What Is Ob?

CHAPTER 1 – WHAT IS OB?
- OB – field of study devoted to understanding, explaining, and ultimately improving the attitudes and behaviors of individuals in organizations. It is the study of how we can best use our people resources to promote organizational efficiency and effectiveness. It is based on DEPENDANT VARIABLES.
o It improves job performance through: (1) Organizational LevelMechanisms (Organization culture and organization structure), (2) Team level mechanisms (team composition and team processes), and (3) Individual level mechanisms (individual characteristics, abilities, personality & values, skills).
- Human Resource Management – takes the theories and principles studies in OB and explores the “nuts and bolts” applications of those principles inorganizations. Hawthorne Legacy – manipulate workplace factors and measure the effects on workers. Performance can be improved by attending to individual needs. McGregor’s Theory Y – managers could accomplish more by viewing themselves as energized, responsible, creative beings.
- Strategic Management – focuses on the product choices and industry characteristics that affect an organization’sprofitability.
- Contingency Approach calls for using management concepts and techniques in a situationally appropriate manner, instead of trying to rely on “one best way”. Don’t use hammer unless nails are involved.
- Human Capital is the productive potential of an individual’s knowledge and actions. Types: training, work-based development opportunities, learning activities outside of work,career planning. Social Capital is productive potential resulting from strong relationships, goodwill, trust, and cooperative effort. Types: internal and external.
- Positive organizational behavior – study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement intoday’s workplace. Luthan’s CHOSE model of key POB Dimensions: Confidence/self efficacy, hope, optimism, subjective well-being, and emotional intelligence. -E-Business – use information communication technologies to facilitate every aspect of running a business. General Moral principles: Dignity of human life, Autonomy, Honesty, Loyalty, Fairness, Humaneness (good and evil), The common good. Morallyattentive: consider ethical implications in their actions. -Scientific Research gives us theories that help us understand and predict. It also gives us verification (based on Correlation: .50 is considered strong, .30 is moderate, and .10 is weak), repeatability, and generalizability (do the results apply here?). There are 5 sources of OB research: Meta Analysis is the analysis of the results of manystudies, field study probes individual/group processes in an organizational setting, laboratory study where variables are manipulated, sample survey where people answer questions, and case study in-depth analysis.
CHAPTER 9 – EFFECTIVE GROUPS AND TEAMS
- Group – two or more freely interacting individuals who share collective norms and goals and have a common identity. It can be aformal group (formed by a manager to help accomplish goals) or an informal group (when the purpose of getting together is friendship).
- Group Development Process: (STAGE 1) Forming (ice-breaking stage) conflict beneficial, (STAGE 2) Storming (testing of leader’s policies), (STAGE 3) norming (team spirit – Group Cohesiveness: “we feeling” that binds members of a group together), (STAGE 4)performing (solving task problems), and (STAGE 5) adjourning (work is done).
- Roles – set of expected behaviors for a particular position. Group Role is a set of expected behaviors for members of the group as a whole. Two types of roles: Task Roles enable the work group to define, clarify, and pursue a common purpose; Maintenance Roles foster supportive and constructive interpersonal...