Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Degree College, Mandleshwar             For the students of   B.B.A.                      By Rajeev Kale               

 Organization Behaviour   

Q.1. What is Organization Behaviour ? 

Organization behaviour  is a field of study in which we study  the behaviour of the people within an organizational setting .In the words of  Fred Luthans, Organizational Behaviour is concerned with the study of the behaviour of the people within an organizational setting .It involves the understanding , prediction and control of human behaviour and the factors, which influence the performance of people as members of an organization. Organizational Behaviour  is the study and application or knowledge about how people act within organization.   It is a human tool for human benefit. It is a field of study that investigates how individuals, groups and structure affect and are affected by behaviour within organizations, for the purpose of applying such knowledge toward improving an organization’s effectiveness. According to Raman J. Aldag  Organization Behaviour is the knowledge that can be applied to predicting , understanding and controlling behaviour in work organizations.

 Psychology , Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Political science, Information Technology, Engineering, Medicine, Geography etc. Each one of these fields has some inputs into the study of Organization Behaviour.

Q.2. What are the historical perspectives of OB ? 

Organizations are as old as mankind. However the study of organizational behaviour began from 20th century.Fredrick Taylor was a pioneer who propounded the principles of scientific management in different areas of industrial activities.

He promoted the concept of parity of wages and developed Payment plans and Incentive payment plans. To establish a strong link between management and non-management he advocated the concept of training the supervisors. 

Four major phases of development in OB.

1.Industrial Revolution.

2.Scientific Management.

3.Human Relation Management

4.Hawthorne Studies.

Q.3. Hawthorne Studies

In the 1920s Elton Mayo and his associates began their study from Hawthorne Works Plant.

The Hawthorne studies can be divided into four stages.

1.The Test Room Study or Illumination Experiment.

The basic objective of this experiment was to find out the effect of illumination on the productivity of  workers. Two groups of female workers were constituted for this purpose. It was found that when these workers knew they were being watched they worked faster and better. 

2. Relay Assembly Room Study

The object of this study was to measure the effect of fatigue or rest on output.

The importance of human relationships in industry was recognized.Like Illumination Test in this test also the researchers of Hawthorne were unable to find any direct relation between the changes made during this experiment.

Thus no meaningful correlation could be established between the productivity and these variables.

This test proved that productivity is not simply a function of physical work.

3.Bank Wiring Observation Room Study

In this experiment a group of fourteen male workers employed in the bank wiring room were deeply observed. With this hypothesis that workers individually would produce more output  and help others but it was found that workers did not produce as per expectation and under group pressure they did not produce more than the group standards. 

4.Mass Interviewing Programme. 

Under this programme about 20,000 interviews were conducted to find out opinions or attitudes of employees towards the job, the company, supervision and working conditions. These interviews were carried out by means of direct questioning.

Q.4   What is cognition and what are cognitive functions ? 

Cognition is the scientific term for mental Processes.

It includes Perception, Learning, Memory, Judging and Problem Solving.

Four  Functions of Cognition

1.Intelligence

Intelligence has been defined in many different ways such as in terms of one's capacity for logic, abstract thought, understanding, self-awareness, communication, learning,emotional knowledge, memory, planning, creativity and problem solving. 

2. Creativity
Creativity is the process of bringing something new into being. Creativity requires passion and commitment. It brings to our awareness what was previously hidden and points to new life. 

3. Problem Solving

There are four basic steps in solving a problem:

1. Defining the problem.
2. Generating alternatives.
3. Evaluating and selecting alternatives.
4. Implementing solutions.

4. Learning

Learning is the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information.