Organizational Behavior

Essay by mozo55 January 2004

download word file, 3 pages 4.0

Operating Definition of Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior is the study of how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It is designed to study and improve relationships by achieving human, organizational and social objectives. According to Gordon (2001), "Organization Behavior is a way of thinking, a manner of conceiving problems and articulating research and action solutions" (p.47). Organizational behavior helps us understand what people think, feel and do in organizational settings. For managers and employees, this knowledge helps predict, understand and control organizational events.

Organizational behavior is a field of study, which is concerned with what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization. This knowledge is then applied to improve an organization's effectiveness. OB covers the topic of motivation, how a leader should behave, interpersonal communication, the group structure conflicts in the group, resolution conflicts, work design and work stress.

All the behaviors are predictable. The systematic study of behavior is a means to making reasonably accurate predictions. It means looking at relationships, attempting to attribute causes and effects, and drawing conclusions based on scientific evidence. Systematic study replaces the intuition.

Organizational behavior focuses on issues of leadership, interpersonal communication, human resource management, industrial relations, diversity in the workplace, and organizational development. According to Gordon (2001), one of the most important and broad-based challenges facing organizations today is adapting to people who are different. Organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity (p.47-8).

It is very important for the success of any organization that a manager understand how his or her employees operates. Good interpersonal skills often make employees more efficient and satisfied with their jobs. They would be ready to take more responsibilities and finish the job in time.

The job of a manager...