Which of the following does systematic study used to look at relationship to attribute causes and effects?

Chapter 1

What are you responsible to learn?

        Define organizational behavior (OB)

        Describe what managers do

        Explain the value of the systematic study of OB

        List the major challenges and opportunities for managers to use OB concepts

        Identify the contributions made by major behavioral science disciplines to OB

        Describe why managers require a knowledge of OB

        Explain the need for a contingency approach to the study of OB

        Identify the three levels of analysis in this book�s OB model

I. �������� What managers do

        Get things done through other people

        Make decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals

        Do their work in an organization

II.                  Management functions

        Planning

        Includes defining goals, establishing strategy, and developing plans to coordinate activities.

        Organizing

        Determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.

        Leading

        Includes motivating subordinates, directing others, selecting the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts.

        Controlling

Monitoring activities to ensure they are being accomplished as planned and correcting any significant deviations.

III.������� Mintzberg's managerial roles

        Interpersonal Roles:Figurehead, Leader, Liaison

        Informational Roles:Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson

        Decisional Roles: Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator

IV.������ 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.People skills are critical for managers!

        Conceptual Skills: The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.

** Effective vs. Successful Managerial behavior � Which would you rather be � an �effective� manager or a �successful� one? Why?(See pages 7-8)

V.                 Organizational Behavior

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.

VI.               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.

        Behavior is generally predictable.

        There are differences between individuals.

        There are fundamental consistencies in behavior

        There are rules (written & unwritten) in almost every setting.

VII.             Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

        Psychology, Sociology, Social Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science

** There are few absolutes in OB.Often we rely on contingency variables or situational factors which moderate the relationship between two or more other variables.Can you think of a �moderating� variable in human behavior?

VIII.           Challenges and Opportunities for OB

        Globalization

        Workforce Diversity

        Improving Quality and Productivity (i.e. TQM � What is it? See pg 16-17)

        Responding to the labor shortage

        Improving customer service

        Empowering people

        Coping with temporariness

        Stimulating Innovation and change

        Helping employees balance work/life conflicts

        Improving ethical behavior

IX.               Developing an OB model (or an abstraction/simplification of reality)

Dependent Variables (Or�..what do you want to predict?)

Productivity

Absenteeism

Turnover

Organizational Citizenship Behavior

Job Satisfaction

Independent Variables (Or�.what are some of the possible causes of the dependent variables?)

Individual-Level Variables

Group-Level Variables

Organizational Systems-Level Variables

OB is a complex topic! See page 27 � most of those �boxes� are in �action� almost every day in the life of an organization.Keep this in mind as we learn about the key concepts and theories in OB�.

X.������� Chapter summary

        Managers need to develop their interpersonal, or people, skills to be effective in their jobs.

        OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within an organization.

        OB focuses on improving productivity, employee job satisfaction, citizenship behavior and reducing absenteeism and turnover.

        OB uses systematic study to improve predictions of behavior.

        OB recognizes and helps managers to improve their people skills and to see the value of workforce diversity and practices.It also seeks to improve organizations and help managers cope with the many changes faced in today�s workplace.

Which of the following involves looking at relationships attempting to attribute causes and effects and basing conclusions on scientific evidence?

Systematic Study: Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence.

Which of the following field of study is most likely to involve studying organizational culture formal organization theory and structure?

Option (A) Sociology The organizational culture, formal organizational theory, and structure come under the sociological studies. Sociologists study the cultural environment of the organization, communication among the people of the organization, and conflict among the people of the organization.

Which of the following seeks to measure explain and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals?

Answer and Explanation: E) Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.

Which behavioral science studies societies in order to learn about people and their activities?

Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species.