Organizational

Behaviour

What Is Organizational
Behaviour?
Questions for Consideration
What is organizational behaviour?
What challenges do managers and
employees face in the workplace of the
21st century?
How will knowledge of organizational
behaviour make a difference for you?

Organizational Behaviour

. . . a field of study that investigates

the impact that individuals, groups and
structure have on behaviour within
organizations, for the purpose of
applying such knowledge toward
improving an organizations
effectiveness.

Why Do We Study OB?

To learn about oneself and how to deal with
others
One is part of an organization now, and will
continue to be a part of various organizations
Organizations are increasingly expecting
individuals to be able to work in teams, at least
some of the time
Some of you may want to be managers or
entrepreneurs

What Is an Organization?
A consciously coordinated social unit,
composed of a group of people, which
functions on a relatively continuous basis
to achieve a common goal or set of goals.

Exhibit 1-1 Challenges Facing the

Workplace
Organizational Level

Productivity
Developing Effective Employees
Global Competition
Managing in the Global Village

Group Level
Working With Others
Workforce Diversity

Individual Level
Job Satisfaction
Empowerment
Behaving Ethically

Workplace

Todays Challenges in the Workplace

Challenges at the Individual Level

Job Satisfaction
Empowerment
Behaving Ethically

Challenges at the Group Level

Working With Others
Workforce Diversity

Todays Challenges in the

Workplace
Challenges at the Organizational Level
Productivity
Developing Effective Employees
Absenteeism
Turnover
Organizational Citizenship

Competition From the Global Environment

Managing and Working in a Global Village

Productivity
Productivity
A performance measure including
effectiveness and efficiency

Effectiveness
Achievement of goals

Efficiency
The ratio of effective work output to the
input required to produce the work

Effective Employees
Absenteeism
Failure to report to work

Turnover
Voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal
from the organization

Organizational citizenship behaviour

Discretionary behaviour that is not part of an
employees formal job requirements, but is helpful to
the organization

Contributing Disciplines to
the OB Field

Psychology
Sociology
Social Psychology
Anthropology
Political Science

Exhibit 1-2:Toward an OB Discipline

Behavioural
science

Psychology

Sociology

Contribution
Learning
Motivation
Perception
Training
Leadership effectiveness
Job satisfaction
Individual decision making
Performance appraisal
Attitude measurement
Employee selection
Work design
Work stress

Individual

Group

Behavioural change
Attitude change
Communication
Group processes
Group decision making
Comparative values
Comparative attitudes
Cross-cultural analysis

Anthropology
Organizational culture
Organizational environment

Political science

Output

Group dynamics
Work teams
Communication
Power
Conflict
Intergroup behaviour
Formal organization theory
Organizational technology
Organizational change
Organizational culture

Social psychology

Unit of
analysis

Conflict
Intraorganizational politics
Power

Organization
system

Study of
Organizational
Behaviour

The Rigour of OB
OB looks at consistencies
What is common about behaviour, and helps
predictability?

OB is more than common sense

Systematic study, based on scientific evidence

OB has few absolutes

OB takes a contingency approach
Considers behaviour in context

Beyond Common Sense

Systematic Study
Looking at relationships, attempting to
attribute causes and effects and drawing
conclusions based on scientific evidence

Behaviour is generally predictable

There are differences between
individuals
There are fundamental consistencies
There are rules (written & unwritten) in
almost every setting

OB-historical development

In the early days people worked alone or in such small groups that their
work relationships were easily handled.
Industrial revolution
Robert Owen 1800 real father of personnel administration.
Andew Ure (1835) the philosophy of manufacturers.
Frederick W Taylor, 1911.
Lillian Gilbreth, 1914 The psychology of management
Formation of national personnel association 1923 became American
Management Association
Whiting Williams, 1920 whats on the workers mind.
1920s and 1930s Elton Mayo & F J Roethlisberger academic stature to
human behaviour at work.
1940s & 50s:
Research center for group dynamics, University of Michigan (leadership &
motivation)
Personnel research board, Ohio state university (leadership & motivation)
Tavistock Institute of human relations in London
National training laboratories in bethel, Maine (group dynamics)

Douglas MeGregor, 1957

A H Maslow; William Ouchi
Leadership; motivation models etc

A Model of Organizational
Behavior

SOBC model:
S Stimulus is an environmental variable that depicts the
environmental situation, both contextual and organizational.
O Organism is a cognitive variable that understands organizational
participants which link the environmental situation and the resulting
organizational behavior.
B Represents the organizational behavior.
C Consequence is an environmental variable that depicts
organizational and group dynamics and the consequences of previous
interactions between environmental, personal and behavioral variables.

OB models
The OB models which are also known as paradigms
constitute the belief system that dominates
managements thought and affects managements
actions in each organisation. The four model are OB
in the historical order in the last 100 years are:

Autocratic
Custodial
Supportive
Collegial

Within the organisation different departments may

practice different paradigms. The effectiveness of the
model depends on the environment.

OB models
The Autocratic Model
The autocratic model is based on power. Under this model, the person
who holds power has the authority to demand work from workers. This
model was widely popular during the Industrial Revolution. It is based
on the assumption that work can only be extracted by means of pushing,
directing, and persuading the employees. The model empowers
managers with authority which might be used for unfair practices such
as suspending the employees for not obeying the orders, giving low
pay, etc. Such a work environment motivates very few employees to
exhibit higher productivity. However, the autocratic model works well
under certain conditions, particularly in times of an organizational
crisis.

The Custodial Model

In the custodial model, the emphasis is laid on providing job security to
the employees. It has been observed that employees generally prefer
jobs that promise job security. Therefore, employers offer fringe
benefits to strengthen the employees confidence in job security. While
this helps in retaining the employees, knowing that they are going to get
incentives irrespective of their job performance might cause the
employees to be more laid back in their approach toward work.

OB models contd
The Supportive Model
The supportive model emphasizes leadership rather than power or money.
Under this approach, leaders promote an environment for the employees to
grow while they help in achieving the organizations objectives. Also the
support extended by the management motivates the employees to work. The
employees are self-motivated to enhance their performance and are not
compelled to do so. The model might not be effective for employees whose
lower level needs are not satisfied. Nevertheless, the supportive model
enhances the relationships between the employee and the employer.

The Collegial Model

In the collegial model, employees are self-disciplined, self-satisfied, and
have specific goals which motivate them to improve their performance. In
this approach, the superior acts more like a leader who leads the way and
motivates employees that to perform at their best. The term collegial
refers to a group of persons working for a common purpose. This approach
is an extension of the supportive model.

Conclusions

Evolving usage
Relation of models to human needs
Increasing use of some models
Contingent use of all models
Managerial flexibility.

Basic OB Model, Stage I

Organization systems level

Group level

Individual level

Exhibit 1-3

Exhibit 1-4: Basic OB Model, Stage

II
Human resource
policies and
practices

Organization
structure
and design

Organizational
culture

Work design
and
technology

Organization
Systems Level
Change and
stress

Group
decision making

Communication

Leadership

Group
structure

Work
teams

Productivity
Absence

Other
groups

Conflict

Power and
politics

Turnover

Group Level

Human
output

Satisfaction
Organizational
commitment

Biographical
characteristics

Personality

Values and
attitudes
Human
input

Ability

Workplace
interaction
Perception

Motivation

Individual
Differences

Individual
decision making

Individual Level

Summary and Implications

OB is a field of study that investigates the impact
that individuals, groups, and structure have on
behaviour within an organization.
OB focuses on improving productivity, reducing
absenteeism and turnover, and increasing
employee job satisfaction and organizational
commitment.
OB uses systematic study to improve predictions
of behaviour.

Exhibit 1-5
Competing Values
Framework

External Focus

Internal Focus

Flexibility

Control

Competing Values
Framework

Internal-External Dimension
Inwardly toward employee needs and concerns and/or production
processes and internal systems
or
Outwardly, toward such factors as the marketplace, government
regulations, and the changing social, environmental, and technological
conditions of the future

Flexibility-Control Dimension
Flexible and dynamic, allowing more teamwork and participation;
seeking new opportunities for products and services
or
Controlling or stable, maintaining the status quo and exhibiting less
change

Thank you