INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

INTRODUCTION

This module is designed for students of PUP Santa Rosa Campus taking up the course PSYC
40033 – Human Behavior in Organizations. The course is designed to create awareness about
people at work in all kinds of organizations. It provides suggestions on how these people may
be motivated to work together more productively. The course likewise features existing
problems in the work environment that have direct bearing on worker’s performance and the
various organizational theories that are concerned with human behavior in an organization.

COURSE OUTCOMES: After completing this course, the students must be able to:

1. Develop theoretical understanding about organizational behavior.

2. Describe and distinguish the fundamental concepts that form the basis of organizational
behaviors.
3. Identify and assess the elements necessary in understanding the dynamics of
organizations.
4. Investigate, examine, and evaluate the basic approaches to be used leading to holistic
view of organizational behavior.
5. Identify the significance, benefits, and limitations of organizational behavior.
6. Apply both theoretical and technical concepts, principles, and methods in organizational
behavior.
7. Advocate appreciation and respect for human worth and dignity as fundamental
motivational principles in productive and effective organizational management.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:

1. Familiarize with the VMGO of the university.

2. Have a clear understanding of the course requirements.
3. Provide their expectations from the course.

COURSE GRADING SYSTEM:

MIDTERM/FINAL GRADE:

Class Standing (Activities/Assignments/Reflective Essays, e-Portfolio) = 70%

Major Exam (Midterm/Final Exam) = 30%

Total = 100%

FINAL GRADE: (Class Standing + Final Grade)

Human Behavior in Organizations/ Compiled by: Minera Laiza C. Acosta 1

PART ONE – FUNDAMENTALS OF BEHAVIOR
INTRODUCTION

Organizational behavior is the academic study of how people interact within groups. The
principles of the study of organizational behavior are applied primarily in attempts to make
businesses operate more effectively. The study of organizational behavior includes areas of
research dedicated to improving job performance, increasing job satisfaction, promoting
innovation, and encouraging leadership. Each has its own recommended actions, such as
reorganizing groups, modifying compensation structures, or changing methods of performance
evaluation.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: After successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:

1. Exhibit an understanding of the nature, methods, applications, and general principles

governing Organizational Behavior;

2. Demonstrate knowledge in applying the general principles governing Organizational

Behavior, from the fundamental concepts to the complex dynamics of organizations;

3. Relate the principles of Organizational Behavior to real-life situations;

4. Explain the rationale of applying the principles and concepts of Organizational Behavior
in relation to real-life situations;

5. Evaluate the effectiveness of applying the principles and concepts of Organizational

Behavior.

COURSE MATERIALS:

LESSON 1 – THE DYNAMICS OF PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS

Understanding Organizational Behavior 

Organizational Behavior - Organizational Behavior is the systematic study and careful

application of knowledge about how people – as individuals and as groups – act within
organizations. Organizational Behavior is a scientific discipline in which a large number of
research studies and conceptual developments are constantly adding to its knowledge base.

Goals of Organizational Behavior (Most Sciences share four goals)

 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 (To develop some human activity at work)

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 Managers are responsible for performance outcome, they are vitally interested in being able
to make an impact on employee behavior, skill development, team effort, and productivity.
Managers need to be able to improve results through actions they and their employees take,
and Organizational Behaviors can aid them in their pursuit of this goal. Organizational Behavior
is a human tool for human benefit. Organization Behavior applies broadly to the behavior of
people in all types of organizational, business, government, schools and Service organizations.
Wherever organizations are, there is a need to ‘’Describe, Understand, Predict and (Control)
better manage human behavior.

Forces

A collect set of forces affects the nature of organization today can be classified as:

 People
 Structure
 Technology
 Environment

People

 People make up the internal Social System of the Organization. That System consists of
individuals and groups. There are formal and informal groups. Groups are dynamic.
They form, change, and disband. People are the living, thinking, feeling beings who work
in the organization to achieve their objectives. Remember that organizations exist to
serve people, rather than people existing to serve organizations. The Workforce of
today’s organizations are richly diverse (Employees have a wide array of educational
background, talents and perspectives) Managers need to be tuned in to these diverse
pattern and trends and be prepared to adapt to them. Management Leadership practices
must change to match the new conditions.

Structure

 Defines the formal relationship and use of people in organizations. Different Jobs are
required to accomplish all of an organization’s activities. Thus, there are managers,
employees, accountants and assemblers etc., in an organization. People in the
Organization have to be related in some structural way so that their work can be
effectively coordinated.

Technology

 Technology provides the resources with which people work and affects the tasks that
they perform. The Technology used has a significant influence on working relationships.
The great benefit of technology is that it allows people to do more and better work, but it
also restricts people in various ways. It has cost as well as benefits.

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Environment

 All organizations operate within an internal and an external environment. A single

organization does not exist alone. It is part of a larger System that contains many other
elements, such as government, the family, and other organizations. Numerous changes
in the environment create demands on organizations. Individual organizations, such as a
Factory, or a school, cannot escape being influenced by the external environment. It
influences the attitudes of people, affects working conditions, and provides competition
for resources and power.

Positive Characteristics the OB Field One major strength of Organizational Behavior is its
Interdisciplinary nature. It integrates the Behavioral Sciences with other Social Sciences that
can contribute to the subject. Another strength is its emerging base of Research Knowledge and
Conceptual Frameworks. A third major strength of Organizational Behavior is the increasing
Acceptance of Theory and Research by practicing managers. •

Fundamental Concepts 

The interaction of Theory, Research, and Practice in Organizational Behavior

The Nature of People

 Individual differences
 Perception
 A whole Person
 Motivated Behavior
 Desire for involvement
 Value of the People

Individual Differences

 People have much in common but each person in the world is also individually different.
This belief that each person is different from all other is typically called the ‘Law Of
Individual Differences’

Perception

 People look at the world and see things differently. Even when they are presented with
the same object, two people may view it in two different ways. Their view of their
objective environment is filtered by perception, which is the unique way in which each
person sees, organizes, and interprets things. Employees see their work worlds
differently for a variety of reasons since they may differ in personalities, needs,
demographic factors, and past experiences, or they may find themselves in different
physical settings, time periods, or social surroundings. whatever the reason, they tend to
act on the basis of their perceptions. Managers must learn to expect perceptual
differences among their employees, accept people as emotional beings, and manage
them in individual ways.
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A Whole Person

 Organizations employ a Whole person not only a person’s skills or brain. A person’s
home life cannot be separated from his/her work life. When Managers practices
Organizational Behavior, it is actually trying to develop a better employee, but it also
wants to develop a better person in terms of growth and fulfilment. Jobs shape people
somewhat as they perform job, management needs to care about the job’s effect on the
whole person. If the whole person can be improved, then benefits will extend beyond the
firm into larger society in which each employees live.

Motivated Behavior

 Normal behavior has certain causes. These may relate to a person’s needs or the
consequences that result from acts. In the case of needs, people are motivated not by
what we think they ought to have but by what they themselves want. To an outside
observer, a person’s need may be unrealistic, but they are still controlling. Motivation is
essential to the operation of organizations. No matter how much technology and
equipment an organization has, these resources can not be put to the us until they are
released and guided by people who have been motivated. Desire for Improvement.
Many employees today are actively seeking opportunities at work to become involved in
relevant decisions, thereby contributing their talents and ideas to the organization’s
success. Desire for improvement can be achieved through employee empowerment.

Value of the Person

 People deserve to be treated differently from other factors of production because they
are of a higher order in the universe. Because of this distinction, people want to be
treated with caring, respect, and dignity; increasingly they demand such treatment from
their employers. They refuse to accept the old idea that they are simply economic tools.
People want to be valued for their skills and abilities and to be provided with
opportunities to develop themselves.

The Nature of Organizations

The three key concepts are:

 Social Systems
 Mutual Interest
 Ethical Treatment

Social Systems

 Organizations are social systems. Two types of social systems exist side by side in
organizations. One is the Formal Social System and the other is the Informal Social
Systems. The existence of a Social System implies that the organizational environment
is one of dynamic change rather than a static set of relations as pictured on an

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 organization chart. All Parts of the system are interdependent, each part is subject to
influence by other parts.

Mutual Interest

 Organizations need people and people need organizations. Organizations have a human
purpose. They are formed and maintained on the basis of some Mutuality of Interest
among their participants. • Managers need employees to help them reach organizational
objectives. And People need organizations to help them reach individual objectives. •
Mutual interest provides a super ordinate goal for employees, the organization, and
society

Ethics

 In order to attract and retain valuable employees in an era in which good workers are
constantly recruited away Ethical Treatment is necessary. To succeed organizations
must treat employees in an ethical fashion. Companies have established Codes of
Ethics , publicized statements of ethical values, provided ethics training, reward
employees for notable ethical behavior, publicized positive role models and a set of
internal procedures to handle misconducts. When the organization’s goal and actions
are ethical, mutuality creates a Triple Reward Systemin which Individual, Organizational
and social objectives are all met. People find more satisfaction in work when there is
cooperation and teamwork. They are learning growing and contributing. The
organization is also more successful because it operates more effectively. Society itself
is the most beneficiary of the Triple Reward System. Because it has better products and
services, more capable citizens and overall climate of cooperation and progress.

Basic Approaches Of Organizational Behaviors

1. Human Resources Approach

 The Human Resource Approach is Developmental. - It is concerned with the growth and
development of people toward higher levels of competency, creativity, and fulfillment,
because people are the central resource in any organization and any society. • The
Human Resource Approach, on the other hand, is Supportive. • - It helps employees
become better, more responsible people, and then tries to create a climate in which they
may contribute to the limits of their improved Abilities. • Essentially, the Human
Resources approach means that better people achieve better results.

2. A Contingency Approach

 Different Managerial Behaviors are required by different environments for effectiveness.

• Managers need to know under what conditions they should choose one behavioral
Approach over another and the contingency framework can help them to do this. • The
Strength of Contingency Approach is that it encourages analysis of each situation prior
to action while at the same time discouraging habitual practice based on universal

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 assumptions about people. • The Contingency approach is also more interdisciplinary,
more system oriented, and more research oriented than the traditional approach.

3. Results-Oriented Approach

 Outcomes of Organizational Behavior programs are assessed in terms of their efficiency.

• All Organizations need to achieve some relevant outcomes, or results. So this Result
orientation is a common thread woven through Organizational Behavior. • Productivity is
the key issue in this approach. • Productivity measures are intertwined in the popular
practice of Total Quality Management (TQM).

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM)

 Total Quality Management is an integrated attempt to improve the quality of a firm’s

products and services through a variety of techniques and training. •

TQM focuses on:

 High Customer satisfaction through listening carefully to customers - Building

partnership with suppliers
 Searching for continuous improvements in operational methods.
 Training employees in the understanding and use of statistical tools
 Meaningfully involving employs in team-based systems.

4. A Systems Approach

 Treating an organization as a System is critically important to its success • The Systems

Approach compels Managers to take Holistic view of the subject.
 Holistic Organizational Behavior interprets people – organization relationships in terms
of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social System.
 It takes an across-the-board view of people in organizations in an effort to understand as
many of the factors as possible that influence people’s behavior.
 Issues are analyzed in terms of the total situation affecting them rather than in terms of
an isolated events or problems.

Limitations of Organizational Behavioral

Behavioral Bias

• People who lack System understanding may develop a Behavioral Bias, which gives a
narrow viewpoint that emphasizes employee experiences while overlooking the broader
system of the organization in relation to all its publics.
• This condition is a reflection of Tunnel Vision, in which people have narrow viewpoints,
as if they were looking through a tunnel. Tunnel vision restricts objectivity.

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 • Behavioral Bias can be so misapplied that it harms employees as well as the
organization. So, people in spite of their good intentions, overwhelm others with care
that the recipients of such care are reduced to being dependent.
• People become content, not fulfilled. They find excuse for failure rather than take
responsibility for progress. They lack self-discipline and self-respect.

The Law of Diminishing Returns

• Overemphasis on an Organizational Behavior practice may produce negative results as

indicated by the Law of Diminishing Returns. Law Of Diminishing Returns states that at
some point, increases of desirable Practice produce declining returns, eventually zero
returns, and then negative returns as more increases are added. The concept implies
that for any situation there is an optimum amount of a desirable practice, such as
recognition or participation

Unethical Treatment of People and Use of Resources

• The philosophy of Organizational Behavior is supportive and oriented toward human

Resources. It seeks to improve the human environment and help people grow toward
their potential. However, a significant concern about Organizational Behavior is that its
knowledge and techniques can be used to manipulate people unethically as well as help
them Develop their potential. People who lack ethical values could use people in
unethical ways. The possibility of manipulation means that people in power in
organizations must maintain high ethical and moral integrity and not misuse their power.
As the general population learns more about Organizational Behavior, it will be more
difficult to manipulate people, but the possibility is always there. That is why the society
needs Ethical Leaders (Managers). Ethical Managers will not manipulate people.

SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS/REFERENCES:

• Ditan, Carol D. 2016. Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior. Anvil

Publishing, Inc.

• Bauer, T. & Berrin, E. 2012. An Introduction to Organizational Behavior. Creative

Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/
• 3.0/) license.

• Newstrom, John W. 2011. Organizational Behavior: Human Behavior at Work 13th

Edition. Boston, McGraw-Hill

Human Behavior in Organizations/ Compiled by: Minera Laiza C. Acosta 8

ACTIVITIES/ASSESSMENTS:

Group Work:

1. Define organizational behavior in your own words. Ask a friend outside of class pr a work
associate to do the same. Identify and explore the nature of any differences between the
two definitions.
2. As you begin to understand organizational behavior, why do you think it has become a
popular field of interest?
3. Review the fundamental concepts that form the basis of organizational behavior. Which
concepts do you think are more important than the others? Explain.

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