University of Bahrain

College of business Administration

MGT233:
Management and Marketing Department
OB

Course instructor/coordinator:
Dr. Raala Mohammed
 Because learning changes everything. ®

Introduction to
the Field of
Organizational
Behavior

CHAPTER ONE
 After completing this chapter, students should be
able to:
1. Define organizational behavior and
organizations. 
2. Explain why organizational behavior
knowledge is important for you and for
organizations. 
Learning 3. Discuss the anchors on which
organizational behavior knowledge is based. 
Objectives 4. Summarize the workplace trends of
diversity and the inclusive workplace, work–
life integration, remote work, and emerging
employment relationships.
5. Describe the four factors that directly
influence individual behavior and
performance. 
6. Summarize the five types of individual
behavior in organizations.
The Field of Organizational Behavior :1-1

What is Organizational Behavior?

Think

Organizational
OB Behavior definition
Do Feel
The Field of Organizational Behavior :1-1

iorv
eha
al B
on
zati
ani
Org
The Field of Organizational Behavior :1-1

Environment
External

Teams

Organization
The Field of Organizational Behavior :1-1
Organizational Behavior Definition
• Groups of people who work
interdependently toward some purpose.

• Human beings.
• Communicate, coordinate, &
collaborate to achieve objectives.
Collective entities • Sharing materials, information, or
expertise.

• Vision and mission statement.

Collective sense of
purpose
The Field of Organizational Behavior :1-1

Historical Foundations of Organizational

Behavior

PAGE 5
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?

Why OB Is Important for You

• OB is important for everyone.

• Employers say OB skills are most important.
• OB helps students adopt better personal
theories to:
o Understand workplace events.
o Predict workplace events.
o Get things done by influencing and
coordinating with others.
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Why OB Is Important for Organizations
• OB theories improve the
organization’s effectiveness.
• Organizational effectiveness is an
ideal state in which the organization:
o Has a good fit with its external
environment (open system).
o Effectively transforms inputs to
outputs (human capital).
o Satisfies the needs of key
stakeholders.
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?

Organizational effectiveness is the

“ultimate dependent variable” in
organizational behavior

• Performance
• Success
Organizational • Goodness
effectiveness • Health
• Competitiveness
• Excellence
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?

Open
system

OB knowledge
improves
Organizational
effectiveness
Human
Stakeholders capital
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Organizations as Open
Systems
Organizations are complex
organisms that “live” within an
external environment.

Organizations depend on the

external environment for
resources.

The environment (e.g., law)

place demands on organizations
operations.
EXHIBIT 1.2 Organizations as Open Systems
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Organizations as Open
Systems
•Organizations are effective when they
maintain a good “fit” with the external
environment.
◦ Inputs, processes, and outputs are
aligned with the environment.
•OB is important to identify
organizational characteristics that “fit”
the environment.
•OB theories offer guidance on
transforming input to outputs.
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Human Capital as the Organization’s Competitive
Advantage
•Human capital is knowledge, skills, abilities, creativity, and
other valuable resources that employees bring to the
organization.
•Competitive advantage: essential for survival/success,
difficult to find or copy, and difficult to replace employees
with technology.
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Human Capital as the Organization’s Competitive
Advantage
•Effective organization introduce
workplace practices that enhance
human capital.
1. Develop employees' skills and
knowledge
2. Adapt rapidly to environment changes
3. Investing in and rewarding workforce
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Organizations and Their Stakeholders
•Stakeholders include any entity that
affect, or is affected by, the company’s
objectives and actions.
•Organizations are effective when they
understand, manage, and satisfy
stakeholders needs and expectations.
•Challenge: conflicting interests between
stakeholders.
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?
Organizations and Their Stakeholders
•Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is
organizational activities intended to benefit
society and the environment beyond the firm’s
immediate financial interests or legal
obligations.
•Triple-bottom-line:
• Profit (economic)
• Society conditions (social)
• Physical environment
•Results: better financial performance, loyal
employees, and better relations.
1-2: Why Organizational Behavior Is
Important?

Connecting the Dots: an Integrative Model

of Organizational Behavior

PAGES 10-11
Anchors of Organizational Behavior :1-3
Knowledge
Systematic research • Study organizations using systematic
anchor research methods

Practical orientation • Ensure that OB theories are useful in

anchor organizations

Multidisciplinary • Import knowledge from other disciplines,

anchor not just create its own knowledge

• Recognize that the effectiveness of an

Contingency anchor action may depend on the situation

Multiple levels of • Understand OB events from three levels

analysis anchor of analysis: individual, team, organization

EXHIBIT 1.4 Anchors of Organizational Behavior Knowledge

Anchors of Organizational Behavior :1-3
Knowledge

The Systematic Research Anchor

Systematic Research Collecting Testing

research questions data hypotheses

It is the basis for evidence-based management

making decisions and
taking actions based on
research evidence
Anchors of Organizational Behavior :1-3
Knowledge

The Systematic Research Anchor

Why not applied?
1. Ideas taken from reports,
books, articles, etc.
2. OB research is generic; rarely
described in the context of
specific problem/organization
Suggestions:
1. Be skeptical to hypotheses
2. Embrace collective expertise
3. Use stories to illustrate useful
practices

3. Theories been marketed but 4. Take neutral stance toward

not tested popular trends & ideologies
(not just copy!)
4. Perceptual errors & decision-
making biases (we want to
believe what we want!)
Anchors of Organizational Behavior :1-3
Knowledge

The Practical Orientation Anchor

OB theories need to be useful in

practice.

Implicit or explicit objective of

making organizations more
effective.

True “impact” of an OB theory —

actually applied and valued in
organizations.
Anchors of Organizational Behavior :1-3
Knowledge
Multidisciplinary Anchor

Psychological

Information
Sociologists
systems
OB
welcome
theories

Communica-
Marketing
tion
Knowledge

The Contingency Anchor

Single
outcome/solution
Variable effects rarely exists
depend on the (different
situation/people consequences to
People & work different
environment are conditions)
complex
Anchors of Organizational Behavior :1-3
Knowledge
The Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor
Analyze what goes on in the organization

Organization
Need to look at
all levels Team

Individual
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4

Integration

Diversity Organizations Remote work

Relationships
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Diversity and the Inclusive Workplace

• Inclusive workplace is a
workplace that values people of all
identities and allows them to be
fully themselves while contributing
to the organization.
o Organization: diversity is a valued
resource
o Individual: feel safe, engaged,
valued, authentic, listened to, and
respected.
o Collective: give diverse groups
voice
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Diversity and the Inclusive Workplace

Observable demographic and Types of

other overt differences among diversity Psychological characteristics of
members of a group such as employees, including
race, ethnicity, gender, age, & personalities, beliefs, values,
physical disabilities. and attitudes.

Surface Deep

• Deep-level diversity, but subtle.

Generational • Differences are due to stage of
diversity: life not cohort.
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Diversity and the Inclusive Workplace

Consequences of diversity
- Better decisions in complex situations
- Represent the community (customer needs)
- Better employee attitudes, team performance,
and favorable outcomes
- Moral and legal imperatives

- Communication problems
- Risk of dysfunctional conflict (sharing
information & satisfaction)
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Work-Life Integration

Past Now

• Employees work for 8-9
hours
• Separate personal time
from employment
• Work 24/7
• As a result of:
1. Globalization: increase
competition
2. IT: employer communication
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Work-Life Integration

• Work-life integration: degree that people are

effectively engaged in their various work and nonwork
roles and have a low degree of role conflict across
those life domains.
o Replaced work-life balance
o Multiple roles and associated self-concepts
o Satisfy the demand and positive emotions
o Integration: resources consumed by roles
o Work-life conflict
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Practicing Work-Life Integration

Integrate two Flexible Align work Boundary

or more work and nonwork management:
roles: scheduling roles with prohibit
meetings personal work-related
during characteris- communica-
exercise and tics tion after
on-site child working
care hours
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Remote Work

• Employees perform their job remotely rather

than a the organization’s physical work site.
o Temporarily or indefinitely assigned to a
client’s workplace
o Perform their job at home or some other
non-client site away from the company’s
offices (telecommuting or teleworking)
• Remote employees are connected with
coworkers, clients, and company data
through various forms of information
technology.
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Remote Work Benefits and Risks
• Better employee work-life integration
• Attractive benefit for job applicants
• Low employee turnover
Benefits • Higher employee productivity
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Reduce corporate real estate and office costs

• More social isolation

• Lower team cohesion
Risks • Weaker organizational culture
• More stressful due to home space and roles

EXHIBIT 1.6 Potential Benefits and Risks of Remote Working

The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Remote Work Benefits and Risks
:Job
No required resources, no
need for coworkers, &
measurable performance :Organization
:Employee
Rewarding &
Self-motivated,
promoting
self-organized,
employees'
autonomy, & IT
performance &
skills
cohesion

Success of
working
remotely
The Emerging Workplace Landscape :1-4
Employment Relationships

Full time
permanent

Part-time

Employment
relationship

On-call Casual

Seasonal
The Emerging Workplace Landscape
Consequences of Emerging Employment
: 1-4
Relationships
ADVANTAGES
Increase employee performance,
but direct employment
Produce higher quality,
innovation, and agility
Have lower turnover, higher
commitment, and more
involvement
Receive more organizational
investment (training, rewards)
DISADVANTAGES
Teams (direct and agency workers)
have weaker social networks that
results in less information sharing
Agency workers have lower job
satisfaction
Outsource/agency and contract
employees have low self-view and
role
Hard to manage and guide by
organization management
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance

Individual behavior and performance formulas

Person (individual characteristics) X situation

(external influences)

ability X motivation :)Skill-and-will model(

ability X motivation X :)AMO model(

opportunity
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance

EXHIBIT 1.7 MARS Model of Individual Behavior & Results

MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance
Employee Motivation

Direction
(path/goal)

Persistence Intensity
(length of time) (effort)
Motivation:
forces within a
person that
affect
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance
Ability

Ability: natural aptitudes and learned

capabilities required to successfully
complete a task

Natural aptitudes: talents to learn

specific tasks more quickly &
perform better

Learned capabilities: physical &

mental skills & knowledge acquired
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance
Ability

Challenge:
Match person’s abilities with the job’s requirements
Increase employee performance and well- Benefit of
being Person–job
match
1. Select applicants who already Strategy
demonstrate the required
competencies
2. Train employees who lack needed
knowledge or skills
3. Redesign the job: tasks within abilities
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance
Role Perceptions

Role perception: degree to which a person understands the job

duties assigned to or expected of him/her

Role clarity: 1. Understand duties/consequences

Understand priority of tasks & expectations .2
3. Understand preferred behaviors/procedures of tasks

Role ambiguity: employees know several ways to

perform a task but misunderstand company preferences
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance
Role Perceptions
MARS Model of Individual Behavior​& :1-5
Performance
Situational Factors
Work context
Time
Budget
Physical work facilities
Resources

Cues
Barriers
Warning signs
EXHIBIT 1.8 Five Types of Individual
Behavior in the Workplace
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Task Performance

Individual’s voluntary goal-directed behaviors

that contribute to organizational objectives

Task performance types

Performing the work efficiently and accurately Proficient task performance
How well employees modify their thoughts and Adaptive task performance
behavior to align with and support new/changing
environment
How well employees take the initiative to Proactive task performance
anticipate and introduce new work patterns that
benefit the organization
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Organizational Citizenship

OCBs are various forms of cooperation and helpfulness to others

that support the organization’s social and psychological context

Assisting coworkers with work problems, adjusting OCBs toward individuals

work schedules, showing courtesy toward
coworkers, & sharing work resources
Supporting company’s public image, offering ideas OCBs toward organization
not required in the job, attending events that
support organization, & keeping up with new
development in organization
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Organizational Citizenship

• Help employees to improve their task Positive effect

performance
• Increase team performance
• Take time & energy away from Negative consequences
performing tasks
• Lower career success
• Higher work-family conflict
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Counterproductive Work Behaviors

CWBs voluntary behaviors that have the potential to

directly or indirectly harm the organization

• Harassing coworkers Intentional behavior

• Creating unnecessary conflict
• Deviating from work methods
• Untruthful Unintentional behavior
• Stealing
• Sabotaging work
• Wasting resources
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Joining and Staying with the Organization

Hiring qualified and productive staff is vital, but so is

ensuring that they stay with the company
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Maintaining Work at Attendance

Organizations are more effective when employees

perform their jobs at scheduled times

Absenteeism
Positive Negative
Help employee to recover soon, Shortage/loss employee’s skill &
taking care of family member, knowledge, increase workload,
weather condition is risky lower performance, poor customer
service, coworkers feel conflict &
injustice
Types of Individual Behavior :1-6
Maintaining Work at Attendance

Presenteeism
Showing up for work even though they are unwell, injured, Meaning
preoccupied by personal problems, or face dangerous
conditions getting to work.
Less productive, reduce coworkers’ productivity, worsen Effect
their health, & increase health & safety risks of coworkers.
End of Chapter One