Page 156 - DMGT402_MANAGEMENT_PRACTICES_AND_ORGANIZATIONAL_BEHAVIOUR

Unit 8: Foundations of Organisational Behaviour

Potential conflicts between the formal and informal elements of the organisation make an Notes
understanding of both important. The informal organisation is a frequent point of diagnostic
and intervention activities in organisation development. The informal organisation is important
because people's feelings, thoughts and attitudes about their work do make a difference in their
behaviour and performance. Individual behaviour plays out in the context of formal and informal
elements of the system, becoming organisational behaviour.

8.4 Need for Organisational Behaviour

The need for Organisational behaviour can be discussed as follows:

1. Explain individual and group behaviour. We are pursuing the explanation objective when
we want to know why individuals or groups behave the way they do. For example, if the
turnover rate in an Organisation is very high, we want to know the reason, so that action
can be taken to correct the situation in the future.
2. Predict certain behavioural response to change. Prediction seeks to determine what
outcomes will result from a given action. Having a sound knowledge of OB will help the
manager to predict certain behavioural responses to change. In this way, the manager can
anticipate which approaches will generate the least degree of employee resistance and use
that information in making decisions.

3. Control Behaviour. The knowledge of OB can be used by managers to control behaviour.
Managers frequently see the control objective as the most valuable contribution that OB
makes toward their effectiveness on the job.

Caselet OB: The Key to Happiness

ave you ever got up in the morning and thought, “I really don’t want to go to
work today”? I think we all have at some point in our lives. You may also have
Hhad times when you have thought or said, “I hate my job, I hate where I work.”
These feelings have nothing to do with you, your job or your workplace. The problem lies
in the fact that your supervisor or manager has no idea how to manage organisational
behaviour!
So what is organisational behaviour? Put simply, it is the way in which people react to
other people and situations in a workplace. A good manager will observe employees so
that they are placed in suitable positions within the organisation. If an employee is happy
in their position and the situations they have to deal with, they will be more productive.
This is not only good for the business but it also gives the employee job satisfaction.
For example, if you had an employee who was a young, shy, softly spoken girl, you would
not put hr in the role of debt collection. Instead, you might place her in a low stress
customer service position that would suit her nature as well as help her to build self-
confidence in dealing with customers.
From this, we can see that organisational behaviour is not just about keeping employees
happy. It is about putting people in a position that suits their personality and experience
as well as helping employees to grow in a way that they become more of an asset to the
business.
Aside from recognising the importance of placing employees in positions that will make
them happy and productive, you also need to recognise people’s reactions to other people.
Contd...

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