Management and Organisational Behaviour

Citation

Mullins, L. J., & Rees, G. (2023). Management and Organisational Behaviour (13th ed.). Pearson.

Chapter Summary

The contents list an opening section titled "Your study of organisational behaviour", then five parts with sixteen chapter titles, and an index. Pearson says the book helps readers understand the relationship between people and organisations, and that the thirteenth edition addresses recent contextual issues through conceptual mind maps and "personal skills" and "employability" sections. The parts move from the work setting to the individual, then to groups and leadership, then to the workplace as a structure, and finally to the wider organisational environment.

Your study of organisational behaviour

An introductory section, numbered zero in the contents, precedes Part 1. The publisher's page does not describe its content.

Part 1, Organisational behaviour and work: The people–organisation relationship; The work environment; Organisational conflict and stress

The first part sets up the relationship between people and organisations, the environment of work, and two sources of difficulty at work, conflict and stress.

Part 2, Focus on the individual: Personality and diversity; Learning and development; Perception and communication; Work motivation and satisfaction

Four chapters concentrate on the individual: personality and diversity, learning and development, perception and communication, and motivation and satisfaction at work.

Part 3, Focus on groups and leadership: Working in groups and teams; Leadership in work organisations; Managing people at work

Part 3 moves from the individual to groups and teams, then to leadership, and closes with managing people at work, which links the behavioural material to management practice.

Part 4, Focus on the workplace: Organisational theory and structure; Patterns of structure and workplace design; Organisational control and power

The workplace part treats organisation theory and structure, then patterns of structure and workplace design, and finally control and power in organisations.

Part 5, Focus on organisational environment: Organisational culture and change; Strategy, corporate responsibility and ethics; Organisational performance and effectiveness

The last part widens the view to culture and change, to strategy, corporate responsibility and ethics, and to organisational performance and effectiveness.

Key Concepts

Parts 1–2: Work and the Individual

• People–organisation relationship: the opening theme of Part 1.
• Conflict and stress: treated together in a chapter on organisational conflict and stress.
• Personality, diversity, learning, perception and communication: the individual-level chapters.
• Work motivation and satisfaction: the final chapter of Part 2.

Parts 3–5: Groups, Structure and Environment

• Groups, teams and leadership: the focus of Part 3.
• Organisational structure and design: theory, patterns of structure and workplace design in Part 4.
• Control and power: a chapter in Part 4.
• Culture, change, strategy, corporate responsibility, ethics and performance: the topics of Part 5.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Organisational behaviour set within management. The title and the part structure show a book that links behavioural topics to the practice of management, with chapters such as managing people at work and organisational performance and effectiveness alongside the usual psychology-based topics.
• Clear progression. The movement from work, to the individual, to groups and leadership, to the workplace, to the organisational environment gives a logical order for a module.
• Study aids. Pearson names conceptual mind maps for complex topics, and personal skills and employability sections, as features of the thirteenth edition, and a companion website is included.
• Publisher-reported standing. Pearson cites the Financial Times Teaching Power Rankings of 2021, based on research by Open Syllabus, as ranking the book among the top ten most influential texts in business and management. This is the publisher's claim.

Limitations

• Publisher evidence only. The available descriptions, including the ranking claim above, come from Pearson, so how the chapters perform in teaching cannot be judged from the contents list alone.
• Broad rather than deep on theory. With sixteen chapters spanning individual, group, structure and environment topics, individual theories receive concise treatment; a reader wanting a critical or research-based treatment of motivation and leadership theory needs a specialist work.
• Technology is not a chapter. The contents do not include a chapter on technology or the changing world of work, although the publisher mentions recent contextual issues.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is one of several organisational behaviour texts, and the one that places the subject inside management practice. Robbins and Judge's Organizational Behavior is a standard introductory text that moves from individual topics to groups, leadership and organisational systems, with accessible research summaries. Buchanan and Huczynski's Organizational Behaviour is a British and European text that takes a more critical stance towards management assumptions and links concepts to contemporary workplace issues.

Hatch's Organizations: A Very Short Introduction is a brief orientation to perspectives on organising and works well before any full text. March and Simon's Organizations is a founding work of the behavioural study of organisations from 1958, and Miner's Organizational Behavior 1 is a scholarly review of motivation and leadership theories. Both are specialist reading for later study, not alternatives to Mullins and Rees.

How to Use This Book

The book suits undergraduates on business and management degrees, postgraduate and MBA students who need a broad structured account, and professionals preparing for management roles; Pearson describes it as suitable for under- and postgraduate study and professional training. No prior study of management or psychology is required.

A practical plan:

• Core: Parts 1–3 in order, which cover the work setting, the individual, groups and leadership.
• Structure and environment: Parts 4 and 5 for modules that also deal with organisational design, culture and change.
• Features: Use the mind maps for revision and the personal skills and employability sections to connect each topic to your own development.
• Alongside: Read one critical or more theoretical text, such as Buchanan and Huczynski, to test the assumptions in the management chapters.