Organizational Behaviour Notes
Chapter I. What is Organizational Behaviour
Organizational behaviour (OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness. It studies three determinants of behavior in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. To sum up our definition, OB is the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance. And because OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations, you should not be surprised that it emphasizes behavior as related to concerns such as jobs, work, absenteeism, employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management.
OB includes the core topics of motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, learning, attitude development and perception, change processes, conflict, work design, and work stress.
Behaviour is not random. Rather, we can identify fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals and modify them to reflect individual differences. Behavior is generally predictable, and the systematic study of behavior is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions.
Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence. A manager might pose a managerial question, search for the best available evidence, and apply the relevant information to the question or case at hand. Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut feelings” about what makes others (and ourselves) “tick.” Of course, the things you have come to believe in an unsystematic way are not necessarily incorrect, but
Organizational behaviour (OB) is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness. It studies three determinants of behavior in organizations: individuals, groups, and structure. In addition, OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. To sum up our definition, OB is the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance. And because OB is concerned specifically with employment-related situations, you should not be surprised that it emphasizes behavior as related to concerns such as jobs, work, absenteeism, employment turnover, productivity, human performance, and management.
OB includes the core topics of motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, learning, attitude development and perception, change processes, conflict, work design, and work stress.
Behaviour is not random. Rather, we can identify fundamental consistencies underlying the behavior of all individuals and modify them to reflect individual differences. Behavior is generally predictable, and the systematic study of behavior is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions.
Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence. A manager might pose a managerial question, search for the best available evidence, and apply the relevant information to the question or case at hand. Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut feelings” about what makes others (and ourselves) “tick.” Of course, the things you have come to believe in an unsystematic way are not necessarily incorrect, but