01 / Reading Guide
Reading Guide
Citation
Furnham, A. (2005). The Psychology of Behaviour at Work: The Individual in the Organisation (2nd ed.). Psychology Press.
Chapter Summary
The second edition is a single-author textbook of about 850 pages with an introduction and fifteen chapters. The publisher describes it as an introduction to organisational psychology and organisational behaviour that builds on a successful first edition, with end-of-chapter summaries and concluding remarks and topic sections on key research studies, human resources applications and cross-cultural issues. Chapter titles below follow the publisher's contents; the descriptions are limited to what the titles and published descriptions show.
Introduction; The History of Organizational Psychology and the Study of Work Psychology
The book opens with an introduction and a chapter on the history of the field. A reviewer of the first edition, Susan Miller in Times Higher Education (1998), described the introduction as lengthy.
Vocational Choice, Organizational Selection and Socialization; Personality and Individual Differences; Work-Related Attitudes, Values and Perceptions
These chapters follow the individual from choosing and entering a career to the traits and beliefs people bring to work.
Work Motivation and Satisfaction; Stress at Work
Two classic topics of work psychology. The first reviewer found the treatment of motivation fresh, comprehensive and critical.
Co-operation, Power and Ethical Behaviour in Organizations; Learning and Training at Work; Group Dynamics; Decision-making; Leadership
The middle of the book moves from the individual to interaction and management: co-operation and power, learning and training, groups, decisions and leadership. The first-edition reviewer judged the ethics material in the chapter on co-operation, power and ethical behaviour too brief, at under five pages.
Culture at Work; Organizational Structure, Change and Development
Culture is treated as a problematic concept rather than something easily managed, according to the first-edition review, which also notes a discussion of organisational climate. The second chapter takes up structure, change and development.
Working Abroad; The Future of Work
The 1998 review of the first edition lists no chapter on working abroad, which suggests that this one is a later addition. The final chapter outlines predictions for the study of organisational psychology and for the future of work itself.
Key Concepts
Individual Foundations
- Vocational choice and selection: how people choose jobs and are chosen for them.
- Personality and individual differences: traits that shape behaviour at work.
- Attitudes, values and perceptions: the beliefs people bring to work.
Processes at Work
- Motivation and satisfaction: why people work and when they are content.
- Stress at work: a topic the contents give its own chapter.
- Group dynamics, decision-making and leadership: how people act together and how they are led.
Organisational Context
- Culture and climate: the shared setting of work.
- Structure, change and development: how organisations are arranged and altered.
- Working abroad: cross-cultural issues of work.
Critical Analysis
Strengths
- Breadth in one voice. The text covers the individual, group and organisational levels in a single authored work, which Roger Watson in Nursing Standard (November 2005) welcomed in an era of multi-authored volumes, praising such a work "of such magnitude and density".
- Critical about research. The Times Higher Education review of the first edition said Furnham points out the frailties of research while salvaging helpful insights for students and practical help for managers, and judged the culture chapter a reasonable summary of a complex field.
- Built-in applied sections. The publisher highlights topic sections on key research studies, human resources applications and cross-cultural issues in the chapters, alongside summaries.
- Endorsed by a leading scholar. Cary Cooper called the new edition "a must buy" for students of organisational behaviour and psychology.
Limitations
- Very long. At about 850 pages the book is too large to cover in one module, so a course has to select chapters.
- Uneven end-of-chapter sections. The first-edition review found that the research, human resources and cross-cultural boxes were an odd mixture, with some items attached to the wrong chapter. Readers should treat these as optional extras and check whether the second edition improved them.
- Cursory on ethics. The same reviewer thought the ethics material too brief; the second edition's contents still combine ethics with co-operation and power in one chapter.
Where It Fits in the Course
In organisational psychology this is a psychology-led general textbook among the broad introductions. Fineman, Gabriel and Sims's Organizing and Organizations takes a more conversational and critical route, and Spector's Industrial and Organisational Psychology covers the science and practice of the field. Chmiel, Fraccaroli and Sverke's Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology and the OpenStax Organizational Behavior are gentler first texts. Schein's Organisational Psychology (1988) is an earlier text by a founding figure of the field.
Use Furnham as a reference text after an introduction, and move to specialist works such as Dawson and Andriopoulos on change, Schein and Schein on culture and leadership, or Haslam's social identity books for depth.
How to Use This Book
The book is meant for students of work and organisational psychology, students of business and organisational behaviour, and human resources managers. No specialist prerequisite is stated.
Because of its size, plan to read selectively. A core route is the introduction and history, then personality, attitudes, motivation, stress and leadership. Add decision-making, groups and culture as needed, and treat Working Abroad and The Future of Work as optional. Read the end-of-chapter summaries first as a map, use the research boxes as short case studies, and keep the first edition's criticisms in mind as prompts for your own judgement.