Chapter 1 What is the importance of interpersonal skills What is organizational behavior OB Why is it important to complement intuition with systematic study Understanding OB helps determine manager effectiveness Leadership and communication skills are critical as a person progresses in his or her career Better interpersonal skills result in lower turnover of quality employees and higher quality applications for recruitment Good places to work have better nancial performance What do managers do in terms of functions roles and skills Manager someone who gets things done through other people in organizations Organization a consciously coordinated social unit composed of 2 or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals Planning organizing leading and controlling Management skills Technical skills the ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise All jobs require some specialized expertise and many people develop their technical skills on the job Human skills the ability to work with understand and motivate other people both individually and in groups Conceptual skills the mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations Organizational behavior is a eld of study that investigates the impact that individuals groups and structure have on behavior within organizations of the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization s effectiveness Systematic study adds to intuition or those gut feelings about why I do what I do and what makes others tick If we make all decisions with intuition or gut instinct we re likely working with incomplete information Psychology seeks to measure explain and sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals Social psychology blends the concepts of psychology and sociology Sociology studies people in relation to their social environment or culture Anthropology the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities Contingency variables situational factors are variables that moderate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables Responding to economic pressure Responding to globalization Managing workforce diversity Improving customer service Improving people skills Working in networking organization Enhancing employee well being at work Creating a positive work environment Improving ethical behavior What are the challenges and opportunities for managers in using OB concepts What are the major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to OB Why are there few absolutes in OB What are the three levels of analysis in this book s OB model Inputs variables like personality group structure and organizational culture that lead to processes Processes actions that individuals groups and organizations engage in as a result of inputs and that lead to certain outcomes Outcomes the key variables that you want to explain or predict and that are affected by some other variables Chapter 2 Age What are the two major forms of workforce diversity Surface level diversity Deep level diversity Unfair discrimination assumes stereotypes about groups What are stereotypes and how do they function in organization settings Refusal to recognize individual differences is harmful to organizations and employees What are the key biographical characteristics and how are they relevant to OB Gender Race and Ethnicity Turnover and absenteeism rates are lower among older workers Age is not associated with lower productivity There is no consistent male female differences in problem solving ability analytical skills competitive drive motivation sociability or learning drive Employees tend to favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluations promotion decisions and pay raises Workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations but may have lower performance expectations Tenure Disability Etc Religion Tenure is a good predictor of employee productivity Tenure and job satisfaction are positively related U S law prohibits discrimination based on religion but ut us still an issue especially for Muslims Fed law does not protect employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation Cultural Identity Need to accommodate and respect individual cultural identities Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity What is intellectual ability and how is it relevant to OB Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental activities thinking reasoning and problem solving Most societies place a high value on intelligence How can you contrast intellectual and physical ability Physical ability is the capacity to do tasks demanding stamina dexterity strength and similar characteristics The importance of ability at work complicates the formulation of workplace policies that recognize disabilities Diversity management is the process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others Effective diversity programs Teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people How do organizations manage diversity effectively Teach managers how a diverse workforce will be more effective at serving a diverse customer base Foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities of everyone Chapter 3 What are the main components of attitudes Are these components related or unrelated Cognitive evaluation Affective feeling Behavioral action Does behavior always follow from attitudes Why or why not Discuss the factors that affect whether behavior follows from attitudes Cases of attitude following behavior illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance Cognitive dissonance any incompatibility an individual might perceive between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes Attitudes people hold determine what they do What are the major job attitudes In what ways are these attitudes alike What is unique about each Job satisfaction Job involvement a positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of its characteristics degree of psychological identi cation with the job where perceived performance is important to self worth belief in the degree of in uence over one s job competence job meaningfulness and autonomy identifying with a particular organization and its goals and wishing to maintain membership in the organization employees who are commuted will be less likely to engage in work withdrawal even