UNIVERSITY OF RIZAL SYSTEM

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UNIT I – INTRODUCTION

MODULE 1: OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

At the end of the module, the student is expected to be able to:

1. Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace;
2. Describe the manager’s functions, roles, and skills;
3. Define organizational behavior;
4. Show the value to OB of systematic study;
5. Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB;
6. Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB; and
7. Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB
concepts; and
8. Compare the three levels of analysis in the OB Model.

THE IMPORTANCE OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

It used to be that business school curricula emphasized the technical aspects

of management, focusing on economics, accounting, finance, and quantitative
techniques. Course work in human behavior and people skills received relatively less
attention. Over the past three decades, however, business faculty have come to
realize the role that understanding human behavior plays in determining a manager’s
effectiveness, and required courses on people skills have been added to many
curricula.
Developing managers’ interpersonal skills also helps organizations attract and
keep high-performing employees. Regardless of labor market conditions, outstanding
employees are always in short supply. A recent survey of hundreds of workplaces,
and more than 200,000 respondents, showed the social relationships among co
workers and supervisors were strongly related to overall job satisfaction. Positive
social relationships also were associated with lower stress at work and lower
intentions to quit. So having managers with good interpersonal skills is likely to make
the workplace more pleasant, which in turn makes it easier to hire and keep qualified
people. Creating a pleasant workplace also appears to make good economic sense.
Companies with reputations as good place to work have been found to generate
superior financial performance.
In today’s competitive and demanding workplace, managers can’t succeed on
their technical skills alone. They have to have good personal skills.

WHAT MANAGERS DO

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, which is 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.

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Management Functions

The four management functions are:

∙ Planning – a process that includes defining goals, establishing strategy, and
developing plans to coordinate activities.
∙ Organizing – determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how
the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to
be made.
∙ Leading – a function that includes motivating employees, directing others,
selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts. ∙
Controlling – monitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as
planned and correcting any significant deviations.

Management Roles

The table below shows the ten different, highly related roles – or sets of
behaviors of managers as identified by Henry Minztberg.

Table 1-1 Minztberg’s Managerial Roles

ROLE DESCRIPTION

Interpersonal

∙ Figurehead Symbolic head; required to perform a number of

routine duties of a legal or social nature

∙ Leader Responsible for the motivation and direction of

employees

∙ Liaison Maintains a network of outside contacts who provide

favors and information

Informational

∙ Monitor Receives a wide variety of information; serves as

nerve center of internal and external information of the
organization

∙ Disseminator Transmits information received from outsiders or from

other employees to members of the organization

∙ Spokesperson Transmits information to outsiders an organization’s

plans, policies, actions, and results; serves as expert
on organization’s industry

Decisional

∙ Entrepreneur Searches organization and its environment for

opportunities and initiates projects to bring about
change

∙ Disturbance Responsible for corrective action when organization

handler faces important, unexpected disturbances

∙ Resource Makes or approves significant organizational decisions

 allocator

∙ Negotiator Responsible for representing the organization at major

negotiations

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Management Skills

Researchers have identified a number of skills that differentiate effective from

ineffective managers. These are as follows:
∙ Technical Skills – the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. ∙
Human Skills – the ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people,
both individually and in groups.
∙ Conceptual Skills – the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex
situations.

Effective versus Successful Managerial Activities

Managers engage themselves in four managerial activities as follows: ∙

Traditional management – decision making, planning, and controlling. ∙
Communication – exchanging routine information and processing paperwork. ∙
Human resource management – motivating, disciplining, managing conflict,
staffing, and training.
∙ Networking – socializing, politicking, and interacting with outsiders.

Table 1-2 Allocation of Activities by Time

ACTIVITIES AVERAGE SUCCESSFUL EFFECTIVE

MANAGERS MANAGERS MANAGERS

Traditional 32% 13% 19%

management

Human resource 20% 11% 26%

management

Communication 29% 28% 44%

Networking 19% 48% 11%

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

One common thread runs through the functions, roles, skills, activities, and
approaches to management – each recognizes the paramount importance of
managing people, whether it is called “the leading function”, “interpersonal roles”,
“human skills” or “human resource management, communication, and networking
activities” – it is clear managers must develop their people skills to be effective and
successful. It has been emphasized earlier the case for the importance of people
skills, but the discipline on which it is based is called “people skills”, but the term that
is widely used to describe the discipline is organizational behavior.
Organizational Behavior (OB) is 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.

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COMPLEMENTING INTUITION WITH SYSTEMATIC STUDY

The systematic approach in this reference textbook for our course will uncover
important facts and relationships and provide a base from which to make more
accurate predictions of behavior. Underlying this systematic approach is the belief
that behavior is not random. Rather, we can identify fundamental consistencies
underlying the behavior of all individuals and modify them to reflect individual
differences.
These fundamental consistencies are very important because they allow
predictability. Behavior is generally predictable, and the systematic study of behavior
is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions. Systematic study is looking
at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions
based on scientific evidence.
Evidence-based management (EBM) complements systematic study by
basing of managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence. Systematic
study and EBM add to intuition, or those “gut feelings” about what makes others (and
ourselves) “tick”. Of course, the things you have come to believe in an unsystematic
ways are not necessarily incorrect. Relying on intuition is made worse because we
tend to overestimate the accuracy of what we think we know. We are not advising
that you throw your intuition, or all the business press, out the window, nor are we
arguing that research is always right. Researchers make mistakes too. What we are
advising is to use evidence as much as possible to inform your intuition and
experience. That is the promise of OB.

DISCIPLINES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE OB FIELD

The major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB are: ∙

Psychology – the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes
change the behavior of human sand other animals.
∙ Social Psychology – an area of psychology that blends concepts from
psychology and sociology and that focuses on the influence of people on one
another.
∙ Sociology – the study of people in relation to their social environment or
culture.
∙ Anthropology – the study of societies to learn about human beings and their
activities.
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Table 1-3 Major Contributions of the Different Disciplines in OB

BEHAVIORAL CONTRIBUTION UNIT OF OUTPUT
SCIENCE ANALYSIS

Psychology ∙ Learning Individual Study of OB

∙ Motivation
∙ Personality
∙ Emotions
∙ Perception
∙ Training
∙ Leadership
effectiveness
∙ Job satisfaction
∙ Individual
decision
making
∙ Performance
appraisal
∙ Attitude
measurement
∙ Employee
selection
∙ Work design
∙ Work stress

Social ∙ Behavioral Group

psychology change
∙ Attitude change
∙ Communication
∙ Group
processes
∙ Group decision
making
∙ Communication
∙ Power
∙ Conflict
∙ Intergroup
behavior

Sociology ∙ Communication Group

∙ Power
∙ Conflict
∙ Intergroup
behavior

∙ Formal Organization
organization system
theory
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∙ Organizational
technology
∙ Organizational
change
∙ Organizational
culture

Anthropology ∙ Comparative Group

values
∙ Comparative
attitudes
∙ Cross-cultural
analysis
∙ Organizational Organization
culture system
∙ Organizational
environment
∙ Power

FEW ABSOLUTES IN OB

Human beings are complex, and few, if any, simple and universal principles
explain organizational behavior. Because we are not alike, our ability to make simple,
accurate, and sweeping generalizations is limited. Two people often act very
differently in the same situation, and the same person’s behavior changes in different
situations. Not everyone is motivated by money, and people may behave differently
at a religious service than they do at a party.
That does not mean, of course, that we cannot offer reasonably accurate
explanations of human behavior or make valid predictions. It does mean that OB
concepts must reflect situational, or contingency, conditions. We can say x leads to y,
but only under conditions specified in z – the contingency variables – situational
factors: variables that moderate the relationship between two or more variables. The
science of OB was developed by applying general concepts to a particular situation,
person, or group. For example, OB scholars would avoid stating that everyone likes
complex and challenging work (the general concept). Why? Because not everyone
wants a challenging job. Some people prefer routine over varied, or simple over
complex. A job attractive to one person may not be to another; its appeal is
contingent on the person who holds it.
As you proceed in this course, you will encounter a wealth of research-based
theories about how people behave in organizations. But do not expect to find a lot of
straightforward cause-and-effect relationships. There are not many! Organizational
behavior theories mirror the subject matter with which they deal, and people are
complex and complicated.
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CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OB

The challenges and opportunities managers have in applying OB concepts are

as follows:
1. Responding to economic pressures
2. Responding to globalization
∙ Increased foreign assignments
∙ Working with people from different cultures
∙ Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-cost labor
3. Managing workforce diversity
∙ Workforce diversity – the concept that organizations are becoming more
heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and
inclusion of other diverse groups.
4. Improving customer service
5. Improving people skills
6. Stimulating innovation and change
7. Coping with “temporariness’
8. Working in networked organizations
9. Helping employees balance work-life conflicts
10.Creating a positive work environment
∙ Positive organizational scholarship – an area of OB research that concerns how
organizations develop human strength, foster vitality and resilience, and
unlock potential.
11.Improving ethical behavior
∙ Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices – situations in which individuals are
required to define right and wrong conduct
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OB Model

Below is a general model that defines the field of OB, stakes out its
parameters, and identifies inputs, processes, and outcomes. A model is an
abstraction of reality. A simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon.

Inputs – variables that lead to processes.

Processes – actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result
of inputs that lead to certain outcomes.
Outcomes – key factors that are affected by some other variables, and in this simple
OB Model the outcomes are as follows:
1. Individual Level
∙ Attitudes and Stress
∙ Task Performance – the combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing
your core job tasks.
∙ Citizenship Behavior – discretionary behavior that contributes to the
psychological and social environment of the workplace.
∙ Withdrawal Behavior – the set of actions employee take to separate themselves
from the organization.
2. Group Level
∙ Group Cohesion – the extent to which members of a group support and validate
one another while at work.
∙ Group functioning – the quantity and quality of a work group’s output.

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3. Organization Level
∙ Productivity – the combination of the effectiveness and efficiency of an
organization. Effectiveness is the degree to which an organization meets the
needs of its clientele or customers, while efficiency is the degree to which an
organization can achieve its ends at a low cost.
∙ Organization Survival is the degree to which an organization is able to exist and
grow over the long term.

REFERENCE

ROBBINS, STEPHEN P and JUDGE, TIMOTHY A., 15th Ed. Organizational

Behavior, Pearson Education Inc., Prentice Hall, 2013

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SAQ 1

Directions: Identify the following.

1. 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.
2. The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the
behavior of humans and other animals.
3. An area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology
and that focuses on the influence of people on one another.
4. The study of people in relation to their social environment or culture. 5.
The study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities. 6.
The ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
7. The ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both
individually and in groups.
8. The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations. 9. An
abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world
phenomenon.
10.key factors that are affected by some other variables

SAQ 2

Directions: Classify the following managerial roles as categorized into

INTERPERSONAL, INFORMATIONAL, and DECISIONAL.
1. Spokesperson
2. Negotiator
3. Entrepreneur
4. Monitor
5. Leader
6. Disseminator
7. Liaison
8. Disturbance Handler
9. Figurehead
10.Resource Allocator

ASAQ 1

1. Organizational Behavior
2. Psychology
3. Social Psychology
4. Sociology
5. Anthropology
6. Technical skills
7. Human skills
8. Conceptual skills
9. Model
10.Outcomes

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ASAQ 2

1. INFORMATIONAL
2. DECISIONAL
3. DECISIONAL
4. INFORMATIONAL
5. INTERPERSONAL
6. INFORMATIONAL
7. INTERPERSONAL
8. DECISIONAL
9. INTERPERSONAL
10.DECISIONAL

ACTIVITY 1

Select a company or organization that you are interested or familiar with and
describe/discuss how said company goes about performing the different managerial
functions. State the name of the company.
MANAGERIAL ACTIVITIES
FUNCTION

Planning

Organizing

Leading

Controlling

RUBRICS

Directions: Please refer to the RUBRICS as your guide in answering the activities.
CRITERIA EXCELLENT GOOD FAIR POOR

Accuracy All of the Most of the Some of the Few to none

answers are answers are answers are of the
correct correct correct answers are
correct

Completion All of the Most of the Some of the Student did

assigned assigned answers are not
work is work is correct accomplish
complete complete the assigned
work

Timeliness Assignment Assignment Assignment Assignment

was received was received was received was received
on the due one day late two days late 3 days late
date
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