Canadian Organizational Behaviour Chapter 1

Organizational Behavior

Study of what people think, feel, and do around organizations.

Organizations

Groups of people who work interdependently towards a purpose.

Importance of OB

OB helps us to make sense of and predict the world in which we live. It helps us get things done in the workplace.

Organizational Effectiveness

"Ultimate dependent Variable"

A concept represented by several perspectives. (Organization's fit with external environment, internal subsystems configuration for high performance, etc.

Open Systems

A perspective which holds that organizations depend on the external environment resources, affect that environment through their output, and consist of internal subsystems that transforms inputs to outputs.

Closed Systems

Operate without dependence on or interaction with an external environment

External Environment

Raw materials, job applicants, financial resources, information and equipment

3 ways that companies maintain a good environmental fit

1. Change company's products/services

2. Manage their external environment

3. Change market/location

Organizational Efficiency (productivity)

The amount of outputs relative to inputs in the organization's transformation process

Organizational Learning

A perspective which holds that organizational effectiveness depends on the organization's capacity to acquire, share, use, and store valuable knowledge.

Intellectual capital

A company's stock of knowledge, including human capital, structural capital, and relationship capital.

Human Capital

The stock knowledge, skills, and abilities among employees that provide economic value to the organization

Structural Capital

Knowledge embedded in an organization's systems and structures.

Relationship Capital

The value derived from an organization's relationship with customers, suppliers, and others.

Four organizational learning processes

1. Knowledge Sharing

2. Knowledge Acquisition

3. Knowledge storage

4. Knowledge Use

Knowledge Acquisition

Includes extracting information and ideas from the external environment as well as through insight. (Individual learning, Environmental Scanning, Grafting, Experimentation)

Knowledge sharing

Distributing knowledge throughout the organization.(Communication, Training, Information Systems, Observation)

Knowledge Use

Knowledge awareness, Sense making, Autonomy, Empowerment

Knowledge storage (Organizational Memory)

Process of holding knowledge for later retrieval. (Human memory, Documentation, Databases, Practices/habits)

High-performance work practices (HPWP)

perspective which holds that effective organizations incorporate several workplace practices that leverage the potential of human capital.

Stakeholders

Individuals, groups, and other entities that affect, or are affected by, the organization's objectives and actions.

Values

Relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide a person's preference for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations

Ethics

The study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm's immediate financial interests or legal obligations

Globalization

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

Surface-level-diversity

The observable demographic or physiological differences in people, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical disabilities.

Deep-level diversity

Differences in the psychological characteristics of employees, including personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes

Work-life balance

The degree to which a person minimizes conflict between work and non-work demands

Virtual Work

Work performed away from the traditional physical workplace by using information technology

Evidence-based management

Practice of making decisions and taking actions based on research evidence.

Systematic Research Anchor

Study organizations using systematic research methods

Multidisciplinary Anchor

Import knowledge from other disciplines, not just create its own knowledge

Contingency Anchors

Recognize that the effectiveness of an action may depend on the situation

Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor

Understand organizational behavior events from three levels of analysis: individual, team, organization