Operating Definition of Organizational Behavior

Organizational Behavior (OB) is the study of behavior in an organization. There are three determinants of behavior in order to make an organization more effective: individual, groups, and structure (Robbins 5). The people within the organization and their behaviors affect the performance of the organization. There are a number of behavioral disciplines that contribute to OB: psychology, sociology, social psychology, anthropology, and political science. There are lot of challenges and opportunities today for managers to use OB concepts. One of the most important and broad-based challenges facing organizations today is adapting to diverse work environments. Organizations are becoming more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity. Understanding the concepts of OB allows management to facilitate the needs of a diverse workforce.
Classical organization theory, evolved during the first half of this century, did not account for the needs of diverse workforce. It represented the ...