Module:1

Introduction
Organizational Behaviour
Learning Objectives

• Definition of OB
• Objectives of OB
• Nature of OB
• Goals / Objective of OB
• Contributing disciplines
• Challenges and opportunities.
 Organizational Behaviour
What is an Organization?
– Action of organizing something.

– An organized group of people with a particular

purpose

– A consciously coordinated 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
 Organisational Behaviour

What is Behavior?

– The way in which one acts or conducts

oneself, especially towards others.

– Its an individual perception and based on

intuition. Its as per the imagination of an
individual

4
Levels of Analysis

Organizational Level

Group Level

Individual
Level
 Organization Behavior

OB tries to understand human behavior in organizations.

• OB is the study of human behavior

• The study is about behavior in organizations; and

• Knowledge about human behavior would be

useful in improving an organization’s
effectiveness.
Effectiveness vs. Efficiency
 Organizational Behaviour

What is Organizational Behavior?

the impact that

“A field of study that investigates
individuals, groups, and structure have on
behavior with in Organizations for the purpose of
applying such knowledge toward improving an
organization's effectiveness.”

Stephen. P. Robbins
 Organizational Behaviour

What is Organizational Behavior?

“Organizational behavior is directly concerned with

the understanding, prediction, and control of
human behavior in organizations.”

Fred Luthans
 Few Absolutes in OB

• Impossible to make simple and accurate

generalizations
• Human beings are complex and diverse
• OB concepts must reflect situational conditions:
contingency variables

Condition Behavior
Input “A”
“C” “B”

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Components of OB

Understanding
organizational behavior
requires studying

Individuals in Organizations

Group and Team Processes

Organizational Processes
 Nature of OB

1. A Separate Field of Study and not a Discipline Only

2. An Interdisciplinary Approach

3. An Applied Science

4. A Normative Science

5. A Humanistic and Optimistic Approach

6. A Total System Approach

 GOALS/OBJECTIVES of OB:

Describe

Control Goals of OB Understand

Predict
 GOALS / OBJECTIVES of OB
• Describe: The first objective of OB is to describe systematically, how
people behave under a variety of conditions. If Managers can achieve this
goal, they can succeed in communicating about human behavior at work
using common language.
• Understand: The second objective of OB is to understand why people
behave as they do. The managers have to learn to probe the underlying
explanations.
• Predict: The third objective of OB is to predict the future employee
behavior. This is a very important job of the manager to predict how a
particular employee will behave in a particular situation.
• Control: The final objective of OB is to control; at least to some extent the
human activity at work.
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO OB

Organizational behavior is an interdisciplinary

subject. Organizational behavior is an applied
behavioral science that is built on contributions from
a number of behavioral disciplines like psychology,
sociology, social psychology, anthropology and
political science.
 Contributing Disciplines
to the OB Field

Micro: Psychology
The
Individual
Social Psychology

Sociology

Macro: Anthropology
Groups &
Organizations
Political science

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CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO
OB

1. Psychology: The science that seeks to measure, explain, and

sometimes change the behavior of humans and other animals.
Its contributions are mainly at Micro level/Individual level.

Contributions to OB include:
 Learning, motivation, personality, emotions,
perception
 Training, leadership effectiveness, job satisfaction
 Individual decision making, performance appraisal,
attitude measurement
 Employee selection, work design, and work stress

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Contributing disciplines to the OB field
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO OB
3. Sociology: The study of people in relation to their fellow human
beings . The contributions are mainly at macro level or group level.

– Contributions to OB:
 Group dynamics  Formal organization
 Work teams theory
 Communication  Organizational
 Power technology
 Organizational change
 Conflict
 Organizational culture
 Intergroup behavior

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Contributing disciplines to the OB field
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO
OB
2. Social Psychology: An area within psychology that blends
concepts from psychology and sociology and that focuses
on the influence of people on one another. The
contributions are mainly at macro level or group level.

Contributions to OB include:
 Behavioral change
 Attitude change
 Communication
 Group processes
 Group decision making

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Contributing disciplines to the OB field
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO
OB
4. Anthropology: The study of societies to learn about-human
beings and their activities. The contributions are mainly at macro
level or group level.

Contributions to OB:
 Organizational culture
 Organizational
environment
 Comparative values
 Comparative attitudes
 Cross-cultural
analysis

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Contributing disciplines to the OB field
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO
OB
5. Political Science: The study of the behavior of
individuals and groups within a political environment.

Contributions to OB:
 Conflict
 Power
 Intraorganizational Politics
Contributing disciplines to the OB field
 Challenges and Opportunities for OB

1. Managerial perspective:
a) Workforce Diversity: It is dealing with people who are different.
Organizations are becoming increasingly cosmopolitan. They are
becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race and ethnicity.
b) Dual Career Couples: This is a situation where both partners are
actively pursuing professional careers. This limits the individual
flexibility in accepting such assignments where relocation is
required.
c) Growing number of youngsters: Generation-X employees are on an
average about 25 years of age. The young employees are fresh,
ambitious, enthusiastic and innovative. They bring in new ways of
thinking.
d) Gender Factor : Nowadays, women are becoming more
experimentative and moving into jobs like civil services, engineering,
information technology etc. More and more men are entering into
professions previously dominated by women e.g. catering, nursing,
cooking, fashion and textile designing .
 Challenges and Opportunities for OB

2. Work Place Issues and Challenges:

a) Employee Privacy: Employers, nowadays, have started to
encroach too much into the private lives of the employees. Managers
need to be very sensitive to this issue since this trend creates
resentment among employees. Ex: Taping the phone lines, Random
check of phone calls as well as a check on internet surfing, and
checking the background of prospective employees.
b) Employee Rights: The individual rights while at work Issues
have also surfaced regarding uniform dress codes, right to marry
within the organization etc. These issues tend to be controversial as
more and more organizations limit or ban certain activities.
c) Unionism: In the recent years, the general trend regarding union
membership has been steadily declining. Organization need to take
care extra precautions to ensure that workers are treated fairly,
otherwise, union membership will start increasing once again.

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 Challenges and Opportunities for OB
3. Organizational Challenges:
a) Improving Quality & Productivity: Due to the advent of
globalization, privatization and liberalization, organizations are
exposed to more competition. Managers have to think seriously
about improving the quality and productivity. To achieve this target,
managers are implementing programs like Total Quality
Management and Reengineering programs
b) Coping with Temporariness: Managers today face a stage of
permanency. On the other hand, the young generation feels that the
concept of continuous improvement means constant change. They
have to continuously update their knowledge and skills to perform
new job requirements. Today’s managers and employees must learn
to live with temporariness. They have to learn to cope with
spontaneity, flexibility and unpredictability.
c) Managing Technology and Innovations: Success will
come only to those organizations that maintain their flexibility
continually improve their quality and out beat their competitors with
innovative. products and services. 1-32
 Challenges and Opportunities for OB
4. Environmental Challenges:
a) Ecology: Ecology is concerned with the relationship of living
things with their environment. Every organization must face the
challenge to maintain and even create ecological standards.
b) Air, water, oil pollution: Every Organization should
mend the harm caused or prevent direct harm to the environment
resulting from the development measures.
c) Personnel Policies: Personal policies of the organization
should not be discriminatory towards any particular caste, religion,
or nationality.
d) National Economic Policies: Due to the rising inflationary
trends in the economy, there is always governmental pressure on the
organizations to reduce prices and increase the wages. To balance
between these two is a very challenging task.

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Role of OB

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 Role of OB

• Understanding the Employees Better

• Finding the right People

• Higher Productivity

• Job Satisfaction

• Develop a good team

• Conflict resolution

• Leadership and Understanding how to develop good leaders

• Organization Culture
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Model of OB
Stage I & II
Developing an OB Model

Independent Variables
• Individual Level Variables
• Group Level Variables
• Organization System Level Variables

Dependent Variables
• Productivity
• Absenteeism
• Turnover
• Job Satisfaction
• Deviant Workplace Behavior (DWB)
• Organizationall Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
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Model of OB

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1-40
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Management Functions, Roles and
Skills

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Functions of Manager

• Planning

• Organizing

• Leading

• Controlling

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 Management Roles / Managerial Roles
( Mintzberg’s Managerial Roles)

Interpersonal Informational Decisional

Figurehead Monitor Entrepreneur

Disturbance
Leader Disseminator
Handler

Resource
Liaison Spokesperson
Allocator

Negotiation
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 Interpersonal Category

The managerial roles in this category involve providing information and ideas.

Figurehead – As a manager, you have social, ceremonial and legal responsibilities.

You're expected to be a source of inspiration. People look up to you as a person with
authority, and as a figurehead.

Leader – This is where you provide leadership for your team, your department or
perhaps your entire organization; and it's where you manage the performance and
responsibilities of everyone in the group.

Liaison – Managers must communicate with internal and external contacts. You need to
be able to network effectively on behalf of your organization.
 Informational Category

The managerial roles in this category involve processing information.

Monitor – In this role, you regularly seek out information related to your
organization and industry, looking for relevant changes in the environment. You
also monitor your team, in terms of both their productivity, and their well-being.

Disseminator – This is where you communicate potentially useful information to

your colleagues and your team.

Spokesperson – Managers represent and speak for their organization. In this role
you're responsible for transmitting information about your organization and its
goals to the people outside it.
 Decisional Category

The managerial roles in this category involve using information.

Entrepreneur – As a manager, you create and control change within the

organization. This means solving problems, generating new ideas, and
implementing them.

Disturbance Handler – When an organization or team hits an unexpected

roadblock, it's the manager who must take charge. You also need to help mediate
disputes within it.

Resource Allocator – You'll also need to determine where organizational resources

are best applied. This involves allocating funding, as well as assigning staff and
other organizational resources.

Negotiator – You may be needed to take part in, and direct, important
negotiations within your team, department, or organization.
Management Skills

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Leadership

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Concept

• The activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the

ability to do this.

• Leadership is the ability of an individual or a group of individuals

to influence and guide followers or other members of an
organization.

• “Leadership occurs when one person induces others to work

toward some predetermined objectives.”

• Leadership is the ability of a company's management to make

sound decisions and inspire others to perform well.

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What Is Leadership?

Leadership
The ability to influence a
group toward the
achievement of goals

Management
Use of authority inherent in
designated formal rank to
obtain compliance from
organizational members
 What is Leadership?

• The ability to influence, motivate, and

enable others to contribute to the
effectiveness and success of the organizations
of which they are members.
» Robert House (2004)

• The ability to influence a group toward the

achievement of a vision or set of goals.
» Robbins & Judge (2008)

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 Leadership Theories

• Great Man Theory

• Trait Theory

• Behavioral Theory

• Contingency Theories
1. Fielder Model
2. Hersey and Blanchards situational Theory
3. Path Goal Theory

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 “Great Man” theory
• The term "Great Man" was used because, at the time, leadership was thought
of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military leadership.

• The great man theory of leadership became popular during the 19th-century.

• The mythology behind some of the world's most famous leaders such as
Abraham Lincoln, Julius Caesar, Mahatma Gandhi, and Alexander the
Great helped contribute to the notion that great leaders are born and not
made.

• Great man theories assume that the capacity for leadership is inherent – that
great leaders are born, not made.

• These theories often portray great leaders as heroic, mythic and destined to
rise to leadership when needed.
Trait Theories of Leadership

• Traits can be developed/improved

• Theories that consider personality, social, physical,

or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from non-
leaders

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Trait Theories

Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN)

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism / Emotional Intelligence
Openness - People who like to learn new things and enjoy new experiences usually
score high in openness. Openness includes traits like being insightful and imaginative
and having a wide variety of interests.

Conscientiousness - People that have a high degree of conscientiousness are reliable

and prompt. Traits include being organized, methodic, and thorough.

Extraversion - Extraverts get their energy from interacting with others, while
introverts get their energy from within themselves. Extraversion includes the traits of
energetic, talkative, and assertive.

Agreeableness - These individuals are friendly, cooperative, and compassionate.

People with low agreeableness may be more distant. Traits include being kind,
affectionate, and sympathetic.

Neuroticism - Neuroticism is also sometimes called Emotional Stability. This

dimension relates to one’s emotional stability and degree of negative emotions. People
that score high on neuroticism often experience emotional instability and negative
emotions. Traits include being moody and tense.
Trait Theories - Limitations

• No universal traits found that predict leadership

in all situations

• Unclear evidence of the cause and effect of

relationship of leadership and traits

• Better predictor of the appearance of

leadership than distinguishing effective and
ineffective leaders
 Behavioral Theories
Behavioral Theories of Leadership
Theories proposing that specific behaviors differentiate
leaders from nonleaders

Behavioral Theory
Leadership behaviors can be taught.
Behavioral Approach

• Assumption: Leaders can be trained

• Goal: Develop leaders

• Problem: Effective behaviors do not generalize

across situations.
 Behavioral Approach

Ohio State University

Studies of Michigan

Initiating Production
Structure Orientation

Employee
Consideration
Orientation
Ohio State Studies

Initiating Structure
The extent to which a leader is likely
to define and structure his or her
role and those of subordinates in the
search for goal attainment

Consideration
The extent to which a leader is likely to have job
relationships characterized by mutual trust, respect for
subordinate’s ideas, and regard for his/her feelings
 University of Michigan Studies

Employee-oriented Leader
Emphasizing interpersonal relations; taking a personal
interest in the needs of employees and accepting
individual differences among members

Production-oriented Leader
One who emphasizes technical or task aspects of the
job
The Managerial Grid
(Blake and Mouton)
Limitations of Behavioral Theories

• Did not identify consistent relationships

between leadership behavior and group
performance

• Missing consideration of the situational

factors that influence success and failure
 Contingency Theories

• All Consider the Situation

– Fred Fiedler Contingency Model
– Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Model
– Path Goal Theory by Robert House

• Assumptions underlying the different models:

– Fiedler: Leader’s style is fixed.
– Other’s: Leader’s style can and should be changed.
 Fred Fiedler Contingency Model

• According to Fred Fielder, the

effectiveness of the leadership style
depends on the situation.

• Fiedler’s contingency model is

comprised of three elements:
– Leadership styles
– Situational variables
– Relationship between styles and
situation
 1) Leadership Style
According to Fiedler, the leadership style depends on two dimensions:

• Task-oriented : The task-oriented leader is primarily concerned with the

task performance and the accomplishment of task goals. He gets satisfied
with the accomplishment of task performance.

• Human-relations oriented : While, the manager concerned with

human relations lay more emphasis on developing the interpersonal
relationship with his subordinates.

.
Least Preferred Co-worker Scale (LPC)

• In order to understand the attitude of a leader, Fiedler developed

a “Least Preferred Co-worker Scale (LPC)”,

• The leaders are asked to rate a person on a scale ranging from lowest (1)
to highest (8) on several parameters to identify the worker with whom
they least like to work.

• Certain parameters on the LPC scale are: pleasant/unpleasant,

friendly/unfriendly, tense/relaxed, supportive/hostile,
cooperative/uncooperative, quarrelsome/harmonious, etc.

• The leaders with high LPC scores are said to be relationship-oriented

whereas the ones with the low LPC scores are considered as task-
oriented.
Example - LPC Questionnaire
 2) Situational Variables

It has been observed that, several situational factors influence the

effectiveness of the leadership styles, but however, Fiedler has talked
about 3 critical dimensions:

1. Leader-member relations (good or poor)

2. Task structure (high or low)
3. Position power (strong or weak)
•Leader-member Relations: This dimension talks about the degree to which
the members have trust, confidence and faith in their manager.

•Leader’s Position Power: This element is concerned with the power or

authority a leader derives from the position held by him in the organization. It
has been observed, that a manager with absolute power influences the behavior
of others more than the ones without power.

•Task Structure: The task structure means the extent to which the task
requirements are clearly defined in terms of the task goals, processes and
relationship with other tasks. It has been observed, that with the clear definition
of task structure the actions of the subordinates can be well directed and their
performances can be well controlled, which may not be possible in case of unclear
task structure.
Findings from the Fiedler Model

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Conclusion:

So when faced with a category I, II, III, Vii or VIII situation, Task
oriented leaders perform better.

Relationship-oriented leaders, however, perform bittern in

moderately favorable situations- categories Iv through VI
3 ) Relation Between Styles and Situations

• This is the last element of Fiedler’s contingency model, wherein

he talks about the relationship between the situation and the
appropriateness of leadership style.

• According to him, the leadership effectiveness depends on the

situation, as one style favoring one situation may not
necessarily be appropriate in any other situation.

• Thus, it is the situation that gives an opportunity to the leader

to influence his subordinates through the right kind of
leadership style.

• Thus, Fiedler’s contingency model states that the situation

decides the style of leadership and influences the behavior of
a manager.
Fiedler Model
– Leader: Style Is Fixed (Task-oriented vs. Relationship-oriented)

– According to Fielder there are two ways to improve Leader

Effectiveness:

• Change the leader to fit the situation

• Change the situation to fit the leader
 Contingency Approach
Hersey and Blanchard Situational Model

• The theory, developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard, is based

on the ’readiness’ level of the people the leader is attempting to
influence.

• A contingency theory that focuses on followers’ readiness; the more

“ready” the followers (the more willing and able) the less the need for
leader support and supervision.

• Readiness is the extent to which followers have the ability and

willingness to accomplish a specific task.
– Ability is the knowledge, experience, and skill that an individual possesses to do
the job and is called job readiness.

– Willingness is the motivation and commitment required to accomplish a given

task. The style of leadership depends on the level of readiness of the followers.
 Contingency Approach
Hersey and Blanchard Situational Model

 Assumptions
– Leaders can and should change their style to fit their followers’ degree of
readiness (willingness and ability)
– Therefore, it is possible to train leaders to better fit their style to their followers.

• Considers Leader Behaviors

– Task and Relationship

• Considers Followers as the Situation

– Follower maturity (ability & Confidence)
The readiness(R) is divided into a continuum of four levels which are:

• R1 - low follower readiness - refers to low ability and low willingness of

followers i.e. those who are unable and insecure

• R2 - low to moderate follower readiness - refers to low ability and high

willingness of followers i.e. those who are unable but confident

• R3 - moderate to high follower readiness - refers to high ability and

low willingness of followers i.e. those who are able but insecure

• R4 - high follower readiness - refers to high ability and high willingness

of followers i.e. those who are both able and confident
For each of the four levels of readiness, the leadership style used may be a
combination of task and relationship behavior.

• Task behavior: Extent to which the leader spells out the duties and
responsibilities of a follower which includes providing them direction, setting
goals, and defining roles for them. Usually a one-way communication exists
which is meant to provide the direction to the followers.

• Relationship behavior: Extent to which the leader listens to the

followers, and provides encouragement to them. Here, a two-way
communication exists between the leader and the follower.
•According to the model, this gives rise to four
leadership styles –

•Delegating Style
•Participating Style
•Selling Style
•Telling Style
By combining the task and the relationship behavior, we arrive at the following four
different styles of leadership which correspond with the different levels of
readiness

• S1 - Telling: This style is most appropriate for low follower readiness (R1). It
emphasizes high task behavior and limited relationship behavior.

• S2 - Selling: This style is most appropriate for low to moderate follower readiness
(R2). It emphasizes high amounts of both task and relationship behavior.

• S3 - Participating: This style is most appropriate for moderate to high follower

readiness (R3). It emphasizes high amount of relationship behavior but low
amount of task behavior.

• S4 - Delegating: This style is most appropriate for high follower readiness (R4). It
emphasizes low levels of both task and relationship behavior.
 Path-Goal Theory

•Leader must help followers attain goals and

reduce roadblocks to success

•Leaders must change behaviors to fit the

situation (environmental contingencies and
subordinate contingencies)
4 Types of Leadership
Inspirational Approaches to Leadership

Charismatic leaders:
1. Have a vision.
2. Are willing to take personal risks to achieve the vision.
3. Are sensitive to follower needs.
4. Exhibit behaviors that are out of the ordinary.

Charismatic Leadership Theory

The charismatic leadership style relies on the charm and
persuasiveness of the leader. Charismatic leaders are driven by their
convictions and commitment to their cause.
Charismatic leaders also are sometimes
called transformational leaders because they share multiple
similarities.
 Transactional and Transformational Leadership

Transactional Leaders
Leaders who guide or motivate their followers in the direction of established
goals by clarifying role and task requirements

Transformational Leaders
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership where a leader works with
teams to identify needed change, creating a vision to guide the change through
inspiration, and executing the change with committed members of a group.
Leaders who provide the 4 I’s
Individualized consideration
Inspirational motivation
Idealized influence
Intellectual stimulation
Case Study on Leadership
 The Caring Director

• Sameer Khanna, President of Easy to Palate Corp. is a successful

businessman. He knows how to retain his employees and also
generate profit. He has his own set of principles to run the business.
To avoid confrontation with him, employees know that they have to
work hard. He only tells once and second time he fires in case of any
mistake. While hiring, he takes care to know about the personal lives
and financial health of his employees. He wants a partnership for life
with his employees. He is concerned about the families of his
employees and wants them to lead a peaceful life. His philosophy is
that if you are worried because of family problems, you can’t be
focused in your work. He also likes to keep the work environmental
friendly by playing healthy, practical pranks with his people. He
shows the way to others to perform, however menial the job may be.
 Issues and Discussion questions

1.How would you describe Sameer Khanna’s leadership style?

1.Why is he successful? Would you work for him?