Intro to OB

Patterns of influence

1. Influence of individual on group and organization 2. Also, influence of group and organization on individual

OB is

1. Systematic: behavior is not random, ie attempting to attribute cause and effect 2. Multidisciplinary:contributions from psychology, sociology, anthropology 3. Applied: goals; increase effectiveness of org. increase the well being of individuals in orgs. how? Understand, Predict, Change (UPC)

Apply to OB

1. Use your instuitions to guide what questions to ask 2. Recognize that your intuitions may be wrong 3. Supplement your intuition with systematic approach to analyzing human behavior in

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about the relationship between two or more variables.

Briefly (8-10 words or fewer) describe one tip for performing well on your next interview based on an application of OB theory and research.

Be versatile to new ideas and be organized to help adapt to changes.

A pattern of behavior in an organization such as an increase in absenteeism over the past 3 years can typically be explained based on only one or (at most) two causes.

False

A researcher conducts a study to investigate the effects of employee benefits on employee performance. She introduces two different benefits packages to separate divisions of the company, one that allows employees to choose among a menu of benefits options and another that does not (i.e., fixed package). She then measures employee performance in these two benefits conditions for the next 6 months. In this example, employee benefits would be the ______and employee performance would be the ______.

Independent variable; dependent variable

Kayla, who has no experience selling paper, has just joined the Munder Difflin sales team. She is bright, outgoing, somewhat disorganized, goal-oriented, quick-tempered, and likes to learn new things. Policies and procedures at Munder Difflin have not changed for over 30 years, no sales manual exists for new employees, and her sales colleagues are highly competitive. Which of the following is an example of a Òperson factorÓ that could affect Kayla's job performance?

Kayla has no experience selling paper

Which of the following is true about organizational behavior (OB)?

OB is both research and application oriented

Theory

Scientific explanation that connects and organizes existing observations and suggests fruitful paths for future research

Briefly (no more than one sentence) explain what is meant by the phrase, "behavior is multiply determined".

This means that multiple causal forces often work together to influence a single specific instance of behavior.

According to your textbook, using only one's "common sense" to make managerial decisions is an approach that fails to apply an analytical and effortful consideration of the problem and its causes.

True

Extraneous Variable

Variable unrelated to study hypotheses that researcher wishes to control

Variable

a characteristic or value that can change

On which of the following problems would an OB study be least likely to focus?

a decrease in sales due to growing foreign competition

The average of the Quiz 1 scores for this class would be an example of _____, while a T-test examining the possibility of a difference between male vs. female scores on the quiz would be an example of _____.

a descriptive statistic; an inferential statistic

Person X Situation Interaction

behavior is a function of factors residing within the person, interacting with factors residing in the environment. The behavioral outcome depends upon some characteristic of the person combined with some aspect of the situation Purpose: it allows us to more accurately and systematically understand, predict, and change behavior

Person Factors

factors within the person that can influence behavior. (personal traits, motives, attitudes)

Situation Factors

factors within the situation that can influence behavior refers to a broad set of possible factors in our environment that can influence behavior (physical and social)

Organizational Behavior

field of study that seeks to better understand behavior in organizational settings

3 causes of behavior

person factors, situation factors, P x S interactions suggest that one should consider the relative contributions of P and S and the possibility that these may interact

Soft skills are ______; they are more or less relevant in every job, at every level, and throughout your career.

portable

correlation coefficient

single value that describes the degree of relationship between two variables

Descriptive Stat

statistics that describe the characteristics of a particular phenomena/variable (ie mean)

Inferential Stat

statistics that measure the strength of association between two variables (ie correlation)

Independent Variable

variable manipulated by a reseacrher to examine its causal relationship to another variable CAUSE

Dependent Variable

variable researcher measures to determine the effect of the independent var EFFECT