ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND MANAGEMENT

MBA7101

OVERVIEW OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

All organizations are composed of individuals, with different personality, attitudes, values, perception,
motives, aspirations and abilities. The main reason to understand behaviour is that individuals are
different. No two individuals are similar.

Organisational Behaviour is derived from two terms; organization and behaviour.

What is an organization? - An organization is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two

or more people that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals.
Behaviour refers to the way people act and interact in a particular situation or stimulus.
Definition of management: - Mary Parker defines the term management as “the art of getting things
done through others.”
Donnelly and Gibson, defines the term management as “the process undertaken by one or more persons
to coordinate the activities of other persons to achieve results not attainable by any one person acting
alone.”
According Pearce and Robinson, Management is the process of optimizing human, material and financial
contribution for the achievement of organizational goals.

DEFINITION OF OB
Organization Behavior (OB) is a field of study that investigate the impact that individuals, groups and
structure have on behavior within an organization and then it applies that knowledge to make
organization work more effectively. OB focuses on how to improve productivity, reduce absenteeism and
turn over, increase employee citizenship behaviour and job satisfaction. Much as managers need technical
skills, it is insufficient for succeeding in organization. In today’s increasingly competitive and demanding
work force, managers can’t succeed on their technical skills alone but they also need to have people skills
and thus OB.

WHAT MANAGERS DO?

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Managers get things alone through others. They make decisions, locate resources, direct the activities of
others to attain organization goals and they are problem solvers. They oversee the activities of others and
they are the one who are responsible for attaining organization goals

MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS
Henri fayol argued that managers perform certain functions which include:-

(a) Planning:
The main aim of organization is to achieve its goal and therefore there is need to plan inorder to achieve
the goals. The planning function encompasses defining the organizational goals, establishing an overall
strategy for achieving these goals and developing a comprehensive plan to integrate and coordinate
activities, planning determines the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization.
(b) Organizing:
Organizing include the determination of what tasks are to be done, who is to do them, how to tasks are to
be grouped, who reports to whom and where decision are to be made .The outcome of organizing is the
creation of an organization structure. Organization determines how organization resources can best be
used to create goods and services.
(c) Leading:
Leading involves coordinating and motivating employees, directing the activities of others, resolving
conflicts among members and selecting the most effective communication channel to convey information
in order to achieve organization goals. Leadership depends on the use of power, influence, vision,
persuasion and communication skills to coordinate the behavior of individuals and groups in the
organization. The outcome of leadership is high level motivation and commitment among organizational
members.
(d) Controlling:
Controlling is all about evaluating how well an organization is achieving its goals and taking action to
maintain or improve performance. To ensure that things are going on well mangers must monitor the
organizational performance and take appropriate action if performance standards are not met. Managers
must also decide which goals to measure for instance productivity, quality, responsiveness to customers
etc. The outcome of the control process is the ability to measure performance accurately and regulate
organization efficiency and effectiveness.

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 LEVELS OF MANAGEMENT
The levels of management can be categorized into; top, middle and lower level management.
Top Level Management
Top level management is the highest level in the managerial hierarchy and the ultimate source of
authority in the organization. It is generally occupied by the ownership group. They consists of board of
directors, managing director, general manager etc. They are responsible for overall management of the
organization.
 Making a corporate plan for the entire organization covering all areas of operations
 Deciding upon the matters which are vital for the survival, profitability and growth of the
organization such as introduction of new product, shifting to new technology and opening new
plant
 Deciding on the corporate goals.
 Making decisions on the structure of organization and creating various positions
 Maintaining relationship with outside parties having a stake in business such as government, trade
union and trade associations etc.
 Formulating basic policies and providing direction and leadership to the organization as a whole.

Middle Level Management

Middle level management fills the gap between the top and lower level. E.g. departmental managers and
administrative officers These executives are mainly concerned with the overall functioning of their
respective departments. They act as a link between top and lower level managers. They are concerned
with;
 Preparing departmental plan covering all activities of the department within the basic framework
of the corporate plan.
 Establishing departmental goals and to decide upon various ways and means for achieving these
goals to contribute to organizational goals.
 Performing all other managerial functions with regard to departmental activities for securing
smooth functioning of the entire department.
 Issuing detailed orders and instructions to lower level managers and coordinate the activities of
various work units at lower level.
 Middle level managers explain and interpret policy decisions made at the top level to lower level
managers.

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Lower Level or Supervisory Level Management
Lower-level management is concerned mainly with direction of operative employees. It consists of
factory supervisors, superintendents, foremen, sales supervisors, accounts officers etc. They directly
guide and control the performance of workers. They issue orders and instructions and guide day to-day
activities. They also represent the grievances of the workers to the higher levels of management.
 Planning of the day to day work
 Assignment of jobs and issuing orders and instructions
 Supervising and guiding workers
 Maintaining close personal contacts with workers to ensure discipline and team-work
 Evaluating operating performance

MANAGERIAL ROLES
In addition to the management functions of managers, Henry Mintzberz concluded that managers perform
ten different interrelated roles attributable to their jobs. He further grouped these roles into interpersonal,
informational and decisional roles.
(i) INTERPERSIONAL ROLE.
All managers are required to perform duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. Managers
assume interpersonal role inorder to coordinate and interact with organizational members and provide
direction and supervision for both the employees and the organization as whole.
Interpersonal role is sub-divided into figure head, leader and liaison.
 As a figurehead a manager is required to perform a number of tasks or routine duties of a legal or
social nature.
 As a leader, he is responsible for the motivation and direction of employees. He is also suppose to
train, corned and mentor subordinates to help them reach their full potential.
 In performing as a liaison managers link and coordinates the activities of individuals and groups
both within and outside the organization.
(ii) INFORMATIONAL ROLE
Informational roles are closely associated with the task necessary to obtain & transmit information.
Informational roles are divided into monitor, disseminator and spokesperson.
 As a monitor, a manager receive and analyses a wide range of informational, services as nerve
center of internal & external information of the organization.

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  As a Disseminator, the manager transmits information received from outsider or from other
employees to members of the organization to influence their work attitudes and behavior.
 Acting as a spokesperson, a manager transmits information to outsider on organizational plans,
polices, action and results. He also serves as an expert on organization affairs.
(iii) DECISIONAL ROLES
According to mintzbers, he identified four roles under decisional and these revolve around the making of
choices. These include; entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator and negotiator.
 As an Entrepreneur, a manager has to search the environment for opportunities and initiate
projects to increase organizational performance.
 As a distribute handler, managers assumes responsibility for handling unexpected crisis that
threaten organizations access to resources.
 As a resource allocation, managers assumes responsible for allocating human, physical and
monetary resources to increase performance.
 As a negotiator, managers are responsible for representing the organization at major negotiations
in which they discuss issues and bargain with other units to gain advantage for their own unit.

MANAGERIAL SKILLS
Both educational & experience enable manager to recognize and develop the skill they need to put
organizational resources to their best use. Essential skills or competencies that managers need include
conceptual, human and technical skills
1) Conceptual skills.
Conceptual skills are demonstrated in the ability to analyses and diagnose complex situations and to
distinguish between cause and effect. This involves decision making for instance sporting problems,
identifying alternatives, evaluating the alternatives and selecting the best alternative. Examples include;
analytical skills, diagnostic skills, decision making skills, problem solving skills etc
2) Human skills.
Human skills include the ability to work with, under, after, lead and control the behavior of both
individuals and groups in the organization. It also encompasses the ability to communicate, co-ordinate
and motivate people and in old individuals into cohesive teams. Eg. Interpersonal skills, team building

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 3) Technical skills.
Technical skills encompass the ability to apply specialized knowledge/expertise. It also refers to job –
specific knowledge and techniques that are required to perform an organization role. Examples include
marketing skills, book-keeping skills etc.

The Relationship between Managerial Skills and the Level of Management

Conceptual skills Human skills Technical skills

Top Level Management

Middle Level Management

Lower Level Management

THE NATURE AND SCOPE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Organizational behaviour has a nature just as any human being has a peculiar nature or the psychological
tendency. OB is a Science, an Art and a Philosophy.
 OB is a science because it follows the scientific methods of observation, the collection of data,
the hypothesis, the theory and the model building ever open to scientific scrutiny in the
terms of relationships among variables under the study.
 It is an Art since involves quite a subjective approach in terms of collection of data and
interpretation of the results by human being who are generally subjective than objective in their
approach.
 It is a Philosophy in terms of ever trying to philosophize the question of human beings and the
organizational relationship in the behavioral term. It tries to frame postulations as to what, why,
how, and where a particular kind of human being behaviour takes place in an organisation

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  Finally, it is flexible, dynamic, friendly and far-reaching.
 Interdisciplinary Approach: Organisational Behaviour integrates knowledge from various
relevant disciplines. This issue will be clear to you after reading the section on genesis of
Organisational
 An Applied Science: Organisational Behaviour is oriented towards understanding the forces that
affect behaviour so that their affects may be predicted and guided towards effective functioning of
organisation.
 Behavioural Approach to Management: Organisational Behaviour is directly connected with
the human side of management, but it is not the whole of management. Organisational Behaviour
is related with the conceptual and human dimensions of management
 Concern with Environment: Organisational Behaviour is concerned with issues like
compatibility with environment e.g. person-culture fit, cross-cultural management etc
 Scientific Method: Organisational Behaviour follows the scientific method and makes use of
logical theory in its investigation and in answering the research questions. It is empirical,
interpretive, critical and creative science.

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS OF OB

Organizational Behaviour focuses on the following levels;

 Individual behaviour: learning, perception, personality, emotion etc.

 Group behaviour and group dynamics : group formation, team building & leadership, conflict
management, Power and politics etc.
 Organisational issues: organizational culture and climate, organizational change, organizational
development etc.

CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO THE OB

Organizational Behaviour is an applied behavioral science that is built on contribution from a number of
behavioral disciplines.
PSYCHOLOGY
This is the science that seeks to measure, explain and sometimes change the behavior of people. It
attempts to study and understand individual behavior in organizations. Psychology helps in learning,

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perception, needs, personality, emotions, training, leadership effectiveness, motivation, job satisfaction,
attitude measurement, employee selection, work design and work stress management.
SOCIOLOGY
This refers to the study of people in relation to their fellow human beings. Sociologists have made
contribution to OB through their study of group behavior in organizations. OB have received valuable
input from sociologist in the areas of group dynamics, design of work teams, organization culture,
conflict power and communication.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
This is an area within psychology that blends concepts from psychology and sociology. Social
psychologists’ main focus has been ‘change’ i.e. how to implement and reduce barriers to its acceptance.
The contributions of social psychology in OB have been in the areas of measuring, understanding and
changing attitudes, communication partners and building trust.

ANTHROPOLOGY
This is the study of societies to learn about human being and their activities. For instance,
Anthropologists’ work on cultures and environment has helped to understand difference in fundamental
values, attitudes and behavior between people in different Countries and within different organizations. It
has contributed in OB through the study of organizational culture, organizational environment,
comparative values and comparative attitudes.

POLITICAL SCIENCE
This refers to the study of behavior of individuals and groups within a political environment.
Its contribution in OB includes the structuring of conflict, allocation of power and how people
manipulate power for individual self-interest.

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR OB

Organizations are faced with dramatic changes that have made the understanding of OB important.
Managers are faced with a lot of challenges and opportunities that they need to use OB concepts to give
them more insights toward solutions.

Responding to Globalization

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Organizations are no longer constrained by national boundaries. The World has become a Global village.
For instance big countries now sell their goods internationally, or establish their firms in other Countries.
As a manager, one may find him/herself in a foreign assignment and this implies a work force that is
different in needs, aspirations attitudes from those previously working with in one’s own Country. The
subordinates may have been raised in different cultures. For example, what motivate one, may not
motivate the other, and the style of communication be not please everybody in the organization. As a
manager you need to be capable of working with people from different cultures. To work effectively with
these people, one need to understand the different cultures, how it has shaped them and how to adopt
your management style to their differences.

Managing workforce Diversity

Organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, age, race and ethnicity. Employees
don’t set aside their cultural values and style preference when they go to work. Managers have to be more
accommodative to the diverse group of people by addressing their different lifestyles, family needs and
work styles. Managers have to shift their philosophy from treating everyone alike to recognizing
differences and responding to the differences in a way that ensures employee retention and greater
productivity. E.g. Providing diversity training.

Well managed Diversity leads to increased creativity and innovation and if not well managed, there is a
potential for higher turnover, more difficult communication and more interpersonal conflicts.

Improving quality and productivity

With the changes in the environment, the demands of the customers are also changing. They prefer
quality products and services. In order to improve on quality and productivity, managers have to
implement programs such quality management and process re-engineering and these programs require
extension employee involvement. Instead of merely making incremental changes in the basic pattern
processes, managers may re-invent a whole production system (Re-engineering).
The success of any organization at improving quality and productivity should include the employees. The
employees not only carry out changes, but increasingly participate actively in planning the changes e.g.
they may be involved in establishing productivity standard, introducing work flow innovations and
checking for quality. OB therefore offers important insights into helping managers work through these
changes.

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Labour shortage
Economic ups and downs are difficult to predict and this may result to either a surplus or shortage of
labour in the market. When labour markets are tight, managers find it difficult to get skilled manpower to
fill vacancies, while during Economic recession there is surplus of labour in the markets and widespread
lay-offs in organizations. In time of labour shortage, good wages and benefit may not be enough to keep
skilled employees. Managers therefore need sophisticated recruitment and retention strategies in tight
labour markets. Managers who do not understand human behavior and fail to treat their employees well,
risk having no one to manage.

Improving Customer Service

Today the focus of the customers is shifting from buying a good to buying a service. Improved customer
service leads to customer retention and satisfaction and continuity of the business. OB contributes to
improving an organizations performance by showing managers how employee attitudes and behavior are
associated with customer satisfaction. Many organizations fail because of poor customer service therefore
Managers need to create a customer-responsive culture where employees are friendly, courteous,
accessible, knowledgeable, and prompt in responding to customers’ needs and willing to do what pleases
customers.

Improving people skills

People skills are important to managerial effectiveness. The knowledge of OB helps to explain and
predict the behavior of people at work. In addition, one can gain insight into specific people skills that
can be used on the job. E.g. Managers can learn ways of designing motivating jobs, techniques for
improving listening skills and how to create more effective teams.

Empowering people
Empowerment means giving employees opportunity to be in-charge of what they do. Empowered
employee have the freedom to make choices about work schedules and procedures and solve work related
problems. When managers empower employees they learn how to give control and employees learn how
to take responsibility for their work and make appropriate decisions. Empowerment changes leadership
styles, empowers relationship and the way work is designed and how organizations are structured.

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Coping with temporariness
Most managers and employees today are faced with the problem of permanent temporariness. The actual
job that workers perform is in a permanent flux. Therefore workers need to update their knowledge and
skills continually to perform new job recruitment. Organizations too are in a state of flux. They always
reorganize their various divisions, sell off poor performing businesses, downsize and replace permanent
employees with temporary ones.
Managers and employees must learn to cope with temporariness, flexibility, spontaneity, and
unpredictability. The study of OB can help one better understand a work world of continual change,
overcome resistance to change, and create an organizational culture that thrives on change.

Helping Employee Balance Work/life conflicts

Communication technology allows employees to do their work even at home and organizations prefer
employees who work for longer hours. This has made it difficult for most employees to find time to fulfill
commitments at home. Employees today want jobs that give them flexibility in their work schedules so
that they can better manage work/life conflicts. Organizations that do not help their employee achieve
work/life balance find it difficult to attract and retain capable and motivated employees. The field of OB
offers guidelines in designing work place and jobs that help employees deal with work/life conflict.

Stimulating innovation & change

Successful organizations must foster innovation and master the art of change if it is to compete favorable.
This means organizations should maintain flexibility, continually improve their quality and compete
favorably with a constant stream of innovative products and services. Employees can be the impetus for
innovation and change or a major stumbling block. The challenge for managers is to stimulate their
employees’ creativity and tolerance for change which the OB provides.

Improving Ethical behavior

Organizations today are faced with tough competition in the market place and they expect high workers’
productivity. As a result many employees feel pressured to cut corners, break rules and engage in other
forms of questionable practices. They find themselves faced with ethical dilemma where they are to
define right and wrong. Managers therefore need to create an ethically healthy climate for the employees

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to do their work productively and confront a minimal degree of ambiguity regarding what constitutes
right and wrong behaviors.

ADVANTAGES OF OB
The study of OB is beneficial in many ways. Some of the benefits of studying OB are following:
 The study of OB contributes to the development of skills i.e. both soft and hard skills. Soft skills
are interpersonal skills such as communication skills, motivational skills while Hard skills are
technical skills
 It leads into personal growth through insight into human behavior. E.g. what motivates someone.
 It leads to enhancement of organizational and individual effectiveness e.g. workgroups/teams,
motivation etc
 The study o\
 /mmnf OB helps in the sharpening and refinement of common sense.
 It helps an individual understand oneself. It is a systematic study of the actions and attitudes that
people exhibit within organization.
 It helps managers in getting the work done through effective ways.
 It emphasizes the interaction and relations between the organisation and individual behaviour,
thus making an attempt to fulfil psychological contract between individuals and the organisation.
 It helps to develop work-related behaviour and job satisfaction.
 It helps in building motivating climate.
 It helps in building cordial industrial relations. • It helps in the field of marketing through deeper
insight of consumer behaviour, and managing and motivating field employees.
 It helps in predicting behaviour and applying it in some meaningful way to make organisations
more effective.
 It implies effective management of human resources.
 It helps to improve functional behaviour leading to productivity, effectiveness, efficiency,
organizational citizenship, and also helps to reduce dysfunctional behaviour at work place like
absenteeism, employee turnover, dissatisfaction, tardiness etc.


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