Organizational Behavior Class

Organizational Behavior 10e

Hellrigel and Slocum

Chapter 1

There are competencies that people have to know to be of use to an organization A competency is an interrelated set of abilities, behaviors, attitudes and knowledge need to do the job. This book deals with the seven that it feels are the most important.

1. Managing Self.
   This is the overall ability to assess your own strength and weaknesses.
   Core Abilities
   
   • Understand yours and others personalities and attitudes
   • perceive and interpret accurately yourself, others and immediate environments
   • Understand and act on yours and others work related motivations
   • Create and follow through on developmental, personal and work related goals
   • Take responsibility for yourself, especially over time and stressful circumstances.
   
   Career Development
   Career is a sequence of work positions during a lifetime. The popular belief is that one would 'move up the ladder' either in one company or over several.
   • A career does not imply success or failure. This is best determined by individuals.
   • There is no standard for evalulating a career. One should determine what is satisfying to them.
   • Careers should be examined subjectively (values, personalities, motivations) and objectively (choices, positions held)
   • Career development involves making decisions about an occupation and fining ways to meet those goals.
   • Cultural factors play a factor in careers
   
   "Trust Thyself" Ralph Waldo Emmerson
   


2. Managing Communications
   The ability to use all modes of transmitting, understanding and receiving ideas, thoughts and feelings. Similar to the circulatory system in humans as it nourishes the others.
   Core Abilities
   
   • Convey information to others so that they can receive it accurately, describing skill
   • Provide constructive feedback
   • Active listening, use questioning skills.
   • Use and interpret nonverbal communications properly
   • Use verbal communications effectively
   • Use written communications effectively
   • Use computer based resources (Internet) to convey ideas.
   
   


3. Managing Diversity
   The ability to value unique individual and group characteristics, embrace it, and appreciate the individual.
   Core Abilities
   
   1. Foster inclusion of people of different interest
   2. Learn from people different than you
   3. Develop personal tendencies that respect others
   4. Communicate/practice a commitment to work with others. =
   5. Show others that you actually are tolerant
   6. Follow laws and policies when it comes to diversity
   Categories of Diversity
   Categories of diversity include Primary and Secondary Categories. These will effect the organizational behavior of a company.
   Primary Categories, ones that the person cannot change include: age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities and qualities, and sexual and affectional orientation. Secondary Categories, those that a person can change, include: education, work experience, income, marital status, geographic location, parental status, and personal style.
   Changing Workforce
   Because we are in a global environment the workforce has changed drastically. Elements that make it up now are:
   Language Differences Employees need to be able to talk to each other.
   Formation of Natural Ethnic Groups People will go to their own ethnic group for support/answers to questions rather than management.
   Attitudes and Cultural Differences The way that people group themselves. Example: men play or go to sporting events, while there may talk business. Woman are left out of the upward mobile change they seek through no fault of their own.
   Gender
   Why do woman, who make 47% of the workforce, only account for 11% of officers at large corporations? One reason is the 'glass ceiling' a barrier so subtle it appears not to be there. It exsist because
   
   1. Executives are not held accountable for hiring practices
   2. Woman/minorities are not encouraged to apply because of the cultural differences talked about earlier
   3. Training and development programs are not there for this group.
   
   Race and Ethnicity
   Along with the glass ceiling racism, the belief that a persons ethnic group makes them superior to others, is prevalent against minorities. It comes in three forms: 1)Individual, what a person believes; 2)cultural, one group feels it is superior; 3) Institutional, rules that keep one race in place at the expense at another. These may operate openly or in secret as well as intentionally or unintentionally.
   Age
   Competencies gained by employees are sometimes not needed by other companies when their jobs get reduced. This makes them harder to hire. Add to this the desire not to relocate to gain employment.
   


4. Managing Ethics
   The ability to incorporate values and principles that distinguish right from wrong.
   Core Abilities
   
   • Identify the principles of ethical decision making
   • Assess importance of ethical issues in alternatives to actions.
   • Apply government laws, as well as a person's rules of conduct.
   • Show respect to others in working relationships.
   • demonstrate open and honest communications as allowed by law.
   
   Ethical Dilemmas
   Has a legal component, but not just that. Absolutes in one country are not necessarily true in another. Ethical dilemma occurs when person/organization must make choice that involves several values.
   


5. Managing Across Cultures
   The ability to recognize and embrace what makes nations and cultures different and then use approach issues with a mind that is open to all.
   Culture is a dominate pattern of living. it involves
   • views shared by the vast majority of members of a group or society
   • be passed on from generation to generation
   • Shape behavior, decisions and preceptions of the world
   
   Core Abilities
   
   • Understand what makes a particular culture unique and how that influences a person
   • Understand how work-related values influences individual choices.
   • Identify how work-related values influence choices of individual and groups
   • Understand and motivate employees with different values and attitudes.
   • Communicate in language of country where working.
   • Deal with extreme conditions
   • Address all issues from a global mindset
   
   Work-Related Cultural Values
   Individualism-Collectivism individualism is the tendency of people look after self and immediate families. Collectivism is the tendency of people to emphasize belonging to a group and be like others in exchange for loyalty. Harmony can be an element of collectivism, the sense that all in group should get along, and not let one loose face.
   Power DistanceThis is the extent that people in a society equate status and power with normal and functional aspects of life. Countries are either high in power distance (accept these inequalities) or low in power distance (do not accept them). US is moderately low. High power countries tend to have a servant/submissive culture, strictly following orders even if they are wrong. Low power tends to be more equal and do what you need to so the job gets done
   Uncertainty Avoidance The extent that people will rely on social norms, procedures and organizations to avoid risks. High avoidance people seek orderliness, consistency and structure. Low tolerate ambiguity and uncertainty. US is concidered low.
   Avoiding stereotypes Be careful not to stereotype a culture because you think in simple terms of them. Also because a person is of a culture does not mean that as an individual he is not different.
   


6. Managing Teams
   This is the ability to lead groups to achieve the organization's goals.
   Core Abilities
   
   • Determine when a team approach is right and what type of team to use
   • Engage or lead the team in setting clear goals
   • Participate/provide leadership in responsibilities for team and individuals in the team
   • Show that the goals of the team outweigh the goals of the individual
   • Apply appropriate decision making tools
   • Resolve conflicts (personal or task) before they become disruptive.
   • Access own and teams performance in relation to stated goals and take corrective action needed
   
   Teams and individualism
   Some countries value the individual and others value the team concept. The one making the decision should be the manager assigning the task. Some key facts about teams though:
   
   • Teams exist, employees need to take that in to account
   • Teams create a powerful force that can be used by the individual
   • Teams can create good and bad effects
   • Teams can be managed to increase the benefits.


7. Managing ChangeCore Abilities
   
   • Apply the other competencies to implement changes
   • Provide leadership in the change
   • Diagnose pressure for and against change
   • Apply model of change to introduce change
   • Seek, gain, share and apply new knowledge in attaining goals.
   
   Technical Forces
   Technology can have positive effects (getting good/services to people quicker) or negative effects (loss of personal privacy). technology to some degree has created a blur in our way of life.


8. Learning Framework
   Three basic components to the framework for learning about organizational behavior and improving the competencies of employees: 1)individuals in the organization; 2) Team and leadership behaviors; 3) The organization.
   Individuals in Organizations
   In order to understand the organization one must understand the individuals that make up the organization.
   Team and Leadership Behaviors
   People are social so they tend not to live/work alone. Much of what a persons identity is consist of how others and groups perceive that individual.
   The Organization Itself
   To do their job a person must understand their job and the organizations design.