Organisation & People
Organisational Behaviour
Chapter 1
Inputs
Individual level Group level
- Diversity - Group structure
- Personality - Group roles
- Values - Team responsibilities
Processed
Individual level Group level
- Emotions and moods - Communication
- Motivation - Leadership
- Perception - Power and politics
- Decision making - Conflict and negotiation
Outcomes
Individual level Group level
- Attitudes and stress - Group functioning
- Task performance - Group cohesion
- Citizenship behavior
- Withdrawal behavior
Organisations are social entities that are goal-oriented, inextricably linked to their environment and
employing deliberately designed and coordinated activities and approaches to achieve their
objectives.
Organizational behavior investigates the impact of individuals, group structure, culture on behavior
within organisations, in order to help improve the performance and the effectiveness.
Contributing disciplines to the OB field are psychology (behavior of humans and animals/individual),
social psychology (people’s influence on others), sociology (relation between people and their
environment/group) and anthropology (human beings and their activities).
Insights to improve people skills, valuing workforce diversity, empowering people and creating a
positive work environment, dealing with change in the workplace, coping in a world of temporariness
and creating an ethically healthy environment.
Levels of diversity
Surface level diversity Deep level diversity
- Differences in age, race, gender - Differences in personality and value
- Less significant over time - More important in the long run
A more diverse employee base will
- Attract a more diverse customer base
- Stimulate the creative process and innovation
- Lead to greater success in a fiercely competitive climate
- Provide a larger pool of potential workers in tight labour markets
, Chapter 2
Attitudes are evaluative statements/judgements about objects, people or events. They reflect how
we feel about something.
The components of an attitude
- Cognitive = evaluation what happened > low pay
- Affective = feeling what do you feel > angry
- Behavioral = action what are you going to do > different job
Behavior follows attitude > attitudes people hold, determine what they do
Attitude follows behavior > people change what they say so it doesn’t contradict to what they do >
cognitive dissonance (monkeys doing the same thing, one gets cucumber and the other grapes)
Organisational behavior focuses on three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement and
organisational commitment.
Perceives organisational support (POC) is the degree to which employees believe the organisation
values their contributions and cares about their well-being.
People perceive their organization as supportive when rewards are deemed fair, when employees
have a voice in decisions, and when they see their supervisors as supportive.
Employees with strong POC perceptions have been found more likely to have higher levels of
organisational citizenship behaviors, lower levels of tardiness, and better customer service.
Employee engagement: An individual’s involvement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm for the work they
do. To evaluate this, there might be questions about the availability of resources, opportunities to
learn new skills, whether they feel their work important and meaningful, and whether their
interactions with co works and supervisors are rewarding.
Highly engaged employees have a passion for their work and feel a deep connection to their
companies.
Measuring job satisfaction
Two methods are very popular:
1. Single global rating: a response to one question, where respondents circle a number between 1
and 5 on an ordinal scale.
2. Summation of job factors (more sophisticated): it identifies key elements in a job such as the
nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relationships with
coworkers. Respondents rate these on a standardized scale and researchers add the ratings to
create an overall job satisfaction score.
How satisfied are people with their jobs?
Evidence suggests employees in western culture have higher levels of job satisfaction than those in
eastern cultures. Probably because western cultures emphasize positive emotions and individual
happiness more.
What causes job satisfaction?
Interesting jobs provide training, variety, independence, and control. Once a person has reached a
level of comfortable living, the relationship between pay and job satisfaction virtually disappears.
Money motivates people, but this is something different than making happy.
Organisational Behaviour
Chapter 1
Inputs
Individual level Group level
- Diversity - Group structure
- Personality - Group roles
- Values - Team responsibilities
Processed
Individual level Group level
- Emotions and moods - Communication
- Motivation - Leadership
- Perception - Power and politics
- Decision making - Conflict and negotiation
Outcomes
Individual level Group level
- Attitudes and stress - Group functioning
- Task performance - Group cohesion
- Citizenship behavior
- Withdrawal behavior
Organisations are social entities that are goal-oriented, inextricably linked to their environment and
employing deliberately designed and coordinated activities and approaches to achieve their
objectives.
Organizational behavior investigates the impact of individuals, group structure, culture on behavior
within organisations, in order to help improve the performance and the effectiveness.
Contributing disciplines to the OB field are psychology (behavior of humans and animals/individual),
social psychology (people’s influence on others), sociology (relation between people and their
environment/group) and anthropology (human beings and their activities).
Insights to improve people skills, valuing workforce diversity, empowering people and creating a
positive work environment, dealing with change in the workplace, coping in a world of temporariness
and creating an ethically healthy environment.
Levels of diversity
Surface level diversity Deep level diversity
- Differences in age, race, gender - Differences in personality and value
- Less significant over time - More important in the long run
A more diverse employee base will
- Attract a more diverse customer base
- Stimulate the creative process and innovation
- Lead to greater success in a fiercely competitive climate
- Provide a larger pool of potential workers in tight labour markets
, Chapter 2
Attitudes are evaluative statements/judgements about objects, people or events. They reflect how
we feel about something.
The components of an attitude
- Cognitive = evaluation what happened > low pay
- Affective = feeling what do you feel > angry
- Behavioral = action what are you going to do > different job
Behavior follows attitude > attitudes people hold, determine what they do
Attitude follows behavior > people change what they say so it doesn’t contradict to what they do >
cognitive dissonance (monkeys doing the same thing, one gets cucumber and the other grapes)
Organisational behavior focuses on three attitudes: job satisfaction, job involvement and
organisational commitment.
Perceives organisational support (POC) is the degree to which employees believe the organisation
values their contributions and cares about their well-being.
People perceive their organization as supportive when rewards are deemed fair, when employees
have a voice in decisions, and when they see their supervisors as supportive.
Employees with strong POC perceptions have been found more likely to have higher levels of
organisational citizenship behaviors, lower levels of tardiness, and better customer service.
Employee engagement: An individual’s involvement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm for the work they
do. To evaluate this, there might be questions about the availability of resources, opportunities to
learn new skills, whether they feel their work important and meaningful, and whether their
interactions with co works and supervisors are rewarding.
Highly engaged employees have a passion for their work and feel a deep connection to their
companies.
Measuring job satisfaction
Two methods are very popular:
1. Single global rating: a response to one question, where respondents circle a number between 1
and 5 on an ordinal scale.
2. Summation of job factors (more sophisticated): it identifies key elements in a job such as the
nature of the work, supervision, present pay, promotion opportunities, and relationships with
coworkers. Respondents rate these on a standardized scale and researchers add the ratings to
create an overall job satisfaction score.
How satisfied are people with their jobs?
Evidence suggests employees in western culture have higher levels of job satisfaction than those in
eastern cultures. Probably because western cultures emphasize positive emotions and individual
happiness more.
What causes job satisfaction?
Interesting jobs provide training, variety, independence, and control. Once a person has reached a
level of comfortable living, the relationship between pay and job satisfaction virtually disappears.
Money motivates people, but this is something different than making happy.
