Chapter 1:
• Management – The process of working with and through others to achieve organizational objectives in an efficient and ethical manner. o Manager role is constantly evolving. Effective managers are team players empowered by the willing and active support of others.
• Organizational Behavior – An interdisciplinary field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and ultimately improving the performance and attitudes of individuals and groups in organizations. o OB is both research and application oriented.
3 basic levels of analysis: individual, group, and organizational.
OB is a horizontal discipline that cuts across virtually every job category, business function, and professional specialty. o OB comes from a number of disciplines: psychology (largest), sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and others.
• Globalization leads to different societal cultures which affect management. o Societal cultures – socially derived, taken-for-granted assumptions about how to think, act, perceive, and feel.
• McGregor’s Theories: o Theory X – Assumption that employees are pessimistic, negative, typical of how managers perceive employees o Theory Y – The more modern and positive assumptions about employees being responsible and creative.
Employees believe that Theory X management practices are the major barrier to productivity improvement and employee well-being.
• Human Capital – The productive potential of an individual’s knowledge and actions.
• Social Capital – The productive potential resulting from strong relationships, good will, trust, and cooperative effort. Social capital emphasizes relationships.
• Types of questions in OB: o What factors influence organization-oriented behavior and attitudes? o What can managers do to influence employee behavior and attitudes? o Do assumptions about work translate across organization, across culture? o How do individuals and groups arrive at decisions? o What