organizational behavior

stephen p. robbins
 Enter Organizational Behavior
Organizational behavior (OB)
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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Replacing Intuition with Systematic
Study
Intuition
A feeling not necessarily supported by research.

Systematic study
Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute
causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based
on scientific evidence.
Provides a means to predict behaviors.
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 OB
Organizational behavior (OB)
It is an applied behavioral
science built from contributions
from various behavioral
disciplines
 OUTPUT

OB DISCIPLINE

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE CONTRIBUTION UNIT OF ANALYSIS

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Contributing Disciplines to the OB
Field
Psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes
change the behavior of humans and other animals.-focuses on
individuals

EEXXHHI IBBI ITT 1–3

1–3
(cont’d)
(cont’d)
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Contributing Disciplines to the OB
Field (cont’d)
Sociology
The study of people in relation to social environment and culture

EEXXHHI IBBI ITT 1–3

1–3
(cont’d)
(cont’d)
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Contributing Disciplines to the OB
Field (cont’d)
Social Psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from psychology
and sociology and that focuses on the influence of people on one
another.

EEXXHHI IBBI ITT 1–3

1–3
(cont’d)
(cont’d)
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Contributing Disciplines to the OB
Field (cont’d)
Anthropology
The study of societies to learn about human beings and their
activities.

EEXXHHI IBBI ITT 1–3

1–3
(cont’d)
(cont’d)
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Contributing Disciplines to the OB
Field (cont’d)
Political Science
The study of the behavior of individuals and groups
within a political environment.

EEXXHHI IBBI ITT 1–3

1–3
(cont’d)
(cont’d)
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 Challenges and Opportunities for OB
• Responding to Globalization
– Increased foreign assignments
– Working with people from different cultures
– Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-
cost labor
• Managing Workforce Diversity
– Embracing diversity: socio economic, ethnic&linguistic
– SC/ST, Ex defense, disabled persons,gender
issues,age,temporary/contractual workers

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 Challenges and Opportunities for OB
(cont’d)
• Improving Quality and Productivity
– Quality management (QM)
– Process reengineering
• Responding to the Labor Shortage
– Changing work force demographics
– Fewer skilled laborers
– Early retirements and older workers
• Improving Customer Service
– Increased expectation of service quality
– Customer-responsive cultures

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 Challenges and Opportunity for OB
(cont’d)
• Improving People Skills
• Empowering People
• Stimulating Innovation and Change
• Coping with “Temporariness”:task changes, jobs
redesign,etc
• Working in Networked Organizations
• Helping Employees Balance Work/Life Conflicts
• Improving Ethical Behavior:code of
ethics,seminars,workshops, training

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 Basic OB
Model,
Stage II

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Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles

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Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles (cont’d)

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Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles (cont’d)

Source: Adapted from The Nature of Managerial Work by H. Mintzberg. Copyright © 1973 by H.
EEXXHHI IBBI ITT 1–1
1–1
Mintzberg. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education.
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(cont’d)
1–17
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 Management Skills
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.

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