University of Lusaka
Organisational Behaviour
Lecture 1 – Introduction to
Organisational Behaviour
Topic Outline
1.
Introducing the basic concept of Organisational
Behaviour
2.
Key elements of Organisational Behaviour
3.
Framework for Organisational Behaviour
4.
Basic Approaches of Organisational behavior
5.
Contributing Disciplines to Organisational Behaviour
6.
Emerging Trends in Organisational Behaviour
7.
Characteristics and Traits of Effective Organisations
OB Disciplines and their Contributions
Behaviour
Science
Contribution
Unit of
Analysis
Psychology
Learning, Motivating, Personality,
Individual
Emotions, Perception, Training, Leadership
Effectiveness, Values, Recruitment
Sociology
Group Dynamics, Work Teams,
Group
Communication, Power/ Conflict, Change
Social
Psychology
Behaviour Change, Attitude Change,
Communication, Group processes,
Group Decision Making
Anthropology
Comparative Values
Comparative Attitudes
Cross Cultural Cultures
Organisation
Political Science
Conflict / Power, Influence Tactics
Power and Ethics, Political Strategies
Cross cultural analysis, values and morals
Group
Organisation
Group
Organizational Behaviour
Organizational behaviour is the study of
what people think, feel and do in and
around organizations.
Organizational behaviour is a field of study
that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups and structure have on
behaviour within organizations.
2-4
Organizational Behaviour
Organisational Behavior is concerned with the
study of the behaviour of the people within an
organizational setting. It involves the
understanding, prediction and the control of
human behaviour. (Laurie J. Mullins)
Behaviour refers to what people do in
organization, what their attitudes are, how they
perform
2-5
Definitions – Organisational
Behaviour . Stephen P Robbins

A field of study that
investigates the impact
that individuals, groups,
and structure have on
behavior within
organizations, for the
purpose of applying
such knowledge
toward improving an
organization's
effectiveness.

OB "studies three
determinants of behavior
in organizations:
individuals, groups,
and structure. In
addition, OB applies the
knowledge gained about
individuals, groups, and
the effect of structure
on behavior in order to
make organizations work
more effectively"
Field of Organisational Behaviour

Organizational behaviour (OB) is the study of what
people think, feel, and do in and around organizations.
OB scholars systematically study individual, team, and
structural characteristics that influence behaviour within
organizations.

By saying that organizational behaviour is a field of study,
we mean that scholars have been accumulating a distinct
knowledge about behaviour within organizations—a
knowledge base that is the foundation of this course.
Why Study Organisational Behaviour

The main reason for studying organizational
behaviour is that most of us work in organizations, so
we need to understand, predict, and influence the
behaviours of others in organizational settings .

Marketing students learn marketing concepts and
computer science students learn about circuitry and
software code. But all of us need organizational
behaviour knowledge to address people issues when
we try to apply marketing, computer science, and
other ideas.
Influencing organizational events

It’s nice to understand and predict organizational
events, but most of us want to influence the
environment in which we live.

Whether you are a marketing specialist or a
computer programmer, you need to know how to
communicate effectively with others, manage
conflict, make better decisions, build commitment
to your ideas, help work teams operate more
effectively, and so on. OB knowledge will help you
to influence organizational events.
Key Elements of Organisational
Behaviour
There
are basically 4
elements which are
studied under the
term “Organisational
Behaviour”.
People
People refer to different employees working in organisations.
These peoples work as either individually or in groups and
make up the whole working structure of the organisation.
 These are very important factor and as there is no
alternative available in place of its employees for the
companies. Employees help in achieving the objectives of the
organisations.
 They need to managed and treated properly. Managers are
required to properly study and understand the nature of
their different employees. It will help in developing better
employee and employer relations. Productivity will eventually
improve by properly understanding this element.

Structure
Structure is related to the roles and relationship of different
individuals working in an organization. It is important that the
roles and responsibility of each individual working in an
organization should be defined clearly.
 It avoids any confusion and leads to better efficiency of
peoples working there. It enables the proper division of
whole work and allocating right work to the right person.
 Employees, when getting work as per their skill, achieve
better efficiency and help in the attainment of goals in a
better way. Therefore, the structure has an important role in
developing the proper employer and employee relation

network.
Technology
Technology is the one with the help of which employees
are able to perform their task effectively. In its absences,
it is difficult for employees to work with bare hands.
Technology makes the task and work of people easy.
 It includes different machines, methods, tools and
resources. The requirement of technology depends
upon the nature of work to be done and scale of
operations.
 Technology has an important role in improving the
work quality and reducing the cost of production.
However, the usage of technology puts certain
restrictions on the freedom of people working. It
requires different terms and conditions to be followed.

Environment
Environment is a crucial part of organisation behaviour. There
are two types of environment within which organisation
exist that is the internal environment and external
environment.
 Organisation can’t exist alone and is a part of large system
containing numerous elements like society, family,
government and other organisations.
 Internal environment refers to organisation culture, its
structure and its resources. Whereas the external
environment includes various political, social, economic,
cultural and technological factors. All these factors have
different influence on the working of the organisation and
need to be studied properly

Basic Approaches of Organisational
Behaviour
i). An Interdisciplinary Approach: It is integrating many
disciplines. It integrates social sciences and other
disciplines that can contribute to the Organizational
Behavior. It draws from these disciplines any ideas
that will improve the relationships between people
and organization.
Organizations must have people, and people working
toward goals must have organizations, so it is
desirable to treat the two as a working unit.
ii) Scientific Management Approach:

The fundamental concern of
the scientific management
school was to increase the
efficiency of the worker
basically through good job
design and appropriate
training of the workers. Taylor
is the father of the scientific
management movement and
he developed many ideas to
increase organizational
efficiency. Taylor showed that
through proper job design,
worker selection, employee
training and incentives,
productivity can be increased.

The scientific management
school advocated that
efficiency can be attained by
finding the right methods to
get the job done, through
specialization on the job, by
planning and scheduling, by
using standard operating
mechanisms, establishing
standard times to do the job,
by proper selection and
training of personnel and
through wage incentives.
iii). A Human Resources (Supportive) Approach:
It is developmental approach
concerned with the growth
and development of people
towards higher levels of
competency creativity and
fulfillment, because people are
the central resource in any
organization and any society. It
helps people grow in selfcontrol and responsibility and
then it tries to create a
climate in which all employees
may contribute to the limits of
their improved abilities

It is assumed that
expanded capabilities and
opportunities for people
will lead directly to
improvements in operating
effectiveness. Work
satisfaction will be a direct
result when employees
make fuller use of their
capabilities. Essentially, the
human resources approach
means that better people
achieve better results.
iv) A Contingency Approach:
Contingency theorist argues that the external
environment and several aspects of the internal
environment govern the structure of the organization and
the process of management.
Effective management will vary in different situations
depending on the individual and groups in the
organization, the nature of jobs, technology, the type of
environment facing the organization and its structure. For
example, if the employees are highly matured and willing
to take more responsibility, the managers can follow
delegating style and give full freedom to their employees.
v) A Systems Approach:


This implies that organizations consists of many
interrelated and inter dependent elements
affecting one another in order to achieve the
overall results.
Conceptually a system implies that there are a
multitude of variables in organization and that
each of them affects all the others in complex
relationships. An event that appears to affect one
individual or one department actually may have
significant
influences
elsewhere
in
the
organization.
Contributing Disciplines to OB

"Organizational
behavior is an applied
behavioural science that
is built upon
contributions from a
number of behavioral
disciplines. The
predominant areas are
psychology, sociology,
social psychology,
anthropology, and
political science.

As we shall learn,
psychology's
contributions have been
mainly at the individual
or micro level of analysis,
while the other four
disciplines have
contributed to our
understanding of macro
concepts such as group
processes and
organization"
1. Psychology
 "Psychologists concern

This Science that
seeks to measure,
explain, and
sometimes change
the behavior of
humans and other
animals.
themselves with studying
and attempting to
understand individual
behavior. Those who have
contributed and continue to
add to the knowledge of OB
are learning theorists,
personality theorists,
counselling psychologists,
and, most important,
industrial and organizational
psychologists"
2. Sociology

This Discipline
studies people in
relation to their
fellow human beings.
 "Whereas psychologists
focus their attention on
the individual,
sociologists study the
social system in which
individuals fill their
roles; that is, sociology
studies people in
relation to their fellow
human beings"
3. Social Psychology

An area within
psychology that
blends concepts from
psychology and
sociology and that
focuses on the
influence of people
on one another.

An area within
psychology, blending
concepts from both
psychology and
sociology”
4. Anthropology

This is a study of
societies to learn
about human beings
and their activities.

"Anthropologists'
work on cultures and
environments, for
instance, has helped us
understand differences
in fundamental values,
attitudes, and behavior
among people in
different countries and
within different
organizations"
5. Political Science

The study of the
behavior of
individuals and
groups within a
political
environment.

“Specific topics of
concern here include
structuring of
conflict, allocation of
power, and how
people manipulate
power for individual
self-interest”
OB Disciplines and their Contributions
Behaviour
Science
Contribution
Unit of
Analysis
Psychology
Learning, Motivating, Personality,
Individual
Emotions, Perception, Training, Leadership
Effectiveness, Values, Recruitment
Sociology
Group Dynamics, Work Teams,
Group
Communication, Power/ Conflict, Change
Social
Psychology
Behaviour Change, Attitude Change,
Communication, Group processes,
Group Decision Making
Anthropology
Comparative Values
Comparative Attitudes
Cross Cultural Cultures
Organisation
Political Science
Conflict / Power, Influence Tactics
Power and Ethics, Political Strategies
Cross cultural analysis, values and morals
Group
Organisation
Group
Emerging Trends in Organisational Behaviour


There has never been
a better time to learn
about organizational
behaviour. The pace of
change is accelerating,
and most of the
transformation is
occurring in the
workplace.






Emerging Trends in
organisational behaviour
issues discussed in this
course are:
Globalization,
Changing workforce,
Emerging employment
relationships,
Information
technology,
Work teams, and
Business ethics
Globalisation
Globalization occurs when an organization extends its
activities to other parts of the world, actively participates
in other markets, and competes against
organizations located in other countries.
 Nortel Networks, a Canadian company, is a case in point. The
Canadian company’s main competitors are Cisco Systems
and Lucent Technologies in the US, Alcatel in France,
Ericsson in Sweden, and Siemens in Germany. Nortel
operates in a global economy and employs people in almost
every part of the planet. “I’ve got 75,000 employees all
around the world,” explains Nortel CEO John Roth. “As head
of a global corporation who happens to reside in Canada, I
have global obligations, not Canadian obligations.”

Implications for OB

Globalization is related to several organizational behaviour
issues—some good, some not so good. Globalization
requires new organizational structures and different forms
of communication to extend around the planet. It often
creates new career opportunities and potentially
brings in new knowledge to improve the organization’s
competitive advantage.

However, globalization also increases competition,
which leads to continuous change and restructuring.
This sometimes results in downsizing (layoffs and other
forms of workforce reduction), mergers, and other events
that produce stress and dissatisfaction among employees.
Applying OB Concepts

Globalization also affects how we apply organizational
behaviour concepts and practices. For the past 40 years,
OB scholars have warned that organizational practices in one
country may not be applicable elsewhere because of
cultural and historical differences.

We cannot assume that work teams, employee involvement,
share options, or other organizational behaviour practices
that work in Canada will work as well in Europe, Asia, or
other parts of the world. This doesn’t mean that we have to
reinvent organizational behaviour. Rather, globalization
emphasizes the need to recognize the contingencies of
effective OB practices in different cultures
The Changing Workforce

You don’t have to visit a global organization to find
employees from diverse backgrounds. Most companies
operating exclusively within developed countries , ie US,
Canada or UK have a multicultural workforce because
of the country’s increasing demographic diversity.

The primary categories—gender, ethnicity, age, race,
and mental/physical qualities—represent personal
characteristics that influence an individual’s socialization
and self-identity. The secondary dimensions are those
features that we learn or have some control over
throughout our lives, such as education, marital status,
religion, and work experience.
Implications for Organisational Behaviour

Diversity presents both opportunities and challenges within organizations.
It can become a competitive advantage by improving decision making and team
performance on complex tasks. For many businesses, a diverse workforce is
also necessary to provide better customer service in the global
marketplace. “We go out of our way to recruit from a melting pot of
nationalities,” says an executive at Amadeus, a developer of worldwide airline
reservation software located near Nice, France.

“We believe that our product is superior because of the different cultures of
the people developing it.” Workforce diversity also brings new challenges. For
instance, women have represented a large portion of the workforce for
the past two decades, yet they are still underrepresented in senior positions.
Diversity issues such as perceptual distortions and organizational politics
largely explain this discrepancy. Diversity also influences team
development and the potential for conflict among employees
Organizations need to address these potential problems and adapt to emerging
workforce needs.
Emerging Employment Relationship

After more than 100 years of relative stability,
employment relationships are being redefined.
Replacing the job-for-life contract is a “new deal”
called employability.

Employees perform a variety of work activities
rather than hold specific jobs, and they continuously
learn skills that will keep them employed.
Corporate leaders claim that employability is
necessary so organizations can adapt to the rapidly
changing business environment.
What is Employability

Employability is the “new deal”
employment relationship in which the job
is viewed as a temporary event, so
employees are expected to keep pace
with changing competency requirements
and shift to new projects as demand
requires.
What is Contingent Work

Another employment shift is the increasing percentage of the
workforce in contingent work. This includes any job in which
the individual does not have an explicit or implicit
contract for long-term employment, or one in which the
minimum hours of work can vary in a non-systematic way.

According to Statistics from Canada, more than 12 percent of
the Canadian workforce is employed in some sort of “nonpermanent” work arrangement. Some experts predict that
this trend will continue. “We are moving into the age of
contractualization where everyone is their own boss,” claims
one consultant, who argues that the concept of “employee” is a
throwback to Industrial Revolution servitude
Telecommunting

Another dramatic change in the
employment relationship is
telecommuting (also called
teleworking)—working from home or
another location away from the office,
usually with a computer connection to
the office. More than 1.5 million
Canadians are already telecommuters.

As we move from an industrial
economy to a knowledge-based
economy, the number of people who
take the information highway to work
each day will continue to increase.
Moreover, technology has untethered
some employees so completely from
the employer’s physical workspace that
clients and co-workers are oblivious to
their true locations.

Telecommuting poses a
number of organizational
behaviour challenges.37
Employers that previously
evaluated employees for their
“face time”—the amount of
time they were physically in
the workplace—need to
develop outcome-based
measures of performance.
Employees accustomed to
direct supervision need to
learn how to manage
themselves through selfleadership
Information Technology and OB

Information technology is shaking up organizations and
forcing OB scholars to re-examine their concepts in
light of these revolutionary changes. We have already
noted how this technology has given rise to virtual
teams and telecommuting, and has made it possible for
small businesses such as Ryan & Deslauriers to compete
in the global marketplace.

More generally, information technology challenges
traditional business logic regarding how employees
interact, how organizations are configured, and how
they relate to customers.
Teams, Teams and More Teams

Organizational behaviour scholars have long argued
that teams can be more effective than individuals
working alone in many situations. Diverse work
groups can potentially resolve complex problems
more creatively than if those team members had
worked individually.

Moreover, by giving teams direct responsibility
for coordination and control of work activities,
companies can increase responsiveness and
remove unnecessary layers of management. However,
teams are not appropriate in every situation.
Business Ethics

Ethics refers to the study of moral principles or values
that determine whether actions are right or wrong and
whether outcomes are good or bad. We rely on our
ethical values to determine “the right thing to do.”

One of the dilemmas organizational leaders face is that
the distinction between ethical and unethical behaviour
is not black and white. Instead, it depends on several
factors, such as the person’s reason for engaging in the
behaviour, specific conditions in that culture, the
influence of external factors on the behaviour, and so
forth.
Emerging Trends in Organisational
Behaviour
Emerging trends in organisational behaviour
Organizations have witnessed a great
development from the olden times particularly
in respect of structure, operations and people.
 There is a considerable change in the crossculture environment, influence of MNCs, growth
in the technical know-how and quality
management which has provided different
environment in the modern organizations.

Characteristics of an Effective
Organisation

Effective companies stay in operation longer and make
more profits compared with business counterparts.
Modeling the strategies of these organizations helps
your small business succeed, even when you can't
operate on the same scale or volume.

Studies of effective organizations isolate groups of key
traits easily adopted by your small business. Training
sessions for your management and staff allow modeling
of these traits and teach your workers how to
incorporate the characteristics into daily business
operations.
Corporate Responsibility

Effective companies have
clear records of corporate
responsibility. This work
includes charity and
environmental service and
allows staff the opportunity
to do community
volunteering. Some small
firms use corporate
responsibility as a method to
enhance the firm's public
reputation, but effective
organizations instead
integrate community work as
part of the core mission of
the business

Projects demonstrating corporate
responsibility
include
recycling
business waste, training and intern
partnerships with local schools,
donations to the needy and providing
volunteers and goods during natural
disasters. Developing partnerships
with community agencies helps focus
small business efforts and offers an
established network for your
company's volunteerism.
Clear Direction

Creating a mission statement and a list of corporate
goals establishes a clear direction for your firm.
Effective businesses have a clear corporate direction
understood by the staff and clients.

Targeting key business officers to present your
company message to staff and the public helps workers
understand the chain of operations and helps workers
view your organization as a cohesive group with a
unified message.
Open Communication

Effective businesses use open communication
channels on all levels of operations. Industry
Week defines an open communication culture
as a business operation "in which information
flows freely and is easily accessible to both
insiders and to the public at large."

Allowing open communication of nonconfidential information creates a work climate
encouraging participation by your management,
workers and clients.
Member Empowerment

"Member empowerment" is a
term used to describe the
employee perception of the
role the staff plays in the
organization. The ability to
"determine work roles,
accomplish meaningful work,
and influence important
decisions," according to a
white paper on organization
management, defines the
elements of employee
empowerment.

Effective organizations use
empowerment to create a
cohesive work environment.
Enhancing this feeling for
your small business staff
includes using teamwork,
open communication
channels and performance
rewards to recognize
excellence and promote
production. Examples of
rewards include awards of
company stock, trophies,
allowing bonus time away
from work, and priority desk
and parking lot assignments
Teamwork

Effective organizations use
teamwork as a basis for
complex decisions. Teamwork
efforts in successful
businesses include
partnerships on all levels,
from management staff
through entry-level workers.
Teamwork on the small
business level brings multiple
views to your projects,
develops your staff's
communication skills and
creates an environment of
cooperation.

Working with a variety
of other employees also
allows your workers an
opportunity
to
experience diversity on
a personal level. The
most effective use of
teamwork incorporates
group work as an
essential part of project
development.