Instructor
Manual
, CHAPTER 1
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading Chapter 1, students should be able to:
LO 1.1 Define organizations and describe their basic characteristics.
LO1.2 Explain the concept and meaning of organizational behaviour.
LO1.3 Describe the goals of organizational behaviour.
LO1.4 Contrast the classical viewpoint of management with that advocated by the human
relations movement.
LO1.5 Describe the contingency approach to management.
LO1.6 Explain what managers do—their roles, activities, agendas for action, and thought
processes.
LO1.7 Describe the six contemporary management concerns facing organizations and
how organizational behaviour can help organizations understand and manage
these concerns.
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND TEACHING NOTES
This first chapter introduces several basic concepts that provide students with a frame of
reference upon which to integrate the more complex topics to come. It is useful to spend
some time explaining just what organizational behaviour is, since students may have
some difficulty in grasping the meaning of this wholly qualitative term. It is also helpful
to explain the differences and relations between organizational behaviour and human
resources management.
What Are Organizations?
Organizations are social inventions for accomplishing common goals through group
effort. There are three important elements of this definition highlighted in the chapter.
Social inventions
There is a fundamental requirement for a coordinated presence of people which is the
essential characteristic of organizations as social inventions. The field of organizational
behaviour is about understanding people and managing them to work effectively.
Goal Accomplishment
The reason organizations exist is to achieve goals. Survival is the overriding goal of all
organizations. The field of organizational behaviour is concerned with how organizations
can survive and adapt to change.
,1-2 Johns/Saks, Organizational Behaviour, Thirteenth Edition
Group Effort
Individuals who function in an organization must be coordinated to achieve goals
efficiently. This coordination is accomplished through group effort. The field of
organizational behaviour is concerned with how to get people to practise effective
teamwork.
What Is Organizational Behaviour?
Organizational behaviour refers to the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups
in organizations. The field of organizational behaviour involves the systematic study of
these attitudes and behaviours.
Human resources management refers to programs, practices, and systems to acquire,
develop, motivate, and retain employees in organizations. Common examples of human
resources practices are recruitment and selection, compensation, and training and
development. Students should be informed of how human resources management is
different from organizational behaviour and how knowledge of organizational behaviour
will help them understand the use and effectiveness of human resource practices as
organizational behaviour provides the theoretical basis for understanding human
resources management.
Why Study Organizational Behaviour?
There are three good reasons to study organizational behaviour.
Organizational Behaviour Is Interesting
We see the subject matter every day, although we may not understand it completely.
Organizational behaviour is interesting because it is about people and human nature.
Organizational Behaviour Is Important
Organizational behaviour is important to managers, employees, and consumers and
understanding it can make us more effective managers, employees, or consumers and
improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Organizational Behaviour Makes a Difference
Effective management and organizational behaviour can provide an organization with a
competitive advantage. Today, the main factor that differentiates organizations is their
workforce or human capital and the most successful organizations are those that
effectively manage their employees. The main factor that differentiates organizations is
their workforce and human capital or the knowledge, skills, and abilities embodied in an
organization’s employees which is strongly and positively related to organizational
performance and is a key determinant of firm performance competitiveness and success.
In addition to human capital, the development of social capital or the social resources
, Chapter 1 Organizational Behaviour and Management 1-3
that individuals obtain from participation in a social structure is also important for
individuals and organizations.
Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that management practices and organizational
behaviour not only influence employee attitudes and behaviour, but also have an effect on
an organization’s effectiveness. Research shows that the best companies to work for are
also among the best performing companies. Thus, organizational behaviour makes a
difference in terms of good management and organizational performance and
competitiveness.
How Much Do You Know About Organizational Behaviour?
Students often make the erroneous assumption that much of organizational behaviour can
be explained by common sense. The problem with this assumption is that what is
common sense to one person may not be to another. This suggests that common sense is
no substitute for the systematic study of organizational behaviour. Management practice
should be based on informed opinion and systematic study, not common sense. Some
discussion of the material in the Appendix can help to show how the systematic study of
organizational behaviour can improve management decision making and practice.
Students can begin to understand these concepts and the importance of systematic study
by answering the six questions in the text and seeing how easy it is to make up answers
that are both true and false.
Goals of Organizational Behaviour
There are three goals of organizational behaviour.
Predicting Organizational Behaviour
Predicting the behaviour of others is an essential requirement of everyday life. Although
some prediction about future behaviour in organizations is possible because of the very
regularity of much behaviour, its accuracy requires systematic study. Through systematic
study, the field of organizational behaviour provides a scientific foundation that helps
improve predictions of organizational events.
Explaining Organizational Behaviour
A second goal of organizational behaviour is to explain events in organizations and why
they occur. It is usually more difficult to explain a behaviour than to predict it, since a
given behaviour may have multiple causes, and the reasons people do things tend to
change over time and circumstances. The ability to understand behaviour is a necessary
prerequisite for effectively managing it.
Managing Organizational Behaviour
Management is defined as the art of getting things accomplished in organizations through
others. If behaviour can be predicted and explained, it can often be managed. If
prediction and explanation constitute analysis, then management constitutes action.
Responding to the information gathered through prediction and explanation helps to
Manual
, CHAPTER 1
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND MANAGEMENT
CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After reading Chapter 1, students should be able to:
LO 1.1 Define organizations and describe their basic characteristics.
LO1.2 Explain the concept and meaning of organizational behaviour.
LO1.3 Describe the goals of organizational behaviour.
LO1.4 Contrast the classical viewpoint of management with that advocated by the human
relations movement.
LO1.5 Describe the contingency approach to management.
LO1.6 Explain what managers do—their roles, activities, agendas for action, and thought
processes.
LO1.7 Describe the six contemporary management concerns facing organizations and
how organizational behaviour can help organizations understand and manage
these concerns.
CHAPTER OUTLINE AND TEACHING NOTES
This first chapter introduces several basic concepts that provide students with a frame of
reference upon which to integrate the more complex topics to come. It is useful to spend
some time explaining just what organizational behaviour is, since students may have
some difficulty in grasping the meaning of this wholly qualitative term. It is also helpful
to explain the differences and relations between organizational behaviour and human
resources management.
What Are Organizations?
Organizations are social inventions for accomplishing common goals through group
effort. There are three important elements of this definition highlighted in the chapter.
Social inventions
There is a fundamental requirement for a coordinated presence of people which is the
essential characteristic of organizations as social inventions. The field of organizational
behaviour is about understanding people and managing them to work effectively.
Goal Accomplishment
The reason organizations exist is to achieve goals. Survival is the overriding goal of all
organizations. The field of organizational behaviour is concerned with how organizations
can survive and adapt to change.
,1-2 Johns/Saks, Organizational Behaviour, Thirteenth Edition
Group Effort
Individuals who function in an organization must be coordinated to achieve goals
efficiently. This coordination is accomplished through group effort. The field of
organizational behaviour is concerned with how to get people to practise effective
teamwork.
What Is Organizational Behaviour?
Organizational behaviour refers to the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups
in organizations. The field of organizational behaviour involves the systematic study of
these attitudes and behaviours.
Human resources management refers to programs, practices, and systems to acquire,
develop, motivate, and retain employees in organizations. Common examples of human
resources practices are recruitment and selection, compensation, and training and
development. Students should be informed of how human resources management is
different from organizational behaviour and how knowledge of organizational behaviour
will help them understand the use and effectiveness of human resource practices as
organizational behaviour provides the theoretical basis for understanding human
resources management.
Why Study Organizational Behaviour?
There are three good reasons to study organizational behaviour.
Organizational Behaviour Is Interesting
We see the subject matter every day, although we may not understand it completely.
Organizational behaviour is interesting because it is about people and human nature.
Organizational Behaviour Is Important
Organizational behaviour is important to managers, employees, and consumers and
understanding it can make us more effective managers, employees, or consumers and
improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency.
Organizational Behaviour Makes a Difference
Effective management and organizational behaviour can provide an organization with a
competitive advantage. Today, the main factor that differentiates organizations is their
workforce or human capital and the most successful organizations are those that
effectively manage their employees. The main factor that differentiates organizations is
their workforce and human capital or the knowledge, skills, and abilities embodied in an
organization’s employees which is strongly and positively related to organizational
performance and is a key determinant of firm performance competitiveness and success.
In addition to human capital, the development of social capital or the social resources
, Chapter 1 Organizational Behaviour and Management 1-3
that individuals obtain from participation in a social structure is also important for
individuals and organizations.
Furthermore, there is increasing evidence that management practices and organizational
behaviour not only influence employee attitudes and behaviour, but also have an effect on
an organization’s effectiveness. Research shows that the best companies to work for are
also among the best performing companies. Thus, organizational behaviour makes a
difference in terms of good management and organizational performance and
competitiveness.
How Much Do You Know About Organizational Behaviour?
Students often make the erroneous assumption that much of organizational behaviour can
be explained by common sense. The problem with this assumption is that what is
common sense to one person may not be to another. This suggests that common sense is
no substitute for the systematic study of organizational behaviour. Management practice
should be based on informed opinion and systematic study, not common sense. Some
discussion of the material in the Appendix can help to show how the systematic study of
organizational behaviour can improve management decision making and practice.
Students can begin to understand these concepts and the importance of systematic study
by answering the six questions in the text and seeing how easy it is to make up answers
that are both true and false.
Goals of Organizational Behaviour
There are three goals of organizational behaviour.
Predicting Organizational Behaviour
Predicting the behaviour of others is an essential requirement of everyday life. Although
some prediction about future behaviour in organizations is possible because of the very
regularity of much behaviour, its accuracy requires systematic study. Through systematic
study, the field of organizational behaviour provides a scientific foundation that helps
improve predictions of organizational events.
Explaining Organizational Behaviour
A second goal of organizational behaviour is to explain events in organizations and why
they occur. It is usually more difficult to explain a behaviour than to predict it, since a
given behaviour may have multiple causes, and the reasons people do things tend to
change over time and circumstances. The ability to understand behaviour is a necessary
prerequisite for effectively managing it.
Managing Organizational Behaviour
Management is defined as the art of getting things accomplished in organizations through
others. If behaviour can be predicted and explained, it can often be managed. If
prediction and explanation constitute analysis, then management constitutes action.
Responding to the information gathered through prediction and explanation helps to
