mgt 301 chapter 1 (book)

systematic research, multidisciplinary, contingency, multiple levels of analysis

OB relies on a set of basic beliefs or knowledge structures - these conceptual anchors represent the principles on which OB knowledge is developed and defined -- (4)

intellectual capital

a company's stock of knowledge, including human capital, structural capital, and relationship capital

organizations

a key feature is that members have a collective sense of purpose

organizations

a key feature is that they are collective entities. all members have degrees of interdependence; they accomplish goals by sharing materials, information, or expertise with coworkers

open systems

a perspective that holds that organizations depend on the external environment for resources, affect that environment through their output, and consist of internal subsystems that transform inputs to outputs

knowledge

a resource or asset, called intellectual capital

bringing in from external environment formally or informally, environmental scanning, hire skilled staff and buy complementary businesses, experimentation

acquiring knowledge tactics -- (4)

diversity

advantages -- teams make better decisions in complex situations and are able to better recognize and address community needs

remote work

an arrangement which involves performing most job duties at client sites throughout the day

coordinate

an important feature of an effective transformation process is how well the internal subsystems ... with each other - organizations consist of people working together to achieve collective goals

acquiring, sharing, using, and storing

an organizations's intellectual capital develops and is maintained through four organizational learning process -- (4)

multiple levels of analysis

anchor: OB recognizes that what goes on in organizations can be placed into three levels of analysis: individual team, and organization. most variables are understood best by thinking of them from all three levels of analysis

contingency

anchor: a single outcome or solution rarely exists

multidisciplinary

anchor: import knowledge from other disciplines, not just create its own knowledge

contingency

anchor: people are their work environments are complex, and the field of OB recognizes this by stating that the effect of one variable on another variable often depends on characteristics of the situation or people involved

contingency

anchor: recognize that the effectiveness f an action may depend on the situation

systematic research

anchor: study organziations using systematic research methods

multidisciplinary

anchor: the field should welcome theories and knowledge from other disciplines, not just from its own isolated research base

multiple levels of analysis

anchor: understand OB events from three levels of analysis: individual team, organization

values

are relatively stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences for outcomes or courses of action in a variety of situations - help us know what is right or wrong

open systems

as ..., organizations depend on the external environment for resources, including raw materials, job applicants, financial resources, information, and equipment

structural

capital - knolwedge captured and retained in an organization's systems and structures, such as documented work procedures, physical layout of production and office space, and thee finished produces

human

capital - refers to the knowledge, skills, and abilities that employees carry around in their heads [competitive advantage]

relationship

capital - value derived from an organization's relationships with customers, suppliers, and others who provide added mutual value for the organization [goodwill, brand image, and combination or relationships that organizational members have with people outside the organization]

employee involvement, job autonomy, competency development, and rewards for performance and competencies

companies build human capital through four of the best known high performance work practices -- (4)

corporate social responsibility

consists of organizational activities intended to benefit society and the environment beyond the firm's immediate financial interest or legal obligations - view that companies have a contract with society, in which they must serve stakeholders beyond stockholders and customers

diversity

disadvantages -- employees with diverse backgrounds usually take longer to perform effectively together because they experience numerous communication problems and create 'faultiness' in informal group dynamics. it can also increase the risk of dysfunctional conflict

adam smith

discussed the benefits of job specialization and division of labor

deep level diversity

diversity also includes differences in personalities, beliefs, values, and attitudes - we can't directly see this, but its evident in a person's choices, words, and actions

yes

do companies with higher levels of employee engagement have higher sales and profitability?

yes

do personal values influence how corporate boards and CEOs allocate organizational resources to stakeholders?

yes

do telecommuters usually experience better work life balance because they have more time and somewhat more control to juggle work with family obligations ?

yes

does generational deep level diversity exist to some extent but tends to be subtler than the popular press would suggest? [more about age]

transformation

effective organizations have a .... process that does well at converting inputs to outputs

information technology

enables employers and others to easily and quickly communicate with employees beyond their traditional workday

confucius

extolled the virtues of ethics and leadership

technological change, globalization, emerging employment relationships, increasing workforce diversity

four environmental developments facing organizations -- (4)

organizations

groups of people who work interdendently toward some purpose - many exist with neither physical walls nor government documentation to confer their legal status

yes

has OB research debunked some ideas that people thought were 'common sense'

information technology

has created challenges - such as tethering people to their jobs for longer hours, reducing their attention spans at work, and increasing techno-stress

telecommuting

has several disadvantages: social isolation, less word of mouth information, lower team cohesion and weaker organizational culture

improve behavior and performance, adapt better to rapidly changing environments, strengthen employee motivation and positive attitudes toward the employer

high performance work practices improve an organization's effectiveness in three ways -- (3)

grafting

hire skilled staff and buy complementary businesses to acquire knowledge

influence organization events, comprehend and predict work events, adopt more accurate personal theories

importance of organizational behavior -- (3)

stakeholders

include organizations, groups, and other entities that affect, or are affected by, the company's objectives and actions

globalization

increases competitive pressure to worker longer and creates a 24-hour schedule because co workers, suppliers, and clients work in different time zones

adaptability

indicator of effective internal subsystems -- organizations need to adapt to their external environment, and this usually includes a transformation process that adapts to new products and sometimes new ways of making those products

efficiency, adaptability, innovativeness

indicators of an effective transformation process -- (3)

human, structural, relationship

intellectual capital exists in three forms -- (3)

innovativeness

involves designing products and work processes that are superior to what competitors can offer

yes

is telecommuting good for productivity because it lowers work life balance tension ?

systematic research investigation

is the basis for evidence based management - making decisions and taking actions guided by research evidence

yes

is there considerable debate about whether globalization benefits developing nations and the extent to twhich it is responsible for increasing work intensification, reduced job secuity, and poor wokr life balance in developed countries?

organizational learning

jack welch, 'an organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage'

mental map, sufficient prerequisite knowledge and skills, autonomy

knowledge is a competitive advantage only when it is applied to improve organizational process. to use knowledge, employees need -- (3)

learning orientation

knowledge use flourishes where workplace norms strongly support organizational learning

frederick winslow taylor

man that proposed systematic ways to organize work processes and motivate employees through goal setting and rewards

work life balance

one of the most important employment issues over the past decade - occurs when people are able to minimize conflict between their work and nonwork demands

information technology

one of the most significant forms of technological change in recent times -- gives employees a stronger voice through direct communication with executives and broader distribution of their opinions to coworkers and beyond

adapt to the environment, influence the environment, move to a more favorable environment

organizations maintain a good environmental fit in three ways -- (3)

stakeholder

perspective - incorporates values, ethics, and corporate social responsibility into the organizational effectiveness equation

open systems

perspective - inside the organization are numerous subsystems, such as departments, teams, informal groups, information systems, and technological processes

open systems

perspective - throughout the process, organizations receive feedback from the external environment regarding the value of their outputs, the availability of future inputs, and the appropriateness of the transformation process

organizational effectiveness

perspective - ultimate dependent variable in organizational behavior, so it is directly or indirectly predicted by all other OB vairables

stakeholder

perspective offers more specific information and guidance by focusing on the organization's relationships with stakeholders

stakeholder

perspective personalizes the open systems perspective; it identifies specific social entities in the external environment as well as employees and others within the organization

open systems

perspective views organizations as complex organisms that 'live' within an external environment

high performance work practices

perspective-- states that organizations become more effective thorugh workplace practices that enhance human capital. motivated and skilled employees offer competitve advantage by generating more efficient, adaptive, and innovative transformation of inputs to outputs, by providing better sensitivity to the external environment, and by having better relations with key stakeholders

organizational learning

perspective: takes the view that organizations are effective when they find ways to acquire, share, use, and store knolwedge

influencing

probably the greatest value of OB knowledge is that it helps us get things done in the workplace by ... organizational events

storing knowledge

process of retaining knowledge

sharing knowledge

refers to distributing knowledge throughout the organization - through informal or formal communication with coworkers as well as through various forms of in house learning

globalization

refers to economic, social, and cultural connectivity with people in other parts of the world - organizations globalize when they actively participate in other countries and cultures

ethics

refers to the study of moral priciples or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad. we rely on these values to determine 'the right thing to do' - driven by moral principles we use to make decisions

unlearning

removes knowledge that no longer adds value and may undermine the organization's effectiveness

dynamic

stakeholder perspective recognizes that stakeholder relations are ...; they can be negotiated and influenced, not just taken as a fixed condition.

organizational memory

storing / retaining knowledge

telecommunicting

the best known form of remote work - whereby information technology enables employees to work from home one or more workdays per month rather than commute to the office

open systems, organizational learning, high performance work practices, and stakeholders

the best yardstick of organizational effectiveness is a composite of four perspectives -- (4)

efficiency

the most common indicator of effective internal subsystems -- produce more goods or services with less labor, materials, and energy

surface level diversity

the observable demographic and other overt differences among members of a group, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, age, and physical capabilities [has increased significantly over the past few decades]

good fit

the open systems perspective states that organizations are effective when they maintain a ... with their external environment -- exists when the organization's inputs, processes, and outputs are aligned with the resources available in the external environment as well as with the needs and expectations of that environment

evidence based management

the practice of making decisions and taking actions based on research evidence

organizational behavior

the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations

open, closed

the word ... describes the permeable relationship, whereas ... systems operated without dependence on or interaction with external environment

deep level diversity

this is revealed when employees have different perceptions and attitudes about the same situation and when they form like minded informal social groups

systematic research

typically involves forming research questions, systematically collecting data, and testing hypotheses against those data

bombarded with ideas from reports, good OB research is generic, sources are rewarded for marketing their ideas, not testing them, humans are affected by perceptual errors and decision making biases

why decision makers don't consistently apply evidence based management -- (4)

max webber

wrote about rational organizations, the work ethic, and charismatic leadership

plato

wrote about the essence of leadership