CONCEPT OF ORGANIZATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR Organization Organization is a place where two or more people work together in a structured way to achieve a specific goal or set of goals. Goals are fundamental elements of organizations. e.g. ONGC, INFOSYS, Indian Railways etc. Organization can be compared to a human body. The human body consists of hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, fingers, mouth etc. These parts perform their work independently and at the same time, one part cannot be a substitute to another. The same principle is also applicable in the organization. The organization consists of different departments and each department performs its work independently and cannot be a substitute to another. Functions of Organization (i) Determination of activities It means the decision and division of various activities to achieve the objectives of the organization. Work Parts Subparts e.g. Purchase Work Requisitions of items Placing of an order Storage (ii) Grouping of activities The identical activities of an organization are grouped under one individual or a department. e.g. Sales Department Canvassing Advertisements Debt Collection (iii) Allotment of duties to specified persons To ensure effective performance, the grouped activities are allotted to specified persons. e.g. Purchasing activities Purchase Manager Production activities Production Manager Sales activities Sales Manager Besides, adequate staff members are also appointed under the specified persons. These persons are specialized in their respective fields. If required, appropriate training may be provided to such persons. (iv) Delegation of authority It will be very difficult for a person to perform the duties effectively, if there is no authority to do it. While delegating authority, responsibilities are fixed. e.g. Production manager is delegated with the authority to produce the goods and fixed with responsibility of producing quality goods. (v) Define relationship When a group of persons is working together for a common goal, it is necessary to define the relationship among them. If it is done, each person will know who is his boss, from whom he has to receive orders and to whom he is answerable. (vi) Coordination of various activities The delegated authority and responsibility should be coordinated by the chief managerial staff. This person has to see whether all the activities are going on to accomplish the objectives of the organization or not. Elements of an Organization The elements of organization are: (i) People An organization consists of people with different traits, personality, skills, qualities, interests, background, beliefs, values and intelligence. In order to maintain a healthy environment, all the employees should be treated equally and be judged according to their work and other aspects that affects the firm. (ii) Organizational structure Structure is the layout design of an organization. It is the construction and arrangement of relationships, strategies according to the organizational goal. Example − Organizational structure defines the relation of a manager with employees and co-workers. (iii) Technology Technology can be defined as the implementation of scientific knowledge for practical usage. It also provides the resources required by the people that affect their work and task performance in the right direction. Example − Introduction of SAP, big data and other software in the market determines individual and organizational performance. (iv) Environment All companies function within a given internal and external environment. Internal environment can be defined as the conditions, factors, and elements within an enterprise that influences the activities, choices made by the firm, and especially the behavior of the employees. e.g. customers, suppliers, competitors etc. While external environment can be defined as outside factors that affect the company's ability to operate. e.g. Economical, technological, political factors etc. Organizational Behavior In simple terms, organizational behavior refers to the behavior of persons in an organization. Behavior is anything that the human does. It is any response or reaction of an individual. The basic unit of behavior is activity. Organizational behavior is the study of what people do in an organization and how their behavior affects the organization’s performance. Running a large company or even a small one, is no easy task. The field of OB helps understanding the complexities of people’s behavior on the job. Understanding others behavior helps the person to understand them and provides guidelines for influencing the behavior of the person in the organization. Knowledge about human behavior would be useful in improving an organization’s effectiveness. OB is both art and science. It is considered as art because it contains knowledge about behavior of individuals. It is considered as science because it involves application of science. Model of OB The three determinants of behavior within an organization which go to make an organization effective are: Personality Perception Learning Individual Behavior Attitude Value Motivation Group Dynamics Leadership Group Behavior Power and Politics Value Motivation Organizational Culture Organization HR Policies and Practices Work Stress Organizational Change and Development Management Challenges before OB (i) Responding to economic pressures (ii) Responding to globalization Increased foreign assignments Working with people from different cultures Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low cost labour (iii) Managing workforce diversity (iv) Improving quality and productivity (v) Improving customer service (vi) Improving people skills (vii) Stimulating innovation and change (viii) Coping with temporariness (ix) Working in networked organization (x) Helping employees balance work life conflicts (xi) Creating a positive work environment (xii) Improving ethical behavior Importance of OB It is very important to study the Organizational behavior. It gives the direction to an organization and also helps to understand the organizational life. (i) Skill development: Helps to develop the skills of the employees and gain of knowledge to enhance the performance of the employees. Employees should remain up to date with new technology and use existing one in a better way. Training also improves the required skills of the employees and teach them to perform the tasks independently. (ii) Understanding customer behavior: The behavior of the customer helps the organization to decide what products and services to be offered. When an organization builds a strong connection with the customer, an organization will get an idea about the customer needs. For understanding the customer behavior, the organization must conduct surveys and one on one interviews. (iii) Employee motivation: A manager in a business organization usually gets things done by others. Here, he will be successful when he can motivate his employees. OB helps him to understand different ways to motivate employees properly. (iv) Nature of employees: Understanding the employee nature is important to manage them properly. (v) Efficiency and effectiveness: OB helps to increase efficiency and effectiveness of organization. (vi) Better environment of organization: It helps to create healthy, ethical and smooth environment in organization. (vii) Better utilization of resources: Study of OB helps to understand employees and their workstyle and skill better way. By understanding this, management can train and motivate employees for optimum utilization of resources. Goals of Organizational Behavior The bottom line of OB is to explain and predict behavior within an organization. By examining behavior in three different levels of influence – at the individual, group and organizational level – organizations can better understand performance in the workplace and improve interactions among employees. This can also create a competitive advantage through improved motivation, leadership, communication and organizational culture, all of which greatly affect a business bottom line. .