Essentials of Organizational Behavior (7th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Well written and solid intro to the field of Org Behavior
Review: "Essentials in Organizational Behavior" is a solid text for a course surveying the field of Organizational Behavior. Its sixteen chapters are grouped into four parts. Part I introduces the field of organizational behavior, its goals and functions within an organization along with some challenges and opportunities.

Part II contains chapters two through six and focuses on how individuals function within an organization and the considerations managers need to have with values, personality, motivation, emotions, and how individuals make decisions.

Part III contains chapters seven through twelve and discusses groups in the organization. It begins discussion foundations of group behavior, some basics on work teams, communication, leadership & creating trust, power & politics, conflict & negotiation.

Part IV discusses the Organization System in chapters thirteen through sixteen. It begins with the foundations of organizational structure, culture, and then gets into the role of human resource policies and practices. The book concludes with Organizational Change and Development.

There is an epilogue to wrap things up, endnotes, and index and a glossary.

The book is clearly written. I like the way the author presents a variety of views and theories and never becomes dogmatic about a certain approach. Because it is concise it actually has a chance of being read (the usual 750 page textbook is largely left unread in most courses). However, to really become proficient in any of the many topics presented here the student will have to do much more study and practical work. I am confident that any teacher adopting the text for coursework would make the necessity for further study clear to the student. The endnotes do provide many fine sources for such study, but I would like to have seen some sources organized into a list of readings for study organized by topic. It would have added a few pages, but would not have overburdened this text.

In any case, this is a good introductory read for anyone who wants to a quick tour of the universe of Organizational Behavior.

Rating:
Summary: Well written and solid intro to the field of Org Behavior
Review: "Essentials in Organizational Behavior" is a solid text for a course surveying the field of Organizational Behavior. Its sixteen chapters are grouped into four parts. Part I introduces the field of organizational behavior, its goals and functions within an organization along with some challenges and opportunities.

Part II contains chapters two through six and focuses on how individuals function within an organization and the considerations managers need to have with values, personality, motivation, emotions, and how individuals make decisions.

Part III contains chapters seven through twelve and discusses groups in the organization. It begins discussion foundations of group behavior, some basics on work teams, communication, leadership & creating trust, power & politics, conflict & negotiation.

Part IV discusses the Organization System in chapters thirteen through sixteen. It begins with the foundations of organizational structure, culture, and then gets into the role of human resource policies and practices. The book concludes with Organizational Change and Development.

There is an epilogue to wrap things up, endnotes, and index and a glossary.

The book is clearly written. I like the way the author presents a variety of views and theories and never becomes dogmatic about a certain approach. Because it is concise it actually has a chance of being read (the usual 750 page textbook is largely left unread in most courses). However, to really become proficient in any of the many topics presented here the student will have to do much more study and practical work. I am confident that any teacher adopting the text for coursework would make the necessity for further study clear to the student. The endnotes do provide many fine sources for such study, but I would like to have seen some sources organized into a list of readings for study organized by topic. It would have added a few pages, but would not have overburdened this text.

In any case, this is a good introductory read for anyone who wants to a quick tour of the universe of Organizational Behavior.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best intro to OB
Review: I find Robbins's OB one of the best introductionary books for OB. Though it does not contain lots of case studies, to get started with concepts, the easy to read layout and the interesting activities that he presents makes it a very good book to get started. I personally started my OB with a much more detailed book, but after I found this one, I used this as the starting point, to get the ideas, and then used more high level books to explore further.
Why not 5 stars, well, coz as I said, I did need to look at other books to explore in detail!

Rating:
Summary: Great broad overview of concepts and research
Review: If you're interested in organizational behavior either professionally or as a student, this is a great book to pick up. It gives a great, concise survey of the topic as it relates to each of the major components of individual, team, and organizational factors. Not laden with research details and theoretical jargon, this book is a must read for managers and students alike because of its fast pace and great coverage.

Rating:
Summary: Essentials of Org. Behavior
Review: Received book in excellent condition and in a timely manner!I would not hesitate to order from the seller again.

Rating:
Summary: Decent overall review of OB theories.
Review: Robbins discusses current OB theory in a brief, concise manner. He does not provide many examples of real-teime applications, however. This is a hinderance to the book's usefulness as it is sometimes difficult to conceptualize how many of the theories might be practically implemented. Overall, a decent reference book.

Rating:
Summary: For the budding manager
Review: This is a great book to understand the fundamentals of organizational behaviour. It is simple to understand, and the excellent layout and graphics make it enjoyable and ignite your curiosity. I read it from cover to cover in a matter of days. However, I do agree that more relevant case studies and applications should have been included.