H1 What is organizational behavior (OB)?
OB
Organizational behavior (OB) is defined as the study of individuals and their
behaviors at work. The goal of OB as a field is to improve the functioning of the
organization and how employees experience their work.
Four sources of information used in EBM
Evidence-based management improves a leader’s decisions by disciplined
application of the most relevant and current scientific evidence.
Four sources
- Best available scientific evidence
- Best available organizational evidence
- Best available experiential evidence
- Organizational values and stakeholders’ concerns
Critical thinking
Critical thinking calls for persistent effort to examine any belief or supposed form
of knowledge in the light of evidence that supports it and the further conclusions to
which it tends.
- Skills: logic, reflection, dual processing, attention to detail, decision-making
Three interrelated parts:
Elements of thought: reasoning
Intellectual standards that applied to the elements of reasoning
Intellectual traits associated with a cultivated critical thinker that results from
the consistent and disciplined application of the intellectual standards to the
elements of thought.
Pessimistic views of human nature (Theory X)
Theory X leaders assume that people are basically lazy, don’t like to work, and
avoid responsibility. This manager’s behavior includes being directive,
engaging in surveillance, and coercion.
Optimistic views of human nature (Theory Y)
Theory Y leaders assume that people are internally motivated, like to work,
and will accept responsibility. This manager’s behavior includes allowing
discretion and participation and the encouragement of creativity on the job.
Five types of outcome variables studied in OB
Performance
Job performance can be actual performance as collected in organizational
records, or it may be rated by supervisors or peers. Organizational citizenship
, behavior (OCB) is the workers’ willingness to go above and beyond what is
required in their job description to help others at work, extra-role performance.
Attitudes
Attitude is a person’s general disposition towards something. Job satisfaction
is an outcome variable of attitude, also organizational commitment which is
related to attitude and job satisfaction. It is an employee’s relationship with the
organization for which they work. Another outcome variable is employee
engagement. This can be defined as a relatively enduring state of mind referring
to the simultaneous investment of personal energies in the experience or
performance of work.
Employee well-being
Employee well-being has emerged as an important outcome variable in OB,
and research has extended this to the concept of thriving.
Thriving is defined as the psychological state in which individuals experience both
a sense of vitality and learning. Vitality reflects a feeling of being alive. Learning is
the person’s belief that they are growing and improving.
Motivation
Extrinstic motivation is based on the rewards from the organization’s
compensation system such as pay and bonuses. Intrinsic motivation is related
to the value of the work itself. Prosocial motivation assesses the degree to
which employees behave in a way that benefits society; how much employees are
motivated to behave in ways that help other people.
Employee withdrawal
Turnover intentions are the thinking of employees about quitting, and
turnover is the actual quitting. Absenteeism is when workers may not come to
work when they are dissatisfied and there are few alternative jobs available.
Comparing the levels of analysis in OB research
Individual behavior may be influenced by processes at different levels in
organizations. Four levels of analysis:
- Individual: individual’s personality and experiences
- Team: norms of a team encourage a member to perform at their best
- Organizational: organizations with strong cultures can influence
- Industry: comparisons between industries
H2 Understanding individuals in organizations
Personality
Personality is defined as regularities in feeling, thought and action that are
characteristic of an individual. Personality is linked to organizational behavior. It
affects our work habits and how we interact with our coworkers.
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