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Essentials of
Organizational Behavior
12e
Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

Chapter 1

What Is
Organizational Behavior?
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

After studying this chapter,

you should be able to:
1. Define organizational behavior (OB).
2. Show the value to OB of systematic study.
3. Identify the major behavioral science disciplines
that contribute to OB.
4. Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.
5. Identify the challenges and opportunities
managers have in applying OB concepts.
6. Identify the three levels of analysis in OB.
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1.The Field of
Organizational Behavior
Organizational behavior studies the
influence that individuals, groups and
structure have on behavior within
organizations
Its chief goal is to apply that knowledge toward
improving an organizations effectiveness

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Focal Points of OB

Jobs
Work
Absenteeism
Employment turnover
Productivity
Human performance
Management
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2. Complementing Intuition
with Systematic Study
Intuition: your gut feeling explanation of
behavior
Systematic study improves ability to
accurately predict behavior
Assumes behavior is not random
Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior
These (FC) can be identified and modified to reflect
individual differences
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Systematic Study
Examines relationships
Attempts to attribute causes and
effects
Bases conclusions on scientific
evidence:
Data is gathered under controlled
conditions
Data is measured and interpreted in a
reasonably rigorous manner
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Evidence-Based
Management
(EBM)
Evidence-based
management: Bases
decisions on the best
available scientific
evidence
Complements systematic
study
Forces managers to
become more scientific in
their thinking
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3. Contributing Disciplines to
the OB Field
Micro:
The
Individual

Psychology
Social Psychology

Macro:
Groups &
Organizations
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Sociology
Anthropology

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4. Few Absolutes in OB
Impossible to
make simple
and accurate
generalizations
Human beings
are complex
and diverse
OB concepts
must reflect
situational
conditions:
contingency
variables

Contingency
Variable (Z)

Independent
Variable (X)

Dependent
Variable (Y)

In American
Culture

Boss Gives
Thumbs Up
Sign

Understood as
Complimenting

In Iranian or
Australian
Cultures

Boss Gives
Thumbs Up
Sign

Understood as
Insulting - Up
Yours!

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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5. Challenges and
Opportunities for OB

Responding to economic pressures

Responding to globalization
Managing workplace diversity
Improving customer service
Improving people skills
Stimulating innovation and change
Coping with temporariness
Working in networked organizations
Helping employees with work-life conflicts
Improving ethical behavior

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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(1) Responding to
Economic Pressures
Effective management is especially important
during tough economic times
Employees look to their managers to provide
security during the instability of a recession

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(2) Responding to Globalization

Increased foreign
assignments
Differing needs and aspirations
in workforce

Working with people from

different cultures
Domestic motivational
techniques and managerial styles
may not work

Overseeing movement of jobs

to countries with low-cost
labor
Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.

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(3) Managing Workforce

Diversity
Workforce diversity: organizations are
becoming a more heterogeneous mix of people
in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, and
sexual orientation

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(4) Diversity Categories

Gender
Race
National origin
Age
Disability
Domestic partners
Religion
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(5) Improving Customer

Service and People Skills
The majority of
employees in
developed nations
work in service jobs
They must know
how to please
their customers
People skills are
essential to success
in todays
organizations
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(6) Stimulating Innovation

and Change
Flexibility
Quality
Improvement
Staying
Competitive
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(7) Coping with Temporariness

Jobs are constantly changing
Skills need to be updated for
workers to stay on target
Workers need to be able to
deal with change
Employees need to be able to
cope with flexibility,
spontaneity and
unpredictability
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(8) Working in Networked

Organizations
Managers must
adapt their skills
and
communication
styles to succeed
in an online
environment
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(9) Helping Employees Handle

Work-Life Conflict
The line between work
and non work has
blurred and managers
are increasingly
dealing with conflicts
that arise between
work and life away
from work
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(10) Improving Ethical Behavior

Managers facing ethical dilemmas or
ethical choices are required to
identify right and wrong conduct
This can be difficult on a global economy
where different cultures approach decisions
from different perspectives

Companies promoting strong ethical

missions:
Encourage employees to behave with
integrity
Provide strong leadership that influence
employee decisions to behave ethically
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6. Three Levels of OB
Analysis
Chapters 14 - 17
Chapters 8 - 13

Chapters 2 - 7
Plan
Plan of
of the
the Book
Book
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7. Implications for Managers

OB helps with:
Insights to improve people skills
Valuing of workforce diversity
Empowering people and creating a positive
work environment
Dealing with change in the workplace
Coping in a world of temporariness
Creating an ethically healthy work
environment
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Keep in Mind
OBs goal is to understand and predict human
behavior in organizations
Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior
It is more important than ever to learn OB
concepts
Both managers and employees must learn to
cope with temporariness
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Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc.