Organizational Behaviour Paperback – 27 September 2016

Organizational Behaviour is one of the most established and engaging books of its kind. The authors’ popular blend of critical thinking, social science underpinning and accessible style ensures that this book will enable you to view organizations and their actions in a new light. It will also challenge you to think critically about the theories presented, demonstrating the reality behind projected organizational images, and illustrating how theory is linked to practice.

The ninth edition incorporates a number of innovative features that add further value to its comprehensive coverage of the field.

Ø Includes recent research, theory and practice, illustrating relevant contemporary issues and practical examples. What is it like to work in a virtual team? Could your job be taken over by an intelligent machine? How will tattoos and body piercings affect your job prospects? Can you increase your confidence by ‘power priming’?

Ø Encourages you to compare organizational behaviour theories, using scenes from feature films that illustrate the issues in a memorable and engaging format.

Ø Offers critical incidents that put you in the position of a manager faced with a problem, giving you the chance to make and to justify your decisions in relation to real-world situations.

Ø Incorporates QR links to short Financial Times videos that explore current topics and problems based on the work of leading commentators and researchers.

Ø Includes innovative and increasingly relevant employability content that gives you the chance to assess and develop the key skills that you will need after graduation.

Ø Incorporates illuminating examples from a range of organizations: BMW, Barclays Bank, Boeing, BP, the New York City Police Department, Google and Ikea, helping you to link theory to practice.

This book can be used by undergraduate, postgraduate and professional students, as it assumes no prior knowledge of social sciences in general, or of organizational behaviour in particular. It is the ideal introduction to organizational behaviour.

David A. Buchanan, Emeritus Professor of Organizational Behaviour at Cranfield University.
Andrzej A. Huczynski, formerly Senior Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour, University of Glasgow.

1 Explaining OB

• Two Days, One Night (2014, dirs Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) what does this movie say about the consequences of the global financial crisis?

2. Environment

• The on-demand economy
• How to manage ‘grumpy Baby Boomers’

3. Technology

• The second machine age - automating knowledge work
• Cyberhygiene and cybercrime are organizational problems

4. Culture

• Elements of a football club’s culture

5. Learning

• What neuroscience can tell us about learning (and late-night computer gaming)?
• The ‘dark side’ of socialization

6. Personality

• How ‘tweets’ and Facebook ‘likes’ reveal your personality
• Being ‘authentic’ can damage your career

7. Communication

• Communication skills and employability
• How your body language reveals how trustworthy you are

8. Perception

• Tattoo or not tattoo?: facial piercings and visible tattoos can stop you from getting the job
• Should you let others think that you are more ‘posh’ than you really are?

9. Motivation

• Money as a motivator, and how increasing pay can reduce performance
• The gig economy

10. Group formation

• The ‘huddle’ – a new work arrangement
• Self-forming groups

11. Group structure

• Leading global virtual teams
• Networked individualism – together but alone

12. Individuals in groups

• Chocking at the penalty shoot out
• How to choose your fellow students for a group project

13. Teamworking

• Challenges of working in multiple teams at the same time
• Defining team membership – Who’s in? Who’s out?

14. Work design

• The quantified workplace – measuring everything
• Physiolytics – 21st century time-and-motion studies

15. Elements of structure

• Why have the corporate functions underperformed?
• The ‘semi-formal’ organization – a new work arrangement.

16. Organization design

• Is a totally managerless organization possible?
• Google’s new organization structure

17. Organizational architecture

• The ‘meta-organization’
• On-demand and companies – here today, gone tomorrow

18. Leadership

• How movies reinforce bias against women in management roles
• Gender diversity in the Gulf Cooperation States

19. Change

• How does Zumba encourage innovation?
• Why women over the age of 55 may be the most capable change leaders

20. Decision making

• Information tsunami and decision-making

21. Conflict

• Organizational conflict cultures
• Organizational misbehaviours

22. Power and politics

• Do effective leaders ‘play politics’?
• Political blunders that damage your career