Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?

Being a good manager requires strong interpersonal skills, as communication is crucial, as one must manage
different types of resources: people, money, and time in order to achieve specific goals.

A Manager’s Four Main Functions

Planning function refers to setting goals, creating strategies, and preparation of plans that make different
activities work coherently and effectively.

Organising function concerns tasks identification and division, assignment of tasks to individuals, setting
reporting and decision- making systems.

Leading function relates to motivating workers and directing others’ actions, choosing communication canals
and solving conflicts.

Controlling function refers to controlling others’ work outcomes and checking whether everything is being
done as planned; and when necessary undertaking corrective actions.

Management roles

They can be divided into 3 main categories: interpersonal roles, informational roles and decisional roles. The
concept was developed by Henry Mintzberg and is called Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles (below).

DESCRIPTION
ROLE

Interpersonal
Roles which involve ceremonial/symbolic duties

Figurehead Symbolic head, needs to perform duties of social/leg

Leader Motivates and directs employees

Liaison Maintains a network of outside contacts

Informational
Collection and dissemination of information

Receives information, serves as nerve centre of inter

Monitor
information

Disseminator Transmits information from outsiders to the organisa

Spokesperson Transmits information about the organisation to outs

Decisional
Refers to making choices
 Analyses the organisation and its environment for op
Entrepreneur
initiates projects to bring about change

Disturbance handler Undertakes corrective actions in case of problems

Resource allocator Makes or approves important organizational decision

Negotiator Represents the organization in negotiations

Management skills

There are 3 types of management skills developed by Robert Katz: Technical skills (application of specialised
knowledge, know-how, e.g. think of mechanical engineer, vet, pharmacist), human skills (easiness to work in a
team, understand others’ behaviors and motives, stimulate others’ actions, ability to communicate and get along
with people), conceptual skills (mental capability to analyse problems, manage complexity of an issue, decide
on solutions and evaluation of possibilities).

Effective or successful managers?

It was investigated in Luthans’ Study of Managerial Activities that effective managers spend most of their time
on communication activities (44%) and on human resource management activities (26%). In contrast, successful
managers spend almost half of their working time on networking activities (48%) and communication activities
(28%). It is understandable that average managers work most of the time on traditional management (32%) and
on communication activities (29%).

Defining Organisation Behavior (OB)

“A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structures have on behavior within
organisations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness”
(Robbins, Judge “Organisational Behavior”).

It is important to remember that OB deals with 3 levels of behaviors: individuals, groups and structures.
Knowledge about those 3 types of behaviors is necessary to apply actions which make the whole organization
function successfully.

How to study OB? EBM

In OB systematic study and evidence-based management is combined with intuition. Behavior can be predicted.
If it is examined on the continuous basis one is able to forecast how people can act in particular circumstances
(that is why systematic study of people’s actions are necessary). Systematic study involves examining causes
and effects, just like in science – this is done to make general law-like conclusions based on gathered data. What
is closely related to systematic study is evidence-based management (EBM). EBM implies making managerial
decision after consideration of scientific facts, data, conclusions, laws. Managers who apply EBM act like
scientists – when they face a problem, they search for scientific information which can give them possible
problem solutions, then they apply the most relevant knowledge in order to solve an issue. Of course, intuition is
inseparable from decision-making process. Nevertheless, importance of systematic study and thus EBM cannot
be questioned.

What major behavioral disciplines contribute to OB?

- Psychology (studies behavior of individual)

- Social psychology (studies behavior of individual within a group)

- Sociology (studies groups, societies, organisational systems, how individual acts in relation to a society)
- Anthropology (studies societies, groups, cultures, organisational systems)

Absolutes in OB

OB concepts, however law-like they can be, must take into account situational factors. Under different
conditions different individuals act differently. That is why there only a few absolutes in OB. Because people
are different and complex, one needs to consider OB in a contingency framework.

Challenges and opportunities for OB

I) Globalisation implications

Ia) More foreign assignments

Ib) Multicultural work environment

Ic) Coping with anticapitalism backlash – values and norms, even the economical ones, are not the same
everywhere

Id) Placing more and more jobs, productions in low-cost labour countries (e.g. China, Taiwan) – managers need
to find a balance between organization’s interest in low cost and (corporate) social responsibility.

Ie) Managing people during War on Terror – e.g. people resign from some businesses, cancel flights because
they are afraid of terrorism.

II) Managing work diversity

IIa) Embracing diversity – employees from diverse countries do not give up their cultural values and norms to
adapt to the rest of society. Managers need to make them accommodate so they don’t feel isolated or ignored

IIb) Changing U.S. demographics

IIc) Implications – Effective managers need to recognize cultural differences and can’t apply the same standards
to all employees.

III) Improving quality and productivity

IV) Improving customer service

V) Improving people skills

VI) Stimulating innovation and change

VII) Coping with “temporariness”

VIII) Working in networked organizations

IX) Helping employees balance work-life conflicts

X) Creating a positive work surrounding – in this point the notion of positive organizational scholarship needs
to be mentioned – it is research area that focuses on fostering strengths rather than eliminating weaknesses. It is
all about what is good, the best in employees and the organization itself.

XI) Improving ethical behavior

OB Models

> Dependent variables: productivity, absenteeism, turnover, job satisfaction, deviant workplace

behavior (antisocial behavior or workplace incivility), organizational citizenship behavior

> Independent variables:

 individual-level variables – motivation, perception, ability, values and attitudes, personality and
emotions, individual decision-making and learning, biographical characteristics
 group-level variables – conflict, communication, group decision making, leadership and trust, group
structure, conflict, power and politics, work teams
 organisation system-level variables – organizational culture, organization structure and design, human
resource policies and practices.