eleventh editi

on

organizational behav
ior

stephen p. robbins
Chapter One

What Is Organizational
Behavior
OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter,
you should be able to:

1. Define organizational behavior (OB).

2. Describe what managers do.
3. Explain the value of the systematic study of
LEARNING

OB.
4. List the major challenges and opportunities for
managers to use OB concepts.
5. Identify the contributions made by major
behavioral science disciplines to OB.
O B J E C T I V E S (cont’d)
After studying this chapter,
you should be able to:

1. Describe why managers require a knowledge

of OB.
2. Explain the need for a contingency approach
to the study of OB.
3. Identify the three levels of analysis in this
book’s OB model.
LEARNING
What
What Managers
Managers Do
Do

Managers (or administrators)

Individuals who achieve goals through other
people.

Managerial
ManagerialActivities
Activities
••Make
Makedecisions
decisions
••Allocate
Allocateresources
resources
••Direct
Directactivities
activitiesof
ofothers
others
to
toattain
attaingoals
goals
Organization
A consciously coordinated social
unit, composed of two or more
people, that functions on a
relatively continuous basis to
achieve a common goal or set of
goals.
Management
Management Functions
Functions

Planning
Planning Organizing
Organizing

Management
Management
Functions
Functions

Controlling
Controlling Leading
Leading
Management
Management Functions
Functions (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Planning
A process that includes defining
goals, establishing strategy, and
developing plans to coordinate
activities.
Management
Management Functions
Functions (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Organizing
Determining what tasks are to be
done, who is to do them, how the
tasks are to be grouped, who reports
to whom, and where decisions are to
be made.
Management
Management Functions
Functions (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Leading
A function that includes motivating
employees, directing others,
selecting the most effective
communication channels, and
resolving conflicts.
Management
Management Functions
Functions (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Controlling
Monitoring activities to ensure they are
being accomplished as planned and
correcting any significant deviations.
Mintzberg’s
Mintzberg’s Managerial
Managerial Roles
Roles

E X H I B I T 1–1
E X H I B I T 1–1
Mintzberg’s
Mintzberg’s Managerial
Managerial Roles
Roles (cont’d)
(cont’d)

E X H I B I T 1–1 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–1 (cont’d)
Mintzberg’s
Mintzberg’s Managerial
Managerial Roles
Roles (cont’d)
(cont’d)

E X H I B I T 1–1 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–1 (cont’d)
Management
Management Skills
Skills

Technical skills
The ability to apply specialized
knowledge or expertise.

Human skills
The ability to work with,
understand, and motivate other
people, both individually and in
groups.

Conceptual Skills
The mental ability to analyze and
diagnose complex situations.
Effective
Effective Versus
Versus Successful
Successful Managerial
Managerial
Activities
Activities (Luthans)
(Luthans)

1.
1.Traditional
Traditionalmanagement
management
• •Decision
Decisionmaking,
making,planning,
planning,and
andcontrolling
controlling
2.
2.Communication
Communication
• •Exchanging
Exchangingroutine
routineinformation
informationand
andprocessing
processing
paperwork
paperwork
3.
3.Human
Humanresource
resourcemanagement
management
• •Motivating,
Motivating,disciplining,
disciplining,managing
managingconflict,
conflict,staffing,
staffing,
and
andtraining
training
4.
4.Networking
Networking
• •Socializing,
Socializing,politicking,
politicking,and
andinteracting
interactingwith
withothers
others
Allocation
Allocation of
of Activities
Activities by
by Time
Time

E X H I B I T 1–2
E X H I B I T 1–2
Enter
Enter Organizational
Organizational Behavior
Behavior

Organizational behavior
(OB)
A field of study that
investigates the impact
that individuals, groups,
and structure have on
behavior within
organizations, for the
purpose of applying such
knowledge toward
improving an
organization’s
effectiveness.
Replacing
Replacing Intuition
Intuition with
with Systematic
Systematic Study
Study

Intuition
A feeling not necessarily supported by research.

Systematic study
Looking at relationships, attempting to
attribute causes and effects, and drawing
conclusions based on scientific evidence.
Provides a means to predict behaviors.
Replacing
Replacing Intuition
Intuition with
with Systematic
Systematic Study
Study

Preconceived The
Notions ≠ Facts
 Toward
Towardan
anOB
OBDiscipline
Discipline

E X H I B I T 1–3
E X H I B I T 1–3
Contributing
Contributing Disciplines
Disciplines to
to the
the OB
OB Field
Field

Psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes
change the behavior of humans and other animals.

E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
Contributing
Contributing Disciplines
Disciplines to
to the
the OB
OB Field
Field (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Sociology
The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.

E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
Contributing
Contributing Disciplines
Disciplines to
to the
the OB
OB Field
Field (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Social Psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from
psychology and sociology and that focuses on the
influence of people on one another.

E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
Contributing
Contributing Disciplines
Disciplines to
to the
the OB
OB Field
Field (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Anthropology
The study of societies to learn about human beings
and their activities.

E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
Contributing
Contributing Disciplines
Disciplines to
to the
the OB
OB Field
Field (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Political Science
The study of the behavior of individuals and
groups within a political environment.

E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
E X H I B I T 1–3 (cont’d)
Source: Drawing by Handelsman in
The New Yorker, Copyright © 1986
by the New Yorker Magazine.
Reprinted by permission.

E X H I B I T 1–4
E X H I B I T 1–4
There
There Are
Are Few
Few Absolutes
Absolutes in
in OB
OB

Contingency variables
Situational factors: variables that
moderate the relationship between two
or more other variables and improve the
correlation.

x Contingency
Variables y
Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunities
Opportunities for
for OB
OB
 Responding to Globalization
– Increased foreign assignments
– Working with people from different cultures
– Coping with anti-capitalism backlash
– Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with
low-cost labor
 Managing Workforce Diversity
– Embracing diversity
– Changing U.S. demographics
– Implications for managers
• Recognizing and responding to differences
Major
Major Workforce
Workforce Diversity
Diversity Categories
Categories

Gender
Gender
National
National
Disability
Disability Origin
Origin

Age
Age
Non-Christian
Non-Christian
Race
Race
Domestic
Domestic
Partners
Partners

E X H I B I T 1–5
E X H I B I T 1–5
Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunities
Opportunities for
for OB
OB (cont’d)
(cont’d)
 Improving Quality and Productivity
– Quality management (QM)
– Process reengineering
 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
What
What Is
Is Quality
Quality Management?
Management?

1. Intense focus on the customer.

2. Concern for continuous improvement.
3. Improvement in the quality of everything
the organization does.
4. Accurate measurement.
5. Empowerment of employees.

E X H I B I T 1–6
E X H I B I T 1–6
Improving
Improving Quality
Quality and
and Productivity
Productivity
 Quality management (QM)
– The constant attainment of customer
satisfaction through the continuous
improvement of all organizational processes.
– Requires employees to rethink what they do and
become more involved in workplace decisions.
 Process reengineering
– Asks managers to reconsider how work would be
done and their organization structured if they
were starting over.
– Instead of making incremental changes in
processes, reengineering involves evaluating
every process in terms of its contribution.
Challenges
Challenges and
and Opportunity
Opportunity for
for OB
OB (cont’d)
(cont’d)
 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
Basic
Basic OB
OB Model,
Model, Stage
Stage II

Model
An abstraction of reality.
A simplified
representation of some
real-world phenomenon.

E X H I B I T 1–7
E X H I B I T 1–7
The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables

Dependent variable
A response that is affected by an independent
variable.

x
The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Productivity
A performance measure that
includes effectiveness and
efficiency.

Effectiveness
Achievement of
goals.
Efficiency
The ratio of effective
output to the input
required to achieve it.
The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Absenteeism
The failure to report to
work.

Turnover
The voluntary and
involuntary permanent
withdrawal from an
organization.
The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (cont’d)
(cont’d)

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.
 The
The Dependent
Dependent Variables
Variables (cont’d)
(cont’d)

Job satisfaction
A general attitude toward one’s job, the
difference between the amount of reward
workers receive and the amount they believe
they should receive.
The
The Independent
Independent Variables
Variables

Independent variable
The presumed cause of some change in the
dependent variable.

Independent
Independent
Variables
Variables

Individual-Level Group-Level Organization

Organization
Individual-Level Group-Level System-Level
Variables
Variables Variables
Variables System-Level
Variables
Variables
Basic
BasicOBOB
Model,
Model,
Stage
StageIIII

E X H I B I T 1–8
E X H I B I T 1–8