ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
Definition
It is not the study of how organizations behave, but rather the study of individual behavior in an organizational setting.
This includes the study of how individuals behave alone, as well as how individuals behave in groups.
OB is "the study of human behavior in organizations”.
OB is also a multi-disciplinary study, taking knowledge from social and behavioral sciences and applying it to real-world situations.
Organizational behavior is the study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an organization’s effectiveness.

IMPORTANCE
If people are the most important asset of the organization, then understanding how humans behave in organizations will improve productivity.
Understanding OB allows better worker relations, more realistic expectations and improves job satisfaction
Workplace success depends on:
– Respect for people.
– Understanding of human behavior in complex organizational systems.
– Individual commitment to flexibility, creativity, and learning. – Individual willingness to change.
PURPOSE OF OB
To gain a greater understanding of the factors that influences individual and group dynamics in an organizational setting so that individuals and the groups and organizations to which they belong may become more Effectiveness & Efficiency.
FIELDS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Psychology Sociology
Social Psychology
Anthropology
Political Science

AN OPENS SYSTEM BIEW OF ORGANIZATIONS AND OB
In an open system, an organization takes in resources from its external environment and converts or transforms them into goods and services that are sent back to that environment, where they are bought by customers.
The activities of most organizations can be modeled using the open-systems view.
The system is said to be open because the organization draws from and interacts with the external environment to secure resources, transform them, and then sell the products created to customers.

Model of an open system in an organization

COMPONENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Levels of Analysis of the components

Group Level

Individual
Level
Organizational Level

Individual level:
At this level it involves only an individual. Variables: ability, values and attitudes, personality, emotions, perception, motivation and learning. Characteristics like values, attitudes are essential
Group level:
This involves a set of people working collectively to reach their goals. Variables: structure, teams. Internal conflict, power and politics. Communication from individuals’ level to this level helps in the group decision making, which also contributes to the leaders and builds trust.

Organizational level:
All the variables in the individual and group level would determine and have an impact on the organizational level.
These variables would then determine the organizational culture, which in turn would contribute to the organizational structure and H R policies and practices