Why is the topic of organizational behavior important? - BulletPoints 1

• Organizational behavior can be defined as the field that focuses on understanding, explaining, and improving the attitudes of individuals and groups within an organization. A typical manager performs several functions, including planning, organizing, leading and controlling
• Members of the organization require different skills to perform their tasks effectively: technical, human and conceptual skills. Employees can add value to their company's human capital in many different ways.
• Five different disciplines of behavioral science are associated with the study of organizational behavior: psychology, sociology, social psychology, political science, and anthropology.
• Critical thinking refers to the ability to use intelligence, knowledge, and skills to question and carefully explore situations and arrive at thoughtful conclusions based on evidence and reason. The critical thinking approach is a powerful analytical method that helps managers consider the intended and unintended consequences of individual behavior on their teams and within their organizations.
• Globalization, economic events, diversity, customer-centric culture, social skills, critical thinking skills and sustainability present both a challenge and an opportunity for companies.
• We distinguish three main levels of analysis within the behavioral model of an organization: individuals, teams and organizations. Each level of this model builds on the previous one.
• The discipline of positive organizational behavior focuses on the strengths, virtues, vitality and resilience of organizations and the individuals within that organization.

How can we deal with diversity and individual differences in the workplace? - BulletPoints 2

• Diversity is a hot topic in organizations around the world. Workplace diversity refers to the degree to which an organization represents different cultures. Diversity can occur in many different ways within a workplace. At the core of cultural intelligence is cultural metacognition, which refers to the level of conscious cultural awareness we posses during cross-cultural interactions.
• We generally have a perception or ourselves that can in fact differ from the perception that other people have of us. 
• We define personality as a stable and unique pattern of traits, which are characteristics, that result in behaviors that identify a person. Personality traits are the characteristics that describe our thoughts, feelings and behaviors.  
• The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a psychometric questionnaire used to evaluate four psychological preferences that combine to describe sixteen personality types.
• The Big Five model distinguishes five personality factors; neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion and openness to experience, and is widely accepted by research.
• Researchers have proposed the concept of core self-evaluation (CSE), which refers to the appraisals that people make of their own abilities, self-worth, control and capabilities.
• Personal conception refers to the degree to which individuals relate to and think about their social and physical environment and their personal beliefs regarding a range of issues. We distinguish risk-taking propensity, a proactive personality, type A and type B employees, self-monitoring and Machiavellianism.

What can organizations and managers learn about theories on perception and learning? - BulletPoints 3

• We define perception as the process by which we receive and interpret information from our environment. Managing perceptions in the workplace is important for nurturing a healthy organizational culture, especially when people hold different perceptions about their colleagues, how tasks are carried out, and even the organization itself. A number of factors may influence and distort perception, including the perceiver, the environment and the focal object.
• Our attempts to organize the complex information we encounter on a daily basis can be corrupted by inaccuracies in our perceptions. We distinguish several different perceptual distortions that we can experience.
• The attribution theory is a theory that states that people look for two causes to explain the behavior of others: internal attributions and external attributions. There are three factors that can influence our internal and external attributions: consistency, distinctiveness and consensus.
• When perceiving others, we sometimes make erroneous judgments in assessing their behavior. There are two common attribution erros: the fundamental attribution error and the self-serving bias.
• The behavioral view states that our behavior is shaped and learned as a result of external environmental stimuli. There are three important contributions within the behavioral perspective: classical conditioning, operant conditioning and the reinforcement theory.
• In the social cognitive theory, Bandura proposed that learning takes place through the observation, imitation and the modeling of others within a social context. He distinguishes the influences of self-efficacy, vicarious learning and self-regulation. The triadic reciprocal model of behavior shows how cognitive processes mediate the effects of reinforcers on behavior and how behavior influences both reinforcers and cognitive processes. 

How do emotions, attitudes and stress relate to work performance? - BulletPoints 4

• Emotions and moods differ from each other, yet can have a major influence on each other. Emotional contagion, which is the phenomenon in which emotions are experienced by few people of a work group are spread to the other people.
• Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to understand emotions in ourselves and others in order to effectively manage our own behaviors and our interpersonal relationships. Emotional intelligence is nowadays a desired job skill for employees to have.
• Emotional labor refers to the process of managing one's feelings to present positive emotions even when they are contrary to one's actual feelings. Emotional regulation refers to the set of processes through which people influence their own emotions and the ways in which they experience and express them
• Attitudes determine our likes and dislikes and help us to make judgments about other people or events. Our beliefs provide us with the necessary information to shape our attitudes, which in turn shape our behavior. Attitudes play a big role in our behavior at the workplace, as they influence our job satisfaction, organizational commitment and employee engagement. Job satisfaction refers to the degree to which an individual feels positive or negative about his or her job. Employee engagement is a connection with the organization and conneciton to one's job.
• Stressors refer to the environmental stimuli that place demands on an individual. We distinguish challenge stressors and hindrance stressors. Strain reactions are the physiological and psychological reactions that people have to stress. Coping refers to the efforts we make to manage, reduce or minimize the stressors at the workplace or in our general life. We distinguish problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.
• A wellness program is a personal or organizational effort to promote health and well-being through providing access to services like medical screenings, weight management, health advice and exercise programs.

How do concepts and theoretical perspectives on motivation play a role in organizational behavior? - BulletPoints 5

• We define motivation as the forces form within individuals that stimulate and drive them to achieve their goals.
• Content theories are theories that explain why people have different needs at different times and how these needs motivate behavior. Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory suggests that people are motivated by their desire to satisfy specific needs, and each need must be satisfied before we can move up the pyramid to satisfy the need above it. Instead of Maslow's five needs, the ERG theory includes three levels: existence needs (E), relatedness needs (R) and growth needs (G). The two-factor theory states that motivational influences impact job satisfaction. McClelland's acquired needs theory suggests that there are three main categories of needs; need for achievement, need for affiliation and need for power.
• The goal-setting theory suggests that human performance is directed by conscious goals and intentions they have.
• The equity theory states that motivation is based on our perception of fairness in comparison with others by relying on our perception of the outcome/input ratio. Organizational justice refers to the perception of fairness in workplace practices. There are four main kinds of organizational justice: distributive justice, procedural justice, interpersonal justice and informational justice:
• The expectancy theory holds that people will choose certain behaviors over others with the expectation of a certain outcome. Motivation is viewed as a function of expectancy, instrumentality and valence.

How can we apply theories on motivation in practice? - BulletPoints 6

• Intrisic motivation refers to the performance of tasks for ouw own innate satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation consists of two main mechanisms: the need for competence and the need for self-determination. Need for competence refers to the motivation we have that is derived from stretching and exercising our capabilities. The need for self-determination refers to the state of motivation and control gained through making efforts that are not reliant on any external influences.
• In the set of different extrinsic rewards organization can provide to their employees, weo distinguish job-content based pay, seniority-based pay, skill-based pay and performance-based pay.
• Job design is a method of setting duties and responsibilities of a job with the intention of improving productivity and performance. There are three main approaches to job design that we distinguish: job enlargement, job rotation and job enrichment
• Psychological empowerment refers to the extent to which employees feel a sense of personal fulfillment and intent when carrying tasks, along with a belief that their work contributes to some larger purpose. There are four main factors associated with psychological empowerment that empowerment: competence, self-determination, impact and meaningfulness.
• These are the four main nontraditional work schedules commonly adopted by employers in today's workplace: flextime, compressed workweeks, job sharing and telecommuting.

How can we effectively work in a team? - BulletPoints 7

• A group consists of three or more people who work independently to attain organizational goals. In contrast, teams consists of a number of people, usually between three and seven, who use their complementary skills to collaborate in a joint effort. teams engage in interdependent, collaborative and cooperative work to ahcieve purposeful goals.
• The effectiveness of work teams depends on how well they are managed and treated within the organization.
• Bruce Tuckman came up with a theory that describes how team processes affect team outcomes. He came up with a scientific model that describes how teams go through a number of stages in the process of becoming an effective team. He distinguishes five stages in this model, which are forming, norming, storming, performing and abjourning. While Tuckman's model is a popular theory for team formation, the punctuated equilibrium model developed by Gersick suggests that teams do not develop in this sequence.
• We distinguish virtual teams, self-managing teams, problem solving teams and cross-functional teams. This theory is a method of understanding organizational change by illustrating where change is relatively stable and where it becomes more volatile.
• Effective teams in an organization are characterized by their ability to improve quality, reach goals and change processes. One classic way of understanding teams and their effectiveness is to consider teams in terms of the contextual influences that affect their functioning, their composition, the processes they use, and the outcomes they achieve.
• One approach to team decision-making is the concept of brainstorming. There are both advantages and disadvantages to team decision making. Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which people in a cohesive group go along with the group consensus rather than offering their own opinions.

How do creativity, innovation and decision-making play a role in organizational behavior? - BulletPoints 8

• Problem solving is a method that requires analytical thinking and intuition to find a solution, whereas decision making is a process that takes place during the process of problem solving and involves judgment. Managers often use the five-step decision making process to help them make good decisions and resolve the complex issues an organization deals with.
• There are other factors that affect an individual's ability to make rational decisions. We distinguish bounded rationality, satisfycing decisions, intuition, heuristics and a variety of different biases.
• Creativity refers to the generation of meaningful ideas by individuals or teams. Innovation refers to the creation and development of a new product or surfice.
• The three-component model of creativity distinguishes domain-relevant skills and expertise, creativity-relevant processes and task motivation.
• People with high creative potential have appropriate skills and the capacity to generate ideas. In contrast, practiced creativity refers to the ability of employees to seize opportunities to apply creative skills in their workplace. We distinguish three main types of support for creativity in organizations: organizational support, supervisory support and workgroup support
• We distinguish several steps in the innovation process: creating an idea, identifying any advantages and disadvantages to the innovation, and bringing the innovation into practice.
• We often think of innovation as a process that produces tangiable products, but in fact we distinguish six main types of innovations in organizations. Researchers believe that organizations need to strike a balance betweeen the contradictory natures of exploitative and exploratory innovation.

How do ethics and social responsibility play a role in organizations? - BulletPoints 9

• Ethics refer to moral principles of duty and virtue that prescirbe how we should behave. Individuals but also organizations frequently face large and small ethical dilemmas, which are conflicts between two or more morally unpleasant alternatives
• Organizations often face ethical dilemmas in which they have to choose a certain course of action. We distinguish three classical ethical decision-making approaches: the utilitarian approach, the rights approach and the justice approach.
• Kohlberg came up with the three main stages of moral development, distinguishing preconventional morality, conventional morality and postconventional morality. The Six Pillars of Character are not based on political, religious or cultural leanings in making ethical decisions. The six pillars are trust, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship
• Sometimes ethical challenges can upset the dynamics of work relationships in an organization.
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR) refers to a business approach that delivers economic, social and environmental benefits to stakeholders in order to contribute to sustainable development
• Some components of ethical behavior include core values, mission statements, codes of ethics, structure, boards of directors, reward and performance evaluation systems, reporting and communication systems and ethics officers. One way to prevent unethical behavior form occurring in organizations is by ensuring all employees receive an ethics training.

How can we engage in effective communication? - BulletPoints 10

• We define communication as the act of transmitting thoughts, processes and ideas through a variety of channels. Effective communication within an organization must take place within an among peer groups and between different hierarchical levels. Managers are required to encourage and nurture collaborative working environment by effectively communicating with teams to ensure that tasks are accomplished and organizational goals are achieved.
• The Shannon-Weaver communications model suggests that communication relies on two main components: the sender of the message and the receiver of the message. Along the way, noise occurs, which refers to interference that can muddy a message between the sender and receiver.
• We distinguish different types of communications channels: oral communication, written communication, electronic communication and nonverbal communication.
• As communication is central to our relationships with others, it is essential that we understand the barriers that can hamper our ability to communicate successfully and learn how to overcome these barriers. We distinguish several barriers that can hamper our communication. A way to overcome poor listening is through focusing on the skill of active listening, which consists of concentrating on the true meaning of what others are saying.
• The flow of communciaiton in an organizaiton can move in three main directions, depending on how an organization is structured: upward, downward or laterally. Regardless of the direction of the flow of communication within organizations, most messages are sent through two main communications networks: formal and informal.
• The success of global organizations depends on the quality of cross-cultural communication. Several factors can complicate our communication with members of other cultures.

How do trust, conflict and negotiation play a role within an organization? - BulletPoints 11

• We define trust as the dependence on the integrity, ability, honesty and reliability of someone or something else. In general, we distinguish three different types of rust: disposition-based trust, cognition-based trust and affect-based trust.
• We define conflict as a clash between individuals or groups because of different opinions, thought processes and perceptions Dependening on how an organization handles this conflict, it can either be a functional or dysfunctional conflict. We distinguish three main types of conflicts that can occur within an organization: task conflict, relationship conflict and process conflict. We distinguish four stages of conflict: the antecedents of conflict, perceived/felt conflict, manifest conflict and outcomes of conflict.
• Conflict is an inevitable event in the workplace. By analzing and understanding the fave basic conflict managment strategies, employees will be able to choose how th respond to conflict and manage conflict so they are productive and don't escalate. We distinguish five different conflict management strategies: avoidance, accomodation, competition, compromise and collaboration.
• Negotiation is the process of reaching an agreement that both parties find acceptable. Mediators, arbitrators and conciliator are neutral third parties that can help lead the negotiation process.
• Bargaining focuses more on the price of a certain product or service, whereas negotiating is not focused on this. It is wise to identify your best possible alternative to negotiable agreement (BATNA) and zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) before entering a negotiation.

What different leadership perspectives can we distinguish? - BulletPoints 12

• Leadership is the process to providing general direction, from a position of influence, to individuals or groups toward the successful attainment of goals. Within most organizations there are two types of leaders: formal leaders and informal leaders.
• We distinguish four different types of leadership behavior, as proposed by Manz and Sims: directive leadership, transactional leadership, visionary leadership and empowering leadership.
• The early theories on leadership explore the traits of good leaders. We distinguish the trait leadership perspective, the behavioral leadership perspective, the contingency leadership perspective, the situational leadership mode, the path-goal leadership model and the substitutes for leadership model.
• Recent inspirational and relational leadership perspectives have built on the earlier theories to explain how leaders motivate and build relationships with followers to achieve performance beyond expectations. We distinguish the leader-member-exchange theory, transformational leadership theory, charismatic leadership and follower-centered leadership.
• Empowering leadership is the practice of delegating power that motivates employees and inspires them to achieve goals. Shared leadership is a style of leadership that distributes influence among groups and individuals to achieve organizational or team goals. Self-leadership is a process through which people intentionally influence their thinking and behavior to achieve their objectives.
• Values-based leaders act in concert with a set of principles in order to equip others with the right tools to unleash their potential so that they can act for the greater good. We distinguish four types of values-based leadership: authentic leadership, spiritual leadership, servant leadership and ethical leadership:
• Cross-cultural leadership is the process of leading across different cultures. The six dimension of cross-cultural leadership profiles are: charistmatic/value-based, team oriented, participative, humane oriented, autnonomous and self-protective.
• Factors that contribute to gender inequality and leadership style, the unequal burden of family and career demands, unequal access to professional networks, discrimination and stereotypes.

What is the effect of influence, power and politics in an organization? - BulletPoints 13

• The concept of power is the capacity to influence the actions of others and it is inextricably linked with leadership. We distinguish two basic sources of power: organizational power and personal power.
• The way in which people use power is important when it comes to how they are able to influence others. In organizaitons, people often use different forms of power tactics to get what they want. We distinguish eleven primary tactics for influencing others: rational appeals, inspirational appels, upwards appeals, personal appeals, consultation, exchange, coalition building, ingratiation, silent authority, information control and assertiveness.
• We can explore the effectiveness of an influence tactic by looking at three different possible outcomes: commitment, compliance and resistance. In general, people tend to respond better to soft rather than hard tactics
• We define organizational politics are behavior that is not formally sanctioned by the organization and that is focused on maximizing our self-itnerest, often at the expense of the organization or other employees. Political behaviors include ingratiation, self-promotion, strong influence tactics, coalition building, the forgoing of connections with powerful allies, taking credit for positive events and the success of others and the circumvention of legitimate channels to secure resources that would otherwise be unattainable
• Political behavior can either be destructive or a force for good in an organizaiton. We distinguish four main types or organizational politics to navigate the political landscape: the weeds, the rocks, the high ground and the wood.

What is the effect of culture in an organization? - BulletPoints 14

• We define organizational culture are the pattern of shared norms, rules, values and beliefs that guide the attitudes and behaviors of the employees of an organization. We distinguish two main components of an organizational culture: the observable culture and the unobservable culture. One way of approahcing the study of organization cultures is the competing values framework (CVF), which provides a means to identify, measure and change culture.
• The artifacts or identifiable elements of an organization provide members and outsiders with a better understanding of its culture.
• We distinguish two major functions of the organizational culture: external adaptation and internal integration. We also distinguish three situations that lead to an organizational culture becoming dysfunctional and create hindrances: during organizational change, under organizational diversity and during mergers and acquisitions.
• We distinguish several other types of organizational cultures: positive organizational cultures, communal cultures, fragmented cultures, mercenary cultures, networked cultures, ethical cultures and spiritual cultures.
• Hofstede identified five ways of measuring culture, based on research analyzing the itneractions between people from different cultures all over the world. He distinguishes the individualist-collectivist dimension, high and low power distance, high and low uncertainty avoidance, long- and short-term orientation, and competitiveness versus cooperativeness.
• An expatriate is an employee who lives and works in a foreign country on a temporary basis. Typically, we distinguish five stages of cultural adaptation: the honeymoon stage, the disintegration stage, the reintegration stage, autonomy stage and the independence stage.
• Booz & Co outlined a concept called "the critical few" that presents managers with ways to implement effective change within the organizational culture. Researcher Daniel Feldman identified three phases of organizational socialization experienced by the employee before and after entering an organization. These three phases are anticipatory socialization, the encounter phase and the change and acquisition phase.

How can organizations change their structure? - BulletPoints 15

• Managers must tread carefully when addressing concerns, otherwise they run the risk of inciting the DADA syndrome, experience by individuals faced with unwanted change. They syndrome consists of four stages: denial, anger, depression and finally acceptance. Lewin's basic change model helps to facilitate the change process. It distinguishes three stages of planned change: unfreezing, transforming and refreezing.
• Organizations need to adapt to external forces, which are outside influencers such as competitors' actions and customers' changing preferences, and to internal forcers, which are inside influences such as company culture and employee diversity. Organizations need to adapt to customers' demographic characteristics, technological advancements, customer and market changes, social and political pressures and generational changes:
• One of the main obstacles to implementing organizational changes is resistance to change, which refers to people's unwillingness to accept or support modifications in the workplace. Kotter created the 8-step-change model for leading change in organizations.
• We define organizational structure as the framwork of work roles that helps shape and support employee behavior. Several different organizing concepts, such as the specialization of labor, departmentalization, chain of command, span of control, centralization or decentralization, mechanistic and organic models, formalization and bureaucracy describe the kinds of choices an organization's top managers must make in choosing the most appropriate structure.
• Organizational development (OD) is a deliberately planned system that uses behavioral science knowledge to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their organization. We distinguish five different types of change interventions that are commonly used in organizations: structural interventions, task-technology interventions, sociotechnical systems design, quality of worklife interventions and people-focused interventions.