The world has become a global village. In the

process, the manager’s job has changed.
 Responding to Globalization

Increased Foreign Working with People from Overseeing Movement of

Assignments Different Cultures Jobs to Countries with Low-
cost Labor
• If you’re a manager, you • To work effectively with • In a global economy, jobs
are increasingly likely to people from different tend to flow where lower
find yourself in a foreign cultures, you need to costs give businesses a
assignment - transferred understand how their comparative advantage,
to your employer’s culture, geography, and though labor groups,
operating division or religion have shaped politicians, and local
subsidiary in another them and how to adapt community leaders see
country. your management style the exporting of jobs as
• Once there, you’ll have to their differences. undermining the job
to manage a workforce • Management practices market at home.
very different in needs, need to be modified to • Managers face the
aspirations, and attitudes reflect the values of the difficult task of
from those you are used different countries in balancing the interests of
to back home. which an organization their organization with
operates. their responsibilities to
the communities in which
they operate.
Responding to Globalization

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
Managing Workforce Diversity

Workforce Organizations are

Diversity 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.
Improving Customer Service

Today, the majority of employees in developed countries work in service

jobs, including 80 percent in the United States. In Australia, 73 percent
work in service industries.

Service jobs include technical support representatives, fast-food

counter workers, sales clerks, waiters and waitresses, nurses,
automobile repair technicians, consultants, credit representatives,
financial planners, and flight attendants.

OB can help managers contribute to improving an organization’s

performance by showing managers how employee attitudes and
behavior are associated with customer satisfaction.

OB can provide considerable guidance in helping managers create such

cultures - in which employees are friendly and courteous, accessible,
knowledgeable, prompt in responding to customer needs, and willing to
do what’s necessary to please the customer.
Improving People Skills

OB can help you explain and predict

the behavior of people at work. In
addition, you’ll gain insights into specific
people skills that you can use on the job.

For instance, you’ll learn ways to design

motivating jobs, techniques for improving
your listening skills, and how to create
more effective teams.
Stimulating Innovation and
Change
An organization’s employees can be the
impetus for innovation and change, or
they can be a major stumbling block.

The challenge for managers is to

stimulate their employees’ creativity and
tolerance for change.

The field of OB provides a wealth of

ideas and techniques to aid in realizing
these goals.
Coping with “Temporariness”
Globalization, expanded capacity, and advances in technology have
required organizations to be fast and flexible if they are to survive.

The result is that most managers and employees today work in a

climate best characterized as “temporary.”

Workers must continually update their knowledge and skills to perform

new job requirements.

Today’s managers and employees must learn to cope with

temporariness, flexibility, spontaneity, and unpredictability.

The study of OB can help you better understand a work world of

continual change, overcome resistance to change, and create an
organizational culture that thrives on change.
Working in Networked
Organizations
Networked organizations allow people to communicate and
work together even though they may be thousands of miles
apart. Independent contractors can telecommute via computer
to workplaces around the globe and change employers as the
demand for their services changes.

The manager’s job is different in a networked organization.

Motivating and leading people and making collaborative
decisions online requires different techniques than when
individuals are physically present in a single location.

As more employees do their jobs by linking to others through

networks, managers must develop new skills. OB can provide
valuable insights to help with honing those skills.
Helping Employees Balance
Work–Life Conflicts
Employees are increasingly complaining that the line between
work and non work time has become blurred, creating personal
conflicts and stress.

At the same time, today’s workplace presents opportunities for

workers to create and structure their own roles.

Employees increasingly recognize that work infringes on their

personal lives, and they’re not happy about it.

Recent studies suggest employees want jobs that give them

flexibility in their work schedules so they can better manage
work–life conflicts. In fact, balancing work and life demands
now surpasses job security as an employee priority.
Creating a Positive Work
Environment

Although competitive pressures on

most organizations are stronger than
ever, some organizations are trying to
realize a competitive advantage by
fostering a positive work environment.

Researchers in this area say too much

of OB research and management
practice has been targeted toward
identifying what’s wrong with
organizations and their employees.
Improving Ethical Behavior

Managers and their organizations are responding to the

problem of unethical behavior in a number of ways. They’re
writing and distributing codes of ethics to guide employees
through ethical dilemmas. They’re offering seminars, workshops,
and other training programs to try to improve ethical behaviors.

Today’s manager must create an ethically healthy climate for

his or her employees, where they can do their work
productively with minimal ambiguity about what right and
wrong behaviors are.

Companies that promote a strong ethical mission, encourage

employees to behave with integrity, and provide strong ethical
leadership can influence employee decisions to behave ethically