organizational behavior - a managerial introduction 2015

R. Ravi Kumar, Ph. D. Indian Institute of Management

Professor Bangalore

Organizational Behavior: A Managerial Introduction Look at our lives: most of us are born in an organization - hospital; as the time passes, we go through several other organizations - play school, primary and

high schools, college and university, as part of our educational career; then, we enter another type of organization to make professional careers - the employing organizations. In short, our lives are intertwined with life in organizations.

View it from a different perspective, the way we spend our time. Irrespective of

whether we are a student or an employee, most of us know that we spend approximately one third of the time, sleeping and dreaming (on average eight hours a day). But very few of us have ever given a thought as to what we do

rest of the time i.e. sixteen hours a day). It will be a hard-hitting reality that we spend half of it in organizations (eight hours a day). And, the other half of

sixteen hours, we indulge ourselves in planning and preparing in terms of learning requisite skills (like the present effort) and also in recharging ourselves through participation in family and other socially related activities. The time we

thus spend outside the organizations is supposed to help us in heightening our performance in organizational life.

This means that we live in, live through and live for organizations during most

of our wakeful life. This adequately emphasizes the importance of

organizations. Further, we constantly, through our interactions, try to influence the organizations we are in. At the same time, we are also influenced

by organizations to such a degree that at times we lose our individual identity. You are known, by your behaviour that is often a result of your membership in an organization, as an IITian, a Levers' man, a Bureaucrat, a Businessman etc.

An understanding of what happens to us because of the organizations we live in, live through and live for is a worthy learning endeavour if we desire the best in our lives.

All those who are already managers in some organization or other and all those

who want to be managers constantly desire to know the answers to the questions:

How can I be more successful in my life?" What skills are to be honed to accomplish as well as enhance success?"

Copy right material. For Academic Pursuits only. Revised 2015.

Organizational Behavior: A Managerial Introduction 2

More than in the other disciplines of management, one can find crisp and clear

answers to these questions in the ever-expanding field called Organisational Behaviour. This is precisely because understanding people helps managers in

managing them effectively. Often referred to as OB, it provides significant

insights in understanding various facets of behaviour of people in organizations as well as social life. Most practising managers strongly feel that OB plays a vital role in "making" or breaking" of a manager's career. Let us now attempt to have a glimpse of OB, if it is so important.

OB is omnipresent and all pervasive: It exists everywhere:

* within the organisation - on shop floors,

- in board rooms; * beyond the organisation

- at parties - in drawing rooms.

In simple, one sees it wherever there are people and where ever people want to be.

OB is most secular and socialistic:

It treats one and all equally. It does not discriminate anyone on the basis of caste, sex, religion organizational designation or even economic status. Further,

it emphasizes valuing human being as just a human being in that a person's actions are treated without any strings attached.

OB is like a trip on a roller coaster:

It does not follow a specific pattern and/or rigid principles. There are more exceptions to every principle it advocates making it highly surprising, thrilling

and exciting. Surprising because what is seen to be true in one situation, turns out to be not so true in another; thrilling because there is no guarantee that one behaviour would lead to any specific consequential behaviour, and; exciting

because it keeps you on your toes most of the time. There are no right or wrong answers in OB. What is valued and emphasized is

to explore the appropriateness of an action or in-action. While in other


management disciplines the questions are answered in "YES or NO" pattern, in

OB the answers are often either "YES"," NO ,"in between" and even "Yes and NO". In other words, in OB the world is NOT just WHITE and BLACK but White, Black and more interestingly and importantly GREY, with several shades of it.

OB is most close to human life:

Since it is mainly deals with the way people behave in organizations, it attempts to understand people as closely and intimately as possible making it highly

"human-oriented". It is perhaps the only discipline that attaches maximum importance to the individual: his feelings, needs, values, attitudes, aspirations, aptitudes, beliefs, experiences, expectations, conflicts, fears, goals, interests,

learning capabilities, motivations, needs, personality, temperaments, skills etc.

OB is most challenging: Because of its closeness to various aspects of human life, it uses many terms

that are often used in day-to-day life, but with a different meaning in explaining the dynamics of human behaviour. This provides more of challenge than a problem for the discerning learner, in a sense that it calls for some amount of

"unlearning" without which one cannot get the fruits of learning OB. Consider for example, the word, Motivation. In normal parlance, it is often used in the

place of appreciation, changing, convincing, developing, encouragement, fostering etc. In OB, the meaning of the same term goes beyond it, providing the several nuances depending on its applications.

OB is most interdisciplinary, bi-directionally:

This statement might sound rather rhetoric because every other management discipline boasts of the same. Other management disciplines like Production,

Finance, Information technology etc., no doubt, have multidisciplinary foundation, but OB seems to be the discipline where the interdisciplinariness is in two directions: one in terms of its foundation; and two in terms of its

contribution to the emergence of new fields. The broad base of OB encompasses fields like Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Technology,

Quantitative Sciences and Administrative Theory, while it has significant role in the development of fields like Accounting Behaviour, Work Redesign, Advertising and Consumer Behaviour. This very characteristic of OB makes it

an essential "linking pin" to understand and appreciate various other disciplines of management.


OB is significantly practice-oriented:

OB emphasizes in providing the necessary skills and abilities to be a successful

manager highlighting the importance of immediate practice and learning from

its resultant consequences. Built on contemporary theories, the most important aspect of OB is in making the manager operate simultaneously as the "Subject and Object of enquiry". In other words, the manager is an

Experimenter and Experimentee concurrently, emphasizing the need to constantly synthesize more than one perspective. This provides an ongoing

opportunity to fine tune oneself with the changing circumstances and/or perspectives. Further, it fosters the development of "holistic organizational perspective" which is essential for the success of any manager and any

organization. In other disciplines, the manager is either an experimenter or an experimentee

at any moment of time. To state it differently, the manager is either the "Cause" or "effect". Consequently, the manager learns the appropriate tools and

techniques quite often only from one perspective. For example, marketing as field provides perspectives to the manager as a Marketer, resulting in the development of "Tunnel Vision", leading to the undermining of the other

relevant perspectives. Such an oft-noticed managerial syndrome could be detrimental to managerial as well as organizational success. This unique

feature makes the discipline intriguing, personally involving and professionally interesting.

In the coming few pages you will experience a feel as well as a flavour of this exhilarating, ever value-adding field of managerial and organizational life.

Before one reaches for the definition of OB, it is worth considering how it helps managers.

OB helps improving

the managerial ability to influence people: Managerial performance is largely contingent upon the degree to which one is able to influence the significant people around him in the organization as well

as outside the organization. The significant people for a manager are: superiors, colleagues and subordinates within the organization; customers, suppliers and

policy makers in the society. OB precisely offers the skills in managing, influencing, changing people by providing the related inter-linkages that effect people's behaviour.

OB enables managers accomplish objectives:


Managerial success is often measured in terms of the results obtained. Better

accomplishment of objectives becomes possible when the objectives are clear, closer to the abilities and interests of the individuals. OB provides inputs in various ways of accomplishing objectives of self, others as well as of the

organization by emphasizing on the need to understand the behavioural dynamics of people before defining the objectives. There could be more than one reason for accomplishing or for non-accomplishing the objectives and OB

precisely help realise the need to understand the reasons, their interactive dynamics for any such behaviour.

OB helps managers understand

the two-way impact of organizations on people: The organizations people work for and the nature of work they do over period of time, have significant influence on the behaviour of people. Consider the

following to substantiate this:

# Ex defence employees continue to walk straight, keep short hair; # A bank employee, counts the cash that he receives

even though it happens outside the banking environment; # A travelling sales representative does not hesitate to enter a

reserved railway compartment without proper reservation;

# A policeman rarely shakes hand while bidding good-bye - instead he salutes;

OB stresses adequate emphasis on the influence of the past and present organizational environment on the behaviour of people. This emphasis helps

managers realize the reasons for the behaviour of people and help them in designing the ways to modify their behaviour.

Now, let us attempt to understand what OB deals with. OB is concerned with

behaviour of people and organizations. By people it means individuals and

groups; by organizations it means formal organizations. This means that the

scope of OB is limited to the behaviours in formal organizations and it lays less emphasis on behaviours in informal organizations like family and community.

A formal organization is a system consisting of a number of people whose

activities are co-ordinated and streamlined to accomplish explicitly stated goals

and objectives through division of labour and governed by a hierarchy of

authority and responsibility. Hospitals, academic institutions, banks, business

houses, prisons etc., are some of the examples of formal organizations.


OB helps managers develop an insightful understanding of how people and

organizations behave and interact each other in accomplishing their goals. In their pursuit of accomplishing goals, both people and organizations attempt to exert influence on each other.

When the focus is on the people, OB is referred to as Micro OB and it deals with the way individuals influence the organization. Here the concentration is on

the individual's attempts to mould the organization in his effort to accomplish personal goals. Consequently, Micro OB provides the appropriate

understanding of the manner in which individuals acquire the influencing ability, exercise the influence and the consequences of such an influence on the individual. In short, Micro OB provides a closer picture of individuals in

organization, dealing with themes like Individual's Personality, Values, Beliefs and Attitudes, Needs and Motivation, Cognitive style, Interpersonal Attraction,

Conflicts, Communication, Behaviour of Groups and Teams, Leadership, Problem Solving, Decision Making, etc.

The way the organization influences the behaviour of people forms the main core of other aspect of OB, which is referred to as Macro OB. Now, the attention is on the way organizations attempt to influence the behaviour through various

organizational processes, systems, cultures and strategies.

Consequently, some of the themes in Macro OB are: Organizational Structure and Design, Organizational Theory, Organizational Processes, Organizational Culture and Organizational Development. To put it succinctly, Macro OB

facilitates providing a vivid picture of organizations. As an inquisitive learner of OB, managers should realize that this kind of

compartmentalization of Macro and Micro aspects of OB is done purely for academic purposes. A person who is keen on enhancing his managerial

success needs to have a fair degree of comprehension of Micro OB and Macro OB as well as their interaction with each other for the simple reason that in organizational reality both happen simultaneously. This will facilitate deriving

the most effective results in managing people and organizations.

Whatever may be the focus, it is certain that OB deals with behaviour of people and organizations. From a managerial perspective OB deals with understanding, directing, controlling and predicting behaviour in organizations

- let the behaviour be of people or of organizations.

# Understanding behaviour: Managerial queries like:


What are the principles that govern behaviour?

What are the causes and effects of particular behaviour? Why a particular mode of behaviour is preferred and shown in a specific context? .. are answered which enhance the managerial comprehension.

# Directing behaviour: Can people and organizations be influenced? If so, how?

What circumstances and strategies ensure the emergence of the desired behaviours? What makes people and organizations confirm and/or comply to

one's influence? Such questions and answers find their meaningful place here, which in turn equip managers while they are in the transactions of influence and changing

behaviour.

# Controlling behaviour: What can be done when the managerial instructions and

influences fail to obtain the desired behaviours? What strategies and techniques are available to control and prevent the possible deviations?

How to identify the most appropriate strategies and what are the possible obstacles in their implementation?

These ever-demanding managerial enquiries find their strategic place here.

# Predicting behaviour: Can behaviour be predicted at all? If so, to what degree and with what level of confidence?

What are the situational variables that enhance predictability? To what extent the principles of behaviour help in countering the

possible impediments while predicting behaviour? To what degree, ones past experiences in similar environments can increase predictability?

Such intriguing questions are addressed and managers are equipped to explore the possible answers.

Now, let us attempt to understand the nature and characteristics of behaviour, which is central theme in OB.

# Behaviour is influenced by a number of factors:


The causal factors responsible for a particular behaviour could be more than

one. For example, take absenteeism. An employee could be absent because of his physical illness, he has leave that will expire if not utilized, his dislike for the work he has been expected to do on the particular day, his interpersonal

issues with his colleagues, a fear that he may not do well that day, his unhappiness with the organization, he wants to show his indispensability, family constraints etc. All of these factors have a source in his Self". Another example could be why people work in organizations? The reasons

could be: Pay, Status, Growth opportunities, Challenge, Social pressures, even to avoid boredom at home, all emanating from his view of himself and his view of the world.

# Behaviour is influenced by various kinds of factors:

Behaviour is influenced not only by a number factors having a common source like it has been illustrated in the above examples, but also by various kinds of

factors. Consider why people work in organizations beyond the normal hours without any extra monetary benefits. The reasons responsible for such behaviour could be from the Cultural aspects of the organization; Sociological

factors like fear of ostracization, social insinuation; Professional variables like honing one's skills, investing for a better career elsewhere, commitment to the

job and value attached to high performance, and; Personal attributes like high need for achievement, to prove that he can do better than others, or suspicion that work will take place only if he is around.

# Behaviour is determined by individual differences:

An interesting aspect of behaviour is the way people differ in their responses to the same environment. Imagine there has been a sudden fire in a particular

department of an organization. Some will spree at their maximum speed; some will shout with fear or for help; some will call for fire engines; some will push as many others as they can out from the place of disaster; some may even watch

the fun for some time. Consider another fascinating example - the way individuals react to not getting

a promotion in the organization. One may feel it is all due to his fate; other may conclude that the organization is not for the "real performers"; still another may

view it as the game played by his boss who belongs to a different community; one more may quit the organization in disgust and despair; one may even work hard so that he will enhance the chances of promotion next time.

# Behaviour is effected by similarities:

Equally fascinating aspect of behaviour is that it is common across individuals as well as organizations. Take a contemporary example of how organizations


are responding to changes in the economic environment. Several organizations

are showing similarities in their responses by attempting to restructure, re-engineer and right-size, irrespective of the individual differences in their size, nature of industry, structure, technology, culture etc.

Or look at the way organizations are competing with one another in obtaining ISO certifications and spending their resources on Total Quality Management,

mostly perhaps in their pursuit to enhance their customers' acceptance. If this phenomenon of similarity in responses is not true, perhaps there would not

have been any order in our organizational and societal lives, leading to unimaginable and unmanageable chaos.

Or consider another example of reactions to bonus declared by an organization. Employees will be eager to receive it despite their individual differences on other

organizational issues. It is rather a rare phenomenon where anyone refuses bonus from the company!

# Behaviour is goal directed and purposeful: Individuals as well as organizations display those behaviours that they believe

would lead to the accomplishment of goals. Imagine the profit-oriented goal of a company. All efforts will be eventually to maximize profits. In this process,

it may reduce costs, reduce man-power, identify unexplored markets, work on extending the utilities of current products, try on different product-mix - all these behaviours are directed towards one goal, maximizing profits.

Consider an example from an individual's perspective where one values recognition from the company. All his/her efforts in the work will be aimed at

accomplishing this objective. (S)He may excel in his performance, he may prove his/her indispensability, (s)he may create a problem that can be solved only by

himself/herself, (s)he may be willing to take new responsibilities etc.

# Behaviour is modifiable to a very large degree: An exciting dimension of behaviour -- be it of individuals or of organizations, is their ability to learn and even unlearn. This is precisely because behaviour

can be modified to a very large degree. Individuals in organizations attempt to modify the behaviour of themselves and others and also of the organization by

creating new learning experiences, by positively reinforcing desired behaviours and by negatively reinforcing or even punishing such behaviours that are construed undesirable. On the other hand, organizations influence the

behaviour of people by bringing requisite changes in the work place, performance standards, technology, structure and culture. At times, these

changes could be a result of changes in the operating environment of the organization.


Consider the example of Indian airlines staff before and after the entry of private airline operators. Several consumers share their experience that there has been a perceptible change in the way IA staff are responding to and dealing with

customers now. Look at another example. Organizations constantly increase their budget

allocation on training their personnel, be it induction or up-gradation of existing skills, despite the resource crunch they experience. This is precisely because

of the fact that behaviour can be modified to a large extent. The entire field of Organizational development (which you will learn later) is based on this premise.

# Behaviour is dynamic as well as stable: Though behaviour is modifiable, every aspect of it is not changeable. This means that certain aspects of behaviour is dynamic and more susceptible for

change while certain other aspects are less prone for change and hence remain stable. Imagine you are meeting your ex-colleague after a long time. You certainly would notice some changes in his behaviour but at the same time he

is not a totally changed person - some behavioral patterns are bound to be remained unchanged.

# Behaviour is predictable to some degree:

Because of the component of stability in behavioral patterns, it is possible to predict the behaviour to some degree. The efficacy of this prediction gets enhanced when it is based on certain principles of behaviour rather than on

pure common sense.

Human resources professionals predict the future performance and the organizational commitment of prospective employees on the basis of their interview behaviour. Market researchers and advertising professionals predict

the success of a product launched on the basis consumer behaviour patterns. A taxi-driver at the airport predicts whether an airline passenger needs his

services or not, by observing the behavioral cues emanating from him closely. An officer in the bank appraises the loan applicant and predicts his intention to repay on the basis of available data about the applicant.

# Behaviour is influenced by past experiences:

The contemporary behaviour exhibited is a resultant consequence of one's past experiences. In other words, my present behaviour is contingent upon my past experiences, direct or indirect. Quite often, we realize that we are victims of our

past history. An individual who got his job done earlier by offering bribe to an


officer will unhesitatingly offer bribe now. To put it theoretically, consequences of one's earlier behaviour determine the re-occurrence or non-occurrence of such behaviours. The age-old axiom, "Once bitten twice shy", explains this

concept vividly. A customer who is extremely happy with a product of a company would like to

buy another product of the company with a fair degree of confidence or recommends the same product to others. Company images do influence

purchase behaviours. No wonder, companies pay attention to repeat buyers for they believe they bring new customers and spend huge amount on keeping them satisfied!

As a discerning learner now you have an idea of what is OB, how it is helpful to

mangers and the characteristics of behaviour of people and organizations. It helps you immensely if you realize that the voyage of understanding people and organization has just begun. You can get the best of this journey if you are able

to reflect your learning, relate them to your daily surroundings and analyze their implications. Remember, there are no hard liners in understanding OB. It is as complex and elusive as (wo)man is.

organizational behavior - a managerial introduction 2015

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