The Field of

Organizational
Behavior
Chapter 1

Learning Objectives
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.

6.

Define the concepts of organization and organizational

behavior (OB).
Describe the field of organizational behaviors
commitment to the scientific method and the three levels
of analysis it uses.
Trace the historical developments and schools of thought
leading up to the field of organizational behavior today.
Identify the fundamental assumptions of the field of
organizational behavior.
Describe how the field of OB today is being shaped by the
global economy, increasing racial and ethnic diversity in
the workforce, and advances in technology.
Explain how rising expectations about quality and socially
responsible behavior have influenced the field of OB.
Copyright 2003, Prentice Hall

What is an Organization?
A structured social system consisting of
groups and individuals working together
to meet some agreed-upon objectives.

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Organizational Behavior
The field that seeks increased knowledge
of all aspects of behavior in organizational
settings through the use of the scientific
method.
Characteristics of the field:
OB applies the scientific method to practical managerial
problems.
OB focuses on three levels of analysis.
OB is multidisciplinary in nature.
OB seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and
the quality of life at work.

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Practical Managerial
Problems
How can goals be set to enhance peoples job
performance?
How may jobs be designed so as to enhance
employees feelings of satisfaction?
Under what conditions do individuals make better
decisions than groups?
What can be done to improve the quality of
organizational communication?
What steps can be taken to alleviate work-related
stress?
How can leaders enhance the effectiveness of
their teams?

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Levels of Analysis in OB

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Multidisciplinary Roots

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Theory X vs. Theory Y

Theory X

Theory Y

A traditional
philosophy of
management
suggesting that
most people are
lazy and
irresponsible and
will work hard only
when forced to do
so.

A philosophy of
management
suggesting that
under the right
circumstances
people are fully
capable of working
productively and
accepting
responsibility for
their work.

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Why is OB Important?
Companies whose managers accurately appraise the work of
their subordinates enjoy lower costs and higher productivity.
People who are satisfied with the way they are treated on their
jobs are more pleasant to work with and less likely to quit.
People who are trained to work together tend to be happier and
more productive.
Employees who believe they have been treated unfairly are more
likely to steal and reject the policies of their organizations.
People who are mistreated by their supervisors have more
mental and physical illnesses than those who are treated with
kindness, dignity, and respect.
Organizations that offer good employee benefits and have
friendly conditions are more profitable than those that are less
people oriented.

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Fundamental Assumptions
OB recognizes the dynamic nature of
organizations.
Open Systems:
Systems Self-sustaining systems that
transform input from the external environment into
output, which the system then returns to the
environment.

OB assumes there is no one best approach

Contingency Approach:
Approach A perspective suggesting
that organizational behavior is affected by a large
number of interacting factors. How someone will
behave is said to be contingent upon many
different variables at once.

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The Open Systems Model

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11

The History of OB
The

Early Days:
Scientific Management
and the Hawthorne
Studies
Classical Organizational
Theory
Late Twentieth Century:
Organizational Behavior
as a Social Science
OB Today: The Infotech
Age
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12

The Early Days

Scientific Management:
Management An early approach
to management and organizational
behavior emphasizing the importance of
designing jobs as efficiently as possible.
Human Relations Movement:
Movement A
perspective on organizational behavior
that rejects the primarily economic
orientation of scientific management and
recognizes, instead, the importance of
social processes and work settings.
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13

Classical Organizational
Theory
An early approach to the study of management
that focused on the most efficient way of
structuring organizations.
Division of Labor:
Labor The practice of dividing
work into specialized tasks that enable people
to specialize in what they do best.
Bureaucracy:
Bureaucracy An organizational design
developed by Max Weber that attempts to make
organizations operate efficiently by having a
clear hierarchy of authority in which people are
required to perform well-defined jobs.
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14

Characteristics of an Ideal
Bureaucracy

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15

Prominent Trends
The

rise of global
businesses with
culturally diverse
workforces.
Rapid advances in
technology.
The rising
expectations of
people in general.
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16

Globalization
The

process of interconnecting the

worlds people with respect to the
cultural, economic, political,
technological, and environmental
aspects of their lives.
Multinational Enterprises:
Enterprises
Organizations that have significant
operations spread throughout
various nations but are
headquartered in a single country.
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17

Working Abroad

Expatriates:
Expatriates People who are citizens of one
country but who are living and working in another
country.
Culture:
Culture The set of values, customs, and beliefs
that people have in common with other members
of a social unit (e.g., a nation).
Culture shock:
shock The tendency for people to
become confused and disoriented as they attempt
to adjust to a new culture.
Repatriation:
Repatriation The process of readjusting to ones
own culture after spending time away from it.
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18

Working Abroad

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Management Perspectives

Convergence Hypothesis:
Hypothesis A biased
approach to the study of management,
which assumes that principles of good
management are universal, and that ones
that work well in the United States will
apply equally well in other nations.
Divergence Hypothesis:
Hypothesis The approach to
the study of management that recognizes
that knowing how to manage most
effectively requires clear understanding of
the culture in which people work.
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20

Shifting Demographics
More

women are in
the workforce than
ever before.
Racial and ethnic
diversity is reality.
People are living
and working
longer than ever
before.
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Shifting Demographics

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Responding to Changes in
Technology

Creating Leaner Organizations

Downsizing/Rightsizing:
Downsizing/Rightsizing The process of adjusting the number
of employees needed to work in newly designed
organizations.
Outsourcing:
Outsourcing The process of eliminating those parts of
organizations that focus on noncore sectors of the business
and hiring outside firms to perform these functions instead.

Creating Virtual Organizations

Highly flexible, temporary organizations formed by a group of
companies that join forces to exploit a specific opportunity.

Increasing the Use of Telecommuting

The practice of using communications technology so as to
enable work to be performed from remote locations.
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23

Responding to Changes in
Expectations

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Increasing
Flexibility in
Response to
Employees Needs

The Quality
Revolution

Corporate Social
Responsibility
24

Increasing Flexibility
Flextime Programs:
Programs Policies that give employees some
discretion over when they can arrive and leave work, thereby
making it easier to adapt their work schedules to the
demands of their personal lives.
The Contingent Workforce:
Workforce People hired by organizations
temporarily to work as needed for finite periods of time.
Compressed Workweeks:
Workweeks The practice of working fewer
days each week but longer hours each day.
Job Sharing:
Sharing A form of regular part-time work in which pairs
of employees assume the duties of a single job, splitting its
responsibilities, salary, and benefits in proportion to the time
worked.
Voluntary Reduced Work Time Programs:
Programs Programs that
allow employees to reduce the amount of time they work by
a certain amount, with a proportional reduction in pay.

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The Quality Revolution

Total Quality Management:

Management An organizational
strategy of commitment to improving customer
satisfaction by developing techniques to carefully
manage output quality.
Benchmarking:
Benchmarking The process of comparing ones
own products or services with the best from
others.
Malcolm Baldridge Quality Award:
Award An award
given annually to American companies that
practice effective quality management and make
significant improvements in the quality of their
goods and services.
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Corporate Social
Responsibility
Business decision making
linked to ethical values,
compliance with legal
requirements, and respect
for individuals, the
community at large, and
the environment. It
involves operating a
business in a manner that
meets or exceeds the
ethical, legal, and public
expectations that society
has of business

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Ethics in Organizations
Good ethics is good business
Improved financial performance
Reduced operating costs
Enhanced corporate reputation
Increased ability to attract and retain employees

Code of Ethics:
Ethics A document describing what an
organization stands for and the general rules of conduct it
expects of its employees.
Ethics Officers:
Officers Individuals (usually at the vice
presidential level) who oversee the ethics of a companys
operations.
Ethics Audit:
Audit The process of actively investigating and
documenting incidents of dubious ethical value within a
company.

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Ethical Guidelines
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Does the behavior

violate the obvious
shall nots?
Will anyone get hurt?
What if you did it 100
times?
How would you feel if
someone did it to you?
Whats your gut
feeling?
Would the behavior
pass the front page
test?

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