Unit 1

Introduction to Organisational
Behaviour
Prof. Vinod Joseph
Assistant Professor
KJC
Syllabus
Meaning & definition; importance; scope of OB; contribution of other
disciplines towards OB; important concepts in OB; emerging challenges
in OB; models of organisational behaviour: autocratic, custodial,
supportive, collegial and system (concept only).
 FACTS
• Good places to work have better financial performances.
• Better inter- personnel skills result in lower turnover of quality of
employees, and higher quality applications for recruitment.
• There is a strong association between the quality of work- place
relationships, and job satisfaction, stress And turnover.
Definition
• According to Fred Luthans “Organisational behaviour
is directly concerned with the understanding,
production and control of human behaviour in
organisations.”
Definition
• Stephen Robins defines organizational behavior as a
“field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups, and structure have an organization
for the purpose of applying such knowledge improving
an organization's effectiveness“
Meaning
• Organisational behaviour is the study of human behaviour in
organisational settings.
• OB describes how people interact with one another and their
behaviour inside an organisation, and how these interactions
between people, will influence the working and performance of the
organisation.
• The organisation can be MNC, small company, non- profit,
educational institutions, cooperatives etc.
 Meaning of OB
OB and other related MACRO MICRO
Disciplines

THEORETICAL OT OB
Organisational Theory Organisational Behaviour

APPLIED OD HRM
Organisational Development Human Resource
Management
 Meaning cont..
• Organisation: A consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more
people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common
goal or set of goals.
• Behaviour: Behaviour is a way, how people act or react to a certain situation.
It is a verbal or physical response, shown by a person as a consequence of his/
her surroundings.
• The way in which one acts or conducts (or behaves) oneself, especially
towards others.
• Manager: Someone who gets things done through other people in
organisations
Nature and Characteristics of OB
• OB is about the people of the organisation
• The structure of the organisation influences OB
• The technologies used in the organisation influences OB
• The social system of the organisation influences OB
• OB is studied as a combination of many subjects.
• OB is subject to change from time to time.
• OB is governed by social laws, ethical values and precedents.
 Need and Importance of OB
• Helps in skill development- Abilities and knowledge of the employees
• Understanding the level of motivation and satisfaction of the employees
• Helps in improving the efficiency of the organisation.
• To create healthy and ethical environment, in the organisation.
• OB helps in utilising the resources to the optimum level.
• It helps in predicating behaviour of groups and individuals.
• Overall, it improves the goodwill of the organisation.
 Emerging challenges and oppurtunities in OB
• Enhancing employee well being at work when,
• The creation of a global work force means work no longer sleeps.
• Communication technology has provided a vehicle for working at any time or any place.
• Employees are working longer hours per week.
• The life styles of families have changes- creating conflict
• Balancing work and life demands, now surpasses job security as an employee priority.
• Strong demographic shifts in the work force. [Male/ Female; Age etc]
• Proper management of workforce diversity.
• Developing good inter- personnel skills among the employees.
• Developing strong ethical behaviour among the employees.
• Improving customer service- developing a customer responsive culture.
• Working in networked organisations- Mangers and employees in different locations.
• Managers have to complement intuition with systematic study, in decision making.
Cont..
• There are few absolutes that apply to OB. [Due to the presence of
contingency variables- situational factors are variables that
moderate the relationship between the dependent and
independent variables.
Johari Window
• The Johari window is a technique designed to help people better
understand their relationship with themselves and others. It was
created by psychologists Joseph Luft (1916–2014) and Harrington
Ingham (1916–1995) in 1955, and is used primarily in self-help groups
and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.
• Heuristic: Enabling someone to discover or learn something for
themselves; Proceeding to a solution by trial and error or by rules
that are only loosely defined.
Fundamental/ Important concepts of OB
• Nature of People • Nature of organisation
• Individual differences • Mutual interest
• Value of person [Human dignity] • Social system
• Whole person
• Motivated behaviour
Levels in OB/ Scope of OB
 Scope of OB
• Individuals • Groups
• Personality • Group dynamics
• Perception • Group conflicts
• Attitude • Communication
• Motivation • Leadership
• Job satisfaction • Politics and Power
• Learning • Organisation/ Structures
• Values • Structure
• Culture
• Change
• Development
Contribution of other disciplines towards OB
Organisational Behaviour (OB) is an interdisciplinary field that studies
human behaviour within organisations. It seeks to understand, predict,
and manage human behaviour in the workplace to improve
organisational effectiveness. Various disciplines contribute to the OB
field to provide insights into how individuals, groups, and organisations
function and interact.
1. Psychology
• Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour and mental
processes.
• In OB, psychology helps analyse individual behaviour within
organisations, including motivation, perception, decision-making, and
stress management. Organisational behaviour uses psychological
principles to design effective training programs, assess employee
satisfaction, and develop strategies for enhancing employee well-
being.
2. Social Psychology
• Social psychology focuses on how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and
behaviours are influenced by the presence and actions of others.
• It explores topics such as group dynamics, social influence, and
leadership. In organisational behaviour, social psychology sheds light
on issues, like team dynamics, communication, conflict resolution,
and leadership effectiveness. It helps organisations create
harmonious work environments.
3. Sociology
• Sociology examines the structure and functioning of societies and
social groups.
• In OB, sociology is concerned with the organisational structure,
culture, and the impact of social norms and values on behaviour.
Sociological insights help organisations understand the effects of
culture on employee behaviour, diversity and inclusion, and the role
of institutions and systems in shaping organisational practices.
4. Anthropology
• Anthropology studies human societies, cultures, and behaviours
across time and space.
• In OB, anthropology explores the cultural aspects of organisations,
including norms, rituals, and symbols. Anthropological perspectives
assist organisations in managing cultural diversity, developing cross-
cultural communication strategies, and adapting to global markets.
5. Economics
• Economics analyses the allocation of resources and the behaviour of
individuals and firms in economic systems.
• In OB, economics helps understand how incentives, rewards, and
decision-making processes affect employee behaviour and
performance. Economic principles are used in OB to design
compensation systems, incentive plans, and cost-effective HR policies.
 6. Political Science
• Political Science is the study of government, politics, and the exercise of
power in society.
• Political science is relevant in the context of organisational behaviour (OB)
because it helps us understand the distribution and dynamics of power
within organisations, the influence of individuals and groups in decision-
making, and the political strategies employed to shape organisational
policies and actions.
• By applying political science concepts, OB professionals can navigate and
manage power relations, conflicts, and the broader political context that
affects organisational behaviour and effectiveness.
Evolution of OB
• OB has gone through an evolutionary process such as;
I. Pre- industrial ancient times
II. Industrial revolution
III. Scientific Management
IV. The Human Relations Movement
V. Hawthorne Studies
 I. Pre- industrial ancient times
• Even today Managers try to learn lessons from Mahabharata, Iliad.
• Religious texts inspire Managers
• Kaivalyas Artha Shastra
• Had a sound base systematic management of Human Resources
• Babylonian code by Hammurabi
• Minimum wage rate
• Incentive wage
• Life of average employee prior to 19th century was very bad, brutal and
harsh working conditions in factories. Long hours of work. Conditions of
disease, filth, danger and scarcity of resources existed.
 II. Industrial revolution
• The age is characterised by materialism, discipline,, boredom, job
displacement, monotony, impersonality, work- interdependence and related
human behaviour.
• Robert Owen, a young welch factory owner in about the year 1800, was the
first to emphasise the human need of employees. He refused to employ
children and taught cleanliness, temperance and improved their working
conditions. He demonstrated that in his factory, it paid to devote as much
attention to ”vital machines”, as to “inanimate machines”. He is called the
Father of “Personnel Management”.
• In 1835 Andrew Ure published his philosophy of manufactures in which he
included human factor, as one of the factors of production along with
mechanical and commercial parts. Ure provided workers with hot tea,
medical treatment, and sickness payments.
 Industrial revolution- Cont…
• Nearer to home, J.N Tata took a special interest in the welfare of his
workers. He installed the first humidifiers, and fire sprinklers in his
factories. In 1886, he instituted the pension fund and in 1895, began to
pay accident compensation.
 III. Scientific Management
• FW Taylor is called the father of scientific management. He advocated selection
of the right people for the right job, training them adequately, placing them in
jobs for which they were best suited and remunerating them handsomely.
Though he worked toward technical efficiency, he awakened the management
to the importance of human resources, which was previously neglected.
• The scientists who were closely influenced by Taylor were the industrial
psychologists, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth. This husband and wife team pioneered
time- and- motion study, a type of applied research, designed to classify and
streamline the individual movements needed to perform jobs with the intent of
finding “the one best way” to perform them.
 IV. The Human Relations Movement
• Drawbacks of the scientific management gave birth to the human relations
movement, which is characterised by heavy emphasis on employee cooperation
and morale.
• It is when the organization decides to study the behavioral characteristics of
workers, particularly in groups in their workplace and focuses on what
motivates each employee to be more productive in the office setting.
• The human relations theory is the ideology that emphasizes the need to
prioritize satisfaction among workers. It posits that the informal organization of
the workplace structures and boosting employee morale may increase
employees' overall productivity.
• the main goal of human relations is to help you relate better to others. Without
human relations we would not be able to consider how our actions in the world
affect the other people we interact with on a daily basis.
 Cont..
• George Elton Mayo, an organizational psychologist, is considered the father of the
human relations movement.
• Elton Mayo and Mary Parker Follet are the main contributors to the human
relations theory.
• Elton Mayo carried out the Hawthorne studies that encompassed giving employees
special conduct, and courtesy in a bid to determine their attitudes, and
psychological reactions. Under the Elton Mayo theory, the Hawthorne
effect indicated that employees work well when accorded special preferences and
treatment.
• On the other hand, Mary Parker Follet carried out a study to understand the
interactions of employees and what motivates them. The findings indicated that
well-articulated communication facilitates employee integration in decision-making
processes. Also, authority and control in an organization should not be
personalized.
 V. Hawthorne Studies
• Peter Drucker said, “ The organisation is above all, social. It is People.
• The Hawthorne studies belong to the Human Relations Era, and considered
the foundation of Organisational Behaviour.
• The studies started in 1924, at the huge Hawthorne Works, of the Western
electric company, outside of Chicago. It was conducted by Professors from
Harvard, under the leadership of Professor Elton Mayo.
• The studies was conducted in three phases
• The Illumination Studies
• The Relay room experiments
• Bank Wiring room Study
 The Illumination Study
• The Hawthorne studies and especially the first phase is considered a serendipitous
discovery.
• In this test a test group and control group was used.
• The test group was subjected to reducing intensity of light, to study its effect on
productivity of manual workers on the shop floor
• At the initial stage, there was no increase or decrease in productivity of the test
group, but at the end of the initial phase, it started to increase. At the end of the
initial stage the control group also showed the same amount of increase in
productivity.
• At the next stage the light intensity was reduced to moonlight intensity, though
workers could barely see, what was going on, The productivity increased sharply.
• This baffled the researchers. Beyond illumination, there was something effecting
productivity, it was the complex human variable.
 The Relay room experiments
• Here the operators assembled the relay switches.
• This phase of the study, tried to test specific variables such as the length of the work
day, rest breaks, and method of payment.
• The test results were same as that of the illumination studies. Each test period
yielded higher productivity than the previous one.
• Even when workers were subjected to original conditions, the productivity increased.
• The conclusion was that the independent variables (Rest pauses etc.,), were
themselves not causing the change, in the dependent variable (output).
• As in the illumination experiment, something else was causing the change in the
output,
 Bank wiring room study
• Here the Bank wirers were placed in a separate room as in the relay room
experiments, but researchers were reluctant to segregate them, as it would alter the
realistic factory environment.
• Unlike the relay room experiments, the bank wiring room study involved no
experimental changes once the study started. Instead an observer and interviewer
gathered objective data for the study.
• Of particular interest was the fact that, the departments regular supervisors, were
used in the Banks wiring room and their responsibility as in the shop floor was to
maintain order and control.
• The results was opposite to that of the relay room. There was no continuous increase
in the productivity. Rather output was getting restricted by the Bank wirers.
• In group dynamics, social pressures developed, which ensured compliance to group
norms to produce only two equipment's as against 2.5 equipment's as established
by time and motion study.
 Cont…
• The incentive system dictated that, more a worker produced, the more money the worker
would earn. Also the best workers would be laid out last, and thus they would be more
secure by producing more.
• Even then, social ostracism, ridicule, and name calling were the major sanctions used by
the group to enforce this restriction. In some instances, actual physical pressure in the
form of a game called “binging”, was applied. In the game, the worker could be hit as hard
as possible, with the privilege of returning one bing, or hit. Forcing rate busters to play the
game became an effective sanction. These group pressures had tremendous impact on all
the workers.
• Social ostracism was more effective in gaining compliance with the informal group norm
than money and security were in attaining the scientifically derived management norm.
Hawthorne effect
• Workers productivity increases when they were being made aware
that they were being observed.
 MODELS OF OB

• OB models refer to theoretical frameworks, that help understand

and explain, how individuals and groups behave within the
organisation, under different approaches of the top management.
• The above models give insight into different behaviours such as
motivation, communication, initiative, decision making and group
dynamics.
• These models are based on empirical research, psychological
theories and real world observations.
Models of organisational behaviour
I. Autocratic
II. Custodial
III. Supportive
IV. Collegial and
V. System
 Autocratic Model
• The root level of this model is
power with a managerial
orientation of authority.
• The employees in this model are
oriented towards obedience and
discipline.
• They are dependent on their
boss.
• The employee requirement that
is met is subsistence.
• Works on theory X.
Autocratic model- Cont…
• RESULTING OB:
• The performance result is less.
• people are easily frustrated,
• Insecurity and dependency on the superiors
 Custodial Model
• The root level of this model is
economic resources with a
managerial orientation of money.
• The employees in this model are
oriented towards security and
benefits provided to them.
• They are dependent on the
organization. The employee
requirement that is met is security.
 Custodial model- Cont…
• This model is adapted by firms having high resources as
the name suggest.
• It is dependent on economic resources. This approach
directs to depend on firm rather than on manager or
boss.
• RESULTING OB:
• They give passive cooperation as they are satisfied but
not strongly encouraged.
 Supportive Model
• The root level of this model is
leadership with a managerial
orientation of support.
• The employees in this model are
oriented towards their job
performance and participation.
• The employee requirement that
is met is status and recognition.
• The performance result is
awakened drives.
Supportive Model- Cont…
• This model is dependent on leadership.
• It gives a climate to help employees grow and
accomplish the job in the interest of the organization.
• Management job is to assist the employee’s job
performance.
• RESULTING OB:
• Employees feel a sense of participation.
• Their needs of Status and Recognition are met.
• They have awakened drives
 Collegial Model
• The root level of this model is
partnership with a managerial
orientation of teamwork.
• The employees in this model
are oriented towards
responsible behavior and self-
discipline.
• The employee requirement that
is met is self-actualization. The
performance result is moderate
zeal.
Collegial Model- Cont…
• The root level of this model is partnership with a
managerial orientation of teamwork.
• The employees in this model are oriented towards
responsible behavior and self-discipline.
• RESULTING OB:
• The employee requirement that is met is self-
actualization.
• The performance result is moderate zeal.
 System Model
• This model views the organization as a
system. And, every member of the
organization should work in a system.
• Depends on trust, community and
understanding.
• Management orientation is caring and
compassion
• By the system model, all employees
and managers should have a stake in
the organization and come to an
agreement to achieve common goals.
System Model- Cont…
• Positive aspects of the system model are all work in a system, a
healthy work environment, good communication, with good values to
employees & community, etc.
• RESULTING OB:
• Employees take psychological ownership, and are self motivated
• Wide range of employee needs are met, feel important
• Employees are passionate, and committed to Organisational goal