INTRODUCTION 1
1. WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR? 2
1 WHY SHOULD WE STUDY OB? 2
2 OB AND PERFORMANCE? 3
3 CHALLENGES OF TODAY’S ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE “NEW” ECONOMY 3
4 CHANGING WORLD OF WORK 4
5 WORKPLACE DIVERSITY 4
2. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION 5
1 INTRODUCTION 5
2 WHAT IS PERCEPTION? 5
3 STAGES OF THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS 6
4 HOW DOES PERCEPTION INFLUENCE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR? 8
5 PERCEPTUAL ERRORS 9
6 PERCEPTUAL ‘SHORTCUTS’ IN ORGANIZATIONS 11
3. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN VALUES AND PERSONALITY 12
1 WHAT IS PERSONALITY? 12
2 PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES THAT DISTINGUISH INDIVIDUALS 13
3 VALUES AND ATTITUDES 17
4 CONCLUSION 18
4. MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT 19
1 WHAT IS MOTIVATION? 19
2 CONTENT MOTIVATION THEORIES 20
3 PROCESS MOTIVATION THEORIES 22
4 CONCLUSION PART 1 24
5 INTRINSIC VS. EXTRINSIC REWARDS 25
6 SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY 25
7 SALARY AND MOTIVATION 27
8 COMPENSATION STRATEGIES 28
9 ROLE OF THE MANAGER 29
10 DARK SIDE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT 30
11 CONCLUSION PART 2 30
5. DESIGN OF WORK 31
,1 JOB DESIGN 31
2 TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO JOB DESIGN: JOB SIMPLIFICATION 31
3 JOB CHARACTERISTIC MODEL 33
4 JOB DEMANDS-RESOURCES MODEL 35
5 FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS AND NEW WAYS OF WORKING 36
6 CONCLUSION- WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS CARE FOR JOB DESIGN? 36
6. GROUPS AND TEAMS 37
1 INTRODUCTION 37
2 UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF “GROUPS & TEAMS” IN ORGANIZATIONS 37
3 HOW DOES GROUP STRUCTURE INFLUENCE GROUP PERFORMANCE? 39
4 HOW DOES “GROUP DYNAMICS” INFLUENCE PERFORMANCE? 42
5 WHY TEAMS? 44
6 CONCLUSION 45
7. LEADERSHIP 46
1 INTRODUCTION 46
2 WHAT IS A LEADER? 46
3 TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP APPROACHES 47
4 MODERN LEADERSHIP APPROACHES 50
5 READING ASSIGNMENTS 53
8. POWER 55
1 WHAT IS POWER? 55
2 SOURCES OF POWER 55
3 POWER & OBEDIENCE 57
4 MANAGING WITH POWER AND INFLUENCE 58
,Introduction
A good company to work for offers:
o Quality leadership
o Work/life balance
o Team spirit: good colleagues; good communication
o Fair and respectful treatment: excellent and safe working environment
o Personal challenges
o Recognition: rewards
o Opportunity for promotion: training and career development
All these factors are indicators of employee satisfaction and employee wellbeing.
If companies are only as good as the people that work there, then we need to ask ourselves:
o How do employees learn the tricks of the trade, and how do they plan their career in the
company?
o How to motivate employees?
o How can we design work to promote employee wellbeing?
o What makes a great team?
o What type of leadership is most successful?
à A study of organizational behaviour answers these questions. OB focusses on the behavior of
individuals at work.
The aim of this course is to:
o Understand the link between empirical research (surveys), theory, and application
o How and why is the field of Organizational Behaviour relevant?
o What are the theoretical predictions derived from research in the field?
o How does theory contribute to evidence-based management?
Exam: multiple choice (75%) met giscorrectie + open questions (25%)
1
, 1. What is Organizational Behaviour?
OB is the study of human behaviour in organizational settings.
The organizational behaviour model shows the link between:
o Human behaviour in organizational settings: each
individual has a unique personal background and a set of
experiences from other organizations
o The individual organizational interface: these individuals
come in contact with other people such as colleagues,
managers, …
o The organization itself
o The environment surrounding the organization
Understanding how people behave in organizations and why they do what they do is critical in working
effectively with and managing others.
OB focusses on the behaviour of individuals at work
o Tries to make sense of human behaviour
o “why they do what they do”
o First step to understanding how to manage people effectively in order to reach organizational
goals
o Understand, predict and control the behaviour and attitudes in the organization
à Insights from psychology and sociology
Key characteristics?
o Applied focus: give insight in the organizational context
o Contingency approach: we do not assume that there is a “holy grail” à there is no best, perfect
theory that is applicable for everybody; every individual acts differently
o Empirical research: studies, surveys, experiments.
- Ex. Hawthorne Studies in 1924. They investigated the effects of different lightning levels,
financial incentives, and rest pauses (work breaks) on employee productivity. Curiously,
production levels increased whether the experimenters increased or decreased the
lighting, paid workers based on individual production or group production, or increased or
decreased the amount of rest pauses. The increased attention from management and the
development of a cohesive work group, led to significantly higher levels of job satisfaction
and productivity.
1 Why should we study OB?
OB helps manage people effectively to reach organizational goals: organizational success depends on
employees
o An organization consists of a coordinated group of people who cooperate together to achieve
a common goal
2
1. WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR? 2
1 WHY SHOULD WE STUDY OB? 2
2 OB AND PERFORMANCE? 3
3 CHALLENGES OF TODAY’S ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE “NEW” ECONOMY 3
4 CHANGING WORLD OF WORK 4
5 WORKPLACE DIVERSITY 4
2. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PERCEPTION 5
1 INTRODUCTION 5
2 WHAT IS PERCEPTION? 5
3 STAGES OF THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS 6
4 HOW DOES PERCEPTION INFLUENCE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR? 8
5 PERCEPTUAL ERRORS 9
6 PERCEPTUAL ‘SHORTCUTS’ IN ORGANIZATIONS 11
3. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN VALUES AND PERSONALITY 12
1 WHAT IS PERSONALITY? 12
2 PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES THAT DISTINGUISH INDIVIDUALS 13
3 VALUES AND ATTITUDES 17
4 CONCLUSION 18
4. MOTIVATION AND ENGAGEMENT 19
1 WHAT IS MOTIVATION? 19
2 CONTENT MOTIVATION THEORIES 20
3 PROCESS MOTIVATION THEORIES 22
4 CONCLUSION PART 1 24
5 INTRINSIC VS. EXTRINSIC REWARDS 25
6 SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY 25
7 SALARY AND MOTIVATION 27
8 COMPENSATION STRATEGIES 28
9 ROLE OF THE MANAGER 29
10 DARK SIDE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT 30
11 CONCLUSION PART 2 30
5. DESIGN OF WORK 31
,1 JOB DESIGN 31
2 TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO JOB DESIGN: JOB SIMPLIFICATION 31
3 JOB CHARACTERISTIC MODEL 33
4 JOB DEMANDS-RESOURCES MODEL 35
5 FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS AND NEW WAYS OF WORKING 36
6 CONCLUSION- WHY SHOULD ORGANIZATIONS CARE FOR JOB DESIGN? 36
6. GROUPS AND TEAMS 37
1 INTRODUCTION 37
2 UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF “GROUPS & TEAMS” IN ORGANIZATIONS 37
3 HOW DOES GROUP STRUCTURE INFLUENCE GROUP PERFORMANCE? 39
4 HOW DOES “GROUP DYNAMICS” INFLUENCE PERFORMANCE? 42
5 WHY TEAMS? 44
6 CONCLUSION 45
7. LEADERSHIP 46
1 INTRODUCTION 46
2 WHAT IS A LEADER? 46
3 TRADITIONAL LEADERSHIP APPROACHES 47
4 MODERN LEADERSHIP APPROACHES 50
5 READING ASSIGNMENTS 53
8. POWER 55
1 WHAT IS POWER? 55
2 SOURCES OF POWER 55
3 POWER & OBEDIENCE 57
4 MANAGING WITH POWER AND INFLUENCE 58
,Introduction
A good company to work for offers:
o Quality leadership
o Work/life balance
o Team spirit: good colleagues; good communication
o Fair and respectful treatment: excellent and safe working environment
o Personal challenges
o Recognition: rewards
o Opportunity for promotion: training and career development
All these factors are indicators of employee satisfaction and employee wellbeing.
If companies are only as good as the people that work there, then we need to ask ourselves:
o How do employees learn the tricks of the trade, and how do they plan their career in the
company?
o How to motivate employees?
o How can we design work to promote employee wellbeing?
o What makes a great team?
o What type of leadership is most successful?
à A study of organizational behaviour answers these questions. OB focusses on the behavior of
individuals at work.
The aim of this course is to:
o Understand the link between empirical research (surveys), theory, and application
o How and why is the field of Organizational Behaviour relevant?
o What are the theoretical predictions derived from research in the field?
o How does theory contribute to evidence-based management?
Exam: multiple choice (75%) met giscorrectie + open questions (25%)
1
, 1. What is Organizational Behaviour?
OB is the study of human behaviour in organizational settings.
The organizational behaviour model shows the link between:
o Human behaviour in organizational settings: each
individual has a unique personal background and a set of
experiences from other organizations
o The individual organizational interface: these individuals
come in contact with other people such as colleagues,
managers, …
o The organization itself
o The environment surrounding the organization
Understanding how people behave in organizations and why they do what they do is critical in working
effectively with and managing others.
OB focusses on the behaviour of individuals at work
o Tries to make sense of human behaviour
o “why they do what they do”
o First step to understanding how to manage people effectively in order to reach organizational
goals
o Understand, predict and control the behaviour and attitudes in the organization
à Insights from psychology and sociology
Key characteristics?
o Applied focus: give insight in the organizational context
o Contingency approach: we do not assume that there is a “holy grail” à there is no best, perfect
theory that is applicable for everybody; every individual acts differently
o Empirical research: studies, surveys, experiments.
- Ex. Hawthorne Studies in 1924. They investigated the effects of different lightning levels,
financial incentives, and rest pauses (work breaks) on employee productivity. Curiously,
production levels increased whether the experimenters increased or decreased the
lighting, paid workers based on individual production or group production, or increased or
decreased the amount of rest pauses. The increased attention from management and the
development of a cohesive work group, led to significantly higher levels of job satisfaction
and productivity.
1 Why should we study OB?
OB helps manage people effectively to reach organizational goals: organizational success depends on
employees
o An organization consists of a coordinated group of people who cooperate together to achieve
a common goal
2
