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Essentials of Organizational Behavior
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Essentials of Organizational Behavior
An Evidence-Based Approach


Other Titles in:
Organizational Behavior

July 2015 | 504 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Essentials of Organizational Behavior equips you with the theory, research, and skills you need to be an effective leader and manager in today’s organisations. Author Terri A. Scandura utilizes a toolkit of real-life case studies, assessments, and exercises to teach you how organisational behaviour can improve performance at every level in the workplace. With an emphasis on developing critical thinking skills and applying research to real scenarios, this book is a must-have resource for any student looking to enter the professional workforce.

Structured around key aspects of organisational behaviour, the author explores individuals in organisations, managers as motivators, managers as relationship builders, cross-cultural differences, and managers as change agents.  Alongside, ‘Leadership Implications’ in each chapter help you understand how to use organisational behaviour concepts to become a more effective leader and act as motivator, relationship builder, and agent of change in your organisation. 

Features:

  • An evidence-based approach introduces you to theories, models, and concepts that are validated by research, focusing on contemporary approaches that work
  • Chapter Toolkits include real-world Case Studies, Self-Assessments, and Exercises that allow you to practice applying organisational behaviour concepts to real organizations and your own life 
  • An appendix on research designs explores different types of methods and how they are used in organisational behaviour. 

Get the SAGE edge!
SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Learn more at edge.sagepub.com/scandura.

 
Section I: Organizational Behavior and Leadership
 
Chapter 1: What is Organizational Behavior?
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
A Crisis of Leadership?

 
What is Organizational Behavior?

 
Evidence-Based Management

 
What is Critical Thinking?

 
The Scientific Method

 
Outcome Variables in Organizational Behavior

 
Levels of Analysis in Organizational Behavior

 
How Organizational Behavior Can Increase Employee Performance

 
Toward More Effective Organizational Leaders: Plan for this Textbook

 
Leadership Implications: Thinking Critically

 
 
Chapter 2: Leadership: Core Concepts
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Have Leaders Lost their Followers’ Trust?

 
What is Leadership?

 
Full Range Leadership Development

 
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX)

 
The Importance of Trust

 
Power and Influence

 
Organizational Politics and Political Skill

 
Ethical Leadership

 
Servant and Authentic Leadership

 
Leadership Implications: Developing Relationships and Leading Ethically

 
 
Section II: Understanding Individuals in Organizations
 
Chapter 3: Individual Differences
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
The Right Stuff at the Wrong Time

 
What is Personality?

 
Psychological Capital

 
Emotions and Moods at Work

 
Neuroscience

 
Diversity

 
Generations at the Workplace

 
Leading Diverse Followers

 
Mindfulness

 
Leadership Implications: Embracing Diversity

 
 
Chapter 4: Attitudes and Job Satisfaction
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Job Satisfaction: A Downward Trend

 
What is an Attitude?

 
Do Attitudes Matter?

 
Job Satisfaction

 
Job Search Attitudes

 
Organizational Commitment

 
Perceived Organizational Support

 
Psychological Empowerment

 
Leadership Implications: Creating Meaning at Work

 
 
Chapter 5: Perception
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Would you be Happier if You Were Richer?

 
What is Perception?

 
Understanding Why People Don’t See Eye to Eye

 
Attribution Theory

 
The Romance of Leadership

 
The Pygmalion Effect

 
Employability: How Potential Employers Perceive You

 
Leadership Implications: Leading Followers with Differing Perceptions

 
 
Chapter 6: Individual Decision Making
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
The Importance of Decisions

 
Decision Processes and Organizational Performance

 
The Rational Decision-Making Model

 
Prospect Theory

 
Intuition

 
Decision Traps

 
Creative Problem Solving

 
Leadership Implications: How Leaders Support Creativity

 
 
Section III: Motivating Employees
 
Chapter 7: Motivation: Core Concepts
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Do You Have Grit?

 
What is Motivation?

 
Need Theories

 
Goal Setting

 
Job Characteristics Theory

 
The Importance of Fairness

 
Expectancy Theory

 
Path-Goal Theory

 
Leadership Implications: Leaders as Motivators

 
 
Chapter 8: Motivation: Learning and Rewards
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
The Meaning of Money

 
Reinforcement Theory

 
Social Learning Theory

 
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Rewards

 
What Money Can and Cannot Do

 
Performance Management

 
Problems with Performance Reviews

 
Feedback Seeking

 
Leadership Implications: Motivating with Rewards

 
 
Section IV: Building Relationships
 
Chapter 9: Group Processes and Teams
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Why Teams Matter: “The Orange Revolution”

 
What is a Team?

 
Team Purpose

 
Team Development

 
Team Effectiveness

 
Cohesion

 
Team Norms

 
Team Mental Models

 
Participation in Team Decisions

 
Team Decision Making Methods

 
Team Challenges

 
Leadership Implications: Empowering the Team

 
 
Chapter 10: Managing Conflict and Negotiation
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
What are CEOs Getting Coaching For?

 
What is Conflict?

 
Conflict Resolution Styles

 
Team Conflict and Performance

 
Third-Party Interventions

 
Resolving Conflict Across Cultures

 
Negotiation

 
Leadership Implications: Perspective Taking

 
 
Chapter 11: Organizational Communication
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
“Thin-Slicing” a Conversation

 
What is Organizational Communication?

 
Barriers to Effective Communication

 
Communication Networks

 
Electronic Communication

 
Cross-Cultural Communication

 
Nonverbal Communication

 
Silence

 
Leadership Implications: The Management of Meaning

 
 
Chapter 12: Cross-Cultural Differences and Adjustments
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Global Diversity: A Key Workforce Trend

 
What is Culture?

 
High-Context Versus Low-Context Cultures

 
Hofstede’s Cultural Values

 
GLOBE Studies of Cross-Cultural Leadership

 
Cultural Tightness-Looseness

 
Developing Global Leaders

 
Culture Shock

 
Cross-Cultural Adjustment for Expatriates

 
Leadership Implications: “Explain Before Blame”

 
 
Section V: Creating Change
 
Chapter 13: Stress in the Context of Organizational Change
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
“Road Warriors”

 
What is Stress?

 
Stress and Organizational Performance

 
Stress and Organizational Change

 
Sources of Work-Related Stress

 
Stress Episode

 
Stress is a Global Concern

 
Coping

 
Preventative Stress Management in Organizations

 
Leadership Implications: Helping Employees Cope

 
 
Chapter 14: Organizational Culture
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
When Elephants Learn to Dance

 
What is Organizational Culture?

 
National Culture and Organizational Culture

 
Strong Organizational Cultures

 
Socialization

 
How Employees Learn Culture

 
Organizational Climate

 
Leadership Implications: Changing Organizational Culture

 
 
Chapter 15: Leading Change
Chapter Learning Objectives

 
Helping Employees Embrace Change

 
Forces Driving Organizational Change

 
Planned Organizational Change

 
Organizational Subsystems Involved in Planned Change

 
Organizational Development

 
Resistance to Change

 
Leading Change

 
Effective Change Implementation

 
Leadership Implications: Creating Learning Organizations

 
 
Appendix: Research Designs used in Organizational Behavior

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

Give your students the SAGE edge!

SAGE edge offers a robust online environment featuring an impressive array of free tools and resources for review, study, and further exploration, keeping both instructors and students on the cutting edge of teaching and learning. Learn more at edge.sagepub.com/scandura. 

SAGE edge for Instructors supports teaching by making it easy to integrate quality content and create a rich learning environment for students.

  • Test banks provide a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding
  • Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides offer complete flexibility for creating a multimedia presentation for the course
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to full-text SAGE journal articles have been carefully selected to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter to encourage students to think critically
  • Multimedia content appeals to students with different learning styles
  • Lecture notes align with PowerPoint slides and summarize key concepts by chapter
  • Sample answers to in-text questions ease preparation for lectures and class discussions
  • Suggested course projects are designed to promote students’ in-depth engagement with course material.
  • Lively and stimulating ideas for class activities that can be used in class to reinforce active learning. The activities apply to individual or group projects.
  • Teaching notes for cases are designed for instructors to expand questions to students, or initiate class discussion.
  • Course cartridge provides easy LMS integration
Student Resource Site

SAGE edge for Students provides a personalized approach to help you accomplish your coursework goals in an easy-to-use learning environment.

  • Mobile-friendly eFlashcards strengthen your understanding of key terms and concepts
  • Mobile-friendly practice quizzes allow you to independently assess your mastery of course material
  • A complete online action plan includes tips and feedback on your progress and allows you to individualize your learning experience
  • Chapter summaries with learning objectives reinforce the most important material
  • Videos and multimedia resources with critical thinking questions facilitate further exploration of topics
  • EXCLUSIVE! Access to full-text SAGE journal articles that have been carefully chosen to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter

“Professor Scandura presents a wonderful vision for an advanced organizational behavior text.  As students of organizational behavior enter the workplace, one of the major challenges they face [is] applying theory to practice.  Professor Scandura’s exemplary work is a contemporary model where students can fully appreciate the science-practitioner model of organizational leadership.”

Chan Hellman
University of Oklahoma

“Scandura’s text provides a view of organizational behavior for the leader that is relevant to today’s education at both undergraduate and graduate levels.  The opportunities to apply this learning are embedded in every chapter and accessible for all students.”

Marie Hansen
Husson University

“The Scandura text provides a rich contribution to the traditional Organizational Behavior conversation. It is well- grounded in behavioral theory and contemporary organizational research and promotes the tangible application of both.”

DeNisha McCollum
John Brown University

“Scandura offers a rigorous, evidence-based approach to Organizational Behavior that is presented in a straightforward, easy to read style. I think students will enjoy reading this book, and learn a lot while doing so.”

Hannah R. Rothstein
Professor of Management, Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College (NY, NY)

 “Scandura’s OB text is pitched at a level that will resonate well with MBA students.”

Carrie Hurst
Tennessee State University – Nashville

 “In order to compete in today’s world, students must be knowledgeable of current events.  The case studies incorporated in this text enable students to share experiences with their peers and to feel more equipped in solving real world problems.” 

Minerva Cruz
Kentucky State University

“Finally we have a text that combines leadership and organizational behavior.  Terri Scandura has done it!  This approach gives leaders a strong foundation on how leaders can apply organizational behavior principles to improve performance at every level in the workplace.”

Jim Bryan
Fresno Pacific University

“Wonderful integration of Leadership for the OB student.  Provides tools that will be useful early in the careers of our students.”

Michael R. Buckley
University of Oklahoma

“After many years of teaching, I am finally happy to see a text that only focuses on material that is truly useful for today’s business students. Students are interested in gaining the tools to become good managers, not a historical overview of the field. This text emphasizes material that is most current and relevant.”

Cecily Cooper
University of Miami

“The authors concise “plain talk style” simplifies complex concepts and research, enabling students to easily grasp contemporary issues and solutions associated with Organizational Behavior.”

Jay Jacobson
Marquette University

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 9


Terri A. Scandura

Terri A. Scandura is currently the Warren C. Johnson Professor of Management in the Miami Herbert Business School at the University of Miami. From 2007 to 2012, she served as Dean of the Graduate School of the university. Her fields of interest include leadership, mentorship, and applied research methods. She has been a visiting scholar in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, China, and the United Arab Emirates.Dr. Scandura has authored or coauthored over 200 presentations, articles, and book chapters. Her research has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Applied Psychology, the Journal of International Business... More About Author

Also available as a South Asia Edition.

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ISBN: 9781483345659
$110.00