Unit 1: Introduction LH7 [Concept of organizational behavior; Foundations of OB; Comextual perspective of OB ~ HR Approach, Productivity Approach, Ineractionalism Approach, Contingeney Approach, System Approach; Environmental comext of OB - Globalization, diversity and ethics; Theoretical Frameworks - Cognitive Framework, Behavioristic Framework, Social cognitive framework] # Concept of Organizational Behavior Organizational Behavior is a field of study conceming the understanding of human behavior in work environment, OB makes an in-depth study about understanding, analyzing and pre-determining human behaviors, It tries to explain: > Why individuals and groups behave in a certain way in an organizational environment? > What is the impact of t > How can human resource be utilized in an optimum manner so as to improve organizational performance?” > What behaviors are expected and how can we modify the unexpected behaviors in order to run the organization smoothly? Organizational behavior can be defined as the systematic study and application of knowledge about how individuals and groups act in an organization in order to improve the organizational effectiveness ir behavior upon organizational performance? # Foundations of OB Foundations of OB are the fundamental grounds on which the subject of OB is developed. OB foundation is built up by combining concepts of individual behavior, group behavior and the organization itself, The foundation of OB can be illustrated with the following figure: Individual differences [J Social system Whole person —{ Mutuality of interests Caused behavior L_{ Holistic concepts Human dignity Need for management [Source: K. Aswathhapa, Organizational Behavior (12th revised edition) Individual differences: Every person is unique in terms of physical characteristics, perception, -s make individuals even more unique. That is why there is no single standard to deal with all the people. skill, intelligence, experience and more. Leaming processes and individual experien DMC/MBS-1st Sem/OB/Jay Raj Page 1Managers must be aware of such differences. Employees should be treated on the basis of their individual uniqueness Whole person: An employee's work life cannot be detached from his personal life. A. worker's personal problems, sentiments, emotions etc. may affect his/her performance at work. He enters his work palace as a whole person. Therefore, the aspects of their personal life are reflected in their job behavior too, Thus, managers must make plans for the overall development of a person, rather than particular aspect, Caused behavior: Human behavior is caused and goal directed. OB assumes that individual behaviors are motivated by the unsatisfied needs, Managers should motivate employees. They need to find out ways that can satisfy the needs or threaten the fulfillment of needs, iv. Human dignity: People want respect and fair treatment by the management. They want appreciation for their abilities and skills. They try to retain their dignity in their work life as well Therefore, people should be treated differently. They should not be treated like machines and other resources, vy. Social systems: OB considers an organization as a social system. A social system is shaped by interactions of human relationships. Organization is a collection of people having different roles and status. Organization as a social system includes all the people in it and their relationshi another and to the outside world, It receives inputs from the society and provides output to it Organization is in fact an open social system as it constantly interacts with its environment to one vi, Mutuality of interests: Organization and its members have mutuality of interest. Organization needs people and people need organization. People join organizations to fulfill their certain needs and organization also enrolls people to achieve its objectives utilizing their efforts. Employees and employer achieve their goals through integrated efforts and cooperation. Holistic concept: Holistic concept is a broad view that encompasses all the fundamental concepts, This concept interprets people-organization relationships as the whole person, whole group, whole organization and whole social system. A holistic concept examines the issues in terms of the total situation affecting them rather than in terms of an isolated event or problem. Need for management: Knowledge of OB serves as a managerial tool in order to increase ‘organizational effectiveness. Managers utilize the OB concepts while performing the managerial functions of planning, organizing, supervising, directing and controlling, ‘Management’ is most ‘commonly defined as ‘an art of getting things done through others’. Thus, the subject of OB helps managers improve their human skills and achieve organizational goals most effectively and efficiently # Contextual perspective of OB 1. HR Approach: This approach identifies human resource as the central resource of any organization. It is also called supportive approach. It promotes employee growth and development towards higher levels of competency, creativity and fulfillment. It assumes that employees are willing and able to make genuine contributions to the organization. DMC/MBS-1st Sem/OB/Jay Raj Page 2Management should encourage employees to participate in problem solving. Instead of deciding and controlling what employees do, managers should play the supportive role. 2. Productivity approach: Productivity is the measure of output per unit of input. Productivity is said to be achieved if more outputs are obtained using the same amount of inputs. Productivity is often computed in terms of economic input and output. However, social and human inputs and outputs are equally important. For example, increased level of job satisfaction, low absenteeism and low employee turnover are human outputs. Interactionalism approach: This approach states that behavior is determined by continuous ion of person and the situation with each other. It raises an important question - Which is the primary cause of human behavior- Person producing a behavior or the situation in which behavior has occurred? Distinguishing between cause and effect is not always easy. Employee attitude may influence job perceptions, but these perceptions may influence future attitude. For example, a person's initial attitude may have caused him to perceive a job as boring However, once he starts doing it, he may find the job interesting and develop a positive attitude towards it 4, Contingeney approach: Contingency approach believes that there is no ‘one best way’ of reacting to all the situations. Managerial action in any given situation depends on several elements of that situation, Universal vs. situational approach Universal approach the one best way Organizational problems of responding, or situations determine... |__| ‘contingent or situational \ways of responding. Contingeney approach clements of the situation Organizational problems which then suggests... |_| or situations must be evaluated in terms of. ‘[Source: Organizational Behavior, Griffin and Moorhead] The universal approach assumes that a manager can apply a universal solution to a problem that leads to desired outcome. In contrast, Contingency approach believes that relationship between two variables is likely to be dependent on other variables Systems approach: A system is a set of interrelated parts that function as a whole, This approach views organization as input-transformation-output system, The systems approach to OB can be illustrated with the following figure DMC/MBS-1st Sem/OB/Jay Raj Page 3Inputs Outputs (received from the (exported to the environment) Processing nee + Manufacturing & + Human service operations Products/services © Material Profits/losses * Financial Employee behavior * Information New information [Adapted from: Organizational Behavior, Griffin and Moorhead] An organizational system receives four kinds of inputs from its environment- material, human, financial, and informational. These inputs are then processed into outputs such as products, services, human behavior and profits or losses. The system also constantly receives feedback from the environment. # Environmental context of OB Globalization implies movement of goods, servi transformed the whole world into a small borderle: Business operations are expanded to the reach the place of demand irrespective of distance. As a result, the interaction among people has extended to a worldwide scale. It has led to an increased interconnectedness among various economies es and people across the world. Globalization has ss market. Today's businesses are mostly market driven, Today's leaders need to accept the fact that people from different countries and cultures behave differently. In understanding and applying OB concepts in other countries, leaders must be aware of the similarities and differences. They must get equipped with the global leadership capabilities so that they can influence individuals, groups and organizations from diverse social and institutional systems. In other words, the leaders today must develop and use a global mindset 2. Diversity Diversity refers to differen: organizational functions, education, skills and more. Diversity affects human interactions, It creates a need to address issues of communication, adaptability and change. Diversity provides a range of benefits if managed properly. A company that accepts diversity can enlarge its skill base and become more competitive and innovative. Thus, organizations need to take steps to promote diversity awareness. Significant benefits offered by diversity are 's among people in terms of gender, age, ethnicity, religion, culture, Surface level diversity and deep level diversity DMC/MBS-1st Sem/OB/Jay Raj Page 4Varying abilities of people from different backgrounds can produce better results It allows an organization to tap the talents and experiences from diverse workforce It creates an environment in which problems can be viewed from multiple perspectives which results in effective solution to the problems. Workforce having varying, skills, cultural understanding, languages ete. allows companies to provide services to customers on global basis. 3. Ethics Ethics involves the concept of right and wrong conduct. They are the expected standard of behaviors, Business ethics is determined by various factors from the cultural, organizational and extemal environment Cultural factors: family, friends, neighbors, religion, media. Organizational factors: ethical codes, role models, policies, reward-punishment systems, Extemal environmental factors: political, legal. economic and international development. # Theoretical Frameworks OB has various dimensions and it takes many inputs. However, three frameworks namely- Cognitive framework, Behavioristic framework and Social cognitive framework provide theoretical foundation for OB. w Cognitive framework: Cognition refers to higher mental ability of knowing an item of information. It involves logical thinking. It provides inputs to a person's perception, problem solving and information processing The credit for the evolution of cognitive framework goes to Edward Toleman. From his laboratory experiments (rats and maze), he drew a conclusion that learning consists of the expectancy that a particular event will lead to particular consequences. It implies that an individual desires a goal and also knows the behavior that will lead to achievement of the goal. In the context of organizational behavior, cognitive approach dominates the units of analysis such as perception, attitudes, motivation, problem solving and goal setting, Behavioristic framework: Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson are recognized for the development of behavioristic framework. They advocated that study of observable behaviors is more important than emphasizing the elusive mind. They used the classical conditioning experiment to formulate the stimulus-response (S-R) explanation of human behavior. According to them, behavior can be best understood in terms of stimulus and response (S-R). They concentrated on the impact of stimulus and felt that learning occurred when the S-R connection was made. The work of Pavlov and Watson is recognized as Classical Conditioning theory of learning, DMC/MBS-1st Sem/OB/Jay Raj Page 5Later, B.F. Skinner proposed the theory of Operant Conditioning emphasizing Response- Stimulus (R-S) approach. According to Skinner, behavior is the function of its consequences and stimulus serves as a cue to execute certain behavior. In other words, consequences of behavior influence subsequent behavior, For example, employees who were earlier rewarded for completing a project within stipulated time will continue to work hard in subsequent projects. 3. Social cognitive framework: Social cognitive framework was theorized by a Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura, This framework tries to integrate both the concepts of cognitive and behaviorist frameworks. It suggests that, cognition along with observations of the surrounding environment determine how people learn, It tries to explain behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interactions among cognitive, behavioral and environmental determinants. Based on the study of Bandura, Luthans and others implied social cognitive theory in organizational Behavior. According to them, in social cognitive framework, organizational participants are at the same time both products (as in the behaviorism approach) and producers (as in the cognitive approach) of their personality, respective environments, and behaviors Personal factors Environmental factors Behavior —— Learning is based on people, their environment and their behavior. In Social Cognitive Theory, interaction among these factors is called reciprocal determinism. It means, the factors influence each other. DMC/MBS-1st Sem/OB/Jay Raj Page 6