Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Introduction to the Course

Shahla Gahramanova
Azerbaijan Technical University

shahla.gahramanova@unec.edu.az; gahramanovas@gmail.com
 Course learning objectives
Understanding
What is the leadership and organizational behavior (OB).
What is the value of systematic study to OB.
Why few absolutes apply to OB.

Identifying
The major behavioral science disciplines that contribute to leadership and OB.
Managers’ challenges and opportunities in applying OB concepts.
The key employability skills gained from studying OB that are applicable to other majors
or future careers.
 Course Syllabus + Course Readings
 Syllabus (Download from your page)
 Course readings:
Required reading
 Stephens P.Robbins, Timothy A.Judge, “Essentials of Organizational Behavior”, 18 th edition, Pearson, 2020
 Reginald L. Bell, Jeanette S. Martin. “Mangerial communication for Organizational Development”, 2019, Business
Expert Press
 Materials presented by the lecturer

Recommended readings:
 Andrew J.DuBrin, “Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior”, 6th edition, 2019
 Jason Colquitt, Jeffery LePine, and Michael Wesson, "Organizational Behavior: Improving Performance and
Commitment in the Workplace", 8th edition, McGraw Hill, 2023
 Christopher P. Neck, Jeffery D. Houghton, and Emma L. Murray, "Organizational Behavior: A Critical Thinking
Approach", SAGE Publications, 2015
Course Outline
 Course related instructions
Code of Ethics

Students should be attentive when their colleagues present and try to enrich the process with relevant
questions and comments when appropriate. Reasonable questions and comments would be highly
appreciated.

However, you are requested to be courteous and respect the opinions of your colleagues. While spirited
debate on the issues is an integral part of the learning process, there is no room for discourteous
discourse, personal attacks or mocking upon anyone in the class.

Trying to change discussion topic by asking non-related questions or making irrelevant comments is
against your interest and “contributes” to wasting time.
 Assessment
 Midterm – 30?
 Project work– 20?
 Final exam- 50?

Total: 100
 Project Work

• Each Project work is assigned to a group of 5

• Topics for project works is provided by instructor, however, students can
also propose a topic of their preference provided that the topic is relevant
and is agreed with the instructor.
 Project Topics
To be discussed and agreed with students…
• The Aspects of Organizational Behavior
• How Organizational Behavior Will Make Me an Effective Manager
• The Organizational Behavior and the Loyalty of the Workers
• Organizational Behavior and Its Importance in Managing a Business Organization
• The Realities and Challenges of Organizational Behavior
• Organizational Behavior and Leadership of the 21st Century
• Why Should Every Manager Study the Discipline of Organizational Behavior?
• The Organizational Behavior Influences the Ethical Behavior
• Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
• International Power Company’s Organizational Behavior and Change Management
 Lecture 1: Introduction to OB
Plan
- Overview of OB: definition, importance, and scope,

- OB model,

- Historical background and evolution of OB

- The key variables influencing behavior at each level

- OB models and frameworks

Source: Stephen P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge | Organizational Behavior (Chapter 1)

 Why OB matters and what the study of
OB
offers you?
What is the most frequently desired skills in applicants?
Communoication
Problem solving
Negotiation

Lack of interpersonal skills is the top reason why some employees fail to advance
What is Organizational
Behavior?
Disciplines That Contribute to OB
 Why study Leadership and OB?
Just being a good person or good specialist may not be sufficient to handle business related
issues that arise in organizations. A knowledge of OB and interpersonal skills is critical for your
success and advancement in the modern workplace.
It is relevant to nearly every job:

Necessary for your career advancement.

A study by Monster mined around one million market-wide job
postings to determine the most frequently desired skills in
applicants. Communication skills were at the top of the list,
followed by other OB-relevant skills, including problem solving
and influence skills.
 Why study Leadership and OB?
The knowledge and practice of OB can help you
think analytically and critically
make better decisions
communicate and collaborate more effectively with others
act with a sense of social responsibility in the workplace.

Many researches have demonstrated that these types of “employability skills” are highly
valued and desired by employers.
 The benefits of good organizational
behaviour

Contribute to Employee Commitment

Contribute to Investor Loyalty
 TIAA-CREF investor participants were asked would they choose a financial services company with strong ethics
or higher returns. Surprisingly, 92 percent of respondents said they would choose ethics while only 5 percent
chose higher returns.
Contribute to Customer Satisfaction
 Knowledge of OB helps in handling negatives
• Incivility
• Abusive behaviour
• Harassment
• Accounting fraud
• Conflict of interests
• Bribery
• Concealing the product defect
• Employee theft
• Insider trading
• Falsifying research data
• Sports: violating the drug policy
 Terms related to ethics and
organizational behaviour
 Incivility  Discrimination
 Unethical or deviant workplace  Sexual Harassment
behavior  conflict, drug abuse,
 Conflict of Interests  Environmental Issues
 Honesty  Fraud/theft
 Fairness  Consumer Fraud
 Integrity  Marketing Fraud
 Abusive or Intimidating Behaviour  Financial Misconduct
 Lying  Insider Trading
 Bribery  Intellectual Property Rights

 The Failure of Ethical Leadership

 Demoralizes workforce
 Breeds distrust…
 Leads to organizational decay
 Worker, manager, organization

Worker/s Organization

Individual/s who contributes to

the accomplishment of work
goals.
 The 21 Century
A new focus on leadership and organizational
behaviour
Employees are placed into management positions without sufficient management training or
informed experience.

According to a large-scale survey, more than 58 percent of managers

reported that they had not received any training, and 25 percent
admitted that they were not ready to lead others when they were given
the role.

A Gallup poll found organizations chose the wrong candidate for

management positions 82 percent of the time

Gullup is a Workplace Consulting & Global Research

 Mintzberg’s managerial roles

1.Interpersonal
2.Informational
3.Decisional

Henry Mintzberg (1939)

Canadian academic and author on business and management
Eduaction
Management Roles
Managers’ Role in OB
Analysis: Effective Versus
Successful Managerial Activities
 Generic skills
• High level of development: written and oral communication;
• Application of theory to practice;
• Ability to recognise attitudes, actions and beliefs of others;
• Working effectively within groups/ teams;
• Adaptability to respond readily to changing situations and priorities;
• Application of high ethical standards in professional practice and social interactions.
 Case 1
CASE INCIDENT Work–Life Balance at R.G. & Company Tatum is a consultant at R.G. & Company
(R.G.), a global consulting firm. She has enjoyed the past few years working at the company. As an
ambitious person, she has been focusing on her long-term goal of advancing within the company.
Furthermore, Tatum has always been passionate about her work and could not imagine working anywhere
else. Nonetheless, working at R.G. as a mother of a young child has not been without its challenges. The
company does offer some flexibility in terms of when she is in the office. As long as she completes her
work, her supervisors usually do not care if she leaves early or works from home when her daughter is
sick.
Although Tatum may work long hours at home, she knows that she is not perceived the same way as
those who stay late working at the office. In her office, it seems like everyone expects you to stay late to
demonstrate your dedication and to have any chance of being promoted. If Tatum wants a promotion, she
believes she needs to make herself stand out among all the company’s qualified individuals.
R.G. has policies to accommodate those with family responsibilities. But, in practice, Tatum knows that few
employees take advantage of them. For example, Tatum was a little surprised at how quickly her
supervisor, Kennedy, returned to the office after having a child. However, Kennedy was much admired at
R.G. and was held up as an example that it was possible to have it all—to be a successful working mother.
The alternative was for Tatum to transition to working part-time or switch to a less demanding role.
Unfortunately, these alternatives would essentially mean putting aside her goal of advancement.
On the other hand, she had heard others make comments when another woman who had two younger
children stayed late at the office. Some would say, “Why don’t you get home to your kids?” or “Don’t your
kids miss you?” To Tatum, it felt like a constant balancing act between trying to be an exemplary employee
and ensuring she was not perceived to be a neglectful mother.
One aspect that had initially drawn Tatum to this organization was the “accommodations” (i.e., flexible
work hours, fewer responsibilities, and part-time hours), particularly for women. However, she now felt
almost guilty in thinking that these “accommodations” were more likely to hurt than help her professionally.
Thankfully, her partner earned enough to comfortably support their family if Tatum decided to work fewer
hours or transition roles. Still, Tatum was having trouble coming to terms with the possibility of not
achieving her professional goals.

Questions
•Do you believe the accommodations offered by Tatum’s firm are effective in helping individuals balance
work and family lives? Why or why not?
•Are there any practices or policies that the organization could implement to allow for greater work–life
balance?
•Are there any actions Tatum could take to achieve both her professional goals and work–life
balance?
•How important do you believe work–life balance is for job satisfaction and career success?
 Case Hofstede
If we explore South Korean culture through the lens of the 6-D Model (G. Hofstede), we can get
a good overview of the deep drivers of South Korean culture relative to other world cultures.
Explain each cultural dimensions. https://www.theculturefactor.com/country-comparison-tool?countries=south+korea%2Csweden