1. Introduction to the Field of Organisational Behaviour

2. Westpac and OB
Westpac Banking Corporation has leveraged the power of organisational behaviour to become one of the most successful and respected companies around the Pacific Rim.
Courtesy of Westpac Banking Corporation

3. What are Organisations?
Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose
Structured patterns of interaction
Coordinated tasks
Work toward some purpose
Courtesy of Westpac Banking Corporation

4. Why Study Organisational Behaviour
Understand
Organisational
Events
Why Study Organisational Behaviour
Predict
Organisational
Events
Influence
Organisational
Events

5. Trends: Globalisation
Economic, social and cultural connectivity (and interdependence) with people in other parts of the world
Effects of globalisation on organisations:
New organisational structures
Different forms of communication
More diverse workforce
More competition, mergers, work intensification and demands for work flexibility

6. Trends: Changing Workforce
Workforce has increasing diversity along several dimensions
Primary categories
gender, age, ethnicity, etc.
Secondary categories
some control over (e.g. education, marital status)

7. Trends: Changing Workforce
Mt Albert Pak’n Save is a role model for cultural diversity. More than half of the supermarket’s 300 employees were born outside of New Zealand, representing fourteen different cultures.
Courtesy of Mt Albert Pak’n Save

8. Trends: Changing Workforce
Current trends
Increased racial and ethnic diversity
More women in workforce
Generational diversity
New age cohorts (e.g. Gen-X, Gen-Y)
Implications
Leverage diversity advantage
Adjust to the new workforce
Courtesy of Mt Albert Pak’n Save

9. Trends: Employment Relationships
Work/life balance
Number one indicator of career success
Priority for many young people looking for new jobs
Employability
“New deal” employment relationship
Continuously learn new skills
Contingent work
No explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment, or minimum hours of work can vary in a non-systematic way

10. Trends: Virtual Work
Using information technology to perform one’s job away from the traditional physical workplace.
Telework (telecommuting)
working from home, usually Internet connection to office
Virtual teams
operate across space, time and organisational boundaries with members who communicate mainly through electronic technologies

11. Trends: Workplace Values/Ethics
Long-lasting beliefs about what is important in a variety of situations
Define right versus wrong – guide our decisions
Values increasingly important due to:
Need to guide employee decisions and actions
Globalisation increases awareness of different values
Increasing emphasis on applying ethical values
Ethics
Study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong, and outcomes are good or bad

12. Corporate Social Responsibility
Organisation’s moral obligation toward its stakeholders
Stakeholders
Shareholders, customers, suppliers, governments etc.
Triple bottom line philosophy
Economic, social and environmental

13. Organisational Behaviour Anchors
Multidisciplinary
Anchor
Organisational
Behaviour
Anchors
Systematic Research Anchor
Open Systems Anchor
Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor
Contingency
Anchor

14. Organisational Behaviour Anchors
Multidisciplinary anchor
Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines
OB is developing its own models and theories, but also needs to scan other fields for ideas
Systematic research anchor
OB researchers rely on scientific method
OB also adopting grounded theory and similar qualitative approaches to knowledge

15. Organisational Behaviour Anchors
Contingency anchor
A particular action may have different consequences in different situations
Need to diagnose the situation and select best strategy under those conditions
Multiple levels of analysis anchor
OB issues can be studied from individual, team and/or organisational level
Topics usually relate to all three levels

16. Open Systems Anchor Need to monitor and adapt to environment
External environment – natural and social conditions outside the organisation
Receive inputs from environment; transform them into outputs back to the environment
Stakeholders – anyone with a vested interest in the organisation
Organisations consist of interdependent parts (subsystems) that need to coordinate

17. Open Systems Anchor
Environment
Feedback
Feedback
Feedback
Feedback

18. Knowledge Management Defined
Any structured activity that improves an organisation’s capacity to acquire, share and use knowledge for its survival and success.

19. Intellectual Capital Human Capital Structural Capital
Knowledge that people possess and generate
Structural Capital
Knowledge captured in systems and structures
Relationship Capital
Values derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

20. Knowledge Management Processes
Acquisition
Knowledge
Sharing
Knowledge
Use
Hiring talent
Acquiring firms
Individual learning
Experimentation
Communication
Communities of practice
Awareness
Freedom to apply

21. Organisational Memory
The storage and preservation of intellectual capital
Retain intellectual capital by:
Keeping knowledgeable employees
Transferring knowledge to others
Transferring human capital to structural capital
Successful companies also unlearn

22. Chapter One Extras

23. Job Security vs. Employability
Lifetime job security
Jobs are permanent
Company manages career
Low emphasis on skill development
Limited job security
Jobs are temporary
Career self- management
High emphasis on skill development

24. Part One – Video Clip The following video clip reflects the themes in Part One.

25. New Belgium Brewery – click image to play video
Part One Video Clip
New Belgium Brewery – click image to play video