CHAPTER ONE

AN OVER VIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

The study of organizational behavior must begin with the nature of organizations themselves. Organizations
are mechanisms through which many people combine their efforts and work together to accomplish more
than any one person could do alone.

Organizations share basic ingredients of purpose, division of labor, and synergy. Division of labor is a
process of breaking the required work into tasks that can be performed by individuals or groups.

Division of labor is a way of organizing the efforts of many people in their advantage. Synergy in an
organization occurs when people work together as they use available resources to pursue a common
purpose. Synergy is facilitated by the organization‟s division of labor, hierarchy of authority, as well as by
managerial behavior.

The goal is to utilize everyone‟s talent to the fullest and to achieve outcomes that are beyond capabilities
alone. To achieve its purpose, any organization depends on human effort.

A successful organization provides „product outputs of value‟ to the external environment and is always
able to obtain, in return, the resource inputs needed for continued operations.

Twenty-first century unfolds with swift challenges at global level and as such managers will have to be
sensitive to the changing values, aspirations and attitudes that people, technologies and markets bring into
the organizations. Thus, it is not just a good idea to study organizations; it is an absolute necessity in the
new workplace.

What’s OB & Why do we Study It?

According to Stephen P. Robbins, “organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact
of individuals, groups, and structure on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such
knowledge towards improving an organization's effectiveness.”

Succinctly, Organizational behavior is a field of study dedicated to better understanding and managing
people at work.

 Organizational behavior studies three determinants of behavior in organizations: Individuals, Groups,

 Additionally, organizational behavior applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the
effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively.

 Organizational behavior is concerned in what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects
the performance of the organization.
In general, organizational behavior is an academic discipline that can help managers make good decisions
while working with people in complex dynamic environments.

In today‟s competitive global economy, managing people effectively and ethically is more important than
ever.

After all, OB deals with the study of what people do in an organization, how their behavior can affect
performance of the organization, and highlights the ways for molding these behaviors towards improving
organization‟s performance and effectiveness. Hence, OB helps present and future managers better
understand and manage people at work.

DEVELOPING AN OB MODEL

In this section, we will present a general model that defines the field of OB, stakes out its parameters, and
identifies its primary dependent and independent variables. A model is an abstraction of reality; a simplified
representation of some real-world phenomenon. Figure1.1 presents the skeleton on which we will construct
our OB model. It proposes three levels of analysis in OB.

As we moved from the individual level to the organization systems level, we add systematically to our

understanding of behavior in organizations.

The three basic levels are analogous to building blocks – each level is constructed on the previous level.
Group concepts grow out of the foundation laid in the individual section; we overlay structural constraints
on the individual and group in order to arrive at organizational behavior.

FIGURE1. 1: BASIC OB MODEL

OB researchers draw conclusions about causal relationships of two (dependent and independent)

variables. Dependent variables are the key factors we want to explain or predict; and independent variables
are the presumed causes of some change in the dependent variables.

The primary dependent variables in OB are: productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction.

Productivity is a performance measure including effectiveness (achievement of goals) and efficiency .

Absenteeism is failure to report to work.

Job Satisfaction is a general attitude toward one‟s job; the difference between the amount of rewards
workers receive and the amount they believe they should receive.

The major determinants of productivity, absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction are independent

variables at individual, group, and organizational system level.

Disciplines that Contributed to Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior is a blended discipline that has grown out of contributions from numerous earlier

fields of study. Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science that is built on contributions from
a number of behavioral disciplines. The significant ones are psychology, sociology, social psychology,
anthropology, and political science.

Psychology‟s contribution has been mainly at the individual or micro level of analysis. But the other four

disciplines have contributed to the understanding of macro concepts such as group processes and

organization.
1) Psychology is the science of human behavior. It is the science that seeks to measure, explain and

sometimes change the behavior of human and other animals. Psychologists study and attempt to

understand individual behavior. Learning theorists, personality theorists, counseling psychologists, and

industrial and organizational psychologists have made contributions to organizational behavior field.

Psychology helps in understanding the foundations of motivation, interpersonal perceptions, learning and

training, or role of personality.

2) Sociology is the science of society. Sociology studies people in relation to their fellow human beings.

Sociologists have contributed a lot to organizational behavior through their study of group behavior in

organizations, particularly formal and complex organizations. Sociologists have provided valuable inputs
in the areas of group dynamics, design of work teams, organizational culture, bureaucracy,
communications, power, conflict, and Intergroup behavior.

3) Social Psychology is an area within psychology, but blends concepts from both psychology &
sociology. It focuses on the influence of people on one another. One major area where social psychologists
have investigated considerably is change – how to implement it and how to reduce barriers to its acceptance.
Other areas where social psychologists have made significant contribution are the areas of measuring,
understanding, and changing attitudes; communication patterns; and the group decision making process.

4) Anthropology is the science of the learned behavior of human beings. It is especially important to
understanding organizational culture. It helps in understanding differences in values, attitudes and behavior
of people from different backgrounds. Anthropologists study societies to learn about human beings and
their activities.

Efficiency is the ratio of effective output to the input required to achieve it.

5) Political Science is the study of the behavior of individuals and groups within a political

environment. Specific topics of concern include structuring of conflict, allocation of power, and how people
manipulate power for individual self-interest.

Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact which individuals, groups, and

structure have on behavior within organizations, and then applies that knowledge to make organizations

work more effectively.

Specifically, OB focuses on how to improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and

turnover, and increase employee job satisfaction.

We all hold a number of generalizations about the behavior of people. While some of these generalizations
provide valid insights into human behavior, many are often erroneous.

OB uses systematic study to improve behavioral predictions that would be made from intuition alone. But
because people are different, we need to look at OB in a contingency framework, using situational variables
to moderate cause-effect relationships.