Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behaviour (OB)
- Study of human behaviour in organizational settings, the interface between human behaviour and the organization, and the organization itself (Griffin).
- Investigates impact of individuals, groups, and structure on behaviour within organizations to improve effectiveness (Stephen P. Robbins, 2003).
- Draws on theory, methods, and principles from multiple disciplines to understand:
- Individuals’ perceptions, values, learning capacities, actions.
- Group dynamics and external‐environment effects on missions, objectives, strategies (Gibson et al., 2003).
Three OB Facets / Levels
- Individual behaviour.
- Group behaviour.
- Organizational (corporate) behaviour.
Goals of OB Knowledge
- $\text{Describe} \;\rightarrow\; \text{Understand} \;\rightarrow\; \text{Predict} \;\rightarrow\; \text{Manage}$ behaviour at all three levels.

OB examines three primary determinants:
1. Individuals.
2. Groups.
3. Structure.
Common component topics (debated in relative importance):
- Motivation, leadership & power, interpersonal communication, group structure & processes, learning, attitude development, perception, change management, conflict, work design, work stress.
Contingency Perspective
- Humans are complex; universal rules are limited.
- Contingency variables moderate relationships between independent and dependent variables; i.e., “it depends” logic.

Intuition
- Instant understanding without conscious reasoning; manifests as gut feelings.
- Examples:
- Sense of unease on a dark street.
- Manager feels a data‐supported decision is risky and pauses action.
Systematic Study
- Relies on data gathered under controlled conditions, rigorously measured and interpreted.
- Replaces casual “commonsense” predictions; enhances accuracy by uncovering facts & relationships.
- Assumes behaviour is predictable when an individual’s perception of the situation and priorities are known.

Organizations powerfully influence our lives; understanding them benefits everyone.
We interact with organizations as managers, employees, customers, investors, etc.
OB knowledge is vital to managerial work, enabling efficient and effective management.
Key to all management (Wood, 1997) because it centers on how people behave.
Contributes to organizational effectiveness and societal well-being.
All managers, regardless of functional specialty, must become human‐behaviour generalists.

Human Relations Approach (Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne Studies, 1927–32): productivity/efficiency improve via understanding people.
Late 1950s–early 1960s: OB matured, shifting from simplistic human‐relations assumptions to a scientific discipline with robust methodologies.
Continuous progress since; managers now value human resources in competitive contexts.

Psychology: learning, motivation, personality, emotions, perception, training, job satisfaction.
Social Psychology: leadership, behavioural change, attitude change, communication, group processes.
Sociology: formal organization theory, technology, change, culture, power, conflict, inter-group behaviour.
Anthropology: comparative values/attitudes, cross-cultural analysis, environment.

Individual Level Inputs & Processes
- Biographical characteristics, personality & emotions, perception, values & attitudes, motivation, ability, learning.
Group Level
- Group structure, roles, leadership & trust, power & politics, communication, decision making, conflict, work teams.
Organizational/System Level
- Human-resource policies, organizational culture, structure & design.
Outcomes / Dependent Variables ( $Y$ )
- Productivity, absence, turnover, deviant behaviour, citizenship, satisfaction.
Independent Variables ( $X$ )
- All individual, group, and system factors listed above.

Cognitive Framework – mental processes, information interpretation.
Behavioristic Framework – observable behaviour, stimulus–response links.
Social‐Cognitive Framework – interaction of cognitive factors, behaviour, and environment.

No “OB Manager” position; OB is a toolkit for every manager.
OB cuts horizontally across functions (production, marketing, finance, HR, IT).
Helps fulfill basic managerial roles (Mintzberg):
- Interpersonal: Figurehead, Leader, Liaison.
- Informational: Monitor, Disseminator, Spokesperson.
- Decisional: Entrepreneur, Disturbance Handler, Resource Allocator, Negotiator.
Supports basic management functions: Planning, Organizing, Leading, Controlling – all people‐centred.

Traditional Human Relations models oversimplify.
New paradigm: recognizes extreme human complexity; demands theory + empirical research.

Unwritten set of mutual expectations between individual and organization.
- Individual contributions: effort, ability, loyalty, knowledge, skills, competencies, time.
- Organizational inducements: pay, job security, rewards, benefits, career opportunities, promotion, status.
Breaches can lower commitment, satisfaction, performance.

Every person is unique; differences fall into:
- Psychological: personality, attitudes, perception, learning styles, creativity, values.
- Physiological: age, gender, race, physical abilities.
- Other/Cultural: family background, national & organizational culture.

Visible (above water): behaviour, actions.
Invisible (below water): personality, attitudes, values, perceptions driving visible behaviour.