Lecture 1

MGT 3101 Organizational BehaviorInstructor: James Hayton

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOR?

Class Overview

• Introduce ourselves and the subject• Go over syllabus and schedule• Understand expectations• Video (5 minutes)• Brief introductory lecture• Experiential exercise

What is Organizational Behavior?

• The scientific study of behavioral processes that occur in work settings

• Focus is upon individuals, groups, and organizations

• Topics include employee attitudes, motivation, decision making, organizational structures etc.

• Foundation is mostly psychology, sociology and some anthropology

Why should we care about OB?

• Increased knowledge/Personal growth• Understanding the human element of

organizations • Practical applications for future

managers

Micro OB

• Micro-level perspective (within organization) • Focus: individuals and groups e.g. demographics,

personality, attitudes, behavior • Research methods: laboratory and ‘field’

experiments, surveys, ethnography

Macro OB (aka O.T.)

• Macro level perspective (across organizational approach)

• Focus: Organizations e.g. goals, culture structures, growth and change

• Research methods: case studies and surveys

• Applies principles of behavioral sciences in the workplace• Designing systems to attract, develop, and motivate

individuals within an organization

Related Fields

Organizational Development (OD)• Introducing changes in organizations• Focuses on changing structure and values

Human Resource Management (HRM)

Criticisms of OB as a Field

• “Findings in field are too obvious”– experiential exercise (p.22): How much do you

“know” about human behavior?• Hindsight Bias (the tendency to claim that we

would have foreseen the relative inevitability of an outcome)– Job satisfaction predicts performance– Reducing the amount of light inhibits

performance

Challenges Confronting Managers in the 21st Century

• Workforce diversity• Contingent workers• Expression of emotions at work

Workforce Diversity

• One major conclusion of the Work Force 2000 study was that a large proportion of the new entrants to the labor force for the near future will be from demographic categories other than that of white males.

• What is the implication?• How do we manage diversity?

Contingent Workers

• The use of contingent, or temporary workers, is surging.– Over 400% percent in the past 15 years

• Advantages:employers have greater flexibility lower costs

• Disadvantages: employees may not have a sense of commitment or loyalty

The Expression of Emotions at Work

• Rise of workplace violence. • Contributing factors:

– failure to screen for unstable applicants– poor supervision– perceived inequities

• Workplace romances– legal risks

Review

• OB has two sides - macro and micro• OB knowledge supports applied

management fields (e.g. HR, OD)• We don’t know as much as we might think

about human behavior at work• Many changes taking place at work that

knowledge of OB can help with