An Overview of Human Behavior in Organization It refers to institutions or forces outside the organization that

potentially affect the organization’s performance. It includes

suppliers, customers, competitors, government regulatory
Human Behavior – refers to the physical action of a person agencies, and public pressure groups.
that can be seen or heard such as smiling or whistling. With
his thoughts, feelings, emotions, and sentiments, the person
exhibits behaviors similar or different when he is in or out of THE BENEFITS OF STUDYING OB
organizations.
1. Development of people skills
Human behavior in organization is more appropriately
2. Personal growth
referred to as a organizational behavior (OB).
3. Enhancement of the organizational and individual
effectiveness
Organizational Behavior (OB) – may be defined as the study
4. Sharpening and refinement of common sense
of human behavior in organization, and of the organization
itself.

A Brief History of Organization Behavior

THE GOALS OF OB

The three goals of OB are as follows: The origins of OB can be traced to the following:
1. To describe behavior

2. To explain behavior; 1. The human relations approach

3. To predict behavior; and a. The scientific management approach by Frederick W.
Taylor.
4. To control behavior
He was the well-known disciple of the scientific management
movement.
THE ELEMENTS OF OB
The primary purpose of scientific management was the
application of scientific methods to increase the individual
worker’s productivity.
1. People
Taylor used scientific analysis and experiment to increase
The internal social system of the organization is composed of
worker output. He did it by regarding individuals as
people consisting of individual persons and groups. The
equivalents of machine parts and assigned them specific
individual person is inducted as a member of an informal
repetitive tasks.
group, but soon, he or she may become a member of an
informal group.

2. Structure b. The human relations approach by Elton Mayo and others

The structure defines the formal relationship of people in the Elton Mayo and his research team conducted the Hawthorne
organization. It describes how job tasks are formally divided, studies in 1920 to determine what effect hours of work,
grouped and coordinated. periods of rests and lighting might have on worker fatigue
and productivity.

It was discovered that the social environment have an

3. Technology
equivalent if not greater effect on productivity than the
Technology refers to the combination of resources, physical environment. Mayo concluded that social interaction
knowledge and techniques with which people work and is a factor for increased productivity.
affect the task that they perform. It consists of buildings,
machines, work process, and assembled resources.

2. The personality theories

4. Environment
a. Freud’s model
A great contributor is the psychologist Sigmund Freud who
brought the idea that people are motivated by far more than
Fritz Perl’s contribution is the Gestalt psychology wherein the
conscious logical reasoning.
person is seen as being plagued by numerous split, or
Freud believed that irrational motives make up the hidden conflicting desires and needs, which dissipate energy and
subconscious mind, which determines the major part of interfere with that person’s ability to achieve his
people’s behavior. potential.

The object Gestalt psychology is to integrate conflicting

needs into an organized whole, in which all parts of a person
work together towards growth and development.

Abraham Maslow - For his part, he forwarded his model

which espouses the idea of developing the personality
toward the ultimate achievement of human potential. This
process is referred to as self-actualization.

b. The behaviorist approach by Watson and Skinner

Through an approach called behaviorism, another eminent

psychologist, J.B. Watson, formulated the theory about
learned behavior. This theory indicated that a person can be
trained to behave according to the wish of the trainer.

B.F. Skinner - He extended Watson’s theory with his own

theory of behavior modification. Skinner concluded that
when people receive a positive stimulus like money or praise
for what they have done, they will tend to repeat their
behavior. When they are ignored and receive no response to
the action, they will not be inclined to repeat it.

c. The humanist approach by Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls, and

Abraham Maslow

The humanist movement is another important aspect in the

development of OB. It is composed of a group of psychologist
and three prominent contributors – Carl Rogers, Fritz Perls,
and Abraham Maslow

Rogers focused on the person as an individual instead of

adhering to a rigid methodology. He believes that people Ethics and Organizational Behavior
should acquire their own values and attitudes rather than be
committed to a fixed set of prescribed goals.
Ethics – refers to the set of moral choices as person makes
based on what he or she ought to do.
The more self-directed and aware people are, the better they
Organizational Ethics – these are the moral principles that
are able to develop their own individual values and adapt to
define right or wrong behavior in organizations.
a changing environment.
Ethical Behavior – this refers to behavior that is accepted as
morally “good” and “right” as opposes to “bad” and “wrong”

What constitutes right and wrong behavior in organization

is determined by:

 The public

 Interest group

 Organizations

 The individual’s personal morals and values

ETHICAL ISSUES

There are important ethical issues that confront

organizations. They consist of the following:

 Conflict of interest

 Fairness and honesty

 Communications

 Relationships within the organization