BookReview.qxd


BOOK REVIEW 97

TITLE: ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR: A contemporary 

South African perspective

Authors: Helen Schultz (Ed.), Jeffrey Bagraim, Tracy 

Potgieter, Conrad Viedge, Amanda Werner

Publisher: Van Schaik Publishers

Reviewer: Andrew Thatcher

According to the authors the aim of this book is to present an

interdisciplinary approach to the understanding of

organisational behaviour within the contemporary South

African environment. Within this framework, the book targets

(senior) undergraduate and postgraduate st udents in

Industrial/Organisational Psychology and Human Resources

Management. The text is written in a simple, conversational

style (as was the intention of the authors) that should be

suitable for most undergraduate students at English-speaking

tertiary institutions. The book is organised into three sections

based on a model of four components of organisational

behaviour: the individual, the group and the organisation. The

fourth component of the model, the environment, refers

specifically in the context of this book, to a contemporary

South African approach to understanding behaviour in

organisations. In the ‘individual’ section, the authors cover

topics such as individual differences (e.g. personality, attitudes,

perceptions, emotional intelligence, etc.), ethics, work

motivation, and performance management. In the ‘group’

section, the authors look at issues of group and team dynamics,

power and empowerment, communication, decision-making

and leadership. Finally, in the ‘organisation’ section, the

authors address issues of contemporary organisational design,

organisational change and employee well-being (e.g. stress

management, job satisfaction, etc.). 

In order to address the fourth component of the model, the

‘environmental’ aspect, the authors have included a number of

inserts that they refer to as “encounters” that look at

contemporary issues or aspects from a South African

perspective. Each chapter typically attempts to include four

types of encounters: ethics encounters, technology encounters,

diversity encounters, and global environment encounters. While

these “encounters” provide interesting interludes from the main

text they do tend to break up the thought patterns of a reader

interested in understanding the theory. 

It is quite evident that the book is primarily aimed at a student

population. Each chapter begins with a set of outcome

statements (as required by SAQA’s outcome-based education

system), the key terms and concepts for the chapter and a

practical example from the world of business (called a

“descriptive viewpoint”). In a similar fashion, each chapter

concludes with a chapter summary, review questions and a case

study. These aspects provide very useful tools for a student to

test their newly acquired knowledge and to relate this knowledge

to real-world settings and practical examples. The “descriptive

viewpoint”, case studies and some of the “encounters” give the

book the distinctive feel, reminiscent of the approach used at the

leading business schools. In support of the text, the authors use

more than 90 figures and tables in the 263 pages of text in order

to illustrate the primary concepts. The authors have chosen to

use a bibliography rather than a reference list, as they did not

want to clutter the text with cited references (except for the

highly recognised theorists and researchers). This is useful for

the average undergraduate student but perhaps less useful for

more dedicated postgraduate students. Each chapter also comes

with a list of associated websites. Given the emphasis on

information technology, these are particularly useful for the

student interested in a particular topic. However, many of the

listed websites are of a practical rather than an academic nature. 

As with any textbook of this kind, the authors acknowledge that

they have not attempted to provide a comprehensive account of

all the theories and research in the field of organisational

behaviour. Some concepts are not covered at all (e.g. theories of

conflict and conflict management), while others are only given

a cursory glance (e.g. organisational commitment and

organisational development). Nevertheless, the book covers

most topics in Organisational Behaviour in sufficient depth for

most undergraduate students and as a primer for postgraduate

students. The book certainly goes further than many of the

international publications by introducing contemporary South

African examples and case studies and by emphasising the

contemporary challenges posed by technology. However, it is

evident that the examples, case studies and even the technology

will shortly become outdated.