CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION TO THE FIELD OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR By Michael Beaudoin & Leon Ngo

C HAPTER 1 The Field of Organizational Behavior Organizations – Groups of people who cooperate to work toward the same purpose. Organizational Behavior (OB) – The study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations. Why Study Organizational Behavior? 1.To help us to understand and predict the behavior of an organization, which will help us to influence that behavior in the future. 2.Everyone can benefit from understanding Organizational Behavior, not just managers. 3. Organizational Behavior also benefits the organization’s financial health.

C HAPTER 1 Organizational Behavior Trends Globalization – Economic, social, and cultural connectivity (and interdependence) with people in other parts of the world. Workforce Diversity - Surface-Level diversity – Observable demographic or physiological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical disabilities. Deep-Level Diversity – The differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes. Consequences of Diversity – Organizations can gain a competitive advantage by using it to improve decision making. However, not diversifying can potentially lead to possible discrimination against the underrepresented groups.

C HAPTER 1 Organizational Behavior Trends Evolving Employment Relationships Work-life balance – Minimizing conflict between work and non-work demands. Employability – An employment relationship in which people perform a variety of work activities rather than hold specific jobs, and are expected to continuously learn skills that will keep them employed. Contingent work – Any job in which the individual does not have an explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment, or one in which the minimum hours of work can vary in a nonsystematic way. Virtual Work Virtual work – Work practices whereby employees use information technology to perform their jobs away from the traditional physical workplace Virtual teams – Teams whose members operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries, and who are linked through information technologies to achieve organizational goals.

C HAPTER 1 The Five Anchors of Organizational Behavior The Multidisciplinary Anchor – The idea that the field should develop from knowledge in other disciplines, not just from its own isolated research base. The Systematic Research Anchor – Belief in the value of studying organizations through systematic research methods. Scientific method – A set principles and procedures that help researchers to systematically understand previously unexplained events and conditions. Grounded theory – A process of developing theory through the constant interplay between data gathering and the development of theoretical concepts. The contingency Anchor – Understanding that there can be too many exceptions for “one best way” theories to always work. Contingency approach – The idea that a particular action may have different consequences in different situations.

C HAPTER 1 The Five Anchors of Organizational Behavior The Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor – Divides organizational behavior into three levels of analysis: individual, team, and organization. The Open Systems Anchor – Views an organization as a complex series of integrated, interdependent subsystems. Open Systems – Organizations that take their sustenance from the environment and, in turn, affect the environment through their output. External Environment and Stakeholders – Organizations need to adapt to changing environments, but not so much that they overspend their resources or overshoot stakeholder needs. Systems as Interdependent Parts – Interdependencies can become so complex that a minor event in one subsystem may amplify into serious unintended consequences elsewhere in the organization.

C HAPTER 1 End of presentation