A Manager's Guide to Human Behavior

Book excerpt: Understanding how and why employees behave as they do is a critical skill for managers in every organization. Managers are responsible for ensuring that the organization’s mission and strategic goals are enacted, so it is of the utmost importance they know how motivate and engage employees. This updated and revised edition of A Manager’s Guide to Human Behavior will prepare managers to better understand, motivate, and focus the energies of individual employees and the collective energy of their work teams. Building on the content in the fourth edition, this updated course reexamines key theories and focuses on their practical application to typical management situations. New topics is this edition include learning organizations and open systems, as a context for understanding how individuals contribute to organizational effectiveness; self-awareness; Goleman’s emotional intelligence; and Bridge’s transitions model of change. The performance management section has been enhanced with a simplified process model (define, develop, review and reward), and the section on leadership examines the concept of the versatile leader who engages the spirit, head, heart, and hands of employees. Throughout the course, self-assessments, worksheets, checklists, and questionnaires give students the opportunity to apply what they are learning. Each chapter incorporates an action plan tied to the objectives and competencies for the topic area. Short case studies enable students to apply their new knowledge to analyze, understand, and influence human behavior. This is an ebook version of the AMA Self-Study course. If you want to take the course for credit you need to either purchase a hard copy of the course through amaselfstudy.org or purchase an online version of the course through www.flexstudy.com.