Organizational Behavior: An Introduction

Introduction to Organizational Behavior (OB)

• OB is the study of human behavior within organizations
• The goal is to understand, predict, and improve workplace dynamics
• It focuses on achieving better outcomes

Levels of Analysis

• Individual Level: Explores personality, motivation, and job satisfaction
• Group/Team Level: Examines communication, leadership, and group dynamics
• Organizational Level: Considers structure, culture, and policies

OB as a Science

• OB uses scientific methods to test hypotheses
• It aims to provide evidence-based insights, unlike intuition-based approaches
• Experience, intuition, and authority are examples of methods

Correlations

• Correlation measures the relationship between two variables
• Positive Correlation: Both variables increase together (e.g., effort and productivity)
• Negative Correlation: One variable increases as the other decreases (e.g., stress and job satisfaction)
• No Correlation: No consistent pattern between variables
• Correlation values can be strong (±0.50 and higher), moderate (±0.30), or weak (±0.10)
• Correlation does not imply causation, causation needs to be established

Decision-Making

• Decision-making Involves selecting a course of action from multiple options
• Programmed decisions: Routine decisions made using established rules
• Non-Programmed decisions: Complex, unique decisions requiring creative solutions

Common Issues in Decision-Making

• Limited Information:
  • Bounded Rationality: Simplifies decisions due to inability to consider all information
  • Satisficing: Choosing an option that is "good enough"
• Faulty Perceptions:
  • Selective Perception: Noticing only information that confirms pre-existing beliefs
  • Stereotypes: Assumptions based on group membership
  • Projection Bias: Assuming others think the same way
  • Heuristics: Mental shortcuts that can lead to errors
    • Anchoring and contrast are examples
• Attribution Theory: Attempts to attribute observed behavior to a type of cause
  • Internal behavior is believed to be under the personal control of the individual
  • External means the person is forced into the behavior by outside events/causes
• Faulty Attributions:
  • Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to attribute others' behavior to internal factors
  • Self-Serving Bias: Overestimating one's own influence on successes
  • A Hindsight Bias.
• Escalation of Commitment:
  • Continuing a failing course of action due to sunk costs

Job Performance (Individual Outcome)

• Job performance is behaviors that contribute to achieving organizational goals
• Focuses on behaviors, not just end results
• Task Performance:
  • Core responsibilities
    • Routine: Regular, predictable tasks (e.g., filling out new hire paperwork)
    • Adaptive: Responding to change and emergencies.
    • Creative: Generating innovative ideas or solutions
• Citizenship Behavior:
  • Discretionary actions that help others and improve the organization and improve morale and productivity
    • Organizational: Voice, civic virtue, boosterism
    • Interpersonal: Courtesy, helping, sportsmanship
• Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB):
  • Actions that harm the organization
    • Organizational: Minor (production deviance, substance abuse), major (sabotage, theft)
    • Interpersonal: Minor (gossiping, incivility), major (harassment, abuse)
  • Research has found strong positive correlations between different types of CWB's

Evaluation Methods of performance

• Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS):
  • Rates performance based on observable behaviors
• Forced Ranking:
  • Assigns performance ratings on a bell curve
  • Has results in a lack of teamwork and increased stress and competition among employees

Organizational Commitment (Individual Outcome)

• Organizational commitment is the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization
• It is a wish to remain a member

Types of Commitment

• Affective Commitment:
  • Emotional attachment to the organization
  • Staying because you want to
  • Example: Strong friendships or a positive work atmosphere
• Continuance Commitment:
  • Commitment based on costs associated with leaving
  • Staying because you need to
  • Example: Financial benefits, job security, or relocation difficulties
• Normative Commitment:
  • Commitment based on obligation
  • Staying because you ought to
  • Example: Feeling loyal due to mentorship or the organization giving them their first job
• Employees with higher affective commitment engage in more citizenship behaviors
• Continuance commitment is unrelated to citizenship behavior or any other type of job performance

Withdrawal Behavior

• Psychological Withdrawal (Neglect):
  • Daydreaming, socializing, looking busy, cyberloading, moonlighting
• Physical Withdrawal (Exit):
  • Tardiness, missing meetings, quitting, absenteeism, long breaks
• Responses to Negative Events:
  • The Exit-Voice-Loyalty-Neglect (EVLN) framework categorizes how employees respond to dissatisfaction
    • Exit: Leaving the organization.
    • Voice: Attempting to improve conditions by discussing issues
    • Loyalty: Passively waiting for improvement while maintaining performance
    • Neglect: Reduced effort and attention to work

Drivers of and Building Commitment

• Significant driver of affective commitment is social life
• Erosion Model: Employees with fewer social ties are more likely to leave
• Social Influence Model: Turnover spreads through social networks within organizations
• Building Commitment is done by
  • Creating equitable work environments
  • Fostering meaningful relationships
  • Providing job security and minimizing organizational politics
  • Using Social bonds to increase affective commitment
  • Providing positive Work environments to enhance commitment

Job Satisfaction (Individual Mechanisms)

• Job satisfaction Is a positive evaluation about a job

Types of Job Satisfaction

• Global Satisfaction is an Overall evaluation of the job
• Facet Satisfaction is the Evaluations of specific job components like pay, coworkers, supervision, tasks, and promotion opportunities

Contributing Factors for Job Satisfaction

• Employees are generally more satisfied than dissatisfied, but now it's a decreasing trend
• Satisfaction varies according to specific facets and culture

Value-Percept Theory

• Satisfaction depends on whether a job provides things that an individual values
  • People evaluate job satisfaction according to specific facets of the job
• Dissatisfaction = (VWANT - VHAVE) × (VIMPORTANCE)
  • VWANT: is how much of a value an employee desires
  • VHAVE: is how much of that value is actually present
  • VIMPORTANCE: The importance of that value to the individual

Job Characteristics Model

• Certain characteristics of a job lead to satisfaction with the work itself
  • Variety: The job involves a range of tasks and challenges
  • Identity: The ability to complete an identifiable piece of work from start to finish
  • Significance: The job has a meaningful impact on others
  • Autonomy: Independence in how tasks are performed
  • Feedback: Receiving direct information on performance

Benefits of Job Satisfaction

• Improved task and organizational performance
  • Increased customer satisfaction due to this
• Increased citizenship behavior
• Decreased counterproductive work behaviors
• Higher levels of commitment
  • Decreased absenteeism and turnover

Explore the fundamentals of Organizational Behavior (OB). Understand individual, group, and organizational levels. Learn how OB uses scientific methods to study workplace dynamics.