INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN BEHAVIOR IN

ORGANIZATIONS

TOPIC I

ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR

Instructor:
Dr. S. Sahney
Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur

Source of Slides: 1. Robbins 2. Luthans 3. Pareek 4.Self

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WHAT IS AN “ORGANIZATION”?

“A group of two or more people bound together by reporting

relationships and accepted ways of working together, to
achieve goals by performing tasks on a continuing basis.”
“An organization is a collection of people working together to
achieve a common purpose, with that purpose being to
produce goods and/ or services that satisfy the needs of
customers or clients”.

A consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or

more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to
achieve a common goal or set of goals.

Organizations are complex human systems.

WHAT IS “ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR” ?

- Individual and Group Behavior of people in an organization

and a study and analysis of the same for enhancing
organizational performance.

- Defined formally as the study of individual and group

behavior in organizations

What/which people ?
· Manager
· Employees
Organization behavior is a field of management that is
primarily concerned with the understanding, predicting and
influencing human behavior in organizations.

It focuses on the individuals, groups and the interaction

between them.
According to Robbins,

“Organization 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
towards improving an organizations effectiveness”.
FEATURES OF ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR (OB):

1. Represents a behavioral approach to management.

2. Apart of general management and not the whole of it.

3. Contains a body of theory, research and applications related to

concern for people at the workplace.

4. Its study helps in predicting and understanding the human

behavior at work.
5. OB is a science as well as an art. The systematic
knowledge about human behavior is a science. The
application of behavioral knowledge and skills is indicative of
its being an art.

6. Influenced by several other behavioral sciences and social

sciences like psychology, sociology, anthropology and
economics. It is interdisciplinary.

7. OB involves three levels of analysis of behavior-individual

behavior, group behavior and behavior of the organization
itself.

8. It is a total systems approach.

How/ by what is the behavior influenced ?

- Interactions between people in the organization.

What is the driver of these interactions ?

1. Work needs
2. Social needs

- of individuals and groups

NEED OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN BEHAVIOR:

1) Understanding of human behavior: Individual behavior,

Inter-personal behavior, Group behavior/dynamics.

2) Integration of individual and organizational goals.

3) Control and modification of behavior: Use of power, use of

communication networks, use of leadership, conflict
management,

4) Motivation and leading of personnel

5) Introduction of organizational change

6) Building good human relations

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR:

Human behavior can be understood at the three levels of

analysis, viz., individual, groups and organization.

- Behavior at the individual level

- Behavior at the group level
- Behavior at the organizational level

Individual, group and enterprise levels of dynamics differ.

OB provides for understanding human behavior in all the

directions in which human beings interact.

OB investigates the impact of individuals, groups & structure

on an organization.
Behavior at all the three levels is interdependent and interrelated
The three basic levels are analogous to building blocks; each level is
constructed upon the previous level.
Managers need to develop understanding and insights into
this three tier continuum of human systems in organizations.

Some understanding of individual behaviour, group behaviour

and enterprise culture is essential for successful functioning of
managers.
1. Behavior at the individual level:

-Organizations are made up of individual members.

- Each individual human being is unique, in physical, intellectual

and emotional characteristics, making a complex whole.

- People enter organizations with certain characteristics that will

influence their behavior at work.

-The individual is the central feature of OB and a necessary part

of any behavioral situation, whether acting in isolation or as a
part of a group.

-The behavior of individuals is complex and is affected by a large

number of factors such as personality, attitudes, perception,
learning, motivation, social, cultural and other factors.
Concept of Individual Behavior:

Individual behavior means some concrete action by a person.

It is a function of both the person (P) and his environment (E).

B=f (P * E)

-The behavior of an individual is determined by his personal

characteristics and the environmental setting in which he
operates.

-The personal characteristics of an individual and the

environmental variable have an effect upon each other.
If both individual and environmental variables are considered,
there can be:

a) Differences in behavior an individual over time (intra-

individual)

b) Differences in behavior among individuals given the same

set of stimuli (inter-individual)
 Individual Behavior is
caused by

Individual variables: Environmental/Situatio

1. Physiological variables nal variables:
-Age 1. Organizational
-Gender variables
-Physical features -Organization structure
-Organizational
2. Socio-psychological processes
variables: -Organizational climate
-Personality
-Perception 2. Job variables
-Learning -Nature of job
-Motivation -Work environment
-Attitudes and values
-Socio-cultural factors

Factors influencing Individual Behavior

The level of complexity increases manifold when two
individuals interact.

In organizations, there are many individuals, each unique and

complex and all interacting with each other which creates a
highly complex human dynamic system.
2. Behavior at the group level:

Behavioral pattern is also affected by the groups to which they

belong.

People behave differently in groups than as individuals.

The behavior of people in groups is more than the sum total of

all the individuals acting in their own way.

Several factors influence the behavior of groups such as group

goals, norms, communication, leadership, cohesiveness, etc.

Understanding of group dynamics is necessary to improve

efficiency and effectiveness.
3. Behavior at the organization level:

An organization is a system composed of several

interdependent individuals and groups.

Individuals and groups operate within the structure of a formal

organization.
 Individual level:
Personality
Attitudes and values Individual behavior
Learning,
Motivation
Social, cultural and other
factors

Group level:
Leadership Organization
Group behavior Behavior
Power and politics
Communication
Conflict

Organization system level:

Organization culture
Organization
Stress management
Organizational change and
development
Morale and Productivity

Factors in Individual, Group and Organizational system

Behavior
INDIVIDUAL VARIABLES:

1. Physiological variables:

- the biographical characteristics/Personal characteristics of an

individual.

- Personal characteristics of an individual like age, gender,

physical features (sensory organs, physical build up, nervous
system), heredity, marital status, number of dependents etc.
determine the behavior of an individual. These have an effect on
the ability.

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2. Socio-psychological variables:
- include various psychological processes like personality
development, perception, learning, motivation, attitude and values.

a) Personality:
-Personality denotes the psychological characteristics of a person
that influence his behavior towards goal achievement.
-It is the sum total of ways in which an individual interacts with
others.

b) Perception:
-Perception is the viewpoint by which one interprets a situation.

c) Learning:
-Learning is any permanent change in the behavior of a person
that occurs as a result of experience.
-It is accompanied by acquisition of knowledge, skills and
expertise which are relatively permanent.
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d) Motivation:
-Motivation refers to all the forces operating within a person to cause him
to engage in certain kind of behavior.

e) Attitude:
An attitude may be defined as the way a person feels about something.

f) Socio-cultural factors:
-includes the relationship with family members, friends, co-workers,
supervisors and subordinates.
- every individual has a cultural background which shapes his values and
beliefs.
- the socio-cultural factors moderate the effect of other factors to
determine the behavior of an individual.

g) Ability:
-It refers to an individual’s capacity to perform his job. An individual’s
ability is of two kinds: intellectual and physical. The abilities required to
perform mental work are called mental abilities and these include
aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed and inductive
reasoning. Physical abilities include stamina, strength and similar skills. 24
ENVIRONMENTAL/SITUATIONAL VARIABLES:

1.Organizational factors:
-these include the organization policies, processes, structure and
hierarchy, leadership, communication, motivation, control
techniques, organization climate etc.

2. Job variables:
-these include the nature of job and work environment.

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 Variables that Influence Work Behavior

Organizational
Individual Variables
Variables
Demographic factors Work Behavior
Resources
Abilities and skills Productive
Leadership
Perception Nonproductive
Rewards
Attitudes Counterproductive
Structure
Personality
Job Design

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 A CONTINGENCY MODEL OF OB
 The Dependent Variables:
Dependent variables are the key factors that you want to explain or
predict and that are affected by some other factor.
- Productivity
- Absenteeism
- Turnover
- Organizational citizenship
- Job satisfaction
 The Independent Variables
- Individual
- Group
- Organizational system
 Situational factors:
Variables that moderate the relationship between two or more other
variables and improve the correlation.
Basic OB Model
 CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB FIELD
Organizational behavior is an applied behavioral science that is
built ponN contributions from a number of behavioral
disciplines.

The predominant areas are psychology, sociology, social

psychology, anthropology, and political science.
Psychology
The science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes
change the behavior of humans and other animals.

CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB FIELD

CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB FIELD

Sociology
The study of people in relation to their fellow human beings.
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB FIELD

Social Psychology
An area within psychology that blends concepts from
psychology and sociology and that focuses on the influence
of people on one another.
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB FIELD

Anthropology
The study of societies to learn about human beings and
their activities.
CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB FIELD

Political Science
The study of the behavior of individuals and groups
within a political environment.
 CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OB

I. Responding to Globalization
- no longer constrained by national boundaries
- managers are likely to find themselves in a foreign assignment;
- coping with foreign assignments
- globalization affects a manager’s people skills
- cultural diversity within organizations
- managing restructuring

II. Managing Workplace Diversity

- organizations are becoming more diverse in race, ethnicity and
values
- workforce diversity has important implications for management
practice
III. Improving Quality and Productivity
-quality management programs
-continuous improvement
-training and development

IV. Improving Customer Service and People Skills

-employee attitudes are directly related to customer
satisfaction
-people skills are essential to managerial effectiveness

V. Empowering People
- increasing reliance on self-managed teams

VI. Stimulating Innovation and Change

- managers must stimulate employees’ creativity & tolerance
for change
VII. Coping with “Temporariness”
-organizations must be flexible and fast to survive
-workers need to update knowledge & skills
-managers & employees must learn to cope with
temporariness

VIII. Working in Networked Organizations

- manager’s job is fundamentally different in networked
organizations.
- challenges of motivating and leading “online” require different
techniques.

IX. Helping Employees Balance Work-Life Conflicts

-creation of global workforce
-technology and anyplace anytime
-Balancing work and life demands