Students sometimes ask, even after I’ve delivered a stellar lecture, “What’s really important for me to remember from this chapter?” The standard answer is “everything.” Go ahead and ask your prof - see what he or she says. In my case, the standard response is given because I want to avoid someone coming to me after an exam and saying something to the effect like, “You told me this wasn’t important to study, but it was on the exam.” The reality is profs cannot test on everything in every chapter, but they would like to keep their options open regarding what they will test.

So, what’s important in this chapter and what should you watch out for? Learn the definitions and then learn them again. This is extremely important. Remember, this is an introductory chapter in an introductory OB text. Second, make sure you fully understanding all the four perspectives and the four conceptual anchors of OB. Lastly, don’t forget that little section on knowledge management. This includes the various forms of intellectual capital and knowledge management processes.

As for the pitfalls; watch for the tendency to rely on oversimplification when answering questions in this and other chapters. Let’s use an example. Most people who have never taken this course think they have a good idea about what constitutes an organization (they don’t). The problem is their definition doesn’t conform to the text’s version. So, even though they may have a good working knowledge of the concept, they would likely answer incorrectly on the exam. This is often the case with many basic OB concepts. In some ways, learning about OB effectively means unlearning some of your preconceived ideas.