Chapter 1 - A strategic approach to organizational behavior
Organizational behavior
The actions of individuals and groups in an organizational context.
Managing organizational behavior
Actions focused on acquiring, developing, and applying the knowledge and skills of people.
Strategic OB approach
An approach that involves organizing and managing people’s knowledge and skills
effectively to implement the organization’s strategy and gain a competitive advantage.
Productivity
Refers to the output of individuals
Satisfaction
Relates to the feelings that individuals and groups have about their work and the workplace.
Organizational success
Defined in terms of competitive advantage and ultimately financial performance.
Strategic leaders
They think and act strategically, and they use the skills noted above to motivate people and
build trusting relationships to help implement the organization’s strategy. Senior managers
have commonly been referred to as strategic leaders
Associates
The workers who carry out the basic tasks.
Organization
A collection of individuals forming a coordinated system of specialized activities for the
purpose of achieving certain goals over an extended period of time.
Organization features
● Network of individuals
● System
● Coordinated activities
● Division of labor
● Goal orientation
● Continuity over time, regardless of change in individual membership
Human capital
The sum of the skills, knowledge, and general attributes of the people in an organization.
Competitive advantage
,An advantage enjoyed by an organization that can perform some aspect of its work better
than competitors can or in a way that competitors cannot duplicate, such that it offers
products/services that are more valuable to customers.
Human capital value
The extent to which individuals are capable of producing work that supports an
organization’s strategy for competing in the marketplace.
Human capital rareness
The extent to which the skills and talents of an organization’s people are unique in the
industry.
Human capital imitability
The extent to which the skills and talents of an organization’s people can be copied by other
organizations.
Positive organizational behavior
An approach to managing people that nurtures each individual’s greatest strengths and
helps people use them to their and the organization’s advantage.
High-involvement management
Involves carefully selecting and training associates and giving them significant decision-
making power, information, and incentive compensation.
Dimensions of High-Involvement Management
● Selective hiring: Applicants are selected on the basis not only of skills but also of fit
with culture and mission.
● Extensive training: New associates and managers are thoroughly trained for job skills
through dedicated training exercises as well as on-the-job training
● Decision power: Associates are given authority to make decisions affecting their work
and performance.
● Information sharing: Associates are given information concerning a broad variety of
operational and strategic issues.
● Incentive competition: Associates are compensated partly on the basis of
performance. Individual performance, team performance, and business performance
, Chapter 4 - Learning and perception
Learning
A process through which individuals change their relatively permanent behavior based on
positive or negative experiences in a situation.
Operant conditioning theory
An explanation for consequence-based learning that assumes learning results from simple
conditioning and that higher mental functioning is irrelevant.
Social learning theory
An explanation for consequence-based learning that acknowledges the higher mental
functioning of human beings and the role such functioning can play in learning.
Positive reinforcement
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by a positive consequence,
thereby increasing the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the same or similar
situations.
Negative reinforcement
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by the withdrawal of a
previously encountered negative consequence, thereby increasing the likelihood that the
behavior will be repeated in the same or similar situations.
Punishment
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by a negative consequence,
thereby reducing the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the same or similar
situations.
Extinction
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by the absence of
a previously encountered positive consequence, thereby reducing the likelihood that the
behavior will be repeated in the same or similar situations.
Continuous reinforcement
A reinforcement schedule in which a reward occurs after each instance of a behavior or set
of behaviors
Intermittent reinforcement
A reinforcement schedule in which a reward does not occur after each instance of a behavior
or set of behaviors.
Intermittent reinforcement schedules
1. Fixed interval. With this schedule, a reinforcement becomes available only after a
fixed period of time has passed since the previous reinforcement.
2. Variable interval. With this second schedule, a reinforcement becomes available
after a variable period of time has passed since the previous reinforcement.
Organizational behavior
The actions of individuals and groups in an organizational context.
Managing organizational behavior
Actions focused on acquiring, developing, and applying the knowledge and skills of people.
Strategic OB approach
An approach that involves organizing and managing people’s knowledge and skills
effectively to implement the organization’s strategy and gain a competitive advantage.
Productivity
Refers to the output of individuals
Satisfaction
Relates to the feelings that individuals and groups have about their work and the workplace.
Organizational success
Defined in terms of competitive advantage and ultimately financial performance.
Strategic leaders
They think and act strategically, and they use the skills noted above to motivate people and
build trusting relationships to help implement the organization’s strategy. Senior managers
have commonly been referred to as strategic leaders
Associates
The workers who carry out the basic tasks.
Organization
A collection of individuals forming a coordinated system of specialized activities for the
purpose of achieving certain goals over an extended period of time.
Organization features
● Network of individuals
● System
● Coordinated activities
● Division of labor
● Goal orientation
● Continuity over time, regardless of change in individual membership
Human capital
The sum of the skills, knowledge, and general attributes of the people in an organization.
Competitive advantage
,An advantage enjoyed by an organization that can perform some aspect of its work better
than competitors can or in a way that competitors cannot duplicate, such that it offers
products/services that are more valuable to customers.
Human capital value
The extent to which individuals are capable of producing work that supports an
organization’s strategy for competing in the marketplace.
Human capital rareness
The extent to which the skills and talents of an organization’s people are unique in the
industry.
Human capital imitability
The extent to which the skills and talents of an organization’s people can be copied by other
organizations.
Positive organizational behavior
An approach to managing people that nurtures each individual’s greatest strengths and
helps people use them to their and the organization’s advantage.
High-involvement management
Involves carefully selecting and training associates and giving them significant decision-
making power, information, and incentive compensation.
Dimensions of High-Involvement Management
● Selective hiring: Applicants are selected on the basis not only of skills but also of fit
with culture and mission.
● Extensive training: New associates and managers are thoroughly trained for job skills
through dedicated training exercises as well as on-the-job training
● Decision power: Associates are given authority to make decisions affecting their work
and performance.
● Information sharing: Associates are given information concerning a broad variety of
operational and strategic issues.
● Incentive competition: Associates are compensated partly on the basis of
performance. Individual performance, team performance, and business performance
, Chapter 4 - Learning and perception
Learning
A process through which individuals change their relatively permanent behavior based on
positive or negative experiences in a situation.
Operant conditioning theory
An explanation for consequence-based learning that assumes learning results from simple
conditioning and that higher mental functioning is irrelevant.
Social learning theory
An explanation for consequence-based learning that acknowledges the higher mental
functioning of human beings and the role such functioning can play in learning.
Positive reinforcement
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by a positive consequence,
thereby increasing the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the same or similar
situations.
Negative reinforcement
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by the withdrawal of a
previously encountered negative consequence, thereby increasing the likelihood that the
behavior will be repeated in the same or similar situations.
Punishment
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by a negative consequence,
thereby reducing the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the same or similar
situations.
Extinction
A reinforcement contingency in which a behavior is followed by the absence of
a previously encountered positive consequence, thereby reducing the likelihood that the
behavior will be repeated in the same or similar situations.
Continuous reinforcement
A reinforcement schedule in which a reward occurs after each instance of a behavior or set
of behaviors
Intermittent reinforcement
A reinforcement schedule in which a reward does not occur after each instance of a behavior
or set of behaviors.
Intermittent reinforcement schedules
1. Fixed interval. With this schedule, a reinforcement becomes available only after a
fixed period of time has passed since the previous reinforcement.
2. Variable interval. With this second schedule, a reinforcement becomes available
after a variable period of time has passed since the previous reinforcement.
