Organisational Behaviour: Engaging People and Organisations

Regardless of their size, scope, or physical or virtual location, all organisations have at least one thing in common – they are comprised of people. It is these people who make decisions about the strategic direction of a firm, it is they who acquire the resources the firm uses to create new products, and it is they who sell those products. People manage a firm’s corporate headquarters, its warehouses and its information technology, and it is people who clean up at the end of the day. No matter how effective a manager might be, all organisational successes – and failures – are the result of the behaviours of many people. Indeed, no manager can succeed without the assistance of others. Thus, any manager – whether responsible for a big business such as Google, David Jones, Telstra, Apple, Starbucks or Qantas; for a niche business such as Mountain Bikes Direct, the Collingwood Football Club or an Epworth Hospital facility; or for a local Domino’s Pizza restaurant or neighbourhood dry-cleaning establishment – must strive to understand the people who work in the organisation. This book is about those people. It is also about the organisation itself and the managers who operate it. Together, the study of organisations and the study of the people who work in them constitute the field of organisational behaviour. Our starting point in exploring this field begins with a more detailed discussion of its meaning and its importance to employees, business owners and managers.