OB and its Nature

Organizational behavior-Definition &
Nature
Organizational behavior- it is made out of
two words “organization” and “behavior.”
What is an organization?
Organization as two or more individuals who
are interacting with each other within a
deliberately structured set up and working in
an interdependent way to achieve some
common objective/s. Organizations play a
major role in pur lives. We possibly cannot
think of a single moment in our lives when we
are not depending on rganizations in some
form or the other. Right from the public
transport that you use to come to your
institute, the institutes itself, the class you are
attending at this moment, are all examples of
organizations.
What is Behavior?
It is the behavior of the people working in an
organization to achieve common goals or
objectives. Organization comprises of people
with different attitudes, cultures, beliefs,
norms and values.
So let us understand organizational behavior
and what it exactly it means. “Organizational
Behavior” cam be defined as the study of what
people think, feel, and do in and around
organizations. The study of Organizational
Behavior facilitates the process of explaining,
understanding) predicting, maintaining, and
changing employee behavior in an
organizational setting. The value of
organizational behavior is that: it isolates
important aspects of the
manager’s job and offers specific perspective
on the human side of management:
• People as organizations,
• People as resources,
• People as people
In other words, it involves the understanding,
prediction and control of human behavior and
factors affecting their performance and
interaction among the organizational members.
And because organizational behavior is
concerned specifically with employment –
related situations, you should not be surprised
to find that it emphasizes behavior as related-
to concerns such as jobs, work, absenteeism,
employment turnover, productivity, human
performance and management
Nature of Organizational Behavior (OB)
Organizational behavior is an applied
behavioral science that is built on
contributions from a number of behavioral
disciplines such as psychology, sociology,
social psychology, anthropology and
economics.
Psychology
Psychology is the study of human behavior
which tries to identify the characteristics of
individuals and provides an understanding why
an individual behaves in a particular way. This
thus provides us with useful insight into areas
such as human motivation, perceptual
processes or personality characteristics.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of social behavior,
relationships among social groups and
societies, and the maintenance of social order.
The main focus of attention is on the social
system.
This helps us to appreciate the functioning of
individuals within the organization which is
essentially a socio-technical entity.
Social psychology
Social psychology is the study of human
behavior in the context of social situations.
This essentially addresses the problem of
understanding the typical behavioral patterns
to be expected from an individual when he
takes part in a group.
Anthropology
Anthropology is the science of mankind and
the study of human behavior as a whole. The
main focus of attention is on the cultural
system, beliefs, customs, ideas and values
within a group or society and the comparison
of behavior among different cultures. In the
context of today’s organizational scenario. It is
very important to appreciate the differences
that exist among people coming from different
cultural backgrounds as people are often found
to work with others from the other side of the
globe.
Economics
Any organization to survive and sustain must
be aware of the economic viability of their
effort. This applies even to the non-profit and
voluntary organizations as well.
Political Science
Although frequently overlooked, the
contributions of political scientists are
significant to the understand arrangement in
organizations. It studies individuals and groups
within specific conditions concerning the
power dynamics. Important topics under here
include structuring of conflict, allocation of
power and how people manipulate power for
individual self-interest etc.

Introduction to ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR (OB)

Organisational Behavior

OB is the study and application of knowledge about the human behavior in order to obtain organisational effectiveness.

As we know that many people come together at the workplace. They come from diverse backgrounds, diverse religions, diverse regions. Different people have different values, beliefs, tastes and ideas. All these factors make up a structure that shapes the behavior of the people. OB strives to understand this structure. OB strives to understand these factors. OB strives to know what makes up a particular behavior in an individual level and how beneficial or detrimental is that behavior to the organisation. OB studies about the behavior of individuals in order to change them favourably. Hence, OB is the study of the various factors that make up the behaviour of individuals and then the application of the knowledge obtained in order to mould their behavior in such a way so as to make it beneficial to the organisational effectiveness.

OB also studies how people behave differently at their individual level and at the workplace or organisational level. OB understands all causes.

OB is a subject that consists of studies varying from Anthropology, Psychology, Industrial Relations, History, Sociology, etc. The roots of OB lie as back as the advent of Scientific Management and Human Relations Movement of 1940. Today, OB is studied at colleges and universities as a full-fledged subject and is practically applied at organisations.