What Is an Organization?

• A consciously coordinated social unit,

composed of a group of people, which
functions on a relatively continuous basis
to achieve a common goal or set of goals
• An Organization Defined
– A deliberate arrangement of people to
accomplish some specific purpose (that
individuals independently could not accomplish
alone).

• Common Characteristics of Organizations

– Have a distinct purpose (goal)
– Composed of people
– Have a deliberate structure
Characteristics of Organizations
 Organizational Behaviour

It is a field of study that investigates the

impact that individuals, groups and
structure have on behaviour within
organizations, for the purpose of applying
such knowledge toward improving an
organization’s effectiveness.
Organizational behavior is a field of
study
– OB studies three determinants of behavior in
organizations: individuals, groups, and
structure.
– OB applies the knowledge gained about
individuals, groups, and the effect of
structure on behavior in order to make
organizations work more effectively.
– OB is concerned with the study of what
people do in an organization and how that
behavior affects the performance of the
organization.
 Components of OB
• motivation,
• leader behavior and power,
• interpersonal communication,
• group structure and processes,
• learning,
• attitude development and perception,
• change processes,
• conflict,
• work design,
• work stress.
Contributing Disciplines to the OB
Field

• Organizational behavior is an applied

behavioral science that is built upon
contributions from a number of behavioral
disciplines.
• The predominant areas are psychology,
sociology, social psychology,
anthropology, and political science.
Psychology
The science that seeks to measure,
explain, and sometimes change the
behavior of humans and other animals
Sociology
The study of people in relation to
their fellow human beings
Social Psychology
An area within psychology that blends
concepts from psychology and
sociology and that focuses on the
influence of people on one another
Anthropology
The study of societies to learn about
human beings and their activities
There Are Few Absolutes in OB
• There are few, if any, simple and universal
principles that explain organizational behavior.

• Human beings are complex. Because they are

not alike, our ability to make simple, accurate,
and sweeping generalizations is limited.

• That does not mean, of course, that we cannot

offer reasonably accurate explanations of human
behavior or make valid predictions. It does
mean, however, that OB concepts must reflect
situational or contingency conditions.
Contingency variables: “It Depends!”
Situational factors that make the main
relationship between two variables change—
e.g., the relationship may hold for one
condition but not another

In Country 1 x May be related to

y
In Country 2 x May NOT be related to y
• Responding to Globalization
– Increased foreign assignments
– Working with people from different cultures
– Overseeing movement of jobs to countries
with low-cost labor
– Managing people during the war on terror

• Managing Workforce Diversity

– Embracing diversity
– Changing demographics
– Implications for managers
• Recognizing and responding to differences
 Major Workforce Diversity
Gender
Gender
National
National
Disability
Disability Origin
Origin

Age
Age
Religion
Religion
Race
Raceand
and
Ethnicity
Ethnicity
Domestic
Domestic
Partners
Partners
 Challenges and Opportunities for
OB
• Improving Quality and Productivity
- Intense focus on the customer
- Concern for continuous improvement
-Improvement in the quality of everything the organization does
-Empowerment of employees

• Responding to the Labor Shortage

– Changing work force demographics
– Fewer skilled laborers
– Early retirements and older workers

• Improving Customer Service

– Increased expectation of service quality
– Customer-responsive cultures
Challenges and Opportunities for
OB (contd.)
• Improving people skills
• Empowering people
• Stimulating innovation and change
• Coping with “temporariness”
• Working in networked organizations
• Helping employees balance work/life conflicts
• Improving ethical behavior
• Managing people during the war on terrorism
 OB Model
Model

The three basic levels are

analogous to building
blocks; each level is
constructed upon the
previous level.
Group concepts grow out
of the foundation laid in
the individual section; we
overlay structural
constraints on the
individual and group in
order to arrive at
organizational behavior.
 The Dependent variable
Dependent Variable
A response that is affected by an independent variable
(what organizational behavior researchers try to

y
understand)

x
The Dependent variable (contd.)
Productivity
A performance measure that includes
effectiveness and efficiency

Effectiveness
Achievement of goals

Efficiency
Meeting goals at a low
cost
The Dependent variable (contd.)

Absenteeism
The failure to report to work

Turnover
The voluntary and
involuntary permanent
withdrawal from an
organization
The Dependent variable (contd.)

Deviant Workplace Behavior

Voluntary behavior that violates
significant organizational norms
and thereby threatens the well-
being of the organization and/or
any of its members
 The Dependent variable (contd.)
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Discretionary behavior that is not part of an employee’s
formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes
the effective functioning of the organization

Desired citizenship behaviors include:

• Helping others on their team.
• Volunteering for extra job activities.
• Avoiding unnecessary conflicts.
• Respecting rules and regulations.
• Tolerating occasional work-related impositions.
The Dependent variable (contd.)

Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is “the difference between
the amount of rewards workers receive and
the amount they believe they should
receive.”
A general attitude (not a behavior) toward
one’s job; a positive feeling of one's job
resulting from an evaluation of its
characteristics
• Organizational behavior is best
understood when viewed essentially as a
set of increasingly complex building
blocks: Individual, group, and
organizational system.
The
The Independent
Independent Variables
Variables
Independent Variable
The presumed cause of some change in the dependent
variable; major determinants of a dependent variable

Independent
Independent
Variables
VariablesCan
CanBe
Be

Individual-Level Group-Level Organization

Organization
Individual-Level Group-Level System-Level
Variables
Variables Variables
Variables System-Level
Variables
Variables
 Challenges Facing the Workplace
• Challenges at the Individual Level
– Job Satisfaction
– Empowerment
– Behaving Ethically

• Challenges at the Group Level

– Working With Others
– Workforce Diversity
• Challenges at the Organizational Level
– Productivity
– Developing Effective Employees
• Absenteeism
• Turnover
• Organizational Citizenship
– Competition From the Global Environment
– Managing and Working in a Global Village
 Summary and Implications
• OB is a field of study that investigates the impact
that individuals, groups, and structure have on
behaviour within an organization.
• OB focuses on improving productivity, reducing
absenteeism and turnover, and increasing
employee job satisfaction and organizational
commitment.
• OB uses systematic study to improve predictions
of behaviour.