Chapter 1

Introduction to
Organizational Behavior
Prof. Christy Zhou Koval
Spring 2017

1
 Reminder/House Keeping
Meet & Greet Recap
Initial team group member list available Feb 8
 Learning objectives
What is OB and why study OB
OB trends & challenges
Identify the five anchors of OB
Describe the knowledge management
process

3
 What are organizations?
A coordinated social unit
Goals
Composed of two or more
people
Work interdependently
Toward some common
goals

4
What are organizations?
A coordinated social unit
Composed of two or more people
Work interdependently
Toward some common goals
5
Organizational behavior (OB)
The study of how people
THINK, FEEL, and DO in
and around organizations
Individual, team, and
organizational-level
characteristics that
influence behavior within
work settings

6
 Why OB?

Can have real life consequences…

and sometimes, a matter of life or death…

7
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster!

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4JOjcDFtBE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqTmSFkBqkg&t=3s (video starts at 0:28)

8
 Why study OB?

Knowledge: Forecast:
Understand Predict
organizational organizational
events events
Why study
organizational
behavior

Control:
Influence
organizational
events
9
 Learning objectives
What is OB and why study OB
OB trends & challenges
Identify the five anchors of OB
Describe the knowledge management
process

10
Some OB trends / challenges
Globalization
Workforce diversity
Evolving employment relationships
Technology & Virtual work
Work/life balance
Workplace values and ethics

11
 Globalization
Economic, social, and cultural connectivity (and
interdependence) with people in other parts of the
world
Not new development, but have sped up
Due to policy and technological development

12
 Globalization
Effects on organizations
New organizational structures
More competition, mergers, work intensification
“The creation of global workforce means work no
longer sleeps”
Different forms of communication
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOHvMz7dl2A&t=
113s
More diverse workforce

13
 Workforce diversity
Diversity in gender, age, race, religion, national origin,
etc.
Benefits: understand customer needs, more diverse
ideas
Challenges: conflict, miscommunication,
discrimination

Video: HP pushes for more diverse workforce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5dZmaXXGXw

14
Employment relationships
Issues
People “job-hop” more than ever before

15
16
Employment relationships
Issues
People “job-hop” more than ever before
Decreased job security
Continuously learn new skills

17
 Technology Use
Using information technology to perform one’s job
away from the traditional physical workplace

Use of social media at work

Policies on accessing social media at work
When, where, and for what purpose
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0ee_AXk094
 Virtual work
Using information technology to perform one’s job
away from the traditional physical workplace
Virtual teams
Operate across space, time, and organizational
boundaries with members who communicate mainly
through electronic technologies
Telework (telecommuting)
Working from home, usually internet connection to
office

19
 Work/Life Balance
One downside of technological advances:
Minimum hours of work can vary in a nonsystematic
way
Workers are always “on”
How does this affect family life?

Workforce expectations
Balancing work and life demands now surpasses job
security as an employee priority

20
21
Workplace values and ethics
Importance of values
Guide employee decisions and actions
Globalization increases awareness of different
values
Increasing emphasis on applying ethical values

22
23
 Learning objectives
What is OB and why study OB
OB trends & challenges
Identify the five anchors of OB
Describe the knowledge management
process

24
 Five OB anchors

Multidisciplinary

Systematic
Open systems Organizational Research
Behavior
Anchors
Multiple Levels
Contingency
of Analysis

25
 Organisational Behaviour
Anchors
Systematic research anchor
OB knowledge is built on systematic research
Evidence-based management: decisions and
actions based on research evidence rather than
fads, hype and untested assumptions
 NOT just common sense

Preconceived notions ≠ Facts

Systematic research
Looking at relationships, attempting to
attribute causes and effects, and drawing
conclusions based on scientific evidence
Provides a means to predict behaviors
27
 Organisational Behaviour
Anchors
Multidisciplinary anchor
Many OB concepts adopted from other
disciplines
OB develops its own theories, but scans other
fields
Organisational Behaviour Anchors

Contingency anchor
There is no one best way to organize
A particular action may have different
consequences in different situations
Need to diagnose the situation and select best
strategy under those conditions
Organisational Behaviour Anchors

Multiple levels of analysis anchor

Individual, team, organisational level of analysis
OB topics usually relevant at all three levels of
analysis
Three Levels of Analysis in OB

Organization

Group

Individual
32
Organizational Behaviour Anchors
continued

Open systems anchor

Organizational Behavior Anchors

Open systems anchor

Environment
Feedback Feedback

Feedback Feedback
Open systems view of organizations 34
 Learning objectives
What is OB and why study OB
OB trends & challenges
Identify the five anchors of OB
Describe the knowledge management
process

35
 Intellectual Capital
A company’s stock of knowledge
What gives an organization a competitive
edge
A metric used to assess the intangible value of
a business

36
 Intellectual Capital
Human Knowledge that people possess and
Capital generate

Relationship Value derived from satisfied

Capital customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

Structural Knowledge captured in systems and

Capital structures

37
 Intellectual Capital
Retain intellectual capital by:
Keeping knowledgeable employees
Transferring knowledge to other employees
Transferring human and relationship capital to
structural capital

38
 Organizational Learning:
Knowledge management
An organization’s capacity to acquire, share, use, and
store valuable knowledge for its survival and success

KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE

ACQUISITION SHARING USE
Extracting information Distributing Applying knowledge
and ideas from its knowledge to organizational
environment as well throughout the processes in ways
as through insight organization that improves the
organization’s
effectiveness

39
Google has leveraged the power of organizational
behavior to attract talented employees who want to
make a difference in the Internet world.

40
 Organizational Learning:
Knowledge management
An organization’s capacity to acquire, share, use, and
store valuable knowledge for its survival and success

KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE

ACQUISITION SHARING USE
Extracting information Distributing Applying knowledge
and ideas from its knowledge to organizational
environment as well throughout the processes in ways
as through insight organization that improves the
organization’s
effectiveness
Examples in practice (Google)
Hiring skilled staff Structuring coding Giving staff freedom to
system on intranet try out ideas 41
 Preparation for Next Class
Read Chapter 5