Organizational Behavior: A Skill-Building Approach

Organizational Behavior: A Skill-Building Approach, Third Edition examines how individual characteristics, group dynamics, and organizational factors affect performance, motivation, and job satisfaction. Translating the latest research into practical applications and best practices, authors Christopher P. Neck, Jeffery D. Houghton, and Emma Murray unpack how managers can develop their managerial skills to unleash the potential of their employees.

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Dr. Christopher P. Neck is currently a 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 Ph.D. in Management from Arizona State University and his M.B.A. from Louisiana State University. Neck is author and/or coauthor of thirty books including Self-Leadership: The Definitive Guide to Personal Excellence (1^st Edition, 2017, Sage Publishers; 2^nd Edition, 2019); Get a Kick Out of Life: Expect the Best of Your Body, Mind, and Soul at Any Age (2017, Clovercroft Publishing); 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 Publishing); Mastering Self-Leadership: Empowering Yourself for Personal Excellence, 6^th edition (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, 4^th Edition (Wiley, 2012). Neck is also the coauthor of the principles of management textbook, Management: A Balanced Approach to the 21^st Century (Wiley: 2013, Wiley: 2017-2^nd Edition, Sage: 2021-3^rd Edition); an introductory to entrepreneurship textbook, Entrepreneurship, (Sage, 2017; 2^nd edition, 2020; 3^rd edition, 2023); an introductory to organizational behavior textbook, Organizational Behavior (1^st Edition-Sage, 2017; 2^nd Edition-Sage, 2019; 3^rd Edition-Sage, 2023), and an Introduction to Business textbook (Introduction to Business, Sage, 2022). In total, his textbooks have been adopted by 800 colleges/universities and used by over 120,000 students.

Dr. Neck's research specialties include employee/executive fitness, self-leadership, leadership, group decision-making processes, and self-managing teams. He has over 150 publications in the form of books, chapters, and articles in various journals. Some of the outlets in which Neck's work has appeared include The Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, The Journal of Organizational Behavior, The Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, The Journal of Managerial Psychology, Executive Excellence, Human Relations, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of Leadership Studies, Educational Leadership, and The Commercial Law Journal.

Dr. Neck is the Deputy Editor of the journal, 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 as a semi-finalist (out of 140 nominations) for the prestigious international 2020 Baylor University Cherry Award for Great Teaching. He finished in the top six of all nominations. Neck was also the recipient of the 2007 Business Week Favorite Professor Award". He is featured on www.businessweek.com as one of the approximately twenty professors from across the world receiving this award.

Dr. Neck has taught over 80,000 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 2024 and 2020 John W. Teets Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award (voted by W.P Carey School of Business students). He also received the 2024 Huizingh Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher Award within the W.P Carey School. Neck also received the Order of Omega Outstanding Teaching Award for 2012. This award is awarded to one professor at Arizona State by the Alpha Lamda Chapter of this leadership fraternity. His class sizes at Virginia Tech filled rooms up to 2500 students. He received numerous teaching awards during his tenure at Virginia Tech, including the 2002 Wine Award for Teaching Excellence. Also, Neck was the ten-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). Also, some of the organizations who have participated in Neck′s management development training include Anavate Partners, Mountainside Fitness, 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 official marathons and over 100 unofficial ones, 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 a 48-mile run.

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 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and books, and his work has been cited more than 9,000 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, she spent nearly a decade in investment banking before becoming a full-time writer and author.

As a writer, she has worked on numerous texts, including business and economics, self-help, and psychology. Within the field of higher education, she worked with Dr. Christopher P. Neck and Dr. Jeffery D. Houghton on Management (Wiley: 2013, Wiley: 2017-2nd Edition, Sage: 2021-3rd Edition); an introductory to entrepreneurship textbook, Entrepreneurship, (Sage, 2017; 2nd edition, 2020; 3rd edition, 2023); an introductory to organizational behavior textbook, Organizational Behavior (1st Edition-Sage, 2017; 2nd Edition-Sage, 2019; 3rd Edition-Sage, 2023), and an Introduction to Business textbook (Introduction to Business, Sage, 2022).

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.