Introduction to

Organizational Behavior
UNIT - I
 Introduction

ORGANISATION: An organization is a group of

people working together in a formally
organized way to achieve a common objective.
The main objective is profit maximization
BEHAVIOUR: It is how a person behaves. It is
an observable and measurable activity of
human being.
 Definition
“Organizational behavior is a field of study that
investigates the impact that individuals, groups,
and structure have on behavior within an
organization, then applies that knowledge to
make organizations work more effectively.”
- Stephen P Robbins
“Organizational Behavior is the study and
application of knowledge about how people act
within the organization
- Keith Davis
 KEY ELEMENTS OF
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Elements of
OB

People Structure Technology Environment

 NATURE OF OB
• It is just a field of study and not a discipline
• It is interdisciplinary in nature
• It is applied science
• It is developmental in nature
• It is both science and art
• It has humanistic approach
• It has optimistic approach
• It has total systems approach
• It has rational approach
 Behavioural Sciences
(The science of behaviour)
▪ Sciences concerned with the study, observation and
explanation of human behaviour either in single
individual or in groups.
▪ Behavioural science also concerned with the study of
individual differences in relationship.
▪ Behavioural science encompass all the disciplines that
explore the activities of and interactions among
organisms in the natural world.
▪ It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of
human behaviour.
“Behavior Science is a systematic study of the actions
and attitudes that people exhibit within
organizations.”
Stephen P Robbins
Spectrum of Behavioural Sciences

Psychology

Behavioural
Anthropology Sociology
Science

Social
Psychology
Spectrum of Behavioural Sciences
Psychology (Individual Behaviour)
• It is the science that tries to measure, explain and
change the behavior of humans and other
animals.

• Early industrial or organizational psychologists

were concerned with problems of tiredness,
boredom and other factors that affect
performance.

• But now, they are concerned with emotions,

perception, personality, needs, leadership job
Spectrum of Behavioural Sciences
Sociology (Group Behaviour)
• It is the study of the social system in which the
individual lives.

• It studies people with respect to their colleagues.

• Sociologists make an important contribution to

OB through their study of group behavior in
organizations.
Spectrum of Behavioural Sciences
Social Psychology (Group Attitude)
• It mixes the concepts of psychology and
sociology.
• It focuses on influence of people on one another
(Change, Trust , etc.)
• Social psychology is the study of your mind and
behavior with other people.
Spectrum of Behavioural Sciences
Anthropology
• Anthropology is the study of various aspects of
humans within past and present societies.
• Social anthropology and cultural anthropology
study the norms and values of societies.
• Linguistic anthropology studies how language
affects social life.
• They help in understanding differences in
fundamental values, attitudes and behavior of
people in different countries and different
organizations
 Learning,
Motivation,
Psychology Personality,
Individual
Emotions, etc.

Behavioral Change,
Social Attitude Change,
Psychology Group Process,
Communication, etc.

Power,
Conflict Group Study of OB
Inter group behavior, etc.
Sociology
Formal Organization theory,
Organizational Change,
Organizational Culture, etc.

Comparative values,
Comparative attitudes

Anthropology

Organizational Culture,
Organization system
Organizational environment
 Models of Behavioral Science
▪ We assume that behavior is caused and this assumption
is true.
▪ Behavior takes place in the form of a process.
▪ Four models of behavior process have been developed.
S-R
Model

S-O-B-C S-O-R
MODELS
Model Model

S-O-B-A
Model
Models of Behavioral Science
S-R Model
▪ S-R model of human behavior suggests that the
behaviour is caused by certain reasons.
▪ The reasons may be internal feeling (motivation) and
external environment (stimulus).
▪ A stimulus is an agent, such as, heat, light, piece of
information, etc., that directly influences the activity
of an organism (person).

Passive
Models of Behavioral Science
S-O-R
▪ S-O-R model of human behaviour is achieved by
inserting O (organism) in the classical S-R model.
▪ The S-O-R model is based upon the stimulus
processed by the organism and followed by a
behaviour.
▪ This O is not passive and immobile as assumed in S-R
model. Rather the O is viewed as mediating,
maintenance and adjustive function between S and R

Active
Models of Behavioral Science
S-O-B-A
▪ S-O-B-A model is a comprehensive model of human
behaviour which combines the S-R situation and human
being. But O in this model is not passive or immobile,
but it is mediating, maintenance and adjustive function
between S and R.
▪ The A stands for accomplishments and consequences.
When behaviour, in turn, acts on the outside world, it
leads to accomplishment.
Models of Behavioral Science
S-O-B-C
▪ S-O-B-C model incorporates a more complex
mechanism of human behaviour which modifies and
extends S-O-R model.
▪ In this model, S stands for the situation which is more
comprehensive than stimuli of S-O-R model and
incorporates all aspects of the environment -
immediate stimulus, physical environment and socio-
cultural environment.
▪ O is the organism but does not only represent the
physiological being as in the S-O-R model, but also the
psychological being which is more complex.
▪ B stands for pattern of behaviour both overt and
convert.
▪ C stands for contingent consequences both overt and
covert.
Understanding Individual Behavior as
an Input-Output System
Individual
Behavior

Input Level Output Level

Performance,
Individual Group Organizational
Behavior Behavior Behavior Job
Satisfaction,
Turn Over.
Absenteeism,
Organizational
citizenship
Understanding Individual Behavior as an
Input-Output System

Individual
Behavior

Personal Environmental Organizational

Biographical Learnt
Understanding Individual Behavior as an
Input-Output System
Group Behaviour

Creative
Conformity
Individualism

Isolation Rebellion
Understanding Individual Behavior as an
Input-Output System
Environment
Government, Society,
Economy

People Technology
Individual / Group Machinery Computers

Structure
Jobs
Relationships

Organizational
Behavior
FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR
PERSONAL FACTORS
• Age PSYCHOLOGICAL
• Gender • Personality
• Education • Perception
• Abilities • Attitude
• Marital Status
• Value
• No. of dependants
• Creativity • Learning
• Emotional Intelligence

INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOUR

ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
& RESOURCE
ECONOMIC
• Physical facilities
• Organization structure & design
• Social norms & cultural
• Leadership values
• Reward system • Ethics & Social Responsibility
• Work—related behavior Political
Biographical Characteristics
• Physical characteristics
• Age
• Gender
• Religion
• Marital status
• Experience
• Intelligence
• Ability
• Social group
Dynamics of People and Organizations

• Organizations are complex systems.

• Human behavior in organizations is sometimes
unpredictable.
• Human behavior in an organization can be
partially understood by studying and applying the
frameworks of behavioral science, management,
and other disciplines
Dynamics of People and Organizations
Levels of Analysis
• Helps managers look at the behavior of
individuals.
• Aids managers in understanding the complexities
involved in interpersonal relations when two
people interact.
• The dynamics of relationships within small
groups.
When two groups need to coordinate their
efforts, inter-group relations.
• Organizations can be viewed and managed as
whole systems that have inter organizational
Dynamics of People and Organizations
Four Goals of Organizational Behavior
▪ Describe - (How people behave under a variety of
conditions)
▪ Understand – (Why people behave as they do)
▪ Predict - (Managers should have the capacity to
predict employees actions on a certain day and
take preventive actions)
▪ Control Human Behavior at Work – (To develop
some human activity at work)
 Organization & Organizational
Behaviour
Organization: A consciously coordinated social unit,
composed of two or more people, that functions
on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a
common goal or set of goals.
“Organizational behavior is a field of study that
investigates the impact that individuals, groups,
and structure have on behavior within an
organization, then applies that knowledge to
make organizations work more effectively.” -
Robbins
Styles of OB
Human Resource Approach
▪ Employee growth and development is
encouraged.
▪ Helps employee become better and more
responsible.
▪ It believes better people achieve better results
Contingency Approach
• Different managerial behaviors are required by
different environments for effectiveness.
• Interdisciplinary, research oriented.
• Each situation must be analyzed carefully to
determine the significant variables in order to
establish the kind of practice that will be most
effective.
• It encourages situation analysis every time before
action
System Approach
The manager is compel to take holistic view of the
organization
The system viewpoint should concern for every
person in the organization
• There are many variables within a system
• The part of a system are interdependent
• Systems generally require inputs, engage in some
process, and produce outputs
• The input – process –output mechanism is cyclical
and self sustaining
• System produce both positive and negative
results