Explain the meaning, goals and
importance of organizational behavior. discuss its contemporary issues and
challenges Organisational behaviour affects an organisation’s performance.
Characteristics of the organisational system and formal-informal dynamics at
work are important environmental factors that influence peoples’ behaviour. In
order to both manage people as well as to understand work behaviour, managers
must continually upgrade their knowledge about all aspects of their businesses,
and especially the human side of the enterprise.
Goals and importance of
organizational behavior. contemporary issues and challenges And this is where
organisational behaviour (OB) comes in. The field of organisational behaviour
concerns itself with the study of the behaviour of individuals and groups in
the context of organisations. goals and
importance of organizational behavior. discuss its contemporary issues and
challenges In this unit, we will examine
the field of organisational behaviour; we shall critically examine its
definition and goals. We will also shed some light on the important
characteristics of the field of OB today. We shall also present a brief
overview of OB in the Indian context, and lastly examine the importance of
organisational behaviour as a field.
Contemporary organisations and
their environments are characterized by change. Changing times always pose a
challenge for people and organisations. Too much change may lead to chaos; too
little change may be stifling and may cause stagnation. Knowledge and
understanding of OB during such dynamic times is particularly important for
those who manage or even aspire to manage. For such people, a vital part of
performing their roles effectively is understanding human behaviour in an
organisational context. Theories about OB help managers understand how humans
and organisations behave, help them make good business decisions, and guide
them about actions to take or refrain from taking. Importance of organizational
behavior. discuss its contemporary issues and challenges In particular,
knowledge of organisational behaviour equips managers to deal with four
critical challenges 2003
1) increasing globalization .
2) increasing diversity of
organisational workforce .
3) continuing technological
innovation with accompanying need for skill enhancement .
4) demand for ethical behaviour
at work.
The topics studied in OB involve
managers and other employees that are concerned with the efficient operation of
an organisation in a rapidly changing world. The scope of OB includes topics
such as the formal and informal organisation of the workplace, employee needs
and motivation, leadership, interpersonal relations and group dynamics,
communication, the work environment, organisational design, delegation of
authority, change and change management, creation of a harmonious climate for
employee-employer relations, conflict resolution, organisational development
and effectiveness, organisational health, stress and its management.
In addition to managers, all of
us are also inevitably involved in organisations of some sort throughout our
lives. You may recall from unit 1 that in addition to work organisations, our
society is made up of many other kinds of organisations, ranging from
governmental, non-governmental, political, religious, educational, military,
health, and social organisations. Meaning, goals and importance of
organizational behavior. discuss its contemporary issues and challenges
Knowledge of organisational behaviour is important as it helps us gain an
understanding of how an organisation functions, how it affects our behaviour,
and how we, in turn, affect the behaviour of others. To understand this context
is part of understanding the world in which we live, and this underlines the
relevance of OB.
In the previous unit, we outlined
the distinction between organisational psychology and OB. Some critics have
charged that that old wine (organisational psychology) has merely been poured
into a new bottle (organisational behaviour). Nonetheless, it is certainly
valid to say that the two cannot and must not be equated. OB is concerned not
only with individual level behaviour within organisations, but also with
macro-level processes, such as organisational strategy, structure and change.
There is little doubt that although OB does not portray the whole of management
(and neither does it intend to), OB has come into its own as a field of study,
research, and application of organizational behavior. discuss its contemporary
issues and challenges OB with the help of some definitions: “The study of the
structure, functioning and performance of organisations and the behaviour of
groups and individuals within them” (Pugh, 1971 The field that seeks knowledge
of behaviour in organisational settings by systematically studying individual,
group, and organisational processes” Greenberg & Baron .
A field of study that
investigates the impact that individuals, groups, and structure have on
behaviour within organisations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge
toward improving an organisation’s effectiveness” (Robbins, Judge, &
Sanghi, 2009, It would be useful to describe three common key aspects of these
definitions to understand clearly what is meant by OB.
There are some goals of
organisational behaviour –
Describe
The first goal is to describe
systematically (in an objective non-prescriptive manner), often in minute
detail, how people behave at work under a variety of conditions.
Understand
A second goal is to understand
why people behave as they do. Imagine how frustrating it would be for managers
if they could talk about behaviour of their employees, but not understand the
reasons behind those actions
Control
The final goal of OB is to
control and develop human behaviour at work. Once we know what happens, why it
happens and what is likely to happen in the future, we can exercise some
control over it. Every organisation has specific goals such as certain levels
of profits, customer satisfaction, public responsibility, and so on. It is the
job of the management to mobilise and coordinate the human, technical, economic
and informational resources available for the purpose of achieving such
organisational goals. Managers need to be able to achieve such goals through
the actions they and their employees take, and organisational behaviour can
help managers meet these goals.
Predict
An important reason behind
understanding behaviour is that it should help managers to then predict
behaviour in various situations. It is often said: ‘the best predictor of
future behaviour is past behaviour’. Armed with knowledge about human behaviour
in organisations, managers should, for example, be able to predict which
employees might be committed and productive or which ones might be
counterproductive. This would help them to take preventive actions.
Organizational behavior is
constantly evolving. Modern issues and current events have an effect on
organizational culture and behavior alike. Changes in society impact how
organizations operate. While it is important to understand the history of
organizational behavior, it is equally important to understand how contemporary
issues affect organizational behavior. Goals and importance of organizational
behavior. discuss its contemporary issues and challenges For the rest of this
module will discuss current challenges within the workforce and how they impact
organizations on an individual, group, and organizational level. Pay close
attention as you will see some, if not all, of these issues in your own
workplace.
All the definitions of OB depict
that the field focuses on behaviour at three distinct levels of analysis:
Level 1: Individual. Where the
focus is on processes/phenomenon such as values, attitudes, beliefs,
intelligence, motivation etc. that influence how people behave as individuals.
Level 2: Group. This is more concerned with
social and interpersonal aspects, such as group dynamics and leadership.
Level 3: Organisation. The main
concern here is the behaviour of an organisation as a whole, for its culture,
structure and processes.