Chapter 1 Flashcards
Absorptive Capacity
The ability to recognize the value of new information, assimilate it, and use it for value-added activities.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm’s immediate financial interests or legal obligations.
Deep-level Diversity
Differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes.
Ethics
The study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad.
Globalization
Economic, social, and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world.
High-performance Work Practices (HPWP)
A perspective which holds that effective organizations incorporate several workplace practices that leverage the potential of human capital.
Human Capital
The stock of knowledge, skills, and abilities among employees that provides economic value to the organization.
Intellectual Capital
A company’s stock of knowledge, including human capital, structural capital, and relationship capital.
Open Systems
- Ability to coexist with the external environment
- Think efficiency and adaptability
Organizational Behaviour (OB)
The study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations.
Organizational Effectiveness
A broad concept represented by several perspectives, including the organization’s fit with the external environment, internal-subsystems configuration for high performance, emphasis on organizational learning, and ability to satisfy the needs of key stakeholders.
Organizational Efficiency
The amount of outputs relative to inputs in the organization’s transformation process.
Organizational Learning
A perspective which holds that organizational effectiveness depends on the organization’s capacity to acquire, share, use, and store valuable knowledge
Organizations
Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose.
Stakeholders
Individuals, organizations, and other entities who affect, or are affected by, the organization’s objectives and actions.
Structural Capital
Knowledge embedded in an organization’s systems and structures.
Surface-Level Diversity
The observable demographic or physiological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical capabilities.
Values
Relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person’s preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations.
Virtual Work
Work performed away from the traditional physical workplace by means of information technology.
Work-life Balance
The degree to which a person minimizes conflict between work and nonwork demands
Inputs are:
- Raw materials
- Human Resources
- Information
- Financial resources
- Equipment
Outputs are:
- Products/services
- Employee behaviours
- Profits/losses
- Waste/pollution
- Knowledge Sharing
- Knowledge Use
- Knowledge Storage
- Knowledge Acquisition
- Multidisciplinary
- Systemic research
- Contingency
- Multiple levels of analysis
- Human capital
- Structural capital
- Relationship capital
Three Objectives of studying OB
- Understand Organization Events (OE)
- Predict OE
- Influence OE
Contingency Approach
A particular action may have different consequences in different situations
This means there is no single, “one-best” way.
Ex. learning, conflict resolution, communication, motivation, leadership
The Four perspectives of Organizational Effectiveness
- Open Systems
- Organizational Learning
- High Performance Work Practices (HPWP)
- Stakeholder Perspective
Effects of Globalization on Organizations
- New organizational structures
- Different forms of communication
- More diverse workforce
- More competition, mergers, work intensification and demands for work flexibility
Challenges for Organizations
Globalization
Changing Workforce
Emerging Employment Relationships
Emerging Employment Relationships
Work/life Balance - Priority for Canadians looking for new jobs, ie. time for child, etc.
Employability - “New deal” employment relationship
Contingent Work - Part time employment/ minimum hours vary
Labour Market Shortage - Employee recruitments & Retention(low turnover rate)
Changing Workforce Trends
Diversity of people, ie, generations, racial, ethnic > different values and customs
Multidisciplinary Anchor
The field should develop from knowledge in other disciplines, ie. psych, sociology, econ
Systematic Research Anchor
OB Knowledge should be based on systematic research (evidence-based management)
Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor
OB topics should be viewed from the individual, team, and organization levels of analysis
Three things the OB theory helps people do
- Make sense of the workplace
- Question and rebuild their personal mental models
- get tings done in organizations
