PSY 4242 Organizational Psychology and Behavior

Lecture: Introduction to Organizational Psychology and Behavior

Outcomes

• Define organizational psychology (OP)
• Describe the major characteristics of the field of OP
• Distinguish between the Theory X and Theory Y philosophies of management
• Identify the fundamental assumptions of the field of OP
• Describe the three levels of analysis in OP and the main ideas behind systems theory

Lecture: The Performance Appraisal Process: An Application of Personality, Perception, & Learning

Outcomes

• Define personality and explain the nature of its effects on behavior in the workplace
• Describe personality dimensions that are responsible for individual differences in organizational behavior
• Define social perception and explain the processes by which people come to make judgments about what others are like
• Describe social identity theory and Kelly’s theory of causal attribution and explain the various biases that make the social perception process imperfect
• Define learning and describe the two basic kinds of learning that occur in organizations
• Explain various ways in which principles of learning are applied in organizations

Lecture: Understanding Employee Attitudes

• Distinguish between emotions and moods
• Explain how emotions and moods influence behavior in organizations
• Describe ways in which people manage their emotions in organizations
• Identify the major causes of organizational stress
• Describe the adverse effects of organizational stress
• Identify various ways of reducing stress in the workplace
• Distinguish among the concepts of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination
• Distinguish between affirmative action plans and diversity management programs
• Describe four theories of job satisfaction
• Identify the consequences of having dissatisfied employees and describe ways of boosting job satisfaction
• Distinguish among three fundamental forms of organizational commitment

Lecture: Motivation Matters: Theories of Employee Motivation

Outcomes

• Identify four different forms of organizational justice and the organizational impact of each
• Describe things that can be done to promote organizational justice
• Explain what is meant by ethical behavior and why organizations should be concerned about ethics
• Describe the individual and situational factors responsible for unethical behavior in organizations and methods for minimizing such behavior
• Define motivation
• Explain needs hierarchy theory and how it applies in organizations
• Describe equity theory’s approach to motivation in the workplace
• Outline the basic assumptions of expectancy theory and its implications in organizations
• Explain how goals can be set to motivate high levels of job performance
• Describe ways in which jobs can be designed to enhance motivation

Lecture: Counterproductive Work Behavior

Outcomes

• Describe two types of psychological contracts in work relationships and the types of trust associated with each
• Describe organizational citizenship behavior and ways in which it may be promoted
• Identify ways in which cooperation can be promoted in the workplace
• Describe competition and what makes it inevitable in organizations
• Identify three forms of deviant organizational behavior and how to minimize them
• Define communication and describe the various steps in the communication process
• Distinguish between verbal communication – both traditional and computer mediated – and nonverbal communication, and the factors that make each effective
• Explain how to meet the challenges associated with communicating with people from different cultures

Lecture: Understanding and Integrating Theories of Leadership

Outcomes

• Define leadership and explain the major sources of power leaders have at their disposal
• Describe the trait approach to leadership and identify the major characteristics of effective leaders
• Identify the types of behavior that have been most strongly associated with effective leadership
• Identify the emerging trends and challenges in leadership practice
• Describe various approaches that can be taken to develop leaders in organizations

Lecture: Group Development and Interaction

Outcomes

• Define what is meant by a group and how a team differs from a group
• Explain how individual performance in groups is affected by the presence of others (social facilitation) and the number of others with whom one is working (social loafing)
• Define what teams are and describe the various types of teams that exist in organizations
• Describe the evidence regarding the effectiveness of teams in organizations
• Describe the different varieties of decisions people make in organizations
• Explain the three major approaches to individual decision making (the rational-economic model, the administrative model, and image theory)
• Identify various factors that contribute to imperfect decision making in organizations
• Describe the conditions under which individuals make better decisions than groups and groups make better decisions than individuals
• Explain how various structural techniques and computer-based techniques may be used to improve the quality of decisions made by groups

Lecture: Organizational Culture

Outcomes

• Define organizational culture and identify the functions it serves in organizations
• Identify the factors responsible for creating organizational culture, for transmitting it, and for getting it to change
• Define creativity and describe the basic components of individual and team creativity
• Describe various approaches to promoting creativity in organizations
• Identify the basic components of general innovation and management innovation, and the stages through which each progress
• Distinguish among the three types of departmentalization: functional organizations, product organizations, and matrix organizations
• Define organizational design and distinguish between classical and neoclassical approaches to organizational design
• Describe the contingency approach to organizational design
• Identify five emerging approaches to organizational design
• Distinguish between conglomerates and strategic alliances as two types of inter-organizational designs

Lecture: Change: Individual and Organizational Perspectives

Outcomes

• Identify the major external forces responsible for organizational change
• Describe what is meant by strategic planning and identify the steps in the strategic planning process
• Describe why people are resistant to change in organizations and ways in which this resistance may be overcome
• Define organizational development (OD) and describe three OD techniques
• Describe the conditions under which OD techniques are most effective
• Describe how OD is affected by national culture and explain the ethical concerns that have been voiced about using OD techniques