Students (and instructors!) are busy people. They want an organizational behavior textbook that delivers knowledge efficiently, and yet is readable, interesting, and fulfilling. Organizational Behavior: [essentials] 2nd edition aims for that ideal and, according to reviewers and adopters of the premiere edition, we are on the right track.

How do we know what to include and trim out from our popular comprehensive OB textbook? We surveyed dozens of OB instructors about what topics are critical and how they can be most effectively organized. Then, along with our own judgment, we pruned out material within each chapter that didn’t satisfy the definition of “essential.” We also found a few chapters that, after pruning, could be combined logically with other chapters.

Although this book is less than two-thirds the length of our comprehensive textbook, it doesn’t skimp on classroom support. Cases, exercises, and self-assessments are becoming more “essential” than ever in this era of active learning, critical thinking, and outcomes-based teaching, so we include many of these resources.

OB: [essentials] 2nd edition also embraces a “continuous development” approach. We believe that new books should provide new information rather than just repackage content from the comprehensive edition. So, this edition includes new examples as well as plenty of new writing on several OB topics, such as self-concept, organizational effectiveness, conflict management, communication, and organizational culture (ASA theory).

Finally, OB: [essentials] 2nd edition includes a judicious number of anecdotes and captioned photos. We believe that these examples help students to remember the content and, quite frankly, make OB theories even more interesting!