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Organizational Behavior

Core Concepts and Units:  

• Psychology: Studies the mind and behavior scientifically. In relation to OB, psychology helps to understand individual behavior within organizations.
• Sociology: Examines the structure and functioning of societies and social groups. In organizations, it assists OB by assessing how culture affects group behavior.
• Social Psychology: Talks about the behavior of individuals, their feelings, and thought processes. In organizational behavior, social psychology focuses on team dynamics.
• Anthropology: Is the science of human beings and human societies. Concerning OB, anthropology examines the culture of organizations and explains how organizations manage cross-cultural diversity and adapt to global scenarios.
• Economics: Helps to understand the effective allocation and utilization of scarce resources, as well as how firms operate in an economic environment. In OB, principles and theories of economics help in framing cost-effective strategies and designing reward systems.
• Political Science: Studies government, politics, and the use of power in society. About organizations and OB, it helps to understand the distribution of power within organizations.

 

Unit 1: Introduction to Organizational Behavior

• Organizational Behavior (OB): Studies the interaction between individuals and groups within an organization, and how these interactions influence the organization's performance.
• Nature of OB:
• Distinct field of study focusing on behavioral approach to managing people.
• Predictive and causal approach, aiming to understand cause-and-effect relationships.
• Multi-disciplinary, influenced by psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.
• Both a science (systematic study) and an art (application of knowledge).
• Rational and humanistic, valuing both reasoning and human feelings.
• Scope of OB:
• Individual Behavior (personality, attitudes, perception, motivation, learning).
• Group Dynamics (communication, leadership, team building, conflict management).
• Organizational Structure (hierarchy, formal/informal structures, adaptability).
• External Environment (economic conditions, globalization, regulatory changes).
• Importance of OB:
• Understanding and predicting human behavior.
• Stimulating organizational effectiveness.
• Improving interpersonal relationships.
• Enhancing leadership skills.
• Elements of OB:
• People (individuals and groups).
• Structure (formal organization, roles, responsibilities).
• Technology (tools and methods used).
• Environment (internal and external factors).
• Disciplines Contributing to OB:
• Psychology (individual behavior, motivation).
• Sociology (group dynamics, organizational culture).
• Social Psychology (team dynamics, communication).
• Anthropology (organizational culture, cross-cultural management).
• Economics (resource allocation, reward systems).
• Political Science (power, politics, decision-making).

Unit 2: Evolution and Approaches to Organizational Behavior

• History of OB:
• Industrial Revolution: Early concerns for employee welfare (Robert Owen).
• Weber's Concept of Bureaucracy: Formal structures, hierarchy, rules.
• Scientific Management (Frederick Taylor): Efficiency, time-and-motion studies.
• Theory of Administration (Henri Fayol): 14 principles of management, 5 management functions.
• Human Relations Movement: Emphasis on employee cooperation and morale.
• Hawthorne Studies: Importance of social and psychological factors on productivity.
• Approaches to OB:
• Classical Approach:
• Bureaucratic Management (Max Weber): Hierarchy, rules, formalization.
• Scientific Management (Taylor): Efficiency, task specialization, monetary motivation.
• Administrative Management (Fayol): Management principles and functions.
• Neo-Classical Approach:
• Human Relations Approach (Elton Mayo): Social and psychological factors, employee satisfaction.
• Human Resource Approach: Focus on human potential, motivation, and participation.
• Modern Approach:
• System Approach: Organization as an interconnected system.
• Contingency Approach: Decisions based on situations, adaptability.
• Various OB Models:
• Autocratic Model: Power-based, top-down authority.
• Custodial Model: Security and benefits-focused.
• Supportive Model: Leadership support, employee development.
• Collegial Model: Partnership, teamwork, shared responsibility.
• System Model: Interdependence, holistic view of the organization.

Unit 3: Opportunities and Challenges to Organizational Behavior

• Opportunities for Organizational Behavior:
• Developing Skills (upskilling, cross-skilling, reskilling).
• Navigating Diversity in the Workforce.
• Enhancing Customer Service (understanding customer needs).
• Improving Quality and Productivity.
• Adapting to Globalization.
• Fostering Innovation and Embracing Change.
• Conflict Resolution.
• Challenges for Organizational Behavior:
• Improving Ethical Behavior.
• Improving People Skills.
• Managing People During the Era of Technological Advancements.
• Responding to Economic Pressures.
• Responding to Globalization.
• Managing Workforce Diversity.

Understood. You'd like complete notes on important concepts from the "Textbook - Organizational\_Behavior.pdf" for Units 4 through 12. Here they are:

 

**Unit 4: Abilities, Values, and Attitude**

 

*   **Biographical Attributes:** These are objective and easily obtainable personal characteristics such as age, gender, race, and length of tenure. They can have some influence on work behavior and outcomes.

*   **Ability:** An individual's capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. Includes intellectual abilities (thinking, reasoning) and physical abilities (strength, stamina).

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

*   **Attitude:** Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events. Typically has three components: cognitive (belief), affective (feeling), and behavioral (action).

*   **Organizational Commitment:** The degree to which an employee identifies with a particular organization and its goals and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

*   **Job Satisfaction:** An individual's general attitude toward his or her job.

 

**Unit 5: Personality and Emotions**

 

*   **Personality:** The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others.

*   **Determinants of Personality:** Heredity, environment, and situation.

*   **Locus of Control:** The degree to which people believe they are masters of their own fate. Internal locus (they control their destiny), external locus (outside forces control their destiny).

*   **Theories of Personality:** Trait theories (identify stable characteristics), psychodynamic theories (emphasize unconscious determinants), humanistic theories (focus on individual growth).

*   **Significant Personality Traits:** Affecting Organizational Behavior: Big Five Model (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism), self-esteem, self-monitoring.

*   **Emotions:** Intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.

*   **Emotional Intelligence:** The ability to detect and to manage emotional cues and information.

 

**Unit 6: Perception**

 

*   **Perception:** A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

*   **Importance of Perception:** Behavior is based on perception of what reality is, not on reality itself.

*   **Perception Process:** Involves selecting, organizing, and interpreting stimuli.

*   **Perceptual Selectivity:** People selectively interpret what they see based on their interests, background, experience, and attitudes.

*   **Factors Influencing Perception:** Characteristics of the perceiver, the target, and the situation.

*   **Impression Management:** The process by which individuals attempt to control the impressions others form of them.

*   **Perceptual Errors:** Attribution error, selective perception, halo effect, contrast effects, stereotyping.

 

**Unit 7: Learning and Reinforcement**

 

*   **Learning:** Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

*   **Theories of Learning:** Classical conditioning (Pavlov), operant conditioning (Skinner), social learning theory (Bandura).

*   **Reinforcement:** Anything that strengthens a desired response.

*   **Learning Through Reinforcement:** Positive reinforcement (rewards), negative reinforcement (removal of something unpleasant), punishment (unpleasant consequence), extinction (removal of reinforcement).

*   **Organizational Reward System:** How an organization formally and informally rewards its employees.

*   **Impact of Punishment:** Can suppress behavior but can also lead to negative side effects.

 

**Unit 8: Motivation**

 

*   **Motivation:** The processes that account for an individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.

*   **Characteristics of Motivation:** Intensity, direction, persistence.

*   **Different Motives of Motivation:** Physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualization.

*   **Motivational Approaches:** Needs-based theories, process theories.

*   **Theories of Motivation:**

    *   **Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs:** Physiological, safety, social, esteem, self-actualization.

    *   **Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory:** Hygiene factors (prevent dissatisfaction) and motivators (increase satisfaction).

    *   **McClelland's Theory of Needs:** Need for achievement, need for power, need for affiliation.

    *   **Goal-Setting Theory:** Specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance.

    *   **Self-Determination Theory:** Focuses on the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

    *   **Expectancy Theory:** Motivation depends on expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.

    *   **Equity Theory:** Individuals compare their inputs and outcomes with others.

*   **Motivation in Practice:** Job design, employee involvement, variable-pay programs.

 

**Unit 9: Conflict Management**

 

*   **Understanding Interpersonal Aspects:** Recognizing that conflict often involves emotions and relationships.

*   **Definition and Nature of Conflict:** A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about.

*   **Types of Conflict:** Task conflict, relationship conflict, process conflict.

*   **Sources of Conflict:** Communication, structure, personal variables.

*   **Conflict Management Techniques:** Forcing, problem-solving, avoiding, yielding, compromising.

 

**Unit 10: Stress Management**

 

*   **Understanding Stress:** A dynamic condition in which an individual is confronted with an opportunity, demand, or resource related to what the individual desires and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important.

*   **Causes of Stress:** Environmental factors, organizational factors, personal factors.

*   **Effects of Stress:** Physiological symptoms, psychological symptoms, behavioral symptoms.

*   **Managing Stress:** Individual approaches (time management, physical exercise, relaxation techniques) and organizational approaches (improved communication, employee support programs).

 

**Unit 11: Power & Politics in Organizations**

 

*   **Understanding Power:** The capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A's wishes.

*   **Understanding Politics in Organizations:** Activities that are not required as part of one's formal role in the organization, but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization.

 

**Unit 12: Group Dynamics and Teams**

 

*   **Understanding Groups:** Two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives.

*   **Group Dynamics:** The interacting forces within a group.

*   **Understanding Teams:** Groups whose individual efforts result in performance that is greater than the sum of the individual inputs.