Organizational behavior: characteristics of this field of study

Human behavior has been studied from many perspectives, and one of them is that which has to do with organizations.

In this article we will discover What is the concept of organizational behavior?, the different disciplines that are involved in this study, what their functions are and the different approaches that exist in this regard.

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What is organizational behavior?

Organizational behavior is the systematic study of behavior of people in the context of organizations, being able to establish three levels of study depending on the point of view that we take. The most concrete would be the micro level, and would look at the behavior of the individual himself within the company or administration. The second would be the meso level, which would allude to the conduct of a work team. Finally, there would be the macro level, which would study the behavior of the organization as a whole.

The objective of studying the behavior of people within organizations is to acquire a valuable information that allows us to make changes in order to improve efficiency in all processes organizational.

This science arises in contrast to decisions based on intuition, and that is, human behavior is susceptible to being studied and therefore predictions can be made with a high percentage of success, based on the data that organizational behavior gives us. provides.

In addition to the level system that we mentioned at the beginning, we can also make a distinction between studies of this discipline based on the position in the concrete-abstract axis that let's find. In this sense, we would have a level with maximum precision, relative to the behavior that we can observe and measure. Secondly, we would have attitudes, which give us clues to be able to predict the ways of acting. And finally there would be the values, more difficult to measure but equally important.

Related disciplines

organizational behavior is a field of study that drinks directly from very diverse branches of knowledge. We are going to know some of the most important ones.

1. Psychology

It is evident that, in the case of a study on human behavior, psychology is the science that has the most to say about it, which is why it is the first source of knowledge on this list. The first studies in this regard were focused on better understanding the effects of working conditions on factors such as the physical or mental fatigue of the operators. Over time they have expanded their range and today it is about knowing and quantifying all the variables that exist in the workplace and see their effect on people.

For this reason, to investigate organizational behavior, personality, aptitudes, satisfaction, leadership skills, job performance, personnel selection processes, stress generated, worker needs, and many others variables. Psychology (and especially the branch of social psychology) supposes, of course, a source of value invaluable to know in depth the organizational behavior developed in a corporation.

2. Sociology

As with psychology, sociology is key to nurturing our information about organizational behavior, and it is a science that It is also in charge of investigating the behaviors of human groups and their evolution, which serves to develop predictive models that can be extrapolated to the organization. In this way we can anticipate and create the most optimal work teams.

Likewise, sociology will allow us to work so that the structure of the groups, the dynamics and the communication are as efficient as possible. Also provides a lot of information about conflict situations in formal human groups and the most effective means to find the best solution for the organization, another compelling reason to take this science into account.

3. Anthropology

Anthropology is also a way of obtaining a complex database about the development of human societies throughout history and the way in which they have been grouped and related. Added to the other disciplines that we saw, it will give us clues to better understand organizational behavior and anticipate situations of of a very varied nature, which have already taken place in other contexts and therefore allow us to make very useful analogies to assess our state current.

4. Communication Sciences

Of course, communication sciences are another field of study that we cannot forget, since communication between people is what makes up a large part of organizational behavior, and if we want this to be the right one to achieve our objectives, we must of course have a source reliable and standardized on which to extract the most efficient communication models in this human group that is the company.

5. Administration

Administration is inherent to organizations, so we must know its peculiarities to be able to manage all the resources of the organization. company, whether material, human and of course financial, in search of maximum coordination between all of them and the different departments. This entire process is key to a better understanding of organizational behavior.Hence the importance of administration science in this list.

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6. Political Sciences

Although a priori it may seem that political science has little place in an organizational environment, nothing is further. And it is that this field of study It is vital to be able to anticipate problems derived from the hierarchical distribution in the corporation, the interests that bias the business conduct of individuals and other types of casuistry that are very important for a full understanding of organizational behavior.

Diferent models

As in other fields, in organizational behavior there are different models that are have been developed as the industry has evolved and the way of understanding relationships labor. Next we will make a brief tour of the most important of them all.

1. support model

In this model of organizational behavior, The group leader is in charge of creating a work environment in which all members are motivated because they know they have their support. to achieve the objectives and solve possible problems that may arise throughout the development of the projects. Therefore, the leader would mark the path to follow and would be a constant support for the entire team. It is a typical model in companies in the developed world.

2. Collegiate model

The collegiate model is similar to the previous one, but delves into the feeling of the team and that each member of it is vital to achieve the objective that they all have in common, and therefore they must all support each other, since they share interests that they cannot achieve if they do not row in the same direction. This model of organizational behavior arose in research environments, although it has subsequently been extrapolated to other contexts.

3. system model

The system model, or systemic seeks to segment organizational behavior into its simplest parts, in order to study the sequences that occur, the relationships between the various components and the most efficient way to structure that set of behaviors to make the organization's processes the most suitable for the interests that let's have. It is a very deep and analytical model that requires extensive study, but whose benefits can be very significant if applied correctly.

4. autocratic model

The autocratic model is outdated today, as it has evolved enormously in labor matters, but nevertheless it was the predominant type of organizational behavior in past times. What this model comes to say, basically, is that the senior managers of the company, that is, those who hold power, are in a position to demand that the employees achieve certain objectives, and these must obey the orders simply by obedience to their authority.

The boss is not a leader, and therefore is not part of the team, as we saw in other models. Operators must abide by the rules and comply with the requests of those responsible, without considering whether these actions are correct or not to achieve the established goals, since it is understood that their criterion is correct and therefore the one that must be met.

5. custody model

The last model of organizational behavior that completes this list is that of custody, and it is the antithesis of the autocratic. In fact, it arises as a contrast to this, since, logically, this work environment favors the appearance of generalized dissatisfaction among workers, and therefore they need a change that ends their frustration and gives them greater security in their job. job.

The objective of the custody model, therefore, is use a series of resources to achieve a greater perception of well-being among staff members, that their needs would be met and they would feel heard and valued within the organization. The problem with this model is that workers can become complacent, and less efficient than they could be.

Bibliographic references:

• Chiavenato, I.; Gonzalez, E. A. (2017). Organizational behavior: the dynamics of success in organizations. Mc Graw Hill.
• Dailey, R. (2012). Organizational behavior. UK: Edinburgh Business School.
• Robbins, S.P. (2004). Organizational behavior. Pearson Education.