ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR:
SESSION PLAN
1. Organizational behaviour defined
2. The sources and applications of organization behaviour theory
3. How organizations function
4. Organization structures
5. Schools of organization theory
6. Organizational culture defined
7. How organizational culture develops
8. The components of culture
9. Classifying organizational culture
10. Appropriate cultures
11. Organizational climate defined
12. Organizational processes
13. Personal characteristics
14. Ability
15. Intelligence
16. Personality defined
17. Personality traits
18. Personality types
19. Distinction between traits and types
20. Attitudes
21. Emotions
22. Emotional intelligence
23. Implications for HR specialists

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
DEFINED
The study of the structure, functioning, and performance
of organizations and the behaviour of groups and
individuals within them (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007)

THE SOURCES AND APPLICATIONS OF

ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOUR THEORY
Organization behaviour theory is based on the main
behavioural science disciplines

THE SOURCES AND APPLICATIONS OF ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOUR THEORY

Discipline

Contribution to theory

Application

Psychology

individual differences
personality
attitudes
perceptions
self-concept
attributions
motivation
engagement
learning
leadership

job/work design
selection processes and tests
learning and development
performance management
reward management
attitude measurement

Social psychology

group processes
attitude change
behavioural change
communication

organization development
organization design
change management
communication systems

Sociology

group dynamics
power
politics
conflict
organization culture
leadership

organization development
organization design
job design
leadership development
employee relations

HOW ORGANIZATIONS FUNCTION

An organization is an entity thatexists to achieve a

purpose through the collective efforts of the people who
work in or for it

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURES

Organization structures are frameworks for getting things

done

SCHOOLS OF ORGANIZATION THEORY

The classical school

The human relations school
The behavioural science school
The bureaucratic model
The sociotechnical model
The systems school
The contingency school
The post-modern school

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE DEFINED

The pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and

assumptions that may not have been articulated but
shape the ways in which people in organizations behave
and things get done

HOW ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

DEVELOPS
By the leaders in the organization
Around critical incidents
From the need to maintain effective working
relationships among organization members
Through the organizations environment

THE COMPONENTS OF CULTURE

Values
Norms
Artefacts
Management style

CLASSIFYING ORGANIZATIONAL
CULTURE

Power-orientated
People-orientated
Task-orientated
Role-orientated
(Harrison, 1972)

APPROPRIATE CULTURES
It is not possible to say that one culture is better than
another, only that a culture is to a greater or lesser
extent appropriate in the sense that it is relevant to the
needs and circumstances of the organization and helps
rather than hinders its performance

ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE DEFINED

The perceptions of people about the organization

ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES

Interaction and networking

Communications
Group behaviour
Leadership
Power
Politics
Conflict

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Ability
Intelligence
Personality
Attitudes
Emotions
Emotional intelligence

ABILITY
Ability is the quality possessed by people that makes an
action possible

INTELLIGENCE

The capacity to solve problems, apply principles, make

inferences and perceive relationships (Argyle, 1989)

PERSONALITY DEFINED
The psychological qualities that influence an individuals
characteristic behaviour patterns in a stable and
distinctive manner (Huczynski and Buchanan, 2007)

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Traits are pre-dispositions to behave in certain ways in
a variety of different situations. The big five are:
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Neuroticism

DISTINCTION BETWEEN TRAITS AND

TYPES
Type approaches fit people into categories possessing
common behaviour patterns
A personality trait, on the other hand, is an enduring
behaviour that occurs in a variety of settings
While individuals belong to types, traits belong to
individuals
Huczynski and Buchanan (2007)

ATTITUDES

Settled modes of thinking

EMOTIONS

Emotions are feelings such as anger, fear, sadness, joy,

anticipation and acceptance that arouse people and
therefore influence their behaviour

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Emotional intelligence is a combination of skills and
abilities such as self-awareness, self-control, empathy
and sensitivity to the feelings of others
Someone with high levels of emotional intelligence
should be able to relate to people effectively

IMPLICATIONS FOR HR SPECIALISTS

How organizations function

Organizational culture
Organizational processes
Individual differences
Judgements on personality
Perceptions and attributions
Role theory
Bounded rationality