HRM 601 Organizational Behavior Session 1 Course Overview, Historical Perspective, & Research Methods

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR A field of study that uses concepts, theories, and methods of behavioral sciences to understand the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations and applies the knowledge towards improving organizational effectiveness

Building Competencies Building a knowledge base of theories and research in organizational behavior Building of analytical and diagnostic skills for application of theories to organizational problems

Foundations of Organizational Behavior Individual (psychological) influences Group (social-psychological) influences Organizational (sociological, political) influences

Individual Influences Perception Personality and attitudes Learning Motivation

Group Influences Group processes Communication Decision Making Power & conflict Leadership

Organizational Influences Design of organizations Organizational environments & culture Organizational change & development

KEY INFLUENCES ON OB Early industrial engineering studies –Frederick Taylor –Frank and Lillian Gilbreth The Hawthorne studies Recent challenges for OB –Technology –International competition

WHY DO RESEARCH To gather a body of information on to develop a Systematic body of knowledge to aid in building theories Contradicting theories Suggest new theories To understand and explain behavior

RESEARCH DESIGNS Experimental designs Correlational and survey designs Case studies and focus groups

EVALUATING RESEARCH Internal validity -- Can we be confident that the outcomes of the study resulted from the factor being manipulated or might the result be do to some unmeasured factor External validity -- Can we generalize the finding of this study to a larger population or is our sample so restricted that the findings relate only to a specific groups