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Unit 1: Foundations of Organisational Behaviour

1.4 Contributing Disciplines to the Field Notes

Organisational behaviour is a blended discipline that has grown out of contributions from
numerous earlier fields of study. These interdisciplinary influences are the root for what is
increasingly recognized as the independent discipline of organisational behaviour.
Organisational behaviour is an applied behavioural science that is built on contributions from
a number of behavioural disciplines. The sciences of psychology, sociology, anthropology,
political science, engineering, management and medicine are the primary fields of study out of
which organisational behaviour has grown. Each of these sciences has had its own importance
and unique influence on the discipline of organisational behaviour.
Figure 1.4: Towards an OB Discipline

Behavioural science Contribution Unit of Analysis Output

Learning
Motivation
Psychology Personality
Perception
Training
Leadership effectiveness
Job satisfaction
Individual decision making
Performance appraisal
Attitude measurement
Employee selection
Work design
Work stress Individual

Group dynamics
Work teams
Communication
Power
Conflict
Sociology Inter-group behavior

Formal organization theory
Bureaucracy Group
Study of
Organisation technology
Organisational
Organisation change Behaviour
Organisation culture
Behavioural change
Attitude change
Social Psychology
Communication
Group processes
Group decision making
Comparative values
Comparative attitudes
Cross-cultural analysis
Anthropology Organization
system
Organisation culture
Organisational environment
Conflict
Political Science Intra-organisational politics
Power
Source: Stephen Robbins P “Organisational Behaviour” (7th Edition) Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs NJ (1996) Page 22.
1. Psychology: Psychology is the science of human behaviour and dates back to the closing
decades of the nineteenth century. Psychology traces its origins to philosophy and the
science of physiology. It is the science that seeks to measure, explain and, sometimes,
change the behaviour of humans. Psychologists concern themselves with studying and
attempting to understand individual behaviour.

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