ORGANISATIONAL

BEHAVIOUR
PPT #1
Introduction to OB
• Key definitions
• Organization – It may be defined as a deliberately constructed human
association for attaining common objectives.
• OB – It refers to the behavior of the people in an organization.
• It is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals,
groups and structures have on behavior in an organization for the
purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an
organization’s effectiveness. – Robbins
• Although prima facie, it may appear to be a theoretical subject, it has
high pragmatic relevance.
• We will majorly deal with three levels of analysis, viz.,
• Individual behavior – OB can be studied in the perspective of individual
members. This approach to OB draws heavily on the discipline of psychology
and explains why people behave the way they do. Within this perspective, we
will learn about many psychological theories of learning, motivation,
leadership etc. and many concepts of psychology such as attitude,
perceptions etc.
• Inter-individual behavior (group behavior) – People work with each other in
an organization in the form of teams, groups, committees etc. This majorly
deals with the concepts drawn from the knowledge and theories of social
psychology to understand how people behave in groups.
• Organization behavior – This entails the study of the behavior of the
organization as a whole, and it draws on the concepts and theories from the
discipline of sociology.
Contributing Disciplines to OB
• OB is an interdisciplinary subject as it has borrowed concepts, theories,
models and practices of physical as well as social sciences. Contributing
disciplines:
• 1. Psychology – OB studies human behavior which is concerned mainly
with the psychology of the people. Psychology is the greatest contributor
to the subject of OB.
• Individual behavior is governed by perception, learning, personality,
motivation etc. which are core concepts of psychology.
• Group behavior is studied and moulded with the use of theories of social
psychology (a branch of psychology). It draws from both psychology and
sociology, and studies people’s influence on one another.
• 2. Sociology – Sociology is concerned with the use of scientific
methods in accumulating knowledge about the social behavior of
groups. Sociologists study social behavior, i.e., behavior in social
contexts such as family, organization, or a mob.
• It studies the behavior of the people in society in relation to their
fellow human beings. The interpersonal dynamics of organizations are
grounded in sociological concepts.
• 3. Anthropology – Anthropology is the study of societies to learn
about human beings and their activities.
• Culture has a major influence on the structure of organizations as well
as on the behavior of the people within organizations.
• It contributes to the understanding of cultural effects on OB, effects of
value system, norms, sentiments etc. on behavior.
• Allied Disciplines:
• 4. Political Science – Political science is thought of as the study of political
systems.
• Political scientists are interested in how and why people acquire power,
how they use it, political behavior, conflict and its resolution, the behavior
of interest groups, coalition, unions etc.
• In organizations, people strive for power and leadership. Concepts from
political science can be drawn to understand the behavior of the people
who desire power.
• 5. Economics – Economics is the study of production, distribution, and
consumption of goods and services. Theories of economics assume a
person to behave rationally.
• Students of OB share the economist’s interest in such areas as productivity,
forecasting, etc.
• 6. Sciences – Science is systematized, objective knowledge. Scientific
methods are the backbone of OB as OB is based on the systematized study
of facts, behavior, their relationships and predictions.
• OB also involves establishing and studying cause and effect relationships as
in sciences. These relationships are often utilized to mould the behavior of
people at work.
• A researcher in the filed of OB investigates new facts, tests theories,
hypotheses and models.
• 7. Technology – The level of technological development affects the
behavior of employees, which subsequently affects OB. Technology
changes consumer behavior, production, distribution, and storage
activities. Technological developments may lead to effective work behavior.
• Employees need to cope with the technological advancements.
• 8. Engineering – Some topics are common to engineering as well as
OB eg. – work measurement, productivity measurement, workflow
analysis, work design, job design etc.
• OB depends on engineering for these technical jobs.
Role of OB in Management Practices
• OB studies 4 determinants of behavior in organizations.
• Individual
• Groups
• Interpersonal
• Intergroup
• The knowledge of all these is applied to the organization to make the
organization work more effectively.

• The role of managers include (a) understanding and (b) influencing

the human behavior.
(a) Understanding Human Behavior
• If managers are to understand the organizations in which they work,
they must first understand the people who make up the organization.
• Human behavior can be studied from four points of view:
• 1. Individual behavior – The main focus of behavioral sciences is on
the study of individual behavior. It tries to analyze why and how an
individual behaves in a particular way in a given situation.
• The behavior of individuals is influenced by a number of
psychological, social and cultural factors. The job of organizational
behaviorist is to integrate these factors to help in understanding
human behavior.
• 2. Interpersonal behavior – Interpersonal interaction represents man’s
most natural attempt at socialization. By studying behavioral sciences,
the managers can do a meaningful job of understanding others. This
will help in improving interpersonal relationships also.
• 3. Group behavior – An individual behaves differently as an individual
and as a member of the group. To make sense of behavior of people
in an organization, a manager must firstly understand group behavior
in the organization.
• 4. Intergroup behavior – The large number of groups in an
organization can have an intricate network of complex relationships.
The cooperation, coordination and conflicts within groups influence
performances. Thus, it will behoove managers to understand the
dynamics of intergroup behavior to have effective organizations.
(b) Influencing Human Behavior
• After understanding human behavior, the next job for the manager is
to influence the behavior so that it conforms to the standards
required for achieving organizational objectives. Managers can
influence the behavior in following ways:
• 1. Leadership
• 2. Motivation
• 3. Communication
• 4. Organizational Culture
• 5. Organizational Change
• 6. Attitude
• 1. Leadership – It is the process of influencing people to voluntarily
contribute their best efforts to achieve pre-determined common
objectives. An organization can achieve success only with the right
type of leadership. Leaders direct individual and group effort towards
the organizational objectives.
• “The person who influences me the most is not one who does great
deeds, but one who makes me feel I can do great deeds” – Mary
Parker Follett
• 2. Motivation – It is a driving force which stimulates an individual to
initiate an action. The job of a manager in an organization is to get
things done from others. He will be successful in his job when he can
motivate his subordinates to work for the achievement of
organizational goals.
• 3. Communication – It is the process of transmission of knowledge,
information and ideas from the sender to the receiver, with the
information being understood by the receiver. Managers need to
communicate effectively with other people in the organization to
channelize efforts towards the achievement of common goals.
• 4. Organizational Culture – It is a system of shared beliefs and
attitudes that develops within an organization and guides the
behavior of its members. Culture facilitates the generation of
commitment to larger organizational goals over individuals’ self-
interests. Managers can change the dynamics of the organization by
changing the culture of the organization.
• 5. Organizational Change – Change is the only constant. Desirable and
effective change can be introduced through group dynamics and
proper education of employees through effective communication. The
benefits of change should be highlighted and the information should
be shared woth all those likely to be affected by the change.
• 6. Attitude – Attitude may be understood as a learned predisposition
to respond to an object in a consistently favorable or unfavorable
manner. These are relatively stable over time. But a desirable change
in attitude can be introduced by various managerial interventions.