Organisational Behaviour Unit-1 Practice Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on Unit-1 of the Organisational Behaviour lecture notes, covering core definitions, models, and historical foundations.

Organization

A consciously co-ordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or a set of goals.

Behaviour

A response to a stimulus which is observed directly or indirectly, represented by the function $B = f[P \times E]$ where P is person and E is environment.

Organizational Behaviour (Stephen P. Robbins)

A field of study that investigates the impacts that individuals, groups and structure have on behaviour within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.

Organizational Behaviour (Fred Luthans)

The understanding, prediction and management of human behaviour in organizations.

Normative Science

A science that prescribes how various findings can be applied to get organizational results which are acceptable to society.

Inputs (OB Model)

Variables such as diversity, personality, and values (Individual); structure, roles, and responsibilities (Group); and structure and culture (Organizational) that lead to processes.

Processes (OB Model)

Actions such as emotions, motivation, and decision making (Individual); communication and leadership (Group); and HRM and change practices (Organizational) that lead to outcomes.

Outcomes (OB Model)

Variables such as performance and stress (Individual); cohesion and functioning (Group); and productivity and survival (Organizational) that result from inputs and processes.

Organizational structure

The system defining how job tasks are formally divided, grouped, and coordinated, involving elements like work specialization and span of control.

Personality (Etymology)

Derived from the Latin word 'persona', meaning 'to speak through', referring to the masks worn by actors in ancient Greece and Rome.

Individual Variables

Factors causing individual differences including physiological variables (intelligence, age, gender) and socio-psychological variables (personality, perception, learning).

Situational Variables

Factors influencing individual behaviour categorized into organizational variables (structure, culture) and job variables (nature of job, environment).

S-O-B Model

A human behaviour model that gives importance to situations, suggesting they bring pressure to influence one's personality.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

A $100$ question personality test that classifies respondents as Extroverted (E) or Introverted (I), Sensing (S) or Intuitive (N), Thinking (T) or Feeling (F), and Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

Big Five Personality Model

A model identifying five basic dimensions of variation in human personality: Conscientiousness, Emotional stability, Extraversion, Openness to experience, and Agreeableness.

Values

Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state existence.

Value system

A hierarchy based on the ranking of an individual’s values in terms of their intensity.

Perception

The process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions to give meaning to their environment.

Empathy

A person’s understanding and sensitivity to the feelings, thoughts and situation of others, containing both cognitive and emotional components.

Attitudes

Learned predispositions to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner toward a particular object, person, idea, or situation.

Components of Attitude

The three elements of attitude: Cognitive (thinking), Affective (feeling), and Behavioral (intending to act).

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of experience.

Theories of Learning

The four primary frameworks for understanding learning: Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning, Social Learning, and Cognitive learning.

Division of Labour

An organizational concept advocated by Adam Smith ($1776$) and Charles Babbage involving the division of different tasks.

Scientific Management Theory

A classical management theory developed by F. W. Taylor ($1856 \times 1917$).

The Wagner Act (1935)

Legislation that authorized union representatives to bargain collectively, referred to as the Magna Carta of labour.

Human Relations Movement

A movement supported by Elton Mayo, Abraham Maslow, and Douglas McGregor arguing that higher employee satisfaction leads to higher productivity.