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CHAPTER 1
I. Organizational Behavior
A. The Meaning of Organizational Behavior.
Organizational behavior is the study of human behavior in organizational
settings, the interface between human behavior and the organization, and the
organization itself. Thus, organizational behavior reflects several levels of
analysis and a wide variety of interactions among these levels.
Managers must play a variety of roles using a set of critical skills in order to
carry out the basic management functions successfully.
Because most people are born, educated, work, and live and die in relation to
organizations, the study of behavior of people in organizations is extremely
important. Organizations influence our lives so powerfully that we must pay
close attention and be concerned about our behavior in organizations. Since
most people reading this book are either present or future managers, we take
a managerial perspective of the field.
the situation (refer to Figure 1.7.). This view attempts to explain how people
select, interpret, and change various situations.
Culture
o A set of shared values that help people in a group,
organization, or society understand which actions are
considered acceptable and which are deemed unacceptable
General Observations
o Cultural and national boundaries may not coincide
o Behavior in organizational settings varies across cultures
culture is one major cause of this variation
Globalization
o The internationalization of business activities
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Hofstedes Categories
o Individualism
o Collectivism
o Power distance
o Uncertainty avoidance
o Masculinity
o Long-versus short-term values
Workforce Diversity
o The important similarities and differences among the
employees of organizations
Stereotypes
o Generalizations about a person or a group of persons based
on certain characteristics or traits
Prejudices
o Judgments about others that reinforce superiority
or inferiority beliefs
Primary Dimensions
o Factors that are either inborn or exert extraordinary influence
on early socialization
Age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
physical/mental abilities
Secondary Dimensions
o Factors that matter to us as individuals and that to some
extent define us to others
Educational background, geographical location,
income, marital status, military experiences, parental
status, religious beliefs, work experiences
Assimilation
o The process through which members of a minority group are
forced to learn the ways of the majority group
Assimilation Effects
o Homogeneity reduces awareness of diversity issues
o Perpetuation of false stereotypes and prejudices
o Dominant groups continue to make decisions based on their
own values and beliefs
o Minority groups have little say in decision-making
Diversity Issues
Diversitys Results
o A richness of ideas and perspectives which can lead to new
product and market development and improvement in
customer services
Ethics
o A persons beliefs about what constitutes
right and wrong behavior
Corporate Governance
o The oversight of a public corporation by its board of directors
Governance Issues
o Proper management of the business in the best interests of
the stakeholders
o Independence of the board from the business
Outsourcing
Disadvantage of Outsourcing
o Disaffected employees: out-of-job workers are used train the
newly-hired foreign replacements
Advantages of Outsourcing
People in Organizations
Psychological Contract
o A persons overall set of expectations regarding what he or
Person-Job Fit
o The extent to which the contributions made by the individual
match the inducements offered by the organization
Individual Differences
o Personal attributes that vary from one person to another
Dimensions of EQ
o Self-awareness
o Managing emotions
o Motivating oneself
o Empathy
o Social skills
Attitudes in Organizations
Attitudes
o A persons complexes of beliefs and feelings about specific
ideas, situations, other people
Structural Components of Attitudes
o Affect: a persons feelings toward something
o Cognitions: the knowledge a person presumes to have about
something
Cognitive Dissonance
o The anxiety a person experiences when he/she
simultaneously possesses two sets of knowledge or
perceptions that are contradictory or incongruent
Perception in Organizations
Attribution Theory
o We attribute causes to behavior based on our observations of
certain characteristics of that behavior
Consensus - The extent to which other people in the
same situation behave in the same way.
Consistency - The degree to which the same person
behaves in the same way in different times.
Distinctiveness - The extent to which the same person
CHAPTER 4
Perception
(Motivation in Organizations)
Motivation
o The set of forces that leads people to behave in particular
ways
Motivational Framework
o Growth needs
Esteem
Self-actualization
Assumptions:
More than one need may motivate a person at the same time
Satisfaction-progression and frustration-regression components imply
that a person may not stay at the same level of need in Maslows
Hierarchy of Needs
Process-
Key Components
Learning
A relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential
resulting from direct or indirect experience
Effectiveness of OB Mod
Varying results in organizational applications
Lack of real world use
Ethics of OB Mod
Individual freedom of choice
Employee manipulation
CHAPTER 5
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Job Design
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o In the beginning:
o Recently:
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