In today’s business environment, competition arises when other organizations seek to do what your company does, only better. Advantage is gained when you can do something your competitors find difficult to duplicate. Competitive advantage is further secured when competitors cannot duplicate your company’s special ability at all.

We contend—based on solid research evidence—that an especially strong source of competitive advantage rests in the hands of the people who make up an organization. One of the most effective ways to secure competitive advantage is to make the best use of the knowledge. skills, and other human assets possessed by a company’s employees. No other firm has thesame people. Therefore, no other company can duplicate the range of products and services requiring the particular capabilities of the company’s members. Managing organizational behavior is thus essential to the process of gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. This statement is a central theme of our book.

Chapters in the book cover the major topics constituting the field of organizational behavior, and do so with special emphasis on the findings of rigorous organizational research. The models and concepts presented in the following chapters are grounded in literally thousands of studies of behavior in and of organizations. Rather than chasing current fads or fashions, our focus as authors is on surveying and explaining research-based practices that have been proven to work over the long term. Chapters focus on key variables that managers can modify to manage organizational behavior, and on relationships among those variables that can help managers determine the likely consequences of managerial action. Managerial tools derived from rigorous research are the means through which managers can secure competitive advantage in the most effective manner. Understanding them and being able to put them to use is critical to managerial effectiveness and organizational success.

Additional instructor resources linked to the book chapters are available on the companion website, www.routledge.com/textbooks/wagner.