Ob Chapter 1

© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill Ryerson

1

C H A P T E R:C H A P T E R: O N E O N E

Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behaviour

Introduction to the Field of Organizational Behaviour

2 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

What Are Organizations?

Groups of people who work interdependently toward some purpose Structured patterns of

interaction Coordinated tasks Work toward some

purposeCourtesy of Dofasco

3 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Why study Why study organizational organizational

behaviour?behaviour?

UnderstandUnderstandorganizationalorganizational

eventsevents

PredictPredictorganizationalorganizational

eventsevents

InfluenceInfluenceorganizationalorganizational

eventsevents

Why Study Organizational Behaviour?

4 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Trends: Globalization

Economic, social, and cultural connectivity (and interdependence) with people in other parts of the world

Effects of globalization on organizations: New organizational structures Different forms of communication More diverse workforce More competition, mergers, work intensification

and demands for work flexibility

5 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Trends: Changing Workforce

Workforce has increasing diversity along several dimensions

Primary categories• gender, age, ethnicity, etc.

Secondary categories• some control over (eg.

education, marital status)

6 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Trends: Changing Workforce

Current trends Increased racial and ethnic diversity More women in workforce Generational diversity New age cohorts (eg. Gen-X, Gen-Y)

Implications Leverage diversity advantage Adjust to the new workforce

7 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Trends: Employment Relationships

Work/life balance Number one indicator of career success Priority for Canadians looking for new jobs

Employability “New deal” employment relationship Continuously learn new skills

Contingent work No explicit or implicit contract for long-term employment, or

minimum hours of work can vary in a nonsystematic way

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Employability vs. Job Security

Job SecurityJob Security

• Lifetime job securityLifetime job security

• Jobs are permanentJobs are permanent

• Company manages Company manages careercareer

• Low emphasis on skill Low emphasis on skill developmentdevelopment

EmployabilityEmployability

• Limited job securityLimited job security

• Jobs are temporaryJobs are temporary

• Career self-Career self-managementmanagement

• High emphasis on skill High emphasis on skill developmentdevelopment

9 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Trends: Virtual Work

Using information technology to perform one’s job away from the traditional physical workplace.

Telework (telecommuting)• working from home, usually Internet connection to office

Virtual teams • operate across space, time, and organizational

boundaries with members who communicate mainly through electronic technologies

10 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Trends: Workplace Values/Ethics

Values Long-lasting beliefs about what is important in a variety of

situations Define right versus wrong – guide our decisions

Values increasingly important due to1. Need to guide employee decisions and actions2. Globalization increases awareness of different values3. Increasing emphasis on applying ethical values

Ethics Study of moral principles or values that determine whether

actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad

11 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

OrganizationalOrganizationalBehaviourBehaviourAnchorsAnchors

MultidisciplinaryMultidisciplinaryAnchorAnchor

Systematic Systematic Research Research

AnchorAnchor

ContingencyContingencyAnchorAnchor

Open Systems Open Systems AnchorAnchor

Multiple Levels Multiple Levels of Analysis of Analysis

AnchorAnchor

Organizational Behaviour Anchors

12 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Organizational Behaviour Anchors

Multidisciplinary anchor Many OB concepts adopted from other disciplines OB is developing its own models and theories,

but also needs to scan other fields for ideas

Systematic research anchor OB researchers rely on scientific method OB also adopting grounded theory and similar

qualitative approaches to knowledge

13 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Organizational Behaviour 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 OB issues can be studied from individual, team,

and/or organizational level Topics usually relate to all three levels

14 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. McShane/ Canadian OB 6e

Open Systems Anchor

Need to monitor and adapt to environment External environment – natural and social

conditions outside the organization Receive inputs from environment; transform them

into outputs back to the environment Stakeholders – anyone with a vested interest in

the organization Organizations consist of interdependent parts

(subsystems) that need to coordinate

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Open Systems Anchor

FeedbackFeedback

FeedbackFeedback

Environment

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Knowledge Management Defined

Any structured activity that improves an organization’s capacity to acquire, share, and use knowledge for its survival and success

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Structural Structural CapitalCapital

Relationship Relationship CapitalCapital

Knowledge captured in systems and structures

Values derived from satisfied customers, reliable suppliers, etc.

Human CapitalHuman CapitalKnowledge that people possess and generate

Intellectual Capital

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• Awareness

• Freedom to apply

• Communication

• Communities of practice

• Grafting

• Individual learning

• Experimentation

KnowledgeKnowledgeacquisitionacquisition

KnowledgeKnowledgesharingsharing

KnowledgeKnowledgeuseuse

Knowledge Management Processes

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Organizational Memory

The storage and preservation of intellectual capital

Retain intellectual capital by Keeping knowledgeable employees Transferring knowledge to others Transferring human capital to structural capital

Successful companies also unlearn