S

ANURAG SHARMA'

NETCRACKERS
UGC NET|CTET|DSSSB|KVS|MA
C
AWAYTOWARDSSUCCESSFULACADEMI
CAREER

ORGANI
ZATI
ONAL BEHAVI
OR

COMMERCE
&
MANAGEMENT
NTA UGC NET/ JRF
 INDIA’S NO.1 NTA UGC NET/ JRF COACHING |1

INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

The success of every organization depends upon the efficiency and effectiveness of the
management and the effectiveness of the management depends primarily on its human skills
and how well it understands the needs and desires of the people Organizational behavior
actually refers to the behavior of the people in the organizations because organizations
themselves do not behave .It is an accepted fact that an organization can develop only when its
people are developed. Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact
that individuals, group and structure have on behavior within organizations. It covers three
determinants of behavior within organizations – individuals, group and structure. It is an
applied field because it applies the knowledge gained about individuals, and the effect of
structure on behavior, in order to make organizations work more effectively. Organizational
behavior is an academic discipline concerned with describing, understanding, predicting and
controlling human behavior in an organizational environment.

The importance & scope of Organizational Behavior & their study is growing rapidly due to
changing cultural, ethical and business environment of Organization. Manager should
concentrate on employee’s nature, reaction and response to different situations of organization
which are becoming an important part in today’s scenario. The present-day changing conditions
like fast paced organizational change, fast changing technology, shorter life cycles for products
work force diversity, declining loyalty, skill deficiencies increased demand for flexibility,
continuous improving quality of people in organizations. Organizations have been described as
groups of people who interact to accomplish shared objectives. The study of organizational
behavior and its connected subjects help us to understand what people think, and do in
organizational settings. Organizational behavior is the study of how people behave both
individually and within informal and formal groups. Every organization’s performance is
ultimately dependent on the motivational levels of its human resources and the willingness and
ability of people to work harmoniously and effectively towards the accomplishment of shared
goals. In this discipline, we will explore and examine the interrelationships of individual
personality and work, the characteristics of organizations and their environments and the
challenges presented by the ever-changing combination of these factors. Organizational
Behavior helps to understand different activities and actions of people in organization. It also
helps to motivate them. People, Environment, Technology and structure are the main four
elements of organizational behavior. Simply the scope of this mix is the scope of organizational
Behavior.

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DEFINITION OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR (O.B)

“Organizational Behavior is the study of human behavior in the workplace, the interaction
between people and the organization, and the organization itself.”

Keith Davis and John Newstrom (1985) has defined O.B. as "the study and application of
knowledge how people act or behave within organization. It is a human tool for human benefit.
It applies broadly to the behavior of people in all types of organizations such as business,
government, schools and service organizations."

In the opinion of Robbins, "O.B. is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals,
groups and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such
knowledge towards improving an organization's effectiveness". The above definitions are
comprehensive ones as these contain all characteristics of O.B. In brief, what O.B. studies are
three determinants of behavior in organizations individuals, groups and structure.

Organizational behavior in the words of Keith Davis may be defined as - "Organizational

behavior is the study and application of knowledge about human behavior in organizations as it
relates to other system elements, such as structure, technology and the external social system.
To sum up, O.B. is concerned with the study of how and what people act in organizations and
also how their acts affect the performance of the organization. It also applies the knowledge
gained about individuals, groups and the effect of structure on human behavior in order to
make organizations work more effectively.

Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups
and structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such
knowledge toward improving an organization's effectiveness. An organization is a collection of
people who work together to achieve a wide variety of goals, both goals of the various
individuals in the organization and goals of the organization as a whole.

Organizations exist to provide goods and services that people want. These goods and services
are the products of the behaviors of workers. Organizational behavior is the study of the many
factors that have an impact on how individuals and groups respond to and act in organizations
and how organizations manage their environments. Although many people assume that
understanding human behavior in organizations is intuitive, many commonly held beliefs about
behavior in organizations, such as the idea that a "happy worker is a productive worker," are
either entirely false or true only in specific situations. The study of organizational behavior

Address – 2 Floor 58/1 Kalu Sarai HDFC ATM, Near Hauz Khas Metro Station Gate No. 4, 110016 Delhi
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provides a set of tools—concepts and theories—that help people understand, analyze and
describe what goes on in organizations and why. How do the characteristics of individuals,
groups, work situations and the organization itself affect how members feel about their
organization? The ability to use the tools of organizational behavior to understand behavior in
organizations is one reason for studying this subject. A second reason is to learn how to apply
these concepts, theories and techniques to improve behavior in organizations so that
individuals, groups and organizations can achieve their goals. Managers are challenged to find
new ways to motivate and coordinate employees to ensure that their goals are aligned with
organizational goals.

HISTORY OF ORGANIZATIONAL STUDY

The Greek philosopher Plato wrote about the essence of leadership. Aristotle addressed the
topic of persuasive communication. The writings of 16th century Italian philosopher Niccolò
Machiavelli laid the foundation for contemporary work on organizational power and politics. In
1776, Adam Smith advocated a new form of organizational structure based on the division of
labour. One hundred years later, German sociologist Max Weber wrote about rational
organizations and initiated discussion of charismatic leadership. Soon after, Frederick Winslow
Taylor introduced the systematic use of goal setting and rewards to motivate employees. In the
1920s, Australian-born Harvard professor Elton Mayo and his colleagues conducted productivity
studies at Western Electric's Hawthorne plant in the United States. Though it traces its roots
back to Max Weber and earlier, organizational studies is generally considered to have begun as
an academic discipline with the advent of scientific management in the 1890s, with Taylorism
representing the peak of this movement. Proponents of scientific management held that
rationalizing the organization with precise sets of instructions and time motion studies would
lead to increased productivity. Studies of different compensation systems were carried out.
After the First World War, the focus of organizational studies shifted to analysis of how human
factors and psychology affected organizations, a transformation propelled by the identification
of the Hawthorne Effect. This Human Relations Movement focused on teams, motivation and
the actualization of the goals of individuals within organizations. The Second World War further
shifted the field, as the invention of large-scale logistics and operations research led to a
renewed interest in rationalist approaches to the study of organizations. Interest grew in theory
and methods native to the sciences, including systems theory, the study of organizations with a
complexity theory perspective and complexity strategy. Influential work was done by Herbert
Alexander Simon and James G. March and the so-called "Carnegie School" of organizational
behavior.

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In the 1960s and 1970s, the field was strongly influenced by social psychology and the emphasis
in academic study was on quantitative research. An explosion of theorizing, much of it at
Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon, produced Bounded Rationality, Informal Organization,
Contingency Theory, Resource Dependence, Institutional Theory and Organizational Ecology
theories, among many others. Starting in the 1980s, cultural explanations of organizations and
change became an important part of study. Qualitative methods of study became more
acceptable, informed by anthropology, psychology and sociology. A leading scholar was Karl
Weick.

SPECIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS

Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) was the first person who attempted to study human
behavior at work using a systematic approach. Taylor studied human characteristics, social
environment, task, physical environment, capacity, speed, durability, cost and their interaction
with each other. His overall objective was to reduce and/or remove human variability. Taylor
worked to achieve his goal of making work behaviors stable and predictable so that maximum
output could be achieved. He relied strongly upon monetary incentive systems, believing that
humans are primarily motivated by money. He faced some strong criticism, including being
accused of telling managers to treat workers as machines without minds, but his work was very
productive and laid many foundation principles for modern management study.
Mary Parker Follett was a pioneer management consultant in the industrial world. As a writer,
she provided analyses on workers as having complex combinations of attitude, beliefs and
needs. She told managers to motivate employees on their job performance, a "pull" rather than
a "push" strategy. Douglas McGregor proposed two theories/assumptions, which are very
nearly the opposite of each other, about human nature based on his experience as a
management consultant. His first theory was "Theory X", which is pessimistic and negative; and
according to McGregor it is how managers traditionally perceive their workers. Then, in order
to help managers, replace that theory/assumption, he gave "Theory Y" which takes a more
modern and positive approach. He believed that managers could achieve more if they start
perceiving their employees as self-energized, committed, responsible and creative beings. By
means of his Theory Y, he in fact challenged the traditional theorists to adopt a developmental
approach to their employees. He also wrote a book, 'The Human Side of Enterprise', in 1960;
this book has become a foundation for the modern view of employees at work. Organizational
behavior is currently a growing field. Organizational studies departments generally form part of
business schools, although many universities also have industrial psychology and industrial
economics programs.

Address – 2 Floor 58/1 Kalu Sarai HDFC ATM, Near Hauz Khas Metro Station Gate No. 4, 110016 Delhi
Ph - +91 9910904619, +91 7042809970, +91 8448032924
www.netcrackers.net