ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Introduction to OB
Module 1 – Introduction to OB 
• Evolution of Discipline
• Major Historical Contributions to
Theoretical Development of field
• Perspectives in Indian Organizations
Why do people behave the way they do? What
causes different people to react differently
to the same situation?
Why are some Organizations more successful than
others, even though they appear to be managed in
the same manner?
All of these questions – and more – are the
substance of what organizational behavior is all
about.
 What is Organization?

• A group of people who work together on a

continuous basis to achieve a set of goals in a
structured manner.
• Ex:American Express,Wipro,Infosys,TCS,Taj
Hotels,Oberoi,Reliance,Johnson&Johnson.
What is Organizational Behavior? Define OB?

• Organizational Behavior is the systematic study

of human behavior within the context of the
organization. It deals with Individual, group and
structure in organizations, internal and external
environment of organization .
 Define OB?
• Definition  by Stephen P. Robbins
• Stephen P. Robbins defines
organizational behaviour as "a field of
study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups, and structure
have on behaviour within organizations
for the purpose of applying such
knowledge toward improving an
organization's effectiveness."

 world's best-selling textbook author in the areas of management and organizational

behaviour.
 Why do we study OB? OR
What is the Importance/Relevance/Significance /scope of OB ?

• OB helps managers to understand human behavior.

• Hence OB provides a road map about how to behave ourselves in
Organization.
• Organizations are expecting individuals to cultivate qualities such as
teamwork, commitment to work etc.
• Topics such as Attitude,Leadership,Motivation,Conflict and Stress
Management will improve the style and personality of an Individual.
• When you understand the behavior of an individual, you will be able
to predict the result.
• In OB,different personality tests are conducted to predict the
behavior of people.
• An understanding of OB will help managers to efficiently manage
conflict and crisis.
 HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF OB
• 5th century BC-Chinese philosopher Confucius has
written about ethics
• 6th century BC -Greek philosopher Plato has
spoken about the essence of leadership
• 16TH century-Italian philosopher Niccolò
Machiavelli in his famous book ‘’prince’’ laid the
foundation for contemporary work on
organizational power and politics.
• The 18th-century Scottish philosopher Adam Smith advocated a
new form of organizational structure based on the division of
labor.
• 19th century, German sociologist Max Weber initiated discussion
of charismatic leadership.
• 20th Century-F.W.Taylor, father of scientific management
introduced the systematic use of goal setting and rewards to
motivate employees.
• 20th Century-Elton Mayo - Hawthorne Effect refers to the
experiments on the employees of Western Electric company’s
Hawthorne plant, Illinois where he was assessing the effects of
lighting conditions on employee performance and fatigue. He
found out that employees productivity increase when they were
shown concern by the management even though the  working
conditions are not satisfactory. This is called Hawthorne effect.
• After the First World War(1914-18),  Human Relations
Movement started and the focus of organizations
shifted from production and sales to people and
customer service. This movement focused on teams,
motivation, and the actualization of the goals of
individuals within organizations.

• Prominent early scholars included Frederick Herzberg,

Abraham Maslow, David McClelland, and Victor
Vroom’s motivational theories formed the
foundational model for motivation.
• Second World War(1939 to 1945 ) shift from
Operations research to organizational behavior
research.

• 1960-80, OB was strongly influenced by

Interdisciplinary subjects as psychology,
anthropology, sociology, political science etc
contributed to the development of OB as a
blended discipline of the modern times.
 Focal Points of OB
•Jobs
•Work
•Absenteeism
•Employment turnover
•Productivity
•Human performance
•Management

1-13
Complementing Intuition with Systematic
Study
• Intuition: the “gut feeling” explanation of
behavior.
• Systematic study improves ability to
accurately predict behavior.
– Assumes behavior is not random.
– Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior.
– These can be identified and modified to reflect
individual differences.
 Systematic Study
• Examines relationships.
• Attempts to attribute causes and
effects.
• Bases conclusions on scientific
evidence:
– On data gathered under controlled
conditions.
– Data is measured and interpreted in a
reasonably rigorous manner.
Evidence-Based Management
• Complements systematic
study.
• Bases decisions on the
best available scientific
evidence.
• Forces managers to
become more scientific in
their thinking.
 What are the contributing Disciplines to OB?
Or why is OB known as an interdisciplinary subject?

• OB is a HYBRID discipline. It is an applied behavioral

science drawn from the following Subjects.
•  
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Social Psychology
• Anthropology
• Political Science
• Engineering
•  
 Contributing Disciplines
Learning
Motivation
Perception
Training
Leadership effectiveness
Job satisfaction
Psychology Individual decision making
Performance appraisal
Attitude measurement
Employee selection
Work design
Work stress
Individual

Group dynamics
Work teams
Communication
Power
Conflict
Intergroup behaviour
Sociology
Formal organization theory Study of
Organizational technology Group Organizational
Organizational change Behaviour
Organizational culture

Behavioural change
Attitude change
Social psychology Communication
Group processes
Group decision making
Organization
Comparative values system
Comparative attitudes
Cross-cultural analysis
Anthropology
Organizational culture
Organizational environment

Conflict
Political science Intraorganizational politics
Power
 Contributing Disciplines
Psychology seeks to
measure,explain,
and change
behavior
Sociology studies
people in relation to their
fellow human beings

Social psychology
focuses on the
influence of people
on one another

Political science is the

Anthropology is the
study of the
study of societies
behavior of individuals
to learn about human
and groups within
beings and their activities
a political environment
Basic OB Model-Three Levels of OB Analysis
 Three Levels of Analysis in This Text’s OB
Model
Exhibit 1-5 A Basic OB Model
 Three Levels of Analysis in This Book’s OB
Model (1 of 3)
• Inputs
– Variables like personality,
group structure, and
organizational culture that
lead to processes.
– Group structure, roles, and
team responsibilities are
typically assigned
immediately before or after a
group is formed.
– Organizational structure and
culture change over time.
 Three Levels of Analysis in This Book’s OB
Model (2 of 3)
• Processes
– If inputs are like the nouns
in organizational behavior,
processes are like verbs.
– Defined as actions that
individuals, groups, and
organizations engage in as a
result of inputs, and that
lead to certain outcomes.
 Three Levels of Analysis in This Book’s OB
Model (3 of 3)
• Outcomes
– Key variables that you want
to explain or predict, and
that are affected by some
other variables.
 Few Absolutes in OB
• Impossible to make simple and accurate
generalizations
• Human beings are complex and diverse
• OB concepts must reflect situational
conditions: contingency variables

Condition Behavior
Input “A”
“C” “B”
What is the Nature/Features/Determinants of OB?

• OB studies interaction of three factors in

organization.
Individual

Group

Organization

• Interaction between internal and

external environment
Challenges and Opportunities for OB

• The workplace is contains a wide mix of cultures,

races, ethnic groups, genders and ages
• Employees have to learn to cope with rapid change
due to global competition
• Corporate loyalty has decreased due to corporate
downsizing and use of temp workers
• Managers can benefit from OB theory and concepts
Challenges and Opportunities for OB / impact of
globalization and information technology on
organizational behavior.  

• 1 .Effects of Globalization
• 2 .Managing Workforce Diversity
• 3 .Technology Transformation
• 4 .Changed Employee Expectation
 1. Effects of Globalization

• Globalization promote increased foreign assignments

and working with people from different cultures is quite
normal in today’s corporate
• Understanding the work culture of the country when
planning advertisement, outsourcing jobs to low-cost
labor countries, managing people during war, terror,
natural calamities all pose a challenge to OB.
• Increased foreign assignments
– Differing needs and aspirations in workforce
• Working with people from different cultures
– Domestic motivational techniques and managerial styles may not work
• Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-cost labor
 2. Managing Workforce Diversity
• Diversity consists of visible & non-visible
differences which include gender, age,
background, race, disability, personality and
work style. Today’s organizations are LGBT
friendly (also GLBT) is an acronym referring
collectively to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender people.
 3. Changed Employee Expectation
• Job security, salary, housing do not motivate
younger employees. Today’s Employees need
power in decision making-ESOPS and career
advancement.
 4.Technology transformation
• Technology transforms the lives of people and
companies. Changes in technology has made
the distance short. Anyone can get access to
information using internet.
• Webinars (web conferences) video
conferences made widely dispersed group
conferences possible.
 Identify the Challenges and Opportunities of
OB Concepts (1 of 12)
Exhibit 1-4 Employment Options

Sources: Based on J. R. Anderson, E. Binney, N. M. Davis, G. Kraft, S. Miller, T. Minton-Eversole, . . . and A. Wright, “Action Items: 42 Trends
Affecting Benefits, Compensation, Training, Staffing and Technology,” HR Magazine (January 2013): 33; M. Dewhurst, B. Hancock, and D.
Ellsworth, “Redesigning Knowledge Work,” Harvard Business Review (January–February 2013): 58–64; E. Frauenheim, “Creating a New
Contingent Culture,” Workforce Management (August 2012): 34–39; N. Koeppen, “State Job Aid Takes Pressure off Germany,” The Wall
Street Journal, February 1, 2013, A8; and M. A. Shaffer, M. L. Kraimer, Y.-P. Chen, and M. C. Bolino, “Choices, Challenges, and Career
Consequences of Global Work Experiences: A Review and Future Agenda,” Journal of Management (July 2012): 1282–1327.
 OB Offers Insights Into:

• Improving quality and

productivity
• Customer service and
building a customer-
responsive culture
• Developing people skills
OB Aids in Dealing With:
• Stimulating Innovation and
Change
• Increasing “temporariness”
in the workplace
• Helping employees balance
work-life conflicts
• Improving ethical behavior
 Thinking Positive
• Creating a positive work environment can be a
competitive advantage
• Positive Organizational Scholarship (Positive
OB):
– Examines how organizations develop human
strengths, foster vitality and resilience, and unlock
potential.
– Focus is on employee strengths, not their
weaknesses.
WORK TOWARDS YOUR GOALS
 Immoral or harmful
behavior

dumb

aggressive
dirty
 Implications for Managers

• OB helps with:
– Insights to improve people skills
– Valuing of workforce diversity
– Empowering people and creating a positive
work environment
– Dealing with labor shortages
– Coping in a world of temporariness
– Creating an ethically healthy work
environment
 Keep in Mind…
• OB’s goal is to understand and predict human
behavior in organizations.
• Fundamental consistencies underlie behavior.
• It is more important than ever to learn OB
concepts.
• Both managers and employees must learn to
cope with temporariness.
 Summary
1. Defined Organizational Behavior (OB).
2. Explained the value of the systematic study of OB.
3. Identified the contributions made to OB by major
behavioral science disciplines.
4. Described how OB concepts can help make
organizations more productive.
5. Listed the major challenges and opportunities for
managers to use OB concepts.
6. Identified the three levels of analysis in OB.