HRM 601 Organizational Behavior Session 1 Course Overview

HRM 601 Organizational Behavior Session 1 Course Overview, Historical Perspective, & Research Methods

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR • A field of study • that uses concepts, theories, and methods of behavioral sciences • to understand the behavior of individuals and groups in organizations • and applies the knowledge towards improving organizational effectiveness

Building Competencies • Building a knowledge base of theories and research in organizational behavior • Building of analytical and diagnostic skills for application of theories to organizational problems

Foundations of Organizational Behavior • Individual (psychological) influences • Group (social-psychological) influences • Organizational (sociological, political) influences

Individual Influences • • Perception Personality and attitudes Learning Motivation

Group Influences • • • Group processes Communication Decision Making Power & conflict Leadership

Organizational Influences • Design of organizations • Organizational environments & culture • Organizational change & development

KEY INFLUENCES ON OB • Early industrial engineering studies – Frederick Taylor – Frank and Lillian Gilbreth • The Hawthorne studies • Recent challenges for OB – Technology – International competition

WHY DO RESEARCH • To gather a body of information on to develop a • Systematic body of knowledge to aid in building theories • Contradicting theories • Suggest new theories • To understand explain behavior

RESEARCH DESIGNS • Experimental designs • Correlational and survey designs • Case studies and focus groups

EVALUATING RESEARCH • Internal validity -- Can we be confident that the outcomes of the study resulted from the factor being manipulated or might the result be do to some unmeasured factor • External validity -- Can we generalize the finding of this study to a larger population or is our sample so restricted that the findings relate only to a specific groups