UNIT 1

BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE
 Behavioural
Science

Human Scientific
behaviour study
OVERVIEW
 Behavioural Science implies a scientific study of human behaviour

 Berelson says “It is a study of human behaviour to establish generalisations that are
supported by empirical evidence collected in an impersonal and objective way”
 This evidence must be capable of verification by other interested scholars & procedures must be
completely open to review & replication

 Kolasa defines “It is a systematic inquiry into what is rather than what ought to be”. It
gathers facts about what people do rather than what they should do.
Thus, Behavioural Science is a field which
studies human behaviour in a scientific way….
STUDY OF BEHAVIORAL
SCIENCE
 Thescientific study of behavior, facts about the
people like what they do and what they should do
in behavior science.
 Focuses
upon the human and better understanding
of human behavior.
 Primarily, Behavioral science focuses in the three
disciplines-anthropology, psychology and Sociology.
 Psychology

The study of the mind, occurring partly via the

study of behavior. The study of the nature,
functions and phenomena of human beings
 Sociology

The scientific study of society. The study of the

development, nature and laws of human society.
Sociology also focuses on social stratification,
social class, social mobility, religion etc.
 Anthropology:
The study of the origins, history, mechanisms and
constitution of human cultures

 Other branches of behavioral sciences are:-

 Ethology

The study of behaviour of non-human species in the

natural setting
 Echology
Deals with the relations of human beings to their
environment and the quantification of this relationship.

 Cognitive Sciences
cognitive psychology is scientific study of mental
processes.
Objectives of Behavioral Science
Teaching

1. A focus on the science of behavior.

2. Understand normal human behavior

3. Humanization of the education of managers, engineers.

4. Sensitized about human factors in industry.

5. Apply behavioral principle to Improve quality of life.

Human Behaviour
 Behaviour refers to the actions or reactions of an object
or organism, usually in relation to the environment.

 Human behaviour is the collection of behaviors exhibited

by human beings

 Behaviour can be:

 Conscious or unconscious
 Overt or Covet
 Rational and Irrational
Human behavior is
influenced by: or ( Causes
of individual differences)
 Culture Attitudes

 Emotions Values

 Ethics Authority

 relationship

 influence

 Genetics
Determinants of Behaviour
1. Biological determinants
 Genetic Influences.
 Growth and developmental Influences.
 Biochemical Influences.

2. Learning (conditioning).

3. Socio-cultural factors.

4. Psychosocial factors.
Methods of Studying Human
Behaviour
 Observation
 Questionnaires
 Interviews
 Structured Interviews &Unstructured interviews
 Open ended and closed ended
 Rating scales
 Psychometric Tests
 Psycho-physiological Techniques
Behavioural Science – As a Science

 What makes a Science ?

Behavioural Science – As a Science

 Characteristics of a Science do not necessarily include the possession of an

array of gadgets; instead they relate to the scientific and systematic way of
gathering data which we can verified and replicate.

 Thus, the characteristics of science are being:

1. Systematic (Procedure must be clear, Proceed through a defined plan)

2. Empirical

3. Replication or Verifiability
So that the information obtained in this way can be

4. Ordered (information gathered must be replicable).

5. Analysed (through a logical statistical treatment).

6. Predictability- Predictions can be made about the subject and

can be tested.

8. Objectivity .
Man- the critical factor
In order to understand the human element in management in a wider aspect, we should
focus on some fundamental formula:

1) The important aspect is the ability of the worker. It is the sum of

Ability = Knowledge + Skill

2) As far as motivation is concerned, it depends upon the product of

Motivation = Situation* need*Ability

Man- the critical factor
3) Integrating the two factors Ability & Motivation, the outcome is performance of a
worker
Human Performance = Ability*Motivation

But for a business performance, besides the human performance various other physical
factors (Machinery, Equipment, Power, Raw Material, etc.) are also important

Business Performance = Human Performance* Physical Factors

MAN
 Man in management is referred to
as a human resource. It is the
recruitment, selection, training,
promotion and grievances handling
of person. Payment of
compensation, bonus, termination
of services are the few issues that
have to deal effectively to retain
the talent within an organization.
 Thus, it is evident that for the ultimate result (outcome) of a business, the human element is a
critical factor.

 Management is “Getting things done through and by the people”.

 Management = M A N A G E M E N T

 MAN The focal point of management.

A G E M
AUTHORITY GOVERNMENT ENVIRONMENT MATERIAL

E N T
ETHICS NATION OR SOCIETY TECHNOLOGY
 Man is a epicentre or nerve centre of the organization or society

 Principles, practices & techniques of management help man to be perfect by making up

deficiencies so as to reduce the incidence of wastage in human and material resources
while realising his object

 Man is a social animal. To achieve his objective he requires authority to guide and
direct actions of others.
 Man and government are interdependent
 If man’s behaviour and conduct are less deviant, government’s plans and policies will
be more humane & dynamic
 Government’s regulatory & developmental role should reflect the thinking of its people;
 A harmony should exists between policy formulation by government & policy
implementation by the people
 Behaviour is the function of man & environment: B = f (M,E)
 His behaviour also depends on the quantity & quality of material he gets for consumption & production.
 Ethics provides sanction to various roles played by man in society. Both social institutions & man deeply
influence each other.
 Similarly, technology & man’s behaviour are interconnected with each other.
 A manager job is to achieve organizational goals, objectives through co-ordination of the activities of
employees & other people.
 Motivation, learning, perception, communication, and various other basic facts of individual
behaviour are extensively at work in a business organization.

Human factor is the critical factor in the management of any organization where
achievement of objectives & results is dependent upon human behaviour, action, &
motivation
Historical Development of Behavioural Science
 Concern for the welfare of workers has been in existence since ages:
 As early as fourth century B.C. Kautilya’s Arthshastra states that there existed a
sound base for systematic management of human resources.
 Government provided systematic procedures for regulating employer-employee
relationships.
 Even elsewhere, humans in organizations received management’s attention much earlier
 As early as 1800 B.C. itself ‘minimum wage rate’ and ‘incentive wage plan’ were included
in the Babylonian code of Hammurabi.
 About two centuries ago, Robert Owen, a young Welsh factory owner was first to emphasize the
human factor in organization
Refused to give employment to children
Taught his workers the importance of working conditions & cleanliness
Devoted much attention to ‘vital machines’ as to ‘inactive machines’
Father of ‘Personnel Management’ (Throughout his life, he worked for building up of a spirit of co-
operation between the workers and the management. he believed and practiced the idea that
workers should be treated as human beings).

Owen believed that the volume and quality of a worker's output were influenced
by his total environment, i.e., by his conditions both on and off job.
 In 1835 Andrew Ure published his famous book The Philosophy of Manufactures

Emphasized human factor as crucial factors of production

Provided snacks, medical facilities, and sickness benefits to his workers
In Indian Context

 Even in India around 1840 J. N. Tata took special interest in the welfare of his
workers recognizing the dignity of labour
 Improved working conditions in his factories.

 In 1887, he instituted pension plans & in 1895 accident compensation scheme

 The Empress Mill experiment amply brings out the fact that Jamshedji Tata, the
human aspect of workers was of paramount concern to him
Historical Development of Behavioural Science

Still, human aspect of workers recognized by Owen, Ure & Tata was not given due recognition &
faded out with time.
However, in 1950 the term Behavioural Science was frequently used…..
Historical Development of Behavioural Science
 The event responsible was the “Ford Foundation Programme”

 Programme initially known as ‘individual behaviour and human relations’ was

later redesignated as “Behavioural Sciences programme”

 However, in 1949 John Dewey & Arthur Bentley came close to using the term
“Behavioural Science” when they distinguished the physical, physiological, and
behavioural regions of science
Historical Development of Behavioural Science
 A committee was constituted in late 1940s to study on the basis of enlarged
programme of Ford foundation

 Assigned the task of suggesting how the Ford Foundation can most effectively &
intelligently put its resources to work for human welfare (man to man relationship)

 The committee concluded that

“Most important problems of human welfare now lie in the realm of democratic society, in
man to man relation, in human relations & social organizations”
Historical Development of Behavioural Science
 They recommended that the overall objectives can be pursued in five programme
areas –

i. Establishment of peace

ii. Strengthening of democracy, society, and individual behaviour & human

relations

 Among the social science disciplines, political science became involved in 1 st & 2nd
programme; economics in 3rd ; and anthropology, psychology, & sociology in 4th
Historical Development of Behavioural Science
 In 1952, the trustee of the Foundation approved the staff paper to put forth the
foundations’ ]first plan in the field of Behavioural Science was summarized as
follows: It refers to

1. ‘Primarily to a programme of research’ on human behaviour, not as an action

programme

2. ‘Scientific approach’ (to ensure objectivity, verifiability & generality)

3. ‘Acquisition of basic knowledge’ of human behaviour

4. ‘Knowledge to serve human needs’ (social problems & needs)

Historical Development of Behavioural Science
5. An interdisciplinary approach (social scientists, medical scientists, & humanists,
singly or in combination, can be engaged in the programme)

6. Broad & complex subject matter (since programme aims at a scientific

understanding of why people behave as they do)

7. Finally, it is definitely not considered as a cure -- all for human problems but as a
contributor to their solution , along with other sources of knowledge &
judgement
Historical Development of Behavioural Science
 Programme-Five is considered as an effort to increase knowledge of human
behaviour through

1. Basic scientific research,

2. Oriented to major problem areas,

3. Covering a wide range of subjects.

4. To make such knowledge available for utilization in the conduct of human affairs
 Relationship of three
Personality disciplines with Behavioural
Perception Sciences
Attitude
Psychology Individual
Learning
Motivation
Job satisfaction
Social
Group Dynamics
Psychology
Communication
Leadership
Conflict Study of
Power & Politics Behavioural
Sociology Group Science
Organizational structures
Informal & formal
organizations

Individual culture
Organizational culture Organizations
Anthropology
Organizational
environment
‘Behavioural sciences is the collective term given to a number
of disciplines which focus on the study of the behaviour of
humans.’

Introductory Observations of Behavioural

Sciences Approach:

Behavioural sciences approach to management

which started after 1940 is an extension,
modification and refinement of human relations
approach.
In fact, good human relations lead to better human behaviour at
work. Some authorities differentiate between human relations
approach and behavioural sciences approach.

Meaning of Behavioural Sciences Approach :

Behavioural sciences approach recommends a study of
behavioural sciences (like, psychology, industrial psychology,
sociology, anthropology etc.) for understanding human
behaviour at work; and applying the basic concepts, theories and
models of these sciences for moulding human behaviour in the
desired manner.
Some important sociologists and
psychologists who have contributed to
this approach are:
•Maslow, Douglas McGregor, Frederick Herzberg, Kurt Lewin,
Keith Davis, George Homans etc.
THANK YOU