Organizational Behavior - Explained
What is Organizational Behavior?
Written by Jason Gordon
Updated at October 5th, 2022
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What is Organizational Behavior?
Organizational behavior (OB) simply refers to the way people behave in organizations and the relationship between human behaviors and organizational settings.
Individuals exhibit certain behaviors when they are in groups or when they are assigned organizational roles, OB is the study of such behaviors and how they affect organizations.
Organizational behavior has the aim of improving the attitudes of workers at their workplace, enhancing organizational leadership, promoting job innovation, and satisfaction, among others.
The American Psychological Association recognized organizational behavior as a field of study in the 1970s and since then, the field as gained recognition as a legitimate study of human behaviors in organizations.
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Goals of Organizational Behavior Study
Just like every other academic field of study, organizational behavior has its specific goals which include;
- Using scientific techniques and observations to study the relationship between organizational structures, workers behaviors, and performance.
- To achieve enhanced productivity of workers through reorganizing groups, modifying compensation structures and others.
- To underscore the different psychology patterns of employees and unique structures they fit.
The objectives of organizational behavior are diversified to align with the broad nature of the field of study.
Over the years, some cultural components have been embedded in organizational behavior as a field of study. These components include culture, race, social class, ethnic beliefs, and gender roles and how they affect organizational structures and employee productivity.
The major points you should know about organizational behavior include the following;
- Organizational behavior is an academic field os study that examines human behaviors within organizations.
- This field of study examines how different organizational structures affect the behaviors of individuals and their productivity.
- Organizational behavior started in the late 1920s but was officially recognized as a field of study by the American Psychological Association in the 1970s.
- Organizational behavior is a field of study that is essential for decision making and important for corporate human resources.