Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
Instructor Manual
Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter
1: An Overview of Organizational Behavior
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Purpose and Perspective of the Chapter......................................................................2
Chapter Learning Outcomes.........................................................................................2
Chapter Activities and Assessments.............................................................................3
Key Terms.....................................................................................................................3
What's New in This Chapter........................................................................................5
Chapter Outline.............................................................................................................6
Discussion Questions..................................................................................................23
Understand Yourself Exercise....................................................................................25
Group Exercise............................................................................................................25
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 1
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHAPTER
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce organizational behavior as the study of human behavior in
organizational settings and establish its fundamental importance to managerial effectiveness. The chapter
also situates organizational behavior within a broader environmental context, emphasizing organizations
as open systems that are continuously shaped by external forces such as economic conditions,
globalization, technology, and societal change. This chapter provides learners with essential knowledge
about how organizational behavior impacts both personal career success and organizational performance.
Students will explore the basic management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling,
while understanding how these connect to critical management skills, including technical, interpersonal,
conceptual, and diagnostic abilities. The chapter also introduces the growing role of artificial intelligence
(AI) in organizations, underscoring why understanding human behavior, judgment, and leadership
remains essential even as technology reshapes managerial work. The chapter examines strategic contexts,
including cost leadership, differentiation, and specialization strategies, demonstrating how effective
people management creates competitive advantage. Additionally, learners will discover contextual
perspectives, including systems theory and situational approaches, that shape modern organizational
behavior understanding. The chapter concludes by establishing a comprehensive framework for managing
effectiveness through enhancing performance behaviors, promoting employee engagement and
citizenship, while minimizing dysfunctional behaviors to drive strategic execution.
CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES
The following learning outcomes are addressed in this chapter:
1. Describe organizational behavior, including the impact it has on both personal and organizational
success.
2. Identify the basic management functions and essential skills that make up the management process
and relate them to organizational behavior.
3. Discuss the strategic context of organizational behavior, including the relationships between strategy
and organizational behavior.
4. Identify and describe contextual perspectives on organizational behavior.
5. Discuss the role of organizational behavior in managing for effectiveness, including the role of
research in organizational behavior.
6. Summarize the framework around which this book is organized.
CHAPTER ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS
The following table organizes activities and assessments by objective, so that you can see how all this
content relates to objectives and make decisions about which content you would like to emphasize in your
class based on your objectives. For additional guidance, refer to the Teaching Online Guide.
Learning Activity/Assessment Source (i.e., PPT Duration
Outcome Slide, Workbook)
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 2
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
1 Knowledge Check 1 PPT Slides 9–10 < 5 min
1 Case Study Activity 1 PPT Slide 11 15–30 min
2 Group Activity PPT Slide 18 15–30 min
2 Discussion Activity 1 PPT Slides 19–20 10–20 min
3 Knowledge Check 2 PPT Slides 25–26 < 5 min
3 Case Study Activity 2 PPT Slide 27 15–30 min
4 Knowledge Check 3 PPT Slides 36–37 5–10 min
4 Discussion Activity 2 PPT Slides 38–39 10–20 min
5 Discussion Activity 3 PPT Slides 52 - 53 10–20 min
6 Knowledge Check 4 PPT Slides 56–57 < 5 min
1–6 Self-Assessment PPT Slide 58 15–30 min
1–6 Self-Assessment Mindtap -
1–6 Learn It Mindtap -
1–6 Apply It: Assignment Mindtap -
1–6 Apply It: Case Activity Mindtap -
1–6 Study It: Practice Test Mindtap -
1–6 Study It: Flashcards Mindtap -
1–6 You Make the Decision Mindtap -
Simulation
[return to top]
KEY TERMS
Competitive advantage: Anything that gives a firm an edge over rivals in attracting customers and
defending itself against competition.
Conceptual skills: The ability to think in the abstract.
Controlling: The process of monitoring and correcting the actions of the organization and its members
to keep them directed toward their goals.
Correlation: Reflects the size and strength of the statistical relationship between two variables; ranges
from −1 to +1.
Cost leadership strategy: Striving to be the lowest-cost producer for a particular level of product
quality.
Customer intimacy: Delivering unique and customizable products or services to meet customers'
needs and increase customer loyalty.
Dependent variable: The variable predicted to be affected by something else.
Diagnostic skills: The ability to understand cause-and-effect relationships and to recognize the
optimal solutions to problems.
Differentiation strategy: Developing a product or service that has unique characteristics valued by
customers.
Dysfunctional behaviors: Those that detract from, rather than contribute to, organizational
performance.
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 3
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
Growth strategy: Company expansion organically or through acquisitions.
Hawthorne effect: When people improve some aspect of their behavior or performance simply
because they are being assessed.
Human relations movement: Views organizations as cooperative systems and treats workers'
orientations, values, and feelings as important parts of organizational dynamics and performance.
Human resource management (HRM): The set of organizational activities directed at attracting,
developing, and maintaining an effective workforce.
Hypotheses: Written predictions specifying expected relationships between certain variables.
Independent variable: The variable that is predicted to affect something else.
Interactionalism: Suggests that individuals and situations interact continuously to determine
individuals' behavior.
Interpersonal skills: The ability to effectively communicate with, understand, and motivate
individuals and groups.
Leading: The process of getting the organization's members to work together toward the organization's
goals.
Meta-analysis: A statistical technique used to combine the results of many different research studies
done in a variety of organizations and for a variety of jobs.
Operational excellence: Maximizing the efficiency of the manufacturing or product development
process to minimize costs.
Organizational behavior (OB): The study of human behavior in organizational settings, the
interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself.
Organizational citizenship: The behavior of individuals that makes a positive overall contribution
to the organization.
Organizing: The process of designing jobs, grouping jobs into units, and establishing patterns of
authority between jobs and units.
Planning: The process of determining an organization's desired future position and the best means of
getting there.
Product innovation: Developing new products or services.
Scientific management: Based on the belief that productivity is maximized when organizations are
rationalized with precise sets of instructions based on time-and-motion studies.
Scientific method: Method of knowledge generation that relies on systematic studies that identify and
replicate a result using a variety of methods, samples, and settings.
Situational perspective: Suggests that in most organizations, situations and outcomes are influenced
by other variables.
Specialization strategy: Focusing on a narrow market segment or niche and pursuing either a
differentiation or cost leadership strategy within that market segment.
System: A set of interrelated elements functioning as a whole.
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 4
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Organizational Behavior
Instructor Manual
Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter
1: An Overview of Organizational Behavior
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Purpose and Perspective of the Chapter......................................................................2
Chapter Learning Outcomes.........................................................................................2
Chapter Activities and Assessments.............................................................................3
Key Terms.....................................................................................................................3
What's New in This Chapter........................................................................................5
Chapter Outline.............................................................................................................6
Discussion Questions..................................................................................................23
Understand Yourself Exercise....................................................................................25
Group Exercise............................................................................................................25
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 1
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
PURPOSE AND PERSPECTIVE OF THE CHAPTER
The purpose of this chapter is to introduce organizational behavior as the study of human behavior in
organizational settings and establish its fundamental importance to managerial effectiveness. The chapter
also situates organizational behavior within a broader environmental context, emphasizing organizations
as open systems that are continuously shaped by external forces such as economic conditions,
globalization, technology, and societal change. This chapter provides learners with essential knowledge
about how organizational behavior impacts both personal career success and organizational performance.
Students will explore the basic management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling,
while understanding how these connect to critical management skills, including technical, interpersonal,
conceptual, and diagnostic abilities. The chapter also introduces the growing role of artificial intelligence
(AI) in organizations, underscoring why understanding human behavior, judgment, and leadership
remains essential even as technology reshapes managerial work. The chapter examines strategic contexts,
including cost leadership, differentiation, and specialization strategies, demonstrating how effective
people management creates competitive advantage. Additionally, learners will discover contextual
perspectives, including systems theory and situational approaches, that shape modern organizational
behavior understanding. The chapter concludes by establishing a comprehensive framework for managing
effectiveness through enhancing performance behaviors, promoting employee engagement and
citizenship, while minimizing dysfunctional behaviors to drive strategic execution.
CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES
The following learning outcomes are addressed in this chapter:
1. Describe organizational behavior, including the impact it has on both personal and organizational
success.
2. Identify the basic management functions and essential skills that make up the management process
and relate them to organizational behavior.
3. Discuss the strategic context of organizational behavior, including the relationships between strategy
and organizational behavior.
4. Identify and describe contextual perspectives on organizational behavior.
5. Discuss the role of organizational behavior in managing for effectiveness, including the role of
research in organizational behavior.
6. Summarize the framework around which this book is organized.
CHAPTER ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS
The following table organizes activities and assessments by objective, so that you can see how all this
content relates to objectives and make decisions about which content you would like to emphasize in your
class based on your objectives. For additional guidance, refer to the Teaching Online Guide.
Learning Activity/Assessment Source (i.e., PPT Duration
Outcome Slide, Workbook)
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 2
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
1 Knowledge Check 1 PPT Slides 9–10 < 5 min
1 Case Study Activity 1 PPT Slide 11 15–30 min
2 Group Activity PPT Slide 18 15–30 min
2 Discussion Activity 1 PPT Slides 19–20 10–20 min
3 Knowledge Check 2 PPT Slides 25–26 < 5 min
3 Case Study Activity 2 PPT Slide 27 15–30 min
4 Knowledge Check 3 PPT Slides 36–37 5–10 min
4 Discussion Activity 2 PPT Slides 38–39 10–20 min
5 Discussion Activity 3 PPT Slides 52 - 53 10–20 min
6 Knowledge Check 4 PPT Slides 56–57 < 5 min
1–6 Self-Assessment PPT Slide 58 15–30 min
1–6 Self-Assessment Mindtap -
1–6 Learn It Mindtap -
1–6 Apply It: Assignment Mindtap -
1–6 Apply It: Case Activity Mindtap -
1–6 Study It: Practice Test Mindtap -
1–6 Study It: Flashcards Mindtap -
1–6 You Make the Decision Mindtap -
Simulation
[return to top]
KEY TERMS
Competitive advantage: Anything that gives a firm an edge over rivals in attracting customers and
defending itself against competition.
Conceptual skills: The ability to think in the abstract.
Controlling: The process of monitoring and correcting the actions of the organization and its members
to keep them directed toward their goals.
Correlation: Reflects the size and strength of the statistical relationship between two variables; ranges
from −1 to +1.
Cost leadership strategy: Striving to be the lowest-cost producer for a particular level of product
quality.
Customer intimacy: Delivering unique and customizable products or services to meet customers'
needs and increase customer loyalty.
Dependent variable: The variable predicted to be affected by something else.
Diagnostic skills: The ability to understand cause-and-effect relationships and to recognize the
optimal solutions to problems.
Differentiation strategy: Developing a product or service that has unique characteristics valued by
customers.
Dysfunctional behaviors: Those that detract from, rather than contribute to, organizational
performance.
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 3
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
, Instructor Manual: Ricky Griffin/Jean Phillips, Organizational Behavior, 15e, Core ISBN: 9798214054186; Chapter 1: An Overview of
Organizational Behavior
Growth strategy: Company expansion organically or through acquisitions.
Hawthorne effect: When people improve some aspect of their behavior or performance simply
because they are being assessed.
Human relations movement: Views organizations as cooperative systems and treats workers'
orientations, values, and feelings as important parts of organizational dynamics and performance.
Human resource management (HRM): The set of organizational activities directed at attracting,
developing, and maintaining an effective workforce.
Hypotheses: Written predictions specifying expected relationships between certain variables.
Independent variable: The variable that is predicted to affect something else.
Interactionalism: Suggests that individuals and situations interact continuously to determine
individuals' behavior.
Interpersonal skills: The ability to effectively communicate with, understand, and motivate
individuals and groups.
Leading: The process of getting the organization's members to work together toward the organization's
goals.
Meta-analysis: A statistical technique used to combine the results of many different research studies
done in a variety of organizations and for a variety of jobs.
Operational excellence: Maximizing the efficiency of the manufacturing or product development
process to minimize costs.
Organizational behavior (OB): The study of human behavior in organizational settings, the
interface between human behavior and the organization, and the organization itself.
Organizational citizenship: The behavior of individuals that makes a positive overall contribution
to the organization.
Organizing: The process of designing jobs, grouping jobs into units, and establishing patterns of
authority between jobs and units.
Planning: The process of determining an organization's desired future position and the best means of
getting there.
Product innovation: Developing new products or services.
Scientific management: Based on the belief that productivity is maximized when organizations are
rationalized with precise sets of instructions based on time-and-motion studies.
Scientific method: Method of knowledge generation that relies on systematic studies that identify and
replicate a result using a variety of methods, samples, and settings.
Situational perspective: Suggests that in most organizations, situations and outcomes are influenced
by other variables.
Specialization strategy: Focusing on a narrow market segment or niche and pursuing either a
differentiation or cost leadership strategy within that market segment.
System: A set of interrelated elements functioning as a whole.
© 2027 Cengage Learning, Inc. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a 4
publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
