Chapter 1
Solution Manual For
Organizational Behaviour Improving Performance And Commitment In The Workplace 6CE By Jason
A. Colquitt, Jeffery A. LePine, Michael J. Wesson, Ian Gellatly, Dana Kabat-Farr © 2025
Chapter 1-15
Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour?
NOTE FROM THE CANADIAN AUTHORS
My name is Ian Gellatly (University of Alberta), and together with my Canadian coauthor Dana
Kabat-Farr (Dalhousie University), we are responsible for the 6th Canadian edition of Colquitt,
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
1
, Chapter 1
LePine, and Wesson‘s textbook Organizational Behaviour: Improving Performance and
Commitment in the Workplace. I want to encourage Canadian adopters to reach out to me if I
can help in any way with the book. I enjoy corresponding with adopters very much, so please
do not hesitate to reach out to me. My email address is .
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Organizational behaviour is a field of study devoted to understanding and explaining the
attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations. The two primary outcomes
of organizational behaviour are job performance and organizational commitment. This chapter
explores the factors that affect these outcomes, and shows how scientific studies provide
evidence that good organizational behaviour policies are linked to employee productivity, firm
profitability, and even firm survival. This chapter also shows how we ―know what we know‖
about organizational behaviour by describing the scientific research process.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
1.1 What is the definition of ―organizational behaviour‖ (OB)?
1.2 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
1.3 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
1.4 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
1.5 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
1.6 How are correlations interpreted?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR?
Try This!: Open the very first class by asking students to picture their worst co-worker ever
and to list the things that person did to earn ―worst co-worker‖ status. Then have them do the
same with the best co-worker ever, listing the things that person did to earn ―best co-worker‖
status. Both lists should be written on the board, a process that will result in a table similar to
Table 1-1. Then get them to understand the importance of explaining why the two people act so
differently. That process of explanation is what OB is all about.
Organizational Behaviour Defined
Organizational behaviour is a field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and
ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations
Role of Management Theory
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
2
, Chapter 1
Organizational behaviour is a field of study that has an important historical context, and has
evolved from several historical movements and landmark studies—including Scientific
Management and the Human Relations movement.
An Integrative Model of OB
1. Provides a roadmap for the field of organizational behaviour, and shows how different
chapters in the text are related
2. Individual Outcomes – These are the two primary goals of organizational behaviour:
a. Job Performance (Chapter 2) – how well employees do on the job
b. Organizational Commitment (Chapter 3) – how likely employees are to remain
with an organization. Employee retention is a huge issue for many Canadian
firms.
3. Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms – These directly affect job performance
and organizational commitment
a. Personality, Cultural Values, and Ability (Chapter 4) – describe various
individual traits and characteristics that say what we are like and what we can
do
b. Job Satisfaction (Chapter 5) – what employees feel about their work
c. Stress and Well-Being (Chapter 6) – psychological responses to job demands
that tax or exceed an employee‘s capabilities, and ways of coping effectively
to promote physical and psychological health
d. Motivation (Chapter 7) – energetic forces that drive an employee‘s work
e. Trust, Justice, and Ethics (Chapter 8) – degree to which employees feel that
their company does business with fairness, honesty, and integrity
f. Learning and Decision Making (Chapter 9) – how employees gain job
knowledge and use that knowledge to make decisions
4. Relational Mechanisms – These affect and provide a context for the individual
mechanisms mentioned above
a. Communication (Chapter 10) – describe the communication process as well as
the different mediums information is exchanged within organizations; formal
and informal communication networks
b. Team Characteristics, Diversity, and Processes (Chapter 11) – the qualities that
teams possess, including norms, roles, and the way team members depend on
and relate to each other; understanding how diversity works within teams; also,
how teams behave with regard to task work, teamwork, cooperation, and
managing conflict
c. Power, Influence, and Negotiation (Chapter 12) – the process by which
individuals gain authority over other individuals
d. Leader Styles and Behaviours (Chapter 13) – describes the specific actions
leaders take to influence others at work
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
3
, Chapter 1
5. Organizational Mechanisms – Also affect individual mechanisms, because they
influence the environment in which work is done
a. Organizational Structure (Chapter 14) – shows how various units within an
organization communicate; how an organization coordinates human activity
b. Organization Culture and Change (Chapter 15) – describes the shared rules,
norms, and values that shape behaviour for organizational employees, and how
to change or manage cultures
2. DOES ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MATTER?
OB Internationally.
This feature is a valuable tool to help students understand how the relationships among OB
concepts, and their applications, varies across cultures. A good way to begin discussing
international issues in Chapter 1 is to ask students to describe their international experiences.
How many students are international students? How many were born or raised in another
country prior to moving to Canada? How many have lived or worked abroad? How many have
gone abroad on study trips or vacations? Once you‘ve gotten a feel for the experience levels of
the class, ask students if they believe that the importance of the concepts in the integrative
model of OB will vary across cultures, or whether their importance will be universal. If they
believe the importance varies, should multinational corporations design their OB policies to
function differently at different branches? What are the pluses and minuses of such a strategy?
Building a Conceptual Argument
1. Resource-based view of organizations – looks at what makes resources capable of
creating long-term profits for a firm
2. Resources are considered to be more valuable when they are:
a. Rare – ―good people are hard to find‖
b. Inimitable – people are difficult to imitate for three reasons:
i. History – people have a collective pool of experience, wisdom, and
knowledge that benefits the organization
ii. Numerous Small Decisions – big decisions are easy to copy—it is the
small decisions that people make day-in and day-out that are significant
for an organization
Try This! Ask students to think of all the times when one company copied a big
decision made by another. For example, consider when Microsoft decided to open
retail stores in Canada that were designed to mimic the look and feel of Apple
Stores at that time. What are some examples of times where that copying has
proven successful? What are some examples of times when that copying seem to
be successful? What explains those differences in copying success?
iii. Socially Complex Resources – resources like culture, teamwork, trust
and reputation come from the social dynamics of a given firm in a given
time
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
4
Solution Manual For
Organizational Behaviour Improving Performance And Commitment In The Workplace 6CE By Jason
A. Colquitt, Jeffery A. LePine, Michael J. Wesson, Ian Gellatly, Dana Kabat-Farr © 2025
Chapter 1-15
Chapter 1: What Is Organizational Behaviour?
NOTE FROM THE CANADIAN AUTHORS
My name is Ian Gellatly (University of Alberta), and together with my Canadian coauthor Dana
Kabat-Farr (Dalhousie University), we are responsible for the 6th Canadian edition of Colquitt,
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
1
, Chapter 1
LePine, and Wesson‘s textbook Organizational Behaviour: Improving Performance and
Commitment in the Workplace. I want to encourage Canadian adopters to reach out to me if I
can help in any way with the book. I enjoy corresponding with adopters very much, so please
do not hesitate to reach out to me. My email address is .
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
Organizational behaviour is a field of study devoted to understanding and explaining the
attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations. The two primary outcomes
of organizational behaviour are job performance and organizational commitment. This chapter
explores the factors that affect these outcomes, and shows how scientific studies provide
evidence that good organizational behaviour policies are linked to employee productivity, firm
profitability, and even firm survival. This chapter also shows how we ―know what we know‖
about organizational behaviour by describing the scientific research process.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:
1.1 What is the definition of ―organizational behaviour‖ (OB)?
1.2 What are the two primary outcomes in studies of OB?
1.3 What factors affect the two primary OB outcomes?
1.4 Why might firms that are good at OB tend to be more profitable?
1.5 What is the role of theory in the scientific method?
1.6 How are correlations interpreted?
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR?
Try This!: Open the very first class by asking students to picture their worst co-worker ever
and to list the things that person did to earn ―worst co-worker‖ status. Then have them do the
same with the best co-worker ever, listing the things that person did to earn ―best co-worker‖
status. Both lists should be written on the board, a process that will result in a table similar to
Table 1-1. Then get them to understand the importance of explaining why the two people act so
differently. That process of explanation is what OB is all about.
Organizational Behaviour Defined
Organizational behaviour is a field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and
ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups in organizations
Role of Management Theory
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
2
, Chapter 1
Organizational behaviour is a field of study that has an important historical context, and has
evolved from several historical movements and landmark studies—including Scientific
Management and the Human Relations movement.
An Integrative Model of OB
1. Provides a roadmap for the field of organizational behaviour, and shows how different
chapters in the text are related
2. Individual Outcomes – These are the two primary goals of organizational behaviour:
a. Job Performance (Chapter 2) – how well employees do on the job
b. Organizational Commitment (Chapter 3) – how likely employees are to remain
with an organization. Employee retention is a huge issue for many Canadian
firms.
3. Individual Characteristics and Mechanisms – These directly affect job performance
and organizational commitment
a. Personality, Cultural Values, and Ability (Chapter 4) – describe various
individual traits and characteristics that say what we are like and what we can
do
b. Job Satisfaction (Chapter 5) – what employees feel about their work
c. Stress and Well-Being (Chapter 6) – psychological responses to job demands
that tax or exceed an employee‘s capabilities, and ways of coping effectively
to promote physical and psychological health
d. Motivation (Chapter 7) – energetic forces that drive an employee‘s work
e. Trust, Justice, and Ethics (Chapter 8) – degree to which employees feel that
their company does business with fairness, honesty, and integrity
f. Learning and Decision Making (Chapter 9) – how employees gain job
knowledge and use that knowledge to make decisions
4. Relational Mechanisms – These affect and provide a context for the individual
mechanisms mentioned above
a. Communication (Chapter 10) – describe the communication process as well as
the different mediums information is exchanged within organizations; formal
and informal communication networks
b. Team Characteristics, Diversity, and Processes (Chapter 11) – the qualities that
teams possess, including norms, roles, and the way team members depend on
and relate to each other; understanding how diversity works within teams; also,
how teams behave with regard to task work, teamwork, cooperation, and
managing conflict
c. Power, Influence, and Negotiation (Chapter 12) – the process by which
individuals gain authority over other individuals
d. Leader Styles and Behaviours (Chapter 13) – describes the specific actions
leaders take to influence others at work
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
3
, Chapter 1
5. Organizational Mechanisms – Also affect individual mechanisms, because they
influence the environment in which work is done
a. Organizational Structure (Chapter 14) – shows how various units within an
organization communicate; how an organization coordinates human activity
b. Organization Culture and Change (Chapter 15) – describes the shared rules,
norms, and values that shape behaviour for organizational employees, and how
to change or manage cultures
2. DOES ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MATTER?
OB Internationally.
This feature is a valuable tool to help students understand how the relationships among OB
concepts, and their applications, varies across cultures. A good way to begin discussing
international issues in Chapter 1 is to ask students to describe their international experiences.
How many students are international students? How many were born or raised in another
country prior to moving to Canada? How many have lived or worked abroad? How many have
gone abroad on study trips or vacations? Once you‘ve gotten a feel for the experience levels of
the class, ask students if they believe that the importance of the concepts in the integrative
model of OB will vary across cultures, or whether their importance will be universal. If they
believe the importance varies, should multinational corporations design their OB policies to
function differently at different branches? What are the pluses and minuses of such a strategy?
Building a Conceptual Argument
1. Resource-based view of organizations – looks at what makes resources capable of
creating long-term profits for a firm
2. Resources are considered to be more valuable when they are:
a. Rare – ―good people are hard to find‖
b. Inimitable – people are difficult to imitate for three reasons:
i. History – people have a collective pool of experience, wisdom, and
knowledge that benefits the organization
ii. Numerous Small Decisions – big decisions are easy to copy—it is the
small decisions that people make day-in and day-out that are significant
for an organization
Try This! Ask students to think of all the times when one company copied a big
decision made by another. For example, consider when Microsoft decided to open
retail stores in Canada that were designed to mimic the look and feel of Apple
Stores at that time. What are some examples of times where that copying has
proven successful? What are some examples of times when that copying seem to
be successful? What explains those differences in copying success?
iii. Socially Complex Resources – resources like culture, teamwork, trust
and reputation come from the social dynamics of a given firm in a given
time
© McGraw Hill LLC. 2025, Organizational Behaviour, 6ce
4
