Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour? 1
CHAPTER OUTLINE
The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
Defining Organizational Behaviour
What Do We Mean by Organization?
OB Is for Everyone
Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study
Big Data
Disciplines That Contribute to the OB Field
The Building Blocks of OB
The Rigour of OB
OB Has Few Absolutes
OB Takes a Contingency Approach
Challenges and Opportunities in the Canadian Workplace
Economic Pressures
Continuing Globalization
Understanding Workforce Diversity
Customer Service
People Skills
Networked Organizations
Social Media
Enhancing Employee Well-Being at Work
Creating a Positive Work Environment
Ethical Behaviour
Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model
An Overview
Inputs
Processes
Outcomes
Summary
OB at Work
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Canada Inc.
, Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour? 2
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.
2. Define organizational behavior (OB).
3. Show the value to OB of systematic study.
4. Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB.
5. Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.
6. Identify managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.
7. Compare the three levels of analysis in this text’s OB model.
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS
This chapter demonstrates the practical value of OB concepts, defines the field, and identifies
current topics in OB. The chapter begins by citing evidence that the workplace of the twenty-first
centuries requires individuals who will take on more responsibility and who also want more out
of their jobs. The chapter also presents evidence showing that managing well makes a difference.
The authors discuss how the systematic study of OB uses scientific evidence to attribute causes
and effects. OB studies individuals, groups, and structure to understand human behaviour and its
link to organizational effectiveness. The chapter takes a detailed look at the current challenges in
the Canadian workplace. The chapter concludes with a general model that defines the field of
OB.
STUDY QUESTIONS
It is impossible to cover all the material contained in the chapter during one or two lectures. To
deal with this problem, I present my students with a list of study questions to indicate what
material they will be responsible for on exams. I tell them that they will be responsible for these,
even if the material is not covered in class. I have found that this reduces anxiety overall, and I
find it helps to make students aware that not everything in a chapter is required material. I realize
instructors vary in their approach, so this is simply my approach.
My study questions for this chapter are:
What is OB?
How does OB make sense of behaviour?
What is empowerment?
What does it mean to say that OB takes a contingency approach?
What are the challenges for OB in the 21st century?
Skills for the New Workplace
What is the “Competing Values Framework”?
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Canada Inc.
, Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour? 3
What kinds of skills does the Competing Values Framework suggest are useful for
individuals to have?
How do these skills link up with the activities and needs of today’s organizations?
SUGGESTED TEACHING PLAN
I spend two days covering this material.
On the opening day of class, I mainly take the students through the syllabus, outlining topics,
expectations and test (and other important) dates. I introduce them to the basics of OB. I then ask
the students to form groups of about 6. These small groups are instructed to develop interview
questions that they will then pose to me. After giving the students 15 minutes to develop their
questions, the interviews begin. Each group asks one question, and when all of the groups have
asked one question, round two begins. Students are told that they may ask any and all questions
about anything, and I will try to answer. We continue the rounds until the questions run out. The
students ask a mixture of course-related and “personal” questions, though they have always been
respectful. I like the exercise because it signals openness at the very start of the term. I remind
them the next day that no one fainted when they asked questions, so they should continue to
participate in class.
On the second day of class, I continue with the introduction to OB material, emphasizing the
Competing Values Framework, which is covered in From Concepts to Skills at the end of the
chapter. Half of my class time would be devoted to doing the Experiential Exercise to help
students understand the Competing Values Framework. I do this to highlight the importance of
acquiring interpersonal skills in order to be a successful employee. Our course has a defined
interpersonal skills component to it, thus the emphasis at the beginning of the course for why
these skills are important.
Be sure to check the Supplemental Material section for additional material that can be used in
class or assigned as homework.
SAMPLE LECTURE OUTLINE
The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
In today’s increasingly competitive and demanding workplace, individuals need to have good
people skills.
Managers may get by on their technical skills for a while, but leadership and communication
skills affect career success.
Teaching Tip: This is a good place to turn to the Experiential Exercise: Developing Interpersonal
Skills. Students could be assigned homework reading of pp. 32-34.
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Canada Inc.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
Defining Organizational Behaviour
What Do We Mean by Organization?
OB Is for Everyone
Complementing Intuition with Systematic Study
Big Data
Disciplines That Contribute to the OB Field
The Building Blocks of OB
The Rigour of OB
OB Has Few Absolutes
OB Takes a Contingency Approach
Challenges and Opportunities in the Canadian Workplace
Economic Pressures
Continuing Globalization
Understanding Workforce Diversity
Customer Service
People Skills
Networked Organizations
Social Media
Enhancing Employee Well-Being at Work
Creating a Positive Work Environment
Ethical Behaviour
Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model
An Overview
Inputs
Processes
Outcomes
Summary
OB at Work
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Canada Inc.
, Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour? 2
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace.
2. Define organizational behavior (OB).
3. Show the value to OB of systematic study.
4. Identify the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB.
5. Demonstrate why few absolutes apply to OB.
6. Identify managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.
7. Compare the three levels of analysis in this text’s OB model.
CHAPTER SYNOPSIS
This chapter demonstrates the practical value of OB concepts, defines the field, and identifies
current topics in OB. The chapter begins by citing evidence that the workplace of the twenty-first
centuries requires individuals who will take on more responsibility and who also want more out
of their jobs. The chapter also presents evidence showing that managing well makes a difference.
The authors discuss how the systematic study of OB uses scientific evidence to attribute causes
and effects. OB studies individuals, groups, and structure to understand human behaviour and its
link to organizational effectiveness. The chapter takes a detailed look at the current challenges in
the Canadian workplace. The chapter concludes with a general model that defines the field of
OB.
STUDY QUESTIONS
It is impossible to cover all the material contained in the chapter during one or two lectures. To
deal with this problem, I present my students with a list of study questions to indicate what
material they will be responsible for on exams. I tell them that they will be responsible for these,
even if the material is not covered in class. I have found that this reduces anxiety overall, and I
find it helps to make students aware that not everything in a chapter is required material. I realize
instructors vary in their approach, so this is simply my approach.
My study questions for this chapter are:
What is OB?
How does OB make sense of behaviour?
What is empowerment?
What does it mean to say that OB takes a contingency approach?
What are the challenges for OB in the 21st century?
Skills for the New Workplace
What is the “Competing Values Framework”?
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Canada Inc.
, Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour? 3
What kinds of skills does the Competing Values Framework suggest are useful for
individuals to have?
How do these skills link up with the activities and needs of today’s organizations?
SUGGESTED TEACHING PLAN
I spend two days covering this material.
On the opening day of class, I mainly take the students through the syllabus, outlining topics,
expectations and test (and other important) dates. I introduce them to the basics of OB. I then ask
the students to form groups of about 6. These small groups are instructed to develop interview
questions that they will then pose to me. After giving the students 15 minutes to develop their
questions, the interviews begin. Each group asks one question, and when all of the groups have
asked one question, round two begins. Students are told that they may ask any and all questions
about anything, and I will try to answer. We continue the rounds until the questions run out. The
students ask a mixture of course-related and “personal” questions, though they have always been
respectful. I like the exercise because it signals openness at the very start of the term. I remind
them the next day that no one fainted when they asked questions, so they should continue to
participate in class.
On the second day of class, I continue with the introduction to OB material, emphasizing the
Competing Values Framework, which is covered in From Concepts to Skills at the end of the
chapter. Half of my class time would be devoted to doing the Experiential Exercise to help
students understand the Competing Values Framework. I do this to highlight the importance of
acquiring interpersonal skills in order to be a successful employee. Our course has a defined
interpersonal skills component to it, thus the emphasis at the beginning of the course for why
these skills are important.
Be sure to check the Supplemental Material section for additional material that can be used in
class or assigned as homework.
SAMPLE LECTURE OUTLINE
The Importance of Interpersonal Skills
In today’s increasingly competitive and demanding workplace, individuals need to have good
people skills.
Managers may get by on their technical skills for a while, but leadership and communication
skills affect career success.
Teaching Tip: This is a good place to turn to the Experiential Exercise: Developing Interpersonal
Skills. Students could be assigned homework reading of pp. 32-34.
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Canada Inc.
