HRM 601 Organizational Behavior

Session 1

Course Overview, Historical Perspective, & Research Methods

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

• A field of study

• that uses concepts, theories, and methods of behavioral sciences

• to understand the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations

• and applies the knowledge towards improving organizational effectiveness

Building Competencies

• Building a knowledge base of theories and research in organizational behavior

• Building of analytical and diagnostic skills for application of theories to organizational problems

Foundations of Organizational Behavior

• Individual (psychological) influences

• Group (social-psychological) influences

• Organizational (sociological, political) influences

Individual Influences

• Perception

• Personality and attitudes

• Learning

• Motivation

Group Influences

• Group processes

• Communication

• Decision Making

• Power & conflict

• Leadership

Organizational Influences

• Design of organizations

• Organizational environments & culture

• Organizational change & development

KEY INFLUENCES ON OB

• Early industrial engineering studies– Frederick Taylor– Frank and Lillian Gilbreth

• The Hawthorne studies

• Recent challenges for OB– Technology– International competition

WHY DO RESEARCH

• To gather a body of information on to develop a

• Systematic body of knowledge to aid in building theories

• Contradicting theories

• Suggest new theories

• To understand and explain behavior

RESEARCH DESIGNS

• Experimental designs

• Correlational and survey designs

• Case studies and focus groups

EVALUATING RESEARCH

• Internal validity -- Can we be confident that the outcomes of the study resulted from the factor being manipulated or might the result be do to some unmeasured factor

• External validity -- Can we generalize the finding of this study to a larger population or is our sample so restricted that the findings relate only to a specific groups