“Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and organizational structure have on behavior within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving organizational effectiveness”. The above definition has three main elements;
1. first organizational behaviour is an investigative study of individuals and groups, 2. second, the impact of organizational structure on human behaviour and the 3. Third, the application of knowledge to achieve organizational effectiveness. These factors are interactive in nature and the impact of such behaviour is applied to various systems so that the goals are achieved. The nature of study of organizational behaviour is investigative to establish cause and what affect relationship. The aim of the study is to ensure that the human behaviour contributes towards growth of the organization and greater efficiency is achieved.
Organizational behaviour can be defined as – “the study and application of knowledge about human behaviour related to other elements of an organization such as structure, technology and social systems (LM Prasad).
Stephen P Robins defines “Organizational behaviour as a systematic study of the actions and attitudes that people exhibit within organizations.”
The study of organizational behaviour relates to the expected behaviour of an individual in the organization. No two individuals are likely to behave in the same manner in a particular work situation. Managers under whom an individual is working should be able to explain, predict, evaluate and modify human behaviour that will largely depend upon knowledge, skill and experience of the manager in handling large group of people in diverse situations.
Contributing Fields to Organizational Behaviour
1. Psychology: Psychology is an applied science, which attempts to explain human behaviour in a particular situation