FUNDAMENTALS

OF
ORGANISATIONA
L
BEHAVIOUR
INTRODUCTION:

Behavioural scientists like psychologists,

sociologists and anthropologists have been
analysing human behaviour.
The scientific study and analysis of human
behaviour in organisations has been shaped
into a discipline known as ‘Organisational
Behaviour.’
‘Organisational Behaviour’ is interdisciplinary
in nature because psychologists, sociologists,
anthropologists, economists and other social
scientists contribute for the improvement of
this discipline.
MEANING OF OB:
Organisation is a group of people who
work together to achieve a set of goals.
Behaviour is the way of treating others.
Organisational Behaviour(OB) is the study
and application of knowledge about how
people as individuals and as groups
behave in organisations.
DEFINITION OF OB:

Luthans defined OB as, “it is concerned with

the understanding, prediction and control of
human behaviour in organisation.”
John W. Newstrom and Keith Davis define
the term OB as, “the study and application of
knowledge about how people as individuals
and as groups act within organisations. It
strives to identify ways in which people can
act more effectively.”
FEATURES OF OB:

After analysing the definitions, we come across

the following features of OB:
1. Organisational Behaviour refers to the study
of behaviour.
2. Human behaviour is caused by individuals,
groups and structure of the organisation.
For example, the Tall Structure makes the
individuals to be rule minded and behave
mechanically.
The flat Structure makes the individual to be
innovative, creative, challenging and
committed.
FEATURES OF OB…

3. Human behaviour can be studied, predicted and

managed. This can be done to some extent but not
completely as required.
4. OB helps:
to understand the organisational strategies,
to understand the type of human behaviour
necessary for the implementation of organisational
strategy and
to manage the people to exert the required
behaviour.
5. The purpose of OB is to enhance organisational
efficiency and effectiveness.
6. OB is a multi-disciplinary subject, i.e., various
IMPORTANCE OF OB :
The importance of OB is as follows:
1) OB helps to understand ourselves and others
in a better way.
This helps to improve our interpersonal
relations in the organisation.
Friendly and cordial relations between
employees and management and also among
the employees create a congenial work
environment in organisation.
Understanding of topics like attitude,
perception, communication, conflict will change
the very style of talking and functioning of an
individual.
IMPORTANCE OF OB…
2) The knowledge of OB helps manager to know
individual employees better and motivate
employees to work for better results.
A manager gets the work done through
delegation and his success depends on
motivation.
3) The theories and concepts of OB help to
influence organisational events.
It helps to communicate effectively with others,
manage conflicts, make better decisions and
many more.
4) OB uses scientific research to understand and
IMPORTANCE OF OB…
5) OB tackles human problems humanely.
It helps to understand the causes of the
problem, predicts its future course of action
and control its evil consequences.
It helps in maintaining cordial individual
relations.
If an employee is slow in his work, it is not
always because of denial of promotion or a poor
work environment, often the attitude of the
boss makes the worker lazy.
Similarly, if the union of workers gives a strike
call, the basic issue may not be a demand for
more wages, higher bonus, a better canteen. It
is the reluctance of the management to talk to
IMPORTANCE OF OB…
6) The popular reason for studying OB is to learn
how to predict human behaviour and then apply
it to make the organisation more effective.
7) Organisations are run by men and they make
all the difference.
The effective utilisation of people lead to
success of the organisation.
OB helps managers how to manage human
resources efficiently in the organisation.
It helps in inspiring employees towards higher
productivity and better results.
SCOPE OF OB:
Organisational Behaviour(OB) is the study of
human behaviour at work in organisation.
Accordingly, the scope of OB includes the study
of individuals, group and organisation.
i) INDIVIDUALS:
Individuals differ in many respects. The study
of individuals therefore, includes personality,
learning, perception, motivation, attitudes,
values and job satisfaction.
ii) GROUPS:
The study of groups includes group dynamics,
group conflicts, communication, leadership,
power and politics and the like.
SCOPE OF OB…

iii) ORGANISATION:
The study of organisation includes aspects like
formation of organisational structure,
organisational culture, organisational change
and development, human resource
management, etc.
In a nutshell, OB studies how organisation
influences people or how people influence
organisation.
---
NATURE OF OB:
The nature of Organisational Behaviour(OB) is
identified as follows:
i) A Separate Field of Study:
OB has a multidisciplinary orientation.
Therefore it is better reasonable to call a
separate field of study rather than a subject only.
ii) An Interdisciplinary Approach:
For studying OB, we have to draw knowledge
from related disciplines like Psychology,
Sociology and Anthropology.
iii) A Normative Science:
OB deals with what is accepted by individuals
and society.
NATURE OF OB:
iv) An Applied Science:
The very nature of OB is applied.
OB basically applies various research findings
to solve the organisational problems related to
human behaviour.
v)A Humanistic and Optimistic Approach:
OB realises that people working in the
organisation have a desire to be independent,
creative and productive, if they are given
proper environment.
vi)A Total System Approach:
The systems approach is one that integrates all
the variables affecting organisational
CONTRIBUTION OF MAJOR DISCIPLINES TO OB:
OB has drawn concepts from following disciplines.
i) PSYCHOLOGY:
It is the study of behaviour of animals and human
beings.
Psychology seeks to measure, explain and change
behaviour.
Psychology has contributed to the study of intra-
personal aspects of OB like motivation, perception,
attitude, opinion and learning.
ii) SOCIOLOGY:
It studies the behaviour of people in relation to their
fellow human beings.
Sociologists have contributed OB through concepts
like leadership, group-dynamics, communication and
CONTRIBUTION OF MAJOR DISCIPLINES TO OB…
iii) ANTHROPOLOGY:
It is the study of the human race, in particular, its
culture.
Culture has significant influence on human behaviour.
It dictates what people learn and how they behave.
Every organisation will have its own distinct culture.
The culture of the organisation will have an influence
on the employees.
iv) ECONOMICS:
Economics is the social science that deals with the
production, distribution and consumption of goods
and services and with the theory of economic
systems.
The topics of Economics which have been included in
OB are decision making, organisational change, etc.
CONTRIBUTION OF MAJOR DISCIPLINES TO OB…
v) POLITICAL SCIENCE:
Contributions of political science to OB are conflict
resolution, group coalition, allocation of power and
how people manipulate power in their self interest.
All such concepts are required for better
understanding of OB.
vi) SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY:
It is the study of both psychology and sociology.
Social psychology is useful in measuring,
understanding and changing attitudes,
communication patterns, the ways in which group
activities can satisfy individual needs and in group
decision making.
CONTRIBUTION OF MAJOR DISCIPLINES TO OB…
vii) ENGINEERING:
This discipline has also influenced OB.
Industrial engineering is concerned with work
measurement, productivity measurement,
workflow analysis and design, and labour relations.
Obviously, all these are important for OB.
viii) MEDICINE:
Medicine has also contributed to the study of OB,
specially in the area of stress.
Research is showing that controlling the causes
and consequences of stress, within and outside the
organisation, is important for the well-being of
both the individual and the organisations.
---
EVOLUTION OF OB:

The history of organisational behaviour (OB)

will tell us how this subject evolved over a
period of time, to its present stage.
In the early part of 19th century, Industrial
Revolution took place which resulted in the
total transformation of the then industrial
environment.
Before industrial revolution, people worked
from dawn to dusk under intolerable
conditions.
They had to work this way to survive, so that
they had little time to improve job satisfaction
EVOLUTION OF OB…
1. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:
Industrial Revolution brought about materialism,
discipline, monotony, job displacement, lack of
emotion, work interdependence and related
behavioural phenomena.
Industrial Revolution was also responsible for
planting the seed for likely improvement.
Industry created surplus of goods and knowledge
that eventually gave workers increased wages,
shorter hours and more work satisfaction.
In this new industrial environment Robert Owen, a
factory owner, first emphasised the human needs
of employees.
He refused to employ young children.
EVOLUTION OF OB…

He was able to demonstrate that men are more

important than machines.
For this Robert Owen was called as the ‘father of
personnel management.’
This was the beginning of modern organisational
behaviour.
In 1835, Andrew Ure published a book named as
“The philosophy of Manufacturers.”
In this book he included the human factor as one
of the factors of production.
Believing in the importance of the human factor,
Ure provided workers with hot tea, medical
treatment and sickness payment.
EVOLUTION OF OB…

J. N. Tata took a special interest in the welfare

of his workers.
For the first time, he installed humidifiers and
fire sprinklers in his factories.
In 1886, he instituted a pension fund and later
on he began to pay accident compensation to
his workers.
He was decade ahead of his time and miles
ahead of his competitors.
The ideas of Owen, Ure and Tata were
accepted slowly.
-
EVOLUTION OF OB…

2. SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT:
Frederick Winslow Taylor was regarded as the
father of scientific management.
He was responsible for awakening interest in
workers in the 1900s.
Taylor’s goal was technical efficiency but
management should recognise the importance of
human resources.
He published his book ‘Principles of Scientific
Management’ in 1911.
His ideas were criticised at that time but his ideas
are practised even to day.
Industrial psychologists Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
EVOLUTION OF OB…EVOLUTION OF OB…
Gilbreth had great concern for human
beings.
Scientific management was criticised by
employees and theorists for its over
emphasis on task accomplishment and
monetary incentives at the cost of respect
for human beings.
A new approach that treated workers as
human beings was desired. ---
EVOLUTION OF OB…
3. THE HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT:
Failure of scientific management gave birth to
human relations movement.
This movement is characterised by heavy emphasis
on employee co-operation and self-confidence.
Under this, people were to be treated as human
beings and not as machines, listening to their
needs and problems and involving them in decision
making related to working conditions.
There are varied and complex reasons for this type
of human relations.
The contributing factors for this movement are the
Great Depression, the Labour Movement and the
results of Hawthorne Studies.
EVOLUTION OF OB…

a) The Great Depression:

 This began in the year 1929 with the stock
exchange crash in America.
The consequences of the depression were
widespread unemployment, decline of purchasing
power, collapse of markets and lowering of the
standard of living of people.
This phenomenon was worldwide and not confined
to America alone.
One positive out come of the depression was that
management realised that production alone could
not be its major function.
Marketing, finance, and personnel were also
required for a business to survive and grow.
EVOLUTION OF OB…

Managers were forced to recognise human problems

and tried to cope with these.
More emphasis was given to personnel department.
Most managers began to develop a new view of the
human aspects of work.
Human relations became significant as the result of
the depression.
Mere creation of personnel departments did not
improve the condition of workers.
Still production was given more importance than
workers in organisations.
Decent hours of work, fair wages and adequate
working conditions were sacrificed for more
production.
EVOLUTION OF OB…
There were people like Taylor, Ford and Sloan who
sincerely believed in giving the labour its due share.
Such noble hearted souls were few and far between.
In general, exploitation of labour continued.
b) Labour Movement:
When exploitation continued, the labourers realised
that their protection was in their own hands.
They formed strong unions and this had the desired
effect on management.
Management began to give primary importance to
employee relations and secondary importance to
wages, hours of work and conditions of employment.
Unfortunately in many cases the employee relation
was forced on managers by labour.
EVOLUTION OF OB…

Ideally, it would have been better if human relations

had been developed because of intrinsic motivation of
managers, and they made provision for the welfare of
their employees.
c) Hawthorne Studies:
The real beginning of OB started with Hawthorne
Studies.
In 1924, a group of professors with the leadership of
Prof. Elton Mayo began an enquiry into human
aspects of work and working conditions at Hawthorne
plant of Western Electric Company, Chicago.
Hawthorne studies gave academic status to the study of
OB.
The studies brought out a number of findings relevant
to understanding human behaviour at work.
EVOLUTION OF OB…
The human element in the workplace was more
important.
The workers are influenced by social factors and the
behaviour of the individual worker is determined by
the group.
Elton Mayo was responsible for the studies and
publicising their significance for which he is called the
‘Father of Human Relations Movement.’
4. ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR:
The human relations movement started, continued and
flourished for a long time.
Unfortunately, the movement grew so fast that much
fashion and superficiality developed.
Some practitioners began to emphasise the big smile,
‘being nice to people’, and ‘keep them happy’, while
cunningly trying to manipulate employees.
EVOLUTION OF OB…
Naturally the human relations movement received
serious criticism.
In course of time, the term ‘human relations’ lost its
flavour, although it continues to be used.
As the field became more mature and research
based, the new term that arose to describe it was
‘Organisational Behaviour’.
 Experts trace this development to the late 1950s
and early 1960s.
Organisational behaviour has made considerable
pace since 1960s.
Managers recognise the value of human resources
and strive to understand people and their role in
organisation and competitive business situations.
This realisation has come from the subject,
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB:

Behaviour is an outcome determined by the stimulus

as well as the contingent environmental
consequences of behaviour.
This means, there are alternative behaviours for the
same stimulus and which behaviour is exhibited by a
person depends on expected environmental
consequences.
OB is an extremely complex discipline in management
that involves numerous inputs and dimensions.
OB has been developed by using the following three
theoretical frame works.
1. COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK,
2. BEHAVIOURISTIC FRAMEWORK and
3. SOCIAL-COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…
1. COGNITIVE FRAME WORK:
 This approach was given much more credit than the
other approaches.
The cognitive approach emphasises the positive and
free will aspect of human behaviour and uses concepts
such as expectancy, demand and incentive.
Cognition is the basic unit of the cognitive framework.
Cognition means the act of knowing an item of
information.
Under the cognitive frame work, cognition precedes
behaviour and constitute input in to the person’s
thinking, perception, problem solving and information
processing.
In cognitive frame work, cognitive maps, e.g.,
pictures, are used.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…
Cognitive maps help in comprehending a person’s
understanding of particular and selective elements
of thoughts.
The work of Edward Tolman is used to represent the
cognitive theoretical approach.
Although Tolman believed behaviour to be the
appropriate unit analysis, he felt that behaviour is
purposive, that it is directed towards a goal.
In his experiments, he found that animals learned to
expect that certain events would follow one another.
For example, animals learned to behave as if they
expected food when a certain cue appeared.
Thus, Tolman believed that learning consists of the
expectancy that a particular event will lead to a
particular consequence.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…

This cognitive concept of expectancy implies that the

organism is thinking about the goal.
Thus, Tolman and others supporting the cognitive
approach felt that behaviour is best explained by
cognitions.
Cognitive approach is widely applied in the field of
OB.
This approach is mostly used in the analysis of
perception, personality and attitude, motivation and
goal setting.
The role of cognition is found to be significant in
decision making.
Over the years, there have been controversies
regarding the contributions of cognitive frame work
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…
2. BEHAVIOURSTIC FRAMEWORK:
Ivan Pavolv and John B. Watson were the pioneers
of behaviouristic theory.
They focused on observable behaviours rather than
the slippery mind.
They explained human behaviour with the help of
stimulus response experiments.
A stimulus brings out a response in an individual
and results in learning.
The stimulus-response relationship explains the
automatic responses in human beings.
For example, when a person is pricked with a pin,
he immediately flinches (reflexive jerking)
B. F. Skinner is a major contributor to modern
behaviourism.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…

He explained the more complex operant behaviours

which were left undelt by the early behaviourists.
Operant behaviour indicates voluntary or learned
behaviour.
Through his operant conditioning experiments, Skinner
emphasised the importance of stimulus-response
relationship.
He found that the consequences of response explain
more about behaviour than the stimuli that elicit
response.
The stimulus serves as an indication to manifest certain
behaviour and does not actually cause the behaviour.
An individual responds in a particular way to the
stimulus and this result in certain consequences.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…
Skinner believed that behaviour is a function of its
consequences.
For instance, an organisation passes a circular to
its employees asking them to stay longer in order
to increase the production to meet the increasing
demand.
Here the circular is the stimulus.
The employees may increase the production.
This is the response.
If the increase in productivity is rewarded, it is the
consequence.
Skinner explained that certain behaviour can be
expected from an individual by creating a positive
consequence desired by him.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…

The behaviouristic approach is based on the

environment.
Through cognitive processes like thinking,
expectations and perception do exist, they are not
needed to predict behaviours.
 However, some behavioural scientists believe that
the cognitive variables do have a role in the
behaviouristic approach.
Continuous research efforts have led to the
emergence of a new area called social cognitive
approach which incorporates both cognitive and
behaviouristic concepts.
---
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…
3. SOCIAL COGNITIVE FRAMEWORK:
According to some researchers, the cognitive approach
emphasises too much on psychological process whereas
the behaviouristic approach stresses on stimulus,
response and consequences.
The social cognitive approach attempts to integrate the
contributions of both cognitive and behaviouristic
approaches.
However, the influence of behavioural approach is
higher than the cognitive approach on social cognitive
approach.
In social cognitive approach, behaviour is considered as
the appropriate unit of analysis.
It is held that people are self-aware and make an effort
towards careful behaviour.
Individuals learn about the environment, modify and
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…

Bandura has developed Social Cognitive Theory.

Stajkovic and Luthans have translated this social
cognitive theory into the theoretical foundation for
OB.
This theory recognises the importance of
contingent environmental consequences as
suggested by behaviouristic framework.
It also includes cognitive process of self-regulation.
The social part acknowledges the social origin of
human thought and action (what individuals learn
by being part of a society), where as the cognitive
portion recognises the contribution of thought
processes to motivation, attitudes and action.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF OB…

Social Cognitive Theory explains OB in terms

of organisational practices (e.g., carefulness),
organisational environment (e.g., more pay for
increased productivity), and the organisational
behaviour itself (e.g., previous successful or
unsuccessful sales approach with customers).
In other words, organisational participants are
both products and producers of their
personality, respective environments and
behaviours.
---
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OB & THE INDIVIDUAL:
OB defines the concept of behaviour for individuals who
are in an organisation.
These individuals are described as human resources.
The concept that is used to describe the management
of the individuals in any organisation is known as
human resource management.
The effective use of HRM can be used to shape the
perceptions and behaviour of the individuals in an
organisation, resulting in desired organisational
behaviour.
This link between OB and management of the
individuals is seen in the areas of the individuals’
attitude towards their jobs.
The responsibilities of the HR department is to manage
the issues related to the welfare of the individuals in an
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OB & THE INDIVIDUAL…

When this responsibility is pursued carefully, the

employees will have a more positive attitude
towards their jobs and will be more willing to do
more duties.
Individuals are the vehicles for organisational
behaviour they can be taken in the right direction
through the HR department.
Examples of proper management of individuals
includes orientation classes for new individuals
where they will be informed about the corporate
image of the organisation and the expected
organisational behaviour from them .
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OB & THE INDIVIDUAL…

One of the factors of OB is the attitude of

individuals towards each others, ranging from the
communication to management of individuals,
communication between the various levels of
individuals and communication between
individuals and those outside the organisation.
Individuals will be more productive in an
organisation where they feel they can prosper,
such as one where the relationships are clearly
defined.
Part of the responsibility of individuals is to enable
such an environment within the organisation
through effective application of good
organisational practices.
LIMITATIONS OF OB:

1. Though OB helps an individual to understand

human behaviour better only in the workplace,
he may be a failure on the domestic front.
People who have through grounding of
behavioural sciences have often proved to be a
total failure in their personal lives.
2. OB has not contributed to improve
interpersonal relations in organisational settings.
Jealousies, back-stabbing, leg pulling,
harassment and inequalities in rewards go hand
in hand with nice lectures, training programmes
discussions, smiles assurances , etc.
LIMITATIONS OF OB…
3. OB has become a craze with managers in
most organisations.
Common uniforms, open offices and
shared canteens are there in the name of
improving interpersonal relations.
But wearing identical clothes has not
changed the attitude of the boss towards
his subordinates.
In reality, the subordinates are not treated
as equals and rarely their views are
respected and accepted.
LIMITATIONS OF OB…
4. Organisational behaviour will not abolish conflict
and frustrations, it can only reduce them.
OB is a way to improve but it is not an absolute
answer to problems.
Improved OB will not (by itself) solve
unemployment.
It will not make up for our own deficiencies.
It can not substitute for poor planning,
incompetent organising, or inadequate controls.
OB is one of the many systems operating within a
larger social system.
LIMITATIONS OF OB…
5. OB is selfish and exploitative .
It only serves interest of management.
With its high emphasis on motivation,
efficiency and productivity OB breeds a
competitive spirit among employees.
They are not allowed to function and live
in harmony with one another.
LIMITATIONS OF OB…
6. Critics of OB have expressed doubts
about whether the ideas which have been
developed and tested during periods
organisational growth and economic
prosperity will endure with equal success
under adverse conditions.
The future environment may be marked
by shrinking demand, scarce resources
and greater competition.
LIMITATIONS OF OB…

When organisations stagnate and decline or face

the threat of closure, there will inevitably be
conflict and stress.
Will the conflict resolution strategies work under
these stressful conditions?
Will the motivational models be relevant?
Will the leadership styles be practicable?
There are no easy answers to these and other
related questions.
---
THANK
‘U’