What is Organisational Behaviour?

Hi, and welcome to organisational behavior. Im Dr Jennifer Spoor.

In this video, we will overview some of the key anchors or foundations of knowledge in
organisational behavior.

Anchors of OB knowledge

For our purposes, anchors are the basic beliefs, values or principles within the field for how
knowledge is developed and refined.

There are at least five key anchors of OB knowledge: applied focus, emphasis on systematic
research, multiple levels of analysis, contingency approach, and the multidisciplinary
approach.
Lets go into each of these in a bit more detail.

Anchors: Applied Focus

The applied focus anchor refers to the fact that organisational effectiveness is the ultimate
outcome of interest in OB.

And we note that performance is a function of several factors. While each person,
team/group and organisation is complex and unique, an individuals, or team or groups or
organisations performance depends on their capacity to work, their willingness to work and
their opportunity to work.
More formally, a simple performance equation views performance as the result of the
personal and/or group attributes, the work effort they make and the organisational support
they receive.
All three factors (attributes, work effort and organisational support) must be present and
maximised in order to achieve high performance.

Anchors: Multiple Levels (1)

The basic idea of the multiple levels of analysis anchor is that we can examine performance
at three different units or levels of analysis.

the individual, group or team, and the organisation level. This is also sometimes referred to
as micro, meso and macro organisational behaviour.

Though these levels are often presented separately, in reality each one influences the other.
For example, how you manage your team may affect individual motivation and job
satisfaction, and your management style is probably affected by the larger organisational
culture.
Anchors: Multiple Levels (2)

We can also relate this multiple-levels perspective to understanding organisational

effectiveness. The idea is that individual outcomes are predicted by a combination of
individual-level, group-level and organisation-level predictors. Individual performance then
predicts organisation effectiveness. And well examine all of these levels throughout the
term.
Individual-level predictors include individual behaviour, personality, values, individual
perceptions, decision-making, emotions and job attitudes and motivation.
Group-level predictors include team dynamics, power and social influence, conflict and
leadership.
And organisation-level predictors include organisational structure, culture and change.
Well talk about all of these to some extent over the course of the term but we will focus
more on the individual and group level and spend a little bit of time on the organisational
level predictors.

Anchors: Scientific Inquiry

Another important anchor is the scientific inquiry anchor. OB scholars emphasise scientific
enquiry as a basis for any conclusions. This means that OB knowledge is based on a
rigorous and systematic approach to developing and testing generalisations about human
behaviour in organisations.
As a scientific discipline, OB relies on controlled and systematic data collection, carefully
testing proposed explanations and only accepting explanations that can be verified
scientifically.

Recall that the goal of OB research is to describe, explain, predict and change behaviour to
improve organisational effectiveness.

Anchors: Contingency Orientation

OB scholars also take a contingency approach. The idea here is that there is no single best
way or theory always works. The effects of any behaviour or method depend on the
situation, the environment and the individual person.

A good example is the role of national culture and national norms. Some behaviours that
might be acceptable and expected in one country, such as being highly assertive in
Australia, may be perceived as rude or disrespectful in another country.

But this contingency perspective does not mean that behaviour and outcomes are
unpredictable. On the contrary, OB scholars use scientific inquiry to examine the complex
questions of when, why, where and how does something lead to a particular outcome or
behaviour.

Anchors: Multidisciplinary

Finally, organisational behavior takes a uniquely multidisciplinary perspective and draws on

various disciplines to understand behavior. Though there are uniquely organizational
behaviour theories and concepts, OB draws on psychology, sociology, anthropology,
economics, political science, management theory and even neuroscience, to understand
human behaviour in organisations.
Thus, organisational behaviour covers a very broad range of topics and concepts.

What is Organisational Behaviour?

This is the end of the video. Im Dr Jennifer Spoor, and thanks for listening.