Page 19 - DMGT103_ESSENTIALS_OF_ORGANIZATION_BEHAVIOUR_DCOM401_ORGANISATION_BEHAVIOUR

Essentials of Organisation Behaviour/Organisation Behaviour

Notes Since its origin, psychology has itself become differentiated into a number of specialized
fields, such as clinical, experimental, military, and organisational psychology. The topics
in organisational psychology, which include work teams, work motivation, training and
development, power and leadership, human resource planning and workplace wellness,
are very similar to the topics covered by organisational behaviour.
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 organisational psychologists. Industrial and organisational psychologists concern
themselves with problems of fatigue, boredom, perception, learning motivation, job
satisfaction, personality, performance appraisals, employee selection, job designing, work
stress, etc.

2. Sociology: Sociology, the science of society, has made important contributions to knowledge
about group and inter group dynamics in the study of organisational behaviour. Because
sociology takes the society rather than the individual as a point of departure, the sociologist
is concerned with the variety of roles within a society or culture, the norms and standards
of behaviour that emerge within societies and groups, and the examination of the
consequences of compliant and deviant behaviour within social groups.
Sociologists have made their greatest contributions to organisational behaviour through
their study of group behaviour in organisations, particularly formal and complex
organisations. Some of the areas within organisational behaviour that have received
inputs from sociologists are group dynamics, design of work teams, organisational culture,
formal organisations, theory and structure, organisational technology, bureaucracy,
communications, power, conflict and inter group behaviour.
3. Social Psychology: Social psychology is a branch of psychology which borrows concepts
from psychology and sociology and focuses on the influence of people on one another.
Social psychologists have made significant contributions in the area of measuring,
understanding and changing attitudes; communication patterns; the way in which group
activities can satisfy individual needs, and group decision making processes.
4. Anthropology: It is the science of human learned behaviour and is especially important to
understand organisational culture. Anthropologists study societies to learn about human
beings and their activities. Their work on cultures and environments has helped us
understand the differences in fundamental values, attitudes, and behaviour between people
in different countries and within different organisations.

Cultural anthropology focuses on the origins of culture and the patterns of behaviour as
culture is communicated symbolically. Current research in this tradition has examined
the effects of efficient cultures on organisation performance and how pathological
personalities may lead to dysfunctional organisational cultures. Much of our current
understanding of organisational culture, organisational environments, and differences
between national cultures is the result of the efforts of anthropologists.
5. Political Science: Political scientists study the behaviour of individuals and groups within
a political environment. Political scientists have become increasingly aware that
organisations are political entities and if we are able to accurately explain and predict the
behaviour of people in organisations, we need to bring a political perspective to our
analysis. The contributions of political scientists are significant to the understanding of
behaviour in organisations.

14 LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY