chapter - Pearson

Chapter 1
Organizational Behavior and Management
mance of his employees and thus the performance of Schlumberger itself. To these
ends, Baird has taken the following steps:
■
■
He strives to increase their skills and knowledge and works hard to involve
employees in the running of the business and encourages them to find new
ways to speed product development, raise quality, and increase revenues.
He rewards employees for superior performance and makes sure that each
employee’s contribution to the organization is recognized.
■ He tries to create a work setting in which employees can work hard both
alone and in virtual teams to further their organization’s goals and interests.
As Baird’s actions suggest, a solid understanding and appreciation of how people
behave in organizations, and what causes them to behave the way they do, is the first
step in managing organizational behavior effectively. Once managers appreciate the
forces that shape organizational behavior, they can use new tools and techniques, such
as information technology, to enhance individual and organizational performance.
In this chapter, we define organizational behavior and its relationship to management,
and we demonstrate how a working knowledge of organizational behavior
is essential for managers and employees alike in helping an organization to meet its
goals. We discuss the functions, roles, and skills of management and describe how
understanding organizational behavior is necessary for a manager to be effective. We
also discuss five contemporary challenges to the management of organizational
behavior, focusing on two that are perhaps the most important facing managers
today: (1) the need to utilize effectively the fast-developing information technology
that is affecting all aspects of the way a company operates, and (2) the need to create
an organizational context that allows employees to be creative and innovative as they
go about their jobs. By the end of this chapter, you will understand the central role
that organizational behavior plays in determining how effectively an organization
and all the men and women who are part of it are in achieving their goals.
5
■ ■ ■
WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR?
Organization
A collection of people who work
together to achieve individual and
organizational goals.
To begin our study of organizational behavior, we could just say that it is the study of
behavior in organizations and the study of the behavior of organizations, but such a
definition reveals nothing about what this study involves or examines. To reach a
more useful and meaningful definition, let’s first look at what an organization is. An
organization is a collection of people who work together to achieve a wide variety of
goals. The goals are what individuals are trying to accomplish by being members of
an organization (earning a lot of money, helping promote a worthy cause, achieving
certain levels of power and prestige, enjoying a satisfying work experience). The
goals are also what the organization as a whole is trying to accomplish (providing
innovative goods and services that customers want; getting candidates elected; raising
money for medical research; making a profit to reward stockholders, managers,
and workers). Police forces, for example, are formed to achieve the goals of providing
security for law-abiding citizens and providing police officers with a secure,
rewarding career while they perform their valuable service. Paramount Pictures was
formed to achieve the goal of providing people with entertainment while making a
profit, and in the process, actors, directors, writers, and musicians receive well-paid
and interesting work. Euan Baird works hard at Schlumberger finding new ways of
using IT to increase performance, not only to provide customers with high-quality
innovative products but also to provide himself with power, wealth, and a satisfying
work experience.