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Essentials of
Organizational Behavior, 11/e

Stephen P. Robbins & Timothy A. Judge

Chapter 1

Introduction to
Organizational Behavior

Copyright ©2012 Pearson Education, Inc. Publishing as Prentice Hall

 After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

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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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Hall
 The Field of Organizational Behavior
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 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
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Work design
Leader behavior & Power
Motivation
Interpersonal Comm.
Group structure and Processes
Attitude development & perception
Conflict and Negotiation
Change processes

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 Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study
and EBM
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 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.
 Evidence-based management (EBM) complements
systematic study by basing managerial decisions on the best
available scientific evidence.

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 Systematic Study
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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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 ELTON MAYO AND
HAWTHORNE STUDIES
http://www.managetrainlearn.com/page/elton-mayo

• Hawthorne Experiments were conducted from 1927 to

1932 at the Western Electric.
• The aim of the study was to establish the impact of different
conditions of work on employee productivity.
• Initially, Mayo examined the affect of changes in the factory
environment such as lighting and humidity.
• He then went on to study the effect of changes in employment
arrangements such as breaks, hours, and managerial
leadership.
 The Hawthorne effect is a type of reactivity in which
individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in
response to their awareness of being observed.
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 Evidence-Based Management
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Complements systematic study.

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

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Example:
Evidence-based HR https://upstarthr.com/3-examples-evidence-based-hr/

 Evidence-based human resources is the practice of

identifying solutions and approaches that have a
strong empirical basis.
o Selection Techniques:
o Your hiring managers are often used to creating high
pressure interview situations to “see how candidates will
respond.” They also like using tools like application data and
GPA to filter out candidates.
o You find research that demonstrates the validity of their
methods is in some cases no better than performing a coin
flip to make a hiring decision, helping to sway them into
using more structured methods and assessments for hiring
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decisions. Hall
 Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field
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Micro:
The
Psychology
Individual
Social
Psychology

Sociology
Macro:
Groups &
Organizations Anthropology

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 DISCIPLINES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THE OB FIELD

PSYCHOLOGY SOCIAL SOCIOLOGY ANTHROPOLOGY

PSYCHOLOGY
Motivation Behavioral Organizational Organizational
Change Change Culture
Personality Attitude Change Intergroup Cross-cultural
behavior analysis
Perception Group Decision Power Organizational
Making Environment

Work Stress Communication Conflict

 Challenges and Opportunities for OB

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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
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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
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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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 https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submi

Outsourcing at Nike
ssion/globalization-vs-isolationism-finding-ni
kes-new-competitive-advantage/

 Over the past two decades, Nike has been one of the
pioneers in outsourcing production to the developing
world.

 Today, Nike’s contracted factories employ 1.02 million

workers in 42 countries to produce all its products, with
29% of product made in China and 44% in Vietnam 

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 Managing Workforce Diversity
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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 and Inclusion at Colgate-
Palmolivecolgatepalmolive.com/en-us/core-values/sustainability/people

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o Colgate supports employee resource groups made up of

team members representing many different perspectives,
backgrounds, and ways of life.
o Each of these resource groups contribute to Colgate’s
inclusive work environment by developing and
implementing activities and programs to promote business
and community involvement as well as cultural awareness.

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 Diversity Implications
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“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
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 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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 Working in Networked Organizations

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 Managers must adapt

their skills and
communication styles to
succeed in an online
environment
 Motivating and leading
people and making
collaborative decisions
online require different
techniques than when
individuals are physically
present in a single
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 Enhancing employee well-being at work
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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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 Employee Benefits at Google
https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/companies-good-wellness-programs

 Google’s campus offers an all-encompassing wellness

program featuring onsite healthcare services, including
physician, chiropractic, physical therapy, and massage
services, as well as access to fitness centers, classes, and
community bikes.
 You can even pick up new personal and professional skills by
taking cooking classes, coding degree programs, or guitar
lessons, to name a few of the cool classes Google offers.
 The campus cafés and micro kitchens are stocked with
nutritious, color-coded meals and snacks, and provide smaller
plates to help with portion control. 
 Employees are granted flexible hours, vacation time, and
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volunteer time, helping Googlers achieve work-life Hall balance.
 Thinking Positive
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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
 Employees face ethical dilemmas and ethical choices, in
which they are required to identify right and wrong conduct.
 Should they “blow the whistle” if they uncover illegal
activities in their company?
 Do they follow orders with which they don’t personally
agree?
 Do they “politics” to advance their career?

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 Three Levels of OB Analysis
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 Implications for Managers
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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…
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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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Hall