FUNDAMENTALS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Giovanni T. Macahig, DM-HRM

The Dynamics of people and organizations

"A primary goal of management education is to develop students into managers who can think
ahead, exercise good judgment, make ethical decisions, and take into consideration the
implications of their proposed actions" -Jane Schmidt-Wilk
Premises
● Organizations are complex systems
-Need to understand how the system operates esp, in a sociotechnical system-humanity
and technology.
● Human behavior in organizations is sometimes unpredictable
-Behaviors may come from deep-seated needs, lifetime experiences and personal value
systems.
● Human behavior in an organization can be partially understood
-Applying the frameworks of behavioral science, management and other disciplines.
● There are no perfect solutions to organizational problems
-Increase the understanding and skills- work relationships can be substantially
upgraded.
● We do not have the luxury of not working with or relating to other people
○ Learn human behavior.
○ Explore how to improve the interpersonal skills.
○ Begin to mange ones relationships with others at work.
Understanding human behavior
Definition (OB/ Organizational Behavior)
● systematic study and careful application of knowledge about how people - as individuals
and as groups - act within organizations.
● Strive to identify ways in which people can act more efficiently.
● A large number of research studies and conceptual developments constantly add up to
its knowledge base.
● An applied science.
● Provides useful set of tools at many levels of analysis from individual, interpersonal
relations, intergroup,and whole system.
Goals of OB
● Describe
○ how people behave under a variety of conditions.
● Understand
○ Why people behave behave as they do.
○ Probe for underlying explanations
● Predict
○ Predict future employee behavior (tardiness, productive & unproductive etc.)
○ Provide preventive actions
● Control
○ At least partially and develop some human activity at work.
Managers need to remember that organizational behavior is a tool for human benefit.
Key forces - complex set of forces affects the nature of organizations

Key Forces
People
● Make up the internal social system of an organization.
● Melting pot of diversity - talents, background and perspectives to their jobs.
● Managers need to be tuned in to these diverse patterns and trends.
○ Changes in the labor force
■ Decline in work ethic and rise in emphasis on leisure, self expression,
fulfillment and personal growth
■ Decreased automatic acceptance of authority and increase in the desire
for participation, autonomy and control.
■ Skills become obsolete due to rapid technological advances - retrain or
be displaced.
■ Security needs are prime concern and loyalty diminishes because of
downsizing and outsourcing.
■ Absence of meaningful salary growth has placed renewed emphasis on
money as a motivator.
● Companies address diversity by becoming compassionate and caring. building pride
without de-valuing others, empowering some without exploiting, demonstrating
openness, confidence, authentic compassion and vulnerability.
Structure
● Defines the formal relationship and use of people in organizations.
● Effective coordination of work.
● Create complex problems of cooperation, negotiation and decision making.
Technology
● Provides the resources with which people work and affects the tasks they perform.
 ● Benefit of technology - does more and better work however it restricts people in various
ways.
● OB's challenge is to maintain the delicate balance between technical and social
systems.
Environment
● Internal or external
● Organizations are part of a larger system and factors influence them like:
○ Citizens expect organizations to be socially responsible.
○ New products and competition for customers come from around the globe
(globalization).
○ The direct impact of unions diminishes.
○ Dramatic pace of change in society.
● The external environment influences the attitudes of people, affects working conditions,
and provides competitions for resources and power.

Positive Characteristics of OB
● Interdisciplinary in nature-integrates behavioral sciences, social sciences and other
disciplines.
● Emerging knowledge, theories, models and conceptual frameworks. Increasing
acceptance of theory and research by practicing managers.
○ Willingness of managers to explore new ideas.
○ More receptive to new models.
○ Support related research.
○ Hungrily experiment with new ideas.

Contributing Disciplines to the OB Field

1. Psychology - The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes change the
behavior of humans and other animals.

2. Sociology - The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.

3. Social Psychology - An area within psychology that blends concepts from psychology
and sociology and that focuses on the influence of people on one another.

4. Anthropology - The study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.

5. Political Science - The study of the behavior of individuals and groups within a political
environment.
Fundamental Concepts of OB

Nature of people
1. Individual differences
○ Nature vs.nurture
2. Perception
○ The unique way in which each person sees, organizes and interprets things.
○ Selective perception cause misinterpretation
3. A whole person
○ We employ the whole person not just their brains or skills.
○ Ergonomics is the science of fitting workplace conditions and job demands to the
capabilities of the working population.
4. Motivated behavior
○ A path towards increased need fulfillment is a better approach.
5. Desire for involvement
○ Hunger for a change to chare what they know and to learn from the experience.
○ Organizations need to provide opportunities for meaningful involvement -
employee empowerment.
6. Value of the person
○ Worth before the word
○ Meal before the message
○ They want to be treated differently from other factors of production.

Nature of organization
1. Social systems or social structure in general
■ refer to entities or groups in definite relation to each other, to relatively
enduring patterns of behavior and relationship within social systems, or to
social institutions and norms becoming embedded into social systems in
such a way that they shape the behavior of actors within those social
 systems. Social systems can be said to be the patterns of behavior of a
group of people possessing similar characteristics due to their existence
in the same society.
■ Formal and informal social systems.
■ The idea of a social system provides a framework for analyzing
organizational behavior issues. It helps make OB problems
understandable and manageable.
2. Mutual interest
● Symbiotic relationship between organizations and people
● Provides a superordinate goal - one that can attained only through the integral
effort of individuals and their employers.
3. Ethics
● Treatment of employees in an ethical fashion.
● Establish code of ethics, publicized statements of ethical values, provide ethics
trainings, reward employees for notable ethical behaviors, set up internal
procedure to handle misconduct.

MODELS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Social Systems and Organizational Culture
A social system is a complex set of human relationships interacting in many ways.
Within an organization, the social system includes all the people in it and their
relationships to each other and to the outside world. The behavior of one member can
have an impact, either directly or indirectly, on the behavior of others. Also, the social
system does not have boundaries...it exchanges goods, ideas, culture, etc. with the
environment around it.

Culture is the conventional behavior of an organization that encompasses beliefs,

customs, knowledge, and practices. It influences human behavior, even though it seldom
enters into their conscious thought. People depend on culture as it gives them stability,
 security, understanding, and the ability to respond to a given situation. This is why
people fear change. They fear the system will become unstable, their security will be
lost, they will not understand the new process, and they will not know how to respond to
the new situations.

HOW AN ORGANIZATION's CULTURE CAN BE KNOWN?

● Organization culture can be a set of key values, assumptions, understandings
and norms that is shared by members of an organization.
● Organization values are fundamental beliefs that an organization considers to be
important, that are relatively stable over time, and they have an impact on
employees behaviors and attitudes.
● Organization Norms are shared standards that define what behaviors are
acceptable and desirable within organization.
● Shared assumptions are about how things are done in an organization.
● Understandings are coping with internal/external problems uniformly.
LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION CULTURE
LEVEL 1---VISIBLE, that can be seen at the surface level
● -dress codes
● -office layout [open office]
● -symbols
● -slogans
● -ceremonies[monthly/annual awards/long service/birthdays etc.
● -etc.
LEVEL 2- INVISIBLE, that cannot be seen but only felt.
•stories about people performance •symbols [flag, trademark, logos, etc]
•corporate mission statement •recruitment/selection [methods used]
•fairness in treatment •social equality
•risk taking in business deals •formality in approach -autonomy for departments
•responsiveness to communication •empowerment of staff
Approaches to OB
● Human Resources (Supportive) - Employee growth and development are encouraged
and supported.
 ● Contingency - Different managerial behaviors are required by different environments for
effectiveness.
● Results-oriented - outcomes of organizational behavior programs are assessed in terms
of their efficiency.
● Systems - all parts of an organization interact in a complex relationship.
Limitations of OB
● People who lack system understanding and become superficially infatuated with OB may
develop Behavioral bias - narrow viewpoint that emphasized satisfying employee
experiences while overlooking the broader system of the organization in relation to all its
publics.
● The law of diminishing return -
○ the tendency for a continuing application of effort or skill toward a particular
project or goal to decline in effectiveness after a certain level of result has been
achieved.
○ Overemphasis on as valid organizational behavior practice may produce
negative results.
○ At some point increase of a desirable practice produce declining returns,
eventually negative returns.
● Unethical manipulation of people
○ Knowledge and techniques can be used to manipulate people unethically.
○ People who lack ethical values could use people in unethical ways.
○ The philosophy of OB is supportive and oriented toward human resources. Seeks
to improve human environment and help people grow toward their potential.
○ Ethical leadership principles such as: social responsibility, open communication,
cost-benefit analysis.
Continuing Challenges
● Seeking Quick Fixes
○ Are we tempted when pressured to seed rapid solutions?
● Varying Environments
○ Can the ideas that have been developed and tested endure with equal success
under new conditions?
● Definition Confusion
○ Considered as relatively new discipline, can OB in clearly define its field of
student and application?
"The organization is above all social. It is people."
Peter Drucker