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Learning objectives
Click on the links below to find out what you will learn in each chapter.
Part 1: Work and organizational behaviour
Part 2: Managing organizations
Part 3: Individuals and work
Part 4: Groups and social interaction
Part 5: Organizational change and performance
Chapter 1: The nature of organizational behaviour
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain work organizations, their basic characteristics and their connections to the wider social context
- defi ne the term ‘organizational behaviour’ and describe the contribution to the fi eld of organizational behaviour of three disciplines: psychology, sociology and anthropology
- describe the evolution of organizational behaviour as a fi eld of research and learning
- explain an integrated framework for conceptualizing organizational behaviour
- describe the challenges of conducting research on organizational behaviour.
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Chapter 2: Work in organizations
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain the function and meaning of work
- explain the relationship between work and an individual’s personal and social identity
- be able to summarize the historical dimensions of work, pre-industry, the factory system, trade unions, government intervention, occupational changes, and the emergence of knowledge work in the virtual worksite.
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Chapter 3: Studying work and organizations
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain the classical approaches to studying work through the ideas of Marx, Durkheim and Weber
- explain contemporary theories of work organizations and the importance of theory to understanding work, and behaviour in the workplace.
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Chapter 4: Management
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
- define management and explain the main activities of management
- explain the competing perspectives on management, including the science, political, labour process and practical perspectives
- demonstrate knowledge of why managerial behaviour may vary because of the organization’s strategy, structure and environment
- explain the meaning of strategic management and describe the three levels of strategy formation
- explain how globalization affects management decision making, work and organizational behaviour
- understand the significance of managerial work for improving organizational performance.
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Chapter 5: Leadership
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain the meaning of leadership and how it differs from management
- explain the three-dimensional model for conceptualizing organizational leadership
- explain the different approaches to studying organizational leadership
- demonstrate an understanding of how leadership influences organizational performance.
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Chapter 6: Personality
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- define personality and understand its importance in the workplace
- distinguish between the trait and psychodynamic theories of personality
- understand how cultural and life-long social experience shapes personality
- understand more of the main characteristics of your own personality
- apply the key findings of personality research to the workplace.
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Chapter 7: Perception
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- understand the basic nature of human perception and its far-reaching influence on the nature of decision making, behaviour and relationships in organizations
- identify and define the elements of the perception process, how they relate to each other, and why the sequence in which they occur will affect how individuals view people and situations
- explain the influence on perception of information-processing limitations and existing knowledge and expectations, including those arising from cultural background
- discuss how knowledge of perception processes can generate insight into phenomena of particular significance in the workplace, such as human error, interpersonal conflict, stereotyping, performance expectations and inter-group relations
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Chapter 8: Learning
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain the importance of learning in organizations
- define learning and discuss the difference between formal, non-formal and informal learning
- discuss the contested nature of behavioural, cognitive and social learning theories
- articulate how adult learning theories adds to our understanding of learning processes
- identify the effects of social class, ethnicity and gender on learning and training opportunities in the organization
- discuss some practical applications of learning theories.
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Chapter 9: Motivation at work
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- understand and explain how motivation reflects the exchange embodied in the employment relationship
- compare and contrast needs-based theories of motivation at work
- describe the expectancy and equity theories of motivation
- discuss the managerial implications of process-based motivation theories
- understand and explain sociological insights into motivation at work, including alienation, organizational culture and the orientation to work.
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Chapter 10: Equity in organizations: issues of gender, race, disability and class
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- understand and explain how equity affects organizations
- describe some of the principal means by which equity issues are handled in organizational practices
- compare and contrast the current status of gender, race/ethnicity, disability and class policy in organizational life in major English-speaking countries
- outline relevant areas where further investigation is needed in the many areas relating to equity in the workplace.
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Chapter 11: Work groups and teams
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- distinguish between informal and formal work groups
- explain the current popularity of teams in work organizations
- articulate how group norms and cohesiveness exert influence on individual and group behaviour
- describe and critically evaluate the theories of team development
- identify the different theoretical perspectives and paradoxes related to work teams.
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Chapter 12: Communications
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- discuss the importance of communication in the workplace
- discuss alternative perspectives on managing diversity in the organization
- explain the communication process, including non-verbal communication
- understand the use of communication in the leadership process
- understand the relationships between culture, gender and communication
- appreciate the existence of paradox in communication processes in the workplace.
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Chapter 13: Decision making
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- define organizational decision making
- explain the rational model of decision process
- compare and contrast the rational model with how managers actually make decisions
- describe the benefits of employee involvement in decision making
- summarize the pros and cons of using groups to make decisions
- discuss techniques for improving organizational decision making.
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Chapter 14: Power, politics and conflict
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- recognize and explain key debates concerning the concept of power in the context of the organizational behaviour ( OB) field
- understand and explain the following key concepts: systems of power, authority, influence, hegemony
- compare and contrast major macrotheoretical approaches to the concept of power in the writings of Mann, Foucault, Lukes, Weber and Gramsci
- discuss possible implications of theories and research for workplace practice.
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Chapter 15: Organizational design and culture
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
- identify and define the foundation concepts of organization structure and design
- understand the meaning and significance of complexity, formalization and centralization
- describe the features of bureaucratic and contemporary organization designs
- assess the nature of the relationships between strategy, size, technology and capitalist development, and the structure of an organization
- understand that organization designs shape and are shaped by gender and sexuality
- explain the nature of organizational culture and its importance in understanding organizational behaviour.
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Chapter 16: Technology in work organizations
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- outline current trends in the relationship between technology and work organizations
- understand and explain the following key concepts: participatory design, configurations, technology agreement, four key forms of technological thought, Luddite revolt
- compare and contrast major theoretical approaches to technology and work organizations including the post-industrialism thesis and the deskilling/enskilling debates
- discuss possible implications of theories and research for workplace practice.
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Chapter 17: Human resource management
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
- explain the nature of human resource management
- summarize the key HRM functions
- explain the theoretical issues surrounding the HRM debate
- explain the meaning of strategic HRM and give an overview of its conceptual framework
- explain how developments in global capitalism affect corporate and HR strategies in multinational corporations (MNCs).
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