CHAPTER 1: THE DYNAMICS OF PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS
- Organizations are complex systems ; There are no perfect solutions to organizational problems - Human behavior in organizations are unpredictable = (Differences in needs, experiences, & personal value systems = different behaviors)
UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
1 DEFINITION: Organizational Behavior (O.B)
- Systematic study and careful application of knowledge about how people – in individuals or groups – act w/in organizations. - Identifies ways in which people can act more effectively - Scientific discipline in w/c a large number of research studies & Conceptual developments are constantly adding to its knowledge base. - Applied science = info. On effective practices in 1 organization is being applied in other organizations - Provides a useful set of tools at many levels of analysis (5 levels): o Individuals (helps look into behavior of individuals in organizations) o Interpersonal Relations (Aids in understanding complexities when 2 people interact) o Small groups (For examining dynamics of relationships in S.G - formal teams/ informal groups) o Intergroup relations (Coordination of 2 or more groups – ex. Engineering and marketing) o Whole Systems (Managing/viewing whole orgs – interorganizational relationships)
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A. GOALS: (4 major thrusts of most sciences) – DESCRIBE, UNDERSTAND, PREDICT, CONTROL 1. DESCRIBE: Know systematically how people behave under a variety of conditions - Achieving this helps managers to communicate about human behavior at work using a common language 2. UNDERSTAND: Understand why people