Organization

Positive OB (POB) is the study and application of positively oriented human resource strengths and psychological capacities that can be measured, developed, and effectively managed for performance improvement in today’s workplace. Positive practices can have an amplifying or escalating effect on positive outcomes because of their association with positive emotions and social capital. Prosocial behaviors are positive acts performed without expecting anything in return. People are more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors when POB is taking place in their work environments. Positive practices can buffer or reduce the impact of negative events and stressors by enhancing what is called psychological capital. The positivity effect refers to how all living systems are attracted toward life giving, positive energy and away from life depleting, negative energy. POB focuses on exceptionally positive inputs, processes, and outcomes at all levels in the Integrative Framework. Exceptionally positive means that inputs, processes, and outcomes are above and beyond expectations. Positive deviance describes successful performance that dramatically exceeds the norm in a positive direction. Positive businesses do well and they do good. They do well by being profitable and performing at a high level, but they also do good by making the well-being of their employees and other stakeholders a priority. Firms practice conscious capitalism (CC) when they integrate POB throughout every aspect of their organizations. CC companies operate for a higher purpose, consider stakeholder interdependence, use conscious leadership, and build conscious cultures. Positive emotions are important processes in the Integrative Framework. Positive emotions tend to broaden your mindset, and open you to consider more alternatives when trying to solve a problem. Our brains respond differently to positive and negative experiences, so we may need multiple positives for every negative in order to flourish. We can increase our positive experiences and decrease our negative ones by creating high-quality connections, by cultivating kindness, by developing distractions, and by disputing negative self-talk and thoughts. Mindfulness is the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment. Mindfulness represents the extent to which we are aware and attentive to what is happening around us at a given moment. The two key inhibitors of mindfulness are attentional deficit and attentional hyperactivity. Meditative techniques, such as breathing mediation and walking mediation, can be used to foster mindfulness. Practicing mindfulness helps you focus your mind on productive activities while constraining counterproductive thinking and mind wandering. Positive psychological capital (PsyCap) is when people have high levels of hope, efficacy, resilience, and optimism, referred to as HERO. PsyCap is important to understand because it is flexible and it has been shown to predict many of the outcomes in the Integrative Framework in desirable ways. The two components of hope are willpower and waypower. Individuals have willpower when they have a goal and the determination to achieve it. They have waypower when they can see one or more alternative paths to achieve their goal, even when faced with adversity. Self-efficacy represents your confidence in your ability to do something. Self-efficacy influences how people perceive the world and their ability to deal with challenges and opportunities. Resilience is the capacity to consistently bounce back from adversity and to sustain oneself in the face of the demands of positive events. Resilient people are open to new experiences, flexible to changing demands, and emotionally stable when confronted with adversity. Optimists are people who view successes as due to their personal, permanent, and pervasive causes, and negative events to external, temporary, and situation-specific ones. PsyCap is a form of capital that can be developed and developing one PsyCap component often helps to develop the others. Positive OB needs the right environment with respect to organizational culture and organizational climate in order to flourish. Organizational values represent the ideals that are endorsed, shared, and supported by the organization as a whole. Global values that are essential for promoting POB include restorative justice, compassion and temperance. Organizational practices refers to procedures, policies, practices, routines, and rules that organizations use to get things done. The focus of virtuous leadership is to help individuals, groups, and organizations to elevate, enrich, and flourish. Traits and individual differences that underlie virtuous leadership include focusing on the greater good, trust, integrity and forgiveness. By the end of this unit, you will be able to . . . Identify the power of positive emotions in organizations Describe how to foster mindfulness Create a climate that encourages positive organizational behavior Explore approaches toward organizational innovation Assess components of organizational effectiveness Write a research paper according to the guidelines in the syllabus