Organizational Behaviour

Introduction: The Human Side of Organizations

Organizational Behaviour (OB) is the study of how individuals, groups, and structures affect and are affected by behaviour within organizations. While management focuses on the technical and structural aspects of an organization, OB focuses on the "people side." It is an interdisciplinary field that draws on psychology, sociology, and anthropology to provide insights into why people behave the way they do at work. The goal of OB is to apply this knowledge toward improving an organization's effectiveness, enhancing employee well-being, and creating a more productive and positive work environment.

Module 1: The Individual in the Organization

This module focuses on the micro-level of OB, examining the individual characteristics and psychological processes that influence employee behaviour and performance.

1.1 Foundations of Individual Behaviour

• Personality: The sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. We explore key personality frameworks like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Big Five Personality Model (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) and their implications for job performance and job fit.
• Perception: The process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions to give meaning to their environment. We discuss factors influencing perception and common perceptual errors like stereotyping and the halo effect.
• Attitudes and Job Satisfaction: Attitudes are evaluative statements about objects, people, or events. Key work-related attitudes include job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment. We examine the causes and consequences of job satisfaction.
• Learning: The process through which individuals acquire new knowledge and skills. We cover key learning theories like classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning theory.

1.2 Motivation Concepts

Motivation is one of the most critical topics in OB. It refers to the processes that account for an individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. Understanding what drives employees is key to effective management.

• Early Theories of Motivation:
  • Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: A well-known theory that proposes a hierarchy of five needs: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.
  • Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory (Motivation-Hygiene Theory): Distinguishes between factors that cause job satisfaction (motivators, like achievement and recognition) and factors that prevent job dissatisfaction (hygiene factors, like salary and working conditions).
  • McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y: Contrasting assumptions about human nature, with Theory X being negative and Theory Y being positive.
• Contemporary Theories of Motivation:
  • Goal-Setting Theory: Argues that specific and difficult goals, with feedback, lead to higher performance.
  • Equity Theory: Suggests that individuals are motivated to maintain fair and equitable relationships between themselves and others. Employees compare their job inputs and outcomes with those of others.
  • Expectancy Theory: Proposes that an individual will be motivated to act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome.

Module 2: The Group in the Organization

This module shifts to the meso-level, exploring how individuals behave in groups and how group dynamics influence organizational outcomes.

2.1 Group Behaviour and Dynamics

• Defining and Classifying Groups: A group is two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who have come together to achieve particular objectives. We distinguish between formal groups (defined by the organization's structure) and informal groups (formed naturally).
• Stages of Group Development: The five-stage model: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.
• Group Properties: We examine key properties of groups, including roles, norms, status, size, and cohesiveness, and how they affect group performance.
• Group Decision Making: We compare group decision-making with individual decision-making and discuss phenomena like groupthink and groupshift.

2.2 Leadership

Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. It is a critical factor in organizational success.

• Trait Theories: Early theories that focused on identifying the personal qualities and characteristics of great leaders.
• Behavioural Theories: Theories proposing that specific behaviours differentiate leaders from non-leaders. Key studies identified two dimensions of leadership behaviour: initiating structure (task-oriented) and consideration (people-oriented).
• Contingency Theories: These theories argue that effective leadership depends on the situation. Key models include Fiedler's Contingency Model and Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Leadership Theory.
• Contemporary Leadership Theories: Modern approaches like Charismatic Leadership, Transformational Leadership (inspiring followers to transcend their self-interests for the good of the organization), and Authentic Leadership.

2.3 Conflict and Negotiation

• Conflict: A process that begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party cares about. We discuss different views of conflict (traditional, human relations, interactionist) and the conflict process.
• Negotiation: A process in which two or more parties exchange goods or services and attempt to agree upon the exchange rate for them. We explore different bargaining strategies (distributive vs. integrative) and the negotiation process.

Module 3: The Organization System

This macro-level analysis focuses on the broader organizational context, including culture and structure, and how organizations manage change.

3.1 Organizational Culture

Organizational culture is a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. It's the "personality" of the organization.

• Elements of Culture: Includes values, beliefs, assumptions, and norms of behaviour.
• Creating and Sustaining Culture: We examine how founders, selection processes, and socialization help create and maintain an organization's culture.
• Impact of Culture: A strong culture can be a powerful asset, enhancing organizational commitment and consistency in employee behaviour.

3.2 Organizational Change and Development

Organizations today operate in a constantly changing environment. The ability to manage change effectively is a key determinant of survival and success.

• Forces for Change: Includes factors like technology, economic shocks, competition, and social trends.
• Resistance to Change: We analyze why individuals and organizations often resist change.
• Managing Change: We discuss models for managing organizational change, such as Lewin's Three-Step Model (Unfreezing, Movement, Refreezing) and Kotter's 8-Step Plan.
• Organizational Development (OD): A collection of planned-change interventions, built on humanistic-democratic values, that seeks to improve organizational effectiveness and employee well-being.