ITE 3652 Organizational Behavior

Lesson 2 - Elements of Organizational Behavior

1.0 Definition of Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior studies the impact individuals, groups, and structures have on human
behavior within organizations. It is an interdisciplinary field that includes sociology,
psychology, communication, and management. Organizational behavior complements
organizational theory, which focuses on organizational and intra-organizational topics, and
complements human-resource studies, which is more focused on everyday business practices.

2.0 Why Organizational Behavior?

The reason Organizational Behavior studies are uniquely useful for succeeding as a leader of
a large business (or other organization). OB examines attitudes, social climate, and
performance within an organization by examining both individual and group behavior on a
regional, national, or global level. Researchers in organizational behavior study age-old
questions such as: What are the characteristics of a good leader? , how can a manager
motivate workers? Increasingly, questions that have social and moral relevance, such as what
makes an organization "ethical" in both action and reputation, are also being addressed.

The organization's base rests on management's philosophy, values, vision and goals. These
visions and missions moderates based on the real industry and social requirements.
Orgnisaional behavior is an important study since it turn drives the organizational culture
which is composed of the formal organization, informal organization, and the social
environment. The culture determines the type of leadership, communication, and group
dynamics within the organization. The workers perceive this as the quality of work life which
directs their degree of motivation. The final outcome are performance, individual satisfaction,
and personal growth and development. All these elements combine to build the model or
framework that the organization operates from.

OB applies the knowledge gained from individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on
behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. It is concerned with the study

ITE 3562 BIT – UoM 1

of what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the
organization. There are multiple layers that OB study consists of and the figure 2.1 give the
different layers of OB.

Figure 2.1 Different Levels of Organizational Behavior

There are many advantages that we get by learning about OB.

 To learn about yourself and how to deal with others

 You are part of an organization now, and will continue to be a part of various
organizations

 Organizations are increasingly expecting individuals to be able to work in teams, at

least some of the time

 Future managers or entrepreneurs need OB since they need to manage all the elements
of organization effectively and efficiently

 OB helps to maintain cordial industrial relations which help to increase the overall
productivity of the industry.

 The subject of organizational behavior is useful in the field of marketing.

The connection between OB and Management gives in the following figure 2.2

ITE 3562 BIT – UoM 2

 Figure 2.2 OB and Management

3.0 What other knowledge help us understand OB?

Organizational behavior is a collective and a combinative study of many subject domains.

Following figure 2.3 shows the related areas which create connections to the study of OB. In
many instances the researches in these connected fields have made experiments using the real
world organizations and its people making the judgments on the individuals and group
behavior. Therefore high levels of empirical studies are connected to the study of OB. Figure
2.3 shows the overall picture of how OB connects to the other subject domains.

Figure 2.3 Connect Subject Domains to OB

ITE 3562 BIT – UoM 3

4.0 Dependent Variables of Organisational Behaviour

There are quite a few dependent variables exists in organizational behavior. These variables
make a direct impact on the performance of the organization and its growth. This means that
organizations can grow to the extent that people who work in such organization are supported
to grow. Business researchers have long asserted that the way in which an organization
manages people and appraise their contribution to total production in a work environment can
influence current and feature growth of the organization. Following are some of the key
dependent variables of OB

4.1 Absenteeism

Employee Absenteeism is the absence of an employee from work. Its a major problem faced
by almost all employers of today. Absenteeism happens due to various reasons. These
reasons are as family emergencies, a sick child, or jury duty, may necessitate a day off from
work. Most organizations allow for such absences. However, when employees abuse these
rights, absenteeism can turn into a real problem for employers. There can be reasons from the
side of the organizations as well. Those reasons are lack of satisfaction from present work,
Poor working conditions, longer working hours, Non Cooperating peers, higher expectation,
No growth prospects in present Company, Excess Work Stress

4.2 Turnover

Employee turnover refers to the number or percentage of workers who leave an organization
and are replaced by new employees. There are two types of employee turnover namely
voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary turnover occurs when an employee chooses to leave
(i.e. quits or resigns), and involuntary turnover occurs when the employer makes the decision
for the employee to leave (i.e. fired).

 Rude behavior. - Rudeness, assigning blame, back-biting, playing favorites and

retaliations are among reasons that aggravate employee turnover

 Work-life imbalance. Employees are forced to choose between a personal life and a
work life.

 The job did not meet expectations.

 Employee misalignment. Organizations should never hire employees (internal or

external) unless they are qualified for the job and in sync with the culture and goals of
ITE 3562 BIT – UoM 4
 the organization. Feeling undervalued. Everyone wants to be recognized and
rewarded for a job well done.

 Coaching and feedback are lacking- Effective managers know how to help
employees improve their performance and consistently give coaching and feedback to
all employees.

 Decision-making ability is lacking. - People skills are inadequate People skills can be
learned and developed, but it really helps if a manager has a natural ability to get
along with people and motivate them.

 Organizational instability. - Management’s constant reorganization, changing

direction and shuffling people around disconnects employees from the organization’s
purpose. This causes frustration leading to confusion and inefficiencies.

4.3 Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)

Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is a person's voluntary commitment within an

organization or company that is not part of his or her contractual tasks. Most employees
understand that their primary duty is to do the work that is assigned to them, stay away from
behaviors that could be deemed troublesome, and deliver work that is acceptable and
beneficial to the organization. Organizational citizenship behavior is an evolving concept
concerning how and why people contribute positively to their organizations beyond defined
work roles; a concept that has rapidly expanded in recent years. Following are some
examples of OCB.

 Helping others on one's work team

 Volunteering for extra job activities

 Avoiding unnecessary conflicts

 Making constructive statements about one's work group and the overall organization

4.4 Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is defined as the extent to which an employee feels self-motivated, content &
satisfied with his/her job. A satisfied employee is always important for an organization as
he/she aims to deliver the best of their capability. Job satisfaction from an employee

ITE 3562 BIT – UoM 5

perspective is to earn a good gross salary, have job stability, have a steady career growth, get
rewards & recognition and constantly have new opportunities. Job Satisfaction is all about an
individual’s feelings about the work, work environment, pay, organization culture, job
security and so on. The essential aspects of job satisfaction include: Work characteristics,
Amount of work , Compensation

5.0 Challengers of OB

There are many challenges faces by the OB. Some of the challenges are becoming worse due
to the global issues. Various factors influence these acts and relations, such as leadership,
organizational culture, and the personal objectives of individuals within the organization.
Following are some of the key challenges listed in the research on OB.

 Improving Peoples’ Skills.

 Improving Quality and Productivity.
 Managing Workforce Diversity.
 Responding to Globalization.
 Empowering People.
 Coping with Temporariness.
 Stimulating Innovation and Change.
 Improving Ethical Behavior.
 Improving Customer Service.
 Work-Life Conflicts.

6.0 Lesson Summary

This lesson discussed the basic elements of organizational behavior. OB has discussed in the
different levels in the organization such as individual behavior, group behavior and
organizational level behavior of employees. The domain of OB has surrounded by many
other subject domains such as psychology, sociology and anthropology. At the same time
there are basic moderating variable of OB which has direct impact and these variables are
absenteeism, turnover, OCB and job satisfaction. OB faces many challenges due to the
globalization, technology changes and population growth.

ITE 3562 BIT – UoM 6