Organizational Behaviour – Definition, Meaning, Types, Objectives

Definition

Organizational behaviour is defined as the behaviour of human beings in their workplace or only in a corporate setting. It studies the impact that an individual has on behaviour within the organization and how groups work together so that the knowledge can help in explaining and predicting behaviour to improve workplace performances and effectiveness.

The need to study organizational behaviour

There is a strong need to study organizational behaviour for the following reasons –

• To understand the reason why people behave in a certain way
• To understand why one team is more effective than the other
• To understand why one individual is competent whereas others are not
• To understand the process through which utilization of resources is possible
• To understand the basis of motivation and what a manager should do to motivate the employees
• To understand the various ways for developing inter-personal relations in an organization

Meaning of organizational behaviour

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.

Objectives of organizational behaviour

The goals of organizational behaviour are

• Finding the right people
• Job satisfaction
• Understanding the employees in a better way
• Organizational culture
• Leadership and conflict resolution
• Developing a good team
• Developing good leaders
• Higher productivity

Types of organizational behaviour models

The various types of organizational behaviour models are

• Autocratic – This type of organizational behaviour model is used to describe a workplace where the power rests entirely at the top. As the name suggests in an Autocratic model, the authority at the higher level is everything, and it demands complete obedience from the employees. There is a full dependency on the higher power for directions and guidance related to work as the employees do not have the authority to take independent decisions. The job offers only the paycheck, and there is no job satisfaction for the employees.
• Supportive – This type of organizational behaviour model encourages people in leadership positions to inspire the workers in an organization. Here, the assumption is that the employees are already self-motivated, and the work of a leader is to boost that motivation to another level. In the supportive organizational behaviour model, the job of a manager is to offer support to the goals, interests and talents of the employees and foster their motivational level on the belief that the right support and encouragement will induce the employees to increase their performances by themselves.
• Custodial – This type of organization behaviour model acts as a custodian to their employees. The framework of the custodian model tries to provide a sense of security to the employees and show that the organization cares for their welfare. The focus of Custodial organizational behaviour model is on giving the employees economic resources and incentives in the form of robust benefits packages so that it will ultimately lead to employee loyalty and commitment towards the organization.
• Collegial – This type of organizational behaviour model accepts the fact that social factors play an essential role in employee satisfaction. The framework of a collegial model is based on the fact that colleagues are working as a team to help to foster a sense of camaraderie. The power within the organization is shared in this model to encourage a flattened hierarchy, where there are no direct directions from the top.
• System – It is one of the newest organizational behaviour models on the block that has been created to encourage commitment towards the goals and objectives of an organization. The idea is to provide the employees with a sense of meaning and belonging that will promote a higher level of performance and satisfaction amongst them. In the System organizational behaviour model, the manager is expected to show care and compassion towards the employees to establish a positive work culture at the workplace.

Factors that influence organizational behaviour

Several factors can influence organizational behaviour. Some of these are as follows-

• Social – It includes group dynamics, relationships in an organization, the personalities of co-workers and leadership styles
• Structure – It consists of the structure of departments in an organization and employee hierarchy
• Environment – It includes office/desk set up, aesthetics, lighting etc
• Processes – It provides project management styles, reporting structures and workflow management
• Tools – It provides access to technology, tools data and information

The role played by organizational behaviour

The vital role played by organizational behaviour are discussed below-

• Attain organizational effectiveness by keeping a scorecard of the performances and making analysis from the perspective of an individual as well as the organization
• Maintain a balance between ownership of capital and means of production
• Helps to accept changes occurring in the business environment as an essential survival strategy
• The study helps an organization to mould their behaviour so that they can face and survive competition in a successful manner
• Helps to control the effects of privatization and globalization.
• The role of organizational behaviour is to enhance and manage the skills of its employees
• Helps to control and monitor the activities of labour unions
• As the organization grows, its structure will become more complicated because of the dynamic business environment. The scope of authority becomes multifaceted, and the responsibilities of employees change, and at such times the role of organizational behaviour is to manage the complexities in the structure of an organization.

Here is a video by Marketing91 on Organizational Behaviour.

Importance

The importance of organizational behaviour is

• Organizational behaviour helps to build a better relationship in an organization by achieving social, corporate and people’s objectives
• Organizational behaviour fosters goodwill of the organization
• Organizational behaviour helps to create sustainable competitive advantages by covering people into valuable resources through various practices
• Organizational behaviour helps in better coordination within the organization
• Organizational behaviour includes behaviour, change management, training and development, teams and leadership etc
• Organizational behaviour is significant as it helps to achieve objectives at a fast pace
• Organizational behaviour facilitates motivation
• Organizational behaviour improves relations in an organization
• Organizational behaviour helps in optimal utilization of resources.
• Organizational behaviour results in higher levels of efficiency
• Organizational behaviour is multidisciplinary as it applies different types of theories, methods and techniques to evaluate the performances.

Limitations

The limitations of organizational behaviour are

• Behavioural bias – Organizational behaviour can cause irresponsibility, indiscipline and discontent in an organization
• Unethical practices – Manipulative managers can exploit their subordinates through the knowledge that they have acquired and it leads to dishonest practices
• Law of diminishing returns – It puts its onus on the fact that after a certain point there will be a decline in the output no matter what

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