Week 1 Intro to OB

Question 1

Organisational behaviour defined

Answer 1

–The study of what people think, feel and do in and around organisations

Question 2

Organisations defined

Answer 2

–Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose –Collective entities

–Collective sense of purpose

Question 3

Why study OB

Answer 3

• Satisfy the need to understand and predict •Helps us to test personal theories
• Influence behaviour—get things done
• OB improves an organisation’s financial health
• OB is for everyone

Question 4

Open System Perspective sees an effective organisations as able to

Answer 4

–Maintain a close ‘fit’ with changing conditions

–Transform inputs to outputs efficiently and flexibly

Question 5

Organsiational Effectiveness

Answer 5

A broad concept represented by several perspectives, including the organisation’s fit withthe external environment, the configuration of internal subsystems fo high performance and an emphasis on organistation learning and ability to satisfy the needsof the key stakeholders.

Question 6

What is considered to be the ultimate dependable variable in organisational behaviour?

Answer 6

Organisational Effectiveness

Question 7

Four Perspectives of Organisational Effectiveness

Answer 7

• Open systems perspective
• Organisational learning perspective
• High performance work practices perspective
• Stakeholder perspective

Question 8

Is a perspective which holds that organisations depend on external environment for resources, affect that environmet through their output and consist of internal subsystems that transform inputs into outputs

Answer 8

Open Systems

Question 9

Intellectual Capital

Answer 9

• Human Capital - Structural Capital - Relationship Capital

Question 10

Knowledge that people possess and generate

Answer 10

Human Capital

Question 11

Knowledge captured in systems and structures

Answer 11

Structural Capital

Question 12

Relationship Capital

Answer 12

Value derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

Question 13

The Human Capital Advantage comprises of •Employee _______, skills and abilities •Competitive _____ because: –Helps discover opportunities and minimise ________ in the external environment –Rare and difficult to imitate –Non-substitutable: not easily replaced by technology

Answer 13

knowledge, advantage, threats

Question 14

Organisational learning processors

Answer 14

Knowledge Acquisition knowledge Sharing knowledge Use knowledge Storage

Question 15

Knowledge Acquisition

Answer 15

Learning Scanning Grafting Experimenting

Question 16

Knowledge Sharing

Answer 16

Communication Training Info Systems Observation

Question 17

Knowledge Use

Answer 17

Sense Making Awareness Autonomy Empowerment

Question 18

Open Systems Perspective

Answer 18

•Organisations are complex systems that ‘live’ within (and depend upon) the external environment

Question 19

According to the ______ _______ perspective organsiations are effective when they maintain a good fit with their external environment.

Answer 19

Open Systems.

Question 20

Foundation for the other three organisational effectiveness perspectives

Answer 20

Open systems perspective

Question 21

Closed systems

Answer 21

operate without dependence on or interaction with a an external environment

Question 22

Describes a permeable relationship

Answer 22

Open Systems

Question 23

Stock

Answer 23

Intellectual capital

Question 24

organisation’s processes of knowledge acquisition, sharing, use and storage

Answer 24

Flow

Question 25

Flow

Answer 25

–organisation’s processes of knowledge acquisition, sharing, use and storage

Question 26

Competitive advantage

Answer 26

* Helps discover opportunities and minimise threats in the external environment * Rare and difficult to imitate * Non-substitutable: not easily replaced by technology

Question 27

Organisational Learning Perspective

Answer 27

An organisation’s capacity to acquire, share, use and store valuable knowledge •Need to consider both stock and flow of knowledge –Stock: intellectual capital –Flow: organisation’s processes of knowledge acquisition, sharing, use and storage

Question 28

A companys stock of knowledge comprised of 3 forms of capital including human capital, structural capital and relationship captial

Answer 28

Intellectual Capital

Question 29

The stock of knowledge, skills and abilities amongst employees that provides economic value to the organistaion.

Answer 29

Human Capital

Question 30

The Human Capital Avantage consits of _____ knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as providing _____ advantage.

Answer 30

employee, compettive

Question 31

Knowledge caprtured in Systems and Structures

Answer 31

Structural Captial

Question 32

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_: Value derived from Satisfied customes, realiable suppliers, etc

Answer 32

Relationship Capital

Question 33

A perspective which holds that organisational effectiveness depends on the organisations capacity to acquire, share, use and store valuable knowledge.

Answer 33

Organisational Learnings Perspective.

Question 34

Name the four Organisational Learning Processes

Answer 34

* Knowledge Sharing * Knowledge Use * Knowledge Storage * Knowledge Aquistition

Question 35

Knowledge Sharing

Answer 35

* Communication * Training * Information systems * Observation

Question 36

Knowledge use

Answer 36

* Knowledge awareness * Sense making * Autonomy * Empowerment

Question 37

Knowledge Storage

Answer 37

* Human memory * Documentation * Practices and habits * Databases

Question 38

Knowledge Aquisition

Answer 38

* Individual learning * Environment scanning * Grafting * Experimentation

Question 39

\_\_\_\_\_ \_\_\_\_\_is the capacity to recognise the value of new information, _____ it and use it for \_\_\_\_\_-\_\_\_\_ activities.

Answer 39

Absorbitive Capacity, assimilate, value-added.

Question 40

The storage and preservation of interlectual capital

Answer 40

Organisational memory

Question 41

HPWP is

Answer 41

High-performance work practice - Workplace practices that leverage the potential of human capital

Question 42

A perspective which holds that effective organisations incorporate several workplace practices that leverage the potential of human capital.

Answer 42

HPWP

Question 43

* Employee involvement * Job autonomy * Employee competence (training, selection) * Reward performance and competencies

Answer 43

Four HPWPs

Question 44

Stakeholder Perspective

Answer 44

•Personalises the open systems perspective

Question 45

Individuals, Organisations and other entities who affect , or are affected by, the organisation's objectives and actions.

Answer 45

Stakeholders

Question 46

Organisation's comprise of

Answer 46

* Customers * Shareholders * Labour unions * Joint venture partners * Suppliers * Communities and charities * Special interest groups * Governments * Employees *

Question 47

Values

Answer 47

Relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person's preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations.

Question 48

The study of the moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and whether outcomes are good or bad.

Answer 48

Ethics

Question 49

CSR

Answer 49

Corporate social responisibility

Question 50

Organisational activites intended to benefit society and the environmentbeyond the comny's immediate financial interests or legal obligations.

Answer 50

Corporate Socisl responsibility

Question 51

–Economy, society environment

Answer 51

•Triple bottom line

Question 52

Effects of globalisation on organisations

Answer 52

–Cost efficiencies, innovation, knowledge –Increasing diversity –Increasing competitive pressures, intensification

Question 53

Globalisation

Answer 53

* Economic, social and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world * Improved communication and transportation systems have increased globalisation

Question 54

Which perspective emphasises adaptiveness and relates directly to leadership and organisational change

Question 55

The Open Systems Perspective's transformation process relates to ____ \_\_\_\_\_, ______ \_\_\_\_\_\_ and relations between subunits in terms of _____ and power and \_\_\_\_\_

Question 56

Which perspective highlights the importance of communication, creativity, employee involvement and topics regarding decision making?

Question 57

Which perspective directly cats light on team dynamics, employee motivation, rewards and most individual-level topics?

Question 58

Which perspective has direct relevance to values and ethics, organisational culture and decision making?

Answer 58

The Stake Holder Approach.

Question 59

•Improved _____ and transportation systems have increased \_\_\_\_\_

Answer 59

communication, globalisation

Question 60

The observable demographic or physiological diferences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age and physical disabilities

Question 61

Differences in the psychological characteristics of employess, including personalities, beliefs, values and attitudes.

Answer 61

Deep-level diversity.

Question 62

The degree to whcih a person minimises conflict between work and non-work demands

Answer 62

Work-life balance

Question 63

Work performed away from the traditional physical workplace by means of information technology.

Answer 63

Virtual work.

Question 64

What are the 4 Organisational Behaviour Anchors

Answer 64

Systematic Research anchor Multidisciplinary Anchor Contingency Anchor Multiple levels of analysis anchor

Question 65

Systematic research anchor states that OB should study organsiations using

Answer 65

systematic research methods.

Question 66

The Multidiciplinary anchor suggests that OB should import knowledge from

Answer 66

other disciplines and not just create its own knowledge

Question 67

Contingency anchor states that OB theory should recognis that

Answer 67

effects of actions often vary with the situation.

Question 68

Multiple levels of analysis anchor: Ob events should be understood from three levels of analysis -

Answer 68

individual, team and organisation

Question 69

The practice of making decisions and taking actions based on research evidence

Answer 69

evidence-based management.