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Introduction to Organizational Behavior

Copyright ©2012 Pearson Education

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

1. Define organizational behavior (OB).

2. Explain the value to OB of systematic study.
3. Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that
contribute to OB.
4. Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.
5. Identify the challenges and opportunities managers have in
applying OB concepts.
6. Identify the three levels of analysis in OB.

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 Why people study OB?
❑ The reason Organizational Behavior studies are uniquely
useful for succeeding as a leader of a large business (or
other organization).

❑ OB teaches you what makes people make decisions, why

employees are not motivated to do what you want them
to do and why people are productive or not productive.
OB draws heavily from behavioral and social
sciences, most importantly from psychology
❑ OB helps to learn about thyself and how to deal with others
❑ Organizational Behavior is a way of thinking.
❑ Organizational Behavior is multidisciplinary and it helps us multiple
ways.
❑ There is a distinctly humanistic orientation with OB.
❑ The field of organizational behavior is performance oriented.
❑ Organizational Behavior satisfies the need to understand and predict.
❑ It helps us to test personal theories.
❑ OB helps the managers to understand the basis of motivation and what
he should do to motivate his subordinates.
❑ OB helps to maintain cordial industrial relations which help to increase
the overall productivity of the industry.
❑ The subject of organizational behavior is useful in the field of marketing.
The Field of Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior studies the influence that individuals,
groups and structure have on behavior within organizations.

Its chief goal is to apply that knowledge toward improving an

organization’s effectiveness.

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 Focal Points of OB

• Jobs
• Work
• Absenteeism
• Employment turnover
• Productivity
• Human performance
• Management

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Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study

◻ Intuition: your “gut feeling” explanation of behavior.

◻ Systematic study improves ability to accurately predict behavior.
Assumes behavior is not random.
Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior.
These can be identified and modified to reflect individual differences.

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 Systematic Study

• Examines relationships.
• Attempts to attribute causes and effects.
• Bases conclusions on scientific evidence:
• On data gathered under controlled conditions.
• Data is measured and interpreted in a reasonably rigorous
manner.

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Evidence-Based Management

• Complements systematic study.

• Bases decisions on the best available
scientific evidence.
• Forces managers to become more
scientific in their thinking.

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Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

Micro:
The
Individual

Macro:
Groups &
Organizations

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 Few Absolutes in OB

◻ Impossible to
make simple and
accurate
generalizations
◻ Human beings
are complex and
diverse
◻ OB concepts
must reflect
situational
conditions:
contingency
variables

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Challenges and Opportunities for OB

◻ Responding to Economic Pressures

◻ Responding to Globalization
◻ Managing Workplace Diversity
◻ Improving Customer Service
◻ Improving People Skills
◻ Stimulating Innovation and Change
◻ Coping with “Temporariness”
◻ Working in Networked Organizations
◻ Helping Employees with Work-Life Conflicts
◻ Improving Ethical Behavior
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Responding to Economic Pressures

• Effective management is especially important during tough economic

times.
• Employees look to their managers to provide security during the
instability of a recession.

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Responding to Globalization

•Increased foreign assignments

•Differing needs and aspirations in
workforce
•Working with people from different
cultures
•Domestic motivational techniques and
managerial styles may not work
•Overseeing movement of jobs to
countries with low-cost labor

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 Managing Workforce Diversity

Workforce diversity:
organizations are
becoming a more
heterogeneous mix of
people in terms of gender,
age, race, ethnicity, and
sexual orientation

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Diversity Implications

“Managers have to shift their

philosophy from treating
everyone alike to recognizing
differences and responding to
those differences in ways that
ensure employee retention and
greater productivity while, at the
same time, not discriminating.”

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 Improving Customer Service & People Skills

◻ The majority of
employees in developed
nations work in service
jobs and they must know
how to please their
customers.
◻ People skills are essential
to succeed in today’s
organizations.

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 Stimulating Innovation and Change

◻ Flexibility
◻ Quality Improvement
◻ Staying Competitive

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 Temporariness

◻ Jobs are constantly changing

◻ Skills need to be updated for workers
to stay on target
◻ Workers need to be able to deal with
change
◻ Employees need to be able to cope
with flexibility, spontaneity and
unpredictability

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 Working in Networked Organizations

◻ Managers must adapt

their skills and
communication styles to
succeed in an online
environment

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Helping Employees handle work-life conflict

The line between work and

non work has blurred and
managers are increasingly
dealing with conflicts that
arise between work and life
away from work.

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 Thinking Positive

• Creating a positive work environment can be a competitive advantage

• Positive Organizational Scholarship (Positive OB):
• Examines how organizations develop human strengths, foster vitality and
resilience, and unlock potential.
• Focus is on employee strengths, not their weaknesses.

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 Improving Ethical Behavior
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• Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices

• Unethical practices – take bribes…

• Code of ethics
• Seminars, workshops and training programs

• Fair treatment of employees

• Ethically healthy climate
• Promote a strong ethical mission
Three Levels of OB Analysis

Chapters 14 - 16

Chapters 8 - 13

Chapters 2 - 7
Plan of the
Book

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 Implications for Managers

•OB helps with:

•Insights to improve people skills
•Valuing of workforce diversity
•Empowering people and creating a
positive work environment
•Dealing with change in the workplace
•Coping in a world of temporariness
•Creating an ethically healthy work
environment

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 Keep in Mind…

• OB’s goal is to understand and predict human behavior in organizations.

• Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior.
• It is more important than ever to learn OB concepts.
• Both managers and employees must learn to cope with temporariness.

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Summary

1. Defined Organizational Behavior (OB).

2. Show the value to OB of systematic study.
3. Identified the major behavioral science disciplines that
contribute to OB.
4. Demonstrated how few absolutes apply in OB.
5. Identified the major challenges and opportunities
managers have in applying OB concepts.
6. Identified the three levels of analysis in OB.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United
States of America.
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Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 1-1
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 1-2
 Organizational Behavior

Diversity in Organizations

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-3

 Chapter 2 Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
• Describe the two major forms of workforce diversity
• Identify the key biographical characteristics and describe how they are relevant to OB
• Recognize stereotypes and understand how they function in organizational settings
• Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB
• Contrast intellectual from physical ability
• Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-4

 Describe the Two Major Forms
LO 1
of Workforce Diversity

Diversity Management

Surface-Level Diversity

Deep-Level Diversity

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-5

 Benefits of Diversity in Workplace

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 1-6

 • “When employees respect each other and get
along in the workplace, it’s amazing how
productivity increases, morale increases and
employees are more courteous to customers.”
– Maureen Wild

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 1-7

48 per cent of companies in the US with more
diversity at senior management level improved
their market share.
For example; with the rise of companies dealing
their businesses in China, a company that hires
employees fluent in Mandarin to increase the
company’s reputation in Chinese communities.
This could result in an increase in sales, and
resulting in improved profits.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 1-8

 Describe the Two Major Forms
LO 1
of Workforce Diversity

Insert Exhibit 2.1

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-9

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

– Age
– Belief is widespread that job
performance declines with increasing
age.
– The workforce is aging.
– U.S. legislation that, for all intents and
purposes, outlaws mandatory
retirement.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-10

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

– Sex
• Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and
unsupported opinions than whether women perform as well
on jobs as men do.
• Few, if any, important differences between men and women
affect job performance.
• Psychological studies have found women are more agreeable
and willing to conform to authority, whereas men are more
aggressive and more likely to have expectations of success,
but those differences are minor.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-11

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

– Race and Ethnicity

– Employees tend to favor colleagues for their own race in
performance evaluations, promotion decisions, pay raises.
– Different attitudes on affirmative action with African-Americans
preferring such programs than do whites.
– African-Americans generally do worse than whites in employment
decisions.
– No statistical difference between Whites and African-Americans in
observed absence rates, applied social skills at work, or accident
rates.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-12

 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

– Disability
• A person is disabled who has any physical or mental
impairment that substantially limits one or more major
life activities.
• The “reasonable accommodation” is problematic for
employers.
• Strong biases exist against those with mental
impairment.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-13
 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those readily available in a personnel file

– Tenure
• The issue of the impact of job seniority on job
performance has been subject to
misconceptions and speculations.
– Religion
• Although employees are protected by U.S.
federal law regarding their religion, it is still an
issue in the workplace.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-14
 Biographical Characteristics
LO 2
and How Are They Relevant to OB

Those not readily available in a personnel

file…
– Sexual orientation
• Federal law does not protect employees against
discrimination based on sexual orientation.
• What about in Bangladesh?
– Gender identity
• Often referred to as transgender employees, this topic
encompasses those individuals who change genders.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-15
 Stereotypes and How They
LO 3
Function in Organizational Settings

• “Discrimination” is to note a difference

between things.
• Unfair discrimination is assuming stereotypes
about groups and refusing to recognize
differences.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-16

 Define Intellectual Abilityand
LO 4
Demonstrate Its Relevance to OB

Ability is an individual’s current capacity to

perform various tasks in a job

• Two types
– Intellectual abilities
– Physical abilities

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-17

 Define Intellectual Abilityand
LO 4
Demonstrate Its Relevance to OB

• Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to

perform mental activities—thinking,
reasoning, and problem solving.
• Most societies place a high value on
intelligence, and for good reason.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-18

 Define Intellectual Abilityand
LO 4
Demonstrate Its Relevance to OB

Number
Aptitude
Verbal
Memory Comprehension

Intellectual
Spatial Ability Perceptual
Visualization Speed

Deductive Inductive
Reasoning Reasoning
Exhibit 2.2

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-19

 Contrast Intellectual
LO 5
from Physical Ability

• Physical Abilities
– The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina,
dexterity, strength, and similar
characteristics.
– The three main categories of physical ability
are…
• Strength
• Flexibility
• And Other characteristics

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-20

 Contrast Intellectual
LO 5
from Physical Ability

Insert Exhibit 2.3

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-21

 Contrast Intellectual
LO 5
from Physical Ability

• Importance of ability at work increases difficulty

in formulating workplace policies that recognize
disabilities.
• Recognizing that individuals have different
abilities that can be taken into account when
making hiring decisions is not problematic.
• It is also possible to make accommodations for
disabilities.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-22

 Describe How Organizations
LO 6
Manage Diversity Effectively

Attracting, Selecting,
Developing, and Retaining
Diverse Employees

Diversity in Groups Effective Diversity

Programs

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-23

 Describe How Organizations
LO 6
Manage Diversity Effectively

Effective Diversity
Programs
Teach Legal
Framework

Teach the
Market
Foster the Skills Advantages
and Abilities of
All Workers
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-24
 Managerial Implications and Summary

✴ This chapter looked at diversity from many

perspectives paying particular attention to
three variables—
✴ biographical characteristics,
✴ ability, and
✴ diversity programs.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-25

 Managerial Implications and Summary

✴ Diversity programs
✴ Selection
✴ An effective selection process will improve the fit
between employees and job requirements.
✴ Diversity Management
✴ Diversity management must be an ongoing
commitment that crosses all levels of the
organization.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-26

 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America.

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

Lecture 3
Semester 1, 2025

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Attitudes

Attitudes Cognitive Component

The opinion or belief segment of
Evaluative an attitude
statements or
judgments
Affective Component
concerning
objects, people, The emotional or feeling segment
or events of an attitude

Behavioral Component
An intention to behave in a certain
way toward someone or something

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or
between behavior and attitudes
Individuals seek to reduce this gap, or “dissonance”

Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:

• Importance of elements creating dissonance
• Degree of individual influence over elements
• Rewards involved in dissonance

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Measuring the A-B Relationship
Recent research indicates that attitudes (A)
significantly predict behaviors (B) when moderating
variables are taken into account.
A B

Moderating Variables
• Importance of the attitude
• Specificity of the attitude
• Accessibility of the attitude
• Social pressures on the individual
• Direct experience with the attitude

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Self-Perception Theory

Attitudes are used after the fact to make sense out

of an action that has already occurred.
And, B A!

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Types of Attitudes
Job Satisfaction
A collection of positive and/or negative feelings that an
individual holds toward his or her job

Job Involvement
Identifying with the job, actively participating in it, and
considering performance important to self-worth

Organizational Commitment
Identifying with a particular organization and its goals,
and wishing to maintain membership in the organization
(Affective, Normative, and Continuance Commitment)

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Types of Attitudes, cont’d
Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
Degree to which employees feel the organization cares
about their well-being

Employee Engagement
An individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the organization

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 An Application: Attitude Surveys

Attitude Surveys
Eliciting responses from employees through questionnaires
about how they feel about their jobs, work groups,
supervisors, and the organization

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Attitudes and Workforce Diversity
Training activities that can reshape employee
attitudes concerning diversity:
– Participating in diversity training that provides for
self-evaluation and group discussions
– Volunteer work in community and social serve centers
with individuals of diverse backgrounds

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Job Satisfaction
Measuring Job Satisfaction
– Single global rating
– Summation score
How Satisfied Are People in Their Jobs?
– In general, people are satisfied with their jobs.
– Depends on facets of satisfaction—tend to be less
satisfied with pay and promotion opportunities

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Causes of Job Satisfaction

Pay influences job satisfaction only to a point.

– After about $40,000 a year, there is no relationship
between amount of pay and job satisfaction.

Personality can influence job satisfaction.

– Negative people are usually not satisfied with their
jobs.

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

How Employees Can Express Dissatisfaction

Exit Voice
Behavior directed toward Active and constructive
leaving the organization attempts to improve
conditions

Loyalty Neglect
Passively waiting for Allowing conditions to
conditions to improve worsen

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Responses to dissatisfaction

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee
Performance
Satisfaction and Productivity
– Satisfied workers are more productive AND more
productive workers are more satisfied!
– Worker productivity is higher in organizations with more
satisfied workers.
Satisfaction and Absenteeism
– Satisfied employees have fewer avoidable absences.
Satisfaction and Turnover
– Satisfied employees are less likely to quit.
– Organizations take actions to retain high performers
and to weed out lower performers.

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Job Satisfaction and OCB
Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior(OCB)
– Satisfied employees who feel fairly treated by and are
trusting of the organization are more willing to engage
in behaviors that go beyond the normal expectations of
their job.

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction

– Satisfied workers provide better customer service.
Satisfied employees increase customer satisfaction
because:
– They are more friendly, upbeat, and responsive.
– They are less likely to turnover, which helps build
long-term customer relationships.
– They are experienced.
Dissatisfied customers increase employee job
dissatisfaction.

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Chapter Check-up: Attitudes
In general, when we think of attitudes and organizations,
we think of:
1. Job Satisfaction
2. Happiness
3. Job Involvement
4. Mood at work
5. Organizational Commitment
6. 1 and 2
7. 1, 3, and 5

© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.

 Chapter Check-up: Attitudes
Ernesto is the known as the Donut Hut King—every day he brings
donuts and coffee to the office for everyone. He says it helps
everyone think more clearly! Ernesto is demonstrating:

1. Job satisfaction
2. Organizational citizenship
behavior
3. Productivity
4. Job involvement
5. Conscientiousness

Write down three things someone could do at

work that would constitute an OCB. Compare your
list with a neighbor’s.
© 2007 Prentice Hall Inc. All rights reserved.