HRM 360

Chapter 1:

• What is Organizational Behavior?

• What is an organization? What are the four assets that define an organization?

o Know and define each asset

• What are the three levels of analysis in Organizational Behaviors?

o What are some examples of topics that can be studied at each level?

• The scientific method:

o What is a hypothesis?

o What is a variable?

▪ What is an independent variable?

▪ What is a dependent variable?

▪ What is the direction of a statistical relationship? What is the sign?

o What is a correlation? How are correlation and causation similar and different? If

given a hypothesis, can you identify the independent variable, the dependent

variable, and the type of the relationship?

o If given a theoretical model with two variables, can you write a hypothesis? Can

you identify the independent and dependent variable

o What are the different research methodologies that are used to study OB (i.e. to

test whether a hypothesis can be supported or not)?

▪ Here is a list of research methods:

1. Case studies

2. Field studies

3. Lab studies

4. Machine learning

5. Meta-analyses

6. Surveys

The below is a list of all the keywords that we covered in this chapter; some of the definitions

below answer some of the above questions; this is to help you have these keywords listed in one

place

• Organizational behavior (OB): The systematic study and application of knowledge

about how individuals and groups act within the organizations where they work.

• Levels of analysis: In OB, includes examining the individual, the group, and the

organization.

• Learning: A relatively permanent change in knowledge or skill produced by experience.

• Retention: The ability to recall or recognize what has been learned over time.

• Memory: The ability to recall information.

• Chunking: The process of taking single pieces of information and grouping them into

larger units.

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• Overlearning: Continued studying and practice after initial proficiency has been

achieved.

• Visual learner: One who processes information by looking at words and diagrams.

• Auditory learners: One who processes information by listening or talking.

• Kinesthetic (tactile) learners: One who processes information by actively engaging with

the material.

• Hypotheses: Tentative guesses or hunches for an expected observation, phenomenon, or

scientific problem that can be tested.

• Variables: Entities that can take on different values.

• Case studies: In-depth descriptions of a single industry or company.

• Field studies: Research conducted in actual organizations. They may include

observation, interviews, surveys, or experiments.

• Experimental design: A study having a group that receives a treatment and a

comparison group that receives no treatment.

• Control group: A group that does not receive any experimental manipulation so it can be

compared to a treatment group.

• Treatment group: A group that receives experimental manipulation.

• Lab study: Research conducted under controlled conditions and may include

observation, interviews, surveys, or experiments.

• Meta-analysis: The process of summarizing research findings from studies on related

topics.

• Surveys: Research tools used to elicit respondents’ reactions to specific questions.

• Reliability: The consistency of measurement.

• Validity: The degree to which a measure captures what it intends to measure.

• Correlations: Measures the strength of the relationship between two variables.

• Causation: The act of making something happen.

• Datum: The term that refers to a single observation.

• Data: The term used to describe multiple observations and is always plural (as if you

were using the word numbers).

• Big data: The volume, variety, velocity, and veracity, or validity of data.

• Descriptive analytics: Approaches focused on understanding what has already

happened.

• Predictive analytics: What is likely to happen based on what we already know.

• Prescriptive analytics: A focus on what should be done in the future based on what we

know.

• Employee engagement: The degree to which employees are fully involved in and

enthusiastic about their work.

• Sustainable business practices: Practices that meet the current needs of businesses

without compromising the needs of future generations.

• Gig economy: The prevalence of temporary employment positions where individuals are

independent contractors rather than employees of organizations.

• Outsourcing: An organization asking an outside organization to perform functions that

could have been performed by itself.

• Offshoring: Refers to some or all of a business process being moved from one country to

another country.