Organizational Behavior (OP) is a relatively new area of knowledge that contains ideas about human behavior in an organization. It is of great practical importance for managers who need to direct labor resources in the right direction to achieve good results in their work.
Organizational behavior: concept, essence, methods
For a better understanding of OP, you need to have knowledge about the psychology of people, as well as the basics of management and sociology. Using the data of these sciences, the basic theories of OP are constructed. First, let us define this concept.
Organizational behavior is a system of knowledge and its regular replenishment with new facts through research that focuses on the behavior of people in the organization: their interaction with colleagues, senior management, as well as studying the attitude of employees to the subject of their activity.
The essence of organizational behavior is a regular analysis of the elements of the organization (individuals and groups), the purpose of which is to forecast and improve their functioning. Currently, this is a necessary measure for organizing successful work, since complex production structures need competent management of large groups of people: the development of special motivational systems and the correct distribution of labor.
The main methods in OP are those that were originally used in sociology and psychology:
- Observation. It allows you to study the working environment and the appearance of employees, how they meet the requirements, and identify deficiencies to eliminate them.
- Poll. This includes questioning, interviewing and testing. These methods allow you to find out how satisfied employees are with their work and to understand the general atmosphere of relationships in the team: friendly, competitive or enemy.
- Collection of documentary information. This includes the study of regulations, ethical professional codes, job descriptions, contracts, organization charter, etc.
- Experiment. This method can be organized according to the laboratory type (with preliminary preparation and immersion of people in certain conditions) or carried out in vivo.
Organizational Behavior Models
There are 4 main patterns of behavior. They represent a set of representations of a person, values, and, based on them, his reaction to others in the process of work.
- Original organizational behavior. With this behavior, a person seeks to realize the goals of the organization, while avoiding following its traditions and accepted norms of behavior. With this option, conflict situations are quite common when the “conservative” composition of the group meets the contradictory look of the original.
- Rebel organizational behavior. This is the brightest person in the group because he denies the rules and regulations. He becomes the instigator of the conflicts that accompany his personality at work almost all the time. Such an employee disrupts the work process and complicates all relationships, which leads to poor productivity.
- Adaptive employees. Despite the fact that this employee does not accept the values of the organization, nevertheless, he behaves in accordance with them. It follows all the norms, charters and regulations, however, it presents a certain threat to the organization because of its insecurity: at any time, it can leave it and thereby disrupt the labor process.
- A disciplined and dedicated employee. This type of behavior is best for both the organization and the employee, as he seeks to comply with all the rules of conduct, and the values of the organization do not conflict with his value system. He fully fulfills his role and gives good results, which depend on abilities.
Thus, OP is very important for managing a team, since it allows predicting, based on people's behavior, the effectiveness of their teamwork.