Organizational Behavior and Opportunity Essays

Submitted By atxdood
Words: 1410
Pages: 6

ORGB: 1, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10
B&S: 3, 7

CHAPTER 1
Organizational Behavior and Opportunity

HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS often described as clockworks – orderly, idealized organizational behavior devoid of conflict or dilemma also seen as snake pits – dark side of human behavior, is seen at its extreme in air rage and workplace violence organizational behavior: study of individual behavior and group dynamics in organizations concerned with psychosocial, interpersonal, and behavioral dynamics organizational variables affecting human behavior are relevant jobs, design of work, communication, etc.

Understanding Human Behavior majority of theories and models fall into two categories: internal and external internal: looks at workers’ minds to understand behavior explains actions and behavior in terms of their histories and personal value systems people are “best judged from their inside” external: focuses on factors outside the person, excluding internal factors
Interdisciplinary Influences organizational behavior is derived from multiple fields of study psychology: science of human behavior sociology: science of society; knowledge of group and intergroup dynamics engineering: the applied science of energy and matter emphasis on human productivity and efficiency in work behavior; shift to automated performance of simplified tasks anthropology: science of human learned behavior important in our understanding of organizational culture examines effects of efficient organizational cultures on performance as well as dysfunctional cultures management: administrative science: study of overseeing activities and supervising people in organizations design, implementation and management of various administrative and organizational systems first discipline to take the modern corporation as the unit of analysis medicine: applied science of treating diseases to enhance an individual’s health and well-being, focusing on both physical and psychological health as well as industrial mental health. ergonomics: study of design and fit of tools for work  a way to prevent medical problems resulting from poor design of workstations
Behavior in Times of Change people often experience change as a threat and respond by relying on well-learned and dominant behavior forms become rigid and reactive (rather than open and responsive) which can be a counterproductive response look for positive opportunities in change and viewing challenge as a good by follow these action steps:
1. have a positive attitude
2. ask questions
3. listen to the answers
4. be committed to success success is never guaranteed must be able to learn from failure change carries both risk of failure and opportunity for success  behavior often determines the outcome success can come through the accumulation of small wins

THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT understanding organizational behavior requires both understanding of human behavior and the organizational context within which behavior is acted out

Organizations as Open Systems two views also shape complementary explanations of organization organizations are open systems of interacting components: people, tasks, technology, structure these internal aspects also interact with components of the org’s task environment regardless of the specific type of organization, people tend to behave similarly must first understand the open system components of an organization and its task environment in order to see how the org performs
Four major internal components are: tasks, people, technology, and structure task: its mission, purpose, or goal for existing people: human resources of the org technology: wide range of tools, knowledge, and/or techniques used to transform inputs into outputs structure: the systems of communication, authority and roles, and workflow
The external aspects include commercial environment variables such as: suppliers, customers, and federal regulators the element of the environment related to the organization’s degree of goal