Introduction to Organizational Behavior

Flashcards covering the definition of management, organizational behavior, historical developments, emerging trends, and the five anchors of OB research.

Management

The organization and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives, or the process of reaching organizational goals by working with and through people and other organizational resources.

Planning and Decision Making

A part of the management process concerned with determining courses of action.

Controlling

A management process function involving the monitoring and evaluating of activities.

Organizing

The management process function focused on the coordination of activities and resources.

Leading

The management process function dedicated to managing and motivating people.

Organization

A group of people who work together to achieve a set of goals, characterized by working independently toward some purpose rather than being a physical structure.

Organizational behaviour (OB)

The study and application of knowledge about how people think, feel, and act within an organization, serving as a human tool for human benefit.

Levels of Organisational Behaviour

The three levels of investigation in organizations: individual level, group level, and organization systems level.

Individual Level (OB Focus)

Focuses on learning, attitude development and perception, and motivation.

Group Level (OB Focus)

Focuses on group structure and processes, interpersonal communication, and conflict.

Organizational Environment Level (OB Focus)

Focuses on leadership, power, organizational structure, work design, and change processes.

Plato

A Greek philosopher who contributed to early OB ideas by writing about equity in work relationships.

Aristotle

A Greek philosopher who contributed to early OB ideas by speaking about the elements of persuasive communication.

Niccolo Machiavelli

A 16th-century Italian philosopher whose writings laid the foundation for contemporary work on organizational structure based on the division of labour.

Max Weber

A German sociologist who wrote about rational organization and initiated the discussion of charismatic leadership.

Fredrick Winslow Taylor

An individual who introduced the systematic use of goal setting and rewards to motivate employees.

UIP

The acronym for the main reasons to study OB: to understand, predict, and influence the behavior of others in organizational settings.

Globalization

Refers to organizations integrating, operating, and competing in a worldwide economy, often driven by improvements in international communication like the internet.

Employability

A "new deal" replacing job-for-life contracts where employees perform a variety of work activities and continuously learn new skills to stay employed.

Contingent Work

Any job in which the individual does not have an implicit or explicit contract for long-term employment, or where minimum hours of work vary in a non-systematic way.

Telecommuting

Also called teleworking, this refers to working from home usually with a computer or other telecommunication connection to the office.

Virtual Teams

Cross-functional groups that operate across space, time, and organizational boundaries with members who communicate mainly through electronic technologies.

Multidisciplinary Anchor

The OB anchor based on the idea that the field should draw on knowledge from other disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology.

Systematic Research Anchor

The anchor involving the use of the scientific method to collect information and test hypotheses to systematically understand previous events.

Contingency Anchor

The principle that a particular action may have different consequences in different situations, meaning no single solution is best in all circumstances.

Multiple Levels of Analysis Anchor

The principle that organizational events should be studied from three levels: individual, team, and organizational.

Open Systems Anchor

The anchor that views organizations as entities that interact with their environment to acquire resources like raw materials, employees, and information.

Knowledge Management

A structured activity that improves an organization's capacity to acquire, share, and utilize knowledge to enhance survival and success.

Intellectual Capital

The knowledge that resides in an organization, consisting of human capital, structural capital, and customer capital.

Human Capital

The knowledge based on the skills, experience, and creativity of an organization's employees.

Organisational Learning

The process through which organizations develop their capacity to acquire, share, and utilize knowledge for survival and success.