Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behaviour Flashcards
Organization
What is it?
Does size matter
- Consciously coordinated social unit, consisting of group of people and functions on continuous basis to achieve a goal. Etc Facebook, UofM
- size does not matter
Organizational Behaviour
impact that individuals, groups, and structures have on employee behaviours within an organization
Organizational Behaviour Impacts examples (4)
- Improve organizational effectiveness, performance, decisions and employee well-being
- people are engaged organizational members
- Organization who care about employers yield higher profitability
- relevant where people come together, share experiences, work on goals, meet to solve problems
Organizational Behaviour Building Blocks (4)
Psychology, Social Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology
Organizational Behaviour Building Blocks
OB draws from disciplines to formulate solutions for problems
Psychology:
Scientific study of behaviour and mental processes that seeks to explain, and change behaviour of humans, animals.
Psychology: Structuralism
How one senses, feels (inner thoughts)
Psychology: Functionalism
Why one senses, feels, has certain emotions
Psychology: Psychoanalysis and 2 examples
Personality is shaped by unconscious motives
Ex. Dreams, projections and association to root out repressed feelings and give insights (talk therapy)
Ex. Ask questions and answer through data gathering
Social Psychology (3)
- Blends concepts from psychology and sociology
- how thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of individuals are influenced by presence of others
- how individuals move, interact, and are influenced in respective environments
Sociology and 2 examples
Study people and their relation to their social environment or culture
Ex. Look at wider context of events, and society that channel individual behaviour. (Natural events and social causes)
Ex. Make issues public that are currently present as individual
Anthropology
study a society to learn about human beings, activities, cultures and development of social structures/institutions.
Anthropology: Beliefs
Religion, rules, practices, gifts, apply ethnography methods
Anthropology: Fields (3)
- Political (question assumption of politics on development vs human need)
- Medical (Differing experiences of medicine and disease)
- Symbols (Their meaning and impact for one’s religion)
How does Psychology Contribute to OB
informs us of psychological mechanisms behind individual level performances/behavior in organizations such as leadership, job satisfaction
How does Social Psychology/Anthropology/Sociology Contribute to OB
informs us of mechanisms behind how the size of the collectives/groups of people function
Phenomena
fact/situation that is observed to exist or happen
How can we study OB to test and ensure its validity and practical relevance? (5)
Field Studies, Surveys, Lab Experiments, Case Studies, Meta-Analyses
Field Studies and example
collect primary (firsthand) data on site through unobtrusive observation
Example: if concerned with lighting and employee activity - one could go to an organization and observe productivity in different rooms with different lights
Surveys:
Collected primary data through questionnaires. Researchers do not need to be on-site (email/mailed/phone)
Lab Experiments:
In laboratories, everything is under the researchers control. When everything else is the same for each study participants, any pattern found in the answers of those participants can only be attributed to the experimental intervention that the experimenter is interested in testing.
Laboratories: Correlation
statistical measure/number that describes the size and direction of a relationship between two or more variables but does not attribute to causation
Laboratories: Causation
one event is the result of the occurrence of the other event etc a cause-and-effect
Case Studies:
Those interested studying a single event, individuals, or teams. Rather than generalizing conclusions, case studies seek to understand focal event, individual or team in much greater detail. Plethora of factors included
Meta-Analyses:
Analysis of analyses. Researchers analyze past findings on same topic to gain big picture of our current understanding. Use secondary data and conclusion more robust because sample sizes are larger (combine studies)
The Rigour (Thoroughness) of Organizational Behaviour: OB Looks at Consistencies….why?
Despite unique characteristics differentiating individuals, there are fundamental consistencies underlying behaviour of individuals
The Rigour (Thoroughness) of Organizational Behaviour: OB Looks at Consistencies
Determining consistencies (2)
- Figure out patterns of human behaviour and causes
- Using knowledge towards a greater/accurate understanding of human behaviour at work.
The Rigour (Thoroughness) of Organizational Behaviour: OB Look Beyond Common Sense:
Understand patterns theoretically and empirically…not just uncovering patterns.
The Rigour (Thoroughness) of Organizational Behaviour: OB Look Beyond Common Sense:
Determining Common Sense (2)
- Formulate theory that explains conceptual level why phenomenon happens and consequences
- Validate theory using combination of methodologies
The Rigour (Thoroughness) of Organizational Behaviour: OB has few Absolutes:
Few simple and universal principles in OB. Humans are complex so limit’s ability to make simple and accurate generalizations
The Rigour (Thoroughness) of Organizational Behaviour: OB takes Contingency Approach:
Consider behaviour within context of it occurring (Person-situation interaction)
Framework of Organizational Behaviour
Phenomena arise from individual/group/organizational level factors (Inputs). Through mediation of (Processes). Then influence important work (Outcomes).
Framework of Organizational Behaviour important notes (3)
- Categorization created to effectively organize diverse range of phenomenon that OB studies
- Factors on different levels can and often do influence each other
- Factors on different levels often jointly influence another factor.
