CCT324Organizational

Behavior II
Module 1: Introduction &
Course Overview

Professor: Sarah Cherki El Idrissi, PhD.

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Welcome to CCT 324!
 Agenda for today:
• Introductions
• Course Overview
• Module 1 – What is Organizational Behavior?

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A Little about Me
 Experience:
• 2nd year at UofT Mississauga
• Professor at the Digital Enterprise Management program
• PhD in Management Information systems
• Consultant/Project Management of Information Systems projects
 Research:
• Green Information Systems
• Persuasive Systems
• Responsible Innovation
• Pedagogical Innovation

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Course Overview
 Contact information:
• Office hours: Monday 1pm to 2 pm
• By appointment
 The slides will be made available to you for each
session (the same day of the course)

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Course Objectives
 Understanding Individuals in the
Workplace
 Communicating Decisions
 Leading Others
 Designing and Changing Organizations

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Individual Assignments
 Quizzes (50%): To help you gauge your
understanding of the course material, there will
be three quizzes throughout the term to test your
understanding of the concepts of the course.

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Group Assignments
 Theory Application Part 1- Literature Review on
a theme of your choice (15%)
 Theory Application Part 2- Organizational
Analysis: A case study of a firm of your choice.
(20%)
 Weekly Group Work: In-class activities (15%)

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Module 1- Learning Outcomes
1.1 Define organizational behavior (OB).
1.2 Show the value of systematic study to OB.
1.3 Identify the major behavioral science
disciplines that contribute to OB.
1.4 Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.
1.5 Identify managers’ challenges and
opportunities in applying OB concepts.
1.6 Compare the three levels of analysis in this
text’s OB model.

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The Field of Organizational Behavior

 The ultimate goal of organizational

behavior is to ________.
– A) better understand management
– B) improve an organization's effectiveness
– C) balance diversity
– D) create boilerplates
– E) replace human resources

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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 organization’s effectiveness

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Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities

 Traditional management
– Decision making, planning, controlling
 Communication
– Exchanging routine information and processing paperwork
 Human resources management
– Motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing, and
training
 Networking
– Socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders

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Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities

  If you want to be an effective manager, your

time would be best spent not focusing on
which managerial activity?
– A) Traditional management 
– B) Communication
– C) Human resource management
– D) Networking
– E) Systems

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Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities

  If you want to be a successful manager, your

time would be best spent not focusing on
which managerial activity? 
– A) Traditional management
– B) Communication
– C) Human resource management
– D) Networking
– E) Systems

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Management and Organizational Behavior
Learning Objective 1.1

 Good people skills are important

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Management and Organizational Behavior
Learning Objective 1.1

 Good people skills are important

– People skills are the tools you use to communicate
and interact effectively with others.
– Individuals with strong people skills are able to
predict behavior, relate to others, and socialize
easily.
– People skills also are known as soft skills,
interpersonal skills, social skills, emotional
intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence.
(source: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/people-skills/)

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Management and Organizational Behavior
Learning Objective 1.1

 Good people skills are important (2)

– Good places to work have superior financial
performance
– Developing managers’ interpersonal skills helps attract
and keep high-performing employees
– There is a strong association between the quality of
workplace relationships and employee job satisfaction,
stress, and turnover
– Increasing OB principles can foster social responsibility
awareness

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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

 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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Big Data

 Big data: the extensive use of statistical

compilation and analysis
– Identify persistent and predictive statistics
 Current usage: predicting events, detecting
risk, and preventing catastrophes
 New trends: understanding, helping, and
managing people
 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field
Learning Objective 1.3

 Psychology
 Social Psychology
 Sociology
 Anthropology

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Few Absolutes in OB
Learning Objective 1.4

 Impossible to make simple and accurate

generalizations
 Human beings are complex and diverse
 OB concepts must reflect situational
conditions: contingency variables

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Challenges and Opportunities for OB
Learning Objective 1.5

Responding to Understanding Managing

continuing workforce workforce
globalization demographics diversity

Impact of Well-being at
Employee
social media work

Creating a Improving
positive work ethical
environment behavior

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Employment Options (Exhibit 1-2)

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Responding to Globalization

 Increasing connectedness and cooperation

 Working with people from different cultures
 Adapting to differing cultural and regulatory
norms

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Managing Workforce Demographics

 Longevity
 Birth rates
 Socioeconomic conditions
 Other changes in the workforce
Managing Workforce Diversity

 Workforce diversity: organizations are

becoming a more heterogeneous mix of
people in terms of gender, age, race,
ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other
characteristics

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Social Media

 Use of social media by employees

 Using social media to learn about employees
 Impact of social media on employee well-
being

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Enhancing Employee Well-Being at Work

 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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Creating a Positive Work Environment

 Positive organizational scholarship:

how organizations develop human strengths,
foster vitality and resilience, and unlock
potential
– Focus on what’s good about an organization, not
what’s bad

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Improving Ethical Behavior

 Managers facing ethical dilemmas or

ethical choices are required to identify
right and wrong conduct
 Companies promoting strong ethical
missions:
– Encourage employees to behave with integrity
– Provide strong leadership that influences
employee decisions to behave ethically

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Developing an OB Model

 A model is an abstraction of reality – a

simplified version of some real-world
phenomenon
 Three types of variables:
– Inputs, processes, and outcomes
 Three levels of analysis
– Individual, group, and organizational

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A Basic OB Model (Exhibit 1-3)

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Three Levels of OB Analysis
Learning Objective 1.6

 The individual level

 The group level
 The organizational level

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Employability Skills
Learning Objective 1.7

 Critical thinking
 Communication
 Collaboration
 Knowledge application and analysis
 Social responsibility
Employability Skills
Learning Objective 1.7

 According to a study by Monster (a global

employment company), the number one most
frequently desired skill in applicants was
________.
– A) ethical
– B) technical
– C) communication
– D) computer
– E) accounting
Employability Skills
Learning Objective 1.7

 According to a recent large-scale survey, 58

percent of managers did not receive
________.
– A) pay incentives
– B) training
– C) administrative support
– D) insurance
– E) office space
Employability Skills
Learning Objective 1.7

 On average, managers spend the least

amount of time doing which managerial
activity?
– A) Traditional management
– B) Communication
– C) Human resource management
– D) Networking 
– E) Systems
Employability Skills
Learning Objective 1.7

 On average, managers spend most of their

time doing which managerial activity?
– A) Traditional management
– B) Communication
– C) Human resource management
– D) Networking
– E) Systems
Implications for Managers

 Don’t rely on generalizations

 Use metrics and situational variables rather than “hunches” to
explain cause-and-effect relationships
 Increase leadership potential by improving interpersonal skills
 Improve technical and conceptual skills by staying current with
trends like big data
 Recognize the role of organizational behavior on employee work
quality and productivity

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To do for next session!
 Read the opening case for Module 2-
Organizational diversity and culture.
 Contribute to the discussion board.

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