W1: What is OB?

Question 1

Why are interpersonal skills important?

Answer 1

1. FINANCIAL: ‘Good places to work’ have better financial performance.
2. JOB SATISFACTION: Lower turnover of quality employees and higher quality applications for recruitment, because of higher job satisfaction and less stress.
3. CSR: It fosters social responsibility awareness.

Question 2

Describe the manager’s functions, roles, and skills

Answer 2

Managers get things done through other people. They make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals. Managers do their work in an organization.
- Planning 
- Organizing 
- Leading 
- Controlling
(PLOC)

Question 3

What is an organization?

Answer 3

A 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.

Question 4

What is a manager’s role?

Answer 4

1. Interpersonal
   - Figurehead
   - Leader
   - Liaison
2. Informational
   - Monitor
   - Disseminator
   - Spokesperson
3. Decisional
   - Entrepreneural
   - Disturbance handler
   - Resource allocator
   - Negotiator

Question 5

What skills do managers need?

Answer 5

1. Technical skills: the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise
2. Human skills: the ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people
3. Conceptual skills: – the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations

Question 6

What is organizational behaviour?

Answer 6

a 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 organization’s effectiveness.

Question 7

Show the value to OB of systematic study.

Answer 7

Systematic Study of Behaviour: Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence.

1. Evidence-Based Management (EBM)
   –Complements systematic study.
   –Argues for managers to make decisions based on evidence.
2. Intuition–Systematic study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut feelings” about “why I do what I do” and “what makes others tick.”–If we make all decisions with intuition or gut instinct, we’re likely working with incomplete information.

Question 8

Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB

Answer 8

Contingency variables: situational factors are variables that moderate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables

Question 9

What are the 3 levels of an OB model?

Answer 9

Individual
Group
Org

Inputs
Processes
Outputs

Question 10

What are some challenges and opportunities for Organizational Behaviour?

Answer 10

1. Economic Pressures
2. Globalization
3. Managing Workforce Diversity
4. Improving Customer Service
5. Improving People Skills
6. Stimulating Innovation and Change
7. Coping with “Temporariness”
8. Working in Networked Organizations
9. Balancing Work-Life Conflicts
10. Creating Positive Work Environment
11. Improving Ethical Behaviour