Contemporary Organizational Behavior: IT, Knowledge Management, Globalization, Diversity, Ethics

2. Learning Objectives • Examine the role of information technology. • Present developments in knowledge management and human capital/intelligence. • Discuss the impact of globalization. • Identify the meaning of diversity and its importance. • Discuss the meaning of ethics and major factors of ethical behavior. • Describe major areas of ethical concern and steps taken to effectively address it. • Examine specific ethical issues.

3. Introduction • Environmental context for organizational behavior is markedly different from past. • Management is forced to rethink approaches to operations and human resources because of: • Information technology, globalization, diversity, and ethics. • Organizations are now more responsive to both external and internal environments.

4. Role of Information Technology • E-business • Still portrayed as a recent phenomenon and is almost equated with today’s Internet. • Knowledge management • Tangible knowledge assets captured and retained in organization structures and systems. • Intangible knowledge or intelligence possessed by employees and other stakeholders. • Human/Intellectual capital • Can be thought of as investors in the business expecting a return on investment.

5. Globalization • Third phase of globalization - Friedman. • Fueled by information technology available to everyone in the world. • Implications for organizational behavior are profound and direct. • Cultures around the world impact the organizational behavior of managers and employees quite differently.

6. Major Reasons for Increasing Diversity

7. Diversity in Workplace Continued • Developing the multicultural organization • Reflects the contributions and interests of diverse cultural and social groups. • Acts on a commitment to eradicate social oppression. • Includes the members of diverse cultural and social groups. • Follows through on broader external social responsibilities.

8. Diversity in Workplace Continued • Individual approaches to managing diversity • Learning • Empathy

9. Organizational Approaches to Managing Diversity • Most common techniques include: • Testing • Training • Mentoring • Work/Family Programs

10. A Flextime Framework

11. Innovative Work/Family Programs

12. Ethics and Ethical Behavior • Factors determining ethical behavior: • Individuals and groups • Cultural • Organizational • External environment • Other factors leading to ethical problems in organizations: • Peer pressure on people to be less ethical. • Difference in views from one person to another.

13. Ethics and Ethical Behavior Continued • The impact of ethics on “bottom-line” outcomes • Increasing evidence that ethics programs and being ethical pays off for organizations. • Employee privacy issues • Computer technology • Mandatory drug testing • Efforts of organizations to control the lifestyles of their employees.

14. Questions ?