Chapter 1: Introduction to the Field of OB Flashcards
Organizations (def)
Organizations are groups of people who work INTERDEPENDENTLY towards some COLLECTIVE PURPOSE
(collective sense of purpose which isn’t necessarily defined/agreed on)
Organizational Behavior (def)
Organizational Behavior studies what people THINK, FEEL and DO in and around organizations.
Why is OB important to study?
- Studying OB helps understand employees/teams’ behavior (in a globalized workforce)
- And choose the most appropriate practices
- To maximize organizational effectiveness
Studying OB also helps students adopt better personal theories to understand, predict, and manage workplace events
OB is important for everyone; employers ask for OB skills
3 perspectives of organizational effectiveness - OVERVIEW
Organizational effectiveness = ideal state in which the organization runs. This includes
- Open system perspective
- Human capital
- Stakeholders
Open system perspective (“3 perspectives of organizational effectiveness”)
= organizations are complex systems that LIVE WITHIN and DEPEND ON their external environments. They must therefore be open to an ever-changing and evolving environment, and transform inputs to outputs efficiently and flexibly.
Some factors to consider: raw materials, human resources, finances, equipment –> shareholder dividends, products and services
Human capital (“3 perspectives of organizational effectiveness”)
- definition
- why it is necessary
- consider: in the age of automation, can we replace human capital?
Human capital is the knowledge, skills, abilities, creative thinking, and other valued resources that employees bring to the organization.
It is necessary to effectively transform inputs into outputs (essential for survival, difficult to find/copy, and difficult to replace!)
In the age of automation, is human capital really important? The human touch cannot be easily replaced by a machine. Consider for example a therapist robot, this implies the same treatment to everyone that reduces people’s treatment and diversity.
Human capital perspective (“3 perspectives of organizational effectiveness”)
–> How does MANAGEMENT of human capital improve organizational effectiveness?
- Improved individual behavior and performance.
- Performing diverse tasks in unfamiliar situations (FLEXIBILITY)
- Company’s investment in employees motivates them.
Stakeholder perspective (“3 perspectives of organizational effectiveness”)
- definition
- examples of stakeholders
- main challenge of dealing with stakeholders
Stakeholder perspective is important to understand, manage, and satisfy stakeholder NEEDS.
Stakeholders are the entities who affect or are affected by the firm’s objectives and actions.
Stakeholders include customers, suppliers, local community, national society, interest groups, stockholders, governments, etc.
One of the main challenges is dealing with CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (given limited resources) - consider water pollution.
Value and ethics influence how corporate boards and CEOs allocate organizational resources.
VALUES (definition, consistency i.e., different/shared, tells us, example)
Def = Stable, evaluative, BELIEFS that GUIDE/MOTIVATE DECISIONS for outcomes or courses of action in various situations.
Stimuli for thinking
Consistency = differs from person to person
Tells us = WHAT WE WANT TO DO or achieve and its level of importance
Example = Someone who values success works late nights to achieve a promotion. A person who values family more than work would prefer to spend this time at home.
Values MOTIVATE while ethics LIMIT!!!
Value and ethics influence how corporate boards and CEOs allocate organizational resources.
ETHICS (definition, consistency, tells us, example)
Def = MORAL PRINCIPLES that determine whether actions are RIGHT OR WRONG and whether outcomes are good or bad.
System of moral principles
Consistency = uniform from person to person
Tells us = what is morally correct or incorrect in a given situation
Example = Doctors are held to a strict code of ethics when they swear the Hippocratic Oath.
Values MOTIVATE while ethics LIMIT!!!
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - Stakeholder perspective
- definition
- “Triple bottom line”
- Example (IKEA)
An organization is in implicit contract with society and should think about benefitting society and the environment beyond their immediate financial interests or legal obligations.
“Triple bottom line” = economy, society, environment.
e.g., Ikea building shelters for refugees. Who are the stakeholders? Refugees, people involved in building, customers seeing the video (makes us feel better about our consumer decisions, and therefore help the viability of the company, although short term net loss, immediate improvement in relations with employees/more turnover overall).
Integrative Model of OB
Tells us that organizational inputs and processes (culture, human resources, structure and strategy)
in combination with INDIVIDUAL and TEAM processes ( personality, values, motivation, emotions, communication, power/influence, negotiation)
–> Individual and team outcomes
–> ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES (EFFECTIVNESS
IN OTHER WORDS –> ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS DEPENDS ON individuals and TEAMS not only resources!!!!!!
5 Organizational Behavior Anchors - OVERVIEW
how OB knowledge is “created”
- Systematic research anchor
- Practical orientation anchor
- Multidisciplinary anchor
- Contingency anchor
- Multiple levels of analysis anchor
- Systematic research anchor (5 OB anchors)
(how OB knowledge is “created”)
- definition
- limitations
- how to encourage/improve
Using data to guide decisions and best practices, informed by science and reasearch and NOT EMOTIONS (“EVIDENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT”)
Limitations of evidence-based:
- People are BOMBARDED with information in media which makes it difficult to filter fake news (solid evidence)
- GENERIC research (difficult to apply to specific cases, and determine which theories are relevant)
- Human perceptual errors/BIASES (natural tendency to overlook evidence that does not support one’s own beliefs)!!
How to encourage an evidence-based?
- Be skeptical of the “hype” (take a neutral stance towards popular trends)
- Embrace collective expertise (rather than charismatic “gurus”)
- Use evidence to support but not as main foundation (rely more on systematic investigation)
- Practical orientation anchor (5 OB anchors)
Ensure that OB theories are useful in practice (otherwise irrelevant)
