Effective Behavior in Organizations: Cases, Concepts, and Student Experiences

The authors' approach to organizational behavior is exciting and challenging for me and my students. Although they cover the three levels of OB (individual, group, organization), they approach it from a systems perspective that I find integrative and interesting. Early in the book, the team of authors presents a framework for evaluating organizational behavior dilemmas in a systemic way. The authors provide numerous cases in the back of the book and very good teaching notes in the instructor's manual to practice systemic thinking and to learn OB concepts. Unlike most texts, which begin at the individual level, the authors begin at the group level recognizing that most organizational behavior interactions take place in an organizational system. They then move to the individual level, two-person relationships, and conclude with leadership. New teachers who are interested in using cases will find the instructor's manual supportive and nearly fail-safe. The well integrated design of the book and instructor's manual makes it easy to design your course. The IM appears to have actually been written by the book authors! There are logical places for lecture, classroom exercises, and case analysis. I highly recommend this book.