CHAPTER-ONE
AN OVER VIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Organization: It is a group of people who are collected to work for a common goal with
collective efforts. Organization works through two concepts i.e coordination and delegation
among its group members.
Behavior: It is a verbal or physical response shown by a person as a consequence of the impact
of his/her surroundings. Individual Behavior varies in accordance with their mental reactivity to
particular circumstances because of their deeply imbibed morals and value system.
Organizational behavior consists of the actions and interactions of individuals and
groups in organizations. (Daft & Noe)
Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals,
groups and organizational structure have on behavior within the organization, for the
purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organizational effectiveness
(Robbins, S.P.)
Organizational behavior refers to the way individuals and groups interact within and
toward an organization
OB is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how that
behavior affects the performance of the organization.
Importance of Organizational Behavior
It builds better relationship by achieving people, organizational, and social objectives.
It covers a wide array of human resource like behavior, training and development,
change management, leadership, teams etc.
It brings coordination which is the essence of management.
It improves goodwill of the organization.
It helps to achieve objectives quickly.
It makes optimum utilization of resources.
It facilitates motivation.
It leads to higher efficiency.
Three Levels of Analysis
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There are three levels of OB analysis.
1. The first level of analysis, called micro-OB, studies the individual.
It is the smallest possible level of analysis in organizations and includes
topics such as perception, personality, motivation, and learning.
2. The second and middle level of analysis in OB is the small group that is made up of individual
employees within an organization.
The study of small groups in OB includes issues of group size and composition, cohesion, trust,
conflict management, team building, group decision making, and leadership.
3. The third level of analysis in OB, called macro-OB, is concerned with larger groups,
such as departments, and organizational processes.
Macro OB topics include issues such as the design and structure of organizations,
organizational culture and strategy, organizational power and politics, change, and
organizational effectiveness.
ELEMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The key elements in the organizational behavior are the following;
People: People make up the internal and social system of the organization. They consist
of individuals and groups. The groups may be big or small; formal or informal; official or
unofficial. Groups are dynamic and they work in the organization to achieve their
objectives.
Structure: Structure defines the formal relationships of the people in organizations.
Technology: Technology such as machines and work processes provide the resources
with which people work and affects the tasks that they perform. The technology used has
a significant influence on working relationships. It allows people to do more and work
better but it also restricts' people in various ways.
Environment: All organizations operate within an external environment. It is the part of a
larger system that contains many other elements such as government, family and other
organizations. All of these mutually influence each other in a complex system that creates
a context for a group of people.
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Replacing Intuition with Systematic Study
Intuition: A feeling not necessarily supported by research. Intuition is when an individual
depends on gut feelings, basic observation and common sense. The biggest issue with using
intuitive study is that it does not encompass the entire picture of employee behavior. Managers
might be just assuming facts and not continuing to find proof of behavior.
Systematic Study: it refers to Looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects
and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence. Systematic study assumes that there is a
pattern to the behavior and that it is not random. Systematic study believes that the patterns can
be identified and cultivated to improve individual performance. The method of accomplishing
this is by examining behavior, looking for cause and effect and searching for specific evidence.
Behavior is generally predictable.
There are differences between individuals.
There are fundamental consistencies in behavior
There are rules (written & unwritten) in almost every setting.
A review of a manager’s job and its relation to the study of OB
Organizational behavior recognizes and helps managers to improve their people skills and to see
the value of workforce diversity and practices. It also seeks to improve organizations and help
managers cope with the many changes faced in today’s workplace.
Characteristics of organizational behavior
1. A separate field of study - Organizational Behavior is a separate field of study. Many
researches and analysis have been done in this field.
2. Goal Oriented - Since OB is applied science it is oriented towards organizational goals.
Sometimes there may be conflict of organizational goals with individual goals. In that
case, both the objectives are achieved simultaneously.
3. Interdisciplinary Approach - Organizational Behavior is interdisciplinary in nature. It is
based on behavioral and social sciences that contributes to the subject. It applies from
these disciplines ideas that will improve the relationships between people and
organization.
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4. Focus Attention on people - OB focus the attention on people. It is based on the concept
that need and motivation of the people should be given priority.
Disciplines that contributed to Organizational Behavior
Psychology’s contributions have been mainly at the individual or micro level
of analysis; the other four disciplines have contributed to our understanding of
macro concepts such as group processes and organization.
Each of these sciences has had its own importance and unique influence on
the discipline of OB.
Psychology
Psychology is the science that seeks to measure, explain and sometimes change the
behavior of humans.
Psychologists concern themselves with studying and attempting to understand
individual behavior.
Social Psychology
Social psychology is an area within psychology, but it blends concepts from
psychology and sociology.
- It focuses on the influence of people on one another.
Social psychologists are making significant contributions in the areas of measuring,
understanding, and changing attitudes; communication patterns; the ways in which
group activities can satisfy individual needs; and group decision-making processes.
Sociology
Sociologists study the social system in which individuals fill their roles.
Specifically, sociologists have made their greatest contribution to OB through their
study of group behavior in organizations, particularly in formal and complex
organizations.
Some of the areas within OB that have received valuable input from sociologists
are: group dynamics, design of work teams, organizational culture, formal
organization theory and structure, organizational technology, communications,
power, conflict and intergroup behavior.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their
activities.
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Anthropologists’ work on cultures and environments, for instance, has helped us
understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behavior between
people in different countries and within different organizations.
Political Science
Political science studies the behavior of individuals and groups within a political
environment.
It is concerned with structuring of conflict, allocation of power, and how people
manipulate power for individual self-interest.
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