OB: “A field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.”
2. Managerial Functions
Planning: Defining goals, establishing strategy, and developing plans to coordinate activities.
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB): Discretionary behavior that promotes organizational functioning.
9. Contingency Variables
Contingency Variables: “Situational factors that make the main relationship between two variables change.”
Diversity and Individual Behavior
1. Ability and Intelligence
Ability: “An individual’s capacity to perform the various tasks in a job.”
Intellectual Ability: “The capacity to do mental activities (thinking, reasoning, solving).”
Multiple Intelligences: Intelligence contains four subparts—cognitive, social, emotional, and cultural.
2. Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
Number Aptitude: Ability to perform speedy and accurate arithmetic.
Verbal Comprehension: Ability to understand written or spoken material and relationships between words.
Perceptual Speed: Ability to identify visual similarities and differences quickly.
Inductive Reasoning: Ability to identify logical sequences and solve problems.
Deductive Reasoning: Ability to use logic to assess arguments and implications.
Spatial Visualization: Ability to imagine how an object would look when its position is altered.
Memory: Ability to retain and recall experiences.
3. Physical Abilities
Physical Abilities: Capacity to perform tasks that require stamina, strength, and dexterity.
Strength Factors
Dynamic Strength: Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly over time.
Trunk Strength: Use of abdominal and trunk muscles to exert strength.
Static Strength: Ability to apply force against external objects.
Explosive Strength: Exerting maximum energy in explosive actions.
Flexibility Factors
Extent Flexibility: Ability to stretch the trunk and back muscles.
Dynamic Flexibility: Making rapid, repeated movements.
Other Factors
Body Coordination: Coordinating multiple body parts simultaneously.
Balance: Maintaining equilibrium despite forces pulling out of balance.
Stamina: Sustaining maximum effort over an extended period.
4. The Ability-Job Fit
Ability-Job Fit: Ensuring employees’ abilities match the job’s requirements.
5. Biographical Characteristics
Biographical Characteristics: “Personal characteristics—such as age, gender, and race—that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records.”
6. Workforce Diversity
Workforce Diversity: “Organizations are becoming heterogeneous in gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and inclusion of diverse groups.”
Levels of Diversity
Surface-Level Diversity: “Differences in easily perceived characteristics (age, gender, race, etc.) that do not reflect how people think but may activate stereotypes.”
Deep-Level Diversity: “Differences in values, personality, and work preferences that become significant as people get to know one another.”
7. Discrimination
Discrimination: “Noting of a difference between things and making judgments about individuals based on stereotypes of their demographic group.”
8. Diversity Management
Diversity Management: “Programs by which managers make everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.”
Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
1. Definition of Attitudes
Attitudes: “Evaluative statements or judgments concerning objects, people, or events.”
Affective Component: The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
Cognitive Component: The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.
Behavioral Component: Intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.
2. Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Leon Festinger)
Cognitive Dissonance: “Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.”
People strive to reduce dissonance by altering behavior, attitudes, or perceptions.
Factors Influencing Dissonance Reduction:
Importance of elements causing dissonance.
Degree of influence over elements.
Rewards involved in resolving the dissonance.
3. Self-Perception Theory (Daryl Bem)
“Individuals come to know their own attitudes, emotions, and internal states by inferring them from observations of their own behavior and the circumstances in which they occur.”
4. Types of Attitudes
Job Involvement: Identifying with one’s job and considering performance important to self-worth.
Organizational Commitment: Identifying with organizational goals and maintaining membership.
Affective Commitment: Emotional attachment to the organization.
Normative Commitment: Obligation to stay for ethical or moral reasons.
Continuance Commitment: Staying because of perceived economic value.
Job Satisfaction: Positive or negative feelings toward a job.
Employee Engagement: “Involvement, satisfaction, and enthusiasm for the organization.”
Perceived Organizational Support (POS): The degree to which employees feel their well-being is valued by the organization.
5. Attitude Surveys
Surveys used to collect employees’ feedback about their jobs, work groups, supervisors, and organizations.
6. Job Satisfaction
Facets of Satisfaction: Satisfaction with work, pay, promotion, supervision, and coworkers.
Influence of Pay: Pay influences satisfaction only up to a point (e.g., $40,000 threshold).
Personality and Satisfaction: Negative individuals tend to report lower job satisfaction.
7. Expressions of Job Dissatisfaction
Exit: Behavior directed toward leaving the organization.
Voice: Active, constructive attempts to improve conditions.
Neglect: Allowing conditions to deteriorate.
Loyalty: Waiting passively for conditions to improve.
Absenteeism: Negatively related to job satisfaction, though liberal leave policies may encourage absenteeism.
Turnover: Strongly negatively related to job satisfaction but moderated by external job prospects.
10. Job Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
OCB: “Discretionary behavior that promotes the effective functioning of the organization.”
Satisfied employees are more likely to engage in OCBs.
11. Job Satisfaction and Deviant Workplace Behavior
Dissatisfaction can lead to:
Unionization attempts.
Substance abuse.
Theft.
Tardiness and socializing excessively.
Deviant Workplace Behavior: “Voluntary behavior that violates significant organizational norms and threatens the well-being of the organization or its members.”
Emotions and Moods
1. Definitions of Affect, Emotions, and Moods
Affect: “A broad range of emotions that people experience.”
Emotions: “Intense feelings directed at someone or something.”
Moods: “Feelings that tend to be less intense than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus.”
2. Basic Emotions (Rene Descartes)
Wonder
Love
Hatred
Desire
Joy
Sadness
3. Biology and Dimensions of Emotions
Biology of Emotions: Originate in the brain’s limbic system.
Intensity of Emotions: Affected by personality and job requirements.
Frequency and Duration: Refers to how often emotions are displayed and how long they last.
Functions of Emotions: Essential for rational thinking and motivation.
4. Story of Phineas Gage
Gage’s accident showed that loss of emotions leads to impaired reasoning. This case demonstrated the essential role of emotions in rational thinking and decision-making.
5. Sources of Emotions and Moods
Personality: Some individuals experience emotions more frequently.
Day and Time of the Week: Positive moods peak at the end of the week and in the middle of the day.
Weather: No significant correlation with mood (illusory correlation).
Social Activities: Physical, informal, or dining activities enhance positive moods more than formal or sedentary events.
Sleep: Lack of sleep decreases decision-making ability and job satisfaction.
Exercise: Releases endorphins (“happy hormones”).
Age: Older individuals experience longer positive moods and quicker recovery from negative moods.
Gender: Women express emotions more intensely and frequently but are not inherently more emotional than men.
6. Cultural Influences on Emotions
Cultural Differences:
Pride: Valued positively in Western cultures but negatively in Eastern cultures.
Expressions: Smiles are interpreted differently across cultures (e.g., sign of attraction in the Middle East or lack of intelligence in Japan).
7. Emotional Labor
Emotional Labor: When employees express organizationally required emotions during interactions.
Felt Emotions: An individual’s genuine emotions.
Displayed Emotions: Emotions that are organizationally appropriate and expected.
8. Emotional Dissonance
Emotional Dissonance: Occurs when people’s felt and displayed emotions differ.
Surface Acting: Hiding true feelings and complying with display rules.
Deep Acting: Modifying actual inner feelings to align with display rules.
9. Affective Events Theory (AET)
AET: Emotions are responses to workplace events, influenced by personality and mood. These emotions affect job performance and satisfaction.
10. Emotional Intelligence (EI)
Components of EI:
Self-awareness: Knowing one’s emotions.
Self-management: Controlling emotions and impulses.
Self-motivation: Staying motivated and persistent.
Empathy: Understanding others’ emotions.
Social Skills: Managing relationships effectively.
11. Organizational Behavior (OB) Applications
Decision Making: Emotions are integral to decision processes.
