Organizational behavior: characteristics of this field of study

What do we understand by organizational behavior and what disciplines of study deal with it? Let's take a look at it.

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

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

What is organizational behavior?

Organizational behavior is the systematic study of the behavior of people in the context of their work. the behavior of people in the context of organizations.It is possible to establish three levels of study depending on the point of view we take. The most concrete would be the micro level, and would focus on the behavior of the individual within the company or administration. The second would be the meso level, which would allude to the behavior of a work team. Finally, there would be the macro level, which would study the behavior of the entire organization.

The objective of studying the behavior of people within organizations is to acquire valuable information that allows us to make changes in order to improve efficiency in all organizational processes. This science arises as opposed to decisions based on intuition.Human behavior is susceptible of being studied and therefore predictions can be made with a high percentage of accuracy, based on the data that organizational behavior provides us with.

In addition to the system of levels that we mentioned at the beginning, we can also make a distinction of studies in this discipline according to the position on the concrete-abstract axis that we find ourselves. In this sense we would have a level with maximum concreteness, related to the behavior that we can observe and measure. In second place we would have the attitudes, which give us indications to be able to predict the ways of acting. And finally there would be values, which are more difficult to measure but equally important.

Related disciplines

Organizational behavior is a field of study that draws directly from many different branches of knowledge.. Let's take a look at some of the most important ones.

1. Psychology

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

Therefore, in order to investigate organizational behavior, personality, aptitudes, satisfaction, leadership skills, job performance, personnel selection processes, stress generated, workers' needs, and many other variables are evaluated. Psychology (and especially the branch of social psychology) is, of course, an invaluable source for gaining in-depth knowledge of the organizational behavior developed in a corporation.

2. Sociology

As with psychology, sociology is key to nurture our information about organizational behavior, and it is a science that is also responsible for 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 to make group structure, dynamics and communication as efficient as possible. Also It 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 important reason to take this science into account.

3. Anthropology

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

4. Communication sciences

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

5. Administration

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

6. Political science

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

Different models

As in other fields, in organizational behavior there are different models that have been developed as the industry and the way of understanding labor relations have evolved. The following is a brief overview of the most important of these models.

1. Support model

In this model of organizational behavior, the group leader is in charge of generating a work environment in which all members are motivated because they know they can count on his or her support to achieve objectives and solve possible problems that may arise during project development. to achieve the objectives and solve possible problems that may arise during the development of the projects. Therefore, the leader would set the path to follow and would be a constant support for the whole team. This is a typical model in companies in the developed world.

2. Collegial model

The collegiate model is similar to the previous one, but it but it deepens the feeling of the team and that each member of the team is vital to achieve the goal they all have in common. and therefore all must support each other, as they share interests that cannot be achieved if they are not rowing 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 model, seeks to segment organizational behavior into its simplest parts in order to study the sequences that occur. 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 effective way of structuring this set of behaviors to make the organization's processes more suitable to our interests.The systemic model 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 effective way to structure this set of behaviors to make the processes of the organization the most appropriate for the interests we 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 nowadays, since labor matters have evolved enormously, but it was nevertheless the predominant type of organizational behavior in the past. What this model basically means is that the company's top management, i.e. those in power, are in a position to require employees to achieve certain objectives, and employees must obey orders simply out of obedience to their authority.The boss is not a leader, and therefore is not part of the team.

The boss is not a leader, and therefore is not part of the team, as we saw in other models. The operators have to abide by the rules and comply with the requests of those in charge, without considering whether these actions are in line with their authority or not.The workers must obey the rules and comply with the requests of those in charge, without considering whether or not these actions are the right ones to achieve the established goals, since it is understood that their criteria is the correct one and therefore the one that must be complied with.

5. Stewardship model

The last model of organizational behavior that completes this list is the custodial model, which is the antithesis of the autocratic model. In fact, it arises as a counterpoint to this, since, logically, such a work climate is conducive to the emergence of widespread dissatisfaction among workers, and therefore they need a change that will end their frustration and give them greater security in their jobs.

The objective of the stewardship model, therefore, is to to employ a series of resources to achieve a greater perception of well-being among staff members, who would have their needs and expectations met.The problem with this model is that staff members are not always able to feel that their needs are being met and that they are being listened to and valued within the organization. The problem with this model is that workers may become complacent, and less efficient than they could be.

Bibliographical references:

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