McShane/Von Glinow M:OB 3e

1
Introduction
to the Field of
Organizational Behavior

© 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved 1

 The Field of Organizational Behavior
Organizational behavior (OB) – the study of what
people think, feel, and do in and around organizations
Organizations -- groups of people who work
interdependently toward some purpose
Collective entities – organized interaction
Collective sense of purpose

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 Historical Foundations of Organizational
Behavior
OB emerged as a distinct field around the early 1940s
Organizations have been studied longer
Plato -- leadership
Confucius – ethics, leadership
Elton Mayo -- “human relations” school

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 Why Study OB?
Helps us make sense of and predict our world
Question personal beliefs/assumptions
Adopt more accurate models of workplace behavior

Knowledge/tools to work with others

Organizational behavior is for everyone
Helps everyone, not just managers

OB and the bottom Line

OB practices affect organization’s survival and success

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 Globalization
Economic, social, cultural
connectivity with people in other
parts of the world
Effects of globalization on
organizations
Larger markets, lower costs, more
innovation
Increasing diversity
Increasing work intensification, less
work-life balance, requires global
mindset

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 Increasing Workforce Diversity
Surface-level diversity – demographic
and physiological differences

Deep-level diversity – different

beliefs, values, personalities, etc.

Opportunities/challenges
Better knowledge, decisions,
representation, financial returns
Challenges of team development,
conflict
Surface-level diversity is an ethical
imperative

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 Emerging Employment Relationships
Work/life balance -- Minimizing conflict between
work and nonwork demands
Virtual work (telework) – Using technology to
perform job away from traditional workplace
Potential benefits
 attracts applicants, better work-life balance, higher productivity, lower
work costs to employees, benefits environment
Potential limitations
 Social isolation, reduced promotion opportunities

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Organizational Behavior Anchors
Systematic research anchor
OB knowledge is built on systematic research
Evidence-based management – rely on research
evidence, not fads, untested assumptions
Several reasons why managers follow fads

Multidisciplinary anchor
Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines

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Organizational Behavior Anchors
Contingency anchor
A particular action may have different consequences
in different situations
Need to diagnose the situation and select best strategy
under those conditions

Multiple levels of analysis anchor

Individual, team, organizational level of analysis
OB topics usually relevant at all three levels of
analysis

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Organizational Effectiveness
The ultimate dependent variable in OB

Old definition– achieving stated goals

Problem with goal attainment definition

Could set easy goals
Company might choose wrong goals

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Four Perspectives of
Organizational Effectiveness

Open Systems Perspective

Organizational Learning Perspective

High-Performance WP Perspective

Stakeholder Perspective

NOTE: Need to consider all four perspectives when assessing a

company’s effectiveness

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Open Systems Perspective

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Open Systems and Organizational
“Fit”
Organizational “fit”
Firm’s inputs, processes, and outputs are aligned with external
environment
Maintain good fit by:
Changing products/services or work processes
Managing external environment (e.g. marketing)
Moving to a more sustainable environment

Subsystem effectiveness
Efficient transformation of inputs to outputs
Adaptability – responsive to changing environment

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Organizational Learning Perspective
An organization’s capacity to acquire, share, use, and store
valuable knowledge

Consider both stock and flow of knowledge

Stock: intellectual capital
Flow: org learning processes
of acquisition, sharing, use,
and storage

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Intellectual Capital

Human Knowledge that people possess and

Capital generate

Structural Knowledge embedded in systems

Capital and structures

Relationship Value derived from relationships with

Capital customers, suppliers, etc.

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Organizational Learning Processes

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High-Performance Work Practices
Workplace practices that leverage the potential of
human capital

Four HPWPs (likely others)

1. Employee involvement
2. Job autonomy
3. Develop competencies (training, selection)
4. Performance-based rewards

Best when“bundled” together

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 How HPWPs Improve Effectiveness
Develops employee skills and knowledge (human capital)
Human capital improves employee adaptability
Strengthens employee motivation and positive attitudes

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 Stakeholder Perspective
Stakeholders: entities who affect or are affected by the
firm’s objectives and actions

Personalizes the open systems perspective

Challenges with stakeholder perspective:

Stakeholders have conflicting interests
Firms have limited resources to satisfy all stakeholder needs

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 Stakeholders: Values and Ethics
Values and ethics prioritize stakeholder interests
Values
Stable, evaluative beliefs, guide preferences for outcomes or
courses of action in various situations
Ethics
Moral principles/values, determine whether actions are
right/wrong and outcomes are good or bad

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 Stakeholders and CSR
Stakeholder perspective includes corporate social responsibility
(CSR)
Benefit society/environment beyond firm’s immediate
financial interests or legal obligations
Firm’s contract with society

Triple bottom line

Economy, society, environment

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Integrative Model
of OB

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 McShane/Von Glinow M:OB 3e

1
Introduction
to the Field of
Organizational Behavior

© 2016 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved 23