Chapter learning objectivesDefine organisational behaviour.Identify three reasons for studying organisational behaviour.Describe five trends in organisational behaviour.Identify the five anchors on which organisational behaviour is based.Diagram an organisation from an open systems view.Define knowledge management and intellectual capital.Identify three that organisations acquire knowledge.

Computershare and org behaviourComputershare Ltd has leveraged the power of organisational behaviour to become one of Australias leading high technology companies. Courtesy of Computershare Ltd

Organizational behaviorA field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organizations effectivenessOrganizational behavior (OB) is the study of factors that affect how individuals and groups act in organizations and how organizations manage their environments.

What are organisations?Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purposeA consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

A Social arrangement for achieving controlled performance in Pursuit of collective Goalsstructured patterns of interaction coordinated taskswork toward some purposeControlled PerformanceCourtesy of Computeshare Ltd

Stop & ThinkWhich of the following would you call an Organization , and which not, Identify the reasons for your decision in each case?A Chemical Processing CompanyThe Jamieson familyKings College HospitalA Local Street Corner GangYour Local Squash ClubA Terrorist CellA Famine relief charityThe Azande tribeA Primary School

Why study organisational behaviour?

OrganisationalbehaviourresearchUnderstandorganisationaleventsPredictorganisationaleventsInfluenceorganisationalevents

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Trends: globalisationGlobal companiesextend their activities to other parts of the worldactively participate in other marketscompete against firms in other countries

Trends: globalisationImplications of globalisationnew organisational structures different forms of communicationmore competition, change, mergers, downsizing, stressneed more sensitivity to cultural differences

Trends: changing workforcePrimary diversityAge, race, physical qualities,secondary diversityEducation, religion, work experienceMore women in workforce and professionsDifferent needs of Gen-X, Gen-Y and baby-boomersDiversity has advantages, but firms need to adjust throughcultural awarenessfamily-friendly policiesempowerment

Trends: employment relationshipEmployability employees perform many tasks, not a specific jobCasual work no explicit or implicit contract for long-term employmentTelecommuting working from home, usually with a computer connection to the officeVirtual teamsoperate across space, time and organisational boundaries; mainly communicate through electronic technologies

Trends: information technologyAffects how employees interactvirtual teamstelecommutingAffects how organisations are configurednetwork structures alliance of several organisations

Trends: values and ethicsValuesstable, long-lasting beliefs about what is importantpersonal, cultural, organisational, professionalImportance of valuesglobalisation more awareness of different valuesvalues replacing command and controlmore emphasis on ethical business conduct Ethicsmoral principles/values determine whether actions are right/wrong and outcomes are good/bad

Organisational behaviour anchorsOrganisationalbehaviouranchorsMultidisciplinaryanchorSystematicresearchanchorContingencyanchorOpen systemsanchorMultiple levelsof analysisanchor

Open systems anchor of OB OutputsInputsOrganisation

Knowledge management definedAny structured activity that improves an organisations capacity to acquire, share and use knowledge for its survival and success.

Intellectual capitalHuman capitalknowledge that employees possess and generateStructural capitalknowledge captured in systems and structuresRelationship capitalvalue derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers and others

Knowledge management processesKnowledge acquisitiongraftinglearningexperimentationKnowledge sharingcommunicationcommunities of practiceKnowledge useawarenessfreedom to apply knowledgeCourtesy of Billabong

Organisational memoryThe storage and preservation of intellectual capitalRetain intellectual capital bykeeping knowledgeable employeestransferring knowledge to otherstransferring human capital to structural capital