Organizational Behavior

Meaning of Organizational Behaviour

The field of organizational behavior is beginning to develop & mature as an academic discipline.Besides
the healthy academic controversies over theoretical approach or research findings, perhaps the biggest
problem that organizational behavior has had to face is an identify crisis .Exactly what is meant by
organizational behavior? It is an attempt to replace all management with behavioral science concepts &
techniques? How, if at all ,does it differ from good old applied or industrial psychology ?Fortunately,
These questions have now largely been answered to the satisfaction of most management
academicians behavioral scientists & management practioners .such relation can be draw as follows :
Overview: Organizational behavior is defined as the study and understanding of individual and group behavior
and patterns of structure in order to help to help improve organizational performance and effectiveness.
Organizational behavior does not encompass the whole of management. It is narrower interpretation of providing
a behavioral approach to management. Organizations are made up of their own individual members. The
individual is a central feature of organizational behavior and is necessary part of any behavioral situation,
whether acting in isolation or as part of a group.

In other words:

Organization behavior is an academic discipline concerned with understanding and describing human behavior
in an organizational environment. It seeks to shed light on the whole complex human factor in organization by
identifying causes and effects of the behavior.

• Organization normally means entities like hospitals, schools, churches, business units, charitable
institution etc.

• “We are born in an organizations, educated by organizations, and most of us spend much of our lives
working for organizations”

• Organization: Normally means Official group of people, like hospitals, schools, churches, business units,
charitable institution etc.

• Behave: - The way that you behave is the way that you do & say things, & the things that you do & say.

• Behaviour : People’s or animals’ behavior is the way that they behave.

• “Organizational behavior can be defined as the understanding, Prediction, & management of

human behavior.”

 Note: - Organizational behavior represents the human side of management, not the whole management.
• “Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individual, group,
& structure have on behavior within organizations, for the purpose of applying such
knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness.”

• Explanation:

• OB is a field of study :

It is a distinct area of expertise with a common body of knowledge.

• What does it study :-

It studies three determinants of behavior in an organization: individual, group, & structure.

  Note:- OB is concerned with what people do in an organization & how that behavior affects the
performance of the organization.

• “We are born in an organizations, educated by organizations, and most of us spend much of our lives
working for organizations”

The Importance of Organizational Behavior

In any organization one can assume that the main goal of that business is to succeed; what exactly does being a
winning organization mean and what does it take to get there? In the past companies placed a great amount of
emphasis on the numbers and how to achieve those numbers. The people who actually helped achieve those
numbers were graded on their technical skills, productivity, and budgets. Employees were moneymaking
machines and how they achieved those numbers was not a concern of their managers as long as the numbers
were being met. Organizational behavior studies have become more important today than in previous years
because corporations must learn to adapt to the rapidly changing business cultures that have stemmed from a
competitive and fast-paced market. Organizational behavior was a topic that was not discussed until an
employee’s behavior changed, productivity changed, or sales decreased. In today's business world, managers are
paying more attention to how employees react to situations rather than if they respond. They are beginning to
view organizational behavior as an intricate piece of training and development of the workforce. Soft skills were
never a part of management training and it was rare that managers were commended for having those skills. In
the business world today, I feel organizational behavior is an essential tool for managing effective teams.

• Characteristics of Organizational Behavior:

It consists the following characteristics:

1. Large Size: It employs hundreds & thousands of employees.

2. Organization

3. Human resources.

4. Complexity: It involves huge investment & complicated technology, their management & operation is a
complex affair.

5. Coordination.

6. Conscious rationality.

7. Pattern of behavior: There is a system of working in all organization like hierarchical levels, a chain of
command, rules & procedures.

8. Discipline

Individual Behavior
• Individual behavior means some concrete action by a person. The behavior of an individual depends on
several factors inside and outside the person. His personality traits and feelings and the external
environment determine his behavior.

Main factor which influence the behavior of the individual are:

• Personality

• Ability

• Perception
 • Motivation

• Organizational factors

• Socio cultural factors

Personality:

Personality comes from the Greek word "persona", meaning "mask"

The word ‘personality’ derives from the Latin word ‘persona’ which means ‘mask’. The study of personality can be understood as
the study of ‘masks’ that people wear. These are the personas that people project and display, but also include the inner parts of
psychological experience which we collectively call our ‘self’.

Personality mean how people affect others & how they understand & view themselves, as well as their
pattern of inner & outer measurable traits & the person situation interaction.

How people affect other depends primarily on their external appearance (height, weight, facial features
color & other physical aspect) &traits.

• Personality of an individual is unique and it is a major determinant of his or her behavior.

Individuals respond to the same situation differently due to differences in their personality. Each
individual has his own way of thinking and acting, his own unique style and personality.
“Personality is defined as the combination of stable physical and mental characteristics’ that
gives the individual his or her identity”.

• Most psychologists agree generally with All port’s definition, in which personality is “The
dynamic organization within the individual of those psycho-physical systems that
determine his unique adjustments to his environment”

Personality Traits:
Personality can be defined as the sum total of ways in which an individual interacts with people
& reacts to situations. Personality can also be defined as the traits exhibited by a person during
these interaction.This personality traits are very significant to the study of organization behavior.
Research has indicated that there are five important traits that form the basis of an individual’s
total personality and affect his performance at work.

Personality Dimensions
Big five models
• Extroversion : (outgoing,talkative,sociable,assertive)

This refers to the extent to which a person is comfortable with other people. People who have a
high degree of extroversion are sociable, talkative & friendly .They are extrovert & tends to
develop new relationship easily. People who are low in extroversion are introverts.tey prefer to
be by themselves instead of taking to others. Introvert s are reluctant to interact with other
people & avoid developing new relationships .This kind of person basically used in research field.
An individual‘s degree of extroversion has an influence on his job performance .Individuals who
are high in extroversion tend to perform better than introvert in certain jobs. In addition, they
 tend to prefer jobs that require them to interact with a number of different people (for example:
marketing, Public relations, Human resources).

• Agreeableness: Trusting, good natured, cooperative, soft hearted

People who are very agreeable give importance to maintaining harmony & don’t insist that
others agree with what they say or follow their suggestions. Agreeable people are good natured,
cooperative & trusting (trusting others).

People who are less agreeable give more importance to their own needs, opinions and values
than those of others. From an organization’s perspective , highly agreeable people are likely to
develop good working relationships with all organization constituents (Co-workers,
subordinates ,superiors, customer & suppliers)while less agreeable people are unlikely to
develop good relation ships.

• Conscientiousness :( Dependable,Resposible,Achievement-oriented,Persistent):

This trait refers to the extent to which a person is responsible and achievement oriented .People who are
very conscientious limit the number goals they set for themselves, devote their time & energy to those
goals and often succeed in achieving their goals. They are responsible, dependable, and persistent and
highly achievement oriented .People who are less conscientious set too many goals for themselves and
often fail to achieve any of them. People who are very conscientious are more organized, responsible, &
self -disciplined and perform better in their jobs those who not so conscientious.

• Emotional stability: (Relaxed,secure,unworried):

This trait determines an individual’s ability to withstand stress. Individuals who have “positive “emotional
stability feel emotionally secure and tend to be calm. They are enthusiastic about their work and are
capable of withstanding the tensions and pressures of a job. People who have “negative “emotional
stability are emotionally insecure and experience feelings of anxiety, nervousness & depression. They
unable to withstand job pressure.

• Openness to experience: Intellectual, Imaginative, curious, Broad minded

This personality trait refers to an individuals’ range of interests & indicates how innovative or how rigid he
is in his beliefs. An individual with a high level of openness tends to be creative & has a wide range of
interests. Such individuals are open to learning & make good workers. Individuals who have a low level of
openness, in contrast, have a narrow range of interests, rigid mindsets & tend to be less curious & less
willing to accept new ideas. Such individual s makes poor workers.

Determinants of personality
The factors which shape the personality of an individual are given below

• BIOLOGICAL FACTORS

• Heredity: An individual inherits physical stature, facial attractiveness, temperament, etc from his or her
parents.

• Brain: Brain is supposed to play an important role in the development of one’s personality

• Physical features: Height, weight, colour, facial features etc may have a great effect on one’s
personality.

• CULTURAL FACTORS
 • The cultural within which an individual has been bought up shapes his personality.

• FAMILY AND SOIAL FACTORS

• Parents and family members exercise a strong influence on the personality development of children. In
addition to family members and home environment, social groups such as co students, co workers affect a
person’s personality.

• Socialization: The contribution of family and social group in combination with the culture is known as
socialisation.The process begins with initial contact between the mother and her infant.

• Identification: The process occurs when a person tries to identify himself with some person whom he feels
ideal in the family

• SITUATONAL FACTORS: Events and experience may transform the entire personality

EFFECTS OF PERSONALITY ON THE BEHAVIOUR

• AUTHORITARIAISM

Authoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of state in

a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by typically non-elected rulers who usually permit
some degree of individual freedom.

In other words

Principle of unqualified submission to authority, as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action. As
a political system, authoritarianism is antidemocratic in that political power is concentrated in a leader or
small elite not constitutionally responsible to those governed. It differs from totalitarianism in that
authoritarian governments usually lack a guiding ideology, tolerate some pluralism in social organization,
lack the power to mobilize the whole population in pursuit of national goals, and exercise their power
within relatively predictable limits.

• BEREAUCRATIC PERSONALITY

Personality bureaucratic means that everyone is a pile of pool that is cover in blood.An important factor in the
development of human personality during adulthood is the influence of the work organization. A longstanding concern
among social scientists in this respect has been the impact of bureaucracy. Max Weber, in his classic description of
bureaucracy, observed that the individual may become little more than a cog in the bureaucratic machinery, a process
explained by Karl Mannheim in terms of functional rationalization: the idea that a sequence of actions is organized in such
a way that it leads to a previously determined goal with every action in the sequence receiving a functional role.
MACHIAVELLIANISM:

Machiavellianism (match) refers to the degree to which an individual is practical in his approach, maintains
an emotional distance from others, and believes that ends justify the means. Research has revealed that
individuals who score high on mach are good at manipulating others & try to win by any means. They do
not need to be persuaded to work but instead are able to successfully persuade others. People having a
high mach perform well in situations that involve face to face meetings. They are especially productive in
jobs that require the use of bargaining (persuasions) skills & in jobs that offer substantial rewards for the
achievement of goals.

• PROBLEME SOLVING STYLE:

 According to style of handling the problem, An Individual can be judged. His or her style may or may not
be impressive.

• LOCUS OF CONTROL:

The locus of control refers to an individual’s perception of what controls his or her fate. It refers to the
degree to which people believe that they can control their fate or any situation. Some people believe that
they are masters of their own fate while some believe that their fate is controlled by luck, chance or
external forces. The former, known as internals, attribute an internal locus of control to organizational
outcomes. The latter, known as externals, attribute an external locus of control to organizational
outcomes.

• INTROVERT AND EXTROVERT:

This refers to the extent to which a person is comfortable with other people. People who have a high
degree of extroversion are sociable, talkative & friendly .They are extrovert & tends to develop new
relationship easily. People who are low in extroversion are introverts.tey prefer to be by themselves
instead of taking to others. Introvert s are reluctant to interact with other people & avoid developing new
relationships .This kind of person basically used in research field. An individual‘s degree of extroversion
has an influence on his job performance .Individuals who are high in extroversion tend to perform better
than introvert in certain jobs. In addition, they tend to prefer jobs that require them to interact with a
number of different people (for example: marketing, Public relations, Human resources).

• TYPE A AND TYPE B

Type A & type B individuals lead to specific behavioral outcomes .Type A individuals set ambitious
deadlines for themselves & work under continuous time pressure. Thus, these individuals constantly
experience moderate to high levels of stress. Since Type A mangers emphasize quantity rather than
quality, they sometimes end up doing a hasty job that lacks quality. In addition, they tend to rely on past
experience to solve problems. Their emphasis on speed prevents them from spending too much time on
any problem. This causes them to make poor decisions .Since Type A individuals are hardworking by
nature, they suitable for jobs that call for continuous hard work & struggle such as the job of a salesperson
or a business development executive .Type B individuals, however are suitable for the Top management
positions in an organization since they tend to be wise, Tactful & creative in making decisions.

Self Esteem:

The degree of liking an individual has for himself is referred to as self-esteem. Research has shown that
people with high self-esteem are generally confident that they posses the abilities required for succeeding
at work. Such people prefer to take up unconventional or challenging jobs. Individuals with low self esteem
lack confidence, look for approval from others, & are not likely to take a stand which opposes others’
views. Thus they seek lower –level jobs. People who have high self-esteem do not care about pleasing
others & fail to be influenced by external factors. They are not afraid of taking unpopular stands. People
with high self esteem derive more satisfaction from their jobs than people with low self esteem.

Self Control:

Self –monitoring refers to the ability of an individual to adapt his behavior to the demands of the situation.
High self- monitors are capable of changing their behavior according to the situation. They can play
multiple & even contradictory roles .the way they; behave with their employees, boss, clients & suppliers is
entirely different in each case. They make successful managers & tend to get promoted faster than other
.In contrast, Low self-monitors find it difficult to disguise their true feelings, emotions & reactions & cannot
adapt quickly to situations. Their behavior is consistent with the way they feel. Low self-monitors don’t
advance as far in their careers as high self-esteem.
Determinants of Personality

Personality is the outcome of a continuous personal quality development process. The role of personality becomes clear in a
particular situation. Personality is recognized in a situation. It is the result of personal quality interaction in a particular condition.
The major determinants of personality of an individual are given below:

Biological Factors

Heredity: Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical stature, facial attractiveness, sex,
temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are generally
considered to be either completely or substantially influenced by who your parents were; that is, by their biological, physiological,
and inherent psychological makeup. The contribution of heredity to personality development is vividly clear for developing
external appearance, behavior, social stimuli, self inner awareness, organizing traits, etc.

Brain: Brain has a great impact on personality. The psychologists are unable to prove empirically the contribution of human brain
in influencing personality. Father and children generally adopt the same type of brain stimulation. The differences are caused by
environment. Electrical stimulation of brain (ESB) and split brain psychology (SBP)are the outcome of genetic transmission. The
are helpful in moulding employee's behavior. ESB is used for motivating employees towards better performances. Managers are
trained to use SBP for mobilizing employees for proper behavior.

Physical Features: Perhaps the most outstanding factor that contributes to personality is the physical stature of an individual. An
individual's external appearance is proved to be having a tremendous effect on personality. For example, the fact that a person is
short or tall, fat or thin, handsome or ugly, black or whitish will undoubtedly influence the person's effect on others and in turn
will affect the self-concept. A person's physical characteristics may be related to his approach to the social environment, to the
expectancies of others, and to their reactions, to him. These in turn may have impact on personality development.
In other words
Biological Factors
• Cultural Factors
• Family Factors
• Social Factors
• Situational Factors
Biological Factors

Heredity:

• It refers to physical stature, facial attractiveness, sex, temperament, muscle composition

and reflexes, energy level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are
considered to be inherent.
• It plays an important part in determining an individual's personality.
• Heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual's personality
is the molecular structures of the genes, which are located in the chromosomes.
• Recent research studies shows that young children lend strong support to the power
of heredity and finding shows that some personality traits may be built into the same
genetic code that affects factors like height and hair color.

Brain:

• Brain is the second biological approach to determine personality.

• It plays an important role in determining personality.
• Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB) and Split brain psychology results indicates
that a better understanding of human personality and behavior might come from a
closer study of the brain.
• The definite areas of the human brain are associated with pain and pleasure. Research
study shows that these things are true.

Biofeedback:

• It is third biological approach to determine personality.

• Physiologists and psychologists felt that biological functions like brainwave
patterns, gastric and hormonal secretions, and fluctuations in blood pressure and
skin temperature were beyond conscious control. Recent research shows that these
functions can be consciously controlled through biofeedback techniques.
• For this purpose, individual can learns the internal rhythms of a particular body
process through electronic signals that are feedback from equipment which is wired
to body.
• In this process, the person can learn to control the body process through questions.
• It is one of the interesting topics to do future research work in personality.

Physical Features:
• It is third biological approach to determine personality.
• It is vital ingredient of the personality, it focus an individual person's external
appearance which also determined the personality.
• Physical features like tall or short, fat or skinny, black or white. These physical
features will be influenced the personal effect on others and also affect self concept
of individual.
• Recent research studies shows that definitely this features influence to individual
personality in an organization.
In totally, heredity would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience can be altering
them through creation of suitable environment. Apart from this, personality characteristics
are not completely dictated by heredity. There are other factors also influenced to determining
personality.

Cultural Factors

"Each culture expects, and trains, its members to behave in ways that are acceptable to the group. To a marked degree, the child's
cultural group defines the range of experiences and situations he is likely to encounter and the values and personality
characteristics that will reinforce and hence learned". -Paul H Mussen
• Cultural factors are also major factors which influence to determine individual
personality.
• It refers to traditional practice, customs, procedure, norms and rules and regulation
followed by the society.
• It significantly influence to individual behavior compare to biological factors.
• Cultural factors determine attitudes towards independence, aggression, competition,
cooperation, positive thinking, team spirit, and a host of the human being and
discharge his/her duties towards valuable responsibilities to society.
• Western culture influence to Indian society. It is best example of the cultural factors
also determine the personality.

Family Factors
• Family factors are also major factors which influence to determine individual
personality.
• Family consists of husband and wife and their children's.
• Family role is very important for nurturing and personality development of their
children.
• Family will be guided, supervised, take care of all family members, cooperation,
52 Organizational Behavior
coordination and cooperation in work and also explained the role and responsibilities
towards the family, society and real life.
• Family either directly or indirectly influence to person for development of individual
personality.

Social Factors

• Social factors are also major factors which influence to determine individual
personality.
• It involves the reorganization of individual's in an organization or society.
• It refers to acquiring of wide range of personality by acquiring and absorbed by
themselves in the society or an organization.
• Socialization process is starting from home and extending to work environment in
an organization or society.
• It focuses on good relationships, cooperation, coordination and interaction among
the members in the society or an organization or a family.
In totally, environment factors consist of cultural factors, family factors, and social
factors.

Situational Factors
• Situational factors also influence to determine of personality.
• Situational factors are very important to change the individual behavior in a
different circumstance at different situations, it also influence to personality of
individual person.
• In general term, personality is stable and consistent and it does change in different
situations.
The Interaction of Personality and Situational Factors are outlined:
• Strong situational pressures
• Personality may not predict behavior
• Example: enforcement of rules
• Weak Situational pressures
• Personality may predict behavior
• Example: Customer sales representative
• A strong situation can overwhelm the effects of individual personalities by providing
strong cues for appropriate behavior.
Attitude
• Attitude means a tendency to react in a positive or negative way to someone or something in the
environment.e.g

• An attitude is always directed towards some object,. The object may be of general social
significance or it may be purely personal.e.g relation between mgt and workers or, feeling about
playing cricket or football.
 • Attitudes are different from beliefs and values. Belief reveal what one supposes to be true
.Values are the moral ideas. Belief and values shape attitude. The subordinate like his superior
because he believes that the superior is competent and honest towards his job.

• Attitude is different from opinions. Opinion is an expression regarding a specific topic or

subject.e.g
Attitude

Definition: Attitude is a mental position relative to a way of thinking or being. The current popular usage of attitude implies a
negative mind set, a "chip on the shoulder" behavior, and an inner anger toward the prevailing majority of thought.

From a personal development standpoint, attitude is broader than this popular usage. A positive attitude implies a way of thinking
that is predominantly positive and optimistic. The opposite inclination, a negative attitude is predominantly pessimistic.

Example: Though Jeremy was ashamed that he had alienated his friends by whining and complaining, he decided to adopt a
positive attitude about his ability to reverse this behavior and regain friendships lost. He was confident that his apologies and
changed behavior would regain the friendships.

Note:-Personality describes the whole person & attitude determines the personality. Attitude is a state of mind of an individual
towards something. It may be defined as a tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards objects, people or events.
Characteristics of attitudes

• Evaluative :

Attitude of an individual can be easily evaluated. According to their reaction towards object.

• Visible:
Attitude of an individual is visible. This may be positive or negative attitude,which we can see easily.

• Acquired:

The attitudes of an individual generally remain unchanged for a prolonged period of time
unless he is influenced by external forces.

• Multiplicity :

Attitude of an individual can be various & diversify in nature.

• Affect behavior:

Attitude of an individual can affect the other’s behavior. So it can depend on individual, that how
he or she influence by others attitude.

Formation of attitudes

• Family: The initial attitudes of a person are learnt from the family members, parents, brothers,
sisters, etc shape the early attitude patterns. During childhood, a person spends a major part of
 his time in the family. Every family instills such attitudes among its members as are considered
appropriate to its socio -economic status in the society.e.g middle class and upper class

• Personal experience: People develop attitudes by coming in direct contact with an attitude
object. For e.g. Job experience

• Association: A new attitude object may be related with an old attitude object and the attitude
towards the latter may be transferred towards the former.e.g new worker and the union leader.

• Reference groups: A reference group is any interacting aggregation of people that influences
an individual’s attitude or behaviours.This group may include family or other types of groupings,
either primary or secondary groups. This happens through the process of socialization.

• Institutional Factors: The different parts of institutions-the architectures, furnishings, people’s

clothing, and behaviors-have a meaning which fits in with certain and attitudes

• Personality factors: Personality factors are important in attitude formation. Personality

differences between individual are important concomitant in the discussion of attitude. E.g-
conservative attitude

Determinants of attitude

• Personality factors: The physical and psychological make up of a person plays a vital role in
shaping his attitudes. His perception, ideas, beliefs, values, information, etc constitute the
psychological make up. For e.g. if a person believes that all superiors are exploitative, he is likely
to develop a negative attitude towards his superior who in fact may not be exploitative.

• Social factors: Family, religion. Social class, culture and other social factors influence attitudes.
At a very early stage an individual is taught that certain attitudes are acceptable and certain
others are not acceptable. American and Indian attitudes

• Organizational factors: Nature of job, monetary rewards associated with the job, office layout,
qualty of supervision, fellow workers and other organizational factors shape the job attitude of
the person. E.g. creative person

• Economic factors: The economic conditions in the country,ra'te of inflation, economic status of
a person in the society, etc, influence his attitudes towards work, marriage working women etc.

• Political factors: Political factors such as the ideology of the party in power, political stability,
behaviors of political leader’s e.t.c affect the attitudes of people in the country.

Attitude perform the following function for the individual

• The adjustment function

• The value orientation function

• The knowledge function

• The adjustment function

People modify their attitudes to adjust to their work environment .When superiors treat
employees fairly & compensate them with equal pay for equal work. The employees tend to
develop a positive attitude towards the organization & their superiors. But if management does
 not treat them well & fail to give them equitable remuneration for their services, they will
develop a negative attitude towards the organization. Such attitudes help employees adapt to
their environment & form the basis for their future behaviors.

• The value -expressive function:

People may express their values. For example, if a manager wants an employee to work harder,
he may tell the employee that the company has a tradition of hard work & that every employee
in the company is expected to respect that tradition & work accordingly.

• The knowledge function:

Attitude provide a standard of reference which allows people to understand and explain their
environment .For example, a union leader may have developed a negative attitude towards
management due to the fact that some time in the past management had tried to manipulate
workers by making false promises. Due to that experience, the union leader may regard anything
said by the management as a means to manipulate the workers. Irrespective of the reality at a
given point in time, the leader will try to interpret any action or promise of management on the
basis of standards of reference (manipulation & false promise) set by him.