Lectures 1-2: Intro to OB and Methods - Exam 1 MGMT 340 Professor Beenen

What is Organizational Behavior (OB)? .✦ ݁˖

An interdisciplinary social science that systematically studies individual, group, and organizational processes to improve organizational effectiveness.

What are the 3 levels of OB? .✦ ݁˖

Individual, group, and organizational.

What does OB study at the individual level?

Personality, motivation, emotions, perception, and decision making.

What does OB study at the group level?

Group dynamics, team effectiveness, leadership, power, conflict, and negotiation.

What does OB study at the organizational level?

Organizational design/structure, HR practices, culture, change, and technology.

Why is OB interdisciplinary?

It draws from fields including psychology, sociology, economics, political science, anthropology, communication, and philosophy.

Intuition vs. systematic study .✦ ݁˖

Intuition = gut feelings; systematic study = uses scientific evidence and relationships between causes (IVs) and effects (DVs) to predict behavior.

What are the 3 goals of OB? .✦ ݁˖

Explain, predict, and control behavior in organizational settings.

What is the basic scientific method used in OB?

Build theory → design research → collect data → analyze data → infer cause and effect; then test/revise theory.

Independent variable (IV) vs. dependent variable (DV) .✦ ݁˖

IV = presumed cause; DV = outcome/effect researchers are trying to explain or predict.

What is an IV/DV example?

Job satisfaction (IV) → employee retention (DV).

Where are IV and DV placed on a graph?

IV = X-axis; DV = Y-axis.

Are variables always either IVs or DVs?

No. Their role depends on the relationship being studied; performance, for example, can be either.

What are examples of OB dependent variables?

Individual: retention/performance/engagement; Group: cohesion/team performance; Organization: productivity/survival.

What are examples of OB independent variables?

Individual: personality/attitudes/motivation; Group: composition/roles; Organization: structure/culture.

What is Evidence-Based Management (EBM)?

Using the best available scientific evidence to guide managerial decisions and organizational practices rather than relying only on experience or intuition.

What is an attitude? .✦ ݁˖

A positive or negative evaluative judgment about a person, object, event, group, organization, or aspect of a job.

What are the ABC components of attitudes? .✦ ݁˖

Affective = feelings/emotions; Behavioral intention = intention to act; Cognitive = beliefs/opinions.

Is behavioral intention the same as actual behavior?

No. Behavioral intention is part of an attitude; actual behavior is an outcome.

What are the major job attitudes from the lecture? .✦ ݁˖

Job involvement, organizational commitment, perceived organizational support, job engagement, and job satisfaction.

What is organizational commitment?

How much a person values organizational membership: affective = emotional; continuance = economic; normative = moral/obligation.

What is perceived organizational support?

The extent to which employees believe the organization values them and cares about their well-being.

What is job engagement?

Enthusiasm and passion for one's work.

What is job satisfaction? .✦ ݁˖

Contentment, fulfillment, and an overall positive attitude toward one's job.

What does job satisfaction predict? .✦ ݁˖

Satisfied workers tend to have fewer avoidable absences and are less likely to quit.

What is the relationship between job satisfaction and performance? .✦ ݁˖

Satisfaction does NOT necessarily cause higher performance; high performance is more likely to lead to job satisfaction.

What is a construct vs. a variable?

Construct = concept/phenomenon being studied; variable = tool or measure used to assess the construct.

Reliability vs. validity .✦ ݁˖

Reliability = does the measure produce consistent results? Validity = does it actually measure the intended construct?

What is the "watermelon today, orange tomorrow" example?

It demonstrates poor reliability because the measurement is inconsistent over time.

What is the "What fruit would you like to be?" example? .✦ ݁˖

It may be reliable but lacks validity if the answer does not meaningfully measure the job-related construct being studied.

What are the main types of validity discussed?

Face = appears appropriate; Construct = measures intended construct; Discriminant = distinct from similar constructs; Predictive = predicts what theory says it should.

What is a correlation coefficient (r)? .✦ ݁˖

A measure of how strongly changes in one variable are associated with changes in another; r ranges from -1 to +1.

Positive vs. negative correlation .✦ ݁˖

Positive = more of one is associated with more of another; Negative = more of one is associated with less of another.

How do you determine correlation strength?

Use the absolute value of r; the closer |r| is to 1, the stronger the relationship. Example: -.5 is stronger than .4.

What is a meta-analysis? .✦ ݁˖

A technique that combines many studies and analyzes them like one large study.

Why are meta-analyses useful in OB?

They aggregate evidence across studies and improve confidence that findings generalize across different settings.

Mediator vs. moderator .✦ ݁˖

Mediator explains HOW or WHY an IV affects a DV; moderator changes the strength or direction of the relationship between the IV and DV.