Summary Chapter 1 Organisational Behaviour
Management and organisational behaviour:
The work of managers can be categorized into four different activities:
o Planning: a process that includes defining goals, establishing strategy and developing
plans to coordinate activities.
o Organizing: determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the
tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.
o Leading: a function that includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting
the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts.
o Controlling: monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as
planned and correcting any significant deviations.
Interpersonal roles:
o Figurehead: symbolic head, required to perform a number of routine duties of a
legal or social nature.
o Leader: responsible for the motivation and direction of employees.
o Liaison: maintains a network of outside contacts who provide favors and
information.
Informational roles:
o Monitor: receives a wide variety of information, serves as a nerve center of internal
and external information of the organization.
o Disseminator: transmits information received from outsiders or from other
employees to members of the organization.
o Spokesperson: transmits information to outsiders on organization’s plans, policies,
actions and results; serves as expert on organization’s industry.
Decisional roles:
o Entrepreneur: searches organization and its environment for opportunities and
initiates projects to bring about change.
o Disturbance handler: responsible for corrective action when organization faces
important, unexpected disturbances.
o Resource allocator: makes or approves significant organizational decisions.
o Negotiator: responsible for representing the organization at major negotiations.
Management skills:
o Technical skills: the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
o Human skills: the ability to work with, understand an motivate other people, both
individuals and in groups.
o Conceptual skills: the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.
Traditional management decision making, planning and controlling.
Communication exchanging routine information and processing paperwork.
Human resource management motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing and
training.
Networking socializing, politicking and interacting with outsiders.
OB includes these core topics: motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal
communication, groups structure and processes, attitude development and perception,
change processes, conflict and negotiation, work design.
,Disciplines that contribute to OB:
Psychology: the science that seeks to measure, explain and sometimes change the behavior
of humans and other animals.
Social psychology: an area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and
sociology to focus on the influence of people on one another.
Sociology: the study of people in relation to their social environment or culture.
Anthropology: the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.
Coming attractions: developing an OB model:
The model illustrates that inputs lead to processes, which lead to outcomes.
Inputs are variables like personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to
processes.
Processes are actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of
inputs and that lead to certain outcomes.
Outcomes are the key factors that are affected by other variables.
Turnover includes voluntary terminations by the employee (quitting); involuntary
terminations by the employer without cause (layoffs and discharges); and other separations,
including involuntary terminations with cause (firing).
Manager an individual who achieves goals through other people.
Organization a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that
functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.
Organizational behaviour a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and
structure have on behaviour within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge
toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.
Systematic study looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing
conclusions based on scientific evidence.
Evidence-based management basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific
evidence.
Intuition an instinctive feeling not necessarily supported by research.
Contingency variables situational factors or variables that moderate the relationship between two
or more variables.
Workforce diversity the concept that organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms
of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.
Positive organizational scholarship an area of OB research that studies how organizations develop
human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential.
Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices situations in which individuals are required to define right
and wrong conduct.
Model an abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon.
Stress a psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures.
,Task performance the combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing core job tasks.
Organizational citizenship behaviour discretionary behaviour that contributes to the psychological
and social environment of the workplace.
Withdrawal behaviour the set of actions employees take to separate themselves from the
organization.
Group cohesion the extent to which members of a group support and validate one another while
at work.
Group functioning the quantity and quality of a group’s work output.
Productivity the combination of the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization.
Effectiveness the degree to which an organization meets the needs of its clientele or customers.
Efficiency the degree to which an organization can achieve its ends at a low cost.
Organizational survival the degree to which an organization is able to exist and grow over the long
term.
Summary Chapter 2 Organisational Behaviour
Intellectual abilities:
Number aptitude: ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic.
Verbal comprehension: ability to understand what is read or heard and the relationship of
words to each other.
Perceptual speed: ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and accurately.
Inductive reasoning: ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and then solve the
problem.
Deductive reasoning: ability to use logic and assess the implications of an argument.
Spatial visualization: ability to imagine how an object would look if it position in space were
changed.
Memory: ability to retain and recall past experiences.
Physical abilities:
Dynamic strength: ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time.
Trunk strength: ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly abdominal)
muscles.
Static strength: ability to exert force against external objects.
Explosive strength: ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive
acts.
Extent flexibility: ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible.
Dynamic flexibility: ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements.
Body coordination: ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the
body.
Balance: ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance.
Stamina: ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time.
, Surface-level diversity differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race,
ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that may
activate certain stereotypes.
Deep-level diversity differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become
progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better.
Discrimination noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination,
which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their
demographic group.
Stereotyping judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person
belongs.
Stereotype threat the degree to which we are concerned with being judged by or treated
negatively based on a certain stereotype.
Biographical characteristics personal characteristics—such as age, gender, race, and length of
tenure—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records. These characteristics are
representative of surface-level diversity.
Positive diversity climate In an organization, an environment of inclusiveness and an acceptance
of diversity.
Ability an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.
Intellectual abilities the capacity to do mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and problem
solving.
General mental ability an overall factor of intelligence, as suggested by the positive correlations
among specific intellectual ability dimensions.
Physical abilities he capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar
characteristics.
Diversity management the process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware
of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.
Summary Chapter 3 Organisational Behaviour
Attitudes:
Cognitive component: the opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
Affective component: the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
Behavioural component: an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or
something.
Attitudes and behaviour:
Behaviour is what people do, the attitudes people hold determine this behaviour.
The desire to reduce dissonance depends on three factors: importance of the elements
creating dissonance, degree of influence we believe we have over the elements, rewards of
dissonance.
Management and organisational behaviour:
The work of managers can be categorized into four different activities:
o Planning: a process that includes defining goals, establishing strategy and developing
plans to coordinate activities.
o Organizing: determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the
tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made.
o Leading: a function that includes motivating employees, directing others, selecting
the most effective communication channels, and resolving conflicts.
o Controlling: monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as
planned and correcting any significant deviations.
Interpersonal roles:
o Figurehead: symbolic head, required to perform a number of routine duties of a
legal or social nature.
o Leader: responsible for the motivation and direction of employees.
o Liaison: maintains a network of outside contacts who provide favors and
information.
Informational roles:
o Monitor: receives a wide variety of information, serves as a nerve center of internal
and external information of the organization.
o Disseminator: transmits information received from outsiders or from other
employees to members of the organization.
o Spokesperson: transmits information to outsiders on organization’s plans, policies,
actions and results; serves as expert on organization’s industry.
Decisional roles:
o Entrepreneur: searches organization and its environment for opportunities and
initiates projects to bring about change.
o Disturbance handler: responsible for corrective action when organization faces
important, unexpected disturbances.
o Resource allocator: makes or approves significant organizational decisions.
o Negotiator: responsible for representing the organization at major negotiations.
Management skills:
o Technical skills: the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
o Human skills: the ability to work with, understand an motivate other people, both
individuals and in groups.
o Conceptual skills: the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations.
Traditional management decision making, planning and controlling.
Communication exchanging routine information and processing paperwork.
Human resource management motivating, disciplining, managing conflict, staffing and
training.
Networking socializing, politicking and interacting with outsiders.
OB includes these core topics: motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal
communication, groups structure and processes, attitude development and perception,
change processes, conflict and negotiation, work design.
,Disciplines that contribute to OB:
Psychology: the science that seeks to measure, explain and sometimes change the behavior
of humans and other animals.
Social psychology: an area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology and
sociology to focus on the influence of people on one another.
Sociology: the study of people in relation to their social environment or culture.
Anthropology: the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.
Coming attractions: developing an OB model:
The model illustrates that inputs lead to processes, which lead to outcomes.
Inputs are variables like personality, group structure, and organizational culture that lead to
processes.
Processes are actions that individuals, groups, and organizations engage in as a result of
inputs and that lead to certain outcomes.
Outcomes are the key factors that are affected by other variables.
Turnover includes voluntary terminations by the employee (quitting); involuntary
terminations by the employer without cause (layoffs and discharges); and other separations,
including involuntary terminations with cause (firing).
Manager an individual who achieves goals through other people.
Organization a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that
functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.
Organizational behaviour a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and
structure have on behaviour within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge
toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.
Systematic study looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing
conclusions based on scientific evidence.
Evidence-based management basing managerial decisions on the best available scientific
evidence.
Intuition an instinctive feeling not necessarily supported by research.
Contingency variables situational factors or variables that moderate the relationship between two
or more variables.
Workforce diversity the concept that organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms
of gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.
Positive organizational scholarship an area of OB research that studies how organizations develop
human strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock potential.
Ethical dilemmas and ethical choices situations in which individuals are required to define right
and wrong conduct.
Model an abstraction of reality, a simplified representation of some real-world phenomenon.
Stress a psychological process that occurs in response to environmental pressures.
,Task performance the combination of effectiveness and efficiency at doing core job tasks.
Organizational citizenship behaviour discretionary behaviour that contributes to the psychological
and social environment of the workplace.
Withdrawal behaviour the set of actions employees take to separate themselves from the
organization.
Group cohesion the extent to which members of a group support and validate one another while
at work.
Group functioning the quantity and quality of a group’s work output.
Productivity the combination of the effectiveness and efficiency of an organization.
Effectiveness the degree to which an organization meets the needs of its clientele or customers.
Efficiency the degree to which an organization can achieve its ends at a low cost.
Organizational survival the degree to which an organization is able to exist and grow over the long
term.
Summary Chapter 2 Organisational Behaviour
Intellectual abilities:
Number aptitude: ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic.
Verbal comprehension: ability to understand what is read or heard and the relationship of
words to each other.
Perceptual speed: ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly and accurately.
Inductive reasoning: ability to identify a logical sequence in a problem and then solve the
problem.
Deductive reasoning: ability to use logic and assess the implications of an argument.
Spatial visualization: ability to imagine how an object would look if it position in space were
changed.
Memory: ability to retain and recall past experiences.
Physical abilities:
Dynamic strength: ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time.
Trunk strength: ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly abdominal)
muscles.
Static strength: ability to exert force against external objects.
Explosive strength: ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive
acts.
Extent flexibility: ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible.
Dynamic flexibility: ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements.
Body coordination: ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the
body.
Balance: ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance.
Stamina: ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time.
, Surface-level diversity differences in easily perceived characteristics, such as gender, race,
ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not necessarily reflect the ways people think or feel but that may
activate certain stereotypes.
Deep-level diversity differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become
progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better.
Discrimination noting of a difference between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination,
which means making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes regarding their
demographic group.
Stereotyping judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person
belongs.
Stereotype threat the degree to which we are concerned with being judged by or treated
negatively based on a certain stereotype.
Biographical characteristics personal characteristics—such as age, gender, race, and length of
tenure—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records. These characteristics are
representative of surface-level diversity.
Positive diversity climate In an organization, an environment of inclusiveness and an acceptance
of diversity.
Ability an individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.
Intellectual abilities the capacity to do mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and problem
solving.
General mental ability an overall factor of intelligence, as suggested by the positive correlations
among specific intellectual ability dimensions.
Physical abilities he capacity to do tasks that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar
characteristics.
Diversity management the process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware
of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.
Summary Chapter 3 Organisational Behaviour
Attitudes:
Cognitive component: the opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
Affective component: the emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
Behavioural component: an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or
something.
Attitudes and behaviour:
Behaviour is what people do, the attitudes people hold determine this behaviour.
The desire to reduce dissonance depends on three factors: importance of the elements
creating dissonance, degree of influence we believe we have over the elements, rewards of
dissonance.
