Models of Organizational Behavior

10 Key excerpts on "Models of Organizational Behavior"

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  Organizational Behaviour

  Performance Management in Practice

  • Richard Pettinger(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Chapter 3 . Organizations have to be capable of responding to changes and pressures in their environment; and they also have to be able to change themselves in order to meet fresh challenges and developments. Organizations have to be capable of accommodating advances in human and technological knowledge, and in harmonizing these to best effect in the pursuit of successful activities.

  The overall context is bounded by the need for managerial expertise in integrating all of the lessons into a body of understanding that forms the basis for the study of knowing how people think, behave, act and react in a variety of situations.xxiv

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  1 Introduction

  DOI: 10.4324/9780203857595-2

  Organizational behaviour is concerned with the study of the behaviour and interaction of people in restricted or organized settings. It involves the understanding of, and prediction of, the behaviour of people, and of the means by which their behaviour is influenced and shaped.

  Organizations are bodies or entities created for a stated purpose. They may consist of one or more people. In the case of the sole trader or single operator, he/she needs to build relationships with suppliers, contractors, customers, clients and the community. For those that consist of more than one person, internal as well as external relationships have to be created and maintained. Organizations therefore consist of individuals, groups and relationships. Objectives, structures, systems and processes are then created to give life, direction and order to activities and interactions.

  Organizational behaviour is therefore of great concern to anyone who organizes, creates, orders, directs, manages or supervises the activities of others. It is also of concern to those who build relationships between individuals, groups of people, different parts of organizations, and between different organizations themselves because all of these activities are founded on human interaction.

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  Organizational Behavior 3

  Historical Origins, Theoretical Foundations, and the Future

  • John B. Miner(Author)
  • 2006(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR 3 PART I THEORY, RESEARCH, AND KNOWLEDGE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

  What is organizational behavior? It is a social science discipline—much like cultural anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. This means that it utilizes the scientific method to establish truth and to validate its theories. It is a discipline that historically has had its intellectual home in business schools. It is a new discipline relative to the other social sciences, having its origins in the mid-twentieth century. The key points are that it is a science and that it has a history, which, though short, has been quite turbulent.

  Although the exact boundaries of the discipline are somewhat fuzzy (see Blood 1994), organizational behavior’s focus is clearly on the world of organizations. The concern is first with the behavior and nature of people within organizations, and second with the behavior and nature of organizations within their environments. The term organizational behavior initially referred only to the behavior and nature of people in organizations. Given the fuzziness of its boundaries, the discipline always had a tendency to stretch beyond that domain, however. By the time it approached twenty-five years of age it clearly had staked a claim to incorporating the behavior and nature of organizations as well (see Miles 1980). This is historically consistent in that both the study of the behavior and nature of people and the study of the behavior and nature of organizations emerged in the business schools in the same places at the same times.

  In line with its professional school origins, organizational behavior is an applied discipline, concerned with matters of practice and application. Despite this orientation, it currently has relatively few members who actually devote their primary professional efforts to the practice of organizational behavior in business and other organizational settings; rather, most are concentrated in academia—teaching, writing, and conducting research. In my opinion this is unfortunate; the field would be better off not by reducing its academic efforts, but by expanding its practitioner efforts. We will return to this theme in various ways throughout this book.

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  Organizational Behaviour

  • Paul Smith, Marilyn Farmer, Wendy Yellowley(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  •   In studying OB, the reader will come across various different theories. Theories help in building generalized models that can be applied in a range of settings.

  •   Management action or decisions rest on some sort of idea or model. Relevant theories therefore provide useful tools for managers.

  •   Data and statistics from research studies and reports provide other useful sources of information and decision-making tools for managers.

  Levels of organizational behaviour:

  •   OB can be examined at a number of levels, each of which interacts with the others.

  The main levels are: individual, group, organization and wider context.

  The employment relationship:

  •   The different actors in OB (such as managers and employees) are active agents and interact with the other actors. The strategy, structure, culture, technology and processes of an organization exert an influence on, and in turn are influenced by, the people who make up the organization.

  •   At the centre of the employment relationship are the employee and the employer.

  •   Each party to the employment relationship is likely to have both differences and commonalities of interest.

  •   The employment relationship can be viewed and analysed from differing perspectives, including unitary, pluralist and radical perspectives.

  •   The employment relationship takes place within both an internal and an external context.

  Review questions

  1.

      How would you define ‘organizational behaviour’?

  2.

      Why might the study of OB be considered important?

  3.

      Why is the study of relevant theory considered important in OB?

  4.

      What are the key levels in OB?

  5.

      What is meant by the ‘organizational dilemma’?

  6.

      Why is an appreciation of the external context important to our understanding of OB?

  7.

      In the employment relationship, what is meant by ‘the balance of power’? And what factors can help to shift this balance?

  8.

      Compare and contrast the unitary, pluralist and radical perspectives.

  Recommended reading

  Buchanan, D.A. and Huczynski, A.A. (2010) Organizational Behaviour (7th edn). Harlow: Pearson Education.

  Butler, M. and Rose, E. (2011) Introduction to Organizational Behaviour.

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  A Theory of Behavior in Organizations

  • James C. Naylor, Robert D. Pritchard, Daniel R. Ilgen(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  1 A Viewpoint Concerning Organizational Behavior This book presents a theory for organizational behavior, or, more accurately, a theory of individual behavior within organizations. T h e term theory seemed the most appropriate one to describe what will be presented in the following pages since the material seems to fit the general definition of theory as presented by Marx (1963), namely that a theory is: (a) in the general sense, any more or less formalized concep-tualization of the relationship of variables; or φ) any generalized explanatory principle. A model, on the other hand, is more of an analogy, being defined by Marx as A conceptual analogue, generally brought in from some other field, whose function is to direct empirical research: diflFering from other types of theory in that its modification or improvement is not involved [1963, p. 42]. Now, since the authors would be the first to admit that there is room for improvement and modification of the ideas concerning individual behavior presented within these pages, it seems inappropriate to use the term model as formally defined by Marx (1963). Basically, we have tried to propose a detailed, schematic representation of behavior that unites, in a logical way, the many different variables that contribute meaningfully to individual behavior in organizations. We have attempted to be quite detailed in our theory since we believed that lack o f specificity was a major limiting factor with most current organizational behavior theories. In addition, since we were bothered by the lack of completeness of other theories and models, we have attempted to be complete in the sense of dealing with as many different variables or variable types and as many different psychological processes as we felt were relevant. 1

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  Progress in Behavior Modification

  Volume 12

  • Michel Hersen, Richard M. Eisler, Peter M. Miller, Michel Hersen, Richard M. Eisler, Peter M. Miller(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT LEE W. FREDERIKSEN AND RICHARD P. JOHNSON Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, Virginia I. Definition 68 II. Historical Development 69 III. Theoretical Perspectives 73 A. Organizational Behavior 73 B. Applied Behavior Analysis 77 C. Emerging Approaches 78 IV. Methodology 82 V. Review of the Literature 84 A. Business-Industrial Settings 85 B. Human Service Settings 97 VI. Conclusions and Future Directions 109 References 112 Application of the principles and procedures of behavior modifica-tion has historically been centered on clinical populations. The retarded, the mentally ill, delinquents, and individuals with behavior problems are all common target populations. With increasing frequency, however, these same principles have been applied to nonclinical populations. One rapidly growing area of application is the behavior of people working in organiza-tional settings. This area of application has gone by a number of names. Organizational behavior modification, behavioral systems analysis, organizational behavior analysis, performance improvement, and con-tingency management are examples of the range of labels that have been applied. However, the most widely accepted term to describe this field of endeavor is organizational behavior management (OBM). The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the rapidly developing field of OBM. To achieve this objective, a definition and the historical context of OBM will first be presented. Next, its characteristics and contributions in the areas of theory, methodology, and empirical find-ings will be reviewed. Greatest emphasis will be placed on the systematic 67 iOGRESS IN BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION, VOLUME 12 Copyright © 1981 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. ISBN 0-12-535612-9

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  21st Century Psychology: A Reference Handbook

  • Stephen F. Davis, William Buskist, Stephen F. Davis, William F. Buskist(Authors)
  • 2007(Publication Date)
  • SAGE Publications, Inc

    (Publisher)

  448 99 O RGANIZATIONAL B EHAVIOR M ANAGEMENT T RACY E. Z INN James Madison University I f one were to ask business managers to identify the most common problems they have in the workplace, most would likely say people problems —for example, employees’ lack of motivation, difficulty hiring the right staff, and trouble preventing turnover. Remedies for such problems include managers searching for motivated employees who have good attitudes and who are conscien-tious . Managers expend much energy finding and keeping employees with these coveted characteristics, and human resource specialists, psychologists, and consultants spend considerable time developing procedures to select such people. In popular business books, one tends to find that most researchers focus on the personality traits and characteristics of desirable and undesirable employees—for example, whether employees have a good attitude or whether they are motivated—but pay very little attention to why certain employees have a bad attitude or why others are not motivated. Typical approaches to addressing people problems in the workplace tend to describe good and poor performers but fail to focus on changing what people at work actually do . Unfortunately, if organizational results are not where they should be, the primary culprit is, in fact, what people are—or, maybe more important, are not— doing. As Daniels and Daniels (2004) stated, “Every result is produced by someone doing something. If you want to improve results, you must first get employees to change what they are doing” (p. 27). Thus, if a manager can understand how to change behavior and maintain that change, she will have a significant advantage over her competitors. Organizational behavior management (OBM) is a “systematic, data-oriented approach to managing behavior in the workplace” (A. C. Daniels, 1989, p. 4) and can provide such an advantage.

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  A Primer on Organizational Behavior

  • James L. Bowditch, Anthony F. Buono, Marcus M. Stewart(Authors)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  C H A P T E R O N E Management and Organizational Behavior M anagement education and development have traditionally emphasized what might be termed the content of managerial work. Indeed, much of management edu- cation today continues to focus on upgrading the technical competence of managers and managers-to-be in such areas as accounting, finance, marketing, operations, and information technology–related services. This focus on content has been referred to as the what of a manager’s job, encompassing such concerns as: developing appropri- ate procedures for auditing and inventory control; creating new marketing programs; establishing management information systems, just-in-time inventory, and produc- tion systems; enhancing global supply chain efficiencies; and other specific aspects of managerial work. 1 While the technical aspects of management are, of course, quite important for the successful functioning of an organization, understanding the process of management or the how of a manager’s job is also a critical component of management educa- tion. Within this process view of management, attention is often given to the roles, behaviors, and skills that are necessary for effective managerial performance. Some of these behavioral skills are communicating with peers, subordinates, and bosses; obtaining and sharing information; running meetings; allocating resources to differ- ent groups; and handling conflict within or between teams. 2 This understanding of management processes, often referred to as organizational behavior (OB), thus ex- tends managerial education to the study of people, groups, and their interactions in organizations. Recent analyses of our changing business environment reflect the importance of this dimension of management, and corporations are demanding a much broader range of skills and competencies from their business professionals.

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  Readings and Exercises in Organizational Behavior

  • Jane W. Gibson, Richard M. Hodgetts(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Academic Press

    (Publisher)

  1. The Management Theory Jungle Revisited 15 design a climate for performance, w h e n goals and means of achieving t h e m are planned, w h e n organizational roles are defined and well struc-tured, w h e n roles are intelligently staffed, and w h e n control techniques and information are designed to make self-control possible. In other words, leadership theory and research are, like motivation, fitting into the scheme of operational m a n a g e m e n t theory, rather than going off as a separate branch of theory. The New Managerially Oriented Organization Development B o t h organization development and the field ordinarily referred to as organization behavior have g r o w n out o f the interpersonal and group behavior approaches to management. For a while, it seemed that these fields were far away and separate from operational m a n a g e m e n t theory. N o w many of these scientists are seeing that basic m a n a g e m e n t theory and techniques, such as managing by objectives and clarifying organi-zation structure, fit well into their programs of behavioral intervention. A review of the latest organization behavior books indicates that some authors in this field are beginning to understand that behavioral elements in group operations must be m o r e closely inte-grated with organizational structure design, staff-ing, planning, and control. T h i s is a promising sign. It is a recognition that analysis or individual and group behavior, at least in managed situa-tions, easily and logically falls into place in the scheme of operational m a n a g e m e n t theory. The Impact of Technology: Researching an Old Problem T h a t technology has an important impact on organizational structure, behavior patterns, and other aspects of managing has been recognized by intelligent practitioners for m a n y years. H o w -ever, primarily among academic researchers, there has seemed to be in recent years a discov-ery that the impact of technology is important and real.

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  Organization behaviour in contemporary world

  • Surbhi Jain(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Society Publishing

    (Publisher)

  Organization Behaviour in Contemporary World 48 REVIEW QUESTIONS 1. Define “principles.” 2. Explain organizational behavior principles. 3. What must be included in the practices and principles of organizational behavior? 4. Describe organizational best practices. 5. What do you mean by accountability in terms of organizational behavior? 6. What are the main principles of organizational culture? 7. Illustrate “Don’t let your formal leaders off the hook” as a chief principle of organizational culture. 8. How can effective decisions be made in organizational behavior? 9. What are the causes and pitfalls of narrow decision frames? 10. Describe the techniques for broadening the decision frame. Principle and Practices of Organizational Behavior 49 REFERENCES 1. Kreitz, P., (2007). Best Practices for Managing Organizational Diversity . [eBook] p. 32. Available at: https://www.slac.stanford. edu/cgi-wrap/getdoc/slac-pub-12499.pdf (Accessed on 19 May 2019). 2. Locke, E., (2009). Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior . [eBook] John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, p. 23. Available at: https://sites.duke.edu/larrick/files/2014/09/2009-Larrick-Handbook-of-Principles-of-Org-Behavior.pdf (Accessed on 19 May 2019). 3. Thomas, J., Katzenbach, J., & Oelschlegel, C., (2016). 10 Principles of Organizational Culture . [online] Strategy + business. Available at: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/10-Principles-of-Organizational-Culture?gko=e5e9a (Accessed on 19 May 2019). 4. Unibo.it., (n.d.). Principle of Management and Organizational Behavior 2016/2017 . [online] Available at: https://www.unibo.it/en/ teaching/course-unit-catalogue/course-unit/2016/401178 (Accessed on 19 May 2019). 5. Wisdom Jobs (n.d.). Principles of Management and Organizational Behavior Tutorial for Beginners – Learn Free Principles of Management and Organizational Behavior Tutorial pdf | Wisdom Jobs .

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  Handbook of Organizational Performance

  Behavior Analysis and Management

  • William K Redmon, Thomas C Mawhinney, Carl Merle Johnson(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  PART II:

  APPLICATIONS OF THE BEHAVIORAL MODEL

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  Chapter 6

  Training and Development in Organizations: A Review of the Organizational Behavior Management Literature

  Richard Perlow

  There are several excellent literature reviews and other discussions on personnel training in organizations in the industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology literature (Campbell, 1971; Eden, 1987; Goldstein, 1980, 1991; Latham, 1988, 1989; Tannenbaum and Yukl, 1992; Wexley, 1984). These works have had an impact on the field of training and have contributed to the development and quality of training research. With few exceptions, however, these reviews have ignored organizational behavior management (OBM) training research. The present chapter attempts to fill that gap and extend earlier treatments of OBM training (Reid, Parsons, and Green, 1989; Ross, 1982). The chapter begins with a review of the OBM training literature followed by a critique and suggestions for future research.

  Space constraints preclude treatment of the entire training literature from a behavior analytic perspective. Thus, I focus primarily on research investigating the process of instruction and skill acquisition of people employed in organizations. Research investigating transfer of training strategies is not emphasized because several excellent papers on generalization and maintenance already exist in the I/O (Baldwin and Ford, 1988), education (Royer, 1979), and behavior analysis (Stokes and Baer, 1977; Stokes and Osnes, 1989) literatures. Research where training was peripheral to other organizational interventions (e.g., Fox and Sulzer-Azaroff, 1989; Komaki, Blood, and Holder, 1980; Rowe, 1981; Streff, Kalsher, and Geller, 1993) is also excluded. Finally, research focusing primarily on trainee reactions to programs is not discussed (Reid and Parsons, 1995, 1996).

  The author would like to express appreciation to Thomas S. Critchfield, Richard K. Fleming, and the editors for their comments on an earlier version of this chapter.

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