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UNIT1

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25 views6 pages

UNIT1

Uploaded by

NANA RANG
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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UNIT – 1

Introduction to Organizational Behavior :


Defination
Organizational Behavior (OB) is the study of how people interact within groups
and how these interactions affect the performance of an organization. It is an
interdisciplinary field that includes sociology, psychology, communication, and
management. The main goals of OB are to understand, predict, and influence
employee behavior in an organizational context.

Scope of Organizational Behavior

The scope of Organizational Behavior (OB) is broad and encompasses various aspects of how
individuals, groups, and structures impact behavior within organizations. Here are the key
areas within the scope of OB:

1. Individual Behavior

• Personality: Understanding how individual differences in personality affect work


behavior and job performance. This includes studying personality traits and how they
influence motivation, job satisfaction, and leadership.
• Perception: Examining how individuals perceive their environment and the
implications for decision-making, communication, and interactions with others.
• Learning: Exploring how individuals acquire skills and knowledge and the impact on
job performance and career development.
• Motivation: Investigating what drives individuals to achieve goals, including intrinsic
and extrinsic motivators, and applying theories such as Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs,
Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory, and McClelland's Theory of Needs.

2. Group Behavior

• Group Dynamics: Analyzing how people behave in groups, including the formation,
structure, and processes within groups. This involves studying roles, norms, status,
group cohesiveness, and conformity.
• Teams: Understanding team development, team roles, and the factors that contribute
to effective teamwork. This includes examining how teams set goals, make decisions,
and resolve conflicts.
• Communication: Exploring the methods and effectiveness of communication within
groups, including verbal, non-verbal, and digital communication.
• Conflict and Negotiation: Studying the sources and types of conflict in organizations
and the strategies for conflict resolution and negotiation.
3. Organizational Structure

• Organizational Design: Investigating how organizations are structured, including


hierarchies, departmentalization, and job specialization. This involves understanding
different organizational designs such as functional, divisional, matrix, and flat
structures.
• Work Environment: Examining the physical and psychological aspects of the work
environment and their effects on employee behavior and productivity.

4. Organizational Culture and Climate

• Culture: Studying the shared values, beliefs, and norms that shape behavior within
organizations. This includes exploring how culture is created, maintained, and
changed.
• Climate: Analyzing the shared perceptions of organizational policies, practices, and
procedures and their impact on employee behavior and attitudes.

5. Leadership

• Leadership Styles: Investigating different leadership approaches, including


transformational, transactional, servant, and charismatic leadership. Understanding
how these styles impact employee motivation, satisfaction, and performance.
• Power and Politics: Exploring how power dynamics and political behavior influence
decision-making and relationships within organizations.

6. Decision Making

• Individual Decision Making: Studying how individuals make decisions, including


the use of rational and bounded rationality models. This involves understanding biases
and heuristics that affect decision-making.
• Group Decision Making: Analyzing how groups make decisions, including
techniques for improving group decision-making processes such as brainstorming,
nominal group technique, and Delphi method.

7. Change Management

• Change Processes: Understanding how organizations plan, implement, and manage


change. This includes studying models of change such as Lewin's Change
Management Model and Kotter's 8-Step Change Model.
• Resistance to Change: Investigating the reasons for resistance to change and
strategies for overcoming it.

8. Human Resource Practices

• Recruitment and Selection: Exploring how organizations attract, select, and retain
talent.
• Training and Development: Understanding the methods for employee training and
development and their impact on performance.
• Performance Management: Analyzing how organizations evaluate and manage
employee performance, including appraisal systems and feedback mechanisms.
Historical Development of Organizational Behavior

The field of Organizational Behavior (OB) has evolved over time, influenced by various
disciplines and significant research contributions. Here's an overview of its historical
development:

1. Classical Management Theories (Late 19th to Early 20th Century)

• Scientific Management (Frederick Taylor): Taylor's principles of scientific


management emphasized efficiency and productivity through time and motion studies,
standardized tasks, and performance-based pay. His work laid the groundwork for
systematic study of workplace behavior.
• Administrative Theory (Henri Fayol): Fayol developed principles of management
such as planning, organizing, leading, coordinating, and controlling. His work
highlighted the importance of organizational structure and administrative processes.
• Bureaucracy (Max Weber): Weber introduced the concept of bureaucracy,
emphasizing a formal organizational structure with clear hierarchies, rules, and
regulations to ensure efficiency and predictability.

2. Human Relations Movement (1930s to 1950s)

• Hawthorne Studies (Elton Mayo): The Hawthorne experiments at Western Electric's


Hawthorne Works in Chicago revealed that social factors and worker attitudes
significantly impact productivity. These studies highlighted the importance of human
relations and the social needs of workers.
• Mary Parker Follett: Follett's work emphasized the human side of management,
advocating for power sharing, conflict resolution, and the importance of group
dynamics.

3. Behavioral Science Approach (1950s to 1970s)

• Abraham Maslow: Maslow introduced the Hierarchy of Needs theory, proposing that
human motivation is based on a progression of needs from physiological to self-
actualization.
• Douglas McGregor: McGregor proposed Theory X and Theory Y, contrasting
assumptions about employee motivation. Theory X views employees as inherently
lazy, while Theory Y sees them as self-motivated and seeking responsibility.
• Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory: Frederick Herzberg distinguished between hygiene
factors (which can cause dissatisfaction if missing) and motivators (which can drive
satisfaction and performance).

4. Contingency Approach (1960s to 1980s)

• This approach argues that there is no one best way to manage or lead an organization.
Instead, the optimal course of action depends on various internal and external factors.
Prominent contributors include Fred Fiedler (Fiedler’s Contingency Model) and Paul
Lawrence and Jay Lorsch (Contingency Theory of Organizational Design).

5. Systems Theory (1960s to Present)


• Ludwig von Bertalanffy: Systems theory views organizations as open systems that
interact with their environment. This perspective emphasizes the interdependence of
various organizational components and the need for a holistic approach to
management.

6. Modern OB Theories (1970s to Present)

• Equity Theory (J. Stacy Adams): This theory posits that employees seek fairness in
the workplace and are motivated by their perceptions of equitable treatment compared
to others.
• Expectancy Theory (Victor Vroom): Vroom's theory suggests that motivation is
based on the expectation that effort will lead to performance and performance will
lead to desired outcomes.
• Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura): This theory highlights the role of
observational learning, imitation, and modeling in behavior development within
organizations.
• Organizational Culture and Climate: Researchers like Edgar Schein and Geert
Hofstede have contributed to understanding how organizational culture and climate
impact behavior and performance.

7. Current Trends and Emerging Topics

• Positive Organizational Behavior: Focuses on strengths, resilience, and positive


psychological states of employees to improve organizational performance.
• Diversity and Inclusion: Emphasizes the importance of creating diverse and
inclusive work environments to enhance creativity, problem-solving, and
performance.
• Technology and OB: The rise of digital transformation, remote work, and artificial
intelligence impacts organizational behavior, communication, and management
practices.
• Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Increasing focus on
ethical behavior, sustainability, and the social responsibilities of organizations.

Importance of Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior (OB) is crucial for understanding, predicting, and influencing


human behavior in organizational settings. Here are the key reasons why OB is important:

1. Enhances Individual and Organizational Performance

• Improved Productivity: By understanding the factors that influence employee


motivation and performance, managers can design jobs and work environments that
enhance productivity.
• Job Satisfaction: OB helps identify what contributes to job satisfaction, leading to
happier, more engaged, and more productive employees.

2. Fosters Positive Work Environment

• Workplace Culture: OB aids in understanding and shaping organizational culture,


promoting a positive work environment where employees feel valued and motivated.
• Employee Well-being: By addressing psychological and social aspects of work, OB
contributes to the overall well-being of employees, reducing stress and burnout.

3. Improves Communication and Collaboration

• Effective Communication: OB provides insights into effective communication


strategies, helping to avoid misunderstandings and fostering clear, open
communication channels.
• Teamwork: Understanding group dynamics and team roles through OB helps in
building cohesive and high-performing teams.

4. Aids in Change Management

• Managing Resistance: OB helps managers understand why employees resist change


and provides strategies to manage and mitigate this resistance.
• Successful Implementation: Applying OB principles ensures that change initiatives
are implemented smoothly, with minimal disruption to the organization.

5. Enhances Leadership and Management Skills

• Effective Leadership: OB provides frameworks and theories for understanding


different leadership styles and their impact on employee behavior and organizational
outcomes.
• Decision Making: Understanding decision-making processes, including biases and
heuristics, helps managers make better, more informed decisions.

• ponents of Attitudes:
o Cognitive Component: Beliefs or opinions held about an object or situation.
o Affective Component: Emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
o Behavioral Component: Intention to behave in a certain way toward someone
or something.

4. Motivation

• Definition: Motivation is the process that accounts for an individual's intensity,


direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal.
• Key Theories of Motivation:
o Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-
actualization needs.
o Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory: Differentiates between hygiene factors
(which can cause dissatisfaction) and motivators (which can drive
satisfaction).
o McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y: Contrasts negative assumptions
(Theory X) with positive assumptions (Theory Y) about employee motivation.
o Vroom's Expectancy Theory: Proposes that motivation is a function of
expectancy (effort leads to performance), instrumentality (performance leads
to outcomes), and valence (value of outcomes).

5. Learning
• Definition: Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a
result of experience.
• Learning Theories:
o Classical Conditioning: Learning through association, as demonstrated by
Pavlov's experiments with dogs.
o Operant Conditioning: Learning through consequences, as shown in B.F.
Skinner's work, where behavior is influenced by rewards and punishments.
o Social Learning Theory: Albert Bandura's theory that behavior is learned
through observing others and modeling their actions.

6. Values

• Definition: Values are basic convictions about what is right, good, or desirable. They
guide behavior and decision-making.
• Types of Values:
o Terminal Values: Desired end-states or life goals (e.g., happiness, success).
o Instrumental Values: Preferred modes of behavior or means of achieving
terminal values (e.g., honesty, hard work).

7. Emotions and Moods

• Emotions: Intense, short-lived feelings typically directed at a specific object or


person.
• Moods: Less intense, longer-lasting emotional states without a specific target.
• Impact on Behavior: Emotions and moods can significantly influence job
performance, decision-making, creativity, and interpersonal relations.

8. Individual Decision Making

• Rational Decision-Making Model: A structured and logical approach to making


decisions by identifying problems, generating alternatives, evaluating options, and
choosing the best solution.
• Bounded Rationality: Recognizes the limitations of decision-making processes due
to constraints such as limited information, cognitive biases, and time pressures.
Individuals often settle for satisfactory rather than optimal solutions.

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