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Organizational behavior

Field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organization's effectiveness.

Three determinants of behavior in organizations

Individuals; groups and teams; and organizational system.

Evidence-based management

Involves basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific evidence rather than relying on intuition or common sense.

Chon et al (2024)

Researchers wanted to explore consequences of after-hours communication for employees and organizations.

Negative effects of after-hours communication

Employees who answered email outside of hours were more likely to experience emotional exhaustion, report reduced productivity, engage in negative work-related behaviors, and badmouth their employers.

Grant et al (2025)

Researching how frequent breaks from work have a positive effect on employee wellbeing.

Psychological disengagement from work

Employees who psychologically disengage from work experience the greatest increase in wellbeing.

Physical exercise while on vacation

Especially beneficial for employee wellbeing.

Transition back to work

Important to ease transition back to work to allow for recovery.

Disciplines that contribute to organizational behavior

Psychology, social psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

Managers

Individuals who achieve goals through other people, performing planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.

Roles of managers

Interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles.

Skills needed by managers

Technical, human, and conceptual skills.

Organization

A coordinated social unit, made of two or more people that functions on a continuous basis to achieve a certain goal or set of goals.

Punctuated-equilibrium model

Set of phases that temporary groups go through which involve transitions between inertia and activity.

Phases of the punctuated-equilibrium model

First meeting, first phase of activity (inertia), transition, major change from transition, second phase of activity, last meeting.

Deviant workplace behavior

Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and threatens the wellbeing of members.

Status characteristic theory

Theory stating that differences in status characteristics create status hierarchies within groups.

Impact of status inequities

Can create frustrations and influence productivity and willingness to continue working.

Job satisfaction improvement

Can be improved by making people perceive their job roles correctly.

Social loafing

Tendency for individuals to expend less effort when working collectively than when working individually.

Impact of group size on social loafing

Depends on task; larger group for fact-finding, smaller group for action-taking tasks.

Faultlines

Perceived divisions that split groups into more subgroups based on gender, experience, age, etc.

Diversity

Variety of differences among people (deep-level or surface-level).

Surface-level diversity

Differences in easily perceived characteristics (gender, race, ethnicity, age or disability) that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but may activate certain stereotypes.

Deep-level diversity

Differences in values, personality and work preferences that become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better.

Stereotype threat

The degree to which we agree internally with the generally negative stereotyped perceptions of our groups.

Positive diversity climate

An environment of inclusiveness and acceptance of diversity in an organization.

Diversity management

The process and programs managers use to make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Diversity - variety of differences among people; Equity - fair treatment for all employees; Inclusion - where everyone feels welcomed and respected.

Neurodiversity

Variations in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions, recognized as a strength instead of a disability.

Team effectiveness

Depends on context (resources, leadership, level of trust, performance evaluation, and reward system), composition (abilities, personalities, role allocation, diversity, cultural differences, group size, and member preferences), and processes (common plan and purpose, specific goals, team efficacy, team identity, team cohesion, mental models, conflict levels, social loafing).

Effective teams

Have adequate resources, leadership, climate of trust, performance evaluation, reward system that reflects team contribution, members with right skills and traits, small size with members who fill role demands and enjoy group work, and members who believe in team's capabilities.

Problem-solving teams

5-10 employees from the same department who meet regularly to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work environment.

Self-managed work teams

10-15 people who take on responsibilities of former supervisors.

Cross-functional teams

Employees from similar hierarchical level but from different work areas who collaborate to accomplish a task.

Virtual teams

Teams that use computer technology to unite geographically dispersed members.

Multi-team systems

Collection of two or more interdependent teams that share a subordinate goal; teams of teams.

Cohesiveness

Can impact a group's productivity depending on the group's performance-related norms.

Norms

Control behavior by establishing what's wrong and right.

Diversity as a strength

Bringing individuals from different backgrounds and experiences to foster innovations and encourage new ideas and creative problem-solving.

Diverse teams

More adept at identifying and addressing complex problems, leading to better financial performance and competitive advantage.

Inclusive workplaces

Have higher employee engagement and satisfaction, and lower turnover.

Personality

Sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

Team cohesion

The degree to which team members stick together and remain united in the pursuit of a common goal.

Conflict levels

The degree of disagreement among team members, which can impact team effectiveness.

Common plan and purpose

A shared understanding among team members about the goals and objectives of the team.

Team identity

The sense of belonging and commitment that team members feel towards their team.

Mental models

Shared understandings among team members regarding how to approach tasks and solve problems.

heredity

factors determined at conception such as biological, physiological and inherent psychological make up.

personality-job fit theory

suggests a degree of fit between one's personality and job will predict job satisfaction and turnover.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

personality test that taps four characteristics and classifies people into one of 16 personality types.

conscientiousness

describing someone as responsible, dependable, persistent and organized vs easily distracted, disorganized and unreliable.

emotional stability (neuroticism)

characterizing someone as calm, confident vs nervous, depressed, insecure.

extraversion

describing someone who is sociable and assertive vs reserved, timid and quiet.

openness to experience

describing someone in terms of imagination, sensitivity and curiosity vs conventional and comfort in the familiar.

agreeableness

describing someone who is good-natured, cooperative and trusting vs cold and disagreeable.

The Dark Triad

constellation of negative personality traits consisting of machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy.

machiavellianism

degree to which an individual is pragmatic and maintains emotional distance when trying to believe that ends can justify means.

narcissism

tendency to be arrogant, grandiose sense of self-importance and entitlement.

psychopathy

tendency to have a lack of concern for others and a lack of guilt or remorse when your actions cause harm.

core self-evaluations

if they like themselves and see themselves as effective and capable.

self-monitoring

trait that measures individual's ability to adjust behavior to external situational factors.

proactive personality

people who identify opportunities, show initiative, take action and persevere until meaningful change occurs.

Holland's Personality Types

proposed individuals can be classified into one of six personality types, which in turn likely to succeed in certain jobs.

Situation-strength theory

theory that in certain situations individuals are more likely to express their personality.

Trait-activation theory

theory that personality traits are activated which can lead to certain job outcomes.

Values

basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or a converse mode of conduct.

terminal values

what you'd like to achieve.

instrumental values

preferred modes of behavior.

power distance

the extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and organisations is distributed unequally.

Individualism vs Collectivism

degree people prefer to act as individuals rather than group members.

Masculinity vs Femininity

traditional masculine work roles of achievement, power and control, less gender equality.

Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)

extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.

Long/Short-term orientation

emphasis on future vs immediate rewards.

Indulgence

degree to which culture allows for relatively free gratification of people's emotions and desires.

attitudes

evaluative statement (positive/negative) about objects, people, or events.

Cognitive dissonance

common phenomenon that occurs when individual becomes aware of an inconsistency between attitudes and behaviours.

State of Future of Work Report

conducted post-pandemic, sampled 1,400 Australian employees from a national panel.

key findings of the report

prime aged workers report worse workplace health two years into pandemic than mature aged workers.

Future of Australian workforce burnt out from pandemic, organisations must prioritise employee mental health and wellbeing.

discrimination

remains a challenge for future workplaces, affecting various groups.

Widespread and complex issue; employers must work to prevent it.

flexible work options

3 out of 4 prime-aged workers under the age of 54 reported that a lack of flexible work options would motivate them to leave or look for another job.

Essential to support caregivers and those with chronic illness.

automation and artificial intelligence

half of all Australians don't feel like their jobs are at risk of automation and artificial intelligence.

Australians unprepared for changes driven by AI and automation.

Workplace attrition

Risk faced by workplaces that require workers to return to the office.

Job involvement

Degree to which a person identifies with a job, actively participates in it and considers performance important to self-worth (psychological empowerment).

Organisational commitment

Degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organisation and its goals, and wishes to remain in the organisation.

Dimensions of organisational commitment

Affective, continuance, normative.

Perceived organisational support

Degree to which employees believe an organisation values their contribution and cares about their well-being.

Employee engagement

Individual's involvement and satisfaction with, and enthusiasm for, the work they do.

High engaged qualities

Vigour: high energy, dedication: enthusiasm and pride, absorption: pleasurable state of flow and concentration.

Job satisfaction

Having positive feelings about a job, from evaluation of characteristics associated with positive outcomes at work.

Job dissatisfaction

Low job satisfaction is the best predictor of turnover.

Factors for job satisfaction prediction

Having an interesting job with training, variety, independence and control, work involving interdependence and feedback, social support and interaction with colleagues outside of work, good relationship with managers, higher pay (to a point), viewing one's work as contributing to a higher purpose.

Theory of job satisfaction

Conceptual framework explaining the factors that influence job satisfaction.

Core self-evaluation

Stable personality trait influencing attitudes at work.

Hirschman's Model

A model explaining responses to job dissatisfaction: Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect.

Quiet quitting

A phenomenon where employees fulfill only their assigned duties and become less psychologically invested in work.

Counterproductive work behavior

Actions that actively damage the organization, such as stealing or behaving aggressively towards colleagues.

Shaping Employee Job Attitudes

The process by which the work, environment, and colleagues influence employees' attitudes.

Motivation in organizations

Set of energetic forces that initiate work-related behavior and determine its form, direction, intensity, and duration.