Summary for the midterm of the course Organisational Behaviour. Includes chapters 1 till 7 of the book 'Essentials of Organizational Behavior: An Evidence-Based Approach'.
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Summary Endterm Organisational Behaviour
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Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?
Organizational Behavior: the study of individuals and their behaviors at work
→ a scientific approach can be applied to the management of workers
Hawthorne effect: positive responses in attitudes and performance when researchers pay attention to
a particular group of workers
→ led to a focus on the role of human behavior in organizations
Delphi method: a systematic decision-making technique that employs a panel of independent experts
Goals of science:
1. Description: What does the process look like?
2. Prediction: Will the process occur again? And when?
3. Explanation: Why is this happening?
4. Control: Can we change whether or not this is happening?
Evidence-based management (EBM): the ability to translate research to practice
→ improves a leader’s decisions through relevant and current scientific evidence
4 sources of information used in evidence-based management:
1. The best available scientific evidence: e.g. research published in OB
2. The best available organizational evidence: interviews or surveys completed by people in an
organization
3. The best available experiential evidence: the intuition of the leader and his or her expert
opinions
4. Organizational values and stakeholders’ concerns: stock price or groups that focus on
whether the organization employs environmentally friendly practices
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.
→ a mode of thinking about a problem we face where the problem solver improves the quality of the
process by taking control of it and applying rigorous standards.
1. The elements of thought (reasoning)
2. The intellectual standards that applied to the elements of reasoning
3. The intellectual traits associated with a cultivated critical thinker that result from the
consistent and disciplined application of the intellectual standard to the elements of thought
Critical thinking skills:
● rationality: rely on reason rather than emotion
● self-awareness: recognize our own assumptions, prejudices, biases, or point of view
● honesty
● open-mindedness: evaluate all reasonable inferences
● discipline: are precise, meticulous, comprehensive and exhaustive
● judgment: recognize the extent and weight of evidence
→ are by nature sceptical, active not passive
,The scientific method
● Make observations: what do is see?
● Think of interesting questions: why does that pattern occur?
● Formulate hypotheses: what are the general causes?
● Develop testable predictions
● Gather data to test predictions: data are collected to test these predictions and are then
refined, altered, expanded, or rejected
● Develop general theories
→ These theories then lead us to frame additional observation, and the research cycle continues
5 types of outcome variables studied in OB:
1. Performance: actual performance (from records) or ratings by supervisors
○ Organizational citizenship behavior: the worker’s willingness to go above and
beyond what is required in his or her job job description to help others at work
2. Work-Related Attitudes
○ Job satisfaction:
○ Organizational commitment: an employee’s relationship with the organization he or
she works for
○ Employee engagement: a relatively enduring state of mind referring to the
simultaneous investment of persionale energies in the experience or performance of
work
3. Employee Well-Being: emotional exhaustion, physical health
4. Motivation: extrinsic (rewards such as pay and bonuses) and intrinsic (the value of the work
itself) are equally important
5. Employee Withdrawal
○ Turnover intentions: when employees think about quitting
○ Actual turnover
○ Absenteeism
How OB research increases employee performance:
Level Example Organizational Behavior Hypothesis
Individual The personality characteristic of conscientiousness is positively related to employee
performance.
Dyad High-quality relationships with bosses lead to higher employee performance.
Group and team Team conflict is negatively related to employee performance.
Organizational A strong, positive organizational culture is positively related to employee
performance.
Industry Employee performance is higher in the financial services industry compared with
government organizations.
, Theory X (pessimistic): leaders assume that people are basically lazy, don’t like to work, and avoid
responsibility
→ this type of managers behaviors include being directive, engaging in surveillance, and coercion
Theory Y (optimistic): leaders assume that people are internally motivated, like to work, and will
accept responsibility
→ these manager’s related behaviors are to allow discretion, participation, and the encouragement of
creativity on the job
Chapter 6: Leadership
Leadership: the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done
and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared
objectives
→ about inspiring others to follow their vision for the organization
→ Managers are concerned with controlling the operations of the organization so things run
efficiently
Trait approach (1900): it is believed that leaders are born with the talent and abilities for leadership
and cannot be learned
Behavior approach (1940): two categories of behavior, what matters is behavioral flexibility
Initiating structure: refers to defining tasks for employees and focusing on goals
Consideration: the degree to which the leader shows trust, respect, and sensitivity to
employees’ feelings (more related to motivation and satisfaction)
Situational approach (1960): leaders motivate followers to accomplish goals by establishing the
paths to the goals
→ the leader changes their behavior based upon how able and willing a follower is to perform a
specific task
Path-goal theory (PGT): leaders increase the quality and number of payoffs from reaching goals and
then make the path to goals clear by removing obstacles
→ The leader should be flexible and adapt their leadership behavior to followers and the situation
1. Directive leadership: giving specific instructions, deadlines, setting performance standards
2. Supportive leadership: showing consideration, being friendly, paying attention
3. Participative leadership: allowing followers to have a voice in decisions that affect them
4. Achievement-oriented leadership: challenging followers to perform at high levels, setting
standard for excellence, showing confidence in followers’ ability to reach goals
The expectancy theory of motivation (E→P): the followers effort path to performance; in other
words, if a person tries, they will achieve
Performance-to-outcome expectation (P→O): the belief that the leader will provide a reward that is
wanted, and these rewards are of value to the follower
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