Chapter 

1
What Is Organizational
Behavior?

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 Class Agenda
What is organizational behavior?
Does it matter?
How do we “know” things about OB?

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 What Is Organizational Behavior? 1 of 2

Think of the single worst coworker you’ve ever had.

• What did he or she do that was so bad?
Think of the single best coworker you’ve ever had.
• What did he or she do that was so good?

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 What Is Organizational Behavior? 2 of 2

A field of study devoted to understanding, explaining,

and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviors of
individuals and groups in organizations

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 An Integrative Roadmap

Jump to Appendix 1 Long 
Description
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 Does OB Matter?
Do firms who do a good job managing OB concepts
become more profitable as a result?

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 Does OB Matter?
Figure 1-2 What Makes a Resource Valuable?

The resource-based view

of the firm

Jump to Appendix 2 long image 
description
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 Table 1-2 Survey Questions Designed to
Assess High-Performance Work Practices
Survey Questions about OB Practice Covered in Chapter
What is the proportion of the workforce whose jobs have been 
2
subjected to a formal job analysis?
What is the proportion of the workforce who are administered 
4
attitude surveys on a regular basis?
What is the proportion of the workforce who have access to 
company incentive plans, profit‐sharing plans, and/or gain‐sharing  6
plans?
What is the average number of hours of training received by a 
8, 10
typical employee over the last 12 months?
What is the proportion of the workforce who have access to a
7
formal grievance procedure and/or complaint resolution system?
What proportion of the workforce are administered an 
9, 10
employment test prior to hiring?
What is the proportion of the workforce whose performance 
6
appraisals are used to determine compensation?

Source: From M.A. Huselid. “The Impact of Human Resource  Management Practices on Turnover, 
Productivity, and Corporate Financial Performance.” Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, pp. 635‐72. 
Copyright © 1995. Reproduced with permission of Academy of Management via Copyright Clearance Center.
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 Table 1-3 The “100 Best Companies
to Work For” in 2015
1. Google 50. Goldman Sachs 81. Publix
2. Boston Consulting 51. American Express 82. Bright Horizons
3. Acuity 53. Marriott 83. TDIndustries
4. SAS 54. QuickTrip 85. Mars
5. Robert W. Baird 55. Whole Foods 86. Zappos
7. Wegman’s 63. KPMG 88. Cheesecake
9. Genentech 70. Cisco Factory

24. Twitter 73. Mayo Clinic 90. Adobe

27. Container Store 74. PWC 91. Capital One

32. St. Jude 78. Hyatt 93. Nordstrom

47. Four Seasons 79. Ernst & Young 95. Nationwide

49. Aflac 80. General Mills 97. Deloitte

98. Accenture

Source: From M. Moskowitz and R. Levering. “The 100 Best Companies to Work For.” Fortune, Mary 15, 2015.
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 So What’s So Hard?
The Rule of 1/8th
“One must bear in mind that 1/2 of organizations won’t
believe the connection between how they manage their
people and the profits they earn. 1/2 of those who do see
the connection will do what many organizations have
done—try to make a single change to solve their problems,
not realizing that the effective management of people
requires a more comprehensive and systematic approach.
Of the firms that make comprehensive changes, probably
only about 1/2 will persist with their practices long enough to
actually derive economic benefits.”

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
1 of 7

Where does the knowledge in this textbook come from?

Understanding that requires an understanding of how we
know things in general

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
2 of 7

How do we know about what causes:

• People to stay healthy?
• Children to grow up happy?
• Employees to be satisfied with their jobs?

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
3 of 7

Methods of Knowing
• Experience
• Intuition
• Authority
• Science

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 Figure 1-3 The Scientific Method

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 Scientific Interests

1.  I think being a scientist would be an interesting career path.
2.  Working as a scientist is something I could see myself enjoying.
3.  A scientific career path could be engaging, even if the work took a long time 
to finish.
4.  Working with other scientists to make important discoveries would offer 
meaning.
5.  Studying scientific knowledge to solve problems would be intrinsically 
satisfying.
Average Score: 15

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
4 of 7

Theory
A collection of assertions (both verbal and symbolic) that
specify how and why variables are related, as well as the
conditions in which they should (and should not) be related

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
5 of 7

In groups, build a theory similar to the one below, for each 
outcome.
• Job satisfaction
• Strain
• Motivation
• Trust in supervisor
Is OB Common Sense?

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
6 of 7

To test our theory, we gather data on the variables included

in our hypotheses.
We then use variants of the correlation coefficient to test
hypotheses, to see if they verify our theory.
The correlation is as follows:
Perfect positive relationship: 1
Perfect negative relationship: -1
• Strength of the correlation inferred from judging the
compactness of a scatterplot of the X-Y values
• More compact = stronger correlation
• Less compact = weaker correlation

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 Figure 1-4 Three Different Correlation Sizes
1 of 3

Jump to Appendix 3 long image 
description

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 Figure 1-4 Three Different Correlation Sizes
2 of 3

Jump to Appendix 4 long image 
description
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 Figure 1-4 Three Different Correlation Sizes
3 of 3

Jump to Appendix 5 long image 
description
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 The Correlation
1 of 2

How big is “big”?

• What’s the correlation between height and weight?
• Will the correlation between job satisfaction and job
performance be higher or lower?

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 The Correlation
2 of 2

Important disclaimer
• Correlation does not prove causation.
Proving causation requires:
• Correlation
• Temporal precedence
• Elimination of alternative explanations

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 How Do We Know Things about OB?
7 of 7

The correlations from multiple studies get averaged

together using meta-analysis.
Meta-analyses can then form the foundation for
evidence-based management—the use of scientific
findings to inform management practice.
Well-supported theories become helpful tools for
answering why questions, like:
• Why your best and worst coworkers act so differently
• Why you sometimes think, feel, and act a certain way

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 OB on Screen

Moneyball

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 Introspection

From A. Fenigstein, M.F. Scheir, and A.h. Buss, “Public and Private Self-
Consciousness: Assessment and Theory,” Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Average Score: 26 Psychology. Vol. 43. August 1975, pp. 522-27. Copyright 1975 by the American
Psychological Association. Adapted with permission. No further reproduction or
Jump to Appendix 6 long image description distribution is permitted without written permission from the American
©McGraw‐Hill Education. Psychological Association.
 Next Time
Chapter 2: Job Performance

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 Appendix

Appendix of Image Long Descriptions

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 Appendix 1 An Integrated Road Map
A summary graphic of the entire text, in which chapters
are grouped under the following five headings:
organizational mechanisms, group mechanisms,
individual characteristics, individual mechanisms, and
individual outcomes.

Return to Slide
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 Appendix 2 Figure 1-2 What Makes a
Resource Valuable?
In the resource-based view, a resource is valuable if it is
rare. A resource is also valuable when it is inimitable.
This includes the factors of its history, numerous small
decisions, and socially complex resources.

Return to slide
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 Appendix 3 Figure 1-4 Three Different
Correlation Sizes 1 of 3

A scatter plot is pictured with the vertical axis labeled

Job Performance and the horizontal axis labeled Social
Recognition Behaviors. On this graph, r equals 1.00. The
points plotted on the graph increase from left to right in a
diagonal and equidistant pattern. This panel shows a
perfect 1.0 correlation.

Return to slide
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 Appendix 4 Figure 1-4 Three Different
Correlation Sizes 2 of 3

A scatter plot is pictured with the vertical axis labeled

Job Performance and the horizontal axis labeled Social
Recognition Behaviors. On this graph, r equals .50. The
points plotted on the graph increase from left to right in a
diagonal pattern. There are multiple dots in each vertical
segment. With this panel, the trend in data is less
obvious that the panel with a perfect 1.0 correlation.

Return to slide
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 Appendix 5 Figure 1-4 Three Different
Correlation Sizes 3 of 3

A scatter plot is pictured with the vertical axis labeled

Job Performance and the horizontal axis labeled Social
Recognition Behaviors. On this graph, r equals .00. The
points plotted on the graph are randomly scattered
throughout. This panel shows no statistical relationship.

Return to slide
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 Appendix 6 Introspection
Respondents are asked to rate 10 statements using this scale: 0 extremely uncharacteristic of me; 1 somewhat
uncharacteristic of me; 2 neutral; 3 somewhat characteristic of me; 4 extremely characteristic of me. Note that
respondents are asked to invert the scale for bolded items, meaning 0 becomes 4, 1 becomes 3, 3 becomes 1,
and 4 becomes 0. Bolded items are indicated by the term “bold.”

1. I’m always trying to figure myself out.

2. Generally, I’m not very aware of myself.

3. I reflect about myself a lot.

4. I’m often the subject of my own daydreams.

5. I never scrutinize myself.

6. I’m generally attentive to my inner feelings.

7. I’m constantly examining my motives.

8. I sometimes have the feeling that I’m off somewhere watching myself.

9. I’m alert to changes in my mood.

10. I’m aware of the way my mind works when I work through a problem.

Return to slide
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