Name – Saurabh Poddar

Roll no. – (20-1022)

Reg. no.- (20-1022)
Specialization- Marketing
Batch- 2020-22
Institute- BIMHRD
Semester – 1st
Subject Name – Organization Behaviour
Assignment No. – 1
Submission Date – 3rd October, 2020
Total number of pages written – 10

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1. “Although only some people in an organization need to know about marketing, or
accounting or production, almost everybody benefits by knowing about Organizational
Behaviour.” Do you agree with this statement? If not why not? If so, exactly how can OB
help you in your work and with dealing with other people?

Ans) Yes, I agree with the statement, although only some people in an organization need to
know about marketing, or accounting or production, almost everybody benefits by knowing
about Organizational Behaviour, because OB helps to understanding, prediction and
management of human behaviour both individually or in a group that occur within an
organization. In an organisation it is very much important to understand the behaviour of others
and make them understand our behaviour. While working in an organization, it is very
important to understand others behaviour as well as make others understand ours. In order to
maintain a healthy working environment, we need to adapt to the environment and understand
the goals we need to achieve. The OB can help me in several ways in my work, some of the
reasons are as follows:

• It will help in knowing the interpersonal relationships the employees share with each
other.
• OB will help to predict the behaviour of the individual and one can handle or tackle
according to the situation, just with the help of OB.
• It will help to balance the cordial relationship in an enterprise by maintaining effective
communication.
• It assists in each and every department of business, in order to run the business properly.
• It helps managers to encourage their sub-ordinates.
• Any change within the organization can be made easier.
• It helps in predicting human behaviour & their application to achieve organizational
goals.
• It helps in making the organization more effective.
• It helps organizations attract and keep high performing employees, which is important
because outstanding employees are always in short supply and costly to replace.

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OB is field of study, meaning that is distinct area of expertise with a common body of
knowledge. It basically focuses on three determinants of behaviour in the organizations, which
are:

o Individual
o Groups
o Structure

Thus, studying organizational behaviour helps in recognizing the patterns of human behaviour
and in turn throw light on how these patterns profoundly influence the performance of an
organization.

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2. Explain how the field of OB stands to benefit by taking a global perspective. What are
the various challenges and opportunities of OB and what are the different perspectives
associated with studying OB?

Ans) Due to globalization, now the companies can do business in other countries and get the
new market to trade. Many Indian companies have started their business overseas, such as Tata
Groups, whereas, many other foreign companies have started their business in India, such as
Xiomi. The world has become a global village. Tn this process, the manager’s job has changed.
Effective mangers anticipate and adapt their approaches to the global issues. Due to
globalization the companies got a number of benefits, and OB helps the companies to settle
down in the company as soon as possible. If organizational behaviour takes a global
perspective it would mean that the aim would be to enable the people understand the connection
between their life and the organization or the world in general with regard to economic, social
and political matters.

Due to globalization, the foreign tasks are also increasing i.e. transferred to employer’s
operating division’s or subsidiary in other country. Once everything is all set, the manager need
to manage a work force with very different needs, aspiration and attitudes than the home
country. The manager need to understand everything about the location, culture and workforce
and practice strategies accordingly in order to work more effectively and efficiently. Here, OB
will help the manger to understand the culture and various practices of the new country.

However, there are various challenges and opportunities of OB which are as follows:

Economic Pressures: When times are bad for the company i.e. during the economic downturn,
managers are on the frontline with employees who are asked to make do with, who worry about
their future, and who sometimes must be fired. Managing employees well when times are tough
is just as hard as when times are good, if not harder.

Workforce Demographics: The workforce has adapted to variations in economies, longevity

and birth rates and other changes that have widespread impact. People adapt to survive, and
OB studies the way those adaptions affects individuals. Birth rates are decreasing for many
developed countries, trends that together indicate a lasting shift towards an older workforce.

Workforce Diversity: It is a trend by which organizations are becoming more heterogeneous

in terms of employee’s gender age, race, ethnicity and other characteristics. Managing this
diversity is a global concern.

Customer Service: Many organizations have failed because their employees failed to please
the customers. Management needs to create a customer-responsive culture. OB can provide
considerable guidance in helping managers create such cultures.

People skills: It can help by explaining and predicting the behaviour of people at work. It
provides the people the skills which one can use on the job.

Networked Organizations: It allows people to communicate and work together even though
they may be thousand of miles apart. The job of managers is different in such kind of
organization. Motivating and leading people and decisions online require different techniques
than when a person is physically present in a single location. Managers have to develop a new
skill.

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Social Media: Many organizations continue to struggle with employee’s use of social media
in the workplace, because it decreases the productivity of the work. Due to the usage of social
media the employees have the impact in themselves regarding the happenings around them.

Employee Well Being at Work: Attaining the balance between personal life and work is
primary career goal, the employees want a life as well as a job. Organizations that don’t help
their employee’s achieve work life find’s it difficult to attract and retain the most capable and
motivated individuals.

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3. How can the field of OB contribute to the effective functioning of the organizations and
to the well-being of individuals? What are various contributing disciplines of
Organizational Behaviour that helped in effective functioning of goal attainment in
organizations?

Ans) One of the biggest challenge is to maintain employee well-being is the new reality that
many workers never get away from the virtual workplace. The sense of belonging is very
challenging for the employees. Increased responsibility in or out of workplace, employees want
jobs that give them flexibility in their work schedules so they can better manage the work-life
balance. Attaining the balance between personal life and work is primary career goal, the
employees want a life as well as a job. Organizations that don’t help their employee’s achieve
work life finds it difficult to attract and retain the most capable and motivated individuals.
Organizational Behaviour contributes to the effective functioning of organizations and the
well-being of the individual by studying the factors that impact individual and group behaviour
in organizations and how organizations manage their environments.

The disciplines that contribute in effective functioning of goal attainment in organization are
as follows:

Psychology: It is the science that seeks to measure, explain and sometimes change the
behaviour of humans and other animals. Problems of fatigue, boredom, and other working
conditions that could impede efficient work performance. More recently the contributions have
expanded to include learning, perception, personality, emotions, training, leadership
effectiveness, needs and motivational forces, job satisfaction, decision making processes etc.

Social Psychology: It refers to the area of psychology that blends concepts from psychology
and sociology to focus on the influence of people on one another. Social psychology contributes
to measuring, understanding, and changing attitudes, identification communication pattern and
building trust. They have made important contributions to the study of group behaviour, power
and conflict.

Sociology: It refers to the study of people in relation to their social environment and culture. It
has contributed in OB through its study of group behaviours in organizations, particularly
formal and complex organizations. It have studied organizational culture, formal organization
theory and structure, organizational technology, communication, power and conflict.

Anthropology: It refers to the study of societies to learn about human beings and their
activities. It helps to understand differences in fundamental values, attitudes and behaviour
among people in different countries and within different organizations.

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Disciplines of Organizational Behaviour that helped in effective functioning of goal
attainment in organizations

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4. Explain the contribution of the Hawthorne studies in the evolution of the subject of
Organization Behaviour.

Ans) The studies originally looked into the effects of physical conditions on productivity and
whether workers were more responsive and worked more efficiently under certain
environmental conditions, such as improved lighting. The results were surprising: Mayo found
that workers were more responsive to social factors—such as their manager and co-workers—
than the factors, the researchers set out to investigate. In fact, worker productivity improved
when the lights were dimmed again and when everything had been returned to the way it was
before the experiment began, productivity at the factory was at its highest level and absenteeism
had plummeted.

Mayo discovered that workers were highly responsive to additional attention from their
managers and the feeling that their managers actually cared about and were interested in their
work. The studies also found that although financial incentives are important drivers of worker
productivity, social factors are equally important.

There were a number of other experiments conducted in the Hawthorne studies, including one
in which two women were chosen as test subjects and were then asked to choose four other
workers to join the test group. Together, the women worked assembling telephone relays in a
separate room over the course of five years. Their output was measured during this time—at
first, in secret. It started two weeks before moving the women to an experiment room and
continued throughout the study. In the experiment room, they were assigned to a supervisor
who discussed changes with them and, at times, used the women’s suggestions. The researchers
then spent five years measuring how different variables affected both the group’s and the
individuals’ productivity. Some of the variables included giving two five-minute breaks and
then changing to two ten-minute breaks

Changing a variable usually increased productivity, even if the variable was just a change back
to the original condition. Researchers concluded that the employees worked harder because
they thought they were being monitored individually. Researchers hypothesized that choosing
one’s own co-workers, working as a group, being treated as special, and having a sympathetic
supervisor were the real reasons for the productivity increase.

The Hawthorne studies showed that people’s work performance is dependent on social issues
and job satisfaction. The studies concluded that tangible motivators such as monetary
incentives and good working conditions are generally less important in improving employee
productivity than intangible motivators such as meeting individuals’ desire to belong to a group
and be included in decision making and work.

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The Hawthorne studies showed that people’s work performance is dependent on social issues
and job satisfaction. The studies concluded that tangible motivators such as monetary
incentives and good working conditions are generally less important in improving employee
productivity than intangible motivators such as meeting individuals’ desire to belong to a group
and be included in decision making and work.

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5. What are the different Models of Organizational Behaviour? Describe the evolution of
the models and how each model different from the other. Is there one best model? What
is the best model according to you?

Ans) There are four different types of models in OB and they are as follows:

Autocratic Model

The root level of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The employees
in this model are oriented towards obedience and discipline. They are dependent on their boss.
The employee requirement that is met is subsistence. The performance result is less. The major
drawbacks of this model are people are easily frustrated, insecurity, dependency on the
superiors, minimum performance because of minimum wage.

Custodial Model

The root level of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of money.
The employees in this model are oriented towards security and benefits provided to them. They
are dependent on the organization. The employee requirement that is met is security. This
model is adapted by firms having high resources as the name suggest. It is dependent on
economic resources. This approach directs to depend on firm rather than on manager or boss.
They give passive cooperation as they are satisfied but not strongly encouraged.

Supportive Model

The root level of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The
employees in this model are oriented towards their job performance and participation. The
employee requirement that is met is status and recognition. The performance result is awakened
drives. This model is dependent on leadership strive. It gives a climate to help employees grow
and accomplish the job in the interest of the organization. Management job is to assist the
employee’s job performance. Employees feel a sense of participation.

Collegial Model

The model is about partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork. The employees in
this model are oriented towards responsible behaviour and self-discipline. The employee
requirement that is met is self-actualization. The performance result is moderate zeal. This is
an extension of supportive model. The team work approach is adapted for this model. Self-
discipline is maintained. Workers feel an obligation to uphold quality standard for the better
image of the company. A sense of “accept” and “respect” is seen here.

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The best model is Collegial model, as here the members of the team are self-discipline and goal
oriented. The team is having a responsible behaviour. All the basic expectation is met here of
the employees. Workers feel an obligation to uphold quality standard for the better image of
the company. A sense of “accept” and “respect” is seen here. Thus, we can say that Collegial
Model is the best model.

For e.g. – The working model of Lijjat Papad Co. is the best example of Collegial Model as
the ladies only work in this company, and they are given the dough by which they have to make
papad. There is basically the teamwork in the company. Each of the lijjat sisters have
responsibility to make the papad and submit the papad made by them in the company.

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