Organisational Behaviour (OB) is an interdisciplinary field of study,
which explores individual, group and organisational behaviour and the
impact of individuals, groups, organisations and society in creating,
shaping and controlling behaviours. In this module we understand OB
from a managerial and critical viewpoint, drawing on international
research. The managerial viewpoint seeks to understand behaviour in
order to manage more effectively and, hopefully, more ethically –
understanding the fundamentals of behaviour in organisations enables
better practices to be developed and implemented. The critical
viewpoint seeks to view the organisation from the perspective of
employees and asks questions about the impact of managerial practice
and their experience of work more broadly – including the role that
their peers may play in shaping their experience of work.
Part 1: What is OB, and why is it important?
Organisational behaviour is about PEOPLE and
the fundamentals of how and why people behave
as they do.
Despite organisations’ best efforts to operate in a planned, predictable
and rational way, they are often characterised by the unexpected, the
unpredictable and sometimes the undesirable. They are shaped by
individual and group beliefs, emotion, desires, and political behaviour,
which sometimes facilitate and sometimes obstruct effective
performance. As Schwartz (1987) pointed out, organisations have been
described as clockworks in which humans behave in logical and rational
ways, but they often seem more like a snake pit!
Thoughts from the field:
“Why do people act as they do at work? What factors affect whether
people are productive, committed, and motivated? Whether people work
together well as teams? Whether they are good at being innovative and
creative? What factors prevent people from really achieving their best? … It
is about human behaviour in a work environment: how human behaviour
is impacted by leadership, culture, group norms, organisational structure,
which explores individual, group and organisational behaviour and the
impact of individuals, groups, organisations and society in creating,
shaping and controlling behaviours. In this module we understand OB
from a managerial and critical viewpoint, drawing on international
research. The managerial viewpoint seeks to understand behaviour in
order to manage more effectively and, hopefully, more ethically –
understanding the fundamentals of behaviour in organisations enables
better practices to be developed and implemented. The critical
viewpoint seeks to view the organisation from the perspective of
employees and asks questions about the impact of managerial practice
and their experience of work more broadly – including the role that
their peers may play in shaping their experience of work.
Part 1: What is OB, and why is it important?
Organisational behaviour is about PEOPLE and
the fundamentals of how and why people behave
as they do.
Despite organisations’ best efforts to operate in a planned, predictable
and rational way, they are often characterised by the unexpected, the
unpredictable and sometimes the undesirable. They are shaped by
individual and group beliefs, emotion, desires, and political behaviour,
which sometimes facilitate and sometimes obstruct effective
performance. As Schwartz (1987) pointed out, organisations have been
described as clockworks in which humans behave in logical and rational
ways, but they often seem more like a snake pit!
Thoughts from the field:
“Why do people act as they do at work? What factors affect whether
people are productive, committed, and motivated? Whether people work
together well as teams? Whether they are good at being innovative and
creative? What factors prevent people from really achieving their best? … It
is about human behaviour in a work environment: how human behaviour
is impacted by leadership, culture, group norms, organisational structure,
