Chapter 1 Part 1

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What Is Organizational
Behavior?
What Managers Do
Let’s begin by briefly defining the terms manager and
organization —the place where managers work. Then let’s look
at the manager’s job; specifically, what do managers do?
Managers get things done through other people. They make

decisions, allocate resources, and direct the activities of others to
attain goals. Managers do their work in an organization , which
is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more
people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve
a common goal or set of goals.
 By this definition, manufacturing and service firms
are organizations, and so are schools, hospitals,
churches, military units, retail stores, police
departments, and local, state, and federal government
agencies. The people who oversee the activities of
others and who are responsible for attaining
goals in these organizations are managers
(sometimes called administrators, especially in not-for-
profit organizations).
• Management Functions
In the early part of the twentieth century, French industrialist
Henri Fayol wrote that all managers perform five management
functions: planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating,
and controlling. Today, we have condensed these to four:
planning, organizing, leading, and controlling.
A)The planning function encompasses defining an

organization’s goals, establishing an overall strategy for
achieving those goals, and developing a comprehensive set
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of plans to integrate and coordinate activities. Evidence
indicates this function increases the most as managers move
from lower-level to mid-level management.
B)Managers are also responsible for designing an
organization’s structure. We call this function organizing . It
includes determining what tasks are to be done, who is to do
them, how the tasks are to be grouped, who reports to
whom, and where decisions are to be made.
C)Every organization contains people, and it is management’s

job to direct and coordinate those people. This is the
leading function. When managers motivate employees,
direct their activities, select the most effective
communication channels, or resolve conflicts among
members, they’re engaging in leading.
D) To ensure things are going as they should, management

must monitor the organization’s performance and compare it
with previously set goals. If there are any significant
deviations, it is management’s job to get the organization
back on track. This monitoring, comparing, and potential
correcting is the controlling function.
 So, using the functional approach, the answer to

the question “What do managers do?” is that
they plan, organize, lead, and control.
• Management Roles
In the late 1960s, Henry Mintzberg, then a graduate student at
MIT, undertook a careful study of five executives to determine
what they did on their jobs. On the basis of his observations,
Mintzberg concluded that managers perform ten different, highly
interrelated roles—or sets of behaviors. As shown in Exhibit 1-1 ,
these ten roles are primarily (1) interpersonal, (2)
informational, or (3) decisional.
A)Interpersonal Roles All managers are required to perform

duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature.

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 For instance: when the president of a college hands out
diplomas at commencement or a factory supervisor
gives a group of high school students a tour of the
plant, he or she is acting in a figurehead role. All
managers also have a leadership role. This role
includes hiring, training, motivating, and disciplining
employees. The third role within the interpersonal
grouping is the liaison role, or contacting others who
provide the manager with information. The sales
manager who obtains information from the quality-
control manager in his or her own company has an
internal liaison relationship. When that sales manager
has contacts with other sales executives through a
marketing trade association, he or she has an outside
liaison relationship.
B)Informational Roles All managers, to some degree, collect

information from outside organizations and institutions,
typically by scanning the news media (including the Internet)
and talking with other people to learn of changes in the
public’s tastes, what competitors may be planning, and the
like. Mintzberg called this the monitor role. Managers also
act as a conduit to transmit information to organizational
members. This is the disseminator role. In addition,
managers perform a spokesperson role when they
represent the organization to outsiders.
C)Decisional Roles Mintzberg identified four roles that require

making choices. In the entrepreneur role, managers initiate
and oversee new projects that will improve their
organization’s performance. As disturbance handlers,
managers take corrective action in response to unforeseen
problems. As resource allocators, managers are
responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary
resources. Finally, managers perform a negotiator role, in
which they discuss issues and bargain with other units to
gain advantages for their own unit.

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• Management Skills
Still another way of considering what managers do is to look at
the skills or competencies they need to achieve their goals.
Researchers have identified a number of skills that differentiate
effective from ineffective managers.
A) Technical Skills Technical skills encompass the ability to

apply specialized knowledge or expertise.
 When you think of the skills of professionals such as
civil engineers or oral surgeons, you typically focus on
the technical skills they have learned through extensive
formal education. Of course, professionals don’t have a
monopoly on technical skills, and not all technical skills
have to be learned in schools or other formal training
programs.
 All jobs require some specialized expertise, and many
people develop their technical skills on the job.
B) Human Skills The ability to understand, communicate with,

motivate, and support other people, both individually and in
groups, defines human skills .Many people are technically
proficient but poor listeners, unable to understand the needs
of others, or weak at managing conflicts.
 Because managers get things done through other

people, they must have good human skills.
C) Conceptual Skills Managers must have the mental ability

to analyze and diagnose complex situations. These tasks
require conceptual skills.
 The ability to integrate new ideas with existing
processes and innovate on the job is also crucial
conceptual skills for today’s managers.
• Effective versus Successful Managerial

Activities
Fred Luthans and his associates looked at what managers do from
a somewhat different perspective. They asked, “Do managers who

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move up the quickest in an organization do the same activities
and with the same emphasis as managers who do the best job?”
You might think the answer is yes, but that’s not always the case.
Luthans and his associates studied more than 450 managers. All
engaged in four managerial activities:
1. Traditional management. Decision making, planning, and

controlling.
2. Communication. Exchanging routine information and
processing paperwork.
3. Human resource management. Motivating, disciplining,
managing conflict, staffing, and training.
4. Networking. Socializing, politicking, and interacting with
outsiders.
This research offers important insights. Successful managers give

almost the opposite emphases to traditional management,
communication, human resource management, and networking as
do effective managers. This finding challenges the historical
assumption that promotions are based on performance, and it
illustrates the importance of networking and political skills in
getting ahead in organizations.

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• A Review of the Manager’s Job

One common thread runs through the functions, roles, skills,
activities, and approaches to management: Each recognizes the
paramount importance of managing people, whether it is called
“the leading function,” “interpersonal roles,” “human skills,” or
“human resource management, communication, and networking
activities.” Its clear managers must develop their people skills to
be effective and successful.

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OB

Managers get things done through other people. They make

A)The planning function encompasses defining an

HeshaM HassaN 1 01060202282

C)Every organization contains people, and it is management’s

D) To ensure things are going as they should, management

 So, using the functional approach, the answer to

A)Interpersonal Roles All managers are required to perform

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B)Informational Roles All managers, to some degree, collect

C)Decisional Roles Mintzberg identified four roles that require

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A) Technical Skills Technical skills encompass the ability to

B) Human Skills The ability to understand, communicate with,

 Because managers get things done through other

C) Conceptual Skills Managers must have the mental ability

• Effective versus Successful Managerial

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1. Traditional management. Decision making, planning, and

This research offers important insights. Successful managers give

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• A Review of the Manager’s Job

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