Organizational Behavior: A Critical-Thinking Perspective provides insight into OB concepts and processes through a first-of-its-kind active learning experience. Thinking Critically challenge questions tied to Bloom’s taxonomy appear throughout each chapter, challenging students to apply, analyze, and create. Unique, engaging case narratives that span several chapters along with experiential exercises, self-assessments, and interviews with business professionals foster students’ abilities to think critically and creatively, highlight real-world applications, and bring OB concepts to life. Christopher P. Neck, Jeffery D. Houghton, and Emma L. Murray provide a "big picture" framework that illustrates how individual processes, team processes, influence processes, and organizational processes impact important organization outcomes such as individual performance, job satisfaction, team performance, and organizational performance. Rich with thought-provoking content and practical applications, students will walk away with critical thinking skills that help them make effective and thoughtful decisions.
Dr. Christopher P. Neck is an associate professor of management at Arizona State University, where he held the title “University Master Teacher.” From 1994 to 2009, he was part of the Pamplin College of Business faculty at Virginia Tech. He received his PhD in management from Arizona State University and his MBA from Louisiana State University. Neck is author or coauthor of 22 books, including Self-Leadership: The Definitive Guide to Personal Excellence (2017, Sage; 2nd ed., 2019); Get a Kick Out of Life: Expect the Best of Your Body, Mind, and Soul at Any Age (2017, Clovercroft); Fit to Lead: The Proven 8-Week Solution for Shaping Up Your Body, Your Mind, and Your Career (2004, St. Martin’s Press; 2012, Carpenter’s Sons); Mastering Self-Leadership: Empowering Yourself for Personal Excellence (6th ed., 2013, Pearson); The Wisdom of Solomon at Work (2001, Berrett-Koehler); For Team Members Only: Making Your Workplace Team Productive and Hassle-Free (1997, Amacom Books); and Medicine for the Mind: Healing Words to Help You Soar (4th ed., Wiley, 2012). Neck is also the coauthor of an introductory entrepreneurship textbook, Entrepreneurship (Sage, 2017; 2nd ed., 2020), and an introductory organizational behavior textbook, Organizational Behavior (Sage, 2017; 2nd ed., Sage, 2019).
Dr. Neck’s research specialties include employee/executive fitness, self-leadership, leadership, group decision-making processes, and self-managing teams. He has submitted over 100 publications in the form of books, chapters, and articles in various journals. Some of the outlets in which Neck’s work has appeared include Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Executive Excellence, Human Relations, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of Leadership Studies, Educational Leadership, and The Commercial Law Journal.
Neck is the deputy editor of the Journal of Leadership and Management. Due to Neck’s expertise in management, he has been cited in numerous national publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, and the Chicago Tribune.
Dr. Neck was recently voted a semifinalist (out of 140 nominations) for the prestigious international 2020 Baylor University Cherry Award for Great Teaching. Neck was also the recipient of the 2007 Business Week Favorite Professor Award.
Dr. Neck has taught over 60,000 students during his career in higher education. Neck currently teaches a mega section of Management Principles to approximately 900 students at Arizona State University.
Neck was the recipient of the 2020 John W. Teets Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (voted by W. P. Carey students). Neck also received the Order of Omega Outstanding Teaching Award for 2012 awarded to one professor at Arizona State University by the Alpha Lamda chapter of this leadership fraternity. His class sizes at Virginia Tech reached 2,500 students. He received numerous teaching awards during his tenure at Virginia Tech, including the 2002 Wine Award for Teaching Excellence. Also, Neck was the 10-time winner (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009) of the “Students’ Choice Teacher of the Year Award” (voted by the students for the best teacher of the year within the entire university). Some of the organizations who have participated in Neck’s management development training include GE/Toshiba, Busch Gardens, Clark Construction, the United States Army, Crestar, American Family Insurance, Sales and Marketing Executives International, American Airlines, American Electric Power, W. L. Gore & Associates, Dillard’s Department Stores, and Prudential Life Insurance. Neck is also an avid runner. He has completed 12 marathons, including the Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, and the San Diego Marathon. In fact, his personal record for a single long-distance run is 48 miles.
Dr. Jeffery D. Houghton completed his PhD in management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and is currently a professor of management at West Virginia University. Dr. Houghton has taught college-level business courses at Virginia Tech, Abilene Christian University (TX), Lipscomb University (TN), The International University (Vienna, Austria), and the U.S. Justice Department Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prior to pursuing a full-time career in academics, he worked in the banking industry as a loan officer and branch manager.
A member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Dr. Houghton’s research specialties include human behavior, motivation, personality, leadership, and self-leadership. Dr. Houghton has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and his work has been cited approximately 5,000 times in academic journals. He currently teaches undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level courses in management, OB, and leadership. Dr. Houghton was named the 2013 Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year for the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, awarded annually to one faculty member within the college as selected by a vote of the student members of Beta Gamma Sigma, and he received the 2008 Outstanding Teaching Award for the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, awarded annually to one faculty member for outstanding teaching.
In addition to his research and teaching activities, Dr. Houghton has done consulting and conducted training seminars for companies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and the Bruce hardwood flooring company. In his spare time, Dr. Houghton enjoys traveling, classic mystery novels, racquetball, and snow skiing. Finally, Dr. Houghton has completed two marathons, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, and the Dallas White Rock Marathon.
Emma L. Murray completed a bachelor of arts degree in English and Spanish at University College Dublin (UCD) in County Dublin, Ireland. This was followed by a higher diploma (Hdip) in business studies and information technology at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business in County Dublin, Ireland. Following her studies, Emma spent nearly a decade in investment banking before becoming a full-time writer and author.
As a writer, Emma has worked on numerous texts, including business and economics, self-help, and psychology. Within the field of higher education, Emma worked with Dr. Christopher P. Neck and Dr. Jeffery D. Houghton on Management (Wiley, 2013); an introductory entrepreneurship textbook, Entrepreneurship (Sage, 2017; 2nd ed., 2020); and an introductory organizational behavior textbook, Organizational Behavior (2017; 2nd ed., Sage, 2019). She is the author of The Unauthorized Guide to Doing Business the Alan Sugar Way (2010, Wiley-Capstone) and the lead author of How to Succeed as a Freelancer in Publishing (2010, How To Books). She lives in London.
