Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behavior

Chapter At-A-Glance
History of Organizational Behavior Perspectives of Organizational Effectiveness Types of Individual Behavior Contemporary Challenges for Organizations Anchors of Organizational Behavior Knowledge

OB Foundations
Distinct field around the 1940s OB concepts discussed for more than 2,000 years Some pivotal scholars before OB formed include:
Max Weber Frederick Winslow Taylor Elton Mayo Chester Barnard Mary Parker Follett

Chester Barnard

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Why Study OB?

Satisfy the need to understand and predict behavior Helps us to test personal theories Influence behavior get things done OB improves an organizations financial health OB is for everyone (not just management)

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Old Perspective of Organizational Effectiveness

Goal oriented -- Effective firms achieve their stated objectives No longer accepted as indicator of org effectiveness
Could set easy goals Some goals too abstract to

evaluate Company might achieve wrong goals

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Four Perspectives of Organizational Effectiveness

Open Systems Perspective Organizational Learning Perspective High-Performance WP Perspective Stakeholder Perspective
NOTE: Need to consider all four perspectives when assessing a companys effectiveness
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Open Systems Perspective

Environment
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Open Systems Perspective

Organizations are complex systems that live within (and depend upon) the external environment Effective organizations
Maintain a close fit with changing conditions Transform inputs to outputs efficiently and flexibly

Open systems perspective lays the foundation for the other three perspectives of organizational effectiveness
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Critical Thinking Question

A number of years ago, employees in a city water distribution department were put into teams and encouraged to find ways to improve efficiency. The teams boldly crossed departmental boundaries and areas of management discretion in search of problems. Employees working in other parts of the city began to complain about these intrusions. Moreover, when some team ideas were implemented, the city managers discovered that a dollar saved in the water distribution unit may have cost the organization two dollars in higher costs elsewhere. Use the open systems perspective to explain what happened here.

Organizational Learning Perspective An organizations capacity to acquire, share, use, and store valuable knowledge Need to consider both stock and flow of knowledge
Stock: intellectual capital Flow: org learning processes of acquisition,

sharing, and use

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Intellectual Capital
Human Capital
Knowledge that people possess and generate

Structural Capital

Knowledge captured in systems and structures

Relationship Capital

Value derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

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Organizational Learning Processes

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION
Extracting information and ideas from its environment as well as through insight

KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Distributing knowledge throughout the organization

KNOWLEDGE USE
Applying knowledge to organizational processes in ways that improves the organizations effectiveness

Examples in practice
Hiring skilled staff Posting case studies on intranet Giving staff freedom to try out ideas

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Organizational 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

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High-Performance WP Perspective High Performance Work Practices are internal systems and structures that are associated with successful companies
1. Employees are competitive advantage 2. Value of employees increased through specific practices. 3. Maximum benefit when org practices are bundled

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High Performance Work Practices

No consensus, but HPWPs include:
Employee involvement and job autonomy (and

their combination as self-directed teams).

Employee competence (training, selection, etc.). Performance-based rewards

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Stakeholder Perspective Stakeholders: any entity who affects or is affected by the firms objectives and actions Personalizes the open systems perspective Challenges with stakeholder perspective:
Stakeholders have conflicting interests Firms have limited resources

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Stakeholder Perspective
Lockheed Martin is rated by engineering students as an ideal employer
Pays attention to its many

stakeholders Relies on values and ethics to guide decisions Strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility (e.g. photo shows clean-up after hurricane Katrina)

Lockheed Martin

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Stakeholders: Values and Ethics

Values and ethics prioritize stakeholder interests Values
Stable, evaluative beliefs, guide

preferences for outcomes or courses of action in various situations

Ethics
Moral principles/values,

determine whether actions are right/wrong and outcomes are good or bad
Lockheed Martin

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Stakeholders and CSR

Stakeholder perspective includes corporate social responsibility (CSR)
Benefit society and environment

beyond the firms immediate financial interests or legal obligations Organizations contract with society

Triple bottom line

Economy, society, environment

Lockheed Martin

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Critical Thinking Question

Corporate social responsibility is one of the hottest issues in corporate boardrooms these days, partly because it is becoming increasingly important to employees and other stakeholders. In your opinion, why have stakeholders given CSR more attention recently? Does abiding by CSR standards potentially cause companies to have conflicting objectives with some stakeholders in some situations?

Types of Individual Behavior

Task Performance Goal-directed behaviors under persons control

Organizational Citizenship

Contextual performance cooperation and helpfulness beyond required job duties

more
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Types of Individual Behavior

Counterproductive Work Behaviors

(cont)

Voluntary behaviors that potentially harm the organization

Joining/staying with the Organization

Agreeing to employment relationship; remaining in that relationship

Maintaining Work Attendance

Attending work at required times

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Challenges facing Orgs: Globalization

Economic, social, and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world Effects of globalization on organizations
New structures Increasing diversity Increasing competitive pressures, intensification

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Challenges facing Orgs: Increasing Workforce Diversity

Surface-level diversity
Observable demographic and other overt differences in

people (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender, age)

Deep-level diversity
Differences in psychological characteristics (e.g.

personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes) Example: Differences across age cohorts (e.g. Gen-Y)

Implications
Leveraging the diversity advantage Also diversity challenges (e.g. teams, conflict) Ethical imperative of diversity
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Challenges facing Orgs: Employment Relationships

Work-Life balance
Minimizing conflict between work and nonwork

demands number one indicator of career success

Virtual work
Using information technology to perform ones job away

from the traditional physical workplace Telework issues of replacing face time, clarifying employment expectations

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Organizational Behavior Anchors

Multidisciplinary anchor
Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines OB develops its own theories, but scans other fields

Systematic research anchor

OB researchers rely on scientific method Should apply evidence-based management, but - Bombarded with theories and models - Challenge translating general theories to specific situations - Swayed by consultant marketing - Perceptual biases -- ignoring evidence contrary to our beliefs

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Organizational Behavior Anchors

Contingency anchor

(cont)

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

Individual, team, organizational level of analysis OB topics usually relevant at all three levels of analysis

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