Organisational Behaviour

(BBA 231)

Unit 1. Introduction to Organizational Behavior

Halaswamy D PhD
Assistant Professor
School of Business & Management
MISSION VISION CORE VALUES
CHRIST is a nurturing ground for an individual’s Excellence and Service Faith in God | Moral Uprightness
holistic development to make effective contribution to Love of Fellow Beings
the society in a dynamic environment Social Responsibility | Pursuit of Excellence
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Meaning of OB
Organization behaviour is all about how human beings are behaving and
interacting with each other in an organization to complete their work.

The study is no doubt beneficial for the managers as it helps them to make
accurate predictions about behaviour, but it is equally essential for the
employees as it helps to clarify their personal goals and understand the
factors that are affecting them.

Study of organizational behaviour is necessary as it improves job

satisfaction, boosts productivity and performances, fosters better
leadership, increases motivation and facilitates better collaborations within
teams and cross-teams.

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Definition of OB
Stephen P. Robbins Pearsons (Professor emeritus of management at San Diego State
University )-

“OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups
and structures have on behaviour within organisations for the purpose of
applying such knowledge towards improving an organisation’s
effectiveness.”
John W. Newstrom, Keith Davis (McGraw-Hill/Irwin)
- “OB is the study and application of knowledge about how people act
within organisations.”

Fred Luthans, Distinguished Professor of Management, Emeritus at the University of

Nebraska–Lincoln“Behaviour is directly concerned with the understanding,
prediction and control of human behaviour in organisations.”
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Why Study Organizational Behaviour?
● The study of OB has become crucial as organizations across the world deal with the
far-reaching economic and social consequences of the meltdown in global financial
markets.

● The challenges they encounter can be managed by having an understanding of

human behaviour.

● The success of any organization in today’s dynamic and volatile business

environment is dependent upon the motivation and commitment of its employees.

● It is in this context that the significance of organizational behaviour comes into play.
The study of organizational behaviour has also assumed importance as people from
diverse backgrounds and with different cultural values have to work together in the
global economy.

● The competencies required to create a successful organization can be built and

developed.
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Contribution from other disciplines

1) Psychology :
The terms psychology comes from the Greek word ‘Psyche’ meaning
soul or spirit.
Psychology is the science that seeks to measure, explain and
sometimes change the behaviour of human beings.

Psychology studies processes of human behaviour, such as learning,

motivation, perception, individual and group decision-making, pattern
of influences change in organization, group process, satisfaction,
communication, selection and training also such above concepts are
used in Organization Behaviour.

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2) Anthropology :
The term anthropology combines the Greek term ‘anthropo’ meaning man
and the noun ending ‘logy’ meaning science.

Thus, anthropology can be defined as the science of man.

It is also known as ‘science of humanity’.

It studies the relationship between individuals and their environment.

The major contributions of Anthropology in the field of OB are Comparative

values, Comparative attitudes, Cross-culture analysis, Organization
environment etc.
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3) Political Science :

Political science is the branch of social science which deals with political
system and political behaviours.

In other words, political science helps us to understand the dynamics of

power and politics within organizations which includes conflict resolution,
group coalition, and allocation of power etc.

The main contributions of political science in the field of OB have been

concerned mainly with Conflict, Intra-organizational policies and Power.

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4) Economics :
Economists study the production, distribution and consumption of goods
and services.

The economic conditions of a country have long lasting impact on

organizational behaviour.

If psychological and economic expectations of employee are met, they are

satisfied and become high performers.

Economic systems include financial, commercial and industrial activities

which have greater influences on the behaviour of the people.
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5) Engineering :
Engineering also influences organisational behaviour.
Some topics are common to engineering as well as organisational
behaviour
e.g.
▪work measurement,
▪productivity measurement,
▪work flow analysis,
▪work design,
▪job design and
▪labour relations etc.
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6) Medical Science :

Stress is becoming a very common problem in the organisations.

Research shows that controlling the causes and consequences of stress in

and out of organisational settings, is important for the well being of the
individual as well as the organisations.

Medicine helps in the control of stress as well as stress related problems.

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7) Sociology :
Sociology also has a major impact on the study of organisational
behaviour.

Sociology makes use of scientific methods in accumulating knowledge

about the social behaviour of the groups.

Sociology contributes to organisational behaviour through the study of

interpersonal dynamics like leadership, group dynamics, communication
etc.

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CASE STUDY 1: Does the “Human Touch” Work?

The executives of the Standard Co. used to refer to their distribution department
sarcastically as an “elephant’s graveyard.” It appeared equivalent to little more than just
taking orders from the customers and mixing papers and making employees depressed all
the time. But that was before Anubha Patel, 34, came along.
Person with a Human Touch : After a brief stint as a trader with Anees Inc., Patel set out
for one of the premier business schools in India. She graduated in the top 10% of her
class. In 2004, she headed a taskforce to deal with the contamination crisis that
surrounded the soft-drink industry. In May 2007, she became Standard’s first woman
marketing director. Anubha Patel lives in Ahmedabad with her husband and an
18-month-old daughter.
Anubha Patel ensures that she is not one of the “number game players,” unlike a few of
her classmates at the management school. She visualizes herself as a person with a
human touch, an outcome of the strong familial bonds with which she was brought up in a
small town in the western part of India. When enquired about her corporate
responsibilities, her reaction is, “You should make it possible for your employees to feel
so committed to their jobs and organizations that they never ever dream of leaving the
company at all.”
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Contd…
Patel gives credit for her success to her innate “people” management skills—something
that makes her different from her contemporaries. “She believes in taking care of her
people fi rst and then everything takes care of itself,” says her husband, Anubhav. The
vice president of Standard says, “Anubha has the ability to get the maximum from her
people; she can make them develop faith in themselves, which otherwise might be
lacking. And she proved it at the beginning of her stint at Standard.”
She started a programme in the company where peers had to identify the best employee
in a situation and nominate them for special recognition. Employees were given citations,
and this proved to be a great morale booster. After a certain period, employees with
maximum number of such citations were designated as “king” or “queen” for a day by the
human resources department and were entitled to princely treatment for the day.
Patel also attempted to break age-old practices followed in Standard Co. She started defi
ning distribution not merely as freight expediting but also as a sales- support function for
stores and distributors. She found that 25%–30% of sales could be tied to decisions by
customers based on such things as timely and correct shipments. So she formulated new
objectives that emphasized service and led to a gain in sales.

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Contd…
She is also able to create a balance between her 60-hour work week and the demands of
marriage and motherhood. She and her husband alternately try to take time out to take
care of the needs of their growing child. They both believe that they are the anchors of
their home as well as their financial life.
Still, she acknowledges that trade-offs are sometimes necessary. After all, as she says,
“there are glass balls and rubber balls in life.” The trick is in knowing which is which.
“Family, friends, and health are the glass balls,” she says. “Those you just can’t drop.”

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. Would you like to work for someone like Anubha Patel? Why or why not?
2. What is the key to Anubha Patel’s success at Standard?
3. Which are the managerial roles that Patel has played? Which role has she played
most effectively? Cite specific evidence.
4. Is it possible that Patel’s management style would not work so well in other cultures?
Explain. (Feel free to draw upon your knowledge of various cultures.)
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