UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZATIONAL

BEHAVIOR………
To provide an understanding of what goes on at the workplace,it is
useful to begin with the definition,goals,forces and major
characteristics of organizational behavior.
Definition:
Organizational behavior is the systematic study and careful
application of knowledge about how people-as individuals and as
groups-act within organizations.It strives to identify ways in which
people can act more effectively.OB is a scientific discipline in
which a large number of research studies and conceptual
developments are constantly adding to its knowledge base. It is
also an applied science, in that information about effective
practices in one organization is being extended to many others.
Organizational behavior provides a useful set of tools at
many levels of analysis.For example,it helps managers look at the
behavior of individuals within an organization. It also aids their
understanding of the complexities involved in interpersonal
relations,when two people interact.
At the next level,organizational behavior is valuable for
examining the dynamics of relationships within small groups,both
formal teams and informal groups.When two or more groups need
to coordinate their efforts,such as engineering and sales,managers
become interested in the intergroup relations that emerge.
 GOALS…….
Most scinces share four goals-to describe,understand,predict
and control some phenomena.These are also called goals of
organizational behavior.
The first objective is to describe,systematically,how people behave
under a variety of conditions.achieving this goal allows managers
to communicate about human behavior at work using a common
language.For example,one benefit from the study of this book is
the acquisition of a new vocabulary about organizational behavior.
A second goal is to understand why people behave as they
do.Managers would be highly frustrated if they could only talk
about behaviors of their employees,but not understand the reasons
behind those actions.Therefore,inquisitive managers learn to probe
for underlying explanations.
Predicting future is another goal of organizational
behavior.Ideally,managers would have the capacity to predict
which employees might be dedicated and productive or which ones
might be absent,tardy,or disruptive on a certain day.
The final goal of organizational behavior is to control,at
least partially,and develop some human activity at work.Since
managers are held responsible for performance outcomes,they are
vitally interested in being able to make an impact on employee
behavior,skill development,team effort,and productivity.Managers
need to be able to improve results thorugh the actions they and
their employees take,and organizational behavior can aid them in
their pursuit of this goal.
 FORCES……..
A complex set of forces affects the nature of organizations
today.a wide array of issues and trends in these forces can be
classified into four areas-people,structure,technology,and the
environment in which the organization operates.When people work
together in an organization accomplish an objective,some kind of
structure of formal relationships is required.

PEOPLE:
People make up the internal social system of the
organization.That system consists of individuals and groups,and
large groups as well as small ones.There are unofficial,informal
groups and more official,formal ones.Groups are dynamic.They
form,change,and disband.People are the living,thinking,feeling
beings who work in the organization to achieve their objectives.We
must remember that organizations exists to serve people,rather
than people existing to serve organizations.

STRUCTURE:
Structure defines the formal relationship and use of
people in organizations.Different jobs are required to accomplish
all of an organization’s activities.There are managers and
employees,accountants and assemblers.These people have to be
related in some structural way so that their work can be effectively
coordinated.These relationships create complex problems of
cooperation,negotiation,and decision making.Many organizational
structures have become flat.

THE NATURE OF PEOPLE…..

With regard to people,there are six basic concepts:individual
differences,perception,a whole person,motivated behavior,desire
for involvement,and value of the person.

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES:
People have much in common,but each person in he
world is also individually different.The idea of individual
differences is supported by science.Each person is different,as far
as we know.And these differences are usually substantial rather
than meaningless.

PERCEPTION:
People look at the world and see things differently.Even
when presented with the same object,to people may view it in two
different ways.Their view of their objective environment is filtered
by perception,which is the unique way in which each person
sees,organizes,and interprets things.people use an organizes
framework that they have built out of a lifetime of experiences and
accumulated values.Having unique views in another way in which
people act like human beings rather than rational machines.

A WHOLE PERSON:
Although some organizations may wish they could
employ only a person’s skill or brain,they actually employ a whole
person rather than certain charactersistics.Different human traits
may be studied separately,but in the final analysis they are all part
of one system making up a whole person.Skill does not exist apart
from background or knowledge.Home life is not totally separable
from work life.

MOTIVATED BEHAVIOR:
 From pyschology we learn that normal behavior has
certain causes.These may relate to a person’s needs or the
consequences that result from acts.In the case of needs,people are
motivated not by what we think they ought to have but by what
they themselves want.To an outside observer,a person’s needs may
be unrealistic,but they are still controlling.

DESIRE FOR INVOLVMENT:

Many employees today are actively seeking
opportunities at work to become involved in relevant
decisions,thereby contributing their talents and ideas to the
organization’s success.They hunger for the chance to share what
they know and to learn from the
experiences.Consequently,organizations need to provide
opportunities for meaningful involvement.This can be achieved
through employee empowerment-a practice that will result in
mutual benefit for both parties.

VALUE OF PERSON:
People deserve to be treated differently from other
factors of production because they are of a higher order in the
universe.because of this distinction,they want to be treated with
caring,respect and dignity;increaseingly,they demand such
treatment from their employers.They refuse to accept the old idea
that they are simply economic tools.They want to be valued for
their skills and abilities and to be provided with opportunities to
develop themselves.