Summary Literature Organizational psychology
Week 1: Chapter 1 & 4: Introduction to OP
Chapter 1: Why organizational behavior matters
What is organizational behavior and why is it important?
Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study focused on understanding, explaining, and
improving the attitudes of individuals and groups in organizations. An organization is a
structured arrangement of people working together to accomplish specific goals. OB focuses
on how and why individual employees and groups of employees behave the way they do
within an organizational setting. The three main reasons for studying organizational behavior
in your organization are to be able to explain it, predict it and influence it.
Managers typically carry out four main functions:
1. Planning: a manager evaluates an organization’s current position and where it wants
to be, sets goals, designs strategies, and identifies actions and resources needed.
2. Organizing: arranging resources like people and functions to implement the strategy.
3. Leading: motivating and communicating with individuals and teams.
4. Controlling: monitor employee performance, ensure milestones are being reached,
and take corrective or preventative action where necessary.
Organizational members need to be equipped with specific skills to carry out their roles
effectively:
- Technical skill: an aptitude for performing and applying specialized tasks.
- Human skill: the ability to relate to other people.
o Emotional intelligence (EI), the ability to understand emotions in oneself and
others in order to effectively manage one’s own behaviors and relationships
with others.
- Conceptual skill: the capacity to see the organization as a whole and understand
how each part relates to each other and how it fits into its overall environment.
A strategic OB approach is the idea that people are the key to productivity, competitive
edge, and financial success. Managers must place a high value on human capital, the sum
of people’s skills, knowledge, experience, and general attributes.
, Managing human capital
Human capital is essential for gaining competitive advantage, the edge that gives
organizations a more beneficial position than their competitors and allows them to generate
more profits and retain more customers. Three main aspects of human capital enhance true
competitive advantage: value, rareness, and inimitability.
Value
Human capital value is the way employees work toward the strategic goals of an
organization to achieve competitive advantage. It is about their genuine willingness to
contribute to the performance and success of an organization.
Rareness
Human capital rareness is the level of exceptional skills and talents employees possess in
an industry.
Inimitability
Human capital inimitability is the degree to which the skills and talents of employees can
be emulated by other organizations. The higher, the more competitive an organization will
be. It usually comes down to the organization’s shared values, attitudes and type of culture
whether they choose it over another organization.
Behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB
Disciplines that contribute to OB:
- Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind that seeks to measure and
explain behavioral characteristics. It helps design performance appraisals, decision-
making processes, recruitment techniques, and training programs.
- Sociology is the study of the behavior of groups and how they relate to each other in
a social setting. It contributes in areas such as group dynamics, communication,
power, organizational culture, and conflict.
- Social psychology blends concepts from sociology and psychology and focuses on
how people influence each other in a social setting. It contributes to reducing
prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping by designing processes to change
attitudes, build communication, and improve how groups work together.
- Political science studies the behavior of individuals and groups within a political
environment. Helps understand how different interests, motivations, and preferences
can lead to conflict and power struggles between individuals and groups.
- Anthropology is the study of people and their activities in relation to societal,
environmental and cultural influences. Helps understand other cultures and the types
of values and attitudes held by others from other countries and organizations.
A critical-thinking approach to OB
Critical thinking is the ability to use intelligence, knowledge, and skills to question and
carefully explore situations and arrive at thoughtful conclusions based on evidence and
reason. The critical-thinking approach is a powerful analytical method that helps managers
consider intended and unintended consequences of behaviors on their team, organizations,
and communities. There are five steps to applying critical thinking in order to manage and
change behavior: observe (recognize the behavior), interpret (understand the cause and
effects of behavior), analyze (investigate the causes and effects of behavior), evaluate
(assess the consequences of changing behavior), and explain (justify a change to behavior).
Week 1: Chapter 1 & 4: Introduction to OP
Chapter 1: Why organizational behavior matters
What is organizational behavior and why is it important?
Organizational behavior (OB) is a field of study focused on understanding, explaining, and
improving the attitudes of individuals and groups in organizations. An organization is a
structured arrangement of people working together to accomplish specific goals. OB focuses
on how and why individual employees and groups of employees behave the way they do
within an organizational setting. The three main reasons for studying organizational behavior
in your organization are to be able to explain it, predict it and influence it.
Managers typically carry out four main functions:
1. Planning: a manager evaluates an organization’s current position and where it wants
to be, sets goals, designs strategies, and identifies actions and resources needed.
2. Organizing: arranging resources like people and functions to implement the strategy.
3. Leading: motivating and communicating with individuals and teams.
4. Controlling: monitor employee performance, ensure milestones are being reached,
and take corrective or preventative action where necessary.
Organizational members need to be equipped with specific skills to carry out their roles
effectively:
- Technical skill: an aptitude for performing and applying specialized tasks.
- Human skill: the ability to relate to other people.
o Emotional intelligence (EI), the ability to understand emotions in oneself and
others in order to effectively manage one’s own behaviors and relationships
with others.
- Conceptual skill: the capacity to see the organization as a whole and understand
how each part relates to each other and how it fits into its overall environment.
A strategic OB approach is the idea that people are the key to productivity, competitive
edge, and financial success. Managers must place a high value on human capital, the sum
of people’s skills, knowledge, experience, and general attributes.
, Managing human capital
Human capital is essential for gaining competitive advantage, the edge that gives
organizations a more beneficial position than their competitors and allows them to generate
more profits and retain more customers. Three main aspects of human capital enhance true
competitive advantage: value, rareness, and inimitability.
Value
Human capital value is the way employees work toward the strategic goals of an
organization to achieve competitive advantage. It is about their genuine willingness to
contribute to the performance and success of an organization.
Rareness
Human capital rareness is the level of exceptional skills and talents employees possess in
an industry.
Inimitability
Human capital inimitability is the degree to which the skills and talents of employees can
be emulated by other organizations. The higher, the more competitive an organization will
be. It usually comes down to the organization’s shared values, attitudes and type of culture
whether they choose it over another organization.
Behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB
Disciplines that contribute to OB:
- Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind that seeks to measure and
explain behavioral characteristics. It helps design performance appraisals, decision-
making processes, recruitment techniques, and training programs.
- Sociology is the study of the behavior of groups and how they relate to each other in
a social setting. It contributes in areas such as group dynamics, communication,
power, organizational culture, and conflict.
- Social psychology blends concepts from sociology and psychology and focuses on
how people influence each other in a social setting. It contributes to reducing
prejudice, discrimination, and stereotyping by designing processes to change
attitudes, build communication, and improve how groups work together.
- Political science studies the behavior of individuals and groups within a political
environment. Helps understand how different interests, motivations, and preferences
can lead to conflict and power struggles between individuals and groups.
- Anthropology is the study of people and their activities in relation to societal,
environmental and cultural influences. Helps understand other cultures and the types
of values and attitudes held by others from other countries and organizations.
A critical-thinking approach to OB
Critical thinking is the ability to use intelligence, knowledge, and skills to question and
carefully explore situations and arrive at thoughtful conclusions based on evidence and
reason. The critical-thinking approach is a powerful analytical method that helps managers
consider intended and unintended consequences of behaviors on their team, organizations,
and communities. There are five steps to applying critical thinking in order to manage and
change behavior: observe (recognize the behavior), interpret (understand the cause and
effects of behavior), analyze (investigate the causes and effects of behavior), evaluate
(assess the consequences of changing behavior), and explain (justify a change to behavior).
