Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?

• / 2

Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?

The Importance of Interpersonal skills

LO 1: Demonstrate the importance of interpersonal skills in the workplace

●Until the late 1980s, business school emphasized the technical aspects(economics, accounting, finance …)  realize the significant role understanding human behavior plays in determining a manager’s effectiveness

■attract and keep high-performing employees: the social relationships

among co-workers and supervisors were strongly related to overall job satisfaction / lower stress at work / lower intentions to quit ■create a pleasant workplace  make good economic sense ◆growing awareness of the need for understanding the means and outcomes of corporate social responsibility What managers do

LO 2: Describe the manager’s functions, roles, and skills

●Definition of manager

■Manager : an individual who achieves goals through other people. He

or she makes decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to attain goals / who oversees the activities of others and is responsible for attaining goals in the org.

■Organization : a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of

two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. Ex) service firms, schools, hospitals, churches, military units, retail stores ●Management functions

■Planning : defining an organization’s goals, establishing an overall

strategy, and developing a comprehensive set of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. From lower-level to mid-level

■Organizing : designing an organization’s structure, determining

what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to whom, and where decisions are to be made

■Leading : direct and coordinate those people, motivate, direct

their activities, select the most effective communication channels, or resolve conflicts

■Controlling : monitor the performance and compare it with

previously set goals.●Management roles ■Interpersonal

◆Figurehead : symbolic head, performs routine duties of a legal or

social nature

◆Leader : motivation and direction

◆Liaison : network of outside contacts

■Informational

◆Monitor : receives information (nerve center of internal/external info)

◆Disseminator : transmits information from outsiders or from

other employees to others

◆Spokesperson : transmits information to outsiders (expert on

org’s industry) ■Decisional

◆Entrepreneur : searches for opportunities and initiates projects

◆Disturbance handler : corrective action

◆Resource allocator : makes or approves decisions

◆Negotiator : responsible for representing the organization at

major negotiations ●Management skills

■Technical skills : the ability to apply specialized knowledge or

expertise.

■Human skills : the ability to understand, communicate with,

motivate, and support other people (individually + in groups)

• / 2