Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior (OB) defines a field of applied social science that has two complementary objectives related to the fact that the term organization refers both (a) to an entity (e.g., a corporation or business) in which people's behavior is coordinated and regulated, and (b) to the outcome of that coordination and regulation. The first objective is to understand the behavior and experience of people who participate in organizational life. What motivates them to work hard? How can they be influenced and led? What produces effective communication and decision making? How do group affiliations and power affect people's perceptions and interaction? The second objective is to understand how organizations themselves function as a consequence of the social and contextual elements they contain and that impinge on them. How is an organization's performance affected by the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the individuals within it; by group dynamics; and by the economic and political conditions in which it operates? How does the organization respond to change in these elements, and how does it produce it?

To answer such questions, OB draws on insights from a range of disciplines: multiple branches of psychology (e.g., social, personality, cognitive, health, clinical) as well as sociology, anthropology, politics, administration and public policy, management, business, and economics. One consequence of this enormous breadth is that the study of OB is characterized by work that differs greatly in its level of analysis. At a macro-level (broad focus), work focuses on more abstract features of organizations (e.g., their culture, climate, ethics, and design), whereas at a micro-level (narrow, individual focus), attention is paid to more concrete organizational elements (e.g., the personality of employees, the structure of tasks, the nature of rewards). Intermediate levels of analysis focus on the nature of the processes and dynamics that occur within and between different groups and networks (which themselves are defined at more or less inclusive levels, e.g., the work team, the department, the professional body).

Organizations are a common and important element of social life, and the capacity to analyze them—with a view to understanding both how they work and how they might be improved—is a fundamental human capacity. For this reason, contemplations on the nature of OB are a key component of the earliest human texts on religion and philosophy (a notable early example being Plato's The Republic). Nevertheless, formal OB theorizing dates back only about 100 years and is typically traced to Frederick Taylor's writings on scientific management. Taylor sought to identify the one best way to maximize organizational efficiency and placed an emphasis on principles of hierarchical command and control. Critically, these ideas were backed up by experimental research that demonstrated that productivity could be enhanced through the implementation of systems (e.g., of financial reward and task structure) that regularized all aspects of individuals' organizational activity. This work was soon complemented by Hugo Munsterberg's development of personnel selection methods, the purpose of which was to identify the one best worker. These methods emphasized the value of breaking tasks into their constituent parts and then recruiting workers on the basis of their possession of the clearly defined and measurable skills that were associated with superior performance in these discrete areas.

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