Not “Just Another” Textbook

When we thought about writing a textbook, we knew we didn’t want to write “just another” OB book. Enter Unnamed Publisher. Their model solves many of the common challenges faculty and students face when it comes to textbooks. Here are a few that have always bothered us and that Flat World has solved:

• “I had to buy the whole book, but my teacher didn’t use the XYZ chapter.” This isn’t a problem with our book because faculty can rearrange chapters as well as add and delete them.
• “Textbooks are too expensive!” Textbooks have traditionally been very expensive and the business model of traditional publishing firms has been a huge part of those costs. With our book, students get to choose how to read the material in a number of inexpensive formats ranging from online viewing, black-and-white or color books, audio chapters, or printable PDFs.
• “New editions come out too quickly and don’t really change.” The reason that new editions come out is because used books don’t make money for the publishers, but new ones do. With our book, you can change editions when you want and when you think enough is different to warrant the change.

Our journey in creating this book has been a long one. After we wrote the first draft of this book, each chapter went through multiple reviews and revisions, as well as beta tests with real students before this textbook made its way to you. A truly virtual team of authors, copy editors, managing editors, graphic designers, technology gurus, and publishing experts worked together to create something that has never been done before.

What Will You See?

Our book emphasizes active learning, meaningful examples, and tools you can use today or put into your OB Toolbox for the years to come. How did we do this?

• We wrote opening cases that bring the topics to life.
• We included learning objectives, key takeaways, and discussion questions for every section of each chapter.
• We created OB Toolboxes with information you can use today.
• We wrote a section on cross-cultural implications for every chapter.
• We also wrote a section on ethical implications for every chapter.
• We included original ethical dilemmas, individual exercises, and group exercises for every chapter.
• For faculty, we have comprehensive PowerPoint slides, a rich test bank, and an extensive author-written Instructor’s Manual to enrich teaching.

How Are Instructors Supported?

• A summary of IdeaCasts listed at the beginning of the manual
• Discussion questions for the opening cases
• Answers to the discussion questions throughout the book

• End-of-chapter materials

  • Ethical dilemmas
  • Individual exercises
  • Group exercises
• Solutions to the end-of-chapter materials
• Bonus material
• Further reading suggestions

So welcome to the textbook revolution—we are happy to have you on the Bauer and Erdogan’s Organizational Behavior team! Given that Organizational Behavior is an important management course, our objective in developing this material was to provide students and instructors with a solid and comprehensive foundation on Organizational Behavior that is accessible and fun. Each of the 15 chapters is comprehensive but succinct, and action-oriented whether you are just starting out in the world of work or if you are an experienced manager. Moreover, the book and supplements have been written in a direct and active style that we hope students and instructors find both readily accessible and relevant.

Thank You for Joining the Revolution

In reading Bauer and Erdogan, you are quietly joining the revolution that is otherwise known as Unnamed Publisher, our partner and publisher. For this we thank you. The people at Unnamed Publisher and your author team share a common vision about the future of management education that is based on powerful but fun and simple-to-use teaching and learning tools. Moreover, Unnamed Publisher gives you—you the student and you the instructor—the power to choose. Our 15 chapters are written using a “modular” format with self-contained sections that can be reorganized, deleted, “added to,” and even edited at the sentence level. Using our build-a-book platform, you can easily customize your book to suit your needs and those of your students.

Only with Unnamed Publisher learning platforms do you have the power to choose what your Organizational Behavior book looks like, when and how you access your Organizational Behavior material, what you use and don’t use, when it will be changed, how much you pay for it, and what other study vehicles you leverage. These innovative study vehicles range from book podcasts, flash cards, and peer discussion groups organized in social network formats. Nowhere on the planet can this combination of user-friendliness, user choice, and leading edge technologies be found for business education and learning.

We hope you find Organizational Behavior to be informative, accessible, and fun!