PSYCH 338 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Absenteeism, Visible Minority, Politicking With Larry King

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH 338
• Professor: Franki Kung

Document Summary

Organizations: social inventions for accomplishing common goals through group effort. When we say that organizations are social inventions, it means that their essential characteristics is the coordinated presence of people, not necessarily things. The field of organizational behavior is about understanding people and managing them to work effectively. Virtually all organizations have survival as a goal. The field of organization behavior is concerned with how organizations can survive and adopt to change. Innovation and flexibility, which provide for adaption to change, are especially important for contemporary organizations. At its most general level, this means that organizations depend on interaction and coordination among people to accomplish their goals. Also, informal grouping occurs in all organizations because friendships develop and individuals form informal alliances to accomplish work. The field of organization behavior is concerned with how to get people to practice effective teamwork. Organizational behavior: the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and groups in organizations.