Introduction to Organizational Behavior

The story just presented illustrates how a company might make systematic use of knowledge of human behavior, including two relevant techniques to enhance the functioning of an organization. (The two techniques are self-directed teams and learning each other’s communication and learning styles.) The purpose of this book is to present systematic knowledge about people and organizations that can be used to enhance individual and organizational effectiveness. Managers and potential managers are the most likely to apply this information. Yet the same information is important for other workers, including corporate professionals, sales representatives, customer service specialists, and technical specialists.

pecialists. In the modern organization, workers at every level do some of the work that was formerly the sole domain of managers. Team members, for example, are often expected to motivate and train each other. One reason organizations get by with fewer managers than previously is that workers themselves are now expected to manage themselves to some extent. Self-management of this type includes the team scheduling its own work and making recommendations for quality improvement.

In this chapter we introduce organizational behavior from several perspectives. We will explain the meaning of the term, see why organizational behavior is useful, and take a brief glance at its history including current developments. After describing how to develop skills in organizational behavior, we present a framework for understanding the field. An important goal in studying organizational behavior is to be able to make sense of any organization in which you are placed, so that, for example, you might be able to answer the question: What is going on here from a human standpoint?