A Definition of Organizational Behavior
continue to perform well because I had done so in the past. However, my reward required additional skills, interpersonal skills, I had not mastered or really even worked on. I found myself hating my new role, floundering, not understanding what my staff wanted and not really knowing how to relate to them. Before long I would leave for another job, with both my bosses and myself wondering what went wrong.
So what is Organizational Behavior? I’ve chosen to utilize Clark’s summary as my definition:
Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations. It does this by taking a system approach. That is, it interprets people-organization relationships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole organization, and whole social system. Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human objectives, organizational objectives, and social objectives (2000).
OB looks to address the needs of all parties in the work relationship. I now understand that management, utilizing interpersonal skills, can be the conduit for achieving employee, organizational and societal goals. I look forward to learning more about how to do this during this class. Count me in and engaged!
References
Brief, A. P., & Weiss, H. M. (2002). Organizational behavior: Affect in the workplace.
Annual Review of Psychology, 53, 279-307. Retrieved May 6, 2003, from Pro-Quest database.
Clark, D.R. (2000). Big Dog’s Leadership Page – Organizational Behavior. Retrieved May 8, 2003, from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadob.html.
Wertheim, E. G. (n.d.). Historical Background of Organizational Behavior. Retrieved May 8, 2003 from http://web.cba.neu.edu/~ewertheim/introd/history.htm.