.

Introduction
to the Field of
Organizational Behaviour
1
Nortel Networks and OB

Nortel Networks has

leveraged the power of
organizational behaviour to
become one of the world’s
leading high technology
companies.
D. Chan. Ottawa Citizen

2
What are Organizations?

Groups of people who

work interdependently
toward some purpose
– Structured patterns of
interaction
– Coordinated tasks
– Work toward some
purpose

D. Chan. Ottawa Citizen

3
Why Study Organizational Behaviour

Understand
organizational
events

Organizational
Behaviour
Research
Influence Predict
organizational organizational
events events

4
Trends: Globalization

• New organizational structures

• Different forms of communication
• Increases competition, change,
mergers, downsizing, stress
• Need to be more sensitive to cultural
differences

5
Trends: Workforce Diversity

• Primary and secondary diversity

• More women in workforce and
professions
• Different needs of Generation-X and
baby-boomers
• Diversity has advantages, but firms
need to adjust

6
Trends: Employment Relationship

• Employability
• Contingent work
• Telecommuting
• Virtual teams

7
Trends: Information Technology

• Affects how employees interact

– Virtual teams
– Telecommuting

• Affects how organizations are configured

– Network structures

• Affects how firms relate to customers

– Communication issues

8
Trends: Lots of Teams

• Potentially more effective than

employees working alone
• Concern is when to assign tasks to
teams rather than to individuals

9
Trends: Business Ethics

• The study of moral principles or values

that determine whether actions are right
or wrong and outcomes are good or bad
• What is unethical is not always obvious

10
Organizational Behaviour Anchors

Multidisciplinary
anchor

Systematic
Open systems Organizational research
anchor
Behaviour anchor
Anchors
Multiple levels
Contingency
of analysis
anchor
anchor

11
Open Systems Anchor of OB

Feedback Feedback

Subsystem Subsystem

Inputs Organization Outputs

Subsystem Subsystem

12
Knowledge Management Defined

Any structured activity that

improves an organization’s
capacity to acquire, share,
and use knowledge for its
survival and success

13
Intellectual Capital

• Human capital
– Knowledge that employees possess
and generate

• Structural capital
– Knowledge captured in systems and
structures

• Relationship capital
– Value derived from satisfied customers,
reliable suppliers, and others

14
Knowledge Management Processes

Vancouver-based PMC-
Sierra bought start-up firm
Extreme Packet Devices for
$600 million because it
needed to acquire knowledge
faster than through in-house
research. R. MacIvor. Ottawa Citizen

15
Knowledge Management Processes

• Knowledge acquisition
– Grafting, learning,
experimentation

• Knowledge sharing
– Communication
– Communities of practice

• Knowledge use
– Awareness R. MacIvor. Ottawa Citizen

– Freedom to apply knowledge

16
Organizational Memory

• The storage and preservation of

intellectual capital
• Retain intellectual capital by:
– Keeping knowledgable employees
– Transferring knowledge to others
– Transferring human capital to structural
capital

17