a. What is organizational behavior?

Why is it important for managers and aspiring

managers to study OB using?

Organizational behavior is the study of how people interact in an organization and how that can affect
productivity.

It’s very important for managers or aspiring managers to study OB as this will provide a better working
environment to the employees and understanding human behavior in organizations, they will be able to
provide this context for effective work.

b. “Behavior is generally predictable, so there is no need to study organizational behavior

formally.” What is your view of this statement?

The approach of predicting others behavior can lead to erroneous predictions. In addition human behavior
may appear to be predictable, but it is highly complex and individualized.

Studying Organization Behavior is beneficial in learning how an organization structure and culture affect
employee’s productivity and behavior.

c. What makes an organization an organization? What are the defining characteristics?

An organization is a group of people who have the same purpose such as a club, company or government
department. The defining characteristics of the organizations are such as;
1. Division of Work:

Organization helps in dividing the work into related activities so that they are assigned to different

individuals.

2. Co-Ordination:

Co-ordination of various activities is as essential as their division. It helps in integrating and harmonizing

various activities. Co-ordination also avoids duplications and delays. In fact, various functions in an

organization depend upon one another and the performance of one influences the other. Unless all of

them are properly coordinated, the performance of all segments is adversely affected.

3.  Common Objectives:

The organization has a goal to achieve and that means that all the employees regardless of the work they

do at the end of the day they have common objective to achieve. This will help in their

4.  Co-operative Relationship:

An organisation creates co-operative relationship among various members of the group. An organisation

cannot be constituted by one person. It requires at least two or more persons. Organisation is a system
which helps in creating meaningful relationship among persons. The relationship should be both vertical

and horizontal among members of various departments. The structure should be designed that it

motivates people to perform their part of work together.

5. Well-Defined Authority-Responsibility Relationships:

The organization has different positions that are arranged from the top with well-defined authority and

responsibility this also defines the lines of communications and pattern of relationship.

d. With examples, describe how the changes in the workplace that are affecting organization on
individuals, group and organizational systems.

1. Strategic change
Organizations implement strategic change when they want to respond to opportunities, threats or they simply
want increase their revenue.

2. . People-centric organizational change

While all changes affect people, people-centric types of organizational change include instituting new
parental leave policies or bringing in new hires. When implementing a people-centric change, the
leadership must bear in mind that employees will naturally resist change. 

3. Changes to roles and responsibilities

Job roles can change and employees will require additional training and this may cause a change on
routines. So it’s important to have a strategy for the change implementation and communicate effectively
to the team

4. Technological change
Technology keeps evolving and as an organization they should position embrace this by been up to date
on the current systems as these will be beneficial to the business. If the change is not communicated well
this can lead to resistance and frustrates employees.

For example when you are introducing a new technology it’s essential to inform the employees why it’s
necessary and why it’s better than the previous solution. You should also share a plan on how you are
going to transition.

5. Unplanned change
This change occurs unexpectedly and it’s very hard for organizations to predict such changes.

Currently, we are recovering from a pandemic. Most organizations didn’t have the work from home option
and this required efficient management skills to draft a well-defined strategy that will specify purpose and
direction you would want the change to follow.

6. Remedial change
This change usually occurs when there is a problem that has been identified and a solution is required.
For example, customers have been complaining about been put on hold for longer period when they call
the call center, it will be important for the organization to come up with an effective communication
strategy that will address the issues
 
e. What is human capital? Be specific.

Human capital is a crucial resource in an organization such as skills, knowledge, and general
attributes that employees possess which helps accomplish goals and working with others.

 
f. How does human capital provide the basis for competitive advantage?

When you have the right people with the skills and talent the employees will be capable of producing the
best work that supports the organization purpose and goals. Employees are considered to be a
competitive advantage because of their experiences and knowledge about the company. Competitive
advantage based on talented human capital allows organizations to be able to seize new
opportunities and achieve permanence and future continuity 

 
g. What are the five characteristics of high-involvement management? What evidence exists to
support the effectiveness of this approach?

The five characteristics are:

1. Selective hiring- the decision of choosing the right people
2. Extensive training- Ensuring the employees have knowledge to perform basic, innovative and
work processes
3. Decision power- As a high involvement manager, it’s important to provide the employees make
some decisions on their own
4. Information sharing- Ensure that employees are properly informed this will help in making
effective decisions.
5. Incentive compensation- It’s also very important as high involvement management to recognize
and reward employees when they perform well and have exemplary results.
Researchers, have noted that high-involvement work methods can have impressive results because
employees have good morale and that means the turnover will reduce because they feel appreciated
and to the organization there will be a financial achievement.