Chapter Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

1. Define organizational behavior.

2. Identify the functions that comprise the management
process and relate them to organizational behavior.
3. Relate organizational behavior to basic managerial roles
and skills.
4. Describe contemporary organizational behavior
characteristics.
5. Discuss contextual perspectives on organizational
behavior.
6. Describe the role of organizational behavior in managing
for effectiveness
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 What is Organizational Behavior?

• Organizational behavior (OB) is the study of:

–Human behavior in organizational settings
–The interface between human behavior and the
organization
–The organization itself

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FIGURE 1.1 The Nature of Organizational Behavior

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 The Importance of Organizational Behavior

• Organizations can have a powerful influence on

our lives:
–Most people are born and educated in organizations
–Most people acquire most of their material
possessions from organizations
–Most people die as members of organizations
–Many of our activities are regulated by governmental
organizations
–Most people spend most of their lives in organizations

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 Organizational Behavior and Management:
Why Study OB?
• Studying organizational behavior can clarify
factors that affect how managers manage by:
–Describing the complex human context of
organizations
–Defining the associated opportunities, problems,
challenges, and issues
–Isolating important aspects of the manager’s job
–Offering specific perspectives on the human side
of management

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 Why Study OB? (cont’d)

• Studying OB helps managers understand:

–The behaviors of others in the organization
• Personal needs, motives, behaviors, feelings and career
dynamics
• Attitudinal processes, individual differences, group dynamics,
inter group dynamics, organization culture, power, and
political behavior

–Interactions with people outside of the organization

and other organizations
–The environment, technology, and global issues

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 Organizational Behavior and
the Management Process

• Management • Resources Used

Functions by Managers
–Planning –Human
–Organizing –Financial
–Leading –Physical
–Controlling –Information

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 Functions of Management
Planning Determining an organization’s desired
future position and the best means of
getting there
Organizing Designing jobs, grouping jobs into units,
and establishing patterns of authority
between jobs and units
Leading Getting organizational members to work
together toward the organization’s goals
Controlling Monitoring and correcting the actions of
the organization and its members to keep
them directed toward their goals

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FIGURE 1.2 Basic Managerial Functions

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 Organizational Behavior and
the Manager’s Job

Basic Managerial Roles

Interpersonal Informational Decision-Making

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Table 1.1 Important Managerial Roles

Category Role Example

Interpersonal Figurehead Attend employee retirement ceremony
Leader Encourage workers to increase productivity
Liaison Coordinate activities of two committees

Informational Monitor Scan Business Week for information about

competition
Disseminator Send out memos outlining new policies
Spokesperson Hold press conference to announce new plant

Decision-Making Entrepreneur Develop idea for new product and convince

others of its merit
Disturbance handler Resolve dispute
Resource allocator Allocate budget requests
Negotiator Settle new labor contract

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 Critical Managerial Skills

Technical Skills necessary to accomplish

specific tasks within the organization
Interpersonal Skills used to communicate with,
understand, and motivate individuals
and groups
Conceptual Skills used in abstract thinking
Diagnostic Skills to understand cause-effect
relationships and to recognize optimal
solutions to problems

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FIGURE 1.3 Managerial Skills at Different Organizational Levels

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 Contemporary Organizational Behavior

• Characteristics of the Field

– Interdisciplinary in focus
– Descriptive in nature

• Basic Concepts of the Field

1. Individual processes
2. Interpersonal processes
3. Organizational processes/characteristics

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FIGURE 1.4
The Framework
for Understanding
Organizational
Behavior

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 Contemporary Organizational Behavior

Systems Perspective

Contextual Situational Perspective

Perspectives on
Organizational
Behavior Contingency

Interactional

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 The Systems Perspective

• System
–An interrelated set of elements that function
as a whole—inputs are combined/transformed
by managers into outputs from the system
• Value of the Systems Perspective
–Underscores the importance of an organization’s
environment
–Conceptualizes the flow and interaction of various
elements of the organization.

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 The Situational Perspective

• The Situational Perspective

–Recognizes that most organizational situations
and outcomes are influenced by other variables
• The Universal Model
–Presumes a direct cause-and-effect linkage
between variables
–Complexities of human behavior and
organizational settings make universal
conclusions virtually impossible

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FIGURE 1.5 The Systems Approach to Organizations

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FIGURE 1.6 Universal Versus Situational Approach

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 Interactionalism: People and Situations

• Interactionalist Perspective
–Focuses on how individuals and situations interact
continuously to determine individuals’ behavior
–Attempts to explain how people select, interpret, and
change various situations.

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FIGURE 1.7 The Interactionalist Perspective on Behavior in Organizations

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 Managing for Effectiveness

• Managers work toward accomplishing

the various goals (outcomes) that exist
at specific levels in an organization:
–Individual-level outcomes
–Group-level outcomes
–Organizational-level outcomes

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FIGURE 1.8 Managing for Effectiveness

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 Organizational Behavior in Action
• Based on your reading of the chapter opening case:
–What is employee turnover so low at Wegmans?
–Which basic managerial roles and skills is Danny
Wegman using to show his employees that the
organization really cares about them?
–Why haven’t competitors adopted the Wegmans’
employee-focused strategy?

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