Overview and History of Organizational Behavior – Key Vocabulary

Flashcards covering foundational vocabulary from Chapter 1, including OB concepts, historical studies, managerial theories, and health-care–specific organizational terms.

Organizational Behavior (OB)

An applied behavioral science that studies individual and group dynamics within an organizational setting to explain, predict, and influence behavior.

Applied Behavioral Science

A field that uses principles from psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics to analyze human behavior in practical settings like organizations.

Goals of OB

(1) Explain behavior, (2) Predict behavior based on internal and external factors, and (3) Provide managers with tools to influence behavior toward organizational goals.

Health Care Industry

The largest U.S. industry, employing 20+ million people, characterized by rapid growth, diversity of occupations, and complex organizational forms.

Hawthorne Studies

A series of experiments (1924–1933) at Western Electric’s Hawthorne plant that highlighted the impact of human and social factors on worker productivity.

Hawthorne Effect

The tendency for people to alter their behavior simply because they know they are being observed.

Illumination Experiments

Phase of Hawthorne Studies testing lighting changes; productivity rose in both control and experimental groups, showing the effect of attention, not lighting.

Relay-Assembly Group Experiments

Hawthorne phase where improved work conditions and social interaction raised productivity, which remained high even when original conditions were restored.

Bank-Wiring Observation-Room Study

Hawthorne phase showing informal group norms controlled output, overriding wage incentives and management expectations.

Informal Group

A social grouping formed naturally among employees that establishes its own norms and influences member behavior.

Scientific Management (Taylorism)

Frederick Taylor’s approach that breaks work into optimized tasks to maximize efficiency through time-and-motion studies.

Frederick Taylor

Pioneer of scientific management who emphasized efficiency, incentives, and systematic job design.

Human Relations Movement

Management approach emerging from the 1920s emphasizing the social needs and well-being of workers as key to productivity.

Douglas McGregor

Behavioral scientist who formulated Theory X and Theory Y models of managerial assumptions about employees.

Theory X

A managerial view that employees dislike work, avoid responsibility, and must be closely supervised and controlled.

Theory Y

A managerial view that employees are self-motivated, seek responsibility, and can be creative contributors when given opportunities.

Job Enlargement

Expanding the scope of a job by adding varied tasks to reduce monotony and increase employee engagement.

Integrated Delivery Network (IDN)

A health system that owns or manages a continuum of care services—from prevention to home health—under one organizational umbrella.

Vertical Integration

An organizational strategy that combines different stages of health care delivery (e.g., primary care, acute care, long-term care) within one entity.

Horizontal Integration

Mergers, acquisitions, or consolidations among organizations within the same level of the health care sector, such as hospital-hospital mergers.

Virtual Integration

Coordination of health services through contracts, incentives, and information systems rather than common ownership.

Accountable Care Organization (ACO)

A network of doctors, hospitals, and providers that jointly accept responsibility for the cost and quality of care for a defined patient population.

Value-Based Payments

Reimbursement models that reward providers for quality and efficiency of care rather than volume of services delivered.

Evidence-Based Medicine

Clinical decision-making that integrates the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values.

Organization Theory (OT)

A macro-level field that studies the structure, design, and overall functioning of entire organizations.

Organizational Development (OD)

A planned, organization-wide process using behavioral science knowledge to improve effectiveness and facilitate change.

Human Resources Management (HRM)

The functional area focused on recruiting, developing, compensating, and retaining employees; emphasizes systems and procedures.

Big Data in Health Care

Large, complex data sets (clinical, financial, operational) analyzed to improve decision-making and patient outcomes.

Motivation (OB context)

The internal or external stimulus that initiates, guides, and sustains goal-directed behavior in employees.

Change Management

Structured approaches that help organizations and employees transition from current to desired states while minimizing resistance.